#and there is so much potential in both of them that wouldn't even require either season to change in too major a way

[thebluester2020]

[RE4] Kinktober Day 11: "In Heat"

Summary: Livestock guardians were rare enough, and training them was no easy feat either. But...being in a bind, you decided to take your chances and adopt one! Only, you weren't warned that his heats would be so...intense.

Warning(s): Perv!Reader (She watches Leon fuck his pillow), Yearning(Leon wishes to fuck the reader but doesn't), Dog!Hyrbid Leon, Whiny! Leon, Begging, Masturbation (Both on the reader's and Leon's side obv), Thigh-fucking, Leon low-key being a horn dog.

Side Note(s): Lol I was going to do Lycaon (again) from ZZZ but— the fact I haven't dedicated any Kinktober days to my favorite baddie Leon Kennedy yet is blasphemous, so here I am <33

Searching for a good livestock guardian dog was hard.

Costs aside, training them and getting them used to the farm animals was no easy task. It took a lot of patience and practice over the years and even then? The dog wasn't promised to be absolutely perfect! In hindsight though, you knew you should've been on the lookout the second you had begun buying the necessary resources for your farm. After all, it seemed like just yesterday when you were still waiting for your house to be built, and now? You were only a month away from moving!

The clock was ticking, you needed a guardian dog and you needed one now. No training required.

Which was how you ended up where you are today, at a dog hybrid adoption center, located in the center of your small town. It was a homey place, plenty of space for the hybrids to wander around, and even a dedicated meeting area for them and their potential owners to get to know one another. At first, you felt almost...strange, for considering a hybrid for your farm.

They were called "hybrids" for a reason. They were human but...with animal features and some tendencies here and there, you probably wouldn't even have been here today if your friend hadn't convinced you to at least check it out and so far? You were having no more luck than you were shopping the market for a traditional dog.

"Do you have any hybrids that are good with livestock? Guarding, maybe?" You asked the front desk worker after another conversation with a hybrid cut short.

You weren't searching for a puppy, they had too much energy and you were certain that wouldn't bode well with the animals! An older dog would have been preferable. "Still no luck?" The woman said with an apologetic smile as she searched through the system.

You shook your head with a sigh. "I'm moving in a month, I want to hopefully find a dog today and bring him home soon so I can get him or her used to me."

The woman didn't respond for a beat or two, her eyes narrowed in focus as she searched and searched...until her eyes brightened and she turned the computer screen towards you. "Leon may be a good fit for you! His background is in government, very calm and dependable." As you looked at the picture, you were shocked that no one had picked him yet. good traits aside, he was handsome and you knew that there was a market for people who preferred to use their hybrids for lovers rather than pets.

Not that you planned to use him in that way of course.

"Is he available to talk now?" You asked.

"He will be tomorrow! We try to give our shyer residents more time to know when they want to be spoken to."

You nodded your head in understanding as the worker passed you a few documents to sign as well as choosing a time when you wanted to talk. You suddenly felt nervous, intimidated even! When you looked at Leon Kennedy's profile, he appeared dangerous and you weren't just talking about the deadly scowl on his face nor the fact that he was a Malinois hybrid. His eyes were a deep baby blue, combined with his dirty blonde hair and his hardened features as well as his muscular frame.

You weren't able to deny that he was handsome.

But...you could worry about keeping your mind out of the gutter once you talked with him.

. . .

The next day came by quick. The second you woke up, you were already getting ready to meet with your potential hybrid and you wanted to make a good first impression! You donned a cute but professional style and even took the time to bring gifts as well as had photos of your current apartment and new home already saved to your phone. You wanted to make sure all your cards lined up to having Leon accept you as his owner.

And...you thought you were doing good so far, hopefully. As you currently sat in front of him, his expression was unreadable as his eyes flicked from the photos of your home that you had given him as well as the treat basket you brought along with you.

"You want me as a livestock guardian?" He questioned.

"Yes!" You chirped. "The animals aren't there yet but they will be pretty soon, about a week or two after I move in."

When he didn't respond, you added on a question. "Are you...good with livestock?"

He slowly nodded his head. "I can learn, it can't be any harder than guarding people."

"Your profile mentioned you were in the government. What did you do?"

"Classified missions." He curtly responded.

"...Like?"

He scoffed at your pushiness. "The word classified is there for a reason."

"Seeing as you're still so loyal, you must've been a good one." You complimented. You tried to withhold a chuckle at the sound of Leon's tail thumping against his chair. "Why did you leave?"

"I—" You tilted your head when he paused, the sight of his cheeks beginning to tint pink a little also making your suspicions go up before his shoulders eventually slumped and he sighed. "It's not important, I was simply no longer fit for the missions they were assigning me." His ears flattened at the memory of him being dismissed. For the last few years since that day, he tried to convince himself that it was for the best but...he was used to being active, constantly on the move and doing things. Trading that lifestyle for a quiet and inactive one here in the shelter?

Although the place was nice, it wasn't for him!

Life on a farm could give him some movement, some purpose again.

"Well, I think you'll be a perfect fit for my farm! If you want to actually come with me that is."

Leon looked you up and down, you appeared hard-working and stern. But kind and gentle, it also helped that you were a pretty thing to look at. After being in the government for so long, so many missions where he'd seen the most unimaginable horrors that no normal person should ever see...it was nice to know that he'd be able to look at you all day, working for you.

So, he nodded his head, his tail once again beginning to wag at the sight of your smile.

You grinned. "We'll get along just fine, you and me!"

. . .

And get along fine, the both of you did.

It turns out that there was a reason why Leon wasn't adopted. His ruts were insatiable.

A week after adopting him, you and he had spent the entire time decorating the room you had dedicated to him! You had learned that before he worked for the government, he used to be a guard cop (the puppy photos he had shown you were absolutely adorable might you add) and he was a fan of old-school music groups. You had struck gold with him, you thought. He was a hard worker and was relatively quiet! Although his jokes were a little dry and he had so many cop one-liners that you couldn't even begin to count them all.

You liked Leon.

And that like towards him...you wouldn't deny that it began to inch towards a more romantic direction, especially after what you were currently witnessing tonight.

"F-Fuck..." Through the crack of Leon's door, he was currently rutting against his pillow feverishly. It was bunched up underneath him, his claws threatening to tear the sheets underneath him with how hard he was rutting his dick back and forth on the pillow.

You should've turned away, you should've ignored that ache that started to build up in the pit of your stomach. It was inappropriate of you to watch him like some type of pervert! And you almost did until...you heard your name. "Y-Y/N..." Leon panted out, you could see the light of the moon shine on the hint of drool that began to dribble out the side of his mouth. He sucked in his bottom lip as he threw his head back with a low growl. "Fucking cute owner..." He whined. "I-If only you would help me..." His words were so whispered that you almost missed it.

The ache in your panties was growing near unbearable, and even as every rational part of your brain told you to keep your hand away from your throbbing clit, to go back to bed and act like you hadn't seen or heard anything. You continued to stay, soon clasping a hand around your mouth in order to withhold the moan that threatened to escape from your lips. Especially as your fingers began to circle around your clit, the aching growing more and more by the second as you continued to listen in on Leon's moans.

"Fucking hell—" Suddenly Leon pushed the pillow away from him before he sat on the bed, his hand quickly rushing to his cock as he started to fist his length, the slick sounds of his hand moving along his cock aiding in your own masturbation as you began to finger yourself to the pace of his hand movements.

And in the process, you imagined what his cock would feel like inside your sex. You imagined the veins along his cock rubbing against your inner walls, the sound of his rough growls against your ear whilst the lewd sounds of his pelvis meeting your ass rang throughout the air. "Y' like that owner?" You heard Leon mutter to himself before his curses steadily turned into moans.

You could tell he was close by the way he began to buck into his own hand, causing you to speed up your own ministrations as it quickly became a struggle to withhold your moans. Until a squeak accidentally escaped your lips, and Leon's ear flicked to the door before his pants began to slowly come to a stop.

Yet his hand didn't. "Naughty girl..." Leon said in your direction.

You quickly tore your hand from your underwear with a gasp, but before you could walk away. Leon stopped you with a sharp growl. "Leaving so soon after watching me fuck my own hand? And while you were flicking your clit." He snapped. "Get in here and help me out!" He ordered.

You hesitated for another moment or two before you slowly inched the door open with an embarrassed blush on your face. However, your hybrid had little concern for your embarrassment at the moment before he suddenly rose to his feet and grabbed ahold of your arm, and forced you to sit on the bed. His eyes were trained on you as he then pushed you gently to lay on your back whilst he lifted your legs.

You softly moaned at the feeling of his hard cock pressing against your ass briefly before he took your chin into his hand. "...Can I?"

You heard the desperation in his voice and how hard he was trying to reel it in. "I just wanna fuck your thighs, promise. Nothing else, just that." He assured you, his hips unconsciously bucking against the back of your thighs. And the second you nodded your head "yes", he let out a deep moan when he finally pushed himself between your plush thighs. "Been thinkin' 'bout this for a week..." He began to babble.

"You and this sexy body," He moaned. "Made my rut come early..." You whined when his hand began to feel up and down your body, all before his hand began to rub at your clit. "Clearly you've been thinkin' about me too, huh?"

You nodded shamelessly. "T-Tried not to..." You admitted with a whisper. "Didn't—oh...—want to make you uncomfortable..."

"With having a slutty owner who likes the idea of her personal dog fucking her needy cunt? Oh no baby, quite the opposite..." Then he leaned down to press his soft lips against your own, the feeling of your lips on his own after so many previous nights of imagining them on his cock...he couldn't help but begin to fuck your thighs with more fervor. "Couldn't get you out of my mind." He mumbled against your lips.

Leon's other large hand then left your waist to begin fondling your breasts, taking more care to give one of them more attention than the other as he began to flick your nipple. Leon's body was practically molding with your own body as he continued to kiss you, his technique becoming more sloppy along with his thrusts. "C-Close..." He whispered, tearing his lips from your own when you lightly smacked him for air.

You moaned. "M-Me too." You responded, a needy whine leaving your lips when he began to speed up his rapid flicking of your clit. Your increased moans and whines were going straight to his cock, nothing but lust and adoration for you as both his owner and the woman he now wanted to breed coursing through his veins as he felt your pussy twitch as his cock rubbed against it. "Cumming!" You just barely managed to get out before your eyes slammed shut and your mouth opened in a silent scream.

Leon wasn't too far behind as a string of curses fell from his lips, his hips bucking against your ass a few more times before he stilled and you felt strings of his hot cum shoot out and onto your stomach and chest. The two of you breathed heavily, the lust in the air hot and unignorable as you both came down from your highs. With a shakey moan, however, Leon slipped from your thighs as he looked over you.

Already he could feel himself getting hard. Something that you quickly took notice of. "A-Already...?" You said tiredly.

He nodded his head, his tail beginning to wag eagerly as he gently began to part your legs. "You're the reason why my rut started early...take responsibility."

It seemed you were in for an even longer night further taking care of your new hybrid...

[eightyonekilograms]

Obviously, JD Vance's proposal to give parents additional votes stirred up a furor from progressives saying it's anti-feminist, reactionary, trying to keep women in the kitcen, etc.

And I agree with them. Frankly I wouldn't shed a single tear if Trump "who will rid me of this meddlesome running mate"-d a second VP in a row and I never had to hear from Vance or his 2010!NRx ideas ever again. But I have a more prosaic objection also: if implemented, I don't think this plan would actually work?

Like, as I understand it, there are two proposed justifications for how this might be a good idea, but I don't think either of them stand up to scrutiny.

The first (and less plausible) one is, people who selfishly want more votes will have more children in order to get more political leverage for [whatever they want]. Even though they're doing it for selfish reasons, children are a public good, and so on net this is good for society.

