#DANG IT I MISSPELLED SURPRISE

[aurorasulphur]

First off, glad to see the DDDNE poll picking up speed in circles beyond my own.

Second, absolutely fascinated by the sheer variety of the nuanced explanations. (Idk what I expected, on this, the “my opinion is slightly different from everyone else’s” website.)

Third, I’m surprised and a little unsettled by the implied judgment in so many of the replies. Again, idk what I expected. Caveat that I’m both a linguist and a person from the USA, so sometimes my descriptivist training is at war with my stubborn “words mean SPECIFIC THINGS” mentality.

Fourth, all signs so far point to the fact that the broad misunderstanding that the primary purpose of the tag is “to indicate a lack of in-text moral condemnation” comes STRAIGHT from the first paragraph of the Fanlore article as it appeared from mid-2020 to literally this week. (When I bumped the info about the conflicting meanings up into the bit that shows above the infobox on mobile.) I feel Some Kind Of Way about that, as it underlines how seriously we should take our Fanlore edits, as well as how few people actually read the whole dang article.

Fourth and a half, I can only find TWO sources (tweets) from before the mid-2020 Fanlore edit that indicate the speaker believes the most important aspect of the DDDNE tag is that it deals with “problematic” or “morally questionable” topics without condemning them in-text.

Fifth, I completely understand why that Fanlore editor framed it that way (it is a rephrasing of Mostlyvalid’s original statement, after all) but seeing hundreds of tweets quote the statement verbatim without seeming to understand THE REST OF THE ARTICLE is alarming. And, imo, this phrase “morally reprehensible” has unintentionally contributed to the vitriol aimed at people who write fics tagged with DDDNE.

Sixth, the point, to me, is that the fic tagged with DDDNE may or may not explicitly address in-text the fact that its contents are (or could be considered) unpleasant, uncomfortable, disturbing, extreme, inappropriate, illegal, intense, “problematic”, immoral, or taboo. The tag serves as a piece of metadata to send up a flag (outside the context of the story itself) that the reader should carefully consider if they want to read a story where the contents (whatever they may be) might be presented as something other than what they would be in reality. It does not mean the fic DEFINITELY “glorifies violence” or “romanticizes necrophilia” or whatever phrase the kids are using these days. (Which is what the fanlore statement about “morally reprehensible” implies, imo.) All it means is that the fic might not have a flashing sign saying “hey this is bad”, so you-the-reader need to exercise your critical thinking skills and decide for yourself whether to read it at all, and whether the actions in the fic are something you should emulate in your daily life. Which, honestly, you should be using your critical thinking skills to assess this for every fic you read, regardless of the tags.

Finally, DDDNE is just the fic equivalent of the safety pop up on websites and applications saying “hey, did you really mean to do this? Are you fully aware of the consequences of sending this data packet to the server like this? Did you know you misspelled your own name? Are you sure you meant to type Wasingtn and not Washington? Do you understand what you are agreeing to? Did you read the tags so you know what to expect? You have unsaved changes, do you wish to exit without saving?”

By opening a fic tagged DDDNE, you are saying: “I, the reader, understand that this fic tagged X (a thing most people would not want to be jumpscared by) will contain X, and the treatment of X may or may not be subverted, glossed over, or otherwise toned down to a skippable cutscene. I agree that this is a thing I want to read.”

It’s hard to boil that down to a pithy statement that appears in the broad-strokes intro of a wiki article!!!!!!

#an aurora original #aurora is back on her bullshit #this is very rambly because I am currently waiting for my adhd meds to hit my system #how many tags before it no longer appears in the tag listing broadly? #fanlore #idk I also admit being Roman Catholic is influencing this #which sounds silly!!! #but tbh only god can judge so like #kinktomato my dudes #i don’t have a problem with it #if god does then he’ll take it up with you in the afterlife #dead dove #DID YOU KNOW definitions are nuanced? #words and their meanings are context-dependent? #shades of meaning exist? #and yet #a fic tagged CNTW and DDDNE and nothing else screams WRONG to me #i’m not perfect lmao #rory’s dead dove poll

[interstellarmoodboards]

[Toy Bonnie Among Us headcanons, requested by a friend.]

Toy Bonnie Among Us headcanons! First picture is with full body pictures, while the second is without. I thought it’d be fun to include System Error, too which really brought this moodboard together.

My headcanons, since it’s a little hard to read on the moodboard, are as follows:

Really likes being imposter

Always manages to get an alibi

Good liar like bro teach me

VENT GOBLIN

Can help a ton or cause chaos

Hangs out in the hallways

Basically 3rd imposter

Fake surprise

The song included is “The Other Side of Paradise” by Glass Animals.

#tw eyestrain #qed #interstellar's moodboard #fnaf moodboard #fnaf 2 #fnaf 2 toy bonnie #toy bonnie #five nights at freddy's #among us moodboard #among us #headcanons #among us headcanons #system error toy bonnie #red #blue #moodboards #moodboard #DANG IT I MISSPELLED SURPRISE #f #personal moodboard #glass animals #song lyrics

[everyonewasabird]

Brickclub 3.8.6 ‘The wild man in his lair’

Hugo sets up a dichotomy we’ve heard before, between the corrupt wildness of the city and the savage but pure wildness of the forest.

And it’s kind of one of the differences between Thenardier and Valjean? They’re the two characters who are socially liminal and therefore illegible to society and read as dangerous. But Valjean belongs in the woods--he's had a hard time getting comfortable in Paris. Thenardier started in a somewhat less urban place, but he gravitated here--and became more himself.

Marius was poor and his room was poorly furnished, but even as his poverty was noble, his garret was clean. The den into which his eyes were at that moment directed, was abject, filthy, fetid, infectious, gloomy, unclean.

I know the nineteenth century was full of this noble poverty vs ignoble poverty idea, but it sure Isn’t Great.

Except--

I really think there’s a decent chance this is on purpose? Going into this, I said the point of the Patron-Minette chapter was to trigger all the reader’s worst, most fearful instincts about the criminal poor, because the point of this section is to face the lessons of the book’s first half on hard mode.

Here we are, raising still more stereotypes--and boy do we raise them. Whatever “The Noxious Poor” makes the bourgeois reader picture, this description dials it up to eleven. This is the middle class reader’s worst nightmare.

“Pop quiz” the book is saying, “can you still maintain sympathy with these people? Can you see in Eponine and Azelma what you saw in Fantine? How about now?”

I’ve been taking Thenardier’s Napoleon III connection largely on faith but

In a corner next to the opening Marius was looking through, hanging on the wall in a black wooden frame, was a coloured engraving at the bottom of which was written in capital letters THE DREAM. This represented a sleeping woman and a sleeping child, the child on the woman’s knee, an eagle in a cloud with a crown in its beak, and the woman taking the crown off the child’s head, and without its waking up, too; in the background, Napoléon in a blaze of glory was leaning on a fat blue column with a yellow capital adorned with this inscription:

MARINGO AUSTERLITS IENA WAGRAMME ELOT

..Okay, yes, I see where you all may be coming from. Dang.

Rose’s notes point out the last two are misspelled, confirming that the fantasy depicted is Thenardier’s own work.

Which is another similarity between him and Valjean, the only other character, I think, who ever really was tempted by the Great Man thing. But Valjean got over it when he saw the harm it did, and Thenardier is incapable of that.

Plus, Valjean is linked with Napoleon, whom this book has genuinely conflicted feelings about, not Napoleon III, about whom..... let’s just call them “less conflicted.”

I expect

Lavater, if he could have studied this face, would have found in it a mixture of vulture and pettifogger; the bird of prey and the man of tricks rendering each other ugly and complete, the man of tricks making the bird of prey ignoble, the bird of prey making the man of tricks horrible.

will turn out to bear a surprising resemblance to NIII--though not one a critic could point out without agreeing with it--and

“Oh! I could eat the world!”

definitely does.

It’s fascinating how specifically Thenardier has fastened onto the Napoleonic mythos as the destiny being denied him.

Upon one of the pallets Marius could discern a sort of slender little wan girl seated, almost naked, with her feet hanging down, having the appearance neither of listening, nor of seeing, nor of living.

The younger sister, doubtless, of the one who had come to his room.

She appeared to be eleven or twelve years old. On examining her attentively, he saw that she must be fourteen. It was the child who, the evening before, on the boulevard, said: "I cavalé, cavalé, cavalé!”

And just like that, we learn that Eponine was the kid in the family who was doing better. Fucking hell.

Azelma.</3

#brickclub #lm 3.8.6

[uwua3]

hi bunnie! can i first just say that your name and blog are both so dang cute aaaa 🥺 can i request a best friend!izumi hc? 🥺👉👈 thank you so much 💛

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! YOU ARE THE CUTEST PERSON EVER~ i am in Love With You !!! also omg IZUMI ♡u♡ she is the Best Girl ever but #AllGirlsAreBestGirls !!! i love her so much, i’m so glad this was requested!!! i am so happy to write this ♡ PLEASE LOVE IZUMI!

summary: together, you and the currian are unstoppable! watching the cooking channel with your best friend just got even better

author’s note: i hope you love this 🥺 i am genuinely so soft over izumi she deserves the whole world

count how many times i say curry, it isn’t even Funny at this point T___T anyways, i was a bit nervous over this because i hadn’t watched the anime, so i didn’t know izumi well as a character! if all else fails, use the traits you know to the best of your ability! i love our curry queen regardless, though~

word count: 2,001

music: good as hell – lizzo ft. ariana grande

my best friend.

🍛 tachibana izumi

you, funny enough, met izumi at the grocery store in the spices aisle

you were unable to decide between which spices were necessary for the curry recipe you were about to attempt, staring at your phone screen with obvious confusion

what was the difference between each type of curry? which one was better? you scrolled down, reading off the countries,

“india, thailand, malaysia, china, south africa, japan...” you mumbled inaudibly before you heard a very distinct crash in the next aisle over. someone must’ve just hit their cart into a display or—

you saw a girl with long brown hair and pink eyes with... wait... were her pupils heart–shaped? you stumbled back as she approached like she was on a mission, standing a mere few feet from you as she smiled pleasantly at you like the situation wasn’t out of the ordinary at all

(oh no... was she one of those pyramid scheme scammers?)

“are you making curry?!” she questioned, leaning forward to glance at your screen only to squeal in excitement at the confirmation. you gulped, nodding with a tinge of doubtful fear

if you said yes, were you about to be attacked right here and now in the middle of a grocery store? you just wanted some curry...

“i’m so happy for you! do you need help? i know the perfect combination of spices for any type of curry! i can make a different curry for each day of the year!” she offered to help, putting her hands together with a pleading look like she was dying to talk about curry

you nodded again and her entire face lit up again, going off on a rant without taking a moment to breathe

she was so knowledgable on all types of curry! you took notes diligently, deciding on japanese chicken katsu curry as the meal for tonight

when you told her, she clapped her hands and giddily jumped up and down. it was honestly refreshing to see someone so enthusiatic about food!

“i’m sorry for randomly talking to you, but i just love curry! do you need help looking for the rest of the items?” she offered to help, already with an armful of the spices you needed and dumped them into your cart

you pondered, thinking as you looked at the girl. she was nice enough, and clearly wasn’t much of a threat if she was willing to approach a stranger without any discomfort

why not? you smiled, offering your hand out to shake as you introduced yourself. she took it quickly, enthusiatically shaking it up and down as she giggled

“izumi! glad to meet you!”

from that point forward, you two became best friends for life!

izumi was the life of the party and brought happiness wherever she went. not only that, but she was incredibly polite and kind! it wasn’t everyday you met a girl that was full of life and always determined to overcome any obstacle in her path!

izumi would go through anything and everything for her friends despite how busy she was 24/7. she juggled being the mankai director (which was babysitting 20 boys), helping other acting troupes, and cooking at night but still made time to see you at least every week

you weren’t surprised when you were encouraged to come over for a company dinner one night and saw so. many. variations. of curry set up at the table. like the other boys, you attempted to hide your grimace (but very poorly, you weren’t a trained actor like the rest of the entourage was)

“what’s wrong? are you okay?” izumi’s motherly instincts kicked in as she hurried to put her hand against your forehead. you had to pretend like you were coming down with a cold the rest of the week and forced the curry down your throat

(the boys secretly gave you water under the table, whispering advice on how to bear it and grin as they made up fake situations to pass your chair)

(the high schoolers just looked relieved to not be the victim that night)

(seriously... so. many. variations.)

