#and to THINK we may have these things animated?!?!?

[directdogman]

A few words about the upcoming Olandy route!

First of all, want to quickly apologize for the relative quietness on my part as of late. I'm still in the middle of an international move right now and I'm officially on the final bureaucratic stage before I can physically pack up and complete the move. I've gotten quotes from moving companies, found a good service for Salvage's transport (which was a challenge in of itself) and now I'm just waiting for the final legal paperwork to process. Combined with my recent stint in hospital (my heart did something zany) and preparing for an upcoming merch campaign whose launch month was decided at the start of the year, you may see why I'm behind my own schedule. I can however confirm that work is still on-going... just slower than I'd like. However, I've taken this partial hiatus in production to think over the route and make sure it'll be as conceptually solid as I can make it.

One concern I'd like to address because I've seen it mentioned a few times is the fear that the route may veer into fan service territory in terms of characterization/scene content and I'm hoping I can put those fans at ease. I understand these concerns. The very concept of an Olandy route does seem kind of rife for this sort of thing. The thing is though, the idea for an Olandy route was a cut concept from DT's basegame, when I thinking of ways to double up characters in order to have more three-way dialogue scenes.

Obviously, given that a whole route was cut from the game, this idea ended up in the same nether-sphere as the other potential route ideas, like the Fusco route. But, this was an idea that I considered long before the Olandy ship gained popularity and that's why I was eager to tease the idea after release. I get many requests for routes with characters like Harry, Peter, which would undeniably sell well, but that I'd really have to headscratch to think of a way to make work. My point is, I'm only interested in ideas that I'm confident in.

Would Randy and Oliver completely work as partners? There's points for and against it. Do they have a strong/unique dynamic? Definitely. Randy is someone who looks to others for comfort/confidence and he's not good at dealing with things alone or without guidance. Oliver is confident in himself and very much a pack animal, who loves receiving validation/affection and feeling useful. This roughly explains why they veer towards each other even without considering stuff like romantic/behavioural compatibility.

As for the route itself, my main goal with their dynamic is to give an honest exploration of each character and to show a side of each not seen in their route, while also staying consistent to who they both are. It's important to note that this isn't just a Randy-Oliver route, but very much a Randy-Oliver-Gingi route. You shouldn't worry that the route will be sappier or more romantically heavy than the other routes as I'm actually including an option to play the route completely platonically and both options won't be too dissimilar outside of certain dialogue lines from both characters.

The key thing here is that I'm writing the route just like any other DT route and my main focus is having fun scenes where the characters talk about themselves in order to compare and contrast the differences/similarities between each character within the trio. There are scenes where Oliver is serious and confides in Gingi. There are scenes where we see Randy's insecurity/cowardice paint him in a bad light.

The DLC will also not replace either of their routes, and will instead aim to emphasis traits + backstory each character has that's kind of implied subtly in each of their routes, but not specifically outlined, to give you a more well-rounded view of each character. So, my goal is certainly not to flanderize, but quite the opposite. I want to give a deeper view on each character that's consistent with previous characterization, by further explaining why each character is the way they are and providing more context to stuff mentioned in Randy/Oliver's main routes. Oh, and advancing Gingi's character further, akin to in Roger's route.

(And before you ask, yes, I do have a similar plan for Karen later on, but I have a very specific idea of where it makes sense to put it as it's a much more involved project than a simple DLC. It will definitely take longer to pull off. But, her day will come.)

So, yeah! Obviously Roger's route took care to display the datables in their cameos with the nuance they have in the basegame. From Randy's impurity (willingness to be part of a con), Oliver potentially freaking Gingi out and being unsure of himself upon meeting it, Karen cracking a spontaneous joke (and it not landing), etc. It's important to me that I don't flanderize these characters or reduce them to their outermost traits.

I'm still not 100% confident in the route draft, but that's a given. I never am. But, I can say, I'm really excited for people to see the character stuff I have in mind for Randy, Oliver + Gingi, particularly what's revealed about both in the heart to heart in the good ending. You have a rough idea of what to expect from the route as per previous routes and while this one won't be nearly as large as Roger's route, I still wanna make it the best experience it can be for you all. Thank you! :)

[professional-jaywalker]

Mildly annoyed at the trend of people... Forgetting that many of the strong experiences one can feel about alterhumanity are historically very very common in otherkin and therianthrope? This is not... Beef toward anyone, in fact this popped up bc I checked in on a non anglophone alt-h server, but god. Like speed round. As a note this is gonna be more therian linguo heavy just bc I'm very tired, a therianthrope, and mostly was in therian spaces so it's what I default to but a lot of those are applicable to otherkin n fictionkin.

"can phantom shifts feel like physically shapeshifting"

-> yeah this was an experience talked about not uncommonly on forums. A lot of therianthropes expressed the feeling of "a pelt under your skin begging to breach out" or feeling limbs push out against their skin as the phantom shift took place. Sure a lot of people also feel very mild phantom shifts. Both exist. But this experience is in fact a phantom shift experience. We called ourselves "weres" for a reason. Seems more common in people who distinctly see themselves as werecreatures, but this is not abnormal for a phantom shift, although preferably you should do a doctor check if you feel pain (also an experience ppl talked about, but it's not usually thought of as "normal" just bc. Well that's kinda bad and may hide an injury or whatever so it's better to check mundane reasons first. But painful shifts seem to exist you should just be very very certain nothing else could be causing it).

"I can't turn off being an animal / I can't stop my instincts at inconvenient times / I don't feel suited for human society"

-> this one always surprises me when it's presented as bizarre for otherkin/therians. That was like... A baseline therian experience. Yeah no a lot of us can't either. Usually the difference is that this feeling is at an all time high when in situations where you are constantly pressured to "human" correctly, socialize and have no breaks to wild it out, which corresponds a lot to The Entire Duration Of School and is therefore a more common complaint amongst teenagers than adults. It gets a bit easier as an adult sometimes if you're lucky to have opportunities that let you manage your life around instincts and such, although sometimes, well, you gotta play by societies rules to survive n it stays hard. Also a commonly reported experience. You do learn! But some people are better at hiding instincts than other, some instincts are easier to hide than other, etc.

"I have shifts I cannot control under very intense emotions"

-> "Berserker shift" is a controversial term due to a variety of reasons that span the usual "that's too weird, don't talk about that", the fact you're still responsible for what you do while shifty, or just bc it sounds kinda... Edgy, from a first glance, but it IS a term from our history and a lot of people do report the experience of going fully animalistic if freaked out enough. Sometimes alongside extremely strong phantom shifts as described in the first point! I've heard of people who had complete verbal shutdown and could neither speak nor understand speech, could not walk on two legs, reacted with growling spitting and biting, just the whole thing. I think this experience is a bit harder to find mostly because it's... Very vulnerable, usually. It tends to require less than pleasant conditions, and tends to be very vilified, so not talked about much, but very much something that is recorded.

Transhumanism, species transition and body mods overall

-> I'm not gonna talk much about this one bc I've said a lot in other posts, but there's a reason trans species and therianthropy are super intertwined and it's... Because a lot of therianthropes did historically attempt to transition or at least modify their body and surroundings to their best capacities. The idea that therianthropes, as a rule, mostly do not attempt to modify their bodies seems to me very incorrect.

"I feel a strong, almost supernatural drive toward nature / I feel in my bones I am nonhuman / I believed I could physically shift during most of my life under the right conditions"

-> This one is going to be a bit hard for me. As a result of having psychosis, I have kind of a mental block over thinking too much about it in regards to myself. It's also I think A Major way ppl seem to be confirming physical nonhumanity, so like, you do you, I'm not Telling you anything about yourself. However I do want to note that these feelings aren't particularly rare amongst nonhumans overall. A reason why so many therianthropes got in toxic groups that promised being able to go back to one's true form was... Because a lot of us are deeply convinced in some way or another that if things align juuuuust right maybe just maybe we'll have our bodies again. It's not hard to. Understand why an entire community defined by being in the wrong body would have this trait. A lot of us felt a strong drive toward nature, a feeling of being displaced amongst humans, a lot of us attempted to physically shift.

"I wish I could have my species's offsprings / I feel dysphoria over my sexual functions / I have sexual drives that align with being weird fetishes in a human society"

-> this one is more getting erased due to puritanism I think but yeah no for a lot of nonhumans it. Does not stop magically under the belt. And it's not a problem unless any theriform animal is involved. Yes even if it's kinda nasty to think about. I will however note for the first point "no theriform animal is involved" kinda still goes, please do not adopt animals, especially exotic animals, under the impression that you can parent them as a theriform animal could? It CAN be possible to raise a theriform animal in a way that would satisfy parental instincts if you're trained for it, but we're not special. We got raised by humans, we don't magically understand our species better than people trained for it. Very imprinted animals commonly make poor parents.

"I remember my past life / I communicate with my animal self spiritually / other spiritual experiences"

-> this one is such a surprise to me to see so uncommon now. Spirituality used to be a cornerstone of otherkin and therian spaces and it's kinda wild to me to see it's so rare now. So yeah no that's very much a thing. I don't think I've seen someone soul search for their "true name" in ages, when that was everywhere on old spirituality inclined forums. I can't speak much on this bc I am not a spiritual therianthrope + point about psychosis made before but I've seen parallel lives, I've seen past lives, I've seen future lives, I've seen misplaced souls, I've seen having a chat with your theriotype as a representation of your soul... Awakening seemed to have a meaning of the... Spiritual event of your soul kinda ripping to reveal your inner self for a while, a singular event in which you start remembering. Was very common on an old french forum over here. Not sure if that was as common in English ones. A lot of people's nonhumanity was not as based on shifts and instincts as on uncovering that hidden self through spiritual means, memories, and such.

Weird Shit Happens Around Me ("I can't digest things a human should digest in accordance to my species, ppl have noted my nonhuman traits as if they could see my invisible limbs, animals react weird to me, etc")

-> noooooted in the past but I think these have always been subject to doubt to be fair. Like you can find records of stuff like that quite easily, but also its very hard to prove in any way, shape or form. So that's a reason it's not in the basics of nonhumanity. But yeah historically a lot of otherkin/therianthropes have claimed Weird Shit Happens. Not rly my case so can't speak on it.

