#but they're talking about it as if there is still a lot of unanswered questions related to it beyond what we know right now...

[cursezoroark]

afterthoughts

[orellazalonia]

Certified Genius, Unlicensed Moron

Summary: Exploring more of your relationship and dynamics with the rest of the Avengers, they are well-acquainted with how much whiplash and how many headaches you give them on a daily. (Bucky Barnes x Avengers!reader)

Word Count: 1.2k+

A/N: The other going on dates fic didn’t have enough unhinged questionable reader for me. And to be honest….I didn’t like it as much as the prequel. So! I wrote this to cheer me up and feed my need for dumb & genius reader. Purely self-indulgent but hopefully you like it too. Happy reading!!!

Main Masterlist | Earth’s Mightiest Headache Masterlist

Being an Avenger came with certain expectations. Tactical prowess. Cool one-liners. Teamwork. A mild-to-moderate understanding of physics.

You had exactly none of that. And yet, you were thriving.

You had taken on aliens, mercenaries, HYDRA agents, and that one time, an actual raccoon with a vendetta. You once guessed the password to a SHIELD vault on the first try by inputting “boob69.” It worked. Nobody ever explained why. You were untouchable.

But nothing broke the team more than the group chat.

It had been a standard team communication channel at first: briefings, updates, emergency alerts. Then you joined and everything fell apart.

-

GROUP CHAT: “Earth’s Mightiest Dumbasses”

Tony: Meeting in the conference room at 9 A.M. sharp.

You: what’s 9 AM in frog time

Natasha: What does that mean?

You: like if a frog wears a watch is the time upside down

Tony: Please, I’m begging you to just answer the question like a normal person.

You: normal is a strong word

-

You once sent a photo of a pigeon wearing a hat with the caption “me when I infiltrate enemy lines.” No one questioned it. Mostly because they couldn’t.

After all, you’re the same person who confidently gave a TED Talk about the strategic history of medieval siege warfare mid-mission while wearing Crocs. The same person who once said, “Vibranium tastes like disappointment,” and then refused to elaborate. You somehow manage to both ace every debrief but also once asked if Wi-Fi is just helpful air soup.

Thor called you “small thunder” after you electrocuted yourself trying to microwave aluminum “as a science experiment.” You did not have lightning powers. It was just dumb luck. And you’d do it again.

-

GROUP CHAT:

Clint: who the hell labeled all the fridge items in latin?

You: idk man maybe someone wants you to be cultured

Bucky: You labeled the eggs, “Future ankle peckers, do not anger them”

You: ...and have you been attacked? no? you’re welcome.

-

Bucky still doesn't understand you. Not even a little.

And a lot of times, that haunts him.

He watches you eat hot sauce straight from the bottle like it's a health tonic, quote Shakespeare when you’re tired, and wear mismatched crocs into certain battles because "they're my war shoes." One has a tiny sword glued to it.

You once looked him dead in the eye and said, “I wasn’t born. I was assembled in a Target parking lot during a thunderstorm.”

And then walked away.

He’s been thinking about it for months.

Another time you brought him a bag of gummy worms, patted his head, and said, “For when the depression demons attack.”

Despite all your nonsense, he can’t stop looking at you like you hung the moon with glitter glue and then ate half of it because that brand “smelled like frosting.”

He had tried to pretend you’re a nuisance at first, shaking his head and sighing at some of your antics. But it’s all morphed to reluctant acceptance of the fact that he’ll have to live with so many unanswered questions. That doesn’t stop him from taking care of you though.

He brings you hot chocolate after missions. He makes sure you’re behind him when it gets dangerous. He drags you out of fountains you jump into because you wanted to know what the regals birds like about it. He even downloaded TikTok just to understand your references.

One time you disappeared in the Tower. For five hours.

He found you in the broom closet, sitting cross-legged with three Roombas, wearing a crown made of forks.

“They know secrets,” You whispered. “I’m learning their ways.”

Bucky blinked.

“…I brought you pizza.”

You gasped. “I knew the prophecy would come true.”

-

GROUP CHAT:

Steve: Can someone explain what this is?

Image attached: You in a vent near the ceiling wearing a bad ghost outfit like a cursed Halloween decoration, eating Cheez-Its.

You: surveillance

Steve: Why…

You: i wanted to know what Bucky does when I’m not looking

Bucky: They’ve been up there for 6 hours. I offered help. They hissed at me.

-

Despite it all, you were deadly in the field.

You’d spout off the periodic table in the middle of a fistfight, pull off gravity-defying stunts “because I saw it in a cartoon once,” and solve encrypted Hydra codes in 30 seconds, all while questioning if Mickey Mouse and his friends ever had to pay rent to live in the Mickey Mouse clubhouse.

Bucky, your begrudgingly loving boyfriend, no longer reacts when you do things like wear medieval armor to a stealth op for morale reasons or quote Shrek during hostage negotiations. He just quietly takes your hand and steers you away before you lick anything radioactive.

Steve once asked why you were on a mission wearing roller skates. You said, “Speed and style, Cap,” then crashed directly into a vending machine and pulled out a single uncrushed Twix with solemn reverence.

Tony called you “the human embodiment of a broken Google search.” Wanda called you “a mystery I’ve chosen not to solve.” Natasha just called you “terrifying.”

Because for every baffling thing you did, like calling her “Mom” during a sniper stakeout because “you give off stern PTA energy”, you turned around and cracked encrypted intel before Bruce finished making coffee.

Once, in a mission briefing, Rhodey asked, “Wait, wasn’t the Hindenburg caused by a gas explosion?” and you, dead serious, replied, “Who’s the Hindenburg? That sounds like a guy who collects teeth.”

Everyone went dead silent.

Sam just nodded slowly and said, “Right, okay. Yeah, cool. This is the part where I stop paying attention.”

Nobody could figure you out.

Bruce once ran 14 psychological profiles on you. None of them matched. One came back as possibly a goat in human form.

Clint swears you once explained string theory using sock puppets and a waffle. And it made sense.

-

GROUP CHAT:

Tony: I’m updating the security protocol. Everyone needs to re-register their biosignatures.

You: what if I am a security risk

Tony: You are. Absolutely. Every day. In every way.

You: then I win

Natasha: What did you win?

You: You’ll see 😈

Tony: I have forgotten what peace feels like anymore.

-

You called yourself “The Distractinator” in combat.

Enemies didn’t know what to do with you. Were you a genius? Crazy? Feral? Was that a printer you just threw at their face while quoting Pride and Prejudice?

Yes. To all of it.

And somehow, impossibly, you were everyone’s favorite. Because while you were a chaos gremlin of untold magnitude, you cared.

You noticed when Clint seemed tired and unorthodoxically left snacks in his quiver.

You taught Steve how to use TikTok but made sure to curate only dog videos and motivational frog memes.

You convinced Bucky he could wear purple and look amazing. He does now. Regularly.

You helped Tony fix a faulty AI loop by accident while trying to build “a blender that screams.”

You’re not just a part of the team. You’re the emotional support cryptid.

And no matter how many explosions you cause with your “experiments,” or how many philosophical debates you start about whether lasagna is a cake, the Avengers wouldn’t trade you for the world.

…Though Tony did try to sell you to the X-Men once.

It didn’t work.

They sent you back with a fruit basket and a strongly worded letter.

[project-sekai-facts]

Prskfacts 2nd anniversary!

Today (March 13th) is the second anniversary of when I started posting trivia! Thank you so much for the support over the last two years, it means a lot and I'm glad people continue to enjoy the blog!

As of today there will be some changes to how this blog is run. Posts will continue to be daily, but most days will be reblogs of old facts instead of new ones (new ones will still be posted sometimes). It has been incredibly hard for me to keep posting daily over the last year and a half and I feel like the quality of trivia has been declining recently as I've been running out of things to post. I don't want that to continue, so I'll be focusing on quality over quantity from now on. Plus, it's been a long time and a lot of people weren't here for the older posts, so they'll be fun to revisit.

I will still be answering asks, but don't expect me to be as regular with this. It will probably continue at the rate it has for the past few months. This is just to give me time to focus on uni and personal life over this blog, which was getting to the point of being like a job for me. I will also be emptying my inbox today because it's got like 800 unanswered asks in it and I need it to be more manageable. Sorry to anyone whose questions I didn't answer, but feel free to send them again (submissions have been put on the queue).

Sorry this is a bit of a downer anniversary post. To reiterate, I'm not fully moving away from prsk or this blog, just reducing my activity. I hope you continue to enjoy prskfacts for the next year!

So in January 2024 I explained what 4kids was to an anon and said this:

and someone said this in the tags:

i decided explaining shadow the hedgehog lore in depth was the funniest way to semi-retire from this blog that wasn't posting "sayonara you weeaboo shits" or posting my shitpost drafts and going radio silent afterwards. so thank you to the person who said that you gave this blog a slightly less unceremonious death. also if ur a new sth fan who got in bc of the movie this might be useful idk i mainly just wanted an excuse to talk about shadow the hedgehog

So 50+ years before the events of peak fiction Sonic Adventure 2, we have Gerald and Maria Robotnik, Eggman's grandfather and cousin respectively. Gerald was a revolutionary scientist/roboticist (and archaeologist, this will be relevant later) and one of the greatest minds of his time, making huge scientific developments with the goal of bringing hope and happiness to humanity. One of his greatest inventions was a space station for scientific research, the Space Colony ARK, which served as his main lab from then on. The construction and operations of the ARK were partially funded by the United Federation (in-universe USA), but primarily funded by GUN (Guardian Units of Nations, the in-universe US military).

So SA2 is an extremely anti-military game. That's going to become apparent from here on out. So, GUN wants weapons in exchange for funding, and they're starting to get annoying about it. Obviously this is not what Gerald wants, so he asks the President of the UF if he can intervene, since the govt is the other source of funding. So the president says he'll do that, but he also sucks and decides to ask Gerald to invent immortality. Gerald hates the idea of this just as much, and shoots it down immediately, not to mention it being an impossible task.

However, back on Earth, Maria gets sick, and is diagnosed with NIDS (neuro-immuno deficiency syndrome (EN) or native immunodeficieny syndrome (JP), either way it's clearly based on AIDS), a terminal illness. Gerald manages to get Maria brought up to the ARK when treatments on Earth are failing so the team up there can do assessments and research treatments. The low gravity on the ARK also helps to keep the illness' effects at a low, for the most part. Maria's family back at Earth isn't exactly happy about all this though (the Robotnik family drama isn't actually too important here I just wanted to talk about it).

So the president keeps pushing for the immortality thing, and Gerald figures he can use this to find a cure for Maria, so decides to go forward with Project: Shadow, named as such because "the concept [of immortality] is as intangible as a shadow". GUN still wants weapons as well, which is where the archaeology thing starts coming into play. So to tie SA2 into its predecessor, there's these robots that look like the god Chaos from SA1. Gerald had researched Chaos in the past, and builds robots based on it to give to GUN.

Okay now we're finally getting closer to actual Shadow stuff. The scientists are using a Chaos Emerald in their research into immortality, and develop Chaos Drives using the Chaos Energy from the emerald. Gerald also supplies GUN with these drives so they can use them as a power source to try and appease them (they still use them 50 years later to power their mechs, GUN robots drop them when destroyed in SA2). The staff test out these drives on a salamander when they feel they're developed enough to be used on living tissue. Some time later, the salamander being used in testing has such rapid cellular growth that it can't survive on its own, and it becomes violent and uncontrollable, prompting Gerald to build it a life support pack and seal it away in the ARK's basement (functionally). This is the Biolizard, the prototype Ultimate Life Form and the final regular boss of SA2 (also one of two characters with a confirmed birthday, that being January 27th).

More Robotnik family drama stuff just bc I feel like mentioning it, you can skip this paragraph. So Maria's been up on the ARK for a while now, enough years that some scientists on the ARK think she was born there, and Gerald isn't making any progress with creating a cure. Some of the scientists are even starting to doubt that Maria is even ill, since her symptoms are invisible most of the time. Also, the rest of the Robotnik family is losing faith in Gerald and it's getting to a point where they want either a cure or for her to be sent home to be with her family. Gerald cannot yet provide a cure, but he also does not want to send Maria home because she will die. See now Gerald has a pretty big ego. He constantly talks about how much of a genius is and has boundless confidence in himself, which only now is being put to the test. He keeps biting off more than he can chew, and it's starting to cost his family.

Here we fucking go. Exactly 50 years prior to the game Shadow the Hegdehog, the Black Comet passes by Earth. This comet it the home of an alien race called the Black Arms, led by this demonic looking alien guy called Black Doom. Gerald makes contact with the comet, and strikes a deal with Doom, who was interested in Gerald's work with the Chaos Emeralds. Black Doom lends his DNA to be used with Project Shadow, and it reacts well with the Chaos energy. See now Doom has this plan to invade Earth next time his comet comes by, and he wants the thing Gerald is making to be able to do that for him essentially. An Ultimate Life Form is pretty appealing when you want to conquer the Earth.

Also fun thing that originates from a 4koma but was brought up for the first time in English in Shadow Generations: Maria is the one who named Shadow. He originally called the project "Project Shadow" out of mockery as mentioned earlier, and also thought the name sounded too dark for the project he was using to help develop a cure to Maria's illness. However Maria said that he should name the hedgehog he created "Shadow", because a shadow shows the way to the light. Maria also designed Shadow's shoes and inhibitor rings to try and reduce the strain his body will be under from the alien DNA and Chaos energy (Gerald's Journal specifically refers to them as mobility and focus aids). Fun fact 3 if you hack the camera during the lab cutscene in Shadow 05 there's multiple failed Shadow prototypes in the room.

So why is Shadow a hedgehog? It's not ever been confirmed, but it is heavily implied that Shadow was based on the Hidden Palace mural from Sonic 3 & Knuckles. This is an ancient prophetic mural that depicts a blue creature glowing gold fighting a robot that has the Master Emerald. It's depicting the true final boss of the game. We know Gerald visited Angel Island and, while it's never mentioned, it's likely that he saw this mural and made Shadow in the blue/gold figure's likeness (which is why Shadow looks like the Adventure-era Super Sonic design specifically).

We're gonna have to go back to the archaeology stuff for a bit. Years before Project Shadow one of Gerald's sons (presumably Maria's dad, since it's stated that the other son is a roboticist and it makes sense for him to be Eggman's dad) discovers this robot built by an ancient civilization while doing some archaeology shit. Gerald finds it in a warehouse some time later while on the ARK. After researching into it more he discovers that this robot is a weapon capable of mimicking the combat and abilities of other people and weapons as well as being reactive to the chaos emeralds. Presumably Gerald puts the robot back into storage because his Journal (the shadow gens one) doesn't mention him again for ages.

So fast forward to Shadow being in-progress. Gerald is researching the robot again and discovers that it is called a Gizoid (he is later given the name Emerl in Sonic Battle). Emerl can establish a "Link" to a person, becoming completely loyal to them, provided they have some sort of power (Gerald shows Emerl a gun). As mentioned, Emerl is a weapon programmed to be very destructive, but currently Gerald has him under his control.

Although, GUN gets demanding again due to still not having results for the immortal super soldiers they wanted. So Gerald hands over Emerl, knowing full well the risk of GUN just giving him something more powerful than the gun Gerald had and developing a Link with them instead. GUN doesn't really give a shit about Emerl though and asks for something else. Gerald uses this as an opportunity to give them a massive, planet-destroying, Death Star-esque laser cannon, called the Eclipse Cannon. Obviously, GUN can never use it, but it's a big powerful weapon and they're the US military so they're happy with it. Its true function is actually for Shadow to use it to blow up the Black Comet when it comes back past Earth in 50 years, because of that whole deal about Shadow being used by Black Doom to conquer Earth. (Gerald does apologise in his journal for kind of actively ruining Shadow's life before he's even been born, but y'know he's kinda on a streak of making bad decisions at this point).

Shadow is finally awakened and quickly becomes incredibly close with Maria, developing a sibling relationship. She tells him about her love for Earth and he takes care of her and looks out for her when she's struggling. Dialogue in Shadow 05 and Shadow Generations suggests that aside from testing and combat training, Shadow was treated like a fairly normal kid. Maria mentions running around the ARK and playing with him, as well as going to school with him (fun fact: Maria says in Shadow Gens that he never handed in any of his homework).

(To get Shadow age discourse out the way: he's physically 15. This is stated in his character bio in the leaked Sonic 06 script, which admittedly is not entirely accurate, but there's also other information to suggest this, such as him having the same height and weight as Sonic (15) and Silver (14) while Knuckles and Espio (both 16) are taller and heavier. And yeah there's some sources that put him as ageless and that script is the only thing to ever give him an actual age and all the character ages were removed from the official bios anyway due to a timeskip between Forces and Frontiers but you get the idea he's physically the same age as Sonic. Also no he did not age while frozen. Go win internet arguments or something)

Gerald also comes to think of Shadow like a son, which is funny because at this point in the Journal he stops referring to Maria's dad as his son. Likely because he and his wife had another child, which reads like they've lost hope in Maria being saved and are starting over. I mean yeah that's very clearly what's going on.

Unfortunately shit starts to go downhill from here. Emerl absorbs enough weapons to make him go out of control and he goes on a destructive rampage across the ARK. He's shut down and Gerald reprograms him with a 'soul' to prevent this from happening again, and a self-destruct function just in case it does. However, the rampage causes those Artifical Chaos robots I mentioned earlier to go out of control as well. Those are taken down as well but an SOS has been sent out to Earth by this point (there were also other general safety concerns bc of the evil demon aliens and. the military blaming other people for things they asked for)

So GUN and the government kinda go "fuck we need to pretend like this isn't out fault" so GUN goes up to space and shuts down the colony. By raiding it and killing almost everyone on board, covering it up by saying there was an accident. Only three ARK residents are known to have survived: Gerald, Shadow, and a kid called Abe (who is the GUN commander in present day). Considering that they spared the only other kid on the ARK, Maria was probably shot because she was with Shadow and was helping him into an escape pod.

Shadow is found and put in cryo and Gerald is arrested by GUN and made to finish his research under supervision. Gerald learns Maria died and goes insane with grief. He becomes immensely hateful towards humanity as a whole and secretly reprograms Shadow's memories to make him think that Maria's final wish was for him to avenge her (by literally destroying the Earth) instead of what it really was, which was to protect the people of Earth. Gerald is then executed by firing squad.

(Additional Robotnik family lore: Takashi Iizuka confirmed not too long ago that Eggman was born after Maria died. Eggman also mentions that he didn't know Maria in one of his unlockable memos in Frontiers, but reveals that her death was felt throughout his childhood. Apparently the attention was never really on him due to everyone always focusing on how great Maria was. Knowing Eggman this may be a slight exaggeration but yeah there's speculation that the Robotnik Family Drama will be relevant at some point since they keep bringing it up in recent materials)

Fast forward 50ish years to SA2. Eggman finds his grandfather's journal from his supervised work while he was being held by GUN and learns about his work on the "Ultimate Life Form" who can destroy things. Eggman wants to conquer the world and he's like yeah I want that so he breaks into the GUN base where Shadow is in cryo. Eggman is also the first person in 50 years to try the password "Maria" to free Shadow (Gerald got to set the password for whatever reason they've rewritten the lore a couple times don't worry about it).

Also Shadow being freed is so funny like you gotta remember he's 15 and an emo bordering on theatre kid and also the last thing he remembers is his sister getting shot and he sees Eggman, probably didn't even clock that it wasn't Gerald for 30 seconds, and is like "I'll grant your wishes bring me the chaos emeralds and meet me on the ARK lol bye" and what he means is "we're gonna blow up the Earth bc the military killed my sister like 3 hours ago as far as i'm concerned" but like he doesn't tell Eggman this so Eggman's just like "fuck yeah let's take over the world". Eggman goes to meet Shadow on the ARK and Shadow explains the Eclipse Cannon and Eggman's like "cool I can use this to threaten Earth until everyone has to submit to me".

Also Rouge is here because she works for GUN as an agent and they want her to investigate Eggman and Shadow. Also GUN is stupid and keeps trying to arrest Sonic because he looks like Shadow and Shadow robbed a museum bc it had an Emerald. They literally have newsreel footage of Shadow and everyone's like "no this is Sonic" (this makes way more sense if you consider that Shadow's original design as when he was being developed as "Terios" was way closer to Sonic's). GUN arrest Sonic twice in this game, and attempt a third time. Sonic escapes police custody twice and evades arrest on the third one. He also says he doesn't like cops this is important. Anyway he and Shadow keep trying to kill each other. Sonic wants to know what the deal is but that doesn't stop him from trying to fight Shadow constantly. Shadow wants to blow up Earth but this also doesn't stop him from fighting Sonic constantly.

Eggman, Rouge and Shadow go to GUN's Prison Island where they send everyone they arrest and then steal the Chaos Emeralds that GUN has and blow up the island. Using the six Emeralds they have, Eggman powers up the Eclipse Cannon and livestreams himself blowing up the moon with it. The Heroes go to the ARK as well and there's some whole drama there but this ain't about them. Eggman gets the seventh Chaos Emerald and puts it into the cannon, which activates Gerald's doomsday plan that Shadow did not tell Eggman about. The ARK sets off on a crash course for Earth so now the Heroes and Eggman and Rouge are trying to turn it off.

Also there was a whole thing where Rouge looks into Project Shadow and all she can find is stuff about the Biolizard so she thinks Shadow is lying or delusional. I mean we know he's telling the truth but back then this was like adding to the mystery. Not that relevant in retrospect. Moving on.

Back to Shadow. His goal is fulfilled and he's kinda just standing there looking out the window as the ARK falls. Amy got left behind when everyone went to go shut down the ARK and she happens to find Shadow and asks what his deal is. She talks about the good of humanity and manages to partially say the exact same thing as Maria said when she put Shadow in the escape pod when she was dying. Shadow remembers Maria's wish for him to give everyone a chance to live and be happy, cries very briefly, and then runs off because he has his real memories back now and needs to fix this shit.

Sonic and Shadow go Super and use Chaos Control to warp the ARK back into orbit and stop the doomsday program. However Shadow isn't accustomed to using a Super form and is weakened (there's this whole thing about Shadow realising that Sonic might be the true Ultimate Life Form if you take long enough on the final boss). Sonic warns him to return back to the ARK but he doesn't, and ends up losing his super form and falling to Earth, presumably dying (Twitter Takeovers are noncanon but #5 says that Sonic tried to save Shadow but Shadow let himself die because otherwise Sonic would've fallen with him and as far as he knew then, died with him. This isn't shown or mentioned in the games but is likely what happened given that Sonic comes back to the ARK afterwards with one of Shadow's inhibitor rings).

Shadow was actually meant to stay dead and SA2 itself was actually pretty vague about what really happened 50 years ago. Pretty much everything I mentioned prior to the SA2 summary was lore introduced in later media (this will be relevant later). But, Shadow ended up becoming the most popular character in the franchise so Sonic Team decided to bring him back for Heroes and write more solid lore for him.

In Heroes, Rouge is stealing some shit from Eggman and finds Shadow in A Tube so she lets him out. He's being guarded by a robot called E-123 Omega, who decides to fight them because he's angry and loves violence and killing things (not a joke). Rouge manages to stop the boys from fighting each other and is like "let's go find Eggman" so they do and also they're called Team Dark now. She wants his treasure, Shadow has amnesia and wants to know who he is and why he's here, and Omega wants to prove to Eggman he's the best robot ever and also kill and destroy things. I dunno why Rouge doesn't think to tell Shadow anything. I assume it's because this was the first third party mainline title and they wanted to keep things simple for new players who hadn't played SA2 which was only available on Dreamcast or Gamecube, neither of which sold well compared to the PS2 or Xbox.

During the story Team Dark finds a Shadow Android, and later, shitloads of them in Eggman's warehouse. Shadow and the others aren't really sure if he's the real Shadow from SA2 or if he's another android who's just gained sentience. At least now Rouge is somewhat justified in not telling him anything since she's not sure if he's real now. Cue Shadow having an identity crisis. This plot carries over to the next game.

Shadow 05 takes place exactly 50 years after Gerald's deal with Black Doom. The Black Comet comes back to Earth and Doom and the rest of the Black Arms start invading and fucking shit up. So Doom wants Shadow to work for him and conquer Earth so he finds his son and asks him to go get the Chaos Emeralds. He also does not tell Shadow that he's his dad he just tells him what to do and leaves him to work it out and Shadow just does this without question because BD clearly knows who he is so he might be able to tell him who he is.

Shadow 05 is infamous for its choose-your-own-adventure story so to quickly list off the noncanon endings he can:

Destroy Earth (Pure Dark/Dark)

Conquer the universe (Pure Dark/Hero)

Side with his dad (Semi Dark/Dark)

Kill Eggman (Semi Dark/Hero)

Decide he's an android and kill Eggman (Neutral/Dark)

Decide he's an android and kill Eggman BUT take over the Eggman Empire and lead and android uprising this time (Neutral/Hero)

Stay on the ARK and become its protector (Semi Hero/Dark)

Have implied suicidal depression (Semi Hero/Hero)

Go insane with power?? idk what's going on (Pure Hero/Dark)

Say he's gonna kill his dad and presumably does it offscreen (Pure Hero/Hero)

The true ending (that doesn't actually lead from any of the previous so who knows how we got here) has Shadow obtain all the Chaos Emeralds and then BD uses them to bring his Comet into Earth's atmosphere so he can start destroying things. BD then loredrops that Shadow was made to help him conquer Earth and he processes this for like a minute then decides to kill BD. BD then loredrops that he's Shadow's dad and Shadow gets really close to crashing out over this one but the Chaotix manage to find an old tape from Gerald just in time and play it for him that helps calm him down a bit and tells him how to kill BD. Also it reminds him of the promise he made to Maria again.

So he goes Super, kills his dad and blows up the Black Comet destroying the entire Black Arms race. Also if you take really really long on this boss fight then Eggman mentions that he found Shadow after he fell to Earth, confirming this is the real Shadow from SA2 and not one of the androids. After BD is killed Shadow seems to have mostly remembered everything and decides to move on from his past and become his own person.

I'm assuming Sonic Battle takes place after Shadow 05 because he knows he was made by Gerald in this game. So Sonic finds Emerl, that Gizoid robot from earlier, and everyone befriends him but is also trying to work out who/what Emerl is. Sonic says that although Emerl is a weapon of mass destruction, he has a heart and he trusts him to not destroy things, just like Shadow. Shadow has a mini crisis over this and is wondering why he has a soul and feelings if he was created as a weapon and Rouge sits him down and tells him that Gerald didn't want him to be a weapon. Shadow still has Feelings about this but that's kinda it here.

06 isn't canon and also barely makes sense but it had good Shadow characterisation. So we're gonna cover this as quickly as possible. So Shadow works for GUN now (for some reason?? it's only in this game whatever) and he and Rouge go to get The Time God of Italy. or half of it. this half of it is Mephiles, who takes the form of Shadow's shadow. Mephiles and Shadow keep fighting during the game and Mephiles taunts him that hundreds of years in the future, humans blame Shadow for the apocalypse (caused by Mephiles. who looks like Shadow. so) and put him in cryo again (oh yeah Shadow's immortal I don't think I ever clarified that but you probably worked it out). Anyway at the end of Shadow's story he says this raw ass line "if the world chooses to become my enemy i will fight like i always have" and then he takes off his inhibitors and blows up Mephiles. But Mephiles doesn't die and then kills Sonic and then fuses with the other half of the Italian Sun slash Time god and then there's the bit where a human girl kisses a dead Sonic and now he's alive again and triple S go super and blow up the Italian Time slash Sun god. Sonic then erases the god from existence and bam 06 isn't canon anymore praise be.

Is anyone still reading this. Why? I'm not even taking this seriously anymore I'm enjoying this way too much.

So allegedly Sonic Prime is canon and it probably takes place somewhere vaguely around here. Sonic Prime actually doesn't fit on the timeline due to ooc and also Cubot and Orbot but it's "after Sonic Advance 3" so it's either before or after 06. Anyway Sonic accidentally breaks spacetime and is now hopping around the multiverse. Shadow is here too so that he has someone to play off of. They're like. Really gay here like there had to be at least one sonadow fan on the writing team why did they do the SA2 falling thing again that's evil. Also there's one line at the end of season 2 iirc that got translated into. actual romantic language in some dubs kinda like the destiel confession adding in the line for Dean in the Spanish dub. does this mean sonadow is destiel 2. i need to start calling buddie destiel 3. Shadow breaks the sound barrier 3 times in the finale to save Sonic's life while bridal carrying him. love wins. Sonic Prime is pretty mid but bonus points for good yaoi 7/10

In terms of the next big Shadow lore game we have Shadow Generations. The Time Eater sends Shadow to the void but manages to send Maria and Gerald there too from a point in time not too long before shit went down on the ARK. Shadow kinda has the worst day of his life in this one. Also Black Doom managed to regrow himself but he's not at full power. He wants to use Shadow as a vessel due to him being the Ultimate Life Form and so activates all of Shadow's alien biology, making him "perfect" so BD can take over his body. In some ways this acts as closure for Shadow since yknow. He's had amnesia TWICE since he knew them and also the Gerald here gets to tell Shadow all the stuff that he'd only heard previously in recordings about the Black Arms. Gerald also finally Apologises to Shadow directly. Shadow gets like really angry at BD but Maria comforts him and tells him to not give into BD and his anger, since he exists to show the way to the light. Shadow kills his dad for a second time. Gerald and Maria are sent back to their time and Shadow tries to stop it and almost has a panic attack (for the second time this game he has one in the prequel) but Maria comforts him again. Shadow cries again and that's the end of the game.

So by the time we get to Sonic Forces he's kinda just doing his own antihero thing and sometimes works with Team Dark. He kills (? at least beats the shit out of) Jackal Squad, a mercenary team that was working for Eggman at the time. He spares the leader and calls him weak and pathetic and leaves. And this GROWN ASS MAN throws a fit over this and decides he has to prove he isn't weak. So he agrees to be a test subject in Eggman's latest experiement with this rock called the Phantom Ruby that has incredibly inconsistent properties but the big one is Virtual Reality (this in itself is presented inconsistently). So Infinite is infused with the power of the Ruby and wears a mask now because his previous weakling face was unsightly or something. He then decides to shut down Omega and torment Shadow (who doesn't remember him) for calling him weak. He then tells Shadow he's gonna go kill Sonic for some reason. And then does (or at least everyone thinks he does). This is all in the prequel DLC. Shadow shows up halfway through the main game to help the heroes and that's about it.

And that's kinda it. There's the IDW comics in terms of what I'd consider major appearances but I'm like 2 years behind on those so idk what Shadow's up to in those now. There was also the July 2021 Sonic Channel story with him that kinda altered my brain chemistry. Not entirely sure when it takes place. Pre-Forces maybe? You can read a TL of it here.

Oh yeah I should clarify on what was said in the 4kids post. So in that I talked about how the dub in avoiding an onscreen character death actually caused Shadow MCD. Sonic X is interesting because it was developed at around the same time as the "Shadow arc" of games in the early 2000s and ends up taking a different approach to the truth of 50 years ago. I haven't watched X fully yet but from what I know about it Maria never knew Shadow. All of that stuff was made up by Gerald and put in Shadow's brain. Like Maria did exist and there's a whole episode where they meet the soldier who shot her but she didn't know Shadow. Iirc it was something to do with the escape pods she sent down being empty thereby implying Shadow was created entirely on Earth post-GUN raid.

Following the game's SA2 adaptation and his later return, Shadow meets a girl called Molly in season 3. She's a fighter on her planet that's at war and mostly destroyed. Iirc she wants to keep fighting, but her friends are growing hopeless and think they're all just gonna die in battle and never get to live. Long story short, at the end of the episode, she sacrifices herself and charges her fighter ship straight at the enemy and is killed when it crashed into the enemy ship. In the series finale, Shadow helps Sonic fight Dark Oak, the main antagonist of the season, and isn't seen again afterwards, presumably having died. However, he shows up during the credits, visiting Molly's grave, confirming he's still alive.

4kids obviously didn't like the child death, so at the end of Molly's episode she ends up just flying away and says she'll come back someday. The scene of her grave is cut from the series finale for obvious reasons, but in turn makes it seems like Shadow died in the previous episode. Good shit.

If you made it here. Good lord. Uh. I love my son he has every disease. He's so cute here I want to throw him at a wall.

Watch Love Live it's really good please just watch it. And then watch LL Sunshine because it's even better.

AND READ PROJECT SEKAI STORIES.

(Also yes this is the longest post on my blog)

[hyhkai]

k.taehyun — dangerous woman!

[ 📚 ] after accidentally eavesdropping taehyun talking with his friends, you've got a question unanswered, a question which is straight up hilarious because it shouldn't be asked in the first place.

content : plot sprinkles, dom!reader sub!tyun, taehyun goes around calling the reader his wife/girlfriend, 'taehyun likes smart girls' agenda, public (in the empty auditorium), blowjob, degradation (m. rec.), making tyun swallow his own cum hah

a/n ; NEEDS TO BE EDITED! idk why I named it dangerous woman for angie and smiles txt birthday event + technically written off of my this thought but it doesn't appear in the limelight as brightly. though i still abide by it and always will. i have no clue how auditoriums look in your guys' vision but 🙏

"what're you even trying to do? makeout with me?" he asked as you pulled him aside from the piled hallway and led him to the top floor.

"trust me," you looked back at him, agony filled eyes. "kissing you is the last mistake I want to make, and I make a lot of mistakes."

he chuckled, god, he chuckled. he has some guts. "if you've started to make mistakes, then I'm a failure, noona."

he's always been like this. you wondered if he had some borderline obsession with you. which, now that you've found out the shit he's been going around blabbering — he definitely is obsessed with you.

almost throwing the two of you into the auditorium when you spotted a council member; you shut the door behind yourself as you stared at him, pulling his backpack onto his shoulder. "I'm actually starting to think you want to kiss me. it could've been in the cafeteria, no? why hide like we're middle schoolers?"

you shook your head no. "i already told you, I'd never kiss a dumb dog like you."

"then what are we here for?"

"why are you telling your friends I'm your girlfriend?"

silence. for about a minute. or two.

"i didn't." he said, turning back and walking to one of the chairs, sitting on the one at the corner. he's seriously planning to pretend, that he didn't go around saying you both fuck everyday.

"I don't like liars." you mumbled, walking behind him and letting yourself fall onto the chair right beside him, knees buckling. "what kind of a lie is this? we both are stuck in a loop of arguments and flirting. what makes you want to go around saying I'm your girlfriend?"

"I felt like it." he said dryly, eyes cast down at his fingers as they fidgeted.

"felt like it? you—" you closed your eyes in annoyance, nostrils flaring as your neck turned to look at him. "you felt like telling everyone that I'm your girlfriend? me of all people?" you hissed, he's such a bitch. fucking asshole.

it takes the average human being to start dating after 1-3 months of knowing each other, but it took taehyun one month to walk you down the aisle in his puerile dreams.

"well, why not you?" he asked, looking down at your fingers that were sprinkled with ink. you'd never dated any of the guys around here — because they're such bitches. what about the one in front of you? very evident.

"because I'm never going to really date you!" you almost yelled, lowering your noise when you heard your voice hit the walls of the empty auditorium.

"okay whatever, what're you gonna do about it?" he huffed out, his arms escaping the straps of his backpack.

motherfucker.

you looked away, this boy was making you so demented. you wished you were corrosive and could just touch him and destroy his entire existence in the moment.

and that's when it hit you. your touch... could destroy him. hell, it could probably make him dumb, to say the very least. you looked back to see taehyun, sitting there, staring at you with big big eyes, looking like he's going to swallow you whole.

"what?" you tore the silence apart, taehyun fluttering his eyelashes as he eyed you. the boy is still checking you out. "have some goddamn decency."

"I can't." he said, leaning in, leaning in close so close you wanted to flick his forehead and slap him across the face. he's always been like this for you since the day you put him in his place. he's been like a damn dog, like he wanted to be walked around by you since that day.

"then learn how to!"

"teach me, noona."

and so you did. so you did. and he's going to learn. he's going to learn to never annoy you again.

"noona—"

his eyes widened when your hand went straight for his crotch. fuck. you placed your hand on his cock, in the corner of the auditorium, after school hours.

"shut up. this is what you wanted, didn't you? you're filthy." and he, an exuberant kitten had turned into a lethargic dog. a dumb dog. "you're welcome for this. you're welcome."

"you— you-. what are you even thinking?" he asked, eyes wide as he leaned back, growing motionless. well, one thing was definitely in motion.

"shut the fuck up." you rubbed the tent in his pants as it eventually grew — still no consent of his, but his expression and activities history doesn't seem to be convincing you that he'll say no. you grabbed his face, making him look at you after his eyes had set down onto your hand on his dick. "tell me, taehyun. do you think from your dick or something?"

"y-you can't ask a question like— that.. h-hah." he groaned, a pretend exasperated tone when he was clearly enjoying this. he looked... desperate. it was scaring and making you want to fuck him at the same time. "please, noona."

"please what? use your words, bitch." you said, finger twirling the zipper of jeans, or more like a synonym for a cock cage.

"what're you gonna do?" he asked, eyes shooting around the hall as his knees buckled up, trying to squirm your hand away. this felt so emasculating to him — that you just basically palmed his dick from above the denim.

you were everything he wasn't — smart, perfect and untainted. but you were everything he wanted.

"maybe suck your dick," you said and the statement was definitely sent as an electric signal to his dick and his brain. "give you a reason to go around saying absolute bullshit, hm?" and he closed his eyes shut. his head fell back on the back rest as you unzipped his jeans, letting out a sadistic chuckle. "aw, is the delusion wearing off?" placing a hand under his chin and tilting his head to your side. oh lord, he was blushing. his ears were heating up and his cheeks went pink. "n-not bullshit.. not—"

"shut up." you attempted at a slap but only smacked his jaw, making his head turn away. lightly squeezed to his dick through the Calvin Klein and he whimpered. rubbing the tip with your nails.

if someone asked you if your panties were dry you'd have to deny it. his condition only got more tortured and jittery, you were chuckling like watching a stand-up comedy. you got up from the seat, kneeling in front of him. "h-hah, noona. shit— pl-please."

a malevolent expression, you took his dick out, cockhead lathered in precum — manwhore !

"you like this?" you asked, placing your hand in front of his mouth. "spit, whore." and he did, so fast like he was already preparing to, preparing to be sucked and jerked off.

"mmm, noona, i— h-hah." taehyun scrunched his knees together when your hand twisted at the tip, going down on his dick and his eyes shot open. "i l-love- this."

"of course you do, slut." you mumbled, licking the underpart of his tip, looking up at him as his hands reached to the back of your head to push you down on it unprovoked. he has the audacity to try to fuck your mouth. but no, you slapped his hand away. "behind your back."

he arched his back in sole pleasure, hands behind him now, he let out short, rapid pants. you opened your mouth wide, making him assume you'll finally take his dick, only to start pumping his dick rapidly.

"shit— shit, shit. noona no—"

"take it." you cut him off, using both hands, twisting. your lips set on the edge of his tip, rubbing against it. his brain was vacuous; and it got worse when you held the base of his dick and swallowed him whole.

"oh fuck, oh fuck fuck fuck." he whispered as you glide your hand up his hoodie, staying at his abs making him suck his stomach in. shook your head, the friction too much for him to bear. "noona, noona please."

pulling away, strings of saliva connecting you to his dick as his head flung back, closing his eyes shut when your nails slid up and down.

"keep it down, my god. the president might just hear you, would you want to be seen getting your cock sucked by me?"

his nails of each hand were digging into each other, his jaw clenching. "it— it'll make for a good s-sight."

"'m so close, pleasepleaseplease." he groaned as you completely stopped even the slightest of fuckery he was receiving from his imaginative slut. "no!"

you giggled at the sight — brain-dead taehyun, with his hands behind his back that were desperate to come forward and get him to cum, his embarrassing, dumbfounded state. a slap to his dick and he thrust into the air.

he could fuck any object that moves right now.

"you just love having your cock shoved down throats, don't you?"

hollowing your cheeks around him, the pleasure too much for him to bear. his hands escaped from behind and almost reached for your head but stopped mid-way, balling into a fist as his brain began jarring.

"noona please please please I'm gonna—" and before he could even warn you, prevent your annoyance and the malice you might have, he spilled into your mouth. and to his surprise, you kept his tip in your mouth, tasting him.

"noona?"

a pretend swallow that made his brain cloudy, did you just swallow his cum?

you got up, his eyes tracking up as you leaned down and pulled him by the collar of his hoodie, clashing your lips onto his and his mind skipped a function or two. you seeped his cum into his mouth, wiping your hands on his chest and he did not give the reaction you expected, the reaction you wanted him to give you — instead, to your surprise, he kissed back, his hand slipping up to catch yours. he didn't expect this at all but the whore didn't give a fuck. you pulled away, displeased that he wasn't mad you just made him eat his own cum.

"you ain't my boyfriend." you hissed, picking your backpack up.

and he was all gone to hell, no place for him in heaven, staring at the high ceiling, panting, beatific.

are they dating? no. do they both have mutual thoughts of fucking? absolutely.

I wrote this in like one hour forgive me

[kozachenko]

[Click for better quality]

Ok so as a sort of followup to that Yachie drawing, I did one of Yachie as well. I already had a pretty solid idea in mind (though tbh drawing her wasn't as fun as drawing Saki) but I'm overall pretty happy with this drawing.

Artist's Notes;

So I knew that I would never forgive myself if I completely missed the oppurtunity to give Yachie face scales, which is something that I haven't really seen many people do yet. I do feel like I could've pushed it a lot more, but I'm liking the direction my take on her is going.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to talk about some of my headcannons for how Hell's fashion works since I've had this on my mind for a while. So ever since I refined my own design for Zanmu, I really liked the idea of having there be some connection between her and Satori in their clothes because they're both the defacto "leaders" of their respective Hells, and then I had the idea of having Hell's fashion trends mimic real life history where it mimics whatever the upperclassman are wearing in someway? I've always been really fascinated with the idea of how Modern Hell works as a society and also how Old Hell was impacted by it's abandonment, and while I am aware that the animal realm isn't exactly Hell and is moreso it's own thing right next to it, I imagine that there would be some overlap in the fashion and culture due to their close proximity to each other. Of course, I still kept a lot of elements in from Yachie's original design, the only thing I really added to the outfit was the jazzed up sleeves and the bottom of her shirt as well as those cool triangle things ZUN added to her shirt in 19. I also have her some nice and sharp nails since I thought they fit her. I also tried adding some scales onto the tips of her ears though tbh IDK how well they read. Her colour palette also ended up becoming a lot more teal than I had anticipated, but I honestly like it as I love it whenever people make Yachie's colour palette and design a lot more teal. I also wanted to try and differentiate her face from Saki's, though I do plan on experimenting more on how to avoid same face syndrome, as it's a problem that haunts me in my dreams. There's not really much I can say here aside from "hee hee clothing rendering go brrrrrr" and how the Clip Studio Paint charcoal brush is really all you need for any given piece and it is literally the only brush I use aside from the occasional airbrush for lighting (sometimes) and the blend tools. I've been doing a lot more simple character art recently and I've just been waiting for a cool enough idea for a full blown piece.

Though now that I've talked about some of my headcannons about how Modern Hell works, I really just want a Touhou manga spinoff about Modern Hell. Like, please ZUN I'm begging you, just do it, it would be so fucking cool because Touhou 17 is literally the only time in modern Touhou when we've been to Hell proper, does modern Hell have any settlements of Oni and other Youkai? Does it have cities? Towns? Villages? What's the technological level of Hell? How do they keep sinners from pulling a Touhou 17 and summoning a fucking god to save them? Where do all the characters associated with Hell as of right now fit into everything? You can't just drop a character like Zanmu who is stated to essentially be the king of fucking Hell and then not elaborate further on how she fits into the general framework of Hell! Is she officially the king or is this more of a "true mastermind using the official king/ruler as a puppet" type deal? How does the Animal Realm fit into all of this? Did Hecatia purposefully create Hell so it would be right next to the Animal realm? Did it just appear there on it's own once Buddhism started popping off on Earth or was it established once Zanmu established Modern Hell? How long was Keiki a problem for, and how did that affect the rest of Hell? Seriously there are so many unanswered questions here and I don't know if I just need to read an interview Zun had where he was asked these same questions and if so please tell me because these questions have all been stirring in my brain for quite some time and I really wished we'd just get a new fucking manga instead of going over the same settings in Gensokyo over and over and over and over again dear god. Like, I get that there's still a lot to explore with what we already do have, but it would just be really nice to see the Animal Realm get a little more explanation as to how it fits into the overall grand scheme of Gensokyo's worldbuilding because that would just make such an already interesting idea for a setting in Gensokyo so much better.

I'm hoping to get the drawing for Keiki done before Touhou 17's 5 year anniversary, though I am willing to postpone that and take my time on it and I also have something coming up where I won't have access to my main drawing tablet for a while so it might be a while until I post again, maybe, who knows, consistent posting schedule? Who are they, I've never heard of them. I do fully intend on talking about my thoughts on Touhou 17 though, even if it's a day or two late, it's Touhou 17's birthday month so it still counts! Also because out of all the Touhou game anniversaries, this is the one I care about the most because Touhou 17 was the first Touhou game I played and 1CC'd(???) on normal, and even though it has plenty of flaws (i.e. the many missed opportunities for it's gameplay, how unbalanced the mechanics are and also screen visibility), I'm always going to have a bit of a soft spot for it and I think that the game's strengths make up for some of it's weaknesses in my opinion.

[gayofthefae]

I actually have a take that if Mike just kinda uses their language they'll totally get it immediately without reservation. If Mike's kinda talking about his queerness and hiding it, if he says like

"I tried avoiding it...kinda just made me an asshole"

or something of that nature they'll be like "I CALLED HIM AN ASSHOLE! I REMEMBER SAYING THAT! When did I say that? Season 3?! Wow, they've planned this for a long time it's really threaded back through the story! Not out of the blue, also I forgive you, proceed!"

And I actually write that out I think part of the reason that works is because it gives them the idea that they predicted it. That reference to those unanswered questions in some capacity that everybody called out but said was something else. Give them the chance to go "I KNEW something was off". Right now they're mad they can't say "I called what it is". But let them say "I called THAT there was SOMETHING".

That makes it go from a "fake news. if I didn't see it didn't happen" type of twist to a "UGH, I should have listened to my gut! I dismissed it too early but I CALLED it" type of twist.

From discrediting without fact checking to what it actually is: through clever timing and tricks of the camera, they steered you away from the fact that you were smart enough to see it.

It really is just that people don't want to feel stupid. That's why they don't want it fed to them but it's also why they don't want to be completely surprised. They don't want to feel condescended like you think they won't get it but they also don't want to feel like they didn't get something they were supposed to. But "I saw it and I ignored it", by pointing out to the audience "yes, you did see it" it changes from "bad writers" to "ooh, you sneaky bastards".

And I just remembered 3 twists. They said the 3 twists is so you never get all of them but there's a behind the scenes secret they didn't share. It's also so you'll at least supsect at least one of them. It raises the number you can miss is what they tell you so you feel smart and trusted. But the secret they keep is it also raises the number you get, which raises your enjoyment of it. They're not just trying for you not to get all 3 like they say. They specifically want you to get 1-2/3. Feel like you're part of it, you're playing, to say "gah, I almost had it! You sneaky bastards. But I still get credit for what I did get." And they'll go 'great job, kiddo, yes you did.'

3 twists. The third is what I don't know either, what I spend all my time theorizing about. I don't know the timeline or any details of Mike's experience, I don't know its supernatural ties. Number 2, we do know: he's queer. But that's twist number 2. Number 1 is his sudden change in behavior.

You caught that. That's the one you're meant to catch. So you can credit yourself regardless.

Now that I've remembered their 3 part rule I feel even more secure in them executing this successfully relative to that reception. The people who just want to feel smart. They'll connect it back to what they put in place for those people to notice.

"Hey, remember when I did this?" and they'll go "I do! I caught that! I remember catching that! I didn't know it meant something, go on!" and he'll go "it's because I'm queer" and they'll go "I should have followed my gut and theorized on that! If I had theorized on it I'm sure I would have gotten it."

Of course there will be the inherent pushback from more people now that know other people predicted that second part before they did and will still feel stupid so I guess I say to that: it is in your best interest to not push it right now with people who reject it. "I saw it and you didn't" is what they're hearing. If they don't think about you for 6 months, they'll probably be a lot more receptive when it comes around because they'll be able to pat themselves on the back on how they were ahead on his abnormal behavior instead of thinking about how they were behind you.

The Duffers have everything in place to cater to them. Trust The Duffers to that now and don't hinder the process. They'll only come around if they're not holding on out of spite.

But I have faith that with that, they will do it. They will start with references to things the general audience did catch but didn't think would be followed up on, then maybe remind them of things they forgot, then explain what they mean. But by easing in with that first step, going in that reverse chronological order maybe - starting with the details they know the audience remembers themselves catching, they're setting up for the audience to feel revealed to, not manipulated or hidden from.

As opposed to "I had no idea and therefore it's stupid" giving way for any pride at all is huge (we've all sort of but not really predicted a whodunnit and bragged anyways). To go to the classic "I knew he was queer! - ok well not specifically queer but I knew that something was off, and I dismissed it, but when they brought it back, I KNEW that it was SOMETHING, so that counts really".

But even more faith comes from: think about Will. Will was also famously speculated to be queer, and popularly rejected in that idea. Then season 4 rolled around and very few people say that it was unplanned, even the same who thought it was at the time, even people who maybe still think it started in season 4 received it better. Because even just that single season build up allowed them many opportunities to "call it" before the reveal. And maybe they remembered "I DID notice the homophobia towards Will in season 1, ugh, I should have known that was setup! clever." Or maybe they didn't catch anything until "what if they don't like the truth", but either way, they credited themselves. Because none of those are technically reveals.

All we have to do is make it so when they see the first subtle hint of Mike liking Will, they think of themselves going "I'm calling it, I will have called it" and NOT your voice saying "I told you so". That will ruin it for them, they will continue to not receive it well. That's where the "ugh they're doing the fan service" comes from. It's an avoidance of an internal "I told you so" because if the writers didn't come up with it until you said it, then you weren't right and you aren't smarter than them. They're angry and all-capsing because they hear the prediction they didn't make constantly and because they didn't make it, they don't want it to be right.

So if you do me one favor here: let them call it themselves. Let them forget they didn't think of it first. Sometimes it's not straight up hatred. Sometimes they just need to feel like they're the smartest in the room. And if we lay off and let the room they're in go back to being the real room with their friends who didn't predict it and not the internet, then they are the smartest in the room. And when they come back they'll see themselves as with us in the "community of people who totally called it!" (even if they called it in 5x05).

And as a parting gift, a memory some viewer will bring back up as proud proof(sound on):

[o0chiyami0o]

Second chance:

Pt 1. The Saviors

Lil warning before we start

Listen uh, I'm making a series because uh I want to. Judge me or not, I have a K9 dog with me(totaly a dog). But anyway other that I'd hope you all enjoy this lil series of mine, the reader have a bit of personality and hit of same backstory from a character, I'm not gonna really reveal who I was refering to but I'd love for you lots to keep guessing 'till someone guess it right:). Also, I'm not good with their accents so I might just slip in some the words I know, sorry.

Everything is dark and you can't even see a thing, is your eyes even open? Are you even alive? You keep asking yourself that. Your lungs feel full as if water were filling it each time you tries to took a breath.

Soft murmured can be heard but from where? You can barely make up the words they're saying "Poor soul" "Barely reach late twenties" "lord forgive this soul". And some you couldn't make up, soon the soft murmured became more louder and the voices adds up.

Your eyes finally flutter open only to meet with blinding white light as you can't feel yourself breathing, yet here you are, awake but the blinding light make you second guess it "Poor soul, it's not your time yet. I'll bring you back there but not at the same place you use to be. Be as brave as you're before." the voice say, sound so soft and soothing but something about it make you feel unease.

Before you could quest whoever's voice was it, you soon felt like yourself falling. The blinding light is no longer in view as you find yourself in a what seem to be a bulding with a gasp escape you once you feel yourself breathing again.

"What.. the fuck" you breath out as you clutch into your chest, everything felt so wrong and different as your eyes flick everywhere. The sounds of people yelling, screaming, gunshots and more chaos. Just what the hell is happening here? You ask yourself as you stand up on your feet before a groan escape you, everything hurts.

You look down at yourself before took a notice the bruses and wounds on your body which make your eyes widen 'What happening?' You repeat in confusion, you didn't have time to think before the door, that already broken anyway, kicked down by a male "Captain, foun' someone" he say, talking to the mic that were resting on his ear.

You took in his appearance, a soldier, what you can see from his uniform as his hair.. is somewhat unique for a soldier. Whatever it is, make you tense up once you saw his uniform. "Yer okay, bud?" He ask as he approach you, clutching the gun he holding while he keep his guard up.

You just continue to stare up at him, your mind telling you to fight or run but you remain still with body tensing. One time you're drowning and the other time you're here. Weird.

"Gee, could use a medic, kid" he say as he crouch down in front of you. Kid? You ask youself, this man doesn't seem to be older than you in any thought. "Come, let me help ya" he says as he put away his gun and carry you up in his arms. An arm behind your knees and the other behind your back.

"S'tense, wha' happened to ya, Lass?" Ask the man as he keeps his focus straight, running toward what seems to be a helicopter. His question remains unanswered as you keep your guard up when he steps into the vehicle only to meet four other men with the same uniform as his.

The sight make you tense up even more than you should which make the man who holding you took a notice of it "found 'er still breathing in one of the building. The other already left with the others suvivor" the man explain to his team as he sit down on the barely enough space in the vehicle.

"This is why I told 'em to check every building even there's no call out for help" mutter a man who sitting across from you, seems to be the oldest if you take in his appearance but look can always lie. "The medic is busy, let 'em be" say another man who offer you a sympathic smile.

The man who still holds you in his arms shift slightly to help you have a comfortable position while all of you fit in the small space "we're going" a gruff voice say from the pilot seat before the helicopter start do lift off from the ground.

"S'tense, where did ye find 'er?" Ask the man from across of you, tilting his head slightly as his bear shifting every time he start talking "one of the broken building, colaps as soon we leave. Lucky 'er" say the man who still holding you in place, giving his teammate a grin.

"Lass look traumatized" say the other man, who give you a softer gaze as if trying to help you ease up, that didn't help thought. "Wouldn't imagen wha' happend there, the town were turn upside down by tha' maniac".

That gets your attention as your gaze flick to the man who just talk. A maniac? Surely they just being overzealous but nothing is impossible to you anymore.

———

You can't remember shit. You're now in a medical room where they tend your wounds and bruses. They ask you your name, you say your name to them but it feel wrong to say as if it's wasn't even your name to begin with.

When the medics leave the room to let you heal, you hear the door of the room being open to reveal the man who save you "how 're ye doin' lass?" Ask the man as he approach your bed. Staying silent as you look up at him while laying down on the bed "not much of a talker are ye?" He ask, after a while he notice you're not going to answer him.

He soon called out your name with a grin on his face ",heard they called ye' that" he say as your head nod comfirm his words which make his grin widen when he knew you're not fully ignoring him. "Call me Soap, Bonnie" he say as he watch your expresion, wich to his supprised, you let out a short laughter.

This fact make him tries to pull out more of your laughter from you by making some jokes in hope to ease you up, some were so bad that manage pull out a louder laughter from you.

But soon it come to an end when one of the nurse tell him to leave you to heal, you watch him walk out of the room as he give you a grin before leaving the room.

You now left alone in the medical room, you glance to your side to find an open window that reveal the night sky. You look outside from your bed, looking at the stars as you still confused what will happend next since you know nothing of this place neither how you got here.

The stars held no answer for your questions as you found yourself slowly falling asleep, maybe tomorrow will answer at least some of the questions that have been flooding in your head.

Next

[greenfiend]

i always saw will's resuscitation as lazarus coding.

the resurrection of christ was done by god alone in a sealed tomb with no witnesses of the act itself, meanwhile lazarus' resurrection was a miracle performed on an otherwise average person in an opened tomb in front of many people. the story goes that the sisters of lazarus called jesus in to aid lazarus while he was still alive but ailing. jesus delayed his trip, which is why lazarus died at all, and that allowed for the miracle of resurrection. this is all reminiscent of el seeing will being sick in the UD, jopper being 'too late', and them then resuscitating will in a 'tomb' that remained open from before will's vanishing to almost exactly a year after.

i'm not saying the argument isn't there for jesus coding, but i do think there are other characters that the 'offspring of god' label fits better within the overall ensemble cast.

That’s fair, certain elements of Lazarus’s resurrection aligns more with Will’s. And you can argue it’s fitting for him as during this point within the show, Will appears more like a “victim” of circumstance rather than a "hero" or "villain" causing change.

BUT, I think where I majorly disagree with you (and with many others too) is Will’s role within the story. The way I see it, the writers have been “hiding” him. They have been doing this so we see him as a character affected by the events of the show rather than… a character causing the events of the show. I talk about how in this post if you're interested.

So perhaps other characters fit the “offspring of God” label better (and sure I agree on some level, see linked post above) but...

I argue Will fits the God label even better.

"Will" has multiple meanings... one is "to will [something] into existence". Essentially God-like abilities...

When "Running Up That Hill" plays for the very first time, they cut the song so the line with "God" in it plays while they have Max glance at the random girl on the right. They have the girl wear a near identical shirt as Will's AND have her placed in the same spot on the screen. These shots are mere seconds apart as well! They want us to notice this. They are subtly telling us that Will is God within the story...

He is an artist... a creator! He even says that The Mindflayer is "a sketch for a story [he's] writing". And when Mike questions if everything that has unfolded is "all in [his] head", Will answers "I don't know..."

Will is, essentially, the "holy trinity":

The Father: Considered the Creator (he created most supernatural elements/occurrences within the show)

The Son: Considered the Savior and the one who lived among humans

The Holy Spirit: Considered the non-physical presence of God (aka the shadow monster... created by Will...)

This is, what I believe, will be the true major twist of the show.

Again, I know many disagree with me on this, place others as the "center" of the show but keep in mind:

Will has been there since the VERY beginning. What happened to him is the catalyst that caused all future events to follow. Without him there is no story here.

There are still A LOT of unanswered questions regarding Will and what had happened to him. They're saving these answers for the end because it'll reveal a lot...

We know that Will's role within ST5 has increased quite a bit. Noah Schnapp seems to be on set the most. Finn as well. Mike is very important too.

The Duffers obviously have a huge twist coming up. Bigger than Byler.

We know they pay VERY close attention to details... thus what else would explain a shot of Will on his own followed by this line?

[cryptocism]

i was gonna ask how inertia II (helped superboy prime fight the teen titans) fit in the too many thads AU cause i originally thought he was an thad/bart clone but? he's just some dude? i feel like your (fantastic) fic gave him as much mind as the comics

truly that version of Inertia is such a mystery to me GOD i have so many questions. like, he isn't paid much mind within the actual narrative bc there's like 8 different fights happening all at once and Superboy Prime is the main antagonist but, straight up Who Is He.

like in the span of #98-100 there's a couple things that do get confirmed about him

for instance:

"After this is over, I gotta talk to them about this costume they gave me, I mean - green? It's the color of a turtle. Talk about Irony." - "This Inertia hasn't got a clue. He doesn't know that the last speedster to wear that costume killed me. I got better. But the scars run deep."

New Inertia says "they" gave him the Inertia costume. Who is "they"? Superboy Prime? CRAYDL? Someone else?

Bart concludes that New Inertia doesn't know how the previous one killed him. I assume just based on New Inertia's irreverence? But unclear.

"Inertia killed Bart, but that's not the same one. He's two inches taller. No doubt the costume choice is deliberate. Bart only has a few buttons, so it's easy to push them."

Tim notes in his narration that this Inertia is two inches taller than the last one. Why? What purpose does that serve?

Superboy Prime has proven himself capable of making clones, given the gaggle of Kon clones that show up in this fight, but if he made New Inertia to be another clone of Bart or of the previous Inertia, why the physical difference?

Even Bart can't figure out if this guy is a clone or not:

"What's the deal with all these clones? Is that Inertia one too? Or just another speedster?"

Which is kinda wild because although there is a wide selection of speedsters in present, Bart knows pretty much all of them. And even if this is a Random Guy With Superspeed, what would compel him to be here, fighting Bart?

And before any questions can be asked or answers can be given, Bart gets a lil lost in the trauma sauce (can't really blame him) and kicks the shit out of New Inertia

"I died. That happened. Inertia was the catalyst for it. He delivered the fatal blow. But I'm back, and this isn't the same Inertia, right? This is real. I've played out this scenario in my head over and over again. And every time, it felt better and better. Inflicting pain. Destroying him. Avenging myself." "So much anger - radiating like the sun. A dark, black sun. Bart is seething with rage." "It's what he deserves."

the "it's what he deserves" line always gets me. because they've already established this is a New Inertia, he literally hasn't done anything except fuck around causing trouble along with the rest of Superboy Prime's posse. anyway Bart obviously has lots of baggage surrounding Inertia, with the actions of one bleeding onto the other.

(fun fact Raven's description of Bart's emotions being a dark black sun informs a lot of the imagery in chapter 21 of Frequency)

"I... I could've killed him." "But you didn't. You controlled your emotions." "Yeah. See, Raven - we all got our demons inside."

AND THAT IS THE LAST WE SEE OF THIS GUY. Where does he go after this? Is he still unconscious after the fight or does he get away while they're going after Superboy Prime? Who does he go back to? Who The Hell Is He? Fuck you they gotta punch Superboy Prime so hard he ends up in purgatory.

Then of course the run is over, the universe is rebooted, and we get New 52. So all these questions will presumably remain unanswered forever.

But Canon Things About New Inertia Include:

he's "new to this"

not the previous incarnation of Inertia

two inches taller than the previous Inertia

received the Inertia costume from someone else, only referred to as "they"

working with Superboy Prime, but with zero on-panel interactions with either Superboy Prime or any of the other villains who have joined the fight. the degree of familiarity is unclear if not nonexistent.

irreverence regarding his predecessor implies he doesn't know the full history of what went down between Inertia and Bart

may or may not be another clone

gets the shit kicked out of him

it's so frustratingly vague lmao.

so yeah i took that and ran with it to inform Six's traits and backstory: The "they" who gave him the costume becoming CRAYDL, the other Six's, (and Project Inertia more generally). His height because he's slightly older than the previous Inertia was.

Follows-up on the previous Inertia's antagonism with only vague knowledge of what actually happened. Underestimates Bart's feelings on the topic. Joins up with Superboy Prime, not because of loyalty or familiarity but because going solo is what killed the old guy. Irreverent, uncommitted, overconfident. Tends to get the shit kicked out of him.

and then to follow up on this fight, Six's "first" meeting with Bart becomes his own weird revenge quest over that one time Bart kicked his ass. mostly just wanted the closure there, and for Six to have held a grudge about it for literal centuries bc it is funny 2 me.

my motivation for writing Frequency came from a frustration at the contradictory/unexplained/unexplored plot points and storylines specifically surrounding Thad/Inertia, this whole thing being a major one. At its most basic, Frequency is just my attempt to weave the disparate elements of canon into a cohesive narrative.

[honest-cat]

[source]

alright, so let me get this straight. you're saying that you would recommend the LISA games over Utena despite those games:

showing a girl hanging herself on the title screen (Painful and Joyful),

making you play as a girl whose thoughts are occupied by her abuser (First), (the ending shows she even forgot what her own mother looks like, as her visage was replaced by her abusive father's,)

regularly using bloody violence to support its story and themes (Painful and Joyful),

having creatures with grotesque body horror (Painful and Joyful),

having a mechanic that can permanently kill party members (Painful),

and uses the dismemberment of its main character as a mechanic that directly effects gameplay (Painful).

meanwhile, Utena has:

a whimsical and epic opening with an appropriately themed song to match the visuals,

NO bloody violence, the worst that happens is a few teenagers slap each other (which Lily herself uses as an example as being unpleasant to watch, that pussy) and get into sword fights where the goal is to knock off the rose they're wearing,

has very fantastic and eccentric moments that the LISA series does not have because it is just that kind of game,

and does contain abuse, but is more indirect and symbolic about it than LISA is.

and I KNOW it's the abuse and violence that disturbs you about Utena, because it's one of the drawbacks you listed in your media literacy video: [source]

to be fair to you, you did state that Utena takes a long time to "get to the point" and makes the abuse harder to stomach, but that is a you problem, Lily. most people can stomach Utena because it isn't entrenched in blood, violence, and abuse of all kinds like the LISA series. I'm sorry you're too impatient to sit through 39 episodes of a 90s anime, but that is not Utena's fault.

hell, remember when you said an Utena game would play like Kingdom Hearts, and that those two series have a lot of similarities to each other? I do. [source 1] [source 2] [source 3]

why are you recommending LISA and not Kingdom Hearts? hell, why are you even comparing Utena to a thing you like when you said Utena was the worst anime you've watched and watching it again was such a miserable experience? do you dislike Utena because it didn't give you a fluffy lesbian rom-com? how come you barely talk about the LISA series but talk more in-depth about Utena recently? is this to get back at Sai? do you only like and recommend the LISA series because hbomberguy said it was good like 7 years ago?

I have many questions that will go unanswered, but that's on-par for someone like Lily. she refuses to elaborate on her points, and that's a problem when you decided your job is critiquing art. you have to be able to clearly communicate your thoughts, and even now, Lily herself still struggles to do so and instead pins the blame on people who just want her to explain what she's going on about. it's very disappointing.

[artsygirl0315]

*rolls in with this, late as usual, and from main, since this won't let me do sideblogs, aaaaaaaa. Apologies in advance for these goobers 😂. There's a lot of talking, but only really a few question. Answer however you want; I didn't exactly specify who for which one*

[TRANSMISSION INCOMING FROM: SECTOR ANTAG]

"...Is this working? Oo, neat, it is! Hiya Sector PHP!" -Kitty/Numbuh M-30-W

"Indeed, hello. We come seeking some...answers, of sorts. Between sectors, of course: How are you faring with combat against your enemies? How do you do it? Strategizing carefully or rolling in, G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A.s blazing?" -Beckham/Numbuh 90 Mins

"I honestly prefer the 'rolling in, G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A.s blazin', but oooooh no, we can't do that all the time, apparently." -Ramsay/Numbuh 350F'

"In the same vein, d'you want any intel on our...ah, let's say close associations? I, rather we, know where a certain set of villains is supposed to hit in the next 3 days. >:)" -Minerva/Numbuh 75001

"Have you guys had any supernatural encounters at all? Cuz I can help with that! ...Or, y'know, at least with vampires, nerd zombies, and weredogs...those're most of what I see." -Val/Numbuh 6-5000

"Ooo! Anyone in your sector bilingual? Cuz I speak Spanish, Min speaks some French, aaaand Val speaks some Romanian...aaand Kitty is learning Spanish from me!" -Buzz/Numbuh Z-00-M

*wrangles computer away from everyone* "Oof, that was a lot; sorry about that...explosion of questions. I think I'm set with questions for now, but do know that if you ever need some intel on that "certain set of villains" that 75001 has mentioned, let us know. ^^" -Candy/Numbuh SW-33-T

(Sorry this was a bit late, Got caught up on sum thingsss-)

"Howdy doodie!! Well aren't you all just a cute energetic bunch? So many questions and still unanswered?! That won't do! Allow us to answer the first question with this,"

"It goes on depending on the situation, You wouldn't believe it but Tyler's not exactly the calm low-energy guy you think he is!"

"Whatever you say, dork. Anyways, As for the intels on villains, we'd certainly appreciate whatever you may have on any villain you wish to inform us about. We'd rather be ready and get the new weapons on stand-by."

"Oh, we have plenty of supernatural encounters here around our treehouse. Although, I would doubt they're anything you've seen."

"Mostly there are just some passing Duwendes or Multos in our area. We've also encountered a Diwata and a Sirena occasionally yet the real spooky creatures are the Manananggal and Mangkukulam. But don't worry, We've already got them taken cared of!"

"As for languages, some of us are quite open to learning plenty of them whenever we have the time. It's usually Tyler, Evan and Phoebe who only know Tagalog and English. Mella and I, however, learned lots together and even practice on each other."

"Whoo, that was a rush. But thanks for dropping by for your questions! We're glad to interact more with you guys and learning lots about you, We sure did have fun! If you're still open to share intel, be sure to let us know!"

[fulltragedywerewolf]

tf2 ships as songs

ok so. this is tf2 ships as songs. like. the vibes of them. or also the lyrics. like. what i think the tf2 ships sound like. this is very self explanatory.

i wont do all of them because theres a lot of them and i dont have that many songs to match them so sorry if your favorite rarepair isnt here ill try to do them later or something ok maybe not like later later but at some point maybe ill do then ok so here we go

Sniper/Spy: "Gallery Piece" - of Montreal

The song talks about wanting multiple, contradictory things at the same time. Wanting to hurt and heal, uplift and upset, admire and destroy; all things provoked by simply witnessing. It also has this very temporal aspect, almost dated. Like it only exists due to specific circumstances, frail variables. Any other "gallery piece" won't create the same impulses. It's all very circumstantial.

Spy/Spy: "No Children" - The Mountain Goats

Doomed. It's been happening for a while, and it's long due it's expiration date (ha). However, none of them will move or accept that it's over. Both are so dense and stubborn with their pride that they prefer to sink together rather than admit defeat. Obnoxiously, together is the last thing they want to be. And they have no children lmao.

Engie/Soldier: "Are we still friends?" - Tyler, The Creator

I like how the song is both calm, thorough and constant and jumpy, on edge, aimless. It's the calm before and after the storm, and the eye of the hurricane. It's a permanent question that goes unanswered, or answered many times, yet inconclusive. That what their relationship feels to me: sharp-detailed and blurry, with a constant reassurance that it's real.

Engie/Pyro: "Feminine Effects" - of Montreal

Reminds me of a lullaby. In some aspect, their dinamic has a sense of childness, but not in an infantilization way: in a comfort way. They cancel each other's manics, leaving a sated state between them, much like this song. They contrastedly lull. And when the songs says something about being "a teenager when you took me from my mama's bed", let's say it's figurative in their case :)

Medic/Sniper: "Sails, Hermaphroditic" - of Montreal

I like to think of the lyrics as a joke between them, about how they're both too eccentric to be edgelessly compatible and would be easier if any of them were more rational. The music also feels to me like a description of them, fun and erratic.

Demo/Soldier: "Banana Man" - Tally Hall

Any talk between them. Can be from silly and joyful to deep and darkheartened. Anyhow, a good time. They're both outlandish, an alcoholic and a patriotic screaming eagle, and combined they give absolute tomfoolery. Gargantuan gibberish. Gigantic rapscallioness. And they might drag you with them.

Heavy/Medic: "1812 Overture" - Tchaikovsky

A classic. Everyone knows it. It's the tale of how the french troups were reaching Moscow (i think), and when it boiled down to the end, the russians bombarded the city, leaving the famished enemy unvictorious. The told story of triumph, even when outnumbered. It's also a little cliché, but still, it stands out.

Pyro/Soldier: "Firework" - Katy Perry

Hear me out. I know the song is overplayed, but the theme though. Just being yourself. No strings attached. Exploding like a firework. Fire? Rockets? Hello? No more questions, your honor. To me, they're being extremely true to each other with each other, to a point that's concerning. Like the shot of a rocket that explodes into thounsands of colorful sparks. Someone might get their eyes burnt.

Engie/Scout: "Cars" - The Honeysticks

It's the boistering and egotism with the pride and proudness. It's showing off you're the best and being content with what you got, not wanting more. They're also very keen on cars. Scout for being a showoff, Engie for being obsessed with machines. And exactly that: they're letting everyone know that they're joyous, one way or another.

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x02 - Explosive Evolution! Greymon! / The Birth of Greymon

Well, I want to be sleeping right now but Insomnia Night says no. So I guess it's time for the next episode.

Last time on Digimon Adventure, everybody was sent hurtling to their deaths by local wildlife. Hooray!

The newly Child-stage Digimon make an attempt to save their partners from falling to their doom, but they can't support an 11-year-old's body weight so this goes south immediately.

Notably, in the earlier fight with Kuwagamon, every Digimon got to show off their new Child-stage signature attack except Gomamon. This is because his move isn't usable when he's that far from a water source. He's kind of the Superfriends Aquaman of Digimon.

As the children plunge into the river, Gomamon gets to strut his signature attack: Marching Fishes.

Fun fact, Digimon call all of their attacks in English rather than Japanese because it's a cool, exotic language to scream attack names in, but one that everyone in Japan is familiar with.

Just as the kids think they're safe, Kuwagamon... uh... attacks?

For real, it honestly looks like they fell asleep standing up and then flopped over into the river. This looks much more like Kuwagamon falling than attacking, but it's played up like they're attacking. Both they and the rocks hit the water, sending up a massive tidal wave that gently carries the children to shore.

Haha. Hahaha. Hahahahaha. Sure, Yamato. Whatever helps you cope.

Gomamon takes a moment to explain that he controls fish at will. Dub Gomamon goes for a bit less mind-controlly explanation, saying he and those fish are pals and he asked them for a ride.

From there it's reintroductions to the new Child-stage Digimon, as well as explaining how evolution works. The dub splices in stock footage from the evolutions in the previous episode, just to make sure you got it.

This is where a really interesting shift in translation occurs. Where Koushiro focuses in on evolution as a concept and Tentomon confirms they're talking about similar things, Izzy instead describes it like this: "So Digivolving is what happens when they advance to the next level and become more powerful than before." The dub's emphasis is on increasing their battle strength.

We see something similar in how the stages are even referred to. In Japanese, we know these as Baby, Child, and Adult stages; in English, they're In-Training, Rookie, and Champion. The Japanese names reference life cycles, while the American ones are more evocative of developing warriors.

Agumon further explains that he hadn't been able to evolve by himself before. He speculates that evolving earlier had something to do with meeting Taichi, and the other Digimon corroborate that speculation with their own feelings towards their Partners. They don't really understand how it works; However, they all agree that the kids have something to do with it.

The dub tonally shifts this to Agumon explaining in totally certain terms that they were able to Digivolve by "sharing [the kids'] energy". It's not explained super clearly what that means and Izzy's left with questions for how the energy's harvested, which go unanswered.

Dub Joe is also inexplicably hostile about the whole thing. Jou expresses that this whole thing doesn't make sense to him, with Gomamon agreeing that he's confused too. Dub Joe instead snipes, "My folks warned me about strangers!" out of absolutely nowhere.

Once all that's settled, it's time to move on to next steps. There's a lot of changes happening in this scene.

Jou wants to go back up to where Kuwagamon was hunting them because they're supposed to stay put and wait for adults to come and get them. However, the group quickly agrees that climbing back up that cliff is an unreasonable plan.

The dub seems to really not like Jou's deference to general adult supervision because once again they scrub it out. Joe instead wants to find a pay phone to call the police, fire department, and his mom. Still adults and authority figures, to be fair, but not exactly the same vibe as "Let's stay where we are and wait for the adults to come get us." Rather, this is foreshadowing for later in the episode.

Jou is the group's senpai; He's responsible for their wellbeing but he has no idea how to be responsible for them. This is part of his character journey.

Yamato points out that this place doesn't look anything like the camp site they were at; Koushiro agrees, speculating based on local vegetation that they're somewhere in the subtropics. Matt wants to find a road leading to safety, but Izzy points out that navigation without a compass is hard.

Jou suggests they can find a road that might take them back up to where they arrived, still on that "Wait for adults to come get us" thing. Joe whines that his pants aren't good for hiking.

Sora then suggests that if they do go back up the cliff, they might find clues to how they got here; However, Mimi fears further attacks from creatures like Kuwagamon. The dub translates this part faithfully.

Taichi asks if there are any other humans around, but Agumon confirms that they're alone here. It's only DIgimon. This also gets translated faithfully.

From there, the group discusses File Island for a moment. Nobody has any idea where this place is, with Jou suggesting they might not even be in Japan anymore. The dub already blew the big reveal by saying "Digi-World" instead of "File Island" so their kids instead briefly question whether or not nighttime exists in this place. Izzy finds the topic ridiculous since it would be "unnatural" for nighttime not to exist, prompting Joe to ask what part of this is natural. Valid counterpoint.

Once all that's settled, Taichi takes charge and gets us moving. He saw the ocean when he was scouting before Kuwagamon's attack so we're heading that way. Though Jou takes one last chance to insist on his preferred course of action: We need to stay put and wait for adults to find us.

So the rest of the group just starts walking and tries to leave his ass here, with Gomamon calling out to get him moving too. XD

This joke does get somewhat faithfully translated. Joe wants to find a cave and hide, but "We keep our eyes open and when a camp counselor comes--" which is when Gomamon calls out to him.

It still works, but doesn't hit quite the same tone as when this is like his fifth time interjecting with this.

Once the group gets walking, they take another assessment of their surroundings. Koushiro revises his assessment of the flora being subtropical. Jou repeats that they're probably not in Japan. Then Yamato points out that the Digimon seem like a pretty big tipoff that something's weird about this place.

The dub gets as far as Izzy saying he thought the plants were subtropical, but they don't want to talk about being in Japan for localization reasons. So Joe instead derails the conversation to complain about his hay fever being aggravated, before Matt groans, "Is there anything you don't complain about!?"

As they make their way to the ocean, the kids take some time to get to know their partners. Patamon and Piyomon demonstrate that they can both fly, but not well. Then this hilarious bit happens.

Mimi: Palmon, you look kind of like a plant. Palmon: I am! I can even conduct photosynthesis. Mimi: That's so cool! Do it! Do it! Palmon: ...Mimi, do you know what photosynthesis is? Mimi: No, not really. What is it? Palmon: ...well, I don't really know either....

The dub wipes out this entire exchange and instead has Mimi inexplicably gush about Palmon's "hair". She wants to try and do Palmon's hair herself, to which Palmon accuses her of caring too much about appearances before rejecting her offer. For a second time, the dub is weirdly mean to Mimi for no apparent reason. She has done nothing but be nearby dressed in pink!

Once they arrive at the beach, they come upon a most unexpected sight.

Hey look, it's those pay phones that Dub Joe wanted! Joe is naturally ecstatic about this discovery.

The Japanese group takes a moment to agree among themselves that these are definitely pay phones, just like the ones you see around town. Jou takes this as confirmation that they're still in Japan, only to have his hopes utterly destroyed when Gomamon asks what this Japan thing he keeps talking about is.

In English, Izzy wildly speculates that aliens put these phones here as a trap. Matt wants to order a pizza; Mimi demands no anchovies. Again trying to avoid Japan as a topic, Joe instead suggests these phones are for calling your parents for a ride, at which point Gomamon asks what parents are.

Taichi gets impatient with standing around contemplating the mystery phones and decides to use them instead. As soon as he bites that bullet, the rest of the group flood into the phone booths to do the same.

As Koushiro hands his phone card over to Taichi, dub Izzy says, "Use my phone card; The aliens can bill me." Goddammit, XD.

It does not go well. On the other end of the phone, all they can get are seemingly prerecorded messages replying with absolute gibberish.

"The time is now 38:82:90 AM." "Tomorrow's weather will be sunny with occasional ice cream." "This phone is currently outside all service areas."

The dub fully understood the assignment on this one and even spices up a couple of them. Instead of 39 o'clock, the time is now 45 MPH... and 90 seconds. My favorite bad phone message is the dub's "To leave a message, press 1 now. To leave a fingerprint, press 2 now!"

As it becomes apparent that these phones aren't their salvation, Taichi and Yamato break into an argument over next steps. Taichi wants to give up on the phones and leave, but Yamato steamrolls him with logic.

1 - The phones were ringing earlier. Even if we can't call out, if we hang out here, someone might call us. 2 - Not to mention, the whole group is too tired to start marching again.

With Koushiro backing him up and pointing out that everyone's getting hungry, Taichi relents. We'll stay here and take a break.

Discussing food options, the group inspect their belongings and rediscover their Digivices. They'd completely forgotten about those things. Cool, but not edible so. Y'know. Questions for later.

Setting those aside for now, the group goes over what they have on them to see who's got something to eat.

Sora: First aid kit. Koushiro: Laptop, digital camera, and cell phone. All non-functional since arriving on File Island. Taichi: Mini telescope.

Takeru: JACKPOT

I mean, it's all sweets so it's not very nutritional. But you know what it's not? It's not starving to death on the beach of a deserted island.

Mimi, meanwhile, is decked out for wilderness survival. She was nervous about the camping trip so she plundered her dad's stuff without his knowledge - A decision that, the group agrees, may be what keeps them alive in this place.

The dub once again takes this opportunity to be mean to Mimi. She describes the Swiss Army Knife as "one of those knives with all the things", which I actually like. She's like 10, that's a fair description for a 10-year-old who doesn't go camping.

But then they cut out her explanation of why she has all this stuff. Instead, Matt brings up earlier in the dub when Izzy mentioned they don't have a compass and snaps at MImi for not telling them she had one; Mimi defends herself by saying she thought it'd be fun to see how far they can get without it.

Y'all, they seriously changed a line earlier so they'd have something to yell at Mimi for later. The dub is so mean to Mimi.

Fortunately Jou, who's been busy trying to get the phones to work and hasn't followed the conversation, has the solution to our food problem: A bag of emergency rations he's been trying to pass off to Mimi.

As the group begins divvying upon the food, Jou crunches the numbers. It's supposed to be enough food for three days, but Takeru wasn't supposed to be on this camping trip; He snuck in to spend time with Yamato. So that's an extra mouth. Furthermore, the Digimon are going to double their food consumption.

The Digimon chime in to say they can forage just fine. They've been fending for themselves in the wilderness all their lives; They don't need to eat the emergency rations. That will help extend their time.

The dub simplifies the math a bit by counting T.K. as having officially been part of the trip, so there's an even share of food for him already accounted for.

However, while this conversation is happening, Taichi and Agumon are already digging into the rations. Whoops.

Before anyone else has a chance to eat, the kids are under attack once more. A subterranean assailant destroys the phone booths and their reason for lingering on this beach.

This is the Adult-stage Shellmon. His name is in English so it's pretty easy to tell what it's supposed to reference. The Digimon try their best to defend the kids from Shellmon, but only one of them has any energy to fight.

Agumon's signature move is called Baby Flame 'cause he's just a little guy. The dub changes it to Pepper Breath, which admittedly sounds cool as heck.

It quickly becomes apparent that he's the only one with stamina to fight. That's. Uh. That's a problem because Shellmon is Adult-stage like Kuwagamon. It took the entire group to fight Kuwagamon. And they lost.

So. Y'know. Agumon doesn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of holding this line. But he's gonna have to.

Demonstrating the courage that will become such a defining aspect of his character, Taichi throws himself into the fray. He leaps into action to distract Shellmon and open him up to flanking shots from Agumon. He also tries to fight more directly.

It does not go well. Taichi has zero chance of winning a fistfight with a kaiju shellfish. However, his courage and boldness sparks the next stage of Agumon's evolution.

With the theme song roaring up again, Agumon SHINKAAAAAA!

Agumon's Adult stage is Greymon. A bit of an odd name for such a colorful creature. I'm of the understanding that it's based on a form of grey that means "ancient", because he's clearly a dinosaur. That, however, is not a usage of the word that I'm familiar with.

Greymon's evolution is slightly different between versions. Just before Agumon evolves, in Japanese, he screams Taichi's name out of desperation. "TAICHI!!!" he cries out, before suddenly evolving into Greymon and gaining the power to fight back.

In English, he instead shouts "Digivolve!" like a battle cry, making it seem a little more like he's in control and doing this on purpose.

Taking control of this situation, Greymon hurls Shellmon into the air and unveils his new attack: Mega Flame, the vastly more powerful counterpart to Baby Flame. The dub calls it Digi-Nova Blast.

Mega Flame launches Shellmon into the distance and sends him crashing into the ocean offshore from File Island. A much more decisive victory than their previous encounter with Kuwagamon, though Shellmon likely is still alive out there.

Given what just happened, the group decides to keep their Digimon well-fed rather than trying to preserve the rations. Also, to get the hell out of here as quickly as possible. There's no reason to stay since the phones have been destroyed, and Shellmon could return at any moment.

Jou takes this opportunity to once more pitch returning to the woods they originally landed in, but he gets thoroughly outvoted. It's up a cliff, it's far away, no more Kuwagamon. Legit, in the dub, Mimi just frets about running into Kuwagamon again, but Japanese Mimi shrieks at Jou, "NO MORE KUWAGAMON!!!" XD I love that delivery.

Koushiro has a better plan: Phones imply the existence of people who installed them, so let's be proactive and go look for those people. Jou is once more outvoted.

With that settled, we have a little bit of food, we have a plan, and the group sets off to pursue this thin thread of hope that they've found.

[eff-plays]

Did you hear that people on the Veilguard subreddit are blaming disappointed/angry fans for the fact that game was a failure? As if we should just accept whatever slop we get from AAA studios uncritically. Straight up bozo the clown behaviour from these people istg...🤣🤡

At the risk of sounding like I touch grass too much, I haven't looked at the subreddit in months because. I don't care what BW dickriders have to say ngl. But also the game is such a nothingburger that nothing really compels me to talk about it. Even my critiques nowadays are like "lol. lmao" because I'm not invested in dunking on it seriously. There's just nothing to really dissect or chew on once I got my main criticisms out of my system. And the Veilguard defenders, I'm sorry to say, regurgitate the same arguments with such an undeserved smugness and superiority that they're not really worth engaging.

But it sounds like something a fandom huffing copium might do, certainly. In this case though it's extremely funny to blame the fans, because like. Inquisition upset some old school fans as well, back in the day, but it was still such a huge hit that most people enjoyed it regardless, and it brought in a lot of new players to the franchise as well. VG made the mistake of alienating the people who largely kept the fandom alive and relevant for a DECADE between games, while also failing to bring in new players. If you want to convince a newbie to get into Dragon Age, the most accessible recommendation would STILL be Inquisition, making VG redundant as a blank slate entry point. There's nobody to blame for that but EA and BioWare, but due to corporate secrecy that leaves so many questions unanswered and so much disappointment and fury without a target that all you have left is channelling your anger at the fans, who are far more accessible to you and seem like the ones who could've made up for the dookie product if they'd only been nicer to it.

[tia-amorosa]

Episode 15: Temperamental Lazlo

The conversation with Pollination was pleasant and promising. After the conversation was over and everyone's working hours were coming to an end, she went back upstairs. After a while, the sterile atmosphere in the lab felt a little stifling. Then she bumped into Lazlo again. “You seem to have the least to do here, don't you?"/ ‘Oh well, some days I only have real work in the early evening until late at night’/ ‘because of the ghosts?’.

“Yes, and the place is teeming with them. The town has actually been around for quite a long time, it used to be a mining area, now everything is at a standstill"/ ”I see. I can well imagine that there are still a few restless souls wandering around, old workers"/ ” yes, or their relatives. But sometimes there are just little agony ghosts, they're good for experiments, hehe"/ ‘how mean, these people used to be alive’.

“hey, wait…I don't want you to think the wrong thing now. No harm is done to them. Afterwards, they are always grateful that they were redeemed. Many are just stuck somewhere, in some paraphysical plane"/ ”yes… That's exactly what's bothering me at the moment. and what if my mother is stuck in some plane?…mh, may I ask where you got the scar from, there…? On your lip?”.

He ran his finger over his mouth… “Oh the… I'm surprised that you see that, hardly anyone else notices it…"/,,I pay attention to a lot of things, I see a bit more sometimes. Sometimes maybe too much, well chuckle, so?“/ ,,Not worth mentioning, I got into a fight a while ago”/ “in what way?”/ “I touched a girl who didn't belong to me”/ “Oh, so one you are”…

“hey, what's that supposed to mean? What kind of person do you think I am?“/,,Sorry, I…”/,,It takes two to tango and SHE was the one who hit on me, she later interpreted it as if I was the ass. I didn't even know she had a boyfriend"/ ,,I couldn't have known that. So she was already in steady hands…“/”Yeah. I don't think some people take honesty so seriously anymore”.

Cassandra paused for a moment because she had to think about her own relationship for a moment. But so far Don had always been honest with her. At least she believed that. “Yes, it happens with women as well as men. I know it's hard to find your soulmate"/ ‘it doesn't have to be a soulmate, well, you seem to have found someone already, I heard you're engaged’/ „yes… I am”.

Lazlo's voice suddenly became a little higher and he continued talking frantically. “Well, that's good for you. I have to live under the same roof as two older brothers who can't get anything together themselves when it comes to women! The older one prefers to take care of bacteria, Pascal is adored by the babysitter, sometimes I think I'm the only normal one here"/ ‘um…’ Cassandra was a little embarrassed when she saw the others standing behind him. “what, it's like that"/ ‘now you're getting theatrical, Lazlo!’. Lazlo was a little startled when he heard Friedbert's voice. “Er, so what, I'm going home…”.

Lazlo left the property and went home. “What happened between you and him?"/ ”Nothing really, we just talked about one thing or another… He got upset about some injustices, mh…"/ ‘Oh, he always gets upset about something,,,’/ ‘mh,,, maybe he just needs a real task’/ ‘believe me, he has more than enough’.

“Yes, but maybe not the right one? Excuse me, of course I don't want to interfere in your family affairs“/”that's okay. He's right, I'm practically married to the bacteria and substances, haha"/ ”Everyone has their own preferences. And… what does he mean about the babysitter, Pascal?"/ ”I… I don't want to talk about it here, okay? Let's go home now”. The whole thing seemed a little uncomfortable for Pascal. And Friedbert took Laszlo's statement almost a little calmly, at least Cassandra had the impression that he knew what it was about. They made their way home together, with many unanswered questions and a great deal of curiosity in Cassandra's mind.

@greenplumbboblover , @solorisims , @plumbobgothica 😊

[theawkwardanglophile]

I got asked this question and loved it so much, I wanted to open it up to the group.

If you could choose 5 Chenford scenes to rewrite, which would you choose, and how would you rewrite them?

Thank you for the question, Becca! ❤️

First and foremost, I would save us all a lot of heartache and not have them break up in 6x06! I would've kept the angst, at least some of it, but show that Tim feels broken and doesn't know how to go forward, but Lucy would be there with him through it. I don't want to add much more to this here, because I'm still hoping to finish cranking out a 6x06 fix-it fic. 😉

Most of 5x16. Yes, the necklace, "fuel for later", and that one 10-second scene of them in bed together is all great, but there was so much lacking for Chenford in this ep, because they were trying to cram in a story for every couple, and there just wasn't room, and left a lot to be desired. I would want them to dive in more with the 5-player-trade discussion, instead of dismissing it so quickly. And then Noah giving them a golden opportunity to have a real discussion about UC, but nope. Plus so many unanswered questions! Did Noah come back and stay with them? Who told Tim about the trade? Was Tim feeling any jealousy toward Noah? And Lucy saying Tim hadn't called her Hot Pants is...a weird line. I'm sorry.

The scene at Nolan's in 5x13. It's adorable, yes, but it could've been so much more. It could have had Tim and Lucy come clean to everyone about secretly dating, and we could've gotten everyone's reactions. Maybe they don't get all the post-its down in time, so Tim questions her, and she comes clean on what they're doing (thus eliminating the 5x16 fight altogether), and the two of them start having this whole discussion in the living room forgetting everyone is listening, and ohhhh, I might need to write a fic.

The ending of 4x07 had us all scratching our heads as to why Tim suddenly called off the bet, with no real explanation, after two episodes of competition. It felt very incomplete. A theory I've had for a long time is Nolan being kidnapped brought back a lot of DOD thoughts for Tim, and he felt like he needed to get serious again. And for him to actually admit that to Lucy could've led to a really sweet, amazing moment for them.

This is going to be controversial, but the very end of 5x01. I would not change a lot of their talk in the hallway, but I would have found a different way to show there was romantic tension there without them being willing to cheat on their significant others. They have both been cheated on, plus Tim's dad cheated. I just don't like the implication, flimsy UC excuse aside, that they would have gone through with cheating had Chris not been bleeding out. And I hate that, because Tim walking into the apartment was such a clear, definitive action that showed his attraction to her. So I would hate to take that away, but maybe they could have had an almost kiss in the hall or something instead? I don't know.