#I need more fan art of him because I’ve done saved it all

[ifbrd]

Cipher Zodiac - Holding Hands with Enemies

If I’ve got my dates right, today is the 9 year anniversary of Gravity Falls ending. Consider this analysis and discussion my celebration post! (Not that I care to celebrate that my favorite show ended nearly a decade ago but anyway…)

I recently ran into this really cute little mini Gravity Falls fan comic by @the-meme-monarch. I actually first saw it Reddit (credit properly given) a few weeks ago (and hunted it down today to reblog lol) and people on Reddit were talking about how having Mabel hold Gideon���s hand in the finale was a weird choice.

I want to talk about that, but first I want to clarify a few things:

- This is not supposed to be any kind of like callout or attack or anything like that on you @the-meme-monarch. I love this art you did, it's sweet and adorable and it would have been nice to see in canon. I'm really worried you'll take this post the wrong way and think it's meant to be personal so I just want to assure you that that is not the case.

- I am making this a separate post, not a reblog to your post, because I don't want to hijack it haha. I want your post to just be about your lovely art, not the long winded analysis I'm about to give. So everyone please go check out that post!

- I definetly think this is a fair critism about the finale. Mabel, by no means, should have been forced to hold Gideon's hand when he couldn't just learn from his wrongdoings. With what I'm about to say, I'm not trying to say this was necessarily a good choice.

With those things said, I do want to play devil's advocate a bit for this decision.

Having Mabel and Gideon be next to each and hold hands, does serve a narrative purpose here, albiet said narrative purpose could have been executed a lot better, in my opinion (or, alternatively, wasn’t even entirely necessary)

Let me explain. Let's revisit this scene: Ford takes Robbie's paint can and goes around painting the Cipher Zodiac on the ground. People start figuring out where they are on the Zodiac and getting in position. Gideon makes a big deal about being next to Mabel, despite her asking him not to. Ford instructions everyone to hold hands. Pacifica remarks that she will not hold hands with McGucket's dirty hand, and her father tells her she should do the one thing no one in their family has ever done "touch the hill-billy" (a sentence that sounds terrible out of context). They start glowing and after the extras evacuate, Ford tells Stan to join. Stan refuses, taking this opportunity to have a conversation with Ford that absolutely does not need to be addressed in this moment. Ford passive aggressively thanks him, and then corrects his grammar which is also something that absolutely does not need to addressed in this moment. They start fighting and it all falls apart.

The narrative purpose that's being served by Mabel holding Gideon's hand, is to contrast Stan and Ford, and further emphasize how riduculous they are being in this moment. Mabel is choosing to temporarily let go of her ill feelings towards Gideon, for the sake of saving the world, and she's not the only one to do this. Pacifica didn't want to hold McGucket's hand, but did so anyway to save the world. While Stan is refusing to hold hands, Robbie announces that he has "never held hands this long before" and is "very uncomfortable" but he is also continuing to cooperate in spite of this clear discomfort. These are examples of members of the Cipher Zodiac, members who are children or teenagers with underdeveloped brains and are therefore more likely to act selfishly or immaturely, setting aside their discomforts for the sake of the greater good. Then there's Stan and Ford, two grown ass men, who both know what's at stake, know their family, their neice and nephew, could die if they don't defeat Bill, yet can't manage to put aside their hurt feelings long enough to do whatever the Cipher Zodiac was going to do. The kids can pull themselves together, why can’t the full grown adults?

In what way could this have been executed better? In my opinion, the best way to execute this would be to have has many members of the zodiac as possible be holding hands with people they have or had conflicts with. This would, in theory, make Stan and Ford the only ones who couldn't set aside their grudges, which would have made it more impactful.

Most of us know that the Cipher Zodiac wasn't originally supposed to mean anything, it was just supposed to look cool and mysterious at the end of the title sequence. It was thrown in to the finale because fans had spent so much time theorizing about it. If this hadn't been the case, if the Cipher Zodiac was actually something intentional that was planned from the beginning, they really could have preplanned this and made it impactful. They could have designed the Zodiac to have the symbols have to be in a specific order, and could have written the series with that in mind, to make it so everyone was holding hands with someone they had issues with.

Of course, that wasn't the case, but I still think this could have been done more effectively with the position the writers were actually in. Looking back on the series, I decided to photoshop the finale's Cipher Zodiac to be odered in, what I think, would have made this contrast in actions more impactful. I tried to order it in a way that as many people as possible had a problem with someone they were holding hands with.

The original:

My Photoshopped version:

My explanations, starting with Ford and going counter clockwise:

Ford and McGucket - they had a falling out, although they did make up mere minutes prior to this.

McGucket and Pacifica - what canon did, and the reasoning has already been brought up and was openly expressed in canon. Though McGucket doesn't seem to have any ill feelings towards Pacifica or her family.

Pacifica and Mabel - what canon did, these two did have a rivary for a good portion of the series, although they had more or less resolved that

Mabel and Gideon - what canon did, and I don't need to explain this, it's what sparked this entire post

Gideon and Dipper - these two hated each other. Dipper didn't like how Gideon harassed Mabel, Gideon was convinced that Dipper was coming between him and Mabel

Dipper and Robbie - these two fought over Wendy for half of season 1. And I don't think they every actually made any kind of amends with each other specifically.

Robbie and Wendy - they dated and had a messy breakup, although they did appear to make amends

Wendy and Soos - also what canon did. Look, Soos is the world's most perfect man, he has beef with literally no one, but he's on the Cipher Zodiac nonetheless, so he has to hold hands with someone, this is the only spot left.

Stan and Soos - Again, what canon did, and we can refer to the same logic as above, but I also think this can work to our advantage here. One the one hand, keeping in mind their father-son dynamic, Soos adores Stan and wants his affection, so I could see it being awkward for him to hold hands with Stan, whether nervous because "don't mess this up, Soos" or an overly excited issue. While Stan seems to care about Soos the same, he would never in a million years admit it, which would make holding Soos's hand potentially awkward for him, especially if Soos is being a crazy fanboy over it. On the flip side, like making the complete opposite argument, Stan not being cooperative when he has no problems with one of the people he's holding hands with, while nearly everyone else has an issue with both people they're holding hands with and aren't making a scene, could further emphasize the ridiculousness and immaturity in his actions.

So yeah! That's what I think should have been done for this to be most effective! Or just not putting Mabel by Gideon at all would have also been great!

I'm curious though: Does anyone else have a different way they'd set up the Cipher Zodiac than what I did?

[yabishrihere]

Lord help me I’ve got a problem… well, a few actually

[puckpocketed]

who is #43?

Hello !! First off thank u for visiting. If you clicked read more by accident rip sorry it’s a lot of text. ENJOY!!! <3

1. This was the photo reference I used. I really did mean it when i said he photographs well!! I really like how scrungly he looks at times lol. v paintable

2. here’s a timelapse for your viewing pleasure in video + gif form <3

3. Process breakdown below. I am not formally trained, so don’t take any of this as professional advice!! The way i paint has been compared to channeling some evil contract with a demon also. So um . Im saying that i dont remotely think that this is efficient or correct, its just whats comfortable for me <3

3a) the dreaded lining phase. I have 2 modes of operation when it comes to painting - either i go full-dick with fancy inking/sketching + cel shading (rare, unrefined, haven’t figured out a nice workflow yet) OR i do a very very basic chicken scratch set of lines like so:

It’s less about being realistic here and more about laying down some guide lines for the chaos ahead. If i thought i could get away with it, I would start every rendered painting i do with laying down colours — but unfortchh ive tried that before and it usually ends in really weird proportions. Even with the lines i still need to make adjustments. This is something no people except me would notice but look at the above sketch; the eyes are too big and slightly too far apart, the forehead is too small and thus the hair is also not quite big enough… I have a bad habit of drawing eyes too big on faces, they’re my favourite facial feature to draw.. i barely resisted giving him big cow eyelashes (I love big cow eyelashes… all of my OC’s and most of my more stylised fan art of characters get big cow eyelashes… god…. Big cow eyelashes SAVE ME……….)

Anyway. Structure of the face + hand somewhat established. <3

3b) Underpainting!! Okay stay with me here . Ever since i figured out i dont have to paint in 03925893853 different layers, I’ve joyfully painted on 1 layer as much as possible. I dont have the brain power all the time to be managing layers so I simply dont work with that many layers. For this painting, the skin in its entirety was painted on one layer, the hair on another layer, and the effects on the last layer. There was a placeholder background off-white/grey colour for a while there, and I duplicated the line layer — one for figuring out where to lay colours, and one hidden for later so i could check back to see how accurate to the sketch/proportions were to the actual painting. 6 layers, 2 of which i painted the bulk of the piece on, 1 more at the end.

3c) here’s where I started carving out features. I think about objects in terms of volumes and light rather than lines. i love painting and sculpting because of this!! Here you see where I’ve begun to define his features — his eyelids, his bags, his nostrils. Just refining what was there before. The suggestion of facial hair before i gave it up and left it for later (his face is so naked the WHOLE time)

3d) nose bridge highlight, suggesting his eyebrows, a cheek highlight. A touch more coral red and muted yellow pull away from the grey/blue underpainting. Strategically leaving some of it peeking through.

3e) i truly start messing with the fidelity of his features here. Red lipstick <3 and some violet/blue for shadows on the right side of his face.

3f) the part where it starts looking like q.hughes to me (though, my friend said i got his vibe pretty early on which is such a compliment.. waaaaa…..) I love this part of every painting i do. I know it’s definitely not the Correct order since other parts of the entire painting are simply Not Rendered or Done, but whos gonna stop me?? :3

I love love loveeee painting faces. Adding the little shinies to his eyes + lips + upper lip + nose … you don’t know how much of a difference it makes until you do it. Also i snatched his eyebrows

3g) i really pushed the red/coral/ochre/orange here. Note the yellow highlights on his cheekbones, the forehead, and the thin thin line of pink right between where his bottom lip ends and his chin shadow starts <- very important . To ME!!!!!!! Also highlighting his waterline and adding his lashes was so so fun <3

3h) FACIAL HAIR!!! And I started rendering his hand. Some micro adjustments made to his face for proportion check.

3i) i start painting his hair in earnest and realise his forehead is too small so i make the adjustment. I really love how it falls into his eyes in this photo. <3

3j) i make some final adjustments to his eyes — a bit smaller, closer together. And i refine the outline of his jaw, push the stylisation of it just a little.

