#and trying to keep general color theory shit in mind

[grif-hawaiian-rolls]

@leonardalphachurch ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE (in reference to this post)

Donut thinks his fursona is a red wolf, all handsome charm and roguish double’o’donut vibe but NO he’s a collie to me, specifically a rough/scots collie— he’s pretty he’s fluffy, he does good work but theres nothing behind those eyes affectionately. Also he likes to be told when he’s a good boy DOING A GOOD JOB

Grif… would not make a fursona for himself, but I think Kai makes one for him a-la garfield (fat orange cat) and he appreciates the Iconic humor of it at least and u know what i do think kai is right in the cat aspect but more maine coon less garfield (still fat tho /pos)- the kind of big lazy cat that make you do a double take bc like is that a big house cat or a bobcat, ya know?

Simmons does not Want a Fursona thank you very much he’s not Weird (tm) I'm telling you, he is a chihuahua. Puntsized ball of anxiety that bites and thinks its meaner than he is(but still pretty capable of being a mean little bastard, just,, not as big of one as he thinks)

Sarge Knows his fursona is a bald eagle. Bc its American. Patriotic! Sounds like a red hawk! Even better! He’s a pitbull— big brick of a head, mean reputation, but he’s a protective kind of caring at heart and u know he’s got that Iconic pittie grin

Lopez is hard, honestly, and if you asked him youd either get No Answer, or something thrown at you i think but like his fursona is like transformer mech bullshit that no one ever wants to draw and if you commissioned it you get like 20+ complex design additional charges because the rivets have to be 100% accurate and if they arent he would Know, its not even a fursona really at this point its just a cool mech body he wont ever build bc he doesnt trust anyone else to not fucking break it but emotionally its his fursona - the fursona I assign him is a remote control warthog, bc im sorry dude but i cannot give you a proper fursona to save my life my brain just refuses to do it so, goofy shit it is

SHEILA is, wonderfully, a sea turtle. Specifically i’m partial to a leatherback for her just for the scale factor alone but just the vibe in general of just,, seat turtle fits her idk how to describe it. In character, i do think she would misunderstand the assignment and just be like “oh! Im a Scorpion” bc thats the casual term for the M808B main battle tank in halo

Church(A), like simmons, REFUSES to even Consider it (epsilon considers it a Lot okay, theta’s got some cool design concepts but keep it on the dl bud) but i think he’s gotta be idog from the early 2000s. But like an edgy one the kind that were born of 12 yearolds traced over google images of the normal ones and recolored into Original Characters (i think their shape is based on beagles iirc??? Or labs), but yeah those things. If pressed, epsilon auto answers wolf but in that asshole way that sounds like he’s being a dick about it but no thats his actual answer

Caboose is a great dane. He’s just Great like that!! Yay! Friend shaped, really not used to being uhh mindful of his size and strength but loyal and protective ya know?? He's the only one who i think would correctly clock his own fursona on the first try

Tex would claim something badass like a tiger or something, but she’s like,,, a mockingbird :) i mean it IS the state bird of texas, and well... shes not a mockery of anything but she isnt the og either, ya know

Tucker claims a fox, because he’s sly and bitches Love foxes but to me?? Bluejay. Brightly colored, loud, mean little corvid asshole. Too damn clever for his own good- i would also maybe give him peacock or kingfisher if feeling more like,, flamboyant but he just feels very jay to me. maybe its the corvid bastard thing, or the bluejay in my backyard choosing the tree by my window as prime screaming spot for 6 am yelling for like a month but the vibe is there

Kai has so many furry characters. With the worst application of color theory known to man but somehow it works for her brand??? Sparkle dogs man, the woman is made for making sparkle dogs!! If i assign her cat to match grif, it'd specifically the kind of like bengal, this cat climbs walls kind of cat you know?? Zoomies all day every day! BUt i think more accurately to Kai as a person? Raccoon. Mischief and little grabby bastard hands and she would love it

Washington, if asked would shrug and say probably a cat bc u know, nine lives and all that- no. Im sorry cat wash truthers I respect cat wash, but nah Washington is a dog boy to me im sorry and specifically he’s a little Jack Russell terrier thats fast and vicious but man sometimes u gotta remember he’s like,,, he’s smaller than a cat man you gotta give him some help ya know?? Dont make him do it alone!!!

.......Or a horse i dont know how to elaborate on that one just,,, trust me

Carolina is oblivious to the concept of fursonas almost entirely, but she’s a greyhound and you know im right

Locus is genuinely the hardest one to place and i dont think he’d come up with a fursona for himself, but he gets assigned wolf by Donut i feel it, the whole lone wolf thing he has going and all during his redemption! Which honestly???? Maybe yeah? An argument could be made for another working dog (HELLO German Shepards my god) (context here: i had a german shepard/corgi mix, he was my lil guy, he was too damn smart for his own good and patrolled the back yard fence up until he couldnt keep his hips underneath himself anymore and then! He! kept! trying! So yes that does influence my input on german shepard locus) i just struggle to see locus as a dog???? Dogs are very high energy which -gestures to red team- but locus rarely has that same baseline energy i associate with dogs??? He’s hard to pin down and i’ve yet to manage it but im partial to something arboreal,,, the first thing that comes to mind on that train of thought is a binturong and i lost it imagining that so sure we'll go with that i have a lot of thoughts about locus

Felix wouldve loved the energy of being like the lucky cat with nine lives. I personally dont care for felix, but he would be that guy with like, its not a proper fursona bc he wouldnt b caught dead calling it that, but he has a fursona for scamming people and driving up the prices on auctions for no reason other than to fuck with people when he's bored. I subscribe to weasel/ferret Felix personally, specifically a yellow bellied weasel bc theres just,, honestly the name amuses me with the implications. He’s difficult to catch and handle, energetic and gets into shit no one wants him getting to. It fits

Doyle is a mouse, maybe MAYBE a rabbit, he doesnt know what fursonas are either but he just checks the mouse box for me personally,, very holdable, but skittish and might still bite you if u scare him bad enough

Dr Emily Grey does not have a fursona but she does think theyre neat and has let her patients all give her one, tho none of them agree on what she is. I think she's a shrike, specifically a great grey shrike! they're VICIOUS little birds, who dont look like much but they regularly hunt shit twice their size and are also known for impaling bugs on thorns and like, barbed wire?? theyre neat, and technically i think they count as corvids? clever little hunting machines

Kimball is definitely a german shepard tho like while im on the fence about it for Locus, there is no question about it for her she checks the boxes fits the vibe right down to the way she guards the new republic and chorus with her heart just under her sleeve

Sharkface. Shark. I mean….really. SPECIFICALLY THO a tiger shark tho, and he would absolutely be a dick if you implied a great white or a megalodon would be “better” bc no tiger sharks are exactly the kind of shark he should be thank you VERY much

thats everyone i have STRONG fursona assignment feelings for, and some are more flexible than others or more solid in some cases but YEAH! i think about this shit. a lot sidebar: i think the chorusans who know and are open about fursonas would probably use weird alien animals from chorus when picking them which makes this harder for them specifically bc the ones who would have fursonas arent limited to earth animals

all images are from the wiki pages for the animals! except for lopez. thats from the amazon page for the warthog

[luminyxoxo]

Atsumu should’ve known betting with Osamu meant big, BIG trouble. Throughout 20 years of his life, why hadn’t he learned his lesson?

And now he has to reap the consequences.

Losing a bet with his brother meant dying his hair back to their natural color.

Losing a bet with his brother meant traveling to another university in the same city his brother’s is in.

Losing a bet with his brother meant going to a blind date set up by said brother’s friends in his place.

Which is embarrassing, to say the least.

Miya Atsumu is the starting setter for a professional volleyball team, the reserved player for the JNT. If he wanted to date, he would’ve never stoop low to be set up by his friends all because they think he’s too lonely.

But alas, he finds himself in that situation anyway.

Albeit, it isn’t supposed to be /his/ date.

So, on a random Saturday, he finds himself in a cafe across the gates of the university that isn’t Osamu’s, sitting across the cute girl his brother was set up with.

It has been ten minutes of agonizing, awkward silence between them.

Atsumu has lived twenty years with a twin brother stuck to his side, and in theory, he should be the perfect (if only) imitation of Osamu.

But Atsumu had also grown up with a piss-poor social life, always teetering of getting ostracized, unlike Osamu, who was more well-liked.

That meant that he finds himself in a situation where he has to act like his brother, who is as shitty as him, but is just better at appearing normal.

The girl— Haru, his mind corrects, brushes hair behind her ear for the tenth time. (Yes, he was keeping track.)

“Miya-san, you seemed quite familiar.” Haru says, almost bashfully. Atsumu can see her appeal. She appears very shy, and therefore cute, which could invoke a sense of protectiveness in anyone she’s come across.

Unfortunately, Atsumu only feels dread.

He coughs, “Yes.”

Awkward silence. God. He can feel his face burning. What would Osamu do in this situation?

He could point out that he has a brother, who plays volleyball on television, which could be the reason behind the familiarity, but what if that only sparked interest further?

Atsumu has been explicitly told to make her lose interest. If he wasn’t a man of “honor”, he would’ve long done the opposite out of spite. Unfortunately, Osamu knows how to play his cards well.

Also unfortunately, Haru is clearly interested.

“So, what do you like? In general?”

Atsumu’s mind blanks.

“Uhm. Food.” What does Osamu like? Wait. Why is he taking the question seriously? “Bugs. Os— I really, really like bugs. Have ya tried keeping them as pets? Especially cockroaches!”

Haru does look a little queasy.

“I see. What’s your favorite color?”

Atsumu leans back and waves his hand smugly. “Easy. Neon yellow. I think it brings out my eyes.”

It’s only a second later that Atsumu remembers Osamu’s eyes are gray, unlike his brown. His face burns again. He probably looks like an idiot.

“Neon yellow is under appreciated.” Haru agrees, almost in approval. Clearly, she’s overlooking the fact that he keeps cockroaches in his home.

“Actually—“ Atsumu intercepts. “My favourite color is brown. Y’know, like shit.”

Haru’s face falls, and she almost looks hurt now.

“Is there something wrong with me that you’re trying to chase me off, Miya-san?”

“Yes.” Atsumu deadpans. Then, remembers he’s supposed to be Osamu. He instantly backtracks. “I mean no. I have a significant other, actually.”

Haru looks angry now. Atsumu panics.

“Wait! I only went because my friends think my significant other is bad for me, and my partner knows I’m here. I’m just supposed to, uh, let ya down!”

Haru blinks, tears beginning to gather in his eyes. Fuck. Atsumu is really the worse. He needs an out.

The door to the cafe opens. Atsumu looks up and sees a familiar man walking in. He gawk before a brilliant idea forms inside his head, and a smile breaks out on his lips.

“Omi-kun!” He yells, earning looks from everyone, including Sakusa Kiyoomi, the mvp of the collegiate volleyball league, who goes to the same university Haru does.

He turns to his date. “Ah, speak of my significant other and he shall arrive!”

Atsumu waves Sakusa over, and when the masked man hesitates, his wave turns more aggressive.

Because he looks like Osamu, Sakusa comes with a squint of the eye. He hovers until he’s within reach and Atsumu wraps his fingers over his sleeved wrist to pull him closer.

Atsumu catches the fleeting reaction in the form of eyes widening across Sakusa’s face before it’s gone.

“This is the significant other I was talking about. Sakusa Kiyoomi.” Atsumu abruptly stands and bows. “i apologize for leading ya on. Goodbye.”

Then, he tugs Sakusa away without waiting for Haru’s response, too cowardly to face the consequences of his action.

Once they’re outside, Sakusa abruptly stops and turns him around with a glare.

“What was that, Miya-san?” Sakusa asks.

Because he looks like Osamu, Sakusa hasn’t started cursing him out and tried to expose him. Unlike Atsumu, his brother had earned his respect.

“Omi-kun.” Atsumu pauses, then winces. Right. Osamu doesn’t call him that. He tries again. “Sakusa-kun, I apologize for that situation. Let’s forget this ever happened, yeah?”

Then, like the coward he is, Atsumu bows and books out of there.

Atsumu shoots Osamu a text in the train, on the way back to Osaka where he belongs.

‘She lost interest. Now get off my back’

He tucks away his phone and ignores his brother’s messages for the rest of the ride.

Come Monday, he opens his phone and regrets it instantly.

Osamu: Dude

Osamu: why the fuck does everyone think I’m dating Sakusa Kiyoomi?

Atsumu turns off his phone.

[honkceasar]

Okay big infodump that might not make any sense about The guy who didn’t like musicals, Black Friday, and genloss!!! They’re very similar and I think that’s very cool!!!! I love finding similarities between media I enjoy!!!!!!!!!!

