#also the 3 lil goblins were so fun to draw

[yeehawpim]

Thinking about how in the finale adventuring party it was revealed Hobb was supposed to be 3 lil guys

[inventors-fair]

Insert The Clash Reference - New Year’s Revolution Commentary

I will be the first to admit this was not one of my stronger contests. As I alluded to in the initial post, I had intended to run something else entirely, but articulating what I wanted people to give me proved entirely fruitless despite around 8 hours of concentrated sentence-construction. So, thus, with the deadline looming, I audibled into something else entirely that I put no prior thought in. I think this showed itself somewhat in the submissions, as people seemed to take different lessons from the same post, and I sincerely apologise for any misgivings due to my poor communication of my intentions.

That said, y’all ran in some real delightful directions with this one. I definitely did not expect to see most of the twists on Rebels-as-a-concept that you decided to bring to the table, and seeing everyone’s little takes on how Rebels could be done was an absolute delight. Thank you all wholeheartedly for your submissions this week.

With all that out of the way, a cut!

@an-anarchist-shapeshifter​ - Double Agent

Thrilled to see that tumblr user an-anarchist-shapeshifter has partaken in the political unrest contest, though I am slightly bewildered that you were not the one to submit the sole Rebellious Shapeshifter of the crowd. Regardless, the card you actually submitted: Absolutely lovely saboteur effect. Leaving the card draw as optional is an incredibly clever choice, as it can allow you more flexibility to choose between adding to your own hand and decreasing theirs in less than ideal scenarios, while still allowing you to generate nauseating amounts of card advantage when everything lines up. Absolutely delicious mechanic to fit on a four mana 2/3, so excellent work there. My main sticking point for this particular rogue element is its use of skulk. See, I played standard back when Shadows of Innistrad was released, and I still vividly remember how skulk played out in practical terms: Namely, 1 power skulk creatures were essentially unblockable, 2 power ones were Difficult, but Manageable, and 3+ power ones had an extra line of flavor text. Skulk as an evasion mechanic is very narrow and I don't think I have ever found it particularly fun, playing with or against it, and that sour taste has yet to leave me even after all these years. That said, I will commend you for selecting the only vaguely interesting Skulk Number. If you gave this menace instead I think it would play out very similarly, while also avoiding any and all unforeseen Ancient Judge Grudges that may still be lying around. An otherwise delightful card somewhat marred by a slightly unfortunate mechanic choice.

@demimonde-semigoddess​ - Jabberhouse Hand

This card is delightful and I very much wish it existed, but unfortunately, as I am currently judging the Rebel Contest and not the Cards I Like Contest, I cannot fully endorse this card, as I am having quite a bit of difficulty figuring out where the Goblin bit ends and the Rebel bit begins. Plinking people? That's just standard Boggart Shenanigans. Milling everyone? A lil weird for Goblins but I'm not sure it exactly screams "I'm a Rebel!" either. Caring about things what cost 2 or less? No idea. I just can't really tell why this particular Goblin has selected Rebellion as a profession rather than Roguery, aside possibly from the flavor text association with Grenzo, which is itself tenuous as he himself is also a Goblin Rogue. Could I envision a set where Grenzo tries to upend the monarchists from his dungeon-throne, and acquires the Rebel typing while doing so? Sure. But I'm just not confident I'm getting that entirely from this card, unfortunately. Like I said though, love it mechanically, just not sure it was the ideal execution for this contest.

@dimestoretajic​ - Backroom Recruiter

Let the workers unite! It is rather unfortunate that their union contracts only extend to the end of combat, rather than end of turn, as that will almost certainly result in unintentional union-member casualties, when your Union Bear becomes a 4/4 and becomes blocked by another 2/2 and emerges triumphant, only to lose its coveted toughness and die to the very damage it previously powered through at combat's end. Fix that tiny little thing, though, and this is genuinely one of my favorite mechanics submitted this week. Absolutely in love with the idea of recruiting all my creatures into The Union. Although I will say I'm not totally thrilled with the concept of the union counters, I can definitely understand why you would feel motivated to include them on your singular submission for this week, as this definitely strikes me as a mechanic best demonstrated with friends. All in all, you almost made the cut, and this entire card is extremely endearing, but the mistaken timing on the toughness buff just barely took you out of contention.

@foxgirlbeans​ - Spartacus, Boisterous Rebel

Finally! Some consensus on the identity of Spartacus: It's this guy. Thrilled we've finally worked that one out. Goofs about impassioned acts of solidarity aside, this is an absolutely fascinating card that I would absolutely love to play at a table with, like, 4+ people but would loathe to encounter against a single opponent. I will get into more detail about that criticism in a second, but first, I'd like to address a templating concern. First, the regenerate. Magic the Gathering has not seen a new use of the regenerate mechanic in approximately seven years. As of late, they've all but replaced that mechanic with temporarily granting indestructible, which by and large is going to accomplish the exact same thing as regeneration without a large amount of the associated rules headaches (Speaking as a former Rules Advisor Who Judged Some Local Tournaments, regenerate does A Lot Of Things and people have a very easy time forgetting about most of them.) This is rather fortunately a simple thing to address: As stated, you could pretty easily swap that regeneration shield for temporary indestructibility and be entirely above board.

Slightly larger problem: The permanence of the control-changing ability. Red/white doesn't generally get to steal things from people, even if winning a die roll is required to do so. Additionally, in one-on-one games of Magic, having a creature out which incentivises you to spend all your time attempting to steal other people's creatures with coinflip odds seems potentially frustrating for everyone involved, as, if you win the flips, your opponent has a bad time, and if you lose the flips, you have a bad time. I think the single simplest fix for both of these issues would be to have the control change only last until the end of the new controller's next turn. That way, they're guaranteed at least one attack with their newfound ally, but there is significantly decreased chance of permanent estrangement. All in all, I'd love to play this with a larger table, but it very much needs a bit more iterating before I can really endorse it for use in any other format. Clever idea though.

@helloijustreadyourpost​ - Brazen Bruiser

I am slightly concerned about this mechanic, as I am a bit afraid that the range of benefits you can grant to someone who succeeds in being Defiant is much smaller than is desirable. As is, I'm worried that this mechanic, in spite of the attack trigger, will actually cause people to not want to attack quite as much, for fear of enabling an opposing Rebel's Defiance. Flavor is great, and the card itself is pretty well executed, and very solidly within the range of Effects That You Can Get Away With, don't get me wrong, but I'm just inclined to believe that it won't quite have the kind of effect on a game you were looking for, unfortunately.

@hypexion​ - Angel of Revolution

Very bold of you to submit an Angel of Revolution that does not need to turn even a meager 90 degrees to attack. Trigonometry aside, this card is perfectly reasonable, and the mechanic seems like a delightful addition to the Rebel arsenal, especially considering how... interesting some of the additional creature type choices get for some of these things (looking at you, Trenching Steed). Not much more to say, honestly. Good mechanic, solid card, maybe could have used a bit more of a flavor anchoring to really allow it to rise above the competition.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes​ - Deep-Cover Agent

The aforementioned Rebellious Shapeshifter, not to be confused with any tumblr users that might be present. The flavor here is pretty immaculate honestly, but I'm not sold on how much that second ability is doing. Putting this at uncommon was definitely a wise choice, but even then, having access to a repeatable pump spell and also a repeatable shrink feels a bit excessive, when either one of those by itself would make combat in complex boardstates borderline nightmarish. If you just picked one (probably the one that encourages you to use the first ability, honestly) I think I'd be a bit higher on this card than I am, but as is I think it still just does a little too much for a little to little.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u​ - Voice of the Masses

Adding "reference to a cycle of Urza's Saga Angels" to my list of Things I Very Much Wasn't Expecting this week. Nor was Rebels-As-A-Group-Of-Heretics, honestly, and I'm kind of down for that? That's a cool idea, thank you for sharing it with me. I think my main concern with the card itself is the tax ability. I know decks full of legends are generally pretty niche, but they still very much do exist, and that's a pretty steep bill to add to an entire supertype/deck archetype, especially given how aggressively costed the actual body is. I know they're not a fan of the establishment but I do feel that making things cost 1 extra would have more than sufficed here. Regardless, this is I think a relatively small gripe strung from the worlds tiniest violin.

@reaperfromtheabyss​ - Aimless Renegade

A rebel without a cause! Absolutely delightful. Tragically, this was yet another victim of I Can Only Pick Six Winners. Though I do think that a stronger flavor/setting leaning would've pushed this a bit further above the competition. Also, not to nitpick, but it should "attack each combat." rather than each turn. That's about it honestly. Great card! Lovely concept. Just not quite enough steam for me to exalt it further.