3k) Finishing details; his flyaway hairs, his moles, a bit of texture on his face, shadows cast by his hair, his little forehead cut <3

3l) i adjusted his hand here, added more texture to his skin, refined his hair a tiny bit more, and made the decision not to fuck around painting his jersey because i wanted the focus to be his face <3

3m) Canucks blue and green. Captain at 23. His form bleeds into the background. He is the franchise.

theee most fun ive had painting anything. and i finally feel... warmed up? if that makes sense. art for me is like. if i dont do it in a while it feels like nothing goes right when i come back to it. i hate that feeling, and the most difficult hurdle to clear is letting myself feel that until i get back into my Zone. after all this time i feel like im BACK !!!!!!!

i loved painting this fella. hes SO Shaped. <3

Apologies i simply do Not have the energy to write the alt text for all of these so i hope the little blurbs are okay aslkjasdklj. i gotta post and go to bed . if u made it this far, thank you for reading!!

[shakespearean-dream]

TW!!! — blood, scarring and mild body horror ahead 🥲

benny’s turn!

before i start i wanna clarify i hesitated a bit on posting this because lovely mutual @vor-leser just posted his benny interpretation (go look at it and follow him btw), and idk if we like mind melded or smth but our human benny’s are super similar LOL. i damn near scrapped the whole thing out of fear someone would get mad at me but i Would Not be able to start over and get this done ever so this is as good as we’re gonna get. 😭 my apologies niko love u /p

this has been like a full 7 days in the making 😭😭 the art block that i felt coming on while doing ellen and ted hit me like an optimus prime sized semi truck this week along with a depressive episode so i definitely appreciate that happening and i am not upset about it at all! /s i’m totally good so don’t worry or anything /gen, mental health is just weird and i also wanted to explain the gap in my posts 😔

i do not know how to feel about this drawing if i’m so fr with you; i’m proud of myself for AM-ified benny cause i think i got the slowly rotting from the inside out primal freak energy down pretty good, but on the other hand this feels kinda empty?? i usually have a lot more commentary squished in here but i think my brain’s a little fried 🤦‍♂️ i love drawing me some beautiful buff men though so drawing normal ben was familiar territory. however his wack ass haircut i gave him is his punishment for being a PRICK!!! go sit in the corner and think about ur actions benjamin.

like ted n the rest of the sillies i’m not straying too far from canon with his personality, he’s an ass and a murderer and a hella smart dickhead who desperately needs to be punished by the universe (thank you for that one AM). hot take i did not like his “redemption arc” in his game scenario and i don’t think with how he was throughout the entirety of his life (and also throughout the game, main example his inner dialogue) he would actually go out of his way to help the kid because he means it??? n prove he changed to the guys he killed cause he means it??? i dunno maybe AM torturing him made him have a main character “omg i’ve been in the wrong this whole time!!1” moment like the game suggests i’m just not buying it 💀 i’m sure it’s just cause bennys scenario couldn’t be too long and they couldn’t fully flesh him out which i won’t fault the game makers for. i’m a steven universe fan, i know what time constrictions can do to a plot and redemption arc 😭 looking at you white diamond…

his wife n kids are up top and they’re kinda neat to me— i was considering the hc that part of the reason manya (his canon wife) left him is because she realized she was a lesbian which would be funny as fuck considering benny’s also One Of Them Queers 😭. i think during the brief times he was home and able to parent his daughters they got really scared and tired of him, one because he’s just a very threatening powerful and overbearing man, but also because i feel like he would’ve been on their ASS about everything. grades, extracurriculars, friends, wardrobe, this guy was micromanaging his family to an annoying extreme (ofc because of his perfectionist complex). he probably loved manya and the kids in his own weird way, but it was more contractual to him than any real personal relationship. maybe he inherited that from his own parents?? i doubt he ever talked to them after he moved out.

that’s about the end of my thoughts on this fucker. 🥲 funny storyyyy i just remembered i have laundry to finish so im gonna go do that, lord help me. thank you for reading all this if you did!!!!! we’re over halfway through so who do yall want next? wanna save AM or nimdok for last? i’ll see u guys later :]]]

[justtrash202]

Sector V's Cell Phones and Their Backgrounds

Hey there! I’ve been thinking about what kinds of phones Sector V would have and, more importantly, what their wallpapers would look like. These are all just my headcanons, but I think they really reflect each character’s personality and quirks. Let’s dive in!

Nigel Uno

Phone Type: Nigel strikes me as someone who doesn’t care about flashy tech. He’d have an older Google Pixel or a Moto G—something practical, durable, and reliable for all those mission plans.

Case: Plain black or grey, because anything decorative would distract him from his leadership duties. It’s scratched and a bit worn, just like Nigel after a tough mission.

Wallpaper: Nigel starts with the default wallpaper. He’s too busy saving the world to care about changing it. BUT every so often, Wally “borrows” his phone and changes it to something hilarious, like: A meme-worthy picture of Nigel mid-blink with the text, “Do you know the way?” A bad selfie of Nigel that Wally edited with ridiculous filters. Nigel groans about it but usually leaves it for weeks because he doesn’t bother to change it back (or secretly finds it funny).

Hoagie Pennywhistle Gilligan Jr

Phone Type: Hoagie would totally have a Samsung Galaxy S Ultra. He loves gadgets and tech, and the amazing camera would let him document all his adventures and inventions.

Case: A custom comic-book-themed case with stickers slapped on it. Maybe even a Yipper Airlines logo for good measure.

Wallpaper: A constantly rotating slideshow of: Group photos of Sector V, usually funny ones. (Think Wally dodging Kuki’s hug or Nigel looking exasperated.), Family shots, especially goofy moments with Tommy., Candid selfies with Bradley, his fellow tech buddy. Hoagie’s gallery is basically an archive of good memories, and he’s proud of it.

Kuki Sanban

Phone Type: Kuki would 100% have a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, because it’s cute, trendy, and fun—just like her! She’d love the flip feature and probably flips it open dramatically just for fun.

Case: A pastel purple case with Rainbow Monkey designs or maybe some sparkly bedazzling. She’d also have a charm or two attached.

Wallpaper: A mix of: Pictures of her and Wally—usually her hugging him while he pretends to be annoyed (but is secretly blushing).bRainbow Monkey fan art or seasonal designs (like Rainbow Monkeys in Christmas sweaters). Silly group selfies with Sector V, often with Wally pulling a face or Nigel looking done with everyone. It’s rare for Kuki to have a solo photo, but if she does, it’s something cute like her holding her favorite Rainbow Monkey plush.

Wallabee Beetles

Phone Type: Wally isn’t careful with his stuff, so he’d need something durable like a Motorola G Power or Nokia XR21. These phones can survive drops, scratches, and anything else Wally throws at them (literally).

Case: A no-nonsense black or camo case, scuffed up from rough use.

Wallpaper:Wally’s wallpapers change as often as his mood. It’s always based on his latest hyperfixation: Street Fighter characters in action. Album covers from punk or rock bands like Green Day. Cool motorcycles or racing cars. Rarely, a group photo of his friends—but only when he’s feeling sentimental. He’ll change it quickly because he gets embarrassed looking at it.

Abigail Lincoln

Phone Type: Abby’s phone would be sleek and stylish, like an iPhone 15 Pro Max or Google Pixel 8 Pro. She’d choose it for its top-tier camera and design.

Case: Minimalist but cool—a clear case or one with abstract patterns.

Wallpaper: Always effortlessly cool and artsy: Photos of street art or graffiti she admires. Stunning landscape or cityscape shots she’s taken herself. Candid pictures of her with Hoagie or Kuki, smiling or goofing around. When she’s in a laid-back mood, she’ll switch to abstract designs or calming color gradients.

[baddiecarl]

Streamer! Carl Grimes x Streamer! reader

Like Chandler Riggs, Carl Grimes in a normal world would also totally be a streamer. Here’s a peek into what it might be like to be his streamer crush!  (Also I’m pushing a slight resident evil agenda in this, I grew up watching my dad and brother play them and waited with bated breath to actually be able to play them myself!  It’s my favorite video game series of all time if you can’t tell lol)

For maximum enjoyment, please watch the clip I put right under this because I referenced it in this story!

  “Do I know who (your screen name) is?”  Carl says, reading his chat.  “No, I’ve never heard of them, gimme a second.”  He picks his phone up off his desk and types the name into google, coming up with endless pictures of you playing video games, doing cooking and baking streams, making art, reacting to the memes people made for you, all the things your streams are widely loved for.  Realizing he was quiet for longer than he probably should’ve been, he speaks up. “Oh yeah I’ve seen her before, she does awesome resident evil speedruns! I didn’t recognize the name at first, but yeah, I know who she is!”  

“Omg he’s blushing!”

“Is bro blushing rn?”

“Looks like no one’s immune to the charms of (y/s/n) lmfao”

  The teasing comments poured in while Carl did his best to play it cool and laugh them off, “yeah she’s pretty cute,” he admits through a soft smile as he focuses on the game he was streaming before he looked you up.  Teasing chats trickled in every once in a while, but for the most part, the topic was changed completely and by the time the stream was over he had almost forgotten about the situation entirely. 

  Little did he know that the next day your viewers would also ask you if you knew Carl.  Having been a streamer for quite some time you’ve seen a lot of clips of other streamers and you immediately recognized the name Carl.  “Oh my god, is that the dude who sucks at fall guys?”  You joked as you pulled up the clip of him failing epically at fall guys. “If you get eliminated at this part then you don’t deserve a single win,” he said, seconds before getting eliminated on the exact part he was referring to.  “He’s fucking hilarious,” you remarked as you smiled while you watched the video.  Well, that didn’t go unnoticed by any of your viewers either.

“She’s straight up giggling and kicking her feet lol”

“He called you cute on his stream yesterday”

“He called you cute on his stream yesterday”

  Man, did your fans come in clutch or what?  Returning to your game, you saved that bit of information for later, knowing that it probably got clipped and posted by now.  After you finished up your game and ended the stream you finally got to look up the clip.  You couldn’t help but laugh while you watched him read the comments and grow more and more red with each one that came in.  “Yeah, she’s pretty cute.”  THERE IT IS! HE ACTUALLY SAID IT!!  This was all you needed to want to reach out. 

  A couple of days later, Carl was streaming again as usual when he felt his phone vibrate.  A DM from…(y/s/n)??  Holy shit, okay, play it cool.  He tried to hide his shock and excitement as he opened the message but still, a goofy smile crept onto his face while he read it.  

“Hey, Carl!  It’s come to my attention that we have quite a bit of an overlapping fanbase so I thought it’d be a great idea to play a game together sometime!  Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to play fall guys ;)”

  By the time he was done reading your message, the grin had broken out into a full-blown smile and he hid his nervous and excited laughing behind his hand.  To no avail, his viewers saw this immediately and began teasing him, asking if (y/s/n) was making him blush again.  “No guys, that’s not it, don’t worry about it,” he said, still trying to hide his bashfulness.  Yet, again clocked by his fans, they knew he was lying.  But they weren't the only ones who knew he wasn't telling the truth, because you had joined the stream just before you sent your message.  You wanted to see him blush just by the sheer mention of you one more time, so you arranged to send it while he was streaming.  You were overjoyed to see him pick up his phone, and judging by his reaction you knew he had to have read it. 

