#the video's kinda poor quality though unfortunately

[zaph1337]

Monster Hunter Rating 48: Hermitaur

Just as Blango introduced Monster Hunter to the magic of monkey, so too does our next monster bring a breath of fresh air to the series. We may have seen arthropods before, but those were all insects; none of them were the ultimate in evolution, the pinnacle of the animal kingdom, the true inheritors of the Earth. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Hermitaur, better known...as CRAB.

(How it appears in the Second Generation games)

(How it appears in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate [sorry for the poor quality; I had to enlarge it])

Appearance: I’ve been thinking: arguably the hardest part of these is assigning them a number rating. I’m constantly trying to figure out whether I like something better or worse than something else to keep the numbers consistent with my reactions, but I’m almost never sure which one I prefer or what each number actually means--they’re basically arbitrary at this point, so why bother stressing out over them so much? From now on, I’m just going to talk about my thoughts on each monster, rather than try to grade them.

On to what you’re actually here for, Hermitaurs are...well...giant crabs. That’s it, really. Don’t get me wrong, giants crabs have a novelty all their own, but it doesn’t leave me with much else to say about them. I guess the shells are pretty cool; they’re not big enough to hide in, which is kinda the main point of having a shell, but armor is armor, and it’s nice that Hermitaurs aren’t exactly like real hermit crabs and instead offer their own take on shelled crustaceans.

Behavior/Lore: Hermitaurs are juvenile forms of Daimyo Hermitaur, and are generalists that populate deserts and other biomes in great numbers, though their habit of hiding underground unless disturbed means that the majority of them likely go unnoticed. When I call them generalists, I mean it--they’ll eat basically anything, even humans. On the flip side, humans will eat Hermitaurs, too--specifically their brains, which are apparently a delicacy (not that I’d ever try it--blech). We’re not the only ones that’ll eat these things, as Plesioth and other Large Monsters will also gobble them up.

Unfortunately, that’s all we got: habitats, eating habits, and what eats them. There’s barely anything to talk about here, even for a Small Monster. C’mon, crabs, give me something to work with here.

Abilities: They protect themselves with their shells and pinch you. I have nothing more to say, y’all already know I’m disappointed.

Equipment: Just like with Blango, most of the Hermitaur weapons require parts from their Large Monster, so finding ones that were strictly Hermitaur was tricky. I’ve got two for your viewing pleasure, though, starting with the Great Sword, the Red Stripe:

Y’know, now that I know more about MH lore, it’s weird that serrated or barbed weapons would ever be used in monster hunting; the Guild places so much emphasis on respecting monsters--even when hunting them--that you’d think they’d outlaw such weapons, as the added spikes and such don’t increase the weapon’s effectiveness so much as they increase the amount of pain and suffering the target is put through (which, “fun” fact, is why using barbed/serrated weapons in war is a war crime). Then again, this is a video game that operates on video game logic, so I guess the spikes do make the weapon better. Anyways, the Red Stripe’s fine; it certainly gives me the impression that it’s an early-game weapon, though that’s mostly due to the straightforward design and muted colors.

Now, here’s something special for you: a long time ago, back when I was first writing these, I got a message from someone who recommended a Monster Hunter database called Kiranico for weapon images, since I was having issues finding decently-sized ones on the wiki. I didn’t actually use the database since the pictures weren’t big enough for my liking there, either, but I recently found out that the MHGen database specifically has larger images available (none for armor, though), so I’ll be referring to it for certain weapons now, such as this Light Bowgun called the Striped Shell:

I think the funniest thing about this weapon is that it’s clearly a normal rifle that all this Hermitaur stuff was attached to, and somehow those monster parts make it more effective. I was gonna make a snide remark about the spikes on the silencer (at least I think that’s what that is), but then I remembered that Bowguns have a melee attack, so I guess they’re good for that? Overall, this weapon has a sleek design, and I like it.

I’ll reserve my thoughts on the Hermitaur equipment for when/if we get to the Daimyo Hermitaur (my interest in doing these is flagging again, if you couldn’t tell by the time between posts), but so far, they’re on the right track.

Final Thoughts: It’s crab. It’s big. That’s all there is to say about Hermitaur, but trust me, their adult forms are something to behold. Hopefully we’ll make it to that point.

#Monster Hunter #Monster Hunter rating #zaph1337

[smolchildlevy]

Can I get an Obey Me matchup please?

I'm 20 years old, female, and straight. I look younger then I am, though- and sometimes I sound younger then I am. :/ I've got jaw length brown hair (it's dyed orange atm tho!), an eyebrow piercing, and pierced ears. I dress very casually- tshirts and jeans; usually a band shirt because I never truly outgrew my emo days lol. I'd like to wear more feminine things, but unfortunately I'm quite chubby... and super insecure about it. I don't look good in dresses and stuff... so I stick to tshirts I can kinda hide my body in.

As for my personality.... well, I'm super shy and generally kinda awkward until I really get to know someone and am comfy with them. Because of this, I tend to cling to those I know quite a bit.

I rarely go outside, instead choosing to stay in bed and play video games or sleep all day lol. I'm super depressed, with poor motivation and really poor self esteem... I don't take great care of myself.

I guess for good qualities... I'm chill? And I'm pretty open- I almost never get grossed out by things and can talk to anyone about anything... And I'm interested in a lot of things, like history, biology, psychology... I'd like to say I'm... relatively smart? But due to my depression and untreated ADD, I can't really bring myself to appear smart lol.

Also, I'm super touch starved, and LOVE affection... but I'm way too shy to seek it out myself. And I end up furiously blushing when on the receiving end of said affection.

And while I am shy and reserved, especially around those I like... I also end up semi-flirting and dropping hints. Not too much in person, but definitely through text. And once I'm comfortable with a partner, I can easily express my affection for them, although furiously blushing and hesitant if doing it in person.

Sorry if this was too much, but I hope its ok!

@my-perfect-machine

It’s perfect! @my-perfect-machine

I match u with..

Asmodeus!

-Loves to praise you

-“You look so ravishing today Mc!” “My my, you’re very pretty!”

-All bc he genuinely thinks you’re beautiful

-He’s v easy to get comfortable with

-He’s always encouraging you to go out with him, have some fun

-He loves lifting you up! It’s a daily occurrence

-Amazed by you 24/7

-He’s SUPER affectionate

-He loves your reactions to kisses and back hugs <3

#smols anons <3 #smols 600 event #character matchup #obey me

[anika-ann]

3+1 (Un)Wanted Mistletoe Encounters

Type: One-shot, Reader Insert               Word count: 4200

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary:  Kissing under the mistletoe is one of the most famous Christmas traditions; so obviously, it is not Christmas without it at the Tower.

Unfortunately for the occupants, you are not fond of the tradition – at all. 

...or are you?

Warnings: cliché trope, pushy Pietro, discussion of dub-con I guess, language, fluff

A/N: Idea born from this video where John Mulaney says: “If any decoration needs to be MeToo’ed…” and goes on.

Beatiful divider by firefly-graphics

1.

You were no Grinch.

In fact, you actually liked Christmas and the Holiday season, you enjoyed both giving and receiving and you appreciated when people found time to spend it together, whether in their own family circle or with their chosen one.

But. There was one significant ‘but’.

And with this being your first Christmas with the Avengers, Sam Wilson was about to learn about the said but first-hand, because that sweet kind-hearted dumbass with a sass streak walked right into it.

Quite literally.

December 23th, you woke up well-rested, got breakfast, wrapped several presents and were on your way to hunt down a lunch in the communal kitchen, when a voice stopped you in the doorway, where you nearly ran into Sam. Nearly.

“Ah-oh,” he hummed, a shit-eating grin spreading on his handsome face and you stopped dead in your tracks, frowning at the ominous sound.

“What?”

And then came the fateful words: “You’re standing under a mistletoe.”

You see, here was a thing; the tradition of hanging a mistletoe and meeting people under it by chance as an excuse to get a kiss from someone was… stupid. Downright idiotic. Pushing people into something they didn’t have a chance to back out from. Forced affection.

Yeah, that was not happening even if Sam was a real swell guy and you did find a newly hung mistletoe above your heads indeed as you briefly looked up to check if his words were true.

“Okay. And?”

His eyebrows rose in surprise, his tone turning slightly wavering.

“…And so am I?”

“And?” you continued, crossing your arms on your chest defensively, already preparing a rant that would hopefully spread like wildfire and ended this dumb tradition altogether. Or well, at least spread around the Tower so no one would ever try to corner you again.

“Really?” Sam deadpanned and you stared right back at him, your face probably displaying precisely how you felt; unimpressed.

“Yes, really,” you emphasized and pointed up at the offensive plant for a good measure. “This is a stupid concept, objectifying people, women especially. It’s about people being forced into showing affection they might not even feel. It’s bordering on a damn dub-con if not non-con.”

Sam blinked a few times, instinctively retreating as he felt you heating up. He raised his hands in a no-harm gesture to show he got your point.

But you were already on roll and you glimpsed Tony in the kitchen, so you thought that there was no harm in him hearing your speech too, just to make sure that the smug loveable bastard of a billionaire got the message as well.

“It’s like all those poor kids being asked why don’t you give your granny a hug before we go and a kiss to your granddad— well, it’s because I don’t want to and it’s my choice to give affection to someone! And now this thing, this is the tip of the iceberg, really, the last fucking drop- it needs to be Me Too’ed, I swear.”

You found yourself panting as you finished, your hands on your hips now – not that you realized you had put them there – and your belly hot and angry for some inexplicable reason; maybe it was the fact that it was Sam, amazing, friendly and understanding Sam Wilson, who had to go and point this stupid poisonous plant out for you; and have the audacity to ask for a kiss.

Dammit!

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” he apologized sincerely, voice kind and without any hint of hurt or mockery. “It won’t happen again. I see that you might have a point in this.”

All the fight instantly left your body, replaced by warmth of friendship, mingling with a shiver of shame for your quick judgement and outburst. You sighed, easing your posture and offering and apologetic smile in return.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make a big deal of that-“

“No, it’s fine. Like I said, you’re kinda right.”

“Damn right I am,” you hummed, feeling the corners of your lips rise automatically as Sam chuckled and shook his head at your antics.

But hey – you were right. You were not sorry for that.

Still snickering to himself, Sam sidestepped you in the door and patted your shoulder.

As you continued your path as well, you would swear you heard Tony mutter under his breath that you were a Grinch.

Jerk.

2.

“Hey! Don’t I get a kiss?” Clint called out a complaint as you met both stepped into that damn doorway at the same time.

As he pointed up, all you could do was to sigh, close your eyes and count to ten.

It had only been like four hours maybe; perhaps the word hadn’t gotten to him yet that you were not a fan of making out with random people – even if they were family – just because it was Christmas; or as Tony had put it, that you were a Grinch.

Personally, you thought that his insult had been inaccurate; you had given it a thought. Maybe you were more of a Scrooge. Perhaps you should tell him next time you saw him, just to see his face; Tony did pride in his ability to come up with witty nicknames.

You almost spitted out Bah, humbug now, just because.

“No, you don’t,” you said flatly instead, causing Clint’s jaw to quite literally drop as he looked at you with indignation and horror in his eyes.

“But--- but- mistletoe!” he stuttered and you sighed, deciding to explain it to him too – patiently.

“Why should some stupid plant tell me when someone is worth my affection? Someone who allegedly deserved it by simply standing under the same plant as me, no less? Get. Out. Not happening.”

You winced a bit as you registered the snappy tone you used.

Well. Half of the task of explaining it to him patiently went right, you’d call that a success, you supposed.

The poor archer just blinked, staring at you dumbfounded and mildly hurt; as if you had just told him that Santa Claus was nothing but a trick. Phew, as if you were that heartless…

Just-- logic. In fact, you had given this tradition a generous amount of thought since your last encounter under it and you figured out where it came from, historical inaccuracy be damned.

“I mean, where did the idea even come from? I bet it was just because some dude saw another guy mouth-to-mouth a girl, who happened to eat some of this poisonous parasite, may I add, and she was dying, so he gave her rescue breaths before continuing CPR. And the dude thought, that’s a great idea! Let’s make this a habit, just without the poisoning! Yeah, no. You’re not getting a kiss, Clinton,” you finished, satisfied with yourself as you managed to sound calmer this time.

Also, you were kinda proud of yourself for coming up with this story; it seemed very likely.

“That’s, uhm… an interesting take on history,” Clint hummed, watching you with uncertainty and hesitance and your heart stumbled in your chest as you guessed he was about to say something… cheeky, and outraging, in his cute brotherly way. “I need a hug at least tho.”

There we go.

“Nice try.”

You smirked and sidestepped him to be on your way and almost bumped into Steve, quickly shooting him a smile and disappearing out of sight before a silly idea about him and the stupid plant could form in your head – that would be bad and highly inappropriate, as was your crush on him, not to even mention your feelings—bah -!

“What did you do to her?” you heard the sweet supersoldier ask, a hint of accusation in his voice. Your smile widened, heat rising to your cheeks. Always so chivalrous; your heart could fucking melt.

“I asked for a hug after she refused to give me a kiss under a mistletoe,” Clint ratted you out, still hurt and honestly confused.

You stopped in your tracks as you rounded a corner, chewing on your lip guiltily.

Poor Clint; perhaps you had gone too hard on him… he couldn’t have known. You had to be kinder about it next time – after all, you might have been with them for almost a year now and they made you feel like you fit despite being so-so late to the Avengers party, but all of you still had things to learn about each other.

“Ah, you haven’t heard from Sam. Sorry,” Steve’s voice reached your ear, a notch kinder than before, compassionate even.

Compassion; another quality of Steve’s that you loved-

Bah, HUMBUG, that is not that, the L word is a bit much, that is not what’s happening-

“Wait, you knew- oh… Yeah, a heads-up would be nice,” Clint grumbled and made a pregnant pause, the sign of another prefect line coming. You held your breath in anticipation. “So are you gonna give me a hug or should I just get coffee, aka the hug in a cup-“

You held back laugher and swallowed the fondness for the good-natured archer before you could rush back and give him the damn hug.

“Coffee’s always a safe choice,” Steve replied and you thought you heard a chuckle and a grunt, unable to supress a giggle as you jogged away before they could notice you were still within hearing range.

Clint’s following monologue faded away as you walked.

“Nobody likes me. Nobody. I’m gonna die alone, surrounded by people who are too emotionally constipated to give a man a damn hug…”

Yeah, maybe you should give him a hug next time you saw him… no mistletoe though.

3.

You truly believed that that would be the end of it; after all, a day had passed since the first incident, the incident that was left without a kiss, and you doubted anyone was out of the loop at this point.

That was stupid of you. Naïve even. You jinxed it.

You were just after light breakfast, ready to get a little work out in – complete with tacky remixes of Christmas songs prepared to cheer you up – when the supposedly fastest man in the Tower, and possibly the whole world, pretty much bumped into you.

And he had to bump into you just as you were walking through that fucking doorway with that fucking plant which you were supposed to put down right after the encounter with Sam, dammit.

But no, you didn’t want to ruin everyone else’s fun; in fact, Clint had taken it his personal mission to meet as many people as he could under the mistletoe to get a kiss… or a hug. Wanda hapilly shared affection with others, either kissing their cheek of hugging them. People were having fun.

So, obviously, you let it be, confident everyone knew better than to corner you.

No good deed ever went unpunished, especially in the Holiday season.

Pietro grinned as he spotted you, downright delighted, and spread his arms almost as if creating a cage around you, leaving very little room to escape.

You did not like that.

“A kiss for a guy who caught you under a mistletoe?” he hummed warmly with a sprinkle of cheek and despite his cheery demeanour, you couldn’t help yourself and rolled your eyes.

“In your dreams, Maximoff,” you huffed, trying to duck under his arm, only for him to move it so quickly it was only a blur to you.

Quick to move, slow to take a hint. Yep, that kind of behaviour had Pietro written all over it… Okay, now you were being mean, but he was being an ass, grinning wider and adding a wink to the mix, so it was only fair.

“How did you know? I thought it was just my sister who was telepathic?”

“Pietro, leave her alone,” Wanda spoke as if on cue, eyeing her brother with a frown from her spot behind the counter where she was trying to figure out a recipe for a special Christmas pastry from her old country.

A hint of a pout appeared on Pietro’s lips as he reciprocated Wanda’s gaze; unfortunately for you, he was still aware enough of you attempting to escape his cage, so far without using force; though you were inclined to violence should it be necessary.

“What?! It’s tradition! I thought Americans loved that!”

“Well, not all of us, so-“ you explained with a sigh, catching a glimpse of Steve as he now looked up from his spot on the couch where he had been nestled with a sketchbook for the past twenty minutes.

“I could kiss you before you even notice,” Pietro argued smugly, his expression earning a wolf-like edge as you glared back at him.

Well, it seemed your workout was just about to start, you thought, as you balled your hand into a fist, subtly testing the readiness of the muscles of your leg, prepared to kick the damn man-child to his shin or worse.

“She said no.”

Both your and Pietro’s heads snapped to Steve, who was watching the other man with intense displeasure, all complete with the mildly adorable wrinkle on his forehead – a sign of disappointment and irritation – and a voice that carried the gravity of a Captain’s order.

