#but here the vibes are especially nuts and wholesome at the same time

[jobey-wan-kenobi]

jason mendoza moment

#yeah i know all florida man moments can be considered jason moments #but here the vibes are especially nuts and wholesome at the same time #art inspiration #like seriously i want to draw this #('this' meaning jason fighting off emus that have been sent to destroy the neighborhood) #(he could have asked janet for any weapon in the universe and he chose pool noodle) #the good place

[dans-den]

My Top 5 Best Shows of 2022

Hey how's it going everyone its Dan here and today I'll be giving you my Top 5 best shows of 2022!

Just like my Top 5 worst shows list, this is all my opinion, you can agree or disagree with me and that's okay! are we clear? lets begin!

Number 5 goes to Primal Season 2 on Adult Swim/HBO MAX (8/10)

Now this was made by Genndy Tartakovsky the creator behind classics such as Samurai Jack, Dexter's Laboratory, Symbiotic Titan (that show deserves to be brought back), and the limited Star Wars: The Clone Wars series from the early 2000's. When I heard he was bringing this show out, I was interested and I watched the first season and it slapped! This show will give you unfiltered nuts to butts action and make you sad at the same time despite that the characters don't actually speak, the facial expressions, tone, body language tells the whole story of the show. Season 2 kept that momentum going with expanding on the world and the characters Spear and Fang. Even the introduction of Mira was a great inclusion into the series as she developed a friendship with Spear and Fang, especially with Spear. They gave a lot of side characters such as the Vikings, Celtics, Witches, etc. The end of the season was action packed to the brim however ended with the loss of Spear which honestly made me sad. However, the season concludes with a time skip to where Mira and Spear have a daughter (they conceived one before his death) and with Fangs children grown as well. I don't know if were getting a season 3 for sure, but even if we don't this is an overall good conclusion to our main characters. I'd recommend watching Primal, it's one of the best in adult animation today.

Number 4 goes to Spy X Family the anime on Hulu/CrunchyRoll (8/10)

This anime was hyped up and it definitely deserves and lives up to the hype. With anime being more mainstream and honestly saturated nowadays, it's hard to watch them all and figure out which ones are good or bad or which you should invest time into. But Spy X Family stuck out to me because of its plot and the main characters. People compare Loid and Yor to Mr. and Mrs. Smith but I feel that it's quite the opposite, I find Loid and Yor's relationship to be wholesome despite their professions and how they have to fake being a couple with a child. Despite the plan being a setup, they do slowly grow to care and love each other as well as Anya their daughter. Anya truly is the glue that keeps them together bringing out the human side of both Loid and Yor and hoswing them theirs more to life than their work. The situations they get into are hilarious and can be action packed at times. I definitely like the Spy and Assassin elements in this show and keeps it from getting too stale or mundane. I'm sure it'll get a second season, in fact I don't think season 1 is over just yet but even so, 25 episodes means were eating good.

Number 3 goes to CyberPunk: EdgeRunners on Netflix (8.5/10)

Now this is what I consider to be the apology of CD Projekt Red after the disaster that was CyberPunk: 2077. After that games disastrous launch, CD had lost money in both revenue and even made their stock go WAY down! They did fix the problems with the game but the fans were still upset (and rightfully so). Luckily someone at the HQ had the brains to bring CyberPunk into the world of anime and my god, it's a banger! I literally binged this show on Monday and it was quite a ride. It's a ten episode limited series and surprisingly Netflix picked it up (smart move on their part). The show gives me cowboy bebop vibes only more futuristic and a lot more...mature content shown if ya catch my drift. Despite its limited ten episode run, it does an amazing job immersing you into the world and showing you the characters and the struggles of living in such a corrupt city. Reminds me a lot of a Neo Gotham City from Batman: Beyond and it has a surprising amount of Hispanic culture in it which I personally appreciated. I would have enjoyed two more episodes since there's a time skip between episodes 6 and 7 where months pass and Davis goes through character development and appears bigger and stronger than before but it is what it is. It is sad that the main cast gets killed off one by one, reminds me a lot of Akame Ga Kill where it happens to one out of nowhere and slowly one by one, each member gets killed off leaving one of the main characters left. It's a bittersweet end but that's also what makes it a great series.

Number 2 goes to Demon Slayer Season 2 aka The Entertainment District Arc on Hulu/CrunchyRoll (9/10)

Now I know technically it started in December 2021 even when you cut out the Mugen train movie being chopped up into episodes at the beginning of the season. It still didn't finish its season run until February of this year so I still count this as more of a 2022 season to a show. I love Demon Slayer and Season 2 did not disappoint, it started out with the events after Mugen train, we got more depth for one of the pillars which was Tengen, more depth about Muzan and his plans, battling one of the upper moons and all action in it! The final battle was intense and the animation was on point! it was so beautifully done and while I'll admit some of the battle scenes felt dragged out, it didn't take away from the animation and visuals we were getting. The ending gave us a hint of what's to come next season and I cannot wait!

Before I go into Number One, I want to shout out some honorable mentions

First mention I want to shout out is Sonic Prime on Netflix (7.5/10)

Netlfix has truly been getting it together if I have more of its shows on my top 5 best shows list than my top 5 worst shows. I wanted to put Sonic Prime on my actual list but unfortunately it only has 8 episodes released at the moment despite it being slated for 24 episodes. This is Netflix still using that binge model that hasn't really worked since the pandemic due to people not being trapped in their houses anymore. It is what it is but despite that, Sonic Prime shows a lot of promise and is entertaining to watch. As a Sonic fan, its great to see him doing well this year with a successful movie, successful game and a potentially successful show! Were truly in the Sonic Renaissance right now. I love the multiverse idea for Sonic, there is plenty of potential for great storylines but again we'll have to wait until the other 18 episodes get released for a real verdict. It said to have three seasons with eight episodes a pop so we got season 1 with a cliffhanger and hopefully we will get the other two complete seasons. But so far, going strong, going fast!

My other honorable mention will go to The CupHead Show on Netflix (7.5/10)

Why can't Netflix just keep giving us good shows like this instead of cracking down on password sharing? I do enjoy this show but it also used the Netflix binge model. This show had all three seasons come out this year and while I do find Netflix's binge model annoying, I still enjoy this show. I love that old rubber hose style of animation used back in the early 20th century. The game itself is fun and they made a great adaptation with the show just like CyberPunk: EdgeRunner and hell even Sonic. I don't know where the show goes from here but I will say its had a great run up to this point.

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for, the Number One Best show of 2022 goes to....

Number 1 goes to Smiling Friends on Adult Swim/HBO MAX (10/10)

This is how you do adult animation that everyone can enjoy! I've mentioned each of these shows have plots or storylines they follow, but the thing with Smiling Friends is, there is no set story or plot. The main purpose of the show is to make people smile not only in the show, but also the viewers. Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack are internet content creators/animators and they managed to something that no one from the internet space has been able to do, make a great TV show! Many have tried and failed to bring internet content to television, but these guys managed to do it thanks to time, effort, proper budgeting, and overall great understanding of what makes this transition possible. Smiling Friends is a simplistic show with various animation styles, realism, great writing, hilarious humor, and overall is in touch with the audience its going for. It never feels like something huge or complex, its a simple show that makes it feel like you're having a fun and relaxing conversation with your buddies and I think that's where the charm and appeal comes from. The best part about this show in my opinion is how it's able to subvert your expectations. Now people thought the first episode was weird but as they watches it, it grew on them. The first episode came out in 2020 and people were waiting for the full series. The first season came out this year and left fans wanting more. Now the crew gave us a little surprise with the Brazil episode and if you read the description, you'll think "oh it's just a nice beach episode" but when you actually watch it, it throws a complete curveball at you. They spent the entire episode in an airport just arguing with each other and it was the funniest surprise anyone could have asked for. No one saw that coming and everyone loved it. I'm so glad this show is getting another season, this show is a perfect example of adult animation done right as well as transitioning internet content to mainstream television and that's why I believe Smiling Friends is the Best Show of 2022!

Thanks for sticking around till the end, I'll get my Top 5 Best/Worst movies out starting tomorrow.

See ya!

#dans den #2022 #reviews #best shows #top 5 list #primal season 2 #spy x family #cyberpunk edgerunners #demon slayer #sonic prime #the cuphead show #smiling friends

[cosmokyrin]

Hello there! I absolutely adore your Nuts'N Dolts art and how you portray them! If you don't mind me asking as a fellow fan, what is it you like/enjoy about the ship or thier characters in general?

First and foremost omg thank you so much!! ; A ; I’m glad you enjoy it. I just love them waaaaaay too much rn

For your question though, my brain automatically latched to answer this with a......... LONG POST

sorry i just have so many jsdjfsjfjs feelings for Nuts and Dolts right now, that I’m probably gonna ramble and be incomprehensible as fuck

this is something I’ve said over Discord servers though so bear with me

TL;DR if you don’t wanna check under the cut: Penny and Ruby are highly independent and are in the best positions to understand the struggles of one another. They share similar burdens, both are givers who forget themselves in the process, but they mutually support and love one another (whether as friends or more) which sort of replenishes their self-love and intensifies their relationship. Also I didn’t include, but they’re fucking wholesome and cute upfront.

I just really find their relationship so perfect. I mean, I’ve never seen such a pair that fits just damn right. It may be that I’m also a friends-to-lovers trope trash, but honestly it’s just that, when you look at the whole story, there’s so much backing for their relationship whether you like them platonic or romantic.

I took very long to actually ship Nuts and Dolts because they really gave off platonic vibes in the beginning, like the “I’ll support you as my best friend” vibes all the way. (Though I have to admit, looking back at the V3 talk between Penny and Ruby (after Penny vs CRDL fight), that seems to imply something else now lol) And also I personally haven’t found their differences in V1-V3, that is, until, RWBY Chibi (yes, the Fireflies episode lmfao). Then it was accentuated by V7. Suddenly Ruby and Penny’s mannerisms are far from each other. Idk how to explain it, but it’s there. They’re similar in many ways (both give me introverted vibes, both are thoughtful), but diverge in several ways, too (Ruby is more suppressed with emotion and Penny is more open about it). If these two were going to talk more about the same issue as V8E3 (regarding what Penny should do), I could actually see them arguing about it.

The other thing is their positions in each other’s life is pretty remarkable. Alexkablob (here on Tumblr) already said this before but yes, Penny seems like an outlier in her relationship with Ruby, and so is Ruby in regards to who surrounds Penny.

Just this evening I literally had a shower thought on why their relationship works -- it’s because I could perceive them as equal in many ways. Both of them have large responsibilities that I think only they are in the position to understand each other. Ruby is the leader of this group of Huntspeople whose actions could affect the fate of Remnant itself. That’s heavy. Penny, on the other hand, is this girl who simply wanted to become the Protector of Mantle but now her decisions and her responsibility could either save or destroy Atlas / Mantle and much more than that, if she fails at her current mission. They’re both lonely heroes who bear the weight of the world, I believe, much more than anyone else really.

A fellow server member said it: Ruby and Penny are both givers; they barely have any left for themselves.

Ruby is a leader. If anything, being a leader is lonely. Because everyone actually depends on you, whether that’s implicit or explicit. Being a leader means a lot of people look up to you to be at your best. And Ruby, we know Ruby. She gives love to everyone; she cares about everyone. She’s literally the shining beacon of Remnant. But what happens when her confidence is not enough? What happens when she begins to doubt herself?

Story-wise, there’s that one person outside her team, outside her family, who shares the same burdens as she does, and is not in any way connected to her other than a strong friendship bond -- Penny. Ruby is not Penny’s leader. Penny leads herself, even dangerously at times because that’s what she thinks is right. In a way, both Ruby and Penny are leaders.

Both are highly independent of one another, yet, they could become interdependent if they need to.

