#I mean at the same time it would probably be better story wise if they didn't but 😭😭 still

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

A A A A H H H H H H H!! YESSSS CECIL, DEFEND YOUR HUSBAND!!!! WE LOVE TO SEE IT <333

So anyway I caught up on the most recent two episodes of wtnv and listen he may have missed but he tried your honor <33 that's what's important

The entire episode was adorable :) and also blood boiling at points xD, but I'm mostly stuck on that part XD.

Also ALL HAIL. 😭😭💔❤️

[infamous-if]

There's been some discussion recently about MC that caught my attention because I agree. MC feels like a loser when you think about all of the other characters. When I play an MC who did nothing wrong to Seven it just feels like Seven is angry for no reason. Seven is allowed to act like a child while MC has to take it? Doesn't seem fair.

Everyone has something going for them and what about MC? No one likes them and everyone hates their guts. Aren't they supposed to be the main character? Why does everyone hate them? Why aren't they considered more talented? It just feels like MC is a doormat while Seven and the other ROs are these talented superstars.

I don't want this to come off any way but I feel like the story would be stronger if you made MC a bit meaner or at least made people acknowledge MC as a better singer.

I don't want to sound rude but I'm very much exhausted by this topic. I've probably explained this 5+ times but I'll try to break it down one last time just so people can understand what I'm trying to do.

First, to get it out of the way, we are only on Chapter 2. I just want to reiterate that. The story just started.

It just feels like MC is a doormat while Seven and the other ROs are these talented superstars.

Secondly, MC is a character I try to give as much customization to, both personality and appearance wise. There's a variety of ways you can approach everything, or I at least try to in a way that doesn't sacrifice what I want to write for the plot, but I think people are under the impression MC is 100% a blank slate character when it's not true.

MC is still dependent on the plot and I always strived for MC to have their own narrative arc. The same way the ROs have their own character arcs, MC will have their own, because they are a character in their own right and going through some that fundamentally changes their life. That means the MC from Chapter 1 will not be the MC at Chapter 20. They will be different. That's what a character arc is. Character development is expected. How can you expect a slew of ROs to grow and change and MC remaining stagnant? Doesn't make sense narratively and it seems unfair to MC.

The MC is not a completely blank slate, and that's where people are getting it confused. In the beginning, MC is going through such a change with BOTB, without their family, and on the heels of a band breakup that's still impacting them today. MC is a little down, maybe even depressed if that's how you read it, and they're getting pushed to be leader by their manager. They are not really okay right now. They have to be professional and put on a brave face for the sake of their band, who, if you paid attention to what Rowan said in Chapter 2, are all depending on this. This is what they worked for since high school. MC is not going to flip a damn table on Day 1 just because you want them to. MC can fight, if you choose, against UWB. That's not supposed to be a smart choice, but emotions get the best of all of us.

They are only just navigating a worldwide globally famous show with a cheating allegation hanging over their heads, and a manager who wants them to be leader when, up until now, they haven't been. They've just been friends making music and miraculously having a fanbase. Now they're really in it. They have been thrust head first into the industry in a way that is so big that MC has to go from singer playing with their friends to a leader of a band who may just become globally famous in a few months if they play their cards right.

A lot of their actions are influenced by the fact that their band almost broke up and it's a thing that hangs over their head. Their past influences them. That's...how people work.

Now, if we're at Chapter 20 and MC is still acting like a scared bunny who doesn't know what they're doing, then be my guest. Scream in my inbox, I'd understand. That would be terrible writing, but we're not. The tour just started.

I play an MC who did nothing wrong to Seven it just feels like Seven is angry for no reason. Seven is allowed to act like a child while MC has to take it? Doesn't seem fair.

MC doesn't have to take it lol. I've always given an option to be rude to Seven/try to put them in their place.

People think I favor Seven when that's not true. (Seven isn't even my favorite RO)(That title goes to August lol). Seven acts the way they act because they are not in a healthy headspace. Their actions are not meant to be understood, because they are not entirely justified. Seven has a lot of growing up to do, but I have never sat here and advertised Seven's emotions as correct. Everyone knows Seven is childish, everyone knows Seven is handling everything terribly. People in the story have mentioned it. Their abandonment issues GREATLY influence their characterization and actions. MC has abandonment issues as well, of course, but MC is not as emotionally unstable as Seven. That's canon. It is what it is. Seven has a whole subplot about it.

As do other ROs. The only difference is that they're not so open about their struggles. Seven just doesn't care. Their emotions guide them. They can't control it. That's who they are. I have also said that many times.

I don't know why you think Seven can get away with everything when 1) it's only been 2 chapters and 2) no one knows how anyone feels about Sev because it's in MC's POV. Seven goes through their own trial by fire. As every RO does......thats a narrative arc.

Seven was always going to be a plot point, whether they were an RO or not. They were always going to be MC's former best friend.

Everyone has something going for them and what about MC? No one likes them and everyone hates their guts. Aren't they supposed to be the main character? Why does everyone hate them? Why aren't they considered more talented? It just feels like MC is a doormat while Seven and the other ROs are these talented superstars.

This one bothers me the most, mostly because I don't know where this came from. "No one likes them" Jenna and The Jewels does. Slow Crawl does. Their fans do. We haven't even properly met the other bands. Of course there will be bands who don't like MC: they're competitors. They're not friends. They don't know MC, why would they be biased towards them? Because they're the main character? They don't care about that?? It's how fiction works.

Maya is following the band around because of how much she admires MC.

Orion quit his job because MC's singing inspired him that much.

G listened to MC and saw something in them. Literally calls them the 'Chosen One'

Fans of the old band preferred MC over Seven. They liked the songs where MC sang solo. MC was better for their future over Seven. Hence why it was Seven getting demoted, not MC. I've said this. It's in the story.

I don't see how being the lead singer of a band on a global show at 26 makes anyone an actual loser but I digress.

Literally in Part 2 MC is acknowledged so maybe it'd be better if we waited? Say a good few chapters...?

If you wanted a story where MC is Queen level famous right out the gate and the #1 draft pick for BOTB and has no problems and better than everyone, then I'd advise you to look elsewhere. I don't like that. I like giving MC obstacles because conflict creates story. I like MC having to fight for their spot. It's more realistic, and this has never been a story of fame. It's been a story of their journey to fame.

That's their narrative arc. They grow into it.

You are allowed to hate/dislike Seven. I encourage it. I have given MC the option to hate Seven, because I'm aware that what Seven is doing is unfair. I am not punishing you for hating Seven. And this goes for all the ROs. It does not bother me if you dislike my characters. It means I haven't made them squeaky clean and have made them realistic enough to have people both dislike and like them, much like real life. I get it.

I've always advertised Infamous as a messy, angsty and dramatic story. I've used the term 'melodrama' for it often. I've always said the ROs--especially Seven--are flawed. Some more than others. I've said, verbatim, they are not wholly good people. I don't know why people act so shocked when they act some type of way. Like...I've always stayed true to what the story is. Half the dynamics aren't healthy right now...but that's the 'growing up part' of the story we haven't even gotten to yet?

If that doesn't interest you, then that's perfectly okay! If you don't like the narrative arc I have planned for MC, that's fine too! It just becomes a bit disheartening when people ignore the narrative.

I will try harder to write in a way that specifies my intentions. I always believe that if more than a handful of readers have the same complaint, then it's on the writer to fix it.