‼️Spoilers for all 3 episodes of generation loss, Black Friday, and The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals!!! Also various descriptions of gore!!!‼️

-So this isn’t really an actual in-depth comparison but both the hatchetfield musicals and genloss are live comedy-horror shows that reuse actors and have an edited version posted on YouTube later and I think that is a really funny coincidence lmao

Okay so the first real thing that stuck out to me is that the comedy to horror balance of genloss is SOOO reminiscent of the hatchetfield musicals!! It’s part of why I adore genloss so much honestly. Starkid already has such a place in my heart, so watching something that gave that same comedy-to-horror balance made me fall in love with it immediately.

- Tgwdlm and Spirit of the Cabin I think are most similar in terms of tone. Both genloss and tgwdlm have that quality of “not scary until you think about it but once you do it’s HORRIFYING” concept and I’m SUCH A SUCKER FOR THAT. Granted, the horror of the first ep of genloss doesn’t hit that hard without the revelations of the second, but I feel like my point still stands. Also they both kind of poke fun at the horror genre in general?? Tgwdlm is supposed to parody the ENTITE horror genre, and I feel like with the amount of references to old horror movies in spirit of the cabin, I think it’s safe to say ranboo was doing something similar. (Also they both involve strange colored goo that replaces the appearance of actual gore?? Like when I realized what the slime was in genloss I couldn’t stop thinking about Charlotte’s blue intestines in Join Us And Die)

- While I don’t think it’s as great of a comparison, ep 2 and 3 of genloss definitely have a tone similar to Black Friday. Black Friday and The Mastermind of the Warehouse both have parts of them that are so absurd you start to wonder how it’s ever going to get that scary and then a bombshell drops out of NOWHERE. Like the feeling I got between What Do You Say and Feast or Famine in BF was the same as Charlie’s silly slime dissection turning to real blood and guts. I’d say towards the end of Black Friday it starts to feel like The Choice, but I don’t know how similar I could really say they are without reaching lol.

Okay here’s where I might just really want these to be more similar than they are BUT there’s also some really fun plot similarities between the hatchetfield musicals and generation loss!

- Mind control!! They both kind of have mind control! With tgwdlm, the weird goop shit can make people do things they normally would NEVER do. (Paul participating in a musical, Charlotte hurting people, Sam literally pointing a gun at his wife’s head and later ripping her insides out.) Wiggly in Black Friday also alters people’s perception in that way, making them more violent and desperate. The comparison of tgwdlm and genloss gets me the most though honestly. I think about how Professor Hidgens sings “you’ve just got to give up your choice” in Let It Out a LOT in terms of genloss ranboo. Nothing gl!ranboo does is HIS choice. He has to comply with the various games showfall makes him play if he wants to live or have any free will at all. Any time he breaks through the control and the filter, he becomes even more of an npc. None of his choices are his own.

- Okay this one’s more funny than serious but all of the hatchetfield shows and genloss have fucking time loop theories that make me insane actually. I keep desperately trying to make What If Tomorrow Comes make sense for genloss cause of the time loop implications but I’m really just grasping at straws lol let me BELIEVE.

- THE PROTAGONISTS DONT WIN (and it makes me so sad every time). Literally everyone in tgwdlm eventually dies/becomes a weird singing zombie. They even lure you into a false sense of hope with Paul and Emma that they managed to escape, just for it to be revealed that Paul has already been transformed and Emma has no hope for survival. In Black Friday, Wiggly remains undefeated, and the implied ending is that they get nuked by Russia due to the misplaced bomb. (tomorrow never comes!!) In generation loss, Sneeg is always so close but never truly reaches freedom, Charlie dies the moment he understands what has happened to him, and ranboo…..well. ⬛️ He even gets that same false sense of hope!! He defeats showfall, shuts it all down!! The exit is right there!!!!! He’s going to escape!!!!!! Just for him to get captured and crucified. The audience doesn’t even get to know if death really freed him. It’s that same kind of cruel ending where the protagonists efforts just,,,, don’t accomplish anything. The hero doesn’t succeed, and suffers for trying at all.

-there’s also like,,, religious imagery in Black Friday and genloss but nothing really to compare there, just neat

Okay silly rant over!!! I just really like genloss and the fact that it feels so similar to previous fixations I’ve had just makes it even more special to me :^)

[azure-firecracker]

ATLA Live Action Stream of Consciousness (Episode 7, Part 1).

Did Ozai try to try Zuko in the original? Did I just forget that? EDITING PHOEBE: It was Zhao but yes that did happen I just have a shit memory.

Does Zhao have enough pull for that?

They definitely didn’t know that he was the Blue Spirit (in the OG)

Nice moment between Zuko and the lieutenant though.

Yeah this is new but I like it. Makes Zhao scarier (editing me: No it’s not)

Aang: Zuko seemed so… Me: Sad.

Okay Northern water tribe is like the only thing that looked significantly better animated. The CGI detail usually looks good but here it drains some of the color (especially the purple)

Arnook…lowkey can’t act.

Why did they do that to Yue’s hair lmao? I have a specific reference I’m thinking of that I’ll link here. (There’s multiple photos in this article. It’s the one with the big hair).

Zhao is a better liar than I remember. But like if he’s this competent now will that diminish Azula’s effect if they get a book 2? Part of why she worked so well was that Zhao was not the best villain.

On the “below average” stuff with Azula: I think it works for this iteration of the character but it’s not in keeping with the original. I wish they’d kept it closer to the original since it’s important to show different kinds of abuse, and I think OG Ozai would only say those things to Azula behind closed doors, but I think it works in isolation.

LIZZY YU IS ACTING HER ASS OFF.

“That I’m the one” who what? Interesting writing choice there. They feel the need to overexplain everything else but they can’t finish this line.

Sokka’s humor is coming through.

Aaw this is a cute Aang and Katara moment.

I liked Pakku as a straight up sexist asshole in the original but I’m not sure that that would have translated so well so I’m glad they gave him some half decent moments.

IS YUE DOING MAGIC?

Aaw Yue’s getting some more cute moments that’s sweet. I love original Yue but I like her candid, grounded moments here. She feels more fleshed out. She and Sokka are cute too.

I like Sokka’s arc but give Katara some of that characterization.

Wait was Yue the fox spirit? Why did they make that choice? How does it serve the narrative?

Hahn doesn’t suck now! Not sure how I feel about that since Yue’s tragedy was not about who she was marrying in the first place, rather about the fact that she had to get married.

“My friends helped me” Aang tbf it was mostly you.

I like that we’re getting some more exploration into healing.

Are they finally gonna let Katara be angry? PLEASE do!

My dad asked why Sokka is wearing so much lipstick.

OH Yue broke off her engagement that’s NEW. Where are they gonna go with this?

Kuruk development that’s cool!

Gordon who tf wrote your dialogue in this scene (and how many times have I written that question in some form or another?)

Why are we into LOK spirit world stuff? This remake can’t handle the material it has.

Can we have one character without an angsty backstory please?

They need to stop harping in this “the hero needs to do everything alone” idea it’s overdone.

They should have given Yue white eyebrows.

This is new and I don’t mind it (with Yue)-confirms my theory that she was supposed to be the avatar.

See Sokka does have a good heart but you can’t make that the center of his character it’s also the center of everyone else’s character. Why does the whole main trio seem the same?

I hate this Aang/Kuruk scene it’s so generic.

More on the way (Y’all KNOW I have thoughts on part 2).

[relicsongmel]

Introduction

Welcome! My name is Mel and this is my place to shout into the void about things I'm way too obsessed with. I'm in my 20s, female, pan(demi)romantic asexual and also autistic/ADHD as hell. I post about a variety of things but here are the fandoms you're most likely to see (in no particular order):

Pokemon/Pokeani

Ace Attorney

Bleach

Inuyasha

Animal Crossing

Stardew Valley

Love Nikki

Undertale

Other things to know about me:

Personal posts will be tagged as [#mel's musings].

I have two tags [#little songbird] and [#forest for the tree] for my OCs Sylvia and Denise, respectively. They're my two pseudo self-inserts reflecting different aspects of my personality that I can throw into whatever fictional universe I'm hyperfixating on in the moment for my own enjoyment. If you're curious I have overviews for each of them in this post—I'm somewhat selective about sharing plot details for the various AUs I have but if you have questions about the characters themselves I'm more than happy to answer them! I love my girls <3

In addition to the fandoms listed above I am also EXTREMELY autistic about music—I have a background in piano/classical singing and have been in choirs all my life since 4th grade. I have been bestowed with the blessed (and sometimes cursed) combination of absolute pitch as well as pitch-color synesthesia. The former is the ability to identify pitches without a reference note and the latter is a phenomenon where my brain associates certain musical keys with certain colors, temperatures and scenery among other things. It is a HUGE special interest of mine—ask me questions about it and I will literally love you until the end of time I'm serious. Even if it's as simple as sending me a song and asking what color it is or asking me for thoughts on video game OSTs because I have a LOT

A follow-up to the above point: I love all things music theory and analysis and whatnot but in my excitement I have a tendency to get a bit TOO technical sometimes. I will do my best to make things as accessible as possible in my personal posts or when answering questions directed towards me (unless you specify it's not needed) but if that's not your niche any posts of this nature will be tagged as [#music nerd shit].

BE WARY OF FOLLOWING IF:

You are weird about multishipping. I like many ships for many different reasons and there's a lot of overlap between characters (just as an example: for Ace Attorney I am primarily a Narumitsu/Wrightworth shipper but I also enjoy Krisnix, Feenris, Gumworth and Langworth and I will make posts about all of them). All ship posts are tagged as such but it's something to be mindful of

You dislike long tag ramblings. I tend to do that a lot, so if that's not something you can just Ignore than this blog may not be the place for you (side note: if my tags on a post ever don't make sense there's a decent chance I'm just having a conversation with one of my mutuals through tags because some of them Do That. Deal with it)

You are overly invested in pro/anti discourse. I have things that squick me out just like anyone else but if I see something I don't like I just block and move on. It is not my job to police the behavior of random strangers on the internet and I don't need any of you weirdos trying to convince me it is please for the love of god go outside

KEEP YOUR TERF/RADFEM BULLSHIT, EXCLUSIONISM OR BIGOTRY OF ANY KIND THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME. IF I SEE ANY OF THAT SHIT I WILL BLOCK ON SIGHT

If you follow me and need anything specific tagged (whether it be for spoilers or other reasons), shoot me a message and I'm more than happy to oblige.

My askbox is always open if you'd like to talk about anything at all whether it be fandom shit, music nerd shit or otherwise. If you'd prefer me to answer privately please specify as such when writing your ask.

I do not condone the use of generative AI or reuploading art without express permission from the original artist. If I accidentally reblog AI/stolen art please send me a message letting me know so I can delete it accordingly.

If we are mutuals and you'd like to get to know me more, feel free to message and ask for my Discord! I'm not a part of any servers at the moment because that sort of thing intimidates me, but I do enjoy talking to my friends there and you could be one of them. If you'd like. But you need to make that clear to me first so hmu if you're interested <3

And that's about it, really! Enjoy your time here and I hope something nice happens to you today <333

[quenchiestcactusjuice99]

Y’all want a spiderverse crack idea? No? Here you go anyway

- Miles (when he’s younger) runs away; the Prowler brings him home

- Miles thinks the Prowler is a hero for a few months, his favorite color is now purple and he wants all his shirts to be themed accordingly

- He sees the Prowler fighting Spiderman and has the juxtaposition of ‘anyone fighting Spiderman is Bad’ vs ‘the Prowler saved me, he’s Good’

- He runs away again to see if the Prowler will find him (he does, eventually, and is subsequently subjected to his nephew’s puppy eyes. Miles wants to know why he was fighting Spiderman ‘cause Spiderman is Good, you can’t fight Spiderman)

- The Prowler gives a very halting, very dissatisfying answer and drops Miles at home again, but he finds himself with creeping guilt whenever he has to fight Spiderman from that day on

- Miles comes to the understanding that the Prowler Does Bad Things, but he’s still confused about why the Prowler would do a Good Thing then. This also means that Miles is too busy trying to find the answer to that question to consider that the Prowler might be dangerous

- After a few years (and a few more rescues) Miles starts calling him ‘Mister Prowler’ and knows that Prowler is a villain, but like, he’s a weirdly nice villain

- Spiderman, on the other hand, has been noticing an ever so slight decline in Prowler-related activity and viciousness

- At some point it occurs to Miles that the Prowler knew where his house was,, and also consistently finds him and delivers him home,, and he finally gets around to asking why

- Miles: hey how’d u know where my house was?? - The Prowler, panicking silently: I’m friends with your uncle

- Miles’ mind is blown, he has so many questions; the Prowler answers none of them and jumps off the roof to escape. Miles interrogates Aaron the next time he sees him and Aaron is Still Panicking so he’s absolute shit at making himself a cover

- Miles, a preteen with a theory, not unlike a dog with a bone: they know each other. They’re friends. Uncle Aaron is nervous about it. Are they... *dating?*

- The next time he sees the Prowler he shouts “you better be good to my uncle”, possibly in earshot of Spiderman

- Anyway like two weeks before the collider, Spiderman and the Prowler are having a stare-down, maybe from separate buildings

- Miles shows up like: oh hey Mister Prowler - Prowler: ...  - Spiderman: ??? - Miles: how’s my uncle? - Prowler, long since used to his nephew’s conviction that he’s dating himself, fully resigned to his fate: he’s good. Don’t you have school - Spiderman: ??????

