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sunglassesmish · 19 days

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i've been following you for your destiel and misha content for my destiel/spn sideblog, and i've known about 9-1-1 vaguely for years but never thought i'd be into it. now i have you to thank for making me a 9-1-1 girlie! if it weren't for you blogging about upcoming bi!buck i wouldn't have experienced the euphoria of it happening in realtime on tumblr! i honestly didn't think it was actually going to happen, but then i saw the kiss immediately went and watched the previous eps of season 7 and the lead-up was so good and 7x04 was SO GOOD!! and i love all the characters (hen and chim specifically aside from buck and tommy but really everyone has their appeal) so i'm definitely tempted to watch the previous 6 seasons for them not just for buck's backstory or for the buddie of it all, but i don't have the bandwith right now so i'm just absorbing everything from the previous seasons through osmosis on tumblr and the fics i read. but yeah. i can't begin to thankyou, seriously, the happenstance was perfect! i haven't felt this invigorated about media since one piece aired (still hoping for queer characters there), and before that it was our flag means death. i'm so excited to see buck's journey play out bc honestly i've been feeling weighed down and low about how dean never got to come out and destiel wasn't given the respect it deserved in the end. anyway, it's just so refreshing and inspiring to see more shows embrace and celebrate queer characters, specifically older male characters just realising that part of themselves. i love 9-1-1 for giving us this rep and hope it inspires other shows to do the same, to be open to evolving queer storylines for characters who have been "straight" for previous seasons (another one that comes to mind is jackson from teen wold, but that's another post, ha).

anyway! sorry for rambling, i just wanted to say thankyou for your blogging about 9-1-1/buck bc it has literally brightened my life and introduced me to not only a great show with great characters but another great cast and a truly talented creative fandom.

i know this is like way down in the message but i wanted to get it out of the way: JACKSON FROM TEEN WOLF!!! god that was so shocking to me as a longtime fan of the show. teen wolf was one of my first hyperfixations, i still have my stilinski lacrosse hoodie in my closet!! the reveal that he was dating one of those twins?!!! (i forget which one 😆). i was so happy…

anyways back to the main point. i am so so glad you’ve followed me from destiel and misha to 911, it truly is a pipeline many of us seem to go down. i noticed you in my notes a lot especially with my bucktommy posts (which have been pretty frequent tbh, they’re addicting to talk about 😵‍💫) so i was so surprised to hear you started watching just now!

experiencing the episode and the kiss live was what i imagine 15x18 would have been like but a bit more. well. happy? to watch buck finding a little bit of happiness and euphoria in discovering something he never knew he was missing. it was like nothing i’ve ever felt, and i’ve been living off the high since it happened. it really has been monumental in getting you excited in a piece of media, especially involving a BI MAN IN HIS MID 30’s!!!! it’s a piece of history, and we’re so lucky to have all the actors and writers and the showrunner who support it? including both lou and oliver who’ve been nothing but amazing and EXCITED about the kiss and bi buck. how lucky are we??!!

and what i’m loving even more is the people (like you) who found my blog and decided to start watching or following buck’s journey and related to it or found joy in it. it means so much to me and i’m just so grateful for the constant happiness this show gives me and others. the characters are all so special to me, obviously buck in particular. but i love how it’s truly an ensemble show and there’s so much representation and love clearly throughout, literally from the start with hen and karen.

after destiel and the end of spn, 911 is a breath of fresh air for me and i’m so glad it is for you as well. i totally get feeling down about them lately, i have too. i kinda jumped headfirst into earnestly 911 blogging and i have no regrets. glad you’re here with me!!!!

#bottombitchzoro #ask

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tblsomedoodles · 4 months

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Now that we're entering into 2024, I'm asking some artists and writers that I follow:

1) What is the one piece you're most proud of from this past year?

2) What are some pieces that you would have liked more people to see? If you can include links, I'd love to go check them out!

3) What were your top three favorite pieces (art, comics, fics, etc) that someone else has made this past year?

(As always, no pressure to respond! Feel free to just ignore, or let me know if you'd rather I not send you these kinds of asks in the future.)

Oh let's see!

1 ) Fic wise, i'm really proud of "Proud Family Tradition". I was actually able to finish it this year, which i'm super excited about and, in general, i just love how it turned out vibe wise.

Art wise, that's a hard one. Um...I'm going to go with the "Non-cannon Leo meets Clara comic" b/c i love how it turned out. The looser render style mixed with the limited dialogue and not-overly-distinct panels look so cool together. and it helped me start experimenting with other brushes by doing so.

2 ) Probably anything with Jenny (from Family Web). For whatever reason she doesn't tend to get very many notes at all, especially compared to anything else really.

For specific things, ummm...probably My Good Omens doodle from september. I redid a panel from an old animatic of mine and I love how the whole thing turned out, but it didn't do well at all. And Maybe my Forever Alone animatic. Again, love how it turned out, but it's for an au that i haven't really done much with beyond this and a donnieverse stop so it didn't get seen as much as i would have liked. It's based on the first thing i wrote for rise (though i haven't quite posted it yet. I've got to get on that) and i learned a lot making that video. Heck, i even got a decent looking fightscene in there lol.

3 ) Only 3?? ok, i'm gonna try lol.

ok, so no particular order (b/c i'm literally just going through my bookmarks on ao3 lol)

"things that ought to Crawl" by mudlarkspur (WisteriaParfait) (AO3). A very good "Draxum finds a little feral donnie and accidentally becomes a parent along the way". Very cute. Love it. Been meaning to do some fanart but haven't gotten the chance (or courage) to do so yet.

"Minor Interference" by bambiraptorx (AO3). Basically The turtles accept Draxum's offer to train them so they can prank him while doing so and everyone starts catching familiar feelings along the way. Super cute. definitely recommend if you want some chaotic shenanigans and occasional fluff : )

oh last one...um....ummm....ummmmmmmmm........Oh!

"Rotten Reflections" by Nicoforlife (AO3). Rise Leo and Donnie end up in 12tmnt, but it's dark/suspenseful, and they're both feral and injured. Idk, i just love this fic in general. I've read it 3+ times over the last year (i don't really reread that much that quickly, so that's significant) and will be rereading again so to catch up. (i'm behind on all my reading atm. it's sad) I just vibe with it. Again, another fic i need to do fanart for but haven't yet.

(this was so hard! There's just so many i love. picking only 3 was very difficult)

Thank you!!

#asks

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3mcwriting · 10 months

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Any Fan's Dream, Part 19

Any Fan's Dream Masterlist

Synopsis:

When you look around and see Avengers Tower in front of you and Peter Parker beside you, you wonder how the hell you managed to get into the MCU.

Taglist: @secretly-sirens, @zeeader, @imdoingathingmom, @x-theolivia, @ainsley-official, @huntress-artemiss, @hoohoohope, @ourgoddessathena, @wiintaersoldier, @vine-enthusiast, @afraidofshrimp, @myfturn, @im-better-than-your-newborn, , @mjaudrey, @igotthisasajokeyetimstillhere, @starr60, @coldmermaidhologram, @daenerysluvrr, @viperchick47, @marvelwomen-arehot, @mynightandstars

Sorry to everyone who the tagging isn't working, I'm not sure why but I hope you manage to find this anyway :))

"I thought we weren't leaving for another hour," Clint prompted, "to go over the plan and everything?"

You shook your head. "They're gonna be here any minute. You all have to go now."

Steve glanced at you. "Plans change. We're leaving."

You could hardly believe it.

You were in the quinjet.

With the entirety of team Cap.

Maybe you were hallucinating?

Or were you actually in the quinjet, meaning you had managed to change the course of the movie. You had seen Civil War innumerable times and you knew that the whole team didn't make it out of there. Tony and the others managed to capture everyone except Bucky and Steve and even then they only barely made it out of there.

But there you were, sitting with Wanda, Clint, Thor, Sam, and-

Scott and Bucky.

Oh, for fucks sake, your heart was going to give out on you if you thought about it too much. You had never really had a moment to introduce yourself to Bucky in the few instances you'd interacted with him- and Scott, this is the first time you'd seen him.

Although you were impatient to talk to Bucky, you knew exactly how excitable you could get and given that the man hadn't exactly had an easy last couple decades, you were going to talk to Scott first in the hope that you'd manage to chill out enough afterward to talk to Bucky.

"Hi!" You cursed inwardly at the volume of your voice. "It's really awesome to meet you, I'm a huge fan."

Scott looked at you, a smile growing on his face. "Really? Well, it's awesome to meet you too. I've never really met a fan before."

"They have no taste then," you said, without hesitation. You were practically bouncing. "Trust me- it is insane that I'm meeting you. You're super cool."

Too occupied by having a conversation with Scott (seriously, you were talking to Scott Lang. Ant-Man. The World's Greatest Grandma. It was awesome) you didn't notice the pairs of eyes on you. Or rather, you didn't notice one set of blue eyes in particular.

Bucky was intrigued.

Of course, he was.

The first time he'd seen you had been confusing to say the least, especially the way you'd seemed so starstruck by him. What was he supposed to think? He was an ex-assassin credited with over two dozen kills and you were staring at him with nothing less than awe in your eyes and he just couldn't figure out why.

And from there, it only got more confusing.

When you had showed up in the warehouse, talking to Steve and helping all of them, he had pieced together that you were a friend of Steve's- but not only were you a friend, you were one of the people caught in the explosion. The explosion he had been framed for. Which meant that when he had first seen you, you had been looking at him so admirably even though you couldn't have known that it wasn't him who set off the bomb.

And most recently, less than half an hour ago when you had showed up, being pulled through the air by a magic hammer of all things, and told all of them that they had to leave.

Who were you?

Steve hadn't hesitated to listen to you, Clint had patted you on the back, and Wanda had hugged you; so you were obviously an acquaintance of the group. The most obvious reason would be that you were an agent; somebody who had interacted with the Avengers, but you looked far too young and far too full of life to be one.

And now, there you were, excitedly talking to the new guy (Scott?) and seemingly fascinated by meeting him. Wanda would look at you and shake her head with a smile, fond of the way you seemed so yourself. Clint looked at you with the easy caring of a family member. Despite the warnings you had arrived with, you seemed happy and carefree, eyes shining and laugh ready.

Your smile was carefree, a little crooked, but entirely true to how you felt.

He could see the shadows hiding in your eyes, the way you would wince sometimes, like a headache was pounding but you kept on smiling throughout it. And watching you, entrapped with the way you seemed so keen, so enduring, he couldn't help the thought that crossed his mind.

He liked your smile.

Steve set the quinjet on autopilot, looking at you while you approached him.

You looked around nervously, there wasn't really a closed cockpit like most aircrafts, so you were going to have to tell him and risk the rest of the crew hearing. There was a lot of important shit that happened in Civil War, things that would determine the outcome of whether they beat Thanos or not. You knew that changing anything was a risk, but you had to believe that what you were doing was the right thing, that they would prevail over Thanos if they stood together.