Which in this situation stirred something in your belly, warmth swelling in your chest as he rushed to your rescue; one not needed, but still appreciated. You didn’t react to Steve’s words aside from giving him a quick grateful smile and shooting Pietro a childish told-you-so look.

“She doesn’t have to do things just because it’s considered a tradition. Leave her be, Pietro,” Steve added, less snappy and simply requesting from the speedster to have a tiny bit of respect for your wishes.

Pietro was most definitely pouting now, but he dropped his arms and released you, still blocking the doorway.

“This is ridiculous,” Pietro muttered under his breath, only for you to hear and you gritted your teeth, irritation spiking again.

“You are being ridiculous. Now move or I swear I’ll slap you.”

“I’d like to see you try, Eagle.”

Oh, we’re doing nicknames now? He could use your title earned by being fast and occasionally deadly all he wanted, flattery would get him nowhere at this point.

“Wouldn’t even see it coming, Speedyboy,” you challenged, chin raised in defiance.

It was ironic, really, how much everyone seemed to insist on following this stupid tradition, even with you. At this point, it was practically everyone but Steve; everyone but the one person you’d be willing to kiss – mistletoe or not, though the plant would at least give you an excuse.

But nope, you just had to get stuck in the doorway with this moron instead.

“Ooookay, you two,” Natasha sing-sang, as she was approaching you from the corridor; you completely missed her arriving, that was how much Pietro irritated you. “Maximoff, move, you’re blocking the doorway. And if you corner her like this again, I’ll kill you in your sleep and you’ll never see that coming,” she promised, voice icily serious despite the twinkle in her eye.

You had no doubt she would deliver just what she promised.

Which was exactly why you leaned over to kiss her cheek, earning a brilliant smile from her and a light brush of her lips against your own cheek.

“Thanks, kotenok,” she hummed just as Pietro gaped and complained.

“That’s so unfair.”

You smirked at him, throwing the smugness he had treated you with right back at him as you went to walk away.

“I give affection to whoever I want and whenever I want. Let your super quick brain process that. Happy Holidays.”

You completely missed the slow smile that spread on Wanda’s face at one point of the whole exchange.

+1

You decided to stop walking through that damn doorway altogether – just in case.

But at the moment, no one was around, so you made an exception since you considered yourself safe. Though main part of the feeling of security was that you didn’t think there was anyone left of the Tower tenants (who didn’t pay rent at all, somehow) who wasn’t aware of your opinion on the dumb tradition. No one who would be stupid enough to try.

Yet, when you glimpsed a large figure about to walk through the doorway just as you were few feet from it, you halted in your steps, letting them pass first.

And then there was a gust of wind, a warning coming a second too late and a harsh push to your shoulder from behind.

“Running through!”

You, the newest addition to the Earth’s mightiest heroes, Eagle, known for her quick reactions and not losing her cool easily, only managed to yelp in fright as you were knocked over, unable to hold onto anything and falling straight to the ground.

Two strong hands caught you and pulled you back up before you could hit the floor and you gasped, head spinning from the swift movements-- only to blink your eyes open to meet the prettiest pair of eyes you had ever seen; determined, kind, compassionate, loveable. And so damn blue despite the drop of green in their irises.

Your heart was trying to beat its way out of your ribcage as Steve instinctively pressed his chest against yours, holding you close and secure, grasp firm but careful.

Your gaze couldn’t but wander all over his face as you found yourself in such close quarters with him, his own eyes and his lips – gosh, those lips – working as magnets, always alluring your gaze to linger.

“You okay?”

Mesmerized, you watched those lips to move, barely comprehending what he was asking. His voice was warm; honey sweet and rich in spice, delicious, causing your stomach to flip pleasantly, your heart stammer.

It might have taken you a while to stutter out a reply, but no one ever needed to know about that.

“Uhm… yeah. Thanks-- thanks to you… thank you.”

Steve graced you with a small but no less meaningful smile. “Of course.”

Torturously slowly – as if he didn’t want to let you go any more than you wanted him to – he helped you stand straight and let go of your arms.

The moment you lost his touch, you lost your sanity too. You must have.

Before you could change your mind – or to think anything through – you leaned back to him and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. And perhaps on instinct, you kinda aimed more for the corner of his mouth than the cheek.

He felt warm now too – the tips of his ears turned red in an instant and you, with horror, finally realized what you had done; and just how good it felt to finally show at least a little of what you had been trying to ignore and hide for so long.

Despite his apparent surprise and mild embarrassment, his smile widened a fraction, turning pleased.

“What was that for?” he asked lowly, gaze intense as he studied your face, a hint of a glow in his eyes, something brighter than hadn’t been there before. Hope, maybe?

You certainly hoped. Because you just made an ass of yourself, having acted without thought… and it never felt so good and so awkward at the same time.

Your brain had never been so quick and dumb to come up with a poor excuse either.

“We’re…. we’re under a mistletoe?” you offered reluctantly, your lips still burning after the brief contact with his, head once again nearly spinning due to the proximity – was it just the dizziness or was he leaning in closer?

“I thought you didn’t follow that tradition,” Steve hummed with a grin slowly spreading on his face and through the fog of lovesickness, it finally dawned to you.

You had done exactly what you scolded Sam, Clint and Pietro for – you just went and kissed Steve, no questions asked, no consideration of his possible discomfort.

God, you were such an idiot!

See, that’s why you have banned yourself for as much as imagining kissing Steve and meeting him under the mistletoe! Because when your brain went down that road, it stopped working altogether!

You swiftly retreated a few inches, horrified.

“I—I don’t. I mean. I-- I-I’m so sorry!” you blurted out, words spilling from your lips as the panic rose in your chest. And yet, there was warmth, a pleasant feeling coiling in your belly, breaths coming out short as Steve seemed to erase the distance you had created, his gaze studying you, landing on your mouth. “I shouldn’t have done that! What was I thinking—gosh, I didn’t want to make you-“

You stopped as Steve’s lips kept erasing the distance and ended up a breath from touching yours, tempting, his eyes shining bright with a simple unspoken question. You instinctively licked your lips, heart stumbling in your ribcage.  

“---uncomfortable. Yes, please-“

And then he was kissing you, a little smile playing on his lips as they danced with yours, sweet and soft, hand moving to your nape, thumb caressing the side crook of your neck, drawing a content sigh from you as your eyes fluttered shut, letting you sink into the kiss you had been craving for almost a year.

Your hands sought out his shoulders as he cradled your face, gentle and guiding so he could take more and all you wanted was to give it to him, give him everything he asked for and take it from him too.

Your toes definitely curled in the thick fluffy socks you wore when his fingers squeezed your nape briefly before he withdrew – as if he once again didn’t want to let go for something so boring as oxygen. You wholeheartedly agreed with that sentiment, dizzy from the blissful turn of events.

As you inhaled nevertheless, you were grateful that Steve stayed close enough for you to breathe in him, relieved and delighted smile on your face as you licked your lips, savouring the sensation.

When you met his gaze, you saw nothing but fondness; and your heart could melt.

Steve liked you too. Steve kissed you like he meant it. Now you could die a happy woman but you rather not. You’d rather kiss him again if he was willing.

“Still sorry I did it without asking first,” you whispered an apology even though you were not sorry at all since it led to this.

“It’s okay. I just hope it wasn’t just the tradition that pushed you into kissing back.”

You chuckled and then chewed on your lower lip when thinking of a propriate retort, not missing that his eyes followed the action. Oh, he definitely liked to back, okay. Why had you never kissed before, again?

“I only give affection to whoever I want, whenever I want,” you threw back at him, the words that had a whole new meaning in contrast to when being told to Pietro; not a turn-down, quite the opposite in fact.

And you leaned in, greedy for at least one more kiss, Steve just watched you with a smile, eyes flickering to your lips.

“That’s good to know.”

He didn’t sound like he complained at being at the receiving end of your affection whatsoever.

Maybe, mistletoe wasn’t so stupid after all…

Three rooms over, the red-haired witch was smiling widely as she, thanks to her mental powers, caught a glimpse of what was happening in the kitchen doorway.

“It worked,” she announced, blinking to fully return herself to the present. “Nice work this time, brat moy.”

Pietro scowled at Wanda and couldn’t but wonder about the plan she had orchestrated and asked him to execute.

“How did you know, sestra?”

Wanda just shrugged.

“I had my suspicions before. But when you ran into her the last time, I checked her mind to see just how uncomfortable you made her,” she explained, giving one more scolding glare for his inappropriate behaviour. But well, it led to this and he helped now, so… he was good. “She literally thought she wouldn’t mind being under the mistletoe with the Captain.”

“Lucky bastard,” Pietro muttered, expression only half-sour.

“Shush. Be happy for your teammates. You just flirt anyway.”

The speedster pouted, but didn’t protest; he in fact was happy for the two members of the extended family him and his sister had found. And he indeed was only flirting, enjoying your reactions, talking back and teasing. It was all good fun and he did wish you and the Captain well…

But.

“Well, yeah, but now I won’t be able to do that or to look at her twice. Not without Captain having my head,” he grumbled and Wanda nodded with a grin, not feeling all that bad for him.

It wasn’t like he had his heart broken – more like had his ego tickled; and he had been needing some of that for a while.

“That’s true. Looks like you gotta be faster with the next girl you get your eye on, brat.”

The speedster gasped, shocked at her audacity. “I’ll show you fast-!”

Wanda laughed as she used her powers to freeze him on spot to get a head start.

Now, the Holidays felt truly happy indeed.

S.R. Masterlist

Thank you for reading!

If this fic feels like it’s written differently, then I guess that’s fair… I tried to make the style more drabble-like and failed epically, because I just cannot write short and without too many feelings :D

Anyway.

Happy Holidays to you all! May you be given love and affection!

#fanfiction #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you #holiday fic #christmas fic #captain america x you #steve rogers imagine #captain america x reader #steve rogers #captain america #captain america imagine #steve rogers holiday fic #steve rogers christmas fic #mistletoe shenanigans #avengers #avengers christmas #captain america christmas #steve rogers fanfic #steve rogers fanfiction #captain america fanfic #captain america fanfiction #christmas #3+1 fic #3+1 mistletoe encounters #anika ann

[hermannsthumb]

Gonna request some camb0y newt who has Hermann as a regular follower who may or may not be requesting used clothing from Newt...😳

this one is less h0rny and more dumb and I died every time I typed newt’s screen name but (ALSO THE FACT THAT TUMBLR KEPT BLOCKING THIS MESSAGE....unbelievable) 18+/not sfw below cut

-------------------

The whole thing only started because of the kaijus.

It seems foolish to place the blame on them, considering the severity of the damage they’ve caused in every other aspect of life, but it’s the truth. Hermann was never brilliant at romance even in the best of times; he never knew quite the right words to say, or quite the right way to kiss, and certainly not how to keep men interested enough to come back for more than a date or two. Then the end of the world came, and the jaeger program ate up what little free time Hermann had, and dating simply fell to the very lowest tier of his priorities. He had work to do. He had lives to save.

Unfortunately, his libido continued to run rampant.

Masturbation could only get one so far, though Hermann was undeterred and tried almost anything: dildos, vibrators, expensive lubricant, a paid subscription to a high-quality pornography website. He cancelled this after a week, when he realized none of its featured men--though undeniably good-looking--fit his particular area of interest. Besides, it was far too impersonal. Hermann did not like spending half of his time watching a video or scrolling through a photo gallery wondering what that man was doing now, or whether or not he’d enjoyed himself, or what he was like in person... In a fit of desperation, Hermann picked up a subscription to another website that promised live men 24/7. And, well. To make a long story short, Hermann is pretty sure he’s in love.

The object of his affections is twenty-something and stocky, a good few inches shorter than Hermann (he’d wager, anyway), with a chestful of tattoos and a voice that’s almost high enough to be grating. Hermann has seen his face only fleetingly, but it’s enough for him to know it’s a highly agreeable one. He’s got a nice sense of humor, seems intelligent enough, and the glimpses Hermann’s caught of the bedroom he streams from (at the perfect time of day, late enough that Hermann’s inhibitions are entirely nonexistent) indicate a healthy love of science fiction. 

Hermann is mostly in love with him because of how good of a show he puts on, though. Where Hermann fails in his use of dildos or vibrators and other nonsense, the man succeeds, and indeed excels, and he’s endlessly creative with dressing in lace and other funny little costumes. It makes for some very inspired jerking off on Hermann’s end. More importantly, it makes for a calming of his libido.

Hermann doesn’t know his real name, only his chosen screen name, though it doesn’t really matter: kaijulover69 is most certainly the man of his dreams.

Well. Nobody’s perfect.

“Tonight’s stream is dedicated to a very special fan for all his support,” kaijulover69 begins. He’s wrapped in a bathrobe, though Hermann has a feeling he knows what’s beneath it, and he flushes pleasantly with warmth at what’s soon to come. “And for what I’m wearing right now. You know who you are. Thanks again, dude!”

His lips are just visible on camera, and he grins coquettishly before slipping the sleeve off his right shoulder. Then the left. “That very same fan requested a strip tease tonight,” he continues, “and--well, I’ll let the rest be a surprise, huh?”

The belt is undone. The robe slips down to the bed, revealing the object of Hermann’s affections clad in nothing but a rather small pair of lacy black undergarments. (And a bloody expensive pair, at that--cost a third of Hermann’s weekly salary. It’s worth it.) You look very attractive, Hermann types encouragingly into the chat box, and hope it’s visible between the pleads for kaijulover69 to flash his face or pull his genitalia out already. 

He doesn’t appear to see any of them. “My week was pretty lame,” he continues. He begins to idly run his hands up and down his bare chest; Hermann mirrors the action on his own, enjoying the shiver he manages to elicit from himself even through two layers of shirt and sweater. “Work stuff has been kicking my ass. And--” His fingers falter. “Well, there’s this guy I really like, and we’ve kinda been...seeing each other, but I just found out he’s actually seeing someone else. So I guess it’s like, I realized I’ve been making all this shit up in my head?”

Who would ever turn down such a marvelous specimen of human? Hermann’s temper flares with a mingling of both righteous offense on the man’s behalf and a little bit of jealousy that he’s not the one who’s so captured his heart. He would like to knock some sense into them, whoever they are.

“But you don’t care about that,” he says, and forces a laugh. “You want to see me mess these up, don’t you?”

His hand drifts down to his panties, and he gives himself a squeeze through them.

“Please,” Hermann says happily, though he knows there’s no one to hear.

------

There’s an email from Newton waiting for him in his inbox the next morning. No subject.

Hey, dude-

Sorry I left you hanging yesterday. I was just a little shocked. Not shocked that you have a partner or whatever, of course you do, that’s totally normal, just that you never told me about them until now. I read over your latest article, and I just wanted to say what an utter load of--

“Hmph,” Hermann says, and quickly scrolls up and away from Newton’s annoying little rant.

Even as he does so, he feels a pang of guilt he doesn’t quite understand. Newton is shocked he has a partner: so what? And, er, so what if that partner isn’t quite as real as Hermann is pretending? The question came at him fast, and unexpected, and so very quickly into the switch from letter correspondence to email; kaijulover69 on his mind, Hermann panicked and wrote yes, I do have someone in my life. It’s not entirely a lie. Though Hermann holds no illusions about the nature of their dynamic, the man has certainly taken up the same amount of Hermann’s time and money that a real partner would. And besides--it’s easier. Less messy. Newton would probably try to set Hermann up with someone, or pester him about his sex life, or even--God forbid--try to offer him advice. (Once I blew a guy in the bathroom of this shitty dive bar, try that, he told Hermann a few weeks ago, and I always take my dates to the aquarium so I can talk about shit and look smart.) 

It’s also helpful in dissuading Hermann from his daydreams and illusions of dating not kaijulover69, but Newton; that, he fears, is an even grander pipe dream.

He skims Newton’s--rather poor--critique of his work, ignoring entirely his comments on Hermann’s partner, and types up a fast rebuttal. Kaijulover69 has another stream tonight, and he doesn't want to miss it.

--------

“The trick,” kaijulover69 pants, “is to just, uh, relax your muscles as much as possible. It’s easier when you’ve got someone doing it for you, obviously, but...”

His chosen method of masturbation tonight is a frightfully large tentacle dildo, wider and longer than any prick Hermann’s seen in his life. Hermann’s not sure if such a dildo would fit inside him; he’s not even sure if it’s going to fit inside kaijulover69. The man is rather compact. It’s stopped about halfway into his body, and even from the rather distant angle Hermann can tell it’s stretching him tight. 

“...I might’ve jumped the gun a little,” the man says, and bursts out into breathy laughter. “Should’ve, uh, should’ve gotten the smaller size. Or worked up to this one.” He works another centimeter into himself before his body goes taut. “Go--go big or go home, I guess?”

One hand moving steadily around his prick, Hermann uses the other to type an encouraging message: Excellent effort.

Kaijulover69 pulls the dildo out to the thinnest section, then once he relaxes, begins a rhythm of short, shallow thrusts. Each time, it goes in a little deeper. It’s very good to watch, and listen to as well; his little gasps, the creaks of his bedsprings, the spread of his legs widening. Hermann briefly considers how badly he would like to be the one pushing it into him and dragging out those sounds, and is surprised to find himself orgasming.

He tips generously once the stream is over: he does like to consider himself some sort of gentleman, and he likes seeing how excited it gets kaijulover69.