- Spiderman has many questions. Spiderman does not get any answers. Spiderman is haunted by the knowledge that the Prowler is friends with a middle schooler

- The collider happens, kind of. In the scene right before Spiderman dies, where he and Miles are talking, the Prowler saves them both before Kingpin gets there. Kingpin is now after all three of them, but less urgently than fixing the collider

- The Prowler performs emergency first aid on a rooftop and then sends Miles back to his school bc its late. The Prowler then takes Spiderman (now unconscious) to his apartment and changes out of his Prowler outfit just in time to convince Spiderman that the Prowler dropped him off so Aaron could make sure he doesn’t drown in his own blood.

- Spiderman’s thought process happens approximately like this: the Prowler doesn’t trust anyone. The Prowler trusts this guy. The Prowler knows the uncle of That One Kid. Is this the uncle of That One Kid? Are they dating??

- Aaron is plagued by the misconception that he’s dating himself at every turn. He doesn’t know what to do anymore. He can’t even deny it because he doesn’t have a better explanation

- Aaron is reluctant to keep Spiderman in his apartment long, for obvious reasons, and this translates to Spiderman as reluctance to treat him in general

- Spiderman, literally half-dead: am I bothering you? Is this a hassle? Do you need me to leave? I can leave, I’ve got a great healing factor, I’ll be fine

- Aaron tells him to lie back down and not ruin all his hard work. He mutters something along the lines of “I can’t believe I’m doing this”

- Spiderman: look, if you don’t want to be helping me, you don’t have to. Nobody’s making you--wait, is somebody making you? Is the Prowler making you?? Are you being forced??? Are you in Trouble???? I can help

- Aaron, literally the Prowler: sit your fool ass down on that couch or so help me God

- Anyway on the way back to school Miles makes a pit stop for food, so he runs into Peter B while Peter B is also looking for food. Miles is very weirded out but like, so is Peter B. Miles explains that Spiderman (his, specifically) is kind of injured at the moment, but don’t worry, the Prowler is on it. Peter B is not comforted by this at all.

- Peter B: the Prowler? As in, the VILLAIN, the Prowler? - Miles: yea what’s your point? Mister Prowler’s not gonna hurt him, he’d be out of a job if people stopped hiring him as insurance against Spiderman

- That does not make Peter B feel any better, so they trek over to Aaron’s place and take stock of the situation: Spiderman is passed out on the couch in frankly terrible shape and Aaron is dozing with his head on the counter

- Miles: oh did Mister Prowler leave? Did he at least give you a kiss first - Peter B: ?!?!?!?!?? - Aaron, definitely not awake enough for this: Miles. Please. Shut up.

- Then he realizes there’s Another Spiderman in his house and listens to the explanation with growing exasperation and tries not to interject with anything he shouldn’t know about the collider. But it seems to him like it worked until Peter B glitches out in his kitchen and nearly gets a concussion on the edge of the counter

- So Aaron gets quasi-bullied into helping shut it down by promising to get the Prowler on it. Peter B is skeptical of his chances of success. And that’s how the Prowler ends up helping destroy the collider with the rest of the spiders!

- Everybody ends up convinced Aaron is dating the Prowler. Jeff tries to scold him about getting in over his head. The only ones who don’t immediately accept it are Rio and Aunt May, who smile very mischievously and definitely know what’s up

Bonus-- Peter B: I could swear that in my dimension, you never dated anyone named ‘Aaron’ Prowler: I could swear that in my dimension, you were skinny Peter B: ... I can take a hint

[a-river-of-stars]

Gundam Wing analysis: set dressing in Episodes 35-38

Warning: image heavy post and gay 3x4 conspiracy theories ahead, so I’ve put in a Keep reading cut

Set dressing is a wonderful thing.  It adds a layer of depth to any story, but it is particularly useful when you’re trying to tell a primarily subtextual story in order to Get Shit Past the Censors.  The set dressing in Episodes 35-38 of Gundam Wing tells one such subtextual story.

When Trowa first returns to the circus with amnesia in Episode 35, we see three kinds of symbols on the boxes in the background: stars and specifically shooting stars (representing the Gundams and their pilots), question marks (representing Trowa’s amnesia and general feelings of confusion), and stripes (which could have multiple interpretations: the stripes resemble the bars of the lion’s cage, representing restraint or a feeling of being trapped, but when arranged diagonally instead of vertically they also bring to mind the diagonal stripe of the forbidden 🚫 symbol).

Below is a closer look at that stack of boxes.  Note the color scheme of the striped box and how it matches Trowa’s costume trousers.  The person doing the restraining and forbidding here is Trowa himself; his own subconscious has made his memories off limits to him.

In the scene at the end of Episode 35 (pictured below), one more symbol appears: hearts, which symbolize exactly what you’d expect.  Alone in the dark, Trowa is looking in a chest covered with symbols of all the important things he’s forgotten.  And looking a bit too deeply, it seems, as he’s soon overwhelmed by a mysterious “cold” feeling that prevents him from looking any further.  His subconscious is not ready to unpack all that.

Even his previously smiling mask is sad now, painted with a teardrop that has never been there before.  😥

There’s more to this post!  Click on Keep reading. :)

Never gonna give you up--  Nah, nevermind.  Sorry.  Please stay, there actually is more. 🤡

When Duo shows up at the circus in Episode 36 the boxes again have stars.  One of the stars in this scene has a distinctive six-point design instead of the usual five-point one; it may have religious significance considering the characters involved.  There is also an even more recognizable forbidden diagonal stripe (green box pictured below).  Once again, the green of that striped box is associated with Trowa as the color of his eyes and of his costume trousers.  Although Catherine soon comes to tell Duo to leave Trowa alone, it is Trowa himself who truly rejects Duo.  There are heavy shadows in this scene, as well.  Trowa is still literally and metaphorically in the dark.

When Quatre arrives at the circus in Episode 38, the boxes have some interesting patterns.  There are a lot of stripes both vertical and diagonal, but there is also a notable return of hearts (pink box pictured below).  The pink color scheme of this box indicates a romantic love, light and innocent but romantic in nature nonetheless.

Another striped box (above) is situated directly between Quatre and Trowa.  Their meeting is forbidden.  But by whom?  This time the color scheme of the forbidden stripes doesn’t match Trowa.  In fact, there is a large green box that does represent Trowa--even including an orange and yellow pattern that matches the other colors of his costume.  For once, Trowa is not restraining himself, but rather seems somewhat open to Quatre, even excited to discover that Quatre knows him.  Whereas Trowa looked terrified when Duo spoke to him in Episode 36, Trowa shows no fear of Quatre at all.  So, who is represented by that striped box?  The answer comes just a few frames later....

Catherine’s shirt’s main color and shading are a perfect match to the striped box’s color scheme.  This lines up with the dialogue where Catherine explicitly forbids Quatre from contacting Trowa.  Just like the striped box, Catherine physically puts herself between Quatre and Trowa.  Note that more hearts have appeared beside Catherine, but with an unromantic color scheme that resembles the color of Trowa’s shirt: Catherine, too, loves Trowa, in a different way than does Quatre.  When she says that Trowa is like her brother, she truly means it.

In the frame above, a second striped box appears in different colors, this one bearing a resemblance to Quatre’s eye color.  This suggests that it is now Quatre who is restraining or forbidding himself from interacting with Trowa.  Even if Catherine hadn’t forbidden contact between them--undoubtedly Quatre would have found a way around her if he’d really wanted--Quatre has now seen the harm his own mistake has caused Trowa and won’t let himself be near Trowa for fear of hurting him even more.  It doesn’t seem promising.  And yet, as Trowa secretly watches Quatre leave...

The red box that has appeared beside Trowa’s trauma-addled head is covered with hearts.  The red indicates a romantic love, and of a much deeper and more recognizably romantic kind than the pink seen previously.  Though Trowa is unlikely to know what he’s feeling just yet, it does seem to line up with Trowa’s implied feelings toward Quatre when he recovers his memories in Episode 43 and with his behavior in the episodes that follow.

Box conspiracy theories aside, Trowa is hiding in the shadows of the tent toward the end of this scene.  Going back to the beginning of this scene (pictured above), before Quatre and Trowa even meet, the sun shines around Quatre and guides him through a messy collection of jumbled items and forbidden striped boxes to where Trowa is.  The sun is both light and warm.  Perhaps it is this warmth that counters the mysterious “cold” Trowa talks about, his fear of whatever it is he has forgotten.   At the very end of this scene, when Trowa is brought to his knees as he begins to remember Quatre, he staggers partially out of the dark tent and into the sunlight. 

Funny how much of a story can be told without words.

[theartofdreaming1]

Here is my attempt at portraying Peeta’s camouflage skills convincingly 😅😅

As usual, my thoughts regarding this week’s prompts and random thoughts on chapters 19-21 are below the cut.

heart

While I love all the banter between Katniss and Peeta, I think my favorite of these three chapters is: “Trust me. Killing things is much easier than this,” I say. “Although for all I know, I am killing you.” “Can you speed it up a little?” he asks. “No. Shut up and eat your pears,” I say. A classic 😄

mind

I always imagined that Cato went after Thresh before coming for Katniss and Peeta because a) Thresh took the backpack for District 2 (which contained the body armor that would make dealing with Katniss’s arrow so much easier) and b) Thresh killed Clove and Cato wanted to avenge her... Although I have no idea how Cato ended up killing Thresh... he was doing pretty well for himself in his grass-y area... Maybe the Gamemakers wanted to punish Thresh for not killing Katniss and generated that thunderstorm and rain to force Thresh out of his refuge, which would give Cato a fair chance to kill him, I guess...

soul

Lol, honestly, since Peeta just generally seems to be motivated by kindness and love/caring, I don’t think it took much for him to keep the star-crossed lovers angle alive (I could easily imagine him actually noticing Katniss in the willow tree early in the Games and offering to take care of the District 8 girl, so the Careers would get the hell out of there, away from Katniss)

Chapter 19:

Peeta, who’s been wounded, is now my ally. [...] I’d loathe any tribute who didn’t immediately ally with their district partner. Besides, it just makes sense to protect each other. - Honestly, this just highlights what a kind person Katniss is, despite her aloof front; her innermost instinct is always to stick together and to protect. Because it doesn’t really make sense for her to team up with Peeta - she knows he’s wounded and won’t be of much help to her, her chances of survival are way better if she stayed on her own, but it’s not something she’d ever consider now that they are allowed to form a team (and only then does she even factor in the whole ‘star-crossed lovers of district 12′ -angle)

Peeta, it turns out, has never been a danger to me. The thought makes me smile. - Aww 😊 (but also, how heart-breaking that the Capitol will do everything in their power to change that, to make Peeta become a danger to Katniss 😢)

He’s very hard to predict, which might be interesting under different circumstances - Okay, but this just makes me think of that exchange in Gilmore Girls when Paris and Rory talk about how you know a guy is right for you:  “Someone who’s compatible but not compatible.” “Yeah, kind of. I mean, you respect each other’s opinions and you can laugh at the same jokes, but I don’t know – there’s just something about not quite knowing what the other person’s gonna do at all times that’s just really exciting.” - fits these two to a T 😏

In fact, I’ve just about decided I’m on the wrong track entirely, that a wounded boy would be unable to navigate getting to and from this water source, when I see the bloody streak - Okay, but how flipping tough is Peeta?! He’s severely injured, with multiple tracker jacker stings and he drags himself to this terrain that is almost impossible to navigate for someone in his condition - a sturdy dandelion, indeed!

