#earl does rambles

[earlgreytiefling]

Season 10 Grian with kingfisher wings.

That is all.

[earl-grey-crow]

witch 🤝 time traveler

[ambidexedition]

still thinking about how I was watching a slay the princess letsplay and they got Chapter II: The Razor, and because we had just left Chapter I: The Princess, my immediate thought was "ooh, that's a cool royal title. I wonder where it is, hierarchy wise," and proceeded to google. razor definition. to which google said "uh. you mean the little shaving things?"

[ikoarts]

Sonny the Well-Tank Engine (my HC :p)

More of my Sonny Bunny, I wanted to show some comparisons, mostly with his livery and overall appearance, over the years in my headcanon for him.

This is my baby and I am fighting Mattel for wasting such a good boy

I'll add some rambling under the cut to read if you so wish x

So, just to get one thing out of the way first, my Sonny is not a sibling to Bellerophon, or Bellerophon herself, but in fact a bootleg created to the same design for work on a colliery in the south (which explains his inexplicable southern accent lmao)

The original livery for the colliery's engines was that navy blue he's seen in in canon, of course being changed when the NCB was founded, I don't know too much about the NCB liveries (there's a lot) but I opted for him to wear the same green as Bellerophon did.

Some time after, as dieselisation took hold, he was restored back into navy blue, in hopes he could serve as a heritage engine.... thoooough those plans fell through when the colliery ran out of funds, and Sonny was sent to be scrapped.

After that, he was "rescued" by Baz and Bernie. Feeling indebted to them, he did them the favour of being their getaway vehicle, and brushed off their abusive behaviour towards him, as he was just thankful to be alive. Unable to do much about it anyway, any protest he did have towards their actions stopped, as he became apathetic and hopeless. My headcanon gets a little darker than whatever non fleshed out silliness we got in Marvellous Machinery, maybe a little bit of murder involved, who knows!! Hence the blood... Oh dear!

After finally being rescued FOR REAL by the NWR, he was taken in as a private engine on the Earl's estate, working alongside Stephen, Glynn, and Millie, mostly working to pull goods to and from Ulfstead Castle. Millie does most of that work, and being narrow gauge, it limits where she can go and what she can pull, Stephen and Glynn probably shouldn't be doing that sort of work, so, Sonny feels perfect here. He IS an old Victorian engine, bootleg or not, he catches the interest of the Earl, and he's keen to have him on his estate. Sonny is just happy to have finally found a home at last, his past is troubled, and he has the scars to prove it, but he made it in the end!

Anyway I'm wrapping him up in bubble wrap and keeping him close, he deserved much better than BWBA and Marvellous Machinery, but alas, if he's gonna be given nothing then I'll have to do it myself

[corvus-the-trickster]

Honestly is it any wonder that Evie and Jacob gravitated towards Henry & Roth (respectively).

A month after their father's passing (at least according to theirs and George's bios) they're sent on a mission with George who seems annoyed by them both ("a successful mission then, in spite of you two") and then they go to London and (at least that we can see as an audience) Henry is the first person to truly offer condolences for their father's death, something that would resonate with Evie considering how much she revered Ethan. And then there's Jacob, who spends most of the game being insulted by the templar's (Ferris calling him a coward, Elliotson mocking him about Ethan, Pearl using him, the Earl of Cardigan calling him a villain and a coward etc) and then here comes along this man (Roth) who calls him brave and heroic and seems to genuinely like him and the way he does things (which is important later with Evie's comment of "father was right he never approved of your methods").

They're probably both still grieving to various degrees and are looking for some sort of comfort. Evie resonates with Henry who is kind and gentle (and we know Ethan was emotionally and physically distant from them) and Jacob resonates with Roth who shows him approval and praise and warmth, something he might not have gotten from Ethan. In a way Henry and Roth are filling in the gaps of what Evie and Jacob might've felt was missing from their lives. Except in Jacob's case Roth is more so what he wants rather than what he needs and it ends in tragedy.

This is long and ramble-y sorry. I just have a lotta thoughts about these 2 and I'm bad at articulating things.

Jacobs bio at the end also talks about how Ethan's death granted him freedom from being the watchman and that freedom aspect probably tuns a whole lot deeper what with his canonical night time escapades in gambling rings and dens. And what does Roth offer? That very same freedom he say desires. Maybe not explicitly but it's very much implied.

Jacob gets that freedom away from Ethan's expectations (be it from ethan, evie, george or other assassins) via that chaos from Roth. Even with as cautious as one should be around Roth, Roth still gives him at least the illusion of choice when it comes to the start of their partnership.

[sapphiel]

Could we get some facts about McDee

(He so silly💕)

Earl McDee (his full name) is autistic, and has a STRONG hyperfixation for trains and anything related to them.

So much so he has a massive collection of train paraphernalia in his home, be they toys, models, images, even actual scrapped parts of old ones that he managed to bring home.

He is best friends with Daziel, the mechanic of the train. The two are incredibly close, and despite Daziel's short temper, Earl is able to ramble to him about his hobbies all day long without so much a furrow of the brow.

Earl almost never gets angry, in fact most people say it's impossible to make him angry, as even his best friend's and boss' crude behavior never seems to dampen his mood. However, there IS one thing that WILL set him off: And that's hurting the people (not things. People.) he deeply cares about.

He has an older sister, Emma, who cares for him very much, to the point that she researches everything about neurodivergence/autism just to make sure she's on the same page as he is.

He does a daily jog around his block an hour before heading to work, and he always walks his way there.

[zalia]

Experiencing Destiny 1 as a D2 player

I picked up Destiny 1 in a sale recently despite being told a lot about its problems, and honestly I'm really enjoying playing it! I feel a bit like a time traveller visiting important places and events from the past.

I also have friends who played Destiny nearly from the beginning and it's fun to go back and go 'ooooh that's what they were talking about!'. I am also very aware that if I had started playing it without already being invested, I would be having considerably less fun. (Also, being fair, much of the fun is doubtless novelty after playing *mumbletymumble* hours of D2 over the past couple of years).

