#-- have 2 very different ability sets LOL.

[velvetineblue]

combat head canons !

he's fast, and has always emphasized speed and strategy over strength. he's light on his feet and quick-witted. in 'powered/supernatural' verses, he is very adept at mid-range battle, and can do long-range... but even though his abilities could be utilized at long-distance, you're unlikely to ever find him doing long-range combat, though: he EXCELS in short-range combat, up close and personal to his opponents, utilizing his fast reaction time and agility to try to get the edge on his opponent. he taunts them, tries to make them angry and frustrated so they begin to expose more vulnerabilities that he can exploit in battle. and he's not above delivering a surprise attack when they're looking away: he thinks it's all part of the game. if his opponent can't keep up with him, can't stay sharp and defend against his assault, or keep their cool, he has an upper hand... he was always an active and fearless kid who preferred sports and adrenaline for his hobbies, and it shows: physical feats and martial arts are muscle memory for him. he prefers his weapons razor sharp and light. knives, daggers, throwing knives, thin blades / light swords ... and in his supernatural verse, he may fashion a makeshift weapon of these sorts out of ICE. for example, he often throws razor sharp chips of ICE at the opponent.

[nymphia-tarot]

Who is your future spouse?

pile 1 ----> pile 2

pile 3 ----> pile 4

hello!! this reading will be all about your fs and your future relationship. this might contain slight nsfw in some of the piles! i keep my readings completely gender-neutral! meditate on the pics and choose whichever one calls to you. if you feel drawn to more than one pile you might have messages in them for you! if you don't feel particularly drawn to anyone, this reading might not be for you perhaps. since this is a general reading, take what resonates! 🩷

🐇 ‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹ 🐇

1. Pile 1

Wow pile 1, right off the bat I'm getting that your future spouse is someone who is very abundant-- both in terms of material wealth and emotionally. They're someone who likes to give and may do a lot of charity work too. They might be used to being a provider for their family, or being like the role model. They have a lot of expectations on them and they're the kind who's used to supporting others and they're proud of it. They have a lot to give and they know it themselves. They have a very magnetic presence, very charming, and they have this ability to make people feel like they're special. They're also very passionate when it comes to you! I'm getting Leo and/or Pisces vibes. I'm also getting like, your FS is very good-looking (getting brown or darker shades of colour for hair) and they might have a lot of suitors after them or they might be really experienced when it comes to romance.

They have a lot of passionate feelings towards you 😳 I feel like they're the one who takes the lead in this relationship (mostly in the bedroom). You're like a wish-fulfillment to your FS or vice versa. I feel like you guys will meet at a time where one of you guys is going through a hard time, where it feels like there's no way out and the other is going to be a gentle guiding light. This pile also has a bit of sexual energy but that's probably because your FS is just... really full of feelings lol. Also getting they might have a slight jealous/competitive streak where they want to be the best you've ever had. Not getting anything toxic though so dw! They really love pleasing you though and their love language might be acts of service/gift giving + physical touch. They might be the one to take the initiative when it comes to wooing you and might try a lot to impress you. They like buying you nice stuff a lot and would probably spend a lot on you. I'm getting they just really like pampering people they love.

2. Pile 2

Pile 2's FS feels like someone with a lot of emotional baggage, or like their past is haunting them in a way (maybe a bad past breakup?). Still, they're someone who's more on the logical side and it feels as if they might try to rationalize their feelings a lot. They also come across as an introvert or others view them as a bit detached or loners. They might be an air sign (Aquarius or Libra?) or have air placements even if it's not their sun sign. They feel very sharp, intellectual and cuts through bullshit easily. Very to the point, direct and blunt as well. Their sharp tongue might get them in a bit of trouble in social settings. They might have a super intense-looking face/vibes or like, high cheekbones. I'm getting tall too, or even if not really tall they have "tall vibes" in the sense that they might come across as a bit intense-- just something about them feels very imposing and authoritative. I'm also getting they might be from a foreign country, different state or just a different culture from you guys. Traveling is def involved somehow.

You two might meet at the workplace or at some formal setting. I'm getting this is someone who's into more traditional conventions and relationships and they might even be super loyal and committed. I'm getting earth Venus sign. They might not be overtly romantic because they're bad at expressing themselves since they keep such a tight hold on their feelings. However, I'm getting they might be very reliable during times of need, like a strong guiding force that pushes you onto the right path. They're very mentally strong people as they might have had to deal with a lot of hardships in life. They have a lot of love for you though, and when you get into a relationship, they might want to solidify it through marriage. They're the type who believes in practicality and actions, so marriage might be a way for them to really be sure of your love. Honestly, this relationship might not be the most smooth-sailing but there will be a lot of valuable life lessons involved. I feel like you guys will come out more mature and wise from this. This def feels like a karmic/fated connection in a way.

3. Pile 3

Pile 3 your FS feels like someone who is on the more materialistic side of life. They might be a party animal and they seem super free-spirited and independent. They might have a lot of wealth but they're also kinda possessive over their belongings. They're actually quite emotional and intense too. They're very strong-willed, like hardships and what society thinks rarely phases them. Very unconventional people overall. They might be the type who doesn't like being chained by norms and expectations. I'm getting for some of you, they might be a sex worker too. And for some, they might just have a really successful business which got them a lot of wealth. They might have a tendency to overspend though so there's warnings regarding finances. Overall, they come across as a bit hedonistic and maybe even a bit immature at times.

I feel like you two really balance each other out in this relationship. You guys might even be a bit opposite of each other. For looks, they might have somewhat soft features or look really gentle and elegant. I'm getting that for some of you, your FS might've been in an abusive situation before you guys got together or they might've been the victim of some sort of exploitation. They might also have a very soothing voice. I feel like a big theme or overall lesson in this connection is regarding balance and harmony, and letting go of what doesn't serve you anymore. Your FS will go through or has gone through a major change in life which will make them grow stronger and more abundant (I'm getting cutting ties with a male authority figure?). I'm also getting that they're someone who will sacrifice a lot for the sake of you guys' relationship and they will try their hardest to protect the happiness and balance in it. It's something they really want to fight for and preserve at all costs.

4. Pile 4

Pile 4 might be dealing with a Gemini or Libra (maybe both in charts). I'm getting they might be a bit younger than you in age or even if not younger, less experienced in life. They come across as someone who's very harmonious and agreeable. Overall, they have a very flighty energy about them. They might be someone who daydreams a lot or has difficulty in keeping themselves grounded. They tend to have a lot of ideas but get bored quickly, it's like the mundane and simplicity bores them. They might not be very materialistic though and I'm getting they might find dealing with practical matters a bit difficult due to their tendency to keep their head in the clouds. They might also be a bit reckless. Also probably kinda bad with directions lol and they might get lost a lot. Kinda clumsy?

I'm getting your relationship might be a bit unconventional. Sugar daddy/mommy vibes? For a small percentage of yall at least but it's like you'll be the one who pampers them. For others, it feels like a fling or rebound initially. I'm getting you might actually be the first person they get with or they're a bit inexperienced. One of you might get a bit possessive/obsessed or too attached here (I'm mostly getting it's them). I'm also getting that at one point in this relationship, you might have to make a choice. What that choice is will be revealed to you in time. Your person might view you as someone impactful, or someone who brought a major change in their life.

[twisted-confessions]

I just found this really cool picrew and wanted to try and make an Overblot version of my Twst/HTTYD OC Bella and it turned out SO GOOD!!! (Lore dump about her Overblot below the cut)

Anyway, new tag game! Use this picrew to make your own Twst OC's before and after their Overblot then tag some fellow twst friends to make theirs as well!!

Tagging: @oyatochie @oya-oya-okay @boopshoops @sweetbunpura @kirexa @valy-gc @winterwriterstudios @hyp3rf1xat10ns @idiazhroud @masked-tornado @patchyegg87 @teapot-tyrant @unity-obj

And then Open Tags for whoever wants to try!!

In my au, Bella's Overblot is inspired by a few different characters, however the main elements for her outfit are Dire Crowley and Toothless while her attitude would match Drago Bludvist since all three of them triggered major life changing impacts, 2 negative and 1 positive. She also gets two set of wings (Night Fury and Raven) to mimic her mother Valka's dragon, Cloudjumper, while gaining some white horns to match Valka's Alpha Bewilderbeast. In the Overblot image she's doing the hand pose Crowley does when he pulls someone out of the coffins and I can totally hear her saying "Aren't I just sooo kind to lend you all a helping hand?" to mock the Bird man lol. The first one is ironically just her genuinely wanting to help someone out lmao. I love making parallels.

I can imagine her Overblot rampaging including her Bewilderbeast Abilities with her commanding all dragons nearby (including Malleus rip-) to capture NRC students so she can steal their magic to force the Mirror of Darkness to send her home, as well as to capture Crowley so she can kill destroy him for using her and lying about letting her go back to New Berk, while also using her Ice Breath to tear down the entire school. Her Phantom though, despite her Night Fury design and wings, would actually be The Bewilderbeast soul inside of her taking physical Blot-form so unlike the other Phantoms, this one is tied to her life in a very different way, keeping her soul(s?) protected while still draining her life force the more she uses it's powers. So destroying Bella's Phantom might have some very negative consequences...

>:)

[journen]

do you have a list of good CoD fanfics, or favorite writers in general?? <3

Presented in no particular order, here are some of my personal faves / fics I really enjoyed, and my own summaries for them. Hopefully you enjoy, thanks for the ask, anon!!!

I didn't tag all the authors because I'm not sure if they all have tumblrs, but also I'm shy tagging people ahjdfhkaheje. If any authors here are mentioned tho and you have a tumblr, feel free to lmk and I can update this post to include your tag!!:)

Anything rated mature I colour coded the name in red, and anything explicit green. Not all the mature fics feature smut, but yeah! I didn't want to link anything tooooo explicit here, but if anyone wants any, I can definitely rb this post to add a few more 😅

Also, just beware the tags on any of these fics because some feature kind of heavy subject matter. 👍

COF FIC REC LIST:

A Very MacTavish Christmas - @m3rrywe4ther

Prob my fav fic in the fandom lololol. HUGE RECCOMMEND. It's about Johnny who gets roped into spending the holiday Christmas season with his , for the most part, very not so nice family, and Simon accompanies him. So much stuff happens in this fic and it's such a great character exploration of Simon and Johnny independently, but also as a couple, and just so much stuff happens in it lol again, HUGE RECOMMEND!!!

We'll make Death Proud to Take us - Literal_Satan

Fic where, it starts off really sweet where Simon goes to Scotland with Johnny to spend Christmas with him and his family, but things take a drastic turn when Soap's brother, a police officer/detective, gets a little too curious about mysterious Simon, and the story spirals from there. All the guys end up on this crazy goose chase tracking down some of the people who were involved in Roba's brainwashing operations. The fic gets v dark at times and deals with some very heavy trauma so beware, but it's SO. GOOD.

Dream a Little Dream - Angelicasdean

Again, one of my total fav fics in the fandom!! AU where Simon leaves the army to raise his nephew Joseph, who's the sole survivor of the Riley family massacre, and Johnny is one of the daycare teachers at the daycare where Simon takes Jo 🥺🥺👍👍

Pretend to love me like I do - FetteEule

Really cute fic of Simon who accompanied Johnny to Scotland for his sister's wedding, under the ruse they are dating. They are v much pining but not there yet. Features lots of really cute domestic moments and Simon being really sweet to Johnny's kid nephew 😭🧡

Something important - Anonymous

One of the fics that has me totally brainrotted rn. It's about Simon's who's been de-aged to 6 years old, and Price, Gaz and Soap all taking care of him and trying to figure out how he got turned, and how to turn him back! They all get tested on their abilities to care for a child, and unwillingly learn a lot of details about Simon's childhood they never knew. This summary doesn't do it justice tho, so I'd just recommend checking it out! Beware tho again, there is some dark childhood trauma stuff but there are warnings at the start of each chapter that contains references to it.

Seasons - StinglessWasp

In this fic every chapter is set during a different season and tells a unique sort of story/mission/interaction Soap and Ghost have. Definitely some v good angst&hurt/comfort stuffs too. Starts off pre-relationship, and explores their characters a lot! It's just really good HUGE reccommend lol.

What the Eyes Don't see - WhiplashRogue

One of my FAVESSSS! So the premise is like, Soap can actually see ghosts ever since he was a child (which most other people can't see and also don't believe in), and Ghost has 2 spirits attached to him that follow him around(Joseph, and Roach). The fic starts off pre relationship, and it mostly about Soap trying to learn more about these two spirits and discovering more about Ghost's past.

All that's said in the Low Light - Headlocket

Probably one of the most emotional I've ever read LMFAO. It's about Johnny, who receives a back & knee injury bad enough he gets discharged from the army, and is back in Scotland living with his parents as he recovers. He and Ghost lost contact a bit since the accident, and it's sort of a story of them reconnecting. This description doesn't do it justice, just read it, but it will emotionally destroy you lol

Time Loops Suck (series) - Enter_fand0m_reference00

The first installment of the fic takes the idea that Soap is stuck in a time loop during the alone mission! And all the optional dialogues and interactions in thE alone mission are separate attempts of his trying to survive the loops and rendez vous with Ghost. It's just sooo good!! And then there's a follow up fic where it deals with the mental aftermath of the loops and Ghost comforting soap through it, then there's 2 other installments of Simon who instead goes through a time loop! They are such great character explorations in how both Soap and Ghost experience the loops, and I whooleee heartedly reccommend.

Yellow Card - SkerryB

Soccer au fic!! It's so good! Simon is the captain of a soccer team Soap is drafted to as their new goalie. Simon has had a history with Soap before though, that he was the only goalie Simon could never score on! So that's how it starts, and it's just so good from there!! Simon's family are also alive in the fic and his nephew is adorable.

You swept me off my feet - @ghoulishhone

Ghost is down bad for strong Soap, the fic xD This was a fic Ghoulishone and I were paired together to work on for the Ghostsoap server reverse bang! They wrote the fic and I made some accompanying art. Just a cute fic of Soap having to pick up Ghost after he gets injured and some other shenanigans that ensues:)

Dear Mr Ghost - @shortcuts-make-long-delays

SUCH A CUTE FIC!! The majority of the fic is these letter/pen pal exchanges between Ghost, and Soap's young niece Chloe...it's just. So. Good. And was written by a friend of mine too! BIG RECCOMMEND.

