#genuinely my main problem atm

[mistyechoes]

the lack of kokobot in my life may actually be hurting me

[yuri-is-online]

Hey, Yuri, do you think Yuu would ever run the risk of being put in danger by having a romantic relationship with any of the more high-profile members of the cast? I mean, we’ve got royalty, nobility, celebrities, and the very wealthy attending this school. I’ve just been rotating my brain about how these relationships would work out and Yuu is a pretty vulnerable target without NRC’s security. - 🦐

Hmmmmmm. I have a bunch of thoughts about this actually... I tried ranking them from least to most dangerous if that makes sense? But don't read too deeply into the bullet point placements they were mostly just a stream of consciousness thing.

Not that Risky (surprisingly)

Leona- we don't really have details about his brother's marriage, but I don't think his family has been shown to be overly keen on forming alliances with outside countries, the Savannah seems more concerned with itself. I don't think his family would be too fussed with his partner being a magicless person from outerspace, if anything this might be seen as a plus to the councilors that are always mocking Leona behind his back as his partner's lack of royal blood makes him even less fit for the throne. Not to mention Leona himself is more than enough to protect Yuu, he's the only royal at the school without a proper retainer (which you could argue is because no one at home likes him) but I doubt his family would let him do that if he was genuinely in danger.

Rook- he's Rook. His family does sound rather sweet from the very very very little we know about him (he also seems like he was kind of sheltered as a kid, something I should chew on sometime) so I doubt they would allow anything too bad to happen to Yuu.

Vil- his main issue is his contract, the Japanese Idol industry is cut throat and often sees things like bans on relationships as part of the contract. Vil doesn't want to risk his career or reputation, he mentions that he himself is a brand and I can't see him wanting to put that pressure on Yuu if they're not up for it. But... there are also celebrities who have really private personal lives and I sort of get the sense Vil is like that? And I don't think he would be too bothered if Yuu didn't want to be super public, it would certainly make it easier to keep you safe.

Idia- S.T.Y.X. might be a gloomy place but no one knows where it is

Medium Danger (danger is real but can be managed)

Jade and Floyd- we don't actually know what their family does, just that it's probably sketchy and that Mama Leech calls them every day, taught them self defense, and just generally seems to worry about them a lot. The danger is very real under the sea, but I also sort of get the sense that messing with the Leech family is skipping the fuck around and going straight to find out.

Azul- his business is going to make him enemies sooner or later, but at least during school Yuu should be more or less safe. Azul's able to keep on top of the students who mean Yuu harm, and Yuu is able to politely ignore their boyfriend's business (or maybe they have a knack for helping?) When you get older I can see Azul's need for a security team expanding, but he'll have money to get the best.

Riddle- ok so. I don't think his mom would try to kill you. But god she would be such a toxic person to manage. I'm actually working on a (very old) request atm that involves discussing what Riddle's mom might do if she finds Riddle with a partner instead of his studies (which I assume she's paying for) especially during his internship. She'd go full scorched earth and get very confused when Yuu doesn't back off like Trey did.

Huston We Have a Problem

Kalim- the amount of assassination attempts my poor boy has already canonically endured... I imagine there are probably going to be more in his future. I can see Yuu needing their own retainer (which could be a fun concept for an oc) to protect them and test their food. When Grim becomes a great mage I'm sure he could help with that actually, wouldn't that be cute?!

MALLEUS- acceptance of humans is virtually non existence in Briar Valley AND his mother hated humans so much she "blessed" her child to only be loved by fae. We don't actually know how the senate works but I imagine they would lose their ever loving shit if Malleus brought home a human as a friend and now he wants to make them his spouse? No. They say no. Time to show them what an absolute monarchy means I guess.

Assuming Yuu isn't in a relationship with Malleus I could see their friendship actually sort of being a boon to them, especially if Yuu was with Kalim or Azul. Pissing of the merchants is one thing, but the King of the Abyss? No thank you, they'll just take their losses and go.

[hazshit-hotel-hater]

Sloppy Arackniss Redesign (?)

Before I get into this, clarifying, I SAY SLURS IN THIS!!! I CAN RECLAIM SAID SLURS!!! That is all thank you. I kiss boys and love men. Carry on.

Arackniss’s design is bound to change drastically sometime eventually but atm this is just what im doing. My main problem is how he just looks exactly like angel but black. I know thats originally what the whole thing is and they’re opposites but it’s just kinda boring now. Angel is an entirely different character at this point now and Arackniss’s design should accommodate the changes while still being a bit similar looking. I want him to still look very similar to Angel in specific ways like that stupidass headshape but not because of a sibling thing. Honestly when the two were alive they hardly looked anything alike I’m 100% sure of that. Antonio (Arackniss) had black hair and much broader features and was relatively tall and kind of bulky while Anthony & Molly had light blonde hair and more subtle and soft round features and basically one of the only ways to tell them apart aside from personality was Anthony having polycoria and having bloodshot eyes pretty often.

Arackniss hardly looks how he did when he was alive anymore and has taken on many more features of Angel because of his deep rooted rivalry with his brother. I assume hating your middle-child brother that literally got named after you only to have him overdose and kill himself before actually doing anything with his life is enough to stir up more than a little bit of inner turmoil. These guys probably beat each other up OFTEN. Antonio was the first born son and dealt with so much shit before these other guys even were born and when they did show up, Anthony was named after him because their parents honestly just got lazy, and even though Molly didn’t have the name Molly yet, she was still treated like a golden child even though she contributed next to nothing to the family business which yeah that helped her in the long run but to Antonio that’s his number one priority in life. Appeasing his family is what keeps his brain running. And with that, seeing this random kid show up, get named after you, and be treated so much more leniently than you were AND he’s practically your problem because youre 15 hes like fucking 3 years old and your parents are busy all of the goddamn time AND when you DIE you take on the traits of this stupid fucking kid. He has a horrid case of eldest child syndrome and probably some insane identity issues.

This isn’t to say his hatred is only directed at Anthony either, he definitely has his issues with Molly as well, but she kept more to herself and even if she followed Anthony nonstop she was copying what Anthony was doing instead of what he was doing. Copying is the highest form of flattery but flattery gets annoying when everyone cares about the younger “better behaved” version of you. This is one of the biggest reasons Arackniss berates Angel now and in the past. Even though they havent spoken in years, Arackniss still holds Angel to the status of “faggot” because that was practically the only thing he was “worse” than him at. It was the biggest dirt he had on Angel possible to the point that became a genuine used name for him as Anthony “the fag” Benetti. Finding out your angel of a brother is gay during a time where it’s heavily frowned upon, especially by your own family is like a gold mine.