“You’re here to finish me off, sweetheart?” - What an entrance after having gone AWOL for quite a couple of chapters 👌🏼👏🏼

“Remember, we’re madly in love, so it’s all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it.” I jerk my head back but end up laughing. “Thanks, I’ll keep it in mind.” [...] “Katniss?” Peeta says. I meet his eyes, knowing my face must be some shade of green. He mouths the words “How about that kiss?” I burst out laughing - He’s lying in a river bed, slowly dying, and he can still make her laugh 😊

“You know, you’re kind of squeamish for such a lethal person” - It’s such a small comment, but I can’t help but think that Peeta is just kind of intrigued to discover all these little idiosyncrasies that make up the ever-elusive Katniss Everdeen ;)

Impulsively, I lean forward and kiss him, stopping his words. -  Aww, she doesn’t even want to consider him dying, so she spontaneously decides to cut him off with a kiss👀👀 Honestly, at this point Peeta has elicited 2 (!) spontaneous kisses  (the kiss after the chariot ride and this one) from Katniss, who generally isn’t that big on touching people

“You’re not going to die. I forbid it. All right?” - Stubborn, protective Katniss... But also reminds me of their rooftop “date” in CF and the “Then you’ll allow it?” “I’ll allow it” - exchange

I kiss him awake, which seems to startle him. Then he smiles as if he’d be happy to lie there gazing at me forever. He’s great at this stuff. - KaTNisSs, gurl... 🙄🤦🏼‍♀️

Chapter 20:

But I knew he was injured. And still I came after him. I’m just going to have to trust whatever instinct sent me to find him was a good one. - The very best of instincts, Katniss, don’t you worry😉

Peeta’s struggling to get up when I reach the cave. “I woke up and you were gone,” he says, “I was worried about you.” - Gah, why are the both of them so good?! They just care for and worry about each other 24/7

“How do you feel?” “Better than yesterday. This is an enormous improvement over the mud,” he says. “Clean clothes and medicine and a sleeping bag... and you.” Oh right, the whole romance thing. - Oh Katniss...😐 I reach out to touch his cheek and he catches my hand and presses it against his lips. I remember my father doing this very thing to my mother and I wonder where Peeta picked it up. - Where did Peeta pick this up? From a time his family was less dysfunctional? Observing couples in the town square? Or is he a fricking disney prince and these things come natural to him? Questions, questions...

“You didn’t sleep,” Peeta says. “I’m all right,” I say. But the truth is, I’m exhausted. “Sleep now. I’ll keep watch.” [...] I test his cheek. Hot as a coal stove. He claims he’s been drinking, but the containers still feel full to me. I give him more fever pills and stand over him while he drinks first one, then a second quart of water. - These two are just too stubborn to take proper care of themselves - good thing that each of them is adamant to force the other to sleep/drink/eat when necessary

“Besides I like watching you sleep. You don’t scowl. Improves your looks a lot.” - When presented with the choice of being flirty vs being a cheeky little shit, Peeta will choose being a flirty cheeky little shit every time 😂

“I’m going to make soup,” I say. “Don’t light a fire,” he says. “It’s not worth it.” - Okay, but what he’s actually saying is “I’m not worth it” 😭😭

Katniss telling that story about buying Prim’s goat😊... A young buck, probably a yearling by his size. His antlers were just growing in, still small and coated in velvet. [...] Beautiful. - We are all very much aware of Peeta’s appreciation for beauty, but the same does apply to Katniss, too (she’s just overall more pragmatic)

“Was it [the goat] still wearing the pink ribbon?″ he asks. “I think so,” I say. “Why?” “I’m just trying to get a picture,” he says thoughtfully. -  Peeta is so detail-oriented! I have this theory that this is actually something that enables him to overcome his hijacking; we catch glimpses in MJ of how he inches himself out of his condition by asking/focusing on small details or things most people would dismiss as trivial (Katniss’s favorite color, the color of her dress visiting District 7, her Dad singing the Hanging Tree when Peeta was 6 or 7 years old...) and I feel like it makes a lot of sense - his tormentors in the Capitol either wouldn’t have access to distort these moments or not even consider them to have any significance (since they are all about big, flashy gestures in the Capitol), so these memories would remain untouched. Luckily, Peeta seems to live by Robert Brault’s words: “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. “

“Really? What did you cost me again?” I ask. “A lot of trouble. Don’t worry. You’ll get it all back,” he says. - Well, he’s going to cost her a lot more trouble in the future - but we know he’s going to make up for it and bring her much happiness, too 😊

“You’re not risking your life for me.” “Who said I was?” I say. [...] “Of course I’m not going.” [...] “You’re such a bad liar, Karniss.” [...] Anger flushes my face. “All right, I am going, and you can’t stop me!” “I can follow you. At least partway. I may not make it to the Cornucopia, but if I’m yelling your name I bet someone can find me. And then I’ll be dead for sure,” he says. - Soo.. their love language is offering to sacrifice their life like it’s nothing, huh?! 😳😅 

Peeta eats without complaint, even scraping out the pot to show his enthusiasm. He rambles on about how delicious it is, - lol, sounds like a husband trying to get back on his wife’s good side after they had a row 😂

I clamp my hand over his mouth and nose hard, forcing him to swallow instead of spit. He tries to make himself vomit the stuff up, but it’s too late, he’s already losing consciousness. - Ah, the most important indicator of true love: having person A force-feed person B a sedative so they can run off to get them life-saving medicine ;)

Chapter 21:

I lie next to Peeta in the bag, trying to absorb every bit of his fever heat. It’s strange to be so physically close to someone who’s so distant. Peeta might as well be back in the Capitol, - Reminds me how in MJ she’s going to be so close to Peeta (mentally/emotionally) while he will be physically so distant (in the Capitol!)

a tiny orange one [backpack] [...] that must be marked with a 12 - Interesting how that backpack is orange, huh? Why is that? Are smaller backpacks generally orange (like the one Katniss already has) to be more visible or is this simply to connect the backpack to Peeta (though we don’t know his favorite color at this point)? Do the Gamemakers care whether Katniss gets a matching backpack? It just seems like an unnecessary detail to throw in🤔

The table has just clicked into place when a figure darts out of the Cornucopia, snags the green backpack, and speeds off. Foxface! - Honestly, this was a truly brilliant move; kudos! 👏🏼

[Clove] carefully selects an almost dainty-looking number [knife] with a cruel, curved blade. “I promised Cato if he let me have you, I’d give the audience a good show.” [...] “I think...” she almost purrs. “I think we’ll start with your mouth.” [...] she teasingly traces the outline of my lips with the tip of the blade. - Okay, but the idea of Clove cutting off Katniss’s lips is just all kinds of terrifying and disturbing 😨

“No! No, I-” Clove sees the stone, about the size of a small loaf of bread in Thresh’s hand [...] Thresh brings the rock down hard against Clove’s temple. [...] and I know she’s a goner. - Interesting how Katniss describes that rock that basically saves her life (or at least kills her assailant) as bread-sized, huh? “Your district... they sent me bread. [...] Conflicting emotions cross Thresh’s face. He lowers the rock and points at me, almost accusingly. “Just this one time, I let you go. For the little girl.” - Katniss mentions the bread from District 11 as a proof of her alliance with Rue (and the recognition of D11) and Thresh spares her; bread keeps saving her life (while it keeps representing acts of kindness)

Cato kneels beside Clove, spear in hand, begging her to stay with him. - I appreciate this small, humanizing moment with Cato

The last thing I remember is an exquisitely beautiful green and silver moth landing on the curve of my wrist. - I don’t know much about North American insects (not that I know that much about European insects either - just recently came across a relatively rare moth on my walks that I had never seen or heard of before) - is Katniss describing a special/noteworthy species of moth? Or is this a more literary symbolism kind of moth? (Just looked up some symbolism meaning of moths: change/transformation, seeking light; power of regeneration in some Native American mythology, hmm...)

[splintered-emotions]

astrid's giant marvel complaint

this will encompass age of ultron, civil war, infinity war, endgame, loki, eternals, and multiverse of madness probably in release order so spoilers ahoy

also i'll just do it in bullet points for general ease and plus subpoints work so much easier that way

there's a few disclaimers that i should put in before i get too far in this:

i am a tony stark stan so that has almost assuredly colored my perception of these movies, however, given the fact that my next two favorite characters were bucky and loki, it shouldn't be too bad

some of these realizations i only made after i exited the marvel fandom post endgame so originally i did enjoy all of these movies

i have read like 2 comics so don't expect that to really factor into any of this.

there is a mention of rape within it because of a joke made within age of ultron that i fucking loathe so keep your own mental health in mind if/when you get to that section because this is just something that i'm doing for fun and it isn't necessary to harm yourself to read it

and finally, this is all my own personal opinion and if i disagree with any of your thoughts, that may be because i haven't watched a couple of these in a while

anyways the people who wanted this: @yellow-feathered-faerie and @beenovel i hope you have fun reading the efforts of a few days

okay so starting off with age of ultron (i've already done a dissection of this with @yellow-feathered-faerie on a shared discord server so if any remarks are recognizable, it's from there) just a warning before we get into this, this is the only movie mentions rape in a joking manner, so if you would like to avoid the discussion of this topic, just skip ahead to civil war sometime before the final bullet point for aou

so this is what i kinda like to call the start of the decline

the first symptom is honestly wanda’s arc and therefore pietro’s a bit too

more specifically her arc throughout all of her material, but for now specifically age of ultron

i don't dislike the characters in theory, i just don't like what was done to them

because they could have worked with the comics characterization from what i can tell from sources online, but the whole thing with them still being x-men characters make it worse than it would have been otherwise

and the whitewashing and making them work with fucking hydra when their comics iterations were literally jewish make it so much worse

so first off all, we have them blaming Tony Stark for killing their parents because two of his bombs crashed into their home. already i hate this reasoning but i can acknowledge that at a young age, this probably made complete sense to them. but given that they're 24 in the actual movie,  it makes far less sense

especially because i’m younger than them and i have slightly more sense than blaming the person who likely only built a prototype (albeit a working one) rather than fire the fucking weapon

they quite literally volunteered for HYDRA (a literal nazi organization) when they were teenagers in order to get revenge???? when like there was literally a whole thing about how Stark only sold to the US military and that his advisor/semi father figure was literally selling weapons under the table to terrorists about 7 years before this movie took place. and even then, it wouldn't have even been him who built or even fired the damn thing

because Stark weapons were used because of their efficiency and the fact that they worked basically every time

because a weapons company would not have been that rich via just the US military without some extremely high quality shit being sold

anyways somehow this changes in basically a split second halfway through the movie because some ai was trying to end the world (normal marvel shit) and they're both suddenly okay with him

Oh yeah after this wanda literally agrees to join the avengers a team with stark as one of the literal founding members (not technically

also wanda just fucking set off the hulk onto a civilian target casually and never gets any repercussions for that

if you’re gonna do that, why even imply real world consequences in the next movie.

there’s also the whole thing about nat being a monster because she can’t have kids because of an invasive surgery she did not consent to which is just fucking ridiculous because people with uteruses aren’t defined by whether or not they can have kids. it should be their own actions and shit like that that actually affect who they are as a character, not their reproductive status

and anyways they fucking scrap this relationship anyways with only the barest of hints to it in ragnarok and infinity war

the fact that they only blame tony somehow for this

as if the movie itself does not show that he just wanted to test it a bit, not fucking awaken a murderous AI. like the writers do kinda attempt to show this as a negative thing with like thor literally choking tony when he’s creating vision with bruce, but it honestly refuses to acknowledge that wanda and therefore hydra have some fault in the matter as well because she literally gave him a vision of everyone dying, which directly led to ultron being a project in his mind.

i’m not saying that tony does not play any role in this, but he plays less of one than the other characters choose to acknowledge

also let the characters be friends for fucking once. like in avengers we had a thing where they could possibly turn into friends, but with iron man 3 and ca:tws, there was no hope. however, they could have made a fucking ATTEMPT

THE FUCKING RAPE JOKE

for context: tony says that he wants to reinstate prima nocta, which is just a really fucked up policy done by noblemen on the wedding nights of women who lived on their land, during the scene where they are all attempting to pick up thor's hammer

wikipedia states "[prima nocta] was a supposed legal right in medieval Europe, allowing feudal lords to have sexual relations with subordinate women, in particular, on the wedding nights of the women" which gives you a clue as to what exactly the fucking writers wanted to bring up in their supposedly family friendly movie

and just deadass what was the need because there’s literally so much else that you could joke about and yet the writers chose THIS the man is supposed to be someone that we are rooting for not actively hating because you couldn't think of a good fucking joke

and that’s it on age of ultron so onto civil war where my blood truly begins to boil. once again this is something that i have discussed on the server so some remarks will just be copied from there.