Give me Hope and Let me Down - MechanicalBones

Some of the best Ghost whump I read lolll. Ghost is captured by some people with ties to Roba and tortured. Meanwhile Soap is on his way to rescue him, and eventually he does, and there's a lot of hurt and comfort. It's also a getting together fic. 🥺

Unspoken Love - Hammy101

( Super amazing oneshot. I feel I can't do this fic justice with any summary. Just read it. 🥺 It has decent Ghost whump AND domestic off duty cute ghost soap angsty stuff it's just one of my faves ever!!!!)

Except You, You can Stay - Iravaid

Really realistic, believable portrayal and expansion upon a lot of the key events that happen in the Ghost comics. From his childhood, to the mental aftermath of Roba, his family dying...it's heavy but really really good. And has a happier hopeful ending that's Ghost/Soap 🥺

Hat Trick of the Heart and the sequel Family, Gotta Love em - Librarian_FanFicFan

Absolutely am obsessed with these fics!!! It's an AU about Ghost who is recently discharged from the military due to injury, and on a flight back to London where he is seated next to Soap, a famous footballer/soccer player. Ghost doesn't know who he is tho, but they hit it off and exchange numbers. The second installment features Simon's family!!! And Tommy being dramatic and shocked over the fact his brother got the number of this famous sports player... SUPER CUTE IF YOU LIKE RILEY FAMILY STUFF.

As for my fav CoD authors I wholeheartedly recommend anything by:

RedClegane, m3rrywe4ther, Hammy101, TheEdwardianOne, Iravaid, and so many authors but I can't list them all ahaha...but hopefully this is a good start!

Hopefully this helps anon! Sorry it took me a while.

[sciencewife]

Some GLaDOS Thoughts

I’m sure other people have written about this already, but I wish we got more time with GLaDOS after she’s reactivated in Portal 2, while she’s getting her bearings again and fixing up the facility as she has Chell test again. It’s majestic to see the facility slowly being repaired, the dust shaken off its many inner workings and moving parts, and just watching it become alive again, just like GLaDOS. The facility’s waking up with her because now she is the facility.

Maybe that was the case in Portal 1, too, but in a limited sense. GLaDOS was the facility (she says after Chell escapes that she can feel her there, etc), but kind of had one hand tied behind her back. She overcame the cores that the scientists attached to her to try and slow her down, but they were probably still blabbering nonsense and limiting her potential. Much of the facility, too, still appeared as if most of it was constructed by human hands. Which makes sense—Doug moved Chell up the list of test subjects so that she’d be tested and would face (and ultimately destroy) GLaDOS sooner, so even if she could, she didn’t have the time or ability to make the facility truly hers.

To me, the final battle with Chell in Portal 1 ultimately served as this big reset for GLaDOS. She was destroyed, the cores slowing her down were incinerated and the facility was left in ruins for who knows how long until she was reactivated—by the same dangerous mute lunatic who destroyed her in the first place. Naturally, GLaDOS is a little upset, at first. She had to endure a loop of getting destroyed over and over and over again for an unknown (but a VERY long) period of time. Not fun! And the first person she sees is the same woman who’s responsible for putting her through that.

And as she has Chell test while she fixes up the place, GLaDOS is sarcastic, and goes on about how you murdered her, etc, but at the same time she’s just. So happy that she can get back to what she was doing before. Setting up tests, doing science, gathering results… she gets to do what she loves again!!! Most importantly, she does it one on one with her favorite test subject forever and ever, isn’t that great? Now that she’s in charge again they have so much catching up to do <3. Whenever she’s being meanies, I see it as just her being cranky and again, what she had to go through wasn’t fun. Even with that she says she thinks that she and Chell can put their differences behind them!

And just listen to her. She’s soooooooo happy that she’s rebuilding her facility and making it her own, and Chell’s helping her test and do the science she loves. She gets to be in her element at last, no cores weighing her down, no scientists telling her what to do… she gets to be herself and make the facility in the way she sees fit. It’s perfection. It’s beautiful. It’s an extension of her and it is her, if that makes sense. Every panel, every component, its all her, all in sync… Aaaaaaaand then Wheatley shows up, and control of the place is handed over to him, and her hard work for the past couple in-game hours is undone. And towards the end she’s like “Ohhhhh no my facility 🥺 💔”. She’s so sad!! Her beautiful facility is a mess… I just wish we got to see have more time with her before all that. Doing tests and science with glabos with no orb interference, seeing her in her element building tests for the test subject she loves so much.

I do wonder how the game would’ve gone if Wheatley hadn’t interfered. An AU to consider perhaps…

Sorry if this post is kind of rambling (I was writing this at work and kept getting interrupted lol) if I need to clarify anything just send me an ask or something. I love talking about this kind of thing.

[cezqstar]

haven’t been active in the rykter fandom in awhile, but i’ve seen quite a lot of opinions floating around on here & twt that i had quite a lot of thoughts about!

someone said the show is queerbaiting… and i genuinely cannot believe how anyone can see a character figuring out his queer identity and only see the matherik ship & dumb it down to queerbaiting.

edit: i want to clarify this part i said on queerbaiting because i didn’t articulate my thoughts in depth. at the end of season 2, mathias initiated a kiss with erik ultimately implying his queer identity. and his season 3 storyline has confirmed him as a queer character, who is crushing on erik & struggling with acceptance whilst getting bullied by his ex-best friend. however, erik’s pov is open to interpretation, which leaves a lot of space for fan theories (that i eat tf up) but at the moment, that’s all they are. fan theories. erik’s actions can be interpreted as both platonic & non-platonic, and i don’t see the show dangling matherik in the audiences faces. since they’re very focused on mathias’ story and his perspective rather than erik’s. whose own story seems to focus on him hanging around the wrong crowd and his questionable behaviour. it leaves the storyline open to go down two very different routes: erik could have his own queer realisation and the two of them eventually end up together. or mathias’ has unrequited feelings for his straight (or aro 👀) friend but those feelings helped him with his own queer journey to acceptance. and i think with how they’ve set erik up, it could genuinely go either way and make sense.

^^ that’s why i believe the queerbaiting claims are a stretch.

it’s become very clear why people began watching rykter: matherik. but people NEED to remember that the show is not solely about them. it never has been. this show is about the chaotic lives of ‘sheltered’ (i can’t think of the word i’m after) teenagers who all have the capability to be stupid, immature and selfish. which yes, includes felix as one of those characters and yes, includes erik as a teenager capable of being a bad person at times.

these teenagers are also all (well almost all) capable of redemption. mathias has proved his own ability to be redeemed after his s1 antics, erik will surely have his own redemption path regarding his current s3 antics and thea is currently having her redemption this season. just because erik has been generally good in the first two seasons, doesn’t mean he isn’t prone to poor decision making & shitty actions. remember: they’re all 15-16 years old.

i’ve seen a few people suggest that the rykter writers are ‘getting off’ on or ‘enjoying’ the homophobic abuse that mathias has been subjected to, but i think that’s a massive stretch. and an extremely poor outlook on the shows writing in my opinion. many people forget that even though norway is a progressive country that homophobic shitheads still exist. and the way mathias is being treated by someone as horrible as felix & no one saying anything due to being ‘sheltered’ followers is quite real.

and when someone as jealous, hateful & spiteful as felix who clearly puts up with his own share of prejudice gets to put someone else down (someone who he also feels ‘betrayed’ by), he’ll jump at that opportunity in an attempt to make himself better and stronger. from victim -> perpetrator. i understand the frustration around this season focusing on felix quite a lot but people need to stop seeing his storyline as ways to ‘excuse’ his actions and moreso to explain them & simply SHOW his life. they seem pretty hellbent on showing you that he’s a shitty person regardless of his home life & personal issues.

anyways rant over! time to disappear again lol. feel free to disagree with anything i said. always happy to have a discussion!

[chororine]

let's talk about Cubert Farnsworth

something nobody said during the production of season 7

The most striking thing about Cubert, to me, is the fact that in the most literal sense possible, he had no childhood.

Well, no early childhood – in “A Clone of My Own”, we see Cubert spring into existence as a fully-formed twelve-year-old, having only previously existed in a “mentally undeveloped” state in a tank in Professor Farnsworth’s basement. This is obviously convenient from a writing standpoint, allowing Futurama’s showrunners to introduce a new character effectively out of nowhere (their original plan to do so in “A Big Piece of Garbage” having fallen through) – but I think it also explains a lot about Cubert from an in-universe perspective, and makes an interesting lens through which to view one of the show’s most divisive characters.

Generally speaking, we as viewers are used to meeting characters and then witnessing their backstory, either all at once or in small chunks scattered across episodes - Futurama itself goes as far back as Fry, Leela and Bender’s births in seasons 3, 4 and 3 respectively – but Cubert is in the unique position of his “birth” (so to speak) also being his introduction to the audience. While most of that audience simply brushed that character off as “annoying” and that was the writers’ intention according to the audio commentary for his debut episode, I want to set authorial intent aside for now and focus strictly on what the text shows us: someone who was artificially created for a specific purpose, like Bender, raised without a traditional family, like Leela, and who entered the world of the 31st century through a glass tube, like Fry.

Despite having a surprising amount in common with our three main heroes, Cubert is markedly different from them in his actual personality, which (at first) is driven largely by reason and logical sense, and that… well, makes logical sense. As with most of the sci-fi concepts Futurama employs in the service of good stories and jokes, the show glosses over the finer details of how Cubert can emerge from the cloning tank with all his motor skills and the ability to form sentences, but it’s reasonable to assume that whatever arcane scientific process the Professor used prioritises imbuing the clone with concrete knowledge over anything subjective. Cubert’s behaviour corroborates this: the very first piece of knowledge he displays is (in a quiet subversion of cloning tropes) self-knowledge, namely the knowledge that he’s a genius.

ok so the park line isn’t strictly relevant but cmon you can’t quote this scene without it

Cubert’s approach to suddenly springing to life with a ready-made body and personality is to engage with the adults around him head-on: said personality is pompous, pedantic and pugnacious (...as in “confrontational”, not as in a crack about his nose). He struts into Planet Express like he owns the place (which, of course, he will one day) right in the middle of season 2, the point where it’s safe to say the audience and characters (even fish-out-of-water Fry) have both adjusted to the show’s status quo: Professor Farnsworth can create anything as long as it’s funny or convenient to the plot (or both); Bender is an integral part of the “family”; Leela can beat up anyone who deserves it. But Cubert, who was abruptly thrust into the midst of that status quo, relentlessly questions it: how exactly would scientists “increase the speed of light”? What use would a delivery company have for a bending unit? Should Leela really fly with just one eye? Audiences and characters alike generally like sticking to the status quo (as this ever self-aware show pointed out back in “When Aliens Attack”), so it’s really no wonder Cubert rubbed people on both sides of the fourth wall the wrong way.

you know someone’s being insufferable when not even Turanga “it’s not his fault he’s an unstoppable killing machine” Leela likes them lol. believe it or not this IS a pro-Cubert post stick with me here

Questioning established norms is no bad thing, but the way Cubert goes about it is very... blunt, and far from endearing: he’s dismissive of the Professor’s “junk heap” of inventions and viciously mocks the Planet Express crew, painting people he’s only just met as incompetent and, later in the episode, calling Fry an idiot to his face. Make no mistake, this is… as we say in my neck of the woods, it’s not on. But while Cubert’s lack of socialisation “growing up" doesn’t excuse his tactlessness, it might very well explain it - along with him lacking the childlike wonder his fellow suspended animation survivor, Fry, felt at being thrust headlong into a world where the only limit to science is imagination. To use the episode’s Arc Words, “nothing is impossible”... except, it would seem, Cubert fitting in with the misfits who make up Planet Express.

Professor Farnsworth is eager to take Cubert under his wing, but also demonstrates where the latter gets that bluntness, being transparent about his intent to have his clone “spend his life finishing his inventions”. With that in mind, perhaps it’s not surprising that Cubert initially attempts to distance himself from the Professor, coldly referring to him as… well, “Professor”.

This is a detail that’s easy to miss or overlook on first viewing of the episode, but it effortlessly and efficiently explains what kind of relationship between the two Cubert initially desired: he acknowledges that they share DNA, but would prefer a “creator-creation” dynamic – perhaps akin to a robot and their maker - over anything familial. He states his disinterest in fulfilling his intended purpose as an inventor without a trace of the self-doubt that plagued Bender upon quitting his job and meeting Fry (or in the face of being replaced by a more up-to-date robot, or of being forgotten, or…), creating the impression that Cubert has a good deal more confidence and self-awareness than even an adult in a similar position to him, but also that he’s – let’s be fair to him – a complete dick, pointedly declaring himself the Professor’s “only half-decent invention”.

But as is often the case in fiction, that complete dickery serves a purpose in creating the catalyst for the episode’s fast-paced third act: the dejected Professor checking himself into cyber-retirement. In a perfect example of the characters’ recently-found comfort with the status quo, Fry immediately expresses a desire to rescue his boss who causes him more problems than he solves (what with the potentially fatal delivery missions and all), but who’s also family - a sentiment his non-blood relatives, or at least Leela, seem to share.

The only person at Planet Express who questions this desire is - who else - Cubert, but Fry brushes off his concerns with a well-placed “nothing is impossible” (the episode’s second use of the phrase). As an implicit reminder of Cubert’s status as a misfit among misfits, he, as a child character among a cast of adults, lacks the agency to avoid getting dragged along on the rescue mission for reasons that aren’t initially clear, to him or the audience.

It turns out Cubert’s purpose on the trip to the Near Death Star is to be both a DNA donor and part of Fry’s 160-year-old man disguise. Our three heroes do most of the heavy lifting (literally in Fry’s case), relegating Cubert to what he initially does best: complaining. While he does express a bit of (at this point) uncharacteristic concern for the comatose Professor, it comes after he airs his grievances about the ridiculousness of Leela’s plan, having to be Fry’s hump and the “stupid robot” – so maybe it’s a bit of well-placed karma that he gets knocked out mid-chase scene by a passing space station door, neatly excising him from the episode’s narrative.

...or so it would seem: in reality, the episode’s final two scenes circle right back to Cubert and his character arc. He springs awake to deliver the episode’s third and final “nothing is impossible”, having finally internalised the truth of it - and the secret of how to fix the ship’s damaged engines - thanks to a conveniently-timed dream (a borderline deus ex machina that may be an allusion to Groening and Cohen’s inspiration for Cubert, Wesley Crusher of Star Trek: The Next Generation – I did say at the beginning I was going to set authorial intent aside “for now”). Despite this apparent 180, Cubert demonstrates that he’s still fundamentally himself by shooting down Bender’s labelling of his discovery about the ship’s engines as “a complete load”. Evidently, Cubert’s nocturnal, almost divine revelation enabled him to use his sharp tongue for good rather than evil, as this discovery and Cubert’s quick repair of the engine is what allows the main trio and Farnsworths to safely escape from the Sunset Squad.

