#ask me any kind of questions

[exhuastedpigeon]

tell me everything about the giant hangster wip, i need deets

BABY I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED!!!!!

Okay so I saw TGM on a flight like 2 years ago and was like, those two are definitely shippable and then I spent 3 weeks in Europe and forgot about them. Fast forward to October of last year when a friend asks if I'd beta their first Hangster fic and I was like... yes but let me rewatch the movie and I was slapped in the face with the desire to write a hangster Olympic hockey AU.

Except you've know me, I needed some backstory for them being at the Olympics which spiraled into me going "well I'll just write the entire hockey season". The original outline was literally four chapters each titled with a season (Chapter 1 was summer, Chapter 2 was fall, etc).

But Jake grabbed me by the throat and was like "Actually Han, this fic is going to be at least 10 chapters and my dad died when I was 19 and I have not processed that and this is a slow burn long distance rivals to friends to lovers story :)"

So we've got Hangman playing for the San Jose Sharks, Rooster playing for the Washington Capitols, all the daggers playing Olympic hockey together, a truly insane amount of backstory, Hangster being so insane about each other, and a lot of me making romantic metaphors using hockey.

A little snippet from Chapter 5 under the cut :)

“What the fuck was that,” Jake seethes, pushing Bradley into the locker room between the first and second period. 

“I lost the puck -”

“No Bradshaw, that wasn’t you losing the puck,” Jake’s not sure why he’s so much more mad at Bradley than the rest of the guys who were on the ice, maybe because he expects more of Bradley, because he knows how good he is. “That was playing so carefully that you got left behind. Stop. Fucking. Thinking.”

“Easy for you to say” Bradley mutters, turning away from Jake with an eye roll, grabbing a water bottle off of the bench as he does.

“Mav,” Jake calls across the room where Maverick has clearly been watching them. “Gonna tell Bradshaw here how he fucked up?”

“You’re doing a pretty good job of that for me,” Maverick says and then he turns to address the room at large. “First period under your belts means I expect the jitters to be gone when we’re back out on the ice. Coyote - you’re moving to a line with Omaha and Hammer. Hangman, you’re moving to a line with Rooster and Fritz.”

Jake opens his mouth to say something - he’s not sure what - when Maverick gives him a look that shuts him up before he can even start. He’s not sure what the fuck is going on - he was centering the second line, more like the second first line with how fucking good they are, he doesn’t want to be pushed to wing. It feels like he’s being punished. 

“Same plan of attack - we’re faster, stronger, and better than they are. We need to start actually capitalizing on the turnovers and get some breakaways,” Maverick says and Jake’s heard it all before. It was what he talked about during camp this summer and what he talked about on the flight over and what he talked about while they were cheering on the women’s team. “I expect us to be tied or winning before the next intermission.”

[somanyfandomsorkinafs]

(I am ~buzzing~ with ideas…. Allow me to release some)

Once Danny was an adult, he decided to join Ellie in her ‘permanent world tour’. It’s better than staying in Amity where the opinion of Phantom hasn’t gotten much better. Besides, the portal caused the veil to get weaker, allow ghost to wreak havoc where ever they want.

He’s met a lot new ghost cause of this too. Old as Mycenaean Greece to non humans who came to Earth and died there. Danny’s learnt so much from them that he’s basically a walking in Encyclopaedia.

So, Danny’s decided “fuck it.” and has it became a part-time history teacher. It’s fun! He knows the details by heart and is able to make it more fun than just droning on about the same old wars and whatever. He enjoys it, the kids enjoy it and the ghosts having their stories told!

Of course, this does cause some problems when people try to correct him. Danny’s argument? “I got them correct sources.”

And when anyone asks him how knows his sources are correct? “My source was there when it happened.”

Cue the dc world thinking that Danny’s just some immortal guy whose decided to use his immortality for good(TM)

[anderfels]

Questions for your Rook and their partner:

Does your Rook fall for their partner at first sight? If not, what moment made your Rook realize they're in love with them?

When does the partner realize that they're in love with Rook?