@snugz​ - Amphin Frostmage

You alluded to the possibility that this could end up just kind of being an evasion ability in your submission text, and, well, yeah. This mechanic, in any sufficient quantity, will be Pretty Much Skulk, But More Words. Like, if you get down more than two of these I'm not sure many non-desperate individuals would dare block your Rebellious Salamanders at that point, as that would mean getting their creature locked down for nearly the next half-century. It certainly is an interesting concept, and I'm thrilled to see you've brought the Amphin into this of all things, definitely a novel source of rebellion. But yeah, this can pretty much be boiled down to Evasion, But More Verbose, and I'm not sure that's gonna play out as the best use of textbox space in the world. Perhaps something more akin to afflict, where you have a set payoff for getting blocked, if only to save on text space? I'm not sure honestly.

@squeezyboi​ - Simic Dismissers

Absolutely in love with the concept of this card, and the idea that maybe some of the Simic's experiments aren't quite as enthused with their outcomes. Mechanically, as well, I think this is quite delightful, letting you profit off of any excessive accrued counters that your evolve or adapt creatures may have generated. The only thing that really put this behind the Defiant Gateless for me is that I'm not sure what broader implications it could have. Like, yes, these are rebellious Simic victims, but what else are rebels doing on Ravnica? I'm sure one could conjure a cycle of guild-"aligned" Rebels in similar fashion to this, but I just don't see it being as cohesive as other entries, which is I think the main thing that brought it out of contention for me. All that aside, lovely stuff here.

@wolkemesser​ - Defiant Aesthete

Rebellious Lorwyn Elf who wants to protect those that the ruling Elf class deem undesirable? Oh absolutely. Your flavor direction here is honestly immaculate. Mechanically, though, I'm a bit less impressed. Anti-ward is definitely an interesting direction to take things, though I'm not confident it will play quite as well as its more traditional counterpart, as it relies more on the owner of the Thing People Want To Kill not leaving up enough mana rather than the person doing the killing having enough mana, which means that the Defiant in question is pretty much gonna survive whatever gets thrown at it so long as its owner is sufficiently motivated to allow it to do so, which feels like it would be rather frustrating to play against, especially in quantity. Regardless, the flavor is absolutely lovely, the enters the battlefield ability is quite nice, and I appreciate that you reached out with a new mechanic this week, even if it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

@yd12k​ - Farmstead Rallier

Fantastic flavor, love that, and the flavor text itself is absolutely stellar. Largest strike against this for me, honestly, is that the Rebel bit feels real tangential to the whole experience. Like, this card? Great. Fantastic Peasant Tribal experience. In the context of this contest? I think you may have been slightly better served submitting something that demonstrated the utility of these Rebel tokens which you alluded to in your submission text, more of a Rebel Payoff than a Rebel which might incidentally generate More Rebels. All that said, it is still definitely a very lovely card, I'm just not confident it was the best demonstration of the concepts in your set in relation to the prompt.

That’s all from me for this week, barring me continuing to ride this inexplicable wave of executive function through some backlog commentary. (Again, I sincerely apologise for that, my brain is filled with bees and everything is difficult) but yes. Thank you all for participating!

- @starch255​

[leiflitter]

Let's go ladz!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

15!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

635,506 but, in all fairness, 555,608 of those are for You're Almost Home.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Saltburn. I do want to get back to my Baldur's Gate fic stuff eventually, but it was a fic I was writing alongside my playthrough, and my laptop can't handle the game, so... Bit stuck there, gang.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Right! It goes

You're Almost Home

Hang Me Up To Dry

Stop The World, I Wanna Get Off

With a God as Our Witness

and finally,

Where the Woods meet the Water

5. Do you respond to comments?

I do- or I try my best to! I tend to save 'em, because I need the dopamine, and some folks I yell at via discord (Sab).

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably Power Couple, but I don't really do angsty endings? Even YAH part 1 had angst but that was in the PENULTIMATE CHAPTER.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I'm hella lucky to have never had a hate comment!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yep! Mostly M/M, or M/Ventriloquist's Dummy if you're readingYou Dress Me Up, I'm Your Puppet but that was a blip. My BG3 fics are M/F though!

10. Do you write crossovers?

I kinda do and kinda don't. YAH has little character cameos (including the lads from the Lighthouse) but I dunno- I'm not a crossover kind of goblin.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so. I hope not!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but if someone fancies it...

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes :3

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

[Makes eye contact with the 500k word+ behemoth] Cattonquick. Especially middle aged disaster Cattonquick.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

Where the woods meet the water, unless I can get a fuckin' gaming PC. Let me have Els back.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Details, dialogue, dumbassery.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Getting shit done on schedule. The lads do what they want.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Have fun with it!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Gorillaz, back when I was a lil baby 13 year old weirdo.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Not gonna lie, You're Almost Home is... It's me.

Like, it's brought me new friends, new adventures, got me through stressy life stuff, and I've written more than I ever thought I was capable of. It got me drawing again. I made a fucking COSPLAY, in part because of that fic. I've got plans for it. I'm somehow more creative than I've been in years, all because of these two 40 year old idiots- and it's consistently amazing and humbling that people love it? People fuckin'... Sit down and read the 500k+ words I have written and pop up every chapter to tell me that they're still with me on this?

Some people have like, oh, they were an architect or a dancer or whatever, I have "I wrote a shit ton about two fictional men falling in love to the extent where it's a little scary!"

taggin @nythtak as per usual :) also @tessonaut and @metropoliswhite :3

20 Questions for Writers

I was tagged by @missberrycake. Thank you for tagging and I'm psyched to read more of your work!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Dear me, 102 – but about 10 of those are very short and one is definitely a short fic collection across various fandoms.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

365,410. Woah. 

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now only Stranger Things, but I’ve written a lot in Shelter and Generation Kill, a bit in Teen Wolf and one or two fics in a bunch of other, mostly tiny fandoms.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

All Night, American Desire aka Steve and Eddie hook up at Skull Rock, and its immediate sequel When You’re Shaking Your Good Frame. Nos. 3 and 5 are both Shelter fics with a lot of angst and sex. No. 4, Illuminate the Where We Are, is my first Generation Kill fic, where Nate has, essentially, PTSD and sleep paralysis, and Brad tries to help him while also facing the fact that he’s in love.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes, after kissing them and eating them I LOVE comments and commenters are the best. They are the fuel to the engine of fic writers.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I’m incapable of writing a story where the main characters don’t wind up together or aren’t in some other way satisfied by the end. Two recent Steddie fics are pretty bittersweet by the finale, though: You Taste Just Like New York (Soldier!Steve and Bartender!Eddie have a one night stand that becomes more) and upon a savage lake (make no mistake i love you) (Vampire!Steve). 

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Uhhhhh gosh I don’t know. I think they’re all a little pensive at the end even if everyone ends up happy. Maybe the extremely PWP The Eagle Marcus/Esca oneshot called Snug, where Marcus feels totally accepted by the finale, panties and all :). 

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Very little. I’ve had a couple of people say what they really thought in their bookmarks (authors can see that!)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes. So much smut. All the smut. Mainly M/M although I’ve written M/F, F/F and throuples. I wrote smut and even published a little before I got into fic and my hope is to someday get an original book or two out there.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Not really. I’ve written one teeny fic where a Gen Kill character is a vampire in the Buffyverse, but I think that’s it. And some tumblr musings with @carbonbased000 about various Stranger Things/The Bear crossovers, which I think could be amazing.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Into Russian, which was cool. And I’ve had art made for a Big Bang, also very awesome. No one has done a podfic of my stuff though, which I think would be a huge honor.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, but they didn't get finished! It was a lot of fun, though, and I’d be very up to do that again. 

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Ugh, I’m very into Steddie right now but my all time favorites might be Brad/Nate from Generation Kill and Arthur/Eames from Inception. I also dig a lot of ships that I don’t write in. 

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

I really hope to finish all my WIPs but the one I feel is going to be the hardest is the long version of “Conflict at the Table” aka Steve is Dustin’s adopted brother, Eddie falls head over heels while running a middle school D&D club as part of a deal with Hopper to stay out of jail. The short version, written for last year’s Steddie week, is here.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue for sure. I think I used to have a more poetic style, it seems to have drifted.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Without a doubt, plot. And I have certain syntax errors that are kind of awkward but hopefully I’ve gotten better at catching it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I love it as long as it’s written simply, unfootnoted. Bonus for translations in the notes.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Shelter. I loved the movie and just wanted it to keep going! 

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Agh, so hard. There’s fics I’m proud of, and then there’s the ones where I read them over and over and they make me really happy. For the former, I’m pretty proud of Our Year Out of Time, a Generation Kill fic where the Marines of the series are recast as squatters in 1990s NYC. I think it’s aged a bit, and there are some things I’d do differently now, but it was still a big feat to make, with the help of a lot of great people. For the latter, there are a few, but I really wrote the Steddie Dogfight/Starship Troopers AU You Taste Just Like New York for myself, and I read it like someone who didn’t write it – on the edge of my seat, feeling all the feelings.