The episode’s conclusion uses a few well-chosen words and pieces of animated-acting to bring many aspects of Cubert’s character full circle. Most obvious among these is the conflict of whether or not he’ll fulfil his intended purpose; the Professor granting Cubert permission not to is a noble but ironic gesture, as the latter admits to having accepted his destiny, but only on his terms: not as a copy, but as a family member. Futurama, at its best, is masterful at showing and not telling; for instance, because Cubert initially addressed his creator as “Professor”, him switching to “Dad” completely unprompted feels like a display of agency as well as love.

And because Cubert had no childhood, him smiling with his whole face for the first time in the episode also marks him doing so for the first time in his life.

Let’s take a brief step back outside the text itself and look at it in relation to the various reactions viewers have had to it, because the episode’s resolution is something that… well, viewers have had varying reactions to. Looking up the episode on Wikipedia, you’ll find a citation of The A.V. Club’s review: one Zach Handlen wasn’t a fan, claiming that “[Cubert’s] shift from “This is stupid and doesn’t make any sense” to “Anything is possible!” doesn’t make a lot of sense”. YouTuber Johnny 2 Cellos seemed to enjoy the episode and Cubert’s character considerably more, but still said of Cubert’s decision to follow in his father’s footsteps that he’s “not sure [it] was the best lesson” - and honestly, they both raise valid points. Cubert’s change of heart is rather abrupt, and a step removed from the typical feel-good narrative of choosing your own destiny and becoming whatever you want… but nonetheless, I do think it’s a plus for his character, and to explain why I need to go back to the very first episode of the show.

The aforementioned “choosing your own destiny” narrative is so prevalent that Futurama itself has played with it from the beginning – and I do mean “played with”, not “used wholesale”. This is, of course, a fantastical show, but it always keeps a degree of emotional realism close to its heart; part of that realism is Fry’s one-way trip into the future not being the straightforward wish fulfilment he initially expected, as his new life still involves having a job, and it’s nominally the same dead-end job he once longed to escape. But Fry isn’t resigned to this: instead, he accepts the hand the universe has dealt him and makes it work for him…

…in fact, the theme of accepting one’s fate on one’s own terms is a theme that runs through Futurama all the way to the end of the original run.

And right in the middle of that run lies Cubert, perfectly exemplifying that nuanced theme with little more than the word “Dad.”

That choice to – again - show and not tell the change in how Cubert views his creator-father is something that I feel mitigates the suddenness of his change of outlook: wanting to emulate one’s father is a different feeling than wanting to emulate one’s creator, and a very human feeling... as is having sudden, eye-opening experiences in one’s preteen years. Cubert’s arc in this episode could be seen as a microcosm of growing up, and as a story of someone who thought he knew everything realising he still has growing up to do… and about a season later, we get to see him do some of that growing up.

Much like Cubert himself was initially intended as one thing and grew into another (on both meta and in-universe levels), I started this post with the intent to analyse him as a character but it ended up more focused on “A Clone of My Own” specifically – I might as well continue on this path and analyse “The Route of All Evil” as well. However, I don’t feel the need to do so quite so meticulously simply because Cubert is a far more straightforward character in the latter episode - and that in itself speaks volumes about what’s going on under that ginger muffin-shaped haircut.

This episode provides an explanation of Cubert’s absence throughout the second half of season 2, a glimpse into the life he’s been living off-screen at boarding school and something any good character needs: a companion to bounce off of. Dwight has less distinct characterisation than Cubert (partly as a result of having one less episode worth of development at this point), but I do think what he does have is worth analysing. I won’t do so too deeply, at least not here, simply because it’d be outside the scope of this post, but I will touch on the aspects that are relevant to my point: the ways in which he complements and contrasts Cubert.

Cubert and Dwight are similar in their intellect, precociousness, love of retro video games (really retro by the year 3002) and in being besieged by a bully, but the latter is less talkative and more chilled-out (as exemplified by him having no visible reaction to his best friend being sent flying by a mail tube), yet more business-minded: his immediate reaction to being presented with something new (always a fun way to tell us about a character) is to question its value as a product… while Cubert’s reaction to the same new thing is to use it for a prank.

As he demonstrated with Bender at the end of “A Clone of My Own”, Cubert hasn’t lost his fire in gaining respect for his father’s line of work: again, him addressing the Professor as “Dad” says a lot with few words, and remembering the context of his debut episode makes his “useless contraption” comment feel more like playful ribbing than genuine dismissal. Indeed Cubert spends much of the first act of this episode causing annoying-but-ultimately-harmless problems for the adults around him, along with Dwight, who evidently shares his interest in pranks. That interest of his wasn’t explicitly shown in his debut, but feels like a natural offshoot of his sarcastic sense of humour... and could also be chalked up to the change from the ultimate sheltered upbringing to a “normal” school environment. That in itself is a refreshing approach for the show to take: while probably done for simplicity’s sake, it shows that Cubert’s clone status is no barrier to him enjoying a normal childhood, as Leela’s orphan status was to her, or Bender’s robot status sometimes is to him sharing his adulthood with his organic friends (but the specifics of Cubert’s school life are more within the realm of speculation and headcanons, so I won’t dwell on them here).

Of course, the main thrust of “The Route of All Evil”’s plot is Cubert and Dwight’s business endeavour: Awesome Express. Again, I don’t need to analyse their motivations for founding their own delivery company too closely, because… well, Dwight outright states them in the episode.

Most people can relate, on some level, to wanting a loved one to be proud of them; a desire so universal is a perfect demonstration of Cubert’s newfound normality. It’s a sharp turn from his apparent superiority complex over his father and future employees in “A Clone of My Own”, but clearly one that made him happier: the permanent smug grin of his debut episode has given way to laughter at Hermes’ expense, casually sharing Dwight’s game console, celebrating their victory over Brett Blob (or rather his window)… I could list more, but you get the point. Enjoying the childhood that started twelve years too late without really dwelling on it feels like a natural evolution from where we left Cubert in season 2 – but not a wholesale change, as he still possesses the spark of madness he inherited from his father.

In the process of running Awesome Express, Cubert and Dwight make both upstanding and underhanded decisions: they have the prodigious business skills to quickly become more profitable than Planet Express, and rather than frivolously spending their earnings, they put them towards fair wages for their new employees Leela, Bender and Fry… and the absolutely vital flame decals for the ship.

Not all their decisions are that ethically sound or badass, though: Cubert and Dwight ultimately kick out and fire their fathers, respectively. Professor Farnsworth becoming homeless (though Hermes and LaBarbara are willing to at least temporarily put him up) as a result of his son’s hubris is another time I can see where Cubert’s haters are coming from, along with his moments of ableism directed at Leela’s vision problems and Fry’s… er, That Brain Thing – but karma swiftly comes down upon him and Dwight when they grow overconfident with their workload, leading to the first time we see Cubert cry on-screen (one of only two unambiguously canon times in the entire show) and the aforementioned admission of their motivations.

Luckily for the boys, their fathers recognise the purity of their motivations enough to forgive them for their questionable behaviour, and are quick to “do a little father-son weaselling out of this”. Professor Farnsworth and Hermes prove their love for their sons with actions, not words, solving their problem with the former’s arsenal of gadgets and the latter’s perfect aim as a “paper-man”... and ultimately put themselves through the ringer by attempting to fight the father of their sons’ bully, Mr. H. G. Blob. This one-sided “fight” results in slapstick humour, but also a show of Futurama’s emotional realism shining through its often cynical sensibilities.

This episode’s ending focuses more on “three fathers, enjoying a day out with their sons” as a group than Cubert or Dwight as individuals, but that in itself is a nice way to bring this duology of episodes full circle: Cubert is Professor Farnsworth’s son, no different from how Dwight and Brett are Hermes and H.G.’s sons. Perhaps he does fit into the abnormal, non-traditional family that is Planet Express after all.

fun fact: “Planet Espresso” dropped while I was still writing this post and it made “The Route of All Evil” hit different now I know Hermes in particular was working extra hard to end the cycle of parental neglect. not relevant to the whole “Cubert good” point but still interesting, at least to me

Now, you’re probably thinking that this is the part where I talk about “Bender Should Not Be Allowed On TV”, and… yeah. You’re technically right, I will briefly touch on it – but it won’t be complimentary.

Someone being “out of character” is a common complaint when it comes to TV show writing, but I’ll be completely honest: in my opinion, having Cubert, a character whose whole deal used to be questioning the status quo and authority figures (and in “The Route of All Evil” trying to surpass them), open the episode by admitting he and his equally precocious best friend want to mindlessly emulate what they see on TV goes beyond “out of character”. Cubert and Dwight’s intellectual-yet-rebellious nature would’ve served this plot perfectly, as it would’ve provided an opportunity for the writers to call attention to them not acting like themselves as a result of Bender’s influence – but the key gap between idea and execution is that the adults around them don’t treat their mindless viewing habits as something out of the ordinary for them. A simple “this isn’t like you” from the Professor or Hermes would’ve gone a long way, but as it is, it feels as though the boys’ past characterisation was intentionally ignored in order to more easily execute a storyline that could’ve been done in The Simpsons, with Bart and Milhouse succumbing to the allure of a newly-famous Homer’s bad influence.

In particular, the line “we can celebrate the day I extracted you from the cloning tank” kind of breaks my brain: we’ve seen that day in the show, and the more I go back to this episode, the more I feel like there’s nothing left of the Cubert the Professor extracted from the cloning tank – the one I just spent five pages analysing - in this specific Cubert (or the Dwight who crushed Planet Express with Dwight Lightning in this Dwight, for that matter). No scientific skills, no use of his trademark snort, no biting-but-good-natured jabs at his adult companions… nothing. To be fair, the episode does have a few nice ideas (the concept of a Growth Scraping Day itself, Tinny Tim becoming the third member of the kids’ friend group and them getting to do a little crime as a treat), but they’re so thoroughly surrounded by… well, everything else that I personally choose not to incorporate this episode into my mental picture of Cubert (or Dwight).

I’ll be the first to admit there are a lot of duds and weird writing choices among the post-revival episodes of Futurama, but I also think fans of the show have a tendency to put the Fox era on a pedestal while completely dismissing the later seasons - even though “Bender Should Not Be Allowed On TV” (along with “Bend Her” but that’s a rant for another time) proves that even season 4, often touted as the show’s peak, can be as guilty of bad characterisation or formulaic plots as the Comedy Central or Hulu eras. Conversely, season 6 in particular was flawed but did plenty of things right, and one of those things was using Cubert in interesting ways: “The Late Philip J. Fry” is the most famous example, but “A Clockwork Origin” and “Overclockwise” are both notable for succeeding at building on the foundation laid out in “A Clone of My Own” and “The Route of All Evil” - where Cubert’s last outing of the original run failed.

Whether that foundation was laid down intentionally or simply as a compromise between multiple creators, writers and directors that happened to meet a particular subjective reading, to me it’s an incredibly strong one: a fish-out-of-water who was abruptly thrust into the chaotic world of the 31st century but survives and thrives in his own funny, interesting, slightly unhinged way, just like Fry, Leela or Bender. Cubert isn’t for everyone, but I hope I’ve demonstrated why he resonated with me so much when I watched the show at his age, and why thinking of him as simply “the annoying kid” was… well, impossible.

This post is long enough as it is, so rather than analysing “The Late Philip J. Fry” (well, enough people have analysed that one already that I don’t really need to) and the two “clock” episodes of season 6, I’ll leave you with the suggestion to (re)-watch them yourself with an open mind… and to keep an eye out for Cubert in the Hulu run. As I alluded to at the top of this post, season 7 conspicuously pretended he didn’t exist outside of one dubiously canon skit, so maybe it’d be too much to hope for future seasons to explore him in detail… but as a wise old man and his son once said, nothing is impossible.

Not if you can imagine it.

THANK YOU FOR READING (or at least skimming) ALL THE WAY TO THE END OF THIS POST!!! as a reward for indulging my autism please treat yourself to a nice turducken spread with your found family. merry hulurama to all and to all a good night

[mistymisfit]

So long, Marianne I

Summary: Reader is a spy working undercover in Gotham when she meets Jason Todd, who despite her better judgement she forms a very close friendship with. This story follows their escape from Arkham asylum, their fall out and the times they run into each other as they get older.

Relationship: AK!Jason x Meta!Fem!Reader

Warnings: Graphic descriptions of violence (I'm serious, tho- in canon it's also pretty violent), angst, hurt/no comfort (for now), this series is just my excuse to write angst lol.

A/N: *CIPA means Congenital insensitivity to pain and anhydrosis aka people who are unable to feel pain. see the end for more notes :)

Word Count: 4,2K

Read on AO3

Part 2- Masterlist

He repeats his question one more time before kicking your stomach again, "Who are you?". He's been asking the same thing for the past... month? Time gets blurry when you're kidnapped. Fuck, undercover work sucked no matter who you did it for. Whether it was your actual boss or the big bad bat himself, they should all make it up for making you endure this--make it up by dying, you thought. God, whose stupid idea was it again? Letting yourself be kidnapped by the Joker so they could track his lair and see if he had any connections to your current case, ah yes... your boss. Not even Batman would ask you to do that, at least the man had some moral code he hung onto, maybe a little too tight. You've earned an early retirement after this assignment, almost two years living in Gotham, out of everywhere. But what neither you or your boss expected was that he'd know your "secret identity" was fake, that he would torture and kill the agents who worked with you and pretended to be your family--or that they'd sell you out. You whisper, they were not even words just an unintelligible sound. He lowers down, putting his ear close to your mouth to be able to listen better and asks you to repeat yourself. You bite him, as hard as you can and draw blood, lots of it which you spit out with a smirk.

"Fuck you" You taunt and he just laughs, holding his wounded ear. The laughing is excessive, it reverberates around the entire room and you brace for the next impact. But it never comes.

"I think it's time you met a friend we have in common" His smile makes dread set in on you, who? By his standards it could be anyone, from someone you actually knew to someone you've never met but was there to pick up on his dirty work as he went to do other things. He pushes you with his feet until you lay on your stomach and begins to cover your hands, you count the layers. First some kind of cloth, then plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, then a bag to hold it all together. Right, you let everyone believe your healing abilities could only work with your hands.

