#been sorta whacky for a while

[nosleepgummitato]

I need inspiration chat <:0

Yall are free to pick any expression here and request a character with that expression for me to draw <:)

Yippee!

[ninjastormhawkkat]

Amazing Dads Becky Boxleitner Au

So I seen the Amazing Cheese ship created by @djsadbean and @kurixta along with other fanart. My brain which is still stuck on the Becky Boxleitner au thought up of, why not make an au where Becky is adopted and raised by her superhero and whacky scientist dads. I kind of figured that about all the Becky Boxleitner and Dadbrains au’s I have seen, Steven is usually a single parent. So I thought, why not create an au where Becky is raised by Steven and his married partner who is in this case, Amazo Guy. I was also thinking about an incredibles/ wordgirl crossover au for this ship and this scene from the Incredibles movie just spoke to me about how to describe their family dynamic. (I will get to an outline of this au in a later post. For now here is the paraphrased dialogue. Note: Becky is about 1 1/2 to 2 years old in this scene and Amazo Guy has been Fair City’s main hero for a while.) 

Disclaimer: This dialogue has been paraphrased from The Incredibles Movie from the scene between Frozone and his wife. The Incredibles belong to Disney and Pixar, and Wordgirl belongs to Soup2Nuts and PBS Kids. I do not own any of the Worgirl characters, just the Amazing Dads Becky Boxleitner Au idea. The Amazing Cheese ship was created by @djsadbean and @kurixta.

Amazo Guy is watching television and minding his own business when he sees on the news that all the villains have broken out of jail and are causing mass havoc to the city. Amazo Guy rushes to where he remembers putting his hero suit away after the last battle that caused it to get a little messy. Steven constantly reminded him to wash his suit and Amazo said he would, he just sorta forgot. Well he’ll wait until after he rescues the city, the only trouble is, it’s not where he last put it, and Amazo, in panic mode, has no idea where it is so he calls out to his husband:

Amazo Guy: Uhh Steven?

Steven, who is at the moment changing Becky’s diaper with Bob standing by for cleanup and mess watch: What?

Amazo Guy, still a little panicked: Where is my super suit?

Steven: Huh?

Amazo Guy, still a little panicked, now a little frustrated: Where. Is. My. Super. Suit?

Steven trying to recall what he did while he is finishing up Becky’s clean diaper: Uhm, I think I put it away.

Amazo Guy now more frustrated and more panicked: Where?!?!

Steven who is now holding Becky is confused yet suspicious of why is husband is asking for his hero suit now: Why do you need to know right now?

Amazo Guy: I really need it!

Steven who now understands what the situation is but is also angry about what is happening here: Oh no! You don’t have time to be heroic right now.  We’ve been planning to have this dinner with my family for TWO months!

Amazo Guy upset and gobsmacked at his husbands priorities right now: The city is in dan-ger!

Steven retorting with Becky in one arm and his other arm arched on his hip: Well the dinner with my parent’s is in danger!

Amazo Guy: You tell me where my super suit is buster! We are talking about the greater good at stake!

Steven, who retorts with Two Brain’s sass: Greater good?! I am your husband! I am the greatest ‘good’ you are ever going to get.

Meanwhile Bob is watching this back and forth argument eating some popcorn and Becky is currently content, snuggling up against her papa, not paying attention to the conversation.

As I said earlier, I paraphrased the dialogue from the scene between Frozone and his wife from The Incredibles Movie. Check out Youtube for the original content. I recreated that scene to show what the family dynamic in my au idea is going to be like. I will get to an outline soon.  

Note: I know some may believe this will not fit Steven’s character. It honestly doesn’t matter if it does or not, I just find this scene funny and thought it would work great for this au idea. 

On a serious note: This is my first time writing an fictional au that focuses on male/male or female/female romantic relationships and I am kind of nervous about it. If I accidentally mess up on anything in the upcoming outline please let me know and I will immediately correct it. I really just want to write out stories and ideas and explore a broad range of topics and discussions with my ideas that everyone will enjoy and avoid offending anyone by accident. 

[owl-with-a-pen]

brainy or nia try on karas glasses one day and kara realizes that they were brenda/brandon?

- Oh my god, yes! Thank you for the prompt. x

“No, no,” Alex said decisively. “It’s been years and I still don’t get it. How the hell do glasses make it impossible for people to recognise you? I’d know you from anywhere.”

Nia grinned from across the table, lifting her drink to her lips as Alex pinched Kara’s cheek, only to be batted away by her little sister a second later.

“Okay,” Kara said with a snort. “Your next round is gonna be water shots.” She turned her head from the table, making a show of searching the bar. “Where’s Al?”

“Oh, you know he heads out back the second this party rolls in,” Kelly said with an impish smile, raising her own glass. She took Alex’s hand before she could pester Kara any further, winding their fingers firmly together. “Although, I have to agree with the water.”

“Hydration would appear useful at this stage,” Brainy added with a sage nod. “She may also benefit from lining her stomach with something a little more substantial.”

Nia grinned, leaning back against Brainy’s chest. “Is that your not-so-subtle hint that you want more onion rings?”

She’d perched herself on the edge of Brainy’s stool some time into the evening; her smile widened when she felt his hands link around her front in response. “Sometimes, multiple issues can call for a single solution,” Brainy pointed out, tucking his face into her hair. “What is the saying? Two birds, one stone?” Nia's face warmed when Brainy’s lips traced idly along the side of her jaw.

Kara grinned. “Well, hey, I’m not gonna say no to more onion rings.”

It was fair to say that they’d all had a few drinks between them by now, although Kelly and Alex were strictly drinking from the human menu. Things always got a little whacky with alien grade alcohol, and despite her half-Naltorian genetics, Nia had barely been able to stomach a single sip of Brainy’s drink of choice. It suited his tolerance level far better, and made for a slower automatic response for his body to factor out the alcohol and sober him up. If his sudden confidence with intimacy in a public environment was anything to go by, Nia figured it was definitely working.

Nia knew Kara was drinking something similar to Brainy, although her Kryptonian biology made her far more resilient against its contents. She wasn’t even slurring.

Meanwhile, Nia was feeling all kinds of warm inside. Although, Brainy’s hold on her was probably a major factor in that.

It had felt like forever since they’d last gone out like this, and from the recent stress they’d all been under, it wasn’t exactly surprising that they’d found their way to Al’s bar. Plus, after the number of times they’d saved this place from one catastrophe or another, they got some incredibly generous discounts even on some of the rarer beverages. It was just unfortunate that Alex’s human tolerance really wasn’t matching up. And, considering Kelly was still on her first drink, she was currently the only person everyone was sorely worried about getting home safely that night.

With that in mind, Nia was just about to suggest heading up to the bar to go order, when Alex made her move, whipping her hand out quick enough to snatch Kara’s glasses straight from her face, balancing them across her nose.

She turned to Kelly immediately, staring at her levelly. “Well?” she asked expectantly. "How do I look?”

“It’s like looking at a total stranger,” Kelly deadpanned. She smirked, leaning in closer. “Although, they do make you kinda mysterious.”

Alex’s smile broadened. “Oh really?”

“My turn!” Nia chirped, plucking the glasses from Alex’s face. She rested her elbows on the table, propping her chin up with her hands the moment she had the glasses on. She narrowed her eyes, testing out her new perspective. As anticlimactic as it was, nothing really changed. It was just like staring through two pieces of clear glass. Nia pouted. She supposed it wasn't unexpected - that was exactly what she was doing, after all.

“It’s weird being able to see clearly while wearing someone’s else’s glasses,” Nia mused, playing around with the glasses’ temples, wiggling them up and down in front of her face. “Has anyone who didn’t know your secret ever done this before?” She jerked her head up, snapping her fingers. “Ooh, I know, I bet you just tell them you both need the same prescriptions. Am I right, or am I right?”

Kara didn’t answer.

“...Kara?”

When Nia turned, she realised that Kara was staring directly at her, a half-stunned daze in her eyes.

“What, did the alcohol finally kick in?” Nia prodded good-naturedly, only for Kara to reach out suddenly, taking the glasses away from her. “Hey! I was using those!”

Kara remained silent. Instead, with unnerving intensity, she came forward, slipping the glasses onto Brainy’s face. Brainy jerked from the unexpected contact, lifting them away from his nose as though they'd burned. He blinked quickly in affront, eyeing Kara suspiciously. “What was that for?” he asked.

“It was you two,” Kara said mildly; her voice sounded far too calm for comfort, like she was on the verge of a full-blown freak out. “All those years ago, in Midvale. It was you.”

Nia spluttered at the exact same moment as Brainy. She snapped her head towards him desperately. “What?” she asked, registering the panic in Brainy’s eyes that she knew was reflected identically in her own. “No—what—no?” She dug her hand into her boyfriend’s shoulder, squeezing tight. “Do you know what she’s talking about?”

“I have no idea what you are- what she’s talking about-” Brainy snorted defensively. “Do-do you?”

Nia nudged him nervously, eyes wide. “I just said I didn’t, genius.”

“...Right,” Brainy said quickly, clearing his throat. He raised his voice, turning back to Kara. “Two admissions though! Thus further proving that we have no idea what you are talking—”

But, Kara was still staring, a cold glare of certainty in her eyes. “I’d know that scrambling for an excuse anywhere,” she said, taking Brainy’s hands and guiding the glasses back into place over the bridge of his nose. She met no resistance this time, Brainy was far too busy gaping at her. “Brendan.” She turned to Nia accusingly. “Brenda.” Her lips split into a pained smile. “Rao- I thought you two were hiding something, but I was willing to accept it, because... I thought you were lost.”

