#unironically love the beam effect

[rassilon-imprimatur]

All my love to Terrance Dicks, but asserting mercy in the Arc of Infinity novelization was cowardice, Nyssa absolutely killed those men. 

[lakesbian]

should comment on the first (<- optimistically hoping there will be more) lamb interludes too

i like ashton so far i think it's fun to add another more Noticeably Alien Freak lamb. kindof autistic to be a fucked up biohorror lab experiment that doesn't know how to imitate people yet and consequently has no volume control & errs on the side of speaking too softly instead when you think about it.

the effect of him constantly vividly imagining peoples heads exploding for fun may be somewhat lost on me because i'm like well he's not hurting anyone so good for him.

the nonhuman visual perception was fun to read about i liked that

it has sadly occurred to me while writing this that the next time we see him it's gonna be timeskipped so far ahead that he'll be a Normal Boy and i won't get to enjoy the development phase, which seems like it should be the appeal of adding a new little vat boy to the team

his interlude segment portrays jamie 2 as a bit of an older sister. this is a win for me.

helen thoughts:

best interlude so far hands down because helen is special. one of the best Scenes At All Ever so far hands down because helen is special. it is so EXTREMELY effective to show her away from the lambs for the first time and have her casually remind that the personality she's been displaying for most of the book is an entirely calculated act for the lambs' benefit, and even the glimpses beneath it they've been getting had a heavy dosage of acting involved in the presentation. utter fucking Crocodile of a girl. it's so good

it's also extremely fucking funny for helen to be told to stop acting and respond by standing up and going "i want to gore that guy over there. Sexually."

specifically a big fan of how it's explicitly belabored that she stands up during the interrogation because she's no longer acting. like, the idea that even the most basic level of expected human behavior that would seem common sense exists only because of an act, and immediately ceases if the act does, replaced entirely by some reptilian Thing who stands up and states desire to crawl murderously into someone's mouth--that's really fucking good. and then the act goes back up and helen the Thing remains lying there underneath.

not directly from the interlude but i thought it was cute when sy explained to her that she was possibly feeling loneliness. if i was mary i would treat helen right...reptilegirls need hugs too...i would let her cuddle with me at night like a weird cat...

gordon:

i like him but he's very simple and overshadowed compared to more special individuals like helen. i'm sorry gordon

i do think it's SO fucking funny that he unironically mentally gets worried and compares him thinking mary is hot to helen talking about wanting to crawl into peoples skin and shit. teenager experiencing normal levels of teenager feelings and being like oh NO im some sort of weird intense freak pervert of the earth. like no man youre just a teenager youre gonna be okay buddy. well, you're not going to be okay, but that's for reasons unrelated to being attracted to women. that part is normal and fine.

it's nice to have confirmation that gordon is mind beaming "holy shit please shut the fuck up" at sy just as often as sy is mind beaming it at him. not that we needed it to know, given that sy receives the mind beams 95% of the time minimum (and elects to ignore them almost as often)

i like the bit abt him being a segmented stitched-together person made from composite parts & his feelings also being sort of metaphorically processed as composite parts he can pick and choose from to engage with. griffon boy...

we should kill the duke

we should kill the baron

we should kill the duke and the baron

mary: unfortunately theres not so much to say about this one because she spent 65% of it vividly imagining how she could murder people. love you mary

lillian:

it was fun to see how sy looks from someone else's perspective and then find out what the fuck he was actually doing next chapter. and like just in general fun and convincing to see how she reads him without being privy to the one million insane things he's thinking at any given second

i have to confess i was bad at actually thinking a lot about lillian during this one. one of my main thoughts was "oh good we finally have more detailed description of how sy looks." wildbow novels are cool because you have to wait until one fucktillion words in to find out that a character has long eyelashes. adding that to my list of mental notes for drawing sy

detailed descriptions of how sy kisses lillian (extremely real and true and in character for him by the way you know he was doing a death note monologue in his head about his methodology) made me remember that im going to have to read the lesbian sex scene that fails the bechdel test at some point because mary tries to imitate it and then i went 🙁and had to try to stop thinking about that.

[a-bit-too-much-of-a-pokemon-fan]

Did you know that in terms of design, Nuzlocke viability, and nostalgia, Vaporeon is unironically one of my favorite Pokémon? It has been since I was a little kid. My love for this little water dog-cat-whatever-it-is has only grown since I started Nuzlocking. This is Thaniel the Vaporeon, and I’m here to tell you how he (almost) singlehandedly swept Nemona’s champion team.

By the end game, Vaporeon can learn Surf, Acid Armor, and Aqua Ring. Its Spec Def is really good, and its Defense is average. Its biggest weakness is far and away its sub-average speed, but a high Spec Attack helps make up for it. I've used Vaporeon on Nuzlocke Elite Four teams before. I know what it's capable of. I'll prove it.

...

Champion Nemona leads with a Lycanroc that knows two Rock attacks, one Ground attack, and Stealth Rock. All three attacks are physical. I lead with my Dachsbun, Long Island Iced Tea. Dachsbun has great Defense, so I take the opening to use Charm three times and bring Lycanroc's Attack to the minimum. Now Lycanroc can barely scratch LIIT.

I use Work Up three times to ratchet up my Attack and Spec Attack, aware that I can't count on Lycanroc not critting me, so I can't be too greedy (keep in mind that critical hits bypass the user's attack nerfs and target's defense buffs). I use Baton Pass to switch and transfer the Work Up buffs to Thaniel the Vaporeon. Now the fun begins.

Lycanroc tries to attack Thaniel, but it just can't manage more than a few HP. I lead with Aqua Ring, then I proceed to use Acid Armor three times to max out Thaniel's Defense (every attack on Nemona's team except for Goodra's deal physical damage). Any damage I take is immediately healed with Aqua Ring and--get this--Thaniel's Leftovers. At level 66 with this HP stat, Aqua Ring and Leftovers recover a collective 32 HP per turn. If that sounds insane, it is.

With Thaniel at max Defense and buffed Spec Attack, I let loose. Lycanroc crumples to Surf. Next comes Pawmot. This is where my plan either pays dividends or backfires horribly. Pawmot is Electric/Fighting. Its signature move, Double Shock, is a physical Electric attack with 120 base power. Crucially, it can only be used once. Nemona's Pawmot does not know any other super effective moves.

If Thaniel can tank the Double Shock, he can take Pawmot down in one hit. With his current stats, that he survives is almost certain. If it doesn't crit. Pawmot's Attack stat is way too high to discount that threat. My two options are to either swap out and lose my massive buffs and crucial tempo, or risk the 1/16 chance that Double Shock crits. Knowing there is only one major battle after Nemona, I take the bet. Double Shock does not crit and takes out a third of Thaniel's HP. Surf wipes Pawmot off the battlefield.

Orthworm and Dudunsparce follow in short order. They get some damage on Thaniel, but this Vaporeon is a master of protracted combat. Ahem, 32 HP per turn. Next is Goodra, which is a Dragon type and so resists Surf. That's alright, though. I've mentioned Surf, Acid Armor, and Aqua Ring. What is Thaniel's fourth move? Mother fucking Ice Beam. Boom.

Last up is Meowscarada. Its signature move, Flower Trick, is actually disgusting. It carried hard in my vanilla run. 70 base power, always crits, never misses. Terastallized for double STAB, the weed cat can dish out 210 physical damage that always bypasses stat changes that would otherwise weaken it. That is insane. That's what Thaniel is up against. There is no bet to take. I switch out.

I send in Pupper, my Arcanine. He eats a Flower Trick, losing a third of his HP. None of Meowscarada's other moves are stronger than even a half-power Flower Trick, so I know it will either use it again or deal even less damage. It's faster than Pupper, but we're safe for at least one more turn. Pupper tanks one more Flower Trick, Terastallizes for double Fire STAB, and delivers a Flamethrower to finish the fight.

Thaniel, Pupper, and Long Island Iced Tea went on to take part in the AI Turo battle and win my first ever Nuzlocke to not allow unlimited items in battle.

...

Vaporeon may be the haha funny copypasta Pokémon, but hopefully this story has proved its worth in battle. Even without Spec Attack buffs being Baton Passed over, it can set up and sweep teams. I'm afraid that I took it for granted in my previous Nuzlockes, though. The bulky stats, defensive typing, and Aqua Ring+Leftovers strat are especially valuable in a limited item/itemless run.

Now, Eevee is a gift in Platinum and a guaranteed encounter in B2W2 in Castelia City Park if you repel at level 18. Encounters in SV are obviously different. Repel strats don't exist anymore. So you can imagine my joy at seeing a Vaporeon that I could lure into Ruchbah Squad's base and catch as my encounter there. God I love this Pokémon. I just don't want to fuck it.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

aside from the actors being like 10 years older than the characters, and the bad effects what’s so bad about the animorphs tv show? is it worth a watch just for fun?

Short answer: No.  Not worth it.  It’s so bad on so many levels, and has fundamental writing problems that make all of the characters stupidly inconsistent (if they’re yeerks) or morally reprehensible (if they’re Animorphs).

Longer answer: The Animorphs TV show is unfortunately quite badly written and also quite limited by its own budget, to the point where the characters and plots and themes simply do not translate.  The yeerks aren’t threatening, the battles aren’t violent, the team isn’t close, and 0% of what makes Animorphs unique — from the body horror to the humor — makes it to the final product.

However, in the interest of fairness, a few things I do like from AniTV:

• Stealthy yeerk tech.

I love the detail that the dracon beams look like flashlights.  Yes it’s cheesy, and yes the decision probably came from budgetary constraints and/or censorship.  However, it just makes so much more sense to me than the ray-gun design from the books.  The tube shape not only looks harmless — allowing controllers to arm kids as young as Karen without drawing attention — but it seems like it’d be much easier to use for hosts with hands as small as taxxons’ or as large as hork-bajir’s.  The ray-gun look seems a little too ergonomically correct for humans in particular.

Also, the use of yeerks-in-thermoses, yeerks-in-thermometers, and yeerks-in-phones all makes the threat so much more flexible and immediate.  Rather than having to go through an elaborate process of luring humans to yeerk pools, AniTV controllers only need to come up with an excuse to press an innocent-looking object against your ear.

• Paranoia and uncanniness.

Richard Sali as Chapman might be the best performance on the show.  He does this cool thing where he has completely normal-looking reactions to Melissa asking a question or Marco misbehaving... only the reaction always comes a solid 2 - 3 seconds too late.  It’s unnerving as hell, and it really sells the idea that this is an alien playing a part.

Plus, the use of minor background characters who are just... walking by.  Once the show hammers home the idea that every single passerby could be a controller in the opening of the second episode, it can increase the tension in a scene just by having a few extras wander by in the background of the frame.  It’s an effect that works well in visual media, and one that doesn’t require a big budget.