I think this theory can be dispensed with pretty easily. It sounds just like one of those $1000 payments for having another child that budges the birth rate not at all because it's way too small a reward for the expense involved. Even speaking as someone intensely annoyed by trendy anti-electoralist cynicism, I know the EV of an additional vote is microscopic compared to the expense of having children. It won't move anyone except at the very bleeding edge of the margin.

But that's the easy case. The much more interesting theory of the Vance Plan is that of fixing broken incentives. The story goes like this: one feature of democracy, for better or worse, is that it rewards those who show up. If you have no vote (or don't use your vote), you are invisible to democracy, so your wants will be systematically underrepresented. This is why wealthy first-world countries are increasingly gerontocratic in both legislative makeup and resulting policy: old people reliably vote, young people don't, so even with no conspiracy involved, democracy gravitates to favoring the wants of the old. Vance says, hey, children cannot vote, so just as you'd predict, their interests (as a class!) get ignored, so we end up with a legislative landscape that doesn't favor children and makes it harder to raise them.

It makes perfect sense on paper! But I think in the real world it falls apart.

What are the actual bits of legislation and policy which discourage people from having more children? I mean, people can and do argue furiously over this question, but IMO three of the most significant ones are:

NIMBY localist housing policy locking young potential parents out of the housing market

More localist tax and education policy making competition for "good schools" a Red Queen Race which drives up house prices still further, requiring two working parents

Safetyist legislation which, while well-intentioned, is making everything from cars to child care more expensive than it necessarily needs to be

In order to believe that giving parents additional votes will cause a more child-friendly society to emerge via electoral pressure, you have to believe that parents are more likely than non-parents to oppose 1, 2 and 3. And that just... doesn't seem true? At best there's no difference, and to be blunt, I think as a class parents tend to be worse than non-parents on all three. #NotAllParents, of course, there are plenty of people with kids who still want good abundance policy, but averaged over everybody I think it's hard to deny that parenthood tends to push people toward defensive, loss-averting "protect the children" mentalities which, on a global scale, fuck everyone else over. That talking point you constantly see among the Very Online Right that parents are more likely than non-parents to think Beyond Themselves and want to build a stable world for the long term, just seems obviously false to me. Or at least if it is true, it's true in a way which is mostly irrelevant, since these "long-view parents" don't know how to turn those wants into policy which actually achieves them.

Frankly, I think it's easy to envision a world where the Vance Plan makes all policy around child-rearing worse instead of better, and depresses the birth rate even further.

[alltheboysandgirlsiloved]

ngl at first I thought that season 3 of jwct was going to be the last one but the more I think about it the more inclined I am to believe that maybe we are going to get more seasons?

*bone cracking sound* let's get into it, shall we?

A couple of things that jwct has to cover before the end:

Biosyn facility in Italy

Raptor Handler and Soyona meeting

Red the Atrociraptor reuniting (?) with the rest of Atrociraptors

Brooklynn (eventually) turning her back on Santos

Brooklynn reuniting with Camp Fam for real

Potentially (very high possibility) Malta

Bumpy's baby hatching (+ eventually, Bumpy and baby Bump reunion)

Tension between Sammy and her family explained

Ben's girlfriend reveal

Resolution of the tension between Kenji-Brooklynn-Darius

So this is how I see this playing out. (Head-ups - this is a result of my research but, let's be honest, also kind of a manifestation of my hopes and very much just a fan-theory. So take it easy)

If Brooklynn and Santos are really to reach Biosyn's center in Italy, I doubt it's going to be "in-and-out" type of visit. In Dominion Santos is entrusted with organizing a "transport" for Maise Lockwood; now let's remember that in the past Brooklynn researched the Lockwood mansion, I wouldn't be surprised if that came up at least briefly (perhaps, to even further ensure Soyona's trust, Brooklynn will offer some advice while simultaneously working on how to save the girl). Then, we have the matter of transported eggs – I'm sure that Brooklynn's gonna be very interested in where they are going etc etc. It's all going to take an appropriate amount of time. At the same time, the campers need time to actually reach Italy too, then potentially get to the facility (I think this is where Ben's conspiracy theory-induced knowledge may resurface – in season 1 it is confirmed that he has heard the theory about the mysterious locust).

We know that the Handler and Soyona absolutely have to meet (because both of them are hot). The Handler has three antrociraptors, Soyona only has Red. In Dominion (which takes place a little after current events of jwct) Soyona has all four antrociraptors at her disposal. Now, knowing about the bond between antrociraptors and the Hanlder, to me it kind of implies that eventually the Handler is completely separated from the raptors, and their bond is severed (does she die? does she lose her whistle and the raptors turn against her? I wouldn't put it past the showrunners to kill her tbh. Since her bond with the antrociraptors seems to be something more than just a whistle thing (as opposed to the clicking effect dr Sarr had on the Baryonyx)). I think that Soyona will call for the Handler when she realizes that the rest of Camp Fam are on their tail. Again - that takes time. The Handler has to get to Italy, find the Camp Fam, some sort of fight has to occur, she "loses" (somehow), Soyona gets pissed... All of that takes time.

Then, eventually, at some point, Brooklynn decides that she has gathered enough material to turn her back on Soyona and run away. I doubt it's going to be easy. I don't know if it's going to be a decision she makes on her own, or if it's going to be motivated by the Camp Fam being in danger. Either way, I doubt it's going to happen prior to the fouth/fifth episode.

So after Brooklynn "parts ways" with Soyona, she has to reunite with Camp Fam, and we know that it won't be easy. I think that some of the campers will warm up to her sooner (probably Ben for obvious reasons, Sammy and Darius), others later (Kenji will probably be the last one). I suspect that it may require some sort of "grand gesture" on Brooklynn's side. At first, I thought that maybe I'd be egg-related but I honestly doubt it? I think that she will meet Bumpy's baby post-hatching but that's a shoot in the dark tbh.

My personal theory is that Sammy's parents got somehow involved with Biosyn and Sammy didn't like that and that's what caused their parting. Since Sammy's family owns a ranch, they know a lot about, well, farming and what is the locust attacking? Ranches. So I assume that Biosyn has some sort of "informants". Maybe Sammy instantly figured out that something about Biosyn is off? Who knows. Either way, we need to learn what exactly is the reason behind the crisis within Gutierrez family and resolve it. And the way Sammy phrased that and kind of tip-toes around the topic, I think it will be somehow related to the plot + resolving it is going to take some time.

Then, I think it's safe to assume that eventually, we will end up in Malta since this is also where the events of JW Dominion take place. Remember how jwcc season 3 ended? We got an extra perspective on the events in JW movie - a perspective of campers. I think that with jwct, the showrunners may do a very similar thing (let's remember that JW is a franchise therefore, at least in theory, everything is somehow connected; such perspective would make a nice bridge between the series and the movies).

Now, this is where my own theory kicks in for real. If we look at jwcc and jwct in general, Soyona shapes to be the only villain that the Camp Fam won't ultimately defeat. Or... will they? Both Tiff and Mitch, Kash and even Daniel end up "losing" because of the Camp Fam (either directly or indirectly). Now, I haven't watched Dominion in a while but if I remember correctly the last scene with Soyona shows her as she's about to be arrested. This got me thinking... what if she somehow manages to escape? As far as we know, Soyona seems like the kind of person who always has a backup plan. Remember that she also has connections within DPW (now disbanded ofc) - she knows a lot of people, and a lot of people work for her. All of this is a theory but I wouldn't be surprised if, before the events of Dominion, she didn't have some sort of backup plan; for example Jensen from DPW who's ready to "react if things go south". So Soyona attempts to escape, and she escapes to the States (remember that eventually, the Camp Fam has to get there somehow lol). Who chases after her? The campers obviously because now it's more than just dinosaurs, now it's personal too – fueled by Brooklynn's hatred for Soyona, fueled by the need to see her "locked up" for good. I wouldn't be surprised if the creators of the show decided that it would be more fitting if Soyona was "captured" and brought to justice by the Camp Fam seeing as, ultimately, she plays "bigger villain" in jwct than in Dominion. So depending if the creators decide to do something like that or not - that could potentially be what season 4 would focus on - the final and ultimate defeat of Soyona Santos.

However. If they decide to end Santos plotline at where it ends in Dominion, there's still plenty to explore in a potential season 4. I wouldn't be surprised if Camp Fam ended up in the Biosyn's center again - for example, to recover the rest of eggs/make sure that they are safe, or (knowing Darius) to ensure that the dinosaurs will be safe there. [Ben's gf enters the chat] I strongly suspect that Ben's girlfriend (if she's real) has some sort of connection with Biosyn (the chance of these two meeting through Dark Jurassic is pretty high after all), depending on who she is, there could be a whole new plotline related to the character - making her "someone more" than just a person whose role boils down to being a mysterious girlfriend. If she works for Biosyn (spies?), I wouldn't be surprised if there was some extra secret hidden by this company. It's like... call me crazy, but I think that a huge company like that has a lot of connections. I wouldn't be surprised if it somehow led us back to (thankfully, now deceased) Daniel Kon - after all we know that he was secretly planning to rebuild his company, and still had a lot of money. So this is where I see a potential for another season of mysteries and events. (I also have a tiny theory on the side that Ben's "girlfriend" is actually, a guy aka Ramsay Cole - a head of communications in Biosyn; it would make sense for him to be on Dark Jurassic, knowing this character's plotline in Dominion; his age is not revealed but my guess is that he is around 25 years old. Also, one of the producers of jwct mentioned in an interview that he'd love to bring more characters from Dominion to jwct so... there you go. Idk just a theory, but it lines up. Especially with Ben being half-firm, half-awkward when talking about his partner yk).

I think there are honestly so many ways this show can be developed and... for good reasons too. Not just good reasons plot-wise but also because, well, let's be real jwcc/jwct is extremely popular. And the creators are aware of it. It's safe to assume that initially the show (jwcc) was supposed to be three seasons long but, due to its popularity, they added 2 more seasons and then decided to make a whole spin-off series. And the spin-off too is very popular and generally praised not only by the target audience (kids) but also but "older" jurassic fans. Seeing as Jurassic is a franchise, therefore, something that is supposed to "keep going" (fuel itself), jwcc and jwct are a perfect way to also introduce younger generations to the entire world of jurassic, literally "raising" them to be fans of the series, and a great way to keep other fans entertained as they wait for the next installments of the movie series (after all, a brand new JW trilogy is in plans).

So yeah. I've been meaning to make a post about it for a while but I wanted to make it as detailed and as "canon-aligned" as possible so it took me a while. Honestly, in the end, this is mostly just the hopes and dreams of a devoted jwcc fan who has been suffering from camp fam-brainrot for the past 4 years!

