#also ONE voltron reference

[ruenii]

Tim gets hit by a huGE dose of cuddle pollen Ivy made, but she modified it to make the victim more...loopy, or lower their inhibitions. It basically makes them not give a shit and do what they ACTUALLY want, but the fluff version.

So since Tim deep, deep, deeeeeep down is a huge fuckin sap. (You can never, ever take away this headcanon from me.)

He pounces on someone (read: Duke) the second he wakes up in the medbay. And since the batfam doesn't know that Tim isn't a corny ass sap, they think it's the pollen doing it, but nope, Timmy is just very touch-starved and wants to share his affection.

THE CASE OF DUKE THOMAS:

Duke gets pounced on first (he's Tim's favorite) and gets a clingy leech whose arms and legs are wrapped around his body very tightly and is also nuzzling the crook of his neck.

He's also trying very hard to control the blush on his face when Tim praises him, whether it be from training, school, or his personal achievements. Even if Tim constantly praises him when he wasn't dosed, he still couldn't get used to the sheer support.

The boy just huffs and carries Tim like a teddy bear, and the others are just watching silently at the display. (Dick seething in the bg but lets ignore that–)

THE CASE OF CASSANDRA CAIN:

Cass is the second, she doesn't dodge as Tim pounces on her back, his arms tucked around her head and legs wrapped around her neck.

Tim tells her how he's so glad that he's her sister and how he loves her very much, and would actually commit genocide for her—

And Cass just smiles cutely and pats him on the thigh, and continues to walk to the library, with Tim still on her shoulders, who is still complimenting and praising Cass, and also still wanting to commit war crimes for her.

THE CASE OF JASON TODD:

The third one is Jason, it's a slow night, nothing's really happening, just some regular drug busts, gang fights, and burglars, but other than that, everything's just very relaxed. Well, as relaxed as Gotham can get.

It's during this patrol when Tim slowly comes up beside him and intertwines their hands together, careful and gentle, because he knows Jason is still kind of uncomfortable to touch, not so much now, but it's still there, but he's working on it bit by bit.

Of course, Jason knows Tim knows about his fear of touch, I mean he'd be pretty surprised if he didn't, but he doesn't mind that Tim doesn't force Jason to hug or cuddle him vigorously, but does it in a subtler, gentle way.

Jason huffs and squeezes Tim's hand as thanks. Tim grins and squeezes back. They share a comfortable silence as they walk to a nearby cafe.

THE CASE OF STEPHANIE BROWN:

The fourth is Stephanie, and since they're exes-turned-to-best friends, and very cuddly, she wasn't that surprised but was more excited that this Tim doesn't hold back on the mushiness of it all.

They have a competition to see who can call the other the most cringiest, corny names that they can think of.

(Spoiler: (haha spoiler) Steph's in the lead)

The fact that Tim was hit by the pollen didn't change anything drastic to their dynamic, it sort of just, well, evolved it, they're still the cuddliest of buddies. And if they get more cringier and exhausting to the rest of the batfam? Well, it's their problem now.

THE CASE OF DICK GRAYSON:

The fifth is Dick, who is still very bitter that Tim didn't hug him first-

("But...bUT I WAS HIS BIG BROTHER FIRST– WHAT DO YOU HAVE THAT I DON'T?!–"

"Uhhh...respecting his boundaries? being normal and not overbearing or being allergic to emotions? just being a friend to him in general to be honest-"

"..." )

And was also very relieved that he wasn't seriously hurt.

He's at the living room watching some random Rom-Com when Tim appears and stands closely to the couch Dick was on, curious about the movie as well.

Dick doesn't get a chance to say anything until something hits his chest. And when he looked down to see what it was, he almost cried from joy.

Tim was hugging him!! He was hugging him!! HA TAKE THAT DUKE–

Dick adjusted their position so that they're more comfortable, Tim's legs were on his thighs and his head was leaning on his shoulder.

Tim didn't really seem to mind as he was manhandled, but squirmed a little bit when Dick hugged him too hard.

Dick's just happy to see his little brother showing affection first!! He's come a long way. He says dramatically as he wipes a fake tear out of his eye.

THE CASE OF DAMIAN WAYNE:

The Sixth one is Damian, he was unnerved to see Tim being openly affectionate to the family, as he was used to seeing him being sarcastic and reserved, but not this... Grayson 2.0 clone.

(and also because he's a little, a tiny, bit offended that he wasn't the one who he hugged and looked for first. I mean, hello, Timothy? I am the youngest?? We trauma bonded?? I cradled you in my arms?? I'm Robin???)

But he was forced to accept this new Timothy. This new Timothy who gave him head pats for a good job, who scooped him in his arms in the morning when he's too tired to notice everything, who sets him on his lap and watches Animal Documentaries when he feels like Damian is too angry or is having a tantrum.

This new Timothy treated him like how he would treat his own little brother. He doesn't force him to do something he doesn't want unless it's absolutely needed. Respects his personal space when Damian was not in the mood but shows how he cares about him in other ways.

And, and. . . .this Tim was just affected by the pollen. It was not real, he was just forced to do this because of some stupid, meaningless, pollen. He doesn't really love Damian, he's just hallucinating.

But Damian doesn't push Tim off of him when he carries him up the stairs like a toddler.

Or when he praises him on how much he grew as a person, how much he learned, how he's so glad that he's with them now and comfortable in his own home, how kind he is to animals, or when he softly leans down and kisses his forehead good night.

Maybe tomorrow. Damian thinks, as Tims soft voice sends him to sleep.

THE CASE OF BRUCE WAYNE:

The seventh, is obviously, Bruce.

He wasn't a perfect parent, that much he can say at least. He was a broken man, who couldn't deal with his emotions properly.

It's getting better now though, as he's been seeing Dinah Lance twice a month. It's not going to be easy to change things that have been engraved in his heart for a long time.