i don’t like this movie for several reasons

and all of them can be laid at the feet of the people who wrote the damn thing

we begin with the fact that there are technically two things moving the plot forward the entire time

the sokovia accords

zemo and his framing of bucky

first problem: we know literally nothing about the sokovia accords other than the fact that superpowered people are required to sign them to continue fighting crime and threats and shit

not looking at agents of shield or any other supplementary material, just the fucking movie

and any other information that we are given is from thaddeus ross, an american politician/general i think, who is notoriously unreliable given the fact that he literally tried to hunt down bruce banner in the incredible hulk movie

therefore, using the information that was confirmed by other figures who weren’t ridiculous enough to fucking try and hunt down a man who will literally become bulletproof if he gets angry or scared, all we really know is that they need to sign it and be overseen by a UN approved committee

this kinda results in the thing that’s supposed to move the plot for at least part of the movie from what i can tell (it’s very unclear whether this is supposed to be relegated to a subplot once we reach the ⅓ mark of the movie) being fucking useless past this point

there’s like a mention of it in infinity war with rhodey telling ross to fuck off, but deadass, there’s no lasting effects beyond them just splitting the avengers up using this as a device to kinda do so, when i think it could have been more compelling and establish zemo as a stronger villain if it was his own actions that actually broke them apart rather than sheer coincidence because one dude, no matter how rich, could not have fucking manipulated over 100 countries into signing a legal document

so basically this could have been done away with if the writers knew that you don’t have two main plots within a single movie without either fucking over one, or managing to weave them intricately, which marvel has never been known to do particularly effectively without one sticking out like a sore thumb in a field of what should have been actually good writing with how much these movies fucking rake in

OH ALSO they never really explain why steve’s so deeply against them. yeah i get that tws was meant to be like sometimes the people in charge don’t have the purest motives/are fucking nazis. but they fucking defeated those guys and strucker was supposed to be the last one in age of ultron. so like who the fuck was he afraid of being in charge? because 1) the UN is a hell of a lot different than the league of nations that cap would have grown up with and someone should have fucking told him that at some point so it shouldn’t be that unless we’re going the route of shield tells no one fucking anything unless they deem it necessary and for that i’d like to point to the fact that fury fucking mentioned tony worked on the project and not once mentioned him when the plans to destroy the helicarrier were made and 2) there’s no one that he could have possibly recognized that was on the fucking project other than thaddeus ross. and he would be kept in check by ya know the other people on the panel because this is not a purely US panel because that’s what the fucking purpose is you dumbass.

plus it’s not like a governmental body as big as the fucking UN can keep their meetings secret. like someone should have known realistically. and then to just have the completely fabricated deadline just ignored casually after emphasizing the three days crap is just ridiculous

and just as a last statement regarding the accords, to quote Fae: “It really says something when one of the most vital parts of the plot is left for fans to figure out”

before we get too far into the movie, let’s discuss what you probably were not expecting me to bring up as a tony stan: peter parker

first things first, i don’t have a problem with the character, i have a problem with how he was handled.

because why the fuck was he introduced like that i get that his backstory has been run through over and over again, but this was so much worse than any other possible intro

we don’t know how he got his damn powers

we don’t know what the fuck his great power moment was because that only shows up in no way home

which makes no fucking sense, with the timeline that has been given and only further serves to traumatize this like 17 year old who has been through far too much already

which then forces the question: what made him want to start fighting crime? like if his great power moment only came like 7 years after he was introduced as a hero, then why the fuck did he start?

one interpretation is of course that he looked up to stark and that’s why he went oh i have superpowers? better go fight crime, but there’s nothing in the actual movie that tells you this. or any of the other ones for that matter. he says that he looks up to him, but not really why he began superheroing when he was a high school student.

will we ever get the question of how the fuck is he superheroing with like 50 ap classes (the kid wants to get into MIT, there’s no way he’s taking normal courses) and the homework that comes with it answered? because i know how much homework comes with aps rn and i barely manage to get in some writing for my fics before i fucking conk out at like 1am so how sleep deprived is he? 

also he was never fucking told why he was fighting, which may be a character thing more than a writer thing, but it’s sure as hell as problem that the writers could have fucking fixed so it’s being included

i get that movies have like fixed time lengths but like there’s so much information that you actually need to include in this movie for half the plot to make sense

like for any noncomics readers, actually for just everyone who watches this trainwreck: what the fuck are the accords, how are they meant to be implemented, how long has this been going on, why have we never heard of them before, shouldn’t there have been some fucking mention if they were in the works since fucking 2012 and shield was literally a spy organization and two of the avengers are fucking spies, are the avengers too far up their own asses to notice shit like this happening, so on and so forth

because there sure as hell weren’t any explanations about this in canon.

also deadass how do you explain Steve, Sam, and Natasha never telling tony about the whole winter soldier thing

because the writers sure as hell didn’t try

they just shoved that in there without even once bringing it up in a previous movie, making steve’s villainization of tony in age of ultron even weirder.

also how is it not a bigger thing that hydra killed howard? because that seems like a pretty big thing for them to just never acknowledge. because this also make steve someone who covered up a crime this big. there should be some kind of fucking consequences for it. because like there’s suspension of belief and then there’s just complete fucking nonsense.

another thing is the fact that none of the characters are particularly likeable in this movie

it’s literally just relying on everything built up from the previous movies to try and convince us that oh this is the good team and this is the bad one and yet each one of them makes terrible decisions. the only one i can actually see myself siding with is team iron man because it means that there’s actual oversight on superpowered beings coming into a country that isn’t america. because as it is, they’re an american team through and through. their actual origins don’t matter, but the fact that they were sponsored for all this time by shield and their base of operations is in new york, means that them just casually invading another country could put all of them in especially hot political waters. and this would just be a way to actually ensure that no politics are interfered with AND that they can’t come in fuck things up and leave without having at least something in place to provide some kind of clean up for these attacks.

honestly the accords and the bucky mess should have been two different movies

and yes i know that it’s gonna be a politics mess rather than the action that marvel’s known for, so then just don’t try and do an accords plotline. like i said earlier, just have zemo split them up so then it makes the plot less cluttered with what was supposed to be the logical consequence of their actions. we’ve already disregarded it enough for suspension of disbelief, the audience sure as hell doesn’t care now. we want a compelling story. and that needs a villain whose plans don’t just fall into place by sheer chance.

and because she’s here, i cannot help but complain about how fucking terribly the writers seem to treat wanda

first of all, they show her with a lack of control over her powers when hydra (an organization which would not have taken less than perfect execution from her) were the ones who gave her her powers and trained her in them

and like at this point, all we’ve seen of her has been hatred and mishandling of situations which for someone that we’re literally supposed to be rooting for makes no sense

and the whole thing with putting vision through like 5 floors because he was kinda trying to protect her from the reaction that would erupt from her going out into public when she needed the backlash to come down even a little bit more, especially because she is a person with powers and people are assholes to the things that they fear

but i mean i kinda get it, but not to the extent that she did it if you get what i mean

ALSO why the fuck were wanda (ex-hydra with mind control powers) and bucky barnes (previously mindcontrolled by hydra) put in any close range. did he even know her past? because he would have been a hell of a lot more against literally being on the same side as someone who willingly joined (there’s no clear evidence in canon that she did it unwillingly based off of the comments made in aou but that’s a whole other bucket of worms) the organization that fucking tortured him for 70 years of his life.

ant-man. it’s just why’d you have to tie him in like this. i like that nice little oh he has kinda met the falcon at the point thing, but like the whole thing with the conscience and “you can never trust a stark” is just so over the top. like has he ever met tony stark. or even howard stark. no??? then why have him be like oh it’s your conscience speaking when you have not met this man at all. his conscience is the fucking reason why he’s a superhero dumbass. do you think that he became one for fun? no it was because his weapons were in the hands of people who were using them to fucking hurt others and terrorize more and he wanted to do something about the events that his own trust in obadiah stane caused (yes i have strong feelings about tony stark, you cannot stop my power because the russos have already done worse to me. all you can do is make me hurt in new and interesting ways)

also there’s like 50 thousand better ways he could have been introduced to the rest of the avengers, this was honestly the worst possible one. you could have gone a route like sam where he’s introduced at like a party or implied to have met them before at a low scale battle. something that doesn’t make me want to cry at how much of a shift this was from the first ant-man movie where he refused to just believe everything that hank said.

and finally: the final battle. 

i honestly don’t understand how tony’s meant to be the villain in this one. because had steve just fucking told him the truth at fucking any point in time, there would have been no need for this smackdown. there would be no “did you know?” necessary. but no, the russos just wanted to “flip the script” and have superheroes fight each other because it’s not like superhero movies are supposed to be a form of escapism in which the audience doesn’t have to deal with bullshit like this.

and this is pretty much just a reaction to fucking batman vs superman which, from what i’ve heard about it, wasn’t particularly good either.

oh and the letter. the bane of my existence (derogatory). it’s so fucking arrogant too. like this isn’t the same kid from brooklyn who didn’t like bullies. he IS a bully now.

honestly the main thing for this movie is that the creative team on this genuinely don’t seem like they care about the characters within this movie. like say what you want about things like iron man 2 or thor dark world, at least they felt like they had a soul.

[sumerun]

hi there!! your ayato gfx was absolutely stunning i stared at it for a good minute just processing everything!! i've always been interesting in dabbling in gfx but i'm tech noob at best, an idiot at worst. do you have any advice for someone looking to start out? like resources, software etc. thank you sm and have a wonderful day/night

hello, sweet anon! first of all, thank you so much for your kind words! :)

note: text-heavy!

PEP TALK?

before we proceed, i just want to preface that getting into gfx design can be extremely frustrating. it is a part of the arts and as anything relating to the arts, it takes time and a LOT of practice. you, yourself is the biggest critic of your own work and you're also learning 21612198 tools. you will want to tear your hair out. you might have to learn theories and concepts that traditional artists learn in class to improve your own work. that being said, it is also very rewarding and fun, hehe

so what i always say to someone who wants to get into gfx design is, to just have fun. make the things you want and don't stop making them. the more you make, the more you improve. you can always learn the essentials of gfx design ofc!! but it's kinda boring so use whatever fandom as the subject to make it more fun

SOFTWARE

so the most well-known program that it's used in gfx is adobe photoshop and illustrator (there's more but those are the main two). it is not free and you gotta pay a subscription. if you can't afford it, you can always pirate it. BUUUUT, there's nice, free alternatives out there such as: GIMP (app), Photopea (browser based). it doesn't have everything photoshop does, but it's a nice way to dip your toes in!

RESOURCES

- your best resource is literally youtube and google haha! there are so many good videos you can search up and you can follow along. this is risky imo bc you can spend more time watching than doing, which defeats my points above.

- behance is a platform by adobe where you can find some resources, tutorials, and portfolios of other artists. it is a HUGE source of inspiration for me. i go on that website like at least once a week lMAO.

- pinterest is also a website i peruse often for inspirations! but at the same time, i'm torn bc there's a lot of stolen work here. so just keep that in mind

- the iconic gif tutorial by anue and this gaming gif tutorial by senka (yyh) is a GREAT way to start gfx design tbh. you'll learn to mess around with various tools when you make gifs!

GENERAL + IMPROVEMENT TIPS

i really wish i can just tell you the topics and tools you should learn but there's so much that it can get overwhelming. so take it at your own speed:

- like i mention above, learn the fundamentals. this is gonna be boring but use your favorite subject to make it fun!

- ok hear me out but as a beginner: copy and emulate. there's a reason why artists do master studies. you learn how the old and new masters paint, analyze their techniques and apply them to your own. it's pretty much the same in gfx design. emulate your favorite designs, learn why they use the colors they do and why they placed a certain font there. try to remake your favorite posters that you've seen and ask yourself why did they do that?

but ofc this is strictly for studying! this does not mean should plagiarize and post the same poster, but ayato version or something LOL. the line between plagiarism and inspiration/homage can be blurry but you need to make sure you are using this chance to learn and develop your own style! :)

- write down your ideas! sketch them out! whatever is in your brain might come out completely different on paper. and that's natural! it just help to visualize things

- PEN TOOL IS YOUR BEST FRIEND. i use this shit for EVERY single project so know it like the back of your hand.

- keep your past works and use it for self-critiques or just to look back and see how far you've come

CONCLUSION

remember, it will suck for a little bit while you learn all the tools in your software. you might not be able to materialize your ideas bc you don't know how to do something. it's ok!! you will get there once you're more experienced. just keep making gfx and ask for critiques. you will learn a ton! or sometimes, just walk away and let your brain rest. sometimes, we make a better product when you let it sit for a bit.

you got this, anon :) shoot me an ask/DM if you need anything else!

[not-me-simping-for-blasty]

Train Cars and Sun Spots - Kaminari Denki

—/—

You think he’s beautiful.

A disarming, reckless sort of beautiful as he barrels into the train, jumping headfirst through the doors just seconds from closing. He erupts into a flurry of fidgeting as he skids to a stop, one hand patting down his wild blonde hair and the other dusting off his sweats. It’s like he can’t sit still. Like he’s got an itch in his skin that’s shifting his weight around, balancing on one foot and then the other- rinse and repeat as he grabs onto the handrail above his head for stability.

