#we're getting the third movie later this year

[paintsplash1712]

It's officially been 4 years since the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie came out.

14th February 2020, just before the world fell a part.

WTF IS TIME ANYMORE?!

[cinna-bunnie]

augh speaking of doing cute stuff w ur friends I'm thinking of when my friend n her bf took me out to dinner and paid for my movie ticket 🥺 i wanted to at least pay for snacks or somethn but i just got us some popcorn to share n they still got more of their own stuff.

i love to feel taken care of ૮ – ﻌ–ა ♡⁠

[kpop---scenarios]

Charmer (1)

Pairing: Lee Know x Reader x Suprise!

Genre: fwb, ex fwb, semi enemies to lovers

Warning: Heartbreak, small smut [18+ ONLY MINORS DO NOT READ]

Word Count: 2k

“Why do you do that?” You scoff, slamming the front door closed before you throw your purse down on to the table. You stare at your.. Minho as you take off your jacket, angrily hanging it up in the closet. You can hear him scoffing and mimicking you behind your back, stopping awfully quickly as you turn around to face him.

“What Y/N?” He asks. “What did I do now?”

“You flirt with every single fucking girl that's around when I'm right beside you. Aren't we kinda like..” You pause.

He rolls his eyes again. “Friends with benefits, I guess ones who like each other?” He chuckles.

“This. This is where you confuse the hell out of me. You say you like me, you fuck me, we go out and do shit but then you do shit like this and say shit like this.” You say. “I don't get it. Either you wanna be with me and are gonna ask me out officially, which means you stop flirting with other girls.. or..” you pause.

Minho puts his hand up to stop you. “I'm just being friendly to them. It's not flirting.”

“If I weren't there, you would have kissed her. And don't tell me you wouldn't have.” You deadpan.

“So what if I would have? Kissing isn't cheating. Hell, sex isn't even cheating. It's not an emotional attachment, Y/N. I don't love them. But we're also not dating so what does that matter?”

“Have you slept with other women?” You ask. Your stomach sinks as you watch his face, his void of any expression, showing such a lack of empathy or sympathy, face.

“No.” He yawns.

“Please, Minho. Just stop flirting with other girls. I'm not joking. I don't like it and I've told you that. So you need to stop it or it's done, whatever this is, is done.” You say.

“This really isn't anything though, Y/N. I don't know how many times I have to remind you of that. We're not dating, and to be completely honest, we probably won't date.” He tells you.

“So this is really going nowhere then?” You ask. You didn't know if you wanted to hear the answer to this. You didn't want everything to change, it only takes a split second for your entire world to do a complete 180.

“I wouldn't say nowhere.” He chuckles. “I mean we have fun and stuff, but then we can also have fun with other people. I'm not looking to settle down right now, okay?” He says, placing his hand on your shoulder. “When I want to settle down, I'll let you know.” He smiles, taking his shirt off, then his pants before crawling into your bed. You didn't want to crawl in next to him, but you knew you would because when it came to Minho, you felt like you were addicted. Ever since you first saw him at some college frat party in your third year of school. He caught your eye immediately, and you couldn't look away no matter what you did. Even though he was with another girl, you paid her absolutely no mind as you watched the way his body moved when he danced, or how his eyes crinkled when he laughed. He was the most handsome man you'd ever seen and you wanted to know more.

When you finally had the courage to speak to him, he asked you out for a drink, and of course you said yes. You had a great time out with him, you drank, laughed and danced, it had been the most fun you'd had in quite a while. It was almost like he was bringing your spark back and you loved him for it. As the months went on, you fell more and more in love with him, but he was always very casual with you. Casual in the way he spoke to you in public, in the way he treated you in public but when the two of you were alone, on occasion, it felt like you were dating. You would eat dinner together, snuggle while you watched movies, he fucked you so good, when he didnt want it to be quick. He honestly made you confused and feel like you were dating when he was so sweet to you.

And now, two years later, the two of you are still doing the same thing. You hadn't been with anyone else other than him in the last two years, and even though he said he hadn't been with anyone else, you weren't sure if you completely believed him, and you didn't know how much longer you were going to be able to do this, which is something you seemed to say quite often to yourself but never did anything to change the situation, mainly because even though you weren't dating and he didn't treat you the greatest, you didn't want to lose him. It was demented. You knew you were demented but you couldn't resist him.

Minho rolls over, his arm draping over you as he grinds his hard cock into your ass.

“Mhmn.” He groans, pulling your panties down. You didn't say a word, instead scooted back, closer to him. He grabs your leg, putting it over him as he shimmies his boxers down, letting his cock out. He sucks his fingers before pushing them into your cunt, making him groan.

“You're already wet for me, huh, baby?” He says, pumping his fingers in and out a few times before using your wetness to coat his cock. He lines himself up before pushing into you. You gasp loudly, as you do each time he shoves his cock into you.

“You feel so good.” He whispers, his lips touching your ear. He quietly moans into your ear, sending shivers down your spine as he slowly thrusts in and out of you. “Play with your clit.” He groans. You reach between your legs, touching your already throbbing clit. You were so desperate for his touch, his emotions that you were willing to do as he says.

“Shit.” You gasp, clenching yourself around him as you rub yourself faster, Minho also picking up his pace as he fucks you. He brings his hand up, cupping your clothed breast, flicking your nipple over your shirt while he rams himself inside you.

“Cum baby. It's gotta be quick.” He gasps. It didn't matter how close you were or not, whenever he told you to cum, within seconds you would. You swore he had some kind of magic when it came to making you cum when he was around.

You cry out loudly as he moves faster but with shorter strokes, his impending orgasm building up quickly. He pants loudly in your ear, lightly groaning until he finally finishes, dumping his warm cum inside of you.

When he was done, he pulled up his boxers, rolling over to go to sleep. While you had to get up, get cleaned up before crawling back into bed

and you fall asleep that night, feeling guilty.

When you woke up in the morning, you looked over and Minho was already gone. This wasn't unusual for him, usually he'd fuck you, fall asleep and then leave really early around 4 or 5 in the morning to go home. Never waking you up, never saying goodbye. If he was feeling nice he would leave you a note but even that was rare. You got up for the day, doing your usual morning routine, if anyone asked you if you thought anything in your life would change today you would have absolutely said no. You lounged around for the day, not hearing anything from Minho, which was a little weird, he usually asked you to go for drinks with all your mutual friends but today you hadn't heard a single thing. Instead, Changbin had texted you around 8pm, telling you to come out and meet up with everyone. As you're finishing getting dressed and ready, your phone rings. And it's your favorite person in the world.

“Hello?” You answer.

“Bitch.” Jihyo yells into the speaker.

“Bitch yourself, it's 10am.” You laugh.

“No, seriously. Bitch.” She harshly whispers.

“What?” You gasp.

Years ago you and Jihyo had started saying bitch whenever you saw something you couldn't believe but you didn't want others to know you noticed it.

“Get down here. Now.” She says, hanging up the phone. You quickly finish up your look, grab your purse and head out the door. You were only a few minutes drive from the bar, so you hopped in a taxi quickly and made your way there. You paid your fare, rushing out of the cab and into the bar, where Jihyo was waiting at the door for you. She grabs onto your arm, pulling you towards the table of people you all recognized, all people you were friends with.

“Hey Y/N.” Changbin smiles, taking a sip of his beer.

“Y/N! Finally!” Hyunjin yells. You look around the table unsure of what Jihyo was telling you bitch for.

“What's going on?” You lean over to ask Jihyo.

“Just wait.” She urges, sipping her cocktail while her eyes dart around the room. You order a few drinks and shots to make sure you catch up to the rest of them. You were feeling fine and confident until Jeongin started to talk.

“I thought you and Minho were dating?” He asks, drinking his beer.

“It's complicated.” You say. “He's not ready to settle down.”

“Then why..” Jeongin starts before Jihyo cuts him off.

“Why what?” You ask, glancing around the table. They all look down, each one of them refusing to look you in the eyes. “You guys..” you start, until you see it. You see what Jihyo was saying bitch for. You watch as Minho struts towards the table, a woman wrapped around his arm.

“Long time in the bathroom.” Changbin mentions.

The girl giggles, hiding her face in Minho's shoulder as you glare at him. “Things take time, Bin.” Minho chuckles.

“Ah, Y/N. Who invited you?” He asks.

“Changbin.” You deadpan. “Who's the girl?” You ask, motioning to her.

“Ah, this is Jennie. My girlfriend.” He grins.

You choke on your drink.

“Girlfriend?” You gasp.

He nods his head.

“As of when?” You ask.

“This morning. We met up for breakfast and made it official.” He says.

