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mdhwrites · 4 months

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I saw a post a while ago lambasting Amphibia for having its characters 'do the most horrendous shit imaginable' for the sake of comedic plots and get off far too easily for it. In their view, Amphibia took slapstick comedy way 'too far' sometimes. I thought this was quite hyperbolic; the protagonists made serious mistakes, but rarely anything I'd call unforgivable, especially since they'd almost always show a level of remorse. But it did make me think about the way immoral acts are portrayed in comedic shows, and how we, as viewers, can tolerate and forgive things we probably wouldn't in real life because of the way these acts are presented to us.

I mean, think about Hop-Pop using mind control on Anne, Sprig and Polly in Children of the Spore. If anything like that happened to you in real life, chances are you wouldn't react to someone violating your body and mind by shrugging your shoulders and going 'well, guess we pushed you pretty far.' You'd probably beat the shit out of HP and never talk to him again. But that episode is kinda self-aware about the awfulness of it all (which I love). Polly flat-out says the old frog crossed all kinds of ethical and moral lines XD

Going back to the whole 'too far' accusation, though, I'm pretty sure we're smart enough to understand the difference between a silly frog show and real-life crimes. I don't think there needs to be super realistic consequences to everything (as the post I mentioned was suggesting) when your focus is on writing a slice-of-life fantastical comedy. I guess the only real argument you could make is 'but it's teaching kids to forgive absolutely atrocious, unforgivable things!' And...maybe? But I'm pretty sure any kid with their head screwed on straight understands not to replicate or forgive immoral behaviour too easily.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is, do you think characters doing awful things for the sake of comedy or plot can go too far, in that they can unintentionally make characters far too heinous to sympathize with, or do you think complaints like those of the post I mentioned above are a result of taking something far too seriously? Is there even such a thing as 'too far' when it comes to slapstick comedy?

So let's talk about intent, tone and framing because these things REALLY matter to a story. It's actually part of the problem with fandoms wanting everything to be realistic, darker, etc. because they're really asking for one thing: For them to all be the same. To not be what they are because, you know, the fact that these are comedy cartoons for kids MATTERS.

But first let's actually shift gears AWAY from cartoons for a second to talk about things being genuinely irredeemable for comedy. MANY people are really against prank style reality tv because it preys so completely on human suffering. Because these people are doing terrible things to just normal people. I personally don't like the premise... But I like Impractical Jokers. That show frames it DEMONSTRABLY more about terrible things happening to these four friends, by these four friends, and usually the worst they do to others is leave them a little confused or a bit uncomfortable. One of the big elements to changing this is that all the challenges are effectively dares. Someone either commits to the bit or if it becomes too much, they dip out but they are ALLOWED to dip out, minus the final jokes which are always pretty much purely at the Joker's expense.

Are these four people bad people? No. But part of why we also know that is because it's television and they're doing it to entertain as part of being comedians. Bizarrely enough, a lot of modern cartoon fandoms seem to want to act like fiction IS reality. It's where you get people going "Oh, you're being so cruel to a 14 year old, nuerodivergent girl!" and me going "I'm being critical of a character in a narrative. Can you please stop telling me, an actual human being in the real world, to kill myself because of a fictional character?"

Because shock of all shocks, PEOPLE CAN TELL REALITY FROM FICTION! In fact, even kids can! The fucking video game industry had to go through this hell HARD to prove that killing people in a video game is not the same as having psychopathic tendencies in the real world. Do you know how many kids play CoD? And those kids are fine. At least most of them.

So with all of that preamble out of the way: When can a morality focused show fuck up?

It's actually incredibly rarely in the terrible things the characters do because the show USUALLY addresses these elements as part of the moral of the day.

For the example given of Hop Pop's mind control, it is shown as... Eerie to put it mildly. Even from go, Hop Pop only enjoys it so long as he doesn't have to interact with it. It is never framed as a positive besides a bit selfishness. However, Hop Pop is a good enough person to show genuine remorse and try to fix this. He puts in a lot of effort, is admonished as the lesson of the day is learned to not try to control people and to potentially compromise and then it MOVES. ON. Because they live in a fantasy world where anyone could die at any second. A day of none thoughts is not actually that big of a deal, especially since it wasn't done out of malice or even really on purpose. It's a part of the fun of the setting and of the fantasy genre as a whole that you can just do these weird concepts like this and move on because magic happens sometimes. You might grumble for a day or two but hey, at least it was your neighbor and not the king, am I right!? Hail King Andrias.

A big part of this though, and why so many morality driven shows can have characters do terrible things without imparting the wrong lessons, is because it's addressed. Pretty much explicitly. It is framed as wrong, addressed as wrong and then fixed because it was WRONG. Even if it gives momentary gain, that gain is almost always also included in being wrong.

It's actually a formula that Amphibia purposefully breaks for an episode, carrying it over from directly the one before, because there genuinely was one crime committed that hadn't been addressed and by the time it was, that sin had grown to a point where it was too reasonable to have a character still be mad to ignore it: The music box. Hop Pop hiding it is actually an AWFUL thing to do because it dooms Anne, it means her parents will never get closure, dooms the rest of Anne's friends, etc. etc. Hop Pop has to be okay with Anne never quite being fully happy because of always wanting to go home while also living with this false hope that he implanted into her. A trust he has not earned because of the lie.

So even after they theoretically have their morality episode about the box, Amphibia takes this time for such a PERSONAL attack on Anne to stick with her for another episode during The First Temple. It actually acknowledges that you don't get over everything immediately. That sometimes you need space. I don't even like that episode but the break in formula is actually meant to make the message more powerful, and does so successfully, especially because the crime was different. It wasn't of indifference or something quickly fixed. It was of long term AGONY and a complete breach in trust that would make one question what relationship they can have with another person. There's pretty much zero other crimes in the show like that besides Sasha/Marcy's betrayals, which aren't treated as easy fixes, and Andrias' betrayal is the heel turn that makes him the primary antagonist. These crimes, these personal, genuinely awful things to do to other people that could be replicated, unlike so much of the fantasy violence, are usually seen as something you do have to work on. It's a great, nuanced take on being a morality one off show while also being able to elevate some issues to being dealt with more seriously and consistently.

Also, quick note from someone on my Discord: They NEED to do bad things in order to teach! They are meant to be the bad example so when their actions lead to things going wrong, you understand not to copy that behavior. This is honestly storytelling 101 for most... Plots. Not just morals but plots. If the characters do NOTHING, nothing happens and nothing will be learned.

You want a show that will teach kids bad lessons and then reinforce there are no consequences for those? WELCOME TO THE OWL HOUSE! Specifically: The show that tells you to lie and keep secrets because your fear justifies keeping them!

I know that sounds shitty but like... Luz is the main character. For half of the show, she is portrayed as the second most moral character in the show behind Willow. She admonishes stealing, cheating, etc. as her contrast with Eda. Then after Yesterday's Lie... She literally can't stop lying and never faces consequences for it.

The closest actually comes in Falls and Follies where Amity at least forces a promise out of Luz to be more open with her. This actually though doesn't fix the problem, it just makes it WAY WORSE because one of the main targets of these lies, that kids can easily replicate, especially because Luz is almost always lying about things that might upset others which is the most common thing kids will lie about, is Amity. So now we have both lying and breaking promises. You know, two of the most basic morals any kids show should impart on the audience!

In Reaching Out though, Amity gets a little mad but then it's excused because of her dad! In Thanks to Them, no one gives a shit that Luz has been keeping secrets and lying for months. Camila makes sure Luz DOESN'T tell her friends the truth either about her plans. You know, Luz's MOM who should want her daughter to be an honest person. The show then constantly keeps cutting Luz off from telling anyone anything because it literally can't without revealing how bullshit what she's doing is until by the end of the show... Luz hasn't been punished in any way and the lies just... Drift away.

Completely unaddressed.

This causes a problem because while the lies theoretically hurt Luz... They hurt less than losing her friends. Hurt less than disappointing a parent. Hurt less than making her look bad. And this is the main character. The one kids are supposed to connect with the most. The one who usually most explicitly defines the morality of a show. And she is never punished or stopped from all. Of. Her. Lies.

(As a note: This is also how you get a lot of guys taking the wrong lessons from anime perverts. Sure, this guy gets smacked but he never loses his friends. Never faces real consequences. In return... He gets way more ass than the main character does, doesn't he? *gags violently*)

THAT is how you impart bad morals. It's not surprising to me that the fandom for TOH hides behind excuses so much for their show because their literal main character was justified, in fiction, to have all of the terrible things she did, all the choices she didn't have to make or the people she discarded, because she ALWAYS had an excuse. And so long as you have an excuse, by what TOH says, you can get away with fucking anything.

And mind you, that last part is NOT Luz specific. Have a bad uncle? Don't worry Hunter, the fact that you literally hunt, oppress and potentially kill wild witches can be entirely forgotten and ignored. Have a mean mommy? Don't worry Amity, we literally never have to properly address the literal years of bullying you did to another character or even how attempting to kill Luz was wrong. Collector? COME ON! You just had bad friends/family so now you just need good ones and we can forget all about you oppressing people for fucking months!

This isn't addressing these problems. These are excuses. And excuses can seem REALLY appealing to people. After all, how many hide awful acts or statements behind: "Come on, it was just a joke." Shields are useful for trying to avoid criticism after all. If you never acknowledge you were in the wrong, you don't have to feel bad for having done something mean, let alone terrible.

Just to bring it back to Amphibia: Sasha tries to do this. She believes she knows best so she feels justified in all she does because it will make everyone the happiest, at least in her own eyes. Then in Turning Point, she realizes the folly of her ways, addresses that she was a terrible person and plants her foot down FIRM. No more acting the part of protector while actually being a tyrant. She will risk her very life in order to right these wrongs. And we see it also in Commander Anne where she is taking the change seriously. These are two half episodes, a single episode in full, that lets us know that her actions were inexcusable and that they were wrong and now she is allowed to be a part of the good guys now that she has made sure the audience knows that they can look to her as an example.

One full episode to ADDRESS the fact that what Sasha did was wrong and to not excuse it but to learn from it.

That's why all these terrible things protagonists do in shows is fine. They learn from it. They genuinely regret their actions. They show the audience why they shouldn't have done it. It's never okay to the show that they did. Not that it can't be forgiven, because people should be allowed the chance to grow, but that it still wasn't okay.

For a kid's show, that is pitch perfect. It's why moral of the day storytelling exists and I can't really think of any huge errors in this department on Amphibia's side. It's pretty damn good at smacking someone over the head when they act like a jackass. At bare minimum, there are WAY worse examples out there.

======+++++======

This is absolutely one of those criticisms that has me look at the person making it and go "Just admit you don't like cartoons. Or children's media in general probably." Admittedly, there's actually plenty of adult stuff just as childish, no one stays mad in Family Guy, so it's probably just "You don't like cartoons." It's the sort of bad faith criticism that just reveals you as not having actually wanted the product but whatever you thought the product should be.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#amphibia #toh critical #the owl house criticism

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rodeo-clowns · 9 months

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Hi can I request Sarah Sanderson x female reader who has like a not so great best friend who treats the reader terribly (making fun of pushes around etc) but the reader is too scared to drop her?

I Know How to Hex You

Modern!Sarah Sanderson x fem!reader

A/N: Ty for requesting this! So sorry it took me like fifty years to write it, I’ve been struggling to write a lot these past few months, I have a lot on my plate. I set this as if Sarah was born in the 20th century, so both her and the reader are around like the same age. Sorry if the insults are a bit much, I just felt like this request hit really close to home as I realized recently that a close friend of mine was just really mean and was always against me so this is a bit of a vent fic. Also if you can’t tell, I started watching SATC, so there are some references in the text lol. I hope you enjoy ! <3

Word Count: 1,250 words! (One of my longest yet!!)

Warnings: Angst that ends with fluff, Body shaming, cursing, drinking, kissing, horrible friends (never keep bad friends y’all! learnt that the hard way, ouch), usage of Y/N and unproofread text (let me know if I missed anything!)

It was that time of the year again. Halloween, your favorite holiday in the world. Only this year the warm, welcoming yet spooky feeling of the holiday wasn’t there. You were currently standing in the corner at a Halloween party hosted by your friend, Becca while nursing a cosmo. You see, you were initially excited to attend the party, that is until Becca began making degrading comments.

Earlier that night at your apartment.

“Okay!” With a bright smile you open your bathroom door, stepping out. You were dressed head to toe in a cute witch costume. The dress on you was black with deep blue details and you had on a pointy black witch hat, accompanied by red lipstick and dark eye makeup. “Sooo,” you twirled around, showing off your costume to your friend Becca, who was seated on your bed. “What do you think?”