If you read it that far - it's time to touch some grass. I recently started growing my own in a flowerpot and... well, it doesn't really help but it's the thought that matters! if you have any thoughts about the upcoming installment(s?) of jwct - I'd love to hear them. And remember to be nice, we are all just fans after all :D

[tainbocuailnge]

post where I argue for the use of some less popular free units (you don't need me to tell you gladiia and lumen are cracked)

vigil

this guy has a combination of qualities from both his subclass and his specific summon that make him really convenient to use because he's able to do a lot of jobs decently: he's a vanguard that often doesn't need a healer because his constantly refreshing wolves are doing the blocking and drawing ranged aggro while you use the dp on other units, he can hit air, the wolves deal multiple hits and have some def ignore which allows them to easily shred most trash to midweight enemies, all combined meaning he can handle a lot of map demands on his own. in terms of stats and utility you're essentially deploying a 4* sniper, guard, and vanguard at once, packaged as a single 14dp unit

he interacts well with a ton of event mechanics too, for example the wolves can block the spread of burning reeds even while inactive, and they block line of sight from the lucent arrowhead enemies and don't care about taking machinegun fire because they have 3 refreshing hp bars, and those bugs from originum dust that reduce aspd when blocked don't affect vigil himself because it's the wolves doing the blocking, and the wolves deal hits equal to their amount of heads so they deal well with hitcount-based mechanics too especially if vigil is on s3. those 3 hp bars and the speed at which they refresh with s1 also makes vigil good at stalling enemies, particularly ones that deal strong but slow hits like mudrock colossi, but also just stuff like heavy defender type enemies. compared to other tactician vanguards vigil is much easier in general use because he requires minimal management, his summon blocks multiple enemies and with s1 constantly refreshes its hp without external input so you just put him down and he either handles it or he doesn't.

his s3 has pretty high damage potential and you see it a lot in vanguard only clears but in my experience it's gimped in more general use by having no buffs to his comparatively low atk + a lot of the damage being contingent on the summon blocking an enemy while giving up on the increased survivability from the other skills + the fact that unless you're in a particular challenge niche there's no reason for him to be the one doing the damage. I find s1 is the way to go the vast majority of the time because it makes the best use of his summon's unique qualities. s2 is theoretically some of the fastest dp printing in the game but only if there's a steady stream of enemies to allow it to actually be used so in practise its a pretty bad skill, you'd only use it over s1 if you're using vigil to block a stream of enemies that can't meaningfully hurt the wolves but might not get killed fast enough with s1 (i saw one vanguard clear where they put him on s2 just so the sp from siege's talent wouldn't go to him lol)

puzzle

puzzle's main claim to fame is that with s1, if he's able to continuously attack a target, he prints dp faster than a flag vanguard. ines s1 has the same dp printing speed (2dp per 4 seconds compared to puzzle's 3dp per 6 seconds) but ines does so much other shit there's still reason to have puzzle on hand to stand there printing dp while ines does her other shit. puzzle also has the upper hand on ines on this particular front in that if there's an event gimmick where you can attack some kind of device, like the orbs in lonetrail or the vents in jessica's event, since those things are technically at max hp every time he hits them he procs his talent (2 extra sp when attacking a target with full hp) on every hit and speeds up to an insane 3 dp per 3 seconds.

the OTHER notable thing puzzle has is a giant poison debuff on his s2 (up to 150% of his atk arts damage per second for 16 seconds), which is good for all the hitcount-related things poison is good for as well as just being a good amount of damage that he can deliver in a comparatively very small window of time as a fast-redeploy unit that also prints dp. I'm not sure whether the 16 seconds counts from first or last application but with a max level puzzle you're looking at a minimum of around 14k arts damage. it makes him really good at wearing down enemies that stand there menacingly in spots that are annoying to reach for regular assassin-type units, as well as contributing damage from behind another unit. I think this video gives a pretty good image of what puzzle s2 can do, look at him melt the power armor and dor-bionics.

jieyun

her first deployment has reduced cost and gives her a hefty boost to her already high artilleryman attack (she reaches 1k atk once deployed before module) and her s2 is a huge splash area with 50% slow + a damage modifier that doesn't clash with her talent so she just shreds everything that isn't really high def, and anything that is still gets significantly slowed while your arts damage units kill it.

since s2 always goes to a specific tile in her range it can also be used to make her prioritise certain targets, and since it's a whole 15 seconds of high per-second splash damage she's a good counter to bosses that spawn a bunch of other weaker enemies like essence of evolution or ya, or just huge amounts of closely grouped enemies like RA raids. it's also only 8 offensive sp at m3 (down from 12 at lv7) which is basically nothing already and even less when combined with common IS collectibles or RA food and support items. she shreds all those annoying flying cunts in collapsals afternoon the moment they come out of their box. she's genuinely just a really good unit for very straightforward reasons and very beautiful also.

breeze

do not be mistaken there is zero gameplay reason to invest in breeze over any other aoe medic because the others have every utility ever while breeze only has raw healing numbers but when it comes to healing multiple units at once her numbers are legit huge so she's very useable. i also find her very cute and charming, you should check out her english dub it's really good.

her talent is so conditional it might as well not exist however if you combine her mod3 talent (medics and supporters gain 15% max hp when breeze's skill is active) with silence alter's mod3 talent (operators in range gain 10% max hp) and honeyberry's talent (ranged operators in range gain 10% max hp) you could probably make silence take the manfred cannon which is funny.

czerny

the whole arts protector subclass is in kind of a weird spot where they've got good stats (defender level bulk with guard level attack, some res) and good traits (3 block melee unit with arts damage) and their skills and talents do some cool and unique things, but you rarely actually need or look for what they specifically can do so most people only end up using them when they just like them a lot or they happen to fit their particular niche.

czerny's unique niche is reflecting arts damage on his talent which leads to some really funny clears whenever it's his time to shine because enemies will just kill themselves. some enemies that czerny's reflect is particularly good for are dublin flamethrowers (each tick of the flamethrower gets reflected), londinium mobile artillery (the barrage is arts damage that he can take more easily with the increased hp from s2), crossroads units from lonetrail, those really long range sandcastle casters from ideal city who just stand there blasting you from fucking narnia, but really any enemy that deals arts damage will slowly kill themselves while blocked by czerny.

i find that in practise if you want to use czerny just to use him, his arts reflect talent and s2 explosion are secondary to the fact that he has really high innate res (25 thanks to his talent) with an s1 that doubles it, making him arguably the best anti-arts blocker in the game right now, and during s2 he can punch people for up to 2k arts damage per hit over a very respectable 20 seconds for 30sp. and his english dub is really really good.

shalem

I like him :)

shalem s2 hits air with a big forward range and since it's random shots it's unaffected by enemy taunt level, but conversely since it's random with a pretty big range you can't guarantee he'll hit the targets you want and it becomes less effective the more enemies there are. it's also kinda sicko damage (like 45k arts damage total/2.2k dps before res + effective guarantee of proccing his res debuff talent thanks to high hitcount) but it's hard to capitalise on when it's defensive recovery and guaranteed to kill him without someone healing him. in victoriaknights they tend to pair him with hibiscus or reed alter to stack arts debuffs and in defenderknights they often combo with saria s3 not just for the debuffs and heals but also because she can feed him sp to actually use the skill.

s1 is way easier to use and incredibly solid so that's what you go with when simply taking shalem to locations. it improves a lot with m3 (-35% attack interval to -45%) so if you end up raising him and find s1 lacks a bit of oomph that's why. like czerny shalem's got the arts protector problem where it's hard to argue why you should use him specifically since "melee arts damage" or "defender that kills" isn't really hard to come by these days, but that doesn't mean a defender with multitarget arts damage who can hit air isn't still a really good unit.

lessing

this guy has the problem of his subclass having middling base traits that his colleagues compensate for by being an abyssal hunter and having true damage respectively, and he does some things that nobody else does, except for lee who does it better in nearly all cases, lol. if you DON'T have lee available though or are in a situation where lee is simply eating too much dp to be viable then lessing suddenly kicks ass through the power of being the only other guy who can't be stunned, which is a gimmick that enemies throw out often enough to make it worth investing in having a hard counter like this. lessing's s3 modifier also stacks multiplicatively with external buffs so he scales really hard with those and can bonk enemies for some really funny numbers with the right backup.

however EVEN if you don't think you'll ever deploy him I think he's still worth the e2 for his base skill alone, he has a fixed 3 morale cost for all elite material recipes and an 80% byproduct rate increase which means he can cook big piles of high tier materials with a much higher byproduct rate than operators with comparable morale cost reductions.

tuye

tuye s1 can actually solo heal things that other medics would need backup for but you need to really micromanage her for that so nobody wants to fucking bother normally. if you're ever doing a stall strat where enemies are beating your ass in between your healers attack interval then tuye is the one you need, either s1 or s2 and with or without backup, she's the queen of finicky high damage healing.

her RA2 exclusive token is also insanely fucking good, everyone in tuye's range restores hp worth 6% of tuye's atk every second which works on enmity units, you put some atk food in tuye and suddenly everyone in her range has that abyssal regen on top of her healing them regularly. if you play RA2 with any regularity tuye is super worth investing in for this alone

folinic

read my folinic post

astgenne

read my astgenne post

[oliver-quick-ens-my-pulse]

Room of Requirements

Ominis Gaunt x f!Reader

Summary - Anon request for "I’d love to request a fluffy (smutty if you want) Ominis x reader where reader shows him their room of requirement and the two enjoy some time tending to beasts and the calmness away from the usual bustle of the castle! Mainly I offer up potential smut because the first time I heard the room of requirement described as “a place away from prying eyes” my mind tan with that idea"

Word Count - 1,492

Warnings - 18+ light petting, lots of fluff from softie Ominis

A/N - Characters aged up! This didn't go full smut, but I think could easily have a more smut version at some point.

Since it was your 7th year at Hogwarts, you knew you had to start figuring out what to do with all the animals you had in the vivarium. You knew the life you wanted involved having lots of outdoor space for them to be truly free and safe in, but you may have to find out how to make a vivarium elsewhere.

There wasn't anyone you had considered telling your secret to besides Ominis. You weren't really sure how to tell even him, 'hey by the way, do you want to help me rehome the dozens of mythical beasts I've been hiding inside of the castle?'

It made you laugh a bit to even think about it, but you needed some help brainstorming so it seemed like now the time had come. Luckily you were able to catch him coming out of the common room.

"Ominis!" It made you feel flushed seeing how his face lit up just from hearing you call for him. You bounded up the small staircase to the entrance and looped your arm with his.

"Were you busy? I have an adventure to take you on."

He shook his head, "No, but even if I did have plans would it matter?"

He knew you were beaming up at him, though he couldn't see it. He imagined would it would look like.

"No." You both said in unison.

You briskly led him through the groups of huddled students, to the hallway you knew was often empty.

You stopped him in front of the door to the room of requirements and his eyebrows knitted together. He looked down at you puzzled.

"Y/N? Have you lost your mind? First off, I'm impressed you didn't drag me straight off of the castle grounds. Second, I've been here hundreds of times and there's nothing of interest in this hall."

You grabbed his hand and walked him over to the cavity in the wall which held the most fantastic room you'd found in your time here.

"Well, my dear Ominis, I have news. Right before your unseeing eyes, were I am about to lead us into the room of requirements. You have heard of it, yes?"

You pulled him forward as you pushed the large door open, hurrying him in to shut the door behind you to disappear.

"What!" He pulled out his wand and used it as a means to take in everything that he didn't even know existed before.

He knew you weren't lying to him because the room even smelled different the second you crossed into the threshold. It bared your favorite scent which contrasted the dusty Hogwarts halls.

"Are you kidding me? If I had never known of the Undercroft I wouldn't have ever found it either." He slumped over, clearly pouting.

You placed your hands on either of his shoulders, laughing gently at him, "Ominis this room only shows up if you're in need of it. And well, no offence, but you truly wouldn't have been able to see it even if it presented itself to you."

He sighed. "Well, what is it you needed it for?" His foggy eyes bore right through you before his lips curled up into a sly smile.

He hadn't awareness of much of the room, but he was able to force you backwards until you were pressed against wall, looking up at him curiously.

He raised a hand to to your cheek, the other resting on your hip, "Unless you needed it for us?"

You hadn't even gotten the chance to process his words before his soft lips pressed to yours. It honestly felt like a dream.

You allowed your fingers to snake up the back of his neck to lightly tug on his hair. When he moaned softly against your mouth it sent a ball of fire straight to your stomach.

"Ominis-I-," you gasped between breaths attempting to at least let him know that wasn't why you brought him here, but you were definitely interested.

