#also the background was kinda slapped together lol

[the-skooma-den]

Prompt one for the tes pinup challenge! Prompt was "sunkissed" and the character is queen ayrenn

[loverboybrightsideghost]

.

[zvezdacito]

Tbh I think a lot of people downplay the stakes Malleus is in that makes him overblot as just surface level loneliness by itself and that's why they think his overblot is unwarranted/annoying compared to the other six. It makes sense he jumps to such drastic measures to avoid facing whatever comes next because whatever it is will last not just a few years but literally a millennium + either way because of multiple systemic reasons he knows he's not just gonna be able to connect with a bunch of new people/explore a bunch of new experiences to make up for it.

Compared to other overblotters, it seems no matter what course of action Malleus will end up in a bad ending since he's a species seemingly among the few left of his kind while also being biologically predisposed to outliving everyone. It's as if he can never have a happy ending as long as he's himself, or that as a king (and symbolic "lord of all villains") his happiness will only come at the cost of others'.

I feel like a lot of people also give him the entire blame of his failures to connect properly with his peers. When even before they knew about his impulsivity or lack of cognitive empathy people were already jumping to conclusions about him. (Said mindsets came about from internalizing the depersonalization he was raised with, he's the sole heir of a country battered by colonization who place very high expectations on him to be a symbol of hope for them again after all)

Assuming the worse because of his powers, the reputation that came from it, and because of (the once again systemic issue) humans and people outside the Briar Valley barely knowing anything about/only having stereotypical rumors to go off the nocturnal fae who closed themselves off to try and stop humans from invading them more💀

So yeah givevn all of this Malleus was a ticking time bomb and even then he was about to just stand down and put his own feelings aside until he became accidentally convinced there was a way that didn't have to exclude him. It's an unfortunate clash of circumstances between different people and that's what TWST is all about. So yeah idk just kinda baffling some people are unironically out there saying things like "Malleus should've just held himself together for one night that's so selfish" when it's kinda made extremely clear by the story there's way more leading to the characters' making choices than that

From an outside point of view as the audience of course there are obvious steps Malleus could take to make the most out of what he has and to not inadvertently be a prick to others, but it pretty obvious why in his shoes it's not really feasible rn lol. Other than these things I could think of at the top of my head, a lot of the things people single him out as especially selfish or unreasonable for are things the other overblotters and characters in general also do lol.

> Like the class dynamics at play? NRC is literally rich boy central many characters express some kind of class privelege

> Not receiving consequences for his actions? This is a staple twst writing flaw for all its stories in general, most overblotters have gotten a slap on the wrist/their actions relatively covered up by the end. And Fellow legit just walks away from an undisclosed time of human trafficking like it was no big deal😭

Ironically Malleus will probably be the first overblotter to not have his actions hidden to only a select circle of people and receive severe repercussions for it because someone like him "should've been above that".

But yeah sometimes I feel like the extent of how some factors in Malleus's background, upbringing and environment determine his way of thinking and why he thinks he needs to do certain things is underestimated by the fandom and only the surface level of what he's doing is focused on which results in some people talking about his character and his flaws in a very dismissive way idk

[angelmichelangelo]

ugh i was thinking abt karai all of last night and it made me Angry. the missed opportunities of karai in 2012 are TRAGIC. she wouldve been such a good older sister living with the turtles and splinter like can you IMAGINE the antics. karai purposefully pissing off raph and they get into sibling slap fights. she indulges mikey on whatever he wants bc hes the youngest and won her heart immediately. she makes fun of donnie for being a nerd but also consistently brings him snacks and makes him go to bed when hes been in his lab for a while. her and splinter talking about their traumas and healing as father and daughter. AUUUGGHG ciro when i catch you. ciro you mf

oh absolutely!! it's so sad that such a big chunk of the entire tmnt plot was karai's backstory and getting her back to her family, and once that was all achieved she kinda just.. faded into the background like a cousin that occasionally showed up every now and then for big showdowns.

ESPECIALLY since she was splinter's long lost daughter. the daughter he'd told his sons about countless times, the one where he'd mention her, get all sad and go 'but no worries i have you boys now:)' like ??? that could have made for some AMAZING storylines. a little bit of jealousy for angst? splinter's guilt?! them trying to relearn their entire family dynamic.. and they chose to go with 'yeah the whole leo and karai thing was weird. that's still going strong btw just a heads up'

we really were robbed of her interactions with the turtles one to one. i'll say this: the turtles relationships with each other? great, fantastic, love to see it. but outside of their brothers.. yeesh. they don't mix well in terms of how they're written. and a lot of characters suffer for it. i can't think off the top of my head a single time karai interacts with, say, mikey, alone. just even in the background. like yeah they pair her and leo off together a lot and raph chews her out a few times but she really deserved to actually hang out with her little brothers a lot more and that's sad :(

i would have really have loved to see everything you mentioned! i think (and correct me if im wrong) but mikey is like the only one who outright calls her their sister. i would have loved to have seen an entire episode where the rest of the brothers kinda come to terms with that, leo ESPECIALLY! he's a daddy's boy at heart and now his dad's first child is back and he maybe feels a bit put out. maybe don raph and mike already feel like they never got enough attention have to try and cope with the fact that they feel even more pushed out, even if not on purpose.

and then on top of that, the guilt karai feels, torn between feeling glad she has her real father back, and sad because she doesn't know this man like the others quite do and she knows she's taking up his time and attention... :( there was so much they could have done! and yet!! and yet!!!!!!!

ugh. i guess that is what fanfiction is for, huh friend :') lol

[sinistergooseberries]

SALAAR (SPOILER ALERT)

continuing my tags from a previous post (sorry 😭 @deadloverscity) : like i said, i do think salaar is a good story so far. I like the world-building, I like the tribe coalition system that becomes a background for our story, and i like the fact that varadha and deva are in a toxic yaoi relationship.

im not gonna lie tho, i just haaaate the cinematography and lighting in prashant neel's movies. it's always a bad time there. It's like slapping a vignette over every frame of the movie, and it takes away any colour whatsoever. I understand that he wants to go for a dark vibe, but trust me, dark vibes can be achieved even without making the entire movie dark and invisible. I literally cannot see the actors doing any action! It's bad! It's not enjoyable. As a typical Telugu moviegoer (and assuming the movie was made for a predominantly telugu audience), I enjoy a somewhat vibrant colour scheme. So far, in all of our movies and even the mega movies (if you have watched RRR and Baahubali) there is a lot colour and imagery going on in the movies. I think in Prashant neel's cinemas, all of this is taken away. He has a set of colours that appear in his films consistently - which are black, grey and red. This colour scheme i feel, if repeatedly used, can be a bit boring and may take away the vibrance of the story. the stark contrasts (imo) do not emphasise the story, they overshadow it. still, take this w a grain of salt.