She looked up from her phone with a bored expression and stared at you for a good five seconds before she chuckled dryly. “You’re not serious are you?” she says with a mocking tone as she stands up, pocketing her phone. Your expression drops.

“What do you mean?”

“Y/N…you can’t wear that! It is NOT flattering at all! I mean, what were you even thinking when you bought it?” She laughs and plucks the witch hat off your head. You look down at your costume. Was she right? Was the costume that you spent so much time shifting through thrift stores trying to put together really that horrible?

“Oh…” You respond, keeping your head down. You were hoping that Becca would get the hint and realize that she’d hurt you with her words, but she continued.

“I mean like be so fucking for real look at it,” she points to your figure in the floor length mirror across the room. In your reflection, you can see tears welling in your eyes, but Becca doesn’t seem to notice. “Already, you don’t even have a flattering body. These kinds of dresses are made for someone whose body is hot and sexy.” She says as her hands refer to her own body.

“I am hot and sexy,” you interject, trying to speak up for yourself as you always did when she’d get like this. She laughs loudly, the sound ringing in your ears, continuing on with her degradation before she gives up and looks at the time on her phone, stating that the two of you were going to be late for her party and that you had no time to change out of your “ugly ass dress” or change your “atrocious” makeup.

Present

Eventually, you leave the corner of Becca’s apartment, but only because you’ve now finished your cosmopolitan and need another if you’re going to get through tonight. Before you can enter the kitchen you hear your name pop up in a conversation that Becca is having with some friends of hers. “Ohhh my god do you see what Y/n’s wearing? It’s just awful,” she laughs out, wheezing in the process. “I mean she actually bought that and thought it was a good idea like who lied to her!?” You hear a few of her friends agree before you’ve had enough and step into the kitchen, grabbing a can of a random alcoholic beverage and step in front of Becca, who looks surprisingly shocked to see you. You shake the can aggressively before opening it right in front of her, spraying it all over her before she shouts in shock.

“Oops,” you slam the drink on her face and grab another can before you step out, grabbing your coat and bag from her crowded front entrance and leaving her apartment. You make it about two blocks before you break down crying in the middle of the sidewalk. Thankfully this part of Salem was deserted around that time of night, regardless of whether or not it was Halloween, meaning there was no one around to see you cry, or so you thought.

“Hello pretty,” you hear a voice say. You look up in shock, not expecting anyone to approach you. In front of you was the most beautiful woman you’d ever seen, sporting long blonde hair and a whimsical look in her eye. You sniffle before greeting her back. “What’s the matter?” She asks gently, staring deep into your eyes with a look of compassion, brushing hair away from your face.

“Oh…uh…just got into an argument with someone I considered as a sister,” you mumbled. ‘What is the matter with me?’ You thought to yourself. Why am I telling this beautiful stranger about my life? I just met her!’ Nonetheless, you disregarded your thoughts and continued to confide in the stranger, finding her presence comforting. Strangely she felt familiar, like…home.

“Oh?” She replies after listening to you rant your heart out. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, no one should treat such a beautiful creature such as yourself so horribly.” You felt flushed at her words, a sharp contrast to what you’d put up with with Becca. “You don’t believe me?” She says as she steps closer to you, crowding you against the pole of the streetlight behind you. Gingerly, you shake your head. “That’s okay,” she says, “I can prove it to you.”

“Y-you can?”

“Sure,” she smirks an award winning smirk, your breath hitches. “But only if you want me to,” her voice lowers, asking for your permission. You take a moment to look around, noticing that the street remains empty except the two of you. You nod and she laughs lightly, shaking her head. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you?”

“Yes, I want you to prove it to me.” With that she smiles, and leans in, pressing a light kiss to your lips, it lasts less than three seconds but still you feel the wind knock you off your feet. As she pulls away, you look at her with awe. She smiles and speaks again.

“I’m Sarah.”

“Y/N.”

She smiles again and tells you that she’s never heard a name so beautiful in her life. This time, you’re the one who initiates the kiss, which leads into a small but heated make out session against the pole, your lips moving fervently against each other, like you can’t live without it. But before you can get too carried away, you hear footsteps behind you. You pull apart and look up to see Becca.

“What the fuck! Who’s this? Is this why you made such a scene back there? So you can go make out with this…Bimbo!?” She yells out, both invalidating your feelings and insulting Sarah. Sarah looks at you and whispers in your ear.

“Is this the friend that treated you horribly?” You nod in confirmation. She smirks, “Watch this.” Suddenly she flicks her wrist and Becca is gone. You gasp in shock.

“You’re-you’re a-”

“Witch?” She laughs. “I know, fun isn’t it? Don’t worry I didn't do anything bad to her, she's just back at her apartment complex, where she won’t remember this encounter.” She says it like it’s no big deal and at that moment, you couldn’t find yourself to care about Becca anymore, instead you wrap your arms around Sarah’s neck, leaning in.

“So what…else can you do with your magic?” You bite your lip, keeping eye contact with her. She laughs and raises her eyebrows. Before you can blink you’re suddenly in your own apartment, your arms still around Sarah.

“Let’s find out shall we?”

#fluff #lesbian #wlw #sarah sanderson x reader #angst #sarah sanderson x fem!reader #sarah sanderson blurb #sarah sanderson drabble #sarah sanderson imagine #sarah sanderson #sarah jessica parker #hocus pocus #hocus pocus 2 #modern au #modern!sarah sanderson #modern!sarah sanderson x reader #modern!sarah sanderson x fem!reader

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fategoflatass · 6 months

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My Fall 2023 Watchlist & Opinions

Welcome to the comeback of my reviews that no one expected! But hey, I think this would be a nice practice for me to develop my writing skills and my critical thinking (?).

Take in consideration this post will be long because #unemployed, so everything will be under the cut.

Ready or not (I sure am not), here I go!

Atarashii Joushi wa Dotennen

Comedy, Slice of Life // ☆☆☆¾

After an atrocious experience with an abusive boss, Momose decides to switch workplaces. Used to such a toxic environment, he never expected his new superior to be so goofy!

The most wholesome show you'll find this season, and one of the most I've seen in general!

The work environment is pretty much paradise, each and every character being the living representation of the sweetest and most tender cotton candy you'll be able to find.

While the comedy mostly relies on Shirosaki's sillyness, it never gets old. Alongside the laughs, you'll find yourself aww-ing to many, many scenes.

Also, the series is conscious of the way people takes it (no, this is not a BL) and dedicates some scenes to it by giving different double meaning scenarios (they're all wholesome, no need to worry about that). Just a heads up, in case you're not into this kind of thing.

Want to know more? There's a canonical bisexual character in it! And here I was thinking that we didn't exist for Japan.

Totally recommend for those gloomy days, or even when you just need to shut off your brain.

Dr. STONE: NEW WORLD Part 2

Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi // ☆☆☆☆

No summary due to spoilers.

I don't think there's much I can say about this one? I mean, unless I want to spoil someone, and I'm not a spoiler kind of person so...

For those curious about my experience, I'm enjoying myself very much! I decided to give it a try since my best friend loves it, and I liked it so much I quickly got up to date with it.

Now, do I understand every single thing they talk about? Hell nah, do you know how many times I failed chemistry and physics?!

But besides that, this show is a pretty wild and fun ride. And not only the previous parts, but also this one! Again, don't feel like making spoilers but the quality hasn't lacked not even a little bit. The characters are still as charismatic and funny as they've always been, and the plot keeps getting more and more interesting as it progresses.

Only thing I can say without explicitly spoiling anything: one of these days, Gen will end up messing with the wrong people. Can't tell you what tells me that, but he's messy enough for me to be unable to think otherwise.

Hametsu no Oukoku

Action, Drama, Fantasy // ☆☆

Once benerated due to their wisdom, witches are now being hunted down by humans who accuse them of impeding the progress of civilization. Adonis, a human raised by a witch, swears revenge against those who took his mentor from him.

CW: instances of extreme violence, forced non-sexual public partial nudity

Yes, I watched this one. Yes, it's an edgy one. No, it's not fun.

As someone who's always down to anything that has to do with fantasy, magic and supernatural beings, as well as being able to enjoy the trashiest things in life, I had some hope in the plot. Not in the way that it might be actually good, but in the way that it could be so bad I could get some laughs out of it. Sadly, this series takes itself quite seriously.

Which wouldn't be a problem if it weren't because it isn't even that good. The characters are plain, the episodes feel longer than they should, and there are times where you can see it go all over the top.

A pet peeve I have is when certain abilities/powers have ridiculous names, and this show does that to a tee by giving them some of the dumbest/edgiest (not exclusionary) names I've seen in a while.

"Do they even have to do with what each witch's magic is supposed to be?" I ask to the void in utter confusion.

"Absolutely not, but doesn't it sound rad?!" an easily impressed twelve-year-old exclaims from the grades.

Anyway, wouldn't recommend this show to anyone unless you're looking for an edgy power fantasy where characters die in gruesome ways not even five minutes after being introduced, magic type and all.

Also, can someone explain to me what does it mean to have "Natural Law" magic?

Hikikomari Kyuuketsuki no Monmon

Action, Comedy, Fantasy // ☆☆¼

After three years of becoming a total shut-in, Komari wakes up to find out she's the newest Commander in the Mulnite Imperial Army! Although she's descendant of a pretty powerful vampire family, she's rather inept when it comes to magic, even finding blood disgusting. Will her, alonside her maid, be able to make her path to success, or is failure awaiting for her around the corner?

Damn, this one took its sweet time to take off, only to crash and burn because the method was so cliché and overused.

The first three to four episodes are boring and not interesting at all, characters are bland as a wet piece of cardboard and the comedy excels at falling flat.

(Mild spoilers ahead, because I couldn't care less about this one)

And now you mean to tell me your seemlingly powerless main character is actually OP, only that under hypnosis? I didn't need to be a hound to be able to smell that crap from miles away, now did I?

But let's leave that aside to talk about Vil, A.K.A Male Gaze 101. I understand why she's attached to the protagonist, don't get me wrong, but did she need to sexually harass the protagonist or...? Also, how could I forget about the time where she almost forced Komari to pee herself in front of her!

Bro, if I were to know this was an omorashi hentai wannabe I wouldn't have given it a chance.

Anyways, if you're into any of the things I've mentioned previously, then enjoy yourself. This anime's definitely not for me.

Kamierabi

Action, Drama, Psychological, Supernatural // ☆½

A group of high schoolers see themselves forced to fight each other to death for the coveted title of God. Who will emerge victorious and claim their godly throne?

You have no right to ask that in the summary when you spoil the results in the first minutes of the first episode.

Let's be honest, if anyone is talking about this series is because Yoko Taro's name served as free promo. But did you know he's credited, not for the story, but for the concept of it? Big yikes, huh?

If you are a three-episode-rule kind of person, I assure you won't be needing that for this anime. One episode is enough torture, trust me.

The first minute is there to make sure you understand this story is different, is mature. There are no friendships, no love interests, only tons of suffering and betrayals. You know, what people back in 2011 probably went for when Mirai Nikki first aired.

Characters are not only boring as hell, but their designs are nothing to die for, heavely based on their assigned colors because you'll be forgetting their names the minute after they get introduced.

Fun fact: If you pay enough attention, you'll be able to see their phone cases' designs. Not only they look ugly, but they also spoil their so secretive abilities!

Speaking of character design, did you know the one in charge of it didn't even bother to create background character's templates? They all look like gray extraterrestrial things trying to pass as human beings, their never changing facial expressions being the cherry on top. This might be one edgy way of showing they don't matter to the main story, but it just feels super lazy. Also, this... artistic choice is just another spoiler, since everyone who has some sort of relevance has an established design. But oh well.

Fun fact: Every single one of these NPCs are gray, expect for a couple of them in episode six who are red and blue. One of them is the bad guy, can you guess who?

In summary, this show is utter trash. Wouldn't recommend unless you're as messed up as I am and like to watch crappy productions.

Kamonohashi Ron no Kindan Suiri

Drama, Mystery // ☆☆☆¾

When police office Totomaru is assigned to a serial killer case, he turns to Kamonohashi Ron for help—a once considered genius who, after a fatal mistake, got himself expelled from the top detective training academy and was forbidden to become one.

This is your classic detective show with the more normal character having to learn how to deal with the more eccentric one who's always really good at deducing. And I love it.

Yeah, it might be a copycat of other series with the same dynamics (like many other mystery anime), but they're all still dear to my heart. I just love them, man!

Every case they've introduced until now have been interesting and fun. It's been entertainting trying to think by myself what happened, who might be the culprit, how did they do it and why. As always, it's especially cool when you get close enough or, even better, when you were in the right. Serotonin kicks like those are always appreciated.