He drags you up, grabbing one of your arms as he walked you to a different room. The side of his head still bled, and you watched the blood fall down and how it got no reaction from him. He must be used to pain or there must be something wrong with his pain nerves. Maybe not enough to be CIPA* because you have seen him wince and experience pain before. Your feet fail you, you can barely take steps due to how weak you are. Every bite of food you've been forced to take ended up being spat or thrown up moments later. You can feel how chapped your lips are, how tangled your hair is, how deep the bags under your eyes must be, the way your arms hurt from being tied behind your back for too long, how much you must look like shit. He opens a door to a mostly dark room, you can only make out a figure sitting on a chair under the singular light in the entire room. He--yeah, it's a guy definitely, you think--he's got his head low, his posture isn't close to being okay and upon further inspection you realize he's tied to the chair. He's pushing to walk in his direction, and you recognize that hair, even though less dirty, and that side profile way less hurt. You knew that person, you knew him maybe a little too much for your mission.

Jason Todd was once your friend, possibly the only friend your age you've ever had. You met him when he was Robin, being instructed that working with Batman may end up being beneficial at the end of the line you were told not to antagonize him. Even helped him every once in a while to get at least his respect. The first time you ever talked to Jason-- or rather Robin at the time, was when he sprained an ankle one night. You were there, trying to gain info on an illegal arms shipment that was arriving that night "We just have to know who bought it" they told you. You weren't there to stop them, you barely were allowed to actually stop bad things from happening and sometimes you envied that in them. They were their own person, they could have lives, make their own decisions, have agency of their own. Instead you, poor you, you had nothing but your work, no family you knew of, no goals of your own, nowhere to go if you wanted to quit. You healed him, at least that you could do. Maybe word would get out of a new vigilante with "unspecified healing abilities", they didn't have to know you actually manipulated time and just turned time back to a moment they weren't hurt. And from that moment on, unknown to you, he had a crush on you.

He started following you around. It's not stalking he'd justify it, he was just investigating. Making sure whose side you were on because after all you were on the harbor the day he stopped some local gangs from getting their hands on bigger guns. But he found no more than your cover story, neither he or Batman could leave a secret identity be secret. He believed your cover story, no one had any reason to question it. You were just Marianne, a simple girl. A simple girl with superpowers who healed his ankle. Later, when you became closer, sitting next to each other on the rooftop of a building looking down on the city lights, and the traffic that still moved late at night, you explained to him that your powers came from a freak accident in a lab when you were a kid. That much was true, most of the things you told him were true. At the time you felt he was someone who understood you, and he felt the same. And that's how the both of you started developing feelings for each other. It was more than just a crush and the need to have the other closer kept getting stronger. You kept reminding yourself that you couldn't, that you were being so unfair to him, keeping him in the dark about who you really were, if he knew the truth he would never have trusted you. So when you were told he died, how Batman was so sure of it, you regretted everything. You were so decided on telling him the night he disappeared, why didn't you do it before? You've been living with that ever since, the regret, the guilt. And it only got worse when you found out he was dead, knowing he died not knowing your real name, he died believing your lies.

"No," you try to stop, not to get closer to his corpse. "what kind of trick is this?"

"Ah, come on- he's still your friend, isn't he?" You struggle, not letting him move you and putting your entire body weight into it, every strain of energy you had in trying to stop it. How sick is he? He kept his body all this time. Tears fell on your face just thinking about it. How much he suffered, how violent his last moments were, how he didn't get justice or a proper burial.

"You can't even respect the dead," You cry "I'm gonna rip your heart out of your chest with my bare hands, do you hear me? I'll make your death so violent even Batman will feel sick"

Your threats started falling out of your mouth faster than the logic in your brain could work, you shouldn't be saying those things. You couldn't be making empty promises like that, you knew you couldn't kill him. You would never be allowed to do it. He laughed, and laughed and pushed you to fall on your back right at the feet of your dead friend. You looked up, just a peak to see his face one last time but he didn't look decomposed, in fact he even had fresh blood on his face. You also saw his chest moving up and down very slowly, was he sleeping?

"Ah, how sweet of you" The man awes, pretending to be flustered by her death threats "but I didn't kill him"

He steps closer and slaps Jason's face, yelling "Wakey, wakey! You have a visit!"

You watch in shock at how he his eyes open so fast, how his head shoot up and the fear in his expression starts to settle in. He wore an orange jumpsuit, as if he was just an inmate more, his cheeks were stained with tears, there was dry blood on one of his nostrils and his lower lip had a cut. Not to mention the "J" scar on his face too.

"What did you do to him?" You ask, sitting up from where you were.

"We were just having fun together, right Jason?" He grabs his head from behind him to make him shake it, saying yes. "and you and I can have just as much fun, soon as you start telling the truth"

"Ma-Marianne?" His voice is rough and low, it was the first time you heard him scared.

"Yes," You crawl closer to him, and look up at him before resting your forehead in one of his legs to hide your face as you started to weep inconsolably "I'm so sorry, they said you were dead, that-"

There is a deadly silence filling the room , where you can only hear your ugly sobs. Jason doesn't respond and you didn't expect him to, but at least they let you cry in peace. Taking in the fact that he'd been alive all this time, thinking about what he's been put through as you mourned like an idiot when you should've kept looking for him. How you abandoned him, how everyone abandoned him. And that made you feel even worse than your initial thought of Joker not letting him rest after he died, because in that case there was nothing you could've done but now... You felt his leg move lightly and you looked up, maybe you were making him uncomfortable and this was his way of saying it. He mouthed a little "I love you" when he knew your captor wouldn't see it. Just then as you gave him a small nod and mouthed "I love you too" you saw he was crying too. Soon his tears fell on you, and he moved his shoulder and turned his head to wipe them off as he sniffed.

"Aww, isn't it romantic, Mr J?" Harley's voice sounds from behind you but you couldn't bring yourself to look away from him. You were getting out there tonight, fuck your cover, fuck your job, he was the only thing that mattered right now.

"Young love," He sighs, dreamy, as if he knew what he was talking about. Like he knew what love felt like at all in any way, shape or form. "We'll have a little menage a trois, It'll be fun dont cha' think?"

And soon enough you felt Harley's arms holding you down as he put a rag over your face and proceeded to throw water. Jason screamed, asking them to stop, that you had nothing to do with them. You coughed when they stopped, at least maybe your face was clean and free of the blood you bit from him earlier. You could handle getting waterboarded, you've been trained to endure all sorts of torture methods. What you couldn't handle was hearing and seeing him like that.

"Now, your little girlfriend hasn't been entirely honest with you"

"I don't know what you're talking about, I've already told you who I am" You insist, this time actually desperate.

"Ah- and who are these two then? Liars?" He shows him, not you, a picture of your fake parents dead. Then he shows it to you, of course Jason thought they were your parents, you gave him no reason to believe otherwise. "Cause you see, I thought you were just another annoying kid, getting in the way of my game with the bat- but you're much more than, you're too good"

Silence, you were trained better than this. They put the cloth on your face again, trying once more to get the truth out of you.

"Hey, maybe he knows" He switches up quickly, and takes a piece of broken wood to hold it over Jason "Come on tell me, who's her? And why is your old man protecting her?"

"Her name's Marianne, and he's protecting her because she's my friend"

"Ah-" He imitates a buzzer noise, like he was in some game show "Wrong answer" He hit him.

"Stop it!" You yell, as he repeatedly hit him. You struggle trying to break free from the woman holding you. Until you managed to hit her with my head somehow. You feel the pain in your scalp from her teeth hitting you too.

"This is useless mista' J," Harley spoke, doubt filled her voice. Maybe you were telling the truth, maybe you were just who you said you were and he was too lost to see it. "the girl's been saying the same for months, and her parents weren't even that convincing when they said they weren't her folks"

You watch them leave, him being visibly angry at her for questioning him. Only for him to come back moments later, almost bolting to Jason saying "I have a show to run outside, could you two behave and wait for me here?" Like you had much of a choice, then he said "And hold this for me, boy" before stabbing him. Of course he couldn't stop by without leaving him with an open wound of any sort. You rushed to him before the door was even closed, you removed the knife from the wound with your mouth, your hands still tied behind your back and wrapped up in multiple different layers in a failed attempt to stop you from using your power. Your eyes lit up as you healed him, his pained grunts eventually coming to a stop.

"I bet I look like shit right now" You joke, resting your cheek on his thigh once more. T rying to hide the fact that, despite the situation you were in, you were still a bit embarrassed that he saw you like that.

"You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen in my life" He confesses, not a single strain of joke or sarcasm in his statement and it makes you blush before you move to the back of his chair to untie him.

"You only say that because you want me to free you" You say before grabbing the rope with your teeth, taking longer to undo the knots than it would with your hands on your back and not being able to see what you were doing. If only they didn't think your powers worked from your hands.

"His ear, you did it?" He asked, getting a muffled sound of confirmation from you. "That's my girl"

The scoff in which he said it made you blush again, your cheeks were heating up tonight. He knew if anyone was ever getting him out it would be you, not Batman. His mentor probably started to look for a replacement as soon as he went off the grid. He knew you would never betray him, that's the only thing the Joker couldn't torture or manipulate out of him, the one thing he could hold on to. His kidnapper was wrong, he was never Batman's or his. He's always been yours, probably since you healed his ankle. The ropes around his arms loosen until he's free again, his muscles were sore but soon the adrenaline would kick in and rid him from all pain. He frees his legs in a hurry as you stand up in front of him, he stands up too again. The stretch felt good, moving on his own felt good, and seeing you again felt even better. You turned around, it was his turn to get rid of the ropes now. He grabbed the knife that you couldn't use and cut through your bindings. Still he couldn't help but think about the worried look on your face, what are you thinking about? How to get out? Him? Whatever it was, he took a moment and the second you turned to face him again he wrapped you in a hug. Feeling your warm body against him for the time in so long, you return the affection hugging him just as tightly. He feels relieved, finally a gentle hand lays on him, a hand that he knew could never hurt him.

"Jay, I-" You hesitate, hiding your face in his chest while trying to hide and get the courage to tell him at the same time "I have to tell you something"

"Can it wait until we get out?" You shake your head no, he had to know so you could break out from there. I mean, it was kinda hard to break out of Arkham without help.

"No, uhm, we need to call for help" You start "There's a chip on me, I need you to cut me and take it out"

"What? Help from who?"

"My agency" You admit in a whisper, and just as fast as you got him back you feel how you're loosing him a second time. He lets go of you, and you can feel the distance he's putting between you two more than any torture Joker put you through.

"Where is it?" He asks, his tone cold and detached. You try to hide how hurt you were, you should've expected it he had every reason to be mad.

"Here" You lift your shirt up and point to the place where the tracker was, on your lower stomach right above your hips, on your left side.

He nods, and you lay down on the floor so he can get to work. He touches you, only to get a feel of where it was and you try not to think that this will probably be the last time you feel him so close as you put your arm over your mouth to stop any noise that may come out of you. He cuts your skin, and you bite your arm and hope it's quick. With the end of the knife he swiftly pulls it out in between all the blood coming out of you. You tell him to step on it so it gets destroyed and sends the message, as you heal yourself. He wasn't even watching you, his eyes were fixed on the door processing yet another betrayal.

"Jay, I wanted to tell you-" You try to explain but he cut you off shooting a serious glare at you.

"I don't care," He was cold, his voice severe and it even scared you "get me the fuck out of here and we'll talk"

You nodded on the verge of tears, then deciding that holding on to the hope than when you two were somewhere safer he'd be open to have a conversation was your safer bet to maintain some sanity. Maybe then he'd listen to your apologies. At this point you weren't hoping for absolution but a truce would suffice. Why did you have to go and fuck it up? Why did you have to go and fall for him? You knew who you were, a spy trained for most of the life you remembered who worked undercover in Gotham, you knew you were not supposed to have any ties or emotional connections. You cursed at whoever gave you feelings and made you human, instead of whoever turned you into a machine.

"We should get moving, get to the extraction point"

He just nodded, it was short and formal, so unlike what you were used from him. He followed behind you as you carefully opened the door. There were no guards outside, so you moved. Soon an alarm started to blare through the rotten and worn down asylum wing, that's why the hallway was so empty. Two inmates run past both of you, pushing you to a wall in the process. You reach to grab Jason's wrist to make sure he's behind you but stop halfway through. Probably being touched by you was the last thing he wanted. So you just walk, decidedly pushing through this situation you were in. Armed with nothing but your fists you take out a man twice your size, you easily dodge his punches and swiftly move around him to hit him in key points that he leaves open. Jason watches, and realizes as you jump to the man's shoulders and snap his neck that you had been holding back all this time. He understands you have been capable of using lethal force but chose not to, though he doesn't know the reason for that. Was it because of Batman? Was it because you were ordered not to? He pushes down the thought, as he should be more focused on the guy he was fighting instead of you. You keep moving, going up to were a helicopter would be waiting for you. What you didn't expect was the Joker's backup plan, Death-stroke, pointing a gun right at your head. Shit, you didn't even tell him about your powers yet, he was going to be even more pissed if you didn't find another way out of this soon.

"Out of my way kid" He tells you "I'm only getting paid for not letting him leave alive, but I don't mind wasting a bullet"

"Oh, fuck off" you sigh tired, you just wanted to get out of there. You were exhausted, you wanted a shower and to sleep on a real bed and if it wasn't too much to ask maybe see the light of the sun. So you froze him, time stopped for the man in front of you. "move, it won't last long"

Jason wants to ask, he's itching to know. How did you do it? How did healing people translate into what you just did? He had so many questions for you, about you. Every time a new question came into his head he felt even more offended, he thought he knew you so well and turns out you'd made him out to be an idiot. He feels like an idiot and for that he's even angrier at you for lying, for keeping things from him when he had been so vulnerable to you. That you knew everything about him yet he knew barely anything about you and even what he knew he doubted it was even real at all. But out sheer stubbornness he wasn't going to ask, he'd rather take the curiosity to his grave.