Tagging: @bifuriouswaterbender @hyperrbolic-orange @@andwhatyousaid and anyone else who'd like to be tagged, consider this your tag!

[girlwiththegreenhat]

thoughts on ur favorite drink? ur favorite art program? thoughts on keeping a sketchbook? on any pets you have?

HELL yeah thanks for the ask i hope u like tangents on tangents and run on sentences because just like my blog description says, I Do Not Shut Up!

favorite type of drink: crystal pepsi

every fucking year i email the Bepsi company and ask when this god damn drink is coming back. last year? literally spent almost all of 2019 moving house, and i got no crystal pepsi anywhere in that time. now it’s 2020. there’s a plague. and the world is burning. and there’s still no fucking crystal pepsi. the moral of the story here is, as soon as pepsi brings back The Good Shit, everything can be nice again. i am .3 seconds away from breaking into pepsi HQ in the midst of this Rioting Chaos just to steal the Crystal Pepsi recipe from their fat stupid noses and start making it myself. I will market it as... Creestöl Bepsi.

oh wait im supposed to talk about the drink, right, shit’s good yo. you know how all clear sodas taste vaguely the same? they all taste like Clear Drink? this is like Clear Drink in it’s purest form. it is the Clearest Drink. with the most Clearest Drink taste. and thanks to it’s (formerly) limited annual runs at the end of summer it literally tastes like nostalgia. I have left the house like twice in the last three months but if they brought back crystal pepsi i would march out of my house like its on fire (wearing a mask of course) and buy every fucking bottle i could find, life savings be damned

so anyway yeah crystal pepsi’s good i guess

favorite art program: begrudgingly, photoshop

adobe may be a greedy bitch baby company who doesnt actually let you buy their software outright but damn,,, photoshop Nice,,, hehehehe,,, i can do so Much with it it’s such a multitool of a program,,, i just upgraded to the 2020 version in february and there’s SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many more brushes than there were in the 2014 version, and most of them are actually really useful!! i’m living for this guy’s brushes, uh, kyle?? yeah, kyle t. webster. now THAT guy knows how to make some brushes. i’ve been using the same ones for like six years but he’s got this GORGEOUS lineart brush i’ve been using and dear god i love it too much to ever go back. I Will Never Go Back. AND I JUST FOUND OUT ABOUT LIKE, BLEND BRUSHES?? there are ones that perfectly emulate real pencils thanks to how photoshop handles brushes, it even wears out and widens with use (you can choose how fast...) and you can TILT your STYLUS to USE THE BROADER SIDE OF THE “LEAD”??? LIKE?? A REAL PENCIL???? still blows my mind,, photoshop’s brush engine is fucking amazing,,

Thoughts on keeping a sketchbook?

sketchbooks are great and i envy people who have those really nice, blank-page sketchbooks with the little rounded corners on each page? and they always fill them with studies and life drawings,,, its so Aesthetic,,,

meanwhile im adamant for some damn reason to do most of my drawings on lined paper still. not the serious ones, but if im doodling, or just doing a sketch i intend to finish in photoshop? composition notebook. i have Dozens of Actual sketchbooks, but those are so nice... i don’t want to fill them with stupid meme drawings and things i wont finish and things i draw Badly and things that i Will finish but not There. i’m glad im not going to college cuz i always hear “oh you have to submit your sketchbooks” im like haha What cuz my sketchbooks,,,, are probably some of the most unprofessional, badly organized, unfinished messes out there,,, like i do studies but it’s all on lined notebook paper and half-destroyed composition notebooks because at the end of 8th grade everyone was throwing out their unused or slightly used school supplies and there was a WHOLE RECYCLING BIN FULL OF COMPOSITION NOTEBOOKS?? MOST OF WHICH ONLY HAD THE FIRST LIKE 15 PAGES FILLED OUT IF THAT???? SO I JUST KINDA. RAIDED IT?? i havent bought lined paper in 8 years and all the school supplies i looted out of the garbage that day carried me all the way through high school. i bought maybe one notebook in highschool, that was it. i think i literally trash picked a lifetime of lined paper,,,

,,, anyway i have a Nice Sketchbook (no lined paper!) ive been toting around since sophomore year of high school. it’s still got printouts taped to it from supernatural and doctor who and black rock shooter. this was seven years ago, i still use it when i want to use Nice Paper, and only now am i approaching the last pages. i also have a separate sketchbook i decided to start using for concept art and sketches for my webcomic i will never actually start working on! that one’s about as professional as i get, it’s full of robot designs and sketches of scenes. its fun.

i am not a real artist aslkdfkljdfskjldsfkjl

Thoughts on any pets you have?

i love me pets! they are not my pets they are my parents pets but i take care of them more so who cares. i love them. i love all three doggos even if Gigi is an old lazy fart that doesn’t care about anything that isn’t sleeping, food, going outside, or bellyrubs. she doesn’t even listen to you if you call her or tell her to do something. i dont know what her deal is. and gemma!! is a depressed muppet. she’s probably just getting old herself even though she’s only,,, seven. we got a third dog and she never got over it. she is still my favorite though, she’s adorable and i love her little under bite and her big goofy eyes that don’t have a single thought or braincell behind them. she floofy and snuggley and a big ol scardey cat who always comes into my room for hours when there’s a Loud Sound outside which is great because i cant sleep when something else is alive in my room and its not me but whatever i cant say no to her, especially now that we’re both on the same floor and i would probably take a bullet for this funky lil fuzzball.

speaking of the third dog that is kiwi i post more pictures of her than anyone else for some reason but she’s a cute lil goblin. i mean what is this thing. what is it!! im not even entirely convinced its a dog, i think its a weird lil alien that knows what a dog looks like and that’s it

what is this thing!! dont know!! she’s plotting though!! i have never seen Thoughts happening in a dogs head before but she Knowes Things. she learned how to slap the other dogs. 80% of the time if you point a phone at her she stops moving because she somehow understands the concept of a “Camera.” she’s a little chaos bagel. a chaos bagel with a critical case of The Zoomies and a burning hatred of feet

we also have a budgie named olive. he’s pretty, but quiet

[universal-kitty]

Tell us about your PC, Aki!! They sound really cool, and I love D&D!

   [sLAMS MY HANDS ON THE TABLE] WELCOME TO a now split party, but a rad af tiefling and her even COOLER little brother.

   Meet Quinzy (and Carnon, to the left side!)!! (Art by the lovely @tiny-pastel-unicorn.)

   Quinzy is a tiefling barbarian who- much like her weapons- dances between a fine line of badass and princess. She loves her bow and flower crown, but her gladiator set, too. She’ll flirt as much as she’ll crave the fight, indulging in the bloodlust that had been encouraged by her demonic father. (A tall, blue demon my DM and bf ended up naming Avnas... Accidentally based him off of Castlevania’s Dracula, Naruto’s Madara Uchiha, and DMC’s Vergil tho, LMAO.)

   Her brother, Carnon... He’s more the sweetie of the troupe. Quinzy’s protective of him as all hell, but he’s STRONG. (Fighter class...and DM allowing him to be Stronk for the fun of it, bless him.) He can’t really read, doesn’t much like to, but he IS a little artist, drawing the group’s adventures as the days pass! Very much wants to make himself known to be his sister’s equal, too, since he doesn’t want to burden her with being weak and defenseless. (Despite the fact he has proficiency in Great weapons.....LMAO.)

   Full family story (plus art of the parents by the same artist!!) beneath the cut~!

   Meet Melita Valentina (the woman) and Avnas, the kid’s parents!! Avnas met Melita after a harsh fight with a blood hunter during a blizzard in her town. Thankfully, she had spotted him in the spotty darkness, forcing him to accept her help, healing him (with the aid of a friend’s potions), and eventually...the two falling in love.

   ...As it wasn’t quite a secret that Melita had a preference, and it certainly wasn’t in humans...!

   Quinzy was the first born... Born with wings, like her father. However, as she grew up and the teasing and harassment from the village kids got to her, she eventually ripped off her wings in an attempt to be more like them. Avnas took this as a sign of her strength, and began training her in various weaponry.

   Before too long, Carnon was born, though Avnas hadn’t been traveling for some time. He decided to leave them for a short while to fight more. Amass more power, and so he left.

   Unknown to him, however, is that Carnon’s horns had grown too soon. Deeply hurting Melita, though the pain wouldn’t become an issue until a month or two later. Her old friend’s potions kept her going for a time, but none had the power the old ones had; the one, for example, that had helped Avnas’ wound. She attempted to send Quinzy and Carnon for it, having staved off some of the ill effects of her injuries and infections... (Knowing the little boy til he was about 3.) However, when they came back?