It just proved to egg him on further as he tugged your body flush to his using one of your belt loops. He released your lips to lean closer to your ear and whisper, "Is there anything in here special for us now?"

You shifted enough to peer behind him and suddenly felt completely embarrassed to see a curtained bed that had made it's appearance in a far corner.

"Ah-Ominis. Th-there is, but I -"

"Then show me to it." You definitely knew the 2 of you had a lot to do and talk about. It was hard to ignore the seduction in his voice, but you knew he would forgive you for what you were about to do.

You remained quiet as you drug him along. As he took cautious steps forward, a much different vision playing out in his head, he stepped right into one of the first floor vivariums with you.

Immediate confusion was on his face as the scents shifted to ocean breeze and he felt it too. It was lightly blowing over his face.

"Y/N?" He stuttered your name out before continuing, his cracking tone betraying him, "I don't quite understand. I -" He dropped his head to the the ground as if he could see. He could now hear the quietest little squeaking noises that he recognized to be a Puffskein.

A Puffskein had rolled into the toe of his shoes. "Y/N, why on earth is there a Puffskein at my feet. What is going on?"

You let go of his hand, to cover your own face, muffling your laughter. Ominis looked fairly embarrassed given his initial assumptions about why you were here and the kind-of-sort-of silent confession he gave away as a result.

"So, Ominis," you picked up the Puffskein and held it near to his palm so he could feel the creatures fur, "I-um- I'm definitely interested in the reason you thought we were here. I think we should pursue that later. However, I wanted to show you my secret vivarium."

You could see him processing all of what you just said, considering whether he should use a memory charm on you or not to make you forget he was about to rip your clothes off just a few moments prior.

He lowered his fingertips to ruffle up the Puffskein's fur and he couldn't keep the smile off his face. It was quickly replaced with confusion, "So wait. You're telling me for, for three years you've just been hiding an entire vivarium of animals in here? In Hogwarts?"

You stepped closer to him, looking up at his glassy eyes when you answered, "What if I told you there were four vivariums?" Your voice came out in a whisper as you finished your sentence.

He raised his hands in astonishment, he always gestured frequently when feeling strong emotions, "Four?! Are you mad? What on earth are you planning on doing with them at the end of the year?"

You saw him flinch pleasingly when you moved your lips near his ear, " I was hoping you could help me figure it out."

He immediately shook his head at you in absolutely disbelief. "Y/N you are full of trouble, d'you know that?"

"Well, if I am to help then I suppose you have to introduce me to everyone?" He sighed in defeat, pretending to be horribly inconvenience, but you knew he loved when you dragged him into your more innocent schemes.

As you grabbed his hand to show him over to the Thestrals, he muttered so you could barely hear it, "And introduce me to more of yourself later too?"

Ignoring the latter part of what was said, you guide him to the Thestral's habitat to show him the animal you were most pleased to have; the most misunderstood of all of them.

"Okay, Ominis, this is my momma thestral, Flora." The creature huffed as he reached his hand towards it to allow a chance to sniff. She quickly nuzzled her leathery forehead against his hand and you could see him light up.

"Are you kidding? This is incredible." He got more comfortable with her and you placed snacks in his palm for him to feed her.

"I love coming here. It's so quiet and calm, it's my own nature getaway within the castle. The best part is nobody can find me here."

He listens to you as you tell him about all of the animals you've had come and go, all the things you've learned that were completely wrong from the textbooks you had all seen.

The 2 of you decided to make it a date to come back at least once a week until you both leave for good, where you'll craft some kind of plan together. He agreed to keep your secret safe as long you as you got to come back to find out what the other mysteriously appearing items in the room of requirement were.

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

Shapeshifter Anatomy

shapeshifter is a broad category, covering any fictional creature or peoples that can alter the shape of their body. some can shift into pretty much any animal, like animorphs or DnD druids. some are shapeshifters against their will, like werewolves. I'll be covering the anatomical possibilities for shapeshifters with a limited ability to change their shape, more like werewolves.

the anatomy required to change one's form mostly involves keeping a lot of body parts "hidden" until they're brought out to use. there are a lot of animals that can do this! cats have retractable claws, eels have a secondary jaw in their throats, many snakes have large fangs that fold back in the mouth. etc.

hair and feathers are also capable of changing the shape of a creature by the way they move, like the quills of a porcupine or the display feathers of many birds of paradise. this is a much less flexible sort of shapeshifting, but it's a good option for intimidation and courting displays or temporary disguise.

to keep this post simple, I'm just going to focus on a humanoid with a singular monstrous form, but these concepts could be used for a lot of different creatures! though I haven't fully determined how to make someone go from mostly hairless to suddenly very furry. Maybe becoming a werewolf just gives you a lot more body hair growth and it puffs up during the transformation.

(image description: compiled sketches of different animal anatomy. in the top left corner, there are colored diagrams showing the different parts of a human skull and a wolf skull. in the top left, a diagram showing how cat claws retract and bend forward. on the bottom, sketches of moray eel and viper skulls, showing the eel's secondary jaw and the viper's folding fangs. end description.)

It took a while but i managed to find an ask i answered a while back about giving humanoids retractable claws like cats have. so that's at least one part of possible shapeshifter anatomy covered! the tldr is this: retractable claws actually require the first joint of the finger or toe to be folded backwards, and then the claw comes out when that joint flexes forward. it does make the fingers and toes shorter and more bulky at the front, but that's fine.

here's a look at just the skull and upper torso of a potential were-creature or monstrous humanoid.

(image description: colored sketches of a humanoid skeleton with a retractable fang on both the upper and lower jaws, as well as an extra joint on the lower jaw, and neck vertebrae that sit more curved in the first sketch and straighten out to a longer neck in the second sketch. end description.)

this could use more polish before it's really ready to add the fleshy parts on top, and they wouldn't quite look fully human on the outside. If you want to take something like this even further, you can alter the entire skull to be full of small moving joints, like how so many fish are able to fold up their jaws and then shoot them forward like a tube. or the sarcastic fringehead, a fish that can unfold its jaw as a method of intimidation.

(video description: a 3d model of a carp's jaw, showing how it's made of multiple parts that can all move and extend the mouth. end description.)

(image description: two photos of a sarcastic fringehead. the top photo shows this fish at rest, with its jaw frame folded backward along its face. the bottom image shows this fish with its jaw fully extended, revealing a very wide panel of brightly colored flesh on either side of the mouth. end description.)

facial changes like this are probably the most difficult part of making the anatomy for a shapeshifter. but the more moving parts their face has, the more variety of face shape you get! moving to the rest of the body though, let's consider how an upright human figure could shift into a quadrupedal form with digitigrade legs, since werewolves are probably among the more common creatures all this advice is useful for.

(image description: a simplified human skeleton and wolf skeleton next to each other, with an arrow pointing from the human to the wolf. end description)

pretty much all vertebrates have things in common when it comes to the form of their skeletons. the general location of each limb and the ribs and pelvis are always similar. but their exact size and shape varies from animal to animal. so you can't really make a normal human skeleton turn into a normal wolf skeleton. but you can make a weird human skeleton that doubles as a weird wolf skeleton.

(image description: same as above, but now the human shaped skeleton and the wolf shaped skeleton match each other, and the human shaped one is hiding its longer neck, spine, and tail by holding them with a far more curved shape while the wolf shaped skeleton holds them more straight. end description.)

okay they're not an exact match, but I tried. any humanoid being with a skeleton like this is not going to be able to fool anyone into thinking they're a normal human when they're naked. but with the right styling of clothes, a lot of the weird curves, hunched shoulders, and awkward feet problems can be hidden from view.

anything that gets more complicated than this will require extra bones and joints and muscles depending on what exactly you need your shapeshifter to do! a change in posture is a lot different than, say, being able to extend the length of their limbs or alter the shape of their ribcage by making it more narrow and protruding vs more flat and open.

I can't personally cover every single possibility! so you all will have to just use this post as a springboard and go explore more ideas yourself! I started with the idea of taking a human skeleton and altering it, but imagine what this would look like if the base form was entirely non-human! or if they were more of an invertebrate! extra arms can be folded to resemble the shape of a torso, for example. there are so many more options I'm sure I didn't even think of.

go put your mind to work and have fun!

[quickgirl]

The Astrology of Fame: Jupiter and Pluto's Link to Superstardom

Jupiter expands and Pluto intensifies. When these two connect in the natal chart, something magical happens.

Note: Not everyone with a Jupiter/Pluto link is going to explode in popularity and become household names echoed around the world for decades to come. Not every star has the Jupiter/Pluto link, either. However, this is a theme I've (and others) have noticed more often than not in the charts of people who have had their breakthrough.

In the many charts I've seen, almost every single celebrity had an aspect to their Jupiter/Pluto midpoint OR Jupiter and Pluto connected through a different midpoint instead (i.e Jupiter conjunct Moon/Pluto midpoint). It seems to be a far more accurate and reoccurring marker than just a natal aspect between the two planets (though that shouldn't be ignored, either).

I believe long-time astrologer, Basil Fearrington, was the first to notice the link between wealth and the Jupiter/Pluto midpoint. Even though midpoints only tend to count when activated through a hard aspect (conjunction, square, and opposition), Basil surmised that the Jupiter/Pluto midpoint is so potent that even soft aspects should be considered.

The late and wonderful Marga, creator of Dutch astrology website "Astromarkt", took it a step further and said that the Jupiter/Pluto midpoint didn't even need to be activated. The two planets conjoining at all in any midpoint combination (or through natal aspects) was enough to generate immense potential for power and fame.

Soft aspects are not generally considered in midpoint astrology. The reasoning for that is because sextiles and trines require little to no effort. The owner of them may or may not ever put those talents to use, and thus the potential of certain aspects and midpoints may never get recognized. But I think that's underselling it a bit. We do use them, we're just not privy to honing them in the way we would a hard aspect.

Humans have a penchant for believing that suffering equals greater reward, therefore we're far more likely to try and understand then tame a Mars sq. Pluto and let the Venus trine Jupiter do its own thing in the background virtually untouched. Sometimes semi-squares and sesquiquadrates are taken into consideration in midpoint astrology, but their influence is weak. If they can get their day in the limelight, I'm also giving some to the sextile and trine. They obviously have a purpose or else the aspect wouldn't even exist.

Now if you'd like to check for this theme yourself, use Astro.com. The drop-down menu for "Chart drawing style" has two different midpoint options. Ebertin chart allows for a wider orb of up to 2°, but only shows major hard aspects. Keller has a much smaller orb, but also shows soft aspects and parallels/contra-parallels. I use both.

With the clerical info out of the way, let's gain more insight into the Jupiter/Pluto energy itself. Astrologer John Sandbach describes it as such:

A tremendous desire to learn and to grow, and to acquire power, be it of the more intangible, mental sort, or worldly in nature. Driving, unstoppable enthusiasm. A relentless urge toward excess. The ability to transform how things are organized. To have big ideas and far-reaching aims. Going to great extremes. The persistent urge to do whatever is needed to overcome problems. Grandiosity. Religious fanaticism.

Jupiter/Pluto promises a larger than life persona with strong intellect and passions to stitch it all together. Think not of just musicians, models, and actors, but of cult leaders, gourmands, CEO's, luxury jewelry salespeople, and even fine art collectors who amass the rarest of paintings. There is a salient and recognizable power and privilege. Clearly fame isn't the only highlight here.

But if you are fixated on fame, what kind are we even talking about? 15-second TikTok fame? One-hit wonders and Meghan Trainor's of the world who have a shelf life of 2 years then respawn 10 years later because of a viral tweet? Absolutely not. These are the stars you never forget who cannot be compared to others. Rather, others are compared to them. They set the standard and are known everywhere, even outside of their home country. They amass wealth, power, respect, and create a legacy.

