#all of them have seen some variation of war

[c-h4nn]

Hi ! I was wondering something that you’ve might’ve already answered but I’m new to your blog, why don’t you ship Mizrak and orlox? As someone who’s middle eastern I’ve always assumed mizrak was some sort of middle eastern Christian that moved to France bc of imperialism. (I assumed he was Palestinian or Lebanese/ any of the Levantine area). I love how you draw orlox and his lover!! Also if you’re not comfortable with this pls don’t respond!

I don't like mizrox for a mix of personal, historical, and canon reasons. I'll break each one down as succinctly as I can below!

I am from a tribe with a long and hostile period of contact with Spanish Catholic conquistadors and settlers. There's a couple hundred years there. Refer to don Juan de Oñate's mission to colonize and convert New Mexico, the Pueblo Revolt, the entirety of the Spanish period of the Navajo Wars, Spanish scorched earth campaigns and slave raids, and Massacre Cave. I am also descended from a Hwéeldi (Long Walk) survivor, as many Diné are. Hwéeldi was a continuation of the Navajo Wars and was meant to fragment, relocate, assimilate, and exterminate my tribe. I am further a grandchild of Catholic residential school survivors. As a result of those schools, no one in my immediate family speaks Diné bizaad or practices our traditions. You can see why I'm not fond of Christianity, especially Catholicism.

The colonization of the U.S. Southwest was an extension of Spain's conquest of Central America. This is what Olrox would have endured. He would have seen these Spanish Catholic conquistadors bring European-born diseases and decimate the Indigenous population. Across the Americas, around 90% of all Indigenous people were killed, owing mostly to disease. He would have seen the collapse of the Aztec empire and Tenōchtitlan, his home, at the hands of Cortés, and how it was looted and buried under a cathedral and Spanish monuments. He would have seen the implementation of the encomienda system, which aimed to convert and subdue the Indigenous peoples, killing thousands upon thousands and crushing Indigenous traditions. Did you know that in the Maya area, due to a libricide enacted by Spanish Catholic priests, only four Maya codices remain? This doesn't even touch on the similar destruction that settler-colonialism and Christianity left on the rest of North America, which Olrox also would have witnessed. I could go on for ages. Nothing could ever, ever summarize how utterly devastating the colonization of the Americas was in the name of God, Gold, and Glory.

And then for Mizrak to spit the same genocidal rhetoric at Olrox that he has undeniably heard for nearly 300 years? When the gears of colonization turn on the dehumanization, eradication, and erasure of Indigenous peoples, for Mizrak to say "You're an animal which lost its soul centuries ago"? For him to blame savagery for the genocide of Olrox's people and the death of his past lover? For the writers and for Mizrak to make Olrox into a villainous seducer (the snake tempting the forbidden fruit) when Indigenous people have long been cruelly stereotyped to be sexually promiscuous and dangerous to Christian purity? For Mizrak to uphold Christianity and preach it in the face of an Indigenous man who lost everything to it, who dared to open up about this haunted past, believing Mizrak to be a good enough man and Christian to understand?

I regrettably don't know enough of Middle Eastern history to contextualize Mizrak's own character better, nor has the show really given the fans much to work with. But regardless of Mizrak's background, he is Christian, and he uses his religion and a colonial perspective against Olrox, who has already been resisting this for centuries. I'm weary of "Olrox can fix him!" or "It's Mizrak's religious trauma! Let them be happy!" or any other variation where Olrox is a tool to help Mizrak reconcile with his sexuality and religion. We get an interesting Indigenous character whose story could easily stand alone, and he instead becomes a platform for the Christian man.

So, I'd much rather think about Olrox and his past lover!

[thesauce8]

i always hate when people say thag the uchihas are more sensitive because theyre predisposed to mental illness as if theyre dramatic or respond disjointedly from their circumstances. im inclined to say theyre some of the only characters who behave believably in accordance with their trauma. like sasuke was literally psychologically tortured when he was 13. do we think thats gonna turn someone into a football loving go getter? they use characters whose trauma barely gets shown as a standard when its not that the uchiha are dramatic but that naruto just doesnt get much focus on the trauma that he should undeniably have.

[acepalindrome]

Alternatives to Squishmallow

So as many of you have probably already heard, Jazwares, the company that produces Squishmallows, is donating to charities that support Israeli soldiers and the IDF. They’re also supporting Canary Mission, which has been doxxing people who speak out against Israel. BDS hasn’t called for a boycott against them, but I can’t in good faith spend my money on their products, and I would strongly encourage everyone who enjoys plushies to really think long and hard about if you want to give your money to a company that’s helping support genocide!

But the holidays are coming up, and lots of us enjoy plushies and were fans of Squishmallow, and were planning to give Squishmallows to friends and family this year.

Fortunately, there are a number of great plushie companies out there, and I want to promote some of my favorites in the hopes that folks will get their plushie fix from a source that doesn’t side with Israel. So without further ado:

Fluffnest

Fluffnest got their start on Kickstarter a few years ago, and I adore the round shapes of their PuffPal plushies! My favorite is Pete the Possum, which is probably the best possum plush I’ve ever seen. I’ve also got a beautiful moth from their Kickstarter and I’ve been wanting their bats for ages. They also recently had a Kickstarter for an Animal Crossing-esque video game featuring their plushie characters and it looks fantastic.

Squishables

I can’t get over the plague doctor plushies. They’re so perfect and cute, and they’ve released other variations of them called Alter Egos, like a ghostly version, an alien, or a really sweet cottagecore one! They’ve got a ton of variety, but what I like the most are the fantasy plushies. There’s a lich! There are dragons and demons! Cryptids! Biblically accurate angels! A lot of really fun stuff!

Also they do a lot of great charity work! Right now they’re doing an auction for the Food Bank of New York City.

AfternoonFika

AfternoonFika is a very small business of only three people, but their plushies are extremely cute. They tend to sell out fast, so I recommend following them on social media to stay on top of any restocks! They recently released a line of dinosaurs that are precious, and of course I love their iconic cactus cat and cinnamon bun bunny.

Jellycat

Jellycat has been around since 1999, so they’re the oldest of these companies. They’ve got great designs, a ton of variety, and a lot of their plushies are made to be cuddled on and not just displayed. All three of my tiny nephews sleep with a different stuffed dog from Jellycat. My mom has a sun and several succulents that she uses as decorations. There’s a little something for everyone who enjoys plushies!

If you have any other favorite companies I haven’t mentioned, feel free to add on! I’ve enjoyed Squishmallows for a while now and I’m sad to see their leadership coming out on the side that’s committing war crimes on a daily basis, but this is a good time to discover new favorite plushie companies! And remember, money speaks loudly. Even if BDS hasn’t called for a boycott of Jazwares, it sends a message when sales start dropping for companies that support genocide. It’s a small thing, but the little things we do can add up!

[vethale]

Incoming Marble Sky theory about the Marmors' origin planet and more! Spoilers ahead!

I think if we ever get to see their original planet, it might be a dark place (literally and metaphorically), with hives or cities built within ant-like cave systems. Their society also seems to work like those of ants with a queen (Moon), workers and drones.

I think the fact that the Marmors use a form of ecolocation rather than our traditional eyesight might imply that on their original planet, sight as we know it is not a viable option. Their planet might either have little to no light, making eyes redundant, or too much, which would also cause the same problem. I think their fur coloring might also be proof of this, as they seem to display bright colors with no patterns. (Patterns usually help animals, especially predators, blend into their environment, because a blotch of a single color is usually easy to spot). However, there is also a possibility that their coloring might be a result of them becoming the dominant species: We see this with domesticated animals- think cows or cats, with white patches of fur, that make them easier to spot. When colors no longer affect their survival, new color variations tend to pop up.

I also think the fact that they are bipedal (with tails) also tells us that like humans, they might have started walking on all fours and then went up. This allows the brain to become larger, because the neck can hold up more weight, boosting their intelligence. Animals that walk on all fours are usually limited in this aspect because the neck muscles do all the work, so their heads can't get heavier.

The existence of tails might imply that those are still required for balancing purposes. Humans used to have tails but we kinda didn't need them and they went away, but the tail bone still exists. The fact that Marmors still needed them might imply that they still had to climb a lot in their original planet - maybe they live on trees (there's some ants that build their hives hanging from them! Super cool tbh) or they build their homes on cliffs/mountains.

I personally think them living in mountains or cave systems is the more likely option. In the comic we have already gotten the comparison with ants, who tend to build their little hives with tunnel systems going in all directions. This would make their tails useful for climbing, as well as their special eyesight and connections useful for navigating the hive. I mean, a connection like the one we have seen in the latest update is not only useful for hunting but also for their hives, as they can quickly figure out where more "manpower" is needed vs where there's already enough of them in one place.

Also, they have both sharp claws and teeth. Obviously those teeth are stylized in the comic, but they seem very very sharp. Definitely made for ripping and shredding. So it's very likely that the Marmors are obligate carnivores, meaning that, unlike dogs or bears, they can ONLY eat meat. I mention this because those claws would also be useful for hunting and disabling prey BUT connecting this to the cave system theory: Those claws are big and sharp, whoch might also be useful for digging. The giant anteater, for example, has some seriously sharp claws. This thing does NOT hunt other animals, besides ants and termines lmao, but uses those sharp claws to dig into the really hard ground. And those claws are SHARP, boy. They use them regularly to wars off and ERASE jaguargs. Yes, jaguars. So maybe these sharp claws might be tools AND weapons for the Marmors, useful for deleting your prey and digging into the ground!

Going back to the ant comparison: ants society usually has a queen, her simps, and the worker ants. The queen lays the eggs. If those are fertilised by the male drones, they become female workers but if not, they become male drones (the simps lmao). Ecliptica mentions that she is tall because she is a female AND the center of their network. Obviously these are aliens, but I think we can draw parallels: she might be their queen, the only one that reproduces -which would also explain their "children belong to everyone and noone" attitude"- while the rest might simply be the workers. I say workers, even if they are male, because I think the drones might actually be something else. We have seen smaller Marmors like Shepherd's assistants. Now, they might just be small or younger, BUT they could also be the lower ranking drones.

So, to sum up: I think Marmors come from a planet with little light, where they build their hives/societies in ant-like cave systems, digging into the ground. They might also have an ant-like society, that revolves around their queen, the workers and the lower ranking drones, where everyone but the queen is a male.

