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immaturityofthomasastruc · 3 years

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Gabriel Agreste: Interesting Villain, Horrible Character (400 Follower Special)

I'm honestly surprised more people didn't want me to talk about Gabriel, especially with how often I rag on how horrible of a person he is. But, three character analysis posts later, and we're going to talk about why the main villain of Miraculous Ladybug is a real letdown.

Gabriel Needs to give the Whining a Rest

The interesting thing is one of the few things I actually liked in Season 3 was Hawkmoth. His plans actually made sense (for the most part), and by playing the long game, he managed to turn Chloe against Ladybug and deprived her of several key allies. Granted, Season 4 immediately undid the latter, but I was still impressed by his strategy.

Generally, one of the better aspects of Gabriel as a character was just how over the top he was as Hawkmoth. Keith Silverstein is clearly giving it his all with his performance, and he is just so enjoyable to watch as a cartoonish supervillain.

And therein lies the first major problem with Gabriel as a character. While he is fun to watch as a simple supervillain, the show tries to give him more depth and unintentionally makes him worse.

In Season 2, when it was revealed that Gabriel was Hawkmoth, many fans speculated on what he needed the Miraculous for, until the Queen Bee Trilogy showed it was to save his possibly dead wife, Emilie. The idea of that is so the show can give more depth to its main villain, and I think it's an interesting idea in concept. After all, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

The problem is just how radically different Gabriel is normally compared to how he is as Hawkmoth. He always goes on about how he's “doing this for Emilie”, but it's hard to really sympathize with him when you consider he constantly gives evil monologues and evil laughs, really getting into the supervillain role. And let's not forget all of the “I'm going to wear Ladybug's skin as a suit” faces he loves to make.

Clearly this man is the picture of mental stability.

Gabriel's motivation for being Hawkmoth when compared to what he actually does as Hawkmoth is shady enough, but the thing is that the writers clearly want the audience to at least feel a little bad for him. They want to make the audience sympathize with him despite the way he acts with or without the mask. Without Miraculous Ladybug, he is routinely putting innocent lives in danger and never once shows regret for his actions. All he talks about is how “he's doing this for Emilie”, or that “he'll get their Miraculous soon”. There's no real reason to feel bad for him other than “because the script says so”.

Let's compare Gabriel to Malcolm Merlyn from Arrow. His big plan in the first season of the show is to create a machine that will cause an earthquake to destroy a crime-infested portion of Starling City, claiming to be trying to help everyone, but it's clear he is only doing it out of revenge for his wife getting killed by a criminal from that part of the city. In addition, throughout that season and future seasons, he always makes sure his plans lead to him benefiting in some way, showing he isn't just some noble man trying to achieve his goals with a less than noble method.

If we got some moments that showed that what Gabriel was doing was selfish, it would make him a more complex villain. But we don't get anything like that. What do we get instead? Well...

I Could Really Care Less About Emilie Agreste

We have known Gabriel's motivation has been to save his wife for a little over two years at this point, but at the same time, it's hard to believe that motivation because of how underdeveloped Emilie is as a character.

There have been a total of two lines in the entirety of the show that explain what happened to Emilie, and they're both vague as hell. One of them was from “Feast” that implied Emilie used the broken Peacock Miraculous.

Adrien: My mom used to have dizzy spells… just like Nathalie.

And the other that outright tells the audience what's happening to her in a clip show that most people will skip.

Nathalie: As I've watched Emilie falling deeper into an endless sleep, my sadness for her has deepened, too

That is literally all we get for an explanation, and nothing else. We have no idea of what she's like as a person or what her relationship with her family was like other than Gabriel and Adrien saying they miss her. Other than the way the narrative says she's important to Gabriel and Adrien, we don't really have a reason to care about her as a character. There have also been some lines that imply she went along with Gabriel's questionable parenting techniques, like how he was apparently only homeschooled as a kid (Origins) and never had a birthday party growing up (The Bubbler), so how do we even know if she's a good person? In fact, why not set up this question as a mystery to make the audience wonder if Gabriel has another reason to bring Emilie back?

It ultimately turns Emilie into a plot device and not a character that Gabriel and Adrien only bring up to make the audience feel bad for them, and meant to justify Gabriel's actions by saying that he's “doing this for his family”.

But hey, if he's doing this all for his family, surely Gabriel's redeeming traits come from his relationship with Adrien, right? Right?

As a Parent, Gabriel is Far From the Best

I've talked about this briefly before, but parenting in Miraculous Ladybug is written in such a black and white way, even by the standards of this show. Parents are portrayed in one of two ways. They're either amazing people who love and support their children unconditionally, or they're awful people who treat their own children like trash. And much like a lot of things in this show, there are times where the latter is treated like the former.

There are so many times where the narrative insists on making you see Gabriel as a troubled, but wellmeaning person who tries his best to be a good parent to Adrien, but it is far from the truth.

I'm not going to beat around the bush. Gabriel is a terrible parent. Like, he is awful at being a parent in so many ways, even before you find out he's Hawkmoth. In his first appearance, “The Bubbler”, he delegates getting Adrien a birthday present to Nathalie, his assistant. He literally can't be bothered to take time out of his schedule to get his own son a present for his birthday. And as the show goes on, he becomes more controlling and forbids Adrien from going out with his friends in other episodes (Captain Hardrock, Silencer). While this could be used to show Gabriel getting worse, it's never acknowledged in-universe, with Adrien continually defending his father essentially keeping him on house arrest.

“But IOTA!” You might say. “Gabriel has made efforts to bond with his son in some episodes.” While that might be true, most of those come right after his Akumas have almost gotten Adrien killed. He only hugged Adrien and made an attempt to learn more about him after Simon Says invaded their home, he only decided to watch that movie Emilie was in with Adrien after Gorizilla nearly dropped him off a building, and he only hugged Adrien again in public after he was turned into a gold statue by Style Queen.

In fact, let's talk about how Gabriel acts in the Queen Bee Trilogy. He actually decides to quit being Hawkmoth, but it's not because he realizes all the damage he's caused. Instead, he gave up because his “magnum opus”, a stronger than usual Akuma that only got the advantage on Ladybug ironically because of dumb luck, failed. Sure, he says he can't keep putting his son in danger, but he rarely ever acknowledges that he does so in the first place. When Riposte wanted to fight Adrien, Hawkmoth did nothing to stop her other than giving her a stern warning earlier on and nothing else. Where was this attitude earlier?

Hell, even then, he immediately goes back to being Hawkmoth as soon as he sees an opportunity, not even a day after his “mAgNuM oPuS” blew up in his face (because I guess Scarletmoth was just Plan B). If he made such a big deal about caring for his son, why didn't he try harder to spend time with him? Has he ever had doubts about what he's doing before? If Chloe didn't show up as Queen Bee, was he going to follow through on his promise and try to be a better father to Adrien instead of trying to get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous?

And yeah, the whole irony is that Gabriel is doing this for his family when he is unknowingly fighting his own son, which could lead to some interesting drama if done right. The idea of how Gabriel would react to his son being Cat Noir could really lead to some internal struggles for him to go through. But then we got “Cat Blanc”, which shows just how terrible of a character Gabriel is.

In an alternate timeline where he found out his son was Cat Noir, what does Gabriel do? Does he try to steal Adrien's Miraculous while he's sleeping? Does he reconsider his actions or realize he was endangering Adrien's life?

NOPE! He just decides to akumatize him all while emotionally tormenting him, before causing the end of the world.

This is honestly one of the most appalling things I've ever seen in any TV show, because it's basically an abusive father ordering his son to listen to him all while referencing his (kind of) dead mother to back up his point. And rather than use this to show how despicable Gabriel is, the episode decides to blame Marinette for this happening. Yes, according to the show, her present to Adrien caused several events to happen which caused Cat Blanc, but this logic makes no sense. It's like blaming the JFK assassination on the man who sold a gun to Lee Harvey Oswald, instead of, you know, Lee Harvey Oswald.

Not only was this episode yet another excuse to blame Marinette for something that wasn't her fault, it leads into the biggest problem I have with Gabriel as a character.

Sympathize with Gabriel? Surely, You Jest

After everything I've gone over regarding Gabriel as a character, after all the awful things I've talked about, are you really surprised that I don't feel bad for him at all?

Gabriel is just an awful character and a despicable human being, but the show just keeps wanting me to feel bad for him. It's just so hard to when you consider everything he's done has made him anything but sympathetic. I'm just saying, it's kind of hard to feel bad for someone who tries to start World War III with the only justification being “i'M dOiNg It FoR mY fAmIlY”, especially when he treats his family like crap.

The writers go out of their way to show how horrible Gabriel is as Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth, but they think because they throw in a few moments where he looks conflicted, we'll immediately feel bad for him. What makes so many people interested in seeing Chloe become a better person is that they can tell she's the victim of a troubled upbringing, and know that because she's only a teenager, she still has room to grow as a person, represented by having more honest moments of vulnerability. Gabriel is a grown man who once caused the apocalypse because of how terrible of a parent he is, and has even fewer sympathetic moments than Chloe does. Which one of these two is supposedly irredeemable? The answer may surprise you.

But the frustrating thing is that this kind of villain could have worked. Instead of making him this mustache-twirling psychopath, show how much Gabriel regrets what he has to do, but keeps pushing onward despite all the lives he's risking if it means that he can save his wife. Instead of making Gabriel like Lex Luthor, make him like Mr. Freeze, who is basic a better written version of him.

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But as it stands, there's a good reason why Gabriel gets little to no respect as a character in the Miraculous Ladybug fandom, as a villain, or as a father.

#immaturity of thomas astruc #iota #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug salt #gabriel agreste #hawkmoth #hawk moth #shadowmoth #shadow moth #emilie agreste #adrien agreste #cat noir #chat noir #cat blanc #chat blanc #nathalie sancoeur #mayura #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug

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waugh-bao · 2 years

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Your Mick/Charlie extrovert/introvert tags made me think of one of my favorite things. When they are in concert around the beginning of June, Mick always mentions Charlie’s birthday. He’ll mention Ronnie’s too of course but he always seems to want to focus only on Charlie since he knows he hates the spotlight. And then poor Charlie has to stand there as people sing Happy Birthday to him. “Charlie really loved that one. He loves the attention.” I love Mick’s (loving) torment of Charlie.

Those early June concerts are so much fun. I wouldn't be surprised if they deliberately tried to shoot for a June 1/2 date every summer tour just so they'd have an excuse to do that. My favorite part is that, even though it's often Ronnie's birthday or the day after, he's as excited to celebrate Charlie as Mick, if not more so. He really loved being (almost) birthday twins with Charlie.

This one, from 2018, is great.

It sounds a bit cliche to say, but I think Mick, Keith, and Charlie are each other's perfect balance in the introvert-extrovert sphere.

Charlie and Keith are both definite introverts, though over time Keith has gotten very good at play-acting as an extrovert when he wants to, and Mick is 100% an extrovert. They relate to each other in quite different ways, but those layers of understanding and separation work in favor of that trio having an incredibly strong relationship.

Taking it from the introvert's perspective (because, admittedly, that's the only one I can personally fully understand), it's when you have two best friends; one who is completely like you, and one who is totally different. The person who buys a beautiful cake and makes everyone sing you happy birthday even though it's torture vs. the person who brings you a tiny cupcake and gets you out of all of your weekend plans as a present. They're both saying I love you, but in different languages.

One of the interesting aspects of seeing the early Stones interviews nowadays is that they come from a time before Keith mastered his shyness, and he and Charlie positively cling to each other through them.

After 3 basic questions, Charlie is over it. He fobs the next question off on Mick, and goes to hide in/behind Keith's hair, while Keith dips his head to try to escape the whole thing.

Fifty years later, after Mick has gotten done dragging him around the stage for his introduction, Charlie breaks into a little jog to share a moment with Keith before he has to go out for his solo set. He does that for the same reason (in part) that Keith rarely strayed for any length of time from Charlie's kit; they understood each other, so they meant safety to each other, and comfort.

Mick was much more libel to push him out of his comfort zone, largely because he was adamant about getting Charlie the attention he deserved. The (not completely) organized chaos is wonderful. Mick trying to get everyone to look at Charlie by 'helping' with the cymbals, Charlie looking as though some insane guy he's never seen before in his life has suddenly hijacked his crash, and Keith trying desperately to keep Mick in time and Charlie from committing a murder.

But he knew Charlie's limits, and was careful of them. If Mick did pull him to the edge of the stage or force him talk to the audience, he was also sure never let go of him. It was partly a measure to keep him from bolting, I'd say, but at the same time he was making certain Charlie didn't feel overwhelmed and set adrift alone.

On the face of things, it shouldn't work. But it did, so magnificently. They've always known that bond of love was the key to the band, and they never lost it, no matter how different (or similar) they could be to each other.