How long does it take for them to officially get together? Did any of the other Lighthouse members have any suspicions beforehand?

Do your Rook and their partner share the same faction? If so, does that affect their relationship at all? If not, what is your Rook's opinion of their partner's faction? What is the partner's opinion of Rook's faction?

Do they have different cultural backgrounds (e.g. a Rook who was raised in Antiva with Harding who was raised in Ferelden)? If so, do they ever share parts of their culture with each other? If they're similar, how do they celebrate their culture together?

What is their favorite thing to do together? Do they share any hobbies? Does your Rook teach their partner their own hobbies? Does the partner teach Rook theirs?

Are they a physically affectionate couple? Are they fine displaying those affections in public or do they prefer to be in private? If they're not, how do they prefer to show their love instead?

What does their ideal date look like? Do they go on much?

Does your Rook bring them out often? How are they like on the battlefield? Do they banter much?

Do they have any nicknames for each other? Who uses terms of endearment more?

Who says "I love you" first? What is the other's reaction? Who thinks it first?

Any inside jokes?

What song(s) do you associate with them?

Does your Rook get their partner any other gifts (besides the one already in-game)? Does the partner get Rook any? Any gifts that are particularly special?

What was the partner's reaction to Rook being imprisoned in the Fade? How did they cope? How did they react upon seeing Rook again?

How did your Rook react to getting trapped in the Fade and separated from their partner?

What is your Rook's favorite thing about their partner? What is the partner's favorite thing about Rook?

When all is said and done, where would they like to retire together? Is marriage in the cards for them? Children? Pets?

[bloobydabloob]

Do you think being aware of the different elements in art or just ordinary objects can make the process of actually making art difficult? I get that it's about balance and unity of it all, but being introduced to so many concepts early on feels like too much. Almost feels like learning to make art digitally for the first time -> introduced to all these neat gadgets but no idea how to use them or where

This is a crazy good point anon & very important. YES I think it makes it exponentially harder

[blaithnne]

I like how I gave Frida two flags when she only needed one, meanwhile David has to squish both flags together. To be fair, it’s just like Frida to be incredibly organised and bring multiple back up flags, and for David to panic and not do that.

[olliegolliegee]

there are like two or three topics that are fucking scary to rant about even on tumblr. like gahhhhhh what if im just whining. or i'm being really weird. or whatever it is is really weird.

[birdietrait]

✿ The Home Sweet Home Legacy Challenge ✿

Info ✿

view on google docs

Use the tag #HSHLegacy so I can see your posts!!

If there are any rules that you don’t vibe with, just skip over them!

Some of the rules are centered around gameplay and some are more story-based!

You don’t have to complete aspirations or max out careers if you don’t want to, unless it’s otherwise specified in the generation’s rules!

Play with any lifespan you prefer.

Read one generation ahead to get all of the information you need!

Mods are allowed and encouraged; especially ones that make the game more realistic. I’ve linked a couple mods in some generations that can add to the gameplay! 

If you have the more traits in cas mod, pick whatever extra traits you think would fit your sim!

Rules for the generations under the cut ✿

GENERATION ONE ✿

You were raised in the city by strict parents who pushed you to be the best student in school. Despite your ambitious nature you hated the fact that you had no autonomy or free time. When you became a young adult you packed up your belongings, your pet and your limited funds and you moved to the countryside. Your cottage is rundown and outdated…it’s going to take a lot of work (and money) to make it a home. You quickly realize you might not actually be cut out for this life, but you are too stubborn and proud to give up and move back in with your parents.

Traits: Squeamish, Ambitious, High Maintenance

Aspiration: Country Caretaker OR Freelance Botanist

Career: Start with a part time job and/or odd jobs until your sim ages up into an adult, then settle into a full time job of your choice. To make additional money, you can also sell harvestables from your garden or your farm animals (if you want to go down that route!)

Starting Out: Start in Henford-on-Bagley with your pet in a small, rundown cottage with 2-3 bedrooms. You can use money cheats at this point, but remember: small rundown cottage…don’t use those extra funds for nice appliances!! When your house is done, set your funds to 450.