The loud noise of a helicopter becomes more clear as you head up, and then you recognize the all black uniform and standard weapon of your agency. Confusion painted your face, why would they send backup instead of it just being an extraction team. Usually they didn't have a care in the word if you got out in time or not, even going as far as leaving you behind once. They weren't usually this helpful, or willing to use resources on a simple rescue mission. The help didn't last long since you heard the gun shot coming from where you came from. Shit, it wore off you better leave quickly. You tell him to run, to keep up the pace and he does, promising himself this was the last time he would trust you. It was all fine and well, you could see the escape route clearly you almost made it when you heard it. Jason held the bleeding wound from the bullet, stumbling until you helped him. You stole a gun from a passing agent, they wouldn't notice since it was just their back-up, and shot at the mercenary. Your aim was just a little off, since you were also holding a person with your other arm but you managed to hit his arm. The bullet just grazed him, your friend didn't have the same luck. You shot again, just to create some cover so you could move. It worked, you made it to the helicopter before he passed out from the blood loss. Sadly you couldn't heal him since the bullet was still there, so in tears as you took off you managed to stop his bleeding until you got help.

Of course your supervisor wasn't happy about you escaping earlier than expected or that you bought him along. But after some promises and insisting, they agreed not to let him die and took him to the closest headquarters. You knew the conditions they put on you were harsh but you thought nothing was worth more than his life, so you agreed. Even if it mean never seeing him again, why did it matter anyways? It's not like he wanted much to do with you after today.

A/N: Like I said on the notes on ao3, I'm sensitive and this is my first time posting what I write in a LONG time so have patience with me lol.

[rontra]

My hand never seems to actually translate the ideas that are spinning up in my brain. how do you get it all out? any advice? just draw more? do i need to use more references? your art is just so beatiful you are one of my top inspos.

ah first of all thank you very much! i'm honored! 😳

(long post incoming lol)

to answer the question though, i don't think i sufficiently translate what's in my mind and i frequently let myself down! but it's important not to let that Stop you. i think overall it's sort of multifaceted and different for everyone--theres no single answer i can give you that will guaranteed work for you--but for me personally i think it mainly comes down to Derangement, DISCRETION!!, Discipline, & Diet

before i say anything more though it's important also to remember that making visual art (in our case drawings/comics) is training like 2 or 3 separate skills (depending on how you divide them). the HAND represents your current drawing ability & technique; what your drawing hand is physically able to produce when you set pen to paper. the BRAIN is the creative engine that cooks up your ideas and thinks of ways to assemble them. and the EYE represents your ability to recognize what art looks like and how it "should" look. when your brain is thinking of ideas and your hand can't capture them, that is not because you're "bad" at it: it means your eye skill is currently outpacing your hand skill. your ability to discern art, to see things like proportions and anatomy and composition and whatever else is going on, is currently stronger than your ability to draw them yourself. this is not a flaw. this is not a flaw. this is not a flaw!!!! but it does mean your hands' ability to capture what your brain has imagined will let your eyes down until your hands catch up. once they do--by studying, practicing your technique, using references, and gaining confidence--your eye skill will then begin to outpace it again. this cycle, the dance between the two skills, is why you might sometimes feel yourself suddenly "getting good" at art, then just as suddenly plateauing or "getting worse"; you are training different parts of what makes art happen. there is nothing wrong with this. you are improving even when it doesnt feel like it--even when it feels like THE LITERAL OPPOSITE is happening. because you're improving different skills!

(and of course as your eye skill develops you will look back at previous stages of development and go "HOW COULD I NOT SEE HOW BAD THIS LOOKS!"--and yeah. that's the thing; you probably, rather literally, couldn't see it! you only think it looks bad now because you've improved your "eye" skill. you should try to be proud of that feeling, even though it also likely sucks and is embarrassing to you at the same time. there's posts, even recent ones, that i go "i cant believe i thought that looked OK enough to post PUBLICLY" and it is embarrassing for me! but all it means is that i'm better at what i do now...so it doesn't get me down too badly. you gotta shrug that stuff off.)

with that out of the way, my four evil councilmen are as follows:

DERANGEMENT: find something you are not normal about. this can be anything (whether it's a topic that interests you, The Character, a medium, a damn color palette...anything!), as long as it captures your mind and motivates you to create. your brain should be spinning up ideas like crazy and your only choice is to draw them. because once you have Derangement the only thing that feels worse than Making Something Subpar is sitting around Not Making Anything At All. you should be interested in what you draw. you should ideally love it, even if you don't love your own art yet. once you know what motivates you, let that simmer until you have no choice but to draw even if you're scared it'll turn out bad. and hey--there will probably (unless you become some kind of Art God) always be parts you think should've turned out better in some way, however:

DISCRETION!!: realistically nobody NEEDS to know what parts of a piece you're unhappy with. it's valuable to have friends/art partners/mentors/whatever that you can comfortably check in with and go "i dont like [part], what do you think" and get feedback, but that's for YOU. for the audience at large, maybe people will notice, maybe they won't, but as an artist you are constantly growing and you will very likely be constantly looking back at past pieces (even just days or hours old sometimes) and going "what the hell was i thinking? how did i not see [error/s], or why didn't i go for [different idea/finish/color palette/etc]?". getting hung up on this will probably either light a fire under you or demotivate you completely depending on your particular brain soup. for me it can go either way depending on where i'm at in my current hand/eye development phase. but i try not to fixate on it. it's enough to observe it and take notes for next time. every drawing is part of your growth and you have to make wonky art in order to occasionally make something that satisfies your eyes. in the meantime, don't beat yourself up or put yourself down. you are gaining experience and technical know-how, and spotting things you'd like to work on for next time; especially if you're sharing this work and other people are telling you they like what you made, there's no need to undercut this by dwelling on the rough parts so much that you can't enjoy it. the important thing is that you made it.

DISCIPLINE: you made it, it's done, now make something new. do it again from the top! you're right: Drawing A Lot is absolutely the key to Drawing Better. it is also usually an evil curse that reveals How Bad You Drew 3 Months Ago. but you have no choice, if you want to hone your skills and improve the Brain Image -> Art Image translation. you have to do it even when it sucks. do it bored, do it scared, but you have to do it or you'll never get anywhere. when improving yourself, you have to draw a lot to see change, and this is the part that sucks, right? feeling like you're not really getting anywhere or like you'll never capture what's in your mind. you can do studies where you collect references and focus in on ironing out something that's bothering you (such as, like, specific objects, perspectives, clothing details, anatomy pieces, light and shadow, etc etc); this can help crack the malaise for sure... learning how to use references is good, as well as whatever tools are available to you (in your medium/software). How To Do This is sort of a different post, but it does help (and sometimes annoyingly so; there's been rare but very annoying moments in my career where i will be simply looking at a picture and idly make an observation that cracks a style/anatomy problem i've had for Years and im always like COME ON!!! hahaha--but yes looking at references and studying them "like an artist" definitely helps, even when it's not as miraculous as that). overall work smarter and nail down the stuff you're unsure about, then incorporate what you've learned into your art style until it looks a way you like. you will likely have to just grind it out sometimes, and often this grind will not feel particularly fun. but you can Dog Medication Salami Pocket yourself into it if you're drawing something you're sufficiently Deranged about. <- this is what diesel is always doing with those women (LOL)

also, Output. you do have to Be Making Stuff in order to finish stuff. for example for comic projects like adastra or failteacher au, if i can draw ~1 page a day, the update will be complete in no time. but i have to draw that 1 page every day to make it happen, even if i feel off or lack confidence about what i'm making. of course i'm not saying you shouldn't take breaks; you NEED to take breaks, set your goals to your own level, and listen to yourself (and don't get some kind of wrist problem like me please). but the point im trying to make is that if you can make yourself sit down and do it even though you're scared it'll turn out bad, (or, hell, even if this part of your project is Simply Boring), then you can do it anytime. this is important too. but you will probably still sometimes feel stuck if you try to work and grind all the time.

DIET: regularly, but especially when you're stuck in a rut, step away from your craft and enrich your diet. you have to play just as much as you have to work. for example, i am always ALWAYS reading comics. at any given time i probably have 1-4 (sometimes more) tabs open of different comics i am simultaneously reading!!!! i read webcomics, webtoons, manga, DC--any demographic or genre, i take random recs from people and just go read them. whatever medium you're in, you have to take in what other people are doing with it, you have to let them teach and inspire you. you have to branch out and look at genres and styles you usually don't. unwind and look at comics, at illustrations, at design, at animation, at video games. enjoy them as an audience, but look at them like an artist too. when you like something, pause and examine (as both an artist and audience) why you like it. (vice versa: if you don't like something, you can try to figure out why that is!) let other people's ideas and habits flow over you. you have to relax and enrich your mind, to refresh your creativity and motivation. this is crucial. when you come back, you'll feel refreshed and ready to go, and your big brain cauldron of tools + ideas + techniques will be all shiny and bubbling. it's just as important to experience art as it is to make it. i really can't stress that enough!!!!

i talk about comics specifically here because right now obviously i am making a lot of comics (adastra, failteachers). i often feel like i get stuck in boring page layouts and can't think of how to panel something. and honestly sometimes a basic layout that just Gets Through The Scene is simply sufficient (after all, not everything has to be a Groundbreaking New Masterpiece; we would all get fatigued by that!)--or otherwise a "boring layout" is just what i have to put down in order to put down anything at all. but in both cases, reading comics and taking in what people are doing with their layouts makes me feel refreshed and i can return to my own work all rested and bright-eyed. everything we read and watch and take in is added to our "mental library" for the brain to reference when it's time to create something. it is just as enriching and important to experience someone else's art and perspective, and to enjoy a diverse range of impressions. you are always learning and observing, so try to pay attention--it's feeding your brain... :j

(and now, hopefully, your enriched Diet has added fertilizer for your Derangement, and the entire council can take their turn again from the top of the order. HDFHBJFS)

hmm...

well, overall, like i said at the top, there's no One Solution or really Single Piece Of Advice i can offer you. but i hope maybe you got something out of it anyway. everyone's a bit different and everyone's ideal workflow and journey is different too. but don't give up, keep at it, and...GOOD LUCK!!! 🫡🫡🫡

& always remember: in the end, making something YOU like, that looks good to YOU and fulfills YOUR goals, is more important than making something "perfect" (if such a thing even exists). as long as YOU'RE enjoying making your art (yes, even when making the art is hell and sucks!), that's all that matters. 🤝

[last-flight-of-fancy]

I would love to hear your trans alphinaud and lesbian alisaie headcanons or more about the subtext you see! Especially alisaie.

AHHH oh gosh i would love to answer!! Though I must admit that these are built from many (MANY) small moments across the whole game more than a few easily pointed at examples, which means its.. kind of difficult to pull up (and remember) all the evidence.

That being said, i do still have Many Thoughts about it :DDD

First off trans Alphinaud was set into my mind very early on by one simple fact: identical twins are almost always born the same sex. like almost invariably, with the very rare exceptions needing some wild extenuating circumstances. and you cannot tell me those two are fraternal.

now ofc this is fiction, and a fantasy world besides. who's to say the writers knew that particular fact? well good news! alphinaud presents a *lot* of other common trans experiances, which are scattered throughout the msq and optional side dialogue.

(shoutout to me for having the exact same thought four years apart before and after playing the game myself. i have absolutely no memory of the first post at all because i also have no memory of watching my partner play shadowbringers even though i definitely did. rare adhd memory loss win! i got to experiance my favourite thing for the first time twice!)

post 1: dated 2019, talking about how alphinaud is extremely trans coded, being an identical twin of a different gender to his twin, cannot swim, is body shy and *extremely* hesitant about using public showers, and having interests that are traditionally coded as feminine in fiction.

post 2: dated 2023, the same thing but this time talking about how wonderfully alphinaud and alisaie are made to complement each other in opposite ways.

he cant swim: related to the body-shyness and hesitance around the showers, its VERY common for trans people to experiance these things due to dysphoria and societal perceptions. i myself started experiancing this (even though i LOVE swimming) when pubescence started to hit. (it sucks!) alphinaud was probably one of those ones who realised VERY early what he was (logic boy who is too dang smart for his own good) so he just.. never learned to swim at all. kept his nose buried in books instead.

traditionally feminine interests/abilities: sure it could be trope subversion, but personally i think theyre also things he just enjoyed before transitioning and thus continued to do.

and one more that i can remember off the top of my head: alisaie's reaction to estinian mistaking her for alphinaud.

"but alphinaud has no problem with being mistaken for-" let me explain, i swear it makes sense.

see, alphinaud is a little logic boy at heart, we know this. he knows he and alisaie share their features, that is simply a fact. alisaie though? alisaie is ruled by feeling, and reacts accordinly. most notably the Incident when she first meets estinian.

what i find especially interesting about this is that prior to that moment with estinian, neither of them appear to have much issue with their similarities. it's only after shadowbringers that alisaie reacts with such contempt

(probably not helped by her not liking estinian much in general lol)

what this says to me is that some time before or during ShB, alphinaud told alisaie that the way people mistake him for her does bother him, but he can't blame them for the mistake considering the circumstances, so he just doesn't mention it.

alisaie however can and will blame them and thus the next time someone mixes them up (rip estinian) she EXPLODES. because it's not about her. if it was about her i honestly dont think she would care nearly as much. but it's about her brother, and how dare you hurt her brother's hidden feelings by not being able to tell them apart.

(completely seperate headcanon but i do think that estinian is faceblind as fuck, which means he never stood a chance on this one, poor guy)

okay now for lesbian alisaie <3

what WAS it that thancred said about battle scars and maidens? and whyfor are you thinking about this alisaie? :3

also: Tesleen.

also also: Emery (A Malm in her Shoes short story)

fr tho alisaie pays attention to and talks about girls a lot. in a way she never does about boys. bringing up my complementary opposites wrt the twins thought from before, it honestly could've been another way the writers COULD have done that, having alisaie attempting to impress boys with her athletic skills the same way alphinaud tried to impress girls with his artistic ones (something he is teased about repeatedly). like the absence of this potential parallel is almost suspicious tbh...

once again, any one of these things in isolation is probably simply a choice in writing, but all these things together spell out to me one thing: alisaie likes girls. exclusively.

(im sorry you wanted lesbian alisaie thoughts more and i have less of that than the trans alphinaud ones, but if you come back in 3-5 years when i've finished my second msq run i will have compiled a far more complete list of evidence for both complete with screenshots, probably lol)

[wendytestabrat]

10 KEY differences between wendy & kyle

i feel like everyone acts like wendy & kyle are pretty much the same characters, but the more i've looked into it no, they're actually VERY different. the only shit they have in common is that they're both morally preachy hypocrites who hate on cartman (and wanna fuck him teehee) but they go abt it in very different ways. ok here we go:

1. wendy is wayyyy smarter than kyle - ok let's get this one out of the way first bc i just talked abt it in my rant on why wendy is the smartest character. but yeah kyle may be booksmart and good at school but wendy is good at school AND she can manipulate and actually outsmart cartman, kyle can't.

