#catastrophizing is bad pal

[number-one-shadisper-shipper]

There had to be something wrong with him.

The two tails were the most obvious. But there had to be something more. There had to be something wrong with him.

Why else did no one want him?

Little Miles curled up in the small cave he'd found for himself, burrowing in a pile of leaves he'd gathered up for a nest of sorts. The cave was far enough away from the village that no one should be able to find him here.

Why did they hate him so much?

He'd taken a few things, but that couldn't be the reason. They were mean to him before that. He only snatched scraps of food when he was really hungry because no one would give him anything and he couldn't find anything in the woods that was edible. And they'd already chased him away multiple times before he'd gotten that hungry that he'd risked sneaking back into the village to grab some food.

It had to be something else. Was it just the tails? Why? He loved his tails. They were warm and good for snuggling. He loved them. Or, he could love them. If it wasn't for everyone else telling him why he should hate them. He could never really hate them.

Maybe he was just a bad kid.

Bad kids took things. Bad kids got in the way. Bad kids weren't wanted.

Even his own parents didn't want him. He had only vague memories of them now, of golden-brown fur a little darker than his and loud voices that were angry a lot. He remembered them telling him to stay and wait, and then never coming back.

Maybe... if he'd waited just a little longer, just a couple more days, they would've come back. Maybe he was just a bad kid like that.

Maybe that's why no one could care about him.

Darkness was falling outside, separating his cave from the rest of the world. The night was always so empty and quiet, with no one around to protect him. He curled his two tails closer around himself, hugging them against his chest.

Was he always going to be alone?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Tails?"

The fox glanced up at the sound of his favorite voice. Sonic was staring at him, head slightly tilted as he studied his face. "You okay, pal? You zoned out there for a sec."

"Yeah, yeah! Just got distracted."

Sonic chuckled and ruffled his bangs. "Imagine getting distracted," he said with a laugh, leaning backwards to lie on the picnic blanket. "I, for one, am ALWAYS focused."

Tails chuckled as he shifted. "Yeah, right."

He glanced around. It was a beautiful day in Green Hill, perfect for the Restoration (and friends) picnic that they'd set up as a celebration of foiling yet another world-ending catastrophe together. Amy, sitting on Sonic's other side, gave him a smile before returning back to whatever she and Sonic had been chatting about a minute ago. Knuckles was leaned back against a tree looking almost peaceful, until Rouge came and started poking at him. All of Team Dark had actually shown up, even Shadow, although he was sitting at the very outskirts avoiding conversation. Cream served out slices of cake to everyone. Her mom was cutting the slices while chatting cheerfully with Vector and the other Chaotix. Silver was showing off his telekinesis for Blaze by making a kite fly even though there was no wind. The Restoration girls; Whisper, Tangle, Belle, and even Jewel and Lanolin; had found all spots in the grass where they were chatting.

Sonic gave him another look, before stretching out his arm and patting the empty spot beside him. Tails grinned and shifted over next to Sonic, curling up into the spot that fit him perfectly. He rested his head on his brother's chest, hearing the soothing thrum of his speedy heartbeat. A comforting sound. The sound of safety, of home.

"You sure you're okay, little bro?" Sonic asked quietly.

"Yeah. I am."

He was more than okay, he realized, as he looked around at his friends. His tribe. His family.

He wasn't alone anymore.

AO3 link here

[decepti-thots]

whatever numbers you think are the most interesting for rodimus :3

Unpopular opinion about them?

I don't think Rodimus has, or has ever had, a lot of friends. I think he is superficially friendly and coasts on that image, but it is an image he's coasting on. Overall he's someone who has basically no experience existing outside of crisis mode, his experiences during the war have resulted in a total lack of preexisting opportunities to create long term mutual relationships, and he has no surviving pre-war connections. Talking to your subordinates like you're all pals on the LL does not a concrete social circle you can rely on make. Viewing his interactions and reactions in MTMTE/LL through this lens makes a lot of sense IMO, especially as it pertains to Drift. He isn't used to genuine mutual relationships that carry no stakes, or maintaining long term social connections. His failures there are real, but they're grounded in a total lack of experience in how those relationships work that nobody he interacts with understands he lacks, and which he's never so catastrophically bad at in the short term anyone understands the issue and thinks to address it like an actual lack. He fakes it just well enough that when the faking fails, it looks like a personal failure in the short term, not an underlying issue, and he maintains the illusion on purpose because admitting otherwise is too scary. It's very unfair to resent Drift for not seeing through this, since it's on purpose, but he does a little.

A canon or headcanon hill I will die on?

Rodimus is not an outlier, I will die on this hill, he modded himself to do the set-yourself-on-fire schtick and that's that! It's a stupid dangerous thing he did on purpose and not at all him being Special TM. That's all him being flashy and self destructive.

[cosmica-galaxy]

Wait a minute, how would the mimics react to hunter(my human), especially the fact they befriended a Orion a LARGE mimic, probably have his scent or something, and hunter is like "what's a mimic?"

