#because they make him a better guy than he actually is and make it seem like he just became a fop one day??? when he always was one???

[revelboo]

Hi revel! I’m asking in advance because I know u have like 2763 asks lmao but my birthday js next Friday (may 16)! How would like es and tfp soundwave say happy birthday to their respective humans?

Happy early birthday! Cryptid Soundwave would do a much better job at it than anger issues Soundwave. With ES, you’re getting aggression and mixed signals.

Birthday

ES Soundwave

• “It’s your creation day?” Skin prickling as he leans closer, you wonder why he has to say it like that, growling the words so they sound like a threat. Who does that? Offering him an uncertain smile, you nod. Lazerbeak and Frenzy had been excited about finding out. He just looks like he’s contemplating violence, but that seems to be his normal mode. “Don’t think that gets you out of working,” he adds, the words a snarl as he reaches for you and you stand up so it’s easier for him to pick you up. Does he have to carry you in a fist like that? The jerk carries you like a beer.

• Grumbling softly, he stalks into the back and shuts the door behind him, depositing you on the work table and ignoring as you stagger and glare up at him. “You could at least be a little nicer since it’s my birthday,” you mutter and he ignores that, too. Reaching to pull out the things he’d gotten for you after being told by Lazerbeak it was your creation day. It’s not like he cares. These are just human things you need. That’s all.

• Bending to pick up your tools, you yelp and go down on a knee, flailing to get free when Soundwave just dumps stuff in you. Glaring up at the jerk until you realize what he buried you in. Clothes, food, an actual mattress, pillows and blankets. “Get to work,” he growls, turning away as you dig your way out. Birthday presents? ‘Thank you?’ You call out and he just glares at you. “Now,” he snarls.

TFP Soundwave

• Head tipping toward you, Soundwave reaches out to comb the graspers on the end of a tendril through your hair. Because you’ve been quiet all day, distant in a way he’s not used to. Using a single servo to tip your chin up, you offer him a small smile. “I’m okay,” you say, but you don’t sound okay. “I just kind of realized I missed my birthday here. I think. It’s hard to keep track of days.” Birthday? A celebration of your creation?

• Watching him pull away, tendrils doing an agitated little dance around his frame, you wonder if he understands birthdays. His visor dims like he’s searching on the internet again like he does wherever he doesn’t understand you. Making you realize you have no idea how he was created. He’s alive, sentient, but maybe he was assembled? Which just makes his spike even stranger when you think about it. You two have sex, he obviously enjoys it, but maybe it’s only recreational? Not for reproduction? “How are little you guys made?” You ask and he stills right as he begins playing the happy birthday song for you, the first few notes wavering awkwardly into nothing.

• Frozen staring at you, his tendrils reach for you before he even makes a conscious decision. Sliding against you, touching any skin he can find. Why the sudden interest in sparklings? Do you want young? The thought putting him off balance, torn between his own guilt for his past failures and a hunger that’s shocking in its intensity. Starts trying to play the human birthing song for you again, but he’s distracted now. Aroused. Fixated on that idea even though he knows how bad an idea it is.

[hellothisisangle]

Relationship Analysis

Prefacing this by admitting I had to rewrite a good chunk of River. He’s notoriously got few quests leading up to the romance side of things. The actual relationship jump is marked with an arrow a bit below, here’s some backstory

↓

V would never willingly work with a cop. They’ve been disillusioned enough by the system and the people who enforce it to build their life on chaos and middle fingers. But the job that lead to River was backed by the kind of money that made V bite their tongue, swallow the “ACAB��, and resist the urge to spit on the guy’s polished boots. Doesn’t mean there wasn’t more than a few off-color statements thrown out there though. River barely rolled his eyes, didn’t instigate. He was a model lawman, like something out of a movie. Actually, too much like a movie. Because when the preliminary investigation of the Peralez’s case [I FOUGHT THE LAW] came to a close and River’s superiors told him to stop pursuing, V could tell this was another one of those NCPD cover-up situations.

“Exactly what I expect from donut munchers. Good thing my client is an independent contract,” V snidely remarked.

“I’ll take this to the top if I have to,” River said with conviction.

So, so virtuous. Then, another distraught call came from the Peralezes [DREAM ON]. They’d had a suspicious break in, needed a professional to look into it. V shows up, and who’s already on-site, all badge-and-honor attitude? River fucking Ward. Again. Definitely not because the NCPD told him to, so what- Out of the goodness of his heart?

“You make it sound like it’s something to be ashamed of,” River sighed.

(…) “Not something you come across in this city,” V pointed out. “And especially not in cops.”

Somehow, V is able to get more information, why River is really doing this. He’s not a stranger to home invasions, lived it first hand, lost both his parents. He doesn’t want to see another family torn apart. River is starting to seem more like a real person than a one-dimensional neon sign that reads, ‘I believe in the law’. If there’s anyone who could get V to even remotely reconsider the idea that not every badge is a pig, it just might be River.

They managed to track down the Peralez’s boogeymen together, although the case involved more victims than just the affluent family who hired them, and seemed to somehow be related to a power with ties to the NCPD. River immediately wants to go whistleblower. He’s talking protective custody, full exposure. V raises an eyebrow. It isn’t only the Peralezes being monitored- strings all across Night City are being pulled. And if River wants to trigger a massacre just to save the few people in front of them, that blood’s on him. On the other hand, if the Peralezes fork over however much they think their lives are worth, V isn’t complaining- V could give a shit about politicians. River, ever the hero, insists he’ll take the information back to the station- see if he can’t orchestrate protection for everyone. Noble, but stupid, V thinks.

Afterwards, V gets a call from a mysterious number- a scrambled voice telling them to detour from this trail they’re following. V attempts to check in with the Peralezes- the line has gone cold. V then contacts River, who sounds a little different over the holo, kind of forced. He requests to meet in person. Chubby Buffalo’s BBQ in The Glen. V already got their pay, they wanted to wipe their hands of this whole thing, but curiosity got the better of them. And what does River have to say? He got canned. Tossed out by a system he believed in. V? They laugh. Double over. Find it darkly poetic. The guy who walked the line, booted the second it became inconvenient.

River doesn’t think it’s so funny. His parents’ murderer that was never brought to justice, the Peralezes, countless other investigations swept under the rug…

“So what’re you gonna do about it?” V asks.

“Become a PI,” River replies.

Fitting. Suits him better. He already owns the long leather trench. Some time later, V and River accomplish [THE HUNT] together. River is offered a position back on the force. To V’s surprise they turn it down.

↓

V is convinced to work a few private cases with River, split the profits, and the more they’re side by side, the more they notice the little details. A familiar broad frame. A voice too caring. A laugh a bit too loud. Awkward. Earnest. The kind of man who tries to look away when V leans close, but can’t help but blush and stiffen. V sees echos they’re not sure what to make of. They push River- how about bending a rule here and there? You ever use handcuffs for something off the books? And River gives. Slowly but surely. He thinks dipping his toe in the darkness to be with V isn’t so terrible. However, V isn’t a toe-dip. They’re a deep-dive into the black. River starts falling, answering texts too quickly, giving in too fast, can’t say “no” to V.

V teases him that his code of ethics had a weak spine. Internally, it catches them off guard. Maybe this is how people are supposed to act when they really care about another person, without expecting something in return and all that. It’s not like V would know. And the look River gives when V says something absolutely filthy with a straight face is kind of irresistible.

V thought they’d enjoy ruining him, pushing him past his limits just to say, “I told you so.” All the while, River’s still polite, still checks, asks, holds back before doing anything impulsive. Makes V want to unravel him completely, to see a raw side. But when it started happening for real, it didn’t feel as good as they imagined. Turns out River likes a grip on his wrists and V isn’t sure they’re in any position to be the one in control. The one to say “love me” when they could be gone tomorrow. Under normal circumstances, V wouldn’t mind stringing someone along. With River, he’s just too genuine. Maybe they like him because he somehow still sees something good in V, or maybe it’s because V’s scared no one else will as much as River. Not even themselves.

