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basicallyjaywalker · 9 months

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The timeline and history of Ninjago is weird and fluid: an essay

So recently I reblogged a post asking what people thought the length of the time skip between S2 and S3 was and it got me thinking about the weird chronology of this show.

Disclaimer: i have only seen up to S8 because I'm a hack and a fraud but I do still follow fandom and have seen enough clips I think to gain an understanding of how the ninja are portrayed and characterized in later seasons. I welcome and deeply appreciate those of you who are more caught up on the seasons adding to my points and pointing out where I'm wrong on this post! Who knows maybe in 15 years when I do catch up I'll make a follow up

Basically, the conclusion I have after years of thinking about this timeline way too much is this:

The time twins completely screwed up the timeline

Only slightly joking, but it does feel like the divide between S7 and S8 (coincidentally also when the design change took place) is when the writers had to retcon a lot of old ideas because the show was moving in a new direction spurred by an increase of popularity from the movie and by desires from the people supervising the shows creation.

My main points for this are as follows

The ninjas age

How old the country of Ninjago is

The depiction of the passing of time itself

So let's examine these one by one and let me tell you exactly what I think caused the chronological fluidity of this show

Wait... How old are the ninja?

The answer to this question depends on who you ask. Some people say they're in their late teens, that they're early adults, or that they've got to be hitting the mid 20s by now. Personally, I'm of the latter camp, but depending on which season someone is viewing, any of these can be true.

In the post I talked about at the start, I mentioned that S1-S4 felt like the ninja clearly grew older and matured as time went on. They went from blowing off training to play video games in S1 to dealing with the ramifications of trauma in various, independent, adult ways in S4. Yes, they can still be super immature and goofy, but let's be real adults are like that irl too. Now they seem to stall out on dramatic progression in S5-7, but they generally maintain the same level of maturity as before.

Now again, I have not watched the following seasons, but the general vibe I have gathered is the ninja seem to almost... Regress? They seem to go back to S1 levels of maturity. Teenagers! I mean Lloyd specifically seems to be more of a typical teenage boy archetype whereas beforenhe was portrayed as almost more mature than the ninja. Additionally, there's an interview wherein someone on the team confirms they're supposed to be teens (if anyone can find it I'll be forever in your debt).

This weird regression happens in the later seasons, and while I can't pinpoint where, to me it feels like a result of how they were portrayed in (you guessed it) the movie!

Small aside: I also haven't seen the movie but ik it's non canon and very typical Lego movie silly fun fluff. I like what I've seen and think the whole narrative is super cute. Plus movie aus are adorable. Moving on

Now I have no way of backing this up but I would be unsurprised if the movie brought more people to the Ninjago franchise as a whole and acted as a soft reboot after s8. We get the new redesigns, new garmadon brought back specifically to be able to mirror movie garm, and teenage ninjas including our favorite magical boy with daddy issues--Lloyd.

Basically, the ninjas almost have a parabola of maturation, starting off very young and dumb in s1, maturing into very adult people by S4, but slowly regressing after the rebrand to match the new style.

And funnily enough, none of this goes against an official canon. The ninjas ages are never stated, really, only implied. Really, they could still be in their mid twenties or early teens at any point. Even if you argued that they wouldn't be teachers or able to own stocks in a company or etc etc etc, you can also argue that the laws in Ninjago may not be the same, it may be through Wu or another adult, it could just be that they're the ninja and really no one is gonna question them on that. The canon itself is kinda wobbly which brings me to my next point:

HOW OLD IS NINJAGO?!?!

HOW IS NINJAGO THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD HOW ARE THERE MULTIPLE GENERATIONS OF EMS HOW PLD ARE GARM AND WU HOW OLD ARE THE NINJA HOW OLD ARE THEIR PARENTS HOW OLD IS ANYONE WHAT THE HECK--

--Are all thoughts I've had when trying to piece together the timeline of this world because let's face it: it simultaneously seems to be very new and very old. "Long before time had a name...' HOW LONG WU. HOW LONG.

When I was watching S7 I specifically took note of when it was said that the Serpentine war was 40 years ago. It felt weirdly recent, as before when the serpentine were discussed and depicted they seemed to be an ancient race. So ancient, in fact, that it's mentioned in s1 that they're just "an old wives tale, meant to keep kids from poking their noses where they don't belong'

Now don't get me wrong, temporal perception is weird. Things that were 40 years ago can feel super old, I'm approaching 20 years old and things from when I was born feel like ages ago. Still, 40 years does not feel like enough for something as intense as an entire war to be forgotten. Ray and Maya fought in that war, so presumably Ed, Edna, and Lou all lived through it. Wu was literally present for the banishing of the Anacondrai generals, so how tf did it fade into obscurity?

Then there's the EMs themselves. In S4 Garmadon explains that they were the FSM "guardians" and that their powers are passed down through generations. This does give an answer to the origins of the ninjas powers except. No, wait, I have more questions now. Firstly, how many generations? We know Garmadon is the son of the FSM, so presumably if the first generation of EMs are contemporaries of the FSM, then we're on the third. Okay, that's less confusing. With three generations, we can explain how the EMs separated, the master of earth who was most definitely not Lily in a flashback in S4, and even the odd comment Nya makes in S5 about powers "skipping a generation" with people from the second generation not getting powers from their relatives while others do. We could possibly point to Zane as an example of this, as it could be possible that the master of ice seen inna flashback is his grandfather and Juliens father, with Julien having no shown elemental powers.

So with all of this in mind it makes complete sense that Ninjago is less than a century and a half old, allowing about 50 years for each generation.

So, I ask with great exhaustion, how the FUCK has all of it's RECENT HISTORY become LEGEND????

I would like to reiterate my point about the serpentine, but also see pirates (who had to have also been contemporaries to the FSM which begs the question WHY piracy in a barely established nation), the devourer and ouroborus (devourer specifically was around 60 so years ago to bite Garmadon, also how did the serpentine tribes just FORGET a whole city in 40 years or less between the war and being freed), the ideas of EMs as a whole???? (Specifically how did Kai, Nya, and Cole not know or at least have an idea Abt their powers bc it feels like they each had enough of a connection to an elemental parent for a MENTION to be made), etc etc etc

Now I will go on record and admit this point could just be explained by the fact that for a country that is say, 150-200 years old, things that happened 100 or even 50 years ago FEEL ancient, relatively speaking. Really most of my issues are just gripes of why and how and decisions made and could be picked apart easily. However, that idea, that things just FEEL ancient, despite being recent, brings me to what is going to be my favorite point

Tick Tock.

Throughout this incoherent ramble disguised as a coherent essay, I keep coming back to one excuse for each of my issues: nothing chronological is stated for certain (save for the Serpentine war date), merely implied. The ninjas ages are never stated, just implied over time. The actual age of Ninjago is never stated, just implied. Hell, NO ONE's ages are ever stated, just implied. Wu and Garmadon are simultaneously dad aged and ancient. Garmadon specifically is both an ancient demon lord and also the ex husband to a very private and very human museum curator and also the absent father to a boy who is simultaneously like 16 and 20 something.

Except, I get hung up on one thing the longer I think about it, which is that the show seemed to be a chronological passing of time at first.

I mentioned it again earlier when talking about the ninjas ages (can you tell that a lot of my confusion and frustration comes from that) but they do seem to age and mature over time. They have arcs and maturation that sticks. Lloyd does too. Id argue Nya does as well despite the fact that she's woefully overlooked by the writing a lot (I'll get to it in the love triangle essay) going from the "little sister" doing whatever she can to prove herself to a woman still fighting that omnipresent idea that she's lesser or different from her male teammates because of her gender. Hell, in s7 they specifically talk about how Wu is aging and will die someday soon--hed been time punched, but still.

The time skips add to this. Between s2 and s3 there seems to be a large leap-- new Ninjago city wasn't built in a day. So do S3 and s4 with the ninja splitting up and Jay having enough time to establish a hit tv show like... that had to take a few months at least???Same with s4 and s5 and steep wisdoms founding.

There's a strong sense of the passing of time that feels... Different when looking at the new seasons. I won't say the passage isn't there, just that it feels... Frozen? In the same way that a show like Pokemon is. The protagonists are the same age, despite the fact that their surroundings and lives change. They are constant even if their world is not. And that feels like the product of something completely different.

Ninjago will never end.

In the beginning, I think it was clear there were two seasons planned. Rise of the Serpentine and Legacy of the Green Ninja. S2 had a nice happy ending and a photo finish even!! Then we had S3, but it still felt like it was final. The loss of a friend, but the characters finding a sense of closure still. But then we had S4... Which left with a cliffhanger for S5. Which paved the way for S6. And after that... Well, Crystalized was what, S15? And now we have DR so who Knows when this franchise will truly end? Not to mention the seasons slowly getting longer and longer --

I think the crazy chronology we ended up with was the result of Many Cooks. As the franchise's fan base grew and the demand for more and more content grew with it, more writers came in and left. There was no more telling how long this series would go. We needed new villains to fight, new stories to tell, so came the retconning and, over time, the tighter chronology seen during those initial seasons faded because if we keep aging the ninja, how old would they be? Too old. We need to keep them at a place where the target demographic can look up to and relate to them.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Ninjago, I love how big this fan base is (I remember being on Quotev and Wattpad and Pinterest and YouTube in the S3 era SCOURING for any new fanfics or art or fan content, now I just scroll the Tumblr tags and find new stuff all the time) and I love that the series has lasted this long and continues to feed my autism fun colors and silly jokes and insane storylines to latch onto. These criticisms aren't meant to damn the show, hell they're pretty flimsy considering I'm not even halfway through the series relatively speaking and thus can't really use that as evidence for or against me. They're just a culmination of many thoughts I've had while watching the show and trying to build my own AU with OCs using as much of the canon as possible. I would LOVE to wake up someday and find someone has reblogged this rebutting all of my points.

As it stands though, ninjagos chronology is fucked. Why? Because what was initially a short, fun Lego show grew so massively popular that today we have a new Netflix spinoff? Continuation? Still being made today and so the writers had to change gears and make it so that could happen without the ninja becoming grandparents.

It is one thirty am and I have to wake up in 5 hours. Stay tuned for an even less coherent essay on why I hate the love triangle. Spoiler alert: none of it is nyas fault and my trait of evisceratinf the things I love w criticism is about to be set upon Jay my kin

#ninjago #lego ninjago #ninjago headcanons #this took so many hours to write #apologies that none of it os coherent i havent proofread jt either #i didnt even check the wiki except to verify any canon info i wasn't sure about #bc i am a rebel #or a hack and a fraud #either works #if you made jt this far thank you #it means a lot :)#stay tuned for that love triangle essay fr and more oc content bc i feel a Luna dump incoming #lloyd when his family dynamics become more complicated (long lost sister)

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marshmallowprotection · 2 years

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aoghhhh your saeyoung analysis is so good. adding onto the drinking and smoking thing; saeran is only depicted possibly smoking ONCE in the game and it's when he is quite literally at his worst. it's in the secret ending, where he asks for a cigarette from vanderwood, and immediately after saeyoung very hesrtbrokingly calls after him as he sees how far his brother has fallen. it's such a pet peeve of mine to see drunk hc and stuff for the twins aghhh. in the webtoon I'm pretty sure they depict saeyoung drinking once and it icked me sooo badly it was insane.

I actually don't even think Unknown smokes. I think he says that he wants to smoke because it's a surefire way to go outside. He used that "smoke break" to inform Rika where he was and I think he just pretended to smoke it while he was doing that. He had to make the smoking look realistic so it's possible he smoked it for real or made it appear as if he was. It makes sense to me since that happens in a lot of spy movies where people are covert. I could be wrong, but it made sense to me and that's how I've always viewed it.