Buddy finds himself suddenly nervous. The scent of a large mimic in the area is a BAD sign...but why does this human SMELL like one? Did they have a close encounter with a large mimic and lived to tell the tale? The human, who goes by the name of "Hunter", seems to not be bothered nor harmed in the slightest. Once the human tells them of the large mimic that follows them around, that of which does NOT try to eat them, Buddy is stunned and equally as worried. That beast is prone to snapping at any point. He'll keep vigilant for any signs that it is about to have an episode...and if "Hunter" gets devoured for their complacency amongst such a threat...that is a fate caused from their own ignorance. Large mimics are dangerous and should be treated as such. Pal can feel his clothe-flesh prickle at the scent lingering in the air upon "Human Hunter"'s arrival. A familiar decaying and toxic taste lingers in the air as they walk by him unbothered. The scent of a large mimic. His frill snaps to attention and his hearing is amplified to show stress. A large mimic?? This close to the base?! The damage it could do would be catastrophic! Pal is puzzled at why the human that passed him smelt so strongly of such a beast, but it doesn't stop Pal from taking to the skies and scoping out the perimeter of the base. Using his hearing and echolocation to see if that large threat is still lingering at the borders of their home. Such a strong and unnerving feeling courses through him as the human has revealed to have "tamed" that monster. He can smell the blood on its breath...this "Orion" has killed before. Who knows what it can do to the humans and to the base itself? Pal is certainly nervous and constantly listening for it now whenever he wanders the base, keeping the other mimics and children safe will always be his priority. Fiend's back spikes arch up in a display of hostility as "Hunter" walks past his dwelling with a certain scent on them. The stench of a large mimic...the taste of iron, decay, and salt fill his mouth and scent receptors, making him cringe. What is that human thinking?! A large mimic?!? They are cannibalistic and treacherous by nature! It can consume everyone in this base and it still won't be satisfied! Is "Hunter" planning on dooming them all?! They can't be tamed! They can't make friends! They are mimic eaters and home destroyers! He has heard countless horror stories from mimics who encounter such horrors...and they were lucky enough to live to tell their tales. Sickened mimics with an endless hunger...Hunter has a death wish. It is only a matter of time before it snaps! Get it out of the base!! GET IT OUT!

[verdemoun]

i'm sorry i have to ask for more Callander boys stuff in the timewarp au please and thank you

yes i am a little in love with them

kieran is convinced the magic of friendship would have meant him and mac would have been friends even in canon era due to their love of horses and general complimentary personalities

mac would laugh at this suggestion. he had been the one to suggest the gelding tongs as an intimidation tactic, and if he had been there when they captured kieran it wouldn't have been just a threat. part of bill's enthusiasm to use them was to be able to tell mac the story afterwards (but mac never came home)

it really threw the gang that mac was the one who was able to settle down out of the two. davey had always seemed like the more level-headed, and sort of his brother's keeper. davey only had to say the word and mac would snuff out whatever red-tinted spree of violence he was on

the difference is, when mac was asked 'what are you good at other than robbing, smoking, shooting and killing', he admitted he didn't know. davey insisted that was all he was good at, and it was all he wanted to be good at.

mac had a very normal childhood. the callanders parents both worked, his mom was a seamstress, his dad worked at the general store. mac went to school. he wasn't a good student, wasn't a bad student. he had the perfect, average, nuclear 1870s life.

their father was crushed by a wagon in a freak accident, and their mother passed away of illness shortly after (she had turned to prostitution to keep her boys fed, which is something mac did not know. following her death, mac would react violently whenever someone mentioned it)

mac was raising davey from the time he was 10, and davey was only 4. mac would have done anything to give his brother a normal life - if davey had ever wanted a normal life. but when mac was insisting he would teach davey how to read and ride a horse, davey was asking how to shoot a gun, how mac steals things from stores without getting caught.

yes davey was too young to remember any different and yes maybe davey could have been a different person if he actually experienced a stable life but by the time he timewarped he didn't have the desire to. it was too alien. davey was a willfully lost cause

despite being brothers they just had insanely different mindsets based on their experiences despite sharing them. mac is capable of choosing good, but situations where he sees violence as the only option is most situations because he will catastrophic think into how it could be a threat to himself or davey's life so readily

davey, however, would always choose violence. people would rather rob with mac because sure there's a 90% chance of it becoming a shoot out but if a coach had women and children in it? mac would walk away. davey would argue that it just meant it was an easy target but because he could be reasoned with, unlike mac who would make a decision and stick with it, none of the gang saw it as a red flag

when mac was learning how to be a functioning adult post-prison in timewarp someone as a joke got him a bright 'nervous rescue give me space' shirt and it is unironically one of the comfiest things he owns so he wears it constantly

lenny never liked davey and this only worsens as post release. sean immediately offers to take davey out to a casino which becomes a regular thing because they were similarly reckless pals back in the day. except davey hasn't changed at all and sean loses hundreds if not thousands of dollars in poker before lenny puts his foot down

[the-fallen-collective]

So Pandora Siqrae!

She's the protagonist of a book i have planned (haven't even finished chapter 1)

She was a sorcerer apprentice who lived w/ her sister and nieces, and used to be named Anthe (greek for Flower). Her story has a shitton of flower symbolism, including the chapter titles

She's also an Origin Descendant but her only real non-human trait is having small horns that she hides w/ her hat. Her hair is dyed purple.

Her "themesong" is Honey I'm Home by Ghost and Pals

In the True Timeline / without Sid's influence, she would eventually become a powerful & important sorcerer who saves her Realm from a major catastrophe. Sid being Sid decided to keep the catastrophe happening via burning Pandora's village down and keeping only Pandora & her nieces as survivors.

Pandora didn't really have a choice but to join Sid in being a Parasite, so Sid gave Pandora some of their own powers. Pandora's also actually able to use most of the powers, while Sid can't.

She changed her name to Pandora & started dying her hair after destroying a Kingdom & talking to one of the survivors (she essentially explained the story of Pandora, the survivor asked if she was Pandora, and she was basically like "I suppose I am.")

She's terrified of foxes & fire thanks to Sid, and is generally very anxious and jumpy now.

She's also still technically training to be a Sorcerer, but now her only real teacher is Caul, the Neutral Judge who was a powerful sorcerer in life, & some spell books she found in the remains of a Kingdom & doesn't even know the language of (but they're strangely similar to the language Nox's mother's books were in, according to Nox.)

(Nox is the second oldest Ventus sibling, her mother died in childbirth so she never knew her. Nox is also a Draconic-human hybrid, but Sancto never said what realm Nox's mother was from)

^ a sketch comic i never finished bc i couldn't draw pan's glasses or hat. Sid is significantly taller than Pandora but was supposed to be leaning down somewhat. Pandora is 5'7.