[itseasytoremember]

[[For ease of reading, and so don't annoy everyone with more excessively long posts, I've posted the entirety of the story under the cut]]

Day 2

I feel like I'm going to want to start logging these posts. If for nothing else than a log of Things I Tried that DID NOT work. We will call this day 2 because I started writing this log yesterday. Or not yesterday, but like, last today. Yestertoday. Yestoday. This is dumb. Anyways.

My plan did not go to... Plan.

Let me explain the problem first, and then I'll explain my "plan."

A few loops ago, before I knew it was a loop, I figured I would skip my morning workout in the hopes of getting to work early, because "there was a lot of traffic on First st. these last few days" I hadn't yet realized it was always the SAME traffic.

Anyways I left early and sure enough there was no traffic. I was actually at the red when I saw the guy for the first time, he seemed distracted, he kept looking at his phone and then whipping his head around, clearly he was looking for something and, by the amount of sweat on his forehead, he had been for a while. I only really noticed the guy because every other person I could see was looking at him too. The crossing guard, the kids, their parents, the people at the cafe, everyone was looking at the dude having a really bad day. He wasn't exactly being subtle is what I'm getting at.

All of a sudden he looks across the street and gets this big relieved look, seemed to find whatever it was he was looking around for, and headed toward it. It's just unfortunate that the light had changed while he looked at his phone.

No one had time to react, to even say anything. One second twe were all watching some guy act out the 5 stages of grief at 7:35 am, the next a Ford F-150 turned him into paint.

So, my plan was this; to stop that from happening.

I'll admit it's not the most thorough plan but I figure what it lacks in steps, it makes up for in adaptability.

Today, I made it there just as the man was looking up from his phone, maybe 45 seconds later than the day before, which meant I was still early enough to get out of my car, run into the road and yell "HEY STOP" but decidedly not early enough to then avoid the fucking truck myself. Oh also, the guy still got hit. He ran onto the road, I guess to try to help me, and a BMW took his legs out. The bastard. What was he going to do? Reattach my spine?

Well I'm back in bed at home so I'll take that as suspicions: confirmed re:timeloop.

I'm going to go to work now, after that I'll figure out a plan to get to the intersection earlier.

Day 3: I'm stupid

Why the fuck was I still going to work. Yesterday I TRIED to warn my boss about his paper coffee cup having a bad seam, and when he rolled his eyes and took a sip, thus spilling coffee on himself YET again, he tried to make it MY fault. He said I somehow distracted him? I went back to my office thinking one day I should find a better way to spend my life once I'm out of this loop when it hit me, and man do I feel dumb. 9-5 for the last I don't even know how many actual days. I could have been planning. I could have been doing anything other than finance. So I quit. I mean it won't matter tomorrow but I've decided to stop going in regardless.

I'm going to spend the next few days experimenting. Currently I wake up with my alarm at 6:30, which gives me one hour to put into action my plan, my first goal is to try and extend that time as much as I can.

The morning after my brush with a pickup's grill, my neck and back were achy for about an hour, which leads me to believe that my body remembers something of the last days events, even if after a while they fade. I'm going to first try staying up all night, to see if I can just start the day at midnight, and failing that, I'm going to try the exciting plan of going to bed early and drinking loads of water, because changing my phone's alarm won't do anything as it will reset every morning anyways.

I'll make sure to keep note of anything interesting over the next few loops, but I doubt I'll make much actual progress. Still, this log ensures I remember what happened, every detail, so I can change it. why? Why not spend eternity trying to save a life.

Day 7

Okay staying up doesn't work. The second I pass midnight I pass out, waking up at my usual time, just a little more tired and sluggish than usual. I run the risk of actually sleeping through my alarm and losing precious minutes. Lacey's alarm actually woke me up the first time I tried it.

Chugging water just meant I had to rush to the bathroom when I woke up, but it was still my alarm waking me.

Weirdly, going to bed early was the the thing that did the trick. I didn't have much hope in this working, but Lacey has been going to bed early for the last 20 years of our marriage and she's always up well before her alarm, so I figured it couldn't hurt to try.

Now it's not like I'm gaining hours, but yesterday I went to bed at 9:00 pm and I'm currently writing this at 6:25 am. Is going to bed 2.5 hours early worth it for 5 extra minutes in the morning? Usually I'd say no, but this isn't a usual situation. 5 extra minutes might be the difference I need.

5 minutes does, unfortunately seem to be the max I can get though, two days ago I tried going to bed at 8:30 and all I got for it was a weird look from Lacey. If anything, It took me longer to fall asleep than at 9, and so I ended up actually sleeping in a few minutes before I realized what I was doing.

The guy steps into the path of the truck at exactly 7:35am, meaning I have 1 hour and 10 minutes to stop that from happening every day. That means prep, getting there, and execution of my plan must require a maximum of 70 minutes, including the 34 minutes it take for me to drive there.

Actually I wonder if there is a better route. I'm going to try a few different paths over the next couple loops, and keep note of which one is fastest.

Okay, my alarm just went off, I'm gonna try getting there early and just tackling the guy. Maybe I'm overthinking it and it's just that simple.

Day 8: it was NOT that simple.

So I tried just running up and tackling the guy. Apparently some people don't appreciate being, in bystanders words, "chased by a guy who ran out of his car."

So, when the guy RAN AWAY FROM THE MAN TRYING TO SAVE HIS LIFE, and INTO TRAFFIC, everyone made it seem like it was somehow MY fault, and I spent the rest of the day in a holding cell. I called Lacey to bail me out, but I couldn't reach her at work and they only allowed me one phone call. I suppose I could have sped up the wait by hanging myself in my cell or something dramatic like that but that just doesn't feel right to me.

Maybe if I keep getting arrested, sure, but it wasn't actually all that bad once the processing was done. I did what I imagine you are supposed to do in jail; I thought about what landed me in that position and how to prevent it from happening again. That left me with a few things I'm going to have to consider moving forward if I want to save this guy and also continue on with my life as normal.

Which, is still a time loop, but, again, I'm fine with routine. I'm also finding that I'm perfectly content with this situation now that I've found something interesting to do with my days. "Day". That's still annoying.

Okay here's my list of Things I Considered In Jail:

- I shouldn't resort to anything that can get me arrested, injured (or killed) or otherwise caught up in unnecessary shenanigans.

- If I get caught in a lie, remember what the person said, I can try again next time round. confidence works wonders.

- I should figure out the guys name, what he does, where he is headed etc, you are more likely to look and listen, rather than RUN INTO TRAFFIC, if the guy yelling at you is not yelling but instead calling your name, smiling and waving.

- On that note, be friendly and get there early. I was over thinking my prep and under thinking my follow through. Get up and out of bed, I can speed a little as long as I don't get pulled over, and get there and PARK your car.

Okay writing this out has given me more confidence in my next attempt. I probably won't update this log until I've made some progress.

Day 13

YES! PROGRESS!

First is that the guys name is Ben. The second, and indisputably bigger discovery, is that Ben does something different every day! Different! Meaning not looping! Or not perfectly looping at least. He’s still dying every day, which I’m not crazy about, but he definitely feels like he’s connected to the loop. It’s not anything big, but I’ve noticed he will have his phone in a different pocket from one loop to another, or he will arrive from a different direction. Recently he’s started to have this look of familiarity to me, even though before this he was a complete stranger to me.

I’ve optimised my morning routine and route to the intersection as much as possible, but Ben coming from different directions every loop means I have no way of preemptively stopping him. Just that he shows up on the south east corner looking frantic, checking his phone, he sees something, and walks across the street as the light changes. Honk boom splat and the day resets.

Actually now that I write that down it feels correct to me. I have no idea why I’m looping this one day over and over, maybe I’m not the only one. Maybe this is connected, maybe it isn’t. It doesn’t actually change anything if they are, because I still have no idea what caused this, or is saving Ben will actually do anything at all.

I’m not super proud of how I got his name to be honest. I tried to get Ben’s attention with the, “don’t I know you from somewhere?” line, but he politely excused himself from the conversation right into the path of an oncoming bus.

I was about to just run and call the cycle a bust, but I noticed that, the way the guys jacket fell, I could actually see his wallet in the breast pocket.

So… I pickpocketed a dying guy. TO SAVE HIS LIFE, still didn’t feel great. At least I didn’t get caught and end up in jail again.

