#not only that but the visuals were really cool to look at like there aren’t many shots where something isn’t animated in the background

[vrronica-sawyer]

Polygun but it’s how they all see each other

i always really like in books with different narrators when how a character looks itself is unreliable narration bc they describe themself differently compared to how the other pov characters see them, and the dungeon meshi shapeshifter chart scratched that itch for me art wise and I got inspired ✨

To be more specific this is what they each picture when they think of each person 👉👈

Details under cut!!

Meryl clothing details aside because I think she’s just short and the boys aren’t looking at her traveling clothes too hard (and vash clearly likes making his own clothes with how much his overly intricate jacket design changes so ofc his version of her outfit just looks like another one of his designs 🙄) all of the clothes are based on specific parts of the manga!

A big thing with these designs was taking moments that were important regarding each characters relationship with the pov character and adding in visual nods to that to show what memories stuck with them to shape their image of that person.

The clearest example of this is everyone thinking of a different Vash coat, for Wolfwood it’s what he was wearing when he turned him over to Knives, to Meryl it’s his final fight coat, and for Milly it’s when she met him.

It may be Trimax but I will always have a soft spot for 98 millywood so those two’s impression of each other has been influenced by that, but more specifically just the idea of them both alone together, layers and walls down, hair messy from sleep. Their relationship is one I just see very clearly developing over a lot of late nights at inns and bars during traveling!

Vash is the trademarked inventor of Savior Martyr Victim complex supreme and when he thinks of everyone he sees times they’ve been let down by him. To me he’s the biggest broken gear in their dynamic because of the way he holds himself back and isolates, the ship really works in spite of him most of the time. But he also sees traces of times his desire to be by their side was cemented. His Meryl is heavily based on after she was kidnapped by the GHGs and he lost control in front of her, but her hair is longer + earrings are gone like when they saw each other again after Knives released the ark, and she has a black turtleneck peaking out from under her traveling clothes the way it did under her space suit during the final battle. His Milly has the hair and undershirt of the final battle but her outer clothes are from when they traveled together for the majority of Trimax. His wolfwood isn’t doing too well.

Meryl’s versions of Milly and Wolfwood are both pretty similar to how they looked when she first met them, wolfwoods hair is just a little longer like I imagine it being towards the end of Trimax and is very windswept, from their short first meeting in the original Trigun manga run I always got the impression she thought he looked very cool lol, she was staring up at him like ://0 the whole chapter.

I mentioned it before but honestly most of Wolfwood’s Vash is based on how he looked when he turned him over to Knives, not only do I think that moment stuck with him but I feel like it’s a good visual summary of all the mixed feelings he has towards Vash. He’s drawn to him and sees how sad he his but he also sees how inhuman he is and the threat he and knives pose for the people he cares about and prioritizes. At the end of the day Wolfwood chose the orphans over Vash twice and never went back on that, and a big part of why he broke Vash our of Knives prison was just so he could go fight Knives to the death for humanity’s sake, and I think that’s important to his character and their relationship.

Similarly, Meryl’s Vash is really just final arc Vash. She’d already developed a very strong impression of him before then but they would go weeks to even years without seeing each other and each time the way he looked and the way she felt about him would change drastically, it seemed to me like it wasn’t till she was on the ship advocating for him and the people living on gunsmoke that she knew how she felt about him and what kind of person she saw him to be. It was also a huge moment for her character wise with the way she faced her fears in the name of human connection and made the active choice to not be as apathetic and closed off as she realized she had been in the early manga.

I think Milly’s first impression of Vash was strong and accurate enough to not change much, this nice guy is Vash the Stampede and there is definitely something weird about him.

I don’t know why Wolfwood doesn’t know what Meryl’s hair looks like, what’s wrong with that guy? In general his version of Meryl is very inaccurate now that I’m looking at it, I promise he likes her

+small details that are my personal headcanon and not the characters interpretations are Meryl and Wolfwoods hair being a bit more curly/textured than canon, Milly’s eyes being green, and Meryl’s earrings being silver (gold earrings with a white black and blue outfit and silver guns?? C’mon girl accessorize properly)

[the-soliloquies-of-sadists]

#397

“Are you Terry?  Good.  The pics you sent are a little…  outdated.  Still, you are honest when it comes to your size.  C’mere….

“You are the right size.  Five foot seven?...  Five six!  Now boy, I told you to address me as Boss.  I am not your Sir or your Master. 

“I see you followed orders with what you wore.  I know it’s a bit cool, but it’s very important that you wear a T-shirt and gym shorts that you don’t care if they are stained or torn.  See I can reach in and feel for your nipples.  I can tell you are smooth, which is good.  And I can reach into your shorts to feel no hair around your pecker.  Very good.  And your pecker…  It’s definitely a micro-penis. 

“Now your pussy…  Hairless.  Pre-lubed?  That’s a nice surprise.  And let’s see if you cleaned out.  Quit squirming.  It’s just my finger.  I don’t feel anything.  Now for the visual.  No brown streaks.  This would have ended right here if my finger found any mud.

“You get the weekend off?...  Good.  If I think you warrant more than this evening, then I’ll keep you around.

“Walk with me.  But first.  Bitch boys like you should dress like bitch boys….  I told you that your shirt could get torn, and with one yank, most of it is torn off.  Here, take the piece in my hand and throw it and what remains of your shirt in the garbage.

“It might be cold, but you look more appropriate like that.  And don’t worry about the cold, my van is up ahead.  And it’s Friday at six, the factory and loading dock workers are long gone.

“OK, we are past where this can be viewed from the street.  Hold still….  Well, those shorts came off way easier than your shirt.  They tore up much faster.  So, I guess when I’m done with you, you’ll have to find some new clothes.  If you do good—I mean really good—I’ll dump you by your house.

“Too bad some of my co-workers aren’t still working the loading dock to see a scrawny-assed pussy boy walking next to a real man.  They would have known that you were going to get used.  So many cat call whistles would have been made.  I miss those days when shit like that happened with regularity. 

“Many years ago, when I started working here, after the almost all the men have left, men and boys would come out as the dark set in.  I remember hitting the pub down the street for a few hours after getting off work along with some of my buds some of which were also waiting for the right time.  We all knew what we were up to; no one said anything. 

“I would come back here to the dark alleys and really plow some boy’s hole.  I loved it when I drew a crowd.  Sometimes a train would start, and I would just leave that boy get plowed by some other worker and go back to the pub.  Hours later after I left, I would see the same bitch boy still getting railed in the alley, only to join in and get my second or third nut.

“There was about a dozen of us guys—not all at the same time—who would frequent it as our way of blowing of the day’s stress.

“I miss those days.  The conservative police chief cracked down hard.  There’s no public anything.  So, my buds either go without or they spend their hard-earned money on motels for a five-minute fuck with a third-rate whore.

“The apps seem to make things easier, but shittier at the same time.  I’m glad you responded to me.

“Here’s my van.  I like to call it my Shaggin’ Wagon.  Blacked out windows and a curtain between the front and the cargo area, means it was made for fucking, anywhere I go.

“Come to the side door.  Look inside.  Everything you need for a good time.  Mattress, toolchest full of toys, restraints, rimseat… all the goodies.  The foam on the walls act as some soundproofing. 

“No, don’t get in yet.  Bend over first.  I need to bust my nut, and I want to stand for it.  Reach behind you and feel me.  No, no.  Don’t look.  In fact, I should do this….

“…Hold still.  Quit squirming…  That hood is not coming off for a long time.  I don’t want you to see anything.  Now grab a hold of my cock.  Hard isn’t it?  I was hard ever since I saw that clitty of yours.

“Feel it at your back door?  It’s coming in.  Open your mouth first.  This is a pair of my dirty underwear.  You are going to scream, and that should shut you up.

“Ready?  On the count of three.  One….  FUCK your pussy feels good.  Ha!  I never make it to three.  For a small boy like you, you have one deep puss.  It’s gonna go far. 

“…And you can take a power slam.  Bitch, I am loving your hole.  You are going to go far with me this weekend. 

“…My cock however is not going to last long.  It’s like silk in here and it fucking feels great.  Your puss is going to be put to the test this weekend.  I’m a multiple cummer, and you are going to be full.

“Do that again.  Clamp down.  Fuck!  I’m already close.  Boy, I’m going to flood your guts with a two-week load.  Here it cums.  Here it cums pussy boy!  Uhh, ahh, fuck, ahhhh!  Ahhhhhh.  Fuck yeah.

“Bitch.  You know how to work that hole.  I’m going to pull out.  Clamp down….

“Jesus!  I haven’t cum that fast in a long time.  I would love to say it was all your hole.  No, it’s that there are two on-lookers, I got two of my closest buds standing beside me. 

“Hey!  You guys are going to like this hole.  I haven’t tried out the boy’s mouth.  Why don’t you guys climb in, and we will be off.

“Boy, climb up.  These two men are managers on my shift.  We go way back to those after-work fuck days.  They get first crack at you.  Treat them with the utmost respect they deserve even though they are going to treat you like shit.  After they are done, I have a number of other guys lined up at another few spots.  You are going to perform for all of them as well as you did me.

“Gentlemen, while this is a new boy, the old rules still apply.  You can get as wild as you want, just no permanent or long-lasting damage, no shit, no blood.  I don’t need a bloody mess back here.

“Get your leg in bitch.  I need to close the door.  The Shaggin’ Wagon needs to move, and your pussy needs to be turned into one hell of a sloppy gaping cunt.  I’ll be up front drivin’ and chillin’ and smokin’ my cigar with the sounds of men using a cum dump bitch boy.  Let’s roll!”

[talonabraxas]

Mount Shasta

There’s a well-known legend that says that somewhere deep beneath Northern California’s 14,179-foot-tall Mount Shasta is a complex of tunnels and a hidden city called Telos, the ancient “City of Light” for the Lemurians. They were the residents of the mythical lost continent of Lemuria, which met its demise under the waves of the Pacific (or the Indian Ocean, depending on who you ask) thousands of years ago. Lemurians believed to have survived the catastrophe are said to have settled in Telos, and over the years their offspring have been sporadically reported wandering around the area: seven-feet-tall, with long flowy hair, often clad in sandals and white robes.

Lemurians aren’t the only unusual figures said to inhabit this stand-alone stratovolcano, easily seen from Interstate 5, about 60 miles south of the Oregon border. Mount Shasta is believed to be a home base for the Lizard People, too, reptilian humanoids that also reside underground. The mountain is a hotbed of UFO sightings, one of the most recent of which occurred in February 2020. (It was a saucer-shaped lenticular cloud.) In fact, the mountain is associated with so many otherworldly, paranormal, and mythical beings—in addition to long-established Native American traditions—that it’s almost like a who’s who of metaphysics. It has attracted a legion of followers over the years, including “Poet of the Sierras” Joaquin Miller and naturalist John Muir, as well as fringe religious organizations such as the Ascended Masters, who believe that they’re enlightened beings existing in higher dimensions. What is it about this mountain in particular that inspires so much belief?

“There’s a lot about Mount Shasta, and volcanoes in general, that are difficult to explain,” says Andrew Calvert, scientist-in-charge at the California Volcano Observatory, “and when you’re having difficulty explaining something, you try and understand it.” Calvert has studied Shasta’s eruptive history since 2001. “It’s such a complicated and rich history,” he says, “and Shasta itself is also very visually powerful. These qualities build on each other to make it a profound place for a lot of people—geologists, spirituality seekers … even San Francisco tech folks, and hunters and gatherers from 10,000 years ago. It’s one that can have a really strong effect on your psyche.”

Mount Shasta is one of the most prominent of all the Cascade volcanoes, an arc that runs from southwestern British Columbia to Northern California, and includes Washington’s Mount Rainier and Oregon’s Mount Hood, among others. “It’s so steep and so tall that it even creates its own weather,” says Calvert. This includes the spaceship-looking lenticular clouds that tend to form around the mountain, created, he says, “by a humid air mass that hits the volcano, and then has to go up a little bit to cool off.” But they only contribute to Shasta’s supernatural allure, along with its ice-clad peak, steaming fumaroles, and shape-shifting surface that’s being constantly broken down and rebuilt by ice, water, wind, and debris. The mountain also sits about 15 miles or so west of the standard arc line of the other Cascade volcanoes—a move that took place about 700,000 years ago. “We don’t really have a good explanation for why it moved out there,” Calvert says, a statement that seems to make Mount Shasta’s mysteries appear more otherworldly by the minute.