Your heart sinks. He had just had his cock in you hours before, not to mention tells you he doesn't want to settle down, but then gets a girlfriend? Was it that he didn't want to settle down, or just that he didn't want to settle down with you?

“So what about our talk last night?” You yell. Your rage is consuming you. Why weren't you good enough now when you had been good enough to play the role for the last two years?

“What talk?” Minho laughs. He was looking at you like you were crazy.

“The one where you said you didn't want to settle down?” You yell.

“I'm sorry, Y/N.” He starts. “I was trying to be nice to you, you know, letting you down gently. But it seems that I need to be a little harsher with you now.” He says, giving you a pitiful side smile. “I just say that to women when I don't want anything more than just sex from them.” He says, shrugging his shoulders. You look around the table, everyone's mouths are hanging open.

“Minho..” Changbin starts. “That's fucked up, man.”

“What!?” He gasps. You can yell he genuinely doesn't think he's said or anything wrong.

You stand up abruptly, your chair falling back.

“Fuck you, Lee Know.” You spit.

“Y/N!” Jeongin and Jihyo call out. You dont hear them, your ears are ringing with fucking rage as you storm out of the bar, determined to cut off all kinds of contact with him. You wanted to, you really did. This had to be the last straw for you. But was it?

[putellas14]

Home for the Holidays (Alexia Putellas x Reader ficlet)

18. "cancelling all other plans so they can spend the entire holidays together."

Hope you don't hate me for being a few weeks late. This one's not the best but covid really took me out. Merry Christmas, dear friends. I hope 2024 is full of magic for you all.

"Are you excited to go visit your family for Christmas?" Lola asked you at the end of the last training before Christmas. This was your third year in Madrid and every Christmas, you left Spain to visit your family in Denmark. You usually looked forward to the time with them since you didn't get to go home often.

"Yeah!" you lied. "We're going to make cookies like we do every year and I've been on a crafting kick, so I made a bunch of pinterest-y crafts to give them." You hadn't told anyone but you were dreading going home this year. Not because you didn't love your family but because you didn't want to leave Alexia alone. Her mom and sister had gone on a vacation for a week to Japan and due to a volcanic eruption, they had gotten stuck there. So far, there was no news on whether they'd make it back this weekend for Christmas.

Not that anyone knew you and Alexia were dating. That you wanted to throw your traditions to the wind and start building new ones with Alexia.

"When do you leave?"

"In the morning. I have the first flight out at 6am."

"That's too early," Lola said, fake shuddering. "Merry Christmas, Y/N," she said, picking up her bags. "I hope you have a great time."

"Thanks, Lol. Merry Christmas." You smiled warmly at her as she walked away. You finished packing your bag and walked out to the parking lot. On the drive back to your apartment, you  tried calling Alexia. They had finished training  for two weeks yesterday and had a team Christmas party tonight. It surprised you to get her voicemail. Hanging up, you sighed, hoping she was alright. She loved Christmas normally and you knew it was incredibly hard for her to be without her family.

Once you were home, you turned on all the Christmas lights you'd put up. Bright colors and twinkly white lights illuminated your home, bringing a huge smile to your face. The Christmas tree in the corner was filled with the ugliest ornaments you could find. Garlands and tinsel were hung over every window. The older you got, the more time you spent away from home, the more you reveled in tacky Christmas décor.

An hour later, you were curled on the couch with a large bowl of soup, a cheesy Christmas movie on the television, and your puppy sprawled out next to you on the couch. As the couple on the screen slowly fell in love, your mind drifted to the woman you loved. And you started to plan. There was no way you could leave her alone at Christmastime. The thought of her alone dampened all your Christmas spirit.

The next morning, you packed up your bags and the puppy and made your way to the train station. When you should have been touching down in Copenhagen, you were stepping off the train in Barcelona. Although Zazu had only been to Barcelona once, he led you right to her apartment, tugging you along behind, anxious to see Alexia. You had a key to her apartment but this surprise felt worth knocking and waiting for her to open the door, so you kept it tucked away in the side pocket of your backpack.

She answered, a hoodie pulled down over her forehead, hair that had escaped her bun poking out around her face. The initial frown she had at being awoken broke into a smile and then tears.

"Oh, honey." You stepped into her and wrapped your arms tight around her. She burrowed her head into your shoulder, making her hood fall off. Zazu jumped onto both of your legs, barking in excitement.

"I needed you. And here you are," she whispered.

You brushed her hair back and kissed her forehead. "Come on. I'll make you some breakfast."

She hugged you from behind while you made food for both of you. Her arms tightened when you started pulling plates out of the cabinet. All you could do was giggle. Hungover Alexia was always so cuddly. Sad Ale was clingy. This Alexia was a combination of both of them.

“Are you going to let me go so we can sit at the table or do you want to sit on the couch?”

“Couch,” she mumbled.

"Carry this for me," you said, handing her one of the plates. You picked up the empty plate and took her free hand in yours for the short walk to the couch. Zazu had made himself comfortable on one end. His tail wagged excitedly when you walked closer to him. Skirting the coffee table, you put your plate down and then took Alexia's to set down. Sitting, you pulled her down next to you, letting your thigh rest against hers. Picking up her plate, you handed it to her. "Here you go, babe," you said gently.

You ate in silence, enjoying each other's presence after all these weeks apart. After breakfast, you both took a lazy shower. You washed her hair for her and let your hands wander. She told you she was beginning to feel half human by the time you got dressed. She asked to go for a walk with Zazu and you gladly agreed. After sitting on the train all morning, you needed some fresh air and exercise.

As you walked down the street towards Alexia's favorite coffee shop, you looped your arm through hers. Barcelona at Christmastime was a magic and you felt like you were walking in a dream. Zazu tugged excitedly at the leash even though he didn’t know where you were going. Multiple times, Alexia had to tug the leash to bring him back to the correct direction.

You took your coffees to the park, so Zazu could run freely for a bit. You cuddled up next to Alexia on the bench. The wind had picked up and you hadn't worn enough layers. She took her hat off and pulled it down over your ears.

"Thank you." You'd also made the mistake of getting an iced coffee. But when he said their special was an iced cardamom lavender latte, you couldn't resist it. It was also so good that you couldn't stop drinking it, despite how cold you were.

"So, what time do you leave for home?" she asked suddenly.

"I have a flight this evening." You traced small patterns on her arm.

"Today?" she asked sadly. "That's so soon."

"I know. I know. My mom was very annoyed that I pushed it even that long."

"Well, I'm really glad you were able to make this pitstop." She kissed your cheek, letting her lips linger a second longer than she should have in public. "I hated the idea of being alone."

"I hated the idea of you being alone too. Which is why I booked two tickets from here to Copenhagen. If I have to go home, you're coming with me."

"What?" she asked, sitting back in shock.

"Come with me," you said, taking her hand in yours. "I want to show you my life in Copenhagen. I want to wake up with you on Christmas morning."

"You're adorable." Throwing her arms around, she pulled you close. "Merry Christmas, Y/N."

"Merry Christmas, Ale." Before putting your arms around her, you let your fingers dance over the little velvet box in your pocket. Christmas in Copenhagen wasn't the only surprise waiting for Alexia this year.

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

hey so i saw the despicable me 4 trailer and i have a very specific beef with it that's making me insane

so, like, disclaimer, i havent watched any of the minion cinematic universe movies since despicable me 2 came out... holy fuck eleven years ago, jesus christ. but anyway i'm probably gonna get minute details wrong but like hold with me a second

so idr when despicable me 2 takes place in regards to the first film. from what i remember, agnes was having issues with not having a conventional nuclear family for mother's day so this implies it's the first mother's day that the girls have had in gru's household. i'm pretty sure that the first movie took place during the summer-ish, and iirc the second movie is also summer (fitting with my "roughly may" estimate) so we'll say like eight-ish months have passed since the first film. no big deal, right?

so then at the end of the film gru and kristen wiig get married but the timecard states that it's "147 dates later." i doubt they went on a date every single day leading up to the wedding but if we're assuming the date list also covers the engagement and wedding prep period, that's at the VERY VERY least one-hundred and forty-seven days after the events of the film. so with the timeskip at the beginning, that puts us at well over a year since the first film, thirteen months minimum

okay so the third film from my research doesn't state how long it takes after the wedding. so again, let's be generous and say that it's not too long after. i'm pretty sure the film itself takes place over a couple of days so we'll ignore its place in the continuity for now. that brings us to movie number four, which just got a trailer and just revealed a new player in the game

so gru and kristen wiig have a new biological child. this kid is old enough to move and emote, which puts him at 7-12 months old if he's able to crawl. let's again be generous and say it's seven months. assuming that human reproduction works the same as it does in our universe, and again being generous as hell and assuming that lucy may have been pregnant through the third film or right after the wedding, we have to add nine months to all this. so from the first film, we have ~8 month timeskip, then a 147-day minimum timeskip, then let's say 16 months to get to the baby being able to crawl. again, this is absolute bare minimum, and we still get to a conclusion of it's been roughly 29 months since the first film, or 2.5 years.