Ohh wow that is a lot

That is.. very interesting

Of course Sidera fucked everything up

I feel bad for Pandora

also really cool never-finished-comic

[duhragonball]

Super Dragon Ball Heroes 21-24

tfw probably something is bad happening right now.

This is the “Universe Creation” arc of SDBH, which features more of the Time Patrol than what we’ve seen in the first 19 episodes.  I’m guessing that’s why the Episode 20 special was made, so viewers would recognize characters like Chronoa and Xeno Pan when they showed up here.  Anyway, the story begins with the Divine Tokitoki Bird going missing.  Chronoa’s main duty as the Supreme Kai of Time is to look after the bird, so she mobilizes the Time Patrol to find him.  Unfortunately, the Time Patrol in this show is just six people. 

Turns out, the bird is on Earth, and he shows up right where Goku and the boys are training or whatever.  Moments like these feel like something out of a teenager’s fanfic.  Like, here’s all the characters I wanted in my story, and I just plopped them all in Bulma’s backyard and they’re sparring because why not.  Then the plot device shows up right in front of them, two seconds after it went missing.  Like, don’t even try to make this feel natural, we’ve got to get this thing moving.

Trunks and Pan arrive next and find Tokitoki, which would seem to make this a really dull story.  The only tension is that most of the characters are confused about Trunks being different from the version we’ve seen in the first 19 episodes.  Vegeta explains that it’s an alternate Trunks from a “different dimension”, like the Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta they encountered on the Prison Planet.  Vegeta also says that they’ve met this version of Trunks before, but he never elaborates.  So why is Xeno Trunks confused, then? Also, why doesn’t anyone ask about Xeno Pan?  You’d think she’d raise some interesting questions.

Then all twelve Gods of Destruction show up.  Overkill much?  They’re here to destroy Tokitoki.

Beerus fires a hakai blast, but Tokitoki just blows it away with his wings.  “You came here to kill me, catboy?  You better make it count.  Better finish me in one shot.  What’s wrong?  I’m right here.  Come and get this work.”

Beerus explains that he had a premonition of a mysterious bird appearing in Universe 7 to destroy the entire multiverse.  And Tokitoki’s a bird, and this is Universe 7, so it sure seems like Tokitoki’s been caught red-handed of the imaginary crime that Beerus saw in a dream.  Yessir. 

I’m not even sure why Beerus is explaining himself.  Look, he came here to destroy Tokitoki.  So let him do it.  No, Trunks, don’t bother defending the bird.  He can fight his own battles.  Go kill him, Beerus.  He’s not going anywhere.  You and your eleven pals, go destroy him.  All at once.  Unless you’re all a bunch of punk-ass bitches.  No, that couldn’t be it. 

They don’t do a damn thing, and then Tokitoki just nopes out and leaves.  Then they all find their missing spines, and when they realize they can’t follow Tokitoki because they can’t sense his energy, they decide to destroy the Earth for aiding and abetting Tokitoki.  What a clownshow these guys are.  Maybe Hearts couldn’t have killed Grand Zeno, but he probably would have made short work out of these idiots. 

But Beerus tells them to hold off, since this is his universe.  He’ll handle things, and so Goku and the others conclude that their only chance is to fight Beerus.

Meanwhile, Fu watches on, joined by his new pal, Dogidogi.  He’s like a fake evil version of Tokitoki, I guess.

So the gang on Earth fights Beerus for a bit, and then Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta show up and warn them about something more important happening right now. 

These creepy roots are spreading across the skies of Earth, and they’re draining the planet’s energy.  The Gods of Destruction turn their senses to their own universes and find that the same thing is happening to every planet everywhere.  So they withdraw to look after their home territories.

Then Fu and Dogidogi show up, and Beerus realizes that Dogidogi is the “bird of catastrophe” from his premonition. Fu explains that the Universe Seed Hearts used in the last arc has now germinated into a cosmic tree, and it’s drawing energy from the twelve universes. 

Vegeta correctly deduces that Hearts was an unwitting catspaw in Fu’s plan.  Hearts sought to use the Universe Seed as a weapon, but Fu wanted to see the seed grow.

Fu’s objective is to create a new universe.  I’m not sure if the tree will become a universe, or maybe the tree will produce a new universe like some kind of fruit.  All that really matters is that his plan depends on the tree draining all the other universes, which the good guys can’t allow.

Fu leaves, and some of the gang begin to grow weak from the tree’s effects, so Beerus uses his own power to blunt the effects.  However, he can’t keep this up for long, so he’s counting on the others to resolve this crisis.

Meanwhile, Fu has a conference with his own team of guys.  One of them is his mom, Towa, although she doesn’t say or do anything here, so I’m not sure what to make of this. 

So this is your standard group of movie villains and GT castoffs.  We have Super 17, Bojack, uh... some guy in a labcoat...

... Turles, who literally takes a bite of his Tree of Might Fruit in every scene he’s in...

And fuckin’ Cooler’s back.  I guess he’s sticking with being on Fu’s team, not that he’s ever going to explain any of this.  Seriously, he’s been all over this show and yet he’s barely done anything.

Bojack picks a fight with Turles, because I guess he’s still sore with the Saiyans for his defeat in Movie 9, but Turles is no pushover.  Anyway, Fu convinces them to stand down, explaining that he plucked each of them from the moments right before Goku and the others defeated them, all so they could join Fu’s team and get a second chance at life in the new universe Fu is creating.  The prospect seems to be enough to convince Bojack and Turles to get along. 

I kind of want to go off on a tangent about this particular selection of Movie villains, but I should probably hold off, since there’s still a few more that will show up before this is over. 

So the good guys basically split up into two groups.  Xeno Trunks and Xeno Pan go with Goku and Vegeta, while Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta go off on their own.  Trunks’ group ends up in... some place, where they get ambushed by Bojack and Turles.  Yeah, there’s a pretty sharp decline in animation quality here.  I feel bad for Bojack fans. 