The Mount Shasta spiritual legacy goes far deeper than contemporary myths and sightings. For Native Americans in particular, the mountain is a sacred place, straddling the territories of the Shasta, Wintu, Achumawi, Atsugewi, and Modoc tribes, which can date their lineages back to a time when eruptions actually took place there. (Its last eruption, says Calvert, was a little over 3,000 years ago.)

There’s Something About Mount Shasta

[tklpilled]

iris

“i went to windrise to paint today,” albedo muses. he thinks back to earlier that day, trying to recall the details. “that big tree with a statue in front of it. it’s really quite beautiful, and you get an amazing view of mondstadt from there. i’m not sure how to explain it, but something about it feels almost spiritual.”

albedo has traveled across mondstadt, and other parts of teyvat as well, and he’s never found an area that feels quite like windrise. not only is the view unmatched, but he always feels as if someone is watching him—not to threaten him, but rather, to protect him.

“the bard was there—venti, I believe? he kept me company. his songs are incredible, and i noticed many more crystalflies than usual. i think they were drawn to his music.”

he glances over to his stand, where a painting of the area sits. while sitting under the tree would be relaxing, he wanted to capture it in the painting. so, instead, he sat facing mondstadt, and painted the tree on the side with its branches stretching across the canvas, almost blocking the sky entirely. the walls of mondstadt are in the distance, across the lake sparkling in the sun. If albedo had to judge it, he’d say that the painting is rather accurate; but of course, it can never compare to the real thing.

“i do wish you had been there, though,” he says, continuing on with his one-sided conversation. “i could use some practice painting people, but then again, i don't think i could do you justice. not even a kamera captures your beauty.”

he looks down at his lap, unable to hide his fond tone. “what do you think?”

a wail is the only response he gets.

albedo sighs, drumming his fingers impatiently. “it’s rude to ignore someone when they’re talking to you, you know.”

scaramouche lets out another squeal, his head thrown back in helpless laughter. “i c-cahahan’t!”

albedo swirls his fingertip around the center of scaramouche’s stomach, just circling the rim of his navel. it’s sending the poor puppet into hysterics—but as long as he still has the energy to kick his legs so frantically, albedo is sure he can last a little longer.

“but you’re talking to me now, aren’t you?” albedo asks, tilting his head. “i’m just trying to tell you how pretty you are, and you won’t even listen. i’m hurt.”

scaramouche bats weakly at albedo’s hand, though he’s clearly not trying hard. “shuhuhut uhup!” he squeaks, arching his back, and although his face is already red with laughter, albedo swears it gets worse.

he wishes he had his art materials with him. he’d love to paint scaramouche’s laughing face, capturing it in time for him to look at whenever. he can already imagine the colours he’d use, the pink hues contrasting so sharply with the cool, earthy background, the freckles scattered across his face, the way his eyes squint shut. the one problem is that sounds can’t be transferred to visuals—if he could, albedo would gladly paint scaramouche’s laughter onto a canvas forever. or maybe he could use scaramouche’s body itself as a surface; it’s a work of art on its own, after all. albedo often imagines himself drawing on it, creating constellations with his scars.

he’s abruptly yanked from his thoughts by a sudden loud whine. he glances down, realising the problem. his finger has dipped into scaramouche’s navel, a spot he hadn’t even known was so sensitive.

he chuckles. “i always discover new spots every time. i’m convinced you’re ticklish everywhere.”

scaramouche snorts, grabbing albedo’s wrist and holding on tightly. “sh-shuhut the fuhuhuck uhup! i swehehear, i’ll…!” whatever else he was going to say is lost to frantic giggling.

ah, well. albedo knows it wouldn’t have been a genuine threat anyway.

[secretmellowblog]

I hope tumblr doesn’t die because No other social media site is as good for long, thoughtful, nuanced analyses of media. Yeah tumblr is also full of dumb shallow hot takes and shitposts, but you can make dumb shallow hot takes and shitposts anywhere —-there are no other popular social media sites that let you easily format and share long essays on the media you enjoy, and then have conversations around those long essays.

Fandom on all the other big social websites just seems so utterly …shallow. And it’s not because people on other websites aren’t thoughtful or don’t have deep things to say, but because these sites’ formats do not allow for any kind of long nuanced conversations.

Tiktok? Things have to be crammed into a super short video with an attention grabbing headline, and you can’t hyperlink sources. Instagram? Everything has to be in an image format with strict limits on length, and nothing will be shown to your followers anyway because of how Instagram’s algorithm works, and also no hyperlinks. Twitter? Strict character limits, and if you split it into threads it means someone can retweet a part of your essay completely out of context, and also very little freedom with formatting.

It frustrates me so much. If I go into the Tumblr Les Mis fandom I’ll find really compelling long essays on the original novel (including essays being written for the ongoing book club) on the story’s historical context, or the parallels between different characters and their narrative foils, or the way the politics were defanged for certain adaptations, or the way Victor Hugo’s personal life and failings affected the novel. But on tiktok I’ll get the same five shallow stale jokes from 2013 over and over, or maybe the same “DID U KNO THAT IN THE MUSICAL JAVERT AND VALJEAN SING THE SAME LEITMOTIF” style of basic Intro To Les Mis 101 For Babies media analysis (which is what Tiktok considers deep media analysis), or stale “LOL JAVERT ACTS GAY” style jokes as if we’re living in the early 2000s and calling a character gay is still a funny punchline. And it’s impossible to have any kind of deeper thoughtful discussions than “DID U KNOW <x Kool Fact>” or “lol <shallow observational joke>” on tiktok because the platform just isn’t built for building niche communities around in depth conversations. it’s built to churn out bland generic content for as wide an audience as possible, which means pointing out a small detail like an Easter egg and calling it “cool” is deep media analysis, because you cant have longer more in depth conversations without alienating people. And I hate it. Bc like, it’s not because there aren’t smart clever thoughtful people on Tiktok— there are—it’s because Tiktok isn’t built for these conversations, and anyone who wants to have them has to really fight against the things the website encourages or prioritizes!

Or like, if I go into the LOTR fandom on Tumblr, I’ll find tons of extremely long analysis and fanfic, and analysis of queer readings of the story. On Instagram people will still shriek in terror if you suggest the characters are gay, and most of the popular lotr posts are stale memes recycled from like 2007. There’s really no room for thoughtful media analysis, and even if you did create it, instagram’s algorithm would make sure no one saw your post anyway.

And everyone’s going to say “the algorithm shows you what you’ve seen before so maybe it’s your fault ~” or whatever but i do look for things I want! I do! “The algorithm” doesn’t know me or what I want or value or care about beyond this meaningless surface level.

The only thing that was worthwhile about these sites was the great visual art people were creating, but now the websites are overwhelmed with meaningless soulless machine-generated AI glurge, and it sucks. It just really, really sucks.

I’m honestly confused about why people don’t use tumblr….There’s no character limits! You have freedom with post formatting, and can insert images throughout textposts to illustrate specific points you’re making beneath the paragraphs where they’re necessary! You can add hyperlinks, linking to your sources! People can reblog your entire essay and share it, and then add on with commentary that then becomes part of a larger conversation! People can find your stuff through the tagging system! Reblogging means posts stay in circulation for years instead of being dead 30 minutes after they’re uploaded! If you want to have genuinely interesting text conversations about a piece of media, there really isn’t a better social media website for it anywhere.

To be clear, I’m definitely not saying Tumblr media analysis is *always* clever and thoughtful or etc etc. there are shitposts and nonsense here too (plenty of which I’ve created lol.) I’m saying that Tumblr gives people the tools for in-depth insightful analysis to happen. Whether people choose to do it or not is their own decision XD. But the reason lengthy in-depth conversations and book clubs are even possible here is because Tumblr is built for allowing these conversations to happen, in a way other sites simply aren’t.

It’d really suck if it died, because it’d be a huge blow to…being able to easily find long insightful in-depth media analysis written by fans. I currently don’t think there’s anything that could replace it.

[oakdll]

i finished persona 4 golden !!!

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 4 GOLDEN AHEAD

It’s lowkey insane that they made the final villain a gas station employee, but it was super cool. I really love the story, almost as much as P5R, although the gameplay was definitely worse for me.

Obviously there are differences because of the release dates, but there were a lot of quality of life issues and inconsistencies. The last 5 dungeons or so felt comically easy, none of them took me more than 2 hours, especially with Marie and Izanami’s dungeons which took me less than an hour each, even with exploring every floor to the max.

The lack of Safe Rooms really hurts the level design here. You basically have to do every palace in one session (at least I did because I don’t like Goho-M’s). Being able to have save points before different sections in each P5 Palace was a stroke of genius, and returning to P4 where every floor is basically identical is just boring. I like how each floor is randomly generated, but it also really takes away from the individuality of each dungeon. Pretty much every dungeon has the same random layout, the only differences are the visuals and occasional conditions like with Adachi not allowing you to fight shadows in one of his floors. Compared to P5, the lack of puzzles and insight into the characters really hurts. In P5, the design of each palace gave you insight into its rulers psyche. In P4, you really only get the occasional confrontation with the character and some dialogue at the start of each floor.

There were also WAY too many chances to mess up your ending. There isn’t anything really wrong with having a lot of endings, but having so many points where you can accidentally get a bad ending because you picked an option that wasn’t obviously wrong was ridiculous. I had heard there were a lot of chances to get a bad ending if you aren’t careful, so I used a spoiler free guide. Having to pick like 7 of the right answers in a row to get a good ending is insane.

If I wasn’t spoiled on Adachi before playing, I never would have guessed it. That is good for the story, but having to deduce it yourself is a bit too much to ask of the player. I think P5 did good with prompting you to save your game before game changing events happen. A mix of that and confirming with the player when they are going off-course from the true ending makes the game relatively simple to play through with no guide. with P4, you basically have to look up a guide for the true ending. Having to say “no” when prompted to leave Inaba to get the true ending is insane, if I didn’t know beforehand I would have messed up my entire playthrough. It makes no sense unless you know the story beforehand, especially when no other Persona game asks you to do something like that.

The game is also shockingly bigoted, which goes entirely against the themes of the Persona series and the game itself. Ironically, in a game about pursuing the truth, the made Naoto deny his truth of being trans. They wrote such good queer characters and then came to entirely the wrong conclusion and ruined it all. I still think if you can look past the homophobia and transphobia, the game has phenomenal writing, but it gets really uncomfortable at times.

The nostalgic feeling Inaba gives off and the PS2 graphics really help the vibe of this game. It feels so much warmer than P5, and I am ALWAYS a sucker for a murder mystery. The fog is such a good visual element to the game, and I have a strange obsession with electrical poles, so having those be a frequent set piece is awesome.

The characters are so wonderful, I really wish I had more time to max out all of the social links here, but I think I would have had to skip out on helping Nanako with her homework and I would never do that to her. Nanako and Kanji are both some of my all time favorite Persona characters, they are both so sweet and I would do anything for them. Marie is also one of my favorites, I have no idea why anybody could hate her. Yukiko is amazing, Chie is a lot of fun, and Yosuke is hilarious. Teddie is a freak but I love him but I HATE his blue eyes, Rise is super nice, and Naoto is so cool. The Investigation Team is debatably better than the Phantom Thieves as a main cast, but they are so close for me. The main characters are all just great.