And I think I've mentioned what I had in my brain but this is just to remind ppl like... The therianthrope who wears a mask for fun and is only mildly inconvenienced by their animality is not really a representation of the community historically. Weve always been pretty fucking intense and pretty fucking weird. Chances are, if you are experiencing a very weird thing, it's not particularly a disqualifier of therianthropy or otherkin historically. Not that people might not give you shit about it! Pretty much all the points here, while not uncommon reported experiences, ARE in fact also things I've seen ppl be antagonistic about in the community. Which to be clear is stupid. But yeah it doesn't mean you're wrong, it means they don't realize the extent of our experiences.

[derangedchameleon]

I think Snow saw some of Reaper in Haymitch. Both of them, from Snow‘s point of view, do confusing things with the bodies of their fellow tributes.

With Reaper creating a makeshift funeral for the tributes that he killed and covering them with the flag of Panem. It never even crosses Snow‘s mind that this boy, while yes, „playing the game“ and killing tributes, has a level of cognitive dissonance here. This is a boy that wants to survive. He wants to go home. And he knows that he can. But in order to do that he has to kill people that are not really his enemy.

By making the graveyard and covering them in the flag of Panem he is saying „These were people. They are not animals. We are not animals. I may have killed them. But only because YOU turned me into a weapon. Because YOU gave me no choice. These deaths are on YOU.“

But Snow, as intelligent as he is, doesn��t get that message.

Running around with Louella‘s body. That‘s the funeral. Applauding Snow. That‘s covering the bodies with the flag of Panem. Snow smiles when observing Haymitch‘s behaviour.

Just like with Reaper, the only explanation Snow can think up for this situation is „He has lost his mind. Poor thing.“

Yes he can recognise the rebellion in the action. But he doesn‘t understand it. Not really.

[nats-w1fe]

Choose

Shauna Shipman x Reader/Lottie Mathews x Reader

Summary: Winter started to creep up, and you all realized it was time. Time for another hunt.

Word count: 2.6k

Warnings: Not accurate to how the actual scene went!!, Betrayal, major character death, angst, bad writing tbh

A/n: working on a Shaunahat piss kink request atm (I say as casually as I can)! For now you guys can have this!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You knew food was starting to become harder to come by, and you knew soon winter would come and those cards would soon too come out. But for now, till the snow fell—you salvaged any moment of peace you could get.

You’d been dating Shauna and Lottie since way before the crash, the three of you kept your relationship a secret until doomcoming. Everyone was surprisingly very supportive.

To say you were happy together would be an understatement, even in such a cruel place you knew you had each other. And those girls protected you like it was the most important thing in the world. Because, to them, you were the most important thing in the world.

They were the first ones that you told about your autism, but of course they could already tell. You had always been different You got overwhelmed easily, certain textures made you uncomfortable and could even make you cry. You were sensitive, very sensitive.

They never made fun of you for the way you were though, no, they helped you in any way they could. The favoritism was evident.

If there was spare food, it was yours. If there were spare blankets, they were yours. Someone built the best hut? That hut was now yours. Nobody seemed to care much for the favoritism though, which confused you. When you brought it up to Van all she said was, “well your Y/n, so y’know” she smiled at you as if the answer was obvious and made any sense.

Everyone was kind to you, you never argued with people. Even if people hated Shauna, they never hated you. Which made life easy for you.

But as happy as you may have been, you still missed home. You missed the warm embrace from your mother and father, you missed your little brother Jake who would force you to play cars with him. You regretted all the times that you turned down that offer.

But when the chance to go home finally came. You were stopped. Stopped by the two people you least expected, yet at the same time, it couldn’t be anyone else.

Lottie was first to refuse, then Shauna joined her. You could only stare in shock as Natalie scolded them. You tried to argue, to reason. But Shauna shut you down with a quick glare. Lottie comforted you that night as you cried in her arms, crying harder than you ever had before. She whispered to you about the wilderness needing you to stay here.

Specific words of hers caught your attention though, “It’s not done with you Y/n, I’ve seen the vision, of what it needs from you, don’t worry, only a few more days” you didn’t understand what she meant by that, you didn’t think you’d ever understand.

And on that night, when the snow fell, all your hope had faded away. You finally gave up. You were stuck here, for life, no matter how much you tried to deny it. The wilderness was too rooted deep inside you to leave anyway.

--

The sound of screaming was what woke you up. You rose from your bed that you shared with Shauna and Lottie.

Lottie groaned and gripped your waist, not wanting to let go, “Lot, we have to go look” you told her in a quiet whisper, “Shauna’s already gone”. She grumbled something under her breath before getting up and walking out with you.

You held her hand as the two of you walked together, the cold breeze shot a chill down your spine and you instinctively moved closer to Lottie.

When you arrived at the animal pen, where the scream came from, your eyes widened at the sight and you felt your stomach drop. The animals laid on the floor, dead.

You quickly covered your mouth with your hand, holding back bile that tried to force its way out your throat. “What happened…” Shauna muttered looking around at the state of the place. You looked over at Akilah who was knelt on the floor, clutching the body of a goat.

Your heart broke out the sight and you slowly made your way over to her. You crouched beside her and pulled her into a hug. "It's just like in my vision. They're gone, my babies, they..." she muttered frantically.

"How?" you asked, looking at the bodies that surrounded all of you, it was a horrid sight that made your stomach churn. "Maybe it wants us to leave" Natalie said. You all turned to her.

Maybe she was right.

"We got too arrogant. It's unhappy with us. We have to prove our faithfulness. It wants blood" Lottie announced, looking at you. You turned to Lottie. She stood next to Shauna. The two of them looked so powerful, yet terrifying. You hesitantly stood up and walked over to them. "We've done nothing but spill blood. Coach, the scientist, the... the guide." you listed off to them.

"But they were all our enemies." Mari spoke up. You quickly turned to her, furrowing your brows. Why was she agreeing with them? Mari of all people. "Mari what are you talking about?" Natalie asked her.

"Mari's right. We haven't offered it ourselves. It's not a real sacrifice unless we cherish it. We have to have another hunt." Lottie suddenly said. Your heart dropped. Your eyes widened and you stepped closer to her and Shauna. Your voice lowered to a whisper. "Lot, are you sure this is a good idea?" you asked her, putting your hand on her arm.

She gave you a gentle smile, but it only unsettled you more. She took your hand and held it in hers. "Baby, it’s what it wants, trust me" she laid a gentle kiss on your hand.

"I agree. And we have to do it right this time. We have to show the Wilderness our respect." Shauna said, mostly to you. You looked down at the ground, your mind reeling and heart racing. Shauna put her arm around your waist and pulled you close to her. "Nothing will happen to you, baby" she whispered, "I'll make sure".

--

That morning came quicker than you had hoped it would. When you finally woke up you were greeted by the bright sun shining through the cracks of the hut. Your brows furrowed and you reached for Shauna who laid beside you.

You practically climbed on top of her, burying your face in her neck to hide your eyes from the sun. Shauna chuckled and gently rubbed your back in slow, gentle circles.

"Morning" she whispered to you. You lifted your head and looked at her with a small smile. The sun reflected onto you perfectly. Shauna thought. You looked beautiful, angelic even. "Morning babe" you replied, your voice quiet.

"can we sleep in?" you asked her. One good thing that came out of Shauna becoming the antler queen was that you got to sleep in. She was in charge so you wouldn't get told off. Shauna shook her head, "Not today doll, sorry" she gave you a gentle kiss. You returned it eagerly and when she pulled away you sat up with an exaggerated groan.

"Once your dressed go help Lottie with her chores" Shauna told you as she stood up. She leaned forward and gently tucked a loose strand of your hair behind your ear. You stood up and gave her another kiss. She chuckled slightly into the kiss but made no move to pull away.

Once you pulled away you smiled up at her, "I love you" you said. You had said it a million times before. It was nothing new. Yet, this time, it had so much more meaning. She kept her smile, but it altered to a bit of a more confused smile. "You okay?" she asked you, gently cupping your face in her hands. You nodded, "I'm fine" you gave her one last peck on the lips before getting changed and walking out of the hut.

You found Lottie standing out in the snow, she was staring up at the trees and seemed to be muttering something. You walked over to her, she turned around, probably hearing your incoming steps. “Hiya” you smiled at her

She smiled too, but you knew Lottie, you knew when something was wrong. Your brows furrowed and you stepped closer to her. “Whats wrong?” you asked her, putting a hand on her arm. She hesitated for a moment.

“I feel, weird, about this hunt” she admitted. Your eyes widened slightly. Lottie never usually felt anything that went against the wilderness and her usual beliefs, so now you were concerned. “Lot, you know we don’t have to do this? I’m sure everyone would much prefer to not do it anyway” you said with a chuckle, but she shook her head. “No, it has to be done, I just…a vision I had, I’m scared it’ll come true” she admitted to you.

Before you could even begin to ask her to elaborate, the others started walking out of their huts. Shauna began instructing them all to stand in a circle and they did as they were told without question. Yet, you could see the hesitation in their eyes, the fear, the regret.

You made your way over, standing beside Hannah. You took a deep breath and watched as Van shuffled the cards. She glanced at Taissa then to Natalie. Your brows furrowed, wondering what was going on. “Sh-Should I…?” Van asked, her voice was shaky. Shauna gave a rough nod, “You can start”.

Van picked a card off of the deck, you couldn’t see what it was, but it wasn’t the queen and that’s what mattered. The cards continued their way around the group. You noticed the continuous glances between Van and Taissa but you said nothing. Then all of a sudden, Shauna moved, she stood beside you. You looked slightly confused. “Shauna, what... You don't need to take any extra risk. You can go back to your spot.” Taissa told her, holding her hand out.

Shauna cocked a brow and tilted her head, “How'd you get into AP Stats? It doesn't change the odds. Besides, I trust whatever It wills. Misty, keep going.” She insisted. Misty did as she said, continuing to hand the cards out to everyone. Then she got to Shauna. You looked at her as she pulled the card off of the deck. It wasn’t the queen. You let out a sigh of relief. She smiled at you and then it was your turn.

You didn’t realise your hand was shaking until you reached out and took the card. All eyes were on you. Your heart raced. You turned the card around and your heart dropped. Tears filled your eyes almost instantly. You showed the card to the group. “No…redraw! We’re doing it again!” Shauna yelled, grabbing the cards roughly from Misty’s hands. “No! It chose…” Lottie told you all, she stepped forward, clutching an axe in her hand.

You looked at Lottie, “One…” she started to count. You felt your heart break into a million pieces. “Shauna” you called to her, your voice shaking. She couldn’t even look at you.