• Having Elfangor just hand Tobias a physical CD of his hirac dilest instead of messing around with mystical andalite bloodline crap.

Honestly I prefer the “space CD o’ intel” device because it’s a problem the audience can immediately get behind.  We understand instantly why it’s useful, why just plugging it into Jake’s computer won’t work (although it’s adorable they still try), why it’s dangerous to have, and why it’s going to take some additional plot time to figure out how to get it open.

The plot itself that comes out of the disc is frequently kinda cool.  The Animorphs and controllers go back-and-forth over it for a while, only for the controllers to get it, only for the controllers to discover it’s biometrically locked to Elfangor’s DNA, so only Ax can get it open, so there are a bunch of controllers gunning for him...  And then there’s the twist that it’s biometrically locked not to andalite-Elfangor’s DNA but human-Elfangor’s DNA, meaning only Tobias, not Ax, can open it.  Great plot fuel, and much easier to understand than the whole “utzum” thing that Elfangor uses to give Tobias his hirac dilest in book canon.

(Technically, it’s incorrect to say Elfangor hands Tobias the CD, because he waits until Tobias has already walked like 50 feet away and then attempts to throw Tobias the CD, only to miss and have it fall in a hole... but I’m doing my best not to criticize AniTV in this list.)

• Dead. Grandpa. Tuxedo.

The best characterization note in AniTV has got to be Cassie loaning Jake a tuxedo that belonged to her grandfather so that he can wear it to their school’s dance.  Cassie says she found this thing in her attic, Jake is unironically enthusiastic about the history behind Dead Grandpa Tux, Rachel threatens to disown Jake rather than have any member of her family appear at a high school mixer in a fucking tuxedo from the fucking 1940s, Jake and Cassie are blissfully unaware that “way too formal” and “50 years out of style” are concepts that exist... It’s all so beautifully in-character.

• The escargot scene.

• The secret ex-controller support group.

Obviously I’m fascinated by the lives of former yeerk hosts, but I also think that the potential for the group of them that Tobias encounters is nearly infinite.  As the kids mention in #13, even just one or two escaped hosts have the potential to destabilize the whole Yeerk Empire through showing that escape is possible.  Toby’s warriors are incredibly important for the war effort, and Eva eventually becomes a massive source of insider intel from the Empire.  The idea of a group of humans who used to be controllers all helping each other while also helping the Animorphs is so friggin cool, and I’m just really bummed that we only got like 30 seconds of screen time for them before Tobias gets them recaptured by yeerks.

All right, I think I’m out of nice things to say.  AniTV has its moments; I’ll give the show that much.

[readwing]

Trope Whiplash

Today in thoughts I had while doing something monotonous-

What I will call Trope Whiplash, or Trope Reveal, or The Unearned Reveal Via Trope Whiplash, or just Bad Plot Points That Used Tropes to Cover Up Bad Writing (name pending idk this is kind of long)

(Warning: starts off sane, then I got tired, and it devolves into shouting from there)

In stories when we talk about something being 'unearned', we usually refer to a lack of foreshadowing: that the building blocks that compile a well-told story were rushed together, were not given to the audience clearly enough, or were just plain-old not present in the story enough to matter. The end result is that the final climax to a story thread arrives but the audience never gets the proper release or catharsis that the story promised them in the set up. Things happen, but we get the feeling we should have been able to care about it more than we did.

The Unearned Reveal Via Trope Whiplash is the same problem, except that its meta-textually aware and was probably written by someone who has at some point in their life worn a fedora unironically.

Here's how it works:

You're watching a movie, maybe a show, and because you have experience in Watching Movies-and-Shows your brain is processing the idiosyncrasies of the story appropriately. That actress doesn't really wake up in a cave in the middle ages with a perfect face of make up - it's a show! There's not really a sky beam about to destroy New York again - it's a show! Yes, your eyes may roll as someone rattles off the perfect quip before dying in their loved one's arms, but that's okay - it's a show!

And then in The Dark Knight Rises, Catwoman spends an entire fucking movie searching for that Clean Slate device that can wipe every mention of her from every database in existence and woooooah there, did you know, Catwoman, that that's the stupidest fucking idea anyone has ever had? Did you know that? Did you really fall for that? "Sound a little too good to be true?"

YES IT FUCKING DID, OKAY; BUT WE WERE PLAYING BY MOVIE RULES.

And here's why the Unearned Reveal Via Trope Whiplash is sooooooo goddamn infuriating - it's the writer taking the moment to break the fourth wall just to wink at the audience, while making fun of the audience, all wrapped in a lazy writing burrito.

In the case of The Dark Knight Rises it's particularly insidious because the trope it uses is The MacGuffin. Because why would the audience be dumb enough to believe a MacGuffin exists? Why would the audience be dumb enough to believe that a character would believe a MacGuffin exists? It's entire existence is nonsensical -- and it's only one of the most widely used tropes out there.

The MacGuffin is literally an object whose only purpose is to move the story forward.

In the Unearned Reveal Via Trope Device trope, its main attribute is that it is incapable of either having a purporse OR moving the story further, from the reveal onward.

It turns everything the character has done so far in that movie into a sunk cost fallacy, effectively asking me to wonder whether I even care what Catwoman does next since if nothing she's done so far matters, then there's literally nothing stopping her from just going back to her old life.

Sure you'll have the snarky Youtuber saying how awesome it was that that character got one over on so-and-so, and that Catwoman needed to be taken down a peg to make her relatable, but that's the point of view of someone's who convinced themself that because they understood the joke, they were in on the joke. They were meant to laugh at Catwoman, right? That make sense for her story, from a narrative standpoint, that we would be derisive towards a character whose only wish in that movie is to build a better life for herself? That adds to the story, right? To laugh at her because she believed something the audience was also asked to believe?

Because they were in on the joke, and the joke couldn't have possibly been at the audience's expense.

Here's another example that displays the same function of the Unearned Reveal Via Trope Whiplash (though in a different, messier way) : that Loki vs Natasha scene in The Avengers.

The spurious scene in question, at broad strokes:

Natasha visits Loki in his holding cell. They cagily trade various barbs until it seems like Loki's struck a nerve - so he lunges in for the attack, spitting venom until she tearfully turns away. She calls him a monster. He says 'you brought the monster.' And she turns, no longer teary-eyed but smug, and deducts, "Banner. That's your plan?" Loki: *surprised Pikachu face* what?

The vitriol Loki spits at her isn't just grandstanding - he has specific information about Natasha that is being expositioned to the audience for the first time. Upsetting information. This is backstory being hurled like a brick at a character who has already had two successful interrogations that movie, and has never seemed so affected. The first time she was in control, and the second time she panicked but she acted rationally, but this? This is different. She shudders, her eyes glisten, the music creeps higher into an ominous crescendo. We weren't worried about her before, but each interrogation has been more perilous than the last. This one is serious. This is intense.

The entire moment is begging the audience to care and empathize with this person - seconds before ripping the rug out from under so we can have a lazy plot reveal.

With the flick of a switch, the scene glibly turns on its head. What was a Take That Hero speech morphs into a parody of a Bond Villain Monologue - and barely one at that. Everything before that is organic, it's earned. It's two characters and the audience locked in an elevator that's falling fast.

But the second Natasha turns away from Loki and utters 'you're a monster', the momentum of the scene ends. The tension bleeds out like a slow leaking balloon on a clown car. The acting shifts from knifes edge to overwrought, and the scene turns into a new trope entirely. We, the audience, were fooled you see, and we can tell before Natasha even shows her hand. This was never a Take That Hero speech! Our hero was never in any real danger. It was a Getting the Villain to Monologue speech in disguise! The one trope was wearing the other trope's hat!

But there is a missing leap of logic between What Loki Said, Natasha Calling Him a Monster, Loki Repeating The Word Monster, and Natasha Realizing His Plan is Bruce Banner - and the missing leap of logic is hidden under the guise that because there was a clever shift between one trope and the next, that the shift was earned; and because the shift was earned, and the reveal was too. And it wasn't. Neither was. Both were kind of offputting and weird.

The reveal - that his plot was to use Hulk - is completely unearned. It is out of place. There is no reason in the internal logic of the story that Natasha should have made that connection, said what she said, thereby prompting Loki into revealing his hand. Except that the author needed it to happen. So in the whiplash of one trope to another, an easy softball of revealed information was pitched at the audience who, in their surprise, laughed.

The part before it was annoyingly well-acted that you want to give the characters credit. Just like you want to believe that Catwoman had good reason to believe the Clean Slate Device would work, you want to believe that Natasha knew what she was doing, that she was playing Loki the whole time and somehow just...knew that her non-sequitur would get him to slip up? Truly, if his plan hadn't been the Hulk, what would her line of questioning have been?

It's a lazy win, for Natasha and the writer.

And it could have worked! This one in particular is frustrating because all the storybeats were laid out well - a satisfactory solution was right there! I could believe that Natasha picked up on something, that she goaded Loki into revealing something! But instead of working for it, the writer slapped a lazy joke on it and proceeded to jazz hands out of the scene. Why?

It's clever on the surface, with nothing underneath. It's giving you a trope, then turning it on its head to reveal it never mattered. Why would you fall for a trope? BUT WAIT WHO ELSE DOES THIS SOUND LIKE? Don't think I didn't see you there BBC SHERLOCK.

YOU PULLED THIS SHIT IN EVERY. SEASON. FINALE.

Season 1 - Moriarty is after some codes? A zippy drive with big national security concerns that was driving the sideplot this whole time? Nope, didn't need them, could have got them from anywhere.

Season 2 - Moriarty is after a secret special code that could unlock any encrypted software anywhere - HOLY SHIT THIS IS LITERALLY THE CATWOMAN SITUATION AGAIN. "I'm disappointed in you ordinary Sherlock." I'm DISAPPOINTED in YOU MOFFAT.

Season 3 - Appledore isn't real who would have all these scandals and information on a computer? It was in his brain the whole time. GO FUCK YOURSELF, MOFFAT.

Season 4. Didn't happen. But if it did happen, I'm sure it would have even more examples.

In fact I could go out on a limb and say every episode of Sherlock BBC runs on the premise 'oh you believe that what we told you happened actually happened? That's so stupid. Have a banana, stupid monkey.' The only reason any of these storylines work is because we, the audience, are asked to believe in a specific Trope, usually a MacGuffin, and almost every time the twist is that 'oh actually Detective Main Character Smart Person was stupid for believing it in the first place.'

Now going back to talking like a normal person - why does the Unearned Reveal Via Trope Whiplash fail so hard? Because it takes meta-textual understanding of how to build a story, and then slaps you in the face for having bothered to learn that much in the first place. That's it, that's the total amount of catharsis you get from this reveal. You weren't misled after having tried so hard to put the pieces together yourself; you weren't grabbing a red herring only to find a satisfactory alternate explanation that made even more sense with everything you'd learned; you were simply lied to, by the author, who was holding all the cards and slipped a different one into their hand while you weren't looking. You never stood a chance. Satisfied?