As for social links, I think P5 still has it beat here. The social link cast in P4 is still good, but there aren’t any benefits like in P5 and some of the characters here I REALLY don’t like. Sayoko is an outright pedophile. With Kawakami at least if you don’t choose to romance her in-game she isn’t as much of a creep, while Sayoko actively sexually harasses a high schooler. I also did not like Eri, I didn’t get to spend much time with her but she really could have treated her kid better. I know she’s struggling but she would lash out leave her kid at daycare because he was having more fun there than at home. Naoki was cool, I barely got to spend any time with him but from what I did see he was nice and seeing the grieving process of one of Adachi’s victims was super interesting. For the club social links, I chose Kou and Ayane. Kou was great, one of my favorites but I ended up prioritizing party members and couldn’t max him out. Ayane was nice, I like her arc but her voice acting really ruined a lot of the social link for me. Ai was also nice, but I couldn’t spend too much time with her and I didn’t like her romance subplot. I actually liked Shu a surprising amount, he was one of the few I maxed out because I had extra time in the evenings and I really liked how his arc ended. Hisano was one I really missed out on, I only got to rank 3 with her and from what I saw she was one of the most interesting in the game. Dojima is one of the best social links in all of Persona. He is very similar to Sojiro, but he’s a lot darker. There’s a lot more drama with him than with Sojiro, both of them are amazing, and Dojima’s relationship with Nanako is so sweet. Nanako as well might be my favorite Persona character. She is the sweetest thing ever, and I would do anything for her. Marie’s social link was also great, but I really didn’t like Margaret’s. I don’t like any Persona social link that requires you to go on quests. I didn’t like the Strength confidant in P5, and I don’t like Margaret or the Fox in P4. The fox is better by default because he’s a fox, but neither are super interesting to me.

The music is phenomenal because it’s a Persona game, but the P4 OST might be my single favorite Persona soundtrack. Pursuing My True Self, Signs of Love, Heartbeat Heartbreak, Heaven, Alone, Your Affection, Like a Dream Come True, Youthful Lunch, Reach Out to the Truth, Time to Make History, and Omen are some of my favorites. The only Persona game soundtrack to compare with P4 is P5, Whims of Fate, Beneath the Mask, Alleycat, Our Light, When Mother Was There, Price, and Butterfly Kiss are also up there. P4 is more nostalgic for me, so I think it might take the edge for me.

The story of P4 is also much more complex and interesting than P5. If it weren’t for Maruki’s palace being so good, I would say that P4 definitively has the better story. Adachi being the antagonist was such a phenomenal twist, and I loved him so much up to that point that it hurt even more. His social link is a phenomenal addition, I can’t imagine the game without it. Having so many endings is partially a result of flawed game design, but also the depth in the story. It really feels like an investigation team solving a mystery. Pushing further and further towards the truth throughout every suspect, from Kubo to Namatame to Adachi, and even Izanami if that counts, the game really accomplishes its goal. I haven’t done the accomplice ending, but I might do another playthrough to get it after I finish P3R.

P4G is a really great game, I think it’s a bit more flawed than P5R, but it’s still phenomenal and it’s not like P5 has no flaws either. P4 really excels with the story and I think the primary issues with it are just a byproduct of being over 10 years old at this point.

[filmmarvel]

PJO Series Overall Thoughts + Pros and Cons

Disclaimer! First of all, there are a lot more cons than pros here, and if you loved the show and don’t want to hear my criticism just keep scrolling. Second, I’m not someone to complain just because it isn’t exactly how it was in the book! I have quite a range of feelings about story changes. In regard to the ones I’ve listed as cons, i’m just irritated that they haven’t been able to match the book in frankly any capacity. I believe that if you’re making changes, it should be a) out of necessity, b) to improve upon the material, or c) taking positive creative license to try a new spin on an element from the source material. But the changes I’m complaining about, for the most part, haven’t met any of those requirements.

Pros:

Sets and Visuals

It was so magical seeing camp come to life!

The Underworld looks fantastic, the visuals are super cool, especially the Fields of Asphodel. That was a really cool spin on the books- the CGI was pretty good, and the concept there was really interesting.

Olympus was very cool looking too! It reminded me of Asgard.

Overall I Just Think There’s Lots of Potential!

Since the leads are fairly inexperienced (and kids), you can’t expect them to be incredible. They’re doing just fine, but I think they have a lot of potential, and I’m excited to see them grow over the course of the series!

Generally I still really like the casting and have high hopes for these actors, I just wish (for our sake and theirs) that they had better material to work with.

Plot Changes

This ones kind of a pro AND a con: Generally, I really like the flashbacks! They add a lot more depth to Sally, and her relationships with Percy and Poseidon. That being said, the episodes typically feel far too short to be adding material that wasn’t in the books. I thought it was fantastic in episode 7, but in other episodes it didn’t quite work when so much else was cut, or there were opportunities left untaken as a result.

I also liked that they included a few flashbacks with Luke in the finale- there was so much training and time at camp that didn’t fit into the first two episodes.

They got rid of the “names have power” stuff which is great (never made sense in the books).

They did a really nice job humanizing Medusa, but still creating conflict with her, and simultaneously setting up further issues with the gods.

I also agreed with their decision to move the fight from Santa Monica to Montauk, to save time.

Cons:

Dialogue and Writing

The dialogue is definitely less charming than in the books. It’s a huge part of what makes them fun, and the dialogue here is honestly pretty bland. The characters don’t totally feel like themselves, but it isn’t only the acting. Forcing the characters to be explaining stuff to each other nearly every time they have a conversation makes them a lot less personable.

Honestly, this series feels kind of elementary in comparison to the middle grade books. I’d imagine that, like the books, they were aiming to create something that could be enjoyed by young kids and adults alike. But I didn’t find it as successful as the book in this regard.

And the dialogue is consistently so surface level! Stiff, boring, and above all, CONSTANTLY telling over showing. This affects the likability of the characters, and the ability of the actors. Both parties are deterred by the info dumping, as they aren’t really given as many genuine lines or interactions as they should have.

Honestly, it kind of feels a bit like they gave some of Percy’s personality to Annabeth in parts of the show? I saw someone else point out that they’re kind of giving Annabeth the Hermione treatment (ie giving her some of the other characters good moments), which I kind of agree with. However, a lot of that was towards the beginning and middle of the season and has somewhat improved since.

I posted a whole rant earlier about the Lotus Casino episode, which I’ll just summarize: theres a consistent pattern in the show of having the characters figure out what’s going on immediately, removing the danger, and more importantly, not allowing the characters to make mistakes, which weakens both them and the plot. In addition, I didn’t like that they brought up May Castellan already, primarily because it was just another info dump, which (in my mind) gets lost amongst all the other info dumps and removes the poignancy from the reveal. Now, there’s absolutely time to fix the May Castellan situation and ensure that it still packs a punch later on, but for this season it wasn’t great. Go check out my last post if you’d like to hear the rest of my argument on that episode!

Some additional examples of the ‘not letting the characters experience danger’ thing: Procrustes (obviously), and Kronos- forget whether or not Percy should know who Kronos is, the biggest issue is that there’s very little evidence or buildup, so (again) there’s no tension or shock at the reveal. And finally, with Luke. I was so annoyed when Percy figured it out! I could’ve believe that they were doing it AGAIN. I still enjoyed that scene because Walker and Charlie were great, but that was disappointing for sure.

The thing with the pearls honestly amounted to nothing, and there was no reason for Annabeth to not be present in the underworld: that was just a tearjerker for the sake of being a tearjerker (manufactured drama).

Lowering the Stakes

I just wish they’d made it SLIGHTLY more mature- don’t get me wrong, it’s a kids show! I’m very well aware of that! But this feels a lot tamer than a lot of kids (PG) movies involving monsters and stuff.

Gabe was a real piece of shit in the books, but in the show they just kinda made him look lazy and turned him into comic relief. And I don’t believe in the argument that they had to make this change to benefit a younger audience- they didn’t really need to change anything there.

Throughout the majority of the season, I felt like they weren’t allowing the gods to be truly intimidating, or powerful. First with Ares, who wasn’t BAD but generally didn’t have that kind of dramatic presence that he had in the books. Again with Hades, who wasn’t shown as being REMOTELY intimidating, and perhaps the biggest offense of all- Zeus. Having the deadline pass with seemingly zero consequence or threat of consequence does absolutely nothing (and certainly doesn’t increase tension like I’m pretty sure Rick Riordan said was their reason for changing it). Up until the finale, viewers had very few reasons to fear the Gods. Even Dionysus and Hephaestus! In the books there’s a clear line- you can interact with them, but you DONT want to offend them. There’s a clear threat of power, and that just wasn’t remotely present for a while.

And again, I just want to clarify- this is an overall writing problem! It’s not that Ares, or any other one of the gods I just mentioned has a different personality than in the books, it’s that a show like this (KIDS OR NOT) should still be compelling, and part of that includes having real danger and clear stakes.

I would add that they did a much better job with this in the finale! Lance Reddick gave such an amazing performance, and truly made Zeus an intimidating figure. The fight on the beach with Ares was great as well. So I’m optimistic about this criticism moving into season 2, but I stand by the idea that this was an issue for the majority of the series.

Overall, it felt like they weren’t taking the serious parts seriously, AND they didn’t take the comedy as seriously either? So it isn’t as lighthearted OR as impactful as the books. It feels so much more bland and watered down by comparison.

Episodes Were Too Short

Everything just flowed really well in the books, here the pacing is off and the dialogue isn’t as natural (again, they’re forced to rely on a lot of telling instead of showing which takes away from genuine moments). Many character details and personality traits were cut for the sake of additional verbal explanation

As many others have pointed out, the fight scenes also feel pretty rushed, and haven’t quite conveyed the sense of urgency that they should. It all just lowers the stakes.

This Ones Kind of a Joke, but the Casting for Hephaestus

It’s mostly my book bias. This guy was NOT giving Hephaestus. Mainly because Hephaestus is the god of the forge, and I can’t picture this guy anywhere near one of those. He kind of looked like one of Santa’s elves, he’s giving tinkerer not GOD of the FORGE. This is also something they can absolutely fix/win me over in time lmao

Changes

I already mentioned most of the changes (good and bad) already, but there’s one more. I kind of wish they had kept Percy’s dream about Tartarus, especially given that they decided to have Percy figure out Kronos is behind it all earlier- it just would’ve clicked a little easier.

Finishing Thoughts

I don’t want to totally sound like a hater! I’m still enjoying the series, and I really hope it gets renewed for season 2! I was just disappointed in the weak writing. I hope that the writers will be able to recognize these flaws and improve for season 2.

Alright, I don’t really expect anyone to read this whole thing, but if you made it: thanks for reading! I’m curious to hear your thoughts, so I’d really appreciate comments, just keep it civil!

[sofasoap]

Miss Stardust

Pairing : Kyle “ Gaz” Garrick x F!reader Summary: What will become of this broken friendship? In comes Ghost the wingman/shit stirrer. Part 4 to Miss Sunshine series. Warning: Mature theme. Violences. I am not military personnel, nor action movie writer, ignore all the errors in the fics pls.

Gaz route for my Mini MacTavish verse.

As always, Thanks to mother of my Mini MacTavish @saltofmercury for lending me the character “Mini” from her story. Go read her “The Favorite MacTavish”  !

“Masterlist” for other stories to this Mini MacTavish expanded verse.

Gaz never felt so miserable in his life before. He couldn’t believe himself. How could he freeze? He had the perfect chance to confess to you right there and then! The devastated look on your face keeps replaying in his mind. The guilt stabbing him, over and over.  

How he wants to bury himself in alcohol, drowning himself in sorrow. But knowing himself, his alcohol tolerance is close to zero, and he isn’t putting himself or his team at risk on the field in a half sobering state either. 

“Didn’t believe you could get even more serious with that face until now.”  He jumped a little as he felt the couch dipped beside him. When did Ghost slip into the room? 

“I heard from a little bird that you mess things up really bad.”

Gaz head shot up, how does he know?

Pulling his mask up a little, sipping on the tea slowly. Gaz swears he could see a smirk on his lip. 

“You think you are the only one that she has been talking to?” 

Jealousy flared up within Gaz. Is that a challenge??? “Worker harder if you don’t want her to be taken away from you.” Ghost drained his tea, stood up, slapped him on the back and left the room. Leaving him with the mystery words.