But if it's for his kids? Bruce would do it in a heartbeat.

Tim walks over to where Bruce is, perched over the Bat Computer, looking at evidence of another human trafficking ring that had yet to be found.

He can see Bruce's shoulders stiffen, his expression carefully blank, but his hands were gripping the console too hard.

Bruce hears Tim approaching him from behind. His brilliant, intelligent, and lovable Tim. He doesn't deserve him, hell, he doesn't deserve any of his children

He feels like he failed them, and he had yet to apologize to all of them, some more than others, but he's working on it together with Dinah.

He's shocked when he feels Tim hug him from behind, nuzzling his head into his back. Bruce, still unmoving decided to turn his head to look at Tim, who was drowsy as he just woke up from a nap and wanted to find Bruce. (His son, his beautiful, capable, strong son.)

"Tim? You should go to your room if you're still tired—"

"You'reee. . . doing your besttttt, Bruceee...I'm proud of youuu...!"

Tim keeps on complimenting him, and god does the guilt fucking eat him alive

Bruce is shaking, Tim can feel it, but he was so sleepy, so he has to say this before he has to go upstairs to his room and fall asleep.

"I love you."

And Tim passes out, his hands loosely falling from Bruce's waist, but he catches him just in time before he hits the floor.

Bruce picks him up in a bridal carry and leaves the Bat Cave. He stays silent for most of the trip until he arrives at Tim's room and tucks him into bed.

A lone tear slid down his face as he cupped Tim's cheek into his much, much bigger hands. Looking at his son with pure adoration.

"I love you too."

He kisses his forehead before he leaves the room and turns off the light. Wondering why his throat feels likes there's a lump inside of it all of a sudden.

----

THE CASE OF THE SIRENS:

When they finally get to Ivy, she just laughs at them, cackling even.

"You idiots! That pollen was to just make someone show how they really feel, the nicer kind, I mean."

She rests her chin on top of her hand.

"It was supposed to be a prototype but hey, at least we know it works now."

Ivy looks at them and their glares bore holes into her skull, too bad she doesn't care.

"It takes their nicest qualities and times them to a ten. So Tim?"

She points at Red Robin who's busy hugging Harvey and is being cooed at by Catwoman.

"Is just a soft guy at heart, it wasn't forced or something, the pollen just helped him amp up his confidence and makes him do what he always, truly, wanted."

Ivy turns her back on them and goes over to Harley and Catwoman, and Tim beams at her, Ivy gives a soft smile and pats his head.

THE CASE OF THE BATFAM:

Meanwhile...

"WHAT?!–"

"Oh, so you guys didn't know Tim was a huge sap?"

"NO??? HOW WERE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW!!???"

"Being a normal person man, it gets you anywhere."

"Babybird's soft as fuck, and also very cuddly, you guys just don't have the privilege to hear or see it like normal lol."

"Todd, you have five seconds until I dismember you–"

"Oh please Dami, you're just embarrassed!"

"Very true. His ears are turning very red."

"I AM NOT BLUSHING! SHUT UP!"

Bruce is just there in the middle, staring out at nothing, the only thing on his mind is just Tim saying I love you to him, echoing every 5 seconds.

Tim is just on cloud nine, happy.

Loopy, but still very happy.

[akiraal]

something something rally racer keith in the 80s something something

[sockdooe]

:) fanart for the lovely @svendidntdieforthis for their fic captain if atlas, bearer of my heart

[0xy--m0r0n]

i love drawing graffiti omg

uhh the only thing that made me do this was when i was on holidays we drove past this metal tube thing with these seats in it and i was like "what if. klance." and this became a thing

i removed the seats tho bc fuck perspective

[leieryx]

hm. actually I just realized with all the bookbinding of fan fiction, a kid somewhere is totally gonna pick up a fan fiction book about a show they like but aren’t old enough to be online about and read it thinking it’s a canon/mass produced book. anyway.

[spacespacespace]

It’s crazy how different headcanons can be like

It could be so strongly implied in the media but never actually gets canonised so is accepted by everyone in the fandom but still technically a hc

It could be like a headcanon that isn’t implied anywhere, but suits their character so well

Or it could be literally the randomest shit that’s js someone projecting or having fun

[comfortlesshurt]

didn't share the final progress yesterday bc i felt like i was already spamming too many goals posts but NOW it's a new day so no one can get mad at me for it >:D

still need to finish the timeline, but getting parts of it lined up actually helped a lot with feeling like drafting more of the fics. also I'm sure I've linked it on this blog before, but it bears saying again: bless this person for their vld timeline. I've got plenty of my own non-canon events to squeeze in there, but this has made it a lot easier to plan this series

that said, i'm still going to take next month off from this series bc i do think it's a sign that i was feeling burned out on it before this, and i'd rather step back and delay it for a bit vs pushing through, getting a little more done, and then resenting the whole work so much that i never finish it. i'm allowed to work on it whenever i want to in october, but there's no daily par or monthly goal. i'm hoping to use the freed up writing time to knock out some of my fav whumptober prompts. very similar to what i did for whumperless whump event this year: just some oneshots or short chapter fics!

OKAY, I'm gonna be SO productive today, and I'm scheduling this post to shame myself into it >:D

my little list:

edit 2 published fics

finish story timeline for ltsltfh

hit daily writing par for ltsltfh

revisit writing timelines to make sure they're still realistic

secret 5th goal which cannot be said aloud until achieved but i think it's happening today (I hit 250k total ao3 hits :3)

[kitkat-the-muffin]

Tis a niche of its own

Sorry there is only two female characters, I kinda pulled these off the top of my head and probably missed a ton of other candidates. Reblog with an addition if you have one!