(every time you were invited to a meet–up, you texted the groupchat named “stop the currian” to see if izumi was making curry)

(she always was. you still ate it because you loved her too much to say no)

but other than curry, izumi loved cooking! she was subscribed to sooo many culinary and baking channels on youtube. she loved sending you links with a follow–up text that said: “wanna make this tonight? i know you want to eat it! ;)”

(you complained about how it always ended in a minor food fight you had to clean up. you still let her in when she knocked on your front door with bags of groceries)

(after so many visits, izumi was beginning to be proficient at other forms of culinary like baking since you enjoyed it so much)

one time, you even convinced izumi to make her own youtube channel. you had set up a camera omi loaned on a tripod, acting as the best cameraman ever of course

(you had a clapperboard that had the production titled, “izumi is replacing bon appétit’s claire” with take 1 freshly written)

“you got this, izumi!” you encouragedly put a fist in the air, “fighting!”

izumi nodded cutely, wearing her favorite striped shirt with a pastel pink apron. she held a automatic whisk in her right and was already posing with a mixing bowl in her left, ready to demonstrate how to make your favorite dessert

(maybe you suggested the idea because you wanted food, who knows?)

counting down vocally, you watched as your fingers dropped down to a zero and the red light on the camera started blinking. it was go time, and izumi immediately got into action

“hello, everyone! my name is tachibana izumi and today we will be making—”

the camera fell off the stand as izumi’s whisk flew out of her hand and smacked the lense directly in the middle. a sickening thud echoed through the apartment as you two stood in shock, staring at the expensive camera with unease. it didn’t look... uh... functional?

you quickly put your finger on your nose since it was an unspoken rule that touching your nose automatically meant opting out. you were a second earlier than izumi as she gasped like she was offended

“i am not telling omi!” izumi freaked out, running over but the damage was already done. the camera definitely didn’t turn on anymore

(you and izumi bought the same camera that day and switched the memory cards) (omi raised his eyebrows at the sudden newness of his trusty camera, but didn’t say anything as he just took it and thanked you for bringing it back safe)

(yeah... omi definitely knew. but, he wasn’t too bothered to say anything about it)

(“izumi? what did you spend so much money on last month?” sakyo reviewed her financial statement, watching as she nervously sweat and glanced at omi. he just shrugged like he had no idea)

so you two stuck to mindlessly watching the cooking channel on the tv. it was the usual weekend: becoming insecure over the unreal and extremely talented kid bakers who made a whole 3–tier cake in two hours, making fun of america’s worst chefs when they didn’t know how to cut a chicken, and yelling at cheating cooks who were way too competitive on chopped

it was better that way, anyways. maybe going viral on the internet wasn’t meant for everyone. you still got your dessert, much to your satisfaction

(“yeah, yeah. it’s only because you’re my best friend.” izumi laughed, shoving the plate with extra servings as you stuffed your face. she just fondly rolled her eyes as you tried saying thanks with your mouth full)

(“gross!” izumi squealed, throwing the kitchen mitts at you as you fought back, nearly hitting her with one of the pastries. you already know what happens next. izumi stopped baking for you for a long time [a month] as punishment)

speaking of baking, izumi loved making the most ridiculous cakes you’ve ever seen in your entire life

on random days, she’d make the most creative cupcakes ever with individual designs with meticulous attention to detail

(izumi always had to slap masumi’s hands away from the white box she’d set aside specifically for you. he’d pout, hurt, wondering why she didn’t make any food other than curry for him)

(“masumi... you really need to look at other girls.” you remembered advising him, sympathetically patting his back as he angrily accused you of being in love with izumi, too! to this day, it’s still awkward on your end when you see masumi and he thinks you’re his lifelong competitor)

but on important celebrations like your birthday and anniversaries, her cakes were... something. they’d be the most delicious things on earth, but the design would be comically ugly. she’d put the most bare minimum art ever and write the words way too big and it wouldn’t fit. there were always misspellings. maybe it was a curse for being so well–rounded?

another fun fact was you and izumi were the ultimate power duo! whenever you two went to hang out in public, you always made sure some creep wasn’t staring at her and she did the same for you all the time

as friends, it was your job to make sure you two were as safe and sound as possible

(one time, an absolute douchebag tried to wolf whistle her and izumi had to stop you from getting into a fight in broad daylight)

izumi was way too nice. she was such a selfless person and often acted like the big sister you never had. she was always ready with the most agreeable advice and showed up with her arms open. she was so giving, it was easy to see why everyone loved her

but you liked giving back, too! (much to her surprise) you even tried your hand at making some new form of curry by throwing in random spices and calling it a day, but you realized she was the most critical judge ever for any type of curry

(you stopped making curry for her. she would narrow her eyes and push her imaginary glasses up like an anime character. it was terrifying, she always appreciated it but... you shuddered, izumi was scary)

once, you even rented that curry truck to come by for her birthday! you never saw someone look like they were this close to passing out from maximum happiness

(you even bought a director’s chair for her with izumi bedazzled across the back)

(she now sits in it to get that extra confidence boost before a big show)

but the most important gift that kept on giving was spending quality time with izumi when she needed it most

when the anniversary of her father going missing came back around, you were the first person at her room. with curry you knew she liked from that really one obscure place and all the time that day to make sure she way okay

(she was such a big sister! izumi always claimed she was fine and it was just another normal day, but you were always there to provide comfort she didn’t even know she needed)

you took time out of your day to help her with all her mudane tasks after you saw she once physically fainted from tiredness

(it almost gave you a heart attack the first time, but then you noticed tsuzuru also did that too so it must’ve been something in the mankai dorm air)

you then became a well known figure in the theatre community as “izumi’s best friend”

(you were not upset with that title at all, in fact, you hoped it never changed)

who knew you’d meet your best friend forever at a grocery store? over curry nonetheless?

(yes, you’re izumi’s best friend, but it doesn’t mean you’re exempt from the spices rant)

#tachibana izumi #izumi tachibana #a3! act! addict! actors! #a3! #act! addict! actors! #a3! actor training game #a3! headcanons #act! addict! actors! headcanons #mankai a3! #mankai company #a3! x reader #a3 x reader #izumi x reader #a3! izumi #a3 izumi

[tjkiahgb]

Episode Recap: 3.20, “We Were Here”

Guys, I’m sorry. I know the whole idea is, oh, tjkiahgb does his funny little recap and makes his jokes and all that.

I don’t know what to do about this episode.

I feel like this recap is just going to be a bunch of screencaps and me writing “I’m emotional!” underneath each of them. I’m going to have to do 15 paragraphs on Celia in a dinosaur costume just to have anything to say.

Alright, well, let’s see if I can pull myself together long enough to do this.

OH MY GOD, IT’S THE LAST “PREVIOUSLY ON ANDI MACK” WE’RE EVER GOING TO SEE. I NEED TO LIE DOWN!

Okay. I’m back. Let’s try this again.

For the last time, our episode begins at Celia’s house.

Celia’s all packed and ready for a trip. She gives Bex her orders and lays down the law.

Bex is like, come on, mom, you know we’re going to have a party.

And Celia’s like, yeah.

Consider this my wedding gift.

Celia departs for places unknown and...

OH NO IT’S THE LAST TIME WE’LL EVER SEE THE INTRO! HELP MEEEEE!

At Bex’s, Andi and Bex gather supplies for the party.

Bex is like, oh thank God we still have those. It’s not a party until the cheaply made SWAG sunglasses make an appearance.

They start making a list of the essentials for a party: food, balloons, glow-sticks.

Bex says she’s been meaning to get one of those. So, wait, she doesn’t already have one in the apartment’s emergency preparedness kit? What happens if there’s a natural disaster?

Bowie wanders in and they let him know there’s going to be a party. Bex and Andi start wondering what they’re going to wear to the party. Andi runs off to decide, but Bowie holds Bex back for a second to talk to her.

Bowie goes to retrieve a letter he brought in from the mailbox.

But, more importantly:

THE CAT! An appearance in the finale for The Cat! He’s been here since season one, he deserves it!

Bowie tells Bex there’s a situation. Andi has received a letter from SAVA.

The two wonder about the letter. Acceptance letters usually have a lot of paperwork and such in them and arrive in bigger envelopes. Rejection letters, on the other hand, are usually just a piece of paper that says “Thanks but no thanks.” on it.

They worry about how sad it’ll make Andi if it’s a rejection letter, and don’t want to ruin her night with that possibility, so they decide to keep it quiet for now.

Then Andi appears and Bex sits on the letter. Andi tells her she found something for her to wear, so Bex gets up and Bowie jumps on the letter like it’s a grenade.

Once he thinks the coast is clear, he gets off of it, but then Andi appears again and Bowie crumples up the letter in his hands to hide it and does this completely natural thing...

Oh, don’t mind me, just listening to my hands.

Andi tells him she picked out something for him to wear, too, and runs off.

Bowie examines the state of the letter.

On the bright side, if it is a rejection letter, you can always say this is how it showed up and trash SAVA for lacking the decency to take any care in mailing their letters. I mean, if this is how they mail stuff, imagine how little care they show in other places! Who would want to go to such a school anyway, right?

That night, everything is in place for the party.

Bex comes walking down the stairs in her wedding dress, which looks nice but feels impractical for a night of partying.

Andi tells her how beautiful she looks.

There’s a knock at the door. Andi lets Bowie in. He’s wearing his father’s tux.

Andi starts up some music and invites the bride and groom to the floor for their first dance.

And-- oh GOD it’s the song from the first season.

Well, we’re six minutes in and I guess this is going to mark the point of the episode where I start going under and just never recover.

The party is in full swing now. Cyrus finds Buffy watching Marty from across the room as he chats up another girl. Cyrus asks her if things are still weird between the two of them but she doesn’t know. He asks her what she would like things to be like between them.

Buffy feels that Marty doesn’t like her anymore. Like like. Cyrus doesn’t believe that’s true, but Buffy says Marty said it himself.

He’s like, you’re really going to believe the word of a known liar like Marty? If he’s so honest, what’s his last name? And don’t you dare say Fromdaparty.

Then TJ walks in and Buffy’s like, perfect timing, let’s get off my thing and onto yours, Cyrus.

And TJ’s like...

*waves in goofy*

And Cyrus is like...

*waves in goofy back*

Look, in fairness, there’s no way to wave enthusiastically without looking goofy. That’s why we invented that like, hand up thing, where you just put your palm out and hold it there for a second. But that’s for business scenarios and not parties. You’re at a party and see the boy you’re crushing on, you do a goofy, enthusiastic wave. It’s how it goes.

Then Kira walks in and the atmosphere instantly drops.

If some random kid came running in and shouted that they found a dead opossum on the floor of the bathroom, it could not have made the mood in the room worse. There’s a non-zero chance it could’ve made things better because at least we’re wondering where the opossum came from now.

Buffy assures Cyrus that the reason TJ is hanging out with Kira is not because he likes her, but he doesn’t agree. He thinks that ship has sailed.

So Buffy and Cyrus commiserate, both thinking they’ve lost their opportunity to get their man.

Later, Kira and TJ watch from the sidelines as the others dance.

How did Cyrus take and pass a dance class and get worse at dancing?

Kira asks TJ why he doesn’t want to dance. He says he just doesn’t want to.

Kira notes Cyrus dancing and starts to laugh.

TJ’s like, what’s so funny? Kira says look at Cyrus.

TJ’s like, yeah, he’s great, but Kira’s still laughing at him. TJ tells her she can’t do that -- laugh at someone for their dancing. Kira’s like, you thought it was funny. TJ’s like, no, I thought it was fun. There’s a big difference.

So, Kira’s like, okay, here we go again.

She says that if she made him pick between her and Cyrus, he’d pick Cyrus. TJ’s like, the fact that you’re even going to the place where you’d think of making me pick proves how wrong this all is.

Kira says that answers her question and exits the party.

The party continues on.

Electronic music starts, the lights go down, and the dinosaur descends the staircase.

Nice to get one last sentence in before the end where I can write what’s literally happening on the screen, take a step back and go, what the hell did I just write?

Everyone gathers round to watch the neon dinosaur dance. They chant “Go Andi! Go Andi!”

Then Andi shows up.

Their next guess is Jonah, but then he shows up, too. He couldn’t find the dinosaur costume because it had been stolen by the mystery dancer.

The music ends and the audience cheers for the dancing dinosaur, who finally reveals herself, ripping off her face mask like a Scooby Doo villain.

Everyone gasps. They’re like, uh oh, the party police are here and they showed up in a T-Rex costume for some reason.

But then Celia’s like...

Everyone wants to know what Celia’s doing back. She’s like, well, I got four hours out and realized I’d rather be attending one of these parties than on a vacation somewhere so I turned around and came back and snuck into the house through a second story window so no one would see me and inflated this dinosaur suit and put it on and waited for the right music to start and shut off the lights and came downstairs and performed this dance routine. Was it worth it? I spent the whole four hours on the way back practicing that “No parties, just kidding” thing.

And everyone’s like, yeah, it was alright.

And Celia’s like, okay, cool.

She’s like, I’m glad I tried fun. And then she walks off and that’s the last we ever see of her. From strict mom to dancing grandma in a dinosaur suit. What a ride. I hope she enjoys her vacation.