Ben Morriston. He has a driver’s license and a student ID. Huh, he’s in med school. Ok doctor Ben. Nice to meet you. How do I keep you alive?

Day 21

I haven't made a log in a while because I haven't really made any progress, that is, until today. made an assumption about this that was absolutely screwing me over, but I figured out what it was and I've fixed the problem;

My mistake was being overly familiar with Ben. My first attempt at calling his name out worked to stop him, but once he asked me how I knew him he immediately sussed out that I didn't actually have an answer to that. That led him to getting really freaked out, he tried to run, he ran onto the street, and a car hit him again.

I realize now that I assumed Ben would be more receptive to someone he knew, which may be true, but I also assumed I had the ability to convince him I am someone he knows, which I don't.

So going forward I'm going to keep lying to an absolute minimum, not only because I'm bad at it, but it's unnecessary. “Hi, you look lost, can I help you?” I should also try to figure out where he's actually headed...

Day 27

Ben is going to the hospital! Not currently, I'll get to that, but that is where he is headed when I encounter him.

Ben is currently very much dead. Turns out traffic is not the only thing I need to worry about.

I had managed to both stop him from wandering into traffic and figure out his desired location, but unfortunately for both of us, we had hardly made half a block when a rogue AC unit fell out a window, filling an area of space previously occupied by poor Ben's head.

The loop before the AC unit, it was a tire that had rolled out of a mechanics shop that took him out. Before that, a falling hammer from a construction site.

The guy has fallen into the sewer because of improperly placed manhole covers, he's tripped on a rolling skateboard and broken his neck, he's been pushed into a pane of glass, and had a pane of glass fall on him. If we are both stuck in a loop he has the much worse deal. I've seen so much blood and death at this point I'm not even reacting anymore. But if I get it right even one time and he lives maybe it'll all be worth it.

Tomorrow I'm going to start wearing an ID badge I got from a conference years ago. The badge is expired but that doesn't matter, what matters is it's on a lanyard from St Joseph's hospital. The same hospital Ben is headed to.

What benefit? No one questions someone 1. With what looks like a hospital ID badge and 2. Calling them by their full legal name.

I'm not fucking around with this any more. Ben is getting in my car and I'll drive him myself to the hospital.

Day 29

Yesterday I got Ben to the hospital. He listened to me, got into the car, and I drove him there without a hitch.

He thanked me repeatedly and ran inside, and I followed him in just to make sure the whole building didn't explode or something.

Turns out Ben needed to get to the hospital because his wife was in labor. He made it just in time. Him, his wife, the baby, everyone was safe and sound.

I was in the waiting room, i didn't want to be in anyone's way but it didn't feel right leaving, so I was just sitting there when Ben ran into the hallway to get me.

Ben thanked me again, he hugged me and told me he was so happy I could be there with him. He looked at me and it was like I had known him his entire life. I told him truthfully that I was so happy I could help get where he was going, and that he should go be with his family. He insisted that he was, and asked if I wanted to meet his son.

It was an odd but beautiful moment, and I'm happy I was allowed to experience it. Afterwards, I went home to Lacey, and we went to bed.

The loop didn't end. I woke up with my alarm to find that everything was back as it was yesterday. That's fine with me. I'm going to go pick Ben up now, and I think after that I'll surprise Lacey with lunch at work. You, the thing they don't tell you about being stuck in a time loop is it's really not all that bad.

---

A newspaper obituary:

Joseph Duncan Morriston, Toronto, age 89, died peacefully at Belton general hospital, surrounded by his family and friends. Joe was always a kind soul who, after witnessing a catastrophic car accident, left a lucrative career on finance to become an EMT, where he saved countless lives and developed several procedures himself that are now considered best practices in care and ambulance driving.

Joe is survived by his son, Dr. Ben Morriston, and his grandson, Duncan Morrison, who was delivered at Belton general just two days before Joe's passing.

Joe will interred at St James cemetery beside his wife, Lacey Morriston (1935-2023).

A public celebration of life will be held at the Etobicoke community centre, with anyone whose life was touched by Joe being welcome to come and share a story with the family.

Joe's family has kindly requested that, in lieu of flowers, those inclined may donate to the Alzheimer's Association of Canada.

---

UPDATE FOR OBITUARY POSTED YESTERDAY JOSEPH MORRISTON:

DUE TO AN OUTPOURING OF FEEDBACK BY THOSE JOE HAS HELPED, THE CELEBRATION OF LIFE HAS BEEN MOVED TO THE HARBORFRONT CENTRE, WHICH HAS BEEN KINDLY DONATED BY THE CITY, TO ACCOMMODATE THE LARGER CROWD EXPECTED.

The Thing They Don't Tell You About Being Stuck in a Time Loop

The first time round the time loop was honestly fine. Same with the second and the third. Honestly I didn't even realize i was in a time loop until day 7 or 8, and that was because the statistical chances of my boss spilling his coffee on himself, while in and of itself is not low, became exceedingly strained as the days went on.

But if it weren't for that, I probably would have never realised I was looping. Mock me all you like, I enjoy routine, I thrive with it, and so, yes, it may have taken me a little longer to realize my day was looping, but I would also argue that I am much less likely to succumb to some sort of mental break due to this situation. To some, I could imagine being stuck in a loop of one day would get boring, or even horrifying, I am not one of those people. Not only that, I was lucky enough to be stuck in a loop of a day in mid May, with decent weather, in my home city, with the woman I love. If it weren't for the fact that it's a work day, It would be perfect.

That and the man who keeps getting hit by cars.

The first time it happened I didn't notice. I feel terrible saying that but the first few days I was still going through things as though it was a normal day, and normally I take about 60 minutes from wakeup to leaving the house for work, which meant that by the time I would make it to the intersection where it happened, the car had been moved to the side of the road, and all I dealt with was a bit of traffic.

It wasn't until I started testing the parameters of the loop, breaking my routine, that I figured out what even caused the accident, but more on that later. For now, I have a plan to try and save this guy. I don't know why, but I feel like that's important. That he's important.

And I mean, what do I have to lose? Some time?

[txttletale]

after being interested from seeing you post about mtg but too intimidated by how complicated it seemed, a friend recently taught me how to play and ive been having so so so much fun!!! ive mostly just been playing standard/jump in on arena so far, but i wanna start building a commander deck soon. my wuestion here is twofold, i guess - a) do you know any commanders you consider easy or fun for beginners (colour doesnt really matter to me; ive been finding enjoyment in all of them so far, altho im sure ill develop a preference once i have a better grasp of the game lol) and b) whats your own personal favourite commanders?? ones you play or ones you just think are neat :) anyways thank you for being at least partially responsible for getting me into mtg, ive been having an absloute blast, i hope you have a very niceys day :)

yippee! i'm glad you're having fun, magic is a really deep and exciting game.

to point 1: i'm increasingly of the mind that apart from like, extreme edge cases where you're playing, like a mairsil combo deck and have to learn a bunch of specific sequencing and rules minutiae, i think that looking for an 'easy' commander is a very overrated. resonance and stickiness are a huge part of how easy it is to learn a card or deck's mechanics, so if you have a special little guy you love i would play him no matter how comparatively complex he is compared to, like, monogreen ramp

if there's one piece of general advice i'd give to a beginner, it's to steer away from 'feast or famine' type commanders: a lot of commanders, especiually since wotc started intentionally pritning 'commanders' rather than just legendary creatures, are enormous resource snowballs, such that letting them be on the board for a turn cycle or two will put their player unstoppably far ahead. unfortunately the correct counterplay to these kinds of commanders is for everyone to kill them instantly the moment they're cast and genreally not let their playtrs play the game -- so they often lead to having games where you are either being ganged up on and beaten to death or stomping everyone. some popular examples of commanders that i think create these play patterns are miirym, krenko mob boss, jodah the unifier, kinnan bonder prodigy, and korvol fae-cursed king.