“In our defence, we sorta were,” Nia admitted sheepishly. “The crash wasn’t part of the plan.”

It was Brainy’s turn to nudge her. “Nia.”

“Give it up, Brainy.” Nia cringed. “We’re caught.”

Kara ran her hands through her hair, shaking her head in bewilderment. “What were you guys even doing there? When did this even happen for you?”

“When you were in the Phantom Zone,” Nia said slowly, ducking her head.

“We needed your DNA,” Alex said softly. It sounded as though the recent commotion had done a good job at sobering her up. “To track you down.”

“It was thanks to these two that we were able to save you at all,” Kelly added.

Something crossed Kara’s expression then, but it was so quick that Nia barely caught it. All she knew was that in that moment, Kara looked entirely vulnerable. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked weakly.

Brainy swallowed hastily. “Had you known our true identities in 2009, it would have caused ramifications in the timeline that could have irrevocably changed the future.”

“I don’t mean then,” Kara said sharply, attention snapping to Brainy. Her expression fell. “Why not when I came back?”

“It didn’t seem… necessary,” Brainy said uncomfortably. Nia felt his grip tighten back around her and ran her hand across his arm, squeezing gently.

Kara scoffed, folding her arms. “Not necessary? You guys were in my past—you saved my life, and you didn’t think to tell me?”

“So much happened,” Nia said carefully. “Kara, we didn’t want to stress you out any more than you already had been.”

“Come here,” Kara said suddenly.

Nia blinked her surprise, catching Brainy’s eyes quickly for confirmation. Hesitantly, Brainy nodded, unlocking his arms from around Nia’s waist. Nia slipped from the stool, stepping towards her alongside Brainy.

They stared at her unsurely for all of two seconds before Kara came forward, swooping them both into the most intense super hug Nia thought either of them had ever experienced.

Nia gasped for breath, wrapping her free arm automatically around Kara’s back. The brush of Brainy’s fingers confirmed to her that he had done just the same.

“I never thought I’d get a chance to say this,” Kara murmured into the space between them. “But, thank you. Both of you, for everything that you did.”

“For... saving your life?” Brainy asked, voice muffled with confusion. “You’re... very welcome?”

Kara laughed, pressing her face into his hair. “Not that. Okay, well, of course that. But,” She sighed, drawing away again, her hands still locked tightly against each of their arms, “you both came to me at a time where I was questioning so much. My future, my identity, my place on Earth. I was hurting, in more ways I ever let on. And without you two—I don’t know what I might have done differently.”

Nia smirked. “Wait…” She turned her head towards Brainy. “Does that mean we were always meant to travel back to 2009?”

“Pre-destined time travel.” Brainy pondered on that thought for a long moment, his lips twitching into a smile of his own. He shrugged. “I suppose stranger things have happened.”

“You did crash, though,” Alex pointed out from across the table.

Brainy shot her a glare.

“Destiny,” Kelly cut in, sighing dreamily. “I like that, though.”

Nia knocked Brainy’s arm playfully. “Just like how you coming to this time gave you the chance to live freely. With us.” Nia squeezed her boyfriend's hand secretively before she turned back to Kara, smile softening. “Maybe we gave that same chance to you, too.”

“Thank you,” Kara said again. She blinked, wiping quickly at her face where tears were near approaching. “I- I don’t even think just saying that cuts it.”

Nia's smile widened mischievously. “Hey, does that mean the next round isn’t on us?”

Brainy raised a finger in consideration. “I believe tap water is on the house, anyway.”

“Hey, no water,” Alex shot back. “And you guys are not getting out of shots that easily.”

They all laughed at that. And, just like that, Nia felt as though an invisible tension that had been tethering them together had finally loosened.

She smiled as she re-joined her family back at the table, hand-in-hand with Brainy.

For the first time in a long time, it really felt like everything was going to be okay.

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

I watched the first episode of Horimiya, and you know what?

This dude’s hot. I’m into him. Like more than the female lead. Piercings and shit aren’t even something I’m specifically into but they just look good on him.

Anyway, I quite liked this first episode actually. Which is weird, since I don’t tend to care about romance in general and I especially don’t tend to care about whatever the most popular upcoming shows are. But this was fun. The visuals are really nice and sorta remind me of Bloom Into You, I actually thought the music sounded Kensuke Ushio-y a little bit but it wasn’t, even then it was still good, and there’s quite a lot of chemistry amongst the cast. Key visual has 9 characters though the only ones who get to do anything here are Hori, Miyamura, and Toru, but even among just the 3 of them we already had pretty likeable characters that interact really well with one another.

I will say that the “everyone has more than one face” theming is a little weak in this first episode, specifically because there’s kind of an imbalance in the selves that Hori and Miyamura only show to the other. I mean, Miyamura’s this guy who looks like a weird otaku loser but the dude’s covered in piercings and tats, which A) isn’t allowed by his school and B) makes him a Japanese kid who’s not completely homogenised into their crazy hive mind where everyone has to fit in, those whacky Japanese! Whereas Hori is just like, a pretty and sort of quiet girl in school who, at home, is a bit louder and dresses casually without putting much effort into her hair. Like wow Miyamura’s got a lot more stakes in what he’s hiding than Hori, like I don’t think anyone would give a shit if they saw the face that Hori “hides”. It just seems weird to me to build the story’s themes around a main couple where one character so clearly got the short end of the stick.

Also I found these fuckin coloured silhouettes popping out of characters constantly to feel weirdly pretentious so those were a thing.

And then just while we’re rattling off complaints, the tear-driven emotional moment at the end where Hori’s all “oh is that all this was to you?” sucked to watch. They quickly have her go funny angry which I appreciated since it got it over with, but even then I still found this to be a really lame scene.

Other than that though, we’re still just a pretty damn charming show with already endearing leads and nice production to boot. I really like the sort of mobile game visuals of the ED too, that was cute. Yeah, this has been an unexpectedly fun show and to my own surprise, I’m excited to see more of it.

But it’s not fucking 8.60 out of 10 good, excuse me? Yeah Reddit likes the manga and unconditionally give any shounen romcom a 10/10, fuckin what else is new? But even then, 8.6? Really? This was that incredible? I don’t fuckin think so dude. Now for all I know the show will get better and better and maybe one day it’ll earn that, but as it is now I feel like this is grossly overrated. 

[manjuhitorie]

tat - Shinoda’s Hitori-Atelier blog posts - REAMP Digest volume 4

Shinoda’s blog post via Hitori-Atelier! Please consider joining Hitori-Atelier and supporting Hitorie’s ventures today. How-to here: https://boatmanju.wixsite.com/hitorietranslations/hitorie-atelier 

It’s already been 3 months since REAMP was released, time really flies.

In that short bit of time we’ve already planned a tour ahead of us, and were given the opportunity to do the opening for the anime ‘86′. Let’s fucking go~~~~~ Is everyone faring well? I've recently rekindled my passion for sampling, I haven't felt like this in years. I'm taking free samples I find strewn across the internet and turning them into techno. I kinda remember mentioning my appreciation for techno in vol. 1 of this blog series, and yeah. I'm finally trying it out for myself. I've managed to make a pretty sick song if I do say so myself. You'll find it on Hitori-Atelier soon enough. (＊This is most likely the song titled 'mad candy', found in 'Shinoda's Contents') It's fun 'cause compared to vocal stuff, I use a whole different part of my brain to make techno. I say "This part of this sample has a good beat to it, I bet if I rearranged it like this it would make music~" and do it. Relatively speaking, this kinda music making matches my personality type really well. I feel like I've found a fucking good hobby for myself here. With that said, even though it’s a hobby, work is still work so the collateral damage of music-making is still vividly affecting my body. Like music is still music, and with the way I tunnel vision I'll end up at my desk for an obscene amount of hours. By the time I'm done with it physically and mentally I'm a wreck. Like the fuck do I mean by hobby, is this some kinda shitty joke Shinoda? Anyway let's talk about 'tat'. The question as to what the title means comes first. Initially I wanted to name this song "刺青(meaning tattoo)". Because the song ‘Perfume’ by ‘Eito’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MjAJSoaoSo) was a huge hit at that time so yeah.. But that idea failed ygarshy's inspection so I had no choice but to look around for a word similar to tattoo.