   Melita had passed. Cold when they came back for her.

   They stuck around for a few months longer, avoiding the room her body lay in and eating up the food the best Quinzy could make of it. Only being forced to leave home when the villagers realized Melita hadn’t been seen or heard from in months and Avnas had been nowhere in sight, either. No sounds of training...

   The villagers burned their home down, Quinzy and Carnon taking their last, precious objects from home (a necklace Melita owned for Quinzy, and Carnon taking a toy his mother had altered for him; so it looked like a tiefling) before running away.

   Quinzy would make a few spare friends (in a brothel, of all places) steal food and money if it meant taking care of Carnon...and eventually, start fighting for money.

   This led her to the beginning of the campaign she started in, where the group would meet Carnon at the door to the underworld of Highwater (he wasn’t allowed down there), and meet Quinzy, the star fighter and the champion of a goblin-run fighting ring. Of course, the curiosity of new fights catches her ear...but considering a hasty shot by a guard caused Carnon harm?

   That goblin didn’t live much longer.

.:.:.

   Over my time playing as her, I got to learn a few things!!! First off... I’ll start with Her Song. The song that makes me think of her every time! Sweet but Psycho by Ava Max (and Youth by Glass Animals for Carnon).

   The energy... The “you’ll love her, but she’ll drive you crazy while you do”.... That’s Quinzy Energy. (And Youth? That’s pure “from Avnas/Quinzy to Carnon” right upfront. Right down to “feel your mother at your side / don’t you know you have my eyes?”) I have a whole WIP playlist for this family, but I’ll be real with ya.....most of it is Avnas pining music (he loved his wife; thus the comparison to Castlevania’s Dracula) and Quinzy’s erratic music tastes. Mostly because-

   Quinzy has HUGE self esteem issues. Being tiefling has always been something that’s bothered her, not that she acknowledges it any. LOTS of false bravado and ego boosting that’s just....empty, if you know her well enough. She’s hypersexual (though polite; if you’re uncomfortable by it, she won’t persist her flirting or sexual comments), but also lowkey repulsed by it....largely due to being exposed young (the brothel), her esteem issues, and events from the campaign. (Where her flirtations and attempts at getting the upper hand via seduction not only got her in trouble, but got her CHARMED by the Bad of the segment- nat 1 (her only nat 1 ever)- and got taken again.....but more forcefully and without her full control of the situation, shaking her up since the encounter.)

   All she wants to do is protect her brother, but during the events of that campaign, she ALSO found out about her dad’s cult. Which wasn’t a big idea until she saw him frail and missing his right eye. Wings gone. From what? Who knows.

   But what she does know is Carnon wouldn’t fight alongside him. Quinzy wouldn’t side with her father if it meant harming Carnon...and led to the first time she ever told him “no.” The daddy’s girl telling him no and the both of them realizing how far apart the other is for the first time in all of this mess.

   Quinzy, hoping her father would fix things.....and he’s essentially gone mad. The patient, honor-driven fighter is gone. Her father is gone and she’s lost. (A breakdown commenced for the first....I’d say 3 or 4 turns until she finally listened to Carnon and engaged, getting in two harsh hits before her attack rolls started slipping.)

   She’s still reeling from that. Last the campaign did, she was suddenly gaining feelings for the resident drow blood hunter, Jivan... The very blood hunter who’d given that wound to Avnas all those years ago. (The wound that was weakening him and driving him mad....but also the fact his wife was dead.)      (And yes, Quinzy likes them- typically- bigger than her, just as tough...older than her, and also has a preference for drow. Dunno where that came from, but she sure as hell does. Ah, on that note...... She’s pansexual.)

   Jivan was upsetting her for, well....existing. Pure, unfiltered emotion isn’t something Quinzy can quite handle. Despite the fact it’s what she used to sorely wish for. To be a badass, warrior princess and to fall in love with someone and be in love as much as Melita and Avnas were.

   A handsome drow shows up with his shit together, nose in a book a majority of the time (a nod to V from DMC5 by my bf, the DM), smooth lines, and a damn good fighter....and now she’s sick to her stomach. Warring with herself quietly. Something only Carnon sees.

   What’s left of a family, falling apart at the seams. And Quinzy, who can’t keep pulling it together by herself.

.:.:.

   WHEW, THAT WAS LONG, but um?? I hope you enjoyed reading this???? I know it’s super long, but I REALLY wanted to talk about all the stuff I keep thinking about regarding her and aaaaaaaa.........

   As a final note! I show you their dolls! They came in...a few days to a week ago from Apocalypse_Too and I adore them!! (Communication was horrible, tho.... Done quickly, but it was a NIGHTMARE to get in touch with them.) And combined with a LOVELY candle from @lemonyflicker (seriously, check them out; their stuff is SO GOOD I cannot praise this custom order I got enough), it makes for a wonderful set~!

   (Also note the lil Quinzy icon in her dice set; we were using those as our “figures” to map out placement. According to a weird, fourth wall breaking canon, Carnon drew them! That’s his art style!)

   ....Okay, ACTUAL last thing: Carnon doing art!!! This was the first page Carnon ever did for the campaign! We stan a little artist!!!!!!!

[viktcrr-archive]

MAXENCE DANET FAUVEL / NONBINARY. — viktor samuels is really making a name for themselves as a tier 3 shepherd. i think that he/they are studying english + visual arts in their senior year at lockwood, living in peregrinis. originally from rochester, new york, viktor is known to be observant & ingenious, but can also be reticent & dependent. — james / 20 / est / she/they.

3/5 !!! once again ... little edits

TW DEATH, HEAVY GRIEF, OVERDOSE / DRUG ADDICTION, HOSPITALIZATION, HYPERSEXUALITY, RELIGION MENTIONS, MENTAL ILLNESS

a e s t h e t i c s

old tvs and their static, worn tapes, horror movie screams, spilled ink, a sculptor’s hands, clay-stained, chicken scratch handwriting, messy notes, messy hair, scoffs and eye-rolls, bruised knuckles, sore throats, funeral homes and a crying preacher, shattered ceramics, knife fights, high ledges, vertically-striped pants, red lights, the moon shrouded in clouds, cigarette butts.

general info !!

full name: viktor phillip samuels

nickname(s): icky vicky :/

b.o.d. - jan 2nd

label(s): the black hole, the crepehanger, the impious, the opaque, the tempest, etc.

height: 6′0″

hometown: rochester, new york

sexuality: uuuhhh god … probably pan tbh

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biography !!

okay so … born and raised in rochester, new york to the well known samuels family. preacher father, a mother, a twin sister born 15 minutes before him - aka tatiana samuels, who died back in january.

kinda … grew up as a really awkward, quiet kid? like … just didn’t really interact with other kids super well, preferred being alone and like … digging up bugs in the dirt. only friend was like … his own sister.

grew out of this as they got older, instead sort of … becoming a bit of a dick? to compensate for years of awkwardness? will bite the hand that feeds him. was a full on nuisance by middle school. tatiana was not, at least, noticeably.

has always been a fan of darker materials, y’know - grim and creepy, morbid shit. big fan of tim burton ever since he was a kid, which isn’t … a good look for a preacher’s son, but he’s never really felt ~in~ with the rest of his family, anyway.

drew disturbing pictures as a kid probably tbh that prompted one or two or five phone calls home 2 assure everything was fine.

has always been really … good at art, in general - from drawing to painting to playing with clay, that’s always been viktor’s Thing.

aNyWaYs. being tatiana’s twin brother was kinda hard sometimes. tatiana and him were near opposites besides their same mean-spirited trait. she was better in the public than he was, but viktor was arguably more talented than tatiana. they both loved each other deeply and found each other as competition for their parents’ attention - a rivalry, of sorts.

high school is when viktor really started to act out - started extreme, like losing his virginity in their church and vandalism around the neighborhoods. faked being possessed in the middle of sunday service. almost had an exorcism performed on him, probably.

the only redeemable trait was like … his sheer talent with art. was in a 3d art AP course, specialized in sculpting - could pretty much create anything he wanted with enough dedication.

because his parents would be focused on disciplining him for his antics, tatiana could sneak away and get away with stuff easier. so like, y’know, that’s on the bright-side of things.

never been particularly motivated to do much - wasn’t planning on attending lockwood but his parents kinda … did and sent in his application for him b/c they were Not on board with him Wasting Away (wanted him out of the house asap)

actually pretty smart !! just doesn’t like … want to apply himself ever. double majoring in english and visual arts because they’re like … two of his only interests :/ plus he wants to write and illustrate his own series of children books with a style similar to tim burton’s

he’d been experimenting since high school but college is where he really started to like … crack down on himself and figure himself out. was out as pan & nonbinary by his sophomore year of college, just … not to his family, necessarily. thinks tatiana always knew, but didn’t … really use it against him, blessedly enough

always felt like the whole twin - connection thing was … both wack and also not-wack? sometimes it felt believable but sometimes he had no idea what was going on in tatiana’s head. but he felt oddly transparent to her, always - like he was predictable to no one but her.