so generally i tyhink especialyl as a newer player you will have fun with slightly lower power commanders who aren't wearing a big PLEASE KILL ME sign on their heads. but other than that i truly think you should pick a blorbo or gameplay style that appeals to you on a visceral, emoitional level, and find out if if it's actually fun to play or not. actually that reminds me, try to also pick a commander that, like, rewards you for executing your deck's gameplan, or helps you execute it, but isn't the sole engine behind your deck -- commander is full of good removal and board wipes, and you will have a lot more fun if you're playing a deck that can still function evne if your special guy is in time out.

to point 2: i have quite a few. my first commander and overall one of my favourite still is the celestial toymaker (nei lpatrick harris jumpscare). i love him because -- while he is an example of the kind of commander i think ultimately can lead to bad gameplay patterns where big parts of your deck are dead without him -- he turns this extremely stupid fucking mechanic into a real theme. i fucking loe playing my toymakre deck, and doing a silly voice and saying PLAY MY GAME... WHO WANTS TO PLAY MY GAME? every time i have some silly choice to force someone to make. play piles with meee (also esper control is a shell that's just really fun for me regardless of commander or theme so that helps a lot too)

other commanders i have that i really enjoy... i think gor muldrak is really cool, hios abiltiy is so odd and niche and finding ways to make use of it is so much fun. only good simic commander. tip: [peer pressure] is an awesome win condition for him.

i really enjoy zedruu also, for similar reasons to the toymaker: giving people stuff is such a funny mechanic, and while the commander gets osme flak because a lot of people build around lieke, dogshit cards that are unplayable if you don't have zedruu to donate them, i think you can build a much more fun and resilient zedruu deck by relying on symmetrical soft stax pieces and oubliette-style effects where it doesn't mater to you who owns it. getting to play perplexing chimera in that deck delights me.

gallia is great. straight up i made a deck for her because i think she's cute. her joy is just so infections, i don't even like gruul aggro as an archetype generally, but something about playing gallia and being like NO THOUGHTS HEAD EMPTY TURN SIDEWAYS ILL DISCARD WHAT I DISCARD is very refreshing considering i usually like playing very controlly-pillowforty high-interaction decks wth 50 quajillion counterstpells.

oh and finally... the red death. i fucking love goad, im the goad liker, i enjoy goad, and i set out to make a Good Goad Deck and immediately got sidetracked form any of the stronger commanders for the format by this stupid little bebo with the meme eyes. i donit know what happens in fallout 76 and i dont care this little guy is my friend and he is SO funny with cards like psychic possession. Our card draw :)

for an honorable mention, two decks i really love but not really because of their commander: i have a huge amount of fun playing the new zimone (who has displaced vorel of the hull clade) at the helm of my millennium calendar deck. it's fun to have a deck where i can slot in all the werird counter-dependent artifacts like lux artillery and darksteel reactor, and it's a very fun supervillanious feeling watching the table scramble to stop me as my Sinister Calendar ticks up

and i also have a zoraline eggs deck nbecause i loved bloomburrow bats, built a zoraline bats dekc, then thought, hmm, i could be doing al ot more with her than just bringing back mediocre bats for a small lifegain pawyoff. Liek bringing back mediocre artifacts that ic an crack for 2 life and a card draw. it's a very intricate little device of a deck once it gets going and although it's not very strong it's very very fun. looping an executiuoner's capsule or a tainted sigil is what its all about babey!

[lastofthewardens]

i know hearing the same interview responses over and over is getting annoying, so i don't blame anyone for being upset about hearing it another time because it's discouraging.

but i just wanted to give an alternate take on that answer about foggy that i think is a little unique because of my position.

for context, i personally don't think foggy is coming back. my nuanced feeling is that i'm like 90/10 on the issue because i said i'd stop letting myself get baited if vanessa explicitly wanted foggy dead, and i drew my line in the sand there.

so my interpretation of a lot of different things coming from this team is usually pretty uncharitable and i honestly feel like many things being said are rooted in baiting angry fans into watching s2 hoping he'll be back.

but if you're a foggy is alive truther or just someone who isn't being as cynical about this as me, i don't think this answer today is really anything to worry about.

charlie's been saying this exact same quote about foggy's death for months. i've noticed a pattern almost every time where he seems to talk genuinely about foggy and then segues into what is clearly a coached answer that he's "allowed" to say. because when he talks about his own personal feelings, it changes and varies, and he's made it clear multiple times through words and emotion that he doesn't agree with the decision, sometimes much more openly than i ever would've expected an actor to do.

then after, when he segues into what i believe to be coached PR answers, these quotes about 'starting off with a bang' and 'no one feeling safe' are all worded and phrased exactly the same. i think these are things he's told to say. i remember there was even one interview where someone else cut in because he kept talking about how much they were losing out on by not having foggy, and they interrupted him to be like 'but also we get lots of new stuff!' lmao.

i think if we're going to take anything away from this, it should be the fact that charlie notably said some fans are rightfully angry, and this was before he segued into those PR answers.

if you're like me, that's pretty validating in my opinion. he's made it as clear as he can without getting in trouble that he doesn't agree with the decision, and he's now telling the fans they're valid for being upset. i don't really think he could say more than that even if he wanted to, and he's said more validating things than anyone else involved besides elden. it also means that they're seeing the fans' anger, which surprised me considering how much people try to shout down disappointed fans. they're seeing it, we know for sure now, and this is why it's so important you guys keep talking and keep asking for foggy.

and if you're a foggy is alive truther, this is actually even a good thing. because it's clear to me that nobody is allowed to talk about foggy for whatever reason. even elden hasn't really been able to talk about it much beyond that he felt bad for fans and that he's grateful for the love and that he loves foggy. my take is that the people who make these decisions about what they can and can't talk about are baiting to make angry fans watch s2, and maybe also hoping the less they talk about it the backlash will go away, but in a world where the 10% of the 90/10 comes to pass, it could just as easily be that they can't 'spoil it' like they claimed in that one interview.

but yeah, i mean. this is a nothing answer really. it didn't make me feel better or worse. it just sort of made me feel a little annoyed that they won't talk about it further.

but most importantly, everyone telling you you're not valid for being upset or angry is wrong, and you can point them to charlie's answer next time they try to shout you down.

[kagaintheskywithdiamonds]

Here's an idea: Ford shoots Stanley with the crossbow. Ford frantically calls 911, babbling incoherently between choked-out sobs, but he gets just enough information across to send responders to his location.

When the paramedics arrive, there's nothing they can do. Stan is dead.

Then the police arrive. Ford might have the right to remain silent but certainly not the ability as he breaks down in front of them. "I killed him, I killed him, oh God, I killed him..."

Ford is arrested. He makes no attempt to resist as he's cuffed and placed in the back of the patrol car. Besides, he deserves this, he thinks. I'm a killer. I'm a monster. After ten years Stan still came to help me and I killed him. Lock me away before I can hurt anyone else.

At the police station, Ford is allowed one phone call. But, who on earth would he even call? He can think of only two people in the world that he's even remotely on speaking terms with, Caryn and Shermie, the latter of whom he hasn't spoken to in years either—not because of some grudge, just because he's been busy and the two were never that close. He can't possibly call Sherman out of the blue to say "I'm in jail for killing our brother."

So all that leaves is Caryn. Ford almost dials the number for his childhood home, but he realizes that Filbrick might answer, so he dials the number for his mother's psychic business instead.

"Ma, it's me." he chokes out, cutting off her introductory spiel.

"Ford? Honey, are you okay?"

"I..." he hesitates. God, how on earth is he supposed to explain what happened? "Something, something terrible happened, and I'm in jail, and..." He can barely get the words out between sobs. "It's Stanley. I, he... Stanley's dead."

"...What?" her response is a heartbroken whisper.

"It's my fault, I—oh God, I didn't mean it! I was, I thought he, I wasn't expecting, oh God, I killed him! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry..."

After his phone call, Ford is processed and fingerprinted. There aren't enough spaces for all six of his digits, so his littlest finger on each hand goes undocumented. Ford isn't surprised by the comments that follow. He's been hearing them his whole life.

"What the hell?! This guy's got six fingers. Count 'em, six!" "Maybe his mom fucked her own brother or something. How else do ya get a freak a' nature like that?"