He tried to message and ring you for weeks after that. No responses at all. You even ended up blocking him afterwards. Does he have the right to be jealous? The two of you aren’t in a relationship. Just friends. More than friends. But he ruined it. So who else to blame but himself?

“Intel just came in,” Price half shouted over the sound of the helicopter and he started the briefing. “Metro police requested an assistance report of terrorists holding a group of civilians in a London shopping centre.” “ So far we know there are about ten hostile targets and twenty civilians. Bomb squads are on standby. Police already cleared a five kilometre radius as exlusion zone. We are not sure how much explosive they have packed into the building.“

Price shot Soap a look before he brought the video up on the screen. “... but we do know they have strapped a bomb onto one of the hostages.”  Gaz heard a visible gasp from Soap before seeing his face going red with rage. Terrorists were making their demands of ransom and releases of the political prisoners. The video zoomed into a woman, tied onto a pole, strapped full of explosives on her vest. 

It’s YOU. Bloody and battered. What have they done to you? 

“MINI.” Even he can hear the strain in Ghost’s voice. Gaz clenches his fist, trying to keep his head cool and concentrate on listening to Price dishing out the information.

“...They’ve given us until midnight tonight to meet their demands.” Price paused the video. It is clear what they will start doing if they don’t get what they asked for by the time limit. Gaz eyes went back onto the screen. Even in your dishevelled state, the determination and resilience  showing through your eyes, not one to give up. They are going to get you out. In one piece. No matter what it takes.

Four of them storm through the building like mad men. Few of the bomb squad specialists followed and quickly dispersed into the cleared zones, working on disarming the explosives. 

“Alpha 1-0 to Actual. Visual on hostages. East wing mezzanine level. Only one with explosives strapped. Rest grouped towards the back left corner away from the staircase.” Reports coming through the sniper, stationed on the rooftop  next to the building. “ Positive ID on the main suspect. Please advise.” “Actual to all stations, need confirmations on explosive status.”” “Confirm disarmaments.” 

“All stations. Standby.” Price gave his men a look, three of them nodded their heads. “Clear to shoot Alpha 1-0.” Sound of shattered glass echo throughout the building, and the screams of hostages. The men swiftly move up the staircases, taking out the rest of the targets. “Confirm targets KIA. I repeat, targets KIA.” Soap ran towards you as soon as all clear was given. “ Mini!!!” “ Johnny…” you replied with a whisper.  “Fucken steaming Jesus… they really got you good.” Looking down at your thigh, that is still trickling with blood.  Soap was furious. He wishes he could revive those terrorists and shoot them dead again. No one hurt his family. Ghost and Price were ushering the rest of the hostages away downstairs as the rest of the SWAT team swamped in.  Gaz came up beside you, starting to cut the binding off your hands as Soap quickly looked over the explosive vest that is still strapped onto you. 

“... I can’t just take this off. It’s booby trapped.”  he swore. “ They basically want you dead no matter what.” Soap made a quick call into the com, requesting the specialist for backup. “Mini.” Gaz called out to you. You turn your head, finally to face him. Biting your lips,he can see the tears welling up in your eyes, trying hard not to let it fall. “We will get you out.” Gaz heard Price’s voice behind him, with Ghost and two specialists following behind. Soap and Gaz quickly move away from you to let them do further assessments.

“ Good news is… well, Soap is right about booby trap,” You rolled your eyes. “ There is a way around it. The bad news… “ All the men look at the specialist,. “ …. As soon as you try to disarm it, you will trigger a timer,” they point towards a little red light on the side, obscured underneath tangles of wire. “ I would say you only have about five to ten seconds before it explodes on you.”. You grabbed onto Soap’s arm, dreading the possibility. “Just leave me, don’t risk all the lives for me.” Gaz’s heart shattered. Why are you trying to be the hero? “Don’t be a bampot Mini, how am I going to face Ma and Da if I leave you here?!!” Soap retorted. Taking a deep breath, the group deliberated, trying to come up with a plan.

So now, you are standing close to the balcony, the two specialists on your side, ready to cut the wires in sequence. Ghost standing behind you, back to the balcony, holding onto the top of your vest, ready to pull it off as soon as the disarmament is complete. Price and Soap kneeling down on the side, ready to cut the straps.  While Gaz stands facing you, ready to pull you in.

“ Ok. Remember the sequences. On my count.. Three, two.. One…”  Price and Soap started cutting, and Ghost pulled up hard, with the two specialists yelling out in sequences. “ FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!” Ghost yelled as he yank the vest up above your head, throws it over the balcony, down towards the ground floor, turning around, pushing himself behind you, into Gaz’s embrace, along with the others, forming a shield , protecting you from the exploding and the fragments flying up. Gaz can feel you trembling away, as you grab onto his tactical vest. He held onto you tight, trying to keep you up right.  Not a word from anyone for a few minutes, only sounds of debris and glasses shattering and heavy breathing from everyone trying to calm down from the adrenaline high. “Come on, we need to get out of here, the building is not safe.” Price was the first to break the silence. Ghost pulled you out of Gaz's embrace, he immediately misses your warmth. You stumbled a bit as you tried to stand, Ghost was quicker to scoop you up into a bridal hold. Pinch of sadness as Gaz sees you curling into Ghost’s chest, like a little broken girl, seeking for warmth. Ghost eyed Gaz for a quick second, before he turned and marched downstairs.

Gaz later found you sitting on the stretcher,leaning against Soap, looking down and totally zoned out. Ghost appeared behind him, pushing him towards you. “Last chance. Go talk to her.” as he turned and yelled at Soap, diverting his attention away from you both. Gaz silently snuck in as Soap gave you a kiss on the forehead and walked towards Ghost and Price. “Hey.” you snapped out of your reverie as Gaz called out to you, looking down at the spot Soap just vacated. You nodded your head, giving him the go ahead to sit. “You alright?” You asked him after a brief silence. He chuckled a bit. “I should be the one asking.” Gaz called your name. “I am sorry.” “ For what?” “ For being an idiot.”  You know what he is referring to. Pressing your lips tight. You didn’t reply immediately.  Gaz could see droplets of tears falling off your chin. “You did nothing wrong Gaz.” hands playing with the bandages around your thigh,” It was me who had the wrong idea. I am sorry I made things awkward between us.” “But you didn’t have the wrong idea.” You turned slowly, a twinkle of hope in your eyes. “ I was an idiot. I didn’t pick up on your hints. No, more like I was scared to acknowledge the hints.”  Gaz turned away with shame. “ I was a coward, I…didn’t think I deserved you..” reaching out for your hand, “ I was happy to stay in this little comfort zone, not wanting to burst the bubble, risking losing you.” “Can we be friends again? Please don’t lock me out. I want you in my life.. I..” “I don’t want to be your friend Kyle.”  Gaz froze. “ I want to be more than that.” Gaz’s body slumped with relief. He tilts his head down, pressing his forehead against yours. Sliding your hand up his arm, you tried to turn your body fully to face him. Letting out a whimper as you move your leg, Gaz immediately moves one of his arms underneath your thigh, and another around your waist, to pull you into his lap. “...Ghost knows all about this?” “... Ya… what’s with that pout Kyle. I started talking to him because he was asking for my advice.” Gaz’s eyebrows shot up. “ Advice?” Now that is interesting. “.... he wanted some dating advice.” He burst out laughing. And to think he got jealous of Ghost talking to you. “Can we not talk about him? Hurry up and give me a kiss before the others come back.” Who is he to deny your request? Holding your face softly, he closes the gap and gave you a tender kiss. Snaking your arms around his neck, you press yourself against him tightly, deepening the kiss. “Now how we going to tell Johnny.” “..... Please don’t remind me.” 

The biggest challenge, greater than terrorist attack, telling John "Soap" MacTavish. tag: @deadbranch @lia0-0 @josephquinnswhore

@voxyin

[trans-luis-serra-navarro]

OK GOOOOOOOO READ THIS POST FIRST I WAS TRYING TO REBLOG IT BUT TUMBLR WOULDNY LET ME ADD ANY MORE PHOTOS OR TAG ANYMORE PEOPLE CUZ IM USING THIS POST AS A JUMPING OFF POINT!!!!!!! GO FOLLOW @theprestigegirly AND @cloverisnonexistantbro !!!!!!!!!

I had @void-detective ask me a few days ago if the ornaments on Luis’ jacket had any particular meaning and as with everything I fell down,,,,,, one hell of a rabbit hole HDNWHWNEHDNX

So, first off; I couldn’t find any super definitive answer to what was on his jacket but I have some pretty good theories!!!!!!!

@vespereargentum and their friend on Twitter helped point out to me that the floral designs are really reminiscent of old Spanish Renaissance furniture and like yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean look at it!!!!!!!!

These photos aren’t very good but you get the gist!!!!!!!

Why would Capcom put visual designs from FURNIATURE onto clothing I have no clue, but considering the fact that almost every single detail of Luis’ character down to the damn rings are extremely purposeful I’m sure we could pick up some pieces!!!!!

It also kinda makes sense, like,,, character wise too y’know- Valdelobos was a glorified Catholic cult and obviously they kept a very old-fashioned mindset so visuals-wise it makes sense!!!!!

@ 11cool also pointed out that his jacket has a lot of similar motifs to Matadors and Traje De Luces which they have their own post you can check out if you wanna!!!!!!!! Ofc there brings up the whole issue of y’know, Bad spanish stereotypes and bullfighting etc etc but this whole post is just throwing stuff at the wall in complete honesty!!!!!

And like the og post and @cloverisnonexistantbro said there’s a not for none Chance that the designers were trying to play into abstract windmill motifs would would be super cool!!!!!

@theprestigegirly and @kaychen666 were also kind enough to point out that the flowers on his jacket kinda look like poppies!!!!!!

And I think most people already know that poppies are a pretty common symbol for death (especially after war which I’ll touch on in a second) which. Y’know. Would be just SUCH A FUN AND SILLY DETAIL if true HAHDHENDHSJ

And like the og already has put so eloquently there are just,,,,,, S O many lil design elements of Luis’ that are so perfectly purposeful,,,;,,,… down to the fact that Luis has a gun from WWI (Realistically probably passed down from hsi grandfather, who would have probably had to have lived through Spanish civil wars (yayyyyy we love generational trauma yippeee another thing to add onto Luis amirite /lh)) and down to the fricken rings he wears and what fingers he wears them on!!!!!! (One of the rings for instance is of the Virgin Mary and it’s supposedly said that wearing a ring on the fingers Luis does symbolises leadership and compassion etc etc etc Yknow ring logic HDBEHEBXHX)

So like idk!!!!!!!! If anyone who actually has knowledge of Spanish culture wants to chip in PLEASE PLEASE DO!!!!!!! I’m the whitest Mf on planet earth there’s only so much justice I can give Luis BSNDHENDJSNSJ

Tl;dr: until Capcom or somebody whose more of a professional in this field outright explains what little design details like that mean for certain I’m just throwing stuff at the wall and letting people see it HDHEHEJEID

[puddleorganism]

Hey so for your hs au, we're the kids always big dragon things or did they become dragon things at some point via wacky sburb shit? Love the designs they are so cool

Thank you so much!!

The au was inspired by some posts I saw (can’t find them now 😔) that were essentially just talking about how cruel SBURB is, and it got me thinkin a bit.

At this point I’d already had the idea “hey what if godtier let them turn into big monsters” because, and you may notice a theme here, I really like big monsters. There was no lore at all at that point. They literally just. Were big monsters. For fun!

But I got thinking about it more, and kind of came to this conclusion:

Godtiering steals your life, your very humanity from you. It makes you a god, by definition. What if that was very literal?

So the au is everyone starts out like normal, but once you godtier things start to get weird. It starts small, a single pair of wings (which, ironically they don’t actually use to fly. They could, but they still have their floaty godtier powers (and honestly there’s a whole lot of lore around THAT too)). The more you use your godtiering powers and the more time you spend as a god, the less you really… fit inside a human/troll/etc. shape, anymore, and the more your body starts to morph into something larger and grander. Something more befitting of those who have mastered the game.