[the-moon-files]

so... my interpretation of guide!reader may be vastly different from others but with my vast assimilation of yours and others content, this is my variation of the one I like envisioning involving concepts such as yours (Humans are NOT Hylians and Guide!Reader) so this is my official start to the ramblings *DEEP INHALE*

when I read the post about reader losing their sord and just punching the monsters and it is working along with the other links being amazed

I imagine that because of the fact that hylian's are so light that they didn't put that much into the growth of physical arts

they can punch and kick fine but that's more so used for scraps agents one another, rather than in fights against monsters

hylian's don't have enough strength or weight to have it be worth it on the battlefield

its much more worth their time and energy to learn things like swordsmanship or artery, and be nimble

but guide dose have: the muscle, weight, durability and training necessary for such a strategy to be worth it

It would be more effective for the reader to use the Muay Thai and Taekwondo they worked so hard on instead of learning something new

_*looking respectfully

I can imagine that this levees them beater of physically than most (*cough* me *cough*)

leveeing them much more prepared

along with giving them a lot more... muscle...

Link's(-wind):... please crush me between your thighs

Guide!Reader: what?

Link's(-wind): what.

I know that it has been said that reader is shorter than time, but I personally like them slightly bigger than time

you know... forehead kissing rang

so it's only slightly less awkward to pick them up

I think their deep honey like voice could be compared to their slightly dark honey-colored eyes

someone like legend would appreciate how their eyes turn golden in the sun light, shining like no ring on his finger

Hyrule loves how they feel different from the cold sweetness of sugar water, instead they feel like rich honey and warm cinnamene

wild remembers them as there very first true companion and comfort

to wars, an immovable force, never leveeing their side

that's all I have fore now, but be warned...

I'll be back!

and I'm putting them in a dress (:<

AHH SORRY FOR LATE REPLY U HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH IVE BEEN HOGGING THIS TO MYSELF

Martial arts reader/Mc my beloved <333

U sent in ART TOO??!!!! 😭🙏

i love stuff like this sm ur style is so 😳💌💘💝💖💓💞💕❤️‍🔥🙈

The bit abt hylians not needing as much/making intricate martial arts/making their body be the weapon is so peak worldbuilding, if i had an official stamp to say smth is canon in my little HaNH AU (Humans are Not Hylians) i would stamp this 10x over

Acc u know what one sec

Since u made art, have some shitty meme art in return

LMAO its shitty but i hope u know it is the biggest support i can give you, like GOD the ART i keep coming back and Also. Looking Respectfully.

And this is the biggest thank you i could give for sharing this w/me!!

Ok spam headcanons?? Sorta

CONTENT WARNINGS: MILDLY SUGGESTIVE? CONTENT, 16+/18+ MATURER AUDIENCES RECOMMENDED.

COULD YOU IMAGINEEEEE

How the Hylians view Wrestling.

Like, your knuckles/elbows/knees (the parts where thers not as much fat to protect) start to bleed punching armored monsters/arms get tired and you just-

Wrap ur legs around a lynels neck and spin around their neck, using your body weight to drag and lay that bitch Out.

(This is a Real Martial Arts move Ive fucking seen a gif of hold on i NEED to find it- FUCK i cant find it but try youtube and see if yall can find it, its So Real i promise, it was on tumblr at one point)

Who's swooning? Not all 8 Links, nope-

Links, externally (+Wind genuinely): Hahaha, u can crush a watermelow open between ur thighs?? Omg thats so cool- !! 😃

Links, internally (-wind): omfTRIPLEGODDESSES- DID U SEE THAT?? IT WASNT JUST ME RIGHT??? SO WE ALL LOWKEY WANNA,, RIGHT??? 🙊😶🙈😳😳😳(Making eye contact w/each other and communicating this silently, everyone going super red/turning away/ears twitching)

Wind makes you do like another 4 watermelons bc its genuinely so impressive to him (does he think its hilarious to watch the others get all embarassed? Hell yeah- what else are little brothers supposed to do??)

Okay but OG asker/Snack Eater DID NOT emphasize how insane a Muay Thai fighter in HaNH AU would go???

If u dont know, Muay Thai is DEADLY-DEADLY kinda martial arts, like it has been considered assault with a deadly weapon before i think/been banned a lot of other fighting places outside its country of origin? I think its Thailand?

Anyway Thailand is fucking crazy for not having a higher rate of murders acredited to this martial art, bc guys, they use Elbows and Knees in their moves.

Like. That's banned/outright no moves created/or at least taught, a lot of the time in other martial arts from diff places.

Like that kills people. So easily. 😃

Like, the Chain already knows ur deadly, but when u reveal (having done the Honorable/Give Them A Fair Chance Thing) and not used Elbows or Knees yet, only to get into the harder enemies like boss fights and suddenly get real close (!!! What are you doing Guide Back Up-!!)

And whip out an elbow, crack the motherfucker straight in the head, and watch the thing immediately flatline right before their eyes??

Its like seeing a biblically accurate angel descend.

Like their in awe, but also scared? But its also like feeding into the awe?? Jaws have dropped.

U tell them that Elbows and Knees are even banned back home, and every single Link is like "Understandable. Obviously. But also, oh my goddess?? A move even the Humans banned?? Bc its so deadly???"

Wind: "..."

Wind: "...hey. Can you kill Gods? ...Can you kill Ganon?"

(The entire Chain goes silent in shock before exploding into Exsistential Crisis Mode, it takes Time/Wars like 5 minutes to recover from this information/experience enough to get up and calm everyone down lmao)

ALSO???

On a completely diff note-

Shorted Links, Taller Guide Reader my beloved?? <<<3333

Oh i def been leaning towards some Links are taller bc i think the imagery of you picking them up easily is funny (what can i say I live to embarass/try and fluster Time/Twi)

But you being taller?? Sign me tf up babe I have NOTHING against that, and am ALL for it????

Like u go thru a triangle portal/wake up from playing Loz and the Links are all shorter than you?? blessings rain down upon us like????

Twi/Time/Wars (who i headcanon as the tallest Links, in that order, along with Sky when he stops slouching lol)

And for Twilight to just be forehead kissing height?!

(He might've realized he's got a thing for lowkey feeling like worshipping ppl taller than him, bc other than the few humans who did live in Ordon, he was the tallest Hylian)

Time adores looking up at you, like u swear you saw his ears flapping a little

Wars is just,, 😀😳👉👈🥺 h-hey

Like flirting is infinitely harder when theyre a head taller than you, the poor Captain has found

(Yknow bc im personally 5"3, or abt 160cm, i think itd be even funnier if no matter what height you are, ur still taller than the tallest Hylians LMAO, Four our here actually being 3-4 ft tall like hobbits lol)

Omg (i know, i PROMISE, i KNOW) that its not canon at all, but i think itd be funny if the hylians most common hair color was blonde/most common eyecolor was blue/green,

And its rarer for ppl to have brown eyes/dark hair

Like the opposite of a lot of American beauty standards, ur seen at the Y/N, the main character for having darker features

(Lowkey inlcuding skin tone bc, and this is canon, have u seen the skin tone diversity historically for Loz games lmao 😅)

Ok im done sorry for rambling

Thanks again for this!!

___ TW: Hurricane Helene talk below ____

Fair Warning: I WILL NOT be tolerating any condescending/hateful or otherwise negative responses about the effects of Hurricane Helene.

People have died. Myself/my friends/my family/my coworkers have been affected. Be respectful.

You will be blocked/possibly reported for hate speech.

This was like Hurricane Katrina for us, because these areas were NOT prepared for hurricanes.

Those most affected are Mountain communities, we're supposed to have more mild weather, and the last time this happened according to older locals was decades ago, if then.

...

Hey!! If u read my tags of my last reblog, im doing better, we got back to town and realized our powers back on, and then the next day luckily our water was back on too

(its not drinkable but at least we can flush the toliet/shower 😭)

Luckily too by this point the water distribution/rescue crews are here,

DUDE. We were/are so fucked Biden came to look at us 😃

Im personally still on the lookout for missing ppl (my coworker has missing family in the town nearby and in telling my friend over there to spread the word)

And cellular service is back up, but they may jut be bc they brought in temporary towers/Tmobile is giving out free service for everyone too

Its slow going still, all these developments are taking days to achieve if u cant tell

And no pressure, esp if u dont have the spare money,

But if you could donate to help my city/the cities nearby who are still very isolated bc theyre smaller, along with helping our homeless people who no doubt are worse off, thatd mean to world to me/all of us!! <3

Here's some links for that, even if its just tip money/money for a coffee, anything helps!

https://pay.payitgov.com/ncdonations

https://crowdfund.charlotte.edu/project/44126

https://www.chabadasheville.org/templates/section_cdo/aid/6606696/jewish/Hurricane-Helene-Relief.htm

Thanks for reading, and blessed be those still in need of rescue, from human to animals, and to those who have passed.

May those you left behind find peace.

<3

Peact out,

🌙

[burb-ie]

OKAY MORE INFODUMPING YAY

Anyways, transformers animated lore is very interesting to me because of how both sides kinda suck

The Autobots have that whole project omega thing, where they made ships whose sole purpose was to be war machines who needed handlers to keep them from squishing the Autobots.

Perceptor in this universe actually deleted all his emotions to make more room for SCIENCE, and this is even reflected in his brief appearances in the show where he’s voiced with a text-to-speech program. It’s unclear how much of him is even left in there, as he seems only dedicated to science but it still seen as the head of the Autobot science division

Autobots in general are also pretty disgusted by organics, which is usually played for laughs (giant robots afraid of small humans), but they seem to not be able to distinguish between sapient and non-sapient organic species and deem them all disgusting. However, this isn’t universal since our main Autobot team doesnt show this revulsion at all even at the start.

The Autobot Commonwealth is basically an alliance between dozens of planets who are protected by the Autobot fleet. It’s dedicated to protecting the people, who can travel between planets freely, but do seemingly live under Autobot authority. There’s even a long list of planets in the commonwealth from the Almanac, is crazy how many names they just came up with that are barely ever mentioned.

The Autobots also have a very function based society, where people are seemingly free to choose their jobs but it seems they believe they are limited by what they can do from their programming.

One interesting fact is that Autobot frame types are reused a lot to explain why some bots look the same or similar (which is mentioned briefly in the show) - Bumblebee is a very common type, the 65356-9292-346 which is stated to be very fuel efficient. There is quite a bit of variation within these types though.

They also have the Autotroopers, who act as police in Cybertron. They are all identical in body shape and voice, which has an actual explanation! On the back of their toy box (Autotrooper 2011 toy) it’s stated that Autobots go through a remoulding process into their uniform shell, which was made specifically for this role, and that in times of war they can be brought under the direct command of the current Magnus. So… yeah, Autobots have an explicitly militaristic police force.