He’s quiet for a minute while he types on his phone and you watch the text bubble pop up on your phone.

“I’ve noticed the same thing haha! I think that’d be awesome, but for the record, we will be playing fall guys so I can prove I’m not ‘the guy who sucks at fall guys’”

  You grinned at his message, not failing to see the humor in the fact that he did the exact thing you did, looking up the clip from your stream where the chat had brought him up.  You respond to his message simply and sweetly.

 “Fair enough! I get to pick the game we play next time we do it then!” 

“Sounds like a deal!”  Carl replies, his heart skipping a beat at the implication of you wanting to do a stream with him more than once.  Carl’s voice coming from your computer removes your attention from your phone. “Alright sorry about the pause there guys, I had a very important message to respond to,”  he says, refocusing on his game all while he's still being teased for his very obvious change in behavior since his phone buzzed.  Giggling at him regarding your message as very important, you sat back and watched him play his game, cracking up at the jokes he made.  After he wraps up his stream, you’re left sitting at your computer, alone with your thoughts and they’re all about Carl.  

  About three minutes into zoning out, you're startled by the buzzing of your phone.  You unlock your phone to see another DM from Carl. 

“Do you think I could have your discord or maybe your phone number if you don't have that? I just thought it might be easier to communicate that way if we’re going to be doing streams together.”  How does his nervous dorky voice translate so well through text?  It’s almost like you could hear him stammering over asking for your phone number.  Doing your best to reassure him, you reply: “I do have discord! But you can have my number too!  It’s ***-***-****!”

“Thanks (y/n), I’m really excited about collabing with you!  I was kinda shocked to see that you messaged me, even though I’m pretty sure this was orchestrated by our followers lol”

What can you say?  Your followers really do come in clutch!

Me again! I hope you guys like this while you wait on the next part of Carl Grimes x Dhampir! reader! Also I hope you enjoyed that clip of Chandler sucking at fall guys, I really wanted to include that in this fic lol

[tamelee]

Hi, do you think they'll make S and N straight in the live action movie? Like making S nicer to Sakura or not even keeping the kiss or enforcing the idea of S and N being "brothers",... Anyway, I expect nothing but still... it stings.

Hi~ Yeah I feel you.

Oh I have many expectations- 's just that not a single one is any good.

It’s highly possible they’re going to push contrasting narratives. Unfortunately. Though I don't see the point in forcing any of these ideas into a movie, because there's simply no time. It will have no meaning either way unless 'romance' is going to play a significant part in it... which also wouldn't make any sense.

It's a lose-lose for all of us no matter what you ship...

However, they’ve always done it with filler (everything aside the source material and... arguably Kishimoto's add-on's) as well as marketing material. Some is still subtle enough so people can argue about it, but argue they will. (Ah! Isn’t that so very clever?) It isn't for nothing they used to force Naruto on Sakura aggressively and love to make him look like an idiot in filler, or introduce random girl characters as part of a new movie-plot so he can not only be the Hero to save the day, no, he can be their personal Hero. Because, oh, isn’t he actually so handsome now that he saved me? It’s a lame way to check off the romantic elements they for some reason always need to add in and give to Naruto, disguising it under the excuse of “character-arc-stuff” because Naruto can't evolve even a single belief unless the girlies’ minds change about him first. Let alone narratively it destroys Naruto’s character, because a huge "problem" is that he’s people-pleasing his way to being liked and pretty much all filler I’ve come across only strengthens this flaw (I saw ‘flaw’ lovingly btw). Name a single thing that faithfully stayed true to the Manga and wasn’t made by Kishimoto:…

… right. 

Imo, best case scenario? They just leave out everything beneath the surface, pick a single Theme, focus on the Shinobi in a way that still allows for a bit of believable growth in these characters. Something that can still show the current while pushing for some realization and round it out somewhat satisfactory in the end. If they’re going to try anything beyond that, it’ll fail.

Kishimoto created art, but the sole decision for an adaptation means art is now ground through a giant meat-mill of great team-effort and commerce. Every medium functions differently and this decision alone comes with many problems. (Length ’s an important one. Structure too.) You can already see it in the interviews that are held about this project. Too many people are involved that have influential say about the outcome of the creative decisions. There’s also the lovely men in suits that have all the control and yet have zero creative-skill although they’d like to believe otherwise. Studio’s by itself have their own politics. This never bides well for adaptations. Very rarely is it acceptable. Very often it’s disappointing. Almost always it’s a high-budget fantasy. And yet they always know that fans are going to be critical and still not care. 

Stubborn as hell. 

(It’s different when it’s not really an adaptation, but more inspired by an existing story. HTTYD for example is very, very loosely based on a book-series— it has little connection, but there’s obviously still a story idea in there… )

[btspeedfreaxx]

I realize it’s been a while. I sincerely apologize. Life has just been so busy… and I think I speak on behalf of all my BT/DZ brethren, sisteren and non-binary friends when I say that it truly hasn’t been the same without either Acchan and Issay in this world.

How has it already been a year-?! Today especially has been very very rough. However much I have healed since perhaps one of the 2 worst days of my life… here today it feels like all that grief, loss and regret came flooding back to me. Like it just happened. Yet in the blink of an eye, it’s now been a full year since we lost Issay.💔 just the mere thought of that makes me want to cry… yet I’ve out poured so many tears over him… that it’s to the point where it psychically hurts today. Nothing comes out, And yet they don’t stop. Ever since that day, I’ve never stopped thinking about him. Or Acchan. Both are forever my eternal heroes.♾️🥹

It’s thanks to Atsushi that Issay saved my life. I’d known about his existence for quite some time, but never payed much attention to him. Until the last stretch of 2021, stretched into the start of 2022.

**Trigger warning folks- I want to tell my story… but this gets dark. So if you want to skip ahead, I completely understand. But in short form… I’d somehow managed to crawl out of the abyss from a 4 year battle with addiction that almost k!lled me. I don’t want to go into details- but during that time I did many awful things. To my family who were just trying to help; to the few friends from highschool that I managed to keep with me, who I then pushed away. When I realized what I had done, I found myself in an abyss, even darker than the last. It was extremely lonely- I felt so numb, isolated, and distant from the world. Like I was floating. I almost didn’t make it.

But within this abyss, I got to know Issay. And I fell head over heels in love with this endlessly fascinating and charismatic man, who was so Unapologetic about who he was, and seemed to share so much in common with my own self. So much of our views on life were the same. Reading about his story… about how he came to write Matsu Uta. It’s amazing how an artist who doesn’t even know you exist can strike you where you feel it most- for somehow his lyrics for Matsu Uta spoke exactly to how I felt in that time. I’d found a new saviour. Which is why I chose to sing Matsu Uta above.⏫ it made me realize that I wasn’t alone. That I wasn’t a burden to my parents or anyone.

“I’ve been here since some time ago

Staying here, sleeping in a standstill

People pass me by

The wind passes me by too

Dreams?　Despair?　Or is it hope?

I wait for you…

I’m just waiting for you

A plethora of times pass me by

A plethora of dreams pass me by

Flickering shadows keep dancing

While I simply stand defenseless

I just want to stand here and wait

I wait for you…

I’m just waiting for you”

(*lyrics translated by Yoshiyuki and taken from their site ;p),

It’s because of that song, because of Issay that I saw a light. And it kept me going, bit by bit. One small baby step at a time. And even when I stumbled back- I now had both he and Acchan’s bodies of art and music to catch my fall, and to comfort my wounds whenever I needed solace. Had it not been for either of these bands, especially Der Zibet at that time, I would not be here today.

Acchan and Issay didn’t just save my life, through them they changed my life, and transformed me into a far better person than I was back then. even after their psychical passings- I feel I still continue to learn more and transcend my inner self, through their legacies of which I swore to carry out, and through every single fan/person who knew them personally. Who continue to do nothing but outpour in love and praise for the 2 of them. For how genuinely compassionate and caring about the world they were. Their “love story” truly opened my eyes towards my own views on life, love and what it could mean.

So Acchan, Issay… if you are somehow reading this. From the bottom of my heart- since I’ll never have the chance sadly to say this to you both in real life. Thank you, so much. 🥹🌸🖤🦇🥀✨♾️ I hope and pray wherever it is you 2 are. You’re at peace. And you are where music and love are up there.

In the meantime, with whatever time I may have left here on earth- I vow that I will never ever shut up. About either of you. 🖤 I love and miss you both so much.♾️🥹 forever and always.

🌈✨ see you over the rainbow someday. Thank you all for reading. Please take care… cherish all that you love. And live life to the fullest that you can.

🦇🥀 rest in power my beloved count. A forever legend to me. Always. https://youtu.be/DY0rVs3pT9A?si=ccO-KWJ-rLJsvZUV

[seriouslysam8]

I’ve never understood Wolfstar, Jegulus, or Drarry. Yes, Sirius and Remus were friends but they went that close. If they were would Sirius have believed Remus was a spy? Did this conversation not come up as he was gazing into his eyes or shagging his brains out? Would Remus not have tried to bail or see Sirius in jail? None of it adds up. Jegulus doesn’t make sense either. There’s no interaction between James or Regulus, if James was going to choose a Black it would be Sirius not Regulus. This is the Wolfstar gang wanting to pair James with someone else because they believe Sirius belongs to Remus. Plus, James would never date a death eater. Then there’s Drarry, and I don’t get this pairing at all. They have nothing in common other than being Seekers at quidditch which we don’t even know if that was Draco’s position or if he was placed into that because it was all that was available on the Slytherin team. Harry hates everything about Draco, his morals, his friends, his attitude, and his family, his existence, and his face. Would Harry have really cared if Draco died in the fire? Probably not. He would have felt bad for a few seconds because he’s a cabbage and maybe when Narcissa asked if Draco was alive he would have been thinking fuck I should have tried harder to save the lil bitch (although I can guarantee Harry would have lied to Narcissa about Draco because he needed to get rid of Voldemort). Rorry makes way more sense than Drarry. And don’t even get me started on Drinny. Ginny would have never let that ferret touch her and if she was forced to marry him, you best believe my girl found a way to murder the whole Malfoy family in one night. What all of these pairings have in common is Remus, Regulus, and Draco are completely off character and writer makes them the Casanova of Hogwarts. There’s nothing in the books about Remus being good looking, Regulus is decent looking but not as attractive as Sirius, and there is not even one line of Harry thinking Draco is a good looking guy. The Drarry shippers have made me hate the pairing so much that I can’t even ship Scorbus lol. I hate that kid and want him to die for just being a Malfoy 🤣. I know it’s not fair but you can thank the Drarry shippers for my hatred of Scorbus and pushing their agenda.