Edit: I forgot to make this poll a week long! Once this poll ends I'll remake it with new additions depending on the results (the characters with the fewest results will be replaced with suggested characters from the notes so be sure to suggest some!) in the meantime tho plz reblog to increase sample size

This follows my own definition of what "Comic Relief" means: A character that is used as a conduit for comedy in a piece of media

Through character studies I have determined that there are 5 types of comic relief: the Character Relief, the Audience Relief, the Tone Shifter, the Butt of the Joke, and the Slapstick. Characters that identify as "Comic Relief" usually fall into one or more of these categories

Further explanation under the cut

The Character Relief refers to a character who actively makes jokes to be funny in-universe through conscious humor. Examples from this poll would be Sans and Rayla, who go out of their way to make their friends laugh

The Audience Relief refers to a character who makes the audience laugh regardless of their impact on the story. Examples from this poll would be Lapis and Gus, who are often involved in comedic bits meant for audience entertainment that aren't acknowledged by the narrative as anything unprecedented

The Tone Shifter refers to a character who makes jokes to relieve tension and shift the tone of a scene, either consciously or unconsciously. Examples from this poll would be Jay and Leo, as they both consciously make jokes about grim situations to help their friends or family feel better. Additionally, Jay would do this unconsciously before his trauma made him start doing it on purpose

The Butt of the Joke refers to a character who is made fun of by other characters in-universe, whether endearingly or not. Examples from this poll would be Dewey and Lance, who are often met with insults whenever they do something wrong or silly. The insults are usually meant to be endearing and comedic, but they can still feed into the character's possible inferiority complex. This also applies whenever a villain hits them with a sick burn*

The Slapstick refers to a character who is made fun of by the narrative and the audience like a punching bag. Examples from this poll would be Sokka and Yusuke, who are sometimes put in troubling and awkward situations as a gag for the audience's entertainment alone. These gags are not fun for the characters yet delightful to watch

Most comic relief characters can be characterized as multiples of these. For example, Jar-Jar from Star Wars is both Slapstick and Audience Relief, and even if you don't find his jokes funny that doesn't change the fact that they were written with your entertainment in mind

If you're curious how a "The Narrative's Favorite (derogatory)" character would fit into this chart, they're likely both a Butt of the Joke and a Slapstick character, making their life absolute hell. To be honest, MK from Monkie Kid is an example of a character who fits all 5 categories, but he isn't blue so he isn't in this poll

*Ok if you've ever seen Phineas and Ferb Mission Marvel let me just say MODOK is a total Butt of the Joke and my favorite line in that special is when a TV announcer calls him a "Giant Chicken Egg with a Face" and I just had to mention that omg

[felassan]

this post is just some thoughts on/speculation re: the recent news (the new blog post and the IGN article etc). under a cut for length.

I’m so excited for the official first look at the gameplay!! (ofc) and psyched that it’s happening in early summer as opposed to late summer like August or thereabouts. it feels surreal in a good way that it’s now basically ‘DA:TV Eve’ :D With 15+ minutes of gameplay from the start of the game, we could gain a lot of new information and context such as who the PC is, where the story kicks off and the premise/framing of the story, who the starting companions are, etc.

it surprised me that the name of the game changed, but I like the new title, I think it’s cool and unusual and from dev comments it's not something they decided on a whim or anything. a title change makes sense in the light that Solas isn’t the only focus of the game or the only player on the board – that he’s a key player, but not the heart of it, and the companions are who is being centered. in any event the feel of a title to like say and stuff for me doesn’t affect gameplay or what it’s like interacting with characters etc. I would play this game if it was called Dragon Age: The Quantum Blorbening anyway.

‘The Veilguard’ is the name of our crew of companions, as in a group or faction. (It reminds me of “the Kingsguard”.) Obviously we can see from the name that this group will be involved in protecting and defending the barrier between the Fade and the waking world in some manner. I wonder, will it be a group we form, or a group we join/are recruited into? They must be a fairly recent addition to Thedas. What’s their relation to the Veil Jumpers, if any? Does the existence of the Veilguard imply that the theories that the game will begin with the Veil torn down already aren’t the case? Will the Veilguard always want to protect the Veil during the story, or will there come a point when they re-evaluate that idea? It sounds like they’re always able to take down the new evil threat, but will they always be able (or always want to) to prevent the Veil from being destroyed? also, in-world, who named them The Veilguard?

Maybe our PC’s own ‘title’ (Warden, Hero, Inquisitor, Herald of Andraste, kinda thing) will be Veil Guardian or Guardian of the Veil or something like that..? we obviously won’t be the only veil guard, but while the DA:O PC was ‘the Hero of Ferelden’, in-game they often were referred to in passing simply as Grey Warden or The Warden, despite there being another Warden present (Alistair). When the devs have been talking about The Avengers, I think about that and also get Guardians of the Galaxy kinda vibes. With Varric and Harding’s storyline in DA: The Missing, I wonder if he will be like the Nick Fury (he kind of brought the Avengers together and coordinated them right? Or at least recruited them all, put the team together?), with Harding joining the team itself..? Avengers assemble, form Voltron, etc. with stuff like “you’ll unite this team of unforgettable heroes”, it sounds like the PC (as in previous games) will end up leading the group in some manner, even if they are new to the squad. That reminds me of the HoF. ^^

Somewhere out there in the multiverse, on a different plane, DA4 came out and it was a multiplayer game. it’s good to hear about refocusing on creating a singleplayer game with a focus on characters, choices & decisions, worldbuilding, companionship with characters with their own deep storylines that intersect with the main plot etc, with the customizable hero and the cast of their companions at the center of an SP story. and no online team members, no live service etc.

The world of Thedas itself is still my favorite ‘character’ :D

Warden, Hawke, Inquisitor mention. 🥺

I don’t mind one way or the other about most gameplay specifics. Some of the aspects of combat gameplay (of course, I’m just guessing based on reading some lines in an article atm), like the pausing the action and the ability wheel to give orders, sound like ME: Andromeda gameplay, and Andromeda had good gameplay/combat gameplay that was fun and fluid to play.