I hope my tone didn't come off rude, I'm just really really tired of this. I've had to deal with this since even before the demo dropped :) but your critiques are valid and everyone is always free to express themselves however they want. <3

[satirn]

if Jimmy and Timmy get married, how would the wedding go? Who proposes to the other? how does the proposal go?

this is the best ask ever i forgot how much i love schmaltz <3<3. heres some quick doodles as a bonus <3

as for the wedding and events proceeding, i think its go well! they deserve a little break from the stuff in their life, as a treat /q. Unless something like the syndicate crashes their party (i.. dont think theyd be that evil to do that tbh, i havent really dabbled w them story wise but idk, its a wedding im sure they'd be civil for once..) or some interuniversal threat pops up that needs their immediate action (something like garnet's wedding from su). which tbh would probably inhance the expirence for timmy, hes a straight menace and thinks stuff like that is awesome </3. but anyways

in general relationship stuff timmy may be the more forward one but i think jimmy would be the one to establish the milestones, plus that hes more traditional in my characterization of him. that being said, timmy would totally unintentionally propose or joke about marrying him and jimmy would 100% take him up on that with no hesitation.

now onto wedding stuff bc damn do i have a soft spot for this kinda stuff <3<3

the flowers i chose are forget-me-nots and pink / peachy orange aster flowers with a touch of roses in those same colors as well. i implore you to look up the flower meanings i had fun w em <3

I chose the color peach/a coral (is that what that color is ??) for the wedding because its a combo of timmy's pink and jimmy's redish orange (vermillion ?). i just think combining their colors when it comes to ships is just so so CUTE <3<3<3. this is also why that jimmytimmy painting i did a while back has primarily those colors <3. it didn't fit the theme but timmy wanted them so he gets a green, hot magenta pink, and purple flowers for his suit so his only family that loves him can be there.

this is uhh kinda angst implied but it wouldn't be something i made without a bit of angst <3. timmy's biological family would not be there, his mother would probably call once she heard that he got married but timmy decided to abandon that life and those people for good, and for the better tbh. the rest of the nicktoons unite crew would be there + maybe their plus one ig, but dib instead of zim, or maybe them both (zim wants to look normal so attends these events where its expected u show up yk, and dib follows bc clearly. hehe). cindy would probably arrive and agree to being a bridesmaid to show she isnt homophobic but would probably cry and/or drink in a corner the whole time </3, losing both of her boyfriend prospects at once /j

when they toss the bouquet danny is the one who catches it.. he looks over to manny and they share a flustered look while everyone else cheers <3

this is how id imagine it to go at least, there might be more sketches of this in the future i just gotta clean em up first </3. aaah this post is so long </3. told u i loved this kinda stuff SHHSHUSH !! <3<3<3

[tayloralisonswift]

perhaps my hottest take of all time is that while the himym finale sucked, it did not make sense for barney and robin to be together forever and i like how it ended for barney, even if he did recede to his creepy old ways for a while first. the following is probably gonna be an essay, sorry.

so first of all, the main reason why barney and robin couldn’t be together for the rest of their lives wasn’t even why they ended things (though i suppose you could say in a way barney wanted to settle down somewhere and robin wanted to keep traveling, which is symbolic.) it’s because of children. robin categorically does not want kids, something which is impressed upon us a million times, and it would be out of character for her to randomly want to put aside her career to be a mother. barney, meanwhile, longs for the family he never had. he wants to be a father, ever since his not-a-father’s-day karaoke session, just like he wants his father to be a father to him. at one point when he borrows his brother’s baby, he and ted both agree that they have to wait for the real thing. character-wise, it wouldn’t surprise me if barney wanted to bury this in order to be with robin, but it would feel like an unfinished plot thread. barney was always meant to be a dad. thus, they were ultimately incompatible.

however! that doesn’t mean their marriage was wrong or bad or out of character. when they tell their friends, they stress it was not a failure, just a short marriage, which reminds me of jack gilbert’s poem about divorce which says “everyone forgets that icarus also flew.” i don’t think their relationship was a waste. the love was there! it wasn’t enough and it didn’t change anything but it was there.

so why do i hate the finale then? ted and robin. putting aside their differences and the contradictions there, ted is loyal. ted often sucks a lot, but he is loyal to his friends, and barney is his friend. you cannot tell me that ted would get together with his bro’s ex wife. it’s a literal bro code violation, which we know barney really cares about. it would, essentially, rip their friendship apart. especially because the marriage ended on “the love was there” terms - barney will probably always love robin.

then there’s robin’s characterization post-divorce, where she is regretting ever marrying barney and suggesting that she chose the wrong guy, which is shitty of her. mostly she is whiny about ted finally being happy when there have been so many instances where she could’ve been with ted again and chose not to be. this robin is pathetic. at the very least she’s an awful friend. (like it’s not lily’s fault you miss your ex.)

and tracey deserves better than for robin to usurp her story! tracey’s story matters, it’s the reason we started watching, she is The Mother! another hot take but i can see pros and cons to her dying, mostly cons (because hello, we’ve been waiting all this time and you just kill her off??) but i do think it makes sense narratively that ted would sit down his kids on his own and tell them about their late mother. plus that scene where he runs to her door to have a few extra days with her is probably the most excruciating moment on television. (sorry as if it’s my fault.) but i do agree with the general consensus that killing her off in service of ted and robin was shitty.

in my dream finale, barney and robin are together for longer, maybe five years or so. barney goes back to dating and has his child, including the sweet moment where he says that speech he never thought he’d say. robin travels the world. she comes back to new york and she and barney reconcile enough that the gang gets back together and it’s sort of awkward but they commit to it anyway. tracey does die and ted only loves her until his dying breath, or she doesn’t and they grow old on the front porch together. marshall and lily’s story stays the same except robin is a better friend.

wow i’m so glad i decided to spend my morning writing something no one will read! but if you were reading 1. ily 2. don’t kill me for my hot takes <3

[factual-fantasy]

28 asks! Thanks ya'll!! :}} 🕸️

Thanks to you anon I finally found a way to make the Mega evolution work! Which inspired me to make this post!

And an Enchantment Seed to induce mega evolution.. that's genius!!

AW. I hadn't realized that each mega has a stone unique to their species! That adds an extra layer of difficulty 😔

Ah? :0 My name is not Jana..

Also I'm going through a reaaaly hard season in my life rn 🫠🫠I'm hoping with all my heart that its over soon.. thank you for asking! <:D

@candyglumboy

Sorry, I don't take drawing requests! <:D

That'd genius XDD Now to find the right stock images.. 🤔

You make a good argument ngl XDD

@scg4

Bonnie probably has some dialogue lined up in the event he encounters a crying child. All relating to his own role as a Bowling coach no doubt.

He might try to comfort him with things along the lines of "You did great." "Don't worry, you'll get it next time champ." "Don't give up, you can do it!"

But if those phrases don't relate to what Gregory is upset about.. Bonnie might not know what to say. He's not intended to be the chatty type.. He might give Gregory a gentle pat on the shoulder. Maybe a "Its gonna be okay, kiddo.." Probably just subtle things like that until Freddy or Foxy show up to better help comfort him. :'(

Indeed he is! I had my heart set on a Sylveon but I wasn't about to spend hours looking for a 12% spawn chance on a female Eevee <XDD

Plus drawing Sylveon to look more masculine is fun! And having his story be that he loved his friends so much that he evolved for them and they accepted him the way he was?? It makes the male Sylveon thing work for me XDD

@i-v-y67

Thank you so much!! And aww!! She's adorable!!! :DDD

SKNF BINGO REAL XDD

I'm feeling better than I did yesterday, but still not great.. 🫠Thank you for asking though! :)) I hope you are well!

I'm not familiar with any of the book animatronics.. though I'd like to imagine that Fazbear Entertainment was wise about the designs of the other glamrocks. It would make sense that each different location would have different themes. You know, to keep them from being same-y same-y.

What I mean by this- is while the Pizzaplex is very futuristic and space themes.. maybe other locations that have the Twisted wolf or Ella would be Ocean or Fantasy themed..?

Maybe the ocean themed place would be blue and have a lot of mermaids, pirates, boats, treasure, sea creatures, etc. The animatronics would be glittery and have long flowy designs perhaps?

@nootking

Thank you! I don't have a Patreon or anything.. but I have considered making one i the past.. 🤔

-- Also NOnononono, absolutely not- I don't draw NSFW 💀

@littlelightfish

XDD Tuna just be standing over you like "..Is.. is it dead? Oh crap its dead isn't it- I gotta get Louis to help me dispose of this body-"

Indeed he is! XDD

@flutehammer

ah? :DD You're welcome! (?) :00

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :DDD That means a lot to me!! :}}] 💞💞

Now I'm taking a break from Octonauts atm- but I do have a headcannon I can share about the Vegimals at least! :00

So typically in Octonauts, we see only 5 vegimals total. These being, (from left to right) Barrot, Codish, Grouber, Tomminow and Tunip.

But in this screenshot from.. I forget the episode, we see 3 extra vegimals. A blue one, (Halibeet) another big purple one, (Sharchini) and a little green one (Pikato)

We almost NEVER see these vegimals. So I headcannoned that the main 5 Vegimals are all chefs and rather extroverted. While the missing 3 are rather shy and are the gardeners of the group. While you can go into the kitchen and easily find and talk to the 5 vegimals.. of you go into the garden pod you'll find the missing 3 all shyly humming together and gardening. :}

Its gotta be this one here <XDD

(Also good on you for steppin out! Proud of you for that :}}} 💪💪✨)

@skatermusic

Huh? Oh nono I don't ever delete or purge my artwork- it must be a Tumblr problem not showing my posts..? <:00

Also my pronouns are they/them for anonymity XDD so you're totally fine!

