#which is coming from the person who’s weird about me mainly playing rangers

[confier-boyfriend]

If you ask someone what they think their Dnd class is they’re always going to say barbarian, but in reality it’s way closer to warlock. You’re not raging, you’re making stupid dangerous decisions that make things harder on yourself, you fucking wish you were throwing chairs.

“I’d be a barbarian because I can get pretty mad :3”Cool. hunters mark, ensnaring strike, dread stalker ranged attack, also normal ranged attack. Fuck you.

[welllpthisishappening]

Self-Promo Sunday [Monday] Tag Game

Just for fun this Sunday [Monday], let's talk about our personal favorites of our own fics.

Not the ones we necessarily think are the “best.” The ones we go back and reread again and again (because if you don’t reread your own fics what are you even doing?), or the ones we wrote for something or someone special, or the ones that were most difficult to write and just make us proud when we think about them? Whatever criteria you choose, just talk a bit about the fics of yours that you really like.

I was tagged by @shireness-says​ who really is fantastic and, like, I am not above some shameless self promotion. Plus, it’s a good procrastination technique.

————

All Was Golden in the Sky Magic is dying.

Emma knows it. She can feel it, the emptiness rattling around in her, like it’s trying to make sure she disappears as well. What she doesn’t know is what to do about it, because, suddenly, there is a man in Storybrooke claiming she’s the Savior and a seeress certain a prophecy promises the same and the last thing she expects is for her minimal amount of lingering power to pull her away.To New York City.

And another oddly familiar man with blue eyes and a smile that sinks under her skin and makes magic bloom in the air around her. Things are about to get interesting.

— Listen, this may very well end up being one of my most favorite things I have ever written. Is it ridiculous? You betcha. But am I ridiculously proud of the way I used as much canon as absolutely possible to create something slightly different and a little more magical? You betcha, part two. I legit think it’s one of the more creative things I’ve done and dare I say more romantic? There’s lots of swooning in this one, guys. Killian knew who she was even through magic! The magic brought them back together! Also, Will Scarlet says the words “That’s love, dick!” at one point, which I really think should make more people like it. (I loved this story so much I wrote 50K about Killian and Ariel traipsing around the Enchanted Forest on like a weird, magical road trip, like, just for fun.)

The Period of the Long Change      It’s quick. One second she’s standing there and everything is fine and then Emma looks up and it’s not. It’s awful. And the lights are too bright and there are too many rooms and too many opinions and her phone won’t stop ringing because everything seems to be changing all at once. She’s never been great at coping with change. But, maybe, if she can just figure it out and stay right where she is, with Killian Jones, captain of the New York Rangers, at her side, it’ll be alright.

It’s slow. One second he’s standing there and everything is fine and then Killian’s breath catches and it’s not. It’s terrifying. And the noises are too loud and there are too many questions and he can’t find the right answers to any of them, not sure how to cope with everything changing all at once. That’s never really been his forte. But, maybe, if he can just figure it out and stay right where he is, with Emma Swan, director of New York Rangers community relations, at his side, it’ll be alright.

It’s another season and another challenge and Emma and Killian are both struggling to get over the boards.

— Ok, ok, ok, I know what you’re going to say. Laura, nothing about Blue Line is overlooked. You’re constantly yelling about people still reading Blue Line. And yes, that is true, but also...people were not into this one. Like, at all. They were occasionally mean about it! I cannot tell you how many “This would never happen” comments I got, and people were VERY upset by how often Killian was told he was an idiot. He was, though, so. But again! There’s some real swoon-worthy moments in here, if I do say so myself. In the middle of press conferences, even! The blowup chapter nearly made me cry while I was writing it! They sneak out of Casino Night! Also, the end was an idea I’d had building for a long time and it was nice to write it.

Nights Were Mainly Made for Saying It's possible. Emma is certain. She's going to fix this. She's going to save him. By time traveling. Which is totally, absolutely possible.

She's read about it. There's a theory.

So, no one has ever actually done it yet, but that doesn't mean she can't or they can't try and she just needs a little help. From Killian Jones. And his magic.

— In my limited fic-writing experience, I’ve come to realize modern magical AU’s do not always...resonate. Which is not to say that I do not appreciate those of you who did enjoy this one. This one being a weird little time loop story that was mostly a product of “Immma write this mostly for me.” But there were Hamilton references! And Alex Turner opinions! True Love conquered all!

Wrap Around Your Dreams Emma Swan is not a very good witch. She’s emotional and prone to immediate reactions and neither one of those things are currently helping her when the body count in Storybrooke is on the rise.

And there’s far too much blood at each crime scene and far too much magic and Emma has no idea where to look next. So she does the almost human thing; she starts making a list. Of clues and ideas and the absolute desperate hope that the killer isn’t what she’s certain it absolutely has to be.

The last thing she expects is for the notebook to start writing back.

— To this day, I am fairly certain this whole story was written in some sort of thrown-out-back fever dream. I literally wrote this whole story in one day. And it is very unlike anything I’ve ever written before. It got a little dark in some places? There was a lot of blood. Murder played a prominent role? But, like, True Love again. I live in want of another fever dream in which I write the sequel to this. Please read it. This one, not the non-existent sequel.

One Foot In The facts were these.

Killian Jones was dead. This much Emma knew, standing in the middle of the funeral parlor staring at him. What she didn’t know was why. Or how. Or what she would do when she touched him.

Because Emma Swan had a gift. Touch a dead thing once, bring it back to life. Touch it again, dead forever.

And the last thing Emma could do was bring Killian back to life, talk to him for the first time in years, only to watch him die all over again. Not when she’d spent the better part of those same years being in love with him.

------

Or: the Pushing Daisies AU that some people did ask for.

— Oh boy. So, this one languished in my docs for so long that I’m fairly certain people on the internet thought I was lying about having written it. Pushing Daisies is my favorite show in the history of the world, and combining it with Once was a labor of love that also required kind of a new plot and way more magic than the show ever had. Back at it again with murder playing a real prominent role, which is maybe why people were like, nah, about it. If I may be so bold, though, I think it’s some of my best banter. Which is good, because I’m always just trying to do Bryan Fuller proud.

[adenei]

Auror 99 - Chapter 5

In case you missed any of the previous chapters, you can find the whole story (thus far) here

Thanks for reading!

****************************

The Duel

Several days had passed with no new leads. Amy and Hermione continued poring over the case files with Jake and Ron, while Boyle and Harry staked out the banks. No luck was had all around. They’d all take turns switching with Rosa, who was still mainly manning surveillance. Whoever Gerteso was, he was a master of disguise. 

They were on a late shift about a week into the case, when Rosa caught something on the monitor. “Jake! Come see this,” Rosa said. Jake walked over with Ron not far behind him. “There’s some strange activity going on outside of this oddity shop - McLeod’s. The guy who just walked in seems to match the description of Gerteso. It’s in Manhattan, but might be worth checking out?”

“If we leave now, we can make it over there in 20 minutes. C’mon Nolan, let’s go!” Jake said as they ran out. 

Hermione looked at Amy. “What are the chances he’ll stay in the store that long?”

Amy shook her head. “Slim to none.”

“I’ll be right back,” Hermione said. She had an idea, but it required magic, so she had to move alone. Harry gave her a look. “Just need to make a phone call,” she reassured him. 

Hermione made her way to the bathroom and pulled out her cell phone she’d purchased a few days ago. The one muggle item the Ministry failed to provide. She pulled up the address to McLeod’s on her phone, and just before she was about to apparate, the door opened. Harry walked in.

“Here, take this,” he handed her the invisibility cloak. “If my suspicions about what you’re doing are correct, you’ll need it.”

“Thanks, Harry. Hopefully I won’t be long.” She pulled the cloak over herself and apparated to the nearest alleyway. She moved quickly around to find a back entrance to the store. Luckily there was one, and the door was propped open. She slipped inside and made her way to the front of the store, careful to remain silent the entire time.

“...I know he comes here and you do business with him. Now, I suggest you tell me the next time he’s going to show up.” Yes, that was definitely Gerteso, his wand pointed at the shopkeeper.

“T-tonight. H-he always comes Fridays. At night after the shop’s closed. He meets me in the alleyway next door.”

“That’s what I thought. So here’s what you’re going to do. You’ll contact him, or whatever you do before your meetups, tell him tonight is on, but you’re not going to show up. If you even so much as hint that I’m the one meeting him, you’ll be dead faster than you can blink. Understood?” The shopkeeper nodded in a terrified manner. “Tell him 9:00. And he better be punctual. If it’s earlier or later than your normal meetup, tell him you’ve got something planned and he needs to make it work.” 

Hermione watched Gerteso look around the store and then walk out. She turned around swiftly and snuck out the back. After apparating back into the bathroom of the precinct, she pulled out her phone again, and quickly sent Ron a text giving him the heads up that he’d be back at 9, so they should prepare for a stakeout until then. Looking around, Hermione made sure she was alone before pulling off the cloak. 

When she walked out and back into the hall her phone rang. “Hey.”

“Hey, how’d you know?”

“That’s not important. Just trust me, okay? I’m going to tell everyone here that you guys are gonna hang out there for a while on the off chance he comes back, which he will. There’s no suspicion?”

“I don’t think so. I’m glad we finally have a lead. I’ll figure something out. I’ll probably just meet you back at the flat, depending on how late we are.”

“Sounds good,” Hermione said. “Stay safe.”

“You too,” she heard Ron say before she clicked off the phone. That was their way of saying ‘I love you’ right now. Hermione took a deep breath before heading back to the rest of the group.

********************

Ron and Jake were in the same undercover squad car, parked on a side street, just outside of McLeod’s Bargain Store and Curiosity Shop. Ron had told Jake that when Rosa doubled back on the security footage, she noticed that the security cameras had caught Gerteso lurking around this time every night, so they’d decided to wait and see who or what he was waiting for. They still had a while before he’d make his nightly appearance.

Jake was looking at the picture they’d brought of him again. “He’s a weird looking dude, isn’t he?” 

Ron looked at the paper. To be honest, he hadn’t thought much of it. In the magical world, they came across all different sorts of creatures and beings so it hadn’t phased him before. But now, looking closely at the picture, Jake was right. His facial features were strong and jagged, accentuated by a thick beard that was trimmed neatly, and a long mane of dark, dark brown hair. His eyes were a golden brown, which added to his mysterious demeanor. His face was rather pale, which didn’t exactly fit the rest of his features. 

Gerteso oddly reminded Ron of Rufus Scrimgeour, a name he hadn’t thought about since the war ended. He made a mental note to ask Harry and Hermione if Gerteso could possibly be a vampire. The chances were slim since Voldemort had exterminated the lot of them in the war, but they had so few details on the case, and they were already a week in, that Ron figured any little suspicion could help.

“Yeah, he is,” Ron finally answered Jake.

“What’s going on with you? You’re quieter than normal tonight,” Jake commented.

“Just thinking, that’s all,” Ron said quickly. He wished he could talk about the details with Jake, he really did. The whole statute of secrecy thing was really starting to piss him off. They had four strong detectives, two aurors, and Hermione’s brilliance on the case, but because they couldn’t disclose who they truly were, movement was slow going.

“You miss her, don’t you?” Jake asked.

“Who?”

“Hadley? Your wife?” Jake clarified.

“Oh, yeah, I do. The whole no-contact thing is really the hardest,” Ron lied. He and Jake had talked a bit about his personal life before, and Ron had made up a different name for Hermione because it was so unique that he didn’t want to raise any suspicion. Not that they were even known about in the muggle world. But better to be safe than sorry.

“I guess that’s the one good thing about single life. No one would miss me if something happened. Y’know? I don’t have to worry about my reckless lifestyle affecting anyone else but me. I’m the lone ranger in this sad, crazy world!” Jake tried to play it off as cool, but Ron thought there was something more to it than that. Before he could ask, he noticed someone appear across the street.

“Jake, look!” Ron said, pointing to the figure.

“Do you think that’s him?” Jake asked.

“Yeah, I reckon so. He’s headed for that alley. We should follow so we don’t lose sight of him.” Ron said. They opened their doors and shut them quietly. 

Jake and Ron quickly crossed the street and stopped just before the alleyway. Jake looked around the corner and noticed that Gerteso was there with another figure. 

“There’s a dumpster further down that we can hide behind. He’s down there with another person, Jake whispered. They moved down the alley and stopped for cover behind the dumpster.

They watched as something was exchanged between them and Ron was studying the other person. He stealthily grabbed his wand and cast a silent identity charm so he could take back the visual of the person to see if they could figure out who he was. 

Suddenly the other person vanished and Jake grabbed Ron’s arm. “What the hell was that?! Where’d he go!?” They saw Gerteso turn and begin walking back towards them, and before Ron could stop Jake from engaging him, Jake jumped out from behind the dumpster with his gun held out. “NYPD! Freeze!”

“Fuck,” Ron said under his breath as he saw Gerteso raise his wand. He held his own at the ready as he joined Jake quickly in the alleyway. “Protego!” he shouted as he saw Gerteso wave his wand. Luckily he’d cast it in time to deflect a curse from hitting Jake.

“Uh, Nolan? What the fuck is happening right now? Is that a wand? What’s going on? I’m not freaking out. I’m not!” Jake was normally fine under pressure, but this, this was unreal. He had to be dreaming.

“Impedimenta!” Ron shouted. It just missed him as another spell was shot his way. Ron blocked that one again as he yelled “stupefy!” Whoever Gerteso was, he seemed to be moving really quickly, able to dodge everything Ron was throwing at him. He wasn’t using any defensive charms and kept sending jinx after jinx their way.

“Jake, get back behind the dumpster!” Ron said to him as he continued fighting Gerteso. As he shot an incarcerous at him, Ron saw a flash of light shoot out from Gerteso’s wand, but it wasn’t aimed at Ron. Before Ron had time to react, it hit Jake in the leg.

Jake yelled out in pain as Ron turned to see his leg on fire. “Aguamenti!” Ron said, quickly extinguishing the flame. “Shit, Jake!” Ron’s distraction was all Gerteso needed as Ron heard a faint pop and he was gone.

“W-where’d he go? He was just right there. What just happened?”

“Don’t worry about that right now, let me see your leg.” Ron examined it and realized Gerteso had shot out some sort of cursed fire. He’d never seen it before but it looked like it was a lower level of fiendfyre that was obviously much more controlled. Ron placed a freezing and numbing charm on Jake’s leg. “We’ve got to get you back to our flat,” Ron said. “Charlotte will know what to do.”

“What about a hospital?” Jake asked.

“We can’t take you to a hospital for this. It should be treatable at home. Don’t worry, I’ve already stopped the pain for now. Look, Jake I really can’t explain what this was about, and I’m really sorry that I have to do this…” Ron held up his wand and cast ‘obliviate.’ He watched Jake’s eyes go fuzzy and then refocus again.

“What happened? Did he get away? He was just right there!”

“Yeah, mate, he struck a match and caught your leg on fire, and took off. I was able to put it out, but we’ve gotta get you back to heal it. Do you think you can drive? You don’t want me driving, that’s for sure. Opposite side of the road and all...” 

“Uh, yeah, I think so. Why doesn’t it hurt?”

“Er, I had some of this special numbing cream to put on it. British specialty.” Ron really hated lying to Jake. “It should hold until we get back to my place. Hold on while I call Amy and Charlotte.” Ron was thinking quickly. There were totally gaps in his story, but he had to roll with it. And Jake was still sort of loopy enough from the obliviation that he was buying it.

Ron dialed Amy since it was the first contact in his phone. He still wasn’t sure how to work the damn thing properly. 

“Hey Nolan, what’s up?” he heard Amy answer.

“Uh, Amy, we had an incident. Can you meet us at our flat?”

“Is everything okay? Nolan, what happened?” Amy said worriedly.

“I can’t tell you right now. Just meet us back at the flat.” Ron hung up the phone. He helped Jake get up and got him back to the car. Thankfully it was his left leg that was injured, so he was still able to drive. 

“What did Amy say?” Jake tried to ask casually.

“She asked what happened. Sounded pretty worried,” Ron responded. “They’re going to meet us at the flat.”

“Oh, good. Yeah, that’s cool,” Jake played it off.

“You like her, don’t you?” Ron smirked at him.

“What? No, of course not! We’re work partners,” Jake defended.