So to summarize:

Have a trope.

Make audience feel like the trope is happening by buying into their acceptance of that trope.

Reveal that the cake was a lie. Not just something else that was plausible but would have taken effort to make, like a pie or a pizza. Nope, just straight up a lie.

Do whatever nonsense you want now because fuck it, I don't know shit I guess.

Twiddle your glue-on handlebar mustache, I'm assuming. Aren't you so smart. For outsmarting. The Audience. Who Believed. Your story.

Good night.

[smallblip]

oh oh! i was wondering where Levi would be so good at braiding Hange's so normally they ask the same question and Levi goes silent because he remembers the times he used to style Isabel's hair and Hange realises and omg im sad af now :((((

Oh god this made me sad... Here you go lovely:

three strands for good luck

Since the first time Hanji had introduced themselves, they make it a habit to talk his ear off whenever they see him, much to Levi's dismay. Sometimes it's about something menial like the weather, sometimes it's about their observations on the Abnormal Titans. Sometimes it's little anecdotes about the others- about Erwin and his habit of talking in his sleep, about Mike retching the first time he had met them and him apologising profusely after. And Levi wonders why, because he has never given them any indication that he’s a willing participant in any of this? He gives them nothing beyond non-committal grunts and occasional nods. And yet, Hanji is unbothered when he sighs, or clicks his tongue, or asks them if they ever shut up. They respond, in kind, with more ridiculous laughter.

But they’re quiet the day Isabel and Farlan die. Levi barely makes it back to his room. He's still clutching their bloodied patches. His hands are shaking, and he can't remember the last time he's felt this much pain. Or this much guilt. They had been his responsibility. They would have followed him to the ends of the earth. And they did. He doesn't even hear the knock on his door. It creaks open and he's looking up now. Hanji is toeing into his room, only really setting their feet on the ground when they realise that Levi's boots had already left stains on the wood.

"Hey..." they say, so soft it barely travels. "I'm sorry for what happened to Isabel and Farlan..." Hanji is kneeling now. Levi's eyes scan theirs and something in him shifts. Whatever that had been coursing in his veins on overdrive during the fight, during the moments when he had found Isabel's mangled body, recedes. He sees how tired Hanji is, spent from battle, their legs barely holding them upright. He sees the bandage on Hanji’s arm that’s seeping blood, and he sees the goggles that are perched on their head, with the lenses smashed through. They look so, so tired.

“If you want to talk to someone... You know... About them... I'm on the second floor... The room right at the end... I knew them too... Not as well as you did of course... But-"

"Thank you," Levi replies. And he had meant it. Hanji nods and turns to look at him one last time before m closing the door.

Hanji doesn't say anything to him for the next few days. But they check on him to make sure his head is above water. Because Hanji knows their occupation is unforgiving. There's little to no time to grieve before there's someone else to mourn, someone else to bury, someone else to miss. Someone else to talk about in a way that falls somewhere between purpose and martyrdom.

But no one really speaks of Isabel and Farlan. Hanji notices. And already, so much is expected of Levi. He comes to them a week later, during a lull. Time for broken bones to heal and scars to form. He comes to them at night and they hear the short rasps on their door.

"Hey!” Hanji says, eyes widening in surprise, they can’t contain the smile that spreads across their face, "come in!" They clear the pile of unfolded laundry off their chair, tossing them into the cupboard, frantically making space for their guest. Hanji gestures for him to sit, and they take a seat on the edge of their bed.

“How’s your arm?” He asks, and Hanji rolls up their sleeve to show him the scab, raw at the sides from picking. “Healing well!” Hanji runs a finger over it to prove a point. Levi pulls a face, “would’ve healed better if you didn’t pick at it...” Hanji chuckles. It can’t be helped.

Levi gives them a once over. Granted it’s late, and it’s almost time for bed, but Hanji is disheveled as always. Their hair tie clinging onto their head for dear life, ratty shirt slipping off their shoulder. Levi thinks about what his mother had said. Even though they had nothing, she had always stressed the importance of looking presentable. And now looking at Hanji, on the verge of a promotion to squad leader, Levi wonders how they have come this far with a pair of boots (worn and unpolished), and gear caked in mud and grime.

Levi sighs, “come here...” he says, and he guides Hanji to sit in front of him, cross-legged. They feel like a child again, when they’re forced by their mother to sit in front of the mirror while she brushes the knots out of their hair. “You’re a mess Hanji,” their mother had said. She says the same thing again when Hanji goes back to visit, shirt unironed and tucked carelessly into their trousers. Hanji stills when they feel Levi part their hair into three strands, starting from the top of their head.

“You’re braiding my hair?” Hanji asks, smile spreading across their face, amused.

“Just stay still.” Came the answer, and Levi works with deft fingers, tugging firmly to keep the braid in place.

“Where did you learn?”

“My mother... Used to watch her do it.”

“She must have been really beautiful...” Hanji muses, pulling their knees to their chest.

It’s quiet, but it’s the most comfortable silence Hanji has had with Levi. So they close their eyes to the feeling of his fingers threading through their hair.

• • •

Hanji does nothing to their braid the next morning, or the morning after, and the ones after that.

And predictably, there are strands of hair sticking out where they shouldn't. Levi pulls them aside when they are sneaking sugar cubes to their horse, or when they are securing the harness flush against their frame, or in the corridor on the way to the mess. He fixes their hair wordlessly.

• • •

The cadets notice that there's duality in the way squad leader Hanji appears. There's Hanji, completely on-brand, characteristic mess of brown hair held together with a hair tie, slipping down to frame their face, shirt wrinkled, gear battle-worn, and boots unpolished. And there's the other Hanji- shirt crisp and starched, gear well-maintained, boots polished to mirror-shine-

Hair held up in a braid.

"It's not possible that squad leader Hanji did that by themselves..." Jean had mused.

But beyond pure observation, the cadets fail to establish a pattern. They try to predict the weather or the intensity of their training on any particular day by the way Hanji looks. But the other veterans know there's an easier answer than one linked to an oracle.

• • •

Hanji hums a tune when Levi works on their hair, bits and pieces of old melodies they remember from their childhood, or tunes they hear Mike whistling. They had knocked on Levi's door that night, thinking maybe there's a pattern to be found, a routine to be established after the first time.

And sure as the seasons and the ones that come after, Levi pulls Hanji to sit. He parts Hanji’s hair into three strands. Three strands for good luck, he hears it in his mother's voice, gentle like the wind.

“I did this for Isabel too...” He says, matter-of-fact, but Hanji recognises the hurt in his voice. The guilt has faded to a dull throb- a testimony to time passed, to wounds healed and scars formed.

“So that’s why she always looked so adorable...” Hanji replies, gentle like the wind, and Levi smiles, patting the top of Hanji’s head, “done.”

Hanji takes a look in the mirror at their choppy hair held neatly in a French braid. Hanji beams, grin spreading across their face.

“Tell you what... Let’s go for a walk, Levi, I’ve got something to show you.” They walk a disused path that leads from the bunks to nowhere. Hanji explains that the toilets used to be out here, long before their time as a cadet.

They stop along the path when Hanji points up at a tree. “It’s Spring now so they’re in bloom...” Levi looks at the flowers on the trees, pink folds opening up to the sky. It’s dark and it’s difficult to see, but Hanji places a flower in his hand.

“They’re Magnolias...” Hanji smiles, “like Isabel...”

Levi traces a finger along the petals. Time stills in this moment.

“It’s strange though, this tree has always had white blooms, and now they’re pink!”

“It’s Isabel’s favourite colour.”

“Ah... That’s why...”

They sit under the magnolia tree, where the grass is gathering dew, but it doesn’t really matter. The air is crisp and it smells like life itself. Levi places the flower on Hanji’s lap. Hanji picks it up and tucks it behind Levi’s ear. He glowers at them but it didn’t have the intended effect, because Hanji is laughing.

Well. Maybe it did.

They watch as a Magnolia drifts from the trees, a blush of pink against the night. It lands on Hanji’s lap. “Oh! Aren’t you beautiful...” Hanji says.

Levi reaches over and tucks the flower in their braid.

[crispy-chan]

carriwitchet ch.5

pairing | han jisung x reader, 3racha x reader genre/warnings | fluff, angst, high school au, slow burn, friends to lovers, love square word count | 3k  a/n | sorry for the long wait. I really have to be in the right headspace for thsi series but i'll try my best to update it more often from now on. also - this chapter is a lil bit sadder than usual. enjoy <3

my masterlist

CHAPTER 5

“Hello there N/n,” Changbin beamed as he ran towards you. (I trolled you all kekeke)

“Oh hi Bin,” you waved at him, as he tackled you into a bear hug. This wasn't unusual in your relationship, the both of you being quite affectionate people. However, the hug was getting a little too long, even for a person like you.

“Ugh, let go. I can’t breathe,” you groaned, patting his back.

After he finally let go of you, you got to have a proper look at him. He definitely dressed up for the occasion. He sported a crisp white button-down (that outlined his toned biceps) tucked into black ripped jeans and topped off the look with his signature high-end cap. Overall, he looked pretty damn handsome. Suddenly, you felt a bit underdressed in your cardigan.

Changbin turned around to find you staring. “Whatcha looking at?” he smirked cheekily.

You immediately blushed and swatted him away, turning around to pretend you were looking at the movie options. It was a stupid move since you guys have already agreed on the movie, but Changbin was thoughtful enough not to call you out on your bullshit.  

He must have sensed your discomfort though, because he leaned in and whispered in your ear, “you look really pretty today.”

You felt shivers run down your spine as he said that and felt a soft blush stain your cheeks. You pushed that thought out of your mind, focusing on securing a spot in the line so you could purchase your tickets.

Changbin looked amused at your antics but gracefully decided to drop it. Both of you approached the counter and asked for the tickets. You agreed on two back-row middle seats but argued for a while on who should pay.

“Stop being ridiculous Y/n, I'm taking you to the movies for your birthday so you're not gonna pay.”

“Oh come on, I can just pay for my own ticket,” you tried to protest but Changbin was already swiping his card on the terminal. 

“No. I'm paying and that's final.”

You wanted to further object but decided to drop it at the unamused expression of the part-timer behind the counter. You didn't want to be kicked out after all and the annoyed whispers of the people behind you led you to simply drop it.

You reached the minibar and started to roam over the menu. 

“Do you want to buy popcorn?” Changbin inquired, smiling at your apparent excitement.

“Of course. What's going to the movies without having popcorn?” you laughed as you stuck your hand in your pocket, struggling to pull out your wallet.

Changbin frowned at that, not liking that you wouldn't just let him pay so he put his hand over yours, halting your movements.