You looked at the others, Van, crying and avoiding your gaze. Taissa stared at you, too shocked to speak. That was the same for the others. You quickly took the cloak off of yourself.

You stumbled backwards, Lottie continued to count and as she got to four you sprinted off as fast as she could. The wind blew through your face, the sharp stabs of snowflakes slapped your face as you ran but you tried to ignore them.

Your heart was in your throat, fear pumped adrenaline threw your body and you ran faster than you had ever run before. Then you heard the howling, they were coming. They were hunting you like an animal. You fell to the floor, cutting your foot on a branch.

“Fuck!” you exclaimed, clutching your foot. You sobbed, looking around to see if anyone had gotten close. You then saw Van, Natalie, Mari and Melissa approach. You quickly tried to get up to your feet. “No, no, no, no” you muttered, trying to run but you fell over.

Van rushed to your side, she brought you up to your feet, you screamed. “Please don’t! Van please!” you cried. “Y/n! Look at me!” she exclaimed, you looked at her, sniffling.

“We’re not going to kill you, we’ve got a plan to get home, we need you to be a decoy, to divert Shauna, Lottie and a few of the others away, can you do that?” she asked you, speaking slowly and kindly for you.

You shook your head frantically, “I can’t, I can’t” you sobbed, “I wanna go home” your flexed and unflexed your hands repeatedly, stimming. Natalie come over to you, taking your hand in hers. “Hey, hey, Y/n look at me” she spoke calmly but you could still hear the fear in her voice. You looked at her, “I know this is stressful and scary, but this is how we can go home okay? Take deep breaths and try your best okay?” she asked you, gently rubbing your arm to try and soothe you.

You nodded and finally managed to calm yourself as much as you could though your heart still pounded in your chest. “I’ll try” you assured them, Van suddenly lunged at you, pulling you into a tight hug. “Be safe Y/n” Van asked you.

Once she pulled away you ran off in the direction you heard the howling coming from. You turned to look behind you but just as you did you ran straight into someone. You grunted and fell to the floor. Your eyes widened but you physically relaxed when you realised it was just Lottie. You quickly stood up. “Lottie, you’ve gotta help me” you asked her, grabbing her hand. You noticed the way her eyes filled with guilt, you looked confused, “Lot?” you asked. “I’m sorry baby, its what it wants” she grabbed you by the back of your neck and lifted a knife. You screamed and tried to shove her hand away, “I’m so sorry baby” she muttered.

Just as she was about to bring the knife down, Mari shoved her away. You looked at her, “Run!” she yelled to you. You turned on your heels and sprinted off.

Lottie was going to kill you. Your Lottie. She was really going to kill you.

You stopped in your tracks when you noticed some others, including Shauna, starting to approach, they were at all angles. There was no where you could go now.

You choked out a sob, standing in the middle of them all as they slowly approached, “Shauna” you called to her, sniffling. She looked at you through her mask, she tightened her grip on the handle of her knife. “Please..” you muttered, knowing she could hear still, “I’m scared”. You heard someone running up behind you, you quickly turned and stumbled back.

Then all of a sudden, the sound of twigs snapping came from underneath you. and you dropped. You didn’t know how long you fell for, but when you felt the spikes impale you, you knew it was over.

--

“NO!” Shauna screamed, she dropped her knife, running over to the pit. She looked down and saw your body laying there. Spikes stuck through your body in numerous places. She fell to her knees beside the pit, crying out. Lottie came up behind her, “It’s what it wanted Shauna, I saw the vision, its why we had to stay, it was so desperate for her…she was different, she was struggling and it freed her”

[forsaken-headcanons]

okay hear me out. i was looking at the milestone skins and i thought of this so i hope you people see my vision too

so i hc that c00lkidd is a drakobloxxer. and since those are probably very unusual/endangered/simply hard to find in Roblox, it would be really hard to properly raise one. I think 007n7 genuinely tried to raise the kidd and did manage to succeed to an extent, it’s just that drakobloxxers have different social behaviors and instincts than Robloxians do.

examples may include:

- maybe drakobloxxers are less social and don’t handle large gatherings of people well because it triggers a hunting/defensive response.

- since drakobloxxers are significantly larger than Robloxians, c00lkidd could have easily been as tall as 007n7 at age 10. Who knows if they age differently - if we take the T. Rex itself as an example, the oldest one we know of is barely pushing 30 and would have likely been near adult size by age 15.

- I hc that drakobloxxers are partially burrowing animals [explaining their massive claws] and that’s why c00lkidd loved to eat dirt - it’s natural for them to snack on that, especially as nutrient-hungry children.

>- i also hc another use of the claws is display, as drakobloxxers will spread their arms and flex their claws as a form of anger/showing off in a fight-or-flight situation, usually with another drakobloxxer.

- facial expressions might be different. A great example of this irl is how humans use smiling and eye contact as a form of friendliness/expected behaviors when interacting with someone, but gorillas [and many, many other primates] would rip you to shreds if you did either.

I might add onto this later because I have Many Thoughts on drakobloxxers [I’ve been hyperfixated on dinosaurs for like a decade now and this is the bridge between that and roblox] but yeah. I think c00lkidd’s fate was out of n7’s control to some extent. Both in Roblox and reality, you can’t force something to act ‘human’ or practice your beliefs suddenly when they were doing something else for centuries and have it magically work out.

and as a final thing, I want to circle back to the ‘Drakobloxxers are hard to come by’ thing. That could potentially be why he disappeared, if we wanna chuck some more angst in here.

alr bye *skedaddles away into my abode .i won’t return for another century*

gasp. drakobloxxer hcs?? oh heck yes these are so peak omg. skedaddling with you as we await more food /j

WAITT THE SMILING THING!! dude wait. what if, because he was raised by 007n7, c00lkidd does smile in the ordinary robloxian way– it's just that a drakobloxxian smile is already seen as threatening to robloxian standards, and thus not many survivors can tell that he really IS happy and completely naive. gods. imagine 7n7 being the only one to know this... these drakobloxxer hcs are so good!! get yoinked /silly

[msookyspooky]

I need to know what your headcanons are on modern dating of Billy, Stu and or Randy 😊💕

Oooh nice ♡ (I hate modern dating sm and will be single for life before doing dating culture. lol I was designed for dramatic darkest soul proclaimtions, letters of yearning and long drawn courting that last a season before even dating and even dating we're not dating long if I know ur it. I wasn't designed for 'what's ur snap' and was made to send Polaroid nudes in letters with dried flowers and my perfume and...Other things not 'showering? without me?' text... Lmfao but I'll try! 😅💖)

Modern 2025 Dating HC's for Scream Guys

Characters: Randy Meeks, Stu Macher, Billy Loomis

TW: Sex Mentioned, Modern Sexism/Discourse.

Randy Meeks

♡ He's sadly a Reddit user but not in an incel 'niceguysforum' way but in a Dad jokes and we arguing with a 15 year old with a big titty anime pfp on a thread over the symbolism in Hellraiser kind of way.

♡ May also be into the Softmaledom and GFD groups on there and gets ideas from it (He gives nerdy but sweet kinky boy once yall are doing it ya know he does)

♡ Met in Fandom Spaces or at a Horror Con (Dare I say...He'd also be into anime too? 👀 If he was it would be Monsters or Hellsing or anything by Junji I'm JS.)

♡ Would send you horror movie merch/buy it and it arrives on your doorstep. Expect matching couple merch.

♡ Sends you voice notes randomly of "Oh my God, babe. These freaking assholes don't understand that The Babadook was a fucking metaphor-" and it's embarrassingly long before he tries to delete and when that fails he acts like he was talking to himself and accidentally pressed record

♡ Constantly finds new horror movies to watch even cheap ones and FT you to watch it with him till you fall asleep

♡ Definitely FT nightly if you're long distance till one of you falls asleep

♡ Would have a YT channel, Tiktok channel or Podcast on Horror Movies or Crime

♡ Would call you something cringe but meme like pookie bear ironically (and unironically) also calls you 'kitten' as a joke because you both think it's funny acting like a discord Daddy and his kitten girl for the disgusted reactions

♡ Has you both hugging as his pfp and rubs it in other nerdy redflag incels faces like 'Oh no one loves you? 🥺 Damn, someone does me-' in internet arguments when he gets told 'She wont let you hit bro' when defending someone

♡ Became a damn germaphobe after Covid and makes you put your hands out to put sanitizer on. Flinches still when someone coughs w/o covering their mouth cause he had it and doesn't ever want it again

♡ Plays Outlast with you and you both are screaming and laughing hard all night long over the headset

Stu Macher

♡ Stu Macher too bad you died in 96; you would've thrived online

♡ Met you on an app like Tinder, Insta or Snapchat (Or asked for it)

♡ FT you doing random shit in silence + random dumbass noises to fill the silence like boy why tf you fting me while boiling water???

♡ Is so much harder to murder now so either he won't do it but be oddly fascinated by it or he will and is just extra careful

♡ Is such a troll with a keyboard. Only refers to women as bruh, bro, bby, baddie, bih, bop. Uses terms like fine shyt to describe you. Just over does '*xyz* Ahh', 'The huzz are watching', 'What the Sigma??', 'She mid' in comment sections just because he likes attention and knows ppl will be like 'sybau'...He'll even do it to you as his S/O just to rile you up.

♡ Giant troll even when dating. He sees a prank on TikTok? He's doing it and might record your reaction too

♡ Will send risky texts all day everyday. You've seen his dick at every angle. You've seen every surface from tailbone to tip. He always asks for pics in return and constantly pushes his luck wanting your face in them or video

♡ Uses emojis and reaction gifs

♡ Texts you good morning and it's Russian Roulette...Sweet or Surprise Morning Wood?

♡ Netflix and Chill Regularly

♡ Takes Selfies to send 24/7. He just messaged himself eating a McChicken to you...Probably some nasty sex joke in there somewhere somehow istg

♡ Likes when you borrow his clothes and take selfies to send to him. Is like '😍' at you in his oversized sweater for bed

♡ Surprises you with shit he saw on pornhub/horny side of X and sometimes its fun and other times you're like 'Hey, no. Nuh uh I don't bend like that.'