Later on, TJ has gotten on stage with a piano. He starts playing the intro to “Born This Way”.

TJ, NO! We don’t have the money for the rights to that song! Are you crazy? Can I interest you in some generic production music that can be purchased for a tenth the cost? Maybe something in the public domain? How about we all sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”?

But it’s too late. TJ, to celebrate his liberation from Kira, elects to come out to the entire party by showing he knows how to play the gayest song of all time on the piano by heart.

The whole party is like, oh, this is nice. He’s playing some music. And then Cyrus is like...

SURPRISE! I have a microphone and this is a performance now!

Amber starts singing, too. TJ calls up Jonah and/or Bowie to get on stage and provide some guitar, but then Bex is like...

SURPRISE! I have a guitar and I know how to play it!

Jonah and Andi get on stage and get thrown mics.

Buffy grabs a mic and joins in. The entire cast can sing! It’s a musical miracle.

Cyrus joins TJ on the stage and they sing together.

Bowie at some point also wandered up with his own guitar and joined Bex.

Everyone performs in the song, except for Marty, who just kinda sings from the sidelines like, “Eh, this is nice but pop’s not my genre.”

The song comes to a finish.

Everyone celebrates how good that was despite it never having been rehearsed.

A gosh-dang musical miracle, I tell ya.

Later on outside, Jonah finds Andi and tells her he has something for her. Andi immediately panics. Jonah reassures her it is not one of his famous terrible gifts, like the piece of rice with Andi’s misspelled name on it. He asks if that was the worst present ever.

Jonah says this isn’t a present anyway.

He found their bracelet. The one thought lost for so long. Well, he didn’t find it.

Oh, Judy Bartholomew, you never cease to impress!

Jonah offers it back to Andi, who promises to make it disappear forever. But Jonah says, he actually wanted to know if he could keep it. It’s a great bracelet and he’s always liked it.

Andi puts the bracelet on him. She wonders what things would’ve been like if they’d met when they were older and more mature.

Well, older, at least.

Back inside the party, Buffy finds Marty at his usual party position, hanging around the food table. She starts reenacting the conversation from their first meeting. They get to the “eat a live frog” bit and Marty can’t continue.

Buffy tells him that she didn’t think that. She found him funny. Marty warns her that she is dangerously close to complimenting him. She tells him it was a compliment.

Buffy wants to try having a conversation to see if they can. So they ask each other how their day was and both agree they had fine days. Marty asks her what the next step is and Buffy decides the next step is to leave.

Buffy heads outside, but Marty chases after her. He says he thinks he messed it up and wants to try the straightforward thing again. He tells her to go first.

Yep, that’s straightforward. Marty compliments her on how straightforward it was. Buffy tells him that’s all she wanted him to know, in case he ever changes his mind about liking her, but Marty’s like...

He goes in for a kiss.

They smile at each other and head back into the party.

Cyrus, meanwhile, heads to the backyard where he finds TJ sitting on...

T H E   B E N C H.

Cyrus asks what happened to Kira. TJ says he poured water on her and she melted. Boy’s dropping Judy Garland movie references now. Really laying it on thick.

TJ says Kira’s not a nice person, but Cyrus reminds him people used to say that about him, almost verbatim.

Cyrus says he knows that, but there are things he didn’t know, like that TJ played piano. TJ tells him his mom is a piano teacher. Cyrus didn’t know that either. TJ promises he’s not that mysterious, just ask him anything.

TJ panics. He’s like, oh, you went right for the kill shot. He doesn’t want to say what his name is. He says there are only like five living souls on this planet who know what TJ stands for, and they are all of Kippen blood.

TJ’s really digging himself a hole here with Cyrus. The more you sell the mystery of this, the more a kid like Cyrus will want to know.

“My name’s only ever been said out loud once before, by the doctor who filled out the birth certificate, and then he disappeared, never to be seen again! Mythology says that my name used to be sung by the Sirens, who’d use it to lure unsuspecting sailors to their dooms! Legend says there’s a secret cave in the Gobi Desert, and that if you shout my name into it, a trap door will open revealing billions of dollars in hidden treasure! So surely you must understand, I can’t possibly tell you what it is.”

Cyrus says if he doesn’t learn what TJ’s full name is, he will literally die of curiosity. Now faced with the impending death of his crush, TJ realizes he must make the ultimate sacrifice to save his life and tell him what his name is. First, he swears him to secrecy. Cyrus swears.

TJ tells him his parents were way into music, so they named him after their favorite artists:

This is where I’d make a joke like, “It could’ve been worse, they could’ve named him...” but I don’t have a way to finish that sentence. I guess like, Beethoven Mozart, so then he couldn’t even use his initials or they’d be B.M.?

You know, though, it’s such an odd name, it becomes immediately endearing.

To Cyrus as well. They didn’t come all this way, accepting each other through everything, to be stopped in the finale by bad dancing or weird names.

TJ says his grandparents stepped in to intervene. They were like, this is preposterous and we’re not going to spend what short time remains of our lives on so many syllables! He’s TJ!

TJ asks if there’s anything else Cyrus wants to know and then he makes just the ever-so-slightest of hand movements toward him and I’m telling you right now, I don’t know if I will ever be okay watching this.

I’m serious. I don’t know when I’ll be able to watch this scene and see that hand movement and not get emotional. Definitely not now, and I can’t imagine anytime soon.

Cyrus sees his hand. He asks TJ is there’s anything else he wants to tell him.

TJ asks Cyrus if there’s anything he wants to tell him.

They grab each other’s hand.

And both let out this nervous exhale.

And they hold each other’s hand and smile at each other as the screen fades to black.

Just the two of them, together, in their own little world.

I get that people might have wanted more, more words, more actions, and I don’t necessarily disagree. I don’t think there’s a hypothetical version of this scene that has more and is bad or anything.

But, in my opinion, I think this is brilliant. In its subtlety and in its simplicity, this is one of the sweetest, most graceful, most touching ways I’ve ever seen two people express their affection for one another. That they’ve been through so much, and that they know each other so well that they can just look at each other and only need to say yes to tell the other one all they need to know, to tell each other everything? I’m not going to label two middle schoolers as “in love” because, look, they’re kids and it’s middle school. But what I will say is this: that’s what love is. When someone knows you so intensely and so intimately that you don’t have to say it. When all you have to do is look at someone to know. It’s a connection that goes beyond words. It’s beautiful.

Or, in other words, I’m emotional!

Later, after the party has ended, the GHC, Jonah, and Bex and Bowie hang out in the backyard, reminiscing.

Andi shares a picture of the GHC starting second grade.

From the day they met.

Buffy remarks how they’re still together after all these years. And Cyrus says they always will be. And Andi says...

They’re like, uh oh. Andi says she wants to show them something and leads them to Andi Shack, which has been stripped clean.

They ask why, and Andi tells them she doesn’t need the Shack anymore. She needs a studio because she got into SAVA, which makes her parents very happy, but bums out Cyrus and Buffy. They’re happy for her, but...

This is going to change things.

Bex remarks how a lot of life has happened in Andi Shack. We see some nice clips from over the years, and, if you liked those, you can see more clips by purchasing previous seasons of Andi Mack on your preferred streaming platform. (And coming to Disney+ this Fall!)

Bex tells Andi how proud she is of her and they hug.

Bowie hugs her, too, and tells her she’s going to do great things.

And then, like responsible adults, they decide to go clean up the house. We’ve all really grown so much, haven’t we?

Andi regroups with Cyrus, Buffy, and Jonah. Cyrus says they should be mindful of the moment because after this, we’re all going our separate ways. They all yell at Cyrus for this.

Andi reassures them all that no matter where they go or what they do, they’ll always be a part of each other’s lives.

And then they do this weird sort of group imagine thing where they actually manifest images of the future.

Where they’re all like, doing adult things, but also, still look like children? It’s, um... it’s a little odd.

But I’m going to retain my positivity and head for the finish line.

Andi asks Jonah to take a picture of the GHC standing together as they did on that first day of second grade. Then, Cyrus drops a Winnie the Pooh quote: “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

The four share one last group hug.

Andi asks if they’re all going to meet tomorrow at The Spoon, and they agree.

Each one hugs Andi one last time before exiting.

Andi watches them leave, then heads inside Andi Shack to put up the pictures. She smiles and walks out.

And that, my friends, is a wrap on Andi Mack.

This isn’t goodbye -- I’ve got a little more stuff planned -- but I think this is probably the thing that will be read by the most amount of people familiar with my blog, so let me just say this here: if you’ve read any or all of my recaps, or even if you’re just reading this one, thank you. I have loved writing them and I have loved being a part of this fandom, and I appreciate all of you who took the time to be a part of it with me.

This show and this fandom have been such an amazing experience for me, and it has brought me so much joy this past year and a half. So, once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

I will truly never forget it.

#Andi Mack #Buffy Driscoll #Cyrus Goodman #TJ Kippen #Jonah Beck #Bex Mack #Bowie Quinn #Celia Mack #Amber #Marty #Kira #Andi #The Cat #Tyrus #Bexie #Muffy #Jandi #episode recaps

[madame-brioche]

CAMP TOCCOA SERIES HEADCANON

Part 1: Meet the Counselors 🦋

Winters — The Nutritional Counselor:

-teaches math during the off-season

-affectionately calls his campers "little chicken nuggets"

-gets up at 5 in the morning for a quiet hike

-makes sure you take your required medication and vitamins and use your inhaler, whatever you need

-goes around to let everyone know it's time for light's out

-will comfort campers with ice cream if they're feeling homesick

-secretly planning a fun last day of camp prank with Counselor Nixon

-lots of pastels in his uniform

-rescues injured birds and squirrels, and nurses them back to health

-knows every camper's name, hobbies, favorite color, allergies

-pinkie promises on everything

-makes the best ice tea and coffee in the cafeteria

-“I love all of you equally”

Nixon — The Chaotic Functional Counselor

-used to pull legendary pranks before becoming a head counselor but now just does mostly paperwork

-tells nightmare-fuel scary stories and then abruptly says "well goodnight" afterwards & leaves

-carries a secret flask and gets wasted at the campfire

-hungover af at breakfast the next morning

-pets every dog he comes across, and even lets his campers sneak one into the bunks to keep

-wears baggy shorts, a baseball cap backwards and rocks sunglasses indoors

-gets hyped for taco Tuesday's in the cafeteria

-hosts wine Wednesday's in the counselors' lounge

-takes spiders outside rather than killing them

-oddly competitive during icebreaker games

-talks shit about other counselors to his campers

-“can I get a double shot americano with bourbon?”

Lipton — The Mom Counselor

-ray of fucking sunshine

-keeps in touch with his campers after they leave

-has been working there for an insanely long time

-arts and crafts leader, orchestrating friendship bracelet making

-gets along with all the other counselors, never has beef with anyone

-gives the best advice, even if you don't want to hear it

-the best bear hugs omfg just makes you feel so safe and protected

-smells like campfire and s'mores

-literally made out of happiness and gummy worms

-surprises everyone with a pajama pizza party

-makes sure you're staying hydrated and getting enough sleep, applying sunscreen/bug spray, and having a good time

-come to him with any injuries, aches, or pains

-“What do you mean you’re not having fun?”

Speirs — The Varsity Wilderness Survival Counselor

-how did this guy get to be a counselor?

-hides contraband in a shallow hole by the obstacle course

-breaks all the rules but upholds them for his campers

-will come in and scare the living shit out of you if you don't listen to Counselor Winters' lights out warning

-only one who hits Counselor Sobel with a water balloon

-gets up at 4am to lift and run around the campgrounds

-only wears tank tops, even in the cold

-will test his campers by leaving them in the woods at night and expect them to find their way back

-maybe sheds one tear on the last day, maybe

-really high stakes trust exercises

-will suck the venom out of a snake bite to save your life

-moves through the forest without making a sound

-“I will throw you to the mountain lions”

Welsh — The Hip Counselor

-plays Wonderwall on his acoustic guitar during campfire performances

-hasn't showered in a week and it's noticeable

-grows a goatee and runs around barefoot

-is banned from helping out in the kitchen

-will set up your tent for you in exchange for drugs

-reigning tie-dye shirt making champ

-recycling king™️

-makes sure there's vegetarian options in the cafeteria

-smells like mother nature's armpit

-wears a bandana around his head

-can be found avoiding duties and playing ultimate frisbee with his campers

-“tbh, I’ve had five existential crises since we’ve been here!”

Compton — The Cool Friend Counselor

-wears a different flannel everyday

-calls you out for your bullshit during cabin meetings

-gives the best pep talks before games of capture the flag

-somehow manages to read 4+ books over the course of camp

-knows how to sew/patch up clothes

-leads most of the cheers and rallying songs

-hangs out with campers instead of other counselors in his free time

-always down for darts, archery, swimming, sailing, kayaking, you name it

-overshares personal life details during campfire sharing time

-will totally help you TP Counselor Sobel’s cabin

-once ate a bee on a dare

-“guys, I’m not mad but who put weed killer in my shampoo?”