God, let me tell you how much I just get squicked out when I see someone writing an HC where the twins are A) drinking, B) drunk, and C) seemingly okay and unbothered that their MC is drinking around them. I can't see them telling MC to not enjoy their night knowing that they like a drink on a blue moon, but I would pray to whatever God is out there that the MC would have enough respect for their partner to talk to them about boundaries. I never see that stuff written out.

Just the assumption that the twins are okay with it. They're not. Sorry, but they're not. It's a trigger in many ways and that should never be ignored.

It's fine if you like to drink. I'm not shaming anybody that likes to drink and enjoy a little bit of alcohol. As long as you're doing that in moderation and you’re mindful of people around you, it's not a huge problem. Everybody likes to have fun and this is a way that you can do it but it's important to remember that it's a bad subject for a lot of people.

Whenever I see people write stuff out about this, there is a blatant act of ignoring this fact for Saeran and Saeyoung. You can't always avoid people drinking but you can control how much you are subjected to it. If you have the time to prepare yourself ahead of time and to work out your Escape Plan before time, it helps when planning for events that have it. I always imagined that Saeyoung avoided huge chunks of the RFA party not just for security, but literally because he hates being around alcohol.

I wouldn't have such a problem with people writing this out if they were more respectful of the situation. I think it would be interesting to see somebody write a piece where an MC does enjoy a drink now and again and they have a conversation with whichever twin they are dating about this.

Like, what is the limit? Where are the hard lines? What is and isn’t okay? Can alcohol be in the house? Is it better if you stay in another room if you come home smelling like booze? A friend’s house? What is going to be respectful to Saeyoung and Saeran’s alcohol trauma? Are you going to talk about boundaries with this if you like drinking for fun every once in a while? That is the sort of thing that needs to be talked about.

Saeran and Saeyoung would drop everything if you needed a ride, even if that meant being around the smell of alcohol after you hang out with friends at a bar. I know that they would do that. It doesn't mean that it would be good for them, but I know that they would put aside that if you really needed to be helped out or rescued in a situation.

But if that happens and you haven't had the talk with the one that you're dating, that's going to be a real issue. It's going to bring out that conversation that has to be had. It's just one of those things that happen when you're an adult. You have to set boundaries.

I think it would be better than seeing posts that I’ve often seen where it’s Saeyoung in particular who seems okay with being intoxicated. I don’t see it as much for Saeran, thank God, but it makes me so sad and upset.

I didn't read the webtoon. I wasn't interested in it and it wasn't like Saeran was in it so it wasn't doing much for me. I wasn't aware that they depicted him drinking. That really doesn't make me happy. I've got the receipts from Saeyoung, too. He says this very clearly, and I got it from Ray Route if you're wondering.

I know I might be projecting a little bit because I share similar trauma with the twins. But, as somebody who deals with society at large, that has this culture where people act like it's okay to push people to try a sip of something or be okay with drinking because “everybody else is doing it” and “it’s just what you do”? I really hate seeing the twins subjected to that. It's such a blatant erasure of their trauma. Like, I’m in my 20s, I don’t drink, never have, and never will. Yet, I still get people telling me all of the time to just try a sip. I don't want that.

I don't think the twins would want that either considering what they have gone through. Again, I'm not saying this to shame people who do enjoy it. I'm speaking from the perspective of a person that knows what the boys have gone through in many regards and hate to see that aspect of their trauma erased or not talked about.

Saeyoung is one thing.

Saeran has been through the wringer, too. The elixir is very similar to alcohol... it may be a different kind of drug but it has to make him feel sick to his stomach when he thinks about himself... when he thinks all about his mother and how she would drink herself into a stupor until she decided to hurt him.

I can't imagine him ever wanting to take something that would alter his state of mind. It's one thing for him to get proper medication that he needs to deal with everything that has gone through, but it's another thing entirely to take something that can change your mind completely. He's not going to take anything that is legally able to alter your mind. That means he's not smoking weed or alcohol more likely than not.

#tw alchoholism #ask #anon #mod kait #mm #mysme #mystic messenger #saeran choi #choi saeyoung #choi saeran #saeyoung choi #character analysis

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shihalyfie · 2 years

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Hmmm... We've talked a lot about the differences and changes between the original version (Japanese) and dubs for 02 and Adv'99. In the light of the announcement of the reboot/Adv 2020's US dub, can you talk a little more about the American dubs in general?

My only exposure to them were material dubbed from the US dub (Digimon the Movie, and Digimon Fusion), so i'm curious about more details 👀

I haven't seen the American English dub as recently as I've seen the Japanese versions, but I did originally get into Digimon with it and therefore I do know it pretty well. As I've said before, the fandom myth that "the dub was a very loyal one for its time" is a complete lie or at least willful ignorance (only the "for its time" part might be true, and even then not as much as people think). Also, as I've said before, I don't think enough people realize that there's actually a difference between different series' dubs. There are some things in common between each, like changed names and added jokes, but the degree of how much they did it and how much it impacted the story varies a lot, both because the approach to dubbing changed per series and because each series' own writing style interacts differently with seemingly minor changes.

The short answer is: Adventure got fairly significant changes but the plot mostly held up, 02 got the highest number of significant changes to the point it actually took serious damage in terms of story and characterization, Tamers changes mostly are tonal, Frontier and Savers (Data Squad) are where they chilled a bit, Xros Wars (Fusion) was overkill, and tri./Kizuna were about what you'd expect from modern adults' anime dubs. The long answer (with a brief history of said dubs) is below the cut. (Also, hopefully this is interesting info for those who’ve never had contact with the American English dub at all!)

Adventure

One thing that’s important to keep in mind is that Digimon dubbing and rights have actually changed hands a few times. The first few Digimon American English dubs were by a company named Saban Entertainment, headed by a guy named Haim Saban who unfortunately has openly said a lot of very questionable things about the Japanese media he’s handled to the point of bordering on racism, but that was also unfortunately very common at the time. Saban was also responsible for Power Rangers, among other things. Digimon was one of their last dubbed productions before they started falling under and got bought out by Disney. We’ll talk about that a bit later once we get to Tamers.

Adventure was dubbed while the Japanese series was still ongoing, in what seems to have been an episode-by-episode workflow. Now, the good thing is that Adventure's plot wasn't really impacted that much by the changes, and this is probably the origin of the "the Digimon dubs were very loyal" myth, because people are probably thinking of things like the infamous 4Kids outright changing plot points or cutting whole episodes. At the time, it was also unusual for an anime to outright admit they took place in Japan -- Adventure’s tried to hide it for half a series (that’s why “Highton View Terrace” is a thing), but they decided to give up once the Tokyo arc really was too obviously in Japan to do anything about.

The thing is, who on earth is watching Digimon Adventure for the plot? We’re all watching it for the characters, and this is the part people tend to ignore when discussing how much the dub did or didn’t change. All of these characters are defined by their temperaments and personalities, and these are the lines that got changed the most frequently. On top of that, the approach to dubbing seems to have been, for lack of a better way to put it, “a bit too reckless” -- they were very casual about making changes to the script without any foresight that things would become important later. This manifests most clearly in things like Mimi making a throwaway joke about a little brother only for us to learn she’s an only child later, but this does start causing more severe long-term issues in 02 (more on this later).

The most drastic change is Mimi’s personality and temperament, and there’s a reason my meta for her actually has an explicitly set aside disclaimer warning that readers coming only from the American English dub might find parts of the description to be jarring. I’m guessing that the dub production staff didn’t anticipate (or didn’t care about) the fact that the Adventure characters are meant to subvert their usual character archetypes, so a lot of the characters are rewritten to be pigeonholed back into the stereotypical tropes. Mimi definitely gets the biggest brunt of it because the dub writers basically piled on every single “empty-headed materialistic girly girl” trope they could think of on her -- obsessed with materialistic spending and shopping, lacking in common sense, haughty and condescending, et cetera. (Note that there are definitely positive examples of this kind of character in fiction -- Miyako’s character arc in 02 involves some degree of the shallowness issue -- but the problem in this particular case is that there is definitely a bit of maliciously misogynistic “girly girls must always be shallow and stupid” intent behind this here.) Unfortunately, this starts posing problems around the last quarter of the series when Mimi’s mental breakdown and character arc starts depending heavily on her Japanese version characterization, and it starts feeling jarring that someone who was so condescending towards others for three-quarters of a series is now getting a character arc about how inherently kind and non-judgmental she is towards others.

In the end, I don’t think Adventure took as much damage from the changes because it’s ultimately a very straightforward plot, and a lot of their character arcs are tied so heavily to the events depicted visually on screen that bar making severe footage changes, you can’t really change it that much. Any character arc that spiraled out of control eventually had to snap back into alignment with the Japanese version to some degree (hence why a good number of people were able to see past Mimi’s initial dub-induced rudeness), and some parts that were changed probably still needed to be changed in some way for cultural reasons (Sora, Koushirou, and Jou all have characterization elements that depend very heavily on understanding Japanese social propriety). Also, Adventure is probably somewhere around the middle when it comes to how tonally lighthearted or heavy it is compared to others Digimon series, so the added jokes do have some impact on its overall silliness, but not as much. Probably the worst part of it is that unfortunately they keep cracking jokes even when characters are having mental breakdowns or during formidable enemy climactic portions, but these are mostly offset by the character arcs being so clear that it’s still hard to dispute their contents in the end.

The real problems start once we get to 02.

For better or for worse, 02′s Japanese version has this incredibly subtle writing style where the character nuances rely a lot on individual lines of dialogue, and the plot often runs separately from how they do their character development. It’s a double-edged sword; on one hand its high level of depth and complexity means I can dedicate a whole blog to picking apart its nuances twenty years later, and it’s infamous for having a lot of people saying they saw it differently years later as adults, but on the flip side it means a lot of its best substance goes over the heads of kids or first-time casual watchers, and I’m not even sure I can blame the audience for missing it. It’s honestly too subtle for its own good at times.

Unfortunately, combined with being dubbed as it still aired in Japan, this created a very nasty combination with some of the most recklessly aggressive dub changes in the entire Digimon franchise. (This isn’t just personal bias; if you actually do a count of number of changes per episode, 02 changes average at about 1.5 times an average Adventure episode and 2-3 times an average Tamers or Frontier episode.) A lot of the substance of what makes 02 work in the first place either completely dies in the dub or at least becomes significantly harder to see the value in, and there's a reason it seems to have the highest rate of people saying they liked it much better when watching it in Japanese for the first time. Those from non-English speaking countries who got Digimon the Movie (the only product consistently translated from the English script instead of the Japanese internationally) have sometimes complained that the tone and characterization seemed off compared to the Digimon they knew, with jokes being cracked every half minute and everyone being really rude to each other. So basically, imagine that for fifty episodes.

The changes are basically more aggressive and more exaggerated versions of the Adventure changes, but they end up getting much more damaging to 02′s integrity as a series overall for the following reasons:

Daisuke. Very little of his original characterization survived the dubbing process, and there’s a reason I consistently dedicate entire posts to what happened to his characterization and how this created a chain effect with 02′s entire writing. After all, Daisuke’s the lead protagonist! 02 is when the series started getting very theme-heavy (Adventure’s was broadly about individualism and self-awareness, but not as pinpoint about overarching story themes), and unfortunately the first half-writing basically added almost every toxic masculinity trope you can imagine to him, almost as if they wanted to make him unlikable. They started toning it down in the second half as Daisuke’s forward-thinking nature and friendliness actually became plot important, but this still didn’t fix the issue because now the character arc just became flat-out unbelievable (someone who was so arrogant and self-centered in the first half is supposedly one of the most open-minded and friendly guys around?).

