#and tbh that probably would've been easier

[maxladcomics]

But how can I make this about Papyrus

[tradingjack]

"Once there was a Wolf, a very hungry Wolf..."

who knew having a near death experience (and the holidays in general ig) would be so exhausting lmao. anyway i'm past that and i'm back with my piece for my pinch hitter writer @noctifer-night for the @vashwoodbigbang! :D

he wrote this fun fluffy story, Patient is the Night, for the event so i can have a drawing that actually accompanies a story this time. i can say i'm really excited to read this story again, it was so so enjoyable the first time :D

of course i only had a month instead of several months this time around so this is a bit more rushed than i'd like, but it should be serviceable 😅 thanks again to mod sana for her hard work during this event and @priellan for beta-ing his story!!

[markedbycelestials]

bitching and moaning abt weed related things in the tags

[gilfrespecter]

Listening to coinstar by the growlers and thinking about mel so hard I get nauseous

Ridiculous stream of conscious in the tags apologies but not really

[sysig]

He dunked up (Patreon)

[jebiknights]

People seem to think that a lot of Anakin's (and Obi-Wan's) problems would be solved by Anakin having a different Jedi Master, but tbh I think most of these problems could've been solved by putting Anakin in the creche for a year or two before having Obi-Wan take him on as a Padawan. It's extremely common for Jedi to "claim" Padawans and vice versa while they are still initiates, so they can both know they will be partnered together when it is time.

This gives Obi-Wan time to be a Knight on his own and it gives him time to grieve. Might be good for him to spend some time not being part of a duo. Maybe even go to therapy that I'm not sure he had time for otherwise. This gives Obi-Wan time to prepare too. We can all acknowledge Obi-Wan enjoys teaching though he doesn't feel like he was a good enough one for Anakin. So this gives him time to prepare for being a teacher, seek out advice before he is saddled with a child 24/7 as opposed to during Anakin's occasional study hall or Benduday free time.

It also gives Anakin time to not only catch up to his age mates in school and Jedi stuff but to spend time among his peers and potentially make actual friends. It's something he seemed to struggle with in canon and not being promoted immediately to Padawan but spending time as an initiate likely would've done wonders for him socially. I think having that time for them to grow and then to have Obi-Wan still decide to choose Anakin after that time would do wonders for his insecurities.

Aside from the benefits of being more immersed in the communal aspects of the culture, I think waiting for him to become a Padawan may also make it easier to hold off Palpatine, depending on which canon you consider for when he starts to groom him. Easier to justify keeping him away when Anakin is just an initiate, not a full on apprentice yet.

Idk if you asked me what my ideal fix it would be for Anakin, this would probably be my starting point.

[outmakingmoonshine]

I was just writing a post about the Carmy/Faks scene & how it's really just Carmy talking to himself. For this scene the two Faks represent his inner voices/subconscious (which might only apply to this scene idk), but then I decided to see what all these scenes looked like together and wow am I glad I did!! Seeing these 4 scenes side by side is very interesting.

The first two scenes in 3x05 & 3x07 mirror each other, the last two scenes in 3x09 mirror each other and all 4 of them tell their own story together. The first scene is Carmy's talking to himself but shouting & aiming it at anyone who's listening. The 2nd is Syd talking to herself but mostly mumbling so only she can hear. In the Faks scene Carmy's having an "imaginary" conversation out loud with two people, just like Syd's doing in the last scene rehearsing what she might say to both Adam Shapiro and Carmy.

And if you rearrange these scenes & put the first 2 after the Faks scene, if we saw/heard those sarcastic "that makes sense" comments after we saw the "Claire is peace" scene in that exact same location, it would've been a lot easier to figure out what they're really referring to!

There are lots of layers to unpack here but I'm gonna talk about the main things that jump out at me. This is probably gonna be a bit chaotic with different ideas and breakdowns of what things could mean so I hope it's not too confusing. Anyone else feel free to jump in with your thoughts.

Below the cut

Notice how in all these scenes, except one, Carmy and Syd are alone talking out loud to themselves, vocalizing their inner thoughts. Mute the video and just read the subtitles if you need to. The scene with the Faks reads like a conversation with imaginary friends or like the two funny inner voices of a character in a comedy movie. All these scenes are like they're from a comedy movie tbh.

In the first two scenes Carmy & Syd act the same way they both deal with their problems (Carmy shouting about it to anyone who'll listen and Syd pissed but mostly keeping it quiet/to herself). They're the only ones actually inside the dumpster in all the scenes which makes me think it represents their minds and the boxes are the mental chaos & thoughts they're trying to sort through. The Faks are technically outside Carmy's mind/the dumpster so they don't speak from the mind or for the mind but they're close to it, communicating with it & "helping" sort through the chaos. Maybe the dumpster represents the conscious mind and the Faks are Carmy's subconscious. It sounds like The Faks are encouraging Carmy to fall back into his base programming, which people often tend to do when they're lost and don't know what to do. They're trying to convince him to call Claire bc Carmy's base programming from his family is "Claire is good". That's what safe to him bc it's a "truth" he's always known & believed. Idk there's many possibilities. It's also Interesting how later this episode The Faks go to Claire and speak directly for Carmy like they know for sure what he's thinking & feeling.