I agree with you on all fronts (except for Scorbus because I loooove me some Scorbus and it’s the only thing making me keep Draco alive!)

Wolfstar is like the friends to lovers trope. But I don’t think they were that close either. They thought each other were the spy!! It just doesn’t make sense. I’d love to hear how Wolfstar writers write this. Like do they just forgo canon like they do these characters personalities?? You could maybe sell me on post-Azkaban Wolfstar but they need to be in character and you need to make it make sense, you know?? Even then, I’m suspect. You’d have to do a lot of convincing for me to try it.

James dating a Death Eater?? No, makes zero sense whatsoever. James hated the dark arts. He hated Death Eaters. He would never have dated Regulus. Ever. From what I understood, the characterizations of them are bad in order to make them work.

Now, if you wanted a good friends to lovers couple, I would recommend a nice Prongsfoot or Rarry, like you said. If you want the little cabbage to be born (which I know I do), I love me a well done Jilypad. That throuple just makes sense on so many levels. I’d love to read a long fic with this couple, but I’ve only found short one shots. And, in my mind, Hinny is together in every universe… except the one where Rarry is together. End of story. Sorry, there is one universe where Hinny is not together.

As for Drarry, I view it as like a Dramione. They both make the same amount of sense and you do have to drastically change their canon personalities to make it work. I’m not a big fan of enemies to lovers. But that’s just me.

Now, I do love Scorbus. It’s very Romeo and Juliet with their forbidden love because their families hate each other. There’s not enough good Scorbus out there.

[married-2-the-music]

Tell Me What To Do; A Letter To Jonghyun

If you’ve ever stumbled across one of my posts before, you’ll probably know me as a (maybe somewhat harsh) reviewer, who will always take the chance to rhapsodize about harmonizing and complain about Dynamite. But that’s not what this is; I did write a review about JH’s work but this is different; I want to start off not with my “credentials” but with a story. I’ve been a casual k-pop fan since early 2019 through BLACKPINK and a deeper fan since March of the year after, when I discovered Red Velvet.

In late November of 2020, during lockdown, I lost one of the people I loved most in the world. I was still a teenager (barely younger than he was when he debuted in SHINee), and I felt alone and isolated in that grief. Just three weeks later, on December 18th, three years ago now, I was scrolling on social media when I came across posts memorializing Jonghyun. I had heard his name mentioned, through Yeri of Red Velvet, but had never taken the time to really listen, and I finally did.

It gives me no joy to say that I discovered that he had made a plan; his last album, Poet | Artist was released just a month after he chose to leave the world, a final gift to the fans who had watched him grow up for both so long and not nearly long enough. When I looked closer, I saw people mourning, people celebrating, and most of all, people remembering. The k-pop world had just lost two more idols to suicide, Sulli (Choi Jinri, of f(x)), and Hara (Goo Hara, of KARA), and the messages surrounding mental health had never been stronger. It was this that finally got through to me, like a lightbulb going off, and I went, “Shit. I think I have depression.”

Now, I’m not going to credit him with saving my life because I have no idea what would’ve happened, but to this day, it’s Jonghyun’s voice that sings “tell me what to do” on the 6:45 alarm reminding me to take my anti-depressants. To this day, it’s his music that I turn to when I need comfort. In his memory, I try to continue what he did for me. I take December 18th as a day to be just a little bit of a better person—a better sister, a better daughter, and a better friend both to others and to myself—as much as I possibly can.

Jonghyun’s discography is only five albums, less than three hours long. The mere fact of this makes me sad. I wish I could tell a story with a happier ending, one that I finish by saying that he’s still here, still on his 27th collection of wonderful stories, still teasing the hell out of the band members who loved him more than anything, still being a dork who brightens everyone’s day with the same humor that made me laugh for the first time in a month the first time I came across it.

But, no matter how good of a writer I think I am, I can’t do that. All I can do is what all of us can do, which is remember who he was, respect the art he created, and continue the great advocacy he started. In this, I’m trying to do all three.

I can’t really put into words the feelings I have about this. Writing it has reminded me how grateful I am, not only that I found Jonghyun and his story, not only that I became a Shawol, but that I became a k-pop fan in general. After finding SHINee, I became a fan of Gfriend, Girls Generation, Seventeen, (G)I-DLE, Stray Kids, Sunmi, and, of course, Dreamcatcher, whose music is now a part of me too.

I know that I’ve probably made this way more about me than it should’ve been, but I’d like to end by saying this: I know that k-pop (and being a fan of it) are seen as something to mock, something only done by insecure, screeching teenage girls with too much free time on their hands who are obsessed with random men they’ve never met. And maybe that is who I was in 2019.

But to me now, and so many other people I know, it is stories like mine that are the real reason why we choose to dedicate so much of our precious free time to something that so many people deem childish. I’m a linguistics major, and I can tell you firsthand that music is one of very few things that can break a language barrier and reach people across the world. Had Jonghyun’s not reached me, I don’t know where I’d be. But I wouldn’t be here, and I definitely wouldn’t be a linguistics major. As he wrote in his book, “Even though we can’t communicate using the same language, we use music instead.”

Jonghyun broke boundaries in k-pop, with his openness, his self-producing, his prolific writing, his advocacy, and, of course, his incredible kindness. Both our community and the world as a whole were very lucky to have him for as long as we did, which still wasn’t nearly long enough. He changed the lives of so many people—he changed mine, without me even knowing the word “K-pop” at the time he passed away—and overall, he made the world just a little easier for everybody else, no matter how hard it was for himself. Whenever I have my bad days, I listen to his music; I ask him to tell me what to do. And I make myself a promise: that whatever I do, I will never make the decision that he did.

Whether he’s out there and whether he’s listening or not, I’d just like to say thank you, Jonghyun, for changing my life. You did so, so, well, and, in an odd way, I’m incredibly proud of you and all you managed to accomplish despite the kind of pain you went through. I hope that, even though we never got the chance to meet, you would be proud of me too.

And thank you, for taking the time to read this. I hope that whoever you are and whatever Jonghyun means to you, you find a little comfort in the fact that you are not alone in it. However you want to grieve (or not grieve) is valid. If you’ve never heard of our wonderful singer before, take this as a sign to take ten minutes to learn something about a truly beautiful human.

And if you have, take this as a reminder to take your medication, get some sleep, and check in with your friends. Though Jonghyun thought that what he did was the only way out, he was wrong, because I’ve been there. I’m still there, sometimes. But take this as reassurance that it’ll get better. It might not be better tomorrow and it might not be better for a while. But it will get better.

Happy holidays, folks. Take care of yourselves out there. Tschüss and Fröhliche Weihnachten!

[giddlygoat]

"I could fix this movie" tell us how 👀 I can sense you have rant-worthy opinions and am very curious 👀 pls elaborate

okay, i said i would write some of my thoughts on the lorax 2012 in detail, so here we go. 

(roughly 2k words under the cut (help))

first of all, i just want to say i actually enjoyed some parts of the movie quite a lot (and for different reasons). while i have lots of problems with it, and some pretty huge ones at that, i thought the film was very pretty and certain scenes and visual elements (ted riding his scooter through the outer walls of the city in the beginning with the schlop river beneath him, and some of the architecture that stayed very true to dr. seuss’ illustrations) will definitely stick with me because of how well they were conveyed artistically. 

but. 

i don’t like the movie as a whole. i actually dislike it a lot. to put it shortly, i didn’t care about most of the cast (especially not ted), i felt that the moral of the story was greatly distorted to the point that it achieved basically nothing in the way of teaching kids the lesson, and while i love the onceler’s character, i hate that character as the onceler. or at least i would have much rather seen his decent portrayed in a way more serious light where they could hold him fully accountable for his actions and make the audience actually hate him for it, even if he’s still a sympathetic character that ends up regretting it. it could’ve been done a lot better. 

i won’t go into every little thing that i want to critique about this movie because that would take hours to type, but i will illustrate what kind of movie i would have liked to see. 

it was only after i rewatched the 2012 movie about a week ago that i finally found the time to also watch the 1972 film again and hooooboy. it’s so obvious now what i was struggling to see. 

i knew a lot was wrong with the 2012 film and i knew that i didn’t like the way they illustrated the reckless detriment to the environment. but now, having freshly watched the (delightfully done) 1972 short movie i can say without a doubt i prefer the original film much more. 

now, that’s not exactly a fair comparison in most ways because obviously they were both meant to be very different movies, but in terms of coherency, morals, and overall charm, the 1972 film is superior to me in every way. 

in the 2012 film it’s like they whittled the point down to a blunt nub and barely managed to get it half across throughout the ~hour and and a half of run time. they muddied the moral of the story so much that i had to constantly remind myself that the lorax was supposed to be the likable character that the audience should side with whole heartedly. that the onceler and the results of his horrendous actions were supposed to be scary in “how bad can i be”. that ted existed. 

the movie was a mess. o’hare was unnecessary and boring. and while thneedville was definitely not portrayed like the kind of place i would ever want to live, they made it abundantly clear that the citizens loved it there. not a single character cared about the trees save for the woodland creatures, the lorax and the onceler towards the very end of his arc. which honestly would have been totally fine if they didn’t try to then shove an unnecessary side plot with ted and audrey in there. 

this isn’t to say i automatically dislike a remake or adaptation for trying to expand on originally simplified or vague plot/characters. in fact, that’s one of my favorite concepts in the realm of art, especially if it’s done with a lot of heart for the original content! but the lorax 2012 didn’t feel like it was written with the intention of preserving the moral of the story and supplying generations of fans with a beautiful retelling of what to me was the most moving story i’ve ever read by dr. seuss. it felt like a cash grab, and i don’t think i need to explain why that’s even more messed up than usual in this scenario, under these circumstances. 

before i spiral into the void of endless complaints however, i want to turn my focus on the things i did like about the 2012 movie for a moment. 

i loved the art! the visual storytelling, character design, and animation was pretty great, and a few scenes did more for me visually than the poorly adapted story every could. it was clear they were not lacking in great minds in their art department. i would like to shake the hand of whoever was in charge of directing the onceler, because i don’t think i’ve ever been quite so mesmerized and captivated by the way a character moves and conveys moods and emotions on screen. the onceler’s acting (and incredible voice talent btw) is the only reason i can rewatch so many scenes from the movie over and over again. it truly inspires me as an artist and almost makes me forget the sour taste in my mouth. he’s just so bouncy and vibrant and stands out from everything else so perfectly, and the sheer amount of goofy charm they were able to cram into his body language is mind blowing to me. 