Rules: 

Your lot must have the ‘simple living’ lot trait

Reach level 5 in: Handiness, Cooking and Gardening

Befriend a few locals

Meet and fall in love with an outdoorsy sim with a large tight knit family 

Spend every holiday with your partner’s family, and have a solid relationship with most (if not all) of them

Have 2 kids

Take a vacation for every sim’s birthday (if you can’t afford it, throw a birthday party on a public lot instead)

Renovate the cottage over time (get new appliances, wallpaper/flooring, etc.)

Optional Rules:

Play with the ‘off the grid’ lot trait

Max out Handiness, Cooking and/or Gardening

Make the sim’s parents and make them have a negative relationship 

GENERATION TWO ✿

You grew up in a small, quiet town. After hearing about your parent’s childhood in the city, you were inspired to give it a try. You say goodbye to your loving family and set out for San Myshuno. You find an apartment and a part time job, then you get a few roommates to help with the bills. When you are faced with an accidental pregnancy, your roommates rally in support.

Traits: Loyal, Creative, Slob

Aspiration: City Native OR Painter Extraordinaire

Career: Max out the Retail part time job before quitting and selling paintings full time

Starting Out: Move into an apartment in San Myshuno with 2-3 roommates (you can use the roommate feature but I recommend actually having them in the household!)

Rules:

Max the painting skill

Have Game Night, or something similar, once a week with your roomies

Have an accidental pregnancy after a one night stand (if your sim can’t become pregnant and the other sim can, move the baby into your household when they’re born!)

Raise your kid as a single parent (with the help of your roomies)

Once your child becomes a teen, move out into your own place (it could be in San Myshuno or another world)

Marry as an elder

Optional Rules: 

As an elder, marry the sim you had a one night stand with (that ultimately resulted in the birth of your child)

Become famous (because of your paintings)

GENERATION THREE ✿

Just as the expression goes, it took a village to raise you. You were a wild, rebellious child with a love for athletics. Even though you were surrounded by love as a kid (not just from your biological family, but from your parent’s roommates) you always wanted to have siblings. You end up marrying one of your childhood best friends and you settle down in a quiet neighborhood.

Traits: Family Oriented, Hot Headed, Athletic

Aspiration: Big Happy Family

Career: Athletic 

Starting Out: Move into a house in a world of your choice with your partner.

Rules:

Max the parenting skill and the athletic skill

Have 4 children

Reach the summit of Mt. Komorebi at some point in your life

Be a hands-on parent: play with your kids, build them a treehouse, throw birthday parties, be as involved as possible in their lives

Go through rough patches with your spouse due to your anger issues

Eventually decide to get a divorce after trying to make it work (or if you have RPO, you can opt for separation instead)

You and your ex-spouse must live on the same lot and continue to raise your kids together

Sleep in your workout shed in the backyard

Optional Rules:

Remarry your ex-spouse

Reach level 5 of the handiness skill

GENERATION FOUR ✿

Although you and your siblings were loved by your parents, the living situation after their divorce was not ideal. Because of that, you vowed to never get married. You head off to university immediately after graduation and start on your path toward success.

Traits: Ambitious, Noncommittal, Genius

Aspiration: Fabulously Wealthy OR Academic

Career: Business OR Politics

Starting Out: Enroll in University and move into a dorm

Rules:

Max the research and debate skill, and the logic skill

Reach the top of your career

Get the best possible grades throughout your life

Have at least two romantic relationships at all times…you are never faithful to one sim

Have two kids with two different partners

(Hesitantly) become official with one of your flings and move in together

When your partner proposes, reject them and have them move out

Go on a post-breakup trip with your kids to Sulani

Rarely discipline your children. In fact, rarely interact with them

Optional Rules:

Never retire

Move at least three times

GENERATION FIVE ✿

Growing up, your parent was pretty distant and you never had a great relationship with them. They were always working, talking about work, or spending time with their significant others. One of your favorite memories of your childhood was your trip to Sulani. You and your sibling decide to move out together and live there permanently. It’s rough living in a new place with limited funds, but the two of you have some creative solutions.