And that’s basically it, that’s the only way this au diverges from canon. It’s essentially a re-skin of an au lmao

I will say the gods can return to a human shape, but only visually and it’s difficult. They sort of come to embody their aspects - literally - so if they can figure out a way to condense or conceal their aspect, they can in turn condense themselves to be something smaller. Like I said, it’s tricky though. It’s probably something they would’ve only figured out post-canon. That, and it’s something they have to consciously maintain. If they don’t, the rest of them starts to “bleed through” back into visible reality in weird ways. Since it’s all tailored to their aspect it looks different for each of them. I want to draw Dave bleeding through sometime because I have a really cool idea for what it would look like for him.

One last thing, more of a design note than anything. I actually… don’t really like their designs yet. Well, I guess it’s more that they’re not really what I want yet? I do like some of them (especially Dave’s, Dave might not need any revisions actually). While designing them I really want to model them after two concepts:

1. Illuminated manuscripts and heraldic beasts, because the classes are based off of medieval fantasy and I think it’d be sick to reference that.

2. Eldritch/cosmic horror, because that more than anything emphasizes that they don’t really belong in any one universe anymore, and also emphasizes their loss of mortality and thus, in a way, life.

I feel like most of them lean too far towards either one, and aren’t balanced between them like I want. Hence why I’m unsatisfied with them atm! I am very glad you like them though :)

[karebear923]

Ok I’m doing it!!!

I’m doing the Vice Versa rewatch!! I know we’re on week 2 and I’m behind but I had stuff going on and I didn’t have time 🙈

I don’t usually make my own posts about shows I watch so bear with me I’m kinda new at this 😅

Just a few minutes in and I realize I forgot so much of it! Of course I remember how much I loved it and how it made me feel but the details of the story have been lost by now.

When Talay described the man as brown like a horse shit I laughed out loud! Did I forget how funny the show was? 😅

This is the most iconic intro of a character ever 👏🏽😍😎 KING!! And we all know how I feel about him in the scene with the suspenders 😏

Look at these smitten kittens!! I love Sea’s freckles 🥰

As I keep watching I keep remembering so much from when I first saw it. Vice Versa was my second GMMTV BL and my 4th overall and I’ve seen so many since then but this one is really in my top 3 (I have 3 faves but they’re not ranked among themselves, they’re all equally my faves) which is really saying something! I loved this show so much and I really fell in love with Sea at first watch (Jimmy I liked but I didn’t love him til later. It took longer to warm up to him cause I didn’t like his character in Bad Buddy).

And it was my second GMMTV BL after Bad Buddy which was so good and literally changed my life cause it got me into BLs! And I was excited to see OhmNanon in it too! But I wasn’t really as disappointed that they weren’t in the show as much or that they didn’t end up together as other people were.

The way they switched from Sea to Ohm and back is pretty cool to see!

I remember that each episode was color coded and I remember not paying attention to the colors at all for some eps and trying my hardest to notice them for other eps. I’m so bad at noticing visuals like that 😅 but I would check tumblr after each episode and see how others noticed the colors! I see the ocean blue here in ep 1 🌊👀

Oh that’s right! There was a ForceBook cameo! I never watched Enchante 😅 and oh snap! The password to the secret universe-swapping club is a quote from 2gether! I understand that reference now! 😁

I have questions about this universe-swapping. Are there only 2 universes that do the swapping? Or are there a million universes that anyone could be from? If so they’re so lucky they’re from the same one and swapped to the same one, that’s fate right there. And what if you were swapped with someone of a different culture? Would one automatically know the language of the region they’re in? Or is it that you only switch with someone of your own culture? Is it like you switch with the “you” of that world? But Puen and Talay aren’t really like Tun and Tess 🤔 questions that will never be answered…

Sea’s voice is beautiful and Have I Found will always be a top tier OST in my book!! 👏🏽 one of my faves!!

What a wild ride that was revisiting ep 1 of this show! All the emotions just came flooding back to me! Maybe I don’t have anything deep to say to add to the discourse of this show but I’m so glad Monica came up with this rewatch cause I’m having a good time! Thank you @stormyoceans! I’m excited to keep going, maybe I’ll notice more stuff I didn’t realize the first time around 😁

[lulu2992]

My (spoiler-free) opinion on Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix

It was very good.

Seriously, I enjoyed it a lot! This “remix”, as the name suggests, is basically a big mashup of Ubisoft franchises, in a style that resembles Japanese animation (but by a French studio), and with a hint of arcade games. Some names, faces, or events may be familiar, but the story is set in 1992 in its own world with its own rules and people, so don’t expect anything or anyone to be exactly the same as what you’re used to.

For example, among the existing characters featured in Captain Laserhawk, we have Pagan Min, who still wears pink, has bleached hair and eyebrows, and is a villain, but isn’t a dictator, doesn’t seem to have the same backstory, and is more exuberant and carefree than he is in Far Cry 4 (he reminds me more of the young version of him we see in the Control DLC). Marcus Holloway, on the contrary, is older and more serious than his canonical Watch Dogs 2 self, but he’s still part of the series’ version of DedSec.

Visually speaking, it’s very rich, and the animation manages to be simultaneously “simple” (because of the low frame rate) and impressive. Sometimes, the show temporarily becomes a retro game, which I thought was really cool, not to mention a clever way to move the story forward. Not only are those “gameplay sequences” very well done and look like actual games, but various styles are also represented (platformers, shooters, even a dating simulator), so they really are a nice, original touch.

The soundtrack is reminiscent of the music we could hear in Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, and I don’t have much to say about it except that it was good and worked well!

As for the story, it was well-written and engaging; I watched the show in one sitting and never got bored. There’s at least one plot twist in each of the six episodes, and while the series is inspired by and references a lot of existing pieces of media, it still feels unique and manages not to fall into easy tropes and clichés. It’s funny, but it knows how to be sad. It’s colorful, but it can get really dark. It’s animated fiction, but it also tackles very real issues. Captain Laserhawk does it all, at it does it well. It’s made for an adult audience, so it contains violence, blood, drugs, vulgar language, nudity, and (implied) sex. That said, those mature elements, much like everything in the series, are well-dosed and don’t feel gratuitous, in my opinion. It’s appropriately inappropriate, I would say.

In general, I thought the actors were good and that the characters were compelling. My favorite is probably Bullfrog because he has some great scenes and I think he encompasses all aspects of the show: he’s here for comic relief but has solemn moments, he’s a cute cartoonish frog but also a skilled Assassin, etc. On a side note, as a French person, I really appreciate that his accent, although very strong, is real and not a caricatural imitation. Even when he lets out things like “ok, d’accord”, “et merde”, or even just “oui”, it sounds spontaneous and natural.

In conclusion, Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix is great. Both esthetically and narratively, it’s super creative, there’s always something happening, and you’re constantly surprised. This show is a lot but, strangely, it’s never too much. I think it’s obvious by now, but I recommend watching it (if you’re over 18... or just 16 in my country for some reason), even if you’ve never played a single Ubisoft game in your life and just want to see a good animated series. In the end, the thing I dislike most about it is that... there aren’t more episodes!

[darkfictionjude]

Outer God AU here for a mission 🐦

Let's say the MC always use sunglasses and then they argue with someone, which made the MC take of their glasses and behind there in the place where the eyes should be, there is only deep darkness like an abyss with a mischevous yellow glow in it. Seeing it is watching the begginig of the times, before light it was only darkness and monsters. The person who saw this would feel all their fears become reality. How would RO + Family reacts to that if they were arguing with the MC, but with relationship stage with Ros, giving they a cheek kiss like nothing happened.

That’s a very stunning visual nonnie

Imre:

He would be a bit… bothered. It’s hard for him to show fear. Also he doesn’t like to feel that mc uses that every time they fight to ‘win.’ He allows the kiss but tells them that if they aren’t willing to actually talk things through then he’s leaving to cool off. Call him tomorrow.

Nia:

She hates when you do that. It’s a cheap shot in her eyes. It also makes her feel like she’s just like everyone else in you’re eyes and not someone special to you. You try to kiss her cheek but she doesn’t allow it. Politely tells you to go fuck yourself. Will ask you to look for her in a week.

Lorcan:

He would likely want to break up with you. To him it feels almost, abusive? That’s terrifying and you using it against him when he doesn’t have that advantage makes him feel awful. He wouldn’t stay away long, he can’t. But he would remind that he’s easily taken advantage of.

THE CROWNS

Victor: nothing you can show him there would scare him than the things he’s already seen.

Prudence: she doesn’t like corporeal punishment but she would backhand you so hard you might lose a tooth.

Sally: why would you use that on him? He feels betrayed. Because you never have. It really does hurt him.

Percy: basically out of reflex he would punch you. Then say sorry but that what did you expect he was scared! Next time give a man a warning!

Orla: completely unfazed.

[kivaember]

👀!! but also, 🎯?

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

Interestingly, not many people have made in depth guesses about major major plot points for APV! I am curious to hear people's theories though, if only to see if the foreshadowing I lay down it getting picked up...

Otherwise, on my P5 fic To Know Your Target, quite a few people correctly guessed major plot points, which I found really cool! I like it when people can sorta guess where the story is heading, bc it means I'm building it in a coherent kind of way. There's no better feeling for when you guess something will happen and it does!

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

Oh man I have so many!!! Okay, I have one wip that's like two thirds done... it's a oneshot (a big one rip) that's post LoR. It follows 621 hunting amongst the wreckage of the Xylem for Walter's AC, mostly because he's kinda lost on what to do with himself and also bc he wants to give it a funeral. Rusty, still horribly injured from his fall fromthe Xylem, hijacks an RLF MT and follows him there...

The fic's most about discussing 621 and Rusty's different approaches to grief and moving on and the like... and hilariously, as I was writing it, 621 ended up being a lot more emotionally intelligent than Rusty was...

Have a snippet :) as a treat!

He rounded a collapsed pile of masonry and shattered glass, some sort of towering roof structure that had caved in on the deck below. STALKER was standing in the near distance on the very edge of the deck, staring at the slowly approaching supercell. 

Carefully, Rusty piloted his MT to stand beside STALKER, and directed his visual sensors towards the incoming storm. His wipers were going a little crazy now, frantically whipping back and forth to try and outpace the heavy downpour. Beside him, STALKER moved fractionally, its half-rusted joints creaking loudly. 

“...hey,” Rusty murmured. “Aren’t you tired, Raven?”

STALKER’s head angled towards him. 

«Aren’t you tired, Rusty?»

Rusty felt his mouth quirk into a smile. A response, even if it was a mocking (he assumed). He’d take it. “Yeah. I’m pretty exhausted, to be honest.” 

«…then why are you here.»

“Like I said, I came to get you. You’ve been out here for two days. Uncle was getting worried.”

Raven took his time in replying and Rusty patiently waited, ignoring the various aches and pains lancing through his body like razor sharp glass. It was fine. So long as he didn’t bust the stitches from his spleen repair surgery, he should be okay. 

«I’m fine.»

“Sure,” Rusty said. “Just like I’m fine.”

«I wasn’t in a coma for two days after breaking half my bones.»

no, you were just tortured for weeks on end instead, Rusty did not say with some effort. “You still need to eat, right? You’re augmented, but you’re still human.”

Raven didn’t seem to have a ready response for that, so he just didn’t say anything.

“...what’re you even out here for anyways?” Rusty asked, genuinely curious. The Xylem was a marvel of Institute tech, yeah, but most of it was completely ruined from its violent re-entry. Aside from getting blown up and ransacked by invading corporate and Liberation Front forces alike, the seawater filling up half the ship would’ve eaten away at most of the technology by now. 

«…I’m looking for something.» 

“Well… if you’re looking so hard for it, I guess it must be important…” Rusty said slowly. “Maybe I can help?”

«You’re injured and should be resting.»

“You’re injured too.” Rusty’s tone grew solemn. “I know what they do in those re-education camps, Raven.” 

