#but if this is my lot in life i suppose it’s not the WORST thing in the world…😏

[your-turn-to-role]

okay so i haven't watched the episode and honestly i don't think i'm going to, there's a lot i've heard about what's happened with vm that i really don't know how i feel about yet

but it's been a long time since the cast were playing c1, huh

like i don't blame them if they've forgotten or moved on from the themes of it, it was a decade ago and sometimes this stuff changes

but as far as the characters go, like. yeah, loving people and losing them was keyleth's worst fear, and they all knew that from the start

vax let the choice to be in a relationship be hers because he didn't want to push her into something that would inevitably be traumatic for her

(and he even apologised when he died because "i've confirmed your worst fears and then some")

but loving vax was the start of her overcoming that! he's always had a huge heart despite the losses he's been through and he wears it on his sleeve. his entire philosophy is best summed up by his quote to vex in 72, when she's beating around the bush about admitting she likes percy, "what the fuck do we have in this world except moments with each other? that's all we've got. [...] you know what's awkward? a life not lived."

when the rest of vm tries to turn inwards and isolate themselves as protection vax drags them back together again because he knows the best remedy for a broken heart isn't to shut yourself off but to love even stronger in spite of it. and keyleth agreeing to be with him was proof some of that got through to her

and then there was kerrek, who saw that she was afraid of every step she took, because she knew she would live to see the consequences, she plotted out everything she did under the assumption she might come to regret it centuries from now. and he told her she had the soul of a gardener, and that was a good thing for a leader to have. but sometimes as a fighter, you need the soul of a blacksmith, who knows that when a project goes wrong you melt it down and try again. and he gave her a ring, as a reminder that even for a gardener, some seeds only flourish after they've been burned

and to the most important episode in keyleth's entire arc, her twisted mirror sprigg. sprigg terrified her because where everyone else looked at him and saw a kooky old man, she saw, in crystal clarity, her future. a retired adventurer who'd shirked his duty out of spite, who lived in utter isolation, all his friends dead so long ago he didn't even remember their names.

but (ignoring for now all the other potential consequences of that particular choice by bells hells) they helped him find himself again. they helped him find meaning in service to ioun, and in ioun's library, where nothing is ever forgotten. and once he was given a reason to remember, he realised none of their names had ever left him. a friendship that meaningful cannot be erased by time, and if you lose it, you can always find it again

she had all the coping mechanisms and support a narrative could provide. and while "how am i supposed to get over you if you keep sending ravens to me?" "i am imperfect, as are the gods" lives forever in my mind, i wonder how the vax of c1 would feel, seeing this

The thing that kills me about Keyleth getting Vax back is how anti character development it is for her.

Her horror at how her increased lifespan will inevitably result in her outliving people she loves is something introduced in campaign one, and losing Vax is the very first taste of that inevitability. Campaign three shows us Keyleth as a woman who has spent thirty years refusing to move on and develop a healthy relationship with grief, still terrified by the prospect of outliving those she loves. And then she gets her dead boyfriend back, and he's immortal now, so she'll never lose him again.

It's pathetic! It's sad! It's kicking the can down the road! What's she gonna do when Percy dies? Grog? Every friend she has besides her immortal dead bf? Is her social circle just gonna close up further and further till it's just her and Vax for a thousand years, because Keyleth never learned how to mourn people she loves while also forming new meaningful relationships, and was in fact rewarded by the narrative for refusing to do so?

