#but you probably wouldn't be able to tell

[ruyakasunshine]

My humble suggestions to make F1 more interesting

In the light of the recent rumors about the FIA trying to manipulate the races in order to get more ratings, here are my totally awesome suggestions to make the races more interesting for the viewers.

obligatory disclaimer : those are jokes.

1. Add the Mario Kart blue shell

With the blue shell, you wouldn't have to worry about a race being uninteresting because one of teams has built a rocketship! Now you might be wondering how that would be doable, because how do you get an actual blue shell to only hit one driver? To that I answer, "sweetheart, give me your hand, and let me enlighten you with this name : Kevin Magnussen". Our dear K-mag won't be on the grid next year, and since we'll all miss him dearly, I think we should give him a blue kart and tell him to take out the race leader. He would be released once during the race, in a very random moment (that would be decided through 'google, give me a random number between 1 and 67') and the moment he is out a loud radio voice should announce "WE HAVE UNLEASHED THE MAGNUSSEN" in order to stress everyone out.

2. Add Horns

I know I'm not the only who has thought of this, because the CarCar beef would have been so much funnier if Oscar was allowed to just hit the horn at Carlos. Or the other way around, considering Carlos is a Mediterranean.

I believe that the one who'd abuse this the most would be Fernando, who, if he were to be passed by another driver, would push the button hard enough to spook them and gain his position back. We'd get him to win a race again with this, think about it!

Also, as an exception, Yuki's horn should be customed so that when it is pushed, it doesn't make a "beep" but a loud "FUCK" sound. He should be the only one allowed to do this.

3. Let them hear each other

I think they should just be all allowed to communicate together during the race, the way they do it with their engineers.

Now do I think it's doable? Probably not. Do I think that would be productive? Absolutely not. Do I believe the FIA would decide to remove this option 3 laps into a race? Totally.

But the entertainment value would be so high, because I refuse to believe anyone who says they wouldn't want to hear the Checo-Liam beef in live. Also, I think Carlos should have heard Oscar say "typical Carlos" as he said it. Now that would be fun.

No more team orders, if a driver wants to swap position with his teammate, he has to convince him with everyone being able to hear them.

I also believe that Charles and Max should be given this option anyway, since Max has decided to talk to Charles alone in his own car.

4. Settle the penalties through fistfights

I've seen people talk about how it is problematic to have different stewards at every race, because it makes the decisions taken incoherent. George believes permanent stewards would solve the issue. I believe that when two drivers collide, they should be allowed to fistfight in front of the arena, and the loser gets the penalty. That would especially funny in Vegas, with Bruce Buffer as the commentator.

Also, an exception would be made for one specific situation: if Lewis and Fernando collide, they have to hug, and the first one to let go looses and gets the penalty.

5. The team who gets tenth position in the constructors should get sold to One Direction

I have no arguments other than the fact that the team could use the money anyway, since they won't get much from the constructors.

6. Make the read fanfics for each penalty point they get

Remember this post where I suggested that Haas should have made read K-mag self-insert fanfics for every point he gets on his licence? Well I've changed my mind, I think every driver should have the chance to do it, in public, if they want to get out of a penalty. The higher the penalty is, the cringier the fic gets.

7. Find a solution to the lestappen followgate

Everyone and their mothers has been asking for one thing and one thing only : a Lestappen title fight. I think Charles could use some motiviation, so here is my humble suggestion : tell him that if he wins, Max has to follow him on Instagram. If he loses, it's the other way around. Believe me, this diva couldn't take it and would tranform whatever atrocity-car Ferrari gives him into a rocket. He's done it before for the sake of winning, believe me he'll do it again to get Max to follow him.

Thank me later.

[schoenpepper]

How about for our early xmas gift, you give us a version where Yuu comes back to twst again🙂

(You broke my heart po💔)

Maybe This Time

Intro: Everything changed after you left. But maybe he still stayed the same.

Warnings: bad grammar, awful writing, not proofread, jade is veryy bad, kinda yandere ish

A/N: Counted as a sequel to this, though you can probably read it as a standalone. Sige na nga anonnie merry xmas happy new year nlng sayo haha. Maybe this tiiiime it'll be lovin' they'll find—*gets shot*

Masterlist

Jade forgets what it's like to live.

The day you left, all color drained from the world he resides in. Rather, your absence pushed him from being an active participant into one that only watches.

Still, it only takes him a day to get back to work.

"You can take a longer break."

He waves off Azul with such a well-practiced smile even he might believe it. "I don't need a break. What is it for, even? There's no use reminiscing over such boring things."

Boring.

Boring boring boring.

The word makes him livid. It makes him seethe with a burning, passionate anger he was unaware was even stored within him. Maybe that's why you left. Maybe Jade failed to excite you. He and his brother are people that stay because of interest, so perhaps the reason you left was because Jade could no longer interest you. Is that it?

Why else?

Why else would you shatter him the first chance that you get?

It takes him one week to forget.

Not you. Sevens know he'll never forget you. You were a whirlwind that crashed through everything he knew and smashed him to smithereens. It takes him a week to forget that he's still hiding his pain.

He forgets he's in pain.

You're a rotting, festering wound that he's buried under layers of pretend. He's such a good actor even Floyd is—

"Stop cryin'."

Well. Maybe not Floyd. Jade raises a hand to his cheek and finds no tears. "You weren't crying. But I made you look, right?" Floyd grins, "Hurry and pack. Maybe nonna can help you get over shrimpy. She's real good at life advice~"

He's sure life advice won't help, but it wouldn't hurt (any more) to try.

The waters of the Coral Sea are frigid. It doesn't numb him enough when he's so used to it, but it's alright. He's fine, anyway. There's no more regret. No more bitter hatred. Only the familiar salt of the ocean water. His parents mean well when they fret over him, asking his twin brother for details. His grandmother is worriedly chattering over his shoulder, and he's made aware that he's unable to fool them this time. He's good at pretending. His family couldn't pick out his faux smiles when he's entangled in mischief, nor could they identify the mock innocence he likes to act out when he gets into fights with other mer. But now, why now? Why are they able to press their hand on that beating, dead thing in his chest and attempt to comfort it when the only thing it wants to do is wallow and wither in nothingness?

They couldn't tell when he was pretending to be good.

But they can tell that he's pretending to be okay.

It doesn't make sense.

It takes one month for everything to fall back in routine. Sleeping potions and pills and spells aid in nights when he's preoccupied with memories of a person he wished never existed at all.

His grades are higher than they'd ever been, and he's so ridiculously productive. It's all on track. Everything is just as it was before you. There was a time in his life before you. He can fill in the empty spot you'd left behind with dirt and the pieces of himself you'd killed that fateful day.

And thus, there will be a time after you.

"Jade," Azul hands him a familiar plush toy, "Floyd told me to give this back to you."

The felt shrimp plushie is mocking him; there is no other explanation. It's one half of a pair, actually. In some dingy arcade in town was a claw machine filled with small mushroom, shrimp, egg, onion, and garlic plushies. The owner called the machine "shrimp fried crane game". You were the one to win one mushroom plushie you kept for yourself, and you gave him the shrimp.

The mushroom was in your suitcase.

In his rampage (he wouldn't call it that, really), he had destroyed everything that reminded him of you that same night, or rather, early morning. He watched polaroids and love letters burn inside a metal dumpster he'd hauled from school grounds. The shrimp wasn't part of the bonfire.

It seems Floyd had snuck it away.