Traits: Loyal, Bro, Kleptomaniac

Aspiration: Party Animal

Career: Criminal

Starting Out: Move into a small house in Sulani with your sibling. 

Rules: 

Max the charisma skill

Reach the top of your career

Earn money from the criminal career, stealing and pickpocketing 

Always maintain a close relationship with your sibling (who can also follow in your criminal footsteps, or work part time / odd jobs instead)

Throw parties regularly and pickpocket the whole time

Have a rivalry with another criminal that turns into love at some point 

Your sibling eventually moves out…and your partner moves in!

Have one child

Have a super tacky over the top wedding

Optional Rules:

 Max the mischief skill

(If you have this mod, you can pickpocket when your sim is younger! If you have Basemental you can also become a dealer to make money. If you have this mod, I recommend using the enemies to lovers interactions!)

And that’s all for now! I’m breaking this up into two parts, so the next five generations will be coming sometime (fairly) soon!

[official-dandelion-posts]

this isn't really the kind of blog from which you can learn much about the owner's music taste but have you ever listened to Scatterseed by Spell Songs? it's about dandelions I feel like you'd vibe with the lyrics if nothing else

I hadn't heard it before this ask, but upon listening I really liked it so thank you very much. I vibe very much with the lyrics but the whole thing is really calming, thank you :]

[completeoveranalysis]

[4]

WELL THERE WE GO! The full explanation of the original Jam Jar plot that Syaoran and Sakura were trying to prevent, back in... this chapter.

Here at the end of time Evil Wolverine was going to shove them in the Jam Jar to pay for his Time Travel so he could try find an extra Yuuko. And then he would just keep them suffering endlessly until he eventually killed them. 

No wonder Sakura and Syaoran wanted to prevent that.

Does this also mean that the time Sakura and Syaoran spent in the Jam Jar has prepaid this? Did they do their switch to prevent Lava Lamp and Super Sakura from having to go in?

OR did they spend their time in the Jam Jar to pay for their own time travel, so they could just stop all of it from happening in the first place? I think it's probably that one right? They just needed to use the Jam Jar to time travel back to THIS moment to try and prevent Evil Wolverine using the Jam Jar himself, so that Lava Lamp would never end up inside it in the first place.

And it only got a little confusing on the reader-end because they talked about whether they could go inside the Jam Jar in Lava Lamp's place, and then went inside the Jam Jam to time travel - but it wasn't THAT Jam Jar Ride they were even discussing, it was the one that hadn't happened yet. Two unrelated but visibly identical Jam Jar Rides.

[starkaabii]

In response to a question I got in a comment about my headcanons on favorite foods/colors, I shall leave this here. Headcanons below the cut! :D

Kirby loves all colors, and he has a hard time picking a single favorite, but his favorite thing especially is any sort of pastel rainbow motif. His favorite foods are, of course, tomatoes and watermelons, although he has a considerable taste for strawberry flavored/filled sweets!

Dedede's favorite color is red, unsurprisingly, although his favorite food tends to change often, he has a lingering fondness for invincibility candies and potato chips.

Meta Knight loves colors that remind him of the night sky and galaxies within; deep blues and purples, silvers and gleaming golds. His favorite food is ice cream, of course, but he also adores any and all fruit-flavored candies.

Bandee loves orange, since it reminds him of the sunset, and one of his favorite things is to watch the sun set over the Orange Ocean. Unsurprisingly, he loves anything apple-related best, be it juice, desserts or just an apple itself! He's found that Gem Apples are a delicacy in particular.

Galacta Knight adores pink and watermelons, as simple as that, no shame, no questions asked. Galacta Knight's also got a bit of a thing for honey, however, and will either slather it on everything or just eat it straight out of the jar.

Sectonia's favorite color is undebatably purple; in particular lighter, pastel shades, but she loves the darker hues as well. Her favorite food is chocolate... one could say she has a bit of an addiction, but with all the work she does trying to prove to her subjects she's changed for the better, she needs something to help her through the day after all.