@longlivethedragons

WAAAAAHG THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! 😭😭💞💞💖💞

@emmetest

AWE!! :DD YOU'RE COOL!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! :}}}}

While he's in there can he eat all the insulation? I'm trynna let that cold rainy air, IN

@tallchest13-blog

Oh to have a Gengar in this summer heat indeed.. 😔

@chickenheadguy (Image is from this post)

The dude just loves his fwiends so much.. 🥺💞💞

@smithanonsworld

I have been laughing at this image for 25 minutes

@minnesotamedic186

Fr?? That's sick!! After a quick Google search-

"Inside Rayquaza's body lies an organ that contains the same power as a Mega Stone. A Devon Corporation scientist named this organ the mikado organ (Japanese: ミカド器官). By consuming meteoroids as it flies through the stratosphere, the organ will be filled with enough energy to enable Rayquaza's Mega Evolution."

Turns out he's a hungry boi XDD

@stupid-thatsme

Well Grimace isn't warm- Gengars steal the heat from their surroundings <XD But I'm sure he wouldn't mind a hug! :))

I'd like to think he encountered an Espeon at some point, Mostly because that's the only eeveeloution I remember encountering in game--

But considering Espeon's whole friendship evolution thing... maybe a Leafeon or Vaporeon encounter would be more likely? I wonder how that would make him feel.. seeing what he could have been.. you just gave me a drawing idea! 👀👀

[gofancyninjaworld]

No one is born knowing how to communicate

A: And that's okay...

Dr Kuseno made it look so easy. He just swanned into Saitama's apartment, proferred him a gift of beef and the hero's hostility melted away.

Fubuki felt positively foolish, and yet encouraged.

Since then, however, she's found that the only thing meat bribes pull in are dogs. Literal dogs:

And even dogs need more than meat to be loyal.

What gives? Well, it's obvious that Fubuki mistook Dr Kuseno's gift for a bribe: more on that later. Probably. And yeah, it's funny, but it's more interesting than that.

Learning how to communicate is complex. There are a ludicrous number of unspoken conventions and rules in every human society, so much so that we don't fully learn how to smile socially until we're in our forties. Dr Kuseno carefully judged his gift: he had a legitimate reason to offer Saitama a gift in the first place, out of gratitude for Saitama going out of his way to mentor Genos. Then he chose a gift Saitama would be sure to appreciate and presented it at a time when Saitama would be thinking about dinner. The worst that could have happened is that Saitama took the gift but insisted on the doctor going home (and taking Genos with him) -- it would still have left the desired positive impression. And things went really well. Kuseno made it look effortless.

Fubuki is only in her early twenties and her experience to date has been far from typical. She's learned that either she can intimidate people or she can flatter them into doing what she wants. With Saitama (and later Bang, Bomb, and Kuseno), she has to learn how to talk to more powerful people whom she cannot overpower, over whom she has no leverage, and who are unimpressed by her looks, simpering, or flattery.

Fortunately, Fubuki is nothing if not astute. She's worked out that she needs to develop complementary skills if she's to make herself useful to the S-Class heroes she wants to hang with. How to talk to them to get the help and cooperation she desires? Ah, that's a work in progress.

B: ...Unless it's not

Let's move onto another miscommunication.

Something that I hadn't before was that, unlike the webcomic version where Saitama only thinks to himself that Genos seems depressed, in the manga, Saitama out and out asks him if this is the case. He wants to know.

It mirrors King asking Saitama that very same question and getting Saitama to open up and be vulnerable for the first time (ever, in any version of the story). So it is very appropriate to see Saitama trying to do the same for Genos, particularly as he is openly fond of the guy.

However, it goes wrong. Saitama feels himself under pressure to say something wise to make it better. So he puts on his best 'confident' face and inadvertently makes everything much worse. Oh dear. What makes this particularly painful in the manga is that Saitama is much more invested in trying to reach Genos, and it's made Genos think that Saitama saying that he doesn't see what he's doing must mean that earlier times when he's praised him must have been just Saitama being nice. For sure, Genos could have pushed back and made Saitama clarify what he meant, but he's even worse at communicating: and Saitama's glib remark about being bright struck him square in the insecurities.

I'm going to come to something that I only realised once I started typing this up. Even though I've pointed out their abilities to communicate, neither King nor Kuseno have the perfect words to say. Kuseno started out by first committing a faux pas in bringing his great big outside boots into Saitama's flat, then nearly boring Saitama to death with a long-winded explanation. King started out by trying to guess what was bothering Saitama. Both, however, did the most important thing about effective communication: they picked up on their going wrong and changed tack.

It's not about saying the right thing: it's about responding to the person you're talking to.

The thing that King did that Saitama was trying to do for Genos was to ask Saitama open questions, and shut up in the interim, letting Saitama talk to fill in the silence. He'd only speak to ask more open questions when Saitama ran out of things to say, and through that, gently started to challenge Saitama's thinking.

But doing so means being comfortable with several seconds of silence. And that is excruciating. It is almost irresistible to jump in and say something, anything. And it would have been a longish wait, for Genos to slowly sit down and decide to start speaking, which might well have started being about something only tangentially related to his worry. King did that for Saitama: Saitama started out talking about what was bothering him on the surface -- being too strong -- before eventually coming to what was really bothering him, feeling lonely and profoundly isolated from everyone around him. Saitama does not yet know how to wait a person out.

It's a problem in this case because it's introduced a big barrier between those two, not an insurmountable one for sure, but one that could easily compound later.

Ah well, no one is born a communicator. We just have to wait and see if they work out a way to open up and be honest with each other. So it goes! There's more ways to introduce conflicts than to have a monster trample Tokyo, after all!

And so help me, the struggle to learn how to communicate is 1000% worthwhile.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Do you think the Peacock Miraculous would be better if it had a better power. Before Season 2, I thought it would have some kind of "sight" like can see things from far away or never missing their target.

I think that the peacock would be so much better if it had a truly unique power. I'm incredibly biased about what it should be because of my own rewrite passion project, but I'll try to set that bias aside and just give you some general thoughts on the topic.

Here are some ways that a different power would drastically improve both the peacock and the overall narrative that the writers are going for, but failing to land.

Improvement One: Audience Sympathy

As-is, the peacock makes the Agrestes look unhinged and selfish. Even fans who love the later seasons think that Emilie was probably a terrible person in spite of the fact that canon clearly wants them to think otherwise. Changing the power to something else allows Emilie to be this better person by letting her use the peacock for less blatantly selfish reasons, making her fate less an instance of karma and more a true tragedy. This new power could still be something that ties back to Adrien, but it could also not. She could have just been a generally good person who liked helping people.

Improvement Two: Audience Investment

In terms of how the miraculous are used in a fight, the peacock and the butterfly are extremely similar and that's not very interesting story wise. I've found that stories with heavy magic use tend to be more interesting when you create limited powers and then force your characters to work within the confines of those powers. The less restrictive the rules, the less invested the audience is as they don't have any way to anticipate what's coming and anticipation is something you generally want your audience to feel.

Season five was a great example of this. I think that a lot of people were excited to see Miraculous pull a Cardcaptor Sakura by having our heroes hunt down each of the missing miraculous. That anticipation vanished with the arrival of the alliance rings. Suddenly our heroes had no idea what to do and the season quickly devolved into ignoring the missing miraculous in favor of shipping nonsense. Imagine how much more fun and engaging the season would have been if every episode had the potential to end with a miraculous being recovered!

Improvement Three: Audience Understanding

Most of the miraculous are pretty straightforward. The tiger is a magic punch. The black cat is destruction. The rabbit is time-travel. But the peacock? I cannot explain it to you. In fact, when I first started watching the show, I asked the friend who got me into it what sentimonsters were. She had no idea how to explain them and she was not a casual fan!

We're told that they're an emotion brought to life, but what does that even mean? Who picks their form and special powers: the person whose emotion is being brought to life or the peacock holder? Why are they somewhat immune to the power of pure destruction? What kinds of emotions overwhelm the creation process and create things like Feast? I can't tell you. It's not in the show.

We're three seasons into dealing with sentimonsters and people are still using the head writer's Twitter feed to justify their stance on this major part of canon. There is no reason to introduce such a complex element to your show if you don't care to engage with it.

This is extra true because it's not a fundamental part of making canon's story work. Canon's official line is that Emilie had no idea that the broken miraculous would kill her or anyone else, so they didn't need to make her use case be some major thing like making a baby. She could have just wanted to play with magic and we'd get the same story.

