#going to win a contest against a character I actually appreciate

[musical-chick-13]

The problem is. That there ARE some characters that I just simply do not like. But then I see people disliking them for. Bad™ reasons (as in: the character is a woman and/or poc it's obvious that there's a misogynistic and/or racist component here, there's some unchecked ableism or unchecked fatphobia going on, or this person truly no-nuance believes that enjoying a character who does bad things means that you are a bad person, etc. etc.), and then I am put in the terrible and unfortunate position of having to defend. Said character(s).

[total-drama-brainrot]

hi idk if this has been said but . pls hear my vision… lindsay and noah platonic duo. brains and the beauty. noahs the brains. lindsays the beauty. noahs like “jeez this girl is dumb i cn manipulate her or smth” but then he starts warming up to her and they like paint eachothers nails and talk about boys or somthing idk please theyre besties trust 🤞

(also noah finally gets a makeover courtesy of lindsay)

I think I might've mentioned this exact duo before, though I may be wrong about that. Regardless, I've had Many A Thought about the potential dynamic between Lindsay "reclaiming bimbo as a term of empowerment" and Noah "could be god's biggest hater but was nerfed with an inability to GAF", to the point where I have a few drafts exploring this exact concept.

Through the lens of my eyes (blurry as it would be, my prescription fairly strong), I don't think Noah would ever consider manipulating Lindsay- at least, not in a similar manner to the likes of Heather or Alejandro. He's shown in canon to be pretty adverse to the idea. Why else would he make those comments about Alejandro in "I See London..."?

Not that he doesn't think about how easy it would be to use her. But his morality wins out over his scheming thoughts pretty quickly- no one wants to be New Heather, after all.

However, he's also shown a capacity to explore sneakier options of deception and trickery; pretending to pass out during the 20k run in The Big Sleep, trying to excuse his comment about Alejandro under the guise of it "being a compliment where he's from", tricking the Sasquatch with his fake ball throwing, getting himself eliminated on purpose in Dodgebrawl. I'm trying to think of other examples In Canon off the top of my head, but I'm coming up short since most of his actual speaking lines in the show are 'zingers' and 'witty one-liners' instead of actual character moments.

And we also know, from the way he treats Owen, that he's a lot more patient and indulgent towards the... 'slower' or 'simpler' contestants. He very rarely gets mad at Owen's mistakes- see how he gently chastises him in "Super Happy Crazy Fun Time Japan" when he's disturbing their set, he'd pretty much gentle parenting him, or how he doesn't even raise his voice against Owen after being blasted by nose-shake in "I See London...". You could argue that Owen just has best friend privileges, but given the way he also talks about his dog I think Noah just has a soft spot for happy-go-lucky, heart-of-gold, kind of stupid people (and blondes). Sound familiar?

Lindsay would fall under this umbrella of 'treat with kindness' because of this, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't try to subtly nudge her in the 'right direction'- out of Heather's and/or Alejandro's influence and into his own. For her own safety, of course.

Not that I think he'd even like Lindsay at first. The two of them are opposite ends of the social spectrum; I'd take a while for Lindsay to break through his snarky exterior, but I think eventually Noah would realise that she isn't the 'two-faced airhead popular girl' he'd assumed her to be and quickly warm up to her (she's airheaded, sure, but there's nothing two-faced or nefarious/mean-spirited about Lindsay). It's a classic case of "extrovert adopts introvert".

Meanwhile, Lindsay would be dead-set on breaking Noah out of his sour little shell. Either because she overhears Owen/Izzy/Eva explaining how Noah struggles to make friends because he's "very shy" and "mixes up his insults and his compliments", thus she assumes that, hey, Noah's made fun of her a few times, maybe that was just him trying to be friendly? So she makes it her mission to reciprocate his efforts and befriend him (much to Noah's initial suspicion, and begrudging appreciation).

Or she gets the concept of a 'gay best friend' stuck in her head (an impressive feat, getting anything stuck in such a vacant space /j) probably from watching too many high school teen dramas, and sees Noah as the ideal candidate since he pretty much embodies most of the stereotypical GBF traits; a sassy twink who's defining characteristic is making snarky comments. If Noah ever caught wind of this, he'd either be mortified by the concept and avoid Lindsay like the plague until she'd eventually hunt him down, or he'd think the whole concept is too funny to pass up and gladly play the part- if only for his own amusement. (Personally I headcanon him as bi, but he's so canonically queer coded that he fits the stereotype anyway.)

Which is all just a long-winded way of me saying I think Lindsay would kindle the friendship without giving Noah much of a choice (again, extrovert adopting introvert) and Noah would just go along with it, being the lazy guy he is, and quickly grow fond/protective over her.

If he and Owen are the golden retriever and black cat dynamic, Noah and Lindsay are an afghan hound and a black cat; Noah has a lot of black cat energy (that's just a given) and you cannot tell me that Lindsay isn't an afghan hound- they're pretty, gentle-natured and renown for their low intelligence.

Plus, Lindsay's capacity for meanness (as unintentional as it may be) would be comedy gold to Noah. He'd encourage her to keep that sharp tongue and steel spine, if not for his own entertainment, then to ensure she doesn't become someone else's doormat again. In return, Lindsay would bring out a softer side of Noah, likely a result of her reminding him of his several older sisters.

She'd absolutely abuse her 'soft Noah' privileges too by roping him in on sleepovers where the two of them gossip and paint each other's nails (Noah's against the idea at first but Lindsay hits him with the puppy eyes and he folds like a lawn chair), eventually leading to Lindsay giving Noah a much needed glow up. He finds himself enjoying the pampering- though he'd never admit it- and Lindsay's just ecstatic that she has someone to use as a dress-up doll (Tyler wouldn't let her give him another makeover after Paris).

[batsplat]

It actually kills me that Pecco is Valentino’s #1 protege bc I kinda feel like had they both met in like…2000 (let’s say they were the same age somehow) I feel like the mutual vibe between them would’ve been kinda like…“hm this guy SUCKS”.

Do u agree? I can see younger Vale being a little intrigued by Pecco, & Pecco being a little starstuck (like younger Casey) but I just think their vibes are so incompatible. Particularly compared w the other academy boys, who I think are slightly better fits…(except, hilariously, I would also say Luca is another kind of outlier).

IDK. Anyway thank u for all your amazing answers & historical knowledge batsplat <3 I so appreciate all the time you take to answer these questions & lay out the full surrounding context to things <3

first off, thank you!! that's really lovely!! secondly. hm this is a fun one I hadn't really thought about. the thing about the young casey comparison + what his relationship with valentino looked like is that he is six and a half-ish years younger than valentino... which feeds into why he's so starstruck. that's a very different dynamic from being valentino's direct peer, I feel. I kinda think the problem you have for any italian in vaguely that same age bracket is that it's just going to be tough to handle being so completely outshone by valentino. like, let's not speculate about results here because that's a fool's errand - in terms of actual popularity, there just isn't really any rider you could put alongside young valentino for that to be a remotely equal contest. and that inequity is worse if you're italian... you're not even going to have your home crowd rooting for you, right. the media attention will be 98% focused on the other guy. melandri's a good case study here, as a guy who's just a bit younger than valentino and highly rated in his junior years, but whose own relationship with valentino seemed to kinda sour over the years for various reasons. melandri is admittedly a bit of an odd bloke in his own right and is also a bit odd in the way he talks about valentino, but he's spoken a fair bit about how tough it was feeling like nobody in italy gave a shit about him with valentino around. which must be tough! there's 'working in silence' and then there's being 'practically invisible'... and that does also inevitably affect the relationship I reckon. you have to have an ego at pecco's level - and that kind of ego would always take some bruising if you have to come up against valentino in his full pomp

in terms of their actual interpersonal dynamic, it's always important to remember valentino got on pretty well with basically almost everyone!! especially in those early years, you don't even really have the same wariness of potential rivals. like, once he gets to the premier class it's more or less 'biaggi' and 'not biaggi'. he never has any issues with his title rival in 2000, kenny roberts jr. he's always gotten on very well with countryman and 1998 title rival capirossi, who he remained good friends with even when they were kinda *hand wiggles* title rivals in 2006. capirossi should have been more of a title contender that season and could well have gone on to win that title, but he got taken out in catalunya through no fault of his own - so not really any time for tensions to develop, which makes it a bit tricky to judge what that might have done to the relationship. when valentino and him have a tight duel in sepang later that season and valentino puts on a rather stern last lap defence to win that race (got to be one of his most underappreciated rides, he has like three classic race wins in 2006 I never see anyone discuss), capirossi climbs on his lap during the podium ceremony. so, y'know. capirossi is admittedly a way milder character than pecco, but it is notable how fond he remains of valentino throughout. though unlike pecco he does play into one of valentino's core weaknesses - valentino's fondness for having a little guy around. if you shave off ten centimetres from pecco then he'd basically be set for life

that being said, I agree they probably wouldn't be particularly close lol. prime valentino is probably a little too much for pecco, like you imagine they'd be cordial but pecco's just a tad reserved and wants to assert a bit of autonomy. which actually places him in a pretty decent position for that relationship to not blow up completely in his face - you kinda feel like he'd straddle the line between not being as abrasive as biaggi and not having *gestures vaguely* whatever that was between valentino and sete. the nicky hayden principle, right - who got through two teammate stints with valentino and actually beating him to a title with that relationship completely intact. cf hayden saying that valentino never played any mind games with him, that valentino didn't change his behaviour towards hayden depending on the points gap etc. valentino might "know how to play people", but he's not doing it with just anyone

some of this does inevitably depend on how much of a competitive threat pecco is in this hypothetical timeline. and if you actually put him in the dani/casey/jorge age bracket then all bets are off. it's basically the opposite of what I was saying with casey and jorge, where you'd imagine valentino-the-mentor-figure would have been an incredibly helpful presence for those two guys specifically. the thing about valentino is that he's very adept at being both valentino-the-rival and valentino-the-mentor-figure, but those two roles just look completely different. decent mentor all things considered, considerably less fun to have as a rival. and with pecco... I mean, you're basically dealing with a less prickly less neurotic casey-type, aren't you. pecco has the edge over casey in that he's not quite as... you know. how do I say this diplomatically. I don't think pecco would spend half the season complaining about valentino 'moaning and whinging' and then feature valentino's name on his title-winning shirt, let's put it that way. even with the italian factor, I reckon he'd manage to be at least 2% more normal about valentino, which probably would also help make the dynamic with valentino a bit more normal. and I'm sure valentino would come up with some horribly inventive ways of tormenting pecco and I do reckon he's absolutely up to that task, but I don't think something like laguna 2008 specifically would be the way to go about it. doesn't feel like you could quite blow up that relationship with a single race. the thing about laguna 2008 is that it's very bespoke casey torture, like that does not hit nearly as well against any other rival. ... I just realised I spent a good five minutes daydreaming about what advice I'd give valentino to crack pecco, which. anyways. let's cut it off there. but yeah, that would've been quite a fun match-up actually - specifically because pecco is such an annoyingly excellent defensive rider. arguably better at that than any of valentino's major rivals, which given valentino's MO you'd think would throw up its own distinct challenge

