#hairstyle is control theory

[je-lurk]

I'd love it if you elaborated on how Agatha's hair reflects her state of mind! I'm obsessed with that kind of character analysis and I have a vague idea how I think they're connected but I'd love to hear your thoughts! If you want to of course. : )

Hi! It took me a hot second, but since I hadn’t finished yesterday I thought I could add ep 4. Here are my ideas, hairstyle by hairstyle.

The beginning of the reflection comes from the idea that loose hair in ancient Rome or Greece represented madness (can’t actually find sources on this so take the historical accuracy with a grain of salt) and, in a lesser extent, grief.

In episode 1, we see mostly Detective Agnes. Detective Agnes wears her hair in a low, untidy ponytail. This is the easiest way to gather one’s hair to free up the face. It’s not even done properly. Obviously this echoes how this Agnes is neglecting herself, mostly through self-destructive behaviors. Still, her hair is collected, as is her mind. The situation makes sense for her.

Until it doesn’t, and Agatha frees herself of the past iterations of Agnes. It might be worth to note that all of these have at least stylized hairstyles. This is, to me, Wanda’s influence: the Agneses (as well as every other character in Westview) were not allowed to lose their mind. Detective Agnes, bearing alone the full brunt of Wanda’s power, even less.

Once rid of all her layers, Agatha is naked (rebirth) and her hair is loose (madness).

"Madness" in this case as in disorientation. Agatha’s brain is barely catching up with what’s happened and needs answers. She’s constantly off balance, mostly emotionally.

She spends most of episode 2 with loose braids, done on the fly but still slightly researched. She’s scrambling for control: control of her appearance, control of others, control of her mind.

With Lilia she actively changes her appearance, gathering her braids in a somewhat tight bun, secured with a stick. She attempts to look both different and more pulled together than she really is. This, as we all know, did not work.

Then she ends the episode with a classic updo, with hair piled on her head and framed with two strands, obviously elaborate. The very little time she had she used to prepare herself, both physically and mentally. Every last hair is secured (except for the two strands, we’re aiming for class, mystique and confidence, not stuck-up-bitch-efficiency) and every thought is in place. The plan is made. And the strands can act as a curtain. She’s never really without those hair that can get in her face (except when under Wanda’s control because she doesn’t have the wherewithal to do anything, much less hide and scheme).

Episode 3 sees Agatha with the same updo, although it changes once they enter the first trial.

Her hair is — I struggle to find another word for it — schooled. It is still "loose", but the kind of loose that is held together by cans of hairspray, with studied waves. Girl is holding together with dreams and a prayer. She looks like she is holding together at least. There is still this idea of vulnerability. She’ll be more understanding, more in touch with the others. Less good at deception. More vulnerable, more protective, towards her son (whose loss is, if not still raw, rawer because of Wanda), towards Teen. The front bang, if we can call it like that, is always between the ear and the eye. Again, a curtain. Curtain that she completely pushes back during her hallucination.

It is interesting to me how the hallucination only happens as she is plucking a hair. With all the hairspray it’s staying mid-air. This, with the hair carelessly pushed back, is the more disheveled we’ve seen her in this episode (yet). This is also the most open, emotional and raw we see her in the episode. Even when Teen said he would drink the wine in her stead was she more reserved.

She ends the episode in the updo of the beginning, though 3/4 ruined by the water (lot of stress in the preceding sequence, plan barely holding on). And then Sharon dies. There is something to the ruination of the most elegant and researched updo she did by herself. It recalls again the themes of mental vulnerability, loss of footing, loss of confidence, etc.

There is a little time between the end of episode 3 and the beginning of episode 4. They all dried, and Agatha took her hair down (it’s less ridiculous like this. It’s a conscious choice of appearance, too, she could have easily put her hair up with literally anything). I think it’s because she has really registered Sharon’s death (I’m calling bluff, though. First, because I love her, and second, because she looks too dead for having been dead this short). Even if she doesn’t want to show it, she cares about her and about her death. If she didn’t, she would have no issue assuming the responsibility. It’s not the first time she’s killed. But she shifts the blame elsewhere.

Then there’s Rio, and Agatha is feeling too much at the same time.

Second trial, loose hair, secured with a headband. I love how, as soon as Rio is involved, Agatha always has a loose component to her hairstyle (not counting episode 1 because she was Agnes). In this trial, Agatha is (mostly, we don’t forget Exposition Boy in this house, but hey, that’s what the loose part is for) pulled together: she plots, takes swings, and leadership, and support Alice. They finish the trial so much quicker and with minimal loss.

They get out, where Agatha immediately gets back her loose hair "style" and her emotions. She doesn’t even care to look too attached to Teen. She cries. I believe we’ve only seen her cry once before, in the hallucination. She gets careless, opens herself too much, begins to believe again (in Teen, in Rio) and only gets back a punch in the jaw ("What really happened to your son?") and in the plexus ("That boy isn’t yours". Come on Rio, she knows she’s entertaining delusions, leave her alone).

Tl;dr: It all boils down to hairstyle = control

Loose hair could represent a loss of control over her mental and emotional states, over others, and over her environment.

Styled hair/hair done could show her confidence (and/or the confidence she wants people to think she has), mental acuity, and general capability to think, plan, and plot (whether for her own benefit or that of her coven). In other words, her ability to control the situation.

[hoodreader]

I. AFROSTROLOGY: hair inspiration for black people who want to try a new hairstyle but feel stuck. including natural hair styles & texture diversity.

all of this is theoretical, especially the vedic sidereal. so please keep that mind before u gone and take the advice of tumblr user hoodreader. ur own chart still has its own personal contexts that cannot be accounted for in a random post online, haha. so i’d advise to read primarily from a tropical western lens.

while anyone can read & enjoy this post, it is made with black people (and black hair) in mind. for that reason, my explanations will be from a black perspective.

forms | menu | readings are open | tips $mooninfall

HAIRSTYLE ONE 🌹 BIG CHOP. when u remove a large bulk of ur hair.

people big chop for a lot of reasons. for one, there’s financial costs. black hair care is expensive. and that’s because a lot of these companies are scamming us but i digress. when u have less hair, u can use less product. other reasons are cultural or spiritual. some is because certain hair types can be time consuming to work with. other reasons are because the person likes their hair short!

so whatever ur reason, cutting ur hair is a great choice for people wanting to do something daring or powerful with their appearance. read on to see my theories on big chopping.

MARTIANS. mars in the first house, aspecting the ascendant or inner planets, aspecting saturn, aries, capricorn, or scorpio placements.

maybe mars-ruled nakshatras (mrigashira, chitra, and dhanishta.) honorary mention to krittika nakshatra especially aries rashi, granted krittika is solar.

WHY? mars rules over sharp objects and things being cut. and krittika itself is the nakshatra associated with knives. mars is associated with short hair (both by choice & by balding). and mars is the planet associated with masculinity — long hair is viewed as a feminine trait. thus… martian girls tend to be “dark feminine,” androgynous, or masculine in presentation.

mars is also the planet of the face, & i think martians tend to have “cut” faces (defined features, appearing carved.) likewise, i think the hair sometimes conceals the face and when hair is removed, u can more easily see the face.

for the martian naks… “maybe” is the operative word. in my case, i only really see chitras experimenting with their hair length. but krittikas? absolutely. aries rashi krittikas look amazing with short hair cuts. very elf-like.

SATURNIANS. saturn in the first house, saturn aspecting the ascendant. capricorn placements. saturn aspecting the inner planets.

maybe saturn-ruled nakshatras (pushya, anuradha, and uttara bhadrapada.) etc.

WHY? it honors saturn to regularly purge or energetically cleanse. this doesn’t have to be as dramatic as a big chop, but they are a form of it. our hair holds a large amount of energy.

i notice women - especially black - cling to dead, unhealthy hair b/c the fixation on length. whether the ends are splitting up the shaft, or it’s chemically / heat damaged, etc. i think that’s because black women tend to have trauma relating to hair. cutting ur hair usually frees u from that cycle of valuing urself so much on ur hair. ur more than that.

explanation from @/vindelllas. it reads, “if one suddenly removes their hair, they will likely feel the energies they so desperately crave move in that direction. to clarify, u probably have noticed how if someone is particularly struggling with their mental health, they like to cut or shave their hair.” — if u have the urge to make that step, it’s for a reason. u may crave to be “pruned” in order to control ur energy absorption.

now… for the saturn-ruled nakshatras… “maybe” is the operative word. i can’t really imagine pushyas liberally cutting their hair unless they had some martian or rahuvian influence. for anuradha, maybe to the chin or shoulders. i’m unsure about uttarabhadra.