But it's genuinely been really interesting from a design and narrative perspective going back to it and seeing where the story began and how things have changed and I wanted to ramble about it. Full disclosure, I have played up through the first couple of missions of The Taken King. There are also things I can't comment on such as Crucible (because getting enough players for a match has not happened yet), events (no longer happening) etc. Also haven't managed to run a raid yet but hopefully will eventually!

I will start with the bad, to get it over with. A lot of stuff here will be well known and honestly it's probably less interesting than the good/thinky stuff.

The Bad

Oh boy I have maligned D2's New Light introduction so badly since it is miles ahead of D1 just by merit of actually having one! D1 gives you the opening run through the Cosmodrome where they tell you what buttons to use and then refuses to explain anything ever again. (This very definitely ties into it being a game I enjoy now but would probably not have enjoyed if I wasn't already invested)

You don't realise how many QoL improvements D2 has until you have to go to orbit and select a new destination every single time. Also no fast travel points. And no you cannot just look at a map of the place you're traversing. Fashion is difficult too.

Up until Taken King, I am not sure why they bothered hiring voice actors for anyone except Ghost, Elsie Bray, and maybe the Speaker. And I have no idea why they hired Bill Nighy for that part (I mean I do, it's because they wanted to use Big Names for marketing but still...). The Vanguard could easily be replaced with cardboard cutouts because they are basically uninvolved in anything until Taken King begins. I know they aren't involved in every seasonal plot now, but they do appear and develop.

The story and writing is... well, it makes an attempt to exist. It does not succeed until The Taken King. I went in knowing what happens in the story and I'm still not actually sure what happens in the story because it is basically someone's pre-first draft bullet points of a narrative. The only reason I knew I was starting different storylines is because the mission popup tells you which storyline it is. 'I don't have time to explain why I don't have time to explain' is a meme for a reason, but another bit which I think illustrates the point well is from House of Wolves. Petra tells you that Skolas has entered the Vault of Glass and this is bad so you need to stop him. It is never explained before then what the Vault of Glass is, what it does, why it would be bad for Skolas to be in there, or... anything. While D2 can be obtuse, and sometimes leaves important info in easily overlooked lore tabs (or in vaulted content), it at least tries to tell you what the story is. I feel like D1 actively resents that players do not read the bullet points and fill in everything the writers had in their heads. Another example is the Devil's Lair strike. it's the first one you take on in D1, and after doing it in D2, I was expecting backstory and build up. Nope, you just get sent in with nothing to really explain what is going on, who the House of Devils are, what a Servitor is... I know it had troubled development and the story got torn apart and remade very close to launch, and it really shows in the early stuff. It's a series of missions that were made and then had to be strung together with the thinnest of threads. It gets better in Taken King, but at times is still not great. You first encounter the Taken on Phobos, I think Ghost asks about what they are. I was expecting more discussion about them and what they are and how horrifying it is. But nope, they just exist now and we're all fine with that.

So. Much. Grinding. The pinnacle grind was annoying in D2, the grind to just get your light up in D1 is so much worse. You will be doing bounties desperately to try to get your rep up with the various groups just so you can actually get fragments of story and quests. You will be grinding just to level up your subclass and it takes ages.

The places you visit are very expansive - even the Cosmodrome is significantly larger - which is great when they're used well, but a lot of the time they feel very empty, there to make you play for longer to get between areas than because there is anything to do.

The Good

The game is gorgeous! I'm loving getting to see Venus and Mars and the Dreadnaught. They're beautiful environments. Everything feels very expansive which can be very cool (as above, it can also be less good). When used well, it feels like there are so many mysteries and secrets hidden in this abandoned world. There are hidden bunkers and spaces, huge Vex structures and ruined cities, tunnels burrowed beneath the Cosmodrome and the Taken King's dreadnaught. It's genuinely fun to explore (up to a point).

It does an excellent job of making you genuinely feel like it's post-apocalyptic and the existence of humanity is precarious. And you, the Guardian, are brand new and everything is trying to kill you. You don't have multiple gods stored in your vault in the form of guns! Everything feels more dangerous. For example, I think if D2 is your intro, you look back at the Great Disaster and the first Crota fireteam and go 'but how did that happen when I go onto the moon and take out ogres with a single punch? The biggest threat in the Abyss in Crota's End is falling into a pit or getting hit by a pendulum! Yeah no I get it now. In D1 you are much less powerful and it makes swarming thralls and normal enemies much more of a threat. Things feel dangerous in a way that D2 rarely manages. I'll talk about this a bit more in depth later.

By making your supers and abilities less powerful, they have weirdly made them more useful. In D2 I usually save mine for bosses since it feels like a waste to use them on normal enemies. In D1, it makes absolute sense to use your abilities basically as soon as you have them. You should absolutely use your Golden Gun on a normal Hive Knight or Fallen Vandal!

There's some great atmospheric touches. I love hearing the snippets of distorted music when I'm near a Rasputin bunker. Going into some of the ruined buildings on Mars or Venus where it's dark and suddenly seeing so many red Vex eyes staring back at you is chilling.

The opening mission of Taken King is fantastic. Genuinely creepy and the Taken in general in D1 feel much scarier and threatening than in D2.

All the different enemy factions are different colours and designs! I love that!

Weapons still go brrrrr in a very pleasing way. And getting new gear feels genuinely satisfying in a way that it rarely does in D2. I junk 99% of the armour and guns I get in D2, in D1 I end up being much more considering of whether something is useful. Legendary weapons and armour feel precious!

I keep picking up random Warmind weapons to turn into Banshee that I know lead to an exotic quest and I am enjoying the feeling of that being another Secret Thing I am discovering.

Honestly, I really like Banshee's weapon bounties - you get given a prototype weapon to test out and gather data by doing certain things (killing X number of a certain enemy etc.) and that gains you rep. And you can then order a legendary version of the weapon from him to be delivered the next Wednesday.