The comments aren't directed at him, but Ford's not deaf, and these pigs seem to be making no effort to keep their voices down. He would probably find their words to be quite upsetting if he wasn't already so emotionally drained and numb.

Ford decides to plead guilty. He has no defense, he murdered his brother in cold blood. Might as well save everyone the trouble of taking this to trial. In a way, Ford realizes, it might actually be advantageous for him to be in prison—or at least, advantageous to the rest of the world. Once he's locked up, Ford won't be able to open the portal even if he wants to. Of course, Bill won't be happy about that, and Ford fully expects the demon to throw a tantrum about it first chance he gets. But, so what? All of a sudden Ford is a lot less afraid of Bill's threats, less afraid to sleep. What can Bill do to him at this point? Bash his skull open on the prison bars? Good, he thinks. Let me rot in hell like I deserve.

The only person he can bring himself to feel any concern for at this point is his future cellmate. Hopefully that guy can hold his own in a fight. He can't stand the thought of another person getting hurt—possibly getting killed—because he was stupid enough to get duped by Bill. Maybe Ford should try to convince the prison staff to put him in solitary. Or maybe after witnessing some of Bill's antics they'll put him in a padded cell. Ford can't decide if spending a lifetime in the padded cell would be better or worse than getting his head bashed in.

[shadessallow]

Why I think Kenlynn is crucial to the development of the series (aka my excuse to yap and show you guys my art, who cheered)

There is something that's very obvious when watching the show but I hardly ever see it being brought up and that is how little consideration of the consequences of her own actions Brooklynn has. And that is something that hasn't changed yet.

Don't get me wrong I absolutely love Brooklynn, but it's pretty obvious that she is not entirely aware of how her actions affect those around her.

The examples are countless, from Yasammy breakup to the remaining people in Nublar 6 getting killed multiple times (not even mentioning the emotional trauma that she put them through by faking her own death)

And while some decisions she had made are more or less explainable by the fact that she wanted to protect her friends, the cause of most of them are without a doubt the decisions that Brooklynn had made in the first place.

And her lack of consideration roots back to her relationship with Kenji. Or more specifically to their breakup.

It is no surprise to anyone that the breakup was Brooklynn's fault- neglecting her boyfriend for the sake of her own secret investigation. But the most important scene to understand how little consideration Brooklynn had for her own actions is the scene where she talks with Darius about their breakup.

She is blaming Kenji for the breakup, for not understanding her, because she was "only working". She doesn't fully realise how her own actions destroyed their relationship, as she blames Kenji for not understanding her.

And as much as I love Brooklynn as a character, there is no doubt that she is not the best person in the show. She is unaware of the harm she causes, while chasing something that she isn't even sure what it is.

It's also important to note that (as biased as it might seem) Dinostar is not working right now (!!!). Darius seems to be much more in love with his own imagination of Brooklynn, an adventurous, brave woman, rather than noticing the truth, how much harm is Brooklynn causing, while not even being aware of it.

Now. Why do I think that Kenji and Brooklynn are crucial to the development of the series? Because Kenji is the one who got hurt by Brooklynn in the most visible way.

He is aware that what she's doing is not right.

Contrary to Darius, he sees her whole, he knows who she is and that's why he breaks up with her.

It had been visible even back in Camp Cretaceous that her desire to chase the different cases she thinks of (which she is convinced are for the better, to protect her friends) has been an issue in her and Kenji's relationship (ofc in the 'first date' scene when she stood him up). We didn't get a solution to that issue back then, because of the Kenji plotline that happened right after, but it's always been an issue.

And her death affects him in a very deep way, as he becomes passively suicidal throughout the whole series (his father's death also has some cause in it, but the two are combined)

He is the one who suffers from Brooklynn's actions, even if he chose to isolate himself from her by the breakup, in an attempt to not get hurt.

Personally I think that for any development in the series, first it should be established that Brooklynn will have a change of character, some development. And as I said, I think her and Kenji's relationship, whether they get back together or not, is the best way to tackle the topic, to actually make her notice that she NEEDS to change to stop hurting the people around her.

Again, I do not think that Brooklynn is all bad, I just think that she makes bad decisions that lead to dangerous situations, and then she makes more bad decisions to protect her friends from said situations, without noticing that she is the one to cause the situations in the first place. That's what is so tragic about her.

Personally I'm also a bit salty about her and Kenji not fully working things out during the end of CC (all it took for her to trust Kenji again after he betrayed her was one apology more than he gave to Yaz and Sammy, which was really disappointing, because I personally was hoping for Brooklynn to have more emotions about the situation), so I am hoping that in Chaos Theory we finally have a serious conversation between those two that actually leads to anything.

So my prediction for the next season/s is that we will get the Nublar Six gradually realise that maybe what Brooklynn is doing isn't entirely good and that maybe at some point she should be stopped (she just took down the Broker, but she is not finished, finding a different thing to chase). How little consideration for their feelings she has, blinded by her own desire to get the job done, even if the job seems to be neverending. Since Sammy and Kenji already realised that, I think that Yaz and Ben might be next. Which leaves a great opportunity for Brooklynn and Darius to talk about it, cuz I firmly believe Brooklynn will notice that before Darius does.

But again, I think that for her to notice that, there will have to be an interaction with Kenji (possibly her noticing how her death actually affected him, something that Yaz had pointed out multiple times before, because the plotline of his passive suicidal attempts have not been yet resolved???)

Anyway, this was my silly rant + my excuse to show off some art!

Remember that it's fully subjective and biased (because I want Kenlynn to get back together, shocking I know).

Also the lyrics on the billboard are from Mitski- "Your Best American Girl":33

[vooliodealio]

Trevor Philips and His Sexuality

I've been thinking about Trevor and the role his sexuality takes in GTA 5. I've noticed how his queer identity seems to be compartmentalized, he has deep romantic sexual relationships with women yet his relationships with men seem to be shallow into just being about sex.

Maybe it is a deliberate choice to have his attraction and its depth vary from gender but I honestly think a more probable option is that it's self-censorship or laziness. Rockstar knows their audience, they know the scope of the people playing their games are straight men with power fantasies and teen boys. They allow Trevor to have queerness but never fully commits to it, all of his romantic interests are women.

His gayness is laughed at, sexualized and water downed into threatening other men to sexual violence but never fully explores it because turning it from a joke into real weight can make the audience uncomfortable. Trevor wears dresses but that's the punchline. If you stripped him of his queerness, nothing would change narratively. I could imagine Trevor having dominating relationships with men because maybe he's compeled to constantly be in power, his father had abused him as a child and now, he enacts that to other men as to not get hurt first. It's consistent and in-character for Trevor which is a shame not to include. It could be similar to how his mother's abuse has influenced his love for Patricia.

GTA 5 hasn't been the first bisexual protagonist, that goes to Jimmy Hopkins in Bully which I arguably thinks has better representation for its time. Compared to GTA 5 where it's very apparent that Trevor is queer, Jimmy isn't. You could play the entire game without knowing, but like the relationships are given the same depth which is pretty shallow for both genders. Trevor and Jimmy are both narratively straight. If you took away the queerness from both games, nothing would change for either but I'd rather take Bully's approach of it being silently integrated rather than GTA's loud vulgarity with no commitment to it.

It makes me feel like Trevor was written a straight man but then later had his sexuality implemented. He comes off as a straight guy who likes making gay jokes for the uncomfortable reactions and predatoriness of it, not because he's actually attracted.

It calls into question - why make Trevor queer in the first place if you're not gonna do anything interesting with it? Because it's funny and is used as a shorthand to showcase his insanity and impulsiveness.

[addisong]

A List of Random, Very Specific Circle Headcanons I Have

Pulled all of these straight from my notes because I'm tired of keeping them to myself.

Robert is an introvert in the 'I hate people and don't want to be here' kind of way. Michael is an extrovert. Luke is a extroverted introvert.

Celine tried to teach Hodge French, but he never could quite learn. There is one phrase he does know though and he says it after murdering Celine and cutting Jace from her body :)

Celine has gotten high more than once. Usually during those times when she ran away from home and was looking for a quick way to escape/numb her feelings for a bit.