That was when I found photos of tattoos on Instagram with the hashtag #tat. This is it, I said. As a slang tat can mean many other things as well but I forget what they were. I'm sure you can find out if you look it up but, take note that none of it has much to do with the song itself. I considered '#tat' for the title as well, but it was too lame so I pulled back. This song was written when the album was almost finished and most songs ready: I reviewed the album as whole and felt that something was missing. I had wanted something with now tat’s tempo and mood to it to tie the album together. It turned out really well, if I may say so myself. Isn't it a great song though? I feel like all my efforts were worthwhile... It's fun to let the creative juices flow and write with whatever comes to mind. I tried to make the amount of guitar notes concise and solid. The tone was supposed to be graceful too but... ygarshy swooped in with a kick and his bass so heavy it sounds like he's blasting music from a little motorcycle. The melody too has the same makings as the hits these days. It’s about someone of the opposite sex with a bold tattoo who’s stuck in days of ennui, and me who’s gazing from afar wondering what these feelings inside me are. It’s about that sorta thing (?) - I think I managed to express it (????) The beat isn’t made to be far off from modern tuning either. I’m sure I could’ve harmonized it even better but, at the time I found good reason to make it more rock band-y, so I have no regrets. I only wish I made the song name something easier to find via search. It’s so hard to find the people talking about it... Starting with a verse and closing a song with that same verse is great, ain’t it. I’ve always liked songs with a bit of a whacky structure to them, Like November in HOWLS, it goes from verse 2 back to verse 1 then into the instrumental break. If you think it’s just any old number then prepare to be sorely mistaken - Or, that kind of fetishy stuff is important for music if you ask me. I received a fair lot of praise from people in the song-writing industry about tat, I’m happy. Though I’m not sure about the lyrics. Someone from our workplace told me that “Mushy gushy heart-wrenching lyrics would fit well”, so I sought out to do exactly that. The only problem is that my expression of mushy gushy made that person from work go “????” so making people’s heart clench is hard shit. This doesn’t leave here okay.. My dismay over the discontinuation of Chikyuu Monogatari is vented in here a bit as well. Though I don’t think Chikyuu Monogatari is boring. Not really. I saw a few people say that ‘tat’ is like the evolution of cakebox. And it makes sense to me now that y’all say it. cakebox was my solo project I did back in my mid-20’s. I made 3 mini pieces with 7 tracks and 1 EP with 4 tracks before stopping. I’m sure only like 10 people in the whole world ever listened to it. If you look it up you can still get it to listen too. Like an offering of random ass songs to my dead school life, I had a phase between my late teens and my early 20’s wherein I was obsessed with making songs using just my voice and guitar. The question of direction was beyond my consideration, I just sorta let the creative juices flow back then too and promptly set pen to paper. That was my creative process cycle. It was kinda like a diary. There’s barely any proper complete songs. The reason being that I completely lacked the skill necessary to make them proper. My guitar was alright but my singing wasn’t up to par, no one ever praised my voice at all. So I resolved that I just wasn’t cut out for it and strove to be a lead guitarist. Instead of my own songs I chose to go do band stuff, thus devoted myself to guitar.   Yet still my desire to make something proper stuck with me, and so soon after that I started a band in which I did guitar and vocals. we mashed stuff together and made song proper. Alas. Between creative differences and my own lack of ability, we were barely able to make something that I was proud of. After shit happened I ended up at home immersed in making my own songs. “Surely I could put all my experiences in bands and my own growth to good use, to turn my backlog of WIPs into something proper as well?” I thought to myself, and thus was the beginning of cakebox. I think that was the first time I ever got involved in making my own music through my own power. But my way of intense creation was too innocent for listeners or something, or like I wasn’t conscious enough of my headfirst personality... So I didn’t even have the sense to match the tuning up with modernity, and ultimately my work wasn’t clicking with society’s needs. That reality was crushing me more and more with every piece I made. I didn’t have absolute confidence in myself or conviction to push through either. After 3 albums the feeling of “Why am I even doing this” grew, and I found more purpose in Hitorie instead. From then on I devoted myself to Hitorie. These past few years in Hitorie have been nothing but learning experiences for me. After years of the four of us together stressing over what makes good music, I think my own work has leveled up as well. One thing I learned that has especially stuck with me, even now, is leader’s unwavering stance on “Believing that I’m just no matter what”.   For someone with my relative dispositions it’s a nigh impossible stance, and at often times I felt it was egoistic of him but... It’s what led him to create such powerful music, and it’s something we depended on greatly. The other day I gave Unhappy Refrain a full listen for the first time in a while. It’s perfect in every way, what the hell. Vocaloid as a genre was still establishing itself back then, and without a doubt this album served as a monument for the cause. The same way ‘my bloody valentine’’s ‘loveless’ was the cherry on top for the shoegazer genre. It’s made an immovable unsurpassable mark on music history. I really was in a band with a crazy person. To think that when I was in a band with him I more saw myself as the crazy amazing one. What the fuck was up my ass. I understand why felt the need for a band after making this album - why he brought us together - even more now. The obscene amount of notes in that album with a tone reeking of rock band stuff... It’s really flooded with his innocent yearning for rock music. I think the troubles he faced following Unhappy Refrain were the repercussions of him making such a huge monumental piece. But his stout core belief in himself - that he’s just - has stood equally as tall as that monument all the way. Now, after so many twists of fate.. I never thought I’d be writing AND singing my own songs for Hitorie like this. Except, one difference between the me of now VS. the me of old is that I don’t feel even a smidgen of unconfidence. I’m not worrying that I “don’t stand out” or “don’t suit societies needs” anymore. I feel like ‘tat’ might be the best song in the album (sorry ygarshy and Yumao). To the point that when people praise it I merely agree with them, “No lies detected” I say.

It’s all thanks to my time spent with Hitorie, the musical knowledge we sharpened, and the fact that my bandmates’ amazing performances have my back. If I don’t have something as big as this supporting me then I’ll just be a fucking chicken with no confidence in my music, after all. With that said, Music made by you yourself is an irreplaceable treasure, “If you made something good, then be proud”: this lesson of mindset was taught to me by Leader. It’s a really life-changing way to be so... If I mimic Leader at least this lil’ bit no one would make a bad face at me, right? What do y’all think? With that that said, the actual most pure thing that’s naturally come out of my head in years, with my actttual emotions stuffed in, is... The actttttual best song is “Utsutsu” if you ask me so. Look forward to the next entry of this blog series, y’hear me. Shinoda

[spellscarred]

GOOD MENTAL HEALTH GAMES

So here’s a list of games that help me get through bad days, whether it’s just being out of spoons, or being triggered, or just needing to not think for a hot second, it doesn’t matter. I’ll make sure to tell you why they might appeal, because not every game will work for every mood/situation.

STARDEW VALLEY [ PC / XBOX1 / PS4 / SWITCH / IOS / ANDROID ] — of course, this is the ultimate good mental health game. It’s very relaxing, it’s involved enough that you can focus on it without having to do anything intensive. You can play at your own pace, and you can even play with a friend, if you need that extra support.

GRAVEYARD KEEPER [ PC / XBOX1 / PS4 / SWITCH / IOS / ANDROID ] — this game is here for the same reason as stardew valley, but with an entirely different vibe. You play a man from our time who’s mysteriously transported to medieval times, who has to run a graveyard to find his way back. If Stardew Valley is too soft and cutesy for you, you’ll like Graveyard Keeper’s more morbid twist on it. Steeped in dark humour.

NO MAN’S SKY [ PC / XBOX1 / PS4 ] — surely everyone’s heard of this game from its disastrous launch back in 2016. Since then, Hello Games has worked tirelessly to bring existing and new players free updates and turn it into the game that they’d promised from the start. I’d say they’ve delivered. This game is vast, with plenty to do, plenty to see; you can get lost exploring planet after planet, learning more about the other civilisations that inhabit the galaxies (yes, plural), trading, hunting pirates, raiding freighters, owning freighters, base building, playing with friends... This game can initially be very overwhelming, but the key to this game is to just focus on one thing at a time.

ASTRONEER [ PC / XBOX1 / PS4 ] — if No Man’s Sky is too vast for you, then you might want to try your hand at Astroneer. It’s a lot more contained, much more stylised, and since there’s less content, it’s a lot harder to lose yourself in how much there is to actually do and thus get overwhelmed. Just a fun, lowkey planetary exploration game with cartoon-y graphics. Also with co-op options.

CITIES: SKYLINES [ PC / XBOX1 / PS4 / SWITCH ] — if you’re looking for something to just relax with but still get the sense you’re doing something productive, then you might want to try your hand at Cities: Skylines. The goal is to make a functional city, down to managing the flow of traffic and meeting the zoning demands of your citizens, et cetera. It’s easy to pour a few hours into this once you get the hang of it. Of course, you can also go the Sims route and just give yourself infinite money to design a city to your wishes.

JURASSIC WORLD EVOLUTION [ PC / XBOX1 / PS4 ] — so this is like the old Zoo Tycoon, if the animals were large long-extinct creatures that have a habit of breaking out of their habitats if sufficiently agitated. There’s two ways you can play the game; you can follow the story line, which slowly seeks to reclaim the islands lost in the Jurassic Park trilogy, right down to wrangling the now wild dinosaurs roaming the islands and turning the GenSec bases into functional parks. Or, once you get a 4 star rating on Isla Matanceros, you go sandbox mode on Isla Nublar, which provides you with ample space and neigh unlimited money to go wild on.

BORDERLANDS 2 [ PC / XBOX1 / PS4 / IOS / ANDROID ] — if you’re more into shoot and loot, you’ll find Borderlands 2 (and the Borderlands franchise in and of itself) quite satisfying. I recommend BL2 especially because while it’s dated, its graphics and gameplay still holds up, it’s on older gen consoles as well, and its price tag is a lot less costly than immediately going for Borderlands 3. The game’s funny, it doesn’t really require you to think a lot, and it’s just great fun shooting AI in the face and blowing things up. Even if you’re self-reportedly ‘bad at FPS’, there’s no expectations where Borderlands 2 is concerned. Just sorta aim and shoot, no doubt something will die and give you a shiny prize for it. Endorphines galore.