where the casey example IS instructive is in reminding you what an annoyingly charismatic bastard valentino is. I kind of feel like if you can have that kind of an effect on baby casey, you probably can make any of these undersocialised brats fall head over heels for you if you have a good swing at it. there's also the interesting question of what happens to pecco if you take away the vr46 support structure (obviously we're assuming he's still making it to motogp). my sense is you take away a little bit of... not his self-belief, exactly, or even his confidence necessarily - just a sense of security, of comfort in his own skin. I do reckon it makes him a bit more casey-ish in some aspects, just a touch more brittle and likely to take things personally... but, well, obviously we are now in the realm of very far-flung speculation. idk! whatever the exact age permutations between him and valentino would be, my sense is that valentino is charming enough and pecco is susceptible enough to being charmed that it's not like. open revulsion from day one. and to some extent, pecco's canonical willingness to let valentino hog the spotlight would stand him in good stead - it's like when casey said he didn't want to be the next valentino... these aren't necessarily guys who would even want that kind of attention on them. which does feel like a different dynamic to melandri doing his own showy celebrations. they DO want to be liked, maybe more than either of them are willing to admit, they both have a similarly pronounced sensitivity to being misinterpreted - but I don't feel like pecco would be killing himself with envy over valentino's reach in italy. maybe just a little bit, because that is probably normal in that situation... but I reckon he'd work through it

anyway, yeah. my thing is I don't actually give anyone a particularly high chance of surviving valentino's initial charm onslaught unscathed and I... don't feel like pecco would be an exception to that? the closest exception is jorge, but valentino never tried to charm him - and also jorge was still aggressively deeply weird about valentino so I'm not sure that's the template. cf how jorge still not managing to shut up about how fantastic valentino's celebrations were even when they were in an actual title fight. so yeah, idk. I don't see any reason why valentino would react that negatively towards pecco, who definitely comes across more like casey than he does like jorge and wouldn't immediately register as an active nuisance to valentino. I don't think they'd be FRIENDS and maybe they wouldn't match each other's vibe particularly well... interesting question actually if they'd have better or worse interpersonal chemistry than casey and valentino. maybe a bit worse? pecco's perhaps somewhat more guarded and world-weary from day one, so maybe a tad better at just keeping his distance and playing things by ear. pecco's natural wariness would probably do him quite a lot of good there and just make sure things... maybe get a bit unpleasant between him and valentino but never actively terrible. maybe the closest analogue would be a snippier, slightly brittler version of dovi, actually. two guys who get on pretty well but just move in different circles - with relatively restrained open animosity unless the competitive situation demands otherwise

[rottenraccoons]

How do you go about writing witty characters or funny banter, for example between Vesper and Keir? I find comedy to be very hard to nail, and I'd like to hear dear raccoons' advice!

Aw, thank you! This got a touch lengthy so the rest is under a readmore.

I've been sitting on this for a while to think about it, and I think the short answer is that we write banter as an extension of the characters' personal feelings and relationships, and Vesper is a banter-friendly character. They're talkative, they're a fast thinker, and they enjoy being sarcastic. Those are useful traits for writing fun dialogues, in my opinion.

My mindset when writing a dialogue exchange that's supposed to be especially fun or engaging is to treat it as a fight for power. For Vesper and Keir, particularly at the end of the chapter, that fight is play-fighting, but it's still a contest or a sport they want to "win". Sometimes they escalate their rhetoric against each other, sometimes they shift the topic of discussion a bit to get an edge, but they're fighting to win the conversation. And because Keir and Vesper don't actually hate each other they're not fighting to hurt each other, which keeps the atmosphere light and fun. (And bonus! If one of them did hurt the other in their banter, it comes across as more shocking and dramatic, highlighting the hurt.)

There's a lot of things a writer can do to make dialogue and banter more fun and engaging, though, and honestly I think the best way to learn is just to actively watch/listen to media that does it well, and when you find something that hits so good, think about why it hits so good. Pick it apart, find the rhythm of the dialogue, look at how characters choose their words (especially repeating specific words in a dialogue, or from a previous dialogue), when do the power dynamics shift, how do the characters enter and leave an exchange, what is it about this joke that's so funny. It can take away a touch of the ~magic~ to examine a piece of dialogue mechanically like this, but I think there's a second kind of appreciation that comes from seeing the mechanics behind something and seeing how well they fit together.

For me, that thing was the radio programme Cabin Pressure by John Finnemore (who also co-wrote season 2 of Good Omens), so I can highly recommend listening to that. Here's a short clip of two characters meeting up for a date, as a taster. And here's me analysing a very short bit of it like I'm back in high school doing line-by-line readings of the Odyssey again:

(dog enters scene, barking) Carolyn: Hello, darling! Did you hear the silly late man? [Carolyn is continuing a previous argument, asserting her dominance by emphasising Herc is late.] Herc: Oh, hello. What a ridiculous dog. [Herc knows he can't win on the late argument, so shifts the point of discussion. By calling the dog ridiculous, he is poking at Carolyn's pride while staying within acceptable boundaries.] Carolyn: I'm sorry? [Daring Herc to repeat his statement, attempting the intimidation she uses when insulted in other circumstances.] Herc: I said you have a ridiculous dog. [Herc will not be intimidated, repeats his point plainly to assert it as fact. Not "I think the dog is ridiculous" but "The dog is ridiculous".] Carolyn: My dog is not ridiculous. [Continuing to push back on Herc, emphasis on "my dog" to tie the dog to her and she's not ridiculous, is she?] Herc: Then whose dog is this? [Big laugh line, Herc has clearly won the point in this volley. He continues the conversation about the dog (who is, in fairness, delightful but quite a silly creature) because he is winning the "Carolyn's dog is ridiculous" fight, but shifts to the dog's breed for new ground to compete over.]

You definitely don't have to write things out like this (I don't recommend it unless you already find it fun), but being able to look at lines of dialogue and see what they're for in an exchange, both in-character and out of character as a structural element, can help when writing to know exactly what each line is for, and for me it helps me keep power dynamics and rhythm in mind. I hope that helps, nonny!

[accirax]

initial thoughts on DCAS episode 6

THIS EPISODE WAS SO GOOD!!! the fact that it was a musical episode is totally the cherry on top; i love it when series come with their own music (cough cough me @ project sekai). but overall it was also really funny, and had some great character moments, too.

i'll save my thoughts on strategy and where the season might be headed for my next power ranking post (whenever that is :,( ), but were some of my other thoughts/highlights.

specifically the phrase "fuck my life" and Yul saying it made me cackle. seems like Emily ISN'T Yul's manager, but she might still kinda take on that role this season? we'll see. the lack of phones is really having an effect on the plot.

they hate her so fucking bad

okay, i guess i forgot to consider this angle when i was saying it would've made more sense for them to vote out Fiore. however, having started with 18 participants, the merge will probably happen at, what, 10 people? (modern Survivor describes the merge as "at least 11," but obviously this isn't survivor.) sure, Hunter is a bit of a challenge beast, but he can't protect all three of them every episode. if this trio is only 3/10 of the votes, you could literally split the votes on Ally and Tess in a 3-3-4 if you can get everyone else to unite against them. you know what you should be worried about? THE VILLAINS ALLIANCE HAVING 6/"10" VOTES AT THE MERGE!!! sigh. why am i relying on Jake to be smart (/j)

i'm more impressed that there was hot water in the first place. this thing is in the middle of a field, no?

i'm finally starting to see how Yul can be a hilarious "love to hate him" kind of villain. he had some of the best lines this episode hands down.

TREVEK BECOME CANON???

there was absolutely no reason to put the apple on the stick other than to fit in. love this for her.

idk if this is a winner's cut moment or not. glad that the money would go towards schools and NOT the police force, though.

man, now i want to go back and check the other episodes to see if Tess has had the "Cyan Team narrator" role the whole time. in Survivor, that's indicative of a deep run. ...i really need to stop applying Survivor logic to everything.

and why are you thinking about what would make Oliver laugh, Kristal? ',:)

i appreciate the s1 callback, but Trevor doing this dance move gives me so much second hand embarrassment that i keep inadvertently closing my eyes every time i have to "see" it again. anyways, given how most of the episode songs had lyrics related to the Team's emotional state, it's interesting to see that Trevor is singing a romance song. trevek become canon pt 2?

this was an interesting parallel. with Kristal laughing at Derek's joke, it seems like they were trying to show how she's growing closer to Derek, in a way which Trevor might fear is romantic. were there supposed to be romantic undertones to Alec being the only one to laugh at Connor's joke? and, if there were, was that just a fun nod to the aleconnor shippers, or will it actually be canon/relevant to later in the season?

NOT a surprise. i need to see the "i want you died" poetry he wrote about Fiore after last season.

of course you were, you fucking fruit (affectionate)

the anguish: i love my gf :D let's frolick through a field together

"trust me dude i'm the divorce man"

GABBY?????

mood but also damn is Ellie really leaning into the villain thing this season. this doesn't even help her win the season, she JUST wants to see him suffer.

i forgot that the s1 contestants didn't know that Nina was her own separate being yet

they were NOT lying, Aiden's VA is a great singer! Tom's backing vocals and Ellie and Gabby's harmonies(?) were also really nice too, though. this was probably my favorite song of the episode just bc i think Cyan had the strongest singers. all of the rocking, shoulder-moving dances are also impossible not to imitate.

well, there's the thumbnail. their choice of thumbnail made me laugh bc i remember, back when i was watching s1, seeing all the thumbnails of Aiden kissing both James and Hunter and thinking that Aiden was going to be some sort of troublemaking flirty antagonistic character only to be blindsided by his actual characterization. i'm sure the s1 watching me would have only added this to her arsenal of evidence, although hilariously idk if i would have been able to tell the other character was Tom at the time. anyways, i was pretty certain from the start that this must be part of the performance. although, while i'm happy that Aiden seems to think that James will be okay with the performance, i wish we could have cut to James somehow just to confirm that that was true. i don't want the next time we see James, whether in the finale or some other time, to show that he was actually really jealous and upset at Aiden for kissing another man while in a committed relationship. also gabbielle(?) super cute in the bg :D

he's so fucking stupid... (/pos)

bold of you to say this to Ashley, who has been in a two year relationship with the guy who went home in episode 2.

i also really liked this song :D i understand why they made Jake and Ally the main singers, because they best encompassed what the theme of the song was about, but i think i actually liked Ashley's vocals the best. i wish she'd gotten to sing more. also for a moment i thought Marcus had a trans flag on his hat. it's still close enough. trans Marcus canon.

this was probably my least favorite performance of the episode, although idk how much of that was just how much i hate Alec's outfit. glassesless Alec scares me so bad... no hate to the VAs, obviously, i think they have nice voices! it's actually the way that they didn't sound like they had confidence in their singing abilities that made the performance feel a little shakier to me. i do think that this song had the best lyrics in terms of encapsulating each member of their team, though. i really like how Yul and Riya are the ones to sing "i'm going to chase it" as a duo, because they're the ones chasing fame and the limelight, and then Grett sings that she can't ignore it, because eventually she's going to have to realize that her entire relationship with Yul was a result of him clout chasing. Connor only singing "live in the moment until i die" is also very fitting given his placement... in both seasons. L.

really surprised that Riya (or anyone else) didn't even mention Yul's foot injury as part of this equation. Riya just said that she didn't want to lose any more challenges, and Yul's bad foot could totally lead to a loss. maybe i'm just overestimating the extent to which that foot injury will stick around, though.

season 2 characters are REALLY suffering out here.

HELP??????

love to see Alec and Fiore's kinda sorta dual redemptions. i have high hopes for them.

and those were my initial thoughts, which got way longer than i expected. thanks if you wound up reading towards all the way down here. i have no idea who the leakers are, obviously, but i really hope that they stop acting up soon so that the series can continue. i would hate to have the artists have to take a pay hit and/or stop making the series just because of some people's impatience and delusions of power, or have the honest patrons lose out on being able to watch the episodes early to protect from others' immaturity. see ya!