“Adding jokes” is consistently done in every series dub, but the 02 dub stands out because it seemed to be utterly incapable of ever cutting the jokes out even during plot-important moments when it really needed to, causing a lot of the series to become basically devoid of emotional depth. Of course, this only ended up causing problems for characterization too, because the Japanese version could have a scene where they’re exposing their vulnerabilities and emotional weaknesses, but we have to make this into a joke, again, which implies nobody in the series is actually taking this seriously. (Kiuchi Reiko’s Daisuke has multiple moments where you can tell in delivery Daisuke’s about to cry, even if he doesn’t actually break into tears, but I can’t remember a moment I ever felt that way with Davis.) 02 starts off tonally lighter than Adventure at the beginning but ends with a much heavier emotional toll on all the kids by the end of it, but you’d probably never believe this with the American English dub alone. This is also why 02 fans who favor the Japanese version tend to get very upset when people justify why the American English dub is better because “it’s funnier”, because a lot of what made it “funny” also ended up doing serious damage to some core parts of the series.

A lot of the 02 kids’ characterization is built up through one-off lines or the nuances of how they approach things, and the dialogue changes being done so uniformly and recklessly across the series means that basically all of this goes out the window. Instead, it’s replaced with everyone constantly mocking and dunking on each other, which probably sounds fun and “savage” at first, but it leads to two major problems: firstly, it does damage to a series where a lot of the appeal is about the group’s dynamic and way of playing off each other (you’re supposed to get the impression these kids really, really love each other, because this is a series heavily themed around relationships and all that), and secondly, every single character now has an identical sort-of-snarky temperament with no clear distinction between them, so it’s no wonder the 02 kids have such a strong reputation in English-speaking countries for being “flat with no character development”. A good number of the emotional payoffs in the second half become nonfunctional because everything meant to build up to it is no longer recognizable.

Even in the original version, 02 definitely has a very crowded plot where lots of things happen and subplots get juggled around at the drop of a hat, but the very reckless dubbing approach to these points leads to unaddressed/unanswered/contradictory plot points and portrayals basically permeating the entire series. Hey, did you know the ending to episode 13 wasn’t a cliffhanger in Japanese?

I’m not saying it’s impossible to see some of the substance behind 02 when you’re dub-only; I liked the series well enough when I was younger (although I very much disliked Davis due to being upset with the creepy -- and dub-exclusive -- way he invaded Kari’s boundaries), and I think perceptive fans have been able to see bits of the original Japanese series’ substance poking through the cracks (although it generally manifests in things like “I see what it was going for even if it didn’t succeed in execution” far more often than it would in Japanese). But I definitely think 02′s Western reputation has definitely taken a severe tangible negative hit thanks to this dub, and there’s a reason this blog devotes about 10% of its posts just trying to weather out and inform people of the differences at all because the confusion has gotten so bad.

Incidentally, Ken’s character arc and backstory is closest to that of an Adventure character in that it’s heavily tied to the actual plot events depicted on screen (i.e. it’s the least subtle and hardest to miss), and that’s probably why he’s the character who’s closest to unscathed out of all the 02 kids. I think the strength of that character arc contributed heavily to salvaging 02′s Anglosphere reputation and allowing 02 to still get good reviews by a decent number of people out there; it’s hard to argue with what happened in it, and it’s also hard to argue with the appeal of the rough-around-the-edges Davis mellowing out through his relationship with him (even if it has way more hurdles to get around than it was originally intended to).

That said, I do have a major credit to give this dub and it’s that it had a lot of pretty good dub-exclusive insert songs (mainly made for The Movie, but I digress). Adventure’s dub only had one, “Hey Digimon”, and it was this lighthearted song that they somehow felt they had to use even for some really climactic battle scenes, resulting in some of the worst anticlimax ever. 02′s are much better and much more well-timed.

Hurricane Touchdown gets its own post because while people generally know it was the most edited-down part of The Movie, the fact a lot of people don’t actually know much about the original movie (it didn’t even have very good fansubs until around two years ago) means what got lost is often not very well-known -- mainly that the original was heavily about moving on from denial and nostalgia for the past, and that Wallace was characterized as a relentless flirt and general disaster child. (Willis in The Movie comes off as significantly more responsible while Davis antagonizes him, but in the original Japanese version Wallace was the unhelpful gremlin while Daisuke was more understandably upset at his antics.)

One extra thing I have to point out before I move onto Tamers is that Diablomon Strikes Back (Revenge of Diaboromon) was the first Adventure-branded thing to be dubbed by anyone besides Saban. (Diablomon Strikes Back, both Tamers movies, and the Frontier movie were dubbed by Disney in 2005, between Frontier and Savers/Data Squad.) As a result, for a while, it was probably the most accurate-to-the-source dub of any Adventure product. There are still some changes, but they’re within line of necessary cultural nuance considerations and the overall tone of the movie. I’ve seen some dub-only people say that Davis came out feeling unusually nice and friendly compared to the TV series. Yeah, funny thing about that...that’s actually because that’s Daisuke’s original characterization. My biggest fear right now is that the upcoming 02-based movie may have fights breaking out over how the characters are portrayed there, because it’s entirely possible they’ll be accurate to Japanese characterization but get accused by dub-only fans for being out of character.

Tamers

I’m not actually sure at what point the deal between Saban and Disney was finalized in practice, but on paper the handover happened around the point of the D-Reaper arc. This is where things kind of get interesting, and I think whether you prefer the original version of Tamers or the American English dub will really be a matter of taste.

Firstly, not only did they start really toning down how aggressive they were with the changes, they also started getting more tasteful about how they wrote in added humor (instead of just intrusively adding in jokes in periods of silence, the way people would deliver lines would be more smoothly integrated into the series). It feels much like a transition period into what would eventually become the style used for Frontier and Data Squad, and it’s why I wonder if the shift to Disney wasn’t already happening earlier than when they say it did.

Tamers is a much more straightforward series than either Adventure or 02 when it comes to characterization -- it’s not very subtle, and characters will often state their motivation or epiphanies directly in dialogue -- so although there are of course enough changes that you could unpack them in more detailed Tamers meta or run into discrepancies in deeper fandom discussions, for the most part the characters come off as almost the same among most casual watchers. This means that the biggest difference is tonal, and that’s where the preference issue really comes in.

Japanese Tamers is a very unrelenting series, and its reputation for being “dark” probably has a lot to do with the fact it has very minimal situational comedy compared to Adventure, 02, or Frontier. (Note that Ghost Game is heavily relying on situational comedy for tonal regulation; Kiyoshirou is a huge factor in balancing out all the knives and stuff.) I don’t believe the core contents are necessarily unusual for Digimon standards, but I do agree that tonally speaking, by the time you get to the third quarter, it becomes a barrage of heavy thing after heavy thing happening to the characters without as much in the way of balancing it out (or at least not much compared to other series). It’s a lot for even an adult to handle, and based on testimony from Japanese fans watching it at the time as kids, it was often just too emotionally draining for them. It’s considered one of the leading theories over there as to why Tamers was the first series to experience a major financial hit (ratings started dropping enough to make the TV networks panic early in the series, and it ultimately made only barely over half 02′s toy revenue that year), in that people may have dropped it because it was just too much. (In actuality, there were several other things that probably contributed to the downfall, but the point I’m making is that this is notable enough for people to take it seriously as a theory.)

In contrast, American English dub Tamers was...I’m not going to say “making jokes” per se (it thankfully does not have people crack inappropriate jokes at people’s suffering or anything like that), but the tone of everyone’s dialogue carries an ever so slightly lighter and more casual tone from the beginning even all the way to the end. If the above theory of the original series turning people off for being too overwhelming is true, it’s very possible that -- ironically, given Tamers’ reputation -- the dub contributed to actually retaining a proportionally larger audience in English-speaking territories as a result of being less unrelenting. (Of course, again, things went south in the West too due to changed universes going over less well with Western audiences and other things related to franchise mismanagement, but, again, that’s a digression.)

My impression is that the Tamers dub never got quite to the level of utterly assassinating emotional resonance the way 02′s was often guilty of, but of course there are things you can still dispute for good reason (based on characterization nuances -- Kazu is a bit more openly misogynistic than Hirokazu is, Ryou and Ruki’s dynamic is a bit changed in ways that probably turned a lot more people off, and I’m personally uncomfortable with how the Chinese elements are the most aggressively stripped out in a series that partially involved discussing racism against Chinese families in Japan), and tonal preference is always going to be a thing. Also, Tamers is a bit unusual in Japanese in that it's one of the more willing to be indulgent in gender-neutral Digimon personalities (Renamon, Culumon, etc.) and this unfortunately doesn’t come into play in English -- although I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume this was more due to the fact the writers simply didn’t get the memo in time and weren’t given references on how Japanese pronouns work. That kind of thing is more commonly provided to localizers today, but the actual translation process was very shaky back then.

I will say one really major thing the Tamers dub bungled (possibly due to lack of foresight) is that they changed Leomon’s last words to Juri to ones of reassurance -- they even named an episode after the new version! -- only for things to pose problems when it turned out his last words having a trigger word for her (”destiny”) was plot important. They awkwardly tried to retcon it by having flashbacks to the scene use more accurately translated dialogue, but it’s really conspicuous.

In any case, like I said, the last quarter was when things transferred fully to Disney, and that’s when the changes started toning down.

Frontier

Legally, Frontier’s dub is by “Sensation Animation”, but in practice by Disney commissioning former Saban staff to finish dubbing Digimon material. Nevertheless, the company shift shows in multiple ways -- for one, they stopped having the rights to the original Digimon dub theme song anymore, and that’s why you’ve never heard it used in anything since Tamers (and why the Frontier theme song is used in Revenge of Diaboromon, because that’s the only theme song they had the rights to at the time).

Again, I think there are definitely nitpicks you can make here if you happen to be a Frontier meta writer, and I definitely think there are reasons to be annoyed at the fact everyone is a bit more cruel to each other than they were in the original. (It’s not as bad as 02 because in Frontier everyone is very rough around the edges and not always in sync, especially at the beginning of the series, but it is supposed to be one of the tighter groups in the end, and them softening around each other is a way the series often employs to show the potential these kids have to be much nicer people.) However, on top of this being where dubbing started to really chill due to the company change, Frontier is also a very straightforward, easy-to-understand plot, and therefore I don’t think I’ve ever heard any major disputes in understanding between Anglosphere fans of Frontier and others in terms of getting the characters and how they work.

Probably the one biggest difference I can think of is Kouichi, and this is mostly due to his very limited screen time in terms of speaking for himself -- in Japanese it’s much clearer through his speech pattern he’s actually normally a very casual, sociable kid (he uses ore!) and just happened to be shy with the others due to circumstances. His major focus episodes in the American English dub (with Crispin Freeman’s delivery) sound a little more sad and a bit angstier, so you might get the impression he’s a lot softer and more introverted of a kid.

Savers/Data Squad

For all I’m not normally the biggest fan of Disney, I have to say it is kind of impressive they were pretty dedicated to Digimon during the time they had it. They went ahead and dubbed all of the remaining movies (at the time) to promote Data Squad, and when they brought on Studiopolis for it, Jeff Nimoy made it a thing to get high-demand voice actors among Digimon fans for it (if I remember correctly, Colleen O'Shaughnessey is Yoshi specifically because of this). But anyway...

Data Squad is about the level of Frontier in terms of dialogue and tone changes, with the one major sticking-out point being that Disney got really antsy when it came to depictions of bombs and led to one of the franchise’s most infamous censors (hi Citramon). Personally, though, I think Citramon is hardly much of an issue compared to the fact that Tohma’s fake betrayal centered heavily around the fact he was being blackmailed with a bomb around his sister’s neck...but other than that one unfortunate part, Savers was always a series that was big on situational and slapstick humor even to the very end, so it takes well to dub humor, and on the flip side the dub was careful to still preserve the themes about xenophobia and the cycle of hate.