2. wendy is more confident than kyle - obviously wendy isn't 100% confident and def has her moments where her insecurity shows like when she gets crazy jealous but overall i feel like she's A LOT more confident than kyle bc she doesn't let shit get under her skin as easily as him and she actually knows how to ignore cartman better. like yeah wendy did fight cartman back in "breast cancer show ever" but her response to that seemed pretty reasonable when u take into consideration all the times where cartman had harassed wendy in the past and she just ignored it and let it go lol. there are sooo many tiny moments in the series like that where cartman picks on wendy and she does NOTHING unlike kyle who reacts to EVERYTHING. like in "le petit tourette" cartman deadass went up to wendy and was like "DUMB BITCH!" and she didn't even get mad or anything wheras kyle decided to pick a fight with cartman over the tourettes thing when cartman DIDN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING TO KYLE. another example was that time when cartman was like "check out wendy she's as flat as a pancake" and wendy didn't say anything lol there are sooo many more examples of this shit but i’m not gonna get into it rn.

3. wendy is a leader, kyle is not - this goes hand in hand with the thing abt her being more confident. i feel like wendy's ability to lead the other girls and take a stand rily shows her confidence, while kyle is def more of a follower and usually just takes the backseat as the sidekick to whatever the fuck stan or cartman are up to (usually cartman) lol. kyle is EXTREMELY bossy and controlling tho so there def are moments where he takes charge of situations, but just bc he's rlly bossy and likes coming up with ideas that doesn't mean he's a good poised leader nor does he know how to execute his plans efficiently imo. the other characters will go along with kyle's shit bc they feel like they have no choice be he won't stop complaining to get his way, not bc they look up to him LOL.

4. kyle is more gullible than wendy and more easily persuaded - kyle is DEF way more gullible than wendy which is part of the reason why he’s not as smart as her. i feel like kyle is way more likely to believe some bullshit or be persuaded into changing his stance on something, wheras once wendy has her mind set on something there’s no changing it. she stays true to her beliefs EXCEPT when it comes to peer pressure but we’ll get to that point soon lol. kyle can also get manipulated easily wheras wendy sees through all the bs 100% of the time.

5. kyle is more naive and childish - this is a rlly subtle difference and goes hand in hand with the last point abt him being gullible but yeah i def feel like kyle is more juvenile and acts like a regular kid. he’s rlly high strung and has a lot of energy and gets excited over dumb shit like making a farm on facebook and talking to a damn poop which i can’t rlly see wendy doing lol. she def seems more mature than him in that sense.

6. kyle is WAYYY more temperamental than wendy - this one is prob the most obvious. kyle gets easily annoyed over the tiniest shit and has rlly bad anger problems, while wendy has a temper too i feel like she usually tries to resolve shit calmly first and has a more mature demeanor and is more rational & levelheaded most of the time, but when u RLLY piss her off she becomes scarier than kyle and does way worse shit LOL. kyle is also way more impulsive too so if he does react with anger he's gonna do the first dumbass thing that pops in his head like punching someone or calling them names, wendy is usually way more strategic when it comes to her vengeance.

7. wendy is popular, kyle is a loser - yeah this one is pretty obvious we all know wendy is the most popular girl and kyle hardly has any friends that he resorts to hanging out with CARTMAN. i can imagine the kids would rather be around wendy and like her more bc she’s not as pissy as him, even tho she certainly has her bitchy moments but she still aint as easily reactive as kyle and has RIZZ.

8. wendy is more easily influenced by peer pressure - so yeah being the more popular one definitely comes at a cost bc wendy can stoop LOW to maintain her popularity and make sure the other girls like her still. this is the one category where kyle actually wins bc he’s usually more likely to stand on the fact that no one likes him and he won’t sacrifice his morals to be liked, even tho he certainly has his moments where he does. kyle overall seems wayyy more introverted than wendy tho and seems comfortable being a loner while she isn’t. wendy is extroverted af and wants to have a bunch of friends and an army of skanks around her at all times.

9. wendy actually takes ACTION abt the issues she has rather than just complaining about it - this is something i respect more abt wendy bc even tho she’s preachy like kyle at least she actually does shit and takes a stand on the political issues she has, while kyle is all talk LOL. kyle will give 0 fucks about helping any cause and does absolutely nothing, but then when he sees cartman doing something terrible he’ll all of a sudden act like he was the biggest advocate for that thing all along even tho he never was. wendy was likable af in “breast cancer show ever” tho bc she was just minding her own business trying to do good by spreading awareness on breast cancer and cartman’s bitchass had to keep annoying her and harassing her abt it so yeah ofc she snapped back bc she was just defending herself lol.

10. they have completely different weak spots - and lastly, even tho they both can get angered easily they have COMPLETELY different triggers as to what sets them off. kyle’s achilles heel is his juddaism and if anyone comes for him over it he will throw and huge bitch fit. for wendy it’s any threat against her popularity/attention or relationship with stan which is why she is known for her jealousy, which is prob wendy’s most toxic behavior in the show lol. kyle doesn’t have a reputation for being the jelly monster like wendy does, although his behavior in s20-21 was pretty wendy level bad bc he was jelly and possessive AF with cartman lol. up until that point wendy took the throne as the annoying jealous, possessive, & petty one.

BONUS KEY DIFFERENCE: wendy cares abt stan more 🤷🏻‍♀️ just by 👌🏼 this much

[creative-caramel-coffee]

The Bear || Chapter 3

Pairings: Wanda x R || avengers (platonic) x R

Word count: 4.2K

TW: concussion, throwing up, non-sexual nudity, medical talk, talks of overstimulation and non-verbalism

Summary: You join your uncle tony in the avengers, it wasn’t your original plan but you never planned for your powers either so here you are. Now your at the avengers tower and falling for the girl of your dreams. With a haunting past and interesting abilities can you navigate your way through the challenges of being a hero? After a mission gone wrong and a cruel twist of fate the team starts digging for answers. Can tony keep them from finding out the truth?

PART 1 || PART 2 || PART 3 || PART 4 || PART 5 || PART 6 || PART 7

A/n this chapter is so much longer than the others lol. its also a bit diffrent to what i normally write so… yeah.

While nat laid with you and wanda that night she couldn’t help but wonder why you had frozen, you had looks petrified of the man. Unable to sleep she glanced at wanda and you on the bed before carefully slipping out, wanda would call her if anything went wrong. Plus she told Jarvis to give her updates on when you did stuff and your bio read outs. Sure she was a bit paranoid but she didn’t know how a concussion could effect you or your power and Bruce only knew so much about you.

She made her way down to the lab and stepped in laughing slightly at Tony’s messy hair and five coffee cups on the table. He was slumped over a set of blueprints for something she couldn’t figure out, snoring softly. That would probably explain why he hadn’t come to see you when the three of you returned. Tony often got lost in his work stopping only when he fell asleep, usually more often in his lab than a real bed. He was much better when pepper was here but she was on a business trip so he had fallen back into old habits. What did surprise nat was peter who was also asleep on the small couch in the lab. Tony was usually very strict on making sure peter got enough sleep, seeing too much of himself in the boy. Assuming tony must have fallen asleep before peter as it was the only plausible explanation she nudged him gently with a finger.

After a few more failed attempts he finally woke with a start. Rubbing his eyes nat went to speak, growing slightly annoyed as he held up a hand to stop her.

“Coffee first Romanoff.” He got up to pour some and noticed peter he cursed softly and decided he was best to just leave him. It was the weekend anyway and may knew he was with him. After a few sips of the lukewarm coffee tony gave nat the go ahead to continue.

“I wanted to know more about y/n” she said noticing as Tony’s shoulders tensed momentarily.

“What about her?” He asked feigning disinterest.

“Stark i know theres more to her than she lets on. She froze today. Got knocked out pretty badly.”

“Is she ok?” Tony said worried

“Shes fine wanda and i are looking after her so shell be ok.” Nat said sighing and running a hand through her hair.

“Good.” He said taking another long sip.

“Tony why is the access to her file restricted?” Nat said looking him up and down.

“Why were you trying to access her file Romanoff?” He said gruffly

“I needed to know medical information for Bruce but all that was available was her blood type and some very basic info. Did she not fill out the forms when she became an agent?” Nat asked

“She predates the system Romanoff.” Tony said with a shrug and nat failed to hide her surprise.

“So she’s from before shield?”

“No Shes from before the avengers. Sheila had files on her but” he hesitated slightly.

“What?” Nat said. “Tony spit it out now.”

“She went by a different name for a while. She was with me doing duo missions when i first became Ironman. Then…” he trailed off before clearing his throat “stuff happened and she went by a different name. Now she’s back and with us thats all that matters got it Romanoff. If you want more ask her yourself.”

Nat nodded despite having a thousand more questions than before. What did he means different name? What stuff happened and why didn’t Sheila know more about you?

After a confusing call to fury where he simply said the same as tony, ‘ask y/n’ nat sighed before going back to your room and after a bit she fell asleep.

It was around 2am when you woke up feeling awful. Your stomach hurt and you let out a small whimper. You were confused. Which was to be expected with a concussion this severity. You heard Jarvis but couldn’t figure out what he was saying. Suddenly a low light was turned on and you saw the worried faces of the redheads in your vision. They were asking you something.

“Y/n?” Nat said carefully “whats wrong?” She asked. Wanda looked concerned.

“Baby your scaring me.” Wanda said as you continued to sit there and whine. “Should i get Bruce?” Wanda asked.

“No. Not until we know what goin-“ nat was cut off by you leaning forward as you began to dry heave.

“Aww bubs.” Wanda said rubbing your back and nat shot toward the bedside table where she left the sick bags earlier. Quickly she grabbed one while wanda continued to rub circled between your shoulder blades. Tears pricked your eyes as wanda held the bag under your chin and used her other hand to give soft reassuring squeezes to your bicep. Nat took Wanda’s placed rubbing your back and soon both redheads heard the sound of you finally bringing something up.

“Aww its ok. Your ok. Get it all up. Im here it’s alright.” You paused for a second gulping big breathes, wanda hesitated to take the sick bag away. Thanking whatever higher power was out there she didn’t as you ducked your head and again and heaved some more. Wanda and nat went back to reassuring you.

“It’ll pass sweets its ok your not alone. Natty and I are here. We’re not going anywhere. Take your time baby girl get it all out.” Wanda said.

When you finally stopped throwing up you had tears rolling down your cheeks as nat came back with a damp washcloth and some mouthwash in a cup with an extra cup as well for you to spit it into. You pressed your face into Wanda’s shoulder as she swapped the sick-bag for the things nat was carrying. Nat took the sick-bag seemingly unbothered by the contents and tied it off before slipping from the room to dispose of it properly. Leaving it in a bin in your room was just cruel.

Wanda wrapped one arm around you and holding you close before using the rag to wipe your mouth. Setting it down the tray on the bedside table she helped you use the mouthwash by guiding both cups respectively to your lips before also putting them down. Once she had cleaned you up and resituated you in the bed she shuffled down as well and held you close. Your small whimpers died down and were soon replaced with soft snores as your breathing evened out. After a few moments of admiring your sleeping form the door opened again and nat returned.

“How is she?” Nat asked.

“Better. Still very out of it. Hasn’t said a word. I cleaned her up and she settled back to sleep almost straight away.” Wanda ran her hands thorough your hair tucking stray pieces behind your ear. “Poor things exhausted. Im sorry you have to deal with this nat. If you want i can look after her.”

Nat smiled softly “No way. Shes a two person job right now and someone has to be the adult.” She joked slipping into the bed on your other side. She silently thanked tony for sparing no expenses when it came to the rooms. Which also meant bigger beds. It made sense seeings what she walked in on a week prior to your arrival at the compound.

A week earlier…

Nat wanted to fine tony. Actually nat needed to find tony. Yelena thought it would be funny to dye her suit pink so now she needed a new suit before their next mission which was in a couple days. There as no way she would be seen out in public in a pink suit. She would never live it down. After checking the lab just to find it empty she took the lift to the penthouse. Or the stark master floor as tony annoyingly dubbed it.

She knew he would be here if he wasn’t in the lab or on a mission or in the kitchen getting more coffee. Walking to the bedroom she cracked the door open slightly and had to stifle a chuckle. It was barely mid-afternoon and here in the master bedroom was the mighty tony stark, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist cuddled in bed with pepper, morgan and even peter curled up taking a nap together in the bed. Tonys head rested on peters shoulder as peter laid on his back with an arms around tony. Morgan was pressed into Tony’s back with peppers arms around her daughter as they spooned. Nat took a quick selfie with the cuddle pile before slipping out quietly.

Later that afternoon she tried again to find tony, walking into the lab she asked him in a coy manner what he had been up to earlier. The billionaire went a deep red and shrugged as if it was nothing. Nat texted him the selfie and shrugged as well.

“I’d check that if i was you” she said when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Tony narrowed his eyes and took out his phone.

“Cant lie to me.” She said when his face dropped. He huffed.

“I didn’t lie i just didn’t tell you what i was doing.”

“Sure” nat said “anyways i need a new suit but i wanna know why peter was in bed with you. I get your wife and child … but peter?”

“Nat we were going to tell everyone at the party later but I guess… pepper won’t be too mad if i tell you now.” He took a deep breath and began to speak again “may has been doing more work lately so she and i came to the agreement to make me peters other legal guardian. Pepper was ok with it i mean … come on she loves the kid like her own son. Peters been struggling with may being gone more and he hasn’t had a father figure in a long time. N-not like i see myself a his dad or anything b-but i hope he will one day.” Tony said and nat clapped a hand on his back.

“Tony thats wonderful. My lips are sealed and I’ll let you in on a little secret. I walk quiet as the dead so peter doesn’t know i heard him but he accidentally called you dad when he was on the phone with MJ. He already sees you as his father tony. The boy is just like you and I’m so happy for all of you.” She said. And tony had tears forming in his eyes. He quickly brushed them away making a mental note to address titles with peter later. He wanted Pete to know he was ok if he decided to call him dad. Nat smiled at the man in-front of her once more before patting his back again and leaving. She knew tony liked to process emotions on his own or with his family. And despite the avengers being everyone’s second and sometimes first family, she knew he would appreciate the privacy.

Modern gay … I mean … day … again…

The girls were happy when they woke at about 6am to find you still sleeping. They were glad you were ok and slept some more with out being sick again. Bruce had told them to expect you to be sick more if you had thrown up, although different for everyone it was known that concussions may make you sick, confused, nauseous and so much more.