Lets get into the dialogue of the first two scenes:

"[Carmy] That makes sense. [box clatters] Boxes full of bullshit. Put it on the f*cking list. Oh, it's good. I'll do it. I got it. I got it."

Just a side note: The next line in the script is "I don't know wha-what I'm supposed to do with all this stuff" from Marcus in the next scene where he's clearing out all his mum's stuff with Syd.

"[Syd] 'Cause why would you do it? I mean, you're supposed to do it. This is-- This is fine. This is good. This makes sense. This is f*cking… F*ck. F*ck. [pants] [muttering] F*ck. [growls] fcking-- Where are the fcking Faks? F*ck!"

I don't even know where to start, there's so many ways to read this!

Carmy said one specific thing in the Faks scene that very clearly "didn't make sense"...Claire is peace. He knows that's not true but I think the point is he's been avoiding thinking about who his peace actually is all S3*. Carmy & Syd are both sarcastically saying "that makes sense" like it's subtly referring to that scene later in the same place. Was the panic attack scene by the same dumpsters? Idk someone let me know please.

*Carmy said in 3x07 he tries to avoid thinking about legacy. The only legacy we know of is the one he's trying to build with Syd both professionally and personally. His realization that Syd's brings him peace in the panic attack in 2x09 is the reality of his legacy that he's been trying to avoid all S3. He's working to get her his star and creating dishes inspired by her so Syd's cearly on his mind but the one thing he should be thinking about and talking to her about, he's avoiding.

There are many different layers of possible meaning and/or foreshadowing in this dialogue, but one layer it can be read is how they're both thinking/feeling about the Claire situation bc even tho Syd didn't mention it all season it's still there between them. Maybe none of this is about Claire, but if it was:

Carmy: "[sarcastically] that makes sense"...claire is "peace". "Boxes full of bullsh*t"...he's full of bullshit that Claire's his peace?!! Or maybe Claire is in the boxes of bullshit aka his baggage and past trauma he needs to sort through? "Put it on the "f*cking list"...put Claire on the list of his stress & baggage? And a very sarcastic "Oh it's good. I'll do it. I got it. I got it." He'll do what he's "supposed to do" with Claire & call her/apologize/maybe even be with her even tho it clearly sounds like he doesn't want to..?? He's "got it"...even though he clearly doesn't. "It's good" but she's clearly not The Good Thing™.

Syd: "Cause why wouldn't you do it? I mean you're supposed to do it"...why won't carmy just sort himself out? why wont he just call claire/be with claire since Syd thinks that's what he wants & she acts in front of him like "it's not her place to be [beside him on a personal level]" almost direct quote from her in 3x09. She's probabaly confused why Carm just wont be with Claire. From Syd's perspective he changed his mind about her and chose Claire in S2, so the next logical step is he'd be with Claire. "This is fine. This is good. This makes sense."...carmy saying claire is peace & also probably how she'll react out loud if carmy/claire get back together. "This is f*cking… F*ck. F*ck. [pants] [muttering] F*ck. [growls] fcking--"...this is how she really feels about the whole Claire situation & Carmy just ditching her & "changing shit" (that came up a lot this season), which ultimately led to him not treating her like a partner in their professional relationship. "Where are the fcking Faks? F*ck!"...a direct lead in to Carmy's scene in the exact same place 2 episodes later.

Sydney's dialogue in 3x07 scene also reads like a run-on of Carmy's dialogue in 3x05, continuing his thoughts trying to convince himself of what he should do with Claire but he's panicking so he calls for the Fak's, his imaginary friends/inner voices, who are there with him the next time we see him in that spot. From the dialogue it makes sense but idk if we've ever seen the show do that with Syd before so idk. Sydney is clearly definied as her own character but she is definied as a mirror of Carmy too so it's a possibility.

Of course this is all interpretation, some or none of this could be directly about Claire but idk. The location (esp if it's in the same place he had the 2x09 panic attack), all the "coincidental" dialogue, the way all these scenes tie together...and with the panic attack scene and the opposing realizations Carmy comes to about Syd & Claire in 2x09 & 3x09. It wasn't a "realization" about Claire in 3x09, he didn't even look like he believed what he was saying tbh. It looked like he just made it up on the spot.

It's also interesting that these scenes by the dumpsters are the quivalent of S1 & 2's walk in scenes where both Syd & Carmy go for a moment of peace to clear their thoughts and "cool off". We don't see those this season but we do get these which is more like them sorting out all the chaotic thoughts & feelings inside them, separating the "trash" from the good stuff, "the bad from the good" like Carmy said he wanted/needed to do to achieve his legacy in 3x07.

In the Faks scene listen to all the "we" and "us" talk;

"If we did it when it was scheduled. We do though. We do it, Carm. All we do is break down boxes. We break 'em down and we have to do it again. Who would wanna haunt us? Who's pissed at us? Sammy's pissed at us."

Until Claire is mentioned (a sobering thought for Carmy) and it's suddenly "Not us. Just you. Not us." Reality hit for a moment and the imaginary friends want to separate themselves from him because they're not "real" & they didn't upset Claire so she can't be mad at them. I think Carmy is the only "real" one in this scene. The Faks are the imaginary friends/inner voices that seem like they're helping the main character but they're really just causing more chaos and leading him down the wrong path because they're misunderstanding what he wants based on what he's forcing himself to think about; Claire. (I lowkey think Carmy's forcing memories of Claire to stop himself from thinking about Sydney.)

