#gang dynamics

[charmac]

I made this while drinking Four Walls Whiskey

[laatteheart]

they're all freaks, your honour

[ramshacklerumble]

i had come across some housewarden ace fanart and i originally hadn't really known what to make of it outside 'hell yeah ace rock that outfit'.

but when i brought it up to my friends, i ended up talking MYSELF into liking the idea wayyy too much.

the way i bought into the idea was that riddle "nominated" ace to be housewarden for his junior year. and by "nominated" i mean, riddle went: 'my last order before my reign as housewarden of dorm heartslabyul comes to an close is that you-- ace trappola-- are to become housewarden in my stead.'

and ace went: "HAH???"

in book 1 he wanted to be housewarden entirely out of spite, but i feel like after that blew over he wouldn't have wanted to touch the title with a ten foot pole. that's so much work.

so when junior year comes along, people figured he'd just ignore the order-- himself included. but when someone challenges him for the title, ace finds himself unable and very much unwilling to hand it over.

riddle drove him up the wall, but ace respects him as his former housewarden, riddle as a person, and as a respectable mage. if riddle said the next housewarden was gonna be him, it's gonna be him.

[chloesimaginationthings]

Your Jeremiah art has me giggling and kicking my feet in glee

YESS JEREMIAH ENJOYERS RISE UP !

[magicicephoenix]

If you're still doin' the color palette challenge stuff, might I request; Charley + #92 - Far Away

Perhaps something on the softer side? The song (if it's the one I'm thinkin' of) is really soft + I'm a sucker for grumpy characters bein' sweethearts. No pressure though!

hi hello i accidentally made your palette request into an animation. felt the urge to better showcase the moment and… things happened. whoops :)

charley (and barley and edgar kinda) with #92 - far away

[arthursfuckinghat]

I'm at that part of chapter three my friends, so let me be a reminder that Colm O'Driscoll's plan to lure in Dutch after taking Arthur failed because nobody came looking for him.

He would have died being held captive any longer, he barely escaped.

The gang did not come for Arthur.

[sirenspells]

Heyyy

Collaborative effort between me and @gilfodile she made the second and fourth ones

[takkton]

Can’t stop thinking about this picture lately.

Craig is the only inkling seen and he’s single handedly decimating Octavio and countless Octarians….. because they’re all unarmed. Even Octavio just has wasabi sticks, which aren’t exactly a weapon. The most he’s seen in game using them for anything combat related is holding them up to block the player from shooting him while he’s in the Octobot King. The bamboozler is a charger so it has piercing damage which would make what little good that would do nullified. He’s grabbing Octarians by the tentacles and throwing them to the ground in one hand and shooting with the other. A few Octarians are lying still on the ground, one looking like it’s in a puddle of ink. Craig is killing the octotroopers and looks like he’s trying to do the same to Octavio. I’ve kinda felt like Craig was always the villain even when I was first playing Splatoon 1 (seriously the backstory of militarized inklings forcing Octarians to retreat underground and then attacking them further when they steal a power source even though all the inklings use it for is turf war games?), but coming back to this and seeing that Craig is the only one here with a weapon? Goes crazy. Especially since Side Order revealed Octavio does have a main weapon he used traditionally, the heavy splatling. Definitely nowhere to be seen in this pic tho.

Idk gang I think peepaw may be a war criminal.

[n0anix]

they make me mentally ill actually !!!

[necrolexic0n]

nicknames >_<

they look like matching pfps..tbh that would be hilarious credit me if yall do that

no words vers under cut

[riongeee]

Sebek probably always feels left out of Diasomnia :(

Not only is he half-fae so he can't fully relate to any of the other three, but the others act like a little family. So anytime he's with them there's always the feeling of being an outsider.

Sebek probably thinks its normal and he shouldn't really expect to be the closest person ever.

Then Yuu comes.

Somehow Yuu becomes close enough to Malleus to call him nicknames, becomes fast friends with both Lillia and Silver. So it leaves Sebek wondering if it's just something wrong with him :(

[dxoxrlinq]

ends off 2023 drawings w/ strawberry and her bestie who is (used to be) a war criminal ^_^

(close ups !!!!!!!!!)

[jaedoesart]

Dave finally snapped-

[psionyx-art]

smth smth aggressively disengages from the narrative vs aggressively sinks himself into the narrative

[bugsbenefit]

currently rewatching s3 and honestly... yeah no wonder Mike and Will had to be across the country in s4 for the plot to work they're too fucking good with this. even in s3 where they play a lot of plot support for El they're actually CARRYING the groups actions

s3 actually makes the difference between Mike and Will and the rest of the party Extremely clear. El, Max, and Lucas are lost at first, ranging from not taking Billy too seriously or just not knowing what to do

Mike and Will are the only one's with first hand experience. Will was possessed by the MF (Henry) and Mike sat next to him like this for over two days straight. Will has the intel and Mike has seen what possession looks and acts like up close. they KNOW what they're doing in s3 which is why they take the threat of Billy and the MF so serious so fast. even El has to ask them how possession works and how you can identify it. because despite having powers she still has no experience with this

that experience also gets highlighted in situations like the pool, where Max wants to wait and see what happens with Billy to know if he's flayed but Mike and Will know they have to act first

they know you don't wait until someone activates. the entire population of Hawkins lab was killed last time someone activated and they both witnessed it first hand. but the other's weren't there for that and don't really know how to deal with the current situation

also, Mike and Will are fully on the same page regarding the supernatural, which is why they're so efficient. Will gives his insight on the MF (Henry) and Mike immediately jumps to thinking of a proactive plan. the sauna idea took him less than 5 seconds

they would have completely fucked the plot of s4 over had they been in Hawkins i'm so serious. s3 literally shows us exactly why they couldn't be there:

