#let it be known that i will be deceased when we get the first actual seaweed brain/wise girl in the show - fully dead

[etoilesdeglace]

seaweed brain vs. wise girl

#let it be known that i will be deceased when we get the first actual seaweed brain/wise girl in the show - fully dead #percy jackson #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo #pjo tv series #pjo tv #pjo tv show #pjoedit #pjogif #percyjacksonedit #percyjacksongif #pjosource #tvedit #*mine #*my gifs #*my pjo #pjo spoilers #percy jackson spoilers #percabeth #percy #annabeth #annabeth chase

[vivwritesfics]

No Need To Ask

Chapter Seven - No Weaknesses

The Norris' were a notorious crime family in the UK. One of many. With Norris, the head of the family, running operations with his son, Lando, they work to keep Y/N Norris, Norris' daughter protected. Life in a crime family wasn't something they wanted for her.

But with tension with one of the Spanish crime families rise, Norris and his now deceased wife come up with only one plan, offer their daughter to the Sainz's or risk an all out war.

1.7K words

Because of how I've made the character of Carlos' mother, I didn't want to use her real name. That is why she is called Mrs Sainz (or Señora sainz)

Series Masterlist

Masterlist

Oscar had his own room in Carlos’ house. He had yet to actually sleep in it though.

So far, Oscar had just used his room to store his clothes and to get changed. The bed was perfectly made from where he hadn’t yet slept in it. When Y/N found this out, she assumed it was unintentional, that he just fell asleep while he was watching over her.

And that was partially true. Oscar did fall asleep while he was protecting her. But he allowed himself to. he let himself fall asleep while he was in Y/N’s room. Carlos had brought it up to her over a game of chess, he knew, and had told her that he had men stationed outside of her room.

Well, that didn’t help to comfort her. It didn’t comfort Oscar, either. On the rare instance that he left Y/N’s room (which would only be for twenty minutes, at most) he made sure to level Carlos’ men with a piercing stare.

After two weeks of being in Carlos’ house, a week after Lando had flown home, Y/N had an unexpected visitor at her bedroom door. She’d knocked before with Carlos and Oscar had answered the door then. The stare she gave him was more terrifying that anything Carlos had done to him, and Oscar found himself stepping to the side. “Good choice,” Carlos mumbled as he walked past him.

This time, Carlos’ mother came alone. Oscar didn’t know how to address the woman, so he just stepped to the side and let her into the room.

“Who is it, Osc?” Asked Y/N when she didn’t hear him say anything. Sat at her vanity, she had a book open in front of her. It was one she had brought with her from the UK.

Mrs Sainz cleared her throat. That was how she was known in the family, just as those who worked for the Norris family called Y/N’s mother Mrs Norris when she was alive. Y/N looked up at the mirror. She didn’t know what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t Carlos’ mother.

Suddenly Y/N was on her feet. “Mrs Sainz!” She said, in way of greeting. Mrs Sainz didn’t smile when she looked at her.

“We have work to do before the wedding,” she said, hands clasped together. “You are spending the day with me.”

Y/N nodded her head. “Come,” said Mrs Sainz. She turned on her heel and strode out of the room, leaving Y/N to follow her. Oscar went to follow as well, but Mrs Sainz gave him a look and he stopped. She kept staring at him until he retreated back into the room.

“He follows you around like a dog,” Mrs Sainz spat as she led Y/N through the house.

“He means well,” Y/N replied. “He’s just doing as Lando asked him.”

Mrs Sainz made a noise of disapproval as she went down the stairs. She didn’t say more on the matter as she took Y/N into a room that could only have been called the parlour.

The chairs in the parlour were covered with white dresses. Wedding dresses, Y/N realised as she looked at all of them. In the middle of the room was a seamstress, setting up her things. "Today we are going to find you a dress," said Mrs Sainz.

"But I already have a dress," Y/N said, somewhat timidly.

Mrs Sainz made that same disapproving noise. "Not good enough for my son," she muttered and walked over to the first dress, picking it up.

Y/N had never been to a Mafia wedding before. They'd happened in her lifetime, sure, but she'd never been. She didn't know what to expect on her own wedding day. She knew she'd have very little control over the wedding, but she thought she'd be able to control the dress.

Suddenly Y/N began welling up. She sank to her knees and let the tears flow freely. "Enough of that, stupid girl," said Mrs Sainz as Y/N continued to cry.

But she couldn't help it. She couldn't stop the sobs as she furiously wiped under her eyes. Her breathing was becoming difficult as she pulled her legs closer to her chest.

Arms grabbed her own and Y/N was forcibly pulled to her feet. "Oh, estúpida y estúpida!" Shouted Mrs Sainz. Her hand was raised and, for a moment, Y/N thought she was going to slap her. "You are going to be a part of the Sainz family! You can't be seen showing weakness!"

Y/N wiped away her tears and tried to suppress her sobs. Mrs Sainz grabbed a hold of the nearest dress and passed it to Y/N. She gave her no choice in the matter, making her try on every single one.

None of the dresses were close to the dress Y/N had chosen for herself.  When Y/N tried to voice her opinions on the dresses, Mrs Sainz would quickly shut her up and turn her attention to the seamstress. The women spoke in Spanish, leaving Y/N standing there without an inkling as to what was going on.

Mrs Sainz had her wearing every single dress. If she gave her opinions, they were in Spanish. The seamstress worked on every dress she tried on, often times poking Y/N with the sharp needles. If she expressed pain, Mrs Sainz would sharply shut her up. Whicher dress was her favourite, Y/N wasn’t sure. After Y/N had tried them all on Mrs Sainz pushed her out of the room, shutting the door in her face so that she could discuss things with the seamstress alone.

As soon as Y/N was out of the room, she leaned against the nearest wall and let out a breath. She’d been poked so many times with a needle she didn’t know how she wasn’t bleeding. She threw her head back and shut her eyes, savouring the moment alone.

Y/N pushed away from the wall and walked down the corridor. She just wanted to get back to her room and sleep until tomorrow.  

As Y/N walked past the doors that led out to the patio, Y/N stopped. She couldn’t help but watch him as he swam in the pool, wet hair pushed back on his head and his tanned skin glistening. She didn’t know what it was, but something compelled her to walk forwards, to push open the doors and step out onto the patio.

Carlos stopped swimming. He rested his arms on the pool ledge. Neither of them said anything, Y/N waiting for Carlos to say something and Y/N not sure what to say.

As soon as she stepped outside, Y/N went to turn back around. “Wait,” came Carlos’ voice, stopping her in her tracks. “Stay.”

Y/N did just that. She pulled off her shoes and socks and sat on the pool ledge, her feet in the water. Still, they didn’t say anything. Y/N watched him as he went back to swimming, doing laps up and down the pool.

Was this what the rest of her life was going to be? Sitting there quietly while Carlos did what he wanted? That wasn’t the life her mother lived and it wasn’t the life Mrs Sainz lived.

Y/N played with the skin around her nails, in her peripheral vision she watched as Carlos pulled himself out of the pool, muscles visible to whoever might have been watching (aka, Y/N). She kept her legs in the water as Carlos walked behind her and grabbed his towel.

“Can I ask you something?” Asked Y/N in a moment of bravery.

“Of course,” said Carlos as he sat and used the towel to dry his hair.

Y/N sucked in a breath. Brave. She needed to be brave. “I… What’s expected of me?” She asked. “When I am your wife, what is expected of me?”

Carlos looked across the patio at her. His towel was around his shoulders, and he ran his fingers through his hair. Carlos had taken time to think about it since his father told him of the marriage, since it was purely to benefit the families. There were a few things expected of every mafia wife. She was expected to stand by her husband’s side and give him children. Whether this went to the point that it did with Y/N’s mother, where she was as in charge as her husband was, that was yet to be seen.

“Once we are married, we are to have children,” he answered.

“Oh,” Y/N mumbled before he could continue with his listed. She hadn’t thought about this, hadn’t thought about having his children. Maybe Y/N didn’t realise that this was a part of a mafia wife’s life. She had never had sex before, and the thought was giving her enough anxiety already. But, you throw children into the mix? That was a whole different kettle of fish.

Carlos continued. “You will no longer be loyal to the Norris family and your loyalties will lie with me.”

Y/N knew this bit. She had been mentally preparing herself for this, for when she was to say goodbye to the family she had grown up in. “Will I get to visit my brother?” She asked and kicked her legs slowly, moving them through the water.

He took his time answering this one. With the declining health of Norris, it was something he and his father had been discussing. As Carlos had said at the dinner in the Norris, he was happy for Y/N to go home for her father’s funeral for a week or two. Of course, he was going to have to send one of two of his men with her, to make sure she stayed safe and didn’t… slip up.

“Yes,” Carlos answered. “You will join me on… business trips. Your brother will be attending this business trips and that is when you will see him,” he said.

“What about my father?”

“We will discuss this when the time comes,” he said.

“But-”

“When the time comes,” Carlos said and stood from his seat. With his towel still around his shoulders he walked into his house, pulling the doors shut behind him.

Y/N stayed in the pool, hot sun beating down on her. But Y/N didn’t care. She looked down in the water, at the colourful tiles at the bottom of the pool. If she wasn’t already terrified for the life of a Mafia wife, she was now.

Taglist (open): @multi-universe21 @formulas-bitch @gills-lounge @weasleyswizarding-wheezes @carlossainzwho @f1lov3r @samaib11 @charli123456789 @queenofmanydreams @ironmaiden1313 @vellicora @glitterf1 @80sloverry @lightdragonrayne @moonayu @bellsalabanccini @topguncultleader @handsupforamiracle @cmleitora @ashy-kit @jenniferrvsesi @barcelonaloverf1life @sbella13 @nicolettecallednikki @darleneslane

#carlos sainz #carlos sainz imagine #carlos sainz x reader #carlos sainz fluff #carlos sainz smut #carlos sainz x reader smut #carlos sainz x you #f1 #f1 imagine #f1 x reader #formula one #formula one imagine #formula one x reader #formula 1 #formula 1 x reader #formula 1 imagine #cs55 #cs55 imagine #cs55 x reader #f1 scenario #mafia!f1 #mafia!au

[lavandaea]

*inhales deeply*

There's spoilers ahead so, yeah, be careful.

This weekend episodes have actually broken my soul.

He didn't even need his feelings to be reciprocate, HE JUST WANTED TO BE WITH HER.

Dear writers, some things to ask, why so much screen time to second male lead? Why create such chemistry? Such backstory? (Spoiler alert: that will make us sympathize with the supposed villain) To just fuck*ing rip his heart out and pulverize it like Grandma with the cow bones, yes, just like that.

Let me get this straight, after having been raised in an environment of violence, pain and God knows what else for God knows how long, he falls in love. He experiences ✨feelings✨ ,he puts all his trust in her like never before, he shares his past and then he gets betrayed.

I swear I never seen someone cry so with so much meaning, feeling, with so much back there.

We made progress for the last (at least) five episodes TO JUST END IT IN A SINGLE ONE.

This could have been handled a lot better in a lot of ways and about a lot of topics that I could actually write an essay.

Let's begin the the main leads.

So, in order to have some sort of feeling about ML and FL loving eachother you need to put screen time ON them. Yeah, they support eachother, they have known far before Si Oh, they are funny and a lot of things more. They even kissed and very passionately, wow. Just one thing, Why didn't I even blink during that scene but found myself hitting the pillow and blushing when Si Oh did such mundane things as taking her home, opening doors for her, fixing her purse, hair, looking at her with those "I love you" eyes,👏feeling👏guilty👏about👏making👏her👏uncomfortable👏 with👏his👏feelings👏for👏her HELLO??, WAVING HER BACK WHILE HE WATCHED HER GO, SMILE EVERY DAMN TIME HE SAW HER?

I´ll tell you why. Because I know, thanks to you, that Si Oh was experiencing for the very first time what it's like to have human interaction that doesn't involve violence or having to be wary of everything and everyone all the time. He wanted to connect, to share his whole self, to be happy, to make her happy, to love and be loved. Moreover, I can't help just to feel happy for him, sad, angry, fucking rageous (not more than him, obviously).

Meanwhile, I barely know Hee Sik aka the male lead.

I remember seeing his mother once and I think that's what I understood about his private life. Sorry, I forgot about his deceased brother, that could have been a good topic to develop if it wasn't just mentioned once somewhere in the sixth chapter and left there to rot. Other than that, I know he is a cop, loves his cops friends and loves Nam Soon, also he is really loyal and good person.

Nice👍, very nice. But what else?? Or does the man just exist for his job and girlfriend? Even Shi Oh had some time to box being a drug dealer and full time whipped for her.

I'm just saying that you want me to suddenly dislike someone you took a considerable amount of time explaining but I have to like this good guy because you just pointed at him 👉🧍, and said, "here's the good guy, love him".

Sorry, I cant do that.

If you haven't noticed, you just made a character I fell obliged to sympathize.

If you wanted to make him evil and hot you should have just made him evil and hot.

It worked just as well with Jang Han Seok from Vincenzo.

Not have him have "REDEMPTION" written all over his face just to go with "Actually, no. He has no chance. 😃". It's, for lack of a better term, frustrating. (Absurd)

Instead, maybe you should have dedicated that screen time for the construction of the main leads relationship.

Oh, yes. Another thing since we are talking about the matter.

ML and FL relationship progress got weaker and weaker since she had started to spy on Si Oh. And then one episode was like "Oh, yeah, forgot to tell you, they are actually dating by now" Bom, a kiss. If I need a kiss to know they are in love, there's something going on back there. Something lacking.

Scenes of them in love: well acted, nice, cute, cool, okay. But it is like picking a random romance book and start reading it ten chapters ahead, they are in love, but how this did happen??? Last time I saw them, they were in a friends-and-some-more zone.

Where's the progress?

I know where is it. In the fake relationship, that it was being used just to turn Si Oh into a complete monster with probably not chance of going back.

"You have suffered a lot, yeah, I see. Anyway here's more pain. Suffer more and go cause some trouble because if not, there's, apparently, no plot"

Nice job.

I have been saying this and I will say it again, kdrama writers/directors are not ready for traumatized villains. They are afraid of them.

#strong girl nam soon #ryu shi oh #byun woo seok #gang nam soon #nam soon #kdrama #lee yoo mi #even hong seol and jeong had more chemistry and thats saying a lot

[snootlestheangel]

COD AU Ideas

Yup, just a big list of AU ideas I've had rattlin' around in the ole brain. I may not ever get around to doing something with most of these. Some might be very thought out and others a simple sentence of a concept. These are all my concepts, so have the expectation that these will eventually become my fics.

I'm unsure right now if any of these will turn into actual works, cause goodness knows I already have too much on my plate right now, BUT for the most part, what I put here is/will be what to expect if I actually do something with them. In other words, these will serve as "fic descriptions" but just for fics that may never come to be.

The first one I didn't include a "fic" description just cause it's such a niche AU and I really want to inspire others to write their own stuff for it. So please let me know if you want my idea for the work!

Anyways, here's some brain rot!

Prison Break AU

SoapGhost AU where they're both in prison and plan an escape together. Based simply on the idea of "We escaped prison together, and oops we fell in love along the way". SO MUCH angst potential, so much comedy potential, so much potential!!!!

I'll definitely do something with it one day, but we don't have any of these bad boys (that I'm aware of) so please ask me/tag me if you want to write a Prison Break/Prison AU of our boys!!! Like, a Prison AU is a phenomenal idea why have I not heard of anything like this existing already???

Cryptid Hunters AU

AU in which Task Force 141 is actually an entire section of the modern military dedicated to controlling/monitoring the cryptid/monster populations of the world. Sometimes this means killing really rare/dangerous ones. Would contain PriceNik (subject to change into including Graves), SoapGhost, GazAlex.

It's the 141 boys just hunting cryptids with the help of Shadow Company (the North American version), Kate Laswell, and a few others. *honestly not my favorite AU, most likely to be forgotten about*

Cryptid Hunters AU but a bit to the left

Same concept as before but Ghost is a cryptid himself. Ghost still acts like a normal dude, and is a part of the 141 because they're actually super helpful for him, as a powerful cryptid-most-likely-ancient-deity. Helpful because they remove competition/keep most cryptids under check. But not helpful cause they stress him out, they want to find The Ghost and put "it" down cause it's apparently super dangerous.

He's a modern cryptid, meaning stories about his cryptid-self are recent (last like 20 years), which makes him that much more terrifying. He's actually one of the most notorious English cryptids; known for his abilities to phase in and out of shadows, creating pillars of solidified black sand, changing his size from massive to incredibly small, and causing incredibly vivid hallucinations of deceased loved ones. He earned the name Ghost cause of those hallucinations and how he often appears like the ghost of a person long deceased. Cue SoapGhost happening and lots of angst potential with that. Also so much comedy cause they're all like "Damn Ghost was spotted again" and he has to act surprised by what they find when they investigate the area. Soap openly defending the entity of Ghost by saying that he's "never killed anyone! 'Sides we should study him and learn about him! He's probably the only one of his kind, ya know!" Ghost falling in love with the strange little human that looks in awe at the massive structures Ghost makes with his crystalized black sand. Ghost intentionally making them more intricate as time goes on, letting himself get spotted in his full "demonic" form cause the excitement and borderline insane curiosity on Soap's face is always worth it. Now this?? This is good shit that I really want to write now

Soap is a Healer AU

Can't think of a good concise thing to call this AU so lemme explain! Soap who is part of a small percentage of people that possess unique abilities. Their designed to "heal souls" so to speak. People with lots of baggage in their lives often seek out the comfort of these "healers" because they can genuinely help them "heal" from all of this. Part of this means helping them move on from the loss of loved ones, like friends and family, or even pets. This means they can see ghosts of people that someone is still attached to. It's not the ghosts being attached to the people, it's the living not wanting to/struggling to move on. Healers can interact with a person's ghost(s) and vice versa, which is often how they help people move on.

Make it SoapGhost though where "Healers" shouldn't be in the military. There's been too many that have gone insane themselves from all the pain and misery they see/feel/experience on a daily basis. Even if they never see a battlefield, they're constantly surrounded by those who have and it's a miserable experience. Healers in these positions often take their own lives because "they couldn't save everyone" and it eventually became incredibly difficult for a Healer to get to where Soap is. But Soap's identity as a Healer is known by like maybe 3 people, Price not included. And he's not got the true "Healer" personality: he's not quite as empathetic and self-sacrificing as people like his mum, so he's doing just fine where he is.

Then he meets Ghost and suddenly all that changes. He suddenly meets someone he knows he needs to "heal" because damn. He sees the Riley family: Ghost's mum, Tommy and Beth, Joseph, and even Roach. Soap slowly winning Ghost over with the help of the Riley family. Soap slowly helping Ghost move on, helping to convince Ghost that Roach is gone, it's okay to love someone else, Ghost realizing Soap is "Healer" and getting upset that he's just "using" Ghost or whatever the fuck, Soap having to convince him that he fell in love with him, not that he's trying to heal him because it's what Soap is, but because he loves him. Soap saying he fell in love when he realized how many years had passed since the Riley family's passing, how unusual it is for people to have such strong "ghosts" after more than 5 years, saying he fell in love because it means Ghost is such a deeply caring, loving person. He fell in love because often times the "ghosts" in a person's life just continue on like nothing happened, and seeing the way they love Simon, seeing the way little Joseph just adores his uncle, everything about Simon Riley made Soap fall in love.

Undercover AU

This one's a GazAlex AU actually!

Literally what it sounds like. The two have to work together as an undercover duo, often times pretending to be a couple, as they help track down a big bad. Lot of flustered Alex caused by Gaz simply ~existing~. So many cliche tropes in this bad boy. The "there was only one bed", the "make out in an alley to avoid getting caught", the "pretending to be married".

Just a lot of Gaz being the coolest, most badass mf-er to exist and Alex trying desperately to keep things "professional" between them and failing miserably. Gaz being confident and using it to make Alex even more flustered cause "heh, he's kinda cute when he's all red and embarrassed". Gaz knowing full well the crisis he's giving Alex like 90% of the time, but not pushing Alex out of his comfort zone cause it's clear Alex likes him but doesn't want to compromise anything about their mission.

So much silly goofy potential with this, but also like some genuine good shit. Also Laswell and Price being older, "wiser" gays just laughing at the two dancing around each other.

Definitely going to be a fic once I finish one of my current WIPs. This either means posting all the YouTuber AU drabbles I have in my drafts or the last 4 chapters of my Left4Dead AU. Probably the latter...

Anyways, feel free to ask questions about these AUs! I'd love to get an excuse to share more of my brain rot!

#simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #kyle gaz garrick #soapghost #ghostsoap #gazalex #alexgaz #cod mw2 #call of duty #cod au #soapghost au #gazalex au #snootles's au dump

[medea10]

My Review of Tokyo Revengers: Tenjiku-hen

Okay, new season, new characters, new gang, same opening theme song…

Wait, what?! I mean, the graphics are different, but still.

HISTORY: Takemichi. Time travel. 2005 is a cunt year. I’m not going over it again. Here’s season one and here’s season two. Read up.

SEASON THREE: Previously on Tokyo Revengers, Takemichi returned to 2006 after a glimpse of the most depressing future yet. But that’s going to have to wait as a gang he has no recollection of just kicked the ever-loving crap out of him, Chifuyu, and most of his bros. This is Tenjiku. This gang has Tokyo Manji outnumbered. Many of their captains are so soulless that they’ll beat you within an inch of your life. And worst of all, Kisaki has joined this group. Seeing as Kisaki would be so defiant as to go to another gang five seconds after being thrown out of a gang for trying to turn it into a bloated monster, it gets Takemichi thinking. What if Kisaki is also coming from the future like Takemichi?

While we have that to ponder, we see the leader of Tenjiku, Izana popping up around Mikey. Turns out there’s more to these two leaders than you would let on. And finally, Takemichi knows another person in Tenjiku. It’s not one of Kisaki’s cronies, it’s actually a childhood friend. His name is Kakucho. Despite him and Takemichi being old buds, Kakucho is going to remain loyal to Izana and Tenjiku. Although, Kakucho does distrust Kisaki. So, there’s that! Takemichi (despite the promise he made last season) returned to the future to see what he could find out about the Tenjiku gang. This ended badly. Oh sure, he got some info from reformed Cocaine Bear from last season Taiju. But Takemichi and Naoto wound up gunned down by Kisaki, Kakucho, and Izana.

Back in 2006, Takemichi tested if his line to the future is cut off. It is. He shook hands with the young Naoto and no-go, future Naoto is dead. Takemichi’s muttering about the future hit the ears of Hina. Okay, so she knows but will pretend she didn’t hear a thing…for now. And then we learn that Izana is actually Mikey’s half-brother. Mikey’s family tree is fucked up. Add to that, Mikey’s (deceased) older brother Shinichiro was the original leader of Black Dragon. He planned to let Mikey be the leader, but of course he started Tokyo Manji. But then we learn Izana was the 8th generation leader of Black Dragon (the prior leader to Taiju). Okay, my head is spinning with everything happening here.

NEW CHARACTERS: Onto the Tenjiku arc characters. There’s really only two notable new characters here. One more thing, Hulu hasn’t dropped any of these episodes in English so I’m only giving Japanese seiyuus here.

Izana Kurokawa is the leader of Tenjiku. This is a person that up to this point Takemichi knew nothing about. This season, he’ll know it all. First of all, he’s revealed to allegedly be Mikey’s half-brother. Second, he was once the leader of the Black Dragon gang (the gang that was started by Shinichiro and was to be given to Mikey.

And then there’s Kakucho! Kakucho was friends with Takemichi back when they were children. But Kakucho went away. I think he went into a group home because his parents died in some sort of accident. I gathered since the anime really didn’t talk much about Kakucho, but the scar on Kakucho’s face tells a big story. While there, he makes a life-long friendship with Izana.

*Izana is played by Nobunaga Shimazaki (known for Haru on Free!, Yuki on Fruits Basket 2019, Yuno on Black Clover, Eugeo on SAO: Alicization, Sengoku on Horimiya, Shinichi on Parasyte, and Sunakawa on Ore Monogatari)

*Kakucho is played by Seiichirou Yamashita (known for Ishikawa on Horimiya, Raiden on 86, Edward on Black Butler, and Clay on Soul Eater NOT)

SHIPPING PART THREE: This does dip into spoilery territory, so I’ll try to mind my words.

Hina! Yes, Takemichi x Hina is still a thing. They’re cute together. She sees him as a personal hero. And I honestly think that Hina’s love for Takemichi grew when she knew what Takemichi has been doing in terms of leaping through time. There is however one person who has been eyeing Hina for a long time. And that’s Kisaki.

Back in season two, we do get a flashback of Kisaki and Hina together when they saw Takemichi do something impulsive yet heroic. I kinda thought that there might have been something there, Kisaki-wise. Who knew I was going to be right? Hina said some kind words to Kisaki about him being so smart that it reached his cold, calculating heart. Kisaki loves Hina and that’s all I can talk about as I want save it for the finale portion. Let’s talk about another ship.

Koko x Inupi. I wasn’t expecting it. I probably should have since our bro Inupi slays in them heels. I’m just a little confused by it. Koko was in love with Inupi’s older sister and Koko’s crusade of earning more and more money was driven because Inupi’s sister was burned in a house fire. But she dies, Koko still strives for more money, and he kisses Inupi because…??? Dead sis, something…Um, let’s talk about another ship.

Emma x Draken is…oh!

YEAH, THIS PART HURT: Emma’s death. Yeah, just going to come out and say it. She dies.

Now, you would think that Emma dying wasn’t going to cause a ripple. Fuck are you huffing? This ripple caused a major tsunami that shook the foundation of Tokyo Manji to its core. First of all, Emma is Mikey’s little sister. He barely got over his older brother’s death. Second, Emma was Draken’s girlfriend. But then Kisaki came in swinging and knocked Emma off…while Takemichi just stood there.

I saw a lot of comments about this part and a lot of anger towards Takemichi. I am actually going to defend him to an extent. Have you ever been in a situation where you had the opportunity to stop something and you were just frozen in your tracks and couldn’t do anything? It happens! I know he can be impulsive sometimes, but coming from personal experience, I can’t hate on him when this fear hits.

I can however fucking hate Kisaki and Izana. Women are supposed to be off-limits. So, this is the plan Kisaki had to warp Mikey. I hate you.

ENDING: Tokyo Manji vs. Tenjiku. This is not going well for Tokyo Manji. Their fight between Tenjiku did not start well and they are very much outnumbered. Smiley and Mitsuya are out of commission for the big fight as they were taken out prior. Mikey and Draken are not going to come to this fight as…fucking Emma died. Mikey’s sister, Draken’s girlfriend! Mikey is wrecked and Draken hates everything. So, it is up to Takemichi, Angry, Chifuyu, Hakkai, Inupi, and…this one guy I can’t remember his name up against over 300 grunts, 4 angry big boss guys, Koko, Kakucho, that dick-head Kisaki, and Izana.

There were some solid hits from Tokyo Manji. Angry went full “Blue Ogre” mode which somehow surpasses his twin brother Smiley’s wrath. And I’m going to admit this. Up until season three, I didn’t know that Smiley had a twin brother. So, color me surprised when I see the blue-haired wonder show up all of a sudden. Back to the fight, Inupi got into Koko’s mind as we got a backstory involving them. All the while, Takemichi pulls his immovable Homer Simpson spirit during the fight. Even Kisaki shooting him in the foot couldn’t stop him. But you have to admit, these boys are outnumbered and not going to win this fight. IN COMES DRAKEN AND MIKEY!

I knew it was going to happen. Didn’t know how or the provocation, but I saw it coming a mile away. The reason was that Hina let it slip out to both boys that Takemichi has been going back and forth from the future to prevent his friends from dying. Mikey vs. Izana actually lasted a lot longer than the October and Christmas massacres with the main bosses. Mikey’s kicks only worked part of the time against Izana. What Mikey doesn’t know is that Izana learned how to fight from his own older brother Shinichiro.

We get some flashbacks of Izana’s youth (as well as Kakucho). Izana gets the surprise of his life to know that he has an older brother. Shinichiro made a big impact on Izana and was happy any time he came to visit. It wasn’t until Izana was going to get the Black Dragon gang passed down to him that everything changed. Shinichiro just happened to mention having a younger brother and that just didn’t sit right with him. Younger Mikey seemed okay with the idea of having another brother. Izana was not thrilled. Add to that, Izana blames Mikey for Shinichiro’s death. Kazutoro strikes again! Izana ends up suffering a pretty big mental breakdown during this showdown. The other Tenjiku members were in an agreement that Tokyo Manji won and to just back off gracefully. No. That’s not happening. Kisaki goes and does a stupid thing that ends with both Kakucho and Izana getting shot.

WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE TAKE THAT GUN FROM KISAKI?!

Oh, now you’re going to be a punk-ass bitch after shooting Izana and Kakucho. Yeah, they’re dying. We get some more flashbacks including an important fact that you can be both shocked and not surprised at the same time. Say it with me now.

IZANA IS NOT RELATED TO MIKEY, EMMA, AND SHINICHIRO!

Emma’s cunt mother said it to Izana when he ran into her. And then Shinichiro admitted the same. Izana and Kakucho hold each other’s hands as they both die on the ground…or so it seems. More soon! Mikey announces the fight is over and that Tokyo Manji won. Kisaki bails with Hanma. Draken and Takemichi trail this asshole. Once Takemichi caught up to Kisaki, that’s when he learns something important.

Kisaki loves Hina. He’s a strategian by heart and had a 10-year plan to rise the ranks of the gang underworld and to make Hina all his. And during this interaction, Takemichi caught a glimpse of a future moment where Kisaki proposed to Hina and she rejected him like one of those rejection scenes from Tomodachi Life. But one thing Takemichi learned this night with Kisaki was that he was not a time traveler. He’s just bent to the point of wanting to warp Mikey and steal Hina from Takemichi or kill her. And then, things took a turn for the worst…for Kisaki.

These are the following three things that are acceptable to say for this scene: *Truck-kun saved the day *Best re-dramatization of Phil Ken Sebben’s death ever *Australian fatigue driving PSA in a nutshell

Okay, I will also accept the phrase, “Ding-dong, the dick is dead”. I am not going to sit here and feel sorry for Kisaki. He was a smarmy bastard in the past and future. And the shit he did in the past should never absolve him. Emma did nothing wrong. Not a fucking thing! Her only crime is that she shared the same blood as Mikey. I’m sick of getting the sad boo-hoo moments for characters who were maggots through and through. You want people to say nice things in your passing, don’t be a dick-bag while you’re alive!

In this aftermath, there were a total of five arrests and three deaths. The arrests were all the top men from Tenjiku. The deaths were Emma, Izana, and Kisaki. Kakucho survived being shot. He’s got a lot to mull over now that his best friend is dead and the gang is pretty much done. It is unknown about Takemichi and the future as we see him talking to Kakucho in the hospital and he hasn’t stopped trembling after witnessing Kisaki be flattened by a truck. So, we don’t know if Kisaki’s death changed the future for the better or if Takemichi can even go back to the future considering what happened to Naoto.

Okay, I loved this season compared to the Christmas Massacre arc. I just wish the season was an episode or two longer just to fulfill my wants of seeing if the future changed for the better or worse. That last future Takemichi was in had Kisaki and Izana in it, so that must mean Naoto is alive again. I’m going to keep with my thoughts and be a good girl who doesn’t look at manga spoilers. For now! I’m sure there’s gonna be more content in the future. The manga is finished with an astounding 279 chapters and the anime is just under 40 episodes currently. I’m sure there’s more to unfold.

Knowing the setup, I’m pretty sure there’s another gang about to pop up or Hanma is gonna avenge Kisaki or some other drama with Koko and Inupi. Again, I don’t know because I didn’t read the manga. But we still need the conclusion of Hina and if she’s past the point of being saved from a grizzly murder. Kisaki is taken care of, that’s good. I still don’t trust Akkun and he’s still around. Every stinkin’ timeline, he’s the one who does the deed. In the meantime, let’s wait a bit for the next installment. Nothing has been announced as of posting this review, but I’ll remain positive.

Once again, because of Disney+’s acquirement, watching the whole season can be troublesome to those who don’t have a multitude of streaming accounts. Season one can still be found on Crunchyroll. Christmas Massacre and Tenjiku arc will be on Hulu.

#anime review #tokyo revengers #hanagaki takemichi #mikey #draken #tokyo revengers tenjiku-hen #izana kurokawa #kakucho #tetta kisaki #seishuu inui #manjiro sano #hajime kokonoi #emma sano #shinichiro sano

[wc-confessions]

TPB is my favorite series like the basic ass mf I am but. BUT. It also contains one of my biggest personal pet peeves in all of Warrior Cats. Which is saying A Lot with how botched this series’s writing is is in places.

Nightpelt not getting his nine lives while Tigerstar does??? Make it make sense. Genuinely what the fuck Starclan. We know they knew exactly how Tiger would turn out but somehow decided that poor Nightpelt, who was just trying to guide his fractured and weak clan through Brokenstar’s wake, and through even more tragedy and misfortune afterwards, wasn’t worthy enough Apparently. What did Night even do for them to hold him in such contempt? Besides *checks notes* being middle-aged and having a chronic illness?

There’s the fact that Brokenstar was still alive and on his last life yeah, but so was Pinestar when he left Thunderclan and that didn’t seem to be an issue other than Sunstar only getting eight lives (which is still way better than no extra lives). Brokenstar also broke the Warrior Code seven ways to Sunday before being exiled so it feels weird for them to still have recognized his authority.

For a long time my headcanon was that Starclan didn’t *actually* give Tiger his nine lives, he lied about it when he became Shadowclan’s leader, and when Scourge killed him, it was his one single life ending in such a jarring and gory way that it just *looked like* he died nine times in a row. Even if it was kind of flimsy, it was still more acceptable than what canon said.

With what has been written since though, this headcanon falls apart pretty badly. First, Tiger’s destiny to be evil - even if there’s a strong argument to be made that it was a self-fulfilling prophecy by how adults like Pinestar, Goosefeather, Thistleclaw, etc acted around him or directly treated him as he came of age - has been known about from his birth to the point where they tried to get his own father to commit infanticide! Starclan has had plenty of time to communicate amongst themselves about it, let alone watch over what has been happening to all the living and recently-deceased cats.

Second, we see Tiger’s nine lives ceremony. While we only know the backstories and full motivations of a couple of these characters, there are at least nine named cats who support him being leader enough to grant him a life. Even though these lives are meant to symbolically help in areas he’s lacking, and could be read as just acting in the best interest of the living cats within the leadership decision already being made as opposed to meddling in it… why didn’t they offer Nightpelt the same chance? Why weren’t they like “here’s the areas you need to work on and the life lessons you need to learn, and we’ll respect the circumstances created by the living” to him, too?

The only answer that feels somewhat satisfactory to me is that Starclan isn’t a hivemind and that while many of the cats were cheering during Tiger’s ceremony, cats like Redtail and Goosefeather were in a corner somewhere bashing their heads against a metaphorical wall.

Content warning for US politics ahead.

This also relies on Starclan Tiger supporters to be the Warrior Cats equivalent of Trump voters. Maybe not all of them are bad people but they are at least very easily manipulated into the ideal image of making their nation “strong again,” and are emotionally pulled in by the idea of someone who isn’t going to take shit standing up for “normal people” who they perceive to be like themselves, and are willing to put a vocal bully with a history of opportunistic, shady, and malicious behavior in a seat of power to make that happen. I could see Badgerfang falling into this camp. We know he’s just a kid who was forced into combat too young and that he isn’t a dick but is a victim of circumstance and had his worldview colored by the adults around him. He could have a more optimistic view of Tiger as someone who isn’t going to take shit from another Brokenstar, while simultaneously having a blind patriotic streak because again he was just a child and doesn’t know better than to question the system even if it failed him (based on how he describes his own death as giving his life up for his clan). Someone like this could easily be sucked into wanting the “strong” leader over the one they perceive as “weak” even if the “weak” candidate is more qualified and responsible, or has a more appropriate personality for leadership. (Side tangent I wonder how much Starclan foresaw about how Tiger would die. “Beware small cats” is so… specific.)

Starclan isn’t just a handful of jingoistic Shadowclan cats (+ Pinestar), though. There still should have been enough vocal outcry to make it not seem so cut and dry with Nightstar/Tigerstar, with the information in canon that the reader does get.

I know I’m reading way too far into this silly series with its million plotholes and inconsistencies and retcons, but I just want some answers. Thank you if you endured my pet peeve Night/Tiger rant.

.

#text #anonymous #confession #warrior cats

[vmprsm]

Arthur Lester is dealing with complicated grief.

Let's break that down.

(Long text post ahead!)

Your first reaction may be: well, duh! But hear me out, 'cause this is fascinating (and also my current study). It's a real term, used by grief therapists, defined, arguably, as "An abnormal grief response that is more intense than normal grief, yet different from clinical depression." It's basically when the normal process of mourning goes way too long, goes sideways, doesn't resolve appropriately. Arthur is a poster child for this grief and I find that to be really amazing writing.

Complicated grief is highly stigmatized, especially in more emotionally strict cultures (a factor of this grief, actually, and oh my gods he's a male in the 1930's, he's repressed by design), and is separated into different sections. For Arthur, I argue he is primarily dealing with 'chronic' (lasting longer than average), 'delayed' (normal grief reactions suppressed consciously), and also 'exaggerated' (heightened, potentially self-destructive reactions) grief, with a little 'masked' (unaware of abnormal behavior being due to loss) grief mixed in, for fun.

I'm going to say right out that grief is a complex beast and does not fit neatly into categories, but we try.

The thing is, grief takes a course. It's not exactly linear, but it has a known pattern. Researchers argue about how to name the steps, tasks, phases, whatever, but the general gist is: accept the loss, deal with it, move on.

So....Arthur got stuck right near the beginning. You can tell by how reluctant he is, how painful it is to even mention Faroe even years later, that he has not accepted the loss. It's not full-blown denial, he doesn't believe that his little girl is alive somewhere, but it's close. Every mention brings fresh grief because he's avoided it, this is one hallmark of chronic grief. But it's taken years to to get to this point, so it's also delayed. In delayed grief, you put it off until you can't, and when the dam finally breaks the grief feels fresh, or, in Arthur's case, even more intense (exaggerated) than it would if it were normal grief. A lot of complicated grief doesn't fit in nice little boxes, and Arthur is a terribly complex case.

Arthur masked his grief during the time he was desperately delaying it in the course of the story: with unusual behavior, physical and mental reactions that he didn't realize was grief (his dogged determination to save the baby, his mood swings at John, etc). The take-away: knowing is not the same as accepting, and you cannot continue with mourning if you don't accept that loss has occurred. You simply cannot.

He helps mercy kill an animal and calls her Faroe. He kills a man and flips out (displacement, anyone?). He has self-destructive impulses via a stunning lack of self-preservation. This man is heavily grieving and doesn't know how to do again, so it's coming out in any outlet it can.

His guilt is out of control, which can deeply stall the grief process, and that's partially because 1) it's mixed with shame, or guilt from outward sources, and 2) he's not reality-testing it. Reality testing is critical to managing guilt in loss. Is Arthur right in feeling some guilt? Yes, but also, the reality is more complicated than that, and he isn't allowing himself to see the multi-faceted truth of it. He has massive survivor's guilt as well, compounded from multiple prior deaths that he probably also did not mourn sufficiently for. The poem about the death of his parents was a very good and healthy step towards mourning that loss, but did he ever complete the process? Did he find a way to relocate his feelings about the deceased and make new, meaningful relationships? Given how easily he destroyed his friendship with James (part 31), I seriously doubt it. Peter was his lifeline, but one man does not a support system make. Arthur purposefully stayed alone to avoid processing his grief because of his guilt.

And compounding factors for the potential for complicated grief? He's got those in spades, let me make a quick list here: multiple prior losses, complex relations with the deceased, early parental loss, negative self-concept, socially negated loss, absence of support, nd that's all I can think of just off the bat. He's fucked.

Frankly, I don't know Harlan Guthrie's relationship with grief, but he's smacked into our hands a classic example of a person who DEEPLY needs grief therapy, who I argue will not resolve his grief on his own without more damage. By the nature of the story he is forced to confront the delayed aspects of his grief, and, expectedly, his reactions are more exaggerated. John has been helping, albeit ineptly and accidentally, with putting Arthur through the process. His nightmare shows that he does, on some level, want to grieve ('you can't help but watch the horror' dream-Larsen says), but his self-loathing makes it difficult to see his grief clearly, and there's really no one else to do it for him. I'm fascinated to see how he evolves as the story progresses, and how he continues in his journey of mourning, no matter how many turns and backtracks it takes.

#malevolent #malevolent discussion #arthur lester #discussion of grief

[fungal-wasted]

Resting Grounds

Disclaimer: I am not an expert on architecture I am simply pointing out what I can see for the purpose of speculating or art references. Also, some talks about graveyards and methods of burial, so read with caution if the topic is sensitive at the moment. I send my best wishes.

Let's continue with a small yet important area: The Resting Grounds. This area is known for being the place of rest for deceased bugs of Hallownest, and home of the moths. Here we will see what elements stand out to this area and what we can infer from them.

First of all I wanted to show images of the entrance from the tram, the City of Tears and the Stag Station, which are some of the more... traditional ways to reach this areas for those who don't want to find out if they have fall damage.

Here we can see the average elements we expect we associate with Hallownest's architecture, followed by a big gate under a curved arc with a spike on top. The gate was left semi open.

The stag station shares a lot on common with others, except for two elements: those hanging pieces that seem to end on a bell, and the walls with masks carved. Those two elements are present all throughout this area and are unique to it.

This is the sign shown from the bottom entrance, connected to the City of Tears. The sign shows.... those "A" shaped icons (*sigh*), below the essence symbol. Surrounding the area are a few short pillars with a spiral segmentation.

Here we can get a glimpse into the vertical room that serves as a hub. The locked door at the top shows a round shape, reminiscent of the essence particles (which are in turn based on dreamcatchers, an object made by the Ojibwe culture). One can see this imagery present on the room where you pick up Dreamshield, whispering roots and the sign shown above.

(Ironically, dreamcatchers are associated with arthropods, except not moths, but spiders. I fully recommend reading more on their origin from Ojibwe or other Native American sources though, to be mindful of how we use symbols.)

Moving back: The other elements that stand out from this image are that the fences here are not shaped after the Pale King, but the Radiance. The biggest giveaways are the three pointed "crown" at the top, the curves that could represent her wings and the bottom vertical lines, resembling her lower body. Besides this, ledges are not decorated with Hallownest's usual symbols, but with masks.

I'm inclined to believe this is the main cavern designated for tombs, where most bugs would expect to leave their remains. If you look closer, you can see I've pointed to 5 different designs for tombstones. Most of them are quite simple, likely just displaying the name of the bug/family buried in a place. Maybe some could afford some other kind of sculpture above their graves, or it is given to members of a guild (which is the case in real life, actually). Below Xero's arena we can see what could be niches. They are a method of above-ground entombment which as far as I know, tend to be used for less time than underground burials.

This screenshot is very interesting because it shows the monument to the Dreamers, but behind it we see a pair of... horn-like structure, which we see when we enter the Dream Realm in the context of destroying the Dreamers or fighting the Radiance. This room also has bigger structure seen in the far background, but I would not be able to discern whether they are meant to be homes for any inhabitants nearby, or mausoleums.

This is a photo of the crypts, which remain overall neglected, housing belflies, some sources of geo and priced objects. Entombed husks also roam the area, which prove two things: a) bugs' bodies were wrapped to be preserved, and b) yes the infection can make long dead bugs active again. Now, I would... speculate a few possible reasons for the crypts being what they are. First one is that it is simply an older part of the Resting Grounds and is reflective of past traditions, and the second is that this is a common burial zone, which would be where the remains of long dead bugs would end up on. As far as I know... this is a practice some places have to be able to clear space for other families, often done close to a century after death. Any possibility is fine.

I also discussed with a mutual about the possibility of preserving the bodies being related to their tie to dreams because of their spirits, which could be supported by Markoth or Galien emerging from their bodies, but that's as much as we could say.

Finally: this is an area hidden in the Spirit's Glade, showing the only monuments that directly portray moths in the entire map. This area is hidden behind a calm waterfall that provides water for the Resting Grounds. As you can see, each statue differs in size but have the same shape overall. The item collected here is a King's Idol.

I hope this was helpful! If you have anything else to add feel free to do so

Other posts that you may be interested in:

Forgotten Cossroads

The Snail Shaman's Mounds

#hollow knight #analysis #game ref #no id #sorry this is hard to do well #resting grounds #the radiance #moth tribe #long post #not me infodumping about cemeteries

[zoradementio]

Why The Vessel Is The Knight (at least I think)

Hey Every!!! It’s me!!! Every Buddy’s Favorite [Inactive Blog] and [Salesman Fanatic]!!!

With the third year anniversary of Deltarune Chapter 2/eighth year anniversary of Undertale having come and passed, I feel like we’re all a bit antsy about what will happen in the future chapters of Deltarune. (Basically the only reason I’m typing this out is I need to scream a little in the Deltarune void). One of the biggest mysteries thus far is the identity of the character only known as the Knight. While many of the candidates – like Kris, the Mayor, or Papyrus – are fairly convincing for the role, I personally am fully convinced it is one person in particular:

The Vessel.

And let me tell you why.

1. The Vessel never gets thrown away.

This bit of evidence is more of a situation of noticing an odd specificity in the code that may or may not actually be used and is just there to prevent the whole game crumbling. Lest we forget the thirteen exact same images of Jockington’s talksprite. Regardless.

I’m sure we’re all aware of the character creator at the beginning of the game and how in the end it all gets discarded, right? However, I assume fewer of us are aware that this isn’t entirely accurate. Others have found that the game actually saves the information of the Vessel. Particularly, the name of the Vessel is stored in the same area as the player’s name. Plus, if a player starts directly from Chapter 2, not only is the Vessel given the last name used in the data but it is also given every first choice in the character creator – with the exception of the gift which it’s given mind. It seems strange how, if the Vessel is supposed to be completely discarded, why the game would bother saving any of the choices made during the character creator. Hell, even just saving the name alone is strange enough.

The assumption here is that the game, for one reason or another, needs to pull up this information. This hints, then, that the Vessel will come into play at some point. But just this information does not immediately prove that the Vessel is going to be the Knight specifically. But this leads me to…

2. Determination

One of the few things we know about the dark fountains at this point is that they can only be opened when someone with enough Determination. Now, considering this is coming from Queen who typically Capitalizes Every Word In Her Sentences, it’s unclear if she’s just speaking about determination the emotion/feeling or capital D(termination) the actual substance. But considering how big of a role Determination had in Undertale and how Deltarune has done everything in its power to dance around using the word, it is not an unreasonable assumption that this is in fact the Determination that was present in Undertale.

With that being said, if it does require Determination to open the fountains, then it’s unlikely that a monster could open a dark fountain like Queen assumes. After all, we do know that Queen has information blind spots. She herself states “I’m Just A Computer LMAO I Don’t Know Everything”. Considering in the Deltarune universe Alphys is just a teacher and not a scientist, the substance known as Determination has not been discovered. And since that information then wouldn’t be public information, Queen wouldn’t be aware of the workings of Determination (considering most of Queen’s knowledge likely comes from public, online databases). 

Plus, we do have evidence that monsters are unable to handle Determination in Deltarune. Namely, the graveyard. In Undertale, it’s stated one of the side effects of Determination is that it allows for corpses to exist for extended periods of time. This is the explanation as to why monsters turn to dust upon death, as their lack of Determination prevents their body from keeping its form. And in Deltarune, when speaking with Father Alvin, he explains that monster burial rights involve sprinkling the dust of the deceased on an item of symbolic significance. This directly displays that Deltarune monsters also can’t keep a substantial corpse, and thus are unable to withstand substantial levels of Determination.

With all that being said, the need for Determination implies that only humans can (safely) open a dark fountain. And the only time we have seen a fountain being opened successfully was with Kris at the end of Chapter 2. Now, at this point this points to the idea of Kris being the Knight. However, I am very skeptical of this notion. Namely, the fact that it seems pretty early to drop such a big reveal that ‘the main character is actually the antagonist’. Plus, the save file that Kris makes between Chapters 1 and 2 shows that only fifteen minutes passed – which is a short period of time to make a dark fountain in a building that’s almost across town from their house, wolf down an entire pie, and then go back to bed with their soul returned to their body. And finally, when Toby Fox talked years back about an idea for an intro cutscene to Deltarune, he mentions how the final shot would be the Fun Gang running up to the Knight, which would cause some logistical issues if Kris is the Knight (unless the cutscene was meant to be symbolic).

So then, what other humans do we have? The Vessel, of course. After all, the Vessel is very specifically meant to be a human. So it is reasonable to assume that the Vessel is perfectly capable of doing anything a human would be able to do. And considering Kris takes out their soul to open the dark fountain and the Vessel is presumably a body without a soul, that leads into my third and final bit of evidence.

3. The Fountain’s Will and Mother 3

I’m sure we know how much the Earthbound/Mother series inspired Toby Fox’s games. With that being said, the Vessel turning out to be the Knight brings to mind similarities to the Masked Man in Mother 3. For those unaware of the plot of Mother 3, I’ll give a brief synopsis.

In Mother 3, for the seventh chapter of the game you play as Lucas. The goal is to go around the island to pull out seven needles keeping the Dark Dragon asleep. However, another person is also trying to pull the needles. This being the Masked Man – who you actually find out later is Lucas’ twin brother Claus brought to life as an unfeeling husk.

Now, the idea of the main antagonist being a husk of a human is an obvious parallel to the Vessel. Like I mentioned above, the Vessel is a body that – thus far – doesn’t have a soul. Plus, the idea of someone who was supposed to be a supposed ally and hero turning into the main opposing force to us is also similar. But there’s one more similarity to the Masked Man that the Knight seems to share, even without the idea that the Vessel is the Knight.

See, in Mother 3, it’s established that whoever pulls a needle imposes their heart – or will – onto the Dragon. If someone’s good, then the Dragon will be good. If someone’s evil, then the Dragon will in turn become evil. However, it’s noted that when the Masked Man pulls a needle, nothing is imposed. There is no will that the Masked Man has to speak of, so the Dragon doesn’t inherit any sort of intent either.

Meanwhile, in Deltarune, we are told multiple times that the dark fountains have a ‘will’ to them. It is this will that not only creates the Dark Worlds, but also is the purpose that the rulers of these Dark Worlds enact. There’s an odd thing about that fact, however. Namely, the fact that it seems that the person making the fountain has multiple ‘wills’. Or, more accurately, that whatever will is given to the fountains can be easily influenced after the fact, if it even exists at all. King and Queen both assume certain motives of the Knight. King thinks that the Knight wants to bring the Darkners out from obscurity while Queen thinks the Knight wants to spread dark fountains to create a glorious utopia free of boredom. It seems relatively unlikely that both motives of the Knight are true, especially with the actual consequences of opening too many dark fountains. But what’s even more interesting is that both of these wills are mostly just King and Queen projecting their own wants on the Knight.

This leads credence to the idea that either the Knight is multiple people with multiple motives or the Knight is someone who has no concrete motives which allows for the Darkners who rule their Dark Worlds to assume their own will upon them. The Vessel would be the best singular character to fulfill this quality, as they likely won’t have a will of their own to imprint upon the fountains.

But, of course, all of this is just a theory. I’m perfectly capable of being incorrect in all of this. Besides, if all this is true, then that could mean that ~it was actually Gaster who was the true villain, controlling the Vessel all along~ which I’m less stoked about. Anyway, if there’s anything I got wrong/misremembered do let me know.

#deltarune #deltarune theory #deltarune spoilers #god i spent all day on this #this has been cooking im my mind and i needed it to get out

[ur-local-demon1]

The ballad of Jane Doe

Hi everyone, it's your local demon but you can call me Sol :) Here's an analysis of (or just things I noticed) The Ballad of Jane Doe from Ride the Cyclone. Spoiler warning for the latter ahead.

Something that a lot of people have talked about already is that while this song is called a ballad, it's actually a lament (mirroring Noel's Lament which isn't a lament, but a ballad). A ballad is a song that tells a story while a Lament is to express grief, regret or mourning. The members of the choir sing about their lives and pull on the lever, revealing pictures of them alive, to show that they were once someone before the accident that brutally ended their short lives. And obviously, Penny cannot do that since she has no story to tell "And no story, what a shame." We'll circle back to that later, moving on.

In the first verse, Penny talks about how people try to console themselves in grief. "Some might say, we're released, Pushing daisies, deceased, But we all know the worms must be fed." Us humans have a natural habit of trying to make sense of things that we don't know because the unknown scares us. That includes using flowery language (literally) to talk about death. Penny is very blunt and doesn't sugarcoat things, and that doesn't change when she's talking about the gross details of death, such as rotting in a box 6 feet deep in the ground.

That carries onto the second verse "There's just one - lingering fear, Oh my soul - is it here, Or is it rotting somewhere with my head?" Here's a fun fact for those who haven't picked up on it yet, Penny's head throughout the musical isn't hers, but actually her doll's eyeless head. Someone (I can't remember who, if I do I'll tag them) pointed out that Penny's eyes may be blacked out as a reference to the saying "Eyes are the window of the soul" so I guess that answers Penny's question.

To get back at the story bit I put a pause on earlier, here's the fifth verse. "Oh no soul, and no name, was cruel existence only a sham?" I love the specific use of the word "sham" here, because Jane Doe and John Doe are called Sham names, previously only used in court. Since Penny can't remember who she was before her death, the only existence she's ever known is who she is now, nothing more than a Jane Doe, a cruel existence.

Moving on to the sixth verse, "Oh Saint Peter, let me in! You must know where I've been, Won't you tell me at last who I am?" We see some bits of Penny's backstory slip through the more she talks, just like now. The Lamb siblings used to be homeschooled, as told in the description/summary of "Legoland". Most homeschooled kids are actually religious, and are homeschooled so their parents can control their religious beliefs. On that note, Penny being homeschooled is probably the reason why no one came to identify her body, since she was wearing a high school uniform and her parents assumed it couldn't have been their daughter.

The seventh verse is a little more unclear "And from the ground, beneath my feet, I hear the anguish of the street." I think it's about her being trapped between heaven and hell, and she hears the pain of potential sinners in hell. That, or the anguish she hears come from the people she once knew but can't remember, or the families of the rest of the choir. If you've got any theories, feel free to drop them below.

The eighth verse speaks for itself, "A choir never complete" the choir isn't complete without Penny, and now that she has been revived and the rest of them stay dead, that statement carries on until the very end of the story.

Moving on to the ninth verse, "And like an old, forgotten tune, A song that no one knows, Forgot how it goes, Just John and me, Forever eternally, Jane Doe." Penny refers to herself as a song, tune, melody or anything music related, that people forget as time passes (remember that bit about time, I'll also circle back to that in the next verse.)

The iconic tenth verse "And I'm asking 'why Lord? If this is how I die Lord, why be left with no family and no friends? I've got no celebration, just this consolation. Time eats all his children in the end.'" Once again, we have religious language coming from Penny. She doesn't celebrate the state that she's in between life and death, she sees it more as a consolation. Lastly, Penny refers to herself as a song, tune or melody lost to time.

Onto the twelfth and last verse analysis "A melody, floats through the air, When silence falls, does no one care? Does anyone care?" She's referring to how when she "floated through the air" ("flied" during her death in the coaster.) and died, no one cared. Nobody came to identify her body, they couldn't find her head, and after the event died down, everyone stopped caring about that nameless girl, because no one knew who she was.

Thank you so much if you've read up until now, what other details have you noticed in the lyrics? Feel free to share them in reblogs or comments.

#ride the cyclone #penny lamb #jane doe rtc #jane doe #the ballad of jane doe #song analysis #the ballad of jane doe analysis #rtc headcanons #there are some bits of canon in there too though

[popentertainment-moviereviews]

HAUNTED MANSION (2023)

Starring LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Chase W. Dillon, Dan Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jared Leto, Creek Wilson, Hasan Minhaj, Charity Jordan, Steve Zissis, J.R. Adduci, Lindsay Lamb, Fedor Steel, Terence Rosemore, Mike Benitez, Erika Coleman            , Christopher Winchester, Jo Koy, Marilu Henner and Winona Ryder.

Screenplay by Katie Dippold.

Directed by Justin Simien.

Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 123 minutes. Rated PG-13.

If the goal of this film was to top Eddie Murphy’s admirable trainwreck version of the Haunted Mansion from 2003, well then, mission accomplished. 

That is not to say this version isn’t without its own shortcomings and issues, but for the first time in a long while with Disney, I went into this movie genuinely excited. This excitement could be possibly attributed to the fact that the Haunted Mansion has been my favorite, and most visited ride at the Disney Parks for almost 20 years now. Or it could be the early childhood nostalgia I had from repeated viewings of the 2003 version on DVD and being the most scared kindergartner you could find in the state of Pennsylvania whenever I would sit down to watch it. Call it whatever you will, but I was excited, nonetheless. 

This film is the next big budget Disney film in a long line of commercial flops, and I’m sure the House of Mouse is hoping that this film will break the streak with its loaded cast (LaKeith Stanfield, Owen Wilson, Jared Leto, Tiffany Haddish, Jamie Lee Curtis, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson) and screenplay written Katie Dippold (The Heat, Ghostbusters 2016). Unfortunately, for all 999 happy haunts, this movie is sandwiched in between two of the most talked about summer blockbuster films in recent memory, Barbie and Oppenheimer, or what is now known as Barbenheimer. 

Walking into the theatre through the nearly 300 people all dressed in pink going to Barbie, we got to our seats and there was a really fun and excited vibe going through the audience, people actually cheered when the movie started (first time I’ve seen that since Avengers Endgame 2019). And overall the movie went over well with the crowd. The jokes for the most part landed when they needed to, and I felt the impact of a good amount of the emotional beats in the film.

Especially LaKeith Stanfield, who delivered a beautifully eloquent and emotionally powerful tearjerker of a monologue describing the things he loved about his deceased wife (much in contrast to Eddie Murphy’s painfully stiff and hard to watch line said to his abruptly killed wife “Sarah, I love you so much.”)

Another standout performance was Chase Dillon, who played Travis, the socially awkward young son of Gabbie (Rosario Dawson). You really felt for the kid throughout the movie, the loss of his father, not fitting in and, obviously, the fact that his house is extremely haunted. Of course, you get the usual on-brand performances from Wilson, DeVito and Haddish, although it’s nice to see that what they bring to the film is relegated to their supporting lead comic relief moments and doesn’t take away from the emotional moments and overall story. 

This version of the Haunted Mansion is also filled to the brim with Easter eggs relating to the lore of the actual rides in the Disney Parks. It’s also great to see the hitchhiking ghosts make an appearance as they have been a personal favorite for the longest time. On that note, the spirits in this version have taken a massive leap in quality compared to their ‘03 counterparts as now some of them have genuinely scary moments (but let’s not forget the childhood trauma-inducing crypt scene that still sends shivers down my back just thinking about it.)

This version’s main antagonist is also a reference to Disney Park lore. The Hatbox Ghost (Jared Leto) was an animatronic placed in the attic scene that debuted alongside the ride itself but was removed in 1969 and wouldn’t be seen again until 2015. Leto himself in the role delivered some truly imposing moments of terror. Always as this black figure looming somewhere in the shadows until his big reveal. The scares in this film are also done fairly well as the film uses very modern horror techniques in its first scene with the mansion itself, which is very reminiscent of the 2017 adaptation of Stephen King’s It.

But here are the downsides. The film for the first two-thirds feels decently paced, thorough, and exciting, but jeez, if they didn’t lose themselves, and the plot in the last third. It felt like the movie had taken a complete turn and I felt as if I was watching a different movie.

Secondly, as much as I love Jamie Lee Curtis, I have to say Jennifer Tilly was significantly better as Madame Liotta, and throughout a majority of the film I just kept wishing she were back in the role, especially when Mrs. Curtis attempted whatever unspecified accent she was going for there.

And, as weird as this will sound, and I already know it will, I miss Terrence Stamp, General Zod himself, as the main antagonist. Ridiculous, over the top vibrato and all. He felt like such an imposing figure, and most importantly for me, he wasn’t CGI. Don’t get me wrong the Hatbox Ghost design is great, but I miss just a spooky old British guy popping up behind you and just being an intimidating presence on screen. 

Again, is it better than the ‘03 version? Yes. Does it have flaws? Absolutely. But this film is the kind you can bring the family to when there’s nothing else to do and everyone will have a fun time based on the spectacle alone.

Early box office results for this film have it significantly below Barbenheimer and looking like another project where Disney is coming in below where they would like to be financially. Unfortunate, but not unexpected. But hey, if you’re a fan of Disney’s best ride (this is a non-arguable point, it’s been backed by science, just don’t ask which scientists) or you’re looking for an easy watching experience, this wouldn’t be a bad option whatsoever. 

George Seth Wagner

Copyright ©2023 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: July 28, 2023.

#Haunted Mansion #2023 #Movie Review #LaKeith Stanfield #George Seth Wagner #Youtube

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Thoughts on TBB 1x2 and 1x3

I'm back! I promise that I didn't forget about the whole Bad Batch rewatch analysis thing I just uh... haven't actually been watching TBB recently. In fact it's been a whole month since I made the last analysis post...

But I have some thoughts on the next two episodes! I was hoping to get this out earlier in the week but after writing essays for my exams I had no motivation to churn it out. But here it is!

(Also, I may have started rewatching The Tudors so I have absolutely no idea when I'm actually going to watch TBB again... this whole plan is going very well. I'll try and not wait an entire month again this time!)

1x2

Tech in the Pilot Seat

Straight away, seeing Tech in the pilot seat made me instantly think of that shot from the S2 finale of Echo looking at the empty seat next to him.

That image haunts me.

I will never be the same.

Omega and Dirt

I love the comparison between Omega in S1 and Omega in S2. By S2 you can definitely tell that she's settled into the flow of things and is much more accustomed to a life outside of Kamino. The scene of her discovering dirt for the first time is sweet and kind of funny (especially with Tech's comment) but also kind of sad. Her entire life she has grown up in a completely sterile environment with absolutely no idea about what the world around her was like. The fact that she doesn't even know what dirt is means that she probably wasn't taught about it either. It just proves that the Kaminoans never had any intention of letting her leave the labs. She was one of their experiments, one of their helpers and they were never going to give her the life that she deserved.

But I do love that her awe and desire to explore are still there in S2. if anything, I think taking her off Kamino just enhanced her desire to see more of the galaxy. When we first saw her at Tipoca City, she never showed any real desire to leave, not because I don't think she necessarily wanted to, but because she had resigned herself to the fact that this was her life and that this was in fact normal. She's a child experiment surrounded by millions of other child experiments. That is her normal. At that point, I don't think that she could even conceive just how different the universe outside of Kamino was. But now that she's had a taste for that adventure, she wants to chase that curiosity and explore wherever she can. They may be on the run from the empire, but it was still her first taste of what freedom actually was.

Batch Parenting

So there are multiple points in Cut and Run when they address the fact that the Batch aren't used to having a child around don't really know what to do with the whole situation: Wrecker initially going to take Omega's food, Hunter shouting at her etc. But there is one little detail that I noticed that immediately stuck out to me. When they are walking through the fields to Cut and Suu's house, they are all walking single file with Omega at the back. Now, if we've learnt anything from going on trips at school is that you do not leave children at the back of the line: you have at least one adult at the back and one at the front with the child(ren) sandwiched in the middle. She could've stopped walking and wandered off, or gotten lost, and none of them would've known (unless Hunter's senses picked it up).

It's just one of those little things that show that the Batch aren't used to this. They don't necessarily think that it might be a good idea to keep Omega between them, they just let her trail at the back and assume that nothing will happen.

Echo and Rex

I love how Echo immediately starts asking Cut and Suu questions when they bring up Rex. Personally, I would've liked to have seen a little bit more emotion from that revelation because at this point Rex is officially registered as deceased, but it still makes me happy to see Echo asking about his Captain. That's his older brother. Of course he'd want to know that he's okay. :')

Tech and Echo

My two favourite geniuses with half a brain cell <3

I missed the banter between these two so much when Echo left :(

But I do want to address how close those two are. For Echo, Tech is the other half that has been missing since Fives died. No, Tech will never be to Echo what Fives was, but he's the closest thing to a constant companion that Echo has. The Domino Twins were always paired up, always completing missions as a duo.

And then Echo came back to find that Fives was gone and it would've been a massive empty space that Echo could always feel next to him. But then he ended up with the Batch and naturally partnered up with Tech. Like I said, Tech will never be Fives, but it's probably a great comfort to Echo to have someone by his side again, to have one person out of a group to be your partner in crime.

And I'm sure Tech really appreciated it too. Yes, he's always had his brothers, but it must've been nice for him to have someone who had similar technical capabilities (*thinks about Hunter and the lift*) that he could work with or just talk to. I headcanon that when Echo first joined, him and Tech became really close because Echo was one of the only ones to actually ask Tech about his ramblings and actively listen to them. Yes, they bicker with each other, but they are 100% a couple of little shits when paired up together (...I need Tech back).

Echo

Nothing to say here, I just really like this shot of Echo

Wrecker Knocking Out Droids

So there's a shot of Wrecker knocking out an astromech to help Omega that is very much like the scene in S2 when he steps on the mouse droid. But what I like about the differences in these two scenes is that in S1, Omega needs help after she's wandered off by herself, but in S2 she's gone off alone because they trust her to do so.

It's a little parallel that shows how she's gone from being someone trying to prove her worth and ultimately getting herself into trouble, to being someone who they actively trust to do the things that she was trying to do in S1.

Hunter Didn't Tell Wrecker About Omega Leaving

Just before they get on The Marauder, Wrecker asks where Omega is, meaning that Hunter didn't tell him that she was going to be going with Cut and Suu. And honestly, that doesn't surprise me a whole lot. Hunter is very much a man who will try and avoid difficult situations where possible, so I think he was just hoping to break the news about Omega leaving as late as he could. If he had mentioned it beforehand, Wrecker would've been upset and probably would've tried to contest Hunter's decision. It was probably easier in Hunter's mind to tell everyone when they left (which would've caused it's own problems but Hunter doesn't actually do a particularly good job of avoiding trouble most of the time).

1x3

"Repairs would go faster if I had some help."

...Tech's not there to help him anymore *cries*

Also, the idea of Tech carrying out repairs for the first time after Echo left and that being the moment when it truly kicks in that he doesn't have his partner in crime there... *cries more*

"More squads like this being trained by skilled clones"

The Empire in all their dickish glory are really out here making the clones train the groups of soldiers who would eventually replace them. They clearly acknowledged the skills of the clones enough to use them as tools to teach all the elite teams they were recruiting, but didn't actually care enough to keep the clones around.

And while we're on the subject, there is something ironic about the Empire complaining about the clones lack of loyalty. The truth is, they are loyal. They are arguably the most loyal people that you will ever find, but they are loyal to what they believe is right. The Empire are just pissed that a bunch of highly skilled soldiers have to be brainwashed into thinking that they are not just a group of asshats.

"I'm angry at myself. We don't leave our own behind."

This line alone is all the evidence you need that they still care about Crosshair. They didn't just abandon him because they no longer care, they left because they had to and that decision continues to haunt them. I can imagine Rex saying this exact same thing after discovering that Echo was alive. Neither Rex nor Hunter were wrong for leaving their men behind in that moment, but knowing that they left them will always stick with them.

(Also, the same sentiment is definitely going to apply when they are reunited with Tech because he is 100% alive)

"Enjoy being a commander... for now. We'll see how things shake out."

Now Crosshair looks very put off by this comment, and I don't blame him, but tbf... the guy wasn't wrong. I think Crosshair always knew that the Empire would eventually screw him over, but he hoped that maybe, if he could prove himself enough, they wouldn't throw him out like trash. Being promoted to a commander was probably a tiny bit of hope for Crosshair that he could secure a position, be a more prominent figure.

But obviously we know from S2 that that didn't happen. That role didn't stick, it was only ever temporary and the Empire were fully willing to leave him behind, regardless of the position that he held. They never cared. And so as much as it was a dickish comment from the elite squad member at the time, it ended up being an accurate statement.

Not that it turned out much better for him seeing as Crosshair got rid of him soon as :)

Old Moon Dragon How???

Zoology ramble incoming.

WHY IS THERE AN ANIMAL THAT FEEDS OFF RAW ENERGY LIVING ON A DESOLATE ROCK IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE??? DID I MISS SOMETHING??? HOW IS THAT THING STILL ALIVE??? DOES IT NEVER EAT??? HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE TO BE CRASHING ON THAT ROCK FOR IT TO BE EVOLUTIONARILY ADVANTAGEOUS TO FEED OFF RAW ENERGY WHEN YOU LIVE ON A BARREN ROCK IN THE MIDDLE OF SPACE???

Crosshair vs The Batch

*cries again* Someone give my poor boy, Cross, a hug :'(

But I do like what these two shots show. Despite being in a room with a group of people, Crosshair is alone. He doesn't feel like he has anyone, he's isolated, he doesn't have anyone around him to support him anymore. And then you have the Batch, who are all shown together. They are a family, a unit, they have each other there for support and despite everything being thrown at them, they will always have the squad.

I also appreciate the contrast in lighting. With Crosshair, everything is blue and grey and cold, while the lighting around the Batch is warm and yellow and comforting. It shows how calming and welcoming the environment with the Batch is, while Crosshair is currently alone and away from any of the warmth of his family.

One Final Point

Echo's little "you did good" nod to Wrecker at the end has my heart and is one of my favourite moments in the entire show <3

(Also, Hunter's face in the picture above made me laugh)

#it's finally here! #I know it took a while #I got distracted #but I promise that I didn't forget! #although me rewatching the tudors means that updates on this may be a bit slow #oops #I'll try not to wait an entire month before the next one though! #anyway enjoy these ramblings #honestly this season feels so much lighter after season 2 #like it's depressing but I am coping so much better with it #season 2 is going to tear my heart out again #when I finally get back round to it #which at this rate will be in like a decade XD #the bad batch #bad batch analysis #tbb #star wars #hunter #wrecker #omega #tech #echo #crosshair #clone force 99 #Steph rambles

[ecargmura]

Dog Signal Episode 14 Review - Grieving Over A Loved One

Wow, that was quite an emotional episode. I did NOT expect it to get this heavy; it came out of left field and smacked me in the face so that it’d make me cry. You know what? I did shed tears watching this episode. Despite that, it was a really good one.

Niwa and Miyu get their first male client in Mr. Kato who is worried about his son’s Golden Retriever Rocky who hasn’t moved from his deceased son Takehiro’s shrine for over a year. He’s worried about how he didn’t move and is even urinating in unwanted areas because of it. When Niwa and Miyu go check him out, it turns out that his muscles have atrophied a lot, his paws because a reddish-brown hue due to licking and his elbows have calluses from excessive laying. It’s not a good sign for the dog to be in, especially since he’s getting up to the years—the dog is 11 years old. It turns out that the problem lies in his wife, Mrs. Kato who believes Rocky is mourning Takehiro’s death and refuses to let him leave the shrine. Fortunately, the dog is able to recover quickly because he was well-trained and easy to handle.

First off, I feel so bad for the Kato family. They had a son but he died right before he went to college, meaning he was 18 when he died. He was still at the prime of his youth. I’m sure the parents are devastated that their son was taken away from them so early. Takehiro had dreams and aspirations, but misfortunate came to him. It’s so sad to see parents lose their child. I pity Mrs. Kato for not being able to mourn for her son properly. It must be really hard to lose someone you just saw yesterday and realize that they aren’t coming back anymore. Because she couldn’t mourn properly, she projected her grief onto Rocky who was just sitting next to her in order to help alleviate her emotions. Because she believed Rocky was the one who was mourning and not her, she could move on, but she wasn’t truly moving on. I know that what Mrs. Kato was doing was technically abuse, but I can’t really bring myself to hate her because she was and is in a pitiful situation. Fortunately, she still has Rocky and her husband who have moved on from his death.

I also like that this case is a bit of a parallel with Niwa’s past in a way, as Miyu noticed. Niwa lost his dad, dog and seems to be distant from his mother. In Mrs. Kato’s case, she lost her son, but she still has her dog and husband who seems to be in good terms with. Despite that, Niwa has moved on, but the pain of losing his dog is still there. His stern face is because he’s holding back his tears. That’s rather funny, but also sadly cute in a way. I love how Miyu’s trying be understanding towards the case due to Niwa’s past and he’s also learning about cases like this. There is valuable information in this episode: dogs have short and long term memory. Dogs have good memory, but Niwa actually lied to Mrs. Kato in order to give her a wakeup call. An example of good memory is Rocky looking at Mrs. Kato’s behavior and going back to his spot. I love that Miyu ponders about a dog’s memories and hopes that Singe will have him in his memories for a long time. That’s so sweet. I really love it when Miyu’s thoughts are voiced out in the end; it’s like he’s writing a diary of his experience.

I’m always amazed by the voice actor casting for the minor characters. Mr. Kato is voiced by Kentaro Ito, who is known for voicing Renji Abarai from Bleach and Chouji from Naruto. Mrs. Kato is voiced by THE Nana Mizuki. Anime fans might recognize her for numerous roles like Hinata Hyuga from Naruto and Utau Hoshino from Shugo Chara. She’s also a prolific singer. If you’re familiar with the song Discotheque, she’s the singer. It’s crazy how they got three members of the Uzumaki family in this show already; we got Minato Namikaze as Niwa’s dad, Naruto Uzumaki as Ms. Kadota from Episode 8 and now Hinata in this episode. It’d be hilarious if Kushina, Boruto, Himawari and Kawaii’s voice actors make an appearance in later episodes, but I doubt it.

I love that the lesson for this episode is to not impose your own personal feelings onto your pets because they do not comprehend them. People do have a tendency to try and humanize their pets. Niwa’s lecture really hit home. I should be a bit more careful when it comes to understanding my dogs now. I can’t wait to see what next week has in store because this anime is so comforting and beautiful with life lessons revolving around pets. If you have seen this episode, what are your thoughts?

#dog signal #Miyu samura #singe #Shinichiro niwa #Ourson #Ritsuka izumi #kato #rocky #golden retriever #review #anime #anime review #ecargmura #arum journal

[surftrips]

Just My Type — Chapter Two (Jay Halstead x woc!Reader)

Word Count: 1210

Chapter Summary: Dr Y/L/N assists Detective Jay Halstead and the Intelligence Unit on a call involving a serial killer.

A/N: Been having so much fun writing this series, thank you for all the support on Chapter One! If you would like to be tagged in future chapters, just leave a comment or message me and as always, show this post some love <3 <3

CHAPTER ONE / SERIES DESCRIPTION

Case File 081: In pursuit of a male suspect with sociopathic tendencies targeting prostitutes in the Chicago area. 

Location: Unknown

Relatives: Mother (DECEASED) / Father incarcerated

You began to read over the case file Detective Halstead handed you. Ever since you helped him out with the witness at Med, he had been calling you up to assist on more and more cases. This one involved a serial killer that Intelligence has stumbled upon. 

Chicago wasn’t a stranger to infamous killers, but you were surprised that Intelligence hadn’t transferred this case to another division in the CPD or the FBI.

“Hey, aren’t serial killers outside of your jurisdiction?”, you asked Jay.

“Yes, technically… but I told Voight we should pursue it,” he responded.

“And why did you say that?”

“I told him I know someone that can help.” 

You chuckled. You couldn’t say no to him, and he probably knew it. “Alright fine, I’ll finish up looking over these files and meet you at the station after my shift. I get off in a few hours.” 

“Great, thanks Y/N,” he smiled at you on his way out. 

… 

True to your word, you headed over to the station after your shift. You tucked your motorcycle helmet under your arm before walking in. 

Even though you had met all of the other officers in the Intelligence Unit, this was the first time you were actually upstairs in the bullpen.

“Dr. Y/L/N! Jay told us you were coming over, it’s nice to see you, ” Adam Ruzek greeted you.

“Hey, nice to see you too! Where is he by the way?” you asked. 

Just then you heard Jay’s voice, “There’s my favorite psychologist! Hey- I didn’t know you had a bike,” he said, noticing the helmet under your arm. 

“Jay, how many times do I have to tell you I’m a psychiatrist?”

“Well, either way, I’m glad you’re here. Let me show you what we’ve got so far.”

He led you over to the large whiteboard they kept in the middle of the room. You saw photos and names of the victims, the suspect himself, possible locations he frequented, there was barely any white space left. 

You pointed to the picture of the man they believed to be the suspect, “What do we know about him?” 

By then, the rest of the team had begun filing in: Kim Burgess, Hailey Upton, Antonio Dawson, Kevin Atwater, and of course, Voight. 

It was Kim who responded to you first, “Not much. He was seen in the area after the police discovered three of the bodies, we thought that was too much to be a coincidence. Usually people run into just one of these crime scenes, but the murder locations are scattered across town, so it doesn’t really explain why he was at three of them.”

“We went to his last known address but it’s empty. Checked out next of kin, but his parents aren’t in his life, he has no siblings, and no known associates,” Kevin added.

You took a minute to think. “Alright, so this guy is a loner. Likes to do things his own way. By visiting three separate locations of the crime, he thinks he is invincible, that we’re never going to catch him. Tell me, were there any trophies he took from the women or symbols he left behind?”

Antonio said, “Not that we know of, but you’re welcome to take a closer look at the bodies if you want. I can show-”

“Actually, I can take her to the morgue,” Jay cut in before Antonio could finish his sentence. 

Antonio nodded, like they had some sort of silent agreement going on. “Sure, man,” he said.

…

“Hey, what was that all about?” you asked Jay as soon as you two were in his truck.

“What was what all about?” he asked, clueless, or at least pretending to be.  

“You interrupted Antonio when he offered to take me to the morgue.”

“Oh, that. Yeah, I just need to make a stop and it’s on the way to the morgue, so you know, convenience and all that.” 

“Oh, sure,” you said, trying to hide the disappointment in your voice. Of course, you were just going to be accompanying the detective on his errands, nothing more. Unless..? 

Your thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of Jay turning on the radio. “What do you think is appropriate music to listen to while driving to the morgue?” he asked. 

You chuckled, “Hmmm.. I always say Taylor Swift has a song for everything, but I’m not sure about this one.” 

“You’re kidding! I say the same thing all the time!”

“Do you really?”

“Haha, no. I’m just messing with you. But Taylor Swift is good, I’ll give you that.” 

You playfully punched his arm in response to teasing you. “Don’t you ever joke when it comes to Taylor Swift again!”

…

At the morgue, you observed the five bodies closely. On the outside, there was no real resemblance between any of them, but you did notice that the first two victims were brunettes, while the most recent three were blonde.

“Do you think there’s a pattern there?” Jay asked when you told him about your observation.

“Possibly, it’s not uncommon for a killer to use people as stand-ins before they build up the courage to pursue their real targets. We just have to figure out what his endgame is here.” 

“So you’re saying the first two victims were for practice? His real target is a blonde woman?”

“I think so, we need to go back and see if there are any women in his life that he could be harboring resentment for.” 

“Copy that. Come on, let’s get back in the car.”

…

After cross-checking the list of possible targets for your suspect, the team landed on a woman named Samantha Jones. She was a few years older than the suspect, grew up in the same neighborhood as him, and after interviewing her, found out that she had embarrassed him by rejecting his advances all those years ago in high school.

Confident that she was the next target, Intelligence was able to get to her house in time and bring the suspect into custody. 

“Another case for the books,” you were reconvening with everyone after the arrest at Molly’s. “I must say, that was pretty exciting. I’m starting to wonder if I chose the wrong career path.” 

“Y/N, as much as I think you would make a great cop, I think you’re an even better psychiatrist,” Jay responded. 

“You really think so?— Wait, did you just get my job title right?” 

“Uhhh, yeah I think I did. That calls for a celebration! Next drink on me?” Jay chuckled. 

“In my professional opinion, I think it would be wise for me to take you up on that offer,” you said, smiling like a loser. He was cute, there was no denying that. 

It wasn’t until later in the night when you were lost in conversation with Jay that you realized he never ran that errand on the way to the morgue. You wondered if he had just forgotten, or if luck had fallen into your lap and maybe he did like you after all.

#jay halstead #jay halstead x reader #one chicago #chicago pd #chicago pd fic #chicago pd imagine #jay halstead imagine #jesse lee soffer #just my type fic

[al-hekima-madara-blog]

Speculations from the cavern Part III

Part I

Part II

Let's dig into the most unhinged Uchiha's tradition : eyes exchange !

Based on both pictures above, it looks like it's the same set of eyes and that Madara just removed the blind one. But no it's much more chaotic than that!

That's not his original eyes to start with. He inherited Izuna's eyes in the same way Itachi offers his to Sasuke to awake the Eternal Mangakyou Sharingan. Slight digression but am I the only one wondering what Madara and Sasuke did with their "old" pair of eyes? Did they just dump them in a bin, can they re-use them later or give to someone else? Or do they just rot when detached from their original sockets? (Gosh... I feel this post is getting too graphic 😭)

From part II, we know now that Madara was actually free to move across the globe most of his life. Everyone thought he was dead at the Valley of the End and after roughly a decade most of people who personally knew him were deceased. However, he was handicapped with only one sharingan left. His right eyes had been sacrificed to resurrect himself with Izanagi.

Since he was waiting for the Rinnegan, I don't think he replaced his blind one but who knows? he said also, I misquote, that Sharingan are like light bulb always good to have more on the side.

Talking about spare eyes. There is at least two people (aside Obito) that Madara met during this long exile. Nagato and an Uchiha who gave him his single sharingan.

For the unknown Uchiha there is many possibilities :

1/ Did Madara have the habits like Danzo to collect Sharingans after a battle? And there was so many wars during his lifetime, it's like doing mushroom picking in the forest.

2/ He kept secret contact with some Uchihas inside Konoha, still loyal to him. But I'm not convinced. He seems to have been totally cut off from Konoha when he left.

3/ He has known (sympathized?) with an other Uchiha in his old days before he awakened his Rinnegan. That could be a nice fanfic idea if anyone interested. That person was probably not strong or relevant enough to be useful as a pawn, but close enough to have giving him his/her unique eye left for some reason.

About Nagato. All I can speculate is that like Obito both were rushed choices. Not rush in a way it was a mistake, but rushed that as soon as Madara has awakened his Rinnegan he literally had a countdown above his head before dying. His first move was to look for a senju descendant. How strange to choose a distant Uzumaki cousin rather that a direct Senju like Princess Tsunade? In theory she is an ideal candidate to be able to bear the Rinnegan, she is both descendant of Hashirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki. Was she not easily accessible to him? (I think she was already a grown adult and trained medecine shinobi by this time) Did he already reckon she was too weak for the job? Maybe witnessing her story and her struggle with haemophobia, alcoholism and depression ect.. He judged her long time ago as a "weak woman" for carrying his plan. But for sure, he knew perfectly the Senju/Uzumaki lineage, he didn't discovered her during the 4th shinobi war. The fact he never mentioned her name shows how disappointed he was by her abilities as Hashirama's heiress.

Finally he chose Nagato, an immigrant in the Ame country if I remember well. Just like Karin, or Kushina, he was one of the few survivor from Uzumaki clan scattered in different countries. It's hard to tell how Madara could have switch his eyes without his parents noticing it. It seems you can't deactivate a Rinnegan like a Sharingan. Hagoromo, Madara, Nagato and even Sasuke never switch them off once it's awakened. Like how the hell can you look at your child one day with normal pupils and the next day looking crazy like this :

Anyway that's it for now.

Next Part IV

#madara #obito #nagato #tsunade #Speculations from the cavern #Rinnegan #Sharingan

[ladyzee-oddityhunter]

((CW: Dead pokemon. Decay.))

[Stream Beginning Soon]

[The welcome screen wipes away to reveal Zee standing on a dirt path in a grassy, lightly forested area. She waves giddily. Pinned to her cape just below her scalemail shoulder pad is a small pin in the shape of a ghost curled around itself, seemingly asleep. A gym badge]

“Greetings my lovely skiddo kiddos! You’re here with me, Lady Zee! Today’s stream is going to be a little more laid back while I show you some ground work. It’ll be like a behind the scenes stream on how I scout out an area or topic to explore.”

[She tugs her cape, drawing attention to the little badge]

“If you’ve been following along, you already know that I recently got my very first gym badge! I’m still editing that video, but it will be out soon, so keep an eye out! Mild spoiler, the badge came from Glitch City! Isn’t that neat? It was a ghost themed challenge similar to the trials in Alola, and the badge is a little ghost, so guess what I have on my mind?”

[She steps off the path and heads down a slope toward a small lake]

“If you remember from previous streams and blog posts, ghost pokemon, while not actual ghosts themselves, can sometimes indicate ghostly activity. My go to example is pumpkaboo, a little pokemon known for collecting spirits to take to the afterlife. If you see a bunch of pumpkaboo, or maybe just one very busy looking one, you may be in an area populated by spirits and possibly ghosts.”

[She pauses in her trek to whirl toward the camera with a beaming smile. Her cape and scale mail shoulder pad sparkle in the evening sunlight]

“And what’s the difference between a ghost and a spirit you ask?

Well, basically, the spirit is the thing that departs your body when you die. It IS you. It’s your memories, your perception of yourself, your personality, etcetera. In some cases, spirits choose to stay in this world instead of moving on to the next one, and there are three options that we currently know of from there. One, they become a ghost type pokemon such as yamask, phantump, or others. Two, they remain as a spirit and hang around as silent observers, or get picked up and brought to the next world. Three, they become a real, no kidding, capital G ghost.”

[Zee flourishes her hands, flashing the gold underside of her cape]

“The GHOST is when a spirit generates enough spiritual power to create a visible manifestation of itself. A spirit only has its thoughts and memories, no body, and those are what drive it to remain in our world. The stronger the spirit’s drive is, the more powerful its ghost will be. This is why we say sometimes a spirit may not be ready to move on. They still have something they feel they need to do in this world, they still have that drive.

“These motivations have ranged anywhere from deceased parents wanting to stick around to watch their children grow up to people waiting to see their murder solved. Sometimes these things never come to pass, so the ghost just sticks around indefinitely.

“Now, most ghosts are completely harmless. The vast majority are, actually, because it takes a LOT of energy to do anything, and that’s essentially all they have. Semi-finite energy. Just appearing as something other than a misty blob takes a lot of energy, lots of drive, let alone interacting with the physical world. That’s why most hauntings are limited to small things like knocking cups off tables or moving dolls around creepily.

“What do ghosts look like, you may be wondering? Well, most of them look how they looked when they died to a certain extent. This is because their memories and self perceptions dictate how they’ll look. So if you ever die and become a ghost, you’ll look how you feel you should look. This might be a bit different from how you actually looked, or it may be spot-“

[The stream freezes for a few long moments. When it resumes, Zee is up close to the camera as if she was inspecting the phone]

“Shoot, my connection’s not that good out here. How about we jump right to the ‘Zee, what are you doing today?’ Part?”

[She’s approaching the small lake now. To reach it, she has to carefully shuffle down a slope that makes it invisible from the path. It’s surrounded on most sides by old trees draped with hanging moss and webs]

“So there’s been a lampent wandering around here for a few days according to someone at the nearest coffee shop. A lake is a weird place for a lampent since it’s A) A fire type and B) Not going to find a lot to eat here.

“If you recall, lampent-“

[The stream freezes again. When it resumes, Zee is standing where she was, idly inspecting her pink nail polish. She quickly looks up and smiles]

“You’re back! Great! So lamptent won’t find much to eat here. If you recall, lampent are known for hovering around the sites of death like hospitals and retirement homes to steal spirits. To eat. Hence it would go pretty hungry at an isolated lake like this.”

[She approaches the edge of the lake and looks side to side down each shady shore]

“Odd behavior from wild ghost pokemon can sometimes indicate something is amiss. I would really like to first find the lampent itself and make sure it’s not just hurt or-“

[She halts, sniffs, then gags]

“What’s that smell? It… Oh golly.”

[She makes a hand gesture to the camera that causes the rotom phone to zoom in closer to her back and lift its angle a little, avoid showing the immediate shore by Zee’s feet]

“It smells like… Oh dear. Deedee, put a blur filter over this, thank you.”

[The camera pans down, and as instructed there’s a blur over the small reddish figure Zee is crouched beside]

“It’s a dead magikarp. Very sad, but I don’t think this is what I was smelling. Magikarp bodies are usually more… You know, fishy.”

[Zee rummages through her satchel and sighs]

“I didn’t think I’d be touching anything gross today, so I didn’t bring gloves.”

[She leans over it, lips pursed tightly together like she’s trying not to gag or get the odor in her mouth]

“Actually, it hasn’t been dead that long, and… And I don’t see any sign of injury or illness. Not on this side, anyway, but I’m not flipping it over without gloves. Sorry, little guy, taken in the prime of your life.”

[The stream freezes again. It resumes, grainy and very low resolution at first, and Zee’s moved on farther down the shore. For just a moment, the bodies of two tentacruel and a wingull are seen laying in the water in different stages of decay. The wingull looks like it’s the most in tact while one of the tentacruel has deflated and rotted almost beyond recognition. Then a blur is placed over them. Zee is holding her cape over her nose and mouth]

“This is pretty strange. Ah, I wish I had some pokenurse training, the pink hair by itself doesn’t cut it.

“It’s hard to tell if these have any wounds or diseases since they’ve already started to decompose. Obviously nothing ATE them, so this isn’t just pokemon doing as nature does and eating each other.

“Still no sign of the lam-“

[There was a network error. Please try again]

Part 2

#pokemon irl #zee streams #zees lake encounter #dead pokemon