However, considering the fact that this is just his fourth film, ill cut him some slack. But man, if he is going to make movies for a telugu audience, i hope he lets go of the vignette filter.

next, the worldbuilding. i like it - here is a country that is completely separated from india, yet dictates certain aspects of it. i like that they chose an isolated place that evolves in parallel with the mainland, but retains the values of the tribes, making this place mythical and real at the same time. i was really intrigued by the tribe lore - about how the mannars ousted the shouryangas, and how rajamannar basically went against his own father's rule-book and is now facing dire consequences from bharava, whose tribe has the right to the throne right now. i also love love love loveeeeeee the fact that deva is the rightful heir to the throne - and also also the fact that whether he knows about this or not is left ambiguous. i love how this adds another layer to amma's hatred of khansaar and OH. MY. GOD. chef's kiss i love it.

as a personal taste, i don't like violence and epic fights tm overshadowing the narrative, which i feel the movie does. however, kannada film-making might be different. idk, i havent seen many kannada films other than kantara and kgf. the former is good i absolutely love it - the story is fantastic, the fight scenes are chumma, ufff i can praise it for days. the latter is pretty meh for me.

another thing i love about the movie is.. well, varadha and deva. dude, what is up with telugu guys unintentionally making queer movies these days? what is up with that yallll??? ohmygod. when i tell you that i smelled the romance im not lying. dude. dudeee. the whole friends to enemies to (maybe) friends/lovers arc theyve got going on? oooh baby i can feel the fanfics writing themselves. the whole soaked in blood-fighting-together scene? it was a miracle i wasnt jumping up and down on my seat. the dialogue in that scene 'i have friends more handsome than you' and then varadha getting kinda jealous and shit. lovely. the whole don't touch him thing that deva has got going on - baby boy just kiss him. and man. it's beautiful tragic and im writing a fanfic.

soo yeah this is my rant about salaar. im expecting something from it lol.

[pumpkinpie59]

while everyone likes to crap on leo/rai (for good reason) and on apritello for being cringe ig

i feel like one thing every 2012 ship has a problem with is pacing

yes i mean every ship

it’s clear that the 2012 writers don’t rlly know how to commit to romantic subplots so they either go the “they are super into each other right off the bat so there’s little build up” angle or the “will they won’t they,, but we’ll never show them actually get together” angle

i’m not saying these are atrociously bad or anything but it can be really annoying in the long run

apritello is the entire reason i got into 2012 when i was 11 lmao so it got stale for me when the show focuses less and less on their development since they didn’t want to commit to an actual subplot after the bigfoot fiasco. they both grow, sure, but it’s pushed to the background and we never see them talk about it. instead we get a kiss in a non-canon music video ://

dw apritello i still love you

with ramona, while it’s incredibly sweet how in love they are, the pacing of their first episode was ,,,, bad lol. the first time i watched it i was so underwhelmed i was like,,, this gets better?? right?? and it did but yeah i think that first episode for sure needed tweaking.

and more mona would’ve been great too. she needed some character exploration outside of her relationship with raph,, like having her talk more with the other characters her age (i would kill for april and mona content). i’m not saying she doesn’t have depth. she does. but a lot of it gets pushed to the background for her dynamic with raph.

they just didn’t even try with mikey and renet i’ll be real. they threw renet in there as a love interest and then kept making her and mikey kinda go in circles with their interest in each other. they’ll be cute and close in some scenes and then renet will act like she’s just humoring him while mikey kinda forgets about her when shini shows up.

i think renetangelo is cute to some extent (tho i do dislike 2012 mikey a bit so that doesn’t help) but time travel romances are automatically rlly hard to write well and since 2012’s romance writing is already messy, they weren’t going to do well. and renet herself is automatically more interesting when she’s not interacting with mikey. like her platonic dynamic with leo?? adorable. my favorite renet is 2003 and she’s not a love interest and she’s so charming!! renet is just a fun quirky friend of the turtles.

y’all know i love a lot of tmnt love interests so the fact that i prefer renet as a friend prolly says a lot about how she should be written gjdkdk

i don’t wanna talk about leo/rai much, but other than the glaringly bad i/ncest issue (both siblings and cousins), they just weren’t very good as a romantic dynamic either?

like yeah i’m biased bc lotus is the only leo love interest i will ever accept (and also leo/rai is gross lol)

but like ,,, with karai, leo saw her as an escape from being a leader so he can explore his rebellious streak. which is interesting! but unlike with lotus, leo was willing to betray her behind her back, and karai was willing to manipulate him to do what she wanted him to. but okay that’s getting off topic. back to the pacing,,

season 1 gets a pass for me since i actually love the pacing of season 1 alone (like honestly, after the cousin reveal, there wasn’t any romance up until season 2 from my memory,, and even before that after karai betrayed leo and the other brothers found out, leo wasn’t into her,, it was his brothers who were making fun of him), but afterwards, season 2 onward,the timing of leo/rai moments were always a slap in the face bc they were always. ALWAYS. right after they acknowledged her as family THRJEKSJDJDKSK

but yeah i think pacing is the worst problem of 2012 ships :p

obviously some other problems too, like sexism lol. but pacing is most glaring for me

[neonmetro]

HII ive been a huge fan of your art for forever and i never get tired of seeing it in my feed. you have this very specific style of design and composition (the fonts, the colors, the symbols) that scratches my brain really hard and i'd love to hear about the thoughts behind them!!!!

AHHH THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!! ofc :D i hope you don't mind the rambling

i'll be very honest most of my compositions just follow the triangle rule (making poses follow a triangle) and filling up the page (with text, icons, etc) and lots of going back and forth seeing whether or not smth looks good 😭 like spending literal hours on the placement of sparkles

i REALLY like using text in my art and i usually have a certain phrase or highly specific vibe where i'll then go and look for a quote that'll fit that vibe and i'll usually place it somewhere midway through lineart

i kind of use the same few fonts and i think its pretty noticeable (kozuka mincho std h, hanmingwang mainly) but its mainly bc i can use it for both chinese and english words, i think it gives off a really cool vibe to use both languages with fonts that have serifs

i also just. make shit up as i go tbh i usually draw the pose first and have to work a background around it and maybe add some sparkles to fill some more space

the ahab piece i just knew i wanted waves at her feet and the composition to feel like its at sea, with her hair mimicking oceans. once i was done rendering the fullbody i just looked up vintage ships line art for the bg and thought maybe the white circle/halo would look cool) and the outis piece i only had the half body and chibi drawn out and kinda framed everything around it