Arackniss is NOT a good person if you couldn’t somehow tell already. He’s homophobic, has a masculinity and classism problem, has little to no regard for other’s well being, and a bunch of other shit. For as distressed as he was over Anthony’s death, a lot of it was because it left their family even more dysfunctional. To him it was Anthony abandoning everyone because they weren’t worth enough to keep him going and then in return he continues to be praised and talked about so wonderfully as if he never did anything wrong “just because he’s dead”.

Thats just BEFORE Arackniss died too! AFTER dying shit got even worse to the extent he ended up even getting disowned! How fun!! This part delves more into Husk and his backstory as well which I think I may save for another time, but these guys know each other and have a lot of beef and also simultaneously are kind of chill in an odd way? By the way, Angel also has the big neck puff, he just shaves it because he doesn’t like the look and like association from trauma

[majachee]

did you say….a power rangers x td au?

IVE BEEN TRYING TO MAKE ONE BUT HAVENT BEEN ABLE TO THANK YOUUUUUUUUUU I owe my life to you power rangers was the shit

please yap about it I’m begging

IT CAME TO ME IN A VISION EARLY ONE MORNING, AND IT HASN'T LEFT MY BRAIN.

I am writing a fic about it, though it isn't my number 1 priority wip atm cuz its just smth silly and self-indulgent, but because I now know there's someone out there REALLY DIGGING THIS IDEA, it'll be moved up on my list by a few notches lol

This AU is heavily focused on comedy and action, so rather than assigning TD characters to PR roles that they'd actually fit, I went with what would be REALLY FUNNY to write about.

So the Rangers consist of Harold (red), Duncan (Black), Noah (blue), Courtney (yellow), and Heather (pink).

These guys were assigned to work on a lab/project for their science class, specifically on the effects of pollution, littering, and climate change. No take-backsies, they're stuck with eachother and 4/5 of these guys don't want to fail... 4/5 of these guys are also assholes.

After some healthy doses of bitching, they agree to meet up and study an abandoned rig. But GASP! They get attacked by some guys... made of putty? Damn dude that's CRAAAAAAZYYY

... this is specifically based on the MMPR tv show, and I'm very tempted to draw the putty monsters exactly like how their costumes look in the show (silver fullbody suits with seams visible and monster claws/masks.) Listen, the putty monster costumes bring me A LOT OF JOY, I genuinely love this show dO NOT @ ME (unless its for mmpr fanart... please @ me...)

Anyways, these assholes fumble through the fight: Harold shows off the skills he learned at Defensive Steve's Defense Class, Noah gets thrown off a small cliff because he weighs less than a paper weight, Courtney feels the exciting rush of bloodlust for the first time... Normal stuff, really!

Of course, this ends up with all 5 of them being summoned (lazer kidnapped) to Power Rangers Headquarters! And it's revealed that Zorgon's role was taken by Chris McClean I'm SORRY. Look, it's funny. He has the same personality he does in canon, but instead of running a reality TV show centered around teens, he has to babysit a small group of teens who hate eachother. This will be really funny in execution, I promise.

Some of the kiddos have a few words to say about the Dinozords... cuz half of them aren't even dinosaurs. Also, they do NOT like the idea of being forced to work together on a color-coded superhero team of all things!

Drama Bot is Alpha, it focuses on the team's publicity ratings.

Rita Repulsa? Meet Blainely McBlamey!! SELF EXPLANATORY!!

I love Rita Repulsa, so Blainely fans consider this a very high honor.

The Green Ranger is Alejandro.

I plan on having the AU mostly focus on campy episodic adventures with some character development sprinkled in, and having the more important PR plots be... well... important and more thoroughly executed, if I ever get around to it.

As for the main gang themselves?

Harold is quite stoked and honored about being a superhero, and quickly ends up being the team leader and team morale – due to his smarts, and quick-to-forgive personality. He doesn't take shit from anyone, but he also won't hold grudges, especially on the battlefield... Though he does have a slight problem with going on long tangents about certain factoids (same...)

He has a vast array of skills and knowledge at his disposable... It all depends on how/when he uses said skills lmao. So far he's probably the least developed one in this AU, right next to Duncan. That'll change when I write more of them.

Courtney? Oh... Oh you KNOW she likes being a Power Ranger. She preaches about the importance of morals, and upholding laws, and how some people ought to respect the responsibilities that come with being a Power Ranger... and some people are more deserving of being recognized as heroes than others. Courtney I love you and I hope I do you justice... mwah... She very much likes taking the lead, and claims that she should be the team leader... and valedictorian, and class president... Oh yeah, you KNOW she worries about her grades a lot, especially after becoming a Ranger. She becomes a lot more productive with her passion as the story goes on, and learns to trust and respect her teammates.

Noah takes on the role of reluctant tactician... Aka the smartass. Physical activites aren't his forte, and he plans on keeping it that way. He relies on his Zord the most, and when that isn't available he resorts to evasive maneuvers and hiding while the other guys handle it. Him staying on the sidelines, however, does lead to him being more observant to the enemies' weaknesses, which will eventually lead to him having a more active role in the team as the main tactician. I'd imagine once that happens, he'll have a lot of interesting back-and-forths with Harold and Courtney. Still a sarcastic, laidback asshole, but more active in his participation when it comes to the team.

Duncan... is more aligned with his season 1 and early season 2 personality. No cheating or love triangles here. He is still an ASSHOLE, though, especially to Harold and Noah. They don't take his shit. I dont have much to say about him yet iM SORRYYYYYY

Asshole punk with a heart of gold... that's his schtick alright...

HEATHER MY BELOVED. She looks hella good in pink and she knows it. She doesn't like being a part of this team, but by god will she put the effort in, because she doesn't want to die to some clay-freak. Her zord-buddy is the pterodactyl, which she finds to be quite convenient, considering it's on the smaller side and can fly, very easy for aerial advantage. Very hellbent on defeating Blainely McBlamey, because once she's defeated they can all go on with their lives. Presumably... evil grin...