Meanwhile, Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta go to hell, where they meet a mysterious contact who summoned them here.  It turns out to be this scientist guy from Fu’s team, and all he wants to do is fight them.

Okay, so this dude refers to himself as “Dr. W,” and all he really does is swing that big metal thing on his right hand, which shoots energy blasts that move in unpredictable paths.  All he really wants to do is to analyze and record the boys’ fighting styles with his cybernetic eyepiece. 

I’m pretty sure this guy is supposed to be Dr. Wheelo from DBZ Movie 2, but for some reason Toei or Bandai wanted to swap out the brain-in-a-robot-body design with this version.  Did Fu supply him with a new body?  Or is this not the Wheelo we knew from Movie 2?   I’m pretty sure these questions never get answered.  It really doesn’t matter, because this fight sucks, and either this guy is Wheelo, or he’s not.  If he is Dr. Wheelo, then he sucks for being Dr. Wheelo, because I hate Movie 2.  If he’s not Dr. Wheelo, then he’s just some rando they stuck in this show for no reason, which is pretty dumb. 

Anyway, Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta fight the guy at Super Saiyan 3 and get nowhere.

So they turn Super Saiyan 4 and shoot their big energy beams at him, but they have no effect. 

In the other place, Dogidogi uses his powers to paralyze the good guys, which allows Fu to capture Tokitoki and escape.

Not sure what it says about Fu that he can subdue Tokitoki when Beerus seemed to be powerless against him.   Oh well.

In Hell, Dr. W escapes Goku and Vegeta and heads for a broken down machine in a cell.  He announces that he has collected all the data he needs on Goku and Vegeta, and will now input it into the person he’s speaking to...

... Janemba.  So I guess that machine there is the spirit cleanser machine that broke down in Movie 12.  How would Dr. W be able to share his data files with Janemba?  How would he even know how to do this?  Did Fu already recruit Janemba, or did he send Dr. W down here with instructions for reactivating him?  I don’t get it. 

Okay, so let’s talk about the movie villains.  Assuming Dr. W is Wheelo, we’re missing the following classic Z movie bad guys:

Garlic Junior

Lord Slug

Android 13

Z-Broly

Bio-Broly

Hirudegarn

Does that mean anything?  I feel like Lord Slug gets to be involved in these things more often.  He was in the Hatchiyack OVA, for example.  They usually pass over Garlic and Wheelo, and I always assumed this was because they weren’t popular enough to be worth the effort.  Z-Broly’s kind of too big for this sort of thing, and Bio-Broly flat out sucks, so no mystery there.  Hirudegarn is kind of difficult because he’s a rampaging beast, so he doesn’t fit with the whole henchman thing.  As for Android 13, well, maybe Toei decided they liked Super 17 better, and they didn’t want two androids on the team. 

Anyway, this whole story makes no friggin’ sense.  You can just grow universes from seeds now and Fu is making a new universe off the corpses of the old universes, and not even the Gods of Destruction can stop it.  Even accepting all of this, wouldn’t this be a job for the Grand Zenos?  I mean, it’s clearly too big for anyone else to handle, and if Fu gets his way, the entire multiverse dies.  You’d think that would warrant some attention.

[lemonlyman-dotcom]

2, 20, 32 and 34 please Lemon

Hi D!!!

20. favourite things about the night?

I love in the summer when it stays warm really late and you can sit outside with your pals. Also I love the blue hour!!! I love stars and crickets. Also owls are hella cool.

32. how many tabs do you have open right now?

15!!! I actually closed a ton recently from Eid Fic research.

34. any pet peeves?

Aside from the Oxford comma??? (I actually only care about this for my own writing, if you want yours to look stupid and redundant THAT’S ON YOU)

I hate it when people unnecessarily correct someone. If it has no real baring on something and it’s just going to make the other person feel bad, don’t do it!! Obviously if it’s a situation where not correcting the person is going to result in catastrophe or a bad call being made, then yes. But if it’s just being nitpicky or some need to be right all the time? Get outta here!

[pallweople]

Assigning Songs From My Liked Playlist To The Pall Weople!

EXPECT MORE OF THESE CAUSE I LOVE YALL <33 AGAIN! This is all based purely off of vibes! (If i offend you or make you upset, please tell me and i can fix this!)

( @arsonisticscholar ) Arsonator -> You're not welcome by Naethan Apollo

( @astral-catastrophe )Astral/Jay -> See you again by Tyler, The Creator

( @miadancer24 ) Bailey -> This December by Ricky Montgomery

( @cal-the-duende ) Cal -> Dear Arkansas Daughter by Lady Lamb

( @hero-dualies-pog ) Campfire/Zen Anon -> Habits by Genevieve Stokes

( @circusislife ) Circus -> Isabella's Lullaby by The Promised Neverland

( @frostedshadow ) Frost -> Undone - The Sweater Song by Weezer

( @justsomeghostt ) Ghost -> Almost Home by mxmtoon

( @hyperfixatezz ) Hyper/Riju -> Punk Tactics by Joey Valence & Brae

( @justanotherhighlycaffeinatednerd ) Katnip -> Money by The Drums

( @ladye-zelda ) Ladye -> Rises the moon by Liana Flores

( @linksarehere ) Link -> Hungover in the City of Dust by Autoheart

( @misc-me0707 ) -> Honey Im Home by Ghost and Pals

( @mushr0oms-and-m0ss ) Mushroom -> Posin by Glenn Gatsby

( @is-apotato ) Potato -> GUY.exe by Superfruit

( @somebody-random-lol ) Random -> Feed the Machine by Poor man's poison

( @skyward-shade ) Shade -> Inarticulation by Rio Romeo

( @soupyboiiiii (aka. 6leafclover) Clover/SOOUP -> O children by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

( @xjgbhk ) -> DARKSIDE by Neoni

( @mossy-chai ) Z -> Candle Queen by Ghost and Pals

( @link-or-sherlock ) Sherlock -> Tir na nOg by Celtic Woman

( @nancyheart11 ) Nancy -> Promise by Laufey

[the-npc]

I fucking hate Palworld so much. Even more I hate the CEO of the company who made the damn game that peddles bitcoin and is fine with using AI images in their shit. He literally made a bitcoin wallet and a game where you literally just create AI images to guess which images have a different prompt as if you couldn't, I don't know, pay some fucking humans to make the art. Hell, it would be a better investment because you can regularly update the game with dlc patches that add more images to the library and support the people being plagiarized by image generators using LAION and other copyrighted art lists. But no we have to remove humans from art because it saves money and time that we can use to make more asset flipping slop.

