#and again this is not any character neg it's just really funny that they're like yeah that whole thing affected me so bad i founded a city

[merrinpippy]

on masks

so shockingly miracle mask has huge mask theming in like every aspect. basically every significant character is 'wearing' a mask literally or metaphorically, except for luke who remarks in ludmilla's costume shop that he doesn't think any of the masks suit him (since the events of the previous game luke can be authentically himself now.) this is fun to notice on its own, but there's more to be discussed than just the presence of masks.

every mask in miracle mask backfires on its wearer to some degree! the most obvious case of this is descole and the masked gentleman straight up underestimating their own mask/s and failing to see their plans to the end, and the resulting consequences. dalston and henry's masks of stoicism turn out to have kept them from years of friendship they could have enjoyed, and paint them both as suspects in the masked gentleman case. angela's aloof facade and distance from everyone around her allows her to be kidnapped for a significant portion of the game without anyone but the professor noticing (and even then, he notices that something's up with her, but chalks it up initially as not knowing her anymore). less obviously, emmy's mask only means she'll end up hurting the people she has come to care for even more when the time comes.

most interesting to me, though, is hershel! even as a teen he's remarkably reserved, though clearly passionate. he keeps himself very controlled, and seems to care very much about coming across to others as helpful, grounded, and 'normal'. the interests that we know he has he keeps locked up, literally hidden away in cupboards, not to be acknowledged aloud to himself or others. he never gets angry or ever really displays any stereotypical teen behaviours apart from awkwardness.

now what this means is he is treated as the reliable one who will nonetheless go along with whatever randall wants him to do. he's never particularly assertive (something he will learn to be as an adult) so his willingness is taken for granted. he's put in mortal danger in akbadain because it never occurs to randall that hershel's protests are anything more than for appearance's sake.

and when randall falls and hershel is alone, he yells! he falls to his knees, completely overcome. he cries. he pushes through. and when he reaches angela and henry, alone, covered in dirt, looking completely haunted... they don't even ask him if he's okay. angela bodily shakes him. in the past and present, nobody treats hershel as if he's been through something traumatic - to everyone else, he was either a bystander to or complicit in randall's death, but controlled, mild-mannered and rational hershel is never considered a victim in his own right even after years have passed for everyone to think on it. years after the fact angela apologises to hershel... when she realises she needs his help. and henry immediately accuses him of betraying randall's memory and abandoning him.

and to be clear this isn't me saying oh they're evil or whatever but it's significant that they acknowledge how the trauma affected them and their behaviour from that point forward but it doesn't occur to them that hershel's behaviour and life trajectory was also altered forever! because hershel has for his whole life masked so well that to everyone else he does not have an interior life that isn't puzzle solving.

and the absolute funniest thing about it is that when hershel confesses this all to emmy and luke.... it's immediately back to the investigation, "where do we go now professor!" i'm sure there's no reason to ask if hershel's okay, he's probably unaffected by all that, let's go! readers i laughed out loud. tfw you mask so well everyone forgets you're a person

[murasaki-cha]

hello, may I ask where are you reading the newest chapters of tcf in english? i've seen screens on your page up to 300+ chapters and on eatapplepies chapters are only up to 200... (part 2 ofc).

Also, what do you think of part 2 in general? I was hesitant to start it since I've heard some negative opinions, is it true there's barely any heartwarming interactions between characters like those from part 1?

I read the raws on Kakaopage and translate it with google translate.

As for me I am thoroughly enjoying part 2 so much! It's been great so far in my opinion and the character interactions are just as I expected.

I think people were disappointed because the Soos didn't have a more "touching" reunion but for me their reunion fits with their feelings right now. They still haven't completely opened up about their feelings about LSH and CJS death and the fact that both of them jave been watching over KRS all this time. Right now they're just content with being reunited again.

Also there were a lot of touching interactions for example between Choi Han and Choi Jung Soo, Sherrit and the Dragon Half Blood, lots of Dad Cale and his children averaging 10-years-old, there was this touching moment of of Lock saying that Cale felt like a father to him, bext arc is going to be more Alberu centred, there was this funny moment where Cale had to give a speach in front of a whole academy and Alberu and Sui Khan were laughing at him because he REALLY didn't want to give that speach, etc.

Also we have gotten a lot of new characters that are instantly becoming some of my favourites like our beloved Heavenly Demon! And honestly because a lot of different genres are being uncluded as Cale travels to different worlds the spoilers I get to give people just keep getting more and more confusing it's hilarious🤣🤣🤣

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Hello resident Eridan expert! 0u0 I was wondering if you thought he might get on well with Aradia? Thank you for your time!

Actually yes! In moderate doses. After Eridan's character development. The list I like to keep of his platonic friends, from most to least close to him, is like.

Nepeta -> Dirk -> Feferi -> Vriska -> Aradia -> Other

So I already talked about how he and Nepeta seem like they'd actually make for really good friends - the Heart player who can't help but see the good in him, and Eridan liking nice people and the fact that the two of them have a lot in common. I've also made mention before about how I think he and Dirk would have an extremely lethargic, almost transactional bro-ship where they sometimes beat each other to death. A completely neutral friendship, where they do not make each other better OR worse, they just help each other take the edge off the Prince Ennui. Using extreme violence.

He and Feferi are also not so different, and, honestly, they're childhood friends. She's pretty fond of him, and he's TOO fond of her, but after his character development and he fully gets over her, I think they'd be perfectly decent friends. He and Vriska have much the same deal, but I think their personalities mesh slightly worse than his and Feferi's.

If you're wondering why Kanaya isn't on this list, it's because she hates his dumb ass and always has. I think Eridan thinks he's really good friends with Kanaya. Kanaya has literally never respected Eridan even a little bit. Same with Rose. It's really funny.

So Aradia is kind of the last person out of the characters that I think I'd emphatically call "Eridan's Friend." Everyone covered in "other" tends to be people who are everybody's friend (like John) or basically tolerant of his behavior in small doses (like Dave).

With Aradia specifically, there's a few factors to consider; first of all, she has a pretty negative view of highbloods in general, calling them "hateful sn0bs" at one point. She's a lot more tolerant as the stewardess of the afterlife, because Alternia's gone and everyone else is dead, but I think it should still stand that she'd be sensitive to anti-casteist sentiment, since casteism colored so much of her life back when she was, y'know, alive.

But the reason I think they'd work as friends is because Aradia has a bluntness and straightforwardness about her that happens to mesh well with Eridan's suite of issues. He's actually fairly easy to manage if you're fully honest with him and set and maintain very clear boundaries, because he doesn't catch social cues, but also doesn't really see naked hostility, bluntness, or aggression as bad things.

And Aradia can be viciously sarcastic, but her natural tendency is to be very blunt and honest and call things the way she sees them. This means that if she's ever too annoyed by Eridan, she will let him know that as bluntly as humanly possible, and then happily fuck off, with Eridan generally no worse for the wear (although he may have a negative reaction in the moment. But Aradia's self-possessed enough to not really give a shit as long as she's not in the wrong).

The main issue between them is that I think Aradia would believe Eridan IS a nasty, casteist highblood, unless somehow given reason to interact with him for an extended period of time. Eridan didn't really talk to the lowbloods, and the two generally had no reason to interact, so she'd basically have no reason NOT to believe him when he starts spewing bullshit. Moreover, Eridan's the type of aggressive idiot that would outright admit that if they'd FLARPed together, there was every chance she'd wind up orphaned or dead (this is just a neutral fact to him), and then comment that maybe it wouldn't have mattered because she wound up dead anyway (again, just a neutral observation to him). Writing Eridan mostly consists of coming up with words that make you cringe.

Aradia is smart enough that I think any extensive conversation or time spent with him would make her realize how performative his casteist stuff is, and how little he actually cares about blood color. Since she generally never had reason to interact or care about him before (not even her friends are friends with him), this would pretty much shift her opinion from "idgaf about him, seems like a snob like the rest of the highbloods" to "oh... he's funny as hell. what's wrong with him".

Once she figures out that he genuinely doesn't mean any harm or offense by the awful dumb shit he says, I think she'd be willing to engage with him on mutual interests (they both FLARPed, so they're presumably both roleplayers, and they could probably bond over death - something Eridan is unfortunately obsessed with and Aradia doesn't have many discussion partners over). Emotionally, she'd probably keep him at arm's length - he has a lot of Issues and Problems, and she's not really interested in helping him handle them (she doesn't really bother with trying to cheer people up on the bubbles so much as just explaining what they can do now that they're dead, and letting them make their own decisions). Not that she isn't a nice person, but I do think it'd just be kind of difficult for her to have too much sympathy for a guy whose problems were largely caused by being too aristocratic.

But, like, she would also pretty happily call him "her friend," because she always cuts it short when it gets too real for her, minimizing her negative experiences with him. I think eventually, like training a dog, Eridan would figure out that Aradia is just Not The Friend For That, so it'd become less of a problem as time goes on.

She thinks he's ridiculous and funny, calls him up when she wants to infodump on someone and her usual buddies aren't around, and I think they'd play good DnD together with Nepeta and Vriska. Yeah I know Vriska killed her but she killed Vriska so they're even. The energy at the table is deeply weird but Eridan wouldn't notice and Aradia would get a kick out of it, leaing poor Nepeta to suffer it alone.

Anyway, I love that Eridan's assortment of platonic friendships is so haphazard. Nepeta AND Feferi, who hate each other. Vriska AND Aradia, who killed each other. And also Dirk is there. He's the DM.

[prince-liest]

I just wanna gush bc omg I love the 666 series so much. I think it made me realize I might be... furry-ish? adjacent? I just find it so satisfying how you go into detail about the unique body features of both of them, the way it feels to have deer ears or kiss a TV and just generally how much thought is put into the way their bodies work, and I've realized that my interest in that kind of idea is a pretty good reason to partake in more explicitly furry media lmao. Anyways

I'm also really in love with how you maintain the balance of each of their personality traits. Vox is simultaneously so pathetic and cringefail (also your dialogue for him is perfect, I can hear it crystal clear in my head) but also he has vastly more emotional intelligence than Alastor, no doubt at least in part because he has to deal with Val, and he's able to marginally calm down with his obsession to deal with sticky situations, but even then he still retains his personality and bumbles things sometimes because of the flaws in said personality! It's great. I also really appreciate the balance you've struck with Alastor, I feel like often Alastor is either written to either soften up so immediately that it feels disconnected from his character or is written overly mean and heartless for my liking and the way you've written him is such a delicious balance between softer aspects such as the prey instincts or moments of vulnerability and his untouchable and manipulative self, and also the way this side of him is neither written as wholly a front or wholly his real nature and the complex ways this makes him struggle with his increasing vulnerability. TL;DR arghgr your characterization is so good it makes me go a little feral

Also while I'm here, I'm curious whether you can give an answer to the degree to which Alastor is touch-averse. There's obviously a lot of ways in which he fundamentally dislikes touch but it also seems like there's at least some kinds of touch where he doesn't dislike the touch itself so much as he's afraid of the way it brings about feelings of caring and/or enjoyment being cared for. I'm curious how much, in general, you would say his touch aversion comes from either cause and possibly what kinds of touch do/don't provoke those flavors of aversion

Omg, what a lovely ask to receive. Honestly, everything you said that you enjoy about how I characterize these two is very much what I've been actively gunning for, so it's an absolute delight to see it outlined back to me. Success!!! Thank you so much!

And ahaha - I'm not a furry but I fucking love inhuman characters. Being raised in the pits of Homestuck fantroll RP made me enjoy the whole "they're bug/fish aliens" thing and it definitely rears its head again any time I encounter characters with inhuman qualities. I love writing Vox's TV/computer-ness and Alastor's deer and radio bits, and integrating them into who they now are as people.

As for Alastor's touch-aversion: It's funny that you ask about this, because the next chapter of 666 is going to dive into it a bit. Specifically into the fact that it's not, like, a set of boundaries that is consistently defined, and I write him that way on purpose. The very first time he and Vox sleep together, Alastor bottoms. He becomes significantly less amenable to touch after he goes through an uncomfortable rut cycle that gets sexual. By the time Vox convinces Alastor to fuck him, Alastor would never let Vox do that again and frankly only agrees to topping because Vox gave him an option that didn't involve getting his dick out. Then in the next episode, they're having clothes-off sexual contact. So, what gives?

Things that play into Alastor's willingness to touch and be touched as far as Vox is concerned:

How does he see Vox at that point in time? Disgustingly entitled (ew)? Hilariously beneath him (haha who cares)?

Does he care about what Vox thinks of him? Does Vox touching him draw his attention to positive or negative assumptions he has about Vox's perspective on doing so?

What value has he attached to this particular touch in the power balance of their relationship? Is he humoring Vox? Does he assume Vox thinks he's owed this? Does he perceive it as something Vox is genuinely doing for him?

Has he tried this particular kind of touch before? He's pretty willing to experiment, but that doesn't mean he'll do something twice without a compelling reason if he didn't like it the first time.

Is he getting off on this situation sexually? If so, is it fully willing (read: not a byproduct of uncomfortable hormones) on his part? That only really happens when he's in a submissive role and Vox is hitting a few very specific kinks, a major one of which is basically CNC tilted 30 degrees to the left.

Is he enjoying the touch in platonic ways? How does he feel about that? Is it a vulnerability to want something? Is it feeding his ego to be catered to? Is he worried that what he enjoys platonically is being read into in ways he doesn't like?

Is he fucking drunk? Things that bother you when sober often seem like a non-issue when you're not, both on a physical and emotional level.

How much touching has been happening recently? Has he hit his limit? Did he deliberately put himself into a situation earlier to have his limit be hit and surpassed, and now he's in the aftermath?

He does have a certain fundamental purely physical dislike of touch, but it's something that is really affected by how he perceives each individual situation as well as his relationship with Vox at that time, and his previous experiences!

[awakefor48hours]

Update: they’re now @dailyanimeships (I'm blocked so no tag there :/) but it's the same person. Update 2: they’re blocked again. Let’s celebrate

Hello everyone, I need your help getting rid of someone that's been harassing people (myself included).

This is the person in question and I need your help to get rid of them and stopping any future harassment.

Even if you're not in the Black Clover fandom, I would appreciate a moment for your time to read this. For a bit of context, if you haven't seen Black Clover, the main ship in the show is Astelle (Asta x Noelle). In the show, Noelle has a massive crush on Asta (think Amity to Luz/Marinette to Adrien/Hinata to Naruto/etc, etc). It's pretty clear that Astelle will be canon but sometimes canon doesn't matter and people ship different things. Now onto this whole shit show.

Harassing in DMs

To start off, they're basically every shade of bigot. My moots and I have gotten really nasty DMs from dailyasnoel and I'm going to censor them because there's pretty bad slurs in them.

The first one was sent to me and the second one was sent to @the-geek-librarian

We're both in a server and everyone in this server (nearly 15 of us) have been blocked. Keep in mind, not a single one of us had ever interacted with them in our lives. We've all tagged our posts properly and haven't said a single negative thing about Astelle or their blog. They went out of their way to send us these DMs with very hateful slurs all because we don't want the same fictional teenagers kissing.

Harassing others

This isn't even the first time that dailyasnoel has gone after people simply for just shipping Noelle with another character. These two, ramiliadoesstuff and kcuf-ad have also posted about been harassed.

Along with that, there is now a ship week for Kahonoelle (a femslash ship involving Noelle) being run by moot @t-f-t (Alex) and this was the response to the original post (a post that was tagged properly and no malice towards anyone) announcing this.

This could've just been the end of it but they felt the need to send an ask to Alex expressing their disgust because there's people who don't want the same fictional teenagers kissing.

Then there's this lovely comment on that post.

Guess who's going to be extremely annoying during Kahonoelle week. (BTW, wouldn't it be really funny if we got them off the internet before their shit ass Astelle week).

Fanfiction

This harassment isn't just on tumblr either, it's on AO3 too.

I scrolled through the Yunoelle (Yuno x Noelle) tag on AO3 and the comments on some of these fanfictions are so vile. There's so many hate comments and I didn't even screenshot all of them because there's so many of them.

I found comments left by people with the username "dailyasnoel" and other guest users with different usernames that make similar comments to dailyasnoel because I assume it's the same person.

Making the Devils Cry

Yuno and Noelle Oneshots

When the Sea Goddess Snaps

Hot Tub Accident

While scrolling the Yunoelle tag, I noticed that there's people who have started limited their comment section, have deleted comments with responses like "dude, calm down," or have made their fanfictions private.

And even as a little side note, I want to make it clear that I was able to look at every single Yunoelle fanfiction on AO3 because it's not even a popular ship. There's only 31 fanfictions for them so a lot of these fanfictions are written by the same authors. On the other hand, Astelle has been consistently the most popular ship in the fandom and even has the most fanfictions. So it's not even like Astelle fans are hurting for fanfictions or that Yunoelle fans are invading their spaces.

The actual blog

The icing on this queerphobic, harassing, racist cake is that they're an art thief. Their blog only has art and all of it is from other people. There's no indication these are reposts, there's no signs that they got permission to repost these, nor any links to the original posters. (original art links > 1/2/3)

If you know nothing about Black Clover or the fandom, I want to make this abundantly clear, this is behavior is unacceptable. This fandom has been very peaceful as of late and this one person does not speak for Astelle fans in the slightest. The Astelle fans I've interacted with are quite lovely, and if Asta or Noelle or Tabata (the creator) saw this, they'd be disgusted.

Whether or not you're in the Black Clover fandom is irrelevant. This is a horrible person and art thief, please report and block this person. Together, we can get rid of this person.

@dailyasnoel I know you have me blocked but if you happen to read this, I want you to know that if this small part of you that you show on the internet is even a modicum similar to how you behave in real life (joking or not), you are going to live a very sad and lonely life.

I hope you enjoy your own company because no one will want to be your friend, no one will support you, and above all else, no one will mourn you. Your absence will be treated with nothing but joy and whimsy because you are a sad and pathetic parasitic monster.

[littlerocks]

This scene is wonderful, the scene where vinee given the medal to the firefighters, it appears the perosne they love, their family: hen with karen and her children, Chim with Maddie, Eddie with Chris and marisol and Tommy with Buck (with that look so proud of his boyfriend, from "that guy is coll" to "that guy is mine") and finally tommy feels inside a family

The fact that Tommy is a diminutive of his real name Thomas and so not his actual name destabilized me ahahahh

I was thinking the fact that with Tommy they show buck, and as if they want to make it clear that he actually doesn't have any figure that can correspond as a family, and that with buck, he found that feeling of family (?). I hope they will show something from tommy's past because then we will understand his character even more

However that look of buck, in observing tommy, full of pride and love is beautiful, it's literally "that handsome guy, that hot pilot who flew over a hurricane and saved everybody, he's my beautiful boyfriend."

As for the hen and karen family, I'm too happy to see Mara so happy to finally have a family that loves her, and she's no longer that scared mara of the first episodes but she has found in hen, karen and denny her family that will always protect her

"Enjoy it while it lasts" this cynical sarcasm of tommy i love him, simply he is like this and i love him so much, like buck loves him

Tommy's sarcasm, when he makes quips, it's not making fun like denigrating a person but it's those jokes, the kind of sarcasm that you make when you know the other person and you know you can do because they don't take it in a negative way and in fact laugh about it, and for me that's what buck and tommy do, like while they're texting, like tommy makes jokes that are a little bit cynical, that kind of thing and buck countering but in a funny way

However Ravi represents me, literally it's me going to parties, just to eat

My guess is that when buck sees Gerard, and says "that's him, huh?" with that sigh, he was already preparing himself to endure the negative things gerard would say toward tommy or 118 in general

Just heard gerard's voice, chim with that face like "oh no then, my biggest nightmare came true," tommy has a face like "really this is coming to talk to us?"

Chim literally the protector of tommy and buck, like "do you have something against them?" automatically you have something against me

Then that "line" of gerard about "i heard you got your wings", i want to see gerard to use a helicopter in a freaking hurricane, risk his job to help his friends, in my opinion, if there was no chim to put him in his place, buck would have done like: give his plate to tommy saying "wait a minute" he walks up to gerard and says to him "tommy had such courage to fly a helicopter, going inside a hurricane to save those people, while risking his job and you don't even have a quarter of his courage and love for his job to do this act of bravery" and then finish " and also this beautiful hot pilot with even a medal of honor is none other than my beautiful fiancé, so don't you ever try to insult or denigrate him again" like it would have been beautiful, but we have however at the same time Chim putting him back in his place and finally silencing him. FORCE Chim we are all with you

CHIM FOREVER, WE ARE ALL WITH YOU IN DESTROYING GERARD

Buck giving that look gerard, and kind of warning look, like woe is you if you hurt tommy again, or chim or hen and everybody else in 118

This scene is beautiful, literally scene between father and son, where the father telling the son that he is proud of him, his evolution as a person and also he even gave his blessing to tommy, typical father, too beautiful this scene

"tommy is a good person, and good for you" "how do you know?" "because we haven't talked" and buck smiling happily, like you can see that buck is happy to be with tommy such that others can see it too, I'm too happy

Then we got the testimony that tommy and buck see each other in the evening, and maybe they even sleep together, that duffel bag that buck gets him ready to go to tommy's is the testimony, and maybe that's because we see tommy at the hospital in 7x10 like buck going home to tommy's (I hope so, and I hope they show tommy's house) and like they are ready to go to sleep and then buck is called and he is told that bobby is in the hospital and they both go there, anyway before that it would be nice to also see a little scene of buck and tommy together of like them gaurding the TV or eating together, that would be beautiful

However buck and tommy literally are made for each other, in the sense that they found each other and they are right for both of them, like buck found in tommy a person who loves him and even shows it, such as going to the hospital even though he had a stressful shift and went anyway because he knew it was important to buck and he went anyway even though he knew he was tired and all dirty, without even changing or cleaning up because he was already late and didn't want to be even later, and so for me tommy is the kind of person who maybe doesn't say it in words that he loves a person but shows it through attitudes

While for Tommy in my opinion he found a family in Buck, in the sense that in my opinion Tommy has a troubled past, perhaps with the family and therefore he has never managed to be part of a family and the moment he met Buck he finally did feels like a family, also adding 118, and perhaps as if throughout his life he has always had to manage on his own, in the sense that when he needed a person to console him or who was there to help him, or just to comfort him, he never had it and as soon as he met buck he finally found that kind of person who knows that if he had a bad moment or a bad day, he knows that buck would be there ready to console him, even like cooking something just to say "I'm here with you and I'm not leaving, and you know that if you need to let off steam I'm here for you"

I like the two of them together too much, because yes they are different in character, but it's not that being different in a negative way in the sense that they can't be together because that being different is too much to handle, while they although they are different, manage to fit together and create a beautiful bond

[bonefall]

How are we feeling at the book finale? Because outside of the Sunbeam girlboss moment telling Berryheart just how bad of a family she was AND maybe possibly foreshadowing her rejecting Nightheart, I think we miiiight get some more Dark Forest cats than planned before :D (also I may be wrong but- didn't Podlight have children? Would he even be eligible as Medicine Cat in BB?)

Podlight's totally eligible in BB! He has no canon children and I didn't give him any. In BB there's also an interesting quirk in that Podlight is notoriously Mistystar's... not EXACTLY a good-for-nothing grandson, but a bit of a "fratboy" working through daddy issues. Is is extra funny for this cat to be a villain lmao.

Also: Better Bones RiverClan Family Tree

Anyway... my thoughts on the spoiler thread's ending. Mostly negative, unfortunately. I am really hoping that a lot of this is misrepresentation.

I've enjoyed every book of ASC that's come out so far, but if this thread is accurate, this is going to be the first one that I actively dislike. It sounds like there was a serious nosedive in quality.

ON THE ENDING; Park Cats, and The Berryheart Gathering.

Park Cats.

It is profoundly frustrating to me that we had TWO traveling books in this arc. Do they not know by now that traveling books are widely detested for a reason??

Frostpaw and Nightheart were AWAY FROM THE CONFLICT for most of this book, what the fuck?

The plot barely advanced at all. There's been one major conflict in this entire arc, the invasion of RiverClan, and we are 4/6ths of the way through without any other major battles. This is boring.

Riverstar is a major character through this bullshit, now with a magical perfect connection to Frostpaw through plot convenience so he can give her tutorial tips, because GOD FORBID we have a more grounded story for once. I'm so sick of DOTC fanservice. Was a super edition not enough?!

And speaking of Riverstar's Home, they pretty clearly ripped a lot of inspiration out of it. Frostpaw and Nightheart go on a journey with random human-related shenanigans before finding a cardboard cutout of a culture

I'm not gonna lie guys. I do not like the Park Cats. I HAVE TO SAY; It's a step in the right direction

They are not demonized. They are treated as good and legitimate. They are seen as having wisdom and living peacefully.

This is Good. This is Fine.

(im still kind of mad they needed riverstar to come save them back in riverstar's home, like every non-clan culture does apparently, but HOKAY fine ok it's fine)

.....butt.

They're boring. guys, they have one thing that is unique to them, and it's meditation. They live in perfect peace and harmony. there's nothing there.

It's easy to be a perfect, peaceful society if you have no conflict ever.

IF THE SPOILER THREAD IS ACCURATE, we don't see them address strife, how they DO handle disputes, what DOES happen when a cat engages in "criminality," or even really see what their spiritual beliefs are besides "meditating"

And that's why the idea of Frostpaw taking away a good lesson from living with them strikes me as so hollow. WHAT is she taking from them? JUST vague, quiet meditation?? Why couldn't Riverstar just magically teach her that?

It also bothers me that this culture is exactly the same as it was in Riverstar's Home. It's in stasis. Nothing has changed, nothing has grown, they haven't picked up new customs. They don't even seem to have their own history besides remembering that Riverstar showed up generations ago.

It's not a culture, it's a plot device.

I swear, I'm really trying to like them, but RH left this really sour taste in my mouth and them showing up again in this book has only made me more frustrated.

I AM happy that we're going to maybe start trying to address the violence of Clan Culture, but it is coming in the middle of a book where nothing fucking happens, and they're starting to fumble the bag on the xenophobic radicalization that I'd been praising in the past few books

And by that, I'm referring to...

Berryheart's Gathering

through the books so far, I've been praising the slow rise of tension coming from the radicalized members of ShadowClan.

I think the way that Berryheart and her little Concern Club had been slowly escalating in their bigotry and violence was (and remains) unironically fantastic.

We had started off with it just being a group to "discuss the issues," which evolved into active bullying and harassment, progressed into attempted murder, and we left off on the idea that Berryheart's Hate Group was planning something with RiverClan's murder party.

And we are reaching a turning point in that arc, the payoff of a long and well-laid escalation, with...

normal democracy.

berryheart and her supporters approach puddleshine reasonably with their concerns and intent to call for a vote to depose tigerheartstar. doing the thing the fucking code addition was made for

This comes AFTER Sunbeam has a Girlboss Moment telling off Berryheart for being a bad mom in front of the whole gathering and everyone claps, mind you, so this is clearly supposed to be the narrative's big "oooo consequences for Berryheart" moment

So anyway Berryheart brings up that they want tigerHeartstar deposed, and then Puddleshine's like "haHA THIS WAS A ROUSE"

"Actually I only told you i agree to point out how this code addition can be exploited over a disagreement with ONE issue!!!!1"

i just...

im......

would Brokenstar training babies be One Issue? Would Bramblefake being a bully to his entire clan be One Issue? Would Leopardstar allowing Tigerstar to take over RiverClan be One Issue?

One Issue....

And MIND YOU I'm Pro-tigerHeartstar, actually, but the WHOLE fucking point of the rule is that you can depose someone who is not acting in the best interest of the Clans. Fym ONE ISSUE??

IT'S A BIG ASS ISSUE!

So anyway Berryheart is embarrassed in front of everyone, tigerHeartstar tells the group, "You're going to support me or get out of my Clan"

All of her supporters fall in line, but Berryheart chooses exile.

So Berryheart and her group isn't punished for the hate crimes, it didn't lead to anyone getting actually hurt, this faction of cats just settled back down and Berryheart alone was exiled for political opposition to occupation.

not the hate crimes

GOTTA STRESS

The hate crimes did not cause lasting damage, the radicalized group did not cause any violence at this gathering

Berryheart is exiled for political opposition to occupation.

The consequence she faces for the hate crimes was simply not having her son Spireclaw back her up because she caused trouble for Fringewhisker. Like it's on the same level as being a bad in-law and not ATTEMPTED MURDER BASED ON BIGOTRY

And tigerHeartstar, jesus christ

His consistent trait has been becoming unreasonable WHEN HIS FAMILY IS THREATENED. WHY are we tossing this out the window now?

I REALLY REALLY hope that the spoiler thread is misrepresentation, and tigerHeartstar didn't ACTUALLY exile her but said something like, "this is what we're doing. don't like it, leave. you don't have the votes"

SO FOR NOW; I'm going to reserve judgement on what the writers are doing with tigerHeartstar.

This seems like the exact sort of thing that may be worded in an inaccurate way

But that said,

I'm beside myself with disappointment in this turn of events. Why is this about legitimate political proceedings? Why did they make the CULMINATION of this arc about bigoted violence and radicalization a legitimate, peaceful attempt to use the process THEY JUST ADDED, FOR THIS EXACT PURPOSE?

Anyway, then it ends on a cliffhanger

Podlight claims to be the new medcat, pointed out as just being a political maneuver, to appoint Splashtail as the new leader.

Frostpaw watches on in shock and thinks about how bad it is that a murderer is now in charge of RiverClan, and how no one would believe her if she told them all now

I sure hope the next book contains something worth reading. like a fight or something. in the battle cat series. in the arc where theyre trying to say something about violence.

[starzgaze]

Hai Haii!

Random question: you know the Types of people as Animals?? ie. The black cat, golden retriever, golden cat, black lab, ext.

Okay so what type of person do you think Jinwoo, Thomas Andre, Liu Zhigang and Cha hae in are? (Add any other character too if you want)

Also here's a link to a uquiz that started this decent into madness ahhdbd :

https://uquiz.com/quiz/Hg8xGo?p=3738430

Or you can search -> Are you a Black Cat or a Golden Retriever? By miacathart

(I got Golden Cat as a result btw if your curious.)

Honestly no pressure. You kinda seem like your going through it so I thought this could be a silly thing to cheer you up, even for a moment.

cheers,

✒️ nonnie

HII ✒️ NONNIE and erhrhrh dw about me im just err... going through it TOT but nice to see you again www also you're a golden cat?? so like... orange... right... u and me r twins

anyway yeahh!! i know about that and i think i got like... golden cat or orange cat in some quizzes and i meaan yeah I'm low-key air headed something is in my head and its not my brain nonnie!!

oh I've thought about that i think like wayyy way back i think it's like widely accepted that jinwoo is a black cat and i mean... i also agree but not the fact his whole fashion sense is just black black black but there's symbolism here and there such as black cats are seen as a symbol of death or bad luck is looming over you, mostly negative symbolism or ties with death which is fitting for our shadow monarch

not to mention have you seen those cat videos in the internet? especially the black cat videos where sometimes they're basically liquid and merges with their surroundings if it's reallyyy dark? yeah that's jinwoo can't convince otherwise, also the attitude?? jinwoo is a teeny weeny atleast sassy atleast, it's funny though.

also he fits it over all vibe too, he seems pretty distant at first but once he warms up and garners affection for you he wouldn't leave you alone even if he seems a bit distant.

for thomas I personally think he would be a dog type but not particularly a golden retriever or black lab either, probably a different breed of big dog that's purposely high maintenance and difficult to take care but also fiercly protective and loyal just how he is. probably a great Pyrenees or dogs that's mistakened as a lion or some big animal lmfaoo

he's huge and wild bro!! a bit violent here and there but it was mostly out of survival for him and his guildmates. other than that though i imagine he's a lovable guy like probably really nice to hug and hang around with like a big dog, not to mention he sort of has the attitude of one if you squint.

okay listen to me with zhigang. that man is not any of the listed animals if I'm being fr... zhigang would be a rooster... hear me out

actually not really a rooster only i had some other ideas or for other animals but none of them were mammals and mostly birds soo, he would be a bird. zhigang's personality is PROBABLY extroverted and a bit loud but it's fine because its liu zhigang

he seems to be a morning person to me, being a martial artist enthusiast and all. it's part of his routine to wake up early and drag any unfortunate person to his morning exercise and stretches that is soul crushing from how painful it is. also don't even try to sleep through his first call out to you for the morning exercise, he will become your personal rooster so just you can accompany him.

cha hae-in.... i honestly think she's a white cat just to contrast jinwoo but she's more of an angel to be with in general or I'm just biased to girls... anyway she seems more aloof and quiet compared to an orange cat or any dog breed except for a few probably but to me she's a cat from just how she strut in those panels lmfaoo

she seems to be the type to just space out or listen to you quietly before giving her own advice. hae-in is also elegant like a white cat bro have you seen her move or act? she's so poise and pretty especially when fighting with a sword.

but also she acts like a cat with her quiet... judging eyes or maybe out of the blue truthful words like cats that literally just swats you for no reason, just like how hae-in is with her advice that sometimes seem too blunt at times. (probably a reason why jong-in doesn't let her deal with conferences) but she's a great friend to be with! gentle and kind like a white cat heuughh i love her cutie patootie she's a girls girl

okay last one i talked about this one with some people and I'm sure about jinchul being a dog type but i have some thoughts on what type he would be or what breed. now that I've thought more about it, shiba inu would fit him ya know? intelligent dogs that's known for saving it's owners from danger and calamities just how jinchul save hunters and try to protect them and alsoo sort of has a resemblance to them lmfao

but he also fits being a border collie! that dog breed is known for herding sheep and protecting stuff! the breed is alert, loyal, and intelligent soo yeah i can also see jinchul being this type of dog too lmfaoo but probably an older one too just seeing how low-key tired he is judging from in game dialogue you can see whenever you meet him inside of the lobby

he's protective and attentive so what's not there to love? he's soo pookie I'm gonna squeeze him into a pulp someone stop me

also extra my sister told me she sees jinwoo as a ferret and i mean.. i see it actually and all this animal personality talk made me wanna do a hybrid au with these cutie pies i have ideas running in my head now

[youmakethelight]

Watching the reactions to tboc is actually whiplash.

My tl is the most contrasting mix of bad emotions about out of character dialogue, another stupid thing one of the male EPs said, daryl treating carol like shit, and then blushing and swooning over the reunion and how right the world is that they're together again.

Almost all the good vibes I could have got from the reunion are sucked out by 99% of the rest of the show. I wasn't even that impressed with the reunion, honestly. I wanted more. The camera angle was off, I didn't see daryl's hand on carol's head, the music was off, and it faded out too quick to the worst acting I've ever seen from Norman, going "nonono" running towards dying isabelle. Like, wow. Way to IMMEDIATELY take daryl away again. Who WAS that?

For almost a whole day, I was feeling a bit better, seeing everyone's reactions to episode 4. But now I feel shitter than I did before. Like the reunion did NOT have that much impact on me - how did it for y'all? I'm jealous.

Episode 4 was literally 1 step forward 5 steps back the whole way through. The good doesn't outweigh the bad at all. The "you're too much" scene is starting to annoy me. I mean.. it was funny, but considering daryl still hasn't shown any real appreciation or care for carol yet, I wasn't in love with him being so grumpy with her (also directly after the barn scene, like wtf?). But it's more annoying bc it's feeling overhyped at this point. Like, there's like 4 nice scenes in episode 4 that I'm seeing over and over, and at this point, all it's doing is reminding me that that's all we have. The rest is bad.

At least when pretty much the whole thing is so bad that 99% of the response is negative, it feels like AMC might actually be forced to do something about it. This way, it just feels like they're keeping us fed with crumbs so that they can get away with keeping the rest of it a pile of shit.

And all I remember about episode 5 is that it made me feel worse. I just remember feeling like Carol felt like a spare part, and it made me feel like shit. For 2 seconds, I got to see her enjoying looking around where she was in Paris, and then Daryl is being grumpy with her again. Like holy shit. And I can't even be bothered to make a joke about it, bc it isn't funny. When I first saw the screeners' reviews and the negative speculation, I really didn't think it would be as bad as I imagined it could be, but it is.

And I'm just scared people on sm are just going to be so happy that they're together again, that any issues with it are going to get swept under the carpet (and then perpetuated into the next season). And my feelings are going to feel totally invalidated. Like ok I can kiss goodbye to any hope that I'll ever feel like im seeing my favourite characters on screen again bc AMC doesn't think it needs to change anything. 🙃🙂🙃

I am not trying to say that people shouldn't be finding joy where they can get it. This is all AMC and a bunch of men in charge, NOT fans. I'm just feeling shit about it all, and idk, oversharing on the internet and treating tumblr like my personal diary is my coping mechanism now ig.

I just hate it here.

[starsurface]

[stimming anon] okay, can I ask for Nightwolf, Fujin, and MK1 Liu Kang (if you don't do multiple characters then just Wolfie is alright) with a pre-teen regressor? Like tapping on a hard surface, rocking back & forth, fidgeting with something, or picking at their lips. at least this is some of the stimming that i personally do-

I will admit I did add a few things like sensory issues and similar things to make the lists longer, but it does mostly focus on stimming and middlespace regressing!! (Mostly stimming though)

If I screwed up or should change anything, do let me know and I'll make sure to fix any mistakes I've made!!!

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Nightwolf w/ Middlespace Regressor that stims

🐺 Nightwolf is very good with middlespace regressors

🐺 And he's very good with people who stim

🐺 If your stimming because of a stressful or irritating situation, his new mission is to make whatevers upsetting you go away

🐺 If it's because of someone, he politely (and sternly) tell them to knock it off, especially if the person knows they're making you do it negatively

🐺 If it's for positive reasons, he's highly encouraging of it!!!

🐺 He just kinda smiles and listens attentively when you stim, never judging or questioning your behavior

🐺 Encourages you to do it in public, and his glare alone won't let anyone look at you funny or say anything mean

🐺 Some members of his family stim, and he's very upset if someone were to make fun of you for it

🐺 If you feel embarrassed or ashamed or guilty, he tries to explain that it's okay to express yourself, and you shouldn't let other people control your decisions

🐺 Is very patient if your stimming makes certain tasks difficult or take longer

🐺 And flat our refuses to let you apologize because you really have no reason to, Little One

🐺 ^ If you say your too young for that nickname, he'll jokingly call you Baby Bear instead and laugh when you become even poutier

🐺 Although he'll mainly treat you your age range, he's pretty good with making you feel 13 again

🐺 . . . Baby names might stick though. >:/ (although will probably use more bigger ones and not ones with baby, unless it's requested)

🐺 If you'd like, he'd let you sit you on his lap and rock with you if your okay with it

🐺 If any of your stims have to do with textures, he'll get you the softest furs he can get

🐺 Always has at least something for you to fidget with, might start carrying something on his belt so its always on him

🐺 Will try to offer you gum or a chew necklace if your lip biting draws blood, but its a race occurrence and he's just trying to help

🐺 I know it's not stimming, but if you have any sensory issues and want to do makeup but it's too much for you, he'll look into different options so you can live your emo dream

🐺 Your too little to touch his ax, don't try it (you'll receive his mighty glare and dissimponted tone and honestly, you might start crying)

🐺 ^ Will apologize for making you cry, his intentions were to keep you safe, not to make you feel bad or naughty

🐺 If there are any certain triggers that will make you become upset enough to negatively stim, he'll make sure to keep you away from them

🐺 Even if this makes him a ‘bad guy’ at times, his mission is to keep you happy and safe

🐺 Any positive things to make you stim? He'll deliberately search for!!

🐺 Your favorite song? Might not be his music taste (maybe), but he'll smile over the way you gasp and begin to tap the table or the car door and sing along (he'll sing too, his voice is beautiful)

🐺 Certain comfort or go to foods? Either always has them stocked and will give them to you after a bad day, or go out and get it because he knows you need something rn.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Fujin w/ Middlespace Regressor that stims

☁️ Fujin loves middle regressors, but does have a small habit of treating you like your six

☁️ Like, come on Fujin, we're not five, we're 12 😒

☁️ Just make sure to remind him that your older than that, and he's quick to apoligize and change his actions

☁️ Is a bit concerned that you'll make your lip bleed by accident and will try to persuade you on something else to chew or pick on (but if your dead set on sticking to your lip, he'll let you, but make sure your lips aren't hurt or bad)

☁️ Didn't know a bunch about stimming, he's seen it a few times from when he was with the mortals, but quickly understood the concept of it

☁️ If you have any favorite textures Fujin will get most of any gifts he buys you in them so you'll actually enjoy wearing them and it doesn't feel like sandpaper on your skin (personal hc, I hate the feeling)

☁️ He gets very happy when he can get you into a conversation, and your rocking, and tapping the table because he knows it shows how you trust and love him :3

☁️ Gets worried if your hard surface is something like concrete but tries not to be too concern (will buy ointment for your knuckles just in case though)

☁️ Will ask what counts as stimming, since he understands but is still curious about some things

☁️ Let's you hold his sword if your interested in it but will snatch it when he thinks you're going to accidently cut yourself (and might have given you an injury by accident, apologizes with kisses, band aids, and cuddles)

☁️ If someone says something to you, they better grab onto a sturdy object because oh dang, that's a harsh almost dangerous wind only going in their direction, how weird?

☁️ Will buy you candy or something after the incident and claim that they know no knowledge and his brother cleary didn't give them a brain

☁️ Will inform the monks about it and puts the very few who judge in their places then and there

☁️ If he can find out what makes you happily stim or excitedly stim, he'll try his hardest to make sure it's around often

☁️ Will also try to get you out of a bas situation but honestly might jt just teleport you two outside so you can relax with the flowers

☁️ If outside feels like it's worsening it, he'll bring you to his room so you can cuddle and calm down <3

☁️ And secretly plot his revenge (again-)

☁️ No one messes with his baby- Uh, big kid >:(

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Lord Liu Kang w/ Middlespace Regressor that stims

🌟 Good with middlespace regressors, but doesn't take sass

🌟 Unless it's like, teasing sass, he can see a joke

🌟 You will get a thirty minute soft lecture that it'd not cool to sass people and be mean with your tone

🌟 If you don't realize your tone sometimes when talking though (I don't sometimes) he will take it into consideration

🌟 Has meet thousands of peo0pe who've stimmed before and is highly encouraging with yours

🌟 You want a cool place to sit down and rock? His meditation room is open, just please don't make a mess

🌟 ^ Usually he's big on you meditating with him, but if you need to move or fidget or do SOMETHING, he'll let you slide every time

🌟 (^ The monks can't call you out because you have God's favorite privileges >:3)

🌟 You need something to fidget with? Well he might have nothing on hand right now, but he'll scurry around to find something!!

🌟 Will buy you one of those fidget cubes but then also buys himself one because he found it really interesting (mortal technology man, it keeps advancing faster than he can catch up)

🌟 Your lips are chap and pealing too much when your biting or picking at them? He'll carry around chap stick so your not accidently hurting yourself

🌟 Will rock with you if you'd like, and enjoys sitting next to you peacefully (even if he isn't moving)

🌟 Honestly, no one will call you out for anything because of Liu Kang's presence alone

🌟 Mostly because no one wants to see a God's anger

🌟 But if you tell him someone made fun of you, he'll give you a soft smile ans tell you that nothings wrong with you. You just need to express your emotions differently than others and that's okay

🌟 And uh, the person will shakingly come apologize to you, Liu Kang smiling behind him before asking if you'd like a treat of some kind

🌟 If your too afraid to stim out in public, he'll try doing everything in his power to help you feel less vulnerable

🌟 You want a more secluded spot? You already got it. You want him to rock with you? He'll sway slightly, he doesn't mind

🌟 You are his little pride and joy and if you aren't happy and comfy, there's a massive problem in his eyes

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Y'all, yesterday watermelon juice got into my phone and we had to drain it out of my speakers and since the case got ruined we had to take it off and it dropped and my screen is CRACKED. :( (it'll be okay, it still works <3)

[house-of-tykayl]

Is there a mandate in Teen Titans Go where they say Robin and Starfire are never allowed to be an actual couple in the show?

I don't understand why they don't want them to be together they make Starfire reject Robin.

I don't think it would cause any problem if they become a thing, they can still make comedy jokes in the show while being in a relationship at the same time.

i think TTG is a low effort parody show, so to change something fundamental to the original concept (having TTG robin chase TTG starfire) would take too much effort. the show would have to replace the conflict of unrequited(?) love with another conflict funny enough to move an episodic story forward for an infinite number of seasons.

so yeah, there probably is a mandate/rule (in the show bible or something) to prevent TTG robstar from becoming "official"

(also if you dont find the idea of TTG robstar being unrequited funny, then tbh i feel like TTG's kind of humor and even the original concept of TTG just isnt for u... it's not the 2003 cartoon v2, it's a parody and always was. by this point i feel like it (TTG's parody elements at least) are such a specific kind of humor that 89% of people won't enjoy it, and thats fine)

anyway there's also how TTG had more sincerity in season 1 when it was more like a really weird sitcom, where the titans' relationships (while still subversions of the 2003 cartoon) were mostly genuine bonds even if they acted like lobotomy patients sometimes. the comedy had limits and the characters had empathy. so if TTG robstar would ever have a chance at becoming anything near canon, it would have been back in s1, though still unlikely

but later seasons of TTG can be very mean spirited, overly cynical and deconstructive, depending on who is writing the episode (assuming the episode is even character focused at all, which became less common over time). the show went from a parody of the 2003 cartoon to a parody of everything besides the 2003 cartoon lol. sometimes i feel like post season 1 some of TTGs writers took the mob hate to heart and let negativity poison the original sitcom premise before slowly selling out

so i dont think genuine relationships between the TTG titans can happen anymore, some of the writers hate the characters enough to have broken up their friendships (someone even messed with cyborg & BB once omg), let alone the romantic relationships. except maybe that doesn't matter either because TTG resets most of its continuity every episode?? ironically TTG could still turn the ship around in terms of the series' tone and direction, though i doubt they will if the current direction makes more money

weirdly enough whenever TTG shits out another AU thing, like the big 2018 movie or the night begins to shine universe, suddenly theres unironic robstar shipping/hints in it that are soooooooo cute. besides being shipper bait this is probably because those TTG AUs feel removed from the main TTG series, so their stories feel more free like they're allowed to be sincere again, like the main show's original season 1.

unless the romance is supposed to be a joke, it needs sincerity in order to work. and its impossible to write sincerely when youre a contractual writer buried under 300 layers of irony and cynicism who doesn't even like the show youre writing for... and thats what i feel happened to the main TTG show ,compared to some of its AU stuff

tl;dr i just cope and pretend like TTG is still the goofy sitcom it used to be, partially coz season 1 TTG robstar had the (admittedly very low) potential to be real, and even if it didnt happen at least their friendship was consistently sincere. and very cute

[warsamongthestars]

Honestly you are so right. I never thought about it like that.

Having recently rewatch TBB from their introduction episode in TCW, i kept going "what the hell".

Admittingly, i did NOT like them at first. I enjoyed the other clones, but i just.. couldn't care until after s1 of TBB and even then, only S2 made me fall in love and S3 made me dwell deeper.

But rewatching TCW episodes... i can see why. Its not just that its different writing, that whole episode was INCREDIBLY cheesy, they were cheesy. And whats funny is i don't think they're too bad after their introduction episode.. but its like. They all fit into their sterotypes first episode, but TBB actually gave them personalities i feel, so when rewatching their introduction... it feels.. Not super iconic, sorry if that is an unpopular opinion.

Like their poses and first fight is really cool, but the whole conversation they have not only implies what you said, but also comes off as "edgelord 10 y/o boy who has watched way too many adventure movies". Which i get they were trying to be show offs as well as show the audience they are extreme.

But it just.. comes across as goofy to me.

and to be clear, i know star wars in general can be seen as cheesy, I'm not knocking down cheesy-ness, and i love most TCW episodes new and old, but i think thats why it bothers me ? I don't remember feeling "oh thats cheesy" in a negative light in any other episode, even with other series.

Sorry that this got long !!!!!

Damn, first ask. XD

Thank you for that! But uh...

... The irony here is that I have to disagree. I liked them in TCWs over TBB, and I wanted to see more of what the TCWshow's BBs had to offer.

I went the old fashioned way of watching TCWs (For the clones, I don't care that much about Jedi stories), and by the time I reached S7, they were announcing TBBshow. I had the build up from that, to reach the momentum and when I made it to the Bad Batch Arc, it was like falling in love with clones all over again.

Cliche in function, yes, by all viewing they fullfill their cliches.

But let me point out something that occurs in character writing--How the character acts to their friends, will be different with how the character acts to their coworkers, and how they act to their own families, to how they act to strangers. This is part of how you create a 3-Dimensional Character.

So my interpretation is different. Here's how my thought process went.

What we saw in TCWs, was merely how the BBs act when acting under officers (Coworkers) they didn't know (Strangers).

( Wrecker starts enthusiastic but "dumb" muscle, but as the Arc went on, he actually mellowed out. Showing that while he's excitable, he's not actually as excitable as what he introduced himself as. He's clever not "dumb muscle", he's multi-capable (he's the second pilot of the Marauder), he's in more control of himself than anyone on the team (hence that when he lifts Jesse up, Jesse is fine afterwards, when by that point we've seen that he lifts ships--he could've easily hurt Jesse but he didn't))

Given they don't look or act like clones, and looking and acting like clones is expected in their position or risk removal, they were effectively playing themselves up as their "cliches" in order to sell their skills and avoid unnecessary or even dangerous questions.

( Hunter is constantly snarky and never directly answers anything about "who you report to" or "how many missions you were on". But at the start, he was promoting the hell out of his unit's capabilities. )

The Bad Batch were a series of characters that bounced off each other beautifully. Its something everyone noticed about them.

(From Crosshair using Tech's shoulder as a mount, to Wrecker tossing Hunter up, to Hunter and Crosshair's subtle backing each other up, to Wrecker quoting Tech. )

Their group dynamics are part of their greatest strength as a set of characters.

With the introduction of Echo, who unlike in TBB, Echo was enthusiastic and clever and crafty, with a playful sense of humor (not unlike how he started as a character in TCWs).

You've got an excellent addition to a group that already has strong character dynamics.

Echo, having been an Audience Surrogate Character for Clones in TCWs, would've easily been the main POV of whatever BB show came out of TCWs. Because he can ask the questions the audience would ask, and Echo is a familiar character with years of backing that the audience would be familiar with.

So you're right, in my book, about TCWshow. Though how I view how right you are is different because of my subtext.

The Bad Batch Arc of TCWs was a Good, if a bit trippy, Start, and not a finisher for the team. After all, all introductions tend to be rather clumsy (just ask TCWs' pilot film).

Which laid in the implication that we're going to Get that Finisher. And the journey.

But when we hit TBB... Then turned the nuance surface of TCWs Bad Batch, and either cut it out, or dumbed it down, or in two cases, changed it entirely.

( TCWs Hunter was a snarky worrywort who let his brothers do the actions while he stays in the corner, but he's dragged out because he's the "Sergeant". TBB Hunter is a stoic quiet type who wants order and control. TCWs Hunter and TBB Hunter are two entirely different characters. In fact, if I may speculate fan wise, TBB Hunter would be the kind of person that would cause TCWs Hunter to Shutdown... and we have evidence of this from TCWs; where Rex gets into Hunter's face, and Hunter shutsdown entirely until after the scene change. )

( Wrecker got dumbed down. That Explosive Enthusiasm he played up, became his defining feature (They effectively pulled a misfandom on their own original creation). While they did show he does have vulnerabilities and some of that TCWs cleverness... it often got overshadowed. )

( They removed Crosshair and broke the group dynamic, destroying the strongest part of their characters, which was their interactions with each other. )

( Echo went from Enthusiastic, Clever and Humor, to Just Bitchy. They didn't bring back his other facet at all. And mid way through TBB, they removed his character--effectively making anything about him a moot point. It nullified his introduction into the BBs )

( And I'm not going to go into a tyraid here about Omega. )

And suddenly, there wasn't any nuance anymore, because the BBs acted the same everywhere they went. There wasn't any developments, because the BBs didn't discuss anything for the audience to know.

Maybe a dramatic glance in the distance--but that's more Cliche than their character archetypes. Character Archetypes, no matter how obvious, can shift and change as they Develop.

But there's no character developing in TBB that doesn't involve how the show broke what made them strong characters to begin with.

Its like trying to make a house, but the foundation is the ceiling and attic, and the "ceiling" is the 3000 tons of solid fucking concrete.

The story, which was about how the Empire rose from the Republic, was literally elsewhere, so there was nothing that spurred the characters to do anything that involved the plot.

Now as you can prolly guess by this point, I'm very very keen on Character Driven stories, and I pay attention to character. While I treat all things as a "fan-fiction" (Given that fan-fiction shows the effort it takes to create a story or create anything), when it comes to officially published stuffed--so with teams, and a budget, and hired people to do the work--I expect the "fan-fiction" to go up in quality, to follow the format and standard set up and simply either stick to it or surpass it.

I think TBBshow was too clumsy, too fragmented, and far too shiny, for what it had. Having a small part of the metaphorical quilt work, doesn't subtract from the fact that the rest of the quilt is full of holes.

Have small good points, I'm afraid, doesn't make up for the fact that it was overall, a poorly written show that bites its prior series' hand.

It just means that, now, you have to steal the good points to add to whatever BBsquad exists in one's mind.

You take the part of the quilt that works... and make your own Quilt, and damn whoever fucked up the first job.

[microchive]

either cam or gideon for the character thing!!!

GAH!!!! picking gideon because you already did cam also i want to talk about gideon nav my best friend gideon nav

favorite thing about them: how do i even begin.... i love that she isn't a hero and doesn't become one through the narrative, i love that she is so blatantly posturing all of the time and she builds herself up to be this big confident sexy funnyman because she needs that to keep herself afloat but what she is in reality isn't any lesser! she is funny and she's shy and nervous and she's so powerfully butch to the bone in a way that avoids all negative stereotypes but still manages to highlight the pitfalls butches find themselves in. she has so many layers and people reduce her to some kind of himbo when in reality she's objectively both too mean and too intelligent to be a himbo. i love that you can sense from the very beginning that she is sitting on a massive broiling lake of sadness and for all of her posturing she is both incredibly delicate and one of the strongest characters in the story. i love that she sucks so bad and died a virgin like christ jesus and even missing half her soul she remains consistent not in her outward personality but in her ability to shield her soft underbelly through some sort of performative attitude but EVERYONE can see right through her except gideon herself because everything she does is loud and annoying. she's impulsive and passionate and. incredibly annoying. i hate her and she's my favorite person ever

least favorite thing about them: probably the war crimes but it's not like she's passionate about war crimes she just doesn't gaf. this is just what a lesbian situationship will do to a guy

favorite line: literally all of them man everything she says makes me laugh.... here are some standouts though: - "If my heart had a dick you would kick it" - "I have lots of fealty in me. I fealt the Emperor with every bone in my body. I fealt hard" - "You've got two short minutes left before I punch you right in the butthole" - everything she says when talking to ianthe

brOTP: her and camilla ooooohhhh..... also her and pal. gideon works so well with the sixth house because they're just as annoying and generally peculiar as her they're just more lowkey about it

OTP: i'd have to say griddlehark because i have never stopped thinking about them ever but i do enjoy gideon x camilla (i forgot their ship name) because the cav4cav shit is so good godddd they're just two sides of the same coin, the same story with different upbringings they would help each other out

nOTP: not a huge fan of gideon and corona just because i think corona needs to chase someone who doesn't like her for enrichment purposes and gideon's schoolgirl crush on corona probably doesn't translate well into an actual relationship (let's be real though none of these relationships are going "well") but it is an interesting dynamic

random headcanon: i think she is really gross. genuinely. she picks her nose and doesn't wash her face and harrow gets on her ass about it which i guess is reasonable. also more intense but i definitely think both gideon and harrow have food issues but while harrow copes by being intensely picky gideon has some textual evidence of binge eating which makes sense to me character wise and also would explain why she developed muscle on planet malnutrition

unpopular opinion: i don't really have any once again?? i guess i like to imagine she isn't as attractive as she thinks she is but a lot of people write and draw her as a lesbian adonis which i understand because thats how she describes herself lmao. i think she's kind of cute in a weird way and tamsyn describes her as boyishly pretty so in my mind she's the kind of hot a straight man would never agree with. she is still the hottest person in the world to me

song i associate with them: I HAVE SO MANY. main ones are: father by the front bottoms, dance in room song by sipper, bodysnatchers by radiohead, suffering jukebox by silver jews, knife in the coffee by car seat headrest

favorite picture of them: this fanart: (this artist does such a delicious gideon ohhh i need her.) https://www.tumblr.com/bastardnoodle/741903153830723584/im-in-the-middle-of-reading-harrow-and-i-miss-her?source=share

[dash-n-step]

Once again, love being the local davepeta fan cause I get questions like this, and I also completely understand not getting it (long post incoming)

The thing about Davepetasprite (and people who love them) is complicated because, in truth? They're actually a very contentious character.

In the first place, them being the combination (and thus continuation) of two already popular characters nets them fans, however, precisely because of that, people who are fans of those two characters also end up hating them for it, because, to them, that could've just been the character they actually care about.

They're also one of the first/few trans/nonbinary characters in canon (without getting into outside the comic or headcanons), which unfortunately also gets them hate from very specific crowds but also is nice to see within the actual comic. In a way, they're very emblematic of how much the comic has grown, even if in other ways it hasn't.

Adding to that, since they appear for only a couple of pages in the last stretch of the comic, their impact as a character is very strongly how much a reader is ready to care about what they have to say, because by that point a lot of people are waiting for the comic to be done. Doesn't help that what they do say is tied to topics about gender, metaness about how they were created, going off to meet with another contentious character, before finally meeting a character people DO care about and sending her on her way.

But the thing is, they make their presence known in those few pages: what they say is actually somewhat meaningful, kind of heartwarming and sometimes funny but if you don't care for one of the many characters involved for this situation to happen, or if the humor doesn't hit, it falls apart.

Their design is also a pretty big part in why people like them. It's very reminiscent of those "deviantart eyestrain furry ocs", which kind of leans into how silly their character is meant to be. They're here to enjoy themselves and their new life, regardless of who they might annoy in being who they are, and they're very cutesy. For some people, having a character who's just happy and whimsical is enough to enjoy their presence. Me, personally, I'm also partly biased because I like cats and birds, and combinations of the two, so their design was basically peak to me

also in the epilogues, there was a scene where they "died" (never turn your back on the body), saving everybody from the final boss, and it was up in the air whether they'd ever show up again, because literally nobody mentions them after that, and it's been years since.

A lot of people *like* Davepeta, or at least don't have any strong thoughts about them to really lean negatively, so when they actually get brought up people usually speak fondly about them then move on, so them showing up and now doing actual important stuff to a growing and ongoing plot is also a big deal and why there's hype.

[ivyembracertifiedbitch]

FHJY Finale Thoughts: Episode 19

Disclaimer: I know I've been really negative about the last two episodes but I do actually have real criticisms, and I will try my best to not be just 'I hate this' about everything. No promises though. Also, none of this is hating the IH or Bleem. I respect that they're very fucking tired when shooting this and don't have a week in between episodes to think, and so these criticisms are made with that in mind. Also feel free to debate and discuss, I just wanted to share my opinions and try to pinpoint where the narrative went wrong, or where BLeeM could've made a better DM choice, but I love hearing other people's thoughts!

Bringing back K2: Bringing her back to have a second healer is really smart, but saying that Kristen liked having a sister around doesn't make sense. There was never any moment where Kristen and K2 seemed to get along, and honestly, I think K2 got along more with Fabian and Fig. Show don't tell is actually really good advice.

The short rest (and Ice Feast): Just nope. Nope. Not a fan, solidly don't like it. This is the big finale, and I felt more concern during the dragon fight than here. That's the problem with playing level 14 characters, I'm aware, but like. Not letting them take the short rest, actually having The Rat Grinders be skilled at fighting (If Brennan was lying about them grinding rats, you don't think he was lying about them only doing the killing blow on monsters? Plus, do you really think Porter would have his first worshippers and warriors only know how to do a killing blow?), having Kipperlilly steal the votes, anything man. Ice Feast played a big part in giving them the advantage, and I wasn't cool with that too. Taking away fire damage, making them unable to be stunned, all of that took away like the biggest threats of the fight. (I do think it's really cute that Brennan actually made Ice Feast for his friends, but allowing them to use it before the final battle, on top of the short rest was too much)

Strategy: Rewatching, it's actually fun to see them strategize because they're so good at it! It just sucks that they feel nothing but hate for these kids and we know that doesn't change after everything they've seen. And the narrative's going to reward them for it.

Squeem: Honestly? Also, not my favorite. Like, to have a short rest, and Ice Feast, and several allies on their way? What's the point of even fighting? Just skip to the victory dance. (Was so funny to have the return of hot chocolate with a shot of cortado, and lemonade cortado)

Battle Set: Once again, the art department has fucking slayed. Truly, such a work of art. 10/10, no notes.

Mary Ann: Not getting into it a lot with this episode, but see here for my general thoughts. Also, not happy with the cast's reactions to Mary Ann freaking out over getting her strawberry burned, as that's most likely her having a meltdown.

Ivy: I do appreciate Brennan trying to get the Bad Kids to be nice through the Hangman. Also, if Ivy truly does like looking good, great for her, but the only things we know about her at this time are that she's besties with Oisin, she was into Fabian, she's kinda bitchy, and some of her class stats. So the idea that just because she's a "mean girl" she'd take offense to getting called ugly feels misogynistic, especially coming from a complete stranger/someone literally not in her universe of existence. As for what Fabian said and did to Ivy, in my opinion, part of it is because he rejected Mazey at the party to impress her and feels bad, part of it is because she rejected him, and part of it is because he feels bad that he 'yes and-ed' the racist remark she made about Mazey. Also, the close proximity to the rage stars. I think he was wrong for what he said, and I'm not going to get into the virginity comment now because I still have a whole 'nother episode to get through, but I do want to say this is when Fabian/Mazey stopped being cute to me. Also, Brennan using Ivy's last moments to have her make a mean comment really feels like he's trying to cast her as the mean girl, which again, it's fine if she is. You can't convince me she's not just a kid scared for her life.

Oisin: Smart to get him somewhere he can't counterspell Adaine, and to take him out of the fight first, but why didn't we have anything directed at him? Like, I know that he never really got close enough to Adaine for episode 18 to be a full betrayal, but everything with Ivy and Ruben was so intense, I'd expect something. On behalf of Ivy and Ruben, I'm offended he was mostly left alone. As a general Rat Grinders enjoyer, this does count as a (small) w.

Buddy: So sad that Ally's insight roll on him failed, and I will not tolerate anyone calling him stupid or naive about the plan: see here. I get annoyed that Buddy was played up as a joke villain, but whatever! He's just a dumb southern hick, right?

Ruben: Saying there's no loyalty from Ruben is soo arrogant. They never emotionally connected so who would he be loyal to? The friends he's had for three years, or some random girl who had one real conversation with him? Tumblr user @rubenhopclap says it best. Fig's speech to Ruben is just *argh*. Girlie you don't know anything about him! (I do understand Emily's annoyance, because she did spend like at least one roll per downtime session on Ruben! But also... it was Wanda Childa talking to him, not Fig. He didn't have a real person to connect with, so why would he bother?) Like, out of all The Rat Grinders, we have explicit information that he is scared despite all of the rage and yet she just yells in his face? Thought the theme of the season was doubt beats anger, not war conquers rage. I'm also uncomfortable with Fig, who earlier in the season explicitly states that she think she's a monster for ruining one person's stay in hell as opposed to punishing all of them, deciding that just because Ruben was annoying and a waste of time he should be going to hell to be punished.

Kipperlilly: No notes. Literally, girlie was getting w's the entire episode.

Jace and Porter: No notes. Honestly? Their fucked up dynamic carried me through the finale.

The Lava: Just another solid no. With the amount of advantages we already have, it makes no sense to let their 'being immune to fire' translate to 'being immune to magma.' Bringing in some science, magma is literally a fourth state of matter, different from water. That's not going to feel like taking a swim, it's going to feel like getting crushed by cold lava. (Yes, I understand different DM's would allow that and different DM's wouldn't allow that, but with the advantages they already have, I feel like making them roll even for just half damage would be fine. Plus, fucking common sense says 'don't jump in lava, even if you have fire immunity.')

Making fun of Porter: I adore a group of teenagers just absolutely clowning on a 40 year old teacher, but I do wish they had engaged with the themes. We know it's really fucking likely The Rat Grinders have rage stars, and yet they just completely skip the part that Porter can control anyone with a rage star. And it's not like the Academy hasn't failed them before. It's not like Aguefort himself hasn't failed them before. They should be angry about that! Just, the refusal to engage with the themes in a story is irritating.

See Episode 20 thoughts here

[demonsfate]

Pretty much this. In the end, all the condemnation for Jin's actions, the pointing fingers and accusing him of "being bad," is just general hatred for Jin. Even if TK6 never happened, I'm sure people would have other reasons to hate him. (Other common hate not including TK6 actions is that he's boring, a homophobic slur, whiny, or a Kazuya clone).

I think the reason for this really boils down to Jin being a hard character to like. I don't think he's unlikeable at all, the dude's my favorite character... but I think it's hard for the general audience to really get into him. Lee & Kazuya are easier to like due to their "charming" personalities. Lee is oftentimes funny and very flamboyant. Kazuya is may be an awful awful person, but he's confident, expressive, and badass. Meanwhile Jin doesn't have any of those traits. Jin is much more reserved, and he limited in his expressions. Jin is also a much more "negative" man - which ppl usually dislike. Jin hates himself, Jin hates his powers, his family, his life, Jin is suicidal even. Even though all of Jin's reasons are justified, people view this as "whiny", that's why they gravitate to Kazuya - as Kazuya may have had a bad life, but he accepts himself & his devil powers rather than rejecting them as Jin does.

Most people prefer exaggerate characters - characters that are zany or "fun." Jin's stoicism tends to bore many people. Not only bore people, but confuse them, too. Although I do blame TK6 for being the primary reason why "Jin doesn't care about anyone!!" or "Jin doesn't like people!!" is such a popular take, but another reason is simply because it's hard to see Jin care about people. Jin absolutely does, he's just not... as expressive with his feelings, therefore this isn't a fact he's shouting from the rooftops. To understand Jin's character, you really have to watch him, rather than be spoonfed the information. You can see that Jin cares a lot, but through his actions - not his expressions or sometimes, even statements. You have to watch certain character endings to get the full gist of Jin. It's a lot harder than watching Lee throw a rose in the air whilst laughing and shouting "EXCELLENT!" Which is more entertaining and quicker to consume.

Like another example is how when Bloodline dropped, there were actually quite a few people saying that the anime finally gave Jin "personality", and others saying the anime was what made them like Jin. The funny thing is, the things they listed about how the anime made them like Jin (beyond being more emotional) was list of things they didn't know about it that the anime showed. Which uhhh... they would've known had they tried to get into Jin's character by either watching all his scenes throughout the games, or researching his character. But again, Jin is a harder character to get into - therefore, people are less likely to be interested in trying to.

Because Jin is difficult to appeal to people, people are likely to be more biased toward the ones they DO like. Lee is entertaining to them, so they're "shocked" that he was a villain despite all the signs being literally there. Or how SO MANY people were saying that Kazuya was more deserving of a redemption arc, that Kazuya should be the main character & Jin be the villain, even though Kazuya is literally doing the same shit Jin was except for even worse reasons. But people are willing to excuse these actions from these characters because they like them so much. Just how they're willing to condemn Jin for the same flaws just because they don't like him, and it gives them more reason to hate the character.

Anyways, I personally think Jin is a very amazing character when written correctly. I think if people were to look at him closer & learn about him, as well as not just disregarding everything due to TK6 and the stupid inconsistencies, then maybe people would enjoy him more. Hell, I've had people here tell me that they started liking Jin more because of my blog. I just get tired of all the double standards, too.