RAHUVIANS. rahu aspecting the ascendant, or in the first house, rahu aspecting inner planets (especially saturn, venus, or moon), planets in rahu-ruled nakshatras (ardra, swati, shatabisha.) etc.

rahu is another body associated with short hair (through choice or baldness). & in my opinion, they undergo radical changes in appearance. they’re similar to martians in how they present themselves in a “dark feminine” way, or just refusing to subscribe to patriarchy.

i think the best public example of this would be doja cat, a chitra rahu conjunct her first house chitra sun & ascendant. she experienced a nodal reversal and immediately cut off her hair. then began reclaiming her kinky hair texture that was stigmatized against, to the point where she would verbalize that she hated it or she would cover it with wigs. but when she cut it off, i think it was the sign that she was beginning to undergo a transformation.

rahu is destructive and rebellious, including of beauty standards. i notice when rahuvian women first cut their hair, they sorta get addicted to the freedom from conventional femininity and they almost never let their hair grow back out again. for the rahu woman, it’s definitely a form of power reclamation.

KETUVIANS. ketu aspecting the ascendant, or in the first house, aspecting the inner planets (especially saturn, venus, or moon), planets in ketu-ruled nakshatras (ashwini, magha, mula.) etc.

ketu is the headless body, so ketuvians might sometimes cut very lowly. like, bald low.

ketuvians may cut their hair in response to something spiritual. and to be honest, i think “something spiritual” is always the motivation when someone cuts their hair. but for ketuvians, i don’t think it’s about getting powerful. i think it’s about detachment, especially for the reason that ketu is associated with long hair. cutting that off is a sign of surrender.

where the rahuvians cut their hair to obtain power, ketuvians i feel cut their hair to surrender the desire for it at all. like how monks shave.

ALTERNATIVES. i get if someone may be apprehensive about cutting their hair off. so if u aren’t sure u would want to commit to that, try layers or getting ur ends trimmed, or a short wig. i also recommend veiling (for nodals or saturnians). and yes! wearing wigs or lace fronts is a form of veiling. personally, i am against wearing human hair for ethical and spiritual reasons, & i’d advise against it unless it’s intentional.

i think it’s worth taking into consideration that black people’s relationship to hair will not mirror what’s believed in other cultures, such as in vedic.

other cultures have an extensive history of anti blackness towards black hair, whether it’s how it naturally looks or how we choose to style it. especially in regions of the world such as south asia.

and that’s why i made this post! for a pro-black perspective on these things as to not inadvertently imply uncivilization or unruliness based on our features. black is beautiful. u are beautiful. and i hope u feel empowered by this post.

with love, hoodreader.

[hellsslibrary]

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚NSFW Alphabet with Azul Ashengrotto˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

DNI : minors.

!!Warnings : switch!top!male!reader, switch!bottom!Azul, size difference kink, oral, toys, cock warming, praise/humiliation kink, power dynamic, ink(I'm not sorry).

#a.n. : While everyone is writing kinktobers, I'm still trying to finish this. But wait after the alphabets, there will be kinktober... In November, to make it more convenient (and maybe earlier, if I try). Also, no pictures today because I want to redo the decor, and I'm writing this part of Azul for two beautiful ladies, so...(I'll add them later)

A = Aftercare (What are they like after sex?)

He is embarrassed about this (just a little), but he will help put things in order in what he and his partner have done. Prefers to rest a bit before cleaning, but if his partner starts, he will certainly help too. Especially if he was in a dominant position.

B = Body Part (Their favorite body part as well as their partners)

Well, in your body it would... Certain parts. He definitely has a kink for the size difference (you can't argue with me, I want to pin him against the wall). And he will love anything if it is bigger than his body parts? Palms, muscles, if any, tongue, di—. Yes.

Honestly, he really likes his chest, and not just the nipples specifically, he likes it when his partner touches him anywhere on the chest in general. I just have a headcanon that he has very petite chest, even for a guy and well... Sorry.

C = Cum (basically anything related to sperm)

So... His sperm has the most ordinary consistency. It is released quite a bit during orgasm, but it tastes quite salty. There is his ink in the sperm (fanfiction with the overblot form of Azul is always in my head, maybe I’ll write them too someday)

Mmm, I think he likes it when people cum in his mouth. Fish sperm, according to internet experts, is simply disgusting. So he likes this taste, definitely.

D = Dirty Secret (Self-explanatory, their dirty secret)

He is the power bottom almost always, simply because he is flattered by the idea of control. But damn, he has moments where he just wants you to take it all into your own hands and take it as you please, mostly without considering his opinion (but still having his consent to it, of course).

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they are doing?)

... No. Simply no. He's definitely a virgin. I doubt he even knows much about sex in theory. Well, dick, hole there, sperm, orgasm. That's all, okay?

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Doggy style~. Don't lie to me that you didn't want to bend him over his table in the VIP room, I won't believe you (it's not exactly doggy style, but who cares). He mostly refuses to look you in the face when you're dominant, so why not.

If he is dominant... Missionary position? I just like the idea of a dominant bottom underneath a service top and well... Azul would be a good fit. He likes to be snuggled anyway.

G = Goofy (Are they more serious at the moment? Are they humorous? etc.)

Extremely serious, but with a hint of playfulness, if that makes sense. For example, if he has sex with a partner, it means that they literally mean the world to him and he is exposing a part of himself that is really vulnerable, so he likes it if both parties take it very seriously, but he also likes to have an opportunity to tease you and pull your strings just to see how you react.

H = Hair (How well groomed is it? Does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

I wouldn't say he's shaved, but his hair is definitely short, so there's no real need for that. The color is absolutely identical and they are also slightly curly, just like this hairstyle...

I = Intimacy (How are they feeling at the moment? Romantic aspect.)

He is very romantic in general. As I said earlier, he exposes a part of himself that is truly vulnerable, so when his partner takes it seriously, he feels very loved, generally respected and accepted, so he becomes much more romantic both sexually and in general .

J = Jack off (Main canon of masturbation)

He has a lot of stress in his life, you know? So, fuck... I think he would like to do this more often, but he doesn't do it often anyway. He still prefers your hands.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

He probably likes to be humiliated and praised at the same time, and I can't explain it for the world, but I know it. Also likes power dynamics, likes to be bossed around and have less power than the other person, but still respected. But when it comes to dominating you—... For now. He also loves getting your cock warm (sorry). Well... I like to attribute this kink to all busy characters, except for Vil, what will you do to me.

L = Location (Favorite places to do things)

Very personal to him, so the only place he could really do this is either his room, his partners room, or some motel if he's really desperate. Specifically and for the most part, this is his room because he knows where everything is and he has certain toys that he can just pull out whenever he wants. Although... With a lot of persuasion or no choice (if one of you was EXTREMELY horny), he would agree to have sex in a less secluded place

M = Motivation (what turns them on, turns them on)

When he and his partner have a truly romantic relationship (that is, serious) or when you start whispering all sorts of dirty things in his ear and touching his thighs, for example.

N = No (Something they wouldn't do is disabled)

Hmm, I should at least list with someone no (with Vil there will be a direct list, lol), but Azula will also receive this honor. Rape, he also really doesn't like threesomes because he feels it's more about getting laid than actually caring about each other and wants to dedicate all his love to one person in particular. And also his real form until a very distant moment in the relationship.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Receiving. You can't tell me otherwise because this man looks like he was made to be flexed, especially with his skinny waist like...(sorry, I got carried away) and he probably doesn't mind either sit on your face (if that’s what you’re into, of course). The ratio would be something like this: 60% for you, 40% for you.

He's not particularly good at giving blowjobs, but it's all made better by his enthusiasm to bring you to orgasm as quickly as possible... As long as he's not teasing or denying your orgasm, of course.

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

He is slow and sensual as he loves to enjoy every moment he can spend with his partner in this way. Also wants to make sure that the other person knows that he loves them for real, and not just for sex.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickie games, how often, etc.)

Doesn't like quick games, but if he's really busy and his partner wants to do it, he'll agree to one. Well... Actually, they happen quite often, if I may confess.

R = Risk (are they playing with experiments? Are they taking risks? etc.)

Willing to take risks, but very quickly draws a line under what he doesn't like to do (he absolutely doesn't want many things until he becomes comfortable with his boyfriend/he has more trust in him). He wants to spend time with his partner as fully as possible.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they last? How long will they last?)

He becomes very weak in this position, so can usually only last about 7-10 rounds at most (still a reminder that this is a magical world, kittens). He actually only tries three or so, but if his partner wants to try a few more, he's more than welcome. True, only a few.

T = Toys (Do they have toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

He probably has a dildo that he pleasures himself with from time to time, but he only really uses one. He takes good care of it and always makes sure it's properly cleaned so he doesn't get an infection or get sick or anything like that. Not a big fan of toys in general, but if that's what you want, he's okay with it.

U = Unfair (How much they love to tease)

He really likes both sides of the coin. He enjoys both teasing his partner and receiving teasing from him. Loves it when he squirms under his partner and he starts making comments about it, although he always complains about it, he likes it. And I also like the completely mirrored version.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Very loud because he often forgets to be quiet, the only thing he can really think about is his partner at that moment so nothing else matters. Although, if you persuade him to have sex outside of your rooms with him... He will hardly utter a sound, he is too ashamed.