We can't be sure if AI concept art was used for Palworld unless they release that information (which I bet they will) but even without that, the use of default unity assets in the game, the fact you can capture humans and enslave anything you've captured. I bet the game doesn't functionally reprimand you for enslaving little creatures and putting them to work. I bet it rewards you by letting you catch more able slaves and money for more factories, and nothing in the game prevents you from any of it. Nothing is preventing you capturing humans besides the fact they're useless in battle and the description of doing so being 'frowned upon' as if a description people can easily skip over and miss is something people will take seriously in a 'pokemon with guns'.

Other creature capture games make it a point that these creatures are your friends, you're journeying alongside them, the creatures you've had join your party love you just as much as you love them, which is why I also hate games and other media like this where people will take only the most surface level shit from a game and engage with it in bad faith. creature capture games like this that go 'haha isn't this funny? You're taking animals against their will and making them beat eachother up till they're unconscious, what if they got bloody and died, wouldn't that be crazy?' is on par with taking the fact Mario uses mushrooms to power up and going 'dude isn't it so funny how he takes shrooms? What if he got high when he did that lol'. It's one of the easiest interpretations of a game because people who engage with media like that don't actually engage with the core of what the game actually is.

Pokemon for an example is fundamentally a game about the environment monsters and humans live in, humans' relationship with them, growing up alongside friends and growing bonds with them, and even further than that, misplaced beliefs that can lead to catastrophic concequences, the need for control that can overtake people's lives, and above all of that, that the environment and the creatures that live in it need to be protected and cared for.

Palworld doesn't have a story. It has some characters, and it has some things you might need to fight against. A Pal liberation movement, a gang, police. It's an open world game, but I can't find for the life of me any quests or missions you're given, or any characters that exist besides the leaders. You can be put in jail for assaulting humans or pals, apparently? If the game's goal is to make people upset over it, or to be an edgy game about pokemon with guns, just a cynical look into the dev's mind, with nothing else to say, then it's doing it's job very well. It might even be fun to play if you're there for the gameplay and don't look too hard at it. Still fucking makes my blood boil. It isn't meant to have any kind of meaning to it, just an uncritical game about the enslavement of animals with nothing to say about it. They're tools for you to get stronger, nothing else. It makes my stomach turn.

[obstinaterixatrix]

was telling a friend I decided to give up drinking and the thing is. with alcohol intolerance I’ve been saying it gets me tipsy but I’m not what my tipsy means when compared to other people. I think in certain circumstances I can be more chatty but it’s kind of like I get the same amount of chatty when I feel like it. I like the novelty of mixed drinks and I liked the idea of having drinks that a company was paying for, and in undergrad it was trying new things and when I was in those company dinners it was to make a stressful situation more bearable (by giving myself something different to be miserable about) and after figuring out that no mom wasn’t exaggerating or catastrophizing we literally genetically have alcohol intolerance, and then drinking after that was like. oooohhh after the curiosity I was just doing this to Feel Bad. and now that I know I was doing this on purpose to myself this feels Even Worse. like last month I had a cocktail and just sat with the nausea and was like wait this sucks. actually. and I do remember when I was at a low point before grad school (so like, 5-7 years ago?) just drinking a bottle of wine at like midnight by myself which just felt so performative yknow? and I was talking to pals like ‘yeah my whole idea of alcohol’s role in society was that it externalizes misery so that you feel bad in different ways but you can also dull your mind a bit’ because I had no idea people were having an actually good time with it, I thought it was the mask, I thought it was part of the performance and I thought I Got It. you guys were having a good tome the entire time??? you guys weren’t drinking to feel sick??? what the hell. but anyway there is one drink that I actually for real like and it’s cremma lemma (from a defunct brewery) with orange juice and club soda so I’ll probably still break that out for special occasions and I’ll probably ask for sips of friends’ drinks out of curiosity so I can go ‘bleh’ but other than that I think it’s not worth it anymore

[cyberdragoninfinity]

Rio for the character meme! I care her so much

RIOOO I CARE HER TOO

First impression: when I played her DL event I was like "aww Shark has a little sister!! I love that she uses an ice themed deck...." rly enjoyed her from the moment I saw her.

Impression now: GOD. RIO KASTLE. I LOVE HER TO BITS. AND ZEXAL HATES HER HAVING NARRATIVE AGENCY SO FUCKING BADLY this poor girl literally spends like 2/3s of the series fridged!! she's in the hospital like 4 times!!! when she duels she kicks absolute ASS and shes a fucking ALIEN DEMON with a GORGEOUS COLOR PALETTE and then whenever she does something zexal is like "ok well thats enough of that *kneecaps her*" IT'S SO SAD. LOVE ZEXAL TO BITS BUT THE YUGIOH WOMAN WRITING JUMPED OUT SO BAD.