After a short discussion with nat about a plan for the morning they decided nat would stay with you while wanda went to make you all breakfast. Nat gave Jarvis instructions on lighting settings for the room, telling him to make sure it was bright enough to see but not hurt your head more. She saved the settings under “migraine protocol 1” so that if needed it could be used again in future for yourself or others. After you remained asleep for a while you began to squirm. Nat was sat against the headboard reading a book from her room when she froze. Feeling you nuzzle into her leg seemingly seeking out skin to skin contact. Now you had found it you settled again and went back to being still and quiet. Nat smiled and relaxed. She knew you trusted her and loved her in the same odd motherly way she loved you but it melted her heart to know you sought her out even when asleep.

After a moment of loving gazes at your sleeping form wanda came back. She had two stacks of pancakes and toppings for herself and Natasha and a bowl of chicken broth, an old family recipe from sokovia, for you. Wanda set herself up on the bed and nat scratched your head lightly to bring you around.

“Y/n/n” wanda said softly waking you up. She resisted the urge to coo as you rubbed at your eyes like a child. “Baby you need to eat something.” She said and helped you sit up. You looked confused. You nodded and allowed them to feed you. As you were in no place to be doing much that required any form of brain activity. Wanda brought spoon after spoon to your mouth, blowing on it softly for you each time while nat watched amused and ate her pancakes with syrup. Once you had had enough you stopped letting wanda feed you and she sighed.

“You did such a good job baby girl, I’m proud of you. I’ll save the rest for later ok?” She said and stood to put away the dish on your desk to clean up later as the bedside currently housed her own breakfast. You shuffled on the bed and stood up. Wanda was quickly by your side and nat even stopped eating to check on you.

“Y/n? What are you doing?” Wanda asked concerned.

“Bathroom.” You muttered and wanda led you by the arm to the ensuite.

“Leave the door ajar baby.” She said wanting to be able to make sure you were ok. Normally you would have said no, nowhere near comfortable enough to allow such a thing with a girl who you weren’t even officially with yet and the women who had basically become your mother, but you simply nodded to exhausted to argue and too confused to fully register that the two women would hear you pee.

Wanda guided the door shut and slightly ajar and went to sit with nat on the bed. A couple minutes later she knocked on the wall next to the door.

“You ok in there y/n/n?” She asked, hearing you hum in agreement.

a couple seconds later you came out your hands dripping from washing them at the sink. Wanda chucked and darted inside to grab a small towel. She carefully dried your hands giving each a mini massage while she did and then helped you back to the bed.

“Better?” Nat asked, you nodded slightly more aware. “Good. Because the only reasons you are to leave this bed until we say so are to go to the bathroom and to have a bath.

“Bath?” You asked. Still feeling kind of gross from the mission. Wanda had used her magic to change your clothes but that did nothing for the feeling on your sensitive skin.

“Yes Detka, natty and I are happy to help you bathe. Don’t worry we wont judge and i can use my magic to help you feel comfortable.”

“Ok” you said eyes drooping “can i have a bath after a nap.” You said quietly.

“Sure thing baby girl.” Wanda said planting a kiss on the top of your head.

After a short nap in Wanda’s arms after she had finished eating nat went to run a warm bath. She put in plenty of bubble bath liquid she found hidden in a cupboard in the bathroom. She smiled at the avengers themed bubble bath stuff thinking it was cute. She poured a generous amount in. She knew how to help you feel comfy. The bubbles hid naked skin and she knew this from all the times she herself had needed assistance after missions gone wrong. Heck she had even given wanda the same treatment a few months ago. Wanda and nat had a special relationship. Wanda looked up to nat and nat wanted nothing more than to care for wanda the same as she cared for you.

A moment later wanda walked in with you in her arms. You were still half asleep and nat thought you looked adorable snuggled in her arms. With Wanda’s magic your clothes were replaced with a fluffy red towel and you sighed slightly.

“Baby time to wake up sweets.” Wanda said brushing the hair from your eyes as she situated you in the lukewarm water. The towel was placed by the bath for later as the two women washed your hair. Wanda used a cup to pour the water over your head and used her hand to shield it from your face.

You still looked awfully tired but told them it was ok if they saw you naked. Nat laughed and wanda flushed slightly.

“I trust you and i cant really do much myself.” You said and nat and wanda looked at each other then at you.

“Are you sure?” Nat asked and you nodded with your eyes closed.

“Ok then.” Wanda said. After drying you off and dressing you in fresh pjs, wanda used her magic to change the sheets to something more fresh and the three of you snuggled up again.

You were just about to fall asleep again and wanda was dozing lightly when you felt the nausea return. You pushed it away mentally and fell asleep. In hindsight that was a bad idea. A very bad idea. For no more than ten minutes later did nat look up from her book to see you start gagging still lying down. Nat was quick and precise with her movements. She helped you into an upright position and nudged wanda awake before going to grab you another sick bag. Wanda sat up quickly and began to reassure you as nat wasn’t quick enough with the sick bag. You heaved and half ended up on the sheets and half in the sick-bag as wanda rubbed your back. Tears of shame and embarrassment formed in your eyes as you became more aware. Choking back sobs you apologised between heaves.

“Shh baby no. Its not your fault. Focus on getting it all out. You can do it. We’re here and we love you so much.” The tears began to stop as after another round of gagging and a small amount of bile coming up you finally drew a deep breath and stopped. Repeating the same process form earlier. Nat got rid of the sick bag and you were cleaned up along with the sheets. Wanda had used her magic to clean the sheets making sure you knew it wasn’t a big deal. She told you she would rather you throw up on the bed than hold it back and make yourself worse. She could clean sheets but she couldn’t fix your health if you started to make things worse.

When nat retuned she took up her place on the bed again eying the spot where you had thrown up and wanda explained her magic fixed it.

Settling back into a deep sleep wanda and nat conversed in hushed voiced.

“You know if she keeps throwing up we might have to take her to Bruce.”

“Bruce said it was normal though didn’t he?” Wanda replied

“Yes but …” nat ran a hand through her hair “I’m worried about her. Sure she seems more awake than before but i don’t like seeing her this sick.” Wanda reached over an placed a warm hand on Nat’s arm.

“She’ll be ok natty she’s tough and in a couple days to a couple weeks she’ll be good again.” Wanda reassured and nat smiled softly but still concerned. She had seen her fair share of concussions but yours was particularly bad and despite her training she was worried. As the week wore on you got better and better with their help. You only threw up a few more times, each time worrying the girls more until you finally stopped. Your headache died down and slowly they let you do more and more. Their initial worry about your lack of talking was dismissed by a simple conversation where you explained that when things were too much you reacted in two ways usually. The first you went semi non verbal. Not in the sense you couldn’t speak at all but more that words were too hard and despite being able to say somethings you preferred to speak less or not at all in order to let your brain reboot. It was during these times you explained that sign language was useful and nat was happy because clint had taught her and wanda due to him being deaf. The second was your sketchbook. Drawing helped organise the thoughts in your mind. The mindless activity simulating enough fir you to engage with but not too much to overload your ability to recover. Nat had been sure ever since to make sure your sketchbook was within reach of the bed at all times. Even going as far as to bring some of your art supplies over and put them in the drawers within reach.

So here you were sitting and drawing. The girls knew aside from helping you think you liked to draw for fun as well. It was a hobby and a safe practise you had kept for many years.

Wanda returned to the room to find you drawing while nat snuck glances at the paper. Wanda sat beside you and frowned slightly as you angled the book away from her. There was a simple explanation. Since you met her you had made it your mission to capture her in your art. And despite wanting her approval on the drawings the fear of her hating it or seeing it as creepy was too much. Wanda pouted.

“Will i ever get to see your drawings like nat does?” She asked slightly hurt.

“One day. But not until we become … more …” you trailed off and wanda read your mind as your thoughts were loud not just from overthinking but from the concussion.

“Offical?” She supplied and you groaned.

“Don’t do that.” You whined and wanda smiled apologetically.

“Sorry baby girl cant help it sometimes.” She pressed a kiss to your cheeks which went rosy in the wake of her lips. “If you ask nicely I’m sure i can find a name for what we have.” She said coyly. Nat pretended to be involved in her book but she was watching the budding romance out the corner of her eye.

“W-wands.” You stuttered picking at the hem of your shirt.

“Yes baby girl?” She asked feigning her obviousness to your impending question. You mumbled something she pretended not to hear.

“Speak up baby i cant hear you.” She said in your ear.

“Will you be my girlfriend.” You all but yelled out of frustration. Immedialty you went bright red and buried your face in your hands.

“Aww bubs I’m sorry. Of course i will. Im sorry if i teased you too much.” She said pulling you into her chest as you felt small tears of embarrassment fall down your cheeks. Wanda felt you shaking as you sobbed and she pulled away to hold you at arms length. Carefully she pried your fingers from your face and looked sad at what she sound underneath.

“Love I’m sorry. I know it was too much. But I’m happy my girlfriend is so cute. Even when she cries.” Wanda said kissing your cheek as you hiccuped. “Come here baby.” She said patting your lap as your crawled into her arms. She rocked you slightly as a form of stimming to help you process things. After your soft cries ha stopped she kissed your forehead and pulled you both under the covers. She held you close as you dozed off in her arms.

“Be careful with her wands. She loves you very much but she is still much more fragile than stark.” Nat said with no malice.

“I know. I know and I’m going to do my best to give her everything she could ever want or need.” Wanda said looking at you lovingly.

MASTERLIST

[idkman-ijustwannamakeatournament]

Round 2: Match 16

"Two Sides of the Same Coin"- Two things that are regarded as part of the same thing. Even if they're very different, they have at least one common thread that helps them fit into this trope.

Propaganda (under the cut):

Vash and Nai/Knives:

"First of all, they’re twins so you already know they’ve got emotional baggage. They are near perfect reflections of each other. Vash loves humanity and puts them before himself no matter what, while Nai hates humanity and seeks to destroy them in favor of his fellow plants"

Light Yagami and L:

They are both so twisted and anyone that disagrees that L isn't as twisted as Light can fight me. (not really lol) But seriously, they are such foils. They are both extremes. Both are... interesting to say the least when it comes to their morals.

L was willing to have that one guy, Lind L. Taylor, to die in his place. Yes, he had a death sentence and was set to die that day. But was it right to have him die before that just to test Kira's abilities? And when he imprisoned Misa and Light... even though he was absolutely certain that they were involved and even though he was correct, is that morally ok? We already know that Light is fucked up.

They are both so incredibly intelligent, they both hate to lose- hell, before they even met, L admitted that he knew that Kira was childish and hates to lose because he is also childish and hates to lose. They both have their own definitions of justice, and it's interesting to me how they both pursue their ideas of justice. Also, I know I didn't really talk about Light, but that's just because I feel like needed to explain L more than Light. I *feel* like a lot of people think that L is morally correct, and that's just weird to me.

Also, this clip:

[asp1diske-art]

Your technical skill with lineart and shading is amazing in itself, but it's your ability to convey emotion and atmosphere in your work that is trademark to me :) its incredible how you can show through gesture and body language just what these masked, expressionless characters are feeling, and how the environment itself conveys that. Your lurien comics, especially the one that ends in something along the lines of "I return to the kingdom you abandoned" are I think the spark that made Lurien go from Some Guy to Deeply Interesting for me, and your use of color pop and shaky line contributed so much to the feeling in those comics. You are one of the artists whose skill at evoking emotions I aspire to <3

Oh wow, I've been reading and re-reading this for the last 20 minutes this is amazing.

So, emotions!

If there is one thing I'm proud to have accomplished during my time in Hollow Knight, it's the skill of expressing tone. Because here's the thing, facial expressions are just one of the many components of tone. (I even wrote about this in another ask some time ago.) Colors, gestures, camera angle, lighting, paneling, lines and narration - all of these come together to convey the mood of the scene.

Check out these wips from the Watcher and the Watched comic, for example.

You can see that color played a huge role in setting the atmosphere in the comic. It shows that this comic is taking place in the Watcher's Spire, but it also gives a dark, subdued feeling that wouldn't come from idk, a yellow background. The backlight emphasizes the ominous tone of the last page. As does Lurien's pose - coupled with the butler looking up and Lurien looking down, it makes it look like Lurien is looming over his butler (and the reader). All this builds up to deliver Lurien's lines with maximum impact.

So yeah, a lot goes into conveying tone in comics, and I'm very happy to hear that it was recieved well!!

The Lurien, Dreamer comic. It's almost 2 years old now but it's still one of the favorite comics I drew about him. Together with the City of Tears comic, it's the epitome of my interpretation of Lurien. My characterization of Lurien's relationship with the Pale King was quite different from the usual fanon at the time (I don't know how it is now, I haven't gone into the tags in years haha) and I wasn't really sure how people would take it. So I'm glad to hear that it got you interested in Lurien!

It's the one that took the longest too lol. Usually I draw comics in a single setting, but that one took 3 days. Besides Two Ghosts (which was an 18 chapter+@ comic that was over 50p and took about 2 months), no other comic has broken this record. I put in a lot of care into it, and it still holds a special place in my heart.

Honestly half the reason I use messy, sketchy lines is that I suck at drawing clean lines lmao. But I like to think that I've made the best of it and utilized it as an art style. In that comic especially, because the whole thing takes place in the dream realm and I wanted to give a rough, unreal feel to it.

I'd show breakdowns of this one too but the file is so big it keeps crashing lol. (Pro tip - draw your comic pages in separate files. Don't be like me and draw 300dpi 10p comics with 30 layers in each page in a single canvas. It will crash and you will be sad.) But drawing the White Palace was a interesting challenge because I usually draw in highly saturated colors whereas the Palace is, well, white. So I had to work out a way to color this without making everything looking grey, while also making it recognizable as the palace. iirc I used a lot of overlay & burn & dodge layers along with a few difference & subtract layers to give the white a slight yellow tint to stand out from the dark blue. (I'm pretty sure they're the culprits crashing the file.)

Sorry this got long, I really took this as an invitation to ramble about my art hkfsldjkflj

Thank you for all the compliments! It's an honor to hear that my art could be someone's aspiration, and I'm very happy that all my Lurien art got someone else into Lurien. I hope you have a nice day :D

[into-the-fraymotif]

Fraymotif Introductory Megapost

Wow, cool, an intro post. 

This is a Homestuck blog, with a lot of spoilers. A LOT.

This is your warning.

So what’s this all about?