This reformatting is also something stated again in the Allspark Almanac, as the TFA version of Drift (he’s from the comics) used to be a decepticon and specifically got a new body when he became an Autobot. (Speculation ahead) So this disparity between Decepticons and Autobots isn’t just coincidental, it’s actively enforced.

On the other side of the conflict, there’s the Decepticon Empire:

During the Great War, Decepticons conquered numerous Autobot colonies but lost them all by the end of the war and were driven out into the rim of the galaxy. However, they rebuilt as a smaller empire (much smaller than the Autobot Commonwealth) and have a new capital planet of New Kaon.

Sentinel Minor in the Allspark Almanac (before he became a Prime) says that the Decepticons have five times less the industrial capacity of the Autobots, which is believable considering they have much less planets and are seemingly struggling to survive (New Kaon is said to be a very unimpressive capital, and their main goal is to conquer the home planet of Cybertron).

There are also Decepticons scattered across the galaxy after the war, in hiding.

I won’t recount the full backstory of Cybertron, but it’s all on the TFWiki in the Animated continuity section on the Decepticon page or in the Allspark Almanac II, but basically Decepticons are imperialists who want to expand and conquer the galaxy. When Megatron took control of the Decepticons, the tensions between the Decepticons and Autobots reached a boiling point and the Great War started.

They created a few biological weapons like cosmic rust, so they’re definitely not against war crimes.

My memory might be flagging here, but we actually don’t know much about the Decepticon society or if there are even any Decepticons who aren’t warriors. Since Autobots are obviously not trustworthy, it’s left up to interpretation. Theyre definitely some sort of dictatorship though, and see native species like humans as collateral damage at best.

They might be more tolerant of organics, since the character Blackarachnia is one of the generals, but we aren’t given any ideas since none of their colony planets have any info in general.

Blackarachnia, who’s introduced in the show, was the one who surgically made Blitzwing a triple changer. Blitzwing used to be a seeker, but the surgery made him extremely unstable and “fractured his mind”. This isn’t really expanded on though (Blackarachnia did have an episode idea in season 4, though we don’t know if it would’ve expanded on this)

Not everything might not be important, but I find it all interesting in fleshing out the world of Animated! (Also I’m totally gonna send an ask about the start of the war in animated, but you can find it also on the TFwiki). I also tried to avoid spoilers for the show lol.

omg waking up to this is the best thing to ever happen, I once again thank you for this infodump I am absorbing this all like a sponge, and ill see how I can use this in the crossover AU, also if you wanna send me an ask telling me about the start of the war then youre free to do so! im enjoying these alot

[radioactiverats]

i think 7.5 is definitely one of my favourite parts of this story! was the static starscream getting embarassed? what do you think would get his face glowing? huaahah

Thank you!!! I really enjoyed writing that one!!

Here is some crack... pure crack. I'M SORRYYYY

Mentor Starscream x seeker!reader (10/?)

Each bot carried a number of things in their subspace at all times. Ratchet carried an innumerable variation of medical tools, medical-grade energon, and indelible knowledge of what a spark felt like as it slipped through his servos. Starscream carried datapads, a specific type of energon jelly he knew you liked when rations allowed, and the insurmountable grief that accompanied the condemnation of being alone. Megatron, presumably, carried enough hatred to power the entire solar system and then some, but you wisely choose not to think too hard about that.

Now that Starscream was trying to cement your necessity to the Decepticon cause, you'd added a couple of important datapads to your subspace. In addition to bandages (you'd wanted to store the welder in your subspace, too, but Starscream vehemently disallowed it because it would unnecessarily weigh your frame down in flight. After some protesting on your part, he finally ex-vented and promised that he wouldn't get himself injured someplace you couldn't fix him), some energon jellies for after training (courtesy of Starscream), and... a crumpled poster.

You'd kept a memento from your time at the Academy - it was one of your most closely guarded secrets, because you'd perish on the spot from pure and utter embarrassment if anyone found out.

A poster of Starscream.

Back at the Academy, it would have been impossible to find a wall that hadn't fallen victim to the onslaught of posters - before the ones advertising the war effort against the Quintessons had taken over, the posters had been primarily motivational and featured high-profile seekers. Many of the cadets idolized Sunstorm - your roommate even had a wall full of stolen Sunstorm posters. His golden frame in flight, a glowing halo framing his helm. You agreed that Sunstorm was cool, but deep down, your idol was Starscream. There was no shortage of glossy Starscream posters around the Academy, and whoever ran the show had clearly poured a huge percentage of the budget into making new posters every semester. Many of them were illustrated, for reasons that had actually been explained before - Vosian illustrators tended to be trained in capturing the feeling of flight, rather than the appearance of it. You'd always been drawn to the posters of Starscream because of the emotions they sparked within you - Pride. Determination. Spark-lightening liberation. However, it was the final semester before the end of your first year when the publicity department had apparently decided they'd had enough of paintings, and it was time to try something new. Well, new. Ironically, it was a return to traditional photography.

When the new posters came out, you'd stared at it for so long that your roommate had come to drag you back before curfew, took one look at the poster and burst out laughing.

It was the cheesiest thing you'd ever seen. Starscream, hip cocked and a smug grin on his faceplate, pointing at the camera. SOAR HIGH! The poster enthused, in a garish font and colour that quite frankly hurt your optics. REACH FOR THE STARS!

You opened your intake, closed it. Reset your vocaliser twice. You were sure that your wings were vibrating at this point. To make matters worse... "Is Commander Starscream winking?" Your roommate wheezed, and a few cycles later, it was you who had to drag them back to your dorm instead other other way around before you were caught sneaking around after hours.

It was on the same day you'd all been given your celebratory allowance of high-grade jet fuel - amidst all the reveling, your roommate had elbowed their way through the crowd to you with a huge grin on their faceplate. "I have something for you," They said cheerily, and shoved a slightly crumpled roll of paper into your servos. Even without looking, you already knew what it was, and the garish pop of colour as soon as you unfurled it slightly only confirmed your suspicions. "Come on," You groan. "Couldn't you have stolen me one of the cooler ones?"

"I could have," They said. "But the look on your faceplate wouldn't be as hilarious." More laughter as you groan and bury your burning faceplate in your hands. "But," They continue thoughtfully, "don't you think this one kinda humanizes him a little?"

Huh. That night, you're still turning your roommate's words over in your processor. It's kind of endearing, in its own way. You'd never have imagined that Starscream would allow himself to be photographed in such a way, and it's kind of growing on you. You suppose it does break up the monotony of his previous posters somewhat. And that wink... Blushing furiously, you hide your face in your servos and thank your lucky stars that your roommate is sound asleep, so you don't get teased into the dirt.

That poster ended up being the only evidence that you had a roommate, because they didn't survive the attack. Not for lack of searching. You'd searched and searched, and found an arm. You stopped searching after that.

The poster had been stashed deep in your subspace for as long as you could remember. That was another thing you carried. Two things, actually. One, your guilt at being the only one left, and two, your embarrassing little crush on Starscream. Further guilt at allowing the two conflicting feelings to coexist may as well have been a third thing.

However, the years of war had more or less put a damper on dwelling on the past, because threats in the present were far more immediate. You decided it was a good thing that you'd been stuck in emotional limbo for a while now. Primus knows what would become of you if your emotions came back full force at this point.

It's a relatively quiet day when your little slip-up happens. Ever since you became entrusted with datapads needed for officers' meetings, you and Starscream had a brief routine in which you'd double-check that everything was accounted for before heading out. The only thing was that last night's recharge had been fraught with nightmares, and you couldn't deny the exhaustion that fogged your processor. As such, you were not functioning as well as you would have liked to be.

"Reports of the last mission?"

You place it in his outstretched servo. "Check."

"The one on Autobot activity."

"Check."

"Preliminary results of the Terran soil analysis."

Terran soil analysis? You dig around in your subspace. That sounded familiar. You definitely had it, but maybe you'd stashed it way back because you hadn't anticipated Megatron wanting to hear about soil samples. You frown, and dig a little further. Fingertips just managing to brush against something, and that must be it -

"Check," You quickly say, before Starscream can get impatient.

There's a few kliks of silence, which strikes you as strange, because Starscream normally carries a minimum of ten datapads into these meetings. You glance up at him, a question on your glossa - but as soon as you realise what he's looking at, your expression rapidly morphs to match his in one of utter mortification.

No.

Starscream's optic twitches. He holds the offending poster at arms' length - as if trying to put some distance between it and his frame.

It's that horrific poster of him. He'd fought tooth and nail not to have it published, because it was just so embarrassing. Unfortunately, he'd been overruled by the Academy's senior council, who for some Primus-forsaken reason absolutely loved it.

For the greater good! They'd said. The cadets look up to you, Starscream, it would do good to closen the distance between you, so they understand that they can one day be like you.

"Fine," Starscream had snarled, but was only too glad when they'd finally been removed.

Vorns later, he thought he was finally free of that - apparently not.

You can feel his accusing optics on you.

"Cadet."

"...Yes, sir."

"Care to tell me why this is in your possession?"

You gnaw at your lip plates.

"I'm waiting."

You shuffle your pedes. "Um," You mumble.

Why, indeed, had you kept it?

Defeated, you know you know the answer but have no chance of hiding it, because Starscream can absolutely tell when you're lying.

"I know it's one of the weirder ones," You mutter, thankfully missing the twitch of Starscream's optic, "but I liked your posters because of how they made me feel. Because of how you made me feel. Like I could do anything. Like as long as I worked hard, it would pay off, because you cared enough about us to see it happen."

You can't stop now that you've started. "If I had a choice, though, I would have picked the one where you're in your altmode at the edge of the stratosphere because that one was super cool, and I always wondered what it would be like to fly alongside you like that, as an equal. But it's okay because this poster makes me hope that we're not too far apart after all, it's kinda silly but it reminds me that you're my commander and hopefully you know that I really, really admire you -"

A choked crackle of static (mercifully) cuts your ramble off before you can embarrass yourself further.

"Sir?"

You chance a look at Starscream, and what you see renders you completely unable to retain fine motor control of your faceplate. This time, you really wish you could preserve his expression on a poster.

Starscream, former Air Commander of Vos, feared SIC of the Decpticons, is blushing.