Thoughts/Observations

Knowing that the 'original' story was seemingly going to focus more on Rasputin, and an exo version of him getting stolen by the Hive makes the appearance of some of the Hive areas on the Moon make more sense. There's some bits that are high tech in a way that feels very at-odds with what we see of the Dreadnaught and, other Hive locations which lean much more towards the organic and magical.

Similarly, Rise of Iron feels a lot more hard sci-fi than much of what Destiny has become, and has such a huge Rasputin focus. I believe it was partially developed by an outside studio, so I do wonder if it was based, at least in part, on the 'original' story of Destiny, and was either too far into development, or the other studio just never got the memo about the change in tone.

Vaguely related to the above, but way more speculative, I wonder if Banshee was originally meant to be a Rasputin exo, then that story got shifted to Felwinter, but the seeds were used for the story of Banshee having been Clovis Bray.

Honestly while it's fun to think about, in general I find the obsession parts of the Destiny community have with 'the original story' (of the 'maybe they're finally going back to the original story!' type where the unspoken idea is that this was the perfect undiluted pure story that was 100% planned and set in stone) to be fundamentally misunderstanding how creating stories work. I can guarantee that even if that first story had been used, after 10 years of multiple writers etc. it would still be in a very different place than where the people who came up with it initially thought it would go. It would have evolved and changed and shifted, even if it was following the same vague plan. That's just what stories do.

Oh wow, suddenly all the Nightmare Hunts in Shadowkeep make way more sense! I get it now!

Actually I get a lot of references now XD

Oh wow Shaxx sounds so depressed. I guess this was before he started therapy.

So many identical caves...

Thoughts on Power Creep

D1 leans much more into the post-apocalyptic setting and it does an excellent job of making the existence of the Last City, humanity, and Guardians feel precarious. Everything seems more dangerous, more of a threat. You really are part of the last bastion of humanity. And there's a few ways this is done.

First, you are much less powerful. Yes, you have supers and grenades, but they do much less damage (and are much less flashy) than in D1. There has been a huge amount of power creep! You won't be one-shotting bosses, even normal Vanguard Strike bosses with golden gun easily.

Legendary weapons feel rare and special, and I am still using Blue weapons at times because sometimes I have to just to get the higher light level. I have reached level 40 and have only just got my first exotic armour pieces which I bought from Xur! They are FR0ST-EE5, an exotic I have never bothered with in D2, but in D1 the recharge for abilities when sprinting is genuinely handy. I don't have any exotic weapons at all yet!

It leads to a very different playstyle - I play much more carefully because I cannot just charge in with something like Osteo Striga and wipe out a room with a few shots. In D2 we have killed multiple gods, taken down an Empire, and forged alliances. In D1, we're just some random Guardian and the gameplay reflects this.

And I hate to say this, but I also kind of get the YouTube/Stream BNFs who complain about things not being hard enough. It's just... they're completely wrong about the reasons and the solutions.

They seem to think that what is needed is more enemies with higher health, and nerf Divinity because it makes it too easy, and everything should be designed to stop normal players being able to do it. And it... it doesn't work? Ghosts of the Deep was fun, but holy fuck the health bars on the enemies make it feel grindy and dragged out. Legend Avalon was a slog because there's Too Much - too many elements at the same time so it's just overwhelming instead of fun. (Starcrossed on legend is tough, but feels more enjoyable and managable. I'm looking forward to doing it again instead of dreading it).

More difficulty isn't what makes D1 feel harder, being weaker is what does this. I have no doubt that if I could put my D2 stuff against D1 enemies I would decimate them. But in D1 I am a lone Guardian with scavenged gear and yes, I have the Light and can be resurrected, and it gives me an edge vs normal humans, but not a crazy amount.

In D2 I have so many exotics and weapons that I can just throw them away. I can have intricately crafted builds to take on any enemies! I am basically one of the most powerful entities in the solar system.

And that's not something you can really scale back. They did it with Red War at the start of D2. Maybe they could do it as a result of Final Shape and do smaller stories focused on Earth and recovery and what you even do after your purpose for fighting for so long is gone (and I think there is value in those stories! I would love it personally). But uh... I don't think most people would actually be happy having everything nerfed on such a scale. Give up your 999,999 Celestial Nighthawk boss damage, for a Golden Gun that with a bit of luck might one-shot a yellowbar?

Give up a lot of creativity in terms of what you use and how you play, in exchange for a tougher game with way less choice for builds, but one that is potentially more atmospheric and in-keeping with the post-apocalypse and the dangers of the solar system?

I don't have an answer for that! And it's not even the most important thing. Gamer BNFs gonna always want to prove that they're better than everyone at pressing buttons, and forget that the majority of players are casuals. But it's been interesting playing a different type of difficulty, rather than the forced difficulty of insanely high HP and Too Many Things.

Power creep is a real issue in a lot of long-running media (just look at superhero movies, or many many monster of the week TV shows). You're in a position of feeling like you need to one-up yourself every time. Every new villain has to be the biggest and baddest, and so you have to become more and more powerful to combat that, which means the next villain has to be even bigger and badder.

With Destiny we've gone from a scrappy underdog, to a god-killer.

I'm reminded of Osiris talking about Saint in The Sundial lore.

'I watched him grow from neophyte to demi-god'.

King of fitting for us to have done the same as Saint's inspiration.

[fraudulent-cheese]

For the ramble prompts, 1. And 7

You're very lucky as i actually have access to my computer currently!!!

I'll pick 7, as i've already seen some people point out the differences between the twins but NO Staci analysis posts!

So. Staci. What the fuck is up with her. Why did she think lying about her family on a consistent basis and not helping in challenges would work? How exactly did that make her think it was the best she could do, to the point she thought she "was doing so well" (quoting her at her own elimination) after that first day?

I think Staci's goal while on the show was to win via social game - or at least, make friends on the show. Her lying could be due to either 1. wanting attention from them, so she started making shit up to make herself look more important or 2. she actually believes what she says and just wants to impress people with her family history. I don't think i can conclusively say which one canon's leaning into? Realistically, her exaggerating her family's achievements is the more likely option, but her actually believing them would be more tragic.