Taranza likes green the best, which is of course not surprising in the least... nor his ravenous love for donuts of any and all flavors.

Magolor tends to lean toward gold as a favorite color; after all, all the best, shiniest treasures and trinkets come in gold. He'll never let anyone know it, but he adores pancakes, and he'll do anything for them.

Marx has no single favorite color, but he loves any duo of colors that clash together horribly. The brighter, the better. He really doesn't have a favorite food either; food is food, and if it's there he'll eat it. It's probably best not to leave your snacks unguarded around him...

[franabz]

★ Just you, and yourself. Band141!AU

(part 3)

An open window in your bedroom letting in the crisp musky humidity of the late night sky billow into the apartment, mixed with the comforting warmth of your bedsheets and the soft ambiance of the city life below. It was a relatively quiet night, not to mention your notifications. Not a single text or mention in hours, leaving you purely alone with you and yourself.

You take a deep breath and relax against your array of pillows and blankets, scrolling through your instagram feed as you start to feel your eyeslids grow heavier and heavier.

Then, there was a post that caught your eye, causing you to pause in your mindless scrolling with your thumb hovering over screen.

"What an amazing gig! Thank you for everyone that gave us your love and came out to see us tonight + our newest vocalist, Sadie! AKA Lioness <3

xoxo, The Scouts"

"What?" You thought to yourself as you suddenly felt all remnants of your exhaustion disappeared in an instant. You sat up a bit in your bed, propping yourself up on one elbow and squinted your eyes against the brightness of your phone as you tapped on the post, realizing it was only made an hour ago.

Upon further inspection, you found something you didn't notice at first glance. There was a girl in the picture you didn't recognize. Surely they would have told you if they were bringing in new members, right?

You simply sat there in your own silence for a second, letting your mind whirl with all sorts of unanswered questions and being left to overthink in your own head. You were planning on leaving eventually, but would this really be a way to go out? By replacement? It at least gave you even more of a reason to get out of there, but you couldn't deny the small tightness that grew in your chest and the sudden dryness in your mouth as a small ball formed in your throat.

You let out an involuntarily heavy inhale as you swiped onto The Scouts group chat, typing out a short and quick declaration of departure before staring at the message for a moment, your phone gripped tightly in your slightly trembling hand, body overflowing with emotions.

"its been fun, but i think its about time i leave the band. i hope the gig went well, and tell sadie i said hi.

best, Y/N"

You finally tore your eyes away from your phone screen, not even realizing the tears that were threatening to leave your eyes as your tear-blurred vision drifted over to your nightstand where the 141 business card sat, the familiar jagged fonts and bold lettering reminding you of the night at the bar when you met the manager of the band, some man named John Price. You decided to simply sit on it for the night, letting yourself sleep on it. Nobody is ever in the right headspace to be making decisions when they're upset, are they?

And just like that, you placed your phone gently onto your bedside table, slowly lowering yourself into bed and pulling your blankets over your shoulder, the strong pang of betrayal purging any sense of logicality in your mind in the moment that you're simply hoping will pass in the morning.

Just you, and yourself.

[thereigning-lorelai]

Hello!! First your Tumblr and edits are so gorgeous! Second I was wondering if you were willing to share how you did the second gif of this edit please? Have a great day! (Or night)

https://www.tumblr.com/thereigning-lorelai/713794704750362624/usergif-1-year-celebrationshuffle-challenge?source=share

hi nonny, thanks for the nice words! really appreciated. ♥️ so, you're looking for this grid effect:

you're starting off with two gifs. i'd recommend choosing scenes that are not too close up because otherwise they'll overlap too much and you won't be able to delete enough parts to make the most of this effect.