SPORE [ PC ] — disclaimer, Spore is great up to a certain point, and after that it becomes absolute garbage. Most people agree that the microbial and creature stages of Spore are absolutely fantastic and there’s some whacky fun to be had creating ridiculous-looking creatures and getting them to survive in the direction you’ve decided to take them. Generally, after the Creature Stage comes the Civilisation Stage, which is about the time I restart the game, which is a pity. The longest stage, which is the Space Stage, is arguably also the worst stage. But it’s cheap, and the first two stages are really just that iconic.

TWO POINT HOSPITAL [ PC / XBOX1 / PS4 / SWITCH ] — if you’re like me and you’ve been playing video games on PC for 25 years, surely you’ll remember a little game called Theme Hospital. The weirdest, most ridiculous hospital simulation game ever created. This is that, but from 2018, opposed to 1997. I’ve spent hours upon hours in Theme Hospital trying to save patients, make my layouts make sense, and keep people from littering everywhere, you heathens! In later levels, it can get pretty stressful, but particularly earlier levels, it’s just good ol’ fun.

THE SIMS 4 [ PC / XBOX1 / PS4 ] — speaking of the Sims, the franchise is obviously the most well-known ‘I know I’m in a depression hole because I played for the past 21 hours and I haven’t eaten yet and I probably won’t shower for the next 5 days’ game. Granted, I list the Sims 4, but any iteration of the Sims works for this purpose. Just motherlode and go, my friends. Cure the emptiness by creating a house you’ll never be able to afford. (Personally I use it to create my characters from toddler and making them meet and kiss their SOs, but you know.)

PLANET ZOO [ PC ] — I likened Jurassic World Evolution to Zoo Tycoon but with dinosaurs. Planet Zoo is Zoo Tycoon on steroids. That’s it. Planet Zoo is incredibly robust and in-depth, but the idea is simple: manage a zoo, help animals get off the endangered species list, and release them into the wild where you can while keeping visitors happy and keeping your park clean (why are visitors in sim games always such terrible raccoons)! Go creative mode and just create a zoo to your own wishes with no constraints and you’ll have a great mental health game.

PLANET COASTER [ PC / XBOX1 / PS4 ] — if Planet Zoo is Zoo Tycoon on steroids, then Planet Coaster is Rollercoaster Tycoon on steroids (which, in turn, was a more robust version of 1994′s Theme Park, from the same devs as Theme Hospital mentioned above). Like with Planet Zoo, you make a theme park, create rides that kill people and desperately try to hold back the tide of litter that’ll inevitably happen. But really, just go creative mode and make rollercoasters with so much G-force that it’ll kill everyone that rides them.

RAFT [ PC ] — a co-op game set in an Earth enveloped by oceans, you’re essentially a scout on a raft and that raft will become your home as you build onto it. You go from island to island to collect materials, seeds for food and trees, and discover the lore of the world. Your only enemy is hunger, thirst, and the ever-present shark that really only wants to hug you with its teeth. It’s a friend. Promise.

So do you have any games that you think should be on this list? Games that help you get through days where it’s just really hard to be a person? Feel free to add onto this post. Just make sure you let people know the name, the platforms its available on, the general gist of the game, and why it helps you through tough days.

Enjoy your good mental health days and good luck on your bad mental health days, everyone. 💛

[zackcollins]

Yeah this trade season is the most wild, shocking, whacky, upsetting, and any other crazy adjective I can use to describe it. Already shocked by some of the trades and having such a time keeping up with all this 😅

Hope you’re staying as sane as you can. Writing is such a help when it comes to keeping your brain busy. Hope you can get some done! And thank you that’s very sweet. I’m here as well, just send out a post with the crown emoji and I’ll be there ❤️

- 👑

Mood. It's been all over the fucking place. I think six consecutive roller coaster rides would be less hectic than this. Because Jesus H Christ. I'm both trying to ignore everything and glued to my phone at the same time. It's like a car crash. You wanna look away but you're entranced by it at the same time to the point where you aren't sure if you can look away. It's insane how annoyingly obsessed with this I am. So like. I've been trying to distract myself by playing Animal Crossing. It's working for the most part. I'm decorating my island a little bit because the flower vendor is visiting today. And I got another really cool idea. So like. Those have both kept me sorta away from everything happening. At the same time, I have notifications on for the Sportsnet and NHL apps. So, whenever I look at my phone, I see whatever the fuck happened while I was busy with Animal Crossing. It's a bad day to have notifications on. But, like I said, it's too hard to look away so I don't wanna turn them off. Ya know?

As for writing, I have such a headache from stressing out over all of this that I don't think I'd be able to focus on anything more productive than video game for more than ten minutes. So like. I don't think I'll be able to write anymore today. Maybe tomorrow though. We'll see if I feel any less stressed then.

If I do need you for anything, I'll make sure to make a post with the crown emoji!! Thank you for telling me I could do that. If you need me for anything, feel free to just send in another ask or twelve. I'm here all day for whatever you need me for. Hockey related or not. Okay?

[franstastic-ideas]

What are the differences between Dr. Gaster/Dadster in each AU?

I answered an ask sorta similar to this one, but it’s been a while since then, so I’ll go over my Gasters again.

Undertale - It all depends on the story I’m trying to tell. Sometimes he’s Dadster, sometimes he’s the eldest of the skeleton brothers, and sometimes he’s Sans’s whacky boss/co-worker who has no relation to him whatsoever beyond that. And in the case of him being the eldest brother or Sans’s co-worker, sometimes, he’s even Frisk’s other love interest.

His personality also fluctuates a bit, depending on what role he plays in that universe’s story.

Here are a few of my AUs where he makes an appearance:

Wraithtale - Dadster. Stern man that loves his sons but has severe emotional constipation. He and Sans are going through some stuff. Help him.

Convergence AU - Sans’s insane boss/co-worker in the past, who’s responsible for the entire plot. Suave, but also a whacky science man, and he’s one of the many skeletons after Frisk’s heart in this universe.

The Witches’ Tea Party - Has no relation to Sans and Papyrus, but he takes on a strictly mentor role with Frisk as well as Chara here. He’s wise and kind, and just a bit mischievous - he’s also the one who gave G and Green to Frisk and Chara respectively.

Frisk the Cryptozoologist - Sans’s ex co-worker, and a human fanatic. He loves, loves, loves humans - and he especially loves Frisk the Human!

WT!Swap - Dadster, but he’s got a much better relationship with his sons. He still likes humans, but it’s more lowkey here. He’s more of an amazingly embarrassing parent than the sometimes stone cold stoic man he is in Wraithtale.

The Pillar Skeletons - Oldest brother and love rival to Sans and Papyrus. He’s suave, but also smug - has a minor god complex. But he is sorta a god in this universe, so...

Boyband AU - The manager of the Bonetones. He’s not the father or brother of Undertale’s Sans and Papyrus, since he’s also one of Frisk’s romantic options, but he is related to them; he’s their third cousin twice removed.

[spikeymarshmallows]

for headcannon meme!! kleigo, 7 and 8!! love your writing, your kleigo stuff is some of my favorite to read over and over!

klsjdflks. Anon. Thank you T.T I’m having a Weird Brain Time and this is just super, super nice to get T.T I hope you’re having an amazing day and that you get good news very soon!

Headcanon Meme

Okay, fuck. This got super long, so it’s after the Read More.

7. What do they get up to on a night out?

It definitely depends on the time period! I fully headcanon that Diego and Klaus saw each other in the years between leaving home and the start of the show. They were in the same city, Diego goes looking for trouble, and Klaus finds himself in it.

I struggle to see Diego just like, accepting Klaus’ drug habits and drinking etc, and going out like that. But maybe in those earlier years, when Diego was still exploring the world outside of the Academy walls, maybe he and Klaus ran into each other at various bars and clubs. Klaus would be inebriated to varying degrees, and Diego would be too. He hasn’t started the whole “my body is a temple” thing, and he’s young, and the world is crazy, and drinking doesn’t give him wild hangovers yet.

I can see them absolutely getting into mischief. Klaus is very good at talking Diego into doing dumb shit; and Diego insists he’s only following along to make sure Klaus doesn’t get in trouble. But LBR, he’s having a blast. Klaus is one of the only people he can tentatively let his hair down with. If Klaus needs parenting, then no, he doesn’t. But if they’re both a little drunk, Diego is still protective of Klaus, but he also relaxes. They’d dance together, and Klaus would laugh a lot, and Diego might let himself laugh too.

As they get older, and Diego realises the depths of Klaus’ drug addiction, he’d stop letting himself relax like that. He wouldn’t be okay with it. He’d try to drag Klaus home, somewhere safe, trying over and over to convince him to get sober.

And finally, if Klaus ever managed to get sober, things would look different. They’d go and see movies. They’d eat at places they liked; sometimes fancy, but usually random places Klaus stumbles across. Diego doesn’t like drinking anymore, so he has no issue not drinking. Klaus used to mournfully look at cocktail menus, but now Diego just gently extras the menus from him so he can’t even read them.

They don’t go to bars, at all. They don’t go to nightclubs, none of it. Some of the people in Klaus’ therapy groups are able to be around drugs and alcohol again, but Klaus can’t, he just can’t. Even if he manages to resist, it throws him off, mentally, for days and days.

After a while, they just agree not to go out anymore. It’s not worth the torture and torment it puts Klaus (and subsequently, Diego) through.