He inspects the toy with his usual smile, tight-lipped and close-eyed, nodding at Azul. He wants it out of his sight for a long, long time. If it could feel as forgotten as he felt, let those feelings be transferred to you. He wishes you pain and agony and guilt and regret.

It takes one year for him to let out a genuine chuckle.

His twin brother stares at him like he'd grown a second head, and Jade is aware it's unusual. Even though the joke he'd laughed at was so inane, the fact of the matter was that he laughed, which in itself is so strange. Perhaps this is a good thing. No, it can only be a good thing. What is it if not a sign that he's healing?

And soon, he won't remember you at all.

And you will cease to exist in his mind.

But it's not meant to happen today.

No, with that little laugh, grief like several tonnes of cement hit him right where it hurts the most; it's heavy, and debilitating, and it makes it nigh impossible for him to even breathe.

(Because you were the air he once consumed, and neither humans nor mer are made for such long term suffocation.)

"I've never seen you laugh before," the young man in front of him smiles with thick, syrupy lovesickness, "it suits you."

The person is an underclassman who'd been following him around recently. Like a poor mockup of your silhouette, he hears the same promises you couldn't keep from the mouth of another. It irks him more than he'd like to admit, because if he does, then it means admitting that he still remembers you. It means he still holds you up in his altar and lights flames in your name.

He does not.

Whoever says otherwise, whether it be Floyd or Azul, or Silver or Riddle; they all lie.

He only remembers you in anger. In bouts of madness that makes him question your existence, it is then that your name leaves his lips.

It takes one decade.

For what?

For forgiveness? For the hate to fade?

On his 27th birthday, his phone rings with a number he's long since engraved in his heart.

Jade forgot how to live in your absence.

In the decade you'd left, he only existed. It is a passive state of consistent routine that allows him to appear normal to his peers. Still, his closest people know he was left incomplete. He became a creature without a sense of purpose, and it was a sad thing. How pitiful it was for a predator to be reduced to a vessel containing shards of a broken heart.

Still, it is your name that he finds. It is your number.

A number from a phone kept in some dark corner of NRC's storage room. It's likely a student who decided to scroll through your contacts and found his contact name amusing. You did have quite the strange penchant for putting strange names in your contact list.

He answers the call in a moment of boredom.

There is nothing interesting to do in a business party.

"Hello? Jade?"

He stops. There is nothing in this world or yours that could erase each and every memory he's ever made with you. The voice is one he's heard often and dreams and even more in nightmares; it has replaced the voice of his dead conscience and pushed him to a meaningless drifting existence instead of finding thrill in things you would despise him for.

It's been a decade and instead of forgetting you, he didn't know when he melded you into his bones and stitched you into the fabric of his soul, but he knows you more than he knows himself.

"I'm back."

There is no more bitter hatred. There is no more regret.

"Can you pick me up?"

In one moment, it all dissipates into nothingness and there is only you.

Jade remembers how to breathe again. He feels that withered thing in his chest beat once more, and he feels alive.

It takes one decade for you to return.

And he didn't know he was waiting for you, but then, what could every second without you have meant if not just an endless eternity of patiently waiting?

"Did you see my message?"

"I did."

"Are you not afraid I'll make good on my promise?"

"I've never been afraid of you."

Yet, perhaps you should be. He may no longer despise you with every fiber of his being, but you'd betrayed him and lost his trust. There will be no more second chances. You will stay unlike before, and if he must break every mirror in the world to ensure his heart remains beating, then it will be all too easy.

Taglist:

@yummyyummyinmytumny @lemon-koii @fsh1

[fictionlovingnerdgirl]

Hey so can I have a scenario with Kurt wager where he’s just like “I miss those German Christmas cookies”. He hasn’t been able to go back to Germany for a year and he’s missing the traditional German Christmas food he’s probably used too. His chef s/o (they’re not a chef, but they’re amazing at making food) is like “Yea?” And leaves the conversation at that. Days later, He is used to his s/o making food in the kitchen. He sometimes has his go. Then suddenly hiss /o sits down while it’s in the oven, “Hey so, some of those German Christmas hedgehog cookies are in the kitchen cooking right now”?

Christmas Miracle

A/n: THANK YOU!! I love Christmas and I love Kurt Wagner.. I might have made this more Christmas focused, but I definitely still went with ur prompt.. I just.. added to it a bit. Also gender neutral reader again!!

Warnings: None

Paring: Kurt Wagner X Neutral!Reader

German word guide:

Meine Liebe = My Love

Schatz = Darling

Geliebten = Beloved

Ich liebe dich = I Love You

Danke = Thank You

Kurt was overly enthusiastic for Christmas, I mean, it was your first one together. His tail snakes around your leg as he tells you about your plans together.

"We will go to see the lights, and watch movies together!" His eyes close and he smiles, "Meine Liebe, do you like Christmas?" He tilts his head and his eyes are almost sparkling. You smile back at him and hum a 'mhm' noise, "I love Christmas, do you miss Christmas in Germany?"

He nods, "when I lived in Germany, we had these little cookies, they looked like hedgehogs! I miss them very much." He sighs and grabs your hand, "but I do love it here with you, Schatz." You can almost see the love in his eyes, running your thumb over the top of his hand as you smile.

"I know, Kurt. I love you too." His face turns slightly purple, "you're coming over tomorrow to set up the tree right?"

He nods and his tail unwraps itself from your leg, now whipping around like a playful cat.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, geliebten." He gets up with you and kisses you softly on your cheek before saying goodbye, as you head towards your room and he goes the other way.

Baking German "hedgehog" cookies won't be that hard, right?

It was almost 6 pm, Kurt would be showing up soon, and the cookies were almost done. You knew it was special to him, that he would love you even more after. (if that was even possible)

But still, you were a bit nervous to get them just right. Kurt was... Important. More important than anyone else in the world, and that meant a lot.

A sudden bamf noise makes you jump, you then roll your eyes and hear a knock at the door, "come in, Kurt! I know it's you!" You smile and look behind you, Kurt opening the door with a wide grin and a carefully wrapped box.

You walk over to him and sigh, "Kurt, what is this?" He harrows his eyes and makes a humming sound, "it is a present, Schatz. For under the tree." He almost looks proud of himself. Cute.

You smile and kiss him on the forehead, bringing your hand up to his head and tilting it down so you can reach. "I have a present for you too." You say, hands still on his face as you look at him and smile.

"for me Meine Liebe?" He tilts his head and puts your present down on the table by his side, looking up at you with adoration and intrigue.

"remember those German hedgehog cookies you mentioned?" You say walking towards the oven with an oven mit, Kurt gasps and teleports with a bamf over to your side, watching you open the oven as you pull out the cookies.

They're perfectly cooked and look exactly like the recipe said they would, and exactly like Kurt remembered.

"Meine Schatz.." he says softly, looking up at you "you are an angel, Ich liebe dich.." he purrs and his face is glowing, but he also looks like he's going to cry, all at the same time.

"It was really nothing, I knew you missed them and what kind of partner would I be if I didn't try?" Dishing them out on a plate, and handing it to the blue demon. But he's still looking at you, his eyes full of love. "Ich liebe dich," he takes your hand and kisses it, sighing "how did I get so lucky?" He hums.

You smile at his comment, he really did know just what to say to make you fall in love with him all over again. "I love you too, Kurt." You push the plate to him "tell me if it's good, I worked hard." You say, knowing it will get him to snap back to reality and eat it.