And if they did want her to make her death an active choice? Then we're back to improvement one where her use case needs to be something that's a relatable sacrifice. As is, she doesn't feel even remotely sympathetic. She's just a privileged, wealthy white woman who used that wealth to get magic in order to create her perfect child because she's too good for the kind of suffering and hard choices us normal people deal with. (Like come on writers, at least make the Agrestes middle class. You went the least sympathetic route possible here.)

In another post, someone mentioned using a sentimonster as an artificial heart for Adrien and that's a perfect example of a relatively small change that makes a world of difference for how people view Emilie. Using forbidden magic to save a real child is so much more powerful than the route that canon took.

Improvement Four: Thematic Consistency

I was a huge fan of the initial idea that every miraculous required a specific type of person to weld it. It's something that I lean on heavily in my own writing when I do stuff that focuses on the magic. I want the fox to feel like it belongs to Alya and Alya alone. Similarly, I want the peacock to feel like it belongs to Nathalie or like Nathalie is totally botching its use. Because the peacock is so nebulous and ridiculously overpowered, it doesn't feel like it belongs to any of its holders. Nathalie, Emilie, Gabriel, and Felix have nothing that ties them together and yet I can't say which of them were a true fit and which of them were failing to use the peacock to its full potential. It seems to fit all of them because there's nothing special about. It just makes you a minor god. Huh, maybe that's the theme? Ego of a god? It certainly fits.

So, what should this new power be?

I won't bias you by telling you what I did, I'll just give you my starting point and let you make you own suggestions. The original seven miraculous are largely designed around myths (tricky fox, bad luck cat, etc) so go look up mythology around peacocks and come up with a power that fits! Or don't. That lovely theme was dashed to pieces with the zodiac miraculous as far as I can tell. After all, Fluff is pretty clearly designed around the ancient myth of Alice in Wonderland. 🙄

[lemotmo]

I checked and Ali said if you were okay with receiving, I could send this. I'm so glad your blog space is improving and I am deeply sorry for any part I played in bringing nastiness into your space. That was never my intention. Hugs to you!

Q. I think you're correct and they told him he's not allowed to post about the show because we're almost a week in and he hasn't posted a thing. And he would want us to know that he's there. If they don't use him very much how do you see the storyline going this season? I'm mostly confused now because the Tommy blogs I follow all believe he's going to be heavily involved all season but the show blogs I follow, like yours, all seem to have the same storyline opinion and it doesn't match the Tommy blogs.

A. Hi anon, I do think they told him to sit down and be quiet for now, but I also don't think he's been on set. There's no need for him to be there yet. They have a ton of stuff to clean up and the Buck storyline, such as it was, isn't something that needs immediate attention. Eddie's storyline and the Gerard stuff is probably going to be the early focus. They cannot spend a ton of time on the Gerard plot. He is there to be a racist asshole and nothing more, and that will get very old very quickly for the audience. They've got maybe 4 episodes to work with there before the audience runs out of patience. That storyline will be easy to use as conflict though for Buck and Tommy if the show chooses to go that route for the breakup. But that won't require seeing a lot of Tommy. Giving him the job they did means they can work Tommy into episodes without actually having to use Lou. They can show a plane/helicopter flying overhead and 'Tommy' has made an appearance without needing to pay or use Lou. That's also an easy way to introduce conversation about him between Buck and whomever on the ground. If they decided not to bring Lou back this is the way I think they will go. Storyline wise it's less satisfying but It's very easy to do. And it would wrap up that relationship arc early in the season, which I think they want to do regardless.

The more satisfying story though, and the probable original plan, is making the breakup about Eddie. Buck's entire focus early in the season is going to be on Eddie. The Gerard stuff will be present but Buck's priority will be Eddie. Based on everything we have heard, especially from Ryan, I think we can safely say that Eddie has isolated himself from everyone, including Buck. That will make Buck crazy. He will become hyper focused and hyper fixated on 'fixing' Eddie. Which will naturally cause relationship issues between him and Tommy. That is why story wise we need Lou back at least for a few scenes. The audience needs his reaction to this. That conflict pushing Buck towards his realization is the better way to go story wise. And it's why I think, unless something else has happened that we don't know, Lou will be back for at least a few episodes. There is no point in trying to make certain Lou fans understand or acknowledge reality so I'm not going to try and do that. He is not going to be around all season. His part will be wrapped up fairly early and the rest of us will happily move on. It sucks to love a plot point, I understand that, I've been there, but the rest of us are not obligated to pretend he's not a plot point just because they don't want to admit it.

Predicting season-long storylines for 911 is impossible to do. Yes you can see certain storylines coming but the show is always up for a wtf plot so it's difficult to predict much. But the Buck/Eddie storyline has not been subtle. That is why the show blogs you follow all have the same opinion. We followed the canon. They have been very deliberate in setting up this storyline and it has been very easy to see. I look for 8a to be very Eddie heavy. They have a lot to do to get Eddie where he needs to be story wise and they have to do it CORRECTLY. As bad as 7b was I'm glad they pushed the Eddie arc into season 8 because this storyline for him has been coming for years and they cannot rush through it. Not only do they have to do the Eddie part right they then have to turn around and follow it with Buddie. The show is only going to get one shot at telling this story and they cannot mess around with it. I have zero concerns about Oliver and Ryan. They will handle the scenes. I trust them explicitly to tell this story. They want to tell this story. The writing has to at least meet them half way though, and the writing failed them miserably last season. Aside from the fandom scolding what I took away from Tim's interview was his acknowledgement that they messed up with 7b. He's never going to outright say a story he came up with was bad but that interview was his way of owning that it didn't work. And I needed to hear that. I needed to know he understood how much of a misfire it was. The first half of the season was so strong but the rewritten back half killed the season entirely. They cannot make that same mistake again. When the finale aired and it was clear that it was a failure, across the board from the audience to his cast it was a dud. Tim's reaction was to defend and explain, and it only made things worse. He was trying to explain what certain scenes meant and what the audience was supposed to see from this scene or that scene, and it was clear that the audience didn't see anything he was trying to to tell us we saw. It doesn't matter what the storyline looked like in his head. It didn't translate to the page or the screen well which means it didn't work. At some point Tim got the message and he owned it in the interview. I'm thankful for that. Lesson learned don't get cute, just tell the story and let Oliver and Ryan carry it the rest of the way. Give it over to them and let them tell it.

Hi Nonny, don't feel bad about those hate messages. Listen, you weren't the one sending those messages. It had nothing to do with any of you. It only had to do with people who couldn't bother to read something, disagree and just move on. Such a useful skill in life. Instead they felt they had the right to insult me in my inbox. They are the ones to blame. Only them.

So, thank you for dropping Ali's post into my inbox!

I agree so much with Ali's post.

Not going to lie, I laughed out loud when she talked about the fact that the show is always up for a WTF plot. So true. XD

I really do wonder if Lou will even be back in season 8? I'm not so sure anymore. If he does show up, I agree that he will probably be there to, once again, serve as a plot device to get Buck in the position he needs to be to kick off his romantic storyline with Eddie. So, I don't really care one way or the other if Lou is there or not because it's pretty clear now what Buck's narrative arc is building towards. It all leads to Buddie, whichever road you take. Love that for us!

IMPORTANT! Please don't repost this ask and/or a link that leads straight to my Tumblr account on Twitter or any other social media. Thank you!

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If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[planefood]

Tandy as a character is the most similar to me out of the entire cast by a long shot. He's my main mascot and sona for a reason.

We're the exact same height for one, we're very passionate about our interests and its our primary motivation in life, we can both be pretty cynical and easily annoyed. There's a ton more parts of myself I put in him but a lot of those character traits are too deeply personal to just throw out onto this post, he is, like a lot of my robot characters, very detailed and complex. I try to avoid mischaracterising him as much as possible but its hard to portray his character in single out of context drawings.

I'd more openly just call him a self insert if people didn't instantly assume that meant it was 1:1. Tandy in the story holds a lot of beliefs I don't hold and acts in ways I wouldn't. For a small example: Tandy would much quicker blow up at someone for behaviour he found irritating than I would.

I don't have good guys or bad guys in the stories I write and Tandy is far from being a good role model. Even my more levelheaded and wise characters like Max aren't good role models either. Max, despite any of his well meaning intentions, can act just as cruel and hurtful as any of my other characters could. I'm obviously far from perfect as well and I try to explore those imperfections in my writing. The perfect person who has done no wrong obviously doesn't exist and any hyper idealised versions of people you have in your head just gloss over those imperfections. Everybody poops or whatever.