You watch with rapt fascination as the blue blush of energon rises to settle prettily across his cheeks, only intensifying the more he stares at the poster. Now he's the one who's adamantly refusing to meet your optics.

"You -"

"Sorry, I misspoke, I shouldn't have-"

"No," Starscream cuts in. His voice is raspier than usual.

"It's... it's fine."

He glances once more at the rapidly fraying poster in his servos before shoving it back towards you.

"...But don't let me see that thing again."

You quickly roll it up and shove it back into your subspace. Now you definitely can't get rid of it.

Starscream still can't quite clear the static from his vocaliser, nor the blush on his faceplate. You take mercy on him and remain silent, lest his cooling fans kick on. It's probably for the best that he doesn't find out about the Commander Starscream Academy Fan Club.

"Now. Terran soil samples?"

Previous / Next

Edit: THE POSTER in all its technicolour glory by @bonkkix !!!!!

[murfeelee]

TW3 GoW File Dump!

This set includes 22 items converted from God of War 2018, for your sims of the Spartan and/or Norse persuasion!

Alfheim Light Crystal as Light (Floor | Wall)

Alfheim Tree (10k Polys)

Bifrost as Table Light

Coin Piles 3 | 4 (§10000, ANI Moneybag Script REQUIRED) (found in Hobbies/Skills)

Dragon Arc as Decor

Dragon Firepit (8k Polys)

Elf Statue (10k Polys)

Floor Panel as Rug

Leaves (Giant | Not So Giant)

Jotnar Shrines as Wardrobe (10k Polys) (SN EP REQUIRED)

Kratos Vase

Lemnos Juice as Drinkable Beverage (ARSIL MOD REQUIRED)

Lemnos Wine as Drinkable Beverage (ARSIL MOD REQUIRED)

Library Sconce (Wall Light)

Lyre as Guitar

Nornir Chest as Land Chest (IP EP REQUIRED) (found in Debug)

Rock Face as Wall Climbing (found in Hobbies/Skills)

Scroll Case as 2-Storey Bookcase (20k Polys)

Wall Ivy (10k polys)

And here are 9 far lazier items only inspired by GoW, not directly converted from it:

EA's Double Doors RETEXTURED

EA's Ranch Stones Column RETEXTURED (PETS EP REQUIRED)

Elven Family Lock as Decor (Animated)

Decor Glass Crow (Wings Down | Wings Up)

Idunn Apple as WA EP Edible Morsel (GLOWS)

Light Bridge as Floor Light (use with glass floor rugs)

Tapestry as Wall Art

The Light (Outdoor Light)

Happy New Year, and enjoy!

Download zips (package files): Mediafire | SimFileShare

Descriptions & pics under the cut:

Most of this stuff's pretty clear-cut, but I wanted to just explain a few quick things.

The Alfheim Light Crystals, Bifrost, Idunn Apple, and The Light all have Fullbright, so they always glow, even if you turn the lights off. (The Idunn Apple mesh is a wee too big for my liking, but oh well.)

Coin Piles 3 | 4 (§10,000, ANI Moneybag Script REQUIRED) (found in Hobbies/Skills)

Shoutout to @thecardinalsims at MTS for helping me with these! 👍

Fully recolorable, these 2 coin piles cost 1 simoleon, but when your sims scoop them up, they get 10k! You're welcome! 🤑💰

Elven "Family" Lock as Decor (Animated)

Fully recolorable. This was cloned from a clock, so the pieces turn as the big/little hands turn on EA's clocks. I've never actually caught it at the right time when all the pieces properly align, esp. since I use the Time Mod like crazy and never really know what time it is in-game.

Giant/Not So Giant Leaves

Fully recolorable, found under Plants. These leaves are HUGE, which is why I added a smaller version, cuz jfc. 😅

Jotnar Shrines as Wardrobe (10k Polys) (SN EP REQUIRED)

I apologize in advance for these. I don't really intend for them to be used as EA dressers--I just wanted something with open/closed door animations (so alas, I also had to squeeze the mesh down to fit EA's dimensions). But by god these are dumb AF if your sim actually tries to rifle around inside for clothes (which I ofc removed)--

--or Aesir forbid, they actually enter it to hide/portal travel to Narnia/woohoo. 😬 There is NOTHING on the other side, so your sim WILL be seen floating like a doofus behind the mesh (through the walls).

Anyways, if you pause your game during the .5 seconds that the doors are ever open, you'll be graced with all the effing hard work I went through to add as many Jotnar panel variations as possible:

In order: Bergelmir, Hrungnir, Jormungandr, Skadi, Skoll & Hati, Starkadr, Surtr, Thrym, Tyr1, Tyr2, Ymir (sorry, no Groa U_U).

Lemnos Juice/Wine as Drinkable Beverage (ARSIL MOD REQUIRED)

The juice is regular kid-friendly juice, but the wine is strong alcohol only for adults (*cough* Kratos wtf were you thinking giving your kid 1000yr old alcohol to drink, someone call CPS on this fool! *cough*). So now your Spartan sims of all ages can safely & responsibly enjoy sippin on gin & juice~! 🥂 As always, the mesh clipping into their faces is out of control, but oh well.

Lyre as Guitar

Fully recolorable variation included. NOT a fan of where the fingers sit (esp. for kids), but OH WELL.

Nornir Chest as Land Chest (IP EP REQUIRED) (found in Debug)

Fully recolorable variation included. For some strange reason, I couldn't clone the WA EP chests (which I prefer), but thank goodness IP has a land chest I could use instead. (IIRC you can set it with all kinds of treasures with testingcheatsenabled true and/or Nraas' DebugEnabler or something, IDER.)

Rock Face as Wall Climbing (found in Hobbies/Skills)

This is based on the rock climbing station at the EA Store, but you DON'T need it for this one to work!

Comes in different fully recolorable variations, with/without Faye's "Yellow Paint" guiding the way.

Scroll Case as 2-Storey Bookcase (20k Polys)

Fully recolorable variation included. Yes. I know. The polys are insane. I decimated as many as I could, but AAA games are just so effing high poly. U_U

And that's that!

Happy New Year, and enjoy!

Download zips (package files): Mediafire | SimFileShare

[seventeenlovesthree]

Mimi Tachikawa's clothing style - a meta analysis

While their clothing styles are arguably an underlying theme in both Koushirou's and Sora's ways of self-expression (even if it's never at the forefront of their arcs), no other character lives and breathes the idea of expressing themselves through fashion as openly as Mimi. So after Taichi, Yamato and the two redheads, let's take a closer look at Digimon Adventure's very own fashion queen, shall we:

Adventure (+ Our War Game), age 10/11:

If there is one thing the viewer can immediately tell about Mimi, it's probably her favourite colour: Through the course of Adventure, you will rarely see her wear an outfit that doesn't include one pink item of clothing (or at least an accessory) at minimum. While she also has a preference for red shades, she absolutely loves pink in all its variations - on her everyday outfits as well as on her pyjamas! In terms of style, Mimi loves to combine comfort with "being fashionable". The feminine red cowgirl dress and beige-brown - assumably - shearling boots are not exactly the most practical items to wear during a camping trip; but they perfectly complement her favourite item, the pink cowgirl hat she hides her long, wavy hair under in a ponytail. In general, hat(s), dresses/skirts and boots are a repeating theme for her, as we will see later on.

Mimi didn't exactly start Summer camp unprepared, as she wears brown gloves (in a similar colour as her hair) and carries around a brown bag with camping equipment all the way. On the other hand, as Mimi grew up in a sheltered household, at the beginning of Adventure, she is very prone to let everyone around her know when her comfort is being disrupted. Thus, it's no surprise that she got coerced into exchanging her travel-ridden outfit (probably sweaty and dirty at this point) for a fancy white-pinkish (!) princess dress, as PicoDevimon's intrigue aimed to corrupt her. After all, she was overwhelmed by the situation - and loves pretty clothes and being comfortable, so she (understandably!) gets lost in the convenience of luxury for a bit. Thus even Taichi telling her how "impractical" the dress would be as a traveling fit couldn't shake her out of it for a while. However: As a mix between red's passion and white's purity, pink symbolizes love, nurture and compassion - and so it shall also come as no surprise that Mimi (encouraged by Sora) eventually found her way back to the right path and leave the spoilt attitude behind for the sake of her duty.

Even though she'll leave the beloved hat behind with Palmon in the Digital World at some point as well - it won't be the last hat she'll own. And also not the last pink one!

02 (+ Diablomon Strikes Back), age 13/14:

The transition phase between Adventure and 02 already shows Mimi getting a little more experimental with colours, as she actually added white, blue and green - her signature colour - to the mix. However, the viewer is not prepared for just how experimental Mimi would turn out to be! And neither were the animators, as several of Mimi's incredibly varied concept outfits didn't make it into the anime - but let's go through it step by step:

At the beginning of 02, we learn that Mimi's family has moved to the USA - and if the cowgirl aesthetic hasn't been an indicator before, 13-year-old teenage!Mimi will go all out on the American aesthetic and a style that couldn't be more early 2000s: Wearing a crop top that couldn't be closer to the US American flag if she tried, a white short skirt and high heels with white kneesocks. Most notably, for the majority of the season, her favourite colour pink will be a permanent part of her - as she chose to dye her (a little shortened, but more voluminous) hair pink. Additionally, she has adopted the star motive for herself - which we have previously only seen on Taichi! Mimi herself wears them either on her shirt - or as small hairclips in her hair.

Speaking of hair - unfortunately, the viewer won't get to see most of her hair experiments (namely the dark brown dreads, the highlights and the space buns). In one episode, her strawberry blonde perm (and pants!!!) can be witnessed at least - and eventually, we'll see her return to her natural hair colour. She also returns to the cowgirl aesthetic in Summer, once again wearing a pink hat (!), a white cowgirl dress, boots - and pigtails.

In general, one can tell that Mimi undoubtedly enjoys her youth abroad, as she seemed fascinated by American culture and the idea of "expressing herself freely" as a 10-year-old already. In the Adventure novels, it is already implied that Mimi stood out among her peers in school and - similarly yet differently to Koushirou - may be considered an "odd" in contrast to more "more traditional" Japanese customs (such as Sora's kimono-wearing mother as a traditional iemoto). Mimi also never fit into lifestyle aesthetics like Gyaru or Lolita, but definitely thrives in experimenting with extravagant, less traditional clothes and hairstyles through Summer that draw attention and display her personal interpretation of femininity; outfits that are funky, stylish (mainly crop tops, short skirts/shorts and high boots) and, most importantly, individualistic.