I don't know how to really put it in more fancy words, but like... Heather is the most active participant along with Harold and Courtney. She's very headstrong, tends to butt heads with Courtney a lot (not only are they both stubborn, but they also both view themselves as the leader of the group. Nobody realizes it's Harold, not even Harold himself, dramatic irony at its finest.)

Everyone on the team loses their shit when Alejandro (the enemy[tm]) gets a frickin' DRAGON-ZORD of all things.

If yiu have questions about specific characters or MMPR episodes, I'll do my best to answer lol

[losergames]

natasha telling me that jonno can hump whomever he wants, telling me, his assistant, behind closed doors…yeah i get it..i can read between the lines, don’t worry miss, I’ll make that man have a sexuality crisis don’t you worry🫡🫡 (can’t wait to see more of Natasha and jonno together, evil threesome when?)

Just found your work yesterday and I really enjoyed myself playing it! The start of the story really gets you drawn in immediately and I really enjoy the realism of the MCs life. Originally I thought my character would be a bit more charming and intrigued by the crime aspect, but then when I started playing he became an autistic mess who tried to run away every chance he got and did not want to do this😎 which normally would be a problem because he has to engage in the crime But the way you’ve written being 25+ and stuck in a job that you don’t like, the money stress, the inherent loneliness of seeing your friends thrive and grow while you stay stagnant…(first of very relatable ow) but then it gets easy to go yeah of course he’ll commit to doing crimes. It’s scaring him shitless, but…It would make you feel like you have some control over your life when it feels like your life just happens to you, just based on that its worth it. Seeing a group of people work together and hangout together when you have one friend who you’re growing apart from..again of course you jump into it. Plus money is a very nice bonus.

Idk I just love that the story works no matter how you play it and I love exploring that stuck in life aspect in fiction, since I can’t seem to figure it out in real life atm haha. You’ve truly captured something special and I’m looking forward to further updates! And I can’t wait to get to talk to KJ again because him x the main character dynamic possibilities are just mwah mwah. Thanks for your hard work!

anon it's like u read my mind... like, who wouldn't want to accidentally fall into the world's weirdest threesome with your boss who you hate and his fiancee you also kinda hate

and thank you so much! it's so nice getting messages about the game where the reader really just Gets it y'know. augh!!! genuinely it's really touching knowing there is someone who's on the same wavelength as me haha -- so thank you! you've given me a great boost and i hope i can continue to write more for you <3

[headcanontheshitoutofsoulsborne]

Guys, I have a confession to make. I have zero interest in playing the Elden Ring DLC atm. I still will open up headcanons for it starting August 1st. I spoiled myself on the lore and I made screenshots and got screenshots from friends for the most important characters. I think a couple are still missing like Ymir or Bayle, but I find a way around. But now under the cut I want to say the why I can't bring myself to play the Elden Ring DLC right now:

So... I was genuinely excited for this DLC. It would give us Miquella lore. It would finally tell us what his deal is. We can finally see his plan to save his sister etc etc. And then I saw people being REALLY disgruntled about the DLC. Mostly Mohg fans. So I got curious... far too curious. "What are they so upset about?" And so I looked up spoilers. I looked up who the final boss of the DLC is. Only to be slapped in the face with Radahn. Freaking Radahn! Apparently he and Miquella are doing a twin princes situation?! After that relevation I ran to AO3 to look at the ship tags...

Not. a. single. Miquella/Radahn. fic. had. been. written. pre. DLC. That DLC... just gave us a crackship that had nobody on the agenda and made it CANON! I couldn't believe it. But I first wanted to play through the DLC and see if I can take something from it that I like. And yeah, there are things I like from the lore, but I cannot help but think that final boss is bullshit that someone pulled out of their ass. Malenia whispering to Radahn in the story trailer is not enough for me. Okay, so I played the game, but... ...while the exploring is as fun as in the main game... It suffers from the same problems I have with the Elden Ring main game end game. Enemies with bloated HPs, FAR too long combos and I just don't have fun learning a boss when I heal after a combo and the animation is too slow so they hit me again with the start of their next combo. I don't want to summon my mimic tear for every single boss. Really not. But sometimes the DLC feels like it forces me to because I am not fast enough anymore. Why are all these bosses on speed? Sigh... it just isn't much fun to me anymore. What I liked so much in Dark Souls and Bloodborne, the hard and fair gameplay, seemed to have reduced to "hard for the sake of being hard". And yes, I collected Scadu Tree fragments. Doesn't change the fact that the bosses still have insanely long combos that my brain cannot comprehend. One day I will play through the DLC. I paid money for it after all... but after that sorely disappointing final boss reveal and the game being more of the weakest part of Elden Ring (at least for me), I don't feel like playing atm. I kinda hope that FromSoft takes a long break from Soulsborne now and thinks about where they want to go with it.

[ialwaysknewyouwerepunk]

Hey Ella. I thought I'd come to you with this because you always give off a kind and sympathetic nature so at the very least I won't be treated like a shitty person for what I want to say.

I'm really struggling with Harry atm and it's actually kinda devastating because I never saw this happening. There is so much around Harry that I vehemently dislike, from the people around him to aspects of his public image and narrative. I was so good at separating all that from Harry himself but lately I've been feeling my bitterness bleeding onto Harry. I've seen this happen so much. People who were originally fans getting annoyed at small things and that growing bigger into bitterness and hate. I don't want to be one of these people.

What is making this worse is that I as a person do not place a high value on things like career and ambition. Not in my own life and not in others. So it's getting hard for me to relate and support Harry in his ambition as to me there are infinitely more important things in life. This wasn't a major factor before because his fame and success wasn't at the level it is now.