[disgruntleddemon]

i've racked my brain trying to figure out an in character way for Shifty to be integrated into the better world timeline main cast, but i'm throwing my hat it. they can be a little ooc for this. this is pretty long, so i'll put it under a cut:

sometime after Fiddleford moves in, but before him and Ford are officially together, the trio goes to check on the bunker (ford mentions planning on doing this in j3, so yayyy, an excuse for them to be there)

they quickly realize the cryotube is broken, and shifty has escaped (how did this happen? is that when shifty escaped in cannon? i have no idea, man) anyway, Fiddleford needs to go in with them to fix it, so Ford and Stan are on shifty hunting duty. meanwhile, shifty saw them, and assumes Stan is another shapeshifter

at some point, Ford and Stan get separated, so Shifty goes to Stan like "idk what that guy told you, but it's probably a lie. lets help each other escape!" Stan uses this to lure him to Ford lol

this is where we get the big confrontation/conversation between everyone. shifty wants out cause he was taken by Ford and Fiddleford for the sole purpose of being experimented on and being used to test the cryotubes. he wanted the journal to get new forms as a defense, and to use it as a guide for escape and life on the outside.

he's been playing nice at the moment and not attacking anyone to prove he'll be fine now. he just wants to go to the surface and live his life like he was supposed to if Ford had never found him.

every one else is not sure what to do. well, mostly Ford and Stan. Fiddleford is pretty set on the "put him back in the tube" approach

Ford is really flip flopping, he has a lot of trust issues after Bill, Shifty's original betrayal affected him, and it hurt Fiddleford (which was probably the worst part to Ford). but, he does see Shifty's perspective and feels kind of guilty.

i think i've spent like a week trying to figure out how they settle things, and i'm kinda calling it quits with that too. my best idea is a microchip. basically, Ford points out the cryotube thing really was unethical, and it broke before so it might again. plus, if they just leave shifty down there, he might tunnel his way out anyway, he's already forming some. and finally, killing him would also be unethical, and also a waste of an incredible scientific discovery .

so they decide to chip him and keep him at the cabin as a trial run. not great that shifty's still a prisoner, but i couldn't see them just letting him go. the chip, made by Fiddleford obviously, alerts them when shifty changes shape, if he manages to get it out, and prevents him from going too far out of a certain radius.

as time goes on, shifty is allowed to go further and further, and they trust him more. it's a very slow transition, that's mostly a matter of shifty becoming part of the daily routine. one of those "you can pretty much get used to anything after awhile" things.

i think they realize also, that shifty's still a juvenile. he's true form is still growing and changing. i put him somewhere in the 12-14 range. i haven't decided how they go about raising him just yet, but his human disguise is pretending to be Stan's son. between the mystery trio, stan having a random son makes the most sense.

shifty likes to keep his form kinda close to looking like himself, so if ppl ask about his appearance, he just says he's albino.

the transition period from not trusting him and being a prisoner, to being a proper member of the cabin is one i'm still very undecided on. but for now, i think the summery works well enough. once he's more comfortable with himself and his place in the house, shifty becomes very mischievous and adventurous! he likes doing pranks and getting into stuff

anyways, if anyone has any suggestions about him, i'm very open to it!! he's a hard character to figure out/integrate

[bugeyedfreaks]

Your personal ranking for all the villains’ lairs/houses/homes in the Powerpuff Girls series?

Okay, so, I was actually going to make this a whole huge post with tons of screenshots and everything… but I never had the time and I haven’t answered it in months. These are also sort of my rapid fire, super quick opinions that aren’t ultra in-depth deep dives (if anyone wanted me to do one of my deep dives on one of the villain’s lairs… send me an ask and I might, as long as I could just focus on one at a time)… so they’re a little bit joke-y. But I want to post this once and for all, so here you go!

Fuzzy Lumpkins

Total cottagecore vibes. I mean, a cute, cozy little shack in the woods? So quaint! So calming! It's okay, ignore all the gunshot noises. 6/10!

Him

I like his weird pink void better than his Dali-esque one from the later seasons. It feels a lot more mysterious and foreboding to me, I can't exactly explain why. 8/10 for the pink void, 5/10 for the Dali-esque place.

Boogie Man

I WANT TO PARTY IN HIS SEXY UNDERGROUND DISCO 10/10!!!!!

Femme Fatale

Just a sensible apartment. The art could be less, uh, on point? 3/10, kind of bland.

Mojo Jojo

He absolutely needs more furniture, but the way he decorates is impeccable. I love that clean, modern feel... very sleek and sophisticated. The actual observatory is probably labyrinthian with all sorts of weird rooms and stuff and the fact that it has all that space while also being on top of a volcano is kind of cool. 9/10!

Gangreen Gang

It's a dump but they keep it pretty clean! I would not want to live that close to garbage, though. The actual clubhouse gets a 8/10 (it's comfy in there, plus they have a kickass stereo system and can jam whenever they want!) but for the location, I give it a 3/10.

Princess Morbucks

Genuinely wanted her bedroom as a kid (I just like the idea of having a big comfy royal bed with that curtain above it, it's so fancyyyy), and I think it's so cool that she apparently has, like, all this other cool junk in her house. She's so snobby and would give me a 0/10 but I have to give her place at least a 9/10.

The Smiths

I'd hate my life too if I had Harold's house. 2/10, just a typical suburban home.

Lenny Baxter

You know this place smells musty and crusty and is covered with a thin coating of Cheeto dust. 0/10, burn it to the ground and keep his collection inside when you do.

Roach Coach

I'm saving the worst ones for last, apparently. 🤣 I'll give his apartment a 1/10 because I just think it's so bizarre that he even had an apartment to begin with. I get that we're supposed to think he's a human, but I wonder if it's like a Men In Black thing where he's a roach that just lives inside a robot body and needed the place for appearances. ...anyway, I give the actual apartment building a 5/10 because it actually didn't look bad. It’s actually pretty nice and clean. Why must Roach Coach keep his place in such squalor?!

Also, is he paying the rent for all of his roach friends, too? Wow. What a king.

Sedusa never really had a place to live and I refuse to count the dump because that's really the GGG's turf, so I'm giving Craig McCracken a 0/10 score for this. Shame!

Actually, since I'm such a sweet and kind and generous person, I will give him a 10/10 for just letting the Amoeba Boys kind of wander around without a real home either. They're too stupid to own real estate. Great commitment to character detail. 👍

If I forgot anyone else's lair let me know and I’ll add it!

[bonefall]

NEVER STOP!!! everytime I get mad over DOTC I just come onto your page and read your Gray Wing slander and immediately feel better, thanks muchly! 😌✨️

I am but a humble DOTC Slander ranger, riding across the sunlit horizon with a big iron on my hip, putting every hater's formless frustration into the words you felt but did not realize how to say ✨️

[circus-k]

i think i have to kill someone.

[whentherewerebicycles]

question: when you're starting a new job, what do you most want out of your first week of onboarding? what's most helpful for you to know/understand upfront? also... what's not helpful? tell me your onboarding nightmare stories too lol

[ascorian]

a little 5 minute vent about a thing that makes my life very miserable

[the-brainrot-central]

Writing over 30,000 words worth of content for a fic only to realize it’s all pointless because you have no interest in it anymore and you were never gonna finish it anyway….

What even is The Point anymore

[sleepii-moth]

man if i had the engergy to write fics. the things id do to fiddleford.. oh man the things id do..

[valewritessss]

I feel like I came out of the womb with raging anxiety

[longagoitwastuesday]

Gushing about Gojo and Megumi and how they are or could have been everything to me I forgot to mention that I really really really love Yuuji. Like, a lot

[red-dyed-sarumane]

so i got to see sheeno mirin, ahub, r906, utsuP, & hiiragi magnetite. i missed hiiragi kirai by a few minutes but thats okay im more than satisfied with what i did see.

[seafoam-taide]

You know I thought for awhile that I was just a rare type of person who sure, liked people well enough but was okay being alone didn't necessarily need anyone and NO. NO. NO. OH MY GOD . YOU GIANT DUMBASS. NO HAHAHA NOOO NOPE

[seventh-district]

.

[mgsdeltasnakeeater]

ohh

[giantkillerjack]

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend accurately conveying what it was like for me to graduate college into a professional world with no upward mobility but A WHOLE LOT of inspirational wall decorations. 🤣🙃🙃🙃