HOWEVER. Just looking at her one episode of content + her audition tape isn't enough. We need to look at her contestant biography.

YEAH IM GOING THERE! If you weren't aware, for the first 5 (6?) seasons of TD as well as TDRR, there were official biographies for every contestant depending on the season, all of which were available on the official (now defunct) Total Drama Website. I'd consider the information featured in all but two of these biographies canon, as they either came from the official website (ROTI + WT), the Teletoon site (TDAS + TDPI) or from Total Drama: Totally Interactive! Im unsure about the canonicity of the Action bios and the TDRR blurbs (because yeah. they're just blurbs. sad.) as they were released only on Cartoon Network's site and the Action bios have... inconsistencies with other sources, let's say.

Thankfully, Staci was lucky enough to be a gen 2 contestant, so she gets the most detailed contestant answers biography model, so i can get alooot more info out of them.

I'll get the smaller observations out first:

In her last answer, she mentions her great-great-aunt Mildred and how she "told the first lie." I could look into how this could be Staci's least favorite relative (as she does seem to value truth/honesty), but also what if that's Blaineley? Her legal name's Mildred after all! It would be really funny! We need more "Staci and her great aunt Mildred" content STAT

She seems to really like pop music

The only answer not related to lying or to her family is the First Job question, instead it's foreshadowing to her elimination

Now, for a larger one: She barely talks about herself in these answers. Sure, she answers the questions, but she spends the vast majority of her time talking about her family instead. She manages to link the fucking Favorite Color and Food question to them! Her love of her family is made very clear here. Knowing about them is literally what she picks out as her Best Quality!

...but only her distant relatives. No mention of closer grandparents, sisters, nephews/nieces, aunts/uncles, and only a single indirect mention of a mother. Only distant, mostly older family members and cousins. And she had to have met some of them! Her Craziest Dream answer describes a dream where her great-great-uncle Charlie was telling her lies, implying they've met and talked before! So where's the mention of her closer family members?

I'd say it's because if those family members are further away, or if they're dead, it's harder to fact-check what she's saying so her peers wouldn't find out it's at best an exaggeration and at worst an outright lie.

I think the answers that show this the most well are the Best Memory and Most Embarrassing School Moment, her presentation on an older family member and realizing the topic was a lie.

This feels like something that would happen earlier in life to me? Maybe primary school level, or even earlier. If she made her entire class project on it, she had to believe in it, right? Despite how absurd that notion is! This indicates to me that Staci was/is very naive, and her love for her family started in childhood. She seems very interested in her own family's history, to the point of exaggerating their accomplishments; maybe her great-great-aunt Lois created a plate design patent or her Great-great-uncle Jason simply looked into the history of the letter E, so either Staci exaggerated them to seem more interesting, or her family members would exaggerate these achievements at family reunions as jokes or something and little Staci just believed them.

Im also unsure on her family being good or not... her Dream Date answer is apparently Richard Nixon because she'd want to learn more about his life, specifically citing that he "reminds [her] of [her] third cousin once removed, Andrew." If you know anything about recent US political history, that is not a good thing. This also shows she has some interest in politics/recent history/other people's lives! This girl does have interests!!!

And this is where i bring up the Favorite Movie answer. The movie it's based on, according to the wiki, is "The Invention of Lying", a 2009 movie. skimming the Wikipedia article, it's a romantic comedy film about a guy with the ability to lie in a world where people can only tell the truth. He first abuses this power for selfish gain but in the romantic resolution decides to not lie to benefit himself and lets his love interest actually choose to be with him.

I think the reason why Staci likes this movie so much is the romantic resolution; this is what she'd want to happen if/when she'd reveal how her family's achievements are either fake or exaggerated to her friends, and they would stay. That she'd get people interested in her with those lies, before actually being honest with them when they're closer... But it never happened with anyone on the show.

TLDR, i need this girl to realise she doesn't need to lie so much about her family for others to like her, as hiding behind masks won't get you any real friends. Something that applies to the majority of the roti girls, actually.

[queencryo]

would give it all up to be a driver for a minor noblewoman (widow) (vaguely western-european) stuck with her in the coach after i was forced to release the horses: this is the worst storm in decades, not even my paw coulda kept these posting-station horses calm through the peals of sky-splitting thunder.

We came to a stop in the middle of the road, the churned mud of the road eagerly assisting the coach's brakes. I'm completely drenched by the time I enter the cabin to report that we'll not be going anywhere, not that that isnt already clear. Plenty of Ladies like this, they would howl and beat at me for getting the road's mud into their carriage. but not mine: she worries only of the mud's water, and my hair's water, and my clothes' water, and how these all offer ample avenue for the night's cold to pierce my frame.

And pierce it does: now that the exertion of driving is ended, i am alarmed at how the cold has already convinced my body to take its side over mine, chattering and shivering so I can hardly understand it when my Lady pushes a parcel of cloth toward me. Its dry, she says, and she'll turn her back while I replace sodden roughspun with dry linen. after a moment of shivering hesitation, she does while i do. The fit is odd, in style as well as cut. She's plush where I'm paucious, I'm fowl bones failing to fill out sheep's skin. I keep the comparison to myself. I cough, and she turns, and she smiles. Says this frock suits me. The blood rushing to my face warms it, almost enough I stop chattering.

We start making the carriage a little warmer, lining the door with another of her dresses. It is a summer cut, too thin to keep the chill from your skin; cladding the coach door, though, it keeps the worst of the wind at bay. And once my cloak mirrors it on the door's opposite, the cabin changes. Less now a channel whose seams the wind can run through unabated. A haphazard little down, and we the rabbits.

And like rabbits, we huddle together. She has a great fur cloak, surely a gift from some earl or czar or other title. It's warm, utterly so, and so is she. The thought of her as a sheep was untoward, but I can't help but think of it again now. I had tried to avoid touching her for propriety, but she had insisted. Wrapping her arms around me like a child, but I was so cold I hadn't stopped her as she encompassed me. I'm not cold anymore, but I stay in her soft embrace nonetheless. She doesn't evict me, and I do not bring myself to ask why.