W = Wild Card (random character headcanon)

He... Loves... Jerk... You... With...His... Tentacles. Okay, listen to me. When in the end, you gain his trust completely, he will agree to many things in his form. And damn... The tentacles are clearly faster and more skillful than his arms (even if they are quite chubby).

X = X-ray (Let's see what's going on under those clothes)

12 cm/just under 5 inches. He has a mole on his balls. His balls are surprisingly quite large and plump.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Like I said, his sex drive is quite high considering his stress level, but on average... He's fine with about 2-3 times a week. Although, what if you want more? He's all yours.

Z - Zzz (How quickly they fall asleep later)

Doesn't fall asleep right away, he likes to compliment his partner or talk a little before he falls asleep. If his partner is asleep, he can simply lie there for 10-20 minutes and come to the realization of what he just did before falling back to sleep.

[nebbys-personal-nebula]

the biggest, most copium agent 4 theory from this clown of an agent four enjoyer

apologies for the wait on this! i wanted to unlock all of the dev diaries to make sure i could squeeze out every last bit of lore...

anyways SIDE ORDER SPOILERS INCLUDING POSTGAME

so let's start with the common knowledge. most people know by this point that agent 4 has a palette. it's one of the first you get in the game, after pearl and marina's. to the surprise of nobody, it is a splattershot...

according to what marina says about the memverse, palettes are a portion of a person's soul dragged into the memverse. so agent 4's soul got dragged in here somehow. how did this happen, and why? there are a few possibilities...

marina mentions in her eighth dev diary that she needs someone to handle system security. she writes: "maybe i can ask that person cuttlefish introduced me to for help there." this is still pretty vague, but we know from smollusk's note on agent 4's palette that it is definitely agent 4. quote:

"THIS is who mawina wanted in charge of memverse security? this unfwappable, free-spirited so-and-so? i would never abide it!"

the question is: if agent 4 was intended to be security for the memverse, then where are they? this leads us to the parallel canon boss!

note that figure in the center. even though all descriptions for this boss describe it as "a lot like eight", it is clearly an inkling with its pointed ears and hair.

the hairstyle is significant, too. all art of this boss, including its icon, display it with the "haircut" style. why does this matter? because official art of agent 4 also uses this style:

on top of that, people have reported that if you have splatoon 2 save data on your switch, the boss will use whatever hairstyle your inkling uses in that game (with that inkling, of course, being agent 4). unfortunately, i forgot to take a screenshot of my save, but maybe someone could reblog this and confirm?

another thing to note about that agent 4-looking robot in the center is that they're wielding the order shot, which is the same weapon you get from agent 4's palette.

so what exactly am i getting at with all this? let's read a little more of smollusk's notes on agent 4...

"buut...no weason such stwength shouldn't be used to pwotect a world of order. an order defense force is MUCH cooler than a new squidbeak splatoon anyway!"

this phrasing is particularly interesting to me because it implies smollusk wants to, or already has utilized agent 4's strength in some way. additionally, smollusk regards fans of chaos in a very similar way. for almost all of them, he argues they must be "punished". examples:

"she must be PUNISHED!" - callie's palette

"her chaotic lies must be PUNISHED!" - shiver's palette

"for the sake of order, they all must be PUNISHED!" - frye's palette

"it annoys me, so he must be PUNISHED!" - big man's palette

"he must be PUNISHED!" - sheldon's palette

"i sentence him to PUNISHMENT!" - dj octavio's palette

almost all of these characters are on the side of "chaos". callie and dj octavio were on the chaos side of the final fest, while shiver, frye, and big man rep the splatlands, basically the land of chaos. no idea what smollusk's beef is with sheldon though that guy was neutral LOL

on the other hand, smollusk is notably softer with characters on the side of "order", like marie, murch, and marina (obviously). he still critiques them, but he doesn't sentence them to "punishment".

agent 4 was on the side of chaos in the final fest. so why didn't smollusk sentence them to "punishment"?

perhaps it's because smollusk is already making use of them...by using their soul to control the parallel canon boss!

think about it! the bosses of the tower are basically security, right? they keep you from reaching the top! since smollusk knows from marina that agent 4 was meant to be security, it could have pulled in their soul to fulfill that job. that's why agent 4's palette is there, and that's why we don't physically see them in the dlc! because they're grayscaled in the outside world!

…it is also definitely possible that the boss is just INSPIRED by agent 4, taken from marina's memories, or something like that. but i like this theory because it explains why agent 4's soul ended up in the memverse.

one other thing - i think the popular opinion is that the parallel canon boss are "robots", due to the way they move, their eyes glowing, the filter on their voice, etc...this is probably true, but have you ever wondered if the boss is actually a real inkling (a digital…real…inkling? you get the idea) if it was just a robot like the others, why would it specifically have ears and hair? not only that, but you can get the parallel mask from the priz shop:

which you wear on your face. what if this is the real agent four, wearing this parallel mask? their gray coloring could be because they're grayscaled! after all, we never actually see a representation of grayscaling in-game. the name implies that they'd actually turn gray in some way, maybe in the color of their tentacles. but this could be the most dramatic extent of it!

this is definitely a stretch, but you can consider it food for the die-hard agent 4 angsters out there. love you guys <3

feel free to reblog if you have thoughts, add-ons or even counterpoints! i find this all really interesting

[tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang]

Seeing that in the spin-off it is said that Kazutora had Marie Antoinette syndrome. Is it possible that Mikey and Koko in the Bonten line still had this syndrome?

Well I'm definitely not an expert but as far as I'm aware this is caused by stress or a shock and happens very quickly. I don't think Mikey or Koko had a shock with would've caused this (we know pretty much nothing about this timeline so it's hard to say exactly but I can't imagine what kind of sudden shock would've caused that for both of them). So that leaves us with stress. With the tiny glimpse we get of him, Koko doesn't seem stressed at all. However his job is likely pretty stressful when if he doesn't show it, he likely has a lot on his plate. I'm not sure it would be enough to change his hair though. But we really don't know.

As for Mikey he seems more apathetic then stressed, but I'd imagine trying to keep the dark impulses under control and feeling responsible for all your friends lives would be pretty stressful. So it could've had an effect on his hair. I think the main theory is that he dyed it to look like Izana (since he has done that with other hairstyles) but it's never been confirmed so anything could be true.

[dumbass-tumbler-cryptid]

A few random Avatar thoughts I’ve had recently

I’m been thinking about some things and I just want to put them out and see what everyone else thinks about them

First this is more of a headcanon but I was reading the Avatar cookbook and I kinda just laughed at the R.D.A section. I know the Avatar cookbook is full of the vegan recipes they had on set.I get that. But the R.D.A section reads : they serve up familiar foods with a vegan twist to respect the worlds limited resources. I just don’t buy that. The colonizers and planet destroyers are not respecting shit. So I had the idea that they clone meat. They already have cloning tech down, and cloning meat is something we already have today. It’s just not at a point where it could be mass produced. But by Avatar time? Absolutely. So that’s my headcanon. The R.D.A clones their meat. A really minor thing but I’m sure my fellow writers will agree minor details are just the things you get hung up on.

But now a bigger idea I’ve been thinking about. I’ve been fascinated recently by the physical state of the recoms when they woke up. By that I mean I’ve been thinking a lot about how exactly did they all wake up with their tattoos and hairstyles from their past lives? Because a clone wouldn’t just wake up like that. So my next thought was just oh it would have happened after they were decanted but before they woke up. Except:

You can clearly see they’re decanted like that. And that got me thinking about the state of Jake’s Avatar when it was decanted. I’m thinking that since the Avatar was organial made for Tommy there wasn’t a reason to put Jake’s tattoos on him. But at the bare minimum you’d need something to braid the hair around the neural whip because as we see on baby Neteyam and Kiri, Na’vi aren’t just born with a full braid. It has to be grown out. And yet Jake’s avatar had a perfect braid inside of the pod. So I’m thinking theirs some kind of little bot inside of the pod that’s used to care for the avatars. They’re a million dollars a pop so I’d think you’d want a bot that can do things like blood test or if a clone isn’t forming properly, do minor surgeries control by a doctor. But it can also be used for more aesthetic things as well like hair styling and tattooing so the Avatar driver can just wake up and go without having to mess with too much.

The recoms were obviously made to look as close to their past selves as possible so they wouldn’t “lose themselves” like Jake, Grace, Norm, and the other drivers all did. Z has full sleeves, Quaritch has his military tattoos. If you look closely Lyle’s recom has a faint shadow of hair on his head. So his new body doesn’t have male patterned baldness but his human body did so it was replicated on his clone. The R.D.A was so detailed with all these things - except Quaritch. Because his recom doesn’t have his most noticeable feature, the thing he shows off to Jake in the first movie- his scars. I don’t think it would have been hard to replicate them either. With my “little bot” theory as I’ll call it, you could simply use a laser scalpel to replicate the scars long before the clone is decanted so they have plenty of time to heal. But they didn’t. And I’m really scratching my head as to why?