Penny is in the best position to understand what Ruby is going through. She’s in the right position to give Ruby the same thing they both can’t give themselves -- love. Or care, if you want a lighter term. But it isn’t just any kind of love / care -- it’s that love they need so badly -- love for themselves, but when they’re with one another, that’s something they could actually bring out easy. They spend all their love giving it to the world, they hardly have any left for them -- but then, their relationship with each other replenishes that. It’s mutual. The way they want to protect and support each other -- it’s splayed across V7 and condensed in the first three episodes of V8.

It’s also interesting to note that Penny is the first person to return to Ruby after losing her (compared to Pyrrha and Summer). Looking at Ruby’s history, that’s like some miraculous ray of hope that comes during dark times (and it doesn’t help that I’ve overanalyzed that in the V7 opening, the lyrics in Penny’s appearance is “Through love your power just shines” and the way Penny turns like she’s someone you wanted to meet again after a long time???). She becomes this hope for Ruby that everything can be better, that Penny won’t leave again. And the way V8 is playing on this just outright makes me both excited and anxious lmao. No doubt Ruby and Penny’s arcs are heavily tied to the plot, especially their relationship.

AND YEA LOL THAT WAS A LOOONG POST BUT I JUST HAD TO GET IT OUT THERE

#that-one-gundam-guy #penny polendina #ruby rose #nuts and dolts #mechanical rose #rwby #askbox #see this is my nuts and dolts brainrot coming out #i must be having withdrawals from the lack of canon N&D interactions #jfsjdfjsdjf #but i just really love them so much i can't explain #the positioning of their characters is what makes me ship them so hard

[obsessive-ego]

Pillow humping

when your vibe is dead you gotta get creatvie

musical beetlejuice x fem reader nsft DUH

you know the drill with me, masturbation voyeurism

Home alone, you lay there on your bed staring at the ceiling, just thinking, it's been awhile since you got some time to yourself, not that you didnt mind, you adored your alone time, hell you spent most of your adult life alone. Until an certain born dead demon weaseled his way into your everyday life, making for a much more interesting loud day to day life, not that you were complaining.

Beetlejuice has made it a habit to mess with your neighbors when he was over, to give you some space from time to time, saying how 'breathers enjoyed their alone time' and he's 'just being respectful of his pal' not sure how true those statements were, he was probably just looking for an excuse to run amok in an apartment building.

All and all it was nice to be alone, that being said, it would be alot nicer if you remembered to buy batteries while you were at the store the other day, you huff in frustration.

It's been what? Almost two weeks since you dealt with your sexual needs, with beetlejuice constantly hanging about, the chances to have some legit alone time were slim and none, but now, being all alone, you would think youd jump at the opportunity, but no, vibrator was dead.

You could always get creative with taking care of business, it's been awhile, you've used a vibrator for such along time, did you really want to try something else? What if it wasnt good? All that effort wasted for nothing?

The thought of dealing with the built tension you've gained while having to 'babysit' beetlejuice while the Deetz were out of town made you core twitch.

You sigh, sitting up from your bed, looking down to your hands, you mumble "I guess I could use my fingers...?"

Or maybe?

You glance to your pillows, specifically the pillow Beetlejuice used every night, the ghoul has made the habbit of sleeping with you, at first he would sneak in while you slept, then he just kinda stopped being subtle, embarrassing yes, but enjoyable, as hard as it was to admit it, you liked the ghoul.

You stare at the pillow way longer then youd like to admit, you couldnt, snapping your head away, glancing back, could you?

You weren't naive, you knew people sometimes humpped pillows to get off, but using his? I guess you could wash it after. You sigh, getting up from your bed, you begin to pace around your bedroom debating with yourself on the morals of this dirty deed.

Unknown to you beetlejuice has returned early from bugging your neighbors, hiding his presence from you in hopes to scare you, as he often enjoyed to do, ever since you sucker punched him in the jaw for scaring you, he's been trying to get you to do it again ever since.

The ghoul strolls around your little apartment looking for you, with a nasty trick up his sleeve of course, he approaches your room, phasing his head through the door, his jaw nearly hits the ground, you were bent over sliding out of your panties, wearing nothing else but a bra, picking his jaw off the ground, literally, the demon decides the prank can wait another day, what you were up to would be FAR more fun~.

You have came to the conclusion of 'this was my house, my pillow, I can just wash it after' you sigh, it's been so long since you messed around like this, you could feel your bits pulsing already, climbing back on the bed you take the pillow beetlejuice has been using and plant you face directly into it, inhaling the scent, it was hard to describe, but you did detect weed in the smell.

Beetlejuice watches you like a hawk, eyes wide, hair electric pink buzzing with excitement, what were you up to? Was that the pillow he used every night? He chuckled to himself, and here he thought he was the only one here who had a scent fetish.

You let out a small moan like sigh, quiet, but still auditable to the ghost in the room. Beetlejuice bites his knuckles, how he LOVED that sound, sitting himself down at the edge of the bed, eager to see what kinda show you're about to put on, since your vibe died, what were you gonna do? Smell his pillow and finger yourself? The demon couldnt help but drool and that picture.

You mutter a soft "okay" and maneuver the pillow between your legs, straddling it.

Beetlejuice nearly screams with excitement, not that you could hear him in his invisible state. His cute little breather was gonna do something REAL dirty to the pillow he used every night, this was just too good, wiping the excessive drool from his mouth he purrs "didnt know you had it in ya sugar".

You slowly begin to move your hips, as if to test the feeling, and with that you begin a more steady pace panting and moaning softly "beej, please, so good" you babbled, you've been so worked up with no outlet of course you were already heated.

Beetlejuice drooled at this little show you were providing, pillow humping, especially the one he used, was way dirtier and better then you using a vibrator, this had a more perverted personal touch. "You naughty little thing, I would love to have those hip move on me like that sugar~ you really know how to move huh sweet stuff? Driving me nuts over here" he chuckled to himself, cock already in hand, his strokes trying to match your pace.

This was so gross, but it felt really good, you can deal with those negative feelings later, without a second thought you grab one of your breats and begin playing with the nipple, while your other hand grasps at the pillow between your thighs, the sensation of your fingers pinching and flicking your nipples was enough to make you whine.

The ghoul groans watching you play with your breast, god slash satan he want it in his mouth, if something like a little pinch was enough to make you whine, his mouth would have you in a screaming fit, without a second thought his jaw hangs down letting his long black and white striped tongue hang free, drooling.

you couldnt help but imagine Beetlejuice's hand in place of yours, gropping and pinching, giving your chest the love its deserves, you sigh in contentment.

The idea of riding the ghoul has crossed your mind way more then youd like to admit, you could hear it now all the dirty things he'd be saying, how he'd probably let you start, setting the pace, and doing the movements on your own until his large strong hands would grab your waist as he would slam into you with no mercy, the thought alone made you buck harder to the point the bed was creaking.

Beetlejuice was drooling like crazy watching you hump his pillow like you were a dog in heart, what he wouldn't give to switch places with it, hell it didnt even have to be his cock, to have you going that hard on his leg would be hot.

His stroking picks up in pace to match your enthusiasm "such a dirty girl, arent ya babes? I love watch you work those beautiful hips~ you gonna cum soon? Cum all over my pillow and leave it for me tonight? You're so thoughtful sugar~" he purrs.

"Fuck" you utter, beetlejuice recognized that strain in your voice, hes herd it multiple times watching you tend to you needs, it ment you were gonna cum, cum all over his pillow, he hoped you were gonna go to bed early tonight solely to join you and rub his face in that sweet spot you left behind for him. The demon began picking up his pace, wanting to cum shortly after you did.

You buck your hips at an unsteady pace, chasing your orgasm, the image of Beetlejuice coaxing you to cum all over his cock, and praising you for being such a good girl, while he slammed mercilessly into you aching pussy was more then enough to push you over the edge, you Yelp out "beetlejuice" as you cum, you ride out your orgasm clumsily grinding against the pillow until you finished, you stare off into space for a bit enjoying the after glow and trying to regain your composure.

The demon at the end of your bed wasnt too far behind after seeing that cute face you make when you come, not to mention how hot his name sound on you lips when you're shouting it out while you cum, was more then enough to get him to blow his load all over his hand. As he watch you regain you breath it hits him, a ghoulish idea, since you were so kind so leave him a personal gift on his pillow, he should do the same, and with that thought, he crawled forward and wiped his cum cover hand on your pillow. Pleased as punch with his doings, his attention is drawn back to you once the demon sees your on the move, watching you redress yourself.

"Alright" you mumble as you grabbed the freshly humped pillow.

"Wait, sugar, what are you doing?" Beetlejuice panicked, of course you would wash it after doing that, he completely blanked out on that.

"I guess itd be weird if I only washed the one huh" you mumble to yourself as you pick up yours, you werent stupid, you knew how to cover your tracks when doing something less then wholesome.

"Babes come on, don't, they're fine, it's fine, wouldn't it be a hot idea to leave them? PLEASE" Beetlejuice on his knees begging you to reconsider not that you could hear or see him in his current state. His heart sank when you left the room, he groans, cant win them all huh.

Bonus

You enter the laundry room with the pillows in hand.

"Hey sweetheart what cha up to?" You were greeted by Beetlejuice sitting on top of the dryer.

You nearly jump out of your skin "hey, I didnt expect you back so soon" you give a nervous laugh.

"Doing some laundry huh? How bout I give ya a hand? It's the least I can do sugar"

"No thanks" you were quick to respond

"Babes, I know how, it's not that hard, you've been so nice to me and putting up with me, it's the least I can do" Beetlejuice had jumped down from the dryer and had practically pinned you to the wall "i insist doll" he purred, his mouth practically on your ear.

This was all too much especially after just jerking off, you really didnt have it in you to argue or stand your ground, so you cave.

"Okay"

And with that beetlejuice took the pillows from you and practically pushes you out the door, locking it behind you.

"Weird, best not to dwell on that" you mumble, straightening yourself as you head to the kitchen for a drink.

#beetlejuice x reader #muscial beetlejuice x reader #nsft

[sergeant-spoons]

leo sun + aquarius moon / infp-t

I’m kind of a loner but i have a small group of friends that can stand me 😭 anxiety and depression babe✌🏼extremely insecure. will fight anybody for being shitty to another person (racist, sexist, etc) - low key/high key have a temper. history/english nerd, curly girl club, close friends describe my vibe as april ludgate but slightly less weird. catch me trying to be an art hoe w no artistic ability. forget hot girl summer, it’s sleepy girl summer! tall girl club! desperate for some sort of love and validation but will totally keep you at arms length. literally just want someone to treat me like their princess. if they do, i will actually turn to mush 🥺 ok this is long i am so sorry

Heya Anon! No worries, more details is more for me work off of. 🥰

I ship you with... Babe Heffron!

He would get along so well with all your friends. Shared interests or not, they just like him a lot. Especially because he makes you happy.

You want validation? This man will never stop talking about how great you are. Is always working to inflate your ego (in a healthy way) and strengthen your perception of yourself.

He says 'I love you' a million times a day but it never loses meaning or sentimentality.

Would also fight anyone being shitty like that and absolutely has. Though he'd prefer if you didn't get hurt in the pursuit of justice, seeing you riled up is pretty hot.

If anyone did lay a finger on you, he'd go nuts. He'd call up Bill Guarnere and Joe Toye and Joe Liebgott and, hell, Major Winters too, why not, assemble his posse, and give the asshole who hurt you what-for. You'll probably never see that jerk's face again.

He was never too interested in history or English before he met you and overnight he fell in love with not only you but both those things. Now you geek out over everything under the sun and wow it's wholesome.

He thinks so incredibly highly of you no matter what and he likes to remind you of that, especially if you're in a bit of a funk.

Loves your hair. Loooooves it. Thinks you look so good no matter how you style or cut it or if you have the worst bedhead known to man. He greatly enjoys patting your head or kissing your curls if you'll let him.

(Side note: OP has not watched Parks & Rec but she did just read the whole wiki synopsis for April Ludgate and OP is impressed by the comparison of you to said character).

He disagrees that you have no artistic ability. You have definitely come home to find something you made pinned up on the fridge like you're a child with a proud parent. When you ask him about it, he brightens up and tells you he's going to get a frame for it soon and hang it up somewhere special (unless you talk him out of it).