"We had the advantage that Keith and I both get along very well with Charlie. The fact that there's three of us who get along so well is very important."-MJ, 1979

"Charlie's an incredible calming influence in the band. He's the central point between Mick and myself, that can both make us feel kind of stupid at times, "c'mon guys," I mean. To me, it's just a sheer privilege to work with Charlie Watts, and probably the big blessing in the band. It's all true. He is."-KR, 2010

#it's an introvert/extrovert love story #the way they look after each other after all this time is amazing #60 years later and they adore each other more than ever #Mick: the people are going to sing you happy birthday! Charlie: Fuck off.#ask response #anonymous #the rolling stones #keith richards #charlie watts #mick jagger #old married band #ronnie wood #young married band #middle aged married band #the married trio

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romelle · 3 years

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got any allura headcanons? i loved your hunk ones <3

i sure do!! and since today is her unofficial birthday (or allurentine) these are based around that 🥰🌈🍫🌹 they’re set sometime after the war, except the team is still in space and s7-8 didn't happen

as it turns out, organising a surprise party can be a rather tricky ordeal when the person you're hiding it from literally lives with you

allura, walking in on keith standing next to lance with a giant bouquet of red roses, magical candles floating around their heads and heart-shaped decorations scattered all over the room: ...

lance:

keith:

allura:

lance: so i proposed

keith: jesus fuck

some of them don't even bother to be subtle. pidge asks her to play a game of 21 questions, but when allura (who is simply over the moon with the fact that pidge is finally branching out) asks what her favourite colour is, pidge just goes "triangle. how do you feel about red velvet cakes"

allura, in an overexaggeratedly loud voice: my oh my, i sure do love sparkly things! if only someone were to get me something sparkly for whatever reason at all! i would be so incredibly delighted!

shiro: you figured it out huh

allura, in her normal voice again: please. the mice told me as soon as you got the idea

the entire party is valentines themed!! all the balloons are heart-shaped, the cupcakes all have pink sprinkles, and hunk makes some chocolate covered strawberry drops! the roses lance and keith bought also make an appearance

allura: wait. so you two aren't actually engaged?

lance:

keith:

lance: well, see, technically-

shiro: jesus fuck

hunk makes everyone colour coordinated paper party hats with the power of arts and crafts! romelle helps and makes a special glittery paper crown for lura, since it has to be clear that she's the birthday girl

romelle: you don't have to wear it if you don't want to!! i know you already have the real thing, so this must feel a bit foolish

allura, holding back tears: this is quite genuinely the best birthday gift i've ever gotten

coran: ...your father once named a star system after you

allura: did i stutter

they also get her a pair of light-up sneakers, and she is absolutely enamoured w them. she wears them to all of their fancy diplomatic meetings for the entire following month

lance: okay princess, we're all going to count down to zero, and then you can blow out the candles and make your wish

allura, starry-eyed: i see! earth birthday traditions are so much fun

lance, the youngest sibling, already getting ready to blow out the candles once the countdown reaches 1: haha. they sure are!

it takes them three countdowns and hunk holding his hand over lance's mouth until she finally gets to blow them out

romelle, with a soft smile: may i ask what your wish was?

allura, too embarrassed to say that she wished to spend all of her future birthdays with these exact same people (and maybe also with romelle holding her hand): a pet weblum

shiro tries to take a photo of them around the cake, and then he just kind of stands there with a weird look on his face. the rest of the team assumes that he's getting sentimental, but actually he's sweating because he’s an old man and doesn't know how to take photos on altean holoscreens

shiro: happy birthday princess! you don't look a day over ten thousand

allura: thank you! neither do you :-)

shiro: ...for the last time, i'm only 26

coran pulls the tips of her ears the same number of times as the number of years she's turning, the way he always did when she was a child. it's supposed to be silly, but at some point, they both start laugh-crying

allura: where did you get all the decorations?

lance: keith, romelle and i took a quick trip to earth. you wouldn't believe how dedicated they are to celebrating your birthday down there lura

keith, rolling his eyes: lance tried to convince romelle that all the valentines stuff in the stores was actually for you

romelle:

romelle: it wasn't??

they all fall asleep while watching romcoms on the couch, and although there are no royal banquets or extravagant gifts, it's one of the most treasured birthdays of allura's life

#voltron #vld allura #klance #romellura #lumi.headcanons

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masterhandss · 3 years

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Hi, im just finishing vol 1of hamefura LN and... am I reading wrong or Katarina has considerably internalized homophobia? She describes keith falling for Nicol as a tragedy and going astray, and her view of girlfriendship.... does this continues in future novels?

Uggh that's kinda hard to say, and I feel like I might not be the right person to ask about something like that hgjsdf

I don't remember Katarina saying that Keith hypothetically falling in love with be a "tragedy", did she use that word? The only thing I remember is that she said that although she'd prefer it if it Keith didn't fall for Maria, falling for Nicol might be dangerous for him. When I read it, I guess I kinda did get the idea of Katarina thinking that marriage between two men must be taboo, but not necessarily that she disapproves of it. Since she knows she's in Fortune Lover, she's assuming that same sex is the norm given the game, setting and time period. I feel like she meant it with good intent, for all she knows maybe Keith would get kicked out of the family is he pursued the son of the prime minister instead of focusing on becoming the next duke qwq.

Also, Katarina mentioned that it'd be bad for Keith to fall for a handsome boy, but when she assumed that Nicol might be in love with a married woman or man during her birthday party, she didn't seem to reject the idea (I guess because it's Nicol, charmer of both genders lmao), moreso just worried if her friend's feelings will ever bear fruit if its someone he felt like he couldn't attain. Maybe she was only open to the idea because it's Nicol, or maybe she's actually okay with it in general, who knows?

I think Katarina just has a heteronormative way of thinking rather than her having internalized homophobia (unless the two of those are the same?? I don't know I'm not socially aware enough for this qwq).

I've heard things about Japan is a country that's still sort of behind the times, still using old technology and is still pretty heteronormative to some extent. I doubt she had any opportunities to identify her sexuality or the kind of partner she wants when she's just living her life to the fullest and having fun. She didn't even get into anime and manga until middle school, only thanks to Aachan's influence.

From Volume 2, we find out that Aachan's taste in light novels and manga is the kind where she can project herself onto the protagonist in order to imagine herself having fun adventures with friends of her own, so probably a lot of shoujo or shounen series. Plus by high school, Aachan was really into otome games. I'm basically saying that not even media could have influenced Katarina's way of thinking, considering that Aachan (who is the one to provide and suggest the series they get into) seems to just only read NL content. Katarina knows Sophia reads BL novels when they both got older, but mentioned while she isn't completely disinterested in them, she feels like it's a dangerous rabbit hole to fall into. She was even a little bit transphobic to her co-worker in the magic ministry Laura (who is a transwoman) but not because she didn't approve of it, it was just kinda new to her because she didn't encounter things and people like that in her previous life.

We can only really grow to accept and understand feelings and perspectives like that by getting exposed to it, so you can't blame Katarina for being mostly heteronormative when she's never encountered stuff like that before.

I don't know, I feel like a lot of people in their youth these days are really able to identify or have courage to bring themselves out there thanks to the encouragement of the people around us and the influence of the media we consume. If Katarina doesn't have those media to help her, then she'll have to rely on her own self-discovery and the encouragement of her peers.

When it comes to her views on girlfriend-ship, we already know that Katarina adores and loves her friends regardless of gender (Maria being the biggest example), and whether or not she's just extreme in her appreciation of others or if it's a sign of her attraction to girls depends on the reader. Her worldview probably won't change unless her female friends finally become forward about their feelings instead of waiting for Katarina to figure it out on her own, if we get a clear stance on Sorcier's view of same sex marriage and relationships, or if we see a same sex couple in the story through Katarina's eyes. As the reader, we know/can speculate that Katarina likes both men and women, but she herself doesn't know that yet.

Since she's someone living in a Fantastical Middle Ages where the country is lead by a monarch, you gotta give her some slack for not assuming everything gets an OK in this new life & setting of hers.

Whether or not this is something that continues in future novels is something I can't really say. She maintains the same way of thinking that she does right now in the manga and anime as she does in the novels, nothing really changed aside from the fact that maybe she had picked up one or two tame BL novels due to being forced to by Sophia.

Again, I'm probably not the right person to ask when it comes to something like this. If I said anything wrong or insensitive, feel free to correct me! I'm not socially competent nor analytical enough to dig deep into Katarina's psyche qwq

Thank you for the ask! qwq

#mh ask #hamefura #my next life as a villainess #hamehura #bakarina #destruction flag otome #katarina claes #sasaki atsuko #atsuko sasaki #if i trigger anyone with this I'M REALLY SORRY

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hallowghoul · 2 years

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⌠ zoe kravitz, thirty, gay, non-binary, they/them. ⌡ wait a minute, is sage kahn still in town? i thought i saw a flash of (the subtle smell of cinnamon, leather jackets and old rock band t-shirts, delicate fingertips tracing outlines on your skin)! last i heard they were working as a tattoo artist at TBD. when it’s the (scorpio)’s birthday on 10/18 i forget that they’re reserved and celebrate that they’re charming. i hear pour some sugar on me by def leppard every time i think of them.

@liminalintro

sage uses both she/her & they/them pronouns!

muse board

Age: twenty eight Birthday: october 18th Zodiac sign: scorpio Sexual Orientation: homosexual Relationship Status: single Occupation: tattoo artist @ tbd Positive Traits: charming, easy going, detail oriented, persistent Negative Traits: arrogant, closed off, egotistical, shallow Aesthetics: the sound of tattoo guns buzzing, the subtle smell of cinnamon, leather jackets and old rock band t-shirts, delicate fingertips tracing outlines on your skin

born in the bronx of new york city to a single mother sage hadn’t known who their father was for most of her life. she’d been sheltered to the fact and when their moms job moved out west she seemed to lose all hope in finding him

growing up into their teenage years however a man reached out to them and not just any man..

she was 15 when infamous keith downing, lead singer of the rock group pleasure in pain, told them that he was their father

the band was at its peak and against their mother’s best wishes she traveled the country with him during the summer up until their 18th birthday. during her time there she honed in on her arts and was sent to school on his dime

came out a professional tattoo artist after landing an apprenticeship in new york

she obtained a nasty cocaine addiction after her freshman year of college, between the atmosphere of school and the summers spent touring with their father she was doomed to fall into the same fate keith had

sage had created some distance between them due to this, even if she truly just wanted his love and affirmation

his presence loomed close however and he roped her in for one last hoorah before he was to set off for a european tour

sage found him the next morning after a house party dead on the floor of his bathroom after he’d ingested a cocktail of pills and alcohol the night before

a few years have passed but she still hasn’t shaken off the effects of finding their father and has a sort of dark shadow following them around

sage hasn’t spoken much to their mother, for them everything all became too much and she has shut a lot of people out

still has a charismatic and affectionate way about her and can be quite alluring to anyone they’re interested in though she has severe issues with attachment

has probably broken up with most of their partners out of sheer fear of being hurt again

has lingered in town for most of their life besides a few summers away with her dad/college

sage is a free spirit, she doesn’t really tie herself down to anything or anyone.

fun facts:

has an impressive array of vinyls that make up a majority of their living room and is in steep competition of their collection of plants.

sage has a green thumb and loves her greenery, their little green cactus is their favorite and even has a tattoo commemorating him

tattooing is her favorite thing to do, she spends most of her day at skin deep

will probably one day be the matriarch of a cult in the middle of the desert, or live the rest of her days in a small apartment in paris.. there’s no in between

owns far too many candles for their own good, favorite scent being pumpkin spice

her favorite tattoo was one they had given to themselves, a rose just above her knee

#tw overdose #tw parental death #tw drug use #liminal:intro #liminalintros

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vldkeith · 3 years

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B, J, L, N?

B: Birthday (Describe birthday sex)

they just get whatever they want TBH gkfsdjgskd keith gets to bounce on and ride lance’s dick and get fucked into the mattress as much as he wants in as many positions as he wants, so much so that keith’s a pile of jelly afterward, seemingly permanently flushed red and aching as lance brings him cups of water and wash cloths. keith is insatiable though, and he lets himself have a little fun on his birthday (something which is definitely lance’s doing), so within 15 minutes they’re back to annoying the neighbors with their loudness :^)

same goes for lance. keith blows him first, deep-throating his dick and licking the cum off when lance can’t keep himself together anymore. and then keith sits back, spreads his legs like, “well? what do you want?” and lance trips over himself getting to him. he gets showered with compliments and praise as they do it, things like “lance, you’re so beautiful, you’re gorgeous” and “you feel so good inside of me, you’re so good at fucking me” and “pretty boy, talented, i love you” and lance’s head spins from it all. they wrap up the night with lance bottoming, toes curling into the sheets as keith fucks into him, nails digging into keith’s back and whispered curses in spanish and english. they fall asleep cradled together when it’s all over, and lance has trouble walking the next day bc he’s not usually a bottom gkfdsjhgsk

J: Jealous (“Claiming” a partner)

i think they both get jealous in different ways. keith is hyperaware of the fact that lance is sparkling and gorgeous, and with lance being a natural flirt, he also kind of has to be. sometimes lance’ll accidentally go too far, or some clueless stranger will lay it on a little too thick, and keith will start snarling and latching himself onto lance so everybody knows that he is taken, thank you very much. when they get home from wherever they’ve been, keith rounds on lance, says “you’re mine” and gives him bright red and mottled purple hickeys on both sides of his neck. they fuck against the wall, where keith reminds lance just what exactly he’s got ;)

lance is less outwardly aggressive, but he’s aware that keith has status, and everybody at the garrison regarded him with unabashed want, it seemed, and there were always rumors abt who keith had slept with (the real answer is no one, ever, lance finds out once they start dating, which is a shock he takes a while to process). so, yeah, keith’s desirable, and he’s hot, even if he’s not good with people. sometimes people will look at him with a little too much heat, or he’ll be flirted with and have no idea. when stuff like this happens--or when lance is just feeling a little possessive--he gets touchy, cupping keith’s ass, pulling him onto his lap, resting his hands on keith’s hip and curling his fingers around the bone...keith likes it when this stuff happens. he likes it even more because it usually means that, once they’re home, lance will pull him roughly into the bedroom and absolutely go to town, covering him with marks (not usually visible, though; lance is a gentleman, unlike keith) and fucking him hard and fast like he doesn’t often do. it’s very fun indeed :)

L: Likes (What they like in the bedroom)

keith likes it hard, as hard is he can get it. he likes to be loud, he likes fingers in his mouth or a hand over it if he has to be quiet. he likes to hear the slap of skin against skin when he’s being fucked really good. he likes lance grabbing his hands and pinning him down. he likes biting. he likes when lance comes inside him and he can feel the cum dripping out when he pulls out. he likes it when lance seems to revel in how messy he can make him. he likes being called “baby” and “sweetheart” and “cariño”. he likes it when lance grabs him and presses hard and manhandles him all over the bed because he’s so desperate. he likes..lance.

lance likes to be praised and complimented; he likes being talked to, likes to hear how exactly his dick is making keith feel, how good it is. he likes when keith pulls him sharply in for a searing kiss just because he can. he likes being scratched (as long as he doesn’t bleed, and even then...). he likes seeing keith drop to his knees to suck him off, he likes the feeling of his dick hitting the back of his throat. he likes feeling keith tighten around him just before he comes. he likes looking at keith’s face, looking into his eyes, as he fucks. he likes watching his come drip and coat keith’s thighs after he pulls out. he likes it when keith comes onto his own stomach because he can’t wait any longer. he likes keith.