“Doesn’t mean you don’t fancy her,” Ron said. “I’m gonna give you some advice. Just go for it, mate. I waited seven years, and somehow I was lucky enough to still get her. A girl like Amy reminds me of my own. They’re too good to wait around, so don’t wait forever.”

Jake looked at him. “You waited seven years to make a move?”

“Yeah, but thankfully she’d always felt the same way. The way you and Amy banter back and forth, reminds me of me and her way back.”

Jake spluttered a bit and made some noncommittal sounds. It seemed like it took ages to get back to their flat, but when they arrived, they saw Amy, Boyle, Harry and Hermione waiting for them. Charles and Harry helped Ron get Jake out of the car and up to their apartment. They laid Jake down on the couch and Hermione gave Ron a serious look.

“Jake. Jake! It’s gonna be okay, buddy. You’re gonna live. You have to live! The world’s not ready for you to leave it,” Boyle was lamenting overdramatically.

“What happened?” Amy asked, cutting him off. “Did you catch Gerteso?”

“Well, Gerteso met up with someone else,” Ron said, “They finished whatever exchange was made and he went to leave, but we tried to stop him. He put up a fight, and ended up striking a match and tossing it at Jake, hence the burn. He took off when I went to help Jake.”

“Nolan, why does the burn look so odd,” Amy said. “And how is it not hurting him?”

“I put numbing cream on it. I’ve got another British burn salve that should help. I just need to go grab it. Charlotte, could you check your bag for it? I can’t remember which bag it was in. Jason, could you search your stuff, too? We left so quickly last week I don’t remember who packed what.” Ron nodded towards Hermione who followed them into the room.

Hermione shut the door. “What happened?” she hissed. 

“Yeah, mate,” Harry said. “He doesn’t look good.”

Ron was searching for the dittany. That should do enough to heal it without Jake needing additional medical assistance. Ron pulled out his wand and cast muffliato on the door. “Jake jumped out at him when the other guy disapparated. I had to step in and duel him. Hermione, he moves really fast. He wasn’t even using defensive spells. And I think he used some form of adapted fiendfyre that was much more controlled than what we’ve encountered. It’s definitely cursed fire that Jake got hit with. It’s going to heal, but the scar is going to be awful. The dittany will help.”

“Ron! You could have-”

“I’m fine, Hermione. This is what I do. I’m an Auror. Jake’s already been obliviated, too. Now, here, take this, and figure out who it is,” Ron used his wand to draw up the charm he’d cast earlier of the other suspect. “If we can figure out who this is, maybe we can figure out what Gerteso’s after. Boyle and Harry can stop stalking the bank and tail him when we figure it out.”

Hermione sighed, “Alright, but you know I can’t take care of it until they leave.”

“Yeah, I know,” Ron said. “Let’s get back out there, the sooner we get this dittany on him, the better. Can you distract them while I apply it? Then we’ll see if Charles or Amy can stay with him tonight.”

They went back out and Ron was able to place the dittany on Jake’s leg, thanks to Harry and Hermione pulling Amy and Charles aside. “You should be good, aside from a nasty scar, but at least we don’t need to go to the hospital. Charles, Amy, can one of you stay with him tonight?” Ron asked.

“Of course! Anything for Jake,” Charles said quickly. Ron noticed the slight disappointment look on Amy’s face when Charles beat her to it. 

“Uh, Charles,” Hermione cut in, “maybe you could take this back to the precinct to get an ID on the second person? I’m sure Amy can take Jake home and stay with him. You could relieve her later?”

“Oh, yes, of course!” Charles said, taking the paper that Hermione had no doubt materialized for him. “As long as Amy’s okay with that?”

“What? Oh, y-yeah, I guess I can for a few hours tonight. But I’ll need your help getting him there if he can’t walk.” Amy looked gratefully at Hermione, although a little surprised at her suggestion. “We’ll see you all at the precinct tomorrow? We should probably at least debrief for a couple hours. I’m sure Holt will be fine with the overtime.”

Harry nodded. “That should work. Let’s get some rest for now, though. We’ve all put in more than enough hours today.”

Everyone nodded in agreement as they helped Jake up and saw them out. They had so much to discuss, but they had to wait until they were sure the detectives were gone. This case just kept getting weirder and weirder.

[just-a-gay-toku-girl]

This chapter comes to a close

As you’ve seen by my posts I’ve recently been watching through Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, and just last night at the time of writing this I watched the final episode. This is significant to me because it was the first sentai I watched all the way through that was from before I became a sentai fan (Which was around the halfway point of Zyuohger). Why did I pick Shinkenger as my first? Partially because I like the suits, partially because the opening theme is a bop, and partially because I had seen parts of power rangers Samurai and I was just curious. So having finished the series (still having some movies to watch) I thought it would be fun to give my thoughts on the show and its characters, no note just talking about my thoughts on the show as a whole(Beware as I won’t shy away from spoilers). Starting with...

The Villains 

Arguably the villains can be just as important to the success of a show or movie as the main characters are. They need to be intimidating and powerful to make them seem like a real threat to the team, and I think the Gedoushu manage to accomplish that well enough. The suit designs for the main generals are ok, very intricate but not overly so (The exception to that being Dokoku who just has a bit to much going in his design IMO). One of my favorite things about this group is their main goal: raising the level of the Sanzu river so it’ll flood into the human world, To do this they have to create negative emotions in humans. It’s not often that bad guys in these shows actually have a goal besides just world domination. This actually gives the individual monsters more purpose than just attempting to destroy the rangers, plus it means that whenever they attack their scoring at least a small victory as the river will raise ever so slightly. Another small thing to mention before I get into the main villains as individuals is that despite being evil there seemed to be a bit of comradery between at least the main 3. It wasn’t brought up too often but a scene that stuck out to me was at the end when Dokoku and Shitari seem to be just the least bit saddened by Dayu’s death. Granted that could just be them being thankful that her death made Dokoku stronger but I digress. Onto the individual villains from least to most favorite

Shitari

There’s not much to say about Shitari since I can’t actually remember him doing much throughout the show. He may have helped with the plots of a few filler episodes and commanded a few monsters but that’s about it. Really the most notable thing about him is that his actor also plays Brook in One Piece so part of me was always expecting him to ask to see Dayu’s panties.

Dokoku

Surprisingly the big bad of this season just barely escapes being the worst villain. Much like Shitari he doesn’t actually do much throughout the season, what places him higher than Shitari is two things: 1. he has a reason for being idle throughout the show being that unlike other Gedoushu he can’t stay in the human world for more than 3 minutes without drying up severely and being out of commission for the next week, though we never are really told why that is. 2. When he eventually DID actually do something he was damn powerful. Easily walking through the shinkengers in their first battle. Not to mention it was clear even with monsters that seemed more intimidating than him they still were afraid of him and his power.

Dayuu

Honestly I don’t have much to say about her either. Most of the villains were decent at being villains but for the most part kinda unremarkable. What puts Dayuu and Juzo is just the fact that they had backstories and pretty interesting ones at that. Dayuu after finding out the man she loved had married another woman was consumed with jealousy and burned him and his wife to death. That is friggin metal as hell and I love it. In a series like this where full scale invasions from aliens are common place in rare to see something so small scale like this to be treated as serious as it is. It really makes her feel more human as a villain, which I dig.

Juzo

Juzo was easily my favorite villain in Shinkenger. And no not just because he was played by my favorite character from 555. Like Dayu he had a really interesting backstory that made him feel a lot more human (Despite the whole point of his arc being that he wasn’t human.) Basically he found out he was dying and decided to take a couple people down with him which led to him becoming a Gedou. In the earlier episodes he seemed to be sort of an anti hero, not necessarily working for the Gedou and even saving Shinken red’s life on a couple of occasions just because he wanted so desperately to fight red himself. That is until close to the end of the show when he basically said “I don’t care if my family’s souls are suffering because of me, let them suffer.” to show there really wasn’t a shred of humanity left within him. Not to mention he had an amazing death scene that I won’t say anything because it’s best seen for yourself. 

Now with the bag guys done I’m gonna move onto the actual shinkengers. like before it’ll be least to most favorite

Shinken Green - Tani Chiaki

In this case saying Chiaki is my least favorite really just means I didn’t like him as much as the others but I still did like him. Admittedly there wasn’t much to Chiaki in terms of an arc, just that in the beginning he had an inferiority complex that made him not want to follow orders but that kinda went away after one episode. What I liked more about him was his personality, very happy-go-lucky while still taking his role as a shinkenger seriously. He’s also very friendly, being the first to make friend’s with Genta when he joined the team as well as having a good relationship with every other ranger and even Jii. He really is fun to watch but not much else.

Shinken Pink - Shiraishi Mako

Mako is a very kind person and wants to help those in need, however she only helps those in need and as soon as they don’t need her she leaves them. She’s one of the older Shinkengers thus earning her the affectionate nickname of “Big sis” from the rest of the team. However that’s basically all there is to her. She doesn’t change that much and overall has the lowest amount of character focus episodes. But she’s cute so that puts her above Chiaki.

Shinken Blue - Ikenami Ryunosuke

Ryunosuke is easily the most dedicated to his role as a samurai,he’s kind, hardworking and he’s loyal to a fault which ends up creating an internal debate for him when he discovers the person he’s pledged his life to isn’t the actual Shiba head. Being that he was a kabuki actor his movements and mannerisms are very lively and wild, it’s really just a joy to watch how his actor portrayed him. He definitely carried the show’s energy for the most part. I also loved watching his interactions with the others and when he’s forced to work with them. Some highlights of his include the episode where him and Chiaki get glued together and the episode where Genta tries to follow him around to learn to be a samurai.

Shinken Red - Shiba Takeru/Shiba Kaoru

I lump both of them together mainly because we didn’t see enough of Kaoru for me to really make a judgement of her yet I still wanted to mention her. I’ll say this, I did like her. She was definitely worthy of being the first female red ranger. I appreciate that despite her recognizing herself as the strongest she never tried to put the others down for being weaker than her, even berating her retainer for doing just that. I’ll admit the thing at the end with her “Adopting” Takeru was kinda weird but it showed she recognized the team was stronger with Takeru.

As for Takeru himself I really enjoyed him. Stoic, intimidating, and cold at the beginning but as time went on and he developed relationships with the rest of the team he slowly began opening up to them more and more. So much so that by the end he was joking around just as much as they were. And the twist of him not actually being of the Shiba household I thought was executed pretty well, I would’ve been genuinely surprised by it had power rangers not done the same thing. He was a really solid character and easily one of my favorite red rangers.

Shinken Gold - Umemori Genta

Genta was a unique 6th ranger in that he was mostly comedic relief, but a damn good one. He had me genuinely laughing out loud a few times. despite being a comedic character they managed to have a few serious plots with him that turned out alright. Not much more to say about him, he’s funny and (as the show called him) an extraordinary good boy

Shinken Yellow - Hanaori Kotoha 

Easily my favorite of the shinkengers, Kotoha is the youngest and therefore least experienced of the team. Originally her older sister was meant to take the role of yellow but fell ill before the events of the show leaving Kotoha to take her place. This of course makes her feel inferior to the others and ike she isn’t a real samurai, just a substitute for her sister. Eventually though after Jii learns of her insecurities he helps reassure her that everyone thinks of her as a real samurai. Although this part of her character isn’t really seen until close to the end, it was that which made me love her character, hell I even shed a tear or two during her last character focus episode. Plus she is downright adorable so there’s nothing not to love about her.

Final thoughts

Overall I think Shinkenger was a really good show, easily in my top 5 sentai (although that’s not saying much since most of the sentai I’ve seen have been pretty Meh). As I mentioned the suits are really well designed, and the opening song as well as the fight songs are just badass. The characters are all really good with the weakest of them just being the ones that were under developed. The story while not necessarily ground breaking it was still enjoyable to watch and I wouldn’t mind coming back to it pretty soon, but for now I need to move on to a different sentai.

I contemplated for  a while what sentai to watch next, between Goseiger, Goonger, Dekaranger, Magiranger, Bioman and a few others. Ultimately tho I decided that since one of my favorite things about sentai is the crossovers I should go back and watch all the crossovers, so I’ll start with the season that made these team ups an annual thing. So if I ever make another Long ass post like this, then you’ll be hearing of the fight to protect earth against the evile Baranoia army in Chouriki Sentai Ohranger

[darkedgey]

Toy Story 4 - Thoughts and Opinions

So, majority of people seemed to really enjoy the most recent installment to the Toy Story franchise, going as far as to say it is one of the best movies within the series by far. But I am here to say that my unpopular opinion differs from that, and I think it is by far the weakest movie out of the four movies.

Of course, I'm going to talk about spoilers, so, if you would prefer not to be spoiled, it's best you skip this post. You have been warned.

Now, let's start off with one of my biggest pet peeves. The characters of Woody and Buzz Lightyear within this movie.

Within the movie we see Buzz and Woody talking, and Woody is basically trying to explain to Buzz what it means to have a conscience. That little voice inside of you, that tells you to do stuff, that is your conscience.

While this starts off as a pretty amusing bit for the first few times the joke is made, it starts to become a little frustrating, because it gives off the vibe that Buzz's intelligence has been dumbed down EXTREMELY within this movie, just for the sake of comic relief.

No, Buzz has not always been the most intelligent toy, but neither has he been this unintelligent either. He knows how to think on his feet, on his own volition, and this is demonstrated throughout the 2nd and 3rd movie, (like in the 3rd movie when he comes up with a smart plan of how to get out of the playroom to go find Lotso). So, for him to start pressing buttons on his suit, to listen to his recorded voice lines, and treat that as his conscience, it's like it's going back to the whole trope of Toy Story 1, where Buzz doesn't know how to be a toy.

Buzz really isn't THAT dumb you guys...

Now, Woody.

The way Woody acts out in this movie extremely bothers me, and it was something that brought me to not like the ending very much, as his final decision felt extremely out of character for him.

Woody has always stated that his job as a toy "isn't about getting played with, it's about being there for Andy/Bonnie."

Yet in this movie we see a point of Woody getting a tiny bit salty when Bonnie hasn't played with him for about, I think it is said to be three weeks. Three weeks isn't that long of a time span, and even then, I don't think Bonnie would stop playing with Woody forever. Kids go through phases, but she probably would have eventually gone back to Woody.

Throughout the past three movies, Woody always stresses how important it is to be there for your kid. To make them happy. And in the third movie isn't the ending of that kind of supposed to be the fact that they're all supposed to stick together?

For Woody to have this moral and this message for three movies that there is "nothing more important than being loved by a kid", and then to leave Bonnie and all his friends behind to go with his love interest who he literally has not seen for years, it feels a little... Iffy and out of place to me.

How did Woody not lose his purpose when Andy literally stopped playing with him for years, but when Bonnie stops playing with him for like three weeks he decides he has nothing left? Bit odd to me.

"The thing that makes Woody special, is that he'll never give up on you. He'll be there for you, no matter what." This is how Andy describes Woody to be in the end of the third movie. But, heh, guess Woody kinda forgot about that in this final scene. Have fun later Bonnie when you realise your cowboy is missing because Woody decided to run off with his love interest.

Now that those two are out of the way, time to move onto Bo.

Is it me, or in this movie, was she a bit of a jerk to Woody? The past two movies, she's all: oh Woody my cowboy, but in this movie, it's like she completely disregards him?

There is a moment where they come up with a plan as an attempt to save Forky, but Woody derails from the plan and this causes her sheep to get caught by one of the puppets that is helping the main villain. While yes, I can understand her being annoyed, the way she acts towards Woody is so insanely shitty, that it just feels off. She doesn't let him talk or explain himself, and when she is asked whether Woody is a friend, she regards him as an "accessory". That's a bit 0 to 100 from you Bo, isn't it?

It feels like her old personality has just been stripped away to create a very generic, tough girl bitch persona, who can't show empathy, because that's a sign of weakness. Rather than her being her own unique character, she's been turned into a typical, tough girl cliché.

She treats Woody like the villain, when he just wants to save another toy to make his kid happy. Why this makes him a bad guy, I am certainly not sure.

Why does the villain get away with the terrible, awful things that she has done?

While I understand her story is quite sad, in no way do I think her sob story should clear her for what she has done to Woody and his friends.