[chaserainbows]

Week 4

(3 comedy challenges in a row if you're not funny it's so over)

Will continues to collect the mini challenge money and I'm trying to figure out which previous contestant he's doing a photoshoot with because Will himself was a contestant on season 3 (he placed 6th and won Miss Congeniality)

Maybe that's why he won the mini challenge

And the challenge of this episode is the ICONIC Snatch Game where everyone chooses a celebrity to impersonate and clown around with

Most of the impersonations that the simulator comes up with are references I don't know but I do appreciate Will doing Bob Ross it's very on brand for him

And apparently Will does GREAT as Bob Ross the role really was made for him

Shauntal also does a good job as whoever that was, in my fantasy her Snatch Game character was Velma

Meanwhile these 4 don't do super well, Lucian would probably fall for the common trap of doing a character you can't really make any jokes about and Aaron has a pretty juvenile sense of humor so his Snatch Game (as I dunno Wednesday Addams or something) must've been a cringefest

LYNN YOU'RE IN DANGER

The runway category is zodiac signs and Sidney (a Cancer) does a really badass crab-themed look while Aaron finally brings a good runway as a scorpion

Grusha manages to save himself with a good runway (I think he's a Capricorn so you could say that he's the GOAT) and Shauntal and Candice break into the top 3 which is especially good for Candice since she's been almost there the entire time

But look at the question right at the end we have DRAMA

Lynn says that Aaron should go home for his runways which is pretty valid since this is his best runway week so far and he was still one of the worst and LITERALLY EVERYONE ELSE SAYS LYNN

Shauntal and Candice are especially harsh at her like oof but then again Lucian and Aaron are their friends

Will gets his first win after completely crushing this challenge and Shauntal and Candice are high I'm trying to think of a good Snatch Game character for Candice

The bottom 3 is Lynn Aaron and Lucian but Lynn's safe again (because she really wasn't as bad as Aaron or Lucian) and so she survives yet again for another week you CANNOT get rid of Lynn

Meanwhile we have a Sinnoh Elite 4 faceoff this one will be FOR THE AGES

We're not doing a Rupaul song that's for when there's no budget

much better

It's actually not much of a battle which makes sense since Lucian would probably be very overwhelmed by having to perform a lipsync in front of an audience especially against Aaron so he's VERY far from his comfort zone

We've seen Aaron do better than this but in my fantasy he's holding back out of concern for Lucian

And with that Aaron wins and Lucian's the second eliminated as well as the first out of the Lucian Squad to be eliminated which is kinda ironic

You know he'll get a group hug from Shauntal Will and Aaron before he leaves though (but a very brief one because he doesn't like to be touched)

Meanwhile in Untucked Shauntal's drowning her sorrows apparently and Garreth clocks Aaron for having bad runways while Grusha's grumpy over almost landing in the bottom 3 and Sidney rolls his eyes at it because there's no way Grusha would be in the bottom 2 this episode

Candice and Grusha are besties now I don't know when this happened but I stan

Will and Shauntal's best episode so far being when Aaron and Lucian land in the bottom is so cursed but also we have another storyline

[epicspheal]

(Same anon) I apologize in advance for this 8-part word vomit, didn't mean for it to get this long. xD I guess that's what happens when you have a lot of thoughts for your favorite characters; especially when this could be the last time we see him. :P If any parts didn't make it, let me know.

Hi there anon!

First off apologies for the late reply! Hopefully I can answer this within the character limit (apparently asks have character limits both for the asker and the answerer). This was definitely a challenging ask to do with formatting because of length so hopefully my thoughts come across okay. I really appreciate your enthusiasm for Gary it’s really heartwarming to see!

While it's true that Project Mew wasn't in the works initially, I'm not sure it's conclusive that they were planning a battle rivalry for Gary and Goh (although if anyone has any sources saying otherwise please let me know). With how they were barely showing Goh do more than throw Pokeballs at Pokemon it's hard for me to see where they were going to include a battle rivalry with Gary and Goh.

As far as a battle rivalry distracting from the PWC, I can see that but personally I think people would've been just really upset that Gary wasn't in the PWC instead finding it more suitable of a challenge

I disagree that a research rivalry wouldn't be believable, since that's basically what Project Mew is. Research in real life is full of rivalries and it produces so much drama in academic institutions. I think it would be more accurate to say it wouldn't be interesting because I'm not sure how children would care about academic drama with how it's portrayed in real life LOL. They kind of actually touched on that back in the Johto arc with Professor Elm getting really heated at times when talking about research but I'm sure went over most kid's head (I know it did for me, but now after having done academic research for almost a decade I can appreciate it a lot more). Which is why Project Mew as a concept is interesting as it makes a research rivalry in a way that isn't boring to the target audience

The anime does not get a lot of credit for how it builds upon the world of Pokemon especially with giving creative on things for kids to do outside of Battling, Contests, and Showcases. Again this is why as a concept I actually really love Project Mew although the execution left a lot to be desired

However, I strongly disagree that the game universe just having 8 badges means its easy. Much of the game text and game-accurate adaptations mention that it's not easy to get 8 badges at all and that many of the trainers you meet on Victory road had been at this for years. Which is why they don't typically have tournaments because in most regions bar Galar there is too few people getting 8 badges and going through victory road to warrant it. Generations mentions that for a long time only 2 trainers had gotten 8 badges, Red and Blue being the last and only people to defeat Giovanni. SV even states that half of gym challengers drop out by the 3rd to 4th badge and most don't even get to 6 badges. In SwSh Raihan makes a note that not even 10 people got to him and of that, only 4 even made it to the challenger's cup.

So it's not easier at all any adaption, but gamewise as the players since we're forced to go through the badge route each game it makes it feel easier than what is.

I don't think anyone thinks he'd be steamrolled by a regular trainer. Everyone knows he's capable. It's about whether or not a win against Ash would be seen as believable, and at the moment it's hard to say. It's true it's hard to judge exactly where he is right now...but I think it's safe to say its "not as strong as he could be". Again he's dividing his time between research (very time-consuming and mentally draining) and training (also very time-consuming and mentally draining). That's going to realistically put a damper on how good he can get with dividing his priorities compared to focusing fully (or majority on one side). Him going against someone who has focused on battling, getting badges and completing trials over 7 regions and having 4 Grand Prize wins (Orange Islands, Battle Frontier, Alola Champion and now World Champion) needs to have some substantial reasoning. Paul is training to be a gym leader so him keeping up with his battling and thus keeping up with Ash makes sense. Misty is a gym leader and has been constantly training as a water type trainer so again her keeping up with Ash (and being able to take out one of his mons this past episode) makes sense. And then of course you have the actual champions in Alain and Iris. For Gary it's not a matter about Project Mew battles against legendaries (because as you mentioned legendary battles vary), but moreso how are they going to frame his off-screen training to make it believable that he even with his time divided he can still keep up with Ash. And for me that means revealing something more than just "I've been training". Maybe mentioning he got offered to be a gym leader but turned it down, saying he challenged the battle frontier, or even getting a mega. And I'm saying this as a Gary fan, but that's just the opinion of one Gary fan.

[Image Description: Screen shot of ask. It reads: “ (Part 8) of Gary's Pokemon. For a final battle to close out Ash's story, Gary is agreed to be one of the top contenders for this. But this is AFTER he just became World Champ, where a loss of any caliber is doomed to be ridiculed. League defeats still leaves a sour taste to this day, what would this one leave. For that, I think they have to be very careful on what they choose to do; especially if it's not a 1v1. “/End ID]  (apologies the alt text did not save for this last screenshot)

After this most recent episode, I agree it would likely be more of a "show me what you got" battle maybe with a little bit of closure for Gary. Like how he wants to move forward with his research career or if he wants to switch and do something else (and part of me kind of hopes he goes back to battling more). And a win or even a tie might rub many the wrong way. I think the best way to go about it would be

A.) Make it a 3 vs 3 like you mentioned B.) Pikachu needs to be in it and get at least one win because he hasn't gotten a chance to do so C.) Be very intentional on how they frame his off-screen training, with something a bit more measurable than just saying "I've been training"

[spicyicymeloncat]

For the doodle/rant thing, Cole

Cole!!! (Sorry this took a while)

God I love Cole so freaking much man! He’s my closely second favourite after Zane. He’s just a good guy, with a side of silly and an edge of trauma. I think his writing is the best in terms of the main characters, (although I think Nya has the most interesting), which is probably bc his backstory is the most realistic and easy to write. But I think Cole is really under-appreciated when it comes to his writing and stuff. But at the same time I’m probably gonna be biased because I just love this character.

Okay to start off, Cole is actually one of the more moral characters, like Zane, he loves by a motto given to him by his departed parent: “to always stand up to those who are cruel and unjust”. In the show, he proves that he cares so much for others, such as with Karlof in Chen’s noodle factory where he decided he was going to get everyone to escape. And trying to befriend Yang’s students and Yang himself. And befriending Krag. And the entirety of MotM. Cole is also one of the strongest ninja, physically, he was introduced climbing a mountain and he introduced himself to Kai as being fearless (mostly). In the first episode of s1, Cole nearly one the skill contest between the ninja, having beat Zane ( I think?), and nearly beating Kai before Kai set everything on fire. Jay acknowledges Cole would’ve and should’ve won their duel in the tournament in s4, had he not have let Jay win.

But in contrast to Cole generally being and kind, strong guy, he seems to have a lower esteem than what you’d expect. His reaction to grief and difficulty is to run and hide himself away from the world, as seen in s4 when he became a lumberjack after Zane died and when we know Cole became a mountain climber after running away from home and his grief over his mother. His most prominent arcs involve him losing faith in himself: in s5 he thought being a ghost made him less of a ninja, in DotD he thought he was gonna disappear without anyone remembering him, in s11 Cole blames himself for losing the tea, and s13 is about Cole feeling like he can’t measure up to his mother. I’m literally gonna start crying. Cole is an unspoken treasure, unable to see his own worth, like a geode with the crystals on the inside.

And we can fault a lot of it to his backstory. Cole’s parents were a successful musician and performer: Lou, and the dearly missed elemental master of earth: Lilly. It’s unknown if Lou knew Lilly was a ninja because he seemed so against ninjas as a whole in s1, (although I think Lilly being a ninja is a retcon that took effect in s4) but either Lilly abandoned the life of a ninja when she started a family, kept it a secret from Lou, or Lou knew but hid it from Cole, who didn’t seem to know about it when he joined the ninja. Either way, both make sense and fit with Cole’s theme of hiding away. Both Lou and Lilly had given Cole expectations to live up to: Lou with his strict expectations of being a performer, and Lilly asking Cole to promise to be a good person. In the one scene we see Cole and Lilly interacting, Cole is scared that he’s disappointed her by getting into a fight, but it turns out she’s proud of him for being who he is and defending children from bullies. With Cole losing Lilly, he carries this harsh standard that he needs to live in a way that makes her proud, and Lou also feels like he needs to raise Cole to be the best he can be, which is why Lou is harsh in training Cole to be a performer, because that’s all Lou knows. The pressure of everything was too much for Cole and he ended up running away from it all, and climbing a mountain. In his own way he’s still trying to climb to the top and prove himself, but at the same time he’s trying to bury his grief and trauma under other things, such as how Lou is burying his grief with performance. Joining the ninja, Cole starts to heal, he has a way of self improvement that is monitored so that it’s safer, and more importantly he has a family, a safety net that can support him. He’s a ninja and he takes pride in it, but this life comes right into conflict with the life he was hiding from, his father’s. In Cole’s true potential, his disconnect from his father held him back, forcing him to first shun who he was in front of his dad, and lead him to nearly committing crimes because he had no faith in himself winning and he didn’t even want to try. But he decides to anyways, and he does actually succeed. And he’s not proving himself to his father but he’s proving himself to himself. His true potential isn’t just about his daddy issues but also his self esteem in general. Whilst his true potential was achieved this episode, Cole’s inclination to run still resurfaces in other arcs. He associates attention with negativity, as seen when he gets unwanted attention from Nya costing his friendship with Jay and pushing him to run into the woods and be a lumberjack. And he always ends up giving up something in order to help someone else, like giving jay the Jade blade, or grabbing the scroll in Yang’s temple, nearly not making it through the rift because of Yang, falling off of the bounty, helping people in s10 etc etc.