“Come on,” he whined, “just let me pay, ok? I invited you as a birthday present so the least I can do is actually pay for it.”

You groaned at that but finally agreed, albeit begrudgingly. Whiny Changbin was actually pretty cute. 

Wait for what?

“Fine but I'm paying next time, ok?”

Changbin just shot you a wink and a sing-songy “maybe,” as he went up to the counter and ordered one extra-large popcorn and two medium sodas.

He pulled out his wallet and took out his credit card before swiping it over the terminal. Damn, why did guys always look ten times more attractive when paying by card? That must have been surely the mystery of the century. After grabbing the order, he pulled you in the direction of where your movie was being played.

“So, are you scared?” he teased.

“Oh shut up Bin! I'm sure it can't be that bad, right?”

“Well good thing you've got me to protect you,” he chortled.

“In your dreams.”

“Which seats do we have again?” you asked while climbing up the stairs.

“Twenty-seven and eight,” he read from the tickets.

You finally got to your seats, placing the popcorn on the floor for a moment before shuffling around to sit properly, lifting the popcorn from the floor, and placing the sodas in the cup holders on the armrests.

“Don't forget to turn off your phone,” you reminded Changbin while pulling out your own to not disturb anyone.

“Your right, thanks.”

The lights in the room slowly dimmed as all the ads started to run. After about ten minutes, you were feeling a little tired as you absentmindedly leaned your head on Changbin's shoulder. The boy was startled at first but cracked a smile at your zoned-out expression. When the movie started, he gave you a light nudge to get you to focus on the screen.

You whipped your head up in surprise, your cheeks heating up at you slip up as you quickly sat back, eyes directly on the movie. Changbin internally chuckled at your flustered state, redirecting his gaze at the screen too. 

The movie was actually quite interesting, save for the occasional jumpscares that scared the shorts out of you. During one of the scenes, you could tell that the main character was walking straight into a trap and you really didn't want to witness it.

“Oh god, why is he going there?” you whined, “isn't it obvious that she's there and that she'll kill him.”

You couldn't stand it anymore, almost launching yourself onto Changbin's lap (while doing some gymnastics to get around the armrest in between you) as you pressed your head into his chest to drown out the movie completely.

“Why did I even agree to this in the first place?” you moaned, “I should have said no.”

Changbin had a hard time suppressing his chuckles at your adorableness. He'd never tell you this but he was actually glad whenever you snuggled up to him. At this rate, he was afraid though that the movie might be too much for you so he slightly nudged your shoulder.

“What?” you whispered, looking up at him with those big eyes. “Just that, you know - if it's too much, we can leave and go get ice cream or something,” he muttered, his palm going to brush some stray locks of your hair behind your ear.

You felt your heart skip a few beats at the gesture, choosing to snuggle back into his arm to avoid his intense gaze.

“I'm fine Bin, sorry for… sorry for acting like this. I should be fine now,” you smiled, moving away from him and sitting back in your seat. Embarrassment started to creep on you with how you just behaved. You hoped that Changbin didn't think you were too weird after this.

The rest of the movie went rather smoothly, none of the jump scares being nearly as frightening as the previous one. Changbin still did reach out to hold your hand whenever he sensed something even mildly alarming.

When the final credits rolled, the both of you started to pick up your stuff, heading out of the dim room while chatting about the movie.

“Look, I'm sorry for all that,” you started nervously, “but please don't tell anyone. I'd never live it down if they catch wind of it.”

He smirked at the display of you begging him like that but after seeing how worried you were, he decided to drop it.

“Don't worry N/n, I won't tell anybody. Besides, why would I share something as cute with the rest? This is now a thing between you and me only,” he smirked.

“Okok, that's enough,” you said firmly, not wanting to talk about it anymore, “let's go get something to eat.”

------

You entered the cozy cafe and took a seat near the window in a quiet corner. You scanned the menu, getting a little too immersed in choosing what you want as you completely zoned out when the waiter came to take your order.

“N/n,” Changbin flicked your forehead lightly to bring you back to earth. “What do you want to order?” he asked, pointing to the waiting part-timer who was slowly losing his patience.

“Oh. sorry, I'll have the latte and a matcha pudding, please,” you murmured, hoping the boy heard you. Luckily, he did as he scribbled down your order and briskly walked away.

You sighed, hating yourself for spacing out like that and making a fool of yourself. You were zoning out all day and you didn't know why. Maybe it was because of the movie - you were quite scared after all, no point denying that but you had this underlining feeling.

After finishing your drinks, Changbin walked you to the bus stop (insisting it was late already, and you shouldn't walk alone) and thanked you for coming with him.

“Seriously. Bin, stop,” you chuckled, “why are you thanking me? I should be thanking you. It was lovely, I didn't realize I needed this but I actually really did. I had lots of fun, and I hope you too.”

“Of course I had fun N/n. As long as I'm with you, I’ll always have fun,” he patted your head with a wink, shooting you the finger guns as he walked away.

You were still laughing about it as you got on the bus, his corniness proving to be really funny as always. You realized you actually missed some of his stupid jokes, the momentary separation between you two suddenly seeming way pettier.

You softly hummed the melody of For You. Again. But you just couldn't help it, the song had such a calming effect on you. It was your go-to song when you were stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed with school. And hey, who knows? Maybe there really are blessings waiting for you.

Getting off the bus, you walked the short walk home and rummaged for your keys. After stepping in, you made your way to the bathroom. You jumped in the shower, feeling ready to wash off all the sweat and lather yourself in that coconut body lotion.

------

On Monday morning, you walked into the school building, exhausted from just going up the few steps. You didn't get much sleep last night, opting for preparing for that chemistry exam even though it was on Thursday.

You see, chemistry was never exactly your forte. That's why you had mad respect for everybody that understood it, which was unironically about half of your friend group. Felix and Jisung were absolute chem and bio whizzes, making you wonder if they ate workbooks for breakfast. On top of that, Iris was also quite good which left only you, Mei, and sometimes Changbin to stick together

It was quite painful watching everyone understand the lecture and later not study at all, only for them to get a better grade than you, who had studied for three hours every day a week before the exam. You learned to suppress those feelings, not wanting to come off as rude, it wasn't their fault after all that you just couldn't beat those damn formulas into your head.

Chemistry today was especially hard, the teacher dividing you into pairs and handing you worksheets to complete with your partner. 

You were paired up with Changbin, who usually fared better than you but today, he was none the wiser.

“God damn, I have no clue how to do this,” he cursed under his breath, scanning the handout with visible distaste.

You laughed at his antics, going through your backpack to find your notebook. “Neither do I but I think we should manage with the help of my notes.”

“Yeah, your notes are a literal lifesaver, thanks.”

You plopped the notebook on the desk, opening it and turning the pages to find the needed material. 

With the help of your trusty notes, the two of you managed to complete the paper, even finishing before the bell rung and giving you some time to chat.

You left the classroom with a smile, feeling like you probably won't fail the next exam.

If you just put enough time into preparation, you could maybe even scrape an A. Today was Monday - that meant that you still had three days left to prepare. You studied for three hours yesterday, familiarizing yourself with the theoretical part of the topic. Now all that was left was to not forget it and go through the formulas to make sure you could build the proper equations.

Let's say you could cram in about two and a half hours of studying every day until Thursday. With that much dedication, you could likely do pretty well. While you were counting in your head and mentally planning out study sessions, Jisung ran up to you from behind and scared the shorts out of you.

“Wassup, N/n. Wanna hang out?” he put his arm around your shoulder and playfully nudged your side.

“No Jisung,” you threw his arm off, speeding in the direction of your locker, “sorry but not this week.”

When you saw his pouty face, you patted his hair and added, “the chemistry exam. I need to study as much as I can.”

“How come you didn't ask for help? I can tutor you if you want, I know how you despise chemistry.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to decline, Sung. I want to manage on my own.”

“I see,” he murmured, “that sounds a lot like you, actually,” he crinkled his nose and laughed. “See you tomorrow then.”

“Bye,” you waved at his retreating figure. Maybe you should have taken up on his offer. He was really good at chemistry, after all. You blinked, thinking about what would happen if you agreed, wouldn't do you any good. Plus, Jisung was a busy guy, he had a lot of things on his mind and you didn't want to bother him so it was better you declined.

You trudged your way home, entering your room and slamming the door shut. It was going to be a long day. Opening your notebook with a sigh, you started to go over the stuff for the n-th time. Oh, how you wished you were good at science. The stuff just didn't come easily to you and you had no idea why. You tried everything! All the methods there were but you could just never figure it out until you studied for hours. Maybe that's what you needed to do?  Just suck it up and study some more.

You were about to just do that but the sudden clang made you put down your notes for a second. And then you heard it. The beginnings of a loud argument that brewed between your parents almost every day. They always fought over the pettiest things like who put the dishes in the wrong place in the dishwasher? Who left their cup on the table? Where was the remote?

Whenever you heard someone raise their voice, you could feel your thoughts spiral down the deep end. It was like this trigger that sent your thoughts to this dark place. Blocking out the noise, you picked up your notebook and tried to concentrate on studying as to distract yourself. That's something you really needed at the moment.

At ten pm, you decided you had enough. Standing up to stretch your sore limbs, you threw on a pair of leggings and a t-shirt, not even bothering to brush your teeth as you made a dive for your bed.

It was a dreamless night.

------

The next morning, you practically moved on autopilot. Pulling on your clothes and shoving breakfast down your throat, you left the house without even bidding your parents goodbye. You ran to the bus stop and pulled out your headphones to listen to some music.

“Yeah I know, we know If it's you, you can do it, ayy Don't give up, oh no You persevered up until now What's the worry? Believe in yourself”

That helped a lot. It calmed your racing heart and gave you hope. You struggled with some pretty harsh thoughts and just bottled it up because you didn't feel like you had anyone to talk to. Listening to their songs provided at least a little comfort and let you somehow channel this stuff out of your system.

------

The day at school was pretty uneventful, you were only assigned an English essay and a few math equations. Nothing you couldn't handle.

It must have shown that you didn't sleep too well, many of your friends asking if you were okay at the sight of the black circles under your eyes. You bit back a sob and tried to patiently assure them with a fake smile that everything was indeed okay. That you just binged a Netflix show till four am and were tired.

They all bought it.

Except for Jisung. 

He watched you like a hawk for the entire day, being extra kind and doing little things for you here and there to better your mood. You appreciated his efforts, you really did but no amount of candies and encouraging little notes would make you forget the upcoming exam as well as the stress piling up on your shoulders.

After class, you skipped lunch and went straight to your locker so you could leave as soon as possible without anyone noticing you.

“Oh hey, Y/n. Wanna grab lunch together?” Changbin smiled at you before bending down to tie his shoelaces.

Shoot. You completely forgot that Changbin didn't have lunch in the canteen on Tuesdays. You racked your brain for possible excuses, before eventually settling on the lamest one. 