The transition of Carmy talking to himself with The Fak's representing two parts of his mind aka "two minds" going straight into Syd talking to herself & voicing out loud what she'd say to both Shapiro and Carmy like she's having a mental conversation with two different people and that she's in "two minds". "I wanted to start off by saying I'm grateful" sounds formal and directed at Adam Shapiro. "Ok so I wanted to talk to you..." sounds more personal and directed at Carmy. It's a similar concept of being in two minds used in a slightly different context but in this show and the writing specifically, context is all over the place anyway.

Also the transition into the Syd scene is to drive home the point that Carmy was just having a conversation with himself, trying to convince himself that Claire is peace, she's "good" etc. For this scene (and possibly this scene only) Theodore is the stubborn part of Carmy that doesn't like to be pushed around who thinks stuff like "Yeah but I'd see his ass" about Sammy Fak. And you know there's a part of Carmy that would have that attitude but the conscious part of him is smarter than that. Neil is the more sweet, anxious side of Carmy that is kind of "away with the fairies" a little bit, in his own head a lot. Carmy is the regular, conscious, "real" Carmy trying to figure out the mental mess he's in.

I think transitioning into that Syd scene was also to callback to the only other times Syd or Carmy spoke aloud to themselves. I might be forgetting something but I think all these scenes are the only times we see either of them have full conversations with themselves out loud in S3..? Someone let me know if that's wrong please.

Side note- From one perscpective: Carmy's reaction to Theodore calling Claire "a piece of ass" was so...unaffected??! Could you imagine if someone said that about Syd?? He bit Richie's head off for calling her "sweetheart" in 1x01 and physically put himself between them so I can't imagine he'd take it that lightly if it was about Syd...From another perpective, if this scene is all about Carmy's inner thoughts, is he asking himself if that's how he sees Claire? I don't think he does intentionally but it's a valid question considering the show seems to use physical intimacy as a substitute for any real connection between them. If Claire & Carmy never kissed or had sex, would anyone see that relationship as a romance?? I really don't think so tbh, the physical initmacy is the only thing about their scenes that confirms it's supposed to be seen as a romance. Meanwhile SydCarmy are drowning in real connection before any physical intimacy.

Anyone please feel free to jump in and add your thoughts, I'd love to know your perspectives on seeing all these scenes together @thoughtfulchaos773 @sydcarmyfan @yannaryartside @currymanganese @vacationship @afrofairysblog @greekyogurttragedy @tvfantic87 @moodyeucalyptus @gingergofastboatsmojito @ambeauty @whenmemorydies @brokenwinebox and anyone else who wants to jump in is welcome to.

[cornertheculprit]

Rayfa: ...How are YOU, Horn Head? Dhurke Sahdmadhi was your father in all but blood, after all.

Apollo: .........Thank you for your concern, Your Benevolence. But I'm fine. Right now, we still have a trial to see through... ... so that's what I'm going to stay focused on.

Rayfa: Horn Head... You are sturdier than your stature lets on.

i think these lines are fun tbh. it hasn't been made public knowledge yet that dhurke is also rayfa's father and she's asking how apollo is doing after the revelation....it's sweet of her. and probably easier for her to focus on, honestly. she's got the same thing going on with dhurke as apollo & jove where she didn't KNOW dhurke at all and so even though she would've liked to talk to him like she says after this sequence...he isn't the one who raised her. but he did raise apollo and he was so upset earlier so she checks up on him. rayfa's a good kid

[flowerslut]

what are your headcanons in regards to when alice and jasper first met the cullens? what was the cullen’s reactions? were they intimidated by jasper, confused by alice? how long did it take for jasper to get comfortable?

I mean, alice timing her and jasper's arrival so that emmett and edward weren't around has always been suuuper telling. because like, yeah. I fucking BET that if alice and jasper showed up out of nowhere with everyone home, between emmett's 'act now think later' tendencies and edward being able to see into jasper's head (which I'm sure was full of tense, uncomfortable "if it comes down to it I can just kill them and we can dip" thoughts), in combination with the entire family just taking one LOOK at jasper, it would not have gone smoothly in any way 💀

I mean, in breaking dawn even BELLA perceives jasper as a scary/dangerous threat on an instinctual level that she hardly understands!! and he's her best friend's husband! who she's known for over a year!!! no matter how much he's chilling out the atmosphere there's no way esme, rosalie, and carlisle aren't at least a liiiittle nervous about him. alice could have shown up nude and covered head-to-toe in human blood and i'm confident they would have still been more uneasy about jasper. (don't mind me linking more of g's posts. she's the only person I know who would have all this evidence documented lmfaooo ♡)

but thankfully, because of alice's and jasper's gifts, those two should be able to nail introductions 10 out of 10 times with a 100% success rate! if alice can pick the best possible route to take and jasper can keep the atmosphere light and relaxing, then they could probably charm their way through any 1950s entryway! I highly doubt jasper did the same midnight sun baseball scene camouflage, but I'm sure he did plenty of tension-smoothing.