"Steve, I know." You weren't sure how to say what you were about to, so you just forced the words out of your mouth. "I know about what happened between-" you lowered your voice even more, "-Sergeant Barnes and Tony's parents."

Steve stiffened. "How- how do you know?"

"Well," you tried to think of a believable lie, "I spent a lot of time looking online for ways to get you all out of the Accords, which lead me to a lot of things I wasn't supposed to see and I ended up hacking into this old Hydra bunker- well, there's footage there." You knew your lie had holes, but you had to hope that he wouldn't notice.

He swallowed. "And you?"

"Me?" You blinked.

"What did you think?" He looked almost scared and you couldn't help but feel horrible.

You cleared your throat. "He was being controlled. It wasn't him. Not really."

Steve let out a relieved breath, glad he wasn't going to have to lose another friend. "Does Tony know?"

"No." You remembered something. "But the guy who mind-controlled Sergeant Barnes wants to show him the video. Probably to tear the Avengers apart. That can't happen and you have to tell him yourself."

"I-" Steve tried to absorb your words. "-I will. I'll tell him. Thank you, (y/n)."

He pulled you in for a hug, but allowed you a moment to move away if you felt uncomfortable. You, being far too much of a simp to refuse, moved into the hug, wrapping your arms around him tightly. He mirrored your action, trying to show you exactly how much he appreciated you.

"I mean it, (y/n). Thank you."

"No problem, old man." You said, voice muffled from the hug.

He squeezed you just a little bit tighter, the bear hug more than welcome to you after the stress of the last couple days. With his arms around you, you could pretend for a moment that everything was okay. You had, after all, managed to stop the team from fighting at the airport but you knew that had only postponed the confrontation.

But, even if it was only for a moment, you could pretend that everything was going right.

"Which one of you did this." The phrasing turning the words from a question to an accusation. "WHICH ONE OF YOU DID THIS?" Ross slammed his palm on the table, rage practically radiating from his form.

Tony looked at the TV screen in the hotel living room, feeling a drop in his stomach when he saw the matter being discussed.

"Oh, fuck." Natasha cursed softly, face illuminated by the glow of her phone screen.

Countless news outlets were reporting on the same subject, each one screaming "Breaking News!" with a picture either of the Avengers, the Accords themselves, the UN, or some sort of combination of the three.

She knew exactly who had done this.

Natasha hadn't forgotten how you had tried to sneak back into the hotel room before Thor had arrived, she knew you had been up to something, but she wouldn't of guessed this.

She should've though.

She should've known you would pull something like this. She'd seen firsthand how devastated you were by the Accords splitting apart the team. She knew you cared about them. She knew you would do anything for the people you cared about.

But somehow, she didn't see this coming.

If anybody were to be able to see it coming, it should've been Natasha. After all, she had done a very similar thing when Hydra had been discovered within S.H.I.E.L.D..

"This was you, wasn't it?" The Secretary glared at Natasha, recalling the same event she had. "You did this with S.H.I.E.L.D., now you're doing it with the Accords."

"I would be very careful of throwing accusations around," Tony warned, voice lacking his normal humor. "Nobody here did it. In case you hadn't noticed, we've been busy trying to find Rogers."

"Oh, shut up, Stark." Ross scoffed. "You've all been against this from the very start. Of course one of you would stoop to this level."

"Get me a lie detector then," Tony remarked. "Nobody here had any part in this."

Which wasn't a lie considering....

Ross somewhat managed to wrangle his temper in. "We will. And have tech search every computer you own. You won't get away with this, Stark."

Tony sighed, sitting back in the his private jet with Peter and Natasha, the others having returned to their duties after Ross had dismissed them from the hotel.

"They won't find anything. They'll try, but there won't be a piece of information they could use against any of us." He met Natasha's eyes, knowing as well as she did who had leaked the info.

"Did (y/n) do this?" Peter asked quietly, knowing how much you cherished the people important to you; how much you wanted to protect them. "The leaking of the Accords?"

"Well, kid," Tony sighed, "if we were betting, I'd have my entire net worth on her."

"What does that mean? Is something going to happen to her?" Peter was worried now.

Natasha shook her head. "As long as what Tony said is true, nobody will be able to trace it back to the hotel, and by extension, no one will trace it back to (y/n)."

"What was she thinking?" Tony couldn't help the frustration in his voice. "She knows how serious this is."

"You know what she was thinking," Natasha stated bluntly.

"Um," Peter started, looking at some of the articles that had been posted on the Accords. "A lot of people are agreeing with Mr. Captain America now." He showed the phone screen to the two adults. "And honestly- I don't blame them. Look at the picture with the highlighting on it. It's a picture of one of the pages of the Accords. They were going to lock you guys up in a supermax raft-prison in the middle of the ocean if you didn't follow their every order."

Natasha remembered what you had told them, when you had pleaded with her and Tony to change the Accords some way. "Of course, they were. They only gave us a couple days to agree for a moment. They knew we wouldn't be able to read through every page of that thing. How did she manage to find that?"

"Must've written a program on the computer to scan the document for certain things," Tony's fists were clenched, anger spiking as he thought of the way the government had tried to enslave them. "I should've done it the moment they'd proposed the Accords. Fuck," he swore, "I could've done something."

"There's more." Peter looked horrified. "There's so much more."

"They were going to do to us what Hydra did to Barnes," Natasha stated. "(y/n) told us that much and we did nothing. So, she took matters into her own hands and did what she could to protect the people she cared about."

"I get that." Peter spoke. "But where is she now?"

The quinjet had almost arrived at the destination, your nerves rising the closer you got to the Hydra bunker. You knew there was no chance that the arrival wouldn't precede Zemo's, but you had to hope he hadn't yet killed all the Winter Soldiers and set up the trap for Tony and Steve.

Granted, Tony wasn't there to see the video, but it would probably be better if Steve told the team rather than having it forced to the light. Your knees were bouncing, energy trying to find some outlet to release your pent up nerves.

You felt a hand tap your shoulder. "You okay, (y/n)?" A familiar accented voice asked.

"Just nervous, Wanda." You managed a smile. "How are you feeling?"

She pulled her hand into her sleeve, thinking about your question. "I don't know. I've hurt people and I don't want to do that anymore."

Your eyes softened, and you clutched the hand she had used to tap you, intertwining your fingers with hers in a hope to comfort her. You realized quickly that you should've asked first, and was about to pull away when she squeezed your hand a little. You met her eyes, feeling your heart squeeze when you remembered what would've happened to her if they had ended up fighting Tony and she got arrested. You didn't want to see her in that cell, a straightjacket around her, eyes dead.

"You've made mistakes," you acknowledged, "and people got hurt. But that doesn't mean you can't still help people. You're a good person, Wanda. You can't possibly know how glad I am to have met you."

Your earnest words made Wanda's eyes go misty, but she hurried to blink back tears. You had never been very close to her (instead, you were normally closer to Natasha and Steve), but you had always treated her with the utmost respect and admiration, and now you were comforting her and she couldn't express how thankful she was for that.

"Thank you, (y/n)," she managed. "You are a good person, too."

You thought back to the explosion, the explosion you knew was going to happen that you let people get hurt in. "It doesn't always feel like that, but all we can do is our best, right?"

Wanda nodded, glad to have your hand to hold on to, appreciating how the loneliness abated with you beside her.

"Lady (y/n), you are so wise."

Those words coming from just about anybody else, and you'd think they were being sarcastic, but with Thor having said it, you knew he meant it completely.

"Thanks, Thor."

"Alright, everybody." Steve spoke. "We're here."

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x0401x · 1 year

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Hello, can you speak about episodes 7 and 8 of Tsurune S2, always enjoy reading your thoughts on the episodes, and thanks so much for sharing them!!

I've talked about episode 7 in a previous ask, so I'm gonna leave my impressions of episode 8 here. As a bonus, I'm also gonna talk about episodes 9 and 10, as an apology for taking so long to answer this ask. ;v;

I'm gonna start with the positive points, just like I did with episode 7, because there's so much goodness in this one. I love the first scenes so much. Sen and Man's morning practice with Shuu, Kazemai and the twins finding out that Ryouhei and Shuu are now friends, Daigo and Nanao bonding, the girls getting excited at Kirisaki's high school campus, Minato being a bow nerd... so wholesome.

But my favorite part has to be that moment where Kaito thinks the Kirisaki girls are about to approach Nanao and tries to block them out... except they go talk to Rika instead. That was so fucking funny. And so in-character too. Plus Seiya noticing the whole thing and giving Kaito a follow-up? Nice touch. He 100% would.

I love that we see more of the Kirisaki team in this episode. We barely get to see Hiroki and Daigo, so it was nice to have them interact in this one. I still think we have a major lack of them and the twins in this season, though, but given the direction that the anime is going, it can't be helped.

I like that we finally got the whole flashback where Minato learns about Eisuke's original shooting style and Eisuke learns about Minato being Saionji's apprentice. It's fascinating how much character study you can do in that one scene, especially the way Eisuke goes from flattered to straight-up hostile in a matter of seconds with a single piece of information. He's being nothing but sarcastic and petty when he says it's incredible that Minato was accepted as apprentice, but Minato (being Minato) doesn't take notice of it.

The joint practice was great and highlighted in very subtle ways why Manji should return to the team. Kaoru and Umetarou getting to have a role in that kind of warmed my heart. Also, the scene in the dorm. Just fantastic. The way we got to see everyone's rooms and the difference in size between the rooms of the first and second-years in comparison to the third-years'. Daigo's Noririn shrine. The crest of the dorm being purple irises. The nod to the novel during the takoyaki party time. Heart eyes. Nothing but heart eyes.

All in all, this episode was really damn good. The only things that had me raising a brow at certain moments were stuff that I have already discussed before, such as Eisuke for some reason insisting that his team should win without help from anyone, not even their school itself (except this time he had to reluctantly give in and take budget money for a training camp). Or Minato being a little too innocent and not realizing, even now that he's in high school, just how openly resentful Eisuke is towards him.

That last one bothers me in particular, as it implies that Minato has no negative feelings towards Eisuke simply because he doesn't notice how shitty Eisuke is to him. Not only is Eisuke's hostility mostly internal, Minato is also unrealistically oblivious of Eisuke's words and actions. The anime even makes a point to change his first interaction with Minato and make it so that Eisuke approaches Shuu instead.