Favorite moment: Technically it is a Marin/Merag Moment but that moment where she is just wailing on Vector's ass in their duel just rocks like absolute hell. Zexal art style looking just absolutely raw as hell the whole time. Absolute SEA MONSTER

and then she fucking loses and dies of course but. in that moment before. she whipped like absolute hell. As for a Specifically Rio Moment I do really like when she's properly introduced to the group and is just immediately kicking ass at every sport on campus. she's a JOCK!!!!

Idea for a story: HMM HMmm hmmm..... something more introspective with her...Zexal spends so much time focusing on Shark's Species Identity Crisis, but I wanna know how Rio was feeling about in her own right too. Cuz that's like...a Pretty big shakeup to get hit with, and she's even younger than Shark is. How is she coping with memories that simultaneously are hers and aren't hers. zexal tell me. tell me about rio. PLEASE.

Unpopular opinion: what are the unpopular rio opinions!! ummm hmm well i guess. if you're making Sexy Booby Art of her. i kind of want to attack you like a wild dog. that is is a MIDDLE SCHOOLER!!!!! also again it just sucks that in the grand scheme of the show she did Not get nearly enough screentime but that's barely an opinion that's just What the Text Came Like.

Favorite relationship: you know I gotta be stanning my YUGIOH SIBLINGS!! I do adore Rio and Shark's dynamic, they've really only had each other for so long in so many lifetimes and it's like... waahhh ;__; I do also like the like...multiple little moments of her hanging out with Dumon during the back half Barian-Earth Catastrophe.... you must understand they are both lesbians to me. Dyke vibing. (also when DL had Quattro apologize to Rio for everything during her event...oh my godddd reflecting on that one after meeting her in show properly got me SOOOO SOFT. I THINK THEY COULD BE FRIENDS.)

Favorite headcanon: THIS GIRL IS A JOCK!!! another member of the proud Yugioh Ice-Associated Lesbian Jocks (along with Alexis.) Also I feel liek she definitely has...some sort of implacable fear about deep water and pits where you can't see the bottom. Looking at them makes her a little queasy, a little anxious. Also borrowing this one from my pal but BURN SCARS!! i think she should have them...this poor girl got literally SET ON FIRE.

[shadowredfeline]

Two in One Post

For his One this Day Post

It looks really nice that Chowder and Panini can be Cupids. Since Valentine's day is coming in 2 days and I think they're ready to cast love spells on any couple they can find. Especially the Cartoon Network characters. And it will be much better than I can't stop thinking of the idea where Mordecai would do the whole thing with the Love Loaf. We know the Love Loaf from Breadwinners since it was pretty bad. Especially when Enter has talked about that episode. Cause if Mordecai used the Love Loaf, even when I asked my A-Pal about it, then we thought it would end up in a disaster. The same when Mordecai made Rigby, Eileen, Muscle Man and Starla eat the Love Loaf as a test run.

Zack 😺💙🗡️: Yeah I would certainly agree with my Dad's Creator. Because if I was with May and Brown and Mordecai used that, it would be a catastrophe even if he tried making Maxwell and Friends eat it. I would rather have Chowder and Panini as Cupids and do it the right way with Maxwell and Friends. Especially if I was with Brianna at the moment.

For his Churros he and his Little Brother made

Those homemade Churros look really good. I think my family and I tried making Homemade Churros before and they're pretty good too. Normally every time I get Churros, I always get them at a Mexican store like Food City or I get them at Costco Wholesale which my mom thought Costco's Churros tasted too sweet and doughy. But I like their Churros since they taste so good.

Shadow R 😺🗡️: Yeah my mom was thinking about that too every time I would go to Costco with her. Even every time I take Tory and Lisa with me to Costco as well as for our kids.

Lisa 😺❤️⚡: Yeah I'm sure grabbing Churros at Costco wouldn't be that bad. Depends if Tory and I would want one or a Frozen Yogurt.

Tory 😺🩰: mmhmm. And even if we either get a Hot Dog or just a Pizza box of which Pizza kind we get, we're sure we might get something sweet to go with it.

Shadow R 😺🗡️: Yeah I get Frozen Yogurt every time It's during the summer and it's really hot.

Tory 😺🩰: Yeah that's a good choice of what we should eat during the summer time.

Lisa 😺❤️⚡: Yup. And that's what our kids would enjoy too.

Ramcat Siblings 😺: Agree.

[fallinrory]

About her.

Her name is Rory Ophelia Gilmore, best known as Rory and she’s on her legal age— no other else than that.

Main interest, she loves spending her time watching movies. Any genre would do, but she highly prevent on seeing horror movies and any gore films. Mainly she would watch animated movies like Barbie, Tinkerbell, and lots of Anime. But for now, she’s currently half way to complete Lord of The Rings and Emily in Paris’ 4th season! Tmi, she also loves Narnia, Percy Jackson (Even it’s questionable), Harry Potter, Marvel Movies, and some classic hit like Clueless, Mean Girls, Confession of a Shopaholic, Devil Wears Prada, Girlmore Girls, and many more. She also watch K-Drama by the way! Her favorites are Sky Castle, Mouse, and Vincenzo.

Her music taste is pretty so so, but it’s not a bad thing, right? She loves KPOP as well and her favorite groups are TREASURE, ENHYPEN, IVE, and NewJeans. Other artist she listens to: Ariana Grande, Niki, Rich Brian, Olivia Rodrigo, and some classical music.

Games, she love games too! Although she didn’t experience that much rounds and chapters, there are some gameplay she watched and her favorites are Resident Evil, The Plague Tale, The Last of Us, and The Dying Light.

Please take notes, she might do a face reveal sometimes so don’t follow her account if that bothers you. Also, she’s very sensitive for certain topics, especially war, apocalypse and catastrophe.

Therefore if you hates her favorites, don’t bother to give her a follow because your presence isn’t welcomed after all.

Have a good day, pals!