One thing I am 😔 about tho is the change of party size from 3 companions to 2. I love Mass Effect and it’s a 3-person squad in that series too (and it works well ofc both in terms of gameplay and dynamics), but I’ll still miss having 3 companions with me in DA :< esp in a game with such a focus on the characters/companions. What can I say, I’m just a blorbo hoarder. I’ll also miss all party members being directly controllable.

I wonder if the 7 companions (seven is a lucky number ^^) will have a class split like 2 warrior/2 rogue/2 mages+1 ‘unique/special’ companion (e.g. Dog, Shale – maybe the flaming head Skellington?) or +1‘extra/secret’ companion or something (e.g. Loghain).

Also, speculatively, being that we’ve never had a qunari woman as a companion before, I hope one is a qunari woman, and since we’ve never had a dwarf woman as a companion before in a ‘main’ game (ily sigrun), I hope one will be a dwarf woman. That also makes me curious about the race and gender split of the 7. Maybe it’s like 2 humans/2 elves/1 qunari/1 dwarf/1 ‘unique or special’ (e.g. Shale)..? Maybe it’s like 3 men/3 women/1 nonbinary person, or the first 6 are a mix of men, women and nonbinary people, and the seventh is something like Dog or a spirit or something?

There were 6 companions in ME1. In DAII, there were 8 in the base game (Seb was DLC), but Bethany/Carver were only around for part of the game. today one of the main things people love most about DAII is its cast of companions. ^^ also, with the way the devs talk about the companions, it's giving "Found Family" trope vibes. that's another thing that people love a lot about DAII. ^^

will it just be the 7 of us, like the crew in DA2? Will it be like in DA:I, where the organization (Inquisition/Veilguard in this case) has main figures/an inner circle, but also commands other people? Or will it be like Mass Effect, where you have a crew which is comprised of companions (in this case 7) who join you on the field as well as a few other developed characters that hang out at ‘home base’? on the number paring down from 9 to 7, I’d rather quality and depth over quantity. In ME2, Kasumi and Zaeed (as DLC) didn’t have proper conversations on the ship. I wonder if “pare down” refers to it being versus the number of companions we had in DA:I, or whether at some point in development of DA:TV there used to be more than 7 companions and some were cut.

each of the 7 companions is from/represents a different faction. For example, while not stated to be a companion in the trailer he was revealed in, it's common speculation that he is, and Davrin is a Grey Warden. Going by the 4 factions Varric and Harding deal with in The Missing, surely 4 of these companion backstory factions in DA:TV are the Grey Wardens, the Antivan Crows, the Veil Jumpers and the Shadow Dragons. And the other 3..? the Lords of Fortune are a new addition to the lore that have also been prominent in recent material. A Grey Warden, an Antivan Crow, and a Veil Jumper walk into a bar.. : ) the composition of The Veilguard is reminding me of Duncan’s words about the Grey Wardens: “Men and women from every race, warriors and mages, barbarians and kings.”

---

some more wild speculation on the 7 factions.

1. Davrin - the Grey Wardens

2. Bellara - ??

3. Harding - Inquisition/Inquisition remnants (I do not think Varric is a companion)

then, based on prominence in previous promo material and The Missing etc -

4. A Lord of Fortune

5. A Veil Jumper (STRIFE PLS!!!)

6. An Antivan Crow

7. A Shadow Dragon

??

or… this prev concept art (bearing in mind it might represent nothing at all except ‘general mood’ & no specific actual characters, or be from a different version of the game before a reboot or before cuts etc, who knows) shows 8 characters. could it be the 7 companions and the Player Character? Skellington Guy (green flaming skull guy) could easily be the (speculative!!) ‘unique/special 7th one’, assuming a 2/2/2 warrior-rogue-mage classbreak down among the other 6 (which is speculation only too ofc). lmk what you think : )

I’m nervous about upsetting or getting the new companions killed already HH.

It’s nice to read how strongly they feel about the new characters and their stories.  

I’m so excited to explore all the regions and varied biomes.

I’m still not clear/sure on whether “you can romance the companions you want” means all 7 companions are bi/pan+, or that there are no non-romanceable companions among the 7 (like no Stens or Varrics), or whether it was more like a general off-hand comment that can’t be read into that much.

I wonder if the Varric-narrated in-game cinematic from 1 year ago plays at the start of the game? Or after we meet Varric?

here is a link to a ramble/speculation about the new logo/icon.

All of Thedas is at risk from a big, scary new threat. As we know, Solas was never the only being interested in the Veil and its removal or destruction. (you can also outline lots of reasons why it should be brought down, like the way the world used to be, elven immortality, the effect on mages/magic etc). it’s also long been theorized that Solas isn’t the main threat/main antagonist in DA4, and maybe more like the Dragon to someone/something else, or a figure like Loghain in DA:O, who you can kill or convince to join you in your fight against the real overarching threat, in that case the Blight. Corypheus broke the Veil in the Red Lyrium future. Demons always want to cross it. the Evanuris are trapped in some way that involves the Veil being in place. Flemythal can never achieve true vengeance while her killers are sleeping or imprisoned somewhere she can’t reach. The Bio25 book says that ��The Evil Gods have Thedas in their sights” and that “shadows of the past stir”. It also says that the “Deep Roads teem with evils both new and old”. There are theories about a double Blight. The most recent trailer has someone gushing “Glory to the Risen Gods. They’ve come to deliver this world”. Tevinter Nights hints at fck-knows-what – places and beings, “past the Veil of our world, neither demon nor spirit”, things with chthonic kinda vibes. Etc. a threat being “unleashed” has the implication of someone let something go.. or someone.. let something in... there are also other groups and beings to consider, like the Old Gods, the Forgotten Ones, the Executors.