By the end of the season and the start of winter, she goes in a bit of a different direction: Her winter outfit is probably one of her most iconic ones - as well as the most high-femme she's ever been: Mimi fully commits to the spirit of Christmas by wearing a pine green goat and hat, accompanied by her long(er) flowy hair, a mahogany red skirt and light brown boots - it's cozy and mature and very Christmas-tree-y! A similarly mature vibe is maintained during Diablomon Strikes Back, as she wears a yellow turtleneck, a mahogany red skirt, a star necklace and brown boots. She doesn't exactly grow out of the experimental expressionist phase - but gets more balance into it. It's all very symbolic for 02!Mimi, who isn't just incredibly self-confident, but has also grown out of her "spoilt princess" tendencies. Instead, she has her own mind and insists on it - in a constructive, self-assured way!

Tri, age 16:

Tri!Mimi is mostly consistent with the majority of style elements we have discovered so far and actually adds a fashion-related element to her arc. First, let's focus on the things we are familiar with - and add the aspects that are new:

By now, Mimi has stopped dying her hair regularly and mostly sticks to wearing it open and/or with a headband. Sometimes, she does wear a ponytail, still cherishes the cowgirl hat whenever it fits - and in one scene, is even seen wearing unconventional bangs (and bunny ears that almost let me doubt that it was her for a moment, but since she actually wore stars - for the first and only time in Tri -, we can tell that it's her!). Thus, she still likes to experiment with variety!

Clothes-wise, she still prefers (mostly short!) dresses/skirts/shorts, (sandal-)boots - and of course the colour pink in most of her everyday outfits (with splashes of red, green and blue in between), including yukatas! Tri also lets her wear jeans for a change - but rather rarely.

Her school uniform includes exactly two aspects that differentiate her from the way Sora wears it: First of all, she adds a splash of colour by wearing red-white sneakers (whereas Sora wears standard loafers). Second, she wears rolled-up long sleeves in Summer - and is the only one who does so besides Yamato.

Last but not least, let's talk about the formerly mentioned US American influences that got her in trouble for a bit: After transferring back to Japan, she suggests hosting a Hooters-like café for the school festival - and thus her outgoing, funky (and undeniably more revealing) ideas clash with her more traditional, reserved Japanese classmates.

Her general sentiment is that she doesn't see the use in holding back or hiding her true feelings and thoughts for the sake of pleasing others. It's her sense of sincerity, which gets perceived as egotism by her classmates, that requires her to balance herself out again (and not just in terms of fashion, as she also got into a fight with Koushirou over priorities as well):

She has to find a way not to give herself up while simultaneously not stepping on everyone else in the process - and just like when she got seduced by a princess dress at age 10, things eventually get resolved. Working with Sora and Meiko to create an orange-purple cheerleading outfit, her performance and enthusiasm doesn't just impress her classmates, but help her to reconcile with them. Even though the outfit may have shown more skin than they initially anticipated, it was still a good mix between practical, fun and cute for them to seem more open to the idea of experimentation themselves. This subplot also greatly contributes to Meiko's character development, helping her to get a little bit more confident herself!

To quote Mimi in the English dub here: "Fashion demands courage."

Kizuna, age 21:

Kizuna represents a small shift in Mimi's expressionist attitude - or rather, as she stepped into the world being an entrepreneur, running her own online business, she interprets some of her prior style elements a little... Differently, depending on the situation:

She still loves (short) dresses and will never give up on pink - however, her everyday outfit appears a little different than what we are used to with her. It's still colourful and funky, complemented by earrings and bracelets with splashes of colour. But gone is the cowgirl hat - and the hair she used to wear open for most of the past ten years has been tied back into a (loose) bun. The style is very difficult to describe and even though it's very much Mimi-esque in the way it's individualistic - it looks a little more kindergarten teacher-esque as well. In contrast, her business meeting outfit - a strapless long-sleeve shirt, a black belt and a high-waist skirt in burgundy red - combines familiar elements of Winter02!Mimi and Tri!Mimi.

The epilogue, approximately age 38:

38-year-old Businesswoman-slash-experimental-TV-star-cook!Mimi elaborated on the look of 21-year-old Businesswoman!Mimi - and while her look definitely evolved, she also returned to her roots again, finding a balance between "more traditional" and "individualistic": She's back to wearing her hair open, it's a little shorter and, depending on how she styles it, either wavy or frayed. The pink cowgirl hat is back too - as well as the whole cowgirl aesthetic, because, let's be real, she would always find a way back to it, considering how it had become such a reoccurring theme for her.

Final thoughts (and headcanons):

Mimi being as experimental as she has always been, trying out all the different things - in both fashion and life itself - absolutely stands for her honest, pure nature. She absolutely has her own mind and trusts her intuition a lot - and this experimental yet straightforward mindset will lead her to make decisions in the end: It helps her to learn exactly what she wants/likes and what she doesn't want/like. Go big or go home, don't hide who you are deep down inside!

It's a very progressive, empowering mindset - and so it shall not even come to any surprise that it's mainly (but not exclusively!) female characters she inspires with her way of thinking. Whether it's Miyako who heavily idolizes and wishes to be like her as she blushes and smiles serenely to herself; Meiko who gains a lot of self-confidence through Mimi's support and encouragement and kisses on the cheek, so she bursts through her self-destructive thoughts and gets "out of the closet box" at least a little more; her female classmates who actually adore and admire her school festival outfit and performance; or, last but not least, there is Sora, who used to take Mimi under her wing, and is, as an adult, reassured by her in return to "spread her wings freely" herself. Personally, it's very difficult for me not to see Mimi's influence and general theme as a metaphor for self-discovery in terms of gender-representation and sexuality as well. (I've made similar points for Sora and Koushirou in their respective analysis posts as well; the former is such a strong contrast to Mimi not only in the way their personalities, styles and arcs contrast each other, but in how Sora struggles so much with her own self-representation in return. The latter's temporary crush on Mimi may even play into the idea of self-discovery as well, but that's a topic for another day. Mimi - in my personal opinion you don't have to agree with! - actually has a lot of aroace energy, as she never actively pursues romance herself in the series. But at the same time, the wlw vibes she causes when she's in the same room with other girls cannot be overlooked! Also, not to say that she doesn't inspire male characters - such as Jyou, Koushirou and Taichi - at various points as well, but that's the beautiful part of Mimi's theme: even more empowerment AND power to the bisexual vibe!)

However, as it is often the case with themes of self-discovery, that kind of sincere, outgoing attitude may not be to everybody's liking. It may even cause Mimi's more revealing/emotion-based choices to clash with other people's preferences and ideals. And, as Tri suggests, it may even be controversially considered self-centered and indecent instead of self-confident and empowering by some.

For example, the fact that she spent most of her early teenage years in a - in comparison to Japan - more open society in terms of fashion choices may be met with suspicious eyes among some of her Japanese peers. 02!Mimi did pick more revealing clothes after all, which were typical for Western teenagers in the 2000s - and Tri!Mimi was 100% used to that kind of style, liking to show skin and feeling free and happy while doing so! Which definitely collided with Meiko's more closed-off clothing choices.

(On a different note, it shall not be ignored that she was also the focus of a lot of heavily sexualized/objectified marketing materials back in the Tri era. So while her wearing crop tops, short skirts and high boots absolutely IS a Mimi!thing, Tri's half-naked fan service promo art can and should be taken with a grain of salt. And while it's not exactly linked to her clothes, Mimi had already faced a lot of Digimon (!) back in Adventure hitting on her as a 10-year-old - such as Numemon and Sukamon -, trying to date her in a rather scummy fashion. So her being the center of weird "fan service" and uncomfortable encounters has always been a thing.)

On the other hand, her learning/knowing exactly what she wants also includes her having reoccurring preferences she will always come back to. And thus, as she grew more mature and self-assured, Mimi never gave up on her own personal roots: The comforting power of pink - let's remember: as a mix between red's passion and white's purity, it symbolizes love, nurture and compassion. And, of course, the nostalgic cowgirl hat that will always link her to her literal soulmate - who wears a pink, almost hat-like flower on top of her head.

[northern-passage]

The Northern Passage Pantheon & Miscellaneous Lore

I wanted to make a post that compiled all the gods together, with their descriptions and role in the pantheon, as well as some visuals just for fun :-)

The three wolves-- the Wolfmother, the Sun, and the Moon, form the top pyramid of the pantheon. While the Wolfmother is the head, the twins are equals as the foundation.

The Wolfmother

The Wolfmother was the "surrogate" mother for mankind (the imagery of The Capitoline Wolf inspired me a lot with her). When mankind first stumbled out of the sea, the Wolfmother took them in alongside her three children, and gifted them their own realm, ensuring humanity's survival. She is both the god of mercy and cruelty, and is linked to life, motherhood, and the home. She is also seen as the one who brings the change of the seasons-- initiating the "turn of the wheel" and guiding the twins on their journey through the sky each day and night.

The Wolfmother is always depicted as a golden wolf with golden eyes.

Imagery: a wolf, tree of life, the Mercy Sword

The Sun

The Sun is one of the Wolfmother's twin children. There are variations on both her's and her sister's myth, where the sun is sometimes depicted as her eye, and other times where she is depicted as chasing the sun up and down the sky in tandem with her sister and the moon. She is the god of the harvest and flame, as well as war and peace. The Sun is also linked with curiosity and naivety, and is considered the "younger" twin.

The Sun is always depicted as a black-brown wolf with golden eyes.

Imagery: the sun/sun discs, fire, sprouting seeds, sickle and scythe

The Moon

The Moon is one of the Wolfmother's twin children. There are variations on both her's and her sister's myth, where the moon is sometimes depicted as her eye, and other times where she is depicted as chasing the moon up and down the sky in tandem with her sister and the sun. She is the god of transformation and the hunt, as well as vengeance and forgiveness. The Moon is also invoked when a traveler is in need of guidance and safe passage; her moon and stars are said to guide many of the lost back onto their paths. She often clashes with the Stormbringer over the tides.

The Moon is always depicted as a black-blue wolf with grey eyes.

Imagery: the moon/phases of the moon, stars, ocean waves, compasses, white flowers, bow and arrow

The Firstborn

The Firstborn is not included in the pantheon, and when they are depicted with the other wolves, they are always placed beneath them. They are a shunned god, cast out and locked beneath the sea after they became jealous of mankind.

In the creation myth, it is believed that the Wolfmother formed the earth, and the Firstborn dug out the sea. When the twins were born, the Sun warmed the water while the Moon churned the tides, and the world became lush and green. From the foam of breaking waves humans were born, crawling out of the sea and shedding their water-skins in awe of the world the wolves had created.