so, here's my base gif that i just did in black and white with some minor purple brush strokes set to screen:

i then chose my second gif and coloured it with a purple gradient map and a purple colour fill set to multiply. the colouring of the gifs is entirely up to you and what you think looks best. so here's my second gif, still without the grid:

this is where the fun part starts - the grid layout. i created that with a new guide layout. this is a super neat tool in photoshop that helps you align shapes or selections on your image. the guide lines basically float over it and help you set up symmetric shapes or layouts. you can define how many columns and rows you want to have and then photoshop creates the guide layout for you. for this gif i chose 4 columns and 4 rows:

with this set up, i started creating the rectangles to make the purple gif visible on top of the black and white one. this is my final layout for my shapes:

you can move around the shapes to your liking and what works best with your gifs. i didn't want to cover too much of my base gif but also tried to make their faces in the top gif all be in the gif as much as possible.

this step is just a lot of moving around your shapes and seeing what looks good tbh.

i then grouped my shapes and clipped my top gif (including all layers for the colouring) to my shapes group:

looking good so far. the only thing missing are the lines for the grid. this is where your guide layout comes in again. i just reopened it and then traced the guide lines with my line tool to create the white grid overlay:

(for editing purposes i turned all of the line layers into a single smart object at the end. this is why you only see one layer for all the lines in this screenshot.)

finally, i used a gaussian blur (0,5 px radius, 100% fill for the filter, 40% fill for the overall layer) on the smart layer to make the lines a little bit smoother and softer looking. this is totally optional and again, up to what looks best to you.

added some text et voilà:

[age-of-moonknight]

Time line question! I'm sure I could find it on my own, but I am feeling so lazy.

In the OG, how old would you say Marc is when he is when he's resurrected by Khonshu, when his dad dies, and when he runs off to join the Marines? Further looking into it, I know Lemire had a different time line. How old would you say Marc was when his father died and he ran off?

I know we have two very different time lines going on there. I'm wondering if Marc had to forge papers to join the Marines/Arm because I suspect he was about 17 in both cases. Unless he spent a year wandering around after he ran off... I know he was discharged for his psychiatric issues in both time lines, but I wonder if his age ever came up as a discrepancy.

I know they did mention his sketchy past with the hospitalizations that Marc somehow hid from them. This does imply that he did join with some forged papers.

Just me out here asking the real questions.

You ARE asking the real questions! And thank you so much for sharing them with me, because Marc’s life pre-Moon Knight is something I LOVE contemplating. To get straight to your question about whether Marc needed to forge documents about his age, most of the earlier comics indicate Marc was already 18 when he enlisted, but the Lemire run does leave some from room for interpretation!

As per usual, this got incredibly long and rambling, so the citations for and how I got all of these numbers are under the cut, but the long and the short of it is:

Elias dies (Hurwitz/Lemire) and Marc enlists: 18 years old

Two or three years in the Marine Corps: 20 or 21 years old

Five or six years with the CIA (for 8 years total pre-mercenary): 26 years old

Four years as a mercenary, ending with his resurrection: 30 years old

Elias dies (Zelenetz, 18 years after Marc left home): 36 years old

Thanks again for asking and if anyone wants to dive into all the rest, that's here too hahaha

Marc is a bit of a unique case in comics, at least of the ones I’ve come across, because we're actually given solid dates and timeframes for his backstory! The only problem, which is far more typical of comics, is that the established timeline of Marc’s backstory is repeatedly ignored/retconned/adjusted for the sliding timescale, etc. And that’s how we actually get three different variations on how and when Elias Spector died.

The first time we get any sort of dates related to Marc’s past is in Moon Knight (Vol. 1/1980), #37 by Alan Zelenetz, Bo Hampton, and Armando Gil, which establishes that Marc was “all of eighteen” when he joined up with the Marines, became a mercenary about 8 years later, and that a total of 18 years passed between when Marc left home and Elias’ death.

Accordingly, this is the only case where Elias dies after Marc had already become Moon Knight. For another piece of trivia, that issue also establishes that Marc was already by mercenary in 1976.