Another second passes and then he’s pulling a plastic water bottle from his bag, twisting it open and crinkling the plastic. It seems to you that that he’s trying to make as much noise possible, but then you notice his headphones. They’re black and yellow, undeniably playing at full blast in his ears. You then decide it’s much more likely that he just can’t hear himself- that he somehow doesn’t realize how much of a scene he’s making in the otherwise quiet train car.

You find it a little refreshing, him seemingly appearing out of nowhere. You’d been riding this train for weeks now, to and from school, and you’d seen the same people day after day. The same old businessmen and their same old brief-cases and their same old silence. Not him though- never him and his noise. You were sure you’d remember hearing someone as loud as him.

Still, you try not to stare.

Although, you suppose, it wouldn’t really matter. He probably wouldn’t be able to pick you out of all the other people staring. It’s like he’s got the entire train car arrested and staggered;��� all eyes stuck on the strange boy who was moving far too much for a 7:00AM commute.

Shifting in your seat, you balanced your book higher in your hands. You hoped that by just barely skimming your eyes over the top, hiding inconspicuously behind the pages, you could look and not be noticed.

You were wrong.

When you glance over at him, he’s already looking at you. He’s got eyes like molten gold, and when he smiles they crinkle closed into happy little slits. That smile is easy and unrelenting when he pushes away from the handrail, hands shoved into his pockets as he nears.

“Hey there!”

His words are friendly, but god, if his voice isn’t loud. You wince, beginning to think that you’d severely underestimated the volume of his music. You’re sure now that it absolutely must be bursting his eardrums.

“Oh-“ He looks sheepish. Then he’s yanking the headphones from his ears, and dropping into the seat next to you. “Too loud, right? Sorry! Didn’t realize.”

You’re stunned.

At first, it seemed unbelievable that this conversation could’ve arised from just a single glance; but then you look a little closer, at his shifting eyebrows and his grin that’s colored shades of flirtatious and it’s a little more believeable. You realize quickly that’s all it ever would’ve taken with him- A single look.

“I’m Kaminari.” He announces confidently, your silence not deterring him in the slightest. “Kaminari Denki.”

“Oh. Okay. Um, hi?”

“Hi!” He greets again, and then he’s pulling that same water bottle from his back. It’s crinkling and half-empty and he’s extending it to you. “Want some?”

It’s in the way his eyebrows wiggle, the mischeivous glint in his eyes- you can see his intentions plastered across his face. The water bottle’s just a front for an indirect kiss. Quite literally the oldest trick in the book.

You want to roll your eyes, but then you look at him again. At his bright eyes and long lashes and shaggy hair falling softly over his forehead. He’s the sort of pretty that gives a lot of second chances- you were no exception to that rule.

“No thanks.” You laugh, easily dazzled by his sunshine smile. You raise a palm to push the bottle away. “Keep it to yourself, yeah?”

“Aww, but you’re too cute not to share with!”

The line rolls off his tongue smooth and easy, and you’re sure now- Kaminari’s a flirt. A shameless, brazen one dripping honey between his words as he fluffs his hair. It’s all a little too natural, a little too practiced. It takes only seconds, and you know definitively that you’re far from the first girl he’s offered his water to.

He’s still cute though, if only in a fleeting way, so you decide to humor him. It’s not like you’ve got anything more pressing to attend to.

“Mhm. And just how often do you use that line, huh?” You ask, rolling your eyes playfully.

“I-“ He starts, but then he’s slouching into the seat laughing. “Yeah, maybe not my best work. Meant it though.”

“I’m sure you did.”

“No, really! I did!”

You look at him again.

Kaminari’s straightened himself, eyes earnest and smile kind as he gazes back. He’s fiddling with the strings on his sweatshirt, idly twirling them between his fingers. It’s a human gesture. Unrehearsed and unpracticed and seemingly only for your eyes. You begin to wonder if that’s his real tactic- coming on strong just to melt into warm, sun-soaked softness.

“Alright. I believe you. Maybe.” You say. “But you’re on thin ice, Kaminari.”

“I’ll take it!” He fist-bumps the air. “See normally, I’d be totally crashing and burning by now!”

“So you are admitting I’m not the first girl you’ve tried that on?”

“What I- Okay. Yes? Maybe?” He laughs nervously, hand once again twirling his sweatshirt strings. “In my defense, I’m not the smartest guy, alright?”

“Nor the quietest either.”

“What?”

He’s got his head turned, cocked to the side as he blinks slowly at you. You think he looks like a confused puppy.

“You practically screamed at me when you said hi.” You tell him easily, letting an amused smile crawl across your lips. “Kinda thought I was being yelled at for a second.”

“Oh. Yeah, sorry! Really! I didn’t mean to do that.”

“It’s okay. Can I give you just a little advice, though?”

“Sure?”

“Don’t scream at the next girl and then immeadiately offer her something to drink. That’s generally pretty suspicious.”

You watch the light leave Kaminari’s eyes and then he folds in his seat. He snaps at the waist, dropping his face into his palms and letting out a theatric groan.

“God, I messed this up.” He whines, peeking at you through his fingers. “Messed up real bad, didn’t I?”

“A little,” You laugh. “But it’s alright.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You’re good.”

He smiles then, so relieved and happy and just downright giddy that it nearly blinds you. It’s the kind of smile that makes you think he swallowed the sun; like rays of light were bursting through the tiny gaps in his teeth.

“So, what’s your name then?” He asks.

“L/n Y/n.”

“Y/n. Hmm, I like it.” He sighs happily. “Pretty.”

“That’s my first name.”

“I know.” He grins, all pearly whites and crows feet. You think he’s got a dangerous smile- one that lets him get away with anything. “Figured we’re close enough for that, right?”

“I’ve known you for two minutes.”

“Hey, 2 minutes, 2 hours, 2 years- who’s counting?”

“Me.”

“Okay, well good then.” He snickers. “Because I’m like, really bad at math- Wait. Shit. Should I have told you that?”

“Probably not.”

“Man, I am bad at this.” He whines. His knees knock into yours when he throws himself back into his seat. “It’s not my fault, alright? Usually I never get this this far with girls like you.”

“Girls like me?”

“Mhm. Cute ones.”

“Oh my god.” You roll your eyes, only so forgiving. “Really laying it on thick, huh?”

“For sure. My stop’s next so I gotta make sure you actually like me at some point in the next few minutes.”

Something evil slithers into your mind, and you’re smirking when you turn toward him. There’s just an inkling, a tiny little theory in your head, and you want to test it.

“Who said I didn’t already like you?”

Kaminari jumps, his cheeks reddening by the second. There’s nothing cool or composed about him and your theory is confirmed.

Kaminari is a dork. A massive, massive, dork desperately pretending to be a cool guy.

“I- what? You like me?” He asks excitedly, voice rising higher. “Seriously? Like, actually?”

“Sure.” You giggle. “You seem pretty harmless, all things considered.”

“That’s- is that a compliment?” He asks playfully, squinting his eyes at you. “Because harmless wasn’t exactly what I was going for.”

“Oh, so you were trying to creep me out?”

“No!” He shakes his head, cheeks slightly flushing as he laughs.

You giggle too, unable to help yourself. Kaminari really is cute, a lot more so when he’s not recycling tired lines.

“You’re mean.” He smiles something small and pleased. “I like it.”

Suddenly the train car jolts, brakes squeaking and squealing as it skids to a stop. You rock forward with the force, and Kaminari knocks his shoulders into yours. When you look at his face, he’s got that mischevious glint back in his eyes, as he bites down on his lip. A second passes and then he touches his shoulders into yours again.

“Really sorry.” He smirks. “Bumpy ride, you know?”

You roll your eyes again, but you are actually feeling a bit charmed. He’s got a sneaky way of buttering people up, you realize- of somehow weaponizing his own embarrassment.

“But I actually do have to go.” He stands, and then he’s pressing his hands together and winking. “I’ll see you here same time tomorrow, right?”

“I don’t know, are you gonna yell at me again?”

“Absolutely! Gottta yell at all the pretty girls, you know?”

“Stop.” You laugh, blushing. You nod towards the doors. “I’ll be here, but go. Door’s gonna close, you dork.”

Kaminari nods and then he’s shoving his headphones back in, still crinkling that water between his fingers. There’s nothing quiet about him as he leaves and you come to think that maybe that’s how he really gets you- it’s not with lines or indirect kisses or grace, it’s with air that seems uncomfortably vacant when he leaves. It’s with the vaccuum he leaves behind.

You watch the doors close after him, but he’s stops on the platform, shooting you a thumbs up through the window. There’s a goofy grin plastered across his face, wide and sunny and brillant. It’s the kind of smile that leaves you wondering if Kaminari knows just how brightly he shines.

When the train kicks into motion again, you’re smiling too, rubbing your eyes as you blink away the sun spots he left behind.

//—//

jus a lil somethin for denki,, as a ~treat~,,, may or may not turn this into a tiny lil series we’ll see :))))

[dafuq-i-did-not-sign-up-for-this]

Hear me out: shameless spoilers for Four Knights of the Apocalypse and Seven Deadly Sins ahead.

What if Sin is Derrieres reincarnation?

Given the fox theme and name and eyes, the connection to Ban and Lancelot seems most obvious, but what if Nakaba is back in troll mode?

When Derriere died, Mael let her and Oslo have a reincarnation so they can get revenge on him if they wish to. They would keep their memories as well. Now there's a few things that don't exactly add up about that theory, but here's what I could think of so far:

Derriere has the same eyes as Ban. We haven't seen Sins eye color yet. For all we know it could be hers.

We have seen Sins furr tho, and it's the same pink as Derrieres eyes in the anime. (tho in the English translation Sin is described as a red fox, but pink and red, y'know)

Sin's attitude and use of language screams Derriere to me, if you read the manga with that comparison in the back of your mind. Sin's just trying to get these kids to Liones alive and god does he need a nap. Sounds about right for a 3000 year old elite soldier turned babysitter. I'm getting slight Witcher vibes.

In recent chapters Tristan asked Sin for his age. Sin said 3000, and at the kids shocked reaction claims to be kidding. Clearly not kidding from a story telling point of view.

Now here's what I can't wrap my head around in the Sin situation yet:

Let's be honest, Derriere would rather rot in hell than take a single order from Meliodas ever again, let alone serve him sitting on a throne.

I do see her doing Elizabeth favors tho, or generally hanging out with her.

The first thing we see of Sin, before we see what or who we're looking at, is the crystal around his neck. It has to be shit important. In illustrations we've seen it's kind of a light blue. Interesting.

Sin uses spell beads. Merlin's spell beads. Now we could assume they're just common by now, seeing as in NNT the Holy Knights used them during the ten year gap were Merlin was not with them, but:

It's been (even if in a side comment by Nasiens) specifically pointed out how Sin knows a lot about Arthur and his Chaos Knights. We could obviously shove that onto him being somewhat the mentor character and a tool for delivering exposition and shit, but he's been telling the kids a lot about Arthur for a while now, and it's the first time it's been pointed out. Stuff like that just rings alarm bells in my writer brain.

Then there's the most interesting scene we got of Sin so far, one that heavily implies the Sin is Lancelot theory: the one during the night before they pass the mountains. The kids ask why the mountains are so dangerous, Sin replies cause they make you see things. He examples specifically: your future self or even future lover. Then he gets called around by a ghost looking like a bride who knows his name. Implying that first of all Sin is not his real name. For obvious reasons I'm gonna assume that bride is Guinevere, AKA Arthurs beloved, the person whom Lancelot, should Nakaba stick to the bare bone of the Arthurian legends, will fall in love with. I really like that scene. I really like Sin.

Sin could be a completely new character that we still sort of know already for all we know. He could be Derriere (I really like the idea of a former Commandment, Demon Clan elite soldier babysitting a bunch of snutnosed somewhat Holy Knight apprentices). I don't see why Derriere would change her name tho if she kept her memories as Mael said she would.

Sin could also be a double agent for or against Camelot, a creature Arthur created or befriended and drove away again for obvious reasons, a straight up child/creature of Chaos, or one of Merlin's experiments. I do believe he has some connection to Chaos/Arthur/Camelot.

At first I thought he's Bans eyes and ears, in a literal way, but the personality doesn't fit. I do believe Sin to be their own person. Possibly Lancelot. Possibly someone else. Possibly the Knight of the Apocalypse with no fixed appearance (who is possibly Lancelot lol).

I'm excited to see how this plays out. We're still a loooooong way from any reveal that big I'd dare say, but once we get it oh boi am I gonna be insufferable about it.