It is said that over time, the Firstborn became bitter, flooding the world and fighting with their siblings, until the Wolfmother was forced to cast them out.

(There are variations of the creation myth where humans are more directly linked to seals-- inspired by the selkie-- but it is not a widely accepted belief and often frowned upon due to the Stormbringer's potential connection with the Firstborn. It is more popular in Gael than in Adrania or Yulan.)

The Firstborn is always depicted as a white wolf with golden eyes.

Imagery: the Firstborn does not have a lot of iconography; most often, they are invoked with images of chains

Fun sidenote: I designed the wolves with coastal/sea wolves in mind. They tend to have a variety of warmer brown coats with a lot of unique variations. The image I used for the Wolfmother is actually a coastal wolf, taken by Paul Nicklen. They live semi-aquatic lifestyles and have diets largely consisting of seafood.

The Stormbringer

The Stormbringer rose from the sea after the fall of the Firstborn. She is one of the more "ambiguous" gods-- she will just as easily curse a man as bless him. While she is often linked to the tides, she is a god of the wind and sky, unpredictable and dangerous out on the sea. Many sailors pray to the Stormbringer for safe passage, and offer sacrifices such as food and gold and specially crafted ritual weapons before embarking on their travels.

She is often depicted as a rival to the Moon, fighting over the tides and the hunt. She is a violent god, and many question if she is connected to the Firstborn in some way, due to the timing of her arrival and her appearance-- she is considered the "wolf" of the sea.

Many worship the Stormbringer out of a mixture of fear and reverence. Her places of worship crowd ports and fishing towns-- anyone who has to face the wrath of the sea.

The Stormbringer is depicted as a naked woman with the head of a leopard seal. In Yulan, she is depicted with a wolf-eared serpent's head, instead. The Kópakonan statue of the Faroe Islands inspired me with her.

Imagery: crossed axes, lightning bolts, ocean waves, sea serpent

The Messenger

The Messenger is the god of omens and death. Another ambiguous god, it is seen as more benevolent in northern Adrania and Gael, but more malicious down south. It is the duty of the Messenger to speak to humanity, to deliver their omens as well as bring them their deaths. The Messenger is also a shapeshifter, and often shifts between the favored shapes of crow, wolf, and antlered deer. In the south, a person who glimpses an omen is considered cursed; while in the north, it is considered a blessing to be warned by the gods. The Messenger has been a part of the world for as long as the Wolfmother-- it is her companion and confidant among the pantheon.

The Messenger has a sort of cult following-- those who worship death. It is considered a fringe religion and is not recognized within Adrania, though there are well-established cloisters if you know where to look.

The "true" form of the Messenger is an anthropomorphic crow with many arms and many eyes. Unlike the others, this god is almost always referred to as it.

Imagery: crows, ravens, antlers, black wings, feathers, green flame

The Traveler

The Traveler is a trickster god, the god of mischief and wayward souls-- and the only one who was supposedly once mortal (this is debated). Clementine will tell the hunter his story in game: a lone traveler, mauled by wolves and left to die, saved only by the small bell in his pocket. Now, the Traveler watches over those who would walk alone and moves freely between realms; when the Messenger brings death, the Traveler comes close behind to ensure the souls of the dead find their way home (but only after tricking them three times).

Similar to the Messenger, the Traveler has his own followers, and is especially worshipped by more nomadic groups who live on the road and in the flatlands.

The Traveler is depicted as a man with the head of a coyote, wearing a long, dusty, hooded brown cloak. The Messenger's story was heavily inspired by the biker superstition of guardian/spirit bells.

Imagery: bells, coyotes and dogs, walking stick, flute (different variations carry different instruments)

Sidenote: Due to magic being derived from nature, the people in the TNP world also participate in a lot of nature worship; it's not a coincidence that their gods are all animals.

The Vel

The Vel separates mankind's realm from all the other realms beyond, erected by the Wolfmother to keep humanity safe. The gods can pass freely through the Vel, but humans cannot. Only hunters who have gone through the Ladder can safely access the magic of the Vel, though there are many people who still try, and as a result are corrupted by its power. The Vel was created through blood magic, a dark magic that is now forbidden from practice and punishable by death.

When the Vel is damaged (it tends to thin around areas that have seen a lot of violence and death) it can result in creatures from the other realms slipping through, or the Vel's magic manifesting into something malevolent. Wraiths, as an example, are people that have died in violent ways, both spirit and Vel becoming wounded and festering together.

Spirits

The spirit realm is supposedly one of the realms beyond the Vel, and where it's said the Traveler guides the dead once their business here has been concluded. Spirits are common throughout the world, from nature spirits to more traditional "hauntings"; spirits are fully capable of being malicious even without being corrupted by the Vel, though they are easier to deal with this way. People across all three continents have different burial traditions, but it is widely believed that a proper burial will allow a spirit to rest.

In Gael, the dead are buried, but in Adrania, they are burned on a pyre. In Yulan, they are buried in large family crypts, and ancestors are worshipped at altars along with the gods.

[theshipwars]

Hello, everyone! I'm am sorry to be announcing that The Ship Wars will take an indefinitive pause. These polls have been a lot for me these past few day and I'll need a little mental health break to recover.

I've seen, yet again, very bad sportsmanship in some notes. And as pollrunner, I have to address this.

There was usage of slurs in a derrogatory way, and while reclaiming them to yourself is a empowering move, using them to insult others is not.

I have been noticing that almost every poll or tornament seems to have a variation of the "kill them" now. And for the most part, I'll say that I belive it is just hyperbole and jokes, but some people are uncomfortable with the proportions that it has been used. I won't be policing those, but death threats will be taken seriously.

And the Good Omens fandom has made me aware of some misgendering going on. From what I gathered, most of it was not out of malice and people just not engaging with the fandom to know this. But I genuinely don't wanna see any proposital misgender. As a nonbinary person, this is very triggering for me.

I am very sorry things have taken this proportions over the polls. There is nothing wrong with liking a ship better than another, but attacking others for this spoils the fun everyone was supposed to have.

I hope everyone can understand my need for a pause. Thank you for the support, I'll (maybe?) see you all soon.

[aramynx]

ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR

KATSUKI BAKUGO X READER

You and Katsuki have known each other since middle school, and have always notoriously been at each others' throats as naturally gifted students. Things take a frustrating turn when you both end up at UA, as those darned teenage hormones begin to run high…

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.* *.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.* *.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

previous • part 2 • part 3

“You look like a dork.” Katsuki said, glancing over at you as you walked out towards the training grounds.

It was your first time wearing your hero costumes and the excitement hadn’t quite had enough time to settle down- you were thrilled! Katsuki’s hero costume was just as intimidating as he had always said it would be, with comically large grenade-shaped gauntlets adorning his forearms, and some metal knee pads for some reason. What really puzzled you was the ‘headgear’ he was sporting.

“You seriously kept those in the design? I thought it was ‘vandalism’.” You giggled, pointing at the spiky plates portruding from the sides of his head, contrasting his ashy blonde hair with bright orange and black.

•

Over the summer you had gone to his house to see Mitsuki, who had invited you over to celebrate you, Katsuki, and Izuku getting into U.A, only to find him hiding away at his desk sketching out designs for his hero costume. All of them were quite similar, baggy trousers and a tank top, each with a different variation of accessories or items.

“The hell are you looking at?” He asked, staring up at you.

“Your costume designs, duh.” You responded, “What if you added something like this?”

You leaned over one of his rough sketches that he had seemingly discarded in favour of another and picked up a nearby pencil, drawing on the spiky head accessory.

“Stop vandalising my designs.” He had ‘shouted’ quietly, snatching the paper back from you and crumpling it up before he tossed it off of his desk, landing it in small bin beside his desk.

•

You smirked, knowing he had probably gone out of his way to pull it out once you and Izuku had gone home. Despite having initially drawn them on as a joke of sorts, they did turn out kind of cool; they blended well with his hair, at least! His sour expression formed a scowl again.

“Shut up. I just forgot to erase that part when I submitted it!” He defended, “You don’t have room to talk!”

You shrugged as Katsuki angrily pointed towards the ”X” designs adorning the sleeves of your costume.

•

You had been sketching out a design during one of your last days in middle school, keeping at it until classes were over for the day. Katsuki had come over and looked, saying that your design was lame, and scribbled some crosses onto the sleeves when you asked, “Well, what would you add then, smart guy?”

•

“I just thought they looked cool, Kats, no shame in that.” You smiled, “Does it make me look intimidating?”

“Of course it doesn’t, have you seen your damn face?!” He smirked mockingly, poking your cheek rather aggressively with his new rough gloves.

“Guess I’m just too cute to be all scary and intimidating, unlike somebody I know.” You responded, saying his hand away quickly before you jogged over to your newly formed friend group, leaving a scowling Katsuki behind.

He was starting to get frustrated with all your teasing; the way you knew exactly how to get under his skin no matter what he said to you- it was annoying and he hated that you were almost always right. Even though you had known each other for years, it was only recently that Katsuki noticed that you were… actually kind of…cute? He felt his cheeks tingle a little as he watched you run over to your friends, smiling brightly and bobbing up and down on your feet in excitement, the way you spun around to show off your costume to them- even stopping to draw attention to the crosses detailing the sleeves.

“Too damn cute.” Katsuki thought to himself, almost allowing a small smile to creep up onto his face before he shook himself out of it.

Having these thoughts all of a sudden was unusual- he had never looked at you like that before. Katsuki didn’t know what changed, but over the last few days he had started to see you differently, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t need this right now. What he needed was to focus on becoming the best hero he could be.

…Right?

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.* *.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.* *.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

taglist: @sikuthealien

[gremoria411]

How to get into Gundam

Because fuck it, I was gonna do one of these sooner or later anyway.

So you want to know what this Gundam thing’s about, maybe you like the mecha design, maybe you caught part of an episode one time and want to catch up, or maybe you saw a nice piece of Chamuro fanart and want to go to the source.

But there’s so many shows and timelines that it can be quite daunting on first look, so this guide is intended to give a rough overview.

I would however like to stress two four things beforehand however:

This guide is not intended as “The One True Way” or anything. There’s no harm it coming into it a different way, and these are only my own opinions.

There’s nothing stopping you from just watching one show and leaving it there. You don’t have to watch every single show going, even I’ve only seen most of these, not all. Gundam typically has variations on similar themes - it’s very nice watching multiple shows because they complement one another, but it’s not necessarily required.