She asks me questions, about my family and my trade, about horses. It takes time, but soon I ask in turn. We have little in common, but that's an object of fascination rather than deviation. She's never horsed a shoe, I've never ridden in a coach. Her brother is a bore, mine is dead. Before we know it we are talking like friends, conversation passing between us like the present situation was the comfortable norm rather than the best way to avoid death by frost.

I don't know how long we talk, but in time the night in the cracks of our den turns from dark to pitch, and the rain calms from diluvian to quotidian. Our conversation slows with the rain, we sit in warm silence. I look up from a rambling story about my grandmother, and the lady is sleeping. Her snoring is just audible over the rain, and my heart flutters to hear it. I pull myself closer into her, and sigh through my smile.

I close my eyes, and sleep. I am warm.

[bizlybebo]

jrwi headcannond

?

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY HII ANONNN

this is such an awesome fucking ask to get. ouguohigohoh i’m about to RAMBLE

plspls let me know if the post doesn’t minimize so i can add a “read more” thing i don’t wanna clog peoples dashes

I’ve really only watched PD and Riptide so. take these ^__^ (SPOILERS UP TO RIPTIDE EP109 AND UP TO PD S2 EP19)

Riptide:

- Chip tried to teach Gillion sign language, but he was very confused at first. He didn’t get it because signing “sun” didn’t make a literal sun, etc. He even thought they were magic spells/incantations at one point. Eventually, though, Gill finally understood them— most prominently, the sign for “I love you”. He signed it to Jay during that moment in ep 53, and Chip found the slightest bit of strength during that moment in 109 to curl two fingers in and sign “I love you” to his crew, with what he thought was the last of his strength.

- Mae (May?) Ferin has very curly hair, which was brown but greyed with age. Jay got the vibrant orange hair from her father, but in my brain she has the curls from her mother, and to me that symbolizes how she strikes a balance between being a Ferin and being her own person, following what her mother wants for her (which is just to be happy).

^^^(Ava Ferin had the same hair as her father. She was the spitting image of what a navy captain was meant to be. She was like a mini Jayson growing up.)

- All the Ferins have wings. That’s it. Jayson’s, Jay’s, Ava’s, etc. are white, slightly blue-ish feathers. Drey’s wings are brown and black. His wings are pretty out of shape now, he can’t really fly anymore, but he can still lift them enough to put them over Jay’s, or Ollie’s, or Finn’s shoulders, and it’s like a blanket. He does it to Earl sometimes just because Earl hates it lmao

- Gillion has very long hair and prides himself on all the ways he can braid it into the traditional styles of the Undersea. It’s a slightly different way of braiding than on the oversea, though, so he taught his way of braiding to Jay, who taught her way of braiding to him. They also taught Ollie. who does Drey’s hair for him and occasionally Chip’s if he can be convinced.

- Hair is also a very sacred thing in the Undersea— one only cuts their hair when they have lost a battle, and so long hair is very respectable. When Gill first was exiled to the Oversea, his hip-length hair got cut very short, up to his chin. It grew out gradually over the campaign, but he tried to cut it after the events of 53, only being convinced not to by Jay when she fully understood why he was doing it. Gillion prides himself very much on his hair.

- Jay is dyslexic. In the Feywild, during that one segment, she lost the ability to read because the magic was preying on one of her insecurities, in a sense. Dyslexic Jay the headcanon i truth most.

- Chip has mild apraxia. It’s real to me.

- Also all of albatrio has/had speech impediments cause I said so. Gillion has rhotacism, Jay has a stutter, and Chip had a lisp growing up which still slips out occasionally.

-Joke headcanon that slowly became real to me: Gillion did Chip’s top surgery in ep 15

Prime Defenders:

- MORE SPEECH IMPEDIMENT HEADCANONS CAUSE I LOVE PROJECTING !! Dakota has a lisp/stutter, and Ashe has a general speech disruption. Ashe also has selective mutism ^__^

- To me, Summer and Cantrip had an enemies to lovers sideplot in early to mid season 2. I think Doug probably mentioned how when he was a villain, he worked with this girl Cantrip, who was Ruby’s sister, and Summer got curious and was like “damn. I wonder where she is now” and sought her out to try and talk to her. And literally their early dynamic was Jade going “kys” and Summer being like “i can fix her!!!”

- Xavier and Jade are mlm wlw hostility. Summer and Doug are mlm wlw hostility. Not reaaaally a headcanon but i had to say it.

- William’s family was very religious growing up. He also came from one of those small, Southern hunting towns and so he has the accent and everything (moomin infected my brain with this one <3).

- The PD season 1 finale took place a few days before Halloween, and the four of them had matching costumes planned out together but never did get to wear them.

- Also, to me, the greyscale arc takes place on or very close to Christmas.

- Dakota didn’t really celebrate his birthday nor Christmas for many years because of how lonely those holidays got for him— he didn’t really get a very good birthday/xmas after the events of the Resurgence. However, Tide didn’t know this and got him a birthday gift once, and Dakota ugly cried while hugging him.

- Shockwave was transmasc. He means the world to me. (Also why Tide is such a good hashtag ally)

- Dakota is very scared of spiders for no apparent reason. Whenever they show up he jumps up onto a table or onto Ashe’s back and tries to fight it off with a broom. Ashe is the one who has to take care of it.