I personally enjoy that they planned to show up when it was only carlisle, esme, and rosalie home. in midnight sun, alice fucking glomps edward (no, I won't apologize for using this word because I swear to god it's literally what she does) which he only responds positively towards because of their weird, instant psychic connection that lets her bombard him with LOOK-I-SWEAR-WE'RE-GONNA-BE-BEST-FRIENDS-I-LOVE-YOU-ALREADY visions. tbh, I think it's edward's absence specifically that alice probably needed. sure, emmett would've automatically perceived jasper as a threat alongside the rest of the family, but I bet that alice knew that if she could just get jasper through the door, and get carlisle to hear them out, then dealing with edward (and his ability to see what goes on in that nightmare's jasper's brain) would be muuuuch easier.

to answer your more specific questions: rosalie was definitely the very last person to be "okay" with their presence, but I'm sure she was fine with alice first, and that it took emmett to get her to be okay with jasper, too. it probably took jasper ages to adjust to living peacefully alongside 5 strangers—I'm sure these difficulties were probably exacerbated by alice being comfortable and happy right off the bat. and i'm sure the reason that jasper finally calmed down and relaxed into his new life with the cullens had to do with a combination of his trust in alice, his respect for carlisle, and the improvements that vegetarianism had on his mental health (we, as a fandom, forget too quickly that this war criminal has a canonical eating disorder and that's so INTERESTING AND FUNNN)

[the-badger-mole]

A Kya lived (but with some serious burns) AU.

Katara's relationship with the other characters?

In what way would this also affect Sokka?

Aang accidentally burning Katara?

Yon-Rha being alive or not,and Zuko and Katara hunting him down.

Depending on what ripple effect Kya being alive has on the series, what other changes do you think would impact things going forward?

Do you think kat*anng would still happen or zutara?

To answer your last question first, Kataang shouldn't have happened in general, so, no they absolutely don't happen here.

This would've been an extremely traumatic event for Kya, and I think she would become very protective of Katara. Sokka would have a complicated relationship with it because on the one hand, he'd get it, and he'd be very protective of Katara too (even more than he was in the show). On the other hand, I think it would very much read as favoritism to him, and he'd probably pull some very dangerous and stupid stunts in order to get his mother to fear for his life like she does for Katara's. I think instead of being sent off with well wishes, Katara would have to sneak away, and Sokka would come with her to protect her.

I think Zuko seeing the burns that Kya suffered would give him pause. He would still try to go in with all his bluster and bravado, but it would be a sight that would startle him. I think it would change the dynamic when he confronted Katara (does Katara get Kya's necklace here? I don't know. I could see it go either way). He might appeal to her desire to end the war instead, promising that once he got home and took back his rightful place, he'd make ending the war his priority so no one would have to suffer like Kya. His arc would then be centered on trying to reconcile what he knows of his father with his own hopes for how the war would end. I don't know if they still go after Yon Rah. I don't think it would have the same impact, to be honest. I think Katara's mother would be what bridges the gap between them still, but I think instead of focusing on their mutual loss, Katara would find out explicitly how Zuko got his scar and why. They would still connect over maternal sacrifices, but also the scars.

Katara, I think, would be the biggest change. I think she'd be a less maternal figure and less inclined to play caregiver to the people around her (which is part of the reason I don't think Kataang would happen). Her anger would be a lot more apparent because not only did her mother sacrifice herself for Katara, she treated her like she was too vulnerable to be let out into the world on her own (this version of Katara would probably have an easier time connecting with Toph, tbh). I think any attempts of people trying to protect her or tell her she can't do something would be met with much more force. Her fight with Pakku would've been much more feral and unhinged because I think she'd actually be out for blood. Like for real, for real. And her stint as the Painted Lady would probably end with a few dead soldiers. I see Zutara not only happening in this version of the story, but happening way sooner because Katara's anger would be easier for Zuko to see and understand, and then connect with. I think her pain and anger would hurt him for her sake, too. Getting to know her would make him finally understand everything Iroh was trying to do for him, and he would in turn try to be that for Katara. In the end, they'd both wind up helping each other find peace.

Also, as for what happened when Aang burned Katara? He'd have gotten a double barrel of anger from the siblings. Sokka would possibly lay hands on him, and Katara would resent him for not taking any of his learning opportunities seriously. I think Katara in this version would be much more militant (a reason why I don't think Aang would have a crush on her in this scenario to begin with). This episode would see him getting thee crap scared out of him, and possibly set him down the path of understanding just how badly the war needs to be ended.

[sundew199]

I’m bored, so I decided which dragons from HOTD the AOT characters would have. Mostly based off of the dragon's riders and personalities and the character's personalities too :D and also just personal preference. Photos included because I need everyone to see the vision with this lmao

Vhagar: Zeke. Vhagar was ridden by one of the conquers and was at one point the biggest and most experienced battle dragon. Visenya and Zeke align with how cunning and strategic they were, as well as battle experience, plus the beast titan was huge too so, lmao. And everyone started out kinda liking Vhagar and then immediately disliking her when she did smth unforgivable.⇩

Meraxes: Pieck. I literally just like the idea of Pieck having Meraxes tbh. But Rhaenys, her first and only rider shares similarities in personality with Pieck so it makes sense in my mind. ⇩

Quicksilver: Bertholdt. I hate to do this but all of Quicksilver's riders died young and never lived long, so 😭. But she was a gentle and sweet dragon and Bertholdt is a gentle giant. ⇩

Dreamfyre: Annie. Probably a match made in heaven, Dreamfyre's first rider was Rhaena, the black bride and the queen in the east and west, Annie would 100% bond with Dreamfyre. Experienced dragon but didn't fight as often as you would think but still formidable. tbh it was a toss up between her and Mikasa for Dreamfyre.⇩

Caraxes the blood wyrm: Eren. Caraxes was quick and fearsome, very experienced, his longer body making him a formidable opponent in the sky. I honestly just like the idea of Eren riding the blood wyrm, it just fits to me. And caraxes can be a brat when he wants to be *cough cough* ⇩

Meleys the red queen: Mikasa. Meleys was at one point the swiftest and fiercest battle dragon, faster than Caraxes and earning her moniker. She was battle hardened like Caraxes and Vhagar, making her a formidable dragon and capable of taking on beasts bigger than herself. only ever had women riders.⇩

Silverwing: Jean. Silverwing was another sweet and gentle dragon but was fierce. Not as fast as Meleys and Caraxes but she was still extremely skilled, the idea of her and Jean make me happy. She was also extremely friendly to people, more than Vermithor and heavily let their riders personalities influence her own. An actual angel and hasn't done a single thing wrong. ⇩

Vermithor the bronze fury: Reiner. Largest dragon after Vhagar, fearsome beast but friendly to others that aren’t dragon keepers or their rider, forms insanely strong bonds with other dragons and people. Like Silverwing, Vermithor also tended to match their riders personalities.⇩

Sunfyre the golden: Armin. prettiest and smartest dragon, small but uses their brains to gain the advantage. That's it LMAO⇩

Tessarion the blue queen: Sasha. Tessarion is similar to Seasmoke, more lithe giving her easier opportunities to undermine bigger dragons, giving her the element of surprise. Her and Seasmoke would've been besties imo.⇩

Seasmoke: Connie. Seasmoke is actually so unserious and slightly unhinged but still a great and skilled fighter, like Connie. Seasmoke was also particular with who he bonded with, seeking out riders who could keep up with him while also enjoying taking flight as well and Connie would fit those standards. ⇩

Syrax: Historia. Syrax is regarded as the princess of all the dragons, essentially spoiled by her only rider Rhaenyra, but insanely protective and will fight with everything she’s got when she has too.⇩

Arrax: Falco. Lucerys reminds me so much of Falco, literally the sweetest, kindest and most innocent 🥹, so yeah Falco would have Arrax, they'd be two peas in a pod. ⇩

Moondancer: Gabi. Kinda similar to the explanation above but there are some similarities between Baela and Gabi. Moondancer was small when she was alive, making her easy to maneuver while riding, and was known for fighting other dragons 2 times her size and beating them. Gabi would thrive and have a strong bond with Moondancer. ⇩

[riacte]

Yeah at first I thought this session was good because the gimmick didn’t 100% interfere with the players. They could fight and chat and maybe a little something something from this Sam Reich Robot but seeing how the questions were made by fans for fans, it definitely feels very pandering like “oOooOooooO what two flowers did Scar give to Grian in third life?” and “wow wow wow who was married in third life? Was it this popular ship? This popular ship? Or this popular ship!” and “who was Grian’s secret soulmate” like you know the tumblr peeps would freak out other it but overall it’s like? Okay and? You (the players) keep referring back to old seasons in wild life while not focusing on the current season at hand or make an effort to try something new? Maybe this is why I like Lizzie’s pov because she isn’t stuck in the past (cough cough treebark pandering cough cough scarian divorce cough cough whatever the hell is going on at the 4 B base)

This session I think did have more downtime than snail and speed and they got some things done, but yeah you're so right. The Treebark pandering thing is so weird for me personally because usually I love being pandered to— it's like a self-aware thing between Martyn and the fandom, we play along, we have a good time— but somehow this wasn't my vibe. There's always been a thin line, but now it's intentional and painfully obvious. I know fans made the questions and this isn't hate, I would've probably done the same given the opportunity 😭 but it being accepted by Grian and shown in the ep felt a little too self aware? It's like when you're lucid dreaming and you dream up your crush and they magically like you back and it feels insanely good because it's all you wanted yet it's off because you're controlling your dream projection.

I pretty much only watch this season for the Treebark honeymoon, so as the Target Audience, it's hypocritical that I'm like "ok now I don't like Treebark pandering" like okay girl what have you been doing since 2021?? Enjoying the pandering yeah?? What's wrong with me?? Throwing a temper tantrum like a toddler because I got the bait I wanted??? Hmm?

"You (the players) keep referring back to old seasons in wild life while not focusing on the current season at hand or make an effort to try something new" this is so real. It's like they're trying something new for fresh interest and rehashing the old things people liked to retain the past audience. Arguably Treebark has an excuse because they haven't interacted in sooooo long and they don't do much outside of Life (now they do Rats and hopefully MCC).

Anyways yeah pandering. It's always been pandering but the curtain has drawn back just a little too much and I think it made me too self aware of the shit I do so I flinched. I joke about Ren and Martyn being married all the time but seeing it on my screen was like "girl why did the devil's sacrament come to YOU".

"Okay and?" Tbh that sums it up. What now? What happens next week? Did we ever get a proper exposition on the spawner cages and eggs? What now?

This season is easier to understand if I imagine it as a (borrowing MCC terms) "non canon" series of standalone gimmicks in which the Life series cast goof off once a week. Like Guess the Build. But saying that is taboo because this is officially Life Series 6, so everything that happens here is canon and the winner will be canon.

[allwormdiet]

Extermination 8.8

Oh thank god this absolutely ass day can reach a conclusion

This is one of the more grimly realistic parts of the worldbuilding in this story tbh. People gonna people, every disaster that comes along someone sees the whole things the chance to springboard into something bigger

Five bucks says these memorials are mass produced or something, they have a guy who cranks out however many of them are projected to be needed a year in advance and they put the names in once the tally's made

Even with Leviathan driven off, it still left the city utterly fucked. Whole place is cooked, status quo obliterated.

I don't know if we caught the notification that Gallant bit it in the story, might have been in the same crush that took out Tattletale or might have been after Skitter's armband got fried

Shame, though. Seemed nice, for a rich boy training to be a supercop.

Taylor, honey, that guy took massive damage to a limb that probably included fucking up a major artery or vein, never mind shock or infection. Not everybody is as ludicrously resistant to damage as you are

Yeah, that's eight dogs dead. Two of Rachel's best, too. Almost half of her family slaughtered to bring down Leviathan even temporarily. Also, seeing that Rachel knows her letters but not spelling is. Sad.

Feel like that comes up a lot when talking to Taylor. "Hey are you cool?" "I'm meeting the absolute basics of survival" "That's not what I asked"

And here we are: Lisa's reveal

Brief pause to be thankful that the damage to the loft didn't kill anyone, and that the Hebert house is still intact. I hope Taylor at least left a note telling Danny she's alive though, like fuck

I like how Coil explained his power as the manipulation of destinies when it's literally just getting a one-time reset when choosing between A or B. Dramatic ass.

Is this a nod to the retconned Empire fight? I'd heard about that somewhere, that the first version of the chapter or chapters got scrubbed in favor of revisions.

So Taylor straight up got them all taken down in the B version of the Lung fight. Goddamn.

...Also, this means that Tattletale straight up saved Skitter from the ABB. "Bug girl" would've been found out as the one who took down Lung no matter what, but if she hadn't joined the Undersiders then Bakuda would've had people hunting for a solo target, and she'd be fucking dead. They barely survived Bakuda's attack with their total strength, God only knows how bad it'd be otherwise.

It's interesting that Lisa considers all the struggle her own fault, and that Taylor is immediately like "nah I'd do it again, mostly"

Oh I hadn't even thought about that part, the Undersiders know where she lives and they could've been fully willing to jump her for the offense. Fucking thanks, Colin

And we're back again

I wonder if Lisa thinks she can actually get Taylor to budge on the Dinah issue. I wonder if she even wants Taylor to budge on the Dinah issue. Knowing her circumstances I can only imagine that her loyalty to Coil will only last for as long as he's got a hand around her throat, the second she's clear there's no way she doesn't burn him.

And it'd probably be a lot easier to burn him if he's deprived of his pet precog.

I think circumstances aligned to make Taylor a lot more down on heroes in general and the Protectorate/Wards in particular than is necessarily accurate. We know that Shadow Stalker is considered a problem child internally, she's hardly a ringing endorsement of how they run things but she's not supposed to be.

Armsmaster... I think the thing with Armsmaster is that the system straight up facilitated his worst impulses. He's ambitious, he's hungry, he's focused, and those aren't negative qualities to have, but they're not qualities you want for the leader of a team. He clearly struggles with big-picture thinking and gets wrapped up in his own head and his own projects; that's not someone you can just give a leadership position to. The fact that being the Big Hero of a city means you're also in charge of the Hero Team in that city is a massive oversight, it means he's put in a position where nobody can check him on his bullshit and force him to come up for air. Nobody could tell Armsmaster "no" when he came up with a plan to secure his legacy, at the small small price of threatening the entire goddamn Endbringer truce in the event his plan ever sees the light of day, and that's a failure of the system as well.

But these are the examples that Taylor has been forced to work with, and it's not like her other encounters have made her feel any better. Looking at you, Panacea. The culture of heroes seems to be borderline radioactive with everything that Taylor hates and fears and suffers under; cruelty, petty politics, arrogance, self-righteousness, jockeying for attention.

Is it any wonder she's drawn towards the opposition of that culture? Aligning herself with the opposing force and against everything that makes her suffer, still fighting the bad guys but not taking shit from the good guys? How is the conclusion anything other than foregone?

Cliffhanger, though an obvious one imo, considering the fact we've got 20+ arcs left

Current Thoughts

Honestly this chapter was so welcome just for giving a reprieve from all the tension during and after the Leviathan battle. What a fucking ride. Kudos to Lisa for being the only person who has managed to even kind of figure out how to talk to Taylor, even if it involves manipulating her I maintain that this has been way way healthier than if she was allowed to rock on as an independent hero. Because she'd be fucking dead.

But of course even this reprieve has to be interrupted by fucking Coil. I hope they kick his teeth in.

[unkillable-gays]

9-1-1 "Sick Day" liveblog (final thoughts)

aaaaand that's the episode!

honestly, I feel like the writing was pretty weak, but I imagine they were really constrained by the need to make The Stakes as high as possible, and the fact that they've already been raising The Stakes for 8 seasons now.

and I'm NOT just saying that cause there was no Eddie! (apparently that's an accusation going around??) I really don't even like Eddie that much tbh; my favorite things about him are Buddie and Christopher. Like I'm not saying I'm glad he wasn't there, just that that wasn't the issue.

Like, honestly, I usually find "contagion" storylines pretty fun, and this setup HAS potential, but there were just so many inaccuracies and inconsistencies that it was kind of distracting. Like, inaccuracies alone can be chalked up to "that's just how things work in the world of the show", but there were also inconsistencies with what had already been established onscreen?

I wonder if the ep would have benefited from not squeezing the bus accident in at the beginning? But I did appreciate that Ravi got some development. His little rebel moment was very fun!

Buck was great, loved him. Love this new "spymaster" role he's taking on.

I continue to struggle to find anything to like about Athena. Like, she's a cop, and she's tough, I get it!

They did Hen dirty TWO episodes in a row; I will not forget this...😠

tbh i could probably be way more forgiving of all the inaccuracies if the ep wasn't a multi-parter...like, if it's a "monster of the week" situation, everyone ends up MOSTLY fine by the end, we get to move on with our lives, that would've been easier to disregard. But no, you want me to take your fake science seriously! :P

Moira is a cool concept for a villain, and I think with just a little tweaking to her dialogue to sound less "fairy tale evil queen" and more "jaded but ambitious (and secretly quite unhinged) woman in STEM", she could've been all the more compelling and believable.

thoughts and prayers for Chimney Han!!! 😥🙏💙

AND Hen, too, jeez, hope they gave her some morphine or something!

in the perfect version in my imagination, they would NOT have operated on Hen, the army would have gotten them out, (and Hen to the hospital) and THEN Chim would've started showing symptoms, and they would have learned about the incubation period. And then the guys could've still been quarantined! If it's that important, I'm sure they could've even managed to still have the guys trapped in the lab-- as soon as they get Hen out, have the ceiling collapse or something, they love to do that!

[necrotic-nephilim]

Sorry if this might be a rude question but why don’t you just make a seperate account for your nsfw fics?

not rude, it's a valid question! tbh it's a combination of a couple reasons.

i started posting anonymous dead dove batcest fics long before i had the balls to make a tumblr. at first i was content to just leave them unassociated with each other because i didn't really care about them being tied to me. i made this blog to actually show solidarity to my partner who wanted to make a sideblog for Sandman comic stuff so we could cheerlead each other and be brave together, since i've wanted to make a batcest sideblog but i've been nervous about actually having to get it going. (mal ik you're reading this go be brave and actually make your blog so i can cheerlead you damnit-) only did it dawn on me then that i should probably mention the fics i've written on the blog after like, three of them were posted anonymously. and it would've annoyed me to have half of them anonymous and half of them not, because notifications for them would've gone in different places. i could go back and take my fics off anon if i wanted to, but i can't switch the account they're on without taking them down entirely and that'd fuck over people who have them bookmarked already.

which, ties into my second reason, if i made an entire second ao3 account it'd be harder for me to see notifications, reply to stuff, and post things for both accounts because i'd have to constantly switch. and honestly i'd be terrified of accidentally posting on the wrong one on a brain fog day. posting fics is always the most tedious part of writing them for me lol. it's easier for me to stay logged into one account and have all of my stuff in one place for me and just use the anonymous collection when i feel like it. if ao3 pseuds worked like tumblr blogs, where you can't see all my side blogs but i can, i would've used pseuds, but since you can see all pseuds on an ao3, i felt it was a moot point.

and the last reason is i just feel more comfortable being anonymous on ao3 because of the rise in anti culture. on tumblr it's very easy for me to just filter that out and find the people i want to follow and block the people i don't. i don't mind getting hate, on tumblr or on ao3. but i think, for whatever reason you want to blame it on, there's been a massive boom of antis on ao3 who are very entitled about how they read on ao3. i tag extensively, but i just feel safer from getting targeted attacks if everything i write on ao3 isn't attached to one profile. if people like a fic i wrote, want to find more i always link my tumblr in the notes, but if an anti wants to get huffy with me, they can't easily track down my other things. they definitely could if they wanted to, but being anonymous on ao3 just makes me feel more secluded, in a weird way. it's like saying "if you want you can come find me but on here i'm just a weird faceless guy throwing stuff in the void". i've used ao3's anon feature a lot, actually, i used to be a hydra trash party dumpster kid back when that was in it's prime.

i also used to be vaguely popular on a different tumblr blog and my main ao3 and while i think it'd definitely be cool if i got a decent chunk of followers on this blog too, i don't really miss having fanfiction do so well i got targetted hate on all of my fics from the same people, i had my fics stolen, etc. it was really exhausting for me. i have 120+ works on ao3, not counting what's anonymous, and that level of exposure tires me, even when i use my main ao3 to post things that aren't trashy. it's just a weird feeling knowing so many people are subscribed to you on ao3 and what if you post something they won't like because you jumped fandoms again, or you're posting something niche, or you don't think it fills enough fandom tropes to be well-liked. i used to obsessively think like that, and it made me not write the things i wanted to because i cared about numbers. and i don't want to slide back into that hole. writing on anonymous is mostly to remind myself i wrote this for me, and if other people like it, they can come find me, but i don't have to perform like that anymore. if i get a really weird fucked up idea, i can write the really weird fucked up idea. at the end of the day, just makes me more comfortable! but i get it's a super confusing set up from an outsider perspective so, i really don't mind the question, thank you for asking!!

[maddrumsticks2]

Just finished Skyward Sword! And I finished A Link Between Worlds a few days ago.

So, double post time! I'll start with ALBW because I had a few days to sit on that one.

Also just realized that with the completion of Skyward Sword, I have officially played and completed every 3D Zelda game! YIPPEEE!

(Long post below the cut!! Along with major spoilers for both aforementioned games!)

Ravio is SO SILLY. Though, he's already talked about a lot. Anything I could say about him has probably already been said.

But hey, I can't help but really like this silly guy who stole my house and all my rupees, okay? He's a little rascal.

So instead, I love Hilda having a clear motivation behind her actions. She is just trying to restore her kingdom. She wants her people to thrive. But she turned to the triforce instead of trying to find better meds to maybe help her people. Though the place was literally breaking apart, so maybe there really wasn't anything else that would've worked.

The story of this game is really heavy in the last 30 minutes, and that's really it. Before that it's just dungeons. Oh, and helping Ravio retire. I absolutely LOVED that XD

So, the distribution of the story could've been done better. But really, this game is so underrated for a Zelda game. Also, the whole moving through walls thing is super fun. LOVED that mechanic. Altogether, great game.

Okay, on to Skyward Sword!

SO good. This game does NOT deserve all of the negativity the surrounded it for some reason. Sure, I used button controls (I couldn't figure out motion controls for the life of me pff) but STILL! I think the Switch version definitely made it easier on me. Though idk what the Wii version is like so I shouldn't be trying to compare them lol.

On to non-gameplay stuff, the dungeons were so cleverly designed. As someone who is not particularly smart, I never found myself super stuck in the dungeons. Instead, I had a lot of fun with them! That's always a plus with me, but I don't find too much shame in looking up a walkthrough here or there.

Story! So fun! I loved Groose's character arc especially. I totally despised him at first but he reached silly status pretty quickly. His character was handled really well, too. He didn't just flip personalities. He showed his flip through his actions, not his words. Which for Groose is a perfect choice.

Also, Ghirahim is SUCH a theatre kid. Nothing can change my mind on that. (And before anyone gets mad, I'M a theatre kid. I know what we act like.)

I find it interesting that the whole game only takes place in three regions that you visit over and over again. Other Zelda games have done this before, but I think Skyward Sword does it the most. I loved all the regions, but tbh I think the forest was the most boring to me. The Ancient Cistern was cool though. I won't deny that. Also, Eldin was probably the most traumatizing for Sky. SO many bad things happened there lol. Like being burned because of how hot it is, then finding chains Zelda has definitely been bound in, being told he was too late. Then he comes back later and not much traumatizing stuff that time. Maybe getting chased by lava, probably not lasting trauma, just scary for a minute lol. But when he comes back a final time, the volcano erupts, covering the sky in ash and leaving him with no return to the sky. To make matters worse, he gets beaten up and captured by monsters and all his stuff was stolen. Wow I just wrote a lot about Eldin pfff

Sadly, I already knew about the whole Zelda is Hylia thing. I kinda wish I hadn't known that. That cutscene probably would've been cooler if I played this game in the complete dark.

Also, Link is so subtly expressive in this game. He actually has facial expressions! I love how at the end of the game, you can SEE Link's determination. You can see his desire to cut Demise down and save his world. I LOVE his expressiveness!

One thing I didn't know was that Demise was the Imprisoned. That actually surprised me.

Then there's Impa. I already figured out that the Old Lady was Impa before the reveal. So that was just "I called it." But here's the silly part about that cutscene: I read fanfic saying she died once. But of course I let my guard down. I believed that the author had Impa die from Ghirahim hitting her. And so, literally one text box away from the scene, I sent my sister in law a text like "lol, idk why I thought Impa dies. She's literally been here the whole time."

I had to send a text probably two seconds late saying "nvm, she died."

Whoopsies, silly me XD

Last thing I wanna say! (I think.) The whole lightning in the end battle is SICK! And now all the lighting scars people give Sky make sense. That's probably one of my favorite scar headcanons, honestly. That and Wild's blast scar. Also love giving Twilight a nasty arm scar, but I'm getting off track.

So yeah! Those are my silly disjointed thoughts on both the games I finished recently! Now I only have 2D games left to play. My list became so much smaller! It went from having ten games to just five.

Just have the Oracles games, Link's Awakening, the original and Adventure of Link to play! (I'm debating which one to start with. Probably the Oracles games to I can get Legend's character down better.)

Yay! Wall of text!