Is it a visual cue to the audience that he is in fact not the same man as before? Or that this new version of him has the capacity to grow past the sins of his previous life. Did the R.D.A intentionally leave off the scars so he could be “pretty again” even though Quaritch himself said that he liked them? But why would they even care about something like that when the whole purpose of making them look like their human selves is to ground them in that life and make it harder from them to identify with the Na’vi despite looking exactly like them now. They omitted Quaritch’s most distinguished feature for what! 

These are just thoughts kicking around in my head. I really want to know what everyone else thinks so please share your ideas 💙

[azuriteartist]

Analysing Marinette's (& other's) hairstyles

Marinette's hair changes quite a bit throughout the show. This won't cover every single change, but it covers the main groups, and hopefully gets across the main point: When Marinette's hair changes, it represents a changed mental state.

Classic Marinette - Pigtails

This is Marinette at her most normal. You know her, you love her.

Still stressed but not 'breaking down' stressed. She's productive, generally on top of things, anxious, and prone to mistakes but also solutions. She's mostly in control here, and it semi-works for her.

Any deviation from this hairstyle is essentially a giant flashing sign saying "Marinette's mental state has changed"

Stressed Marinette - Bun/s

Whenever her hair is in buns, she's overworking, over-stressed, and at breaking point. It's signifying that she's operating at a level much higher than she usually is, so her hair is tighter and 'wound up'. Her thinking/environment is usually bad for her and/or others.

Multimouse, in the episode where her identity was almost revealed and she almost killed herself fixing everything = Buns!

Her previous school year (with less friends and more Chloe influence) = Bun!

Shadybug, whose life was terrible with no friends, Chloe, and her powers are literally killing her = Buns!

And when Shadybug turns good and loses some of that toxic thinking, it turns into normal buns. Signifying her change into a better and more healthy mindset.

Actually...based off that, when her buns appear, there's a 2/3rd's chance her plan is killing her...

Secure Marinette - Loose Hair

First appearing in Chat Blanc, this is her letting go of stress and worry. It shows Marinette's need for security and control mellow into calm and enjoyment. She's free of the desire for control. However, she's most likely to get blindsided in this mode. Also, for reasons explained later, this is mimicking Adrien's hair, somewhat.

In Hearthunter, Marinette lets go of the worry surrounding Adrien/Kagami, and enjoys being in the moment with them, losing her hair bands as Adrien leads the both of them into the pool. She enjoys Kagami's friendship, and Adrien's platonic love, and uses the hair ties in a Ladybug style solution. Then, she puts her hair ties back in right as sweetheart's icecream comes up.

They appear in Chat Blanc when Adrien confesses his love, and they stay like that. In the relationship, her guard is down and she's free.

Adrien - Mimicking

Adrien doesn't really do much with his hair, it's almost constantly down. It's messier/different as Chat Noir, but that's not that notable beyond the obvious. Except for a notable example.

Here, Cat Walker is trying his best to be professional, innovative, on task, and EXACTLY LIKE LADYBUG. Ergo, he gets the hairstyle that says "I need to be in control of this situation for the good of everyone, to the detriment of me"

---

There's probably other examples I'm missing right now and I'll add them if so (I'm 90% convinced when someone covers their hair, they're lying: Hawkmoth and Aspik).

But here it is: Marinette's hair theory. Whenever her hair changes, I worry, cause it signifies a changed mental state (and with her, it's often for the worse).

[yoted-meister]

Alright so the ‘tism is striking again and I’ve come up with an oc idea for a game I don’t have much knowledge in. I hope to make them as accurate as possible so feedback is appreciated!

(I attempted to make an official Urbanshade document for them here)

Lots of text alert below I did a lot of thinking for this but am officially quite satisfied with what I now have

Enoch Reed, Z-13-b, The Aquanaut:

Before conviction, Enoch would help around their home town with anyone that needed a hand and overall just was a great person. This helpful attitude attracted a bad group of people who threatened them into helping with their burglaries and small thefts.

This caught up to the group as the area grew more and more alert and in the end, all 5 were arrested on scene. After interrogations, police note Enoch as very compliant, confessing to just about everything, and offering convicting testimony about the whole group, granting them a reduced sentence, which they would serve in a separate prison to prevent potential retaliation from the other arrested members.

After Sebastian's breach and as a result, the loss of the Hadal Blacksite, Urbanshade gains interest in intentionally recreating Sebastian’s transformation in an attempt at pioneering a monster both fast and strong for use as an underwater aid including maintenance, pest control, and other such tasks as see fit. However, as a first precaution, they sought a prisoner who was willing to go through the experiments and would not object to the tasks given.

Upon obtaining info on Enoch, they were immediately proposed for the experiment and, once permission was granted, people were sent to give Enoch their offer. Enoch, while willing to help, was reluctant to sacrifice simply leaving on parole. This reluctance immediately vanished when informed the 4 others had broken out of prison.

Once taken back to one of Urbanshade's many docks, Enoch was promptly given LR-P status and a cell to wait in as preparations were made to begin the experiments.

The plan was to use some dna strands used in the original Z-13's experimentation, not just for their gills, but for some of their other traits, such as the sea snake's shape, great white shark's senses, blue whale's lungs and echolocation, female angler’s luminescent lure, silver spinyfin's darkvision and ability to see color at depths, and a “smasher” mantis shrimp's strength.

However, further dna was used in an attempt to further enhance Enoch such as the blue marlin's to copy it's tail and, in theory, its speed, alongside great indulgence into the whale shark's in an attempt to both allow buccal pumping to allow Enoch to sleep and be still underwater, as well as recreate blubber to allow stronger insulation and the ability for Enoch to potentially travel longer distances on less food, possibly permitting use in swift delivery of physical items between sites. As it was Sebastian's transformations that inspired the experiment, they chose to designate them as Z-13-b; and for the aquatic mastery they would hopefully obtain, they were also granted the codename: “The Aquanaut”

While the traits were successfully gained, some such as the mantis shrimp's punch at an albeit reduced potencies than expected, Z-13-b's human nose conflicted with the attempted acquisition of buccal pumping, and as a remedy, minute amounts of western clawed frog dna were used to replace their nose with that of an amphibian.

As a result of their mutations, The Aquanaut has gained a form similar to Z-13 with some differences naturally, such as a more oval head, having a messier hairstyle with a ponytail, and goggles resembling glasses(at Enoch's request), and some unnaturally, such as a lack of third arm. While still larger than a human, Z-13-b is smaller than Z-13 in an intended effort to increase speed by having a reduced mass while maintaining similar muscles. As a byproduct of the indulgence in whale shark dna alongside the blue whale, Z-13-b's scales have darkened and their skin has become a dark blue, slightly brighter on their face and chest, and their back to gain the white spots owned by whale sharks. Their eyes are a lighter yellow than their anglerfish lure and their tail fin is thinner, resembling that of a marlin's. Starting from their elbows, the back of their arms and hands are covered with calcified scales resembling that of their tail's that enhance the impact of blunt force from said regions, most likely obtained via mantis shrimp's dna.

Enoch's mutations were always painful, your very being being altered at the core would do that, and yet, the first alterations always left Enoch in awe. The tests that made sure the dna was applied successfully always passed and there was a sense of pride at the scientists' joy and excessive affirmations every time. But as their body changed more and more, they felt as though they were becoming less human.

It was easy to ignore with the gills or the senses and lungs, the arm scales were too, the lure was harder to ignore. The blue skin, missing nose, and eyes were…suppressible, but the tail was unignorable.

It was after they completed their final test and first official task, an under the table delivery from one dock to another, that they were up for consideration to become an MR-P; that they were given their collar.

“A specially designed PDG” they called it, after the actions of Z-13, the scientists wanted a failsafe to ensure their safety, and since Enoch didn’t need any diving gear, they created an alternative to give them.

While Enoch understood their reasoning, having your potential death always ready to execute you doesn’t do good for the nerves. The “good job, Enoch” and other affirmations given after they completed tasks went from just nice words to lifelines, proof they were doing things right and safe from being killed and discarded. Just because they didn’t SAY doing a bad job would kill them doesn’t mean they WONT, right?

Officially ranked MR-P, Enoch's range expanded to all nearby docks, no longer returning to their initial destination after completing objectives and now being sent between docks as required. Now integrated into and familiar to all nearby docks, tasks Enoch would be given ranged from important undersea transportation, inspection, retrieval, maintenance, or retrieval; to mundane reduction of local fish population(one of the few times they get to eat), and the application of blunt force to recreational televisions in an attempt to fix them(with a surprising 75% success rate). Positive affirmations are given after completion regardless of importance, it has almost felt like TOO much affirmation. This has continued to the present day, efforts have not been made to mass produce Z-13-b until reacquisition of the Hadal Blacksite for additional secrecy and potential, but likely impossible, experimentation in crossing the Veil of the Let-Vand zone.