Sleepy girl summer = sleepy Babe summer. He will stay in bed and cuddle for the whole day if you want even though you were both supposed to be up hours ago. He loves holding you, making sure you feel safe in his arms, keeping you close like the greatest treasure he's ever known (because, in his eyes, you are).

Sometimes he pouts that he can't kiss the top of your head because you're about the same height and begrudgingly you will bend your knees to oblige him. He will smatter your face in kisses and thank you right after, so who's the winner here, really?

It took him a little while to get you to open up to him, but once he did, you would be hard-pressed to find a more determined man when it comes to showing you how much he likes (and, soon, loves) you.

Absolutely would treat you like a princess, nay, a queen.

#babe heffron #band of brothers #ship ask game #ship game #ship headcanons #headcanons #ship: you x babe heffron #anon ship #hbo war show

[littlemisssquiggles]

how do you feel about the idea that all the oscar as the little prince and ruby as the rose allusions and whatnot are correct, but ruby/oscar aren't reunited as a romantic pairing? i totally agree with all the points about oscar being the little prince, but the idea of him and ruby being together romantically has personally never really made sense to me based on their interactions and it feels a bit icky because of the age gap. just curious about your thoughts, thanks!

“…but theidea of him and ruby being together romantically has personally never reallymade sense to me based on their interactions and it feels a bit icky because ofthe age gap…”

“…and it feels a bit icky because of the age gap…”

…It feelsicky because of the age gap? To quote CRWBY Writer: Miles Luna himself,it’s just two years? As far as theaudience are aware, Ruby Rose is roughlyabout seventeen years old (more or less) while Oscar is fourteen probably goingon fifteen years old (more or less).

Regardless, going off of what Miles once confirmed, no matter how much olderRuby gets, Oscar will always be just two years younger than her. So evenif Ruby is currently 17 years old in the main series, Oscar is probably on thecusp of turning 15 soon since as, confirmed by Miles, the age gap between Rubyand Oscar is 2 and ONLY 2 years. How big of a gap is that really?

Riddle me this anon-chan, what is so weird or to quote your own words, “icky” about a prospective relationshipbetween two kids that are only two years apart? 

Because you’re not the first person I’ve hearduse the whole age gap as a means to imply why they don’t favour Rosegarden. Asa matter of fact, the age difference thing is a common argument amongst theAnti-RG shipping community and I’m sorry but I find this reason to be rathersilly to my ears.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to make you oranyone with this type of mind-set feel bad for having this opinion since you’reentitled to have it.

However, since I am giving my own opinion here, thissquiggle meister honestly finds this rationaleto be silly; to put it nicely. It’s even more ludicrous when Ihear people use it in debates against Rosegarden.

Maybe it’s because I was born in the 90s and grewup during the 2000s when times were certainly different than it is nowadays ormaybe it’s because I’m the youngest child of parents with a five year age difference or maybe it’s because I’m from a culturewhere this type of stuff is considered “smallting”---either way, I find it really ridiculous when people make a big dealover something like a measly two year age gap between two fictional characterwho are essentially both teenagers.

Realistically, two years is not that big of anage gap. Even at 17 and 14 respectively, Rubyand Oscar are still the two youngest members within our hero team whichputs them at being closer in age than any of the other characters. Not tomention that, 2 years is a common age gap used within the RWBY series. Ruby andYang are two years apart as far as siblings go. Not to mention that the twoyear age gap is shared not just by Rosegardenbut also with other more commonly known Ruby ships like Lancaster, Whiterose andNuts and Dolts.

That being said, I’m going to safely assume thatyou’re probably someone who feels uncomfortable shipping Ruby with anyone atall anon-chan, Oscar included, since if you take issue with the age gap betweenthe Rosebuds then I’m assuming youprobably don’t favour the rest of the Ruby ships for that same reason, right?

I hope you’re not one of those hypocrites whoonly find the 2 year age gap problematic for Rosegarden but not for Whiterose,Lancaster, Nuts and Dolts, etc.

But to each, their own, I suppose.

Anyways, to answer your main question---as I’ve voiced before, part of the core reason I started shipping Ruby and Oscar together was actuallybecause of their interactions from V5 and how strongly the series placedemphasis on it from the start of that season. Since their first meeting inV5, the CRWBY Writers have delivered well on showing a need to push Ruby andOscar closer together by having them naturally develop a friendship and strongsense of trust and respect in one another. On that part, all things considered,the show has down well on developing the rapport between the Rosebuds.

Oscar’s bond with Ruby gave me a much differentvibe than any of her other connections and vice versa. One thing I’ve talkedabout with Rosegarden is that I always liked how the show portrayed Ruby andOscar as showing a mutual level of interest in each other. Not necessarily inany kind of romantic way.  But it has been very evident since the firsttime they met that Oscar and Ruby do like each other.

Despite only being friends for a short space oftime, Ruby and Oscar share a comfort and sense of trust with one another moreakin to people who have known each other for years and I like that element totheir relationship.

From the get-go, the two have shown to get alongreally well and their friendship has only grown over the passing seasons.

I understand that you don’t get romance fromtheir interactions and you’re right about that---nothing regarding the pastRosegarden interactions has been all that romanticallycharged. While it’s been highlighted that Oscar and Ruby definitely care forone another and are willing to go above and beyond to protect each other, as aRosegardener, I’ll admit that nothing truly grounding has been dropped in ourlaps as yet. Like with any ship in RWBY, us Gardeners have gotten a couple ofcute and meaningful moments shared between the Rosebuds that has helped withtheir respective character development and mayeven hint at a possible futureromance between Oscar and Ruby. But nothing to really nip it in the butt asyet.

However, as I said, the potential for a future romance is there. You might not see itthat way anon-chan but for me, I can’t help but feel like the Writers have beenslowly setting something to happenbetween Ruby and Oscar for a while. Since V5. Will it be romance? I can’t really tell you for sure. Hence whyI’ve beem following the pair closely over the seasons, patiently waiting to seewhether or not the Writers will actually make that leap with these two.

As I’ve said in the past, I’m riding the Rosegarden hype train mainly because I really, really likethis ship. It’s the only Ruby and Oscar pairing that I honestly believe has thepotential to become canon and because of that, I genuinely wish to see where itgoes. If a love story is what the CRWBY Writers wish to do in the long runfor the buds then obviously I am all in for that. Oscar and Ruby are my twoall-time favourite characters in RWBY and personally, I think a romance betweenthese two kids can work and will be nothing but adorkable and sweet sincethat’s how the show has always portrayed them together.

However if romance isn’t in the cards for thesetwo then that’s fine as well. While I’d be totally lying to myself if I said Iwasn’t heavily rooting for a romantic endgame between these two smaller, more honest souls, at theend of the day, I just want to see Rubyand Oscar share a strong meaningful bond with one another that’s important tothem as part of their own individual stories and arcs since it would be thefitting payoff to the build-up between them from the past few seasons.

Why draw attention to keymoments and interactions between these two kids if the takeaway wasn’t going tobe something important like the two of them coming to terms with how much theyvalue each other in their lives or something along those lines?

Either way, I’d be happy with any kind of close bondbetween Ruby and Oscar, be it platonic (best friends/most trustedconfidantes much like their Oz counterparts) or romantic (lovers; strongly devoted to one another and responsiblefor each other; much like their Little Prince counterparts). For me, Rosegardencan go either way and still work tremendously well. Heck I’d personally love itif both were done since I’m a sucker for the strangers to close friends to lovers romance trope.

So long as Rosegarden continues to be a goodrelationship that the Writers continue to handle it with the respect that it’streated the two thus far then I’d be cool either way.

Personally I think it would be pretty sweet ifOscar and Ruby end up falling in love with one another and sharing a romancesince I’d imagine it’d be just as adorably awkward yet sweet and wholesome asthe show has always portrayed their relationship up until this point. Itdefinitely makes me excited to see how their relationship blossoms movingforward especially now that they are separated and unaware of each other’sfates, much like their Little Prince counterparts. If romance is in the cardsfor these two kids then the conclusion of V7 going into V8 presents theWriters’ with a golden opportunity to explore it if they so desire. But at theend of the day, it’s their call.

I’m just curious and of course, beyond excited tosee it all play out. To be honest with you anon-chan,I’m not quite sure what kind of answer you’re probably expecting me to givefrom this. If you were expecting me to respond like “If Rosegarden doesn’t become endgame then I will drop RWBY and I willhate the CRWBY Writers forever” then no.You’re not gonna get that type of response with me.

I do strongly believe that there is going to besomething to go down between Ruby and Oscar. I feel like the show has beenslowly building up to something significant to go down for these twokids---something that is unique to only them. A type of bond the two will sharetogether that will differentiate their bond from others within the series.

But as much as I adore Rosegarden as my favouriteRWBY pairing and even as much as I would love to see them end up together inthe end, I also firmly understand and RESPECTthe fact that by the end of the day, these characters belong to RoosterTeethand the story that I’ve been following with them and their allies are being controlledby people who have their own plans for them.

What that plan is, is what I, as the audiencemember, await to see with each passing volume; whether I end up enjoying what Isee or not.

 Will it be a love story? Will it be somethingelse? That’s the thing. I really don’t know what it will be and that’s where mycuriosity has mostly been peeked. I REALLY, REALLY want to see where theseWriters take these two.

 Hence why I jumped on the bandwagon of the LittlePrince. Through small moments that I can see were inspired by the story, I canget a small sense of where the Writers might be taking the Rosebuds. It’s whyI’m very excited for Oscar’s story for V8.

In the Little Prince story, the Prince had lefthis rose to go on a journey from which he was able to mature further and ultimatelycame to realize the true meaning behind his relationship with his one true rose.This is what I’m hoping for with Ruby and Oscar. I’m expecting this separationbetween them to force to them to see how much they truly value each other.

But it’s not just the Little Prince connectionsthat made me excited for the future of Rosegarden. There’s also the connectionto the God of Light. Right now, outsideof Salem, Ruby and Oscar are the twoother known characters within the series who share in the power of the God ofLight.

With Oscar, it is the God of Light’s power thathas fuelled Ozma’s reincarnation cycle. Not to mention that like many magi duringFirst Remnant, Ozma could wield magic which was known throughout the lands asthe “gift from the Gods”. That poweralong with the knowledge to command it has now been passed down to Oscar as wesubtly saw displayed in the V7 finale.

As for Ruby, she too possesses the power of theGod of Light through her Silver Eyes as hinted back during V6. And as far as weknow, Ruby is currently the only livingSilver Eyed Warrior in existence which makes her a very unique rose.

I would count the Maidens but the Maidens were a creation of Ozma’s magic---amagic that Oscar will ultimately inherit and could potentially take back shouldhe need to challenge Salem on his own again like Ozma once did during his lifeas Diggs.

Basically what I’m trying to say here is thatRuby and Oscar both share a predicament unique to them and only them.

Oscar is Ozma’s current incarnation. Ozma was thechosen champion of humanity, selected by the God of Light himself in the hopesthat he would help repair Remnant by stopping Salem. Ruby is a Silver EyedWarrior with the God-given ability to smite the Grimm whose current master isSalem.

Ozma fought Salem in the past and failed to stopher on his own (he managed to kill her but her immortality curse resurrectedher). Summer Rose, Ruby’s own mother and the last Silver Eyed Warrior toconfront Salem faced her on her own and much like Ozma once did, lost her life.

The only thing that hasn’t been tried is an incarnation of Ozma working togetherwith a Silver Eyed Warrior with the two fighting Salem together.

During his lifetime with Norman, when Ozma first asked Jinn about how he could stop Salem,he was told disappointingly that he couldn’t stop Salem. Perhaps, this was Jinn hinting to Ozma that his role was never tostop Salem. Perhaps ultimately,Ozma’s true purpose was to survive long enough to the lifetime where he wouldbe able to protect or more or less support and fight beside the very person whois destined to stop Salem once and for all.