( TW DEATH, GRIEF, OVERDOSE / HOSPITALIZATION BEYOND THIS POINT )

but when tatiana disappeared - it was like, like viktor knew. the moment she had been kidnapped - felt something deeply wrong in his gut. and when tatiana died - viktor felt something cut so severely in him. he knew, he always knew exactly when. he couldn’t put his finger on how - but he knew. even when everybody else held out hope for her to be found - he knew.

went on a bender around the same time, had always struggled w/ drug addiction but it got worse the longer tatiana went without being found.

( also struggled heavily with his mental health, too ?? has manic and depressive episodes. will fixate on a sculpting project for six months and then purposely knock it off the table and destroy it in the matter of seconds once it’s finished for. no fucking reason. impulse spends A Lot. )

when her body was found, viktor went off the rails. ended up overdosing and being hospitalized where he spent the next like … however long months … until they deemed him better.

stayed out of school until very recently b/c he just … didn’t want to go back. didn’t want to deal with it. didn’t want to be known as the dead girl’s twin. but then his mom kinda just was like ‘u go back 2 school or god so help me’ n he was like FINE.

so ya !! viktor’s back after being gone since tatiana’s body was found. that’s it, that’s him, a lil glimpse of his life.

trying to finish his senior year b/c he … obviously left before he could.

finding out that it was george who killed tatiana has ultimately ... caused viktor to spiral. his lows are some of his lowest, his highs are ... very high, but very bad. unstable & unpredictable in his actions it’s ... a whole thing :/

personality !!

the human embodiment of a gremlin, fed after midnight. a goblin, if u will. one of those cats with a narrow head and big ass ears. that’s him.

b i g horror & halloween enthusiast. loves the old campy horror movies. probably has an abundance of masks from different movies. dresses like a grimy millennial beetlejuice more than he should. love those vertically striped pants!

fashion alternates between e-boy (would b tik tok famous if he were like … 17), millennial beetlejuice, and like … goth in a crop top and sweatpants. big fan of crop tops. big fan of sweatpants.

he can be fucking mean. petty, aggressive, instigator. will literally spit in ur face or no reason. kind of person who’ll stick his gum into other ppl’s hair. other than that he’s like … pretty okay. he’s not always mean, he’s just a dick like … 70% of the time lmao

i mean yeah okay he’ll call someone a stinky bitch for no reason except He Feels Like It And Believes It. it’s fine he’s fine, we’re fine.

despite the fact tht he’s probably getting into fights whenever - considers himself 2 be a lover n not a fighter but that’s just because he Fucks a lot. kind of uses it like a coping mechanism, like he’s this big fancy carnival show that’s like ‘come one, come all! fuck the dead girl’s twin brother!’ may have a problem w/ hypersexuality but it’s nothing he’s fully. aware of.

the preacher’s whore son, basically

like i said he’s pan & nb, switches between he and they pronouns but like … he has such a fragile grip on his identity that u could call him ‘dog-faced bitch’ and he’d turn like hey wassup :)

vastly impulsive, like i’ve mentioned … destroys his own creations 4 the fun of it, spends all his money on useless shit, will cheat on someone bc he feels like it. screams into the night sky frequently, like a cat in heat.

i mean he also creates useless shit for no reason too. spent six months sculpting a hollowed out tree the size of him and then took a sledgehammer to it.

dramatic fuck. used to play the organ at the church like … when no one was looking after him and service was about to start. just these creepy as melodies. would do the same thing at home on his keyboard w/ the organ setting whenever he got grounded until his parents took away his keyboard sadjfkg

won’t talk about his time away b/c it’s not rly anybody’s business but ofc nothing is sacred to the watershed app, y’know, nothing’s private.

still like - he absolutely refuses to talk about tatiana’s death and like, his mental health or his addiction (he’s fallen back into it tbh but it hasn’t gotten bad again … yet) or like … anything involving his own emotions

will literally just change the topic! abruptly, no warning, asks about the jonas brothers instead.

that being said he’s obsessed with tatiana’s death. tatiana was very much a rock for him, kinda dependent on her in a way? just … being there, y’know, kept him grounded.

so he obv became a shepherd bc he wants to know Everything there is abt the app, wants to be deep inside it, wanted to know Who Exactly Killed Tatiana and like … not saying he wants 2 commit murder but :/ yknow. he’s very upset.

emotionally unavailable while also like crying twice a day.

will tell you straight up what he wants from you, no bullshit, no beating around the bush - just blunt. if he wants to just fuck, nothing else, then that’s that. if he feels deviation he’ll ghost in like. less than a second. kinda awful like that! feels no shame.

but like … also is emotional ?? as shit ?? it’s confusing. he’ll cry on a whim and then flip u off if u try to console him or like. ask him anything. will bite you.

he goes to therapy but he generally fucks around and wastes most of the time until the therapist threatens to like … idk what therapists r allowed to threaten. to send him off to another therapist? idk.

likes being intimidating but like … not with his body or nothing ‘cos he’s a TWIG, but like … uses his love for horror n creepy shit to his advantage. has an abundance of fake blood. has channeled the energy of jack nicholson and used it on tatiana’s boyfriends before.

( also a big fan of sfx makeup, has dabbled in it)

probably chases kids with a chainsaw (w/o the like … chain … or w/e … so it’s not actually Dangerous) around halloween

he’s generally never doing good, both mental health wise and morally.

would probably steal candy from a baby for the fun of it.

i don’t know if there’s a good to him, deep down, and i don’t know if he sees any issues with himself either !! nothing really breaks through to him anymore, the only person who ever really made him stop and Think about his actions was tatiana.

kinda introverted, recluse type who doesn’t rly like most people or going out, but he’ll go to parties if it means he’ll be high as shit.

pretty observant. likes to analyze people even though he’s probably not … fully right.

connections to the victims !!

tatiana samuels / his twin sister, other half - the only one able to control viktor.

george craig iii / close family friends ... they could appreciate each other, when viktor wasn’t being an outright asshole.

hana williams / ‘friends’ with benefits, their relationship was rocky at best but she was a good lay. have often fought due to their clash in personalities and viktor’s history with christoph.

christoph wainwright / an ex-hook up, an infrequent occasion whenever christoph wanted to tick off hana. viktor was often on board, never the one to consider others’ feelings.

wanted connections !!

he lives alone currently but like … ex - roommates where viktor was just. a nightmare to live with.

feel like a lot of enemies is also a possibility !! viktor’s messy.

people that like … knew tatiana. dated tatiana, even, and viktor would pretty much try to intimidate / scare them at any given chance :/

close friends of tatiana too

people who hated tatiana but liked viktor. people who hated viktor but liked tatiana

people who take pity on him and he Hates it viciously and vocally.

a band of hooligan gremlin kids who do drugs and fuck shit up around town like they’re edgy teenagers even though they’re all early to mid 20s.

the girl he lost his virginity 2 in high school lmao … a distant memory

fellow rochester locals, from church or school or whatever

exes from the past !! good terms and bad terms, but i love bad terms a whole lot mainly b/c viktor’s a jackass.

don’t know if he’s soft towards anybody but we can try. we can Try.

friends, old friends, new friends, bad friends, good friends, close friends, frenemies, etc. etc. all of it

hookups !! so many hookups. fwbs, one night stands, whatever.

uuhhhh god. i don’t know. im so sleepy rn. people in the same major or similar majors.

maybe a ride or die.

people he’s a bad influence on / an enabler towards / all around toxic for them / each other.

people he’s fought !! people who’ve seen him get into random fights and were like ‘uh wtf’

fellow shepherds !!

literally anything im not picky.

[imgonnabeyourbubblegumwitch]

The Depths of Cousin Fethry

So I had a hectic week and am a bit behind! I haven’t seen episode 3 yet, but before I watch it here are some thoughts on episode two. 

This episode, though kind of predictable, was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it, from the meaningful episode name (Depths because of the sea and depths because Fethry has hidden depths geddit!) to meeting some more family members. I haven't watched or read any Ducktales before Ducktales 2017, so I don't have any prior knowledge of Fethry. I really liked him though. I'd definitely like to see more of him, and of Gladstone. It would be great, in fact to see Donald, Fethry and Gladstone interacting. In fact no let's have the entire family meet at Castle McDuck!