The dynamic between the protagonists is also really fun, Ron's shenanigans never getting old. Totomaru might not be having the time of his life, but I sure am!

If you're a fan of these kind of shows, then I totally recommend! If you're tired of the same scheme over and over again, maybe not so much. Would be nice if you'd give it a try, though!

Kanojo mo Kanojo Season 2

Comedy, Ecchi, Romance, Slice of Life // ☆☆☆¼

After their hot springs trip, Naoya continues his relationships with both Saki and Nagisa. Alongside Milika and Shino, they embark on a summer vacation full of romance with a fireworks festival, camping, and Okinawa. Chaos ensured.

There are not many series that touch upon polyamory which saddens me to a fault. The closest to this concept would be harem series, but a polyamorous relationship should never be a competition to see which whom does your "shared partner" choose to spend the rest of their life with.

While KanoKano isn't the best representation of this type of relationships (Saki often feeling like she's competing against Nagisa), it's not a bad series? Or, at least, not that bad. Rather decent, actually.

It's not boring, although it isn't the most entertaining series either. If I had to decide between KanoKano and any other series that touches upon polyamory (even if they do it with the tip of a stick, miles apart of the concept), I would probably go for Hamefura's canonical (albeit not in the way I would like it to be) Katarina fan club.

I just feel something's... wrong, you know. I get Naoya loves them both and that, in theory, both of them understand that, but I can't help feeling uncomfortable when Saki mentions this supposed competition the girls have (and the way they treat polyamory as "two timing" when that would imply it wasn't consensual?).

Besides that, it's a decent series to watch whenever you're bored. Not a masterpiece, but is not like it's trying to be one.

UPDATE: Rating has been lowered to ☆ as of 11/10/23. Visit the reblog section for more.

Kimi no Koto ga Dai Dai Dai Dai Daisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo

Comedy, Romance // ☆☆☆☆

Rentarou has been rejected a total of 100 times throught his entire life. Is when he visits a shrine and prays for better luck when he meets the God of Love. He reveals to Rentarou that he'll get to date 100 women in the foreseeable future. The catch is, once he meets them they must happily love each other. Otherwise, they'll die. What will be of Rentarou and his 100 girlfriends during high school?

He has arrived. The man, the legend. The harem protagonist of all harem protagonists.

Rentarou Aijou has arrived, and he's here to make you and your wife part of his loveable and excessively numerous family.

As I mentioned when talking about KanoKano, I've been looking for series that touch upon polyamory. And if you're like me, then you've just hit the jackpot!

While I'm conscious 100Kano is a parody of harem series and was never meant to be taken seriously, the way none of these girls are competing for the protagonist's exclusive love is refreshing. They're actually a pretty big family, always supportive of each other and down to give each other a hand or two (or twenty, if needed). They'll do anything they can to make their boyfriend the happiest man alive, and so will he with them.

There're no favoritisms whatsoever. Such concept as "the first one to arrive gets to win" does not exist in his agenda. In Rentarou (and every single one of his girlfriends)'s mind, everyone wins because everyone is his favorite.

An excellent series to watch by yourself or with your pals in case you're looking for something silly and easy to digest.

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

Drama, Mystery // ☆☆☆☆¼

CW: infant death, classism, self-harm, kidnapping

Maomao lived a peaceful life with her apothecary father. Until one day, she’s sold as a lowly servant to the emperor’s palace. When rumours about imperial heirs falling ill surfaces, she puts her knowledge in medicinal herbs and poison to good use and finds a cure. It's then when she catches the eye of Jinshi, a handsome palace official who promotes her. The series follows Maomao as she solves numerous mysteries.

I can't explain just how excited I was for this one. As I said before, I love mysteries, but I also really like historical series. So when you mix both genres, you get characters who try to solve various cases with only the means they had yesterday.

Besides the art being drop dead gorgeous (alongside every single lady who makes an appearance in the story), the story is engaging and so much fun. The episodes are already a bit shorter than usual (albeit not for much, it's just me being petty), but the way everything develops makes it feel like they last no more than five minutes.

And Maomao—God Maomao! She's one of the best female main characters I've seen as of recently. She's not lacking personality—she actually has way too much, and I love that. She's so clever and capable at what she does, I bet it'd be so much fun to just stare at her as she picks different herbs or just stays still for hours, trapped in her thoughts.

I'm a sucker for good relationship dynamics and the one between Maomao and Jinshi is just *chef's kiss* exquisit. The way he's constantly trying to seduce her and she just stares at him in apathy or disgust (bonus for when she brushes off the places where he'd placed his hand on) are golden. I also love how what started as teasing and doubt about the other's true intentions morphs into genuine interest and maybe, just maybe, a tiny itty crush.

A pretty strong contestant for anime of the year, in my opinion.

Megumi no Daigo: Kyuukoku no Orange

Action, Drama // ☆☆☆½

The series follows three young firefighters who share the same goal—becoming members of the special rescue corps known as "Orange". We'll follow them from their early training days to the day they face the crisis that'll push Japan at the brink of collapsing.

I don't know about you, but I've never seen a series focused on firefighters. Yes, I know about Promare and Fire Force, but those aren't "real" firefighters, if you know what I mean.

Where's their daily life at the station, their training—just everything that comes with being one of them? I don't want flashy fight scenes against angsty twinks, I want to see people getting rescued from collapsed buildings and cats getting saved from trees.

Along with interesting characters and tense situations, all these making it difficult for you to not empatize with, Megumi no Daigo is here to bring us a peek on how the real deal is—with both the good, the bad and the ugly.

This anime is confirmed to be the prequel to a movie released in the 90's, so there's even more content in case you're interested!

Migi to Dali

Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Slice of Life // ☆☆☆

Twin brothers Migi and Dali pretend to be the Sonoyama's adoptive son, Hitori, in order to find out the truth behind their mother's death.

CW: (prepare your bingo cards) *inhales* forced non-sexual infantilization, forced partial nudity, forced non-sexual pet play, bullying, implied murder, classism, forced eating, non-sexual groping, surveillance, invasion of privacy, kidnapping and imprisonment. ~95% of these happen to a minor, so yeah.

While the main focus of the first two episodes was the comedy (it's still present in the rest of the series, just not as much), I didn't find it especially hilarious? It does give off Sakamoto vibes at times, but it never makes me laugh as much as the author's previous work did.

The mystery is still there, thought, and that's what keeps me coming back. The suspense surronding the twins' mother's passing is engaging, you genuinely want to find out what happened there and how the place where they've moved and its habitants are involved in the case.

Now, as I mentioned before this anime is disturbing and thus can be highly triggering for some. So please beware before giving it a chance.

Overtake!

Drama, Sports // ☆☆☆¾

Kouya is a professional photographer who, due to past circumstances, gave up his passion for taking pictures of people. But his fate changes the day he meets Komaki Motors, a family-run shop that regularly competes in F4 along with their only racer, Haruka.

CW: implied death (car accident)

Sports anime of the season, let's go! This time, about car racing. Never watched an anime like this one before, although I know Initial D is out there. I just haven't watched it... yet.

To be honest, I didn't expect to connect with the characters to this level. I got hooked to the story from day one and has been like that ever since.

The story is fun, the races will have you at the edge of your seat while cheering for your favorite team.

Because yes, I think the rival team can also be cheered on! Maybe their main face might not be the bestest guy, but Toshiki does deserve everything in this world and so much more.

And when it comes to the drama, it never comes out as over the top. Every single reason for them thinking, responding or acting the way they do makes total sense given their past ciscumstances.

Speaking of the characters, everyone here has enough personality to be separated from the rest: Haruka's overachieving and at times harsh demeanor makes a good contrast with Koutaro's more calm and playful behavior. And while Satsuki's charismatic, conceited and women-loving persona might be a pain for many, Toshiki serves as a good companion with his serious and ambitions being. And I could mention the adults, but I think you catch my vibe.

I so recommend this one!

Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu Season 2

Fantasy, Romance, Slice of Life // ☆☆☆½

We follow Sei, an office worker in her twenties who was suddenly summoned to another world as a "Saint". Taking advantage of her natural love of plants, she started working at a medicinal plant research institute. We also get to meet Albert Hawke, with whom she's more than friends but less than lovers.

Season two arrived and I have yet to rewatch the first one, although I think it might be a little too late for that.

Don't go into it expecting a wonderful series because it is not (or, at least, it isn't for me). It's a pretty neat feel good series, but definitely nothing out of the ordinary. Just nice people living their lives.

Sei and Albert's relationship is as wholesome as always, I appreciate them taking their time and not rushing into making things official. It feels, I don't know... adult.

There's literally not much I can say about this one other than I would recommend for those who are looking for a nice and relaxing shoujo.

Shangri-La Frontier

Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi // ☆☆☆¾

Rakuro is a "crap-game hunter"—a strong aficionado to clearing buggy and just straight up bad titles that aren't even compatible with the now more frequently used VR technology. The game he's chosen to tackle next is the widely aclaimed "Shangri-La Frontier" that counts with thirty million players and counting. Little did he know this decision would change his fate alongside with many other players he meets along the way!

I can barely count the times I had this much fun while watching a series, and I can count even less the occasions where a gaming-inspired anime made me feel this great!

I've found myself dumbfounded so many times at just how detailed Shangri-La Frontier is. It's obvious there was research behind it, the author's a straight up legend for dedicating so much time and passion to something others would've easily disregarded as another basic, boring ass medieval-inspired MMORPG.

The level of character customization (you can even modify their origins like ‼), the many monsters you find along the way, and tons of easter eggs that players have yet to find in their entirety! It's my first time saying this when it comes to gaming-centered anime, but holy hell I wished this game existed IRL!

And honestly, I identify with Rakuro a bit too much when it comes to enjoying crap. In his case, are bad games. In mine, bad anime. I would love to have a chat with him and share our experiences and disgraces that come with this harsh hobby.

SHY

Action, Drama // ☆☆☆½

When we needed them the most, they appeared! As we were on the brink of World War Three, individuals with superpowers appeared all around the planet with the only mission to mantain peace. They would eventually become symbols of their nations, their presence being enough to lower the crime rates. Teru, most known as Shy, is Japan's heroine. When a mysterious and menacing association called Amalareiks surfaces, Shy must join forces with her fellow superheroes to stop their plans, all while dealing with her shyness and, overall, her teenage life.

CW: violence, death, self hatred, intrusive thoughts

Would it be cool to call it the more mature version of Boku no Hero Academia?

I had the manga for this series on my pending list for a while and when I saw an anime adaptation was coming out, not gonna lie, I got quite excited.

Now, I have to admit it's not one of my favorite series this season. It might be the pacing that sometimes gives me the feeling the episodes are, although just a little bit, longer than they actually are.

I love the concept and how it's executed, I really like the characters and the setting in which they're established. The drama they all have feels realistic and you can easily empathise with them. In my case, Teru's constant conflict with herself hit a little bit too close to home.

I would recommend it to those who're looking for a more mature series while also wanting to watch shounen-esque scenarios.

Sousou no Frieren

Adventure, Drama, Fantasy // ☆☆☆☆½

The adventure's over. The Demon King has successfully been defeated and thus Frieren and her fellow adventurers make their way back home. Now a highly regarded mage, she goes back to her slow-paced life only to realize years later, while attending Himmel's funeral, how short human's life expectancy is when compared with her own near inmortality. Frieren then makes the decision to begin a new adventure in the search of new absurd spells and friends alongside whom she expects to understand what life means to them and just how impactful can be what she perceives as nothing more than an instant.

CW: death, grief, mild violence

Oh Lord, this one's painful. I've no idea how they managed to do it, but they got me attached to the hero's party so quickly and so deeply this crap had already scarred me on episode one.

This story's gorgeous, I don't think I have to explain myself on that. Besides the more than stunning art, animation and music that acompannies us during the entirety of Frieren's self-discovery adventure, the slow pace and quiet moments are quite the delight.

The characters we meet along the way are also fantastic, written with such love, thought and care behind you'll fall for them in no time.

I truly don't want to talk much about it since I think this is an experience that one must live for themselves, but trust me when I tell you this is something you'll never forget.

SPY×FAMILY Season 2

Action, Comedy, Slice of Life, Supernatural // ☆☆☆☆

The same as season one, only that now the family's heading on a cruise ship expedition!

I don't think there's much I can say about this one? The second season's been giving the same vibes I got from the first one, so a wholesome, found family-centered comedic slice of life about three persons who don't know each other at all and do their best so that situation never changes.