I am very much an insider looking out here, so let me know if there’s any details I’ve missed.

I’m not gonna recommend these on a “if you like X, then watch Y basis”, mostly because I don’t personally find genre recommendations helpful, so I’d recommend picking based on promotional material (vibes, if you will).

I’ll be using this chart, supplied by the excellent@l-crimson-l, to illustrate everything.

Gundam as a whole can principally be divided into three sections: Universal Century (or UC), the Alternate Universes (AU’s) and the Build Series.

The AU’s are below the light blue line, near the bottom of the Chart, the Build Series is within the bright green line at the top-right corner of the chart and UC is the big line in the middle. We’ll talk about each of them individually.

The AU’s

The Alternate Universes were conceived as a way to get away from the continuity-heavy nature of Universal Century and provide an easy jumping-on point for new fans. The AU’s are standalone and require no prior knowledge, and are thus an excellent place to start. Honestly, I’d recommend quickly searching some promotional materials (like posters) and just going with the one you find most appealing based on that. They are (in production order):

Mobile Fighter G Gundam (1994)

New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (1995)

After War Gundam X (1996)

Turn A Gundam (1999)

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (2002)

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (2007)

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (2011)

Gundam: Reconguista in G (2014)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans (2015)

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (2022)

There’s side series and movies and other things besides, but these are the mainline shows, if you will. I have specific notes on a few of them:

Witch From Mercury - It’s of a shorter length than is usual for mainline shows, so consequently it’s a much smaller time investment than the others.

Mobile Fighter G Gundam - While undeniably rad as hell, I would recommend watching another AU first. G Gundam differs from its stablemates in a few key areas, and I find it helps to have a contrast to fully appreciate those differences.

Gundam AGE - is probably the only one I wouldn’t recommend. I didn’t like the art style and the technical explanations just got on my nerves, so I stopped watching.

Turn A and G-Reconguista are technically part of UC as well, but it’s not really crucial information so don’t feel like you have to watch UC first (I’m only including this detail for completionism).

I’ve found all the AU’s I’ve seen to be pretty good, so I’d say that which one you start with really just comes down to personal taste.

The Build Series

Is just kind of doing its own thing. The Build series is basically Buy Our Toys: the series. It’s got a far lighter tone, and I’ve had cause to compare it to pokemon prior. It’s also chock full of references and in-jokes to the other series.

Build Fighters and Build Fighters Try are the ones I’d recommend - they’ve got actual stakes and the fight scenes are really good.

Build Divers and Build Divers Re:rise I can’t recommend - I just find Build Divers aggressively boring. Build Divers Re:Rise is just okay - neither standout good or particularly bad. Its main flaw is that it’s a sequel to Build Divers.

The OVA’s are pretty much bad across the board - I’d particularly recommend avoiding Gundam Build Metaverse.

Universal Century

Universal Century is the big main timeline of Gundam, and is the timeline the original Mobile Suit Gundam from 1979 takes place in. There’s a tendency among certain fans to place UC as the one-above-all of Gundam, but I wouldn’t really go that far. It’s all pretty good, but I wouldnt really say one timeline is better than another (save personal preference, anyway).

Because UC is so big, it can be subdivided a couple times. The primary division is “Mainline” UC versus everything else. Basically there’s four-five shows in Universal Century from which everything else flows. As long as you know roughly what happens in these shows, then you can watch basically anything else in UC and have a good idea of what’s going on. These are (in order):

Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) - sometimes called Mobile Suit Gundam 0079.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985)

Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (1986)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack (1988)

With Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (2010) as a nominal fifth (honestly I feel like you could argue either way).

The rest of the shows are:

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (1989 Three-Episode OVA)

Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (1991 Movie)

Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (1991 Thirteen-episode OVA)

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (1993)

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (1999 Twelve-episode OVA)

G-Saviour (2000 Live Action Movie) - nobody ever talks about or acknowledges this one, it’s just here for completionism.

Mobile Suit Gundam MS Igloo (2004-2009 Three OVA’s with three Episodes each)

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (2015 Six-Episode OVA, adapted from the Manga of the same name)

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt (2015 Eight-Episode Series, adapted from the Manga of the same name)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Twilight Axis (2017 episode, adapted from a light novel of the same name. Later rereleased as Gundam Twilight Axis Red Trace, with additional footage)

Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative (2018 sequel movie to Gundam Unicorn)

Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway (2021 ongoing movie series, very much adapted from the novel Hathaway’s Flash)

Most of the other series relate to events in the aforementioned “mainline” shows in some way, but a lot of the sidestories set during the One Year War require very little introduction (Thunderbolt, 0080 and 08th MS Team). Similarly, works set in “Late UC” (F91 and Victory Gundam) carry on from the other series thematically but don’t have any plot connections, so they can all be watched without any background knowledge of the rest of the Universal Century.

Compilation Movies

Just a quick note here - many of the Gundam series have compilation movies, where either a whole series or part of one are compressed down into a movie. While each movie compares differently, they usually boil down to this: Compilation Movies usually have worse pacing, but really nice animation.

One of the great things about Gundam is that different shows offer variations on themes, so seeing how different characters react to similar situations, or how different settings change their approaches can make it incredibly rewarding.

I haven’t seen enough of SD Gundam to make any sort of recommendations there, and Manga is something I might touch on another day.

EDIT: Oh hey also: You can watch a good chunk of these on YouTube, for free, officially. The Official Gundam.Info YouTube channel rotates the series shown on its channel periodically. I think it’s got F91 and SEED on there currently? But it’s had Wing, 00 and Witch From Mercury before. Also all of the Build Fighters series are there.

So yeah, that’s a thing.

[antianakin]

I'm starting to see some very funny (and by funny I mean infuriating) takes on what Andor was actually ABOUT and the way it utilized its more adult narrative within the context of Star Wars. Andor as a show followed Lucas's themes BRILLIANTLY even while choosing to look at them a little differently.

One of the primary themes in Star Wars is that there really isn't much of a "middle ground" in life. You are either choosing to be selfless and compassionate, or you aren't. Trying to stay in the middle or run from making this choice inevitably ends up badly for the people who try. And one of the other primary themes of Star Wars is that being selfless and compassionate often requires LETTING GO, most often letting go of the people you love and accepting that change happens in life.

I've seen people argue that Andor is able to be a morally grey story because its characters aren't Jedi or Sith who tend to be more bound by these cosmic themes or good vs evil, but I'd argue that Andor actually represents that theme JUST FINE.

Despite many of its characters living in a "morally ambiguous" area, we still have to see them make the choice to be selfless and compassionate or selfish and greedy. One of the primary themes for the characters is how well they can LET GO or not. Cassian is constantly having to figure out how to let go of his plans for his future, let go of his mother, let go of his dreams of a normal life. Cassian is ruled by fear for much of the first season and it's only once he is pushed into a situation where there's no longer any way to run, he starts finally fighting back and refusing to bow to the oppressive force that wants nothing more than to see him discarded like so much refuse. The people of Ferrix have to let go of their desire to stick their heads in the sand and simply hope the Empire won't notice them.

And on the other end of the spectrum you have Syril Karn and Dedra Meero absolutely fixated on their respective goals to the point that they're willing to kill and betray innocent people to reach them. They've convinced themselves their goals are selfless, but their motivations are in fact actually SELFISH, they serve nobody but their own ambitions. And both of them end up paying for it.

So Andor ABSOLUTELY gets the central theme of Star Wars, it isn't actually trying to change that. What it DOES do is take that theme and just digs slightly deeper, looking at this theme from a slightly different angel even when it ultimately comes to the same conclusion. Andor asks if selflessness and compassion always looks like "I'm Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you!" Or if maybe sometimes making the selfless choice means burning yourself to light a fire to lead someone else to safety. Are all people who make the selfless and compassionate choice considered heroes, or are some of them having to make those choices down in the dirt and destined to be forgotten by history? Andor asks how many variations of selflessness might exist and then explores them in its wide, colorful ensemble.

Andor also is looking at what selflessness might look like in characters who are forced into making a choice between standing back when they see evil happening and dirtying their hands just to make the smallest difference because forces of evil outside of their control are making the purer options impossible.

And that is the EXACT SAME THEME explored with the Prequels Jedi. The Jedi who want so badly to be selfless and compassionate, whose philosophies and ideologies lead them to use violence only as a last resort and love everyone and everything in the galaxy equally. The Jedi who are thrust into a war where there's no way to win because the Sith are running both sides of it and the Jedi can't just NOT FIGHT because that will get innocent people killed and will help no one but themselves, but they have to compromise their morals as a result. The Jedi who see a politician slowly amassing unreasonable amounts of power he's unwilling to let go of and a Senate too controlled by fear and greed to see the danger, so their only option is to commit treason to try to remove the corruption personally.

The Jedi LOOK the hero part a lot more than the characters in Andor do. They're strong, confident, powerful, and wield swords of light. They fight out in the open rather than from the shadows. Cassian, Luthen, Saw, Mon Mothma, Vel, and Cinta all manipulate things and threaten people and lie and cheat their way towards victory. Both Mon Mothma and Luthen fully admit to choosing to act like their enemy in order to defeat them. And it's not that the Jedi's way of fighting is any worse than the way the people of Andor have learned to fight. The people of Andor would LOVE to be able to fight like the Jedi used to do. But they can't. Palpatine has created a world in which being heroes that way is NO LONGER POSSIBLE. He started with the Jedi, by forcing the Jedi into a situation where fighting the way they once did was the wrong choice to make. There were no longer any right choices, just better choices. The only choice.

The Jedi stood as a bulwark between the darkness and the people of the galaxy. For years they chose to dirty their hands in order to fight the battles no one else WANTED to fight because it was the ONLY CHOICE TO MAKE. So what happens when the Jedi are gone?

The rest of the galaxy is now faced with the same choice. Do you stand by and let darkness grow? Or do you dirty your hands a little because it's the only choice you CAN make?

The people in Andor are picking up the torch that fell out of the Jedi's hands when they were murdered and persecuted by the Sith. Only the people who are left don't have magic powers or swords of light, so they use the resources they have at their disposal, which mostly amounts to manipulation and trickery and striking from shadows. The fight looks a little different now, but it's still the same fight the Jedi were fighting for years.