I thought this phrasing from the IGN article was interesting, though it's not a direct quote from Gary. “Solas, who helped create the Veil, now wants to destroy it.” Helped create? Until now it was more like “Solas created the Veil”. Helped who..? 👁️

The other evil threats/the real threats, these ‘other gods’ (Gary McKay mentions them twice: “it might not just be Solas”, “the Dread Wolf is not the only god” you need be worried about), are surely the upside-down figures in this mural, right? Surely they are the “Evil Gods” (whoever /they/ are) mentioned in the Bio25 book, right? :D

[i-lulupe-i]

Inspired by the second book in the voltron duality series by @squirenonny

This drawing is honestly one of the best ones I made in ages, I am so proud of it. It literally looks exactly how I pictured it in my head :D

Also did I put matt's knee brace on the wrong leg? Was it even there at that point in the story? Who knows! I'm already halfway into book 3 so I might've mixed some stuff up...

Does anyone else also struggle with finding the perfect pose reference but the model is the wrong body type to the point that you have to Frankenstein the right body type together? It happened 4 times in this drawing TvT

What should I draw next? I'm thinking some klance but we'll see how that goes

[green-nerd-showdown]

GRENN NERD SHOWDOWN ROUND 1 BATTLE 1

PIDGE FROM VOLTRON VS RIZ GUKGAK FROM DIMENSION 20: FANTASY HIGH

PROPAGANDA

PIDGE

Green clothes. Green lion. "Smart guy" of the 5 man band. Some iterations he's a ninja.

She's a tech nerd and can hack anything. Makes her own robots.

Just…✨Pidge✨ They really went ‘Gender? Nah!’ I respect that. (i’m also a simp lol)

Well, first she is the green paladin (she is a woman, but she is refered to as male for the first few eps and in the original Voltron series the character is male, hope that counts) and is the smartest and most tech inclined person of the group.

RIZ

Riz "The Ball" Gukgak, is green cuz he's a goblin, and a nerd. He starts out as a "Teen Detective" kid, investigating the disappearance of the missing girls in Elmville, cuz one of the missing girls is his old babysitter, aka his only friend before the show starts. He later graduates in the "James Bond Wannabe" Kid. He starts accessorizing and experimenting with his outfit, but because he's a nerd and self conscious he's constantly trying to justify it by making everything some kind of gadget and saying that it's all for the sake of utility in order to deflect any judgement. Also, before you think the nickname "The Ball" is cool, he got it because when he tried to join the sport team, the school jock said that the only position he could play was the ball, and proceeded to throw him like a ball. Dimension 20 is a D&D actual play show, Riz Gukgak is one of the player character, his player being Brian Murphy, who is a nerd himself. He's also the rogue, starting with the Inquisitive subclass, aka the nerd subclass, and later changes to the Arcane Trickster subclass, aka the slightly cooler nerd subclass. He's a nerd being played by a nerd as the nerd class with the nerd subclass, formerly the other nerd subclass, in the nerd game.

He's a green goblin who is obsessed with solving mysteries and making clue boards

Goblin (green). Middle school nickname was Briefcase Kid. Still carries that briefcase. Is a licensed PI. Definitely the (non-magic) brains of his adventuring party.

he made business cards to give to potential friends on his first day of school. he is a self proclaimed private investigator. he carries around a fucking briefcase to HIGH SCHOOL. what hasn’t this guy done. Sure he does a lot of cool stuff but this is what matters.

I love him, he is such a nerd, straight A student with an impeccable knowledge of the world he lives in, he is also literally a goblin, and thus the colour green. He’s also aro so green in the flag

Feral detective/angel spy

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 59

hello and welcome to fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

Lance Denies The Feels by @bleusarcellewrites

“Hey, knock it dead, Sharpshooter.” Keith winks and Lance’s weak. ‘Thanks, I’ll be right back.’ He tries to say, to excuse himself calm and collected so he would exit the training room and go to a corner on a room with no boys with hot mullets, so he can maybe, just maybe, come to terms with the sudden events like a normal person. “You fight good!” Lance shouts instead. [In which Lance isn't aware that he has a crush and the realization hits him hard enough to screams his bi feelings out. On an empty room. Which turns out not to be emtpty. It works out for him in the ends, thanks to a Mulan reference.]

big big fan of fics where lance is so obviously crushing on keith that its just embarrassing for everyone around him. and keiths fond and quiet indulgence fucking -- well. truly gets me every time. also love the clowning he gets from the team lmao

2. See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil by galaxymilk

Lance becomes the vessel for a high-tech Galra weapon that will detonate at the mere mention of its existence. The clock is ticking, Lance, you better think fast.

i read this when i was the tender tender age of fourteen and let me tell you it FUCKED ME UP!!!!!!!!! imagine carrying a bomb in your body that might kill your friends. but if you tell anyone it detonates. that fear? that terror? it is REEKING off the fucking screen. you will read this fic breathless. your heart will make home in your throat. your muscles will cramp in their tenseness. also it features lance bragging about keith to random strangers in the beginning lol

3. When Did This Happen? by memoriesofrain

What do you mean they're together? I thought they were just really close! OR No one knew Hunk and Lance were together and Lance is homesick.

some hance!! yall know i love me some secret relationship. and i love it so much more when its not actually secret relationship and is instead 'yah weve been openly dating this whole time yall are just too dumb to notice' like that one makes me giggle

4. Space Is Cold by corvus (borrowedphrases)

Lance is a pain in the butt, but Hunk loves him and worries about him anyway.

was in my hance era when i was making these bookmarks apparently. and u know what? i was correct. hance is cute as shit. also, 2016 fics will always hold the most specialest of places in my heart. each one of them ate truly. this one is so cute and intimate.