[jaekaicx]

so ive had this idea for an amphibia fangame for a lil while now-

(LONG post)

its based around the idea that sometime after anne got sent back to earth, she decides to sneak out one night to visit sasha and marcys bedrooms and poke through their stuff. this causes a bunch of memories to come back to anne through flashbacks while she tries to process everything thats happened and her feelings abt their friendship.

i was thinking itd be mostly a visual novel type thing. maybe with a few small choices, but the story would be mostly linear. thered be around 3 main story beats: a prologue bit w/ anne sneaking out of her house, marcys bedroom, and sashas bedroom. also one of the main mechanics would be looking at one of their bedrooms and clicking on random objects of importance and triggering a flashback sequence.

it came from the idea that anne will probably try to just shove all her emotions down and try to ignore her feelings abt true colors and everything that went down then. especially with what we saw in the sneak peek, anne will probably try to hide her emotions and bottle them up, which is obviously not healthy. so eventually shes gonna have to work through her emptional baggage and try to process everything.

i havent thought through EVERYTHING just yet, just some more major plot points and maybe one or two ideas for flashbacks. nothing too solid yet. but heres a bit more detailed runthrough of the plot

summary - prologue

so it would start off with anne at home. she and her mom are talking outside annes room. her moms concerned abt how annes been handling everything that happened in amphibia but anne keeps brushing everything off. her mom tries to get her to open up, but she keeps dismissing her and eventually shuts herself in her room. after taking a bit to cool off and think anne decides that shes gonna take the night to just ride off her emotions and stop repressing them for once. she also makes an impulsive decision to sneak out and check out marcy and sashas rooms.

anne goes to gather her stuff in her room, and just as shes about to climb out the window, sprig walks in to check on her. hes still rly concerned abt his big sis but he knows he cant stop her. he tries to go with anne, but she tells him she needs to do this on her own. so, sprig lets her go and tries to cover for her while shes gone.

so at this point i’ll probably give the player the choice of whose house to visit first. it doesnt rly impact the story or whatever, but i guess it might have a small emotional impact depending on whose house u choose to go to first??

(quick note: after this bit, there arent too many specific details for the plot and stuff like that. its largely just an overall idea of how the plot is gonna go. and even then, there isnt much to it. i didnt think that far ahead yet, which is why there isnt as much refinement yet. so far i just have general ideas for how annes gonna get to the bedrooms, with a couple of vague flashback ideas. just keep that in mind; this whole thing is still being thought over and planned as im typing this out)

summary - sasha

with sasha, annes still rly conflicted abt how she feels abt her. of course shes still rly hurt by being backstabbed by her twice and swordfighting her as many times. but as much as she hates sasha she cant bring herself to fully give up on sash. she hates her guts but deep down shes still willing to give sash another chance.

there may or may not be a small sequence where anne has to sneak into sashas house, but eventually she works her way into sashas room. im not entirely sure abt the details of sashas house n her family yet. im probably gonna wait for info from s3 until i solidify anything, but for now i do know that sashas family has a big house n theyre probably rich.

so anne goes into sashas room and its been left pretty much untouched ever since annes birthday, save for the few times someone came in to dust things off. again, dont rly have all the details for sashas room, but it kind of has a vibe of controlled chaos, with organized clutter and a bit of a touch of a rebellious teen girl. one detail i do want to have is a calendar opened up to the month the trio disappeared, with annes birthday circled and highlighted so much that its impossible to miss.

the calendar itself might include a flashback. im thinking of also having a varsity jacket and some old stuffed animal be different “artifacts” that trigger their own memories. there’ll be a bunch more, but those are the only ideas i have so far fjsbndnd

summary - marcy

ok so i want to be rly mean about marcys segment: this is going off the theory that marcys parents moved away while the trio was in amphibia.

anne doesnt know this yet tho, so shes in for quite a surprise when she turns onto marcys street to find a realtor sign on the front lawn. the clues are all there: an empty driveway, sign on the lawn, an overall empty vibe coming from the house. but it doesnt completely register at first. its not til anne actually comes up close does she notice the sign.

anne tries to deny it, and decides to prove to herself that “no marcys parents wouldnt do this. theyre not that cruel. im just gonna check marcys room myself.” the front doors locked, so she just goes over to marcys window and climbs in.

but its completely empty.

ok not totally empty, but a lot of marcys furniture and stuff is gone, except for a few stray toys and other “junk.” the home guys (idk what theyre called????) are still kind of in the process of cleaning everything out, so theres still some stuff left here and there around the house. but its still way too empty. and its yet another gut punch for anne.

anne searches the rest of the house a bit more, hoping that shes just hallucinating. but no, marcys parents are really gone. she tried to deny it before, but now she has more of an idea of how shitty the wu parents are. so anne decides to just mope around in marcys old room, checking out the stuff their parents left behind.

maybe she finds an old blanket marcy liked when he was rly young. or an old rubiks cube from marcys vast collection. a cnc figurine, some cards, a pride flag, and old diary? a couple of other old toys, an old report card or two, or maybe even some stray clothes. whatever anne finds, its all thats left of marcy, at least in LA.

it really doesnt leave anne in that much of a better emotional position. she already felt conflicted enough about what happened in true colors and what she found out abt marcy. but seeing even a small glimpse of what marcy was dealing with, it just makes her more confused. marcy was such a sweet kid! theres no way they couldve done anything wrong. yet here anne was, betrayed by both of her childhood friends.

only now is anne really taking the time to process the fact that marcy essentially kidnapped her and sasha with the calamity box. he didnt mean to do it, and theres no way they couldve known the box would actually work, but it doesnt completely excuse marcy. his actions still hurt anne and sash, and while they meant the best of intentions, it didnt rly come through that way.

and now marcy was dead. stabbed in the back by the newt king.

and now annes curled up in an empty bedroom, wrapped up in one of marcys old blankets, trying to wrap her head around her feelings about marcy while reminiscing in the past.

summary - extras/epilogue??

i kind of like the idea that anne ends up drifting off in which ever bedroom ended up being the second one she visited. she slowly comes back to consciousness, with her surroundings feeling somewhat familiar, only to wake up in horror bc “OH SHIT I FORGOT TO GO BACK HOME” im not completely sold on the idea tho bc it feels a bit abrupt and like too much of a tone shift?? idk it doesnt feel exactly right

but anyways, im also playing around with the idea of a small epilogue scene with the calamity trio hanging out in annes room, a good amount of time after amphibia ended. dont know what theyre doing in there, but theyre just chilling and feeling a bit nostalgic i guess.

but uh yeah thats pretty much what ive got for the overall idea. it doesnt feel too out of reach, but somethjng like this would definitely be ambitious. i could mayyyybe handle writing out the vn and drawing the character sprites, but i have no idea how to code a vn or draw detailed backgrounds, both of which would be pretty important to this fangame fjsndj. so i might consider having help with this.

THIS ISNT ANY SORT OF PROMISE OR WHATEVER. id rly love to follow through and make this fangame a thing, but im not making any guarantees. i have no idea if i’ll actually follow through, but i would definitely love to.

who knows. maybe in like a couple years this might actually become a thing. but for now i have no idea

[sableflynn]

Felivy - The Choice

Soooo after a solid week of constant gushing about this au with @whumpopology I decided to try writing a bit of it! I'm uh pretty much completely obsessed with this au at this point, the amount of brainstorming we've done is incredible and soooo much fun.

Very brief context: AU where Felicia and Ivy both end up at Volkan's mean man estate together. The girls bond, Volkan is mean, the teams try to find them. Volkan decides to spice things up, contacts the teams and tells them they can choose one girl to have sent home and he'll keep the other. This is the timeline where they choose Ivy to come home.

cw: drugging, noncon kiss/touch, general noncon implications (none happens), whumper pov. ao3 link here.

---

The girl was strapped into a chair, thick leather cuffs tight on wrists that strained against the imprisonment. Even with the needle still in her arm, the drug coursing through her bloodstream, she fought; she had fought from the moment he first showed her just how he planned to transport her back to her team.

Red, Harrison had called her, for the striking color of her thick curls, but her hair color wasn’t enough to set her apart here. That fighting spirit, though; that was something his healer lacked, a tenacity bordering on feral that kept things interesting in a way Felicia couldn’t. And yet all it took was one wandering touch, one comment dripping with innuendo, one look, and she fell apart. Beneath all her bluster and bravado, Ivy was a scared little girl, and he was happy to remind her of that every time.

Her head began to droop and he thought that was it, until she snapped back to full alertness with fresh fire in her eyes. “You’re—” Her words were slurred, the effort to get them out visible in her face. “You’re fucking sick.”

He smiled and inclined his head in acknowledgement. “You should relax,” he said, and just to make sure she couldn’t relax, he leaned over her where she sat, one hand rising to brush strands of hair from her face. “Just let this happen. Next thing you know, you’ll be waking up in your boyfriend’s arms.”

“Nuh—” Despite the determination blazing in her eyes, she shuddered. A thin sheen of sweat broke out across her forehead, and he imagined he could see the drug working its way through her body, slowing her nervous system until she succumbed. Yet she still fought it; she couldn’t not, not with the needle still in her, and the knowledge that there wasn’t a single thing she could do to stop him from taking anything he wanted.

He leaned in for a kiss, and she was still awake enough to snap at him. Pulling back with a grin, he watched the terror dancing in her eyes, drank in the soft hitch of her breath as his hand caressed her cheek before traveling down further. His second kiss dipped lower, lips tracing the curve of her neck, sucking hard enough to bruise until he pulled a weak sob from her. Her pulse was racing beneath his tongue; every touch from him would send the drug through her body faster, which would make her more and more vulnerable to his touch. A delicious feedback loop of her suffering.

He lifted his head to meet her gaze, and the fire he’d seen there moments before was snuffed out. She was breathing heavily, eyes glimmering with unshed tears, mouth working as if she wanted to speak but couldn’t push the words out. He took her in another kiss and she whimpered against him, and god, he was going to miss this. Her fear was so different from Felicia’s, tinged with frustration at her own helplessness, and he could spend months drawing it out, showing her again and again that she was small and weak and nothing. But he had made a deal, and he was a man of his word. Better to leave her a sweet memory to remember him by, then.

When he pulled back from the kiss, he let his hand drift lower, until his thumb fretted with the fastenings of her pants. He hadn’t thought she could become more despairing than she already was, but at that touch she let out another sob, her head shaking weakly, slurring out words that might’ve been stop, please, no, don’t. He didn’t particularly care what they were. Fingers deftly undoing the button of her pants, other hand rising to press a harsh thumb into the bruise he’d kissed into her, he took her mouth in his one more time. She had no resistance left, and his tongue touched hers, his teeth dragging along her lower lip as he tasted her once again.

Her cry left her in a rush of air, and she slid into oblivion.

He studied her face, hands still on her body. In sleep, her features softened, the panic and desperation of moments before dulled to the slightest downward curve of her lips. So different from the wild thing who’d spat blood in his face, laughed under the threat of his knife, fought against him with everything in her. So much more fitting for the weak, terrified girl she became whenever he began to undress her, the lost thing he knew she was deep inside.

Refastening her pants, he took his hands from her body and began undoing the leather cuffs holding her in place. She had somewhere she needed to be, and it wouldn’t do for her to be late.

***

Felicia blinked, and stared at the bare white wall of her room, and fought a losing battle with her emotions.

One of us is going home. Volkan had dropped that bomb on them, and then dragged them off to their separate rooms before they could fully process. Before they could think to ask a single question. Before they could say goodbye.

She couldn’t hope. She couldn’t dare to hope, because if she went home, that would mean Ivy was staying here, and if Ivy stayed here alone she would be dead within the week.

She couldn’t hope, because she wouldn’t be strong enough to survive if her hope shattered and Ivy went home and she was left here, alone, with him.

There was no solution; only branching paths that ended in different flavors of heartbreak. Even when he offered them freedom, he twisted it into a weapon against them. Her heart raged against the unfairness of it all, and she crushed that feeling down, closing herself off, a few stray tears leaking from eyes squeezed shut.

The door to her room creaked open and she gripped the edges of the cot she sat on. He filled the frame, silhouetted against the hallway lights. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, and yet she knew she had to. His expression was unreadable. Maybe she just didn’t want to read it.

“Come with me,” he said, and walked away without waiting for a response. She rose and followed him.

He brought her to his lounge, all dark leather and polished wood and a fire crackling in the hearth. At a gesture from him, she sank into the couch and he poured two glasses of amber liquor, handing one to her. He sat across from her, and in his eyes she saw that look, that fucking look that meant he was savoring the anticipation of breaking her down in some new way, and that was how she knew to prepare herself a heartbeat before he said, “Why do you think they chose her over you?”

She pressed her lips into a thin line and willed herself not to feel. From the moment she had woken up in his office, some part of her had always known she was going to die here. This changed nothing. At least Ivy was safe. She could take this.

He gestured at the glass in her hand, the drink within untouched. “Drink. It’ll help you relax.” She stared through him, setting the glass on the table without a word, and he took a sip of his own liquor. “I just want to talk tonight. I know you must have a lot of mixed feelings right now.”