“Sorry, I have to study for chem. I'll probably just get something to go near my place.”

With an apologetic expression, you backed out of the hall, and almost ran to the exit with a quiet “bye” thrown in the confused boy's direction.

You ran down the cobblestone path, ignoring the grumbling of your stomach. When you told Changbin you'd get something near your place, you were lying. You figured there wasn't time to spare and you planned to invest every second possible into preparing for the exam. You knew it was wrong, to skip meals and lock yourself in your room for hours but you didn't know any better. Every time, you told yourself it was the last time you'd pull a stunt like that but as they say...old habits die hard.

[animebw]

Reading One Piece: Chapters 314-315

-”It has been asked: do champions wear afros, or do afros wear champions? Even modern science can’t solve this riddle!” Usopp, I appreciate you.

-Yikes, slo-mo can be a scarily effective weapon when used effectively.

-”Wait, even his reactions are slow!” Ah, I see this battle was just an excuse for Oda to flex his face game on all of us. I approve.

-”He’s... riding a cannonball!” sdkjfhskjdfh this fight is wild

-”Bombs? Well that’s just dangerous! Wait, did the bomb just talk?” I love this arc so goddamn much you guys

-”You got blown up?!” And that’s why you don’t use your own face as a bomb.

-”I’ll break your arm and keep you from shooting that beam!” Ohohoho shit, he’s going feral!

-”I don’t know! They all have that stupid point head!” “Stupid pointy head...” GOOD FUCKING BYE

-did he really just fall for the Look Over There trick I swear to god Luffy

-”You’re not supposed to fire cannons inside the ship!” This is unironically my favorite One Piece arc. Holy shit.

-”Is it your skull? Are you a numbskull?” WHAT IS THAT GETUP ASKJDHADSKH

-”Hey! Are you... his sister?!” I’m dead. I am deceased. Goodbye everyone.

-Oooooooh no, what’s behind that door?

[foramomentonly]

@spaceskam So, your Jealous Michael stream of consciousness fic was so good it inspired me. And then I got angsty. I humbly dedicate this to you since basically I’m just copying your brilliant style.

 If you are reading this and don’t know what I’m talking about do yourself a favor.

It’s not that Michael doesn’t like this new guy Forrest, per se. He doesn’t, but personal incompatibility is not the biggest issue. He’s not trying to be best friends with the guy. He just wants to go twenty minutes in his own damn town without seeing him. Is that really too freaking much to ask? And maybe also to not constantly find him hanging around Alex like a puppy on an invisible leash.

First, it’s Bean Me Up, where Michael stops in one early morning to pick up coffee and pastries with which to woo a justifiably still frosty Maria. There’s Alex, dressed for a run, nursing what Michael can only guess is a black coffee. And he’s with someone. Someone familiar. Someone with a really bad dye job and a very stupid cardigan. Seriously, this is small-town New Mexico, a place full of unironic cowboy hats, functional boots, and ugly plaid and turquoise everything. The only individuals with a real sense of style are Maria, with her boho patterns and bright colors and flowy pieces, and more recently Alex, with his military-fashion boots and dark, tapered jeans and that fucking leather jacket. At least he’s not wearing the jacket. But all this to say you can’t just throw on a dull, shapeless cardigan and dig up some boxed hair dye from Alex’s high school medicine cabinet and call it a look. But Alex doesn’t seem to mind. He hadn’t seemed to mind at the ranch when they first meet Forrest, either. When Forrest was two steps from getting on his knees if Alex so much as asked to borrow a pen and Alex pretended not to notice and Michael glowered at them both. And now Alex is smiling at something Forrest says and raising a perfect brow, and when he catches Michael’s eye he doesn’t hold his gaze. Michael grabs his order and stalks off, and of course, it’s Forrest who runs out to tell him he forgot to pay.

***

Bean Me Up is just the first time. A few weeks later he’s finishing up at the lab with Liz and Kyle, and Isobel is hanging around because she’s not working right now and she doesn’t have much else to do.

“All right,” Kyle says, “if we’re done, I’ve got to head out. I’m meeting Alex at the high school track.”

“What for?” Isobel asks.

“Cardio,” Kyle beams, and Michael rolls his eyes. Who gets that excited about a hamster wheel for adults?

“Can I join?” Isobel asks, and, oh right. Isobel does these days.

Kyle says, “…yes?” uncertainly and Isobel flutters her eyelashes at him like good answer. Liz announces she’s coming to “the ab parade” too, and Michael wonders if she’s been sampling her drawer wine already. But the whole gang is game, so he is, too. He’s a joiner.

They get to the track and Alex is stretching idly in one of those sporty bro get-ups—shorts, athletic shoes, and the tee-shirt that’s been cut into an extremely baggy tank top that has more functionality as a wind tunnel than actual clothing. He looks relaxed and tan, and he has a prosthetic Michael hasn’t seen before; he guesses it’s specifically for athletics. He’s objectively admiring the view when Alex grins at someone to his left and Michael looks over and it’s fucking Forrest in a college tee-shirt and a fucking sweatband. He points to their group and Alex turns, smiling uncertainly.

“Do we have an audience?” he asks.

“Isobel asked to join us. I don’t know what these two are doing,” Kyle explains, holding his hand out to Forrest like it’s the most natural thing in the world for Alex to have company that isn’t one of them or dressed in army fatigues and letting him order them around. “Good to see you again, man. You running with us?”

Forrest grips Kyle’s hand, and these two fuckers would be BFFs.

“Yeah, if it’s cool with you,” he says, “I’ve been meaning to get more active-”

“Been pretty active lately,” Alex murmurs, smirking, and Michael literally gags. Alex shoots him a dark look.

“-and Alex suggested a run would be a good place to start.”

Kyle is spouting off fitness theories or whatever to Forrest and Isobel, and Liz wanders toward the bleachers, leaving Alex and Michael effectively alone.

“You got a problem, Guerin?” Alex asks, tone forced casual.

“You pick up a boyfriend since I saw you last, private?” he replies.

Alex, little shit that he is, has the audacity to laugh.

“No,” he says, “but I’ll be sure to update my Facebook status for you the second I do.” 

***

That’s the thing, too. Alex won’t admit he’s dating this tragic librarian loser. He doesn’t say anything to anyone. He brings F-word to The Pony where they sit on stools at the bar facing each other and practically fellating their bottlenecks from what Michael can tell from over the pool table, where he’s pretending to line up a shot; Alex has apparently introduced him to all their friends and Arturo, if their biweekly lunches at the Crashdown are any indication; and they text non-stop, Alex’s phone constantly buzzing in the pocket of his fatigues or the cupholder of the Jeep where he stores it while driving them to the library or the Project Shephard bunker, or dropping Michael off at the Airstream. 

“Want me to check that for you?” Michael asks when it buzzes three times in a row during a food run for what they now call the Secret Science Lab, thanks to Cam’s big mouth and Liz’s continuing mortification.

“No,” Alex says easily, “it’s Forrest. It’s unrelated.”

“Could be an emergency,” Michael goads, “what if he needs you to help him touch up his roots? ”

Alex glares.

“Spoiler alert: He needs you to help him touch up his roots,” Michael says in an exaggerated whisper.

“You could be a little less subtle, you know,” Alex says.

“What?”

“This whole ‘jealous ex’ thing,” he says, jaw clenched. “It’s getting old.”

“We’re not exes,” Michael says, “we’re bros. And I’m just looking out for you. Bro.”

Alex rolls his eyes.

“Well, look somewhere else. I’m good.”

Michael grits his teeth, tries to forget that they once told each other I don’t look away and that Alex absolutely remembers.

***

It officially becomes too fucking much when Forrest is at his house. Not the actual guy, though that would be bad enough, but his junk. Michael drops off some documents for Alex one night and asks to use the bathroom. Alex shrugs and steps aside to let him pass. Alex likes a neat space; he grew up in a military household with his fucking psychopath of a father and old habits die hard or sometimes not at all. So Michael notices immediately when there is just stuff lying around. Some folders scattered across the low coffee table; a glass on the side table still dripping condensation onto the wood; an ugly Forrest green sweater draped over the back of a chair in the kitchen. These things are very much not Alex’s, but there they are strewn around Alex’s space like half of a What’s Different About These Two Images puzzle come to life. 

Michael scoffs and says, “You know if I find his toothbrush in there I’m gonna use it to clean the toilet?”

Alex stiffens and his knuckles go white around the handle of his crutch.

“What the fuck is your problem?” he hisses, and Michael realizes too late that Alex is carrying all the markings of a crappy day in the rigid set of his shoulders, the clench of his jaw, and the way he leans heavily on his crutch as though he’s too proud to admit he would rather be resting. But they’ve been dancing around this massive, electric blue elephant between them for too long, and Michael isn’t going to back down now. Not his style.

“Oh, just that you apparently have a live-in boyfriend you didn’t bother to tell anyone about,” he says, lifting his shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. “No big deal.”

“So what if I do? Where are you parking your Airstream these days, Guerin?”

Michael avoids the question by pointing at the glass still sweating on the table and asking, “Be honest, did he jump out the back window when I knocked?”

“Why would he?” Alex spits. “He belongs here. You don’t.”

They both pause, their anger deflating at his words that hit a little too close to the core of what they definitely are not actually arguing about.

“You can’t just bring someone into our lives like it’s nothing, Alex,” Michael says, switching tactics.

“I would never tell him anything,” Alex answers, taking a hesitant step forward. “You know that. I would never.”

I would never tell.

I never look away.

I loved you. For a long time.

Michael hates the past tense. But the present sucks pretty hard right now, too. 

“Yeah, I know,” he mumbles and turns back toward the front door. “Think I’m just gonna hold it. Have a good night, Alex.”

“Guerin-”

“Tell Forrest I said hello.”