He nods and grabs one of the little cookies, taking a bite and tilting his head as he tastes it, before his tail starts whipping around like it did earlier. His grin wide, "it is perfect! Just how I remember, thank you Danke.." he purrs and eats the rest you dished out to him.

It was now time to put up the tree, pulling ornaments and strings of lights out of the box, looking up at him, you sigh. It was all gonna work out, the pain you felt years, or even months ago, was gone.

It never lasts forever, not with him here, and that was enough for you.

[orangetintedglasses]

Wolfwood pulled them into a room and, as he sunk into a chair to rest, Vash pawed around for the lights-- only flicking on one at it's lowest setting, just to spare the undertaker yet another blinding. But he needed it on-- needed to be able when he approaches and slowly crouched in front of the other man to check the damages, and lowlight vision wouldn't help much when your eyes were still recovering from a chemical burst of light.

... man, this suit is ruined. Does he still have a spare? Or is this one the spare? He can't remember right now--

"Might be sore later, but it's okay. Nothing hit me." he assured easily, shrugging one shoulder as his eyes flicked up. At worst, Vash assumed, he was pretty sure he just looked tired. "I'm more worried about you. You don't look too hot after all that..."

He'd emphasize that point by gently holding and lifting up Wolfwood's free hand and wrist, trailing up along the length of his arm. The man was positively riddled-- technically formerly riddled, Vash guessed, but you wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at the holes in his clothes. And on top of that, the use of two of those vials pretty much back to back... his system probably wasn't enjoying any of this. If Wolfwood didn't sleep like the dead after this was all said and done, Vash would genuinely be impressed.

He picked at the man's sleeve, then one of the lapels of his blazer... then, just... let his hand linger there, offering his companion a worn-out smile that still managed to hold some warmth to it.

"Definitely need to stop and get some new clothes when we can manage it. This thing's toast... how are you feeling?"

Vash's voice startles Wolfwood, as though he'd completely separated his work self from the Wolfwood that Vash knows and cares for. He... really wishes Vash hadn't seen that. Hey, if anything, it'd be a prime example of him being an irredeemable scumbag—

No. No. He doesn't want Vash to leave. He's too selfish now to let him go. But... seeing him like this...

Wolfwood clutches a sore spot on his still steaming abdomen. He's slightly hunched, shamefully turned away from the blond as though he's been caught red handed. Which, judging by the blood on his hands, Vash actually has.

"I... wish you didn't see that. I really wish you didn't," he mumbles audibly, idly fingering at the holes in his shirt and blazer. The undertaker picks the fallen gun off the floor, intending to snatch the ammo, only to find that the magazine is empty. They used every bullet that they could to stave him off.

What kind of a human survives that? He is no more than a monster, and it's clear to anyone who sees him in action.

Wolfwood takes Vash's sleeve and slips into the cover of a side room. His posture immediately slumps further, showing his exhaustion. He's not sure what's wrong, but it feels like his heart is both beating a thousand times a minute while also slowing, freezing, creeping to a stop. Everything aches.

"Need a minute," he breathes, falling onto a desk chair then wincing in pain, "How's your back...?"

[pokemonshelterstories]

hey! do you have any ideas on how to get my family to see that I don't want a pokemon? pretty much all of my family members have at least one of two pokemon and recently they've been pestering me about getting one. I know they're just worried about me (I recently moved out on my own and I am admittedly kind of bad about getting enough human contact so I think they think that a pokemon would be good for me) but I honestly have enough trouble keeping myself + my plants alive. I wouldn't want to take in a pokemon without being sure that I would be able to take care of them properly. lately they've been getting more pushy about it, and I'm getting kind of worried they're going to try and gift one to me. I would feel bad about rehoming or giving up whatever pokemon they give me, so I'd prefer to stop this whole thing before it gets to that point. any advice?

i think the best thing to do in this situation is to be completely honest with them and let them know that, if they give you a pokemon, you're going to take it to a shelter ASAP. don't give any room for doubt by saying things like "i probably won't keep it" or indicate that it would depend on how difficult the pokemon is to care for. make it very clear that, no matter what pokemon it is, it's getting rehomed. that may sound harsh to say to family members, but the clearer you are from the start, the less likely that you'll be saddled with a pokemon you have to find a home for. if you live in an apartment, invent a rule about pokemon not being allowed if you have to.

you can always tell them that you'll ask them for advice on what would be good first-time pokemon when you're ready to own one, if you want to soften the blow a little bit. but when it comes to taking care of a living being, you're right that you should be as prepared for it as possible, especially given the capabilities some "beginner-friendly" pokemon have. even starter pokemon handed out to some new trainers have the ability to do things like start fires or damage furniture with plant growth! and pokemon's needs are so widely varied that you really can't go into caring for one blind and expect that it'll go well. as for your family...it seems like they really do mean well. maybe you can help ease their worries about you by talking about some hobbies you've picked up or some other form of self-care you're doing?

[annabelle--cane]

Hi! Your Being Human posts have gotten me really interested, but I’m possibly the world’s most squeamish man. Is there a lot of sudden/unexpected gore or grossness, stuff I wouldn’t be able to anticipate and look away before it happens? It’s hard to find that info on advisory guides.

Like for comparison, I stopped watching IWTV after the episode where Lestat punched through a priest and strung up a disemboweled guy, both of which I did not anticipate fast enough.

Thanks for any advice you can give me!!

PS Google says there’s a Brit and American version, which is the good one?

there are frequent scenes of werewolf transformations, which I wouldn't say are gory but they are quite body horror-y and are meant to look very painful, and there are equally frequent scenes of vampire feeding where people get bitten and perhaps a bit covered in blood. sometimes there are corpses in pools of blood, sometimes the corpses are arranged in deliberately shocking ways.

other notable gore stuff, with mild spoilers:

in 2.01 a character dies very painfully and bloodily in a medical setting, you can probably get away with covering your eyes once the character starts bleeding and just get the gist from the audio. a similar scene occurs later on with another character but the process they undergo stops before the point of no return, again you can probably just cover your eyes when the blood starts.

episode 3.03 revolves around a zombie character who is actively rotting, she's gross as hell, I'm not sure there's much to be done about this one apart from watching the handful of scenes she isn't in and reading a detailed summary.

a character gets disemboweled in the opening to episode 4.08, it's pretty easy to tell that he's about the get got by the villain so you should have time to look away

those are the main things I can think of, others feel free to comment if I've forgotten something major!

I watch the uk version, I've heard mixed things about the us one but I haven't seen it so I can't properly comment on its quality, apart from saying that every time I see a clip I get a strong this is not my beautiful house this is not my beautiful wife energy.

[diminuel]

I love the way you drew little Sabo. So cute. Precious little gremlin child.

But I must ask a bit of angst question.

How did Croc react to Sabo explaining what his bio parents were like? I can see both Croc and Dragon reacting badly to how Sabo was treated in the past.

:D ♥

Sabo would stick to the story that he gave Ace - that he's an orphan who was living alone in the Grey Terminal. Since they're both still young kids Ace instantly buys that story.

Dragon on the other hand has questions. He knows Goa well enough to be able to tell that his clothes and his way of speaking hint towards a noble upbringing. And even if he is orphaned, he wouldn't have been cast out into the Grey Terminal.

And Outlook III and Didit certainly went to the police when their kid went missing. It's likely that he gets his hands on the police report or at least a note in the newspaper. But he might not approach Sabo about it and wait for Crocodile to come home to talk about it.