Anyway as well as Fethry it was really nice to see Huey and Dewey have their own spotlight episode. In the episode they had together last season - The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks - we saw a lot of why Huey and Dewey don't get on. In this episode we saw why they do.

So it starts with Huey excitedly talking about a tree. The camera shifts view and we find he's talking to Dewey. Who is wrapped in a towel and soaking wet. Turns out Huey interrupted his bath. Dewey is not impressed. (It’s going to be a theme)

Huey, slightly oblivious as to why Dewey isn't jumping for joy over a tree that "experienced three leap years in a row", starts testing for resin. This process involves licking the tree.

Dewey only wanted to be interrupted for exciting things. Exciting things for Dewey consist of "ghouls, goblins, time paradoxes, daring quests that will cement our names in history". This episode starts playing out with some similarity to The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks, in that we see both brothers having a difference of opinions. In the Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks this revolves around Mark Beaks himself with Huey idolising him and Dewey being less bothered. However then came the point where they were both offered the same thing: in the Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks it was the titular internship.

In this episode it's the tin can call from Fethry.

Scrooge and Donald then come in. I loved their interactions in the last episode and this episode didn't disappoint either. After Scrooge drops the frame Donald keeps struggling with it in the background, chipping in every now with wonderfully dry comment as Scrooge tries to explain Fethry.

Huey tries to talk about the tree again but Dewey cuts right across him to point out the phone call.

S: That can is your cousin Fethry calling from a top secret deep sea laboratory.  

D: Top secret!?

H: Deep Sea Laboratory?!

This is something both boys can get behind, just like the internship. Dewey is interested in the adventure as always, at the chance to explore and potentially make his name. Huey is excited about the science and the knowledge.

Scrooge tries to explain why they shouldn't be so excited, leading to some great Donald input.

S: Don't get too excited Fethry's a bit, well, he's, uh -

D: He's cuckoo bananas!

I also like Scrooge's mannerisms at this point. He's awkward talking about Fethry: he first rubs the back of his head, then plays with his hands. For someone we often see very calm and in controlled, his difficulty in trying to sum up the Fethry situation shows a little about how awkward the relationship is.

Scrooge then goes on to explain that every time they go to visit Fethry it's not generally worth it. This is nice because it both mirrors and contrasts their attitude and relationships with Gladstone. Although Gladstone was generally considered "the worst" both still went to help him, because "family always helps family". And though Gladstone is pretty self-serving even throughout the luck gauntlet he and Donald have to run openly admitting that he's "not sorry enough to sign up for a lifetime of servitude", after he's free he does agree with Louie about how they shouldn't have thrown Donald under the bus.

"The kid's not wrong Uncle Mcduncle - what do we do?"

At first it seems Scrooge and Donald shared a similar attitude with Fethry. They've rushed down plenty of times before to help. But then Scrooge puts his hat over the can, cutting Fethry off. Even the fact Fethry has a can rather than the elaborate phones shows both Scrooge's unwillingness to communicate and Fethry's eccentricities.

S: Best to ignore it, every time we get a call from Fethry we rush down there just to go on some fools errand wrapped up in a needlessly dangerous adventure with the rambling lectures

D: and the explosions

S: and avoiding that mega tsunami

D: and the explosions

S: all to see a barnacle formation in the shape of a tractor or some such nonsense.

D: big waste of time!

This is lost on the boys who have been getting more and more excited as Scrooge and Donald talk despite Scrooge's lack of interest and Donald's eyerolling. As they leave - Donald having finally managed to mount the tree on the frame all on his own - the can gets more insistent.  They both hear a siren call in "Adventure calling. I've made a bold new discovery!" They exchange looks - Huey excited for the sceince, Dewey for the adventure and they leap for the tin can.

H & D (singing): Best time waste ever!

H: Wait did we just steal a sub?!

Cue the theme!

So instead of being directly in competition this episode Huey and Dewey are working together. They've shown they do get on despite very different personalities and goals before: even in the Infernal Internship which was an episode revolving around a dispute, before they were pitted against each other they were able to coexist reasonably well with only a few minor jabs.

This pattern continues. They have moments of winding each other up or being brotherly pains, including the original you dragged me out the bath for this! But there are also moments where we see the really positive side of their relationship.

Along the lines of them being a pain to each other in the sub and Dewey rushes over to the window, interrupting Huey's facts, and knocks Huey off the ledge. What's great is Huey then gives Dewey a shove as he gets back up.

As Dewey lists ideas for names for a new creature he thinks they’ll find, Huey rolls his eyes, but his expression is fond.

Their teamwork is strong in this episode. Huey lets Dewey take the lead of persuading Launchpad their mission is legit and oops the communication is broken. He looks uncertain but trusts Dewey to do the talking (we know Huey has issues around his ability to lie). Huey keeping his mouth shut and trusting Dewey means they successfully fool Launchpad.

Huey and Dewey alight onto the lighthouse. Launchpad is then distracted by another ex - Oceanica. This is a lovely callback to House of the Lucky Gander which had Launchpad seeking to help an old friend/girlfriend there. I particularly like this callback since House of the Lucky Gander was the first episode in which we met Gladstone.

(At this point I went and googled the relationships between Gladstone, Fethry and Donald. As I said at the beginning I haven't watched or read any other Ducktales content but I wanted to double check that the three were cousins. They are.)

So this is interesting because Gladstone is Uncle Gladstone, but Fethry is referred to by Scrooge as "your cousin Fethry" and this is continued then by Huey and Dewey who call him Cousin Fethry. Family names and positions past the basics aren't my strong point so (even after staring at a diagram) I'm not sure which (if either) is the right term of address and it almost doesn't matter. What's more interesting is why the difference in names has occurred.

A possible interpretation for this is that Scrooge still sees Fethry as a child. Uncles and nephews are one generation apart, but cousins are the same generation. Gladstone acts like an adult, albeit a self-serving and sometimes oblivious one. But Fethry on the other hand, still has a sense of wonder that sometimes makes him seem quite child-like - his interest in tractor shaped formations for example. By calling Fethry the triplets' cousin this is putting Fethry on their level.

Fethry isn't an especially responsible adult in terms of looking after Huey and Dewey, often leaving them behind. This is partly because he fails to see things like the worms as a threat: when he thinks Huey really is in danger from the "monster" at the end, he does go to help him. But even so he has a level of irresponsibility - what if Huey hadn't been able to be kind to the worms?

This is kind of opposite to the way Gladstone interacts with Louie. The danger in the casino is not as imminent and Louie doesn't know about it, nor does Gladstone have any reason to believe Louie will be in danger  - at least at the beginning. He pays attention to Louie even as he's trying to weaponise Donald's bad luck - getting him the suit and winking at the wheel to get it to go from free pizza for dinner to free pizza for life. He's partly showing off but he genuinely seems to enjoy spending time with Louie. However when he sees Donald storming off, he brushes Louie off and quickly follows, not seeming to worry about what then happens to Louie.

Back to the episode and we have Fethry's introduction.

 Huey and Dewey seem a little unnerved at first but then Huey warms and asks if Fethry is experimenting: Huey is focused on the science.

I like Fethry calling Huey and Dewey "Lil Donalds". It's cute, but it also shows his absent-minded, kind of distracted personality - he's never actually asked their names.

He does give his name and introduces himself as "your Uncle Donald's favourite cousin." Both boys seems unsure of this, already picking up on the relationships. 

Fethry comments on Huey's hat, drawing attention to the similarities between the two of them which is a theme for the episode. I like Fethry's red colour coding to match him to Huey and how it is mirrored by Gladstone's green colour coding to match him to Louie. Not only that but Gladstone has a yellow shirt, while Fethry wears a yellow jumper which links the two to each other. Again haven't read or watched any other Ducktales so this colouring may already have been there, but it’s really nice to have those links there whether they already existed or not.

Fethry asks if the boys want to see something and Huey agrees (somewhat hesitantly) which leads to a really cute and funny moment where Fethry says "follow me!" and the boys do, all the way around the console even though Fethry could have taken the more direct route. Huey and Louie following is so reminiscent of ducklings following their mum right up to the little pattering feet. I wish I knew how to gif but instead have a screenshot which doesn’t really show the half a second scene in all its glory.

The lighthouse goes down into the sea. There's a view of some diving suits which is a nice touch actually because the first time I watched the episode I did question where the suits came from. But turns out they were there all the time. I really like the attention to detail.  

Fethry shows them a model of the sea lab and gives them a mini lecture on everything in it.

D: Wow this guy kinda sounds like you!

Huey takes this as a compliment. Dewey might be a little unsure of Fethry already but Huey still thinks of Fethry as a brilliant scientist.

H: Genius! Visionary! In charge of a massive research facility!

D: Weird. You're both really into weird stuff. Aw you've found one of your own!