- Gender straight up Isn’t Real on Fauna. Vyncent is literally genderless but nobody asked him when he got to Prime so he literally just went along with being he/him’d and didn’t really mind. (this one’s from arachnid lmao)

- Doug and Summer are queerplatonic that’s it that’s the post

- Ashe is a natural blonde, just like Mark, but bleaches their hair. Everyone was fucking shocked to find out about this

- Lightspeed and Wordsmith are also mlm/wlw hostility. real and canon to me

this is literally just the first ones off the top of my head i have so many but i’ve been writing this post for nearly an hour so i think i’ll cut it off here ^__^

[lionmythflower]

HIIIIIIII!! What’s your Headcanons for Lizzie/Bunny/KittyMaddie. platonic or Romantic?? (Or really your Wonderlandian couple headcanons)

i STARTWD ANSWERING THIS AND THEN IT DIDN'T SAVE-

anyways imma js give u some headcanons if u want me to type what I was gonna put before I can but it was mainly js Abt who kissed who when

(I'm also including Alistair in their polycule bc why not lol)

Maddie rambles so much and their partners are the only ones who can understand them

lizzie made a bag for Alistair that works the same way as Maddie's hat :)

THAT ONE SCENE WHERE KITTY TRIES TO EAT EARL GRAY (Maddie's mouse) HAPPENS ON A DAILY BASIS 😭

(Justice for Earl Gray)

bunny would love graphic novels and Maddie would buy them for her

Alistair can also read an entire novel in a day and Kitty says it's terrifying

Also back to the graphic novel thing bunny's fav graphic novel would be the Tea Dragon Society by K. O'Neill (I'm projecting and I js got the rest of the tea dragon series)

Lizzie is great at drawing and does so many drawings of her partners<3

When ever one of them makes Lizzie flustered, she'll be like "off with ur head" while blushing furiously

Kitty has a very specific tree that they sit in all the time and when their partners can't find them anywhere else they look there

Maddie is genderqueer and Kitty is nonbinary and they both go by they/them pronouns :)

Alistair gives trans vibes idk

lmao there's no way that bunny and Lizzie are cis

I think bunny is genderfluid and Lizzie is bigender or smth like that

Maddie and Alistair both have ADHD

Lizzie is bipolar

And bunny is dyslexic and has autism (they go nonverbal sometimes and all her partners know sign language for when that happens)

Kitty has OCD

And both kitty and Alistair have apd bc I said so

Kitty will js curl up w their head in their partners lap when one of their partners are sitting

Maddie is the most affectionate and bunny is a close second

Bunny likes to turn into her rabbit form and js sit on her partners laps

They all have great music taste

But Maddie can't sing to save their life (but they still try to, bless their soul)

Kitty can't spell for shit and bunny's like "I'm the one with dyslexia? How come u can't spell???" And it's js bc they hardly passed elementary/primary school 💀

bunny is the one w all the half used or not even opened journals

Maddie brings the best snacks on road trips

Kitty js sleeps the whole time while they're on the road

Alistair is the designated driver bc the last time they let Maddie drive they ended up in monster high (how do u get THAT LOST that u end up in another universe mads-)

Lizzie is the the astronomy person in their polycule

She absolutely loves constellations :)

Maddie will js be like oh look at the moon!!! No matter what phase the moon is in at the time

And then Lizzie will inform them what phase the moon is in

The all cuddle a lot

Like 24/7

Thank you for ur time

^ that's the scene I meant (I could only find it in an edits so that's why there's words lol)

[earlgreytiefling]

Ok so I was already sold on the Tech assassin theory, HOWEVER ep7 gave us the assassin was using a vibroknife and that is CODY’S WEAPON. Either way that’s one of my boys under there and I want them SAFE!!

[earl-grey-crow]

okay lads what did we think of that

[acaplaya-musings]

Voiceplay Visuals - Be Prepared

Voiceplay's full-length cover of Be Prepared was released on the 28th of September (or the 27th depending on your timezone, same deal as always), and in fact it's still the 28th for me as I type this! Yes, I'm getting this ready at least a couple of days in advance of when I plan to post it, 1 because I've waited long enough already, and 2 because VoicePlay's next release (their Halloween video) is meant to drop on Patreon before the end of September and I wanna get this done before it happens!

Anyway, this features Mykal Kilgore, who's an OG member, not technically of VoicePlay, but of "4 The Love", which consisted of Mykal, Geoff, Layne, and Earl, back when they were about 17 I believe? Then at some point they added Scott Porter as a beatbooxer and became 4:2:Five. Mykal appeared a little bit in Just Sing, but otherwise this is the first time he's properly reunited with Geoff and Layne and gotten to meet Eli and Cesar! He was definitely a great contribution to this video.

There's a lot to unpack visually in this video, and again, I've been dying to make this post, so let's! get! into this!!!

Honestly I can't even think of much to say about the overall set design right now other than yoooooo look how cool this is!!

They absolutely nailed the vibe/aesthetic of the original scene, while still keeping the set "simple" enough for plenty of movement and use of space!

Layne was in charge of the arrangement, creative direction, and video editing for this video, shocker to no one (a Disney song cover that places Geoff front and centre? Gotta be Layne's doing 😂 (and we love him for it!))

Oh yeah also I'm pretty sure the aspect ratio is a bit "narrower" than it often is for most VP videos? (Like the screen is more noticeably wider than it is tall.)

There he is!!! (It was at this point on my first watch-through that I had to take a moment to steel myself because I was like "nope nope nope hang on wait I don't think I'm actually prepared for this" 😅

As to be expected, Eli is credited with lighting, but he also helped out with the fog machine things shown here in this image (the one on the left is more visible here). VoicePlay hadn't worked with these things before, but they worked amazingly, and it's another thing to give the video similarities to the original movie scene. However, these things were actually Quite Loud

Not the clearest image but look at Layne and Cesar being all sneaky/creepy here! (Layne does a little skip-step thing in this shot here that's brief but kinda reminds me just a touch of his little run in This Is Halloween)

Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Rick Underwood the man that you are, please, let me shake your hand, I love you (whether I'll still love him after the Halloween video remains to be determined, but anyway)

I mean honestly this is a Whole Look and I adore every part of it. The "facial scruff", the eyeliner, the freaking awesome jacket, the hair... I'm gonna stop myself from rambling too much too early ^^;

"I know that your powers of retention... are as wet as a warthog's backside."

A couple of things here:

1, You would probably expect Layne to just be another hyena (after all, there's many more than just Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed in the original scene), but it's possible that he might have intended to be a warthog, given this moment here (and also at the end of the BTS there's a clip of Layne messing around with one of the smoke/fog machines in a very Pumbaa-esque manner, lol).