In the novel, Minato knows very well that Eisuke has a deep-seated grudge against him and Shuu, and both of them have been directly and indirectly offended by it in every interaction they have with him, yet Minato chooses to be nice to Eisuke regardless. It takes Minato a while to get rid of his innitial resentment towards Eisuke, but he does, and he does it consciously. He acknowledges that Eisuke is mean as hell and doesn't make up any excuses to justify why he's liket that (because, let's be honest, this is what we'd get in any other sports series). Yet he still decides to be good, not because he's naïve, but because he has matured. That's the difference. Novel!Minato sees Eisuke for what he is and accepts it. He takes in the bad things Eisuke has said and done and forgives them. Rather, I'd say he makes them null. Not because Eisuke had a reason to be like that (nothing justifies it), but because Minato is quite literally above it all. It had irritated him at first, but after he went through a certain amount of enlightenment, it just stopped mattering. That's Zen and that's what his character is about.

The anime seems to think Minato is pure simply because he's clueless. To be fair, he's clueless about a lot of things, but he learns. And then he picks the right path, sometimes consciously, sometimes subconsciously. It all depends on what the situation calls for, and in this case, it was calling for a conscious choice.

Now for episode 9.

Another wholesome one, though not as much, as there was some friction going on. It's funny that the friction was one-sided on Eisuke's part, though.

Again, this episode doesn't have negative points aside from what I've already mentioned a lot before. I like that the anime also took some time to make Kazemai and Tsujimine bond a little. It was refreshing and cute. I think, if the author had more space within the page count of each volume, she might've included something like this in the story.

Speaking of bonding, gotta love that the show is finally giving us proper interaction between Seiya and Kaito, especially Seiya fucking around, but it's hilarious to me that it was done in the most non-gay manner possible. The scene where Seiya doesn't wear his spare glasses on purpose just to get Kaito to do things for him is the finest example of that. In canon, Seiya makes it very clear that he's pissed and wants Kaito to make up for breaking his glasses, and Kaito responds to his demands without question because he feels genuinely sorry and wants to be forgiven. After all, he broke Seiya's glasses by accident in the novel when Seiya tried to stop him from breaking Eisuke's whole face, so Seiya is twice as angry and Kaito is twice as guilty. And of course, the anime didn't show what happens after that. Nor did it show Seiya's implied jealousy of Nanao, his prank on Kaito during the night or him cleaning up Kaito's face the next day.

The anime is also insisting on Eisuke's don't-wanna-own-anyone-anything attitude without explaining why exactly he is like this. It's getting a little tiring to see that in every single episode and not be given a concrete reason for it. We got an explanation as to why he's so hellbent on winning against Shuu and Minato, all right, but why the insistence in not relying on anyone? The only thing I can think of is that anime seems to be trying to sell him as a tsundere. They keep trying so hard to make him cute and likable and don't see that it makes his character kind of confusing. He's so determined to win, yet he keeps nitpicking his methods only when it comes to relying on adults and on using money. Even money from the school and club budget, which he 100% has the right to use as a student. He wouldn't be owning anyone anything for that, since his family is literally paying for him to go to school in the first place. Make it make sense, KyoAni.

Also, I really like that the anime decided to give us more details on his relationship with Shigeru, but did they have to add that scene where Eisuke is rude as fuck to him? That one made me cringe big time. I don't know how it got translated in the subs or dub but I don't like that dialogue. Nope. Not cool.

Especially not cool when it's followed by, you guessed it, Masaki and Eisuke's exchange at the beach. It's a very different interaction from what we got in the novel and seems to have been framed in order to favor Eisuke and how amazing he is. In the novel, they have a talk during practice, prompted by Eisuke's willingness to do anything in order to get a hit. He's basically doing yumiate, which isn't the point of kyudo, so Masaki approaches him discreetly and lectures him in the nicest, most indirect way possible, AKA the Zen way. But in the anime, Zen is out the window. Masaki and Eisuke even boast about their school getting stronger and being the one that will crush the other's team, and I can understand Eisuke having that kind of beginner mindset because he's just a teenager, but Masaki? Hello??? Winning isn't the goal. Even having a goal isn't the goal. Kyudo isn't a sport. That's literally the first thing about it and KyoAni forgot. They got so caught up in trying to show off that they completely slipped up in this one. I'm crying blood. They 100% don't realize this was a fail.

Other than that, this scene is all about praising Eisuke, and his only flaw is that he doesn't take it to heart due to his trust issues. Like. At this point, it just feels like we're being force-fed the same information over and over again because Eisuke just keeps getting so much attention, way beyond what seems necessary, while Kirisaki is relegated to the sidelines with Shuu being the only exception (but even he isn't getting as much attention as in the books). It's a little bit too obvious by now that KyoAni is trying to invest in Eisuke as their trumpcard to attract a bigger audience for this season. They're doing with him the same thing they did with Seiya in S1, changing his whole character in a desperate attempt to make him endearing and seem desperate to make the fans like him (as well as Koushirou, by extension). They also have to fill up the extra time they get from trying to get rid of any actually gay content, so they're giving us excessive amounts of him, while simultaneously managing not to expose what truly matters.

I mean, I don't know who else noticed this, but after getting this far into the story and having so much Eisuke content shoved down our throats in every episode, we haven't been presented to a lot of basic things about him. For example, the fact he has photosensibility and that's why he wears a hoodie all the time. Or his claustrophobia. Or his mental and emotional instability. Those are all things that make him relatable, but they're not cute, so there doesn't seem to be much interest in showing that part of him. So yeah, it's not really about Eisuke, it's about how KyoAni can use him as a tool to get viewers hooked while simultaneously buying time.

This trend continues into episode 10, where we begin with a flashback of how Eisuke joined Tsujimine's kyudo club. Eisuke is portrayed as the guy who brought the members of the club together and is leading them single-handedly to the nationals like some messiah. The novel scene where he tries to cheat during practice half-assedly makes it to this episode, with Touma making the mistake instead of Eisuke (for no reason other than not knowing any better) and Eisuke deciding to cover it up instead of doing it himself. Once again, Eisuke is doing something wrong, it's watered down to make him look good even when it's not a good look.

At long last, Minato finally finds out that Eisuke basically sees him and Shuu as enemies on a personal level. Not because he realized it but because Koushirou decided to spill the beans. And yet it doesn't seem to affect him much. In the end, he manages to know and stay clueless at the same time, so there's no need for him to make an effort to process and accept Eisuke and his resentment.

On the topic of Koushirou, he's as out of character as can be, but I like his description of what goes on in his mind when he draws the bow. The Heike reference was great. An awesome nod to how old kyudo is and how much it permeates Japanese culture. Chuunibyou as fuck, but good.

And then there's Masaki and Eisuke's convo at the baths. Nice visual language where Eisuke is in the smaller bath in comparison to Masaki, which highlights that Masaki is more experient, more mature and more knowledgeable, therefore more skilled. The content of the conversation is also good. The only problem is that the anime is getting closer to a territory that I'm not sure it wants to go, which is to present Masaki as an excellent coach only when he's lecturing someone from a different team. When he's teaching Kazemai, he's portrayed a fine mentor, but his real worth only ever seems to be revealed when he's before either Kirisaki or Tsujimine. That's where he truly stands out. Easy to tell that it's because those moments are mostly shown through Minato's perspective in the books, with him either admiring Masaki or longing for him all the while, and KyoAni is having none of that gay shit. But by trying so hard to keep Minato and Masaki five feet apart like two bros sitting in a bathtub, they accidentally make Masaki a better teacher when he's helping out or making demonstrations to rival teams.

I'm losing my mind because, holy crap, what have we come to? Masaki is literally having a bonding moment with Eisuke out of all people before having any bonding moment with Minato this entire season aside from that one scene at Yata Shrine, if you can call that a bonding moment at all. KyoAni has managed to make them barely give a fuck about each other in the span of 10 episodes. Actually, screw that; it managed to give them nothing to care about regarding each other aside from club-related stuff, since KyoAni has rid the anime of anything these two could bond over to begin with. Masaki didn't get his scar saving Minato's life, Minato's hand injury was never a thing, their fight never happened and so neither did their make-up, we never get to see what Minato is thinking outside of the dojo, Masaki's background is never touched upon again aside from archery-related facts, Minato didn't get sick so no hospital scene, etc. The list is endless. They've been stripped bare of any reason to care about each other on a personal level, so they just... don't.

As a result, at least to me, it feels like they barely exist within the story. I feel like I've hardly seen them at all this whole time, even though they were always there. I've learned nothing about them even though we've been shown a lot of stuff about Minato, because almost none of it was his emotions or the inner machinations of his mind. It was mostly just facts. This is probably the most fatal mistake that Yamamura Takuya made in S1, and he's repeating it in S2: he seems to have no interest in Minato as a protagonist.

This anime almost feels like an experiment to prove that Minato and Masaki are so deeply connected to each other as characters that when you take Masaki out of the equation, Minato is almost empty. Nearly every bit of personal information regarding Minato is related to Masaki one way or another, and Minato is usually the readers' gateway to getting to know Masaki. So when KyoAni insists on keeping them away from each other, the result is that they lose a lot of their essence and the story is left with holes in it, which KyoAni tried to fill up with Seiya in the previous season, and now they're using Eisuke for it. In short, Minato is being pushed to the background in the story he was supposed to be leading as the main character while secondary characters are used as a disposable means to draw the audience in because the director apparently can't bring himself to give two shits about him.

And, like, some people will enjoy this season and some won't, but regardless of opinions, this approach is objectively a fail on KyoAni's part. Whether the anime is good or not on its own is up for debate, but as for whether it's a good adaptation or not, I think we can all agree by now that no, it isn't. Not even because it's not faithful to the original, but because it keeps committing these narrative suicides. The plot doesn't care much for its own protagonist and tries to seek depth by latching onto a specific character. Minato is basically becoming a secondary character in his own story.

I think episode 10 did a great job on showcasing that, even though it obviously wasn't the intention. Especially the latter half of it, from the moment Minato and Eisuke get stuck in the elevator. In the novel, this scene was about both of them, but mostly about Minato. In the anime, it's entirely about Eisuke. Minato is literally used as a vessel for more of Eisuke's backstory to be revealed. We don't get Eisuke hyperventilating and Minato helping him stay grounded because he's had the same experience after the car accident that took his mother's life. Instead, we get Eisuke receiving a call from his aunt about Shigeru being hospitalized for the nth time and Eisuke freaking out. We don't get Minato collapsing with a fever from the emotional batter and Masaki taking him to the hospital, which leads to a heart-to-heart and Minato getting the necessary strength to overcome the hurdle. Instead, we get Minato and Masaki taking Eisuke to see Shigeru, and the whole thing is about how Eisuke feels and how helpful they were to him. This ordeal was originally Minato-centric in the books, yet KyoAni does everything in its power to make it be about Eisuke instead, because the original content is too inexcusably gay for the screen.

Which brings us to the last scene of this episode before the credits roll: the car scene. The only thing it has in common with its novel counterpart is that it's a scene where Minato and Masaki are having a conversation in Masaki's car at night in the middle of nowhere. I do like that it added a reference to volume 1, because we completely missed Minato's inner monologue during the last match in S1. But that's about it. We didn't get anything else.