But as is often the case with comics, with a new creative team, the timeline gets a little wonky. In Gregg Hurwitz implies in Shadowland: Moon Knight (Vol. 1/2010), #1-2 that Marc joined up at 18, was old enough to have a little brother old enough to enlist (18 or 17 with both parents' approval) when Marc and his father had their falling out, and that Elias died immediately after their confrontation. Some sources, including the Marvel Wiki, argue that Hurwitz switched the timeline around even further in that Marc had already joined up and a couple years had passed before the ringside confrontation, but eh, make of that what you will.

In either case, pre-Lemire and as per Huston in Moon Knight (Vol. 5/2006), #3, the provided reason for Marc’s dishonorable discharge after two years in the Corps and before acting as a mercenary for four years was that he struck a superior officer (which,,,,fits so well with Marc’s historical issues with authority hahaha).

Huston also gives us a hard date of four years for how long Marc was a mercenary.

Lemire, as you alluded to, nonetheless proposes his own timeline in Moon Knight (Vol. 8/2016), #11: Elias passes away while Marc was in Putnam Psychiatric Hospital and Marc apparently lied his way into the Marine Corps afterwards, but Lemire doesn't provide any solid ages or dates to go off of.

Fun fact, Lemire DOES give Marc an extra year in the Corps (3 years as opposed to Huston's 2) and this is where we get the dishonorable discharge on the grounds of misrepresentation/mental health.

All these screenshots and citations to say,,,,the exact years are a little hard to pin down hahaha In regard to your question of if Marc had to lie about his age to get in to the Marines, earlier comics seem to pretty frequently indicate that Marc was at least 18 when he enlisted, with only Lemire's run leaving his age comparatively ambiguous. In the case of the latter timeline, then, there might be room to consider he forged some documents to appear older/avoid having to get parental consent to enlist if he was already creating other fake documents. If we're being strict, however, and going solely off what's found in the text (a foolhardy exercise when it comes to comics, but please bear with me), the text only says that he "lied to [his] recruiters," as opposed to submitting any sort of doctored documents. And I will say, and this is coming from only anecdotal evidence, so take it with a grain of salt, but I've encountered a number of accounts from the Global War on Terror-era of recruiters just being perfectly willing to turn a blind eye to discrepancies in medical records in order to boost there numbers. Guys trying to lie about their age or produce questionable documents, however, came under considerably more scrutiny, considering how much harder it is to fake how old someone is in the age of social security numbers and birth certificates. So Marc forging something is possible, but there's unfortunately just a bit more historical precedent in the early 2000's United States military of men being swept up by recruiters despite psychiatric or medical discrepancies that should have potentially disbarred them from combat positions. As for the rest of Marc's timeline, most accounts have Elias dying around the time Marc enlists, which would be about 18. Side note, Shadowland's comment about Randall enlisting right around that time as well could still work if he was only 9 months younger then Marc, which is an interesting concept. Similarly, authors most often portray Marc spending 2 or 3 years in the Corps (making Marc 20 or 21 years old) and then potentially going directly into the private sector for four years (24 or 25 years). If we're going with Zelenetz's "8 year [to] hone [his] fighting skills" comment, though, that fits better with the older concept that Marc spent some time running around the world with the CIA, which could account for the additional 5 or 6 years between when Marc got booted and when he became a mercenary (putting him at 25 or 26 years old). If we tack on Huston's idea of Marc spending four years as a mercenary at that point then, we get Marc having his fateful encounter in North Sudan when he was about 30 years old. Lastly, and mainly because I’m so incredibly fond of the Zelenetz issue, Moon Knight (Vol. 1/1980), #37 taking place 18 years after Marc left home would mean the first volume ends with him having been Moon Knight for about 6 years, at 36. That's how I square it all in my head at least, but I would love to hear other people's opinions!!!

[thetardisisnotourdivision]

I am unreasonably upset about the fact that I've been forced to accept that Gabriel was a Gerald.

For context, in An Inspector Calls, Gerald Croft is engaged to Sheila Birling when he meets a homeless, struggling Eva Smith in a bar, and essentially in return for a home and money he shows her affection (ahem), then gets rid of her once he no longer has a use for her. Now, obviously this isn't a direct translation, but the essentials are - a Gerald is a character who uses another character, in return for something they need, usually masking the fact that they're using them with affection and love.

And against my will I've had to accept that this is exactly what Gabriel does to Nathalie.

Did I want to think he had potential to be better? Did I think he genuinely cared for Nathalie?? Hell, did I just really really want somebody to care about Nathalie???

Probably all of the above but the point is: he's Gerald. And I cannot - I literally can't unsee it now. Their whole dynamic in S3 is like “oh boohoo I'm sorry I wish you didn't have to use the peacock Miraculous and kill yourself over it but uh I need to use your powers” “yeah no that's fine I'm all good”. Which, given the "Gerald" theorem, I'm assuming leads to the fact that what Nathalie needed, above all, was someone to care about her - and Gabriel came along, as Sheila Birling puts it, "like a fairytale prince", and was so caring and gentle and... Yeah. She fell for him. And. Yeah he genuinely did seem to care like twice. But so did Gerald. Gerald actually admits that he did care for Eva, just not the way that she cared for him, and, uh, not enough to not just dispose of her. So he discards her anyway when she stops being useful.

Leading me neatly to my point.

He starts using the peacock Miraculous the second it's fixed, the slimy bastard, HOWEVER. It runs way deeper than that. Assuming I'm right (which I almost DEFINITELY am), then Gabriel only needed Nathalie while she was useful. She didn't stop being useful in season three - she's still scheming for him, helping him with plan after plan. It's only partway through season 5 that she officially servers ties with him, and starts to actively hinder him.

Nathalie stops being useful when she fails as Safari. And I reckon that's when Gabriel and Tomoe decided she had to go.

(It's painfully, I-was-ugly-crying-over-it obvious in Conformation that Gabriel is fully prepared to let Nathalie die - in the original storyboard, her alliance was encouraging her to sleep, and he's very obviously prepared for this moment - I've made a separate post about it that I'll link if I can find it. However, onto the next bit)

With all of this, there's one thing that sticks out to me - Nathalie didn't see any of it until it was already too late. There could be many reasons for this. But you know who would have seen through it? Whose parents were all loving and perfect until she married the wrong man? Emilie. Emilie, who left behind those videos, which on the surface look innocent, but when you look deeper look like a (love confession???????) AHEM a warning. I reckon Emilie noticed what was going on and realised that Nathalie wouldn't see through Gabriel, so she left those videos addressed to Nathalie (not Gabriel, which surely they should have been - they were about him, after all - unless they were there...) as a warning. I don't think the videos were supposed to be about helping Gabriel, I think Emilie was warning Nathalie to get the fuck out of that house, and to take Adrien with her. Because Emilie knew it'd end like this.

Yes I'm still mad ok give me a break.

[automatonknight]

here's the prick i was talking about^ i have so many thoughts and notes about him but they're mostly incomprehensible so when i organize maybe them i'll post them who knows

[narfin-frood]

What would the shorts be in your AU? I think it be a live demonstration of how someone (Mr meteor) is integrated into the hivemind and how it's "safe" and "the right thing to do"- basically propaganda. but things keep messing up

wander's not like. super public with the cult the way hater is with his empire in the show, so i don't know whether he'd be airing something like that across the galaxy. hater's got like. totally negative charisma, especially when he's being recorded, and yet he continues recording himself, and i think that's a trait meteor would still share with him. mr meteor is very much like metroman of megamind to me, also, where he quits his life of fame & glory to become a nobody, but he still has that streak of like. craving the kind of attention a rockstar gets as opposed to the superhero/king treatment.

so i imagine the shorts would be like. meteor's vlogs on his youtube or something. and he's starting a series called Inside Planet Yonder or whatever where he sets up a camera in an unassuming place and does little dances for the camera until he gets caught. like a prank show or something, but very benign and mildly annoying as opposed to antagonistic. this does require the shorts to take place before wander is redeemed, but honestly, the timeline in this au is so scrambled when you try to put it up against the show itself (which is already crammed into two very short seasons) anyway