And 2, credit to @ambular-d who first noticed this and pointed it out in the Discord server: Layne dips his shoulder here, "like Geoff's casual disdainful little swipe has some strength behind it." (directly quoting them here)

Okay now let's pay attention (ayyy) to our "main hyena trio" for a moment

There is no real style coordination here and yet somehow it works (well they're all in black/dark grey so they've got that in common). But like Cesar's got a grey leopard-print jumper/sweater (kinda cute ngl), Mykal's got a black fluffy (fringed?) shirt/sweater thing, and Eli's got a black leather jacket on (he looks very cool in it though - definitely suits him)

Mykal's the only one of the total five who isn't wearing some sort of necklace, but I guess he makes up for it with the bones hanging from the top of his head (and for all I know that actually might be a necklace that he just wrapped around the base of his hairbun)

ALSO I just went to go check my post for Friends On The Other Side because I was wondering if Cesar's necklace here was one of the ones worn by Geoff or Layne in that video, and I don't think it is (too short), but I'm 90% certain that Eli's necklace here is one of the same ones that Geoff was wearing!

Dramatic lighting flash! Low-key similar to Hoist The Colours (another video featuring scruff, guyliner, and heavily colour-tinted lighting), and also Geoff's recent Song Of Durin video!

(Also man I'm gonna hit image limit aren't I, lol rip)

"It's clear from your vacant expressions, the lights are not all on upstairs"

It's a blurry image, but I couldn't help but be tempted to do a Screenshot Comparison for this moment (plus another one a bit later in the song) because Layne absolutely understood the assignment and I was quite pleased that this bit got recreated!

(Also yes, Cesar is Ed, lol)

This moment in the video with Geoff and Cesar (including the second half of the line) got turned into a meme gif on the Patrons Discord server to represent VoicePlay and the audio distributors that they've been having issues with 😂

"And where do we feature?" "Just listen to teacher"

I don't remember it looking like that in the original scene! 😝 (but seriously, I love how Geoff and Cesar can't help but be cute together here - you should see their dynamic in some of the BTS videos, it's the best)

Pfft, this moment also got memed in the Discord server XD ("ask me to sing a G-1 one more time!" (credit again to @ambular-d) or alternatively "I said there are ants in the coffee again!" (that one's a reference to one of the BTS videos))

I'm honestly a little jealous of how cool Geoff looks while doing the sort of lifting motion he does in this moment here

Oh yeah that's definitely one of the Friends On The Other Side necklaces that Eli's got on

Also it took me an embarassingly-large amount of watches to realize that Cesar had painted nails for this one (in my defence, I was very distracted 😂)

Sure go ahead Eli, have your moment, stare into my soul, go on (affectionate)

"Of course quid pro quo you're expected, to take Certain Duties on board"

Again, not a great screenshot, but again, another moment recreated (at least in a general sense) from the original scene!

This is also a good place to point out how the lighting has changed from green to yellow, just as it does in the original scene, and it changed at the same spot as well (right on or just before the "it's great that we'll soon be connected..." line)

Oh rip it is tough to get good screencaps for this one (probably at least partially due to all the fog)

Anyway I wanted to point out that Layne's a little over an inch taller than Geoff (possibly two inches if you count the hair, lol), but in this one he mostly stays at least a little hunched, at least when Geoff's next to him, making Geoff look equal height if not taller (and from a storytelling perspective, it's great!)

"YOU WON'T GET A SNIFF WITHOUT ME!"

A quick shift to red colouring, again just as the movie scene (and also now the video looks crystal clear as well!)

(Also goddamn Geoff is really working the crazy evil villain look... like man 👀)

Mykal and Eli vibing, I love it

Cesar, Mykal, and Eli's reaction to the growl/roar 😂

Cesar is shook! Literally! XD

Nothing much to say here, just that Geoff looks amazing and is amazing

(Also shoutout to his white-grey hair, which was looking wonderfully-prominent in this video and I adore it)

(woof) HELLO THERE GOOD SIR 😳👉👈

This is a rare case of me not having a "he's so pretty" moment with Geoff in a video, but that's because for this one, it's more a case of "he's so hot" 👀

*insert evil laughter here*

And that's Be Prepared! Man, what a video!

Next on the list is of course VoicePlay's Halloween release for 2024, whatever that turns out to be. I'm both excited and nervous (or scared, even), but hey, I have no doubt it will give me plenty to talk about! Until next time!

[amazingmsme]

Playing Possum

AN: day 9, here we go! This is an unofficial sequel to this fic. You don’t have to read it to get this one, but it does help add context. This one was really fun & sweet! Hope y’all enjoy!

Eiffel was getting used to their routine. What started out as paranoid sleepovers became a quiet comfort- for him at least. He doubted it meant as much to Minkowski.

For once, he woke up before her. Or rather, he woke up because of her. God, why did she have to twitch in her sleep?

He tried to keep his breath slow and even, squeezing his eyes shut tight. What the hell was she even doing in her dream, playing piano? The gentle tapping was just enough to set his nerves on edge and keep him on the verge of a giggle for.

Her fingers pressed into his sides, long nails leaving ticklish pinpricks in their wake. He couldn't help but violently twitch away, biting back a yelp. Then the nails began tracing his ribs and he gasped, trying to muffle the sound behind his hand. He tried to stay still so that he didn't wake her, but it proved to be an impossible task when he felt his hip on his other side being traced with agonizingly soft circles. He shook his head, arching his back and biting his hand when laughter began to spill free.

He had just wanted to sleep in a little, was that too much to ask? He couldn't fall back asleep even if he tried. And trust me, he'd rather be unconscious right now.

He turned over onto his stomach as gently and slowly as he could so he wouldn't wake the sleeping beast next to him. He was laying on his side when Minkowski shifted in her sleep and threw an arm around him, hugging him close.

He went completely still, afraid to move a muscle. She groans in her sleep and nuzzles into the back of his neck, and he quickly grabbed the pillow to muffle a snort. Her breath is slow and even, coming out in hot puffs of air against the back of his neck.