In the present, Enoch is usually seen moving from one place of the docks to another due to there constant utilization. In the rare conversation, Enoch is usually timid and cautious when conversed with, often playing with their hands in silence and doing as they are told without question in an effort to ensure they don’t come off as hostile and have their collar detonated. The few who make efforts to befriend Enoch, however, find them to be a chipper and upbeat individual, enjoyable to be around. On their own, they sometimes talk to themself as they work and try to come up with a way to, at the very least, earn enough trust to have their collar removed.

Though it is known Z-13 is still alive in the Hadal Blacksite, Z-13-b has not (yet) been dispatched for objectives there to ensure they are not severely harmed or killed by the entities that roam it.

[grilledcheese-savage]

I just watched Jurassic world chaos theory and here’s a list of all my thoughts

Spoilers ahead

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- LIMB DIFFERENCE BROOKLYN??? SHE LOOKS SO BADASS. I LOVE ALL HER NEW HAIRSTYLES. They’re so much better than the old ones (not that I didn’t like her old hair, I liked it when her roots grew in but I HATED the weird timeskip haircut at the end of cc)

- secondly, kenji getting a taste of his own medicine cause he now gets to know what it felt like to think you were betrayed by your closest friend.

- but yeah, rip kenji. That guy has been through enough. Like, if you put all his trauma in order it’s depressing. Dad abused him, manipulated him, left him on a Dino island and tried to kill all his friends. THEN he tried to make a new shady business and guilt kenji instead of just, giving him info about Brooklyn

- also Darius having a crush on Brooklyn I jokingly guessed AND WAS RIGHT

- New villain is really cool. The way she controls raptors is soooo interesting. I haven’t gotten to see any of the new Jurassic movies (I only saw Jurassic world) so idk if she’s in that one

- I really liked Mateo but I was getting flashbacks from season 2 (or was it three?) and totally thought he was gonna die. He talked too much about his daughter I totally thought he would’ve died and Darius break the news to her.

- DO THE COPS THINK THE NUBLAR SIX ARE DEAD AGAIN??? BECAUSE THEY ACCIDENTALLY (and purposely for some) FAKED THEIR OWN DEATHS WITH THE CAR AND NOT ANSWERING BRAND SHIt

- also Darius was scaring me at the beginning, he seemed really depressed. I had seen 5 seconds of spoilers by accident of him in a bathtub and kenji walking in AND I WAS CONVINCED IT WAS SOME DARK TWIST AND THE SHOW WOULD END WITH HIM killing himself! I know it’s a kids show! But I watched legend of korra… so. There.

- Also at first I was uncomfortable with the way Yaz was being characterized as traumatized the most, but I ended up loving because it felt like a Purposeful Mis characterization only for it to be turned on it’s head. Let me explain, at the beginning us as viewers are told that Yaz has been really fucked up by all the monster attacks, and had to go to therapy in Wyoming. So we as viewers get worried that she’s going to relapse her ptsd after learning they’re being hunted. But while yes, she has normal reactions to Dino’s (fear) we learn therapy actually WORKED and she wasn’t SHELTERED. She ACTUALLY LEARNED COPING SKILLS and ended up being the most well adjusted among them. It was written so well. Because now we see Sammy who we thought was doing well, have horrible coping skills and fall into an anxious attachment style because her parents don’t talk to her anymore, her girlfriend is ignoring her (avoidant attachment kinda) and all of her friends are going through their own shit on their own and don’t talk to her. She’s having panic attacks and struggling, and Yaz got to be able to pay her back for all the compassion by showing her how she handles all the fear and sadness. I FUCKING LOVED THAT. THAT WAS SO GOOD. AND I ONLY REALIZE HOW GOOD IT WAS THE MORE I SIT IN IT. I spread out my watching because if I binged I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much.

- I also loved that they all represented different outcomes of trauma, and different coping mechanisms. Darius with the survivors guilt (again), Sammy with keeping herself busy so she doesn’t have to think about it, Ben becoming even more hyper vigillant/conspiracy theorist. Etc.

-Sammy was season mvp. She was the best character by far for me.

-She definitely needed to give Yaz her space tho, but I also hated how Yaz just assumed Sammy thought she couldn’t handle herself only because Sammy hadn’t seen her since her breakdown after the Dinos got loose. I loved watching it tho, the argument was so needed.

- I didn’t once think “there’s no way they’d act that way” because they were all characterized so well as trauma survivors.

- the only things I was like ehhh about were Kenji being a climber (since when??) and Ben having a girlfriend 😂.

- I loved that Darius was living on his own and brand was calling a ton because he was worried about him. Because Darius has only gotten MORE independent, his way of dealing with this problems is having alone time and doing things himself. I LOVE THAT AGGHHH.

- I was disappointed kenji had a new voice actor tho. He didn’t necessarily do a bad job, it was just really distracting for me.

- Not with Brooklyn though, I didn’t notice at all, I just thought Jenna Ortega was going something different now that Brooklyn is older. Her voice actor did so well. I loved all the layers I felt in all the flashbacks.

- One thing tho, I would’ve loved it if Brooklyn was actually dead (although the way they handled it made me REALLY believe she was dead, and I was pretty positive she was alive for most of the show)

- I love brooklyn!! But I do think killing one of the main characters would’ve upped the stakes more. But all of the drama and new dinos did that by itself. I felt on the edge of my seat the whole show!

- I also liked that Brooklyn and Kenji broke up. Might get some hate for that but it’s true. I never shipped it. But this show actually did make me like the ship more if that’s insane. Because I do think the dynamic of “we’re both jokingly egotistical and we bring out each other’s worst sides in a silly way”. I also think kenji needs happiness.

- And while I’m disappointed Ben has an off screen girlfriend, hopefully she shows up as a character later. Or they at least break up so he can have his bisexual king moment (go cry about it)

- I would also love mateo’s daughter becoming a character later, like her being a part of Brooklyn’s secret crew to take down the DPW etc. I don’t usually like the new characters super late in a series, but because of the way they’ve hinted at these characters, it makes me want to see them.

- I think she’d be a hacker or someone like Brooklyn just cause of what we’ve been shown of her.

- One thing I didn’t love, was not getting to see a complete wrapped up conflict. Like, kenji and Darius got better but mostly cause the action distracted them from getting to be genuinely hurt. And ESPECIALLY Sammy and Yaz’s conflict, although by Yaz helping her breathe it did kind of solve the conflict without words. But that’s just me.

- I also thought that Ben should be a lot less well adjusted. He’s had A LOT of trauma throughout the show, basically breaking his entire original archetype and replacing it with a new one. His whole character development was going from being scared and being a burden, to getting immensely used to hurting and living in the wild just to survive. When I originally thought of how he’d be out of the island, I thought he’d really struggle getting into fights to solve his problems, (like when he got into a fist fight with kenji) and being a little too wild for “civilization” (school, work etc.) and not fitting in. We also don’t really know why he’s not in college anymore. Did he graduate? Is he taking a gap year? We saw him in a dorm and it’s only been six years. Wasn’t he like, 15 at the start of the show? Well, I guess he would’ve graduated by then, but idk it depends. We actually have a lot of loose ends I want to be explored, like where is Sammy’s family? Why don’t her parents talk to her anymore? Is it cause she’s gay? I thought she had siblings?? Idk.

- tldr, I want ben to have more violent tendencies because he can’t work through his emotions. Not everyone heals in non harmful way 🤷‍♀️

- also cause I want his pyromania to come back idc if it was a facade to protect himself.

- ALSO IM SO GLAD KENJI’S DAD IS DEAD I ALMOST FORGOT

- AND ALSO IM SHOCKED THEYRE EVEN INSINUATING THAT BROOKLYN IS EVIL NOW CAUSE REMEMBER HOW PISSED SHE WAS AT KENJI FOR DOING BASICALLY THE SAME THING? DAMN, HYPOCRITICAL MUCH?

- BUT IT WOULD BE COOL IF HER MORALS ARE NOW MORE MORALLEY GREY LIKE HATING DINOS OR HURTING PEOPLE FOR THE GREATER GOOD

- LIKE NORMAN FROM THE PROMISED NEVERLAND MANGA OR ROSE QUARTZ

- THATS MY FAVE TYPE OF CHARACTER

- That’s why I liked it so much when Darius said “I don’t chase dinosaurs anymore, just one…” BECAUSE IT INSINUATED HE WANTED TO KILL A DINO WHEN HES A DINO LOVER. Him not liking Dinos as much would’ve been badass but also out of character I guess

- it also made me think of that meme from totally spies “I don’t want to kill all the world! Just half! THE MALE HALF-“

- but omg this made me realize… if his boss that he talked to during that scene was talking to Brooklyn this whole time… if brook asked how Darius was she could’ve told her about how bad he was doing and Brooklyn wouldn’t have been able to tell him at all that it wasn’t his fault.

- although… I’ll be real with u… it totally was. When we found out WHY he wasn’t there? Eyah it was his fault 😭💀. I know that’s horrible it say and if I was him I would’ve done the same (just cause it’s awkward and he wanted to give her space) BUT THAT WAS ALMOST INCEL-LIKE BEHAVIOR FROM HIM, WHAT???