She went as far as to forcefully try and steal his voice box, hurt his friends, take Forky hostage, and try to use Woody's past to manipulate him into listening to her, and we are supposed to feel sorry for her, why? Because the child who she wants to be liked by, casts her aside.

While it would be nice to have a villain we can sympathize with once in awhile, (as all previous Toy Story movies have had a villain that has nothing but a hateful side to them), it is terrible that she does not get held responsible for any of the terrible things she has done. She is never told she is wrong. She never apologises. So, in the end, she is given what she wanted, without any sort of karma in return.

What?

Majority of the main cast are just cast aside.

Why this happens, I am not quite sure. In Toy Story 3, it was so interesting to see all the toys in the gang actually work together and have quite a good involvement in the movie. In this one however, they're hardly anywhere to be seen.

Because they have gone on a road trip with Bonnie, a lot of the characters like Rex, Ham, Mr and Mrs Potato Head... Etc, they are just left in the RV, for majority of the movie. They don't even have many lines like they do in previous movies, and their screen time is pretty nonexistent. I was surprised to find that even a character like Jessie had hardly any involvement in this movie.

This is pretty disappointing, as I would have expected these characters to have more involvement within the story. But no. They don't.

Forky is a plot device just to make sure Woody runs into Bo.

The way the first few trailers showed this movie, they made it seem like it was mainly going to be about Forky, and how he struggles with the concept of being a toy, who is made out of trash. Similar to how Buzz struggled with thinking he was a space ranger in Toy Story 1. While doing this kind of plot with Forky may have been a bit of a repeat of the first movie, it probably would have been better than what we were given.

Forky is able to be convinced by Woody that he is a toy after a few explanations, and maybe roughly 30 minutes into the movie. That's it. The movie is hardly about Forky at all, and is more about the fact that Woody misses Bo, (which I find so odd, when she was only mentioned once in the third movie. So for him to be THAT desperate to see her, it feels out of place).

They could have explored the idea more of how toys come to life, how they have a conscience. They create this new character who was never originally a toy, but still comes to life. So do they explore this idea, of figuring out how he comes to life? You bet they don't.

I just don't see the point in introducing this new character if he's going to be used for such a reason.

Now, I'm not saying the movie was ALL bad. There were some things I liked about it, (like how good it looked visually, how it was just awesome to see characters like Woody and Buzz on the screen again after all these years...), but there is no way I could say this movie is a masterpiece, or even the best out of the series. Really, they probably should have just left Toy Story alone. Because now to me, it feels a bit weird to watch the end of Toy Story 3, having Andy talk about how important Woody and the gang are to him, only to know Woody will just leave. It leaves it feeling a little sour I think...

But that's just my opinion. If you got this far in listening to me ramble about my thoughts then thank you. And if you were able to enjoy the movie more than me then I am glad for you. :)

[elliepassmore]

The Never Tilting World Review

4/5 stars Recommended for people who like: fantasy, multiple POVs, goddesses, magic, demons, LGBTQ+ romance, strong female leads, kick-ass women, women engineers, disability representation, mental illness representation, characters of color, complex morality I will say that for the most part I really enjoyed this book. The concept is fascinating and the characters and world were splendid. I took off a star because, as nice as it is sometimes to not have every detail of a world explained, with something like magic, it does have to be explained to a certain extent. By-and-large I understand how the 'gates' work, but we're dropped right into the terminology within the first couple of pages without explanation and it was a little confusing and took me a few tries to get at it. Then, I just wasn't a huge fan of Odessa and it does take away from the book a little when you just don't like one of the MCs or narrators, but I'll explain more about Odessa when I get to her. Lan, Tianlan, is the first narrator, so I'm starting with her. She's what's called a Catseye (also something whose we had to figure out figure out ourselves), which means she can heal people or inflict sickness upon them in a form of dual magic. Two sides to every coin, right? I really, really love this idea and think it's a fantastic spin on the typical 'healer' character you see in fantasy. I suppose, theoretically, healers could always turn their magic to use by harming people, in fantasy books healers are relegated to only healing, save for here and in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha and Six of Crows trilogy, where healing and harming are seen as two sides of the same magic, though a person typically has more strength in one than the other, so it doesn't come out quite like it does here. I enjoyed being in Lan's POV because she's caught between wanting to do the right thing by the world that's been plunged into eternal night and also wanting to keep Odessa, her lover, safe. I also thought that Chupeco writing Lan has having PTSD after a pre-book incident was refreshing considering the number of books that just skip over the psychological effects events have on characters. This was also an area where Chupeco turned the 'healer' trope on its head a little, as Catseyes can work with physical illnesses and injuries, but also mental ones, taking on the role of healer and therapist (though obviously not for themselves), so not only do we get to see Lan experiencing PTSD, but we also see her coming to terms with it and seeking therapy-like treatment for it, which is pretty unusual in most novels. Despite being in the 'healer' role and having magic that can infect and destroy if she wishes, Lan is also skilled with a blade and hand-to-hand combat and has something of a quick temper. She's definitely the 'protector' type more than anything else and is striving to make sure everyone comes out alright in the end. Odessa comes next, because I'm grouping the characters based on where they're from and Lan and Odessa are both from Aranth. Odessa is one of the daughter-goddesses in the novel who is unaware her twin is alive. She has some kind of chronic illness that prevents her from being very active without tiring out and that Catseyes have been able to treat but not cure. In the beginning Odessa seems like she'll be a pretty good character, a little too doe-eyed and teary for my tastes, but has plenty of potential. Then she starts to get bratty and doesn't seem to have the ability to logically think things through. From a writing standpoint I really appreciate how complex Chupeco makes Odessa and I think within the plot it's super fascinating. It's even explained to us toward the end why Odessa made the sudden turn from teary-but-okay-princess to brat-with-little-rationale, so I appreciate the cleverness of how the reason was woven throughout Lan and Odessa's chapters for us to find but maybe not pinpoint exactly. However, the great reasoning behind it doesn't stop me from not liking Odessa. The weird power-imbalance Odessa has going on with Lan and their relationship that I'm not a huge favor of. They love each other, great, fantastic, I believe that and I actually think they make a great couple in the beginning of the novel. They certainly have a better set-up for a romance than Arjun and Haidee do, though their 'love' is only marginally slower moving, but I'm just a teeny bit uncomfortable with the power imbalance of Odessa being a goddess/princess and Lan being the person assigned to guard and protect her. It's one thing when Lan is serving the crown in some general 'technical' sense and the two of them are in a relationship and it's another thing entirely when Lan is serving Odessa and her mother directly. It would be better, I think, if Lan wasn't serving directly under Odessa or it was like Lan's previous relationship where both girls were rangers. While Lan has no issues disregarding Odessa's commands, the imbalance is still there and becomes a bit of a problem later, but is never fully addressed, so I'm not sure how I feel about that or about some of the scenes with Lan and dark!Odessa. The relationship has the potential in the beginning and it is, for the most part good, but then once the difference in rank and power becomes clearer and Odessa becomes darker I get just a little uncomfortable with it. Haidee is the other daughter-goddess and she lives in the Golden City on the always-day side of the planet. She's what's called a 'mechanika' in the world, but what we would classify as an engineer. She's quick on her feet, fiery, stubborn, and extremely empathetic. In one of her very first scenes she's crying over a days-dead whale, if that's any indication. As much as I love her determination, smarts, and stubbornness, her ignorance of the world and optimistic attitude do grate on my nerves at times. She's just a bit too happy-go-lucky in some instances, though it largely works out for her. I will be fair, Haidee is one of my favorites, but I feel like Chupeco set things up so that Haidee would always have things work out for her and it seems a bit too obvious at times. Despite my dislike of Odessa, things go wrong for her, sometimes very wrong, and while things do occasionally go wrong for Haidee and seem like they'll be bad, I don't ever really get the full-on sense of dread like I do with Odessa. Arjun and Haidee meet by the whale and their first scene involves them trying to kill each other. Naturally, he becomes her love interest. Arjun is, hands down, the funniest person in the entire book. He has a very dry sense of humor and can be extremely sarcastic. He follows along with the idea of prophecies and with Haidee's ideas a little to mellowly for what I'd been expecting given our introduction to him, which I think says more about the whole 'everything works out for Haidee' but than about him. I also enjoy that Arjun decided to go with a prosthetic magical rifle after he lost his hand (not a spoiler, it happened pre-book). I don't know how they engineer the things they do in the desert, but I just found it amusing that instead of engineering a hand or hook or knife or something they went with a rifle that could channel his fire magic. It really fits his personality, honestly. While Arjun's and Haidee's romance is definitely more power-balanced than Lan's and Odessa's, there are still some holes in it. Mainly that they meet and fall in love within the span of the book, which I'm pretty sure takes place over, like, a month. I love fantasy and dystopian, and sci-fi, but oh my god I am getting sick of the quick romances. Chupeco did a decent job of showing why they fell in love and how they respected each other and became friends before they fell in love, but it's still only been a month. Sorry, but I know 19-year-olds, being one and being in college, and I'm just really not certain that your 'month to love' romance is gonna last. There are different depths to love and you can love more than once, but the insta-true-love, will-survive-anything has just, for some reason, been getting on my nerves lately. Maybe in a couple months or years I'll be fine with it again, but right now I'm just not a fan, even if I do like the characters together. The mythology and general world-building in the book is also something I enjoyed. Chupeco keeps the ideas of duality, sacrifice, and "a demoness is what they call a goddess that men cannot control" going throughout the book. It centers around two young goddesses whose mother(s) are goddesses and a world that somehow stopped spinning and split into only-night and only-day, so there's obviously a lot of mythology and magic going into the base of this book. Since the 'Breaking,' as they call it, neither mother-goddess has really told the twins much about previous generations of goddesses. Odessa gets more of an education about it than Haidee does, but both are still largely left in the dark about their world's mythology, which allows Chupeco to reveal it to the reader in a way that feels natural without info-dumping. There's a lot to do with goddesses, prophecies, and rituals that starts to get unpacked in this one, but which mainly sets up for the sequel. I'm super interested in learning more about the goddesses and rituals in the next book and have plenty of theories regarding them. The duality piece of things is interesting, because you don't necessarily recognize it in the beginning or even halfway through the book. It was more toward the end that I began to see what Chupeco was doing with the night-day, ill-healthy, healer-'plague-giver' sort of balance. The goddesses are twins, as all goddesses before them have been, and that set-up is a fantastic literary device for setting up dualities. You can have the good twin vs. the evil twin, the knowledgeable vs. the ignorant, and so many other varieties, and Chupeco plays with a bit of each in each twin. Odessa knows more about their past from the start, but it's Haidee who learns more about it and their world on the way. Odessa starts out as the chronically-ill sister, but Haidee ends up drained and exhausted. Odessa becomes more and more morally complex and dark but still has soft spots, Haidee is blindingly optimistic but has moments of destructive rage. They're set up to mirror and foil one another, yet each still comes together in the end and finds strength in knowing their twin. The girls are quite similar even though the book sets up a lot of their differences. Without giving too many spoilers I can say that this is 100% reflected in where the plot takes us and the things that are revealed. In terms of world-building I thought Chupeco gave us very distinct settings, creatures, and peoples. The night-side of the world is described as very rainy and cold, with threats of storms, kraken, and icebergs. Though Lan and Odessa are only in the city for a short period of time, I remember the impression I got of it. Old bookstores, tall buildings, dreary because of the rain. This is set against the next setting Lan and Odessa experience, which is the borderlands near the Abyss. While these lands are still dark, there's more foliage described as well as eerie lakes, currents made of air that are strong enough to hold ships, and creatures of darkness and shadow. It is also here where the sky begins to lighten as they move closer to the Abyss and the always-day side of the world. This is even more different from the settings Arjun and Haidee encounter. The desert is vast and deadly, full of dangerous scorpions, an acid sea, and a sea of sand complete with sand-dolphins and sand-sea creatures. The desert is full of raiders and nomadic clans instead of shadow people, but the former can be just as deadly. The Golden City is more steampunk than the night city, Aranth, is described to be. It also seems to be full of snootier people than Aranth does, and all-in-all, despite it being a city run by a twin goddess with a twin goddess daughter, Haidee's city is a very different city from the one Lan and Odessa left. Then there's Inanna's Temple and the Abyss itself, which remind me of dawn and pure darkness, respectively, but still have their own distinct feelings and descriptions. It's very easy to get immersed in the world Chupeco has created here and it's one of those rare world-building experiences that makes me wish I could see it artistically rendered. The Never Tilting World is a good book with unique, distinct characters each with their own strengths and weaknesses that are explored throughout the book. Chupeco writes the characters relatively realistically, meaning they deal with physical and mental trauma as well as tough decisions they sometimes respond to poorly. The Arjun-Haidee romance felt kind of rushed and the Lan-Odessa romance felt like it had a power-imbalance I wasn't 100% comfortable with. Since there is another book, however, and since the Lan-Odessa romance had a lot more promise in the beginning than the middle and end, I'm hoping it'll get itself sorted out. I also dinged the book's score because of terminology that we're left to figure out for ourselves that really would've been better if it had just been explained outright. Definitely think it's a good read, though and would recommend picking it up if you enjoy fantasy.

[loopy777]

You've got me curious now as to what anime youve seen, enjoyed and why.

Oof, I don’t track that type of thing. I’ve been asked about anime I like previously, and I feel like I always forget something. I suppose I should start a MyAnimeList one of these days, just for reference.

So let’s list everything I can remember, as well as a pithy reaction.

Baccano!This one is just so much fun. It’s violent and crass in a classy way, it’s funny in a weird way, and it’s a great example of a non-linear narrative. I love it.

Code Geass (Season 1)Ugh, I only watched this one because people solicited my opinion on it. Well, my opinion is that it’s not as smart as it wants to be, there’s too much contrived melodrama (and considering the wild premise, that’s saying something), and Kallen would be a wonderful and interesting character if she wasn’t always being demeaned for fan-service. I quit when the first season finale kicked off, because I felt things were just getting too contrived. I hear it really fell apart in the second season.

Cowboy BebopI found this a bit pretentious. It had good episodes and bad episodes. The production quality is good. But I'm not sure why it's legendary. Still, I liked its sense of humor, and enjoyed it when it wasn’t trying to be super serious. My favorite character is Ed.

Demon SlayerI'm mainly watching this because my brother wanted to give it a try on Toonami, but I kind of checked out when it unceremoniously removed everything difficult about the sister being a demon and made her into an order-following sidekick that fits in a suitcase. Now the latest episode introduced a loud annoying side character, so we may quit. I have no idea why this one is so popular.

Fullmetal AlchemistCovered

Gatchaman CrowdsI was asked to watch this one, as well, but it went a lot better than Code Geass. It’s a bit weird, and I think it's naively optimistic about the internet in many ways, but I still found it's exploration of Internet-age superheroes to be interesting, and it's the best, most mature take on the Power Rangers-style ‘sentai’ genre that I've seen. I don't know how well it matches up with its Gatchaman legacy, but as its own thing, it's pretty good.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (including 2nd Gig)This is another legendary one that I think is good but a bit over-rated. It's a good piece of modern Cyberpunk, but it's very talky, and very jargon-filled. I'm almost convinced that the viewer is not meant to follow half of the conversations, that they're just part of the ambiance. I tended to like the stand-alone episodes better than the storyline episodes. Still, it’s a very smart series, and probably the best thing in the franchise, from what I’ve heard.

Log Horizon (first season only)I’ll tell you what- I think it’s possible to make a good anime with the premise of people from the modern, real world entering a fantasy realm (either another dimension or a VR video game). Log Horizon did not end up being that ideal. The main character is a Gary Stu, his romances with girls who are either ten years old or just look like they’re ten years old are creepy, and it got boring seeing the protagonists’ plans always succeed without much of a hitch.

Lupin III (series 4 and 5)I like this franchise when it's being clever, when it's springing a twist while playing fair. Sometimes, though, it doesn't play fair with its twists, leaving me underwhelmed. And while the regular cast is amusing, they're fairly shallow characters; this isn't always a bad thing, as that allows them to slot into all kinds of genre fare, but does limit the storytelling ambitions. It’s fine.

Macross franchiseSuper Dimensional Fortress MacrossI still like the original, despite how dated it is. It's probably the best possible implementation of 'soap opera in space.'