Xros Wars/Fusion

I haven’t seen all of this one’s dub yet (I stopped after five episodes), so I’m going off what I remember of it and what others watching it reported. This was the first dub done after the franchise was transferred back to Saban Brands, Haim Saban’s successor company to Saban Entertainment. They seemed to be on a roll of procuring Toei franchises, since they took Power Rangers back and also tried to start a dub of PreCu-- um, Glitter Force. Unfortunately, they were also convinced that the best way to go about things would be to pretend it was the nineties again.

The end result is Adventure/02-style dubbing applied to a 2010 series in an era where nostalgia wouldn’t even save it. (I do think it’s a bit hypocritical the Digimon fandom treats this like the most radical dub in the franchise when in actuality Adventure and 02 were even worse at times, but it is true that in this case Saban didn’t even have “this is normal for the time” as an excuse.) The problem is exacerbated even further by the fact that someone (not sure if it was Saban or Nickelodeon, which aired the series) decided that most of everything that could be remotely taken as objectionable had to be censored to ludicrous degrees -- even if they were things that were fine back in Adventure -- and while I’m personally whatever when it comes to issues of design, I feel like even the idea of a kid in Taiki’s backstory getting gravely ill from pneumonia for months being considered objectionable is a bit much.

Overall Xros Wars is a bombastic series that never lets up on situational humor, and even during its most tense moments it’s over-the-top, so Fusion probably didn’t suffer too much to that extent, but I also unfortunately heard stories of them still overdoing it to the point that even if it didn’t cut into the series themes and characterization, it was just plain cringeworthy writing. That said, I don’t know very many people who survived watching it to the end in the first place...

tri.

I don’t personally know very many people who watched this beginning to end, and I didn’t watch it myself (and the reason is actually just because Vic Mignogna as Matt is just a bit too much for me to personally bear at this time). I do know that the dub was allegedly commissioned by Toei themselves now that they’ve been getting more actively involved in their series localization. Otherwise, I didn’t hear much about it, and the few people I know who did watch it didn’t have much to analyze very deeply about it. I assume there was definitely some added humor, but from the sound of it it was somewhere around Tamers level.

The biggest complaint I heard was mainly that they tried to have Meiko have a sort of “fake Southern” accent to approximate her Tottori dialect, but in actuality it was just too intrusively distracting.

Kizuna

I assume this was also commissioned by Toei. This one I did actually watch myself. Not many added jokes (and the few they added were well-timed), Daisuke and the others are in-character, and honestly this is probably because the movie just goes so fast and is so packed that there isn’t much room to add in the first place. In fact, my biggest issue with the dub is something that wasn’t the dub staff’s fault at all; the original Japanese script’s official translation is awful, and the dub staff was very obviously given that to work with. The other issue is that the voice acting is a bit stale compared to previous dubs -- one thing I had never faulted Digimon American English dubs for prior to then was voice acting quality, and it was one of the best among dubs of the time -- but this is probably because it was during early COVID pandemic conditions, so I don’t think much could have been done about it.

Adventure: reboot

So funnily enough I’m writing this despite not knowing much about it at all -- I don’t even know who commissioned this or who has the rights. (My best guess is Hasbro since they’re the ones who took in Power Rangers after Saban Brands also imploded, but I really have no idea.) I also don’t know where it’ll be airing; it doesn’t sound like Nickelodeon, and it could very well be a streaming service like Netflix.

I will say, though, as someone who watched the reboot from beginning to end, even if they do decide to go nuts with joke adding in the dub for it, I don’t think the series risks getting heavily damaged by it. As I pointed out earlier, impact of heavy dub changes also varies depending on how straightforward the series itself is, and not only is Adventure: extremely straightforward, it also is a series centered more around action and zany hijinks than it is character psychology, so a bit of extra humor doesn’t seem out of place there. But we’ll have to see!

#digimon #digimon adventure #digimon adventure 02 #digimon tamers #digimon frontier #digimon savers #digimon multi series talk #shihameta #dubbing discourse #tomorrows2top #shiha's ask box

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iliadette · 1 year

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What are some reasons to actually like Spirk + Star Trek?

I'm an ORV fan but I used to watch Voyager as a kid and I've seen a one or two of the newer movies a few years back (dark something something?) I stayed away from the Star Trek fandom as an adult because I mainly associated it with racism and misogynistic nerd guys.

Hi, anon. Sorry if this ask will take a long time to appear, English is not my first language an I am bad with words on a good day.

You're probably thinking of Into Darkness. It's the second reboot movie. There's a lot of different opinions about those lmao. Personally, I love them even though they do have bad bad points, but then again, I love everything about Star Trek, even at its worst.

There's no denying that there was a bit of period-typical misogyny in the original Star Trek, and it got worse in the long run after Rick Berman was selected for production. Latent misogyny, hetero and amatonormativity, as any 60-to-90s show does. To deny that would be stupid. But.

Star Trek was one of, if not the first, tv programs to depict people of different races working together, as equal as they could get in a military-like setting, in a time when segregation and Cold War were still a thing. A Black woman, an Asian man, a Russian one, a Scottish one, all holding a major position in a government vessel, all iconic characters to this day. Censorship never let him, but Gene Roddenberry, the original creator, always intended to include queer people in ST, as I will explain better later. ‌The original series had episodes which very clearly condemned nazism, racism, the Vietnam war, genocide. The Ferengi race of the Next Generation were created to be a satire of western capitalists but were wrongly pegged as an antisemitic stereotype. If a major character is disabled, they have accomodations made for them, they don't have their disability erased, though I hear that Strange New World kind of fucked that up. An episode of TNG was in protest of conversion therapy though people didn't like how it ended. A major theme of Deep Space Nine revolves around colonialism. It had the first black protagonist (commander and later captain); the first female first officer in the franchise to have a major role, who formerly fought in a resistance movement against a the occupation of her planet by a fascist imperialist race; the first trans woman in all but designation, who btw very much kissed another woman in an absolutely iconic scene; a canonically very neurodivergent doctor. Voyager had the first female captain to star in a series. Seven of Nine's character is particularly dear to me because while it's obvious that she was added mainly to boost and entice the male audience with her sex appeal (and well, I am sapphic and far from immune), it's also obvious how much the writers and Jeri Ryan cared for her storyline and growth. She's such a complex character, I really love her. Seven-centric episodes are always a treat for me. I can't remember anything else off the top of my head, sorry abt that (I also haven't watched Enterprise and the newest series yet so I can't talk about that).

Does ST have bad moments? Misogynistic, racist, homophobic, ableist, amatonormative moments? Hell yes. Some episodes are really cringy and have very bad writing. But there are more good ones than not, and those are the ones I live for, the ones that can give you a message that stays with you, where there was somebody in the crew/cast who read the script, saw something terrible, and went "this will not pass on my watch" and worked together to fix whatever they could. I'm sorry if your experience with Star Trek was with dudebros who think "the woke of the latest series ruined the franchise".

Now, about K/S. I believe with all my heart that nobody needs a reason to ship any two or more characters together. That said, I think Spirk is one of those ships where you have to wear anti-ship goggles not to see the potential (but no big deal if you don't). They touch each other all the time, they risk their life and career multiple times to save the other. This is not inherently a sign of non platonic feelings, and they sure aren't canon as we usually mean it, but.

Writers sure had a field day sprinkling suggestive bits (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) all throughout the franchise, especially queer writers (Theodore Sturgeon, writer of Amok Time and Shore Leave, may his soul be blessed for all eternity).

Bonus for how they look at each other. (1) (2) (3) (4)

Roddenberry himself described their relationship as one of love. It's not mentioned in the series, but in the books it's revealed that they share a telepathic bond that connects their souls, which in Vulcan culture is called t'hy'la which can mean "friend, brother, lover". This definition was created specifically for the two of them, so this is a very obvious wink/nudge, if not an outright acknowledgement that "yes they're in love, but homophobia exists so this is all we can do."

In The Motion Picture when Kirk looks at Spock like a lovesick puppy after a long separation, and the simple feeling not much later.

And can anyone dare to say that those death scenes from The Wrath of Khan and Into Darkness are supposed to be platonic, or what Kirk says about Spock at the beginning of The Search for Spock, that his death feels like he lost "the noblest part of his soul"? And what about "Not in front of the Klingons"??

The books, too, have some very interesting nuance.

Sooooo yeah I absolutely think that Spirk is and will always be the one ship that best comes to mind when it comes to ST. In my eyes and in those of a lot of people they're canon in every way that matters, and if either of them had been female there would have 100% been a marriage in one of the movies, à la Riker/Troi. They'll forever be my ST otp, though I'll occasionally indulge a little bit of Spones and McSpirk. I could even like and reblog other ships like McKirk or Spuhura but only in fanart and only in moderation. I personally wouldn't be interested in reading fanfiction about those. But every ship is valid and equal in fandom, and none is superior just because it's canon and/or had a major role in the birth of shipping culture. Which is the very point all this behemoth of a post originated from, I guess.

This.... Has turned into way more than I thought. Sorry about thay. I hope my answer was satisfactory, anon. Also that I didn't bore you. Hope you have a great day, and thank you for reaching out. ❤️🖖

#star trek #k/s #spirk #anon ask #long post #personal #meta #ish #i think this was coherent

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muchalucha91 · 1 year

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I made a list for webtoons, might as well make a list for manga/anime! I wasn't really allowed to watch too much cartoons TV growing up, so for the past few years, I've been "catching up" so to speak on the anime I missed out on aaand also watching newer ones lol Anyhoo, here's what I've seen/read so far (in alphabetical order):

Arte (Hulu) Manga continues

Black Butler (Hulu) ((full disclosure, I wasn't super paying attention when I watched this, so I have to watch it again lol))

Blue Exorcist (Hulu) ((I haven't finished it yet))

Cardcaptor Sakura/Clear Card Arc (Netflix) ((One of my faves as a kid, I had a board game for it, even! It has since been lost to time, though. T_T))

Cells at Work (Netflix) ((Also haven't finished yet lol))

Corpse Princess (Hulu) ((See Black Butler lol))

Dance with Devils (Hulu)

Demon Slayer (Hulu) ((haven't seen a lot yet, please don't come for me, I'm trying lol))

Devil is a Part-Timer! (Hulu)

Diabolik Lovers (Hulu)

Dragonball/DBZ/DBS (Funimation) ((I got Funimation just so I could watch Dragonball, then I figured I might as well get a refresher of DBZ since I hadn't seen it since it was on Toonami, all while my BF and I were watching DBS on Toonami/Adult Swim lol)

Fairy Tail/100 Years Quest (all the seasons were on Hulu, but they took all but 2 down, so I've been watching it on Funimation) I am SO excited to see 100YQ animated! It's been fun to read.

Food Wars! (Hulu)

Fruits Basket (both runs are on Hulu)

Fushigi Yuugi (Hulu) ((I actually don't know if I finished this...after a while I was just waiting for it to be over and it just. wasn't. ending.

Horimiya (Hulu)

Inuyasha/Final Act (Hulu/Netflix has the movies) ((another fave from my childhood))

Itazura na Kiss (Hulu) ((I'm not sure why people like this))

Jujustu Kaisen (Hulu) ((I think I started reading this after I finished watching it, but I've been super busy and forgot lol))

Kaguya-sama: Love is War (Hulu)

Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits (Funimation)

Kamisama Kiss (Hulu) ((ugh...I love this and it's criminal that the anime didn't finish with the manga))

Kimi ni Todoke (Hulu)

Kono Oto Tomare!: Sounds of Life (Hulu)

Little Witch Academia (Netflix)

Magic-Kyu! Renaissance (Funimation)

Mahoutsukai no Yome [The Ancient Magus' Bride] (Funimation) ((I love this, too, but I had to take a break from the manga because I was getting irritated with the FL and the choices she was making lmao I've been meaning to pick it back up, though, it really is very good!))