and as i mentioned, i loved the onceler’s voice. i grew up watching the office, and andy bernard (also played by mr. ed helms) was my favorite character for ages. his bright ties and unabashed goofiness and constant breaking out into song really made me smile as a kid, and while his character was certainly not the most considerate or emotionally intelligent at times, i could always forgive him for that signature silly charm. i love characters like that, and when the onceler began speaking, i immediately recognized his voice. it wasn’t until after i finished the movie that i looked up who it was to be sure, and the confirmation made me chuckle. 

and about the onceler’s characterization! as a character, i love him. he’s goofy, lanky, relatable, way over the top, and horribly sympathetic. my heart goes out to a guy who’s just trying to prove himself worthy of his momma’s love, despite being told he would never amount to anything. like dang, at that point the onceler in the movie could have just been a sad little puppy out in the rain and it would have inspired basically the same reactions out of me. i can’t think of a single way to make me like him more. 

and that’s why i love him as a character but hate him as the onceler. 

or perhaps more accurately; why i am disappointed that they didn’t do a better job of illustrating his decent as the literal villain of the story. 

at this point, i wonder why they even called the movie “the lorax”. i don’t know what they thought they would gain by claiming it to be an adaptation if it barely feels like the original content at all. don’t even get me started on how the lorax in the 1972 film was a lovable, considerate little sweetheart with not an ounce of spite in him, but how the lorax in the 2012 film is a neck-cracking, fist-shaking mean old sack of dirt. yeah, i still rooted for him because his role in the story was to protect the trees, but i barley cared about him beyond. the characterization didn’t fit in the slightest. 

what i really wish they had done in the 2012 film, if i had to work with a similar cast and accept that this movie is going to be a retelling at best, goes something like this:

make thneedville a clearly terrible place to live. maybe not at very first glance - maybe they are good at ignoring their predicament sometimes, but the sky can’t be blue and the citizens can’t be bopping along with great big smiles on their faces all the time like nothing ever happened. paint a picture of urgency and desperation for a better quality of life that thneedville in the 1972 film did so perfectly, even with a single shot. the town looked grey and desolate. it looked like a town that was actually living with the aftermath of pollution. 

make audrey actually care about the environment, rather than simply thinking trees are neat for the aesthetic, or whatever her deal was in the 2012 film. show her actively trying to make a difference and having some real drive. let her show the audience some reasons to root for her and get attached.

ted could still be motivated entirely by his crush on audrey in the beginning. i think that could potentially be funny. but throughout the movie, for the love of all that is green, please give him a clear moment of realization. give him purpose. make me care about this stupid kid. i want a scene where his eyes get big and he realizes how much falls on his shoulders. i want to see him and audrey working together and having a meaningful arc. 

and for the sake of this hypothetical movie, say the onceler remains the character that he is in the beginning here. he’s the quirky, optimistic, lovable guitar slapping youngin that we all know and love. now let the story progress as it did, and let him chop down his first tree. now, enter the lorax. 

i can say without hesitation that i much prefer the considerate sweetheart from the 1972 movie. but i can’t say that i think that perosnality and the 2012 onceler’s perosnality would make for a very good dynamic on screen together, in this particular revision of the story. i know why the writers made the lorax a grumpy pants in the later movie - the interactions are funnier when him and oncie can butt heads and argue and glare at each other. that is entertaining when done right. and honestly, i would be completely fine with it, if they had made the lorax sympathetic just like the onceler. if they had shown his sweet side and toned it down by like, eleven notches with the sexist jokes about the onceler’s aunt.

i want to see the lorax get really anxious about the situation. i want to see him kindly beg the onceler to stop chopping down trees before he thinks about threatening him with the forces of nature or whatever. i want to see the lorax worry, as well as watch him huff and shake his fists. give it some weight. 

and finally, i want a movie where the onceler’s thneed empire is built in great detail. let him slide down the slippery slope ungracefully and don’t sugar coat it. let my stomach twist up in knots because i want to love him but he’s just thrown his good sense out the window for the sake of building his success. i want to watch a movie with a villain arc that’s told as masterfully as it is in “biggering”. i want a scene where he battles his conscious figuring on wether or not this was worth it. in fact, i want that movie so bad it more often than not drives me to fits of frustration. 

how i could love a single character from a frankly bad movie this much, i’m not even entirely sure. the onceler in the 2012 film is the best thing about it and even he wasn’t done faithfully to the original. he didn’t make a bad enough villain for it to be a good enough movie. 

doesn’t mean i’m not going to keep thinking and thinking about this until my brain fries, and perhaps my perspective will change over time, but right now all i really am is disappointed. 

despite it all though, i love the onceler in the 2012 film on his own, and i’m doing my best to enjoy what i can given the unfortunate circumstances. i’m just trying to have fun and not overthink it too much. not all the time, anyway. 

i know you probably weren’t expecting an essay so i’m sorry about that anon, but i’ve been a mess over this stupid movie and i needed to get it all out. i hope it wasn’t too much like a cheese grater on your brain to read. thanks for asking!

[dear-wormwoods]

omgggg yes i wanna ask u every one haha

6 13(Kyle n stan) 12 17 :0000

6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

I don’t thiiiink so? The pairings I hate are pretty set in stone. The closest I can think of is that I never really cared for Bunny that much but then some cute art made me go ‘well sure why not’ and now I love that Butters was basically Kenny’s sugar daddy in Post Covid as he was getting off the ground. But I never hated the pairing so I don’t think that counts.

12. Is there an unpopular arc that you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

Actually yes! I… I like Season 20. I know it’s not the best season but I genuinely do enjoy the Skankhunt arc and how the Broflovskis were the main characters for once. I like that it expanded on Gerald and confirmed that he plays favorites and actually resents that Kyle takes after his mother. And I loved Kyle and Ike versus Sheila! I also really like the Cartman/Heidi plot, with the seeds of manipulation and abuse being sewn in that season and then expanded upon in 21. I just think their whole relationship was well done and confirmed a lot of things about how Cartman would act as a boyfriend - love bombing, isolating, jealousy, paranoia, etc. I also love how when Kyle brought everyone together to troll, Stan was like “for what” and Kyle was like “NO TIME JUST DO IT” and Stan just goes “okay!” and runs off because he will literally do anything for Kyle. So yeah, unpopular opinion but I enjoy Season 20 even with all its plot holes and flaws.

13. Unpopular opinion about Kyle and Stan?

Kyle: I think this is less an unpopular opinion about HIM and more an unpopular opinion about how fandom treats him, but I really dislike the constant debate about masc/femme… it’s been going on since at least the 2000’s when I started watching the show and it just goes through the same cycle over and over with people doubling down on their preferences and going to extremes that result in the character being sometimes unrecognizable on both ends of the spectrum. Personally I’ve never been a fan of super masc interpretations or, like, Jersey Kyle being a thing, but I don’t think Kyle is particularly femme either. I think the show does a good job of portraying a well rounded character who has both ‘masc’ and ‘femme’ traits, though I think Matt & Trey lean more heavily on character tropes that are often filled by girls (such as being the nag, the wet blanket, the nurturing family oriented one, the one needing saving, even the fiery redhead trope) for whatever reason. The best versions of Kyle I’ve seen or read have always been somewhere in the middle because then he comes off as more multifaceted. It’s the age old Fingerbang argument of tough vs sweet… he’s both! He’s always been both and I try to achieve that balance in my own interpretation.

Stan: Also an unpopular opinion about fandom rather than the character… Stan is both a sports guy and an animal guy. He’s also a board game guy and a music guy. He’s a multifaceted dude with a wide range of interests! Being into football doesn’t mean he can’t be into the other things, and people saying he’s into football doesn’t mean they’re ignoring the other stuff. Humans are typically into multiple things, and Stan is no exception. He can be a dork and a jock at the same time. He can be big and buff and also empathetic with a soft spot for animals. He can be a quarterback and still like metal music. He can be masc and sensitive at the same time. So I guess this complaint is similar to what I said about Kyle in that I think shoving Stan into one box, regardless of what that box is, is doing a disservice to his character.

17. Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen…

Pretty typical answer, but instead of shifting the show’s focus onto Randy and Tegridy Farms I would have gone back to the roots and focused on the boys. Everything about the show is better when it’s about the kids being kids. Randy is best when he’s utilized in moderation.

[ukiyokki]

mars reads too much dreamnotfound fanfiction for their own good

a dreamnotfound fanfic recommendation list by your resident dumbass (me)

this took way to fucking long... i’m tired

below is a (very extensive) list dedicated to all my favorite dnf fics, ranging from quick one shots to 100k+ word monstrosities that devour the storage on my computer, forever incomplete masterpieces to ongoing works of art, you get the idea. i provided links for each fic/series for your reading pleasure. there will be no smutty/nsfw fics on this list, that’s just not my vibe lmao. this list goes in no particular order, and i’ll update it from time to time when i feel like it. now, without further ado, let us begin.

Heat Waves (complete) by tbhyourelame

(wtf else did you expect, looking at a dnf rec list?) amazingly well written, and while it’s not my favorite dnf fic it’s damn near close. in the midst of a brutal heatwave, a suffering dream comes to terms with the fact that he is desperately in love with his best friend. everything i could say about this fic has already been said by nearly everyone who’s read it, so if you haven’t yet caved into the hype, just go for it. you won’t be disappointed.

Gonna be around (completed) by georgescatcafe

(mc irl) my favorite dnf oneshot to date. just read it, i don’t wanna spoil for you :)

Inferno in the Sky (ongoing)by zairielon

(star wars au) an ongoing star wars au currently clocking in at almost 200k words. need I say more? everything about it absolutely slaps, each chapter is amazingly written, and it’s just good. also, can we just appreciate dream and tubbos dynamic in here? 10/10, amazing, must protecc. oh right, a summary: george, an exiled padawan turned engineer, must return to the jedi temple after attacks on it from an unknown assailant threaten the safety of himself and the other jedi.

Like Magic (ongoing) by KangarooKen, NotGra55 (Gra55)

(harry potter au) the unofficial official dnf harry potter au. we watch the young unlikely wizard pair grow up together throughout their years at hogwarts as they battle good old fashioned wizard racism. beautifully written, incredibly fun and suspenseful, and just an overall blast and a half.

GeorgeNotFound, Son of Poseidon, and the League of Minor Gods (ongoing) by Clichewho_69, Cygnvs, Trash_Kinggg

(percy jackson au) percy jackson au? check. “road trip” (technically quest but u get what i mean)? check. enemies to friends to lovers? check. this fic follows the plot of the lightning theif (albeit loosely), but everything is explained enough where you don’t have to read percy jackson to understand what’s going on. basically after moving to the usa, george gets taken to camp halfblood where he learns that a) gods exist. b) he’s the son of poseidon and c) he needs to prove that he didn’t steal zeus’s master bolt.