[house-of-tykayl]

cystar tho (headcanons)

imagine

cyborg and starfire are the cuddliest couple ever. the PDA is incredible. star will perch on his shoulders like he’s a climbing post/bird perch and generally just drape herself all over him bc he’s got a lot of surface area and she wants comfy. and cy will just grab her out of midair for huggles before letting her float away again like a balloon headed straight for the atmosphere. star will float higher when she wants to look over his shoulder at something (bc hes the only titan taller than her) and sometimes cy will just reach up and touch her waist and lead her around in the air like that while they chat

the other titans support them, but are simultaneously disgusted by the excessive amount of PDA. cy sometimes milks star’s affection to troll everyone, especially at the breakfast table. “hey star i havent had my morning kiss today” “oh apologies” “do that long tongue thingy again babe” “if you two dont let me eat my waffles in peace for just ONE morning i will open a portal to the seventh circle of hell and chuck the both of you inside”

star is living for the unabashed affection bc cyborg has no qualms about being proud boyfriend in public. like he’ll wrap an arm around her and go “hey star’s my girlfriend :)” and the grocery store clerk’s like “we know, that’ll be $15.99″ and star’s just beaming, holding the plastic bags full of snacks and unorthodox food combinations

if cy’s generous with the lovin wait till you see star lmao. “you are looking most beautiful today!” she keeps saying shit literally no one else will say, either (possibly) coz of the robot thing or just coz starfire’s being starfire, and cyborg’s just like *clutches_chest.jpeg* because she a lil weirdo but she makes him feel normal and appreciated and that he’s great the way he is, that he’s desired even if a lot of him isn’t organic anymore. like yes!! my boyfriend is comprised of 80% robotic parts!! he is extremely strong and the “cool”!!! is he not absolutely wonderful???

ok but starfire can almost never get enough touching, and cyborg’s just like aight *picks her up and carries her around on his arm for an hour* and she’ll just be giddy the entire time

more under the cut

star doesnt have a lot of preconceived notions of what a normal human relationship is, outside of things she sees on TV and robin’s incomprehensible push-pulling over the years. so she doesn’t care one bit about the fact that she’s cuddling a robot. she’d figured starting a relationship with anyone on earth would be something different for her regardless– so a lot of the things cyborg used to think a partner would find problems with, end up not happening because man, this alien chick. “may i lay together with you in your bed?” “girl are you saying you wanna sleep while standing up?? on my charging port???? surrounded by 3478012 cables and wires?????” “is there no room? then may i sleep on the floor?” she just wants to be with him

heck more bed shenanigans would involve like, cyborg awkwardly trying to lie down on star’s bed, and it feels weird coz he hasn’t slept in a real bed for years and while it feels nice he’s kinda sinking into the mattress and he’s self-conscious about leaving a dent in the frame?? or like rolling over at night and squashing star which would be awkward coz he’s more than a little heavy?? then star hops in and cuddles close and is all like shhhhhhhhh slep time

silkie is usually very happy about cyborg’s presence in star’s room, if only because he can gnaw on cy’s legs while they sleep. cy begins to think it’s also revenge since there’s a lot less space on the bed with himself in it, and silkie struggles to find room near starfire to sleep at night. they eventually just get a bigger bed. silkie is a lot less stressed– but cyborg still wakes up with chew marks in his legs

if either of them are too tired from a battle that day, the other will carry them to bed. BB laughed his ass off the first time he saw starfire princess carrying cy to his room (star’s perfectly capable of carrying his weight but her arms aren’t necessarily long enough to hold onto him properly, making it a little cumbersome and awkward), but cy just tiredly gives B the finger

cy will talk to star in awkward broken tamaranian and she’ll get all giggly. everyone else assumes it’s cute flirting, but he’s actually whispering dirty, raunchy shit. that she taught him. and she continues to teach him tamaranian, occasionally dropping new words while otherwise speaking english, and waiting for him to ask about what they mean.

cy will sometimes smack star’s ass and then run for his life before she can return the favor, because he always ends up with an overly-enthusiastic handprint-shaped dent in his ass. it’s a terrifying game of tag. BB will chase them chasing each other with a camera to add to his album of “cyborg’s dented ass” photos that he shares with the whole titans network

cy teaches star about the niches in earth/american culture, the kinds of things that are a little harder to learn about on your own, or things she otherwise wouldn’t have had a reason to learn. he tells her about old american tv shows and explains obscure slang words and how to make telemarketers hang up first and what the contra code is and why he mashes it in every time he boots up a new video game. it’s a crash course mix of useless trivia and miscellaneous culture that makes star’s head spin– but she’s excited about learning all the same, the power of just knowing more makes her feel more comfortable on a planet where she is always a foreigner

it’s kinda why star adores all the different nicknames cy has for her like “fly girl” “baby doll” etc because it makes her feel “in” coz she gets all these cool nicks of names like other earth people!! she fits in!!!! and he’ll say it so fondly it makes her blush half the time. cy definitely notices and thinks its super cute at how excited she gets over pet names. she tries to nickname him back at one point but it felt awkward and she struggled to come up with them, and cy reassured her that he liked her saying out his name anyway, its cool. just be yourself babey

cy loves teaching star things in general, he’s patient and she’s always an eager student. he once took a few hours showing her how to play video games and while she didn’t really take to it, she did learn how to not break the controller whenever her virtual car’s about to crash into the divider (she still shrieks when it happens though)

initially, star is a bit nervous about touching some of cyborg’s robot parts like the implants and consoles coz she’s not sure how to deal with them? alien tech is one thing and earth tech is another, and then there’s the advanced shit that made up cyborg’s body and literally keeps him alive. she’s petrified at the thought of accidentally breaking something like what if she presses the button that turns off his lungs???????? and cy is like why the fuck would i have a button to turn off my lungs?? so one day cy just sits her down so she’s leaning back against his chest, and he looks over her shoulder as he shows her how to navigate his arm console. press this button and choose this option, no the screen wont break even if you press hard, dont use the browser to download malware on my arm like BB did, etc. the ui’s pretty intuitive and star gets it pretty quickly, then she gets all excited. cy teaches her about all the maintenance he does on his body and how his charger works and all that shit and she like oooooo

“if the t-car is your baby, does this mean i am its mother? cyborg does she like me enough? should i assist in changing her oil? *panicking* WILL SHE ACCEPT ME AS HER ADOPTED K’NORFKA?!”

(the t-car is a sassy one, easily jealous and protective– but ultimately, she does approve of starfire, if only just barely)

they spend a lot of time in the garage together. whether cy’s fussing with the t-car or putting together a new gadget, star’s a helpful assistant when it comes to welding or heavy lifting. and while she doesn’t necessarily get programming, she still helps cy with all the calculations and math involved in it; the concept of physics as she has encountered on earth is primitive compared to tamaran, and cy will often challenge her to crack a tough equation before his computer can. while the computer usually gets a result first, star will just explain that its answer was wrong in the large scheme of things, before she starts going in depth into that nerdy science shit to find a more effective way to wire whatever project they’re working on and cy’s just like  ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ heart eyes ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ at how smart she is

they fucking love food. while all the titans are hanging out in the common room, star and cy spend an inordinate amount of time in the kitchen. star will literally eat anything, at any time, and cy would go like “yo star want a sub??” and shes like “YES I WOULD LOVE THE EDIBLE SUBMARINES” and they go make the tallest sub ever and then Eat it

they just cook together a lot, one of them being head chef for the hour and the other being the kitchen assistant. cy’s usually in the lead when they’re making food for the other titans (to prevent food poisoning), and star is happy to learn new recipes that aren’t lethal to her friends– that, and licking all the mixing bowls clean. cy purposely gets sauce etc on his face so that star will see and lick it off too. then star will very unsubtly smear food on her face so that cy will wipe it off with his finger and then things get handsy. (they’re both aware it’s a game, but they pretend like they don’t.)

cy gets them matching aprons and a tiny chef hat for star. she asks him why it’s so tiny or even necessary but he just thinks its cute af on her lol

it helps cy’s ego when star will also eat literally anything he puts in front of her while enjoying it unironically. of course, cy quickly learns that starfire’s favorite “earth” foods are things that most people wouldn’t consider food at all, so while he’ll prepare Real Food for himself, he had to start a new custom cookbook for the random combinations of ingredients that starfire likes to ingest. he’s torn between feeling like his chef skills go to waste on her, or being proud at how good he’s become at figuring out the kinds of food combos she likes based on the flavors and consistencies she’s inclined to. but ultimately she’s just so cute and happy when she smiles at the taste of m&ms on raw steak that cyborg’s just like ahh. fine.

cyborg: *sighs while writing* “edamame in a cherry-chocolate reduction: get a handful of fresh edamame, washing is optional, pour hershey’s chocolate sauce all over it, add cherries but don’t remove the pits or the stems, sprinkle in some drops of 7up, then cover that shit in mustard. stick it all in the microwave for 1 minute, doesn’t really matter what temperature? prep time: 3 and a half minutes. the fuck did i just write”

star: *wolfs down that edamame shit like its the best goddamn thing ever*

raven:

meanwhile, while cy can’t stomach star’s tamaranean food, he does go out of his way to learn how to prepare the stuff himself, for whenever star’s sick or feeling down. the nostalgic taste of home tends to help her feel better. the bowls of wustlepus might keep trying to strangle him, but hey, cy can handle it

cy used to think we was master of stuffing his face, but he quickly found out that you do not challenge an alien with 9 stomachs to an eating competition and expect to win. it’s still fun, of course, to pick a restaurant and watch her slowly but surely put away food with a grace that cy doesn’t (care to) have. robin and BB cheer will them on, raven is disgusted but plays referee anyway (even though it’s not like the result ever changes)

“are the table manners required for today’s duel of excessive food consumption?” star will ask cy innocently, but she’d be smiling a lil smugly because she knows she’s gonna win like always

(at some point, the restaurant manager will start eyeing them nervously from the doorway of the staff room, unsure about whether to ask the titans to leave before they run the kitchen dry, or to take advantage of the publicity.)

cy and star are a couple that isn’t inclined to subtle about anything. that means smooching all the time. mwah noises. flirting. glomps. yelling at shit together for fun– cy just expresses himself loudly, while shouting at each other is a form of affection on tamaran. they’ll sometimes wrestle, sometimes arm wrestling and sometimes all out full-body on the floor (actual wrestling tho, not a innuendo; star usually wins). they keep denting walls and furniture with their messing around and the other titans are like /(e_e)\ *passing out earplugs* and at some point robin is like guys… just… keep it in your rooms please

but being loud isn’t exclusive to daytime. nobody fucking knows how the hell an alien and a robot get it on, but based on all the god damn noise at night, they’ve apparently figured something out. maybe more than one something. it is a mystery

“hey, star… ever heard of a vibrator?”

most of their making out happens in the gym tho, let’s be real. they’ve been checking each other out for years in there. now they just get frisky after (or during, or before) a workout, culminating in yet another “workout”. they never lock the door, and after enough incidents the other titans just end up boycotting the gym entirely in lieu of the other training room

with the added privacy, star opts to work out in the gym without a top on. or a bra. then she heads for the treadmill

“you never wear clothing, cyborg, so why should i?”