so okay. two-and-a-half years since the first film.

so then why the everloving fuck are the girls the same. fucking. AGE??

how have these motherfuckers not aged a fucking day??? they haven't grown a goddamn inch. it should have been, again, 2.5 years minimum, more likely 3-4 years if we're being realistic.

and to double check my work, i went on the despicable me wiki and found that they also put movie 4 at a three-year timeskip from the first movie, specifically putting margo at 10 in the first movie and 13 in the fourth, edith at 8-11, and agnes at 5-8; their main source is margo being stated to be 12 in the third movie, and her sisters' relative ages being provided by tweet, so even then this is, again, bare minimum on timeskip. and not only have these motherfuckers not changed style one fucking time, but they haven't changed height, weight, anything. agnes have hit eight years old and is the same height as the tiny-ass fucking minions. agnes's hat still fits. margo should be in high school and she looks the same as she did three goddamn years ago

what kind of motherfucking witchcraft is the gru family using to keep themselves young??? they said gru stopped being evil but are we sure there isn't some vampire blood rituals happening in the minion basement

make them a new character model. please god

[altraviolet]

How do you find a character's 'voice'? I have no problem writing OCs, but when it comes to existing characters I get so anxious that I'm mischaracterizing them!

This is a great question! This is definitely something I struggle with sometimes. Here are some of the things I've done to try to keep characterization consistent:

watched a bunch of videos about characterization and the craft of writing

gone back to the canon and reread parts that featured the character you're trying to write

reduced the character to like, ONE descriptor, ONE "essence," if you will. JRO did a great job making very identifiable characters for us. although many of the initial characterizations are modified by the end of the comic, you can still use that "essence". I'll give an ex in a minute but after you identify that "essence," keep it in mind for your character when you write them

when writing from their POV, or from a close third narration (or heck second person talking to them), remember what the character knows. how did they get to the place they are now? what kinds of details in a room would they notice?

This is not all I've done but it would take me SO LONG to put together more points so we'll move on~!

Okay so for more details on the above:

The Essence Thing

I think Ultra Magnus is a really good example of this. We're introduced to him having a very specific outlook on life (we literally see through his eyes in one early panel, it's great). We understand him to be a VERY strict mech who adheres to the Autobot Law to the letter (semi-colon, actually, lol). We see him meticulously arrange and rearrange objects, we see him point out screws that are misaligned by 0.001% (paraphrase, I don't remember the exact wordage). All in all, it's really easy to understand in just a couple of words who he is. Meticulous to a fault. Rodimus distracts him by using bad grammar on purpose.

By the end of the comics, he's loosened up a little. And (SPOILERS for the end of the comics), Megatron telling him to abandon his armor and be true to himself is something he's receptive to. Whereas in the beginning he wore it as somewhat literal armor. And refused to smile.

So what have I done with my fic? Well, it's important to keep in mind that UM isn't going to change all his ways. He won't be as much of a stickler as before, because he's learned to have friends in some capacity, and that's loosened him up a little tiny bit. But he's going to retain that core trait of being really into keeping things neat and tidy. And, the UM that Megatron told to abandon his armor isn't the one that made the jump. So I assumed they had that convo later in their friendship. The TEG UM still has those organized traits (cuz it's funny), but he's not as bad as he used to be.

So hopefully that makes sense. Boil your character down to a trait or two and keep it in mind for everything.

Oh boy the asks are piling up so I'm gonna try to go a bit faster now.

What The Character Knows

Let's do a little thought experiment. Tailgate and Drift walk into a random Autobot bar. What does each mech notice?

If I said one of them quickly identifies friendly mechs and the other one identifies unfriendly mechs, can you tell which did which? Who notices the energon specials and who takes note of the weapons behind the bar? Which one will remember a time he went with his conjunx to a bar and didn't get in a fight? haha

Okay so you can probably guess the answers that I intended for the above! Drift had a hard past, then became a violent Decepticon. Tailgate was asleep for 6 million years and then woke up and befriended a ton of people and had Movie Nights and also some trauma but he never had to fight for his life like Drift did.

So, as you can see, what the character knows (which is informed by their past, their education, their belief systems, the friends they have, the enemies they have, etc) really impacts how they see the world. And you can use that to your advantage by trying to look through their eyes keeping in mind what they know.

Sorry I'm gonna have to end this here, but this is a great topic. I'll try to write more about character voice and POV in the future. If you want to poke me later about it here or on twitter, please do. I will get my thoughts together and also find the links to the videos I've watched :)

[rinandsketches]

Dragon warrior study

Spoilers ahead in case you don't wanna be spoiled for Kung fu panda 4.

Meet the new dragon warrior~ Zhen the fox.

And OOH boy does everyone have some sharp words for this idea. But I am here to have a look and share some of my theories on why Zhen was picked.

Quick opinion on the movie since it can't be helped. I really enjoyed it. True it didn't have much of the depth as the first two but it does have a lot of heart, the best description I heard, its this reason I enjoyed it more then the third movie.

Now that I successfully pissed some readers off we can continue. Cause I'm looking into the possibilities of why the dragon warriors have been odd selections, and why both tigress and tai lung weren't chosen to be the dragon warrior despite whether or not they were worthy of being this legendary warrior.

The main argument is in fact the next dragon warrior should be tigress and tai lung since they were cheated out of the title and that po just met Zhen for like eh, 3 days at most. But hey, I'mma tell those folks something. Po was also picked off the streets to be the dragon warrior and had to be trained by shifu in a small time. The choosing of Zhen was no different, only difference is that Po got to know Zhen before the choice.

That said, I wondered why is the dragon warrior such as difficult spot to gain? In the first movie we get info of the dragon warrior, a prophet warrior to protect the valley. Not one managed to claim the title. Not shifu, not tigress, and not tai lung. We're not sure if Oogwai was the first dragon warrior before po but it was the turtle who made the scroll and said it had the secret to becoming an unstoppable warrior.

Shifu had trained Tai lung to be the warrior but Oogwai denied him for having darkness in his heart, then chose Po despite the 5 skilled warrior. He was about to select Tigress before po landed in front but this is not the case. Oogwai felt Po's presence at the tournament, po was flying over the gate at the time when tigress was set to preform, this is why he stopped the tournament. You can see Tigress with a confused expression when he does this. Its cause she didn't even get started.

This is why I believe not even Tigress was meant to be the dragon warrior, but why? Why spend so many years waiting only to select some random panda? Why wasn't any other strong warrior selected. I believe the answer is very simple. What do we know of the dragon warrior? Tigress said this,

"It is said that the dragon warrior can spend months at a time eating nothing but the dew off of a single ginko leaf and the energy of the universe."

What? What kind of mad magic does that mean? Sure the kung fu is pretty exaggerated in the panda universe but even the most strongest warriors needed to have a little bit of food when not in mediation. Its also agreed that the dragon warrior is the strongest. And lastly, why is it called the dragon warrior to begin with?

Because the dragon warrior...was an actual dragon.

Meet the first dragon warrior

This is a character from the paws of destiny. I don't know how Canon the side projects are but in the series paws of destiny we meet Jindao the figure behind the legend. In the series its said that Jindao protected the valley of piece. In Kung fu panda there are only counted 3 dragons so far, 2 in the paws of destiny and 1 in the TV show. Two out of the three were evil. Can you guess which one was among those evil dragons? Yup, Jindao.

For whatever reason Jindao was corrupted by the hero's chi and got power hungry but it was clear that during his defeat Jindao was very powerful. The very ones who defeated him won but just barely. Despite wrong doings here we are, 1000 years later Oogway, yes he's that old, foresaw a hero taking the place of the dragon warrior and training with the hero's chi. Yet he didn't know who it would be.

With all the information laid out, let's see why Zhen and Po are the true animals to recieve the title. For Po, Oogway saw the balance of the universe in Po, his true successor. Po was perfect. Yet no one believed this and thought in order to be the dragon warrior, you needed to be a warrior. This is why Shifu trained tai lung and the 5 so harshly. Po isn't who you'd think would be perfect, borrowing information from Mat pat, he explained the dragon style of kung fu practices all 5 animal styles. (Correct me is I'm wrong) Po was a fanboy of all five so he was on his way to learning the dragon style of kung fu. Po was also very lax nature, had a free spirit and so much heart that Oogway knew Po wouldn't follow the same fate as Jindao.