Anya keeps on being the chaotic menace she has been from day one, Yor is still one of the best mothers ever alongside a woman I would never dare look for a fight against, and Loid keeps on repeating his more than iconic mantra as he unsuspectingly falls asleep while dreaming about certain woman surrounded by a zillion flowers.

But, you know, anything for the mission.

When it comes to the upcoming arc, I'm excited for seeing Yor at work! Been dying to get anything like this, and I'm so glad my prayers have been heard.

Undead Unluck

Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Supernatural // ☆☆☆¾

All Fuuko wants is a passionate romance like the one in her favorite shoujo manga. Sadly, her Unluck ability deems this dream impossible. But that anguish will have to wait because Andy, someone with the Undead ability, takes her as his test subject to see if, thanks to her misfortune, he can finally rest in peace. It seems peace has never been an option, though, because certain secret organization has begun chasing after them.

CW: not-quite-concenting groping

If I took my sweet time to start watching this series was mainly because, for some hell of a reason, it gave me big Mashle vibes. Don't ask, I just thought the comedy would be similar. And since my humble opinion on Harry Potter 2.0 is that it has its humour stuck up its ass, you might understand I gave an olympic jump over Undead Unluck.

But then I decided to give it a chance and man, Mashle would never!

Not the funniest series I've watched, but I appreciate the multiple laughs it gave me.

Now, what I do not appreciate are the various groping scenes. If Fuuko were to consent all of those, then cool. Who am I to judge whatever two consenting adults (Fuuko's 20+, right?) do with their lives and bodies? The thing is, not every groping is consented by her, especially at the beggining. So yeah, beware of that.

Putting that aside, the characters are pretty cool and so much fun to see fighting or just interacting with each other. The ability system the series has is rather interesting, would love to learn more about it.

Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou

Comedy, Fantasy, Romance // ☆☆☆½

We've heard this story before: girl reincarnates into her favorite otome game and, since she knows her way down every route, she gets to win over her favorite bachelor. Only that, this time, it might not be as predictable. After all, who knows what's truly inside Rae Taylor's mind? Claire François for sure doesn't, especially now that she's going after her—the game's villainess!

CW: discussions of homophobia, classism, rae can be creepy at times

In the words of @arataka-reigen, “This anime is like if Maria from Hamefura was the one who got isekai'd and then fell in love with OG Katarina”. Couldn't say it better, pal.

While this series is not one of my favorites this season, the characters not going right down my alley and the pacing not being the best, I truly appreciate the cafeteria scene. I've never seen such a discussion over diverse sexualities adn homophobia in an anime before, and I can only clap to that.

And not only that, but it seems like it's going down a rather... interesting path. I mean, the whole classism that's present during the series, the "commoner" students' complains, the game's title being "Revolution"... I smell something nice.

Yuzuki-san Chi no Yon Kyoudai

Comedy, Drama, Slice of life // ☆☆☆¾

From the day the Yuzuki brothers lost both their parents, Hayato never stopped taking care of his little siblings, making sure all their needs are met and nothing's lacking. They share tears, laughter, and a specially unbreakeable bond.

I've no idea what might be the reason, but all these stories about family (whether related by blood or not being quite irrelevant) alongside the others where they include and/or center around pets are my weakness.

The four brothers feel like actual humans beings, their dramatic and joyful moments in life will definitely take you for a ride althought, admitely, it might not be the most intense one.

Hayato would do literally anything for his family and, honestly, same. Both Mikoto, Minato, and Gakuto are downright adorable and would love to pinch every single one of those cheeks like there's no tomorrow.

If a cutsie family-center slice of life it's what you're looking for, look no further. But if what you want is a drama in general, then I would recommend Frieren first.

If you reached the end, thank you so much for reading! I literally stayed up til 2 AM to finish writing this (and I didn't even include the titles I dropped), so yeah. Highly appreciate!

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pumpkinpie59 · 7 months

Text

while everyone likes to crap on leo/rai (for good reason) and on apritello for being cringe ig

i feel like one thing every 2012 ship has a problem with is pacing

yes i mean every ship

it’s clear that the 2012 writers don’t rlly know how to commit to romantic subplots so they either go the “they are super into each other right off the bat so there’s little build up” angle or the “will they won’t they,, but we’ll never show them actually get together” angle

i’m not saying these are atrociously bad or anything but it can be really annoying in the long run

apritello is the entire reason i got into 2012 when i was 11 lmao so it got stale for me when the show focuses less and less on their development since they didn’t want to commit to an actual subplot after the bigfoot fiasco. they both grow, sure, but it’s pushed to the background and we never see them talk about it. instead we get a kiss in a non-canon music video ://

dw apritello i still love you

with ramona, while it’s incredibly sweet how in love they are, the pacing of their first episode was ,,,, bad lol. the first time i watched it i was so underwhelmed i was like,,, this gets better?? right?? and it did but yeah i think that first episode for sure needed tweaking.

and more mona would’ve been great too. she needed some character exploration outside of her relationship with raph,, like having her talk more with the other characters her age (i would kill for april and mona content). i’m not saying she doesn’t have depth. she does. but a lot of it gets pushed to the background for her dynamic with raph.

they just didn’t even try with mikey and renet i’ll be real. they threw renet in there as a love interest and then kept making her and mikey kinda go in circles with their interest in each other. they’ll be cute and close in some scenes and then renet will act like she’s just humoring him while mikey kinda forgets about her when shini shows up.

i think renetangelo is cute to some extent (tho i do dislike 2012 mikey a bit so that doesn’t help) but time travel romances are automatically rlly hard to write well and since 2012’s romance writing is already messy, they weren’t going to do well. and renet herself is automatically more interesting when she’s not interacting with mikey. like her platonic dynamic with leo?? adorable. my favorite renet is 2003 and she’s not a love interest and she’s so charming!! renet is just a fun quirky friend of the turtles.

y’all know i love a lot of tmnt love interests so the fact that i prefer renet as a friend prolly says a lot about how she should be written gjdkdk

i don’t wanna talk about leo/rai much, but other than the glaringly bad i/ncest issue (both siblings and cousins), they just weren’t very good as a romantic dynamic either?

like yeah i’m biased bc lotus is the only leo love interest i will ever accept (and also leo/rai is gross lol)

but like ,,, with karai, leo saw her as an escape from being a leader so he can explore his rebellious streak. which is interesting! but unlike with lotus, leo was willing to betray her behind her back, and karai was willing to manipulate him to do what she wanted him to. but okay that’s getting off topic. back to the pacing,,

season 1 gets a pass for me since i actually love the pacing of season 1 alone (like honestly, after the cousin reveal, there wasn’t any romance up until season 2 from my memory,, and even before that after karai betrayed leo and the other brothers found out, leo wasn’t into her,, it was his brothers who were making fun of him), but afterwards, season 2 onward,the timing of leo/rai moments were always a slap in the face bc they were always. ALWAYS. right after they acknowledged her as family THRJEKSJDJDKSK

but yeah i think pacing is the worst problem of 2012 ships :p

obviously some other problems too, like sexism lol. but pacing is most glaring for me

#im ranting idk #tmnt #tmnt 2012 #pumpkin stuff #tmnt ships #apritello #apriltello #tmnt ramona #raphmona #renetangelo #shiniangelo #shinangelo #anti leorai #i aint actually tagging the ship yjdjdjsk

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ladytauria · 7 days

Note

Jaytimsteph falling in love with your best friends partner you say 👀 please say more

happily!

this one is being written as a prompt response to @waffleinator-inator <3

writing it was my first time writing steph pov and she just---ran away with me <3 basically: steph and tim are besties but also exes, because as much as they love each other, they finally decided to give up after one too many break-ups. and now! tim is with jason <3 and steph is really happy for him. really, and truly she is.

now.

if she could kindly tell herself to stop falling in love with jason too, that would be nice <3

i THOUGHT i had shared snippets of this wip before but i,,, have not. or if i have, i can't find them in my tags / through tumblr's search. which is upsetting bc it means i now have to pick which of these segments i want to share TuT

hm.

you know what.

actually i won't pick. you get um. 3 snippets <3

Steph spins her chair, balancing her elbow on the arm and cradling her chin in her hand. She thumbs her phone open. One unread message in the group chat she shares with Jason and Tim.

Her traitorous heart flutters; a smile curling on her mouth despite herself.

[TIM] gna mss mv nte. sry steph 😔 m SO bhnd on bdgt rvw; tam’s gna kill me. u 2 shld stl hve fn tho

Ah, yes. Timothy “vowels are optional” Drake. He’s the most atrocious texter Steph has ever met, and she hates that that makes her feel fond.

[STEPH] i thought you loved paperwork?

[JAY] No, he’s a stalker who loves digging through other people’s stuff. Actual paperwork he could care less about

[TIM] 🛑

[JAY] No <3 I told you to do it last night, babe.

[STEPH] lmao busted

[TIM] ws bsy

[JAY] He was gaming with Kon and Bart.

[TIM] & cassie & cissie

[JAY] And Cassie and Cissie.

Steph snorts.

[STEPH] oh, well, that was more important, obvs

[TIM] steph gts it

[JAY] Please don’t encourage him.

[STEPH] that sounds perfect. ur the best jay 💜

[TIM] 😭

[STEPH] do your paperwork, tim 💅🏼

[TIM] prsctn

[JAY] …wtf tim

[STEPH] damn, babe. u made jay drop capitals

[STEPH] but also. what the fuck tim

[TIM] persecution

[JAY] Would it really kill you to type out full words?

[TIM] y 🙂

[STEPH] losing battle, hon. we’re lucky he still uses letters.

He doesn’t bother with Cass. Their conversations happen in full emoji, like modern hieroglyphics. Steph gives herself an 80% chance of correctly deciphering them.

With the rest of them, Tim uses words. Or, well. Something approximate to words, chopping them down to their basest parts. It’s kind of entertaining, especially when it makes both Bruce and Jason furrow their brows in exactly the same way.Not that Steph would ever point that out. She has some sense of self-preservation.

Steph will always be a little bit in love with Tim Drake.

It’s something she’s come to accept about herself, the same way she accepts that her curls will always have a mind of their own, that her stretch marks are here to stay, and that her left knee will always ache before it rains.

She also knows that it’s best they stay just friends. Not that that’s a hardship, or anything. Tim is a hell of a lot better friend than he was a boyfriend—though in hindsight, Steph can admit she wasn’t a stellar girlfriend, either. They were young and dumb—or, well, younger and dumber—and now their history was too fraught to ever think about trying again.

Steph loves being Tim’s bestie, even when that means biting her tongue about his relationships.

Especially with Jason Todd of all people.

Steph can honestly say she never saw that coming.

Like, sure, okay. He’s hot. Steph can admit that, she’s got eyes.

He’s the kind of guy you could actually climb like a tree—tall and broad and thick to boot, with thighs made for biting and pecs Steph is pretty sure would fit nicely in one of her bras. He’s also handsome, in a rugged sort of way, with his twice broken nose and the scar curving up his cheek and his full, kissable lips. His curls always manage to be perfect, too—artfully messy, even when he falls asleep on the couch or takes off that helmet of his.

It’s enviable, really.

Some day she’ll ask him his secret.

But… Steph always kind of saw him as a walking bad idea. The kind of guy baby Steph would have adored, which… Steph loves baby Steph—or she’s trying to—but she had shit taste in men. And Jason, with his leather jackets and guns and daddy issues (and mommy issues too, come to think of it)—

He certainly fit the bill.

Except—

Despite all outward appearances… Jason is a good guy. He’s smart, and funny, and passionate, and kind, and—

Ugh.

Steph kind of hates him a little.

Because, like. Steph can handle thinking about Jason sometimes, in a not-so-friendly, maybe-a-little-bit-sexy way. Tim, too—or even both of them together. Maybe sometimes it gets a little awkward but… Fantasizing is human, and Steph is an adult. She can picture them fucking her and each other six ways to Sunday, doing whatever the raunchiest part of her brain cooks up, and still behave normally around them after.

She’s a grown woman. Her hormones are not the fucking boss of her.

So. Attraction? Handled. Steph has that shit on lock.

What she cannot handle is—Feelings.

#this fic issss almost 5k #altho... i think some of that is my notes actually so maybe not #anyway i love them #when this fic stops giving me difficulty i would love to finish and share with you <3 #bc literally the texting bit? and stephs introspection?? some of my fave stuff i've written <3 #sigh #jaytimsteph #i was going to tag other variations of their ship name but i think that would take.........9??? tags #did i do that math right? hm #tauriawritesfanfic #dcu #lovely anons #asks and answers #wip ask game

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popquizhot-shot · 1 year

Note

HI ECHO!!!