She shifted her gaze to look him in the eye, and his face crinkled with a genuine smile. “I wish I could’ve been there for the discussion,” he mused. “What do you think was the deciding factor? What was it that pushed them over the edge, made them realize that Ivy was worth more than you?”

He wasn’t going to let up. She bit down the urge to say they made the right choice—self-deprecation was only playing into his hands. And she couldn’t do it, couldn’t dwell on what sort of conversation must have taken place, so she said, “I don’t know.”

“No theories at all?” He raised a skeptical brow. “You have no idea what might’ve led your girlfriend to look me in the eye and tell me that she was choosing to leave you here with me in favor of a stranger?”

Elyse. Her face flashed in Felicia’s mind, and shit, a few tears welled up before she could close herself off to the feeling, and then her chest ached with longing and grief and despair, and her fingers dug into the leather of the couch as her breath hitched in a sob, and then another.

Volkan shushed her with a faux-soothing hum, his hand like fire against her skin as he tucked her stray strands of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry. I know this must hurt.” Through the haze of tears, the smirk on his face was infuriating. “If it helps, I think their choice makes sense.”

“Nothing about this makes sense, and you know that, you—” Now that she’d started, the sobs kept coming, racking her body with shudders. “You know, because you rigged this fucking game from the start, because that’s what you do, you—”

“Shhh.” He pressed a finger to her lips as he shushed her this time, and she flinched. “You’re getting emotional. Try to think about this logically. I’m sure your team did when they made their decision.” He sipped his drink again, considering. “Ivy’s a strong girl. A much better fighter. She doesn’t just roll over and submit at the first threat of pain. Although,” and his smile turned mocking, conspiratory, “you and I both know she’s not as tough as she likes to pretend. For a girl with two boyfriends, she sure fell apart quickly as soon as I—”

“You don’t know a goddamn thing about her,” Felicia lashed, stomach churning. Her skin warmed with the memory of Ivy’s touch, the only kind thing about this place. Ivy’s beautiful fierceness as she fought Volkan in every way. Ivy’s smile, and her tears, and her whispered promises in the night. “She’s—she’s so brave, and she’s good, and she’s not going to just leave me here.” Please.

Volkan’s eyes sparkled with delight. “Adorable. She already did.”

The flash of Ivy’s hazel eyes, wide with shock as she was dragged to her own room to wait for a decision to be made. “She didn’t leave. You took her.”

He chuckled. “Technically, you’re correct. Would you prefer she was still here with you?”

“I—” Felicia hated herself, then, for how close she came to saying yes, and she hated him even more for the slight quirk of his lips as he saw the indecision play across her face, as he read her like a book. “I’m glad she’ll be safe now,” she managed at last.

“Safe is a relative term,” Volkan said, setting his empty glass down on the table. “But I’m sure we can both agree she’s in a better place than you are.” He leaned in closer to her, pressing her against the couch, and his arms surrounding her were the jaws of a trap closing in on her.

[vikingnerd793]

Multiple stable streams now which is great news!

Meant to share my learnings from a custom gaming PC and Valhalla and all the troubleshooting.

1. RGB is great in theory. RGB is NOT GREAT if you have a custom PC of mix and match components for best performance, which means all those components have their own RGB software that all will 100% compete with each other and lead to PC problems, and dysfunctional lights. Add RGB peripherals to that with their own software and you have a whole ass mess. RGB software needs a lot of work as a whole. Stick to one brand for your components or keep your RGB to a minimum, or be ok with your rig looking a little mix and match with the colors.

2. 30 series GPUs are a furnace. An absolute furnace. A 3080 ti will be among the hotter of the 30 series, too. Get a lot of fans, crank the RPM when you know your PC will be under load, and keep your room cool on top of that. Otherwise you will absolutely have thermal throttling and other issues EVEN WITH your GPU when trying to do the crazy stuff, like game in 4K while streaming internet is 1080P 60 FPS.

3. Speaking of overheating and shitty software- I have the Aorus Gigabyte 3080 ti that uses RGB Fusion software and it is the worst software next to the G. Skill memory software. It stopped recognizing my GPU in the software to fix the LCD screen on the card. And because of that, it was misreading my GPU temp!! Which I was using to gauge heat. It turns out much of my issue with game crashes to desktop was overheating…..DESPITE 13 fans and a Aorus Water Cooler 240. Use an app like MSI Afterburner and track your component stress. Do NOT rely on an LCD screen unless you’re very confident in your component and your software giving an accurate reading.

4. The reality is, my rig is a monster. It STILL could not run Valhalla on ultra graphics and stream in 1080P 60 FPS once it got hotter and my room was no longer cool. You need a cool rig to keep your PC stable and that is a shit ton of stress on your PC. Dial down Valhalla’s graphics slightly (turn off motion blur, dial down volumetric clouds and shadows. Three minor things that make a huge difference).

5. Valhalla is an extremely resource heavy game. You need to give it a very wide berth. Minimize your tasks, turn off in game overlays, Turn off full screen optimization and game borderless if you’re streaming (It doesn’t do well when you constantly minimize it in full screen to switch scenes and such on your stream), and lock your FPS if you notice huge spikes. I lock mine at 90 now and it stays consistently at 80 FPS unless my rig starts heating up. It’s a great game! But very hard to stream with great quality AND play Valhalla with great quality with stability unless you minimize every possible conflict or issue.

6. IDGAF if you have DDR5 memory. DO NOT assume you can just overclock it to XMP with no issues. Don’t let your benchmark software fool you. There are real issues with stability of DDR5, especially with 12th gen intel.

7. Do not overclock and assume any stability in general. It’s always a risk. I only had my memory overclocked and it wasn’t working. People tend to obsess with over locking and benchmarks. For the love of god, just enjoy PC stability. I’ll never take that for granted again!

8. Be aware of the strain your monitor and the native refresh rate and resolution has. I bought an ultra wide 4K screen, 175 mhz. Looks GORGEOUS. But it takes a pretty damn powerful PC to be able to output that kind of quality.

That’s all I’ve got, for now. Custom PCs are “get what you pay for” and I paid for a top end rig. But the other reality, is top end PCs come with a lot of work as those powerful components you bought can have serious issues if you’re not extremely mindful of all that can go wrong. I thought my PC was bricked. It turns out, not even my PC could handle everything I was doing with the issues I had to address. And Valhalla is NOT easy to play and stream! I love it, so much, but it isn’t.

[multi-lefaiye]

YEAH YEAH!! Ok so sorta my theory goes that humans in their universe isn't the one giving ballyhoos out, and instead it's our universe's love for them (and our current involvement with the comic) that is feeding them. You're completely right about Bugs too!! She ALWAYS looks at Us when talking to, as i thinkkk it was swiper who said it? But she hears who is giving her Ballyhoo, and she always talks to us or faces us when she does it. It lines up with Scooby's comment about how it's getting worse! Her small bursts of talking to us would be us experiencing her through flashbacks, and it would be more consistent as the time to current events gets closer and closer. I would continue with how Bugs gives us a bit more evidence ("keep all eyes on me" and "look away kids" meaning shes AWARE shes being watched), but i have MORE evidence!!

Someone mentioned in a post (you'll probably find it in the scoob and shag tag theres like 5 of us here LMAO) how all the colors of the Beings are the same as a TV screen's colors, and how theyre all sorta tech-based (all the characters having files, their tech screens, etc). What if the beings ARE apart of a TV though? The colors that make up the pixels on our screen, to show us the entertainment we desire. The comic. The beings obviously have control over ballyhoos, and are REALLY getting involved now. Like you said, its supposed to be a rare occurrence, but now we have Mickey, Bugs, Scooby, Deedee, and possibly more. Why? Because its entertaining to us! Its drama! Theres probably other reasons, but it fits, doesnt it? Are all the characters in the comic real? The theme thus far has been humanity, and the meaning of it. It'd fit in quite nicely, although idk how far into the idea the comic would go. I do really think, at least, our involvement with the comic is going to affect Shaggy in some way once he gets ahold of Jump Cut. The comic has also interacted directly with the readers, when Bugs asks the viewer who should he kill first. Apparently the decision WAS up to the viewers who voted on polls or in comments! I do think that'll make a return too. ANYWAYS IM RAMBLING I HAVE MANY IDEAS FLOATING IN MY HEAD,,,

ANON I AM TELEPATHICALLY GIVING YOU THE BIGGEST HIGH FIVE RIGHT NOW. THIS IS ALL SO FUCKING COOL HOLY SHIT..... BESTIE YOUR MIND

I'm not a super analytical person and I'm really not that good at Theorizing, but your asks have got my brain fucking SPINNING in circles in a VERY good way.... basically I need to check the Scoob and Shag tag more often huh-

I really think this idea works with the meta nature of this series--especially in regards to the characters' identities. One thing I like to joke about is that like... just who the characters are makes summarizing this webcomic to anyone the most RIDICULOUS experience. And while these characters in-universe are more than just fictional characters, the comic also doesn't simply let go of that identity. Also, with the amount of references to film/television in general, I REALLY like the idea that the beings' colors are specifically meant to tie into that. It works much better than just arbitrarily assigning colors.

Side-note, this also has me wondering a bit if there's specific symbolism around which colors seem to be assigned to each character. It could definitely be an arbitrary thing, but the fact that it seems there are two characters aligned with Magenta is really interesting to me. As I said before, it feels a little weird to have two, so if that IS the direction Dingo is going, then there's gotta be some reason behind it, even if it may ultimately be a simple one.

The colors don't necessarily seem to be unique to each character, so what connects each character to the entity they align with? I honestly might end up sitting down sometime soon to try and analyze similarities with Deedee and Bugs that make them both stand out to Magenta, but that might be a bit of a moot point because there's still a lot we don't know. Still, might be a fun exercise... actually fuck it okay I'm gonna brainstorm a little.

The main thing that stands out in my mind is Magenta's dialogue during the scene where Deedee gets their blessing. As I said previously, the dialogue implies that getting blessings like this is meant to be rare (specifically mentioning that Magenta and the others made some sort of promise not to interfere with the conflict going on in the story, and Magenta is making an exception for this situation), but it's got me thinking a bit.

Deedee gets Magenta's blessing because of her desperation to protect her brother and her devastation that he sacrificed himself for her. Magenta specifically says that Deedee and Dexter's bond reminds them of their relationship with their own siblings, and they want to stop the senseless bloodshed that resulted in Dexter's sacrifice to save his sister.

It's a bit of a tenuous comparison, I will admit, but I think it could easily be argued that this parallels Bugs's alignment with the Martians--I don't remember exactly which update this first comes up in so I could be wrong, but Bugs wants to help the Martians against the Toones, and especially against Mickey. Sure, she isn't a Martian herself, but she has a connection to them. Plus, though she is a rather capable character in combat, she doesn't really seem to revel in senseless violence. She's far from a pacifist, but she's not doing anything without a purpose. Especially in part two, long after she seems to have received Magenta's blessing, she states that her goal, while it isn't necessarily PEACE, is to put a stop to Mickey, which would (at least hopefully) stop the violence.

Okay yeah this got out of hand, and like I said this is very tenuous and I'm definitely not stating any of this as fact. I just really think there has to be some kind of rationale behind each character's ultimate alignment--I HIGHLY doubt it's pure coincidence that Bugs and Deedee specifically both seem to be aligned with Magenta. We don't know much about the entities so far so this is mostly speculation, but there has to be something.

Okay I gotta stop before I start looking into color theory and analyzing the full cast, this is long enough and we don't know enough about the entities in my opinion to fully speculate more about which entities are going to be aligned with which characters (assuming more and more of them are going to be making deals). (And once again I'm just gonna say that I'm forever obsessed with the imagery in the Coward King arc finale with Velm in the field of cyan flowers. Even if this predates the reveal of the entities, it

Also you're 100% right that all of this ties in really well with the theme of humanity in the comic--the characters' identities as fictional characters VS their identities as actual people is a really interesting conflict (idk if that's the right word but brain is mushy). The fourth wall breaks only add to this--while it comes off (especially when Bugs is first introduced) as a playful reference to fourth wall breaks in the original cartoons, it really seems like they serve a greater narrative purpose here. I mean, why CONTINUE calling back to them and making them a core part of who Bugs is as a character rather than simply a small joke or reference?

Also. I just had a thought. Remember when Bugs was introduced and shown to be eating a banana rather than a carrot? I know that was 100% very likely just a visual gag to separate this character from the original cartoon, but on the same line as these characters forming identities outside of the original cartoon characters they're based on.... idk that's just making me think.

I am very interested to see how all of this continues to evolve, and I'm SO fucking sorry for this mile long essay I wrote in response, but I really love your thoughts!!!! Please feel free to keep sending them my way!!!!