What would be interesting is if ultimately,maybe…just maybe---Oscar and Rubyworking together; supporting each other as one with the light of God that theyshare; might be what can turn the tides against Salem. Maybe their union will the key in some shapeor form. Then again, this is just me spouting my theories as usual.

Overall, if Rosegarden as a fated pair is a direction that the Writers (particularly Miles andKerry since they are the two seniorwriters who sparked this bond in the first place back during V5) wish totake these two kids then that’s awesome. Brilliant even.

Obviously I’m more in favour of them falling in love andending up together-together. Hand over my kingdom of hearts, this squiggle meister is definitely rootingfor Ruby and Oscar to have their own fairy-tale love story (that would have ahappier ending than the first one) and I am unapologetically biased aboutthat.

I’m not even gonna try and deny my bias. Shoot,my bias has probably been showing since I started typing this response XD Whatcan I say? I love me a good, wholesome, fluffy lovey-dovey romance and I thinka puppy love story or union between our twosmaller, more honest souls would be…well…a match made by the Gods (y’see what I did thar? 8V)

Hoooooooooooowever…, for whatever reason, shoulda romance NOT happen for Rosegarden and in the end, they just end up being two equallygod-tier characters who support each other dearly and share one of the bestestfriendships in the whole series, then… I’d be fine with that too.

Not as flamboyant as “a match made by the Gods” but still sweet because it’s these twobeans.

Disappointing, yes, but not as catastrophically devastating as I’veseen other shippers react to not seeing their favourite pairs come to fruition.

Basically what I’m trying to say here bottom-lineis that I’m not going to lose my shit ifthe CRWBY Writers don’t make Rosegarden endgame.

Yes, my Rosegardening shipping kokoro would bebrokoro buuuuuuuuuuuut….that wouldn’t really stop me from adoring RG orshipping it any less than I always have. 

In the end, I’ll respect whatever direction the Writers decide to take thisfavourite ship of mine; platonic, romantic, somewhere in between or otherwise.

I’ve been in enough fandoms to know that canon endgame DOESN’T necessarily mean THEEND OF A SHIP. There are a lot of ships that I’ve seen survive and thriveregardless of the canon (for example: Zutarafrom Avatar the Last Airbender , Sheith from Voltron: Legendary Defender and Kachaako from My HeroAcademia).

So even if Ruby and Oscar doesn’t become a couplein the canon, it won’t really change my feelings toward their ship. The most Ican say is the same that I’ve always said about RG:

I’m here to see where Ruby and Oscar go in their current relationship with each other andI’ll support it regardless of whatever happens.

I hope this answers your question anon-chan.

~LittleMissSquiggles(2020)

#squiggles answers: rwby #oscar pine #ruby rose #oscar and ruby #rwby rosegarden #rwby volume 8 theories #Anon-ninja #squiggles answers

[vecna]

For fandom meme-swtor?

Send me a fandom!

This one isn’t as spicy as the Dragon Age one, but I still got Wordy.

Also there’s lots of KOTFE/KOTET/etc spoilers in here, so don’t read if you don’t want to see em. (Looking at you, Chignon.)

The character(s) I first fell in love with:

My own OCs haha.

But more seriously: It was actually Darth Malgus! I was always going to play a Star Wars MMO, let’s be real. But when they started posting promo videos and cinematics for the game, my Sith-loving ass immediately gravitated to that guy haha. And then, it turned out he had the same VA as The Architect from Dragon Age, and that was it for me.

If we’re talking about companions, then it was probably Malavai Quinn. Sith Warrior was the first class I got to 50, and Quinn was the first companion that I really got overly attached to haha.

The character(s) I never expected to love as much as I do now:

Most (not all, but most) of the “new” companions that came in with KOTFE and beyond. I was initially really sour when I realized we were losing all our class storyline companions, and they were being replaced with a new crew of Lana, Theron, Koth, my mother-in-law Senya, etc. Especially when they – at the time – said we’d eventually get our class companions back, but it would be a while. So I started KOTFE sure that I would hate the new crew because I would rather have the old one…. and ended up liking them quite a lot! Mostly, lol.

The character(s) everyone else loves that I don’t:

Doc is the main one, jesus christ. If you didn’t read my last post, I just really really really do not mesh well with overly sexual and Adult Humor-y characters who scold you with a “You’re no fun.” if your OC isn’t into it. Doc is the worst example of it that I’ve ever encountered. I always play a male JK, and the fact nearly all of his convos amount to, “Boy, you and me are going to be up to our eyeballs in vagina when this war ends, amirite?” “You don’t want that? Come on, the Jedi Code doesn’t say you can’t FUCK, live a little.” “You’re no fun. Well, more for me.” drives me NUTS. This combined with how he interacts with Kira just does me in. Shoves him out an airlock.

Dark Side Jaesa is another big one, albeit mainly for OOC reasons. I just hate the fact that she even exists, really. I get the appeal of a story where a Sith corrupts a Jedi to the Dark Side, but the way she does a total 180 into gross hedonism while Serving You always just makes me cringe. Plus there’s the fact that straight dudebro gamers are really nasty with her, and she’s the main companion I always see men put into the slave bikini outfit, and just yikes.

Also just a lot of one-off NPCs that everyone goes crazy for and ships their OCs with, but I  constantly forget who they even are lol. Attros Finn comes to mind. I don’t hate them! Just don’t get the appeal I guess.

The character(s) I love that everyone else hates:

Lord Scourge, although I’m not sure he’s really hated as much anymore. I just remember at launch, when all of the overly invested Revan stans absolutely HATED him because of what he did in the Revan novel, and then flooded the tags with vitriol over being “stuck” with him as a Knight, and having to hear about Revan in his companion convos. It was really, really tiresome! Maybe it’s because I never really cared that deeply about Revan as my personal character, but I could not understand the backlash.

Anyway, Lord Scourge is my favorite companion in the game by a long shot. I love the conversations you can have with him about the Jedi vs Sith, and I love the mutually respectful tone those conversations take. (Where other Bioware companions who disagree with you have a tendency to just go, “You’re wrong.” and shut you down.) The fact that he’s so tied in with the plot just makes me love him more, really.

The character(s) I used to love but don’t any longer:

Cytharat, Koth and Theron mostly. Although this takes a bit of explaining, and is a bit Discourse-y – because I really appreciate them as characters, but their role and Bioware’s decisions with them is what made me no longer love them.Here’s the thing: Bioware has a bad habit of introducing male characters that are bisexual, and then having them betray you, leading to situations where they either get murdered or vanish from the narrative entirely. Meanwhile, bisexual women like Lana are untouched and around forever.

I was overjoyed when I first saw Cytharat. Y'all know I’m a ho for purebloods, and the fact that he was Malgus’ apprentice was fascinating to me – and then he turned out to be a bi romance. I got very hyped for him, only to find out he dies like 5 minutes later – or if you save him, he’s never seen again. Huge letdown.

Koth was the first character I fell in love with of the new KOTFE crew – I even initiated a romance with him! – but it quickly became obvious there’s no way to play the expansion without him turning on you judgementally at some point or another. And then, hey big surprise, you can kill him or else he’s never seen again.

Theron I’ve loved since we first got to know him in the Forged Alliances content, but that whole storyline where he seemingly betrays you out of nowhere, only to later reveal he didn’t actually, idk. And then, once again, you either kill him or he disappears from the story. It felt like a weirdly shoehorned in plot for shock value, and robbed us of a second bi MOC character.

You see the trend here? I want to love these characters, but Bioware continually electing to do this shit with bi dudes is tiresome and makes me unwilling to invest any interest in the characters anymore.

The character(s) I would totally smooch:

None.

The character(s) I’d want to be like:

None really come to mind? I just want to be a Jedi, come on.

The character(s) I’d slap:

Hunter all day every day.

The pairing(s) that I love:

Haha, this question is hard, because most of the SWTOR ships I’m invested in are between my OCs and my friends’ OCs.

However.

SCOURGE / KNIGHT IS THE BIG ONE, THE ULTIMATE, THE ALL-TIME FAVORITE. It’s really hard to describe just how much I love this ship, and just how much time and energy I’ve invested into it over the past… 8 years wow……….. To the point of being almost territorial. And it’s also near impossible for me to talk about why I love it, because the version I ship is so personalized with my specific Jedi Knight, especially since it had to live exclusively in headcanon land for so long. Scourge is, more or less, my Knight’s support pillar and the thing that grounds him and keeps him humble, in a world where my Knight is surrounded by people who expect him to be a pure flawless messiah. But, I mean. How can you have a man look at your character and say, “I’ve waited 300 years to see your face.” and not immediately ship it. And then I finally got vindicated after all these years when it was made canon!

I really love Arcann / Knight for a lot of the same reasons as the above, but I just really adore his one (1) romance convo haha. Granted, yes he did a lot of fucked up things, but I was so grateful when he had like… a Zuko-esque redemption. Where he comes to your character and firmly believes he doesn’t deserve forgiveness, and especially doesn’t deserve affection, and is instead met with acceptance and a chance to grow and heal. That’s the good shit.

Others:

Lana / Warrior and Lana / Inquisitor are my particular jam. I endlessly enjoy the mutual respect between Lana and those particular PCs.

Malavai Quinn / Sith Warrior is a longtime fave, and although I DO love him with a female Warrior, I really do with he’d been an option for dudes as well. And I feel the same in reverse about Vette / Warrior – I do like her with a male Warrior, and it’s so sweet and wholesome and endearing, but man I wish she’d been an option for female Warriors.

I ship Risha with every woman – especially Vette and Sumalee – and will be salty until my grave that Risha / f!Smuggler isn’t possible, because I love Risha with the Smuggler but she gives me powerful WLW vibes.

Agent / Watcher Two is also a lowkey favorite, but I ALSO wish it could be done with a female Agent instead. Same with Agent / Raina Temple.

Agent / Vector is very sweet, but again, I will be salty until my grave that it couldn’t be done with a male Agent.

Can you guys sense a running theme here?

Finally: NGL I love Valkorion / Senya, even though that ended in pure disaster.

And people around here used to ship Keeper / Lokin, and tbh, I still kinda love it lol.

The pairing(s) that I despise:

In general terms, I fucking hate every single romance that involves the male PC romancing his padawan or underling, especially since most of them seem like very young girls. I don’t know why this is so pervasive in the game, but yikes Bioware. Consular/Nadia is the worst offender, but they’re all just cringe central for me.

But the big one is Agent / Hunter. This would have gotten me run off Tumblr back in the day, but god I hate this pairing. I mentioned in the last post that I just will never enjoy ships where the two characters actively want to murder each other, but. This just gets magnified for me with Agent/Hunter, where all the mind control and blatant abuse comes into play – and people have a tendency to write noncon rape fic of the two and present it as ~sexy rivalmance~, which is awful. Add to this the “no homo” reveal where Hunter turns out to be a woman, after getting everyone hyped about a dude flirting with their male character the whole game, and it’s just a huge No Thanks from me all around.

And for largely personal reasons I just don’t like seeing female Knights with Scourge. Listen, for YEARS  I was treated like a pariah for shipping Scourge with my male Knight, while being unable to find Scourge content that didn’t have a female Knight plastered all over him. Even though he wasn’t even a romance option one way or another, the way the fandom treated m!Knight/Scourge with disdain while ardently shipping f!Knight/Scourge was offputting as shit. And then, after years, he was made a romance option for women AND men, and all these awful people acted like they were robbed, the way people reacted when Kaidan and Jaal were made bi in Mass Effect. I’m so tired. I never want to see Scourge with a female Knight again.

#misc: text #misc: meme #series: star wars #vg: the old republic #long post #scorpio-dw

[mugen-monogatari]

5 Quality Yet Accessible Tragic Anime You Should Watch

Let’s talk about tragedy in anime. Ain’t nothin’ like watching some sad anime boys experiencing sad things while I sit there and cry. I love tragedy in anime, there’s just a certain satisfaction in ‘dissatisfaction’. Sometimes, it’s far more meaningful for someone to lose a fight, to make a hard decision or sacrifice something. Maybe the hero never saves the girl, or a loved one just doesn’t make it. Yes, in a perfect world everyone ends up happy, but this isn’t a perfect world. People suffer, and sometimes it ends on a good note, sometimes everything goes to hell and the world burns. That gritty realism and human error adds a level of empathy and depth to many shows that would otherwise lack it. I personally think it’s worth talking about that, since I don’t think tragic anime get enough love.