Martin — The Don’t F With Me Counselor

-resting bitch face during camp cheers

-aggressively salutes the flag during morning assembly

-inexplicably good at memorizing everyone’s name on the first day

-openly drinks gin and tonic in the cafeteria

-the reason a few campers wanted to go home

-somehow ends up being one of your favorite counselors by the last day

-is not subtle about playing favorites

-cooks most of the food for the camp and will be insulted if you don’t eat what’s on your plate

-can do that loud whistle with his fingers to get everyone’s attention

-low key freaks out if one of his campers is missing and will not rest until they’re found

-mood can go from 0 to 100 over the pettiest things

-“Yeah I’m gonna need you to kindly pipe the fuck down with the crazy glue for the rest of craft time”

Randleman — The Boy Scout Counselor

-wears a lot of camo at all times

-scary good at poker

-smokes on the premises even though it’s forbidden

-talks fast and direct, commands your attention

-makes a mean s’more and prefers the marshmallow to be burnt

-will let his campers get away with the most shenanigans so long as it’s not hurting anyone

-actually cries the last day of camp

-kickball and flag football champion

-has wrestled a grizzly bear and won

-collects pocket knives and random critters

-bff’s with Counselor Martin and sometimes takes charge of Martin’s campers and vice versa

-has never gotten bit by a mosquito

-snores loudly and will sleep through anything

-has been granted camp counselor tenure because he’s been there so dang long

-“y’all wanna go sink a canoe?”

Peacock — The Cute But Clueless Counselor

-wears a lot of band t-shirts merch

-has song lyrics tattooed on various body parts

-rocks an intentional mullet

-constantly getting lost when leading hikes but great at improvising

-has a tan even if the sun hasn’t been out

-blood smells like cologne

-instructs canoeing and determines whether you pass the swim test or not

-has a way with animals and manages the small camp petting zoo

-got six stitches last year from doing a flip off the dock

-gets scared from the scary stories Counselor Nixon tells

-“la la la la if I can’t hear the ghosts they can’t hurt me”

Dike — The Absentee Counselor

-says “oof” after any minor inconvenience

-oversleeps and misses morning assembly

-a camper may die on his watch, you never know

-gives sub par motivational speeches

-tries to comfort homesick campers but ends up crying himself

-has a fear of swimming without water wings

-might get mauled by a bear later

-given up on learning his campers’ names

-calls other counselors for help

-has one facial expression at all times

-spits when he talks

-constantly stressed during outdoor camping

-passive aggressiveness af during cabin meetings

-sleeps with a night light

-“wait am I responsible for all of you?”

Sobel — The Narc Counselor

-literally no one likes him

-mission is to make sure everyone follows his rules

-carries around a bullhorn and a backup whistle

-failed the swim test

-says “fight me” but would get his ass kicked

-misspells everything

-will give you latrine duty if you leave your bunk bed unmade or the dishes aren’t in alphabetical order

-doesn’t participate in campfire games or sing alongs

-got left behind on a trail for 9 hours once

-confiscates any and all contraband camp items including non regulated shoes

-likes noodles with ketchup

-perpetual disappointed glare

-has a cold like once a week

-only allows one s’more per camper

-“and you will know my name is the lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee, now put this can of peaches back where it belongs!”

Stay tuned for Part 2: The Campers

#band of brothers #hboshow #easy company #camp toccoa #dick winters #lewis nixon #carwood lipton #ronald speirs #harry welsh #captain sobel #norman dike #thomas peacock #johnny martin #bull randleman #buck compton #headcanon

[munchiezxx]

kingdom keepers book 2 rerelease changes

i finally finished the second kingdom keepers rerelease! this one took a lot longer to read because like i expected, this one has a LOT more changed compared to the first. overall, i would say that if you were recommending the series to someone younger, give them the rewrite. if you’re a long-time fan, it’s probably not necessary for you to buy again unless you’re curious.

if you’re nitpicky like me, i have everything under the cut! this one’s gonna be a lot longer than the first, though. 

i’m not sure where to start with this, so i’m just gonna start with the overall and then go into the details.

- first of all, the rewrite is 42 pages shorter than the original. there were only a few places where large chunks were taken out, but i’ll go over anything major when it comes up. the majority of what was taken out was just a lot of extra detail. the book feels very consolidated, ESPECIALLY the last third. it seems like as the book goes on, it gets more and more paraphrased. this can be good and bad, because the original book has a tendency to overexplain sometimes, but you do lose some character. most of the details that were taken out weren’t anything necessary, but it does make the book seem a little more juvenile than it already was.

a lot of sentences were spliced, shortened, and paraphrased. sometimes doing more ‘tell’ rather than ‘show.’ i assume this is to make it fit a younger grade level, but it does make the book seemed a little more dumbed down. this happens a bit in the dialogue, too, like a piece of dialogue would be changed to “willa explained (original dialogue).” 

for some reason, every few chapters, a chapter would be almost completely rewritten with the exact same things happening. i have no idea why they did this, because a lot of times it would just be a reworded version of a perfectly fine sentence, just using different synonyms. 

the dialogue is also changed quite a bit to make the characters nicer. (especially maybeck.) some was also changed to sound a little more ‘normal,’ but occasionally it made the book seem a little less dated. overall, it’s less ‘quippy’. one big example i saw of this was during finn’s fight with maleficent in chapter 49:

i’m not really sure how to explain all of this any further, so if you’re curious, i’d recommend just reading the book. it was pretty interesting to see what was changed even though it felt unnecessary at times. i spent the last half of the book reading one on top of the other, it took a few days.

now with that out of the way, we can get into the details!

- this is my number one favorite change: JEZ WAS FINALLY CHANGED TO JESS!! this bothered me for YEARS and i know it’s a change that people really wanted. 

- the VMK situation is handled by explaining that VMK was an old video game that was shut down used by the imagineers and operates in the same way that it did in the original. i’m not sure why they used that terrible workaround in the first rewrite, but oh well. 

- obviously, the DSs are no longer and they communicate through text. the biggest tragedy of this is that their usernames were taken away. RIP to willatree, mybest, philitup, angelface13, and panda. the messaging dialogue has been changed by a LOT, they type in the same way that they would speak. no more shorthand, all proper punctuation. i would like to say this a good thing but there are some quips that will be dearly missed

- cameras are accessed by a DVC booth instead of the animalcam.

- flights of wonder was mentioned, which closed in 2018

- apparently deVine (the character) has actually been spelled ‘diVine’ this whole time? they didn’t change it for this one but i didn’t know it was spelled wrong all this time so i guess it doesn’t matter

- our first iconic dialogue casualty is “devine,” “thank you.” i don’t know why 

- the mention of maybeck’s supposed little sister was left in, which i know was a big mistake that always bothered people. however, the scene where he mentions being an only child was cut down by a lot and the sentence is removed, so i guess that means maybeck canonically has a younger sister now ??? i don’t remember if he mentions being an only child in any other books or not, but if you know, let me know so i can look out for it in the future rewrites

- the sorcerer’s hat is still in dhs. in the next paragraph, a kodak booth is changed to a photopass booth. i do not know how that is the one thing that got changed on that page. also, no more HSM show and GMR is changed to MMRR

- maybeck can no longer allowed to swear. instead of “son of a ___” (that’s what the actual dialogue bubble says, they’re not allowed to say bitch in a disney novel) he says “sands of a beach.” the line “only he didn’t say dang” is cut. so is “only he didn’t say freaking.” is this for better or for worse i can not say, but i wish they had at LEAST let him say bitch

- chapter 44, where they get the fob from the trash can, takes place in pandora instead and he just grabs it from a plant. this is the only scene in pandora which is kinda sad but also i don’t know what else they could have done

- around here is where i wasn’t able to keep track of what scenes were cut down besides the major cuts, so i’d say the last 100 pages are paraphrased the most. 

- in chapter 49, the scene where finn fights by maleficent that i used as example earlier, is changed quite a bit. there’s less shouting, the scene seems a lot more calm and it’s strange. less quips.

- when it’s revealed that jess is in the tiger yard, “willa gasped” is changed to “willa coughed.” this was so weird that i had to include it

- every scene where philby and wayne are fighting overtakers in VMK are cut down by a LOT. the first chapter of this scene is changed from 6 1/2 pages to 2 1/2. this was always a weird plot point to me, but it didn’t really help clarify it, either

- chapter 60, with maybeck and willa in dinosaur, is also cut by quite a bit. 14 pages to 7 1/2. it’s mostly the last half of the scene, they find the server quickly and don’t describe cutting the wires, it just cuts off when willa finds the server. they don’t get to hug at the end. :(

- in ch 61, a paragraph is added in where charlene misquotes “if you can dream it” as a walt disney quote, which is just a personal pet peeve

- the final fight with maleficent and chernabog is nearly word-for-word the same, which was surprising considering most of the scenes leading up to it were changed drastically. 

- finally, my number one most anticipated change that probably isn’t important to anyone else... maleficent is no longer misspelled as “maleficant”!!!!! when i was a kid this was THE funniest thing in the world to me. i’m a little sad 

and that’s all i’ve got for you! phew that was a LOT. if there’s anything else i didn’t mention that you’re curious about, feel free to ask! this one actually felt like a rewrite, so there were some other changes i didn’t find significant enough to mention. i’ll be picking up disney in shadow today so that should be...interesting. thanks for reading!

#kingdom keepers #dear god this took so much effort i hope someone reads this #long post

[unrestedjade]

fic writing meme: 1, 12, 17, 18, 21

Oh dang, that’s a lot! Think I’ll put this behind a cut to spare everyone’s dash.

1. The first fandom I wrote and posted for was Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. But! Somewhere in a landfill is a notebook with a very overwrought Animorphs fic about Ax falling in love with my very cool, original-character-donut-steel alien bat-centaur who can tell the future. Every day I thank the universe for not letting my family have internet access until I was 14. Actually, maybe the universe should have held out longer, but you can peep the cringe for yourself over here: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/173909/Fortuna

Yes, that is my old ff.net profile. My only regret is that I didn’t get a chance to back up my ask fics before the site suddenly decided to make a rule banning them and deleted them all. (Me, still salty over that 15 years later? Why, yes actually.)

12. A trope I haven’t tried yet but really want to? It’s hard to narrow it down; there’s a lot of “cliche” fanfic tropes I never let myself write that I want to indulge in this year. I’m thinking about finding one of those bingo cards to use or something. But since I grew up sneaking my mom’s romance novels, I think an arranged marriage would be fun to try if I have to pick just one.

17. The fic I’m most proud of should come as no surprise, lol. I still can’t believe I finished something as long and plotty as finaglc. Would love to manage it again someday. :’)

18. Line/scene dvd commentary: okay okay okay! So there’s this more-or-less abandoned DaphGan Legend of Zelda fic I was writing back in the day, that was just a loose serious of vignettes in chronological order. I had ideas for like 20 chapters and fizzled out because it turns out only about three people on the whole earth give a shit about DaphGan and I can’t write in a complete void of feedback. Anyway, I researched medieval boar hunting techniques because I desperately wanted an action scene culminating in a ~bad omen~ and here it is, so scroll by if you just want to see the last question in the batch:

Within minutes, they were deep enough that the forest canopy closed above them, far above Ganondorf’s head.  In the cool and the dim, and with the rustling of leaves in the breeze overhead sounding almost like waves, Ganondorf felt as though he were at the bottom of a great, ancient lake.  Mist lay in a thick blanket on the ground as high as the smaller horses’ barrels, and a carpet of dead leaves and needles deadened the sounds of their movement.  The hunters had fallen silent.   About that, he had no complaints.

(I recall being inordinately fond of the underwater imagery, because I’d been struggling for how to conceptualize a thick forest for a person who’s spent most of his life in the open desert.)

Save for ferns and scattered herbs, there was little in the way of troublesome plants or low branches beyond the border of the forest, and Ganondorf realized that King Daphnes’ suggestion the day before had, in truth, been polite censure of his clothing rather than any practical concern.  He frowned, and put the thought aside.  It did not matter.

(I was not at all subtle about the Hylians picking at the Gerudo envoy’s appearances, which I think I could handle a little better now, but alas...)

He thought instead on the many sounds surrounding them, his ears straining to hear every one.   There was birdsong, in patterns and notes he had never heard.  Small creatures rustled in the trees.  Water gurgled somewhere out of view.   The woods were full of life in every direction, and Ganondorf quietly marvelled at its richness.

All of this, for the sport of one family?