Zhen, we finally get to Zhen, heh, is a grey fox. Originally a thief and an apprentice to "the chameleon~" someone you wouldn't guess would be the next dragon warrior. The animal that everyone things was picked too fast but again Po was selected in seconds compared to the 5. Their feelings of being jibbed was how audience felt. Shifu again selected more bigger, stronger and skilled warriors to be the dragon warrior. Not the furious five. They had their own stories going on. Po was unwilling to give up the title but I think those candidates would have been a terrible choice, cause the dragon warrior needs to also be humble enough to not fall to the allure of the hero chi. Sure, Zhen's a thief but is she a bad person? No, she isn't. She is a morally grey character next to a black and white one. I believe Zhen was chosen because she can have this understanding of the world. An understanding that some people aren't always who they seem to be. An open heart. This is what everyone else was missing. I'm not saying tigress didn't have heart, she does and I'm not saying tai lung didn't deserve to be the dragon warrior. But if all you needed was skill, you worked for it and you deserved it then by that same logic then Shifu should have been considered.

So why do I believe Zhen was chosen? I believe she was picked because she always had the heart, she has the potential to learn great kung fu, (notice how while she has some skill in combat she isn't probably trained, she then started being trained by the furious 5 and po. Remember the dragon style is the 5 animal styles into one), Zhen also defied someone already on the evil side. and I think po also had...a vision. If you recall Po was beginning to get visions just like Oogway when he foresaw Tai lung returning and the success Po would accomplish. Po had a vision of the chameleon's true plans of world domination. Perhaps Po also saw something similar to what Oogway saw in himself, that Zhen can accomplish great things as the dragon warrior. Someone to follow the steps of po instead of turning into another monster like Jindao.

But this is what I believe, why do you think Po was chosen? And don't write, the creators got lazy, but that count they could have gone. Oh, Monket is next dragon warrior. Movie done.

[im-dehydrated05]

𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞

Pt.1 | Pt.2 | Pt.3 | Pt.4 | Pt.5 | Pt.6

Angie and Daniela were in the living room watching a movie when Aurora walked in. The redhead immediately shifted her focus to the door, like a puppy who gets excited when its owner gets home. That excited look, however, slipped right off as she saw the two people who were walking in with her.

Daniela: "Bela?"

Angie pirked up, looking over the couch to see Bela, Mia, and her roommate, who had just walked in. Aurora gives them a hello and a wave as the other two make their way into her room. The brunette yanks Bela back by the shirt.

"Aren't you going to say hi to your sister, Bela?"

Aurora asked with a sweet voice, the grip on Bela's shirt totally contradicting her sweet tone. Mia snickered, watching from inside the room as Bela and Aurora were having a stare-off. The blonde let out a sigh, turning towards her sister.

Bela: "Hi Dani."

Daniela stuttered a hello back, and that's when Aurora finally let the blonde into her room. The brunette turned back to her roommates with a smile on her face.

"We're going to be busy with council work; don't let us distract you from your fun."

Angie sniggers at Aurora's interaction with Bela before giving her a thumbs up and turning back to the TV. Daniela just looked between Aurora's room door and the brunette, a look of confusion and curiosity on her face.

Daniela: "How long is Bela staying here?"

"She's staying the night; I've already called Cassandra; she'll be here later too."

Daniela's face lit up, giving Aurora a bright smile and a nod before turning around to watch TV with Angie. Aurora sighs, finally turning around to see Mia looking around her room like a curious little child, and Bela with an annoyed look on her face.

Bela: "I have more important things to do than stay the night."

"Too bad."

Aurora passes by Bela towards her closet, opening it. She looks on the inside, catching a glimpse of the wooden box her mother had put the stuff her grandmother gave her in.

She couldn't reach it.

Aurora groans, turning back to look at Bela, who, if her heart wasn't missing, she could probably give her a better cocky grin than right now.

"Can you, uh, get the box for me, please?"

Bela scoffs at Aurora's request but reluctantly walks over to the closet. She reached up, putting one hand on Aurora's hips to "keep balance," and grabbed the wooden box, handing it to Aurora.

Bela: "Here."

The brunette shot her a curious glance, which Bela just looked away from.

"Thank you, Bela."

Mia: "Really? Right in front of my switchblade."

Aurora jumped away from Bela, the both of them looking towards the third person in the room, who was just playing around with her switchblade on Aurora's bed.

Mia: "You two really know how to put on a show. It's like watching a rom-com, but less funny."

Aurora rolled her eyes, clearly unamused by Mia's commentary. She sat down next to Mia, who was twirling her switchblade in her hand. Bela stood next to them as Aurora opened the box.

Inside were several small jars filled with dried herbs, each labeled with handwritten notes. There was a mixture of lavender, sage, rosemary, and other plants.

Beside the jars, there was a necklace adorned with a small charm in the shape of a circle with the symbol of a gorgoneion. Aurora held it up, examining it carefully.

This is the necklace Grandma wore before she was diagnosed with dementia. Mom had told me Grandma lost it.

Mia: "That thing is ugly."

Mia said, reaching out to touch it. Aurora smacked her hand away, giving her a glare, before placing the necklace back in the box.

At the bottom of the box, there was an old, worn-down book. The book Aurora was looking for. Its pages were yellowed and frayed, showing signs of countless years, even centuries, of use. Aurora ran her fingers over the weathered cover before opening the book.

Bela: "Are you kidding me?"

The book was in another unknown language.

Bela, who had her arms crossed and was tapping her foot down on the ground, let out a frustrated sigh.

Bela: "Do you have any idea what it says?"

"Actually yeah."

Mia raised a brow at Aurora.

Mia: "You do? It just looks gibberish to me."

Aurora looked up from the ancient book, a glimmer of excitement in her eyes.

"Now I understand why grandma made me study Greek."

Bela: "So, what does it say?"

Aurora's eyes scanned the pages, her finger tracing the intricate symbols and glyphs.

"There's a lot of spells, rituals, and even curse-breakers, but I'll have to actually look through it thoroughly."

In that instance, the door of the room flew open.

Cassandra: "Hey dork!"

Aurora looked up from the book, a smile spreading across her face as she saw Cassandra standing at the doorway.

"Hey loser."

Cassandra paused for a moment, a look of surprise on her face, when she spotted her older sister in the room.

Cassandra: "I didn't know you would be here."

Aurora chuckled, closing the ancient book and placing it back into the wooden box.

"Yeah, she was kind of forced to be here."

Bela grumbled at Aurora's comment before making her way out of the room. Cassandra grinned, following behind her and immediately trying to make conversation with her. Leaving Mia and Aurora in the room.

Mia: "So... Bela, uh?"

Aurora held her breath, glancing at Mia.

"What about her?"

Mia: "I don't know; you always chose her in almost every loop before you started to choose Miranda. What was that about?"

Aurora sighed, her gaze turning distant as memories flooded back.

N͟o͟t͟ g͟o͟o͟d͟ e͟n͟o͟u͟g͟h͟.͟

"My past lives with Miranda came back first before the ones in the loops."

Mia looked almost guilty as suddenly Aurora's green eyes grew absent of the joy that was there only a moment ago. The abrupt change was off-putting. Mia reaches her hand out to comfort her friend, who immediately flinches away from her.

Mia: "Sorry... You know I'm not going to hurt you, right?”

.

.

.

Aurora: "I've heard you say those words before."

Mia could feel her heart sinking as Aurora stood up and walked out of the room. That feeling quickly turned to anger as she hit the surface of the bed repeatedly before jerking forward to cover her face with her hands.

Mia: "Fuck!"

[frazzledsoul]

It's generally left out in the annals of bad behavior/infidelity in the Gilmore Girls canon, but I just want to review the details of Lorelai's "situationship" with Twilight Dad in season 3 when she is in the midst of lecturing Jess and Rory on proper boyfriend/girlfriend etiquette.

Lorelai meets Alex (aka Twilight Dad) on 3.11, which aired on January 21. She and Alex are third wheels when Sookie meets up with an old friend and accidentally sets up a date with him (this takes place during the episode where Rory and Paris fence and have intense sexual tension). I think he asks her out during this episode.

One week later, on 3.12 (airing on February 28) Lorelai and Alex have a coffee date. They discuss the coffee shop he's opening and his two kids who he shares custody with his ex. He suggests a fishing date, and Lorelai ropes Luke into teaching her how to fish. Bear in mind that she has known Luke has crushed on her for the better part of two years.

Anyway, after this incident, Luke decides to give up on Lorelai and asks Nicole out.