So I thought I’d make a quick list of 5 accessible yet Quality tragedy series, ranging from pretty popular and accessible, to slightly more niche. Many of you have seen these series I’m sure, but with the continuous stream of shows being released every single season, it can be hard to either go back and watch older shows, or stay on top of newer ones. These are just a few picks that I would urge anyone and everyone to go and at least try.

I should also preface this by saying, when I say tragedy, it doesn’t mean the show has a depressing ending. By tragedy I’m referring to tragic events happening in a show regularly, be it at the end, the beginning or throughout. Simply putting something on this list, doesn’t mean it has a tragic ending, so you can rest assured there are still surprises to come when watching these.

Also, these are all my opinions, everyone is entitled to them. You can disagree or agree, it’s up to you, we can even discuss my peeps. Just don’t brutalize me for shows you don’t like or if one of your favorites isn’t on this list.

All of that being said, Here are 5 tragic series I think everyone should at least try:

1. Code Geass

Starting off simple we have Code Geass. What a show this was back in the day. Death Note, mixed with Mechs and sci-fi and chess and a whole lot of edge. For many people, they have already seen it, it’s almost guaranteed if you watched anime in the early 2000s. However, as time goes on, this series slowly falls into obscurity, many people being less attracted by its flamboyant art style and the ever growing age. It seems like Code Geass is slowly fading away with time, people online aren’t forgetting about it, but moving on, and many new fans are understandably detracted from a show like this.

But they’re all wrong. This series is incredible. It’s a fundamental “must-watch” show. Sure, it shows it’s age now, but that doesn’t detract from it’s plot and characters. With a very likeable cast, a constantly expanding story, high stakes, insane powers and mind games, politics and action, all of these make an insanely good series, one that warrants repeated viewing to this day. What starts as a boy being in the wrong place at the wrong time, blows up into a worldwide conflict. This is one of those series that sticks with you, there are scenes and moments in this you just never forget moving forward.

Some of the things I love is Sunrise’s mech designs, Lancelot as well as many of the Knightmare frame designs in the movies and show are still fun and vibrant to this day. Many old Mecha shows become redundant years later as the designs don’t hold up. This one though, certainly does.

I also really love the voice acting. Yes the sub is good, but the dub (fight me) is just mwah. Johnny Yong Bosch as Lelouch is nut worthy. Just watch the first episode where he gives his first command. Insta nut. I’m telling you.

I also love the endings of both seasons. I think the first is a really good climax, while the second season closes about as well as this could, while still coming out of left field.

Some things that I think detract people, definitely start with the art style. Sunrise’s designs for the machines and backgrounds and such is fine, it looks good, however Clamp’s character designs are definitely an acquired taste. They���re not for everyone. Everyone looks super slender, almost cartoon like in their clothes and proportions. Yes you get used to it, but they still look very “different” to the standard, even back when it first came out.

Another is sometimes, the show just goes to very strange places, for example having an episode to do with drug addiction that just came out of left-field. In the same vein, some people have very mixed opinions on season two, not entirely liking the direction it goes and some of the character developments. However, a lot of these things are subjective and I’ll leave them up to you to decide.

Spanning two, 25 episode seasons (you can definitely just pretend the movie never happened) as well as several spin off OVAs and Shorts (Those you actually can watch though), the series is a pretty long watch by today’s standards, but it’s definitely worth it.

2. Zankyou No Terror

Next up, we have Terror in Resonance. This one for sure is worth the watch even without the tragedy. This is one of those shows, which is so visually appealing to watch. It’s one of the most aesthetically pleasing shows I’ve ever seen. I guarantee anyone who’s interested in aesthetic gifs and images of weeb stuff, has seen shots from this show without even realizing it. It’s not exactly a niche show, but it’s a little less accessible than something like “Angel Beats”, with a much more serious and gritty tone. It’s not criminally underrated, but I just really wish more people had seen this, since it genuinely is a beautiful series.

Some of the things I really love about this show, is (as I’ve mentioned a thousand times) the aesthetic sense. Every shot in this series is screenshot worthy, with plenty scenes making for ‘straight-out-the-box’ gifs and icons and whatever it is you kids use screenshots for. Even the food, just like papa Gigguk mentioned, is just mwah, spicy stuff. I attribute this to the very well considered color palette, realistic lighting and designs, as well as just overall good cinematography.

On the less visible side of things, the story hold ups really well too, with some very genuinely emotional moments and scenes. Just like Code Geass above, this series has a very well considered ending, with a “Wholesome”(?) message at the end.

The only negatives I can really give for the series, is some pacing issues if you’re an impatient brat like me, as well as almost a complete lack of lightheartedness. The series can be sweet and touching, but it’s almost always dark and serious at the same time, with no time to relax or breathe throughout.

I think there isn’t as much to say about ZnT as there is about Code geass, as it’s not as subjective. It is an objectively high quality show, your own enjoyment of it is what varies. Unlike Code Geass, there isn’t many flaws, but it doesn’t take as many risks. To me, this show is a very safe bet. It looks gorgeous, is only 11 episodes (you big boys and girls can binge that) and tells a satisfying, self-contained story. A little bonus is that it’s directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, famous for Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, so hey- It has that going for it too.

3. Parasyte: The Maxim

Following on, we have one of the series that introduced me to tragedy, Parasyte: The Maxim. Let me tell you, this series is dark. And violent. Very violent at times.

When it first aired in 2014, the response was pretty good, it didn’t reach critical Acclaim, but had its own cult following, with the manga having been published from the late 80s to the mid 90s. For me, this was one of my first truly “darker” and more violent anime, having really only watched shounen and some seinen before that. This to me isn’t one of the best stories ever, the characters are fine, and the show looks acceptable. But while it doesn’t excel in anything, it does everything really well. To me, it’s the perfect bridge from Casual fan, to serious- or even as a primer for more dark and violent stories, such as Berserk or dare I say it Tokyo Ghoul (Read the manga, please don’t support the anime adaptation).

For me personally, I really Liked the main character, he drove the show on for me. Watching him develop into someone completely different from the beginning of the show, was a real draw to me. He’s likeable, relatable to an extent, and he had a complete character arc. Shinichi in the beginning is not the same character as in the end.

This character is also used to convey a deeper meaning about what humanity is and how we define the term. It’s a really interesting series about us as a race, with some genuine things to discuss and think about, which leaves a longer lasting impression than most shows. It’s the sort of series that makes you want to share it with other people just so you can talk to them about it. Ah- and it’ll hit you in the feels. This show is genuinely tragic through out, but still stays personal to the small cast, which to me, is the sign of a really good tragedy. Despite things going on in the entire world, they make you care about these few people specifically.

However, it has it’s own problems too. Art wise, it’s very faithful to the original source material, capturing the feel of it, the low key oppressive vibes. However, this also means, it can look a little… ‘Bland’? At times. The earthy colors can be a little drab, especially in an age were Studio Trigger, for example, can make an eye-gasm worthy scene using colours you didn’t even know existed.

The other problem, is some of the characters are very one dimensional. Take the love interest, she doesn’t really develop or change at all throughout the series, but I personally give this a pass as she’s not super relevant to the story anyway.

A fair warning though, this series has some strong violence, plenty of gore and mutilation, if that’s a problem for you, I suggest either giving this one a skip, or just trying to sit through it. It’ll be a good learning experience.

Spanning a fair 24 episodes, having aired in 2014, this series is both bingeable, and holds-up very well in the modern ecosystem of anime. To me, this is a pretty top tier show, a solid 8/10, it’s very good, a really well made show, It makes for the perfect bridge into far more serious and dark stories, such as maybe Berserk and Devilman, hence why I put it on this list.

4. Fate/Zero

For my second to last show, perhaps one of the most well known franchises, that is lowkey kinda niche. Fate is a series everyone knows the existence of, but not as many people have actually watched, especially not casual fans. To be frank, it’s intimidating. The series has no real easy entry point, and all the timelines are relatively interwoven, you can’t just bounce around. Everything spoils everything and it’s scary to even look at a list of fate entries.

That’s why I picked Fate Zero. To me, it’s the best entry point into the Type/Moon genre. For those of you who don’t know, it’s basically a battle royal between seven summoners who each have a servant of different classes. They all have to fight for the Holy Grail, an artifact that will grant them a single wish. Sounds simple right?

Well it’s not. The entire series is full of not only badass action, but plenty of mind games and ‘cat-and-mouse’ between the characters. It’s brutal, it’s tragic, violent and uplifting. Ufotable delivers some of the highest quality animation you’ll see in your life (they’re renowned for it), but it doesn’t just look good. The story is compelling, the characters are genuinely likeable and by the end, I wanted everyone to live and survive. Everyone has believable and compelling motivation, and even the objectively evil characters, like Caster, are still likeable, because you begin to love to hate them. The entire season honestly plays out more like a compressed microcosmic version of Game of Thrones, than a battle royal anime.

There are plenty of things I like about this series, the plot is really fun, the fights are pretty damn cool and it can be a very emotional show at times. I could talk about these aspects endlessly. However, the thing that really makes Fate for me, is the characters. Each individual characters gets some time and attention, and with the exception of a few, you really genuinely like and care about everyone. You want everyone to win, or at least survive, since all of them are either genuinely lovable, or have very compelling motivation.

The other part to it is, this is the best starting point for the rest of Fate, and I would actually argue that it enhances many scenes found in the subsequent (story wise) series, even if they aired prior to Zero. This series both introduced me to Fate, and got me attached and invested in the world, which is the sign of a good (technically) first series.

On the other hand, it has problems. First of all, it’s pretty interwoven with the later series. Those came before it and set up a lot of mysteries and ideas that Zero goes out of it’s way to explain, from character identities to events in the timeline, watching Zero will spoil a lot of those things, which may lessen the later experiences for some people.

The other flaw is despite being maybe the best starting point for Fate, it still isn’t entirely accessible. The show can be straight up confusing at times, at least for someone who hasn’t seen Fate. Many elements of the world aren’t explained and you’re just expected to go along with it, since it’s either just a part of this world, or explained in other series. Which is fine, but often lead to some rather “But wait… What just happened?” moments.

Ultimately, Fate/Zero is fantastic series for anyone looking for a really good character drama, full of magic and badass historical references. It’s not the best introduction but it’s the best you’ll get from Fate. Similarly to Code Geass and ZnT, the series has a really good conclusion in my opinion, with plenty of tragic moments sprinkled throughout.

For Fate, Zero specifically consists of two seasons of 12 episodes each, for a bingeable 24 episode series. For ideas where to go next from this, look for my upcoming Tumblr Post explaining the fate continuity.

5. Mobile Suit Gundam : Iron-Blooded Orphans

And Finally, we come to our last pick of the day. This is a series, I would urge anyone to watch. If I could make you watch one Single series from this list, this would be it. Throw away any views you have on the franchise or the genre, don’t be afraid of the name, just give this series a try.

Iron Blooded Orphans follows a small mercenary band of boys who just want to make a home for themselves in a galaxy strained by political unrest. The premise is simple, just people trying to survive and make a life for themselves.

Well what if I told you it was directed and written by the same Duo that made AnoHana, one of the most commonly acknowledged tragic shows out there. This duo write and direct stories about innocent children being put through immense hardship and this series is no different. This show is tragic, painful even. I sobbed as many times as I laughed and smiled in this show. We spend a season watching them come up in the world, only to watch everything get torn apart in the second season, and it is genuinely emotional and heart wrenching.