Protected (completed) by aenqua

(royalty/camelot au) my favorite piece of dnf media of all time. dubbed the official dnf camelot au, where dream is the heir to the throne and george is a servants son with a secret that couldp get him killed. these childhood friends grow up together and learn trust, love, and acceptance. (that summary did not justice to the masterpiece that is this fic) here’s the directors cut

The Hunter (completed) by HederEgo

(mc irl) a choose your own adventure fic with 13 different endings, where dream the hunter must kill george and stop him from beater the ender dragon. enough said.

The official dream team cowboy AU (series)(ongoing) by antsu_in_my_pantsu

(cowboy au) cowboys and outlaws horses and shit. and the big gay. it’s a cowboy au, what else did you expect? fucking yee haw (all seriousness this is a great read, i loved it so so so so much and i can’t wait for the final chapter to release).

This is a Drista moment, let's just accept it (completed) by Qekyo

dnf fic from drista pov. considering its unique perspective, it’s perfectly done. beautifully showcases a sibling relationship through drista and her memories/moments with dream, and it just works, y’a know? also drista supremacy.

Dear Dream (completed) by Qekyo

(wwii au) i don’t cry when watching/reading anything sad. translation: i’m a heartless bitch. however, this fic is the only exception. it caused me to cry so hard my mom walked in my room and asked if i was ok. ‘nuff said.

TECHNOlogical Wingman (completed) by Closeted_Bookworm

techno is the autocorrect ai on dreams phone, and he gains sentience. interesting concept, and the author fucking nailed it. great fic.

It Was Only a Fic (ongoing) by imagineitdear

dream starts reading a dnf fanfic (we’ve all been there buddy).

Teacher’s Pet (ongoing) by niyuha

(teacher au) in which dream is a high school english teacher and george is the new comp sci teacher in room 297.

Saltwater Secrets (ongoing) by earlgay_milktea

(mermaid/high school au) a great example of the shear amount of variety in fics this fandom has to offer. when i started reading dnf fics i would have never thought i’d find one about a mermaid george hopelessly crushing on his human friend, who happens to be his schools star swimmer. yet here i am, and i am far from disappointed.

Smash My Heart (incomplete) by dontrollthedice

george and sapnap are commentators for duper smash brothers tournaments, and george develops a crush on an up and coming smash streamer named dream.

roleplaying in the dark is harder than it seems (completed) by Alienu

laser tag. 10/10

solar system (completed) by quartzfia

(mc irl) george vists dream in pandora’s vault.

Ramblings of a Lunatic (completed) by jungkooksfic

ahh communicating through a notebook left on a shelf in a bookstore- what a perfect way to start a relationship.

Paint me like your French Girls (It's Charcoal, Actually) (completed) by Turtle_ier

(artist au) george is an art student, and dream is a model.

00:00:00 (completed) by isleofdreams

(soulmate au) 00:00:00 is the moment you meet your soulmate, as indicated but the clock ticking down on your wrist until the moment you meet. i’m not a fan of soulmate aus; this fic is the exception.

Blue Skies Smilin' At Me (completed) by kivy

(artist au) i don’t usually cry while reading stuff, but this brought me damn near close. george is a painting conservator and chats it is with the ghost of the artist if the painting he is working on. they fall in a love.

Current Location (incomplete) by hendollana

(influencer au) george simps for a hot american instagram model. who knew he’d actually follow back?

The Withering (series) (series ongoing, 1 work completed) by App1e_Juice

(mc irl) lore and world building and fight scenes and everything i crave. what’s not to love? something starts making the plants and crops around dreams village wither, and must team up with new friends to find the cause of the mysterious disease plaguing the land.

Minecraft, But You Can't Leave (complete) by facadecake

(mc irl) dream and george are sucked into their own private minecraft world together and must beat the game to escape.

Free The Game, Beat the End (incomplete) by goatgoatwasfound

(mc irl) a glitch in minecraft causes thousands of players from around the world to be trapped inside minecraft, with only one way of escape- beating the ender dragon. first dnf fic i ever read, and it’s still 10/10 for me.

Why don't you come a little closer? (completed) by lifeofandoms

george gets stood up by a date, and Dream pretends he’s the date to save george from the embarrassment. simply adorable.

lightning bug (completed) by saintachesP

(band au) while on tour, dream realizes his feeling for george.

Hold me closer (completed) by Treesofmyheart

(mc irl/dsmp) i just,, really like this trope.

Dizzy on caffeine (completed) by GleamingGreenGoggles

(coffee shop au) best dnf coffeeshop au i’ve read. periodt.

living a life of crime isn’t always easy (series) (completed) by itisjosh

(mafia/assassin au) stockholm syndrome except it’s not weird.

Inhibitions Make Interesting Situations (completed) by Ship_On_The_Sea

i pissed myself laughing. it’s just a dream and george being hilariously dense, flustered idiots. serotonin central.

thy eternal summer shall not fade (completed) by gracequills

(high school au) that moment when you recite shakespeare to your crush in your ap lit class instead of confessing (hate it when that happens).

All is Fair in love and Football (ongoing) by graciegirl2001

(college au) #1 favorite college au. in which george is a cheerleader, and dream is the football teams rising star player. this one gets extra points because of the amazing karlnap moments sprinkled throughout. *chefs kisses air*

online love (completed) by andbutso

(high school au) online classes go zoooooooom

Can’t help falling (completed) by isleofdreams

dream re-learns the guitar to sing to george on his birthday. beautiful. fluffy. amazing

dance in the rain and my arms (completed) by lazy_kitkat

george is a rain god, and dream is a wind god

Weather Boy (completed) by DaintyDiizzle

wouldn't you like to know, weather boy? (where dream can control the rain)

The color orange (completed) by anon

(mc irl) dream describes the colors of a sunset

Family Mode (completed)by Strawberry_flavoured_tears

they’re dads :,)

Breathing Room (incomplete) by papercranes

(band an) an amazing band au. the mad lad author wrote original songs for each chapter. above and beyond, mad props :). unfortunately, it’s incomplete

Piece of Clay (completed) by carbonbrine

(artist au) george is a sculptor and his sculpture comes to life- but oh no he’s hot.

Try (completed) by Not4typicalwriter

(royalty au) george must choose a suitor, but none of them are up to dream, his head knights, standards. or dream is hella jelly. also protective dream is perfect

When the Roses Bloom (completed) by HederEgo

(royalty au) close second for my favorite fic. go to royalty au for a quick serotonin bost. it’s all fluff and flowers and crushes, and i love it. criminally underrated.

Heavenstruck (ongoing) by dontrollthedice

george is dreams guardian angel, and dream want to find out more about him and his past life. bittersweet :,)

Bang and Burn (completed) by App1e_Juice

(spy au) george accidentally falls for target number 1 on sapnap’s secret agency’s hit list. this ones great, i love me a spy au :)

Can I get a uhh… (completed) by lemonskies

dream keeps pulling up to the drive through mcdonald’s that george works at drunk.

Pretty Stranger (completed) by anon

when looking for dream in the terminal, george sees a cute guy and decides to flirt.

Take my Hand (completed) by latinbias

(royalty au) another royalty au? poggers. surprise twists? double poggers. love this a lot.

seconds, minutes, hours, lifetimes (complete) by meridies

ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP *inhales to compose herself* roadtrip au. unrequited love, ignored feelings, longing, pining, you know the drill. absolutely love this one, its the best roadtrip au i have ever read, in any fandom. (maybe cause i identify with it a little too much, but thats not important. whats important is that you read this fic. right now. im waiting).

Message redacted (complete) by justyouraverageloser

(text fic) dream asks for a girls number and realises hes been given the wrong number. however, an unexpected relationship starts to form between him and the stranger on the other end of the line.

the waves (completed) by anon

(mc irl) this fic was written by the same anon who wrote the color orange, which is up there on my fav dnf oneshot list. dream and george know they have a higher purpose. they don’t know where they came from, or why they are seemingly the only humans in the world, or how they feel about eachother, or even where the skeletons come from, but they are sure of one thing: they have to beat a dragon.

The Dream Doll (completed) by PeppDream (Pep_Pizza)

(voodoo i guess) i’m a real big fan of fics with really out there or unique concepts, so naturally this one makes the cut! i really liked it, it’s really sweet and made me think a lot about what matters to me in the world. george finds a strange doll in an antique shop, and would really like to just stuff it in a drawer and forget about it. sadly (?), the doll has other plans.

last updated February 6th, 2021

[softestshadowgirl]

I feel like I see a lot of DC fans on here who are under the impression that Tim Drake is the most likely of all the Bat Kids to eventually quit being a vigilante and return to civilian life and I kind of wanted to talk about this because when you first hear this take it kind of tracks, but then when you actually have to think about it for a second it doesn’t make sense at all. Tim is the least likely in my mind to ever quit the game.

1. The thing with Tim as Robin is that in his earlier days he says that eventually he’ll quit Robin, when his work is done and his purpose in the role is served, but its kind of very clear that that is a lie he is telling himself, because when will his work be done? Under what circumstance or standards could that be judged? It’s really a very vague ending point for him to mark, and I’ve always felt like that was on purpose. The possible circumstances of Tim hanging up the cape are further solidified in YJ, when he is asked if he’d ever quit Robin, and he replied that he’d do it “in a heartbeat”, but then he clarifies that him quitting Robin would mean that there is no more people to help or save, that humanity has entered a Utopian society where vigilantes are no longer needed. This is confirmed the only situation under which he’d be willing to quit Robin. So yes, theoretically he’d quit, but in reality he’d NEVER quit Robin. The likelihood of there never being another person who needs saving and the world being at peace is far too low for it to be anything more than a hypothetical situation. It’s an impossible goal that he’s set for himself.

2. Tim Drake is different from the other Robins in that he CHOSE to become a vigilante. He had a perfectly normal civilian life. Two living parents. He decided for himself that he wasn’t satisfied with standing on the sidelines when Batman, and by extension Gotham, needed a Robin. He is the definition of the “Well, someone had to do it, might as well be me” mentality when it comes to helping people. As long as he is capable of helping I do not think he will ever be okay with sitting back and letting other people take care of the problems in the world. Additionally over the course of the comics he’s pretty much lost most of his civilian life, there’s not too much left for him to go back to although his relationship with Bernard might he changing that a little. His parents died, he dropped out of high school, lost contact with most of his civilian friends. Him choosing to become Robin actively made his life worse, despite gaining a new family with the bats he still lost so much, and had to grieve so many, even if some of them came back. He went through trauma he’d never have had to deal with he hadn’t gotten himself involved. And he still didn’t quit. Even after all that. For me that shows how absolutely determined he is to see things through, how committed to the mission he is.

From the beginning, Tim was never going to quit. Sure, he’s not like the other Robins in that he had a tragic backstory to propel him towards vigilantism, and he wasn’t born into a life of martial arts like Damian or Cass were, but he was never going to be someone who was okay with being a civilian. He knew too much, for one thing. He cared too much, for another. If Bruce Wayne’s Batman is about making sure that no one else has to suffer like he did, then Tim Drakes Robin is about doing what you can, simply because you are there to do it.