Cole imo has really balanced writing that gives him just enough spotlight to answer our questions about him, and when he isn’t the main focus, he usually has a good b-plot where he receives really good character or he gets good comedy bits which are just enjoyable to watch (like rocky danger buff). It’s easier to actually develop Cole bc as I mentioned, his backstory is the least outlandish. He has kinda a high pressure childhood and his mother died. Unlike every other ninja who’s parents have been missing at some point, Cole knows everything about his parents, his expectations of their status don’t change during the show so he has the most time to develop his current mental state (unlike for example Zane, who’s father kept flip flopping his mortality in a way that doesn’t give Zane enough time to showcase his emotions at each stage of that process, at least not to the extent Cole has). Also because Cole usually gets plots that are not usually connected to the main storyline, his plots always focus mainly on his character development. In a way, being a less important character actually gives characters more of a spotlight. Also they never shove Cole into any romance which is a bonus bc Ninjago romances are honestly horrendously set up. I mean… other than that one time.

Which is how I’ll segue into talking about my few criticisms with Cole’s writing. Bc every character can be improved. First of all, as I mentioned, I can’t talk about Cole without the love triangle. I actually don’t hate about it as much as I used to, since the love triangle did end up setting up the cool development we got in s4. And if you read behind the lines you can almost pretend it was in character, I just tell myself that Cole was only taking part in the drama because he was pissed at Jay assuming he was straight. But the canon is that Nya suddenly had a crush on Cole bc a buzzfeed quiz told her to, and Cole suddenly reciprocated bc that’s apparently what you do. Istg none of the romantic feelings make sense or are justified in the show outside of “that woman looks like she’d be a good gf” which is cringe. So like I just squint when it comes to that and say that Cole and Nya are suffering from peer pressure and allonormativity/compulsive heterosexuality.

Another specific nitpick of Cole’s character is the complete fake out death he had in s10. Like writer’s set up stakes that make the death dramatic but then didn’t stick to their rules which just kinda invalidate the stakes of the season in general. Like we see the cloud immediately turn citizens to stone but for some reason Cole can nap through it fine. The writers put no effort in justifying Cole’s survival of not just the Oni cloud but like surviving falling from that height. I mean ig legos are built different, but if they are, then why is everyone so worried yknow? And it could’ve been simple, we could’ve been shown that Cole somehow saved himself with his powers, maybe being an earth elemental means he doesn’t take damage when he hits the earth? Idk. It was just a cheap death and it didn’t have any impact other than make Nya sad for 1.5 seconds and loosely set up survivalshipping. Yeah

Other than that, I don’t think I have any other specific Cole criticisms. His dad could be involved more ig. Idk.

All in all Cole is a top tier character

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

Season 4, Episode 3: An Extremely Chaotic and Incoherent Review

The Good:

DEMETRI AND MIGUEL STANDING NEXT TO EACH OTHER DEMETRI AND MIGUEL STANDING NEXT TO EACH OTHER DEMETRI AND MIGUEL STANDING NEXT TO EACH OTH--

devours BroTP scraps like a starved hyena

HAWK DOING DEFENSE!!! DEMETRI DOING OFFENSE!!! CINEMA!!!

Something something lookit my boys finding balance, hopefully this will bring them closer to realizing they should date

My GOD I was NOT prepared for how adorable Johnny and Daniel sharing food is

I never expect Lawrusso to catch me in a death grip and then it does anyway

Are you fucking KIDDING me Carmen and Amanda looking at each other and giggling like that was NOT straight

Take it from an almost full-time lesbian

This show really expects me to believe Johnny, Carmen, Daniel, and Amanda shouldn't be in a polycure and I say that's some BULLSHIT

AWWWWW MIGUEL BBY NO, HE'S WORRIED HE'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR SAM

I thought the class/wealth difference between them might come up at some point but I didn't expect to break my heart this much D:

"And that was BEFORE he sicced a rabid dog on Eli" love overprotective boyfriend Demetri

Whether Dem found out through Miguel or Aisha or Eli told him directly it's funny because like. No attack against his mans escapes this fucker's notice.

It's nice to see Hawk and Miguel being wholesome bros again, even if I admittedly like the dynamic best when Demetri's there too

The relationship developing between Daniel and Miguel has my entire heart actually. This is what I came here for and the show is DELIVERING

Measuring in Nates is the only valid way to measure

Yesssss Johnny and Sam getting into it, give me the DRAMA

Love that they both have valid points tbh

"I get to do what I love every damn day" HELL YEAH JOHNNY, love that he genuinely has a passion for helping all these kids out

I love how I was just kind of lukewarmish about Shawbby in S3, like...it was cute, and I was a fan, but I wasn't super into it. But now you're telling me??? They stayed in TOUCH??? And Robby is mentoring his little brother??? Yeah, I'm boarding this ship right the fuck now. SHAWBBY SUPREMACY.

Also adore that we got some backstory for Shawn, and what he was doing in juvie!!! Just protecting little Kenny, aw my heart ;__; Like ngl I was kind of worried Shawn was gonna end up being this weird "scary black guy in juvie" stereotype, and that would've felt pretty icky to me

Have I mentioned that I love Shawbby now

Miguel and Daniel bonding over growing up poor is SO WHOLESOME

MIGUEL'S FACE WHEN DANIEL SAYS HE BLEW HIS MONEY ON A BONSAI STORE

*Van Halen voice* SO GO AHEAD AND JUMP, SAM

Fuck YEAH Samantha LaRusso, release your inner chaos gremlin!

Really love how Demetri nods super seriously when Johnny says that when you're in a scary situation, don't back down. Like lowkey he actually respects Johnny now and is more open to embracing all of Eagle Fang's chaotic insanity, and I think that's pretty neat.

Also Demetri has grown so much braver over the course of this show, to the point where he's chill with potentially doing life-threatening nonsense to train if needed, and I think that's also pretty neat.

Gotta appreciate how proud Hawk was of Miguel for winning the fishing contest!!! They're good buddies and I love them!

The Bad:

This show will never let Daniel, Amanda, Carmen, and Johnny be in a polycule and this is the crime of the century

I wanted Demetri to jump!!! Would it be out of character? Yes! Did I want it to happen anyways, so that he could gloat to Hawk about it and Hawk could look at him with huge heart eyes? Absolutely!

I just really want to see Demetri go full feral, I think he deserves it

I want Johnny to be a terrible influence on him

I'm sure I'll get flayed again but still a bit more Kreese and Silver stuff then I felt was needed? Like we got a lot of backstory on them last season with the war flashbacks, not sure how much more we need to establish that they're evil divorced karate husbands XD The snake tattoo flashback WAS fun though!

I don't know whether to be amused or annoyed over Daniel and Johnny fighting over who gets to be Miguel's dad, like...it's very funny, especially considering how they fought over Robby too, but like...can't you fuckers BOTH be his dad???

STAY TUNED FOR MORE

[viola-stars]

do you have your own story for the pokemon verse? who are the ships :eye emojis:

Hello!! Thank you for sending an ask ;v; I really appreciate it!

I don’t really have a whole verse? At most I have a future version of Johto! It isn’t much, really, but I do have some thoughts to share! They’re mostly things about Johto League + Other Characters!

GYM LEADERS

-Falker currently has Lugia and he’s still a gym leader! However, he is still trying to catch every bird Pokemon so he tends to have some breaks from gyms here and there, but he makes sure he keeps his schedule the same so he can still be able to do his gym tasks! He has travelled to different regions, having a Corviknight from Galar that he caught on his own! He has several new ones but I think that’s the most notable one because it’s the Pokemon that argues with his Skarmory. He also has a Staraptor, but it was given to him from Whitney when she travelled to Sinnoh once! It used to be a Starly, but it evolved.

-Bugsy is also currently a gym leader, but he also is an assistant professor of Professor Oak! In Pokemon Masters, it reveals he looks up to Professor Oak so I like thinking he’s having a step further into becoming a Pokemon professor! He sometimes has breaks as well, but it isn’t too much since Kanto is just a train away, so it isn’t too hard on Bugsy. He rarely goes to other regions, but when he does, he obviously gets new bug type pokemon!

-Whitney is still a gym leader, and she’s a bit more used to Pokemon battling! In my headcanons, the Nurse Joy in Goldernrod is her mom and she used to dream to be a Nurse Joy, but after getting used to Pokemon battling and wanting to be as great as her mentor [who I believe is Norman], she’s continuing her life as a gym leader! She doesn’t take too much breaks, but she likes hopping in her friends’ plans! She is also one of the main people who sponsors Pokeathlon, and her favorite region to visit is Galar, which she goes to with DJ Mary!

-Morty is still a gym leader as well, and he focuses more on Ecruteak city as a whole, wanting the city to be in good shape and he also goes around Johto sometimes with his best friend Eusine so they can look for Suicune. He also likes knowing more about ghost types, but he asks some information from other ghost gym leaders! I like thinking Morty is Somewhat friends with every ghost-type league member, most notably would be Fantina. He has yet to find where Ho-Oh went.

-Chuck is a gym leader and happily married to his wife and he’s being a great father to his kids! Now that he’s getting older, he probably gives more time to his family, but he also balances it with gym and training. He gets to also talk to several fighting league members, but I like thinking he’s the one closest to his “same-type league member” squad! He acts like a father figure to both Maylene and Bea, while the other fighting gym league members are basically like homies to each other!

-Jasmine may still be a gym leader, but she also wants to focus on contests now too! She actually plans on asking the current champion of the league to have a contest area in Johto and it has yet to be built, the area it will be built will most likely be Goldenrod, and Whitney is very happy about that! On the meantime, she takes breaks to go to different regions to win all the ribbons in contests! She sometimes goes to places with her friends so they can cheer her on while she does.

-Pryce is a gym leader, but he plans on retiring soon because he believes he’s getting old, but he also wants to stay to see how the league grows. I like thinking that he treats Will and Karen as his kids [bc of the Pokemon Adventures manga,,]! He’s actually the gym leader who stays the most in his area, but also he wants time to reflect over what he has done to Johto that one time, even if he was forgiven for what he did.

-Claire is still a gym leader as well, but she’s getting stronger and she can probably compete against Lance after a few years. She’s getting there! She is very proud of being that gym leader who can be measured next to an Elite Four and she is also the next clan head of her family. She’s actually really hardworking, and she likes showing how great of a dragon trainer she is sometimes, but she deserves to be praised for what she has done.

ELITE FOUR + CHAMPION

-Will is an Elite four member until now and he’s doing great at his job! People barely pass him because of how great he is, of course! What do you expect? He’s part of the Elite Four for a reason. He actually loves getting to know about more league members who are psychic, but he doesn’t really like going out too much. Currently, I like thinking he works as an actor as a sideline, but no one knows it’s him except Karen.

-Koga is still a great Elite Four member AND a great father to Janine. He barely has anyone even reach him in terms of Elite Four member duties. He’s very responsible and he also meets Janine frequently now too, wanting to see how his daughter is doing as a gym leader. Currently, he has no second job, but he does like getting called so he could test security system- and well, Janine joins sometimes too so stealing things, or well testing out security systems, sounds like a fun way to bond.

-Bruno is still an Elite Four member of Johto but it’s funny because he’s also in Kanto, and he has to run to the challenge area sometimes. He’s a professional martial artist and he is also a teacher in a dojo! He teaches people how to fight AND how to use fighting Pokemon! He’s a very well known person to martial artists world-wide, actually! He and Chuck vibe together, and also he joins the Fighting League meetings a lot!

-Karen is still a badass woman who is part of the Elite Four, and I like thinking that she’s really close to Will until now [i refer you to Pokemon Adventures again]! She barely gets any challenges, but she’s quite known because of how strong she is. I like thinking she works in the fashion industry as a second job, but I’m still unsure whether I am set in stone about her being a model. People do know she’s pretty popular and honestly- how can she not be?