-------

The package arrives on an entirely ordinary Tuesday some three weeks later. Autumn has come, bringing with it a rather heavy series of rains, and Hermann is drenched and shivering when he finally ducks into the relative warmth of his flat. The knowledge of what the box tucked under his arm contains warms him considerably; he rented a P.O. Box for one reason and one reason exactly, not even daring to have his name attached to it. It’s gauche, he knows, but--isn’t it a bit like recycling? Kaijulover69 gets a fresh, exciting outfit from Hermann, and Hermann gets it back after he’s--well.

Hermann needs to unwind somehow. There’s nothing wrong with it!

The black lace undergarments are wrapped neatly up inside the box, with a sweet little pink bow on top. Attached to that is a simple handwritten card: To my number one fan! ❤️ There’s plenty more where this came from...

Simple, and innocently flirty. And so familiar it makes Hermann’s blood run cold.

“It’s not possible,” he says.

And yet--isn’t it? Hermann’s never seen his face--either of their faces--and the screen name--

There is no return address on the package, but a frantic search of its wrappings reveals its origin: stamped in black ink over frog-themed postage is BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. “No, no,” Hermann mutters to himself, even as he reminds himself (unhelpfully) that plenty of people are from Boston. He tosses it to the bed and clacks over to his desk, clutching the card so tightly it crumples. Newton’s letters are all in the top drawer--he just needs--

The handwriting is a perfect match.

“Bugger,” Hermann groans.

#newmann #maria's fanfiction tag #Anonymous #not sfw ////

[2bstudioblog]

Konami’s wheels are turning... slowly

Lot’s of interesting news heading to our heads this Monday from what I heard from Yong Yea’s video about Konami wanting to outsource their IP’s to 3rd parties.

Obviously, Akira Yamaoka has kinda given away a strong hint that he’s working on a project with Bloober which in this case would be the long awaited SH remake or the direction they had with PT before it got cancelled. Akira Yamaoka also decided that (too late) he wanted to amend the article from his interview and release it later down the line. It’s very unusual that these news happen, but we all know Yamaoka is most famous for his music in Silent Hill.

Which brings me to a funny story about my own involvement of a Silent Hill game. I mentioned this on a podcast that I was part of 2 Konami-owned IP’s that went into another direction and killing off their franchises which have been like dead bodies in a morgue for the last 7 years.

I got the request to write industrial-metal music for a Silent Hill (of course at this time I only knew the IP and their most famous version of the game has been Silent Hill 2.) game. First I was of course very excited to be part of the series, but I jumped to early until I found out it was a Pachinko-machine (A japanese style pinball-game mixed with a touch-screen and a one-armed bandit and a slot-machine in one.), and my heart sank a little. I think I produced 4-5 cues for the machine, but I’m glad that nobody will be able to hear my “mediocre” masterpieces because all you would hear are metal-balls falling into a tray. But the thing about this machine, it had taken cut-scenes from Silent Hill 2, upscaled or even re-mastered/remade the graphics which would have looked great if it was its own game. But it was the same thing they’ve done with all their other IPs when those transfer over to this kind of entertainment. All what was left of it, Jim Sterling turned the game into a Meme and all I can hear is the -”HIT THE LEVER!” and the effects overpowering the music behind it. But I’m glad it didn’t go further then that. Technically here, Silent Hill(s) died with the arrival of the pachinko-slot machine and the series have tried to re-establish itself ever since.

Another game I was a part of was a Castlevania (Dracula in Japan) themed Pachinko-slot machine, with the revolutionary phrase “Erotic Violence” in it’s PR material and video-commercial. I mean, they took the music production part of this machine very seriously because I wasn’t aware of the “EV” part. I just thought it would be a machine praising the history of Castlevania. I was assigned to re-write and re-orchestrate a few songs from Neo-classical Metal music into more Progressive Metal style, and I was super-proud of this one because they had the sheet-music already available for me. All I had to do was re-arrange some parts for a string-quartet (1 cello, 2 violins and 1 viola) and I believe it was engineered and recorded by famed engineer Kenji Nakai who was under and working with famed engineer Mr Bruce Swedien (Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones).

From that moment me and Mr. Nakai stroke a friendship because he has a passion for Progressive Metal and he asked me if I could send more songs his way. From this we both have been incredibly busy on both of our ends, but I hope we can be able to work on something in the future. I have a feeling that might be soon.

So a long story short, Konami spent a lot of money for recording, they approved everything and we were done. But when it turned out to be a pachinko-machine and not a world-wide videogame release, I just had to facepalm myself, asking the question why they keep doing so many poor decisions. Why leaving all those fans out in the cold and really start making Castlevania mean something. This void of “lots of fancy things, but no substance” started right here...

Konami are turning their wheels a little bit too late and too slow until now. After they got rid of Hideo Kojima (Who I believe was thinking of the international-market rather than the domestic one), Konami had only one thing on their minds: Making money quick and domestically. No more wasted time on translations, straight for the gambling crowd. No need to write interesting stories. No need to introduce kids to this adult material. They wanted to earn it back as fast as possible. But we all see their decisions put them on the map as a “black-company”, who mistreat their staff, shaming them out in the office for overstaying their lunch-breaks. Moving staff from one business to another, from a programmer to a Konami-fitness Center-staff, or as a toilet-cleaner at a Konami-owned pachinko-slot gambling hall. The management of the company has been horrendous for the full-time employee. I’m glad I was not part of these later projects and only wrote stuff for them for Pro Evolution Soccer series from 2009-2012. (My work on 2010-2012 was unfortunately un-credited work. :(

Metal Gear Solid V - The Phantom Pain In My Ass

When the playable teaser called Metal Gear Solid - Ground Zeroes, came out on the PS3 and later on the PS4, it was an introduction for the new graphics engine designed by Hideo Kojima’s team, simply called The FOX-Engine. Basically this “game” was more of a demo rather than a full-product. But it looked great and with a fantastic score by Akihiro Honda, Ludvig Forssell and Harry Gregson-Williams, it had everything going for it to become something really awesome. It became a standard approach from Hideo Kojima now to produce “Playable Teasers” to show a great concept while offering a 3-4 hour short campaign, showing off the engine’s graphical capabilities.

Still, the story was under progress and I knew early on that Hideo Kojima really didn’t want to do it after he always felt that Metal Gear Solid 4 was final. But here is the curse of the die-hard fans, and I’m sorry to say it. No matter how many Iron Man movies Marvel crams out, at the 3rd movie, I started to feel “This does not feel like Iron Man anymore”. But that’s what the fans wanted and is a standard in the movie industry. Always produce a trilogy. Indiana Jones has always been the 3 movies from 1981-1989. The 4th one doesn’t really need to be called Indiana Jones at all. It was there I felt, just like with Metal Gear Solid V, they were beating a DEAD RACE HORSE.

I can’t deny the talents on display for Metal Gear Solid - Ground Zeroes. It laid down some really cool foundations for the gameplay, but I still believe the better game-series for stealth was beaten by the likes of Splinter Cell and most recently Thief. Stealth in MGS has always felt a little bit childish and I only really enjoyed MGS 1, MGS 2, tried to play MGS 3 (still have it one my Vita!) and will try to finish it. MGS 3 has felt like the TRUE Zeroes experience, with the inception of the story and lore behind the cloning of Big Boss. MGS 4 finally brought it all to a great finale and I felt, there is NOTHING more to tell. MGS 1, 2 and 4 is the Trilogy, MGS 3 serves as the Prequel and I see nothing wrong with that.

Mission - Erase Kojima’s Legacy

The making of MGS V - The Phantom Pain is kinda true to it’s title. Can you feel the nostalgia? Or are we just imagining the sensation of a Metal Gear Solid game past it’s prime? The missing link? The missing limb? And with the worlds biggest cop-out  of everything that had to do with story was completely missing.

Each mission is playing out every time the same, with an intro to a TV-show, giving away massive spoilers to who would appear in the mission, you do your thing (not so much of story, just a “go-here, do that approach, sneak back out, head to pick-up) rinse and repeat. I wonder how much of this was Kojima’s fault? I don’t think he was up to it. I’m sure he fought for more story but the big heads didn’t want to listen to what makes a MGS game a MGS game. The new management had now already played the hand to disown the man who put Konami on the map for games since the mid 80s.

The game is no longer marketed like before. The tagline “A Hideo Kojima Game” no longer exists and will never be part of Konami’s mission of erasing the person who gave them their fame and the recognition that a game carrying the name Konami was a brand of quality for any gamer out there. Me myself, personally only played PES because of the stellar animations, but its recently since 2012, I stopped playing the series. FIFA had already cheapened itself, PES likewise. Updating the graphics, but the same old animations have been recycled back to the PES3 days. Maybe there’s been an update in the collision engine, but otherwise everything stayed the same, with the huge amount of data collected from previous years of motion-capture, why do it all over when its all about the brand recognition? Saving money on processes wherever possible. Simple Math. And here it is. MGS V is not a MGS game.

We already knew it was going to be a massive budget behind the game of MGS V. But what can Konami do to save money on MGS V? They already have the Fox Engine running from Ground Zeroes. The assets for “Snake” (I’ll let you know why I put quotation-marks around it) and standard models will extend somewhat. Oh, yes, let’s save money on a character that doesn’t speak (Quiet), over-sexualize the character to start a fan-base of people who just dig character design, animated a sexy “shower” routine for the character for boys to go nuts over. What about voice? Let’s not really try to sync the voices to the mouths. Let’s have the guy from “24″ record his performances onto tape-logs. Kiefer Sutherland would have been a good “Snake”, but I understand now that you are not “SNAKE”. The game explains pretty soon at the end that you are just a Medic and all the tapes you’ve been listening to is the original Big Boss. You never where the character of Snake. Even though this all could have been handled better, Konami wanted to save money wherever possible. We also knew David Hayter was not asked or put forward to return as “The Voice of Snake”. But in this case I start to wonder myself, David Hayter might have dodged the biggest bullet in the most expensive, commercial and very controversial game of all time once Konami decided to kill everything that built up their reputation.

Even during production Kojima managed to start working on PT. The game Konami “silenced” after it was released on the PS-store. Guillermo Del Toro and his friendship with Hideo Kojima’s dream-game was put on ice. All because Kojima was about to get frozen out of the company that was according to Konami “Wasting too much bloody money”. I might get blacklisted for saying this, but once the new management started to mess with the other IPs for just domestic/gambling market, that’s where everything went sideways. Konami wasn’t treating their heritage with respect.

It took them 7 years to realize their mistake! And now, for those who wants to be part of 3rd party developers who would get a crack at a new Castlevania, a new Metal Gear Solid (remake I hope), Konami has realized that the only way they will survive (Yeah, Metal Gear Solid Survive killed them HARD) is to let other’s take over. Maybe my dream of scoring a Metal Gear Solid game would be somewhat more possible now rather than working in the confined space of limitations posed by the higher ups at Konami. Let 3rd party developers breathe life into the IPs because I know there are smarter ways to tell a story and I would gladly like to see the return of David Hayter in the seat, without having to deal with the blank-face approach that he was faced with every time he had to audition for Snake in MGS 2, 3 and 4! David Hayter is a fantastic writer, actor and voice-actor. He has the chops and I think we are all ready for either a re-make or a better follow up to MGS 2 and the time between that one and MGS 4.

#Metal Gear Solid V #the phantom pain #Konami #Hideo Kojima #Akira Yamaoka #Yong Yea #Castlevania #Pachinko #Silent Hill #PT #Ground Zeroes #harry gregson williams #ludvig forssell #3rd Party #Bloober team #remake #Metal Gear Solid Remake

[monotonous-minutia]

Hello, I got send here by @notyouraveragejulie who told me you love Martha. I recently heard Ach so Fromm from this opera and I love it, so I was wondering wether you could recommend some recordings, audio or video, to me.

Thanks a lot!

omg you will never understand in three million years how fabulously this has made my day!!!

so yeah I absolutely LOVE this opera and have since like 2009 but unfortunately in that time have found only a few recordings of it--but luckily what little there is out there are true gems!!

There’s a few audio recordings out there but my experience is limited to Spotify so here’s hoping you have that or other musical platforms have similar contents. Ironically, though there’s so little of this to go around, I’m kinda choosy when it comes to what versions of it I consume. That said:

My favorite recording is the Berlin 1944 one. About half the albums on Spotify are this one with different cover art. It’ll forever be my favorite because it’s the first one I heard and the performers positively nail it--there’s so much character expression in just the voices. The sound quality is a bit fuzzy because it’s pretty old, but I love the way it’s paced--pretty brisk throughout which really matches the comic elements and sudden twists and turns.

My other favorite is Frankfurt 2018, which also includes an interlude and two arias that aren’t in the one above, and pacing is similarly brisk and it’s extra fun because it’s a live recording (and the sound quality is a bit better).

The other two are:

Met 2005 which a) is in English with a really bad translation, b) has poor audio quality, and c) has pieces cut out here and there which is annoying. 

and the 1954 Torino one which is in Italian and thus does not interact.

as for video recordings, not nearly as many, but YouTube has a video of the 1978 film that is incredibly spot-on (though it does cut out one of my favorite parts and credits the wrong librettist). The sound and picture quality are pretty good considering its age, and the cast is just phenomenal, and the pacing is really similar to the Berlin recording so I love that.

Novaya Opera (Moscow) streamed a concert performance of this opera live in June, which I’m really mad I didn’t know about till later, but the whole thing is on YouTube as well. I have yet to watch it in its entirety, but the bits I’ve seen seem really good.

also there’s a few recordings of Renée Fleming singing “The Last Rose of Summer” which slay me because it’s a dream of mine to hear/see Renée Fleming in this opera.

I have the links to all of these but didn’t attach any because Tumblr can be weird about links sometimes. So I can message them to you if you want.

Also none of these come with a libretto but I do have a PDF of a German/English libretto and can send that your way if you want.

if you want to hear my ramblings/analysis/historical trivia of this opera or just want to scream about it with me please do not hesitate to do so because I believe I’m one of maybe 3 people on this site who’ve seen/heard this one and I just love it so much.

thank you!! sorry if this got a bit long! Let me know if anything needs clarifying, or if you’d like me to send you any of the links :)

#Martha #Martha opera

[hummingbirdsaltimolockia]

I recently made a list of all the musicals I’m pretty familiar with and it came out to 63. and since my sisters won’t listen to my recommendations this is a masterpost of all those musicals with a few of my Thoughts and Opinions. this gets hella long so prepare yourself

-Les Miserables

ah, you never forget your first. I heard the symphonic recording when I was six? seven? so it has become the definitive version in my mind, but cast members (michael ball) are weak, and unfortch I haven’t come across a recording were all the cast members are top notch, though the 25th anniversary concert comes very close (norm lewis!! lea salonga!!)

-The Little Mermaid

ok so on the whole this show is not particularly great or interesting and honestly didn’t do very well on stage BUT hearing sherie rene scott sing poor unfortunate souls literally changed my life and is what really sparked my interest in musical theatre. also norm lewis is there

-The Band’s Visit

unlike any broadway musical you’ve heard fs. based on the movie of the same name, it’s about the egyptian police band being stranded in a middle-of-nowhere town in israel for in 1996. it’s a simple story but incredibly charming and ernest and surprsingly emotional. also the music is played onstage by the actors which is always cool!

-In the Heights

lin manuel miranda’s first musical and is honestly just as good as hamilton, if not better (I said what I said). it’s a slice of life kinda story about people living in washington heights. great music, great story, great characters, feels very real without being like....depressing.

-Aladdin

most of the songs from the movie stay mostly the same, I think they only changed arabian nights, and friend like me (which for the latter was a huuge improvement. I can’t NOT dance whenever I hear it. james monroe inglehart is a fantastic genie). and the flying carpet!! looks amazing!!