Macross PlusI'm not sure why this one is so revered. I feel like it doesn't play fair with its mystery, despite being such a short story, and whole thing with the killer popstar AI just left me cold.

Macross 7I like the music, but the story really drags for the first half with a formula that’s repeated far too long, and then falls apart in the end. The love triangle isn’t resolved, and in fact I’m of the opinion that two of the participants didn’t even know they were in competition. The bad guys are allowed to sail off into the sunset, forgiven, despite still inhabiting the bodies of kidnapped humans. But this isn't a series you watch for the story; this is a series you watch because you like the idea of a rockstar flying into space in a transforming mecha, controlled by an electric guitar, to sing at alien invaders. Personally, I think the idea is dumb. Plus, this ruins the premise of the original series by adding in what is effectively magic.

Macross ZeroThis is pretty good and has the best dogfights in the series, but it has one of those weird arty endings that anime sometimes likes to do where no one can tell what actually happened and we need to find translated interviews with the creative team to get it explained.

Macross FrontierBy this point, I was wondering why everyone is so eager for the Macross franchise to get American distribution. It’s better than Macross 7, but feels like a first draft of the intended story, and the creative team lost track of their own subplots. The two AU movies do a more satisfying take on the same basic story, but sometimes they come across like an abridged recap of the series, so you really need to watch everything to get a satisfying experience. That said, the final experience was indeed fairly satisfying, making this the second best thing in the franchise for me. Still, I wouldn’t say it lives up to the original in any way.

Macross DeltaBoy, this one was dumb. Everything wrong with Frontier is worse here, with none of the good stuff.

The Melancholy of Haruhi SuzumiyaI still want an ending for this, despite nothing worthwhile coming from it since 2011. It wouldn't even be hard to pick it up again; set it in modern times, and explain the fact that everyone has smartphones now to be a result of some weird off-screen Haruhi antics.

Mobile Suit Gundam franchiseMobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded OrphansI've only ever experienced the Gundam franchise because my brother wants to get into it and he keeps trying to find a vector. This was my first experience with it, and I found it very 'teenage boy,' in both tone and story. I was underwhelmed.

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE:0096Another case where the storytellers reached the end only to have forgotten the rest of the story. Why does that happen so often in anime? And I think it assumes the viewer is familiar with the whole rest of the franchise, because there was a lot that just went straight over my head but didn't seem like it was supposed to. Nice animation and art style, though.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin - Advent of the Red CometEverything I said about Unicorn, only more.

My Hero AcademiaCovered

NichijouThis thing is still hilarious, even after a rewatch. Stick with the sub, as the new dub's voice-acting doesn't have the same range and power of the original, losing a lot of the humor.

Outlaw Star I'm struggling to remember a lot of this one. it’s another I watched because my brother was interested in it. I do recall that it was a fairly standard Space Western that ends in a way that's more like serious science fiction, and that for some reason a Japanese swordswoman in classic clothing was part of the cast. Now I wonder if that was an homage to Lupin III. Or maybe Japan just really loves throwing classic samurai into everything, regardless of setting or genre.

Pokemon (part of first series)I was in high school when this franchise first came to America, and for some reason all the geeks in my high school thought it was the greatest thing. The games were good, yeah, but the anime? I don't think it's bad for a kiddie cartoon, but it obviously has no greater ambitions than pleasantly occupying the kids for 22 minutes. Personally, what I really want is a series about Team Rocket done in the style of Cowboy Bebop.

Princess TutuCo-owner of the Best Magical Girl designation. I forget who asked me to watch this, but I owe them.

Puella Magi Madoka MagicaCo-owner of the Best Magical Girl designation. I still haven't bothered with anything but the original series, and I continue to be happy with that choice.

Samurai ChamplooI liked this better than Cowboy Bebop, but only because its ambitions were lower. It leaned more into its genre, had fun with its style more even when being serious, and as a result became more enjoyable. I overall liked going on a journey with these rascals, but I think it ended at a good point. I don’t need more.

Spice & Wolf (first season)I watched this on someone's suggestion, and found it a little underwhelming. What I really appreciated were the two main characters, especially that they seem to be into each other, romantically and sexually, and aren't freaked out by it while at the same time not being in a hurry to become a couple. It was just a kind of, "Yeah, this could really be something if we ever find the time." It was so amazingly mature and real. Too bad the main Economics plotlines just wound up being tepid.

Tekkaman BladeMy thoughts haven't changed on this.

Tiger & BunnyI'm still fond of this one, and I'm actually kind of curious to revisit it in light of My Hero Academia.

Transformers ‘Unicron Trilogy’These three cartoons are true anime, produced by and for Japan. (The other cartoons in the franchise were written, and sometimes animated, in the west.) It's garbage that assumes its child audience are morons, and on top of that the first two series wound up with laughably bad dubs. How this trilogy revitalized the franchise, I have no idea, and thankfully I'll never have to worry about it.

Volton (original)Either this or Robotech/Macross was my first anime; I was too young to say which I discovered first. I'll admit that the original Voltron isn't good, despite the toy being neat, but I have a soft spot for it. I tried the Netflix reboot, watching the first three episodes, and found it to be vacuous junk. Maybe some day a version of this will come along that will do justice to the toy.

And I think that’s it. If I remember anything I left off, I’ll reblog with the addition.

[weremarkable]

LA Confidential - nice read and pictures 👌

Corduroy jacket, $2,730, and pants, $795, both at Ermenegildo Zegna; rollneck sweater, $185, by Mr P. at mrporter.com

Oh, it was such a sleepy, idyllic town until Armie Hammer came along with those chiseled charms of his. Eighteen months ago, the Italian city of Crema drew occasional visitors for its sweet ravioli and the Gothic 17th-century bell tower in the piazza. But then something positively scandalous happened involving an overripe hollowed-out peach, and Crema was anonymous no more. 😄

If you’ve seen Call Me By Your Name, you’re aware of the indelible moment in which Hammer plays erotic muse to last year’s juiciest moment in film. To sidestep spoilers, let’s just say that Timothée Chalamet, Hammer’s young costar in the coming-of-age drama, discovered a fruit-forward way of quenching his desire for Hammer’s character. Heaps of award nominations (including a Golden Globe nod for Hammer’s performance) and a global invasion of drosophilalike movie tourists followed.

“I went back to Crema after Call Me By Your Name had already come out, and walked into the duomo, which had been so calm and lovely when we filmed,” Hammer, 32, says, shaking his head a little in the courtyard of a Hollywood hotel. At 6 feet, 5 inches with bright blue eyes and a polished smile, the movie star in the conversation is impossible to mistake for someone else. “A few girls were standing together looking at their phones, and one of them looked up at me and just went, ‘Holly f---! There he is!’ And I thought, That’s it. Everything’s different here now.”

Donegal cableknit sweater, $595, paulsmith.com

You could say that about Hammer too. The actor noticed a change at the Oscars last year. The first time he attended, in 2011, to support The Social Network (through the magic of split screens, Hammer played both of the Winklevoss twins, who claimed the Facebook idea was theirs), he felt lost in the blur. “You’re on the red carpet looking around at all the insanity going, ‘What the hell?’” he says. “It was like being in a car accident.” But last year, the experience was one to savor. “I walked into a situation where suddenly I’d done a lot of work with a bunch of different people, and it was all, ‘Hey, how are you?’ ‘Oh, wow, great to see you.’ ‘Isn’t this fantastic?’”

Hammer’s orbit continues to widen. This season, he appears opposite Felicity Jones and Justin Theroux in On the Basis of Sex, a biopic directed by Mimi Leder about the life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Hammer plays Marty Ginsburg, a husband-of-the-century type who cooked and cleaned, and also argued cases alongside his wife in support of her pioneering legal career. “I talked to a lot of Marty’s law students and family members, and said, ‘Be totally honest—he couldn’t have been as great a guy as we’re making him out to be,’ and they all said, ‘You’re right. He was better.’ What the hell do you do with that as an actor?” Hammer obviously figured it out: The role is getting early Oscars buzz in the best supporting actor category.

Hammer portrays another dedicated family man in Hotel Mumbai, based on the terrorist attacks in 2008 at Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in India. It costars Dev Patel. Hammer’s character has to make a Sophie’s Choice-style decision about whether to protect his wife or the child he’s separated from. The production shot in Adelaide, Australia, shortly after Hammer wrapped on those magical months in the Italian countryside. “I went from riding a bicycle in paradise and drinking wine at lunch to getting chased down the hallway by guys with machine guns,” he says. “At a certain point, you just go, ‘Acting is a really weird job.’”

Replica leather trench, $4,980, by Maison Margiela at Barneys New York; classic T-shirt, $335, at Louis Vuitton; wool trousers, $225, by Mr P. atmrporter.com; L.U.C XPS 1860 timepiece in rose gold, $21,700, by Chopard at Neiman Marcus; Tyler lace-up boots, $318, at Frye.

On the surface, you would think Hammer could have chosen any career—or none at all—and done quite well for himself. It’s not just that he clearly won the DNA lottery; he’s good-looking enough to attract giddy triple-takes even among the blasé hipsters at the hotel. But Hammer is also—brace yourself if you haven’t heard—part of a storied dynasty. His great-grandfather was the Russian-American petroleum baron and philanthropist Armand Hammer, whose name is emblazoned upon buildings and institutions such as the Hammer Museum and Armand Hammer Golf Course in Los Angeles. This is the tycoon who traded caviar and furs with Vladimir Lenin in exchange for American wheat shipments and later bought the company that manufactures Arm & Hammer baking soda, mainly because he got a kick out of the name. Google around and you’ll see images of adorable little Armie—born Armand Douglas Hammer—on Great-grandpa’s private jet.

What’s interesting is how the family legacy shook out. Armie’s parents, Michael Armand Hammer and Dru Ann Mobley, now divorced, relocated the family to the Cayman Islands from Texas and Los Angeles when Armie was 7 and his younger brother, Viktor, was 5. Although the Hammers are mostly of Jewish descent, Armie’s parents identified as Christian evangelicals, and, while in the Caymans, founded Grace Christian Academy, which the Hammer boys attended, and the Christian Communications Association, a not-for-profit Christian radio station. When Armie announced he wanted to pursue a life in show business and left high school to follow his acting dreams, he was effectively disowned for the decision. Ironically, Hammer’s first significant role, at 22, was in a biopic of the young Billy Graham. “When I first got into this, the reaction was basically, ‘Are you out of your mind?’” Hammer says. “But when [my parents] saw how hard I was willing to work and how passionate I was, and that this wasn’t just a fad, they said, ‘OK, we get it.’”

Hammer insists he’s been independent financially since he was 19, and that’s been a prime motivator as he’s shouldered his way through hits and misses (The Lone Ranger and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. were supposed to be his megabudgeted star vehicles; they weren’t.) “I’m so thankful that from a young age, I’ve never had to take anything from anybody. You never get to take money without something attached to it, so I didn’t want those encumbrances. I wanted to live my life without anyone telling me what to do, and that’s meant everything.”

Donegal cableknit sweater, $595, paulsmith.com; crew neck T-shirt, $55, Vince.

Hammer and his wife of eight years, food TV personality Elizabeth Chambers, have a daughter, Harper, 4, and son, Ford, 2, who travel on locations with Hammer when he’s not dadding around L.A. “I do a good portion of the school runs, and I cook breakfast for everybody every morning because it’s not like I have a 9-to-5—and also, I love it,” says Hammer, who collects vintage typewriters and won’t say no to a good cupcake (the couple owns two high-end bakeries in San Antonio, where Chambers grew up, and Dallas).

In between the cooking and baking, Hammer finds time for Hollywood. This year, he appears opposite Dakota Johnson in a horror-thriller by British-Iranian director Babak Anvari. “I play an empty shell of a man who works at a dead-end job at a dive bar in New Orleans, which was surprisingly enjoyable to do,” Hammer says. He’s also starring in a remake of Rebecca, Alfred Hitchcock’s first Hollywood film, with Lily James. The film shoots in London, which, unlike that serene village in Italy from Call Me By Your Name, maybe—just maybe—can handle “the Hammer effect.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE ROSENTHAL; STYLING BY MARK HOLMES; GROOMING BY KC FEE AT THE WALL GROUP; SHOT ON LOCATION AT VILLA CARLOTTA, LOS ANGELES

[the-lady-bryan]

Weird Dream - 11/26/2019 - “Ryan Reynolds will fucking KILL GOD if he has to be Green Lantern again.”

So...... this is a bit of a weird one. I overdid it yesterday and exhausted myself. Add to this a cocktail of cold/flu meds, my normal pain meds, and a garlic burger from steak-n-shake with a strawberry-banana shake not long before bed and this is what you get.

So I was part of a film crew. I have no fucking clue what my job was. But I had to be on set like, all the damn time.

And we were on location near where I lived.

Ryan Reynolds and his wife were having another baby and Ryan was like "I guess I should do some actual work for a while" and that was why he was in the movie. It was a superhero movie, but nothing related to Marvel or DC. But like, Ryan wasn't the main star of the movie because in his words, "The costumes are too damn much like Green Lantern. I will kill God before I'll put on green screen capture spandex again." and I'm like "okay, fair enough. So.... should we tell Matthew Lillard he's got the leading male role then?"

So, Matthew Lillard was the leading male in the movie. He was pretty cool, and totally rolled with the Shaggy God meme. It was awesome. But he's not the main character of my dream. Me, Ryan Reynolds, this other guy who everyone called "Brian" but his name was some foreign name literally nobody could pronounce so the dude literally just picked a random name off a bookshelf and said to call him that, and this woman named Vivi - who was playing Ryan's girlfriend in the movie but she was like “yeah, my wife ordered me to get his autograph or don’t bother coming home like, ever” kind of attitude towards the entire ordeal - we were the main people in the dream.

So Ryan, Vivi, and Brian's hotel reservations were shot to hell and since we were going to be in town for only like a week, I was like "we got extra rooms at my family's house. Y'all could stay there. I'll call my husband and let him know to prep three guest rooms." So that happens. Husband, son, and my mom are off somewhere else, but there's three rooms prepped for the three guests.

So after a few days we get the filming done, and we're all just chilling at this restaurant in my hometown and everyone's having a good time. And then I get this call and go outside to take it and while I'm out there I hear screaming and shit and like a dumbass I go and investigate.

And there's these people dressed in like, better versions of the movie's hero costumes, and there's this monster looming over their dead bodies and I'm like "nope." and I'm about to nope out of there when this green bracelet shoots off from one of the bodies and the dude ends up in regular street clothes and my brain goes "FUCK FUCK FUCK NO! I'D RATHER KILL GOD!" and I try to run from it but it snaps on my wrist and suddenly I'm in like this badass green costume and I'm fucking powerful as hell. And I have this weapon. It's basically just a chain with a hook on the end. And that's when I realize I'm a dude because damn there's no room in this damn hero costume and i can totally sympathize with a lot of the guys during filming now. Anyway, so this monster's gonna beat my ass and I'm trying to run away because I'm not gonna fight this fucker if it killed some other people with whatever it was I had now. But I end up having to fight it and I kill it. And it turns back into a person and I recognize the person as some girl I went to school with. And this ring slips off her finger and darts off into the dark.

And that's when I see a flash from nearby and turn and there's Ryan, Vivi, and Brian. And Brian's got his phone out and had just taken a picture and I'm like "guys, i honestly can't explain this shit" and Ryan's like "Fuck me. You're a goddamn superhero. A real god damn superhero."

And I'm like "I'm really not. I don't know what the fuck is going on." And then I'm like "how the fuck do I get out of this thing? Is it like, do I just think about it? Do I say a magic word? Do I just take the mask off? Or is this like, a Power Rangers thing where I can take off the mask and still be in the suit but to get out of it I literally have to say Power Down or some shit?" and as I'm saying Power Down, that's exactly what fucking happens and I'm like "great. I'm some weird ass power ranger meets green lantern shit."

So I take the other three to the other bodies of the dead hero people and they're just.... gone. And I'm like "but y'all saw the monster, right?" and Ryan's like "None of you slipped acid in my beer right because if you did you need to tell me now." and i'm like "fuck this i'm going home." so we all go back to my place up the hill from the main road in town.

I ended up waking up and having to deal with my kid for something and then I went right back to bed.