-Lance is no longer champion after a few years from HGSS, but I’ll go into details about that one soon. He’s currently still in the Kanto league, though! He still buys capes and it’s funny that he has SO many and buys them in bulks. I think he travels around the different regions, but he stays a lot in Kanto/Johto since he is an Elite Four member but also he wants to make sure the place is safe. He was actually quite surprised by how the Johto league members was more open to try new things lately.

MAIN CHARACTERS + RIVALS

I will base this in Pokemon Adventures!

-Gold currently has a Day Care going on and he hatches a lot of eggs! He also takes care of several baby Pokemon- trust me, his house is FILLED with them. He just does his job as a hatcher and he’s very happy with how his life is. He’s currently taking care of the place of the Day Care couple since they moved elsewhere, so yeah! He has connections with them and he updates them about Johto a lot!

-Silver is the one who replaced Lance [see above he’s no longer champion in my verse ghdfgdfhg] but I think I wanted it to happen because Lance was sort of his mentor for years, and added to that, in game, it sorta hints?? Lance continued to mentor him. If someone wants to prove to Lance that he was wrong, it’s Silver [or Claire]! Also, I want Silver to go to the opposite side of Giovanni! He isn’t with Team Rocket, not following his footsteps, and as a Champion, he could fix the things his father did in the past. So yeah, that’s why!

-Crystal is the assistant of Professor Elm! The reason why she’s under Elm and not Oak now is because she’s actually going to be the next Professor of Johto! She’s caught a lot of Pokemon, and she travels a lot to perfect her Pokedex, but she’s also close to becoming a Professor! However, her side job is being a teacher in Violet City! She’s a teacher in Pokeschool!

OTHERS

-Eusine is a researcher on Legendary Pokemon lore! He’s the most well known researchers across the region, and he is highly wanted in different regions but he’s still focused on Johto for now, as he wants to figure everything out and get all the details before moving to another region. Also he will get to find Suicune much later, so that’s neat!

-DJ Mary is,, still a DJ ghfdgdfhg however! I like to think she’s a singer now because Gold called her idol of Goldenrod City in HGSS arc. She probably got too stressed over the idol life and balancing it with the radio was a bit too hard for her, so she’s now just a singer and a radio host! She’s very popular now, and Gold likes saying he was the biggest fan because he was there even before she became famous, but of course, Whitney wins best fan award.

SHIPS

SO SHIP,,, i have,,, only a few established ships ghdfghdfg because im a multishipper for a lot so only a few is smth im set on stone with orz

RollingWindShipping - Falkner & Whitney

JohtoShipping - Gold, Silver & Crystal

I have explanations i swear, but will only go into details if asked gdfgdfg and if there are ships with other characters you wanna know about,,, you can ask bc i can tell you what my thoughts are HDGDFGDFG

[forevercloudnine]

new 52 riddler origin/timeline

I noticed an older 2017 post by @batriddler​ about Edward’s possible New 52 origin story was going around again, so I thought I’d make a timeline adding what we’ve learned about his origins since then through The Riddler: Year of the Villain (2019).

Childhood

So Year of the Villain brings back several elements of Edward’s original backstory. The first was that, as a child, he won a puzzle contest and became fixated on that moment of victory for the rest of his life.

Unlike previous iterations of the character, however, there’s no obvious indication that Edward cheated in order to win it (other than the looming shadow of his future careers). Whether he won it fairly or not, winning the trophy was a turning point for him because it was the first time he was given undiluted positive attention, something he wasn’t getting at home.

Edward’s mother is heavily, HEAVILY implied to be an alcoholic (like there are even more bottles lying around in this panel, I cut them out for the screenshot), and he himself implies in the narration that she was neglectful to the point that he pretty much had to raise himself. Interestingly, there’s no mention of an abusive father, which is the bog standard for Riddler backstories in previous continuities. There’s nothing contradicting the existence of an abusive father in addition, so obviously there’s room for headcanons here (though I’m enjoying that Jonathan’s New 52 daddy issues replacing his retconned Post-Crisis mommy issues was finally mirrored by Edward’s Post-Crisis daddy issues being retconned and replaced with New 52 mommy issues. It’s equality).

[Side note: apparently his actual birth name in the New 52 IS Edward “Nygma,” which is also a return to form to his first origin. Personally I’m much fonder of him being born “Nashton” and changing his name as an adult, but that’s just me.]

He says that winning the trophy was the first time he “felt like [he] meant something,” which would seem to indicate that before this he’d internalized his mother’s neglect into a low sense of self worth. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the high of winning it lasted very long, since his classmates weren’t very appreciative of his victory (which is also very in line with Edward’s previous origins, especially Chuck Dixon’s take in Questions Multiple the Mystery).

There’s not much other information about his childhood available, though Batman Annual #4 does seem to indicate that unlike many of Batman’s other villains, he did grow up in Gotham.

This is just based on him telling Bruce that “all of Gotham City” watched him grow up, and that Edward in particular read and watched a lot of tabloid news about Bruce when they were adolescents (is this a Batman Forever reference??? It’s probably not a Batman Forever reference).

Teenage Years

Assuming we’re supposed to take Bruce’s heat-of-the-moment psychoanalysis in Zero Year seriously (Edward is clearly irritated by it, so... confirmation?), Edward’s desire for attention in childhood results in him breaking into corporate data banks and government safe-blocks as a teenager.

Given what Edward is capable of in Zero Year, this definitely doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility, but it’s deeply hilarious in the context of what Year of the Villain confirmed he was (also?) doing as a teenager, which is working as a carnie.

I cannot tell you how hilarious I would find it if THIS is the “questionable past” that Bruce’s Uncle Phillip was talking about during Zero Year, but presumably he’s referring to the same kind of high profile crimes that Bruce was.

But seriously, how funny would it be if he was just talking about how Edward literally ran away from home to join the circus as a teenager...

Adulthood

The 2017 post theorizes that Edward started working for Phillip at Wayne Enterprises in his early twenties, and started earning the various degrees you can see stacked up in a corner in the image above during his employment there. That would seem to fit with this timeline, since I’m not willing to add “earned six different university degrees” to teenage years that are apparently already packed full of ripping off carnival goers AND corporate espionage.

In Batman Annual #4 there is the BAREST indication that Edward might have started working at Wayne Enterprises early into Bruce’s sabbatical abroad, since he talked about how “for months” there were nightly vigils at Wayne Tower where there were so many flowers people would have to cross the street not to step on them. Presumably this would have only been in the first year of Bruce’s disappearance, when Bruce was 18; at the very least this indicates that Edward still lived in Gotham when Bruce left, though it would make more sense for him to be visiting Wayne Tower as Phillip’s strategist than as a hacker/carnie.

In general though, Edward’s Zero Year plan is so ridiculously complex that I think it’s reasonable to assume that he took as long to prepare for his debut as Riddler as it took Bruce to train to be Batman.

[Another side note: Not to accuse Edward of projecting or anything (God forbid), but I think it’s interesting that Edward puts so much emphasis on criticizing Bruce for “disappearing for years” and “making everyone think he’s dead” in combination with the COMPLETE absence of his father from his origin story as presented in Year of the Villain.]

I do think it’s fascinating that Edward’s New 52 origin veers away from the whole “cheating” thing that’s so central to his character in previous continuities - not that he DOESN’T cheat when he feels like it (the whole carnie thing), but it’s not presented as an insecurity of his, and here he’s genuinely intelligent enough to mastermind crimes without needing to move the goalposts at the last second (cough Arkhamverse Riddler COUGH).

One final thing from Edward’s adult life that I think could relate back to his origin comes from Batman #23.2, “Solitaire.”

The issue starts with a flashback of Edward having a deck of playing cards confiscated from him in Arkham because he was playing Solitaire (like, genuinely playing Solitaire; he actually wasn’t plotting anything, it was just for stress relief). The comic is his quest for violent revenge against the Arkham guard who took his cards, which initially seems like a pretty average example of Riddler Brand Pettiness, but the story goes out of its way to highlight how much this really bothered him.

The Arkham Guard has moved on to become the head of security at Wayne Enterprises, so to get revenge Edward has to break into his old place of employment. An unexpected altercation with one of the executives leads Edward to totally freak out over her “touching” him, and afterwards he goes to meditate in her old office in order to calm down. His attempt to relax is interrupted by his old Arkham tormentor, who gets in a couple shots at him before Edward takes his revenge...

...which is BLOWING UP THE ARM that the guard used to take away the “small comfort” Edward had in Arkham. Afterwards, he goes up to the roof to play Solitaire, seeming to finally relax from his agitation earlier.

Given Edward’s isolation and neglect in childhood, it would make sense for him to have ended up playing Solitaire a lot: it’s a game that doesn’t require involvement from friends or family, but still requires a player to use strategy and skill despite the lack of an opponent.

[Yet another side note related to the previous side note: Batman is ACTUALLY dead during Solitaire, which takes place after Joker’s Endgame arc. Bruce and Joker are of course later resurrected through shenanigans, so Edward is right to think he’ll be seeing Batman again. But Riddler sitting on the Wayne Enterprises rooftop, indulging in a self-described “small comfort,” waiting for a man who’s disappeared to miraculously show up again is really interesting. Again, not to accuse him of projecting or anything, but... where’s your dad, Edward...]

His affection for Solitaire is also interesting, in the sense that one could argue that’s what he’s doing in Zero Year: playing a game with himself. He’s challenging other people to play with him through his “riddle” game, and he’s clearly prepared for the possibility of having an opponent (given that he has a whole rainbow disco death trap room set up at the end of Zero Year, which he seems DELIGHTED to have a chance to use), but he’s not expecting to have one. Whether this is a perspective rooted in his childhood or not, it seems to have changed after Zero Year, based on his riddle for Batman in “Alone.”

[twinkiplier]

This is gonna run a little long, but please bear with me as I am really excited to host this raffle. For those only interested in the money, the top prize is a $100 Visa gift card that the grand prize winner will receive the code for privately. Disclaimer: This is NOT an art contest, I will NOT be judging people's art against eachother. This is a RAFFLE, where you draw something and it's given a random number which will be generated at the conclusion of the raffle. You do not have to put your full talent into this drawing, but I would honestly appreciate it if you did because I absolutely love seeing what people create.

Rules: - Play nice, and don't complain if you don't win. It's completely random and says nothing about your art or effort. I appreciate each and every entry regardless of artistic talent or perceived quality. - Digital, traditional, and all other types of artists are all allowed. If you want to do a physical craft, I will pay for you to ship it to me, no questions asked. - There are two prompts, and you can enter the raffle up to two times, one for each prompt. - Each entry MUST follow the basic rules of the prompt, if it doesn't I will contact you immeditely to let you know so that you can edit it and resubmit. If you choose not to resubmit, your entry will not be counted. - The raffle will end on May 1st, 2022, and winners will be drawn the same day. - Usually I do a tier system depending on the amount of entries, but I feel like that makes people walk away from the raffle without entering, so I won't be doing that. Instead, the prizes will scale with the amount of entries. - No gore or NSFW is allowed due to me not being comfortable with Tummy being drawn that way. He also MUST be wearing clothes.

Prompt 1: I have gone to huge lengths to fill Tummy's wardrobe with a lot of of my actual clothing, and would love to see him drawn in something I would wear rather than his default outfit. You can use the functioning wardrobe on his ToyHouse account, but please put effort into the accuracy and quality. - This prompt MUST be fullbody and fully colored. Shading is not necessary, but allowed. Chibi is okay but please don't simplify the clothing, as that is the focus of the art.