The next episode is 3.13, which is the flashback episode. It airs on February 4. This is Luke and Nicole's first date. Nicole definitely does not spend the night.

3.14 airs on February 11. This is Swan Song, where Lorelai is antsy about Rory and Jess possibly fucking, he gets beaked in the eye by the ghost of Shane, they fight, and at the end of the episode Alexis makes a way too realistic moan into Milo's mouth and Rory goes home and tells Lorelai that she's totally going to do Jess at some point.

So Alex and Lorelai have been going out for three weeks, and they decide to go away together with Sookie and Jackson. Sounds kind of serious. It's also mentioned in this episode that in the one week he's been dating Nicole Luke has been on a bunch of overnight trips to New York and seen a bunch of Broadway plays with his girlfriend. I guess we're supposed to assume there's a time jump here because there's no way he did all that within a week.

I'll also point out here that even though Luke mentions he interrupts Rory and Jess every ten minutes so they don't get around to having sex, if he's also making overnight trips to New York they're probably being left alone in the apartment at night quite a bit. Pair that with the offscreen "movie nights" we hear about later and yeah, uh, I think we can figure out what is taking place because no way is that going on in Lorelai's house unless it's also happening while she's out with Alex.

3.15 is February 18, the hockey episode. Jess doesn't call Rory to arrange a date and Lorelai lectures him on his terrible boyfriend behavior. Then he shows up with hickey tickets (and then some!) and I'm guessing Rory's virginity became fairly technical in the car afterwards.

3.16 is the episode where Paris is rejected from Harvard, which airs on February 25. Lorelai is delighted to know that Rory has not actually had sex and that she has "the good kid". She also makes out with Max and then tells Rory all about it and when Rory asks about poor Twilight Dad, Lorelai says "I don't know." I'm thinking you really should not be giving lectures on morality and proper relationship etiquette, hon. Also two weeks ago the relationship was serious enough to include an overnight weekend, but now it doesn't matter? Huh.

So let's skip ahead to Keg. Max, which is three episodes and two months later, which airs on April 25. I'm assuming there actually was a time jump between Luke and Nicole's first date and the swan episode and these episodes actually took place much closer together than they aired, as there's a lot of stuff going on with Luke finding out Jess is skipping school, steals his car to force him to go, and Jess finally being told he isn't graduating that seems like it would take place much closer in time. Anyway, it seems that Lorelai concludes that her relationship with Twilight Dad is over, because "it's become more intermittent". Does she call him and ask them if their relationship is over? I think we all know the answer to that one. Lorelai tries to push herself on Max after he says no and acts like she's the one that's been affronted when he shoves a table between them. I think there was supposed to be a parallel between Lorelai and Jess crossing boundaries in this episode, although I'm not sure why Lorelai did what she did for any reason other than she felt like it.

I really feel someone who behaves in this manner should not be lecturing her teenage daughter or her boyfriend about what a real relationship looks like, nor should she be evaluating who or who isn't "the good kid" based on what she's been doing. It appears Alex was just cheated on and dropped without explanation as the relationship was getting serious. Rory was fully aware of what was happening and further got the message that it is okay to do this sort of thing if an ex boyfriend enters the picture because if he was yours first, it's okay to cheat with him whenever you feel like it. I'm sure that's not something she's going to take to heart or anything.

Anyway, fair well Twilight Dad. I'm sure you'll have more interesting adventures in the PNW from now on.

[variousqueerthings]

I think it's also interesting to see how things change depending on the time in which they're being engaged with. so I see things about rose today that point out that she's written to be 19 when she meets the doctor and that's a big age difference (which... I understand the point is it's a big age difference because billie piper was 23 and eccleston was 40, and then dtennant was like 34/35 when he started which isn't so big of a shift but anyway the optics I get what people are getting at, but also I think it does oversimplify a lot of what's actually going on in the written dynamic, anyway-)

and also that the rtd run's Themes start coming together properly around s3 (although they are present from day one), and in some ways at this point, because nu!who has been running for... fuckn. actually quite a few years, which is wild to me as someone who started watching as a kid, and I wonder if classic!who fans felt the same way about their show and anyway -- she shifts from being Literally The First Companion You'd Seen For 17 Years (not counting the movie and fan things and the sketch) Who Was Defining A New Era For A New Generation to... a companion

comparable to other companions, comparable to the rest of the show

we sift through the writing to see what worked and what didn't (in our opinion), and we know how the ten-and-rose storyline Really ends, and how the ten storyline ends (sort, of because now that doctor and donna are Back), and we know what happens afterwards, and we talk about tenrose with a 2020s eye, and rose is "just" one of the people that travels with the doctor, one of several, and notably the one who gets most of the sunshiney doctor that buries a lot of the (wonderfully portrayed) angst of the latter half of the rtd show, and doesn't have as much lore as everything after that, so the story is "just" more simple overall

and to me she's kind of incapable of being just that. doctor who was still a risk that first season, it wasn't a done deal that it would have legs at all, never mind that it would continue for as long as it has. rose was created to be the Face of what nu!who was, moreso than nine/eccleston, because even with the extra angst and the eccleston gravitas, we know the doctor, the doctor is established, it's not actually the doctor that needs to sell what the new show is going to become and what the Feel of that new show is going to be (I mean, partly ofc, but-)

rose was doing so much heavy lifting and she succeeded! she was the face of who before dtennant or any other doctor or companion of his era and subsequent eras. she was created to appeal to a demographic of girls who wanted someone relatable in science fiction, because rtd wanted this to be for the girls, and billie piper came into it off the back of being a popstar and it changed her entire trajectory (for the better I think/hope -- there's a lot of bad shit in billie piper's past and I'm always sending her a fond thought)

nine/ten-and-rose were It! not calling it romantic or platonic or any secret third thing (haunting the narrative), but simply It! that's why it has so much staying power as a ship (which, my opinion on shipping has been somewhat *eh shrug* in later years, but in early-days when that was how you engaged with dynamics that got to you, of course it was going to be massive). it's so hard to properly describe how "for the time in which it was made" that this dynamic was written for, and how successful it was. it was rose that breathed doctor who -- and the doctor's character -- to life, as much as herself

she sets the stage for everything that comes next, both within and without the show proper

and I'm always so pleased that rtd at the time was thinking about what was needed to create this character and he opened with a shot from a girl on the estate with messy hair, clumpy eyeliner, and a minimum wage job, and went "that's the girl who's going to go on the adventure of a lifetime, that's the girl we're seeing the story through and relating to, because that's what girls (and uh... those who were girls at the time - and their parents and the boys) should be seeing."

I know rose isn't the first working class companion including classic!who, but she set the tone for nu!who and her family and background are important to why she is who she is, and is explored

"I've got no A-levels, no job, no future-" said the girl about to see the universe

she was very much for teenagers, and so she reads differently when you're an adult watching it back (much like those "teenager saves the world," novels you loved as a kid), but that's why she's 19 at the beginning. that's why she's billie piper (who does a perfect job). she was there to bring a new generation into this story, and it was perfect. and then she grows up. and we grew up. and she had adventures and it was brilliant and she survived and she made a life for herself. that's her story

[loserdiaz]

fic stats meme! 💌

rules: give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the least words.

tagged by the lovely @exhuastedpigeon @wikiangela

most hits fic:

26.8k hits

and this is when the feeling sinks in ( i don't wanna miss you like this ) | 17.4k words

Buck was supposed to come home in a couple months, pretty close to Eddie's birthday. He was finishing his tour with the Navy and then they'll get their happy ending. That's how it was supposed to go. Then two officers showed up at Eddie's door with a flag and thanking his husband for serving their country. And everything changed.

second most kudos:

1.6k kudos

situations, circumstances, miscommunications ( i just may like some explanations ) | 4.3k words

from the prompt: We're best friends and have been dating for over a month now but you won't kiss me so should we just break up and just be friends? But turns out you didn't know we were dating

third most comments:

wastin' my time when it was always you | 20.1k words

The one where they're childhood best friends, life separates them and then, years later, they find each other again.

fourth most bookmarks:

we are a fresh page on the desk (filling in the blanks as we go) | 29k words

Buck's a best seller author under a pen name, Eddie is an actor auditioning for the movie adaptation of his books, and somewhere along the way, they fall in love.

fifth most words:

i'll heal eventually (but faster if you're next to me) | 19.2k words

School Nurse Eddie and the idiotic Gym Teacher Buck that keeps getting injured.

with the least words:

I'm the one on the phone as you whisper | 1.2k words

Buck's date cancels but he has already made the restaurant reservation, so he decides to call Hen and ask if she'd like to take Karen there. He dials the wrong number. It all works in the end.

tagging (no pressure): @monsterrae1 @buddierights @prettyboybuckley @honestlydarkprincess @heartshapedvows @bigfootsmom @diazblunt @athenagranted @transbuck @911onabc @cowboy-buddie @cowboy-buck @buck2eddie @disasterbuckdiaz @spotsandsocks @spaceprincessem @alyxmastershipper @elvensorceress @bekkachaos @thewolvesof1998 @hippolotamus @giddyupbuck and anyone else who wants to do it! consider this your tag! 💗

[eskawrites]

*drops in lil tumblr mail box and runs away*

I need us Tenlark shippers to be canon in the cfdau universe. Can you imagine? I'd totally send fanart portraits of Tenar to Nancy.