Maid Sama! (Hulu)

My Love Story! (Hulu)

Noragami (Hulu) ((made me cry in a way that my BF asked me what was wrong lol))

Ouran High School Host Club (Hulu) ((I'm sorry, I don't get the love for this, but I also haven't been able to read it yet, so maybe I will once I do))

Pokemon [Kanto-beginning of Hoenn] (Hulu) ((I have not kept up with it over the years and the only reason why I know of any of the newer Pokemon is because of PokemonGo and the new Pokemon Snap--which has been really fun so far--lol))

Ranma 1/2 (Hulu)

Rurouni Kenshin (HBO Max) ((I liked this, but I thought the story was super choppy))

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts (manga only for now, but I think I just saw that an anime is coming soon!!) ((this is so beautifully drawn and sooo well written! It made me audibly react sometimes)

Sailor Moon [OG] (Hulu) ((My absolute favorite when I was a kid! My mom even watched it with me lol I wanted to be Sailor Mars sooooo bad I always kept my hair long just like her! I've got her as a keychain right now lol))

Say "I Love You" (Hulu)

School Rumble: 1st-3rd Semesters (Hulu) ((I didn't even watch the last episode. Literally nothing happened and I just felt bad for the guy. I couldn't watch it anymore lol)

Snow White with the Red Hair (Hulu) ((I hope it gets more seasons, but I also hope it gets better animation. I know people worked hard on it, but it does not do the manga justice. It's so beautifully drawn and written, this is for sure one of my favorites!))

Spice ad Wolf (Hulu)

Spy x Family (Hulu) ((It was popping up so much on my tumblr around ep 4 that I had to know what people were talking about and I'm so glad I did!))

Vampire Knight (Hulu) ((Didn't/Couldn't finish it))

Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina (Hulu)

Yashahime (Hulu) ((It's not what I was expecting/hoping for, but I've had fun watching it))

Yona of the Dawn (Hulu) ((this NEEDS more seasons, the manga gets SO INTENSE))

You're Lie in April (HBO Max is where I watched it, but I think it's on Hulu, too) ((ugly cried))

Yu Yu Hakusho (Hulu) ((I only saw a few episodes as a kid, but I remember really loving the art style and the voices. It's still one of my faves))

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Hulu) ((I watched this every time it came on Toonami, I had a whole deck that I lost--which I'm still sad about--but I have a new deck and sometimes my BF and I play each other lol))

I've got an excel spreadsheet with these and others that I want to watch, but haven't yet, totaling 126 lmao As of right now (1/2023) I have no desire to watch Attack on Titan, One Piece, or Naruto (again, please don't come for me and PLEASE don't try to convince me), but I welcome any other recommendations and/or discussions/chats about any I listed!

#anime and manga #anime #manga #anime and manga recommendations

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raysofcrosby · 2 years

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If you don’t mind me asking how did you come up with the character of Caroline in WLTAY? Like was there anyone who inspired/drew inspiration from to create the character/take character traits from or was it your own thoughts/ideas of how you would like to have seen a character?

Personally she is my favorite character out of all your pieces of work because you really see her develop and transition throughout the story from being a young teenager to being an adult. While keeping very true to how that journey goes in the real world of not really knowing what you are doing in life and just trying to find your way through the best way you can and not every decision you make is the best or right one but you have to deal with the choices you have made and navigate them as best you can.

honestly, it's been so long since i started planning the story i don't really remember if there was a certain inspiration!!

the fic in general is v much inspired by the movie forever my girl [i haven't read the book yet and i believe there's differences between the two] and was going to be a baseball fic, but got more inspired once i started writing more on tumblr and it just transferred!!

in terms of caroline, i think it was a good mix of pulling traits from different characters in books i've read, along w traits from myself and my friends or own family and then along the way adding things that i would/could picture her doing/saying/thinking, etc!!

like the sibling dynamic between her and andrew is drawn from my own friends and their siblings, a lot of ethan's personality is drawn from my experiences of being around friends relatives/kids of the same age and then the small stuff of shows she likes [greys, glee and 20/20] are really just my favs 💀

that really means a lot that she's your favorite character, bc i can understand just how frustrating she and her choices throughout the story regarding matt and their past can be!! but i really was focused on trying not to just let her cave once matt comes back around and didn't want to immediately brush her choices under the rug and act like they never happened. i really wanted the consequences to come around even after things have been "concluded" yk?? all in all, she wasn't a perfect person and i think she's one of my fav characters i've ever written just bc she is flawed on that aspect!!

also i'm sorry for replying to this late, i like to hold onto messages sometimes esp when it comes to ones about fics bc i like to read them over and over bc it feels so validating that someone enjoyed the fic so much they send detailed messages 🥺🥰

#anon #answered #wltay #wltay: caroline marsh

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ashcadence · 5 months

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It's not the new year yet, but here's my annual 'Things I watched this year and my opinions' list. Normally I post this on Facebook but I thought ya Tumblr folks might enjoy it too! I also added an, out of ten, ranking, and it's broken up between anime and not anime. This is also not from a critical viewpoint and is based on how much I personally enjoyed the show/movie.

Moriarty the Patriot (10/10): If ya follow me, ya know I LOVE this series! It's one of the best things I've read/watched in a very long time, and more people need to at least watch the anime. The animation is beautiful and it's one of the most well crafted stories I have seen.

SpyxFamily (9/10): This series is purely fun! It's heartfelt, funny, and has a compelling plot! All of the characters are fun and engaging, and the animation is beautiful! (I'm 99% sure it's gonna end up breaking my heart at some point tho...)

Buddy Daddies (2/10): It was fun at first. Then I got bored. There's really not much more to say about that. It's more realistic than SpyxFamily and I feel like parents would enjoy the series, but it wasn't that compelling to me.

Bungo Stray Dogs Season 4 (3/10): I hate rating it so low considering how much the series has impacted my life, but I haven't liked the new seasons and I haven't even started season 5. I have read the manga, so I know what happens and it just hasn't been interesting to me.

www.Wagnaria (6/10): I'm not exactly sure what the fuck that was, but it was enjoyable nonsense!

Now onto not anime, and I would put a space here but Tumblr's formatting is being a pain on my phone

M*A*S*H* (6/10): It's an oldie but a goodie! I watched it with my mom years ago and decided to rewatch the series now that I'm older and could appreciate it more. Given when it was made it has held up very well in the modern age!

The Hunger Games (7/10): I read the books years ago then forgot about them lol. I will say, at least watching the movies, I enjoy them much more now as an adult compared to when I was a teenager! Teenage me I think just couldn't grasp the nuances that make me enjoy the series now.

Trolls Band Together (10/10): I honestly hate how much I enjoyed that movie. Sure, there are glaringly obvious criticisms to be made about the movie, but it itched the part of my brain that likes sparkles, bright colors, and pop music. Plus I thought the animation was really creative and fun!

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lorbanery · 6 months

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I finally got to watch Skinamarink and I have Thoughts

They're not BAD thoughts, for the record. I don't think I came away with the same deep love for it that I've seen from other spooky spectrum horror fans, but I did APPRECIATE it.

Spoilers under the cut

CW: Horror content, VERY small children left alone in a dangerous situation, child harm, and discussing the use of film techniques to alter the viewer's perspective.

I'm ... probably never going to watch Skinamarink again. Not because there's anything particularly wrong with it, I don't think it was poorly written, poorly conceived, or poorly executed. I wouldn't even say it's just not my bag the way I would to explain why I haven't bothered to watch any given slasher movie.

But it's very very uncomfortable.

And let me be clear: I'm pretty sure that's the point!

Like, without looking it up, what I got out of this was that they thought to themselves, "What would be the scariest thing about being in a spooky horror movie?" and the answer was, "Being the little kid who has no idea what's going on." And rather than just try to tell a story from the perspective of a kid in a haunted house, they attempted to recreate that experience for the audience.

There is a story happening, but we don't see it because the filmmakers have assigned us the role of one of the tiny children. So we see what they think is important, and what they think is important are each other and the images of their parents and the voices telling them things and the cartoons and the toys and a few particular parts of the house. We understand what they understand, and what they understand is that mom and dad are gone and so are the doors and there's something scary upstairs and when a grownup tells you to do something you're supposed to do it and when you get hurt you're supposed to call 911. We see the things that they see, which are an extension of what they think is important, hence the focus on the cartoons and the toys.

I think the choice to use the old filming equipment (or at least heavily filter the footage and sound to appear as such) also heavily leans into this framework. The sound quality is so bad that you can't always understand or even hear what's being said by the other entity/entities in the house; which would track with the language skills of the kids. We know that one is four years old, I didn't catch the other one's specific age, but it seemed pretty clear that she was around the same age. Kids that age don't always understand what the adults around them are saying. They also have adults talking around them all the time so don't bother listening to everything they're saying.

The extreme graininess of the film lends itself to the way small children don't really understand everything in their world. They don't have the life experience or the mental space to be able to look at any given object or creature and parse what it is or who it is. So the audience sometimes just sees blurry figures while the toys are in perfect, crystal clarity.

In addition to that, the graininess of the film also lent itself to some of the creepiness of the sequences with visible people — notably the "mother" and the face near the end. Because the grain acts like static where the individual dots flicker, it creates an illusion of movement. This was especially creepy with the mother in particular, since you could see her from the waist up (from the back) and there were times when it seemed like she was squirming ever-so-slightly, ever-so-slowly, in a very unnatural way. It just added to the sense that this was wrong, that this isn't Mom, it's something else.

I liked it.

I like it more on a metatextual level, and that's fine, that's not a complaint or a flaw in the movie. Though I can also understand why a lot of people didn't like it.

I've come away satisfied with the experience and satisfied with it being a one time experience, especially because I just cannot sit through that knife dialogue again.

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likeastarstar · 2 years

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7:07 PM - Seokjin

(A/N: for the anon requesting first time with Jinnie 💚)

Dear diary,

I haven't been happy in a long time. Things feel too routine, too mundane to feel something as sharp as happiness. It feels like every day is the same and I'm stuck in a rat trap alone. Alone, it's a fun word to say and a terrible feeling to experience. I don't like being alone but I'll never say that aloud, isn't that the difference between being an adult and a child?

Whatever - 10/07/2021

Dear diary,

Journalling my life was a dumb idea, it feels self important. Anyway, I went to dinner with a friend and then went to the movies alone. There's that word again.

Bye - 10/15/2021

Dear diary,

I met a guy. He's really pretty and he's tall and he looks vaguely familiar, like I've seen him in a dream before. That's all I'll say for now, I don't want to jinx it.

Hopefully I won't? - 10/30/2021

Dear diary,

We're seeing each other for the third time this week. He feels important, to me and for me. He mentioned being pretty introverted, I wonder if he's lonely too. He's waiting downstairs so I'll make this short- I hope I get to keep him.

Will update later - 11/17/2021

Dear diary,

Here's your update: I think we're together? We've kissed, he pays for my dinner, he holds my hand. He's letting me cook him dinner for the first time tonight. Maybe today's the day I get to keep him for more than a couple of hours. I hope it is- hope is a word that keeps replacing alone in my life. Hope and Seokjin are the two things circling my mind at all hours. I'm making him lamb even though I barely know how to follow a recipe.

Wish me luck - 12/12/2021

"Stop staring at me, you're going to distract me," You mumbled, frowning down at the pot of lamb stew in front of you. You had followed the recipe carefully, adding on an extra hour to the original cook time. Seokjin had shown on time, as always, but didn't mind much when you mentioned the delay.

In fact, you'd say he was enjoying it a little too much from the way he had been watching you the entire time. You could see him out of the corner of your eye, a pleased looking smirk on his face. Whenever you took the time to look up at him there he was, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Trust me, I'm not staring at you with the intention of distracting you," He said quietly. You shot him a questioning look only to be deflected with ease, "Are you sure I can't help you?"

"No," You said quickly, "It's done, I'm just being picky about the plating."