Because taking in a missing noble child has the potential to be dangerous for them, they don't need police to come sniffing around Windmill Village.

But when Sabo actually tells them why he ran away and why he can't go back, they probably decide it's worth the risk. (Especially Dragon. He's going to be furious at this child being caged like that by this rotten system. Crocodile probably has to grab his hair to stop him from setting a fire in the upper class district or something other impulsive and unwise of the sort *lol* )

It's a bit tricky. Also because how I'm wrangling the timeline, Sabo is quite a bit too young to really be able to verbalize the emotional neglect and the isolation and how much his parents consider him a tool to be wielded for their ambitions of social advancement. But I think Dragon would understand it for what it is.

It would be easier if neither Crocodile nor Dragon bothered to do any research on the kid but I don't want to make them careless for convenience's sake X3

And we can still pack more angst into it when the burning of the Grey Terminal and he visit of the Celestial Dragon happens 5 years later.

[shortkinglogan]

Actually bringing his back to try and explain it better because I looked at this and realized I should have eaten before trying to talk about this, I'm very bad at explaining things.

Anyway the basic idea is that evolution is a tree, some body plans die off some evolve and adapt and some stay mostly unchanged, it's not a linear advancement to a specific body plans.

You can see how that works in the one zoom tree thing I linked above it's really cool actually it even lets you search a specific species and has extinct animals as well.

I don't know much about genetics but I do know if mutants evolved from a different animal than apes, they wouldn't be able to make offspring with any homo genus, even if they evolved the exact same body plans as homosapiens and other hominids (hominids being other "human" species like neanderthal and homo erectus) if a humanoid mustelid tried to mate with a hominid it'd go as well as a wolf with a fox, which is to say, no babies.

So for this to make sense, either mutants are just another branch of hominid, and are also in the great ape family, OR, the X-gene came from a more distant relative of apes, but not too distant.

that's why I chose shrews, between their very weird adaptations and superpowers that most mamals don't have, and the fact that they are the closest related non ape mamals to humans, tells me that it could be possible that the X-gene that would also be present in modern shrews explaining their crazy adaptations (in the comics universe) and be evidence for a theory, in which;

Mutants descended from a shrew like animal closely related with the rodents that eventually evolve into humans and they had hybridized offspring and continued to do so with this other species evolving along side it until both were near indistinguishable from each other.

This would mean there would also be branching of both where you get superpowered ape, rodent, and shrew species with the X-gene, though probably less present in ape and rodent populations than shrews because of humans being closer to apes and mutants being closer to shrews.

Tbh I hope this makes more sense, but it still feels off to me, I'm not sure if it's actually possible for two closely related species to evolve like that with each other but sperate and still maintain the ability to mate and evolve the same body plans, but then again, we are talking about comics where a mutation can manifest with puberty and range from growing colorful fur to being able to read minds and lift objects with your brain, so I guess anything is possible 😆

An important thing to note is that Logan is not human! Yes, he looks human but he isn't. He is a feral mutant. He is his own species.

My theory how the feral mutants were created is that they evolved from canines and mustelids rather than apes. So alongside the Neanderthals they were these beings and they carried the X-Gene and mated with the modern human thus creating the mutants that Logan's paternal side of the family descends from.

And Logan has a lot of animals qualities. He has claws, little fangs and is nocturnal. He hunts and has keen senses. Yes, he is civilized from living among humans but trigger him enough and he will growl at you.

And Wade accepts that. He accepts Logan for who and what he is, rather than tell him what he should and shouldn't be. (Unlike Kayla and Stryker cough cough) And Logan finally learns to love himself, something he hasn't done in all his lifetime

[stygiansun-totaleclipse]

I’ll just ask the big lil ole question in here buuut what would the ROs do in a Orpheus and Eurydice situation. Who would look back and who would resist looking?

ooh interesting ask 🤔 I’m going to answer this assuming a relationship has already been recently established between mc and the ROs and that their mythology regarding death/afterlife is the same as the Greeks cuz otherwise their answers would differ in ways I can’t explain bc spoilers

Kieran: The urge to look—to be sure—would of course be eating them alive, but they would never forgive themself if, on the off chance mc really is there and Hades was telling the truth, they looked and lost mc again forever and it was all their fault, their own insecurity. So they'll put their faith not in Hades' word, but in mc, and trust that mc is following behind them. They would follow mc anywhere so they'll trust that mc will, too.

Aurynn: Honestly, he likely wouldn’t even be in this situation bc he’s already right there with mc—like not even a question of bringing mc back as he doesn’t think it’d be possible and would instead bargain for being allowed to join mc in whichever of the three afterlives they were sent to (probs elysium). If he were in an Orpheus/Eurydice situation tho, I think he would probably be driven mad by the silence—the doubt—and the increasing surety that he had been tricked as he has little faith in gods and he would end up looking. The guilt would be crushing, and when he finds he can’t get back into the underworld, he’ll get in the same way mc got in.

Samira: She has plan A all the way through Z planned out, so if petitioning Hades does not work she’s moving onto the next plan. Though the silence and gnawing doubt would be unbearable, she would resist looking if it means there is some small chance this succeeds—she's come this far and can't mess up now, especially not when mc has their faith placed in her. She won't let them down. Either way, she is getting mc back one way or another. Even if that means she needs to…break some rules.

Nihm: Is desperate and heartbroken, so they need to believe this is true. And because it has to be true, they cannot look no matter what—they wouldn't be able to live with themself with mc's blood on their hands, even if they weren't what really killed them. They would be squeezing their eyes shut the entire walk back and would not open them again until mc breaks the unbearable silence.

Lilith/Lucien: Wouldn’t trust that the gods would keep their word and might try to find a way around the rules (“Hey, I didn’t turn around. I used a mirror to double-check. That’s not allowed? Well, you should have specified. I followed the rules you gave me.”) or some way to get some leverage in this situation if the gods end up cheating them. If mc is not behind them when they return and they can’t get back into the underworld the same way they did the first time so they can kill god 🔫, they’re getting back in the same way everyone does eventually. It was bound to happen sooner rather than later, anyways.

[remimibanana]

Supernova Adelaide 2024 Report!!!!

I didn’t actually spend too long at Supernova though, so this doesn’t exactly count as a whole report technically LOL

Anyhoo!

The last convention of 2024! Time really has flown, hasn’t it?

I cosplayed as Ayase Momo from the hit series Dandadan!! I went with my good friend (@piedivide) who was Okarun from also the hit series Dandadan (go watch/read it NOW).

We had loads of fun doing various things that I wanted to write down! ✌︎('ω')✌︎

All under the cut!

Pre-Con!

I woke up at 8am to get ready, since I wasn't trying to get to the convention early as the other times. I knew it would only take me an hour or two, tops.

I have to be honest here.

I lied in my last report about a certain little aspect…I didn't have time to do a whole cosplay test AGAIN because of university. I had an assignment due the day before I was meant to go to the convention….

This is becoming a trend….

I had no idea how I would look like on the day, and I didn't have high hopes since I messed up the wig a little bit while trying to style it and it didn’t look like much on the actual wig stand.

I cut too much from the front so I wasn't able to do the swoopy parts Momo has in her hair. I also tried teasing for the first time, and that worked way better than I expected...but her hair doesn't have a lot of volume so I probably shouldn't have.

It happens.