And then the credits roll, and we end this episode with Minato promising that Kazemai will defeat Tsujimine. Again, the whole point of kyudo goes way over KyoAni's head. So does the point of Minato as a character. Minato isn't my favorite character, but I almost feel bad for him. I wish someone in this production team would bother to make him the protagonist aside from when the tournaments are going on.

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thepenultimaterolo · 29 days

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9 People I'd Like to Get to Know Better

Thank you to @yoshihashismattebum and @thewaythroughthewoods for the tag!

Ok, here we go...

Last song: I am going to follow my friends' lead and also give an album! Since it came out last Friday I've been really enjoying Lauran Hibberd's new album, Girlfriend Material. I first heard her when she was supporting The Regrettes on tour, and she's released two fantastic albums since then!

I could spend this whole thing talking about what music I like at the moment if I'm not careful, so I will leave it there!

Favourite colour: Greens and blues are my go-to colours for clothes, decor, etc. For flowers, my favourite colour is probably yellows, or deep pinks, or the colour of whatever flower is looking especially good in the garden right now.

Currently watching: I don't watch a lot of telly tbh, but I watch All Elite Wrestling pretty regularly, and my partner and I are watching Avatar: The Last Airbender together (the original, animated series).

Spicy/savoury/sweet: I'm not a fan of hot-spicy, but between the others it very much depends on my mood... Top tier snacks for me would be paprika crisps, worcestershire sauce French Fries (the crisp), Tunnocks caramel wafers, Wispa (aerated chocolate), and anything involving ginger and dark chocolate.

Relationship status: Very happily in a relationship with my partner for 10 years this spring ❤️

He is wonderful, interesting, kind, clever and funny, and I still can't quite believe I get to share my life with him.

I reworded that sentence so many times because I kept ending it with a joke of some sort, but no! I want to just be genuine for a moment actually! @unpairedbracket: I love you so so much 💕

Obsessions: ok in no particular order:

Gardening: There's just such a joy in watching and helping things grow. Being outside and physically working on something, even just weeding, makes me feel so good. And I love watching new things come up and grow and flower at different points through the year.

Wrestling: @yoshihashismattebum got me into watching pro wrestling during covid, and I would say that it certainly stuck 😝

The first thing I really watched was NJPW, and then I started watching AEW as well, and bits and pieces of other things. We've been going to some Rev Pro shows as well, which have been excellent.

I really like how varied it can be; in the same show you can be super-hyped for an excellently constructed match, crying with laughter at a comedy match, and then crying with emotion at the culmination of a storyline, or just at someone loving what they do.

Wildlife: I get excited about basically all forms of wildlife, and I think I can be a bit of a nightmare to go on a walk with because I'll keep wanting to stop and look at wildflowers / nice moss / birds / cool insects / interesting fungi / etc etc. (sorry guys...)

I'm always excited about seeing bats and foxes and birds of prey, and I also got very excited when I saw a hornet last autumn (so big and yellow and cool!), and also took a photo of a really good stripey spider I found, and showed it to everyone who indicated the slightest bit of interest for a couple of weeks afterwards.

Disco Elysium: I first played this last spring and what a fucking game. I keep thinking about it again and again, and I really want to play through multiple more times...

The worldbuilding is fantastic and fascinating, and there are so many little side details that you can explore. The writing is sincere and thoughtful but also frequently very funny. I played the tribunal with tears running down my face because it makes your choices feel like they matter so much.

I also love that Fayde exists as a resource, and all the discussion of various theories that it supports. It's a game that really invites and rewards that attention to detail.

I'm also reading A Sacred and Terrible Air at the moment (the translated version), which is a book written by the game writers before DE itself, and set in the same world.

Music: ok I lied I am going to talk more about what music I like - and about live music! I love going to gigs and seeing bands live and discovering new bands through the support acts.

The core of my music taste has got to be punk, old and new. I just absolutely love the guitar sound, and the energy, and the thickness of the noise, and being at a gig where the music just saturates the air. (While wearing concert earplugs because I value my hearing, and because going deaf in one ear for a couple of days was pretty scary...) I also love that gigs have such varied demographics, and that we, in our 20s, can go to eg. an Undertones gig and be listening with a load of people who were going to gigs back in the 70s and we're all just enjoying the same music together.

I've been lucky enough to see a lot of my favourite artists play, but bands I would love to see and haven't yet include: Nova Twins, Sløtface, and Soft Play (fka Slaves).

Tags:

Anyone who would like to do this, please consider yourself tagged!

I'm going to specifically tag the following people (but only if you would find it fun!):

@unpairedbracket , @unicornjellybee , @mortphilippa, @lovethatcoat, @pipedreamdragon, @rubiscothegeek, @vermin-disciple, @calamitys-child, @nothingiswrongwithyourarmrests

#better late than never #also oops it got long #.#my posts #tag game #long post

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angxlslasher · 1 year

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Hiya Merry, It's Ellie! I just wanted to let you know I've been collecting pieces of cypress wood for Jason to carve! Can't wait to see you both!

-Ellie <3

Merry paced in front of the stairs with a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other. She tapped her chin with the chin as she read over the scribbled lines over and over again, making sure they had everything before leaving tomorrow morning.

Clothes, snacks, wallet, tent, map— then, repeat.

Jason sat in an armchair by the fireplace, which looked almost comically small for him, with his longer limbs and hulking frame. Yet, he still chose that seat because he could watch Merry as she went over her list with almost a motherly worry. His gaze followed her; back and forth, back and forth. He had lost track of how long he had been watching, admiring, from where he sat.

Finally, she paused by the couch as she dropped her hands to her sides with a groan. “I feel like I’m forgetting something…” She said to no one in particular.

Jason tilted his head as he looked to the door, where their bags were waiting for the morning. She had planned down to the stops they would take, had packed everything they could need, and yet, she was doubting herself. Looking back to Merry, he noticed that she was deep in thought with a wrinkle between her brows and the end of the pen between her teeth.

So pretty, he thought.

Merry was unaware of her not-so-secret admirer as she raked her brain for anything she could be missing.

Ding.

Her eyes darted to her phone on the couch cushion, seeing that she got a new message. Tossing her notebook to the couch, she reached for her phone and checked the notification. After a moment, her face lit up in a wide smile.

“That’s it!” Peeking over her screen, she finally noticed her boyfriend squished seated in the armchair. “Honey, have you packed your tools for wood carving?”

Jason nodded.

“Good,” She sighed with her relief, “Ellie just texted me that she’s been collecting some cypress wood for you to carve once we get there.”

Though she couldn’t see it, a smile had curled Jason’s lips beneath his mask. He was looking forward to meeting everyone, but Ellie especially.

‘Hey, Ellie!

Thank you so much, you are so kind! I just told Jason and he’s excited to see the pieces of wood you have for him! We’re both looking forward to seeing you, too! I believe we’ll be leaving bright and early tomorrow morning, so we should be there fairly soon! Oh, before I forget, I have a quick question!

Are there any campsites near Ambrose where Jason and I could set up? We didn’t want to get in anyone’s way— besides, Jason would feel more… at home in the woods somewhere.

Thank you again! See you soon!

- Merry💚’

Merry sent the message and dropped her phone to the couch cushions as she looked to Jason.

It would be a long drive tomorrow, but she didn’t plan on making it in one day. The plan was to stop halfway and rest for a night, that way they wouldn’t be stuck in a car for twenty hours. Still, she felt giddy that they were going on a vacation together. She doubted she’d sleep tonight, and was certain excitement alone would aid her on the long drive.

#love ya Ellie💚#Ellie and Merry #Jason x Merry #oc asks #ambrose roadtrip #roadtrip to ambrose

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brighteststar707 · 2 years

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Hi! I hope it’s not too late to say a Happy Blogiversary to you! I love your writings sooo much! They’re all so good and really soothing and smooth to understand, imagine, feels and everything for me since English is not my main. Thank you so much for all of your fanfics which never fail to add more sweet happiness in my daily life. Anyways, is the ask game is still open? If it does, can I ask for number 23, 76, 78? Thank you so much again! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)

Hi, you're not too late! This was such a nice surprise to find in my ask box today! Hearing that my writing can be so immersive for you even if it's not your main language is a massive compliment, so thank you <3

Let's answer some more questions!

23. Is writing the beginning, middle, or end of the story easiest? Hardest?

Easiest depends on the prompt or idea I start from. I often start writing from the beginning or middle of a fic. Either way, endings for me are the hardest. Finding a place where it feels like a natural end to a scene is difficult, especially when I'm writing oneshots that I'm trying to keep short.

76. How do you deal with writing pressure, whether internal or external?

I've been lucky enough so far that everyone who has requested writing from me has always been lovely and patient with me, so in that sense there hasn't been a lot of external pressure.

As for internal pressure, I sometimes have to force myself to take writing breaks when I'm running tired or a particular piece is stressing me out. More than once, I have scrapped a whole fic and started again just because I had been looking at it for too long and I was getting nowhere.

I love writing, and I know logically that if I want to continue to enjoy it, I have to allow myself to breathe and be okay with some writing not turning out perfect.

78. What motivates you during the writing process?

Honestly? The comments I get on my writing. I get excited to see what people will say, and I often go back to them when I'm in a slump.

It's been said a million times, but comments do a world of good for motivation!

#ask game #blogiversary

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xiaojuun · 11 months

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hi hi I'm the aspiring teume anon from earlier 🐇 hmm honestly I've just seen them around for so long and they seem so goofy (aka my fave thing abt groups) so I can't help but wanting to know them more.