Prompt 2: Tummy has two boyfriends, Markus and Hamlet. I absolutely love drawings of them being together and doing something cute or fun. If you want, you can ask me and I'll describe a date or activity my boyfriend and I have done for you to draw, as I would LOVE to see that. There are three different ways you can go about this prompt: - Tummy with Markus OR Hamlet, both fullbody, with background, shading optional. - Tummy with Markus OR Hamlet, both halfbody, with background, shading required. - Tummy with Markus AND Hamlet, all at least halfbody, with background, shading optional.

Prizes: - The grand prize is, of course, a $100 Visa gift card. - 5 runner-ups will each receive $20 via PayPal OR a fullbody drawing/custom if they cannot accept PayPal. - Every non-winning entry will receive a complementary headshot/bust of the character provided in their entry form.

How to Enter: Fill out this form: https://forms.gle/AZNZ6jDSQYtHysMD7 You can fill it out a maximum of two times, one for each prompt!

ToyHouse Information: https://toyhou.se/8158758.tummy https://toyhou.se/5867679.markus https://toyhou.se/9958737.hamlet

[mahou-furbies]

Meguca tournament wrap-up

Alright, the tournament is now finally over (or the comment posts have been scheduled)! I did say that there would be an “elongated closing ceremony”, but I didn’t quite expect it to take over three months to finish everything but here we are. The reason for the delay is that when the tournament finished I really wanted to draw botw which took all attention, and after that it was difficult to get back on track. But I’m glad everything is now wrapped up because this was really blocking a lot of other content here on mahou-furbies, since I tried to avoid getting sidetracked by even more projects (and ended up finishing very little over the autumn).

The open comments are always my favourites and it’s great you left so many of them. And it’s nice that many of you told you had fun with the event, comments like that really make it fun to host these too.

Some general comments 

This bonus round made me find out you can buy actual magia record cards so uh. That?

Awesome! Sometimes I was voting for design while sometimes I was voting for character though which probably created some conflict. Also occasionally when there were two characters I both like and I know I want one to win but I’m pretty sure they’re gonna win anyways I voted for the other one because I wanted to show some support (like in the final round oops-)

My relationship with the Puella Magi franchise is awkward. The original anime gave me nightmares. However, I believe the girls’ outfits are cute and well-designed. If there is one thing I appreciate, it’s clothing.

I imagined the characters walking down a catwalk as if they’re having a fashion show and each round some contestants are sent home.

One really good comment was about the length of the tournament, i.e. that it got tedious to check back every day for a month and it could potentially cause burnout. With which I agree, and it was some trouble even for me to be present to close the poll, open the next one and post the results daily for so long. I think the issue is that there’s just so many Megucas... I could have eliminated more in the first round, but there were some comments against the 3-way matches. And I don’t like the idea of one voting batch having too many matches at once because I feel that it would take attention away from the individual matches and would just cause people to skim over the list if it’s too long. But maybe that’s just me. Comments on this are welcome! Right now the simplest solution probably is just not to have so many participants in the first place.

I’d like to have more tournaments in the future too, though there aren’t that many franchises with enough characters. Magical Girl Raising Project maybe, but I don’t think it’s popular enough to warrant a full tournament on its own. And a multi-series tournament sounds like it’d be really skewed in favour of the popular series, like who do you think is going to win, Sailor Moon or some rando from a show nobody saw? Ideas on this are welcome too.

There will be another Precure tournament though, this time on just who your favourite character is (instead of being asked to vote for the best outfit). But I’ll wait until the 2022 Cures can be included too. And another idea I had is like a miss Cure beauty pageant thing, where there’s some pre-selected characters and each round you’d vote who of them has the best winter look, or pyjamas, and so on, and then in the end the points are tallied to pick the winner. How’s that sound? 

[sunmoonandsandsoundtracks]

holly jolly christmas

okay, here comes my attempt at a monthly challenge. i didn't get to do smut back in october, so let's see if i can do it now.

this is another surprise x reader, but the actual person is not ever named. i may or may not do a part 2 to this. i might just leave it open ended. if you want a second part, comment and tell me who you want it to be! i have someone in mind, but i might be swayed.

bring on the holiday.

disclaimer: the plot and unnamed character only are mine to own, so if you feel inclined to sue me, fuck off and leave me alone.

spotify/youtube

word count: 1001

enjoy! putting a read more line here because even though it's not all that long, i don't want it hogging up your screen.

The party was in full swing with music and liveliness, but you were too busy pouting as you looked out the window, wishing you saw snow on the ground, or at least falling. Sure, it was still early in the month, but you wanted your white Christmas, damn it.

“Hey! Come on!” a familiar, rough voice called to you. “Why aren’t you having fun?”

“I am having fun,” you said, facing Naruto as he approached you, carrying two cups of punch. With a slight smirk, you took the cup he offered you and added, “I’m having fun speculating who’s going to win the ugly sweater contest. You’re in first place, hands down.”

Leave it to Naruto to find an ugly orange Christmas sweater.

“Some friend you are!” He griped.

You just laughed. “Hey, that’s a good thing. I don’t even know what the prize is. It might be free coupons for ramen.”

“That would be so cool!”

You gave him a little nod and sipped your punch. The two of you chatted a bit longer, and you promised him to join the party. So you made your way to the refreshments table, snagged some of your favorite cookies, then worked your way through the crowd, exchanging pleasantries with familiar faces.

“Oh, good, you’re here!” Ino said when she saw you. “Look, I need you to be chill for five minutes, and work with me.”

You sent her a bemused look. “I was feeling pretty chill, but now I’m really concerned.”

“Just go along with it. It’ll be over faster if you do,” Sakura said, standing beside the bubbly woman. “I promise, it’s nothing huge.”

“Okay, but why me?”

“Can’t tell you, now come here!” Ino chirped, grabbing your arm and dragging you away from the throng.

“Right this second?” You grumbled as you stumbled along.

She led you to an empty hallway, where you noticed a sprig of mistletoe hanging above.

“Ino, are you-?”

“Someone here really wants to kiss you, but they’re a little nervous about how you’ll react. If you agree, I’m going to blindfold you, then get them. You can’t take the blindfold off until I come back and tell you they’re gone, okay?”

“So I’m just supposed to kiss someone who could be a total stranger-”

“No, you know them pretty well!” She insisted.

“-and then we just go on our merry way? I don’t get to know?”

“They’ll tell you on Christmas day, and with any luck, you’ll want to kiss them again. Trust me, it’s completely safe, and I know this person would never hurt you in a million years.”

Once more, you were befuddled. “Against my better judgment, fine. I need something to liven up my holiday.”

A little squeak of excitement came from her as she produced a thick, wide red ribbon and tied it around your head, making sure it was secure, and that you couldn’t see through it.

“Okay, they’ll be here soon!”

Once you were pretty sure she was gone, you sighed and leaned against the wall. “I have no one to blame but myself if I wind up dead and stuffed in one of the closets here.”

It didn’t seem like very long before you sensed another presence. “Hello?”

No response. “Alright, I can appreciate a good mystery. I think I trust you enough just based on the fact that you got Ino to help you. We’ll just see how this goes, and if it doesn’t go well, you can maintain your anonymity. Fair?”

Their answer was to abruptly press their lips to yours. Your mind immediately tried to determine who it could be by using your senses. Their lips were soft. Soft like a girl who regularly used lip balm or gloss, you weren’t sure. Your own lips were a bit chapped, so you didn’t think you were getting an accurate read. They must have passed through the crowd at some point, because you could detect a variety of scents on them, making it impossible to go by that.

Their hands went to your waist, and while you could have tried to feel those, you opted to focus on the kiss itself. It was tender, and you could tell they were treading lightly. Your hands rested on their arms- they wore a thick enough coat that you couldn’t even gauge those- and you deepened it just slightly, giving them permission to take it further.

They did, and there was no question about your eagerness to find out who they were.

It evolved into a hungry liplock where moans were exchanged, leaving you wondering if it was going to go even further than just a kiss on the lips. Just as the heat between you reached its peak, they pulled away. Disappointed, you resisted the urge to pull them back, while they brushed a gloved hand over your cheek, then took your hand and placed a folded note in it before fleeing. You obediently waited for Ino to return and uncover your eyes.

“So, how was it?” She questioned, sending you a sly look that told you she knew. “You might want to go fix yourself in the bathroom before going back. Do you have any idea who it might be?”

“No,” you scoffed. “It could have been you for all I know.”

“Guess they covered their bases. Well, it gives you another reason to look forward to Christmas.”

You nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”

She left you to go straighten up like she suggested, and as soon as you got to the restroom, you read the note your potential soon-to-be significant other left you. They didn’t even give you a hint with their handwriting, writing it out in what must have been painstakingly careful script that could have been typed.

Have a holly jolly Christmas, and I’ll find you under the mistletoe the day of to finish what we started.

To say the very least, you weren’t so hung up anymore on whether or not there’d be snow.

[ask-them-bois]

Ancient Sounds 3/5

AS.pt.1 AS.pt.2

TW: Major Character Death

“Bluegill? You a’ight?” Rufuss called softly, knocking on the door gently.

Bluegill coughed again and cleared his throat, then wiped his bloody hands on a tissue. He dropped it down the side of the bed, out of sight, as Rufuss opened the door.

“Yessir, I’m alright.” He rumbled, forcing a smile. Rufuss blinked at him, the younger indigo’s earfins drooping.

“You ain’t lookin’ too good, partner.” Rufuss murmured, walking over to Bluegill’s bed and sitting on the edge beside him. Lil’ Lady, who lay at Bluegill’s feet, grumbled at the bed dipping.

“Prolly not, but I never intended ta win beauty contests wit’ this mug.” Bluegill chuckled, before he sighed. “I’m an ol’ troll, Rufuss. I think my body’s just ‘bout had enough.”

“You’re not that old!” Rufuss protested.

Bluegill gave him a pointed look. “I’m nearin’ forty-six sweeps, kiddo. That’s ‘bout average fer our blood, even with the seadweller part.” His fins twitched as he lay back against the mountain of pillows behind him.

Rufuss blinked at him, before he nodded, reaching up and pulling his hat off. “I ain’t wantin’ you to go.” He said quietly, running a hand through his own hair. Bluegill smiled softly, a wrinkled hand patting Rufuss’ broad shoulder.

“I know, partner, but you’ll do fine without me. You were doin’ great b’fore. You did somethin’ real special here, ya know? Thanks fer takin’ care o’ the old ranch fer me.”

Rufuss blinked at him and sniffled, nodding. “Thank ya kindly, sir. Do ya- do ya want me to… get someone? One o’ them purples, for… for last rites or somethin’?”

Bluegill laughed. “No, Mister Rufuss, I think I’ll be just fine. There’s only one purple I give a damn ‘bout.” He dug in the pocket of his long johns and pulled out an old, tattered photograph. He smiled at softly, the wrinkles on his face doubling, before he held it out to Rufuss. “Looksee.”

Rufuss took the photo and turned it over. The picture was old, faded, and yellow on the edges. It was a photo of a young Hounding, somewhere around six sweeps, his teeth bared and his eyes scrunched up as he tried to smile. His face and overalls were covered in dirt, his hair cut very short. He was leaning on the pasture fence, his head turned towards the camera.

“… Do ya want me ta get Mr. Hounding?” Rufuss asked, passing the photo back.

“No, sir. I don’t think it’d do much good. He ain’t wantin’ nothing ta do with me anyhow.” Bluegill tucked the photo back into his pocket and pat his chest gently. He looked down at Lil’ Lady. “All I wantcha ta do is take care o’ my ol’ gal when I’m gone. Her an’ Sweetpea.”

Rufuss looked down at the ancient basset hound, who raised her head and gazed at her master with big, sorrowful eyes, before she heaved herself to her feet. She waddled over to Bluegill’s side and flopped against him. “I don’ think she wants ya to go, either.” Rufuss frowned.