Do you think the cast members of Erathia get fan gifts and collect them? Does the cast have their own favorite movie merch? And were there any goofy action figures?

oh my god my girlssssss they're so precious! also?? slap scene my beloved???? i love <3

pretty sure this whole tenlark phenomenon started with me mentioning that there were tenlark shippers mailing zines to each other back in the 80s/90s. we're absolutely canon here

also, yes to the fan gifts! it's actually mentioned (briefly and vaguely) in both the cfdau and later on in the nancy pov--Nancy has a lil console table that, when she moves into her apartment, Max and Robin decorate with fan gifts and letters she's gotten over the years

also i've never thought about it before but now that you mention it yes there absolutely were goofy action figures. Arren's and Moss's were the most popular, but there was a special edition version of Lark that came with her horse and if you could get your hands on that you were the coolest kid in school

as for favorite movie merch, i'm absolutely making this up on the fly, but...

Dustin thought the line of Erathia trading cards was the coolest thing in the world when he was a kid, and it's still his favorite thing to sign to this day.

Steve has a surprising soft spot for all the really little, dorky things like Erathia pez dispensers and erasers and stuff. Max has an extremely worn t-shirt from the first film that probably belonged to Robin at some point, but she's had it for so long that no one really knows for sure.

Nancy's is a Tenar doll that released after the third film where she's in her princess gown, but if you take the dress off underneath it she's wearing her armor. It comes with her sword too and she secretly thinks it's the coolest Erathia merch they ever released.

And as for Robin, she tells people that her favorite merch is the silly little Tenar elf ears they tried to sell for a very limited time back in '84, and that answer never fails to make Nancy all flustered and huffy. But in reality her answer is her VHS of the first film, simply because she got the entire cast to sign it at some point and it's always been on her TV stand in every home she's lived in ever since

[caliumcyanide]

"Why is it that everyone who has a supernatural ability has a twisted heart to go with it?.."

A haphazardly put together and incomplete Analysis of Dazai and Mori's differences and similarities in relation to their peculiar obsessions.

So, I recently stumbled across Taxidermia, (a 2006 Hungarian surrealist horror movie) and since everything else occupying the RAM in my brain is BSD right now, I subconsciously and later, consciously related the two together.

At this point we're all aware of the themes such as "cycle of abuse" and "the chain of salvation" that are present throughout the whole of BSD. The story isn't a horror, and is not meant so much as a warning, but a conversation with the reader/viewer. Then how can this film possibly relate to any of this? Well...

“By the way, who’s the person you said I reminded you of?” he asked.

Mori smiled faintly. Then with a hint of melancholy in his expression, he gave his answer:

...

So, in this movie, the story is told by means of three generations of Hungarian men; 3 characters with one specific trait, quirk, obsession, if you will. In simple terms: one is a pervert, the other is a speed-eater, and the third one is a dedicated to his craft taxidermist. I guess, by now, you see where this is going, right?

Now, I'd argue the situation relayed in BSD is quite ambiguous. What is a skill? What does it truly represent? (I wanted to look into the play with Tokio Murakami in the UO to figure this out, but maybe later) There's seems to be no definitive answer to this, but as always, there is an ongoing subtextual debate on the nature of human beings (not just the skill users, because even if they are their own category they still belong to the human race, don't they?) the formation and evolution of their identity throughout the years, what influences them to act a certain way, all to ask a bunch of simple questions: "Is there a correct, right way to live your life?", "If nothing I do can change the past, then should I be defined by said past?", "Why is it that everyone who has a supernatural ability has a twisted heart to go with it?", ad infinitum. That last one, eh? It's introducing a sort of deterministic element to the nature of the ability users. Which is curious, to say the least.

Now, back to Dazai and Mori's exchange. Right out of the gate it could be argued that Mori, in spite of his claim, is admitting to both Dazai and us, the audience, that he doesn't, in fact truly grasp what this teenager's dysthymia was born from.

“Dazai,” Mori began while still pondering that question. “I may not be able to comprehend your answer, but I nonetheless want to know: Why do you want to die?”

Especially when we trace their relationship to the Dark Era, where he might've used his general understanding of the human nature to force Dazai out of the Mafia, because he knew of his connection to Odasaku, but the way he argued with Dazai, the way the latter had a hard time articulating his irrational feelings and justifying them as beneficial to the Mafia (we all know how concerned Mori is with being rational.) made me question whether Mori ever understood Dazai even just a little bit.

“It’s a win-win situation. So why are you so angry?"

Dazai didn’t say a word. That was just about the first time he’d ever been unable to articulate his feelings.

“I…”

—“There is nothing worth pursuing at the cost of prolonging a life of suffering.”

—“Awaken me from this oxidizing world of a dream.”

“I just…” His voice came out strained. “I just don’t get it.”

Don't worry, Dazai, I don't think Mori gets it either.

“I have just one thing I’d like to ask: What’s wrong with that?” “……”

“My answer is the same, Dazai. I will do anything for the benefit of the organization. Besides, we are the Port Mafia. We have always brought darkness, violence and cruelty to this city. “Why is that a problem now?”

Dazai knew. He knew Ougai’s calculations, his mentality, and the rationale behind the plan. That was just the kind of organization the Port Mafia was. Logically speaking, Ougai was right, and Dazai was wrong. “But…” He turned on his heel, then began walking toward the door.”

Did Mori's plan succeed? Yes.

Did he correctly predict Dazai's actions? That's right.

Did he come to understand Dazai after having him as a subordinate for all these years? No. Not one bit. Because, there is this fascinating thing about humans, where they fear what they can't comprehend. Why again did Mori want Dazai out of the Mafia so badly?

"You were afraid of me, weren't you? Afraid that I would aspire to take your position, that one day, I'd run a knife across your throat. Just like you did to your predecessor."

Then, once again, why the comparison?

Well, there's always a possibility of him just lying to Dazai plain and simple, though I can explain why it can be easily discarded as "not worth the effort". Mori doesn't need to lie to get Dazai to do things for him, he doesn't even need to be particularly discreet about it, like this example from Storm bringer:

“My reasoning is extremely simple.” Mori smiled. “If that monster kills you, nobody will be able to save Chuuya, and he will die as well. In other words, you will finally get the death you have always yearned for but with Chuuya by your side.”

A full ten seconds of silence went by until Dazai broke it.

“Hwaaah.”

“Was that a yawn I just heard?”

“Look, I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s not gonna work. You can’t manipulate me. Good-bye.”

The radio then cut off. Mori held his radio with a faint smirk.”

Hehe, the infamous double suicide argument.

Mori seems to have a general grasp at how Dazai works, but that doesn't seem to be enough. Because there's this:

"No single word or phrase could accurately describe their relationship. The closest approximation would be bound by a common destiny."

And this:

"And yet no one trusted him. Because the darkness lurking within his eyes was deeper than the ink black nights that hung over the dumping ground he inhabited."

And this:

"Miscalculation.

"You misjudged the situation." He told himself. You failed to pick the optimal solution. You shouldn't have chosen this child to help you. Dazai is unpredictable. He can be sharp, but in a dark, twisted way. He's observant. He's cold and calculating with no equivalent even in the Mafia, where the most evil reside."

Honestly, the mention of "darkness" in various descriptions of Dazai by different characters deserves its own fully-fledged analysis. Even if all my examples would consist of excerpts from Oda's internal monologue, it'd still be a treasure trove of information and food for thought.

Back to Mori. I believe this "I'm just like you" moment serves a bunch of purposes all at once. "If you are like me, and I am the head of the Port Mafia, then, by extension, this is the only place that can give you purpose too, because this is where individuals like us thrive." It makes so much more sense to follow somebody else's example, if they really are as similar to you as they claim, and if they truly did find what Dazai is desperately searching for.

The other purpose it might serve can look a bit more sinister: "There is darkness in you, there is something very wrong with you and what I can help you do is put it to good use. I know, because I was the same. I can help you use it for the greater good."

