#wonder egg special episode

[drvscarlett]

Let Him Cook Pt 6

Charles Leclerc x Masterchef! Reader

Let Him Cook Series 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

A/N: Thank you for that anon who gave me a message for the next part of the series. This one is dedicated for you!

taglist: @bookstore-of-dreams@barcelonaloverf1life@ririyulife@minseok-smaus@mehrmonga@sltwins@charlesgirl16@six-call@spideybv28@casperlikej@weekendlusting@janeholt3 @evie-119@leilanixx @randomgirlnumber-13@itsjustkhaos

Cookies and Grand Prix

Y/NCooks just posted a photo.

Y/NCooks Now that my masterchef duties are done. Its my first time going to a grand prix as Charles' girlfriend. I hope you like cookies

User1 OMG IM GOING TOMORROW!!! OMYGODDDDD

Y/NCooks I'll give you a cookie when I see you! User1 Ohmygod, this is the best. You are the best!

User3 I'm envious of everyone going to Monza this year, Y/N is giving out cookies

User4 The details are everything on those cookies

CarlosSainz55 Im technically a former ferrari driver so can I claim a cookie?

LoganSargeant can i have one too? Y/NCooks this is for everyone!! Make sure to drop by Carlos and Logan! Maxverstappen1 Expect me around! User5 Everybody is a ferrari fan!

"Okay mon amour, so there will be a big crowd when we arrive" Charles briefed you as you get closer to the venue "Make sure to stick close to me."

"Yes honey, I know. Hold your hand and don't let go"

Charles has been extremely stressed and he thinks it might not be a good idea to bring you to Monza for your first GP as a couple. However, you couldn't pass up the opportunity. You have seen how the people cheered for Charles when he won in Monza, the crowd was electrifying. You wonder what will happen if it happens again this weekend.

Besides, you have a basket full of cookies that you prepared to give for those fans of Charles that you will meet.

You were immediately greeted by a huge crowd calling out Charles name. It was no wonder that there was several security guards waiting at Charles' designated parking lot.

It was normal for Charles to stop to take photos and to sign some merch. What surprised the duo was that the fans were asking for Y/N and her cookies.

"We really waited for you guys so we can get some cookies" one of the avid Tifosi said

"I really hope the cookies give ferrari luck"you agreed.

There was a buzz in the paddock as you gave away several more cookies to the different fans you encountered. You managed to give Carlos and Logan since they were also waiting at the parking lot. You were so carried away talking to everyone that you didn't realize that you already ran out of cookies.

"Oh no, I didn't save cookies for your other friends" you concluded upon reaching the garage.

"That's okay mon amour, I'm sure they would understand that there is no more cookies" Charles assured.

And like a comical entrance, a man in full Red Bull gear enters the sea of red uniforms.

"What do you mean no more cookies?" Max asked "I did not just go through all the security details to not have cookies"

"Oops."

Grill the grid: eggs

It was a fairly easy challenge, the media team thought. They believe that there will be no harm to let the drivers cook since its just a simple hard-boiled egg.

There was a stove, a pot, 2 bottles of water, eggs, vinegar, salt, and pepper on the table. They also thought that it will be funny to put unnecessary spices and ingredients on the table so there is grated cheese, spring onions, cinnamon, carrots, and etc..

The drivers entered the room looking confused at the different set up of the Grill the Grid.

"We're giving people what they want, today were actually allowing the drivers to show off their cooking skills with this special episodes of grill the grid"

Charles is obviously happy. He was already raving about how there are different versions of eggs that he tried at home because of Y/N.

"I have already tried doing poached egg, soft-boiled eggs, french omelette, american ones" Charles enumerated "I think I'm the best at making scrambled eggs"

"Its just scrambled"

"There is a technique there" and Charles continued to ramble on the different techniques that he has used to achieve the perfect scrambled eggs.

On the other hand, Oscar is attempting to make a hard boiled egg. He admits to the camera that he did not have any experience of it but he definitely knows how it taste (obviously).

"So Oscar what is your game plan here?"

"Well, I'm planning to boil the water and I think I should add some vinegar and then maybe sugar and salt so the egg will be flavored" Oscar stopped as he heard the giggling on set "Wait am I wrong?"

"No, no, just continue"

"Okay so I think I'm gonna let the eggs cook once the water is rolling then I'm gonna wait for 15-18 minutes because I don't wanna serve raw eggs" Oscar continued.

The staffs are a bit shocked by the length of time. It was beyond overcooked but they wouldn't say anything to the Australian driver.

It cuts to Max who seems to be pretty confident with his skill. Its a simple egg, how hard can it be?

"Of course, we have to get the water boiling and then I'm going to put it in for 5 minutes and then get the egg out" Max explained.

If Oscar has a long waiting time, Max was immediately dropping the egg even before the water is boiling because Max believes that the water is hot to the touch.

"What happened, why is the egg still runny?" Max wondered

He cut off the egg and there was still slimy white and the yolks were uncooked. There was a frown on his face as he looked back at his pot, he thinks he is being sabotaged.

"I'm gonna do it again"

Yuki was excited to do the cooking challenge. He insisted that he will not just make a hard boiled egg but he will also showcase a soft-boiled egg. The staffs were ecstatic to see him running around to get iced water for his eggs.

"I make these weekly so I'm really confident that it will turn out well"Yuki has a permanent grin as he fishes out his soft-boiled egg.

"If you want a soft-boiled egg, boiling water with the bubbles and then 8 minutes on the clock. Then you put it in an ice bath and then peel it" Yuki narrates.

He opens his soft boiled egg and it showcases a jammy yolk and soft whites, the perfect kind of soft-boiled eggs. The studio applauds at Yuki's efforts.

Y/NCooks just posted a photo

Y/NCooks since the episode is out, here is the list of photos sent to me by the crew. Guess which is which.

User2 OHMYGOD, THIS IS SO FUNNY!!!

User3 LOOK AT OSCAR'S REALLY OVERCOOKED EGGS

User6 i was seriously laughing when he said 18 to 20 minutes User7 For real, man thinks he is tenderizing meat

maxverstappen1 i demand a part 2

Charles_Leclerc "its so easy" maxverstappen1 shut up. i have been cooking now kellypiquet p is getting tired of eggs every morning user9 max is really serious to train himself on how to make eggs

User14 I just know that yuki is the one with the best looking egg, so smooth!!!

Y/Ncooks yes!!! User17 charles is the one with the unsmooth peeling Y/NCooks the man can't have it all, i guess

LandoNorris thank God they didn't send you my photo

Y/NCooks lando, i dont think anyone grabbed a photo since the fire department was called CarlosSainz55 you did what???? Charles_Leclerc and they call me as someone who can't cook when we have Lando here being a fire hazard LandoNorris Y/N THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE OUR SECRET User22 atleast team papaya are both needing lessons.

The cookie prank.

Max was still upset that he didn't get to have cookies in Monza. He was really looking forward to it so he wasn't the least suspicious when he allowed Charles inside his home since he brought him cookies.

It was wrong of Max to put down his defenses.

"I'm gonna get some water, you want anything?" Max asked

"No, I'm just gonna get comfortable here with your cats"

Charles stood in front of the cat litter box and he pulled the ziplock bag that he has. Inside the ziplock bag was another set of cookies that looks like cat poops. He laughed quietly as he sets up the scene.

"Max, do you know about that coffee made from poop?" he asked the Dutchman

"Of course, Kopi Luwak" Max replied "Why did you ask?"

Max walked out of the kitchen and he can see clearly how Charles picked up a poop from the litter box. He almost dropped the water that he is holding upon seeing that.

"What if we use cat poop instead" Charles wondered

"CHARLES WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

The pure mortification in Max's face when Charles started eating the poop. It seems like his friend lost his mind after driving in Ferrari for all these years.

"You should try some"

"Y/N, CHARLES IS GOING CRAZY" Max immediately placed you on a call "I THINK HE NEEDS THERAPY"

"Woah slow down Max" you were out on a grocery run and now Max is screaming at your ear

"Hello mon amour"Charles greeted on the other line.

"HE LOST HIS MIND, HE STARTED EATING MY CAT'S POOPS"

You made a mental face palm as you remembered how Charles insisted that you make very realistic cookies that looks like poop. Charles never opened it to you that he will be using it to prank Max. You started laughing at the shock in Max's face.

"Max, those are cookies" you defended

"THEY ARE CAT POOPS, CHARLES LECLERC IS EATING CAT POOPS"

Oh what would you do with these boys.

[alexiethymia]

Listen, book!Lockwood who is so repressed that it just translates to beaming smiles has a special place in my heart, but at the same time I cannot stress how much I appreciate the live action series for showing us unbelievably exhausted Lockwood who’s so obviously scared that Lucy and George will eventually leave (willingly or otherwise) but still has the gall to push them away. My boy was barely pulling it together. And ofc he would be so tired that the bags under his eyes are so prominent because we’re outside of Lucy’s POV now. Lucy who’s always had rose-colored glasses when it comes to him.

Speaking of Lucy, I really do love how she calls him out. She’s so aggressive with her love. It’s like she’s demanding that George and her will love and care for him and there’s absolutely nothing Lockwood can do about it so he just better shut up and take it. Peak found family right there.

How that scene where Lockwood comes to apologize to Lucy in the kitchen had so much ‘husband in the doghouse’ vibes, and how ultimately what Lucy is really mad about is just her wanting Lockwood to value his life more. And for Lockwood to outright admit that yeah he was a bit suicidal but it’s a bit like he found a new reason for living because of Lucy and George, again I say PEAK FOUND FAMILY, this is my jam. The ease of which Lucy being Lucy calms him down. (Ugh, again the domesticity of choosing egg cups). He can’t stand when she’s mad at him and he learns about apologizing properly this time around, but when she wordlessly forgives him, you can see on his face how he could fall so quickly and deeply in love with her. That’s one thing I love so much about the live action series. While the book showed us more of Lucy’s feelings for Lockwood, I actually think the series highlights Lockwood’s feelings more in that if I hadn’t read the books beforehand, I could have easily seen it as Lockwood falling first. His abandonment issues are so prominent in the series and while they play it with humor with Fittes and Kipps, you can just see that desperation behind the lighthearted tone, and for Lucy to say that she chooses Lockwood and George anyway….!

This is basically an excuse to ramble about the little things they add in the series that I love so much, which works because we’re not restricted to Lucy’s POV, in no particular order:

How Flo can immediately see how Lockwood feels about Lucy because of the effect she has on him. Prior to that statement, she’d only met Lucy once before, but that brief meeting told her everything she needed to know. She probably knew Lockwood in the aftermath of his family’s death, so for her to see Lockwood just buttering someone’s else toast for them and being all domestic and smiley, treating another person like a family member especially considering how guarded he is, she must have thought (and rightly so) that meeting Lucy made him have an appetite for life again.

We actually get to see Fittes’ and Lockwood’s side of the fight! And it was awesome. “I’m Anthony bloody Lockwood.” I can no longer remember if that line was in the book or not but idc I love it.

George and Lucy’s scene was in the book, but the acting in the series just really sold it for me. How Lucy’s heart just broke hearing George talk about himself, especially everything he said then were feelings I’m sure she’s also had about herself. I seriously loved that last episode. George and Lucy were adorable. Again I say, found family ftw.

The rise of the Flo x George ship! “You, me, and herons!” Again I say, adorable.

There are some elements that work better in book format, but in many ways the tv series really did elevate this beloved book series. It was a wonderful, wonderful adaptation. As a reader, I couldn’t be more satisfied. As a shipper, I couldn’t be more ecstatic.