«…»

“You’ve been flat out since you escaped,” Rusty said softly. “Uncle said you only swung by for a day at our base before running off again. If you don’t stop to rest, your body’s just going to give out on you. It’s a pointless way to go.” 

«…»

“Unless that’s what you want?” Rusty asked, and made sure his voice was dispassionately blunt when he added: “Are you just waiting to die?”

The question lingered between them like an ominous shroud. The supercell moved close enough that its thick cloud wall blocked out the sun, dousing them in deep, dark shadow. 

«…no.»

Raven paused, and STALKER kept shifting its weight back and forth, rusted joints screeching and groaning, the AC not built to spend so much time along the seashore, getting sprayed with saltwater and blasted with coastal gusts. It looked like a corpse just barely moving, skeletal, where chunks of its ablative armour had been stripped off from its own re-entry, and the inner hull torn from the tremendous forces it had been under (had never been designed to endure, but had endured anyways). 

There was even a gaping crack in the Core, a sliver where Rusty could peer past the protective armour and see a bit of the Core block that contained the pilot’s cockpit. Red-tinged rainwater was collecting in that crack, pouring out of it like a miniature stream.

«I don’t know what to do.»

It was unexpectedly honest. Vulnerable. Completely out of nowhere. 

“What do you mean?”  

«Before everything went wrong in Institute City, Handler Walter told me what to do. I knew what to expect with each day. I knew what my objectives were. Now, I know nothing. I’m a mercenary with no money or clients, and I have no idea how to get those things myself. I got my life back, like Walter wanted, but there’s nothing in it.»

STALKER’s head bowed. 

«…I have nothing.»

“That’s not true, Raven,” Rusty said gently, taken aback by Raven’s raw honesty, and cursing the awkwardness of having this talk while they were in two separate mechs. Raven was as expressionless as they came, but he could still gauge his human face better than just staring at the side of STALKER’s cracked Core. 

“After saving Rubicon, you’ve definitely got the Liberation Front on your side,” he continued. “And, for what it’s worth, I’ve got your back too. I know you won’t trust that, considering what happened before Institute City but, I mean it. I was-”

He drew in a slow breath, before admitting quietly: “I was wrong about you. You weren’t a threat to be eliminated, and I acted too hastily in my judgement of you. I’m sorry.”

«It’s fine. You weren’t exactly wrong. I was a threat.»

“...? What do you-”

A flash of scarlet lightning lit up the horizon, followed by a booming thunder that rattled Rusty’s very bones and briefly deafened him. He couldn’t help but wince. 

«I’m looking for Walter,» Raven said in an unexpected non-sequitur, forcibly dropping the last topic. «His corpse is on this ship somewhere.»

[desiccatedwithering]

we live in troubled days (oh, my friend, we have the strangest ways) — ch 4/6?

(5.4k || read on ao3) (ch1 || ch2 || ch3)

He cannot do this.

It was bad enough trying to hang out with just Harrington, but Robin’s presence adds a whole new layer of weirdness.

It’s like this is a game of tri-dimensional chess, except instead of playing, he’s a rook. Or probably a pawn. Certainly not someone with a high enough vantage point to actually understand anything happening on the board.

For example:

Robin announces that they both have to watch her hang her new Rudolph ornament—dubbed Rolph—on the tree, and they dutifully follow her. While she and Harrington discuss the best location for him, Eddie takes in the tree, which is decorated with a baffling mix of perfectly matching glass ornaments and what can only be described as a middle school art room explosion. The number of painted light bulbs and cinnamon stick snowmen and paper snowflakes is truly staggering. Not at all what Eddie would’ve expected, given the rest of the decor in this atrocious house.

“There,” Robin says, finally placing the ornament on a suitable branch. “I think that’s good. You?”

“Yeah. Here, I’ll turn on the lights to make sure.” Then Harrington flips the surge strip on, and—

“Sweet! I love bubble lights,” Eddie says.

Robin replies, “Steve thought his parents’ rich person white ones were boring.”

Harrington nods, says, “But I can’t do normal colored ones because of, y’know,” makes a vague hand gesture towards the ceiling, and leaves the room.

Eddie’s subsequent attempts to communicate, What the fuck, that was weird, right? with his eyes fail spectacularly as Robin gets lost watching the bubbles.

He leaves her to stare at the lights and returns to Harrington’s side like a dog to its master’s heel. Honestly, this whole thing is starting to get pathetic. How has he failed to find any concrete evidence? He really thought he would be better at this whole investigation thing.

Should he just try to seem less nerdy so that Harrington loses interest in killing him? What do normal guys talk about? Better question: What do popular guys talk about? Big parties? But Eddie’s never been to one of those without dealing—and talking about hard drugs right now would probably start an international incident, based on the way Harrington reacted to weed.

Cars are out, since he doubts Harrington wants to hear about his van’s many and varied ailments.

Which leaves… sports? Yeah, Eddie can—probably—fudge a decent amount of Sports Knowledge, based on gym class and osmosis from the times Wayne’s watched a game in the trailer.

“Balls.” Nope! Immediate disaster! Being murdered right now would be a blessing, honestly, but Eddie rallies and says, “Uh, I mean. Basketball.”

Harrington stares at him for a moment, then says, tentatively, “…Yes?”

Eddie nods, trying to look like someone who’s voluntarily played a sport before. “You played in high school, right?”

“Yeah,” Harrington says, sounding like it’s the stupidest question he’s ever heard. Then he clears his throat and continues, less bitchily, “Well, not my senior year, since I was benched after Hargrove tried to cave my skull in with a plate, but. Before that.”

Eddie tries not to wince. Hargrove is probably a sore topic. Time to redirect. “Swimming!” he declares.

Harrington stares some more.

“You were, uh, captain, right?” What’s the least nerdy way to stand? Should he lean on something all cool and casual? Or will that make him look sickly, like his muscles aren’t strong enough to keep him upright?

“Co-captain,” Harrington corrects.

Eddie nods vaguely. “Right. Cool.”

“Cool,” Harrington echoes. He continues to watch Eddie with an unreadable expression, and Eddie desperately hopes that his nerves don’t show and he passes whatever jock visual test is happening right now. “Are you actually at all interested in sports?”

“Nope.” What the fuck! Jesus, he needs to find a brain to mouth filter.

Harrington snorts and turns back to the stove. “You don’t have to pretend to like sports for me. Just talk about your nerdy shit, or whatever.”

Yeah, he’s not doing that while trying to seem less nerdy, thank you very much. Eddie leans against the island—in a very athletic way, because you never know when your future murderer might glance over—and says, “Robin told me the kids were on their way?”

Harrington nods and calls, “Hey, Rob, did Dustin give you an ETA?”

“No, he just said—” Robin cuts herself off, and Eddie glances at the doorway to find her frowning at him. “Oh, Jesus Christ, Steve. What have you done to Eddie now?”

“What?”

“Just look at him.”

Harrington turns to look at his, again, totally normal and athletic leaning and says, “Shit, are you ok? Why are you slouching like that? Do you need painkillers or something?”

Eddie straightens up, pulling his hair in front of his face. “No, uh. Just. Stretching.”

Harrington eyes him for a moment longer—looking for weaknesses to exploit?—before turning to Robin and asking, “Hey, Rob, can you go set the table for me?”

“Ugh. Seriously? I’m a guest. I shouldn’t have to do work. You’re being a bad host.”

Harrington scoffs. “You practically live here. You don’t count as a guest anymore.”

“Why didn’t you do it while I was asleep?”

“Because I was cooking?” Harrington pointedly stirs the pot of… whatever he’s making now, then nods in Eddie’s direction. “And entertaining Eddie.”

“Oh-ho. Entertaining him, huh?” Robin leans back against the counter beside him with a wide grin. Her eyebrows wiggle around like seizing caterpillars.

Eddie has died and gone to hell; he’s sure of it.

Harrington’s cheeks flush red, and he takes a halfhearted swipe at her. “Get off my counter and make yourself useful.”

“This is cruel and unusual torture,” Robin laments, even as she opens up cabinets and starts pulling out glasses.

“I can help,” Eddie offers, not really keen on being alone in a room with Harrington after the joke Robin just made, even if Harrington hadn’t reacted badly.

“No, you’ll mess it up,” Robin says instantly, scowling at him like he’s committed some heinous crime. She grabs the stack of glasses and swans out of the room.

Before Eddie can figure out if he should be offended that she apparently thinks him incapable of setting a table, Harrington says, “She’s very particular about the place settings.” He raises his voice a bit and continues, “Which is why it’s stupid that we have this argument every single time.”

“You get extra bitchy if you don’t have regularly scheduled pointless arguments. They’re enrichment for your inner mean girl,” Robin calls back. “And I maintain that I shouldn’t have to set the table myself; you should just do it correctly.”

Harrington visibly bites back a response to that and turns to Eddie instead. “I forgot to ask earlier: Did you like the cake?”

And like an idiot who’s apparently incapable of not making every situation worse for himself, Eddie says, “I didn’t eat it.”

“Oh.” Harrington’s face falls. Fuck, fuck, fuck. How is he doing that with his eyes?

“My uncle ate it!” Eddie blurts. “Before I had a chance. Said it was delicious.”

Which is all true, technically. Sure, it leaves out the fact that Eddie had absolutely no intention of eating it himself. And it omits the near panic attack he had when he realized that Wayne had eaten it.

“Oh, um. That’s—”

“What’s the deal with that anyway?” Eddie asks, too loudly, desperate to redirect the conversation. “The whole ‘leaving a slice of cake on someone’s doorstep’ thing, I mean.”

“Oh, it’s something I read in an article about how to have a gay Christmas.”

Eddie is possessed by a demon. That’s the only explanation for why he immediately replies, “I’ll show you a gay Christmas.” God, and in a flirty tone? Was he just flirting? With King Steve? The man planning to murder him? Genuine question: What the fuck is wrong with his brain?

Harrington blinks at him for a second. His eyes darken and Eddie braces himself for a punch, but instead Harrington just sidles close, close, way too close and says, voice low, “Oh yeah?”

Eddie is saved by the bell. Or, in this case, a familiar knock immediately followed by the children throwing open the door like they own the place.

“Take your shoes off!” Harrington orders instantly, stepping out of Eddie’s space and heading for the door. Eddie trails after him like a duckling. Or a masochist.

“We know, Steve,” Dustin complains. Eddie loves the kid, but Christ, his attitude sometimes.

“If you knew, you would just do it without me having to remind you—”

“Happy birthday, Steve!” the kids all chorus over his bitching as he steps into the foyer.

Harrington sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, I’m sure that joke will just keep getting funnier every year.”

“It’s not a joke, Steve!” Dustin gasps, hand to his heart like the drama queen he is. “Why would we joke about your birthday? We’re all proud of you for managing to survive another year.”

“And forty’s a big milestone,” Mike says with a shit-eating grin.

“Haha. You can turn right around and go home, Wheeler.”

“Nancy’s long gone.”

“You have legs. I’m sure you can use them.”

“Wait,” Eddie says, before Mike has a chance to start whining, “it’s your birthday, and you still told me not to bring a present?”

“It’s not my birthday. Apparently the 26th is Saint Stephen’s Day, and someone felt the need to share that information. So now the kids think they’re being cute.”

“In my defense, I thought you picked the day on purpose,” Lucas calls from down the hall.

“Back up. You didn’t bring Steve a present, Eddie?” Dustin asks, extremely accusatory for a kid who literally ordered Eddie not to bring anything.

“You’re the one who told me not to!”

“Yeah, ‘cause Steve was all weird about it and told me to give you the message! But I didn’t think you’d actually listen. Who doesn’t bring something to a party?”

“For your information, I did bring something.”

“Oh yeah? What was it?”

Hmm. The kids must know that he’s a drug dealer, but Harrington was already weird at the thought of weed existing in the same house as them, so he probably shouldn’t bring it up. He scoffs. “None of your business, pipsqueak. It’s for adults.”

“Porn?” Dustin screeches.

“What? No!”