What's funny about BSD is that it's not just that there is the lack of transparently defined right and wrong, (which I believe should be a standard in any media, because otherwise art is reduced to nothing but a slightly subtler version of propaganda) but the lack of a clear winner in these types of existential mental confrontations. Dazai did fail to pick up on Mori's real motives behind the Mimic incident in time, yet his observation of Ougai's lingering fear and paranoia towards him is pretty spot on. Mori did succeed in many aspects of using Dazai as a tool and even going so far as to conduct a plan to dispose of him properly, yet he remains as apprehensive of Dazai as he was from the beginning. To this day, he is still able to predict Dazai's actions, but because of what Mori defines as: "common destiny", "flashes of brilliance" and the "bizarre, meaningless fascination with suicide", he most of the time fails to see him an an autonomous individual, capable of having a purpose different from Mori's own.

Ultimately, does any of it even matter? I'm sure Mori would have been fascinated to know why is Dazai the way he is, just like he would inquire Oda about his guns in the future, but not then, because what he wanted from Dazai when he was in the Mafia is to be a polished diamond scalpel he can use for combating anything threatening the organization. And scalpels aren't known to possess any free will. It didn't matter at all what Dazai went through to reach this point, but what was important from Mori's point of view is that they do, in fact, have similar "steel trap" minds as well as certain obsessions.

"bizarre, meaningless fascination with suicide"

"Are you still lusting after little girls?"

...has a twisted heart to go with it...

I'd argue what Mori expresses here can be described as a very flawed form of cognitive empathy. It isn't full comprehension, by all means, which is why other people in their analyses usually point out the harm it can bring to project onto someone to such a degree, without acknowledging the possibility of even a single difference between the two of you, to force them to be a carbon copy of you for the sake of nothing but blind self-indulgence.

What, in my opinion is a first clear symptom of Mori's pathological misconception... is using the word "meaningless" to describe Dazai's supposed obsession with suicide. For someone of such caliber to be fooled by Dazai's facade so easily is a crazy feat to accomplish. Congratulations on your incomprehensibility once again, Dazai!

Like I mentioned before, BSD takes a more ambiguous approach to all of its themes, characters, et cetera, so it's definitely curious that Odasaku's quiet emotional empathy (as opposed to cognitive, which Oda also expresses, but much later, as a means of deepening his understanding) is, in fact, what reaches him, and in contrast to the narration or Mori's words, Oda doesn't describe him as the "darkness itself", but akin to a person, suffering from a chronic illness.

"I could see a thorn the size of a harpoon wedged deeply into his life."

A child who is surrounded by the darkness and hurt by it, even seemingly bleeds it, yet remains at his core a lonely, abandoned, sobbing child.

“He was too smart for his own good. That was why he was always alone. The reason why Ango and I were able to be by his side was that we understood the solitude that surrounded him, and we never stepped inside it no matter how close we stood.”

Speaking of contradictions and complexity:

“Ougai stared at the scattered reports on his desk. The organization had received an item of great value, something that more than made up for the total pecuniary damage and loss of talented subordinates. That included Dazai’s disappearance as well. Logically speaking, the results couldn’t have been better. Everything was going according to plan.

Ougai folded the document into a misshapen paper airplane. Then, with his chin still resting on his hand, he threw it. The deformed plane almost immediately crashed into the floor.

“Things sure are going to get boring around here…”

First and foremost, was that plane some sort of Guild-related foreshadowing? (that scene with Dazai's brainstorming session with Ranpo came to mind.) I shouldn't be too surprised though. I guess he didn't think Dazai would get involved, because with the only kind of leverage Mori had - gone, the former mafia executive just disappeared into thin air overnight. Little did he know...

What was that, Mori? You've won, you've driven him out of the Mafia for good, then why are you still unsatisfied?

Oh, GOD How I love the Dark era.

How I love Beast AU.

Ok, fine, I admit it. I love everything that comes out of Asagiri's head. I want to pick his brain, dissect it, put it back together and eat it with some soy sau-

...

To be entirely honest, I haven't even watched "Taxidermia" to the end. So, I don't think any of these tidbits of comparison should qualify as a correct interpretation of the themes or the overall message of the movie. What I've seen just sort of inspired me to feed some of the ideas I had to a vast collection of BSD analyses stashed in my notes.

Someday, I really should find patience to organize and post those.

...

Oh, now I remember! Why I wanted to write something related to both Dazai and the embalmer character from the movie.

It's that... (spoilers)

I was just wondering what would Dazai think of this character's method of suicide? There's anesthesia involved, so it's certainly painless, though arguably not "clean" and "beautiful" the way he would have wanted.

What a weird note to end an essay on, huh. Oh, well. I guess the one who had the twisted heart was me all along, eh?

[the-most-faithful]

I debunk other Snater accusations

New day and new discussion on TikTok with a Marauders stan and Snape hater. Now to be fair the person I conversed with is usually quite helpful, they even responded to me in a courteous manner with video responses. But this time they touched on some interesting points that I would like to explore further.

Here we always touch on the same point "Snape was obsessed with Lily" Now for those interested I'm dismantling all the false accusations made against Snape in a Wattpad collection (it's in Italian but you can easily translate it with the integrated function) you can find it here.

The fact that some Snape haters say that he killed several people is already disturbingly false. Dude you really don't know the canon? Do you only rely on fanfiction? It's canon that Snape never killed anyone before Dumbledore and we know that the two were in agreement.

This is the owner of the profile who continues to bring up non-canonical facts.

Snape wanted to control who was in Lily's life When ever? Snape may not have killed anyone, but he may have tortured someone or helped the DEs do so Really? And where is this said or implied? In the Harry Potter universe, murder breaks the soul and we know that Snape's is intact. Do you think torture is a healthy touch? Snape never tortured anyone in canon. And then we get back to the point that Snape haters like: He was obsessed with Lily (we'll talk about that later)

So there is no canon evidence that Snape tortured or killed anyone but he COULD HAVE DONE IT.

But really? So let's make assumptions, theories and pretend they're true? Can I do the same thing with the Marauders? Can I say that I think they've done even worse things to Snape that we haven't seen? Can I paint James as an abusive husband because I feel like saying so?

It doesn't matter which side you're on, it takes a minimum of respect and intellectual honesty. The canon is the canon, the books are the canon. Everything else is non-canonical hypotheses.

Sure, but where is the evidence that Snape did this in canon? I'll tell you where this incredible evidence is, do you know Voldemort's nose? That's where they are. It is truly ridiculous to pretend that personal theories are canonical.

But now obviously it is overlooked, because in the absence of evidence those who know they have no other arguments move on to another point. He was obsessed with Lily

The fact that Snape wanted to reveal Remus' condition has nothing to do with Lily. She and Remus weren't friends back then. this is an idea that i think comes from the third movie, where Remus says that Lily was there for him when no one else was. Nice idea, but the primary canon is the books and we're sticking with that.

The only person who wanted to control who was in Lily's life do you know who he was? James Potter. He's the one who tried to push Snape away from her by ridiculing and bullying him for years. He is the one who ruined the relationship with Petunia and Vernon forever in the only meeting the four had. He's the one who tried to blackmail her into going out with him.

Snape doesn't want Lily to admire the Marauders because they literally bully him. A minimum understanding of the text?

What do you think she responded to this? Nothing obviously, because once again the point changes

Stalking. I honestly missed this one, I've only heard it used as an accusation once, but I was hoping it was a troll. Literally when did he stalk Lily?

Now it's clear, the people who bring up the stalking topic believe that the fact that the child Severus "keeps an eye on Lily" is stalking.

Of course, as a child you grow up in a Muggle neighborhood, your Muggle father hates magic and mistreats you and your mother who is scared and doesn't use magic and when he sees that there is a girl of hisage who has magical powers, he keep an eye on her in the park it's Stalking.

Simply ridiculous. Or at least if we want to think like this then I want to know what we call those who create a map that shows where everyone is and what they do at all times inside the castle, not caring about privacy, also having a cloak of invisibility that allows them to follow anyone. Someone who has these tools in their hands and is a bunch of bullies canonically. Is baby Severus a disgusting Stalker? So what are the Marauders? Obviously they didn't answer my question

Now let's be honest, Lily's friends are actually a problem. She's like she's just an extension of James, her only function in books is being Harry's mother and James' wife, we know very little about her. But we know she had other friends, she tells us.

"None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you." (Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, The Prince's Tale)

She has other friends and Snape never tries to take her away from them. Then on to the other false part: "they (The Marauders) didn't bully him but he was the one who bullied muggleborns." Dude we are denying reality here. How can you say the Marauders didn't bully Snape? They tormented him for years, ridiculed him, suffocated him with soap, tried to kill him using wererewolf Remus as a weapon and SA him in the worst memory. Damn if this isn't bullying what do you call it?