I honestly don't know what I'm trying to do with this message. I guess I would just appreciate some perspective if you're willing because I genuinely do not want to start resenting Harry. Honestly just typing this is making me tear up.

hi kind anon, i think you're dealing with a pretty common problem in the fandom these days. it's tough to feel like you don't relate to someone you really always felt comfort with. maybe a first step is to take a breather from the fandom as well as gp/main media talk about harry. no twitter (and i'm not saying this bc i have a weird biased thing against twitter. it's a place where opinions are thrown around like it's something ppl have been begging for, like it's fact, and it's really hard to keep reading opinions and debates without getting influenced), no harry content on instagram, no tiktok. i am not interested in anything others have to say about him, and i actively shield myself from it. i don't watch videos others have made with commentary, i don't read articles, i don't even read discourse on here usually. i think the habit of picking everything apart, of making sure you focus on the negative to properly enjoy the positive, is unhealthy, or at least for me. i know myself enough to not fall into blindness or naivety when it comes to what's wrong with enormous success and the industry. i just don't feel the need to get into it every time harry achieves something.

when it comes to harry's ambition and success, i just know (from what he's shown over the years, but the full extent we never will) how much it means to him. i think it's also a mix of actually wanting to be big for him and getting as high as he can to prove that he can to everyone who told him he couldn't. i don't relate to it either, and i don't think it's cool to have all those riches, but i still cry with harry when he cries of joy at his madison sq garden banner. i'm okay living with that nuance without always debating it. i love his music, i love his artistic vision, i love his lyrics, i love the way he carries himself. i also know i don't know him, that i never will, and that there are things he does and says i don't agree with. i have the exact same thing with some of my lifelong best friends, as they have with me. i'm okay with that. happy, even, of how unique and imperfect we all are

what i do, and what keeps me so in love with harry beyond the noise of the gp and the fandom, is focus on what makes me love him. remember that this is an interest, something that makes you happy, and not your object of study, or your career in politics. enjoy it all for you, enjoy it offline as well. and then, i guess, if that doesn't do the trick, a few steps away from harry and all that surrounds him might be necessary to let go of the bitterness. bc you can also just stop liking something, and that's also okay

[charmcoindied]

can you infodump about wrestling for those of us who would like to understand what you are talking about in the coming days. wrestling is like comics to me. how and where do i even start to understand whats going on

the way i rose from my bed to make this post like a zombie from the grave . i love u

i made a post earlier about capital collision & bash in berlin those are the two big events going on this weekend. capital collision is a show from new japan pro wrestling which obviously is from japan but they occasionally do shows in the us under the new japan STRONG branding so this one is happening in washington dc tonight. it's actually a really interesting time for njpw because they just had their big summer tournament finish up where the winner gets a shot for their big championship belt at wrestle kingdom (kind of like their wrestlemania). it happens in january so a lot of the stuff happening in njpw for the next couple months will be setting up for that. i don't Actually know how much i'm gonna post about this one but i might talk about it a little cause there are a couple guys i like wrestling tonight Yayyy. i'm not as interested in the stories going on here i just think tussling is fun

i don't actually follow wwe that much (i usually just watch the big shows at this point instead of watching raw/smackdown every week) so i'm not 100% sure of all the details of what's going on but bash in berlin is a ple happening tomorrow afternoon. the main thing i know is that cm punk and drew mcintyre are going to be in a strap match where they're tied together and beating each other with a leather strap. how punk keeps getting himself into situations like this i'll never know. the tl;dr on this one is genuinely just that they've been psychosexually obsessed with each other for months and beating each other up over it idk what else to say. cody rhodes and kevin owens are also fighting for the big title which i have no idea really what led to that happening but i like both of those guys so yayyyyy i hope they have fun.

aew collision is also happening tomorrow night they just had their biggest show of the year in london last weekend and a lot of things happened. it was a preddy good show but it also tied up a lot of storylines so they're having to set new ones up pretty quickly since their next ppv is like september 7th or something. i don't know if they announced any matches for this week yet or not but whatever happens will probably be kind of wild though idk if it will be as wild as wednesday's dynamite (their main weekly show)

as for actually getting into wrestling i think you do it the same way you get into comics you find a guy you really want to fuck (or who has a lot of psychological problems that you want to study) and you watch every match they've ever had. and by doing that you probably will meet some other guys you think are neat and watch things they're doing. i think now is a really good time to start watching aew (my Personal favorite wrestling promotion atm) because they just wrapped up such a big show but honestly you don't need to jump into current stuff / watching weekly tv right away because there is just so much wrestling out there you can always come back to. just pick a guy who you want to shake really hard and the rest kind of falls into place

[chatadile2]

Hi! Would you be willing to share anything more about your sidestep? 👀 no pressure, of course, but I’d love to hear more about them!

Hihi, yee don't mind don't mind, thank you for the ask and the interest in her!

One thing before I do tho, that this might change later on mattering from how the next 2 books will be when they come out (not like I'm gonna really remember my choices, so probably will replay and deviate from how I did originally in most things), but overall it shouldn't really, just wanna let my Sidestep actually have a happy life after what happened and be able to heal <:D

Also this is going to be long from what I have written so far, way more than I expected, but hope it's alr :D

(It probably has spoilers in there, but tried to not say too much to make sure anyone reading won't be getting the full picture, till they get there. Also edited it, so it has a cut, cause realised that it might take up more space in searches than I want it to)

-Her name is Tiaxy Draconic (based on my sona since I like to have her in any kind of interactive book story to see what can happen with her and to enjoy the story a bit more personally), a gal with white skin, longer braided blond hair and green eyes, who is a seasoned tech-savy tactician, that becomes very conflicted by the events retribution towards her own self, her villain persona, puppet, life and emotions overall making things more complicated than ever,

-Big sweet toothed telepath, favourite sweet specifically is cheescake!

-Her villain name is Tiamat, based on the goddess and looks somewhat like what they designed for her in the game Smite (Overall my sona herself is connected in a way to the goddess in her own lore outside of the books, so seemed most fitting to make it her villain self's armor), but made to fit the story a bit better, other than with the armor having an expressive face on the helmet, which can show her emotions well enough when she wants it to that can be controlled with cams inside the head aimed at her face and with through the ui. The armor itself wouldn't be exactly like the book describes, being apart, but together, like the power armor in fallout (much more to my liking for what I'm imagining an armor of hers is). It's in the terrifying category with speed, jet boost and telepathy enhancing, helping to keep the "no hit record" alive and well enough that she only got hit majorly once, she isn't planning to get hit majorly anymore even if the armor can take it,

-Main motivation as a villain is justice and truth on the other side and she is an anarchist in the 1st playthrough, mattering from which I like, might switch to another (not really into the politics, but doesn't mean I didn't like punting a guy in one of the later missions tho),