But I noticed one difference between the art of oc Tandy and mascot Tandy is that I draw oc Tandy scowling a lot more, being more openly annoyed is one of his character traits but I don't wanna give off the impression that Tandy is angry all the time, or even, god forbid, intimidating at all.

While he's more than willing to argue for hours with someone about something stupid, he's still pretty meek compared to characters like Sierra, Jay or Lithium.

Tandy is nowhere NEAR on the same level as Sierra is in her self confidence and ruthlessness. If Tandy was a fly, Sierra would be a wasp. At worst Tandy would piss you off but Sierra could make you cry very easily and walk away unscathed.

But man it's so easy to default to Tandy pulling the same pouty face in art of him that I do, and thats how most people consume my characters is just through the drawings. I'd love to go more indepth in their characters at some point on here but ppfpppppp it'd probably be better just to DRAW it

[saltyfinalboss]

Ngl after watching the new episode of dead cells even though I love the queen upon her reveal I just kinda…went “where’s the servants” like. Where’s the Hand. Where’s Euterpe Calliope and Kleio. Are we like supposed to believe this is hundreds of years in the future from the island being freed or something? Why is the queen, yknow, so different from her actual in game personality. Why is she a pissed off sadist who doesn’t care about her people. In the game she literally sacrifices her freedom and life in an attempt to keep the outside world safe. Why is she ??????? Why would she pretend to be???? The king???????? Where’s the servant???????? Did she split the hand into five fingers?????? What????? Huh????

like I’m obviously gonna see the last episode but I’m just. H u h ?

yeah.. all of those are really great questions and i'm glad i'm not the only one who thought this! i actually have a lot to say about all that so this is gonna be a bit long.

honestly i knew that the servants or hotk wouldn't be in the show as soon as we got the show cover (full of new characters unrelated to dead cells), but after finishing the show i thought about it for a bit and it's just kind of like...

instead of the 5 "fingers of the king" they could've just had HOTK (middelus), time keeper (indexa), and the 3 servants for the other ones? like literally this would've been more accurate to the game (which imo is something that would enhance the show) and it would have taken minimal effort, too! the character designs are already there, no need to use time and effort and money to design new ones! you already have characters you can use with cool designs an ties to the dead cells world! for free! come on!

but they didn't do that, and i don't know why. my only guess is that they were very, VERY invested in the "haha hand of the king = 5 fingers of the king LOLL" joke, to the point where they just HAD to have 5 new original characters for it.

especially when they killed one of the new villains offscreen, and killed middelus with one stab after making hand puns for 30 seconds, it really felt like "oh so these new characters don't really matter, and you couldn't even be bothered to think of what to do with all of them, but still wanted 5 to complete the set". maybe it's not that deep but it just feels so stupid. they could've let cool dead cells characters shine, even for a little bit, but instead it was all just for one big stupid joke.

i wouldn't be as upset about the new characters if they weren't all jokes. i know dead cells is a funny game that pokes fun at itself and video games in general but they don't go as far as naming important characters stuff like "lore exposition" (laure esposito) and "thumbo".

anyways, i got a bit carried away there, back to the other stuff you pointed out. i don't think this show takes place before or after the story of dead cells, i think it's just a weird re-telling, which takes place in the middle of the malaise infection, though more people seem to be alive. trying to fit this show as a whole into the storyline of dead cells just doesn't work in my opinion. (which is ok because i don't think everything has to be in the same timeline, but it would've been cool if it was a prequel or sequel)

i didn't even realise how off the queens character was until you mentioned it, because she barely does anything after the reveal, but you're right! why is she like that? probably because they did not care. LOL. it's sad, i think she deserves better. as for her being in the kings body, i honestly don't know? like show-wise the explanation is obviously because they wanted to do a twist at the end. but in-universe she probably could've just ruled without pretending to be the king, i mean they're both equally powerful royalty. there's a little more about this in episode 10 but i don't think i heard an explanation when i watched it earlier. we'll see.

also totally missed opportunity to have her possess the kings corpse using her homunculus powers instead of whatever happened in the show (maybe it was homunculus possession but they still wanted the queen to have her body so she's recognisable,that's fair)

follow for more dead cells immortalis hatred

[alymccart]

Ask du jour because I’m in a lot of feelings right now and need a diversion from them and because I stayed home for a mental health day and have time to ask: Back to First Time, I feel like there’s a whole analysis or chapter behind Charlie’s words to Vaggie about their connection.

“It's been a long time. And I... uhh, I've never had this kind of connection with anyone before. This is... more intense than I was expecting.”

I’d love to get into this more because here’s Charlie, who is this being that shouldn’t even exist- or it’s unimaginable that she exists- and is astronomically powerful and probably as wise as time and space due to her connection with the cosmos (even though the show never talks about that but it has to be true? Maybe? I’m overthinking? I mean, I can’t imagine one could live as long as Charlie has and not have some wisdom). And Vaggie’s just a dead woman, right? Just a dead human woman (who I fucking love so much, this isn’t a criticism). So for Charlie to feel a connection with someone so much “less” than herself and for it to shake her enough during intimacy, Vaggie must be powerful herself. Maybe not in the same way as Charlie, but damn. She must have some kind of soulmate-level power over Charlie. Like they’re written in the stars and, in this one instance, Charlie is meant to be completely powerless.

Makes me wonder, as I am wont to do, how Vaggie’s story will evolve both in your fic and in canon.

Anyway, I think that’s enough word vomit for today. But also thank you? You don’t know it but writing these thoughts helped quiet a small feelings storm in my head.

TT^TT Another fantastic ask.

I really REALLY do feel like there's more to Vaggie than the show has shown us so far, which is why I'm attempting to kinda-sorta foreshadow that in my fics. I have no actual idea what exactly that "more" is, and I may end up being way off base, but I want to believe. Although the alt version of their first time that's going to be in Hellfire goes a slightly different direction, the same general scenario still plays out.

I definitely agree with your assessment about Charlie's power. She's the daughter of the first demon in hell and a very powerful angel (in my fic I'm going to with Lucifer being a seraph, though that isn't confirmed as far as I know), so there has GOT to be more to her than what we have seen. I'm going to bet there's some angel qualities that'll crop up as the story progresses (maybe she'll get wings!?). I also feel like Charlie is treated like a child in the show way, way too much. Until it's confirmed in the show, we don't really know for sure that she's over 200 years old, but going on that assumption, there is absolutely no way she's as naive as people seem to think she is. Sheltered? Maybe a bit, but she's a busybody, so there's no way she spent all of her life cooped up in a palace or something. So, my fic/headcanon Charlie has been around. She wants to help, she wants to be involved, she wants to experience things; she wants to make Hell a better place and to do that she needs to learn everything she can about it. Considering the fact that she's a one-of-a-kind royal hellborn demon and more-or-less impervious to permanent/killing damage from just about anything around her (save for strong angels like Adam and angelic steel weapons, and Carmilla is not stupid enough to sell them to someone who wanted to hurt Charlie because Lucifer would shred her to pieces) there's not much reason for her to be overly cautious.

"Soulmate-level power" is one way to put it. I really feel like Charlie and Vaggie's connection was at least catalyzed in their mutual desire to see this whole "redemption" thing through. For Charlie, it's to help her people. For Vaggie, it's partly to prove that she herself is worthy of redemption and partly to help end the cycle of death altogether. Murdering all of those Sinner souls and only questioning it after thousands had died, then thinking she had done the Right Thing and immediately being mutilated and abandoned by people she trusted as a result really effed her up, imo, and she's obsessive about making up for it. I think after that initial spark, Charlie sees someone she can truly believe is her equal, if not in power, but spiritually, so she is willing to let her guard down. She's comfortable showing that side of herself to Vaggie, and Vaggie is comfortable with that side of Charlie, so, in the context of First Time, it ends up being harder for her to hold back (and maybe a bit of unconscious "I don't want to hold back" that she has to fight for fear of hurting someone she believes is a squishy Sinner demon).

I'll see how things play out as the fic progresses. I've got a general direction set, but things like to crop up and throw me off course as I write (which I love, tbh). Thank you for the thoughts! Getting to really mull this stuff over out loud is really helpful. :>

[sorrinslays]

Hot take or whatever but HSR would benefit a lot from announcing more 4*s instead of 5*s. I'm not joking, at this point, we have more 5*s than 4*s. 27/49 characters are 5*s, and we'll be getting 4 more in the next few updates, so that means that 58% of the characters are five stars.