(This piece of writing is old enough that I was still using the now-defunct “two spaces after a period” rule, wow. Also, hello there, years-old misspelling. :/)

They kept to a walking pace for an hour or two, hushed but alert.  The dogs picked up a scent, the party wheeling around to follow after them.   Ganondorf rode alongside King Daphnes.  The man’s eyes were alight as he looked down the deer trail ahead of the dogs; a small smile of anticipation grew on his face.  "They have something, eh?” he said, in a whisper.  “What did I tell you!”

The lead dog threw its head back, baying.  It launched itself forward and the rest of the pack followed suit, tails held high like flags.

An enormous boar, all sinewy muscle and bristled hide, burst from a nearby thicket and was driven ahead of them.

“Aha!" The king spurred his horse to a gallop, the rest of the party just behind.  Ganondorf quickly found himself bringing up the rear.

The stallion seemed to find this as unacceptable as he did, for without his urging it picked up speed, long strides eating up the ground until the pair were level with the king once more.

(This bit started with the rest of the hunting party giving G-dawg mad shit for insisting on riding his stallion instead of a more appropriate horse, so I had to vindicate him, of course.)

Ganondorf’s eyes were now fixed on the boar.  He crouched low over the stallion’s neck, free hand fisted in the tangles of its mane.  They pulled ahead to run with the dogs, until even the dogs were falling behind them.

"Stay with it!"  The king’s bellow carried over the thunder of the stallion’s hooves.  "Keep running it!”

They ran.  The boar was fast and nimble, leading a chase through dense copses and over fast-flowing streams.  The world fell away until all that remained was the path they weaved through the trees, the rolling strength of the horse beneath him, the forest rushing by in a blur of green and loamy brown, and the boar.

Ganondorf laughed like a child, his heart light for first time since he’d come to this impossibly green land.

The chase ended when the boar made to leap over a fallen log and could not clear it, tumbling end over end.  The beast scrambled to its hooves, brandishing its long tusks.  It had reached the point of exhaustion, steam rising from its hide, muscles quivering with exertion.  It could run no longer.

Ganondorf held it at bay, keeping the point of his spear trained on it.  He did not wish to incite it to charge and risk his horse.  He simply looked at it, watching the boar watch him with wide, red eyes.  Foam gathered at its mouth, and he wondered whether it would die where it stood, if its heart had burst in its chest.

The baying of the dogs was not far off.  The hunters were closing in.

(Still a little puffed up over the juxtaposition of hunting being legitimately thrilling but cruel. Catch my bro getting swept up in the excitement.)

“Excellent work!"  Daphnes was at the head of the party, as he had been to start.  "Oh, well done, man!”

As the dogs circled, barking and snapping, the boar stood its ground, head lowered.  It made a few feints at the dogs foolish enough to attack, but as the hunters closed in it had less and less room to manoeuvre.   Ganondorf could see it rallying for a final effort, weariness flowing into terror and rage.

It roared, lunging, scattering the dogs.   Blood streaked its tusks.  A horse reared when its leg was cut by sharp hooves.  For a moment, it looked to Ganondorf as though it might break away again and escape.

In one practiced motion, Daphnes leapt from his horse and sunk his spear deep into the boar’s side.

Ganondorf’s racing heart froze.  Pain keener than any he had ever felt lanced through him, choking him on a silent cry.  He clutched at his chest, groping for the spear-head that wasn’t there.  His own spear fell from numb fingers to the forest floor.  Terror and agony, all-encompassing, swept over him in a crushing wave.

None of the other hunters noticed his distress.  All eyes were locked on their king’s struggle with the beast.  The boar screamed, running against the spear as if it would happily run the length of it to reach Daphnes with its final breath.  The cross-tree of the spear and the strength of the man wielding it kept the boar’s tusks far from its target, however, and for every drop of blood that spilled from its side a portion of its strength bled away with it.

After what felt far too long, the boar collapsed.  It’s screams had faded to rattling breaths, and when Daphnes stepped forward, knife drawn, it did not resist.

It was on Ganondorf that its red eyes rested when its throat was cut, in some mute accusation or seeking solace, he could not say.  The pain in his chest receded when the final gout of blood ran out onto the dark earth.  By the time Daphnes stood from his task, wiping his hands and blade clean on a rag, Ganondorf might have believed that the pain had been a trick of his imagination.

(This thing with the dead boar was meant to keep coming up in small ways throughout the rest of the vignettes as a harbinger of G-dawg’s ultimate failure and doom along with being an illustration of how he twists and suppresses himself for the sake of pleasing Daphnes, but of course it’ll probably never happen now since I’m five years out. I really did like this idea, though, and this scene was super fun to write. Except for now I’ve noticed another old typo. T_T)

21. The fic that got away? Lots; I actually have a horrible track record for finishing long fics. The one I’m most bummed out by, that I still think of from time to time, was actually a fill for the old Transformers Anonymous Kink Meme on LJ. It was Animated-verse pre-war Ratchet/Ultra Magnus with a detour into Ratchet/Megatron. I was about two thirds of the way done when something happened in the community that I can’t recall anymore derailed me, and I never ended up finishing it. Sometimes I think about scraping it off the meme to at least archive what I had done on Ao3 or something, but I probably won’t lol. It would take forever to track it down since this was back in like, 2012.

[caranfindel]

Recap/review 15.02: “Raising Hell”

THEN: Sam shot God! Welcome to the end. Demon!Jack. Last week's non-scary ghosts or spirits or whatever. Strangely missing from the "Then:" Sam's godhole vision. It's actually a very short "Then." Maybe the episode itself is so good, so crammed full of wonderful things, that the "Then" had to be kept brief to make room for all of it.

Or then again, maybe not.

Now. We're still in Harlan, Kansas. A woman holding a scarf over her nose and mouth sneaks into the forbidden zone, and is startled by a neighbor. Or "neighbor." She's seen Close Encounters and knows the benzene story is fake (but if it was true, lady, I don't think that scarf would save you). And yet she's apparently never seen a horror movie, because the fact that her "neighbor" is silently and creepily staring at her doesn't raise any alarm bells. He stabs her a few times and then smokes out into an old-timey ghost who says "Disembowel. D-I-S-E-M-B-O-W-E-L. Disembowel." Well. Okay. She certainly doesn't look disemboweled, but I'll take your word for it. I mean, you spelled it and everything.

Title card. (BTW, you need to check out this very through breakdown of everything you're missing in the title card. It's fantastic.)

Nighttime. Harlan High School. Sam is large and in charge, but the people are restless. And apparently there are "hunters in the zone." Sam gets everyone's attention and tells them the EPA will be here tomorrow (a lie) and they need to stay out of the zone (the truth) and is adorably befuddled when he asks if there are any questions and everyone raises their hand. He's wearing a huge chain around his neck and, unfortunately, has gone back to the undershirt.

[[MORE]]

[[MORE]]

The zone. Dean and Belphagar. Dean's EMF meter is going crazy, and Belphagar says there are spirits about (are they ghosts? souls? spirits?) but they don't like him so they skedaddled. (Do we believe that?) Dean can't believe he's working with a demon again, and Belphagar can't believe he's working with a hunter, and it's the classic buddy comedy all over again. Except it's not a comedy and they're not buddies. (Do I miss Metatron?) He reminds us that his rationale for working with hunters is that he liked Hell the way it was. (Do we believe that?)

There's a fiery blast at the zone border, and even though Dean was facing it and Belphagar was facing in the other direction, Belphagar is the one who points it out and says "escape attempt, eleven o'clock." The bad guys can't cross the barrier, but rock salt can, which is convenient. Dean blasts a spirit away, who I believe is the same one from the "Then" but I can't be bothered to confirm and is relieved that the warding still works. Belphagar expositions that it won't last forever, and these ghosts/spirits/whatever are more dangerous than average. For example, the ghost Dean just shot was Francis Tumbelty, aka Jack the Ripper.

(Sidebar: Okay, I did actually rewind and use closed-captioning to confirm what Jack said, because what I heard was Francis Tomelty. And here's how my brain works: I can't remember my kid's phone number, I can't remember my license plate number, I can't remember to call the guy to fix the garage door opener, but I do remember that musician Sting's first wife was named Frances Tomelty. That's how useless my brain is. But Wikipedia confirms that Francis Tumbelty is, in fact, a Jack the Ripper suspect.)

I know, Dean, I feel the same way.

High school. It's daylight now. The citizens are still restless, someone's wife is "missing," the benzene story is wearing thin (sidebar: I'm still using captions, and they misspelled benzene,) and people are plotting an escape.

Zone. Ghosts/spirits/whatever are gathering in one of the houses. Francis Tumbelty, who does not have a British accent (but it turns out he was born in Ireland but raised in America so okay, I guess someone did their research), informs the group that they were released from Hell by God himself. And all of these spirits know what hunters are. And Belphegar's name is actually Belphegor. Well. So much to learn tonight. Tumbelty says they need to gather the spirits who are still in hiding. And they can break the warding because "Warding is a door, doors have locks, locks have keys." Actually, the analogy I would have used is that warding is a lock but WHATEVER. Their plan is to "make it as ugly as possible for those who stand guard." Well, the ineffective spooky makeup will help.

Outside. Hunters are patrolling the perimeter. Civilians sneak out of the bushes and then walk right down the middle of the dang street. And then meet a couple of very unscary ghosts. Oh no, what will happen?

I don't know, because we cut back to the high school. They found the first woman's body, and Cas thinks they need to tell her family, and Sam's all, can't do that yet, people are gonna panic. They're interrupted by the arrival of Rowena, which was a surprise to me because I covered the guest star credits. Although it shouldn't have been a surprise, since Dean called her for help in the previous episode. (See how useless my brain is?) She pretends to be more interested in Cas than Sam but I'm not fooled.

Sam says "Remember a couple of years ago when we were trying to get rid of Amara," as if that's how the conversation would go, as if that's anything either of them would need to be reminded of. What he really would have said was "You know the soul bomb you made for Amara? We need another one of those."

WHATEVER.

They don't want to use it as a bomb, they just want a way to capture the ghosts. Rowena thinks it would be too difficult, but they're interrupted by someone who tells Sam they have "a situation."

Zone. The situation is that the two civilians are facing down Dean and Belphegor. And apparently they've been standing there long enough for Sam to actually show up at the zone, which is miles away from where he was. WHATEVER. Dean explains that the guy is married to the woman who was D-I-S-E-M-B-O-W-E-L-E-D earlier and came to look for her. (BTW, we're almost 10 minutes in, and this is the first scene with Sam and Dean together.) Sam, in his kind way, tells them they need to go back to the school. Then black goo drips out of their eyes and Dean realizes they're possessed. The whole standing-and-staring part didn't clue him in (WHATEVER) but now he gets it.

Bowlegs! Hair blowing in the breeze! Something for everyone!

Tumbelty appears and tells them if they don't open the warding, the spirits are going to kill these two civilian vessels. The civilians drop to the ground, groaning in pain, and I remember back when the guys would have let the spirits out in order to save two innocent people. Or at least would have been conflicted about it. (WHATEVER.)

However, some unexpected shots ring out, sprinkling the possessed civilians with... confetti? How festive. Tumbelty zaps out and the Winchesters and Belphegor turn to see none other than Arthur Ketch. Who is also a surprise to me. I guess that gig as an insurance agent didn't work out. Dean seems ridiculously annoyed to see him. Ridiculous considering that they were working together fairly recently. (WHATEVER.)

And now, since none of my regular download sources worked out and I'm forced to rewatch on the CW app, I'm sitting through commercials. Like a goddamn animal.

Back at the school. Ketch says he just happened to be in the area when they sent out the call for hunters. Dean's still not pleased. What is his problem? Am I forgetting something? Did they leave on bad terms? His gun, stolen from the BMoL, shoots iron flakes. Which somehow expels the spirit without hurting the vessel. He and Rowena reacquaint themselves, and she holds no hard feelings against him regarding the whole prisoner thing, since he let her escape. Well, you actually bought that escape, Rowena, but okay. There is an uncomfortable level of eyefucking, as least as far as the Winchesters are concerned.

Belphegor shows up and they have to explain to Ketch that Jack is dead and oh, Sam's face, when he says "dead." This is the first time this episode has made me feel anything. Well, anything good. And it turns out Ketch was actually contracted by "an attractive female demon" (seriously, that just means a demon in an attractive female vessel but WHATEVER) to kill Belphegor. Her name is Ardat and I guess she's gonna show up later. Yawn.

At least sad Sammy is good.

Reno? I laughed and said ha ha, I wonder if Amara is here and it turns out she is! (Because, again, I covered the guest stars.) She's getting a massage. Her maseusse is replaced by Chuck, who looks about 10-20 years younger than he did the last time we saw him. (Just for Men. Find it in the men's section.) She's annoyed with his presence. He's rambling. He liked the Game of Thrones ending, which I guess is supposed to signal what an awful hack of a storyteller he is. Or to warn us that we won't like the ending of our own Show. Or both.