I do think I have a few songs of them saved that I sometime listen to. lemme check- oh rightt I love darari and jikjin but that's basic of me and I do have boy as well that I listen to occasionally that I also like!

and ofc the thing that help me the most to get into a group is them just catching my eyes 👀👀 but yeah im not sure yet. usually I can guess my bias pretty fast just from looking at them but I'm not sure bc they're all cute 🥺 but maybe (definitely not for sure yes actually it is) hyunsuk and yoshi caught my eye a lil more (I remember esp when watching performance vids a few times).

hhhh who knew I have sm to say abt them, I would love to hear what/who u love most and also like if u have any recommendations like ur fave songs or vids of them (not necessarily what u think I'd like but what u like, I think for me seeing someone love their ults makes me fall hard for them too)

Sorry this turned out so long I was rambling. Hope u have a good day/night!🩷🩷

yaaay this is so exciting 🫶🏻 jikjin and darari are so valid i rly think that comeback got a lot of people's attention bc it was so strong! hyunsuk and yoshi are such a pair, i feel like if you bias one you kind of end up biasing the other 😂 they're both really soft and sweet but yoshi is also lowkey playful / an unexpected menace haha. this will be long so i'll put my ramblings under the cut 🤩

there is sooo much i love about trejo but i think a major thing is that i actually love their entire discography, like i do not think they have a single bad song. i'm mainly a b-side enthusiast (u, volkno, come to me, darari rock remix, be with me ...) but my favorite title has always been 'i love you' which is what initially got me into them; i saw the music video and it felt like it was tailored to my tastes with the bright colors, aesthetic sets and the more refreshing concept, they just looked like they were having so much fun. after that, it was over for me lol i watched everything i could get my hands on, including all of treasure map, which i always recommend to new teumes if you have time to just watch from the beginning because you really get to know them and see how much their relationships grow over time. but if i had to recommend just a couple episodes my favorite of all time is 30-31 it is PEAK treasure silly chaos. sadly, we did lose 2 members this last year but mashiho and yedam are back on instagram and working on their own projects so we're all just waiting to see what they'll do next, and supporting the group as a 10 piece!

i love that the members who are interested in it have opportunities to be part of the writing and production; and ones who aren't ready for that at the official album level still get chances to practice on their own. y/g may give me a headache 99% of the time but it's clear that they foster their idols as artists and i really appreciate that. asahi especially does a lot w this, he's behind 'orange' and 'thank you' ; and rap line also does quite a bit of writing, i rly think volkno is some of their absolute best work and you can hear how much influence they pull from iconic artists. treasure in particular is also first and foremost a performance team - so the focus was to have a balanced lineup that can really put on a show. hands down this group is top of 4th gen performancewise, their stage presence and command is INSANE especially given that they had a pandemic debut. i highly recommend checking out any of their end of year show stages if you haven't - even their early ones - but particularly 2022 mama , & their GDA performance is of all the songs you have saved !

as for my favorite members, i think everyone knows jaehyuk has my heart but actually my first treasure ult is jihoon 💖 i could talk about them for a zillion years so i won't go on that rant in this response lol but i do love all the members and i think what i really like about large groups (and why i keep ending up stanning them lol) is that you get to see a lot of different relationship dynamics, it's i think a lot harder to fake a 'we're all best friends' narrative in a big group and i appreciate that because i don't buy that all (or even most) groups are all best friends lol it's not realistic. i'd rather see a group that works well as a team and treasure is definitely that, they see themselves that way and you can tell by how they treat each other and work together that there's a ton of love and respect and yes, a lot of real friendships there. and they ARE goofy hehe. anyways ... i think that's a good start LOL i hope it is i really just kind of went into rant mode so i hope i didn't bore you and that you might find some helpful stuff in here 🥰

#this is SO long and yet i still could have said more JKBDJHB you have opened the box and i am grateful lol 🙏🏻 i miss them !!#i'll make u a tag too with the bunny emoji hehe #erimail #mail from: anonymous friend!#teubun anon 🐇#i hope whenever you read this that you have had / are having a good day toooo! <3

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shawtygonemad · 2 years

Text

Fanfic Advent Calendar 2021 - Day 14/24: Apology

Daryl Dixon x Reader

Angsty Fluff

Prompts: "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." & "That is the ugliest decoration I've ever seen."

Advent Calendar Masterlist

From the first moment the snow started to fall you became excited. That meant it was almost Christmas, even though you didn’t entirely know when it really was. The apocalypse killed everyone’s sense of time. The changing of the season was the only indication. It was your first Christmas in Alexandria and the first you’d spend with Daryl as a couple. There were a lot of firsts this year for you. Some exciting and joyful while others not so much.

It was your first holiday season without your dear friend, Abraham. He was brutally murdered right beside you. Something you’ll never get the image out of your head. He had become like a brother to you. Both of you had served together in the military. He’d been by your side years before the outbreak and everyday since. You’ve been each other's rocks. Especially when he had to go through the trauma of having his wife, son, and daughter all be killed by walkers. Then the two of you had to lean on each other for support after finding out that you’d been duped and lied to by Eugene. That he didn’t have a cure and there was no help for humanity. That was a hard pill to swallow.

While serving you’d see horrors of the world everyday. Having to go through that constantly wasn’t good for a person. So, every year you’d throw together something for the troops since none of them could be home with their families. You’d celebrate Christmas in any way you could. You were always hilariously obnoxious about it. They’d always call you Mother Christmas. Thinking back on it always makes you smile. But things are different now. Regardless, you were determined to bring the spirit here as well. Everyone definitely needed it. You had lost a lot of people during the Savior War.

Remembering that led you to being half covered in glitter and glue at the kitchen table. The previous owners of the house had some decorations that you already put out. However, you started to decorate the tree, but it seemed so bare afterwards. So, you decided to make your own decorations out of papers, string, and even pine cones. The pine cones were your particular favorite. It made the whole house smell so good. As you went, the pain of not having your brother in arms with you slowly dissipated.

“What are ya doin’,” Daryl asked as he took off his snow covered pancho.

“I’m putting up Christmas stuff,” you smiled at him as you gathered up the homemade decor and took them to the living room to be hung on the tree.

“Why,” he asked, like you had two heads. “Christmas was pointless before. Now it’s even more pointless.”

You let out a playful gasp, “Blasphemy!”

“So yer one of those crazy holiday people,” he asked.

“How can you not be? I mean, what sounds better than being snowed in with your loved ones, huddled by the fire, and sharing gifts with one another? Or even looking at the shining lights on the tree, drinking hot chocolate while listening to Michael Buble? Ugh! Michael Buble… he was my favorite to listen to during this time,” you sighed.

“Who ever the hell that is,” Daryl huffed as he sat on the couch.

“Okay, Scrooge,” you say offhandedly.

This was already going to be a tough time for you. Now you had to deal with Daryl’s holiday attitude? It was already rubbing you the wrong way.

“That is the ugliest decoration I’ve ever seen. The people before really put that up? Looks like a hangin’ piece of shit,” he commented.

You paused your hand as you went to hang one of the pine cones you decorated. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Tears welled in your eyes as you dropped your hand. Normally a comment like that wouldn’t bother you, but right now, coming from him, it just hurt. You just wanted him to be supportive. But he was right. This was stupid. There was no point in doing any of this. You were all living in the end of the world. Everyday was survival based. No one cared about a stupid thing like Christmas.

“You’re right. This is stupid,” You said, as your voice wavered.

He must have heard it and saw the shift in your body language. Your boyfriend stood up and took a step towards you.

“What’s wrong,” he asked.

“Nothing,” You choked out as tears ran down your face.

In a sudden fit of sadness and anger you started to rip down the decorations. You picked up the remains and stormed over to the garbage can before throwing them in. Daryl followed you, confused. You just grabbed your coat and quickly put on your boots before heading out into the cold.

“Y/N,” he called after you, but you were already gone.

A sinking feeling set into the pit of his stomach. He knew he’d messed up. What he didn’t know was why you’d be so upset over something like that. You rarely showed your emotions due to your past military training. Something underlying must also be going on with you. That made Daryl feel even more like a dick, because he had no clue what it was.

The best thing Daryl could do would be to let you cool down and collect yourself. In the few times he has seen you emotional you’d be extremely embarrassed afterwards. He didn’t want to upset you more by going after you, so he’d wait until you returned. In the meantime, the hunter knew he needed to do something to cheer you up. The first thing he started to do was dig out the decorations from the trash. A sigh left me when he saw most of them in pieces. He had a lot of work ahead of him, but you were worth it. He found some glue and tape around the house and started to repair the decorations. He then continued the job you started. When he was finished the entire home was decked out in red, green, and gold colors.

As he looked around at his work something told him that it wasn’t enough. He wanted to show you that he really was supportive in your love for the holiday. He just wasn’t sure what else he could do. So he decided to seek out his best friend for advice. Rick was always honored and pleased when Daryl came to him.

“Man, I screwed up really bad this time,” Daryl sighed as he stressfully drug his hand down his face.

“What did ya do,” Rick asked his friend.

“I don’ know,” Daryl mumbled. “I...called one of the decorations she put up ugly… and told her Christmas was stupid.”

“Ooo,” Rick sucked in some air. “There are a lot of thangs you don’t tell women honestly. Ya never tell ‘em how their outfit looks and ya don’t criticize their decorating skills. Did that once with Lori. Thought she was gonna make me meet the Lord before I was intended,” he chuckled.

“Ain’t never celebrated Christmas before,” he confessed to his best friend.

“Never,” Rick asked, a little surprised.

“Nah. My pops was always too piss drunk to even know what day it was,” he soberly said. “The whole point’s supposed to be ‘bout family, innit? Well I ain’t never had that.”

“Well ya do now,” Rick said with a smile as he clapped his hand on the other man’s shoulder and brought him in for a side hug.

“Yeah,” Daryl breathed. “What am I gonna do?”

“Ya said that ya already decorated the house,” Rick asked, and Daryl nodded. “Well was there anythang else she mentioned that gets her in the spirit?”

Daryl shrugged his shoulders as he thought. “Donno, she said somethin’ ‘bout a Michael Bubbly guy?”

“Buble,” Michonne said with an amused smile as she walked into the room.

“Huh,” Rick asked.

“Michael Buble,” she chuckled. “He used to be well known for his Christmas albums. Go check Deanna’s library. She used to collect music and stuff.”

“Buble,” Daryl said, trying to get the name ingrained in his head. “Got it. Thanks.

“No problem,” Michonne smiled at her friend as she sat down in Rick’s lap. “Now go get your girl back, Romeo.”

Daryl planned on doing just that. However, he had a sinking feeling that the library wouldn’t have what he’s looking for. Christmas albums weren’t so easy to come by. Especially since the world went to shit during the summer. Regardless, Daryl trekked his way upstairs. The room hadn’t been used a lot recently, so things were starting to collect dust. Particles could be seen floating through the air when he turned the light on.

So he began the search through the room. He looked on shelves and in boxes. The dust was getting worse with everything that he moved. His eyes were burning and his nose tickled. It suddenly built up to a large sneeze. He placed his hand on the table behind him to steady him. However, it landed on a stack of items that slipped under his hand and onto the floor. The man cursed as he crouched down to pick up his mess.

It was a stack of CDs he thought he had already gone through. Some of the titles he recognized: The Beatles, ACDC, Britney Spears, ect. But then his hand froze on the next CD. He couldn’t believe his eyes. It had to have been a Christmas miracle, because in his hands was Michael Buble’s Christmas Deluxe album. Things felt like they were finally looking up. The man raced home in hopes that he could get everything set up before you returned.

After a few hours of screaming, crying, and emotional outbursts you decided to return home. The cold was setting in, and you didn’t want to deal with potential frostbite. You trudged back to the house you shared with your boyfriend. A sinking feeling occurred in your stomach. You hoped things would be different when you walked inside. Your body was drained and you didn’t have the energy to fight. Hopefully Daryl’s attitude changed a bit.

The warmth wrapped around you as you entered the house. It felt nice against your freezing face. Slowly you started to kick off your boots and shed your layers. The house was mostly dark, but there was a soft yellow glow coming from the living room.