There are characters that don't even need to be 5*s. Some examples are Silver Wolf, Clara, Gepard, Sparkle, Luocha, Bailu, Yanqing, Huohuo, Fu Xuan, Yunli and Jiaoqiu (last two are upcoming characters). And I'm not saying that because I don't like them or their gameplay or something. I'm saying that because they weren't present in the story almost at all. Sure, they are interesting but it doesn't change their inactivity in the story. What's the point of making an almost painfully irrelevant character a 5*?

I could make a post just about why certain characters don't work for me as 5* and how they could've worked better as 4*s lore-wise. Instead, it's better if we look at the 4*/5* ratio of each path.

While most of them are balanced (as of writing this post), looking at the upcoming characters tell us that it's not gonna be like that for long.

Right now, the Destruction has a 50/50 ratio (if you don't count the protagonist). However, in 2.3 and 2.4 we'll be getting two new 5* units (Firefly and Yunli). So that changes the percentage to 60% (again, not including the Trailblazer).

The Hunt is probably is probably one of the worst in this regard alongside the Preservation. 71% of the units are 5*s, with only two 4*s. And it's not even characters that people use all that much (Dan Heng and Sushang)!

The Erudition is fine, it's a 50/50 as of right now too. Next update Jade is going to be added but it's whatever, not all that bad.

Same goes for the Harmony too, it's a 50/50. There aren't any 5*s promised anytime soon but I wouldn't be surprised to see Sunday being announced as Harmony or something.

Nihility is almost similar, there are nine characters and 4 of them are 4*s, so 55% of the characters are 5*s. Soon it's gonna be 60% with Jiaoqiu coming in 2.4.

The Preservation has only one 4* unit for Qlipoth's sake! 85% of the units are 5*s and I bet you the only reason March is a preservation unit is because they couldn't think of anyone else to be the 4* preservation character and since March will definitely be getting a 5* version they just plopped her in preservation (Arlan would've fitted better but I digress).

Once again, the Abudance is balanced, with three 4*s and three 5*s with no upcoming healers any time soon.

So, then, if most of the paths are somewhat balanced. if not for the few exceptions, what's the big deal, right?

Well, this is more of my own opinion but. I think 5*s should feel more special. The ratio of 5*s/4*s should be in favor for the 4*s as a way of saying "yeah, there's a reason this character is a 5* compared to others!" instead of pumping out 5* characters every update for people to spend more money with the only selling point being "they are better than the standard 5*s/the previous unit and they are attractive".

[f1goat]

fwb x lando norris - part seven

In which you decide to become friends with benefits with Lando Norris, that can't be a bad idea right?

playlist x masterlist

part one part two part three part four part five part six

“It’s nice to meet you Max,” you say happily. 

“Likewise, finally meeting you,” Max tells you, he sends you a warm smile. You directly feel comfortable with him and Lando. You’re glad about your decision, it’s so much nicer to go back with Max and Lando instead of going with your colleagues. After yesterday night everyone will probably stare at you, they love the drama. Maybe James already told everyone about you and Lando last night. It’s not like there happened a lot, but still. Everyone will probably enjoy the stories and assume that there are many more.

Lando and Max are talking about the upcoming week. You’re sitting next to Lando. It’s not a long flight back. You slept well last night, but you fell asleep late. Meaning you could use some extra sleep. You lean against Lando for a bit, hoping he’s okay with your affection in front of Max. Lando responds quickly by putting his arm around you. 

“So you’re still working for Mercedes?” Max asks you after a bit.

“Yes, but after this season I’m quitting,” you tell Max. Lando looks surprised at you, he thought that was still a secret. “But I still need to tell my coworkers about that, I have only told Lando and Toto,” you say. 

“I won’t tell anyone,” Max says with a small smile, “What’s next for you next season?”

“I don’t know yet, but I do want to continue working in the formula one world I think. I would like it to do a bit more with branding and graphic design, instead of following a driver around until they did enough on camera,” you explain. 

“If you come work with Quadrant, it’s still kinda the formula one world,” Lando tells you. 

“He already tried to get me working for him, McLaren and Quadrant,” you joke towards Max. 

Max laughs, “Maybe you can come work for Red Bull? They are setting up a new department for better branding. Marketing and design wise, I believe. I can send you the number of Christian.”

“That sounds nice,” you reply.

“So Red Bull is nice, but everything I say is a ‘I’ll see’?” Lando asks you. His smile betrays that he’s joking with you.

“I want to work somewhere because of my qualities, not because of you Lan,” you tell the boy. 

Lando presses a soft kiss against your temple. He gets it. He would want exactly the same. 

“We should do something together some time, I think Kelly would also love to meet you,” Max suggests after a while of talking.

Lando tries thinking of a response. He knows you don’t want to be seen in public with him like this, let alone on a double date. He opens his mouth to tell Max that they will see about that, also not wanting to out the rules between the two of you in a situation like this, but you are already responding. 

“I would love that!” You exclaim happy. 

Lando looks surprised at you. Don’t you care about the rules that the two of you have? He knows for sure that he doesn’t care about them, but he thought you wanted to follow them. 

“Great, I will ask Kelly when she’s free and then we can plan something. Lando and I were at an amazing lunch spot a bit earlier, maybe we can go to that,” Max plans. 

You nod with a small smile. This sounds nice. When you were dating with George, there weren’t double dates like this. If his friends wanted to do something George was always the first to say you weren’t tagging along with them. It happened multiple times that you saw later that the other girlfriends had tagged along and that you were the only one who was left out. 

Lando and Max are talking about different things in the mean time. You feel yourself getting more sleepy. After a bit of trying to stay awake you decide to stop fighting it. You lay your head against Lando his chest and close your eyes for a bit. It would be nice to get some extra sleep. Lando plays with your hair. He loves that you’re so comfortable with him. 

When you’re in sleep Max and Lando continue talking about their plans for the next race. After a while Max says something else, changing the conversation subject by doing so. 

“I think I get it now,” he tells Lando, “and to make it even worse, I think you should continue this terrible plan of yours.” 

Lando looks surprised at his friend. He knows exactly that Max is talking about you. Since when is Max understanding for his dumb plans? 

“I didn’t see it before, but now that I have seen you two together I get it,” Max continues, “She is a good one Lando. Make sure you don’t lose her with this stupid plan.”

**

Days are quickly going by. You have been spending time with friends in Monaco the last days. Your days are full with lunches, dinners and parties. It’s busy, but it’s nice. The only person you have been missing the last days is a certain McLaren driver. 

Lando has been busy the last days. He has spend multiple days at the McLaren home. There was enough work for him to do. He has been in front of different cameras for commercials and content for McLaren’s social media, he has put in simulator work as well and had different meetings with sponsors. Even though he has been busy the last days, there’s still time to miss a certain someone. You. He hoped to be back by now, but his plan of being home was delayed today. 

The both of you wanted to text each other multiple times. But you both had the same thought multiple times: you’re just friends with benefits, it would be weird to text each other. 

You’re holding your phone, typing a message to Lando you won’t send for the fiftieth time today. You want to hear something from him, but you don’t know how to text him. 

In England Lando is doing the exact same thing, he’s already typing his third message in a row but he keeps deleting it. Nothing feels good. He sighs. What if he’s just honest? What if he texts you that he misses you? He types the text after a while. His thumb is hovering above the send button. Does he dare?

You’re typing another message, you wan’t Lando to know that you miss him. You want to know when he’s coming back. You look at your message, but you don’t send it. You don’t want to look pathetic. Then a message from Lando pops up. It simple, but it’s everything you wanted to read. 

Lando: i miss you

You smile from ear to ear. You have never replied this fast to a message. 

Y/N: I miss you too

Y/N: when are you coming back?

Lando: tomorrow, probably around the evening

Y/N: dinner at my place when you’re back?

Lando: deal

You stop responding for a while. A small plan is forming it self in your mind. Maybe you can send Lando a nice picture to remind him of what he’s missing right now? You walk towards your bedroom. You don’t really think about it, you quickly dress down until you’re standing in your lingerie for the mirror in your bedroom. You snap a few pictures before making the right one. Without giving it a second thought, you send Lando the picture. 

Lando: fuck

Lando: babygirl

Lando: fucking hell

Lando: I’m at dinner with every important member of the McLaren family

Lando: how the fuck am I to concentrate now

You smile at your phone. 