cyborg keeps dropping his weights on himself and just ends up covered in dents, two mangled prosthetic legs, and having done no training at all

they’re such a peppy excited pair that sometimes things can get a bit too wild. there’s a pile in the back of cy’s room made up solely of dented/crushed/melted/ripped arm and leg prosthetics, all damaged because cy was busy pampering his superpowered alien gf a lil too much. starfire feels super bad but cy is like, he has to fix his limbs after a lot of battles anyway, it’s no big deal. he also hasn’t bothered to suggest a workaround yet because watching her lose control is hot (and maybe getting his hand melted is kinda kinky)

they sometimes troll the other titans– usually robin– by whispering in tamaranian behind them and snickering, pretending like they’re talking about them. robin used to be extra miffed by this, but after learning that cy’s tamaranian is actually still shit enough that he has yet to learn to string together a proper sentence longer than 3 words, robin knows they’re just fucking around with him. at one point robin turns around on the couch and throws some tamaranian right back at them and cyborg’s like :O what the fuck? what the fuck?? and star’s like yeah actually robin asked me to teach him tamaranian too. and robin’s like :) and cy is grumpy he can’t antagonize him with it anymore (and that it’s not exclusively his and star’s code language anymore, but really, you can’t own a language like that)

star likes to cart cy around while flying, but he’s just so bulky that he doesnt look all graceful and shit like robin; he just looks kinda goofy dangling in the air with her holding him under the arms. but even if he felt a little self-conscious, he forgets it quickly when she lets him skim the ocean with his feet or take him up over the clouds– he’d thought he lost everything with the accident that left him a robot, but getting to fly like this is something he never could’ve even dreamed of even when he was all human. like. this must be what it actually means to be living. everything happens for a reason

cy gets a UV lamp installed in his body just in case they get stuck somewhere and there’s no sunlight for star, he can’t replace the sun but it might help

he also turns his heaters up a bit when they’re cuddling coz he knows she likes warmth, as long as he’s not running the risk of overheating his system, but his metal parts can be cold to the touch and while she doesnt mind it at all he just wants her to be cozy….

cy’s like the only titan taller than star, so she usually floats to be eye level with him. he big and bulky and strong and he reminds her of galfore, and that’s part of why she always felt protected and safe around him. not to mention star’s been getting taller than most earth people her age; she sometimes feels like a tall poppy, sticking out of the crowd too much. so she lowkey enjoys being smol for once compared to cyborg, especially if she ever feels like hiding behind him, or being carried by him, the comfort of a sort of bodyguard that she doesn’t necessarily need but is there if she wants

i keep bringing this up but star sitting on cyborg’s shoulders/arms like. the result is this tall stack of a couple that towers over all the other titans– then like everyone will be chilling on the couch when they hear making out noises from above and they look up and its just star floating around cyborg’s head as they smooch and everyone’s like -_-

all the meme fun aside, they’re always able to confide in each other whenever they’re upset. they’ll sit together in silence and just lean on each other or hug and wait for someone to spill. if (when) it comes down to “will i ever fit in?”, because that kinda worry never completely goes away, they’ll be reassured that they know the few places they’ll always be accepted– and that’s in the titans, or in the unconventional relationship between a half robot and an alien nuclear bomb

star likes being around cy coz he’s so sturdy, in more ways than one– he’s strong enough to tank stuff so it’s safer to roughhouse with him. she loves being able to give the biggest of hugs without worrying too much about crushing a ribcage (earthlings and their Fragile Little Bones!)

cy loves how small star is compared to him bc shes fun to pick up or pluck from the air and cuddle ♥ and she’s so warm, just radiating heat both literally and metaphorically and she’s so full of life and heart, and cy’s once again reminded of what it really means to be human– by a goddamn alien, no less

they like to touch each other’s faces, just caressing n stuff like they do in “how long is forever” and the teen titans go comic #24, staring into each others eyes and shit and going all (uwu) they just love to touch each other okay even back when they were just friends!!!!!!!

HAVE I MENTIONED THE SMOOCHES. star will just kiss cy all over his face because its fun and she knows he likes it. then cy returns the favor, except with increasingly exaggerated kissing and nomming noises because it makes star laugh and blush like crazy. it’s horribly embarrassing for anyone else watching. star & cy are usually standing in the middle of the corridor by this point, and then robin was gonna head to his office, but once he sees the path is blocked– by this no less– just returns the way he came without a word

if anyone tries to make star feel uncomfortable for being alien or misunderstanding something, which does still happen sometimes, they’ll quickly find out they’ve got the goddamn terminator comin for their ass. or they’ll turn around and see 6 foot tall robot man with arms crossed and red eye glowing and he’ll be like (: hey there (:

star keeps leaving the garage with motor oil all over her face. none of the other titans knows how to address it, or if they even should, so they don’t

anyway theyre in love

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who Series 11 Review Part 2/10: The Ghost Monument

Air date: 14 October 2018

The second episode of Doctor Who Series 11 is here and I have to say, I’m liking the Thirteenth Doctor already. Most of the negative pre-series thoughts I have on her are out of the way for now, but I’ll keep a look out for anything strange in that regard.

I am aiming to get each review out during the middle of the week, preferably on Wednesdays, but since I am usually pre-occupied (or distracted) with other things, this isn’t a guarantee.

This week’s spoiler-free thought is not really that spoiler-free, but whether you’ve watched this episode or not, you’ll probably get this reference if you’ve watched a certain tokusatsu series - “This is all Tim Shaw’s fault!”

Regardless, this review will contain spoilers if you keep on reading.

New titles

There were no opening titles in last week’s season opener, but the new titles made their debut in this week’s episode.

The new titles for this series aren’t as dynamic compared to those of previous series. They just feel like they’re over and done quickly. There’s an obvious mirroring effect this time around, which is similar to some Classic Series openers, specifically those of the First and Second Doctors. Like the theme, it’s pretty obvious that the inspiration for the titles has been taken from the Classic Series. They’re not bad, in my opinion.

Where we left off and some background to this episode

We last left off in the last scene of the previous episode, where the Doctor accidentally teleports herself, Graham, Ryan and Yaz into space. They are then picked up by two ships, piloted by Angstrom (Susan Lynch) and Epzo (Shaun Dooley), who are heading to a planet that is apparently named “Desolation” - the closest to a name that anyone knows.

While Angstrom lands on the planet with Graham and Ryan, Yaz finds herself witness to the Doctor bickering with Epzo (like an old married couple, as they say, but not quite) as his ship crashes onto the same planet.

This planet is the final stage for the final Rally of the Twelve Galaxies, a race that the Doctor compares to the Paris-Dakar Rally, hosted by Ilin. With Angstrom and Epzo being the Rally’s finalists, their target is to get to something called the “Ghost Monument”, which has been appearing in the same place every thousand solar rotations. This “monument” is revealed to be the TARDIS, which was originally at the location where the Doctor and her friends were found; the planet had fell out of its original orbit.

“This is all Decade’s fault...”

I’ve found Epzo’s character in this episode to be similar to the main character of Kamen Rider Decade, Tsukasa Kadoya. From my observation, Epzo seems to be a more cynical version of Tsukasa, considering his cocky and apathetic attitude in this episode.

Where Tsukasa was teaching aesops to the AR World Riders in Decade, Epzo has become the one who learns these lessons himself. He gradually becomes a bit nicer towards the end of the episode, but I don’t know if he’ll take the lessons he learnt to heart considering that he suddenly disappears at the end of the episode. However, if it’s any consolation, Angstrom and Epzo learn a bit about sharing, given that it was Epzo’s cigar that saved them from the Remnants.

Ilin’s character also reflects Tsukasa, but more during his time as the Great Leader of Dai-Shocker. The way in how he treats the participants of the Rally comes towards Tsukasa’s unforgiving nature. Eventually, the two characters are “put in their place”, though in Ilin’s case, it was a case of Angstrom and Epzo wanting him to recognise the two as equal winners of the Rally, while in Tsukasa’s case, he was betrayed by the true enemy of the All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker movie.

“...or is it Tim Shaw’s fault?”

Given Epzo’s bickering with Angstrom, you would have thought that either they or their races, the Muxterans and Albarians, were in a feud, but it turns out to be even deeper than that, because we learn in this episode that half of Angstrom’s family were killed by the Stenza in a systematic cleansing, including her wife (did I mention that she’s also lesbian? At least she doesn’t repeat that fact throughout the episode), with the rest of her family driven into hiding on the planet Albar. This parallels Kamen Rider Ryuki’s Ren Akiyama in that their characters are fighting for their loved ones, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make here.

In fact, what I really wanted to say was this: “Curse you, Tim Shaw! This world was destroyed because of you and your people!”

I get the feeling that the Stenza are part of this series’ story arc - that gives me more excuses to ironically blame Tim Shaw whenever they’ve done something bad to some people. This is going to be the running gag of this review series now and the even funnier thing is that I’m doing this while Kamen Rider Zi-O is airing in Japan - a series that has been lauded by fans as “Decade 2.0″. No, I’m not sorry for bringing Japanese tokusatsu into this and I don’t regret it.

In addition to this, the planet Desolation was also conquered by the Stenza, who used others to create and test many weapons, including the Remnants and SniperBots that are seen in this episode.

During the scene where the Doctor and the others are confronting the Remnants, we hear a mention of “the Timeless Child” when one of the Remnants extracted it from the Doctor’s memories. If this is going to be another thing like “the Hybrid” in Series 9, then I’m probably going to be disappointed. Regardless, the story arcs in this episode were introduced subtly; until this week, you wouldn’t have thought that the Stenza would have something else to do in this episode.

Anyway, I’m honestly hoping that Tim Shaw will become the leader of the Stenza by the finale, provided that the DNA bombs haven’t destroyed him by that point; although a few contrivances may have to be made in that regard. If that happens, then my running gag for this review series will have reached its peak - Decade 2.5, anyone?

With regards to Ryan and the theme of family

Ryan’s character development has been demoted to having a minor part in this episode. This time, we additionally focus on his relationship with his step-grandfather, Graham, who he still doesn’t seem to recognise as a proper family member. Ryan’s grandmother, Grace, is also mentioned in this episode as they reflect on her death towards the end of the previous episode. The funny thing is that according to the Doctor Who Wiki (TARDIS Data Core), Grace’s actor, Sharon D Clarke, has been listed as a recurring character for Series 11, which means that there is a chance that we will be seeing her again in this series, whether it be in flashbacks or something much more serious.

Ryan’s dyspraxia is also briefly repeated in this episode in the form of a slight dread of ladders. It’s great to see the Doctor encouraging Ryan to overcome his condition (by having him remember facts about acetylene) and I hope that we can see some improvement in this situation by the end of this series.

Imagine unironically thinking that every video game skill works in life-or-death situations. When the Doctor and the others are confronted by the SniperBots, Ryan takes a gun from a fallen SniperBot and uses his “skills” in Call of Duty to shoot down the robots, only for them to get back up right after. His shouting during this scene is reminiscent of raging kids in the voice chat of FPS games, while the scene overall is a good premise for the Doctor to teach the others about her “no guns” policy.

The theme of family is an underlying theme in this episode, just as it was (albeit more subtly) in the last. Aside from the relationship between Ryan and Graham, we hear about Epzo’s “tough love” relationship with his mother, Angstrom’s motivations for joining the Rally (which I explained earlier) and a bit about Yaz’s family, to which Angstrom tells her that she should never take them for granted.