5. Snapshots and Other Bonding Moments by @shyfoxes

Hunk and Lance are constants in each other's lives, and that will never change. Four moments between Lance & Hunk and One moment spent with Team Voltron.

four plus ones!! my beloved!!! small moments of regular life love!!! my beloved!!! 2016 fics!!! my beloved!!! god some of the tags on this thing...nostalgia. anyways. i loved this fic because i have always loved fics diving into the characters' lives prekerb, u know? i want Backstory. also the lilo and stitch references were cute. if youre not a fan of hance, this is pre relationship so can def be read as platonic!! such a cute fic fr

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!

[worstqueerbaittournament]

Submission message for Sophie and Agatha: sophie and agatha of woods beyond lmao ekjfhlwe they were these characters from this book series called the school for good and evil and one of them wears all black and one of them wears all pink and the goth one is the secret hero and the pink one is the secret villain except she is redeemed through her friendship with the goth one via a KISS ON THE MOUTH..... A TRUE LOVE'S KISS BC THEY LIVE IN A FAIRYTALE'S-ARE-REAL UNIVERSE... AND THE MAGIC IS LIKE EXPLICITLY DRIVEN BY THE GOTH ONE'S LOVE FOR THE SUBJECT.... LITERALLY I FORGET THE EXACT QUOTE BUT AT ONE POINT THEY SAY SOMETHING LIKE "youre not a monster, youre human." "only with you."????? THE FIRST BOOK ENDS WITH THEM KISSING ON THE MOUTH AND DISAPPEARING IN A BALL OF LIGHT. AND THEN IN THE NEXT BOOK THE PINK ONE REFERS TO THE GOTH ONE AS HER PRINCE?????? AND EMBROIDERS THE TWO OF THEM ON A PILLOW WHERE THE GOTH ONE IS DEPICTED AS A PRINCE???? AND ALSO THERE'S LIKE A POTION THAT CAN LIKE VISUALLY CHANGE YOUR SEX CHARACTERISTICS AND THE GOTH ONE KIND OF LIKE CHECKS OUT BOY!PINK???? AND THEN IN THE THIRD BOOK IT IS REVEALED THAT THEY ARE SISTERS.. NOT EVEN BY WAY OF BIOLOGY BUT BECAUSE OF SOME WEIRD SOUL MAGIC.... BUT DEFINITELY NOT SOULMATES OF SOME SORT...... LIKE???? YOU DID ALL THIS FOR WHAT??????????? AUTHOR AND SUBSET OF FANS CONTINUE TO JUSTIFY IT TO THIS DAY LIKE I THINK IT'S LIKE A MINOR DISCOURSE TOPIC NOW LIAWHDLOQIDHLAFHJK. AND IF I GOT ANY MINORS DETAILS WRONG IT'S BECAUSE I HAVEN'T READ THE BOOKS IN YEARS BUT THIS CONTINUES TO HAUNT ME. SORRY FOR THE RANT IN YOUR ASKS

Submission message for Keith and Lance: howdy, would like to submit keith and lance from voltron (lmao)

Additional propaganda: Now Keith and Lance on the other hand was a whole fucking mess that they then shoehorned in an hetero romance to try and "fix it" but by lord it was bad, everything about voltron is so fucking bad

Anyway this is my Klance propaganda : They were actually bait

[wanderersrest]

An Abbreviated History of Mecha Part 4.1: THE EAST IS BURNING RED!!! (1990-1995)

(Read in the voices of Yosuke Akimoto and Tomokazu Seki) ANSWER ME, DOMON! THE SCHOOL OF THE UNDEFEATED OF THE EAST!!

THE WIND OF KINGS!!

ZENSHIN!!

KEIRETSU!!

TEMPA KYOURAN!!!

LOOK, THE EAST IS BURNING RED!!!

Welcome back to An Abbreviated History of Mecha! Last time, we saw the proliferation of mecha shows throughout the 80's. We also saw the introduction of an incomplete list of influential industry people who got their start in the 80's. In the 90's, we will begin to see a continuation of this proliferation of mecha works throughout the decade. The 90's will also see a lot of the stories I have talked about pay off, as

What we will also see in the 90's are a few major events that will affect the world of mecha in pretty major ways. The first is the bursting of the Japanese economic bubble, which would cause the Japanese economy to go from an era of excess to one of stagnation known as the Lost Decade. Another is the sudden arrival of a third honorary mecha series, except this honorary mecha series would arguably help to kickstart the slow decline of mecha stories. It should be noted that this series is not the only reason for the slow decline of mecha shows. That is a whole conversation in and of itself, and one that, maybe one day, I will talk about.

The last thing that should be noted about the 90's is that this would also see the creation of a handful of networks in the US that would help to bring anime over to the west, namely one Cartoon Network (and more importantly, its spinoff networks Toonami and [adult swim]) for the people in the US. While anime had seen some popularity in the west thanks to shows and movies like Robotech, Voltron, Ghost in the Shell, and Akira, it would be the four-part knockout of two of the series mentioned here alongside animanga juggernauts Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon that would cause anime to become mainstream.

That should be everything. With all of that out of the way...

Gundam Fight!

READY?! GO!!!

Yuusha Exkaiser/Brave Exkaiser (1991)

Starting us off in 1991, Takara would realize that, due to the sudden success of Transformers in the US, it might be time to diversify as Transformers had no longer felt like it was truly their property anymore. As such, they would create the Yuusha line, with their debut series being Brave Exkaiser. Exkaiser would prove to be a massive hit amongst its intended younger audience and would kickstart a whole franchise, which would also include:

The Brave Fighter of Legend Da-Garn (1992)

The Brave Express Might Gaine (1993)

The Brave Police J-Decker (1994)

The Brave of Gold Goldran (1995)

Brave Command Dagwon (1996)

The King of Braves, GaoGaiGar (1997), which I will talk about next time.