♡ Can be sweet in a funny way using heart eyed reaction images to ur selfies or 'Oh mmyyy Shaylaaaa! 😭💘😫' to something he finds cute

♡ Will text you at 1am 'you up?' or 'I'm bored :(' and if you answer and he lives close he will be at your door with food

♡ Would think all women are either bops/thots, femcels or baddies (srry I fear misogyny is somehow worse/more open now like wtf happened)

♡ Claims Human Centipede or Tusk was hilarious and he might actually think that but he could also be lying bc he knows it will get a reaction from you

♡ Constant reaction pics to what you say like he's on X comment section

♡ Is rich enough he'll get those heartbeat rings/bracelets then forgets to wear it with you

Billy Loomis

♡ This mfer is a pretty boy edgelord incel (Travesty rlly) I am sorry; sad but true

♡ Still kills or has fantasy of it but would have to be way sneakier

♡ Met you organically because he doesn't like apps and claims it and hookup culture have destroyed society (...He says as he's scrolling X/Twitter)

♡ Will randomly send you sad qoutes and ur like 'oh god are you okay???' thinking he's in danger and he acts like he accidentally sent it

♡ If you're a girl; he constantly claims you're 'not like other girls' madonna whore complex kicks his ass everytime

♡ Will get petty if you miss his text or don't respond right away

♡ Talks to you about movies but is like 'Sorry...You probably never heard of it' then quizzes you bc he refuses to believe you *understand* an artistic *masterpiece* like Clockwork Orange (Sarcasm on my part)

♡ Would either listen to 90's grunge, Indie Rock or like $uicideboy$ type stuff

♡ Never sends you a selfie of himself smiling its always him looking tired or mad or blurry

♡ FT you at the worst angle ever like a 50 yr old man

♡ Doesn't use emojis except 🖤 if ur lucky

♡ Gets so pissed at Stu who pisses him off on purpose like 'WHAT THE HELL IS SKIBIDI TOILET I'M GONNA PUNCH YOU-"

♡ May have moments where he genuinely lets his walls down by sending those reaction pics with words on them like you see on Pinterest and that's the only way he knows how to say stuff w/o saying it, ya know?

♡ Does have Spotify playlist that remind him of you and Pinterest boards too but wont admit it

♡ If you text him and use a petname he's like 'shut up' while ttly smiling at his phone since you can't see

♡ Wants to know ur location on ur phone or when u get home safe (...He's hiding outside ur house, babe.)

♡ Will fully let his walls down talking for hours to you about movies but his taste can get dark

♡ Surprisingly is more honest/open through text than in person

♡ Total Agoraphobia and uses his phone for dopamine escape while acting about it all. Only time he feels content is you in his bed or arms

[evepere3]

Ok so I have a confession…… I heavily dislike the MC from court is darkness and Ikemen villains IDK WHY I just don’t like them and feel annoyed by them a whole lot😭 my favorite MCs is like the MC of love and deep space and this might be a hot take but Yui from Diabolik lovers I love those two bro😭 but idk why I have a dislike for the MCs for court of darkness and Ikemen villains because I sometimes get upset by their decisions because they always make poor ones and because maybe they act nothing like me😭😭 like I’m NOT about to take disrespect from some guy bro💀 and it’s the fact they both naively do things that can get them in danger and cause trouble for the others😭 and it doesn’t just go for them but I kinda dislike some ML’s too like it’s not just the MCs for example idk why BUT from court of darkness idk why but I dislike Jasper a whole lot and same goes for Roger in Ikemen villains no clue why maybe it’s the glasses but I don’t like them and it makes me mad how in Ikemen villains they always make the MC do something stupid or convinces her to do something and sometimes she catches them but does it anyways like girl what😭 like for example when Alfons gave her that weird cat costume and she put it on like girl huh!? I would NOT do that because remembered these MCs are suppose to be us but I’d rather wear the ugliest clothes than wear any costume given to me by that man, another thing I hate is that they can’t mind their own business bro😭 and every time someone says to them “it’s none of your business” they always reply with something corny like “you made it my business” or like “ik but this person needs help!” ……. Leave! GET OUT! That annoy me sm like bro why can’t you ever not eavesdrop like bro PLEASE😭 like I was so mad when in court if darkness the MC was listening in on a convo between Toa and his sister in the main story like cmon bro just stop😭 and another thing is how the both of them don’t defend their selves LIKE THEY BOTH BEEN KISSED NOT BY CONSENT AND THEY DO NOTHING! It make me so mad and it irks me because ik a lot of yall are not willing to let that slide and they mainly don’t do anything because their in “shock” or once I saw forgot which say that they didn’t do anything and should be flattered because their guy that kiss them without consent is cute…… I wanna cry I dislike those two MCs so much and before yall are like “but you like Yui” yes I do in the anime it doesn’t show her defending herself much but I remember in the manga she sometimes would defend herself and in the translated CDs I read she does defend herself and was trying to hit the triplet with I think a pan or hammer and then we got other times where she lets crowds take them and she actually stands up for herself or tries and even tried running away even though those vampire would’ve tried killed her she didn’t care as long as she tried to reach for her freedom and another thing is that Yui has a heavy disadvantage because they are cruel sadistic crazy vampires that don’t have pity or seem like they don’t care about her well being at times and mind you Yui is a normal young teen girl I’m pretty sure she’s 17 and like she’s stuck with Vampires that slut shame her and other things like cmon now and don’t bring up the Ikemen villains MC she did not try to escape them and she is surrounded by some of them that actually care for her as friends sadly Yui did not have that so please don’t compare them anyways this rant turned out longer than I thought so have a good night/day and may God bless all of yall

[silver-linings3]

thanks to @its-sports-anime-life for tagging me into this :)

normally i dont try this but why not yknow.

Rhea Ripley, i believe. I don't remember how so I was probably horrifically sleep deprived at the time but it gave me something to do at night rather than actually sleeping. I think I found the whole thing via either Youtube or PPV.land (now shut down and it was genuinely full of terrible people but it was the easiest place to watch for free). But it was back in January so I'm pretty new here. Though there was the time a year back where me and my dad would be awake while AEW Dynamite was on and we would just chill and watch that but i don't remember any specifics.

Penta or Fenix right now but it's genuinely so hard to pick because I love so many of them (Penta, Fenix, Bron Breakker, Rhea, Damian Priest, Iyo, Mox, Fraxiom, ZaRuca, DarkState, Finn Balor (for the crashout rn), Ivy Nile, Bryce Donovan kinda, Wendy Choo, Wyatt Sicks (!!), Alexa Bliss, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, Pretty Deadly, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton to name,,, more than a few). But yeah I'm loving the luchadore storylines rn :))

Penta has the vibes, Randy Orton has the chaos and Iyo is always great to see so I don't really know who to pick.

CM Punk. I don't even have a reason its just his vibes are so chill but also not. (Specifically the modern CM Punk bcs i haven't really seen any of the old stuff)

Again, haven't really been here long enough but I've heard stories of Bray Wyatt (may he rest in peace) and obviously my ass has been waiting for the Wyatt Sicks to actually have their fuckin return.

ZaRuca maybe? If they split up. I will be upset. Also Penta, he just seems so *good* for some reason, maybe because he's new to the brand and hasn't got as much history with it but there's just something about him.

Fraxiom!!! I want them to do so well in SmackDown that it isn't even fucking funny. I love those guys. They were the reason I actually started watching NXT again (they weren't really there when I started and I had stuff to do on Wednesdays so I couldn't stay up till 4 am for that show).

Anyways, this has kinda made me want to make a bigger post about some wrestling stuff but we'll see.

nominations if any of y'all either haven't done it or want to do it (completely optional ofc):

@fraxium, @daily-penta, @psychwardsiren, @inky-da-dinky, @sethpunkintyre, @mrawkweird, @iliketheshield

Saw this on insta and loved it so here we go!

1. This took me a second to narrow down, but I absolutely adored the Brothers of Destruction as a kid. I became a fan at a young age and didn't have kayfabe and the theatrical aspects of wrestling explained to me right away, so I thought Kane and Taker really were doing all those spooky things! (Especially loved when Taker would torment a wrestler I didn't like 😂)

2. It took a while for him to grow on me, but I love me some Bron Breakker. My dad loved showing me the WCW wrestlers he grew up watching so I was already familiar with his uncle, but he is very fun to watch! (Also his theme is 🔥)

3. Cody Rhodes, I grew up loving Undashing and Stardust, but to see what he has become has been amazing and I am so proud of him.

4. Randy Orton. As a kid I mostly liked him because I thought it was cool that he's from my home state, but it wasn't until I started watching again in junior high that I truly started appreciating him. Seeing him in person at my first live event is an absolute core memory.

5. Bray Wyatt. I could go on forever about how much he meant to me as a young theatre kid. I especially loved some of his feuds with Randy.

6. Iyo Sky. Another one that took a while to grow on me but she is absolutely shining right now and 100% deserves it.

7. Finn Balor. One of my top five who absolutely deserves better and I am hoping that happens soon. (Demon Balor come back to me 😔)

[jks1uv]

𝑀𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 ; tasm!peter parker | one-shot |

summary: benjamin pointdexter has chosen his object of affection obsession and it’s you, but not if peter parker can help it!

pairing: gf!fem!reader x bf!tasm!peter parker + platonic fem!reader x matthew murdock + platonic fem!reader x frank castle.

trope: established relationship.

genre: fluff + mild angst + hurt / comfort + some comedic relief.

warnings‼️: crude language + mentions of stalking + mentions of violence / killing.

word count: 1,516.

random disclaimerrr: i think garfield's peter parker / spider-man would be the perfect spidey to interact w daredevil & the punisher. like come on. his quips & no nonsense attitude would make him the annoying little brother to matt & frank but they'd develop a soft spot for the kid bc he's just like them. happy reading! ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ ♡ © 2025 @jks1uv

It was fast, the realization.

Your laptop’s camera light turned on randomly one day, the white light tiny yet glaringly obvious.

You squint your eyes and wondered ‘what the fuck?’.

The only times the light turns on is when you’re taking a test that requires a webcam or if you’re on the app, yet neither of those things were true at the time.

You weren’t too weary but the thought of someone hacking into the cameras of your devices has crossed your mind a few times.

So, you went to the hardware store to get some answers.

The guy hums in thought and checks some stuff on your laptop before scribbling something down on a sticky note.

“So, I can’t see much activity on my end. It’s probably just some manual stuff, minor details that need to be cranked out.”

He slides the paper to you.

“But, if you go to this address or call these numbers; they may be of more service and be able to tell you what’s really going on.”

You look down and see something totally different from his explanation. It makes your heart drop out of your ass.