While I was getting ready, I felt a little deflated because it didn't really look like anything at the time (despite not being done) but I trusted in the process. I did my usual makeup and…it all came out WAY better than I was expecting!

It wasn't so horrible!

I was really happy with the final look! I really thought I looked like Ayase Momo at the end!

As you may tell, this isn’t exactly the right outfit for Momo. I’m missing the earrings and the skirt is wayyy too long….

I have a simple answer for that.

The cosplay outfit I ordered didn’t come despite ordering it two months in advance to make sure it would be here and that I could actually try it on and whatnot.

Weh.

I ordered from AliExpress for the first time in September since Dandadan wasn’t airing at the time and I thought that they would be the only place who would have it. I ordered the school shoes and the wig from there as well.

The shoes and wig shipped pretty quickly, but not the outfit which shipped in the middle of October apparently???? I think this was my fault, I should have chosen a better shop to order from...I was the first sale...

I didn't even look, I just ordered blindly since the price was decent and it had everything I needed. The tracking hasn't updated since then either...I don’t think it’s going to come at all…

I was in a real pickle since I was meant to cosplay alongside Pie for AnimeGO and Supernova as Momo, and I couldn't be Momo without the outfit! I was seriously considering to do one of my previous cosplays instead as I told Pie.

That is, until he suggested that I should just make the outfit myself since it was pretty simple. I already had a skirt and a top from my Sucrose cosplay from last year that I could use, so it wasn't impossible!

All I needed was a jumper, leg warmers and red ribbon and I would have the outfit!

I couldn't give up that easily when I still had time. I had about a week or so to get everything before Supernova, since we decided not to cosplay for AnimeGO in the end because all of all this.

I ordered some leg warmers online first, then I got a pink jumper from Uniqlo that was the perfect shade (that Pie kindly went to buy for me since I couldn't get to the city, thank you once again!). I did have to buy a new white collared top at the end as Sucrose's had green accents that wouldn't work with Momo.

When I got ready, I headed out!

Fun fact, I hit my head on the car when I got to the station (I take the train to the city and back) and it knocked my wig back and kind of ruined all my pinning LOL

I got on the train which was rather packed much to my dismay. I sat behind these girls who had some rather riverting conversations about jeans and people. I arrived at the station where Pie was waiting for me, all dressed up as Okarun!

I walked over, and then I sped walked over because I felt like I was taking too long to get there LOL

The duo was together once again and ready to storm the convention as always! YOU LOOKED GREAT PIE!!!

Con!

(@/ai_zyu9 as Kangel and @/ztqrrz as Hu Tao on Instagram!!!)

Thanks for the photo!!! You two look amazing and I’m very happy you asked for a photo of us!

We didn't stay too long at Supernova. I think we were only there for an hour or so LOL, but we still had a lot of fun!

Pie and I arrived at the convention, phones out at the ready to scan our tickets. We saw a crowd of people in a certain direction so we went towards them, but man it was confusing. A sign kept pointing towards the food trucks to where we could get our wristbands for some reason.

Unless they gave out wristbands too, I doubt we had to go there.

We went closer to the entrance and we heard immediately that we had to go to the line that was behind us that was so easy to miss since it blended in with the surroundings. Why didn't they make that more clearer????

We got our wristbands at the end and headed in! It didn't look too different to last time, but the layout changed with some new stands and booths! There was a community library this time around that was filled with many manga that you could read and that was heaven to me.

I love manga. Did you know I can read a whole volume in 20min or less?

I am a quick reader. Pie can attest to that.

I uh...went a little crazy with the print buying. I spent wayyyy too much on these....

I couldn't help myself.

I got the Ellen Joe and Nicole Demara prints from Zenless Zone Zero because I love Ellen's design a lot and Nicole's poster looks really cool that I couldn't pass it up. The Bocchi the Rock one is very dynamic and I like the anime so I chose it too!

The Honkai Star Rail one is the print that Pie got me, it's our tradition to buy ourselves one print for each other when we go to a convention! (thank you so much againnnnnnnn).

I got a Tokyo Mew Mew print for myself because it was my first ever anime that I watched and I always wanted a print to reflect that! It's sort of the same case for the DDLC one, I was obsessed with it back in 2017 and I still like the game to this day.

I don't have space for all of these....help. I need to take down all my posters I already have up and start choosing which ones I want to display on my wall and what I want to put away.

The struggles.

I also was meant to have some square prints that I also bought but I didn’t get them at the end which kind of sucks….

After we looked around and bought what we wanted, we decided to eat something since we both skipped breakfast. I think it’s the general cosplayer’s experience to barely eat while at a convention and I don’t think that’s a good thing lol

We got crepes!

It was the only thing I actually ate all day (aside from some Pringles when I got back), which isn't that good for my health in retrospect aha

I got a Nutella and Strawberry one and it was really good and warm! I also managed to spill some on me and had to go down to the bathroom to wash it off because it managed to get on the very bottom of my jumper and I smudged it LOL

I managed to get most of it off with some water, so it was all fine! I should have eaten it facing the table so it wouldn't spill on me, but alas. I shouldn't eat anything Nutella in cosplay as I’ve realised, I will spill it on myself or on my glasses somehow (don’t ask).

Pie and I took some videos together before leaving the convention completely!

We went to a little corner outside of the pavilion and set up my tripod that I bought last year from Kmart! I always struggle getting my phone into the holder so Pie helps me with that...I have noodle arms as I like to call it.

I use TikTok to record! It has many sounds, various filters and a countdown that we can use. The only downside is that I have to post privately before I can download the video without a watermark, which is so stupid in my opinion!

Why did they change that?!

Anyhoo, we stalked TheAnimeMen account for sounds we could use, since they made a Dandadan music video and had recorded some with just Momo and Okarun! There were a few sounds we wanted to do, so we did them!

I kept messing up and I was probably the most silliest out of the both of us while on camera. I feel like I'm more oddly confident for some reason than in person, and I think that can be seen when you watch the videos I make.

(psst, go to @/mikudachii on TikTok to see or click here)

It was a lot of fun though!

At one point, we were scrolling through my saved sounds to see if we could do any of them, but it mostly made us laugh at how stupid some of them where. It also left me wondering why I saved half of them in the first place.

After that, we headed back to the city! We had places to be!

My feet were utterly killing me at that point, those school shoes aren't as comfortable as they look like. I had to sit down and change into my sneakers that I brought with me, knowing that this would probably happen.

My feet still kind of ache now.

Arcade!

We headed to the arcade!

Pie and I have always wanted to go in cosplay, but there weren't any proper ones in the city until rather recently ehe

There are a bunch up north called Timezone that we’ve been to at multiple locations, but it was crazy to think how the actual city itself didn't have a single proper arcade in it.

However, we finally got our chance when the Paradigm Arcade came about! It’s probably my favourite one out of all the ones I’ve been to, and I highly recommend going if you’re in Adelaide!

It is filled with many rhythm games that we enjoy a ton, like Chunithm and Sound Voltex and there's usually barely any people at those machines since no one knows what they are! It's literally the greatest thing ever.

It's perfect.

They recently got DDR that we got to try out! It’s an older version of it that has many different songs on it that we could choose from, including Pomp and Circumstance from Vocaloid??????

I love this song to bits (despite the questionable lyrics and uh…sounds) but I have never seen a rhythm game that had it before until that very moment. I was very overjoyed and immediately chose it without a second thought.