“Ah… prolly not, but she’ll join me ‘gain eventually.” Bluegill smiled softly, patting the fat bark-beast’s belly. His smile faltered after a moment. “There is, actually, one more thing I’d like you ta do fer me.” He said quietly. Rufuss looked up.

“What is it?”

“Bury me in the pasture, will ya? On the hill. ‘S where I was buried last time, an’ I quite liked it. Had a nice view o’ the sea and the sunset.”

Rufuss felt a lump rise in his throat. “Don’ be talkin’ like that.” He croaked.

“Mm. It’s all I got ta talk about now. Promise me, Ru. On th’ hill near the stables.”

Rufuss shook his head, reaching up to rub his eyes. “I- I promise, sir.” He rasped between his fingers.

Bluegill regarded his descendant fondly. “Don’ cry fer me, cowboy. Not yet. This is how I wanted ta go the first time ‘round. I ain’t got no regrets, an’ I know my ranch is in good hands.”

“I… I won’t-” Rufuss paused, wiping his eyes again, “I won’t letcha down, sir.”

“I know, kiddo.” Bluegill murmured, snuggling deeper into his blankets “You ain’t ever done it before. A man couldn’ ask fer a better descendant, ya know that? I’m plum-dumb proud o’ ya.”

Rufuss choked back a sob, forcing a smile. “Thank ya, sir.”

Bluegill turned his head to look at him, a tired smile on his face. “There it is. That ol’ Rufuss Wacoba smile. Don’t you ever stop smilin’, Ru, you hear me? This planet is pretty shit sometimes; all ya can do is keep on smiling, an’ look forward ta the next sunset.”

“Yes, sir.” Rufuss nodded, swallowing thickly. Bluegill huffed, pleased, and turned to look up at the ceiling before he closed his eyes. There was a moment’s silence before he spoke again.

“Could I ask one more thing of ya?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Go get my guitar, will ya? I wanna hear one more song. Ain’t right fer a man ta go in silence.”

Rufuss choked on a hiccup as he got up and left the room. Bluegill opened his eyes and looked over when he heard his footsteps retreat. He saw the younger indigo’s hat, left on the side, and picked it up. He slid it over his own brow, to cover his face.

“Mm. Don’t be tellin’ on me now, Lil’ Lady, but wasn’t all that truthful wit’ that boy. I got one regret left, after all. I ain’t gonna get ta see where this all ends. But I think I’m okay wit’ that. I’m tired.” He sighed. “I know Ru’s gonna be just fine. … Arrach, too. Make that another regret. Wish I coulda seen my kid one more time.” Lil’ Lady whined softly, pressing her snout into his arm. He pet her head again, before knitting his fingers over his chest.

The door opened again and Rufuss entered once more, a black and blue guitar in hand. His face was blue, eyes puffy from holding everything in. “What song do ya want ta hear?” He asked quietly.

“Hm… “Devil Child, Come Home.” That was always my favorite.” Bluegill replied, his voice very quiet now. His hand trembled as he tugged on the hat in salute. “See ya at the next sunset, Rufuss. Don’t you ever change fer no troll.”

Rufuss sat on the edge of the bed, eyes watering, and plucked a few chords. “It was an honor ta meet you, sir.”

Taking a deep breath, he pulled a pick out of his breast pocket and began to strum. After a few seconds, he began to sing.

His voice, by some miracle, didn’t crack or waver, and he sang. He sang his blood-pumper out, sang one of the most soulful songs Bluegill had ever composed. He sang about the moons, about the ranch, about the night an old rancher’s life changed. He sang of a demon with pitchforks for horns and bloody knuckles, and how that demon saved the rancher’s life. He sang of how that demon grew up, how that demon exchanged his fists for an ax, and how he left, leaving the old rancher alone. He sang of the rancher’s plea, for the demon to come home.

He sang of the rancher’s final words, of the rancher knowing the demon would take his soul when they saw each other again. Still, the rancher prayed for the demon to come back. Finally, he sang of the smile the rancher wore as he saw the demon appear on the horizon, and he sang of the rancher walking into the night to meet him, to welcome the demon home.

Rufuss strummed the last few cords, and let them fade into silence. He peeled open his eyes, his freckled cheeks wet and sticky, and turned to look.

He didn’t need to see it to know Bluegill’s chest no longer rose and fell. Lil’ Lady had her head on the old troll’s shoulder, eyes closed as she rested with her master for the last time. Rufuss set the guitar aside and smiled weakly.

“See ya at the next sunset, Mr. Bluegill.” He croaked.

Rising to his feet, he stumbled out of the respiteblock, and down the hall to his own. He sat heavily on his own bed, and finally let himself have a good, long, cowboy cry. His grief pooled in his hands and dripped through his fingers, splattering his already mud-splattered jeans.

Hours later, when his throat was raw and eyes were dry, he wiped his face and got back up. He wandered downstairs, to the mealblock, and got a glass of sweet tea. Sweetpea, Bluegill’s bark-beast grub, was on the couch, methodically gnawing a chew bone.

Rufuss pat her head, then wandered out onto the porch and sat in the rocking chair, staring out over the pasture. Part of him wanted to slink back inside, into his coon, to hide. But the other part of him knew there was still work to be done.

“Bluegill said cowfolk don’t leave jobs half finished.” He said to himself, bouncing his toes slowly to rock back and forth. Sniffling, he looked out over the ranch that was, once more, all his.

He could see the hill Bluegill had requested; it stood a few yards from the break, where the ground sloped down onto the beach. It’d do just fine, he thought.

Lost in his lapse of grief, the beeping of his palmhusk made him jump. He fumbled and pulled it out, to see a message from Gehero.

-GardeningWarrior began trolling OceanicBuckaroo!-

GW: 8. Hi, Rufuss. Is h3…? .8

OB: YeAh. A few hOurS AgO.

GW: 8. I’m so sorry. At l3ast you kn3w it was coming. .8

OB: ThAt dOn’t mAke it hurt LeSS.

GW: 8. I know. I’m sorry. Do you want m3 to com3 ov3r? .8

OB: NAh, it’S ALright, G. I’LL be OkAy. I’m juSt… thinkin’ mAybe I ShOuLd teLL Mr. UrfAth. BLuegiLL didn’ wAnt me tA teLL him he wAS gOin’, but I StiLL think he ShOuLd knOw he’S gOne.

GW: 8. I could go with you, if you want. .8

OB: I thOught he hAted yOu, thOugh?

GW: 8. Y3s, but you’r3 my fri3nd, Rufuss. I’m willing to fac3 him for you. .8

OB: YOu’re tOO kind, G. I’d AppreciAte it highLy if yOu’d AccOmpAny me.

GW: 8. Th3n it’s s3ttl3d. I can m33t you th3r3 now, if you’r3… r3ady. .8

Rufuss took a deep breath and drained his glass of tea, before he set it aside and stood up.

OB: Lemme fetch my hAt An’ bOOtS, An’ I’ll heAd yer wAy.

-OceanicBuckaroo ceased trolling GardeningWarrior!-

An hour later, Rufuss spotted Gehero standing by the gates to Hounding’s hive, twisting his claws through his hair anxiously. Rufuss sped up his pace, reaching up to tip his hat.

“Howdy, partner.” He called. Gehero looked up and smiled softly.

“Howdy, my friend.” He said, bowing slightly. The boys stepped forward and embraced one another, before pulling back. “How… how are you?” Gehero asked softly.

Rufuss smiled softly. “I’m hurtin’, G, but I’ll be alright.” He said honestly. Gehero nodded in understanding.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“At the moment, nah, but thank ya kindly fer askin’.” He said, before turning to the gate. “Let’s…” he took a deep breath, “Let’s go see Mr. Urfath.” He said, ready to get it over with. He tried the gate, and it pushed open easily for him.

“They’re not locked.” Gehero noted, sounding puzzled.

“Maybe he forgot. I left th’ paddock gates open a few weeks ago, plum forgot ‘bout it until one o’ the kelpies was standin’ on the porch.” Rufuss shrugged with a weak chuckle.

“Hounding doesn’t forget these kinds of things.” Gehero frowned. Shaking his head, though, he followed Rufuss up the marble steps of the large, dark hive. Lights shone through the windows, spilling onto the lawnring.

Rufuss swallowed thickly and walked up to the door, rapping his knuckles loudly against the black wood. There was a moment’s pause, before the giant door opened.

To both boys’ surprise, it was Ashhur who answered, the mutant red seadweller looking just as surprised as them.

“Why you here?” He asked, tipping his head.

“We need to see Houndin’.” Rufuss explained, tipping his hat in greeting.

“Master Urfath is business.” Ashhur informed him, before he frowned. He made several clicks and hums to himself. “Busy.” He corrected himself.

“This is important, though. Please, Ashhur.” Gehero stepped up. Ashhur glanced at him, all four eyes searching the purpleblood’s face, before he relented.

“Okay.” He stepped aside and motioned them in.

Thanking the redblood, Rufuss stepped inside and looked around; the mansion hive was decked in black and purple hues, with the barest splashes of red to give the place a gothic feel. The foyer alone was unnerving, the walls covered in mounted troll horns, skulls, and weapons.

Ashhur motioned for them to follow as he shut the door and headed towards the living block, his golden tattoos glimmering in the chandelier light; he was dressed in nothing but a pair of shorts, his multitude of fins on display.

“Master!” The seadweller called, “More visitors!”

The three of them entered the humongous living block, and both Rufuss and Gehero came to a stop.

Sat across from one another were Hounding and Oliver. Hounding sat in a throne-sized lounge chair, a faygo in hand and an amused expression on his face. Oliver sat snuggly on the lounge plank, his legs ankles crossed and cane laying across his lap, a soda of his own clasped in his claws.

Hounding looked up as they entered, his expression immediately darkening. “What the fuck are you doing here?” He snarled, setting his soda down.

Oliver turned her head in their direction, sniffing the air. “Purple and indigo… Oh! You two must be Gehero and Rufuss. Hello, darlings.” She purred, wiggling her fingers at them.

“Uh… Howdy.” Rufuss greeted her, tipping his hat. He swallowed nervously and stepped forward, looking up at Hounding. “Mr. Urfath, sir, I… I know you ain’t too fond o’ me, or- or Gehero fer that matter, but I got somethin’ ta tell ya.”

“Spit it out, then.” Hounding rumbled, scowling.

Rufuss took a shaky breath and hung his head. “Bluegill is dead.”

The silence that dropped was nearly deafening. Rufuss dared himself to raise his eyes, and saw Hounding staring at him, the purpleblood’s face suddenly blank, betraying his surprise.

“… How.”

“Just… age, sir.”

“When.”

“A few hours ago, sir.”

Hounding was silent for a long moment, before he took a deep breath and sat up. “Fine. Get out.” He said shortly.

“I- sir-?”

“I said,” Hounding spoke over him loudly, lips peeling back to bare his tusks, “get. Out.”

Rufuss opened his mouth to speak again, but thought better of it. He nodded and tipped his hat.

“Yes, sir. Have- have a good evenin’. Sorry fer your loss.” He turned away, taking Gehero’s hand and leading him out of the hive in silence. Rufuss only looked back when they were at the gate, and was surprised to see Ashhur and Oliver had followed them.

“Well, that was… anti-climactic.” Oliver hummed, looking both bored and disappointed.

“What were you doing with Hounding?” Gehero asked the olive, running his claws through his hair again.

“Oh, I just popped in for a hive visit, is all. He’s a friend of a friend of my morail. I just had a few questions for him.” Oliver shrugged, waving a hand dismissively.

Gehero frowned at that, working his jaw back and forth, before he turned to Rufuss. “What do we do now?”

Rufuss looked around, then up at the hive, then adjusted his pants and sighed. “I’m goin’ home. I got a body ta bury and critters who need dinner.” He said.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Gehero offered. Rufuss shook his head.