“Who has porn?” Robin asks, turning the corner to join the conversation at literally the worst possible moment.

“Apparently Eddie brought Steve porn for Christmas,” Max says, gleefully.

“Ewww.” Robin wrinkles her nose and eyes him suspiciously. Is he going insane, or does she linger on his hanky? He fights the urge to hide it in his pocket. “What kind?”

Eddie slashes his arms through the air. “No! Jesus Christ, I didn’t bring him porn! It was just weed.”

“Oh,” Dustin says, deflating. Then he puffs up again, like an angry rooster. “Wait, you brought Steve weed? Like, marijuana? That’s worse than not getting him a present at all! You know he’s been sober since the summer.”

Eddie stares at him. “How the fuck would I know that?”

“Because I’ve talked about it before? Do you not listen when I—”

“Wait,” Harrington cuts in, turning to Dustin with his hands on his hips, strangely severe for something that literally doesn’t matter. “You’ve talked about it?”

Robin lets out a low “oooh,” like she’s just heard a classmate be called into the principal's office.

“A passing mention!” Dustin says, holding his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t go into, like—” he covers his mouth and then continues in the loudest whisper Eddie’s ever heard “—classified details, obviously. Though the papers we signed aren’t even legally binding—”

“Maybe not for you little shitheads, but I’m over eighteen—”

“Excuse me,” the tiniest child—who Eddie is pretty sure he’s never seen before—says abruptly. “I see that Robin is eating a cookie right now, and if I don’t get one in the next thirty seconds, I’m calling CPS.”

Harrington immediately abandons his argument with Dustin and whirls on her, slamming his hands onto his hips. “You know where the kitchen is, Erica. And what the fuck would CPS do?”

Erica scoffs. “Uh, protect me? I am a child, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“You’re a pain in my ass, is what you are,” Harrington mutters, running a hand through his hair and looking extremely harried for someone who supposedly hangs out with these children regularly. “I’m not your parent? CPS can’t do shit to me.”

“Uh, CPS is part of the government,” Erica says, in that classic middle schooler How stupid can you be? voice. “And the government owes me free dessert for life.”

“Wasn’t it just ice cream?”

She rolls her eyes. “It changed to all desserts when I nearly died multiple times and had to rescue your useless ass.”

“Language, shithead,” Harrington says absently.

“Wait. Since when does the government owe you that? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but none of us are government agents.” Robin gestures—bizarrely—between herself, Harrington, and Dustin. “And besides, the deal was null and void when Scoops burnt down.”

“The deal with you losers was void. But I negotiated a better one with the government. If they want me to keep my mouth shut, they have to give me something in exchange.”

“Shit, we could do that?” Lucas asks, walking back into the foyer and handing Erica a cookie.

She sighs. “You know, for a bunch of nerds, you’re all real stupid.”

“Hey! I just got you a cookie, and you’re calling me stupid?”

“That’s the only reason I’m not being meaner.”

“How does free dessert from the government even work?” Eddie asks. Everyone turns to stare at him, like they’d forgotten that he was also in the room for… all of whatever that was. Super cool vibe. “Do you have some sort of coupon signed by the president? Do you have to keep every receipt and report it on your taxes?”

“How should I know? I’m eleven.”

“But—”

“Damn,” Robin says loudly. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize we could extort the government. Then I could use my money from Family Video for something fun, rather than just saving it for college.”

Ok, yeah! Just talk over him; that’s fine. Also, what? Eddie’s, like, eighty-seven percent sure this has something to do with that “top secret” D&D campaign that the boys think he doesn’t know about, but why were Harrington and Robin involved? And why would Family Video be included? Maybe he was wrong about the D&D aspect. It could be some other game system, set in modern day for some lame reason and all about boring real life problems rather than cool shit like fighting monsters and—

“What?” Harrington asks, frowning. “Rob, all of us have ‘tuition funds.’”

“Since when?”

“Uh, ‘84 for most of us, and ‘85 for you and Erica?”

“That cannot be true.”

“Did you actually read any of the paperwork you signed?”

“Sorry, are you telling me that you did?”

“Obviously? I mean, sure, maybe I missed something, since I’ve gotten a concussion literally every time this shit goes down, but I wasn’t going to sign something without reading it? Especially not since the last two times were, again, legally binding for me. That’s, like, the one useful piece of advice my dad has ever given me.”

“So I have a bunch of money lying around that no one told me about? What the fuck. Where is it?”

“You don’t get access to it until you turn eighteen, so parents who don’t know about—” He gestures vaguely around at the group, points at the ceiling then the ground, and then spreads his fingers wide, palm facing out. Which Eddie interprets as The sacrifices we give to our gods, committed in my basement. Single jazz hand. Roughly translated, of course. “—don’t get suspicious.”

Robin opens her mouth, but before she can say anything, Mike loudly declares, “The minister’s cat is an awesome cat.”

“What?” Eddie asks, frowning.

“Oh!” Lucas says. “The minister’s cat is a big cat.”

Dustin heckles him as Erica jumps in with, “The minister’s cat is a cute cat.”

“What the fuck,” Eddie mutters under his breath. Is this some sort of spell? A curse they’re casting on him? Maybe all of Harrington’s victims were actually just turned into cats for… some reason. And the caskets were just buried empty or with fake bodies inside. Though why Harrington’s cult would want to turn people into cats is a mystery.

Damn, he should’ve asked when Harrington got Carmilla. Maybe she’s actually Barb. If Eddie were suddenly turned into a cat, he’d definitely bite hard enough to draw blood.

Carmilla meows, horrifyingly following the pattern. Yeah, this is definitely the casting of a curse.

“Oh good choice, Keys,” Harrington coos.

Dustin says, “The minister’s cat is an eloquent cat.”

All eyes turn on Eddie expectantly, and he takes an instinctive step back. “I don’t understand what’s happening here.”

“You gotta pick a word that starts with f,” Dustin tells him.

“Fuck.”

Harrington snorts.

Eddie crosses his arms and glowers at him. “What? He said a word starting with f.”

“You have to describe the cat. Y’know, like, fancy or something. But not fancy because I just gave you that.”

“...Why?”

Harrington’s brows raise. “Because it’s the rules of the game?”

“You’ve never played The Minister’s Cat before?” Robin asks.

“Obviously not? What the fuck is The Minister’s Cat?” Eddie flails his arms to encompass this whole situation.

“It’s a Victorian parlor game,” Robin says. “Everyone goes through the alphabet and says an adjective for their letter. If you repeat a word someone said in a previous round or take too long to pick, you’re out.”

God, the Victorian era must’ve sucked if this is what they did for fun. Eddie lets out a sigh. “Ok, sure. The minister’s cat is a ferocious cat.”

“The minister’s cat is a glamorous cat,” Robin says.

They continue through the alphabet until:

“The minister’s cat is an excellent cat,” Harrington says, scooping Carmilla into his arms.

“That doesn’t start with x,” Eddie points out helpfully.

The impact of Harrington’s bitchy look is diminished by the cat purring like a motorboat in his arms. “Oh yeah? I’d like to see you think of an adjective starting with x.”

“Hey, it wasn’t my turn. And I failed senior year twice, so—” He cuts himself off, head whipping around as Robin starts honest-to-god bawking like a chicken. He tries to stare her down, but she just gets louder. He throws his hands up. “Ok, fine! The minister’s cat is a…”

Fuck. Are there any adjectives that start with x? All he can think of is various ex- words, which obviously don’t work. The smirk slowly growing on Harrington’s face is definitely not helping the situation. “Uh…”

Harrington practically oozes smugness as he says, “Yeah, not so easy is—”

“Xenophobic!” Eddie shouts. “The minister’s cat is a xenophobic cat!”

“Woah,” Robin protests, frowning at him.

“Gosh, Eddie,” Max says, shaking her head slowly. “I can’t believe you’d make the cat a bigot.”

“It starts with x!”

“Yeah, but you could’ve just gone with xanthic,” Dustin says. Eddie turns wide, probably manic eyes on him, and Dustin raises his hands in surrender. Still, he sullenly grumbles, “Just saying.”

“Yeah, you had other choices,” Lucas pitches in, grinning. “Pretty offensive to call someone’s cat bigoted, if you ask me.”

“It’s a fake cat!” Eddie shrieks, steam probably coming out of his ears at this point.

“Alright, shitheads,” Harrington interjects. He supports Carmilla as she clambers onto his shoulder, then makes a shooing motion at the kids, herding them towards the living room. “That’s enough tormenting Munson. Scram. Go entertain yourselves until dinner’s ready.”

“We didn’t even finish the round,” Dustin protests.

“Well, I’m out, so go finish it on your own.”

Max grabs Carmilla off Harrington’s shoulder. “The minister’s cat is a zesty cat. There. Round finished.”

Dustin huffs. “You’re all just being sore losers, ‘cause you know I’d win.”

Max rolls her eyes. “Sure, whatever you need to tell yourself.”

“Hey, Steve,” Mike says, “can I switch your depressing old music?”

Harrington frowns. “It’s not depressing—”

“I love you, but this song is literally named In the Bleak Midwinter,” Robin says, patting his shoulder.

“Whatever.” Harrington rolls his eyes and turns back to Mike. “You’ll have to ask Eddie. I said he could be in charge of music when he arrived, since he wasn’t happy with my choices.”

“You opened the door, and Last Christmas was playing. Wham! makes my ears bleed. Sorry for wanting to spare you that sight.” Eddie doesn’t even realize his mistake until Harrington turns on him, brows raised and a wide grin on his face.

“You recognized a Wham! song?” he asks, leaning closer.

Eddie takes a step back and crosses his arms over his chest. “The radio’s played it constantly for the past two years. Obviously I’ve heard it. Against my will.”

He vaguely registers Mike saying his name, but he’s more focused on the way Harrington still looks way too excited about Eddie’s slip.

“Obviously,” Harrington agrees, taking a step forward. “But you—”

“Everyone shut the fuck up!” Mike hollers.

“Christ,” Harrington breathes, just loud enough for Eddie to hear. He pinches the bridge of his nose.

“El recommended this album because she likes the song about the bear, so everyone is going to listen to it and enjoy it,” he says, holding up a cassette.

“Or else,” Max adds, glaring directly at Eddie for some reason.

“El has never done anything wrong in her life—” Robin starts.

“And her taste is impeccable,” Harrington cuts in.

Robin nods. “So I’m sure we’ll all love it.”

The other kids chorus their agreement, which seems to mollify Mike somewhat. He still shoots everyone a dirty look as he starts the album, though.

Eddie waits until he’s sure the kids aren’t paying attention, then follows Harrington back into the kitchen. He keeps his voice low as he asks, “El? Mike’s California girlfriend? She’s real?”

“Yep.” Harrington glances over at him, lips quirking up. “Don’t tell me you thought Suzie was fake, too.”

“Dustin’s super genius girlfriend who he met at summer camp and lives in Utah?”

“Don’t forget that she’s hotter than Phoebe Cates.”

“Of course. Super genius and hotter than Phoebe Cates. Yeah, I definitely believed in her,” Eddie says, not very convincingly.

Harrington snorts. “Well, she’s real, too. I’ve talked to her a couple times. You should see the radio Dustin built with her. Kid calls it Cerebro.”

“Like from the comics?”

Harrington stares at him blankly. “Sure.”

“You know, Professor X, Charles Xavier—”

“Oh!” Harrington snaps his finger and grins. Then he raises his voice a bit and calls, “Hey, Dustin, Cerebro’s from the G.I. Joe comics, right?”

“You know it’s not, Steve!” Dustin howls.

Harrington’s grin grows even wider. “Hey, don’t blame me. I’m just repeating Eddie’s question.”

“Oh, you motherfucker,” Eddie hisses, mere seconds before Dustin appears in the doorway, tragic and waif-like.

“You don’t know about the X-Men?” he asks, lip full-on trembling, as if Eddie not knowing something nerdy is genuinely the worst thing that could ever happen to him. If the kid is a secret agent planning his brutal murder, he’s a remarkably good actor.