Stephen proposed to Amatis with her mother's ring (which Luke gave him beforehand)

Robert and Michael wear each other's clothes interchangeably.

Robert is chaotic on accident. He doesn’t mean to be that way, he’s just an absolute mess of a human being, so it happens naturally.

Valentine, Maryse, and Celine drink tea and hate coffee. Luke, Jocelyn, Hodge, and Amatis drink it black. Robert, Micheal, and Stephen drink it w/ milk and sugar.

Robert has a very interesting sense of humor. Kind of odd.

Celine is an etymology/language nerd. When she talks about those things, it's the most self-assured and confident she feels/sounds.

Luke is shorter than Amatis. Robert and Micheal are the same height, but taller than Maryse and shorter than Valentine.

Robert seems like a jean jacket kind of guy. Michael, Stephen, and Amatis would wear converse.

Stephen talks really fast for no reason at all

Eliza makes beaded jewelry as a hobby; does it with her sister sometimes too.

Eliza is a nature girlie. Absolutely adores plants and animals. Forests are her favorite place on Earth. Has memorized and can identify all different types of flowers, butterflies, and bugs. Knows everything there is to know about poison.

Luke has his father’s laugh and his mother’s smile. Amatis’ is all her mother.

Valentine likes to cause drama. Stephen and Maryse kind of enjoy it too. Robert and Michael like to gossip about it. Jocelyn couldn’t care less, neither could Luke.

Michael and Amatis are friends; like, really good friends.

Hodge is ace/aro

Stephen is always really frustrated with both of his parents. Imogen is a helicopter parent in a way. She kind of has high hopes for him to be the next Inquisitor or something, which he’s not really interested in. Marcus is okay, but he kind of does the “do what you mother said” thing and Stephen just wishes he’d grow a backbone.

Hodge, Robert, and Jocelyn are terrible with children as in they have no clue how to interact with them. (Robert and Jocelyn obviously get better once they have their own kids, but when they're younger)

Anytime they're in a Mundane city, Stephen likes to explain everything to them like they're five. (i.e. "This is a stop light. When green, we go. When red, we don't go ☝️🙅‍♂️" *proceeds to make them hold hands while they cross the street*)

Micheal can play the piano

Robert, Jocelyn, and Celine are cat people. Amatis, Eliza, and Michael are dog people. Stephen and Luke are both. Valentine, Hodge, and Maryse are neither.

Amatis’ and Luke’s mother used to sing them nursery rhythms and had a book of them (that she’d written down); after she left, they used to re-read that book over and over again to the point that now they have a bunch of nursery rhymes memorized and reference them often.

Pertaining to the above headcanon, Amatis starts to pick up Stephen’s mundane slang/phrases and he starts quoting nursery rhymes/lullabies more often because of how much she references them.

I have more (actually serious ones) but I'll leave it here for now.

[imagineakatsuki]

Do you have any soft Kakuhida headcanons?

These two rarely ever have soft moments. Although most people won’t understand it, they actually like that their relationship is fiery, violent, and fraught with bantering and arguments. It fits their personalities (Hidan’s a masochist while Kakuzu is just a gruff and tough guy).

Because these moments are so rare, when they do happen, it usually ends up feeling like a grand gesture (or a moment filled with meaning).

Hidan doesn’t really know how to be vulnerable, while Kakuzu just hates the very idea of it. When these two show vulnerability, it’s because it’s forced out of them (though not necessarily in a bad way - sometimes, it just happens accidentally).

They can be pretty vicious with each other, but once they realize there’s actually something wrong, they stop (at first, hesitantly, but then it turns into full-blown worry).

Kakuzu shows his care in the way he carefully stitches Hidan back together. If they’re not currently in battle, he takes his time, making sure that every stitch is well-placed, well-done, and just the right amount of tightness. Only Sasori would be able to do better.

In comparison, Hidan is louder with his care. He’s very touchy and will just ask Kakuzu outright if he’s ok and if he needs anything from him (it doesn’t seem like a big deal to him, but most people would say differently - especially when he gets that worried tone to his voice).

Kakuzu doesn’t like being cared for or showing that he cares in front of other people (and least of all, the other Akatsuki members), but in private, he’ll allow it. On bad days, it doesn’t take much convincing at all. Hidan takes advantage of those times to get some much-needed cuddles before Kakuzu goes back to being a surly prick.

Hidan’s 50/50 when it comes to affection and wanting to be taken care of. He’s like a cat - some days, he absolutely loathes it, but on other days, he’ll ask for it (and there’s no discernible pattern either).

Even though they seem like they don’t get along, they are one of the best duos because they just have an innate connection/understanding of each other. They cover for each other (Kakuzu more so than Hidan, as we probably all know) and know what to do without being asked. This extends to even mundane tasks not related to killing people (for example, if Kakuzu is cooking something, Hidan will just know what to hand him and when on instinct).

They try to act cool and like they don’t care, but everyone knows they are pretty protective of the other. Not overprotective, per se, because they both know the other is strong and can handle themselves. More like: if an enemy somehow threatens their life, you can bet they'll have the other half of the duo on their ass.

Admin S

[shiplessoceans]

Ok I mean this in the kindest way possible but… actors lie in interviews (think abbot elementary). They’re just for die-hard fan engagement as the only people looking for these interviews are these die hard fans - they’re not going to spoil anything, and this is probably the fourth time Ryan has called buddie “a straight and gay guy best friend no homo brothers” - if the other times didn’t make you close you shouldn’t let this time do it too!

We’re closer than ever to having buddie go canon - I mean even two seasons ago we couldn’t have dreamed of buck being bi IN CANON and directly called out for being in love with Eddie. That’s what’s happening in the show. They’re gonna have to resolve it somehow. No I don’t think they’ll go canon next ep but I am so sure, so so sure we’ll be given something to work with. All signs point to slow burn. Buck came out last season, he got accused of being into Eddie this season, we might not actually get any more major developments until next season.

Also. Leaving a fandom because a ship doesn’t go canon? You’ll miss out on the wonderful fanart and fanfiction and stuff and hey what if it DOES go canon? What if it takes till season 9?

There’s always hope.

Thankyou anonymous friend!

I love your enthusiasm and that you took time to send me a little message of hope. I appreciate you ☺️.

I'm not gonna leave the fandom, I love all the characters and I'll be here no matter what, watching the show each week etc. I think I just need to put the 'buddie' chew toy down for a while.

I am a fandom senior citizen and was there for the Sherlock/SGA/House MD/Supernatural/Merlin queerbait days of:

"We know these characters tick every box of being in a relationship and genuinely love each other, would die for each other, can't imagine their lives without the other etc etc... but why would you want them to date? Don't be weird. They're like siblings!" Etc etc.

And I'm...just. so. tired.

911 has been admittedly better in that at least the actors/creators acknowledge that yeah, there's serious chemistry between Buck and Eddie, we see what you see and you're not crazy for seeing it. Heck, we made Buck Bisexual because it just made sense with the way we were writing it.

Yet they still randomly pull the 'but that's not where the story is going' card, while actively feeding into a romance narrative.

Buck ended up romantically fixating on a man for the first time in his life and it was a guy he was jealous of because he was spending so much time with Eddie. Tommy seemed annoyed when Buck chose time with Eddie over him. Tommy is shown to be a bit of a third wheel with Buck and Eddie in the room. Buck acts as a co-parent to Chris. He's Chris' next of kin. Bucks boyfriend admits he broke it off because he was intimidated by Eddie as a rival. Buck spirals for weeks about Eddie leaving and ends up moving into his house... At this point if no Buck/Eddie they are writing an arc that goes nowhere and it's so frustrating to hear interviews where they're like 'nah but not really haha'. It feels like being gaslit.

Tim Minear referring to the moment Tommy mentioned Eddie being competition as 'touching the third rail' really stuck in my head. Touching the third rail, as in, to accidentally touch the thing that will kill you. I'm starting to think he believes that canon Buddie would end the show or drive it into the ground. And it could be as simple as not wanting to deliver on a 'will they/won't they' because so many other shows have finally gone there and it tanked the ratings because people wanted to see couples declare their love and make big sweeping dramatic gestures, not the day to day relationship stuff once all feelings are known and the tension dissipates.

At this point the show is ending it's eighth and entering it's ninth season. They don't need to make Buddie canon to keep people watching. They just need us on the hook enough so that we don't tune out.

Sorry this turned into a rant. Let's call this a safe space vent and hey, if things turn out different I will be the first one here celebrating with you all and admitting that my cynicism was wrong and good things can still happen and a procedural tv show can still surprise me.

In the meantime can I just say thankyou to all the buddie fans out there who are stronger than me? You fic writers and art makers are all so fucking brilliant and you fill the spaces you see with your own joy-creating things. I'm having a moment of weakness and letting the exhaustion get me down. But I still love the hell out of and admire you all so much.

[lilithofpenandbook]

Nobody's saying he deserves to be liked because he's morally grey!

We're saying people need to stop making liking/hating him such a huge fucking deal! You can't understand why we like him? We don't care. You think we don't know how flawed he is?

And for the record, he's not even morally grey. He's a good person who isn't nice. That's it. And it's ridiculous that we're so hung up over him being a little mean to some kids (Neville's opinion means jack shit- the kid's fucking terrifying of everyone. For fucks sake, the kids on the HP set were afraid of Alan Rickman, and they knew he was an actor! Kids have dumb fears. And why would Neville be afraid of Bellatrix when his active problem is being a school kid? Come on) when there are literally bigger problems in their world. You guys make his attitude a far bigger problem than it ever was.

And also, when we talk about Snape's past, we're using it to explain where his issues came from. Not to excuse them. It's called character analysis. And actually, he did a lot fucking better than any of us would have in his shoes.

Also, you keep comparing him to other characters to show how shitty he is. Let me remind you that the Weasleys aren't poor, they're just not mega rich, they live comfortably on a single person income, and they're still upper class, while Severus is working class and has nothing. Harry had support from most adults and his friends, Severus had no one, and Hermione wasn't bullied for fuck's sake, Draco just picked on her a few times, while Severus was straight up SAed. Severus has been through far worse than any of the characters you're trying to compare him to, no shit he ended up more damaged. Plus, you've had to use multiple characters to be able to compare him to what they went through! Multiple! This is one person, going through not only more severe trauma but far more trauma than any one of them can be compared to! When we defend him, it's not to make him some "innocent baby", but because people keep pulling out bullshit arguments to try to devalue the effect his trauma had and the severity of what he went through- and this severe trauma cannot be removed from him to judge his actions because of how connected it is to every single action of his now, something you people don't seem to get.

And once again: he's not morally fucking grey. He's morally good. He's no more morally grey than Harry is. You guys just think he's not because he's not nice.

L

okay i have a rant about severus snape.

i see a load of reasons as to why people like him- (which i absolutely do not agree with, i despise him through and through). i fully understand that he is a ‘morally grey’ character, but i think people (especially on tiktok), think that because a character is morally grey, they deserve to be liked. no. that’s the entire point of having an opinion.

i can fully understand his trauma. he grew up poor, with an abusive father, was bullied very much so, and stuck in the middle of two wars. however these reasons i don’t think are justified to pity and baby him in the way i see people on tiktok do. he grew up to become a teacher and became the very thing he hated: a bully. ‘the abused becomes the abuser’ is a harmful statement, but one i think applies to him massively.

let’s talk about one argument i’ve seen in particular. ‘He treats the Golden Trio in the way he does because they all remind him of Lily’ (yes i’ve had someone say this to me on tiktok, yes i did laugh at the comment).

if we were to take this as truth, then that would only paint snape as even worse. ‘Ron has red hair like lily’, okay, snape used a lot of physical punishment (especially in the movies) on ron, and generally treated him very poorly.

‘Hermione, like Lily, was a muggleborn’. yet he never saw fit to have draco punished when he called her a mudblood, the SAME thing he once called lily which led to the end of their friendship, along with other factors (his friends and lily not agreeing with their morals). he also openly mocked hermiones appearance, which was seen when draco (i think it was) made her front teeth grow large, and snape said he ‘could see no difference’. it’s unnecessary digs like that, which make him so unlikeable.

‘He treated Harry the way he did because he was James’ son but had Lily’s eyes’. that’s not harry’s fucking fault. enough said. he shouldn’t be paying the consequences for a vendetta that started before he was even born, that’s blatantly unfair.

also, another point i’d like to quickly mention: ‘snape became the way he did because he was poor’- so were the weasleys. yes fred and george took things too far, but they weren’t objectively bad people. ron was done dirty in the movies, massively. in the book he stood up for hermione way more and was a better friend. and also never said the ‘your parents are dead, you have no family!’ line to harry on the books.

‘snape became the way he did because he was bullied’. so was hermione in particular, with draco calling her a slur at every point he seems to be able to. yet she never became like him.

‘snape became the way he did because he was abused at home!’ look at harry’s entire life with his aunt and uncle. he was kept in a fucking cupboard for 11 years and was given nothing more than the bare minimum to stay alive and somewhat healthy. and that’s only because they did it out of obligation.

i have also seen someone (on tiktok, again😔) say ‘but he saved harry and other students numerous times’ yeah. that’s kinda his entire fucking job?? he’s a teacher, he’s in a position of power and authority and did those things out of obligation. he had to do them because that’s what teachers are inclined to do when working with literal CHILDREN. especially in the midst of a war. every action he did was out of obligation to his job, dumbledore, or the prophecy. had he been given free will? i truly believe he wouldn’t have given a single fuck about anyone purely for the sake of his hatred for the marauders.

please do not take this as me immediately ignoring any good thing he did. i’m fully capable of acknowledging that he has done good/ ‘heroic’ things, but did them out of obligation rather than free will.

before i finish this long ass yap, i wanna say about the way he treated neville- which is a well known factor already but one i wanna add for clarification. the way he treated neville was AWFUL. neville was so scared of his own teacher that he was his boggart, not bellatrix, the woman who tortured neville’s parents to insanity and only give him gum wrappers as a sign of affection anymore because their minds were so shattered and fragmented. (i believe it was alice that gave him the wrappers). i think that says a lot about snape and also how he blatantly took advantage of his position of power and authority to have an upper hand he never did have growing up. and he reveled in that power until the end.

DISCLAIMER:

-it is okay to like a character because of how bad they are!! just stop babying them! (this goes for all characters, snape, dumbledore, sirius, james, peter, remus, etc)

-it’s okay to only like a character because you like the actor. (alan rickman did a phenomenal job at playing snape)

-off topic but if you want to read HP, buy the books second hand! don’t buy them new and find JKR and her horrific transphobic rhetoric (ironic ideology coming from someone who wrote a boom about acceptance and feeling at home)

[sysig]

Dr. “Has to get a good grade in therapy” Doran (Patreon)

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

this is a tiny pet peeve but i think its kinda odd that people seem to like. forget, or maybe just neglect to take into account, that yellow, for whatever reason (whether he's an alt universe john or a fresh piece of this universe's KIY that kayne went and ripped off) has ALSO been trapped in the dark world prior to being with arthur and has exactly as many Feelings about it. this is a very load bearing character trait imo

[ruvviks]

HIIIIIIII BONES what faction(s) does tiberius join? and which companions is he closest with? :]

HIII EZRA THANK YOU SO MUCH :] this got insanely long because i have. so much to say about this game it's unreal i'm very sorry in advance. but hope you enjoy ^_^

so in my canon of fallout 4, there's a couple of things different from the game because i personally don't think of tiberius as a leader in any sort of way, mainly because he's like. 23 years old. that's a literal baby. he was only born yesterday fresh out of the freezer

so!! that means that the minutemen are already very much established in the commonwealth again when he emerges from the vault, and there's a lot of sprawling settlements to be found in places where you'd otherwise have to build them yourself in game; so sanctuary isn't abandoned at all, and tiberius returns to his sister's home with a special surprise waiting for him (every other house in the neighborhood is now home to a bunch of strangers centuries into the future! welcome home boy!)

that said, tiberius DOES end up sort of joining the minutemen?? but not officially. he meets preston in sanctuary who helps him get settled in in this new and strange world and in return to show his gratitude tiberius helps out wherever and whenever he can, but considering the path of revenge he's about to go on he doesn't really consider himself good enough of a person to like. fully be part of it if that makes sense?? especially since the minutemen aim for as much peaceful resolution of things as possible, and he is not like that :(

tiberius massively dislikes diamond city, and feels a lot more at home in goodneighbor. he does some mercenary work there for a while and that's also how he ends up with the railroad, which he Does officially join :] a bunch of my other fallout ocs are also railroad agents; max, who's also general of the minutemen (don't ask how she finds the time to juggle all these different jobs she doesn't know it herself either); magnus, who's a goodneighbor guard; and nikolai, an ex-raider who now does a bunch of stealth operations for the railroad. tiberius takes his job as agent very seriously and through his new connections becomes more involved with the minutemen as well, now that he knows the two work together to give escaped synths a new and safe home and such :]

he does NOT join the brotherhood of steel. he hates them so fucking much it's unreal. to him they're literally just invading the commonwealth with the way they're terrorizing settlements and forcibly establishing their own outposts and whatnot and it causes a lot of chaos everywhere which is NOT ideal at all. max is handling most of the situation but she's clearly under a lot of pressure and it makes tiberius want to blow some shit up. which he eventually does when everything has escalated so far that there's not really another way to deal with it anymore

he only joins the institute to infiltrate them for the railroad, and he is NOT having a good time during it. he dislikes shaun (his nephew, not his son!) so fucking much but there's nothing he can do about it. i'm trying to make the institute a bit more interesting but it's still a work in progress because well the game leaves a lot to be desired on that front to me personally but either way, the whole place makes him super paranoid and he quickly realizes that it's a LOT bigger than what it's making itself out to be. the area he's allowed to be in seems just a little bit too well-organized and streamlined as if it's all pre-programmed and he constantly feels like he's being watched. which he is! because he ends up finding proof of a lot more levels that go much deeper into the ground and while a lot of them seem to be abandoned, he does end up finding evidence that there's more people holed up Somewhere. and they're watching everything that's happening in the area of the institute he's allowed to be in. it's all part of something bigger and he does NOT like that shit

lastly, tiberius ends up with the children of atom :] kind of against his will?? but also he's not really being forced to stay so it's kind of a gray area really. basically what happened is that he went to the glowing sea, ended up passing out because he went by himself like the stubborn mf he is and the children of atom take them to their crater to nurse him back to health but also give him like. some sort of special radiation cocktail of some sort which ends up making him a bit of a freak. much more resilient, much more absent as well, a bit faster than he used to be. he's basically their chosen one because i feel like out of all factions it'd make most sense for the children of atom to be weirdly obsessed with him like he's a perfectly preserved human from before the war. that IS kinda fascinating

either way tiberius doesn't really mind being part of them all that much because it puts him in like a negotiator position if that makes sense?? the other factions all have their other touching points where he isn't all that needed to create connections and stuff but having this extra connection with the children of atom who are mostly feared by the rest of the commonwealth helps a LOT with keeping peace and all that, so it's beneficial for all parties involved because it also means that tiberius can just freely enter any of their outposts and he can rely on them if he needs them for anything :] the children of atom are a lot more willing to assist him with something that may be a bit shady than the minutemen or railroad would basically so it's a good backup to have LMAO

as for companions, tiberius is closest with preston 100% :] when he emerged from the vault, preston was the first person who talked to him and didn't treat him as a possible threat, and he helped him get settled in which tiberius will always be grateful for because he was so so scared. and preston made everything a little bit easier. he's very caring and patient and matches tiberius' funnyman energy surprisingly well when they're joking around, which would all remind tiberius a lot of his sister stella. preston Would in fact be like a brother to him :]

he enjoys hanging out with piper and nick, but only sparingly so since those two just love to investigate stuff and a lot of their time hanging out ends up turning into business of some sort and tiberius does NOT have the detective's spirit! he likes being clueless. he does not always need to know everything. he does like tagging along but sometimes he just wants to SIT and have a beer or something

which, naturally so, makes hancock better company for him. tiberius did a couple of gigs for him personally (and got to know him much more intimately during a wild night with both him and magnus but we don't talk about that) and he likes to stop by goodneighbor regularly for a drink and to talk about shit that's been going on lately. since magnus and hancock are together, magnus is there a lot as well but tiberius sees him a lot more regularly at the railroad too :]

that being said, the railroad is definitely tiberius' main hub for hanging out with people he loves the gang SO much. his best friends there would be nikolai, glory (she's alive yes obviously), deacon, and tinker tom :] and also max but tiberius sees her a LOT more at the castle since that's by the end of the in-game events also a place he can be found at a lot. he doesn't take a lot of minutemen jobs but he does help out on location with whatever they need, plus the castle is a huge and busy marketplace which would be super fun to visit (especially at night) so he just likes hanging out there in general! that's also where he hangs out with cait and roxy (max' wife) whenever he gets the opportunity

tiberius' relationship with x6-88 is. strained. on a surface level he likes the guy, but his loyalty to the institute definitely gets in the way of their friendship a lot at first. i haven't entirely figured out yet how to like, get x6-88 on tiberius' side in a satisfying way that doesn't feel out of character for him?? but that's basically what i'm aiming for, because the two DO spend a lot of time together away from the institute itself which would give tiberius a lot of opportunities to show x6 what the commonwealth is really like. and what the institute's reputation is and all that. and with x6 getting attached to tiberius during all of that he WILL be forced to pick a side at the end of it all. and i personally don't think he would side against tiberius after spending all that time building up an actual friendship for the first time in his life

surprisingly enough, tiberius and maccready did NOT!!! get along well at first AT ALL. when tiberius was taking gigs in goodneighbor he was unbeknownst to him stealing away a lot of mac's clientele so naturally mac has very one-sided beef with him. especially because both of them are like. babies. i can't remember maccready's exact age but that's a baby. and tiberius is one too. and they're both competitive and kinda stupid so when they first "officially" meet there's this insane tension between the two of them and every conversation they have is just a pissing contest. they've been kicked out of goodneighbor together on at least one occasion because of their near screaming competitions

(at some point after the battle of bunker hill and tiberius has temporarily broken ties with the institute because shaun's attitude pissed him the fuck off he goes to goodneighbor with his friends and after a drink or two too many he agrees to a bet maccready makes with him about killing elder maxson. tiberius succeeds by knocking out a brotherhood pilot and pretending to be the pilot instead, sort of successfully flying a vertibird up to the prydwen, somehow knocking out a guy in full power armor to then steal said guy's power armor, killing elder maxson (who by then has committed enough war crimes including but not limited to laughing max in the face when she tried to talk to him about a possible collaboration in hopes to keep the peace in the commonwealth) with a pipe pistol, and then jumping down(!!!!!!!!!) in the power armor to make his escape by walking over the bottom of the ocean on the shoreline in the power armor. he brought the guy's coat and dogtags with him as proof. maccready was turned on and angry about it)

but after traveling together for a while, tiberius and maccready learn they have a lot more in common than they initially thought and they grow closer over time :] i adjusted mac's story as well by making lucy his older sister rather than his wife (HE'S A BABY. HE DOESN'T NEED A WIFE AND A CHILD IN THIS ECONOMY) and duncan his nephew, so it's still a direct parallel to tiberius' story except lucy is still alive but missing, whereas stella is in fact very much dead. at first it makes tiberius feel frustrated and upset in a very selfish way, but it helps him with like, allowing himself to grieve for the first time since he exited the vault which by then is a LONG time ago, and then it also helps him with moving on from it rather than staying stuck in the past. helping mac with curing duncan and finding lucy helps the both of them and after all that they end up getting together :]

SO YEAH. very bumpy road for tiberius all in all and he makes connections in a bunch of different places, but he's always just a gear in the machine rather than the one operating the machine if that makes sense :] he feels a lot more at ease when he can actually make a difference at his own pace rather than having everyone look up to him constantly, the closest he got to that was when he was the one to infiltrate the institute and he has NEVER been that stressed before in his life. he makes it out alive and relatively unharmed but good lord. he's never doing that shit ever again

[kathybluecaller]

Finally got around drawing Aioros :D