-Once on This Island

this story made me v mad initially (the female lead just. dies at the end), but I kept coming back to it because I loved the music, and it took me a while to figure out why and it’s because the caribbean island vibes are off the charts, and that reminds me of my childhood in sofl. and the vocals of the ensemble are amazing and the 2018 revival used a in the round stage with actual sand and live animals how cool is that

-She Loves Me

a super cute, super enjoyable, super fun musical based on the old film shop around the corner. zachery levi and laura benanti make some quality faces

-Next to Normal

oooof. a very intense show both in terms of theme and music. deals with bipolar depression, schizophrenia, drugs, suicide, hallucinations, death of a child....yeah. a very good show that handles all those heavy themes realistically

-Hamilton

so yeah when it first came out five years ago it was very hyped up and was called lin manuel’s “masterpiece” and when I listened to it I was like....dam they’re right. the lyrics and wording are so precise and having a story told by the protag’s enemy is so narratively juicey. plus the music is incredible (also listen to the hamilton mixtape if you haven’t it’s great)

-The Lion King

if you’ve followed me for any time you know I love the movie and the musical only makes it better. the songs, the music, the puppets, heather headley, the songs in zulu, the costumes...ugh perfection. the most successful disney show on broadway

-Aida

ever wonder what it’s like to be so darn good at singing that sir elton john writes a musical for you? well that’s what happened to heather headley and she completely deserved it. it’s a bit problematic in that the egyptian conquerors are all white and all the nubia slaves are black and like....they’re both in africa dude

-Anastasia

ok so I know it didn’t happen but the premise is so compelling and so gd tragic and christy altomare’s voice has such a fragility to it which is such a contrast to who anastasia actually was and the show features a song about russian refugees having to flee their homeland and it’s like the saddest song I’ve ever heard

-Anything Goes

honestly this musical on the whole isn’t that great for some...reasons, but it does have some great Friendship songs and Great tap dancing and sutton foster is in it and she is the epitome of a triple threat

-Cinderella

honestly just watch the brandy version because it’s the best version. better than the broadway version for sure, even though laura osnes is fantastic in everything she does and the show does have an amazing onstage costume change, but the brandy version has the coolest cast and costume and sets

-Ragtime

ho boy. so much to unpack here. while I think this is a “good” musical, it is too long, has too many characters and storylines, and deals with some heavy themes but doesn’t handle them very well so by the end it’s just exhausting and disappointing. BUT it does have the incomparable brian stokes mitchell and audra mcdonald, who is literally the best performer to ever grace broadway

-Thoroughly Modern Millie

there is so much spirit in this show it’s infectious. also sutton foster

-Dear Evan Hanson

sigh. so this musical gained a lot popularity among the Young People and...it..didn’t...deserve it? like again it deals with heavy issues like social anxiety, depression, and suicide, but like ragtime it doesn’t handle them very well; not in an honest way. and like everything they talk about is handled better in next to normal so

-Tuck Everlasting

based on the book, not the movie. the music is something really different and I don’t think broadway was ready to accept it so it didn’t run very long. and the adaption isn’t very strong, but the lead (sarah charles lewis) is very good and it does have a very sad song about miles losing his family

-Come From Away

so this is about the 38 planes that were diverted to a small town in newfoundland on 9/11. now with as much as america loves to talk about 9/11 I had never heard this story so it was cool to hear a different side of it. also it has a song that makes me tear up every time I hear it

-Annie

not much to say about this one. a classic

-Oklahoma!

speaking of classics, if you think this musical is boring and outdated, please listen to the 2019 revival. it rocks in every sense of the word

-West Side Story

this one is also a classic, and often called a masterpiece for good reason. the music is so strong and is integrated so well and it represents the characters on both sides. this video explains it really well. tho productions consistently have trouble finding puerto rican actors to play the puerto ricans....

-Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812

this one deserved sooo much more than it got, coming out in the same year as dear shmevan shmhanson. the lighting and set design is incredible and the music reflects each character’s emotion so it feels really honest, and almost like a supporting character. it’s so good guys. it has josh groban in a fat suit

-The Phantom of the Opera

unpopular opinion (maybe): I think gerard butler was a really good phantom. probably andrew llyod webber’s best work

-Waitress

based on the film of the same name, also the first broadway show with an entirely female creative team. also what baking can do came after my entire life

-Hello Dolly!

I fell in love with the movie version with barbra streisand, but then I learned that the original broadway production had a all black cast which is awesome but wasn’t reflected at all in the movie and that’s disappointing. great show tho

-Wicked

I can distinctly remember the first time I heard the ending crescendo of defying gravity. and the fact that it has so quickly become classic staple of broadway is a testiment to how strong it is

-You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown

yes there is a broadway show of charlie brown. the songs are funny and childlike and honest, and very ernest. also kristin chenoweth is hilarious as sally brown (she won a tony for it!)

-Chess

I love the music in the show, and some songs have very complex lyrics but the main character is kinda annoying. like yeah dude deserting your country with another woman and leaving your wife and kids behind is gonna have negative consequences. don’t know what to tell you

-Finding Neverland

not as good as the movie it’s based on. while some of the music is very pretty, the songs are pretty simple and kinda boring

-Venice

ok this show also isn’t very good, the character’s motivations are not clear, especially the villain, and the female lead’s songs are weak. but the premise and some of the songs are arresting, and I kept coming back to them

-The King and I

like wws, it took a very long time for a production to cast this show accurately, and it still hasn’t....quite done it. but the songs are very beautiful. r&h strike again.

-Matilda

features a bunch of v talented children and manages to be lighthearted but also really gets you. just listen to when I grow up

-Little Women

on the whole, not a great adaption. some good songs. sutton foster is great

-Bonnie and Clyde

oh boy you want some bad guy songs? how bout a whole musical of them? oh no the public hated us and we closed after 36 performances. ah well. at least laura osnes got her first tony nod

-Beetlejuice

very catchy show with a killer aesthetic. give alex brightman a tony just for being Like That

-Hadestown

this show has such nice lyrical rhythm, even in the spoken words, and it is so smartly composed and balanced. and even tho the broadway cast recording is out, it’s worth it to listen to the earlier album as well

-Catch Me If You Can

based on the film. just two hours of aaron tveit being a little brat and norbert leo butz flexing on everyone else’s vocal chords

-Miss Saigon

an extremely problematic and infuriating show that is unfortunately very beautiful. introduced lea salonga to the world, so that’s good at least

-The Hunchback of Notre Dame

speaking of problematic but beautiful shows. exceeds the movie in my opinion. the choral vocals just cut right through you

-The Fiddler on the Roof

I listened to the 2016 revival after not listening to this show for years and you know what? it’s really good! like heck!

-Mean Girls

yes they made a musical of mean girls. yes it’s pretty great. regina has a killer song near the end that I love to belt out

-Bandstand

one of the only musicals to make me cry actual tears just from listening to one (1) song. it’s about WWII veterans coming together to form a band just months after the war ends. also laura osnes fricking kills it in the last number

-Into the Woods

I’m not a huge fan of “fairy tales but make it realistic and therefore disappointing” but stephen sondheim is a very good writer and musician so it’s worth checking out. and the witch is played by bernadette peters in the musical and meryl streep in the movie so it’s a win both ways

-How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

what it says on the can. a very fun, ‘don’t take this too seriously’ show. the lead was played by daniel radcliffe and nick jonas at one point so like. come on

-The Last Five Years

honestly this is a very depressing show, but it’s told in a interesting way. it’s about a couple who meet, fall in love, get married, drift apart, and ultimately get divorced, but not in that order

-Newsies

ok so the broadway version is very different from the movie, but it’s still worth checking out! the new verse at the beginning of seize the day makes it worth it!

-Legally Blonde

yes they made a musical of legally blonde. yes it’s great

-Daddy Long Legs

a little known musical about a young woman who is aging out of an orphanage and finds out she is being sent to school by a mysterious benefactor. meghan mcginnis has super sweet voice

-My Fair Lady

another problematic show about a british asshole who takes it upon himself to turn a flower girl into a “proper lady” (no one asked you to do that dude). but it is funny

-South Pacific

ok so I’m not actually super familiar with this show but it does have a very important song called you’ve got to be carefully taught about how racism is not “something you’re just born” so stop making excuses nellie

-Once

again I’m not super knowledgeable about this show, I’ve listened to it a few times, and read the wiki summary but I still don’t quite know what it’s about. but the music is really good, really different from a traditional broadway show. very enticing and sentimental

-Beauty and the Beast

I think this was the first disney movie that made it to broadway? I could be wrong. like hunchback, I think it exceeds the movie, esp if I can’t love her??? shoutout to my sister’s friend for blowing my socks off with that song in 2005

-Six

not a full blown production, just a rock show about the six wives of henry viii. I thought it would be like riding off the hamilton craze of “history but make it cool” but it actually kicks ass all by itself

-The Sound of Music

another classic, and edelweiss makes me emotional

-Billy Elliot

ahh this show has so much tangible emotion in it and it’s heavy but children are it and they carry it so well and the juxtaposition of the protests an d the dancing UGH

-The Lightning Thief

yes the percy jackson musical! is good and enjoyable! doesn’t take itself seriously at all (as it shouldn’t) and the last two songs go so hard!

-The Music Man

this is imprinted into my brain because of my sister’s drama group and from that day on I have never known peace

-The Scarlet Pimpernel

based on the film of the same name, it’s really good, the opening number goes really hard, and it SHOULD be revived with laura osnes

-Oliver!

this show is....good..but it’s just too long. too many extra songs that don’t do anything

-Sussical

beautifully whimsical and heartfelt. features an array of suess characters and stories

-Moulin Rouge!

the cast album that came late year and it kicks ass. it keeps some of the songs that were featured in the movie, and brings in songs that have come out since the movie like shut up and dance, royals, and bad romance

-The Greatest Showman

so technically this isn’t a broadway show, but it’s going to be, and I think it will be much better as a stage show than a movie.

#broadway #good lord this took way too long #I didn't provide links for everyone but pls click the ones that are there! #frick this took forever #but! talk to me about musicals! I love them and my sisters won't listen to my recommendations!

[justlightthefirstspark]

Utd vs Reading 02/02/2020

Or, as @danieljamesmufc so eloquently put it, ‘The Battle of The Baes’ (Baes in question obviously being Amy Turner and Angharad James)

Anywho, there isn’t much of a ~detailed~ analysis like other pieces have had. A lot of the plays (and therefore, issues) are the same every game, and I don’t wanna keep repeating myself by making the same points week in and week out. Also, this game was kinda scrappy and not much really happened - until the end but we will get there in due time. I have a LOT of thoughts about the end of this game.

Few small changes in the XI - due to McManus picking up an injury vs Chelsea, Amy came back in at CB which was just

And then I saw Harris at RB 😐 I think I’ve made my feelings about that very clear, and I don’t wanna start hating on Martha for the sake of it, but Smith is the better of the two imo. And I just can’t see why Casey keeps insisting on playing TWO natural RB’s when she has a natural LB sitting on the bench ALL THE TIME, collecting splinters in her arsecheeks. It’s annoying, and I’m kinda sick of it.

Lizzie Arnot dropped out of the XI, in favour of Jane Ross for this one, and everything else was pretty much the same as Wednesday night.

Also, and I would really appreciate some help/info/whatever you’ve all got for this, but I was under the impression that Amy couldn’t (or at least, wasn’t really supposed to) play 3 games in one week? I’m like 90% sure that Casey benched her a few times in the second half of last season for this exact reason? Apparently that’s down to the knee injury she had a few years ago, but I would appreciate some clarification on this if anyone has anything 🧐

Also (I’m being annoying now, sorry) but this commentator was... bad. Mispronuncing players names (who is Jackie Groinen?), not even bothering to try and pronounce others (here’s looking at you, Angharad James), misidentifying players, just not really knowing what was happening a solid 83% of the time... idk who she is but she needs to not commentate on a United game again, I can’t listen to her. Girl had some, interesting, opinions too, and I’m quoting her directly now, “United will think that they’re due a defeat” 🧐 I’m not entirely sure how, or why, that would be the case, but apparently both United and Reading have alternating W/L runs in the league and today was Reading’s turn to win? I was confused. I still kinda am. And I didn’t like it.

First half:

The first 10 mins of this were pretty boring tbh. There was an awful lot of back and forth, misplaced passes, interceptions and the like. I think United were just on top in the opening few minutes, judging by the amount of time they spent in Reading’s half, and their possession.

‘8 - Corner and a free kick for United in quick succession. Nothing came from either (surprise surprise), but there was a lovely bit of ball control in the box from Ross after the FK. Just couldn’t get it to Sigsworth (who probably would have scored but we don’t need to talk about it)

‘13 - Another potential Ross/Sigsworth link up in the box but Ross just swept it straight into the legs of a Reading player, instead of passing to Jess on her left 🤷🏽‍♀️ I thought she was okay today, so I won’t give her too much grief for that mistake

‘16 - decent chance for Sigsworth, ended up launching it straight at *insert Reading player here.* Foreal, I have no idea who it was. Sorry. Groenen and Zelem both had decent opportunities following this, but nothing came of either of those

‘17 - Another corner for Utd, wasn’t a great delivery to be honest. Was played out and worked back in, LJ managed to get a shot off but sent it behind with a deflection so yet more corners followed. With nothing coming from any of them - this is starting to be a problem. We never challenge from set pieces, and I’m genuinely starting to wonder why that is? Does someone else need to take them? Or what?

There was *a lot* of midfield action around this time, more back and forth, a few fouls, and free kicks. None of this was noteworthy, hence the lack of notes.

‘21 - Amy stop backpassing challenge. I gave Abbie SO much shit for this vs City and Chelsea (as well as vs Spurs, oops), so I guess it’s Amy’s turn now. Sidenote: I think ‘Turner & Turner’ is my fave chant, the original at least. No disrespect to Abbie but seeing Turner x2 at CB on the teamsheet has me like

‘28 - Earps’ clearnances need work. Like, a lot of work. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m never fully convinced by the ball that leaves her feet, and I don’t think she is either which is an issue 😬

‘29 - GOAL - United. I was literally just making a note on how boring I was finding this game - my highlight by the 28 minute mark was Amy lashing her boot into Tash Harding’s face. Lol. - when Lauren James appears literally out of nowhere and lashes one home. A gorgeous strike, cutting in from the left. This kid is lethal.

‘38 - Today I learned that we really only have one fast defender - Millie. Martha somehow outpaced Amy back with Reading on the break and I think my jaw hit the floor.

‘41 - United have the ball in the back of the net again. Amy got under a well struck free from Zelem and fired it home, but somehow was ruled offside. Clearly this ref and I have very, very different opinions about what the offisde rule actually constitutes, cause she was very much clearly onside.

Idk if you can see properly in those pics, but no one is offside in any of them. You can see in this video too, that Amy is in fact, NOT offside. I’m not having that one, it should have stood. https://twitter.com/48hours8/status/1223984745413038081?s=21

I just. I’m highkey so annoyed. And I’m definitely dragging this out but like

Moving on. That concluded a pretty uneventful half, aside from the goal and the offside that wasn’t actually offside.

Halftime:

Reading made a pretty interesting change at the half, subbing Haz off for LMKU. Maybe LMKU offers more of a threat going forward, but I thought Haz was pretty solid in the first half? She was certainly a lot better today than she was in the reverse fixture - she was shredded by Galton on every single run but I didn’t see her do anything like that this time? Anyway. (Also I’m lowkey sad Amy never got to slide tackle her into the middle of next week)

Second half:

‘47 - Quality build up work down the left and a gorgeous ball into the box from LJ, I fortune my it just brushed past Sigsworth and Ross in the 6 yard box/penalty area. So close to a second for United.

‘51 - a pretty poor free kick from Zelem, and a pretty poor decision and back pass from James. Sometimes I wonder if people on this team think about what they’re doing before they do it 🤗

‘53 - decent chance for Reading, which ultimately comes off the back post. United very lucky to get away with that one.

‘59 - Harris was very far forward there for a time. Like in the opposition box forward. Hello, anxiety. Also Amy nearly body checked someone around the same time and I was truly living my best life.

‘61 - Zel with a decent free kick, just couldn’t get the dip it needed to hit the back of the net

‘62 - another good strike from LJ, unfortunately just straight at the keeper.

‘63 - Penalty - Reading. Yellow for Amy for pushing Utland (I didn’t catch who it actually was, but according to Reading’s twitter it was LMKU) and conceding the pen.

‘64 - MARY EARPS SAFE HANDS LET’S GOOOO 🗣👏🏽🔥 What a save, my god. I was sure that was going in, but I’ve never been happier to be proven wrong in my life.

‘75 - another great chance for LJ - a lovely strike, think it could have done with a little bit of a chip, and then surely it was going in. Good work from Jess and Jackie in the build up too

‘76 - ‘82. This is where shit got crazy. And I really have no words for what I saw during this 6 minutes. Well, I do have words - I have a lot of them - but most of them aren’t suitable for this platform so I’ll just keep those ones to myself. Never in all my life have I seen such incompetent refereeing. A free kick awarded to Reading on the edge of the box, due to a ‘handball’ (that didn’t happen) by Lauren James, is cleared and HEADED away by Katie Zelem. The ref then proceeds to book Zelem for handball which, unless she suddenly has a third arm growing out of her FACE (I can confirm - she does not), makes absolutely zero sense, and awards Reading another penalty.

Jess also managed to get herself booked for questioning the ref’s decision and defending Katie sjsjsj, and not a single Reading player made a claim for that penalty. Surely, if she had handled the ball, every Reading player in the box would have appealed for it? You can clearly see the ball hit her head in the video linked below, but apparently the arm bone is now connected to the face bone, at least according to this ref anyway. 🙄

https://twitter.com/48hours8/status/1223996019022626821?s=21

I have no more thoughts on whatever happened after that because I had to turn it off before they scored that penalty, otherwise I would have drop kicked my laptop out my window. For what it’s worth, I did think Martha had a decent game today. I still want Smith at RB and Lotta at LB while Amy’s at CB though. You can’t make me change my mind 🤗

This is the third time this week alone that United have been robbed by poor referees, and apparently the ref of the City/Arsenal game today wasn’t much better. I didn’t see that game so I can’t really comment, but I don’t doubt those claims. The standard and quality of refereeing I’ve seen over the past 2 seasons since my introduction to women’s football has been appalling. And it’s not fair, I think this tweet pretty much sums it up.

The FA has pretty much demanded that every team/club in the WSL be full time, it’s about time that they demand the same qualifications and high quality from their officials, because this just isn’t good enough. And not just from the standpoint of a United fan, and in the context of today’s result, but league wide. It’s just not good enough. I’m completley here for literally everybody calling this shambles out for what it is, and the United girls being salty af on the tl.