Something I love about this series, is the characters and how attached you become to them. Death is a genuine threat in this show, even if you don’t feel it in the beginning. When people die, it hurts, and that applies to IBO, where each death leaves resounding ripples on the people around them. It handles familial relationships really well, making you believe in these people and their emotions. When they suffer, you cry for them, and when they get brief moments of respite, you do too. I love how invested you become in this ragtag team of boys, making some of the later scenes all the more devastating when they happen.

Another thing I love is the stakes. Within the second season, the pressure to perform is on, the first season, while having threats and such, was never even close to season two. To be vague, one of my favorite moments is when a character has to land a decisive shot in the midst of a battle, and everyone’s lives are on the line. That entire confrontation is one of my favorite scenes in anime of all time. It is truly suspenseful and will take you on an emotional journey.

To top it all off, it’s made by Sunrise. If you like Mechs, well oh boy do they have you covered, and if you don’t- well oh boy, you will when you’re done. This show makes the mech Genre, and Gundam entirely accessible, you need no prior knowledge, you don’t need to be a fan to enjoy it. The fights are really fun and have genuinely cool moments, as cool as it can get for a mech anyway. The characters and story are well written and everything just comes together to make a very well produced show- Good job Sunrise.

It doesn’t go without it’s own problems though. The first 20 ish episodes, until they get to earth, are not pointless, but have some pacing issues, as well as low stakes. There are threats and people die, but you never feel that scared or intense. Then towards the end of season one, the show kicks into high gear. To counteract this slow start, the series has a phenomenal season two that I genuinely believe everyone should watch, as it’s a perfect example of character drama done exceptionally well.

The series is comprised of two seasons of 25 episodes each, totaling a measly (if you’re a big boy or girl) 50 episodes. There is several related forms of media, nothing worth mentioning though, for more Gundam, you’re better off watching other series from the franchise.

If I can only force you to watch one, please go out and watch Iron Blooded Orphans. To me, it’s 9- pushing a 10/10 series, with a undeniably slow start, but a fantastic heart felt, emotional ending.

So that’s it from me guys. Thanks for taking the time to read the ramblings of a mad man like me, but I hope this gives some people some ideas on where to go next or what they can watch now. If you enjoyed, make sure to follow me for more discussions and lists and whatever else anime related. If you have any advice, or want to discuss something with me, go ahead let me know, other than that- Leave, go outside, get some fresh air after reading all that.

#anime #discussion #Iron Blooded Orphans #Fate #code geass #Parasyte #terror in resonance #IBO #Gundam

[returnsandreturns]

Long Forgotten WIP Amnesty

I found some fics gathering dust in my DropBox and am just going to post what I have of them so I can exorcise them. 

This is a Psych fic that was going to be an elaborate casefic involving Shawn’s first high school boyfriend and possibly Shawn/Lassiter (even though Shawn/Gus is obvs where my heart truly lies) but is now just this tiny hint of what could’ve been.

1992: SBPD Summer Youth Program

They’re dusting for fingerprints in the station’s breakroom when Shawn’s head collides with somebody else’s underneath one of the tables. He falls back and says, “God, crawl on the floor much,” and is met with a laugh. When he looks up, Shawn sees a boy smiling back at him. At first glance, Shawn documents: blonde hair, freckles, bruises on his arms, blue eyes. Really blue eyes. He’s wearing the same oversized polo that they’re all wearing, but he’s got his rolled up to sunburnt shoulders. And he’s still smiling.

“I have this weird feeling that they’re just having us do this so we’ll have to clean the whole place afterward,” the boy says. “What do you think?”

“Unpaid labor seems like the name of the game here,” Shawn agrees. Earlier, they cleaned up crime scenes that just happened to be in the bathrooms. He didn’t expect police work would involve so much mopping.

“I’m Julian,” the boy continues. “Want to see if we can get out of here without getting caught? We’re half a mile away from a What-a-Burger.”

“There’s an exit in the back of the kitchen that comes out by the street,” Shawn replies, after a long moment. “We could try dusting for stupid imaginary fingerprints in that direction.”

Julian’s smile grows wider.

 *

They get out without anybody noticing, and they buy big greasy cheeseburgers and split a large order of fries. Julian tells him about his dad, who’s a detective in the next city over and who seems a lot like Shawn’s dad, mostly because they’re both assholes. Shawn watches the way that Julian’s fingers tap the table and the way he licks salt off his lips and the way he watches Shawn, too.

“So, how good did you do on the test to get forced to spend your summer doing this?” Julian asks.

I’m a freaky cop prodigy, Shawn thinks. I am the chosen one. It’s terrible.

“I did fine,” he says. “Good enough. Passing grade.”  

Julian squints at him.

“You’re the kid who got a perfect score, aren’t you?”

“Okay, I’m their genius messiah,” Shawn says. “Don’t hold it against me.”

“I would never,” Julian says. “I guessed it was you after you totally showed up Officer Von Fuckface on the first day, but I wasn’t sure.”

“I’ve been calling him Officer Tiny Penis,” Shawn says, “but I like yours more.”

The first day, Shawn had a run in with one of the cops. He hates Shawn because he hates Shawn’s dad, probably because, asshole or not, Shawn’s dad is a kickass cop. That comes with enemies, his dad always says that, and apparently this dude is one of them. Shawn took advantage of the situation by correcting him sixteen times on the first day, with cited evidence from penal code and the handbook.

“Thanks,” Julian says. “Anyway, I’ve wanted to talk to you since then, because you seem like the person who could help me make this experience way less shitty.”

Shawn smiles.

“What did you have in mind?”

Later, after they sneak back in like nothing happened, they cover every part of Officer Van Fuckface’s desk, inside and out, with a thick layer of peanut butter. At the bus stop before they head home for the night, Julian says, “Do you think if we messed up any of his files, that would count as interfering with an investigation?”

“A code 48-1a?” Shawn asks. “God, I hope so.”

Julian laughs, leaning into Shawn for a moment before they both go still and quiet, looking at each other.

“Uhm, could I have your phone number, in case my dad finds out about this and grounds me for the rest of my life?” Shawn asks. Julian digs in his pockets for a pen before grabbing Shawn’s hand and carefully writing seven digits on it. Julian holds onto his hand a little longer than he needs to when he’s done, not quite looking at Shawn, and Shawn notices it because Shawn notices everything.

His stomach or his heart or something in his chest feels like it’s trying to escape the entire bus ride back to his neighborhood. At home, he writes down Julian’s number on his bedroom wall in pencil, next to his phone, underneath a few girls’ numbers and Gus’s even though he knows it by heart.

       *

The next day, their commanding officers line them up and try to figure out who peanut buttered the desk, but they have no evidence either way. Officer Von Fuckface glares at Shawn the entire time. It’s awesome.

As they file back out, Julian nudges Shawn and murmurs, “That guy’s nuts.”

Shawn grins.

“Technically, he’s legumes,” he says, drawing back to let everyone get ahead of them around the next corner. “Want to skip the last session before our friend causes me to burst into flames purely with the force of his hate?”

“Absolutely,” Julian says.

They’re almost to one of the side doors when Shawn’s dad steps out of a room in front of them. He’s in full uniform, and he’s got his arms folded over his chest.

“Peanut butter, Shawn?”

“Are you offering me lunch, Dad? Because I already ate the most spectacular frozen meal that the Santa Barbara Police Department has to offer.”

“It was pretty spectacular,” Julian offers. “It almost tasted like food.”

“Peanut butter,” his dad repeats. He looks at Julian. “Who do you belong to?”

“Detective Hardinson, sir,” Julian says, politely. “Sommerville PD.”

“Hardison? We liasoned with him about a case recently. He seems like a good man.”

“If you say so, sir,” Julian says.

Shawn’s dad raises his eyebrows for a moment.

“I hope you’re not letting Shawn get you in trouble.”

“Dad, I’m offended,” Shawn says. “I’m far too good at what I do to ever get in trouble.”

“Is that why I just caught you sneaking out?” his dad asks.

“We weren’t sneaking out, sir,” Julian says. He’s got this wholesome boy next door vibe that really works for him, especially when it comes to lying. “I was feeling sick, and Shawn was helping me outside to get some fresh air.”

“You seem like an okay kid, son,” Shawn’s dad says, “but I don’t believe a word of that. Why don’t you two go back where you’re supposed to be?”

They nod contritely and turn back, circling back to where they started.

“My dad called you ‘son,’” Shawn says.

“He did,” Julian agrees.

“He doesn’t even call me ‘son,’” Shawn continues, “and I’m his son.”

“You know,” Julian says, “I think there’s a lot of gray area around the phrase ‘where you’re supposed to be.’”

“Hmm. True. What if where I’m truly supposed to be is somewhere that’s very much not here?” Shawn leans heavily into the arm that Julian wraps around his shoulder, letting himself be guided towards the kitchen exit. Julian’s half a head taller than Shawn, and it makes Shawn feel things he’s like 89% sure he should not be feeling.

“Want to come back to my house?” Julian asks. “Neither of my parents will be back until late.”

“Yeah, yes,” Shawn says. “Let’s do that.”

 *

[some stuff happens]

Julian stares at him for a long moment before he slides a hand over Shawn’s knee.

“Please don’t punch me,” he whispers, then ducks down to kiss Shawn. Shawn presses up into it, making a truly embarrasing noise into the curve of Julian’s mouth. He has to resist the urge to climb on top of him.

“Do people—“ Shawn starts, then draws off to keep kissing him for a few more moments.

“People?” Julian murmurs.

“Uh, do people normally punch you after you do that?” he asks, pulling away just enough to see a wrecked smile on Julian’s face. “Because I think that’s a weird reaction to something amazing.”

“I’ve never done that, actually,” Julian says. “I imagined punching could be in the equation, if I misread something.”

“You didn’t,” Shawn says. “You really didn’t.”

*

FAST-FORWARD HOWEVER MANY YEARS AFTER JULIAN ACTUALLY BECOMES A COP AND ENDS UP WORKING A CASE WITH THEM

"Wait," Lassiter says. "You and him were--"

"Summer loves," Shawn says.

"Had me a blast," Julian adds, and Shawn smiles at him. Lassiter looks aghast.

"Oh, don't tell me you've never tasted the rainbow, Lass," Shawn says. "You've got bicurious written all over you."

"I don't--that's not what we're talking about," Lassiter says. He scrubs a hand over his face, which Shawn nicely does not point out as something both indicative of guilt or nervousness and something entirely un-Lassiter-like in nature. "Don't you think this is some sort of conflict of interest? You being on the case with someone you've. . ."

"Made sweet passionate love with?" Shawn offers.

"In that supply closet right over there, actually," Julian says.

"Aww, so many memories," Shawn says, "and so many uncomfortable positions. I've never been able to smell Pin-Sol again without my heart fluttering a little."

"I've never been able to mop without getting a little turned on," Julian admits.

"Oh, god, there are two of you," Juliet says. She's blushing a little, presumably from imagining the two of them co-mingling near some custodial equipment. It's kind of flattering.

"That's exactly what I mean," Lassiter says. "Conflict of interest."

"Hey, I never took any mystical, legally binding cop oaths. Besides, how many of your coworkers have you slept with?" Shawn asks. "Because I know the count is at least one, though I suspect it's significantly higher, knowing how hot and bothered you get over both firearms and paperwork."

Lassiter grits his teeth in Shawn's general direction. Julian looks amused.

"Fine," he says. "But if I see any funny business happening that could distract from this very serious case, I'm shutting this down."

"Whatever could you mean by funny business, Lassie?" Shawn asks. "Does that rule out my up and coming stand up act? Gus's interest in both miming and clowning? Or are we talking about shenanigans in general, here?"

Lassiter points at him, looking like he wants to say something, before storming past them.

AND THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE FIC IF I EVER LEARNED HOW TO WRITE CASE!FIC WHICH I DIDN’T AND LIKELY NEVER WILL 

#psych #my fic

[harrymoots]

Unexpected.

The soft hum and vibrations of powerfully evocative lyrics and drums crept through the pale sarcoline wall behind him. That is what pulls him out of his intense strenuous song writing. For the third consecutive time this week he listens as his next door neighbor plays this melodic tune.