I’m in love with you so I’m sending in a request

Could be spicy could not be

Joel with a reader who loves using her camcorder, recording Joel making his guitars, building, christmases, parties, dinners, you name it, she loves capturing their moments together

They’re driving together in the country, on a run outside of Jackson, and she has her camera and he looks to her and just “you ever thought about using that for somethin’ a little more… intimate, peach?”

Smut. Smut in the backseat of his truck. He’s just recording how you take him, and it’s so intimate and sweet.

GOOBER HI<33

so i actually don't write smut much so i decided to make this extra fluffy to compensate<33 i hope you like the ending :DD please tell me how you like it!

Three times Joel is in front of the camera and two times he's behind.

The first time he sees the camcorder recording him, he playfully shoves it out of his face and raises an exasperated eyebrow at his girl, who just smiles sweetly at him.

The second time, he finishing up with a guitar and he groans as he sees the blasted thing in his peripheral vision.

" Come on, Joel! Smile for me!" she says, laughing a little at his expression and much to his horror, he finds himself smiling widely at the camera before looking away. The sounds of delight that come from her make his lips twist again as he looks at her features that are bathed in golden sunlight.

"What?" she asks, the camera still in her hand.

He says nothing, only walks over and kisses her softly, rendering her speechless. He takes the opportunity and quickly snatched the camcorder and bolts out the door.

Later, they both laugh at the recording of his cheeky high pitched chuckle as her banshee screams echo in the background.

The third time, he's trying to make something for Ellie. And surprise, he's spectacularly failing at baking a cake.

---

His adorable huffs of annoyance make you giggle to yourself as you set the camcorder down on the counter, still recording, as you slowly approach him, caressing his shoulder first so you don't startle him, and hug him from behind as he whisks three eggs and adds them to the flour before anything else.

It's only when the camera starts beeping when she realizes she forgot is was there. By then, the two of them have made the cake and made out against the counter as well.

He's never been much of a dancer, before the outbreak, Tommy was the charmer, the one who loved taking girls dancing and bringing them back to his place.

Joel preferred watching. He'd always been the silent, observant older brother. Looking at every detail and aspect of everything around him. It was part of his job description as a construction worker.

That observant part of him slipped in as he shamlessly watched her dance with everyone during christmas celebrations. It's snowing, and cold, and he would be feeling miserable if it weren't for her. His darling, who found it fun to catch him off guard and record him, or who'd kiss him silly whenever she felt like it, his girl who was dancing with the girl who had become his daughter and lip syncing to whatever song was playing.

"I'm finally crazy" he thinks to himself as he goes inside the house and gets out the camcorder. But he can't help himself, he wants this moment to be preserved, so he can look at it again and remind himself why he bothered to go on.

He switches it on and begins to record.

---

This man has faced clickers, he's seen the worst humanity can offer. He's commited atrocious crimes and done much worse.

So he absolutely should not feel like getting out of the moving car and running back all the way to Jackson.

"Hon, you okay?" she asks him as he stops the vehicle near a field.

He only nods, kissing her forehead and breathing deeply as he fished into his bag to fish out her camcorder. When he finally find it, he switches it to records and sets it on the front panel so the both of them are in view.

"Joel?" she looks between him and the camera, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed.

He breathes out.

"Baby-

"What, Joel?" she asks him again, holding his left hand.

"You know I love you right? I'v found you when I thought i might never find it again. Meeting you was how I met Ellie and now we're all a family. An unofficial family." he clears his throat, " I love you so much, darling. And I have to ask you-" he pulls someting out of his pocket. A velvet box.

"Baby, will you make our family official and marry me?"

The last thing the camcorder sees is the loud exclaim of "Yes!" and laughter before it is unceremoniously knocked from it's spot as she lunges for him and kisses him hard.

But it recorded all the sound as well. It's safe to say Ellie won't be getting that camcorder anytime soon.

#joel miller x reader #joel miller #tlou #the last of us #the last of us fanfiction #pedro pascal #echo actually writes

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likeabxrdinflight · 2 months

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oh they really fumbled episode seven

major step back in this one. there were some weird plot deviations happening in five and six but it was still reasonably decent. here, the plot is sticking much closer to the original again, but good lord the changes they did make...yikes.

yue's all wrong and her wig is atrocious. her being the fox in the spirit world was fine as like, a vision of sokka's- like a premonition. but no, she was actually the fox?? what? also she's not engaged anymore, hahn is just a nice guy, and so there's no tension with her and sokka at all. they're also trying to make her more kick-ass and assertive but that's not...they're girl-bossing her and she's a character who doesn't need it.

meanwhile the actual girl boss character of this franchise is just. katara what have they done to you?? they kept all the elements of the northern water tribe's sexism intact, and yet it just doesn't hit the same. maybe it's in the performances, maybe it's in the writing, but katara and pakku's fight is so lifeless despite having almost the exact same choreography as the cartoon. and katara doesn't challenge him impulsively in a moment of anger either, she plans it.

ironically, they have made her character too much water, not enough fire. it's such a fundamental misunderstanding of who katara is- yes she's compassionate and caring, yes she's responsible and can be gentle and kind and loving. but she's not meek or quiet or "holding herself back." katara is brash and impulsive, she's headstrong, and she's angry. katara has a deep well of rage inside her that is always just moments from bubbling to the surface. and they have taken all that from her in this adaptation. this version of katara is quiet and reserved and insecure. she grows more confident over the course of the show but she never seems to find that spark, that fire that the original had from the start.

they've also taken a key piece of her trauma from her. yes katara was traumatized by her mother's death, I don't mind the way the live action plays this up and makes it something that gets in the way of her bending as an emotional blockage. that's fine, that's good even. but two things are missing- one is the anger I mentioned, but another is what happened after. the live action adaptation goes out of it's way to show us how sokka was affected by stepping into hakoda's role after he left, but it shows us nothing of how katara was afffected by having to fill kya's. it completely erases this aspect of her character- at no point does it ever seem like katara had to step up after her mother died and fill in for her. there's no mention of cleaning sokka's dirty socks, or doing extra chores with gran-gran, or helping to care for the other children in her tribe. none of that, it's just gone. if anything, sokka is now the one who got all the parentification and had to take care of her. he treats her like his baby sister that he had to half-raise, not the other way around.

and like...the original cartoon didn't always do a great job at showing how this "mothering" side of katara was in and of itself traumatizing for her, it did not always depict this as something negative that was wrong for her to have had to endure. but it sometimes did, or at least got close to it. episodes like "the runaway" for example. and this show seems to think that instead of just honestly depicting that as a bad thing from the jump they should just remove it entirely.

this is the worst part of this adaptation for me by far. it is okay to change things, I am fine with that, I am fine with most of the plot changes, but when you make one of the central characters a shadow of herself, when you make her completely unrecognizable? no. something has gone very wrong there.

they also didn't mention pakku's engagement to gran-gran, the fact that gran-gran left the tribe, or that katara's necklace was originally gran-gran's betrothal necklace. maybe they'll pick back up on this in the next episode, but it's not here in this one.

there's also no waterbending training happening. aang isn't learning from pakku at all, his entire plot is around trying to stop his vision from happening (this was an unnecessary change btw and it's like...it's not one of the better changes).

the dialogue was also really rough in this episode. there's this heavy-handed "power of friendship" theme running through this adaptation that never needed to be so stupidly textual in the original, it's less avatar and more my little pony here. unnecessary and cheesy.

this might be the worst episode of the bunch, honestly.

but azula was here for five minutes to shoot lightning so that's cool I guess.

#the fire nation characters have been so good #and the water tribe ones so bad #minus sokka for the most part #RIP to katara's characterization #natla spoilers

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monstersinthecosmos · 7 months

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I am sooo happy I sent that ask!! Your reply was everything I could have wished for and more. I didn’t know anything about the VC universe (I did see the movie adaptation as a kid, but all I could remember were the ~vibes), and now I might actually want to check out the books. I mean I can’t believe how much of it is canon LOL, traumatized kinky asexual vampires wtf? sign me up??? Which book(s) of the series would you recommend to me? :o

In the meantime, I will DEFINITELY be giving your VC fics a try, thank you so much for the pointers!!! I’m already weak just reading your reply, esp. that parallel of post-disaster Armand and Marius being kind of like an AU where Shiro *does* give up on Keith - that actually broke me. A lot of what I love about your fics is how you characterize Keith so realistically and in a way that’s meaningfully informed by his upbringing/subsequent abandonment issues and that’s a thrill to read because, well, it’s just good writing - but also because it makes so much sense, not just abstractly but in a very real and personal way. And while the ~relatability~ of it all makes for a super intense reading experience, it can also be weirdly and sometimes incredibly cathartic imo - which is one of the reasons why I think I keep revisiting your fics (sorry if tmi LOL 😭). But!! In the case of Sheith it more or less all works out in the end because, like you said, it’s such a wholesome ship and they love and prioritize each other so much that (as a reader) they’re kinda like a safe space, delectably complete with all the angst and hurt and fuckedupness of their circumstances/selves (you know, for flavor). However, thinking about a timeline where it does NOT all more or less work out, well that’s kinda super heartwrenching! But yummy? And I kinda can’t wait to get into it but I’m also genuinely scared for my heart LMAO. Anyway I’m sorry for rambling!!! With your permission I will definitely come back and scream about Sheith and vampires because I sorta already am lol.

Re: the teaser xmgdknfnrmsmgdk I can’t even gather enough brain cells to form coherent sentences, I’m just squealing and awaiting my resurrection I guess. Thank you sooo so so much! I got so excited I haven’t even been able to finish reading it 🫣😳😵😵😵

!!!!! Thank you again for such a thoughtful and delicious response! <3

Dgahskjdl g GOSH THANK YOU AGAIN

So this post got really long I’m so sorry asdghkads TLDR: I recommend all of them but I also don’t LMAO and you can skip around and won’t be confused but it will spoil stuff. This is a LOADED QUESTION.

It’s wild like I was thinking about the fic i could stop dreaming and also just in general AGAIN IF WE CAN TALK ABOUT COMMON SHEITH TROPES/FANON like I’ve read many S8 fix-its where Keith is drifting around and he’s just like so cold and broken and empty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that’s how Armand feels to me! Even a fic like heart nailed open where Keith is just so fucking empty! Or SOURCE DECAY??????? Like I think there’s tons of Sheith AUs or S8 fics where Keith is like Depressed Guy Keith and !!!!!! God it fucks me up lol. Armand is kinda like if Depressed Guy Keith was also like a 500 year old fucking weirdo.

And like BECAUSE they’re vampires and they’re immortal they’re sort of always coming in and out of each other’s lives so like there’s always a hypothetical future where they can work it out. Like i could stop dreaming is about them working it out, right? And what it would take to heal that injury. And there’s a lot of stuff in canon where these characters commit absolute fucking atrocities to each other and still manage to work it out and I think it’s again just an exercise in empathy and asking if we can still deserve love when we’ve fucked up. The characters have CENTURIES to get over stuff (and some of them STILL DON’T LOL) but sometimes they do. Famously & without spoiling too much of IWTV, Armand does something pretty fucking atrocious to Louis and they still have a long relationship and still love each other very much!!!

But ON THE QUESTION OF WHICH BOOKS, jfc hold my beer

I think in Sheith you see people like almost universally dismiss S8; the only fics I ever see of it really are like just gratuitous whump or fix-its LOL which is valid. And VC has FIFTEEN FUCKING BOOKS and you could honestly ask ANY fan in VC which books “count” and which books are skippable and I think everyone has a different answer.

I also think you can read them out of order and there’s always a little bit of exposition to catch you up so you won’t be lost; the only downside is that you’ll get spoiled on the previous book. For example, if you jumped in and read Armand’s book first, it would make sense, but it would spoil what happened at the end of the book before it.

Also to get the movies & show out of the way because it’s faster than committing to fifteen books:

The 1994 movie is a pretty solid adaptation; you can tell they condensed some details for time or whatever but it’s pretty faithful. There’s also the show that came out last year which is …………….. not so faithful lol. The show also heavily focuses on Lestat & Louis which is the juggernaut ship of the fandom but they’re also like the missionary position of the fandom so who the fuck cares lol. (Loustat fans lurking in this extremely niche post I am so sorry, I'm kidding ilu LMAO it's just not my thing!) And tbh the show wrote Armand & Daniel’s characters SO POORLY it like absolutely killed any motivation I had to continue watching so as an Armand stan I can’t really recommend it but it’s kinda like silly and fun if you don’t take it too seriously. And tbh if this entire fact finding mission is to understand VC more, the show literally changes EVERYTHING; it changes the time period, it changes the lore, it changes the story, it changes the character ages, etc. Basically it just kept the names lol. It's a completely different canon so I think even show fics & book fics aren't compatible either.