Don’t panic! You’ve been hacked and there’s a chance of audio being picked up as well. Remain calm and go to your local police station. Stay at another address in case of potential threat.

You had an idea that would yield better results than what the police would have done.

Peter side-eyes your laptop with skepticism, his jaw clenched and lips puckered to the side in thought.

You’ve never seen him this mad before.

If he were animated, you’re sure he would’ve exploded 3 times now and would still have heat fumes above his head.

You nervously blink and fiddle with your rings, growing a bit anxious at his quietness.

“Who’ve you come into recent contact with?” His voice hoarsely drops like a needle on a vinyl.

You clear your throat. “You, MJ, my dad… I met with Harry for lunch earlier this week, and that’s it.”

He nods coolly, trying to keep a levelheaded look.

“You’re sure that’s it? No one from work seems suspect?”

You think about this calmly, intently. You focus on remembering anyone who’d said or did something that made you think twice about it, no matter how harmless the subject may have been at the time.

You do remember something, rather someone.

“Umm… There’s this guy at work, Benjamin. He works on a different floor than me but he asked me out to dinner once.”

Peter’s blood runs cold. “Go on.”

“It was a few months into our relationship and he asked if he could take me out to dinner. I said no and that I have a boyfriend but he told me that he never mentioned it being a date.”

“So?”

Peter had a feeling he knew where this was going but for your sake, he wanted it to be untrue so bad.

“I just awkwardly laughed it off and said that maybe another time as you were expecting me home.”

He sighs heavily and runs a hand through his hair.

“His expression changed for a split second, like he was annoyed or upset. Then he just politely smiled and let me be.”

Peter nods, already knowing.

“Do… Do you think it’s him?”

You want to dismiss that idea so bad because he seemed nice. But maybe that’s never enough.

“Yup.” He responds, not missing a beat.

“But we haven’t spoken since then.”

“Y/n, he’s the only one with a possible motive. He asked you out, you said no, so now he’s doing whatever he can to keep seeing you without you being in his way.”

Without you being in his way.

Benjamin resorts to stalking you because that’s the only way he gets what he wants and you won’t deny his advances.

It makes you feel small, so… small.

Why would he do that?

You were polite when you didn’t have to be. You saw him as a friend so why couldn’t he give you the same courtesy? He can’t just take no for an answer?

Peter can see you spiraling. He sees that distant look in your eyes when you’re thoughts run at a hundreds miles per minute.

He grips your hand on your thigh and interlocks his fingers with yours.

“Hey, hey, hey. Don’t do that.” He softly calls out to you.

You subconsciously hum but he holds you face in his soft yet calloused hands.

“Don't go somewhere I can’t follow.” He tilts your head up to meet his gaze. “Stay here with me.”

You deeply exhale and rub your thumbs up and down his wrists, your forehead coming down on to his.

It's when the tears fill your eyes that he kisses the closed eyelids and hugs you so tight, like you'll fall to pieces.

“I'll make it right." He whispers the quiet vow into your hairline. "I promise.”

You know he will and that's part of the reason you cry.

You've never seen Peter angry but it's personal this time, you don't know what'll happen and you don't know how to feel.

Should you be nervous? Happy? You're scared but the thought of knowing someone out there is willing to take advantage of people like you will be taken care of makes you less afraid.

Maybe Benjamin Pointdexter deserves what's coming to him.

“We've all gathered here tonight because Benjamin Pointdexter must die.”

“Okay, so that was not mentioned in the briefing, like, at all.” The lawyer in Matthew immediately objects.

“Kid's right, Red.”

And of course, it's overruled by Frank Castle.

The hardened man views the picture frame on top of the shelf above the chimney, casing the precious image inside: your gorgeous smile and Peter not-so-nonchalantly admiring it.

“You know he is.” His gruff voice softens a tad as he thinks about you.

You’re like a daughter to him. He believes his Lisa would love you and be just like you.

Frank clears his throat and thoughts away and forces himself to come back to reality.

“Don't encourage him.” The Catholic man sighs and asks, “Why are we really here, Peter?”.

“I just gave you my thesis statement.” Peter doubles down.

“I’m not going to be able to help if I don’t know the whole story.”

Matthew insists and Peter isn’t having it.

“Alright, you really wanna know? Benjamin Pointdexter was stalking Y/n through her computer monitor. So now, I’m gonna kill him.”

Frank isn’t shy about killing but even he has to admit that maybe the idea is a bit of an overkill.

“How about maybe paralyzing him from the neck down momentarily and then dump him in front of the police station?”

Matthew and Peter both look like they've just heard the Frank Castle suggest a non-graphic, non-murderous idea.

“Wow.” Matthew scoffs, a half-smile on his face.

Frank shakes his head and look off to the side. “Yeah, yeah alright.”

Peter calms down and takes his words into careful consideration, his word is kind of law around here.

Everyone loves Spider-Man and if he says that's a stalking criminal, then that guy's a stalking predator.

He nods. “Alright, yeah. I'm fine with that.”

Matt clears his throat and asks for the game-plan but Peter insists to leave that up to him.

“I got it all figured out, thanks guys.”

Matthew didn't think Peter had it in him to be level headed about this but he's impressed with the younger man's honesty.

The Devil of Hell's Kitchen has learned a thing or two about evil and it's that when necessary, must die. To kill or not to kill is simply the matter of principle and one he'll always evade if he can help it.

“I care about her, too. She's a dear friend but she needs you now more than ever.”

Matt knows when someone is lying but he needs to know. He needs to be sure.

Killing is a slippery slope not many get to see the bottom of.

“I know.”

It doesn't take a lie detector test to know Peter's telling the truth, even Frank knew from the organized look on his face.

“Be careful, Peter.”

Frank in dad-mode is always an endearing sight to see and Peter appreciates it.

“Will do, old man.”

Peter goes out that same night, leaving Frank and Matthew guarding you in your apartment.

If there's anyone you and your boyfriend can unanimously agree on trusting after Spider-Man, it's The Punisher and the Devil of Hell's Kitchen.

You're fast asleep in bed, the effects of taking a tylenol kicked your headaches ass hard.

Peter lingers by the doorway, adoring the sleeping beauty in her bed.

He wishes for it to always be like this; you, alive and well-taken care of by him, a strong man who knows his limits and understands what he has to do to be the protector everyone relies on.

It will be, he thinks before donning the mask and taking off into the night and being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man he was born to be.

[ingravinoveritas]

Why do I have a sneaking suspicion David is okay not winning a BAFTA for his Rivals role?

Anon, I think your suspicion may be right on the money.

What I wish people understood is that as an actor, David has a very difference stance and attitude toward his work than fans do. We know from things he has said that he feels terrified of never getting another job and has a huge case of imposter syndrome, so that means he likely thinks more critically of himself and his work than most other people do.

But even if that were not the case, from an objective standpoint, it's just not possible for everything that any actor does to be their "best work ever," and it's disingenuous to pretend otherwise. Rivals has seemed to cause a lot of divided opinions in the fandom, but given his lack of enthusiasm in promoting the show last year (despite clearly enjoying the company of his fellow cast mates), it doesn't feel like a far leap to suggest that David would be the first one to say that he has given better performances in his career. And if David can say and think that, then the fans should be able to say/think that, too...yet this often seems to not be the case, given the level of vitriol that such statements have incurred in the fandom.

There has also been some talk about how this nomination happened in the first place, especially after David was snubbed for so many years and only earned his first (regular) BAFTA nomination last year, for Good Omens. Disney being the driving force behind Rivals means that this is a very different animal to GO--for instance, David and Michael are inextricably connected as the leads of Good Omens and their performances are so deeply intertwined with one another to where neither of them feels what they did could exist without the other.

In contrast, with Rivals, David does not even play the lead character, yet in this award season was pushed as a nominee because he is the most popular/well-known actor in the cast. It also does not feel like an accident that this year's TV BAFTAs coincided with the filming on season 2 of Rivals starting up, and that all of this was engineered specifically to garner publicity and drive up the ratings. And we also cannot overlook or ignore that in terms of publicity, GO as a queer show is sadly looked at and treated very differently to Rivals, which is not.

All of this is to say that David's nomination this year unfortunately seems like it was less about merit and performance and more about politics/PR. Because there is no question that David has had other roles and performances that were undoubtedly deserving of a BAFTA nod, but for one reason or another did not receive one (Dennis Nilsen in Des chiefly comes to mind). And I think that as an actor and someone who takes his work as seriously as he does, David would have no difficulty acknowledging that.

To be clear, this does not mean that David wasn't or couldn't have been excited at receiving a nomination. It is absolutely a huge deal, to be nominated for an award. But as an actor and someone who appreciates the work of other actors, I think David recognized that there were some unbelievably strong performances in his category, and likely felt much more comfortable celebrating those performances (especially Toby Jones and Gary Oldman, who if I understand correctly were the top contenders favored to win).

So yes, those are my thoughts on the BAFTAs tonight. I'd love to know what other folks think, so feel free to weigh in in the comments...

[saythatuwill]

Idk, but for some reason, this last picture of Noah reminds me of android!Noah. As if you took him somewhere, and he's confused as to why he's there and is just looking around, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. And he starts overthinking it, different scenarios go through his head, he starts analyzing everything, this was not on his schedule, so what the hell is happening. Just to turn out, he's there to shoot a music video, or you liked the place, so you wanted to have a picnic there, or something like that 😭

i am assuming you mean this one!

which is ... STOP. THAT IS ADORABLE?!?!?

noah and his constant desire to ask questions. so not only is he analyzing everything like a curious little puppy trying to figure everything out, he's also asking you a bunch of questions.

"what's this place?"

"why are we here?"

"do you like this one?" (some flower)

"it is so bright can we go in the shade?" (he has sunglasses on his god damn head)

"this isn't on my schedule, don't you know how important my schedule is?"

"what bird is that? what trees are those? should i look up more information about this location? do you want me to? does this place mean something to you? should i keep this place marked on my gps so we can come back?"

and at some point you're just like "noah. relax."

you probably took him here for a date, making flower crowns, looking up at the clouds, bird watching. it's peaceful, and peaceful is not what he's used to because you two live in the city!

but he loves it. when you get home he becomes fond of looking up animals and flowers and things in nature. sometimes you catch him listening to nature sounds when he's alone.

you plan to take him back there sometime.

also not quite related but i like to think the bracelet he wears was a gift from you and he refuses to take it off

anon if this was meant to be a request please feel free to resend this with the word "request" in it! it just may take me some time to get to it if so!