[bootlegatem]

Hello ! I am a Palestinian academic educator from Gaza, seeking your urgent support in time of bad need. I am trying to reach out to generous donors or contributors to help get my family out of the hell of the war to safety and peace. The war turned our life up side down and turned us from having everything to having nothing. Our house and livelihood business have been lost due to the war and my whole family became homeless and displaced in a very small tent under the sunny hot weather. No place to shelter my family and no income to live on. Life has become unbelievably harsh and tough. That is why I am asking your kind support. Please don't leave us alone in such tragic and catastrophic circumstances. My family is in bad need to your contribution, either through directly donating whatever you can or through sharing my link. Your assistance is highly appreciated and welcome.

https://gofund.me/dd3342f0

I CAST BOOST:

GUYS GALS AND NONBINARY PALS

What is one product you'd permanently remove from the market, and why.

**Arguments are encouraged in the comment section for more exposure**

[zonerobotnik]

You don't get it, do you? You just don't get it.

Okay, I'll bite. What don't I get? [You think you are the hopeless one?

No, all of this goddamn human race is hopeless.]

Look, I don't want to hear how much you hate humanity again. I got tired of that song so long ago that I've removed it from my playlist.

[You tell me that children would fall asleep halfway through the film if Disney included all the details of the book? I'm aware of that.

Do you even know how horrible this is?

The attention span of people is rapidly dwindling, people don't memorise the beginning of a book when they are only halfway through it.

This is a catastrophe, an absolute nightmare.]

Yeah, and it takes a few times to remember a movie properly, too. Whining about it isn't going to change anything. Besides, it's not like people had any better memories in the past, they just weren't as noticed because we didn't have social media and no one is gossiping about Abigail borrowing the same book five times in a row because she forgot if she read it or not, they just assume she really loves the book.

[And you know what else is preposterous?

Lack of details. The desire to bring things to a point. Stories wholy plot driven.

Checkov can go to the devil as far as I care. If they bring a gun on stage and don't use it, fine with me, but at least describe the gun.

I hate nothing more than pragmatic stories that just want to keep the plot going.

I want authors like Wilde, Süskind, Lovecraft, de Sade or Hoffmann.

I want vivid, decadent descriptions, side stories and backgrounds of people and objects that can give a deeper insight or tickle the imagination.]

If they're not going to use the gun, then it shouldn't be there at all. Describing a gun pointlessly causes a red herring that makes people think it's going to be used but never is and that upsets people. The whole point of Chekov's Gun is that if it's described at all then it MUST be used at some point.

According to Wikipedia, Chekhov's Gun is a narrative principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed.

You know, like Cruella stopping firefighters to gawk at a burning building in a way that does nothing to progress the plot. It's irrelevant, it's removed. Simple as that. The only reason it existed at all is because Pongo was talking about how terrible a person she is, and that was established well enough with what little was told about her in the film. Perdita was scared of her, Pongo didn't trust her, and Roger hated her so much he made a song about how bad it was to have her around you. The only one that trusted her at all was Anita, and that was because they were old college pals and she was stuck in Sunk Cost Fallacy and had rose-tinted glasses when it came to Cruella's red flags.

In a film, you can't spend time on pointless background stuff. A book has a lot more room to embellish, but a film has to keep to a certain length and things are left on the cutting-room floor if they don't actually progress the plot.

[And when Dodie Smith took the time to imagine all those details like the marble walls that look like raw meat, ice cream tasting like pepper, an ancestor with a tail, Nanny Cook and Nanny Butler, a burning bakery, Pongo, Missis and Perdita, the white cat with the drowned kittens or Harry de Vil taking his wife's name, it can be appreciated.]

Not in a film, it can't. That's all well and good for a series, but for a film it's just extra padding that's irrelevant and unnecessary, like if the Tangled movie showed us where Gothel went when she went outside and we got to see her getting parsnips from, I dunno, Old Corona? The Capital? Can parsnips be found in the wild? Whatever it is, we could've gotten a little moment of her getting them because why not, let's spend five minutes having Gothel pick up parsnips she'll never get to use, maybe have her passing by Flynn Rider's Wanted poster before we cut back to him waking up at the tower after being knocked out. But, no, let's a useless waste of time and also the parsnips are never used so why bother?

On that note, Rapunzel never got to have that hazelnut soup and it's never mentioned in the series at all even if it's supposed to be her favorite. This is an example of a Chekov's Gun that is never used, both in the movie and the series. Rapunzel never got to have that hazelnut soup despite it being mentioned twice in plot-related dialogue and her "favorite food" is never once mentioned in the series. That gun was never fired.

Anyways, all that about Cruella is interesting background info to add to a page-count in a story, but it's useless information in a movie. You can't expect any movie to have everything you love about the book version or you're setting yourself up to be disappointed.

[paulagnewart]

Sonic the Oz-Hog Act 3/12: Maximum Khanage!

Sonic the Hedgehog issue 92 AU Publication Date: 9th March 2001 Price: $4.98

No self-deprecating musings or long-winded prologues this month. There's quite a bit to cover, so let's just dive into round three of this rodent-related rabbling retrospect.

Much can change in the space of three years. Australia had come far since the release of January 1998's Sonic Firsts, and unfortunately not all of it positive. After half a decade of insistently proclaiming the policy was dead, then-Fearless Leader John Howard pulled a spectacular electoral backflip and, by the skin of its teeth, legislated the GST. From 1st July 2000, goods and services across the land were hit with a 10% price hike. The policy was marketed to voters as a means of easing tax collection by procuring money during production, as opposed to a US-style system of adding percentages at checkout. It didn't quite work out smoothly as they hoped, and the policy remains as decisive today as it was over 20 years ago.

Barely any products were spared from the increase, including publications produced locally and imported. MAD Magazine took the government to task with their infamous "GST Free" issue 377, jumping from $3.95 (cheap!) to $4.35 (not so cheap!). Comic books equally suffered; X-Men might've stopped Onslaught, but they couldn't stop the rise from $4.25 to $4.68, and for anyone not quick enough to buy issue 84 immediately, Sonic the Hedgehog spun up $4.50 to hover around the $5 mark before eventually settling at $4.95. A far cry from the glory days of 1993's piggy bank busting $2.25.