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E129 (March 16, 2021)

Tonight’s guests are Matt Mercer and Taliesin Jaffe!

Matt, on DMing Luc’s Revivify: “That was weird. It’s one thing when it happens because of player action and circumstances and the choices they make. When it’s entirely on me, unintentional, and just realizing different chess pieces you’ve set up, that’s rough.” It was especially rough since this was a child NPC related to a PC. “I was hoping somebody had a spell slot left.” He kept in mind that there are two clerics in the room and that they could resurrect the next day even if the Revivify went poorly. “A good chance, since it’s his first time. Okay, okay, okay, okay, I think we’ll be okay, we’ll see how this goes. It was really stressful in the moment! I did not set out to have that happen, but when I realized what was going to happen, I tried to see it through.” He wouldn’t have prevented a chance to bring him back. “There may have been an offshoot short-run series of games to find a way to bring him back. I would have found some way to correct the circumstance so the players could feel good about moving forward with the story and there was no undue punishment beyond their control.”

Taliesin on Cad’s response: “This is a big thing if you’re a cleric. It was very much coming in like an EMT. Everything should be fine... hopefully. Just focused in and got it done. The minute things started to go south it was like, okay, that’s the next problem.”

On Yeza’s feelings: “It is a very complicated situation. I think he, much like how Veth is trying to figure out what it is that she wants, I think he’s trying to help her find that while also figuring it out for himself. I think Yeza’s also noticing that because Veth’s the more active of the two of them she also takes the weight of the responsibility and the blame for things when they go wrong, unnecessarily. Especially when he himself acknowledges that he’s partially at fault for even dragging everyone in with the Conclave. As much as he’s appreciative for them coming back for him, there’s a lot of back and forth. He’s filled with a lot of regret, too, but he’s very much trying to convince Veth that it’s a burden that she doesn’t have to keep to herself, that they can share it and work through it together.” Matt mentions that, as an actor, he really loves exploring interactions between characters first and foremost. “Especially when you don’t know where it’s going to go.” He also praises Sam as a scene partner - “I really cherish that.”

How does Caduceus feel about Revivify and Speak with Dead? “Speak with Dead is an interesting middle ground, because he knows that it’s not actually speaking with the dead. It’s really just-- it’s almost medical, really. This is just reactivating a brain at a certain point. It’s practically just a muscle twitch at this point. That doesn’t really prod him in that direction. Revivify is interesting, because it had never really come up. At first I thought of it as bending the rules, but it’s not bending the rules. You knock over a plant, you replant it, you don’t stare at it and go ‘Well, that’s over.’ This is just doing the work. No, we can bring this thing back to health. This is all part of the circle of life, that sometimes we can save something. Especially given the stress that he’s put himself through over the past year of being with these people. He’s started to think of himself a bit as a battlefield medic, and triage is just part of the deal, and it’s completely acceptable.”

Did Trent really just want to talk? “Yeah, that circumstance, as it came together, Trent would never have arrived if there wasn’t an indication that there was some kind of infiltration or attack. Even beyond that, it was Jester breaking the concentration on her charm on that one guard when she created her duplicate.” The guards’ job is to inform a member of the Cerberus Assembly, and Trent lived the closest. “He didn’t know who it was, didn’t have any expectation necessarily. The minute he saw the illusion, he knew a powerful magic user was involved.” Seeing Caleb was an unexpected surprise. “I don’t think he wanted to throw down necessarily. He was more interested in figuring out exactly what the nature of this was.” Matt had multiple battlemaps that didn’t get used. “They managed to cleverly out-maneuver him in his surprise of seeing them.” The Nein rocketed up his priority list after that very quickly. Taliesin: “We’re so fucked.”

On Cad being “Uncle Caduceus” to Luc: “It’s the thing he misses most about home, is being a juvenile shit. It’s nice to be able to express that part of him again, as opposed to the serious, life-threatening, constant intensity. I’m very at home just being a little difficult.”

Cosplay of the Week: an amazing Beau! (_rumor_king, photography by kourtyardproductions on Instagram)

On Marion: “Like a lot of people in this whole narrative from the beginning, getting swept up in things larger than her and trying to adapt. This is a circumstance she’s avoided for a long time. She’s having a rough time in some ways, but simultaneously, she’s enduring. Like a mother would. She’s adapting, she’s making it work. Without much of a choice, you just kind of do the best you can and lean on the people around you to help you where they can. Luckily she has a daughter there. She’s probably surprising herself at how well she’s doing given the circumstances.” Matt talks about how weird it is to feel proud of character he’s created. “Of the many things Marion is incredible at, she’s a studier of the human condition. She’s seen and heard the stories of so many. That gives her a very special perspective. She can see elements of that fractured individual within Caleb, and knowing the good that he’s brought to his friends, and knowing he’s possibly saved her life from bad circumstances, she couldn’t not speak up. She very easily falls into that role of maternal comforter, because it’s one of the many things she’s really good at, she enjoys it, and she can see well when people need it.” He’s been enjoying having Marion along for this (despite the difficult circumstances) because he was always a little sad that they only got to see her for short periods of time.

On the Blooming Grove’s safety: “He’s afraid that it’s a premonition. He’s not pinned it down, but he’s happy to let his imagination wander. He at the very least feels like there’s a reason he’s having these thoughts, and that there’s a reason to go there. He’s a big believer that these things don’t just happen. He’s more likely to think that there’s a good reason to go versus a danger to go. He’s had a couple of ominous warnings lately, and he’s not used to them and not a fan. He’s more likely to read something like that as, there is something there waiting for you that you have to discover. There is something that is going to be helpful to you, even if it hurts.”

On Astrid: “While maybe not as readable in overall personality as Trent is, I still want to be careful to not discuss things that are still being discussed within the game and tossed around as possibilities. Astrid is another complicated character, as anyone would be who’s been through the life she has. I can’t say too much. I can say she’s definitely legitimately happy to see Bren/Caleb after all this time.” His reemergence definitely caught her off guard. “We’ll have to see where it goes from there.”

On Cad’s successful Divine Intervention: “He’s definitely hit the ‘on a mission from god’ stage. He’s been that way for the entire campaign of, this, this is what I’ve been waiting for. Even when it sucks a lot, it’s been nice that those things have popped up to remind him, no, no, you’re doing it right, everything’s good. Probably not going to survive the next week, but you’re doing good! Not quite 1 in a 100 chance, but I forget so often to make that roll, and it’s such a great roleplaying roll. I don’t know how at level 20 you could deal with the fact that you can do that every day.” 

On Zeenoth getting his comeuppance: the kidnapping was a concept Marisha brought up for Beau’s backstory, and Matt went with it even though it was opposed to the Cobalt Soul’s philosophy because he knew rooting it out would make for an interesting story. “I felt it was an important beat to bring to her, because it was something that she was wronged by. And to show that there are still some good people out there who are trying to make things right.” After the tentative peace, dealing with this became Dairon’s next focus. “I was glad we finally got to it. So many people don’t have the opportunity in their lives to get that sort of justice and vindication, so if I can bring elements of that justice into our world, even for our own hope, I’m going to do that. Especially for my wife’s character, especially for a character that deserves that.” Taliesin points out that if it had come too early, Beau wouldn’t have believed it.

Cad’s thoughts on the Tomb Taker betrayal? “He knew it was gonna come at some point. There was no way that was gonna last. He was hoping it was gonna last a little longer. He was really hoping they had a vested interest in getting them all the way to the end. Nope, this is apparently as far as we go, and he was not prepared for that.” He was expecting the potential for de-escalation. “Caduceus is the only character in there that doesn’t have a history with Lucien. I think he sees him a little more clearly than everybody else does. They’re all looking for this person that Clay, at least, is of the opinion that he’s just not there. This is a very manipulative, very dangerous infernal human. Just smarter than all of them. Really aware that there is no calculating what the hell is going to happen. Conversation is the only way you can deal with someone like that.”

Fan Art of the Week: An amazing Caleb closeup! (rynn_birb on Twitter)

Taliesin on Lucien: “I’m excited he’s the one that’s going to kill us all. Poetic that this is how the game ends.” Matt was delighted when Taliesin handed him carte blanche to do what he wanted with Molly’s past. “I was like ‘shit... oh, wait!’ The character of Lucien was always intended to be an antagonist so that it would have been Molly being chased by the person who wanted their body back. But then it happened that he got his body back.” Taliesin: “He’s so much worse than I ever hoped.”

Matt, on the Holy Avenger: “I hadn’t thought to initially even give that sword.” The good roll was the only reason Kima handed that over. “Well, sure, you get the sword. It was very reactionary, it wasn’t my intent originally. I was like, well, I mean, there’s two avenues she can take with this.” Multiclass into Paladin, or lean into the fact that her subclass is essentially a barbarian paladin. “This really works out in a uniquely beautiful way. Let me see if I can lay out a path for her to earn it.”

On Cad’s attempt at lying blowing up in his face: “He was like that kid that had a really bad day in high school and was like, you know what? I’m going to let loose. This is it. I’m gonna dye a streak in my hair. And then tries to give himself a haircut and ends up with half bangs. Well, okay, obviously I’m not that person. I was feeling a little distraught and I didn’t handle it well. Maybe I’m going dark... no, I’m not going dark. Nope.” Matt mentions how much he relates to Caduceus.

Matt, on the Eyes: “What can I tell you? I’m enjoying the hell out of it. The moment they began to really push to read that book, I was like, okay, this is on you. I’m excited for the point in the narrative where the march continues back to Eiselcross. I am almost impatient - not really - because we’re on the cusp of getting to more of the meat. There’s so much to learn, so much to see, so much to explore. I love instilling my players with absolute terror.”

Thoughts on Jester’s Tarot reading? Taliesin cackles. “Molly made the cards, so. Did it to himself, he did, he did.” Matt: “Once again, another example of things working out unexpectedly and too perfectly for an improvised moment. Fuck.” Taliesin: “Bless the wisdom of chaos.” Matt: “I love that even at this point in the campaign, Molly continues to fuck with people. I’m just so proud. That deeply shook Lucien, for reasons.” Taliesin: “It’s the everlasting gobstopper smoke bomb.”

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

hi yes im still alive

DON’T MIND ME, I’M JUST--

HAVING A MOMENT TO PROCESS ALL THE LORE AND STORY CHAPTER 6 JUST DROPPED ON US, I CAN BARELY WRITE

AHHHHHHH, I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS 😭 kjdbbaufbiafafvoaybo LEMME PUT ON MY THINKING CAP AND THROW SOME STUFF OUT ASDYUBUASDLI;AGVUOQIB;VI You’ll understand why I used Leona’s face here even though it’s Idia and Ortho’s chapter after you read my thoughts--

***Chapter 6 (and other main story) spoilers below the cut!***

Okay, just to keep it simple, I’ll try to keep things in chronological order!