May the examples below speak for themselves.

Very well-known celebrities with aspects to their Jupiter/Pluto midpoint:

Ariana Grande (Saturn trine)

Zayn Malik (ASC trine)

Jeon Jungkook (Sun trine)

Selena Gomez (Mercury sextile; Saturn trine; Neptune square)

Conan O'Brien (Saturn trine)

Tom Cruise (Saturn trine; Node sextile)

Marilyn Monroe (MC conjunct)

George Clooney (Mercury opposite; Uranus square)

Brad Pitt (MC square)

Leonardo DiCaprio (ASC contra-parallel)

Beyoncé (Saturn & Mercury contra-parallel)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Uranus conjunct)

Naomi Campbell (Moon sextile)

Taylor Swift (Neptune trine)

Barack Obama (ASC square)

Very well-known celebrities with an active midpoint that contains Jupiter and Pluto together:

Rihanna (Jupiter square Moon/Pluto)

Meryl Streep (Pluto trine Moon/Jupiter)

Kurt Cobain (Pluto sextile Moon/Jupiter)

Al Pacino (Pluto square Sun/Jupiter; Pluto square Jupiter/Saturn)

Zendaya (Pluto parallel Moon/Jupiter)

Angelina Jolie (Jupiter opposite Uranus/Pluto; Pluto contra-parallel Jupiter/ASC; Pluto parallel Jupiter/S.Node)

Stephen Colbert (Jupiter square Venus/Pluto; Jupiter square Pluto/Node; Pluto parallel Venus/Jupiter)

Timothée Chalamet (Jupiter conjunct Mercury/Pluto)

Joaquin Phoenix (Jupiter trine Neptune/Pluto)

Nicole Kidman (Jupiter parallel Mercury/Pluto)

Robert De Niro (Jupiter conjunct Pluto/Node)

Kim Kardashian (Jupiter parallel Moon/Pluto)

Priyanka Chopra (Pluto conjunct Jupiter/Saturn; Pluto parallel Mercury/Jupiter)

Margot Robbie (Jupiter sextile Pluto/ASC; Pluto trine Sun/Jupiter; Pluto trine Mercury/Jupiter)

Drake (Jupiter trine Venus/Pluto; Pluto sextile Sun/Jupiter)

From all of the midpoint combinations, Moon/Jupiter/Pluto was the most prevalent. For this post I personally combed through the midpoints of about 45 celebrities total with 30 making the cut here. The other ~15 did not have an active Jupiter/Pluto midpoint nor an active midpoint combination with them. What they did have was a natal aspect between the two planets in their chart, or Jupiter and Pluto both made an aspect to either their Sun, Moon, ASC, or MC within 7°.

If I had to speculate on short-term fame aka "fast rise, even faster fall", I'd wager those kinds of viral sensations have a transit hitting their Jupiter/Pluto midpoint instead, and the lack of natal support can only push it so far. This is something I have to do more research on.

All done! Thank you for reading. This is my first real astrology post. I'm not sure if I'll ever write more as I prefer to lurk, but who knows. Ciao🌷

Sources: (1), (2), (3), (4) + astrotheme.com for providing the birth details

[factual-fantasy]

Greetings Factual! I just realized I completely forgot to congratulate you in my last Ask- so although it's a tad late, allow me to say, great job getting to yet another milestone in the form of 27,000 followers! As I've said before, you deserve every single one and more- your works, both big and small, make bad days brighter and good days even better! I've especially enjoyed the pixel art gags these past few days- "human sans" and "Bingus" in particular- and it seems like many others have too- at this rate, 30,000 is just a few steps away! Almost their!

Also, thanks a million for responding so kindly to my idea regarding the gangs reunion with patty and meeting with Baragara! I'm glad you like it, and regardless of what details you decide on, I just hope we get to see the moment illustrated some day, as emotional as it is epic!

As for my actual Ask today- I was wondering about Grimaces Gigantamax status. As you probably know, some Pokemon species, including Gengar, can take mega evolution to the next level and temporarily grow to Kaiju sizes when exposed to certain types of legendary energy. However, of the 26 compatible species, not all members have the genes necessary to do so. So, even though he is unlikely to be exposed to the energy required to Gigantamax, if he was, would Grimace be among the lucky few of his kind to react? Or does he lack the Gigantamax genes- which, if he does, certainly wouldn't make him any less awesome!

Oh, and also, small goofy side ask I just thought of- since the group usually seems to sleep together, do any of its six ( later eight ) members snore? And if so, have the others grown accustomed to the noise? Or do they "throw a pillow at the problem" so to speak?

(27,000 followers) (Human sans) (Bingus)

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :DD I'm glad to hear that you've been liking my pixel stuff!! :DDD

As for the Baragara ask, awe! No problem!! :D I've been thinking about his story and how I would draw it.. it just seems like a hefty project to take on in my current state.. <XD

Now hmm.. Gigantimaxing.. Funnily enough the discord server an I actually talked about Grimace potentially Gigantimaxing or mega evolving. You know, for angst reasons XD But the general take away I got is it would requite too specific of an environment and situation for him to mega evolve on accident. If mega evolving on accident is even possible- (I say accident because the group are not intended to know what megastones are or how they work. So its not like Grimace could mega evolve intentionally-)

Gigantimaxing had a similar problem. Requiring too specific of an environment/situation for him to Gigantimax unintentionally. They're not in/from the Galar region, so they don't have access the things needed to Gigantimax.. and since Grimace isn't from Galar, I thought it would stand to reason that he wouldn't have the gigantimax genes..(do only galar region pokemon have the genes..?)

And even if they were in Galar and Grimace had the genes, Gloria would be a roadblock.

If they found like.. a gigantimax den.? She would surly sense the powerful aura and be sketched out. Thus steering the group away. And since Gloria has never steered them wrong before.. no body would disobey her.

It kind'a sucks that I cant find a way for these two scenarios to work out! 😭 I had a lot of fun imagining Grimace mega evolving in a panic to protect the group and then needing Sylvester to talk him down. But needing a megastone, and a keystone..? And somehow having Gloria not get sussed out by the stones powerful aura and not taking it away from Grimace just seems pretty far fetched. Darn you Gloria for being so observant and caring for your friends. 😔

I'm open to ideas of how I can make either idea less specific and more possible though.. 👀👀

As for your last ask, I'd like to say that thankfully none of them snore <XD it would be pretty hard to stay hidden in the forest if you snore!

[askmerriauthor]

I said the game demands microtransactions, not that it requires them. That's not just me being pedantic about wording, but rather a big indication of how the developers designed the game to work. Pokemon Sleep doesn't want you to play for free and is designed to make playing-without-paying a worse experience.

Like many free-to-play games out there, they operate on the idea of monetizing convenience and "fear of missing out" (FOMO). Such games will either create a problem in order to sell you a solution, or rely on a rotating/limited availability of enviable items to encourage impulse buying to avoid losing the chance to have the item. Pokemon Sleep does both of these.

Despite Pokemon Sleep being presented as a passive "something in the background while you sleep" kind of novelty, that's not the actual gameplay at all. The game actually wants you to be extremely active and paying a lot of attention to it non-stop, along with encouraging you to get others involved as well. Up to 500 potential invitations with a 50 individual approval list of contacts, specifically, and the system "helpfully" lets you link to your Google, Apple, or Facebook accounts in order to facilitate that and further scoop up lots of personal data for advertising.

The basic gameplay cycle of Pokemon Sleep is that you have a 7-day period in which you can power up your Snorlax as much as possible, with a higher power score equaling a greater variety of visiting Pokemon for you to catch. Visiting Pokemon will appear in a variety of sleeping types, of which there are at least 415 to collect (with individual Pokemon having multiple sleeping types). These Pokemon can also be "befriended" by giving them a sufficient number of items, which means they'll then join your team and help you boost Snorlax's power score over time. You can further boost Snorlax's score by feeding it, which the game encourages you to do three times per day within a given time window. Your Helper Pokemon will supply you with ingredients to make meals for Snorlax at different intervals, and the meals you make have different potencies based on the ingredients used.

So, to summarize, you have a limited period in which to get a number as big as it can be, with various randomized factors able to improve the rate of progression, before it all resets and you're back to square one.

Yes, you absolutely can play this game without spending any money. But the game itself is designed in a way that urges you to spend money at every turn. Every element of gameplay is improved if you spend money, and will actively degrade in effectiveness and quality if you don't. Remember how you can befriend Pokemon to help you out with getting Snorlax's score up? That's faster and easier if you spend money. Those same Helpers who gather ingredients for you? They lose Energy (an arbitrary limit put in place by the game system) the longer they're around, and become worse at gathering ingredients the less Energy they have. But, good for you! You can just buy more Energy for them! Rather, you have to make two purchases - the Energy-restoring item only gives back 50% of their Energy, so you need to buy two in order to max them out again. And you can just buy a box of random ingredients too! How convenient! And if you really want to get the most out of sleeping, you can buy the monthly auto-renewing (until you manually cancel it through Google or Apple, not the game app itself) Premium Membership! Which literally makes your sleep more valuable than the same - or even higher quality - sleep of people who aren't Premium members! But you better buy fast, because all of these items for sale are on a rotating schedule and will swap out of the shop at different 15 or 30-day intervals. You wouldn't want to miss your chance, would you?

A core facet of microtransaction pricing is that it's intentionally and carefully designed to never be enough. You'll always be in a position where you need to buy just a little more than the minimum, and it always comes out at odd numbers that never fit exactly where they need to in order to maximize your purchase, and are priced in unorthodox values specifically to trick the buyer's brain into thinking it's a better deal than it is. With that in mind, it pays to look at the minimum and maximum amounts the game wants to try and charge you since that gives a good idea of their intended range of interaction with your wallet, and how far a given amount of paid microtransactions will take you. Because, remember, such games are built around the idea of NEVER giving you enough. They ALWAYS want you to be in a state of wanting a little more and being tempted to dish over some more cash for it.

In Pokemon Sleep's case? The minimum buy-in for "Diamonds" - their premium microtransaction currency - is 60 Diamonds for $1.19. Their maximum? 7000 Diamonds for $97.99. So what this says outright is that the game is designed in such a way that it expects 7000 Diamonds to NOT BE ENOUGH to maintain a player's best experience. Because, again, such games will NEVER give you a value sufficient enough to deter the need for further purchases. This is a game that wants players to spend $100 multiple times over throughout the lifespan of their interest in the game. Will the majority of players do this? No. There's absolutely going to be a number of whales who will, especially among influencers and content creators on social media who make their own career off these sort of things. But what Pokemon Sleep is relying on is that there will be a far greater abundance of players who think "Oh, it's just a dollar..." or 'Oh, this item is going away... it's not even $5, so why not?" on a very regular basis.

And I haven't even touched on the overt security/privacy issues and the personal info scraping the app has potential for as well. So, yeah, I'm just going to go ahead and sleep on Pokemon Sleep.

[bluestarjay]

Plasma is so loser bf x princess bf, and like,, I think we know who's who, even though they're both definitely losers. I see a lot of polyninja, a lot of lava, and a lot of bruise, but not enough plasma!!! They're so underrated,, here's some early show plasma for the soul 😎

When they first met, they hated each other. Wu had Jay, Cole, and Zane just, like, attack him out of nowhere! Obviously, it was for the test,,, but all Kai had gotten out of it were 3 annoying rivals. And the blue one? His first thought when he asked about his sister was, "Is she hot?" He was annoyed. His job was to protect his sister, and yet she was in the hands of some damned skeletal villains. How had he failed so badly?