"You could give me food in a dog bowl and I'd be grateful," He reminded gently, taking a slow sip of his wine.

You felt a blush creep up on your cheeks and shook your head, carrying both of your plates to your dining room table, "I want it to look nice."

The food was good. Seokjin told you so, he was extremely flattering and maybe even a little exaggerative, but it made you happy nonetheless. He strong armed you into letting him do the dishes and made you laugh the entire time, making stupid little jokes about random things you had never thought of before.

"Time for dessert, I have ice cream?" You asked, clapping your hands together excitedly. Seokjin tilted his head to the side, narrowing his eyes slightly. The smile on your face slid off slowly, mirroring his tilt.

"I'm not in the mood for ice cream," He sighed, stepping closer to you. You pouted, oblivious to the way his large hands wrapped around your body, resting at the small of your back comfortably. You pushed your palms flat against his chest, trying to rack your brain for alternatives that would require him to stay, just for a bit longer.

The material of his sweater was soft, the light blue shade complimenting his fair skin in a way that only made you more nervous. How was he this pretty up close?

"I think there's chocolate in the pantry," You thought aloud, frowning slightly.

"That's not what I want," Jin argued, and then his lips were on yours.

You've kissed Jin before. The first time, it was when he brought you coffee on your lunch break at work. The second time was three seconds later when he dragged you to the stairwell so your coworkers couldn't see you two making out like teenagers. The point is, you've kissed Jin before, but nothing ever felt like this. This was slow, slower than slow.

It was snow melting, chocolate glaze pouring over sweet confections. It was a gentle breeze with a violin solo. He took his time with you, soft pillowy lips on yours as gently as a feather. He kissed you sweetly at first, pulling away for a moment to adjust his grip on you. Kissed you again, just as slowly but less gentle, a firmer intention to his movements. It felt like the room was spinning and you slid your hands up from their place on his chest to wrap your arms around his neck, trying desperately to keep him close.

His grip on you grew stronger, lips parting just slightly. You felt his tongue lick into your mouth, tentatively at first. He felt warm against you, a soft landing for you to fall on. Kissing didn't always feel like this. Sometimes, you kissed someone and wondered if you should wash your hair that night when you got home. Sometimes, you'd be thinking about whether or not you turned the gas off as you kissed a man. Not with Seokjin- no, with him, when he kissed you, he demanded your full and complete attention.

You couldn't keep up with him, his lips moving too quickly to take control of the situation. His hands were everywhere on your body, maneuvering you in ways you couldn't predict. He was too smooth, pushing and pulling you like a wave. You weren't sure how you got here, you weren't even sure how long it had been but you were on top of him in bed and your shirt was nowhere to be seen.

"You have no idea how much I want you," He mumbled, running a light touch over your features like he aimed to trace them.

You quirked your eyebrows and laughed awkwardly, dipping back down to kiss him quickly before you forgot what it felt like. "Oh, so think I have a good idea. You chose me over ice cream. Seriously, who does that?"

Jin laughed, curling his fist around loose tendrils of your hair, "I must have lost my mind."

"Insane," You agreed, sounding out the word against his lips. Seokjin's arms continued to caress your body with ease, languid touches enough to send a hum of arousal on the surface of your skin. You were thrilled to have him this way, excited beyond belief but nothing felt urgent. Every move he made felt permanent as he traced unhurried patterns and shapes on your side.

His fingers traced down your spine to the waist of your pants, tugging at them gently, "Wanna take these off?"

You countered by grabbing the collar of his sweater, hooking one finger around the hem and pulling it down enough to reveal his collarbone, "Only if you do too."

He smiled and nodded, the two of you undressing quickly. Jin's eyes locked on your body, a tentative hand reaching out to touch your newly exposed skin, "You're perfect- of course you are."

You laughed lightly, thinking how ironic it was that someone like him was saying that about you. Him, with his straight shoulders and strong arms. His study looking abs and solid waist- nothing about him looked weak. You wanted him on you, against your skin again. As if he could read your mind, Seokjin hooked an arm around your waist and pulled you to him, brushing your hair behind your ear, "How do you want this to go?"

You hummed in response, looking up to meet eyes with him, "I just want you to stay with me."

"I will, I'm yours." He assured in a quiet, comforting tone. "I don't want to rush things, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about you underneath me often."

"What did you imagine me doing?" You asked quietly, hand snaking down to squeeze him through the soft material of his boxers. His lips parted slightly, a stuttering breath releasing that gave you the confidence to continue. You pushed your hand under the material and wrapped your fingers around his semi-hard cock, pleased by the circumference.

He didn't say anything, mouthing at your skin while you stroked him to full mast. You took your time, exploring unfamiliar territory. You felt heat gather in your lower belly as Jin sucked bruises into your collarbones, tightening your hand around him as he began to slowly thrust his hips up to match your pace. You could practically feel the tension rising in his body, the moment building slowly until he couldn't take it anymore. The two of you rocked against each other steadily, weighed down by a comforting gravity.

"Get on the bed," Jin ordered, voice ragged.

You nodded, pulling your hand off of him. You weren't moving fast enough for him and you could feel the heat of his front against your back, pushing you lightly so that you were bent over on the bed. Your feet remained planted on the ground, elbows locking to catch your fall before you landed face first onto the soft comforter. Jin's knee pushed between yours, adjusting you so that your legs were spread wide enough for him to fit between them.

For a moment, you thought he'd cut straight to the chase. Plenty of men had done it like that in the past, skipping foreplay altogether, which is why it surprised you when you felt Jin yank your panties down to your ankles and a wet stripe being licked across your center. You yelped out in surprise, back arching as Jin sucked on your clit. It was almost overwhelming, the way he went in for the kill almost immediately- completely opposite to his paced motions from before. You moaned loudly, reaching behind you to fist his hair harshly. You pushed him closer to you and spread your legs more, cheek pressing against the bed sheets beneath you. His lips pulled at your clit, tongue teasing, seeking it out with precision. You felt your vision black out around the edges, heart pounding loudly.

"J-Jin," You moaned, voice broken in sheer and genuine pleasure. You cried out for more, as if you could handle it before tipping over the edge, cumming against his lips loud and hard.

Jin swallowed your orgasm completely, waiting until your thighs stopped shaking before daring to pull away, kissing the soft flesh of your ass, "That's what I imagined."

"You have a good imagination," You panted, catching your breath.

The sound of Jin pushing his boxers down caught your attention and you reached to your bedside table, pulling out a condom from the top drawer and throwing it at him. He didn't move and you looked at him in confusion, met with his amused expression.

"Medium?" He quipped, raising his eyebrows slightly as he held the small foil packet up. You raised your eyebrows in retaliation and he sighed, walking to his pants and pulling out another condom from his pocket, "You're gonna have to size up now that you have me."

You felt a blush creep up on your cheeks but brushed the comment off, laughing awkwardly instead as you watched him roll the thin material over his hard and leaking cock. Jin gripped one of your hips with his large hand, steading you slightly before you felt the tip of his cock at your entrance. He pushed in smoothly, his slow movements returning to frustrate you entirely. You exhaled slowly- you felt the sting of him stretching you out, but kept going because the pleasure outweighing the burn significantly.

"You're fucking huge," You whined once you felt his hips touch your backside, finally fully inside of you.

"Does it hurt? Take it easy, do whatever feels good to you," He asked nervously, hands petting the skin he could reach.

You rolled your eyes and pushed your ass flush against him, wiggling slightly, "Fuck me."

You shifted forwards and backwards, fucking yourself on his cock for a moment while Jin grunted, adjusting to the feeling of your tight pussy latched around him. Eventually, he began moving too and his hips grabbed onto yours, controlling your every motion. He sped up, pumping his cock inside of you.

"Is that good?" He asked, hand wrapping around to your front. The base of his palm dug into your lower stomach, pressing on your bladder and making you feel even more full. You moaned as the pads of his fingertips grazed your still sensitive clit, bucking against his touch.

"So good," You nodded, hair covering your face completely.

Your back arched delicately, shoulder blades raising as your head dropped. He pushed in harshly, hand leaving your hip in favor of sliding up your back, pushing down on your spine until he reached the nape of your neck, gripping your shoulder with his thumb pressing into the hollow of the space where your neck met your skull. Your breathing grew heavier, more labored and the heat of his palm against your skin made you sweat.

His other hand kept it's pace up against your clit, a whine escaping your lips as he moved against you. Your chest rubbed against the material of your sheets, friction stimulating your nipples. You reached behind you, nails digging into the side of his thigh. You could feel him trembling on top of you, appreciating the view of your body stretched out beneath him. You whispered his name repeatedly like a mantra, spurring him on until he came with a loud groan.

Seokjin thrust forwards, the pace of his hips uneven and untrackable as he rode out his orgasm. You followed him closely behind, collapsing onto the bed without his hands holding you up. You caught your breath for a moment, brain scrambling to catch up with what just happened while Jin shed the condom around his softening cock, tying it off efficiently, and hunting down a trashcan.

You stared at him as he walked back in, hand scratching at his chest idly. He met your stare and smiled easily, flopping down on the bed next to you as if he had done it a million times. He kissed the bridge of your nose, wrapping his arms around you.

"Are you staying?" You asked, face nuzzling into the crook of his neck.

Jin laughed, "Oh yeah, I'm staying. You're gonna have to kick me out, that's how long I'll be staying."

"That's fine," You smiled, "We can shower and then watch a movie and then go to sleep and then wake up and make breakfast and then-"

"Yeah, yes- all of that, but first, dessert." He interrupted, completely unfazed by your extensive agenda.

You smiled, laughing softly, "Yes, first dessert."

You two ate the ice cream in bed and then showered and then got through exactly 32 minutes of the movie until Seokjin fell asleep. You untangled yourself from him on the couch, padding over to an all too familiar leather journal. You stared at it for a moment, picturing yourself throwing it away because journalling was so stupid. So, incredibly, stupid.

Instead you picked up a pen and scribbled something down, just for good luck.

Dear diary,

Did you wish me good luck? It worked. The lamb was okay but Seokjin is amazing- perfect, in fact. I hope I get to keep him, and if I do, I'm definitely never showing him this stupid journal. No, I'm definitely burning this thing.

Sorry not sorry - 12/12/2021

masterlist.

#bts smut #bts timestamps #bts drabble #bts fic #seokjin drabble #seokjin oneshot #seokjin x you #kim seokjin fic #seokjin imagine #seokjin x y/n #seokjin x oc #seokjin x reader #bts fluff

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fluffy-lee · 3 years

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Christmas in Boston

PLATONIC Chris Evans x costar!reader, ft. Sebastian Stan

This is a TICKLE fic

Warnings: Mentions of adults having alcohol, but not drunk. Randomly fluffy!

Summary: Y/n is in Boston filming parts of a movie with Chris and Sebastian. Chris hosts a Christmas party at his house for the cast and crew, and exchanges gifts with Y/n.

The past few days had been a little unusual. You were in Boston shooting parts of a Marvel movie. Normally, you’d be in Atlanta. You didn’t mind, though. You were enjoying Boston, especially because it was your co-star, Chris Evans’, hometown. You had been close with Chris ever since you auditioned for your part in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at age 10. You met him during the audition process and since then, the two of you had been close.

You were excited to be on set. It was your favorite thing to do. You were especially excited today, because after filming, Chris was going to show you around Boston, and then he is having a cast and crew party at his house in the evening, and you were going to spend the night at his house with Scarlett.

When you wrapped for the day, you went to your trailer and began packing for the sleepover. When you were all ready, bundled up with your coat, scarf, and boots, you heard a knock on your door. It was Chris, who was also in his coat, which was appropriate for the weather on this particular day.

“Hey, you ready?” He asked with a soft smile.

“Yep!” You replied.