Y/N: oops hihi

Y/N: maybe you can think about what you’ll do with me tomorrow ;)

Lando: I might punish you for this

You decide to tease Lando a bit more. You get out of the lingerie. While standing naked in front of your mirror you take another picture. You send it to Lando.

Lando: you’re the worst

Lando: but also the best looking girl I’ve ever seen

Lando: but still the absolute worst for teasing me like this

Lando sighs. This dinner just got a whole lot harder for him. It’s impossible to focus on the boring conversations about marketing deals and upcoming campaigns, when you keep sending him pictures like that. It’s unfair how you can make him all bothered and horny without even being in the same country. 

Y/N: you love it

‘I love you’ Lando thinks as a reply to your text, but of course he doesn’t send it. 

Lando: duh

That night he jerks off while looking at your pictures and thinking about all the things he wants to do to you tomorrow. 

**

The following day is Lando trying his hardest to round everything up quickly. He wants to go back to Monaco. How earlier, how better. He looks at his planning, if he’s correct he only needs to speak with Zak and then he’s free to go. It’s still early in the afternoon, it would be nice to go back home soon. Maybe he can surprise you by dropping by earlier. 

“Lando, hey,” Zak greets him when Lando walks in to the office of his team boss. Lando quickly greets him back. He thinks about the subjects that this meeting can be about. He has no clue if he is honest. 

“What did you need me for?” Lando asks. 

“I just wanted to check a few things with you that have come to my attention,” Zak tells him. 

“Like?” Lando asks further.

“Like, what’s going on between you and George? There are some rumors about a fight?” Zak asks. 

It’s a personal question, Lando knows that he isn’t obliged to answer it but he still does. He has a nice bond with Zak and he would like to keep it that way. 

“There’s no fight. George cheated on his ex girlfriend a few months earlier, I’m siding with her. So now that I have become friends with her, George is a bit pissed off,” Lando explains quickly. 

Zak looks surprised while asking his next question, “I always thought you and George were best friends, are you throwing that away for a girl?”

Maybe this is why Lando likes to work under Zak. His team boss knows what’s going on in his personal life and always seems interested to hear about it. It’s nice to have a mentor figure to talk to about things like this. With always being on the road, Lando doesn’t have the time to explain things like this to his family. It’s nice to have someone else filling up that spot. After all, Zak can come up with pretty wise advice sometimes. 

“Yeah.. Remember that time I told you about a girl that I couldn’t date?” Lando starts to explain himself. Zak nods, showing Lando that he knows what they’re talking about. “It’s her. I couldn’t make a move on her because she was George his girlfriend at that time,” Lando continues, “and now I’m in pretty deep.”

“I knew it!” Zak exclaims, “I saw you two at Spa after your podium. I already thought it would be her.”

Lando lets out a small laugh because of the enthusiasm of Zak. 

“Are you together with her?” Zak asks. 

“That’s the part I kinda fucked up,” Lando says honestly, “We’re in some sort of situation ship.”

“But you’re still in love with her?” Zak asks further. Lando simply nods. “Okay, I did call you in to tell you that there’s a bit of negative media attention. But I get it now. Just continue with it, I will make sure their attention shifts to something else.”

“Thanks Zak, you’re the best.”

sorry for the late update, im pretty busy with school :(

[punks-never-die205]

What do you find most attractive on Kid? Looks and Character ❤️‍🔥

Hmmm...

Looks-wise, I mean the scars are hot, but honestly I appreciate the punk-vibes. Also, that post-time skip THICC is... yeah. Yeah, I like my big boys.

Character-wise, I love the attitude. I love the scenes we get that show he knows how the world "works", and while Luffy has decided to ignore that part, Kid keeps it in mind.

I don't know if either or is better or right, that's beside the point, but Kid's defiance of it while being painfully aware of it is interesting to me. The loyalty born from it, the way he defends his crew, the fierce choices and risks taken because they're alive.

They're ALIVE because they're pirates. There wasn't any real living on that island, even after it took Victoria, even after they tamed it and took it over - it wasn't living. They were just existing inside the lines of how the World Worked.

Kid says the island was too small for him.

So he goes out, some island punk with, currently, no sailing knowledge save for whoever he got for the crew aside from Killer, Heat and Wire. When we see him in Wano he's not just a punk on a boat, he's someone who fights on the seas - he's a pirate, a captain - knowledgeable and accomplished.

With no mentors.

Six months with Rayleigh and Kid would be a demon. Just knowing how to use all the haki he has available with some level of efficiency that wasn't "figure it out as I go".

I love that you could switch Luffy and Kid as the protagonist of the series and it would still work. One Piece with Kid as the lead would be a much darker title, sure, but the other themes fit. That no existence is illegal, that freedom is paramount, etc. Kid doesn't buck the ideal of "piracy" the way Luffy does, but honestly we don't know how much of what and who Kid is, is propaganda. There's no canon to run off of, but I'm fine with that.

We don't know if he and his crew have done good deeds. I can see the Kid Pirates rebuilding a town - Kid especially is a builder. Luffy overthrows a government for a bowl of food, Kid overthrows a government because fuck the WG.

And yeah, there's assumptions in there, but it's all based off what we do know. We know that Luffy and crew are perceived by the public different from who they are - people know, sure, cause they've done great things, but the general populous sees them as terrifying and violent pirates.

Same as the heart pirates, the kid pirates, etc. People are terrified of Shanks and Whitebeard, 100%. Because government propaganda.

The only acts of violence we see from Kid (and Law) that aren't directed at Marines are directed at pirates. We're just not following those two cause it's not their story.

And there's something like 3,000 islands? I think I read somewhere. So there's plenty of places where Kid and Killer and the crew have stellar reputations. Maybe Kid deals with the underground to keep from being surprised, or to buy someone to free, who knows?

But Character-wise, that's why I love him. It's why I love writing him, because we have this Big Bad Guy who wants you to know he's big and bad, but he's also making like mechanical butterflies and letting birds nest in his hair, he's naming his ship after a dead friend who probably called their home island too small, and he's learned from every hard lesson he's experienced.

Which I won't get into in detail, cause it's not released in anime and I try not to spoil anything that's still manga-only.

[tempenensis]

I know you don't usually weigh in on non-canon content, but I've seen a lot of people say 236 was a bad ending, or like gege joked, that things are moving too fast or he's missed a chapter (or 20, I'm personally annoyed that we jumped from Nov to Dec 24, I know gege wants the manga to end for some reason, but those three weeks of training/preparation would have been a great time to let us get re-invested in the student characters since the culling game arc felt like it was missing so much)

Do you have any feeling for what could have been a better way to end things, if indeed things are ended, for Gojou Satoru? Or do you agree that things have been moving too fast?

Sorry for this and please feel free not to answer if this is not the kind of question you want to entertain, I am just curious if you have an opinion you're willing to share since I feel you have a very good grasp of the jjk's plot and themes! I trained as a literature major, so my interest is always in whether character consistency is maintained and what a story is saying and whether that message is carried successfully or not and what that might mean for us as readers. I'm personally still on the fence about this particular twist because I'm trying to withhold judgement of the piece until we actually see it as a whole, but I am starting to feel that the narrative started to unravel a bit after Shibuya, like somehow we didn't see a lot of the characters to their full potential (like Nobara T.T my baby Nobara). Maybe this is just part of gege's notorious fast pace.

Some of this I believe is due to JJK's titular meaning of the issue of curses and what they represent being an "endless battle" but there's only so many times one can show hopelessness and loss I think before it becomes almost redundant. We actually haven't seen that many on-screen sorcerer deaths, but somehow it's been two of the most popular adult characters so far, and only direct mentors, which is a frequent trope of the hero's journey in western literature. I think that even though I really wish it hadn't happened, Nanami's ending made a lot of sense. Power-wise, Gojo's current death also makes sense, and he's not the kind of character who instantly changes his mind or learns something in his heart from a single experience, but I think it feels somewhat frustrating from my point of view because despite the bodhisattva imagery, he had more to learn as a living person, rather than continuing to believe he was like a flower and maybe no one had the right to ask him to understand. I don't know, it's just a bit frustrating for me because I think it feels character consistent (which I think gege tends to be pretty good at) but somehow incomplete too.

Again my apologies for the long ask, you're always the one I wish I could sit down and have a conversation about these things with!

-raindrop anon

Hi, raindrop anon,. Good to see you again.