Sometimes, Klaus admits that he misses dancing. He doesn’t miss the loud music. He doesn’t miss creeps touching him. He kind of misses feeling like a hot piece of ass (but Diego is very good at convincing him he is, which helps). But he misses the freedom of dancing. He sometimes bops along to music, but without drugs to ease him in, he feels kinda silly dancing sometimes. But Diego doesn’t share the same shame, and puts the music on really loudly, and dances with him until he’s let go of the anxiety, and he’s laughing, and spinning, and feels entirely free.

Um. ...This got long. But basically, it depends on where they are in life. When they’re younger, they do what young people do. As they get older, they need to adapt for Klaus’ recovery, but Diego is a good one to do it. Their nights out end up as nights in, or trying new foods, and maybe sometimes, games night with the family.

8. What do they like in bed?

>:) >:) >:) ANON. I am scandalised. I only like wholesome, and innocent questions. Gosh! I... I certainly don’t have thousands of words of headcanons for this based on every possible Klaus and Diego I can think of.... No.... Not at all...... >.>

Ha!

No no, but. Oh my god. I could wax poetic about this for days. And... sometimes... I do XD

Both of them like to be taken out of their head, in various ways.

Diego is very image-driven, and has an insatiable need to prove himself. He tends to be a pretty selfless lover, but it’s not necessarily out of altruism. It’s because his ego needs him to demonstrate over, and over, and over, that he’s good at it. As a result, he doesn’t really know what he likes in bed. Not really. This is where my headcanon that Diego is a Service Top really comes through. He really, truly, does get off on his partners pleasure. And Klaus? Klaus is such a pillow princess that it sorta works for Diego for quite a while. Klaus is very forthcoming about his desires and wishes (more on that shortly), and Diego goes along with it all (more on that shortly too!!). And Klaus is, by his nature, quite selfish in many ways. He doesn’t do it to be cruel, he just... is. And Diego indulges him. And then one day, it slowly clicks that... Klaus doesn’t know Diego’s kinks. Diego seems to like almost everything Klaus suggests! And Klaus isn’t dumb enough to think it’s just good luck. He knows Diego has struggled with some things, and they’ve been working on that. But Diego has never expressed “I really love this, let’s do this”. No, it’s always Diego just getting into what Klaus likes.

And so they have to figure out what Diego likes. But hey, they’re more than happy to experiment. And really, Diego loves giving pleasure. He loves seeing Klaus a wreck beneath him. He loves taking Klaus apart, and even more than that, he loves putting Klaus back together. It makes him feel good. It makes him feel good, and worthy, and valid. He loves Klaus trusting him. He loves having a certain power over Klaus. In something I’m going to be posting shortly, Diego does something to Klaus that he thinks Klaus might hate; and what Diego loves isn’t the act itself, but that Klaus will let him. Klaus will kind of let Diego do anything, and Diego, while he used to fear that, really loves that. So what does Diego love in bed? Diego loves power. Diego loves feeling good enough (better than good enough), and making his partner feel good. 

Now Klaus... Klaus loves a lot of things. It’s hard to find things Klaus doesn’t love. He loves degradation, and humiliation, and being hurt. God, he loves it when Diego hurts him, because he’s got such a competance kink, and Diego is so fucking competant. And he trusts Diego with his life. Diego will hurt him, but he will never, ever harm him. Klaus is allowed to ask for whatever weird and whacky shit he wants, because he knows that Diego will go to the ends of the earth to make it good for him, and to make it safe for him, and to make him a puddle of goo. There’s the choking, and the bondage, of course. But there’s so much more. Klaus loves to give in, and have his options taken away. And he loves the places Diego will take him.

That isn’t to say that Klaus is a bottom, only. I think most people are versatile, but have preferences. Klaus likes to bottom, and Diego likes to top. But of course, they switch it up sometimes. And when Diego bottoms, he’s still a power bottom. He pins Klaus down and rides him hard, gripping his chin, or his throat; and he makes Klaus shake, edges him, and reminds Klaus at all times who is in charge here. 

And sometimes Klaus tops him, and takes control, but that makes Diego feel very vulnerable, and takes a lot out of him. It’s hard for him to let go of that control, and it scares him, even if he won’t ever admit it. But he’ll do it, because it matters. Klaus is vulnerable with him all the time... Diego... Diego can do this, sometimes, right? [He can].

But for all that they both love kinky sex (or rather, Klaus loves it, and Diego is a service top that loves Klaus), it’s not always whips and chains. Diego learns... He really loves that soft shit. His kink? Probably the aftercare bit. And the more he fucks Klaus up, the more aftercare he’s allowed to give.

TLDR: Klaus is a pillow princess, and Diego is a service top who fucking loves taking care of his boy, and he really kinks on giving Klaus a good time, and on Klaus’ pleasure, and Klaus loves being looked after.

Anyway, as I said, I could wax poetic about this, and have a billion ideas depending on the circumstances... But this is what I headcanon as like, the most related to the show, as they are rn.

[justkeeptrekkin]

i saw you reblogged corndog-patrols really fun shinsou-son dadmic art, so i wondered what kind of erasermic family head canons you’ve got, maybe fun au scenarios or story ideas you’ve been playing around; i do that sorta stuff all the time haha :)

Omg anon you’re my favourite person right now- I’ve had SUCH a week and this was such a cute little message to get in the inbox! Thank you! 

OK SO:

- EraserMic family bake a lot. And not always particularly well. I have a headcanon where Mic is like ‘Shou I found a really cute cupcake recipe on Pinterest we should do it this weekend’ and Shouta has to be physically dragged from his marking by his children to take a break. Eri standing on a little stool so she can reach the kitchen counter as Shinsou covers himself in flour, Mic licking the icing bowl and Shouta inexplicably covered in batter because he’s a messy hobo bastard. The cupcakes come out looking great because, as we all know, Shouta is a bit of a stickler for some things and kind of a perfectionist. The icing however- well, let’s say that they’re decorated with quite an impressionist slant. Messy af. 

- I don’t know if you’ve read my Disneyland fic which was an EraserMic and Eri fic- i might have to do a follow up in which they take Shinsou, as well. 

Mic: ‘Hitoshi, look!! It’s Simba!! do you want to say hi to Simba, ‘Toshi???’ 

Shinsou: “No.” 

Aizawa: “Leave him alone, ‘Zashi. I think he’s having a sugar crash from the candy floss he just had. and the candy Eri couldn’t finish.”

- Shinsou has a weekend job because he’s a teenager and pocket-money is a thing, so he ends up working in a Chucky Cheese (or where I’m from, our alternative was called Whacky Warehouse!). Thankfully, not dressed up as a mascot, but waiting and tidying up. And occasionally EraserMic will take Eri, largely so help Eri meet other kids and gain social confidence, but also to offer support to their son, who bears the screaming and messiness and awful manager stoically. Mic waves at him cheerily every now and then, and Shouta tries not to laugh. He had a very similar job as a teenager. He still has nightmares. 

- When EraserMic move into their UA flat together, it’s a little before they adopt Eri and Shinsou. Eri’s the first to move in and join the family. Shinsou eventually joins the throng. And having lived on boarding school campuses pretty much all my life (my mums a teacher!), I can imagine that Shinsou would feel a bit weird about it, but it doesn’t take long to get used to the feeling. EraserMic are concerned that he won’t feel at home, so they let him decorate little bits of the place how he wants. Predictably, he doesn’t care so much about decorations and he isn’t much of a nester, but he does take a lot of control with his room. And he has a blanket that lives in the living room, right next to Shouta’s sleeping bag. 

Lmao these are some I’ve thought of for a while and some that were just on the top of my head, i hope you like! Thanks anon!

PS I’ve started putting headcanons under the tag ‘ramblings’ so hopefully that’s helpful!

[dcarevu]

Batman TAS: Joker’s Favor

“She can't open the door and push it in all by herself! THINK!”

Batman the Animated Series. Teaching the dangers of road rage since 1992!

Episode: 22 Robin: No Writer: Paul Dini Director: Boyd Kirkland Animator: Dong Yang Airdate: September 11, 1992 Grade: B

Char’s main reaction to seeing this episode for the first time was, “My girl!!” She loves Harley (and Poison Ivy). For me too, it’s nice to finally introduce Harley Quinn to the DC Animated Universe. Of course, back when this episode initially aired, it was also her introduction to the world of comic books in general. Written to be a one-off henchwoman to the Joker, wow, who would have seen the massive Harley Quinn storm coming. I was working at Party City when Suicide Squad came out, and by far the most popular costume we sold to young girls and women alike was Harley Quinn. People who know nothing about Batman are at least a little familiar with her. Sometimes even more familiar with her than the Dark Knight himself. And good lord, have fun trying to buy a copy of Batman Adventures #12 for a decent price. Even reprints can cost you around 100 bucks. You know how annoying that is for someone who just wants to own a physical copy of the damn thing to read?