Another thing: "Snape bullied muggle-borns" We never see him do that. But here I know what they are referring to, this person already told me on another occasion that for them the fact that Severus called all Muggle-borns (except Lily until the worst memory) Mudblood is bullying. Once again accepting this fact then I ask you: two rich purebloods like James and Sirius tormenting a poor halfblood for years with THE nickname Snivellus isn't bullying? What do you call everything listed above if not bullying?

And after that they add something that really left me confused

What does this have to do with anything?? On my tiktok page I also publish edits, various ones on the world of Harry Potter and for a long time I have been writing a what if fanfiction with Caradoc Dearborn (Byron White) who in my headcanon was part of the Snape Gang and therefore?

It means that this person, having nothing to reply with, went to my page looking for something to attack me with. But what does this phrase mean? What do my Headconons on Caradoc have to do with the conversation we were having? Obviously as usual they try to end the conversation like this without proving even a point of what they say. They accuse and then have no canonical proof.

Oh yes, then obviously they blocked me and deleted all my comments. Nice how the Snaters aren't capable of having a mature discussion by bringing concrete evidence

[mulderscully]

henlex ficrecs? i don't know where to start

i was like who tf is that til i realized some of u are calling firstprince that lol i'm sorry but i bring you porn only so i hope that's what you want 🫣

some of these are bookverse and some are movieverse and tbh i see no great difference bc it's the same relationship to me but i added a * to the ones that are specifically movieverse, the others are either an au or bookverse or a mix of movie and book

familiar gravity

"Yeah,” Alex breathes, and he pulls back to look Henry in the eyes. “I’ve been fantasizing about you fucking me in this chair for, like, weeks. Every time you sit down here with your stupid book.”

Henry likes it when Alex speaks Spanish and Alex has a request.

in the teeth of strong opposition

"You know what?" Henry says loudly, annoyed beyond belief that he has to hear for the millionth time how fucking cool Alex is with Henry's sexuality. "If you're such a good ally, why don't you suck me off? Since you're so insistent, why not get on your knees, Alex?"

He regrets the words as soon as he says them, but it's not like he can shove them back into his mouth; he can't take them back. He closes his eyes so he doesn't have to see the shocked expression on Alex's face and takes a few deep breaths.

"Sorry," he says tightly a moment later, eyes still closed. "That was uncalled for."

"Do you want me to?"

the red side goes up

Henry brings home a little something new to try in the bedroom. Or: The One Where Alex Gets Jealous of a Butt Plug.

bedroom warfare (3 part series)

Looking back at it, it's all Nora's fault.

Or, the time Henry and Alex bet on who can last the longest without sex.

voted most likely to run away with you*

Alex drifts into consciousness in a bed full of tangled limbs and warm, sleep-rumpled skin. He’s lying half on his stomach and half on his side, the shoulder smushed against the bed protesting in a way that tells him he’s going to have a crick in his neck for the rest of the day.

But fuck if he cares, with Henry stirring next to him, one of his long legs draped over the back of Alex’s thigh. Alex doesn’t need to open his eyes to know the room is hazy with filtered sunlight, spilling pale yellow through the carelessly drawn curtains.

who knew polo was such a turn on?*

Henry had no idea the horseback riding lessons he started as a child would lead to this.

save a horse, ride a cowboy

“Forget about walking,” Henry tells him boldly, giving him a hard kiss before he pushes himself back up vertical. “Just wait until you see me ride.”

baby*

Henry has plenty of pet names for Alex, but how did Henry end up with the pet name "Baby"?

i dream your name backwards

Three times Alex wakes up from a dream and can’t help but tell Henry about it, although they're apart and an ocean is between them.

And one time, Henry wakes up from a dream and Alex is there.

isn't it amazing how every line of our hands align

Alex knew it was going to be one of those days the moment he realized his third coffee of the day had absolutely zero effect on the turmoil of his thoughts. It was not even nearing ten in the morning when he had to face defeat, annoyed and broken down to a single thought: Henry was right. Not that he never was, far from it, but Alex had this kind of constant competitive streak with his boyfriend — and he hated admitting when Henry was right.

Or Alex is having a bit of a day, and Henry knows exactly how to help him out.

it's a scene (and we're out here in plain sight)

"I don’t want us to be in the press for anything other than how good I am at polo, and how charming you look in that shirt.”

Henry just wants the Fifth Annual Okonjo Foundation Polo Match to run smoothly, but that's harder than it seems.

i like that thing you do

Ever since the first polo match Alex attended, his obsession with Henry on a horse has only grew. Years into their relationship, Alex is still hanging onto the pitch's fence, watching with rapt fascination. Read to find out what happens when Phillip asks a question that creates a lust monster Alex can't control. No one ever said those white pants Henry wears aren't meant to be destroyed.

alright that's all 4 now i can do a non smut one later too but say hey if u see urself on her @ authors!

[jgroffdaily]

A late SXSW interview with the cast of ‘A Nice Indian Boy’, including:

Was that was that some added appeal: getting to marry Kristoff from Frozen?

Karan Soni: It was. We can't imagine having done it with anyone but Jonathan. We're a real life couple of them, and when you're making a movie, you're just hoping it gets made. So, you don't think about all the weirdness that's going to happen in a shoot potentially…

And then as it was getting closer for me personally, I was like, "Oh, gosh, like this is a little bit weird that this is happening." And then we met Jonathan, and we literally were both in love with him. I like to say we formed an emotional throuple. We truly feel like he's our emotional third, and we couldn't have done it with anyone else. Yeah, it was very easy to work with them.

Roshan Sethi: ... The only time that it became a little odd was the sex scene. That was a little weird, because I was directing the specifics of it to Jonathan and Karan, with the crew and the intimacy coordinator. The whole thing was really weird.

But again, I couldn't have imagined it with anyone other than Jonathan, because it is actually impossible to be threatened by Jonathan. He's the kindest, gentlest person. Everybody says it about him, and you assume that they're just insincere things being said in press, but he is literally the nicest person in the world. And he acts in no way as if he's aware of his fame or his many talents. He's just so gentle and easy to be around, so he made that very easy.

Karan, the chemistry between you and Jonathan feels effortless, even when like it's supposed to be a little bit awkward between you two at the beginning. Can you talk about what you guys did behind the scenes to achieve that?

Karan Soni: We didn't really do anything. Having done a few things, it seems like if you like the other person as a person, you just hope the camera will pick it up. At least acting-wise, I'm never doing anything particularly specific, but it helps if you like the person. Then, if the writing is good and everything else is good, sometimes the scene naturally lends towards that. But I always feel that I don't know if it's going to be good or not until you watch it and you see it.

Roshan, Jonathan, and I had dinner about a year before we made the movie in New York. It was a four-hour dinner, and we were laughing like, "God, it would be really nice if we got to make this with him. And then cut to: he arrived and we went right into shooting.

I think the thing that really helped was the first scene we ever shot with him was when I bring him home. There was that awkwardness, and Jonathan had just gotten off a plane because he was doing Doctor Who. It wasn't even 12 hours later that we were shooting that huge family scene with all of us and him coming, and I think the awkwardness of doing that first [helped]. If we had to do the proposal or something first, I think I would have been like, "Let's figure this out. But I think because we started with that scene, I felt a little bit of an ease into getting to work with him. And then everything felt easy after that.

Roshan Sethi: It's hard to explain, but Jonathan's constantly connecting, and he's totally present. He's never on his phone, and it takes him three weeks to respond to a text, but if you're sitting next to him in the cast room or the greenroom or anywhere? He is just locked in with you. That's to anybody, so I think you guys built a very close connection very quickly in part because that is his nature to connect with people.

Zarna Garg: I think I wanted to be resistant at first, and it was part of the storyline. My son in the movie, Naveen, is a doctor also while Jay is an artist. I had to work on myself to be like, "It's okay. It's okay. It's just a movie." But because Jonathan is who he is, and he is so exceptionally charming, I think we got there very quickly.

Karan Soni: The only things Zarna doesn't agree with Jonathan on - if I may say - is that he's currently doing Broadway and theater. And she doesn't think it's lucrative enough, so she's not okay with that life choice. But everything else is okay.

Zarna Garg: But it felt so real. It felt like a movie whose time has come. And of course, this team right here? Led by a doctor - what more could you want in your first movie? Jonathan Groff added that little extra spice. Singing in Hindi? The world is not prepared for that.

Sunita Mani: We're calling him Jonathan Groff. He's Jonathan Groff in the movie; not a character.