First is a bullet point list of my thoughts on chapter 6 so far, then all my questions and theories (mostly a biggish theory on Ace) are at the end of the post.

Expectation: Idia cowering in his room, Vil and Rook busting down his door using Epel as a battering ram, dead Ortho theory confirmed

Reality: SWAT TEAM RAID ON NRC, DORM LEADERS (sans Kalim) AND JAMIL GET KIDNAPPED

Admittedly, I’m disappointed to see that the injury Grim inflicted to MC was basically just a cat scratch and nothing more. I thought it would be a lot more impactful if MC had to deal with juggling the realization that Grim has betrayed their friendship and trust while also on the verge of death (or at least while being severely injured)... And given how MC reacted to the attack at the end of chapter 5, I would think whatever struck them was much more substantial than just a cat scratch. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say either the script got scrubbed by Disney, or the intent was that MC was still woozy from VDC / OB Vil, MC felt so betrayed that it shook them emotionally, or that MC was just that weak by default that they can’t defend themselves against cat claws.

Hey, Ramshackle’s finally getting renovated! Proceeds to immediately get destroyed again--

I feel like????????? They tried to retroactively explain why Neige won to try and mitigate the uproar over how VDC ended. There’s some dialogue between the VDC group about how they didn’t perform at their peak because of having just walked out of dealing with OB Vil, and how Neige’s fans were going to vote for him anyway because they resonated with his background. Honestly, I think they should have moved on from that sore spot instead of bringing it up again, even if how chapter 5 ended didn’t personally bother me.

BOOM, HERE COME THE TWST TERMINATORS--

NOT GONNA LIE, THOSE STYX GUYS LOOK HOT SO COOL

AAAAAAND IT’S KIDNAPPING MONTAGE TIME, KIDS

JOABSFHUPAUABDBADB CALM DOWN, RIDDLE??????? YOU’RE GOING TO COMMIT ARSON IN BROAD DAYLIGHT--

Okay, I know this chapter’s focused on Ignihyde and Grim, but the standout part to me (so far) has been the scene where Leona’s being kidnapped. Historically, Leona has not been a character that I like (excluding that one time I had to pretend to like him for a game). I feel like he’s one massive missed opportunity (he didn’t show up much in chapter 2, he’s pretty similar backstory-wise to his Disney counterpart compared to the other Dorm Leaders, he didn’t seem to learn anything or become a better person even a LITTLE after chapter 2, etc.). I’m not a fan of his lazy and arrogant attitude either (even if it is justified by his backstory). But here? THIS IS THE LEONA I ACTUALLY LIKE AND WANT TO SEE MORE OF. 

LIKE????? I CAN’T DESCRIBE TO YOU HOW MUCH I LIKE THIS SCENE???? Yeah, we have Leona fighting STYX at first, but as soon as he realizes who they are, he wises up and surrenders because he knows better than to resist arrest. AND NOT ONLY THAT, but he uses King’s Roar in a smart way--to turn the falling greenhouse glass panes into sand so they don’t hurt anyone nearby (namely him and Ruggie).

And after he turns himself in????? LEONA TELLS RUGGIE TO TAKE CARE OF SAVANACLAW FOR HIM!!! THIS is what a real leader would do. He looks after himself and his people, but he knows when to surrender, AND he leaves his “kingdom” (the dorm) in good hands while he’s away. THIS is the Leona I want to see.

AJBDUASHPFBUABFIABIYFBIPFAAFIAF I ALSO REALLY LIKE HIS SASS WHEN HE JUST THROWS HIS HANDS UP AND ASDBIASBIABAIODDAYOFAIPPADAIDB SAYS “I’ll go with you, but be careful while escorting me, okay? Despite my looks, I'm a precious prince. I’ll get sick/dizzy if you drive recklessly.” SARCASTIC SASSY SMARTASS??????? IF YOU HAD MORE LINES LIKE THIS, I’D LIKE YOU MORE

I love how Azul’s still talking about capitalism/how he can profit from Idia (apparently the Shrouds are like the TWST equivalent of Google??????) as he’s being escorted away by the agents?????? IF I WERE HIM, I’D BE PISSED OFF THAT THEY INTERRUPTED MY BOARD GAME????? At least let the man finish first--

Damn, everyone’s being tasered???????? And apparently all the STYX agents are equipped with anti-magic plates? I guess Bind the Heart can just eat shit then--

Lilia’s ringtone is cute, period.

CROWLEY CALLED STYX TO CAPTURE GRIM???? GRIM IS OFFICIALLY A SCP THAT NEEDS TO BE CONTAINED????

WAIT WHAT CROWLEY’S BEING KIDNAPPED TOO??????? Oh well, the school is probably safer in Trein’s hands anyway--

askhlbfbilhidbabbidasb RIDDLE WAKES UP POST KIDNAPPING AND HE’S USING LEONA AS A LAP PILLOW?????!

How does it feel to be held in a room against your will, Jamil? Yeah, don’t like a taste of your own medicine, do you?

OH HI IDIA, NICE YZMA MAD SCIENTIST GETUP YOU GOT THERE

Wait, what????? THAT’S IT?????? SERIOUSLY???????

MAN.

I have so many questions??????? Specifically about STYX and what they do, and how the Shrouds are tied into all of it.

So they say STYX is a specialized unit called in to quell serious Overblot cases. And if Crowley called them to deal with Grim... well, bad times ahead for Grim. STYX has also been studying Overblot for a long time, which is why (I think?) they captured Riddle, Leona, Azul, Jamil, and Vil. 

There’s been some allusions made between Grim and Stitch in a lot of fan art and fan theories I’ve seen, since their struggles have some parallels: that being them struggling to decide if they are “good” or “bad”. I don’t know if this was intentional on the part of the TWST writing team, but regardless, it’s a really good concept that plays into the themes of TWST itself. There’s no good, there’s no evil, no black and white--most of the characters we see may be BASED on villains, but that doesn’t MAKE them villains. They are good, and bad, in their own ways--and now Grim is dealing with that crisis as he fights to keep his sanity and avoid completely succumbing to Overblot.

Though Idia seems to be involved with STYX’s research, it doesn’t sound like he personally gave the order to retrieve those test subjects (or at the very least, he’s not happy about roughing up the test subjects), it sounds like the orders came from other people in the organization. His parents, perhaps?

They mention briefly that Idia’s parents are asking him to “come home”, so it must be for something urgent. Are they worried about his safety? But Idia’s lines at the end of chapter 5 lead me to think he is estranged from his family, since he straight up rejected a job offer linked to them (Olympus Corp is owned by the Jupiter family, and the Shrouds are a branch family of Jupier), and says something like “I’m not welcome anywhere”. Has Idia done something to disgrace him from the rest of the family? Or is it more of a self imposed/self inflicted statement, given that he always says he’s “cursed” and acts like he’s guilty of something that deserves scorn?

Why is Idia participating in STYX research, even if it means experimenting on his fellow students (and fellow board game enthusiast Azul)? People are speculating that he wants to use blots to fully revive Ortho (if dead Ortho theory is true), or that Idia actually has heroic intentions (he wants to know more about blots to prevent OBing from happening?), but at this point??? Literally anything could happen?!

In future parts, I’m guessing Pomefiore, MC, and Adeuce will team up to break Jamil and the Dorm Leaders (except Malleus, Malleus got left out again www) out? And HOPEFULLY we get to see Rook’s Unique Magic or at least more screen time, since I feel like he got so little in chapter 5... Another thing I’d like to see is Ace and/or Epel getting their Unique Magic, or at least starting to develop it. It’s really mostly Ace I want more details for.

A theory I’ve been holding onto for a long time is that Deuce getting his UM will spur Ace on to become jealous (since he has always seen Deuce as an idiot/”lesser” than him), and that will cause a rift in the friendship, or for Ace to throw himself into a dangerous situation to prove himself (he has done it before with Riddle)... and has his ass rescued again. This would make Ace even angrier, since he feels like everyone is treating him like a little kid or rubbing it in that he isn’t “as good” as they are. I don’t know where it would go from there (I’m sure TWST would get creative), but ultimately it would culminate in Ace making amends with everyone and rushing in to save them from either Grim or Idia OB.

I don’t think Ace would discover his UM in a similar manner as Deuce (Deuce had to embrace his own stubbornness and straightforwardness, but as the term “Unique” Magic implies, the way a magic develops and manifests is “unique” to the user). While Deuce has to learn to accept his own way of thinking, I believe Ace is already sure of his own way of thinking and has totally accepted it. I think what Ace has to deal with instead is coming to terms with his fickleness. We’ve seen him time and time again treating his loved ones kind of callously, from constantly bullying MC, Grim, and Deuce to ghosting his own girlfriend and flaking on people when they are counting on him to do a task.

The issue with Ace isn’t that he isn’t aware, it’s that he is aware and he seems to think this behavior is totally okay. He demonstrates little to no remorse in what he does and says, and he doesn’t seem to care about the consequences either (how many times does he get punished by Riddle, yet he keeps doing the same dumb things over and over?). Ace appears to operate under the mindset of always being in the right, or (if he’s in the wrong), he won’t really acknowledge it, or he will wave it off as “no big deal”--and I think that’s his greatest weakness.

In the scenario I described earlier, I mentioned that Ace’s jealousy will cause a wedge between him and his friends, and I think this will play into him realizing the error of his ways. When he has finally driven away all of the people that supported him, what will he have left? Nothing. Then maybe Ace suddenly finds himself relating to Idia, or to Grim, who have Overblotted and are in a similar emotional state as he is. Confused and lonely... and that energizes him to pitch in again, even if all he has is wind magic up his sleeve. Everyone could be shocked that Ace has returned, and in that moment, he could finally realize his true potential and unlock his Unique Magic!

(Maybe that’s too specific, but that’s a scenario that I’ve had playing in my head for a long time!)

... Buuuuut given that Ace has gotten little to no spotlight so far in chapter 6, I’m not sure if they’ll lean into him developing his UM yet (unless they pull a chapter 5 and really start addressing Ace in the latter half of the chapter like they did with Deuce). Seeing as chapter 6 is dealing with a lot of heavy topics (death, Grim lore, Overblot lore), I’m thinking maybe the TWST team will push off Ace’s UM development to chapter 7???? The only way I can see it happening in chapter 6 is if the chapter is SUPER long, or if the writing is REALLY good or really bad. 

Anyway, I’m keeping my fingers crossed!!! I’m so excited for the rest of chapter 6... I hope that we don’t have to wait too long for it!