He was giggling now, scrunching his neck and burying his face into the thin cushion. He was trying to be as quiet as possible, but it was proving to be more difficult than he thought.

And then he was screaming.

Minkowski blew a raspberry right at the nape of his neck, sending him into hysterical laughter. His legs kicked out uselessly as he held the pillow tighter. He couldn't escape her grasp, and he decided to drill into his hips while she blew another raspberry. Eiffel cackled and scrunched his shoulders.

"Nohoho! Minkowski s-stohop!" he pleaded as he blindly reached down to pry her hands away. It was a pathetic attempt.

"Y'know, it's actually pretty thoughtful how hard you tried to stay still. I bet it was driving you nuts," she taunted, nuzzling closer to growl in his earl. The deep, gravely sound sent goosebumps down his arms, and he frantically tried to rub the feeling away from his ear.

"You knew?" he asked incredulously, forcing himself to choke down a shriek. Her thumbs her circling the hipbone, digging in just enough to send him up the wall. He bucked and writhed as he fought against her grasp. "You were ahahawake the whole dahamn tihihime!" he accused, only making her grin more smug.

"I didn't know you were ticklish Eiffel! Why didn't you tell me? This is perfect for morale, and now I won't have any problems making you do your work," she rambled, and he could feel his face flushing with embarrassment.

"What? Nohoho! You cahan't!"

"Actually, I can do whatever I deem necessary for the crew."

"Ohoho come ohon! You're just beheing mehehean!" he whined. "Have mercy!"

"Sorry Eiffel, that's not really up to code. Rule 633 of Pryce and Carter strictly states: "Mercy is such a 20th century value." I'm just trying to comply with the manual."

"Ohoho yeah? Well rule 634 says: it's still best to beheheg!"

"Oh? Is this you begging?" she taunted before the realization hit her. "Wait a second. Did you just quote the survival manual?" she asked, masking how much it impressed her by teasing him.

"NO! I refuse to memorize it!" he insisted.

Minkowski sported a downright malicious grin, "Mhm," she hummed, tracing the shell of his ear. He snorted and scrunched his neck helplessly as a flood of giggles escaped his lips.

"Ohokay! Ohohokahay, lehet me goooo! Ihit's too damn early for thihihis!"

She only continued for a few seconds longer before finally releasing him from her evil, ticklish clutches.

"Asshole. I'll totally get you back for that, just fyi," he warned.

"Yeah, I'm really quaking in my boots."

"Eiffel scoffed, "I'm serious! You'll regret it!"

"Oh I'm sure I will," she played along. But when the time came, she knew she'd be just as giddy and nervous as Eiffel.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

saw you talking about tea the other day and now i'm intrigued 👀 any flavors you're particularly fond of? asking for a friend also. please do ramble about it bc it's delightful :D

Jay! Hi! Fellow tea lover?

Hm… I love lots of teas, but really I prefer simple teas to anything super decadent or elaborate. I don’t ever add anything to my teas unless I’m sick (then I’ll add a bit of honey).

My go-to is just a simple green or peppermint tea, though I’m also a huge fan of spiced chai and earl grey. I adore jasmine tea - jasmine is probably my favourite, but it has to be a good jasmine, so I don’t have it all the time (again, it gets expensive). I always have some green or peppermint tea on hand though - a quality cup is always nice but I don’t as much mind if these are the cheaper kind.

I’m not a huge fruit tea person, though I did have a peach white tea once - that one was lovely cold - and of course a good lemon ginger is always nice. If I’m having bubble tea though, I always go for a mango or lychee green tea if they have it!

I have to say that I can’t remember what pu’erh tea was like - I know it was interesting and I liked it, but I’d need to try it again I think to recall it properly. I haven’t found a rooibos tea I’ve been particularly crazy about, but it’s nice too, just not what I’d gravitate towards.

If you want a sweet or dessert type tea, then any oolong is great, but I think I’m spoiled for that wuyi oolong now hahaha. I’ve had a vanilla black tea - it’s really good. I’d highly recommend that one. I also have this sweet apple-cinnamon tea with nuts. I don’t have it super often, as I’m not a fan of sugary teas but this one is a nice dessert on its own. It’s very nutty which makes it pretty unique.

When I’m sick, I’ve had a couple good teas. One I have for colds is a eucalyptus-mint. I recommend having this one only when you are very congested because boy is it strong. Tastes amazing though. Also my mom had several Korean friends when I was little, so I have fond memories of her making yujacha at their urging when I wasn’t feeling well as a young kid, and boricha for us to put in the fridge and drink cold. I love both.

I don’t usually have chamomile at home, but this is largely because on days when I’m really incredibly stressed (like, shaking with anxiety, actively spiralling, kind of stressed), I like to go for a walk in the evening and pick up a chamomile from a nearby café to take back with me. It’s an indulgence that way.

Other cool teas I have tried:

Butterfly pea flower tea: More of a novelty than anything but this tea is bright blue and changes to red when you add citric acid. It’s a natural pH indicator!

Lavender black tea: Incredibly good. This was another gift from my mom a few years back. Very nice in the evening.

Mushroom tea: These tend to be incredibly overpriced due to purported health benefits so I’ve only ever had samples but honestly? The ones I’ve had are very nice, a smooth, rich flavour. Not convinced they’re worth that price though.

Dandelion tea: People say this can be used as a coffee substitute. I’m not entirely sure I agree with that but it does have a dark roasted flavour that is similar to black coffee. It’s a little sweet though. I like this one a lot, but I only have this with food because if I don’t have anything in my stomach it makes me cramp a bit (as I found out the hard way) :/

Matcha green tea with roasted rice: Okay a friend of mine got me some of this as a gift when she went back to visit family for a bit and. Um. This tea is so incredibly good. We had some together and it was fantastic. I’ve been saving it and only having it at times I know I can really savour it because I want it to last. If you can find some good quality stuff I highly recommend it.

Aaaand sometimes, admittedly, I will enjoy an orange pekoe. It’s nice on occasion. I make it pretty strong hehe

I hope this was fun for you your friend! 😆

What are your favourite teas, Jay?