Sorry that is this kinda long and ranty, but I’m in my feelings about this ref. ✌🏽

#justiceforlotta2020 #justiceforamy2020 #justiceforkatie2020 #@ the fa - hire some competent refs challenge #thanks for coming to my (very angry) ted talk #i’m still fuming #these girls deserve better #my writing #muwfc #manchester united women

[whenimgoodandready]

🎶Why can’t we be friends? Why can’t we be friends? Why can’t we be friends? Why can’t we be friends?🎶 Why!? We have really nice friendships in the show! Marinette and Alya, Adrien and Nino, Max and Kim, Chloe and Sabrina (in a twisted sense) there’s also “Juleka and Rose” along w/ “Nathaniel and Marc” *wink* Who’s the most questionable person you wouldn’t wanna be friends with? Let’s find out:

*Ikari Gozen-It’s Friendship Day in Paris! (Yes, it’s a real holiday, look it up) and the weather girls, Aurore and Mireille, who’ve now become friends, are celebrating by having a contest pairing up random strangers in town w/ others to form friendships and work together through a scavenger hunt all to win a fun filled day with Adrien Agreste! Marinette and the girl squad participate and Marinette is selected to be friends wiiiiiiiiiiiiiith-(drum roll) Kagami Tsurugi! Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! Oh boy! Out of all the 2.141 million population in Paris, she’s partnered up with one of her many rivals for Adriens affections! What a kick in the a**.

Fearing that Adrien will chose Kagami to be his girlfriend if they win since they’re already so close and developing feelings for each other, Marinette does everything she can to sabotage their chances at winning, but like she said, Kagami is brilliant and they achieve in all their challenges. It doesn’t get any better when in the middle of one challenge, Kagami kept asking her weird random questions all w/ a quick forced awkward smile that was quite unsettling for our heroine. Another part of the challenge included swapping phones with your partner and this was a callback to all those times Marinette stole peoples phones and she discovers something about Kagami..........she has no friends :(. (sad violin music plays) Hell! The only person on her contacts list is her mother! There’s absolutely nothing from Adrien on her phone and she was looking up “How to Make Friends” using an app. Marinette felt like sh*t now that she realized she was ruining what could’ve been a beautiful friendship.

Kagami heard about the sabotage from Marinettes phone when Alya sent a video wishing Marinette luck on losing w/ Kagami and she wasn’t mad, but disheartened. Like she failed at friendship :(. (sad violin music plays) Poor girl, she wanted other friends besides Adrien and now she can’t have her own gal pal. No one to shop w/ or get O.J w/ or discuss blood types since that’s kinda her thing right now or whatever. Hawk Moth sends out an akuma on her for that. Oh God, who’s she gonna turn into now!? Kagami gently backs out on the competition feeling unworthy, but Marinette has a change of heart and accepts her friendship even trying to convince her mother that she’s her friend which cheers her up. Not today, little butterfly! Not today! However, we learn Kagami never asked her mothers permission to enter the competition which upset her to steer the akuma in her direction instead and she becomes Ikari Gozen! A giant mechanical centaur w/ her walking cane bokken as a weapon! She has a cool car though. It’s voice activated since she’s blind which is pretty awesome. Better than a chauffeur!

Kagami gets eaten (she’s still alive just kept captive in Ikaries stomach) and Ladybug is given a lucky charm to find Master Fu (who’s still in Paris despite Hawk Moth being aware of him) and she chooses the dragon miraculous! Fellow Miraculers, I present to you the holder of the dragon miraculous, Kagami Tsurugi! A.k.a Ryuko! (trumpets sound). Obvie. Her Kwami was a dragon named Longg, her weapon:a sword, her miraculous:a choker and her power, get this, is a choice between three elements! Yeah! Three! Water💦, Wind🌬 and Lightning⚡️! But wait! There’s more! She doesn’t detransform after one is used, but until all three are used! Best.power.everrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

During this years SDCC, someone uploaded the whole ep of this on YouTube when it was shown in the English Dub (thank you kind stranger, much obliged) and although it was in bad quality, I appreciated it and hearing the audience in the background of the sneak peek made it look like a sitcom which was kinda fun! Nice to see friendships formed here such the reconcile between Aurore and Mireille, Alya and Wayhem and now Marinette and Kagami! Thank goodness! It’s what the fandom wanted! Marinette has enough rivals already and it’s time she made friends with one of ‘em. Besides, we all know how Adrien feels about each one of her rivals (Chloe has no chance, Lila is unredeemable, Aurore and Mireille are barely around, so we don’t need to worry about ‘em and Wayhem, well...........it depends on how Adrien rolls). Kagami was the closest (next to Ladybug) on winning over Adrien and even though there were moments where she was nice, Marinette was clouded by her jealousy over her and cuz she always saw her as cold and reserved. She has feelings too Marinette! Shame on you! (course now that they’re friends I don’t know how that’ll work w/ the whole Adrien issue still up in the air. Especially for the season finale!). Strict parents raise rebels they say and we’ve seen Adrien do that, now he’s encouraged Kagami to do the same since “Desperada”. We’ve seen Kagami train her fencing many times (“Onichan” and “Feast”), but the girl needs a break Tomoe! No wonder she and Gabe are close, they both keep their children occupied w/ no time for fun! Master Fu is being extremely cautious now that his identity was discovered (“Feast”), but as we saw here and “Party Crasher”, he needs to still be close enough to train Marinette into guardianship and give her miraculouses when needed. Although, its not necessary, it’s only his name Hawk Moth knows cuz he can’t see from his supervillain form and only sense feelings. Master Fu also used a fake name in “Syren” just to be safe. Ryuko was ✨amazing!✨By far, she’s the best superhero with the best superpowers I’ve seen in the show. The fandom has done it again, Kagami got the dragon miraculous! She has three powers! Sooooooo much better than a single power one shot use! I always thought she’d have pyrokinesis since dragons are fire breathers, but I guess the lightning power was close enough. Still, three powers! More important, her weapon of choice was a sword! Perfect! Unfortunately, it was her first and last day of being a super due to her cockiness and exposing herself in front of her mother and Hawk Moth finding out about it. Damn! In and out in just one day! That’s the shortest superhero career I’ve seen since Electra in the 2003 “Daredevil” movie! Phffft! Guess this means I have to call in the trumpeters (summons the trumpeters and they arrive. I motion for them to play “Taps”. They play “Taps”). Oh Ryuko, although we’ve only known you for about 15mins, you were a gift. Your powers surpassed that of the dynamic duo with your elemental abilities and multiple use also your experience with fencing in your civilian form helped you to wield a true sword. Shame your hastiness exposed your identity and you were forced into retirement, but we shall not forget your presence and pray to the stars that you will one day come back to us. Great! Just great! The best superhero to come into the show and now we’ll never see them again! (crosses arms and pouts). Thanks a lot Hawkdaddy :P.

#miraculous ladybug #ikari gozen #miraculous ladybug ikari gozen

[tazzmanien]

Day6 concert in Amsterdam

I know i'm way too late, writing about the Day6 concert in Amsterdam. Better late than never. (And I had a stressful week and am sick.)

In short: I loved it! I have the after concert blues.

In very long:

They played all the songs that I like. Unfortunately they sang only a part of Congratulation themselves, as they let the audience sing the first half. I know it was very cool to hear the Dutch audience sing a Korean Song so good, but I love this song so much that I would have preferred to hear it sang by the band completely. Shoot me was my favorite song before and it hit high peak at the show, it landed in my all time top 10 kpop songs now! And the length of the show was great.

The guys were just perfect. Maybe too perfect at times, but perfect anyhow. First of all they all played their instruments perfectly. I couldn't hear almost any mistakes. So I can't say who played the best. I think they all did! They also sang so so good. Not to be biased, but I liked Jaes singing the best, as it was the realest. Still all sang great. I was there for the music, but let's be real, all of them are beautiful human beings. If you ask me who was the most beautiful objectively speaking, I couldn't answer. Oh and they all looked so mature. I don't know how to explain this, but like men and not boys or something. Sometimes they gave me the vibe that all they were doing or saying was just rehearsed, but then they would do some random things and they'll feel real. I still don't know what was the truth, but overall I enjoyed it, even if it only was fan service, I don't care. What I did believe 100% was when they were talking about how special the world tour was for them. I mean which artist wouldn't feel like that. It was their first after all and they sold out pretty big places and were able to travel a lot. I would be so happy for the travelling alone!

I couldn't see Wonpil most of the time unfortunately. But he seemed happy and was very very cute during his speach. Shy lil guy. Great voice too.

I was very sad to not have been able to see Young K better, as he was close to Wonpil. But the few times I got a clear view of him I almost tripped. He is really handsome and a flirt. Wow! Dude keep all that hotness to yourself, I already have JB for that! Really he must be bipolar, he seems to be such a cute and dorky person, but within seconds he looks like a sly flirtatious fox. Me when I looked at him: 😲🤤🤪

Oh and he looked like he enjoyed rapping a lot. His voice in general sounded the most different from the records. Still I liked it.

Dowoon was the cutest by far. His smile and laugh were pure happiness. I believe he even got the biggest applause from the audience. People went crazy before he spoke. Seeing him blush and laugh was a true treat. I couldn't hear a single error in his playing, but he still didn't look like it was a big deal to hit the drums, you know how some other drummers tend to look exhausted. He looked like a true performer. Very cool.

Sungjin was the one I could see all the time and clearly. And he reminded me of the cool guy from a school band. I'm not a huge fan of school bands, but he made me rethink. I'm curious how tens his neck must have been from standing bent over like he did ( if you've seen pics of him performing you'll know what I mean). He looked really cool like that, but I believe a normal neck would not play along for that long. The faces he made were gold. He seems like a guy I would love to have as a friend. I don't know, like a mix of fun and wise. He had a very clear singing voice. Great job.

And last but not least Jae. Jae is not my bias for nothing. Such a funny, hyper, talented bundle of chaos. He seemed so happy. Jumping around and making fun of poor Wonpil and laughing at the others and the translator (who apparently was not the best). And jumping from stage to get close to the audience. He even climbed the barrier to see us in the back and waved to us. I was surprised how great he was singing (I always thought the others were better for some reason). I would have almost said he sang the best, but in some songs the joy took over and he shouted or sang little out of tune, but it still sounded though he had all under control. To make this shorter he was born to be an entertainer! Unfortunately he had way too much makeup on him, but still he was very handsome.

The sound was very very clean and professional. It sounded almost like on record. Which is cool. But me being the oldschool kinda person, would have loved to hear a more raw version of the music. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it like this as well. They must be really great musicians, to be able to play their instruments with almost no errors and to sing almost perfectly the whole set through. And one could hear that it was indeed life and not playback, which I think is a must for such music! Also it was quiet a big hall so the technicians did a great job in making such a clean sound. So even though the music was not raw, I was glad to experience such a great quality of sound with a band playing and singing live.

The people in the audience were very friendly and everyone was kinda happy and chill, so the vibe was really good. At least that's what I've experienced. I went with a friend and she is very funny, so it might've been us that made the vibe. Btw the audience sang two songs, and really good if I might add. Also very positive was that during some songs there were almost no mobile phones in sight, as people were actually dancing, jumping or just enjoying the music for once. I loved that part especially! Being the oldschool person, I love kpop music mainly for its music and not for the looks. But I know that most people in all kpop fandom are not there for the music only, so this surprised me the most.

Mydays are just cool I guess ! Love you guys!

The organization was okay I think. We came 2 hours after the numbering started and got pretty decent numbers. The wristbands were our entry ticket later on, which I think was a great thing. We were only GA1 and were standing completely to the left with only one girl before us and the barrier, so we ended up standing relatively close, yet still kinda far away from the stage. Close enough to see them very clearly, but almost too far for videos and already too far for photos. I can imagine GA2 to be pretty unhappy, as they were further away.

The videos played in the background were nice, but together with the lights they made it difficult to see the guys. The light show on its own was a huge mess in my opinion. Yeah, it was in sync with the music and it was really artistic sometimes and even really special occasionally. But they overdid it! I felt that they should have shown a warning sign for people with epilepsy. Really! During two songs it was like in a really annoying disco. I would have overlooked it, if it were just annoying, but sometimes you couldn't see the band properly and making pictures was almost impossible, as the lights were directed at the audience 50% of the time. This sort of light show might be cool for other kpop acts, but not for a real band like Day6. Also the guys were hit with such bright lights, that they actually looked white. And I mean white white, as in white like a paper and not white like a caucasian. I can only imagine how annoying this must have been to the guys. So I have no good videos or pictures to show, but I guess there are already dozens of great ones from the VIPs.

The merch was okay, but not especially great.

Oh and this was the first time I enjoyed the confetti. It somehow fit the vibe and they shot it over more then half of the audience which was a lot. Now I get the hype.

This was long... have I forgotten something? Any questions? (@scoundrels-in-love 🙂)

Conclusion: Cant wait to see them again! I want Sungjin as a big brother or friend. Jae should be my best friend for real. Young K is dangerous. Wonpil and Dowoon are cuties. The all are great musicians and entertainers. The light effect guys should calm down a pinch.

#day6 #amsterdam #youth tour #world tour #jae #wonpil #sungjin #young k #dowoon #concert #kpop #britpop in korean

[lickstynine]

⭐️ ⭐️ all your ocs please!

I’ve been working on this for literally a day. I have 25 active OCs, so here’s FIFTY FUCKING FACTS because apparently you’re trying to kill me

Asher-He’s the only one of Vody’s sons who doesn’t grow up to be super tall. It’s a combination of poor eating habits and unfortunate genetics.-He eats spicy food when it’s offered because he wants to look tough, but he actually can’t handle his spice well at all.

Felix-He can solve a rubik’s cube in under thirty seconds.-He once singlehandedly cleaned his family’s entire house in one weekend.

Luke-They want to get a tattoo, something cute and floral on their collarbones, but they’re afraid it’ll hurt too much.-They’re considering dyeing their hair, but they’re torn between peach and lavender and light aqua.

Nate-He used to wear his hair in braids, but when he came out, he cut it all off, and he decided to leave it loose when he grew it out again.-He can grow a beard, but prefers to keep his face clean-shaven.

David-He’s read every Star Wars novel ever published, and has a spreadsheet ranking them based on quality.-He has a series of freckles on his shoulder that look like a blobby turtle.

Kazu-He naturally has a lot of effeminate mannerisms, but they’re hidden under a thick layer of forced masculinity and bitchiness, cause acting girly used to get him beat up.-He’s actually really good at sewing, cause he couldn’t afford to buy new clothes when they tore, and it’s hard to find clothes that fit right when you’re v tall and v thin.

Min-He likes to use either buttercream or modeling chocolate to decorate cakes, cause he thinks fondant tastes like sugary play-doh.-He once spent an entire weekend in a bondage harness and handcuffs.

Takao-He has several friends at school, but they’re starting to worry that he’s homeless or something cause he’s terrified to introduce them to his parents.-His cat is named Nostradamus, but Kazu can’t pronounce that and just calls him Noodle.

Kit-He’s considered getting contacts, but thinks he looks better with glasses.-He has such good hearing, he was once woken up by a maid knocking over a vase on the opposite side of the house.

Ellery-He only dyes the sides of his hair because it’s technically against dress code at his job. He parts his hair in the middle and combs it down so it hides the colour at work.-There’s like three girl nurses who have a crush on him. He has no idea.

Lucy-He’s been kicked out of a Hot Topic for trying to draw a pentagram on the floor with a red paint pen.-He finds bubblegum pop very catchy and is aggressively in denial about it.

Russ-He seems big and strong, but he lowkey just wants a stronger guy to sweep him off his feet.-He’s slightly crosseyed, and even though almost no one notices, he’s very self-conscious about it.

Cody-He keeps a sort of stubble-beard not for the aesthetic, but because he’s way too lazy to shave daily. His laziness was only encouraged when Hayley told him it looked good. These days, he only shaves a couple times a month.-Hayley picked out most of his wardrobe for him. Before she took him shopping, he owned like four t-shirts, a pair of jeans, and a pair of shorts. It wasn’t cause he couldn’t afford more clothes, he just didn’t care.

Hayley-She’s super obsessed with musicals, and makes Tamara and the boys learn parts so they can sing with her.-She’s the shortest of the triplets, and by far the widest, but all three sisters have the same shoe size. They share and borrow shoes constantly.

Tamara-She’s been wearing the same pair of glasses for about four years. Her prescription has changed, but she can’t afford new ones.-She really likes watermelon-flavoured things, but she tries to avoid them cause she feels like she’s being a stereotype.

Jace-He has a very broad vocal range. Think Brendon Urie, but he can go a bit lower and not *quite* as high.-He has a YouTube channel where he posts covers of songs he likes, and he also runs the YouTube for his band, Funeral Crashers. He’s the creative (read: insane) mind behind their music videos, and he actually has the budget to do some pretty cool shit.

Wren-He hasn’t cut his hair (save for trimming split ends) since elementary school. It’s about halfway down his back, but gradually nearing his ass.-He likes the flavor of cinnamon, but its slight spiciness bothers him, so he rarely eats it.

Silvan-He’s had the same jacket for about six years. At this point, it’s more patches than original fabric, but he’s still too broke to replace it.-He changed his last name when he moved to the (then Royaume, now République) de la mer du Sud, to fit in better and to feel more detached from Schwaerzenscheid.

Yves-He has a total baby face, and since he’s also short, he gets mistaken for a kid a lot. He stays clean-shaven anyway, because he can only really grow about half a mustache, which looks even worse.-Even though he’s an avid follower of the national religion, he’s an aggressive advocate for religious freedom, as the République is less than kind to citizens of other beliefs.

Serafino-He has a septum piercing, but that’s a fairly common thing in his home country of Estado de Ocaso. It’s a somewhat dated tradition at this point, but it’s def not looked down upon by stuck-up fucks like it is in our world.-Even though it makes him stick out like a sore thumb, he still wears traditional Ocasan clothes while he’s in the République. He refuses to ignore his heritage just to make other people more comfortable.

Désirée -She works at a biotech company, where she’s designing more functional prosthetic limbs. However, work has pretty much ground to a halt since the second revolution, so she’s taking an unofficial hiatus to join in the fighting. -Despite being the only girl in the group, she’s the second tallest. She’s shorter than Silvan (though most people are, he’s 6’2”), but at 5’10, she’s an inch taller than Serafino (which he h a t e s), and she’s got a solid four inches on Yves.

Ryan-He tends to take selfies in a really awkward pose, cause he loves to show off his heterochromia but doesn’t want to draw attention to his birthmark. As a result, most of his pics are at like a ¾ MySpace angle.-He’s a bit of an arrogant douche, but he has a decent Instagram following, where he posts lots of videos of him dancing and photos of him trying on new costumes and shit, so he has a handful of internet friends cause they don’t realize what a pain in the ass he is irl.

Siofra-She kinda wants tattoos, but is afraid they won’t look right with all her freckles.-She goes on walks/hikes with Finny at least five days a week.

Riagán-He once broke his arm on a homemade zipline. It’s a miracle that’s all he broke.-He’s incapable of shaving/trimming his beard without making tons of stupid faces in the mirror.

Cillian-He’s the only one of his siblings who needs glasses. Riagán likes to hide them just to be annoying.-He once ditched school to try out for a musical, only to barely make the chorus. It’s one of his most embarrassing and frustrating memories.

[anyway-i-love-vanderwood]

RFA + V & Saeran's reaction to like an MC with a compulsive shopping problem like "MC when will we ever need fifteen scrub daddies?" Kinda thing. Because lemme tell you late night infomercials will get to you eventually.

✿ this sure is a blast to the past.

Yoosung

Questions you? This boy enables you.

By month two of living together you own a menagerie of snuggies, an armada of specialized shower slippers, and a single Obama chia pet that lives on the kitchen counter.

He wanders in at the middle of the night to you sprawled out on the couch, watching the infomercials flicker in a daze, and he sits down in a stupor near you to sip his coffee and watch what’s occurring on the screen.

“Flex-tape,” he says to himself softly. “We could fix anything with that.”

“Yeah,” you say.

“Like the bumper of our car. And that leaky bucket. And the chair that keeps falling apart!”

“Yeah,” you say again, pulling out your phone.

Seven thinks this is hilarious. Zen tries to stage an intervention. Jumin is endlessly entertained by this silly commoner practice, and ends up taking one of your Forever Comfy Cushions for his own purposes.

Zen

“What are you buying,” Zen says, accusation permeating every inch of his flat voice. Nothing! you insist, but he doesn’t believe you.

He never believes you.

Zen loves you and thinks the sun itself shines in your eyes, but he also knows that you have a problem and knows that you do not need another specialty home improvement product.

“But these are cool!” You insist. “And useful! They’re feet for your chair and they keep your floors from getting scratches and YOU CAN’T TELL ME OUR CHAIRS DON’T NEED SHOES, ZEN. THEY’RE NAKED.”

“OUR CHAIRS ARE NAKED, ZEN.”

zen doesn’t understand. he’s lived a life of complete asceticism, often not even having the bare necessities of life. and here you are, filling his home with useless junk.

like really.

why do you need magnifying lens glasses.

you don’t.

y o u d o n ‘ t.

Jaehee

god save this poor woman it’s like dating jumin if jumin had some weird discount shopping fetish.

The word “sale” just gets you going like no other, and more than once have you shaken Jaehee awake saying that oh my god there’s this cooking product on tv and it looks so useful i could use it to make you perfect roasted apples AND over easy eggs and if we order now WE GET TWO

CAN I, JAEHEE

“go to sleep, MC,” jaehee says like a prayer, but she knows that god isn’t listening.

you’re going to order it.

you’re going to inflict this upon her.

…she is kind of grateful though when she realizes how damn handy your stupid Chop Wizard is for slicing onions. No more teary eyes. It’s like a miracle.

Jumin

whenever you open your mouth, Jumin hears a great idea while everyone else hears utter insanity..

Of course you need five pairs of ant-resistant socks, MC! That sounds like a great idea. Get five for me, too.

Of course you need Hydro Mouse Liquid Lawn to promote healthy lawn growth, MC! It doesn’t matter that you don’t have a lawn, it sounds useful for the future.

Of course you need a Super Duper Ultra Hi-def HDMI cable, MC! That way we can watch cat videos on the TV in crystal clear quality. 

Of course we -

MC IS THAT A LUXURY CAT CONDO ON TV?

BUY IT IMMEDIATELY.

jaehee has to get a storehouse for the Weird Bullshit you acquire and she also wants to die.

Seven

He turns infomercial shopping with you into a party game, where you pick random things to buy, and when they arrive, the pair of you try to find the most improbable uses for them ever.

Your house turns into this weird, Post-Apocalyptic style wreck where everything is crafted from jury-rigged infomercial products, and Seven is just Loving Life.

You have cabinets made out of multicolored duck tape and egg beaters, which you used your 5 Second Welding Wand to create. 

Your walls are made out of magic mesh, which you panted with your Specialty Paint Spray Applicator

Seven turns the set of miracle knives you bought into a makeshift home security system.

The 124-pack of magic, color changing markers was the best purchase of your collective lives, and you color in your ramshackle home, content with no one wanting to visit you ever.

V

V cannot say no to you, which is unfortunate, because someone really needs to say no to you.

Egg powder! Super choppers! Hey V, do we need a callous remover? S-sure, he stutters, and you buy that too.

You own five different kinds of furniture powder, eighty-one types of cleaning supplies, a drawer full of compression socks, and a case of Furniture Fixes to Lift Your Sagging Cushions™

Your house is somehow both pristine and also filled with junk. RIP V’s artsy minimalist lifestyle.

…Some of the products actually end up being pretty helpful for helping him deal with his blindness, though, so he’s thankful for that, at least.

Saeran

HE IS JUST AS BAD AS YOU, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO TOYS

like seriously, you come home and you’ve got another box of weird gimmicky art supplies like air-blowing magic markers and color-shifting crayons. 

You have a jolly old time using them to decorate the new apple-slicer Saeran bought.

He gets a “make-your-own-crayon” kit and, well, that’s your Tuesday!

He tries to buy you presents, too, like new pots, pans, and a third pressure cooker, and you’re always so happy!

Finally, someone who gets it!

Finally, someone who understands!

You have a tool for every situation! Who cares if your house is going to burst?

…Eventually, Vanderwood convinces you to give some of the excess to charity, because this is ridiculous.

Vanderwood

"Can I - “

“No.”

"But it would be so - “

“NO.”

“It’s so cheap though –”

“N O,” Vanderwood declares like a Roman judge, then turns off the television. They are not allowing this. They are not playing this game. They are not –

Wait.

Was that a shower scrubber?

Shit, let’s get ten.

#Anonymous #mysme #mysme headcanons #mystic messenger #mystic messenger headcanons #mysme reactions #mystic messenger reactions #mysme imagines #mystic messenger imagines #long post #mystic messenger spoilers #mysme spoilers #vanderwood #v #saeran choi #yoosung kim #zen #jaehee kang #jumin han #seven #707 #luciel choi

[404-brainnotfound]

Live-blogging/reacting to the Black Tapes 303

And apparently shit gets real and it’s really painful, based on some of the posts I’ve seen. I’ve been a little absent lately, adjusting to a new apartment and figuring out a new job (programming/IT - officially a STEM lady!) and starting a Java college class, and just getting back from a trip, so those are my excuses.

Anyway, here’s my long-winded live reaction:

“enigmatic”

I can’t believe this still is so accurate describing Strand.

“...But first I went to Turkey”

LOL WTF is this segue? I bet Terry Miles wrote that stupid line.

Simon sounds more raspy than normal, like Simon to the power of 10. Reminds me of the transformation from Wolf 359 season 1 Hilbert voice to season 3(?) Hilbert voice.

In fact, Simon’s monotone is a little Extra (TM) to me

Why does Simon use “tapestry” here when he’s been so fond of music metaphors in the past?

ALEX YOU WOULD LET SOMEBODY BLINDFOLD YOU

Nice imagery Alex describes post-kidnapping-and-blindfolding

Bet Paul wrote this part. Has nice show, don’t tell vibe, which Terry fails at most of the time.

Side note, “magic hour”/“witching hour”/“golden hour” plays a big part in the Japanese animated film “Your Name,” and it has a GORGEOUS song composed specifically for golden hour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH_tMmaMGO8

“But first we’re headed back to Seattle”

man this episode is really jumping around

I LOVE the Pythagoras stuff. Episode 109 with the Pythagorean comma was my fave behind 104.

Of course the modern day group is a death cult

“or at least that’s my theory”

Oh Alex.

“Okay...” “..if you’re not happy with my response, I don’t know what else to provide-”

LMFAO their interactions are so weird and have ALWAYS been. There’s this insidious tension, feelings of derision and mistrust between the two of them, but it’s mixed in with a general fondness of the other person, because they’ve been forced to spend so much time together and share so much of their personal lives. It’s like they see each other as unfortunate but permanent parts of each other’s lives, like a toxic relative who they can’t help but feel obligated to try and maintain a relationship with, so they mistake that obligation for actual love. I’ve heard of this concept in romantic relationships as “misattribution of arousal” where a person mistakes their feelings of arousal as romantic attraction rather than a physiological response to fear and shared trauma. One of the queer YouTubers I follow just put out a video about a similar phenomenon that occurs between queer people who become friends only because they’ve both experienced the trauma of societal marginalization for being queer. Those queer people bond quickly and deeply over that shared trauma, only to later realize that they have nothing in common and make poor friends. Here’s that video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGrtCRMbq9Q

“Your podcast is about the Black Tapes, but it’s also about us...you are at the center of this with me.”

How VERY true Dr. Strand. In fact, I hate horror, but the characters of Alex and Strand drew me in so much that I stayed all this time.

TBTP has always been intimate and character-driven in a way that Tanis never was, and that’s why it has the staying power even after a year-long hiatus.

The TRUST discussion, why didn’t this happen EONS ago, but here it is, the core of what makes this relationship (in a non-shippy way) SO interesting

“We have to watch over each other” ;___;

And damn Alex’s reaction is INTERESTING

She’s TRYING to be skeptical of her subject! FINALLY, oh my bb, look at your character development, just look at it!

Did anyone else think that Alex was going to talk to Nic instead of Simon when she mentioned “needing perspective”?

“We all have a choice, Alex” = Key theme of this season?

i.e. We choose what we believe, we see what we want through our own confirmation biases? Just a thought.

I love how Simon is so much more present this season.

Horn of Tiamat is actually a song? Back to the spooky music motif, YASSSS

side note, how does Simon know cuneiform/ancient Sumerian?

I guess he knew sacred geometry so there’s that

Stored beneath the Vatican? Does this tie back in the exorcism machine stuff left hanging last season?

These dental ads are boring, I low-key miss the Me Undies cringefest of last time.

Simon’s phone was out of service the next day

That boy is SO extra

So the cuneiformist doesn’t think it’s a song, interesting. I bet it’s a song though, so it matches the spooky music thread we’ve had going all this time.

Aaaaand cueniformist already sent numbers in an email, MK would be proud.

This mention of Sebastian Torres after so long makes me want someone to write a fic set 10 years later in a “Where are they now?” style confessional show.

Any takers, @the-wonderful-jinx​, @buckybabs​, @luminescent-wanderings​ & co?

“What do you mean I’m at the center of it?”

Um, see the discussion you have with Alex not 10 minutes before in the episode, my dear amnesiac Dr. Strand.

“Perhaps I should sit for this presentation. [sigh]” “I’m serious.”

This line had me laughing hard. I love Strand-style humor when he lets it out. Similar Strand humor instance is this quick interaction from 107: ALEX: You know Tannis Braun’s bi-locating sounds an awful lot like the Simon Reese situation. STRAND: Tannis Braun and Simon Reese have a lot in common. ALEX: You don’t like him. STRAND: Who? Simon?

“Ex-wife” “WIFE... we never divorced.”

JESUS CHRIST ON A CRACKER THE AWKWARDNESS

Why are you being so confrontational Strand?

I guess Alex kinda ruined the Strand & Coralee reunion.

Didn’t Alex also call Coralee Strand’s ex-wife in 104ish?

Even more Strand humorous quips/snipes... he’s such a diva!

“We’re all male?” truly stood out

“Everything about that man runs counter to what I consider civil behavior.” “...” “What?”

Just a fucking beautiful exchange with humor that rises out of character rather than a joke for the sake of a joke (for example: ‘What’s a podcast?’). When PNWS is good, they’re so good.

THE ME UNDIES AD IS BACK, WOO

It changed Alex’s LIFE, guys!

Not nearly as good and cringy as the now-infamous “cradle your jewels” one

And she called him “Richard” again, just hitting home the weird dichotomy of their relationship, that mix of fondness and severe mistrust

“Are you serious?” “When am I not serious?”

So, so many good, quality, humorous lines that match with the characters’ personalities perfectly. This episode really had some great character-driven dialogue, and in fact might be my new favorite episode!

OOOOOOH SPOOKY CLIFFHANGER

Is Sebastian Torres a clone of Simon Reese?

Do they look alike? Do we have any descriptions of them in past episodes?

#tbtp #pnws #the black tapes podcast #black tapes podcast #tbtp meta #ish #spoilers

[jigretro]

JIGRETRO

Retro Videogame Blog

May 19 PLAY EXPO MANCHESTER

My fiancée bought me tickets for this event in January for my birthday. I’ve never been to an expo specifically focused on video gaming/retro gaming, although I have been to The Gadget Show expo on a couple of occasions and to the occasional Comic Con style expo, so I roughly knew what it would entail.

On the lead up to the event I checked out the website and copied the map/floorplan for the event. This got me excited as I could see that there was a big marketplace, free play arcade machines, pinball machines and console gaming area. I had a look at some of the talks that were scheduled but, to be honest, nothing grabbed my attention. On the website I noticed that there were some YouTube guests attending, such as Top Hat 🎩 Gaming Man and Kim Justice, and I was intrigued by the prospect of running into them. I was most excited about the marketplace, but felt that the prices would probably be way too expensive for me to get heavily involved in.

My first impressions of the expo was that it was a little on the small side, but with my only other experience being at The Gadget Show I suppose it would seem small. We quickly walked around the entire floor to get a feel for everything that was happening. I also felt that it was a little quiet; we arrived at 11am but it would become much much busier over the coming couple of hours.

The marketplace was what I was most excited about and I spent some serious time in that area. I browsed each stall and made a mental list of things that I might like to buy and where the stalls were, but I didn't buy anything on the first trip round. The prices seemed very reasonable to me, which was a huge surprise for me. Prices were similar to Cex really, perhaps a little cheaper, but some of the rare games were very expensive, probably for good reason. I haven’t got the knowledge to really know whether they were good deals or not. I would never consider buying a rare game just because it was rare, I would have to have a personal interest in that game first and foremost.

My fiancée spent all of this time following me around, for which I consider her a saint. I think she secretly had fun rummaging through stacks of Gameboy games, etc... there is just something about the noise of it that appeals to anyone... not just collectors, ha ha!!! One highlight was a stall that featured only Japanese imports, shed loads of them, which was amazing to see. Unfortunately I couldn’t tell what anything was, but I was trying to hunt down a Japanese copy of Castlevania Symphony of the Night and, after a little while, I asked my fiancée (I was far too shy) to ask the chap running the stall if he had it, which she did (bless her). Unfortunately he didn't have it, but he gave her a business card and said that he could get it for around £45. This is actually a good deal, as the PAL version of this game had a very small release and those copies sell for around the £150/£200 mark on eBay 😮. Buying imports can be a cheaper way of getting hold of physical copies of some seriously expensive games. On my second walk round the market I made a few purchases and you will see what I got in the pickups section of the blog later.

After all of the game hunting both Steph and I were thirsty and a bit peckish, so we headed for the food court. The food choices were more than a little disappointing to be honest. The choices were basically pizza, hot dogs, toasties and some pre-packaged cold sandwiches. We got a couple of bottled fizzy drinks and shared a spicy meat pizza, which probably sounds amazing but it was just a plain pizza with a tiny amount of salami. It filled a hole though and we continued with our day.

We made our way to the arcade area and this was really cool. Pretty much every popular cabinet you could think of was here and this was a busy area, it was hard to get on anything but luckily most people’s attention span on each machine was relatively low, so with a little waiting/queuing you could get on any cabinet after a few mins. My highlight was the Outrun machine... this thing was freaking awesome. The speakers were LOUD and directly next to your ears in the headrest and the seat actually moved, swinging you back and forth while cornering. I had an instant understanding of Outrun's huge popularity after playing for a few minutes on this. Steph wanted to queue for a Wack a Mole machine but changed her mind when she realised that the people queuing behind would be watching her. Ha ha.