“D?” You called out as you started to make your way towards the light.

“In ‘ere,” he called from the living room.

You rounded the corner and were caught by surprise. It was completely decorated. The place looked like Hallmark threw up in it. Did he do all of this? You gazed around the room at the glowing lights and candles. Daryl was standing in the middle of the room looking at you nervously. Your heart squeezed when you heard Michael Buble playing softly in the room.

“Did you do this,” you softly asked.

“Yeah… I was a dick earlier ‘n’ shouldn’t have ruined yerr fun. I know yer goin’ through a lot right now. I’m sorry,” he apologized.

You smiled at him and walked over to him wordlessly. Your arms wrapped around his middle and you rested your cheek against his chest. Daryl didn’t hesitate to engulf you in the embrace. He kissed the top of your head before resting his own on top of it.

“I can’t believe you did all of this,” you said in awe.

“Wasn’t easy. Ya really destroyed half of this stuff. It’s just bein’ held together by tape,” he chuckled.

“Thank you for this,” you hummed as you leaned your head back to look at him. “I know you don’t like Christmas.”

“S’not really that,” he trailed off debating on if he should open up. “I’ve just never had good memories ‘round the holiday, ya’know? Never properly celebrated…”

“Well now you can,” you smile and take one of his hands into yours. “I promise as long as you’re with me I’ll be sure you have nothing but happy memories.”

Instead of responding, Daryl just leaned down and brought you into a kiss. You stayed like that for a few moments just enjoyed the embrace. But then your body slowly started to rock with the gentle beat of Michael Buble.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Everywhere you go. Take a look at the five and ten. It's glistening once again with candy canes and silver lanes that glow…

“How did you manage to get this album,” you softly chuckled as the two of you slow danced.

“N elf told me where I could find it,” he teased me.

“Remind me to thank that elf,” you smiled and brought him back in for another kiss.

----------------------------------------------

AN: A distinctive childhood memory of mine was finding a pine cone outside and putting it on the Christmas tree just for my mom to ask if I literally put a piece of shit on the tree before she realized it was a pine cone. 🤣🤣🤣 I was so pressed about it and she hilariously kept trying to apologize. Gotta love that woman.

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five-rivers · 3 years

Note

So first, I just want to say that I love Mortified, especially the arcs involving Ereshkigal and Innana. The whole thing is absolutely incredible, and I'm always thrilled to see an update. Second, I was rather hoping to offer you a prompt I've had swirling about my head. What if there is some sort of research facility exploring "that which is unknown and previously thought to be impossible" (i.e. magic but they don't call it that because people don't really know about magic and ghosts in this AU) and Danny's class is invited to go on a field trip there. At first, everything is normal, but just after the class leaves the researchers realize that their instruments show that some sort of Eldritch Horror is nearby and they start freaking out, but it's just Danny. I don't know where else this would go though.

Mr. Lancer chewed on the end of his pen. It was a disgusting habit, he knew, but he could never quite get himself to kick it, especially when he had a problem to confront.

Said problem was, presently, that enough of his students had expressed an interest in careers in ectology and paranormal science that he really had to give them a relevant field trip. Unfortunately, there were very few reputable options for such a field trip. The Fentons were unsafe, Axion Labs refused to give tours, the GIW were essentially a government sponsored hate group. Most other ‘ghost hunting agencies’ were outright scams.

But there had to be something nearby. Or at least in the state. Maybe not something that explicitly or solely dealt with ghosts, but something.

Maybe...

Oh!

He shifted to sit straighter in his chair. That would work. He started typing an email.

“We got a what?” repeated Johannsson.

“A field trip request,” repeated Deer.

“Like... from a school?” asked Johannsson, cautiously.

“A high school,” confirmed Deer, sounding rather stunned.

“Do they... know what we do here?”

“Evidently,” said Deer.

“Like, they know we research magic and telepathy and stuff.”

“Yes.”

“And astral projection, higher-dimensional beings, alternate universes, that kind of thing? Fringe science?”

“He says the junior class is interested in the ‘paranormal sciences.’”

“Wow,” said Johannsson, finally bringing his coffee up to his mouth and sipping at it cautiously. “Where,” he started, “where are they from?”

“Um,” said Deer, peering at her computer screen. “Casper High. One sec.” She started typing. “It’s in Amity Park? Do you think it’s a joke?”

“Ah,” said Johannsson. “No, that tracks, actually, if it’s Amity Park. We’ve got some weird readings on file from there, if you look it up.”

“It’s close,” said Deer. “If we get readings, why don’t we have a presence there?”

“Another agency called dibs first,” said Johannsson. “We have enough trouble. No need to step on toes.”

Deer looked up at Johannsson incredulously. “We fight eldritch abominations from the edge of reality,” she said. “Is the boss really worried about stepping on toes?”

“Hey, that’s how we get funding,” said Johannsson, shrugging. “We don’t want to end up like MKUltra.”

“MKUltra was a scam, Steve. And also mostly illegal.”

“Yeah?”

Deer shrugged. “Anyway, should I send this on, or...?”

“Yeah, go ahead. The boss will probably get a kick out of it, if nothing else.”

“I would not have told the boss about this if I knew I’d be the one babysitting a bunch of teenagers,” said Deer through a clenched smile. She jerked on the hem of her blouse, not used to the more formal clothes she was wearing on this momentous occasion.

“Yeah,” said Johannsson, “but it isn’t like we get a lot of people coming into this profession for this profession. And they’re kids. So be nice.”

“I’m always nice,” grumbled Deer.

“Well, look like it,” said Johannsson, elbowing her. He caught sight of the yellow school bus. “Here they come now.”

They waited until most of the students had gotten off the bus to approach.

“Hi,” said Johannsson, “you must be Mr. Lancer.”

“That’s me,” said the rather frazzled-looking teacher. “Come on kids, let’s get settled down. Listen to our guides. Let them introduce themselves.”

“Yeah, hey,” said Johannsson, waving. “Welcome to the Edge Institute, where we study that which is unknown and often thought to be impossible.”

“Hi,” said Deer, frowning at one group of students in particular. Johannsson followed her eyes.

The trio in question didn’t seem particularly out of the ordinary. Except... Well, there was a reason Deer worked here.

“I’m Steve Johannsson,” he said, getting back on track. “This is Sylvia Deer. We mostly work in report processing and assessment, but that brings us into contact with all our other departments, so we’re more than suited to show you around.”

Sylvia put her thumbs up. “Yep,” she said.

“Most of what we work with isn’t terribly dangerous, however, there are exceptions to that rule, and we have some classified projects, so don’t wander off. Stay within view of us at all times.”

“What if we need to use the bathroom?” asked a student.

“Well, that’s different,” admitted Johannsson. “We’ve got a couple scheduled stops, so make sure you go at those times. Other than that, don’t go through any doors we don’t open for you and don’t touch anything without asking first. Got it?”

There was a soft murmur of assent.

“Come on, kids,” said Mr. Lancer, clapping, “he asked a question.”

The murmur became slightly more unanimous.

“Right,” said Deer. She jerked her head towards the building. “Let’s go.”

“Anyway,” said Johannsson, “this is reception, which is the only part of the building freely open to the general public. If you do need to go to the bathroom, they’re right there. We’re going to hang out here for a few minutes, get everyone taken care of.”

Most of the students made their way to the restrooms immediately, however, that one trio stayed put.

“Hey,” said the smallest of the group, “do you guys hear that?”

“Hear what?” asked Johannsson.

“Um,” said the boy, slightly rocking forward on the balls of his feet, “there’s, like, an alarm or a siren going off? It’s really faint, but is everything okay?”

“We’d get a text,” said Deer. “Not to mention an announcement on the PA system.”

“And the radios,” said Johannsson, tapping his.

“Right,” said Deer, nodding. “Maybe you have tinnitus or something?”

“Isn’t that recurrent, though?” asked Johannsson. “He’d know if he had it.”

“I do not have tinnitus,” said the boy, firmly. “I really think there’s an alarm going off. Or maybe someone has a mosquito ringtone. Gosh, I hate those...”

Johannsson glanced at Deer and noted that she, once again, was staring at the children rather intensely. Mostly at the boy, but that made sense since he was the one speaking.

“Danny has good hearing,” said the girl, who was decked out in an array of gothic and mystic symbols. One which, on closer inspection, would probably be fairly effective at passive protection.

Johannsson wondered if that was the result of research, intuition, or sheer luck.

Perhaps that was why Deer was looking at them like that?

“Maybe I’m just imagining it,” said Danny, shaking his head. “Let’s go to the bathrooms. There’s probably a line by now.”

Once the kids were gone, and Johannsson and Deer were more or less alone in the entry hall, Johannsson turned to Deer. “Think we should call Detection?”

“Yeah,” said Deer, pulling out her phone. “There’s something not right, here.”

“Maybe he’s a sensitive?” suggested Johannsson. “He could be picking up a project.”

“Or maybe he’s like you and he’ll break every piece of tech invented in the last twenty-five years as soon as he touches it. Or he was cursed by a goddess, like Vicky in Containment. Or maybe he just has tinnitus and is in denial. I still don’t like this.” She finished dialing Detection and brought the phone to her ear. “Hey, I-” She pulled the phone away, glared at it and cautiously brought it back. “What’s going on? An incursion? Then why aren’t we on lockdown?”

Johannsson’s blood ran cold. “An incursion? How big?”

Deer held up a hand. “That doesn’t- You know we can’t detect everything! It doesn’t matter if nothing else gets triggered, the protocol is lockdown until we can determine- If you had done your job, the kids would still be on the damn bus!”

At this point, Deer’s shouts had drawn the attention and worry of Mr. Lancer and several of the students who had emerged from the bathrooms.

“Is everything alright?” asked the man.

Johannsson glanced at Deer. “No,” he decided, just before the security shutters slammed down and the emergency lighting came on. “I’m really sorry,” he said, “but it seems like some of our colleagues were overly excited about your tour and didn’t, er, follow proper procedure following a, uh, event. So-”

The PA system stuttered into life. “Attention. A level seven entity has been detected. All nonessential personnel, please proceed to the nearest shelter. Repeat-”

“Seven?” echoed Johannsson, starting to sweat. “Seven?”

“It’s probably a false alarm,” said Deer, putting away her phone and smiling in the way only people who feel very ill do. “None of the other incursion detectors went off. No radiation associated with dimensional breaks or anything. We should still get everyone to a shelter. Maybe you can round up everyone from the bathrooms?”

“Right,” said Mr. Lancer, who was enviably calm.

“Is an entity like a ghost or something?” asked one of the kids, who clearly weren’t grasping the gravity of the situation. “How strong is a seven?”

Level seven entities couldn’t be described in terms of strength alone. They were eldritch, uncaring gods that tore at the fabric of reality with their very presence, creatures that had no business being on the material plane. They shed bright magic and dark science in their wake, leaving those unfortunate enough to see them grappling with madness that was not.