The new TARDIS

Like with everything else, I’ve steered away from any leaked materials, so this is the first time that I’m seeing the new TARDIS for myself.

The new console room’s lighting resembles that shown in Series 1 and 2, albeit orange. The “round things” are now hexagonal things in honeycomb formations while the beams are reminiscent of the old coral console room used during the Ninth and Tenth Doctors’ runs. The time rotor in the centre column does not go up to the ceiling and is no longer transparent, so no moving parts can be seen inside it. Also, there is a food dispenser now - a custard cream dispenser, in fact, if the Doctor Who Wiki is to be believed. The sign on the door of the TARDIS is now white text on black, the St John Ambulance badge is gone and there are slight shade modifications on the exterior.

I think the new TARDIS is alright; once again, it’s a significant deviation from previous TARDISes. Not the best in my opinion, but not the worst either (I don’t really have a place for “worst TARDIS console room” in my head).

Other general thoughts

You know the Venusian aikido the Doctor does in this episode? Yeah, to me, that’s more like an intergalactic Wuxi Finger Hold (though not really). I honestly doubted that it was a real technique until I did a quick search and found this clip from the Third Doctor’s era. Until now, I thought Venusian aikido was more like this; I guess I was mistaken.

The way Ilin mentioned not to touch the water, I thought something like the Flood from The Waters of Mars was in it. In actuality, there were flesh-eating microbes in it, so it’s similar to the Flood, but not the same.

Some things I missed in the last episode

After looking at a few things, I realised that there were a few things I had to address. However, I don’t want to edit the previous post because either then I would need to post the link to my pages again or you would miss out on what I had left out. Therefore, if there is anything I’ve missed in one episode, it will be briefly covered in the review for the next.

So I’ve learnt that this series has been filmed in a 2:1 (18:9) aspect ratio, also known as Univisium, using anamorphic lenses. The inventors, namely Vittorio and Fabrizio Storaro, created it in 1998 to unify all future TV and cinema movies into the one aspect ratio. In the linked Wikipedia link, you can see what movies and TV dramas have been filmed in this format.

There was also “Salad Guy” throwing bits of his salad at Tim Shaw, as some people have pointed out, so that’s a thing.

With the “no guns” scene in this episode, I should have also pointed out this line from the Doctor: “Only idiots carry knives”. This episode and the last reinforced the Doctor’s values so that the audience is reminded of them as she gradually tells her new companions/friends about them.

Summary and verdict

We are likely heading into a story arc involving the Stenza and “the Timeless Child”. This will probably be something to look forward to, whether they are resolved in this series or the next.

I think there were other things I wanted to write about, whether they were from this episode or the last, but I might have forgotten about them since I took too much time to write this. Oh well, no need to worry.

This is another good episode overall, which introduces what the first episode left out. The red flag situation is the same as last week - they’re most likely throwaway lines.

Rating: 7/10

We’ll be heading into history next week as I review the third episode, Rosa. Stay tuned!

[mychristopherstokes66world]

They are celebrating and laughing at all of the Americans burning to death in the towers and the FBI held these yids for a week until the dust settled and flew them back to Tel Aviv private first class

Ah yes the Israeli "art students" who had unrestricted access to the towers for weeks

It's rael. https://www.markdotzler.com/Mark_Dotzler/WTC_Artists.html

>Nanothermite >fucked up over 1400 cars >didnt burn a single person >paper all over the place you dont understand much about thermite, do you?

911 report and their models were full of BS. The three towers were brought down by controlled demolition. https://youtu.be/sNriYvuNmu8  https://youtu.be/l_Kmyo8KLTM Http://www.ae911truth.org/ TRUMP knew Truth on 911 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNodh9OlTrQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flnhdhxVR6g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoYXihwcp8c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-7bxI_XOoQ The destruction of WTC was an occult ritual. >the Twin Towers represented Boaz and Jachin, the columns at the entrance to the Temple of Solomon >Boaz and Jachin represent the two key energies: ying and yang, male and female, strength and beauty, north and south, up and down (duality - like the Star of David) >WTC builder, Rockefeller, says the buildings are the perfect combination of "utility and beauty"; he also owns Jerusalem museum housing remains from Temple of Solomon >Luciferianism predicts/wants a new age of transhumanism; Kaballah and freemasonry believe one attains perfection by mastering and combining male and female energies >Twin Towers destroyed in consciousness altering event at start of millenium to usher in this new era of transhumanism >Replaced by Freedom Tower where both towers are combined, one up and one down, like a Star of David >2001: Space Odyssey is about man's evolution to transhumanism - he touches the black monolith and transcends human form to a space baby >9/11 happened in 2001, next to the Millenium hotel designed to look like the black monolith >madrid bombing was 911 days after 9/11 >sept 11 is the first day of the coptic calendar, first month is named after Thoth >2001 was the start of the new millenium not 2000 (there was no year zero) >33 years from groundbreaking to destruction pentagon groundbreaking sept 11 1941

https://slate.com/culture/2001/12/bin-laden-s-special-complaint-with-the-world-trade-center.html Yamasaki received the World Trade Center commission the year after the Dhahran Airport was completed. Yamasaki described its plaza as “a mecca, a great relief from the narrow streets and sidewalks of the surrounding Wall Street area.” True to his word, Yamasaki replicated the plan of Mecca’s courtyard by creating a vast delineated square, isolated from the city’s bustle by low colonnaded structures and capped by two enormous, perfectly square towers—minarets, really. Yamasaki’s courtyard mimicked Mecca’s assemblage of holy sites—the Qa’ba (a cube) containing the sacred stone, what some believe is the burial site of Hagar and Ishmael, and the holy spring—by including several sculptural features, including a fountain, and he anchored the composition in a radial circular pattern, similar to Mecca’s. Islam was created by Jews. Take your time, explain away this https://www.scribd.com/document/351436519/Muhammad-s-Inspiration-by-Judaism Jews dominated Arabia and carried genocidal hate for Christians https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/books/140366/himyar-yemen-al-qaida Judaism and Islam are so similar that one could say that Islam is Arab Talmudism http://www.danielpipes.org/160/the-jewish-muslim-connection-traditional-ways-of-life Erasing Christianity was a Jewish thing before Islam existed http://www.jpost.com/Local-Israel/In-Jerusalem/Massacre-at-Mamilla? Here's the thing, and I say this as someone who believes that the dancing Israelis were Mossad agents celebrating the success of the 9/11 attack, and at minimum, the Israelis had foreknowledge that could have been used to prevent 9/11 which they didn't share because the attack was so advantageous to Israel's interests, but I lost interest in this guy after he interpreted "our purpose was to document the event" as "our purpose [in coming to America] was to document the event". That's obviously not what they meant. They're there giving their cover story, saying that their purpose in taking the photographs was to document the event, claiming that they happened to see it, decided it was important, and therefore took pictures. You can't be that biased in your interpretation, or you're a liability to your own side of the argument. You want your case to be rationally convincing to a neutral audience, and sow doubts in a hostile audience that nonetheless has some intellectual integrity, you don't want to just preach to the choir.

>actually believes in a theory allowed to be pushed on government TV >still no argument pathetic steven jones and alex jones able to talk about 9/11 (((truth))) on cspan??? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h50BgNpcYR8 birth of "muh space beams", who woulda guessed its the same faggot shutting down all discussion of the topic? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG3i-Ymm3Uc

Is it just a (((coincidence))) that one group of people have benefited from every US military intervention since 9/11?

I would love for those with the technology to share it with the world to make it a better place, but I'm no level 99 alchemist and acquiring such technology is beyond my means at the moment. If you own a satellite and need help I'd be happy to drop my life and come help you with whatever wizardry it is you're working on. I posted the photos adam green showed so others could see them. No need to be rude, bless your heart

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 well-versed in Urban Moving Systems, years of research. Five years ago, this post would be red hot! Congrats to the YouTuber who obtained them, which Ryan Dawson diligently could not. There were a total of ~75 photos taken by the "Dancing Israelis" confiscated by FBI, so the ones finally released under FOIA are predictably underwhelming. I'm surprised one of the D. Israelis is wearing baggy ripped jeans tbqh. If you're working undercover as a mover, I'd expect slightly more flexible apparel, esp if you're involved in 9/11. The lighter flame celebratory photo is clutch though, glad that was released. Too bad the WTC can't be clearly made out in these grainy photocopies, few normies will pay attention. We already knew, there's no video just pics. My research says that 3 of the movers were low level recon for Israeli intel, but weren't directly involved in planning the attack. Probably cleanup duty, working as sayanim, to transfer people or files post-attack, like a deep bench on a champion sports team. Waterboys of 9/11. Daniel Lewin, imo, remains the head Israeli leader in the 9/11 operation. He was an ex top ranked Sayeret Matkal captain, basically an Israeli Navy SEAL operator w few equals. He was a billionaire computer wizard as well and hardcore rabid Zionut. He was conveniently on Flight 11 seated between two alleged Saudi hijackers. I unironically think he faked his death, gassed the plane, and parachuted out, possibly with undercover Sayeret operatives, as the plane was then remote or automatedly controlled from the ground. >E-Team Just heads up to newfags, the E-Team art students are not Israelis and their full WTC residency was documented and even videotaped. It's on Vimeo, a helicopter ride they took outside the WTC. They're dorks. But obv Israeli art students were doing recon in the months before all over the East Coast. Fingers crossed that one day Dominik Suter, Daniel Lewin, and Dov Zakheim are brought to justice. Keep digging.

>Nothing you posted has anything to do with Jewish dancers why would it? this is ancient news that lead no where back then, and will lead no where now. if you dont know israel had heavy involvement in 9/11 you just have not been paying any attention at all. but to think its just the jews is pretty retarded. bush/cheney are not jews. and papa bush was a major power player. > It's a completely different question what might have been able to vaporize sky scrapers and cause strange patterns of damage to cars. what exactly am i taking away from in this thread by posting this information? these "leaks" are a nothing-burger dead end. its a fucking joke. most people should have seen the interview where they went on tv, tons of people should already know what these clowns look like, what the fuck is the point of releasing this/censoring them so heavily.

>Dancing Israelis https://youtu.be/2XHm56O2NTI https://youtu.be/LbkQddEDPs0 https://youtu.be/fOiCMMMeXE8 >9/11 Trillions: Follow the Money https://youtu.be/n3xgjxJwedA

directed energy weapons/scalar waves/some sort of play on tesla tech. who knows what exactly did it. the fact is, something exists that could achieve what was witnessed. nothing.. i repeat NOTHING explains the big picture of 9/11. this guy produced a lot of similar effects seen on 9/11 whilst mimicking tesla's experiments

>levitation well, there was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yU73pN8CHQ >hologram airplanes no one has presented this, why are you reaching so hard? >explosives caused 1400 cars blocks around to become mangled/"melted" yet not burning a single person