The Brave franchise is important due to how often this series gets referenced by other works, with the usual reference points being either Might Gaine or GaoGaiGar. More importantly, both Brave Exkaiser and the Giant Robo OVA would usher in an era of works that looked to the older mecha shows like Tetsujin 28, Mazinger Z, and Getter Robo for inspiration as opposed to Mobile Suit Gundam.

Super Robot Wars (1991) & Another Century's Episode (2003)

1991 would also see the start of Banpresto's Super Robot Wars, the ultimate crossover of in terms of mecha works. Super Robot Wars is where a lot of mecha-related terminology such as Super Robots, Real Robots, and the Holy Trinity (Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, Gundam 0079) come from. Super Robot Wars would also introduce its own set of original robot designs, each with their own unique pilots. Super Robot Wars would eventually gain a sister series in the form of 2003's Another Century's Episode.

One of the most important factors of Super Robot Wars is that, due to its celebratory (some might even say masturbatory) nature, these games can serve as a good metric behind what is a mecha story.

Giant Robo the Animation: The Day the Earth Stood Still (1992)

In 1992, Yasuhiro Imagawa and company would release the first episode of the now-legendary OVA Giant Robo the Animation: The Day the Earth Stood Still. This OVA, along with Brave Exkaiser, would begin the push for giant robot shows to take inspiration from works that were not Mobile Suit Gundam. The Giant Robo OVA, on top of being one of Imagawa's magnum opera (fun fact: the plural of magnum opus is magnum opera) alongside Mobile Fighter G Gundam, would also be the direct inspiration for western darling The Big O.

Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger (1992) & Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (1993)

If you're wondering why I mentioned Super Sentai in part 2, this series is why.

In 1992, the Super Sentai series Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger would release in Japan. While, to my understanding, it was about as popular as the rest of the Super Sentai franchise, this specific series in particular would attract the attention of one Haim Saban. With some editing here and there, along with filming new segments featuring an American cast as opposed to using the original footage featuring the original Japanese cast, Saban and company would create Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, which would air for the first time in 1993. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers would go down in history as one of many series that would help pave the way for animanga to gain a foothold in western media.

Denkou Choujin Gridman/Gridman the Hyper Agent (1993) & Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad (1994)

1993 would also see the legendary Tsuburaya Productions, after a long period of struggles, finally make a comeback with their new series Gridman the Hyper Agent. With its smaller budget, the Hero of Dreams would come to be known as the hero who would help Tsuburaya Productions come back to relevance in the 90's.

Due to the success of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, other US companies would want in on the action. DiC Entertainment would buy the US distribution rights for Gridman and would try to put their own spin on Power Rangers by creating Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad.

Eventually, the people at Studio Trigger, who were interested in making an anime based off of Ultraman, would reach out to Tsuburaya Productions in an attempt to get permission to do so. While their initial request for Ultraman specifically was shot down, they were allowed to choose any of Tsuburaya's other properties for their anime adaptation. And they would choose Gridman for their subject, which would lead to the creation of SSSS.Gridman (a show I will talk about later).

If you have time to spare, you should also check out Cheese GX's video on the history behind Gridman.

Patlabor 2 (1993)

The fan-beloved Patlabor 2 would also release in 1993. Reflecting the realities of post-economic bubble Japan and the ensuing Lost Decade, Patlabor 2 would trade out the optimism commonly associated with the franchise with a much more cynical and grounded (even by Patlabor standards) tone. People tend to view this movie as being what Patlabor is all about, but in my opinion, this movie is an anomaly that can only truly be appreciated by knowing the context of everything that came before it.

Magic Knight Rayearth (1993)

1993 would also see the publishing of the shoujo manga series Magic Knight Rayearth. Created by the legendary mangaka group CLAMP, Rayearth would be one of the first magical girl series to really escape the long shadow cast by one Sailor Moon (if I understand my magical girl history correctly, Sailor Moon is basically the magical girl equivalent of the original Mobile Suit Gundam). How was Magic Knight Rayearth able to do this?

By adding giant robots into the mix. That's right: Magic Knight Rayearth is most likely the reason why there is overlap between magical girl and mecha fans. While remembered by many as being an important series in the canons of mecha, magical girls, and CLAMP, Rayearth's legacy would largely be overshadowed by one Cardcaptor Sakura.

Mobile Fighter G Gundam (1994)

1994 would see Gundam return in a radically different form with the martial arts-inspired Mobile Fighter G Gundam. Often considered to be the other iconic series of Yasuhiro Imagawa, G Gundam would mark the beginning of a new era of Gundam by being the first alternate universe series to exist, thus allowing the franchise to flourish while letting the original Universal Century timeline continue to exist and get its own stories. Because of its radically different nature though, G Gundam is oftentimes looked down upon as a series that spits on the legacy of the Gundam franchise.

And again, not to toot my own horn here, but I also have a trilogy of posts all talking about G Gundam. All three posts seemed to be pretty popular relative to my other posts, so there seemed to be something in them that resonated with a lot of readers.

New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (1995) & New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (1996)

Following on from G Gundam is 1995's New Mobile Report Gundam Wing, which is arguably the most important Gundam series after the original and Gundam Seed in the 2000's. As a return to the war stories of the original Gundam, the reason why this series is important is because Gundam Wing would be one of the big four anime series that would make anime become mainstream in the West.

In my opinion though, Gundam Wing's legacy begins and ends with it being the first Gundam series to air in the West. In Japan, another series would air at around the same time as Gundam Wing, one that would loom over the rest of canon of mecha due to its impact on the anime industry and Japanese pop culture as a whole.

Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995) & The End of Evangelion (1996)

Ah yes, the original "Not Like the Other Girls" mecha anime.