“Alright! I gave Sebastian my keys to warm the car up while I came to get you.” He explained while you grabbed your favorite crossbody purse with your wallet, phone, and keys, and duffel bag with your things to sleepover.

You walked down the steps of your trailer and Chris grabbed your bag for you and threw it over his shoulder. Chris was always doing thoughtful things and you really appreciated that about him.

The two of you walked side by side to his car, the chilly wind blowing in your faces. He opened his car door for you and you climbed into the backseat, relieved by the warmth of the heaters.

“I guess you got "shot gun"!” You teased Sebastian, receiving a smile from him.

“How was your day, Y/n/n?” Sebastian asked, pretending to ignore your playful attitude, as Chris pulled out of the lot.

“It was good. I enjoyed watching you guys film today. You’re both actually really good at acting.” You said pretty awkwardly, making Chris and Seb chuckle.

“Well you’re way better than us!” Chris complimented.

“PUH-LEASE! Your performance as Johnny Storm was a game changer in the industry. I could never!” You joked, causing Chris to cackle.

“Are you being sarcastic, Miss Y/n?” Chris questioned you, peering over his sunglasses in the rear view mirror.

“Well, a little. But no, you were really good in that movie.” You answered. “I watched it a couple weeks ago."

Chris and Seb laughed, and the three of you continued to chat the rest of the ride.

Chris pulled up to his favorite mall where the three of you would spend the next two hours shopping and having fun. The mall was absolutely decked out for Christmas time, and luckily, since school was still in and it was earlier in the day, the mall wasn’t very busy. You three were a lot less likely to be recognized, not that it bothered you. Chris just had to be home by a certain time to get ready for the party.

“Do you want to get Starbucks?” Chris asked, pointing at the Starbucks in the middle of the mall.

“Well I know I do!” Seb said.

“Yes please!” You answered excitedly.

You all got your favorite drinks and continued shopping. You soon found yourself in the sunglasses store, looking at all the cool pairs.

“Pick out which one you like best.” Chris ordered, sipping his coffee.

“Are you for real?” You asked, shocked. They weren’t cheap.

“Yeah! Yeah of course! I didn’t get to see you for your birthday. I have another gift for you at the house too.” Chris answered.

“Oh no, Chris, you don’t have to-” you were soon cut-off by your own giggles as Chris held you to him and tickled your tummy in the middle of the store.

“PICK OUT YOUR FAVORITE!” Chris demanded, holding back his own laughter as he ruthlessly tickled you.

“Ohohohokahahay! Ohohokahahay!” You laughed, squirming.

He finally let you go.

“Now I know you have been standing here gushing over these. You want them?”

You couldn’t believe how sweet he was. You gave him a sheepish smile and nodded.

“Awww alright let’s get ‘em.” He chuckled.

Not only did Chris get you the sunglasses, he also got a matching pair for himself. You thought that was the cutest thing in the world and couldn’t be more excited. You knew that every time you wore them, you’d think of him.

After more shopping, the three of you made your way out to Chris' car when you noticed a few paparazzi taking pictures and heading towards you.

Chris sped up his walking and placed his hand on your back, while Sebastian stood on your left side, making you in the middle of them. You finally made it to the car and Chris headed towards his home.

Chris unlocked his front door and you and Sebastian followed him inside. You were greeted by Dodger. You soon found yourself laying on the middle of the floor, kissing Dodger's face and scratching his ears and chest.

"I haven't seen you in so long buddy! Awww ahaha I've missed you!" You said in a high-pitched voice.

Chris chuckled and Sebastian joined you in loving on the dog.

You helped Chris and his brother get ready for the party. People started to show up as the sun was going down. You shivered with your coat on as you stood out back with Chris as he was getting a fire started. You helped him put the logs on. When he finally got it started, Scarlett had come out.

"Hey you!" She said sweetly, wrapping you in a hug.

"Hey! Do you like the fire that I started?" You teased, taking the credit for a fire that Chris was quite proud of.

"Oooh no no no! This is my fire!" Chris scolded.

You and Scarlett just giggled.

"Very good job Y/n!" Scarlett played along.

Chris shook his head and pointed a finger at you, warningly. You flashed him a smile. He was about to pounce when he was interrupted by guests who came to sit by the fire with their snacks and drinks. You didn't know whether you were relieved or disappointed.

Sebastian was out and noticed you shivering.

"Aww come here!" He said scooping you up and and sitting down with you by the fire. You snuggled to him and soon found yourself warming up. You watched the fire and listened to the conversation and laughter around you.

"Yes, Y/n and I actually have a pretty long scene coming up in a few days. Are you ready for that one, Y/n?" Seb asked you.

"I think so." You answered sheepishly.

"Of course you are. You're gonna be great!" Seb smiled, squeezing you tighter and rubbing your back.

You smiled. That made you feel more confident about that scene. You really enjoyed acting with Sebastian. You were really comfortable with him, and didn't worry as much when it came to more emotional scenes.

"Do you guys like my fire?" You teased again, looking into Chris' narrowed eyes. He sucked his cheek.

"Wow Y/n! You built this all by yourself? It's a great fire!" Sebastian joined.

Everyone laughed and Chris started to get up from seat, but was once again interrupted by someone coming up and asking him a question.

You took this opportunity to get up and go get a drink from inside the warm house, which was crowded with more people. You soon found yourself talking with Chris' brother Scott for a while, and then Scarlett, and then more crew members.

You were opening a soda when you saw Chris come inside. You got butterflies, thinking maybe he came in to get you, but that didn't seem to be the case when he grabbed another beer and soon found himself surrounded by women talking to him. You giggled, knowing he was a little bored and these women were obviously swooning over him. You set down your drink and walked past him, poking his side and walking away. You knew it was childish, but you hadn't done this to him since you were like eleven. You knew he would remember. On set or during press tours, you would sneak up and poke him again and again until he would chase you and tickle you into oblivion.

You saw Chris look at you over the women's heads and playfulness danced in his eyes, so a few minutes later, you snuck by and did it again, making him smile and clutch his side. He tried to look for you but didn't want to be rude to the ladies who were talking to him. A few minutes later, you did it one more time causing the same reaction.

"Excuse me ladies, I have to deal with something real quick. I'm sorry just excuse me." Chris apologized, then began searching for you.

You locked eyes with him across the room and giggled. He marched toward you past everyone in the room and you started speed walking away from him with a big smile on your face, giggling nervously.

"You get back here!" He shouted as he hurried after you.

You soon found yourself in the other living room, cornered by the sectional and Chris. Less people were in this room, including Sebastian and Scarlett lost in conversation.

“Ahhh!” You screamed as Chris launched at you, while you fell into the couch.

You expected him to tickle you right there, but instead Chris grabbed you and held you over him, high up in the air. Though you trusted him, you were startled by the height you were being held at.

“Woah!” You said, trying to hold onto something. You suddenly could reach his shoulders as he lowered you down, but then you found yourself being laid on the soft rug. More nervous giggles poured out of you.

“You’ve been messing with me all night huh? You’ve just been asking to be tickled! Just like when you were little!” Chris teased, trying to catch your flailing hands to pin them.

“Hey! She’s still little!” Scarlett added, a small pout on her lip.

“I am not!” You argued, blushing.

“Are too!” Sebastian snapped.

Your attention was soon back on Chris as he pinned your arms to your sides.

“Nohoho no! Chris no! Sebastian heeeelp meee!” You begged, making Chris chuckle.

“Mmmm… no I don’t think so.” Sebastian added with a smirk.

“CHRIS DON’T TICKLE!” You cackled, pulling at your arms.

“Ahahaha too late!” Chris spat as both his hands found your tummy.

You became weak and wheezed as you felt his large hands dance across your tummy in the most ticklish way. You arched your back in some weird attempt to get away, but as soon as you collapsed to the floor, your loud laughter erupted out of you and you squirmed everywhere unable to stand the ticklish sensation. It brought back so many memories of when you were younger and you couldn’t believe how it felt exactly the same. Chris knew how to get you and you felt thankful that even though you were older now, he wasn’t afraid to keep that same innocent, playful friendship you had developed with him on the set of Captain America: The Winter Soldier in 2013 that remained over the years.

You squealed and squirmed, causing Chris to let out his famous laughter as he wiggled his fingers up to your sensitive ribs.

“You’re still a little squirmy wormy!” He teased, making you blush again. “Why are you blushing? Hmm? Hmm?” He squeezed your sides and you gripped his wrists in an attempt to push him off for just a second of relief from the tickling, but your attempt failed, and you had to just endure it.

Chris let up for just a moment to pin your arms above your head. You caught your breath, looking up at his evil smile.

“I know all your tickle spots.” Chris said in a low voice, nodding, putting on a serious face. It was almost like he turned into Steve Rogers right before your eyes.

“Chrihihis! Ihihi’m sohohorry! Nohohohoho!” You tried, but Chris just shook his head and dug into your armpits and you trapped his hands there and screamed with laughter, making Chris break out into more laughter himself.

“Y/n, I do not understand HOW that can be so funny! Does this tickle or something? Oh I bet it does tickle!” Chris teased, speeding up his tickling.

“STAHHAHAP! Nohohohoho!” You begged, laughing so hard that tears pooled in your eyes.

“Ohohkay!” Chris said. Stopping his tickles. “Breathe Y/n breathe.” He soothed, chuckling.

You caught your breath and he moved his hand, making you flinch, thinking he was going to tickle you again. He giggled at that. You knew he wasn’t done yet though. You knew him too well.

“TIME FOR THE GRAND FINALE!” He announced with a goofy face.

“NO! WAY!” You shouted, and began half-heartedly trying to escape, because let’s be honest- you didn’t really want to get away.

Butterflies rushed to your stomach as Chris pinned your hands above your head with one hand and wiggled his fingers in front of your face teasingly.

“Oh not thiiiis!” You whined knowing exactly what was coming.

“Ohohoho yes! You looove this!” He teased, dancing his fingers across your neck and all you could do was lay there, letting out your belly laughter. This was too much. It went on for so long and you just had to take it, your belly laughter falling in and out of silent laughter.

“Now that is my favorite laugh.” Chris complimented, adoring you.

“Mine too.” Sebastian mused.

Finally Chris let up and you thought it was over, until you heard Seb speak.

“Well I wanna tickle Y/n!” Sebastian whined.

“OOOOH NO!” You cried. You knew it was going to happen.

“I don’t know. It might actually kill her.” Chris chuckled.

“Oh she can take it. Hold my beer.” Sebastian told Scarlett, handing her his drink.

You saw Sebastian walking toward you with his raised eyebrow and you screamed as Chris just held you down, laughing at you.

“You didn’t even get her knees!” Seb said, reaching down and squeezing and scribbling all over and under your highly sensitive knees.

“Seheheebbyyy! Quihihihit! Nohohoho ihihihit’s too muhuhuhahahaaha!” You giggled and squirmed.

Chris and Seb just laughed. Next thing you knew Seb was squeezing your thighs and you shrieked. Then, Chris leaned down and buried his face in your neck, his beard tickling like crazy. You soon felt the buzz of a raspberry on your neck and you used all of your strength to push him away through your adorable laughter. Both of them finally stopped.

“Now she’s had enough.” Sebastian concluded, a teasing smirk on his face.

You blushed and buried your face in the rug, making them laugh.

You jumped when you felt something tickle your ear. Turns out, it was just Dodger licking your ear. You giggled and rolled over, squishing his adorable face and petting him.

“Aww he wants to tickle you too!” Chris chuckled.

You soon found yourself being lifted up by Chris, holding you baby-style.

“I still have that other present to give you.” He said. He set you down and reached under the Christmas tree, handing you a bag.

“You really didn’t have to do this!” You blushed.

“Oh shut uuup.” He smiled, waving his hand.

“Okay then. Hang on a second.” You said, and ran to the guest room with your bag to grab a wrapped gift for him. You returned and handed it to him.

“Aww you got me something?” Chris asked.

You nodded.

You looked at Sebastian who smiled at you, because he knew what you got Chris. You told Sebastian when you gave him his present the day before.

“You go first.” Chris said.

You grinned and opened your gift to find the most beautiful, soft, giant, light blue blanket. Your eyes widened and you pouted your lip.

“Aww Chris! This is so perfect! I love it so much! Thank you thank you thank you!” You thanked him, genuinely loving this gift.

Chris unwrapped his gift from you, and he smiled so brightly when he saw it. It was a letter you wrote him, and a framed picture of the two of you on set. He was in his Captain America uniform and you were hugging him, both laughing. It was your favorite picture with him.

“I know it’s not much but-” You were cut off by him.

“Oh sweetie! This is so perfect! Come here!” He said, pulling you in a hug. “Thank you, honey!”

You smiled and hugged him tight. You felt a bittersweet pain in your chest as you knew this was the last movie you would film with him, and that hurt, but you knew you’d always be friends, and maybe one day, have the privilege of doing another movie with him. He knew what this gift meant, and he hugged you tighter.

#chris evans tickle #chris evans tickle fic #marvel tickle #mcu tickle #chris evans x reader tickle #sebastian stan tickle #sebastian stan tickle fic #sebastian stan x reader tickle

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cavehags · 3 years

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now it's your turn! same questions 💖

what's the first film you remember watching? it's hard for me to place early childhood memories in time, but i know i was obsessed with frosty the snowman (1969) between the ages of 2-4. we had a vhs copy that had been taped off of the tv (i miss that version of piracy so much) and when i was in the hospital with pneumonia for a few weeks when i was three, i watched that specific videotape so many times that i can still remember a lot of the ads that played in the middle of it to this day, jingles and all.

what's the film that scared you the most? i was scared out of my mind by just the trailer for the village. i haven't seen the village but the trailer gave me nightmares for weeks. also, and this is 100% true, i once had a panic attack that was kind of made worse by suddenly remembering the plot of the movie what happens in vegas which is very much a typical rom com about a shrewish woman with a manchild husband she never even intended to marry. can't really explain that one.

what's the film that made you cry the most? honestly, and this is an insane answer, but it might be click (2006). i had such a bad time in the theater seeing click. that movie just hits way too hard. like the climax of it when his kids all hate him and he just fucking dies?? what the fuck

what's a film other people love but you hate? i cannot understand why people enjoy 500 days of summer. that movie is vile, loathsome, heinous and despicable (and other synonyms too). quirky indie music dudes literally think enjoying this movie is a sign they've acknowledged and are working on their flaws. it's actually the opposite: this movie made them worse.

what's a film other people hate but you love? i'm going to be very embarrassingly honest here and say i have real fondness for iron man 3. at the time that it came out, i was still seeing every marvel movie and thought it was kind of subversive that this one played a bit with the form by keeping him out of his suit almost the entire time, forcing him to use his brain and hang out with kids and adam pally and problem-solve without the use of superpower shit. i think the haze has been lifted on the so-called subversive quality of it all but i still have fondness for it and would have fun if i watched it again, i'm sure.

what's a film you used to love but now have concluded is terrible? there are so many, but i'm going to steal one of your answers and say aladdin (1992). aladdin was the only disney movie i liked as a child, to the point that my brother and i won a cash prize in a local talent show performing "a whole new world" (brag). i thought jasmine was the coolest and wanted to be just like her. and yeah. it's garbage.

what's the film that means the most to you because of your memories surrounding it? star trek (2009). saved me from the worst depression of my life.

sexiest film you've ever seen? dirty computer the emotion picture. EVERYTHING is sex (except sex) (which is power).

subcategory- a film that's sexy but in a troubling way? probably cruel intentions. a deeply misogynistic movie but sarah michelle gellar dark hair/freaky dialogue need i go on

what's the film you've seen the most times? oh, definitely the princess bride. it was the first movie i knew i loved as a kid that was made for adults. my parents weren't crazy about it and i was always trying to explain it to them. eventually i had to accept that they just have no sense of humor.

what's the film with the best ending? i'm sure there are some really amazing ones i'm forgetting but i absolutely adore the ending to kajillionaire. old dolio learns the hardest lesson of her life and in that same instant is rewarded with inner peace and, as a cherry on top, the love she's always wanted. brutally cathartic ending.

what's the film you most relate to? thoroughbreds. i'm not a wasp from connecticut, and i've never killed a guy nor owned a horse, but there's something about being bored and powerless and full of love and desperate for some kind of control over your life that feels very familiar. the way lily and amanda talk to each other and come to learn from each other and share a secret language despite not even really thinking that they're friends is very familiar to me. and the whole aesthetic and styling of the movie are so much my cup of tea, it's crazy. that movie is such a gift to me.

what's the film you hate the most? i CANNOT pick between two. first, flower (2017) dir. max winkler is a disgusting movie. matt zoller seitz described it as "juno meets lolita" in his zero-star review and i hope we can all extrapolate from that just what is so deeply evil about this movie. it is far too horny for its protagonist, a hypersexualized teen girl who gives blowjobs to cops in their cars as an #empowering #joke and later falls in love with her stepbrother, a kid whom she is constantly bullying for being fat, to the point that he tried to kill himself. then he goes to jail and she is still in love with him while he's in there. max winkler should be kept away from children. and the second film is barbarella. i'm still absolutely furious i had to watch barbarella in college. even though it was on the syllabus of our "gender and geek culture" class for us to critique it, surely torture porn is a step too far...

objectively, what is the greatest film ever? star trek iv: the voyage home.

what's the film that made you laugh the most? maybe jojo rabbit? it's not just that i laughed like crazy in the theater but i also still have all the same burst-out-laughing moments every time i rewatch. amazing movie.

what's the film that's almost perfect but there's just one thing you wish was different? a cut of blockers without the homophobic scene of john cena and ike barinholtz needing to fondle a man's balls would be amazing <3 apart from that, blockers is a perfect film.

what's a film whose world you wish you could inhabit? ngl i'd kind of like to be one of the d.e.b.s from d.e.b.s.

so you've died, and it turns out there is an afterlife! sadly, your coffin can only barely fit your body plus one dvd squeezed in that you can bring to the afterlife to screen on movie night. what film are you bringing? adventure time: obsidian.

#films to be buried with #GREAT POD!

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novelistash · 3 years

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Wattpad & Twitch?

I saw the term Writeblr. Am I a Writeblr? Is Writeblr a page or a person? Well, this Jon Snow has been dipping their toe into the wide world of Wattpad. Any other writers on there? Drop your links! I've been reading stories live on Twitch, and it's been a lot of fun! There's a lot of lost talent there, as with all writing spaces, but it definitely needs some help finding air to breathe.

Why did I decide to read Wattpad stories live on Twitch? Read more. (I hope I'm using this feature right.)

About two and a half years back, I decided that it was time to stop dragging my feet and get traditionally published. (Well I try to get trad pubbed.) I knew that Twitter would be the place to promote and Wattpad would generally be the place to share, but I also knew those places would be full of competition. November was coming up so I thought, "why don't I live stream Nano? That'll be fun." It wasn't.

As much as people don't want to read, they definitely don't want to read while an author is writing. Twitter had a very small writing community then and I haven't seen it get any more popular. Which isn't to say it couldn't get popular, but I don't think it works as a way to GET an audience. I could talk about those who've found moderate success, but if I'm going to do that I'd like to talk to them and maybe interview them. Something I've considered putting on my ghost town of a YT channel.

Regardless, I was on Twitch for about a month. I never gained any kind of following and every viewer I saw on those channels were people like me, those who were trying to promote their own writing. So, yes, I could gain followers of other writers, but I couldn't build a brand that way. I had too much experience with similar platforms to think otherwise. If I wanted to get readers, I needed to be on the platform that readers were using.

That lead me to more or less wasting two years on Twitter. I mean, I met some cool people while on there and had good interactions. But was it good for my brand? Did it help me find readers? I'd say a resounding "no" on both parts. The funny thing about Twitter is that it's great at making you think that people care about you. Shit post about a bad day? Hundreds of replies. Link to a blog going into detail about that bad day? Now you're starting to see how little people actually care. At some point I can go into the nuances of my time in the trenches of Twitter, but the point is that it didn't help my writing career.

For me, the biggest problem with Twitter was the same problem with all writer-centric spaces: we are sellers without customers. I like to describe these spaces as towns of vendors. We each have our vendor stall set up, and see lots of people walking. This is great! That means there are customers! Except all of those people walking on the street are also vendors. They're only there to sell their own wares. Yes, there's mutual inflation and reciprocal commerce, but writers make a poor basis for a readership. If someone is selling eggs, they want to sell to bakers, cooks, and the common man, not their fellow ranchers.

Regardless of fame and fortune, I want a readership. I write for myself, yes, but once those words are on the page, I want someone to read those words. I've been writing for over twenty years by this point and during that time my perspective has almost always been, how do I get readers? It's a natural question to ask, but it's driven by selfish desires at its core. I think for the writers of today, the bigger question might need to be, "how do I get people to read?"

The larger problem with readers, is that there aren't that many of them. If there are ten billion eggs in a town of a hundred, most of those eggs are going to rot. And even though most everyone knows that the general public doesn't habitually read, there seems to be this stigma against talking about it. Ever since I started writing, the talking point has always been "people thought comics would destroy the novel, but it didn't."

Okay, so, there are still readers, but could you say that a majority of the people read? Comic books, television, movies, and video games all offer more senses than the written word. They offer experiences that books never can, so why would anyone choose to read a book when they could instead watch that same story play out on screen?

Well, the written word can actually offer things that other media can't. In general, novels are closer to the emotional landscape of the story. Books invite the reader to be a part of the creation process, rather than a passive observer. The lack of a spoken word or portrait lets the reader construct whatever voice or face they desire. Beyond all of that, readers tend to spend more time with a book than any other media. (I'll hold off on a thorough debate of the narrative quality of iterative gameplay loops in video games for the time being, but I'd be hard pressed to find someone who enjoyed Preston Garvey's procedurally generated missions more than any of the designed quests in Fallout 4.) The point is that the written word is not without value, simply that its qualities are losing appreciation.

That's where the idea of reading stories came about, not as a way to increase my visibility, but as a way to increase the number of readers in the world. Opera single handedly created a boom in book sales by doing little more than talking about books. I think that modern entertainment can take interest in reading farther. Podcasts and Twitch streams are filled with content that is actually dead air, but people will tune in and listen. They connect with the player, the streamer, the speaker, and they are content to be apart of somebody else's discovery. A big part of what makes Twitch successful is simply watching these personalities react.

Wattpad is literally an endless supply of new stories that are available for free online. For some, anything that isn't traditionally published is a book not worth anyone's time. But there are hundreds of thousands of people submitting entire novels to literary agents every single year. Statistics alone supports the idea that great books are not going to get the representation they deserve. What are those thousands of unpublished authors supposed to do with their novels, wait patiently for exterior validation?

I don't think there's any shame in self publishing a novel and Wattpad and platforms like it are a perfectly reasonable way of putting out that content. Is there under edited content on Wattpad? Of course, but can anyone in good faith say the same isn't true of all published works? Yes, some writers are just starting out, and they dump their content onto Wattpad, but I don't understand why that's immediately a reason to balk. The writers liked the idea enough to bring it to life. Sure, finding a way to manifest those ideas is complex and difficult, but I honestly believe that a first body of work can still have an unironic entertainment in them.

I've been streaming on Wednesdays from 10am-noon pacific time. I might change that moving forward, but right now it's looking like I'm only going to be adding more time. If you're interested in joining me for story time, check me out on Twitch.

https://www.twitch.tv/ashnovelist

#writeblr #writing #twitch #explanations no on asked for #wattpad #seriously share your stories and I will read them

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