From a cynical standpoint, the GST's timely implementation felt like an attempt to monopolize on the impending tourist trade. Within two months, Australia would take global limelight with the Sydney Olympic Games, or as the late Juan Antonio Samaranch infamously declared "Syddernee!". Thousands travelled from overseas to watch the two week event, while millions tuned into Channel Seven to cheer on our teams bringing home 58 medals, an unprecedented tally which remains unbeaten to this day. Unfortunately the government's price hike failed to aid the flailing SEGA World Sydney, which closed its doors one final time a month after the closing ceremony.

Beyond a hectic few days in South Australia, the 2000-01 summer bushfire season was...n't that bad. A very surprising and much-needed reprieve before the catastrophic events come year's end. Eminem and Dido's collaboration Stan was just about to knock LeAnn Rimes off musical pole position. Steven Soderbergh's Traffic usurped Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe's thrilling Proof of Life as the countries number one film, but only one week before losing to the month-long reign of Miss Congeniality. DVD's and Wi-Fi were still foreign objects, thus Hollow Man was Video Ezy's top VHS release.

When it came to media domination however, a new king stood proud. Having won hearts and wallets throughout 1999, former children's champion Pikachu and pals were overthrown by the arrival of Goku and his crew. Initially launched on 31st January 2000, it wouldn't be until a heavy promotional push come July that Aussies fell head over heels into the world of Dragon Ball Z.

By 9th March 2001, the series was unstoppable; toys, magazines, bedspreads, videotapes, cards, Crazy Bones and virtually everything in between. Dragon Ball Z came, saw and conquered, and on that particular day, Aussies tuned into Cheez TV at 8am to lap up the premiere of Last Ditch Effort. Having suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Androids 17 and 18, the Z Warriors are left arguing among themselves as Piccolo sets out to make a life-changing decision. Meanwhile there's little Chi-Chi and Yamcha can do to assist the ailing Goku, having been struck down by the insidious Heart Virus. A situation only compounded with the ruthless Androids slowly closing in on their hideout.

It's a level of public praise Archie Comics could only envy.

The comic industry had been reeling for years. Sales were down all over the board, distributors barely getting books to shelves, and smaller retail chains dropping titles left and right. Archie had a solid track record, but columnists predicted the company would be lucky to reach 2006, sooner depending on how the Dan DeCarlo litigations went. Money was tight, and had it not been for the injection of revenue and public interest from the live-action Sabrina the Teenage Witch, even their top-selling speeder came perilously close to cancellation.

In an attempt to keep Sonic alive, editor Justin Gabrie was given the unenviable order of trimming the fat, which in true comic book fashion meant abruptly dropping all their freelancers. For several months no new stories were purchased, instead running whatever material was left on file. Unfortunately most of said freelancers had moved on by the time Archie's embargo was lifted, resulting in a 'skeleton crew' of two writers, two artists and two inkers. It didn't last, as by 2001, one artist had departed for the House of Mouse and the other publicly fired.

Issue 92's double billing of The Wrath of Khan and Sonic Shuffle: Premonition perfectly encapsulated the turbulent turmoil behind closed doors. With nobody available to draw the main story, Marvel stalwart Michael Higgins was rushed in. What should've been a happy reunion with former co-conspirator Karl Bollers was anything but, as he was given only the script and several back issues for reference. The finished product proved hardly his finest work, being unfamiliar with the franchise he resorted to tracing panels from said back issues just to meet the incredibly tight deadline. All while SEGA demanded at the last minute 8 pages be dedicated to promoting their latest game.

For all Archie's efforts getting the book out on time and into fan hands, said audience were furious once it arrived. Already incited after an impromptu interview with artist James Fry revealed newcomer Mina Mongoose was set up as Sonic's new love interest, they let it be known under no uncertain terms that 2001's first offering was a sign of the apocalypse. "Cancelled!" they hollered, with "If it makes it into next year, I'll be very impressed" and "They bury themselves in plot holes, and the artists try WAY too hard to make it look more of an anime instead of a comic book" between bitter breaths. Karl Bollers and James Fry were routinely harassed on Usenet and AIM for doing their jobs, and after spending years as everyone's favourite punching bag, Nate Morgan was temporarily sidelined to make space for Mina.

The sheer vitriol aimed towards the teen mongoose was staggering. Pointless for a comic book character, but staggering. Her design was ridiculed, her name (rumoured to be a Sailor Venus homage at the time) gutted, her super speed lauded, and her connection to Sonic (feeble as it was) lambasted. Fans labelled her as "pure fan character crap there to drive the nail into SatAM's coffin". Witnessing hate spiels on message boards became par the course, while enterprising fans littered Sonic HQ and teamARTAIL with art of Mina scribbled or outright slaughtered.

It's ironic. 2001 kicked off with fans jumping online to complain about the comic's writing, Geoffrey St. John being an underhanded jerk, and Mina Mongoose' existence heavily resented. And while the entire creative team changed between them, 2011 kicked off with... fans jumping online to complain about the comic's writing, Geoffrey St. John being an underhanded jerk, and Mina Mongoose' existence heavily resented. The more things change.

A pity life turned out the way they did. Somewhere is an alternate universe where Archie Sonic was never rebooted, a universe where I can only begin to imagine what Mina did to cheese off readers in early 2021.

Next Time: The mayhem continues in April with the revisitation of a spinoff comic equally popular as it was polarising. Until then, have a reconstruction of March 2001's personal survival kit. Life was fairly turbulent back then, but certainly could've been far worse compared to travesties going on in the world then and as now. Never forget to be grateful for what we already have and give even a minute of our times for those without. Even just lending an ear to someone worse off can make all the difference.

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