High school. Poor Cas has to lie to Restless Citizen #3 that they're looking for the other missing citizens. "You said you'd keep us safe!" the guys says. That cuts deep, man. Meanwhile, Rowena has given Dean a shopping list. She asks him about Ketch, even though, as Dean points out, they've obviously met. "That was more of a torturer-torturee relationship. Fun, but I didn't really get to know him." But Dean doesn't want to play matchmaker, and says she shouldn't get involved with Ketch. "I mean, Sam is right here," he says. "Why don't you guys get off high center and do it?" (No, not really.)

Cas comes up behind Dean, all rumpled and sad and wanting a hug, and he apologizes for "dropping the puck." Dean doesn't want to hear it. He's so very angry, at Cas and at Chuck and at his life being one giant rat maze. Cas doesn't think their whole existence has been a lie, because even though they were in a maze, they were still living their lives in that maze. That's what life is. Chuck sets up the obstacles, but they still run their own obstacle course. Dean doesn't accept this.

It's interesting that Dean is the one who's taking the truth about Chuck so hard. Sam and Cas were the ones who had faith, and you'd think they'd be knocked harder by the realization that there was never a benevolent God. But on the other hand, Sam's so used to being manipulated by outside forces; this is nothing new to him. And Cas has already seen how the sausage is made. So they're both just, yeah, this is how it is, let's deal with it.

However. I'm not feeling the Dean-Cas conflict at all. I don't really care. And I suspect it's going to be a Big Deal. {sigh}

I’m definitely feeling angry Dean. So much.

Zone. Nighttime. Dean and Ketch are on patrol. I mean, I guess it makes sense to leave Chief Sam in charge at the school, but I'm tired of the guys being split up. Dean gives Ketch one of the giant chains they've been wearing, and says it's iron, to prevent possession. Wow, that would be a heavy chain. They talk about God and Rowena, and then Dean gets a text message. "Trouble. Two hunters haven't checked in." Uh oh!

Meat packing plant. Seriously? There is a meat packing plant in the middle of this residential area? So many chains hanging from the ceiling. I wonder what kind of cage flashbacks Sam would have in here. (And if you fic that, I'd like to be notified, please and thank you.) Dean and Ketch search the place and then it gets cold and then Ketch is hurled against a wall. Hard. Lizzie Borden appears, prepared to take an ax to Dean's head, but an electronically altered voice says "Stop! Get out!" She zaps out and we see the voice belongs to... Kevin???

Turns out when Chuck said he was sending Kevin to Heaven, he lied. Um. Why? What's the rationale for this? I mean, he did things to make a good story, but what was the purpose of sending Kevin to Hell and not letting the Winchesters (or anybody else) know? Dean promises they'll get him to Heaven, and Kevin accept this happily, because Kevin knows that Dean always takes care of him, as promised. (Ha.) Kevin can feel the wards weakening, but he doesn't know if the other spirits can detect it. And the other spirits are afraid of Kevin because he was personally cast down by God. Um. Okay. WHATEVER. But this tells Dean they can use him as a spy.

Reno. Chuck is flipping through channels, and he spends a couple of seconds watching a cooking show where the recipe involves tripe. Which is so meta, isn't it?

He's whiny. I'm over it. So is Amara. And she suddenly detects (WHATEVER) that he needs her for some reason. She can feel his own version of the godhole? She pokes at it and it hurts. "Something happened. You're not complete. You're not at full strength."

Zone. Sam doesn't think using Kevin is safe. Well, he's already dead, so. Belphegor shows up and they're all, your wards are failing and he's all, duh, I told you that was happening, I thought you heroes would have this wrapped up by now. (Are they really fading due to the nature of wards, or is this deliberate? Discuss.) And this spell was a one-time thing - he can't do it again. Because...? We'll never know, because neither brother asks. WHATEVER.

This conversation is like some people. Stupid but pretty.

Belphegor knows Kevin and calls him a "whiny millenial" and my goodness, he gets around a lot for a low-level grunt, doesn't he? He tells the guys that Kevin can't get into Heaven because once a soul is cast into Hell, Heaven can't take it. I am quite sure that Show has forgotten about John and Bobby, who both accomplished that very thing, and I'm shocked to find Show actually address this. Belphegor says God made an exception, and that isn't likely to happen again, since God doesn't like them any more. Oh no! The only way to fix this is if someone else takes over for God!

Reno. Chuck checks out his own godhole, which looks just like Sam's. He pokes at it and winces in pain.

Zone. Sam feels pain in his own godhole. Because they're connected! He lies that he's okay and it's getting better and Dean's all yeah, right.

Sam, for a professional liar, you are so bad at it.

Zone. Spirit meeting. They know the wards are fading. Tumbelty thinks they should attack at a weak point, rather than waiting for the whole thing to collapse. Kevin shows up. They all know him, and some fear him. But Tumbelty knows he's buds with the Winchesters. Because all these spirits know the Winchesters. You know, I can understand all the demons knowing who they are. That's justified. But every resident of Hell? I'm not feeling it. WHATEVER.

High school. More heavy flirting between Rowena and Ketch. Somehow Ketch knows something she doesn't know - that a jolt of electricity will fast-forward her spell. Can we just skip this part? It makes as much sense as the Rowena/Gabriel detour when they were trying to open the rift. They're interrupted by a call from Dean, who demands she hurry. Yes, please.

Zone. Rowena shows up with a bag and runs right into Tumbelty. Who knows her. Because they used to date. All this romance for Rowena, and Sam's still sitting alone at the high school. Come on, Ro. Climb that mountain. Tumbelty tells her they've got Kevin, and sends a message for the Winchesters to meet them at their spirit house. Ketch shows up behind him, with his iron confetti gun, and blasts him, but Tumbelty whacks him with a rock. However, Rowena escapes.

{Commercial time. Zombieland 2 looks good.}

TFW is finally all together. Rowena tells them about Kevin. Dean asks if she has the soulcatcher, and for some reason, Sam has a problem with the name soulcatcher. I suppose this was supposed to be humorous. She does, but she doesn't know if it will work.

Spirit house. Winchesters show up. Tumbelty says if they shut down the warding, he won't devour Kevin. They say no. Tumbelty sticks his hand into Kevin, and this takes a really really long time, but Rowena finally shows up with the crystal and catches all of their souls. Boy, it's a good time devouring Kevin's soul took so very, very long. Rowena tells them this crystal isn't as powerful as the earlier version, and can only gather a few souls at a time. In fact, some of the souls here got away. Oooh, I wonder who.

Kevin tells them about the plan to break through the warding at the weakest point. Jump to the weakest point. There are at least 100 spirits there, according to Belphegor, and more are coming. Dean brings his gun up when someone approaches, but it's only Ketch. Oh, good, he escaped safely from Tumbelty's clutches! How fortunate. It's odd that he's no longer wearing that huge iron chain, though.

Dean tries shooting at the spirits they can't see, but Belphegor tells him there are too many. So Rowena goes forth with her soulcatcher. She still seems to be on this side of the warding, which means she's able to drag the souls through the barrier. I wonder if it would have worked better if she'd gone past the barrier. Then Ketch backhands her because, SURPRISE SURPRISE, he's actually possessed. He drips black goo from his eyes, just to confirm, and picks up the soulcatcher. Dean tries to shoot him, but is conveniently out of ammo. Tumbelty!Ketch monologues and then Dean pulls out his handgun and shoots him and he... tosses the soulcatcher to Dean? Drops it horizontally? Somehow, the thing ends up flying into Dean's hand.

WHATEVER.

(Or did Ketch toss it to him once he was depossessed? Discuss.)

Rowena takes it back and sucks up the few visible souls, including Tumbelty's. Yay! Success! Is Ketch alive? Dunno!

Time jump. Ketch is alive, with only a wounded shoulder, and is being loaded into an ambulance. Cas tells Sam that he tried to heal him, but couldn't. "You're just tired," Sam says. "We all are." Oh, I don't think so, Sam. Dean apologizes to Ketch, and lets us know it was an iron bullet, which is why it expelled Tumbelty. Ketch and Rowena exchange a longing glance. Dean stares. Angrily, maybe? Angry that Mary's ex dared to look for love again? Angry that Rowena is flirting with someone else right in front of Sam? Angry that Ketch is such a wuss that he actually needs an ambulance, and medical treatment, for a mere bullet to the shoulder? Angry that he's stuck inside a Buckleming episode? All of the above? He and Rowena exchange an uncomfortable look.

Aftermath! Kevin doesn't want to stay in the zone and hang out with the guys. He knows he can't get into Heaven, so he's just gonna ghost around and wander the earth. Sam tells him this is a terrible way to exist, and Kevin points out that it's better than Hell. And Kevin and Sam give us what might be the motto for just this episode, or maybe for the entire season:

I'm sorry, Kevin. I wish there was some way to make this right.

Me too. But there isn't. And sometimes, you just gotta accept that.

Kevin tells the Winchesters he loves them (d'aw) and they don't say it back (aw) and Belphegor quite easily makes a little opening in the barrier. So easily, that it really makes you wonder why he has so little power to keep it going. Yep, it sure does. Kevin is gone. Sad waves.

Reno. Amara is hitting the road. Chuck isn't invited. And she knows he's too weak to do anything about it. He can't leave this world without her help, and she ain't helping.

Zone. We see dozens of glowing souls flitting about. The warding won't last long. We need a plan B. "How," asks Dean. How indeed.

So. When I watched this for the first time last night, I desperately wanted to fast forward through the scenes with the spirits in the house. And the Ketch/Rowena stuff. It wasn't any better on rewatch. Some of this episode was just the usual Buckleming nonsense - badly written, stupid things happen for stupid reasons, yada yada yada. But the Kevin plot... can we blame that on the Buckleming? Or was that a showrunner master plan? Either way, it's annoying. And probably pointless. The only good thing about this episode was the confirmation of the connection between Sam and Chuck. I noticed a distinct lack of excitement on my Tumblr feed, so maybe a lot of us feel the same way. If you haven't watched this one yet, my vote is: don't bother.

Please help me stay unspoiled, thanks!

#spn #recap #tv recaps #15.02 #spoilers

[askaceattorney]

Dear Skibot99,

Co-Mod: I’d tell you, but I’m afraid she might hear me.

…?

Mod Maya: Pre-twisted Simon would be adorable! He’s handsome, has a prosecutor’s salary, and is a complete gentleman. (For DGS though, I’d choose Barok because dang he’s fine--)

Dear Inferno,

Co-Mod: I’ll definitely do so and let you know what I think about it as soon as I find an empty spot in my already packed schedule.  It’s like I’m losing at Tetris 99 here.  (Or just plain Tetris, for that matter.)

*Fast forward a couple of weeks*

I started watching the first chapter, and I’ve gotta say, it’s already pretty intriguing.  I found it a little hard to take Franziska’s voice acting seriously, though.  I wasn’t expecting something spectacular, but she’s just not herself without a German accent, if you ask me.

Mod Kristoph: I watched that a while ago. Really good stuff. (Also, I called who the killer was from part 1.)

(Previous Letter)

Dear sc9ven,

Co-Mod: I actually didn’t find any of your letters in the inbox, which means we either deleted them or already posted them.  Either way, sorry 'bout that!

I haven’t read any fanfiction all the way through as far as I can remember, but I do remember reading part of one where Kay snuck into Phoenix’s office after he adopted Trucy and almost freaked out, thinking he was her biological father.  I don’t remember its title, though, so if anyone knows which one I’m talking about, please fill me in.

Mod Kristoph: I don’t remember what my first fanfic was but probably my favorite is Pick Your Poison. It’s not so much a case as it is a series of “punishments” given to other characters. It’s hilarious.

Mod Maya: I cannot reveal this

(Link in Letter)

Dear Certainly Bobby Fulbright,

Co-Mod: That’s a good que--

AaaaAAACHOO!!!  ...Sorry.  *sniff*

That’s a good question.  My first thought is Phoenix, since he’s earned himself a little R & R after the crazy adventures he’s been on lately.  It’d be a definite challenge for him to get back into the dating scene after his encounter (and re-encounter) with the darker side of relationships, but at least he’d be better prepared for it, so who knows?  It might work.

Please notice I didn’t mention who he’d be starting a family with.  That’s up to your imagination.

Mod Maya: Mildly afraid because I feel everyone in this series that has any relatives is just cursed--I think both Athena and Apollo are the types that would want to? Apollo’s a really caring boy, and Athena definitely loves that kind of thing too. I think they’d like to give their kids the type of life they couldn’t have.

Dear ZaK,

Co-Mod: I love it!  Especially the double-meaning of the word “represent.”  Heaven knows if we’ll ever get to see Phoenix join the already huge Smash Bros. roster, but I’d love to see a trailer like this regardless.  Just make it into a video, and I’ll give it the Co-Mod Seal of Approval!