@astronoids

[mollisquama]

Canto 8 prediction bingo!

Explanations under read more!

2-in-1 Theory: The theory that Daiyu and Baoyu share a body

Hong Lu wants to keep 'Hong Lu': it's similar to how Don Quixote did her dramatic monologue at the end of canto 7 for wanting the sinners to continue calling her Don Quixote. I think it would be goofy for Hong Lu to be like "👉👈 can we keep calling me Hong Lu? My real name feels kinda awkward"

Jia Huan showing up: I feel like this is almost a given given this is literally the Jia canto pfft

Hong Lu's family dog is an abnormality: I haven't seen this on a bingo board yet but I desperately need the Canto 2 pawn shop scene to be referenced.

Hong Lu's eye is a moonlight stone: perhaps Hong Lu is so calm because he's forced to be?

Hong Lu cries: idk bro I just want this man to cry. Or show any other emotion other than his detached happy apathy thing going on.

Don Quixote reads Hong Lu: okay okay. This one. There's a moment in 7-29 where Don Quixote has a misunderstanding where she thinks that canto 7 is about Hong Lu. She asks Dante to take care of Hong Lu-- to keep him steady. She points out that Hong Lu's expression has been odd and he must've been worried about seeing Xichun, yet Sinclair and Dante were both puzzled by what she possibly could've observed to come to that conclusion. I think that Don Quixote understands Hong Lu and his mask better than most Sinners, and I am really hoping to see another moment where Don Quixote notices that something is deeply wrong before the majority of the Sinners comment on anything.

Jia Qiu dies: what it says. This man is either gonna distort or die. (Or some other horrific alternative) And I am HERE to see what happens

RCorp does mass cullings of HCorp: I am extremely unsure of the actual timeline. I just think that the RCorp Hong Lu story coinciding with the Canto teaser showing both a child and adult Hong Lu looking up on a massacre is just.... Very convenient. Of course, there could just be one big event being referenced in the trailer that just has adult Hong Lu looking back. I think something repeated would be interesting, though.

Sinner Dehumanization: okay, we all know this is happening SOMEWHERE in the canto... Right?

Hong Lu perishing in the Nocturnal Sweeping callback: Jia Qiu never actually commented on Hong Lu being dead but Hong Lu was very much dead during that interaction and likely within view. I just think it would be an interesting interaction for Jia Qiu to mention it.

Hong Lu is unavailable for a portion of pt 3: idk how likely a Hong Lu crashout is. But if it were to happen I think they would put it in act 3.

Stone Theory is True: the theory that Hong Lu is inhuman and instead some form of Jade or Stone. It's closer to the DOTRC where the jade wants to experience the world.

Xichun does not win: I don't think she will outright win the Hierarch Evaluation, but I do think she could possibly get it via Hong Lu if he wins.

Hong Lu is NOT a good person: a long while ago I saw a post with the theory that the latter half of the Cantos will include stories that are a bit more... Unforgivable. Where the Sinner involved isn't just a victim of circumstance and instead did something morally questionable. I think that's cool. I also think we already saw a brief glimpse of that possibly happening in Canto 7 when Outis was going through her brief Would You Still Love Me If I Was A Monster™️ dialogue with Dante and Don Quixote. (That's not exactly what happened but let me be goofy)

Yi Sang tries to be emotionally intelligent: I think Yi Sang will make another attempt to reach out to Hong Lu like how Hong Lu reached out to Yi Sang in Canto 4. I've seen this on a few other bingo boards also.

Outside of battle cutscene: this canto trailer already had some animation. I have a very small theory that Project Moon may attempt to do a different art style cutscene than what most of the cutscenes have previously been. (I do love the lil battle cutscenes though) The change in art style could be in battle, but I'm somewhat wondering if we will get an animation when the bough is resonated with.

Bell Shadow from E.G.O.: okay, to be honest, at first I thought that shadow in Hong Lu's base ego was a mirror. And he was avoiding looking at himself. But it does also look like a looming bell. Guys. I need to know if this has actual backstory significance.

Someone Distorts: a lot of people thing Hong Lu will distort. But I personally think that there're many other interesting options for distortion candidates. Xichun distorts because she doesn't win? Qiu distorts?(I have no other reason to think this other than the fact that it seems like that would be a very interesting boss battle) I do agree that Hong Lu has been building up to a possible distortion plot with all of his lil comments and the Checkup event refreshing us on distortions and the monolith. But... I'm keeping my options open?

Hong Lu being lustful reference: I feel like Hong Lu is associated a lot more with gloom, but with the source material putting emphasis on licentiousness(or lust) I'm wondering if there may be a callback. This chart was made May 6th before the battle pass trailer shared that Hong Lu's WAW ego was Gluttony, so I do wonder if they may go that route. (lust, gluttony, and greed are very similar in my opinion and I would love to do a ramble on the differences sometime. But that's not necessarily Hong Lu related)

No Story Dungeon: please, project moon. I'm begging. I always get stuck in story dungeons. I get lost in those dungeons for weeks, project moon.

The Clockhead acts up: this consists of Dante's head doing ANYTHING unintentional. A new power shows up, Dante for some reason looks into a sinner's thoughts like in Canto 5, Dante sees the door, Dante hears random peccatulum or abnormalities, the fire explodes again... Pretty much anything that isn't just Dante's day-to-day self.

Sinclair tries to play hero: similar to how I assume Yi Sang will reach out, I think Sinclair will try to reach out much like he did in Canto 7. I don't think that Sinclair and Hong Lu are necessarily best friends in the game, but I think Sinclair is trying to be more heroic and brave. Thus, he will likely try to be helpful again.

Turbo Depression Rodya: besties. I think this will be a nightmare for Rodya. First, having to be around rich people in a competition to become richer. Second, she's already been in a sort of downward spiral. I think Rodion will be distressed over seeing the wastefulness and exploitation that may possibly come with how rich Hong Lu's family is.

[readingtoinfinity]

Thunderbolts*

I'm so glad a Marvel movie is good again. I've been tapped out since Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home, and it's just nice to watch the thing I like entertain me.

The Thunderbolts: a ragtag team of misfits, moreso than even the Avengers, all sent on a mission where they turn out to have a lot more in common than they think, and also be in way over their heads.

First some negatives, because even though I enjoyed this movie there are some problems. Namely: Bucky and Ghost aren't really given anything to do in this movie, and are just kinda along for the ride. Taskmaster isn't in the movie very much, and it's a little disappointment to not have them for long or give them a second chance.

But man, what a cast! And what a fun plot. A lot happens and it's hard to remember it takes place over less than 24 hours because you get so endeared to these utter assholes. Yelena is the standout here, where it feels like this is almost her movie, and Red Guardian and US Agent are both excellent supporting characters in the central theme of depression.

Speaking of: Robert "Bob" Reynolds AKA Sentry AKA (spoilers?) the Void. What a fun, dynamic new character! Everything about him, from his introduction to his powers to his turn as a villain was perfectly executed, especially his design as the Void.

It's hard to compare the two, and it almost falls into the trap of giant cloud adaptation, like Galactus in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer or Parallax in Green Lantern (2011), but I hold it as a much better version of that trope. Because of course the comic-accurate Void is a mess of limbs and proportions that would be a nightmare to animate, so while the Void in Thunderbolts* is technically a lot simpler, I think it works because

The rest of the execution is good, so it is bolstered by its constituent parts.

Their own design is highly creative; that's not him being shadowed by the sun, that's just a black void where a person should be. You only ever see his eyes or (in one notably terrifying scene) his teeth.

If I may offer one complaint that makes this movie merely a fun treat rather than a delectable meal, it would be the surface-level treatment of depression. As someone who suffers from it (and of course I do, I'm on Tumblr) there's a nature to the hole in your heart that the movie doesn't quite grok.

There's scenes that feel familiar (Yelena, going through the motions; Red Guardian, drowning in alcohol and nostalgia; Walker, desperately trying to earn approval; the self-medicating, the self-loathing) that's touched on and brought to the forefront. I was also touched by the final resolution of the Void plot being a lot more about empathy and understanding than it was about fighting, which I appreciated. And the core thesis that spending time with people you love and helping other people will help alleviate symptoms.

But it is very surface level, or entry-level might be more accurate. All the characters are people who haven't been taking care of themselves who now have to figure out what their own mental health has to look like. It's Hollywood's obsession with origin stories: everyone wants the bold beginning, but the muddy middle makes for a complicated conclusion. I just hope these characters retain these flaws and struggles in the future and we get to see their good days and their bad days.

All in all: I had a lot of fun. The parts that were good were rarely great, but nothing felt bad.

(also: you can make a fun game by watching the way this movie dances around political lines. John Walker is a case in himself about how removing the conservative angle from his politics kinda weakens the nature of his character as a whole, but there's a number of times in this movie where politics are discussed and the movie very clearly goes out of its way to not say Republicans or Democrats. It's hilarious)

[heathersdesk]

Surviving Police Violence on Mother's Day

Something some of y'all may not know about me is that my father was killed by the police in my hometown.

That was in 2009 and I still have nightmares about the police on occasion. It happened to me again this morning. It was overwhelming. I don't pretend like I live with it well, but I've been living with this since I was 19 years old. The only thing that has changed is I am more patient and kind to myself when it overwhelms me.

I've also learned that the Lord will be with me in those moments, which I saw again this morning. As I was somewhere between sleep and consciousness, I began singing How Firm a Foundation in my head. It has been my comfort hymn for a long time. I woke up with the words still fresh in my mind, reciting them to myself on repeat as I got ready for church.

I ended up sitting down in front of my mother's mirror and staring at my reflection for a while. The person I've become looks so much stronger and calmer than I feel in moments like these. I sat there thinking about the journey to now and so many of the things that have happened to me along the way.

My father didn't deserve to be hunted to death like an animal by the police. I don't know that anyone does. And if there is someone for whom that is truly necessary, no one gets there without being profoundly failed and betrayed by society many times over before that.

That's how I feel. That's what's written as the epitaph on the headstone of my father in my mind. And I ended up at that headstone on Mother's Day against my choosing. Possibly because the issues I have with my mother are even more painful at the moment.

It took a lot of mental effort to get myself off the floor and into the car to go to church. Experience has taught me that asking nicely is the best way. I sang How Firm a Foundation the whole way there.