When I dropped back into dreamland, I had just missed the train, and the plane, and the bus, and the blimp that the rest of the film crew were using and the boat we all arrived on to wherever this was had already left and i'm like "fuck me. i'll never make it to california with everyone" and then i see Vivi and she's like "oh, there's a small charter plane leaving soon. you can ride with us." and lo and behold, when i board the charter plane with Vivi, there's Brian and Ryan and some other people from the film crew's special effects team.

I call my husband to let him know what happened and he's insisting he sends the private jet out to me and i'm like "Babe. Baby no. You don't need to send the jet. I'm fine. I got a ride with some friends. It'll be fine." and everyone else is snickering and joking around and laughing at me, until i'm like "yes, I KNOW you have more money to throw around than Tony Stark but fucking hell babe you don't need to send the goddamn jet! No I will NOT tell you which fucking airport it is!" and "I swear to god if you fly the fucker yourself I'll rip your spine out through your throat and feed it to Fluffy!" and that shuts him up and the others as well. and when I get off the phone Vivi's like "Fluffy?" and I'm like "our super fucking massive caucasian mountain dog. i mean, it was at the house when y'all were there. how did you not see it?" and Brian's like "i thought that was a fucking BEAR!" which causes everyone to laugh. and then Ryan's like "y....your married to the only guy richer than Tony fucking Stark and you never bothered to tell anyone?!" and i'm like "well, yeah." and Ryan's like "i don't feel so bad about stealing your really nice towels now."

we never make it to california because the plane crashes, but i manage to save myself, Brian, Ryan, and Vivi with my superpowers. Though we do get banged up a bit after crashing into a small town storefront. and Ryan's like "no. No, don't send the private jet with the jacuzzi tub and the strippers and the warm towels. i'll just take THE RICKETY FUCKING CHARTER PLANE!" and i'm like "IT WAS A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME!"

So my phone's broken. no one else has service. and there's like, a major emergency situation going on outside the plane crash itself and there's another of those fucking monsters and i have no control over powering up. it just sort of happens. and then i fight the monster. and i'm getting pretty good at this.

so i hack the thing's head off, and it turns back into a human head and so does the body and the necklace it was wearing shoots to Ryan and he's like "no! NO NO NO NO NO! FUCK!" and he gets this bright neon pink suit like mine and it's got a miniskirt instead of pants/leggings like mine does and i'm laughing my ass off at him. but he has this massive fucking sword that's practically bigger than he is. And he's got this fucking tiara, too. and it's just so hilarious but at the same time he totally manages to pull this costume off.

And we end up powering down and exploring this place mainly to find a working phone. but as we explore we find that more and more we're fighting monsters. like, lesser monsters than the ones with these weird power accessories.

we end up coming up on a boss fight situation and rescue this one woman from a big ass monster and ryan manages to cut the thing's ear off which reverts it back to a human and this earring comes off and flies over to the woman we just saved and she ends up in this golden armor suit like our's with like, a roman soldier's skirt thing. anyway, she thanks us for rescuing her and it turns out she's a princess from an alternate dimension that's been bleeding over into our own. and these accessories that have been giving me and ryan powers and turning people into monsters are part of a collection of items belonging to the queen of her kingdom in this alternate dimension and when worn they bring out the wearer's inner self, be it good or bad. and the only way to stop it is to remove the object, but in doing so it kills the wearer.

and Ryan's like "so my inner self loves neon pink and wants to wear a mini skirt. okay. sure. fine. this day can't get any weirder anyway. but at least i'm not in CGI green spandex." and i'm like "you're never going to let that one go, are you?" and he's like "no. my dying breath will be a complaint about that damn movie and i'm going to keep flogging that dead horse until it's nothing but mush, and then i'll stomp it like a barrell of grapes turned to fine wine. but this wine will be bitter and foul and will kill anything it touches. just like that green lantern movie."

It's clear Ryan still has a sore spot for that movie.

So anyway, me, Ryan Reynolds, Brian, Vivi, and the princess go on this epic quest to save the world from the merging of dimensions.

Brian and Vivi end up getting costumes, too.

Weird montage time skip and we've been separated from the princess, and our power accessories have been stolen somehow but we're still alive which doesn't make any sense and it means that part of what the princess said was a lie. We end up kicking this one monster's ass in Texas and seize it's power accessory, and it's a keychain. and Vivi's like "how the fuck are we supposed to wear it?" and i'm like "I have an idea." and i slip it onto my middle finger, and the ring part of the keychain resizes to fit my finger and suddenly i'm in this badass black version of my green suit armor thing and instead of the chain/hook combo i've got a fucking badass keyblade. because the keychain was a fucking Kingdom Hearts piece of merch. and it's a good thing this happened, because we get ambushed and i have to fight the monsters off. we end up holing up in an abandoned lingere store - and yes there's lots of jokes at Vivi's expense but I remind Ryan that his "inner self" is basically just a neon pink version of himself in women's clothing with a giant sword and they shut up.

i end up managing to get a landline phone and call every number for my husband i can think of because it's been months since i saw my husband, and i manage to get hold of him on a number i hadn't expected to work and he's so relieved to hear my voice and he tells me what's been happening in the world and i'm like "wait.... did you say YEARS?!" and he's like "yeah..." and i'm like "but it's only been like five or six months!" and he's like "it's been ten years." and i'm like "fuck me...." and he's like "i didn't remarry. i knew you weren't dead." and i'm like "how'd you know?" and he's like "seriously? you don't even wear a fucking mask when you're fighting monsters! green looks good on you." and i'm like "what?" and he's like "richer than tony stark, remember? i've got fucking sattellites shooting these fuckers from space! you don't think i couldn't get google earth pictures of my long lost spouse fighting monsters and trying to save the world?" and i'm like, fucking hysterical. and i'm trying to find out where he is, and i'm so relieved to hear that him, our son, my mother, and even Fluffy are alive and well, but he won't tell me where they are because "things have changed. it's not safe to tell you on the phone. hell, nobody uses phones anymore. nobody knew if the phones even worked anymore." and i'm like "i'm on a landline. that might be it."

anyway, now relieved that my family is alive and safe, and i find out a bit more about the world situation, i return to the others for the night.

weird time skip montage of fighting monsters and getting more powers for the others, and it's final boss fight time. we've hooked back up with the princess, and we contain the big bad and then, inexplicably, i'm killed. we're all killed. and we don't know what happened.

cue weird cutscene situation like when Scott Pilgrim got that game over fighting against the last evil ex, Gideon, and the whole desert thing with the extra life do-over thing. only THIS TIME we manage to win the big bad bossfight. and at the end, the day is saved. the dimensions un-merge and we go back to our lives. the world is normal again and time goes back and reverts to what it was before all of this started.

and i'm back in that restaurant. and i get a call. and it feels like i've done this before. but i go outside and i take the call and i hear screaming. i again go check it out like a dumbass, and THIS TIME i get there soon enough to see the heros get killed but this time there's no magic bracelet thing to make me a green warrior but i find a weight in my pocket and check it and there's the keyring. and i use it. and i'm back in my badass form with the badass keyblade, too. and it's fucking awesome. and then i remember that i've done this before and i'm about to kill the monster but then there's a neon pink energy blast and the monster is disentigrated and there's Ryan fucking Reynolds in a neon pink miniskirt and this time heels, too. Like something out of goddamn Sailor Moon or some shit. and he's got a glowing neon pink laser gun and i'm like ".....shit. we're in New Game Plus mode now aren't we?"

And Vivi pops up and is like "oh shoot! you two still have powers but we don't!"

Everything goes like, hyper fast, and me and Ryan are fighting monsters and shit and THIS TIME we don't even bother with the charter flight from hell and just call my husband to send the private jet.

And the giant dog Fluffy because I want my big fluffy gonna fucking fight a bear and win sized doggo.

And this time the plane doesn't crash and we don't meet the princess in that small town. instead my husband examines the acessories using science and engineering and shit and he's like "okay. so.... i've got good news and i've got bad news." and i'm like "bad news first babe." and he's like "so this keychain? i bought this for you for christmas and lost track of it." and i'm like "how is that bad news?" and he's like "i got it for you before we were married you idiot. i haven't seen this thing in seven years." and then he's like "but the good news is that i recognize the energy in it. remember that quantum energy i've been experimenting with that put Stark and his arc reactor to shame?" and i'm like ".....yes......" and he's like "that's what this is. but somehow it's like, weaponized." and i'm like "okay. now how do we fix this?" and he's like "honestly, i haven't a fucking clue. but it's really fascinating, isn't it?"

so we find out that the bracelet i had before, and the necklace, and pretty much all the ORIGINAL accessories we had started with the first time did in fact come from this alternate dimension and shit. that wasn't a lie. but the replacement ones we found along the way are from our dimension and somehow were imbued with this weird ass quantum energy. and my husband being the only person who knows even just a bare minimum about the stuff on the entire planet is like "i can experiment on one and see if i can learn more or upgrade it or something."

and that's what he does. ryan hands him his keyring with a little spacey ray-gun on it over and my husband experiments on it and he manages to at least change the outfit from Sailor Moon styled to something with a bit of actual armor on it, but he can't change it from the mini skirt and heels unfortunately for Ryan. This is after using it himself just to see what would happen and he ended up in neon pink iron man armor with a giant laser rifle. which was fucking hilarious.

we also learned that we could combine them and use two at a time and when we did i ended up with a keyblade rifle hybrid thing and black and neon pink elven armor like from fucking Lord of the Rings. it was fucking glorious! And when Ryan Reynolds tried using mine and his together he ended up in a Slave Leia bikini in black and neon pink with a laser pistol the size of car key and it was vaguely key shaped.

Anyway, what was determined from these tests and experiments was that these items from our dimension had somehow become imbued with these energies and were stronger than the ones from the other dimension because they originated here while the other objects originated elsewhere and the engergies they carried from elsewhere as well.

So we end up going and fighting evil monsters and stuff like the first time, but are able to come back to base and have a sort of save point system? New Game Plus mode is weird as fuck. And my big dog gets a charm for his collar and he ends up transforming into this armored tank of a beast that Ryan Reynolds likes to ride into battle. It's so fucking odd.

Weird montage time skip dream thing and we're at the final battle. We've met up with the princess every so often in our adventures over years and not months. and in those years we've learned some of the lore of her dimension, like the fact that the queen had banished her after becoming evil and the accessories collection ended up being stolen by an evil sorceror and scattered through dimensions. and each dimension they went to fell to the evil queen and our dimension is the last one to stand against her and shit. me, Ryan, Vivi, and Brian don't really care. we just want all this weird shit to end.

So we fight the big bad, AGAIN. and it's so much easier this time because again, we've already done this. and then after we defeat it, we expect cut scene type of scenario like last time. but THIS TIME the Princess is like "oh snap! the ancient relics of my dimension have been brought together and summoned my mother the queen!" and now we have to fight this EVEN BIGGER BAD! and we do, and it's hard and so fucking tough but we win by combining powers together and yay teamwork i guess. and when the queen falls, it turns out she banished her daughter the princess, yes, but not because the queen was evil.

PLOT FUCKING TWIST! IT WAS THE PRINCESS ALL ALONG!

and with her dying breath the queen begs Ryan to stop her daughter and then dies in his arms. and her crown falls off and breaks into five pieces. and we each take on and hook it onto our power devices and i add one to Fluffy's collar and holy fucking hell it's like the epic boss battle of all boss battles and we nearly die so many fucking times and we know that if we die this time, it's not just game over. it's world over. existence over. the universe is doomed type of over. it should be noted now that Ryan Reynolds was no longer in a neon pink miniskirt after adding the piece of the queen's crown to his power keychain. Oh no folks. his piece of the crown had an emerald on it....

and let me tell you folks.

this is the wildest dream i've ever fucking had. because only in my wildest dream will i ever see Ryan fucking Reynolds so fucking angry to be dressed as the green fucking lantern Hal Jordan again, riding the back of an armored tank of a fucking dog that's become this fucking massive eight story tall BEAST in shining platinum and purple armor, while Ryan Reynolds is screaming at the top of his lungs that he will fucking kill God himself while weilding a neon pink water pistol sized laser and he's just fucking charging into battle with this unearthly scream of rage and somewhere, for some reason, i just know Matthew Lillard felt like someone walked over his grave and was like "zoinks" and i have no idea how the fuck i even knew that but i did.

and when he's done, the princess has been obliterated and Ryan's like "......did i do it? can i take this fucking suit off now? i'd rather have the mini skirt and heels back. fuck, i'd rather have the Slave Leia look."

And then, it's over. And we're powered down and the day is saved and the dimensions unmerge and just....

that's it. that's all there was. time doesn't reset again. existence just..... is. the day is saved and we just....

are there.

and then i woke up.

and let me tell you, if i get dreams like that every time i eat a steak-n-shake garlic burger with a strawberry banana shake, then by the gods i'll eat it every fucking day for the rest of my life because that. that was fucking brilliant and wild and just omfg. that was awesome.

[flamestoillusions]

I made this a while ago that was supposed to follow a list of some ships the duo have on this blog. It’s mainly over possible relationships with canon characters from the game they’re based in. A lot are AU based because for a decent amount of them, they don’t have enough time with these characters to develop a relationship or it’s under certain circumstances it stands a chance. 

Rune/Maya - Maya, at least by my writing, has a one-sided crush on Rune and he likes her well enough. She’s the main person at his side in the prologue and they can geek out over books and stuff. Only really happened in Librarian/Barista AU where Rune flirts with her via writings on her cups and leaving notes in books to be put away.

Tannim/Tomix - Tomix is one of the first people Tannim met on his venture on his own. And as the person that called Tannim out for ignoring his own well-being and the one that did a hard no on changing something so fundamental in his being...Tannim has so much respect for him. And he likes Tomix in his actual adventures, not just any shenanigans I do on the blog. The Tomix saga was so important, I wrecked my plans for book 3 because it was that important for Tannim to be present for that. There’s a reason why he put it as why he can’t sleep at night.

Rune/Zhoom - I am very wary to place them as a relationship. They have sassed each other and have grown to respect the other. Zhoom is Rune’s mentor as a ranger but good god, I’d be lying if they hadn’t blurred lines every so often. Both would easily say that the other’s attractive but neither are interested in anything serious. Friends with benefits on occasion but mainly a reliable hand for bounties and quests.

Tannim/Galanoth - Okay this is only due to a lot of talk with Syn over it. Galanoth slays dragons in more ways than one. It is definitely mainly for AU things such as arranged marriage AU and Tannim being tortured by the Rose then cared for by Gal AU. Pretty much, Galanoth gets all of Tannim’s sweet affection poured on him and Galanoth is just one of those ones that is Tannim’s type, even if he doesn’t know what that is.

Rune/Demento - They were a decent duo when it came to planning and dealing on the battlefield. In some aspects Demento’s the one that got away and even then we don’t know how they’d work out. But it’s a minor thing Rune feels a bit guilty for not taking Demento up on an offer the night before his death.

Tannim/Xan - Can be a ship but I wouldn’t mind if it stayed broship. Xan broke protocol when he saw how genuinely freaked out Tannim was by fire. He calmed him down and started Tannim’s conquering of his fear. Tannim was sent back during the Alexander saga and befriended Alex then. And since they oddly are friends despite being on opposite sides. He actually never advocates anything bad to come down on Xan, even if his fellow adventurers do not share the same sentiment.

Tannim/Serenity - Only in two circumstances: where Tannim was turned to a vampire (long story) and in the AU where Rune’s soul was obliterated in order to destroy the Mysterious Stranger. For the most part, I think it’d be a broship otherwise. But in the cases where they’re together, they’d be like...everyone’s parents. Together. Oh god.

Rune/Lugosi - It was a crack ship that was logical. It was totally some anon’s fault too. I challenged to give me any character with mine and I could make a legitimate thing from it. And I didn’t dislike this one? Lugosi had a crush on Rune when he went by Noita and only fell back into the crush meeting Rune. Rune wasn’t interested because well, he’s not that into smithing and he can only tolerate cowardice. Because Rune tells him pretty much to work on himself first, Lugosi tried. Then he got turned and his acceptance and conquering of his turning (with Safiria’s encouragement) got Rune’s attention.