Shoving his red cased mini ipad aside on the couch, Harry reaches for his phone in front of him that lays upon his living room centered table. Unlocking the device, the app ‘Shazam’ was already displayed across his screen.

Harry was anxiously prepared for this moment, as dramatic as it sounds. He had this song infused in his mind since Sunday night and it’s been eating away at him to know who’s angelic voice seeps through his neighbors speakers on this unwelcoming cold Tuesday evening. Thumbing at his screen, Harry listens as the tune continues to roam through his living room and awaits as the app tries to obtain the noise as well.

Not being close enough to the sound, the irritated musician groans at the app. Pushing up from the couch below, he stands and walks around to the side of the couch to press his phone against the wall to get a better listen for his phone. Again. Not close enough.

“It’s not even that far.”, he mumbles to himself as he raises his devices higher over his head in hopes to make it hear the song better. “Maybe if I just...” Again. Not close enough.

Still reaching, on the very top of his sock covered toes, he chuckles to himself. If anyone were to see him at this very moment, body pressed against his living room wall right hand straight in the air trying to get a listen of a song he couldn’t get his mind off of, they would think he was crazy.

Harry starts to grow a little disappointed as the song continues to play, closely coming to an end, and soon enough the song altogether comes to an abrupt stop, leaving him in an echoed silence. Standing there frozen, still facing the wall, he groans for the second time this evening. Without thinking he bangs his head against the wall out of frustration causing a loud thud to consume the silence surrounding him. He just really wanted to find out what the name of that stupidly good song was so he can live in peace god damnit!

With sluggish shoulders and a heavy sigh, he made his four step journey back to the couch, throwing himself face down face pressed against the cushions. A few moments pass before an imaginary light bulb suddenly appears above him. Why hadn’t he thought of just knocking on his neighbors door himself and asking them what the title of his new favorite song was? Harry thought he was very good with people. Especially when it came to first impressions, he likes to think he can charm the people he meets with his wholesome kindness and piercing green eyes. His hopes in charming his way into letting his unknown neighbor gift him with the beautiful melody becoming his main goal tonight.

Jumping off the couch, determination written all across his face and ready to acquire his distractive treasure, Harry makes his way towards the door. Strong thuds sound as he starts his way down the mint condition bright hallway, with only just a good fifteen feet between his comfy abode and his destination.

Moving into his basement apartment, located in Douglas County, Colorado, was easily the best decision he’s made in a very long time. Peace and quiet was something Harry always considered a top priority. It’s where he works his best, but sometimes he likes to admit it’s only because of the Tasty House down the road from him.

Harry takes his final steps that leads him to stand in front of a crimson red door, decorated with a beautiful and rather sparkly christmas wreath. The sight brought a small smile to form on his face, already known to the fact that this person has been infected with the christmas spirit and joy that it brings. Lifting his arm to begin his admission, Harry clears his throat in preparation to speak in case his sixteen year old voice wants to make an appearance again.

After a few seconds of silence a voice, of a female he thinks, calls out from somewhere deep within the strangers home.

“Come in!”

Eyebrows drawing inwards, Harry crosses his arms in front of his chest and continues to stare at the door.

‘Is this person crazy? Come in? Why would this person just yell ‘come in’ at anyone that knocks?’, he thinks.

He won’t just walk into a persons home without a proper entrance and greeting, so Harry remains stubbornly standing in the same spot.

“I said, come in!”, the voice calls out again a little louder than the first time. Footsteps, he hears, progress louder towards him from the persons apartment and suddenly the door flys open revealing a brunette female, as he was in fact correct. She stands there, bare feet with an apron covering most of the front of her body, underneath that a solid black v neck. As Harry continues to observe the girl standing before him, with no shame whatsoever, he notices her long and toned thighs and calf’s that seem to go on forever but stop just below where her apron also ends and her very short shorts begin.

“Are you just going to stand there and stare?”, now that he could hear her voice more clearly, sounds that could be explained as red velvet cake and cherry blossom trees engulfed his ears all at once. His eyes wondered still, finally moving to her face and his knees nearly buckled at the color of her eyes. Two vibrant bright green eyes that he could have sworn only belonged to him, stared back at him. They were mesmerizing.

“Um, H-Hi..”, encased by her beauty, harry stuttered the words emitted from him. Harry felt as if everything around him seemed to stop and the only thing that was moving was his pounding heart that he was sure the girl in front of him could hear as well. Clearing his throat to speak properly, his raspy voice filled the tense silence. “M-My name is Harry.”

“I know. I’m Stella”, she appointed narrowing her eyes at the breathtaking pop star. Not just a minute ago, minding her own business, she had been waiting for her oven to finish baking the fresh batch of home-made banana bread muffins. Now, she’s standing in front of her neighbor, the Harry Styles. An artist. An icon. A music genius. Stella knew for a good while who accompanied the residence beside hers. She has imagined many times how her first time meeting him would play out, but this caught her off guard. What also caught her off guard were his wandering eyes. He was definitely checking her out. “Eyes up here buddy.”

Harry’s eyes shot up towards her eyes once again, cheeks starting to stain red and grow warm. “No!”, he paused figuring out how he would explain himself checking out his next door neighbor. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to- I mean you’re very pretty, like who wouldn’t- that’s not what i meant. Oh my god!” Harry began to grow nervous under her heavy piercing stare, now avoiding any eye contact to avoid further embarrassment.

Stella giggled at the stumbling mess in front of her and Harry swears he could listen to that sound all damn day. His objective for the night almost entirely leaving his mind, Harry speaks before anything else is said unintentionally. This really shouldn’t be so hard for him.

“I wanted to ask you..”, Harry paused searching his brain for the right words to stay. He didn’t want to tell her he was eavesdropping and come off as some stalking creep. “...but you don’t have to tell me!” harry quickly interjected.

“Ask me...?”, Stella asked after a brief pause of silence.

“The name of that s-song you were playing? I heard it.”, Harry chuckled, scratching the back of his head. “I guess we have really thin walls.... Anyway, I really liked it, but I don’t know who sings it and its been stuck in my head for a while. So I came here to uh-“

“Do you want to come inside?”, the green eyed goddess interrupted him mid ramble, Stella’s question catching both of them off guard. “I mean- Yeah I can show you the song. I have it on still on my phone screen, but I made muffins!”, the eagerness of the last few words drew an amused smile on Harry’s face. “-Or I can just only show you the song. I’m not even sure if you like muffins- banana bread muffins actually. There really good though! Like insanely good.”

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Stella’s cheeks feel warm as she realizes that she as well caught herself rambling nonsense. Did she really just offer Harry Styles muffins? Like he would ever want to eat a strangers baked goods.

Harry’s face lit up at the mention of her making muffins, now noticing the whiff of banana and a hint of some type of nut coming from her home behind her. “I would love to! Have a muffin, of course if you don’t mind.”

Both adults mindlessly forgetting the fact that he only really came here to ask for the name of a song, Stella shuffled a few steps aside to let Harry in. Since they do live in apartments, the design of her place matched Harrys identically, apart from the furniture creating a different vibe. Her home felt very welcoming and also very warm. In Harry’s living room you could probably eat a frozen popsicle and not have it melt, but he likes it that way. Shutting the door behind them, Stella led them towards her kitchen, passing by her living room and catching a glance at the heavy duty looking stereo set up. ‘That’s were the music came from.’, Harry thought.

As if she read his mind, Stella commented, “That stereo you see there? That’s how you heard the music. It gets pretty fucking loud when you want it to.” The way the profanity dropped from her plushy heart shaped lips made him start to sweat. How can one swear and make it seem so hot?

As they settled in the kitchen, both of them on either side of her kitchen island facing each other, Harry inadvertently begin to stare at the beautiful woman in front of him again. He could examine her better in this lighting. Now noticing the two medium space buns on top of her head, how could anyone look cuter? “Would you like anything to drink?” Yeah, you.

Harry eyes focused on nowhere but her rosy full lips as she spoke her harmless words, but the thoughts clouding his mind were not so innocent if she could ever hear them. “Some water would be nice, thank you.” Harry’s throat suddenly becoming drier than ever before while Stella turns around to begin preparing him the glass of water.

Watching her every move, Harry pondered. From a different point of view, someone would think that these two people were absolutely crazy. Why would a girl invite some random boy into her home for muffins? And why would some random boy walk into a girls home without knowing her upbringings. Although she did claim to know who he is, Harry thought it was a bit strange that she was quick to invite him into her home. Then again, he did agree without hesitation.

Setting the glass of ice cold water in front of him, Stella watched as he lifted the glass to his mouth and began drinking. It was her turn to observe the man sitting in front of her. He had on a grey oversized hoodie that matched along with his grey sweat shorts. Stella couldn’t remember if he had any shoes on when she invited him in. Harry Styles looked so much more beautiful in person. No argument necessary. He just radiates this natural aroma of wonderful that she can’t explain and right now she feels as if this is definitely all a dream and she’ll wake up in about five seconds.

“Do you live here alone?”, Harry wanted to start a conversation and he thought that was an appropriate question to ask.

“Yes, I do. I like living alone...”, pausing for a second to think, she continues. “I like having my peace and quiet when i’m home.” Well would you look at that? Harry was staring to like this girl the more she opened her mouth and moved her lips.

Especially when she moved her lips.

“Do you live alone?”, Stella asked backfiring his question, a small smile forming on her lips.

It took a moment for him to speak his answer. “I do actually. Love my alone time as well.”, he grinned.

As their conversation sustained, Harry progressively came to know the most eccentric facts about the brunette beauty. Like how every morning when she wakes up she has to scissor her fingers together so she doesn’t fall back to sleep. She also has a German Shepard, Daisy, named after the time when Stella found her in a ditch and proceeded to vomit daisy’s on Stella’s shirt. And she only wears black ankle length socks. Don’t even ask how those topics came about.

“-and so I had to put black tape to cover them up and let me tell how much of a nightmare it was to take them-“, as Harry was in the middle of telling a story about the time he dressed up as Miley Cyrus for halloween, Stella cut him off remembering exactly what he came here for before indulging in each others life stories.

“Unravel me.”

Harry chocked on a ball of air that he magically swallowed. “What?”

“I said-“

“I know what you said.” Did she want Harry to have sex with her? “What do you mean unravel you? I’m not sure-“

“That’s the name of the song, Harry!”, his name rolling off of her tongue was now his favorite sound ever. “The song you heard me playing on my speakers earlier. We totally forgot about that.”, she laughed. Of course, that’s what she meant. Did he actually think she would want to sleep with him? He had to get his mind out of the gutter.

“Oh! Yeah, thank you for that, I uh.... yeah I forgot- we forgot.”

“The artist..”, Stella continues. “Her name is Sabrina Claudio, she’s amazing! Her voice is so soothing and soft, I sometimes put her music on just to fall asleep.... Now that I say that out loud, it sounds a little strange-“

Harry wishes he could sit with her longer and hear Stella ramble on and on about the music and artists she loves out of her pretty rosy lips, but a sudden loud popping sound goes off behind her startling the both of them. Stella whips around and all too fast the oven that had been baking the homemade muffins start spewing out colossal balls of black thick smoke, causing the smoke alarm to sound loudly. Giant flames now growing where the muffins on the tray used to lay.

“MY MUFFINS!”, Stella runs towards the direction of her cabinets but a strong arm reaches and wraps around her hips. Hoisted up into the air by no other than Harry Styles himself, Stella screeches in surprise. “Harry?! What are you doing?! Let me down!”

“We have to run! There’s a fire Stella!” Harry almost manages to run out of the room completely caring the girl in his arms, but she somehow slithers her way out of his grip. Running back towards her kitchen cabinets, Stella pulls out a fire extinguisher from under the sink and begins to spray the giant flames. Harry stands there flabbergasted, staring as Stella puts out the last bit of fire in the sweltering oven. Quickly reaching to switch it off carefully not tying to burn herself, she sets down the fire extinguisher and rushes over to Harry.

