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psychotakublabs · 3 years

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We can all agree we did not see “Creepy Luz” coming. It was originally a theory created by It’s Rebecca Rose from figuring out who sent the letters. Turns out it was an actual double of Luz who is now impersonating her in the Human Realm. There is little to be known about this unknown person so for now they will be dubbed “Creepy Luz”. All we know is they have been sending letters to Camila since summer camp (which explains why Camila was so calm and happy during the texts), identical to Luz, and are impersonating her to take over her life. There are a few possibilities as to what Creepy Luz might be.

1) Doppelganger

Doppelgangers are unbiological and unrelated doubles of a living person. It’s translation from its original German meaning is “double-walker”. In folklore, myths, and fictions doppelgangers are seen as harbingers of bad luck, evil twin/self, or an alter ego. A doppelganger is an exact copy of the original person and even has the same feelings, experiences, and emotions. Basically nothing good comes from a doppelganger. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppelg%C3%A4nger explains more about doppelgangers. If you read the link you will notice a common theme in fiction, media, and folklore: a doppelganger is the double of a person with ill intent. Creepy Luz could be a doppelganger either from a rift in another world or from the Boiling Isles. If this is true, from how ominous Creepy Luz is, their reason for impersonating Luz will come with bad intentions. In the Camila clip in the trailer, we see red lines connecting to a newspaper clipping of a hooded figure with a staff and a key. We initially thought it was Camila looking for her daughter, but what if it’s Creepy Luz either trying to find their way back to the Boiling Isles? Would be counterintuitive as they want to impersonate Luz but we don’t really know why. Dana did mention she loved the “evil doppelganger theory” but kept it quiet probably for this reason (respect for keeping the secret so well). Now there are holes in this such as how did this doppelganger come into existence (probably magic but by whom?), their reasoning for going back to the Boiling Isles, how does Creepy Luz sound mechanical if they are an exact copy, and why Luz since she went to the Boiling Isles by accident.

2) Changeling

Changelings are human-like creatures (usually fairies but not exclusively) that have been left in place of a human stolen by fairies. In folklore, changelings are usually switched from sickly or underdeveloped newborns and either stay with the human family or return to the realm of magic. There are rare instances where changelings do switch with grown humans (usually for marital reasons or for nurturing the young). Sometimes a changeling does not know they are one and usually exhibit unusual behavior when left alone. However, there are some instances where they do know about their identity and want to return to their fairy family. Sometimes the human child switched will also stay with the fairy family. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changeling explains more about changelings. Creepy Luz being a changeling could be likely. It is not impossible for a changeling to switch with someone after childhood and their reasoning could be outside of marital and nurturing reasons such as wanting a family of their own or just messing with Luz. Like their name, they can change into a human and be a copy of the one they wish to impersonate. It does not mean they can copy their experiences, feelings, or emotions which would explain why the letters looked mechanical and the misspelling of Luz. However, they are trapped in the Human Realm and from the Camila clip in the trailer may be trying to find their way back; they know their identity as a changeling and want to go back to the Boiling Isles. Interestingly, changeling folklore is theorized to be derived from children who were born underdeveloped or abnormally (deformed, disabled, or neurodivergent). In autistic culture, some adults have identified with changelings for this reason and for feelings of being in a world where they do not belong and not being the same species as others around them. The creator confirmed Luz is neurodivergent and I would not be surprised if the team made Creepy Luz a changeling because of the history and folklore behind them. Only holes in this theory are why they chose Luz, how they were able to impersonate her so well, and how much of a copy is Creepy Luz to Luz.

3) Shapeshifter

Shapeshifters are beings that can physically transform their bodies at will through inherent ability, divine intervention, magic or sorcery, demonic manipulation, or spells. Shapeshifters mostly shift into animal forms in folklore, myths, media, and literature. But that does not mean there are stories of shifting into human forms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapeshifting explains more about shape shifting. Usually done with animals turning into people but the myths/powers of shapeshifters is very flexible in fiction. It wouldn’t be far off for Creep Luz to be a shapeshifter. Probably a creature from the Boiling Isles who saw Luz and decided to shift into her, has some ill intentions or other reasons for stealing/impersonating her life, and used the summer camp to learn human culture. However, this only implies there are shapeshifters that can turn into humans, why impersonate humans to begin with, and how long they can hold out.

4) Clone

An interesting theory out there is Creepy Luz is a clone of Luz. Both in fiction and reality, clones are exact copies of an object, organic and/or man made. In fiction, a clone is usually copying a person for either experiments, research, labor/army force, or to extend one’s life span through another. In this case, it seems cloning Luz is for another plan outside those reasons. Since Creepy Luz went to summer camp, there is a theory that the camp cloned Luz. In the beginning of the series, Eda explained that folklore and myths are caused by leaks from the Boiling Isles. Although rare, like humans coming to the Boiling Isles, it could be possible for residents from the Boiling Isles to slip into the Human Realm. Maybe a creature from the Boiling Isles was able to clone Luz from their magic and has some reason for doing so. However, there are holes in that theory such as reasons for a camp doing that, how they would clone Luz when she never went, and no information on said camp. If Creepy Luz is a clone, it was most likely done by some type of magic in the Boiling Isles. It could be from someone who has watched Luz for a while or it just happened out of nowhere. This theory does not have much merit as clones are usually scientific (Belos does use technology but doesn’t know about Luz until coming to the Boiling Isles) and there is no one who would want to clone Luz besides the camp or Belos/other magic organization. Still worth mentioning at least since Creepy Luz was already a surprise to us.

5) Another Creature Entirely/ Non-Existent

Creepy Luz could be an entirely different creature all together. “The Owl House '' does take some of the residents from folklore in fantasy genres and ancient mythology but there have been creatures who are unique in the show (Tiny Nose, Warden Wrath, Grometheus, Hooty, etc). Creepy Luz could be a new creature from the Boiling Isles. Which means we have absolutely no idea what Creepy Luz actually is. All we know is Creepy Luz sent letters to Camila meaning they went to summer camp, seem to have a vague concept of what Luz and Camila’s relationship/interactions are, probably got Luz’s personality from the letters and interaction with Camila, knows about the Boiling Isles and wants to go back somehow, and has the ability to appear as Luz. There have been other theories going around in the fandom as well. Creepy Luz could be an illusion conjured by another witch. However, this means there was a witch watching Luz this entire time even before entering the Boiling Isles. Not impossible as there is a mysterious hooded figure from the trailer. But it would entail that they have a connection to the Human Realm or have access to see the Human Realm and have magic powerful enough to sustain Creepy Luz in the Human Realm. It’s not impossible but I think Belos would notice and try to get rid of them. Either this witch is crafty or Belos’s men are not doing a good job. Another theory is that Creepy Luz doesn’t exist and is just a hallucination from Camila’s stress and sadness of Luz missing. There are instances where if the trauma is too much, the brain can cause hallucinations that are very real to cope with. However, Camila seemed okay in ‘Enchanting Grom Fright” and “Keeping Up A-fear-ances” and interacted with Creepy Luz normally. The home also looked well kept and organized and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. She also received physical letters and it’s not possible she wrote them herself because she knows Luz’s name and what they do for activities together. Camila also looks content that she received texts from Luz so she does not know she is missing from camp. This theory is probably the most far-fetched, but it’s worth mentioning at least. Honestly Creepy Luz can be anything from the Boiling Isles which means we have no idea what they are yet.

Now let’s get to how this affects Camila. We will see her again as there is a clip of her in the trailer we have not seen. However, it will not be towards the end of Season 2A (either 9 or 10). Now there are episode titles and descriptions of episode 9 and 10 but because they have not been officially released by Disney, I will not comment on them too much. From the short time we see Camila it seems she is doing okay and is under the assumption Creepy Luz is Luz. Now one would think Camila would notice changes in Luz. Creepy Luz is cunning and smart by going to the camp to not only study Luz and human culture but to fool Camila. Camila sent Luz to camp to help with her impulsive creativity and to fit in a little (does not make Camila a bad mom, I will rant about that later). Seeing her daughter change wouldn’t be a red flag for her. However, their ruse will not last for long. In the clip, we see Camila smiling until she puts the phone down and starts frowning. This is either a response to the messages from Luz or a response to Creepy Luz and their odd answers or behavior. She may start to think Creepy Luz suspicious and notice something is off. Even notice the newspaper clippings and conspiracy theory boards are off instead of Luz just being her usual weird self. Once she distances herself from Creepy Luz, she will look at the messages Luz sent (if they are sent) and wonder who this imposter is. If the messages haven’t been sent, then she will find out herself about Creepy Luz being an imposter (behavior, appearance, secret journals, interactions, etc). From seeing many scenarios from the fandom either two things will happen. 1) Camila will confront Creepy Luz and find out they are an imposter. Whether physical combat happens or they just go into a verbal confrontation, Creepy Luz’s disguise will falter and this may send Camila in an angry panicl. 2) Camila will keep interacting with Creepy Luz to find out more about Luz’s whereabouts. She will keep her knowledge of Creepy Luz a secret to find her daughter. However, this will create tension and both will slip up their true intentions. Now depending on what Creepy Luz is either their intentions are as simple as just messing with people or sinister like taking over Luz’s life for a purpose. We have to remember “The Owl House” is a horror comedy so there is bound to be some silliness either in the confrontation or Creepy Luz. However, from the conspiracy board, it seems Creepy Luz may want to go back to the Boiling Isles. Depending on their motives for that (if not related to Belos) the two may actually work together. Camila will help Creepy Luz get back to the Boiling Isles and Creepy Luz will help Camila find her daughter. Now this is only if that is the intention of Creepy Luz. There could be other intentions such looking for something for the “Day of Unity” (if related to Belos) or simply wanting Luz’s life. I do hope we get a confrontation with Creepy Luz, stating Camila accepted them easily because she wanted a normal daughter instead of Luz. Camila will be saddened because Creepy Luz is not all wrong but also becomes angry and realizes she does love Luz no matter her weirdness (again will go on a separate rant about Camila in another post). This will spur Camila further into finding Luz. However, this is just an imagined scenario in my head. The main point is Camila will find out about Creepy Luz’s true identity. Honestly, Creepy Luz was just a theory until now confirmed. I am excited to find out what Creepy Luz is, their intentions, and how Camila will find out/react to it. If you have any thoughts about Creepy Luz please comment I’d love to hear em!

#the owl house #season 2 #creepy luz #imposter luz #luz noceda #doppelganer #evil twin #toh #toh luz #toh theory #toh spoilers #the owl house spoilers #toh camila #emperor belos #changeling theory

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petersthree · 3 years

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Okay so I’ve seen a lot of conflicting responses to Buddie this episode, from it being clear to people that they’re getting together, to thinking the writers have unintentionally messed things up to thinking it’s purely queerbait.

And I get the different responses, I do - tbh I’m somehow in two camps, where I simultaneously believe it’s a slowburn but I also think it’s bait. And those are two very different opinions to have and it got me thinking about why we have these different responses as fans to the possibility of a queer ship (namely two men who would presumably be bi/pan) being canon.

While people talk about how it’s just people wanting two characters to kiss or entitled fans - sure, that’s existent in every fandom, but I think there’s also a very real fear from queer fans who don’t want to get their hopes up and I d on’t love how the conversation has shifted to calling queer fans stupid for having hope, so I kind of wanted to break it down into 3 aspects that I’ve noticed:

How writers portray bi characters and why that makes fans hesitant to have hope

What queerbait actually means as a concept

How much “slowburn” has changed in procedurals

1. How writers portray bi characters

Something I’ve thought about a lot are the bi characters I’ve seen on TV - Darryl (CEG), Sara Lance (Arrow), Lucifer (Lucifer), just to name a few. These are great characters imo and I think you’d have a fun time watching but a thing to note is that all these characters were established as bi within the first season of their respective shows and they all fairly quickly fell into a clear romantic ship as well (with the exception of Sara as she spanned multiple shows). It may have taken time for them to say the word bisexual, but it was still clear these characters were queer fairly quickly on. You could maybe argue that Lucifer was a slowburn, but then (while it does not take away from him being bi/pan so do not use this as an excuse to be shitty about him) it’s a m/f ship which is still not the point of my post, to find a m/m or f/f ship that has that same treatment.

Some writers have done it - like for Valencia in CEG, or Petra in JTV - when they saw that fans read them this way, but trying to find those characters were few and far between, and when I looked at popular queerbait ships (whether or not they actually are queerbait) it’s usually ships where the characters are largely viewed as bisexual. A lot of times this also comes with pushback from both straight and to be frank, other queer fans as well. Straight fans don’t always see the signs that queer fans do, so to them a queer character who hasn’t been explicitly clear from the start comes out of nowhere. And what I’ve seen from certain queer fans are concerns that people aren’t appreciating the canon queer characters in a show - and I think there is a conversation to be had about that, but I don’t think the response should also be about then demanding less representation for people either.

If we go back to 911, people talk a lot about how it has canon queer characters, which it definitely does - Michael, Hen, Josh, Karen, and David are all canonically gay/lesbian and that’s awesome, and we absolutely should talk about fans (white fans in particular) ignoring these characters. It also does not change the fact that none of these characters are bisexual and that is the representation people are looking for. Both of these things are true - these characters are often under appreciated in canon AND people deserve bisexual representation. They don’t contradict each other and to act like one negates the other does a huge disservice.

And even if a character was made bisexual in the canon text we don’t get that slowburn. This may be true for things like Leverage, or LOK, but there’s also a real fact of censorship that affected these shows and the fact that general audiences may not understand the queer text tjat the writers intended. It doesn’t make the writing any less wonderful or the ships any less poignant or beautiful or important, and there’s ofc shows like She Ra that made this more obvious (or the.....mess that was Supernatural that made it. Half true?) but these are still real things that should be acknowledged on why people are so hesitant to call it slowburn - because it’s something most queer fans haven’t SEEN DONE, because m/f ships will get that care for slowburn when it’s done but it’s not done for m/m or f/f ships in that same capacity.

2. What queerbait is

This one’s fun because I don’t think many people understand what it is, but queerbait is very dependent on the intentions of the writers/creators/etc. - which tbh can be hard to gauge, because a genuine intention that ended up not happening or someone baiting fans or someone trying to support all ships and not be rude all have very different intentions but to a fan who only sees bits and pieces of this person on social media, it can be hard to gauge.

Honestly with how much the 4th wall gets broken because of social media now I’d personally say we’ve probably moved into a different definition of queerbait - unintentional vs intentional - because we’re at a point where a show knows what ships are popular and at what level of excitement fans are for it - but that being said, there’s still a clear spectrum of intent. And imo? I don’t think 911 has that intent of queerbait - whether it’s a slowburn or they have a different vision for buddie that I (probably) won’t agree with remains to be seen, but this show usually treats its storylines with care. Are they perfect at it? No, definitely not, I definitely think that they’ve dropped the ball a few times (especially with just how many characters they have lmao), but they also clearly do their storylines with earnest and with genuine care for these characters.

Is 911 getting them together? I want to say yes. I don’t think this was always the plan, just something that they decided along the way, but I also don’t think that changes anything about the ship. A lot of people point to Tim Minear being vague about the ship, or the actors and their interpretations, but 1. We have no idea what they’ve been told about Buddie moving forward and 2. No show runner is going to spoil their show that much. 911 may be keeping quiet because they have a different plan for buddie, sure, but also maybe because they’re still figuring out how exactly they want to do this and/or they want to make this slowburn and don’t want to give it away.

3. Slowburn in procedurals

I feel like this is something that procedurals have started shying away from, but slowburns used to be very common - Bones, Castle, their ships didn’t get together for literal years, but that’s just not something that many shows do nowadays, even for m/f ships. Even things like Deckerstar will have the characters get together after ~3 seasons and explore the relationship onwards, whereas a few years ago, y ou’d pr obably be watching a sh ow and it’d take them 7 seasons to get together. My assumption for this is that shows are afraid of getting canceled, but there’s been a pretty big shift in getting a couple together after say, 6 seasons to now getting them together about halfway through the show. I don’t think either one is bad or good - in good writers’ hands, either can be amazing - but that shift has made it so that a lot of younger fans in particular, I think, don’t fully recognize slowburn when they see it.

911 as a show tends to run pretty fast - it kind of has to with its depth of characters they have - but when they do have slower running storylines they really do make use of that as well. Bobby’s addiction is something that’s always going to be present in his character, May’s suicide attempt was brought up again front and center after 3 seasons, even Chim’s dynamic with the Lees was brought up again and it was reinforced again that they’re his family. There are certain storylines that have to be continuous and aren’t a one and done type of thing, and that includes Buck and Eddie, especially if you want to establish them as queer to a general audience who doesn’t think about these things.

And honestly, despite my fears, I think they are laying groundwork there. We have Buck learning to be more confident in his relationships, we have Eddie ready to date and learning to follow his own heart, we have Buck and Eddie both establishing that Buck is family and will always be there for Christopher. These are pretty big steps to do for a ship and we’ll obviously have to see how the show goes forward but they’ve already insinuated Eddie and Ana are breaking up, I’m sure Taylor and Buck may last a season and be over, but we do have to see what this next season brings. Do I think they’d say this? No, definitely not.

tl;dr:

911 is a show with good viewership, but there’s always a possibility they can’t continue with their season and then their promises would feel like a lie. Or they may still be hammering out the details as this season hasn’t been written. Or they may just simply not want to spoil their show, or they don’t want people criticizing a story before it’s finished, all of these could be reasons. The showrunners, writers, actors, ultimately they owe nothing to us as a fandom to potentially spoil their series, or do something, change it or their schedule for it, and get accused of bait.

But it also doesn’t change why fans are wary of this storyline either, and I wish people would have more nuance and compassion for fans who are worried about queerbait (whether they think it’s not queerbait and dislike people worrying about it or if they do and are calling people idiots for believing it). There’s a lot of reasons why fans are wary and don’t want to have hope, and it’s not necessarily about 911 specifically as it is a pattern of writing seen in other pieces that have fans worried. These things can all coexist and I wish we as fandom in general could acknowledge that, because pretending that they don’t and criticizing each other/people’s intentions or knowledge when they have certain expectations also doesn’t do much to help.

#warning this is long so if you read this bless you #but also i wrote this forever so maybe give a read?#it gets into buddie more specifically at the end so bear with me lmao #buddie #911 fox #fandom #queerbait #janie overthinks media #buddie meta #911 on fox

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katierosefun · 3 years

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i originally had a september wrap-up post queued but then tumblr fucking ate it, which made me very angry because i didn’t want to re-type the whole thing, but i’m procrastinating, so here i am, re-typing the whole thing of all the things i watched/consumed over the month of september, even if it’s a little late: (it’s fine, i didn’t watch a whole ton of stuff except...a lot of kdramas lmao. oh, and visions.)

k-dramas:

beyond evil

okay, so i think this has been on my rec list for literally forever now, but...besties, i’m on my fifth watch of this goddamn show in the span of maybe two months, so if that doesn’t tell you how much this show has been a comfort/eating my brain lately, idk what will.

i literally never shut up about this show, but if you’ve somehow been missing from my blog for a little bit, a quick summary: lee dong sik (played by the ever-wonderful shin ha kyun) was accused of murder + kidnapping a few young women, including his own twin sister 20 years ago. he’s lived a pretty quiet life on his own, and now 20 years later, his whole world is turned upside down again when hotshot new inspector han joo won (played by the talented yeo jin goo) comes into this little town. when the murders start up again, these two are thrown into a hellishly complex mystery. will throw you in for a hellish loop. i think my thoughts best summarize this show as come for the murder mystery, stay for whatever the hell joo won and dong sik have.

okay, but all joking aside about how much i love joo won and dong sik (because...i truly do love them), this show was incredibly healing. once again: this show has quickly become a comfort show, basically to the point where i just watch it whenever i feel down (which happens to be a lot these days). idk man. humans aren’t meant to carry burdens on their own and all that stuff. sometimes u just need to remind yourself that.

the crowned clown

so, after watching beyond evil the fourth time, i realized that maybe i wanted to watch some of the actors’ other works. that was how i found myself watching the crowned clown, which...is an excellent kdrama now available on netflix (also on viki for free, just as beyond evil is). honestly, it’s been a hot second since i’ve watched historical dramas (saeguks), so i was a little unsure what to expect, but this show. bro. this show reminded me just how much i love historical dramas, because the court politics? the costumes? the music? the acting? fantastic.

basically, this show is about the young clown (ie. performer) ha seon (played by yeo jin goo) who now has to replace the king, who might be like...two seconds away from snapping (if he hasn’t already). the reason they’re able to do this is because they look exactly identical despite not being related.

this story is honestly wonderful. i loved it, and it’s an interesting way to look at the story behind the actual king (because. apparently this king was a real person, and i think his story has inspired quite a few other korean movies/shows). i thought yeo jin goo was brilliant in this show, and it’s really no surprise he became the youngest person ever nominated for a baeksang award because of this series. i was truly blown away by just how versatile he proved to be of an actor, and his dynamics with the other characters (the queen, the secretary being my fave, as well as the old eunuch jo), i just...bro. i’ll admit i wasn’t the biggest fan of the romance (don’t get me wrong! it was sweet!), but i think that might have been because this was so court politics heavy, and i adored it for that. if you’ve never watched a historical drama but want to and just don’t know where to start, i highly recommend this.

d.p.

bro....this show was dark. i watched it all in 2 days (pretty easy to do, considering it’s 6 episodes and maybe 40-50 minutes long per episode), and i needed to lie down. this is just one of those shows that i feel is...very important to watch, even if the content matter isn’t very bright.

basically, dp is about two deserter pursuit officers: ahn jun ho (played by jung hae in) and han ho yul (played by koo kyo hwan). deserter pursuit officers are basically people who chase after people who deserted their military post--and for those who don’t know, being in the military is mandatory for men in south korea. this is the result of the armistice between the north and the south--basically, since north korea never agreed to an actual peace treaty, south korea is constantly under threat of war, which is why men need to serve at least a few years. (this is why a lot of actors + kpop band members often take breaks from their careers--to fulfill their military service time. because yup, even celebrities aren’t exempt from service!)

anyways, this show really doesn’t pull back their punches. major trigger warnings for things like intense harrassment, suicide, domestic violence...it really does capture just how dark life can be, and also how toxic the military can be for men. because of that, i felt this show was incredibly well-crafted, incredibly nuanced, and in the end, i just felt sad. that said though, there was a hopeful ending, and i’m glad that this show was renewed for a second season, as i think this show is just...really important.

squid game

okay, so i don’t want to be that person, but your girl was watching squid game right after it came out, so i was here before the hype train--but okay, okay, i digress. (i am glad that this show is getting hype. i feel it’s very important that people watch this show.)

if you haven’t noticed how squid game’s climbed to #1 on netflix worldwide (i think, anyways), well, then...buddy. squid game is about a bunch of people who have the chance to earn lots of money by playing what seems like innocent children’s games. (spoilers: they are far from innocent.)

this show scarred me, to be honest. i needed to watch something lighthearted after this, just because it was so intense. lots of trigger warnings for blood and gore, as well as just. losing faith in humanity. but also, like dp, i felt this show was necessary. it was incredibly well-constructed in that it showed just what desperate people will do in order to survive, as well as exactly what a terrible capitalistic society will do to the working class. it’s depressing and sad, but also incredibly chilling because like. you can’t help but watch the characters and think, but would i do the same thing? i just want to pay off my own debt and take care of my family. wouldn’t i do the same thing?

i won’t say more of this show for fear of spoilers, but. let me just say. that i really am glad this show exists. i hope people actually notice what the fuck it’s saying about our current system too, because hm, maybe i just want to suck the fun out of things, but there’s something very disturbing about how people are already cute-ifying this show (ie. “this is what i would wear to the squid games! :D” and “look at these squid-game inspired cookies! :D”, as if this show didn’t just deliver a heart-crushing message about capitalism + how the wealthy fuck over anyone who isn’t the 1% BUT ANYWAYS)

star wars: visions

lately i’ve been feeling weird about star wars for lots of different reasons which i don’t particularly feel like addressing today, but. visions really reminded me why i fell in love with star wars in the first place. i think for starters, well. it’s no surprise when i say that i felt an intense amount of joy of seeing east asian cultures so beautifully incorporated and respected in this show (no surprise seeing that this show was literally crafted by japanese anime studios), but like. it really was. a beautiful thing. i cried at least once per episode, either because i was so in awe of the animation and the themes or because i was just in awe that this thing exists.

i think my favorite episode had to be the village bride--there was something so incredibly powerful about seeing someone who looked a bit like me say i am a jedi. what an iconic line. what an iconic story about a sad traumatized gal deciding to step up and fight, actually. peak star wars.

but besides all that...i really did feel like...this show captured the beauty and essence of what makes star wars actually good. the themes of good versus evil, a lot of stuff between siblings (bro....the twins and lop and ocho FUCKED ME UP), choosing to have brighter and better days ahead (the village bride, the ninth jedi, the duel, tatooine rhapsody)...like, i really loved how each episode really took everything that was good about star wars and just turned it into something even more beautiful. this series will stay with me for a long time, i think--and i am very grateful for the people involved in this project for reminding me why i fell in love with this universe in the first place. :”)

#caroline recs #a few days late but here it is!

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ordinaryschmuck · 3 years

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What I Thought About "Eda's Requiem" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

...

...HOW IS SEASON TWO SO GOOD?! WE'VE HAD SEVEN EPISODES SO FAR, AND EACH ONE OF THEM WAS A HIT!

Take "Eda's Requiem," for example. It's yet another episode where I have NOTHING bad to say about it! That's two weeks in a row where that happened! HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!

HOW!

...But anyways, "Eda's Requiem." It's another fantastic episode, and I'm about to dive into explaining how and why. Just keep in mind, it's gonna require spoilers to do so, so be wary of that as you keep reading.

Now, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Eda’s Checklist and Grom Photo: Within the first second, "Eda's Requiem" perfectly sets up Eda's central conflict in the episode. Despite spending years being on her own and looking after herself, she now has two kids that she's constantly caring over. Eda can try all she wants to say that she doesn't care, and I bet she has in the past. But given the hard work she's putting into getting King and Luz what they need and having a grom photo of the three of them together pinned in her mirror, it's pretty clear that those two knuckleheads wormed their way into her heart and are never getting out.

Eda’s Worried About King and Luz Leaving: And thus, that's precisely why something like this bothers her so much. Eda inadvertently adopted two rambunctious rapscallions (Yeah, I know. I'll get to it), so the idea of them not being around her anymore is going to be terrifying. That is a situation most parents, especially mothers, can identify with. It’s called empty nest syndrome and it proves just how much Eda loves Luz and King that she can't stand the thought of her babies leaving the nest. It's yet another well-made, wholesome, found-family moment that this series continues to excel at each week, making me extra excited for more like it to come...while also readying myself for heartbreak when one of them eventually does leave Eda.

Eda and Raine’s Music: Ok, I don't know the exact instruments that were played during this episode, but I also don't care because it was all (for lack of a better term) music to my ears. Every time Eda and Raine played resulted in melodies that are so beautiful and filled with so much emotion and feeling that I'm honestly tempted to listen to them again, multiple times, on repeat. Shows rarely do that for me, as background music doesn't always draw me in as much as lyrical songs do. Usually, it takes something so extraordinarily composed to give me the desire to listen again, and that's the case here. So huge congrats to Brad Breek for doing so. Seriously, the man's been killing it this season.

Eda’s Bard Magic Causing Things to Turn to Ash: This was assuredly a surprise side-effect of the curse. The fact that Eda can sort of do magic at all was its own shock. To then reveal that a specific type can do dangerous things to people and environments is...Well, it definitely brings up its own fair share of questions. Like, how can she do this? Will she do it again, one day? And are there other types of spells that can be negatively affected by Eda's curse? We don't get answers for any of these questions, and odds are, we never will. But that's alright with me. Because if a show makes me consider these many possibilities after a brief amount of time, it is a show that has to be doing something right. Even if I don't get the answers I want, the fact that it caused such a reaction makes me less willing to care.

Raine Whispers: Hey, would you look at that. Another fun, interesting, and compelling character added to the list of this shows' other fun, interesting, and compelling characters...how is this series so good at this!?

Joking aside, Raine's pretty good. I like Raine. They could have been this super serious leader who lost all their fun after years apart from Eda, but I'm glad that they're not. There are moments when Raine takes their job as leader of the BATs seriously, as one would, but I still prefer the fact that they kept a jovial nature despite how grim their situation is. It's an admirable trait to have, and it avoids the trope of making leader characters boring just because they're the ones who have to take things seriously.

Oh, and also, Raine's Disney's first non-binary character who has a stake in the plot. This is a tremendous deal, as you don't usually see that many non-binary characters in children's animation, let alone ones that hold importance to the story. So it's pretty cool for the writers to feature Raine, as it helps several kids feel as though they're finally seen and respected. And the fact that Disney of all companies gave the thumbs up is even more impressive. I hear people say that Dana Terrace should have pitched The Owl House to more progressive networks to avoid pushback, and while I absolutely see your point, I'll have to respectfully disagree. Disney is the largest entertainment industry of all time, so if you want to make LGBTQA+ representation normalized, you gotta stop making splashes and start making waves. Because if the same company that made three racist cats in the span of a few years manages to say that being gay is a-ok, then you know there's something wrong with you. Yes, Disney ended up screwing over the show anyway. But for that one moment, when kids felt pride after seeing a character like Raine, then, in the end, it's kind of worth it.

Also, if you're still having issues with more representation like this popping up in kids' shows, then allow me to redirect you to the complaint department.

...I made that post earlier today for this bit. YOU HAVE BETTER APPRECIATED IT!

Day of Unity is meant to be a Secret: At least, that's what I got when Raine stumbled over their own words. So if it's true, then I wonder why? Why does Belos want to keep the most critical change in the Boiling Isles a secret? Does he want to make it a surprise for his grateful subjects, or does he not want to spread worry and fear amongst the wild witches? It has to be something big if he doesn't want his followers to even say the words "Day of Unity." Whatever reason he has, we most likely won't know until the future. A future that I grow more and more afraid of each week.

Hooty Eating Echo Mouse: My heart sank in that brief moment when I thought that Hooty intensely screwed Luz over in getting back home. But looking back...it is pretty funny.

Just the suddenness of Hooty eating the poor creature that Luz desperately tried to earn its trust is priceless in how shocking it was. And also, Luz's expression.

That was the look of a young girl who immediately shoved her hand down an owl demon's throat the second the scene cut away. The Owl House may not always be a hit in the comedy department, but scenes like this prove that when it's funny, it is hilarious.

Luz and King Entering the Grand Prix: Not much to discuss here. It's just a cute subplot that adds frivolity to the intensity of what's going on through Eda and Raine's story. But I will say that I love how both stories occasionally interconnect with each other through the many moments of Eda being worried about King wanting to leave to find his father and avoiding any conversation about it. It helps both plotlines feel like they belong together, without being something like "Through the Looking Glass Ruins," whereas both stories could have been in their own episode. Which is neat.

How Bard Magic Works: I really love how this season is diving into how the other magic types work. More specifically, the ones that seem a little vague. I mean, stuff like healing, potions, and plants are easy to figure out, but what does it mean when a witch's talents are construction, beast keeping, and bard magic? We've been getting a lot of clearing up lately, with bard magic looking like a witch can control their environments and enemies through the power of music. Which is fair. Music is pretty powerful in the metaphorical sense, and I actually love that it's powerful in the literal sense when in the Boiling Isles.

The BATs: Not much to comment on these three either. The BATs have the potential to have an entertaining dynamic, but they do very little in this episode that I can't say much other than I hope they make a return in the future. But I will make this claim: Amber is my favorite. I'm sorry, but her screaming "You're not our mom!" to then go, "Bye, mommy Eda" is just too precious for me not to love.

I'm a simple man who falls for cute s**t. Leave me alone.

Raeda (RainexEda): Well, EdaxCamila, you were a fun crack ship while it lasted, but I'm afraid that this is now goodbye. The current canon has provided an incredibly adorable and believable relationship that I would be a monster not to support with my whole bi-heart. It's been real.

Ok, back in serious mode: I love these two together. Eda and Raine are grown-ups, and they still act all flustered near each other as if they were still Luz and Amity's age. It's definitive proof that you're never too old to get flustered near a crush, and seeing them interact adds a sense of wholesomeness when seeing them together as well as heartbreak when they're forced apart. Plus, we get confirmation that Eda's LGBTQA+! Whether she's bi, pan, or whatever, now that we know Eda can catch feelings for someone like Raine, it's yet another case that The Owl House is the most important series to the community. Because having the main character be queer is fantastic in its own right. But having the same apply to the motherly mentor figure? That's is an extra bit of normalization that anybody would be willing to appreciate.

Unique Guard Designs: Not many fans are going to appreciate this, primarily compared to everything else this episode does perfectly. For me, I actually like that you see a few Coven Guards looking differently from the others, as it helps make them less like clones and makes it seem like anybody of any body type could be a part of the coven.

Gus Looking Uninterested when Presenting Grand Prix with his Dad: I am positive that you didn't notice this (I didn't even notice it until someone else pointed it out), but there's something to dissect here. It hints that perhaps Gus isn't as interested in his father's field of work as one might think. If he did, he would look a lot less bored and much more excited to be helping Perry Porter present the race. It could just be the race itself, but judging from Gus' expression, it really seems like the kid would prefer to be anywhere but there. And why would he have that reaction to a race that his best friend is competing in? To me, this seems like an inkling of what Gus' relationship with Perry could be, which may not actually get time to shine, what with how little wiggle room the series has now (Thanks Disney). Regardless, it is interesting to notice, and it will certainly have fans thinking for a while.

Bump Being Smug of Luz Being in the Lead: That's it. Principal Bump looking smug as his human student is beating the students of his rivals is yet another moment that proves why Bump is easily the best cartoon principal.

Darius: First of all, this guy is f**king fabulous, and I love him. *Snaps*

Second, he is definitive proof that you do NOT want to f**k around with Coven Leaders. Lilith may have had her intimidating moments, but none of them compare to the guy who can turn himself into an abomination monster where only magic that hasn't existed before can take him down. It's genuinely scary to see Darius lose control, and I fear for the day when Luz inevitably ends up in his crosshairs.

With that said, Darius' still a ton of fun! He may be threatening, but he's just a flamboyant guy that hates the idea of getting his outfit the tiniest bit dirty. And I love that. I love that these Coven Heads have actual personalities instead of being generically evil. I consider it preferable to make villains entertaining rather than blatantly scary as I'll remember the personalities first and the villainous acts last.

Eberwolf: But this one's my favorite. I told you: I'm a simple man who gets easily swayed by cute s**t. And Eber? I mean, just look at her:

She's just a cute widdle rascal! I just want to pinch her cheeks, give her a belly rub, and--

...Eberwolf is not a cute widdle rascal. She is a strong, independent woman, and I will respect her as such from this moment forward...lest I feel her wrath.

That is all. Let's move on.

Eda and Raine Attempting a Final Performance: This was the best scene of the episode. It looked gorgeous, it shows the dedication Eda and Raine have for stopping Belos, and it says so much through so little. Go back and look at how Eda and Raine regard one another when performing Eda's requiem. Through their expressions and a few short words, you know they understand that if they complete the song/spell, they probably won't make it in the end. And yet, they don't care. They both know bad stuff will happen if Belos wins, so Eda and Raine put everything to the side, both their feelings for one another and the people they leave behind if it means putting an end to a tyrant. That level of dedication...Words can't fully describe how powerful that is.

Raine Sacrificing Themselves Instead: But in the end, Raine can't do it. Not when they know the life that Eda has and the people she'll be leaving behind. It's an extra bit of nobleness to the character seeing that Raine refuses to take away a woman from two kids who need her the most. A tad bit selfish, sure, knowing what Belos has planned. But when it comes to love, the romantic, familial, or platonic, the best decisions aren't always the logical ones.

Eda Crying: Luz crying tears me up, but seeing Eda cry is a whole different level of heartbreak. Like Lilith, Eda has her emotions locked up tight, with the closest she came to weeping were those two tears in "Young Blood, Old Souls." In "Eda's Requiem," she cries but almost quickly stops herself. As if she knows that doing so isn't going to save Raine. That is...even worse than seeing Luz break down after losing Eda. The fact that Eda refuses to give herself time to mourn losing someone she loved is tragic because crying is the most natural way of showing grief. Turning that off isn't healthy, and seeing her do it with little resistance is sad to me. It's sad to see a character I love can easily shut off all emotions despite how badly she may want to embrace them. It's one of those moments that, again, by doing so little, it shows so much.

“No one watches Crystal Balls anymore. It’s all about streaming.”: Oof. Even I felt that burn towards cable.

King’s Message: King's message was the pick-me-up I needed after the heart-wrenching sadness this episode put me through a few minutes ago. Seeing King say who he is and listing all the things he loves is nothing short of adorable. On top of that, I adore that Eda willingly recorded the whole thing. She may not want King to leave, but that doesn't mean she'll sabotage the one thing he wants. Especially not after Raine gave up everything so Eda could be with her kids. The opening scene may prove how much Eda cares about a rascal like King, but this heartwarmingly sweet moment reveals just how far she'll go to make him happy.

King’s Dad Reveal: ...ok, I'll be honest, I did not think we'd get that reveal this soon. Dumb of me to say, considering the number of times I've said that these writers don't waste time getting to the s**t, I know. But still, it's pretty cool knowing that King's dad is alive and well, added with the fact that we've got a fair idea of what he looks like. At this point, it's only a matter of time before we see him figure out where the Clawthorne residence is and witness the tear-jerking moments that will follow.

King Changing his Name to King Clawthorne: Not the official adoption I was expecting Eda to make...but DANG IT, is it still diabetes-inducing levels of sweetness!

Personally, I feel like the main reason why Eda breaks down this time is not only because she shouldn't be worried about King leaving her life, but also because Raine's sacrifice wasn't in vain. Her kids really do need Eda because no matter how far apart they'll be, she will always be a part of their life...dang it, I'm going to cry too!

What those Coven patches really do: Well...that was horrifying to see.

...Writers, if you kill off the best non-binary character in animation (it's a short list, I know), we are going to have PROBLEMS!

IN CONCLUSION

"Eda's Requiem" is--surprise surprise--another A+. The emotions hit hard, the representation hits harder, Raine is a fantastic addition to the cast, and it was all surprisingly cute at times. Season Two is currently on a hot streak, constantly winning with every episode that's come out so far. When a bad episode does eventually show up (IT'S GONNA HAPPEN!), I'll be sure to sing my requiem then. For now, I'm just gonna enjoy the ride.

#the owl house #the owl house season 2 #the owl house reviews #eda clawthorne #raine whispers #raeda #king of demons #toh darius #toh eberwolf #what i thought about

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goosedawn · 3 years

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i've never listened to Friends At The Table (though it's on my list now, dnd campaigns podcast wooo!) what would the storyline of the crossover entail? with the HermitCraft characters i'm guessing it's chaotic and interesting 😊

:0!!!! :DDD!!!!!!! if u end up giving it a shot i hope u enjoy it! they dont actually play dnd, they play a bunch of other tabletop games which are all really neat also! (also if u need a suggestion for where to start if/when u get to it, feel free to drop me an ask)

the story follows the typical structure of "group is sent off to do tasks for money, and eventually realise something bigger is going on" so i am largely following the plot in that way, where groups of adventurers are sent out to investigate a series of towers that appear to have some connection to the gods of the world. ajhsjjejhfhjef most of my thoughts about the au are more character based,, so instead of a proper plot summary i can give details and thoughts on where some of the hermits fit into everything so far (while. trying to avoid the big twists revealed in the podcast ig,,?) i also ended up including some sleepybees (sbi + beeduo) in the au but im still not 100% sure on where they fit in (as in i have too many ideas djhdkndnj)

ANYWAY uhhhh some spoilers for the universe im basing this off of, under the cut cos it got long :'D

context/setting:

the specific arc/universe that this au is set in is the one from Seasons in Hieron (SiH) which is their fantasy season! (its. its long,, this arc spans i think. 3 seasons? plus a short interlude season)

the setting was previously a traditional fantasy world that had some sort of great catastrophe (the Erasure) happen, and the current world is after people have rebuilt a new society! its described as "post-fantasy, post-post-apocalyptic" its very fun and subversive and afhdjfbj the worldbuilding is just. real good :>

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characters:

im still figuring out where different hermits fit into the au but i am basically taking aspects of various characters from the podcast and splitting roles and traits to hermits, so its all mixed up! also,, there are just. so many hermits,, i have not found places for all of them (not even most of them i dont think) but here is what i have so far:

impulse and zedaph work in the New Archives (a series of huge warehouse-like archives run by the orcs of this world!) impulse is an orc, zed is not! impulse works to retrieve artifacts for the archive, and zed,, hes just kinda there. learning and experimenting with pattern magic (a type of magic done by arranging and rearranging things in specific configurations, often they are obscure and weird things like "27 brown birds in a tree, 5 table legs, 500 buttons, 16 steps to the east" etc.) when the story finds them they are studying a fallen tower in the center of the Mark of the Erasure (a location still showing the effect of the great cataclysm that befell the world)

tango vaguely takes the role of Ephraim, prince of something or rather,,, idk man hes cool and has fire powers, very anime. his powers were a gift from the gods, and he goes on to hv close relations w them! he meets up with impulse and zed later on and become fast friends obviously

joe is an expert in pattern magic, and is on the run from the archives after having stolen a pretty nondescript notebook. its a nice notebook! hes just a human guy. he writes and recites poetry in order to do pattern magic using the notebook!

cleo hails from the city of *Nacre*, where people get multiple chances at life. people from there can get killed but will exist on as zombies, then if they are killed again, they exist as ghosts, and then they pass away fully. she is an undead pirate captain that joe somehow manages to sway over to their side ahjbhfbjf,, she is hunting down the lost prince/king of Nacre.

wels is a pala-din (pal-ah-deen, rather than paladin), a sort of living marble statue that serves one of the gods in the pantheon.

scar is ofc, a wizard! it. it should be noted that wizards dont really exist in this world, people who perform and study magic are mages, not wizards,, "wizard" is kind of a weird term to use sjbdbjhfjjhb scar takes place of The Great Fantasmo in the podcast, and similarly has an invisible assistant! he doesnt seem to remember much of his past...

cubfan works in Velas, a fishing town where the story "begins" he does not enjoy talking to scar, and seems to be sad whenever hes around. perhaps scar reminds him of someone, or perhaps of better times...

tfc hes a priest aagsuijdjhkdgjdkihwhjvd i swear theres a reason for this later,, the role of the npc alyosha is somewhat split between tfc and cub!

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others i have thoughts on but im not settled on yet:

im debating having xisuma as part of the pantheon, but if not, he would be a druid so he can shapeshift into animals sjbakjnsnfjb he would take the general role of Fero in the story, but would also be kind of split with evil x, who captures... a certain stubbornness and deepset frustration Fero has in later times.

etho could take the place of Samol, the first god to exist. he is the embodiment of this world, and is kind of isolated and strange wbhshjhbdbhjdjbdkjn,, strange /pos. hes also. kind of dissapearing though... i wonder why :)

while theoratically i could have xisuma as samol cos. yknow. admin. i think the vibes and role just fit etho better

and... if i had etho as samol i think it could be fun to have doc and bdubs as other members of the pantheon, if u go with their dynamic from the start of s7 they even fit the divorced couple vibe two of the gods have /lh /hj (nho pantheon pog..? maybe. theres a total of 5 deities in the pantheon tho...)

im leaning toward either false + stress or maybe gem + pearl pairs for two of the goddesses in the pantheon, but thatd probably depend on if i can find a better place for them ;P

techno and phil take the role of red jack, and techno is a Huge Oni Dude >:] in canon red jack has a cool horse!!! it fits!! hes also. heavily implied to be kinda immortal?? anyway. im torn on this because techno and phil ALSO fit the roles of some of the player characters, with relation to the missing prince/king of Nacre but im still working things out,,

no matter whats up with them, ranboo takes the role of bluejay, redjacks son, meeting up with tubbo and tommy who take the place of benjamin, the son of one of the player characters. tubbo and tommy kind of. get sent to another dimension to keep them safe,,? and live in a lie for many years before they are brought back.

when i first thought about this au, i also thought about the whole. sending child off into fake dimension to live life, and of course. i thought about. grumbot ofc and originally planned to have mumbo or grian take the place of that player character abhdfvnbrvbn but it also implies one or both of them would be paladins (not pala-din! just the normal religious knight) AND have connections to tubbo and tommy which is. funny but ehhhh idk.

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and that. maybe probably somewhat incoherent train of thought is what i have for the au so far! its. still very much a work in progress so thank you if you stuck through all that!! ive still got a lot to think abt in the au,,,, lots to figure out ;P hopefully i can iron it out a bit more in the future, but its fun to think about for the time being

#goosegoes #not g/t #i lost so many words from this draft #i kept forgetting to save it #anyway its like 2am ajbanjkjrjhfjdk i should sleep #anon #again thank u for asking aabjhskjnjkrhjbrjhjk #even if u dont read all of that it means a lot that u showed interest 💛#obscure crossover au

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tomb-bloom-noctem · 3 years

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Were there any episodes in season 3 where you felt they could've been written better? I'm only asking because I had some ideas I wanted to share with people about fixing them since, to me, the season started becoming a mess around The Phantom and the Sorceress. And the episodes don't need to be outright bad, there could just be parts in it you didn't like.

Oof. I've been a bit loud and obnoxious about certain episodes for sure 😅 I'll try to briefly sum up a few.

Also I'm just gonna say, some of these are just I don't like what they did rather than any huge fundamental problems like the finale.

Also disclaimer. This is not an attack on anyone who likes these episodes! Nobody has to agree with me! If you like these episodes cool! Glad you got something out of it! This is just Tombs being a nit pick loud mouth.

Rumble for Ragnarok

I can't complain too much about this one as it was still entertaining. Norse is part of my heritage and I'm a fan of the mythology which was on full display this episode. My only real issue this episode is that the message gets a little lost at least on me. And then two is I think out of all the episodes this one is the one that could absolutely be thrown out without losing anything really important. Trade this episode for something different. Something more important.

The Forbidden Fountain of the Forever Glades

Scrooge's behavior and leaving Webby in the jungle was painful to watch. (Much as I don't like the finale twist, the twist actually makes this episode worse.) [Also so much for Goldie's "fresh start" when in Split Sword of Swanstitine later showed she once again attempted to double cross Scrooge. Yeah. Fresh start. Totallyyyy.] Goldie is a fun character and I can't hate her too much. The episode has its merits and definitely still think this episode should be around but Scrooge's behavior here really kills me. Thankfully at the end he does better but ugh. It's low on the overall ranking for me based on how he behaves and treats Webby.

New Gods on the Block

I actually really love this episode but Storkules was pissing me off too much 😂 Nit pick for sure. I love this himbo but got dangit he was making me so mad. I get it was kinda important for the overall plot but come on we got so little Donsy content that it was frustrating that he was so intrusive.

The First Adventure

Nit picking again. I think it's kinda random how in the span of a few hours a hard ass like Scrooge went from "my obnoxious niece and nephew" to "my heirs and beloved family." I guess it's possible but not a fan of that kind of writing. For me it would make more sense that they had several adventures or at least more time with them before they became "his heirs" in his eyes. Extreme nit picking on my part though, the episode isn't bad at all really. Also no Hortense and Quackmore. Yes they were named. (Or she was) No we never got to see them. Rude! This was actually a really good episode though overall again I just have some minor nit picks.

The Fight for Castle McDuck

Okay this one is also kind of a nit pick but it's more like based on the episode's timing. I think it is absolutely ridiculous that Webby "Knower of all things Clan McDuck" has no idea that a family of Scots fights a lot. I can somewhat forgive it though as she's young and isn't as familiar with this side of the family in the flesh. But it's so weird how this late into the show we're seeing this?? I think I would have liked this episode more if it had popped up earlier into season 3 rather than so late? It just was a kinda weird episode and not the most enjoyable but the timing I think made it worse. Also the no mention of Hortense again. Referring to Matilda as the youngest when that's supposed to be Hortense? It's really not the worst episode. It just feels a bit off to me and again to me mostly the timing of it. Could have been better, could have been worse.

How Santa Stole Christmas

THROW THIS EPISODE INTO THE FUCKING GARBAGE. HATE HATE HATE IT. THIS ONE ACTUALLY MAKES ME RAGE.

This episode is actually worse for me than the finale. Literally I consider this episode the worst in the series. I just hate it!!!

I hate that this episode was about Scrooge and Santa. I really don't give a fuck why Scrooge hates Santa and this story in no way compelled me. (Also why was Scrooge and Santa's dialog weirdly shippy??? Thanks to this episode got another huge NOtp, "scranta" is gross, sorry, hate it. Absolutely cannot board that ship at all, I have the tag blocked.) I see absolutely no reason why this was the story we got when there was literally an option to follow up The Last Christmas now that Della was finally home????? MISSED OPPORTUNITY!!! I hate the weird crazy ass capitalist message going on throughout the episode, I get Scrooge is a capitalist himself but he didn't change from this episode? He walked away from Jennifer's obvious poverty life and went "ah as long as she's happy" instead of I don't know, maybe a message about helping the less fortunate??

Look maybe I'm just bitter from my own life. I've lived in extreme poverty my whole life. My parents home has literally looked so much liked the ruined place Jennifer lived in during the episode. And I live in Alaska so I KNOW COLD. I know how it feels to go cold for days on end, no food, no water, nothing. Extreme poverty. Scrooge could have done something. He wasn't like Donald who doesn't have much either. He's a freaking billionaire. He could have helped. And instead the message he walked away with is "if you're happy life is fine" or something. Whatever the message that was supposed to be from this episode is completely lost on me because all I see is a miserable rich old miser who hates letting kids have fun and won't help someone in need. Absolute garbage episode. I really wish they had instead just followed up on The Last Christmas. Or had some kind of family centric episode at least! I seriously fucking hate this episode so much. I would legit erase this episode if I could it is the WORST.

The Lost Cargo of Kit Cloudkicker

Nit pick again. Didn't love what they did with Kit. Okay I get the idea he grew up to idolize Baloo so he turned out more like him. It...wasn't great. Didn't like that much at all. Felt like they just tried to shove Kit into a DT87/DWD Launchpad mold. I didn't love that Baloo and Kit's relationship was mentioned weirdly casually? Like Kit called himself Baloo's sidekick??? Except in Talespin Kit calls him Papa Bear??? Also great, got another tag to block from this episode, the delkit ship. Not a fan, thanks.

Kinda weird for me with this episode I didn't really catch the meaning of it. To me it felt like the message was "defy expectations...by meeting them." It didn't really click and I kinda hated it for that plus the weird characterization of Kit. Actually I was on Twitter and someone was complaining about this episode and I responded in agreement and then FRANK REPLIED TO US 😅😅😅. Frank explained that the point was more of "if you're good at something, don't give it up" rather than "you can do anything you set your mind to" type message that appears a lot in kids media. (Also Frank please don't look at me when I'm criticizing the show 😂😂😂😂😭 I promise overall I do love it I'm just a loud mouth when I don't like something some times 😅)

After Frank explained that it did click a little better and I can see the message a bit more clearly. But I'm still not really in love with this episode like I wanted to be. I freaking love Talespin so that was a bummer. But as I've said a dozen times. I'm mostly nit picking my personal opinion.

The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck

Another one I wanted to like more than I actually did. And mostly this boils down to Louie having to apologize to Doofus when Doofus is the one who's like some wild sociopath or something. I get it Louie hasn't been completely innocent towards Doofus. He did try to use him and con him but Doofus flat out has tried to hold him captive and torture and even kill him. Doofus' sins outweigh Louie's. Louie having to apologize to prevent the tension and all just...feels like victim blaming? This one is harder for me to describe why I don't like it and I think others have explained it better than me. I think it could have been better if Louie AND Doofus both apologized and agreed to start over and let what happened between them before be water under the bridge. At least this way they're equals? Maybe it wouldn't have been the best fix but I feel it would have been better than Canon. This one I don't want to call a nit pick. This one feels like there is something fundamentally wrong with it but I struggle to explain. Mostly other than that though I think the episode was fine. A little weird that the karma court scale needed to be told the villains hearts rather than able to just know them (mostly looking at the Ma Beagle one here) but that part is more nit pick.

And finally...The Last Adventure

I have things I love about it. The individual character moments. The references and call backs. The music. This finale was clearly made with love and care.

But that damn Webby clone daughter thing twist changes things. I know some people say it doesn't but to me it does! I feel it messed with the family dynamic and the characters in a needless way. I feel it didn't add anything to but rather did take away from. I don't wanna say too much on it as there's already been so much talk on it so in keeping it brief- not a fan, didn't like, why the hell, no.

The thing with Bradford kinda threw me off too. His logic and insistence on not being a villain made him so interesting. He was truly a villain to rival Scrooge. Then in my opinion he was pushed into a weird middle ground. He didn't feel like he completely abandoned what he previously stood on but also didn't go full villain either? I get a villain like Bradford isn't easy. The writers have to truly bring their all for someone like him. But Bradford suddenly getting armor and the Split Sword and becoming a battling giant was kinda ????? inducing. Threw me for a bit of a loop. I probably need to watch this episode a few more times before I finally settle on where I sit with the Bradford thing but at least at this time I just feel kinda mixed on it. Maybe I missed something there.

Other nit picks from the finale. Donald's writing was a little weird, he sounded like he was going on vacation but then Della said he was moving out and Donald talked like "well you have the boys and Uncle Scrooge..." it just really sounds like he's leaving the family?????????? Especially at a time like this? Rude! I mean yes somebody please get this man a vacation but the writing here left me kinda confused and there is no reason Donald would ever just leave and act like "oh well their mom is back so my work here is done." Nope. DADnald for life.

Lena and Webby never getting shown to have made up after their fight. I imagine the giving June and May the friendship bracelets kinda implies it but come on. Even just a hug would have been good. Also...why are they giving up their friendship bracelets??? Confused, not a fan.

And also...in addition to the Clone twist, I really don't love that April, May, and June were all clones instead of Daisy's nieces. I really wanted to get to see them in the show and now I just feel like thanks I hate it! I admire the guts to make a twist like this and all but I really hate it.

Overall please let me say I LOVE Ducktales. The show as a whole to me is a huge important thing I love. This isn't an attack on anyone who likes these episodes. I am just once again being loud and obnoxious with my own opinions and nit picks and things I just would have liked to see or not see.

no idea if any of this rambling answers your question Anon but here you go. Hope it works.

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #ducktales spoilers #season 3 #season finale #ducktales finale #ducktales season 3 #tomb talks #personal opinion #series finale #not attacking anyone #just speaking my mind #long post #ducktales criticism #ducktales critical

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welcometomy20s · 3 years

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January 10th, 2021

Action Button Review

Review

Tim Rogers reminds me of Hank Green. They are about the same age, they look about the same age which is a combination of young and old that feel eternal. They also have the same length of experience in writing in online spaces, interest in Japanese media, and apparently have Crohn’s disease? In summary, he might be the closest equivalent to Dave Green that exists in the real world. Well, I guess Dave Green is not apt, as Dave Green is not special in a way, while Tim Rogers is special, but his speciality comes from his failures rather than his counterparts' success.

Tim Rogers is a hypothetical Green brother who did not decide to publish that book. He’s a hypothetical Green brother who went to Japan instead of Alabama or Florida. Whose project crashed and burned rather than a surprise success. He’s forged in fire while the Green brothers are eroded by water. Both are wonderful people, but with a different ground of intensity and differing wealth of wisdom.

I encountered this series because I found a twitter post about a six hour review of Tokimeki Memorial, and a white middle-aged man talking about a dating sim for six hours with laudatory blurbs would always pique my interest, but since I didn’t know the guy, I went ahead and looked if he made other videos, and found he has four other review that were all about three hours or more. Now I knew that I had to watch all the reviews to prepare myself for this six hour review of Tokimeki Memorial.

Now, I wasn’t a stranger to three hour reviews of video games. I watched Joseph Anderson, Raycevick, Whitelight, matthewmatosis, and Noah Gervais-Caldwell. In fact, in the comments below Action Button Reviews, many people talked about a comparison to Noah Gervais-Caldwell (and Brian David Gilbert) and that was quite funny since I actually watched a recent Noah Gervais-Caldwell video.

His first two reviews were perfunctory, him opening himself up and trying out new things and polishing his review style, as he went through the Final Fantasy VII remake and The Last of Us. While I watched The Last of Us, I distinctly remembered and contrasted Noah’s The Last of Us Part 2 review with Tim Roger’s The Last of Us review. I liked Tim Roger’s defense of interactive movies (although he denies it!) contrasted with more cynical but ultimately positive connotation in Noah’s review. And Noah’s thesis pairs nicely with Tim’s observation that Ellie was the main protagonist all along. That fact makes Part 2 much more understandable, even the bad parts.

When I finished watch his first two reviews, I went ahead and also watched several of Tim’s videos on Kotaku, which were slightly shorter, the longest being just over an hour, which is a review of the best games in 1994, and does contain a short segment about Tokimeki Memorial, which his six hour review was my destination. To put in context, Tokimeki Memorial was #3. #1 was Earthbound, #2 was Final Fantasy VI, and #4 was Super Metroid. And I just watched a playthrough of Super Metroid basically on a whim, because it’s a monumental and a great game to play and watch.

And while the segment of the games that I knew to be great and monumental in my absorption of knowing video games was deeply personal and rightly claimed its stake that it deserved its spot, his segment of Tokimeki Memorial never got there. It was almost as if he was deliberately hiding behind something. In the end of 1994 review, Tim pitched an idea about a three hour Earthbound review, which probably was Tim’s idea of floating a departure from Kotaku, which would happen two months later, and I wonder if he was trying to deliberately throw a curveball by making a video of Tokimeki Memorial instead of the promised Earthbound review. This may be a far leap, I admit.

I went back and watched the video about Doom. It was much better in quality and in darkness. I was reminded of Film Crit Hulk’s writing of The World’s End and James Bond, another very long essay that was deeply personal and chapter for easier consumption. Few commenters noticed that Tim Rogers was just doing a dramatic reading of his written reviews on Kotaku and Action Button dot net, and how they liked that approach, and I found myself liking that approach as well. You might believe a video review needs more than just reading an essay out loud, but just the act of reading an essay out loud in the correct intonation and inflection adds ton to experience. And Tim Rogers sounds like he has decades worth of experience to present a dramatic reading of his essay very effectively, much like Hank Green.

I continued scaling the mountain to my goal. I went through his review of Pac-Man and was delighted by his reading of Namco games, and was impressed by the opening sequence, and just generally enjoyed it. I was getting excited to set a day aside and let the six hour review of Tokimeki Memorial watch over me and reduce me to dust.

And it sure did. That six hours was a harrowing experience. What Tim Rogers is best at is telling a story, and so to go through a let’s play was a wish I never made, fulfilled. In the end, I was left with nothing and everything. It was like finishing a really good book.

I wanted to watch it again, then again I never wanted to watch it again. It was almost a traumatic experience. Tim talked about there being endless variation of love, and the love Tim Rogers went through was not the fluffy yet melancholic one that I craved, but one akin to a devotion of an eldritch god. Love made in justification for one’s efforts in attending and maintaining a relationship. A love stronger than most kinds of love, but most draining and taxing as well. Tim Roger’s synopsis of Tennis Monster reminded me of Asking for It by Louise O’Neill, which is also about empathizing a quite hateable character because we kind of have to. Apparently one person knows the full plot because Tim Rogers rambled on about it as he was couch surfing in his house, and unbelieve as it usually is, I fully trust that the commenter is telling the truth.

I was like a heroin addict, who really wanted a different hit, like talking to friends or hiking, my mother wanted me to go hiking with her, and I didn’t because, after the pandemic started, all I wanted to be was inside. Outside felt diseased. The air outside felt contaminated to me, hard to breathe. I was stuck in this place.

Tim Rogers is an exceptional figure. He seems to be a movie protagonist, he reminds me of The Librarian, played by Noah Wyle. Tim has eidetic memory, as he has access every single autobiographical memory formed, but not other types of memory. We know that those types of memory are different because of people like Tim and people who are opposite of Tim, someone who has no memories of autobiographical memory but otherwise fine. These people tend to have very few emotions and have a hard time deciding things. Lack of emotions is correlated with difficulty in decision making.

So Tim is the opposite of that, Tim is full of emotions, complex emotions and he can make decisions and carry it out in a snap. He would be good at school, and he was, but he would be too focused on his grandeur to be under some authority, which is how he became who he was. His anti-authoritarian nature rings throughout his reviews, highlight the general Generation X vibe that Tim exudes but also the modern socialistic movement of Generation Z, which adds to this odd mix of old and new.

Not only does Tim have eidetic memory and intense work ethic that he never seems to move away from, therefore making a three hour video masterpiece at a clip that seems unbelievable for a seasoned viewer, he also has exceptional skills in fast math and language, he seems to be at least familiar with dozens of languages, and of course Tim’s experience is bounded by his decade of living in Japan.

I think this is why Tim naturally gravitates towards video games. When Tim says ‘welcome to video games’ there’s a natural supposition that Tim Rogers is the protagonist of video games, and I think he is. Tim wants to be in video games, because he needs to be in video games, instead of some almighty god cruelly deciding to plop him into a real life. He should be an video game adaptation of The Librarian and go on world-spanning adventure and romance impossibly beautiful girls instead of toiling the grime of what real life portends to. His life is dramatic, but impossibly mundane as well. It’s a simulacrum of a movie or a video game, which is pretty cool on its own.

But of course Tim Rogers isn’t the only part of Action Button Reviews. In the ensuing five videos, Tim Rogers tries to do something. Video games are a wide net. There is so much to video games, something like Gone Home and Geometry Dash are included alongside Wolfenstein The New Colossus and Farmville. What makes a video game? Actually, the more interesting question is, why do we have the term ‘video games’? Why do we put all of this mess into a single category, as if there is some throughline.

Tim Rogers starts to do that. Tim Rogers boldly states that things like Doom and Tokimeki Memorial are intimately connected to each other. And that all video games are in conversation with each other, through deep and complex meta-narratives. Tim Rogers is a cartographer, trying to map out how video games are made whole.

I’ve always strived to be that kind of a cartographer, to showcase the weave of reality, of connecting two seemingly unconnected parts, and showing to a profound implication both existing, instead of one or the other. If you don’t know, I have been trying to write something out of my current obsession with Virtual YouTubers, and mostly Hololive, and while I think I stumbled upon the six hour video review of Tokimeki Memorial outside of my interest in virtual YouTubers, this video, as I expected in the back of my head, gave me plenty of thoughts about Hololive. Its rumination of cyberpunk and idol culture is so directly connected with the peculiarities of Hololive that I was quite astounded.

From the very beginning, I wonder how Tim Rogers thinks about Hololive, especially after he has done that six hour review. I’m sure he will have a lot of interesting thoughts about the prospect. I want to get in contact with him, maybe work under him. But then I don’t want to hang out with him. I want to be near him as he talks to a crowd at a party, but I don’t feel safe to be near him when there’s less than ten people nearby. I think below ten, I would be swept in some danger that I won’t be prepared for.

Tim Rogers and Action Button Review is a fascinating review series and if you have the time, I suggest you should take the journey. It’s well worth it, just to get a different perspective on video games and the world around it.

#action button #tim rogers #video games #web video #review

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mondobuttrr · 3 years

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High Rise: Invasion Review

Ok this review will have spoilers so if you haven’t finished watching the show or that you didn’t watch it and you want to don’t read this yet.

So after watching the hyped-up High rise invasion I was left with disappointment. I feel the show was overhyped to the max.

Story: So the story itself was interesting when I was watching it in the beginning so I don't have many complaints. The story albeit very similar to Darwin's Game and Future Diary was still unique in its rights. For example, the mask system is a very unique and interesting idea. However, in the short time span of the first season, it seemed rushed. The mask system (warning I will be explaining how the system works from my understanding so there might Be spoilers) has four different masks from what we saw in the anime. The masks also felt like it was complicated but lacked explanation.

Mask Types

The happy mask or the smiling mask. This mask has two eyes and a smile people with these masks are called angels. These masks can be controlled by people who are closer to god.

The angry mask or the mask with a frown are referred to as guardian angels whom jobs are to stop the people who are closer to god

The mouth less mask is the mask that can turn people into people closer to god

The mask with a smile and a star on the forehead I forget its name (I wasn't really paying attention ) so they get a power-up and become really bulky and more powerful than the usual mask user.

Another thing about the story that I complained about was that I didn't really understand the separate realm and how people got there. I think this show is going to get a season two especially because of so many people watching it. So if there is a second season then maybe the world building will be better, because the foundation is there it just had minimal focus.

Animation: This might be an unpopular opinion to some but I actually really liked this show animation. Sure it wasn't really mind blowing or original but I still liked it. The style looked clean and the character designs themselves looked great. The way the masks are drawn so that even with them on people still look so attractive is amazing. However it does has its flaws, one of them being the fan service. Now this isn't the animator’s fault they were probably just told to draw it but it is still going under animation. This is because there’s nowhere else to put it, so the fan service for a lot of people kinda ruined the show. It didn't ruin the show for me but I understand how it did for others. The fan service is so excessive every episode you would see someone’s underwear or bra or even both! For Example, Mayuko had her shirt ripped open for the majority of the show, and Yuri would always take off her shirt and we would see her and Mayuko’s underwear all the time. The show does this to most if not all their female characters and it’s really unwanted.

Sound: Now I can't talk much about the sound of the show because I don't know much about shows’ soundtracks and how they should be. But when watching the soundtrack is boring they have a good sound sometimes but overall it’s forgettable. The opening and endings are ok they're not amazing but they're not bad either.

Characters: So the characters this is my whole reason for making this review because the characters are written weirdly. I need to get my thoughts out on them because they confuse me, not like the characters are complex in any way they are just written weirdly. Let me explain so I will start with the main character Yuri Honjo. Yuri is the most boring main character I've seen in a while and that’s saying something. Yuri has one goal at the beginning that is to find her brother. But then her goal changes to trying to destroy this realm and bring peace, then it’s back to her brother and it goes back and forth. She is so wishy-washy that it makes my head spin how fast she switches up my gosh. Now, this isn't the worst thing about her but it’s definitely the most confusing and annoying. Yuri also is shown to be so perfect everyone thinks she is except herself and I hate characters like that. She reminds me of a Mary sue character, shes perfect she has no consequences for her actions everyone loves her who is not a villain and now she has powers that make her like op when she controls them. I probably would've like Yuri more if she never got the ability to be a person closer to god. But nope she got it and now a smidgen of her originality is gone. (I'm sorry about my rant on Yuri it’s just she bothers me so much) this is just how I saw her as a character and I know that my opinion is very unpopular you can like her if you want. Now on to the other characters so we have my favorite character Mayuko Nise. Mayu is a tsundere (I love tsunderes so I'm biased sorry) however she only has one goal and Yuri is very one-note. That goal is to protect Yuri no matter what, now characters who have a strong drive to protect others aren’t bad per se. It’s just that, that’s all there is to her she has no other goal she pulled a full 180 on how she was at first. Ok that was an exaggeration but still, I like her but she is a prime example of the problems with the other characters except for Rika and Sniper mask. The problem is that the characters seem so one-dimensional. Rika is another character I like a lot because his drive and personality are good and he just makes sense. Sniper mask contraindicates the statement I made before about the characters not being complex because he is complex. He is the most complex character now I also think Rika if explored more in the second season can be complex like Sniper mask too. Sniper’s goals wanting to know who he is his bond with Rika and how the world works are so well written. Now I will stop this super long rant on the characters like golly I wrote a lot.

Overall: It’s ok. it was over hyped so my expectations were way too high that’s my fault but it’s still underwhelming. it is just a show with a concept that is seen over and over and over again and basic characters where most of them lack depth. The animation ok I like it a lot but it’s nothing special same thing with the character designs. Is it worth a watch yes is it worth a re watch you decide I just think this show was ok at best and meh at worst.

#high rise invasion #sniper mask #mayuko nise #yuri honjo

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misha-moose-dean-burger-lover · 3 years

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anyone wanna hear the story of how i found out supernatural was ending and proceeded to have the worst morning of my life?

(super-excessive rambling ahead. do not read the whole of it.)

so i don't remember the date but it was the day of my english 10th board exam. boards are like a series of subject finals, kinda the biggest exams conducted in a student's education in india, plus they're nationalized. so yeah, a massively big deal, and obviously the first thing i do waking up on this massively important day is open tumblr. there are about seventy messages and i'm confused cause i think i barely "talked" to ten people back then, but before i've even checked them out, the first post i see is a textpost about how the longest running joke universally across fandoms is that 'spn has been going on way too long and needs to end' but now that it is ending, all people can do is cry about it. for some reason, i don't process that post as fact™, assuming they mean a general "ending" instead of a "j2m announced last season" ending. anyways i move on to my messages, and all of them are people who've freaking the fuck out for at least a few hours (the advantages of being in a timezone different from of most people) and i go to my activity, still stunned, and someone's tagged me in a meta of some kind, and i check it out completely dazed and it's got gifs (already!) of the three of them standing there with teary eyes and jensen actually saying the words everyone had been screaming about in the chats, and it finally hits me that it's ending, supernatural is ending, it's going to be OVER, and it's already been decided when. obviously, the tears start, and literally crying in my bed, still under the comforter, i think i watched the video twice, without headphones in fact, which is extremely weird because i virtually NEVER do that, but as if anything else mattered at the moment!

i don't remember what all i felt in those moments but one of the thoughts that REALLY stood out was that i wish, wish, wish it lasted just one more year — so maybe supernatural could end at the same time as highschool ended for me, and it'd feel like the end of a phase of my life, but no, according to what they predicted (and not even kidding, now it's even worse) supernatural was going to end smack in the middle of senior year for me, obviously a super important, super stressful year, and god, i wished so hard it'd just go on ONE MORE YEAR somehow but look what happened now it's ending like three months before my college entrance exams and the competitive engineering exams and shit which is just absolutely perfect because it's doing wonders to my attention span and mental health and yeah i'm getting off topic i'm gonna come back to the topic now

it's two am rn and i'm weirdly tired of typing so what happens next is fucking wild, but i'm gonna hurry because i need to go cry some more into a pillow or a ao3 tab or something. so like a whole HOUR later i get up from bed. i've got to get dressed and shit, most important exam of my life YET and everything. so i start brushing, obviously scrolling through tumblr, obviously failing to not cry, and my mum walks in, and she doesn't know a thing about supernatural (even if she did, she would consider the idea of me crying over them announcing an ending RIDICULOUS) so she just assumes i'm sniffling and tensed up because i'm STRESSED and she tries reassuring me like i need fucking reassurance for ENGLISH of all things. anyway anyway anyway i have maggi for breakfast i think and i'm still pretty out of it and stuff but i get dressed in my uniform and put on the fucking blazer though its HOT outside but i like wearing the school blazer for exams but i underestimated how much of a physically draining effect the news and reacting to it would have on me, so then there's me sweating literal buckets and then we set off.

we're already late in leaving the house (why, i don't remember) and once we're at the centre, and my parents have dropped me off and wished me luck, i go to the gate, right. and THEN the guard gestures to my uniform and tells me i'm missing my fucking class ID. now i know i'm late so i panic on cue because shit shit shit i'm gonna be even more late, and i legit turn and look for mum and dad (we weren't allowed to carry our mobiles for the test) and what i see is that they've reversed the car and are about to drive out the gate and obviously my brain isn't really working so i fucking RUN AFTER THE CAR, like, i'm really not an athletic person, i avoid running as much as i possibly can, and i fucking lose my shit and chase the car down in like ten seconds of running cause it's only like ten metres away actually but the highlight of it all is that i run. in a public space. unprompted. with a shitload of emotions and anxiety and panic, and i basically almost sob in relief when dad immediately stops the car and pretty much pulls me in and tells me to stop worrying cause the house is like ten minutes away and i might miss the general waiting part and stuff but i wasn't gonna miss the exam. so THEN we start driving back and obviously because they are who they fucking are, they start arguing about which of them is at fault for this and who was supposed to check in on me carrying my seriously important ID and other crap, and then obviously they're yelling and that does even more wonders for my state of practically hysteria, but i hold it together until we get home and i get the ID (which is on the bed, probably was under my blazer or something) and we set back off, and i know we're late, and i know supernatural is ending, and i know it's going to take a part of me really, and mum and dad just won't stop yelling at each other about god knows what, and i manage to squeeze in the first time in SO many years that i cry in front of my parents right there in the backseat, and they're sort of stunned because i really don't cry (in front of people) and then there's just me losing it in a mixture of helplessness and nerves and anger for some reason and just. whoa.

ANYWAYS we get to the centre (in time for the exam, but like fifteen minutes later than i SHOULD have gotten there) and dad talks to the teacher and stuff and it works out because obviously it's a really important exam they're not going to make me skip it, and i go straight to my classroom — also did i mention these exams aren't held in our own schools but like, different test centres, so basically a different room and desk each day in a different school from mine, ugh, i hate new places — and i find out i have the FIRST bench of the second column which lowkey sucks because it's too public really, but at least my best friend's sitting like diagonally from me on the left, and my friends are basically sprinkled around the classroom as well and i see them eyeing me worriedly cause they were scared i might miss the exam but also because i was a MESS with bloodshot eyes and an outofit look in them and did i mention i was sweating like a dog all this time wearing a blazer because i'm just that idiot because yeah.

so then i calm myself down the best i can. sitting under a fan helps, taking off my stupid blazer helps, and seeing dish (beforementioned best friend) helps — because apparently she heard about the ending too (she's not in the fandom she just keeps up with news for my sake, yes, im very lucky to have her) and tries to cheer me up about it, but then it's time for the paper, and they give them out and...yeah.

three hours later, the exam ends, and i step out of that hall the most mentally exhausted i've been in YEARS. also i swear off tumblr until i've had lunch and napped and stuff because i was also functioning on extremely little sleep but i really think that part was obvious.

as it goes, i ended up getting a 95% in that paper :)

but to this date, my sister jokes about how i ended up getting my personal least marks of that year in english of all subjects which was supposed to be of my strongest suit heh all because of a six-ish minute video released in a different part of the world about something that wasn't even going to happen that year...and like. yeah.

that's it.

that's the story.

#you're advised not to engage #this gets long and messy #even though it's something i'm not mad about rn #but dee thought this would be a good way to release the sheer weight of supernatural ending tomorrow off my heart so yeah #i ranted my ass off #tw rant #ish?#personal #to delete

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transarchivist · 4 years

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do you have any podcasts recs? I want to listen to archive 81 but I need some backup and I've already listened to the more "famous" ones, like all of them I binge podcasts like they pay me for me it ajsjjshfje

!!!! ok i'm sorry it's taken me a hot minute to get to you BUT i think i have a good amount of reccomendations :o

these first few are kinda "famous" but i thought i'd point em out just in case! some of them ended a few years ago and they were more well known back when they were running

wolf 359: gotta point this one out juuuust in case you haven't listened to it! amazing sci fi... would drama be the right word? it's very intense and has some really interesting meditations on morality and the self But it's also so extremely funny. complete, ended in 2017

ars paradoxica: america during the cold war, the red scare, intense government conspiracies.... And Time Travel! complicated but amazing plot and a big cast- i would recommend not pausing and listening to something else, it gets complex! mischa stanton directed it so you Know it has stellar sound design (added bonus: lgbt main characters) complete, ended in 2018

the bright sessions: people with superpowers go to therapy! plus: shadowy capitalistic conspiracies, amazing romances and phenomenal character development! i'm not a fan of romances and i Loved the ones here (it's not heavily romance focused though!) (added bonus: lgbt main characters + main lgbt romance) complete, ended in 2018. i think a spin off series is running rn tho!

the adventure zone: this isn't an audio drama, it's an actual play d&d podcast! the first season (balance) is amazing- hilarious and heart wrenching! (the heart wrenching takes a while to kick in but MAN it's so good) the first season ended in 2017. i haven't finished the second big season (amnesty) but i loved what i did listen to, same with the currently running season (graduation)

sayer: starts off as sinister night vale but with an ai and in space, evolves into a complicated save-the-world plot concerning several ais. it's in second person and it's Amazing! lots of meditations on the self and personhood. currently on hiatus but will be ending when it resumes

alice isn't dead: from the people who did night vale! starts as a trucker trying to find her wife, evolves to include shadowy government conspiracies and the power of regular people banding together. ending made me tear up it's really good! it's Big on the horror (the first ep is the only podcast that's ever truly scared me and it continues to scare the shit out of me to this day) but its Extremely Good Horror. very americana too! complete, ended in 2018.

ok that's the more well known ones out of the way, i think? i'm not too confident about how well known some of them are nowadays ^^' all i can say is that i heard abt them frequently in 2016. now onto the lesser known ones ! the ones that are complete are generally pretty short listens (relatively- they're still a good handful of hours at the least)

zero hours: by the wolf 359 people, it's a short anthology that released all at once last year. to pharaphrase/quote the official blurb: each episode is a take on the end of the world, whether the apocalypse is planetary or personal. each episode is separated by 99 years, starting in the past (1722) reaching the present and then overtaking it. surprisingly hopeful ending, made me <:')

i am in eskew: you've probably heard me holler about this before- it follows the trials and tribulations of david ward, who lives in the nightmarish and otherworldly city of eskew. 30 episodes long and complete, with a phenomenal ending! i can't rave about this enough i could Keep talking but i'll cut myself short. it's horror and it's damn good horror! does deal with extremely heavy topics, please be careful!

janus descending: sci fi horror with what has to be the most interesting formatting i've seen in ages: the two points of view alternate each episode... but one is chronological and one is backwards! amazingly done, keeps you guessing until the end! complete. follows peter and chel as they undertake a survey mission on an alien planet

midnight radio: made by @/theradioghost! big on the idea that "all ghost stories are love stories". a 1950s radio hostess gets letters from a fan. horror, big on the 1950s aesthetics, focus on the relationship between one and one's hometown. lovely ending! it's sapphic too :]

the far meridian: by the same people who did ars paradoxica! follows peri, a bit of a hermit who has extreme social anxiety, who lives in a lighthouse that suddenly begins to teleport. each morning peri wakes up and the lighthouse is in a different place! there are like... some horror elements? kinda? but it's not intense imo. it mainly follows peri learning to cope with her anxiety & helping others, with each episode usually having a one off encounter (usually pretty strange!) often has wholesome vibes. s3 is currently in production and is the final season. plus: lgbt characters, and kinda spoilers but peri uses a cane later on!

old gods of appalachia: honestly it's what it says on the tin! a collection of short stories set in historical appalachia that deal with entities beyond human understanding. they're good about trigger warnings, but it's Horror. produced by actual appalachians! stellar music, a Lot strong female characters, and a good amount of lgbt rep! killer music!! it's currently releasing but the latest short story is finished. (do listen in order though!)

the deep vault: by the archive 81 team! in an "almost-post-apocalyptic" america a group of friends chase a rumor about a secret hidden vault, only to Find it! follows the group as they traverse the deep vault. horror, actively points out capitalism a Lot, definetly has an interesting ending! amazing sound design, which is to be expected from dan powell!

tides: the official blurb is short and sweet: "tides is the story of dr. winnifred eurus, a xenobiologist stuck on an unfamiliar planet with hostile tidal forces". extremely snarky and endearing main character and fascinating worldbuilding! i don't know the status of s2, but s1 was really good!

limetown: follows one lia haddock, a public radio reporter, as she tries to unravel the mystery of what happened at limetown. all she knows is that 10 years prior, over 300 men, women and children vanished. horror, mystery, and some sci fi elements. presented in a found footage kinda way. i really enjoyed it, especially the first season. complete.

mabel: horror (big on the haunted house type specifically), sapphic romance, fun take on the fair folk/fae! follows anna limon, an in home carer who's trying to get in touch with her client's estranged granddaughter. evolves into a big fae-horror-romance-thing! really interesting romance tbh. amazing imagery and prose- lots of prose + almost poetry, but it's really good i promise. currently on a post season hiatus

spines: horror but it evolves past just horror in an interesting way (keeping the horror bits, of course). follows wren, who woke up in an attic surrounded by the remains of a cult ritual without any memories of who she is or what she was doing. she searches for answers, encountering creepy shit along the way. really interesting take on the super-secret-organization-that's-always-been-there trope! really good ending. one of the main characters is nonbinary + there's other lgbt main characters.

mirrors: by the people who did spines. also starts as horror but evolves past just horror (it's also sci fi). follows three women in three different centuries who are all experiencing the same haunting. phenomenal take on ghosts! like i can't articulate how cool this angle on ghosts is! s3 is supposed to start this year :] one of the main characters is sapphic, and her wife is a supporting character.

the six disappearances of ella mccray: also by the people who did spines and mirrors. evolves past just horror but keeps more of the horror elements? follows the 6 povs of the people who witnessed the surreal disappearance of ella mccray. each saw something different and surreal, and as they search for her, surreal things start happening to them. unsure abt the status of s3 but s1 and s2 are really good! lgbt main characters, including a trans lesbian (played by a trans woman!)

the bridge: horror. follows the crew of watchtower 10 on the transcontinental bridge that spans across the atlantic ocean. i listened to it back in like 2016-2017 so my memory is hazy, but i remember really enjoying it! currently on hiatus.

within the wires: sci fi... horror..? i listened to the first season a few years ago and enjoyed it and i've continued to hear really good things. it's by the people who make night vale! my memory isn't great but iirc the first season is a sort of romance that's formatted as a set of relaxation/meditation cassettes. it's a few seasons in and i think each is generally self contained, im unsure if it's currently running or not

the orbiting human circus of the air: also by the night vale people! again i listened to this a few years ago so im hazy. follows julian the janitor who works at a radio station that broadcasts from the top of the eiffel tower! surreal but in a wholesome way, iirc! i remember tearing up with happy tears at the s1 finale ^^' really good music! i think the second(?) season ended recently

stellar firma: i've only listened to a handful of episodes, but i've liked what i've heard. sci fi improv comedy that follows the newly made clone david 7 and the mess that is trexel geistman as they try and design custom planets. i think it's currently running but i dunno

rusty quill gaming: also another one that i've only listened to a few episodes of. actual play pathfinder (basically d&d) podcast set on an alternate earth. alex newall (martin's voice actor) is the dm. i've heard really good things from a lot of people! i think it's currently running but again i don't know for sure

right! that's. that's what i got.

i mentioned @/theradioghost earlier (shes behind midnight radio) but i would absolutely recommend looking at her rec list tag! she has impeccable taste

#ask #anon #podcast recs #cae speaks #mine #long post #<- incase the read more doesnt work

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f9-movies-fox · 3 years

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Released: 2021-04-01 Runtime: 145 minutes Genre: Action, Thriller Stars: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, John Cena, Charlize Theron, Jordana Brewster Director: Sanja Milkovic Hays, Clayton Townsend, Gary Scott Thompson, Neal H. Moritz, Vin Diesel

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🎅 THE STORY 🎅 As a more extensive assortment of scholars started to work with cyberpunk ideas, new subgenres of sci-fi arose, playing off the cyberpunk name, and zeroing in on innovation and its social impacts in an unexpected way. Numerous subsidiaries of cyberpunk are retro-advanced, in view of on the modern dreams of past times, or later extrapolations or distortions of you see, the innovation of those times. Recorded period dramatization: a work happen a previous time span, normally utilized with regards to film and TV. It offers sentiments, experience movies, and swashbucklers. A period piece might be happen an obscure or general time like the Middle Ages or a particular period, for example, the Roaring Twenties. A strict work can qualify as period dramatization be that as it may, not as authentic show. presents an alternate story and an alternate arrangement of characters in every scene. These typically have an alternate cast each week, however a few arrangement already, for example, Four Star Playhouse, utilized a never-ending company of character entertainers who might arrive in an alternate show every week. Some compilation arrangement, for example, Studio One, initiated on radio and afterward extended to TV. Writing that centers around packs, criminal associations offering an even of association, and assets that help a lot greater and more specialized criminal exchanges than an individual criminal could accomplish. Hoodlums will be the subject of numerous films, especially from the time somewhere in the range of 1930 and 1960. A restoration of hoodlum type films happened since the 1990s with the blast of hip-bounce culture. Dissimilar to the previous hoodlum films, the more current movies share comparable elements to the more seasoned movies yet is more in a hip-bounce metropolitan setting. This term has periodically depicted a subgenre of theoretical fiction that is like steampunk, however digresses in its innovation. Much like steampunk, it depicts trend setting innovation dependent on pre-present day plans, yet rather than the steam intensity of the Industrial Age, the innovation utilized depends on springs, precision and comparable. Clockpunk is arranged seriously on crafted by Leonardo da Vinci and accordingly, it truly is regularly set during the Renaissance. It is believed to be a sort of steampunk. Like collection of memoirs, other than it truly is told more “from memory”, for example it is the manner in which the individual actually recollects and feels about their life or a phase inside their life, more than the specific, recorded data on that period. In spite of the fact that journals will in general be more abstract than personal history works, diaries are normally still viewed as verifiable works. There are additionally some fiction works that indicate to be the “journals” of anecdotal characters aswell, done in a comparable style, notwithstanding, they are in another type from their genuine partners. A spine chiller in which a lawbreaker or band of crooks imagines and executes a significant theft. The robbery as a rule includes accessing assets put away in a high-security area, and the criminals might utilize ploy to fool their way into or potentially out from the fortification. 🎅 COPYRIGHT CONTENT 🎅 Copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to make copies of a creative work, usually for a limited time.[1][2][3][4][5] The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself.[6][7][8] A copyright is subject to limitations based on public interest considerations, such as the fair use doctrine in the United States. Some jurisdictions require “fixing” copyrighted works in a tangible form. It is often shared among multiple authors, each of whom holds a set of rights to use or license the work, and who are commonly referred to as rights holders.[citation needed][9][10][11][12] These rights frequently include reproduction, control over derivative works, distribution, public performance, and moral rights such as attribution.[13] Copyrights can be granted by public law and are in that case considered “territorial rights”. This means that copyrights granted by the law of a certain state, do not extend beyond the territory of that specific jurisdiction. Copyrights of this type vary by country; many countries, and sometimes a large group of countries, have made agreements with other countries on procedures applicable when works “cross” national borders or national rights are inconsistent.[14] Typically, the public law duration of a copyright expires 50 to 100 years after the creator dies, depending on the jurisdiction. Some countries require certain copyright formalities[5] to establishing copyright, others recognize copyright in any completed work, without a formal registration. It is widely believed that copyrights are a must to foster cultural diversity and creativity. However, Parc argues that contrary to prevailing beliefs, imitation and copying do not restrict cultural creativity or diversity but in fact support them further. This argument has been supported by many examples such as Millet and Van Gogh, Picasso, Manet, and Monet, etc.[15] 🎅 ADAPTATION 🎅 Sadly, not everything is accessible to be unadulterated and strictly artistic in the film as I Still Believe gets overloaded with a few significant purposes of analysis and execution in the component. In what way? First off, the film feels a little inadequate in Jeremy Camp’s excursion. What’s introduced works (to some degree), in any case it doesn’t hold up, particularly becausae the Erwin Brothers have a troublesome us in making certain about the best possible story way for the film to take. Obviously, the string of Jeremy and Melissa are the fundamental focal center (and legitimately so), however essentially all that else gets totally pushed aside, including Jeremy’s melodic vocation ascend to fame and a few of the different characters and their significance (more on that underneath). This likewise makes the film have a specific pacing issues through the whole film, with I Still Believe run us of 6 minutes (one hour and 56 minutes) feeling longer than it must be, particularly with exactly how much story that the Erwin Brothers avoid (for example a few plot lumps/parts are left unanswered or missing). Moreover, regardless of whether a watcher doesn’t know about Jeremy Camp’s story, us does, regardless, follow a sensibly unsurprising way that is very standard for religious film. Without perusing anything about the genuine existences of Jeremy and Melissa preceding seeing the component, it’s plainly concerning where the story is going and precisely what will eventually play out (for example plot beats and dramatic account act Bookmark this siteprogression). Essentially, on the off chance that you’ve seeing several Christian religious film, you’ll realize very well what’s in store from us. Along these lines, the Erwin Brothers don’t generally attempt to inventively accomplish something diversely with the film… . rather they strengthen the optimisms of Christian and of confidence in an equation based account way that turns out to be very customary and almoBookmark this sitest somewhat languid. Addititionally there is the moBookmark this present sitevie’s discourse and content dealing with, which gets dangerous in the film’s execution, which is hampered by some wooden/constrained exchange at specific scenes (getting extremely sermonizing and messy at us) in addition to the sensation of the film’s story being somewhat deficient. There’s a halting point where the Erwin Brothers choose, however I felt that there could’ve more added, remembering more development for his musaic vocation and a few different characters. At that point there might be the idea of the film being very common in its allure, which is truly justifiable, yet depends overweight on its strict topical messages which can be somewhat “off-putting” for a couple. It didn’t trouble me so much, yet subsequent to seeing other religious films preceding this (for example I Can Only Imagine, Overcomer, Indivisible, and so forth), this particular film doesn’t generally ascend to Cursed in Love and falls prey to being somewhat nonexclusive and level for practically the entirety of its run us. As you can envision, us, while surely genuine and important in its narrating, strules to locate a glad equilibrium in its story and execution introduction; ending up being troublesome in passing in general “higher perspective” of its message and Jeremey Camp’s excursion.

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ambrosiaicecreem · 3 years

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93 Fun OC Asks Because Why Not ( Pt 2 / 2 )

oops i’ve had this sitting in my drafts so lets go ahead and finish! courtesy of @natolesims

PHYSICAL PROFILE cont:

47. What’s their pain tolerance like?

Extremely high, due to being a vampire.

48. Do they have any tattoos? What are the stories behind those tattoos?

No tattoos

49. Do they have any piercings?

Just one on both her ears.

50. How would you describe their style of clothing? How would they describe their style of clothing?

EXPENSIVE. If it looks like it came off a runway, odds are it might have just been from the runway.

51. What is their height? Weight?

Serafina is 6 ft and 165 lbs

52. What is their body type? Are they muscular, chubby, skinny, etc?

Toned and slender

53. What is their hair color? Eye color? Skin tone?

Serafina has dark brown hair, red eyes, and dark brown skin.

54. What is their current hairstyle? What have been some of their past hairstyles? Which was their favorite hairstyle?

Her current hairstyle is long, thick, wavy brown hair that reaches her lower back. She’s gone through plenty of hairstyles, all depending on what was current for what time period. Her favorite is her natural curls pulled into a ponytail.

55. What is their alcohol tolerance like? What kind of drunk are they? How bad are their hangovers?

Being a vampire, she’s got a slightly higher alcohol tolerance than a human. She definitely doesn’t get drunk easily, but she’s a loud giddy drunk. Her hangovers are terrible though. She’s in a shit mood and refuses to talk to anybody until she’s over it.

56. What do they smell like? Why do they smell like this? Is it the things they’re around or a perfume they wear?

Serafina totally uses perfume. Her go to is Giorgio Armani Si Eau de Parfum, which smells like blackcurrant nectar, rose, and white cedarwood.

57. How do they feel about sex? Are they a virgin?

Serafina is not one to be shy about sex. She doesn’t view it as a big deal, but its because she separates sex and making love. She’s had PLENTY of sexual partners before, but she’s only truly made love to a select few where she allows herself to be vulnerable and not in control.

58. What is their most noticeable physical attribute?

Her height and her eyes

59. What does their resting face look like? Do they have RBF?

She’s got THE RBF. She’s where Kass inherited hers from.

60. Describe the way they sleep.

Serafina prefers to sleep in big beds, no smaller than Queen.

ENVIRONMENT:

61. Which season is their favorite season?

Summer

62. Have they ever been betrayed? How did it affect their ability to trust others?

She’s totally been betrayed multiple times throughout her long life. Overall, she doesn’t trust people very easily. Being a mother has made her a bit more softer and open to trusting others, but she still has her walls up regardless.

63. What is always guaranteed to make them smile?

Her kids. Always.

64. Do they get cold easily? Do they get overheated easily?

Right in the middle. Not too hot, not too cold.

65. What’s their immune system like? Do they get sick often? How do they react to getting sick?

Vampire immune systems are different than human’s. It’s not often she gets sick, so she’s usually surprised when she does. She usually hides away in her room until she feels better.

66. Where do they live? Do they like it there?

As seen in the Season 1 finale, Serafina has moved to New Brando to be close to her kids. She thinks its nice, but she’ll always prefer her home island out of everywhere she’s lived.

67. Is their bedroom messy? What about their bathroom? Kitchen? Living room?

Mess doesn’t exist in Serafina’s house if she has anything to say about it. But unfortunately, she does live with 9 year old twin boys, so it’s expected sometimes.

68 & 69. How did their environment and the people in their environment growing up affect their personality?

She loves the outdoors. Specifically, she loves island life. It’s part of why she was able to make Jamaica her home so quickly. She prefers to be surrounded by plants and water if at all possible. Due to her upbringing amongst the Amazons, she’s headstrong, confident, and has the skills to be a leader.

70. How do they feel about animals? Do they have any pets?

Serafina doesn’t really have much of an opinion on animals. She doesn’t feel the need to have a pet, especially a domesticated animal like a cat or a dog. If she had to have one though, she’d want some tropical bird. She does have an aquarium full of fish in her house, just for the kids.

71. How are they with children? Do they have any? Do they want any?

Serafina’s pretty mixed when it comes to kids. She’s had MANY children over the span of her life. Even before her kids with Silas, actually. She only ever really saw it as repopulating the island for generations of new Amazons. She never truly grew attached to any of them UNTIL she began to have kids with Silas. Ajax is the first son she’s actually even raised herself. She’s perfectly content with the kids that she has now, and adamantly refuses to have any more.

72. Would they rather have stability or comfort?

Comfort

73. Do they prefer indoors or outdoors?

Outdoors

74. What weather is their favorite? Do they like storms?

Ironic since she’s a vampire, but sunny weather for sure. Storms are a nuisance more than anything.

75. If given a blank piece of paper, a pencil, and nothing to do, what would happen?

She’d come up with a list of things that she needs to do for the house.

76. How organized are they?

Extremely organized. Everything has its place.

77. What is their most prized possession?

She’s kept a drawing that Helene made for her of their family at the time. It was just before Serafina began her affair and before her relationship with Helene deteriorated the first time around. It’s a reminder of simpler times, really.

78. Who do they consider to be their best friend?

This may come as a surprise.. but Silas. The feeling may not be mutual, but their relationship truly was at its best when they were just friends with each other and not at all in a romance. She would trust Silas with her life, her family’s life, and all of her secrets.

79. What is their economic situation?

LOADED. It comes from 1. Being alive for nearly 3,000 years and having a bunch of treasures from history and 2. Being a doctor.

80. Are they a morning person or a night owl?

Night Owl

MISCELLANEOUS:

81. Are they bothered by the sight of blood?

Not at all.

82. What is their handwriting like?

Just like everything else, her handwriting has to be perfect. It’s quick cursive, but not messy. Always done with a pen, as well.

83. Can they swim? How well? Do they like to swim?

She’s extremely good at swimming, considering she swam in a storm to save both of the Montolvo brothers all by herself.

84. Which deadly sin do they represent best?

Pride

85. Do they believe in ghosts?

“If vampires can exist, anything can exist.”

86. How do they celebrate holidays? Birthdays?

She LOVES to throw parties. Whatever occasion she can, she’ll do it. It’s a whole different story though when it comes to her birthday. For one, she doesn’t even remember her actual birth date so her kids just picked one for her. She just doesn’t think her “birthday” is all that special, but she’d do everything to make everybody else’s birthdays special.

87. What is something they regret?

The affair. Now, she doesn’t regret falling in love with Vittorio or anything like that, but she wishes she had just handled everything differently. Her relationship with her kids and Silas would have been so much different if she had just been honest from the start.

88. Do they have an accent?

Yes.. but it’s kinda like two accents in one? There’s her Greek one, but then it sorta started to blend in just slightly with a Jamaican one. You can really only hear it if you’re paying attention, but once you’ve noticed you can’t unhear it.

89. What is their D&D alignment?

Chaotic Neutral

90. Are they right or left handed?

Left

91. If they were a tweet, what tweet would they be?

92. Describe them as a John Mulaney gif.

93. What’s the most iconic line of dialogue they’ve ever said?

"Mommy’s home.”

#answered asks #aic: the montolvos extras #ask games #serafina myrina

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jisssooyah · 4 years

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Hi you... if you were going to curate a little season of films for me, which ones would you choose and why? They don't need to be horror, I'm just curious what you would choose 🌸

I don’t know if you’ll like these movies, or if you’ve already watched them, but after i watched these films, i felt like they might need to belong to you now. i hope they make you smile, roll your eyes, and cry just as much as i did.

1. city of god (2002): this is one of the most immersive and gorgeously shot films i’ve ever seen. it’s set in rio de janeiro during the 60s and spans decades exploring the drug culture in the slums and how this can affect kids just as they are trying to figure their own selves out. the way this film is shot, feels like you were at the sea with them as the sand crunched underneath your feet. but the way that the director captures these individuals, makes you so fucking relieved that you don’t live through any of the circumstances that they go through.

2. the dreamers (2004): set in 1968, this film follows three students in Paris who come of age and explore one another and their limits during the revolution. while these students prop themselves up as individuals obsessed with sex, running underneath themselves is a current of jealousy, obsession, and blurred familial relationships that made me increasingly uncomfortable. you find yourself feeling bad for the children, and ultimately upset at their upbringing because of their parents.

3. if beale street could talk (2018): this movie is based off of james baldwin’s titular 1974 novel. in it, the director expertly and vigorously explores love: a love that feels so real that it hurts. the cast is what sold this film to me. the way they talk, laugh, cry, and smile at one another is achingly beautiful and terrifyingly sad. i wanted to transport myself back to their time period and watch the main characters fall in love because the film didn’t seem like enough.

4. the neon demon (2016): this film follows an emerging model who sacrifices herself to the demands of the industry in order to be attractive and beautiful. there are so many stunning colors in this film that it makes you dizzy, like you’re in a trance and that’s what this world is for the main character: a trance. as she oscillates between reality and fantasy, her world and the characters in it, increasingly seek out to alter her personality.

5. death becomes her (1992): a deliberately ultra-campy parody of trashy, pandering "women's pictures," soap operas and paperbacks from the '80s and '90s. The three leads all do some of their best work - it's hilarious watching Meryl Streep play a terrible actress, Goldie Hawn is particularly hilarious during her character's cat lady phase, and all around just a really fun and eccentric film.

6. princess cyd (2017): i can’t think of anything to write for this but i just wanna say that this is literally one of the most pleasant movie experiences i’ve ever had. so much light and genuine interaction in warm sun rays radiating positive energy and an openness that is far too uncommon in movies nowadays. people talk, people connect, people grow bonds and are allowed to be sexual or intimate or personal without an air of shame or judgement. just pure kind and curious human association.

7. spiderman: into the spiderverse (2018): the message of Spider-Verse is not "gentrify yourself! stop expressing your personality and just conform to what society wants you to be!" After all, what makes you different makes you Spider-Man, and Miles' final expression of himself as a superhero still retains much of his personality and individuality...they're just being used in more productive and fulfilling ways. It's the little things that drive the point home, like noticing that the title page for Miles' finished Great Expectations essay has been stylistically doodled and colored like street art. Rather than seeing his artistic gifts as an opposition to his schoolwork, Miles infuses them together to make the best of the hand he's been dealt.

8. my life as a zucchini (2016): initially heartbreaking and sad, but slowly becoming more joyful and heartwarming as the plot moves along. The film really feels like it captures the essence and child like wonder of these kids, all of them going through hardships but managing to find something to help each other out. It’s so refreshing to see the actual orphanage portrayed in a more positive light, not the usual horrid dump that a lot of lesser movies play them out as. The animation is stunning. One of the best uses of stop motion I’ve seen, everything is so colourful and detailed. There’s some moments set in snowy mountains and these look incredible. There’s clearly been so much love and care put into each and every scene here. The music too, sounds spectacular, it really works well with each scene.

9. lovesong (2016): Mindy and Sarah have that type of relationship where they don't need words because they speak in a language made out of glances and touches. This movie is about the fear of ruining a meaningful friendship and losing an important person, about love that is so complicated that one might not even try because the outcome seems to be so obvious.

10. her (2013): Heartbreak is formative: it changes you heart side out, and leaves your muscles a little stronger, your skin a little thicker, your bones easier to repair. Before this film, I’d never seen anything constructive in having your insides pulled apart by the seams by another person, but this film taught me how. Being in love and then being forced out of it is an experience that changes you fundamentally, but Her taught me its purpose – you don’t need them to leave you so that you can find someone who’s a better fit, because perhaps you never will. You need it to participate in humanity. The common denominator is being hurt, and without it, you’re barely alive.

11. shoplifters (2018): bittersweet and richly transportive, Shoplifters is a film that nonchalantly eases you into its tragic beauty in a way that doesn't punch you hard until the end. It simultaneously made me want to be part of the film's world and also very glad that I'm not. The setting the characters live in is messy and cluttered and full of dysfunction and lies, but it's also got family, and laughter, and fist-bumps, and slurping warm noodles while rain pings on the tin rooftop. So nuanced, so many tiny moments of delicate beauty and unassuming heartbreak, so many people making terrible decisions with good intentions.

12. god’s own country (2017): though it is a love story between two men, this aspect is only addressed briefly in a single scene. Rather, the film is about finding someone who makes you want to be a better person, someone who comes into your life just when you needed it most. Gheorghe helps Johnny open up and realize the beauty of the simple life. From this relationship, Johnny begins to feel comfortable with expressing himself, and his love and gratitude towards others. He also begins to appreciate life in the country, surrounded by stunning landscapes and the beauty of simplicity. Addressing the Yorkshire countryside, Gheorghe says "It is beautiful, but lonely." Johnny is presented with the notion that he doesn't have to be cold and miserable, slaving and drinking his days away. He is presented with the possibility of no longer being alone and finally finding happiness and contentment - and it is more than gratifying to see him accept it.

13. disobedience (2017): a tender star-crossed daydream. the three main character dynamics are special enough on their own, but the romance that blooms at the center is cathartically intimate and even magical: a reunion that feels so inevitable. catching glimpses of a past life, details we aren’t privy to. all the stolen kisses and whispers and promises. a bond so strong that they fall back in sync with each other like second nature, even if they try to fight against it. even if it won’t work. and yet they choose each other, even if for a few minutes.

14. raw (2016): this film is so gross and I like that. There is tons of blood and unique body horror and it all works perfectly for the tone the film is attempting to set. The use of color, specifically neons, creates a constant feeling that you are traveling through some sort of weird ghost world, which I really like. Overall, it's a very well put together film with flashes of brilliance.

15. the night is short, walk on girl (2017): what an absolutely magical adventure of a film. Essentially this is a heavily episodic look at a night in the lives of several people, centered on a woman and a man as she gleefully floats from event to event while he neurotically obsesses over how to "coincidentally" talk to her. The storytelling is incredible; while the overarching narrative is simple there are countless threads woven together to connect everyone in the story to each other. That in itself is a big theme: connections between people, how everything is interrelated, and what a large impact seemingly insignificant things people do can have an impact on everyone around them.

16. coraline (2009): Coraline is the best stop motion movie ever made in my opinion. Before the film released in 2009, I read the book and was completely blown away by its creativity and story. It’s a pretty dark tale featuring many scenes of fright that work well in both a horror setting and an animated kids setting. On surface value, this film is quite horrifying, which is something I’ve always loved about it. While it does make a few minor changes to the book, it improves upon a piece of art that was already jaw-droppingly good. Coraline feels like a real little girl with some real problems. She’s selfish but likable which is something most films cannot translate well. Of course, she has a pretty awesome arc as well which brings this movie to a perfect close for her character. The other-mother is also perfectly done. She is almost exactly how I imagined her in the book and the animation on her is spookily gorgeous. There is not one dull moment in this film. It is literally a perfect piece of cinema.

17. the third wife (2019): haven’t seen a film this visually delicate in a while. Ash Mayfair works with the looming mountain surroundings to make her characters —these women, these girls— as small as possible, as isolated as possible. Uneasiest of all is the protagonist May, so young and so weighed by responsibility, her position blurs between being one of the wives and being one of the daughters. It’s an extremely bleak tale of circumstance. An old tale, certainly, but so beautifully crafted it doesn’t matter. Mayfair holds a fearful tension throughout, and it only ever shatters in the cruelest of ways.The abundance of women and display of sisterhood begin as a comfort, but horror takes over as we realize how conditional and fragile that comfort is. Even the daughters are subconsciously aware, one of them praying to the gods to grow up and become a man, shearing her hair off in naive triumph. It’s a doomed cycle of girls performing roles which are unfortunately their best option, right up until the final scene of May with her daughter, still in their mourning clothes. She, like the older wives, finally realizes they’re the same as the cattle laying on their side for too many days.

#asks #shortcake-kaspbrak

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iambicbrose · 4 years

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Away From It (Part 1 of the “Here I Am And I Stand So Tall” Series)

Hey there folks, to some of our newer readers, welcome! To give you a bit of background in this, this series is going to span multiple different fandoms, you can read it all, or only decide which ones to read if you'd like. (Don't worry, at the end, Steven gives us a big ole recap so you can catch up on what you missed.) In these authors notes, you will see me refer to 'we' or 'us' fairly frequently. That's because this is a shared account between two authors. This is Kas currently typing up this author's note (Hi, that's me! ^^) and my partner (rp partner, romantic partner, life partner) will typically go by either Nomi or Kit. Don't worry, they're the same person. These fics are written by us collaboratively, so to keep our own works pages clear, we put them on their own account.

To our older readers, I'm sorry. I know it's been a while and we haven't updated much, but we're here with a new series that's already completed!

Feel free to read the whole series, or only some parts of it. Steven will give a recap at the end, so you'll be able to know what you missed! Thanks for giving us a chance, and happy reading! ~Kas

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Summary: Steven Universe has dealt with a lot over the past few years, but now it's time that he find himself, and somewhere to call his home. His first stop on his road trip brings him to what seems to be a cute little forest town over on the West Coast called Gravity Falls. The locals seem just a little odd, but the scenery is beautiful, and the food ain't half bad either! What could go wrong?

Fandom: Steven Universe, Gravity Falls

Relationship: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe

Characters: Dipper Pines, Mabel Pines, Stan Pines, Ford Pines, Wendy Corduroy, Bill Cipher, Steven Universe, Connie Maheswaran, Lion (Steven Universe)

Rating: Teen Audiences

Word Count: 8,598

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Read the story on AO3!

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Rolling into town, Steven looked around. There it was! He'd heard about the cute little bed and breakfast that this place had. He could spend a week or two here easy. Seemed like a cute little town with a nice, quiet forest backdrop.

Parking his car, he got out and headed into the building. Jealous Grapes Bed and Breakfast. Well that sounded pretty darn cute! There was a girl at the counter, but she looked a lot more interested in her phone, than in anything else. Still, Steven put on a smile and walked up to the counter. “Hi there! Do you have any rooms available?”

The girl finally looked up, looked him over, and then turned her head. “ Mom! Dad! You got a customer! ” Then she was back down to looking at her phone again. Huh. Alright. Reminded him a bit of Lars.

He heard whispering from a back room before a woman was poking herself out. “Well hello there! We don’t get many visitors outside of tourist season!”

Steven laughed quietly, smiling at her, “Oh, yeah. I’m, uh, not in school, so I’m just road-tripping around.”

The woman cooed, “Well, isn’t that sweet! We’ve got a great room available upstairs. How long are you lookin’ to stay, dear?”

“Probably a week? Maybe two?” She was really nice. That was sweet. Although something seemed just a little… off. But Steven must have been imagining it. Come on! After everything in his life, nothing could top the whole gem empire thing.

They sorted out his stay and payment, and Steven shot her a grin again. “Thanks for this,” he told her. Well, he better head back to his car and grab his suitcase.

Getting back out onto the street, Steven opened his car door and grabbed his suitcase out of the backseat. He shut the door and turned around to the sidewalk- Woah! Steven accidentally bumped into a little guy, immediately stepping back. “Woah, sorry about that. You alright?”

The kid seemed to take a minute to get his balance. “Aw, shucks, I’m peachy keen! Don’t you worry about lil’ ole me!” What was that accent? That was adorable!

“Aw,” Steven gushed, laughing and ruffling his cute little pompadour. “Sorry again. You have a great day!” With a nod to himself, he carried his suitcase back inside and carried it up to the room he’d rented. The people here in this town just all seemed so… So nice and dandy. He could really stay here for a good week. It would be nice, and Connie was supposed to be flying out to visit that nearby college!

Speaking of Connie, Steven set his suitcase down and grabbed his phone out of his jacket pocket, dialing her up. Good thing spring break just started. It didn’t take long for her to pick up. “ Hey, Steven! You settling in? ”

“Yeah,” he told her, moving his phone so she could see the room. “This place is pretty cute. I’m in that Gravity Falls town. So far, people here seem pretty nice!”

Connie laughed at him, “ People always seem nice to you. But your room does look pretty cute and cozy. I’ll be out there in two days, and we can go check out that college. Can you believe there’s a college with a supernatural degree program? Honestly, I’m kinda thinking about minoring in it, if I decide to go there. Hm, maybe a double minor… ”

He chuckled, “Maybe don’t totally overload yourself just yet? Decide if you even wanna go to this school or not, y’know? But no, there was this kid out on the street, and he was so cute with this little pompadour, and this most adorable accent, and even this little suit! Oh, if you’d seen him, you would have said the same thing, Connie.” Glancing to the nightstand, his eyebrows rose. “Oh, hey a travel brochure!”

“ Okay, ” Connie sighed, giggling and brushing her hair back in that cute way she did. “ You’re right, that does sound cute. And a travel brochure is great! Do they have any cute tourist-y things to do? ”

“Probably. The lady downstairs said that they don’t often get people outside of the ‘the tourist season.’ I’m happy to give them some business, if that’s the case!” Steven laid down on the bed, unfolding the brochure. “They have a lumberjack kind of diner, that sounds pretty great. And hey, this sounds cool. ‘The Mystery Shack.’ I’ll check it out later!” Huh.

“ The Mystery Shack? That does sound cool! ” Connie laughed, smiling at him through the phone. “ Maybe you’ll have to pick me up a souvenir. ”

"Or you can pick yourself up one in a few days when you visit the school," he pointed out to her. This place sounded pretty neat. Maybe this would be a nice place to settle down.

“ Aw, but then it wouldn’t be something that you picked out for me, ” Connie pouted, Steven already feeling himself waver.

"Okay, alright, fine," he finally huffed, smiling at her. "I'll get you something nice."

“ Thank you, Steven, ” Connie laughed, smile bright and beautiful. “ Alright, I’ll let you get settled in. Don’t try to do everything in one day while you’re there! ”

"I'll do my best. Love you, Connie." He waved at her, smiling as he sat himself back up.

Connie’s cheeks flushed as she smiled brightly before murmuring a soft, “ I love you, too. ” Beaming, Steven hung up the phone before looking back at the brochure. Mystery Shack. Sounded cool, at least!

It was later in the day, after a bit of relaxing and napping, that Steven finally drove down to check out the Mystery Shack. It seemed a little old and worn, but there were plenty of people exploring, it seemed. Seemed like a few teenagers were having some fun throwing… toilet paper at each other. That kid from earlier, too. Alright, then. He looked up at the sign. Aw. Poor thing looked like it needed some tender love and care.

Making his way through the war they seemed to be having, Steven got to the entrance and stepped inside. It was honestly pretty incredible! It seemed like a museum to a bunch of old, weird stuff that was half-creepy and half-cool to look at. He had a feeling Connie would love to inspect some of the stuff out on the shelves.

Reading the sign, Steven hummed, "Huh." Gift shop. Perfect! He was shopping for a gift! Peering around the shelves, he looked over when the bell on the door rang. The guys from outside were coming in now. And they felt… cautious. Wary. Hm. He hoped that wasn’t because of him.

“Tours aren’t for another few days,” a teen at the counter called out, flipping through a magazine.

"Oh, that's alright. I'm just looking around right now," he told her, looking over- "Oh, wow, your hair is really pretty! Is that natural?" The girl looked up at him, giving him a very serious stare before she smiled. That was good, right? Although, it looked more like a smirk, then anything.

“Yeah, it is, actually. Feel free to look around, just be warned that the prices are pretty high for everything.”

"Alright, thanks." Steven hummed to the quiet music playing- Oh, that was perfect! A cute little snow globe! Connie would love it! He walked over to the counter with it, setting it down gently. The song changed and he looked over at the radio with a grin. "Hey, Sadie Killer and the Suspects!"

“You know Sadie Killer? Seriously?” The teen gave him a bit of an odd look before rolling her eyes. “Let me guess, you have a friend or a sibling that never shuts up about it, right?”

"No, I know those guys! You know, they started out with the other guys just having a jam sess in Sadie's room. My Dad managed them."

“Your dad managed them?” She raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

"Yeah, Sadie's a really good friend. We all kinda grew up together, she worked at the Big Donut and I got snacks there, like, every other day," he told her with a grin. "Her and Shep's newer music is really sweet. So, how much for the snow globe?"

Steven waited until the girl laughed - laughter was good, right? - before ringing him up. “Hm. Just for that story, three bucks.”

"Hey, cool!" He grinned, grabbing out his wallet. "Y'know, I've got plenty more where that came from."

“Oh yeah? How many stories and how much time you got?”

Steven gave an easy shrug, “I don’t really have plans. Y’know her ex died and got resurrected out in space?”

“Really?” There was that smile again. “And how exactly did her ex die and then get ‘resurrected?’”

There was a snort from behind him, Steven startling and looking to see a younger teenager who was probably thirteen or fourteen. “Wendy, don’t encourage the crazies. That’s Stan’s job.”

With a bit of a huff, Steven grabbed out his phone. He’d find a picture of them. “He was saving these guys from getting shattered — basically killed — cause he’s human, and the shattering robonoids weren’t tracking humans. My tears brought him back to life, though,” he said, showing her a picture. “See, there’s me, and Sadie, and that’s Lars.”

“Whoa. That’s a heck of a photoshop job. He actually does look pink,” the girl - Wendy - laughed. “Dude, Dipper, you gotta check this out.”

“I get it from my mom,” Steven said, glancing to the other kid, ‘Dipper’ as he walked over, squinting at the photo and looking back up at Steven.

“So, your tears can bring people back to life, huh?” Wendy grinned, looking down to Dipper. “Still got that zombie spell?”

Steven rose an eyebrow. “Zombie spell?” Okay, he was definitely missing something here.

“It’s nothing,” Dipper waved off. “And no. Mabel blood-oathed me to never use that spell again.”

Huh. Alright then. He handed over the money, “So, when’s that tour thing? You said in a couple days.”

“Yeah, should be like three days? You’d probably enjoy it.”

“Sounds cool.” Brochure! Oh man, this was so going in his road trip scrapbook. “My girlfriend would definitely get a kick out of this place. Is any of this stuff for real?”

“Depends on who you ask.” Wendy shrugged, looking back down to her magazine. “Everything in this shop? Probably not very ‘for real.’” Aw man. That was kind of a let down.

“Well, guess I’ll be back in a few days,” he said, picking up the snow globe with a smile. Connie was gonna love it! It was just adorable!

“Make sure to bring more crazy stories! We love those here.”

“Speak for yourself,” Dipper grumbled.

“Crazy,” Steven muttered to himself as he left. “My stories aren’t crazy. I dismantled an empire, thank you very much!”

Honestly. Next time he would just call Sadie up to prove his point! Right now, though, he was kind of hungry and that small diner had looked really good.

☆

Not only had the diner looked good, but their food had been delicious, too! It was really nice to get away from everything for a while. Getting back to his room, Steven thought, considering, before finally pulling out his phone and dialing the gems. It didn’t take long before Pearl was answering, “ Steven?! Is that you! ”

Steven couldn’t help his laugh, laying down on the bed. “Hey, guys.” There was immediately more shouting in the background, Steven making out Amethyst’s voice before it was bright and clear.

“ Hey there, dude! How’s everything going on wherever you are? ”

“Everything’s pretty good right now, if a little weird. I’m all the way in Oregon right now!”

There was a struggle over the phone, and then Pearl’s voice, “ Oregon? My, that is quite a ways - although I’ve heard it’s absolutely gorgeous over there. ”

“Yeah, the forests around here are amazing. I’m gonna stay out here a little while, probably go on a hike or two. Connie’s gonna visit a college out here, then I’ll head up to Cascadia after.” He leaned over, picking up the snow globe. “Lookit this! I got it for Connie! You think she’ll like it?”

“ I think she’ll adore it, Steven, ” Pearl smiled at him. Then her smile twitched. “ Where exactly are you at right now? ”

“Some cute little town called Gravity Falls.” Pearl’s face fell and Garnet snatched the phone, looking at him seriously.

“ Steven. Be cautious. Strange things happen in Gravity Falls. ”

Huh. Well, Steven had already kinda picked up on that, but… “Garnet, I’m a half-human half-alien being that spent two years in space using my magical belly button to liberate aliens.”

Garnet was silent for a moment, finally nodding. “ True, but if you hear the name Bill Cipher then please leave as soon as you can. And I’m not saying that as a gem. ”

Normally, he would think the gems were overreacting like they always did, but… “Alright. Cipher. Fine.”

“ Thank you. ” Oh, jeez, Garnet actually slumped. “ I won’t delve too far into it, but think Yellow, except crazier, more violent, and absolutely murderous - with infinite power. ”

“...Alright, okay, fine. I’ll be careful and junk. I just wanted to update you guys and everything.” Garnet went off the screen and Amethyst was back on it.

“ Thanks for the update! We love you a bunch, dude, so make sure to call us whenever you can- Hey! It’s my turn with the phone-! ”

Pearl, this time, smiling warmly at him. “ It was great to hear from you Steven, and everyone here is safe, sound, and going about their lives. ” He smiled back at them.

“I know. I love you guys.”

They all said their goodbyes, and Steven texted Connie goodnight before plugging his phone in and rolling over. Hm, seemed like a good time if any to sleep. He had a feeling he’d need a lot of sleep for all the traveling he had ahead of him.

☆

It was official. Steven loved hiking and would never say a bad word against it. It reminded him a lot of when he trained with Jasper only greener and calmer and he was less likely to get a rock thrown at him. He took a deep breath in and held it before letting it go. The air felt so nice. He could tell there was just a hint of the sea air he was used to in Beach City, but this air somehow felt cleaner. Steven decided right then and there he was gonna hike a lot more as an Adult.

Plus the woods were so gorgeous? It was a type of forest Steven had never seen before, but it was just so beautiful. Connie would probably love at least looking around some of the forest before she had to go back. Maybe they could- Hello, that was weird. Was that a statue? Out in the middle of the woods?

Steven frowned, walking closer. Looked like… a triangle with an eye, and a top hat? Wow, that was probably the weirdest thing about this place. And he had a hand sticking out. Like he was trying to… shake someone’s hand.

Staring at the statue a good, solid moment, Steven took a step back. After all the crazy in his life, he had learned to at least try to listen to his instincts, and right now? Right now they were screaming at him to run. Steven took a few steps back, still staring at the statues. “Okay. Right. Note to self. Never touch creepy statues half-buried in a deep wood.” He wasn’t sure what he felt, but he felt… power. He needed to turn right around and leave.

Thankfully it didn’t take him long until he was well away from the area and the creepy statue that was probably evil in some way. Steven shivered, shaking himself off. Okay. He would hike in different forests. Far away from whatever the heck that thing was. He looked up and oh. He was at that Mystery Shack thing again.

That teen from yesterday - Dipper? - was out and staring right at him before blurting out a pretty loud, “Did you just come through the forest?”

“Uh…” Steven looked back at the forest. “Yeah?” He brushed himself off, “You guys know there’s some really creepy statue in there?” Oh, wow, Dipper could pale as quickly as Pearl.

“Did you touch it? Did you shake it’s hand? Tell me you didn’t shake it’s hand.” Ah, right, cool. Glad his instincts were right, then.

He shook his head. “No way. That thing was giving me way too many creepy vibes.” Turning, Steven glanced to the forest again. He didn’t use the word lightly, but… “Is that thing evil?”

“Wha- Aha, evil? I mean, pft, c’mon. A statue can’t be evil. ” Uh huh. “But, uh, just don’t touch it, okay? It’s like… a landmark. Or something.”

Steven looked at him before finally shrugging. “Trust me, I’m staying away from whatever that thing is. I know to be careful around big, powerful, evil stuff.”

“Uh… huh.” Dipper stared at him for a long moment and then narrowed his eyes. “Where’d you say you were from?”

“Oh, I’m from Beach City, over in Delmarva.”

“Wait- Beach City as in Keep Beach City Weird?” Keep- Oh! Steven would have to tell Ronaldo that there was a fan of his in Gravity Falls.

“Wow, I didn’t know that anyone outside of Beach City followed Ronaldo’s blog,” Steven chuckled goodnaturedly. “Yeah, the very same Beach City. Small world.”

“Hang on. You said your name was Steven. ” Dipper looked like he wanted to either back away or laugh. “Like… Steven Universe?”

“Oh yeah, Ronaldo put me on that blog too, huh?” Steven stuck his tongue out at that. “Yep, the one and only.”

“Oh, uh, cool. So, yeah, uh, enjoy your walk or whatever, I’m just gonna… go.” What a weird kid.

That sister of his stuck around, still sitting out on the deck. Steven smiled at her, waving before he turned and started to whistle. Guess he better make his way back to town. Beyond the weird statue thing, Gravity Falls was looking like a great place to stay.

☆

Steven was happily wandering around town when he heard the sound of a familiar portal tearing its way into existence behind him. He turned and beamed as Connie and Lion landed. “Connie!” The minute she slipped down off Lion with her backpack, he was wrapping her in a hug.

Connie was laughing and hugging him back at once, kissing at his cheek, “Miss me that much?”

He chuckled, holding tight onto her hand even when they pulled out of the hug.. “Always. Oh! Come on, I can grab that gift I bought for you!”

“You actually bought me something?” Connie beamed, letting Steven pull her along and holding back just as tightly. “What’d you get?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see! Come on, Lion. What time is your college tour at?”

“Two o’clock,” Connie said, leaning against him with a happy, soft sigh. “So, what first, Mr. Road Trip expert?”

“Well, first, we’re gonna go get your gift, then we’re gonna go to your college tour, then we’re gonna go to just the cutest diner! We can probably walk around town — don’t go walking in these woods. There’s some really creepy statue in there with a bunch of power, and it’s definitely evil.”

“Evil, huh?” Connie frowned, looking towards the woods. “Hm, okay. I’ll make sure to keep it in mind. Oh, how was that Mystery Shack place? Any good?”

“The shop is really cool. I haven’t seen much there, they said there’s a tour tomorrow though, I thought you’d really have fun with that.” He grinned, pulling her to the Jealous Grapes. “There’s also this guy there, younger than us, he follows Ronaldo’s blog! How weird is that?”

“Really? Wow. Ronaldo is gonna love hearing about that. Any idea how much the tour is going to cost?”

"Oh yeah. I guess I didn't ask." He shrugged, grinning at her as he brought her up to his room. "Okay… Close your eyes!"

“Alght, alright, I’m closing,” Connie laughed, eyes indeed shut as she gave him a smile. Steven walked over to the night stand, picking up the snow globe before bringing it over to her with a beaming smile.

“Okay. You can open.” Steven watched as Connie opened her eyes, looking to the snow globe with a confused look before bursting into laughter and jumping into Steven’s arms. "Woah- Wow! I didn't know you'd like it that much!" He laughed, easily catching her in his arms.

“It’s perfect,” Connie giggled, burrowing against him before pulling back to give him a short, sweet kiss. “I love it.”

“Well, it’s yours now,” he told her, blushing maybe a little. “So, let’s go tour that college!” Conniei laughed, finally pulling away to set the snow globe down before grabbing Steven’s hand.

“That sounds perfect.”

It didn’t take too long for them to get through the tour of the college, Connie carrying out brochures and contact numbers and still chatting about the programs as they headed back into town. He led her into the diner, still holding one hand. “Yeah, that one sounds really cool if you decide to do it. I had dinner at this place yesterday. Connie, their food is so good. ”

“High endorsement,” Connie said, hiding a laugh. “I suppose we’ll see just how impressive it is after I’m done.”

“So you’re at least narrowing down your search, right?” It seemed like Connie was looking at every college in the country. The two of them sat in a booth, Steven thanking the nice old waitress that gave them their menus.

“I’m starting to, at least,” Connie sighed, setting her brochures aside and tangling her feet with Steven’s as she opened her menu. “I don’t know… There’s a lot more choices than I thought there would be.”

He flushed a bit, glancing at her over his own menu. “Well, I hope you figure it out soon. You’ve only been studying for the last year,” Steven teased her gently.

“You hush,” Connie hugged, ducking down behind her menu to hide a grin. “What about you? How’s the traveling going so far?”

“Pretty good so far. I’m still keeping in touch with the gems, and with Dad, but it also feels pretty good to have Beach City in the rear view, you know? I’m starting to move through everything that happened.”

“That’s great to hear, Steven,” Connie said, reaching out to squeeze his hand with a soft smile. “Also, any reason why a kid would be switching booths to try and get closer to us?”

Steven frowned, sitting up a bit. “A kid? I-” Wait a minute. If this kid read stuff like Ronaldo’s blog… “Kinda short? Brown hair, with the weird wintery looking hat?”

“Yup,” Connie nodded, grin starting to widen. “You’ve only been here a day and a half, right? And you’re already getting attention?”

“He said that he read Ronaldo’s blog. Ronaldo’s mentioned me on his blog like once or twice, so I guess I’m a little bit known, ” Steven said with a roll of his eyes. “That guy was actually the one that basically told me the statue in the forest was evil.”

“Oh, so a kid who knows about weird stuff and, considering Ronaldo, you’re probably the weirdest thing in town right now.” Connie paused, lightly nudging him under the table. “Weird in a good way. A good weird.”

Steven snickered, “Gee, thanks, I guess? Does that make me famous, or something?”

“Maybe it does,” Connie laughed. “Alright, what’s good here?”

“Oh! I tried the Big American burger last night, that was pretty good. I think I’m gonna go for some Cheesy Greasy Fries, though. Those sound so good.”

“Hm… I think I’ll try the burger and then steal some of your fries as needed!”

“Wh- Mabel! ” Before Steven said anything to respond to Connie, he heard the small shout and looked over to see Dipper’s sister pulling him over to a booth. Huh. Alright, then.

“Well, guess it wouldn’t be my life if it wasn’t a little weird.”

Connie laughed, giving him a bright grin, “What’s life without a little weird, right?”

After a nice meal at the diner, Steven took Connie back to his room at the bed and breakfast. “I’m so glad you’re spending the night out here, Connie. It’s really nice out here. The air is just different, you know?”

“I get it,” Connie laughed, sitting down on the bed before collapsing backwards. Lion had parked himself on the rug in the room, stretched out with a happy face. “And of course. I’m always happy to spend the night.”

It felt natural, the two of them changing into their pajamas before they slipped into bed, Connie curling around Steven’s back. He smiled at the warmth, settling down properly. It was nice. “G’night, Connie.”

“Night, Steven,” Connie said softly, curling more around him before giving a soft little sigh that had Steven relaxing the rest of the way.

☆

It didn’t take long after waking up before Steven was dragging Connie out for breakfast, then pulling her along to the Mystery Shack. He wanted to see what this ‘tour’ thing was all about, after all! Connie was happy to follow after and point things out, making comments and future plans for both of them and it was… it was great. “Oh! Is this it?”

“Yeah, this is it. I think it’s pretty neat.” He was glad she liked it so much! But he didn’t get why those two were always hanging around this place. Maybe they knew the owner or something?

“It could definitely use a fresh coat of paint in some places.” Connie pulled him towards the entrance, looking around. “Hm. Seems a bit like a tourist trap.”

“A tourist trap? What’s that?” Sounded not good, really.

Connie paused, thinking for a moment. “It’s a place that’s typically filled with weird or fake things with overpriced gift shops to make money off tourists that are passing through.”

Steven thought it over. “Huh. Well, at least it’ll still be fun.”

“You know what? You’re right. If nothing else it’ll be an experience,” Connie laughed.

"And we're all about that, aren't we?"

They entered, and Steven grinned at the girl at the counter. "So, there a tour today?"

Wendy looked over her magazine, staring at them for a moment before grinning, “Yeah. You guys interested in hopping in, I take it?”

"Sounds fun, at least," he told her with a grin as Connie looked around. He knew she'd dig this place. And the twins were inside again- Huh. The sister — Mabel — had a rainbow sticker on her cheek. That was cute! He smiled and waved at them.

Mabel waved back enthusiastically, Dipper giving him a suspicious look, and, alright. Probably thought he was some type of threat somehow. No big deal, Steven would just prove he was here to visit and have a nice time. In fact… Steven walked over, still smiling as he put his hand out. "I don't think I properly introduced myself before. Steven Quartz Cutie Pie DeMayo Diamond Universe."

Mabel was squealing and jumping forward at once, shaking his hand eagerly, “Your name is so great! Hi! I’m Mabel and this is my twin brother Dipper. We’re Pineses and our Grunkles own the place.”

Steven tilted his head. "Your Grunkles?" Alright, that was a new one he'd never heard of.

“Great Uncles-”

“Hang on,” Dipper cut in. “ Diamond? Like… the Diamonds from the blog?”

Steven immediately winced, scratching at the back of my head. "Yeah… Best way to explain it is they're basically my aunts. Mom's side."

“Ooh, what’s Diamond mean?” Mabel looked between them, grinning widely. “Sounds sparkly. ”

"Oh, my mom, she was Pink Diamond — a matriarch of the Gem Empire back on Homeworld." He lifted his shirt to show her his gem. "She and I can't both exist, so she passed her gem on to me."

Dipper just stared at him while Mabel only gave him a soft smile, “Sorry to hear about your mom, but at least you’re here, right?”

Aw… Aw, and he could tell she was being genuine, and that was so sweet! "Thanks," he told her with a smile.

Connie was at his side, holding up her watch- Her watch? "If my count is right, that took thirty-seven seconds."

“Thirty-seven seconds?” Steven blinked at Connie and what was that supposed to mean?

"From the moment of introduction to the moment of friendship," Connie told him with a grin. "Lapis was right, you are getting rusty."1

Mabel gav a bright laugh, beaming at them both. “I like you two! Are you staying here long?”

"Not for long," Connie said with a shake of her head. "I was just checking out a college nearby."

"I'm just staying a few more days. I'm trying to see all thirty-nine states right now."

“Ooh, a road trip!”

“The college nearby? I’ve heard good things about that,” Dipper chimed in. “My uncle might know more. Which program were you looking at?”

"Well, I'm probably looking at a political science major, but this one was interesting with that supernatural degree program, so I might double minor in that and sociology if I decide in this school."

“Really?” Huh. It might’ve taken even less time for Connie to make friends with Dipper. Steven must’ve been rubbing off on her. “You should talk to my uncle, he’s all about that kind of stuff.”

"Hm. I might just take you up on that." She smiled, holding her hand out. "Connie Maheswaran. The idiot with the gem is my boyfriend."

"Hey," Steven said with a frown, which immediately fell away when Connie gave him that sweet smile of hers.