Rune/Sepulchure - Please let them remain in a blackrom so that they never conquer the world. They don’t inherently dislike each other. They dislike one getting a leg up over them but are rather impressed with the other’s prowess. Based on relations, they have met prior to Book 1. Rune’s grandfather was Valen’s mentor and cared for the kid. So while it was only as many visits as you can count on your hands, they were fin. It’s mainly AU stuff such as Rune having an affair with Sepulchure during the events of the Orb Saga or where Tannim was a traitor out to take all of Greengaurd for himself that they’ve happened.

Tannim/Sepulchure - There’s a certain OT3 with Serenity that came apart because of SOMEONE’S suggestion. It spiraled out of control quickly. There’s also the rare AUs where Tannim took more after his father’s side of the family and in a ‘rivalry’ with Sepulchure. Like more chill than yandere but definitely wants to maintain Seppy’s attention. And also...others...I blame Syn for the sin behind that one.

Amal/Drakath - Because I feel like Rune would NEVER be a decent pair with Drakath...but with ONE AU this came about. Pretty much in a scenario where Rune and his brother grew up and was friends with Drakath. Amal is somewhat aware of his feelings but Drakath is playing dumb and denying it to the end. And Amal’s just unapologetically a shit to Drakath but does ultimately care about him. He lies to his friends and allies and makes up various excuses just to get Drakath through. And then he just sometimes just hangs out at the bandit camp just because he can hang out with Drakath. 

Rune/Circe - Canonically, they kinda dislike each other. I mean, almost killing you with an avalanche tends to put a damper on any relationship. However at the same time, I think they would have been fine. Not exactly a relationship that’s ‘end game’ but they were on weird limbo between physical and something further. This only gets put into spotlight were the partners-in-crime AU and the AU where Rune is a rebel leader that Circe attempted to assassinate. I honestly prefer them in a poly with Vaal. 

Tannim/Wargoth - You know who the fuck you are and you all who encouraged this should be ashamed. I say as this such a guilty pleasure. I know it’s bad because this a homicidal warlord with a sweet summer child that does not deserve this. I know this. There’s nothing much to say about it other than it was from shenanigans on the blog for a plot point that may or may not still be in my timeline. I still have to acknowledge it because Amaterasu exists and she’s adorable.

Rune/Vaal - I debate about if this would be canon or not. As if it was, it’d fall in Book 3. They actually get into snark about both being disgraced by this time. Developments with them usually surmount to ‘I don’t like you but then I see this other side to you that I have to respect you now.’ Mainly a thing in the neighbors AU and the royal advisers AU and fall apart because Roirr’s a fucking cockblocker. I also prefer them with Circe as well.

Amal/Valencia - By the duo’s timeline, Amal and Valencia do date. He met her while exploring the Ruins of Sil. He calls her a thief rather than a treasure hunter and is corny as hell saying how she steals his heart. And it’s a lot of corniness and adventure with them. But I mainly deal in the sad because canonically, Amal is dead and Valencia never learned of his fate. Rune only figured out Valencia was who his brother was dating during the Earth Orb saga and breaking the news to her at that time was not the best idea.

Rune/Theano - I tell myself that Rune will stop fucking the bad guy eventually. And then it happens again. Good god, man, where are you priorities? Anyway, there’s nothing but fighting with this one. Although I guess it could end up being a battle of wits/ideals as Theano is something of a scientist of magic and Rune is a magic wielder that understands principles behind the magic. But I feel any moment of ‘sweet’ is immediately ruined when either open their mouth. I...I have also a weird sort of poly including Rune’s ex, Emile, because apparently my characters don’t suffer enough.

Tannim/Falwynn - They’re just so adorable. Like I guess they’d fall under cliches of the lovey dovey type of couple to which, what’s wrong with that? They’re both excitable and well-intentioned adventurers and I find that their sweet energy would just end up mixing so well. I found an unintentional drama that comes with Falwynn supposed to be learning from the Hero in game (which Tannim serves as) and just how much danger that Tannim would willing put Falwynn through if he’s dating her. While they could be in actual events, I also think of them in modern verses taking a lot of selfies together and stuff.

Rune/Nythera: Only for the Young Fables AU. Rune is supposed to be Aqualad and Nythera Speedy. They actually work out as like the most mature of the bunch and have a hold on each other’s secrets. And it’s like, ‘hey, you had a shitty day, wanna help me on case?’

[sabansbabes]

Power Rangers + Summer Camp AU

~The rangers are hanging out at Billy's house when he gets the call about Mission Creek. He signed up to be a counselor there the summer before his Junior year. Of course he wasn't allowed to be one at the time but Mr. Martin, the head of the camp, let senior campers sign up before they left and once their old enough he calls them up and ask if they still want the gig. Most kids say no, but Billy jumped at the chance. He'd had some of the best times of his life there and he wanted to relive those memories for as long as possible.

~ The rest of the rangers have no freaking idea what he's talking about when he starts babbling about how excited he is once he comes back from the call. He's mentioned it to them before, but that was during battle and they weren't very focused on what Billy was saying.

~"I'm finally going to be camp counselor. I've missed Mission Creek so much. I can't believe I'm going to be gone for the whole summer-"

~That's when the protests begin, the louder ones mainly coming from Jason.

~"You can't leave! I nee-I mean the team needs you for battles and stuff."

~Billy watches in confusion as Jason's face turns red at the statement while the rest of the rangers just smirk knowingly.

~"I won't be far, the camp is in the mountains and Kim's house is about thirty two miles from the grounds. I'll be there when there's an impending threat. Don't worry Jason, I still be able to defend world."

~"But still what if it comes at night and you're sleeping and-"

~"You think I'd sleep through a monster attack?"

~"Maybe and who knows how long it'll take you to reach us from cam-"

~"Two minutes and fourteen seconds. I did the run a few days ago."

~"Oh." Followed by complete amusing silence as Jason tries to come up with more excuses as to why Billy shouldn't go.

~"I'm sure Billy will be just fine  Jason." Kim tries to reason with Jason but he's not having it.

~"You don't know that. You don't know that." He mutters and it's then that Billy and the others see just how worried Jason really is.

~"I can ask if you guys can come with me. We're usually short a few counselors, I'm sure Mr. Martin will appreciate it."

~Everyone agrees and Jason can breathe easy again.

<>

~ They leave a week after school ends, which happened to be a week before camp starts and the majority of the gang is ecstatic. Except for Tommie and Zack.

~Tommie hates kids, they've never liked them and they're dreading this trip altogether. And Zack doesn't like the idea of leaving his mother alone for so long, sure she's gotten better, thanks to the rangers and their families pitching in for her medical expenses,  but she's not at perfect health yet and he's not sure he wants to take that risk.

~Ms. Taylor has to literally shove him out of the house for him to go.

~They take Billy's van, after the crash his mom's van was replaced. After she got a significant raise at work, she gave it to her son and brought herself a Toyota Camry.

~Trini, Zack and Tommie won't stop calling it the mystery machine.

~ Jason gets the Aux Cord taken away from him after he put on Nickelback.

~"It soothes me."

~"You're a disgrace y'know that." (Trini's Remark)

~They listen to Kim's playlist and when Mayores comes on she brings up the fact that Becky G. looks exactly like Trini.

~The rest of the rangers, including her girlfriend,  just don't see it.

<>

~The drive isn't long and when they get there Mr. Martin runs through everything they need to know within the hour. They have the camp to themselves for a whole week.

~The first thing they do, after Jason makes sure everyone is packed, is hit the lake. It's fun, until Zack loses his trunks in the water.

~"It's not my fault, the current's strong in here!"

~"There's is no current dip thong." (Tommie's Remark)

~They spend the majority of the week hanging out together, when they're all not in a group they split off into two. Kim and Trini disappear to do god knows what. At least that's what Zack says but they mainly just hang out in the kitchen eating all the cheese balls, talking and joking around with the occasional make out session taking place. Zack and Tommie usually go do some dumb shit, like hike up the mountain and see if they can jump off into the lake without breaking anything. And Billy and Jason  hang out in the media room, playing ping pong and pool.

<>

~Billy loves kids but its easy for him to get uncomfortable around them. Kids are touchy feely, Billy's not. By the second day, Jason and the others make sure the kids know to ask Camp Counselor Billy to touch him before doing so.

~Tommie spends a lot of their time explaining what it means to be non-binary person. Some of the kids are little shits about it, but the majority are pretty accepting.

~Zack has these two little girls who follow him everywhere. Bria and Mimi. At first they thought he was cute but once Bria caught him staring at Tommie she realized that he likes them. After that they mainly stick around to give him advice. Sure there like eight years old but Zack takes a lot of what they say to heart. They even set up a tea party date for Zack and Tommie. They made sure to paint Zack's fingernails and to put his hair into little ponytails so that he can look 'pretty for Tommie'.

~Billy and the others get to name their designated cabins, they chose the dinosaurs of their zords.

~After a particularly bad nightmare, Billy sneaks into Jason cabin. He can't sleep and Jason always puts him at ease. Shelby, another counselor, is in his cabin too and he makes sure to let her know where he's going before he leaves.

~A weird conversation takes place with Mikey, a seven year old, in the morning when he wakes the two up.

~Jason struggles to explain what it means to be gay until Trini walks by and sighs. "Hey Mikey, boy can like boys and girls can like girls. Love isn't always shared between a man and a woman." She holds Kim's hand in her own for emphasis.

~"Otay"

~And that was that.

<>

~Tommie discovers a secret love they have for kids when they, Bria, Mimi and Zack are hanging out by the fire. "Kids don't suck, they're alright I guess." She tells Zack as she watched the two run off for smores. Zack nods in agreement, turning away from the little girls to meet Tommie's eyes.

~ Their gaze intensifies before they close the gap between them and BAM!!! Fireworks!

~"I told you they were gonna kiss, I told ya." (Bria)

~They pull away laughing and the rest of the gang cheers. It took forever but they finally got together.

<>

~ Kim and Trini escape to the mountain the day before the last day of camp. They're joking around., laughing, kissing and then Trini just kind of blurts it out without realizing.

~"I love you"

~Kim takes a moment to take in what she had just heard before smiling and pulling the shorter girl into another kiss.

~"I love you too."

~They spend the rest of the night up there, wrapped up in a pillow and blanket. Kissing, watching the stars and just reveling in the feeling of being together.

<>

~"What are we Jason?"

~ It was an unexpected question, a question that Jason didn't really know how to answer. They had been closer, closer than friends but not yet together. It was a weird predicament that Jason was unaware of how he got into or how to get out of it. He wanted to take the leap but he didn't really know how to.

~"I don't know."

~He didn't meet Billy eyes, just stay focused on picking up trash and cleaning up around the camp fire. Everyone else was gone, back to the cabin and now they were the only two left.

~"I like you Jason. More than a friend should like their other friend."

~"I like you to Billy but-"

~Just as he looked up to face the brown boy who was incredibly close to him now.

~"I'm going to kiss you now, is that okay?"  Jason didn't know what to say, so he nodded. Overwhelmed by how forward Billy was being.

~Billy's hands came in contact with Jason's cheeks and his lips crash against his. For a second Jason froze, he didn't know how to react. It felt good, it felt better than good. He moved in sync with Billy, melting into the kiss.

~He forced himself not to whine when the brown boy pulled away.

~"We should date. Do you want to date me Jason?" He nods, still recovering from the kiss.

~"Can we uhh, can we do that again Billy?"

<>

~When camp is over, the rangers are reluctant to leave. College starts in the fall and although their all attending Angel Grove community college, they know their summers will be to filled with jobs and internships to even think about doing this again.

~Tommie and Zack share a teary goodbye with Bria and Mimi as they leave. Zack's is the main one shedding tears.

~The next day, Billy says goodbye to Shelby and thanks her for filling in for him for all those nights he spent in the T-Rex cabin. She says it was no problem before hugging him and Jason goodbye. Her fiancé Tyler is waiting for her in the car.

~The car ride back was bitter sweet.

~"At least we'll always have the memories." (Jason's comment)

~They nod in agreement as they leave the grounds.

~"Hey can I see the aux cord?"

~"NOO!"

<>

The End.

Sorry this is so long, I got carried away.

Summer's is almost over and I was just wondering why no one had done this yet, lol. And also if you caught that Dino Charge reference I love you. I really hope this doesn't suck, please enjoy.  

[thecousinsdangereux]

give it time (trini/kim, pre-relationship)

So! Tomorrow is @plastic-pipes’ birthday and since I was never given a prompt, I figured I’d just base this birthday ficlet off of some awesome art that pipes drew instead. (And how could I resist adding a trope to it?) Hope you have a great b-day, pal! :D

“So, this isn't exactly how I saw our night off going.”

Kim's face is only illuminated by the light of their two phones, but it's easy to see the frustration in the tiny pinch of her forehead and slight dip of the corners of her lips, despite the lightness of her tone.

“You’re kidding,” Trini drawls (though she watches Kim with a contrary sort of focus). “I totally thought you’d planned on coming out here and getting buried alive.”

“Not so much.” She blinks, tilting her head a bit as she takes in Trini’s expression and adjusts her own to something more neutral — a small smile meant to reassure. “But… the boys will find us. Eventually. They had to have felt us morph.”

Right. Because that had been one of their brilliant plans at the start (following (1) attempting to use their phones despite the lack of a signal and (2) screaming for help): morphing and pretty much punching at the fallen rock around them. Maybe not their most intellectual moment as Rangers (but definitely not their least, either). But it had cleared away a small hole in the ceiling — just enough to see a couple stars in the night sky — right before the walls around them had started to tremble, which, despite their desperation at that point, had seemed like a pretty solid sign that should really stop punching things.

“Sure.”

“They’ll be here.”

“Yeah.” She pauses, considering her next words for a short moment, wondering if she should voice them at all. Kim isn’t pacing (in fact, she’s leaning casually up against one of the stone walls of their makeshift prison, as though she isn’t concerned the rock will give way much in the same way it had done earlier, placing them in their current predicament), but she still looks as though she might like to be. There’s a sort of restlessness in her eyes that Trini recognizes, but doesn’t often associate with Kim.

“You alright?” she finally asks, eyes dropping down to her sneakers as she kicks away a loose chunk of rock. “I mean, aside from the whole getting caught in a landslide and being trapped underground thing.”

Kim makes a sound that’s halfway in between a scoff and a laugh and Trini chances a glance upward to catch the end of an eye roll that was apparently more for Kim’s benefit than hers.

“Aside from that I’m great.” She pauses too though, and this time, it’s her turn to look away. “Just not so crazy about tight spaces. Now.”

(It’s not hard to remember the way Kim’s breathing had picked up as the fire had spread across the wings of her Zord. Or the way those breaths had turned into sharp little gasps as the wings smashed together and the metal contracted around her. Trini figures this all applies doubly so to the girl who’d experienced it firsthand.)

“That… makes sense.”

That doesn’t mean that Trini knows how to talk about it. Instead, she kicks another rock, this time towards Kim’s side of the cave; it skids to a stop just in front of Kim’s left boot, and the girl turns to look at Trini with a smile that’s small, but present, and that feels like a victory, especially when Kim kicks it back (albeit with a bit less accuracy).

“It’s fine. I mean, normally I don’t even think about it. But this…” She gestures to the piles of rock around them. “This doesn’t really offer anything in the way of a distraction.”

Trini kicks the rock back once more, and Kim steps on it to stop its motion before returning it with another pass that misses the mark, forcing Trini jerk her foot to the right to keep it in play. “No kidding. Billy could probably talk about the different layers of rock, but… you’re shit out of luck with me.”

“Oh, I dunno,” Kim says far too casually. “We could talk about why you’ve been avoiding me. I think that’d work just as well.”

The words come right before Trini’s foot connects with their impromptu soccer ball, and that’s probably why the rock completely misses Trini’s target, instead skittering off into a far corner. Kim doesn’t chase after it, and Trini’s left wishing for a similar distraction of her own. (How Alanis Morissette ironic.)

“I haven’t been avoiding you,” she mumbles.

Of course, Trini has absolutely been avoiding Kim.  

Not so much avoiding in the typical way, mainly because that wasn’t really possible, what with training and school and them being friends (or whatever). But ‘avoiding’ still applies: avoiding one-on-one talks and avoiding Kim’s glances and avoiding being partnered up at practice and avoiding looking too closely or for too long and, most of all, avoiding wondering why, lately, maybe Kim had been looking too closely and for too long at Trini and exactly what that might mean.

And wasn’t it just like Kim, to turn a cave-in into an opportunity.

“You haven’t?” Kim repeats back, looking approximately 0% convinced. “That’s weird, then, because I’m pretty sure you nearly pulled Billy’s arm out of its socket today at practice when you were avoiding being paired up with me.”

“I came out here with you tonight, didn’t I?”

“Only because your mom answered when I knocked on your front door. And it was either dealing with your mom asking why you didn’t want to hang out or leaving with me. Not much of a choice.” Kim looks smug for a moment, and Trini’s earlier suspicions about Kim orchestrating the whole thing are confirmed. It makes her grumble and kick another rock across the small cavern, this time with enough force for it to hit the opposite wall.

“Congratulations on tricking me into hanging out with you.”

When she looks up though, she immediately regrets the words, because Kim looks hurt and it makes Trini’s chest ache and her next words spill out of her mouth in a rush.

“That’s not what I meant!” She digs the toe of her shoe into the dirt and avoids (yes, avoids) looking at Kim directly. “I’m just… still getting used to this,” she ends lamely.

What ‘this’ is, however, is vague, even to Trini. Having friends (or whatever) is definitely something she’s getting used to, so that’s the easiest meaning to draw from the phrase, if not the one that’s giving her the most difficulty lately (probably).

The hurt look on Kim’s face has abated (or at least been carefully hidden) and Trini breathes a little sigh of relief (and hopes for the former). It’s replaced, however, by something just as unfamiliar to Kim’s features: an anxious hesitance that shows in the slight slouch of her shoulders and the uneven tilt of her lips.

“Did I… do something wrong? I know we don’t have a lot in common outside of being Rangers, but I thought we…”

Kim’s mouth thins as she presses her lips together, almost audibly cutting off the rest of her words. That look is back though — the one Trini had been trying to avoid thinking about — the one that’s too long and too soft and too much, but this time, Trini doesn’t look away. And she gives herself a second (or maybe three) to stare right back and imagine that it means everything Trini sort of hopes (and fears) it might.

And then she looks away (tears her gaze away, more like), and busies herself with finding a comfortable spot on the ground to sit, patting at potential (rock) backrests and trying to ignore the gaze she can somehow still feel, heating the back of her neck.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just new,” she reiterates.

“Yeah.” Kim lets out a soft laugh that isn’t really based in humor at all. “I know the feeling.”

Trini scoffs as she sits, flopping onto the ground and leaning back against a stable section of the wall, but Kim apparently hadn’t been utilizing sarcasm, because her brow is raised and her look is curious and Trini finds that she has to explain herself. Again.

“It’s just… come on, you were like head cheerleader, right? Didn’t you have a bunch of…” Friends? Admirers? Significant others? There’s that murky area again — the one that Trini would much rather skirt around until she figures out where she lands on this whole thing (and, obviously, where Kim does as well). Thankfully, Kim picks up where she trailed off, though this turns out to be less helpful in clarifying things than Trini would have hoped.

“People? Sure. It’s still new.” Kim takes a several steps closer before dropping onto the ground in front of Trini. “This — this matters. A lot more than… people usually do.”

So, not clarification, no. But something. Something honest. Earnest.

It’s kind of a lot to take in.

“That’s… good, though. Right?”

And that’s new as well, isn’t it? The idea that caring about people (in whatever way this sort of caring might be) is good — that feels just as strange as the caring itself.

“You think so?”

Kim's voice is soft and a little uncertain and out of all of them — Jason, Billy, and even Zack — Trini thinks she’s the last person who should be in charge of answering this question. But… they're trapped underground and the boys aren't there and Kim is still looking at her like that and she's leaning forward, just a little, and suddenly (just for that moment), the answer feels easy.

“Yeah.” Trini nods, though her eyes don't leave Kim's. “Yeah, I think so.”

Kim nods too and smiles, genuine and fond, then reaches out to squeeze Trini's knee; Trini's subsequent little squirm makes the smile shift into something far more playful, and it’s a little bit of a relief to switch back to lighter terrain. “So that means no more avoiding, right? No more needing cave-ins to talk to you? Because after the boys finally get off their asses and find us down here, I really don't want to come back.”

“Fine, fine,” Trini grumbles, rolling her eyes. “If they ever do make it here. Are they just sleeping or what?”

“Well, given our 6:00 a.m. training tomorrow…”

Trini groans and closes her eyes tightly, letting her head thump against the rock behind her. “Shit. I forgot about that.”

“I guess we’ll just have to make do.”

That’s Trini’s only warning before something lands in her lap, and when her eyes spring open, that something turns out to be Kim’s head.

“You’ll work as a pillow,” Kim adds, grinning up at Trini in a way that (annoyingly) has her nodding in automatic agreement and (worse) brings a heat to her cheeks. She might not be sure exactly what her feelings for Kim are or (maybe more accurately) what she wants to do about them, but there’s no denying that the girl is pretty. Or that her smiling up at Trini like that (from her lap!) doesn’t do weird things to her stomach.

“Right,” she manages. But then Kim’s grin turns a bit lopsided — almost smug — and that’s enough to jolt Trini out of it, if only to let out a little scoff. “You get the comfy lap and I get the rock wall. Typical.”

This guilt trip doesn’t appear to have any effect whatsoever on Kim, who just turns to rub her cheek against Trini’s thigh. “We’ll switch next time.”

“Next time we’re forced to sleep underground because our teammates are useless?”

“Mmm. No, next time we do this in general. Hopefully not underground.”

Trini gives herself another moment to watch Kim and this time, it’s more than a three second one. Kim’s lashes are long and there’s a light dusting of pink eye shadow against her lids and the corners of her lips are lifting, just a bit, in a soft smile. And yeah, Kim is always beautiful, but right then she also looks content — her forehead smooth from the lines that so often pinch the skin there — and Trini can’t help but reach out and brush a bit of hair back behind her ear, lest it get in the way. Kim just hums in pleasure, then reaches up to take Trini’s hand in her own, the softness in her expression translating to her touch.

“This is ‘getting used to it’, isn’t it?” Kim murmurs, eyes still closed.

Kim’s hand is warm, but not sweaty and Trini worries about the state of her own palm until Kim squeezes it gently in something that feels like reassurance and interlocks their fingers.

“Yeah. This’ll work.”

(The boys show up not an hour later — a while after Trini has drifted off — and the weird thing is, Trini wouldn’t have minded them taking a whole lot longer.)

[fyrapartnersearch]

a voltron rarepair or oc roleplay! <3

ALRIGHT!! What’s up, I’m Vennev, 18+, looking for a fun partner (also 18+) to roleplay with me! I RP in paragraph form, third person, and my limits are essentially the general ones (like abuse, toilet play, incest, pedophilia, bestiality, mpreg; things like that), with the addition of large aquatic creatures/animals. Yeah, weird and an outlier, I know, but I can’t help it haha. And, yo, maybe we can chat OOC too, because I love making new friends and talking about our characters and rp and exchanging music and silly videos that remind us of the characters! My length varies, but I stick to around two paragraphs minimum at the very least. I also really, really love to explore characters and their emotions - romance is a given, ofc, but I’m talking about the nitty gritty details that make a character who they are. I’m also really uninterested in M/F pairings, so hit me up with all the M/M and F/F you’ve got and we’re golden✰ I only play switch, btw! And I loooove doubling/tripling/playing many characters, it’s super much fun. SO IF I’VE CAUGHT YOUR INTEREST SO FAR, STICK AROUND DUDE and let me fill you in on what I’m shooting for! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧ Things I’m game for RPing are listed here below, with a star level of how much I’m craving it - the more stars, the more I’m into it, as is the way meters go. Voltron: Keith/Hunk✰✰✰✰ Listen…listen, okay, don’t even get me started on these two, I just. Really love their dynamic, someone I follow mentioned heith and I was suddenly struck by how much I actually really adore them. It was very much an eye opening experience, ha! So, that being said, I’m really craving someone to RP them with me. I’d really like to explore their dynamic, toss in some confusing emotions and pining for them - pining especially, oh, man. Give me the back of Keith’s throat tasting like acid for some inexplicably when an alien gets too friendly with Hunk and his stomach curling and his chest going warm when Hunk throws an arm around his shoulders after a mission and Hunk being struck with the way the corners of Keith’s eyes crinkle up when he laughs at something Lance and Pidge said to him and I’ll sign my life over right then and there. listen im gay and so are they As a sidenote, I’m also game for playing out OCs in Voltron’s universe - our own paladins and everything like that. What can I say, season three’s left me with some Voltron cravings lmao. Tokyo Mew Mew: OCs✰✰ Okay, so I’ve been a long-time fan of TMM, and have admittedly never come across anyone who’s a fan as well. So I might as well try my luck, right? I’d loove to do something with a new mew team, maybe tossing in some boys as well; at the very least, I’d love to explore our characters interacting and adjusting to being magical girls/boys and the whole animal-like aspect of them that TMM didn’t shoot for all the way (like ur telling me Ichigo didn’t have the most unnerving unblinking cat eyes and uncomfortably sharp teeth as a mew in a way that made her look slightly inhuman/unnerving?? please). I’m also game for either making alien OCs as well or go for a new villain! (TMM A La Mode didn’t quite do it for me as far as the villain team went, with the exception of Duke) Steven Universe: Gemsonas and/or human OCs✰ I’d love to do something with gems with their own agenda separate from Homeworld and earth, or gems finding refuge on earth or another planet entirely, starcrossed lovers from different social standings running away together (sort of Ruby/Sapphire-y, but doesn’t have to be!), gems set during or after the war - anything really, haha. The idea of a gem and a human is interesting, too! I have a couple gem ocs, but I would kind of like to do something with a Lapis Lazuli gem I have. Haikyuu!!: OCs THROWBACK TO MY SPORTS ANIME ROOTS…Admittedly, I love a lot of sports anime (oofuri being my favorite), but this one just really gets to you, y'know? That, and I have a few OC characters for HQ, haha. Whether it be us playing out a team of our own or focusing on characters from rival teams, hit me with anything you’ve got! Magical girls/boys: OCs✰✰ Alright, so. Magical girls/boys. I was thinking more along the lines of a team of boys and girls, with them being magical protectors - as the genre goes! I’d really love to go into how being a magical boy/girl isn’t everything they thought it would be: you can’t save everyone, you and your teammates get injured, you fail missions, the people you love get hurt. I guess this is a little bit more like a superhero thing, in a way? Adjusting to new abilities/discovering new abilities, bonding with teammates. I'm all for that! But I do have a confession, which is I don’t…exactly have the most set plot/setting for this. It’s more of an inspiration from numerous things! Tokyo Mew Mew, Sailor Moon, Yuki Yuna Is A Hero, Power Rangers, Voltron - you get the main idea, at least. The last two would be interesting in a form of a different inspiration, though, that one being more super hero-y with a tie to space themes! Maybe something like Pacific Rim, as well? The idea of a team or characters making a strong magical/otherworldly connection with each other is cool… I have a small example (ft an oc wowie) of what I was shooting for in the general magical boy/girl genre with costumes and the like, so I’ll tack that on here too! ANYWAYS YES THAT IS MAINLY ALL I HAVE TO SAY… if ur interested, hit me up! I’m admittedly mainly looking for a heith partner, but I’m game for anything! My email is vveenneevv@gmail.com (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

[inkuisitivskins]

Top 5 Series that fundamentally shaped you as a person

Ask Me My Top Five Anything!

ohhhhhh yikes. Lemme think haha, there’s several that immediately come to mind but I really wanna put some thought into this uwu I’ll try to put them in some semblance of a rational order heh

1. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (and slightly 2003)

I had always been into “anime” like Pokemon and Hamtaro when I was a kid, but it was about seven years ago when I started watching actual anime. My first was Kekkaishi on Adult Swim, and I liked it enough, but that was also during the first English dub airing of Brotherhood, and it would come on right after Kekkaishi did, so I would watch it sometimes. I think the first episode I remember seeing was a flashback of Ishval, and one scene I prominently remember was Riza talking to Ed in her apartment (when she’s cleaning her pistol and she asks Ed if he loves Winry LMAO). I thought it looked cool and I realized that my mom’s friend’s (she lives with us) son had all but one dvd set of the original 2003 anime. I binge watched it (only missing the short dvd arc where Hughes was killed, which was later in 03 than in Brotherhood), and I fell in love. After that, I dove into Brotherhood and started buying the manga volumes (which were also being released as the anime aired). It remains my favorite franchise to this day, and I’m honestly glad that I saw 03 first because??? there’s certain things I still like about it, and even though Brotherhood is the superior and truest (to Arakawa’s actual vision of the story) version, I’m glad I was able to appreciate the original. I feel like I’d be turned off by it if I watched it after the fact, you know?

What I love about Fullmetal is just the thought that goes into the characters and the events that go on. In Brotherhood, every single character, including fuckin side characters like Yoki, have a specific purpose. The story and lore of the world is so immersive and well thought out and just so intelligent? I love all of the scientific and historical allusions Arakawa makes, and the character development is so beautiful and wonderful (namely in characters like Ed and Al, whose quest changes from something that only concerned themselves to something that concerns literally their whole country and eventually the entire world, if they hadn’t have stopped Father– and Scar, who only wanted revenge, but eventually saw past it and recognized the same greater good that Ed and Al did, even going as far to make the huge mindset change from REVENGE IS ONLY THE ANSWER AND I WILL DISOBEY MY GOD IN ORDER TO ULTIMATELY SERVE THEM to Miles’s mindset of I will use what has been given to me to change minds and make the world a better place for my people)

No joke I’m literally so tempted to apply for a panel at a convention that would just be a huge love letter to this series, where I discuss all of these things I feel in depth. I have 0 idea how to apply for a panel tho haha

2. Pokemon

When I was little, I would go to my mom’s work and just hang out after school. There was one coworker she had who was a young guy, like early twenties, and he really liked me. One day, he brought Pokemon LeafGreen for me to play, and I absolutely fell in love with it (literally my first playthrough, I got in one of the Ye Olde Metapod vs Metapod Fights hahaha). I think that was around first grade, soooo like 2004 ish? It just so happened that I had a friend who was getting a DS, so she gave me her gameboy advance SP and I bought LeafGreen uwu

After that, I’ve had at least one pokemon game from each gen and a few of the spinoffs since. I have FireRed and LeafGreen, Emerald, Blue on the virtual console, Gold, Crystal (that didn’t work), Pearl, Diamond, Platinum, Black, White 2, Y, Omega Ruby, Moon, soon Moon Ultra, Mystery Dungeron Red and Blue rescue teams, Mystery Dungeon Darkness/Time/Sky, Trozei, Rumble Blast, Battle Revolution, and the original Pokemon Ranger. 

It really helped me when I was little because it exposed me to the world of creature design, which is like my ultimate career path (I would like to be a creature and character design artist for a game company, though for now I’ll settle on an art teacher haha). Some of my first shitty OCs were Pokemon ripoffs, heh. It’s just why it’s always been easier for me to draw animals and creatures; I’m only just now getting into humans tbh.

3. The Land Before Time

This is probably the most random series on this list lmao. I grew up with the original movies, like, big time. Ever since I was 5 until I was like 17, I had wanted to be a paleontologist because of these movies. I still absolutely love dinosaurs so much, and Imma rant for a second buttt

The main tattoo I want is of a Tylosaurus P. skeleton because??? i loved dinosaurs and I bought this wii game where you play as different prehistoric marine reptiles (since they’re not considered dinosaurs but still) ((and i recognize it now but that game was so bad but i loved it to death)) and one of them was a tylosaur, it was my favorite. Fast forward a few years, my aunt took me to go on a dig (which I hated bc it was out in the heat) but I met a woman there who worked at a museum and she??? invited me to come help excavate one in the lab???? and guess what the actual fuck it was

it was a tylosaurus p. skull. My exact favorite dinosaur, right down to the specific genus. 

That was incredible because I was actually able to touch and help excavate the skull? which is a big deal bc the skeletons you see in museums usually aren’t the real thing, just plasters. So the fact that I was able to touch the real deal was one of the best things to ever happen to me.

So yeah I fucking love dinosaurs and if teaching doesn’t work out I’m gonna try and do paleontology stuff

4. Okami

This was one of the first wii games I ever got REALLY SUPER into. If you don’t know what this game is, it’s a literal work of art where you play as the reincarnated Japanese sun goddess who took on the form of a wolf, and her power is that the tip of her tail is like a brush and she can paint things into existence. This really got me to make my first ever “real” OCs, even though they were mainly fan characters. One I’ve abandoned, but two became like their own entities. One I still call a fan character because her entire story has to do with the game and I can’t really tailor her into her own thing, but for the other, I made her her own series. Little Baby Dylan wrote enough content for 4 whole manga series with this bitch, because even I had an “I want to be a mangaka” phase. Obviously looking back on it now, they were garbage, but I really want to redo her series because I miss and love her. Anyway, if Pokemon introduced me to character creation, Okami introduced me to worldbuilding and lore development. 

I also kind of want to write fanfiction for the one fan character bc I feel her story is really good? I just don’t know if there’s a place for fan character-centric fics on Ao3, since she’s the main character and she only interacts with canon characters (especially since she’s kind of an OCxCanon thing and idk how well that’s accepted there;;;;; )

I doubt anyone would want to see them but I may draw them again sometime if anyone’s interested haha

5. Dark Souls

One of my first “more mature” gaming experiences along with Skyrim and Fallout 3, the Souls series exposed me to the wonders of Dark Storytelling and Dark Atmosphere and *gasp* Eldritch themes. The unforgiving and sinister nature of these games just fuckin drew me in, I was enraptured at the tone that this game was able to produce. When I branched off from the Okami verse and made the world for the fan-character-turned-original-character, I took a lot of inspiration from this game and the atmosphere it was able to create. The story was so dark and the characters were all very weird and even some could have been considered otherworldly. I still really love the feel of it all and, through it, I learned how to draw certain creepy things and evoke certain emotions from my art (see: that drawing I did of Envy’s true form haha)

Sorry this was so long Megan;;; Thank you very much for asking though!!

[in-arlathan]

Got tagged by @starsandskies, @elveny, @kunstpause, @noire-pandora and @barbex for this little game. Thank you, peeps! ♥︎

Not sure who would like to do this one, so please feel free to grab a tag and @ me in your post. I'd be happy to see it.

Shall we?

1: Why did you choose your url?

I created this Tumblr mainly because I wanted to get into the Dragon Age fandom and since I had a huge love for all things elven, the current URL is the first thing that came to mind. It worked for a good long while for me but I'm getting to that point in time when I feel like the URL doesn't represent me or the blog anymore. I was never good at sticking with one online name and I used to change them every other year depending on what current obsession I had (e.g. Lord of the Rings, Angel Sanctuary, Star Wars, etc.) Sadly, I haven't come up with a new name that feels "right", so to say.

2: Any side blogs? if you have them, name them and why you have them.

This Tumblr started as a side blog but I transformed into my main about 3 months into using the platform again. I was using my DA blog a lot more than the original writing blog I made because I was still getting accustomed to writing in English and because I had nothing profoundly important to share. My frivolous little fanfics had become much more important to me. Also, I'm too lazy and unfocused to manage several blogs at once. I'm even incapable of maintaining a presence on Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram at the same time ^^;

3: How long have you been on Tumblr?

This blog was created in August 2019 but I had been on Tumblr for a while before that. I had a writing/literature blog from 2007 until around 2014. I deleted that one in an attempt to get into the Twitter game (I really can just focus on one medium at a time, it's ridiculous) and because I had a Wordpress blog for my professional work.

4: Do you have a queue tag?

No, I only apply tags for self-reblogs that I queue up.

5: Why did you start your blog in the first place?

I mainly came back to Tumblr for the fandom things and because, ultimately, Tumblr makes it so much easier for me to post my work and thoughts. Also, I get to connect with people over shared interests and I love that.

6: Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

As with my blog names, I'm super inconsistent with my icons. Right now, it's a portrait of my elven ranger I play in Baldur's Gate 3. And because I'm lazy, I modeled her after my Lavellan. :p

7: Why did you choose your header?

The header stems from some amazing screenarchery @iawv has done for me in DAI (Thanks again for being so patient with me!). All of the fighting shots are so dynamic and colorful, I love them so much. Please check out her other works, too.

8: What’s your post with the most notes?

Not so long ago, the very talented @pauvre-lola did this commission piece of Solas and Lavellan for me. With approx. 500 notes, it's the most popular post in the blog right now. Please check out her work, she does some awesome things!

9: How many mutuals do you have?

Oh dear, a handful? I think? I never counted the number of people I interact with, I'm just glad that I do.

10: How many followers do you have?

Currently, there are 995 people following me around. Not that this number accounts for anything on this site. Still, I might do a giveaway when I hit 1,000 followers.

11: How many people do you follow?

337. Which is more than I thought tbh. I cleaned out a few blogs at the start of the year in the hopes the algorithm would start showing me posts by mutuals again instead of hiding them from me. It didn't work that well. Tjaa...

12: Have you ever made a shitpost?

No, I'm not a funny person.

13: How often do you use Tumblr each day?

Usually, I check Tumblr several times a day and reblog something at least 2 or 3 times. I did go on a semi-hiatus because I was too busy lately but Tumblr is the social media I use the most.

14: Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog once? who won?

No, I'm too peace-loving for that.

15: How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

I only reblog stuff I like or deeply care about, sorry. Also, I have this weird thing that when someone tells me "I need/should/have" to do anything, my brain instantly decides that this is the one thing I sure as hell won't be doing.

16: Do you like tag games?

Like them? I LOVE them! This post is proof of that. Especially the writing/art tags like WIP Wednesday and Six Sentence Sunday help me to stay motivated and I get to read and see other people's work and it's *the best*.

17: Do you like ask games?

Sure do! Although I feel like I don't always have something interesting to say. I love people's answers to asks about their OCs because it's amazing how clearly they can picture them in their minds. I can never do that (rather, I discover facets of them as I write a scene, etc)!

19: Do you have a crush on a mutual?

Nope. But I love you all platonically! <3

And that's all I got for you today. Stay safe!

[mind-set-to-blog-mode]

Top 5 Woman-Crush-Wednesday's

Anyone remember my blog post on the Top 5 Man Crush Monday's? Remember how I said I would write a post in the next couple of days? Well a year has past and still haven't done it, so what the heck. Better late that never.

Moving from 2016 to 2017, I'm still the same Joe. The s*** with money, power ranger obsessed Joe. But with a touch more sass. Well I think so anyway. And recently I have been admiring a few female stars with what they've achieved and their talent. Which is why not so long ago I created the slogan GGL. GGL stands for Gay Girl Love. This is for when a gay man (such as myself) really likes a female person for multiple reasons such as their hair, voice, stuff they appeared or worked for etc. Multiple traits that you really admire about one person. For example, Nicole Scherzinger. I think her voice is brilliant, her hair is always flawless, her song Poison is amazing and she was killing it in the music video. I love her for all that. More than just saying 'OMG I love her' but not in the way of really loving/ fancying her. So then I would say I have GGLs for Nicole. If that makes sense. So going back to the trend of WCW. WCW stands for Woman Crush Wednesday. This is exactly the same as Man Crush Monday but with Woman and on a Wednesday. I am obviously not the kind of guy who would use this hashtag to post pics on their social media of bikini models wearing only swimsuits showing off their boobs and butts (for an obvious reason which I've said 2/3 times already). But it doesn't mean I would ignore the hashtag. Just because I'm not attracted to women doesn't mean I think women are only good for showing off their body and absolutely nothing else. Women can do what men can do and vice versa. Equality, plain and simple. There are so many great people who have done some amazing things who are female. And despite not being attracted to them, I would use the WCW hashtag to show how incredible they are in what they've achieved. So this post is a list of my Top 5 most likely Woman Crush Wednesday's. I think these people are amazing and you'll find out why.

5. Poppy

https://youtu.be/xqH3KaW25AA

The person in the photo above (who's hair is amazing btw) is Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy.  She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. Okay. That's enough. You are most likely to have skip read all of that but if you somehow decided to read all the sentences, how long did it take you? It took me 25 seconds which felt long enough to read 2 words. But imagine having two words said on and on for over 10 minutes, weird right. That didn't stop Poppy. Oh hell no! Poppy (also known as That Poppy) is an artist who has been known to make YouTube videos which weird the s*** out of everyone. One of her most popular videos is where she repeats herself saying "I'm Poppy" for over 10 minutes. And that's just one video. From interviewing a plant, to teaching you how to play the 'P' chord, to giving you a virtual hug and to loading a gun. There's a huge variety of weird. And I like that. Not your typical YouTuber, it's a fresh change. Especially since nobody knows much about her. Whether if this is all an act, what she is really like, if this is her actual personality, her age, interests. No one knows. But that doesn't stop a video of hers making you think. And you don't know what to think, you just do. From anything to everything. However, her videos are not why she made it in this list. The music she has released is incredible. Despite the videos being weird and probably full of hidden messages, the actual songs are simply beautiful. Examples include Lowlife, Money & I'm Poppy. Have a little listen for yourself and you'll see why she made the list.

4. Naomi Scott

http://www.lionsgatepublicity.com/theatrical/powerrangers/

There's obviously gonna be a Power Ranger in this list. It is me after all. Naomi Scott (who was also in the Disney Channel Original Movie 'Lemonade Mouth') plays Kimberly Heart, the Pink Ranger in the Power Rangers 2017 Reboot Movie. Based of the original 1993 character, Naomi does a brilliant job of bringing the character to life again with so much more depth. Not going into too much detail which could spoil the movie, her character has a brilliant way of teaching people that you can learn from the mistakes you make and just because you do a bad thing, it won't automatically make you a bad person. An important message, shown perfectly well. Not only just that, Naomi's character gives you so many moments that get you pumped in this movie too. There's scenes which makes you laugh, get excited, be shocked, and feel worried etc. There's even a scene where she walks down a staircase (pictured) and you can't help but think 'Yassss Queen, Slay That Staircase'. Or at least just me anyway. Simply said, the way she portrayed the character was on point, you can't help but love the new Mighty Morphin Pink Ranger.

3. Dove Cameron

http://www.game-ost.com/albums/87630/one_second_chance_from_%22liv_and_maddie_cali_style%22_-_single/

There maybe two in the picture but trust me, there is only one Dove!

Dove Cameron is a current Disney Channel Queen. Now don't get me wrong. I loved growing up with Disney Channel. My childhood dream was to be in front of a white backdrop holding a glow stick saying "I'm Joe Smith and you're watching Disney Channel" whilst drawing Mickey Mouse ears (if you don't know what I'm on about, watch this). High School Musical, Hannah Montana & That's So Raven. Those were the classics. I lost count how many times people who know me personally asked me if I knew about the Raven sequel series that's been announced. Of course I did. It's me. But it's safe to say that most things made after Season 2 of Shake It Up were pretty awful. To some, I'm even being generous by saying the first season of SIU was decent. I feel like I can safely say shows like Dog With A Blog and Ant Farm lost a generation of viewers. They lost comedy and Disney Channel spark. To me, the Disney Channel I knew was dead. But a couple of years later, the return of Cory and Topenga from Boy Meets Worlds sequel series Girl Meets World, brought me back to the channel. The show is special and brought back some magic of enjoyment like my younger self had from my DC days. I didn't even watch Boy Meets World but I could feel so much nostalgia and happy feelings from it as well. Because of this, I could watch other shows every now and then from around that time (such as I Didn't Do It, K.C. Undercover, Best Friends Whenever) and despite not enjoying them as much as the old shows (mainly because I'm [apparently] an adult and these are made for teens), they wouldn't be an unpleasant viewing. But not so long ago, I subscribed to Disney Life to binge watch the old shows as often as I wanted to. But there was one show I couldn't help but take a little look at. And that was Liv And Maddie. A few episodes passed and that was it. Turns out despite the immature comedy and easy to figure out plots sometimes, there's something about the show I really like. I don't know what it is but I really do enjoy watching Liv And Maddie. Liv And Maddie stars Dove Cameron as both Liv Rooney & Maddie Rooney. Identical twin sisters who are reunited and living together after Liv comes back home after filming her own TV show for quite a long time. Remember earlier how I said women are more than just here to look pretty and nothing else? Well Liv And Maddie deals with this topic really well. They bring up topics from guys ranking the girls from 0-10 just on their appearance, schools putting more money & care to boy sports teams than girl teams and female actors getting more questioned about what they wear than their time on making the show. Liv And Maddie just screams girl power, and it's done perfectly well. The show ran for three seasons and a fourth with the updated title Liv And Maddie: Cali Style (pictured above). The show has something unique about it (joining the small list of DC shows that got the 4th season renewal such as That's So Raven, Hannah Montana & Good Luck Charlie) and Dove does a brilliant job of bringing such big personalities to life in two characters with the way the show is made. But it's not just this show that makes Dove a Disney Channel Queen. She also is a Disney Villain... Kinda...

http://gattaracinefila.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/recensioni-di-descedants-i-guardiani.html

Dove also stars as Mal, Maleficent's daughter in the Disney Channel Original Movie Descendants. Not going into too much detail because I've talked about Dove a lot but this film is pretty decent. A story about the kids of Disney heroes & villains is gonna catch my interest. Kenny Ortega who directed High School Musical did this as well so I can use that as an alibi to prove it isn't awful. And soon there is going to be a sequel and I am really excited to see it. I haven't been excited to see a DCOM since Camp Rock 2. So that is why Dove is in the list. Mirror Mirror, on the wall, who's the baddest of them all? I'm not genuinely asking, it a quote from the movie. I felt like I needed to put it there.

2. Becky G

http://www.lionsgatepublicity.com/theatrical/powerrangers/

That's the longest I've ever gone not talking about Power Rangers. How did I mange that?! But carrying on with the list. Becky G is Number 2 on this list. She is a Pop Princess in the United States. Not that popular in the UK (yet), you may remember her collaboration with Cher Lloyd. But it's not just her music that puts her on this list. Like Naomi, Becky G plays Trini Kwan, the Yellow Ranger in the Power Rangers 2017 Reboot Movie. But Becky brings a change to her original 1993 character in such a great way and is a ranger you can really like. One of the things about her character is that she's gay. She admits this is in the movie and she talks about how she struggles moving home all the time and living with parents who want her to be perfect and how they believe in all these types of labels. And Becky's character deals with this topic in a small but brilliant way. Trini is the first openly gay Ranger in the whole PR universe and that's an amazing step forward. Power Rangers has been around for a long time and always been diverse with their many different cast members. The movies cast is also diverse and the fact that it's not just dealing with race but now sexuality as well, it's a brilliant thing. The cast and the way their characters are portrayed are done perfectly well. That's what makes Power Rangers a great movie. And Becky G plays a huge part in this, which is why I admire her.

1. Ariana Grande

http://gazettereview.com/2017/03/ariana-grande-net-worth/

Another Pop Princess makes the list and takes the crown as Number 1. Ariana Grande needs no introduction and if you don't know who she is, you've been living under a rock. Even though I'm not her biggest fan, I still have serious GGL's for Ariana. I loved watching her play the role of Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon series Victorious. The not so smart but still so talented character was portrayed by Ariana really well. Watching the series during its original run even made me want to meet Cat so much, I wanted her to be a real person. Her character was brilliant and brought so much laughter to me when watching the series. But it's not just the role of Cat that makes me love Ariana. Her voice is incredible! From listening to some amazing songs like The Way, Bang Bang, Problem & Break Free, it just proves how amazing her voice is. Have a little listen for yourself and you are most likely to agree with me.

Just before Christmas 2016, Ariana took the role of Penny Pingleton in NBC's Hairspray Live! and like any acting job she takes, Ariana plays it perfectly well. Her verse in You Can't Stop The Beat is really enjoyable and you can't help but admire her collaboration with Dove Cameron (who is also in this TV Special) and Maddie Baillio for the song Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now. When watching the special, it's easy to see how much Ariana enjoyed playing the role of Penny and I much prefer her take on the character than the 2006 movie Penny. I can't help but love Ariana. So that concludes my Top 5 WCW. I'll do my best to post more on this blog since I do enjoy it but for now, thank you so much for spending time reading this and I hope you enjoyed it.

@josephsmithy101