This machine was way more responsive than the newer ones I've tried, but I still suck at DDR so it didn't help as much in the end. They just got Dancerush Stardom and I’m so excited to try it out when I head back to the city!

I got to use gloves for the first time (I bought them the last time I was in the arcade) and it was very helpful for Chunithm since I always struggle with holding the slider, especially if it moves across the screen.

I got Joker Persona 5 and Ann Persona 5 in their dancing outfits, it was very cool!

I recorded many dumb videos for myself while waiting for my turn to play and watching Pie do his thing. I wonder if I’ll ever post any of them for the world to see, although it’s just me vibing in a dark place filled with lights lol

Ky Kiske Guilty Gear is that you????

I love how Pie immediately pointed that out, literally every single blond haired guy with blue eyes is automatically Ky in our brains. I mean…it does kinda look like him….

Guilty Gear is so peak, I highly recommend checking out the story and the wonderful music! You won’t regret it, trust me!

I main Elphelt in Strive and now I’m adding Dizzy to my list of mains! I love her design in this game to bits and her gameplay is fun! For Xrd, I main Jack-O’ and Elphelt! I’m not very good at either of them but it’s fun playing!

Here I go blabbing about Guilty Gear…maybe my brainrot will come back…..

We also played Maimai Fantasy!

It was a version we never played before since the Timezone arcade has Maimai Buddies. It had a whole bunch of things we can do aside from the rhythm game like collecting cheese and spreading honey on trees. It was a bit weird but it was still fun!

This machine is upstairs for some reason, while the rest of the machines are down in the basement floor. You also don’t have much space between the rail and the machine, but it’s okay! You don't complain when its there in the first place.

We were going to try out the Photo Booth before we left, but we ran out of credits so we didn’t bother. You can only recharge downstairs as the machine is there and we didn’t want to go back down again just for that.

We headed out after that!

Karaoke

It’s our tradition to go to karaoke after every convention!

This time around, there were certain Serbian songs I wanted to sing after becoming obsessed with them. My background is Serbian so I can speak it, but I feel like I barely show it off in general. This was my chance to show Pie some more songs!

The first one was Crno I Zlato from Seka Aleksic that I learnt first, the second was Ko Si Ti by Sasa Matic and Aleksandra Prijovic that I put my heart into and the third was Sve Bi Ja I Ti by Sasa Matic that Pie found a banger!

I'm glad I could sing them!

We then sang some sad songs, I did Shine like Rainbows from My Little Pony (the songs are good okay), then we did some songs together for fun! I liked when we did I Threw It On The Ground, a wonderful yet stupid song at the same time.

I think I called Pie stupid at one point by accident LOL (i'm sorry)

At the end, I showed off my epic rap skills but it didn't even have the second part of the song! ( ｡ •`ᴖ´• ｡)

The people working at the karaoke place seemed to have forgotten to turn us off since we had done about two hours and we could still sing, but we left regardless. I had a train to catch and I couldn't be late for that.

Sometimes I wish I lived in the city.

Going Home!

I thought heading home would be uneventful as usual, but I was proven wrong.

I had to change trains and go to a new platform right before I was meant to leave, which has never happened to me before. There was no explanation as to why aside from an announcement that I've never seen or heard in my life.

I found out that there's a tap for water in the station and some kind of lockers in the station this whole time??????

I’ve been in it since I was a kid…

I then had to scan my ticket again in the new train. I took too long getting my card out that I went in and I swear the security person was staring at me and putting me on their mental hit list or something for not scanning it right away LOL

While I was on the train, there was an announcement for ticket checking that I've also never heard before. I don't know why I'm only seeing these now but it's cool that they exist...although it felt like I was lowkey getting kidnapped or something.

Speaking of weird experiences....

As I was walking from the station platform to where I was being picked up by my mum, I could hear this creepy voice suddenly behind me. I swear to everything that I heard it, and it made me feel rather uncomfortable…

It kept talking about a girlfriend and what might happen if something happened to her and to make matters worse, there was a shadow behind me that wasn’t my own when I looked to the side. I didn't dare look back at the voice, but I didn't take my chances either.

Hell NO.

I started speed walking out of there across the tracks, not wanting to be near whoever the hell that was. There wasn't anyone behind me when I looked back (after getting closer to where my mum was), so I sort of filed away the experience as a figment of my imagination and left it at that.

Did I imagine it???? Maybe....

That's it for this report!

Thank you for reading it if you do, I always like making these! It gives me a chance to look back and reminisce about all the fun times I had in the future!

I can't wait for 2025!!! There are many big plans in store so look out!

Thank you for coming with me, Pie!! I always enjoy every time we go together and I know that we’re going to get even better and better at cosplaying!!!

I’m always very grateful that we have this opportunity to go!! :D

-Miku

[arttsuka]

Back into my mcu phase (what is this, 2019?)

What is he showing him? 🤔

[gctawaygirl]

It took everything in Octavia not to hit him or worse. She couldn't cause a scene but her blood boiled so hot that she wouldn't have been surprised if steam started streaming from her ears, "Are you mad?" she asked, her voice lowering again because she knew he was right in saying she couldn't cause a stir, not in a negative way anyway, "You and I both know what you did and maybe I was foolish then but I am not foolish now. I am not interested. I see right through you now. All you care about is connections, the princess and now the Duke."

Octavia let out a breath, her face glazing over as she found a strange calm settled over her, "He knows about you," she said, "I didn't have to tell him. He was able to figure it out. If I have a reputation for loose morals so do you," she paused, "And he does not judge me. I am not the one who lied and manipulated. Perhaps your reputation cannot be ruined like you have tried to do to mine but do you think he would pay any mind to you when he knows what you did? That he will let you into the inner circles of society when you have insulted his future wife?" she was being bold in her statements. She knew that Anders would protect her as best he could as was his duty when they were betrothed and married but they barely knew he each other. He would do what was necessary but he would do it out of duty and not care. She was only trying to scare the man that had broken her, in more ways than one.

When the song finished, Octavia stepped away before he could protest and curtsied as was expected at the end of the dance and she smiled at him, "You may be a man, Nicolas, but soon, I will be a Duchess. My husband will not be the only one with connections," she whispered and then walked off. She probably should have stayed in the hall or gone to her future mother-in-law and quietly pleaded for forgiveness for the dance that was not her fault. Instead, she left the ballroom, moving further into the house that would now be her home to find a quiet place to let out the emotions she had been hiding. Octavia was strong and knew how to keep herself together but as soon as she was alone, away from the ball and obscured by a tapestry, she let silent tears fall.

"Like I've wronged you?" the Earl retorted defensively, his voice laced with an almost absurd conviction that he had been the injured party at the downfall of their relationship.

When Octavia's voice rose, a hush fell over the nearby crowd. Curious glances flickered in their direction, some heads turned out right, and whispers began to ripple through the room as the other guests took notice of the unfolding drama. Sensing they had become the focus of attention, Nicolas remained unshaken. With a fluid motion, he pulled her closer, his hand firm at her waist as they glided seamlessly into the waltz. His movements were smooth, almost as if nothing had changed, but his lips were close to her ear as he leaned in and whispered, "Lower your voice, darling, or you'll have them all watching and listening to us. You wouldn't want them to learn just how… loose your values are, would you?"