-Her base is an abandoned office building (or whatever it was, can't remember the exact name atm), she refurbished it enough to live there, making sure her armor is close enough by for easy access, old apartment wasn't bad though, she lived well enough, manipulating rich peeps to give her their money, funding her life easily, puppet stayed above the apartment after she moved though,

-As a villain, she isn't trying to kill anyone, atleast any civilians (anyone else will get punted if they are in the way), knows they aren't the problem and tries to show the truth to them and to overall everyone, trying to plant doupt where it needs to be present, even if it's naive at that time, her goals are overall heroic rather than villanious,

-She might pretend a lot, masking as she had always done in fear of being seen and recognised, she is trying/starting to be more positive and genuine towards the end, not by much, but it's way bigger difference then in rebirth with her being very antisocial, it might bite her later though, like before, but hopefully can get out of trouble in the next books,

-Says she doesn't want to keep her friends, yet does, doesn't wanna interact with them, yet does and runs into them by accident a lot, doesn't want to love anyone, yet again does and says things she says she didn't actually want and why did she even do so, for example, she agreed to get together with Herald when she didn't exactly plan to, surpising even her own self and ofc making Herald very happy (he is too much of a positive influence on her, both physical and mental, and she couldn't say no, even tho she thinks she wanted to, she didn't, she can't deny it >:]),

-She overall knows something is wrong with her, broken (literally, yknow yknow when), and instead of keeping the destructive habits, tries to get herself together proper and tries to heal, as well as her own self allows and is able of course, and even tries to accept herself somewhat even if it's very hard, she agreed to see the therapist too by Ortega's wishes and recommendation in rebirth and didn't push them away too much in retri, didn't reveal too much either, but wasn't overall hostile, so didn't really regret it that much compared to when she agreed to it and said it helped some,

-Nightmares are still plenty regardless of change (which I hope will change later and she actually can get sleep, cause my god she needs it, every sidestep needs to have a good night sleep),

-As mentioned, she is starting to accept herself, so she is starting to use her puppet a bit less after 2 years and deciding to start going by herself more to wherever she needs to be or mainly in armor rather most of the time though,

-Speaking of the puppet, his name is Jake a white skinned, green eyed, black and green wild haired guy, who got together with Ortega in rebirth and are eternally flirting in retri, which is still the case by the end,

-Puppet met Ortega while boxing, getting some emotions out, they train whenever they can,

-As herself, she became Herald's coach, which was the extent she wanted the connection be, but things took a turn for possibly better than expected,

-Became even more friendly friends by retri with Steel, Ortega, Herald (ofc, who wouldn't) and Mortum through her puppet (broke my heart through the first playthrough tho of retri when Tia gave him the gun as herself and decided it's as good as of a time to tell him something very important [I never regretted anything more in my life, physical and mental damage irl that I didn't think was possible ;-;], hoping tho that it won't bite me later and actually be agood thing),

-Since she unintentionally (def intentionally, even if she doesn't realise) got closer with most of the rangers (other than Argent, they are netrual since rebirth), they all noticed something up with her and always ask "are you okay?", which she at the 4th time was like "why is everyone keep asking me this???", which was honestly pretty funny, getting asked so many times if she is, ofc she isn't, but she won't gonna say it just yet (she did admit it a bit though, with Ortega in rebirth, he did recommend the therapist for a reason),

-Spoon is still the best thing that happened interms of animal interactions, she enjoyed her time with Steel there a ton,

-Would absolutelly be a cat person, if she didn't know better, wouldn't mind a dog either (she needs a therapy dog by the end, I swear, hoping and praying here [even if that doesn't happen, rat king might be better for that purpose for Sidestep specifically]),

-Other than the rangers and a select few, she isn't fond of people regardless of how much change she goes through, that won't change, antisocial all the wayyy babbbyyyy other than friends ofc,

-Compared to rebirth, she calmed down a lot more from the high of her villain self's deput, still that doesn't mean she isn't excited to go and be the villain whenever the time comes, that's still exciting regardless, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have her doubts about wether or not it is truly the right path she decided upon after everything,

-Likes rainy days and water overall. Likes to just watch rainfall from her room, esp likes it when it pours. It's somehow pretty terapeutic just watching and listening to the rain fall. Whenever she is able, she does go to the beach to listen to the waves,

-Likes to wear an almost fully black coat, which is just a very dark shade of blue, likes the fact it is long and almost reach the ground, under it a light blue shirt, with long dark purple pants and formal-ish shoes that are made to make sure she can walk on wet and otherwise problematic surfaces without any trouble, and she wears white gloves.

And I think that's it atm, can't remember more from the top of my head and I think this is plenty for now anyways, I wrote down a lot more than I expected to have! Hopefully this can give a bit more inside into my darling Sidestep, since I'm an artist, I might even draw them depending on if I can stick with what I'm drawing and not just put it on the shelf for later, yknow yknow gjjfj.

Again, thank you for the interest in my gal! If you have anymore questions about her that are more specific and not answered here, just lmk! I don't mind talking about it and aswering, I rather enjoy doing so :]

[acephysicskarkat]

Hello, saw some of your anti c//a that mention how you think c//a is a bad enemies-to-lovers ship while griddlehark is a good one, and may i ask how that is? Genuine question, because i don’t like c//a, and i’m neutral on griddlehark (mainly because I don’t know much atm), from what i’ve seen/heard, it seems like it’s a lot more toxic of a dynamic than c//a is initially/pre canon? Again not trying to bait, am gen curious /genuine

This is going to be kind of disjointed, and I apologise, but this is kind of a topic that defies a simple summary.

Bear in mind that ahead be big Locked Tomb spoilers and the SP0P spoilers that basically everyone already knows.

I would say that the two critical differences are 1) the handling of the toxicity within the narrative, and 2) the structure and arrangement of the toxicity.

You are absolutely correct that pre-canon Griddlehark's mutual hatred is a toxic dynamic. They initially detest each other with a passion; one of the main plot points driving the entire series is a young Harrow having Gideon's blood under her nails after a fight.