I needed the sacrament. I needed the speakers who spoke. One of them observed that the last thing Jesus did before he died was to make sure he took care of his mother before he died. The Atonement wasn't finished until she was cared for. And it was in that moment that I considered that Jesus died from police violence. He understands what I carry, as does Mary of Bethlehem and so many of the other women from that earliest generation of Saints.

I needed Relief Society. I needed to be surrounded by women who have survived and overcome so much. I needed the reminder that none of us are alone in anything we face when we have God and each other.

The lesson was on becoming spiritually whole while we wait for spiritual healing, as taught by Camille Johnson in general conference. This is what it means to be a disciple. I found that wholeness today when I needed it because I went to church.

I don't like Mother's Day or Father's Day because my family is the reason I need so much healing. I went today anyway because I needed my Savior. And the feeling that was impressed so firmly upon my soul is that the Church is my family. That's who I can celebrate during days like these. I have more family than I know what to do with and they care about me. That's who I can celebrate on Mother's Day and Father's Day.

[pennyblossom-meta]

Do you believe L would prefer to be with someone who is smart academic wise or some other brainy smart or would he not mind someone who is “average” but has something outside of academics they may excel at? (history, cooking, art, baking, sports etc)

Hi there anon! Thanks for question. I've actually theorised about this exact topic a couple of times before, and I might actually have an unorthodox opinion about it. But before I start my analysis, I would like to refer you to a few metas that I personally find extremely compelling and which have also shaped my view of L.

Toxic love, by @lunalit-river

An analysis on L's monster speech by lux-mea-lex (lots of great metas in their livejournal)

A short interpretation of the monster speech by @lawlightautismtruther (also check the debate on that one, it's very interesting to see the different opinions across the fandom)

How L and Light judge each other and other people

Just about most of @my-one-true-l 's metas about L, like this one and this one about L's flaws.

@43501 has a great meta about L in a relationship which I agree with wholeheartedly.

Apologies in advance for the length in this rant of mine. I like to analyse L from different angles, as you might've guessed 😛

Short answer:

I think L would appreciate someone who makes an effort to meet him where he's at and accepts him for who he is. Someone he can have a conversation with, but is ultimately kind and trustworthy. These two qualities would be to L like a lifeline, because it's something he's missing on an intimate level. While Watari is loyal to him and cares about his well being, these are different types of relationships.

>>>>>Long answer under the cut

So, one of the things I find that helps me when looking at L from this romantic perspective is to search for clues across canon (manga, anime) and the expanded universe (L:CtW, LA:BB, drama, Spiraling Trap, etc) that explain what's going on in his head and, most importantly, what makes him interested in people.

As per your question:

Do you believe L would prefer to be with someone who is smart academic wise or some other brainy smart or would he not mind someone who is “average” but has something outside of academics they may excel at? (history, cooking, art, baking, sports etc)

Let's approach this in two parts. If we were analysing this from a relationship POV, whether romantic or platonic, I can see two major interpretations:

(Chapter 20: First move) Here's a screenshot of L losing a tennis match to Light. Makes him less daunting, doesn't it? To know even L can lose at not-so-mundane-but-still-quite-normal things he's supposed to be great at.

01: The intellectual allure vs a supportive SO

There's oceans of difference between being a genius and someone who can give L support and companionship, despite not speaking the same "language". This would not be too dissimilar to couples with wildly different career paths (ex: a nurse and a software developer) who meet halfway and actively choose to understand each other. It has to do with common goals and values, your life project together.

Love is something you choose every day. Staying in a long-term relationship is choosing to be vulnerable and to share your life with someone you find kinship with. Unorthodox L may be, but as Fu Takahashi (who plays L in the 2020 musical) said:

(...) despite his superficial image as a smart guy who hates losing, he actually feels lonely and needs affection, I imagine (...) He tries to control his emotions, like the feelings towards his parents, or romantic feelings; that’s why he is sort of dependent on games or battles of the mind.

The above quote is super important, in my opinion, considering how difficult it is to pin down L's true personality. If we go by Spiraling Trap terms, he falls for a main character who pays attention to his (dessert) needs and makes him feel 'seen'. Taken cared of. Someone who is genuinely kind to him and wants to do him a good turn because they care about him. We can extrapolate that this is, perhaps, due to his isolationist tendencies and lack of meaningful contact with the sort who take time to want to know the true L and what he likes. To that kind of person, L isn't just the world's greatest detective or a machine, lacking human emotion --- that person acknowledges that he has feelings, likes and dislikes, and isn't malicious towards him.

Consider that L lies a lot. He'd lie twice saying "good morning" if it suited him, which makes for an unhealthy dynamic. However, for those he truly cares about, I believe he would be far more careful to safeguard the few genuine connections he has in life and thus try to curb some bad behaviours to the best of his ability.

I believe @43501 put it best when they mentioned how L would prefer an [educated, clever partner] but that he'd be drawn to people who are [interesting and offbeat]. I would argue this doesn't mean a double PhD level of intelligence, but rather someone who is curious about the world, who talks to him like an equal (i.e., not as if he's superior or inferior to them). There would need to be something to that person that made them unique to L --- but uniqueness in the context of someone who suppresses their emotions so strongly, and would find themselves to be starving for affection once they found that source of comfort and support, I believe that uniqueness could be kindness.

Accept the man despite his quirks and flaws, in all his intensity, and I believe it would be impossible for L to be indifferent to that kind of genuine devotion. After all, he's been without all his life and likely never thought he'd find it. It's possible that, in his loneliness, a part of him even thought himself to be above such things, but what a tumble it would be, for L to find that he's a man dying of thirst.

...

Now, in manga canon (and throughout the source material closest to it), L and Light find a degree of interest in each other for how similar they are in intellect. This creates a connection, even respect between the two, allowing them to see beyond each other's mask. It's thrilling, a cat and mouse game which they arguably become addicted to. Once L dies, Light even muses how Near is lacking by comparison, undeserving.

However, if we go by what V13:HTR says regarding their relationship, then L does think quite poorly of Light beyond their matching intellect. This is more or less explicit in a couple of scenes in the manga and anime where L muses about how much Light talks, how cheesy he is with his faux morality, putting up an act.

No matter L's interest in the game with Light, he doesn't trust him. Trust is paramount to build a healthy relationship. Theirs would be a toxic, petty relationship standing on foundations of distrust, and a thirst for constant competition.

From this perspective, L arguably wouldn't be in love, but stuck in an addictive powerplay. Very engaging to read about; certainly challenging (and interesting!) to write — but not so good to live through. The best case scenario I can see for such a relationship would be something like the series Vicious with Sir Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi, in which they settle into a constant clash of snark.

I talk here about the prospect of L being 'out of balance' emotionally, which makes him dive into games of the mind to distract himself from his burdens.

02. Appreciation for another type of individual, the average...Sam?

(Chapter 21: Duplicity) Added this one here because this exchange always makes me chuckle.

I'd like to focus on the 2015 drama to establish a parallel with this 'average' Sam concept.

In this adaptation, Light is far more 'normal' than in any other. He diverges from his original canon self in various ways, though the most interesting for me was how the drama tried to show what Light, as a regular young adult, could be if he wasn't an extreme genius, a perfect guy in the eyes of society --- and how this shift would contrast with L.

Drama Light:

Goes to concerts

Is a fanboy

Is clumsy

Gets bullied

He's not the perfect guy with an immaculate reputation. It brings him further down to the ground, like us common mortals.

Both L and Light found solace and appreciation in the differences of their mindset. A more 'average' Light still managed to connect with L, leading to this scene:

If we consider the drama and then extrapolate a few conclusions from these interactions, we can argue that an 'average' but grounding presence in L's life would do him good. An uber genius might be able to follow L's thought process more easily, but they can still become an issue or more easily turn on him for the intellectual competition and to surpass the world's greatest detective.

...

TLDR; I would argue that an average individual would still be a perfect match for L, perhaps far more than an incredible genius. L would value kindness and care far more than super intellect, especially if he was on the receiving end of this kind of genuine connection.

[theguywhodoesntlikemusicals]

Some Hatchetverse headcanons

I've been thinking about implications.....

I've been saving these up for a while so I can do a megapost so here we are. I've pulled in points of evidence where I can but I don't think there are any outright spoilers (the cut is just mostly for length) but so be aware that there are at least some context spoilers.

This ended up being long enough as it is but maybe I will make a part 2 especially once i've rewatched NPMD

TGWDLM

It's probably obvious in how I play him but I'm of course an Autistic Paul believer. I see how he acts in myself and some of the things he does in my friends and also this and this video add years to my life

Since Bill is like 13 years older than Paul according to the wiki at the time of TGWDLM, I like to imagine that Bill maybe either interviewed him or mentored him after he joined CCRP. I mention this in the tags of this post but to further on it, I can totally imagine Paul immediately latching onto Bill as someone who is very kind and supportive especially to younger team members (see Melissa), especially since he didn't have a particularly supportive upbringing (see being taken to musicals and made to feel like shit).

I'm assuming that Paul joined CCRP upon leaving university (since he seems like a one-job kind of guy, and I'm basing this off my friend who has a similar seeming-job), which would put him at around age 21-22. Alice is 13 years younger than him according to the wiki, which means he may have been babysitting her from when she was around age 9. Which I think is adorable, no wonder she thinks he's cool. He probably brought over his gameboy and let her use it to play Animal Crossing.

Speaking of videogames, we know from Forever and Always that he plays videogames to relax. Or at least one. Which do we think this is? I'm taking suggestions but tbh, the only game that truly takes up 100% of my concentration and distracts me from my thoughts and anxiety (which I also absolutely displace onto Paul) are rhythm games. For me it's Project Diva but I can actually see him getting really into Rhythm Heaven. I don't think he's a big rpg person or games where you play as a character (e.g. mario or final fantasy)

This kind of leads into the biggest question and I think the biggest source of Paul HC contention........ does he actually dislike musicals? Do I think he dislikes music? No. I think he likes some specific music and may even, in rare cases, be caught humming. Do I think he likes musicals? No. I'm a Paul vs Musicals believer. I think this comes from a) when being dragged to a school that (presumably had a theatre programme whereas his didn't so) had better resources and more funding, where kids were being applauded and praised while he was made to feel small. This comes from this video where it's explained way better and I would definitely recommend watching it, but it is representative of his own lack of self-value and how he puts his needs last. But ALSO b) I do also think it's an autistic/ overstimulation thing from the setting. It can be both! I definitely think he gets overstimulated easily. (This comes from just after Not Your Seed where he blocks his ears and curls up to stop himself from hearing the girls sing/scream at him, despite the fact he KNOWS at this point that the infection is spread by being killed and re-animated. So sitting still there was the worst thing for him to do in practicality.) TLDR: Musicals: NO. Music: Some is ok. Get this man some Loops Earbuds and he MIGHT be able to go to a concert with you.

In that same video as above actually they suggest that the Infected retain some degree of their own personality, and the infection has the side effect of removing a lot of inhibitions and removing the reason to hide what's inside them. It's not technically my headcanon it's from that vid WHICH YOU SHOULD WATCH, but it basically explains why in Join us and Die, the change in Charlotte's personality is so jarring. My HC is that she's been penting up so much anger and upset for so long regarding Sam and her situation, and feeling powerless. No wonder when she loses her reason not to be sweet and polite all the time she goes all guts out rambo on everyone (ESPECIALLY TED who has been essentially using her from her perspective).

Speaking of Charlotte, I think it is less of a HC and more just how she comes across, but I think she is a very big romantic. She dreams of being a disney princess and being swept off her feet. See: just before Tied Up My Heart where she runs like a little girly and kneels down like she's fucking Snow White. I love and support her. All she gets is Sam and Ted and she deserves better.

Emma was on her way home from work when the meteor struck... Did Infected!Nora call her BACK into work in the middle of the night to practice Cup of Roasted Coffee? I'm surprised she didn't quit right there holy shit. Knowing that she probably did the whole of TGWDLM on 0 hours sleep, and also was probably already exhausted from having a job AND putting herself through college makes me respect her so much. That would explain why in Perky's Buds and Forever and Always she's so much more chill, she's actually slept!

I think Paul is actually very physically affectionate once it comes to it. I love that Jon Matteson basically has him grabbing onto Emma (in Cup of Poison Coffee & Join Us and Die), Charlotte (in Show Me Your Hands), and Bill (in Not Your Seed) to protect them at every opportunity. He even goes to catch Sam when he falls at the end of Show Me Your Hands despite the fact that he's been threatening them with police violence for the last 3 minutes (I know this is probably a staging thing to keep Jeff safe but still). If someone is in danger his immediate reflex is to grab and put himself in the way. It's Fight, Flight, or Fling your arms around your friends.

Why is Paul the best dressed person in the office? Bill and Ted both just wear shirts of different colours and a colourful tie but Paul is the only one in a full suit jacket and black tie. Is this because he's hard working or professional? No, further down I mention how I think he's actually quite lazy. Is it because he's boring? No I don't think so, he has things he likes! Even if his contentment with them considered 'dull' or 'mundane' by the rest of the world. No, here's what I think: he wears a suit jacket while everyone else is just in shirts because this man's circulation is NONEXISTANT. His hands are CHILLY and he needs some mittens. Melissa, please turn off the AC in floor 3. This man is Too Cold.

Ted thinks Paul is his best friend and thinks Bill is lame. Bill thinks Paul is his best friend and thinks Ted is a weirdo. Paul thinks hmm i want some coffee. Both of them have a kind of unspoken tension about it meanwhile Paul is just No Thoughts head Empty. JK i do think he thinks Bill is his best friend but he doesn't see it as much of a massive deal as Bill does

Black Friday

I like the idea that 'But they are intimate' becomes a local Hatchetfield meme along the lines of 'Oh god they were roommates'. Tim starts saying it at school and the kids who've never processed that word before all start saying it because it's hilarious, then it gets on tiktok and you know how it goes. Emma is cringing the whole time, until Paul realises and cringes as well, and then she uses it to laugh at/with him.

I know it's not technically a headcanon... but after watching a review of Black Friday, I have an alternate version in my head that addresses some of the pacing in the second act. (don't get me wrong I love BF but i do get where the guy is coming from!) where Ethan gets to live to the end of the musical. I'm an Ethan fan personally esp how he becomes such a father figure to Hannah and is so supportive of Lex. He wants to marry her in Yellow Jacket ffs!! Let them be close! I have this image built up in my head of him wanting to defend them from all their problems with his tough exterior but being frustrated and helpless that he can't actually do anything to address their real, systemic socio-economic problems. He gets patched up by Becky, and sticks with her and Tom to prevent them from finding Hannah, watching and juxtaposing their descent into Wiggly madness. During Do You Want to Play, he fights with Tom and Becky to protect Hannah but is knocked out and ends up getting taken to Linda along with Becky where they get tied up. Before Lex arrives with Tom, he manages to free himself with his switch blade. He gives it to Becky so she can free herself but runs to help Hannah. Without the doll to summon Wiggly, they try to sacrifice him in order to bring Wiggly through the portal/give him a vessel like Nibbly. He comes face to face with Wiggly himself as he and Wiley try to convince Ethan to come over to Wiggly's side, preying on his eagerness to throw money at Lex and Hannah's problems to save them (as he does in Yellow Jacket). In the end his knowledge that just the nice moments he is there for Hannah and supports her through her visions are what matters saves him. He gets his own song (maybe with echoing stings from Made in America or Black Friday) but just before Lex arrives, knowing they failed, Linda stabs him. Lex gets to save him this time and they have a tearful reunion, and get to sing together in the final number. TLDR Thank you Dragons that's my pitch I'm accepting investments to let Ethan live

Also not really a headcanon, but I ADORE that in the series so far, the two characters that John Macnamara has trusted to save the world are Lex and Paul, two people who are just trying to live their lives and get through the day but care about their friends and will do whatever it takes when the chips are down. Except the president he doesn't count because he shit the bed and that was the whole point

We know that Wiley/Wilbur Cross was John Macnamara's mentor. I imagine mourning losing him to the Black and White must have been awful for him. In TGWDLM he says 'The experiences I've acrued... have given me a deeper understanding of the cosmos and of our place in it. I follow a higher law than any institution could decree, and that's the universal truth of love and the strength of the human heart.' I went into this about to write that the experience might have been losing his mentor, but wouldn't that have taught him the opposite? Wilbur's heart was weak and his mind was lost... But what if Wilbur went into the black and white to save John? It was an act of love and strength all along.

I love lex more than any one and she deserves better.

NPMD

I'm a trans ftm Richie believer and this is definitely not just me displacing my feelings onto him... This is mainly because I think it would make that scene where he gets accepted by the football bros even stronger and I need to see it happen...

I also think he probably draws and is writing a manga sue me

I think that he likes magic the gathering...... I've just gotten into it and I swear that that's not just the only reason why! I think Paul got him some (Paul likes boardgames which we know from TGWDLM and a card game like this seems like the next logical step into nerddom before dnd) to bond with him and it spiraled from there.

I explain my reasons why I like the idea of Paul and Richie being close below, but I think Paul comes to Richie's games sometimes to support him, especially when he started out being a mascot. He needs Loops and to sleep for 17 hours afterward to recover but he is there for Richie GDI!

Also not a HC but Grace Chastity is my favourite character and she deserves better. I love THIS video on her and basically support every suggestion about her, but I wanted to highlight that there's an alternate universe where she works through her issues in a healthy relationship with Jason/someone else and becomes the kinkiest guidance councilor in the US. I want her to have a supportive partner who lets her explore!

Nightmare time:

We know from Hey Melissa, that Paul puts in headphones when he doesn't want to engage with people at work. What does he listen to? He could very well be a podcast person, but I'm willing to bet that he actually does like some music. His hate for musicals seems specific to the setting and the social awkwardness stemming from childhood events, so here's my pitch: I think he listens most to movie soundtracks. I think in one of Jon Matteson's livestreams he mentions that CCRP was initially created to be a buzzfeed style movie review company, we know he watched Moana and has opinions on it, and we know from when he asks Emma about film that this is something he at least engages with. I can imagine him fucking vibing to the opening of the Hobbit or something when trying to concentrate.

Not really a headcannon since it's essentially confirmed in Hey Melissa (Mr Davidson: Don't work too hard! | Paul: I don't!) and also the fact that he 'spends his days surfing the web' rather than working, but I think Paul is actually quite lazy and a huge procrastinator.

We know from Forever and Always that Emma's line to try to kiss Paul for the first time was 'want to smoke some pot and make out'. Do we think they got high and had their first make out session like that? I like to think so. Follow up question, what is Paul like high? I've never smoked anything before so definitely open to suggestions. But since Emma enjoys it so much I do think Paul partakes with her occasionally to share in something she likes, and if anyone else he knows found out they would be shocked to think of him as a stoner. It has helped with his anxiety.

My favourite characters from Nightmare Time are Duke and Miss Holloway... I love them sm they even inspired a story I'm currently writing. HOWEVER... I do have a bone to pick with Holloway over that fucking note. 'Could I have BEEN any clearer?' YES IT COULD QUEEN. If you know someone is going to be faced with a body they can't let be taken to the morgue, then INDICATE that and don't make him feel bad for then you having to change your identity if it's that important! This is unlicensed Duke himbofication and, while he may indeed be a himbo, forcing that on him is unethical!

General:

I'm not too familiar with the All-Jon-Matteson-Characters-Are-Related family tree, but I do like the idea that i've seen floating around that Richie and Daniel (DANIEL!! MY BABY!!) are brothers and are Gary Goldstein's kids from various affair partners, with Paul being his half-brother (hence the different surnames) and so uncle to his kids. From Paul going to Sycamore, it seems as though his parents weren't the most wealthy, so I can definitely see Gary, becoming a ruthless lawyer to wealthy clients, favouring getting a high income and financial security, rather than relationships with his kids and partner(s). We know from Forever and Always that Paul is also savvy in terms of financial security, insurance, etc... but didn't go off the deep end that much, so I think he is very supportive of his Nephews. I think maybe I saw the family tree thing on @boy-jerrys-blog so kudos fam.

Also was anyone going to tell me that Beige Jacket Reporter from Hatchet Town was Boy Jerry or did I just have to figure that out for myself????? Who let this man join the workforce??

If Paul had like 1 ounce more conviction and consideration for his own desires I think he would get himself a dog now that he's an adult and has financial safety (definitely a rescue) and that thing would have the best most love-filled life ever I cry thinking about it. Someone take this man to a shelter and he will have a field day and maybe cry.

Actually he might not do it because he has trauma from seeing spot die but GOD JUST LET HIM BE HAPPY AND GIVE IT A GO IT'LL BE GOOD FOR YOU PAUL JUSt maybe buy a sturdy leash