Dear skibot99 again,

Co-Mod: Well, you’re right about us being busy with letters.  I still need to get on with the essay-writing part of this blog.  There are currently five or so requests for them, and I’d love to get them all done right now, but things have kept getting in the way.  I’ll be sure and get ‘em done ASAP, though.

Unfortunately, I don’t know of any blogs that are specifically about discussing Ace Attorney (and I’ll probably eat a cardboard badge before I go searching through Tumblr for them), but there are plenty of discussions going on at the Court-Records Forms, so I recommend checking it out.

The writing process for essays goes something like this: think about it, write it down, revise it, repeat.  I also take a look at gameplay videos to make sure I don’t miss any important details, but other than that, I just write whatever comes to mind when I think about the character in question, then try to reorganize it.  It think that’s called the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid.)  I hope it’s working for you all so far!

Dear jnv11,

Co-Mod: Thanks for finding those!  The first one was the Mod’s misspelling, but the Engarde letters were mine.  I must have let my mental guard down, so to speak.

Dear Anonymous,

Co-Mod: We’re actually using Tumblr’s Schedule option, which lets you choose a specific times for letters to be posted.  It’s a little less convenient than the Queue option, but I’ve found it to be more reliable.

And trust me, if we had the kind of time one would need to post something manually ever two hours, we’d be answering letters way faster.

Dear Mothmouth,

Co-Mod: Sure thing.  Here it is, and here’s the Ghost Trick one.  That one was a feat of animation, let me tell you.

And thanks for the kind words!  You’re just as cool.

Dear Fulbright,

Co-Mod: Thanks!  It was mainly thought up by Mod Kristoph and Mod Paups, and we kind of started doing it at the last minute, so I’m super thankful for their help with it all.

And yes, the letters the villains answered will be given a proper answer as soon as they reach the bottom of the inbox.  We don’t take kindly to letter thieves ‘round these parts.

Dear Inferno again,

Co-Mod: A little late (and not even necessary, as you already know), but thanks anyway, pal.

Dear skibot99 again (again),

Co-Mod: Thanks!  I somehow forgot to do that, but those tags have been added now.  Sheesh, what would we do without you guys?

I’ll keep your April Fools’ Day idea in mind for next year (I blocked it out so we can retain the element of surprise), but there’s a chance we might choose to do something different.  Oh yeah, and the Mod’s back!

That was more or less my reaction when I first heard the news.  Glad to have you back, Modot!  (That’s definitely my favorite Mod nickname, by the way.)

-The Mods

#Skibot99 #ajanisapprentice #scnineven #Certainly Bobby Fulbright #zakattacker #jnv11 #Anonymous #Mothmouth #Fulbright #Mod Post #Co Mod #Mod Maya #Mod Kristoph

[telesthisia]

8 PEOPLE I’D LIKE TO KNOW BETTER. repost, don’t reblog.

one / name / alias. amber or dee! two /  birthday. october 6 three / zodiac sign. indecisive binch disease, or libra  four /  height. 5′5″ five  /  hobbies. writing!! rp, video games, i used to love tennis before my health became bad but i still can swim at least! cooking... eating...  six / favorite colors. pastels!!!  seven / favorite books. dang do i love pride and prejudice and this book about the celtic culture i got! eight  /  last song listened to. singing in the rain by my girl jinsoul nine  /  last film watched. spiderman homecoming, i really love that movie ;0; ten  /  inspiration for muse. it comes and goes whenever it feels like it ;v;, though music sometimes helps but coffee is a huge help eleven  / dream job. hm, i have no clue! as a kid it always changed from vet, to author, to movie star (lol with this anxiety, i don’t think so ;v;)  twelve  / meaning behind your url. it’s a misspelling of the word telesthesia which is a fancy way of saying telepathy. i’m surprised i was even able to get this url tho either way. 

tagged by: NO ONE I STOLE IT HWEOHASD tagging: go for it!

#ooc postings. #dash games. #it's a me

[howdoyousayghibli]

Waiting for Totoro

You know what’s fun about reviewing My Neighbor Totoro? Besides the fact that it’s a delightful movie, it’s pretty great that it would be nigh-impossible for me to spoil anything for anyone reading this review. The plot can be summed up as: two little girls and their father move into a new house out in the country, where they meet some forest spirits. Also, their mom is sick. That’s not just the movie’s setup—it covers basically everything that happens. Fortunately, that doesn’t stop Totoro from being a fantastic movie from start to finish. If you’re worried about the lack of plot bothering you, it might help to imagine that instead of a movie, you’re watching several loosely connected animated shorts.

So, if it’s not the plot, just what makes My Neighbor Totoro so great? Well, the first thing should be obvious by now. Everybody, on three:

the animation.

Totoro was Hayao Miyazaki’s second film with Studio Ghibli, and oh my Ponyo, the animation. It’s not like there’s anything wrong with the animation in Nausicaä, Castle in the Sky, or Grave of the Fireflies, but this is the first Ghibli movie (chronologically) to really blow me away the way Ponyo did. There are some spectacular landscapes and great character design, but my favorite parts were when they chose to lovingly render mundane yet relatable moments. For example, they didn’t have to animate Satsuki walking on her knees in their new house so that she wouldn’t have to take her shoes off, but they did and it’s one of my favorite parts of the movie.

We didn’t get the same level of Good Ghibli Food™ that we did in Ponyo or Castle in the Sky, but dang if I didn’t want to bite into the veggies from that old lady’s garden. On that note, I was continually surprised every time the old lady didn’t turn evil, which is one example of how this movie manages to have

tension without plot.

Like I mentioned, there’s not a lot of narrative happening here, yet even so the movie manages to introduce enough tension to keep you engaged. It’s not exactly A Quiet Place*, but you do come to care for these little girls; whether they’re wandering off into spirit-filled woods on their own or just waiting anxiously for their dad to come home, the movie makes their plights matter. I think the waiting-at-the-bus-stop scene is the best example of this. Nothing really happens, but I felt for the sisters - as they wait for their dad’s bus on a dark, lonely, rainy night, I didn’t know if they would be frightened by forest spirits or just let down by their dad, but I was equally worried by either option.

The excellent animation contributes to the audience investment by making the characters feel relatable and world feel lived in, and it also helps that this movie has

my favorite protagonists since Nausicaä.

Our two heroes are Satsuki and Mei, who are middle-school and toddler age, respectively. One of the things I found so remarkable and enjoyable about this movie was the care they took to really make both girls protagonists, and equally likeable ones at that. So often movies with similar characters make the younger sibling either unfailingly adorable and precocious or problem-generators. Mei is frustratingly but understandably childlike at some moments, but we also get plenty of chances to see her being brave, determined, and proactive. Satsuki, on the other hand, demonstrates kindness, patience, and remarkable maturity (probably a result of her mom not being home and her dad being pretty scatterbrained (but still a great dad)). They’re both great kids without feeling like fake kids.

The other characters in Totoro are great in their own right - it’s a small cast, but a memorable one. The aforementioned old lady with the veggies obviously left an impression on me, and the extremely shy neighbor boy with a crush on Satsuki is just as endearing as the protagonists are (he even gets a mini-character arc). Similarly to his daughters, Mei and Satsuki’s dad manages to walk the tightrope of being a fantastic father without feeling artificial. Sure, it takes him a worrying amount of time to notice that Mei has wandered off into the forest, but it’s impossible to stay mad at this man who clearly loves and cares for his daughters and is doing his best in essentially a single-parent situation.

At this point, you may be wondering - is there

anything wrong with this movie?

And, well, sort of. I’ve brought up the whole “no real conflict/plot” thing several times now, and that’s capped off by the movie looking at its watch, saying “yeah, that’s probably long enough,” and cutting to the credits. But then again, the lack of a plot means that the abrupt ending doesn’t result in any plotlines being cut short, and honestly I don’t think it would have bugged me at all if I’d known it was coming.

Oddly, there was significantly less Totoro in My Neighbor Totoro than I expected. This isn’t really a bad thing, since the human characters are plenty of fun on their own, but I was surprised at how incidental to the movie Totoro seemed.

Lastly, the music is actually really good—this is the first Ghibli film where the music stood out to me—but as with Ponyo, the music takes a dramatic turn for the worse when there’s singing involved, as in the opening credits, which already go on a little too long.

That’s it for complaints. My Neighbor Totoro is a classic for a reason. Bring kids if you got em, but this is a movie that everyone should enjoy.

Next up: Kiki’s Delivery Service! This is one of the few Ghibli movies I’d seen before starting these reviews. I remember liking it, but it’s been a while.

Alternate Titles:

I got nothing this time. "Waiting for Totoro" came to me in the middle of the night and is my favorite review title since my first one (for Ponyo). Maybe this time, you come up with the alternate titles.

*I misspelled this as “A Quite Place” and now I want a movie where British people are being hunted by monsters who can hear you having tea or forming a queue

#studio ghibli #ghibli #my neighbor totoro #totoro #film

[vorthosthewillis]

S.F.T.W, part one

     So this story comes from a simple line in @the-foxwolf ‘s latest tale, about how Finn knew of the magic dampening bracelets. From there, I jokingly posted a thing called, “HRLP” (yes, the misspelling was on purpose), asking for help, and thank you so much for everyone who offered their fanwalkers!!! This story exploded, and is already larger than probably any I have written so far on tumblr, so I am splitting it into two parts. Part two is nowhere near done just yet, but it’s coming, I swear. Anyway, without further ado… (Note: this story occurs directly after both Connections and A Dead Plane (the second by the awesome  @gigaguessmtg ), both of which are sequels to Silence. Man, I was not expecting so many of these to link up so well)

    Apple cider was heavenly. HOT Apple cider? It put apple cider to shame. Then Ansari brought up “hard” apple cider, and of course Finn had to try it. That involved going to a local bar, and that led to trying another hard drink first, and led to Finn and Ansari both a little… drunk.

    “DUDE WE NEED TO START A DESTROYED WORLD ANONYMOUS GROUP MEETING, IT WOULD BE AWESOME,” Finn screamed at Ansari, who nodded and spun around in his chair before puking on the floor.