i usually pick text that's kinda on the nose references, the ahab piece's chinese text is "moby dick" and "WHITE WHALE HOLY GRAIL" is from blood and thunder about. well. captain ahab. the outis is again just more direct references, w. corp, her trailer quote, and her own name. there was some extra space in between the chibi and the halfbody i wanted to fill and originally wanted to do a train icon but it wouldn't fit in such a small space, so i decided to go for sign icons instead (thinking about it, if i didn't do the exit sign i might've done a wet floor sign or smth but i like the little detail of adding the X on the arrow leading out, giving her no exit)

i always feel something is missing from the composition so i spend a long time trying things out since i usually don't have this planned out but also backgrounds are uniquely weird because i want the characters to stick out but contrast is very important to me

i remember trying to figure out how to make the background of this piece both cohesive with the rest of the art and also make it not blend in together (so i opted to add shading to the leaves while also doing another gradient from the right corner up), the sparkles were also there to fill in space

most of my colors are just slightly more saturated vers of the character i'm drawing's canon colors and then i slap 48762793832 filters on top to make it even more saturated lawl

like this is a sneak peak of art that's queued up ^ and there's a pretty massive diff before gradient maps/filters and after lol

[bryce-bucher]

.50 Caliber 3D Platformer Post #5

(Flashing Lights Warning near the bottom of the post)

UI UI UI UI UI:

I've been working on UI mostly the past couple of weeks. It has been, as usual, both very cool & fun but also hell and evil. To be more specific, I really like designing the visual aspect of UI, but implementing it is always so horribly tedious and boring that it is really hard for me to focus on doing it. Without fail, I always end up getting UI done very slowly because of this. I am really happy with what I've got so far though, and it has brought me one step closer to getting to the point where I can just start hashing out levels.

Making the Health UI:

The health UI was something I was extremely excited about implementing, so I eagerly decided to decide that it was time to make it. Let me step u through the process 4 fun.

For me, it always starts with sketching out something crudely in pen. I've had this sketch done for months now, so it was p cool to see it finally come to life in game.

Next I hopped into blender and began trying to make some kind of cool y2k-era greebled out shape, but making detailed machinery (or details in general) is not my strongsuit, so I ended up with this kinda neat smooth shape that I wasn't entirely happy with. It looked cool, but I really wanted to challenge myself to make something closer to the windows media player skins I was inspired by.

More Specifically, I referenced this Half-Life 2 windows media player skin heavily, and started with a ring that I could build little pieces and wires off of. I hope u can forgive me if I maybe made it too similar lol, but I tried to get creative and put my own spin on it. I think the shapes on the top left are the most similar to my reference, and those are not-so-coincidentally the first bits that I modeled. This is my first time modeling something in this style, and I suspect that I'll get better at it if & when I do it again.

Finally, I slapped some materials on, made a texture for one of the faces I had sketched out, and rendered out a few frames of it gently(ish) flashing. I then went into affinity photo and made little speedometer components to slot into the small circle in the top right and programmed some functionality to it. The plan is to have the face represent the player's current health, so I am going to need to make a few more and then animate it rotating into a different face. But yeah, I am super happy with it, and I think it is lookin p sick!

Other Stuff What I Made:

Other than the health UI, I also added in functionality and UI for completing a level and selecting a level.

I was very much inspired by killer7 for the sequence that plays when you shoot your target, and I am addicted to intense flashing lights, so I included a lot of that. There are already accessibility options to turn that off, so if it's something that could harm u or if you just hate it (coward????!!!11) you can disable them. I've always found intense effects like that very cathartic, so I'm probably gonna include similar visuals in a few different things I make. That being said, I do also always want to make the alternative visuals (when the accessibility options are enabled) to also be cool af and get the point across. The level select screen was also really fun to make, I basically just slapped together some textures of warn-out paper into a little files situation and placed that on top of an abstract background that I made in jwildfire.

Conclusion:

I have honestly really loved working on this so far, but there has been a lot of anxiety about money in my life lately, so I really do hope to get this out in a reasonable time. I feel like I say that a lot about this game, but it is because it's always on my mind unfortunately. I don't want to make it sound like I am making this game entirely for money or w/e though, it is definitely a labor of love. Anyways, I hope to get to a point where I can get some environment art done soon, and I cannot wait to show off whatever this game is gonna look like. Have a nice day every1!

[f0xgl0v3]

Gang I realized I’ve dropped off the face of the earth like super duper sorry uh. In news, school started. I’m in twelfth night as Feste, and.. SoN stuff. Happening, Octavian and Michael girdle quest is being written and chapter three, four, and five— therefore the public official super rad announcement of it is soon, both soon to be done and like all that jazz. Uh, SoN re-imagining still going on, I started stranger things and I have.. Octavian news?

Sort of. I have his stupid convoluted name beginning to be laid out, he has a really weird mix of modern naming scheme and traditional Roman (because his mummy is not native to New Rome) and uh, all I can hand you is

Julianus is in there, just because I like the name and something something the Julius family name or whatever uh Julius Caesar.. something. Something. The pair of twins have Apollinaris and Artemisia (I know Artemis is Greek but like somewhere down the line the Greeks under Roman control named some of their kids after the Grecian names and I like Artemisia the painter and I can’t find the Diana equivalent and it works if they are like. Tributes to the patron gods of the house and then there’s like parallels to how the family views their kids and it’s a whole thing) but yeah. Octavian gets to have Julianus in there

Now the fun part. The South Sudanese parts of his name because I decided his mummy’s dad is from South Sudan. Forgive me if I, get anything wrong from my research obviously I am not south Sudanese however. Octavian’s grandfather gave each of his grandkids traditional names to help guide them (they also say stuff about a character because you don’t just name a character without giving their name reason. Especially not someone with such a comically absurd name as Octavian)

So he got Nyok Nihal in his name. Are those both first names? I think so, but Octavian’s entire name is just kinda first names and then his last names slapped together and New Rome has an entirely different naming signature because it is rooted in Roman naming schemes but has morphed due to the outside demigods coming in and therefore is almost its own thing. But also no.

Anyway anyways, those two parts of his name, he probably gets called them separately if anyone uses them (not foreshadowing to something in BoO) but Nihal from what I read usually has to do with growth, new beginnings, spring, life, success. But then Nyok is like, humility and kindness and they tie into his arc that would happen after BoO and in ToA and like- argfhhhhh. It’s him stepping into those names after not feeling like he belongs to them for such a long time

Also uh. Octavian’s grandpa is the GOAT, unproblematic king. We love him, Stan my man.

Along with that, something something. Michael Kahale and his whole name that I don’t have to change because it already fits in with his whole arc and the fact that he has to try and be the one to protect new Rome and its peoples and be a strong foundation but he just wants to go home to his family and isn’t really a military leader guy, that and the pressure with being a Son of Venus and whatever. Like I’ll probably get into it more if I ever deep dive a lot of these characters names, yall know id bring something insane for Bryce or whatever lol.