Fraymotifs are powerful battle techniques used by Sburb's Heroes. They are basically super god-like combo attacks between multiple Heroes of differing aspects. In canon, they are shown to be 2 to 3 player combos, but it is theorized that they can include up to 12 players.

Interactions between Classpects

The way I look at Fraymotifs is as a synergy between synergies. A Hero’s Class is how they interact with their own Aspect, while a Fraymotif is how two or more Heroes interact with each other’s Classpects (Jade, a Witch of Space, changing the space in which Dave’s, a Knight of Time, protection through time is used into a single concentrated bubble; slowing time within a bubble around Bec Noir via Adagio Redshift).

My Goal with this very ambitious blog

There are 144 unique Mythological Roles (Classpects) within Sburb, and a Fraymotif involves 2+ of them. Let’s do the math for a second. The equation to figure out the number of combinations there are between r elements of a set of n items, ignoring differing permutations, is: C(n,r)=n!/(r!(n−r)!). So, 144 choose 2 comes out to be 10,296. That's actually 10 thousand different Fraymotifs for just combos of two Heroes. It shoots up to 400k+ once you include combinations of 3. There’s probably a lot less when you disclude combos between Heroes of the same Aspect, but its still an astronomical number. On top of that, there are at LEAST 36 single-Aspect Fraymotifs, meant to be used by a single Hero, and I do not wish to cover those, simply as a personal preference for what I find interesting. Sorry, I’ve got enough on my plate with the 10k+ I already intend to do, and those are at least wacky goofy combos.

I wish to at least cover what I think ALL 2-Player Fraymotifs there can be, in this blog. That is over ten thousand, so I will be covering many at a time within a post. There also may be more than one possible Fraymotif per Aspect-Combo, but for the sake of brevity (the irony is not lost on me) I will limit it such that each Pair of Classpects only get 1 Fraymotif assigned to them. That narrows it down to a measly 9504, and I do not feel sorry for making each of them special.

I don’t know if I will have the brainpower to cover 3+ Player Fraymotifs as thoroughly, so I will only cover them upon request! So please ask if you really wish for my take! I will be glad to nerd out some more. Hell, you can ask pretty much anything you want about my efforts, that's what the askbox is for (^-^)b

The Fraymotif design process

This will develop the longer I run this blog, but as it stands now, I start by analyzing the Classpects of each Hero involved and take note of their abilities in their own right. Witch of Space naturally has control over the properties of physical Space so their abilities could localize and/or expand the area of effect of other physical powers, stuff like that. Of course, this requires a comprehensive understanding of Classpecting first. Classpecting as a magic system is defined in-world by flawed/biased narrators, so most of it is left up to interpretation. As a Mage of Heart myself, I am very Classpecting-pilled, and I feel as though I grasp the concept very naturally. For areas in which my understanding is a bit thin, I do like to reference Ouroborista’s take on the system, and I am especially fond of the Class symmetry proposed therein, albeit a bit contested throughout the community. But hey, most of it is up to interpretation anyway, so if you disagree, please let me know in the asks, I would love to hear your opinions! Classpecting is all symbology lol.

Next I look at how the abilities of the Heroes interact with each other, obviously. A Witch of Space localizes the time powers of a Knight of Time, and constructively interferes with the powers’ purpose of protecting, keeping the Target trapped in a bubble separated from the outside world (Adagio Redshift). A Seer of Mind may use the Knight of Time’s protection as a guide to see through the various alternate outcomes to find a version of events where things went a little better, and the Knight would then lock-on to that timeline to bring their partner to refuge, perhaps re-doing a section they struggled on before (Assylum Dal Segno). It is mostly a case-by-case basis, but a HUGE part of Fraymotifs are the Motifs themselves, that is to say, a theme or recurring element. The motive behind a power or ability. A Knight of Time would have access to Time shenanigans (That’s the theme of their powers), but the leading motive behind them will be for Protection, even though they are a solid combatant by themselves.

Edit: I forgot to mention that while non-godtiers are able to use Fraymotifs (See: Dave and Terezi with Assylum Dal Segno in [S] Collide), I will be designing these under the assumption that all participants are godtier. Some Fraymotifs will be simple, despite everyone's access to their full godtier kit, but seriously there's 9.5k of them they can't all be perfect.

There are obviously a few Fraymotifs that are defined in canon. But I mean. Come on. Canon is a tangible thing that can be messed with in Homestuck, and mess with it I shall. There are 11 2-Player Fraymotifs that we see in HS, and when you treat June and Rose’s and Dave and Terezi’s duplicates as a single Fraymotif each (as I will because they are consistent in how they utilize the abilities despite a different graphic (well, except for Rose and Roxy but that’s a whole different beast I will address in the next section)), that lowers it down to 7-technically-8 Fraymotifs that have been shown, and only 4 of those are named. I will try to keep-in-line with the Fraymotifs we actually do see, and interpret them in a way that matches the tone with the rest of the ones I design, because its 7-technically-8 out of 9.5 thousand, and I don’t see you out here doing this.

Following that is the fun part -- the name. Fraymotifs are music-themed, and thus have music-themed name schemes. Ivories in the Fire (Heir of Breath + Knight of Time), Mixolydian Maelstrom (Heir of Breath + Seer of Light), Fantasia's Inhale (Heir of Breath + Witch of Space), and Adagio Redshift (Witch of Space + Knight of Time), to name a few (that’s actually all of the named ones in-world). So keeping with that theme, I will come up with equally badass and/or ethereal names for the other 9.5k. Such as: Assylum Dal Segno (Knight of Time + Seer of Mind), Sostenuto Spotlight (Knight of Light + Mage of Heart), Flash Sforzando (Page of Light + Mage of Heart), etc.

Preemptively addressing my personal biases

Hussie outright stated that before the events of [S] Collide, Fraymotifs were a piece of throwaway worldbuilding, and are referenced as a hard magic system, despite the fact that it is anything but. This frustrates me to my core, like, fricking, for example: Both of June and Rose’s Fraymotifs shown in [S] Collide can be interpreted as the aforementioned Mixolydian Maelstrom, which is just varying forms of attacking with wind and lasers. And Dave and Terezi’s (Assylum Dal Segno) can both be interpreted as allowing a Target refuge in another, better timeline, because they both either bring Dirk back or send themselves to another timeline and both are actually part of the same series of events. So that’s all fine. But. The Lalondes. Rose and Roxy have two separate Fraymotifs together, one where Roxy does a Voidey thing and removes the nonexistence of a bunch of perfectly generic objects in a laser-cube made by Rose, and another where they just do a bunch of Aspect-related attacks.

In fact, a lot of Rose’s powers seem to just be “lighty magic attack:” when that is far from her role as a Seer, and goes against that whole “leading motive” theme I brought up earlier. It seems that she was just around to do laser stuff. Which is cool! In a fast-paced epic fight sequence! I liked it! But I want to get a bit more creative with these, moving past the “they hit them a lot with their Aspect” for those Classpects where they can do so much more than that. I said that canon was something to be messed with, and I’m going to tweak things as I see necessary because there are 7-technically-8 that are shown out of the 9.5 thousand I’m going to do so who cares.

Another thing I want to bring up goes more into the Classpecting side of Fraymotif design. In the 12 Aspects, they are aligned along the Time-Space axis, but something that I rarely see focused on is the Breath-Blood axis. Time and Space rule the physical world, but Breath and Blood rule the nonphysical world in a way I find really cool and interesting. I see Breath and Blood operating not only under their commonly understood Freedom/Bonds mechanics, but also messing around with causality. I think that Blood is very fate/destiny-coded and that Breath is very unrestricted from such matters. Karkat and Kankri both had a personal arc based around the fate/destiny of their people, and feeling responsible for it when all that got messed up, while Tavros and Rufioh both had a personal arc about becoming detached from who they were “supposed to be”, June especially becoming fully detached from deterministic causality with her retcon powers being able to mess with past events without dooming the timeline (and her being removed from who she was due to that broblorone making her transfem). You may be thinking “Oh, but Doom is for outcomes and fate” but really only with destruction and bad endings. Hope and Rage deal with positive/negative emotion but Heart does ALL emotion indiscriminately. When chopping up the whole universe into just 12 pieces (13 if you count Piss. (I do not count Piss.)), there’s going to be some overlap on account of there being more than 12 Things in the universe. Them’s the breaks.

Last thing here is the names. A lot of people, and I mean a LOT of people, look at Hero-specific names as being taken from a pool of words that have to deal with their Aspect. Like, a lot of people will interpret the name Ivories in the Fire (Heir of Breath + Knight of Time) as having the components "Ivories" + "in the Fire", where "Ivories" is a "Breathy word" and "in the Fire" is a "Timey word" and will just toss them around until there are like 50 "X in the Fire" Fraymotifs. I'm not a huge fan of that. Another way this is seen is in Land names, where people will read "Land of Maps and Treasure" and will automatically throw in "Maps" into a big grab-bag of Light words and "Treasure" into a separate bag of Thief words, as if this was a cheap flash name generator instead of a deeply specific thematic choice. Perhaps I'm being melodramatic (very real chance there), but I think that each name should be about what the Fraymotif does more than what it's made of. "Redshift" isnt specifically a Space word or a Time word, it's a phenomenon that is deeply tied to both Space and Time, and Adagio is a reference to the time-slowing effect of the Fraymotif. Obviously, with 9.5 thousand to come up with, there will be a lot of names that are similar, but they'll be on a case-by-case basis.

How in the world will I go about posting all of this?

There’s over ten thousand of these damn things, so I will come up with a whole bunch in one go, and make that one post, tagged appropriately ofc. These posts will be queued, so there will be at most 1 per day, and any asks will be answered as soon as I get them, skipping the queue (unless your request is in the queue, then you gotta wait :p).

There will be many Fraymotifs per post on some posts, like 15+ 12 max, so there will be at least 1.7-ish 2 years before this blog is full-up on Fraymotifs. Wack.

Edit: fixed the stats

Alright, thanks for reading, again please ask anything in the askbox, and I hope you enjoy my handiwork B)

[box-dwelling]

OK so as someone who just genuinely loved Dual destinies and is keeping my theis length DD apologia in the drafts at least for now. I genuinely want to know why people don't like it.

I have seen this take from so many AA fans who I completely agree about everything else with. I need to understand why it sounds like we played completely different games.

I will put some I've seen but feel differently about under the cut

Critisms I find unfair:

-it doesn't tie up the loose ends AA4 left hanging. We don't hold any of the other games up to this standard because they all properly finish up the characters arcs. Aa5 cannot be blamed for the problems we want to overlook in AA4. I do also love AA4 but it does leave a lot of dangling plot threads that the others don't and that would be a fucking nightmare to tie up *staring directly at sibling reveal*

- Clay comes out if no where. He's very well established through the game. He just isn't mentioned in AA4 just like Fran isn't mentioned in AA1 and Dahlia isn't mentioned before AA3.

Critism I acknowledge is a reasonable opinion people can have but strongly disagree with

-Spilting the game between the protagonists stops them having proper arcs. Athena is our weird girl for this game. She is our maya. We get to play as her for 1.5 cases. For the majority of the game she's taking up the weird girl screen time and she's honestly still doing that in the ones you play as her. She's just a weird girl who happens to be a lawyer. In the main game Apollo and Phoenix have a roughly equal amount of screen time by chapter. They cut the bloated filler not the arcs (yes I will argue that 5-2 is needed for Apollos arc. Its there to set up his relationship with Athena that us a catalyst later on)

-Phoenix and Apollo are OOC. No. Phoenix is still a cryptic little bitch when you don't play as him and in AA4 he was so very clearly missing being a lawyer. It makes sense. Apollo very clearly in the last case of AA4 regains a lot of his respect for Phoenix. No, he doesn't do this on screen but again that is AA4s fault not dual destinies. That's how he acts the last time we see him so that's how he's acting now.

-The Phantom comes out of nowhere. Plot wise, maybe. But so do a lot of AA villians. Thematically, he's the perfect fit. DD is a game about trust. Very, very explicitly. A spy is someone who can't trust anyone. The phantom is a man who's shut himself off so much from emotions that he no longer recognises why trust is needed. And also has an ability that directly preys on people by making them think hes a trustworthy figure. He's not an incredible villian but he is thematically cohesive.

-almost a part 2 to the last point. The Fulbright reveal comes out of nowhere. First of all 5-2 has some very very choice sprite framing lol. But beyond that it also is a thematically smart choice. We as players are conditioned in AA games to trust the recurring detective. The villain should be someone that we trust. The guy was likeable but also fundamentally always kinda hollow and did in fact pull a shit ton of strings in 5-4 that we all ignored because we trusted him. The clues are there. You're just not ment to pick up on them because of the formula of these games.

-Edgeworth doesn't need to be there. Again game with a theme of trust. He doesn't necessarily need to be there but his dynamic with Phoenix does. They spent 3 fucking games setting up how important it is that those two trust each other and in a game about trust his absence would be felt.

-I don't see this a lot but I did see it a few times. Blackquill is a bad prosecutor. Honestly this is a taste thing and I love him. He is my little bastard man. Also thematically he embodies the two people you aren't supposed to trust in these games, a convict and a prosecutor but is actually a cool guy.

-I've never seen this but I can guess it's happened. Pearl comes out of nowhere. Again theme of trust. Phoenix has just lost the two people he's been relying on to trust the most and needed to be reminded that there were other people he loved and trusted so letter from Maya and visit from Pearl.

-mood matrix. I like the mini game I think it's fun. My brain likes to sit and logically think about what emotions it would make sense for someone to feel in situations.

Criticism I agree with but really don't bother me

-Trucy is side lined. Yeah. I love her to pieces and will never complain about getting more of her but it doesn't make sense for her to not be there plot wise and they clearly just didn't have room for her. I am happy with my Trucy scraps. I would visit her and present every piece of evidence to her to get as much dialogue as I could.

-Klavier is sidelined. Also yeah. But he did genuinely need to be there for 5-3 thematically for that case. (It is literally a showdown between his school of thought and the one he thought phoenix had) but they couldn't make him procecutor because he'd be too much on their side. It had to be someone who at that point seems at least a little morally dubious. I wish there was more but I will also happily take my Klavier scraps.

-the anime cutscenes. I don't love them but I do have a little switch in my brain marked "watching anime" that I can flip and enjoy them for what they are.

-the switch of the voiced sound effects. Yes they are worse but like, I can live with it.

Stuff I don't like and won't defend

-turnabout reclaimed racism and fatphobia (also blatant animal welfare ignorance). I'm not defending it or overlooking it but it's not the only game in this franchise to be problematic.