“Are you okay?”, she places a hand on his shoulder, searching his face for any signs of sudden maim. Harry looks at the girl as if she grew a second head. What does she mean ‘is he okay?’ He should be the one asking her that question.

“You just played superhero and took down a huge fire! Your asking if i’m okay?”, he accused, voice slightly a little loud. “Who even are you?”

Stella laughed at that question. Suddenly aware of the thick smoke lingering close to the ceiling, she quickly moves around the kitchen opening windows. “I should try and get rid of all this smoke before it stains my walls!”

“Let me help you.”

Both bodies shuffled around the apartment opening all the windows they spotted, when all of a sudden there’s a strong pounding on the door that rattled the knob and soon after another pounding that sounds across the hall. “EVERYONE PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY! THE FIRE DEPARTMENT IS ON THE WAY! EVERYONE PLEASE EVACUATE NOW!”

Stella and Harry both turn to look at each other from across the living room. “Is that Micheal?”, Harry asks.

“That’s Micheal.”, Stella confirms easily picturing their landlord screaming like a banshee as he always does.

Making her way towards the door, harry following closely behind, a frown formed on her face and she walked with her shoulders sluggish. Harry took notice and didn’t hesitate to place a hand on her shoulder making her turn towards him. “What’s wrong?”

Stella took in a deep sigh before she spoke. “I was really looking forward to having you try my muffins.”, she admitted with an adorable pout. Harry pushed the dirty end of that sentence to the back of his mind to generate a response for her. “Well, i’m sure those muffins would have been amazing. But look at the bright side, you stopped the fire before it could have gotten any bigger and saved a whole building from burning down.” Harry said the next statement as he looked in her eyes. “My true Super Woman.”

Stella’s eyes widened as she took his words in, while a wave of heat flashed her cheeks. “Oh, stop it.”, she looked down bashfully, causing harry to smirk widely. They made their way down the hallway towards the staircase, finally ending up in the freezing cold thirty feet away from the building alongside the buildings exhausted inhabitants.

The blaring fire trucks propelled up the road, soon stopping in front of the brick building. Everyone watched as the fire fighters one by one piled out of red trucks and began to toil away. One fire fighter in particular grabbed Stella’s attention, speaking out into the air particularly to no one. “Anyone smell banana muffins, or is it just me?”

Harry and Stella found each other’s eyes once again, trying to suppress each others laughter, as some of the other neighbors looked at them suspiciously.

Even though the night did end up a disaster in some aspects, Harry thought contently as it didn’t matter because he ultimately found out the name of the beautiful song from his beautiful next door neighbor.

~

-My first piece of writing! Ever! Let me know what you think.

#Harry Styles #Harry Styles Imagine #Harry #Harry Styles One Shot #Harry Writing #Writing #Imagine #Harry Styles Imagines

[briarofthebush]

I’m in my favourite place for a casual coffee and snack in my local area. I live in a pretty commercial corner of the town, which boasts about 5 Starbucks and one cosy café, one old-school diner, several other franchised café/eateries such as ‘Chipotle’, ‘Panda Express’, ‘Red Robin’ and ‘Subway’ just to name a few. When I can, I love an excuse to take me out of this highly commercial area so I can enjoy a good coffee, and a good vibe in an independent business. My local café is often too dark, the food is pretty ordinary, and the noise unworkable. There is no nice vibe, in fact it feels hostile at times.

Here, where I am this morning, up the road a bit, away from the shopping district, there is the smell of coffee and good, smoky bacon. There are always a lot of relaxed people around, many in my own demographic, as well as younger and older. Lots of dog owners (though they keep dogs outside). People play with their kids (or ignore them) on a big rug at the back. Many people have become familiar faces to me. There is light. The coffee is excellent. The food is usually delicious. They make coconut bread and a maple and bacon muffin which is awesome. I meet here to ‘write’ every Friday morning, though sometimes it’s purely a social gathering. Oh, and they know my name now, when I order stuff!

This place sits up on Roosevelt Rd, along with a few pubs and another couple of restaurants, amongst other small businesses in Mapleleaf. I love this part of town. It is a very steep 15 minute walk up through the suburb from my place, or it’s a short bus ride.

I can get a really good fresh croissant here, or a breakfast sandwich on an English muffin or a Bagel. There are lots of cakes and quiches to choose from. There is a range of great looking sandwiches that they will make fresh, including the BBQ pork, the Cuban, Turkey, cream cheese and cranberry, Tuna salad, Mediterranean roasted veges, (though I’ve yet to try one).  I often get a croissant with ham and cheddar, which is chockers with good ham, unlike in Australia, where the meat portion on a sandwich is distinctly light-on. (I really think there is no excuse for skimping on the meat in a sandwich, because they are incredibly expensive, for that tiny sliver of turkey or beef or pork they give you at home.) Let the Americans take credit for knowing how to put together a good sandwich.

Although don’t get me started on the bread. AS we speak, I am stocking up on par-baked and bakery reads in my freezer, because there is no such thing as a corner bakery for miles or a milk bar where can grab a loaf on my way home from places, and I live a good walk from the supermarket. I have tried several of the packaged brands of bread, the white, the whole-wheat, the grainy, and they all stick to the roof of our mouths. They have so much sugar in them. They feel wrong, they taste wrong. Only the Italian style or Sour dough breads are less sugary. The good bakery breads are excellent, but as I said, I have to get to a supermarket that is out of my way when I’m in transit, so I make special ‘bread shopping’ trips to stock up. If I had a bigger kitchen, I would make my own.

I love to buy a sandwich at QFC, an upmarket grocery where I can also get a hot sandwich from the deli counter on my way out, and savour it’s deliciousness on the way home as a reward for walking up to the supermarket along the noisy, smelly road. They give them names like ‘The Rainier’ or ‘The Snohomish’, and pack them full of really nice cheese, pestos, relishes, mustards and Boars Head Cured meats. I always feel like a bit of criminal for ordering one, but it is so worth it to get one. And always get it cut in half so it can be stretched to 2 meals, or shared.  One day Johnny and I greedily thought we could eat more than a ½ roll each, and ordered a grilled cheese sandwich as well to share on our way home. We were really hungry and it was a very cold and grey day. We walked past the old homeless guy on his wheelie-walker on our way in, and the minute we saw him again on our way out we knew we had to give the grilled cheese to him.  I will one day be greedy enough to order one for myself.

These are but a few memorable foody experiences I have had here in Seattle, in USA generally. I wish I could say I’ve had many more, but I really did know what I was in for, moving here. I knew it could be a challenge, to be able to eat what I was used to here. I knew the food would, at the very least, look different, and possibly taste differently. I have been really fortunate to fall in with foody types, who have travelled, and have shaken loose their need to have every little thing BBQed, covered in buffalo sauce and bleu cheese and other indiscriminate flavourings, or in a burger… people who ‘get’ food, and care where it comes from, and that it is different the world over.  We’ve been taken to a place that does oysters and raw food, which is possibly the best place in town, we’ve had amazingly cooked Central American food at a gaudy old garage painted up to be a festive cantina- served Mojitos with plantain chips and moles to die for. We’ve had beautifully cooked Bistec et frites in a French restaurant, crab dips, lobster rolls, Aussie style pies, authentic Mexican food, Indian food, Korean banquet, Yum Cha and Southern style food truck delights. We had Caribbean style jerk cooked food in beautiful sandwiches, in another converted garage. (This up-cycling of mechanic workshops into restaurants is to be commended).  We were fed a delicious crab and lobster filled ravioli- lasagne at Christmas. We have had fresh filled dumplings cooked for us, pork ribs and roasted chickens and lamb chops cooked for us by our friends in their homes. Beautiful, fresh and nutritious food.

We’ve have tried Southern fried chicken in a few places, and I can’t fault it anywhere. It is always delicious. All I know is, I should never really have it.

All the same, as much as Seattle is fast becoming a foody destination, (according to word on the ‘street’), the idea where a café is a more casual place where there is restaurant style great food available has not quite caught on. Not in the suburbs, at least. People still expect and receive the over-sized sandwiches, huge plates of diced potato and bacon with everything, hot or BBQ sauce with everything, and there seems to be an expectation for people’s plates to be loaded up with no space left. Loaded up to the roof in some cases. Lunch is often a 3 courses on an order affair, with soup, salad, chips to go with your sandwich, panini, burger or bagel. You feel weird just ordering a sandwich. But I quite like the ½ sandwich +soup options in some places. (You don’t have to be a pig). You are often expected to order at the counter and bus your own dishes. As nice as the staff are at the counter, they don’t often clean up after you. Everyone knows where to put their dirty dishes. Salads are often very much a chopped up bowl of everything in a bowl. I have seen maybe two carefully arranged salads on a plate in 20 months.

Breakfast, on the other hand, is a FULL plate of stuff, and often a pancake to go with it. The American breakfast is seemingly a tradition that will never budge, especially since people in the west will now eat biscuits and gravy, fried chicken and waffles, and even pulled meat on their eggs Bene, (which often is smothered in béchamel and not hollandaise). The Avocado Smash phenomenon and the Shakshuka are happening, but only in those very trendy cafes where people line up out the door, such as you see on Portlandia. The best option if you don’t want to walk out feeling like you’ve done something really dirty and need to go and take a long shower and hit the gym all afternoon, is to have a breakfast bagel or croissant. Which is what I do here quite often. They don’t actually do big plates of food here, just sandwiches, quiches and cakes. Beautiful cakes, wholesome and generously full of fruit or nuts. Their coconut bread is to die for.

Today I am going to do something different for me, and order pie (fruit, probably berry), only I didn’t see any pies in the display case at the counter. But I do know that, unlike at home where you feel very strange and humiliated to ask for things you cannot see, I know I can ask here and they will probably want to give me along and well explained story about the display case being broken or the pie oven being broken or the berry supplier being on strike. And then we’ll probably get talking about my accent and about someone’s sister who went to Adelaide or somewhere. It will be pleasant and not humiliating. And then I’ll order something else.

When I leave here I will probably hit QFC and grab some good bread and maybe even a sandwich for Johnny and I to share for lunch. If we go to the pub later it will mean a fairly naughty food option. Happy Hour Food is often quite calorie heavy. Cheese balls, Fried curds with a delicious raspberry sauce, Fries, pulled pork potato skins, pizettes, nachos, burgers, sliders, buffalo wings are some of the things you might find on the menu. One of our 2 locals has much more fresh fare, (woodfired pizzas and salads for example) and the other has much more traditionally prepared, aka fried food. Unfortunately the one with the cheap Mug Club beer is the one with all the greasy options. My favourite item on their menu is a raw tuna Poke ‘nachos’ on fried wonton skins, with mashed avocado, jalapeno slices, spring onion and a teriyaki dressing. It is really delicious, but doesn’t seem to line my stomach for the ensuing pints of beer well enough, unfortunately. It has taken months of experimentation to figure out the best ‘drink friendly’ foods to begin a night on, and to work out that a starter snack of something small but stodgy then another later on after a couple of drinks, then maybe a THIRD night cap (small) supper is possibly the best way for me to cope with 3-4 (or more) pints. It can get pretty washing machine-like in my tum at times.

(I’d better poke in a disclaimer here: while I am not on a strict calorie controlled diet, I am actively trying to NOT put on MORE weight before I return home to the land of salad days). A heavy meal when drinking is just stupid. Dessert is ridiculous. No-one needs that much food! Well I don’t. I don’t move enough.  And then, if brunch is on for the next day, well that is just really asking for more lard to deposit itself on my rear…

I’ve actually decided against the pie. The shared monster sandwich Johnny and I will have will be quite enough food for the rest of the day.

Until ‘happy hour’.

Take Me Home, Country Loaf I’m in my favourite place for a casual coffee and snack in my local area. I live in a pretty commercial corner of the town, which boasts about 5 Starbucks and one cosy café, one old-school diner, several other franchised café/eateries such as ‘Chipotle’, ‘Panda Express’, ‘Red Robin’ and ‘Subway’ just to name a few.