There’s also a movie of Queen of the Damned from 2002 which is like SO BAD LMAO but also silly fun. It’s a really bad adaptation but I’d put it in between the movie and the show. Marius is in it and the characterization is really strange LMAO. Armand is an extra.

The thing about VC is that it’s very sort of like non-linear and nontraditional storytelling. Most of the books are narrated by Lestat but several of them are narrated by random other people, and a lot of times the same story is retold through other people’s POVs. Like you get the story about Marius & Armand in three different books and each version is a little different because everyone has a different perspective. And regarding reading out of order and having spoilers, I do think it often creates like a suspense vs surprise element because we circle back and revisit the same stories so many times; you might get a spoiler and read a book knowing that a certain thing is going to happen and there’s still the tension of waiting for it to happen haha. Like when I mentioned the cult raids Marius’s house—you learn about that in Book 2 so you read Armand’s book later going into detail about his life and you’re just SWEATING because you know it’s coming. AND THEN YOU READ ABOUT IT IN MARIUS'S BOOK AND YOU'RE JUST DEVASTATED ONCE MORE.

I will say that for me I always recommend just fucking read them lol. Just read all of them. LOL!! But they’re weird and like, you’re gonna hate some of them, but I don’t think you can take someone’s word for it on Tumblr, it must be experienced. But I do understand that it’s a lot of material to get through and so I can give a fair cheat guide I think.

Most fans agree that the first three books (“The Trilogy”!) are solid and worth reading. Those are Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and The Queen of the Damned. IWTV is like this gloomy gothic tome about Louis’s life that started this whole thing and was written as a conversation about grief because Anne Rice’s daughter had died. It absolutely reads like a book someone writes about their daughter dying and it’s REALLY beautiful but it’s also a bit dense at times. If you’re put off by the vibe IT GETS EASIER when Lestat shows up because he literally bursts into the series like Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way ready to like tell you how blonde he is and how he’s gonna fuck everyone’s lives up. The books are still very heavy on existential questions and angst and grief but the text gets a bit lighter and super absurd LOL.

The first three also establish the universe and lore, though, so I think it would give you a pretty solid foundation to understand that type of stuff.

After the trilogy the books just go off the rails like there’s a few about Lestat having stupid adventures and doing dumb shit, there’s a few that cross over with Anne Rice’s witch series (so add three more book so if you truly wanted to read all of them!), then Anne Rice went back to the church and stopped writing vampires so there’s a huge gap, and then she quit the church again and returned LMAO. There’s a final trilogy she wrote before she died that are like, not the heaviest reading and they’re just kinda like silly good times with lots of Easter eggs and fan service. I feel good about the final trilogy being how it ended, just really silly times about them trying to use iPhones and shit, completely wild.

As far as ARMAND CONTENT THOUGH.

Armand does feature heavily in the trilogy so that’s also a good Armand foundation. And it’s REALLY FUN because he shows up in IWTV as sort of a chill mentor to Louis, but then in TVL you get the story about how Lestat met him when he was still in the cult and he was a feral little monster!!! And I love the duality of how Lestat and Louis describe him!!! It’s framed as unreliable narration a lot of the time because like Lestat’s resentment & Louis’s respect for Armand absolutely color the way they describe him, but idk like 100 years go by in between the two meetings so you also see a lot of character growth and see how Armand is doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God. My heart.

Anne Rice also very often uses like texts inside texts so like, IWTV literally is an interview with a vampire where the bulk of the book is in quotes as dialogue LOL and then in other books you often meet a character who will talk for like 40 pages at a time to tell a story. So in TVL when Lestat meets Armand, Armand takes over for a chapter and tells the story of his life, and then later he meets Marius and Marius ALSO tells the story of his life.

QOTD is a modern story (modern in the 1980s when it was written haha) about how the whole vampire world has to deal with Lestat’s bullshit and they all come together for a common cause. This book features the little novelette about Armand & Daniel as one of the chapters!! It’s so good!! (The chapter is called The Devil's Minion and basically if you needed to understand Armand & Daniel you could just read that one chapter and that's basically it bc then it goes to shit!!! Not to spoil anything but also don't get your hopes up about like heaps and heaps of ship content because there isn't any lmfao fml)

It also features Marius and Armand reuniting with each other after 500 years!!!!!!!! HEARTBREAKING! It’s really good and very preposterous but the writing is so lush and takes itself so seriously you kinda forget that it’s preposterous.

Armand has a POV book later in the series, it’s called The Vampire Armand, it details his life as a human and some of his early years as a vampire with Marius. IT’S SORT OF LIKE A LONG EXTENDED VERSION OF HIS CHAPTER IN TVL.

I do want to say that regarding the BDSM and whatnot that I mentioned; this book is quite controversial because there’s not good BDSM etiquette LOL and like part of the genius of this book is that it can be read as abuse, even when Armand isn’t setting out to tell you the story of how he was abused. I have a lot of thoughts about this because Anne Rice was also an erotica writer and her erotica books were all noncon BDSM; I WROTE ABOUT IT HERE I DON’T WANT TO GET INTO IT NOW but I think depending how people go into this book they either see the kink & sex stuff as explicit abuse OR you can read it as like, fantasy from a porn writer. As a Sheith fan I’m going to assume you’re not that sensitive lol. (But also por que no los dos, that's the flavor baby!)

Personally I think you could read this book as a standalone and like, it’ll be a little whacky without context, but I think I’ve given you a lot of context. It’s basically about his sad sad life, the religious trauma, and all the freaky sex he had. (Also just so you’re not disappointed, the sex isn’t graphic haha but he’ll be like “And then I went to the brothel and they licked honey off my nipples and I came home and Marius sucked my dick in the bathtub” but not like crazy sex scenes.)

Marius also has a POV book called Blood & Gold and it’s my favorite in the series!! IT’S MARIUS’S LONG EXTENDED VERSION OF HIS TVL CHAPTER. I think it’s the one that handles IMMORTALITY the best; the other books often focus on a short period of time or a specific incident and don’t often span someone’s ENTIRE life. IWTV spans Louis’s entire life but he’s only like 200 years old. Marius is 2,000!!!! He’s from the Roman Empire!! So like it’s really exciting to me to read about his whole life and all the eras he lived through!!!!!!!!!!!!

In his book you also get a few chapters about his time with Armand and it breaks my heart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There’s also a third secret option which is the book Pandora which isn’t part of the main series; VC is like actually 13 books and 2 side books? LOL So Pandora is one of the side books. But she was the first vampire that Marius made and they were lovers for like 200 years. This book to me feels like Anne Rice had a lot of leftover historical research and wanted to park it somewhere so a lot of the text is her talking about history stuff but there’s really great Marius content here and Marius/Pandora is one of my fav ships.

A lot of the fandom are more into the original trilogy and the Lestat/Louis content but I’m all about Marius so I’m into the DARK TRIAD of The Vampire Armand/Blood & Gold/Pandora. This to me is the more interesting section of the series but it’s an unpopular opinion so don’t take my word for it.

Other than that I’d also say Memnoch the Devil is my absolute least favorite VC, I think it’s so weird and boring lol but there’s some absolutely incredible Armand stuff in it and the stuff Armand does in this will be spoiled immediately if you check out Pandora or TVA. All in all it’s like idk 10 fucking pages of Armand LOL so if you got an ebook you could probably word search him. BUT YKNOW WHAT? Again don’t take someone’s word for it from Tumblr because like I find this book very weird and boring because it’s the most religious and I was raised atheist; there are people who were raised religious and say this one is their favorite. So what the fuck do I know!

Marius & Armand & Daniel are all in the final trilogy as well if you make it that far. Daniel is sort of always shuffled to the side because Anne Rice didn't care about him so like every time Daniel shows up I like feast on the breadcrumbs LOL but I'm glad to get some context about how he's doing and what's going on with his life.

ANYWYA I’M NOT SURE IF THIS ANSWERS THE QUESTION OR MAKES IT MORE CONFUSING LOL but ! ?!

They’re very weird books, they’re also kinda outdated and racist, but very queer, beautiful prose, incredible characters. They were my first hyperfixation that I can never seem to shake even when I’ve done all the work to dismantle all the ways they’re problematic and imperfect, it’s just yknow sometimes something gets its claws in you LOL. And I go out and explore other fandoms and still always come back to Marius and Armand and Daniel lol. I say that to say I wouldn’t be offended if you didn’t like them LOL but don’t judge me if you give it a shot and you’re like “what the fuck is this”

I just think Armand is like the most incredible character of all time okay!

SORRY FOR THIS VERY LONG REPLY LOL love you, patience yields focus!

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startreatment · 8 months

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literally no one asked, but i'm listening to midnights in full (again) to see if my opinion's changed so! a little track by track review!

lavender haze - i got it the first time. nothing bad to say about this track tbh! really like the melodies, it's catchy and feels fresh and new. well, it kinda reminds me of false god in a sense? maybe it's just the sultry nature of the track. 8/10

maroon - this fuck ass song. the metaphors are giving "high schooler trying to write poetry" at times, the chorus is just. . . no, thank you! earlier on twitter i said that it feels like too much and not enough at the same time? her vocals are clearly the focus, but i don't particularly enjoy the melodies on this one, so. . . don't like the production either actually! it's kinda like afterglow but worse in every way to me. the outro's nice though, i love her voice! still i skip it every time it comes on shuffle and roll my eyes every time i see maroon praise on the tl. 4/10

anti-hero - actually a lot better than i remember! that sexy baby line still catches me off guard every time tho. the bridge is very funny TO ME! i kinda see the vision now i think. maybe! idk. the verses are kinda there, don't really do anything for me (which is actually a problem with most track on this record, now that i think about it). nonetheless it's like a 7/10

snow on the beach - genuinely a great track, even though i never get the urge to listen to it. love how dream-like and hazy and Cold it sounds! like a particularly frosty night in the middle of december. it's a very purple track as well, if you know what i mean. i like it! some of the lyrics are questionable ("life is emotionally abusive" is just not it for me SORRY).

ALSO the "weird but fucking beautiful" part is incredibly annoying to me . . .something about it is so lana that i just can't stomach it, it makes me physically cringe. when i do listen to the song, it's always the clean version lol. also i just couldn't give less of a shit about lana and i'm glad she didn't get a verse! 8.5/10 tho, a beautiful track.

you're on your own, kid - i get what she was going for, and if it weren't for jack i would've loved this one a lot more bc lyrically and vocally it's very very nice! unfortunately they both hate me. oh well! 8/10

midnight rain - love the concept, but the execution could've been wayyyy better tbh. lyrically it's a bit corny at times and production-wise it's nothing to write home about, but it's not outrageously horrible, so i guess a 6/10?

question...? - i have the bad taylor swift songs enjoyer gene so TO ME this isn't half as bad as everyone makes it out to be. the bridge is meh, but the melodies are very fun! lyrically, it's kinda all over the place, but i still get it . 7/10

vigilante shit - look. didn't i just say i have the bad ts songs enjoyer gene? it could've been in my top 5 if the production was even a tiny bit interesting. lyrically? it's atrocious. unbelievably corny, this weird mixture of edgy and awkward only taylor can achieve. in other words, PERFECT !!! it kind of reminds me of lwymmd, if lwymmd was like 3 times less cunty and camp, and like 10 times less interesting production-wise. vocally, she delivers though! very sexy, playful and fun!!! we could've had it all!! jack had other plans, i guess. 6/10

bejeweled - really fun. one of my favs since day one, actually! loooove the production on this one! the synth (? i don't know shit about instruments btw) makes me think of those 3-in-a-row games and it's just Perfect! love those "nice!" moments, love the chorus, love the bridge. in the famous words of Taylor Nation, let's reclaim the land, uk swifties! 8/10

labyrinth - too boring, sorry. i've seen someone say that if this song were on folklore, swifties would "give it the attention it deserves", and i couldn't disagree more. it's just not It lyrically, sorry. 5/10. SORRY. genuinely don't understand why she put this on the record instead of something like would've, could've, should've, or the great war or even glitch (which would make the bejeweled -> karma transition seamless. do you guys think we'll ever get a solid ts album tracklist that makes sense? i doubt it.)

karma - again, i got it the first time. verses are boring and if i could, i'd only listen to the chorus+the bridge, but it's still soooooo FUNNNN!!! like. karma is a cat purring in my lap cause it loves me. that chorus melody is Insane and her vocal delivery is top notch. she's a pop mastermind. 8/10 only because the verses suck otherwise this would've been a 10 and i mean it. i like pop music a lot btw.

sweet nothing - really sweet. doesn't make me feel like i'm slipping into a coma, unlike labyrinth. beautiful piano, beautiful melodies! like a 7/10 maybe. should've been a tad shorter i think.

mastermind - i wish it didn't suck this bad production-wise. i think the concept's really fun - a song about being a mastermind from a woman known to leave easter eggs everywhere she goes. the idea of working hard behind the scenes trying to construct a perfect love story for you and your lover... i get it. unfortunately, it's also . . . boring. 5/10.

not gonna do the 3am tracks and hits different because they're all great and i don't feel like writing out "this has great lyrics!" 7 times in a row. i do have to say that dear reader is the worst thing ever because JACK ANTONOFF. like it just makes me want to throw up how much i like the lyrics and how shitty the song sounds. goddamit.

it's a 6.7, according to my calculator!

#post.txt

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ashpentagram · 1 year

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how many of these am I gonna do fr

I’ve been mulling over wasting my time trying to give a whole speech as a decade-long writer about experiencing growth and gaining inspiration from various medias and go into a small dive into how refusing to grow by creating a fervent echo chamber will only harm your process and ruin a pretty feasible creation and turn it into a battlefield that just leaves everybody miserable, as well as leave you as a stunted writer from the early 2010s.

I basically wanna say that Viv has the potential and the resources to grow as a writer. Animator, designer, world-builder — set all of those aside and focus solely on the writing aspect.

Personally, Viv has astounding concepts. Her world creation, introducing these ideas and offering a different perspective are fantastic.

Her execution is piss-poor, to be blunt.

As a small contextual tangent — there’s a sad situation that any sort of critique on her writing is seen as an attack (both by her, and her fans) and anybody who wants to offer any sort of advice or feedback are shunned and written off as haters or nihilistic assholes. Don’t get me wrong, I feel as if there’s an annoying amount of people out there who just really hate Viv and all she is, and that’s stupid. The parasocial breech on both sides of the anti and stan spectrum is so absurd, because you have her crew (I understand they do not fall under parasocial due to actually working / communicating / “knowing” her) claiming her as innocent as a lamb, and her fans praising her like she’s the second-coming of Christ, and then you have antis who attempt to doxx her and send her incessant death threats and slander her name. Neither of these things are appropriate, even if one side is technically positive.

I don’t think Viv is a saint. I don’t think she’s the most atrocious person on the planet. I am simply a fellow writer and creator who is looking at her work and pointing out places where improvement can be made. I would be much more lenient and understanding if she was a beginner or an amateur, but she’s working professionally and has been working professionally for quite some time now. People who act like she’s some helpless writer because she doesn’t have the experience don’t understand she has been making overarching worlds and stories for a decade. As have I.

So, with that preamble aside, I wanna discuss the aforementioned echo chamber Viv has locked herself into. It’s relatively well-known by now that Viv cannot handle criticism. Most amateurs can’t — it’s hard to hear that somebody doesn’t like your work, or experience the initial feeling of not being good enough. I myself for the longest time hid away from criticism and wrote rather harsh responses to people when I got it. That was wrong of me, however I was also only somewhere between 11-15. Viv was 19 or 20 when zoophobia began to release, which to some people would still consider exceptionally young. However it’s been ten years since Zoophobia, and the same writing flaws are apparent.

We’re given a premise — be it simple or not — of a show or a comic that really digs in the interest of the audience. That’s how hooks work, and hooks are not always solid in the sense of being anything more to grab your audience and sit them down to invest in your story — however, when you look at your premise for the story as the hook, and treat it as all that it is, it’s much harder to stray from it and explore different ideas and perspectives without the audience feeling confused as to why so much has changed. In Zoophobia’s case, while yes, it was a hastily dropped project for the sake of Hazbin, it fell rather fast from its initial premise of following Cameron as she navigated her job as a councilor for creatures she was petrified of (hence the name). It was handed to us under the guise of us following her journey as she learned to sympathize with something she feared, as well as aid them despite her wariness and confusion. Granted, it was present throughout most of the comic, which is probably why I enjoyed it more than I currently enjoy Helluva Boss, but it had its moments of teetering away from Cameron — her story was essentially done within the first 7 chapters of the first book. She was warming up to the animals around her, and while she was still tentative, she handled her first counseling case with almost no discomfort. I feel like in the sense her growth was rushed, because Viv really wanted to move on and look to the other cast of the comic, and that’s completely valid. It’s hard not to rush to important parts, but that’s an amateur mistake.

The problem is this mistake never corrected itself due to the filtering of criticism under the pretense of it being nothing more than mindless hate. There is a subtlety to refinement, sure, don’t fix what isn’t broken, but don’t just let it sit and get old and worn either. In Zoophobia the hook was the story. By the end of the released content, the hook was abandoned for the additives, and I do personally enjoy Damian’s moments and learning more about the world, I won’t deny that it strayed very quickly from what grabbed us in the first place. In Helluva Boss, the book was little lowborn demons going to earth and killing people already-dead people wanted offed, as well as the boss of the ragtag team being tied down by the royal he outsmarted. It was an excellent idea, and I was beyond excited to be invested in it. I was invested until about episode 4, with the cracks growing cavernous the longer I mulled over the story and the actual implications and portrayals they were giving us.

I won’t deny that I was perhaps the harshest on episode 4 due to the angels being downright disappointing, but I also recognize that introducing heaven to us in any capacity in Helluva Boss instead of keeping those cards close to the chest for Hazbin was a drastically horrible choice in a writing aspect. Yes, I know there’s an appeal of showing the opposite side of the universe and how there’s an opposite to our main cast, but it shouldn’t have been on the table in the first place. Heaven was securely wrapped in intrigue and mystery for an explicit reason of “demons don’t know angels” hence Charlie’s naïveté. Showing us, and IMP experience angels and heaven was… terrible. It has completely isolated Heaven as a joke of pastel softness instead of a force to be reckoned with. Those exterminators gave us everything we needed to know about heaven and all that should have been given — giving us the CHERUBs in episode 4 has demolished Heaven into a ridiculous joke of “oh well they have these super cool murder angels, but there’s also stupid babies who get bested by Hell’s canonical lowest-born demons :)”

This is poor writing. This is jumping forward and abandoning your hook as easily as it was brought to the audience. Technically episode 2 was the first drop of IMP, but episode 4 really kicked us down.

Another episode that comes to mind with writing issues is episode 7. Episode 7 showed us that Stolas was so depressed and in love with Blitzø after the entire season showed us he exclusively fetishized him. So much as calling him the plaything Striker assumed Blitzø to be in episode 5. Stolas was never portrayed as being in love except for outside the “grey-area instagrams”. Relying on non-canonical posts to build a relationship where canon actively fights it has the same tonal dissonance of the merchandise showing Blitzø and Stolas perfectly happy and enjoying each others company when Blitzø has smiled a total of three times around Stolas in the entire season (two of which were Blitzø being cheeky, not genuine). Episode 7 felt as if it took place 20 episodes in and not 7, and relied so heavy on Stolas being a lovesick puppy that they made all the progress and context of the literal episode prior just jump down the drain head-first. Blitzø realizing his emotions towards Stolas are negative and he feels like he’s being used? Moxxie and Blitzø seemingly becoming more attuned to one another with newfound respect? Gone. It’s all gone. Blitzø is back to stalking Moxxie and Millie and ignoring their gripes, and the crew decide “oh well we’re gonna make it Blitzø’s fault that Stolas thinks it’s a date, because Blitzø’s growth is gone and we need him and the plot to roll along.”

Then we meet a spineless king of Hell Asmodeus, with his imp, Fizzarolli who is also Blitzø’s childhood friend. You can say whatever you want about these two, I don’t care, but their relationship in any capacity is really out of nowhere. They are a foil for Stolitz, and while they work, they also make no sense. I have a long-winded tangent for Fizz and Oz, I’ll really need to organize my thoughts on them because a lot of my gripes are built out of frustration of taking an easy-way out instead of really giving us the “dark” in dark comedy.

To be short, episode 7 did not feel connected to the series. It felt like it should have come much later, and acted as if it was hot shit when in reality it was flat and hamfisted. It was so desperate to give Stolitz an episode where their relationship was put on a pedestal, and then break it back down, but the fact they were building with rubble just made the thing a disaster.

Going into season two, the writing fell harder than it ever had. Somehow, somewhere, Viv decided making these two disasters into childhood friends, or at least, force them to meet as children. As to add insult to injury, they crumpled Stella’s character, they made Paimon a joke, and they made Blitzø subjected to literally being sold by his father and bought by Stolas’s. Idk about you but even if I was capable of loving somebody romantically, if I knew my parents bought them to spend time with me, I’d instantly lose all attraction because of how disgusting that situation would be perceived as. Also as I’m writing this, I’m wondering where the hell Stolas was when Paimon was talking to Cash, since Paimon left Cash’s tent with his butler but like. Where’s the kid. Did they just forget Paimon had gone with Stolas? It could’ve been as simple as showing Stolas sneaking off to see Blitzø after the show and him, Blitzø and Fizz interacting with each other.

Anyway. Episode 1 of s2 was a mess. It single-handedly tore down everything coherent in the prior season. I don’t know how you manage to do that, but I guess when you’re stuck in an echo-chamber and hellbent on forcing every imaginable trope into your favorite ship, Viv is sacrificing quality for self indulgence. And yes, doing what you want to do is completely valid, and you don’t have to care what people think, but the fact you play it for excellency and perfection and astounding ground-breaking storytelling when in reality it’s just glorified yaoi fanfiction is disastrous. Add all of these with a rabid fan base that white-knights Viv at every chance because during a time period where she was genuinely being harassed over long-old issues she’s consistently apologized and grown from, the fan base has this weird conditioning that everything that goes against her is an intent to destroy their “perfect queer demon show.”

I don’t even have the energy for discussing season 2 episode 2, since it’s basically just digging its grave as hard as it can. It had a great moment with showing us Loona’s backstory and finally giving me a crumb of dark content, but other than that, it was a flat and boring episode. The writing was subpar since it couldn’t decide what it wanted to do, and bloated itself when it literally didn’t need to.

I’ve been writing this post over the course of three or two days now, I can’t remember but just recently Erin Frost made another post about Viv and while this isn’t the place I want to discuss it, the fandom has been saying some truly disgusting things towards a victim and I think y’all need to think about what you’re saying to people. What if all of these allegations are true? What if Viv really did say these things and really was harming her workers? Would you like these things said to you if you were in Erin’s place? What happened to you all preaching kindness and being a welcoming community? Seriously. Just sit and think for once before you say something so abysmally cruel. Viv is not gonna give you a one-way ticket to exclusive content just because you called somebody a slur.

I’ve strayed really far from the initial topic of this post which was the lack of letting yourself hearing criticism will only harm you and leave you ignorant. Viv should know by now how to write something coherent, yet she fails to do so. She should know that criticism is an excellent gateway to growth and understanding your work and how to create. Criticism is not going to go away just because you block it out. You will grow in certain areas but you will always remain stunted if you don’t let yourself be vulnerable to the views others may have. Forcing yourself into a room where all you hear and process is praise and worship, you will become so so deaf to those with genuine desire to share their views on how you could not only create something better, but create something that would flow beautifully with the rest of the creation. Right now, the writing is swimming against the current. The composition and the animation (while not perfect) are astounding in their own rights. The backgrounds are beautiful, even when in an episode where the cast is stuck for the majority in one room. The music, while not adhering to my personal tastes, is passable to the majority. I suppose the writing can be viewed that way, but most of the time I can’t tell if people are actually enjoying the show, if they’re fetishizing gay people, or if they’re just so desperate for anything queer-run and queer-oriented they lose all sense of self and devour and obsess over it because it’s content that we have been starved of for generations.

I don’t want to come off negative. These are my thoughts as a writer. These are my thoughts of a once die-hard fan who would and has white-knighted Viv before. This is coming from a place of concern and a desire to share my thoughts on how writing can grow. Just because Viv has matured from writing “wuz” to “was” doesn’t mean the piece has grown from a half-assed stick figure attempt you don’t put any soul into to Leonardo Da Vinci or Picasso. Art is supposed to be about continual growth, and when you force yourself into a box you will not be able to branch out in the ways you want. You will be forced to live in that box unless you yourself allow others to nurture in your growth. You do not have to create and grow on your own, you can allow others with conflicting inputs to interact with you.

#helluva boss #long post #helluva boss critical

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untitled-gem · 3 months

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after the adventure: part 1

[ decided to start writing a small fic about stuff that maybe happened after fionna & cake. def not my best work but it's been fun lol i may write some more soon!! ]

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The first thing Simon wanted to do when he returned to Ooo was talk to Marcy.

Well, actually, first: he had to make sure Fionna was okay. When he was in Golbetty dimension, he had given Fionna her universe in the shape of a little dandelion, which sounded weird on paper, but the hope was that Fionna had managed to use it to canonize her universe, connecting it to everyone else's worlds. That way, Scarab would be unable to tear it apart anymore. It would be authorized.

After he sat up from the grass he had landed on, he took out his phone, scrolled through his contacts, and found Fionna's name still in there.

He wondered if it would even work. She was in an entirely different universe, mind you.

He clicked on her name as he started making his way back to Up-Ton. He started to call her, but it rang out. It didn't look like she was answering so he left a message.

“Hey, Fionna,” he said as he stood by the stream, waiting for the boat up to the city. “I hope everything went alright. I'm not sure why I expected you to answer…” He laughed a little bit, then frowned. “Okay, call me back when you get this. If, er, it's possible, of course. I'm not sure if the signal can even reach your world…”

As he finished, the boat arrived and he got on. This time, he didn't cover his eyes as he started to go higher. He kept them open and just… tried not to think about it.

As he stepped foot onto the first path of Up-Ton, he realized just how weird it felt to be back home. Well, ‘home’ Up-Ton had never really been a place that felt like home, to him. For reasons obvious to… pretty much everyone who knew him. But he'd been in tons of different universes. And even though he'd seen some wacky stuff out there, this was definitely the most normal looking to him now.

As expected, no one really cared as he slipped past them to get to his house. He sort of just blended in, as usual. He'd grown accustomed to it. He wouldn't have even been surprised if nobody noticed he had been gone…

…But, to his amazement, it turned out someone had.

That little girl, the Fionna and Cake fan who had been bothering him a lot lately, was right outside of his house, sitting down with her bike as she ate a sandwich. Her hat was gone for some reason. Maybe she was here to ask for a new one that she, for some reason, was assuming that Simon would have.

When he approached, she lifted her head and her eyes widened in excitement. “Mr. Ice King!” She sprung up. “Where have you been??!”

“Oh, I've just uh…” He wondered if it was even worth it to lie. “...Been out.” He scratched his chin. “Have you been here the whole time?”

“Because I haven't seen you in a while and I was wondering if you're okay.”

She looked… genuinely concerned. Simon truly wasn't expecting that. He knew she was just a kid, but whenever she visited him, it had always just been to try and get his signature or talk to him about the Fionna and Cake stories.

“Also because your shower's still running,” she added.

Simon straight away fled towards the door and opened his house, going inside and to the bathroom where he put a halt to the running water as quickly as he good. Jesus. He couldn't believe that all throughout fighting the Destiny Gang, dancing with a clone of himself, defending himself from vampires and walking through a desolate version of Ooo, his shower had still been on. His water bill was going to look atrocious. Oh well. It wasn't like he was spending the money on anything else.

As predicted, the girl had followed him into the house. “Um, is it okay?”

“Apart from my savings… yes.” Simon turned to face her. “Look, I know that you're happy I'm back, but you really should be getting back home.”

Her face turned into a pouting expression, one that always made Simon feel bad.

“I wanna know about your adventures,” she said.

“What? My adventures in the Grocery Kingdom?” he asked, leading her out of the house.

“Oh, is that where you were for a week?” she asked. “Must have been a long grocery trip.”

Simon sighed. “If I tell you, you're not going to tell anyone else, right?” He looked around. He wasn't ready for anyone else to know… yet. Because then the news would eventually reach Marcy, and she would probably faint in shock. He did want to talk to her, a lot in fact, but he had to work out just what the heck he was going to tell her before that. How was he even supposed to begin to explain the past adventure he'd just been on?

“I swear I won't.” the girl said. “Cross my heart.”

“Great.”

Simon sat down on his couch, and invited the girl to do the same.

“I wasn't really at the Grocery Kingdom, or anything else in Ooo. I was actually going through different universes, trying to find a, um… magical item. And—” He stopped himself before this next part: the part that he was sure she was going to flip out over. “...And, I was with Fionna and Cake.”

She gasped, her eyes twinkling. “So that's where they went!”

Simon looked to her in shock. “You knew they were real?!”

She nodded excitedly. “Yes! I met them and fought bad guys with them! I gave Fionna my hat.” She patted her empty head, but then frowned a little. “I kind of miss that hat, but I'm glad the real Fionna got to have her cool hat, just like in the stories.”

Simon chuckled a little. “Why doesn't it surprise me that you got to meet the real Fionna and Cake?” he asked. “Anyway, the three of us went on a long adventure to save their world, but I'm back now, and everything turned out okay.”

“That's awesome! I have one question though. Where are they now?”

“They had to go back home.” Simon said, but took his phone out of his pocket. “But, hey, who knows! I might just be able to contact them all the way from here.”

“That's amazing,” the girl said.

Simon just laughed. “Okay, we've had a good talk, but now I think it's time for you to go home.”

“Aww…” she said. “Okay. But can I have my book back? You know, the one you threw out the other week…”

“Of course,” Simon said, feeling horrible for even putting it in the trash in the first place. He took it out. “Here,” he said, handing it to her.

She smiled. “Thanks, Mr. Ice King. Thanks for talking to me a little about Fionna and Cake.”

Simon led her toward the exit. “You're welcome. But since you've asked me some things, could I ask you something, too?”

She looked to him and nodded.

“Please call me Simon, or Mr. Petrikov. Okay? I don't go by Ice King anymore.”

“Okay,” she agreed.

“And in return, I'll call you your name. What's your name?”

“I'm Astrid.” She smiled.

“Well, it was very nice talking to you, Astrid.” Simon smiled back. “Please get home safe. On that, um, bike.”

“Of course I will.” Astrid smiled and got onto her bike, putting her F&C book into her backpack. “See you soon Mr. Ice King. I mean, Mr. Simon!”

Simon waved to her as she left, a full smile still lingering on his face. He felt… better about talking to her, when usually she was a triggering reminder of his past.

When she had gone, Simon turned to his house, letting out another sigh.

Now was for the hard part of his return to Ooo: telling all his friends why and where he had gone.

#adventure time #fionna and cake #adventure time fic #fionna and cake fic

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sxugaryx · 7 months

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Wandering Thoughts (Fanfic)

A new chapter of my Lies of p Fanfic series (´ ω `♡)

Things were going better each day, the bond between father and son was growing closer, Geppetto was trying his best to be the father that Pinocchio deserved.

He taught him about more things, taught him about how to socialize better with people, taught him about math, it was boring but basic math is essential to daily life, and it's not as if his father was teaching calculous; Pinocchio might have been good at reading but not so much at writing, his grammar was okay but his handwriting was atrocious.

A bit of history a bit of geography.

Venigni tried to teach him about his weird… invention things, sure, he knew the encryption device but he did the work and Pinocchio just read the results. Out of the many strange things Venigni was eager to teach him, he mostly understood some stuff about architecture, the rest… well he just nodded along to make him happy.

Although he had learned plenty about using weapons, he still wanted to know more, besides, it made Eugénie very happy to teach him, he was surprised about how so much more could be learned.

Lady Antonia gave him piano lessons, those moments when they played music together, it made him feel joyful, and lucky to be by her side, and Lady Antonia felt much the same.

He could tell she was happier now, he also noticed people were no longer being rude to Polendina and Pulchinella, he talked with them sometimes. He wanted to know if Polendina ever confessed his feelings to Lady Antonia, but that would be really awkward, Polendina had lots of mixed feelings about it the last time they spoke, and he thought that if he did, he would sure tell him about it and how things went.

One day he found himself at Hotel Krat, before leaving he searched for the cat that had always been there, earning his trust was something Pinocchio was proud of, he looked around to pet the kitty, he found the creature on top of some books in a desk.

As he carried and petted it, he noticed the title of the book stacked on top.

“Biology and Anatomy: Chapter I”

He hadn’t learned anything about that yet.

After returning home, he decided to ask his father about it.

“Father, am I going to learn about Biology and Anatomy?”

Geppetto was working, writing about some observations, now that puppets were considered to be accepted, he was planning on helping build more, these puppets no longer had Ergo, therefore their construction was more tricky, but he couldn’t let what happened before happen again, Ergo collecting was a mistake that shouldn´t be repeated, especially with how Ergo is collected.

Geppetto suddenly paused, with a few seconds of silence, that was odd.

“Why yes… I’m just going to teach it to you later”

“Oh, okay, later when?”

“Right now I’m pretty busy with this project so probably later, plus there are other… important things to learn so don’t worry about it”

He decided to drop the subject, he decided to go outside and sit by a big pinecone tree that was next to the house, twilight was just about to start and he decided to gaze at the sky. Yet he couldn’t quite shake a few questions on his mind.

“Gemini do you know anything about anatomy or biology?”

Gemini lay on the ground next to him in his cage. “Not much buddy, I guess I know that women and men are sorta different, but not too different, I don’t know how bones work, or organs work or how it works in general actually just that things are there”

Well, I have a heart, not like the human heart but I have one. “Why was father acting so weird about it?”

“I don’t know, I guess it could be embarrassing.”

“Embarrassing? Why?”

“Pinocchio maybe it's not the best for me to say, Master Geppetto is the one that actually knows about it”

Both of them just keep looking at the sky. Pinocchio’s tough wandering in his mind.

Men and women are different… kids must be kind of different too, more different, babies don’t look like older kids, and older kids don’t look like teens.

He noticed women’s chests were bigger than men's.

Men tended to be taller, and he heard that was attractive, taller women must be scary because he overheard a conversation with hotel guests about some tall woman stepping on others.

“Hello, earth to puppet boy? Can you listen to me?”

He quickly stopped gazing at the sky, to his surprise, the Red Fox and the Black Cat were in front of him.

“We’ve come to see you old friend, how have things been? no longer in constant danger and all.” The black Cat said.

“Great we’ve been great” Gemini answered, some hostility in his tone, he clearly didn’t like the duo, and he couldn’t understand how Pinocchio was still friends with them, but that boy was still too trusting.

“Glad to hear, glad to hear, we are in a big debt to you after all, you restored my brother’s sight and you have helped us out in more ways than that” the Red Fox always had an elegance in her words.

“I just wanted to help, it was nothing!” Pinocchio grinned happily, Gemini started to see that without all that bloodshed and monsters, he was way more cheerful and calm than before.

“Maybe it was nothing to you, but it has meant the world to us, we have come to give you a much-deserved reward.” The Red Fox pulled out a tiny wrapped box, with a red ribbon on top.

Pinocchio couldn’t wait, and unwrapped it at once, inside, there was a keychain, a felted red fox, next to a black cat, both stuck together by their hands, they both seemed to be connected by some sort of magnet, as when you separated them, they went back to each other.

“Not much, not something spectacular, but you seem like the type to like this stuff, we figured we could give you something to remember us by” The Black cat got closer to Pinocchio and patted his head.

Gemini could tell it was condescending but Pinocchio couldn’t. How could he be so competent and reliable on his own but when it came to them would always fall for their dumb tricks?

“What was on your mind that you couldn’t tell we were next to you puppet boy?” The Red Fox was curious, their detailed attire and the distinctive mask were something most could not ignore.

“Just thinking about Biology”

“Ah biology, you must be eager to learn about that sort of stuff” The Black cat spoke, and then he had an idea.

He said something to Pinocchio, something secret.

“You should ask your father about that, I bet he would be eager to tell you!” The Black cat smiled.

“Well it is getting late, and we should go, goodbye boy, perhaps our paths might cross again” The Red Fox knew it was time to go, although she would have liked to stay a little more, she saw that from the house, Geppetto was approaching them and he certainly wasn’t fond of them, she could not blame him if she hated her and her brother.

As they both left, she gave a small punch at the back of her dear brother’s head. “Ow, what was that for?!”.

“Brother you are very rude you know that?”

Geppetto approached his son and Gemini.

“Are you alright? Those Stalkers, they didn’t hurt you, or threaten you? Or did anything bad at all?”

“No, of course, not, they are like sort of my friends”

“Sort of?”

“Well they did kidnapped you”

“And they called you a dumbass”

Thank you, Gemini for the lovely reminder. You are gonna go to the clock again, Pinocchio schemed on his mind.

“But they aren’t evil, they even gave me this cute gift”

“Please, be careful around them, I understand why in tough times, people make harmful decisions, and I can’t control who you speak to and your friends, but just… just don’t let them be mean to you again, it’s okay to walk away from friendships”

“Yes Father”

Back home, Geppetto served himself something to drink, suddenly Pinocchio remembered what he had been told.

“Father, where do babies come from?”

Geppetto chocked on his drink.

#lies of p #lop #liesofp #lies of p game #lies of p pinocchio #lies of p fanfic #lies of p geppetto #lies of p gemini

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