“No, obviously I know the X-Men. Harrington’s just messing with you.” He whips his head around to glare venomously at Harrington, expecting him to fold like his players always do in the face of his fury.

Harrington makes the most exaggerated Who, me? face Eddie’s ever seen, and Dustin infuriatingly falls for it. Unbelievable. The kid’s literally in a club that got its name from the Uncanny X-Men.

“We have to fix this. Right now,” he announces, attaching himself to Eddie’s arm like a limpet. “So, the first X-Men comic was published in—” Aaaand he’s off, monologuing at breakneck speed with, frankly, encyclopedic knowledge of the X-Men comics, as he drags Eddie from the room.

Eddie twists around and mouths, Screw you, at Harrington, who just grins and wiggles his fingers in a little wave.

————

Eddie finally manages to escape Dustin’s clutches and creeps out of the room. He bites back a curse as he nearly bumps into a cabinet right outside the door. Who the hell has a display of fancy plates right next to a doorway? That’s just asking for a disaster.

Eddie eyes the bowl of fruit on top of the cabinet warily.

It was definitely a mistake not to eat before coming, but he’d been so worked up, he probably wouldn’t have been able to keep anything down anyway. Is it safer to wait and eat the dinner that Harrington serves him? Or should he eat an apple and hope it tides him over (and that no one asks why he isn’t eating)? Harrington wouldn’t have poisoned fruit in a bowl that anyone could eat from, right? Besides, how would he even poison an apple? He’s not a witch (probably).

Eddie plucks an apple from the bowl, inspecting it carefully. There aren’t any blemishes, nothing that makes him think it was somehow tampered with.

Though if Harrington did manage to poison them without leaving any evidence, would it be all of them? Or just the top ones? Or—realizing that Eddie would obviously be suspicious of him—just the bottom ones?

Jesus H. Christ, he sounds like Vizzini. He should just eat it.

Before he can rethink his decision, Eddie closes his eyes and sinks his teeth into it. Now he just has to figure out how—

Jesus H. Christ, what the fuck is wrong with this apple?

How the hell is it so dry? And waxy? And— Wait.

Eddie freezes, eyes slowly falling to the apple in his hand with a sinking feeling in his gut. Yeah, that’s definitely not a real apple.

He spits the lump of wax into his palm with a grimace. There’s no salvaging it, so he moves a few of the other apples out of the way and buries the evidence of his terrible choices. He carefully returns the other apples to the bowl, making sure that everything looks the same as before—thank God all the apples were the same color—and nods to himself. There. Now no one will ever know what happened here.

Honestly though, this is Harrington’s fault. Like, who actually owns wax fruit? Between this and the Victorian game, it’s like Eddie’s been transported back in time.

Oh, shit, is Harrington a vampire? Actually… Eddie honestly wouldn’t be that mad if he gets eaten by a vampire. That’d be a cool way to go. Cooler if Harrington didn't kill him and just kept him around for smaller periodic feedings, rather than a giant annual meal. That way, he could tell the boys. And there’s always tension between a vampire and their blood donor, so maybe—

“Smooth.”

Eddie yelps, whirling around to find Erica standing in the doorway. “Jesus Christ, how long have you been standing there?”

“Since you first picked up that apple.”

Well fuck. So much for nobody knowing.

“I bit it on purpose,” he tries. “I… eat wax sometimes?”

“Uh huh. If you like eating wax, why’d you spit it out instead of swallowing?”

Eddie will not make inappropriate jokes in front of a child. He won’t. He has a modicum of self control. “Ok, fine,” he says instead, shoulders slumping. “You caught me. What do you want? I should warn you that I’ve got, like, twenty cents to my name.”

“I don’t want your money,” Erica scoffs. “I have Steve for that.”

“So we’re good? You won’t tell anyone?” Eddie asks, cautiously hopeful. That seems too good to be true.

“I didn’t say that.” Her lips curl in an impish smile. This whole house is filled with demons.

“Are you going to tell me what you want, or—?”

“Dustin!” she says, glancing over her shoulder. “Come here.”

Eddie bites back a scream.

“I’m a better DM than you,” Erica tells him, apropos of nothing.

Eddie blinks at her, entirely at a loss for how to respond because, like, he shouldn’t fight a child, right? Especially not one who’s blackmailing him. Even if she is unequivocally wrong. “Uh…”

“Just the facts,” she says, punctuating the statement with a loud pop of her gum. Jesus, is this toddler cooler than him? Granted, it’s not a high bar to clear and there are probably lots of children who are objectively cooler than him, but he’s never had to interact with them before. “Just ask Dustin. He said so himself.”

Now hold on. Eddie can’t in good conscience fight a middle schooler, but freshmen are absolutely fair game. He glares at Dustin the second he steps into the room and drops his voice to his patented villain growl, “You said Erica is a better DM than me?”

“That is not what I said!” Dustin cries, holding his hands up defensively. “She’s totally misrepresenting the situation!”

“No, I remember you saying that, too,” Max calls from the other room.

“No you didn’t because I never said that!” Dustin shouts back. “I was just talking about Scoops Troop and the Party. Nothing at all to do with Hellfire.” He turns back to Eddie with wide eyes, hands clasped in front of him. “You have to believe me.”

Eddie briefly entertains the idea of making him grovel more, but he’d rather figure out what Erica’s plotting. He points to the door. “Get out of my sight.”

Dustin opens his mouth, then seems to think better of it and scampers away.

Eddie turns back to Erica, raising a brow. “What exactly was the point of that?”

“Admit that I’m a better DM than you.”

“No,” he says immediately.

“I guess Steve will just have to hear what happened in here, then.”

“There must be something else. I’ll do whatever you want. Anything but that.”

Erica’s eyes light up. “You’re my personal servant for the night.”

“Fi—”

“And,” she says, holding up a finger, “you’re going to stop being shitty to Lucas because he likes basketball.”

Eddie splutters. He hasn’t been shitty. That’s absurd. What, she thinks that just because he doesn’t like sports or jocks that means— Oh. Hmm.

“Deal,” he sighs.

“I knew you’d make the smart choice.” She holds out her cup. “Now go get me more juice.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Eddie catches the tail end of Robin’s sentence as he walks to the kitchen, her voice shrill: “—gross. Dingus, I am begging you to pick literally any other topic of conversation now.”

He presses his back to the wall right outside the kitchen, waiting to see if they’re talking about something incriminating.

“Fine,” Harrington grumbles. “So, how’re things going with—?”

“I’ve actually changed my mind. No more talking at all. I’m gonna stick my head inside the oven instead.”

“Oh, come on. Rob—” Whatever he says next is too low for Eddie to hear, but he catches Robin’s reluctant sigh, and then Harrington saying, “—and I mean, aside from certain unmentionable events, I’ve never really dabbled in anything like S&M, so—”

“I really don’t think torture counts, since it wasn't consensual or sexual... It wasn’t sexual, was it? Steve, you would’ve told me if—”

What the fuck? Harrington tortures people? God, Eddie thought that at least his murder would be quick.

“Jesus, Robin, obviously I—”

“Hey, nerd!” Erica snaps, drowning out Harrington’s voice. “You said you were going to get me more juice!”

Eddie bites back a rude comment because he did agree to be her servant, even if it’s inconvenient when he’s trying to eavesdrop. “Right away, Lady Erica.”

He steps into the kitchen. Harrington and Robin’s heads snap towards him in eerie unison. He offers them a weak smile, hoping that his face isn’t screaming the word torture, and holds Erica’s cup aloft.

“I’m on a perilous and harrowing quest.”

“That so?” Harrington asks, a grin tugging at his lips. “What is it?”

“I have to obtain more juice for Lady Erica.”

Harrington laughs and pulls the bottle out of the fridge, sliding it across the counter to him. Eddie almost doesn’t catch it—because he has bad coordination, not because he was distracted or anything. He’s not sure if Harrington noticed the fumble, but he doesn’t look up to check. He just has to pour a glass of juice without making a fool of himself. Easy-peasy.

“How’d you get roped into getting it for her?”

“Just following the code of chivalry,” Eddie says. He caps the bottle and slides it back—well, slides it part way across the counter. Good enough.

Harrington grabs the bottle and puts it back in the fridge. “Well dinner’s ready, so you can take it into the dining room. Robin can show you where Erica’s sitting.”

Great. Dinner.

This is going to be a disaster.

[life-set-to-random]

Oh dear lord… the Ninja Tribunal arch. So much to unpack. Give me strength…

I’m going to try and be fair, I’m going to mention something positive for every complaint I make. I don’t want to be that person after all.

Firstly, please, please, for the love of all things , STOP CALLING OUT ATTACKS LIKE A CHEAP 90S ANIME DUB!!! The original cringe. 😖

Ok, nice thing time. These four were very likable (if not superfluous). I found myself wanting to know more about them and even shipping some of them with the Hamato brothers, if not romantically then at least as besties. Sadly they spend the entire arch building up friendships between these humans and the Turtles only to kill them off in the end. But it feels SO forced. We weren’t given enough time with them to really cry over them as individuals so much as morn the wasted potential they were brimming with. I get they couldn’t kill off the Turtles and thus needed some “Red Shirts” to try and sell the high stakes, but still.

And what about the relatives they were threatened with in the first episode of the arch? Joi Reynard’s Aunt who lives in Japan (I’m assuming Army or Navy brat, she’s WAY too caucasian to even be half Japanese, I’m assuming French ancestry), and Adam McCay’s brother (who never gets a name) in Miami Florida? Faraji Ngala and Yoshida Tora aren’t given specific loved ones to fret over but Tora obviously has someone because he apologizes to Mikey “…our families are at stake.”

Did anyone notify those poor people that their relatives died?! Because they weren’t even mentioned after this.

Side note while we’re on the subject of the folks left behind back on the home front, I hope April or one of the other human Allie’s back in NY are taking care of Klunk. With the way the Hamato clan keeps getting kidnaped for long periods of time, the poor fluff ball could starve easily.

These four, ugh where to start?

Positive note, beautiful visual designs, if not a westerner’s usual hodgepodge of Asian fantasy stereotypes. 🙄😑

Weak backstory, contorting groundbreaking original canon for this series into a very boring and predictable bit of nonsense. Completely unnecessary and obviously half assed, to the point where the Turtles sum it up so succinctly you want to say to Splinter and The Ancient One “That’s how you tell a story!”

Oh and their attitudes sucked! Almost as bad as their communication skills. Thankfully, when he arrived, Splinter flat out called them out on their crap. “How can they prepare themselves if you do not tell them anything?!”

Probably should say something positive again… Um, their voice actors were great?😅 And I love the juxtaposition of the girl being the one to represent strength and having a huge man representing stealth.

The weapons. Positive observations, they’re real weapon types and are actually pretty cool looking. Also it’s nice to see the boys deviated from their comfort zones (not Leo unfortunately, the writers just can’t separate him from swords in their minds apparently). How Leo gets his is so infuriatingly complicated when it didn’t need to be and falls into the trope of “black guy dies first” (then the girl, then the sweetheart, then the cool dude. Did we take a wrong turn into a late 90s horror movie or something?).

The monsters. None of these creatures look like their Japanese inspiration AT ALL! And none of them are Tengu, Tengu doesn’t even mean “demon”! They just stuck Tengu on the end of every other Japanese Yokai name! For no good reason!

I kept hearing that line from Princess Bride in my head. “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

I’m not even Asian and I’m so offended and confused, I can’t imagine how an actual member of the Japanese culture must feel getting shit on like this. Whoever wrote this arch did not respect the source material, the source culture, or the audience because they obviously assumed we were all stupid unaware kids! Ether that, or they were seriously lazy, I suspect both.

And if you’re going to give an English speaking cast of white people Japanese words to say, TEACH THEM HOW TO £¥€&ING SAY THEM CORRECTLY! Jeezus Henry Christmas! (Best Herminone Granger voice) It’s “Oh-Knee” not “On-Eye”!

Bright side, they do look awesome.🤷🏻‍♀️

Im going to have to post about the Tribunal’s dragon forms on another post, I’ve run out of picture space.😑