Will can tell when Henry gets close (which s4 even confirms he is still able to do). had he been around in s4 he could've warned everyone if Vecna got to Max. no wondering when he's going to get you. Will would Know and he'd Tell you. they wouldn't lose time looking for Vecna in the Creel house, they wouldn't lose time scrambling to get headphones last minute

Mike is incredibly good at adapting prior knowledge to new situations which the Hakwins crew was Abysmal at. Mike can apply chemistry facts from years ago when it's convenient and can convert Will's possession into a working possession-test for Billy. but in s4 we have to suffer watching the crew remember that fire was the UD's weakness and then never use it on anyone but Vecna himself. a bottle of hairspray and a lighter could have gotten them out of being strangled by vines but they only had the clunky molotovs for Vecna. their planning methods directly contradict Mike's approach to plans

also. both of them act proactively. everyone at Hawkins lab died because they didn't stop Will in advance and s3 shows they learned from that. i honestly can't see a way for them to be on board with an "i'll be bait" plan. they directly argue against waiting for him to take action multiple times in s3. they KNOW that's how people die because it's too late when he gets here

and best of all. MIKE LITERALLY CALLS OUT WHY THE S4 PLAN DIDN'T WORK. word for word. you could paste this into s4 and pretend it's Mike berating them for the plan they just came up with

s4 makes it super clear that Mike and Will being absent is BAD with their friends directly commenting on how they're not here to help, and the last shot of the season being them returning to town speaks for itself, but s3 also directly shows us why. based on how they've dealt with the UD's/MF's return just six months before s4 shows how they would have approached something like s4. and at this point the two of them are too good of a team with too much experience to let them be around for it

(which would in universe most likely be Henry waiting for both of them to be out of the picture and out of universe be the writers putting them on the gay roadtrip in the weed van to be able to set up endgame s5 in peace without having them be in the way)

[charmac]

Unspoken tension ahead of Charlie Work, a wound left open in Family Fight

The Production Order (the order in which the episodes are written) always seems of some value to me in Sunny, but 10 I find especially substantial. With half of the scripts of the season written by RCG, 4 are back-to-back (with their 5th one, Psycho Pete, being 2nd in order).

The run begins after The Gang Spies like U.S. Going off that into Charlie Work, as opposed to into that off Charlie Work, paints a very different narrative for the timeline.

We leave the reveal that Mac and Dennis are jerking off together into an episode that starts with high tension between Mac and Dennis. Dennis is frustrated that Mac isn't being direct, won't look him in the eyes, he's avoidant, timid. That's interesting, because Mac isn't usually any of those things, he's direct and abrupt and loud. Off 9, fully establishing Mac is gay, juxtaposing his closeted behaviour to Country Mac's openness, 10 focuses hard on the fact that Mac's confidence is continually battered as he refuses to step out of the closet. The Gang is tired of it, but Dennis is frustrated. His words maybe cut even deeper than the scratch, "Come to me like a man. Talk about being tough all the time, can't even look me in the eyes."

We leave CW and go into Family Fight, written right after, also by RCG. This episode has big focus on Dennis' obsession with public perception of himself, and the Gang. Though he can initially handle masking his demeanor, his tone of voice, what he can't mask are his words. He's smiling, he's 'joking', but there's deep truth in what he’s saying. He's frustrated, though his frustration in the moment is intended for Frank, Mac feels it directed at him. There's a fresh wound between them, because Mac fully understands what his feelings for Dennis are now, and that’s irreparably shifted their dynamic.

Misses the Boat is the last RCG-written episode of the season. From Charlie Work, where we’re kinda first faced with the fact that Mac is now overly-concerned with how Dennis perceives him, to Family Fight, where Dennis' masks slip completely and he has a public breakdown, they both veer hard to straighten themselves. Mac, very quite literally, goes straight, and Dennis resolves that he needs to cut ties to get back to being ‘cool’, he’s going to be a cool guy who has a cool car and hangs out with a babe and is cool.

But what we learn in Misses the Boat is that how they think the world views them, or should view them based on how they believe they present, isn’t who they are. They can’t actually function well in these situations. Dennis, untethered, somehow can’t control his rage as well as he can when he *is tethered* to the Gang. Mac, well, he isn’t straight, and he realises pretending to be into women is miserable.

Dennis gives him the offer: Do you want to go back? (To not addressing it, to a standstill.) And Mac quickly, excitedly takes it. Looping back to where they are in Charlie Work, back to where they settle for too long: Mac, absorbed in himself, clawing for approval from Dennis, and Dennis lashing out, tired of telling Mac what to do.

And I think this is why I love 10 more than anything, it finally addresses the issue the audience knows. With Charlie, Dee, and Frank, too. They’re going nowhere, spiraling in circles because they refuse to address the roots of their issues, and Misses the Boat makes them, themselves, fully aware of that fact. They’re miserable together, but they’re worse off alone. And they go into 11 and beyond knowing this, and all kind of resenting each other for it, until 14. Where they acknowledge it again, and decide they’re going to keep playing the game even though it’s set.