I can only assume that Suicide Squad was the major catapult for the hype surrounding the character. I don’t remember seeing her around nearly as much before. Although I’m sure the Arkham series helped a little bit too. And I won’t lie to you, I’m a little salty about it. Oh, believe me, it’s definitely petty “nerd rage”. Or maybe you could call it the “hipster effect”. What annoys us about liking something for so long, and then, much later, finding out that it suddenly blows up with admiration? It’s stupid, this should make us happy, right? But yes, to let the cat out of the bag, I really do love Harley Quinn’s character. At least, the DCAU version of her. I’ve never seen Suicide Squad, I’ve never read any of her comics outside of the DCAU tie-ins, and I’ve never seen any episodes of other Batman cartoons with her in it. Doesn’t particularly interest me (not that I’m directly opposed). But I know that in the DCAU she’s really interesting, she’s a lot of fun, and some of the best moments of the entire series involve her heavily. The Laughing Fish, from what I remember, is up there among my favorite episodes. And how about the flashback in ROTJ? That’s one of the best Batman stories ever told, period. She’s not my favorite villain by any means, but the show would definitely be missing something without her. Speaking of her roles in the DCAU, maybe that’s where that “hipster effect” comes from. Maybe we get salty when people are oblivious toward a character’s…or a band’s…or a show’s…or whatever’s…early days. Yeah, that’s gotta be it, right? When Pokémon Go was new, I saw people complaining because these kids hadn’t played the original Red and Blue versions. And no one would ever really get annoyed if an old album by Blink-182 suddenly spiked in sales. No, it’s only when someone discovers new stuff and isn’t familiar with anything before that. I’m not saying this behavior is rational, and I hate it whenever I feel this way (for the record, I defended those kids just getting into Pokémon through Pokémon Go who were being shit on by “gen-wunners”). But it’s a possible explanation. Maybe we feel that people are missing out or not putting in the effort to fully appreciate/respect a thing and why it is the way it is.

Even though Harley Quinn was an amazing addition to the series, she didn’t exactly start out that way. Ignoring her popularity, she doesn’t particularly stand out in this episode, at least, not to me. But she must have back then. Fans liked her so much, she started appearing in the Batman Adventures comics! But I won’t start complaining about Batman Adventures #12 again. At least, not yet… Of course, where this is the first Harley episode, it figures as such that Paul Dini is the writer. This episode shows us again that he knows how to write a great story to be taken seriously, but also knows how to inject a lot of fun into it. That seems to be what separates Dini from some of the other best writers. A lot of the most serious episodes are really damn serious, with virtually no fun to be had. But Dini throws in some cheeky bits. Harley, for example. Or Batman coming down with a cold in Heart of Ice. It’s certainly welcome, but honestly, I prefer episodes like Two-Face a little bit more. And that’s why I’ve settled on a B for this episode. Yeah, I know. Everyone raises this episode up on a pedestal and says how much of a classic it is. I won’t argue with y’all. It’s an important episode, and it is entertaining. But it’s not as entertaining as a lot of other episodes to me. I like it. I don’t love it. Sue me. Char actually felt the same way, so I’m not alone there. She loved the Joker, as usual, and loved seeing “her gurl” Harley, but as far as the actual episode goes, she only liked it. Strangely enough, I have virtually no complaints. For the most part it’s pretty flawless, unless I really want to nitpick at stupid shit (like when Joker points out Charlie’s hair-loss when he has the same amount of hair as earlier). Probably the only thing that actually made me scratch my head was during the scene where Charlie threatens Joker with one of his own bombs. Why did Charlie know it wouldn’t explode, but the Joker himself didn’t? The only thing I can really think of is that Batman was in on the joke, and rewired the thing. But that doesn’t sit too well with me either. Oh, and also the scenes involving the fight amongst the recreated temple was a little hokey, and didn’t match a lot of the flow. It was too random-seeming, plus the idea that all of these death traps would remain active is ludicrous. We do get the Joker at some of his best, though, and we even hear Batman laugh in-costume (a first for this series). If there’s one thing Batman shouldn’t do often, it’s use the bat-laugh. And the writers knew when to use it well. Just wait till Mad Love. As long as they don’t have Batman sing… I will now turn my head toward my Justice League Unlimited set and stare at it with a dead smile for a few seconds.

And what about the crime prince of clown himself? I think we get the most insight into his mind out of all the Joker episodes so far in this one. The first two Joker appearances were just sorta goofy romps that you would expect, and the next one (Be a Clown) was an episode of lesser entertainment value. Here, we take the best elements of the Be a Clown Joker and fuse it with the Joker we got more from the other episodes to create what I would consider to be the definitive DCAU Joker. Let’s go over it. Y’know those maniacs who chase you down the street just because you made the tiniest mistake while driving (sometimes it might even be more their fault than yours)? Well imagine if when they caught up to you, you saw that they were a psychotic, killing clown. That’s fun… After this happens to Charlie Collins, the Joker threatens to kill him, but ends up sparing him so that over the next two years, he can have a fun time of basically tracking, stalking, and keeping up with this man. I like this because, on one hand, it seems so silly that he’d want to do this simply because of a traffic incident. Like, doesn’t he have better things to do with this time? But also, the Joker knows that every day, Charlie lives in fear that the Joker will find and contact him. It’s the manipulative aspect that we saw in Be a Clown coming out. The Joker takes pleasure in ruining lives. We also have the whacky side of the Joker seen in The Last Laugh with how ridiculous the concept is. Going back to the hair-loss comment mention earlier in passing, I actually think it would have been really clever to start him out with a full head of hair, but then show him super bald later on, showing that the stress of it all had really taken a toll on him, despite his seemingly great life.

Well, then, the Joker has Charlie fly over to Gotham just to open a door for Harley. Yeah. Open a door. I friggin’ love this twist. He’s like an Alice In Wonderland character, having seemingly no rhyme or reason for anything, but you know it all somehow makes sense in his twisted head. We know this because of what he manages to pull off, and how dangerous he is. If he truly knew nothing, he wouldn’t escape Arkham time and time again or get away with nearly as much as he does. And then finally at the end, we have some moments of scary Joker-rage paired with the Joker actually yelling to Batman for help. It’s such a sudden mood change, and you have to question whether or not the Joker’s anger was real. If it is, that makes it scarier. He’s like a meth-addict. We also see the Joker shove Harley Quinn to the side so that he can get to the phone, a very early look at the abusive relationship that we don’t see in full until later down the line. Like I said earlier, Harley was supposed to be a one-off, so this likely wasn’t Dini’s intent to display, but in hindsight, it’s got a much different light casted on it. It shows how much care was put into these stories, making everything match up, even if it wasn’t the initial plan.

This opening shot looked pretty stilted, reminding us that it’s essentially a cell being moved to the right.

Our main character, Charlie Collins. I wanna know what kind of fashion statement that haircut is. The “vertical rat tail”?

That moment of realization. Great job of capturing that immediate regret. It’s like he was brought back to reality, but sent into the Twilight Zone all at the same time.

The Joker knows how scary he is.

This shot was kinda funky with how bright some of the Joker’s features were. 

The Joker appears rather large when in comparison to the character who is supposed to be in front of him. This happens at least one other time in the episode. It adds to his threatening aura here, though.

“Oh please, don’t insult me.” the Joke retorts when Charlie assumes that he’s being robbed of money. 

Been missing these guys! Haven’t seen enough of them!

Jim: “If anyone should be getting a testimonial it’s you!” Batman: “I’m just the nightshift. You deal with this mess 24 hours a day. That’s what those people want to honor.” The most endearing friendship on the show. He even then proceeds to ask Batman where he can rent a tux. 

The Joker playing darts backwards. Throwing them at the commissioner. 

Harley Quinn’s first appearance ever! Bruce Timm did an excellent job with her design. Also, another instance of Joker looking rather large. Apparently perspective isn’t Dong Yang’s strong suit.

And then the Joker proceeds to do a perfect backflip. Damn, he’s limber!

Me too, dude. Also the Joker was throwing darts right above this guy’s head.

Somehow a better license picture than any I’ve ever gotten. Also we have confirmation that, in the DCAU at least, Gotham City is in New York.

“Leave the sideburns.”

An unsettling shot as they circle around Don’s (Charlie’s) block, threatening his family.

“Any way I could sneak out with you?” Me too, dude. Lines like this add so much character that gimmicks or statements about them could never reach.

“Sir, I believe you may be needed inside.”

Bullock hitting on Harley. How does he look like even more of a sleaze when spiffed up for an event?

Montoya’s look of pleasure when Bullock gets whacked in the shin by Harley’s baton. Also, them cheekbones. 

“...okayyy, we’ll tough it out here.”

Joker’s sudden mood-swings combined with his delivery from Mark Hamill are obvious callbacks to the Blue Meanies in Yellow Submarine.

Charlie, about to shove a bomb up Joker’s ass. “Batman! Batmaaaaan!” Actually, y’know what this reminds me of?

This great moment.

Joker, relieved to see Batman. “<gasp> How long have you been there?” We also get, “You’re no fun anymore, Charlie.” If there’s one thing Joker can’t stand, it’s getting upstaged when it comes to the crazy.

A solid episode for sure, but for those of you who only know about Harley from her more recent shenanigans (and you don’t have a genuine interest in watching a Batman cartoon), check out The Laughing Fish instead. And for those of you following along with me for the long haul, join us next time! …Crikey!

Char’s grade: B

Next time: Vendetta Full episode list here!

[rahirah]

Ok, I know this is a whacky idea, but bear with me. I think that there's a small but non-zero chance that Joss is actually planning on ending S12 with a polyamorous threesome. Now, don't get me wrong, I still think that the most likely ending is Buffy ending up alone, possibly with crumbs thrown to both sides of the shipping divide. But consider the following:

1. Sense8 has already gone there. Joss has a history of jumping on the diversity bandwagon a little too late. I'm not sure how the writing of BtVS S12 lines up with the Sense8 finale – it may be that the former was written before the latter went public, so there might not have been any flat-out copying – but it's not unknown for two or more shows to come up with similar plot twists just because it's steam engine time.