- anyways I made a lot of jokes I might copy and paste in a reblog we’ll see

That’s about it for now. Thanks if you read this far.

@riftwirecrystal tag

[osmos-iv]

Murder Drones Theories/Observations !!!

I'm sure any Murder Drones fans(myself included) are excited for the final episodes to be released soon! But, I've made some observations from the currently existing episodes that I'm not sure if anyone has brought up yet. Here are my points!

(Brace yourself, this may get lengthy)

Let's get into the longer stuff first. In episode 5, we are taken into N's memories and see what life was like for them while they worked for Tessa's rich family. I think it's worth noting that the disassembly drones that we know in the present time have yellow eyes. However, in these past memories, they have white eyes.

Pay attention to the glow of the eyes, since it can get difficult to tell sometimes. Even if the yellow appears white sometimes, you can see the blurred yellow glow if you look closely. Here's a better comparison with past CYN and N:

Maybe they(N, J, and V) haven't become disassembly drones yet? Honestly I don't think we even know what a disassembly drone is. Actually wait, N actually says exactly that: "Aren't you worried we have no idea what we even are?!" (from episode 3, time 4:22)

On the subject of eyes, I see people commonly confusing some colours with others. Doll has orange eyes, and Alice's eye colour sits somewhere in between Doll's colour and the disassembly drone colour.

Idk it's like a copper?? Or they're the same and Doll's eyes are just dimmer than Alice's. The point is, they don't have yellow eyes. I'm mentioning this because the only drones we've seen associated with the colour yellow are the disassembly drones. Moving on!

At the end of episode 1, the last shot we see is this:

You can probably see that this resembles the symbol of the absolute solver. Of course, I don't know what these devices are - satellites, cannons, or even landing pods or whatever - but this makes me think that the solver originates from off the planet and operates remotely. Additionally, it's been said that the Absolute Solver "took CYN as a host". So CYN and the Solver are not the same; they are separate entities. Or at least, they were. (We don't see CYN acting as a normal drone at any point, only as taken over by Solver.)

+ Other small details I noticed!

1- The lace headpiece that J, V, and CYN wear in episode 5 all have eyeball patterns on them. (resembling the Solver's signature tubular eye cameras)

2- The binary code around the window says "01101110 1110101 1101100 1101100". Using a conversion site translates it to "null"

3- The Copper system appears to be the furthest from Earth(based on what is shown), and at least 2 colonized planets excluding Copper 9 have been taken over by Solver. Earth has also been taken over/destroyed by the Solver.

(the distance shown is not accurate to distance between planets, these are merely how I put the separate frames next to each other)

4- V is a zombie drone? Her eye screen displayed a 'Fatal Error' message earlier in episode 5 like other drones in the library, after which she ends up sporting the same wings and crazed state that Uzi had in episode 4.

Adding onto this, while she is in her zombie mode her lights are yellow. After Uzi hacks into the Solver's body and lets go of V, her eyes are back to white and her behaviour is normal. - This is visible from a little before 18:00 mins. into episode 5 and the seconds that follow.

5- Tessa and CYN have the same hairstyle.

I don't personally think this holds deeper meaning, since it's said that Tessa gives her favourite drones their hair. Oh I just noticed, CYN has the bow too!

6- The doll that CYN disassembles.

I don't understand why this was shown in great focus in episode 5. The only thing I can possibly think of is that it implies that the Solver can take control of biological beings, like humans? I'm not really convinced on this, but this and my previous observation about CYN and Tessa could add on to the theory that's been going around that Tessa is being controlled by the Solver. Maybe if we saw present Tessa with her helmet off we could se what colour her eyes are?

lol jk I know the humans being silhouettes is a stylistic choice.

And that's the end! Feel free to correct me or add on to anything I've theorized about here.

Thanks for reading!

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

Hey again Sex Witch!

Thank you so much for your help! I’m the gay guy from the other day whose ask re: sexual attraction you’d answered. You really got to the heart of the matter, and I truly appreciate that.

This might sound silly but… Are you sure it’s really not weird, gross or… otherwise wrong of me to just randomly initiate a conversation with someone in a bar like that? I’m sorry - even if the worst that could happen in theory is just a few awkward seconds, a part of me still thinks that an unsolicited “hey I like your necklace” Is too… forward. lol even if there’s a guy in a jockstrap gyrating two yards away.

Again, sorry for the weird asks. And thank you for all your help!!!

hello again, anon! I'm very glad to hear that I could tap into something resonant for you. doing this kind of work without being able to have a proper one-on-one convo means I sometimes I sometimes have to guess at exactly what the best advice for someone will be, but luckily I've been doing this long enough that I've gotten to be a pretty good guesser :)

I'm 100% certain that it's not weird, and certainly not gross, to approach someone that way, as long as what you're saying is appropriate for the context. for instance, I'd broadly advise against walking up to someone who's, say, sitting in a coffee shop minding their own business and opening with "you have a gorgeous mouth, I want to see my dick in it." there are absolutely people out there that it would work on, sure, but you shouldn't assume that, because the potential to guess wrong and become an instant sex pest are wayyyy too high.

but even that's not wrong in every setting! that guy gyrating in a jockstrap probably wouldn't mind someone being a bit sexually forward; indeed, there's a very good chance that he's doing what he's doing specifically to encourage that.

but there's also a HUGE world of other, much less risque ways to open up a conversation. let's talk about your example with a necklace, and complimenting details about someone's appearance in general:

"hey, I really like [aspect of person's appearance.]" many people (wisely) recommend sticking to things that people pick and have control over - for instance, makeup, piercings, jewelry, tattoos, hairstyles, and clothing, rather than focusing on specific facial features or body parts. there are also a lot of ways to take that one further if you want to go for a more substantial conversation, including the following:

"I like that tattoo/piercing, did you get that done around here?" or "I like that [article of clothing], where did you get it?" gives them the option to provide as much or as little information as they like, potentially tell personal stories you can respond to, etc.

alternatively, if there's an identifiable common interest in their outfit: "hey, is that [thing] a reference to [whatever]? I love [whatever]!" great, now you can talk about d&d/comics/a movie/a band/an anime/literally whatever for as long as you want as a way to get to know each other

or, alternatively: "hey, that looks really cool. is it from something?" again, gives them plenty of options about how much they want to respond, which you can play off accordingly, and honestly? letting people explain a thing to you can be VERY fun, not to mention people LOOOOOVE having an excuse to talk about shit they like.

also, hey, if someone is just wearing an outfit that's really fun overall? something that they clearly took effort putting together to look nice? man, they WANT you to compliment that. they want you to compliment that so bad.

"but Makenzie how do you know?" because I dress like a loud-ass fruit 7 days a week. and I'm not doing specifically because I want people to compliment me, duh, I'm doing it because it's fun, but it's nice when people say something kind about my outfit! it's nice to be noticed! the other day I wore a pair of bright pink overalls and a student passing by me stopped to say that seeing them made her happy because pink is her favorite color! that's a great interaction, nothing unpleasant about it! I've also recently dyed my hair a shade of yellow that can be best described as "highlighter," and a LOT of people have been stopping me wherever I go to let me know how much they like it. that's nice! feels good! I also wear a lot of huge earrings, especially when I'm working at events where I get to meet prospective students for the university where I work, because it gives nervous teenagers something easy to start a conversation with! they say "I like your lego mermaid Batman earrings" and I say "thank you, I wear them so gay people will talk to me!" and then they get to say "whoa, I'M gay!" and then we're off to the races.

obviously it's presumptuous to assume people are dressing to be alluring to you specifically, but there are also very few people in the world who will be upset at being told that their hair looks nice and their outfit is cool and you think their tattoos are awesome.

people are also generally pretty stoked to hear something like "you're a really good dancer!" or "that food/drink looks good, what did you order?" or "sorry, but did I hear you talking about x? I love x! what did you think of xyz?"

statistically most people love to think that they have good taste and hate being the one to make a first move, so if you do both of those things you're already off to a GREAT start.

also, another fun reminder: even if complimenting that necklace doesn't lead to a romantic or sexual connection every time, it does serve as good practice for talking to people and makes you someone who gives compliments easily - and hopefully someone who's good at receiving them back, because many people love to repay a compliment immediately in kind! and it's never bad to be known as somebody who's generous with saying nice things :)

just give it a try; I promise you'll like it once you see how warmly people can respond to even casual praise!

[je-lurk]

Thinking back to my hairstyle is control theory, it’s no wonder Agatha’s hair was loose basically all the time they were on the Road. She didn’t control shit, and she knew it.