Even though he had insisted that he wouldn't become a ninja, that it was just to save Nya, he had found a home at the monastery. He knew it was necessary to stay and help defeat Lord Garmadon. He had his sister and 3 annoying friends. But that was more than he could say he had before.

The most annoying of them was definitely Jay. He never shut up, and he was kinda dumb, but at the same time, he was brilliant. They had shared stories of how Wu had found each of them, and Jay mentioned a failed flying machine. Apparently, he lived in a junkyard and had grown up building things, which was pretty cool. He knew they were similar in that aspect. He, too, grew up creating things, and he was well aware of the patience and skill required for it. Jay, of course, was a whole lot smarter than him, considering that Kai never went to school, and Jay had been homeschooled for the past 12 or so years by his parents, who also happened to be incredibly smart. But considering how much of a genius Jay was, to be able to invent things with a reasonable chance of success, as well as the other artful skills he had mentioned, he lacked common sense. And it pissed the hell out of Kai.

After many months of getting to know the other ninja and a few encounters with Lord Garmadon's son, Lloyd, he could definitely say the other ninja had grown on him. Zane tended to be a pushover and always took things too seriously; he always mother-henned them when they got injured. He was kind, though. Cole was kind of a slob. He wasn't really one to say anything, though, as he was too, but sometimes it was like Cole was another breed. He was way too strong for him, too, so training with him always sucked. Jay wasn't any less annoying, but he had gotten used to nervous ramblings and pessimistic panicking in the face of danger. Seriously, he was a ninja! How was he gonna help save Ninjago if he couldn't handle spiders? But he should probably give him more credit. He was a pretty sheltered kid, living in a trailer in the desert. He had started to cling to Kai when it got too cold, since he wasn't used to the cold weather. At first, Kai thought it was annoying because all he had to do was grab a jacket. But then Zane started to do the same, and it became common to have Jay and Zane sit on either side of him when they played video games so they could bask in the heat he radiated. Honestly, he preferred just having Jay next to him than Zane. Only because Zane was too cold, even for him!

At one point, he noticed that what had been a simple, fleeting crush on Nya had become love for Jay. Jay was in love with Nya. His sister! The thought of it made his stomach ache, and he knew that he wouldn't let Jay go out with his sister, no matter what. Hell, he'd rather let Nya go out with Pythor than Jay!! And it wasn't necessarily anything against Jay. He just didn't want one of his best friends to date his sister!

But they went out anyway. To Mega-Monster Amusement Park?? When they were on a mission there?? He hadn't even given permission!! And then Jay unlocked his true potential because of Nya!! He wanted to be happy for them, truly, but he couldn't find it in him. He didn't know why, but he felt nauseous seeing Jay's glowing form next to Nya, hearing her say, "I like you best when you're you!" Well, no shit! Anyone could've told him that! A voice deep inside his head tells him *he* should've helped Jay unlock his true potential.

Another several months go by, and they've since had to deal with getting Lloyd adjusted to his new life as a teenager and the green ninja. He had a huge role to take, and he felt bad. In those few months, he had come to think of Lloyd as a brother. He was stupid to think he had a chance at becoming the green ninja himself. It was always meant for Lloyd. He knew it made sense; his role, no matter what, would be to protect his younger siblings. He's noticed that as Nya takes on her passion for engineering or mechanics or whatever the hell it is, Jay had worked on his own stuff less. And then when Pixal had joined, maybe he just felt useless? They already had people to take care of fixing their mech and vehicles, and his lightning was useful, but not really for the day to day mechanical jobs Jay tended to help with. He knew this because he tended to watch Jay sometimes. Not because he was being creepy or liked him or anything, obviously! But Jay was the kind of guy who needed some help sometimes. He noticed that Jay was a lot more restless without having stuff to do, so he bounced his legs, which got annoying because it shook the table or his feet tapped the floor a bit too loudly. Sometimes, he'd start drumming on the thing closest to him, which, again, got annoying real quick.

One time, when it was just the two of them, Jay started bouncing his leg and looked really anxious, and kai thought that maybe it was because Nya was fixing something in the next room over, and the clacking of metal and whatnot could be heard. "You good, man?" Jay stopped almost immediately and turned to look at him. Kai had several thoughts about Jay's hair, how it was almost definitely curly, but being straightened every morning. At the time, it had been raining, so even though Jay's hair wasn't quite curly, it was frizzing up and didn't look very good. And to think he made fun of Kai for having damaged hair!! Jay forced a smile, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. "Yeah, of course! Why wouldn't I be?" "I don't know, you've been shaking your knees like crazy, and you look half dead. Is it the rain messing with your powers? Or Nya?" Jay flushed and looked confused. "It's kind of the rain. Why- why would it be about Nya?" "Uhh well, she rejected you, didn't she?" Jay looked away from his eyes. "And she's taken over your role as the 'smart one' or whatever. She's out building and fixing things, and you feel like we don't need you anymore. But we do. Dude, you're so fucking smart and you don't even know! I didn't even go to school, you know? If you keep bottling everything up, you're just gonna end up hurting someone and probably yourself." Jay looked back at Kai, tears building up. Knowing him, he'd probably just start getting super defensive. "Dude, you just took that whole conversation from 0-100 right there, like, you aren't wrong, but where the hell did you get all that from?? And me and Nya, we just decided we were better off as friends, it's fine. I genuinely don't care all that much, Nya's really cool, and I'm fine just being friends with her! But she's been hiding out with Pixal, and every time I ask if she's got anything she needs help with, or if she's got something for me to do, she insists that they've got it! And I would totally just work on my own thing, but I can't because they're always in there, and it's awkward! Because what I've been doing my whole life, Nya has picked up in the past few months! And now they don't need me, and I feel useless!" As tears silently streamed down Jay's face, Kai wrapped his arm around Jay and pulled him towards his chest. Usually, he wouldn't do this for someone unless it was Nya or Lloyd, but he loved Jay.

He *loved* Jay.

Holy shit was he in love with Jay???

Ughhh, this was so bad!!

He's in love with the boy who was in love with his sister!

They might’ve been just friends, but that was still weird, wasn't it? He'd definitely have to talk to someone about it,,, He looked down at Jay, who was still tucked into his chest, and oh wow, even though his hair was straightened every single morning, it was really soft! Jay had by now stopped crying and let out a long breath. He looked at Kai and smiled. Had Jay always had a scar on his lip? He wondered how he got it. And were those lichtenberg scars on his shoulders; and beginning to creep up his neck? And his eyes, they were entirely brown, but his left eye was partially a deep, dark brown compared to the lighter chocolate color of the rest.

"Kai?" Uhh yeah?" "Thank you."

[mitraoki]

Hii, can I request headcanons on the JJK men’s sleeping habits + positions, including Suguru Geto pls? Thank youu

their sleeping positions/habits. (jjk hcs!)

note; omg anon hiiiii! thank you for requesting!!🤍🥺 this is certainly new for me to write, so i hope i did a good job with it!

come on in requests are open! <33 you can always refer to who i write for in my rules :3

i also referred to this link! wanted to give you the best experience <3

masterlist.

gojo satoru

+ would like to properly start these hc's with letting everyone know that gojo is a heavy sleeper. shake him as much as you'd like, bang pots and pans, set hundreds of alarm clocks around him and it would seem like he's not even physically there - he's probably living in his dream at this point. built himself a house and is sleeping there.

+ he claims that the strongest jujutsu sorcerer does not require much rest because he's always out and about, completing missions under his care. but we all know how much fatigue that can cost. one thing you should take note of gojo is how much he's in denial when it comes to taking care of himself. he will continue to tell you he's okay but we all know he's not.... so tell me why is he sleeping like a baby now, hm?

+ just shove gojo onto the bed, that's more than enough for him. that is why he doesn't want to admit he needs sleep - he KNOWS for a fact that if he finds a place to rest, he wouldn't be able to get up anymore, unless he's all recharged for a new day. a bonus for him is that now that you two were sharing a bed, he gets to have you in his arms, too. this means that he needs you in the bed with him at the exact moment as he is; if not he'd already be fast asleep and he'd miss a chance to hold you😭😭😭

+ he adores having you in his arms. this also means that he enjoys being big spoon so much (you're also his bolster). he does know that holding you tight wouldn't give you the best sleeping experience, so he ensures that his grip is loose enough for you to breathe <3 it's genuinely a miracle with how stable this man is when it comes to sleeping, because he can stay in the same. position. the whole. night. 

+ the only time the position actually changes is when he's having nightmares and startles both of you awake. i've mentioned this a number of times before but gojo does not mind being vulnerable in front of you. you might see him sweating, hyperventilating, shedding a tear or two; but he's not going to be running away from you. he needs you to understand the person you're with. when he eventually calms down and gets a glimpse of you, he kisses you, whispering a thank you before laying back down, drifting off to sleep once again.

+ gojo has a good night routine. it's simple, doesn't require a lot of work. he does offer you some advice, and is also not afraid to seek some help from you if he does feel like he's missing out. i feel like the products he uses are super high end ones (no but think about how much he invests in them... his glossy lips say it all), and absolutely does not mind getting you the best ones too :>

geto suguru

+ okay so geto's 100% a light sleeper. i feel like he's the kind where he would lowkey worry about something potentially happening to him or you, or maybe some kind of issue will pop up. so he definitely adapted to waking up the moment he hears noise. of course, when it's nothing to be worried of, he gets all grumpy and has this face >:( on until he falls asleep again.

+ i hc his sleep schedule to be quite admirable :0 geto makes sure he gets the right amount of sleep. not the kind where he has set a specific time to head to bed, but rather how long he must sleep in order to actually be able to function the next day. not one hour must he leave behind because if he does, it's over. geto is now having one of his worst days yet :( but don't blame him, he's so accustomed to it and he doesn't think he can ever overcome it either🥹 poor geto is worried he might unconsciously hurt your feelings due to his bad mood; so when he's quiet, try comforting him, make him his favorite drink, maybe hum a tune or two - he would love a relaxing day <3

+ geto talks to you a lot about his dreams. he doesn't really have a dream journal to write them on (he prefers not to), but he can surprisingly remember whatever he'd dreamt of, and tell them to you. sometimes he researches what his dreams mean too, to see if they have good or bad omen. he looks like a puppy when he's conveying his thoughts about them. if he had a tail you would probably notice it waggling a LOT. 

+ now geto loves holding you. whenever he has the opportunity, he holds you. he keeps you in his embrace, never lets go. something about the two of you fitting together like puzzle pieces makes him so happy. no doubt that he's gonna have a cuddle session before you two doze off hehe :> he tells you about his day, you tell him about yours, and the conversation goes on an on until you two end up falling asleep, completely intertwined with one another. he finds it extremely cozy being able to do this with you every night. it's some form of security for him, and a promise to keep you close no matter what. 

+ he does move a lot though, so you two might end up in completely different positions when you wake up OOPS😭i can see the confused look on both your faces when you see geto upside down and you holding his legs AUGHHH SO CUTEEE

nanami kento

+ oh wow.... our beloved nanami..... my fingers are itching to type this NOW

+ unlike geto, i think this man just forgets about his dreams. whenever you describe yours he's just gonna sit back in his chair, contemplating for so long about what he just dreamt. surely he has to remember something.... was it bad that he didn't...? all he can remember is seeing little dots of green or yellow light illuminating before he goes into a deep sleep.... he's trying okay😭

+ nanami has the BEST sleep schedule out of all the men i've written here. i feel like he hasn't gone through any struggle, neither has it physically bothered him if he had to stay up a little later than usual but everybody deserves good sleep, and he values it a lot. though sometimes you can hear him grumble a little if anything requires him to stay up the entire night. he wants you to have a good sleeping habits too, so it's just him constantly reminding you to take good care of yourself before 'i have to take matters into my own hands' (i personally do NOT mind that. it's nanami we're talking about-)

+ with that said, nanami cannot go to sleep unless you fall asleep first. he's always so worried if you cannot get some shut eye just for the night - his heart aches if he ever learns from you about your struggles with sleep. he's worried you might have nightmares and would continue thinking about it till the sun rises. it's unfair that his dearly beloved would have to go through something without his knowledge. 