First of all, I don't really think Gojou's death is particularly bad, but yeah, as you said, there might be something leaves to be desired in the plot - if jjk is a traditional shonen manga, that is. But jjk is different, which is also the reason for its popularity. I feel that jjk storytelling has always been fast-paced, and one thing that Akutami-sensei does really well is to stick to the main points that he wants to tell with his manga. The last time we have a non-serious non-battle chapter was probably chapter 64 lol - but at the same time, this also shows how jjk departs from the traditional shonen jump manga custom where the mangaka tends to drag the story to make the manga runs longer. Gege on the other hand, seems adamant to want to end the story sooner than later (if his last estimation is to be believed, only a few months left for jjk).

I don't actually have a strong feeling of how gege should end thing with Gojou, but it's been a habit of him to get to the.. shocking side of things; we see this with Gojou getting sealed back in Shibuya. Nanami's death. Then we see the Culling game, and Tengen getting killed. And lastly for Gojou to die. The longstanding status quo is going to be changed eventually. And the next one with status quo is already targeted; Sukuna himself.

As I follow this manga, "things moving too fast" has always been the opinion I saw a lot discussed here in my askbox for many, many developments in the manga. And this is more of a personal preference, but I actually like the fast-get-to-the-point-storytelling that Gege uses with jjk, exactly because how it breaks away from traditional jump manga. I feel that this fast pace is just how gege do his storytelling since the beginning lol

tldr is all I can say is jjk has always been different and fast-paced, gege is unpredictable, and I'm in the opinion that Gojou's death does make sense, unfortunately :')

[antianakin]

(Sorry if I'm pushing this topic too much, feel free to ignore.)

So, in an AU where Anakin's found a little earlier before he develops the mindset that would make him a bad Jedi, and where Palpatine just kind of ignores him. In other words an AU where Anakin's a normal Jedi who doesn't fall to the dark side.

Let's say he's still assigned Ahsoka Tano as a padawan (I know personality-wise another Jedi would probably be a better fit for her) but teaches her without the Sithy elements and abusive training. How well do you think Ahsoka does Jedi-wise then?

I guess in a darker iteration of the AU, Palpatine could decide to manipulate her somehow instead to turn her against Anakin.

So, for this AU we have to assume that everything in canon stays at least mostly the same despite Anakin's role in it being DRAMATICALLY different. If Anakin is found much earlier (say somewhere around 2-3 years old, before they've left Gardulla maybe or just after Watto acquires them at the latest) then that means that he would have no reason to be involved in the plot of TPM. Even if we assume Obi-Wan would still take Anakin on as his apprentice and would do so almost immediately after being Knighted himself, Obi-Wan is obviously NOT quite a knight yet by TPM and could theoretically have ended up waiting another few months to a year before Qui-Gon and the Council had him undergo the trials. This leaves Anakin at the Temple for the entirety of this mission, so he isn't there to help them when they land on Tatooine nor is he there to blow up the droid mothership on Naboo, both of which could have MASSIVE changes to the story if you explored that further.

But for the sake of addressing this AU concept more directly and without getting too side-tracked, let's just say that somehow things in TPM go at least MOSTLY the same (everything that makes canon move forward still happens: Palpatine is voted in as Chancellor, Maul dies, Naboo is freed by Padme asking the Gungans for help, Qui-Gon dies, Obi-Wan is knighted for his actions on Naboo, and he takes Anakin as an apprentice probably within a year or so of being knighted). Palpatine would then have no real REASON to notice Anakin, he only does so because Anakin destroys the droid mothership on Naboo and unless we assume Anakin starts doing some equally crazy and noticeable things during his apprenticeship, it seems unlikely that Palpatine would really notice him or his power at all. Palpatine would also not have the excuse of Anakin having saved his people as an excuse to want to speak to him which makes any requests to spend time with Anakin a lot more suspicious, especially while he's still a child. So I think that EVEN IF Palpatine noticed Anakin somehow still, it'd be a lot harder for him to find ways to get close to Anakin to manipulate him and manipulating him would be made more difficult by Anakin having grown up among the Jedi to begin with.

I don't really see Palpatine going for Ahsoka instead of Anakin, I think if we was able to recognize Anakin's power enough to WANT to try to turn him, he'd just try to manipulate Anakin directly. But he also doesn't truly NEED Anakin at all, he's got Dooku to help him start the war and he can work on eliminating Dooku and replacing him with another stooge later on, he's already working on trying to kidnap Force sensitive children he can mold the way he did Maul which might honestly seem easier than trying to get to an Anakin that doesn't have any real reason to turn on the Jedi. If he recognizes Anakin's power at all, he's probably more likely to just want to kill him to get him out of the way as a threat than he is to try to turn him into a Sith.

All of which means that Anakin in this scenario probably grows up entirely normal as a Jedi. They're likely AWARE of his midichlorian levels and have probably considered the possibility of Anakin being a child of prophecy, but given that this is something we know isn't really put on Anakin's shoulders much in canon, I think we can assume the same would have been true in this AU. Anakin would just be a Jedi with somewhat higher power levels than the average, that's it. He'd be a GOOD Jedi who genuinely believed in the philosophies of non-attachment and compassion towards everyone. He'd lack a lot of the things that cause him the most problems, like the memories of Shmi and his attachment to her, or the friendship he built up with Padme that he clings to for 10 years, or the inherent mistrust of authority that causes him problems with the Council. Anakin would probably end up a lot like Ahsoka herself during early TCW; in other words, he's still impatient and a little cocky sometimes, prone to running off and getting himself into trouble trying to be independent and overestimating his own abilities because of how advanced his skillset is without taking into account his own youth.

So if we assume things progress generally as they do in canon and the Clone War still starts around the same time, and Anakin still gets knighted at the beginning of it, then Ahsoka getting assigned to him likely goes exactly the way Yoda and Obi-Wan seem to think it will. They're going to be VERY similar people, even more so than they were in canon due to Anakin having grown up among the Jedi same as Ahsoka. It makes sense that Yoda and Obi-Wan recognize Anakin, while ready to be a knight, is still very young and could use something to help teach him responsibility, while Ahsoka could use a master who is young and powerful and able to keep up with her as well as give her a challenge for her own advanced abilities. And I think this AU version of Anakin could certainly do exactly that.

This AU version of Anakin is someone who genuinely BELIEVES in the Jedi way of life and probably perfectly comfortable in it, he's not close to either Palapatine OR Padme, which eliminates a lot of the bigger distractions he has in this time period. So I think Ahsoka would end up a really GREAT Jedi with this version of Anakin. This is, in many ways, the version of Anakin that the Jedi all think they're dealing with generally in canon. That Anakin is a little cocky and impatient still, sure, but he's a good person who believes in the Jedi way of life and understands their teachings. Anakin will LEARN more responsibility by being forced to take charge of teaching someone else, so both he and Ahsoka will be able to mature TOGETHER via this relationship. Ahsoka wouldn't be taught to just completely disregard what she's told to do by the Council, but I could see Anakin training her on how to recognize when to do what you're told and when to listen to what your instincts tell you instead. This is generally exactly what Qui-Gon was teaching Obi-Wan during TPM, there's a time to simply do the job you've been told to do and a time to adapt and listen to your instincts even if they're leading you down a different path.

Now, depending on how you think canon goes from here, Ahsoka could end up in some pretty different places. I do think that this is the kind of AU where the Wrong Jedi arc just wouldn't happen. Even if we leave in the idea that Ahsoka does get framed for something late in the war (though not by Barriss because this is our AU and I've decided that that's stupid so I'm not including it), she'd handle it a lot better and never have to get expelled from the Order in the first place. So what we're dealing with is basically, does Order 66 happen or not and what happens to Ahsoka and Anakin in this scenario?

If Order 66 DOES happen then we have a few options: either they both survive, or only Ahsoka survives. Maybe they're left on Coruscant still, so they're in the Temple when the clones march on it. Either Ahsoka manages to get away because Anakin does what we know every other Jedi master did and sacrificed himself to protect her, or they both get away because they're doing something similar to what Kelleran Beq does and try to escape with as many survivors as they can (so basically Ahsoka and Anakin are given a bunch of younglings to protect that they go on the run with). If Ahsoka ends up alone, she likely turns out not dissimilar to the other padawan survivors we know like Cal and Kanan where she's cut off from her culture and forced to hide but figures out how to come back to it when she needs to by remembering the things she learned from her time with Anakin and the other Jedi. If Ahsoka and Anakin both survive together, she gets to keep her master for a while even though that training likely changes shape quite a bit given the circumstances.

If Order 66 is somehow averted, then presumably Ahsoka is able to just continue on as Anakin's padawan after the war ends and becomes a perfectly normal Jedi knight as a result.