Thoughts on Star Trek: Prodigy (Season 1B)

I already typed up my thoughts on 1A ages ago, not knowing when 1B would come out, so I'm gonna try not to spend too much time on repeat statements. You can read that here if you care.

Honestly, this was one of the strongest first seasons in Star Trek history. This show knew what it wanted to be from the very start and just got better as it went along. My few complaints are largely nitpicky. Seriously, if you have passed on this because it's a kids show or you don't like the new Treks or whatever -- just give it a try.

What I Liked

The characters and their dynamic continue to be the strongest part of the series. Each of them is unique, memorable, and likeable in their own way, and the back half of the season fleshes all of them out even more. We even get a little flashback establishing each of their backstories. I originally thought Dal was the least interesting character, but his arc of leadership and self-discovery was wonderful in the back half of the season. Now I'd probably cite Jankom as the least interesting, but honestly none of them are bad, and they work very well as a group.

Once again, the animation just looks gorgeous. Character designs are wonderful and varied, and some of the locations are just stunning.

This show is made by people who love Star Trek, and it shows. The references and worldbuilding are crafted with such care, with so many little moments making me smile -- like the handful of calls to Jellico, or the little nods to "Threshold" and "Counterpoint," or the appearance of the Defiant in the big finale. But what I appreciate most about these references is that the show doesn't entirely depend on them. It's not just a shameless nostalgia grab like some other recent Trek outings have been -- if you removed the references and fanservice, there would still be a solid show underneath.

This show also has an excellent balance between episodic and serialized storytelling. There's definitely a big story that gets developed over time and builds up to a big finale, but that doesn't completely derail everything else. The characters still have a series of one-off adventures, which places them in new environments and allows them to have varied arcs. Most had good flow between each other as well, with only a few feeling like pointless filler -- and even those weren't bad, just not as strong as the rest.

I also like how this show isn't necessarily committed to maintaining the status quo. The season finale wrapped up so many arcs and set up season 2 to be quite different, and that's really exciting to me! I don't want them to rehash the same ideas over and over, and it looks like they don't plan to.

I really appreciate Prodigy's approach to darker and more nuanced topics. It doesn't shy away from things like the cast being escaped slaves, or the tragedy of what happened to Solum. Nor does it dumb these things down for its young audience. It just makes these topics approachable.

The reveal of Dal being an augment isn't what I expected, but I like it a lot. It introduces some tension due to the possibility of him not being permitted in Starfleet, and it sends him on a really interesting character arc -- going from "I'm just some experiment from a petri dish" to "I'm the captain and if I can't be in Starfleet, I'm going to do what I can to make sure you all do."

What I Didn't Like

Carrying over my biggest complaint from the first half of the season -- the lip sync in this show is weirdly bad. Mouth movements are often wildly mismatched from the voices, and it's genuinely distracting. And generally, there are some animation choices that make me wonder if there were budgetary or timing issues preventing more fluid movements. Characters can feel a little stiff, or like they're not emoting to the same extent as their voice actors. Hopefully the success of season 1 means season 2 will get a bit more attention in that regard.

Additionally, while the character designs of the alien characters are gorgeous, some of the human characters look a bit strange. I think I notice it most on the returning legacy characters, whose appearances I am most familiar with. It's hard to balance keeping the look of a well-known live-action character while also matching the art style, and I couple times I just think they missed the mark. Holo Janeway looks perfectly fine to me, but Admiral Janeway looks like she was stung by several bees.

While I appreciate most of the little cameos from pre-existing Trek characters, I don't think Okona added much to the story. I would have removed that role entirely, because he was definitely just there to be filler.

I don't care for Murf's redesign. I can't really articulate what looks off to me, but I just prefer the weird little blob to the weird little man.

I don't care for Zero's new suit, either. I understand giving them an upgrade, since their old one was literally scrap metal. But their old one also had charm and character to it. The new one looks like a walking Apple store and feels unpleasantly cold. Even making it gray instead of shining white would have helped, I think.

random recs for july:

currently watching:

wwdits (season 4)

extraordinary attorney woo

watched:

mr unlucky has no choice but to kiss-

not a very long show, something lighter. the idea behind it is unique, that two people with opposite luck start to balance each other out. i didn’t particularly like the unlucky main character, he was shallow and manipulative and i know that was sort of the point to see his growth but even at the end I still didn’t really like him. Japanese shows have a habit of over-the-top internal monologues which are normally wonderful and funny but the unlucky lead just felt really obnoxious. was cute but won’t really watch again.

the uncanny counter-

so much funnier then i thought it would be!!! i value humor a lot and i really love to laugh so i enjoy many types of humor. the humor in this show was 100% why you could watch the whole thing and it not become too emotional (but I had to pace myself because lort it was still emotional). i cried and i laughed and raged and all the feelings and any media and writing that can make me feel that much is good in my book. i will still give a pace yourself warning.

I thought the effects would be more cgi because of the spirits and power aspect of the show but it was actually really well done. also the guy that played the main villain/evil spirit (ji cheong shin) was TOP fucking notch. i could watch him be a villain in every show in existence.

one of the few things I wish was different was showing more of the spirits from Yang’s interactions with each other and with their counters. (besides mama chu and her boy which was the fucking best and worst) sometimes you just felt really disconnected from them and i think that had been some of the point at first but then it made their more emotional interactions with each other and their counters come off very flat and fake.

the bear-

i wasn’t sure if i would but i enjoyed this show a lot. it deals with suicide and grief and doesn’t shy away from the ugly parts of it which i really applaud. it really felt like the lead was grieving, his choices driven by it and it making him impulsive and aggressive at times. they made him a complex character and where like ‘yeah he’s a jerk sometimes but he’s got the spirit’ and without romanticizing it too.

the characters feel real and i love the idea that we get to see very little outside of what exists at the restaurant. we rarely ‘go home’ with the characters besides the main lead so you only see them exist and interact with each other in this certain setting. it actually forces you to take everything at face value and with these characters that makes it a little wild. lol

also just my pet peeve: there is no way in hell all those kids drank xanax and all just fell asleep. i know that’s such a weird thing to focus on, it’s a work thing i guess but i made my husband pause the show so i could say that to him. he was like “okay then.“ but no really— if you are gonna do grief this well at least get psych meds right. lol

cherry blossoms after winter-

this is just cute. very much so a manhwa come alive. the writing was a little choppy in some areas and felt a little incomplete in some areas but i liked the chemistry between the leads. Some angst sprinkled in at the end was a nice touch and i liked the idea that they would need to be brave and believe in their love.

this isn’t super long and i used it as a filler show between my very heavy shows. i watched it before bed sometimes because it just has an overall good feel to it and the leads were actually super adorable so I found myself grinning stupidly at parts.

old fashion cupcake-

i really enjoyed this!! which seems to be a theme with japanese bl/lgbtq shows. they talked about gender in this and what society deems acceptable for men and women to do. i had been a little worried when they were talking about the aging process and ‘being a girl’ but then nozue decides himself that he doesn’t need to be a girl to enjoy these things and i was super happy they did that.

the confession scene was like the best thing my angsty heart has ever seen. and it was done in one shot for the most part, the chemistry and the feelings between the leads are subtle but true and it was really enjoyable. i found myself rewatching a few parts as soon as the show ended.

the story was told, it was told well, it made you feel, and then it ended. It felt very finished and i rarely feel that way about shows and stuff. it felt like a truly complete story and was very satisfying. i will watch this again.

heartstopper-

this was a good show and well written, had a decently diverse cast too. i’m really digging these shows coming out lately where the teens actually feel like teens.

the issues with self worth and the realities of coming out were portrayed honestly but there was a happy ending. which is important because historically many lgbtq stories end in tragedy or they end up making the characters into villains. this is one of those shows that just makes you feel good watching it.

this felt like a show made just for teens, there was some parental involvement but home lives weren’t really explored much, i think the only parent that talked for more then a few lines was tao’s and nick’s so it really was focused on the kids, school, and coming out. (i sort of expected a more love, victor vibe because coming out usually means to family as well but i like how they did it here. it made it feel more identity based and about self discovery)

jacksepticeye’s ‘stray’ let’s play-

(if I watch longer let’s plays I like to review them as well) i really liked this let’s play! jacksepticeye’s gaming style suits my brain really well and i’m 100% certain it’s because of the adhd. he’s not afraid to mess up or be goofy, he laughs at himself and makes similar jokes that i would make playing the game. i enjoy putting his let’s plays on when i’m doing laundry and tasks similar to that. plus then i know if i want the game and/or if my kid can play it too.

the video game looks really awesome and my eight year old could definitely play it. she loves cats and really broad pretty worlds. she might need some help in the later parts of the game or more strategic parts but she’s a fast learner, and playing it in day time just to make the darker areas less scary. this could also spark some conversations and has the potential to be used for mindfulness if done correctly.

also jacksepticeye acting like a cat and talking about cats is magnificent

still slowly watching because of adhd:

inspector koo

my name

sense8

taxi driver

10 Mistakes to Avoid in Action

Patreon || Ko-Fi || Masterlist || Work In Progress

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Over-Describing

When it comes to action, it helps to remind yourself that readers like to inject action with a hint of their own imagination. They can fill in the blanks very easily with written action scenes, because unless otherwise stated, a reader will assume that the characters are moving quickly with a lot of precision and a lot of energy. Try to comb through all of your action scenes and ask what your reader can and can’t infer. By all means, hint at the highlights and intensify focus on important details or symbolic moments, but the action is not why they’re here. They’re here for the progression the action creates. 

Superhuman Pain Tolerance

As it turns out, getting hurts is painful. Getting hit or kicked or stabbed or shot is painful, and unless the injury was very light or minor, it’s gonna hurt for a while. Even if your character is the type to repress their own feelings and ignore their pain, some inability due to pain or injury is unavoidable, especially if your character is simply human. 

No Internal Events

Action scenes are about more than what the characters are doing with their body. It’s mentally taxing, and incredibly revealing how an action scene plays out. Use this to your advantage. Use body language, pacing, emphasis, and expression to show how your character is feeling, what they’re thinking, and portray the larger implication of the scene overall. 

No Stakes

Every action scene needs stakes. It’s a simple truth, but one that is often ignored or excused away. Even if the action scene is for “entertainment”, it needs to play a role in pushing the story forward somehow. Create a smaller conflict that the characters attempt to solve, resulting in the fight scene, and then revealing a larger truth about the overall plot or developing the characters themselves. Someone needs to have something to lose or something to gain. 

Scene Accomplishing Nothing

I touched on this in the last point, but any scene whose sole purpose is “entertainment” will probably be cut in the final draft because out of all moments to make up the final product, a meaningless action scene is the quickest to cheapen it, at least to an audience. There must always be an immediate purpose, and an overarching place in the story. 

Thoughtless Character Actions

What your characters do is revealing. Body language is the hardest to manipulate to suit one’s own agenda, so the way your character fights can do an incredible and efficient job of developing them. Be intentional in your choreography of action scenes. Question why your character would choose to lunge at that moment and shy away in another. Why does this character avoid the physical confrontation versus another character who actively seeks it out as the ultimate solution to the problem?

Destroying The Suspension Of Disbelief

Your reader can let a lot of improbabilities slide, but not everything. There has to be some logic in the way action scenes play out. Where did that helicopter come from and who sent it? How are they all communicating with each other despite being miles apart? Where is this endless hoard of enemy soldiers materializing from? 

Editing Too Kindly

Cut out what doesn’t develop the story or the characters. World building can be an iffy task during an action scene, but occasionally those moments are valuable. Action scenes should never occupy too much space, because there’s only so many words a reader can read in one sitting in which characters attack each other. 

Muddy Descriptions

Be succinct and precise in your description. Avoid filler and excessive context, and please don’t spend paragraphs describing the city center before the upcoming action scene results in it being destroyed. 

Be Intentional With The Tone

Tone is everything. Where the tone begins and where it evolves to is so, so telling about your story and the characters within it. If your action scene starts with a funny moment that is interrupted by an abrupt and unexpected attack, follow through with an appropriate tone like smug victory. If it starts with a devastating loss, the ending should be equally impactful.

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Masterlist | WIP Blog

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✯𝖬𝗂𝗋𝗋𝗈𝗋𝗌✯

✞ synopsis: Yachi has always felt unconfident about her body. You being the best girlfriend, decided to show her how amazing her body was...

✞ pairing: Yachi x big tiddy! gf

✞genre: smut, no proof read!

✞ warnings: nsfw! Yachi + character as 18+ , mentions of wlw sex

Yachi wasn’t a confident girl. When she began dating you, her confidence was solely based off what you gave her. You showered her in compliments every.single.day , yet yachi felt worthless. Her insecurities ran wild that night. The night her mother was away from town and she managed to bravely ask you to have a movie night. Now, Yachi adores you for you. She isn’t the one to based her liking of people on their appearance but to her, you were a goddess. You made her feel as if she was the only girl in the world. Your body on the other hand, your body drove her crazy. Her chest had always been small and her eyes could never seem to be off yours. Her dream has always been to lay her head on your chest, it just seems so soft. Seeing your chest makes her insecure of hers. They’re very small compared to yours and even when you two have had a heated make-out session and you decided to touch her chest , consensually of course, she wiggled out of your embrace. Her breasts are small to where she doesn’t wear a bra sometimes and this was one of their time. The way you softly cupped her breast and grazzed your fingers over her nipples made all her insecurities rush in. Despite having those insecurites, she loved the feeling. The burning feeling of you touching her in her most vulrable areas excited her. She wondered what your chest best like, to grab and fondle your breasts. Her thoughts her halted when the doorbell rang. Opening the door, was you with a bright smile and a bag full of snacks. “ Ready ,baby?” you asked. She let you in with an excited squeal, despite seeing you in school, she missed you. After taking off your shoes, she jump towards you, engulfing you in a hug. Yachi was particularly clingy when it was the two of you in private. “ Princess, yes I want to hug you too but we need to get the snacks ready, get me some bowls and then you can sit on my lap” you ordered her as she eagerly left to the kitchen. From the small opening on the kitchen door, Yachi stared at your body. You were plump in all the right places, god she wanted to touch you. “ Take a picture, it’ll last longer” you said taking the snacks out the bag, Yachi was never discreet when it came to staring at you.

Roughly ten minutes later, the lights were out and yachi was snuggly placed on top of your lap. The way your hand was barely under the hem of her shirt burned her skin, she needed more. Yachi didn’t care about the movie that was playing, you filler her head. What she didn’t realize is that the movie that you choose had a sex scene in it. “ Wanna lay down princess?” you aksed innocently. Yachi loved off your chest as you layed down, getting on top of you. She was nervous when she realized this position meant for her head to be on your chest. Her sudden pause caught your attention. “ Whats wrong?” you ask. “ Nothing” she said, not knowing where to place her chest. “ babe if you dont rest your head on my boobs-” before you can finish the sentence, Yachi’s head plopped to your chest. Yachi was on cloud nine. Your chest felt like a pillow for her face, she left pure bliss. Again, her thoughts where distracted, but not by the doorbell, by the sudden loud moans on the televison. Her eyes shot to the TV and behold was the sex scene. The two female protaginist where having sex on the big screen and Yachi felt her whole face go red. “ What’s wrong baby? You’re acting like you’ve never seen a naked girl.” Your comment made her realize she was too insecure to ever look at her body. “ Baby you have seen yourself whats the matter?” you ask worryingly. All Yachi replied was a shy shook of her head. “ Baby, you’ve never looked at your body in that way?” you ask, softly touching her arm. “ I’ve never been pretty like that, I have nothing to my body.” she softly spoke. Gently grabbing her body, placing her on your lap, you cupped her face. “ My princess, there is no need for you to be insecure, you’re so fucking gorgeous Hitoka, do you want me to show you?” you aksed, knowing the answer. She only felt two moods, embarrassed and turned on. After a minute of silence, she softly nodded.

Already knowing the way to her room, you softly picked her up. Connecting your lips as you carried her to her room, you softly kneaded her behind. She moaned into the kiss, showing she indeed liked what she was feeling. Carefully letting her down in front her full-body mirror, you stood behind her. Wrapping your arms around her, you softly whispered into her ear, “ For every piece of clothing I take off your body, I’m going to mark it and you’’ll see how beautiful you are ok?” It had seem as all the words left Yachi’s body, she could only reply with a soft whimper. Pulling out her desk chair, you ordered her to sit down. Getting behind her, you softly moved aside her hair, “ Starting off with this gorgeous neck”. Yachi let out a moan as your lips were attached to her neck. The room was filled with Yachi’s moans as you marked her neck. You sucked and bit at the sensitive skin, “ (y/n) please” Yachi moaned into the air, “ patience baby, I’m barely getting started”. After being satisfied with her neck, you hands grazed their towards the hem of her shirt. “ This needs to come off” you told her as you softly pushed up her shirt. After her shirt was off, you softly kissed her stomach, “ You’re not going to leave hickeys on my stomach right?” she asked while she panted. “ Of course I am” you said, connecting your lips to her soft stomach. Your lips nimbling on her stomach made her giggle. “ Fuck baby. keep giggling like that, it drives me crazy” you practicaly growled. Two hickeys later, you looked at her in the eye. “ Will you let me take off your bra princess?” you asked softly, knowing she was nervous. She nodded, feeling herself get wet in her panties. You softly unclasped the back, carefully removing her bra. Her nipples had gotten perky from the previous actions. Your hands came up slowly to cup her breasts. The skin to skin contact made a moan leave Yachi’s mouth. Her whole back arched as she felt your mouth wrap around her sensitive nipple. Lapping your toungue over her nipples made Yachi moan uncontrollably. While you tended to one breast with your mouth, your hand made sure to not leave the other lonely. Vice versa when you mouth landed on the next mound. Yachi’s eyes looked into the mirror. She saw her girlfriend, marking the chest she was so insecure about. After pltering her chest, you moved out the way. Wrapping your arms on her breats through behind her, massing her mounds, you whispered into her ear. “Do you see how beautiful you are, you see all my marks, you’re mine, say it”. If you massaging her breasts was not enough to make her scream, then your whisper was.