+ 'please, 'nami. sleep. i'll be fine', and he immediately replies with a 'no. i'm okay. i enjoy this.' and he really does. he enjoys the faint sounds he gets to hear out the window, the moonlight being your shared room's only light source. the feeling of you nuzzling into his chest further as his arm over your shoulder and behind your back positions itself. you using him as your bolster this time, with your knee in between his legs. him slowly caressing your hand with his fingers, which works like a charm, as he could feel your breaths gradually relaxing on his chest. your eyelids finally win, letting you drift off to dream world. once he's sure that you are fast asleep, he plants a kiss on your forehead. his chest finally matching the rise and fall of yours, dozing off as well. 

+ i mean COME ONNNN of course he's holding you in a sweetheart cradle style!!!!!! nanami sleeps like a log as well, so that means he will not move around as much till he wakes up. he finds it super worth it to have you in his arms. i GUARANTEE YOU if he does have afternoon naps (which i think he has if he had to work overtime), he's going to hold you the same way he always has. if you ever have to get up and start your day, groggy (but too stunning to handle) nanami would pull you back, claiming that he's only going to need you for five more (which turned to ten, then fifteen) minutes.

+ 'i hope you slept well, my love,' he half-whispers with his morning voice so smooth, you just wished there was a way to kiss it. but all you could do was just melt in his touch, praying that this moment could last for as long as you could.

all created content belongs to mitraoki. reposts/remakes are not allowed.

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2024: Last Place

37. ISRAEL Eden Golan - "Hurricane" 5th place

Decade Ranking: 150/153 [Above Noa Kirel, below Roxen]

Where do we start?

Let's begin, perhaps by stating the obvious. Israel's participation in this year ruined the contest. You encounter an entrant or two that completely warp the meta around them at every contest, but never to an extent this cataclysmic. Every sour note of this contest, and there were plenty, sprouted from the decision to allow Israel into the year. That was the tipping point. I believe that makes "Hurricane" the worst entry of all times in terms of the sheer negative impact its presence had on the edition it parttook in.

The ESC discourse -on asocial media- completely revolved around the conflict in Palestine either to denounce the war crimes perpetrated by the Israeli goverment and the subsequent silencing of critical voices calling it out, or to make a stand against the Poor Young Girl who was unfairly maligned by radicalized leftists for a conflict she had no hand in.

So was it any surprise that Israel won every Western televote? Be honest. I know that the Twitter manchildren claim Israel cheated, but they are in denial. The televote was genuine. The scalpel slices both ways, sadly. For every heckler booing Eden or protesting for Palestine or announcing a Eurovision boycot or lecturing the general public to not vote for Israel, a sympathy vote for her arises because "Aw She Doesn't Deserve So Much Negativity, Poor Thing". That she willingly chose to rep israel at THIS time with THAT song is blissfully ignored. Eden Golan is not a child. She's fully accountable for the effects that her participation caused, and is perfectly a-OK with it.

So, wake the fuck up. The sympathizing nutcases were OPENLY mobilizing to vote for Israel without even watching a second of the contest, to prove a point against you know, "insane leftist wokery" or whatever they call it. "You can't make me think what you want or do what you want, TAKE THAT". It's the same principle that led to Brexit and Trump beating Clinton. Similarly, they attempted to hijack the results like a particularly nasty species of asian hornet because their 'Freedom of Speech' is more important to them than fair results in an entertainment show, or a potential genocide. Or maybe they were just indoctrinated. A smaller sample size due to boycots + 20 votes per crazed zionist, it's honestly a miracle Croatia STILL beat them in the TV overall.

In other words, pretty much every opinion about Eden revolved around the politics that accompanied the flag she flew under.

And I'm sorry, but Eurovision is not supposed to be about Israel. Why should THAT country get more attention, or even preferential treatment in this otherwise excellent line-up? That's not what it should be about.

It is THEM who it should be about:

None of these artists asked to be a part of this shambolic display. So in that sense, let's do something many have FAILED. Let's do what we're supposed to dp: Discuss the SONG, outside of context.

Frankly, there's remarkably little to say. Even without the context, "Hurricane" would have been bottom of the barrel for me regardless? It's a mediocre sappy ballad aimed to Make People Cry. We see such ballads pop up all the time in NFs (most recently Krick in Luxembourg and Noble in Portugal), where -more often than not- their sucktitude catches up with them and manifests a loss.

I've seen people be outraged that Norway's jury gave it points but I mean, look at any recent scandi NF and tell me a Hurricane wouldn't fit within its ranks. It's Undo, What if, A Monster Like Me, all the tacky soulless ballads with poor narratives preying on the soft-hearted and the guillible with cheap emotional manip. "Hurricane"was cut from the same dementor-esque, sympathy-craving cloth. Call me old fashioned, but I was taught that sympathy requires a modicum of respect, which needs to be earned, not begged for like a dog's dinner. (I hope the Europapa fans are reading this because this also applies to him, and that ghastly outro). If your song was written with the idea in mind of pinkwashing the deaths of a few thousand children, then perhaps you may have not fully earned the benefit of the doubt, jussaying.~

In terms of performance, Eden was vocally good, at least. It's her voice that carries it although i don't find her particularly likeable as a lead. Then again, she is a Russian nepo brat whose family emigrated to Israel after the Ukrainian war so that her daddy to secure his financial assets and the Golans could continue their lavish, privileged lifestyle in a safer country. It was always a challenge, so to say, to consider Eden Golan a likeable individual.

Also what is UP with the choreography? Why do the dancers look like they are loading air rifles? A Choice, to say the least.

So all in all, a pretty weak entry that always would have been in my bottom 3 for any country, but that probably had a ceiling of lower top 10 in a normal, generic year of ESC.

However, this was NOT a generic ESC. There's NO imagining "Hurricane" without its context which makes it so, SO much worse. It was specifically written in support of the Israeli victims in the war (why go through that trouble and not simply withdraw and spend the participation fee on providing for the families of the hostages? Isn't that more effective charity? But hey, what do I know.) There is no "depoliticizing", no matter how often you retcon the lyrics into gibberish. Hurricane's intentions are present in its rhythm, its instrumentation, the keys in which it is sung. The notion that you can separate it from its context is absurd.

And yet, that is precisely what the EBU were hoping for when they allowed it in, and it exploded into their face like a firework. I can't say they didn't deserve it. Ultimately, the full blame for all of this rests with them. If a certain entity threatens the integrity of your being, you get rid of the threat. You don't passively sit back crossing your fingers they leave at their own volition. The Israeli's would understand the reasons for exclusion, surely, as they've been applying the exact same principles to the Gaza Strip since mid October.

The EBU allowed them in, officially to prove Eurovision wasn't political and United By Music (in reality because they're cowards and didn't want to be the first organization to ban Israel from an international event, and be branded antisemites as a result). The result was the most politically charged and divisive contest of all time, rife with incidents that were as avoidable as they were outrageous. It couldn't have been further away from "apolitical unity" if it tried.

Hurricane was NEVER worth the price of admission. All the controversy, the security risks, the boycots, the antisemitism and xenophobia, the censorship, the harrassment of other delegations (which the Israeli delegation EAGERLY participated in) and of course the Israeli embassies in participating countries OPENLY advocating to vote for Israel as "a signal". Even the tensions that led to Joost's dubious DQ which I doubt would have happened at any other contest. This could all have been foreseen and avoided by excluding the country that clearly would have brought the contest into disrepute. Eurovision is now on life support. Congratulations EBU. You KILLED your own contest.

It briefly looked like Israel could win (leave to RAI to be woefully incompetent and blasé), which would have been the final nail in Eurovision's coffin but then they magically lost the televote (thank you SO much Eastern Europe, you are SO real for this) and stranded themselves in 5th place. Instead of being the Worst Winner of All Time, Israel are merely a mediocre also-ran, which I can live with. It makes "Hurricane"' marginally less appalling than "Unicorn" and "I.M" for me. Let their fifth place serve as a grim reminder for future editions that Hatred Breeds Hatred, and also, thankfully, that Love Can indeed Prevail.

THE RANKING

[chaifootsteps]

(Long semi rant trying to dissect what the basis of stolitz bond is supposed to be)

Some time ago Viv liked fanart of Blitzø holding a broken gold chain round his neck tearfully saying “please don’t get rid of me” so she knows his reaction is Stockholm syndrome not love but she’s trying to sell it as love? Going by her “what are you doing here then?” Line from stolas, she thinks him crawling back and begging to be sexually abused again, means he is in love and wants stolas to be his boyfriend. Christ.

She’s really struggling to write their supposed connection. If it requires a tertiary character like Millie or Fizz to state it to us, that’s not enough. Millie made him mad, and Fizz was saying “well your jokes are so bad that anyone laughing at them proves how in love they are!” I mean cmon. That’s nothing. Everyone laughs at the jokes of a guy they want to fuck.

It’s never organic. Either someone purchases one of them to be owned by the other, or the person is forced against his will by some contrivance, to leave his home behind and get stuck with the other. Vivzie sees this force, coercion and transaction as the strings of fate connecting their pinkie fingers. Is she deranged?

I guess he blushed at stolas ugly human form and made weird faces during All 2 U, and even though she strongly established him as not wanting to have sex with stolas all throughout season 1 and the start of season 2, she’s trying to go back and tell us he actually did? The evidence being his photo on his phone, where the phone inexplicably hovered above then both without Blitzø holding it at all, and his confusing horny song at Full Moon. Sorry but no matter what I can’t unsee him as a rape victim who can’t accept anything else and is very hypersexual.

Stolas is a guilt-ridden rapist trying to overcome his lust and domesticate a prostitute his father bought him as a kid 25 years ago, who can’t fathom love and has severe mental health issues. The rapist then gaslights and devalues the prostitute in public shaming, until he sees the rapist as superior to him and accepts all abuse as deserved. He feels like he has to win his abuser back to prove his own worth. Then once the prostitute sees the rapist has an abusive wife, starts dating him like he always demanded. That’s her magnum opus.

I think she just can’t comprehend the psychology of someone who’s been forced to have sex with another person over and over. Gross as it is, you can become accustomed to it and try to find power in it. This is the psychology of sex trafficking. And in general, she doesn’t understand Blitzø at all. She can’t understand someone not loving stolas. She thinks that someone compartmentalising the trauma and forcing themselves to be into it, kindve a “fake it til you make it” type deal, she thinks that’s a sign someone is attracted, and falling in love. In that case I hope she stays away from victims who’ve become attached to their rapists. She would tell them they protest too much and need to grow up, stop letting their self hatred make them imagine abuse that’s totally not real and just assuming the worst, and settle down with them.

Sorry, take from this what you will, or don’t, it’s just my long winded dissection for anyone willing to read it.

No, it's a great dissection, thank you for sending it!

And the thing is, fictional Stockholm syndrome relationships are super fascinating in fiction; everyone likes them. If they'd just call Blitz and Stolas's relationship what it is and explore that to its full twisted potential, I don't think there'd be any complaints. I certainly wouldn't be objecting.

[stormdash2]

If the Freedom Fighters were in IDW Sonic.

One thing I like to wonder is what it would be like if The Freedom Fighters were in IDW Sonic. While the IDW comics are meant to be more in line with the games, that doesn't mean that the Freedom Fighters can't find their place.

Honestly, if the Diamond Cutters can be featured in IDW, I see no reason why the Freedom Fighters can't be as well.