As Gideon and Harrowhark work together, however - and here is the point where 100% of bad enemies-to-lovers arcs crash and burn - the toxicity goes down. It never becomes totally healthy - indeed, post-GtN Harrow invents an entirely new way to have an unhealthy relationship, involving performing brain surgery on herself at 17 - but the majority of the narrative is spent showing them moving from "would piss on the other's grave given the chance" to a mutually tolerated working relationship, to a growing loyalty, to the pool scene where Harrow shows Gideon more honesty and trust than she's had from anyone in her life. A lot of what makes this work is pacing and structure; every new step works because it's building on the previous ones, none of them feeling jarringly fast or unmotivated.

More than that, a big help is that the toxicity feels intentional. The relationship being Kinda Fucked is a 100% intentional thing that I'm pretty sure I've seen Tamsyn Muir talking about in interviews. It's a narrative element that Muir is monitoring and adjusting with the care of a good zookeeper trying to keep the humidity in the reptile enclosure exactly right.

(I genuinely cannot praise the writing in these books enough.)

Turning to SP0P as a contrast, its relationship has a more understated toxicity, but a much more pervasive one. Young Adora and C*tra weren't clawing at each other's faces whenever left unsupervised, but young C*tra sure did claw at Adora's face for wanting to have more than one friend! It's not the PVP arena of Growing Up Griddlehark, but "you are my friend, therefore your needs are subordinate to mine" is still far from a healthy dynamic, and the narrative never addresses it.

The bigger problem, though, is that the toxicity doesn't so much "go down" as trace out a parabola. The entire first half of the narrative shows the toxicity going up sharply, to the point of C*tra being willing to die just to make Adora miserable, then it hovers there for another quarter, and then it returns to an earlier level of toxicity. S5 C*tra's treatment of Adora stays awful. She spends "Taking Control" throwing a tantrum over how the real problem is Adora and the others being mad at her; she portrays herself as the wounded party in her like four separate murder attempts on Adora in "An Ill Wind" to produce the worst line of the show; she continues throwing tantrums whenever she doesn't get what she wants and making everything about herself right up to the love confession, including that confession ("stay with me, the person who spent four seasons refusing to stay with you!"). It feels bizarre that Adora goes from "even if you're my best friend, I won't let you blame me for shit that isn't my fault" in S4 to doing nothing but looking sad when C*tra portrays her as being in the wrong for not just meekly standing by while C*tra burned down her home and murdered her friends.

And - and I'll acknowledge that a big part of this is probably executive fuckery, I just don't think that really matters - the pacing and structure absolutely are not helping. I could buy S5's sudden reversal if C*tra and Adora had had a fun, weightless enmity where there was an obvious respect between them. They don't. C*tra spends a truly distressing amount of time utterly consumed by the desire to cause Adora as much pain as possible, to the point of attempting a murder-suicide on the entire world. No point in S2-S4 shows a C*tra who Can't Bring Herself to Really Hurt Adora, regardless of the things the stans have convinced themselves they saw; she's so totally driven by spite that she tears her own life to shreds in the hope Adora will be caught up in the edges. The relationship has to do a sudden R*ylo swerve rather than building on what's gone before because "what's gone before" is like three plot points in the first season that have been narratively overwhelmed by C*tra's multiseason campaign of cruelty like a single pea being weighed against the USS Nimitz.

This is where intentionality comes into play. The toxicity in c/a is just there. For all the bullshit about C*tra's story being about what happens when you're the toxic friend, it doesn't feel like an intentional narrative element that is seriously being examined; it feels like a writing fuck-up where C*tra was supposed to feel like way less of a stalker asshole.

Anyway, I hope this has made some vague semblance of sense, but I've been at this for like an hour and I'm tired and I need to go check on a craft project.

[petrichor-idyllic]

Listen, I know that y'all are here for my TMR content, but at least one of you has asked me for an OBX piece and I'm going through a phase, so I thought I'd say my piece on this.

A think a main point of tension in the fan base atm the moment is Jiara (Kiara x JJ).

Now- I would like to clarify that I love the show, and I really like Kie as a character, and even though JJ is my favourite character, I'm not a delusional fangirl who dislikes their relationship because of that.

I, at the end of season 2, actually really liked them and thought they would make a cute couple.

But, as of season 3, I do not like them together.

Hear me out.

I, personally (as in this is my opinion pls dont shout at me), do not like them in season 3.

My main problem with the show and the relationships in the group is that it is incredibly heteronormative - which also increased with Cleo joining the group (I absolutely love Cleo she is an icon I have no problems with her). But like, a friend group with the same amount of boys and girls does not mean that everyone has to pair up. People can just be mates. And while the cast is obviously very diverse, which is brilliant we love to see it, there is not one slightly queer character in the show.

And, Madison Bailey, who plays Kiara, literally has a girlfriend in real life. Idk maybe I will just die on the headcanon hill that Kie is a lesbian because she is an interesting character and I do not care about the whole relationship drama between her and the boys.

Another point people keep arguing over is that Kie and JJ was forced.

And like, no, it wasn't- we've been seeing them subtly flirt for 2 seasons. It's been made obvious that JJ obviously has feelings for Kie; literally in the first episode. And, after season 2, it's clear Kie likes him too.

But, it does feel forced.

Like, it's established they like each other, but they've always liked each other and have gotten into the most horrendous situations without saying anything. So why now?

JJ feels normal - but Kie feels kinda out of character. Like, maybe she just had enough and couldn't hold back anymore, like, girl, I get you. But they used to have good, flirty but friendly energy, and it feels like the writers were forcing tension between them. Which is extra annoying cause it's at the expense of my boy Pope.

Also, just throwing it out there, the whole "I love you, dude" scene didn't even process as a love confession to me - it was only JJ's reaction that made me realise. I think it's because me and my mates say we love each other all the time and the "dude" made it feel like her just trying to convince him she cares over having genuinely strong feelings for him.

Though the Kitty Hawk rescue was peak from JJ and absolutely that I expected their romantic relationship to be- it's just everything before that.

And don't get me started on the time skip.

It's some really bizarre writing. Like, they make sense, but the way it all went down just doesn't make sense to me for some strange reason.

Idk how to explain it. It feels rushed, like whilst they've been friends for years, we didn't really see any progress or realisation from Kiara's side. Like, maybe a scene where she talks to Sarah about it and says she doesn't know what to do and she thinks she's starting to fall for JJ could've made it feel less... off. Something as simple of that could've really added to it in my opinion. Like, we didn't see Kie's feelings for JJ outside of their interactions with each other.

If that makes sense, I'm struggling to explain here.

I hope yall get me here lmao.

[tiredassmage]

SHOW US YOUR OUTFIT DESIGNER SLOTS TYR

send a swtor oc + I'll reveal some bits about their outfitter slots!

kfdlnaldsfnl see the problem with tyr is wHICH OF THE LIKE THREE RUNS OF HIM WOULD YOU LIKE??? lmaooo, he has. a slightly different set for each one. send help!!!

So uhh, in short, his most recent run (2nd... replay, 3rd run of his agent story overall) only has about 7 currently in-use, but he's barely started Chapter Two, so I promise this will change.

Because my main run for him (1st replay, 2nd overall run) on Satele Shan he has... >.> [sweats] I think he's at like 20 or something? I'm scared to count again.

But replay Tyr does have one of my favorite outfits for him atm, I think. I might need to add this into his slots on SS. My only possible alteration to this one is I don't have a rifle currently stamped to it, but I think it's because I am... genuinely equipped with one I wanted to stick with for a while.

So this is both a more casual set of gear for him and something that's meant to blend a little bit more with the SIS team. It's less uniform and sharp edges than his typical gear for Imperial Intelligence, which means it's both a good fit for the team and something he's more likely to wear when he and his own crew are just off the Phantom for the few unscheduled days they do get away from Intel.

And I apparently do not have any of this color unified, but the top is dyed.

E-313 Heavy Repeating Disruptor (Rifle, available from the specialty vendor on Tatooine, iirc?)

Corellian Pilot's Jacket (Primary Black Dye Module)

Corellian Pilot's Pants + Boots (This set is my new work horse; not quite a complete replacer for the way I overutilize the everloving fuck out of the Frontline Slicer's set for him but anyway)

Secret Agent's Gloves (bc I'm. abnormal about this man in fingerless gloves)

Intelligence Agent's Belt

and Theron Shan's bracers

I get a giggle out of using a few agent pieces from a few different sets because he is one and he ends up romancing Theron, lol, but Tyr can enjoy something that feels comfortable and isn't restrictive or over the top enough to stop him from working in it. It's functional, it's comfortable, I think he looks good in black, and dare I allow Tyr to also think he looks good in black.

Tyr's uhm. runaway fashion on his like. 20 outfitter slots IS available, and I have it split into two posts, lmao, kinda based around era. His SS playthru ~vanilla 1-50 collection can be found here (woe, my affection for Frontline Slicer's Boots be upon ye!), and his updates for what I've made him in the expacs can be found here. I don't... think he's spontaneously generated more since that post... but now I have to check because I'm already here.

OKAY, HE HAS NOT. THAT DOES NOT MEAN I'M SAFE. So long as this man has open outfitter slots, I'm so not safe. Please pray for me. Maybe stop praying for Tyr. He might be too powerful at this point.

His og run on Star Forge still exists but his inventory and his outfitter is kind of all over the place and most of his truly good and important 'fits made it into the SS playthru with what I'd call only positive updates.

And yes. He has expensive taste. Maybe pray for my wallet, while we're at it.

[darcyolsson]

hiii i need some advice, i was hoping you could give me your opinion, no pressure, only if you feel like it

sooo it was my bday a couple of days ago. my ex bf would normally always send me a happy birthday text. it’s been 5 years since we broke up and he hadn’t missed one birthday up until now. we’re on friendly terms, but like we only talk twice a year (+bday texts), only over text. this august i thought i saw him on the street but i was in a rush so i couldn’t stop and i know he didn’t see me. i later texted to confirm if it was really him, and he responded with a “i wish you could’ve said hi, would love to talk” so i asked him if he wanted to meet up for coffee sometime and he said he was too busy with a family thing and asked if he could get me back in 2 weeks or so. 2 weeks later he texted saying that it’d be best for us to not meet up atm. i didnt ask why. he said maybe we could arrange to meet when we’re back in our uni city (we share a hometown and go to different unis in the same city) and i was like, “yeah maybe! let’s keep in touch” and we haven’t talked since. is it wrong of me to expect HIM to text first? i feel like if i ask again, i might seem pathetic? but like. i do want to see him. i don’t have any romantic feelings left for him but i care about him regardless. am i supposed to just let him go? but then he’s very friendly and warm whenever we do talk. idk. is him not texting me a ‘polite’ way of saying ‘i don’t wanna talk to you anymore’? am i being ghosted? why say “maybe we can meet later” if you don’t wanna meet at all? anyway all of this is backstory for my main question: his birthday is in a couple of days should i send him a happy birthday message or not?

to answer your final question swiftly, no! he didn't send you a happy birthday and he's been ignoring you for ages, he does not deserve a happy birthday wish from you!!

overall, it does sound like he's trying to subtly distance himself from you, or if he's kind of unsure whether he wants you in his life or not, though the really nice way he talked to you before does make that feel really weird bc why would he do that??

but honestly, even then, i think it's best to just accept the distance he put between you, intentional or unintentional. i get that it's hard to let go of people, especially if someone just sort of ghosts you and you get no real closure, but in my experience there's no real reward in keeping someone in your life who brings you so much confusion and stress and can't even text you back, even if you have fond memories of him in the past. put very simply, you deserve to be around people who appreciate you as much as you appreciate them, and it doesn't feel like he's thinking about you as much as you're thinking about him.

and yeah, it's absolutely his turn to message you after all this! in the case that he really does want to see you and this vague behaviour is genuinely due to outside circumstances, he'll realise he forgot to text you soon enough and make up for it. and yeah, he might realise, and then not make up for it, but honestly if he doesn't that says enough i think!!!

anyway, i get it, and i think i'd have the same exact problems as you!! but from past experience i feel like endlessly trying to get someone to contact you when they won't or can't usually does more harm than good. best of luck with his, i hope he texts you back, but no worries if not.

[binalakai]

🍅🧅🍏🥑 wahoo fruit party!!