He really wanted to know what was happening in Amity Park (ghosts?) that made these people so blasé about the alarms, flashing lights, and security shutters.

Wait a second.

He unclipped his radio from his belt. “This is Johannsson, calling detection. Can you describe the signal to me? Over.”

The radio crackled. “Slowly rising over the last thirty minutes, peaking and plateauing in the last ten. Why? Do you have something? Over.”

The bus had arrived ten minutes ago. Johannsson closed his eyes. “Maybe. Will inform. Over and out.”

He looked over at the bathroom where Danny and his two friends were emerging. Danny had his hands pressed over his ears. Whenever the overhead lights flashed off, the boys eyes reflected green. Just for a second.

Yeah. Johannsson had something. The question was, what was he going to do about it?

#danny phantom #not quite your prompt but...#close?#ask #answer #prompt #prompt fill

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yostresswritinggirl · 3 years

Text

A Yearly Memory

~Zhongli x Reader

Warnings: None

Characters: Zhongli, Lesser God!Reader

Relationship: Ambiguous

Word Count: 1.2k words

A small drabble because I got self-conscious seeing y'all greet the Geo daddy- Happy Birthday, Zhongli hnghhh, first time greeting a fictional character kek and writing in tumblr sooo Enjoy a happy new year and let's hope this one does end happy!

Made this at 2:55 AM so don't expect much kek

Can you imagine 6000 and more years of the same day passing, taking time to organize a feast for that particular date? In their circumstance, time isn't relevant, for Gods who lived beyond a millenia. Honestly, everyone who lived in Celestia saw time as irrelevant and passing, nothing but the sun and the moon exchanging thrones in the sky for 365 rotations.

But for Rex Lapis who prides himself the oldest archon also relives those 6 milleniums ever so clearly.

And in his passing, and even before, he has grown accustomed to the importance of 'time' and 'day' and 'night'.

Yet, he stood atop a grassy cliff, overlooking the harbour of his own land where comes a perfect view of the moon parallel to where he stands.

In this particular day every passing year, he finds himself here as if pulled by the winds himself for reasons he cannot fathom.

"Morax-? Morax!" Calls from behind him accompanied with light footsteps crunching the blades of grass under it. His amber eyes only widen slightly before willing it to pull away from the waves that bounced the moonlight.

"God of Memories— (Y/N), I was not aware of your immigration to Liyue, are you perhaps here to document the coming of the annual departure to a new cycle?"

Your form finally catches up to his side, straightened after gathering yourself from what seems to be a marathon just to find him. The ex-archon besides you possessed a slight smile at the height difference. For it was ironic that despite the same age you had lived (and maybe even more for you, as you had existed whence the first memory had came), he was still very much heads above you, contrasting to him as you don a younger appearance to his olden self.

You carry with you a device he does not recognize and when his eyes bounces back to where yours shine in hidden mischief, you looked at him almost offended, incredulous.

"Mr. Newly-Retired, I've heard you abandoned your position to live among the humans you once overlooked," you didn't even bother to answer him.

He'd perked up, tensing his shoulders, ready to be lectured by yours truly. For after all it was you two left that remained longest standing in the history of higher beings, he'd known you'd feel betrayed that he had just abandoned your side like so.

He opens his mouth to explain— "And so, to start your new chapter, it's only fair we impart to you some human tradition!" and it stays open in confusion.

The glint in your eyes finally surfaces full blown and he couldn't help but relish in that cheeky smile you matched it with, arms shifting to lift the contraption hanging from your neck. "I'm fairly certain I'm accurate on my counting so

Happy 6052nd birthday, Zhongli!"

He hides his raw surprise and fluster in an airy chuckle, following your twinkling giggle as you nudged him with an elbow.

Is that why he's subconsciously sentimental of this day ever since? For it was the exact date but rolled back thousand of years ago, to when he first set foot on Teyvat?

"Birthdays... I didn't even notice, and quiet so early too. Thank you, (Y/N), I am grateful for your time and consideration." Zhongli would flash a smile so sentimental and pure that it almost brings you to your knees with the innocence it carries. He's so precious— precious!

"Y-yes, you are welcome! I would have brought some fresh silk flowers as a gift," he'd tilt his head in silent inquiry as you once again fumbled on the rectangular box, "but such gifts wilts too easily, swept aside in just four days! Too quick and easily forgotten." Now the god before you would love to protest, for everything you'd leave behind for him will always be immortalized in his heart and mind.

"So I created this thing over here! I call it a Kamera!" Despite his confusion over the contraption, your triumphant grin only sends him fluttering and urging you to continue. For others it was a rare sight to see someone else do the talking when Zhongli was part of the conversation, but the man in question also enjoys lending an ear, indulging himself especially when it comes to knowledge he has not heard of. "It freezes a moment in time, capturing it in a parchment to be kept forever. As your first celebration, I wanted to capture it clearly for us to look back to together! Like so!"

Without another word, you had grabbed his forearm to urge him lower, using the same hand to loosely wrap around his neck. He'd almost had to kneel from the height difference as he stumbled upon your forcefulness when a click and a fragment of light sounded from afront before he could get his bearings.

"Tada! Oh look, you look so good in an image, it worked perfectly!"

Your energy matched a very particular person Zhongli had to deal with but yours were refreshing and contagious despite the nigh hours of the night.

He had patted his sleeve straight as he watches you mercilessly flap a piece of paper that somehow appeared on your hand. He has questions, a lot, and he was once again interrupted by you: shoving the paper to his face like it was a trophy of a competition you'd been waiting for your whole life.

It was a portrait but accurately colored and captured to a size as big as his palm. Your arm around his neck with a wide, closed-eye grin while looking straight ahead and him (clearly unprepared) with an obvious surprise and touch of obliviousness, glowing amber eyes slightly trained to your profile.

He was glad he was a professional in keeping a calm composture, because he saw just about the most obvious red dust on his cheeks, now immortalized for everyone who sets their eyes upon on the paper to witness.

"Ah, I'm so happy it worked even when I had to rush it to be on time! Here, keep this, as your birthday gift!" You practically shoved the device and the image to his arms with buzzing excitement and pride. "Happy birthday, again!"

An advance technology constructed with the sole idea of being a gift for him? His appreciation is beyond words that rendered him speechless and you patiently watch him take into account everything that has been thrown at him.

"Zhong-zhong... you're too quiet—"

A snap and a flash blew your pupils and forced you to cover your eyes to rub the spots dancing in your vision. He was a fast learner but damn, he could have warned you of his impulsive ministrations.

As you whine over your semi-blinded state with jumbled protests spewing out of your lips, the man before you holds a euphoric smile over the new paper clutched between his fingers.

It was the best gift he'd ever received in his lifetime.

"Thank you, for this and everything. I hope you know how deeply I appreciate you."

Morax's smile, the God of War, however faltered at the edges when he saw the darkened stare looking down upon him. The twitch of your eyebrow makes a sudden sweat fall off his.

#genshin impact x reader #genshin impact #genshin impact zhongli #genshin impact oneshots #zhongli #zhongli x reader #exile.flower

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phoenixdnasty · 4 years

Text

The Problem with Season Five

this is already going to have a lot of you in the replies yelling at me. obviously, massive SPOILERS for s5 of she ra and the princesses of power if you haven't already seen it.

okay, so She Ra is definitely a kids' show, but it has a lot of themes aimed towards an older audience: abuse, war, found family, destiny and knowing who you are. I loved She Ra because it made me feel empowered, made me feel seen. after this last season, however, I don't feel the same. I will, however, talk about what it did well.

What She-Ra s5 did RIGHT

I very much enjoyed seeing the character development for most characters come to the forefront here. For example, SW returned to her original motivations. When she lived in Mystacor with the other sorcerers, her thirst for power was borne of a desire to fight the Horde. When she was rejected, then she chose to do what she did. We see a return to that in s5, where she takes a stand against Prime by enlisting Castaspella to stop her if she tries to take any power for herself. She ends up just wanting to help, to do what she can, which was excellent. Glimmer, Bow and a bunch of other characters are given some love here as well. I especially enjoyed seeing Bow and Mermista take on leadership positions in the absence of Adora; it was an excellent look into another facet of their personalities.

Character interactions in non-serious moments were, for the most part, good. Swift Wind and Scorpia being bros was not something I knew I needed but something I want more of. Netossa basically being Batman and knowing the weaknesses of everyone around her was great and an iconic scene. Bow thinking Catra was super adorable was also an excellent moment in the season and I could watch 9 more seasons worth of that. Something that surprised me was Entrapta's "not good with people"-ness being talked about and addressed by the other characters and explained by her; I wasn't sure if that was ever gonna be talked about in the show.

Side note: thank you Crew-Ra for giving Scorpia her own musical number, it was great.

Prime was also a fascinating enemy. He's this sort of religious figure, this world destroyer who's been around for seemingly centuries, maybe much longer. He's cold, calm and calculated. I've seen it pointed out that he's everything Hordak is not. He's manipulative, knows body language and facial expressions, and has a perfect grasp on how to get exactly what we wants. My favorite aspect of this season was the hive mind control. This was a very interesting plotline to me, and I thoroughly enjoyed HiveMind!Catra as well as Wrong Hordak. I loved the idea of pitting allies against each other and the angst and emotional weight that carried.

Going to use that point to segue into one of this season's strengths: Netossa and Spinnerella. Wow! We get a chance to see what a healthy queer/wlw relationship looks like, and two background characters get major upgrades in relevance. Two diversity points for one being a big girl and for the couple being interracial (in our world anyway), but diversity is the norm is SPOP and we might have to stan forever. It was extremely heartwarming and resulted in one of my favorite scenes to ever show up in animated media (one which I'll be stealing to add to my vows if I ever get married):

It was beautiful and I will absolutely never shut up about it.

There were some beautiful moments this season!! Absolutely gorgeous. A highlight for me cinematically was episode 5, which will probably bother some people when I say what I will below. I will be honest, the new transformation sequence and the scene of Adora holding Catra as She-Ra was powerful and had my heart pounding with excitement. It was awesome.

On the other hand...

What She-Ra s5 did WRONG

I'm going to break my issues with the final season down one by one, starting with the narrative of abuse.

From the very beginning, abuse is the most prevalent theme in the show. Prime (HP) abuses Hordak, Hordak abuses SW, SW abuses both Adora and Catra, and Catra abuses Adora. I liked the Crew-Ra tackling this issue. Abused people abuse people, right?

Why was everyone redeemed in s5? (Well, except for Prime, he was blasted away by She-Ra.) Hordak was given a blank slate to start over, even though he was the reason Etheria was war torn for at least a few decades; SW was given a hero's sacrifice, where at the end of her life she finally decides to do some good; and Catra is immediately forgiven for doing one good thing and all trust in placed in her simultaneously.