Sally Acorn. She won't be a Princess like Archie, but she can be introduced as the daughter of Knothole's Mayor, giving her political ties. Knothole would be less of a hiding place and more where Sally grew up.

She'd have martial arts capabilities and be handy with tech. She could even use her ring blades from the Reboot to help her in battle.

Just to get this out of the way. Sonally may not be a thing in IDW like it was in Archie. At most I can see Sally having a one-sided crush. It probably won't go anywhere, it'd just be a neat callback, but their friendship would remain just that, unless Sega ever okays the couple.

Sonic won't be a Freedom Fighter, and neither would Tails for that matter. He may not be childhood friends with Sally either. They'd meet as teens and build a friendship from there. Sally could have heard of Sonic at least, or maybe she saw him in passing, but that's it.

Nicole wouldn't be an AI, she'd be fully Lynx. I can see her being a tech assistant though, or even a master hacker. Maybe even a teleportation device to have her transported anywhere to pay homage to her old abilities.

She and Sally could be childhood friends. But I'd go a step further and make them stepsisters. This takes inspiration from used SatAM concepts.

There Sally and Nicole were childhood friends until Nicole's brain was transplanted into the computer. When she got her body back, she was a kid, so Sally became like a mother to her. So Sally being the protective big sister works for her character.

We can go further and have her be rather introverted, and more likely to communicate through radio or a hologram than in person.

Bunnie Rabbot wouldn't be a cyborg. I can see her going the Iron Man route and just using mechanical limbs to fight. It'd be both arms and legs. She'd also be a childhood of Sally, and the first to want to go on an adventure with Sonic and Friends.

The cyborg thing is cool and all, but that would require a whole new backstory since roboticization isn't a thing this time around. It can be done, but I am sticking to this route.

If anything, you can say she needed the robotic limbs because she was paralyzed, so she can still be flesh and blood, but still not fully functional.

I can see her potentially bonding with Tails, as he may take a liking to her robotics, and she'd find his genius mind charming. He might even put his own spin on things and build a close bond with one another.

Antoine would be a guard working for Sally's father. He might be updated to having a Wispon, but still with sword like abilities.

Honestly I'd rather he just have the sword but in this type of world, he'd likely be armed with a Wispon, so it'd be the best of both worlds.

I can see him dating Bunnie, or at least flirting with her, but not actually married to her yet. He'd be between comedic coward and brave fighter.

Rotor would be a mechanist, and likely the one arming everyone. Sally's Ring Blades, Bunnie's Robotic Suit and maybe even working on custom Wispons.

He would likely build his own weapons to fight, if need be, but also much more comfortable as the support guy than a fighter.

I imagine he could have some natural strength, so he'd be able to destroy a badnik if need be, without tools.

As a whole, the Freedom Fighters concept comes from their introductory arc where it's revealed they fought together during the Phantom Ruby Incident to liberate Knothole.

They probably didn't really do much damage to Infinite, and most likely just played defense to keep people safe. But they were determined to keep their home free from Eggman's rule.

In this continuity, they'd be more side characters though, and not in every arc afterwards. They could have cameos like appearing in the Restoration, maybe even befriending Tangle, Whisper, Lanolin and Jewel, but that's it.

Like The Chaotix, the Freedom Fighters will appear when needed, and would likely not recruit any game characters.

Bonus character, one of two. If Fiona Fox were to return, she'd have her original role as a medic like she did in the old Archie days.

She could be sassier, akin to her Destructix Days, but this time around, Fiona's purely on the good side. Any sassy remarks could be her either playful, or she just gets annoyed and is more likely to tell you off.

No bad history with Sonic, and her interactions with him and Tails are sassy but respectful. She has no feelings for Sonic, and she's kind to Tails but may be the first to call him nerdy if he acts in such a way.

Any trauma she had could have been due to what Infinite did to Knothole, but this time around, she works on it and doesn't let it consume her like the old Archie days. It'd be her personal character arc.

Bonus character, two of two. If Mina Mongoose returned, she would be more of an aspiring Pop Idol, and working with the FF to achieve that goal to spread Kindness in the world with her music.

She could provide some meta regarding official Sonic songs, it'd be a better way to work them in than just having characters quote them and potentially ruining a mood.

Also, no drama with Sonic either. She never had a major crush on him, she just finds him cool and appreciates him as a Symbol for Freedom.

She probably won't have her super speed this time around, but she'd be fine regardless. If anything, she can fight with a Wispon.

So yeah, this is how I would bring the Freedom Fighters back to IDW. Not to turn Sonic into an Avengers Comic, or to put him and Tails in an official team, but to just add a little bit of depth to their world.

It's still Sonic's story, the Freedom Fighters are just playing their part in it, just like any other character. It'd be a fun addition to the comics, so long as it's done right. Maybe one day.

[cherryfennec]

¿What is Dimentio's relationship with each of the members of Team Bleck? ¿Does he really consider them friends? ¿What does he think of them? ¿Do you like doing activities with them? And if so, what activities would they be?

I'm not really much of a character writer in my eyes but personally I currently kinda see his relations like this:

O'Chunks

Dimentio likes to humour O'Chunks and his way of thinking. He tends to be more open towards people that are prone to suggestions and the big guy is a fine example of that. He shows more of his playful side with him and tones down his wordplay just for the guy ("Mmm... I do enjoy a good chunking…”). O’Chunks is an open book to Dimentio that he doesn't need to explore, he has enough information about him and there isn't a lot that he could get him to do for his own benefits (that is until the Floro Sprout experiment). O’Chunks is very loyal and focused on the Count so Dimentios schemes would have little potential wiggle room with someone with such one-dimensional motives. In the end O’Chunks isn't really worth a lot in his eyes but he still treats watching and listening to him as a form of entertainment. They don't really spend much time together outside of meetings.

Mimi

Mixing the fact that Dimentio likes to poke into peoples secrets, be it for gathering dirt or curiosity for knowledge, and that Mimi has a bit of a brat personality, you're left with somewhat of an ‘annoying sibling relationship’. He likes catching her on lies and correcting them, even if the truth is embarrassing. He knows how much she wants to impress the people around her and how much she hates his jokes, which makes it more rewarding for him to follow and annoy her. However since her pride wouldn't allow ignoring even subtle mockery, she actually responds (most often with the first reply she can think of). Then the cycle repeats. She's someone with no benefits to him, just like O’Chunks, however in contrast to the warrior she actually makes it worth the trouble by acting on what he says. Other than meetings he probably follows her in the Castles hallways.

Mr.L

This one is neither like O’Chunks or Mimi. Mr.L is someone who is both valuable to Dimentios visions and entertaining to spectate. Since he's a person required to achieve the magicians goals, Dimentio tends to listen carefully to what the man says. He gathers ‘ammunition’ and then confronts the mechanic in his workshop or hallways, poking him for more information. Mr.L is a person who actually does respond to Dimentios inquiries, but instead of always saying whatever is at the tip of his tongue he can at times reply either with a different intriguing question or a self aware sentence. It's a fun game to Dimentio, he found someone else just as talkative as him who also isn't a total moron despite having moments of acting like one. He would follow Mr.L around the hallways and even into his ‘workshop’, that is until a little accident.

Nastasia

Dimentio finds her a little annoying. She's not very talkative, somewhat smart, and treats her duties with focus. He knows that she doesn't trust him so he doesn't talk to her unless he needs to. She’s a potential danger to him as she has eyes everywhere and doesn't take his words at face value. She knows something is up and tries to subtly to make whatever the jester is trying to do harder. At one point she started dragging Mr.L around with her, due to a certain event, just so he couldn't be left alone with Dimentio in a room. But in the end it doesn't matter as shes just another small inconvenience he will overcome. He does find it a little amusing that she tries though.

Count Bleck

To Dimentio the Count is worth as much as The Prognosticus he holds. He's hard to talk to and let's his emotions dictate his actions. He would be a threat if not for the fact that after the Void is opened he starts caring less and less about what people around him do and waits for the script to finish. Dimentio does sometimes try to get a reaction out of him just for kicks (such as asking if the name Timpani rings a bell). He takes pleasure in bringing people down and the Count, despite his looming demeanor, doesn't fight back.

Would he call any of these people friends? Not genuinely. Dimentio seems like the type of person who makes friends for benefits rather than because he has emotional attachment. The same goes for hanging out, if he ever participates it's to entertain himself either by mocking or spectating (he tends to easily fall for his curiosity). But that's just my perspective!

[homielander]

i am still extremely frustrated that "supporting rhaenyra = feminism" is the depth of the hotd writers' understanding on the subject. rhaenyra has not done a thing for other women apart from useless posturing ("when i am queen i will create a new order" and then denying baela driftmark at first opportunity) whereas alicent has actively stuck her neck out for other women -- by defending rhaenyra's claim to her father, other nobles, and even a doubtful viserys, all at the detriment of her own position; by convincing viserys that rhaenyra should be able to marry whomever she chooses; and by offering rhaenys and her granddaughters driftmark. i'm not delusional enough to label alicent a feminist but i would argue she comes much closer to being one than rhaenyra and rhaenys, who have done nothing but wallow in self-pity (actually rhaenys has done far worse) despite having a much greater capacity to enact change.

my question is, why should alicent support rhaenyra? before the time jump, alicent marrying viserys left the two estranged for years, and when they were on the verge of reconciliation, rhaenyra convinced alicent of a lie that got otto (her only remaining family member) sent away, leaving alicent alone at court without even the courtesy of a heads-up from her husband or former friend. after the time jump, rhaenyra only broached the idea of a marriage alliance as a last resort. she suggested torturing alicent's freshly-mutilated son and actively tried to implicate alicent in high treason. i can almost certainly say rhaenyra never said sorry for anything over the 10-year and 6-year time jumps considering alicent folded in like 30 seconds at the dinner when rhaenyra finally apologized and deigned to acknowledge that alicent was singlehandedly managing both the realm and viserys while she was off in dragonstone doing whatever.

(also, alicent's offences towards rhaenyra don't compare in my opinion -- the show made it pretty clear that alicent talking about the dubious parentage of rhaenyra's first three children was confined to closed doors, alicent never asked criston (and seriously, the courtyard incident is very much on harwin too) or larys to do what they did, and rhaenyra was the one to lend the bastard allegations credence by admitting them aloud in a room full of nobles at driftmark. alicent wasn't the source of those rumours by any means. "everyone knows. just look at them." of course there's the vaemond hearing but that comes after everything above ^)

all that being said, i honestly don't see why the contrived prophecy nonsense was necessary. i think alicent very well could have had an arc of personal empowerment where she decided after viserys's death to finally put her family and herself first, even if that came at the expense of rhaenyra and her claim. "have you ever imagined yourself on the iron throne" is a neat line and all, but it ignores that the only way a woman like alicent feasibly could have seized power is by putting her son (an actual claimant) forward as the successor. (after all, both f&b and hotd make it pretty clear that if not for the war, aegon would have been king in name only with alicent and otto ruling in his stead.) and we can't ignore that rhaenyra has never actually done anything to help secure other women's succession, so alicent wouldn't be making these moves to diminish women in general -- just rhaenyra.

of course you can have a conversation about how alicent working against the first female heir is a negative for women as a whole, but the point is it wouldn't be alicent's intention to work against women, just as it isn't rhaenyra's intention to work for them. i think there was a lot of potential for an interesting story here -- two women securing power only for themselves, but one operates within the system and one operates entirely outside of it -- but that obviously requires more nuance than the hotd writers were willing to allow either side. instead we get margaret thatcher effectively utilizing girlpower and the perpetual victim who's shown being sexually assaulted twice on screen as a punishment for not being able to bust out of her own prison with the dragon she doesn't have.