[stuffyflowers]

so I made a post abt the ketsukane family portrait being retaken post-undertale a few days ago and I just had to draw it :] they’re fambly…

design notes under cut bc I love talking abt these guys

star

- blended his sheriff outfit with a more casual fit like he has in the pacifist credits. to reflect that he’s taking things more seriously and has toned down his reckless tendencies. he’s still the town sheriff but also takes on other duties including helping out at the farm (and diverts a lot of his leadership duties to the rest of the feisty five after they make up w/ him)

- it’s my lesbian duty to draw every guy I like in patterned button up shirts

- slightly different hat. obviously to commemorate clover (a literal clover + yellow band instead of blue)

- also noting that star n ceroba r both supposed to be in their late 30s/early 40s here

- ALSO I forgot to give him a ring… just know him n ceroba r engaged hehe :}

kanako

- okay so. i’m not good at designing amalgamates LOL so I didn’t get too ambitious with this one. trying to meld different aspects of multiple monsters into one design is deceptively hard

- going by the theory that she’s the one that tucks you in bed. I just love that idea a lot. I hope I conveyed her being super lanky well enough

- I feel like kanako being a boss monster could mean she reacts slightly different to the experiments than the others, like she can maintain her form and control better

- it’s hard to tell but she’s merged with the same type of monster as bryan (the mine worker w/ the missing construction hat) and the TNT guy, which explains why she’s so tall, the patterns on her body and her hands being clawed like that. her “feet” are also slug-like like them

- the other monster she merged with controls the right of her face when in control. when this happens the goop covering that side moves to her left

- also I suppose she’s a teen here?

ceroba

- short hair bc I loveee characters changing their hairstyle as a symbol of their change/growth. Also has a few grey hairs coming in

- cerobas closet having like, the exact same outfit in 3 different colours. gotta rep the green kimono sometimes

- same red fox design as my prev drawing of her bc I feel like it

- I said on the original post that ceroba wouldn’t care if touching kanako got her fur and clothes all goopy and I stand by that. She’s going to give her daughter the physical affection she’s been deprived of for years

[onelonelyghost0]

“What did you do to calm down today” thank you absolutely no one for asking, here’s what I did anyway.

- took the RAADS, aced it (not good)

- already halfway through the first six of crows book, reading it for the fifth (?) time

- pulled out my fav fidgets

- loud music. Don’t know why it helps but the running theory is it’s one stream of sound I can control vs. several I cannot

- new hairstyle! My hair is long enough for space buns now and I will make it everyone’s problem

(Not listed, several hours of just lying in bed, with the music, after the RAADS, in which I did a shit ton of nothing and thought of more ideas for my fic)

[waddlehekk]

A theory on the creation of Anime Goemon and why he is a different person from Manga Goemon

oh boy this is going to be long

First, we must look closely at Chapter 5 of the original manga. It is titled “Suspense Zone” and it is based off of the Arsène Lupin story of the Devil’s Red Ring.

The chapter was originally the 8th Chapter of the manga before being reordered in later publications, and it released in September 28, 1967. I suggest you give it a read for yourself.

The Red Ring functions differently here, however, in that it periodically transforms the victim into somebody else, almost like their opposite. In this chapter, it is Mr. Danshiyaku, the criminal who aims to take over the country by controlling the Yakuza, who transforms into the master hitman, Master Koroshi. In sticking with Monkey Punch’s interest in Western culture contrasting with Eastern culture, we see the Western Danshiyaku become his opposite, the Eastern Koroshi.

Lupin decides to work with Master Koroshi, asking him to kill Danshiyaku to prevent his takeover, but by a cruel fate, Koroshi is killed in a trap created by Danshiyaku. It is then that Lupin reveals they are really the same person.

Master Koroshi’s outfit, long face, hairstyle, sanpaku eyes, the lines beneath the eyes to show age, and his habit of closing one eye resemble that of Anime Goemon’s, don’t they?

Gone are details like the big eyes, thick eyebrows, long eyelashes, the kimono with the cross pattern resembling a student uniform, etc.

This dramatic scene where he walks out is the same too. Also similar to Anime Goemon, Koroshi has moments of shock where he breaks character like here.

That is because Anime Goemon is based off of Master Koroshi, not Manga Goemon!

For that we must look at when planning began for the Pilot. Yasuo Otsuka stated it was in the summer of 1968, with the idea for a Lupin anime being first proposed around July 25 (you’ll see how this lines up with Goemon’s introduction to the manga soon enough). Yutaka Fujioka, however, stated in an interview in 1978 that it was started 12 years ago in the summer of 1967 when he was 39 years old, but these numbers do not line up unless 1967 is changed to 1968. Perhaps it was some kind of mistake with his memory.

After planning, the team would put together a Pilot loosely adapted from the chapter “Triple Play” released in October 3, 1968, and “Camera Tricks” released in October 17 of the same year.

At the time of planning for the Pilot, however, Goemon was not yet a friend to Lupin in the manga. The serial drama that introduced Goemon as an enemy to Lupin ran in 1968 from April 4 to April 25, but the ending 4th chapter to it had not yet resolved the conflict between them. After this series, there was a break before Goemon would appear again.

In fact, Monkey Punch has stated in an interview for Weekly Manga Action on May 20, 2004, that Goemon was originally never going to be a friend to Lupin, remaining an enemy until the very end. For these reasons, Goemon was not planned to appear in the Pilot.

It was only until August 15 to August 29 in the Kobudo series that Monkey Punch had resolved the conflict between Lupin and Goemon, changing his mind to make them instead friends to also help push the oriental feeling of the manga.

Goemon was created to bring a more Japanese-like character into the series. He is first introduced as resentful of Western ideals, and Lupin on the other hand disregards Eastern ideals. It’s until the second series that they both start learning to accept each others’ cultures, and Goemon decides to reject his masters. His masters tell him his idea of mixing together previous fighting techniques into a new one is a terrible idea simply because they do not wish to accept any new cultural ideas, but they also cannot accept Lupin simply being just as strong with his newer techniques either, and so they provide him with arbitrary advice and even try to make him cold-hearted, to which Goemon responds with:

"I appreciate your advice so far.

But all you have is the past that you have experienced. On the contrary, I have the future that I am about to experience. Do you understand? That is the difference between us!!"

tokyopop changed this line for no reason btw

This change of mind was late into planning for the Pilot, and so it was too late. Suddenly, Goemon was now a part of the main 5 and the staff had no idea what to do. 

The staff had put together the plan for the Pilot with the focus of highlighting the dynamic between Lupin and his dedicated partner Jigen, but if they were to add Goemon into this dynamic, where would he belong?

Monkey Punch tends to develop his characters further and exemplify specific traits as time goes on, but at the time of the manga, the only dynamic Jigen and Goemon could provide as a trio to Lupin was simply serving to him as a gunman and swordsman. The staff needed to somehow figure out how Goemon would bring something new to the dynamic without interfering with what they had already established for the pilot.

The staff was very dedicated to sticking to the source material, but they could not bring in Manga Goemon as he was, so they proposed an idea, what if they instead modeled Goemon off of Koroshi? He would still be a character based off of Monkey Punch’s manga, and his interactions with Lupin are strong enough to bring over. The planning team may have been under stress due to this, and so this seemed like an easy solution.

Also, considering that Koroshi as a character helps represent the Eastern vs Western clash, like Goemon, it would be reasonable to think that he may be MP’s prototype to Goemon. Given how MP fleshes out his characters over time, the staff would tend to try to predict these by exaggerating specific character traits, so perhaps by exaggerating Goemon’s samurai-like qualities and aging him up, he would serve as a greater contrast to Lupin and perhaps become as how MP would develop him later on. Obviously that was not the case in the manga, as MP would stick with Goemon representing a theme of acceptance of both past and future.

It is due to this that in the anime, Goemon sticks with his culture completely, and so it is him who is rejected by his master, who tries to kill him. The staff created Goemon with the intent of him never changing his mind about cultural values, and so although Goemon does join Lupin regardless, the theme originally told in the manga of acceptance is left incomplete.

The anime does try to toy with this idea of Goemon accepting other culture, such as when he is first introduced he secretly listens to the radio when he doesn’t think his master is there, or those few times in Part 2 where he is willing to try something new, but it tends to be dropped immediately in favor of far more moments where he is instead stubborn.

There are other ambiguities that the anime and pilot would seek to resolve too. Goemon’s sword is made to be the Zantetsuken, the iron cutting sword, before his sword is later to be explained in the manga as the Takemitsu, a bamboo sword his family passed down, and in Shin Lupin it is the Ryusei, the sword of a shooting star. Due to Zantetsuken’s creation as this sword capable of cutting nearly everything, maybe done as to provide more emphasis on the alchemy formula Lupin wishes to steal and to simplify Goemon’s ability, there became more focus on Goemon’s sword itself, with his character in many adaptations only existing to cut things, but the manga focuses more on it being his sheer strength that allows him to cut steel with bamboo, and even tear a person apart in hand to hand combat. I mentioned in the past too that in Shin Lupin, there is even a moment where he cuts steel without Ryusei but with an ordinary sword.

Additionally, the manga only makes it clear that Goemon is the descendant to the legendary thief Ishikawa Goemon, but the pilot adds that he is the 13th of his family to hold the name.

Now, let’s look at the unique relationship that Koroshi provides for Anime Goemon to model.