The series that would hamper a lot of Gundam Wing's cultural impact would be Hideaki Anno and Studio Gainax's legendary Neon Genesis Evangelion, and the second of Gainax's Big Four alongside Gunbuster. Created as an homage to shows like Ultraman and Space Runaway Ideon, Evangelion would take the zeitgeist by storm, forcing its way into the pantheon of the mecha canon like... well, like an Evangelion Unit tearing through an Angel's AT Field. There was a certain je ne sais quois to the series that made it stick to a lot of viewers at the time, and a lot of the history and context behind this series' production would help shape a lot of its more cerebral moments.

Anno would eventually revisit this series in 2007 by remaking this anime series into a quartet of films known as the Rebuild of Evangelion series. At first just a project to bring Evangelion to the 21st century, the Rebuild films would eventually become the first of the Shin Japan Heroes Thematic Universe, which would come to also include:

Shin Godzilla (2016)

Shin Ultraman (2022)

Shin Kamen Rider (2023)

The problem with a series like Evangelion is that, while it is a culturally important series that deserves a lot of the attention and praise it gets, a lot of Evangelion fans tend to go a little bit too far. It's subversive nature tends to become exaggerated to the point where Evangelion is often treated as being subversive of mecha, and thus, not like the other mecha shows. This is, in large part, why the infamous idea of Evangelion being "Not like other mecha shows because it deals with character drama" comes from, and it's something that I'd like to talk about at some point in the future after all of this.

Conclusion

And there you have it! As we get into the latter half of the 90's, we will see a lot of iconic mecha shows begin to pop up. We will also see [adult swim] begin to really play its part in making anime more mainstream, along with Gundam begin to decline and the end of the Brave franchise. We'll also see the appearance of the crazy man known as Tetsuya Takahashi make his directorial debut in what is quiet possibly the single most ambitious JRPG project of all time along with a surprise appearance by... LEGO?!

Next time, Part 4.2: A Grand Glorious Gathering!!

This will be the key to victory.

[snackleggg]

I feel like a big part of Allura's character being done dirty and feeling inconsistent comes from the writers just not really being able to write female characters very well.

What do I mean?

Well, Voltron's cast has always been primarily male (which makes sense since the og show was from the 80s) but vld gives us quite a few "strong female characters". The problem comes when you notice most of those characters are minor like Krolia or Acxa or Veronica. This means the characters can be depicted as strong and badass with any more indepth characters moments being conveniently off screen (like Krolia & Keith's time on the space whale, Veronica's time worrying over Lance's disappearance & trying to protect earth, Acxa's redemption)

But there are still female characters within the main cast and the contrast between how they are written really gives an insight to the struggle the vld writers had. The contrast between how Pidge and Allura are written is alarming.

Pidge, even after her reveal, is still written in an androgynous masc-leaning way. The characters don't even refer to her with any pronouns for seasons after her "reveal", its only in the last few seasons that the writers seemingly remember Pidge is supposed to use she/her pronouns. This is probably a byproduct of the fact that the archetype Pidge fills (the smart guy) is commonly a masc one.

Meanwhile, Allura's characterisation is butchered because as the designated "main female character" the writers just threw every single character trope at her, probably trying to make her feel "deep" and multifaceted but just made her feel inconsistent, busy, and butchered instead.

She's "the leader" initially when the paladins are first starting out but Shiro fills that role quickly so she is put in a more "support" role. She seems to be some type of "chosen one" considering her ability to connect w/ the balmera, negate haggars magic, and her natural talent w/ alchemy (the explanation seems to be that it's because of her lineage, as Alfor was the best alchemist of his time, but we never seem/know enough about Alfor or his own abilities to get a tangible grasp of what Allura's capabilities are. It's just whatever is convenient to the plot like bringing Lance back to life). She falls into the "damsel in distress" trope at the end of season 1. She's made the center of a very disingenuous and forced feeling love triangle. They try to give her a racism arc??? But fail spectacularly bc they never have like a proper heartfelt conversation about her bias, where it comes from, her recognising the damaging affects it has (the conversation she has with Keith abt it at the end of season 2 feels very "You're one of the good ones" coded which is very icky) and then the writers seemingly forget it ever happened (also it lasts like 3 episodes and consists mainly of her just glaring vaguely in Keith's direction instead of any actual confrontation/conflict between them)

Her character is all over the place. One second she is being put in "traditional" female character tropes (which she as a princess trained in combat, diplomacy, and running an entire society of people, should not be put in/have trouble with) like the damsel in distress and the love triangle. The next, she is depicted as unstoppable and a fix-all maggufin like with her alchemy & connection to quintessence. Then they also try to have her work through personal issues/flaws (which I think is what her racism arc was supposed to be???) But they never go into detail & explore said personal issues (which btw were never really alluded to before hand, kind of came out of nowhere)

TLDR: Allura's character was butchered because the writers thought mashing together a bunch of random character tropes without any deeper thought/development = interesting characterisation when really it just made her inconsistent and confusing.

[neurotic-sinkhole]

absolutely going coo-coo bonkers banana pants thinking about the young justice series.

the first season is ABSOLUTELY perfect, NO NOTES. the team dynamics. the b plot storylines that ended up being SO critical. the betrayals. the cameos from other young superheros. batman!!!!!!!

season two, also pretty good! starts off hot with introductions of new characters, building off of last season's cliff hanger plot lines. gives us that juicy juicy wally-artemis relationship stuff. good leadership and team decision making. but then- like halfway throughout the season, it starts feeling... rushed? like the plot just starts tumbling down a hill. then the season finale is just... sad. its sad and you don't feel like the team saved anything because so much is lost.

season 3 begins and it really doesn't circle back to the loss and the absolute turmoil the ending of season 2 caused. the team makes references to it every now and then, but the actual justice league? not at all.

season 4 just digs up old wounds for no reason. i totally get revisiting old missed plot bits, but when you're not actually filling in those plot holes you're just deepening them.

it really sucks that the pinicle of writing and animation in season one just crashed and burned.

might be where voltron learned that trick.