[pestorik]

Hello! Can you give some crumbs on Trey in the twst adventure time AU? I love his concept so much and I want to hear more on it even if it isn’t a lot 💚

-Starved Trey fan looking for crumbs :>

i aim to please, anon!

there would be an episode where garden prince, ace, and deuce all go to treys house for a sleepover, in an effort for GP to live out all the childhood experiences he never got to have bc of his mother. it is then revealed trey snores like a hibernating grizzly bear and the rest of them are unable to sleep so they stay up all night playing party games.

treys employees seen in the character art are: spike the potted plant, marigold the bird, cay cay the carrot (i wonder who named him), and dan the durian. in one episode dan the durian gets broken open and smells so bad that he drives away customers and trey guiltily puts him on leave until his shell grows back. cue dan storyline where he wanders Ooo searching for a way to mask his stench.

it is revealed at some point that he has an entire armory hidden under his bakery, which he seems embarrassed of.

garden prince at one point coerces him into taking up the position of a knight in service of the garden kingdom. trey considers himself a pacifist (he's not, its just an excuse to not get involved) so he's very reluctant. he spends the entire episode walking around the kingdom looking for knight stuff to do, at the end of which he and GP agree that the garden kingdom doesnt really have any threats and he goes back to his bakery.

people think cater was the one who ended their relationship bc he cant handle commitment but really it was a lot more complicated on both ends. most ppl dont know the full details, including riddle, who is wary of cater bc he thinks he hurt trey. cater and trey remain awkward friends without ever addressing the elephant in the room, lowkey avoiding each other.

has a weird friendship w rook, nobody understands it not even trey. rook stops by at extremely inconvenient times asking for favors. there isnt any obvious reason for the favor (a carton of eggs, a sack of flour, etc) and trey doesnt ask questions. in exchange rook doesnt cause problems for him.

recruited deuce to deliver for him bc he knew deuce was trying to be a better person and felt like having a job would help him. ace also frequently calls him to get them out of trouble, he's like their big brother who has to pay their bail.

his parents are retired and he took over the bakery from them.

at one point he has to visit a neighboring kingdom to get some special ingredients. he doesnt usually travel so needs transportation. cater offers a ride on his skateboard but trey doesnt like heights so ace and deuce let him borrow their caterpillar. entire episode is him not knowing how to direct the caterpillar and it takes him through the woods where he gets beat up by nature and does not get his ingredients.

that's all i got for now! give me enough time and there will eventually be more

[orbmanson7]

Let's do a quick analysis of this new short video "The Sides Need a Nice Day" which is clearly meant to be mostly for fun, but there's definitely some hints and easter eggs to pay attention to that I'd like to explore a little further.

I'll address this in three parts in separate posts, the first for Patton and Logan, the next for Virgil and Roman, and the last for Janus and Remus.

Let's start with the first part, about Patton and Logan.

Patton's initial approach, as we can see, was flawed despite his good intentions. He wants to do something nice for Logan, he thinks out ideas based on what he knows Logan enjoys, and he likes to see Logan actually having fun. These are all very emotion-based notions and motivations, which we can expect from Patton. He's inspired by his own emotions in response to seeing the videos online, and takes matters into his own hands to give Logan in particular a special day.

Why Logan? Because Patton's very in tune with emotions and can recognize that Logan has been having a tough time lately. He empathizes with this a lot (considering it's kind of his thing) so he wants to do something that he'd like someone to do for him if he was having a bad day - do something to cheer him up!

This is very sweet and he clearly puts a lot of thought into this idea...but it's not an immediate success because he only really puts the emotional concept and vision into it, and didn't think practically or make his decisions with logic in mind.

Wonder who could have helped with something like that...

First, he approached Logan about making a quick decision, which is not something Logan is ever known to do. Logan resists this right away by questioning him for clarification and is already annoyed to start because Patton is being vague and trying to get Logan to play along without giving consideration to Logan's need to understand a situation and weigh his options before deciding anything. Logan takes no action lightly and always thinks his actions through first, as opposed to Patton, who prefers gut instincts and impulsive action. He doesn't bother to offer Logan the information and time to make a more informed decision, all because he wants to hurry up and get to the fun part!

Patton (like Roman) is someone who is able to envision what he wants, but Logan is someone who actually figures out the steps needed to make that a reality. Without the steps, that vision is but a dream, and without the vision, the steps are just work with no purpose.

These sides need to learn to work together to accomplish goals, not just do things on their own, and this part of the episode gives us a hint towards that notion.

The peculiar way that Patton then explains the situation to Logan is also interesting, as he states that whichever option Logan chooses will be something Patton wants to do, and because Patton wants to do it, Thomas will want to do it, meaning Logan gets to do it, too.

This, by itself, is such an alarming concept to drop into this video, especially with Patton saying it so cheerfully.

In case it's not clear, Patton is implying that he has so much power and sway over Thomas' decision-making process that he can have Thomas do something just because he, Patton, wants to do it. None of the sides should have that level of influence over Thomas, but Patton not only has that power but also knows that he does.

(And to clear up any confusion, this is not the same as Janus saying during his part of the video that he's convinced Thomas to lean into certain thoughts for the day. Patton is suggesting that if he wants something, Thomas will do it, as if it's automatic and doesn't require convincing. That may be Patton oversimplifying it a bit, but it's still indicating his status above others in that sense.)

In this case, he's using it to give Logan a nice day by doing (read: permitting Thomas to do) things he knows Logan would enjoy...but in other context, that's a very dangerous situation, especially since Patton has been shown to make bad or skewed judgement calls in the past due to his biases as well as making some very impulsive, emotionally-driven decisions.

But he recognizes this status that he holds and is attempting to use it for good, so at least there's that?

The next and more obvious part of this section shows that Patton is rushing Logan through the activities chosen, talking over him or cutting him off when Logan questions Patton about this, and Logan grows more annoyed by this as time goes on.

He is not quick to anger, even when he was initially forced into deciding something with very little information, and it takes a few times of being pushed and talked over before he even shows his frustration at all.

It's important to notice this because Logan's anger is not just born of nothing. It's valid because it's a natural reaction to the situation he's in not being properly catered to him.

This is something we see in episodes of the series a lot, and when it comes to the specific moments where Logan has truly gotten angry enough to show it, it's never out of nowhere, even if it may seem that way. If you are properly paying attention, you will see the gradual buildup, where Logan keeps holding himself back, staying calm and collected as long as he can, before the emotion bursts out and he acts rashly (and then regrets it).

Logan's anger has been shown to appear after moments where he is repeatedly cut off, spoken over, and ignored or disregarded completely. Being silenced and skipped over so often, it's a wonder Logan keeps trying at all, but he does. At some point, the last line is crossed, and he explodes with that anger.

While the resulting behavior may be inappropriate or rude, the feelings motivating that behavior are extremely valid, because he's being pushed to this breaking point by others. Anger serves the purpose of making it known when someone's boundaries have been crossed and when they have been wronged, so it makes sense for Logan to experience it at these times.

So, in this short video, Patton is trying to do something nice for him, and Logan can recognize and appreciate Patton's intention, but the execution is filled with the same mannerisms that build Logan's anger - being cut off, spoken over, ignored. It's not that he doesn't enjoy these activities, either, but he's not being given the chance to enjoy them with the way Patton is presenting them to him. It's a recipe for disaster because Logan's needs and boundaries aren't being respected despite the whole point being to do something nice for him.

This is also a tough situation for someone to oppose, by the way! When someone does something nice for you but you honestly hate it, how do you begin to tell them that? You don't want to hurt their feelings because you know they were trying to be nice and meant no harm, but if you don't speak up about the issues you had with it, your boundaries could wind up violated over and over again and the other party would be none the wiser.

Logan must voice his frustration. He has to explain why he's upset. And, thankfully, in this section of the video, he does!

He starts by stopping Patton directly, hand out and everything. He speaks calmly and clearly, using the same tone he used when speaking to the others during DwIT to get them to chill out and not be so impulsive. Logan is using what he knows to work to make his case here, and he tells Patton that he appreciates what he's trying to do. But then, he raises his voice and informs Patton what's annoying him about it, that he can't enjoy these activities because he's being rushed through them. This is a direct communication of the issue at hand and why it's bothering him.

Patton then pauses, reflects, realizes his mistake and where he had messed up, and then alters his behavior to fix the issue.

It's so simple and succinct that Logan, while still annoyed, seems confused that Patton actually listened to him and by how easy it was to find that resolution.

And I think that's our next piece of foreshadowing, as well.

Logan has been holding back about his genuine anger and frustration over how he's treated by the other sides and Thomas. He feels ignored and only utilized as a tool, as if he were a book rather than a person (or the metaphysical manifestation of one, at least).

These are not feelings that have only sprung up recently, either - this has been happening for a very long time without Logan ever addressing it.

Until he does, the others won't realize the impact their words and actions truly have on him. He needs to speak up and the others need to listen and adjust accordingly.

With the way Patton responded in this part, though, perhaps this shows that they may have an easier, calmer solution in store than one might initially anticipate, but we shall see.

Speaking of foreshadowing, during the times Logan is shown in the library throughout this part, he is reading a book titled A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Knowing past easter eggs and hints, it's likely this is not a coincidence.

Having read the book myself, I think it's very possible this is a potential nod to something that may occur soon within Logan's upcoming arc (whenever that may happen), as the book happens to deal a lot with the concept of imprisonment and finding ways to live through adversity.

In the book, the main character is put on house arrest in a bustling hotel in the city, but he's relegated to a cramped attic space and had left all of his books away from home so he cannot access them, because if he dares to leave the hotel, he'll be shot dead. So he stays inside, and he self-reflects because he now has a lot of time to think. He gets to know the people who work and live in the hotel, how their lives are so different than his own had been and continues to be. For quite some time, he feels the true punishment of his stay there, how the whole world outside is moving on so fast, but he is stuck inside, removed from it. He becomes effectively useless, unable to be or do anything for others (outside of giving amazing wine pairings for meals, of course), but he stays true to himself despite it all. He remains his charming and intelligent self, he makes new friends, he finds ways to be happy despite being trapped there.

The most popular quote from the book is one that says, "if a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them." And while the main character in that story manages to make the best of his life and circumstances, we know that Logan is still struggling with his fate right now, being trapped within Thomas' mind as someone who cannot fully explore his own interests, who has less and less purpose since Thomas left college, and feels less respected and listened to every day.

Logan has to find a way to obtain happiness despite his circumstances, because he can't change his situation, but he can change how he responds to it.

This book may be a clue as to how he finally figures out how to do that.

The outcome of this part of the video with Logan and Patton is a satisfying one. Logan expressed his frustration, Patton listened and was able to correct the issue, and Logan was able to have a nice day after all, which is what Patton had set out to accomplish. There were quite a few bumps along the way, but it was successful in the end!

Now, onto the next part...

[campbenji]

*JWCT SPOILERS* very messy first thoughts

OH BOY here we go

-ben and darius's dynamic was epic. the hug. the roadtrip scenes. "is your friend okay?" "no 😊". ben getting darius out of his isolation cabin and darius grounding him in ep2. the parallels with s3ep7. "you kiss your mother with that mouth?" i'm gonna be thinking about that scene for days. their ship is still a swim to me but please they better keep whatever the fuck they have going on in s2 because it's fucking wonderful

-i love that they took the chance to give more light to duos we didn't see much in jwcc. teamups we didn't often see like ben and sammy, THE B-DUO, and darius and sammy got very special moments here

-the amount of pictures/videos from the six years in between??? the brooklynn flashbacks??? we were so well fed

-BRAND!!!!!! i got so happy when i heard him the first episode, he's clearly been checking on his brother and i'm glad he's ok

-bowman family FEAST. brand and darius talking over the phone. the pictures on the cabin. kenji saying he calls mrs. bowman once a week and all the nice things he said about her. the whole mess between kenji and darius. "we're brothers, right?" i died dead. i love this family your honor

-sammy. she's got so much going on and we desperately need to talk about it. i'm so worried about her, she's desperately trying to avoid confronting what happened with brooklynn, with yaz and her own trauma, and then they casually dropped on us that her family isn't speaking to her and never elaborated on that?? sammy, who's love and care for her family was her biggest motivation in jwcc?? i need to know what happened because it must've been big

-mateo!! i liked him a lot, he definitely doesn't want to get into any of this mess but still dabbles around a bit to help the kids, which i respect. also i hope we get to meet his daughter hiraya, she sounds really cool

-MS MICROBANGS (or the handler, or whatever name we're calling her). what is her deal. who is she working for. she's so uncanny, literally almost robotic i need to know more about her

-brookenji over i cheered. don't take this personally i've never been a fan of this ship and a part of me knew they weren't going to last long

-the animation increased in quality so much. the scene after ben, yaz and sammy get out of the sinking van is so well done it's so pretty to look at. and the t-rex with the explosion behind her? it reminds me so much of toro in the tunnels in s1ep8, and i haven't tested this out but i feel like if you put them one next to the other the improvement would be so noticeable.

-also related to the point above: that thing when a character's eyes start filling up with tears but they don't cry just yet? 10/10. chef's fucking kiss

-sure jwct has the same tv-y7 rating as jwcc, but from minute 1 it's obvious it's not the same audience they're talking to. it's not a big change in tone, like for example adventure time/distant lands/fionna and cake, but it's there, you can tell they know it's not little kids watching anymore

-BUMPY IS HAVING A BABY BUMPY IS A MOM NOW they had me shit scared for her and then they pulled a freaking egg my heart was literally pounding. anyways i hope they get both bumpy and the egg somewhere safe and that they name the new anky "speckles" (i've gotten so attached to that name in the last 24 hours it's insane)

-YASAMMY THE QUEENS THAT YOU ARE. their relationship was stellar this season, i was scared when i saw that they were apart but their issues felt organic to their relationship and i just love how they were written in the show, they are still so in love with each other and i can't wait to see where they go next season. they're everything to me

-yeah they were apart for half the season but. benji crumbs. the egg cradle scene. kenji helping ben after he got hit with the stun gun. basically all they did was act like they knew each other but idc. we are so back.