Hordak and H. Prime as abusers are pretty cut and dry; at no point are they ever remorseful for their actions, except for Hordak in the case of being abusive to Entrapta. SW is much more of an interesting character to analyze, because her motivations are geared directly towards herself. This seems to change in the final season, when she returns to her original motivations from back when she was in Mystacor. Defending her home. In her pursuit of the power needed to defend Etheria from the Horde, she fell into darkness. She began to abuse Adora and Catra.

One could argue that the hero's sacrifice she was given for redemption was unneeded. SW was an individual addicted to power. She was manipulative, using fake affection as a means to control. She didn't deserve a redemption. The only evidence we have of this supposed change of heart is a line to Castaspella: "...and stop me if I try to take the power for myself." Okay... so, SW, um... what changed your mind? Was it Micah? Because at no point has he forgiven you. In fact, there should've been much more hostility between the two of you (which is a point I'll address in a moment). In all honesty, the relationship between SW and Micah reminds me of what should've happened between Catra and Glimmer, or Catra and Scorpia.

And Catra... My problem with her story is that she was kinda just... forgiven? instantly. no repercussions, no long talks about feelings, no... consequences. Catra got the girl and that was it. A small list of things she did over 4 seasons, in no certain order:

Scratched what was implied were scarring marks down Adora's back

Was the cause of Angella's "death" #angelladeservedbetter

Kidnapped both Glimmer and Bow

Opened a world-ending portal all to ensure Adora failed

Also pushed Adora into what looked like an abyss

Verbally abused Scorpia into leaving

Wanted to pit Corrupted!She-Ra against her friends (dehumanization)

Got Entrapta sent to Beast Island, a deadly place no one ever returns from

And this is just the stuff off the top of my head. We all knew Catra was going to get a redemption, but this one was completely undeserved. She apologized to Adora and Entrapta. Two very short apologies for what canonly was at minimum, months of abuse, manipulation, intent to kill (which is literally mentioned by Adora) and general disregard for anyone or anything but revenge for something that didn't even deserve it. The entire cast should've been outraged. Glimmer in particular had a very big reason not to ever forgive Catra ("I'm not losing another parent!"), but it was all glossed over.

The biggest issue with season 5 was the abuse plotline completely dropped. You can't spend 4 seasons explaining how the cycle of abuse affects you and everyone around you... and shelve it. And we know the reason why it was shelved.

Let me first preface this with the fact that I am super happy we got representation. As a queer nblw who grew up feeling alone, it's so good to see things changing in media. An onscreen wlw kiss on a kids' show is groundbreaking and I'm very happy that She-Ra broke this barrier.

But all representation is not good representation. Catra and Adora is not a good representation of a healthy relationship.

Catra is shown throughout the series to be very unstable. This is even prevalent in season 5, when Adora "chooses SW" over Catra, she runs away. This breaks Adora's heart. The last thing that Catra needs is a relationship when she hasn't even confronted the issues that she has. There's no healing done in season 5, no therapy as the fandom loved to meme about, no long talks about forgiveness and the hurt caused. There's no callback to any of the pain and anguish that Catra put Adora through. Catra may love Adora, but if there is no healing done for the both of them, their relationship will fail. They will fall into the same cycle again. Adora will do something Catra doesn't like, Catra will do what she's done for all of the show, and it will repeat until something breaks.

I'm going to talk about the implications of the ending we have now, and feel free to argue with me.

She-Ra is a kids' show. Abuse is one of the main themes. Catra is shown to be an abuser. Here's what we are teaching younger audiences:

a. if you love someone enough, maybe they'll change

b. everyone deserves a second chance

c. your abuser will change as long as you're loyal and never stop trying to love them

d. things someone does to hurt you mean nothing in the wake of forgiveness

e. if someone who hurt you changes suddenly and wants to be back in your life, you should let them back in

Character interactions for the things that mattered (plot threads from previous seasons, general personality clashes, etc) were absent this season, in the moments where they mattered the most. (The best three in my opinion were Scorpia and Perfuma, the BFS inviting Catra in, and Mermista and Entrapta.) Glimmer and Adora should've had their time to talk. Scorpia should've gotten to say her piece to Catra. SW and Micah should've interacted more. Micah and Glimmer should've gotten more than an introduction!

I'm not going to get into how the entire final season was wrapped around making Catra and Adora get together (a fundamental writing no-no; it never ends up working), or how it was bad writing. I just want everyone to think critically for one moment. There are so many other glaring issues in what was, overall, a stellar show. If there was another season, or some mini episodes where the characters talk out their problems and past transgressions against each other, then I could excuse She-Ra. But I doubt we're going to get any of that. So I won't.

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lia-jones · 2 years

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hello again lia! 🌸 anon here again! i was meaning to slip into your ask box a while ago, but i got so busy, i just didn't find the time. anyways, i hope you're recovering and taking care of yourself! i've come to answer your questions about the story!

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1. Is there anything (theme, scenario, scene, character) I havent written about and that you would like to see explored? i believe i've answered this question in the last ask, but i have more to add! i think in your au, if i remember correctly, souvenir is permanently closed? i was thinking maybe victor could reopen souvenir, but this time for his family instead of mc (as a show of love and dedication) and he decides to rename it as an ode to them. this idea came to me late at night when i was somewhat half-asleep, but hopefully it's something you could work with. i'm very excited to see what you come up with!

2. Is there anything (theme, scenario, scene, character) I have written about and that you would like to see again or more of? probably more of the stories that you fit in between chapters, about robin and katsu (i really don't know what's it's called, but i know it's a nod to the main plot of the story, that much i've figured out). i haven't seen this element used in many books (much less fanfics), but i think it's really interesting! i'm not sure if you're going to continue with it for the rest of the parts of the series, or it's just for this part, but i trust your genius! also...i was wondering if you could give out just some tiny information that would clear up the air a bit. will there ever be any reference to the robin and katsu story in the main plot?

3. In what you have read of my story, what were the scenes, chapters, moments you liked the most? hmm, there is no one thing i like the most about your story, but i can name a few! for one, i love the clever names you give your chapters! i also like the amount of thought you put into vic's character. while the game did an awful number on mc, i believe they also kind of dampened the boys' characters as well, to accommodate for her. lastly, i would say i like it when andrea holds victor accountable for his (sketchy and sometimes overprotective) actions.

4. In what you have read of my story, what were the scenes, chapters, moments you liked the least? this is a difficult question to answer, because i really like all of your writing. and i'm truly not saying this because i'm trying to be polite (after all, you did ask for constructive criticism) but i know you put a lot of effort into your writing - and it shows! of course, the scenes packed with a lot of negative emotions make me feel, well, negative emotions, but i understand that it's part of the plot, and it just means that you're a great writer!

5. This one is a wild card. If you want to express an opinion, do it! I take every piece of constructive criticism and I swear it won't affect my writing. Not everything is everyone's cup of tea, and although I do like to please, I am aware I can't please everyone. ok, so the opinion i have is not about your story, but you, as a writer! you are honestly very underrated, and i think it's because mlqc has gradually become a smaller and smaller fandom over the years. nevertheless, you really don't get enough recognition, but i'm sure if you were writing for a much bigger fandom, you would be more well known. anyways, i'm saying this because i don't want you to feel discouraged from sharing your writing on this platform - especially about something you're so passionate about.

6. For being such a sport, you get an ask! Ask me to write any scenario you like, with the condition it's not with MC (sorry but I just can't), but I will gladly use Andrea or Reader as pairing. I will try to have one a week, but if not possible, it won't take longer than that. ouuuu i like this idea! for my request, i don't have a particular scenario in mind (i've been feeling uninspired these days, since studying has been taking up most of my time), but i have an idea! i learnt a new word recently, "eunoia", and it means "beautiful thinking". i was wondering if you could write a scenario (you can do reader if you wish) of your own that includes this word (or at least the idea of it)? if it's not your thing, you don't have to do it, but i thought it would be pretty neat for a change!

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phew, i hope this is what you were looking for. if you want me to clarify anything, feel free to ask! i look forward to hearing from you, and seeing what you come up with for the prompt! i know your genius will impress me as usual (❁´◡`❁)

Hey dear anon! So happy to hear from you! I'm having an extremely busy week, but I'm pulling through and I'm two days away from the weekend, so yay! Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Allow me to make a few comments on your answers, because you so rock! i was thinking maybe victor could reopen souvenir, but this time for his family instead of mc (as a show of love and dedication) and he decides to rename it as an ode to them. this idea came to me late at night when i was somewhat half-asleep, but hopefully it's something you could work with. i'm very excited to see what you come up with!

Victor reopened Souvenir just once since he closed it, to propose to Andrea, and no, not ever again, because stuff happened. You are giving me a wonderful idea that I can actually use in my story (to be truthful, ill use many of them, I hope you don't mind.). I also want to ask you: do you have any ideas about what name Victor should give to the restaurant?

will there ever be any reference to the robin and katsu story in the main plot? I don't want to spoil it very much so I'll just give you a big resounding YES. Robin and Katsu are two very important pieces that just haven't found their place yet.

this is a difficult question to answer, because i really like all of your writing. (...) ok, so the opinion i have is not about your story, but you, as a writer! you are honestly very underrated, and i think it's because mlqc has gradually become a smaller and smaller fandom over the years. nevertheless, you really don't get enough recognition, but i'm sure if you were writing for a much bigger fandom, you would be more well known. anyways, i'm saying this because i don't want you to feel discouraged from sharing your writing on this platform - especially about something you're so passionate about.

I have to say your words touched me very deeply and I'm honored to receive them. I do sometimes get discouraged, sometimes I feel incredibly lonely in this journey, but it is my passion for this story and people like yourself that keep me going. I promised myself (and I renew that promise daily) that I would write this story no matter how long it took or how many readers I had. I will keep that promise. As for you, my beautiful special person, thank you so much for the support. It means the world to me. I hope life pays you in kind and paths a beautiful journey for you, that's my wish. i learnt a new word recently, "eunoia", and it means "beautiful thinking". i was wondering if you could write a scenario (you can do reader if you wish) of your own that includes this word (or at least the idea of it)? if it's not your thing, you don't have to do it, but i thought it would be pretty neat for a change! It's totally my thing! One of my favourite things is to get something like an idea, a belief or a philosophy and write about it! I hope you don't mind, but I actually want to write a chapter for Resistance - Evol about this! I loved the concept (I hope I can represent it well) and I'm definitely going to use it! I'm really excited about this! OK, now if you don't mind, I have some questions for you (if you don't mind answering them): - You said you had exams coming, what do you study? - What's your MBTI and enneagram? - I assume Victor is your bias, is it? Better phrasing it, who is your MLQC bias and why? I hope you have an amazing week! Hope to read you soon and good luck for your exams!

#heart filled with gratitude #mlqc li zeyan #mlqc fanfic #thanks for asking!#lovely talking to you

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