How misunderstood is your OC? In-universe or IRL. oh god. okay. okay Hue Man on Earth is a story that is. REALLY hard for me to share, despite how much I do try to talk about it publicly (or at least update my toyhouse as much as possible when i feel like doing that), there's always that sense of. people either boiling my characters down to Tropes/who's the Bad one and who's the Good One. whos the character thats meant to be a personal attack on someone (none of them are) n whos the character that is meant to be relatable (none of them are PURPOSELY written to be that way) n it just. really goddamn sucks sometimes. i could talk about specifics with my main trio specifically, over the course of time that i've had Hue, Magni, and Clyde, theyve all been weirdly misunderstood in their own way that i have gotten to the point of having to reevaluate those folks n look inward into seeing if that perception of themselves can be weaved into the plot. but honestly i think ill catch myself in a bad mood atm if i think about it too hard. tldr on that; i try to microdose my story when sharing it to others, n even then i get really nervous about the idea that my story wont be valued/understood as a whole, which is partially of my own doing as well bc i do have a tendency to Put a Lot into characters once i get super attached to them. ..so nowadays im too burned out to do that :"P once i make that pitch bible, it probably still wont fix that, but its still a project im committing to nonetheless! 🧅 [ONION] What is surefire to make your OC cry? Who knows of this information? Hue) hard to answer with a creature like him. objectively, he doesnt cry. its not needed for him to release emotion the same way it does for Earth-things. but he does it anyway, or at least the equivalent (letting go of parts of his body in droplets from his eyes, just for them to crawl back to his body) it's less about "am i sad right now and do i have to cry" and more like "is crying appropriate for this situation.". after his Human arc in arc 5, its something he actually stops doing as a whole because experiencing the feeling of crying in a human body like. Actually Fucks him up REAL bad NJWKEFNAJKWFNAKWEF Magni) the "sillier" or "unrelated to themselves" the issue is, the more theyll have a tendency to genuinely cry over it. they cry when they know no one else is there to mourn over the problem they're crying about, which is why they'll have a very Stone Flat Face when Witnessing the horrors, but will have an absolute meltdown over dropping their favorite cup Clyde) Honestly that motherfucker will cry over. like....anything? Honestly? to the point where it can be unpredictable. Clyde's emotions are based less on the Cause of Crying and more about the intensity of its emotions. any time it gets overwhelmed, it will cry, and its been labeled a crybaby inuniverse because of that 🍏 [GREEN APPLE] How do they differ from the norm and how are they punished for it? answering this all together, and honestly without having to like. explain the whole plot of HMoE in one setting. Hue seen as different from the norm not because he's an alien but because he's technically an illegal immigrant, Magni and Clyde are autistic PoC that also Do Not Fit Well into their hometown whatsoever. may i need to say anything else. 🥑 [AVACADO] What will they never back down about, even if it makes them seem bad?

Hue) trying to be seen as a good person, even if it means doing the most heinous shit possible (as long as he's able to hide it/insist on good intentions) Magni) trying to be seen as the Right Person, even if it means twisting things in their favor SPECIFICALLY to be right (though will admit to it redhanded if theyre caught, more out of being impressed if anything) Clyde) trying to be seen as the Truthful Person, even if it means ruining everyone's day/life about it (it''ll try to seem like it doesnt care about being "bad", but it very much actually eats away at it. every single damn day)

[birdie-is-also-a-magical-alien]

🔥gogogo

The only one I can think of atm is that I HATED the last Tom Holland Spider-Man movie and liked Thor: Love and Thunder instead

Both are a mess in their own respective ways but Far From Home is SO stupid! That movie has SO many plotholes and is only sustained by nostalgia and the only emotional response the audience can get is the fanservice from Toby McGuire and Andrew Gardfield! The emotional labor required for the audience to FEEL something has NOT been done AT ALL in that movie. Not to mention that the death of aunt May is so stupid when she was the one who suggested they rehabilitated the mentally ill superheroes in a NORMAL apartment! Do that in a lab! Also, my biggest problem with Aunt May’s death is that it does The EXACT same thing that Uncle Ben should’ve done and that in fact back in Captain America: Civil War it DID! The Peter Parker we saw then was more alike like the one in the comics but this fucking director has no love and respect for ANY source material as demonstrated by “the Peter twinkle” or “if I added Gwen Stacy she’d be a French exchange student”. Yes, the film ends in something akin to a typical Parker Luck tragedy, but it rings so hollow when it’s taken THREE movies to get here!

Meanwhile T:L&T has what I feel like a more earnest (if not over the top) approach to it’s main character but that was a choice by the actor who was playing him! It’s also a nice send-off to Natalie Portman who was done dirty, and while the villain’s EVERYTHING seems kinda mid it STILL feels much more genuinely heartfelt than FFH for me because of the “take another chance at love” which actually, y’know, BUILDS from Thor’s trauma and is not a longass origin story! It’s a second chance at love! Which actually melts my heart. It also has a lot of little details here and there which I find neat such as the back tatoos, the gods (there’s Quetzalcoatl I think and Athena). Also, Chris Hemsworth reminds me of my uncle and that last scene reminds me of when he took care of me when I was little.

Also, I know people complained of being queerbaited but it was going to be gay in the context of an MCU movie, my gosh

[saltwatersweets]

sorry I can’t read your whole post atm I’m busy rn but in case I forget, I understand c!Dream was just intimidating c!tommy and just putting on a villain persona, but my main point ig is that even though it’s an act, it still caused c!tommy to think he was going after him all the time and put that in his head so by that logic c!dreams confusion over c!tommy believing he’s targeting him doesn’t make much sense to me. He should be aware that even tho it was an act, it would still cause c!tommy to think he’s after him like the chase scene talked about killing and reviving him a bunch of times and then the signs after that with the smiles and telling c!tommy that he’s watching him. I’m struggling to explain it sorry. Also, c!dream somehow knew c!tommy was farming potato’s in the finale which suggests he was watching him at some point, but likely was just making sure he wasn’t causing problems. I could pretend to strongly hate someone and target them and from my pov it’s pretend, it’s Disney villain not srs but for them it’s genuine and I would not be surprised if that person attacked me months later under the belief that I was obsessed with hurting them.

Ty for explaining more in depth though ❤️

(the context, i assume)

this is a good point !! again though i wasn't really trying to say that i was able to fully explain c!dream's thought process in the finale, moreso just putting some thoughts out there ! (honestly, a lot of my "analysis" of c!dream is less so me actually analysing him and being able to 100% explain his actions all the time; much of the time it's just me seeing certain parts of his character and pointing out the fact that i think they're interesting.)

if anyone can give a better answer feel free to jump in!