In the anime, Goemon tends to work on his own, leaving Lupin if he does not agree with a plan. The pilot also describes him as a lonely, wandering man. This is pulled from details from Koroshi such as here, where Lupin describes Koroshi as a “recluse.”

what happened to lupin’s face oh my god

There is also here where Koroshi refuses to follow Lupin because he believes it is nonsense. Unlike Jigen, he serves as a partner who only acts in his own interests.

He’s just as irritable as in the anime, where Lupin describes him in the opening as someone who is scary when angry. This irritability works well with his disdain for Western culture.

In the pilot, there is a detail where when Lupin is made aware that his wine was poisoned, and he states that Goemon would not be the kind of person to do such a thing. Goemon is portrayed as wanting a fair 1 on 1 duel with Lupin, which is also reflective of Koroshi, who wants a fair 1 on 1 duel with Danshiyaku.

It could also be thought by the staff that Koroshi and Lupin would work well together because of the respect and similarities they share, which would also help explain them not fighting anymore.

They both leave behind written challenges as dignified criminals, and in the anime, Goemon insists on challenging Lupin in such a formal manner, unlike in the manga where he just appears constantly to attack by surprise when Lupin would rather not.

Lupin also pities him throughout the chapter, and in the anime when Goemon is introduced, Lupin looks down upon him and his belief in his sword technique.

Also, the anime frequently has moments where Goemon seemingly appears from nowhere to rescue Lupin when he is about to die, and Koroshi does the same too.

Yes, Danshiyaku wielded a gun in the manga, but to make him more samurai-like for Goemon they gave him the sword. In general, you can see that the anime, even in its adaptation of when Goemon is first introduced, changed his manner of speech significantly and added certain lines to give Goemon a more hostile, but samurai-like feel.

There exists a scene only in the anime in the episode in which Goemon is first introduced, where Fujiko lies to Lupin saying that Goemon took advantage of her. This is actually the opposite as Goemon is naive and gets nervous around women.

This is a scene and character trait pulled from Danshiyaku, and given that he exists as the opposite to Koroshi, the staff figured how Koroshi would act towards women and applied this to Anime Goemon, which is unlike that of Manga Goemon who keeps his composure.

In a way, this would create an interesting dynamic for him between Lupin, who is a womanizer, and Jigen, who dislikes women.

They also based the relationship off of Koroshi because they were unsure of how to explain Manga Goemon suddenly becoming friends with Lupin. In the original manga it’s not explained very well and played off as a joke as to why Lupin went from being very annoyed of Goemon’s antics to taking him in, and it doesn’t help either that Lupin had murdered Goemon’s friend, Majin. Goemon obviously wanted to learn from someone new, but it seems strange that he would forgive so easily, and Lupin doesn’t exactly have much going for him working with Goemon either.

One could say that MP focuses more on the fun of a concept rather than the explanation for it. Many of his stories simply exist as what-if situations, but given how this story is meant to be treated as canon, the staff insisted on something more logical, and with the other reasons for adding Koroshi in, he seems to also provide his own explanation for working with Lupin, with it being a mutual respect. Manga Goemon is younger than Lupin, and so their friendship begins at first as instead him respecting Lupin like he is his master.

To portray this older Anime Goemon, the staff picked a voice actor that would sound older and more mature to fit the samurai tone, with Goemon even sounding older than Lupin.

To quote Monkey Punch on Anime Goemon in comparison to the original:

“In the anime, he's changed a lot, but he's really more like a young boy.“

The truth, however, is that Koroshi was never even MP’s prototype for Goemon. The real prototype was Nitenzi Ondo of Western Samurai.

He looks and acts much closer to the bright and cheerful Manga Goemon, who seeks out justice for others and hates needless killing, and unlike Koroshi, these two both speak in a tone that is very un-samurai like. The theme of this work was that of a young samurai stumbling upon Western society, making friends and enemies in the process as he got accustomed to this new life while also bringing a part of his old life. The focus is on how Western and Eastern cultures clash and work together, and it is also the precursor to Bakumatsu Yankee.

Monkey Punch had wanted a more Japanese feeling to his Lupin manga, and given that Western Samurai had been released only 3 months prior to Goemon’s introduction, Monkey Punch had decided to bring Nitenzi Ondo to the world of Lupin under a new name, Ishikawa Goemon.

Monkey Punch contemplated between a the names of famous Japanese thieves such as Nezumi Kozo, of which the Nezumi clan would later become a frequent villain group in the manga, or Ishikawa Goemon, and it was decided on Goemon because there was another famous manga at the time using the name Nezumi.

Notice how Manga Goemon’s design was not actually based on the original Ishikawa Goemon, and rather that influence is by name only. Manga Goemon’s real influence is of the film Moeyo Ken and its character, the young Okita Souji, who Monkey Punch would later portray in Bakumatsu Yankee. Nitenzi Ondo’s sword was also changed to appear more like a cane for Goemon, reflective of the film Zatoichi that also helped inspire him.

So, if this mistake occurred with the Pilot, why is it that the anime simply did not correct itself? Well the issue lies in that Part 1′s production was based around using the Pilot and whatever extra work that staff may have also left behind as their primary base for the Anime rather than the manga. The style of the Pilot was changed to that of Part 1, and so the new staff was reinterpreting Pilot Goemon, thus pushing him further away from the Manga original.

When Part 1 later became popular, it would be difficult for the Part 2 team to move away from this. Early Part 3 interestingly tries to combine the two, perhaps in an effort to slowly push him back to the source material, but over time his design began to lose the traits of his Manga version until it became like the more popular Part 2, which tends to be used for inspiration more.

Most Lupin adaptations, out of fear of him not being recognized by the audience as Goemon, simply avoid using the manga as a reference. Given that the anime also titles Goemon as a samurai, which the manga does not, there is also more push for him to act as one.

Personally, I think Anime Goemon is a very fun character to have around in the franchise, but it does upset me as someone who really likes his Manga counterpart more. I wish the Anime version’s existence wouldn’t prevent the Manga version from existing in an adaptation at all. When there is any influence from the manga, there always seems to be bias from the previous anime, but it’s very apparent that they are 2 completely different people, rather than just different interpretations of the same person. I feel that it’s also important when looking at his Manga character to not see it with the bias of the Anime because it seems then as if his character is very inconsistent, when it really isn’t. I hope someday he’ll be properly animated.

I used these sources:

https://ameblo.jp/moromorokerro/entry-11914894998.html (this explained most of it already and was a huge help)

http://lupinthepunch.web.fc2.com/monkey/

http://typerlpn3.web.fc2.com/sub1_1.htm

[sevi007]

Tales of the Abyss part 27

By now I realize why "Abyss"! Hah!

Did you guys just sneakily clean up Luke's hairstyle while I was not looking or -

They are trying to distract me from the hair-situation and it's working

(Daughter of Watchers, indeed)

Fair I have no idea how to stop a whole landscape from falling down a - hole? Down the earth's interior?

Sorry I just had to use this XD

Can I PLEASE take two steps without getting attacked by skits lmao

Nevermind I'm placated. He got a cute new pic! Look at these puppy eyes!

Lmao some things have not changed (yet) XD

Incredible rude way to start a conversation - "oh hey you're the replica!" I would have assumed an elder would be more polite.

In theory I understand what Teodoro is saying. But I can also understand Luke's outrage. I cannot say what's better: Brace yourself for what is to come, knowing you cannot change it - or try to take steps to avoid the worst possible outcome because you know what is going to happen. Sincerely, my gut is telling me the later is better. The evacuation could have been started earlier if the people had known. You don't have to tell them years before, scaring them to death, but you can take steps necessary so you can take action when that time is coming. The way the world is operating right now is just "oh this catastrophe is meant to happen, glad it's not hitting us!" which seems awful.

Ugh I'm starting to understand Van's hatred for the Score. "Oh sorry granddaughter we could have saved thousands by evacuating them, but the Score did not talk about THAT so we just waved them goodbye as they fell"

Van must have been young(er) when he found out the truth, and terribly angry, I assume.

He what.

He WHAT. I want to shake some sense into this blind as a bat old man.

Thanks Luke.

I don't know how to break this to you, Teodoro, but Van is long since sick of "watching". He is actively creating his own future, and that one does not look good for anyone right now. "Watching" would mean doing very little. "Watching" would not include creating Replicas, kidnapping the prophesized sacred flame, controlling the replica into destroying a city, etc etc.

By the way, now that I'm ranting, I realize that the Score as we heard it in Baticul only mentioned ONE sacred flame. That's either Asch or Luke. There is nothing about a second one - nothing about a replica. Can the Score not cover everything? Are certain actions outside of its range, or... Is LUKE outside of its range thanks to being a replica? Cuz theoretically a replica - when not explicitly stated otherwise in the Score - would have the same destiny as the original, but since Luke is taking his own actions... Agh I'm giving myself a headache thinking so hard XD

Tear step aside I'm about to dropkick your grandpa outta the huge window there.

Ah dang, tumblr is reminding me I'm out of pictures. I will end my rant here then. See you on the next post! @ahsokaisawesome

@magicmetslogic