N: Never (Things they would never try)

bdsm, ddlg, very clearly morally abhorrent stuff (age play, noncon, etc), bodily fluid shit, petplay (if i see any of you make lance call keith “kitten” one more time i swear to god--)....stuff like that. im sorry to break it to you but klance are not freaks in the bedroom. and that’s okay! it’s not for everyone

#is this even good idk gjkfdhgks take it #thank u anon!#not sfw #asks🌟

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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Of Moons, Millionares and Mothers Part 2: The Ballad of Duke Balloney or “I’m Flintheart Glomgold and I Always Will Be!” (Commission for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy people. I”m Jake, I review stuff and today continues my look at Ducktales season 2 story arcs, of Moons, Millionares and Mothers. And while this arc as a whole is paid for by WeirdKev27, due to the Arc’s length, 17 parts including 15 episodes and 6 comics (2 of which will be in the same review), this one’s special as he’s using his patreon review every month to do so. If you too want me to review something of your choice simply hit up my ask box or join my patreon at patreon.com/popculture buffet. You get access to my discord, to pick a short when I do a group of them for characters birthdays, help me hit neat stretch goals like my next which is reviewing a darkwing duck episode a month, and best of all EXCLUSIVE REVIEWS. And I just added one this saturday of a carl barks story centerting around wigs, legal battles and attempted murder, both by our villian.. and by our heroes...

I will never get tired of that panel nor the boys inexplicably finding a blowgun. Point is it’s there if you want it at THIS LINK, but enough plugging so I can help pay the streaming bills and keep doing this... let’s get to the meat of things shall we?

This episode begins the second arc of this retrospective, The Glomgold Arc. And this arc was inevitibly going to come to this blog for two reasons. The first is that I have made no secret, in fact i’ve shouted it as loud as I can the neighbors are concerned, that I fucking love the 2017 Version of Flintheart Glomgold.

Glomgold is Keith Ferguson’s best role, tied with Lord Hater obviously, but it is indeed a tie. No one but Keith could’ve pulled off glomgold’s combination of ego, ham, and batshit insanity. He just makes the utterly stupid and wonderfully ludicrious things that come out of the mans mouth sound so damn natural with such an unearned confidence. It’s very clear that Frank had Keith in mind when putting this version of everyone’s faviorite South African Billionare pretending to be a Scottish Billionare and wisely built the characcter around him and his immense talent. I was not familiar with Keith at all, wasn’t even aware he voiced hater before this show but damn if that hasn’t fully changed.

Glomgold was also just in general a brilliant update of the character: While I know a lot of duck fans weren’t happy with this version at least at first. As the action figure sitting on my shelf that once road in a car with my david hasslehoff baywatch funko pop I have entirley due to my love of baywatching, this insane music video hoff did in the early 2000′s, and just in general how gloriously rediculous the man’s life is when you stop and think about it for a second from a pay per-view concert that ended up falling on the same night as The OJ Chase, to his kung fury cameo , to his weird insetence they never had sex on baywatch desspite mounds of video evdience and the fact the show was buit around the bulk of it’s cast’s sex appeal, to the fact the model of his pecs used for the spongebob movie was sold in an auction and on and on... I was going somewhere with this...

Oh right as the action figure, and previous praise, shows I am not one of these fans: The original isn’t bad, in fact one of my faviorite life and times chapters that i’ll be covering this week and talking about later in the review has him as the main antagonist and a pitvitol figure in Scrooge’s life in the worst way possible. Rosa GETS what’s needed for Flinty to feel specail: to have him be an evil mirror to scrooge, what he could’ve been had he kept down the path he started down in Africa. A ruthless, amoral asshole who will do ANYTHING to get rich.

It’s just often that isn’t emphasised enough and he’s instead just another one of the millions of generic assholes trying to get scrooges money sometimes with hired goons...

Not only that but Frank really COULDN’T have him at full effectivness. See an arch enemy in the Silver Age, which STARTED the same year Glomgold Debuted no less, wasn’t a big deal. They were still considered your deadliest foe but they’d often, much like Flinty be shuffled into the rogues gallery, show up for an issue to meance the hero, then either escape, get thrown in jail only to escape from that easily later, or be presumed dead. The last one I bring up because it happened to Magneto a LOTTTT pre-claremont. For Fuck’s Sake Charles have those teenagers train to look for a body once in a while!

Original Flinty was built for that, and brilliantly so as Barks had a talent for it , as seen by the fact The Beagle BOys, Flintheart and Magica have stuck around ever since and even in comics overseas where Flintehart is replaced.. it’s by Rockerduck who Barks ALSO created. The 87 Show followed the same formula, which was just as standard for 80′s cartoons. It’s why Megatron took until his toy was canceled the movie to shoot starscream in the face.

The problem is villians evolved and the expecation became more that a true arch enemy had to be a true threat. While Frank and Matt COULD’VE made Flintheart a real and honest threat, he also would’ve had to make him a Big Bad. The probelm was those seats were clearly taken: while i’m pretty sure some ideas came as they went, the main story beats were clearly planned out well in advance: Webby being a clone was always the plan, as was FOWL, Darkwing being a fan of a fictional Darkwing who became the real thing, and Della being on the moon. So he presumibly carefully choose each season’s big bad... and thus Season’s 1-3 would be full up wise. Season 1 had Magica, who he made into a TRUE threat, yet left the door open for her to return as she did, Season 2 had Lunaris who even if they hadn’t fully thought him up, they probably had thought up the moonvasion, and Season 3 was what they’d built the series towards with FOWL.

Details probably changed, it’s very clear to me they were likely going to have all three buzzards be important and ended up deicding to pivot to it just being Bradford over time. But given how well they though tout the general framework, I highly doubt Flinty was ever considered as a seirous big bad.. and I know i’m saying this in an arc that tried to set him up as one, but i’m getting there simmer.

So they could wait for a season 4 that might not happen.. or make him a recurring villian. So Frank and Matt decided to do that and leaned into comedy. Centering him around keith who Frank worked with previously on Wonder and thus knew he could play a hammy manchild like no one else, they simply leaned into the goofier aspects of his personality. His being similar to scrooge became him being an intentional and blatant knockoff. As Scrooge himself perfectly summed up in episode 1 “The poor man’s version of me.. which to be fair still makes him insanely rich”.

It’s another reason to really love this version as while yes, they did make him a bafoon.. he’s a wonderfully, redicuously layered bafoon: He still contrasts scrooge perfectly, manically hammy to Scrooge being calm, especially around flinty, blantatly crooked to Scrooge’s died in wool honesty, and wasting money on revenge instead of spending it on his actual company. There’s more obviously but some i’m saving for the review.

Not only that but his insane schemery has a rhyme and reason to it: He attacks Scrooge every week like the saturday morning cartoon villian he is, but his schemes are always unwieldly and massively stupid, and he always goes with the first draft. It’s something the team enforced: the first version is what they role with because that’s how his sad brain works. He also is obssed with sharks and explosives, the former being given a suprisingly heartfelt and unsuprisingly insanne origin story towards the series end, and works them into every plot no matter how much itm akes no sense. He’s pure ego, pure stupid and pure fun.

So yeah circling back to him being the big bad, I felt he was made one for this season for two reasons: the first is while a lot of fans (raises hand) enjoyed this version, some didn’t like how inept he was, so this would give them a breif bit of Flintheart being a genuine threat again. The other was frankly... they didn’t want to play their hand. Lunaris WAS the big bad... but fans would get supscious if there was seemingly no true threat on the horizon. Magica popped up in episode 4. We didn’t know her full plan yet true, but all we needed was lena SAYING HER NAME and fans of any other version of teh Disney Ducks would instantly go “Oh shit there she is”. So fans would now have the expectation of a main antagonist.. but would be instantly supscious of Lunaris and Penumbra if there wasn’t one for the first third of a season it took to them, and it’d leave a gap in the story to not have someone driving the plot on earth.

So Flinty got an upgrade.. a slight one and we’ll talk about the eb and flow. And thus he got a proper origin. Now granted they could’ve planned this too, but this one’s harder to tell as the curse you me gag could’ve been a clever setup or could’ve just been a one off gag they somehow turned into an entire episode. So Flinty got an arc.. and a comedic foil, the other reason this was inevieble, and Kev’s faviorite character, Zan Owlson. So how did it work out for them? Well we’ll begin that journey under the cut.

We begin our story a few months ago.... on every level really: the months ago shadow war aired when this episode originally good, the months ago I reviwed Shadow War (which via counting I found out was my 200th episode not counting Patreon. Nice), and most importantly for this story, the four months ago before the present day of Season 2.

Glomgold saying curse you me as he fell into the bay during the Shadow War.... only for once in his life he dosen’t somehow get out of it unscathed and instead passes out, almost drowning. He’s found by Fisher and Mann, two fisherpersons... Mann is specific about that due to being a woman despite the obvious irony. It’s a good gag. Flinty acts like he normally would.. hostile, demanding that they know who he is.. and while they don’t.. neither does he.

Cue credits and cue present day. Via a newscast with Roxanne we learn what I mentioned earlier: It’s been four month and Glomgold’s been missing. The general mood.. has been about what you’d expect.

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Yeah Roxanne turned on him real fast. I genuinely wouldn’t be surprised if it was because he later openly bragged about stealing scrooge’s money during the shark thing on live tv at some point, making Roxanne look terrible for enabling him and for blatantly supporting him earlier. I mean.. how else do you get a corrupt journalist to do anything decent.

But with Glomgold gone SOMEONE’S gotta replace him.. and that someone is Zan Motherfucking Owlson. Top of her class at Mouseton Univesity, Owlson is the show once again updating things: previously they added Mark Beaks to the Rogue’s Gallery as he contrasts the 50′s (scrooge ) and 80′s (glomgold) idea of billionares from previous versions of the property being a modern tech weasel. Though instead of just one thing Owlson represents a few: The most obvious is she’s a woman of color: Having a black woman in such a high position of power is something disney would’ve outright vetoed in the 50′s and 80′s. Here it’s well accepted as it always should have been. It also feels like a delebrate move on Frank’s part: There weren't’ any major african or african american coded characters in season 1, despite the show being very open and accepting, so that needed to change. The other is frankly outside of Brigtaa MacBridge, whose also weirdly absent from this series for some reason and has taken Fethry and Rockerduck’s place as the most major overseas duck character to never get adapted, there are hardly ever any females on Scrooge and his richer foes level. He’s had the occasional female rival or suitor, but only Brigittta had staying power and while I love the idea of her, another person as rich as scrooge whose willing to spend more and has a crush on him, she badly needed an update as she’s essentially Adventure Era Amy Rose in a grown ass woman’s body.

Owlson also provides a diffrent dynamic in that she portrays the ideal of what we’d want from a ceo: She’s honest, works hard, earned her way as square as scrooge did, gladly donates to charity and is extremely charismatic and intelligent. Granted most CEO”s are nothing like this but still, she’s what we WANT them to be. Using the money not for themselves or taking big paychecks but to help people. She also provides something Glomgold needed: a straight man. While he has one in Scrooge at times, Owlson unlike both of them is a fully functional resonable human being. Scrooge, while a good person deep down, can be reckless, impulsive and greedy, and Glomgold had a tarzan like experince with sharks, goes on to name his dummy son sharkbomb, and tried to murder Scrooge on live television twice that we know of. She’s the calm, snarky, put upon sane person trying to reign in the crazy shark explosion man.

Owlson dosen’t get a ton to do here, but that will change and she does get a decent amout in the final scene. But what she does here establishes who she is and how sh’es FIXED Glomgold industries; She’s shut down the vast number of money sinking scheme related departments, set ups everal charities, and is even setting up a new one with Scrooge, Dimes for Ducklings. In short she knew exactly what was needed to fix the company and it’s image and did so in FOUR MONTHS. Probably even less given they had to be sure Glomgold wasn’t coming back right away. I guarantee he’s faked his death like 10 times just to try and kill scrooge. They have to make sure it’s real first. As one last note before we move on, Owlson is played by Natasha Rothwell, a producer and writer who i’ve only seen outside of this in Love, Simon and Sonic the Hedgehog.. that is a weird combo of things that mean a LOT to me I haven’t been able to bring up here again.

We find the tv this was all playing on on the docks with a non-anthro segull pecking it while a bunch of fisherpersons go about their day. We also get this guy.

Add him to the list of spinoffs I want THE LIST OF SPINOFFS JAKE WANTS: 1. Darkwing Duck 2. Donald, Daisy and the Kids 3. The Sabrewings 4. Tailspin Reboot 5. The Flintheart Glomgold Show 6. A Sequel Movie 7. This Guy Punching A Fucking Fish

So you might be wondering when any of our main cast are going to show up.. and why the fish puncher isn’t in said main cast. Well that’s about now as Webby and Louie are fishing. Well okay more acuratley webby is fishing because she genuinely enjoys it and Louie is tagging along so he can nap on a boat while Webby paddles him around. That plan is threatnned by her spear fishing and he suggests using rods instead, but they need bait for that.