Nicolas winked mischievously and couldn't help the amused smile that tugged at his lips when she accused him of ruining her life and shook his head in denial. He met her fiery gaze with something colder and manipulative, making it clear he wasn’t fazed by her anger. "I’m not trying to ruin your life; I'm trying to stay in it," he replied as they danced, perfectly synchronized across the floor. "You're more valuable now than ever, with all these... new connections you’ve made, and do you really think you can manage it all by yourself? What do you even know about Duke Trevelyan? What does he even know about you? I heard rumors that he might be courting someone. I never thought it would be you. I never took him for someone who would settle with another's seconds."

[fanvoidkeith]

you know what, i DO want to rant about this actually.

because the more i watch 3Below, the more i'm like, you're dealing with fucking ALIENS. extraterrestrial beings. people who DID NOT COME FROM THIS PLANET. and yet everyone somehow STILL has time to make low-brow fat jokes pointed at one single funny, delightful, passionate, sometimes silly teenage character. just because being fat was a negative character trait back in the 2000's and 2010's. what the hell???

what has Toby done to deserve this?? he's literally just A Guy. a teen boy who's excited that trolls and aliens and weird stuff exists. he literally has a personality beyond being fat, but literally everyone makes jokes about it the second they get a chance. it's unfair.

he's friends with the guy who used to be the only Human Trollhunter and is now the Half-human Trollhunter. he's a redhead. he's friends with a gal who defeated a thousand-something-year-old god. he loves his nana. he likes sci-fi movies. he's an orphan. he's friends with possibly one of the Coolest Trolls Ever (in my opinion), who lives in his room together as a roommate, and they play non-violent video games together. he has braces. he's confident in himself, for the most part, besides the usual teenage insecurities. he wields an awesome cursed warhammer. he trained himself to climb through windows and it's treated casually. he has a girlfriend who's the daughter of a cop, and he fell for her when she was wearing his school's purple mole mascot costume. he has a pet gnome who has a plastic doll for a girlfriend-turned-wife. he loves the spiciest kinds of burritos he can get his hands on. he's literally befriended aliens/extraterrestrial beings/celestials.

AND HE'S TREATED, FOR THE MOST PART, LIKE A JOKE.

Everyone Shut Up About My Darling Son Toby, Who Definitely Has Done Some Things Wrong, But Has Also Made Up For Them By Literally Helping To Save The World Multiple Times (And Is Overall A Delightful Person)

[shigarakins]

i remember when the bodysnatching happened and how hardly anyone else in the fandom (or what i saw of the fandom) seemed to find it as horrifying as i did. then the same thing happened again with the mind invasion. and yes the fact that the mind invasion happened at all and not even the story gave much of a fuck about the fact that it did is still one of biggest gripes with the finale

[corviiids]

strong opinions on takes of the 'could this character defeat kira' variety

[antianakin]

You are ABSOLUTELY not alone in that sentiment! At the very least you've got me, too! It definitely makes the most sense for the clones to look around as they are learning what it means to even BE a person and tend to lean towards the only person willing to speak to them and guide them and answer their questions (and there isn't a single Mandalorian who would ever do the same). I'm going to put the rest of this under a cut since it's getting long.

I've read plenty of posts about what attachment actually means in Star Wars (I've made a few myself, or at least addressed it in plenty of posts about the Jedi over the years), and I totally agree that the clones do also seem to hold similar values to the Jedi in terms of attachment, even if it comes from a very different (and arguably somewhat less healthy) place. It's not even really that they move on quickly, because part of the reason that seems to happen is more a matter of how the TV show is structured (TCW does not allow for anything to have any long-term impact on any of the characters, major events aren't discussed again once the episode/arc ends). For me, it's more seen in how clear-headed they seem to be about their situation, how aware they are of how much their situation sucks but they also recognize that if they DON'T fight, then they'll still suffer the consequences and helping protect innocent people is still the right thing to do. This is basically exactly what Rex tells Cut during that episode The Deserter. He also says something similar to Ahsoka in season 7 about how complicated the clones' relationship is to the war since they wouldn't exist without it, but none of them LIKE it, either. That recognition that they can't change the universe to suit them but that it doesn't mean they can't do ANYTHING is very Jedi-like to me.

I do think that the clones probably have a very different relationship with death than many other species simply because they'd have been raised to expect that they'd all die young and once the war starts, so many of them DO die that it would likely impact how they approach relationships. They don't seem to steer clear of relationships ENTIRELY (or at least, Cody and Rex don't seem to do so), despite how likely it is that those relationships might not last very long. It clearly does impact them when people they care about die, since Cody and Rex have that conversation in season 7's Bad Batch arc about all the people they've lost and how hard it is to be the one that survives in a war. It DOES impact them to see their own killed, it has a long-term effect on them as the war drags on, but Rex himself has said that his beliefs mean that he can't just walk away from the war, either. The only way his loved ones and his people stop dying is to do everything in his power to END the war. And that, again, is an extremely Jedi-like approach to this kind of situation and to the war itself. It's entirely possible that the Jedi helped them be able to reach this conclusion, that their guidance and openness about their OWN values and philosophies could've helped Rex learn what HIS values are. We do see Anakin helping guide Rex in an emotional moment during the same Bad Batch arc in season 7 of TCW, although I'd be willing to bet that Rex probably benefited more from Obi-Wan's guidance than Anakin's in the early days.

Obviously there is the fact that the clones seem to practice non-attachment in part because they've had no choice in entering this war and they'd likely go insane if they didn't learn how to let go to some degree, so the circumstances that led to the clones doing this isn't ideal, but that doesn't mean that the connection between their values and the Jedi's values isn't there and wouldn't help make that bond even deeper.

With the "found family/adopted family" thing for Mandos, my experience of it in the higher canon seems to indicate that it still follows VERY nuclear family guidelines (one Mando adopts their specific foundling and now they are considered parent and child, much like with Din Djarin and Grogu). This isn't really something the clones can emulate very well. There obviously are different generations of clones, but they aren't the ones choosing to produce more clones, and they likely aren't encouraged to create familial bonds with each other that way. We do also see older clones helping take care of younger ones sometimes (99 obviously has some sort of relationship with the Domino squad, there's a red-uniform clone leading a group of younglings to safety on Kamino once, and an older clone taking care of the group of younglings brought to see Mace and Anakin's ship), but even 99 tends to think of himself as a "brother" to the other clones, no matter how much older he might actually be. He is NOT their father nor do any of them really seem to see him as one.

And this, to me, might also be another way the clones and the JEDI can connect. The Jedi also don't really emulate nuclear family bonds. Jedi appear to be raised in groups when they're very young and are raised by several different adult Jedi. Then at some point when they reach teenagerhood, they presumably get chosen by a Master and become a Padawan. A lot of people see Master/Padawan relationships as very close to parent/child, but as we see with several of our canon Master/Padawan pairs, it's not always quite that clear. Anakin refers to Obi-Wan as "like a father" to him, but Obi-Wan calls Anakin his "brother" later. It's possible the relationship developed from one to the other over time, it's also possible that the two of them simply see their relationship differently. They're only 14 years apart, so it's not QUITE enough of an age difference to be obviously parent/child, but it's much larger than most sibling relationships. And also of course Anakin has already HAD a parent in his life that he still remembers as his parent (and he had the beginnings of a more parental relationship with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan was Qui-Gon's student, which muddies the waters even more). And there's Ahsoka and Anakin who are only 6 years apart or so and thus WAY too close in age to ever really be in a parent/child dynamic and they tend to be written with a more sibling-like relationship in mind (and I believe Ahsoka refers to him as her older brother to Trace in season 7). There's a comic where Obi-Wan is asked if Anakin is his son and Obi-Wan's response is "He's my Padawan," indicating that it is a DIFFERENT relationship to a typical parent/child relationship. It is something wholly unique.