Huey smiles, seemingly pleased. He then defends Cousin Fethry when he begins mimicking the various sea life. Still though he's defending Fethry, Huey isn't ready to accept the term "weird". When Fethry tells them it's time to get the team, Huey nudges Dewey pointedly.

H: See?! His team. A weirdo couldn't run a team of scientists.

They go to find the team and encounter the worms. After Fethry and Dewey are taken, Huey gets worried. One of his fears is the unknown and he seems uncertain about what is happening to him now. When the three of them get snatched up Fethry is excited about the worms. He suggests they be friendly and nonthreatening, showing his general disposition towards friendliness. He is suitably kind and walks off with a blithe "Come on Lil Donalds!"

Dewey is not impressed.

D: You're leaving us!

Huey manages to get out with a reasonably technical: "You are a sublime polychaete." (totally had to google the spelling of that!)

H: It worked! Cousin Fethry was right!

Huey is thrilled that Fethry is right. He wants, needs, Fethry to be right because at this point he's not ready to embrace the fact that he and Fethry are being compared, that he are Fethry are being called weird.

Huey tells Dewey to compliment the worms but struggles. Huey, panicked cannot think of another compliment and resorts to very logical, scientific statements: "Your blood finds carbon monoxide much better than our haemoglobin." In a panic about Dewey, Huey does the only thing he can think of.

Dewey is quick to mock him.

D: haha you kissed a worm. So gross!

Huey promptly drops him.

Fethry comes backs and introduces Huey and Dewey to "the team". For the first time Huey seems to question whether Fethry is a scientist. Dewey is open about not being impressed, even as Huey tries to defend Fethry. As they move back down, Dewey comments that it's "like a mirror into [Huey's] future".

Huey begins to distance himself from Fethry. "We're both clearly brilliant but we're not that similar." When Dewey states they both wear red hats as part of the reasons they are alike, Huey and Fethry both get out the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook and quote from it.

Huey then further distances himself by dismissing the Junior Woodchucks as "more of a part time hobby."

We all know that's not true.

With the line cut the group have to swim and we see how Fethry was right to bring the team - they are able to light the way to the pod. Despite his off-beat personality Fethry isn't necessarily wrong.

They get to Fethry's pod and Fethry shows Huey and Dewey his big discovery - “Krill! Rainbowy Krill!”

 Dewey is not impressed. (Told you its a pattern!)

D: Krill! We stole the sub for Krill? We almost died for krill!

His voice is shaking and he sounds near a breakdown. However Huey still wants to believe there's some reasoning behind Fethry's actions. He desperately asks if there is some reason for the krill, maybe a scientific breakthrough of some kind. When Huey finds out Fethry's not even a scientist, Huey's voice gets shrill and Dewey rushes over to hold Huey back.

H: We trusted you! Came all the way down here! We got attacked by a squid! I kissed a worm!

Fethry looks really downcast.

H: This was all a waste of time.

I think Huey's this is all a waste of time is possibly worse than he furious ranting. He sounds so disappointed and dismissive.

Waste of time was the term Donald used in the beginning of the episode; maybe this is something they've said to Fethry's face before. Even if not, Fethry knows what his family think of him. He's acting as a caretaker on a deep sea lab where his family can ignore him and his calls and his weirdness. He was so excited about showing Huey and Dewey around, about his discovery. He thought the rainbow krill were cool and wanted to share. Scrooge and Donald ignore him but along come two little Donalds who seem really excited about sharing the wonders of the ocean.

But then Huey and Dewey are mad. They aren't interested in the krill and they lash out at him for wasting their time. Just like Donald and Scrooge. You really feel for Fethry at this point.

D: Okay, alright cuz this has been fun. Hope we never meet again. Now we need to get back to dry land. So can we get to it?

Dewey has historically been pretty oblivious, even thoughtless. Huey however has typically been the kind one, though when in a rage he does lash out. Both of them here are pretty cruel but it's understandable. The two are just kids and the episode has put them through a lot. It's nice to see them not being perfect, and see them learning to trust Fethry and realise there is more to him than just being weird, that he does have depths.

The group are then attacked by what they think is a monster. Dewey perks up again.

D: Now that is a Dewey!

The three swim away. Huey's mask steams up which sends him into a panic. He's terrified, so scared he looks like he's struggling to breathe, putting his hands to his mask.

Fethry recognises the danger this time and swims back for Huey. The three of them manage to make it back to the lift and before they go in, Fethry ensures to collect up the team, showing just how much he cares for his little friends.

When he's mad Huey has a tendency to make kind of irrational statements - accusing Dewey and Louie of setting him up to fail in McMystery at McDuck McManor! for example. Here he accuses Fethry of luring them down to get eaten by a monster. Fethry answers with a "you're welcome" to begin with, not really paying attention but then he is horrified.

Huey shows his resourceful side, wanting to get a better look at the monster, but being unable to because of the bulb isn't working he uses the jar containing the team. Even in danger the boys snark at each other. Dewey is still trying to name the monster going with variations of his own name.

D: I will find a name if it kills me.

H: it probably will!

Fethry realises he recognises the monster.

"Mitsy?"

Huey is quick with a dismissive "What are you talking about?" but Fethry is insistent. His pride and love of Mitsy shines through.

F: Look at you Mitz, you've gotten so big!

Fethry keeps talking to Mitsy, reminding her of the rib eye they shared!

Dewey rolls the light over, blinding Mitsy.

F: What are you doing, stop it!

D: you stop it! I'm trying to save us from that monster you unleashed.

F: she's not a monster she's a Mitsy! Just because she's a little different doesn't make her bad!  

Huey starts to look guilty.

As Dewey and Fethry continue to fight over the light, Huey begins to realise that Mitsy is trying to help them. Huey tries to get Huey to help him, but Fethry appeals to Huey as a fellow woodchuck.

F: Junior Woodchuck Rule 2: all woodchucks must be open to the unknown in their quest for the truth.

Huey decides to give Mitsy the benefit of a doubt, a huge step for him considering one of his fears is the unknown. He begins to sing the krill's song. Dewey very dryly comments that "Huey's gone sea mad - we're dead."

At the end of Huey's song he admits he's scared. Mitsy responds to Huey's musical pleas for help and admittance that he's frightened - she lights up and Huey joyfully exclaims that she was a member of Fethry's team. Huey and Fethry both watch as Mitsy tries to communicate, however Dewey still isn't convinced.

Huey tries to explain that maybe Mitsy wasn't the one to destroy the sea lab but Dewey isn't in a state to listen.

D: You're both nuts!

H: no, just weird. And this guy knows his krill.

Huey finally owns the label of weird, realising it's not necessary a bad thing to have different interests. After all Fethry's love of his time and interest in krill has partly just saved them. Huey goes over to Dewey and takes the other handle of the light. Huey waits, gently giving Dewey time. This really reminds me of the way Donald gently waited for Dewey to join in on the group hug and begin to let go of his anger towards Scrooge in Night of De Spell. Huey may have inherited Donald's temper, but he's inherited Donald's caring, nurturing side too.

Together the boys put down the light leaving Mitsy free to take them up to the surface. Huey and Dewey worry about Fethry but see him with Mitsy.

F: Mitsy you rascal this is like the fourth coolest thing you've ever done.

The fact it's the fourth coolest shows how much Fethry loves his krill friends. It's unlikely that as a regular krill Mitsy did anything anywhere near as exciting as rescuing Fethry, Huey and Dewey from a collapsing deep sea lab, and yet Fethry loves Mitsy so much anything she did was great to him.

Dewey finally thinks of a name "The Dewnificent Krillderbeast" and tries to get Huey to write it down leading to a scuffle over the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook as Dewey tries to get the reluctant Huey to do as he says. Huey asks Fethry what he'll do next. Huey's belief that Fethry could be a scientist inspires Fethry and he leaves to try and do just that.

F: So do I have to fill out a form for that or do I just buy a labcoat. You know what I'll figure it out cos that's what scientists do! Farewell! Giddy up Mitsy!

H: He is so incredibly weird.

D: And there's nothing wrong with that, Lil Fethry.

 I really like Dewey acknowledging that weird is okay as well as his adoption and adaption of Fethry's use of Little Donalds. After teasing Huey (mostly harmlessly) for much of the episode, he shows he really does care about Huey and wouldn't change Huey.

Huey gives Fethry a final salute and the two go back to meet Launchpad.

I really like these Launchpad's mysterious past subplots!

The last line of the episode a brilliant end to a great episode.

H: Come on intrepid explorers! Let's go home and convince Uncle Scrooge this was Louie's idea.

Blame everything on the evil triplet!

And that concludes my thoughts on the depths of cousin Fethry. Sidenote: does anyone else think Fethry and Fenton would be great friends?