Naturally, given we need to get this plot going our heroes run into Duke Baloney, aka an amnesiac Glomgold. Understandably, both of htem think this is some sort of scheme at first because waiting for someone related to Scrooge to stroll by his fish stand for some sort of shark themed trap, especially since he’s right near the water so he dosen’t have to worry about keeping them hydrated like that time he dropped one from a plane onto scrooge’s board meeting with two chainsaws strapped to it. But .. it’s not. While we the audience saw him amnesiac, and at first I thought that spoiled the episode... it really dosen’t. He still ACTS like himself on instinct, so your not sure if he faked it as part of some elaborate scheme or is really gone till this scene shows that, no he really isn’t there. And the how is simply in knowing the guy: Glomgold is not good at subtley. He has disguises and such, but their never remotely convincing. He could NEVER pull off actually being a humble fish monger nor have gone four fucking months without yelling at scrooge or remotely contacting him. There’s also the fact Fisher and Mann 100% belivie in duke and back up his very real story of being dredged out of the bay. There’s also his south african accent, which actors including David Tennant himself have admitted is one of the hardest to pull off but Keith does swimingly, which is a hint.. but only on rewatch or for those who know his comics origins.

Louie isn’t convinced which is fair: even if Glomgold isn’t good at this sort of thing, he’s still tried it a lot. Webby however correctly figures he has amensia. So the two simply try talking to him. Fisher and Mann do get a bit dickish laughing off the idea he’s possibly Glomgold.. despite the fact you know you dredged him out of the fucking water 4 months ago.. and if you actually looked at the news, would see Glomgold disappeared around the exact same time you found Duke. It just annoys me because otherwise these two are great characters: Friendly loveable fisherpersons who love their job, have no comeptiviness and genuinely want to help their friend duke. The encounter does have them seeing a fancy money clip Duke has but with no other options they leave for now.

But while Duke has forgotten who he was... bits of glomgold still stir within him. And that starts when Duke spots the McDuck Industries fishing boat, the best fishing boat on the sea, something his friends are okay with.. but Duke naturally isn’t. So while Duke was a calm sane fisherman before the true glomgold in him is on full display as he comes up with insane schemes involving fish and explosives, before presenting a rather insane scheme to his friends involving getting engineering degrees and other stuff.. it’s as poorly drawn and wonderful as you expect from him. But what’s telling is that he reigns it in when his friends show obvious concern with his actions... something Glomgold would NEVER do. For one he dosen’t have friends. For another, he doesn’t care about anyone else’s feelings or thoughts.

By now Webby is also championing that Duke is a diffrente person.. which is true. Duke is Glomgold stripped of his hate and resitment towards scrooge. He’s who the man COULD’VE been had he not sworn eternal vengeance on Scrooge. Louie is doubtful that he’s amnesiac still.. but neither can quite figure out the full story so it’s time for research.. and for Webby to accidentally knock Louie into some lobster traps.. which given he’s spent the entire episode assuming an amnesiac man isn’t that despite all the evidence to the contrary, he earned that. That said these two were the perfect choice for it: All of the boys have a bit of skeptic in them, and we already had a plot with Huey being skeptical.. and even he would’ve given up by now as would dewey since he only has a pinch at best. Webby.. has none. She can question motives and stuff sure, but at her heart she’s a kind forgiving soul who belives the best in everyone. And.. its’ paid off fo rher. Look at the whole Lena situation, she believed in her, even while Lena was actively manipulating her,.. and it truly changed her, convinced Lena to do the right thing despite the cost, to choose love over the abusive monster who made her. It’s the only missed opportunity in the episode for me. Character wise it has exactly the 8 it needs to tell the story and focuses heavly on the five it truly is about. But not having Webby bring up Lena when we don’t hear her mentoined AT ALL during her absence (though to the shows credit they did a good job showing Webby still had never remotely given up), and it made the wait more agonizing and would’ve made her motivations hit even harder: that she belives in duke because she believed in lena and it was real. And while this thank christ isn’t remotely romantic, the point does stand: She wants to see the best.

Louie is a conman by nature so he only sees the worst, the weakest in people, the things he can use to take htem down or take hteir money. He can’t fathom someone doing good because he can’t fathom HIMSELF being good. And that.. says a lot.. but he’s accepted himself as a shady conperson who cares only for himself.. even if that’s not the truth. His inclusion here enhances his own arc much like Huey’s role in quack pack enhanced his. It shows that deep down Louie dosen’t think much of anyone.. and probably not himself. That he has to be shady and greedy to survive when that’s not tru. Sharper than the sharpies yes but also square.

One last bit before we moved on I just found out though: The Crew originally had this as a straight up origin story: no kids, none of the rest of the duck family, except presumably Scrooge’s parts here, just Glomgold’s struggle with amensia and his past leading to who hei s now. Honestly I think that version could’ve worked, but likely given disney seems TERRIFIED of making a show starring an adult without a chlid and had to be talked into the child light Golden Lagoon, that was a non starter but I think it still works fine. I also foudn this out via a twitter thread of Frank’s rewriting history that goes in deep on teh production of each episode. Had I known this existed before writing this one, I would’ve used it for the other two arcs and most dangerous game night, but I intend to read through it so I have everything on the table from here on out.

For only the second time in her long career of researching stuff though, Webby has hit a dead end. Mostly because she couldn’t find anything on Duke.. and NOTHING on Glomgold’s past pre-Duckburg. The most she has is his visa...

I want to frame this on my wall.. and someone is actually seling id cards out there, so I want this one at some point. It’s not Disney because they don’t care about fan merch like this, but then that just means they don’t get the money because they didn’t think of it or put the work in then huh.

But yeah with nothing else our heroes go to the only person they know who knows him well... Scrooge.

Meanwhile Duke has .. this... I just.....I can’t put words to this truly bizzare surreal dream sequence.. it involves Glomgold going insane, the kids dancing on a bagpipe, and owlson is there.. despite the fact that Glomgold should have zero idea whot hat is. I think the kids mentioned here but even then, he somehow knows exactly what she looks like.

Otherwise good stuff and it’s raining hard as Duke goes in. Fisher and Mann have formally added him to their sign, and warmly welcomed him in and Duke says “this is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me I think” which is probably true. and makes what’s coming all the more heartbreaking.

But before what’s coming Duke has another thing coming.. Scrooge who the kids brought to talk to him. The two talk casually, the kids watch not knowing.. and then Scrooge comes back to them. Turns out Webby was, unsurprisingly right on the money, Flinty does have amnesia, and unlike what Louie thought.. he isn’t inherently evil. Duke is just duke.. and Scrooge has no intention of fixing the amnesia. And while that SOUNDS bad.. his intentions are noble: Glomgold.. was a throughly miserable person. He was never happy and never would be till Scrooge was dead by his hand and that was never going to happen. It isn’t even taking an enemy off the board: Flinty is only a threat on occasion. Scrooge clearly ENJOYS their conflict: it may annoy him from time to time, but he clearly enjoys upstaging the guy. And as he points out, it’s not a brain injury or anything: Glomgold is practically immortal as Louie put earlier, and Scrooge outright mentions Glomgold’s taken a LOT of explosions to the face. So he’s in no real danger physically or emotionally.. he’s happy. He has friends, a calling he truly enjoys. There’s another reason too but we’ll see that in the final scene.

So Duke is finally happy... but it doesn’t last... the kids go out but a storms a coming, and Duke selfleslly heads out to save them.. only to get hit on the head and fall in the ocean again.

It’s here we get the 2017 version of Glomgold’s origin story. We did kinda get one with life and times, as we saw his first meeting with scrooge and why he hated him, long story short with the long story coming later this week Glomgold left Scrooge for dead and Scrooge’s response was to come back, kick the fuckers ass, tar and feather him and utterly humilaite him, leading to Flinty swearing vengance.

But while I love that version..t his one is just as awesome if not better. And it’s without having Scrooge ride a lion. Here we instead meet Flinty as a child Scrooge’s age... and as a shoeshine boy. Yup just like Scrooge Duke, Glomgold’s birth name, was an industrious young boy with big dreams. He also had unwieldy schemes from minute one, but Scrooge saw in this lad the same fire he had and tried replicating his own origin.

The problem was... the different context ruined it. Scrooge was paid by an equally poor ditchdigger the us equilvent of his pay: still useless in scotland, but a good lesson in hard work and not being swindled. Scrooge tried that... as the richest duck in the world and without giving flinty the same amount of money.

So Duke/Flinty took umbrage at this yelled at scrooge.. and pick pocketed his money clip. In the only bit taken from the rosa version of their first meeting, Scrooge never realized he’d met flinty already. There and then duke came up with his first true, and first insane scheme: Save the money and use it to mold himself into a richer, more scottish version of scrooge dedicating his life to one upping him and killing him. A “single white female” type thing as Frank put it.

It’s.. utterly brilliant... taking Glomgold being a knockoff as mention and just running with that... making Glomgold a LITERAL knockoff. This was indeed the plan all along: A way to have him be both south african and scottish and it was brilliant. It also gives him more depth and more tragedy: He COULD’VE been the next scrooge.. but instead of being his own man or learning any of the hard lessons scrooge did he doubled down on never learning anything and getting vengeance on an old man’s well meant but accidently classist gesture.

So Glomgold reawakens and while it first looks like he’s going to save the kids... he instead throws Webby into the raging sea, and steals their fish. Webby is heartbroken and Louie asks him “what about duke.” His response is heartbreaking as it is character defnting

“I”m Flintheart Glomgold and I always will be!” the lightning shot, the cackle..i t’s just such a damn good moment that underscores the tragedy of the episode as Glomgold’s new friends are horrified by what he is now and what he was always meant to be and Glomgold leaves to go stalk scrooge once again. He indeed is Flintheart Glomgold and always will be.. because he threw the decent person he could’ve been away. He’s miserable.. because he can’t let go of his rage or ego and just move on from something that happened to him when he was ten! He has to be in his 60′s now! Glomgold may think Scrooge is his worst enemy.. but it’s really Flintheart Glomgold.... and it always will be.

So naturally his first actoin is to storm into his company and scream at scrooge. How he found him there... honestly not a huge suprise it’s his company and he likely knows how to find scrooge anywhere because he’s a creep like that. Scrooge and Owlson’s reactions are both worth a look at:

Given Glomgold bursts into an already annoying meeting of Scrooge trying to get the dimes part knocked down to nickles (and likely lower before that given he mentioned Pennies earlier), to accuse Scrooge of trying to trick him by appearing as a boat in his dreams her bafflement is both understandable and hilarious. Like she probably HEARD what Glomgold was like but gennuinely didn’t belivie it and her face is just now frozen in a look of “oh my god they were not exagearating what fresh hell is this”.

She tries to be professional and introduce herself but he just brushes her off and yells at Scrooge blaming him for being forgotten (”You literally forgot yourself), with Owlson also considering calling security. She only dosen’t because Scrooge points out he’ll tire himself out eventually and as usual for their jousts, is not remotely threatened or worried. He’s just..sad. And getting back to his reaction.. that’s what’s telling about his plan. He probably KNEW this would happen. He in his heart knew Duke Balloney would be gone soon, and he’d have to deal with Glomgold again. It helps soften the implicatoins: it wouldn’t last and fraknly if it did Scrooge would probably have people check on him regualry to make sure he was okay. He’s not a monster.. he just wanted Flinty to be happy for five minutes and to not ruin that out of some misplaced sense of right and wrong.. when the right thing was to simply let the man be happy till it inevitably blew up.

Glomgold however, furious at being forgotten and cast aside has decided to take a huge poorly thought through gamble and challenges scrooge to a classic Scrooge comics trope between the two, but with higher stakes: A contest to see who will be the richest duck in the world by the end of the year.. and given Christmas happens right after this i’m just assuming he means a year from now. Winner gets both companies and fortunes. Scrooge scoffs at this.. till Flinty pulls out the clip, taunting him with how he did it and “If I can beat you once scrooge i’ll beat you again”. And this, Flinty revealing he stole from him and he NEVER KNEW it or realize it, enrages scrooge enough to agree and to take him seriously... meanwhile Owlson.. just tries to get actual work shit done and just forges their signatures. Look she is a woman of color in the business world with genuinely good motives... she’s probably used to using white nonsense to get things past two idiots having a peeing race.

Final Thoughts:

This episode is truly excellent and like Most Dangerous Game Night! i’d forgottne just HOW good it was. The pacing, the comedy, and the character work is all on full blast and i’ve gushed plenty enough about how great an origin story is. it’s a character piece that explains why this doofus is the way he is and that is what holds him back.

Next time on MMM: Louie’s back as he pulls a ghostbusters to make quick money and Storkules starts rooming with Donald with predictable results.

If you liked this review consider joining my patreon and i’ll see you at the next rainbow.