-the brooklynn reveal was... meh?? it could've been more rewarding if they waited until s2 to reveal she's still alive, but at least i hope they take their time before reuniting her with the rest of the camp fam. also i can't believe ppl even guessed what arm she was going to lose y'all have prophetic powers or smth

-bringing daniel back to kill him the same episode was an insane move btw. i would've normally complained but it's all worth it for causing the panic attack scene in ep7. kenji's reaction felt so genuine, i'm forever in awe at how well this show writes grief and trauma

-i'm so conflicted about darius's confession. i like dinostar, but i feel like it wasn't needed for darius to be in love with brooklynn to explain the voicemails and the way he was dealing with her death. she was one of his closest friends, his grief made sense even with them being platonic. on the other hand, i love how he admitted it to kenji and the fact they didn't turn it into a huge fight between them; also, "i didn't know i could even feel that way" aroace/acespec darius truthers never lose

-maybe it's just that i need to rewatch, but i'm lost as to where they're going next season?? i know they're getting on a boat but where does that go?? what are they trying to do?? there's so much happening my head is spinning

-ben... he kind of felt like the comic relief for most of the show, the first episodes showed him as being really paranoid again and struggling with being alone, but halfway through the season they just sort of forgot about it?? idk something was off

-bring back kenji's old latin spanish va idk who this guy is but that is not kenji i can't do this. i'll survive the loss of ryan potter but i won't survive this

anyways yeah i think those are most of my uncooked thoughts, overall i really liked the season, i can't believe we got to see the kids again this is still so unreal to me

[molinaesque]

Cooper Howard and Lucy MacLean's rare and wonderful dynamic (and how it's ultimately alright if they don't become "endgame" or whatever)

First off... I'm saying this as a HUGE ghoulcy shipper btw. I don't wanna hear about some bullshit about how "you just don't like the ship" or something dumb like that (have you SEEN the state of my blog??). I ADORE this ship. These are also ultimately my own thoughts. Do not be affronted if this somehow doesn't apply to your hcs. At the end of the day, this is fiction, nothing more.

Something I have to note on about the wonderful dynamic between Cooper and Lucy. Even if ghoulcy stays platonic, I'm fine with it because this is the closest dynamic to Jack/Liz from 30 Rock that l've seen, and if anyone's seen that show, you KNOW what I'm talking about. Let me explain.

Jack/Liz were two v complex characters that had so much chemistry but the way their "relationship" worked was so unique in that they were never romantic but they're WAY more than just colleagues/ friends, etc. There was literally an article titled like "why you'll never see this kind of relationship in television again" and ghoulcy has the potential to be that again which is still GREAT! It even goes on to talk about how they're COMPLETE AND POLAR OPPOSITES but the dynamic still works and how they feed off of each other in the only way no other characters can. The "dynamic" is THEIRS and theirs only. Seem familiar?

From what we're getting not just in the Fallout show but from interviews with the actors and creatives involved, we're already getting that special dynamic. However, I must stress that many of the comments and those interviews (imo) are sometimes taken TOO literally. The existing text and subtext of the ship is already abundant and ripe so I feel like not EVERYTHING has to be referred to the ship and the ship only. I know it's mostly funsies but I legit wonder if some of this is taken too seriously to the point of misconstruing an actor's words and getting tunnel vision JUST for the sake of the ship and ship only, in turn cheapening what is already there. Kinda like what I've seen with people having to vilify Barb further with unnecessary inferences to scenes that give her more layers (like questioning her genuine love for Janey and Cooper. She can be loving AND a villain y'all. Both things don't have to be mutually exclusive) EVEN THOUGH SHE IS CLEARLY VILIFIED BY THE SHOW BY THE REVEAL SO WHY MAKE UP STUFF? To "punish" her more?? Apologies but this kinda reads as "I need to prop up my ship further so I MUST degrade the other ship" even though it's again... SUPER UNNECESSARY (I must stress I've seen this on ALL sides of shipping/character stanning. Both sides suck when you engage in this behaviour). Have fun and faith in the strength of your ships (ESPECIALLY if they're not "canon" adjacent)!

Anyway, as I was saying...

Going back to 30 Rock, there's literally a scene in the show where they get married due to shenanigans, they get in a big fight the whole episode and in the end sit down and have the most revealing discussion with a councilor about why they're so much more complex than typical relationship. And another scene where they sleep in the same bed together and addressed why they never hooked up with each other and why that's okay. By the way, I was also a HUGE shipper of these two... But I was fine with how they ended up with because the story of their special relationship that makes them uniquely THEM was clear and concise. This did not stop me from reading fics where they make kissy faces. It is possible to do both and I think some ppl tend to forget this.

I'm not saying this for the antis (don't like what you don't like, but if you harass shippers then you can suck eggs and leave. This applies to shippers to non shippers too btw. Be. Nice.), I'm saying all this because I want shippers to not "despair" if the ship that they've become so invested in doesn't come to fruition (and not go overboard into thinking that writers should listen to whatever audiences want all the time, we've been down this road SO many times, it's terrible. Do we REALLY need to talk about how The Rise of Skywalker turned out the way it did due to unnecessary pressure from the loudest antis/asshats in fandom? I think not). Maybe this is also more towards the younger audience members as a cautionary tale because we old ass millenials have seen and been through this but didn't have the immediacy of social media at our finger tips, so it was kinda easier to not be as reactionary. I don't like playing the "you youngins don't know what it was like" card, but at some points it is just a statement of reality. Some of you are/were LITERALLY too young to have experienced this.

Ultimately, what I'm saying is even if ghoulcy doesn't become "romantic", I'm fine with it as long as they stay within the "something more/beyond definition" dynamic which is ALWAYS refreshing to see. Give us more "what are we"! Give us more "it's complicated"! Give us more "we can't be summarized in neat little boxes"!

As long as they don't end up in the pit of "one dimensional interpretation of the Found Family trope which is somehow only just Familial and in this instance Father-Daughter". Please, I BEG. Nothing wrong for people to like this dynamic, but to immediately categorize this into that box is just... Tiresome. You can make the same arguments about "shipping two living beings together on screen all the time" too for sure... But again it leads to my point of if we're going the platonic route how about we NOT just shove it in the same boring dynamic of Father-Daughter that if you want, can find in multitudes of other forms of existing fictional media.

Tldr; have fun but always remember this is all fictional media in the end where we play with dolls in a sandbox. Just remember to BE. NORMAL. and not forget this and start shitting in it and flinging poo at each other. That goes with relationships with creators of said media too. Do NOT become parasocial and expect everything to be catered to you. The creators want to tell a story THEY came up with in the first place.

LET THEM.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

04/01/2024 Daily Ricky Recap

TLDR; Cast&Crew; ErrollShand; KristianNairn; Rhys Darby; Fan Spotlight; Crew Cards; Stede Bonnet as Faberge Eggs; Ricky Roll'd; Ricky's Reels;

== Cast & Crew Sightings ==

= Erroll Shand =

Today's main man is out here loving all the Ricky memes yall have been busy with!

= Rhys Darby =

I've run out of videos I can add so I'm going to link to @mon-ster-chen here on tumblr for the Rhysie video for today! Thanks hon!

= Kristian Nairn =

Just a selfie of our lovely Kristian on Wonday. No news yet on when WJW will be back, but at least we get to see our favorite dj! Source: Kristian's IG

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Cast Cards =

Tonight's cast card is Stede and Pete's guard, from episode 2 of season 1, Jamie Nations-- as well as the man who Gut Stabbed Stede, Carlos Arellano! Thank you @melvisik, you really are finding everybody!!

== Stede Bonnet as Fabergé Eggs ==

One of our delightful crewmates over on twitter @ofmdframes put together quite an assortment of Stede Bonnet comparisons to a variety of Fabergé Eggs for Easter yesterday! Please check out their twitter thread if you have access!

== In Soup Now ==

InSoupNow: In Aid of Team HAVEN for WeeJohnWonday has now closed! Thank you to @ForceMonument on Twitter for organizing this, and thank you so much to every person who donated or shared! You helped raise £3,298.75 for people in need!

= Ricky Rolled =

First up is our darling @blueberreads and their contribution to today's fun! Tumblr / IG

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by blueberreads (@blueberreads_)

Next is our friend @ofmdframes again on twitter really giving us a heart attack. Src: Twitter, they have so many more please check them out if you have twitter.

More from @ofmdframes

And the lovely @emcolbs made a an amazing animation of their Ricky art as well. Please visit Em's post here

I know there's more! Been working my way through, but I'm running out of image space! Happy April Fool's day all!

== Love Notes ==

Y'all are wild, you know that? I saw the Ricky stuff this morning and everyone kinda just rolled with it and doubled down everywhere. It was a lovely beam of sunlight today.

Add to that, the boops? My goodness Tumblr knows how to induce dopamine a little bit at a time. It was so fun booping people today! I hope folks got a chance to-- sounds like there was some goofy glitches throughout the day.

I hope you all had a wonderful day. The love notes are shorter tonight because finishing off 2 recaps in one night was fun but I'm a bit sleepy. I hope you all had such an amazing time today, and if not, I hope tomorrow goes better. So much love your way m'dears <3 A little love note from @thelatestkate tonight. If I've already posted this I apologize, but it's always applicable!

== Ricky's Reels ==

Tonight's regularly scheduled gifs have been replaced by a one night only special! Gif courtesy of @samuelroukin

[biomic]

gotchard... kinda got away from itself in the end there, unfortunately.

far too many plates to spin by the end and not enough time to properly resolve them all, especially twilight majade and valvarad kurogane's debuts which could've been so much more effective had they at least been two-parters. i think it's easy to single out the legend arc as where things started to go wrong, but i'd disagree. a month-long detour isn't not disruptive, but we had about 15 episodes afterwards to tie everything together, and other shows have done more with less. in hindsight i think gigist's initial death and the introduction of the other two kings were more trouble than they were worth. i was interested to see where it went at the time, but in the end they were pretty much glorified mooks. not worth it

and you know, given that agito was a point of inspiration for the season, i wonder if things would've gone smoother had they taken a page out of that book and gone for an extended epilogue after rainbow's debut. i joked about a version where tacchan was the "true" final boss, but honestly? i think something like that could've benefited the themes the show was going for. make the whole endgame about alchemists and chemies being exposed instead of just the final few episodes, and what hotaro and the gang have to do to truly bring the two worlds together. you'd still have room for the stuff that mostly worked (sabi and kajiki's resolutions, hotaro vs spanner, etc.) without trying to constantly one-up what you did before (there's no beating hotaro's magic egg prison!)

still, despite any disappointments i might have, it's hard not to come away from that final scene with a full heart and a smile on your face. one last "hoppah!" to cure all ailments.

and at the end of the day, that's my main takeaway from gotchard. i loved this show, flaws and all. i loved spending time with these characters. i loved all the silly little creatures and the awful cgi forms and the massive tonal whiplashes and ms inoue's twisted mind and spanner's STUPID ass catchphrase. i may have been a bit hyperbolic in my comparisons to early phase 2 heisei seasons, but this show really did bring me back to that feeling i got when i first started watching kamen rider with shows like fourze and wizard, and it'll always be special to me because of it <3

and the good news is, with gotchard season 2 airing now, they'll have plenty of time t— [holds a finger up to my earpiece] im sorry? [...] oh... i see... [...] [grimacing] you said two Vs?

[iguana-eyanna]

We'll Be Fine

Summary: You get nervous when you try to announce a big surprise to your friends with the help of your husband, Damien.

a/n: I've been watching Smosh a lot and decided to write about Damien cause i love him

You were all on set, getting ready for shooting the next episode for Eat it or Yeet it. You were a part of the cast, joining Smosh at the same time as Damien. Shayne could clearly see how both of you and his friend hit it off. So, Shayne became your personal cupid and set you guys up on your first date. You guys had amazing chemistry, and later became engaged in 2022.

Now you were pacing back and forth, fiddling with your fingers. You were currently hiding in the office as everyone was getting ready in the studio. You hear someone come out and see Damien.

He gives you a nervous smile as he races towards you.

"Hey, we're about to shoot soon. Everyone was wondering where you went." He says.

"I had to step for a second, I was getting nausaus." You said, rubbing your non existing bump.

Today was going to be a special episode as most of the cast members will be doing the episode, but also the announcement that you were pregnant.

You and Damian found out you were three months along when you went to the clinic. You two thought what would be a great way to tell your Smosh family of your news and you knew what to do. You called Garret in secret and helped you cook the whole menu, but catered the big bite.

Now, you felt like your insides were flipping around.