    Yah, just a little drunk.     “Dude, dude… you know who needs a group? Goblins man! They are so underrepresented!” Ansari called out as he wiped puke off of his face with a nearby napkin. “Whoa, I totally agree! I know this gobbo, named Piku, she made me this mask! It’s a special, magical mask!” Finn responded, and swatted Ansari’s hand away as he reached for it. “Mine!!! Mineminemineminemine!” Finn spoke all in one word, then took a deep breath before continuing, “Also, I know this guy by the name of Libs, on Stawthese, a pyromancer, very cool goblin, one of my closest friends!” Ansari gave Finn a look of respect, or at least what drunk Finn assumed was a look of respect. “I am SO GLAD I found someone who cares about goblins man! It’s soooo good to hear!” Ansari exclaimed, and Finn nodded, probably more than he should as he was… oh no…  and there was the floor.     It was as he slowly pulled himself back up that he noticed the azorius members sitting at a nearby table and watching him and Ansari with disgusted looks. Jerks, They didn’t know his life, or Ansari’s. They didn’t know what it was like. Screw them.     Ansari was saying something about wierds now, but Finn could barely hear the other elf over the anger building inside of him. They didn’t know what it was like. How Dare They Judge Him. He staggered back onto his feet and sauntered over to the fancy men and women in their white and blue robes. “Wha… what gives you the right to judge me, eh?” The people at the table moved back, as if threatened, and Finn sarcastically added, ‘What? Think I’m gonna hurt you? Oh no, here comes the masked man, coming to stab your livers, you’ll never be able to drink again!” As one the group’s faces abruptly dropped into a serious face, and they stood up. Finn burped and grinned, though he dimly remembered they couldn’t see it. “What you gonna do? Rule me to death?” The azorius mage closest to him said a word, and suddenly Finn was on the floor again, and everything went dark.         ~*~     Ansari awoke to find himself in a cold cell, light protruding from what must be a small window. This was not his home, nor Kaladesh… yesterday’s events flooded back into him, as well as a sudden pounding headache from all the alcohol, no doubt. Some people in white and blue robes detained Finn with some strange magic, and then came after him while he was talking about wierd equality.     Though he was glad he could remember what happened, one of these days he wished he would be able to talk about equality in a… calmer manner than drunk.     He looked around his little cell. It was pretty plain, with a little window and on the other side a metal door with a small barred window at the top. The only things in the room were a chamber pot and a bed, which he was currently on. As for him… he looked down in surprise as he realized that a pair of bracelets around his arms. “What the..” he said out loud, and tried to summon one of his moths to investigate out of the room, only to realize he couldn’t. He looked down again. The bracelets were dampening his ability to access magic somehow! He was really beginning to regret coming to Ravnica with that strange elf of a planeswalker. Almost as if on cue, he heard a groan from a nearby cell. “Finn, is that you?” Ansari called out, and surprised to feel a tiny bit of relief when he heard in return, “Nah, just another stupid hungover idiot who remembers getting trapped in some sort of azorius jail. Oh damn, was I a fool last night.” Despite the situation, Ansari chuckled and said, “So much for that wonderful sarcasm you seem to love.” “Yah,” Finn growled, “Sarcasm for the win.” ~*~     Finn sighed after that, and looked down at the cursed bracelets. This sucked, and honestly was all his fault. He simply had tried to be friendly and open up to Ansari, and it went extremely overboard. If stupid drunk Finn had been able to keep himself in check… but, to be honest, asking a drunk person to control themselves was like asking a dragon to not use its fire breath. It wasn’t going to happen. He sighed again. Coming to peace with his problems did nothing to help him out of here though.     The sounds of someone, or perhaps multiple someones in some sort of marching file, faintly came through the doorway. Finn sat up quickly, saying nothing but watching his door to see if it opened. The footsteps came closer, and stopped right in for of his room. “Prisoner 428, please stay away from the door. No violence will be utilized against you if you comply,” a voice called out, and Finn yelled back, “428, eh? Been called a lot of things, but not 428. Can we switch it to 134? That’s my favorite number.” The people on the other side of the door did not respond, but the door opened nonetheless, revealing a man in azorius robes as well as what appeared to be two guardsmen. “Prisoner 428, I am here to remind you that you are under arrest for threatening a group of azorius lawmages with implied assault. Though this is considered a minor infraction and not in the league of serious infractions such as murder, we take threats to our guild members very seriously. As such, you have been assigned a court date in… “ the man looked down at a piece of paper, “…four months. After all paperwork is compiled, checked, rechecked, and presented, of course, which I am legally required to remind you can take up to a year for minor infractions as they do not take priority.”     “What?!?” Finn growled in surprise and anger. The lawmage looked at him with wide eyes and the guardsmen put their hands on their shortswords. Finn rolled his eyes, and added, “Oh yah, be soo scared of the masked man with no magic. What am I going to do, kick you to death?” This time the lawmage starred with thinly hidden anger, and Finn didn’t need to read his mind to know this guy was pissed. Dang it, he shouldn’t have done that. He opened his mouth to try and apologize and calm down the situation, but the lawmage abruptly said, “Enough,” and walked out, the two guards seconds behind. The great metal door groaned as it closed once more, and as the footsteps faded, Finn smacked the bed. “Why do I always push people away!?!” he hissed out loud, and nearly jumped when Ansari answered, “Perhaps the same reason I tried to push you away, back on Kaladesh. It sucks trying to talk to other people, people who don’t understand your pain.” Finn nodded even though he knew Ansari couldn’t see it, and took deep breaths to calm himself. Now was no time to let his emotions take control, they needed a plan.

    It didn’t take long for Finn to come to the conclusion he would need outside help. The biggest problem were these bracelets - without them he would be able to get out of here easily, but he couldn’t get them off. The problem then became how to get outside help and who. For obvious reasons, Ansari was out of the running. Saria had mentioned when Finn saw her a day or two ago that she was leaving Ravnica for a bit, so likely she was off world at the moment. What about that guy he just met yesterday, Lucion? No, he was likely still on Denicomus, and even if he wasn’t, there was no way to contact him to let him -     “Well, well, well,” Lucion began as he phased out of the nearby wall, “Have a good evening?” ~*~     The lack of a face to watch made Lucion’s dramatic arrival lose some of its touch, but Lucion enjoyed the maneuver just the same. Finn’s head snapped forward to look at Lucion, and he was surprised to hear Finn respond, “Oh yah, best of my life, always wanted to be put in jail for a stupid misunderstanding. Isn’t that on your to do list, buddy?” This man was far stranger than he… no, this was more of his sarcasm, thought Lucion. Choosing to ignore it, Lucion came fully into the room and sat on the bed beside Finn. “Listen, I admit I do not understand why you are here, but I assumed you would be more interested in getting out.”  “I am!”, a voice come from the other side of the wall. Lucion raised an eyebrow, and Finn pointed at the wall and simply said, “Lucion, meet Ansari. Ansari, Lucion. Happy introductions all around. Yay.” Lucion stood up, and made his upper half ethereal so he could reach through the thin wall. On the other side was an elf, his clothes and armor clearly not from Ravnica.  “Wish we could meet under better conditions, but still, nice to meet you Ansari. I am Lucion, of Innistrad,” he said, and Ansari gave a small smile. “I’m Ansari, from.. Well, my world is gone, so currently Kaladesh. Are you a friend of Finn’s?” Lucion looked back through at the quiet masked man, now currently looking off into space. What was he thinking about it? “I don’t know about friend, per say… perhaps acquaintance?” he said as he turned to Ansari once more. That brought a laugh from Ansari, who responded, “Yah, I’ve gotten the feeling that Finn doesn’t have many friends.”     “When you two are done making love over my problems, we need to talk about the plan here,” Finn said in an annoyed tone. Lucion turned back to Finn, who was now standing and staring out the window. “Ah, so have you come to your senses? Ready to leave this wretched building? Not even the ghosts like it here,” commented Lucion and he watched a nearby ghost nod in agreement. Finn’s response surprised Lucion:     “No, you idiot.” ~*~     Finn watched Lucion’s face fall, just a smidge, and felt instant regret over his words. “Sorry man, pushing people away is apparently one of my strengths when stressed nowadays. What I meant is that Ansari and I can’t leave yet.” “What the heck are you talking about man ?!?” Ansari asked from the other room, and Finn quickly reviewed in his head the plan he worked out while Lucion and Ansari were talking. “Ok, so before you try to prison shank me Ansari, hear me out,” he began, and Ansari became quiet and Lucion took a seat on the bed once more. “We could leave, no problem, especially if Lucion would be so kind to take off these bracelets. But, we still have a problem. The Azorius would keep looking for us, perhaps even bring in the Boros to try and grab us. Not only would that mean we could not come back here, but everyone you associate with here would be targeted, too. Now, maybe that’s no one for you Ansari, but I have a close friend, another planeswalker, who calls this plane her home for now and I won’t be the one to ruin it for her.”     Lucion nodded in agreement, with a look in his eye that Finn hoped meant that Lucion realized Finn wasn’t some bumbling fool. “What do you suggest then?” Lucion asked, and Finn answered, “It’s not good enough to simply leave, as I said. We need to get to the paperwork on this encounter. The azorius senate keeps careful records of every infraction, as that lawmage from earlier was so willing to remind me. We get the paperwork for this event, and pardon ourselves.”     “Excuse me, but why not just destroy the paperwork? I feel that would be simpler,” Ansari injected, and Finn shook his head out of habit, even though he knew Ansari couldn’t see it. “We could,” he began, “ but you don’t know this group as well as I do. They likely have triplicated the paperwork by now, it will be almost impossible to get rid of. However, if we pardon ourselves on even one copy and make it look real, then when it is compared to the others they will assume the pardon simply wasn’t added to those forms yet. They will literally let us walk out of here at that point.” “Intriguing plan. How do you propose we pull it off?” Lucion asked, and Finn sighed. “I doubt we could do it just us,” Finn admitted, “But if we had help it would be a piece of cake, I could handle the paperwork if we could just get me to it. We have established I have one friend and that’s it, do you folks know anyone?” For a second everyone was quiet, and Finn felt a nervous trickle down his spine. “I.. I may have heard of or know one or two people could help us,” Lucion finally said, and Finn couldn’t resist raising his hands in the air and saying, “Score!!!” Lucion smiled, which made Finn felt good. He needed to be honest and show himself to others more often, and Lucion and Ansari both seemed like good people. Better than himself, at least.     “So could we start with these cursed bracelets, my… acquaintance?” Finn said in a mocking, but playful tone, and Lucion replied, “Certainly,” before coming over to gracefully get the magic damping bracelets off. As Finn felt his connection to magic rush back to him, he threw up an illusion around both his and Ansari’s cells, showing them with bracelets still on. “Alright, here’s what I was thinking…” Finn began as Lucion moved over to Ansari’s cell. ~*~     Ellis was relaxing when the person he was pretty sure was a planeswalker walked into the gruul guildgate. Ellis gave the man a quick once over, surprised someone like him was in gruul lands. Guess he needed something…     “Excuse me, are you Ellis? I am Lucion, from Innistrad. I heard of you from a mutual acquaintance of ours, and I was wondering if I could ask a favor.”     Ah.     “Listen man, not sure what you need, but are you sure you have the right guy?” Ellis asked. What type of favor could this guy want? Lucion curtly nodded, and said, “We would require you to… provide a distraction, and interfere with as many azorius members as you can.”     Ellis smiled. This was a favor he could pull off. “When do we start?” End of Part One Lucion belongs to gigaguessmtg Ansari belongs to @erybia Ellis belongs to @foilmountain @actualborossoldier @baldore-of-the-boros, @confused-phyrexian… and everyone else I normally tagged I already did so earlier. If you would like to be included in my tags, or would like to see your fanwalker pop up in one of my tales, let me know!

[filosofablogger]

Okay, folks, here we are at Monday morning once again.  But this one feels a little different, doesn’t it?  I wonder why … ???  Oh YES!  There is no work today for most of you, since in the U.S. it is Memorial Day, and across the pond it is a banking holiday, I am told.  But still, it is Monday and so we will make it jolly, and then you can go to your picnics, fireworks, grill-outs, or whatever your plans for the day are.  Just don’t be expecting a ‘Jolly Tuesday’ post tomorrow as you head back to work!  I can only manage to be jolly once in the course of a week.

My friend, rawgod, took me to task a few days ago for not providing tea, as he had requested some time ago.  I explained that I had tried offering tea, but nobody drank it and it was wasteful, but then had to promise him tea and a naked cinnamon roll for today (I put some icing in a separate bowl for any who want it).  So, pull up a chair, friends, and we shall have a Monday chuckle or two.

Have you ever been driving down the highway and saw something airborne just before it hit your car?  Sure, all of us have.  Usually it’s just some small piece of debris the car in front of you ran over, sending it airborne to hit your car, hopefully not in the windshield.  Well, this very thing happened to a man driving on Interstate-5 near Lakewood, Washington.  The man saw something black go airborne, then felt a thud on the front bumper.  Thinking it was just a piece of road debris, the man drove on until about 18 miles later he decided to stop for fuel, and this is what he found!

The man called the police, who are checking to see if the gun might have been used in a shooting earlier that morning.  I had to laugh at some of the comments on the officers tweet, including these:

Oh dang the liberals were right. Guns are now attacking on their own.

Ban bumper stocks!

Imagine it had gone trough [sic] the windshield and injured the driver. That would have been a whole new level of gun violence😖

The Fulshear, Texas, Police Department received a ‘thank-you’ letter of a different sort last week.  The letter was from an apparently disgruntled child whose mother had been pulled over by the police …

“Dear Fulshear Police Officer,

Thank you for pulling my mom over because she deserved it because she took my phone away and I did not like it. And how she always brags about how good of a driver she is. And it just annoys me. And how that one time she got pulled over because she did not have a ezsticker on her window and when she came home and told me that I just laughed. And I also remember that time when one of my mom’s back lights weren’t working and she got pulled over.”

I feel a bit sorry for this child’s mother!

A farmer wants to know how many sheep he has in his field, so he asks his border collie to count them. The dog runs into the field, counts them and runs back to the farmer. The farmer says, “How many?” The dog says, “40.” The farmer is surprised and says, “How can there be 40 – I only bought 38!” The dog says, “I rounded them up.”

The State of Maine and its people are known for being somewhat laconic.  This holiday weekend, some interesting safety warning signs began popping up around the state on the electronic billboards:

What would you do if you decided to get tattoos of your children’s names, but the tattoo artist couldn’t spell too well and misspelled one of the names?  That’s just what happened to a woman in Sweden who had the names of her two children, Nova and Kevin, tattooed on her arm.  But … the tattoo artist was either not a great speller, or mis-heard the woman and Kevin’s name came out ‘Kelvin’.

Rather than spend the money to have the tat surgically removed, she had little Kevin’s name legally changed.  Fortunately he is only two-years-old, so won’t likely be too traumatized by the name change.

Kelvin brought back memories of the refrigerator we had when I was a child … a Kelvinator!

Okay, folks, it’s time for you to get out there and enjoy your holiday, your extra day off!  Spread some good cheer today, share those beautiful smiles, and have a wonderful day!  Love ‘n hugs from Filosofa!

This is sooooooo ME!!!

Jolly Holiday Monday!!! Okay, folks, here we are at Monday morning once again.  But this one feels a little different, doesn't it? 

#&039;thank you&039; letter to cops #cartoons #flying road debris #gun stuck in car #Kelvinator #Maine signage #Maxine #naked cinnamon rolls #tattoo