And that's kind-of how I tend to see clone relationships with each other, too. They call each other brothers ("same heart, same blood" as Fives says), but it does seem to encompass something closer to "brothers in arms" than a more literal definition. But of course, they ARE clones and they DO share the same genetics for the most part, and that clearly does impact their relationships with each other, too. Their relationships with each other MIGHT have some familial aspects to them, but they also might end up feeling pretty distant since there are millions of them and they obviously don't all know everybody. Maybe some of them feel closer to other clones than anybody else, maybe some of them try to create more distance so as to better express their individuality. It's never going to fit into your basic nuclear family formulas. Maybe sometimes it gets close, maybe some of those labels can feel appropriate enough, but they'd also be something entirely and wholly unique to them, DIFFERENT from the way anyone else understands those same labels.

I like taking those "artificial" elements to the clones that could be viewed as similar to the Mandos and making them super unimportant to the clones. Specifically the armor, because the Mandos are basically defined by it. I love making headcanons that the clones barely care about their armor. They would never swap armor as a declaration of affection (romantic or otherwise). Their armor isn't SHIT, but it does get damaged and lost, so it seems a little silly to use it that way. They can't get attached to their armor any more than they can get attached to anything else. It's a practical thing to them, not a sentimental one. It also isn't something passed down through hundreds of years and multiple generations of their family the way it is for the Mandalorians. It was likely made new just a few years ago at most and they're likely the first one to ever use it and the chances that anyone would end up using THEIR armor after they died seem pretty minimal. The armor is also representative of the war they all feel such complicated things about and I like thinking that, in a happy fix-it AU, VERY VERY FEW OF THEM would keep it and plenty of them would actually destroy the armor as a symbol of their freedom.

And like with the language, there's never any indication they know it or care about speaking it, but we DO see a couple of them asking Obi-Wan about a TWI'LEK word once. We know they travel a lot and probably do have some level of interaction with locals sometime, so maybe instead of using Mando'a words, they start picking up fun words from other languages around the galaxy. Maybe they end up using a mishmash of different words from different languages and each battalion ends up with their own "dialect" almost depending on the words they learned from their various missions. They obviously are trained enough not to use them in formal situations, but it's something that comes out in their downtime maybe.

I love both the ideas about clone food, either that they have the worst creations known to man that only they could enjoy OR that they intentionally always make the blandest food possible because it's what they're used to and it's almost like comfort food to them.

One of my clone food headcanons was that the clones actually really lean towards FUSION food options. For the Jedi, we know that they obviously have a culture full of different species, but their food options might end up just full of different options of dishes from the cultures in the Order. It's not a FUSION of cultures so much as it is just a lot of variety. But the clones don't have access to all of the ingredients or equipment to manage that, so they have to make do what little they DO get. Much like with the language, I also like to think that they sometimes are able to pick up a few random food items from the places they visit and then try to figure out how to incorporate them into dishes with whatever else they've got. They're likely not trying to replicate an entire dish they've had (if they've even had the opportunity to try a whole dish), but just trying to figure out how to cook maybe one specific fruit they found or seeing if this thing that looks like a nut might make for a good garnish of sorts. And some of them could end up coming out really bad because they don't always know what they're doing, but they slowly start to learn and some of the food they create is actually REALLY GOOD, it's just... not from any one specific culture because they had to combine like flour from Ryloth and some fruit from Rodia and some of their own protein rations to try to create it. It's different, it's not BAD, but it could range from best thing you've ever eaten even though you couldn't explain what it tasted like if your life depended on it... all the way to just being a straight up acquired taste kind of dish.

And that's what clone cuisine ends up being known for because they refuse to be relegated to only one kind of food, they want to try EVERYTHING and see how it works but they have to make do with the ingredients and knowledge that they have. And in happy fix-it AUs, they would just continue to do that even after they DO have access to tons of ingredients and equipment and recipes. They COULD replicate specific dishes if they wanted, and maybe to do that sometimes too, but they also just love experimenting with different ingredients and flavors and seeing what happens.

I've decided that Rex is the one who paints Kanan's eye mask with his bird of prey design.

Kanan's feeling pretty low still just after Malachor, he's still distancing himself from everybody, and Rex decides to go try to talk to him at one point and the first thing he comes up with to say is to point out that his new mask is pretty plain. It's awkward, he regrets it immediately, but then Kanan says that it gets the job done and Rex is abruptly reminded of himself so so long ago back at the beginning of the war.

He sits Kanan down and tells him a story about how, at the beginning of the war, only a few of the clones had paint on their armor, to designate things like rank and battalion in order to make it easier for officers to find them in the middle of a busy battlefield. The paint was practical and it was limited to a very select few. But the Jedi almost immediately started trying to encourage the clones to utilize the paint less sparingly, suggesting that maybe everybody could wear at least a LITTLE paint and use more individualized designs so that it was still easy to tell the commanders and captains apart from the others when needed.

Some of the clones had taken to it with gusto, but others had been more hesitant, and Rex remembers having been one of them. He remembers telling Obi-Wan that there was no real REASON to paint everyone's armor and especially not to come up with personal designs. The armor was practical and it served its purpose with or without the paint and special designs. But the Jedi had insisted on at least TRYING to come up with his own design and if he didn't like it, he could always take it off, so Rex had given in and chosen something to paint on the armor. And, somehow, it felt a little lighter the next time he put it on. It didn't erase the horrors of war or the pain of loss or anything like that, but it helped.

He tells Kanan that the mask right now is just a reminder of the pain of the injury and whatever other feelings he's still got all caught up in the Malachor mission (guilt over what happened with Ezra, grief over Ahsoka's loss). But if he puts his own design on it, it might turn the mask into something other than a constant reminder of something bad. Instead, it's a reminder of who he is, the combination of the person he once was and who he's become. He is more than just his injury or this mission and he can use the mask to declare that if he wants to.

Kanan says he never realized Rex and the other clones had cared so deeply about their armor and Rex says that the armor itself was meaningless. It's better than what's being handed out to stormtroopers, but not but a LOT. It was the design on it that had meant something and, more than that, it was what the design REPRESENTED: having a choice about how you were perceived by others.

Kanan asks why Rex had chosen his particular designs, the bird of prey eyes on his helmet in particular. Rex explains that he chose it because he liked birds and thought it looked cool, but he's kept the helmet for as long as he has because it's come to mean something ELSE now. It's not just a cool-looking design, it's a reminder of a better time in his life. It's a reminder of when he'd been a part of something greater than himself, with the other clones and the Jedi. It's a reminder of a time when he'd had hope that he and his people could one day come out the other side of this war towards a brighter future.

Kanan looks at the mask he'd grabbed from storage somewhere or something just to keep light from hurting his eyes as they recovered and to cover up the injury from other people's stares (even if he couldn't see them staring), then hands it to Rex and asks if Rex minds sharing that symbol because he'd like a reminder of that, too. Rex remembers the 332nd and their helmets that they'd painted to look like their chosen Jedi, almost blindly giving away their individuality in favor of that loyalty that had been stripped from them anyway. And then he looks at Kanan, choosing to make himself look LIKE REX, someone who had shared his face with millions once, because he wants to honor both the connections he'd lost as well as this new connection the two of them have built together now. And Rex says he'd be happy to share.