"Hey, don't worry! They're going to love it and they'll be happy for us." He says, hugging you.

You started tearing up and wiped your tears.

"You'd think the hormones would be coming later on." You said.

Damian chuckles and kisses your head.

"You're going to do amazing, We'll be fine. Ready?" He asks.

You nod your head and you two walk in hand to the shooting.

Everyone gets their mic and you talk amongst yourselves till they were ready to film. You take a deep breath and stared at the camera.

"Hey, y'all! Welcome to Eat it or Yeet it. I'm not your regular host as you can see here that Courtney here will be eating instead!"

Courtney waves at the camera eagerly. In order, she sat with Kimmy, Damian, Shayne, Jackie, Noah, Keith, Olivia, Angela, Chanse, Ian, Amanda, Spencer, and Tommy.

You were getting nervous as this was one of the biggest table yet.

"So, today we're doing something a bit different. Today, the contestants must figure out the theme before the big bite! Due to all of us being packed on this table, they must buzz their buzzer first to get the dish they want."

"Because this particular episode is very different from the last, I just know every dish will make us crap out our minds." Noah said.

"I don't why I'm even here, I purposely made sure I had my day off today." Shayne acclaimed.

Damien shares a nervous laugh but no one makes of it.

You then bring over the first dish covered and placed it in the middle of the table.

"Hope you guys are ready for our first dish!" You said, revealing a plate of what appeared to be dyed blue and pink deviled eggs.

Everyone gasps at how vibrant the color is, but you all started the countdown and Chanse buzzed first.

"I need to eat this now cause I can't eat whatever monstrosity there is next." Chanse exaggerated.

You all laugh and count down for him to eat it, and surprisingly he hums in delight.

"Not really a fan of eggs, but it tastes good!" He says.

"The dish is called blue and pink devil eggs! It is pickled egg filling and eggs that have food coloring!"

The next dish, you brought out pigs in a blanket with jelly filling and Kimmy buzzed it. She liked it as she was cheering, saying how it complements the salty taste.

Everyone tries guessing along the way, saying the theme is probably cartoon characters or something relating to their past try not to laugh bits. Oh, how they're all wrong.

Some dishes that you served was a casserole with marshmallows and chocolate but baby corn and baby carrots were buried underneath. Amanda got the dish and yeeted, not liking the combo.

Then the last dish before the big bite was lamb chops, and Shayne and Courtney tied buzzing. Once you all saw the footage again, Courtney was a second ahead by Shayne and got the dish.

The camera pans to Shayne as Courtney indulges on the lamb.

"I just- I'm just going to accept my defeat." Shayne said, as he looks like he's giving up.

Everyone aws as they know that Shayne always gets the worst dishes. You were kinda hoping that Shayne would get the last dish and you had something in mind.

"Okay, this one is a bit heavy so I need Damien to help me." You said since he ate one of the other dishes.

Damian looks up at you, surprised but he surpresses his joy as he follows you to the back.

"They're bringing in a live squid!" Ian screams and everyone shouts out what they think theyre bringing.

Soon, you two walk out with a white box, trying so hard not to smile so much.

"Ready Shayne?" You ask.

Shayne gives an exaggerated sigh and holds out a fork.

"Bring on the pirahna" Shayne says.

Damian places the box on the table in front of his friend and you count down, lifting up the top.

Shayne closes his eyes, thinking that it will jump out. But, he opens one eye and leans over. Both his eyes widen as he sees a cake, but more at what the cake was written with frosting.

"Shayne?" Jackie asks as she looks over his shoulder, reading the cake. She screams out loud and looks up at you and Damian, now close to each other.

"No, you're not!" She says, but smiling as her hands fly up to her cheeks.

Everyone gets up at their seats and look down to why they were acting weird, but saw the pastel rainbow cake with white frosting writing that read:

Baby Haas Coming Soon!

"You're pregnant?!" Kimmy and Courtney screamed.

You nod your head eagerly as Damien hugs you from behind.

"Yep! I'm three months along." You said.

Everyone cheered on and off camera. They all got up and hugged you and Damien, saying congrats.

Shayne was the only one who was in his seat, still shocked.

"Shayne buddy, you okay?" Damien asks, worried what his best friend would say.

He looks up with tears in his eyes.

"You guys are having a baby?" he asks.

Damien nods his head.

"Yeah, man. We are." Damien says, smiling as he finally gets to tell the news to his best friend.

Shayne gets out of his seat and hugs Damien, crying.

"I'm so happy for you two!" Shayne acclaims.

He looks at you and open his arms.

You join the hug and everyone joins in. Courtney turns to the camera.

"We're so happy for our friends starting their family. Like and subscribe and we'll see you all soon!" Courtney said.

You and Damien shared the cake with the cast and crew, as everyone can't wait to see your baby. You and Damien sat next to each other, cuddling on the office couch.

"You see? Everything turned out perfectly." Damien says.

You smile as you lean in and kiss him.

"I'm glad it's off my chest. I couldn't have done this without you." You said, beaming. As you try leaning in for another kiss, your friends disrupt you, fighting over who will be god parents.

Chaos ensued, but you knew you both wouldn’t have it any other way.

[she-karev]

Maya Gives Birth (Maya x Carina Sweet Imagine)

Carina Gives Birth Here

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: Two of Two

Fandom: Station 19

Ship: Maya Bishop x Carina DeLuca

Canon Episode: After Series Finale

AN: Happy Pride guys! For the last day of this pride month I wanted to do something special and what’s more special than the miracle of life? Here’s the final chapter that has Maya giving birth to her and Carina’s third child. Enjoy you guys and let me know what you think down below!

Summary: Maya gives birth to her and Carina’s third baby with Carina by her side.

Words: 1633

September 13th, 2028

“Good, you’re doing so good Bella, breathe deep.”

Maya breathes in deep sitting up in her hospital bed as her enormous pregnant belly rumbles with contractions. Today is the day she gives birth to her, and Carina’s third baby and she is starting to see why her wife was so cranky when she had Andrea.

When Carina brought up the idea of them having another kid once Liam and Andrea were fully potty trained, Maya instantly said yes to the idea. She even offered to carry this time knowing full well how scary Carina was when she was pregnant. A part of her wonders how she looks to her wife now that she’s the one with the hormones and the growing belly and contractions that feel like a gorilla squeezing her body.

Maya groans in pain and exhales as the contraction finally ends and their OB, Linda Perez, comes up from behind the blue curtain covering Maya’s legs.

“Okay Maya we’re almost there, your almost fully dilated we just need you to ride out the next contraction and then your gonna push.”

Maya whimpers at that, “Oh god another one!? Why does it have to be so painful? Why can’t it just be like an egg? You pop one out and wait for it to hatch, it saves so much time and so much pain for me right now.”

Carina chuckles, “It’s exactly how I felt with Andrea except I am an OB, so I know it’s the natural order of things. I don’t know why women have more complicated organs and why we have to suffer but what can you do?”

“I should’ve just masturbated like you said.” Maya says with regret while Carina wipes the sweat off her head with a towel grinning, “God why did I talk myself out of an epidural? How did I make life and death decisions on the job with that kind of thinking? Why did I let you talk me into this?” Maya asks Carina exasperated, “How did you not strangle me when this was happening to you? Aah!”

Carina rubs Maya’s arm in comfort still grinning in amusement, “If I recall you volunteered up front because you said it was only fair for me not to do this twice.”

Maya groans, “That’s right, you are extremely lucky to have such an understanding wife who underestimates her own pain threshold.”

“I know.” Carina states with a smile, “But for what it’s worth you’re handling this a lot better than I did. I know I was not easy when I was pregnant.”

Maya nods, “Yeah you were an absolute and beautiful nightmare. But sitting here now while my insides are in a vice grip, I realize you were reacting normally to this terrifying experience. Oh god how did you do this? How were you so sure you wanted to do this after seeing this up close so many times? How did this not scare you as much as it’s scaring me?”

Carina grins at her wife and smooths her blonde hair back, “That’s easy. At every one of the births, I helped deliver I saw the pain and the bodily fluids and the screaming that can pinch your ears in different scenarios every time.”

“And once again I ask, how were you not scarred for life?!” Maya yells out feeling more scared from Carina’s recollection.

“Because all of those births were different but the one thing that was the same was the ending.” Carina smiles tenderly at those memories, “When you hear your baby crying and everything stops. Everything changes and everything feels complete in that moment. And when you hold your baby against your chest where they belong…the most painful part turns into the most beautiful experience you can ever have. And I know this from experience too because I had you there to share that joy just like I’m gonna share that joy with you again.”

Maya sniffles at Carina’s words knowing their true. When Carina gave birth four years ago Maya saw the pain she had when she was pushing instantly shift into that of wonder and love once they met their baby. It’s the same feeling Maya had only instead of pain it was fear over her very cranky and hormonal wife. And that terror was so worth it because it made her love for Andrea grow the second, she saw her.

Maya swallows, “…Okay but once we get this kid is out, we’re good with three kids because I don’t want to do all of this again for the sake of my uterus and yours.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

Maya sighs in relief, “Thank god.”

“Good then were in agreement.” Carina kisses the top of Maya’s head and looks at the clock, “Okay your next contraction is in ten seconds.”

Maya whimpers and faces Carina, “Hold my hand.”

Carina holds Maya’s trembling hand and lets Maya grip it as the next contraction crashes over her causing her to groan out in pain. Carina says words of encouragement hoping it will mend the pain a bit, but Maya can barely hear her over her own yells. Normally Carina would be behind the blue curtain with her hands inside a pelvis so she can catch the baby, so it feels weird to be on the other side of this journey. But it’s a journey she’ll cherish forever.

Linda pops up from the curtain, “Okay Maya you are at ten centimeters, it’s time to push!”

“Oh god!” Maya yells out in fear but does as the OB says and pushes. The pain causes her to scream while Carina holds her hand telling her to push that causes Maya to snap, “Don’t tell me to push I know I need to push!”

Maya pushes until she can’t and slumps back on the bed exhausted from her 12-hour labor.

Linda speaks once again, “You did great we’re almost there.”

“You said that last time!” Maya snaps and groans as the baby kicks around her uterus.

“Linda how close are we?” Carina asks causing Linda to look at them from her spot between Maya’s legs.

“It was a great push the baby is crowning so just one more big push Maya, and your baby is gonna come. You can do this Maya okay? Just one more push and your home free.”

“You better be right because if you aren’t I’m gonna jump over that curtain and slap you to the next century.”

Carina grins at Maya’s ferociousness and steps in to humanize her, “She means yes, come on bambina one more push I’m right here I swear.”

Maya groans but sits up again with Carina’s help and grips the bed handle and Carina’s hand knowing this push will take all of her strength and Carina’s patience.

“Okay Maya it’s time to push.” Linda tells her from her side, “Push!”

Maya pushes with everything she has causing her to scream out loud in pain as she feels the baby exiting her body. Carina holds her hand astonished by her monster strength but doesn’t complain, instead she encourages Maya over her screams and the whole moment feels like it’s lasting forever for both of them. Maya feels relief hit her for the first time in twelve hours and slumps back in the bed finally able to relax.

A baby’s cries call her however and she smiles as she looks up to find Linda holding the baby in her arms like she did with Andrea. Gianna is already crying her lungs out and looks just like Andrea did when she first came out, bloody, pink and beautiful.

Carina laughs in joy along with Maya, “She’s here, look at her.”

Maya nods and let’s go of Carina’s hand observing the baby Linda is cleaning, “I know. We make such good-looking babies.”

Carina laughs seeing that Maya’s crankiness has passed causing her to kiss her, “Yes we do, what did I tell you? Did it not just become a beautiful experience?”

Linda hands the blanket wrapped baby to Maya directly on her chest while Carina cuts the cord. Their daughter quiets a bit still wiggling as her moms look at her in amazement like they did with Andrea. Maya smiles at the life she grew in her own womb knowing how resistant she was to carrying a baby when she and Carina first got married. Now she sees that those reasons back then don’t matter now because this moment right now more than makes up for it.

Carina looks at the baby with so much love and tenderness she’s worried she’ll cry. For so long she wanted a big family filled with love unlike the one she had growing up. She wanted to break her family pattern along with Maya and they did. Even with their other children at their Uncle Alex’s and Aunt Jo’s Carina feels their family complete at this very moment with Gianna Deanna DeLuca-Bishop being the final piece they needed to have their dreams come true.

Maya laughs with tears in her eyes as their daughter begins to sleep on her chest and answers Carina’s question, “It is, it’s the most beautiful thing I ever did and it’s all thanks to you.”

Carina smiles at that and clarifies, “It was all you bambina, and me. This was all you and me.” Maya reaches up and caresses Carina’s cheek causing her to lean down and kiss her.

Maya pulls back and grins at her wife, “I love you.”

“I love you.” Carina says back and holds their daughter’s tiny hand in Maya’s arms connecting all of them as one. They look down at their sleeping daughter and enjoy this moment with the newest member, Gianna Deanna DeLuca-Bishop, completing their family and making them whole.

[who-datgirl]

Who IS Ruby Sunday?

My head is spinning over the secret identity of 15’s companion. Ruby is only in one season as Millie Gibson, something very important will have to happen to have her only appear in 8 episodes. At first I wondered if maybe Ruby was The Master hiding in plain sight as a human. Davies confirmed recently that The Master is taking a break from the plot, so that knocked them out of the running for Ruby’s identity. I am left with one headcanon that, regardless of it winds up true or not, exists rent-free in my mind.

I believe Ruby Sunday is the child of 12 and River Song. I think during their 24 years on Darillium, River wound up pregnant. Once she realized she was carrying The Doctor’s child, she took the TARDIS while 12 was busy with something (In the Husbands of River Song special she confirms that she often steals the TARDIS with The Doctor none the wiser). River carried out her 9 months of pregnancy in secret and used the Chameleon Arch on newborn Ruby. The TARDIS then chose the coordinates that landed her at the church on Ruby Road on Christmas Eve (A clue chosen by the TARDIS for The Doctor since River and 12’s time on Darillium started on Christmas Day). River then popped the TARDIS back on Darillium mere seconds after she left and lived out her remaining happy years with The Doctor, with the truth about Ruby weighing on her heart.

Why would River do this? Simple. The TARDIS is no place to raise a newborn. The Doctor would have stopped running and settled down on Earth to raise Ruby. River knew her time was almost up, but with a child The Doctor would have continued his 24-year vacation and extended it into Ruby’s adulthood. River loves The Doctor for their gallivanting around the universe and saving countless worlds through their travels. The thought that an untold amount of stars in the sky would vanish without The Doctor’s help broke River’s heart: “Maybe The Doctor would never have travelled again” was her fear. Rather than raising Ruby out of a mix of love for Ruby and grief for River, River chose to let The Doctor’s grief of River be their fuel for saving worlds instead. Also, River figured by letting a Ruby live a human life on Earth she would get a quiet and good life that is without Daleks, Cybermen, The Yssgaroth, Weeping Angels, and all the other horrors that The Doctor and his companions deal with. For anyone interested in seeing how I imagine 15 and River’s confrontation about Ruby playing out, I will post a dialogue I wrote between them at the end of this post.

NOW, onto the little easter eggs that I have noticed so far that give credence to Ruby being River’s child:

15’s run has had a ton of talk with Ruby about family and being adopted, The Doctors biological ties are definitely a theme of the season.

Ruby’s initials are R.S. Same as River Song.

As mentioned above, Ruby is born Christmas Eve. 12 and River’s time on Darillium began Christmas Day. The TARDIS chooses coordinates that best suit a Time Lord/Time Lady when a Chameleon Arch is used. I believe The TARDIS chose that time and place as a clue for The Doctor to eventually find Ruby.

Coincidence seems to be forcing Ruby and The Doctor together. Almost as if 15 is the answer to her question about who her actual parents are.

When viewing Ruby’s memory, her hooded mother points at 15 which alters the memory. River and The Doctor’s connection has been shown to transcend laws of time and space before (I.e. 11 being able to see River on Trenzalore and even kiss her projection from the Library).

There is such a pervasive theme of music between 15 and Ruby. The Christmas special kicks this off with a fun musical number which seems innocent enough. Since then, all the talk of music has caused the words “Melody” and “Song” to come up quite a few times in the latest season. The Devil’s Chord episode to me felt like a slap in the face with deliberate wordplay. Timothy Blake begins the episode by discussing melody with Henry Arbinger (and Melody is River’s birth name). Towards the end of the episode Maestro finds “A hidden SONG” in Ruby’s soul. If she is River’s daughter that would literally be her last name.

I listened to the hidden song in Ruby’s soul that she sings before the Christmas music several times. Melodically it is quite similar to the melancholy tune “sung” by the Towers of Darillium in the “Husbands of River Song” special.

In “BOOM” the ambulance could not identify 15 properly as a life form. The ambulance had the same error when trying to identify Ruby’s next of kin.

I think if I am correct, once restored to a Time Lady Ruby gets fatally wounded and regenerates into the next season’s companion. This is why Millie Gibson is only in one season. I think Ruby lives on, just as the new actress Varada Sethu (Also Millie and Varada are both credited in next season’s first episode, perhaps we see the regeneration then?)

Is there any truth to this theory? Ultimately, that is up to Davies. As I said before, for me it will live as true in my head rent-free regardless.

As promised, my headcanon confrontation between 15 and River at the church on Ruby Road

*15 stands in front of the hooded figure on Ruby Road, demanding that she pull down her hood*

15: I know who you are! I know who Ruby is. I just have one question that I cannot understand……..*tears forming in 15’s eyes* WHY…..River…..

*The hooded figure pulls down her hood, revealing the saddened expression of Professor River Song*

River: Hello, sweetie.

15: Why River, why did you hide her away from me?!

River: Do I need to make you a list of reasons a baby on the TARDIS is a horrible idea? Traveling the way you do is no place for a child. And that was my greatest fear. I know that for you, you lost me long ago. If, if you knew we had a child. You would’ve stopped immediately. You’d do the one thing you’d never do in a million years.

15: *Angrily* What’s so —

River: You’d stop running, Doctor. You’d park your TARDIS on some corner of London. You’d sweet talk yourself into a quaint home, in some quiet city. You and her would spend years on Earth while she learns to walk, to speak. Long enough that the day would come that she’s old enough to ask why she doesn’t have a mother. I couldn’t do that, but not just to her or you. Do you have any idea how many worlds would see their final dawn if you are not around to pop in and interrupt some horrible disaster? Why, I couldn’t risk every star in the sky going out due to some mix of love for our child and grief for me!

So I did what was best for her, and best for the universe. I used the arch. I landed here. A time and place where she would grow up to be loved and to have one thing neither of us ever had, a normal life. I gave her the gift of a life free from Daleks, from collapsing stars, from the cold of space. I did that, and then I hid her time lord essence in the safest place I could, the one place you’d never go. Nine months have passed for me but for The Doctor on Darillium, I will return after a few seconds. We still have a few more years to go in the long night, and you haven’t a clue I left. You’re the smartest man I’ve known, but also the stupidest.

15: Well the universe didn’t seem to want us to be apart did it?! Coincidence pushed and pushed until I found her, or she found me, I’m not even sure which happened first. Everywhere we went together there was children, mystery, belonging, family all practically forced into my view. I was the answer to her question. Every time she asked who were real parents were, coincidence nudged my foot in her direction. It nudged and nudged until we found each other, and then the answer to her heart’s song screamed itself out in silence. I was meant to be in her life and I got there…..it, it was just the long way around.

River: In my heart I knew, if anyone could find her with no clue to go on, it would be you. I don’t regret the actions I took to hide her, but I’m so glad you are with her now. You, at least, can know her. My diary is out of pages. I don’t have any room for adventures with my daughter. You Doctor, you have all of time and space. Show it to her! If the universe doesn’t want our daughter to live a life of domestic bliss on Earth, teach her to be the Time Lady that she’s clearly meant to be. For the first time in a long while, you don’t have to be the only one of your people on the TARDIS. You finally don’t have to be alone in this universe, and for that I am so happy.

**The Doctor gently grabs River, holding her in his arms**

15: River…if I could do anything to save you, you know—

**River wipes away her tears and slowly backs away after the embrace**

River: Oh sweetie. Hush now. You and I both know how this works. We’re always rushing by each other in reverse. You have the beginning of the rest of your life with her ahead of you. Me? Well……all I have is the time with you on Darillium. I really must be getting back. Eventually you’ll stop entertaining yourself or impressively monologuing to some poor sap on that planet and notice that the TARDIS is gone. I must be back before then.

**Rivers walks into the distance, fading into the darkness of Christmas Eve night. A lone stream of light appears as she opens the 12th Doctor’s TARDIS. River takes one last look at baby Ruby on the church steps, and then one last look at 15**

River: Until next time Doctor.

15: NEXT time? Wait, River. How in Earth do you mean?

*River grins widely at The Doctor, and says one word before shutting the TARDIS door*

River: Spoilers

*15 stares a long while at the now vacant space of their former lifetime’s TARDIS until the glimmer of an idea appears in their eyes. 15 dashes to their TARDIS. 15 slows their approach as they go deeper and deeper into the halls of the space-and-time-ship until they stop at the door. This is the one door on the TARDIS they refuse to walk by, to even think about. With tears forming in their eyes, they open the door for the first time in centuries. Cautiously they walk into the bedroom that 12 and River shared in their time on Darillium. The room’s lights slowly hum on, the bed still unmade on the side River slept so her imprint can be seen in the sheets. Atop her pillow, rests a Time Lord’s pocketwatch. 15 opens it and hears the hum of a Time Lord soul. Inside it are two holographic pictures, one on each side of the watch: one of River, one of the 12th Doctor. On the bottom of the watch 15 can see something inscribed in the Gallifreyan tongue. It reads a name: Amelia Song*

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x08 - The Messenger of Darkness, Devimon! / Evil Shows His Face

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Jou threw a fit because he's boring about eggs and then decided to climb a mountain. It made his week much worse.

Now the rest of the group joins Jou's group at the peak of Infinity Mountain, to see the despairful truth for themselves.

(This one's a biggie, folks. The plot officially begins today. There is a lot of talking and a lot of dialogue revisions to go over.)

At Infinity Mountain's peak, Jou breaks down at this revelation.

Jou: I don't believe this... This place really was an island! What do we do now? WHAT DO WE DO!?!?!?

Of course, this level of hopelessness is a bit dark for the dub, so - as with the end of last episode - they lighten it up.

Joe: This place could really use a good bus system. Matt: Yeah, but it looks like we're at the end of the line. Joe: Ohhh, we're doomed. Trapped on an island. We'll never get out of here alive! I knew I wouldn't like camp, but would my folks listen to me? No! I wanted to go to summer school!

They still hit the important part, but encase it between two points of comedy to keep things from feeling too tense. Though it's nice to know Joe's a proponent of public transit.

Also that he's telepathic. That first line from him is delivered while Matt and the others are still climbing the cliff, but then Matt responds as they approach Joe as if they've been holding a conversation. Also it's delivered in a completely different, much more casual tone than the freaking out at the peak.

I wonder if they recorded that bit to dub over the dialogue-free section of the footage later and didn't realize the error?

Elsewhere on Infinity Mountain, Leomon witnesses a Black Gear flying by and resolves to do something about this. Before he can follow that train of thought, however, he's attacked by Ogremon.

In the dub, rather than saying he wants to do something about the Gear, he simply says "I sense danger!" as he passes under Ogremon's impending ambush.

Leomon is an Adult-stage Vaccine-type Digimon, while Ogremon is an Adult-stage Virus-type Digimon. The narrator quickly gives us their rundown.

Narrator: Leomon. A proud Beast Man Digimon with a deep sense of justice. His special attack is Juuouken! Narrator: Ogremon. An evil Digimon whose anger gives him destructive power.

What, not going to tell us that Ogremon's attack is Haouken? So inconsistent, Narrator. We're going for symmetry here!

In the dub, Leomon and Ogremon deliver each other's rundowns, which I really like; For the dub's determination to make the rundowns diegetic, that's a good way of doing it.

Ogremon: Leomon, you may be mighty but now you face me! Your kindhearted leadership is unimpressive! Leomon: Ogremon, you are truly the most evil of the bad Digimon! There is no limit to your ruthlessness!

"Most evil of the bad Digimon!" is a little cringey. Was that qualifier necessary, Leomon? Are there good Digimon who are way more evil than the worst that the bad Digimon have to offer?

But this does a good job of conveying the rivalry that exists between the pair, which will become important throughout the series. It gets the idea across that these guys are a classic Hero and Villain duo.

We miss out on learning that Leomon's attack is Juuouken but. Like. We're going to find that out when he uses it. That's not useful background information. Plus it's written on the screen.

Anyways, Ogremon orders Leomon to leave because he's not wanted up here. Leomon refuses; The Black Gears descending from Infinity Mountain are driving good, peaceful Digimon into violent frenzies. Leomon's determined to put an end to it.

Ogremon attacks suddenly with his signature Haouken, a burst of dark purple energy he fires from his fist. The name means Tyrant Fist or Overlord Fist or Emperor Fist... The literal translation is "Conqueror King Fist" so there's a few different words for that.

Leomon counters with his signature Juuouken, a burst of orange energy in the shape of a lion's head. The name means "Beast King Fist". The twin techniques are another point of symmetry between the two characters.

The dub doesn't call either of these moves by name.

Suddenly, a voice calls out, instructing them to stop. In Japanese, this voice is eerily calm, speaking matter-of-factly to the confused Leomon and Ogremon as if he owned them.

Devimon: Stop fighting. From now on, you two will cooperate with each other. Leomon: That voice.... Ogremon: ...Devimon?

The English voice goes for a more emotional and aggressive Bad Guy voice.

Devimon: Both of you, stop! Cease this foolishness! I command that the two of you work together for me, not fight! You will work for me! Leomon: I'll never do that! Ogremon: Neither will I!

Two very different approaches to a villain introduction. In the English version, Devimon starts a verbal fight that he'll ultimately win in a moment, while Japanese Devimon comes off as more untouchably superior.

As they look around for the source of his voice, Devimon suddenly reveals himself.

Devimon, an Adult-stage Virus-type Digimon. The narrator gives us his rundown.

Narrator: Devimon. A sly and cruel devil of the Digimon World. With his Death Claw, he takes hold of his enemy's hearts.

See, that's much more useful information about his signature attack than just saying what the name is.

In the dub, Devimon handles his own rundown.

Devimon: Be silent! For I am Devimon, ultimate ruler of the demon underworld! You must obey my every command!

On the one hand, this makes for a stark contrast against Leomon and Ogremon's rundowns, singling out Devimon as his own entity in contrast to their bitter rivalry.

On the other hand, citation needed on "ultimate ruler of the demon underworld"; There are way bigger forces of darkness than this guy. We get to meet some of them in this show! Then again, he could be blowing smoke to look tough.

From here, Devimon explains himself.

Ogremon: Oh come on! Why do I have to work with this guy!? Devimon: The Chosen Children have arrived. Leomon: The Children!? Impossible! Devimon: It's taking a long time to kill them. Leomon: The one I'm going to kill is you, Devimon!

The English conversation is pretty similar.

Ogremon: Sir, you don't need that joker. I can handle whatever you want done without anyone's assistance. Devimon: I think NOT! It is the DigiDestined kids we'll be fighting! Leomon: The DigiDestined!? Where are they? Devimon: They're already here on Infinity Mountain. Now find them and destroy the entire group! Leomon: Destroy them!? I'll destroy you for having threatened the DigiDestined!

There are two main things we lose here. First is Leomon's reluctance to believe the Chosen are even here. Dub Leomon's like, "Yeah, that sounds right," as if he were already in the know.

The second is Devimon stating in no uncertain terms that the Black Gear conflicts of previous episodes were attempts by him to kill these children.

(Information that recontextualizes a bit of previous information, particularly Meramon's attack on the Pyocomon village. The implication that he wasn't going through the kids to get at the Pyocomon; He was going through the Pyocomon to get at the kids. They were the target the whole time.)

However, that information can probably be put together from inference so I don't think it's a major loss to lose that admission. Still, the way he's like, "We're going to fight the DigiDestined! They're already here on the mountain!" kinda makes it sound like he's noticing them for the first time but maybe that's just me.

Leomon refuses to be part of this and attacks Devimon with his Juuouken

It does not go well. The Juuouken phases through Devimon. Devimon vanishes as if he were a hologram, while his Death Claw rises from the ground behind Leomon and digs into his back, seizing his heart as the narrator said. While Leomon screams in pain, Devimon pulls himself up from the ground and corrupts Leomon.

Devimon: Naive. You thought you could defeat me so easily? Death Claw. Accept your baptism of evil.

Obviously, the American version wasn't going to translate "baptism of evil" in a children's cartoon in the 1990's. XD They also don't like to put "death" in cartoons so that attack's getting a name change for sure.

Devimon: Oh please, Leomon. I am not requesting your cooperation; I am demanding it! Prepare for the Touch of Evil! Now you will obey my every command! Leomon: Yes... I will... obey....

Leomon doesn't speak in the original either; He simply slumps his shoulders, then stands up with his eyes glazed over.

These two portrayals of Devimon are interesting because they speak to different cultural ideas of villainy seen in American and Japanese media: The bad guy who makes you do what he wants vs. the bad guy you never could have resisted in the first place. American Devimon is Cobra Commander or Megatron; Japanese Devimon is Frieza.

Returning to the kids on the peak, Taichi takes advantage of this opportunity to map out File Island. This will be really useful while we figure out what to do and where to go from here.

It. Uh.

It does not go well. Sora, Yamato, and Koushiro all call him out on how useless this map is, but Taichi insists that he can read it so it's fine!

While they're fretting over Taichi's map, however, Jou's despair-induced crisis continues.

Jou: It's useless to make a map. Everything's hopeless. Mimi: Why did things have to turn out like this?

The dub doesn't want to talk about this dready topic anymore so they replace it with banter.

Joe: We don't need a map to know we're totally lost; I figured that out a long time ago. Mimi: I just figured out that these gloves really don't go with this dress!

You can feel a localizer in an office somewhere like "Okay Joe's already being depressing, we don't need Mimi to start that shit too!"

Suddenly, the kids hear an explosion nearby. They race down the mountain to find that the path has been destroyed. On the other side of the gap, they find Leomon.

(I should probably specify that even more path has been destroyed because Unimon took out a couple chunks of it too.)

Gabumon and Patamon exclaim that he's a good Digimon who stands for justice, which he instantly undercuts by exclaiming, "Kill the children!"

(Every time. Every single time. "He's a good guy OH GOD HE'S ATTACKING!" never stops being funny. It's not even their fault; Their assessment is correct, it's just that the guy is always corrupted every time they deliver it. Meanwhile, as Jou asserted last episode, the kids now think the Digimon are full of shit when it comes to judging character.)

In the dub, Gabumon calls him a "just leader" which... between that and Ogremon's remark about "kindhearted leadership" it sorta sounds like they're implying that he's the Digimon's king or something? This may be a misunderstanding brought on by attack names like his "Beast King Fist".

Dub Leomon also just says, "I want the children," rather than announcing intent to kill.

The kids run for their lives from Leomon, but the wind picks up Taichi's map and blows it back towards him. As Taichi goes for the map, Agumon provides covering fire with a Baby Flame.

Leomon blocks the shot, but that hideous abomination of scribbles is caught in the crossfire and destroyed so I call this a win nonetheless. Agumon apologizes, giving Dub Tai this killer line, "That's okay; At least it didn't fall into the hands of the enemy!" XD Completely absurd for so many different reasons....

The kids race down the mountain to get away from Leomon, but find themselves pincered by Ogremon.

The sight of another assailant provokes a hilariously cynical question from Takeru.

Patamon: Ogremon! Takeru: Is he supposed to be a good Digimon too? Gomamon: He's a genuinely bad guy!

Holy shit, for once we get to fight a Digimon who's evil on purpose! The dub cuts the running gag and replaces it with banter.

Patamon: He look hungry to you? T.K.: We're too small to eat and I'm full of junk food! Gomamon: Well, he's not against a little snack.

Gomamon, why are you taking his side in this conversation?

With the kids pinned down between Ogremon and Leomon, Koushiro assesses the trap they've found themselves in.

Leomon: Chosen Children. Kill them! Yamato: Damn it! We're trapped between them! Koushiro: They had this planned from the start! Piyomon: That can't be; Leomon and Ogremon are mortal enemies!

The dub kids seem a little more relaxed about this.

Leomon: Make it easy on yourselves. Give up now or else! Matt: I don't see an exit door! Izzy: This proves the theory that well-executed teamwork is efficient even for bad guys. Biyomon: But Leomon's always been Ogremon's worst enemy; What's happened to him?

The dub conversation's a bit quippier and less urgent. Also, this is a small thing but Biyomon's actress flubs her line and pronounces Ogremon as "Argumon", and I guess they didn't do another take of that. Huh.

As Ogremon and Leomon lunge for the kids, they call attack names for their swings even though those are not their signature attacks. Ogremon calls Hone Konbou which means "Bone Club", while Leomon calls Shishiohmaru which means "Lion King's Sword".

(Again, this may be where the dub got the idea that Leomon is some sort of Digimon ruler?)

Oh, they picked a bad day for this; We have 6 out of 7 Adult-stage evolutions unlocked. Shockingly early in the episode, the battle theme "Show Me Your Brave Heart" roars in. Greymon, Togemon, and Garurumon take Leomon while Birdramon, Kabuterimon, and Ikkakumon take Ogremon.

While the Chosen's Digimon make short work of Leomon and Ogremon, Devimon watches curiously from the clifftop above, making observations.

Devimon: They evolved. ... Even though they're tired, fighting against six at once is severe.

Dub Devimon makes a couple more observations.

Devimon: They've all Digivolved! ... They have learned the secret of teamwork! This group of six attacking together is quite dangerous. But why hasn't the Patamon Digivolved?

He still notes that fighting six at once is hard, but he also expresses interest in Patamon that the original doesn't show.

Also, "They have learned the secret of teamwork!" is a hilarious exclamation, given the way it follows up on Leomon and Ogremon's pincer move. English Devimon's like "Aha, I will attack them 2-on-6; They will be powerless against such a maneuver-- OH NO, they've figured out how to fight 6-on-2!"

Absolute clown show, dub Devimon is. XD

He closes the fight by setting off a rockslide, forcing the Digimon to turn their attacks on the debris to protect the kids. This exhausts the kids' Partner Digimon and buys Leomon and Ogremon the chance to retreat.

Having to evolve twice in one day is really taking it out of them.

(Ironically, now would be a great time to press the attack rather than retreat.)

The kids assume that Leomon and Ogremon were taken out by the rockslide. Since neither of them can fly, they were probably both killed in the fall. The freak nature of the rockslide is bugging Taichi, however.

Taichi: I was wondering why the rocks suddenly fell. Koushiro: When the path was destroyed earlier, it could have created a crack in the rocks. Taichi: Maybe....

In the dub, Izzy offers a different suggestion.

Tai: It's that avalanche. I can't figure out what set it off. Izzy: Stress accumulates until a crack develops, and with excess weight the terra firma suddenly isn't so firma. Tai: You think so? It looked to me like something blasted it loose.

I think Izzy's suggesting that the weight of the evolved Digimon destabilized the cliffside. Honestly, either theory is plausible and neither is correct.

As the kids get moving again, Devimon watches from above, plotting. The Chosen Children are more powerful than he anticipated, but now that they're exhausted, he has an opportunity to kill them.

As the kids return to the forest, they discuss what happened and question how the Digimon could evolve twice in one day. Sora suggests they're getting stronger; Nothing to it but that. Either way, they're wiped out.

(It's weird that all six are wiped out. Only Piyomon, Agumon, and Gomamon have evolved twice today. Garurumon, Kabuterimon, and Togemon weren't part of the Unimon fight earlier.)

Whatever the reason, they need to stop and rest. The Digimon can barely walk. Then they spot the perfect place to take a break.

A whole-ass mansion sitting out here in the woods!? As they approach the mansion, for once the others are cautious while Jou can't help himself.

Jou: It's a normal building! There must be humans living in it this time! Yamato: Wait! It's dangerous to run in there!

But, as usual, Jou's determination to find humans doesn't make it into the dub.

Joe: A mansion! Tai: Or maybe it's a hotel! Come on! Izzy: We may have found other lifeforms. Look at the grounds! I mean, somebody had to have mowed the lawn. Tai: What a place! I can't believe my eyes! It's just too good to be true! Joe: I hope they have a hot tub. Just as long as it's not too hot. Tai: Wait, you guys! Don't just go charging in there! It might be dangerous!

There is a lot of extra dialogue added to sweeping shots of the mansion and path leading up to it. Joe's desire for human contact is replaced by a desire for a lukewarm tub. Tai lightswitches from over the moon to cautious and uncertain unbelievably fast.

But the funniest part about the dub version is that when Jou races for the door, Yamato runs after him to stop him. The dub reframes this as Joe and Matt recklessly running for the door, with Tai calling after to stop them both.

Jou was so overeager that he got poor Yamato in trouble with the Americans.

While Yamato argues with Jou at the door, Taichi explains his hesitation to Agumon.

Agumon: What's wrong, Taichi? Taichi: This building... I don't remember seeing it from up above. Agumon: Didn't you draw it on your map? Taichi: ...well...? Agumon: Did you lose it? Taichi: You burned it up! Agumon: Oh, yeah.

As with Jou's reaction to seeing the extent of File Island, Taichi's concern is still present but downplayed in the dub.

Agumon: Hey, was this on your map? Tai: Hmm... Somehow, I don't think so. Matt: Come on, Joe; Open the door! Joe: Maybe we should knock first. Matt: Joe, nobody knocks on the door at a hotel. Agumon: This place should be on your map. Tai: Agumon, if you recall, you burned up my map. Agumon: Oh, yeah.

Taichi's struck with the eerie sensation of realizing you're being gaslit, while Tai needs Agumon to even point out that something's weird and doesn't seem particularly bothered by it.

Yamato and Jou reach an agreement and open the doors. Despite visibly being in Count Dracula's summer home, the kids agree that nothing seems weird... but they are getting an eerie vibe.

Their hesitance upsets Jou, who snaps at the others for even considering bailing when we've finally found a place like this! For once, they relent and agree with Senpai.

Right away, Takeru and Mimi are struck by a gorgeous painting hanging on the wall.

Jou makes the point that an evil Digimon wouldn't have angel pictures on the wall. Checkmate, worrywarts! Sora admits that making camp is getting harder, so they agree to stay here.

The dub adds in an answer from T.K. to Patamon's question. When Patamon asks what an angel is, Takeru can't think of a way to explain. T.K. offers, "Something special that watches over you, kinda like you guys!"

Before the kids can start exploring the mansion, Gabumon suddenly smells something and everyone takes off running.

A whole feast has been laid out for them! Yamato and Sora immediately get their hackles up; This is suspicious as hell. But the Digimon don't even hang back and talk about it; They dive right in without a second's hesitation.

This sets off a chain reaction. Seeing the Digimon eating so ravenously, Jou dives in next. The others hesitate, watching Jou and the Digimon for a moment, and then they join the feast as well. Before long, everyone's eating.

Following dinner, they split up into boys' and girls' shared baths. The dub censors out a few shots where Taichi and Yamato leap out of the bath to physically force Jou to remove the modesty towel from his waist; Not hard to see why those got snipped.

It also edits out a moment where Tentomon, soaking in the tub with the rest of the boys, almost murders everyone.

Koushiro: Really! Who'd have thought this place had a bathtub? I can feel the tension draining from me. Tentomon: Would you like some electricity to help things along? Koushiro: Uhh, no....

Which gets replaced by

Izzy: Warm water is perfect for removing soil and epidermis. You know, dirt and dead skin! Tentomon: Whenever my skin gets dirty, I just shed it. Izzy: That would be difficult for me.

Japanese version's got the better joke this time around.

Meanwhile, in the girls' bath, Sora, Mimi, Piyomon, Gomamon, and Palmon try to enjoy their soak while listening to Jou's shrieks of embarrassment from the other-- Wait, Gomamon?

Palmon chucks his ass right over the wall. Gomamon lands on Jou, clonking heads together and knocking them both out. Poor Jou.

Since the dub removed the part where Taichi and Yamato violently assault Jou in a fit of masculinity, it has a knock-on effect for the rest of the bit. Sora still complains about the noise from the boys' side but it's just Joe rambling things like, "I'll get in [the bath] but I won't guarantee I'll like it! ...okay, I like it."

They also can't use the punchline shot of Gomamon landing on Jou because of exposed boy butts, but they do their best to make it work. Palmon tosses Gomamon and we linger on the partition she threw him over, while we hear an impact sound. This is followed by,

Joe: Hey, watch it, Gomamon! Matt: Where'd you come from!?

It's not quite as funny because we don't have the cruel comedy of this scene absolutely terrorizing Jou for no reason which then compounds with Gomamon's arrival. But the audible collision, startlement, and confusion on the boys' side still works pretty well as a punchline.

Finally, it's time for bed. The kids are ecstatic to have real beds to sleep in for the first time since their arrival on File Island. Jou accidentally triggers a despair spiral in the group again.

Mimi: This feels like camping school! Jou: What do you mean, "feels like"? We were supposed to be in summer camp to begin with so.... (long uncomfortable silence as everyone looks depressed) Jou: I'm sorry. Taichi: No, you're right. We all left thinking we were just going to camp. Yamato: Today's the fifth day since we came to File Island. The school and PTA must be in an uproar. Mimi: (teary-eyed) Papa... (voice breaking) Mama.... Sora: Let's get some sleep. The Digimon are tired too.

As with the previous episode, Sora is the one to puncture the despair spiral and move everyone away from the topic after Jou accidentally sets us on it. With no time to spare, either, as Mimi was audibly about to start bawling.

Mimi: How I've missed sleeping on soft, silky sheets! Joe: I'll tell you what I don't miss: I don't miss hiking through the blazing hot desert. And another thing I really don't miss is starving in the jungle. ...whoa, we are a long way from home! (long uncomfortable silence as everyone looks depressed) Joe: Sorry. Tai: That's okay, Joe. We all miss being home and I'm sure that we're all wondering if we'll ever get back there. Matt: I'll bet our disappearance caused a big fuss at school and all over town! But we've been gone so long, everybody must have given up looking for us by now. T.K.: Mom and Dad wouldn't stop. Mimi: (teary-eyed) I'm homesick, aren't you? Sora: We'll find our way back; Don't worry, Mimi. Mimi: Let's just go to sleep and try to have nice dreams.

In the dub, Mimi doesn't sound nearly as torn up as her Japanese counterpart. It takes a bit of a linguistic stretch to get them to the spiral, too.

Though I do like Matt adding the heartbreaking point that by now, everyone's probably given up hope of finding these missing kids alive. They've been claimed by the wilderness.

As night falls, the Fallen Angel Devimon emerges from the angel painting, mocking the kids for falling into his trap. "What children... falling for such an obvious ploy...."

(I love that line. He honestly sounds disgusted that this even worked. Devimon openly admits that this trap is stupid and obvious but you don't need complex chess gambits to trick an 11-year-old. Children will fall for anything; Ask Team Rocket.)

Ogremon and Leomon join him in the mansion, but before they can set to work killing the children, they hear a noise from upstairs. Agumon needs to use the bathroom, so Taichi grumpily gets out of bed and escorts him.

The villains hide, but Ogremon stows away in the stall next to Agumon and is driven out by his flatulence, revealing the ruse.

(There is a really gross piece of foreshadowing here that warrants noting. Agumon's having so much trouble on the toilet because he feels really strongly like he needs to go, but nothing's coming out. This is a hint to the fact that even though the kids feel like they just ate a massive feast, they're actually still starving.)

In the dub, it's Tai that needs to use the restroom, with Agumon insisting on coming along to protect him... Only for Agumon to be the one taking forever in a stall while still denying that he needs to use it.

The bit about Ogremon being inadvertently smoked out by Agumon's flatulence is removed entirely. Instead, shots of him struggling to breathe are repurposed to him trying not to laugh while they're talking about him.

Agumon: I don't know if that ugly green guy scared you, but he really scared me; Who knows where he is now?

So I guess Dub Ogremon ruined the ambush, exploding from the stall to reveal himself, because he thought the timing would be super funny. Who hasn't screwed themselves over to land a joke they probably shouldn't have delivered? It's a universal experience.

Taichi and Agumon flee from Ogremon, screaming a warning at the top of their lungs to the other kids. Leomon is waiting for them in the hall, pincering them.

Then Devimon reveals himself, telling Taichi it would have been better to remain asleep. Agumon identifies him as Devimon, the "strongest evil Digimon!"

(This may be where the dub got the "ultimate ruler of the demon underworld" line from. Devimon is not, in fact, the strongest evil Digimon. This is basically the local chapter of a global evil organization. He is, however, the strongest evil Digimon on File Island. The regional lord of evil, not so much evil emperor; A distinction that Devimon would be aware of but Agumon would not.)

Since the quiet assassination failed, Devimon goes loud. He fractures the mansion, revealing the entire place to have been a ruin manifested into the illusion of a mansion by his powers.

The kids wake up startled to find the mansion in ruins around them. Devimon levitates their beds, separating them from each other. Worse, the Digimon are still weak and starving. Now that the illusion of the food they ate is gone, the strength they thought they had is gone with it.

Taichi demands an explanation. Now that he's directly engaging the Children, Devimon even lets excitement slip into his voice.

Taichi: Why are you doing this to us!? Devimon: Because you... are the Chosen Children. Taichi: The Chosen... Children? Devimon: Yes. You are nuisances to me. Me, who plans to take over this world with my Black Gears!

At that, he uses the gears embedded in the island itself to split it into pieces. The Children, trapped in their levitating beds, can only watch in shock and horror as these huge chunks of landmass break apart from one another and begin sailing across the sea.

As the pieces break apart, we see each of the Children looking down on familiar places from this journey: Seadramon's lake, the Pyocomon Village, the Factory of Redundancy Factory, and Toy Town. All isolated on separate chunks of what used to be File Island, moving across the ocean under the Black Gears' power, spreading out in every direction to cross the Digimon World - with Infinity Mountain remaining stationary at the center.

Devimon: File Island has already been taken over by the Black Gears. The other side of the ocean is next! Taichi: The other side of the ocean? You mean there's more to this world than this island? Devimon: You won't be seeing it. This place will be your graves.

The dub skips out on this infodump, with Tai instead arguing with Devimon about his friends.

Tai: Listen, you! If you don't bring back my friends, you're going to be in really big trouble! Devimon: That's amusing. My concerns are much more important than your friends! Tai: That's my only concern! You bring them back now! Devimon: Bring them back!? You impudent brat, you dare to order me!? Allow me to show you who's really in control here! You see, I have discovered the secret of the Black Gears from below! I call them forth to do my bidding!

Dude forgot to explain vital plot information because he got caught up in a bickering match with an 11-year-old. That's okay, there's plenty of shots of the island breaking apart to insert new dialogue over.

Devimon: You and your friends happened upon this tiny island, which is just one of the fragments of the Old World scattered across an enormous ocean! You pretend you are strangers who know nothing of this, but I am aware that you are the DigiDestined who were sent to rescue this world from my domination! Tai: You got us all wrong! We were just some kids at summer camp who somehow got sucked into your world! Devimon: Your little act no longer amuses me. It's time to bring an end to the DigiDestined!

Dub Devimon is super convinced that the kids are here voluntarily and are plotting against him. Original flavor doesn't care how much they know; They're the Chosen Children, so they die. That's all there is to it.

Between squabbling with Tai and "You're secretly plotting against me, I know it!" the dub version of Devimon comes off a lot more insecure than the suave and confident original.

(One of the fragments of the Old World? Honestly can't remember if that's a plot point from later in the series or if the dub made that up.)

In any case, this place will be the Children's graves. That's a problem.

Agumon tries to defend Taichi with Baby Flame, but can barely work up a spark. Leomon knocks him aside with Juuouken and rushes Taichi, pressing him against the wall. The other kids can do nothing but watch in horror as Leomon draws his sword.

Just then, Taichi's bed crashes into the ground next to them and his Digivice falls out, hitting the ground by Leomon's foot and glowing with purifying energy.

The Digivice drives out the corruption from Devimon's Death Claw. In the dub, Agumon exclaims, "The Black Gear! The light drove it out!" but we see no Gear because there isn't one. Devimon's Death Claw corruption is a different metaphysic.

(Though he seems to have created the Black Gears so it's likely their functionality is based on his Death Claw.)

Dub Tai also has inappropriately timed questions about the lore.

Tai: (picking up his Digivice) Leomon, do you know what this thing is? Leomon: I can tell you that, for me, it is proof that you are one of the DigiDestined! The Digivices are powerless in the hands of anyone else. Devimon: That's right!

Guys there are six children suspended in the air right now, we can chat about this later.

Realizing things are turning against him, Devimon conjures the beds the other children are on to fly straight down and crash into the ground, attempting to kill them on impact. Leomon fiires off a Juuouken at Devimon, chasing him from his perch; For some reason, this stops the beds from falling and they resume their previous levitation loops.

Before Leomon can attack Devimon any further, Ogremon leaps in to face him. For lack of options, Leomon breaks off the island chunk Taichi's on and sends him falling onto a floating bit of landmass to get him out of here, while Leomon stays back to hold the line.

Leomon calls out to Taichi that the children are the only hope for this world and they must survive, and that he hopes to meet them again. Then he throws himself into the fight with Ogremon and Devimon.

As Taichi floats away, Devimon attacks Leomon with his Death Claw. The last we hear of him is a roaring scream from the island, too far away now for him to be in view.

We close on Devimon lamenting the Children's escape and making plans for next steps.

Devimon: Oh well. I'll kill them off slowly, one by one. Leomon: Kill... the children....

Leomon gets the last word of the episode; A distressing but not unexpected return to the Death Claw corruption of before.

Dub Devimon's taking this a bit harder.

Devimon: The DigiDestined survived our first encounter but it won't be the last, I can promise them that! They must not interfere with my plans! They MUST be destroyed!!! Will you do this for me, Leomon? Leomon: Your every order, I shall obey.

Dub Devimon has mad Saturday Morning Cartoon villain energy here. And, like, they were releasing this as a cartoon so it fits. I love how he has to prompt Leomon to talk though, 'cause Leomon doesn't have a frequently-repeated madness mantra he can just intone.

(Ogremon over there like, "Fuck am I, chopped sushi?")

Assessment: Strong introduction for our villain. Arguably too strong, as there's multiple points where it only feels like we survived by authorial fiat. Especially the part where he tries to crash the beds into the ground.

I do like his plan here, though. We're already seeing that Devimon is a man of contingencies. He planned to stab them all in their sleep; They'd go to bed tonight and just never wake up. But if that failed then as long as he got them before they got out of bed then he could separate them in the sky and bring them down one at a time for assembly-line murder. But if that failed then he can Hail Mary and just hurl them as fast and hard as possible into the earth.

That's a good set of fallbacks. I like it. Devimon's got a good head for, uh, child murder.

It probably goes without saying that I prefer Original Devimon to Dub. I see what they're going for with the dub version of the character, but I like the quiet dignity of the original.

That bedroom talk really got to me, though. Watching this as a kid, I just saw a bunch of kids on an adventure; I didn't really comprehend the danger they were in. But as an adult now, any time the show dwells on the fact that these are lost, scared, hungry children being hunted for sport, every parenting instinct in my body seizes up.

Watching Digimon at 10+ and watching it at 30+ are vastly different experiences.

[samobservessonic]

My friend once said (when talking about Miraculous Ladybug), “You know when they start the episode with them beating the monster of the week that they’re going to spend the rest of the episode focused on something completely different”. I wonder if that’ll be the case here

There’s just dinosaur Mobians in StC? You’re just going to casually drop that in? What about those dinosaurs from that later Knuckles story? Eh, whatever, let’s just roll with it. There’s never a bad reason to have dinosaurs

Yeah, sure, I believe Rhino Neil, nothing out of order about this Paradise Dome

…Wait, okay. So he’s a rhino not a dinosaur lol

Hit ‘em with the old solid light hologram! Everyone loves that as an explanation for this kind of stuff. I probably sound like I’m whining here, but tbh that explanation is good enough for me

Oh nooo, the sun is evil! Also damn, that’s the buffest anyone’s ever drawn Porker - you can see the muscles in his arm!

Turns out he’s neither a dino nor a rhino - he’s an Eggo!

Robotnik removes his Mobian cosplay and decides to bring on the Egg-Robos to attack the remaining Freedom Fighters

However, the gang don’t have much luck fighting these solid holograms

Thankfully, Sonic’s making short work of the problem on the outside, so he can come rescue his friends

Just on this one panel Porker’s jacket gets miscoloured red instead of black and if not for Johnny standing behind him wearing his jacket, I’d have thought that he was wearing Johnny’s jacket for a moment. Something going on there we don’t know about?

The moral of the story is that Sonic’s right again. And for him, that’s the best kind of holiday. With that, we draw this special’s single story to a close. I didn’t have much to say about this one, but I did enjoy it and think it does its job well enough. If I’d been picking up this special back when it came out, I’d have been perfectly happy with it, especially with all the posters and other stuff in it

[ecargmura]

Wonderful Precure Episode 6 - Arguing With A Dog

Precure is no stranger to “argument” plot lines, whether it be between the MC and their partner or two members of the group. I’ve watched Hirogaru Sky (which I love) and the conflict between Sora and Mashiro was around Episode 5. Delicious Party’s conflict was mainly between Kokone and Ran and that was in Episode 9. Wonderful Precure’s conflict episode revolves around Iroha and Komugi and it’s quite an interesting take as Iroha is literally arguing with her dog.

Komugi’s upset because she can’t use the Friendly Wand and that her special leash is now gone because it became the wand. Iroha is a bit nonchalant about the situation. She’s like “Well, it can’t be helped,” and Komugi hates that. However, both sides aren’t wrong but they aren’t right either. I think it makes sense that Komugi can’t use the wand because she’s technically doing things out of selfishness while Iroha genuinely wants to help animals, hence selflessness. Komugi is selfish because she only wants to do things when it regards Iroha. She became a Precure because she wants to protect Iroha, but because she is a dog with attachment issues, it’s ultimately seen as immature and selfishness. I’m not criticizing Komugi’s actions precisely because she is a dog; animals aren’t really selfish or selfless in a sense—their behavior stems from survival instinct. Now that Komugi has become human, she has gained human qualities, which doesn’t really “improve” her right now as she has no idea what selfishness and selflessness are, most likely. She can talk. She can become a Precure. However, that doesn’t change the fact that she is still a dog. I do like that she’s written in a way that she doesn’t automatically become too human once she becomes a Precure and a human, but she still retains her dog-like intelligence.

Iroha isn’t right or wrong in this situation either. Sure, her nonchalance towards the situation can be seen as an issue. However, Iroha is a human girl who loves animals and wants to understand them. However, that doesn’t mean she’ll always understand them. She may understand Choco’s fears of going to the vet, but that doesn’t mean she’ll understand Komugi’s situation; in fact, she’s viewing Komugi’s tantrums from a human to dog perspective. She’s a teenager, so she understands that things can be replaced. She has the awareness that Komugi lacks, but she doesn’t know that. I just hope that after their conflict gets resolved that Iroha gains some awareness about others; I think that’s what she lacks as a character. She doesn’t pay attention or listen to Mey Mey often and has to rely on Satoru for animal knowledge.

Other than the conflict between our main duo, Mayu gets some insight as she is revealed to have a dad who is a wildlife researcher. She seems to love him a lot as she was happy to have a video call with him. He seems understanding of his daughter as he understands that she has a hard time making friends but doesn’t say things like “Well, I hope you make friends” but says things like “You can stay as you are right now.” I have to say, Mayu’s parents are lookers. Her mom’s beautiful and her dad’s handsome. Though, this portion of the episode was mainly foreshadowing that the GaruGaru would be a lion. She’s also witnessing the change in behavior from animals when a GaruGaru emerges from the egg.

Satoru is really good support. He’s there to help Wonderful and Friendy understand that the former’s fears of the GaruGaru lion stems from animal instinct as lions are king of beasts and that smaller animals fear their presence out of instinct. I also really like how he puts Daifuku first. For example, it’s the first time Satoru takes Daifuku to where the GaruGaru is; before going to the scene, he was wondering what to do with him. He knew that Daifuku could get hurt if he brought him along, but he wasn’t too sure if he should leave him with the Inukais, but when Daifuku thumps as a sign that he wants to go, he takes him along. Their mutual understanding is a bit different from what Iroha and Komugi are going through, but it does make me wonder if this dynamic will be retained if Daifuku becomes a Precure.

I do like how the Kirarin Animals give the Precures different functions. Last episode, the rabbit gave Friendy rabbit eared headphones with hypersensitive hearing. This episode, the penguin gives her webbed feet that’s capable of sliding around like ice skating and boosting her speed. Since the lion has a gem, it means it is a Kirarin animal. I do wonder what powers it will give the Precures once its purified.

What do you think about the conflict? Are you on Komugi’s side? Iroha’s? Neither? Both? What do you think will happen next episode?

[reddevilproductions]

⚠️Sonic Prime Infodump/Spoilers Ahead⚠️

Can we walk about how cool all the little references in Sonic Prime are?

The whole show itself feels like watching video game cutscenes and I just find that to be incredible and interesting. It felt like a whole new take on a Sonic series and I loved it.

But back to my original point with the little Easter Eggs. Here are some things I noticed that I just found really neat and I liked how they were included.

• The passcode to Tails’ workshop is ‘1992’. Which is when his debut game was first released

• Similar to the first one. Bigs’s ID number (I think that’s what it is?) in New Yolk City was “1-9-9-8” or 1998. The release year of his debut game

• The mention of the notorious orca whale that likes to fuck with Sonic

• Just him doing video gamey things in general (collecting rings, some of the sound effects from games, Knuckles GLIDING)

• The whole Rusty Rose thing. I was so excited that they brought back a form of robotization. Considering the concept has so much potential but we hadn’t seen it in years.

• Also the bit where Sonic’s shoes weren’t adjusted to the energy in New Yolk and he couldn’t run correctly reminded me of an episode of the original 1992 show. In said episode (which I unfortunately don’t remember the name of), Sonic somehow loses his shoes and because of that he can’t really run correctly anymore. It probably wasn’t an intentional callback but I got serious deja vu, but in a good way!

• And I found it funny how they did a little Deadpool “You’re probably wondering how I got into this situation” bit

• Can’t forget to special mention how they snuck “Maurice” into the show description

I would also like to mentioned that I ADORED Rouge’s new outfit. All of her outfits actually. And that hearing Adagio’s voice come out of her did catch me off guard for a second.

And Nine and Shadow may be my favorite characters. Because Tails is just my favorite Sonic character as a whole, and Shadow was just so cool! Despite the fact that he didn’t get much screen time, but I hope he does if this show gets greenlit for another season!

The art and animation for this whole thing is also just beautiful and smooth. You can tell a lot of work went into it and the crew absolutely killed it!

There’s definitely a lot more stuff I forgot to put here, but if I remember something I’ll definitely be sure to add it in later. Or anything else I notice when I inevitably rewatch the show. Overall I give it a 10/10. I watched it with my younger siblings and we all genuinely enjoyed it

And of course, I can’t forget to mention

He did it, he finally found that damn fourth chaos emerald

[rottonfishie]

You wanna know something? The fact that MK is part stone monkey like Wukong has been foreshadowed several times throughout the series: 1. Even before he became Monkey King's successor, MK always climbed things for no reason. And when he first meets Wukong, MK begins climbing and jumping on him like a monkey, something Monkey King does in return in "Bad Weather".

Three times involving the stone egg:

In the pilot, after retrieving the staff from DBK's furnace, MK emerges resembling a stone egg.

When MK makes his first clone in "Duplication", it briefly takes on the form of a stone egg.

In "Macaque", when Macaque 'stole' MK's powers, it took on the form of a stone egg.

In "The Great Wall Race", MK mentions how he always liked stone fruit. Monkey King is seen eating stone fruit at the end of the episode.

MK's past is never brought up in the first three seasons, where even Tang's past is given mentioned in how he "met [Pigsy's] parents".

MK's reflection has always been shown on any shiny surface... except for the demon-revealing mirror in "Dumpling Destruction", as it would've revealed his true nature as a stone monkey right away.

In "Destiny Fulfilled", Lady Bone Demon calls MK, Monkey King, and Macaque a "troop of headstrong simians", and in her final words to MK she calls him "monkey", suggesting she realized what MK truly is at some point.

At no point, throughout the series, has Monkey King said he gave MK his powers. While multiple characters like Spider Queen and Macaque have called it "Monkey King's power", Monkey King has always called it "[MK's] power". The only time Monkey King said otherwise was in "Calabash", and that was a fake.

MK was able to open the seal at Flower Fruit Mountain, even though it isn't indicated that Wukong gave MK the ability to do so. MK just did it for no real reason.

As Monkey King said in both the pilot and "Smartie Kid", the staff is just a heavy stick and it takes someone special to lift it. The fact MK can lift and use it at all where other characters like Red Son needed outside help hinted that MK was special. And when Macaque and Lady Bone Demon stole MK's powers, MK was able to lift the staff and regain them during the former and regained his powers gradually without the staff in the latter case.

In "The King, The Prince, and The Shadow", when the other Monkie Kids are experiencing Déjà Vu at the site where the Samadhi Fire was split, MK is the only one who doesn't feel any familiarity. This is because everyone except MK is a direct stand-in for their predecessor, while MK is something else. I wonder how this will play out with Bai He in your Ivory Girl AU.

I'll go over a few things because I love foreshadowing 🤩

1. Bai he has always had a strong sense of justice. She's always had the strong feelings that she made to help people. While this subtle and could be chalked up to her general heroism, it is still foreshadowing to what she is!

2. When Bai he stole the key back from the Dragon King of the West's Generator, blue magic poured out of it, looking like blood pooling onto the ground. This also happened with the mayor when Bai he's magic looked like blood in his hand. This references her birth.

3. During the Monkey King ARC, Bai he's hair gain streaks of white in her hair even after she got back the Skeleton Key back. This was her powers beginning to seep through as Bai he's life was being threatened.

4. Bai he was able to gain access to Lady Ivory's palace without explicitly given access from Lady Ivory.

5. Bai he is the only person besides Lady Ivory who can use the skeleton key because of her soul being a prefect match for the key's soul to attach to.

6. Bai he gets constant dejva vu when she walks around the forgotten Empire. Lady Ivory even comments on how Bai he walks around as if she had been their before.

7. Bai he has vivid dreams that slowly become more and more accurate to predicting events before they happen.

8. Bai he is the only person who doesn't get deja vu during the ritual of the where the Samadhi Dragon was sealed.