[soysaucevictim]

Alright, running a Training Plan.

-

Aug. 1

I woke up around 1PM.

After a bit of gaming, I got going with today’s HF meal. Butternut squash agnolotti. I personally really enjoyed this one! General consensus was a bit better than yesterday’s meal, but not super glowing.

First, today’s DD. 2′ overhead un/clenching fists with EC. I counted 245 reps by the end. I was kind of impressed I managed to maintain 2/sec. Took some digging in to do it.

Last, Day 1 of the Assassin Training Plan, “Can’t Stop Me Now!“ High Burn Workout. Level 3, with EC. Ankle complained a little bit, but I did my best to mind it in execution. Otherwise a fun workout!

Spent some time updated my fit log and chatting. Not much else of note.

Got to bed very late, later than yesterday.

-

Aug. 2

I woke up around 1PM.

After a bit of Tumblr, went into my exercise.

First, today’s DD. 50 plank-to-knees with EC (25/25). This was enjoyable and fun to do.

Last, Day 2 of the AsTP, “Crunch Time“. Casual Training / Ab Workout. Level 3, with EC. Overall, pretty fun to get done (high and knee crunches not so much). In retrospect, I really shouldn’t be surprised by getting pretty intense abs DOMS from this. :,D

Made dinner and watched a couple movies with a friend. (”Corpse Bride” & “Kung Pow: Enter the Fist”. Combo was my idea.)

Rest of night was spent chatting and whatnot before hitting the sack. Marginally earlier than yesterday.

-

Aug. 3

I woke up around noon and annoyed/uncomfortable.

But one of the first things I did after addressing stomach and computer was exercise.

First, today’s DD. 2′ elbow clicks with EC. I counted 148 reps by the end. Arms stopped making contact at about 120 reps. Was a lil distracted by my tank strap slipping. :I

Last, Day 3 of the AsTP, “Hot Sauce“. Combat Workout. Level 3, with EC. I REALLY enjoyed myself here. Only regretted hitting my abs so hard yesterday - definitely made those sit-up punches a challenge. But I enjoy them too much to let that stop me! =w=

Spent much of the rest of the day streaming/drawing that Roman vent art, chatting, and listening to some music.

Got to bed late, later than yesterday.

-

Aug. 4

I woke up around noon.

One of the first things I did today was exercise.

First, today’s DD. 60 climbers with EC. Pretty manageable work.

Last, Day 4 of the AsTP, “Captain“. HIIT Workout. Level 3, with EC. Enjoyed all the punching was on the agenda, today. Took a bit of focus to make sure i split the intervals equally to each side.

After a bit of YouTube, hit the showers and laundromat. Spent time doing laundry and made dinner too.

Most of the rest of the day was spent chatting/etc.

I got to bed too late again - but earlier than yesterday.

-

Aug. 5

I woke up at around 7:30AM, anticipating that I had a dental appointment this morning.

Well-p that was cancelled due to technical problems at the clinic. I could’ve spent the next few hours catching up on sleep a little bit. But didn’t and BS’d on YouTube/Tumblr for a bit until I could get to Seeking Safety today.

At least group was in session. Arguably a bit too tired to appreciate it as much. (But still glad I could be there.)

Got home and did my exercise.

First, today’s DD. 40 sit-up punches with EC. Tough with sore abs, but I’m happy I could get it done.

Last, Day 5 of the AsTP, “Backup“. Casual Training / Ab Workout. Level 1, no EC. Sleep dep and sore abs basically made me dial it down. I mean it’s SUPPOSED to be a casual training day, after all.

Rest of day was just spent in an overtired haze - chatting for a good chunk of it.

I got to bed very late, but marginally earlier than yesterday.

-

Aug. 6

I woke up around noon.

I spent some time chatting and watching YouTube before doing exercise.

First, today’s DD. 40 reverse lunges with EC (20/20). Doable.

Last, Day 6 of the AsTP, “Feral“. High Burn Workout. Level 2, no EC. Main limiter was having a pretty full stomach when I got going proper. But overall, a very fun workout!

I spent a good chunk of rest of day working on that fic some more again (while chatting and listening to music.)

I got to bed too late again, later than yesterday.

-

Aug. 7

I woke up around noon.

Did some chatting and listening to music before doing today’s Hello Fresh Meal Sheet pan cheesy Italian chicken. I enjoyed that it was on the simpler side to make and clean-up. It also tasted good - worth reprisal!.

Did some dishes, chatting and spent a few hours documenting my old DDs in preparation for squeezing in some late exercise. :P

First, today’s DD. 40 full bridges with EC. Took a bit of doing, but enjoyable!

Last, Day 7 of the AsTP. Casual Training / Old DDs with EC. Opted to nail down 5 more~

Nov. 4, 2015 - 30 shoulder tap push-ups. A bit sloppy and difficult. But good enough for me.

Jan.17, 2016 - 100 side leg raises (50/50, balanced). There were certainly a few close calls and wobbles, but I was able to keep the foot off ground until each side was done. Started balancing on right foot, since I tend to have more difficulty with balance work. Did not seek assist, not max ROM d/t the need to control my center more finely.

Jan. 24, 2016 - 40 butt-ups. A favorite ab exercise. Probably wasn’t wise not handling my water table better at this point. But consider it done.

Feb. 2, 2016 - 50 side bridges (25/25). A bit of a challenge, but manageable.

Feb. 4, 2016 - 200 skiers. That definitely got the ticker going and I did feel my hamstrings the most during it. A fun exercise, though!

With that, I now have 1625 ECs out of 1698 completed DDs.

I then pulled an allnighter streaming/drawing the trash goblin. Because I was IMPELLED to do so. Not the best choice health-wise. But I’m still pretty happy with how that turned out.

[miscellaneous--bones]

Im sick, and im in my dad's car so I can't draw like I normally would, so now u guys gotta listen to my ramblings about my weird ass horses. Y'know like the unicorns and pegasi I make? Yeah them.

Y'know my goblins from Goblin Week? They're in the same kinda universe thingy. It dosn't rlly have a name its just a shit load of mythical beasts and fairytale shit.

The dudes I make aren't exactly normal- im just gonna call them ponies shut up- they arem't exactly normal ponies. I like to think that however many years ago, the humans when they first came? Like- they found some of the tiny ponies and kinda started breeding them like how humans made dogs, until they were like the unicorns and pegasi and shit we normally see.

Alicorns are also man made. Often times they don't have nearly as strong magic as the unicorns, much less the original tiny unicorns. Original "alicorns" were basicly a unicorn with a pegasus tail, or a pegasus with a unicorn tail. Theres also probably like 3 in existance where a unicorn and a pegasi had a baby with tiny wings that can't do much of anything and a lil bump on their head that does less than man made alicorns. Usually they don't make it passed a few months because health problems and predators.

The ponies do have villages, but they're hiden from the eye of anything resembling humans because they don't want to turn into pets or something. (And by resembling them I mean shit like elves, giants, most witches, goblins, gremlins, werewolves, etc.)

Most villages are mixed so both pegasi and unicorns live in them, but there are a few that are unicorn only/pegasus only. Its not really because they hate eachother (they've always gotten along they just weren't always so close.)

Fun fact: Belladona is mute completely, and Lacey is selective mute, but the speices does talk! To most- other than some witches or wizards and most fairys- it sounds like sparkles and glorified jorse noises. (Though if I were to actually make a comic with them, if I have any characters talking it'd be translated to english, obviously.)

Most villages are protected by powerful wizard unicorns and shit that keep predators away, and the villages hidden from the humans n shit, but some are just inside hollowed out old trees n junk.

Elves, Goblins, fairys, nymphs, witches and wizards can all tell when they've come across a hidden pony village, and will most likley either leave a little treasure, or say a thanks/sorry. (Y'know for what the humans did to their ancestors)

If you manage to actually catch a Unicorn- this dosn't count for pegasi- depending on your intentions you will either be granted one wish, or cursed with bad fortune. Its a defence mechanism. Whatever idiots actually try to keep thr Unicorn (because those are the ones that will get cursed) they'll figure the uniorn is bringing bad luck and set it free. They might sell it, but then the process will either repeat, or they'll be set free by whoever baught them. Either way it works.

I've been referring to them as 'tiny' ponies for the entire thing and havn't explained why- whoops. The original ponies are actually very small, like- the size of a baby deer, a doe at the biggest, and thats p rare. Unicorns and pegasi are around the same size, if you don't count the horn as hight. Usually unicorn horns are hella long tho. As are both pony's necks and legs, for honestly no other reason but style. (Of cuorse if you get an adoptable of one or smth you don't have to use it in the same way, but thats how mine are.)

Anyways this is hella long, idk who would rlly read all this but y'know. Either way if you get this far I applaud you, but im done now