The console area was amazing; they had just about every console/microcomputer you can think of set up with a game and ready to play. We each sat at many different consoles and played all sorts. I had a good session playing Sega Rally on a Saturn. The highlight for me was sitting down and playing on a Virtual Boy, this failed console was released in 1995 (before the release of the Gameboy Colour) but Nintendo pulled the plug the following year after poor sales. 22 games were released for the system but I was playing Wario Land. I thought this was great. The image quality was much higher than I was expecting and the basic '3D' effects worked well.

The pinball area was cool but, at the time we went to it, it was incredibly hard to get on any machines. Also, pinball isn’t exactly where I excel, but I had a go on a couple of machines. One interesting thing that I will remember is watching a cosplay Deadpool playing the Deadpool pinball machine... ha ha, surreal.

Areas I was less interested in included modern console/computer gaming, table-top gaming (card games), Minecraft and Fortnight LAN play (this was super popular with the kids... almost like a crèche area, ha ha), shows/talks and cosplay, but it was all there if you were interested in those things.

So this is the pickups section of what I bought, for how much and why I bought each game. I didn’t buy any particularly outlandish titles, although I’m really pleased with Alien 3, Outrun and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fall of the Foot Clan.

Megadrive boxed

The Terminator (no manual) - £6. This was a complete nostalgia purchase for me because, to be honest, the game is pretty terrible, ha ha. I owned this game back in the day and played it repeatedly. It is insanely short; completion will only take about 15 of your precious minutes, but I am stunned that they would’ve charged full price when the game was released. The positives are that the background music is actually pretty decent, with a great recreation of the iconic Terminator theme and adrenaline-pumping music as you play as Kyle rushing to save Sarah. For me, this game has some serious atmosphere and I’m really pleased to have it in my collection.

Alien 3 - £8. This a game that I have seen covered in various YouTube vlogs and I have been intrigued about it for a long time. I have no nostalgia for it but, having played it since buying, this game rocks... maybe even enough for its own blog, so I’m not going to spoil it all here. You play a badass alien-slaughtering machine Ripley and you have to rescue hostages before the timer runs out, and they have an alien burst from their chests. The aliens act as they should, with a darting-type attack as soon as they appear on your screen. You have to be vigilant to kill these suckers.

Megadrive loose, both for £18

Jurassic Park - this was more of a nostalgia purchase. One of my close friends had this game when we were kids and I thought it was great at the time. An action platform game with dinosaurs... what’s not to like?

Outrun - this game speaks for itself. A classic and, after playing that arcade machine, I was sooo pleased to pick this game up. I feel the Megadrive conversion is great and very arcade accurate.

PlayStation

Porsche Challenge - £2. Can’t go wrong with the price and this is a nostalgia purchase for me. I spent hours playing this game with my cousin back in the day; a fairly standard early 3D racing game with some interesting shortcuts within the tracks.

Moto Racer - £2. Again, can’t go wrong for £2. It was developed by Delphine Software International, who also brought us one of my favourite games of all time and the subject of my first blog, Flashback. This is a really good bike racing game.

Game Boy

Kirby’s Pinball Land - £6. I love pretty much every pinball game I play, for example Sonic Spinball and Dragons Fury. I’ve kinda wanted this game for a while. My friend had this game back in the day and I remember playing it on his Super Gameboy.

Japanese import of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fall of the Foot Clan - £6. I’ve heard good things about this game and anything Turtles is usually really overpriced but, with this being an import, it was a very reasonable £6.

And Tony Hawk 2 (can’t remember what I spent but probably around £4 ish) for the Gameboy Advance. I’ve had this game before and I enjoyed it a lot. Despite the GBAs limitations, this game cleverly changes things up to a isometric view. All else remains unchanged from the Tony Hawk formula. I think this is an ideal game for a bit of Tony Hawk on the go.

Many thanks for checking out this month's blog. Until next time!!! 🎮

[redeyedryu]

Apathy & Happenstance

Chapter 5 - Misunderstandings and Memes [Ao3] | 1 | 4 | x | 

It only took me two months but here’s chapter 5! I’m so sorry for the wait I’m absolutely terrible.

Summary:  You answer the call; misunderstandings ensue. You and Sans share a little memement and you make a skeleton pout.

He called you for a reason, right? So you should answer the call, yeah?

Papyrus is angrily tapping his foot, irritated that it's taking you so long to make a decision. You can hear something that sounds like a growl eliminating from the explosive skeleton and have to bite the inside of your cheek to keep the grin off your lips. Maybe you'll let it ring a bit longer? Just to piss him off.

So you do just that.

You wait until the last possible second to answer the call, teeth clenching as you reign in a wicked grin. You imagine that if Papyrus had hair he'd probably be pulling at it by now, livid at your inability to do something as basic as answering a simple phone call. Eventually though, despite the anxiety bubbling in your chest, you force it down and hit ‘answer’, setting the call to speaker as Papyrus growls an exasperated, “FINALLY!” before returning his attention to gazing out the window.

Time to get this over with. And maybe give Edgelord a tiny break.

Before you get a chance to say anything, however—not even a greeting or an opportunity to breathe awkwardly into the receiver—you're met with a deep voice asking, "this some kinda sick joke?"

You're stunned into silence, blinking a couple times in your confusion. Is this Papyrus? The voice doesn't quite match up with what you had imagined—if anything, it reminds you of the smaller, rounder of the two skeletons; it's a low, rumbling baritone. And what does he mean? What's a 'sick joke'? "What?" is your very eloquent reply.

“look, pal,” he starts, pure venom to what would otherwise be a friendly moniker, “i dunno if this is just how you get your rocks off or what, but this ain't funny.”

You try to cut in but he doesn't stop, just keeps going off on you. That you're sick, that you need to get a life and stop dickin’ around with Papyrus.

Geeze, this guy isn't even giving you a chance to explain anything. Whatever. Might as well let him blow off whatever steam he's got, you can wait. He’s probably been on the verge of a meltdown for a while if this tirade is anything to go by. People don't typically just blow up like this for no good reason, after all.

Not unless they're ‘The Great and Terrible Papyrus’, your mind supplies dryly, causing you to huff air through your nose in a quiet laugh. Rather unfortunate that you have to be the one on the receiving end of this outburst, though.

You lean back into the plush of the couch, eyes closing as you let the stranger on the other end do his thing.

It's easy to tune people out when you don’t let their words hold any weight over you.

You're not sure how much time passes, and at some point you feel the couch shift as someone sits down beside you (honestly a little closer than you’d like). Probably Sans, you think. Must have gotten his fill of the view. That or he’s curious about whoever it is that’s tearing you a new one.

Eventually, you tune back in to the rant on your phone just in time to hear,

“don't ever let me catch you tryin’ to contact my brother again, capiche?”

Seems he’s done with his rant, as well as expecting some sort of reply, considering he didn’t just hang up on you.

You’re admittedly kind of curious about what's going on in their lives if this is his automatic response to someone trying to make light conversation (though, to be fair, you might have instigated a potential existential crisis) with his brother, but decide you don't care enough to pursue that train of thought. The angry monster on the other line is still awaiting a response, so you take the opportunity to finally speak up.

You take a deep breath, not bothering to open your eyes or lift your head from the cushion of the couch, and then release it. “You done?” you ask the voice on the other line. Silence is your only answer so you take that as a yes. “Look,” you continue with something of a sigh, “I don't know what's got your bones all rattled, mister, but I can assure you this isn't a joke. Believe me, that’d be loads better than having to deal with this headache.

“I get that this is really weird and that pictures can be edited, and judging by your reaction just now, you've probably been dealing with some shit, so how about this…”

Cracking your eyes open, you pull your screen in front of you, the device lighting up with the motion. You zero in on the little camera icon on the interface and tap it, causing the screen to immediately begin displaying a thumbnail of your face; the live feed is undoubtedly being displayed to the ball of anger on the other line at a bigger resolution.

“It's a bit harder to edit live footage, right?” There's the shuffling of fabric as you sit up from your slouched position and shift your phone to capture the skeleton sitting beside you. And yup, kudos to you, that is definitely edgy mcsharktooth sitting next to you. “Say hi to Sans, Sans.”

The sharp-toothed skeleton beside you merely makes a sound reminiscent of a tongue clicking before flipping the camera the bird, looking rather smug over his childish display.

“Rude,” you half-heartedly scold as the sharp-toothed skeleton chuckles, before swiveling the phone to capture sight of Papyrus, who's still standing in front of your window. He looks pensive, standing there with his arms crossed, his expression tight, and his posture ramrod straight.

“And over here, we have Papyrus: Edgelord edition.” you announce. The addressed skeleton shifts his skull to send a scathing glare your way, his sockets narrowing, before he simply averts his attention back to the view outside. With a quiet laugh of air pushed through your nose, you twist the phone back to you.

“Still think I'm ‘dickin’ around’?” you query, your expression flat, one eyebrow raised. There's silence on the other line for a beat—long enough that you have to question whether or not Sans (and you know it's Sans for sure, he practically admitted it himself, after all) hung up on you. It's just as you're clicking a button at the side of your phone to illuminate your screen that his voice finally breaks the silence that settled. "huh..." he scoffs, and you hear the strange sound of something hard scratching against something equally as unyielding. "wasn't... wasn't expectin' that." Yeah, take that, mister grumpy pants, feel that guilt roll across your bones. "guess you really weren't messin' with paps..." There's the sound of what you assume to be bone rubbing against bone again before he says, "i uh... i s'pose i owe you an apology..." A corner of your mouth twitches, a smile tugging at his acquiescence, and proceed to click out of the video call, returning to voice only. Phone now resting on your chest, you're able to fully slouch back into the couch cushions, releasing a heavy breath of air as you do. "Yup." "sorry, bud." The apology doesn't really feel sincere, in all honesty, but at least he acknowledged that he was wrong. At least he made an attempt. That’s more than you’ve gotten from others. At his "apology" your grin grows full force, the corners of your lips curling. Your response is a near automatic, "Not your bud, pal." There's a snicker on the other line before Sans, not missing a beat, shoots back, "not your pal, friend." "Not your friend, mate." "not your m-" "th' fuck you two doin'?" snaps the skeleton at your side, effectively putting an end to your impromptu back-and-forth. You can't help but laugh. "Memes, Sans. Memes." you tell him, tilting your head to the side to grin at him. "Only the greatest of quality content the internet can provide." "th' fuck're 'memes'? 'internet'?" he questions you, the space around his nasal cavity and his eye sockets curiously scrunching up in his befuddlement. "don't cha mean th’ undernet?" You quirk a brow before shifting your head back to a forward facing position, head shaking ever so slightly in disbelief. "Oh man. You poor, poor soul." "tch. whatever, ya weirdos." he growls, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring off to the side. You're able to just make out his quiet mumbling of, "how would i know 'bout yer stupid aboveground jokes." "Hey," you nudge the pouting skeleton with your elbow, effectively getting him to look back at you (though the edges of his seemingly permanent grin appear tight and dipped). "No need to get all salty." You have to bite your lip at the way the ridges of his skull, just above his eye sockets, furrow like eyebrows in his confusion, trying to puzzle out how he could be considered salty without any salt—were you planning on dumping some on him or something? Was that another weird ass aboveground thing? Did humans sprinkle themselves with salt for some reason? Or was it just another dumbass expression? Probably that last one, he surmises. You, meanwhile, are still trying to maintain a semi-neutral façade. You're finding it really hard to deny how fun it is, riling these two up. You can sparsely recall a time in the last few years where you smiled and laughed as much as you have in the last hour or so. It feels... nice. Really nice.

So when you tell the grumpy skeleton, "I can give you a crash course—on memes and surface culture—if you want." you twist to face him, sincerity in not only your words but your expression as well. You see that curious little pin prick of light in his eye socket shift to look at you—he doesn't turn to face you, still sitting with his arms crossed and turned just slightly away—and simply makes that clicking sound again, "tch", before resuming his pouting. You think his skull looks a bit red but you're not sure—maybe the light's playing tricks on your eyes? Whether he's blushing some weird variant of a skeleton blush or not, you can't help but to snicker. Seems he's not quite used to sincerity and sentimentality. But you're getting off track now, aren't you? Since you still have Sans on the phone—well, blue Sans since red Sans is pouting at your side (goodness, this is going to get so confusing)—you might as well get to the heart of the matter. You take a deep breath, hold it for a beat, and then exhale, refocusing. You tilt your head down a fraction towards your phone and ask, "You still there, Sans?" The skeleton's deep voice answers, "yup." "Alright. Cool. Good." Oh god, stop yourself before you start rambling. "So since all that fun stuff's been cleared up, how about we get down to business? D'you know what's going on?" You cast a glance to the Sans sitting next to you as you pose the question. Yup, he's still pouting. "Either of you, actually. I take it y'all aren't pairs of twins that just so happen to share the same name as well as face." "heh. nah, they ain't that." Blue Sans is quick to respond. "Evil clones?" Red Sans sputters at your side and you think you hear Papyrus choke on air over by the window. "e-evil clo- tha heck kinda dumbass question izzat?!" the shark-toothed skeleton practically growls, now twisted to face you. You snicker and shift to sit sideways, to address him face-to-face. You prop your face up on your knuckles, elbow pressed into the cushion of the couch, and set your phone on the top of the couch. "Well I mean your brother does go around calling himself the great and terrible. How else am I supposed to take that? Not to mention your guys' wardrobe choice." "tha heck's wrong with our clothes?" he snaps defensively, his eyelights dipping to take a quick glance at his attire before flicking back to you. "Nothing, nothing," you're quick to respond. You're biting your tongue, trying to keep yourself from laughing more. The Sans on the other end of the line, however, is chuckling unabashedly. "you dress like an edgy teenager, is what she's tryin' not to say," he manages to get out between his laughter.

Talk about tact. Thanks a lot, Sans. "wha-! i ain't-! you don't-! sh-shut up." Red Sans stammers. Oh great, he's turned himself away from you again. He's embarrassed, isn't he? "Aw, come on, don't be embarrassed," you attempt to placate the flustered monster. "I think it looks pretty cool. Black and red go really well together!" "sh-shut th' fuck up n' stop messin' with me!" he practically snarls, that curious red tinge dusting across his skull again. You think maybe you should feel bad about teasing him but you're currently overcome with a pleasant sense of childish giddiness. It’s such a refreshing difference to always feeling so numb, so… empty. "Okay, okay. Alright. I'm sorry, alright?" you manage to say, only letting a single, quiet giggle escape your lips. "Let's just move on and get back on topic, yeah?”

Red Sans doesn’t grumble or growl in disagreement, so you press on. "So if you're not clones—evil or otherwise—what are you guys?" "i've got an idea," blue Sans speaks up. You look to the phone, curious. Red Sans's skull tilts ever so slightly in your direction; obviously listening too. Though you can't see the broody skeleton at your window with your back now turned on him, you're sure Papyrus is listening as well. "Yeah?" you prompt. "how familiar are you with the multiverse theory?"

#Red Drabbles #Undertale Fanfiction #Underfell Fanfiction #Reader Insert #Apathy and Happenstance

[firebunnylover]

Hannah Watches LOSH - Champions

AND WE RETURN ONCE AGAIN TO THE LOSH REVIEWS!

Thank you so much for waiting. Finals were a pain.

So the friend who hasn’t watched losh that i was hoping to get her reactions wasn’t able to watch the episode with me due to her schedule. I was able to stream it with @cyclone-rachel and @peskyshortcake though.

Champions

The episodes starts of with our cheery episode palette colors, indicating we have since moved on from the previous dark episode stretch we had.

We find the main characters are at a futuristic athletic event at a place called the Dodecathelon, I’m probably butchering the spelling, with Lightning Lad competing.

We’re asking the important questions.

Never change PG

And then we get the announcers talking about one of the competitors, which Lightning Lad immediately assumes is him.

HERE IT COMES

HERE IT COMES

Also a moment to appreciate PG’s face

MY FAVORITE TRASH BABY IN ALL EXISTENCE

MY SASSY PIECE OF TRASH

After the opening plays, the scene opens to Lightning Lad confronting Mekt.

WOW.

Mm. Obvious sibling rivalry.

SUCH SASS.

AND LOOK AT THE FACE HERE

BEAUTIFUL

Also our chat kept spiraling into insanity.

I love him too much

Also, give him credit for going at Lightning Lad’s biggest flaw - his pride. While pride is certainly important to have, it can also be dangerous to have too much. It’s what usually leads to his aggressive behavior towards others.

One other thing: interesting choice on making his outfit red/fire themed. Wonder why the staff went with that choice.

I LOVE HIM

As soon as he’s gone, Phantom Girl gives Lightning Lad reassurance he can win. First time we see her being the compassionate one.

I feel her.

And then we get her complaining about what she went through to get them seats.

AND WE FIND OUT WHO MOM IS. THE PRESIDENT

HO GEEZE. SO NOW WE KNOW HOW SHE’S PRIVILEGE.

I have to say that the people we see in the diplomatic skybox have nice designs.

And then we get one of the best moments

WHY WAS HE ON THE TABLE?!