2. Maybe they used Harmony as a narrator just for the lols. But maaaaaybe...

3. When the first issue of Season 12 came out, someone tweeted Christos Gage and pointed out that it felt like cheating to have Buffy and Spike break up offstage, for no particular reason. Gage replied with something to the effect that they should see how the story played out, and see if they felt the same way. It could just be the sort of polite, noncommittal bafflegab writers always use to disappointed shippers, but maaaaybe...

4. With the current issue, they've ditched Illyria. Odds are she's going to stay in the future and we'll never see her again. Let's face it, no one cares about Illyria/Angel. It was filler, and not even interesting or well-written filler. That and Buffy's sudden attack of googly eyes over Angel could just be the requisite Bangel crumbs, but maaaaybe...

5. I've become more and more disenchanted with Joss's storytelling over the years, and Season 12 is far (very, very, very far) from his best work. But if there's no followup at all to Buffy moaning about how she can't make a relationship work, then he's an orders of magnitude worse writer than I think he is. And why can't she make a relationship work?

6. This is the last series – there may be stand-alones in the future, but this is basically The End. There is no way Joss can satisfy everyone; no matter who Buffy does or doesn't end up with, someone will be mad. So he can either disappoint half the fandom, or he can disappoint EVERYONE. The obvious way to do that would be for Buffy to end up alone. The less obvious way... and Joss strikes me as a guy who'd think trolling all the shippers in one fell swoop would be hilarious.

So yeah. I know it's a long shot, but I think it's a remote possibility? And I'm not sure how I feel about that. Once upon a time, it was a conclusion I could have gone for, and I don't think it's a bad idea in theory. In practice...

In practice, if they do it, it's gonna come off as another plot device that Joss pulled out of his ass at the last minute. Because if Buffy, Spike, and Angel were to really work together as a threesome, it can't just be Angel and Spike grudgingly putting up with each other for Buffy's sake. There's too much history, too much bad blood there. If it had happened right after S5 of AtS? If Buffy had shown up at the final battle and knocked both their heads together, then it might have worked. At that point, Angel and Spike had built a rapport. They weren't friends in the conventional sense, but they were family – they trusted each other, and had each other's backs. At that point, I could see them progressing to more, eventually.

Season 8 utterly ruined that potential, in more ways than one. Spike and Angel parted bitter enemies in that season, and Angel betrayed Buffy as thoroughly as Angelus ever did. And neither of those relationships was repaired to my satisfaction. I'll give Christos Gage this much, he at least tried to actually show Angel and Spike making a prickly sort of detente in Season 9, in a moderately realistic way. But Buffy's problems with post-Twilight Angel were papered over by Angel bringing Giles back to life. Buffy says flat out that she deals with Twangel's actions by not thinking about them. And that's pretty much a disaster as the basis of a relationship. Not to mention, Buffy would be a hard sell on the whole concept because (as we see in the current issue) she still has a lot of hangups still about her sexual desires. And Spike... I know he's supposed to be all boring well adjusted and shit now, but take it from me, watching the person you love flirt with an old rival still hurts. (I'd give a lot to get a peek inside his head this season, but the whole thing is so rushed, we're not getting any of the depth this story deserved.)

I'm not saying Buffy and Angel couldn't forge a new and stronger relationship out of the ashes of their old one; I'm saying that the writers have never given them a chance to do that. Ideally, they ought to get at least as much time to work things out as Buffy and Spike got. And so should Spike and Angel. If a threesome were the direction they were going, we should have gotten at least a season of the three of them working together, to show us that it could work, and that it would be an equal relationship on all sides, and not just a twosome with a sad third wheel. (Or three twosomes with three sad third wheels.)

So I have very mixed feelings. In theory, I think I'd like that ending better than the far-more-likely one of Buffy ending up alone, or suddenly going full-on goo-goo eyes for Angel while Spike's pawned off with some random character we barely know. (An actual Spuffy ending? At this point, I think it's less likely than the threesome, unfortunately.) At least it would have the virtue of confronting Buffy's apparent inability to commit. When Spike accused Buffy in S10 of only wanting guys she couldn't have, I didn't buy it, but I've reluctantly come to the conclusion that for Comics Buffy, at least, it's true: the minute she heard that Xander and Dawn were a thing, she hit on Xander. The minute Spike was no longer actively pursuing her in S10, she came on to him. The minute she sees Angel is with Illyria, she's burbling over him. You can kinda sorta even fit Satsu in there, in that Buffy knew it was a terrible idea to have a relationship with a subordinate, thus making Satsu forbidden fruit. Once she's actually with the object of her desire (Spike or Satsu), she gets antsy, and breaks things off (I would bet dollars to donuts that if Spike hadn't tried to break up with her first in S10, thus making him less attainable again, she probably would have broken up with him then.) Apparently even recognizing that she has this pattern isn't enough to get her to break it.

I don't like that the comics writers took this turn with her character; I don't think it applies to TV Buffy at all. As things stand, if it's not addressed at all, Buffy getting together with either Spike or Angel again would ring hollow: who's to say that in a year or so, when times are too peaceful again, she wouldn't get bored and ditch the vampire in question again? Yet another iteration of "Buffy needs to bake longer," or "Buffy doesn't need anyone, because she's a Strong Independent Woman" is, I think, the most likely thing for Joss to pull to get out of this. Or he could just ignore the whole mess, because he's trying to cram too much story into too few issues, and too much is getting lost in translation.

But maaaaybe...

[dokkaebiking]

I Am But a Humble Cryptid...

...but I was actually tagged to do a thing, and I’m very happy to have a pleasant distraction from all the bullshit that’s happening in the world/my life right now ♥

Tagged by: @joeys-piano rules: answer 30 questions and tag however many blogs you want!

name: Tavis (still haven’t been able to afford to make it my legal name, but it’s my name whether legal documents think so or not D:< Feel free to call me Tav!)

gender: Cryptid. No but really, what the fuck even is gender anymore? I’m transgender, in the nonbinary department, but it’s easier to just tell people I’m a man so I go with that as a default. More in the agender territory though, with masucline leanings, and my pronouns are he/him and they/them. Either or work.

star sign: Taurus, and I’m very much like my star sign. Just wants peace and comfort, sorta stubborn (over dumb things, usually), likes food, and I’m a big guy so I intimidate people by just existing. I could be staring into space and freak someone out, it’s weird...

height: 5′11″, or 180 cm. Does not help my case of “intimidating by doing absolutely nothing”, let me tell you...I’ve learned to capitalize on it, though, and work security these days ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

time: 6:36pm mountain time, currently.

birthday: April 22, 1989. I...am old (ᓀ ᓀ)

favorite band: Not sure I have one, really? The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, they’re pretty good. I’ll forever love Evanescence, fight me. And, hmmm, I dunno, Panic! At the Disco? That still counts as a band, right? Oh! Breaking Benjamin is amazing. Really, I tend to just like single albums, or a song or two, so bands in general aren’t favorites of mine, but I suppose the ones I mentioned are ones I’m fond of, at least.

favorite solo artists: GACKT, Daughtry, and, I dunno, the Me of several years ago, before I started T injections, who could hit those high notes that my cracking voice no longer can achieve  ☆⌒(ゝ。∂)

last movie: GIVEN The Movie. WATCH IT. IT WAS SO GOOD. @ladyxxdaydream knows what I’m talking about!

when did I create this blog: 2013? Or maybe 2012? Around that time.

what i post: Shit like this, where I got tagged lmao. Also art and fanfic, but none of my work would really be considered popular in any of the fandoms I contribute to, so I don’t really see my work as even ‘posts’, and more like me just chucking things I occasionally make into the void.

last thing i googled: Fujiwara Keiji—cause I was watching “Devil and Realist” and heard his voice, and then got hit with emotions cause I had the faint recollection that something had happened to him, googled him, and yup I was reminded that he died last year. Talk about a punch to the gut, remembering that out of the blue (ಥ﹏ಥ)

other blogs: I technically don’t have any other blogs, but I’m a mod for @one-ace-man​ 

do I get asks?: Very rarely, but when I do it’s usually from a mutual whom I love and cherish them for humoring my want to fill out ask memes.

why I chose my url: A billion years ago I wanted to spite the antis in the OPM fandom who had it out for the Asexual fans in the fandom, so I took “Caped Baldy” and made it into “Caped Ace”, just to really rub it in. And basically say, “FUCK (ﾉಥ益ಥ)ﾉ OFF”. I also really loved superheroes like Batman and such at the time (still do, but not as much), so it worked on another level for me. Now, neither of these things are really my focuses, but while I’ve been considering a name change for awhile, for the time being it sure has stuck around ☆～('▽^人)

following: 425

number of followers: 829, and hoping most of those are real people and not bots.

instruments: The only thing I ever got any training on, before life flipped me the bird and told me “fuck you, you don’t have the time or money to learn an instrument”, was the keyboard/piano. Always wanted to learn cello and/or violin, but again, no money for that. Drums was something I was very interested in and took a percussion class during middle school, but AGAIN, could never afford official lessons or the equipment so, right alongside everything else, I just never learned.