#ducktales #flintheart glomgold #scrooge mcduck #the ballad of duke balloney #webby vanderquack #louie duck #fisher #mann #fishing #weblena #disney plus #disney xd #disney channel

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funky-boat-zone · 3 years

Text

since today is one of many possible dates that technically qualify as thomas’ birthday, i’m gonna liveblog magical birthday wishes. yes, i’m a year late, no i don’t really care.

thomas and the ants:

- ah yes, my favorite location on sodor, blank white void

- just gonna say this real quick: i love rob rackstraw’s voice for james. however, they have him doing literally every male character except thomas’ voice, and he can’t make percy sound young/endearing to save his life. percy sounds more like a woefully uneducated gremlin than childlike young lad, and that’s terrible. - those are some freakishly large ants, percy should be more concerned with that tbh - they’re bringing back the gold dust? weird, considering how the cgi era basically tried erasing tatmr out of canon (except diesel 10) - i do not like that thomas can jump now.

thomas and the balloons:

- thomas has absolute power over reality itself and can wish to alter it just by willing such, why is nobody talking about how terrifying this is? - they’re making engines transport fully inflated, helium-filled balloons again? have we learned nothing from the impracticality of “up, up, and away”? - how is he grabbing the balloons. how did he tie them to his buffers. - also imagine what his poor crew would be thinking if they were in this, imagine just trying to work and your engine just starts casually altering reality and decides to fly 20 feet off the ground. i’d quit on the spot

too many thomases:

- does every engine get magical wishes on their birthday or is it just thomas? - who the fuck is making nia do a job meant for ten engines by herself on a time limit? - how to instantly simultaneously fix this short and also make it a million times worse: make all the clones different incarnations of thomas (ie. rws, model era, hit era).

thomas the submarine:

- cranky’s voice makes him sound like a chain smoker. - actually, a tank engine can go underwater. they shouldn’t, but they can. - y’know what would’ve been kinda fun (and more marketable)? if thomas actually turned into a submarine/helicopter/whatever instead of just getting his funnel modified. - how is he propelling himself without a rudder. how can he talk to fish now. can submarines talk to fish in the ttte universe.

super bubble thomas:

- finally, a short with james. james is the only character in these shorts that rackstraw regularly voices, but even his james performance sounds kinda strained? i don’t blame him for sounding kind of off though, because they made him voice literally every male character except thomas i can’t get over how ridiculous that it when it’s clear that he doesn’t have the range for some of these characters - why is it james’ job to clean the station when he doesn’t even have any visible cleaning supplies? at least give the man a sponge or sth - i get that the message is “helping friends good :)” but thomas you’re allowed to wish for something for yourself. my dude you can find another engine to help your friends, you don’t have to solve literally all their problems with wishes you only get once a year.

thomas and the monkeys:

- “maybe they’ll follow a banana” thomas. are you gonna turn yourself into a banana. don’t do that - oh thank god, he just turned invisible - thomas, you didn’t actually get the monkeys back in their enclosure. they could climb back out and leave at any time.

thomas the giant:

- “he could be anywhere, we’ll never find him” maybe check the other side of the hill first? - thomas, you could just shoot up a flare or something. you didn’t have to potentially put henrietta in danger of being crushed. - i was right, toby was on the other side of the hill. this whole short could’ve been skipped if they just looked on the other side.

thomas the helicopter:

- what happened to my boy’s voice. - harold looks suspiciously pristine for a helicopter who presumably broke down mid-flight.. maybe he heard about the birthday wishes from everyone else and is exploiting this to make thomas do his jobs for him. - according to all laws of aviation there is no way that thomas- (dissolves instantly) - finally, humans! where have they been all this time?

thomas the rescue engine

- thomas ffs a bakery is on fire and all you can think about is if it’s your cake? you can’t even eat cake - where did all the gravel come from? - thomas you forgot to put out half the fire? this is “fiery flynn” all over again

thomas and the lighthouse:

- who left skiff undocked while he’s in the ocean? he’s gonna drift out to sea - speaking of skiff, he sounds like an adult doing a deliberately annoying impression of a child - “thomas fucking blinds skiff and other stories”

thomas full speed ahead:

- the more thomas talks about how many wishes he’s used and how he only wants to use them to help people, the more it sounds like he’s lying to himself. thomas. you’re being dumb as hell in these shorts but you deserve to have something for yourself just this once, it’s your birthday - i don’t know whether to be surprised that they actually remembered and referenced “thomas and gordon” or to be annoyed at the context in which it’s being referenced. - just because keith wickham was pretty good as james’ va doesn’t mean that rob rackstraw is good at being gordon’s va - are you telling me gordon broke down and decided to sleep instead of trying to call for help or have one of his passengers get help? - i can’t imagine how motion-sick those poor passengers must feel.

thomas the rubber band:

- where’s sir topham hatt been all this time? topham please save us from this alternate universe of chaos and despair - “a wall could hurt him” i mean, gordon also crashed face-first into a station wall once and he was relatively fine.. - the image of thomas being stretched out is one of the worst images from licensed material that i’ve ever seen.

thomas the elephant:

- this is it. this is the one. quite fitting that the most cursed short of them all is the thirteenth in the sequence. - emily’s scottish accent is cute, i hate that i’m hearing it in this context though. - that being said, twitter has already made all the jokes and invoked all the horror i possibly could, so i have nothing more to say on this short tbh

thomas & the birthday surprise:

- it’s the end. we laughed, we cried, we yelled at thomas for being dumb. i watched all 14 of these in one sitting and i will never be the same again. - fun fact: aside from nia and thomas’ voice actors staying the same, this whole set of shorts only had 2 people voicing all the characters. - you could just watch this short and ignore all the shorts before it. this one’s not great by any means, but it raises the fewest questions out of all of them. - except for how thomas and friends are gonna eat that cake. i imagine their crews just yeeting it into their fireboxes. - the moral of the story is that thomas needs to establish some boundaries, cranky needs to quit smoking, gordon is lazy, sir topham hatt is terrible at assigning jobs and has no idea what’s going on with his railway, captain joe shouldn’t leave skiff unattended, and percy is a fool.

#ttte #thomas and friends #shitpost #reaction tag #aka i yell at a fictional steam engine for making stupid decisions

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cordonian-literature · 3 years

Text

— love and war

an Attack On Titan and The Royal Romance crossover

a/n. ahhhh so it’s @zoehanji's birthday today! i got the idea for this fic based on something you mentioned in a convo a couple weeks back and am so excited to finally post it!! this takes place while Liam and Erwin are squad leaders, long before the fall of Wall Maria. Drake, Hana, Maxwell, and all other mentioned TRR characters are on Liam's team, while our AoT faves are on Erwin's squad! this is probably crap but i had fun writing it so hehe

i hope you have an amazing birthday, perci! you're amazingly supportive and kind!! you deserve all the love and happiness in the world. i love you 🥺😙💕💕

word count: ~3980

summary: The Scout Regiment retreats inside the Walls after a failed expedition. Liam and Erwin both worry after Riley, who suffered an injury at the hands of a titan.

WARNINGS: angst, blood, depictions of violence, mention of mental health issues

disclaimer: none of these characters belong to me. also, since this takes place in the Attack on Titan universe, if you haven’t watched the show there’s a chance you won't understand this, but there are no spoilers or anything. that’s why i’m not tagging anyone, this was pure self-indulgence. i had fun with it, so if you read it i hope you enjoy it!

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The bell announcing the opening of the gate was enough to tell people that the expedition outside the walls had failed. What solidified the fact was the downturned faces of the Survey Corps soldiers. Hours before, they had left Shiganshina with their shoulders pushed back, fists tightly holding the reins of their horses, faces the epitome of confidence and bravery.

Now, as the sun hid behind the 50-meter walls visible only through pink and purple rays, most soldiers had bandages over their faces, some more caked with blood than others.

As the soldiers passed through the path in town, citizens of the walls lined up on the sides. Soldiers dismounted their horses and walked slowly with the reins in their hands. Riley watches the faces of the residents of Shiganshina contort with rage and disappointment, upset about how their tax dollars had just been wasted, yet indifferent to the fact that more than forty percent of the new recruits who had left this morning were nowhere to be found, and the other sixty percent was visibly losing their sanity.

Who wouldn’t, though, after seeing their close friends and comrades mercilessly eaten alive?

“Is that alright?” Hana’s gentle voice asks after wrapping Riley’s leg with a new set of bandages. She sits with Riley in the wagon that Drake drives.

Riley notices the blood smeared on Hana’s cheek. How many soldiers did she have to patch up in the last hour?

“Do you need more bandages?” Maxwell asks from on top of his horse. His head is still turned downwards, and Riley knew by the lack of color on his cheeks and his bloodshot eyes that he was embarrassed over what had happened.

Outside the walls, the sun had been bright and the breeze had caressed their faces, wind wrapping them in deceitful peace. The fresh air and hypnotizing wave of the grass exuded fantasies of happiness, love, freedom: everything the Survey Corps soldiers fought for. There was no sight of rain, no thick clouds, no dusty air; nothing seemed as if it could go wrong.

But of course, innocent mistakes and ruthless monsters don’t pair well together. Maxwell had engaged his ODM gear and swung at a seven-meter titan, but had failed to cut off its nape to eliminate it completely. It had gone to grab Maxwell, but Riley had been able to cut off its hand before the fingers could curl around her friend. Realizing that they both had strayed from the scouting formation and were at risk of being swarmed by titans, Riley had gone to remount her horse. Before she got the chance to grab the reins and lift herself up, the same titan grabbed her with its other hand, breaking her leg with a loud crack.

Liam, Hana, and Drake had been a few meters behind, and while Drake took the chance to cut off the titan’s nape and finish it off for good, Liam grabbed Riley as she fell and gently placed her unconscious form in the wagon Drake had been driving.

“Maxwell, you idiot,” Drake had said when they were all on the move again. “Commander Keith specifically said not to engage the titans. Why are you so hell-bent on disobeying orders?”

“It was right in front of us!” Maxwell tried to defend himself. “If I didn’t try to take it out, we’d be as flat as pancakes right now!”

Back inside the walls, as they got closer to Scout Headquarters, the soldiers were met with doctors and nurses ready to treat their wounds as most of the squad leaders retreated into the building with Commander Keith. Liam, being a squad leader, quickly followed behind them, giving Riley a quick wave before disappearing into the building.

Riley was asked by a nurse if she could get herself into the infirmary, where there would be someone who could fix her broken leg.

As she shuffles off the wagon, a sharp pain stabs her leg and floods through the lower half of her body. The nurse and Hana stand on either side of Riley ready to lift, but before they can, Erwin appears in front of them and with a firm, “Let me,” he lifts Riley bridal style and brings her to the infirmary.

“You know I could have gotten here myself, right?” Riley tells him as they make their way through the halls.

“You’re injured, cadet,” he says. “We need you to get better, not worse.”

As he walks, Riley notices the blood on his shirt. She wonders whose blood it is. It couldn’t be Erwin’s: the way he carries Riley with ease and the way she feels his muscles flexing to make sure she’s comfortable show no hint of him being in pain. It wasn’t titan blood: it would have evaporated. It couldn’t be the blood of anyone on his team either: it was well known within the walls that every soldier on Erwin’s squad always made it back alive, mostly without even a scratch.

She looks up at him for a moment, catching his blue eyes narrowed in concentration, looking around for an empty room. Riley wonders what he had witnessed from his position in the formation. Had he been as afraid as she? Was he as guilt-ridden as she was, watching so many friends and comrades die for a cause that might not prove fruitful? She wanted to ask these questions, she wanted to know every inch of his thoughts, this man who was loved and hated equally by humanity inside the walls.

Inside an empty room in the infirmary, Erwin places Riley down on a bed. She moves around, trying to make herself more comfortable while Erwin goes to the table and pours a glass of water.

He holds it out to her, but while she’s busy shifting her leg in different positions, Riley doesn’t notice his extended arm. Erwin doesn’t say anything to bring her attention to it, though. He stands in silence, listening to Riley’s quiet mumbles and the soldiers crying out in pain in the other rooms.

Erwin tries to remember where her position was in the long-distance scouting formation and sighs in relief when realizing that, thankfully, she was in the left-wing, not the right-wing. Both were dangerous, but he had noticed more titans approaching the right side. Even if Riley encountered some titans, at least she hadn’t been surrounded by them.

Erwin had gone to Commander Keith a week before the expedition with the names of different soldiers and their possible positions, but the Commander had said that he would move some people around. Erwin thinks to himself that he should have told Keith to keep Riley in the center of the formation, where she’d be safest.

But putting the glass of water on the table, Erwin realizes to himself that his job isn’t to look after Riley, it’s to find the truth about the cruel world they inhabit and to figure out if his late father’s theory was true or not.

The sound of glass against the wooden table causes Riley to stop moving and turn.

“Thank you,” she says, bringing the glass to her lips and letting the water hydrate her dry throat. The cool liquid brings relief and burns as she swallows, and when she’s done Erwin asks if she would like some more.

After filling her another glass and watching her drink it, Erwin tells her that he’s going to find a doctor for her and go to a meeting with Commander Keith.

“A meeting? What about?” she asks.

“About the expedition and what each squad experienced or found,” he tells her.

“What do you mean?”

“The Survey Corps needs to prove that the expedition was successful in at least some way. We need to prove that we’ve done more than just have soldiers killed.”

“But do any of the squad leaders have anything to report?” Riley asks, dread filling her chest. If there was nothing to report, then the threat of disbanding the Survey Corps loomed over the top of their heads. If that ever happened, the truth of the titans and the world they lived in would never be uncovered: life inside the walls would eventually become too crowded and everything would dissolve into chaos. Even the king knew that.

“Yes, actually,” Erwin began. He was on his way out the door, but turned back at Riley’s question and sat at the edge of the bed. “From my squad, Hanji rushed a bit forward and noticed a titan…” He pauses and frowns, his thick eyebrows edging close together.

“Noticed a titan… doing what?” Riley asks, her curiosity peaked.

“I guess you could say it was vomiting,” he states. “Hanji certainly had fun witnessing it. They even laughed about the fact that at least eaten soldiers aren’t defecated—”

Erwin stops talking when he notices Riley giggling. “Sorry, sorry,” she says through gentle laughs. “It’s not funny, but of course that’s something Hanji would be excited over.”

Her words cause a smile to break Erwin’s stoic expression. “They were ecstatic. Moblit had difficulty dragging them away from the scene.”

Riley’s smile breaks with a small disgusted expression at the thought of the moment. “At least getting excited over titan vomit is better than being grabbed by one.”

Erwin’s smile melts and his face is once again expressionless. “Was Liam not with you? You both were supposed to be at the same position in the formation.”

Riley looks up at him, Erwin’s irritated tone not sitting right with her. “Yes, the Commander told him that he would be in the same spot with Maxwell and I, but Liam moved a few meters back with Hana and Drake.”