Slowly returning to front. Your hands landed on her hips. “ First the skirt, then the panties ok baby?” you told her. You began to see worry in her eyes, “ Would it make you feel better if I take off my top too?” you asked, trying to ease her nerves. She nodded frantically as you removed your tops. Both your chests were exposed to one another now, surprisingly, Yachi’s mouth dove straight to your breasts, as if a baby, Yachi sucked on your nipples. Moaning, you slowly pry her off, “ Today isn’t about me baby, its about you” you remind her. Taking off her skirt, you are left with her glorious covered sex. The sight of you staring at her clothed sex had Yachi squirming. “ Please (y/n) please” is all that left her mouth, over and over. Spreading her legs . your lips connected to the skin on ther outer thigh, “ I told you I was going to mark everything”. The marks you left on her thighs were the most pleasing to make, her juices her practically covering her thighs, giving you a delicious treat. Slowly looking up you ask, “ I’m going to take off your panties ok?” you ask her again. “ please” is all she could whimper back to you. Slowly pulling down her panties, her juices stringed off too. Pulling her more towards the end of the chair, to kissed the skin surrounding her sex. Holding her hips down had to become necesarry, she was squirming too much. “ Please (y/n) please please” Yachi whimpered. “I’m the first one to eat you out right baby?” you said, striding your tongue right through her folds. The moan Yachi let out for sure woke up the neighbors. Sucking her clit and entering you tongue into her drove Yachi crazy. Lapping your tongue in and out of her sent her into a frenzy. “ Look at the mirror baby” you managed to tell her before pushing your tongue into her again. Opening her eyes, she saw herself in her most vulnerable state. Her girlfriend in between her legs as the rest of her body different in purple shades. You knew Yachi wouldn’t last long, not with how she was clenching her walls against your tongue. Yachi let out a loud moan as she climaxed on your tongue. Cleaing what you could with your tongue, you tasted all of her. “ Trust me baby we have to do this more often, you taste delicious”. Yachi’s body was close to giving up, you slowly carried her to her bed. Heading to her restroom, you softly wet a towel and got a glass of water. “ Up up baby come on you need water.” you said, slowly raising her head. As she layed back down, you cleaned her body to help her muscles relaxed. Yachi was snoring softly as you put on some comfy clothes and cleaned the room. Putting on one of your hoodies that Yachi often wore to bed, you carefully wrapped your arms next around her, not trying to wake her up. “ Goodnight baby, I love you so much” you managed to say before your eyes slowly fell as well.

a.n : I didn’t proof read because I WAS SO FERAL WRITING THIS LIKE FUCKEKSKEKKS AHHH IMSONSKSKSKS PLZ @royaigarbage I HOPE YOU FOAM AT THE MOUTH PLZ also this is my first nsfw work so plz be nice

Okay, I know I said I'll take what I got and still love the show—and I still really, really do—but the more I dwell on it and stew in my turmoil of feelings, the more...depressed I get about the ending. Honestly, it was just all kind of messy and underwhelming after so many good, fast-paced and resourceful episodes.

1. We already know everything wrong about Han Seo's end, I don't even need to hash it out. If you don't understand what was wrong with that... 🤷🏻‍♀️

2. I was okay with Cha Young getting shot for the protection of Vincenzo; cliched as it was, they still kept her pretty in character with the way she stood up against Han Seok while being held at gunpoint. However, they took it too far by having her get shot, just to simply stay in a hospital bed until the very end. No action for her, no behind the scenes work, no second party (what the hell was the point in that anyways?), just—reduced to an invalid in bed for saving the love of her life. After all she's done, after always wanting to be right up in the front lines. I know one of the issues with her getting shot was the overused setup for Vincenzo to reveal his feelings, and honestly, I didn't mind that. But that doesn't even work, because he doesn't. He clearly is worried for her and we know he loves her, yet it doesn't spur him to make any further move. Han Seok already killed his mother, it doesn't even add to the narrative of him having a loved one get hurt to do something. He would've still killed Han Seok brutally regardless if Cha Young had gotten hurt or not. She deserved to be a part of it all. And I don't mean the killing. She didn't have to hit the button. But she deserved a final line to Myung Hee at least since she's her father's murderer. I'm pretty sure the Geumga men got more action than she did.

3. Han Seok gathering a bunch of mercenaries seemed filler. It makes sense for the purpose of hiring people to kill Seung Hyuk, but they literally added nothing to the very mediocre face-off with the Geumga men. In fact, the face-off at the beginning of episode 19 with the whole Cassano family was way cooler and more dynamic than whatever you call that. How the hell did they even know specifically where to find Han Seok and his men? Vincenzo and Cho were the only ones aware of the tracking device anyways. I mean, I could've lived with that, except, why have them come fight? We know they can stand on their own, it's been very much established multiple times. The stabbing wasn't even done by one of the hired men, it was done by Han Seok. Just seemed really messy and unnecessary; simply there for the purpose of having some of the Geumga tenants have one last moment.

4. The whole Guillotine File thing had such a great setup. It seemed very anticlimactic just for Vincenzo to whip it out and tell Gi Seok to take it. Like, they made a huge deal of using it to take down everyone, he even says nobody but himself knows where it is, then whips it out to hand it over like nothing when he could've used it for, oh, I don't know, being pardoned so he doesn't have to leave for a whole year. Which—

5. A whole year? Come on, you just can't have me fall for the fact that this guy, whom even the Director pardoned for a bit of time, has to leave for a whole year with no way or alternative reason to come back for more than just one day because he has to sneak in with Italian delegates? I'm calling bullshit.

6. I love Vincenzo and Cha Young. They truly do love and deserve each other. But the ending for them? Nah. I hate the fact they pulled a CLOY, I really do. You're telling me Cha Young has to be content with spontaneous year to year visits or has to go visit an island in Malta to be with the one she loves? FUCK NO. I'm manifesting a completely different end for that, same with Han Seo, don't @ me.

7. Where the fuck was Inzaghi? He didn't even get to say goodbye in episode 18, seriously, what the fuck.

8. The gold storyline was okay. I'm glad they didn't leave loose ends, but it once again just didn't sit right after all the buildup. They moved it all to her house and she sleeps on a hard ass gold bar bed. Queen behavior, but still.

9. Bye Bye Balloon. We all wanted it. We didn't get it.

As you can see, the more I ramble, the less eloquent and structured my points become. All in all, did they tie most of the loose ends up? Yes. I'm glad they didn't kill Mr. Lee off, I would've been too pissed for words if that had happened along with Han Seo. In my opinion, they didn't leave an open ending, which would've made things ten times worse. And it really isn't the worst finale I've seen. Far from it, contrary to my points. It's just after so much anticipation, building, excitement, and truly amazing episodes, it fell very flat for a finale. Way more bittersweet than needed.

However, I will end on some good points because I don't want to ignore them either.

1. I love Han Seok's and Myung Hee's deaths. Absolutely love it, so much that somebody would probably deem me crazy for how much I enjoyed it. Myung Hee fire dancing to her zumba music was so poetically beautiful. Han Seok and all the references to Greek mythology or whatever as he's left for the birds was stunning. Both of them being cocky until they realize how miserable their deaths really are going to be was pure enjoyment for me. Nothing says satisfaction like watching the pure horror take place on their faces as they beg for Vincenzo to just end it instead. They really and truly did deliver with their deaths, and I am still shocked and pleasantly delighted with how they didn't shy away one bit with the brutality of it.

2. I'm glad they at least gave Cha Young her moment somewhat in the end. She got to take down the Tae ho lover and his mom in retribution for both Vincenzo's mom and her dad. Her sass and savagery in the end gave me the hint of original Cha Young I'd been craving for the whole episode. And the fact that she got to lead the Cassano Geumga family was great too (despite how cheesy that walk up and taunting of Kingmaker and his guys was).

3. I'm glad Gi Seok was promoted, and I'm especially glad he and Mr. Cho get to work together. Those two are the best and deserve everything.

4. As much as they could've really polished it, I'm glad Vincenzo and Cha Young got their moment. At that point, I think my standards and expectations were so low that I was blown away by their kiss. I didn't expect it at that point and thought we were going to be left with them walking off together. It was still a pleasant surprise, nonetheless.

5. I really do like what the monk said to Vincenzo. Wrapped up his feelings regarding his lifestyle very well, and I thought it was the perfect balance of philosophical and realistic as you could get. He needed to hear that, and I'm so glad he got some form of content and peace with who he is in the end.

6. I really love that they didn't stray away from Vincenzo truly being an anti-hero. He even refers to himself as a villain, and I'm glad they didn't try to gloss over that in the end just so it could look good morally. His take on justice is very...Vincenzo Cassano. Befitting.

I love this show still, would still recommend it, and would still do it all over again. I'm so glad I was able to be active in this fandom and see so many wonderful discussions, people, and analyses. I'm going to miss these weekends so badly.

Naruto takes that might enrage you (girl addition)

Warning, some of these takes might enrage you- that’s fine.

Fillers don’t count as canon, don’t even bring them up if you talk about this post lol. Also it’s been a while since I’ve seen the whole series, so some of these might be disproven as I continue with my rewatch. The excuse that Shounen is for boys is also very weak and holds no weight, as tons of girls (and nonbinary folk) relate to the characters in this show, so that doesn’t excuse Kishimoto for his weak writing of women.

To preface, I love this show. Love it to pieces. It was part of my childhood and holds a very special place in my heart. But there are some things I personally don’t like or wish could have been done better. I love every character and will go blue in the face talking about how much I still love this show. That doesn’t free it from my criticism. I’m also only listing what I don’t like and what I would change, though I’d be more than happy making a post about what I loved.

Let’s start off with my girl Sakura Haruno. She is easily the most hated girl in the series, and all because of how ‘weak’ or ‘annoying’ she is. As if that’s not the fault of Kishimoto himself lol. She was shoved off to the side continuously and never given cool storylines, unlike the other members of her team.

What I took issue with about Sakura:

-What were this girls dreams?? The whole reason she became a ninja was never really talked about nor were they really developed as time went on. She was all about Sasuke, which would be fine if she grew out of it. But no. 

-Her crush on Sasuke was super stale. He was handsome and powerful, but what else was there to him? He was a jerk to her most of the time (there are some instances he’s somewhat kind to her, but if we go off canon, it’s not enough to make her deep love make sense). I think it would have been so much more interesting to see her grow out of her infatuation for him. If they had to have ended up together, watching them relearn each other and fall in love would have made them more compelling. She stayed loving a boy who thought very little of her. 

-She’s pitted against her best friend and doesn’t develop much of a relationship with other girls her age. It’s kind of sad, and I think they should have fought over something other than a boy. 

-We are told repeatedly that she’s super powerful by other characters, but she’s never given time to truly shine. She got like a single battle with Sasori and she deserved more cool moments like that!

-She was a healer, which makes perfect sense. But why is it mostly girls who are the healers? It’s a bit weird, when there’s also Neji with his perfect chakra control. She only has her healing abilities and her super strength; but even then someone like Kabuto has more offensive healing based techniques than her. Like his chakra scalpel. 

What I would fix:

-New dreams. Show her find a dream outside of her team and grow into it. Also give her more of a backstory. Sai has more of a backstory than she does and he’s way newer than she is.

-I would let her fuck up one of the Peins instead of Konohomaru- she’s a main character and passed over for that little brat?? She should have gotten to do more than scream out for Naruto and heal people :/ 

-She her intellect a bit more. She’s so smart, and yet we don’t really see it.

-She’s perfect for genjutsu, Kakashi himself said so. So why not give that to her? Or play more with ninjutsu. She has earth and water on her chart, so why not give her those abilities? Maybe even wood jutsu to even her out with her super OP teammates. Idk how, it could have happened, this is a show full of demons and god like abilities, it could have happened someway.

-She should have grown out of Sasuke and not married a man who doesn’t really appreciate her and isn’t there for her at all.

-I would totally have expanded on Inner Sakura more. Imagine if it made her mind impenetrable? Could have woven that in with her skills for genjutsu and made her unaffected by other’s illusions.

Next, let’s go with a more beloved character of the fandom. Hinata. Now personally I don’t care much for her- she could have been so cool but just like Sakura, they kind of messed her up.

What I didn’t like about Hinata:

-Her entire existence is revolves around Naruto. Naruto this, Naruto that- and yet she simply sat back and watched as his life was shit and did nothing despite her ‘love’ for him. And then fillers/movies are added to show that oh wait! she’s been there this entire time!! no lol. Build her up from the start as his love interest at the very least.

-She stayed super meek the entire time. Shy girls are okay, but I wanted to see her grow into herself more and not need as much reassurance. She’s a ninja and should stand on her own two feet more.

-She’s less skilled then Neji and I would have loved to see her outmatch him at some point, even once. Or gain abilities outside of her clan, or do something that made a name for herself outside of being the heiress of the Hyuga.

-She never fixed her clan which was one of her few spoken goals. That was a huge bummer.

-I think it would have been cool to see her mess up Pein a little more. She only stepped in because it was Naruto, which reinforces that she’s only about him. But at least let her land a hit if she’s as powerful as people say she is. 

-She makes the most sense to be a housewife or a healer with the way her attitude is but in Boruto, she’s kind of rewritten to be a ‘scary’ mother which just doesn’t fit her. Plus, she tells Boruto to go and take care of his dad?? Bro, that’s your child and your husband is the hokage. 

What I’d fix:

-Prove her dad wrong and show him that her compassion isn’t a weakness but a strength. 

-Fix the Hyuga clan bs.

-More character growth and showing more of her life away from Naruto. Her romance with him could also have been better. I hated her always watching him but never standing up for him, it kills me.

-Neij dying for her proved their clans hierarchy bs to be right and it just doesn’t make sense for him to die for her. It showed that he was right to feel caged and that he simply existed for the benefit of the Main family.

Now with the others, there’s much less I have to say about them because they aren’t main characters or the love interests.

Ino-

-Jealous of Sakura, no dreams of her own, stupidly loves Sasuke and for what? WHAT’S SO COOL ABOUT HIM?

-I like her growth for the most part, it was cool watching her fight in the War Arc with her team. 

-Why is she the medical ninja? I never got that.

-She got with Sai but they didn’t really show their development and how they fell in love with each other. It’s like she only likes him because he looks like Sasuke and called her pretty once.

Tenten-

-Should have gotten to train with Tsunade at some point, since she was the one who originally idolized her. 

-We know nothing about this girl at all. She doesn’t even have a last name.

-Her weapon usage was meant to be so cool and yet she missed so often- there’s a disconnect there. Her abilities could have been built up more. Imagine if no matter what she never ever missed. That would have been cool.

-Her weapon shop isn’t doing well. Just because it’s an era of peace doesn’t mean the need for weapons is totally over, not if there are still active ninja??

Karin-

-I actually like her, she’s kind of funny and I like that she’s mean even if she can get annoying.

-Again, another healer, though she’s also sensory which is more interesting. I’d like to see her with some jutsus though. That would have been neat.

-Her love for Sasuke makes sense since he saved her and smiled at her, making her think of him as her hero. And she’s the only one he apologizes to without Naruto strong arming him into it.

Temari-

-She’s pretty solid in my opinion. Though I would have loved to see her more without her brothers.

Konan-

-Her goals in life were to support Yahiko and Nagito’s dreams. It would irritate me so much if other girls in the series were more well rounded and din’t also have some sort of dream involving a boy.

-She was underused. I would have loved to see her fight more.

Tsunade-

-Only becomes hokage to support others dreams...All of them men. And then later passes the title onto Kakashi who doesn’t even want to be Hokage either. 

-No other justus used, she’s on par with Jiraya and Orochimaru and yet she’s only super strong and the best medic. She should theoretically be more well rounded than that, right? She also should be shown fighting more even if she’s a medic, she’s also s legendary sannin 

-Had to be saved by 12 year old Naruto. I know it’s a show about him, but she’s meant to be a literal badass but needs a kid to save her.

Kushina-

-Wanted to become the first woman hokage and then didn’t. Her husband did. and then she became a housewife?? What?? She should have become the first woman hokage with a badass husband or had another prominent role in the village like as a council member or something.

Kurenai-

-Always lost a fight? She’s some genjutsu using badass but always lost fights.

-No real personality, she’s just chilling there. Sexy as hell though. Has a kid and that’s about it.

-What I will give her is that I’m so glad she was allowed to age. So many anime mothers always look the same as their teenage self and she looks like she can be anybody's mama.

Over all, the girls could have been handled much better. I wouldn’t find issues with any of them being housewives or all about boys if that weren’t what seems to be the standard in the anime. I just wanted more of a variety and better character development, especially for Sakura and Hinata who are the mains 😩

Now to what might REALLY piss people off- ships! I’m not trying to start some war here, this is just my opinion and you can take it or leave it.

Sakura- Naruto, since they had the most development and showed more than two seconds of caring for each other. Even Sai in Shippuden has more of a connection to Sakura than Sasuke did.

Ino-Shikamaru, if she had to end up with a guy it makes sense it’d be him since they spend more time together than her and Sai did. (inosaku for the win tho)

Hinata-Shino or Kiba, again, because they spent more time with her. Naruto and her felt very rushed and I don’t quite understand the appeal.

The one that made the most sense and became canon was Shikatem, though their son’s design was lazy :D 

If I do a second part, it’ll be about the boys and the ships with them that made sense to me. For now, this is all I have. If you’ve made it this far, thank you lol

byeee

Mr. Park’s return

So, I’m not sure what to make of this really... like it’s not really a sickfic thing - I don’t know.. it might be, I’ll just say it classifies, it’s more of like a little continuation bit in this series and because I felt like writing about it... I’ve had this sitting with me for a while, so I may as well post it.. it felt a bit everywhere, there’s some knew characters I just tossed in because I needed too and we’ll just see where that leads, yeah? 

[there is probably grammatical errors, my first language is English I just can’t proof read - its a rough life] anyway, I hope this is somewhat enjoyable, its kind of a mess

This is supposed to be just a small filler type thing I guess

Snz based but like its rather mild.

‘Sickie’ : Jimin / [Felix? its faint really]/ [Yoongi is mentioned, but yeah]

 Hybrid AU

 Part 1,  Part 2 , Part 3

Word count: 5376

I tossed some Stray Kids in here because I love them too. 

“Good morning everyone.” Jimin smiled at the class of juniors settling in their seats as warmly as he could considering that he was still trying to recover from days of fever. He still felt tired and a weak, with some lingering symptoms, but he was tired staying at home doing nothing.  He needed to work again, get back into a routine so that he wasn’t lazing around all the time. So, he had suited up in warm clothes and more makeup than usual to hide the dark rings that had still not left him.

The class stared at him with a mix of confusion and curiosity before greeting him with about the same enthusiasm he had done to them. He supposed that was fair, it wasn’t like they knew who he was really.

He cleared his throat, dropping the exam booklets onto the desk set up in the front of the room, before continuing on with as much forced giddiness as he could manage. No one wanted to head into an exam with a dark unwelcoming mood, so if he could brighten it by even an inch then he would be happy.

 “I’m Mr. Park, I’ll be your teacher for this exam.” As if to serve as a reminder, something caught in his throat and he smothered a small bout of coughs into his arm. “Please excuse my voice, I’ve been a little under the weather.”

It didn’t take long before a few voices rose up, which was not surprising considering majority of the class had probably never seen him before. it had become blatantly obvious that most of the students had wanted to spend much more attention on their paper. He didn’t blame them, anyone would want to be distracted from exams and he usually wouldn’t mind, he loved to gossip and get to know the students and they always seemed to be as interested in him as he was in what they were like, but even with the amount of lozenges he’d sucked on that morning already, his voice was definitely going to give out if he spoke for long.

 “What do you teach Sir?”

“You look so young.”

“Mr. Park! What are you doing here?”

“Are you new?”

“What type of Hybrid are you?”

 Jimin looked to students who had spoken up. Most dressed or styled slightly different from the standard uniform, clearly these were the usual extrovert favourites. He tried to ignore the more intrusive questions and focus more on the ones of innocent curiosity. A wide grin split across his face and his sight narrowed as he recognised one girl that he taught in modern contemporary. Jimin pressed his square framed glasses further up his nose, his tail flicking as the girl waved her arm wildly from the back of the class.

 “Sana? Oh, it’s weird seeing you out of class.” Jimin chuckled lightly, giving a small wave in return. “Most of you probably won’t know me, but I’ve been a part of the dance faculty for I think about three years now. I usually only interacted in the other art departments during these times, but this year the school thought it would be better to shift things around a bit. I think I only know Sana… oh wait, Soobin’s here too. Wow, it feels like forever since I’ve seen you two…” His chest warmed with the pleasure of seeing at least some of his kids.

 “Sir, what are you doing back?” Soobin grinned and leant forward from when he sat on top of his friends desk. “Mr. Jung said that you probably wouldn’t be back for at least another week.”

 “Not quite.” Jimin corrected, moving closer to his student. “It’s just not as heavy a work-load as usual. Are you ready for your exams? And you Sana? I feel so bad for not being there in your final sessions.”

 “I think we’re both glad that you rested rather than pushed to be there with us.” Sana grinned, packing away her English textbooks. “I haven’t done mine yet but Soobin had his exam yesterday.”

Jimin’s eyes shot to the boy who merely shrugged, although the bright flash in the fae boys eyes led Jimin to believe he did better than he wanted to portray. Which was good. Great, actually. His students were amazing.

 “Ahhh… why do I get the feeling that none of you did any real dancing while I was away… Anyway, don’t stress over it. Deep breathes and smooth lines. It’s nothing you haven’t done before.” Jimin countered to Sana before stepping back to address the class once again, coughing into his arm again – slightly harsher this time. He answered and entertained a few more questions from the students that he didn’t know before finally calling it. “Okay, we should probably start soon. May everyone please start packing away any studying material. And is everyone present for this exam?”

 “Mr. Park, Sir.” A trio of girls, each with unique traits that led him to believe they were all either warlocks or fae, waved to him from the side of the class closest to the wall of windows.

 “Yes?”

 “So, you’re a dancer, Mr. Park? Can you show us something?” The one with golden eyes smirked and Jimin’s chest tightened, knowing that her suggestive tone wasn’t one of humour or general curiosity. Kids. They were kids.

 “I am, but we have more important things.” He chose to ignore the low whining that erupted from them. “Clear your desks please, you don’t seem to be going over notes anyway. I am assuming that everyone is here, which means we are going to begin.”

   He returned to the desk without glancing at the girls again. The session had officially started.

Once desks were clear he began to hand out transcripts, only letting them turn through the pages once each student had one. It was a bit of a struggle, with how hoarse his voice was quickly becoming – given that he hadn’t needed to use it as much in the past few days as he was now, but he managed to read through the paper with them to make sure there were no immediate errors then set them forth on the 3-hour paper. Even though it made him drowsy he snuck a few pills in after he stifled a sneeze into his wrist. He wanted to try keep any and all symptoms to a minimum as to not distract anyone, but it was difficult when the class only had the scribbling sound of pens on paper to fill it with noise.

He sipped the tea from his flask that he was certain Yoongi had spiked with some type of herbal energy booster before Jimin had left that morning. The hybrid couldn’t help the wholesome warmth that ran through him at the thought of the worrisome warlock. Despite Yoongi being powerful and often intimidating to those who didn’t know him, Jimin knew that the elder was in-fact a big softy that was usually too shy to address things that  stressed him out. Especially if it was about the people he cared for. Instead he was prone to small actions that he thought would help lift any burdens or stressors, for both him and whoever he helped – in this case, Jimin. Yoongi hadn’t even wanted him to start at the school again yet, even for short hours, but after the hybrid had spoken some sense into him – that it was Jimin’s job and everyone, including Yoongi himself, had  worked while sick at some point – Yoongi eventually caved.

Although that didn’t stop him from being a bit clingier than usual, and definitely didn’t stop him from wrapping Jimin entirely in the Warlocks clothes so that his scent was with him all day. Not that Jimin minded being completed drenched in the elders scent and the clothes that were just a bit too big for him always made him feel warm and comforted. The last week that Jimin had spent at home with his boyfriend had been amazing, even if he had been a miserable mess for most of it.

Jimin had just finished firing off emails to the other dance staff members about how everything was going with the dance exams and if there are still students looking for last minute help when he felt the sad realisation that his med’s had been easing off. He hadn’t brought enough for a second dose and he could already feel his nose starting to run. The exam was almost over, just another hour or so and then he was free to be a mess again. But that wasn’t what his body had in mind.

He’inxshew… hih..Hieshxngt hXNGst..

 Damn it.

Jimin sniffed and wiped at his nose with a tissue. Thankfully he had thought to bring quite a few of the tissue travel packs with him, Yoongi had tried to slip an entire box of Kleenex into Jimin’s bag but the hybrid found that to be a bit excessive. His tail curled around his waist as he felt the gazes of a few of the students that were already finished or were checking through their work, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He sniffed repeatedly, trying to be as soft and quiet as possible but it only seemed to make matters worse as he snapped forward with another sneeze that he caught by pinching at his nose. Stifling was a bit painful, especially with how congested he had been, but he would bear with it.

He stifled four more before he had to come to terms with the fact that he could not try to sniffle to keep it at bay anymore. So he claimed fresh tissues to blow his nose, wincing and sending apologetic eyes to the students at the wet gurgling sound that filled the room. Jimin’s face was heated and he swallowed hard trying to work past his embarrassment. The students probably didn’t even care that much. But he still felt like the floor should open to let him fall through it.

He perked as a hand shot up, the student mouthing for more paper. Jimin threw away his tissues, doing his best to ignore how gross he was momentarily felt, and after a quick squirt his trusty hand sanitiser that Jin made him carry,  he was up and handing out pages. Taking that moment of already being up to slowly walk around and check if anyone else needing anything from him. He tried not to linger too much when he noticed Soobin gnawing at his bottom lip. A quick glance and Jimin could tell that the boy was struggling with understanding some of the things being asked of him and he didn’t want to add any extra pressure of being hovered over. Clearly the boy was unfortunately – in this case - closer inclined to the creative arts than he was to general studies.

 “Si-Sir?”

 Jimin followed the soft whisper to a thin, pale dog hybrid who looked anxious just to have to look Jimin in the eye. Jimin cleared his throat to try get rid of the insistent itch that seemed to plague him and leant down so that the boy wouldn’t have to look up at him when he spoke. It wasn’t often that someone reacted intimidated by Jimin, so he was left a bit unsure. The few handfuls of times that he could remember being anything close to scary were strictly associated with his dancers or the few times he got into arguments with his friends, but usually everyone saw him as a soft and gentle hybrid that they could either try to walk all over or have pleasant easy conversations with. No real threat.

Jimin rested his hand on the edge of the desk to steady himself, then silently inclined his head to indicate that the boy could continue.

 “I-I don’t feel.. feel well.”

 Jimin gently rested a hand on the boys back only to frown at how sharp the hybrid’s bones were beneath his clothing. “What do you mean? Are you stressed? Sick? Do you feel nauseous?”

The boy merely nodded and swallowed loudly, sinking further away from Jimin.

 “Do you want to go to the nurse?” he asked softly. Looking more closely at the boys’ face, his oddly sharp facial structure and sunken cheeks. He had originally seen the bruises under the boys eyes as a part of the exam season stress but maybe there was something else happening.. When he got the nod of approval Jimin set his hand on the boys exam paper. “Do you want to keep this for now, or should I take it?”

 “Take it.”  

 Okay then. Jimin stood up, slipping the exam paper from the students desk, and bringing it back to his station, making note of the foreign name, ‘Felix’, filled in at the top right corner. Then he moved to the intercom attached to the wall behind his desk chair and held the button that connected him to the head office. “Hi, could we please have someone come to room 48? I need a student to be taken to the nurses office.”

A garbled reply came back at him that he could only hope meant that someone would be sent soon. In the meantime, Jimin dug in his bag until he retrieved a sealed bottle of water. It wasn’t as cold as it had been when he had bought it, but it would do. He returned to the boy who had now buried his face into his hands, taking deep shaky breaths.

 “Felix… can you try taking some small sips of water for me?” Jimin knelt beside the desk once more, twisting off the cap of the bottle. “Just a few? When last did you eat or drink something?”

He didn’t get much of a response other than the hybrid lifting his head enough to look at the open water before shakily taking it from Jimin. He took the smallest of sips before just sitting there with his eyes tightly shut.

 “Okay.” Jimin rubbed Felix’s back and stood up again, coughing into his arm before letting out a restrained groan. “Everyone, you have 40 minutes left. If you’re finishing off or just sitting there, then go through your answers again and make sure you’ve read the questions carefully.”  

 It was almost ten minutes before Jimin heard a soft knock on the door.

Felix had been sitting with his hands pressed tightly against his eyes, leaning heavily on his elbows while taking stuttering breaths. Jimin had been hovering with concern, but there wasn’t anything he could really do to help. The dog hybrid pretty much shunned him every time he murmured a gentle question or soothing words.

Jimin left his spot next to the sick boy, giving a quick glance over the class to find that at least a third of them were watching him and not going over their work like he’d encouraged, but he called out a brief ‘half an hour left’ and moved to open the door.

 “Jimin?”

 “Jin.” Jimin let out a heavy breath, running a finger under his nose before leaning closer to the concerned elder. Silently thanking that their office employees had thought to call the school nurse directly and not some random other teacher to walk the boy to a better environment. “Hi, I’m not sure how sick this boy is, but he has a fever and I think he might be nauseous. He couldn’t tell me if it was from anxiety or something else so… He didn’t seem too keen on talking to me at all actually. I just gave him water.”

Jin nodded, wiping his hands on his jeans before stepping forward to move into the class. For a moment he looked like he wanted to question Jimin on something else but thought better of it.

 “Where are they?”

Jimin pointed him out and then stood back, trying his best to watch over the rest of the class and not interfere with Jin as he prompted a few words out of Felix – mostly about what he felt like and whether he was okay to walk - before helping him stand. The witch had to wrap an arm around the boys waist to kept him steady and they were forced to move at a slow pace, but Jin just murmured soft barely audible words of encouragement until they’d reached the door. Jimin lay a steadying hand on Jin’s arm before biting at his lip.

 “Do you need help getting back? I can ask the office to send another person..”

 “We’re fine Jimin.” Jin reassures, his hand rubbing gently at Felix’s side. “I know him, I’d rather just move slowly and not stress him out too much. You can come by in a bit if you’re worried, but I’ve got it.”

 Jimin let them go, closing the door softly behind them trying to ignore the tears that had sprung to Felix’s eyes as soon as the pair had left the room. Distracted, he gave a final slow walk through the rows of students. Most of them were finished now, some had lain down over their desks while others fiddled with their stationery. He gave a pleased nod to see that at least two students where carefully reading through their work and added to certain places, and then he passed Soobin. The boy had completely drawn over the back of his exam paper with dark detailed sketches that  couldn’t have been done quickly. Jimin winced at the thought of how the boys answers must look, and took it has a hint to sit the rest of the time at his desk where he sipped at the final bit of his now lukewarm tea.

He sent a few carefree texts to Yoongi, who had been complaining bitterly about having to stay at home for the day. Apparently he had tried to talk Namjoon into letting him work but the clumsy witch had threatened to jinx the elder if Yoongi came in to work. Jimin smiled at his boyfriend’s irritated messages, knowing that the warlock was probably still in bed despite him having his studio there if he really wanted to work.

He still felt a bit bad about getting Yoongi sick, but the warlock had thankfully always been a quick healer, so hopefully if he rested for a day or two then he would be fine. Jimin sent a final ‘see you in a bit! Love you!’ before he readied up the exam folder to retrieve the papers.

 He coughed once into his fist, pushing up his glasses instinctively afterwards, then gave a soft smile. “Okay guys, if anyone is still writing I’m going to need you to stop.”

*

   “Jin? You in here?” Jimin peeked into the small nurses office only to find it empty, ignoring how his voice had cracked. The desk had been pushed neatly to the side and had an open medical bag with some scattered medications on it but other than that and the locker off to the side that held Jin’s personal things, the room was impeccably clean. Although that shouldn’t surprise him, it was a nurses office. “Soekjin?”

 He heard a soft reply and then Jin appeared, ducking through the white curtain that basically blended into the wall. The sectioned off area for those that needed a bed to lay down in, if Jimin remembered correctly.

  “Yeah, hey.” Jin smiled and tugged at the collar of his shirt before collapsing into his chair with a sigh. “Sorry, I’ve been running everywhere.”

 “Mr. Popularity.” Jimin teased and entered properly into the room to lean against the second chair across from his friend. He flipped a small backpack up and dropped it onto the empty seat. “Felix left this. I didn’t want to leave it there in case there was something important inside. He can just fetch it from here whenever he’s back at school.”

 “He hasn’t left yet.” Jin let out a breath much heavier than before. His expression darker than what Jimin was used to seeing on him. “He stays in a foster home with a whole bunch of other kids, his guardians are always a bit preoccupied with the younger children. I think they like to think that the older kids can fend for themselves a lot better than what they actually can, but yeah. They were called, but his foster brother will probably be the one to fetch him after his classes for uni end.”

 Jimin frowned deeply. His chest ached in sympathy for the timid hybrid that had seemed close to passing out earlier. “Is he… okay?”

 “Mostly.” Jin shrugged, glancing back to the curtained area he had come through. “He threw up a few times and put up more of a fight than I thought possible when I tried to get him to drink a potion. I had to resort to just standard medicine, but it won’t be as effective.  Seems like a flu.”

 “I felt awful that I couldn’t really help earlier.” Jimin admitted with a small sniff, rubbing at the tip of his nose swiftly. “He seemed scared to tell me anything, but I don’t know… maybe he just really wasn’t feeling well.”

 Jin shook his head. “This isn’t his first foster home, he got moved around a lot. From his file and the times he’s spoken to me, he has a bit of a rocky history with cat hybrids – of course his experiences kind of dealt more with predatory breeds but I suppose he just kind of categorised.”

 Now Jimin felt worse. He bit at his lip and locked his eyes onto the curtain as if he would be able to see the boy through the material. Was he asleep, or was he listening? Jimin’s throat tightened at the thought of having scared the dog hybrid. He didn’t really like causing someone else unnecessary stress, especially if there was a history of something … what, abusive? Maybe?

 “I didn’t realise… Why was he sent to school if he wasn’t feeling well?”

 “Beats me. Probably didn’t say anything, he’s only really comfortable with a few people and I don’t think he expects to rely on his foster parents.” Jin says quietly. “He’s a good kid, though. Very funny and loud when he wants to be. He just needs to open up to others a bit more, stop feeling like a burden and maybe participate a bit more.”

 Jimin nodded, twisting at one of his rings. “It’s hard sometimes, I get that. If he ever wants to he’s more than welcome to come by the dance studio’s. We sometimes hold after school classes for those that are curious or need extra practices. It might be a bit late to switch to it as a subject, but I’m willing to teach him a few things when he’s feeling better, maybe it will help in terms of meeting new people. Or I can ask Hobi if he can teach him a few things if he’ll feel more comfortable with a human teacher.”    

 “I’ll let him know.” Jin let out a huff of a laugh. “How are you? Feeling better about being back?”

 Jimin grinned widely, leaning heavily onto the chair. “Loads better, Yoongi helped me a lot. I’m still a bit stuffy –“

 “And your voice is super hoarse.” Jin said, then smiled teasingly as Jimin whined, his ears drooping a little.

 “Yeah, I know… But I really do feel better. I’m tired now but I’m happy to be back at work, I missed my kids. I got see two of my students during the exam, although I don’t think I have a lot of faith in the ones English skills. … its fine though.” Jimin straightened up and gave a dramatic wave of his hands. “He won’t need good marks in standard school, he’ll go far in dancing.”

 Jin pulled a face at Jimin’s words causing the younger to let out a small giggle.

“Maybe not fail the standard schooling, but you get what I mean. He’s going places whether he gets those marks or not.”

 “Sure, Minnie. Just don’t tell him that he doesn’t need to get good marks in other things.” Jin advised teasingly. “That’s not the best way to educate the next generation.”

 A gentle knock on the office door had Jimin jumping in fright, his ears drawn back, and fur raised, only to see two boys hovering outside. He vaguely recognised one from seeing him in hallways but the shorter one was unfamiliar, they both had soft fae-like features and wide innocent eyes. The taller was still dressed in the academies uniform while the other was dressed entirely in baggy black clothes that reminded Jimin of Yoongi. Although he doubted Yoongi would willingly get a lip and eyebrow piercing… maybe Jimin could talk him into it…

 “Hey, Chan. You got here fairly quickly.” Jin rose from his seat. “ I think he’s asleep right now, but I’ll wake him up and give him a final look over.”

 “Thank you so much Mr. Kim.” The dark one said, smiling brightly at Jin before nodding a greeting at Jimin.

He gave a soft ‘Hi’ before he pulled the light backpack off of the seat and handed it to the one Jin had addressed. “Here’s his bag.”

 “Thank you.” Chan accepted it quickly and gratefully.

 “Aren’t you one of the dance teachers? On the other side of the school?” The student, who looked about the same age as Felix despite being taller than both Chan and Jimin. “I saw you in that theatre performance thing like three months ago… right?”

 Jimin nodded, assuming that the boy was talking about the fundraiser that the school did that was mostly a time for the students to see the staff make fools of themselves doing dances or skits – or in his and the rest of the performance arts staffs’ case, their talent and skills being flaunted in their natural habitats.

 “Yep, I’m a modern – contemporary instructor, but I help out in the hip hop sector when I’m needed.”

 The boys face lit up at knowing he was right. “You’re dancing is so cool. You were so graceful on stage, it looked really beautiful.”

Jimin smiled and felt his cheek warm. Jin had disappeared behind the curtain and Chan was watching Jimin with a small smile.

 “I remember now. I went and watched with him and some of our other brothers.” Chan added. “He kind of became obsessed with dance after that.”

 His cheeks burned and he let out a soft nervous cough into his fist. “That’s kind, thank you. Are you… all in the same Foster family as Felix?”

 Chan nodded before adding. “I don’t live there anymore, but I still spend time with some of them there, kind of become like real brothers, you know?”

 Jimin nodded, stilling feeling a bit off about thinking of them in a foster home. “Well I was just telling Jin that he was welcome to come by the studios if he ever felt interested in dance. As a way to open up a bit. I’m not sure if Felix would join if I taught him, but you’re welcome to join myself or Mr. Jung as well if you want – um..”

 “Hyunjin.” The boy said eagerly. “That’s so cool. I really want to, I wanted to take classes, but our guardians couldn’t pay for the extra fee.”

 Jimin bit back his grimace. It was unfortunate that students had to pay an extra amount for specialised classes but there wasn’t much he could do besides over informal schooling.

 “Well, we can organise once or twice a week to help you guys out. You actually look like the right build for a dancer, probably wont struggle too much…”

 Jin reappeared with the small dog hybrid following close behind, looking a bit steadier on his feet than before but still nowhere near healthy enough to be at school. Felix hesitated at the sight of him but didn’t stop for long before he move to sink into Chan’s arms. Jin spoke about some of the hybrids symptoms and what he’d need to take as well as giving a few things to watch out for and what to do if it got worse just in case their guardians got busy. Jimin moved back, letting the two boys move closer to their brother in the office. It was cute to see the three of them together, so different and yet there was a clear sense of family. Jimin sniffed only to regret it as a sharp piercing lemon scent that was no doubt coming from Felix flooded his senses. He wasn’t sure how he hadn’t smelt it earlier, perhaps it was because Felix was feeling safe – in any case, Jimin blinked hard. He pressed a finger secretly to his nose, but it only seemed to aggravate the itch. Damn it, he had really hoped that he had finished with this earlier – he had blown his nose enough times after leaving the class, but apparently not.

‘He’ingxt’ah.. h’ingxsh..hih..hih’IGTSHiew…’ He cringed as he felt eyes land on him but couldn’t do anything else but keep his hand covering his face. ‘hih’itchshew… h’IShiew..’

 “Bless you, Jimin.”

 Jimin groaned and pulled a face, giving a soft and somewhat nervous sniffle. It seemed to be the end of it thankfully. Everyone was looking at him, but thankfully they didn’t seem to really care. “Thanks…”

 “Thought you were better, hmm?”

 “Jin,” Jimin pursed his lips and resisted the urge flick him. “Shut up. I’m fine now, just... lingering stuff.”

Jin hummed but Jimin knew he was only trying to be annoying.

 “okay well, I’ll head out then.” Jimin clapped his hands together awkwardly, no longer wanting to stay in the room in case he was going to start being sensitive to any more scents.

 “Tell Yoongi to feel better for me, Min.” Jin said as he wrote down the names of specific medications that would be the most long lasting for a hybrid.

Remembering the adorable sight he had left his boyfriend in that morning, Jimin spun around with a cheery gasp and wide glimmering eyes that had Jin laughing loudly, the other three in the room just blinking with bemusement at the suddenly change.

 “Get home Jimin! That wasn’t an invitation to start blabbering about your boyfriend. Actually, I’m very annoyed at you – It’s your fault that I didn’t get my extra Namjoon-day yesterday. I was devastated! Devastated Jimin!” Jin scolded him without even trying to suppress his smile.

 “You can sleep with your husband whenever you want Jin. No one is stopping you.” A pen smacked into his chest and Jimin bubbled with laughter as he danced out of range of the book that had come flying soon after the first projectile. “Don’t throw things at me!”

 “Yah! Don’t say inappropriate things in front of students, you bratty cat!”

 “They know what sex is!” Jimin argued playfully, coughing lightly as he caught the next book that came flying at his face. “So sensitive. Has it been that long?”

 “I should have never befriended you. I have to rethink my life choices.” Jin shook his head as he sent Felix an exasperated look. The dog hybrid was watching the interaction with wide, watery eyes.

 “Bye, Soekjin.” Jimin laughed, handing the book he had caught to Hyunjin. “I’ll let Yoongi know you care. If you want… I can ask him to make up something special to help-“

“GO HOME, BRAT!”

 Jimin pranced away, hearing the soft curses that Jin threw after him. Home. Despite how mixed his feelings were after finding out about Felix’s family life, he couldn’t help but be filled with a flood of warmth at the thought of his boyfriend waiting for him. Most likely still cuddled up into the warm nest Jimin had rearranged for him, unless the elder had decided to use energy to make food or something, but that seemed particularly doubtful after he had messaged Jimin about how lucid he felt and about the mountain of tissues creating a new city on the floor of their bedroom.

It was endearing… possibly contagious to anyone else that stepped fought into their house but somehow, very endearing.

Healin' Good Precure

I finished another season of Precure; yeah! It's not that I didn't watch Hugtto or Twinkle, but I had issues with the sub groups I was following during both seasons, and fell off half-way through. Which sucks because I heard Twinkle ended up being really good. I do have all the episodes I haven't watched saved somewhere, but whether I'll get to them or not is up in the air as I'm really bad at binging shows.

But we're not here to talk about those seasons, we're here to talk about the latest season, which I quite enjoyed. It was definitely on the more mellow side of the spectrum, but it had a very well-rounded cast of both humans, faeries, and villains, which fits the more slice-of-life attitude the show rolled with. Is it my favorite? No, but I think it still had a lot of positive things going for it.

The Good: Let's start with the characters. Nodoka was a very chill pink, which is a nice change of pace. Pinks are usually very energetic and outgoing, and Nodoka still has those characteristics, but a much more laid-back personality. Her backstory is also very poignant for the series, and how it ends up tying into the plot was not unforeseeable, but still well executed. Chiyu is a standard cool blue with chinks in her armor, but like Nodoka is usually very laid back which helps her stand out amongst the crowd. Despite how generic she seems on paper, I can't really think of another blue that acts like Chiyu, which is a point in the positive. Hinata has the quirky yellow thing down flat. In terms of general personality, she acts more like a pink than Nodoka does. She's also two character tropes we haven't seen in Precure yet: Gyaru and Dumb. I don't mean anything bad by that, but Hinata definitely acts very anime-gyaru, which is very funny to me as I feel like Gyaru are typically not portrayed as role models. She's also not smart; and don't get me wrong, there are plenty of Precure that aren't geniuses, but Hinata actively tries and doesn't have the attention span to do it. It makes her far too relatable as someone who was not the biggest fan of school. Asumi was an interesting take on the fairy-turned-Precure idea, basically being a husk that has to experience emotions for the first time. She is also very mellow, making it 3-for-4. It's a very laid back team.

Rabirin, Pegitan, and Nyatoran are all very good faries. They can carry entire scenes and episodes on their own, and despite their cute appearances are able to do it with as much weight as a human character. Latte may also be my favorite fairy ever, as she's a non-talking dog, and just acts like a very smart dog. It's both adorable and hilarious. The Pathogerms are also pretty well done. They all have very standard personalities and drives, but there's nuances to how they act and do things. When we get to them evolving, each of them creates their own way of making more powerful Mega and Gigapathogerms. And the fact that none of them are redeemed is very different for Precure, but not unwelcome. They have their funny moments, but they were bad guys through and through.

I'll also say that the character development for this season was very different than what we normally see. Like, most of the time it's "I'm shy and want to be more outgoing," "I'm aiming for my dream job," or something along those lines. Here, other than maybe Pegitan, nobody really goes through that type of standard, measurable progression. Nodoka's big character moment is realizing she doesn't have to put herself at risk to help others if she doesn't want to. Chiyu's is realizing she can have multiple interests. And Hinata is just realizing she's ok as she is and doesn't need to try and change. None of them are bad revelations, it's just none of the characters really go through anything that fundamentally changes them as a person; they're all pretty much the same from start to finish. Which, they're all 14. It's not super weird.

The plot feels very in-style with what Toei's been doing for a bit now. It's very episodic. Not a ton of huge shake-ups, and those that we do get are resolved pretty quickly so people tuning in for the first time or skip episodes don't get lost. It's the type of show that feels formulated to attract new viewers, and I'm ok with it since everything was well written. I can't think of an episode I didn't think was at least decent, and there were a few gems sprinkled throughout. The one-off characters from all those episodes have very distinct personalities, and nothing ever felt too rushed.

One thing though; I get this is the doctor series, but I find it strange that they went with the usual Earth-Water-Sky motif, and not have any aspects of the animal partners be incorporated into the actual costume design. They didn't have to go all out, like in Kira Kira, but I don't think they even had a paw-print on anything but their weapons.

The Bad: So I mentioned one-off characters earlier, and one of my problems with this show is that it's filled with one-off characters. Other than the parents, there are no real reoccurring characters. No other friends they all hang out with. It's just the main cast most of the time. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as it allows more time for developing the characters you care about, but at the same time it makes the focus of the show very narrow, to the point that  near the end of the series you can't help but think "Oh yeah, this takes place in more than a small town." And while I feel for the characters when they're going through something tough, there weren’t that many moments like that. There’s a lack of overall investment. Even near the finale, I never walked away from an episode begging for more. There were plenty of times where I'd just binge through a month's worth of episodes while doing other stuff. And, again, that's not a bad thing, but, even if I didn't finish it, I got that feeling of investment from Star Twinkle, from Kira Kira, from Maho. Maybe it's because the Precure themselves were seldom attacked? The only mess-with-your-character moment I can think of is when Nodoka get infected, and that was just because she stumbled onto Daruizen; he wasn't actively targeting her. It's more that the chill nature of the show has a double-edged nature to it. It's cute and fun and easy to watch, but you're not going to walk away with it changed in any way, like I was with Go! Princess.

And on the ending, it was very abrupt. I know a few episodes got cut, but that would have been known near the start of the series, and there was plenty of filler. As much as I complain about the time issues associated with the epilogues in accordance to new series and crossover movies, this felt like a season that could have used it. In fact, I think it's the first since Princess to not have one.

Overall, I'm fealin' good ‘bout Healin' Good. It's a nice, easy watch with some fun characters. It's just not very meaty, and I could have used a little more. I'm looking forward to Tropical Rouge. It's already starting out with some interesting premises, like having Summer copy the Zenkaiser color scheme, staying away from the typical colors, etc. Also, whenever I try and design a Precure season (because I get bored at work and do that sometimes) I always do an ocean theme in a seaside town. In fact, Coral is usually the name I give my pink. But enough about how my mind wanders; let's hope the next season is just as fun, but a bit more compelling than this season.

This chapter comes to a close

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

The Villains 

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

Shitari

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

Dokoku

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

Dayuu

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

Juzo

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

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

Shinken Green - Tani Chiaki

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

Shinken Pink - Shiraishi Mako

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

Shinken Blue - Ikenami Ryunosuke

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

Shinken Red - Shiba Takeru/Shiba Kaoru

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

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

Shinken Gold - Umemori Genta

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

Shinken Yellow - Hanaori Kotoha 

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

Final thoughts

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

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

what do you think of shikatema's relationship after the war and in boruto? genuinely curious

So, as a disclaimer, I have neither read nor watched Boruto. I have seen some panels and watched a few episodes (specifically those which feature shikatema), but I am not really well-versed in the material. I may rally one day and sit down and read it, but I have no plans for that as of now. So keep in mind that my conception is not formed from strong knowledge and is not particularly well-based.

But okay! So in short: I don’t dislike all of their portrayal post-war, but I don’t like much of it. I think it is a bad combination of their relationship in pre-shippuden and shippuden.

To break that down semi-coherently, in the beginning when they meet, Shikamaru is often an asshole in the way he speaks (generally toward women) and Temari, honestly, is a bitch. But they are young. And these flaws, the specifics around them, are very complimentary, and we as readers saw how these two characters, who already, in their brief time together, had shaken the other’s foundations, could mature together. The things that would make her stronger and better, he had, and vice-versa. They were young, but we saw how they could develop to bring out the best in the other.

In Shippuden, this is exactly what happened. In what little bits we saw, they pushed each other to be better versions of themselves. They connected in a way with the other that we had never seen either of them connect before. Of course, it’s not like Temari was the sole influence on turning Shikamaru from boy to man or anything like that, but you saw how she understood him in a way we hadn’t seen before except from his immediate family (and I count team 10 in that). And the same for her. Even in the very beginning after the time-skip, after Naruto accuses them of being on a date, right? That next morning when he wakes up early just to accompany her for a few minutes longer… when he waits for her? That sort of acknowledgment of the other, of the desire for the other’s attention, of confidence in the relationship… that was so strong, so powerful to me. To see both of them genuinely want to spend time with the other (have we ever seen anything like that from either of them before?!)… that was the kind of relationship we had all theorized pre-shippuden. I also always love that filler episode where Konohamaru tries to fight her and he comes and interrupts and speaks of her without even looking at her — that’s a deep-rooted level of confidence in a relationship… and it was very REAL (and very sexy). (I won’t go into this more here, but @sylversmith and I wrote a whole thing about their relationship a few weeks ago).

So then in the next gen, post-war, it often feels like all the development of Shippuden goes out the window. They revert back to their original, pre-shippuden ways as far as their relationship goes, with only the occasional sprinkle of shippuden-era development.

I see this specifically in the way in which Temari is portrayed. She has suddenly become the “annoying housewife” that parrots Shikamaru’s immature imagination when he was twelve that turned him off marriage in the first place. It’s a parody of her character. She was strong-minded and independent and all those things, but she was also sensible and she and Shikamaru were equals. Now she nags, and screams, and hits Shikamaru and Shikadai as a joke. It does away with absolutely all the maturity she had found since we met her at the chunin exams. It might as well have been the last time we saw her as Kishi just threw out everything else! And Shikamaru, while he does show his maturity since childhood in his work, he is once more portrayed as that sexist little kid from childhood at home. He talks of Temari like he is scared of her to his son. That’s so fucked up in light of where they had been and where they should have gone. And that whole Shikaku “the hardest women are soft w the men the love” or whatever bullshit — that is portrayed against both their characters as well. Temari, when she is “gentle” or w/e with Shikamaru, is almost always so only in relation to sex or to romance. And then suddenly she is unsure and girly and shy and blushing (childlike, honestly) and Shikamaru is The Man and he takes charge of his now mild-mannered wife…. 

That being said, there are moments where we see that old, shippuden-era relationship. I think specifically of the chunin exams w Shikadai where they think on the other with that old admiration and confidence. And once when Temari was talking to Shikadai about his father and his strength as a strategist — that sort of relationship is very attractive to me. You could see how they knew each other and loved each other and were raising a son together — how they wanted the same things with the same ends. You could see how they complimented the other without it being a mockery of their characters.

(and DO NOT get me started on her moving to konoha full time because that’s the biggest load of bullshit i’m sorry and I’ll argue this point forever)

So in summary, that’s my general (not well researched) understanding of boruto. And of the other eras too I guess. But that’s how I understood the characters and what I wanted to happen. It’s just my opinion! I don’t think I’m “right” or anything!!!

I hope that answers your question!

Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 10: What the heck!

AN: If this feels like a filler chapter to you, it's probably because it is. No really, I'm just using this to tie up some lose ends and to show a little bit of development in Rick's and Morty's relationship. So please lower your expectations and keep down your excitement. And yes, I do feel embarrassed that it took me this long to get it out (blame stupid writer's block). Warnings: Rick/Morty and some smutty (public) smut

Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 10: What the heck! Morty ran as fast as his short legs could carry him, close on Rick's heels. They had just picked up something from the hardware store that Rick needed for the gadget that he was currently working on and on their way back to the garage they had been surprised by a sudden downpour. The brunet ducked quickly into the garage behind his friend, but the damage was already done. Both teens were drenched, small puddles forming underneath their feet from the water that was dripping off their clothes. "Gee, what's up with the weather? It was still sunny when we left. Pretty weird, right Ri—?" The words died in Morty's throat as he saw how the other teen pulled his t-shirt over his head. Letting the wet clothing drop gracelessly on the floor, the pants followed next. Heat rushed into the brunet's cheeks and even though he didn't mean to stare, he checked out his boyfriend's naked form as he stripped down to his boxer shorts. While his stature was short, Rick's frame was lean and had some muscle on it. Morty wasn't quite sure where those muscles came from since he had never seen the other work out. However, he then remembered that Rick was sometimes handling some really heavy equipment so maybe that had something to do with it. The memory of when he assisted his boyfriend with some components of the car resurfaced. Rick had been busy putting some reworked parts back into the engine compartment and Morty had thought that he could help with that. Confidently he had grabbed the car battery, but when lifting it up it weighed more than the expected 50 lbs. Whatever Rick had done to it, it was super heavy now and threatened to slip between his fingers and crash on the ground. Luckily, the other teen came to his rescue and took it off his hands before that could happen (and he knew that he would have never heard the end of it if he would have let it drop). The ease with which Rick had handled that metallic block had astounded Morty. Now that he thought about it, if the genius teen always lugged around stuff that heavy, he probably didn't need a workout program at all… "Hey, Morty! You should take your clothes off, too, or you're gonna catch a cold." The blue-haired boy ripped him out of his thoughts. His blush increased as he noticed the other's wolfish grin. Of course, Rick had caught him staring. Coming a few steps closer, his boyfriend added in a teasing tone, "Do you need my help with that?" "N-n-no. I-I'm f-fi-fine." Face changing to an even darker shade of red, Morty inched the slightest bit backwards. To his relief, Rick dropped the teasing and, albeit reluctantly, he slowly peeled the wet clothes from his own body. However, he couldn't help but feel shy about the entire situation. Sure, it wasn't like Rick hadn't seen him half-naked already, but that was before they had started dating. Also, this whole scenario was reminding him too much of a romance fanfiction that he had once read. In it, the two main characters had been surprised by a rainstorm in the middle of a forest and took shelter in an abandoned hut and they also took off their clothes and things had gotten really steamy then… And even though Rick had told him that he would take things slow, he sometimes did get a bit more handsy. They've been together for a few weeks now so he wouldn't really be surprised if the other considered that he had been waiting long enough. That thought only made Morty feel more exposed than he was. Shyly he wrapped his arms around himself, trying to cover as much of his body as he could. Of course, his antics didn't go unnoticed. "Oh come on, Morty. No need to act that way. We're all alone in here and no can see us." Those words didn't built up his confidence one bit and when Rick came closer towards him again, he felt like he wanted to hide somewhere. "And you don't have to be ashamed of your body." His boyfriend added and closed the last small distance between them. Then lips were on his and Morty wanted to melt into the kiss as he always did, but couldn't. His nerves didn't allow it. As Rick's hands wandered over his back, he only stiffened more the massaging motions failing to relax his tense muscles. Yet the other teen didn't give up and continued his stroking motions while his tongue slipped into the brunet's mouth. His body was quickly heating up even without the help of Rick's body warmth and his thoughts were tumbling, trying in vain to keep up with everything that was happening. It wasn't like he didn't want this, but he wasn't sure if he wanted it right now and right here… Rick's perfume and his natural scent were surrounding him, reminding Morty of their closeness again. Hyperaware, he noticed how the hands went lower and his eyes snapped open as they touched the waistband of his short. No, he couldn't! Quickly, he pushed the other away, bringing a small distance between them. "R-Rick, wait! I-I can't…I'm n-not ready yet…" "Huh? What do you mean?" Rick blinked at him for a moment. Then understanding dawned on his face. "Wait! You think that I want to—?! Jeez, Morty! We're not gonna do it in the garage. At least not the first time." He instantly moved away from the brunet and sat down in his swivel chair. "I don't know what rumors you've heard about me, but I have class, okay?" While Rick did sound a bit offended, he didn't look angry. Morty felt relief wash over him and his stiff body finally relaxed. "S-sorry. I just…I thought…I guess, m-my imagination ran away with me. Haha." He laughed nervously and rubbed his left arm, feeling once more embarrassed, but this time because he had been jumping to conclusions. "And then you're gonna claim that I have a one-track mind…" "I-I never said that!" "I know, I know. I was just making a joke. Chill, Morty." Rick began to unpack his purchase at the workbench and the brunet joined him, looking curiously over his shoulder. While, slowly drying off, both teens preoccupied themselves with tinkering again. However, Rick's still wet and occasionally dripping hair began to bother the genius. With an annoyed sigh, he tugged a stray strand back behind his ear. "Ugh! My hair's such a mess…" The complaint directed Morty's attention to the blue locks. Indeed, the spikes had been flattened from the wetness. "Actually, I think it doesn't look bad like this…" Daringly, he ran his hand through his boyfriend's hair, knowing very well that Rick was really picky about it and didn't just let anyone touch it. It was thick and despite the wetness still felt fluffy and the other didn't only allow him to continue, but even began to purr as he lightly scratched along the scalp. "Hmm…you really think so?" The other teen seemed to contemplate about a style change and pondered if he should try to slick his hair down a bit instead of keeping his usual spikes, which were funnily enough all natural. "Well, it's your hair, but I-I think, it suits you." Rick hummed again. "You're really starting to act your part, don't you Morty?" "Wha-what's that supposed to mean?" A blush sneaked on the brunet's face again since he knew what Rick was trying to say and his hands retreated again. "Y-you-you're acting your part pretty well yourself with going in-into protective boyfriend mode as soon a-as someone talks to me." That wasn't a lie since Morty noticed that the other tended to get easily jealous now whenever someone approached him. Even when they weren't flirting with him like Jessica had. "W-well, that's only be-because you need some protection. I-I mean, it's not l-like you're surrounded by the most reliable people anyways. And in the time I was s-skipping school, you were constantly beaten up. So, nothing wrong w-with someone looking after you, right?" The blue-haired teen was the one, who became flustered now, as he tried to defend his actions. After looking a little longer at Morty's face, he sighed. "Hey, you remember when you asked me if I put cams and mics in your house?" "Yeah…?" The brunet replied reluctantly. "Well…I might have bugged it…" "You what?! You lied to me! You said that you didn't plant any cameras or microphones!" "I never said that I didn't do that. I just said that it's a creepy creep move to do something like that." It was the truth. "Then—why did you do something like that?!" "I did it because I was worried about you!" "Worried about me?!" The boy didn't know how to take that. "Yeah. Just imagine what would happen if someone would break into your house at night. Your dad is such a coward, if he confronts the bugler, he'd probably tell him where all your money is including the combination to the safe and tell him where your and your sister's rooms are!" While Morty didn't want to think that his father would actually do that, he also couldn't deny that Rick had a point. "So, if anything happens, I'd be over there ASAP and safe your cute little ass." Rick continued with a confident smirk. The thought actually made Morty blush anew, thinking about the other coming to safe him as if he was some kind of knight in shining armor. That look somehow suited Rick. However, a sudden thought bothered him. "Wait! Did you put those cams and mics everywhere?!" He was embarrassed to think that Rick might have seen or heard when he was having his "private alone time" in the bedroom. Rick seemed to get where Morty was going with this. "Chill out, Morty. I didn't bug your room or the bathrooms. Your sister's or your parents' bedrooms are also safe. So, don't worry your little Morty head over that." Morty wasn't sure if he could trust what Rick had said, especially when he grinned at him like that, but he let it slip. He sighed. "Okay. That's good then." Rick's grin only broadened. Not knowing the truth would let Morty sleep better at night anyway.

Morty was flushing bright red as he was dragged by Rick into the school's restrooms. The blue-haired teen quickly checked if the stalls were empty before he pulled his boyfriend into one of them. Being roughly shoved into the wall of the cubicle, Morty mewled into the heated kiss that followed. It wasn't the first time that Rick did this – just pulling him into the boys' bathroom for a making out session – but he still felt that he should protest that they'll be late for their next class. Not that Rick ever cared about that before…or right now, for that matter. However, he would never understand why Rick was so insistent on doing this. Not that he didn't sometimes feel the urge to be a little more intimate with Rick. But why did he always have to drag him off to the restrooms? It only served to make Morty more embarrassed because this was such a public place. …Though, he couldn't deny that the prospect of getting caught made his stomach curl in excitement. Oh! That probably was the reason why Rick liked to do this with him in here… A muffled squeak escaped him as the other pressed closer and something hard was rubbing against his crotch. His blood tried its best to evenly divide itself between his cheeks and his lower body. With how flush Rick's body was pushing against his, it was pretty obvious to Morty what that hardness was that he could feel rubbing against him – and his own member was reacting to it, very eager to greet its counterpart. The brunet whimpered into the kiss as the other teen's hands landed on his backside and pulled him more into the movement. "R-Rick…" His boyfriend stopped humping him and released his lips, but still kept the close contact between their warm bodies. Breathlessly, Morty continued. "Rick…we re-really shouldn't…n-not right he-here…" "Oh come on, Morty." Light pecks were placed on his lips and cheeks. "There's no harm in fooling around a little bit." When the other kissed his neck and then began to suck at his pulse point, Morty official lost the discussion and gave in. Leaning his head back in order to give Rick more access, he moaned softly. "O-okay. But on-only a little bit…" If Rick hadn't reassured him before that he wouldn't go all the way with him in a place like this, he might have been more reluctant to agree. As it was though, his erection was twitching inside his pants and clearly looking forward to continue this. The blue-haired teen pulled him into the movement again as he rubbed their crotches together and Morty almost yelped. Hastily he slapped a hand over his mouth, flushing in shame as the echoing noise reminded him again that they were in a public place and people might hear him. Rick seemed fairly unbothered by that though and only grinned against the now bruised skin on his neck. When he stopped grinding again and brought some distance between their bodies, he chuckled at the disappointed sound that the brunet made. With the contact between them lost, Morty could feel the cold of the room seeping through his clothes and shuddered. Still, he waited with bated breath what his boyfriend would do now. He stared with big eyes downwards as Rick's hands fumbled with his pants. Deft fingers quickly opened button and fly and pulled his straining dick free of its confines and Morty felt so embarrassed because he was sure that Rick hadn't actually seen it the other time when they had studied for the math test. "Well, look at that. You're quite packing something for such a small kid." "Y-you—we're the same height!" Morty pointed out defensively, but still sounded flustered. "Yeah, we are~ Comes in handy, but we'll leave that for another time." The genius teen drawled and undid his own pants, pulling his erect cock out now. "Oh god!" Morty breathed as he saw the thick and long length that was actually a bit bigger than his own, completely forgetting to ask what Rick meant with his last statement. "Heh, already impressed? I haven't even started yet, baby." Rick leaned forward again until their cocks were touching and the brunet gasped. It just felt so hot and hard and oh god, the other was twitching as much as he did. Unable to help himself, Morty ground against his boyfriend's length, positively humping him. Rick allowed him this for a while, focusing back on creating a necklace of hickeys on the few space of the brunet's skin that was still unblemished. Very few spaces left indeed. However, he soon stopped that and placed his hands on Morty's hips to keep the boy from moving. The brunet whined in confusion, mind in a daze from all the pleasure. Only to moan loudly when Rick wrapped his hand around both their cocks. Clamping a hand over his mouth again, Morty watched with wide eyes and rapt attention how his boyfriend was stroking them both at the same time. It felt so good. Rick's hand around his member. And Rick's cock pressed tightly against his own. So hot and pulsing and slick with their combined precum. Morty keened. It was almost too much. Just as he was about to get lost completely in the sensations, a sudden noise ripped him out of his lustful haze. Someone had entered the bathroom. Both boys turned stock-still and listened intently. They could hear whoever had walked in entering another stall – thankfully not the one right next to theirs – and then the telltale sound of a zipper. Morty almost accidentally squeaked when the hand that was still wrapped around his dick suddenly picked up movement again. His boyfriend only grinned at him, clearly unworried that they weren't alone anymore. "Rick…please stop…" The brunet whispered frantically, afraid that with how close he was, he wouldn't be able to keep his voice in check. Rick didn't listen to him. Leaning closer to his ear, he only whispered, "Why? It's so much more fun this way." Morty couldn't agree although his traitorous cock was twitching in clear excitement. Its counterpart that was still pressed flush against it agreed in a similar manner. When Rick picked up the pace and tightened his grip, it didn't make matters any better – or better said, it made it better, which only made things harder for Morty. Both in the literal and metaphorical sense. The poor brunet tried his hardest to keep silent, his sweaty palm pressing as tightly against his lips as it could. For some reason, Rick seemed to be doing a lot better at the keeping quiet department. He had no idea how he did that. In an effort to keep control over his voice, he tried to concentrate on the other noises in the room. The decidedly unsexy noises of their unbidden guest. Eventually, it made Morty wonder how long one person could take for using the toilet. Whoever this was, he seemed to be taking forever. Honestly, the brunet was growing frantic for the guy to finish up because he was slowly coming to his own finish. Rick was just touching him so expertly, moving just in the right tempo, using just the right amount of pressure and when he pulled at the foreskin— Morty threw his head back and screamed against his hand as he came helplessly just as the toilet flushing went off, thankfully drowning out his sound. Rick was quick to follow and bit into his shoulder to keep his own voice in check. For a moment, they kept still and silent again, intently listening to the noises that the other person in the room made. Only when he left did they began to move again and started cleaning themselves up. "What the heck, Rick!" Morty nearly shouted and punched his boyfriend in the shoulder. "We almost got caught!" "Just almost though." The blue-haired teen laughed. When his boyfriend still glared at him, he stopped laughing, but still smiled. "Oh come on, Morty. Complain all you want, but I know you still liked it." Well, Morty couldn't deny that. And so, he flushed and reverted to cute pouting. This drew another laugh from his boyfriend before he gave him a peck and then dragged him out of the restroom…and off the school grounds.

AN: Next chapter will already be the last one, but don't worry, I'll try to make it a good one. Also you won't have to wait for it as long as for this chapter. Promise.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 11

Hi. I'm the anon who asked about au's. I'm just shy, so don't take offense my apology! You're great and friendly! I'd like a scenario request though! I've been into vampires since the Halloween season, and wanted to request one. A little late, but I guess any time is a good time, haha. I'd like it to be with Tsukishima being vampire and spending the night at his crushes house, and he ends up feeding on her in her sleep? You can do what you like with this idea! I'm very interested to see it!

A/N: omfggg i went so so overboard with this,, im just so damn weak for vampire!tsukishima. TW: blood obviously. Also, keep in mind that this request involves a character coming into the reader’s bedroom to p much prey on her while she’s asleep. There’s nothing sexual involved, but if you suspect that that type of scene may trigger you, then I suggest you either don’t read this or read at your own discretion. Ok?? ok,..,, you’ve been warned and you’re on your own now. Word count: 1,870 (lmao my bad)

UNDER THE CUT.

____________

His fingers were akin to glass; their delicacy threatened with a shatter as they brushed against the daisies. Traces of pollen were dusted along his palms, petals of ivory stroking the length of his legs. Sparse grass had buried itself into the folds that rested within his clothes, lightly pricking his skin. 

Discarding the vivid memory, Tsukishima recalled that he hadn’t seen the cottage by the meadow in over a century. 

To Tsukishima, those memories resembled scratched segments of dusty videocassettes. He remembered that he had a brother named Akiteru, a seamstress for a mother and a labourer for a father. Their faces, however, were permanently forgotten. It didn’t bother Tsukishima, though - he preferred it over death. If it weren’t for Yamaguchi turning him, he would have died following the pillage. 

Prior to meeting her, Tsukishima never kept track of time since he had all of eternity to live. In the past year, he’d grown attached enough to maintain his relationship with her, but not attached enough to risk getting his head severed from his body. Tsukishima planned to cut her out of his life soon.

‘Look at you all zoned out,’ she teased, ‘I didn’t take you for an art critic.’ 

‘You want a critique?’ Tsukishima sneered, ‘this painting’s really ugly.’

‘It’s not ugly!’ she exclaimed, ‘Ojiisan gave it to me. He bought it from an artist in Nagiso long ago.’ 

‘Well, he had awful taste,’ he knew that that wasn’t his real opinion. What else was he supposed to say, though? That the painting of a cottage by a meadow reminded him of his first home? That he was alive before her grandfather was? 

Of course not.

‘You have a lot of nerve saying that…’ she poked the bridge of Tsukishima’s glasses, ‘… when you’re the one who’s wearing those. Get nicer frames.’

‘I’m sorry I like to see,’ he sarcastically said with a smirk, ‘is this how you treat your guests?’

‘You’re the one who said my painting’s ugly,’ she shrugged, collapsing on the couch. ‘I think ojiisan said he met a vampire when he visited Nagiso.’ 

‘Don’t be stupid,’ Tsukishima sneered, joining her, ‘there’s barely any in Japan.’

‘Yes there is,’ she asserted, ‘they used to live savagely centuries ago, but they’ve integrated into human society.’

Tsukishima was almost taken aback. She was right - creatures of his kind still existed and they integrated well. Too well, to the point where they were widely considered to be an extinct being.

‘Let me guess, your ojiisan told you that,’ Tsukishima masked his surprise with a taunting tone, ‘do vampires also disappear in mirrors and wear black cloaks?’ 

She crossed her arms as she stuck her tongue out childishly, ‘Make fun of me all you want, but he said that he knew what he saw. A young woman in an alleyway,’ she shuddered, her spine graced by a shiver, ‘her fangs buried deeply within a mangled cat, slurping up all its blood.’

‘How scary,’ Tsukishima mocked, pretending as though he hadn’t done such a thing. He was repulsed at the idea of feeding on animals, but centuries ago, there were times where he found himself desperate. All he fed on nowadays were suicide victims beneath a nearby cliff and from blood banks. Yamaguchi did the same.

‘Whatever,’ she stood up, stretching her arms out with a yawn, ‘don’t come crying to me if you ever do come across a vampire.’ 

‘Because in that situation, I’d definitely come to you,’ Tsukishima sarcastically remarked, ‘I’d feel safe with your wooden stake and silver.’

‘You realise I can make you sleep on the couch instead of the guest bedroom, right?’

____________

Every attempt he made to quiet his mind had failed; it descended, further, further and further into an obsession with the possibility that a long blade would soon sever his head. 

Tsukishima was never aware that she possessed any knowledge about his kind. Vampires became less of a reality and more of an old tale. Not many knew that they ate human food, drank human drinks - the only difference was that it was all tasteless and that his nutrition could only be obtained from fresh blood. Put simply, human foods were a useless filler. 

Although she didn’t mention it, Tsukishima believed it was likely that she was aware of that fact. As his pupils fixated themselves to the ceiling, a year was suddenly no longer a fleeting moment to him. A year’s worth of a close relationship with a human was a long time. Especially when the human belongs to the minority that believed that vampires still lived amongst them. 

Yamaguchi had warned him of this, urging him to recall when hiring vampire hunters was common practise, when suspected vampires (and any human who sheltered a vampire) were burned at the stake, begging for any form of mercy. 

Tsukishima began packing away the belongings he brought with him to her home, concluding that her memory of him had to turn into a mirage, just like the faces of his family. As he made his way out the guest bedroom, he realised how he loathed how fond he grew of her. Tsukishima wanted to fully remember the arch of her brows, the lashes that curved away from her waterline, the wit of her tongue, the outline of her lips.

He passed by her bedroom, knowing that he couldn’t rely on his memories. Eventually, the centuries to come would led them to disintegrate into ashes, where they will never arise again - memories bore no similarity to a phoenix.

Turning around, Tsukishima quietly placed his duffle bag on the floor and carefully opened the door. He was unsure as to whether he could remember her once he left - but he was confident that he wouldn’t forget the flavour her blood carried. 

Her body had already been lulled into a deep state of sleep - after all, Tsukishima possessed heightened senses and could hear her slow and rhythmic breathing. 

The emotional attachment Tsukishima held towards her was constantly denied by him, until he envisioned his pillow beside hers. He falsely hoped to share that blanket with her for the nights to come, perhaps even bicker over blanket-stealing the following morning. Maybe she snored sometimes and he could tease her about it. Would they wake up at the same time, or would he wake up first? 

Tsukishima didn’t want those thoughts to exist anymore. He wanted them to burn with intense fury and relief; identical to the burning of suspected vampires centuries ago. 

She was already asleep on her side, her body facing the wall. Kneeling beside the double bed, Tsukishima warily placed a hand on her shoulder. The thumb of his other hand rested along the angle of her jaw, gently pushing her head further away from her neck. For a couple of seconds, Tsukishima merely stared at the skin he was about to pierce. She’ll keep him in mind while the marks scab over and bruise, but after that, she will forget about him; because he’ll be long gone by then. 

The longer his fangs grew, the more reluctant he became to bite into her. This wasn’t going to be the first time that Tsukishima fed on someone alive - there was a time when he was forced to do so. He knew his neck anatomy quite well, he wasn’t an idiot who recklessly bit into people and accidentally killed them.

Tsukishima’s felt the tip of his fangs touch her neck. This situation lacked any similarity to his past feedings on sleeping humans, for it was completely unrelated to survival. Rather, it was a feeble to cure his illness of melancholy; the fever that forced him to breathe the air that, to him, resembled the very salts of the ocean. Every inhale filled his lungs with blue hellfire.

That was what drove him to finally abandon his loyalty to cautiousness.

Tsukishima haphazardly sink his fangs into her neck, memorising the intensity of the iron. He knew that if he were to suddenly pull his head away in that moment, he’d rip her neck wide open. But he had to bite down with that much force. He had to remember her. 

As hot, thick scarlet slid down Tsukishima’s throat, he began to actually consider the consequences. With the mark, she’d easily have the power to report him. Although the probability of anyone believing her was slim, his actions were still creating the possibility of his death. For a mere second, Tsukishima even pictured himself turning her.

Once a low yelp was heard by Tsukishima’s hypersensitive ears, he rid his mind of those disorganised thoughts. He was sure that his absence of self-control had awakened her, yet he began to question whether he really was scared of getting killed. Tsukishima’s lived for centuries. He’d seen it all. 

With that realisation, Tsukishima strengthened his grip and pushed her head even further away from her neck. He noted that as his gulps turned longer and deeper, her whimpers grew louder and her knuckles curled themselves into the sheets.

When he finally pulled away, he watched her reluctantly place her fingers on the wound, smearing the bloody marks in the process. Tsukishima’s lips were still warm, a crimson trail slowly dripping down his chin. 

Tsukishima sat up, retracting his fangs back into his gums. He headed towards the door, wiping away the blood with the back of his hand. He forced the turmoil within his chest to be replaced with apathy, since he already knew the facial expression that will rest upon her face once she turned around - forehead wrinkled, eyebrows knitted, lip corners pulled downwards - sheer terror.

‘You…’ she trailed off, her voice uncertain, ‘… if you wanted to bite me that bad, you could have just asked.’

For the first time since Yamaguchi turned him, Tsukishima was the one stunned by a human. His eyelids drew themselves back slightly, his mouth agape with an intense confusion. Tsukishima didn’t want to look at her - he had no desire for her to see the breach of his facade. 

‘I already knew.’ 

After a long pause, Tsukishima snapped. ‘And you didn’t tell me,’ The apathy within his chest started to dissipate, an immeasurable confusion and fury settling in. ‘Instead, you decided to have a casual conversation with me about my kind.’ 

‘Kei,’ she said, ‘turn around and look me in the eye,’ she’d never used his first name before. He never did, either, although he always wished their relationship would reach a point where he could. 

Tsukishima obliged with her command. ‘You think I’m a fool, do you?’ his skin almost sizzled against his bones, overwhelmed by every form of hurt he’d experienced throughout the centuries. ‘All this time, you acted like you’re oblivious to what I am and spoke to me as though I’m a human.’

Mainly, it was the hurt that was buried within the sense of imminent loss.

‘Well, I’m not a human,’ Tsukishima revealed his fangs once more, clenching his teeth in anger, ‘and that means that I’ll kill you right now.’ 

‘You won’t,’ she said, her smile soft enough to be mistaken for a smirk. She was smug about the fact that her suspicion was true, though - this was Tsukishima’s crush, after all. 

She slowly stepped closer to him until she was able to firmly press her chest against his. Tenderly placing an open palm against Tsukishima’s cheek, the pad of her thumb gently stroked his cheekbone; an attempt to induce tranquillity within him. Once her gentle gesture ceased, she hooked an index finger underneath the fabric of her shirt, pulling it away from her neck to expose the bare skin of her shoulder.

‘Drink.’ 

Miraculous Ladybug Season 3 Scoreboard + Review

Hey guys. I will be discussing Miraculous Ladybug Season 3. I recently saw fans putting up videos about the problems with it. Season 3 is not really up there with Season 2, but overall, it's tolerable. It's still far from being like Danny Phantom Season 3 or much far off from Game of Thrones Season 8. MLB Season 3 is just an okay season. It has a couple of good stuff there, but it does have more problems there. I'll be reviewing each episodes as you see on the scoreboard above. So let's go by each episode by production order. *There will be spoilers on the following statements below.*

1. Chameleon. Lila returned to class finally, and she continues to be annoying, by spreading lies about herself. Lila is really bad. Not sure why everyone in the school believes her, they're so gullible. At least even Adrien knows she's lying, which he told Marinette this at the end of the episode. Lila being Chameleon wasn't as special, but it was reasonable why she got akumatized because Adrien knew she was lying and she sides with Hawkmoth. Also, I like how the class switch back their regular seats because they were too distracted. Not sure how Lila did that at the beginning though. By the way, we knew Marinette won't sit next to Adrien. So, this episode was good, but Lila's lies should've be thought-out more so it would make it seem like her lies are more believable instead of people instantly believing her.

2. Animaestro Well, it was obviously a fanservice to bring Thomas Astruc to the series. It was kinda odd, and he was pretty weak since no one cared about him. He just wanted attention, and even for a kid's show, at least give him some attention. As for Marinette teaming with Chloe against Kagami, yeah, they're pretty much fighting over a boy, and trying to get Kagami away from him. XD. However, a couple of parts are funny, like when Kagami almost sit on the cake and chasing the macaroon for Adrien. Chloe is really blind about Marinette having a crush on Adrien, and many of her classmates knows that already, as seen with Gigantitan and Miracle Queen's ending, but not her? Understands she doesn't like Marinette, but not knowing that already while the entire class knows sounds really odd. XD. This episode was pretty decent for what it has.

3. Bakerix This expands more on Marinette's family, so I was excited to see her grandfather on her dad's side. He seems pretty grumpy, which is typical. He seems to be too old fashioned, and really acts serious to Marinette, so it was his own problem. He seems to take some changes when he was outside of his house and tried Marinette's bread. As for Bakerix, he seems nicely designed. A couple of powers and liked when he took Alya's phone and censors her. Overall, it is nice seeing explorations on Marinette's family, so it's overall good.

4. Backwarder I think Master Fu's love interest was overall nice since we get to see her for the first time. As for Marinette, she screwed up on the letters. Nothing huge, but I wonder how she as Ladybug gives the Lenoir the wrong letter when she has it when going to a pharmacy store. Backwarder seems like an interesting villain since she has powers to make a person go backwards, and restore broken objects. The Cat Noir plan by Ladybug was pretty smart. On Marinette's part, it's all right, and give Adrien a wrong letter, but as for Lenoir, it was more interesting, so I put it as good. By the way, I love how tired Juleka suggest Marinette to Kidnap Kagami, and I made a video about it where they actually take that plan.

5. Reflectdoll Well, this isn't good. It was pretty underwhelming. Juleka was too afraid to do her part for the modeling shoot and she just let herself down. It was pretty much her fault for not talking to Marinette and them about it. I know Juleka is a shy person, but I would like to see her character evolve instead of nearly repeating the first Reflecta. Also, it was interesting to see Marinette and Adrien swap powers and see how they look like. However, I didn't like how Lady Noir knows how to use Cat Noir's powers while Mister Bug is kinda having a hard time using Ladybug's power. It kinda makes the team unbalanced, and Mister Bug gets more harsh moments by Lady Noir. It wasn't as forced as Leia from Galaxy of Adventure (believe me, that is really terrible in comparison of Lady Noir and Mister Bug), at least Mister is trying. I didn't like most of the interactions between Lady Noir and Mister Bug since Lady Noir has an attitude and is a know it all, with her knocking Mister Bug's head with a stick. Overall, this episode didn't do much. It was just mediocre for an episode.

6. Weredad Oh dear. Marinette's Dad. He was too obsessed with Marinette and Cat Noir a thing. It is common to the fandom that Marichat is likable. Marinette's fake cry is pretty funny, and kinda ouch at the same time to Cat Noir and Tom. Tom was pretty weird in this episode and kinda falls in to a cliche of animated parents. Not as bad, but it still falls there. As of Weredad, he's nothing really special because all he does is fight Cat Noir with muscle powers and that's it. As for Marinette, she should've told Cat Noir she lives here so no misunderstanding would be made. It's odd that Cat Noir assumes she's his fan, but he knows she lives there. This episode was okay, but I wished Marinette's Dad would be developed more instead of just being overall silly. At least Marinette's dad likes the fandom's shipping pick. XD

7. Silencer I'm glad SAMG animated this episode since this is really a great episode. Marinette and the band got interesting songs, and Luka is pretty interesting. I kinda didn't like XY or his assistant, but Luka and Silencer takes the cake for me because he can take people's voices, and told Marinette his feelings for her, twice. Luka is a really brave guy to tell Marinette this. Ladybug and Cat Noir's interaction is pretty fine, but as a team inside the studio, their plan was interesting to watch. This episode is awesome and this is pretty much the best episode involving Luka.

8. Oni-Chan Oh dear, what is going on with you Marinette? It was almost a second hand embarrassment, since Marinette is busy spying on Lila since she is going with Adrien to his place, and because of Lila's lies, she got in to Adrien's house. Marinette spying and the firefighter enabled her to spy on them was a pretty bad idea. Thankfully, she didn't get caught, so it wasn't too bad. As for Oni-Chan, Kagami gets akumatized again, and what's interesting is she gives Lila a horn so she is pretty much a Pinocchio. Serves her right. It feels like Kagami was dragged in to this episode and she didn't have any activity with Adrien aside from seeing the picture. An interesting idea they had was Gabriel relying on Lila's lies to cause akumatization on a targeted person. This episode was okay, only things was Lila getting payback for lying all the time and Gabriel making friendship, but overshadowed by Marinette's plan and Kagami being dragged in. (By the way, Marinette chasing the car with Adrien and Lila was done in my parody in my video, Miraculous Ladybug Alterations)

9. Miraculer I think this episode is pretty interesting given that Chole couldn't be Queen Bee since Hawkmoth knows. Of course, Chloe is pretty bratty, but understandable to how she was feeling. We do see a return of Rena Rouge and Carapace. It was the only time so far for anyone to refuse Hawkmoth from becoming akumatized. Sabrina was The Vanisher in the first season, and now we get a full villain battle that is Sabrina as Miraculer. Mayura comes in and she and Miraculer goes against a team of five, which was an interesting fight. Chloe did learn about her danger of why she couldn't get the bee miraculous. This episode is pretty good since we got an interesting battle and perspective on Chloe and Hawkmoth. By the way, this episode won in Disney Channel Latin America Awards recently.

10. Oblivio This episode is an obvious fanservice. Both lost their memories by Oblivio and we get a lot of Adrienette moments. It was pretty much a filler since those moments kinda disappeared when they defeated Oblivio. I wasn't much into Oblivio as a villain. It seems powerful since they can wipe an entire memory of a person, but being Nino and Alya and how they became a merged villain was pretty short. Cat Noir still is trying to hit on Ladybug pretty hard even though she told him from Glacier that she's in love with a boy, so Cat Noir just didn't really learn from that episode. Remember the talk from that episode? He seems to keep ignoring that. Well, this episode was pretty okay. The Adrienette moments seems pretty heartwarming, but generally, it was okay.

11. Desperada. Why? Again, what is wrong with you, Marinette? It was dumb of how she didn't pick Luka to play for Jagged Stone and tried to get Adrien to play by having Luka give his guitar despite him being a pianist, and kinda rude too. Marinette didn't really have character development in this episode, even as Ladybug. Well, her love with Adrien got her to do unforgivable mistakes. One part of the episode where Adrien made a joke to Ladybug about a horse seat and Ladybug thinks it's funny, when when Cat Noir does it, she did not like it and became annoyed by him. Wow, it was just wrong, but we'll save it for few more episodes. Desperada has to be the most powerful villain since she can make people disappear by one shot. Only thing likable in this episode is Adrien as Aspik tells Ladybug that he's Cat Noir before going back to Second Chance. Also, Luka gets to be Viperion, and anything about him is pretty amazing. Despite those two good things, this episode is pretty bad since it was frustrating about Marinette's character in this episode.

12. Chris Master I only saw this episode once, and the fact that since it has Santa, Disney Channel would only air those episode on the Holiday Season only. I know I can see it online, but I'll review it anyway. It was ok. Nino's little brother is all right. Marinette had to lie on him for doing other stuff, and well, don't you realize you're doing the same thing Lila was doing? I know it's not as big, but at least you learned not to lie around Chris. It was animated by SAMG, I feel like this episode wasn't really right for this kind of brilliant animation that isn't really exciting as an episode. Overall, it's all right.

13. Startrain I think Max as Pegasus is a cool superhero. Well, transformation is the coolest one I ever seen throughout the series so far. They are going to London as a class, and it was cute that Adrien let Marinette sleep on his shoulder, and all the girls (and Serena, Calem, and Malva in my video headcanons) see the shine of the two. As for Max's mom, she is pretty weak. She's pretty impatient for her score results and checks them every other time. I think she could've waited until she arrived to London or return to Paris. Startrain as a villain is pretty alright. There isn't much fighting besides trying to go to the cockpit. Also, Alya is smart to take a pic of Marinette sleeping on Adrien's shoulder. This episode is pretty good, and this has couple of heartwarming moments. Oh, and Lila, I'm glad your plan to break Marinette's moment failed.

14. Kwamibuster The episode was pretty much all right. The whole thing about the teacher finding out about the Kwamis is pretty new, but there's a lot of identity crisis going on since Plagg caused trouble. Why?! I feel like it was pushing the identity rule a couple of times, so that didn't play well for some people. The teacher was pretty okay in this episode. It was the first time Marinette used all the miraculouses to get out of the situation, and saving the captured Kwamis from Kwamibuster. As for Marinette using all miraculouses, we never seen much intelligence from her before, so it just seems like it was just given to her instead of seeing her learn from the powers. Although, it was a nice trick for Marinette to use illusion to have Cat Noir believe Ladybug is not her, and that Multi Mouse is. Also, I like how Kim became more childish throughout the episode when watching the TV show with the teacher. The episode was okay overall, nice lore of the Miraculous, but shoehorns the identity rule feels like it's playing with the audience.

15. Feast This episode explores a lot more lore on Master Fu and the Miraculous. It was an interesting story from him. The Museum explore brought more discovery on past Miraculous Holders. Although, Alya taking information feels pretty risky. I get why Master Fu took Marinette and Adrien's Miraculouses away to protect them because of the Feast, but it's funny that Adrien decide to reuse the Banana suit when riding with Marinette in disguise. Also, it is funny when Ladybug wraps herself with Cat Noir to get eaten by the sentimonster since Cat Noir is concerned. This episode was pretty great. Also, nice bunny Miraculous foreshadowing, Alix.

16. Gamer 2.0 I wasn't that happy with that episode. It was mostly Marinette stressing out for doing so many things at once, and even Ladybug got too impatient. Understandably, but it was not really interesting. Marinette's way to reject Max from playing his new game was pretty rude, and even being on Season 3, it feels like her scheduling and patience was crammed and forced. Max is reused and both heroes play his Super Smash Bros. First half was Ladybug being impatient, and the problem with that is there is no lesson on patience and time on this episode. Marinette at the end became more relaxed and patient, and we didn't get to see what she learned. The only message we got is how we play video games where we can do things we can't do in real life, not taking time off from your real life and relax a bit. The concept of Super Smash game is interesting, but the fight is not really the best, since it was just one or two hits, and the final boss wasn't epic. I think if they at least fight normally like most akumatized villain fights do in montage, it would've make the game look more interesting. I think this episode is overall mediocre. It's not too bad, but could've improve upon.

17. Stormy Weather 2 No Spoilers, because it's a RECAP! There's not much going on in this episode. All we got is Marinette sending the letter to Adrien and tried to be brave about her changing from being an unstable talk to actually doing things. Does she really change after this episode? Not yet. Adrien sees the letter, and is happy about it, but he doesn't believe she has a crush on him. That is it. There's barely fight scenes with Stormy Weather. This is just a reminder of Marinette's Life, Adrien's Life, Gabriel/Hawkmoth's life, and Alya and Nino's relationship. This is just a complete filler since it adds nothing as most recaps are, and it counts as an episode. It follows the same logic as Anime shows from 2000s or below where modern anime shows have recaps at episode ##.5 or 0 for a next season. Overall, it's almost a waste of episode with small events and just there to fill up the number of episodes in Season 3. It's not really a good idea. Besides seeing Adrien's perspective at the end, Alya's twin sisters dancing victory was pretty funny. The episode overall is mediocre. Recaps aren't necessary for a show like this. Not all recaps are bad, like Drake and Josh Season 3 Finale because it sets up with all the recaps just fine.

18. Ikari Gozen This is an interesting one. I like how Marinette gets paired with Kagami and tries to lose the game on purpose. A couple of their interactions seems pretty funny. The moment on swapping phones was a big Oops. I feel bad for Kagami to see that Marinette does not like her, but it went away when Marinette defended her from Kagami's mom. Kagami's superhero form looks fine, and her powers seems pretty cool. We know she only can use the Dragon Miraculous once since Hawkmoth clearly knows Ryuko is Kagami. For problems, it has a few. It is animated by SAMG, so the episode looks good. This episode is ranked great. So why was this shown on SDCC 2019 before Feast aired in this world? We'll discuss the broadcast problems after the rest of the episodes.

19. TimeTagger Last Year, I wrote a post about this episode since I really liked Bunnix and the design and concept. Bunnix/Adult Alix is my favorite, next to Viperion. Well, I'll be recapping the post I made. I liked seeing Bunnix and stuff, as mentioned, and her action scenes are really fun. As for Cat Noir, I didn't really like how he's somewhat weak in this one. It wasn't as bad as Reflectdoll, but he's just blamed for accidentally destroying Bunnix's Miraculous on a different timeline, and looks fooled when giving advice to Mr. Pigeon guy, which foreshadows Mr. Rat. He was at least useful, but I wished he was more positive on this episode. As for Mr. Pigeon guy, he gets akumatized 24 times constantly, so he's pretty weak overall. His episode was interesting, but he's just bland on this episode. Also, how can Alya and Nino trust Lila to babysit their siblings? Doesn't Marinette know she hates her? Anyway, I liked seeing future hints of Ladybug and Cat Noir, and how Alix's watch was actually a Miraculous all the time. I remembered that being a theory few years ago. Despite liking the new heroes in this season, it also has a downside when I first see this, since it shows that all of Bustier's class will get Miraculouses, temporarily or permanently. I feel like owning a Miraculouses becomes less special. As this episode, this is good and I think Bunnix is a cool character and really got excited when I saw it, but it does need a bit more work with Cat Noir and Mr. Pigeon. We know Alix will get a watch in Season 4 or 5 permanently.

20. Party Crasher That episode has a couple of problems. Well, it's nice seeing Adrien get a chance to shine more in this episode. However, the whole lie concept was kinda unbearable. The boys who wanted to go visit Adrien was forced to lie to the girls who are doing plants, which leads to a cliche that is not satisfying. It was not a comfortable because I do feel like the girls are gonna find out and yell at them, which thankfully it didn't happen, but I still feel the chills of it. Not only that, but Adrien's party turns out to be a Boys' only party, which I'll explain why I m not a fan of that cliche. Often, whenever there is a boys' night out, girls' night out, b/g only party or anything, there's always a sneaker who decides to sneak in, whether it becomes creepy or just a second hand embarrassment, or just be brutally abused in there. The second one was the case because Marinette disguises as a man (poorly) and sneaks in, and I feel like she's gonna get caught and it would be really embarrassing. She was forced to dance and her disguise fell and they all see it's Marinette. Thankfully, it cut quickly to Party Crasher so the second hand embarrassment was pretty short and Marinette didn't get any big regrets. Besides that, the villain is pretty weak in character. Wilmer has a short time being on screen before he becomes Party Crasher, and the fact that it needed six heroes to go after one villain of the day. Kim being a hero was all right, but I wished the episode was more about him to see more how well he does as a hero. At the end of the episode, Marinette suggest the boys to go help the girls do the plants. I feel like they are gonna yell at the boys and Marinette (excluding Adrien) once they meet them, but I'm relieved they didn't show that. This episode was pretty low mediocre. It's not something I would pick to watch, but it's not really awful, unlike...

21. Puppeteer 2 Oh dear! This episode is really bad! It's so awful! What is wrong with you Marinette! You are the main character! You were supposed to be developed already, not revert back!  Bring balance to the show, not leave it in darkness! Yeah, this episode has no reason to exist like Stormy Weather 2, but even worse! Adrien is treated so badly in this episode. All the characters weren't developed well nor does it pass on to future episodes. Okay, Marinette is got to be the worst character in this episode. She still does the stuttering talk even being in Season 3. It is taken to the bad level. Well, her stuttery talk makes Adrien feel bad for the entire episode until the end. Her words make it seem like she does not like Adrien, and it's painful. Just stop talking for too long. Not only that, but the scene where she makes out with a fake statue of Adrien who is playing tricks on her. Why do you feel like you need Adrien to play that pranks like that? Also, why did you have to make Marinette say weird things and make out with him like that? IT IS A COMPLETE SECOND HAND EMBARASSMENT!! People who watched it with me was not having it! They almost want to stop watching the episode because that scene is very uncomfortable! It is terrible! Her character development never showed in this season because of scenes like this. Also, Marinette was being blindly rude to Adrien when he told her there was a girl he likes. What a shame. Other than that, Manon has no development other than just being childish and gets reused, and she was done better in her first episode. Nino was a complete idiot who is almost like Marinette, who won't stop talking, and Alya, Nino knows she likes him and Marinette clearly sees it, so stop lying. If I were to choose this and Stormy Weather 2 to delete an episode to expand Ladybug Episode, I would choose this one, because it was so bad. This is really terrible.

22. Cat Blanc This episode seems like a fun one. It has an opposite color of Cat Noir, and has more focus on Cat Noir and what would Hawkmoth do if he knows Adrien is Cat Noir. It feels like a must to watch episode, and that would be correct. However, it has some problems. It takes on a different timeline that won't exist. So that future just vanished after Ladybug saved everything. It didn't bring much development to Adrien since it's gone, but it does tell what Hawkmoth would've done. Also, Marinette was being creepy on Adrien's room, as if this was your first time going to his room (starting from Simon Says). Hawkmoth hitting Cat Noir with his stick like a baseball cap was really dark. This episode is pretty great, but Silencer still tops it. It is interesting to see more on Hawkmoth's side and what would've looked like if Marinette and Adrien were together during Hawkmoth's existence (not Gabriel's). Wow, Gabriel. That was insane.

23. Felix I don't know how I feel about this episode. Adrien's cousin who looks like him exists, and so as his mom. It was so weird because that should mean Gabriel should have a twin. I prefer Felix look like Felix from the trailers, not almost looking like Adrien. Same could be said to his mother. Adrien was kinda too nice to him, even though he knows Felix is doing wrong things. His dad not existing idea feels too mirrored with Adrien, and I wanted his mean and frustration to be believable, not doing something straight up bad. Felix was unlikable since he deleted all the videos sent to Adrien. Even after they defeated the Trio, how are they supposed to be fine with Adrien on his actual video at the end? Shouldn't they know that it was Felix? I feel like they would find it unbelievable. Wow. I know it sounds silly to think about techencial stuffs, but shouldn't Alya have all the videos already even after Felix deleted them? As for Alya, Juleka, and Rose becoming akumatized again, they were just okay, at least understand their purpose a bit more than Stormy Weather 2 or Puppeteer 2. This episode was okay. I think they could've made a better concept of Felix and stuff, and they made him just for fanservice.

24. Ladybug This episode was disappointing. It feels way rushed for a potential episode. It's a single episode, and that whole episode has bad pacing. It's a lot like Urban Jungle from Danny Phantom Season 3 where it was meant for a two part episode crammed into one, causing fast paced issues on an episode that has good concepts being done incorrectly. Ladybug episode is like that! Let's start off, Lila's lies are just unbelievable, and they can be caught that quick! Marinette would've found the answer sheet in her bag already, even her clumsiness and rushing things. Also, does the school have cameras to see Lila faking getting her knee hurt? No one would believe Lila that instantly. All of Lila's lies are really weak in this one that nearly everyone in school believes her. Wow, they are so gullible and they defend her. By the way, expelling Marinette for allegedly stealing was too far, Damocles! A week suspension would be believable, and this is much worse than what Alya got in Lady Wifi by Chloe. That episode cuts things too quickly, and clickbaity. We want to see Marinette actually become akumatized, and it would be interesting. This episode was too clickybaity that Marinette would be akumatized, but she actually didn't transform into a villain. Marinette didn't became too trumatized about her getting expelled and no such expected emotions are shown. Not only that, but the episode changes the subject completely with Mayura and fake Ladybug plot, and no connection with Lila or Marinette directly. The whole entire episode is too poorly paced that this would take up a big space to write about. I may make my own post about this episode and Puppeteer 2, but for now, I will say this episode was pretty bad. It feels like it's a big episode, but it felt like it was made for two part episode, and I rather delete Puppeteer 2 just for this episode to expand so it would work correctly.

25 & 26 Heart Hunter & Miracle Queen We are now reviewing The Battle of the Miraculous arc. These two episode are really nice. I like how Marinette started having character development, after all episode of this season! Well, besides that, I like when she lets Adrien and Kagami escape from their bodyguards, and played on a pool of rubber balls. Yeah, Chloe's parents are the worst couples in the hotel scene. Lol! At the ice cream scene, I like how Marinette starts to care about both Adrien and Kagami being together and decides to let them have fun. It was pretty rough for her, but it's a nice thing. Akumatized parents of Chloe are reallly weird, and ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. I do think Marinette should've find a really good hiding spot so Hawkmoth and Mayura wouldn't see her, and catch her to meet Fu. I get the mistakes can be made, and does it job to explain what they could do to solve it, or explains not everything could be solved. Fu's letter and his goodbye was pretty sad. So let's get into actual problems now. Chloe's redemption feels wasted. Since Season 2, we expect Chloe to be at least more nicer and show more of her redemption since Malediktator and Heroes's Day. Chloe, although I don't like her as much for being really rude, she should've showed a couple of changes. Her redemption arc from Season 2 tells us that Chloe would show some changes to not really be that bratty. How they waste it is they revert her to how she was in Season 1, except she betraying Ladybug and wanted her parents to argue. Wow. That seems worse. It shows a fall of her redemption even before this two part episode. Stormy Weather 2, she is pretty much the same. That whole thing in this episode really puts an end to a redemption that we thought we would see it progress. If she's supposed to stay bratty, then why did you make a redemption arc in the first place? I don't expect Chloe to become top nice at the end, but cancelling a redemption was really a bad writing. You didn't need to make a redemption arc if you actually hate her. Although on small part, I do think Ladybug should've give the bee Miraculous to Chloe rather than focus on Kagami kissing Adrien, since she knows she has to prevent others from being in a bad mood to get akumatized. I know Marinette makes mistakes, but I didn't like the fact they wasted her redemption. My second problem is this thing for Miraculous Guardians. Master Fu give his guardian powers to Ladybug because he was attacked by Hawkmoth. He completely forgets about everything related to Miraculouses and stuff. It is pretty sad, but what bothers me is if that's the rule, then Marinette would forget everything that she and Cat Noir did as Superheroes, and possibly Adrien. I hope she doesn't do that in any of the episodes or films in this franchise. Those are the problems that do have with this finale, but it didn't really ruin it. I thought it was good to see Marinette helping out Adrien and Kagami, and Ladybug bonding with Cat Noir. Overall, it's a good finale, but I do prefer Heroes Day one.

Well, Season 3 is overall an okay season. I wish they do more development instead of a lot of repetitive moments, most notably, Marinette. This season has its flaws, a couple of them, but I do like some moments like Silencer, Feast, and Cat Blanc. Even though I don't really like the idea of all the classmates getting all the Miraculouses for being less special, I do like the designs and self concepts of some heroes. I really like Bunnyx and Viperion. The other small problem is some characters introduced like Marc and Ondine from Season 2 are barely seen, and they haven't said a word in this season, despite many fans liking their concepts. The review for this season as "okay" is pretty self explanatory. I can watch an okay episode and at times mediocre ones, but rarely watch bad or terrible episodes. Let me make two more statements below.

The other problem with this season is the scheduling problem. No matter if you want to focus on the world's order of episodes, Netflix, or most of TV channels, they air the episodes out of order, and it makes the whole season really confusing. It seems like ZAG Toons didn't really make it strictly clear that this season should be following the production order, unlike the first season! ZAG decided to show off Ikari Gozen on last year's San Diego Comic Con on screen panel, and we see Master Fu hiding. No one at the time saw Feast so they don't really know why he's hiding or know how Hawkmoth find him out yet. Oh, and Netflix put Party Crasher on their first half of Seasom 3 last summer, way before they add Desperada and Star Train for second half. It's a blame on Zag, most TV channels, and streaming platforms like Netflix for doing this all wrong. Disney Channel US, at least aired the episodes in production order so the story feels smooth (even though they skipped Chrismaster for Christmas, so dumb). The really hard part is Urkaine aired the season finale before they air Cat Blanc and Felix on either their channel or the world, so I decide to wait for those two episodes to air, and it was so HARD to stay away from spoilers or the fandom! I know in Season 1, Gutiar Hero comes first in some places before Pixelator comes out, but Season 2 and 3 has much more stories to the show than the first season! Thomas Astruc was against how many stations air these episodes out of order, so don't blame him on the confusing episode order. He isn't in charge of when these episode should air.

Speaking of Thomas Astruc, another statement is about his twitter. Unlike the episode order, Thomas gets the blame for how he handles twitter. He doesn't know how the internet works. Thomas keeps posting ridiculous things like how he hated Chloe that she doesn't deserve any redemption, which was the thing he did for Season 2. Remember I mentioned why Chloe's redemption was wasted? Thomas keeps making statements to random people and stuff, and why would you think about doing a redemption in the first place! Keep in mind, I know Twitter is really toxic and most out of any social media platforms (heavily politicized), and there are gonna be trolls and people who make rude comments and stuff, but Thomas Astruc doesn't seem to ignore them and keeps responding to them in ridiculous ways. Another thing I want to mention is the way he pretends Ladybug and Cat Noir are being treated fairly. He states that, but we see Cat Noir keeps getting put down. Thomas assumes if you don't like how Cat Noir was treated, then you don't like any girls being the lead, which makes no sense. Remember Reflectdoll? Mister Bug gets treated badly while Lady Noir doesn't need that much help. Look, WE like the show for portraying boys and girls fairly, and that's what I liked about when I started watching Miraculous Ladybug. None of us HAVE A PROBLEM with girls being the lead! I even heard you told a person on twitter that the reason why you focus on Ladybug more than Cat Noir is she's a girl! Look, I have proof below of two youtube videos to proof he says those things, and it's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! I hope they don't make this show go to what one episode of Galaxy of Adventure's route was like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyINM7omt7A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNjHRAFcozw

Even though I think Thomas's twitter is awful (like most big star person's twitter accounts), he shouldn't get any threats. I see people give legit questions and Thomas denies them, like always, and he should stay off of twitter if he keeps not getting along with others there.

Well, I plan to cover the first two seasons later on. I wanted to make this scoreboard and explanation because I saw videos last month about the problems about the show and I want to explain this as good as I can. I really like the show and I want to see it do better.

@shiftingsupport​: 1 and 13?    ↪︎ ask the mun about writing. [ 𝔄𝔠𝔠𝔢𝔭𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 ]

         𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔩. Oh hell yeh! Question time! I threw your answers down below a lil read more because I’m what the kids like to call?? A rambler.

1). What does your writing process look like?

A mess?? Lmao nah;;; So, honestly it depends on what I’m writing, how long I’m going to be continuing the story revolving around it, and what my current mood is. In general, I am a person who has a hard time sticking to one particular style or approach because I just get bored of it a lot. I find it a lot of fun to come at writing in many different ways and I’ve found that it’s helped me really explore what I do and don’t like for each genre or character that I attempt to tackle.

That being said, though, I tend to have at least a couple consistencies. Basically, when I’m writing replies, the most important questions I ask myself tend to be;

What is my character’s reaction to what just happened?

What have I written that actively engages the other writer and/or their character?

Have I actually described the scene or merely provided dialogue?

Will this thread carry for at least two more replies and, if not, should I end it or can I add something to make it keep going?

I’ll go ahead and give you some examples using writing that I’ve previously written to paint what I mean with each of them. For the first point, that’s the one that most people I’ve seen tend to have the best grip on, obviously. People who do roleplay tend to really know their own characters and can write them really compellingly. Most of the time, this part of the writing comes from the other player setting up a question or scenario and my character basically engaging with it. Typically, reactions tend to be the first thing I’ll actually be the first thing I put into a reply and I think that they are really important to keeping a fluid transition from one character to the next. 

In the above example, you can kinda see what I’m talking about. Basically, Izzy made Gwen say something and Billy here gave a very basic response to it. Most of the time, I find dialogue or verbal responses are the best because usually the other character should pick up on them, but I like mixing in physical reactions and more internal monologues alongside those verbal responses. Sometimes, if two characters are in tune enough with each other, it actually can be really rad to get away with only physical reactions and internal dialogues, but that often requires a certain connection and history between characters to make accurate conclusions about what might be going through their head. Here is a great example between one of my mains and Nay from my old blog.

Basically, Nay notices that Oswald is probably getting emotional over the fact they’re standing in front of this grave and looks down to get a better idea of who Oswald is getting so upset over. Oswald then follows his line of sight to the headstones, themselves. It’s a more sad scene, so not only is the lack of actual verbal responses very fun to play with, it’s also much more appropriate for the tone of the thread. This is something I love to try and play with a lot, but I avoid doing it as much with people who I have not already threaded with a few times.

After that, I then have to try to actively engage the other writer or create an opportunity for them to add to the thread as well. Especially when writing with someone new or for whom you may not have an immediate chemistry with, it becomes very important to throw them a bone, so I usually will do this as a follow up. I personally don’t love using questions to carry a thread, but it can be a good way to give an explicit indication of how the other person can contribute to it and it can be a lot more comfortable for people who are new to interacting with me and may be hesitant to just throw new ideas at me without having an extensive conversation about it. Here is an example where Naomasa responded to a question that Oboro poses and interacts with a nonverbal. 

These first two bullets are what I usually consider the meat of the reply, so the most work is put into them. Everything else is filler and tends to be what actually makes the replies prettier and more interesting. In many cases, adding the last two can even happen naturally when you are trying to come up with ways to do the former, but it’s still something I keep in mind to look out for when I’m writing. Of the four points, I think that the one I probably struggle with the most is the one that revolves around describing the scene and I think that has been what’s kept me from reaching that multi-para/novella goal that I really wanna be able to do when writing threads, but I’ve been putting in more work to try and get on top of that one. 

The final point is basically just thinking about what I can add to try and keep a thread engaging. This is when I really tend to bring in that plot and start advancing it. Introducing a conflict or a new activity in the scene that might not have otherwise been relevant before now can really revive a thread and I tend to do that a lot if I feel like a thread is dying out too quickly. Sometimes it takes, sometimes it doesn’t but it’s basically just my way of jumpstarting an interaction I feel like didn’t have enough substance to get off the ground in the first place. The example for this one is between Naomasa and Jasper - Yes, I know it’s the same person, again, but it’s because Fabgen is ridiculously good at doing the whole “yes and” thing and really we should all just take some time to appreciate them - in which the two of them are both responding to a crisis of some kind. I had felt the nature of the thread hadn’t given them a concrete way to continue to interact with each other, so I made up a random conflict that they both could work! In this case, it was some random kid running into danger.

After ALL of that, basically the last thing I tend to do for a thread is proofread and format. In a perfect world, I’d actually do the whole proofreading thing more often, but lmao nah. Basically, tldr, my writing process when doing threads is:

1). Respond to what the other person says. 2). Give them something to respond to. 3). Introduce a new plot point as necessary. 4). Fill in scene details and revise as necessary.

If you read back on my old threads, you’ll probably notice most of them follow this linear outline. Sometimes I’ll switch a couple things around, but 95% of the time you can literally cut my replies pretty into these parts without too much trouble. Also yall should go check out the people in these example threads because they’re all very talented and worth interacting with!! 

13). What do you look for in an RP partner?

Hmm.... An excellent question let’s see...

Typically, these are things that make or break rp relationships:

Have concise rules/ooc pages that includes information such as their name, their pronouns, their age and their triggers. For certain fandoms, I also tend to look for stances on certain major discourse points.

Have the ability to para or multi-para threads and 3rd person POV. We don’t have to always do this, but I do really prefer this kind of RP.

Have the ability to participate in joke/crack posting

Read my character info or at least my rules before interacting with me. I know they are long and tedious and that I tend to ramble, but there are some important things in there that may vastly differ from many other people in the RPC and it’s important to me that everyone takes those things into account when engaging with me.

Have discord for OOC conversations and extended plotting or, at the very least, be comfortable chatting regularly via IM.

Follow me. It’s not necessary to interact with me and I 100% will interact with people who are not mutuals, but I typically tend to assume others around me are mutuals only regardless of whether or not they actually are and it’ll often put most of the responsibility on the other person to come interact with me if they want to thread.

I tend to main with people who will have OOC conversations with me about our characters and who are willing to adapt to fit into the settings / verses which I have already created for my characters. I am always seeking out familial relationships of ANY kind and will usually be quick to main people who do these kinds of threads with me. I do have ships for many of my characters that I tend to indulge in, but my mains tend to be people who actually get me to start shipping something because the characters just ended up vibing so well. I actually really love shipping my bi male characters with women, but there just really aren’t enough ladies in any of the RPCs to have lasting ships ;;y;;, so if we are able to get one going, I’d probably consider maining with ya’ll

I tend to like people who like continuous threads and verse building. I tend to like people who don’t mind having a million unfinished threads. I tend to gravitate to people who do formatting and icons, but I do not require it. I tend to shy away from people who are too self-concious about doubles or who tend to prefer being exclusive. 

Overall, I’m open to at least trying to rp with everyone! And I’ve definitely formed lasting friendships with people who did not meet many of this criteria, but in terms of what I look for this is probably a pretty good list.

Kamen Rider Drive Movies and Specials

This is the end of the road.

To finally close the Drive chapter in this journey here we are with the post about the movies. And this time it's extra special because I'll be talking about some of the specials for once, I usually never do those because it's too much of a hustle to go looking for them and I don't have that much time to watch them either, but to download some of the Movie Wars movies I had to download them from TV-Nihon batches and they include the specials on them so I thought, why not? Of course I did that before I had watched Drive and I saw that I didn't like it very much but oh well, they're on my hard-drive already I must as well watch them.

Anyway, there's a lot of stuff to go through so let's get to that right away.

Kamen Rider Drive: Surprise Future

This movie... oh this movie... I feel like this movie doesn't work at all after you've finished the TV series. And even if you haven't finished the series I think it doesn't work very well either because they expect us to have some sort of connection to a character that hasn't been around for more than 15 minutes, and whatever connection we have with this character also dies very soon when the revelation that he's actually a Roidmude happen so... Again, Drive doesn't do family drama all that well. Also a lot of recycled things from the show, like another evil Drive? Really? And Shinnousuke apparently dying and the belt being destroyed again? How many times did that happen in the show again? Another thing that watching this movie after the show kinda ruins it is the treat of the Global Freeze because after we see the show it's obvious that the Global Freeze is useless, heck they didn't even care to explain what it is and how it works so seeing that being the treat was just irrelevant to me. Also that ending when they "revived" Krim was such a dumb Deus Ex Machina, I was just rolling my eyes at that point.

Well, at least Chase had a good bad-CGI scene where he destroyed a big thing that I don't even remember what it was. And Proto-Drive Chase or whatever it is called was kinda cool as well. But the rest? Pretty meh I'd say. Also, this movie had a Ghost cameo?? That really surprised me seeing that he appeared twice in the show?? it felt a bit excessive, but oh well... whatever.

Drive Saga - Chaser

THIS MOVIE. IT HIT REALLY HARD ON THE FEELS. And I don't if it's because is centered around my favorite character or if it's really that good, but I really loved this movie.

I think they've checked all the right boxes when making a story for Chase and it was very well rounded, if I had to say a point that they lacked I'd say it was in the action, but I feel like that wasn't really needed because this was so focused on working on the characters so, in the end, the only thing that comes as weird from this movies was the uncomfortable comedic close-ups, the weird erotic scenes, and Chase bleeding that much to remove the feather from his chest, I'm not sure if an android would bleed like that, but it doesn't hurt the experience.

But they do hurt your heart, because seeing Chase get close to that kid was really adorable and seeing that he doesn't remember it at the end HURTS and hurts A LOT. I felt sadder for that moment than I felt for Chase's death, heck this movie made me feel more things than in the 48 episodes and 2 movies I've watched at this point. Gosh, it's so good. I also like the villain they chose for this movie, Angel was a very interesting Roidmude, of course, I'd rather if she didn't look so psychopath right at the beginning so it wasn't so clear that she had bad intentions, but for a one-off villain, she was great. It was also very fun seeing a "softer" Chase, props to his actor he was so different but he still felt in-character, you know? It didn't seem fake or anything, it was weird at first of course, but It was really good. I bet his vocal cords also really appreciated the chance of speaking in a normal tone for a change. XD In the end, this was really enjoyable, Chase once again being the best thing of Drive.

Oh, I almost forgot, another thing that was really fun was seeing Ryu again, that was really great. It also makes sense that the rider who can transform into a bike made a cameo in a show where the theme is vehicles. You know, I didn't really like Ryu during W but everything else that he has appeared he has been so great?? That's so weird. Also apparently now he has a child with Akiko???? What???? You know, for all the crap I give to crossovers and such even I must admit that seeing Ryu and how his relationship with Akiko has been developing is really awesome. I still don't know why anyone would want to marry Akiko and build a family with her, but if he's happy, good for him. XD

Drive Saga - Mach & Heart

You know, this one was probably the one I was less excited about, and it surprised me, but it also got me very disappointed. This was totally a mixed bag. I wish these were more connected, for Heart's part to work Gou needed to be there and that worked really well, but aside from the villain Gou's part had very little involvement with Heart's part and it felt like a letdown.

Heart's part was quite good, the set-up was great, the story was pretty decent, and I really liked the payoff. As I mentioned in my posts about Drive I didn't really care for the Roidmudes or for the rest of the cast in the Special Crimes Unit, but seeing Heart and Genpachi work together was quite awesome, I had a lot of fun. I'm still kinda meh about that amalgam Roidmude being a thing, it is a good villain I'm just picky about how this guy appeared, and I'm not the biggest fan of Heart's rider design, but Heart's portion has enough things on there that make easy for me to overlook them and consider it a solid especial. I like that he came back as a fluke, and I like that he has Brain and Medic on his head too, I like that Shinnousuke appears because of the thing he had with Heart, and the emotional bits between him and Genpachi worked beautifully.

The same can't be said about Gou's part because they decided to make a love story, and they also decided to put family in the mix because Drive really knows how to touch in family discussions, and this was just underwhelming as hell. It gave Gou some development, and at least that's good because the show lacked a lot in that department, and it's always great to see Chase again even though it was just some weird supernatural thing, but I really couldn't care less about the other stuff going on. But if you like Gou maybe this will great for you because you'll be able to see the dude becoming happy, so...

Drive Saga - Brain

This one was surprisingly good, I don't know why but I came into this thinking this would be a serious thing, but I was wrong because this is a special for Brain so of course it would be a comedy. I thought seeing that it was just a comic thing would throw me off of it, especially because I wasn't the biggest fan of Brain in the show, but here it worked quite well. It still has the things I don't like about the comedy in Drive, but for some reason, they didn't bother me as much here. I think what I like the most is that it knows that is something ridiculous, and it owns it, like there's a moment during the fight in part 2 where one of the villains says "but this weapon ain't yours, it's just a recolor" and I cracked the hell up, I loved the joke that Brain has only 600 Giga in his hard-drive making him even weaker than my previous computer, and the fake-out he did on the final villain where his final blow was a headbutt rather than a kick was just marvelous. I got a few spoilers from villains of Ghost and Ex-Aid, but it was worth it. This was fun, Brain's design as a rider was freaking cool as heck, it's a shame but also very funny that the comedic rider got the best form of this entire season, and I like that this serves as either a prequel or a sequel to the Mach & Heart movie. If you want something quick and fun to watch go do it because this one is great. 

Drive Secret Missions

So these secret missions are kinda whatever, most of them aren't that good, but also most of them aren't that offensive, they're pretty mediocre. I think from these 5 only 2 are worth watching. Type ZERO is kinda okay, it doesn't add anything new so it's not that necessary, but we get to see Proto-Drive properly and that's really cool, his design is awesome, but that's pretty much the only interesting thing it has going for. Type TV-KUN is like a prequel for Drives episode in Movie Wars Full Throttle and isn't that good. Type HIGH SPEED is probably the worst of them because it's one of those Hyper Battle DVDs who have no purpose at all and are very boring, this one is even worse I feel because they try to make a full-length episode out of it and there's no need for that. Type LUPIN is another Hyper Battle DVD and while I love Lupin's design this one was pretty underwhelming, I'd say it was completely unnecessary.

Type TOKUJO, though, was pretty good, probably the best out of them and maybe the only one worth watching. Honestly, this story is so good it should've been in the TV show, I mean this gives inside on why each member joined the SCU, it's a fun case (despite the resolution being kinda dub, again), and also establishes that Bannou was inside Brain's tablet so it would've been perfect for it, I'd take this over any filler plot in the entire run of the show. I had a good time with it.

And that does it for Drive! Wow, this was very long, thanks for sticking with me until this far. If you have any thoughts, don't be shy, share them in the comments, I'd love to read them. Drive is over but this "marathon" isn't, and if everything goes right, the post with Ghost's first episodes plus his crossover movie should be out a few minutes after Super-Hero time finishes on Saturday (or Sunday, depending on where you are in the world). Once again, thank you so much for reading, I'll see you all around. Bye~