“Nice to meet you,” Dipper said, shaking her hand. “You guys really want to go on the tour, though? It’s kind of lame.”

"It sounds like it could be funny if nothing else," Connie said with a shrug. "I'm on spring break, and I'm ahead enough on my school work I can slack off a couple days."

“Your guys’ loss,” Dipper shrugged. “There should be a tour starting in ten minutes or something?”

Steven turned to Connie with a smile, opening his mouth to speak before… he heard the radio. He gently moved her to the side, walking closer and listening. " ...I can take a stand. I can make an effort, if I only understand that I… I can make a change. "

No way. "She stole my song?!" That was definitely Sadie- She stole his song! Why did she steal his song?!

“Steven Universe, huh?” Wendy grinned down at him. “Song started with her saying it was cover and then doing a shout out to a Steven Universe who originally created the song. Looks like you were telling the truth, dude.”

"That's my song I sang in the middle of the big climactic injector battle- Hang on," he huffed, stepping away and pulling up his phone, dialing and holding it to his ear. "Dad?"

“ Hey, kiddo! What’s up? How are things going? ”

"Why am I just now hearing Sadie on the radio with my song? It's great and everything, her voice is perfect, but what in the stars?! "

“ Your- Oh! Oh. ” His dad’s voice went from understanding to regretful and why regretful. “ So, uh, hey, Schtu-ball, there might have been something I forget to ask you. ”

" Dad! That was my emotional self-realization near-death-experience song with Spinel!"

“ So should I have Sadie pull it from the set? ”

" No don't have her pull it from the set, did you hear how great she makes it sound? It perfectly fits her new vibe with Shep!"

There was a laugh over the phone, Greg saying a soft, “ Okay. If it ever happens again I’ll be sure to check in with you first, though. Sorry for not telling you sooner, kiddo. ”

"You're still in big trouble, Mister. Give Shep and Sadie my love, though."

“ You know I will. Talk to you soon, Steven. ”

"Bye Dad," Steven sighed, rolling his eyes to Connie with a smile. "Love you." He hung up the phone, looking back at her. "He forgot."

Connie laughed, shaking her head with a grin, “Of course he forgot. She really does sound good, though.”

"Right? Gosh, she's amazing. She deserves, like, everything. "

Connie smiled at him, grabbing his hand. “Alright, alright, enough gushing. We have a tour to get through, after all.”

Once their 'tour' started, Steven immediately had his camera out. "Aw, Connie, lookit this! Perfect scrapbookortunity!"

There was a loud, loud gasp, Steven looking over to where Mabel was beaming. “You use scrapbookortunity, too?” Oh- Oh! Someone else who got it!

Steven beamed at her. "I thought I was the only one!" Someone else that used his word!

“I thought I was the only one,” Mabel squealed, jumping forward and taking out her phone. “Scapbookortunity for new friends!”

“ Aw! ” Steven grinned, posing for her picture. It was the most adorable thing! As soon as the picture was over, Steven watched Dipper walk over to Connie.

“You have one too, huh?”

Connie snorted, “ Oh yeah.” She was looking at one of the ‘monsters’ in a plastic case. “So, I’d bet anything that for every three fake things in here, one thing is real.”

“Something like that,” Dipper smirked, giving a shrug. “Guess you’ll just have to take the tour and find out.”

Steven turned to the counter. “So, how much for a tour for two?”

Wendy hummed, looking at the ceiling for a moment and then grinning. “Twenty for both of you.”

“Cool!” Steven dug through his wallet, pulling out a twenty and handing it over to her.

Wendy stashed it in the cash register and then raised her voice, “Yo, Soos! Got two kids for a tour, here!”

Steven frowned at that, looking down at himself. “I’m seventeen.”

Wendy shrugged, raising her voice again, “Soos! Correction, you get a couple teens to show around!” Connie giggled at his side, but it wasn’t funny! He’d looked like he was eight for six years! He was finally grown! He deserved to at least be acknowledged as a teenager!

“Coming!” Barely seconds later and a man was sliding into the room, looking at him and Connie before sighing in… relief? “You two here for the tour?”

“Yeah, totally,” Steven said with a grin, wrapping his arm around Connie’s.

“Great! Then follow Mr. Mystery - that’s me - right this way and let’s get this tour started! Be warned, though, everything that you’re about to see has the complete possibility of being real. ” The complete possibility? So some of it wasn’t real? That was kind of a let down.

Steven didn’t have too much to be disappointed about, though, because even if some of it was fake a lot of it did look really neat. Plus Steven loved hearing Connie’s little mutters and giggles and explanations on things. “You know,” Steven said with a laugh, leaning over to kiss her cheek. “We were right. Even if none of it’s real, it’s still pretty fun.”

“I wouldn’t say none of it is real,” Connie mused, taking a picture of one of the items. “But you’re right, this is fun.”

“Hey, what’s this thing?” Whatever it was, it looked broken. Why would they put something in one of the cases and show it off if it was broken? “Memory Gun?”

“That’s the infamous memory gun! One shot of it and your entire memory can be erased!” Oh, wow. That seemed dangerous - and reminded him of the Rejuvenator. “We keep it here in honor of the great Stan Pines and the sacrifice he made for all of Gravity Falls.”

“Jeez, Soos,” a man huffed behind them, causing Steven to spin around and summon his shield- Oh. Human. Letting his shield disappear, he smiled nervously at the others who were now staring at him. The older man, for his part, seemed to stare before looking to Soos, “Stop ending with that story. It’s weird. If you got to do it at least put up a donation jar or something.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Pines, sir!” Steven frowned, looking back at the Memory Gun.

“...Sacrifice?”

“Don’t worry about it, kid.” Uh huh. “What you should be worrying about is visiting our wonderful gift shop!”

“Uh… I already have. Thanks.” Alright. Kinda weird. Wait a minute. Another set of twins? Jeez. Was it just really common in this area or something? Maybe it was a family thing?

“Stan! Did you find the cause of these levels?” Stan’s probable twin asked, staring down at something in his hands.

“Oh yeah,” he snorted, nodding and still looking at Steven. “Definitely found it.” What was that supposed to mean?

Before he could ask the other man was coming over, the device in his hands beeping before he was looking at Steven, “Hm, I haven’t seen levels like this since Weirdmaggaden.”

Connie stepped in front of Steven, her arms crossed. “Can we help you, sir?”

“Oh, yes. I’m a scientist who studies beings who give off ‘weird’ energy and, according to my readings, your companion is giving off enough readings to register quite high on the scale.” Connie didn’t say anything, but she drummed her fingers against her arm. Why was she so upset? Steven didn’t get it. He thought she liked scientists!

“Uh… ‘weird energy?’”

“Oh, yes! It all pertains to the Grand Unified Theory of Weirdness, something I discovered quite some time ago, now.” Uh… huh?

Steven blinked, shaking his head. “The Theory of what now?” Oh man… This sounded a lot more like Connie’s kind of department.

“Excuse me,” Connie said, narrowing her eyes further. “I’ve never heard anything about a ‘Theory of Grand Unified Weirdness.’”

"'Grand Unified Theory of Weirdness,'" he corrected, looking proud. "It's unlikely you would, my dear. It's my own theory. Gravity Falls is an epicenter for weird happenings, of course. Weird always attracts weird," he said, holding up a hand- Woah. Six fingers. That was cool.

“Alright, but all I’m hearing right now is that you’re accusing my boyfriend of being… weird, which, alright, he is a little, but not, like, scientifically- Well.”

“But he is!” He showed them some machine with some needle thing like in those ghost hunter shows, and the closer it got to Steven, the more haywire it got. Cool. Maybe?

Stan stood behind him, rolling his eyes. “He was dropped on his head as a kid.”

“Makes sense,” Connie muttered, staring at the device. “So it detects… ‘weirdness’? In what way? What qualifies as weird?”

“Well, a good blanket starting point would be to say anything considered supernatural or otherworldly. Anything that is not a common human experience.”

“Oh. Is that all?” Connie looked to Steven with a small grin, and, yeah, he guessed it would go off around him in that case. “Okay. That’s fine, then.”

Steven grinned, shrugging. “Yeah, easiest way to put it is I’m half-alien.” The others all stared at him, Dipper the first one to speak.

“So that explains it.”

“Yep, that’s Mom’s side,” he sighed. “It’s… really complicated,” Steven finally settled on, taking a picture of one of the displays.

“He’s harmless, though,” Connie said, leaning over to look at the picture Steven had taken. “Oh, that’s a good one.”

“Wha- Harmless?! I dismantled a malevolent dictatorship, thank you very much!”

“Mhm. Of course.” Connie distracted him by giving him a soft kiss to the cheek, and, alright, it was hard to even pretend to be upset when she did that.

The tour, unfortunately, didn’t last much longer after that, and Steven and Connie were stepping outside to enjoy a bit of the sun before Connie had to head back home. It was nice, though, to be able to go on cute dates and stuff with her without worrying about the gems, or parents hanging around.

“This was actually really fun,” Connie sighed softly, leaning into his side with a soft hum. “Today was wonderful, Steven.”

“Aw, well, jeez, you know. You’re always worth it,” he told her, squeezing her hand. He glanced over to the twins walking with them, then he felt Connie’s hand slip out of his? She was pulling away? What the- He turned towards her to ask what was wrong.

Connie was surrounded by weird little things trying to pull her away, Connie looking weirded out before she was reaching for her sword, “Alright, just what do you think you’re doing?!”

They were immediately backing away. “Woah! That’s a- That’s a pretty sharp sword you got there!”

Mabel was the one to step forward. “ What are you guys doing?! We’ve talked about this!”

“Where… were you hiding that?” Dipper asked Connie hesitantly.

“Under my shirt, of course,” Connie rolled her eyes. “It’s not as if I can just carry it around in public.” Steven watched Mabel shout at the little… things before Connie looked at her. “Don’t worry. I think my method is a lot more… effective,” she said, brandishing her sword before she started to swing it. She wasn’t even hitting them, but it was definitely enough to scare them.

It was barely a few minutes before they were all scampering off, Dipper giving a laugh, “More effective than anything else we’ve tried. Sorry about them. They’re… really dumb.”

“What were they even doing? What did they want? ”

“A queen,” Dipper rolled his eyes. “They usually go after Mabel when they’re here, though.”

“A… queen.”

Connie laughed. “Wow. I almost feel flattered!”

Before they could continue their conversation, Steven’s pocket was beeping… “Oh jeez,” he sighed. “‘Scuse me, I gotta take this,” he said, stepping away and pulling out his phone. “Hey guys, what’s up?”

“ Steven! We were told you were going on a ‘road trip’ and we wanted to check in with you! ”

“Oh. Who told you?” Whoops, that sounded rude. “I mean, yeah. Everything’s going great. I’m actually across the country from Beach City, right now,” he laughed a bit.

“ We just wanted to make sure everything was going well and you were having fun, ” Blue said softly, smiling. “ It’s good to hear you laugh, as well. ”

Steven grinned at them, “Aw, jeez, Blue…” They were really making an effort, and he really appreciated it. “Yeah, it’s really nice to be exploring what else Earth has to offer, you know? I never really realized it when I was a kid, but there’s a whole world outside of Beach City!”

“ Of course there is, ” Yellow laughed. “And we’re happy to show you around other planets if you ever want to extend your trip to outside your own world. ”

“I know. But for right now, I’m fine staying a little closer to home. Thanks for checking in, though.”

“Of course. We’ll call again soon. Take care, Steven, and stay safe.”

Steven grinned at them. “I will. Thanks, guys. I love you.”

The call ended with a loud, “ We love you too! ” It really was kind of sweet of them to check on him - even if he was still trying to figure out how they even knew about the trip.

Putting his Communicator away, he turned around, walking back over to them. “Hey. Sorry about that. Family, y’know?”

“Oh, definitely,” Mabel nodded, Dipper only staring at Steven for a long moment before shaking his head.

“Still better than Bill, I guess.”

Steven flinched, just stopping himself from throwing a shield up. “Bill… who?” Dipper froze, staring at him for a long moment.

“Just… someone who we had to deal with last summer. A real jerk that we finally took care of.” Uh huh. Except Steven could feel Dipper’s fear at just mentioning the name.

Connie was frowning at him, tilting her head. “Steven?”

“Took care of… So like… Not a problem anymore? At all? Whatsoever?”

This time it was Mable and Dipper to share a look, Mabel finally looking back with a teasing grin, “Just don’t go shaking any hands of stone statues in the forest and we’re all good!”

“Oh stars,” he murmured quietly. Alright. Maybe Garnet had had a point. Who knew there were places like Beach City? But… Not just like Beach City. That thing had been evil.

“Steven?” Connie gave him a small nudge, voice quiet. “You okay?”

“Garnet… mentioned something about all that,” he told her. “Said if I heard the name to run the other way.”

“Oh. That’s, uh… that’s probably not good.”

“Yeah,” he said quietly, shaking his head. “Come on, Lion should probably be taking you home. Isn’t there some time difference something or something?”

“Something like that,” Connie laughed, squeezing Steven’s hand. “Fine, fine, I should be getting home. We still on for that weekend I’m going to spend with you at the end of the month?”

“Of course we are,” Steven told her, pulling her in for a tight hug, and kissing her cheek as Lion stood, drawing attention to himself.

“ You have a pink lion?!”

Steven looked at Mabel, laughing. “Inherited.”

“He’s so cute and fluffy! ” Mabel squealed, reaching a hand out towards Lion. “Here, kitty kitty.” Lion looked over, blinking at her lazily before yawning and stretching himself out. Mabel, undeterred, only cooed as Connie laughed.

Connie climbed up onto Lion, Steven walking over and petting his mane, laying his head against Lion’s. “Hey, bud.”

Lion gave a happy rumbling noise, pushing against Steven and near knocking him over. “Lion misses you the most,” Connie chuckled.

“Aw, I miss you too, buddy.” Steven reached up, squeezing Connie’s hand. “Tell your parents I said hi.”

“Of course,” Connie smiled, squeezing his hand back. “See you soon, Steven.”

"Love you," he told her, Lion running around the small clearing before roaring out a portal, the two of them traveling through.

“Aw,” Mabel whined, frowning heavily. “I forgot to take a picture of your lion.”

"Oh, that's alright. I've got tons of pictures of Lion. I can send them to you, if you want," he told her with a grin. "If you're okay with me having your number."

“Of course!” Mabel was holding out her phone at once with a wide grin. “Be prepared, though, because I send my friends bunches of pictures!”

"Aw, shoot, I love pictures!" Steven input himself as a contact. "If things were a little less weird out here, I'd consider this as more of a permanent thing. I'm going cross country, trying to see everywhere before I decide where to settle down."

“Huh. That sounds kind of cool,” Dipper said, looking at him for a moment before handing his phone over to Steven as well. “This way I can send you any weird stuff Ronaldo might like.”

"Oh, sure- I don't talk to him all that much, but I can get the message passed on. There was this incident a couple years ago where he tried to be a Crystal Gem…" It still made him cringe to think about.

“I think I know just enough to know that’s bad,” Dipper snorted, shaking his head. “How much longer are you here?”

"Probably a couple days. I'm planning on heading up to Cascadia after this. You ever been?"

“No, but I’ve been wanting to go.” Dipper took his phone back, Steven feeling his own phone buzz a moment later. “Feel free to send Mabel pictures, though. She loves pictures of anything, basically.”

"So, you're into otherworldly stuff, right?" Steven grinned, sending him a few pictures of his intergalactic travels.

Dipper looked down at his phone, eyes widening before Steven saw him starting to save every picture sent. “So, if you want to send me more pictures, that’s cool too.” Steven laughed.

"Yeah, there are perks to having aunts like mine." Some of those perks involved pictures from space.

“Hey! If you’re staying a few days then we should hang out some more!” Mabel beamed, near bouncing. “We can show you all the cool stuff in Gravity Falls!”

"Okay… Cool stuff like what?" he asked, looking between the two of them. Hopefully they had similar ideas of cool.

“I mean, you already saw the gnomes, but I promise there’s way cooler things that won’t try to kidnap your girlfriend.”

Steven laughed. “Yeah, she’s all the way in Delmarva by now, I hope they don’t try to kidnap her.”

“Wait- That lion managed to teleport them all the way to Delmarva? ” Dipper stared, shaking his head. “That is… wow.”

“Yeah. He’s teleported us to my mom’s base up on the Moon.”

“ He’s able to go to the moon and take you with?! ”

Mabel groaned, looking up as if giving up on life. “Great, now you made Dipper go into his crazy conspiracy mode.”

Okay… But Steven got to have a little fun. “Yeah. And you haven’t even seen inside his mane.”

“What… What’s inside his mane?” Okay, yeah, this road trip had definitely been a great idea.

Snorting, Steven stuck his hands in his jacket as he followed them. “Just a pocket dimension full of pink grass, some stuff my mom left behind, and two trees representing him and a human I accidentally resurrected when I was fourteen.”

He counted five seconds before he had a twin on either side and almost hanging off of him, Mabel asking loudly about the pink grass and trees and Dipper almost yelling, “You brought back someone from the dead?! ”

Steven couldn’t help but to smirk. “I told you so.”

“You- But- I didn’t- You gotta tell us everything. ”

✩

It was a week and a half before Steven was finally ready to leave Gravity Falls - although it had been a fun week and a half. Dipper and Mabel had been fun to hang around, and learning about Gravity Falls had been fun in it’s own way - weird, but fun.

“Thanks for everything,” he told them, drawing Mabel into a hug. “This is all totally going in my road trip scrapbook.”

“It had better!” Mabel hugged him back just as tightly. “And I hope you find what you’re looking for on your road trip.”

“Yeah, so do I.” Once Mabel let go of him, he smiled at Dipper. “Come on.”

“I mean, we can just fist bump, or whatever,” Dipper muttered, Steven keeping his arms open before Dipper was sighing and moving to hug him.

“Sorry. I’m a hugger.” He hugged Dipper extra tightly. He was a good kid. Just had to stop using his big brain so much of the time.

“You and Mabel both,” Dipper complained, hugging him back after a long moment. “Make sure to text us every now and then.”

“I will. I promise. I’ll even make sure to text you guys if I run into anything else ‘weird.’” Which, if their uncle was right, he would. Weird definitely attracted weird.

“We’ll send you pictures too!” Mabel beamed, darting in to give him one last hug. “And don’t worry so much.”

He smiled, hugging her back. “Thanks. Being out here actually really helped me realize something about myself.”

“Really?” Mabel beamed, pulling back to look up at him. “What was it?”

“For as strange and messed up as my life might be… It could always be a heck of a lot worse.” The both of them burst into laughter, and, yeah. This had been a good idea. "I better head out. I'm supposed to meet up with Lars soon."

“Have fun!”

“Try to find stuff not as weird so you can actually relax.”

Smiling, Steven waved at them, walking back to his car. Time to put Gravity Falls in his rearview, and start a new journey.

#Steven Universe #Gravity Falls #Steven Universe Future #Road Trip AU #Here I Am And I Stand So Tall #story 5-10k #rp story

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