“So he defied orders?” Erwin states without hesitation.

“No! He just said that he’d thought it’d be better if he could see his squad in front of him,” Riley tries to argue Liam’s case. “Because if some of us were behind him, he couldn’t see us if we were in trouble.”

“Yes, that’s why Drake was meant to be in the spot behind Liam,” Erwin continues as Riley can’t figure out why the issue bothered him so much.

She takes a moment to stare at him, trying to read his expression. The placements of soldiers in the formation was the Commander’s job — Erwin was just there to give suggestions. Why was he so upset about something Liam decided was best for his team?

Erwin watches Riley as she stares at him, disappointed at why she was overlooking the fact that, because of Liam’s slip-up, she could have gotten killed. When Riley doesn’t continue the conversation and Erwin remembers that he’s supposed to be in a meeting right now, he speaks up again.

“I apologize,” he says, taking a deep breath. Erwin waits for Riley’s expression to soften, but when it doesn’t, he continues: “It’s not my place to judge the actions of another squad leader. I simply wanted to make sure that you were safe and your life wasn’t being put on the line.”

“All our lives are on the line,” she mentions in a quiet voice, a reminder that nothing was guaranteed for them, but the slight blush on her face gives something else away. “And I told you before, I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

He shakes his head at her comment. “I’ll go get a doctor and check in on you later.”

He leaves the room without another word, the blades in his ODM gear the only sound of his exit.

A few moments later, Doctor Yaeger comes into Riley’s room with a nurse. The man asks her questions about how the expedition went, and Riley was amused at how fascinated he was at every titan kill and turn of events she told him about.

When her leg was properly patched up, Doctor Yaeger tells her that it should heal after a few weeks and that she must avoid training in the meantime. The minute he leaves, Maxwell, Hana, Drake, and Hanji burst through the door with sweets for Riley.

Maxwell rushes to her side and grabs her hands in his. “Riley!” he cries. “Are you feeling better? Does your leg still hurt? Do you need me to get anything for you?”

“I’m fine, Maxwell,” she tries to convince him.

“This is for you,” Hana says, handing Riley a cup of warm tea. “From Liam. He suggested bringing you something warm to drink.”

“He’s not here?” Riley asks, tilting her head to try and look out the door.

“He’s still in the meeting with the Commander and the rest of the squad leaders,” Drake tells the group. “He was worried about you though, wanted to make sure you were alright.”

Riley tries to remove her hands from Maxwell’s grasp to get the cup of tea, but Maxwell doesn’t let go.

“Riley, I don’t know how to say sorry and thank you enough,” he begins again, tears forming in his eyes. Riley felt for him, knowing how consuming the guilt of having another comrade die or get injured on one’s behalf can be.

“Don’t worry about it,” she tells him. “At least we’re both alive.”

He sniffles and lets go of Riley’s hands, allowing Hana to transfer the cup of tea to her.

“Alright, now enough moping around,” Hanji says, pushing themself onto the small bed next to Maxwell. “I have something amazing to tell you!”

“Hanji, I don’t really want to talk about titan vomit right now,” Riley pleads, feeling her stomach growl at how hungry she was.

“I’ll have Drake go get some food for you,” she begins again, ignoring Riley’s request to be left alone to rest. “But hear me out, I have a theory that it’s not normal vomit, or not in the way that we understand the formation of it—”

A knock on the open door and the presence of a new figure causes Hanji to pause, and seeing that it was Liam, everyone in the room besides Riley stands and salutes with a fist to their chests.

With his hands behind his back, Liam moves from the entrance of the room, signaling that it was time for the rest of them to exit.

“I’ll come back after dinner and explain more,” Hanji says before leaving.

When the rest of them have emptied the room, Liam closes the door halfway, blocking out the sound of soldiers and medical staff.

Grabbing a chair from the other side of the room and placing it next to Riley’s bed, Liam takes a seat. Just like on Erwin’s uniform, Liam’s outfit also had traces of blood. But she doesn’t have a chance to wonder whose it is before Liam’s voice fills the air around them.

“Are you still in pain, Riley?” he asks her, bringing his rough, long fingers to caress the bandage on her knee.

“Yeah,” she says, running her hand along her injury, the same area where she had felt her bone twist. “But not as much. Doctor Yaejer’s treatment helped a lot.”

She watches Liam nod but continue to stare at her leg, eyes dark with… guilt? Riley takes in a breath, ready to ask the question, but stops herself. But with the light sound of her breath, Liam had turned to look at her, the emotion in his eyes lighter while his face stretches into a charming smile.

“Is everything alright?” he asks when she doesn’t speak. Liam lunges towards the side table, quickly pouring her a glass of water and placing it in Riley’s hands. She puts it back on the table and shakes her head.

“I just had a few sips of tea,” she tells him. “I’m alright. I wanted to ask how your meeting with the Commander went.”

Leaning back in his seat, Liam sighs. The same flash of sorrow passes through his eyes, but he gives a smirk to hide it.

“Erwin brought up the topic of your injury, and asked me my position in the formation,” he says. “The man walked into the room late, and after saluting the Commander, that was the first thing he said.”

Riley keeps quiet. She had never before commented on the rivalry between Liam and Erwin. When she had first joined the Corps, she thought it was humorous; she had laughed and whispered with Hana every time they would have a stare-off or a battle of intellect in front of her.

But Riley had never noticed how her happiness sent shutters through both men, causing them to cease their bickering and allowing them a few moments to stare at the beauty they wish they would never have to sacrifice.

Liam leans in close again, his voice gentler this time, thoughts of Erwin gone. “My intention was not to abandon or leave you, Riley,” he reaches for her and she allows his fingers to glide into the crevice of her hands, warmth and tension vibrating from his fingers. “It was a mistake, leaving you alone like that.” The depth in his eyes causes the despair to resurface in Riley’s heart, and she almost falls into it.

But she can’t afford to let her emotions consume her. Perhaps if she was a normal citizen living a normal life within the irritable walls, then maybe she’d let herself loose and cry into the arms of a man who had sworn to protect her, who looked at her with affection and admired her skills. Maybe.

Maybe she will be able to one day, when the gates of the walls will be permanently opened and titans will be no more and humans can be free outside the walls. When they’ve reached their goal, maybe then she’d let every negative thought consume her.

But right now, she was a soldier of the Survey Corps. Liam had brought no bad news, so that meant there was no threat of the Corps being disbanded. She had to keep moving forward, if not for herself, then everyone else. Morale was already low, especially after such a disastrous mission. Soldiers looked towards each other for emotional support. If one person let their thoughts consume them, everyone else would follow.

“I should have been by your side,” Liam’s voice brings Riley out of her thoughts, and she dulls her emotions until all the guilt and despair has dissolved.

“I wasn’t alone,” she reminds him. “Maxwell was with me, remember?”

His eyes meet her in a joyous question, silently asking her if she was serious. Riley knew what Liam meant to say, but there was no reason to solidify her thoughts.

“Liam,” someone says from the doorway. It’s another squad leader, one that rarely interacted with Riley. “I wanna talk with you for a minute.”

Before leaving, Liam brings Riley’s hand — still intertwined with his — to his lips, before letting her hand go and walking away.

In the quiet room, Riley brings her head onto the pillow of her bed, ready to get a few hours of sleep after the tiring and disappointing day she just had. But clearly, she can’t have a few moments to herself, because another knock on the door reveals that Erwin has brought her a tray of food.

“I thought you were hungry,” he says, bringing the tray to rest on her lap.

“Thank you, I’m starving,” she replies, picking up a spoon and digging in.

“I saw Maxwell bringing the tray over, so I took it and told him I’d be fine delivering it. I… wanted to see you again,” Erwin reveals.

Through her food-filled face, Riley feels her cheeks redden, and when she turns to look at Erwin, she finds him leaning back in his seat, arm draped over the back of the chair, pensively looking out the window.

Once she swallows the food in her mouth, Riley speaks up again, “Thank you, you didn’t have to.”

He peels his eyes off the window and turns to her, a soft smile causing her shoulders to relax. “It was no problem.”

Before shoving another bite into her mouth, Riley asks, “How did the meeting go?”

“It was disbanded sooner than expected,” he states. “The Commander said he’d speak to us individually once we handed in our reports.”

Through a full mouth Riley goes, “Why?”

A deep laugh vibrates through the room, causing Riley’s face to redden again. “Liam and I… had different opinions on a certain matter.”

After a sip of water she goes, “Was it the same reason you were talking to me about before?”

“Yes,” the man says bluntly, staring at her intently. Riley imagined that he was probably waiting for a kind of reaction from her, waiting for her to tell him which man was in the right.

Again she turns to her food, not wanting to focus on the subject for too long. “Well, it’s already happened, so there’s no use getting upset over it. Promise me you both won’t argue about it?”

His smile widens. “If it makes you happy, I won’t utter a word about it.”

She gives him a grin in return. “Thank you.”

Moments pass by during which the pair sit in content silence, Erwin looking out the window then towards Riley, who seemed solely focused on the meal in front of her.

Riley heard Erwin’s deep breaths and occasional sighs, and eventually worked up the courage to ask the man another question. “Hypothetically,” her words cause him to turn to look at her. “If, say, the titans were to disappear, and everything that we devoted our hearts and sacrificed ourselves to came to be a reality, what would you do?”

His smile doesn’t falter. “That depends on how we get to the end result, of course. I want to see the world beyond titans.”

“And once you see it, what will you do?” she continues, not satisfied with his answer.

“I don’t know,” Erwin states. “I will when we get there.”

“Then I change the question!” Riley takes another bite of her food. “What do you think you would be doing in another life, in a world without titans?”

He laughs at the new question, but Riley’s face remains serious.

“Perhaps I’d be in a similar position as I’m in now,” he ponders.

“What do you mean?”

“I think I’d always be working towards finding some kind of truth.”

The words hang heavy between them. It wasn’t a definitive answer, but Riley understands what he’s trying to say, and more importantly, she wonders if there truly is nothing more to this man than finding out the truth of their world.

“In another life,” he continues, “Perhaps I’d devote myself to other things.” He pours her another glass of water, handing it to her and watching her drink it. Once she puts the cup down, they stare at each other intently, and Riley finds her answer.

But of course, whatever fantasy she created in her mind, whatever fantasy she created in which he said the words she had wanted to hear from him for so long — from this man she had admired from the first time she heard about him — she would only hear in another life.

A cough from the doorway brings the two out of their trance. Liam stands with a small scowl on his face and two trays of food in his hands.

Erwin gives a sigh, sending a sympathetic pang through Riley’s heart. He stands and walks towards the doorway, but before his figure can disappear, she speaks.

“Liam, Erwin hasn’t eaten anything yet. You can give him the second tray.”

And he does. The men share an intense stare, but Erwin walks away in the direction of the mess hall, leaving Riley and Liam alone to eat together: their hands intertwined in a way that wasn’t a fantasy or desired reality, but true and genuine.

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#trr au fanfic #liam rys #erwin smith #attack on titan fic #tbh if i were in that position i would have chosen erwin but isayama said that he doesnt have romantic relationships #bc he doesnt know when hes going to die and he doesnt want to leave anyone behind🤧#anyway perci i hope you see this and if you dont i hope you have a wonderful birthday 💕💝💞💚🤍💙💜💛❤️

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lady-griffin · 4 years

Note

Do you prefer the light novels, manga or anime of Hamefura overall? I'm curious because there are slight differences between them that you've highlighted before. On a side note, I enjoy your analysis and I hope you are doing well!

Thank you!! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed my analysis of Hamefura 😊

That means a lot to me!

Sorry, for the delay – but it takes me a while to gather my thoughts and write out them out and then organize them coherently.

Potential Spoilers Below.

I would say that I’ve enjoyed the Manga the most and therefore I prefer it. If I only had a choice between one of them, it would be the Manga.

However, I still really like and greatly enjoy the Light Novels and Anime and all three together form my overall experience and enjoyment of the story.

All three have their strengths and weaknesses and things I like and dislike.

Manga

The Manga has a huge benefit of being a visual medium. There’s a lot more show, than tell in comparison to the Light Novel. Which is always better for a story, in my opinion.

Don’t get me wrong, I love reading books, but I feel like the Light Novels don’t really succeed in helping to visualize the story. Though maybe that’s because I’ve already been exposed to the story, through the Manga and the first few episodes of the anime before I started reading them.

The overall pacing in the Manga is a lot smoother in comparison to the other two. I think it has the best flow out of the three.

The Manga has done a very good job of not only adapting the story, but improving upon it.

The humor is also excellent in the Manga. By far the best. Truly superb.

Some of the humor or scenes of Katarina’s density in the Light Novels comes across as a bit awkward and forced, to the point that I’m pulled out of the story.

While in the Manga those same scenes feel a whole lot more natural and don’t disconnect me from my reading of the story.

While the Anime certainly has its own funny scenes, some of the scenes in the manga were a whole lot funnier than they have been in the Anime.

Largely, I think, due to the exaggeration and separation of panels, that focus on a specific detail or motion of a character. One of the best examples is what I’m going to call the Shaded Expression.

Though, in the most recent episode when Katarina’s mother confronts Katarina about her field at school – the Shaded Expressions between those two were very good.

That being said, I think there’s something funnier about the Manga highlighting and emphasizing physical motions and actions.

Take for instant, the same scene above but in the Manga - it’s immensely funnier (to me).

Just look at this fantastic entrance by Duchess Claes.

That extra bit of exaggeration and emphasis really sells the humor.

The Hamefura Manga really excels at leaving enough to the reader’s imagination, but still focuses enough on the details and emphasizing what’s important that the reader is never lost.

Which lots of panel-comic based stories can easily fail at. I think getting that balance just right is a lot harder than people think, so it’s always impressive when it’s done well.

Basically, the Manga is excellent.

I’ve reread the Manga multiple times as of now and I have yet to grow tired or bored of it.

In fact, I’m still noticing new details. When the characters return to school for the fall/winter, Katarina is wearing a fall/winter version of her outfit, with long sleeves. I never noticed that before, so that was a fun.

Now, I do think the Manga has focused on some details from the Light Novels that aren’t really that important. The number of panels dedicated to Katarina preparing for school, do seem like a lot, for instance. And I wonder if the Manga should’ve focused on another scene or aspect of the story.

While I can understand why certain scenes from the Light Novels were cut, some are quite disappointing.

The best one I can think of, is the after-birthday party gathering with Katarina’s friends. It’s the end of the First Light Novel. It’s just an excellent scene the showcases the group’s dynamic to a wonderful and hilarious degree and it’s a shame we didn’t get to see it either in the Manga or Anime.

Also, while we get to see inside the other characters’ minds from time-to-time and the Manga has expanded upon Katarina’s very limited first person POV from the initial story, we still miss out on the inner mechanisms of the other characters.

Perhaps separate from that or because of it, the group dynamics don’t seem as strong in the Manga, in comparison to the Light Novel.

In the manga, Keith is really Geordo’s most present and consistent rival, which leaves out Mary who plays a prominent role as Geordo’s detractor and rival as well. Similarly, the whole group operates on preventing Geordo and Katarina getting closer. Which is a very funny dynamic, that the Manga unfortunately leaves out.

So, while I do prefer the Manga, it’s not without its flaws. Especially in regards to what it chose to keep and throw away from the Light Novels.

That being said, I have greatly enjoyed the Manga and highly recommend it to anyone.

Light Novels

The Light Novels, in some areas have more detail and context, that gives the story more life and texture. Which makes me glad that I read the Manga first, because from my perspective I’m not losing detail/scenes, but gaining them (with this “extra” material).

While they’re not always important details to the story, they often help with the world-building. Though I don’t blame the Manga for cutting out some scenes or details, because they aren’t necessary and or can hinder the flow.

So, I think in that way both the Light Novels and Manga provide a fuller story together.

One obvious benefit of the Light Novels, is that we have the inclusion of the POVs from other characters – which are great.

The Manga does give us glimpses into the other characters, but that’s just what they are – glimpses.

The Light Novelz explores the other characters a lot more and overall a lot deeper in comparison -- even though each character really only gets 1-2 chapters of their POV in the first two Light Novels altogether.

Geordo’s thoughts during his first meeting/introduction with Katarina are much more “Black-Hearted” than I thought they were from the Manga or Anime, based on his outward appearance alone.

So, the Light Novel (from my perspective) gives new depth and perspective on Geordo, that I wasn’t even aware existed.

After reading his POV, it makes a whole lot more sense that he’s described as a Black-hearted Prince. I now have a much clearer view on who Geordo is and because of that – the difference in how he is with Katarina, from before and after he met her, to how he thinks and feels about her alone is a lot a more substantial.

Furthermore, the extra look into each character before and after they meet Katarina and befriend her is just everything.

While the manga and anime don’t shy away from the angst of their backstories, the Light Novel explores it to a genuinely sadder degree - Maria, Alan, Sophia and Anne’s stories have a lot more depth to them in the Light Novels.

Anne’s POV also has her perception and take on everyone’s feelings for Katarina. Which is really nice and just adds on another dimension to the harem.

We also get to see how other people actually perceive Katarina. And while this was already pretty obvious, Katarina’s projections on how other people think of her are WAY OFF.

That I’ve greatly enjoyed. Because while Katarina is certainly a dense, goofball – that’s not how people first view her nor is it how they only perceive her.

I’ve really liked that, because it’s concrete evidence that Katarina’s perception of herself runs negative and she’s not a reliable narrator when it comes to herself.

And there are a few scenes omitted from the Manga, that are really fun and enjoyable. And give a greater look into the group’s dynamic and make it actually feel like they have been a group of friends (/rivals) for years.

For instance, at the end of the first two Light Novels, Katarina and her friends gathered together in her field. We get to see them slightly competing with each other and trying to get some of Katarina’s attention, with her being none the wiser.

But the Light Novels aren’t exactly perfect – there are inconsistencies (that while small) bothered me.

One example: on one-page Katarina says that Maria’s hometown is far away from the capital, but then basically in the following page, she says it’s not that far away from the capital.

It’s also very odd to me that some characters don’t receive names.

Maria’s mother and the girl who people thought was going to be Geordo’s fiancée before Katarina came along.

Neither is a major character, but it’s weird that Katarina just think of the latter as ‘that girl’ not Celeste Thorne or some other name.

A lot of the world-building issues that exist in the Manga and Anime, clearly stem from the Light-Novels. And while the focus is obviously on Katarina and her friends and the reverse-harem dynamic, it’s still a problem.

Also, in the Light Novels it’s a very close 1st Person POV. Which for the most part is done well, but it can easily feel off and forced at times.

It’s clear that the POV is a very restricted to 1st Person.

So, it’s odd that we get full on conversations from other characters (that do add to the story and are needed) from Katarina’s POV – and yet somehow she has no idea what they’re talking about or even what they are saying…and it just makes her feel way too dense.

I know the Manga, does the same thing with Katarina not realizing what people are talking about - but because the Manga’s POV is a lot less limited, it feels more organic.

We can see a conversation that’s happening around Katarina, that she’s not paying attention to or following or having her own internal dialogue alongiside it – so it makes sense that while we the audience clearly know what’s happening with the conversation, Katarina doesn’t.

That being said. I’ve greatly enjoyed the Light Novels and getting a new perspective on the story and a more in-depth look into the other characters.

Anime

I think the anime excels at bridging the Light Novel scenes and Manga scenes together in a coherent way.

One example, in the 1st Light Novel in Alan’s POV we have Geordo state that Katarina is his fiancée. We don’t have that scene in the Manga, but instead of giving us the exact scene from the Light Novel, we do get a similar one in a slightly different context in the Anime.

The Anime is adding its own twist – which I appreciate.

And given some of the trailers and pictures of future episodes, it seems like there will be more content in the anime, than I initially thought. Scenes not only from the Manga, but also the Light Novel, and of course scenes that seem unique to the anime itself.

Which is really fun and I’m looking forward to seeing them. So, in that way I think the anime has a unique advantage.

I know the story from the Manga, I got a deeper look into the story from the Light Novel (to varying degrees) and now I get to see what the Anime has decided to do with all of that.

So far, I have liked the extra stuff the anime has added.

-- The Orientation Assembly, where we have Geordo noticing Katarina not paying attention and Geordo inviting her over.

-- Meeting Katarina before she regains her memories.

-- The name and language of the country – Sorcier. Seeing the unique language of the country.

-- See Katarina being very aware of Maria before they even meet.

-- Sophia and Mary’s types of magic are established (which were never included, at least not in the Manga).

And so on.

Overall, I would say the anime really does well with combining the Light Novels and the Manga together. The best example up to this point, would be the most recent episode – “I Visited The Heroine’s Parents’ House”

While, the two chapters are right next to each other in the manga.

I thought the episode did a very good job of combining Katarina and Maria becoming proper friends and the Claes Siblings visiting Maria during Summer Vacation + Maria and her mother’s POVs from the Light Novels + unique anime scenes.

Unique Anime Scenes - We see the adult women talking about Maria being ‘famous and special’ and that at first doesn’t seem like a bad thing (though it is) but then we get the addition of the two girls whispering to one another and then them asking Keith and Katarina’s about who Maria’s real father is.

Similar, to how the Manga is more show than tell over the Light Novel – the anime is following that progression. Being the most show and less tell. Which, again, is much better for a story in my opinion.

While I could be wrong, given the most recent episode (I visited...) plus the pictures from future episodes and the trailer – it seems safe to assume that Katarina’s Summer Adventures with her friends from the Manga/Light Novel will be intersperse in her school life in the Anime.

And I can see that pacing being a lot smoother, because it’s more spread out, thus, giving us more time with each character and Katarina’s relationship with them.

I also think the anime has establish its own comedic flow and I have laughed at their scenes.

So, while, I don’t think the anime has had a 100% success rate in adapting the comedic aspects of the Manga to animation, when it does its own scenes or its own way of showcasing a scene, it can work to its own advantage.

Also, the voice acting.

Maaya Uchida as Katarina Claes was an excellent choice. I think she’s doing a fantastic job with Katarina, to the point while the others are not bad in the slightest, I feel like the perfect match up of Maaua Uchida and Katarina Claes just outshines them.

My main criticism is that the anime has struggled in finding its own footing and pacing. Now I think that has improved a lot in the past two episodes – which yay!!, but it’s still been a problem for me.

It also makes me a bit concern, since, according the Wikipedia there are only 12 episodes and were basically half way through them. So, there’s that.

However, I have greatly enjoyed watching the anime so far. And the first episode was good enough to make me immediately want to read the manga - so very well done on their part.

Overall, I would say that all the three – Manga, Light Novels, Anime – benefit from the other two existing. Each one by itself, I think while is sufficient enough, still suffers. They all help to fill in the spots that the others are lacking in.

Which is great! I’ve enjoyed having all three. Because together I think they form the true Hamefura story, which I’ve loved.

So, check out all three if you can.

#Hamefura #Otome Game No Hametsu Flag #My Next Life as a Villainess #Bakarina #Katarina Claes #Destruction Flag Otome #Anonymous

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sastrugie · 4 years

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john entwistle biography review

ok so first: I didnt really like the biography because I thought it would focus on totally different aspects. John was a musical virtuoso and that hardly ever gets mentioned in the book. But we get exact axccounts on how much money he spent on what day and in which pub he bought which champagne. like wow thanks. The other personal stuff is basic who knowledge you can read in any other Who biography. His autobiographical bits were joy and fun! Maybe the only reason to buy the book in my opinion. He writes totally different than the author...

ANYWAYS: here my fav facts from the book that you probably didnt know before

this is the face of a man who -when his father gave him driving lessons for his 21st birthday as a present- decided driving wasnt really his thing and he spent the money on clothes and parties instead. He never had a drivers license ever and also never desired to have one

the hospital he was born in, was bombarded and destructed one day after his birth

as a child he was really weak and thin and had basically every disease that existed

his family was poor af

his father left the family early and held contact with his son, but soon disappeared with a new family

his stepdad, Gordon, disliked John alot and would ignore him, hated everything John did or said and he let his bad moods out on Johns mother, which caused John to be very silent and observative around the house so that there wouldnt be any trouble

he did everything to please Queenie (his mom) so that there was no fighting, according to Alison

loved drawing and playing but usually alone since he had no friends apart from their dog

he heard a trumpet solo once from a trad jazz band when he was 6 or so and decided he wanted to learn the trumpet

my fav line of the book probably: “despite his own expectations, he passed the exams to go to grammar school” like same

at school he was bullied from the older boys but soon left alone by them because he would fight back with badass comments

he applied for the school band for the trumpet but the tallest guy in the year was chosen (he was the 2nd tallest) which made John mad, but he discovered the french horn

soon he found a friend, mickey brown, at last and he gave him the nickname “ent”

he was so terrible in P.E that he was dismissed with other pupils to play somehwere else, they were called “the hockey misfits” and guess who was among them: Pete Townshend.

yeah as you might know they became besties because they loved music and black humour.

he found himself a gf (alison) and Pete & a school gang (like 4 ppl) and his life seemed to finally get where it should.

his worst subjects were geography and german like wow (im a german geography student lmao)

once they played in a pub and johns stepdad was there and was super angry and gave john a list with his fav pubs and told him “these are the places I never want to hear your fucking music playing”.

after walking home pete decided to switch the guitar and john wanted to become a musician more than ever

Roger found him and John kind of convinced him (it took months apparently) to get Pete into the band and then it all started

he judged the beatles because John Lennons harmonica was “out of tune” in love me do, wow ok you nerd

john started smoking with 20 and was the last one to quit his job for the band and he was against drugs at first (bc he had a “civilized” job) but then decided to give a shit, dyed his hair black, bought cigarettes, smoked dope with pete and did speed too

he wanted to step out of himself and feel good about himself and he was always a fashionnerd so he started buying and trading and selling clothes (he once was dismissed from school bc he wore the school uniform incorrectly)

with 18 or so he was still living at home, had a toy soldier collection and a pet budgie

pete and his college friends made fun of john bc he wasnt a student and still lived at home, although john could have gone to college too and he wanted to, but his stepdad again said no and he had no choice.

he was very awkward and introverted but could open up with his music

he was really into pop art (esp pop art clothes)

was a pseudo mod bc he only liked the fancy clothes and motown music

with the who he found a purpose in his life and finally could be different than ordinary ppl

hated when people touched his hair, he literally hated it

would fuss much about his hair in general

once after a concert they were starving and the room service was alreday home so they had to look on used plates and food wagons and John found a shrimp and said: “who wants to dine with me tonight?” (idk that really made me laugh)

keith moon was john entwistles soulmate and they were the cutest, most iconic and funniest duo ever end of discussion

his amps would soon be called little manhatten bc he had so many bc he wanted to be loud

he actually went to sing at church once when he was like 24 and the band made fun of him then he stopped

in the late 60s he bought a house with alison in a normal neighbourhood and went walking the dogs on sundays and stuff

but he was a party animal and always the last to go

he was really sensitive and cried often according to Alison but only in front of certain people

he would totally step out of his way to please people

when they played at the monterey pop festival they didnt bring their own amps along and john was furious bc he said the american amps are shit and kit was like “no” and john didnt talk to him for the whole festival until their perfomance was over and they had sounded like shit to tell kit “I TOLD YOU SO” thats how extra he was

when he got money he would spend it bc he was so used to being poor that he thought it wouldnt last long and he had to enjoy it NOW

he was always calm and everyone respected him and kit told a story where he entered the room and roger was at keiths throat and and pete was screaming something and john was sitting in the corner cleaning his nails. thats who energy

liked to dance at parties

his fav drink was rémy cognac with 40% and he would drink like 1 bottle alone everyday in his later years...wow dude

he was also gentlemanTM and once paid taxis for girls from london to brighton after a party

once at a wedding the free drinks were out and John just gave the barkeeper his creditcard and said he will pay for all the drinks of the night for everyone (it wasnt his wedding)

Roger once said: “John made smartass comments that deserved a punch in the face” sounds like him yes

he didnt really care about money and always wanted to pay and never told anyone how much things had cost and brought gifts for everyone

soon that ended in a shopping addiction tho and he bought ridiculous things for ridiculous amounts of money

when the who was inactive he sank into depression :(

held the band together during who by numbers & who are you

wrote and played all the quadrophenia horn parts himself

never lost his passion for art and always drawed alot, said Alison

cried when Christopher was born aww

once he saw their manager in an art museum and how he wanted to buy a painting but couldnt afford it, so John bought it secretly and shipped it to said managers home as a gift

We all know John was a huge collector. His most treasured collection was .. wait for it: teapots.

he tried to save Keith from being arrested once and ended up being arrested too lol

wanted to write a scifi concept album but desorted the idea and gave some songs to the who (905) or Pete

was a good cook apparently

When he gave a hug HE was the one who decided when to let go sdfghjk

hated confrontation and would hire other people to tell someone bad news

he spent so much money on dumb shit like wtf

but didnt really care either

probably the master in picking up and seducing girls

he let his stepdad live in the quarwood mansion when he wasnt there but Gordon was still an asshole wtf

the contact to his real dad was really sporadic

when the who ended, it hit him really hard and he didnt know what to do besides partying and buying stuff/hording stuff

was very insecure and selfconscious in the 80s according to Maxene :(

he actually took pete breaking up the who really personal and was sad 24/7

was that kind of guy that said bad stuff about the who but when you said bad stuff he would try to kill you on spot

with cocaine he felt really confident and still like the 60s/70s rockstar he once was but he didnt understand that these times were over and he needed to move on

sometimes went into random pubs with friends and made jam sessions for the guests

he still was generous and loving until he died and tried to play with other bands but it was not the same

he really liked Kenney and hung out with him more than with his wife at some point lmao

was a total giver and people who worked at quarwood would steal money from him but when someone pointed that out he got angry with that person for even suggesting that

was a real softieee (and a huge nerd)

all his friends said that he was shy at first but once you got to know him he would come totally out of himself, was very funny, loved to tell stories, was very very loyal and would try evertyhing to make you laugh aww

all in all a glorious story with a sad ending and he did destroy himself completely, but lets remember that Pete Townshend described old John still as "wonderful, mature and elegant” so lets cling on to that :)

#the who #John Entwistle #band #literature #the ox #mine #pete and rog didnt participate in the bio maybe thats why its hit #*shit #not hit #also you can see: no info about his musical inspiration or werdegang #can not recommend #althought this post might look fun these are the filtered cool stories from like 330 pages #classic rock

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jedivoodoochile · 3 years

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🔴 5 Rock Legends That Were Labeled ‘Out Of Control’

Here’s a cold hard fact – rockstars get away with almost anything. There’s no point arguing because their hedonistic lifestyles have been well-documented. Whether it’s trashing hotel rooms, flooding hallways, or crashing their own car into the swimming pool, they liked to live dangerously. But even though being wild is common and mostly part of being in the rock music industry, there are those who still stand out.

The following rockers took their antics and partying to the next level.

Ozzy Osbourne

In his heyday, Ozzy Osbourne partied the hardest. Biting the ear off a live bat, taking a piss on the Alamo, peeing on a police car, snorting a line of ants, accidentally drugging a vicar, throwing a TV out the hotel window, tried shooting his cats at home, and biting the head of a dove – it could be drugs or alcohol but he just didn’t know when to stop. Comparing himself to other rockers who passed away like Gary Moore and Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, Osbourne told Classic Rock magazine: “As I say, I don’t know why I’m still alive. They didn’t do any worse than I did, I didn’t do anything less than they did. We all drank the same, we all partied the same, we all did the same.”

Keith Moon

Keith Moon is the very definition of a rockstar “out of control”. As far as crazy behavior goes, he one-upped Ozzy Osbourne in every way. He was a big ball of energy on and off stage. When he wasn’t spending his energy slamming on the drums and going wild behind the kit, he went ahead and played practical jokes on everyone – nobody was safe. Besides, he was called Moon the Loon for a reason – nothing was off-limits for him. He famously added more explosives to his drum kit at an appearance on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” and nearly blew Pete Townshend’s head off. It resulted to damaging Townshend’s hearing and singeing his hair. Moon reportedly had a piranha for a pet and he’s known for putting cherry bombs on their hotel toilets. At his 21st birthday party, it got so wild that he knocked out his front teeth.

Jim Morrison

The Doors’ Jim Morrison was a poetic genius but like 90% of rockstars, he was innately rebellious. Add in the fact that he liked to indulge in alcohol, it wasn’t long before he became increasingly unpredictable. In fact, he was the first rockstar to be arrested mid-performance. He got drunk at a football game and made fun of the players, stole an umbrella from the window of a police car, making a ruckus with the flight crew and attendants at a flight, and allegedly exposed his male member to the audience at a gig in Miami.

Nikki Sixx

Mötley Crüe is full of batshit crazy members (think rubbing egg burritos on their crotches so they can cover up the smell of sex) but even among them, Nikki Sixx emerges as the unrivaled one in terms of wildest moments and unbelievable antics. After he almost died from heroin overdose, the first thing he did after getting discharged from the hospital was to well, inject more heroin. He also tackled Eddie Van Halen. When asked whether he has any regrets, Sixx told The Guardian: “The only thing I regret is if anybody got hurt along the way, but the person who got hurt the most was me.”

Keith Richards

Ah, yes. The man who cheated death more times than we can count. This is the very same one who admitted that he snorted his father’s ashes and managed to stay awake for nine days! He even whipped out a bag of cocaine at a baby shower. He enjoyed what he used to call as “the breakfast of champions” – a cocktail of cocaine and heroin

#keith richards

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toogoodmusic · 3 years

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THE TOO GOOD TEN with MADS LANGER

Growing up in the countryside near the small town of Skive, singer, songwriter and musician Mads Langer grew up always knowing he’d be in music. From singing songs at the age of 18 months in his own language to his latest release, “Lightning,” the new dad has been pursuing the dream for a long time now. Through honest, original and disruptive music the Danish singer has been able to be reborn time and time again through his music and continues that creativity as he looks to the release of his upcoming EP, Where Oceans Meet. The boundary pushing message of love is love in “Lightning” serves as a taste of the upcoming EP and contributes to the already 38 million streams and 506k monthly listeners he’s amassed across his career. He takes a break from his world domination to take on the latest Too Good Ten. Check out the full interview below to learn more about the latest release, “Lightning,” how becoming a dad has changed his perspective on life, how he rebounded from getting dropped by his girlfriend and label around the same time and much more.

The Too Good Ten. Ten Questions. One Artist. Too Good.

1. Looking at the beginning of your career – what was it about music that inspired you to pursue a career in it?

MADS LANGER: Expressing myself through music has been a fundamental part of my language for as long as I remember. My parents have recordings of me singing my own songs in my own language when I was 18 months old. I always knew that music was going to be my path in life. It wasn't a decision that I made at a certain time. It was more a realization that I was not gonna be able to pursue any other career even though I’ve always had plenty of other interests. I could have been in politics, in sports, in science and many other things. I could have been a teacher as my parents, my grandparents and my great grandparents were. And then again, none of these career paths were ever up for grabs. Music was and always will be my thing.

2. You got signed and had an album that you ended up describing as “flopped” and had to start over and spent time busking all over Europe. How did you come to the decision to busk in the wake of “starting over?” What did you do to keep your internal mental conversation strong through the hardships that I assume came with traveling around?

ML: I got signed when I had just turned 18. I went straight from living in my parents house, in the countryside of Denmark, to living a life full of pressure and expectations in New York City. That was quite a shocking change of scenery to be honest. Looking back, I was definitely too young at that time. When a major label first wants you it’s the end of the innocence. I had to grow up overnight and try to keep up with that big machine that started dictating how I was gonna live my life. When my first record didn't succeed commercially and I got dropped I think I saw it as an opportunity to do some of the stuff that most of my friends had done after finishing high school. But most of all that whole 6 months of busking in my old van all over Europe was an escape from heartbreak. My first girlfriend had dropped me around the same time that my label dropped me. She fell in love with a really cool guy in Paris who was older than me and he could grow a very impressive beard, hahaha…

As far as keeping my internal mental conversation strong, that's has never been problem at all and as you can imagine I had plenty of stuff to think about, write about and then finally sing about in the streets of all of these beautiful cities that I got to visit on that trip.

3. “Lightning” is the latest release and gives fans the first taste of your upcoming album Where Oceans Meet which is due out October 1st. How did you decide to release this one as the lead single? What was the inspiration behind it?

ML: In many ways, I think “Lightning” is a song that represents that certain place where the oceans meet on my album. “Lightning” is a song about recognition. When I wrote this song, I thought about all those moments in my life where I really felt recognized on a deeper level. When I met my wife. When I looked my newborn daughter in the eyes for the first time. In concerts when my music meets the audience and it feels like we're all getting struck by the same lightning. Those kinds of moments.

CHECK OUT THE FAUSTIX REMIX OF “LIGHTNING” HERE.

4. Speaking of the upcoming album – what’s the meaning behind the album title? How many songs? Any collabs? Is there a song on the album you’re nervous about releasing out to the world?

ML: Where Oceans Meet is a metaphor. The entire album circles around the different contrasts that we all face in our lives. The light, the dark. The head, the heart. Hopes and fears. It’s about loving and longing at the same time. Where Oceans Meet represents the idea of the place where all these contrasts meet and embrace each other.

5. “Lightning” follows up “Hanging With You” which peaked at #1 in Denmark radio. What’s the story behind when you first heard one of your songs on the radio? Does it ever get old?

ML: It never gets old. Every time I listen to the radio, I must admit that I hope that they will play my song. It's the best feeling ever. This might be a little far-fetched, but it's kind of like when you give someone you really care for a present for their birthday. And it's not just any kind of present. It’s a present that you put all your time, thoughts and heart into. And then one day you randomly turn on the TV. Look who's there. Is that special person that you gave the present to. She’s actually wearing that sweater that you spent five years learning how to knit. After endless attempts, you finally managed to knit a sweater that you would give her without being scared that she would think it was a joke. She’s not wearing it because she feels like she has to, because you’re on a date with her. She’s wearing it because she likes it. And she just put it on that day that she randomly got stopped by the tv-station and interviewed in the streets of your hometown. That is close to the feeling I get when I hear my songs on the radio. And no, I have no clue how to knit a sweater, but I like the image.

6. The past year in the pandemic had a lot of its own challenges but it also had some beautiful moments like the drive-in concert you organized in Denmark last May. Why did you feel it necessary to put something like this together during that time? Being the first one to do so, how did you figure out logistics, etc. for the entire event? Anything you would’ve changed about it looking back?

ML: I had just started touring when the pandemic hit us all. I had spent months preparing the show and I was extremely disappointed when I had to turn around the tour bus and go back home after only playing 10 out of 100 shows. I had a couple of weeks where I was feeling really depressed. But then I decided to see if I could turn this whole thing into some sort of an adventure. I made a list of stuff I wanted to do. On that list I had drive-in concerts for some reason. I know a couple guys who are really good at putting together big events that include live music, so we talked about how we could make this happen. All credit to them for putting logistics together. I just played the shows. I had no idea that I would be the first one in the world to do a drive in concert. But it was really fun and I would not change a thing. In my shows, everyone was on the same video conference call. I loved that because I could talk to the people in the cars in between the songs. The people in their cars requested what songs of mine that they wanted to hear. And often they had really personal stories to the songs that I never heard before. So that was something that I will never forget.

7. The past year also brought about a new baby for you – congrats! What’s been the most surprising thing about having a baby that you might not have known before?

ML: Thank you so much. Yeah, that's truly a life changing event. My little daughter is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I'm so grateful that I got to receive a little soul with my wife. Even though it has happened billions and billions of times already it still feels like a miracle. I think the biggest surprise is the fact that your whole perspective changes in the blink of an eye. She is now the single most important thing in my life. I thought that would be something that would happen gradually, but for me it really happened at the moment that she was born.

8. What do you hope to accomplish with your music in the future that you may feel you have not done already? Have any of those goals or aspirations shifted with the new addition to the family?

ML: I really hope that people will recognize themselves in my songs. Obviously, the goal is that my songs will travel and become part of people's lives in new territories. I have spent so much time in the US since I moved away from home. I lived in New York City and in Los Angeles and I spend at least three or four months a year in the US working with all the talented people that I have met over the years. Building an audience in the US is a huge dream of mine. Hopefully this album will help introducing me to people all over America.

9. If you could only listen to (5) artists for the rest of your life, who would they be?

ML:

The Beatles

Pink Floyd

Keith Jarrett

Mozart

Radiohead

10. What’s the rest of 2021 and beyond look like for Mads Langer?

ML: My album comes out in October. That is obviously a huge event in my life, and it looks like I'm going to be very busy talking about the album and singing the songs from it in many different places all over the world. Apart from that I will be changing diapers on my newborn daughter. Kissing my wife. Learning Chinese and writing my first score for a movie that comes out in 2022.

A HUGE shout-out to the talented Mads Langer for hanging for this latest Too Good Ten interview. Keep up to date with everything he has going on by following the links below and be sure to be on the look out for his latest EP, Where Oceans Meet due out October 1st.

SOCIAL LINKS:

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

YouTube

MUSIC:

Apple Music

Spotify

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