PHANTOM GIRL’S FACE AND SUPERMAN’S FACE I LOVE THEM

And here she is.

And then she goes straight for her daughter.

Ho boy, nervous Supes? He can’t maintain eye contact, and keeps fumbling over his words.

She’s kinda fast to assume PG and Superman had a thing tho.

Well, it’s well spent budget at least. Disney could learn a few things.

Then we switch to the race.

Why tho???

YOU LITTLE SHIT

And then we get our first hint that something is up with the judge who looks away.

But why didn’t the other judges notice?

But despite Mekt trying to get the upper hand, Lightning Lad manages to get ahead again.

DEM LEGS

NO ONE CAN DENY IT

But Mekt denies the cheating attempt, saying the judges didn’t see anything. What a prick.

Cutting back to Superman and Phantom Girl, we see Clark is impressed by the current version of sport events. And then Winema comes in.

OH NO. 

TINYA I FEEL YOU.

When Superman states that they’re just friends, Phantom Girl uses the excuse to get snacks to leave, despite the place being catered.

Strained relationship much between mom and daughter.

When the two of them are discussing moms while checking out merchandise, Phantom Girl states “She doesn’t have a clue,” indicating poor communication between mom and daughter. And then Superman comments that his mom get’s busy as well but doesn’t miss much. So clearly, despite the uncertainty on how to handle his powers we saw in the first episode, Superman thought she was trying her best to.

But then it turns out Superman has a “trouble-is-happening” sense and sees something under the Skybox, which Phantom Girl recognizes to be a bomb.

When he goes to chuck it into space, it goes off, and we get some more wonderful faces. Unfortunately, I had to lower the quality of the first gif of the scene, but golly it’s so good to see.

Wow.

Clearly this episode devoted more time to the faces than other episodes.

And then they see Tharok disguised as a pinwheel vender, prompting Superman to give chase.

When they zip by a crowd, people ask who just went by. Put on the spot, Phantom Girl starts chanting “Lightning Lad”.

Which everyone starts to chant as well.

… I want to know how offended Lightning Lad was at this.

Despite catching up with Tharok, Superman loses him after getting sticky-pinwheels on his face.

Realizing that Emerald Empress is cloaking him, it immediately confirms all 5 of the Fatal Five are at the event. And this time, their target is the President. They’re aiming big.

Back with the actual sports event, we learn about flare surfing. Which is definitely a sport. A very dangerous one too, provided it takes place in a volcano.

With the main three of this episode, they are discussing how to treat the situation of the F5’s presence. Superman suggests the SP, but Phantom Girl said it’s a bad idea that will cause more panic. And then Lightning Lad states that there won’t be enough time to evacuate the huge number of people there.

When Lightning Lad says that they will stop the F5 by themselves, PG says he can’t quit after training all year for this event. Showing that she doesn’t want him to sacrifice his hard work. Superman tells the group they can all do their bit separately, keeping Lightning Lad in the competition.

And then Trash Baby interrupts, accusing Lightning Lad of getting help from his teammates, and tells him not to think of using the flight ring to cheat. Wow. Do you have any right to say that Mekt.

AND THE ADULT MIND IMMEDIATELY GETS ANOTHER IMAGE FOR THAT SHOT

First up for flare surfing is Tenzil Kem, simply called Kem in this episode, aka the future Matter-Eater Lad. And his performance is pretty impressive. Dude has some moves

PESKY!

(the chat soon dissolved in us discussing Pesky’s life choices)

Following him is Lightning Lad, who also does a very impressive performance… which Mekt proceeds to ruin.

Cat behavior.

Simply put. Lightning Lad gets deducted points because he lands on the contestant Mekt shoved.

But this next part, Superman spots Mano. Mano, why would you go as a painter? Everyone knows that painters don't show up on game days.

Then we get socially awkward Tinya. Gotta love social awkwardness.

Followed by badass Tinya, who finds Persuader disguised as a guard.

But in all seriousness, when the ship Persuader has blows up, HOW DOES NO ONE NOTICE?!

Superman doesn’t hit kids, he tackles them.

AND THEN GETS STEPPED ON BY THE KIDS AS THEY SHAPESHIFT INTO VALIDUS.

OOF. HE GONNA BE SORE. But who was he expecting if he wasn’t prepared for that to happen??

Returning to the competition, we see that the final event is start. Dashing across lava canyons. What is it with this event and heat in deadly environments?!

Again, asking important questions.

I have to ask another thing - how did the obstacle that hit Kem NOT severely injure him? I mean he’s definitely pissed.

Dem legs can jump though, given Mekt managed to evade a sand trap several feet wide.

Also, during the group watch, I kept trying to get the video to pause on this one frame… we wasted 5 minutes trying to get to it.

The scene.

The struggle.

And the frame i wanted to show.

I’m sorry but Mekt’s face just cracks me up whenever I see it.

I’ll leave this frame up to interpretation to you guys.

However, immediately after Lightning Lad save’s Mekt, he shoves his little brother’s face into the ground.

Big brother behavior? IDK I don’t have brothers.

Furthermore, he sets off another trap that causes a column over the lava to start collapsing.

Lightning Lad manages to get out of the boobytrap easily, while another contestant, Karl (I THINK THAT’S HIS NAME? IDK I WISH THIS SHOW HAD SUBTITLES), isn’t so lucky.

But then we see a major change in behavior in Lightning Lad.

He ditches his chance to win and saves him.

Let’s go over this a bit on why it’s important. This guy was an arrogant brat when we first meet him, and his pride is so big he has to be first (“DUDE! THAT’S MY SPOT!”). And this is the event he has trained a whole year for. But he’s grown during our 5 episodes.

And back to Mekt, he wins. And I’m sorry to say this but I’m happy a wee bit for him? I mean look how happy he looks crossing that line.

As for why I’m happy, I’ll discuss that later. Cuz it goes into the dynamic of the brothers.

YOU LITTLE ****

The episode jumps forwards to the ceremony, where Lightning Lad is sulking and is being comforted by PG and Supes. It’s pretty touching.

At first.

GARTH U SORE LOSER

PG then prompts Lightning Lad to go take his medal, leading him to stand next to Mekt.

And then Mekt pulls something out.

Oh no.

I love how he says that.

With no forcefield, F5 proceed to crash the ceremony.

Two questions: WHY IS THAT EYEBALL SO BIG?? WHY FOCUS ON JUST VALIDUS’S REVEAL??

As soon as the Fatal Five reveal themselves, Lighting Lad immediately says he knew the judge had it in for him.

REALLY?! THIS IS THE BEST TIME TO WHINE ABOUT THE JUDGE?!

I LOVE HOW THE ANNOUNCERS ARE THE ONES WHO LEAD UP TO THE COMMERCIAL BREAK THO

Post commercial break, F5 and the legionnaires start going at it, while Empress goes to capture the president.

EMPRESS THIS IS NOT A TIME TO FLIRT

OUCH. THAT FACE.

Phantom Girl is not happy of the idea of having an enemy for a second mom though, swooping in to get her mom out of the stage.

Whiles Superman is dealing with Validus, Mano, and Empress (plus the eye), we get another shot of Ranzz bros.

MEKT

And then the chat dissolves into more insanity. Thank’s Pesky.

LOOK AT WHAT PG PROCEEDS TO DO THEN WHEN SHE’S BACK.

SHE GRABS MANO, PHASES HIM THROUGH THE FLOOR, THEN USES HIS HAND TO MELT THAROK’S LEG. DAMN GURL

Empress catches Superman, so he tries to fry the eye like he did the first episode. But it doesn’t work, leaving Empress commenting that she wasn’t going to let him do that twice. Give her a gold star for learning.

When it looks like Superman is doomed to the eye, Jo Nah comes to the rescue, suckerpunching that eye into space, freezes Empress, who then gets kicked by PG

And then comes a bit that i know kills my dear friend @augment-techs inside

I’m sorry, but clearly PG was looking at the booty in the last bit.

Meanwhile, the broadcasters start to tell audience what’s happening, which I continue to find amusing. They even cut away from Lighting Lad’s possible demise to advertise snacks.

They just call Superman “This Fella in Blue”. I bet Brainy called in later and started to flood their office with complaints.

But seriously. HOW ARE PEOPLE SURVIVING VALIDUS LANDING ON THEM?! VALIDUS IS SENT FLYING AND THEN HE LANDS ON EMPRESS.

Who grunts miserably for Validus to get off.

The SP are getting ready to take the F5 away, and we see our lovable trash baby again.

OBSERVATIONS ARE MADE.

Nice jump.

And then we get what is a very interesting exchange.

Dat eyeliner tho. 

But I find the way he closes his eyes before laughing interesting. And in his reflection, when he does laugh, it doesn’t look as confident when he did earlier. Taking that those words left a bigger gash than expected?

Another time jump takes us to another, smaller, ceremony. And a bit of mom-daughter bonding.

And then that’s followed by Winema asking if Lightning Lad is single.

OH NO

OH GOD

MY FRIEND DIES MORE AGAIN AT THE WINK OUT OF DISGUST

She’s done. As this episode is.

So final thoughts on the episode overall.

I love it.

This had some of the best expressions, and animation, in the whole series.

We had gone through three episodes of darker plots to get some lighter plots again, which is what the main characters need/deserve right now after everything that has happened so far.

While Lightning Lad plays a huge part of the episode, so does Phantom Girl.

This is also the beginning of Lightning Lad’s growth in character. Which was needed, given he was a huge, egotistical jerk in the first episode. We see he’s willing to give up first place to save others, although he will still throw a tantrum later (the locker room). And his interactions with his brother was enjoyable to watch. He clearly is not on good terms, and it seems every interaction he does is bad. Except when he saves him from being blasted during the dash. So he still cares for him on some level. Just not a high enough level that he can have a good/positive interaction.

Phantom Girl has more character development as well. We finally know where the “privilege but misunderstood” expertise comes from. Her life as the President’s daughter. She clearly hates the political part of life, having enough of being in major spotlights of that kind. But she was still willing to do stuff to get her and Superman seats in the best spot. Plus we know that she enjoys to oogle guys, but gets annoyed when people assume she’s dating/interested in her teammates. And we get to see a bit of her softer side when she’s comforting Lightning Lad.

Although I guess she divulged off screen to Superman that her mom was the President though.

Speaking of Superman - HE FINALLY GETS A LIGHT PLOT EPISODE AFTER 3 DARK PLOT EPISODES THANK GOD. He needed this so bad. Although this episode is not Superman centric. But god, he was so funny when talking to the president.

As for the F5… once again, could have used more development. I think that eyeball can change it’s size tho. But we see Empress is clearly a good planner on these things, as she even predicted Superman using his heat vision on the eyeball again.

The other guest characters were interesting to see.

The reporters were fun to listen to. Also had cool designs.

It looks like most people in the 31st century have powers, given that some of the competitors ended up fighting against the F5. Most probably just don’t know how to use them effectively against criminals.

We get our first appearance of Matter-Eater Lad and Ultra Boy.

@augment-techs, I can hear you hurling at the mention of Ultra Boy.

Neither of them are really delved into character wise, although we do have Ultra Boy winking at PG at the end.

But when watching this episode, I noticed they were talking to each other in the background (around the part when the legion trio were discussing how to go about the F5 threat). Friends maybe?

A fair number of the background characters had pretty cool designs, but a problem with this show is how most characters the same age as the legionnaires, if humanoid, share the same body type, both guys and girls.

… And as far as I saw, there’s only one girl competing.

Sigh.

Winema is so good to see after Dr. Londo. She does care for her daughter, and tries to reach out to her. Would be the type of parent who offers a condom during sex rather than scold you. However, her ways of reaching out to her is not without flaws. First off the bat, politics. She couldn’t give her daughter a medal in the end mainly because of the political feedback. Who knows how much it affected other interactions beforehand?

And then we have her immediate assumptions that she is dating Superman, and that she’s interested in dating one of the other boys at the end. It’s uncomfortable when people assume you and someone the opposite are “more than just friends”.

Furthermore, watching this episode now that I think PG might be bi, it led to a new idea of the assumptions and how PG feels about them.

Simply put, her mom is offering only suggestions on guys. Not girls.

As a pansexual, let me say it’s annoying when people assume you are only into one gender. Even more so if they assume you are straight. And when that person is family, that’s opening another whole can of worms. Sometimes the people aren’t aware of how it’s a bad thing but can be simply told and they will get it, and then there’s the homophobic/biphobic/panphobic people.

I think Winema is probably the first of the two though. She’s the best parent on this show.

In any case though, going off on the idea that she might be bi, Phantom Girl hasn’t gone to tell her that she is interested in girls. Maybe she’s afraid how it will play out politically? Or if her mom takes it badly?

Questions, questions.

But let’s talk about my FAVORITE PART OF THIS WHOLE EPISODE.

Mekt Ranzz.

Oh my god, he’s like the fusion of Grunkle Stan and Victor Nikiforov. Willing to cheat, but clearly has athletic talents... and pretty looks.

Okay, the fact that I am able to compare him to Victor leaves enough leverage for me to justify me shiping him with Superman, who I compared to Yuuri in the first review. Everyone shush.

But as for character dissection, let’s bring something from the previous episode.

Lightning Lad’s room.

I managed to adjust the brightness/contrast in the original frame so that we can see it, unlike the way Fear Factory just made everything to dark to see.

YES I AM STILL BITTER ABOUT FEAR FACTORY BEING DARK AS ****

The shelfs has a lot of trophies. As in, filled with them.

And now recall what Mekt said after winning the dash, and then when Lightning Lad went to confront him.

“Nothing wrong with silver, little brother. You should be used to second place by now.”

“All I did was make a deal with the judge, so I’d come in first! For a change.”

Okay, those two statements seem to conflict with each other, but hear me out.

Lightning Lad was always, or usually, getting first place when they were younger in athletic events. And Mekt was probably never prided in any of his accomplishments. So when the Empress in disguise offers him that chance to get of first place, he jumps for it. Hence why he looks so friggin happy when he crosses the line.

As for the statement he makes after the race, I think he might have been making a jab at Lightning Lad with something said to him from their childhood.Or he was referring to the competition itself, given that he ruined his landing earlier (and possibly some other events we didn’t see.)

Either way, it was to rub more salt into Lightning Lad’s wounded pride.

He is capable of regret though. His expression seen when Empress addresses him when she grabs the President, and to me, the way he looked at himself in the medal and laughed. That laugh, and the expression he made, seemed less malicious than it did when I first watched the episode.

Let me make this clear really quick, I did not like Mekt when I first watched this. Everything he did seemed like a total prick move. This wasn’t the first episode I saw him in though. That was Lightning Storm. So my opinion of him was arguably ruined by that.

But in terms of stepping up to make things right, at this point in the show, he’s no where close. He runs away for crying out loud. Then again, no evidence if he has ever fought people like the F5 before.

But he did offer Lightning Lad his medal. The medal that he cheated to get. Really the most decent thing he does in the whole episode.

He clearly isn’t as angry towards Lightning Lad. Way less. Heck, he provokes him in a somewhat playful manner at times. Mekt seems more open to them having a positive relationship than Lightning Lad. Which says a lot on how he views their relationship in comparison to his brother.

Maybe my fondness of him, and actually knowing his background based on the comics, is getting in the way of me properly seeing how the staff wanted to portray him? Probably.

But I can’t deny that I love him… and making his life a nightmare.

Given Mekt ties into Lightning Lad’s backstory though, it makes more sense that Fear Factory was suppose to come out before Champions, as it was the opening act to us learning about it on this show.

Characters in this episode:

Superman gets the light-hearted plotline he deserves. Finally. In terms of development, not much happens with him though. But given that this episode wasn’t suppose to focus on him, we can let it go.

Phantom Girl gets so much more development than any other episode, and we get a better look at her personality than before, where she was a supporting character. Plus we get perhaps the best facial expressions in the show from her.

Again, I cannot stress this enough, this is a huge part on Lightning Lad’s character development. But it’s not the starting point of understanding his personality, because that was the previous episode, with his bedroom and his fears. Now I COULD delve into every bit right now. But I won’t. I will do it as the episodes go along.

And then the competitors: Matter Eater Lad/Kem was fun to see, even though not much of his personality was really explored. Zzok was endearing to see - nice to know the competitions weren’t humanoid exclusive. Ultra Boy/Jo Nah had a bit more personality than the others, given he interacted with PG - I HEAR YOU GROANING AUGMENT!! And the possibility that he and Kem are friends even before/during the competition is interesting.

Fatal Five. Again - not the most interesting villains, with Empress being the most intriguing of the 5 of them, but not enough to engage people as much as other villains.

Winema is the best parent in the 31st century on this show during the first season. Hands down. The remedy to seeing Dr. Londo’s abuse. A woman of power also. What’s not to love? Well, her assumptions on Tinya wanting to go out with only guys, particularly teammates. But hopefully she will correct that in the future.

And let me say this again, I LOVE MEKT. He’s such a trash baby, and a pretty one too. Can be one of the best villains on this show. Reason why I say can is, like Alexis, that title doesn’t seem right for him in this episode. As for the next episode we see him, he will fit that description of villain. Still curious on the staff’s choice for his outfit though.

#Hannah Watches LOSH #losh #legion of superheroes #mekt ranzz #lightning lad #phantom girl #winema wazzo #superman