what am i wearing: Oversized pink hoodie that says “I’M TIRED” on it, surrounded by roses (it’s a mood, okay), and khaki joggers that make me look like a hobo but are at least comfortable.

dream job: An overnight security position in a cemetery/graveyard. Legit. Sign me the fuck up for that—I wanna walk patrol a dark, empty area that’s spooky as hell, and there’s no one alive around me that I’ll have to perform customer service to.

dream trip: I’ve wanted to go to Japan for a billions years, but also Ireland would be amazing, and any place with amazing temples/historical sites I could see and/or explore respectfully.

favorite foods: I love all kinds of curry. Japanese, Indian, Thai—if it’s curry I love it and will eat the fuck outta it. This one Thai place in Hillcrest (San Diego, CA) had the spiciest and most delicious curry, and they made these things called Curry Puffs, which I would sell a kidney right now for.

favorite song: This is an impossible question to answer ლ(ಠ_ಠ ლ)

nationality: Caucasian. White as fuck. Mayonnaise with a side of sour cream.

last book I read: If light/webnovels count, then Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint. I haven’t finished it yet, I’m milking it for as long as I can’t because I don’t want it to end, but god damn it’s so good...no wonder it’s loved by so many people in and outside Korea ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ Might re-read TCF for the third time, but the KR fandom’s shenanigans towards international fans on twitter lately has made me take a step back from TCF for the time being. SMPU (What Happens When the Second Male Lead Powers Up) is very quickly becoming a favorite of mine, even if the only way I can read it right now is on Ridibooks using Google Translate, which is...not ideal, but it’s better than nothing!

top 3 fictional universes I would like to live in: Pokemon for sure. The Cat Returns (oh to live as a cat in the cat kingdom, and dance at the cat ball with the Baron, voiced by Cary Elwes  (*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡). And any of those crazy universes that KR webnovels exist in, be it like SMPU’s world that’s from a romance novel, or Solo Leveling, which is the whacky ‘life became like a dungeon crawler game’ world. I might die in .002 seconds if I suddenly had game stats and monsters were everywhere, but it’s better than living in late-stage capitalism any day.

Tagging: @ladyxxdaydream @liveandletrain @guardiandae @jojoeatsflan @synasays and anyone else who wants to do it!

[guildwarsstartrekskyrim]

Bad news/good news

Okay, so bad news first.  Meeko got himself killed.  Well, he didn’t really get himself killed, he defended himself, killed an attacker and while I was dealing with the other attacker, a third came up and finished him off.

No more Meeko.

Lydia also nearly got her ass handed to her on a plate (I’m really wondering if I’m bad luck for companions). Fortunately, I’ve managed to keep her standing through three dragons, the Solstheim environment, and some whacky undead! So, sorta bad news/good news with this one.  Nearly lost Lydia, but didn’t.

Seriously, though, animal companions with Flintlock are a bad deal.  I’ve had four horses, all have been killed.

Horse 1: stolen, jumped off a cliff, died.

Horse 2: purchased from Whiterun stables, ran into a group I was attacking, got killed by a vampire (Flintlock hates vampires).

Horse 3: was in her stable! Bandits attacked, killed the horse before I could kill them. This horse I asked Lydia to purchase.

Horse 4: Purchased in Whiterun,got killed by a dragon I was fighting when I parked him several hundred yards away! The dragon flew up, saw Mr. Ed, swooped down and burned him.

My luck with horses, not so good.

After all of this, you might ask “what’s the good news? All of this is just terrible!” Well, the good news is I made a choice in who to support, thanks to a goddamned Stormcloak who just attacked us while walking down the road AND KILLING MY DOG! Remember I mentioned that Meeko got killed.  I failed to mention it was a group of Stormcloaks, who suddenly have taken it upon themselves to start attacking me on sight!

So, fuck the Stormcloaks, they killed Meeko, I’m gonna Fus Ro Dah Ulfric to death.

[mylordshesacactus]

hi! I saw your post about your gallifrey themed dungeons and dragons thing. can you tell us more about the campaign? i've never seen a franchise based tabletop rpg before, not least a doctor who one. it sounds enormously fun.

.Sure thing, though, if you’re not familiar with the Gallifrey audio series, there’ll be some spoilers here. Proceed at own risk.

I’m afraid I can’t point you directly to the system we used; in all honesty I’m not a huge fan of it (it makes a lot of assumptions about the kinds of characters you’ll be playing--like, it seems centered around the idea that you’re gonna be playing companions--so we ended up almost entirely disregarding large sections). It was intentionally a very stripped-down system; it seemed to be designed for people with no experience in tabletop RPGs, which I can respect.

Anyway, our campaign was DM’d by our friend Charamei, who created fantastic plot hooks, cameos, and storylines that we ignored or genuinely failed to notice. The central conceit was that we were a Celestial Intervention Agency team that was off Gallifrey when the Matrix reset occurred. Because of technobabble, we lost our memories of the cancelled timeline but did not receive the new ones. So we knew something happened but not what.

Normally, Discovering The Truth might be the plot hook. However, we were all playing Gallifreyans, so we didn’t actually care. Weird shit happens and the best thing to do is shut the hell up and not ask questions. That is, after all, the backbone of our society.

The Party:

Ravin: Our incredibly talented Dromeian TARDIS pilot. Sorta kinda accidentally murdered her supervisor while a TARDIS engineer, resulting in a hurried transfer to the CIA. It wasn’t actually her fault, she just had a strong empathic tie to the time capsule and it interpreted her heightened emotions as meaning she was in danger. Because of the temporal shielding, Cerimon’s ghost haunted the TARDIS throughout the entire campaign. At no point did he do anything useful or relevant.

Eloralouistra, aka Elora: Time Lord, a True Believer in the CIA, reveres Narvin, believes he can do no wrong, might have a minor crush. Enjoys punching things, unusual for a Gallifreyan. Gruff and a little obnoxious, but genuinely tries to do the right thing.

Procyon: Patrician. Loomed to a prominent Arcalian House and somehow was created without telepathic ability. As Gallifreyans are a primarily telepathic species, this was regarded as a Great Tragedy and a Failure and ey probably would have been “mercy”-killed if word hadn’t already gotten out about eir condition, thus making the House look bad either way. Joined the CIA because unlike the rest of the Gallifrey, the CIA thought that an agent with no telepathic signature was a dream come true.

Stranger: Renegade. Lost his TARDIS, Archie, in a freak attack in the Time Vortex. I believe he teamed up with the CIA largely to try to figure out what the hell happened. A gentleman pirate, essentially, complete with the drinking. Had a lot of great stories and a lot of disdain for the Gallifreyan status quo. As you can imagine, got along GREAT with Elora [/sarcasm].

Arrias: Time Lord. An actual angel. Tiny. Small. Innocent. Wears literal flower crowns bc he is a Cerulean. He tries very hard. His mom turned out to be incredibly evil and the ultimate Big Bad of the campaign.

Ennis: Me! The only non-Time Lord in the group, also the medic. Scendles shobogan (the Gallifreyan slave caste, essentially) Cleaned floors in a Gallifreyan hospital for a century or so, got fed up with the difference in medical care different castes received, finally snapped and taught herself medicine. She ran an illegal underground hospital with stolen supplies for shobogans and laborers for a while until she was arrested. Pure luck and a Guard being irritated at his arrogant Prydonian boss for insulting Ennis’ chapter got her reassigned to doing the CIA’s laundry instead of being executed or sent to sewage management.

Back during the Dogma Virus apocalypse, these guys were some of the few surviving Gallifreyans in the CIA; Ennis was safe because she couldn’t regenerate, the others were frantically running around trying to find survivors. They became a field time through Whacky Hijinks in the backstory--but when the campaign opened, they’d forgotten all of it and only knew they were in a TARDIS together on some random planet.

So that’s the bare bones of it!

[monstersofsilence]

Zaiten Beltos

Age: 10 Solar sweeps (21 Earth years)

Height: 5′5″

Interests: Inventing, soaring through the sky, caffeinated drinks, working (perhaps a bit too much)

Bio and personality: You are the whacky neighbor that lives next door. Well, not really, but you sorta are. Mostly an inventor that's always making and testing jet packs. As a kid, you have dreamed of wanting to feel the wind hit your face, souring through the sky with a sweet ass jet pack of your own making, along with a cable system to have you swing from a tree for you to gain more speed and distance. You are trying to make that dream come true... but it's proving to be more difficult than you originally thought. During the times you were looking for parts, you came across a sea dweller named Fesira Oranaq and you both instantly became friends, sharing a somewhat similar passion. She wants to become a future aviator, which is odd coming from a sea dweller who is, well, someone is used to the ocean and overall any forms of water. You quickly accepted that fact and you both have been friends for quite a while now, helping each other out on each project you both are separately working on, and you both hang out, talking to each other on each other progress, having some laughs on each other's mess-ups. In short, you couldn't have asked for a better friend like Fesira. You are a kind and awkward troll to be around. If anything, you usually meet people by mistake whenever you get yourself stuck in trees because you steered your jet pack, you have on, to a tree and end up stuck. Not something you want for a "first time meeting," but it happens anyway. Your trollian is souringInventor [SI] you tend T⎒ talk very energetically like y⎒u haven’t slept f⎒r days and MAYYYYYYYYYBE drank t⎒⎒ much caffeinated drinks!

Blood color: Yellow

Ancestor: The Inventor

Lusus: A large bee

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