On that note too, Mercury has a birthday now! Not on topic whatsoever but her official birthday is September 29th, also Mr. pompey the greats birthday. He’s my favorite guy and that makes Mercury’s birthday plant Amaranth and the symbolism lines up there and I really like that also it looks like Mercury. But she gets a little birthday and that’ll probably affect her

Wow Kleos is scattered right now lol. Uh, maybe I’ll get a Bryce Lawerence workshopped backstory out soon, or this one background character in stranger things that I’ve pretty much hijacked (pure fuel guy my beloved). But I’ll see you all later, goodnight, farewell, sweet dreams!!

[beauzos]

If you’re still doing the character ask game maybe Apollo or Athena???

Send me a character and I’ll list:

I will always accept more of these, I love talking KRKJF So thank you! I'll do both of them.

Apollo:

Favorite thing about them: I know it kind of applies to all the MCs, but he is sooo... cringefail. And I love that about him. Like idk he's just so sweaty and vaguely unwell all the time and I think it's charming that he's constantly convincing himself he's Totally Cool Totally Fine Just Absolutely Fine. I also like that he can't help but be kinda mean. Not that he is a mean character, just that he has the most shit-tier filter when it comes to talking to people. I love how often he says shit he shouldn't to people, it's funny as hell to me. I love him Least favorite thing about them: He's really boring until Spirit of Justice. At least to me personally. He's like cardboard in AJ, and I don't... care about his arc at all in DD lol. Spirit of Justice may have slapped another backstory onto this bitch, and while it's silly, I think it works the best because now at least we have SOME understanding of his background. And I like his dynamics with the Khura'in crew a lot. Favorite line: idk... I don't really pay mind to people's lines. But the bit in Turnabout for Tomorrow where he says he finally trusts Athena is fun. I also like that bit in 6-5: "If you committed a crime, you'd better be ready to do the time. Be you a priest, a saint, a queen or a god." That goes pretty hard. Like bro he fucking rules during Turnabout Revolution it's crazy, he's the star of that trial for sure. The star he should've been in this trilogy all along. brOTP: Him and Athena are iconic together. I like him and Trucy for sure, but Athena really brings out some great stuff in his personality. They are so damn funny together, and you really get the impression they care about each other a lot despite the constant teasing and the rivalry. OTP: I generally don't ship Apollo with anyone because I headcanon him as aroace, but if I was going to pick a ship, I like Justicykes, I admit. I think it could be a cute ship and they already have a terrific dynamic together. But yeah. nOTP: Since I already said Nahyuta/Apollo when I did Yuty's, I guess barring ships like him and Trucy which are a given for me, I don't really care for Klavier/Apollo because I feel they have no chemistry. Like. At all. Like for anything KRKJFN The writing between them in AA4 is so Nothing to me, so idk, I just don't see it. It's not a bad ship and I understand why people like it, but it didn't click with me-- but it probably also didn't click because I don't particularly like Klavier to begin with. I don't think he's very interesting. Random headcanon: Uhhh idk! Let's see... I do headcanon Apollo as a trans man, and since I also headcanon Yuty as trans, I guess like... I like the idea of them playing games as boys when they were kids because they don't have the language or knowledge to understand why neither of them are particularly happy with being viewed as girls, so it was a little secret thing that they encouraged for each other because it made them happy. They understood when no one else did. And then they reunite 15 years later, see the other has transitioned, and thinks, "That explains a lot" lol. Unpopular opinion: His SOJ backstory is stupid as fuck but I actually also think it's great and the best thing they've done with his backstory so far, especially since they have continued to not tell Apollo and Trucy that they're siblings (though yes, I know, the ending of SOJ implies Thalassa and Phoenix are finally going to tell them). It's the first time I had a good grasp on his background, and I think his dynamic with Dhurke, Nahyuta, and Datz is legit great. Song I associate with them: I don't think I've ever thought about it. Everything is Fine by Qbomb could be good for him, but it's also very intense, probably too much even for him. But I'll go with that. Favorite picture of them: I love his grin, it's adorable

Athena:

Favorite thing about them: Her personality!!! I love how bombastic she is, I love how much emotion they put into her animations and everything. I love how much she cares about people, she's so ride or die and hardworking even when people underestimate her or look down on her. It makes her a really endearing character. I worried if I'd like her when I first started DD, but she's honestly awesome. She's my favorite protag from the new trilogy, though Apollo is not very far behind. Least favorite thing about them: I wish she wasn't so young sometimes. Like I find it weird that the newer games veer so much towards people becoming lawyers fresh out of high school, and even for someone as smart as her, I'm just like... you can't make her 20 at least or something? And I feel like the only reason she's even 18 in DD is because the assistant characters have to be a teen girl. Like. Yknow lol.

I also thought it was kind of annoying how 6-4 kept pushing her being a kid when basically nobody ever talked to her like that before. It felt like they just needed more conflict so threw in suddenly everyone being like "she's just a little BABY GIRL who doesn't KNOW NOTHIN" and I thought it was a touch lame. But not too intrusive, really. At least someone started recognizing she's young as hell, lol. Favorite line: Everything she says is iconic. How am I supposed to pick. Yeah I honestly don't know lol brOTP: Her and Simon are legendary together. Their dynamic is so fuckin funny and endearing to me. It's one of the highlights of DD and the highlight of Turnabout Storyteller. I never knew her and Blackquill were connected before I played DD, albeit I basically never saw anything new trilogy content so it surprised me, but I love them. The siblings of all time OTP: Justicykes, I guess? idk. I don't really ship for her. I'm not even certain what my headcanons for her sexuality are to begin with. I could see her as a lesbian, but I could see her as pan, but I could see her as aro, so on. Her and Juniper is cute too, I just feel like their dynamic isn't fleshed out enough, but that's kinda par for the course in DD. But I can vibe with it. nOTP: Her and Blackquill romantically. Like sorry, but you have fundamentally misunderstood their dynamic. I feel strongly about that. I can't explain it, but it really feels like it misses the point of their dynamic and what makes the dynamic great, but idk. Also it's just Weird for a lot of reasons. Random headcanon: (guy who makes every character he likes trans voice) I Think She's Trans. Also love her being taller than Apollo, I'll go with that hc like the rest of us. Unpopular opinion: I dunno. I think she's a mixed bag to a lot of people because of how DD pivoted so aggressviely away from AA4's vision and direction, which makes it tough for me to determine what an unpopular opinion with her would be, beyond that, like, she really needs her own game. I'd say DD is her game, but we need one where she's in the driver's seat and leading the story on her own. I don't want to see Phoenix or Apollo helping her anymore I'm sick of it KRKF

No clue if that's unpopular though, lol. Song I associate with them: I got nothin', sorry. Favorite picture of them: I like her angy sprite, it's cute.

[saetoru]

hi tee how are you love?? just wanted to share my thoughts on megumi in the rb!universe 😁 i feel like megumi is richboy!gojo’s neighbor. they run in the same circle so gojo saw him all the time at those rich events when megumi was just a wee lad. i imagine gojo used to run off and sneak around with the kids (even tho he was supposed to stay by his fathers side) and megumi secretly enjoyed it. but as megumi grew up he showed up less and less cuz he really hates the stuffiness of that society, as neighbors tho he still sees gojo around

love all your writing and the rb!universe lots!!

hello beloved !! i’m good <333 i hope you are too and tysm for reading and enjoying and bringing this lil au to life with me !!

BUT see ok so i had 3 ideas !! i will list them and then u all can tell me which one we like best

so first we have megumi who’s dad is toji (duh) but they’re part of the zenin family business but they’re like the black sheep’s of the family if you will, so megumi does an internship with gojo’s family out of pure spite (bc he’s a lil firecracker) and gojo’s in charge of showing him the ropes and at first he’s just interested in megumi for the sake of getting tje juicy zenin drama details out of him but later he rly feels for the kid and how he’s stuck in so much craziness bc of his snobby rich family (and he relates a bit too) so he kinda grows fond of him in like an older brother type of way bc rich boy gojo is in college so he’s like early twenties and megumi’s like a 15/16 year old so it’s more a brother dynamic

NEXT we have neighbor one like you said !! i rly kind of like the idea of gojo like growing up with suguru and teasing the small grumpy kid next door but secretly they all rly care for each other and megumi always got into fights at school (and usually won) but sometimes gojo and geto got onto the older kids cases and scared them off and warned them not to bug lil gumi or else >:( omg and lil tsumiki had the hots for one (or both) of them even tho they’re older and rly only see her as a kid but yeah they know each other as lil rich neighbors who attend the same parties sometimes and megumi acts like gojo is so annoying and insufferable but rly he’s rly fond of the guy and looks up to him and trusts him in case he needs someone

LASTLY BUT NOT LEASTLY @autumnalsteahouse suggested the barista idea AND I RLY LOVE IT and it kindaaaa ties the first one in with the intern / mentor idea but megs background is different. so basically megumi is a young teen barista after school trying to make ends meet with his broke ass dad toji (jdjsfjf broke toji prevails) but anyway they’re related to the zenin family but toji knocked up this “lower class” girl who’s not rich enough but also has another child from a previous relationship (tsumiki) so the zenins hate her but anyway after he gets her pregnant by accident, he’s still rly in love with her but his family offered her good money to take the baby and leave OR get an abortion but she declined both bc her and toji agreed to raise the lil baby together whos eventually megumi. anyway toji basically gets cut off and loses his trust funds and etc and he’s a guy who’s tryna raise his two kids he loves with all his heart and his darling wife he’d die for but also they’re barely getting by so megumi takes up a barista job to help out. cue an obnoxious gojo that comes right before closing and orders the most painful drink to make and always pays with a black card and megumi is ANNOYED™️ but gojo takes a liking to the kid and megs off handedly mentions he wants to get a second job over the summer so gojo offers an internship—and then it’s like a slap in the zenin fams face that their (cut off) relative is working with the gojo’s (their mortal enemy !!) and toji could not be more proud LOL

[iantimony]

tuesday!

listening: like everyone and their mother i listened to the new hozier songs this week. they're fine! i dont have any particularly strong feelings about them either way yet, i think i need to relisten to them a few times for it to really get processed, but they were good enough that i'll certainly listen again. i also went and relistened to wasteland, baby because of it and that album still slaps. also, this cherry wine cover:

is very good. i also relistened to the staves' album dead & born & grown because i realized i have windows facing west hehe. what else...my partner's citypop playlist was my music for driving home from the airport on sunday? i wont link that one i'm not sure if it's public or not. and then gym playlist this week was just one of the spotify-made mixes that kinda slams tbh, very early-00s to 10s metal/emo music lol

i've also gotten back into twilight mirage after a bajillion years. it's good! none of the characters really stick in my head besides tender sky and fourteen fifteen unfortunately but hopefully as i listen more they'll become more distinct entities in my head.

reading: i finished the birthday of the world while i was visiting my grandma for spring break!

"solitude": hmmm. this one was interesting. it left me with a lot of questions but i think that might have been the point. 6/10.

"old music and the slave woman": i think i might have benefited from more background, i was mostly able to piece together the factions but i definitely had to puzzle over it a bit. apparently there are a lot of links to stories in another collection, four ways to forgiveness, and i'm thinking that i might have wanted to read those first. 4/10.

"the birthday of the world": title story! felt very different from all the other stories in the book, probably because this one and the following novella are the only two set outside of the hainish universe. i liked it. no strong feelings in any particular direction, i don't think. 5/10.

"paradises lost": the novella! i LOVED this one. i dont know if i was somehow exposed to it as a kid, or i learned about generation ships as a story concept from somewhere else, but i often thought about writing a short story about what religion on a generation ship would look like and turns out what i was envisioning already exists. the concept of the cult of bliss felt very realistic and almost obvious in hindsight as something that was bound to happen. i know it's left open on purpose but i reallllly want to know what happened to the ship after it left. i really loved the themes of this one. 9/10.

watching: i watched an episode of the mystery show 'vera' with my grandma when i was visiting lol. it was cute! very kitschy, genre fodder! i liked it! i was very confused because the closing quip/shot seemed to be about the titular character...shoplifting a jacket or something???? like she asked her coworker if she looked any different and he was like ? and she was like ok great and the final shot is her sitting in her car seat and annoyedly ripping the tag off her jacket, so like, ???? not sure if that's a Thing that people know just from watching a lot of it but shrug.

making: iiiiii did not work on my knitting project at all LOL but i did make my neocities site! here she is! still very in progress but hey :D

misc: trip to visit grandma/s and family went fine! everyone is doing well. back to the grind this week.

oh so the gift from my SO: he likes metalworking and similar things so he made me this necklace!

it is, apparently, titanium with embedded sapphire ball bearings! the ball bearings glow in the dark after UV exposure and they're the prettiest shade of teal, it's also a very satisfying fidget texture-wise. he asked me a few months ago what my favorite constellation is and i went "......cassiopeia i guess?? why???" "oh no reason" this was the reason. it's very nice i love it so much

finally, ive started noting down my workout stuff on my dreamwidth page as well! i thought it could be cool to keep track of what weights i'm using over time, what exercises i like and don't like, etc. so that's on there tagged as gains. huzzah

[nintooner]

I finally watched the Mario movie 😭 The drive-in we went to was a little bit crappy (the audio had this crackling in the background), and there was a little bit of rain in the middle of the movie but none of that ruined the experience

(Obviously this post contains Mario movie spoilers, if you haven't seen it yet)

As a lifelong Mario fan, I was literally smiling like an idiot throughout the whole thing, because of course I was 😆

I kinda wish I had some Mario fan friends to watch it with so we could have gushed about all the references together haha (I watched it with my parents, and they're Mario fans too, but not as intensely as me, so they only picked up on some of the references)

Let me tell you I internally popped off when they had the Captain Toad theme playing during Toad's introduction scene. My boy Captain Toad got a reference 😎

Also Gusty Garden in the credits had me humming along, I always can't help but sing along to that song (If I was in the car by myself, I would have been singing it out loud lol)

My favourite part of the movie was just the brotherly love between Mario and Luigi, that shit was so wholesome 😭 It really reminded me of their bond in the Mario & Luigi games

Peach was a bit of a girlboss as I feared, but I feel it ended up being justified since she's been living in this world her whole life, while Mario is brand new to it and has no clue what's going on at first. And by the end she and Mario (and the rest of the gang) are working together as a team

Speaking of, I was pleasantly surprised to see a tiny bit of Peach backstory 😳 The implication that she's from the "real world" too... I feel like they could explore that more in a sequel. Also I loved how protective she was of the Toads, since they pretty much raised her... More wholesome shit

And it was bizarre but cool to see Mario and Luigi's family! I knew going into the movie that their dad was voiced by Charles Martinet, and I could immediately tell when I heard his voice. Eternal respect to the absolute chad Charles 🫡

Obviously Bowser slapped, but you don't need me to tell you that, you already know it 😆 He was the perfect combination of intimidating and goofy. And the wedding outfit from Odyssey...! The king of fashion... And that Peach love song... He's so multitalented!

And of course, since my favourite Mario character is... well, Mario himself, I just loved him throughout the whole movie. They portrayed him pretty much perfectly. He's so funny and cute and determined and just a loveable everyman. That's kinda the whole appeal of his character; that he's a regular working man in this crazy fantasy setting, and despite his ordinary-ness he always gives it his all and saves the day! And Chris Pratt did a really good job on the voice, contrary to what we all feared upon hearing the voice cast announcement – it's obviously different to what we're used to, but a great alternate take on Mario imo

I really liked the bickering relationship between Mario and Donkey Kong, that was really funny 😆

I also popped off a little when they had that quick Diddy, Dixie & Chunky Kong cameo. Just completely unexpected lol (Sad Kiddy wasn't there though 😔 They left him at home 😔😔😔)

This movie was a love letter to Mario fans! And apparently kids really love it too from what I've heard, so it hit the mark for both of its main target audiences: kids and Mario fans

My mum had but a single complaint: No Waluigi (He's her favourite character)

I assured her that he'll probably show up in one of the inevitable sequels 😆

[grimmbitty]

Handmade DC intro title card for a Shazam film that I made up!!⚡️

This post is kinda interesting because I have not tried my hand at video editing in a while. I’m hoping to get one of my friends to help me install photoshop on my computer so I can remake this sequence with actual 3D assets. But for now? They’re hand drawn in procreate.

I thought I would share some behind the scenes of how I made this for anyone who might be interested in doing something similar! :D

[ Behind the Scenes Info Below ⬇️ ]

Okay so I decided to make this intro as kinda like a “ooh what if I made my own Shazam film? How would I do the opening DC title? I would want it to be like a dark and spooky night, then have the camera be panning down through the clouds. Then I could easily transition into the opening scene because that takes place during a dark and stormy night. OOoOoO.”

But first, in order to do that I had to make modifications to the DC logo. I didn’t want to use any premade 3D assets they had; I wanted to make my own. However, I don’t currently have photoshop, so I had to improvise and make a 2D logo kinda look 3D with some extra layers and shading tricks. I did this in procreate, but any art app will do really. Just keep your preferred perspective in mind.

Then after I was done with making sure my perspective was all good and in check I then proceeded to decorate the hell out of the logo with a bunch of clipping masks lol. I just slapped a bunch of different things on there. Some lense flares, some random brushes, some multiply layers, whatever. I didn’t really have a plan in mind when I did this I just kinda went with the vibes.

Then after that I made another file where I just worked on the little sparkle effect that I added in. For the sparkle effect I just picked like a default brush in procreate that looked pretty and then animated it to do a little slide across the letter “D”.

Next, I did some work on the backgrounds. I made sure to have really “tall” files so that way I could make them slide down in my video editor. This kinda gives that vibe that we are descending through the clouds, hopefully towards an establishing shot, for our opening scene, for our fake movie.

I made two parts for this. One animated background where I changed to opacity of the backlight for each frame to kinda give the illusion that lightning was peaking through the clouds. The second was just some clouds that I was gonna overlay on top of the DC logo, so it just felt more like everything was in the scene together.

I would provide video examples of this, but tumblr only allows me to upload one video per post. And if you’re wondering what brushes I used to this? I just googled “Procreate free cloud brushes” and downloaded the top result.

The ones I’m using are made by an artist named DI, and I got them off of gumroad. Info for their socials provided in the third image below.

And then once I had all of those assets together I just edited them all together in a program called HitFilm Express. I used to like it a lot since it’s free, and I used to use it to edit YouTube videos. That was back when I used to upload my Minecraft videos with my friends online lol. However, recently HitFilm has put a lot of features I used to use behind a paywall so :/. I’m probably going to look for alternatives sometime soon.

Normally I don’t mind being restricted in some sense for a free program, but they disabled the ability to fade clips in and out, and I think that’s a vital tool. It’s a shame to see it locked behind a paywall because I used it in pretty much all my projects.

And lastly the audio! I just found free to use clips of rain sounds, thunder claps, and then some ambient music. The track you can hear in this short clip is the intro to the song Redeye - Green House (1994). The artist is also known as Tobias Beldermann if any of you guys were curious where I got that from.

Buttttt yeah! That’s about all I have for showing you guys how I made my little 5 second clip. I’m not really one who’s qualified to make “tutorials” in any sense, because most of what I post online is just me dicking around and having fun, so I don’t want to be super serious. But, I also like showing my process just so if anyone out there is maybe interested in doing something similar, well then they have some ideas for where to start.

Anyways, if you guys want to read my first couple scenes for my Shazam story Shazam:City of Brotherly Love I’m going to link it here.

It’s still a work in progress, and if I end up doing any edits I’m just going to make them to the the post itself. Just because it’s not really worth it to me, posting almost identical chapters/scenes over, and over again lol.

Okiii byyeee!! I hope you enjoyed!! ~✨

[m1ckeyb3rry]

LMAO fwtkac platonic version FR

I love the foreshadowing details I remember when I first discovered your writing when I finished reading and put the pieces together of all the hints I fr like omfg wait a damn minute

LMAOOOO Nagi going all out against Luna to the point where lunas like yeah sorry we’re closed for the week I’ve gotta recover from that trauma HAHA clueless romantic Otoya strikes again if otullia ends up being endgame it’d be like bfb otoya kinda LOL

I’m not crying I’m not crying imnotcryi- SHSHSHS Barou haunting the entire like 200k+ (ish…?) words worth of the story I’m not gonna be ready for that

PURSUIT GOES HARDDDD another banger title but YES I saw the notion omg it’s SO CUTE the research and thought into it >>>> omg the wc though LMAOO another Mira classic lowk im kinda excited for even just the wc alone like how long will it really end up being LOL

LMFAOOOOO Otoya is the target audience for scammers fr he’s so gullible shsshshsh KARASUS RESPONSE IF FOULLLL LMAOO

“Who died” “you” AHAHAAH I CANT THATS gonna be so fun to read I can’t wait

No because this is actually a talent imagine instead of matchups like normal you do pokemon team creations instead I bet those would go hard

YEAHH the whole Raltz line feels so regal I can see the Mikages using it but I also love the goofy backstory we had earlier too LMAOO

No because it was bound to happen when igaguri subbed in like anyone on the bench would have to be like “yo wtf” I’m crying someone give yuki a moment of field time please it’s painful watching this (pause does this mean igaguri cover next omfg)

Unfortunately I think we got brainwashed because I cross referenced Barou’s and THEYRE STILL THERE SHSBSJSSB specifically that half sentence (at least it’s punctuated in the version I sent you though) that I still can’t figure out what I meant and also when I try to say that Barou’s mom is methodological it autocorrected to Methodist instead goodbye. Ok I fr didn’t remember those there either but well. I guess now we know!!!!!!! Yeah if you ever want to reference or read that again without making your brain do cartwheels just lmk….

IT WAS SO GOOD I mean any sae who isn’t fully just “soccer and soccer only” is a little ooc I still stand by your version of fanon sae though like to me that’s as in character as you’re gonna get LMAO but even as an itoshi non-fan that still slapped sooo

IM SO EXCITED FOR BAROUS you fr put me on the Barou agenda between Barou ideas that edit pokemon au and the ln….hyped for the next installment of oaeu (or wtv you put out next)!!!!

No because can I have that skill I would’ve lost it fr LMAOO it’s ok this IS aikus justice it’s his fault for being a criminal in the first place

- Karasu anon

I LOVEEE FORESHADOWING i can’t write stories if i don’t have an ending in mind because i am incapable of writing without foreshadowing!! my aim is to make characters constantly say/do things that seem innocent in the moment but looking back you’re like holy shit that was a CLUE!! hollyhock is not exempt from this btw LMAOAOAOA i’ve already spoiled the ending for it in like the first chapter or smth i’m pretty sure

PLSS they don’t call nagi the lazy genius for nothing!! bro doesn’t care 99% of the time but that 1% that he does his opponent’s basically cooked HAHA poor luna fr is just like what the hell i brought out some of my strongest pokémon and this kid didn’t even flinch meanwhile reader’s just like yeah…that’s just how nagi is…she’s used to him going crazy because he usually goes pretty all out in their rivalry battles (when they have them) so she’s more just surprised that he put in that much effort with someone else than anything!! ofc if you asked her why she thinks he was so committed she’d be like uhhh idk maybe he was just feeling himself or smth (cue reo and chigiri face palming in the background because ever since oaeu i can’t stop thinking of them as nagi x reader’s biggest shippers and i imagine this continues in the pokémon au…like imagine them just sitting around the fire or smth and nagi’s like “you know what?? y/n’s kind of cool” and reo and chigiri just side eye each other because how is nagi only just realizing he likes this girl after so long)

i feel like eitullia/otullia (i can’t decide on their ship name…either one doesn’t flow as well as tullisagi i’m afraid that’s so elite as a ship name) would be like a mix of bfb otoya’s version and fwtkac reader/karasu in that they have that sassy teasing dynamic that reader and karasu have in fwtkac but there’s also an element of clueless loserness to it all that’s specifically bfb otoya’s brand!! i honestly am very torn because they would be a vv cute couple but at the same time leaving reader and co as a platonic group kinda fits with the themes of the story…tbh i truly do think tullia’s ship might only be decided once i start writing because atm yukimiya and hiori (two options) only really show up in one arc each and while isagi does have many cameos he’s not as consistent as reader and co + manshine trio are so either i’ll give in and let eitullia be a thing OR i’ll stick with my tullisagi roots and just give them weird tension whenever he IS on screen or i’ll just have hiori/yukimiya make more appearances to build more of a relationship OR i’ll see if she’s vibing with chigiri or reo in the manshine trio + reader and co interactions (if you have any suggestions/if any of those options particularly stick out to you then lmk 😜)

okay because we know fake plastic trees is very barou + reader but just imagine…forever young as barou’s theme SDLKFJHSDLK omg he’s truly just so so integral to the plot even though he literally is never shown ONCE in the present timeline as himself which is truly so insane to think about 😭 bro’s impact cannot be overstated!! AND OMG YAY I’M GLAD YOU THINK SO I LOVE IT AS A TITLE IT JUST MAKES SM SENSE you know i’m about to go crazy designing a graphic for it too…THE NOTION AHHH I’M SO PROUD OF IT i think the screen caps are so funny and i was so glad i could get one of the red gyarados since reader’s is a shiny!! also the breloom (aka yuki’s breloom) on the side character cover is cracking me up it looks so mad LMAO truly it’s yukimiya’s pokémon it’s saying what yuki keeps to himself fr!! and the whimsicott for manshine trio’s page are so cute (although originally i had this image of arcanine there but it wasn’t as aesthetic) ALSO THE PANGOROS ON TEAM X HAD ME CACKLING DSLKFJHSD like i looked up pangoro screencaps because barou has a pangoro and i didn’t want the team x cover to be houndoom because houndoom is the icon for the entire page and i just found that one of the three of them looking like thugs and it was so so funny and so fitting that i had to use it 😩

^ that’s the image i was going to use for manshine trio’s page originally!! it’s kind of giving (from left to right) chigiri, nagi, reo, and then nagi’s arcanine in the back LMAOAOOA anyways i like the whimsicott picture much more but this one is also so funny and so manshine trio coded 🤩

okay…so…on the subject of word count…i want you to sit down for this one LMAOAO so i finished planning out every arc i want to write and there’s. uh. there’s twenty four. TWENTY FOUR (24) 😱 literally even if each arc is only two 5k word chapters that’s still 240k words and i would be very surprised if every single arc is only roughly 10k words (for sure some of them will be but like the aegislash arc alone is going to be longer, the first arc that’s assembling reader and co will be longer, and many others as well) so this is going to be a genuine behemoth no matter what…i’m actually shuddering if the PROJECTED word count is 240k words then what will the ACTUAL word count be 😰⁉️

wait also i planned out the epilogue hehe let me add in some screenshots because i think you will enjoy!! or at least i hope so…anyways…

IT’S NOT OTOYA IF HE’S NOT FALLING FOR ONE SCAM OR ANOTHER!!! pls karasu’s like “i can’t believe you thought you’d pull my sister with that mediocre mindset” HAHA he’s otoya’s biggest hater (lies they’re besties for the restless they just can’t help bullying one another because that’s their form of affection…no because at this point karasu requires reparations the amount of times that reader has been presumed dead LMAOOO i think the total count is AT LEAST three (when she and gyarados destroy the team x ship, when she and nagi are kidnapped by aegislash, and in the aftermath of her battle against barou) like this is why karasu has grey hairs at his youthful age HAHAHA

CAN YOU IMAGINE “tell me about yourself and i’ll design a pokémon team for you based on your vibes” that would be crazy (lowkey fun if pokémon had an active fandom…i feel like everyone loves pokémon but there’s not a ton of fan content for it anymore…its peak was def early 2010s some of the pokémon fics on fanfiction.net remain PEAK literature)

i think it could be like a mix of both…maybe reo makes the decision to evolve his kirlia into a gallade for serious and emotional reasons but he just can’t bring himself to do it and then the brawl event happens and he’s like HOLY SHIT I HAVE GOTTTTT TO ENTER and that’s the final push that gets him to start a genuine hunt for a dawn stone that he can use LMAOOO unfortunately he’s typically the voice of reason amongst the manshine trio so neither nagi nor chigiri say anything to deter him from his dumbassery they’re just like yeah okay whatever you want bud

NO YOU’RE SO RIGHT GET YUKIMIYA BACK IN ACTION I MISS HIM!! i finally got around to consolidating our thoughts on rough and tumble yuki/rival kunigami into one post and rereading it is just making me wish yuki had more action in the actual manga too…like i know bllk manga is far from over and there’s a real chance he’ll get to shine later on (and kunigami almost assuredly will) it’s just like. idk. interesting handling of characters going on atm ig!!

PLSSS okay maybe i’ve just been so scarred from reading the orv translation online that literally anything better than that is perfectly legible and readable to me 😭 if i’m ever too confused about something looking back i will definitely let you know!! but like i said i’m so used to really REALLY bad translations (manhwa community is a MESS don’t get me started characters will literally change names mid-chapter) that i’m chilling with whatever you provide!! so don’t stress out too much abt it hehe

OKAY YAY I’M GLAD YOU THINK SO i think part of it is that sae is just never written as a bitchless rizzless awkward loser who’s trying his best to be charming but has 0 idea how to?? so he can come across as weird or ooc but it’s really just that i’m going against how he’s typically accepted…tbh i agree i don’t think he was terribly ooc either (ofc to a certain extent yeah but if it was EGREGIOUS i wouldn’t have posted) honestly the only thing that i believed could be considered ooc is how quickly he ended up liking reader/how forward he was but those can be put down to a) the vibes of the story and b) aiku’s intervention (as is the theme of the series) so honestly it’s whatever but ig people will think what they think…maybe our psychic connection is the reason why you could enjoy it regardless SDLFJKSFLDJK anyways i’m excited for the barou version as well!! and ngl i have no idea what i’ll put out next because i do have requests that i should be doing…but also oaeu…but also pokémon au…decisions decisions HAHAHAH

[idealisticrealism]

Awe that is actually so thoughtful of you. But yes it was just like being slapped in the face. This is such a non significant thing but I got really excited because I saw that we share birthday and I never read about a celeb with my birthday, then boom!. Then finding out he has such young kids, man. And yes, like you say I just got a new obsession and I'm going to be honest, Aram was on of the biggest reasons for me enjoying it so much, so I'm not 100% sure if I want to continue, but it may just like you say take some time to digest that he won't be back because I for sure have not accepted that. He played it so freaking well, that line between seeing that he is a mob guy who does bad things but also has a sweet nature to him. Because usually in this series either they do too much on one, and the sweetness doesn't feel genuine. But I think bringing up his background and then Thory/Nadia working together is a good way to continue it without him. I mean I do agree with you that I liked in S2 that it wasn't like "Oh so Thory and Arman are together now" but we got to see them grew a stronger bond. But, that scene where they are alone, they are both not in a relationship anymore and he says he doesn't want to leave her alone. Like man, that deserved a kiss haha. That seems like a very healthy take, like I do like most of the plots but somethings gets a bit too much for me, and also as a health care professional, man some of those bug the hell out of me like they do when there is any medicine involved on screen. Like there is noooo way you could use a ventilator in a chapel, you need to connect it to oxygen flow. But in those cases, I just make up my own stories in my head and pretend that is what happened haha and I'm happy.

Haha oh man the amount of ranting I have done about the medical stuff in this show... Thony's resus of Kamdar in his club in 2x10 is the pinnacle for me, like omg how many things can be portrayed incorrectly in just one single scene. But because I love this show so much I generally just do my best to turn my medical brain off and just roll with whatever happens whenever I watch it, mostly for my own sanity haha

I can definitely relate to what you said about the scene in 2x08 with the two of them alone at her house... I think I even read somewhere that the writers considered having Armony hook up in that scene, but then obviously ultimately decided against it. Tbh given that he then has to go back to Nadia only hours later, I'm actually kinda glad they didn't do anything more than hug! Still, I've got a fic or two drafted about an alternative version of that scene, and hopefully I'll eventually get around to posting them one day lol.

I also agree 100% that the show did an amazing job with creating Arman's character, and keeping that realistic balance of hard exterior and soft heart. I have a genuine love for all the main characters in this show, but Arman really captured me, and he quickly became one of my favourite characters of all time. And of course Adan did an incredible job portraying him, and his chemistry with Elodie was just off the charts. The show will absolutely never be the same without Arman/Adan, and that's something I'm still coming to terms with.

And I don't think it's silly that you were excited about sharing something in common with Adan; I think that having innocent little connections like that to the people behind the media we love is absolutely part of the fun, though the flip side to that is that if something bad happens with them, it can feel more personal. I encountered Adan on a plane once in 2022, and now what was once an awesome and delightful memory just makes me sad. And of course the fact that he was so young and had such little kids has been a really challenging aspect of it for all of us, because no matter our specific family circumstances, a loss like that hits a little too close to home.

Anyway, regardless of whether you do watch s3, if you're ever missing Arman you can always come over to Ao3 and find him there. At least in fic he can live on ❤