So Andor is taking those bigger cosmic themes from the Jedi/Sith conflicts that permeate the rest of the Skywalker saga and asks what those themes might look like when applied to the little people. What kind of choices might THEY make, what kind of things might they have to let go of in order to make those selfless choices? What kind of consequences might happen when they DON'T make the selfless choice? It's the exact same theme Lucas has ALWAYS had in his stories, just viewed from a different angle or through a different lens.

But the stories we've been getting recently that are trying to argue that being selfish is actually totally fine so long as you're doing it For Love, that the Jedi were in fact the source of everything that went wrong in the galaxy, that the Jedi were DESTINED to be destroyed, those all go completely against Lucas's themes. They're the direct OPPOSITE of his intended message. It is in fact entirely possible to write a more adult story with grittier content that STILL SENDS THE SAME FUCKING MESSAGE AND FOLLOWS THE SAME THEMES and doesn't try to get edgy in its interpretation of the source material.

[izzywantscheesecake]

leo valdez x female reader!! dating headcanons *blows kiss*

Dating Leo Valdez Headcanons!

Pairing: Leo Valdez x Fem!Reader Fandom: Camp Half-Blood Chronicles/Heroes of Olympus Quick Synopsis: Just some paragraphs headcanons on how you and Leo would meet/what dating him would be like. Tags: Use of Y/N, Fluff, no specific physical description of the reader (other than the fact they're female coded), Comfort

HOW YOU TWO WOULD MEET I imagine Leo to be someone who looks for a person he's able to have a lot of common ground with in a relationship. Of course, he's able to crack jokes (even the not so funny ones) around practically everyone, but there's a difference between small banter and just full on being able to vibe with someone. I think he'd be very attracted to someone interested in the arts, or someone who likes to make their own things as a mean of self expression in general. We all know how Leo is in terms of self confidence - he'd like a person who is unapologetically them, proud of their art and self expression and someone who has enough emotional awareness to give him reassurance in a relationship when they can sense he needs it. You guys would probably first meet at some type of event or workshop, or if you're a camper, probably at the dining pavilion when he sees you and has to do a double take because "who is that cool girl I've never seen before?" he'd muster enough confidence to come up and tell you a corny joke, stumbling on his words, which makes you laugh.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

You looked up from your feet, now practically face to face with this guy you'd never seen before. His clothes were wrecked with dirt and debris, so were his gloves.

He was standing awkwardly, and his hands, clearly shaking, were clenched into tight fists.

"Sure?"

"So um, riddle me this. Why can't you hear a pterodactyl going to the bathroom?"

"Because pterodactyls went extinct 65 million years ago?"

His eyes widened, and a red tint began to become more visible around his face as he scratched his head, messing up his already tangled locks of hair.

"Oh.. That wasn't what I was going to say," He chuckled.

You smiled, suddenly feeling a warm aura coming from this boy.

"Well, what were you going to say?"

"Because, uh.. The P is.. Damn, whatever. My name's Leo. What's yours?"

ACTUAL RELATIONSHIP HEADCANONS He was awkward at the start of the relationship, not really knowing what to say or what exactly "being a boyfriend" entails, but once he starts getting comfortable and more confident around you, that's where the fun begins (yes this is a star wars reference) Expect every Spanish nickname to be pulled out of the book. "Mi amor," "Hermosa," "Bonita," "Mi vida," "Corazón," if it exists in the Spanish language, he's most definitely said it. And he won't skip out on variations of your preferred name, or even silly sounding nicknames in public, like: "pookie" and "sugarplum" or some other stupidness. For dates, I believe he'd very much vary between educational and immersive dates and just straight up goofing off. It honestly depends on the season. Late Fall/Winter is for going to museums, workshops, possibly a joint coding class or hanging together in one of your rooms, and Spring/Summer is for exploring the town and having those cute little boardwalk + beach + ferris wheel dates. (I also imagine him to be somewhat clumsy and he WOULD drop ice cream all over the pavement.) As the son of Hephaestus, he is most definitely a human radiator. Definitely had a lot of fever scares just because of his temperature alone. But don't worry, he's fine. And the heat is an extra bonus if you're cuddling. Speaking of cuddling and physical proximity, Leo's love languages are gift-giving and physical touch. It doesn't matter if you guys have been apart for 2 minutes or 2 days, if he hasn't seen you in a little bit, he will greet you with one of those spin around hugs or a kiss on the hand. And for gift giving, he enjoys giving and receiving gifts. He likes to either make you little trinkets, or make/buy your favorite foods. He is a firm believer of giving his lady princess treatment, even on a dollar store budget. Though he wouldn't consider himself much of a photographer, I think he probably enjoys taking lots of pictures of you, both with and without him. It's to savor the moment, and also because he wishes he could've taken more pictures with his mother when she was still alive. He has a photo album of just you, him, and the adventures you two go on. You're not a stranger to pranking by him, by the way. If anything, he probably pranks you the most, out of love. You'll chase him down for a few hours, and he gets a thrill out of it knowing you won't stay mad at him forever. In conclusion, dating Leo can be rocky, calming, and give you a whirlwind of emotions, similar to how being on a floating trireme would feel.

A/N: I'm going to be real I never really paid much attention to Leo in the books, so I'm hoping this is accurate?? my bad if it isnt gang 🙏🏽🙏🏽

[umbramoons]

TECH MOMENTS PT. 20

The Bad Batch S2 E1: Spoils of War

We finally made it to Season 2! AKA Tech's Season, so it's obviously the best season, lol (Also, some of the points from this season were written immediately upon my first viewing, so if anything comes off as a little EXTRA unhinged, that's probably why.)

- “Does this unscheduled break mean you are fully versed in every ship in the Imperial fleet?” THERE HE IS! MY MAN IS BACK! ❤

- “That does not give you a pass on your studies.” Yes, I use this when I lack motivation. (Also, he has a little smile when he says this. He’s such a nerd, and I love him for it.) ❤

- That little smirk he gives Omega when she rolls her eyes at him. There's definitely a lot of affection between the two. You just have to look closely to see it! ❤

- Omega says, “we caught something.” TECH WAS FISHING WITH HER. ❤

- Lol, he sounds so disgusted by the sight of all those crabs swarming over his ship.

- The way he yells Omega’s name when she falls out of the ship. HE WAS SCARED. ❤

- Telling Omega to grab the line, because he KNOWS she can do it.

- "IT IS AN UNSCHEDULED STUDY BREAK." The delivery of this line is just flawless. I missed this man so much. ❤

- HE GOT FLIRTED ON! HE DESERVES IT. Phee is so real for that. I’m just happy that now it’s canon that he’s seen as attractive in-universe. (Respect to Phee for immediately picking him out instead of Hunter, who most people see as “the hot one”. Not that he's not conventionally attractive, he's just more commonly the typical choice, at least among fans.) Also, how he’s just totally oblivious and corrects Phee’s comment. ❤

- There's this tiny movement in his eyes when Phee first calls him out. He's subtly checking her out, too! Sure, it's more observation than admiration at this point, and it's such a little thing, but still. (I don't care if I'm grasping at straws here, I was a shipper from day one, and this is how I cope now.)

- Phee also gestures specifically to TECH when she says “top team” before walking out.

- He’s standing with his hands folded behind his back all politely while they’re discussing going against Hunter’s orders and ARGH he’s always just so adorable to me.

- "She does have a valid point." Always listening to reason even though he’s still no fan of Cid.

- That subtle little nod he exchanges with Echo before he goes to talk to Hunter about using the money to help fight the Empire. Tech could totally have become a rebel pilot. COULD YOU IMAGINE HIM FLYING ALONGSIDE HERA IN THE REBELLION?! I know that never happens, but that would have been amazing. He’s an old man now and he’s just like, “Your skills have certainly improved.” And Hera goes, “Fifteen years of practice will do that for you!” ❤

- Okay, my official opinion on the armor change. I really like the orange and black on Tech. We all like to make fun of his “jeans” but I genuinely think he’s not quite as thin as he was before (not by much, he’s still a twig, but we’ll talk about this later) so his blacks wouldn’t have been a comfortable option anymore. I’m sad about the fact he painted over the little eight-bit lightning skulls on his helmet (but at least we can see hints of them in good lighting), I need a sticker of those, but I kind of love the black stripe running up the bridge of his nose. It makes his eyes pop even more. That, and his goggles look like they’ve been painted over; they’re not as much of a steely grey anymore. This makes the variation in lenses even more obvious (he cycles through lenses from a dark sunshine-yellow to a color that’s practically completely clear. We know he has more than one set of goggles, we saw at least one extra pair in their barracks back in Season 1.) I’m glad he didn’t go as crazy with the colors as Hunter did, though. It works for him, but it wouldn’t have been as good on Tech. Adding that dusty teal to the look would have been a little too much. And in terms of the color choice, I like to think that his armor has the most obvious black accents because he has the most obvious connection to Crosshair. Symbolism. We love to see it. (Speaking of, Orange for creativity and passion, Black for balance and sophistication. Fitting traits and colors for my man, I would say.) 

- “Imperial escort ships.” THE SHOT WHEN HE SAYS THIS, HOLY- 

- "They will definitely notice when he does not report in."

- The pleased way he holds his head when he opens a crate and sees it packed with credits.

- "That is concerning."

- When Echo says that he can’t get the container open, Tech instantly turns around and takes a step closer, as if to see if there’s anything he can do.

- "If I am incorrect, we will instantly be sucked out and perish. I am seldom wrong." THE CONFIDENCE. (Also, I love how serious his eyes are when he says the first part, as if he’s teasing Omega.) ❤

- Echo tells him to wait to congratulate himself until they escape, and Tech just points out that that’s going to take a minute. Like he can’t wait that long. That probably wasn’t his intention, but it made me smile. When a character’s arrogance isn’t unfounded or rude, I kind of enjoy it.

- MY MAN IS STUNNING IN THIS ORANGE LIGHTING. ❤

- Casually throwing a stun grenade like he’s done with this conflict. 

- "You are correct. I am impressed." THE SMILE IN HIS EYES, STOP. ❤

- Being smart and opening the crate to use the lid for cover.

- I love how Tech takes the lead in this situation. He’s such a boss here.

- "That is going to be a problem!"

- Can I just say it feels like Tech got another glow-up (albeit a slight one)? Because my man has been looking absolutely GORGEOUS. ❤

A tangent on why that is! I think It's because his face has filled out a little more. His cheeks aren't as hollow, and they're a little more rosy. Like, compare Tech in early Season 1...

To Tech in early Season 2.

He's still got those high cheekbones, and the change is very slight, but it's almost like his face has softened out just a little bit. ANYWAY that's all from me for this week!