“No, it’s okay. You got critters o’ your own who probably want dinner. I… wanna be alone fer a while anyway.” He said, forcing a smile.

“… Alright. Troll me if you need anything.” Gehero told him. Rufuss nodded, tipping his hat to the three of them.

“Will do. See ya at the next sunset, folks.” He smiled, turned on his heel, and moseyed away.

Gehero watched him go, before he turned to Ashhur and Oliver. “… What about you, Ashhur?” He asked.

The mutant shrugged, the fins on his shoulders rippling. “I go back eventually. Master Urfath kicks me out… lots of times. I can go back later.”

“Well… it’s not safe for you to be out here uncovered.” Gehero reached down and undid his robe, slipping it off and holding it out. “Here. You can come stay at my hive for a while, if you’d like.”

Ashhur’s eyes all blinked at different intervals, and he nodded. He took the robe and slipped it on. “Okay.”

Beside them, Oliver hummed. “I suppose I should head home, too… Although, Gehero, darling, I was hoping to talk to you.”

Gehero turned to the oliveblood. “About what?”

“Well, word is that you… recently left your dear church.”

“I… I did, yes.”

“You must be feeling a little lost right now, right?”

“Um.”

“In need of a support system? Looking for a community to support you?” Oliver pressed, stepping forward.

Gehero stepped back, unnerved. “I- I have my meow-beasts-” He began.

“Yes, yes, your precious meow-beasts, I know. I’m more of a feather-beast person myself. Anyways, I know a community that can help you.”

Gehero perked up slightly. “You- you do?”

“I do, darling! A fun little club I host; a lovely group of trolls from all sides of the spectrum, many of which are going through their own hard times. We even have a silly name and we all get matching tattoos, and oh, it’s just a lovely, fun time.” Oliver purred.

Gehero’s face fell. “Oh. You mean the Black Hand.”

“Oh! You’ve heard of us, then?” Oliver beamed.

“Yes, Musrio warned me about you. I’m sorry, but I’m not looking into joining cults at the moment.” He said flatly. Oliver’s lips twitched in the faintest frown, before she was once again smiling.

“Ah, well, the offer still stands, my love.” She turned away, waving over her shoulder. “Good evening, my dears!”

Over her shoulder, she heard Gehero say, “Come with me, Ashhur.” She waited until the sounds of their footsteps faded away, before she let her smile drop. Digging in his purse, Oliver pulled out his palmhusk and earbuds, pulling up Trollian.

-SightlessFirebird began Trolling HeavymetalMeowbeast!-

SF: BB~. I have news~.

HM: OH??? ABOUT HIEROPHANT????

SF: Yes, my love~. I was just at the Hounding’s hive, when none other than Ru7uss and Gehero came in, and announced Bluegill had died~! Tragic thing, that~. Ah well, I suppose that’s just another number down on Musrio’s side, though~. Old troll passed in his own bed~.

HM: OH DAMN. WHAT ABOUT HOUNDING, THOUGH??? DID HE GIVE YOU ANYTHING USEFUL???

SF: He did~! An old trinket of Hierophant’s I think will come in handy~. I think it’s about time we had another meeting, BB~.

SF: It’s time 7or you to come home~.

HM: !!!!!!!

-SightlessFirebird ceased Trolling HeavymetalMeowbeast!-

[marvella15]

Astaire & Rogers Rewatch Part 8: Carefree

• Ah Carefree. Another film with a lot of weird, extraneous crap in it that detracts from what we’re all actually here for: Astaire and Rogers together and dancing. 

• Surprisingly, this odd movie has a song and dance I especially like, “Change Partners.” It also has the first on-screen romantic kiss between Astaire and Rogers. But we’ll get to that. 

• Our character/actors: Dr. Tony Flagg (Fred Astaire), Amanda (Ginger Rogers), Stephen (Ralph Bellamy), Cora (Luella Gear)

• I’m not up on Ralph Bellamy’s filmography but in every movie I’ve ever seen him in, he’s the guy who loses the girl to the bigger male star. 

• Now I’m no expert but it seems like if your fiancé breaks off your engagement three times, there might be some actual issues in your relationship. And I don’t think those issues boil down to just “the girl I like won’t marry me.”

• For the first time in one of these films, Astaire’s character isn’t a dancer or musician by profession. He’s a psychiatrist… who used to be a dancer. Gotta have some reason why he’s so dang elegant and talented. 

Not a fan of his notes on a patient that indicate she’s a “typical pampered female” who doesn’t need a doctor but rather “a good spanking.” 

Right after this, he describes Amanda, whom he hasn’t met, in very unflattering terms, including that she probably doesn’t have a brain. Here’s a diagnosis, Dr. Flagg. You’re a misogynist. 

Already we can see some issues with Carefree. 1938 may have been a different time but nothing about Astaire’s character is charming, kind, or anything we’d want Rogers to be paired with.

• I do like that as usual Rogers’ character doesn’t stand for any crap. She doesn’t give one single eff about his questions or his attempts to chat with her and then she storms out. 

• Astaire spent two weeks rehearsing the golf solo (aka "Since They Turned 'Loch Lomond' into Swing"), during which he did a thousand swings. The actual number took two and a half days to film. 

Surely it helped that he was an avid golfer already. In addition to horse racing, it was one of his favorites hobbies. 

It goes without saying that he hits a golf ball better in the midst of a dance than I could on a driving range. 

It also probably goes without saying that the only reason Tony does this number is because his ego is insulted by Amanda. 

• Rogers looks particularly fab in her shorts during the bicycle scenes. 

• Amanda begins to warm up to Tony after seeing he has talents besides psychoanalysis and insulting women he hasn’t met. But she only truly starts to like him after he makes an idiot of himself by crashing his bike into a bush. 

• Cora thinks that Tony sent her a gigolo?? And she’s totally on board with it?? And she drinks something this random man (who we know is Tony’s assistant) hands her???

• “I Used to be Color Blind” has a lot of potential that it doesn’t live up to imo. As you might guess by the song and the way the scene is filmed, this sequence was supposed to be in color. But, depending on who you ask, either the studio felt it was too expensive or the color tests looked horrible so it was scrapped. Either way, it’s a shame. Audiences had to wait over ten years to see Astaire and Rogers dancing in color.

• I’m also not wild about the slow motion, which seems a bit goofy. However, it does let us better appreciate the talent and mastery of Astaire and Rogers. For example, when he lifts her in a spin, her feet don’t touch the ground again for a while and they both make it seem effortless. 

• Soooo the Kiss. I know I’ve been banging the kiss kiss kiss drum for a few movies now. But this almost isn’t that satisfying? Now, I would say that this could’ve been intentional on Astaire’s part since he (and maybe his wife?) was the one opposed to any on-screen clinches and preferred the romance and intimacy to be in the dances. But, Astaire wasn’t comfortable with even this finished product, according to both his account and Rogers’. The slow-motion made what was really just a peck on the lips seem like much more, which he felt made up for all of the kisses he hadn’t given her in their previous films. So it seems unlikely he had any hand in intentionally making it unsatisfying. 

More likely, it’s that of all of the scenes, songs, dances, and movies for a kiss to happen, this isn’t the one I would’ve picked. A peck on the lips during “The Continental” would’ve been perfect, or a delicate kiss after “Cheek to Cheek” or a passionate one after “Never Gonna Dance.” Just a few places I wish we’d seen a kiss rather than (or in addition to) here.

All of that said, I will say that there’s something very fitting that in the scene Rogers is the one to lean up and kiss him rather than him being the proactive one. That’s very fitting for their off-screen dynamic too where he was far more shy and reserved. And I do like that it’s clearly an intimate kiss, as evidenced by the way she wraps her arms around his back. 

• Two years before she would win her historic Oscar, Hattie McDaniel appears in Carefree in an uncredited role as a maid.

• When Amanda next meets with Tony, she is conflicted about telling him about her dream where she was very clearly in love with him and not boring old Steve. Her sweater conveys her struggle. It has arrows piercing an embroidered heart over her actual heart. 

• Amanda’s invented dream is insane but who hasn’t made up ridiculous excuses to stay around their crush? But kids, don’t go so far as being put under anesthesia. 

• The whole period where Amanda is still drugged and acting weird is absolutely something I typically skip, even though Rogers does a good job with the slapstick.

• “The Yam” harkens back to previous numbers like “The Piccolino” or “The Continental.” Even though it feels almost a bit outdated at this point, it’s a fun, upbeat number in an otherwise somewhat dull film. 

• I like that Astaire drops the acting after a few seconds. He’s just himself for most of this dance and looks like he’s having the most fun he has at any point in this movie. Rogers is also all smiles and looks marvelous. 

• I also like that they dance around so much of the lodge and use much of the scenery as part of the number. 

• Some fun lyrics:

“I didn’t come to do the Charleston” - Rogers got her start in entertainment by winning a Charleston contest when she was 14.

“I didn’t come to ball the jack” - Five years later, Judy Garland will perform a superb number called “Ballin’ the Jack” in For Me and My Gal with a promising new musical star: Gene Kelly. 

• Gotta give it up for the EIGHT times they do the move where his leg is up on the table and she leaps over it. 

• She is undoubtedly whispering something to him when they start to slow dance. 

• Rogers is a really wonderful actress. She does a stellar job when Amanda tells Tony she’s actually in love with him.

• Look, I get that Tony’s trying to find a way out of a situation wherein his friend’s fiancé has fallen in love with him and plans to break it off with his friend, but telling Amanda she’s imagining her feelings is pretty crappy of him. Hypnotizing her so she’ll hate him and marry Steve instead is pretty stupid. 

But once again, Rogers does a fab job in this scene. Hypnotized or not, she’s obviously devastated and cries even while pretending to be in a trance. 

• “Kiss her, you dope!” is what I’ve been saying for seven movies. 

• Some light gun violence humor here in 1938.

• I assume it’s an in-joke that the judge’s last name is Travers, which was the last name of Astaire’s character in Gay Divorcee.

• We already knew Steve was hapless trash but refusing to allow Amanda to choose her own future and instead leaving her hypnotized and getting a restraining order against his friend to prevent Tony and Amanda from ever getting together is a new low.

• Unsurprisingly, the most enduring song from this film is “Change Partners,” which was nominated for an Oscar. It’s also one of my favorites and frequently gets stuck in my head. 

• At least Steve’s stupidity is used against him. Tony literally sings exactly what he’s going to do (“I’ll tell the waiter to tell him he’s wanted on the telephone”) and yet Steve still falls for it. 

• For the third(?) time in this film, Rogers must pretend to be in a trance, this time dancing to Astaire’s hypnotic hands. But not long in, she clearly breaks through a bit because she becomes more of a participant. She grabs his hand when it’s on her waist and melts into his arms when they embrace. 

• “Change Partners” as a dance is incredibly intimate. That’s not so unusual for Astaire and Rogers’ romantic duets but it’s a tad unusual in this particular film where, despite that kiss, they’ve hardly had any romantic interactions. And yet in this dance, they are frequently very close together, his lips hover near hers more than once, and it’s all very slow. In fact, they very nearly kiss a few times. To me it’s further proof that as long-awaited as the earlier kiss was, there were and are better places for it, such as right here.

• Amanda really gets a raw deal. Sure she gets to marry the man she actually loves. But in the process, she nearly shoots him and others, gets arrested, is subjected to a variety of psychological experiments, and then gets punched in the face on her wedding day. 

• During this rewatch I’ve been surprised how much I’ve enjoyed certain films I don’t watch as much, like Gay Divorcee, but Carefree is pretty much how I remember it. Very little worth rewatching, except “The Yam” and “Change Partners.”

• Up next is the last RKO production Astaire and Rogers made and the end of their partnership… for now. It’s The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle.