#he is essentially a more competent version of me

[sword-bunny]

Unpopular opinion: I don't think Luka is actually that bad

(Casual reminder first that all of the unwilling participants of this death match are slaves who were essentially raised from childhood to compete in Alien Stage. None of them are competing by choice, and this is Luka's second time being forced through this nightmare, and he will probably be made to do it a third time.)

"But he's enjoying this!"

Is he, though?

I don't feel like this moment gets talked about enough. Obviously we don't get to see the actual match so we can't say anything about it, but Luka kissing the dead girl's hand afterwards was important enough that some of the very limited time this series has was used to show it.

Here, he's not smiling, he's not making a show out of it. The show is already over. His back is to the audience, and he isn't even on stage. He lived, she died, and to me this read as a gesture of respect.

"What about him purposefully invoking the images of Sua and Ivan to make Mizi and Till lose their shit?"

Yeah, he definitely did do that, and I'll get back to that. But take a look at his face during his duet with Mizi:

It's shockingly different from the smug, smiling face he has for the rest of the song. From the background behind him, we can tell that Mizi is blocking the view of his face from the audience.

In comparison, the bit where he rolls his eyes, he isn't even looking at her. He's looking at the audience, making a show of his lofty condescension.

Look at the way he's portrayed in the "promotional footage" we see in Top 3. He's the "Ruler of the Stage", the elegant personification of victory. In other words, it's a stage persona.

We got this new expression in Blink Gone, and I did think he was laughing at first! But why would he be hiding that? He certainly never has before. There would be no point, he'd be playing it up, even. But the more I look at it, the more I think he's covering up something else.

Luka has outlived a lot of his opponents, some of whom very likely were people he grew up with, and I think he's starting to crack.

This leads us back to the tactics he uses to win.

Luka is undeniably ruthless! You could definitely make an argument that he goes beyond what's necessary to win.

But remember, he's trying to survive. I don't think he can reasonably be called a sadist for trying his best not to die, even if his methods are underhanded. Is he a good person? I wouldn't even try to argue that. Is he a bad person? I genuinely don't think so.

The situation he's been forced into is unimaginably cruel, and I genuinely believe it doesn't make someone a bad person to try to survive, even if it means someone else doesn't.

Imagine a modified version of the trolley problem: you and a person you do not know are each tied to separate tracks. You get to choose whether the train kills you or the other person. In this situation where you are not there because you want to be or because you're experiencing any kind of consequences for your actions, is it morally acceptable to choose not to die?

Anyways, that's my rant about why it's been getting on my nerves to see Luka constantly getting called a sadistic psychopath. Feel free to make counterarguments, just please try to be chill about it if you do✌️

Edit: I totally forgot about the Alien Stage promo video, which pretty clearly shows that Luka is having a Less Than Stellar time (pun intended)

This is the first shot we ever get to see of Luka, and I've left the lyrics on because I think they're pretty important since Luka is the contestant that's been in this situation the longest. He won and it's still not over. I'm not surprised he feels like it won't ever end!

Then there's this shot. Hooooooo boy this shot makes me feel a lot of things. It's so clear that Luka is even less than a pet, barely more than a toy to his "fans".

Finally, there's this bit where he hides his face behind his arms like he can't bear to be looked at any longer.

Your honor I'm so normal about him I swear

[the-one-and-only-taffie]

Yo yo yo! Back at it again with more Prime Diamond drabble and headcanons!

This came a lot later than I thought it would but YAY IT'S HERE NOW!

Unlike the last post, these will be organized in order of silliest to saddest with titles! Just cause!

Anyway let's get this trainwreck of a crackship out of the station! Docks? Whatever. Let’s go!

Timeline Clarifications

After much thought and consideration, I decided to have this ship take place at most 10 or less years before the events of Transformers One.

I wanted to put a big emphasis on White Diamond's loneliness and social disconnect, and I felt having them be together for the equivalent of 10 years to be the best. If she were to have been in Iacon for much longer, she'd have more time to adjust to the environment and culture and I really want her to be an overconfident nervous wreck. Also, the additional drama of Sentinel realizing his kingdom could crumble at any time as energon begins to run out while dealing with a wannabe therapist breathing down his neck is really funny.

Besides, for beings that live for thousands, if not millions of years, a decade is the equivalent of a 6 month relationship. That may not sound like a long time, but it doesn't take long for a toxic relationship to leave you drained and broken.

There are also other reasons, but those are for me alone to know (they are Steven related so that is particularly important).

Midsommars One

Realized this a while ago but White Diamond and Sentinel Prime’s relationship is essentially a less sympathetic, more abusive version of Dani and Chris’ from Midsommar. Luckily for Sentinel, it doesn’t end with him being Freddy Fazbear Pizzeria Simulator’ed. Or would he have preferred going out like that?

Sentinel Prime gets Pavlov’d lmao

I remembered this one Tumblr post about op giving their crush his favorite candy, so whenever he saw them he’d get excited and then get confused as to why he felt that way. I definitely think White Pavlov’d Sentinel, but instead of treats, it’s with chin kibble scratches. So after a while of her doing this, whenever he sees White, he looks all excited and expectantly at White and waits for something only to go "Wait... Why tf am I so happy to see her?" and then continues on with what he was doing. Very stupid, don’t know if Transformer psychology would make this possible, but I think Sentinel is dumb enough for it to work.

Don’t put em in a karaoke place dawg

Sentinel isn't a bad singer, but he has that same pop sounding voice that sounds good on radio but lacks any real emotion or range behind it. Basically Justin Bieber.

White is voiced by a Broadway actress so we all know her singing chops.

I think it’d be funny to stick em in a karaoke bar and watch em try and sing a romantic duet only for them to start singing over each other and end up competing. Bless the poor spark in the audience who Sentinel points at to ask whose performance they thought was the best. No matter what the bot answers, they will be wrong.

In regards to the meme

White Diamond calls him by all sorts of pet names, including Cybertronian, Gem, Human, and random nonsense ones she makes up on the spot.

Sentinel gets really annoyed by those quickly, as he finds them immensely cheesy. He doesn’t even know what most of them mean.

Sentinel only really calls her the basic stuff like "dear", "sweetie" and occasionally the more affectionate ones like "sweetspark", "my Diamond" when they're in public.

In private, he just defaults to White, or he calls her by her full name if he's really not in the mood to deal with her (either from exhaustion or he’s pissed off at her).

He does call her pet names, but only when he wants to be on her good side or, on rare occasions, when he does want to express affection (mostly so he could get her affection in return).

They talk a bunch of shit about other people

That’s it. That’s the headcanon.

One of the main ways they bond is redirecting their criticisms and resentment of each other onto the innocent bot walking past them who didn’t buff that morning.

White believes her “critiques” are for the bot’s sake, to help improve them and make them the best they could be, and for Sentinel to absorb and internalize for the sake of his own betterment.

Sentinel doesn’t delude himself into thinking he’s being noble when he tells his sparkmate all sorts of cruel rumors he’s heard about others, sprinkled with insults about their appearance and passing judgement on their life choices.

Their shit talking is the primary way White gets to know all the other bots in his inner circle. She tends to know the embarrassing thing they did 20 cycles go before she even knows their designation.

It ain’t exactly romantic, but them ruthlessly talking shit is where their compatibility really shines.

White likes to watch Sentinel sleep

Yk how Pearl had a habit of watching Steven sleep? Well, she got that habit straight from the very same diamond primarily responsible for the production of pearls!

White insisted on sleeping in the same berth as Sentinel because she's heard that's what normal couples do. They both know Gems don't need sleep, but Sentinel decided to humor her anyway (he thinks he's great at cuddling, he isn't). White Diamond ended up hating it.

She just couldn't get into the zone or quiet her mind, and Sentinel’s frame was not forged for snuggling. She just ended up getting bored and gave up trying. White can't understand how a living being could just... lay there and do nothing for hours straight. Talk about inefficient.

Welp, at least she could pass the time gazing upon a pretty face.

When Sentinel came online, he was met with his darling on his bedside just staring at him. Saying the Faux-Prime was creeped out would be an understatement. He not so politely asked White to never watch him sleep again and to not bother trying to do coupley shit if she can't commit to it.

White did just that... as far as he knew. Every night, she sneaks into his room after he falls into recharge and then leaves right before he comes back online. When not watching him, she snoops around his room and reads through whatever data pad she could get her hands on.

Airachnid knew his boss' gf kept doing this. She never tells him because she finds it hilarious. She did know to put an end to it when White crossed the line and began rummaging through his things. She sternly, almost threateningly, tells her to quit it. White actually obeys… but continues to watch him anyway.

White has her own room in Iacon Tower

When White was getting settled in on Cybertron after being taken on a tour of Iacon City, Sentinel showed her to the habsuite she will be staying in for the duration of her stay.

The Diamond greatly appreciated having her own space and immediately got to turning it into a home away from Homeworld.

She decorated the room with all sorts of crystals and whatever kind of flora she could get her hands on that were reminiscent of her home planet. She even got a few of the drones to remove the berth and replaced it with a zabuton at the very center for her daily meditation and a yoga mat for, well, yoga.

White adored her habsuite perhaps a little too much, as her hikikomori habit came back at full swing and she ended up isolating herself in that room for multiple solar-cycles.

Sentinel only realized her absence when an assistant asked him about her whereabouts. After the novelty of having a beautiful, giant alien woman visiting his city wore off, he straight up just forgot she was living there now.

The Prime panicked and searched high and low for his gem, only thinking to ask Airachnid where in the Pit she was long after he had his drones sweep every corner.

Airachnid simply informed her boss White was in her habsuite the entire time. Sentinel asked why she never mentioned it before, to which she responded “It has been sitting in that position without ever recharging or refueling for solar-cycles. I found that to be a good enough reason to continue surveillance… and I wanted to know how much longer it'd stay in there for.”

Sentinel gently knocked on her habsuite door to respect her privacy, but when he was met with no answer, he asserted his authority as Prime and came in anyway. He was met with the Diamond sitting with her legs crossed with a peaceful look on her face, fully zen. White asked Sentinel if he’d like to meditate with her for a couple of minutes, to which the Prime flat out declined and dragged her out of her room.

Since then, whenever White wanted to be a recluse for a bit, she’d let Sentinel know. She tends to isolate herself when she’s overwhelmed, anxious, or on the brink of mental collapse. As long as she didn’t have her breakdowns near his newly polished statues, Sentinel was A-OK with that.

Sentinel Prime glad his gf is a sentient mood ring

Having to deal with the Quintessons was such a hassle for the Prime. They only spoke in weird clicks, growls, guttural noises, with the occasional blowing hot disgusting steam directly on his faceplate to display displeasure, dissatisfaction, and anger. After years of paying his debts to them, he has gotten the hang of their animalistic communication style, so when White Diamond popped into his life on a Thursday afternoon, he was none too pleased with learning the ropes of how to communicate with *another* alien.

Luckily for Sentinel, White could actually, like, speak. With words. Amazing! Yet her preference for speaking in vague, cryptic, and melodramatic ways may as well have been like speaking in another language. However, parts of her face changing color whenever she felt any strong emotions was quite convenient to the Prime, and especially appreciated.

He only found out when he was showing her off to the other Iacon elites, and she felt so much pride she literally started glowing. Everyone was staring, and when Sentinel noticed, he asked if she was ok, which she simply responded “Hmm? Oh, my apologies.” and immediately turns it off.

Since then, Sentinel noticed that every strong emotion she felt had a corresponding color. White became redder than cinnabar whenever she was enraged, streaks of blue trailed from her eyes when she felt sadness, her cheeks bloomed pink whenever she was flattered and intensified whenever she was flustered or embarrassed, etc, etc.

Of course, the emotionally unavailable clanker used this convenience as a cheat sheet to avoid having to actually, you know, understand her feelings, and instead sets out to keep her color scheme monotone.

Only exception is when Sentinel actively tries to make White blush. He finds that rather cute (and so does his subjects).

I think he’d really get a kick out of seeing in real time how he has such a strong influence on another person’s emotional state. White isn’t a fan but becomes used to it as she finds the unique way she displays her emotions embarrassing. She’d even say he’s doing her a favor in avoiding embarrassing herself and her beloved in public.

She's literally the light of his life

Speaking of glowing, I imagine whenever Sentinel is trying to read a data pad and White is being all nosy, looking over his shoulder, but her light makes it difficult to see the text so he asks her to tone it down and she dims it.

Then when Sentinel has to go into a room or building that is low on light to save on energon, White offers to brighten herself to help him find what he needs.

At some point, Sentinel doesn't bother turning on the lights; he just asks White to accompany him. She appreciates being useful and loves how he actively seeks out her company, even if it’s just to find a data pad or navigate a dark corridor.

WHITE DIAMOND LIKES MINERS???

I bet if White were to ever encounter, meet, or see the miners of Cybertron, her questions would multiply tenfold (after squealing about how cute and tiny they were, mostly because they resembled the Bismuths and reminded her of Pink).

She notices the sheer difference in size compared to the Transformers and asks Sentinel if the cogless bots existing are a result of the Energon no longer flowing freely as it did in the past. She makes a connection to how Era 2 gems had to have several of their abilities (like shape-shifting) significantly reduced because without Pink's essence, they had less of the proper resources to create new gems with their full intended abilities.

Sentinel immediately answers with a short, curt, yes, and doesn’t elaborate.

The more questions she asks about the existence of miners, the more vulnerable he is to having systemic bullshittery exposed. She also asks why there aren't many of them in the same places Sentinel takes her to. He explains that to get the Energon everyone needs to survive, they must spend most of their time in the mines, so they have no time to go to the fancy galas, expensive restaurants, and exclusive events. He then jokes they'd drag dirt and debris everywhere and really ruin the ✨️aesthetic✨️

He conveniently leaves out that even if a miner would like to attend, they wouldn't be allowed to.

White Diamond expresses how she'd like to meet a few of them, but Sentinel discourages her by saying she already distracts him from his work way too often, she'd only be a hindrance to the miners who need to be fully concentrated and focused for their dangerous jobs.

A part of me wants her to sneak into their barracks with a Cybertronian miner disguise to interact with them, like what Pink initially intended with her Rose Quartz disguise. But I doubt she is a fan of shape-shifting for the simple reason that she only wants to look like herself and has no real desire to change that.

Instead, when she sees them on her strolls, she makes sure to greet every bot she lays her eyes on and thank them for their hard work. The miners appreciate the recognition. Sentinel is annoyed that he has to stop every couple of minutes just to satiate White's curiosity enough to keep her from digging.

BREAKING NEWS: Dictators don’t make good boyfriends

Sentinel never let's himself be genuinely vulnerable and loving towards anyone. Not because he's afraid of letting people in. Just because he doesn't want to be "weak" for someone.

He views love as an act of submission. To show love for someone is akin to conceding control to said person. If all the bots under him love and adore him like a god, then Sentinel loving and adoring White would be an indirect admission of viewing her as superior to him. We all know in his perfect world, he has ultimate control over everything and everyone, and no one is above him.

The only reason why he bothers getting into relationships is because he wants the benefits of being loved (attention, companionship, emotional labor, intimacy, status and ego boost) without sacrificing anything (vulnerability, trust, effort) in return.

An egotistical, narcissistic dictator only wants to be in a relationship as a method of reinforcing his own grandiose view of himself at the expense of his partner? Who is surprised?

His “submission” could be easily bought, though. The Quintessons are especially aware of this. Give him a gift, shower him with unearned praise, and he will tell you he loves you like he has to pay rent the next day.

He views relationships as purely transactional, so if he does something nice for his partner, he fully expects to be reimbursed and repaid in full, plus interest.

Inversely, he hates being indebted to his partner.

They could have given him a flower out of the kindness of their heart, and he’d be pissed, because now he has to pay them back with a bouquet.

Do this enough times, and he becomes genuinely resentful and annoyed. Wdym Sentinel Prime has to return his partner’s affections. Isn’t his presence enough??

On a funny note, further along in his relationship with White, he starts becoming genuinely fond of her, which makes Sentinel act like he’s losing some weird one-sided battle and gets really butthurt about it. Even says it’s “lame” and “corny” how he actually looks forward to spending time with White whenever he finishes his Prime duties sometimes lmao.

White Diamond has no real concept of theory of mind.

Theory of mind is the ability for humans to recognize that other humans have their own thoughts, feelings, and opinions that influence them and have thought processes that differ from themselves and others. This develops as children and evolves into the empathy that allows a social species like ours to relate to one another and forge deep connections.

Since White Diamond is a classic narcissist, not only does she lack empathy, but also the theory of mind necessary to develop said empathy. In Era 3, she literally allows other gems to inhabit her body and mind so she can understand them and their emotions better because she is unable to do that on her own.

However, because she still has this self centeredness to her, she has the implicit belief that she has an influence on everyone's emotions, thoughts, and actions. As in, she thinks the world revolves around her, and with enough time and effort, she can change anything.

How this relates to Prime Diamond is that she has trouble understanding why Sentinel acts the way he does, especially with his more morally dubious behaviors.

She thinks if she tries hard enough to "teach" him how to be better, he'll simply... become better. But it doesn't work like that because Sentinel is his own autonomous being who won't bend to her will now matter how genuine White is about making him a better bot.

So when Sentinel continues to be an ass despite all the work White puts in, she gets frustrated, then upset, then defeated. She laments why she can't get through to him and that if she were better, Sentinel would become good. She believes if she wills it hard enough via choosing the right words or pressing the correct buttons, Sentinel won't be the asshole we all know him to be. But no sentient being works like that.

She doesn't understand that Sentinel has his own motivations and personal stuff going on that drives him to act in ways and do things she would never even think to do. No amount of advice and pep talks from her will ever be enough to change him. So when he does do shitty things, she blames herself for not being good enough.

[least-carpet]

Jiang Cheng

My favourite guy! Time to rant about him once again.

How I feel about this character :

It's his fault I'm on Tumblr, so. I love him. I love him! He's a super competent disaster with a serious attitude problem. He'll drag you to filth and he'll look good doing it. He has a cool lightning whip, a scary reputation and a beloved twerp of a 13-year-old nephew, who sasses him constantly to his face. He's perfect to me.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

There are some characters I ship more with him and some I ship less with him, but I will try most Jiang Cheng pairings at least once. Beggars (people looking for interesting Jiang Cheng characterization rather than a stock villain labelled "Jiang Cheng" ) can't be choosers. My current faves are ningcheng, chengxian, zhancheng, and chengqing.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

If a relationship that's essentially a parent-child relationship counts, it's Jin Ling. I think Jin Ling's teenage years will be, uh, rocky, on account of his whole deal (teenage sect leader, variety of issues wrt his variety of evil/dead uncles, etc.) but they're very similar people. Also, I think their relationship remains the One Safe Secure Relationship for both of them. (It's good that Jin Ling is making friends and growing his social skills! You gotta have people to hang out with who aren't your jiujiu! But getting to know people is a whole process, especially as a teenager.)

Also, I think Jin Ling is the only person with whom Jiang Cheng got to be a version of himself and not Jiang-zongzhu or Sandu Sengshou. A parenting version! But a version of himself nonetheless.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

In this fandom, just being his fan counts as an unpopular opinion. Apart from that, maybe that I think it's that his big feelings are generally pretty reasonable? Like, yes, he is very mad at Wei Wuxian. But also, he's a person that Wei Wuxian harmed and what he wants is an explanation and for Wei Wuxian to be accountable to him. Given their previous relationship, I don't think that's unreasonable to want.

(And he lets Wei Wuxian go once he has the explanation!)

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

I would have liked to see some characters from the new Yunmeng Jiang sect. Jiang Cheng is so isolated when we see him, but he leads a whole sect! I want to know more about his relationship with the people he recruited. Where's his squad? Who's is second-in-command? I want to know!

[thesublemon]

the storytelling in severance season two so far is reminding me somewhat of farscape season three. both use a scifi conceit to literally split characters into different selves, and thereby explore their competing desires, particularly with regards to romance, and selfhood by extension.

(spoilers for both)

in farscape season three the protagonist is split into two equal selves. one of the john crichtons is able to resolve two seasons of romantic tension, and be in a happy relationship with his alien love interest. meanwhile the other john, bereft of love, obsessively attempts to perfect the technology that will take him home to earth. metaphorically, it’s a conflict between two versions of home, or selfhood. a self that is familiar, versus one that is alien. john yearns for a version of himself that can have it all: earth and aeryn, past and future, known and unknown. but the myth that underlies the season is icarus, and the folktale is the dog with with two bones. one of the johns does seem like he will get it all, and will even be healed of the scifi-metaphor for pain and trauma that haunts his brain—the neural chip harvey. but it turns out that this perfect resolution is impossible. the john that tries to have it all dies; the john that remains as the show’s main character is the john that has nothing. it turns out that it is not possible to simultaneously change and not change. “you can’t go home again,” essentially. if john is to truly move forward, according to the show, he must confront the reality of loss that is inherent to becoming something new, regardless of whether that new thing involves beauty and wonder (love) or something terrible (pain).

similarly in severance season two so far you have one version of mark who has spiraled downwards without love. and who, as of the most recent episode (2x03 “who is alive?”), is willing to risk himself to get that past love back. this is contrasted with a version of mark who “has everything.” he is not shattered by grief, he has a new love interest, he still has some innocence. like the johns, one mark is obsessively fixated on a former state, and one is able to narratively advance. but the fact that the story of how good the more innocent version of mark has it comes from lumon (“the mark i’ve come to know at lumon is happy”) emphasizes how much it is, indeed, a story. that version has also experienced loss, and suffering, and his existence is, of course, literal corporate slavery. it potentially foreshadows that now that one mark is attempting to “have everything” to an even greater degree, by stitching together his separate selves, that something will go wrong. like farscape with icarus, there are two myths suggested by the show so far: the orpheus and eurydice myth, which doesn’t bode well, and the persephone myth, which could go in a number of directions.

both shows use the season’s credit sequence to express the idea of self-conflict. in farscape, the narration over the season three credits is split into two echoing voices, and its description of the show’s premise becomes divided and confused. instead of john saying he’s “just trying to find a way home”, and to meanwhile “share the wonders i’ve seen” as he does in the credits for seasons one and two, john in the season three narration wonders if he wonder if he should “open the door” to earth, or leave it shut. he starts asking questions: “are you ready?”, “or should i stay?” he starts describing the things he’s seen as both “nightmares” and “wonders”. similarly the credits for season two of severance are full of duality and conflict. there is imagery of gemma on one side, and helly on another. the women flicker and run in opposite directions. meanwhile the two marks simultaneously work together and seem at odds. sometimes one mark pulls and carries the other. but instead of the season two credits ending with the two marks merging, as they do in the first season credits, one mark now attempts to crawl its way out of the other.

in general, both shows seem to use the idea of pain, grief, or trauma as a kind of psychological splitting point. and use romantic love to make the longing and loss (the positive and negative) involved in change more visceral. in mark’s case, the metaphor is pretty literal and immediate—the starting premise of the show is that he has split himself into two consciences because of grief for his wife. in john’s case, the metaphor takes a bit longer to develop. he changes in increasingly dark ways over the course of the first two seasons, and only by season three is it time to physically split him in order to explore the implications of those changes. this difference makes sense based on the type of story that each show is derived from. severance is more of a modern gothic tale, exploring the consequences of repression in an eerie atmosphere. farscape on the other hand, is more of a modern odyssey or wizard of oz, a mythological tale of displacement and change.

i don’t have predictions on specific developments in severance, but i’m interested to see where it goes with the metaphorical framework it’s set up so far. like farscape, it could easily end in a dog with two bones sort of way—by trying to have two contradictory things, mark loses both. and perhaps that will be a necessary nadir on the path to some ultimate stage of resolution. regardless, it’s nice to see a new scifi show making use of the genre’s ability for metaphor in a way that doesn’t (yet) feel boring or underdeveloped, whatever it chooses to do with it.

[monabee-draws]

You know what would have made the Crow storyline better? If Governor Ivenci was right.

Have the traitor who sold out Treviso to the Antaam be Illario from the start, but have the Butcher's well-organised influence somehow continue even past Illario's incarceration/exile. Why? Because despite House Cantori and House De Riva (and arguably Dellamorte) buying into the whole 'liberation' narrative, the Antivan Crows are not freedom fighters. Have the Talons who stand outside of Teia and Viago's freedom fighting cause actively aid the Antaam - per Ivenci's offhand comment that they 'wouldn't be surprised if it was the Talons fighting again' that does Treviso in. Most of the Talons and their underlings probably don't even believe the whole 'ancient gods are also part of the problem' schtick because why would they? The qunari? A relatively known enemy whom most Thedosians only know as one unified conquering army. Ancient elven gods come back to end the world? Uh, yeah sure buddy. We still have to put food on the table on Sunday, and the rest of Antiva is not under occupation, actually, and devoting two entire houses to repelling an occupation which could arguably be exploited for monetary gains (a la, Zevran's contract in Ferelden) is a massive waste of resources. Considering all their general infighting and power grubbing, the Antaam presence in Treviso may in fact be a boon for those Crow houses outside of it. After all, if House Cantori and Dellamorte fall entirely, and the House De Riva Talon goes with them, more power to them.

I think this would help the Crow narrative in two ways:

One: The ruthless version of the organisation we come to know through DAO and DA2 (and most non-game lore sources) is maintained. They are an assassin's guild. Those at the top are very, very rich and powerful, and their underlings are mostly just scraping by. Politics and infighting are common. Even if a few might be swayed to a more altruistic cause, most remain loyal to the original tenets of the organisation (a juxtaposition similar to Zevran and his Crow friend Taliesen.) The writers can have their cake - a somewhat morally balanced faction from which the protagonist can still be proud to originate - and eat it too - maintaining the storied and well-trod history of brutality, neglect and coldness the Crows are known for.

Two: Illario's writing automatically improves. He's a very obvious villain character from the start, and Ivenci js essentially just a mirror of him who becomes so laughably maniacal at the end that neither can be taken seriously. Within the context of the Crows being divided on the Antaam issue, Illario choosing to side against Teia and Viago makes more logical sense. He's not just a stupid power grubbing villain. He's simply playing the game the way any self-respecting Crow would. Not only that, but his plan may still work even with Lucanis being back because he has genuine support from the remaining Houses, even if its the kind of support that will fizzle once Illario weakens his own position by killing Lucanis and Caterina, leaving the remaining houses to sweep him up in the power vacuum.

Illario being a more competent villain also deepens Lucanis' situation. In the side stories he has no interest in becoming First Talon, but his bleeding heart is also a mark against him. The Crows are ruthless and methodical, and Lucanis is emotional. Maybe Illario WOULD be a better First Talon (in this new version.) Perhaps it is not Lucanis who calls for Illario's freedom at the end of his quest/chooses incarceration over execution, but the other Talons. It always sat badly with me that none of the other Crows even suggests execution after the multiple betrayals Illario commits. Not even Teia or Viago. But perhaps they COULD, and what saves Illario is not Lucanis or Caterina's authority, but the quiet rumble of general dissent amongst the Crows. One that complicates Lucanis' transition into the new role of Talon, and which prompts him to maintain the older more ruthless ways largely out of appeasement. This also explains away the plothole that is the complete lack of discussion of Lucanis' future role as Talon, whether he intends to/how he would alter the abyssmal training system. He won't because he can't because the Dellamortes are on thin, thin ice.

[chvoswxtch]

I’m so excited to be joining the court eras tour! Congrats on the achievement! Can I request speak now about Frank and Matty competing for the attention of the same girl? Wether it means she ends with one of them, none, or both *wink wink*

you know, my philosophy in life is why have one when you can have both?

side note: i'm the worst person to go shopping with bc if you ask me if you should get something, i'm gonna tell you to treat yourself and if you ask me to help you decide between two things, i'm gonna tell you to get them both

with that being said, let's fuck date them both <3

electric touch (frank's version ft. matt)

firstly, frank and matt are very different when it comes to dating

matt flirts with anything that has a heartbeat. he's a charming, smooth talking fucker, and he knows exactly what he's doing. he doesn't even need to use his heightened senses to be able to tell that his dazzling grin and dimples coupled with his alluring deep voice makes a person's blood rush to their cheeks and to other places in their body

frank on the other hand is a little more shy. if you remember, maria approached him first when they met, and that actually seems to be a recurring theme for frank (karen makes the first move, sarah is the one that kisses him, beth is the one that invites him home). essentially, frank is a consent king who lets his partner come to him. not that he doesn't flirt, I think he does when he feels more comfortable, but it doesn't come second nature to him like it does to matt

secondly, I think their different personalities also shine in terms of the kind of date they take you on

matt's go to date idea that we've seen tends to be a romantic dinner somewhere. despite him being a huge slut flirt, i do think he's a hopeless romantic at heart. matt could ask you to dinner as easily as he could ask you what time it was, but I think he'd do his best to make sure to pick a spot that he knew you would like based off your preference in food, meet you at the restaurant looking devastatingly handsome, and then take you on a nice little stroll to keep the evening going

frank on the other hand seems a little more old school and traditional. despite where he's taking you, he's definitely picking you up at your door and bringing flowers. I could see him being a dinner and movie guy, but I also think frank would wanna get to really know you, and it's kinda hard to have a conversation with someone while watching a movie. so I personally think he would take you to do something fun (we know he loved to take his family to the park with the carousel), something like bowling, mini golf, an arcade (where he'd totally show off and win you a prize), an aquarium, etc. somewhere where the two of you could do something fun together and then get a bite after

NOW, we know frank and matt are super competitive with one another, but if they were trying to win over the same person? absolute chaos

let's just say for fun y'all all go on a first date at the same time (bc I personally think it would be hilarious)

you let frank pick the activity y'all do together, and he purposefully sends matt on a wild goose chase telling him to meet at the mini golf place at 7pm, but, he doesn't specify which one. so a pissed off matt finally tracks you and frank down around 7:30 (by the scent of frank's cologne that he would know anywhere) and frank fires the first shot

"'bout time you showed up, red. don't you know it ain't polite to make a lady wait?"

"well I would have been on time if you had specified where this place was. do you know how many mini golf places there are in this city?"

"my bad, thought you'd be pickin' her up at her door with flowers too. guess that was just me though."

frank has the biggest grin on his face, meanwhile matt's cheeks are burning red, both from annoyance and from sprinting to catch up

but frank's victory is short lived when matt beckons you over with a charming smirk and an innocent request for help

"sweetheart, you mind helping me hit the ball? I don't exactly know where i'm aiming."

much to frank's dismay, he has to watch you press yourself up against matt's back, holding onto his hands that were around the golf club, and giggle instructions into his ear as you help him on where to aim

"aw now that's horseshit. you don't need her goddamn help, and you know it."

"i am blind, frank."

matt wears a cocky smirk with every ball you help him hit, but the more you start cheering for frank with how many perfect shots he's hitting (if there's one thing frank is good at it's aim), matt starts showing out too, and eventually the two men forget you're even playing with them bc they're competing against each other so hard

before they break out into a brawl in the sand pit, the three of you make your way to dinner, each of them insisting on holding one of your hands (which they refuse to let go of) so everyone walking in your direction has to go completely around the three of you

matt chose an incredibly romantic italian spot, and needless to say, the host was very confused seeing the three of you together (especially with the disgruntled looks on both of their faces bc they wanted you all to themselves)

not even five minutes pass before they're back at each other's throats

it starts with matt recommending a red wine to you and pronouncing the name of it wrong, to which frank sassily corrects him, and matt scowls across the table behind his red glasses

"what, you suddenly speak italian, castle?"

"i am italian, you dipshit."

matt, completely stunned by this new information, completely misses frank's insult and just stares blankly at him in surprise with raised brows

"what? since when?"

"the hell you mean since when? since I was born. ain't you s'posed to be some kinda genius or somethin'? I really gotta explain simple shit to you-"

"castle isn't italian-"

"no, but castiglione is. it got shortened to castle when my parents moved here from sicily-"

"and how the hell would I know that-"

"well maybe if you shut the fuck up every once in awhile-"

and this is where you have to intervene and redirect the conversation bc while them fighting over you was exciting and truthfully hot at first, it seems like they've spent a better half the night fighting each other, and that simply isn't acceptable

so you warn them that if they don't start playing nice, you'll leave them on the date alone together and go get your own dessert somewhere else

needless to say they suddenly start showing model behavior and redirect their attention where it should've been all along: on you

and i'll let your imagination run wild with how well that date goes and if you invite them both up for a drink or two ;)

[sirfrogsworth]

hi hi!!!

I'm a CFX artist (I do hair and cloth for 3D animated movies) and I wanted to clarify something!!

the encanto post? we talked about that one at length at work when it was first made, and it is incredibly evident that the guy who posted it is just bad at his job. the exact same effect can be archieved by changing the camera focal length- but animators never reach for technically competent solutions. (this is a roast.) and even if thats not possible, there is NO reason for why her shoulder area or chest are completely crushed or why her feet are inside of her hip bone.

and also, since I am in the department that comes right after animation- if I had gotten that shot, I would have either sent it straight back to the animator to fix it, OR cleaned it up myself, by which I mean it absolutely did not look like this off-camera by the time we send it for final light render.

essentially if animation looks that messed up off-camera, it is not "animation magic", it is actually someone doing a bad job.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree.

For one thing, the behind the scenes image was not close to a final render so I don't think you can fairly judge what was probably just the animator lining up and blocking the shot. I don't think at that state they were concerned with the shoulders, chest, and feet. I'm betting the final polished version looked much better.

And I also disagree the exact effect could be achieved by changing the focal length.

As a photographer, focal length is not just about cramming everything into the field of view. I don't only use a wide angle because I want more stuff in the photo.

It is also an artistic decision.

Wide angle lenses exaggerate distance and can make foreground objects seem massive and background objects seem tiny.

Look at this super wide angle shot of Otis lusting after a tennis ball.

The ball has a huge presence in the photo. It is only two feet away, but the distance between them seems immense. The ball takes up as much space in the photo as Otis.

Compare that to the ball in this telephoto image.

The picture now becomes less about the ball and more about the act of chasing it. The ball is literally only a foot closer to Otis, but it has no commanding presence like in the super wide shot.

So what artistic intention comes from using a telephoto lens like in Encanto?

Telephoto focal lengths compress distance. Background objects appear much larger in the frame. They also flatten the face and give a more flattering perspective of said face. Human faces can look a bit alien at wider focal lengths.

So what if you want the background to look large and encompassing and you want the flattering facial proportions from a telephoto lens, but you also want a foreground object to have a commanding presence like the ball?

You cheat!

This is not a technique confined to the world of 3D animation though. It is actually an old live-action trick. They will actually use another person's hands to do effectively the same thing as above.

In Hellboy II, Guillermo had two problems. He wanted a telephoto feel and depth of field and he also wanted a very intricate practical egg prop that could open mechanically.

To get the proportions and the framing and the feel of the shot as intended, he double cheated!

He made a big freaking egg with a big freaking fake hand.

(I know there is a picture of the giant hand somewhere but my googling failed me.)

In any case, I think this is just a case of good problem solving over incompetence. I think the director or the animation lead wanted this scene to fit within a specific focal length and it was easier and more efficient to just give her crazy long arms.

I'm not trying to dispute your expertise or animation-splain. Perhaps there was a better way to achieve the same look. But if the final result looked good, I don't think we need to bash someone who was probably under tight deadlines and had a lot of other work to complete. At least not without a lot more information.

[crisiscutie]

Bit of a stupid question: I noticed in a couple of the sub Sephy fics you’ve written, particularly your most recent, poor boy gets incredibly aroused at the idea of breeding darling, but never actually gets to - have you ever written sub Seph actually getting to breed her? I’m not active enough on here to know if you have or not, so you can ignore this if you have 👍

Not yet! But I certainly can. I do love it, as it is an essential part of both the breeding and femdom kinks. And I think Sephiroth, no matter the version, would certainly enjoy working to earn that special privilege. To plant a seed of love into his goddess and nurture it with her is the ultimate dream. And he'd be damned if any other man thinks he can compete with him. He wouldn't even tolerate himself besting him.

pairing: C.C. Sephiroth/EVA (Goddess Darling)

Content Warning: NSFW, Mommy Kink, Thigh Crushing, Futanari, Egg Laying/Birth, etc... Multiple DDDNE Kinks.

Sephiroth devoured your cunt like a ravenous wolf, causing you to moan softly and tighten your thighs around his head.

He's squeezed your fleshy thighs tightly, a sure sign of him begging you to squeeze him more since his mouth is too busy worshiping every little bit of your plump cunt.

He could be such a needy brat. If he wasn't doing such a great job, you would've stopped squeezing him by now.

When he removed his tongue from your cunt, there was a slight resistance because of your muscles contracting around it.

Your growing, trembling clit received a sweet kiss from him when you climaxed, coating his face in your addictive juices.

"Thank you for granting me this treat, Mother..." He said, his twisted kitten eyes beaming at you.

"Now you're happy?" you said coolly. "You were pouting like a brat not too long ago."

You rose, giving him the opportunity to sit up as you settled on his lap, noticing his hard bulge.

"Mother, I apologize. I'll be better for you..." he said, nuzzling apologetically into your neck while rubbing his clothed bulge against your cunt.

You knew what he wanted. He had just served your cunt as you ordered, but there's something you else you wanted.

Your cold JENOVA-pink eyes locked with his intense blue ones as you cupped his cheeks.

"Did you retrieve my crystal from your last mission, Sephiroth?"

He nodded, taking out the small crystal and pressing it against your lips.

You accepted it, devouring it like candy. Your round pupils dilated as the power surged through you.

"Good boy," you whispered, as he pressed your hand to his cheek and nuzzled it.

His smile beamed brighter when you freed his angry, throbbing cock from his pants and positioned your gushing, plump cunt over it.

As he reached for your hips, you shot him a death glare. "No," you said. "lay down. You haven't earned that privilege."

Obeying you, he silently pouted, his smile quickly transforming into a brief frown.

...But that frown turned into a face of pure euphoria when he felt your cunt blessing his cock.

You didn't bother taking it slow. You kept forcing your cunt down to his base repeatedly.

This was the one bone you'd throw him, since getting that crystal couldn't be an easy task.

You grunted when his cock head kissed your cervix.

You pushed aside your goddess robes, revealing that your clit had morphed into a thick alien cock, smacking against his chiseled abs as you rode him like a bitch in heat.

He whined endlessly for you, his slit pupils dilating from your cunt suffocating his cock.

You might just let him cum in you... You wondered if the spawn born from his seed will be human compared to the multitude of other monstrosities you birthed.

His hands quivered, teetering between the urge to grab your hips and brutalize your cunt. Yet, he must stay a good boy for you. He must.

He's all set to make your insides white as snow, but only when you command him.

"You're phenomenal, mother," he gasped, his dark smile spreading wide and bright.

You let out a sharp groan of pain and pleasure, breaking your cold facade!

Fuck, fuck. Inside your alien cock, a cluster of small eggs began to line up, making your cock visibly bulge.

You need to cum now. They were so difficult to expel, especially alongside your seed. So you rode Sephiroth faster than ever, panting as you held onto him tight.

Amazingly enough, he still didn't touch you, even in his euphoric trance.

How cruel it was, not even given the chance to suckle from your bouncing bosom.

And he would've been more than happy to coax the eggs and cum out of your cock, but you wouldn't even let him do that.

But at last, you couldn't contain yourself any further and let out a loud scream, releasing onto his chest and splattering some onto his face.

Peacefully resting in the crevice of his abs, the transparent alien eggs, covered in your cum, revealed the outline of the developing lesser pink spawn within them.

Both of you were trembling violently, yet you managed to gather enough strength to lean down and whisper in his ear.

"Release," you ordered.

As per your command, he screamed while his cum filled your womb, ensuring nowhere of your insides was left untouched.

You ran your fingers over his cheek-length bangs and caressed his head as he recovered.

"My sweet boy..."

[velvetvexations]

This is an edited version of something I posted to r/DaystromInstitute, a Star Trek sub. I'm proud of it and, having deleted my account, want to preserve it here.

Dukat is a fantastic example of Narcissitic Personality Disorder

I'm an individual with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. It's very, extremely frustrating to see people claim everyone from Dolores Umbridge to Donald Trump also have NPD because they're like, just the worst. NPD doesn't mean "selfish", or "controlling", or even "self-absorbed", and certainly is not a synonym for abusive, despite all the self-help books that say sniping a narcissist who came within eight hundred yards of you is legally permissible under Stand Your Ground laws.

You might expect me to not be so appreciative of Dukat, who is, after all, a pretty horrible person. I actually have a worse opinion of Dukat's supposed nobility than many, as fairly often the fandom prefers to back the idea that he really was a misguided anti-villain who only succumbed to devil-worshipping when the writers assassinated his character.

Well, unfortunately, it's harder to recognize authentic NPD traits in heroes, and "recognize" is a term I use loosely, since most writers certainly didn't have NPD in mind at all. Nonetheless, I love Dukat because he exemplifies a nuanced, if not overly flattering, portrayal of a personality disorder that actual human beings deal with, and 99% of the time is just flattened into a thing you call people you don't like.

As a child, one thing that did a lot to mitigate the more negative social aspects of NPD was having it imprinted on my brain by anime and video games that being a Hero and as good as possible was the best thing to be. While praise and attention in general does scratch a powerful itch too, once my child-self internalized the values of the media I consumed - helped along by also being autistic - the standard for which I judged myself was set. I would literally cry if I accidentally picked up dark side points in a Star Wars game.

I think Dukat went through a similar process. Not all narcissists cling to a model centering morality, but Dukat, for one reason or another, did. He sincerely believes everything he does is altruistic and fair, and more than that, he��wants to be altruistic and fair, having misidentified the origin of his cravings.

Another thing that helped me a lot growing up was a book called The Screwtape Letters. If you're unfamiliar, it's by CS Lewis and is presented as a series of letters from a high-ranked demon to his nephew, who works as essentially a shoulder devil attempting to guide his patient into sin and disconnection from God. I feel like Lewis would probably be annoyed with me not getting anything properly Christian out of it, but it is an amazing manual for teaching you how to examine your own thinking and subconscious impulses. It started me down a path of being very self-aware, which made it easier to navigate NPD, because I'm incapable of tolerating the flaws in my internal logic that I'm able to catch. If I may be excused for saying so, I think I do a decent job on that count, with the downside that I'm often far too hyper-critical and it results in regular anxiety.

But Dukat never learned that skill. As a result, his attempted nobility clashes with his other competing impulses, and all his actions are reinforced, rather than rejected, by his conscious, which his NPD assures him is being followed to the letter. As Lewis said:

The baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity at some point may be sated; and since he dimly knows he is doing wrong he may possibly repent. But the Inquisitor who mistakes his own cruelty and lust of power and fear for the voice of Heaven will torment us infinitely more because he torments us with the approval of his own conscience and his better impulses appear to him as temptations.

Dukat's inner struggle is fueled by the need to be a revered benefactor while also having served at the head of the bastard offspring of the Iraq War and Holocaust. His solution at the time was to make it more like the Second Boer War, the conflict that originally popularized the term "concentration camp" despite the fact that those concentration camps weren't even meant to eliminate the thousands that were killed in them.

DUKAT: So in my first official act as Prefect, I ordered all labour camp commanders to reduce their output quotas by fifty percent. Then I reorganized the camps themselves. Child labour was abolished. Medical care was improved. Food rations were increased. At the end of one month of my administration, the death rate had dropped by twenty percent. Now how did the Bajorans react to all this? On my one month anniversary they blew up an orbital dry-dock, killing over two hundred Cardassian soldiers and workers. "KIRA": We didn't want a reconciliation. We wanted to destroy you. DUKAT: So I had to order a response. But even then it was a carefully tempered one. I ordered two hundred suspected members of the Resistance rounded up and executed. Two hundred lives for two hundred lives. That's justice, not malevolence. Justice.

Throughout the episode the Kira hallucination embodies the disrespected and ingratitude he feels he gets for being "nice". Cardassian values, attitudes, and objectives came first. Dukat, however, was smart enough to understand some of what was being done to Bajor was wrong, but not quite able to tear himself away from his own identity as a Cardassian and the protagonist of the universe. That was just too much to totally upend, as would be required to fully comprehend the reality of the situation.

So he tries, in his own way. Because he wants to be a good guy, the hero, the main character, and he truly believes that he is. Unfortunately, it remains pointed solidly in the direction of his own ego. He's unable to recognize that to err is Cardassian, but repentance divine, because he's already invested in so much. His identity as a Cardassian, his own past actions, his impulsive grabs for power, and being convinced he's such a good man shields him from thinking critically because it would necessarily mean criticizing himself. Dukat can only truly appreciate that he's made mistakes when it makes him feel like he's being the bigger man willing to compromise and graciously admit fault, but he was in charge of the Occupation for twenty years. It's hard to walk back from that.

And I should know, because even understanding I'm the one at fault, it's pulling teeth to force myself through accepting I did wrong, much less admitting it to someone else. I don't want to be someone who fucked up, no matter how minor. Pulling teeth. Quite a lot of NPD can be described that way, in fact. While half-brained wannabee psychologists present narcissists as being sociopathic manipulators who skillfully terrorize those around them, most of NPD is horrible, chest-thumping anxiety. It's not fun at all to want to break my controller in half every single time I get got in a game of Splatoon, even when the round is far from over.

Most Cardassians involved with the Occupation seemed to be either outright monsters or falling under the "banality of evil", like Damar. They considered the Bajorans as, at best, a bunch of backwards hicks who needed to shut up and listen to their betters. Dukat, though, fetishized Bajor and the Bajorans themselves, as quite creepily seen in his string of Bajoran lovers and his dogged pursuit of Kira throughout the show (which horrifically took Nana Visitor putting her foot down to keep from being canon!). He pursed his tenure as head of the Occupation with the zeal of someone who truly wanted his subjects to see he was doing all this for their own good.

The Dominion and most other Cardassians don't give a fuck if your subjects like you except insofar as it's convenient and makes them less likely to rebel. That's the Dominion's whole thing, they just want control, and if the carrot doesn't work they'll shrug and without a hint of emotion give you the stick. It doesn't matter to them how they're in charge as long as they are. When Dukat makes his point about having only executed two-hundred (suspected!) members of the Resistance, the Weyoun hallucination comments:

"WEYOUN": The Dominion would never have been so generous.

It's telling that Dukat is fixated on the contrast between him and the people he allied with enough for it to show up in his breakdown. Just a little before that, Dukat says:

DUKAT: Major Kira knows full well I made every effort to heal the wounds between Cardassia and Bajor. Since the very beginning it was my intention to rectify the mistakes of the past and begin a new chapter in our relations.

Dukat is capable of saying, vaguely, abstractly, "mistakes were made", but it infuriates and honestly baffles him that it's not enough for him to be recognized as the most brilliant and loving extraterrestrial patriarch the Bajorans could ever wish for. In an earlier episode, he has this conversation with (the real) Weyoun:

WEYOUN: If you ask me, the key to holding the Federation is Earth. If there's going to be an organized resistance against us, its birthplace will be there. DUKAT: You could be right. WEYOUN: Then our first step is be to eradicate its population. It's the only way. DUKAT: You can't do that. WEYOUN: Why not? DUKAT: Because! A true victory is to make your enemy see they were wrong to oppose you in the first place. To force them to acknowledge your greatness. WEYOUN: Then you kill them? DUKAT: Only if it's necessary. WEYOUN: I had no idea. DUKAT: Perhaps the biggest disappointment in my life is that the Bajoran people still refuse to appreciate how lucky they were to have me as their liberator. I protected them in so many ways, cared for them as if they were my own children. But to this day, is there a single statue of me on Bajor? WEYOUN: I would guess not. DUKAT: And you'd be right. Take Captain Sisko, an otherwise intelligent, perceptive man. Even he refuses to grant me the respect I deserve.

Weyoun ends the scene laughing at Dukat. Because he was just advocating they exterminate all life on Earth, and yet he's amazed, truly stunned by how crackers Dukat is. The sheer depths of Dukat's psychological need for validation is as clinically fascinating to Weyoun as it is to the audience.

As it is to me, anyway. Like Narcissus and his pool, I peer into Dukat and see myself. Unsurprisingly, he's one of my favorite characters.

[izzywantscheesecake]

the gingerbread competition

Pairing: Hobie Brown x GN! Reader 🕸🕷🎸 Quick Synopsis: Hobie and Y/N compete with Miles and Gwen to see who can make the best gingerbread house. Tags: Use of Y/N, no specific physical description of the reader, reader can be male/female or none, friends to lovers, Romantic tension between Hobie and Reader, Implied MilesxGwen, fluff, Christmas themed

Hobie Brown didn’t celebrate Christmas.

He didn’t hate Jesus or was part of a different religion, in fact, he preferred to keep himself unlabeled in terms of his religious ideology, but he just thought the meaning of Christmas had lost its definition in the past few decades.

Essentially, Christmas existed to celebrate the birth of Jesus by sharing thoughtful gifts and spending time with loved ones. 

But the ‘spending time with loved ones’ part had been erased and the holiday was dumbed down to seeing whoever could get another person the most expensive gift without any thought.

So he didn’t fully celebrate it.

Sure, he’d make his friends a handmade gift they were sure to like and he wouldn’t be rude and reject a gift, but he would never partake in the usual activities like hanging the mistletoe, buying a christmas tree, or building a..

“..Gingerbread house! Let’s make gingerbread houses! And it can be a competition, too,” You grinned.

It wasn’t actually Christmas day, it was two days before. But this was the only day all of you could hang out before attending to plans you actually had on ol' Christmastide.

It was just you, Hobie, Gwen, and Miles, sitting on Hobie’s couch at his flat in his dimension. He mainly resided in his boat, but it was too cold to stay there that month.

“I don’t know, Y/N. I mean, those gingerbread houses are usually super expensive to buy at the market,” Hobie said, crossing his arms.

“Yeah, they are. So we can just make them ourselves. I mean, you practically got everything we need in your pantry besides frosting and candy.. Okay, maybe we will have to go outside and get some supplies,” Gwen shrugged.

“Ugh, really? It’s mad brick out, don’t you see all that snow?” 

Miles pointed to the window, showing everyone the winter wonderland that once used to be the streets of Camden Town.

“We got coats, we’ll be fine. So, all in favor of making gingerbread houses, raise your hand!” You said, lifting up your hand immediately.

Gwen and Miles both raised their hands, albeit Miles more reluctantly. Hobie kept his arms crossed, scoffing.

“It’s three against one. We’re doing it.”

Hobie dropped the pose. “Fair, I guess. But I get to pick the movie we watch once we’re done.”

“You’re gonna pick Freaky Friday, and not even the Lindsay Lohan version,” Gwen sighed.

“Who?”

“Anyways, to save money and dishes, don’t you think we should be in teams of two?” Asked Miles.

The four of you decided on your team names. You and Hobie would be "The Barely Adults" vs Miles and Gwen with "Stuck in Algebra II."

There were many different stores along the main streets of the neighborhood, so your group and the other group spread out, agreeing to stay in the neighborhood.

You and Hobie stepped into a candy store a few blocks away from his flat, and were immediately greeted by the warm air of a fully heated establishment and the scent of various confectionaries and ice cream.

A happy looking woman sat by the front counter, reading the daily newspaper. She made eye contact with Hobie, and you watched as the wrinkles in her face became more prominent the bigger her smile got.

"Hobart? Is that you? My, my, you've gotten so tall!"

You snorted, noticing the slight embarrassment that had planted itself on Hobie's face. His expression quickly shifted into a smirk.

"Mrs. Winters.. You just saw me at the farmer's market a few weeks ago."

"I know, I know. But every time I see you, you get bigger. It feels as if just yesterday I was making you and your mates stay behind and sweep my store for stealing all the gobstoppers."

"Well, that's not surprising," You inquired out loud.

"Whatever. We were jobless, rambunctious kids."

Mrs. Winters turned her attention to you, still keeping that friendly smile she had on her face when you walked in.

"And who's this lovely person you've brought in with you today?"

Hobie slung his arm around you, crouching down slightly to meet your height. His face was dangerously close to your right cheek.

"They're my friend, Y/N."

Mrs. Winters stared at the two of you skeptically.

"Oh. Well, alright, dearie. It's a pleasure to meet you, Y/N."

"Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Winters, was it?"

"Mhm."

She turned to the giant selection of candy behind her. There was practically every sweet you could think of stored, from jellies, taffies, licorice, rock candies, chocolates, and even freezers full of whipped cream and frosting, which was convenient.

"So, what do you feel like buying today?"

"Anything that would make a gingerbread house taste good."

"We should get candy corn."

You stuck your tongue out in disgust. "The hell kind of suggestion is that? You eat gingerbread with candy corn?"

"Yes. I like to be unconventional."

Mrs. Winters snickered. "Well, if you guys are making a gingerbread house, I'd say just get the regular bunch, like gumdrops and whatnot."

You and Hobie walked out of the candy shop with a tub of frosting and random ziplog bags full of different candy. Some of them you were going to put on the house, and some were just gonna be sitting at Hobie's place in general.

When you got back to his flat, Miles and Gwen weren't anywhere to be found.

"Huh? Where are they? We just said to get candy and come back."

"They're kids in love. They're probably using this time to have a de-facto date."

"Well, that makes it easier for us to win. I guess you could say we're also having a de-facto date, right?" You joked.

Hobie turned to you with a sensual grin on his face before setting his boots to the side and walking towards the kitchen.

Before you left the store, Mrs. Winters had given you and Hobie a recipe for gingerbread houses, as none of you were going to buy the cheap ones that always tasted like plastic.

-

"Okay, preheat the oven to about 375 degrees fahrenheit." You said, reading off the sheet of paper.

"Celsius, please."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Um, that'd be around.. 190? Yeah. That sounds about right. And keep it in there for three to four minutes."

"Mhm." He closed the oven door.

On the corner of Hobie's mouth was a small patch of frosting, it presumably got there when you two tried to open the package at first and it exploded.

"Hey, look at me. You've got something on your face."

You moved closer to him, using your thumb to wipe the frosting off. Once it was gone, you stopped cupping the side of his cheek, and now you were both looking at each other, face to face.

You stayed like that for a few seconds, watching how his eyes softened the longer you two stayed in that position.

Suddenly, the door kicked open.

"We're back!" Miles yelled. You heard the shuffle of multiple bags and quickly moved away from Hobie to see what was going on over the counter.

Gwen was holding a bag from a candy store on one arm, and on the other arm were bags definitely acquired from a boutique.

Miles also had a candy bag, but held a bag from a Nike outlet in the same hand.

"So I was right. You two did go on a side quest. Thought we agreed to stay in the 'hood."

"I mean.. Technically, we did stay in the neighborhood... The outskirts of it."

"Hey, did you guys already start without us?!"

"What else were we supposed to do? Sit and talk?"

You and Hobie laughed in unison, as Gwen and Miles scrambled to put everything they bought away.

-

After a few hours, both teams had finished their gingerbread houses. Miles and Gwen had opted for a cutesy, traditional design, while the architecture on your house was flimsy, and you ran out of gumdrops at some point.

Hobie also used black food dye to create makeshift graffiti on the walls.

"So, how are we gonna judge who won?"

"Shit.. I never thought of that."

"Wouldn't it be whichever one tastes better?"

"Then ours totally won!"

"You didn't even taste it yet.."

"Guys, guys. Let's all agree that the true winner here was the power of friendship."

"Bro.."

"I'm playing!"

In the end, unfortunately, Miles' joke had some truth to it. There was no winner, no prize, no anything. But everyone all had fun that day, just bonding over making a confectionary house.

After being forced to watch the 1976 Freaky Friday, Miles and Gwen pretty much were knocked out.

They laid down across from each other on air mattresses in Hobie's living room.

As for you, you decided to take up the couch.

You were in Hobie's bathroom, brushing your teeth, when you saw him standing behind you, leaning his lanky body on the doorframe.

"Hey."

You rinsed your mouth out, drying yourself with a paper towel, before turning to face him.

"Hi."

"Did you have fun today?"

"Yeah, of course I did. It's always fun doing Christmasy stuff. You get the hype now, huh?"

He smiled, a genuine smile. "Mhm. We should bake more together."

"We?"

"Yes, we."

You walked away from the sink and stood across from him in the doorframe.

"Look what we're standing under."

He looked up, surprise evident on his face.

"Did you put that there?"

"No, I think it was Gwen."

He sighed. "Well, I ain't even brush my teeth yet. I don't want to do that to you."

You felt your heart twinge slightly, though he was right.

"Oh, no no. It's fine."

He nodded.

As soon as Hobie closed the door, you were out. You got onto the couch as quickly and quietly as you could.

You were mortified as to what you tried to do.

You thought that it was the perfect timing and all your questions had been answered, but you guessed they weren't.

Without moving an inch, you listened to every little movement coming from the bathroom and faced your head away from the hallway when you heard the lights turn off and the door open.

However, instead of Hobie's footsteps turning to the left, closer to his room, you listened as he walked down the hallway towards the living room.

His footsteps got closer and closer, until eventually, you were able to recognize him standing right in front of you.

He leaned down slowly, placing a peck to your cheek.

"Night."

A/N: i'm gon be on life support for the next two days cause why did this take 7 hours for about 1759 words :sob:

[gravity-what]

I can officially introduce you (and Chase) all to the new Dragons-in-Training in the Heylin!Omi AU!

We’ve got:

Jack: Dragon of Metal

Jermaine: Dragon of Wood

Keiko: Dragon of Lightning (shout out to @godtierwallpaper for letting me use their amazing Keiko design! I had so much fun drawing her!)

Mini fic here:

And, for those interested, a look into where the OG dragons are and where they are going:

Raimundo in this AU is a more competent version of Jack Spicer who shows up a little later in ‘season 1’ and essentially helps Wuya get her body back same as before, only this time he is on the Heylin side for real and doesn’t actually help the Xiaolin side re-capture Wuya. In later ‘seasons’ he is still a very powerful adversary and he is the one with the ‘evil army’.

Kimiko turned down the offer to join the temple, being too focused on her own work and studies where she intends to take the world by fire…aka: take it over using technology she has built and created. She is essentially a catnape kind of character in this AU, though she has ambitions for far far more then just being a tech genius/fashionista. It’s world domination time baby!

Clay is a Jermaine like character in this AU. He is good through and through and the other Dragons do meet him pretty early on and he helps them out with getting his daddy’s Lone Star, but he ain’t ready to leave the ranch or join the temple just yet. He is eventually coaxed out by Guan (the old Dragon of Earth) who essentially does the same thing with Clay as Chase did with Jermaine: tricking him into thinking he is on the side of good and sending him into the temple to cause cracks.

[s10127470]

AU Idea: Nicktoon Fighters

Hey there folks!

For a while, I've been wanting to do my own fanfiction based around the Nicktoons, but I've had a hard time trying to figure out how to make it stand out.

Plus, I want to release it this year in honor of the 25th anniversary of biggest Nicktoons of them all, SpongeBob SquarePants!

(I know that sounds odd, but I figured better now than waiting until 2026)

In fact, when trying to create a premise for this Nicktoons series, I actually looked to SpongeBob, wanting to utilize some kind of element of the show as the basis.

And while rewatching SpongeBob, I noticed that how karate, despite being a favorite pastime for the sponge and particularly Sandy in the past, has weirdly faded into irrelevancy.

Like, I think the last time there was episode that featured karate was all the way back in like 2012.

And thus, it gave me the idea for an AU/fanfic where the Nicktoon characters are fighters.

This is gonna be short one, but I think you’ll all enjoy it.

The AU/series would draw lot of inspiration from fighting-based media. From video games like Street Fighter and Tekken, to anime and manga like Dragon Ball, Hunter x Hunter and Baki, to even Western animated shows like Xiaolin Showdown and Jackie Chan Adventures.

The setting for this AU is a version of Earth where all the Nicktoons co-exist, including the ones with Earths that don’t align with ours like Avatar and Breadwinners.

Their respective locations (The Four Nations and such) would still exist in this world.

As for the premise, it focus on SpongeBob and his pals entering the annual world tournament of this, well, world.

And in contrast to most other fighting tournaments, this one is similar to a Grand Prix, which there bing different sets of fights that occur on different nights and in different parts of the world.

As for why they're reason, you can thank Mr. Krabs for that.

Essentially, the grand prize for whoever wins the tournament is $1,000,000.

And as we all know about Mr. Krabs....

Speaking of Krabs, in this universe, he's a longtime fighter (having been one since he was teenager), and was a longtime champion of the tournament for many years (for obvious reasons).

Even to this day, he still participates.

However, he hasn't won the last couple of tournaments.

Reason why: while Mr. Krabs is still a tough customer, he's getting old (he's like in his late-40s to early-50s now) and he isn't in his prime anymore.

However one day after seeing SpongeBob and Sandy doing their usual karate matches, he realized that they and their friends are still in their prime and would be more likely to win the tournament than him.

And that's how they got here.

However, this tournament isn't what it seems.

This year's tournament has a new financer by the name of Sheldon J. Lawrence.

But in reality, he's actually Plankton is disguise.

Essentially, the previous financer had an "accident" and Plankton (in his disguise) was able to take over his role.

As for the tournament not being what it seems.

Well, all locations of the tournament will be taking place all just so happen to the same locations of The Warrior Weapons, a group of mystical weapons that once belonged to some of the most legendary warriors throughout history.

And as you expect, these weapons hold untold, phenomenal powers.

As for why Plankton wants them, it's pretty simple: Revenge.

Just like Mr. Krabs, Plankton also competed in the tournament for many years.

However, he never made it past the first round for....obvious reasons.

Even with his tech, he still couldn't make it.

That, along with the ridicule that came with it, drove Plankton mad.

But shortly after last year's tournament, Plankton would discover the existence of The Warrior Weapons.

This gave Plankton the idea to become a fake financer to he could be charge of the tournament, specifically in the choice of locations.

While the tournament was going on, he would sneak off to find each of the Warrior Weapons.

And with once Plankton has all the weapons, he plans to use them all together to make himself into an all-powerful being so he can become the greatest fighter who lived, get back at those who mocked him, and conquer the world.

Luckily, SpongeBob and his pals stumbled upon his plans and are now trying to stop Plankton from collecting all the Weapons while trying to win the tournament.

But they're not in this alone, as they made some new friends in the tournament who are here to help!

But before we talk about that, let's talking about the main star of this AU real quick.

SpongeBob is largely the same as he usually is, and he's in this tournament to have fun, make some new friends, and make Mr. Krabs proud! For his fighting style, SpongeBob is skilled in the art of karate. He's not quite a master at it like Sandy, but he does know it well. But what makes him stand out is that he mixes it with his natural ability to stretch his body to incredible lengths. He's basically long-ranged physical fighter ala Monkey D. Luffy. He's not the strongest, but he makes for it with immense resilience thanks to his sponge-like skin. As for his attire, it's basically standard karate garb, but with a brown color scheme with a black belt. His also has two side holders, which he uses to hold two big water bottles. Thanks to being a sponge, SpongeBob uses those bottles to shoot pressurized water from his holes, which can be powerful knock to people back and make dents in the wall.

Now let's talk about the other main Nicktoons.

-Avatar Aang: Aang is what you would expect from him, and he (along with the rest of Team Avatar) are here in the tournament to have some fun. For his fighting style, this is where things get interesting. In this universe, Benders each have unique physical advantages over each other (which is a concept I've had for many years). Waterbenders are naturally flexible and have uncanny reflexes, Earthbenders have superhuman strength and resilience, Firebenders have great stamina and endurance, and Airbenders have superhuman speed and agility. And since Aang is the Avatar, he's pretty much the living definition of an all-around character. But he's more of a speed fighter, due to his main prowess and preference as an Airbender. His style is also more evasive and defensive than others, due to his status as a pacifist. He also fights with his trusty glider staff, giving some more power to his Airbending attacks and to also trip his opponents. As for his attire, it's essentially the same outfit that he's had since Book 3.

-Timmy Turner: Timmy is back to how he was portrayed in the early seasons of The Fairly OddParents, and he's here in the tournament to win that money! For his fighting style, Timmy is what would you call a wildcard fighter. With Cosmo and Wanda, he can essentially create any weapon he wants. But he predominantly has them transform into martial art weapons. Plus the fact that he's also quick on his feet makes him a pretty challenging fighter. As for his attire, he would be wearing a slightly modified version of his hooded look from Abra-Catastrophe, but with the hood being pink, having magic martial arts weapons strapped to him, and his primary outfit would be the same one done by Zigwolf, with the addition of some white fingerless gloves.

-Jimmy Neutron: Jimmy is what you would expect from him and he (along with the rest of his friends) joined the tournament to see who between him and Cindy can last the longest. As for his fighting style, Jimmy is strictly a long-range fighter. He uses a special set of high-tech gauntlets and boots that allows him to fly and blast lasers, electricity, and powerful gusts of wind. Unfortunately, this use of technology also makes him a bit of glass cannon. As for his attire, he would be wearing the same outfit done by kianamai, but with the aforementioned gauntlets and boots (along with a matching helmet and visor).

-Danny Phantom: Danny, like most of the others, is what would you expect from and he joined the tournament (along with his friends and family) to have some fun. As for his fighting style, Danny is a versatile fighter. He's able to fight close range thanks to his supernatural strength (which can slightly enhance with by channeling ecto-energy into his hands or feet). Plus the fact that he's also skilled in boxing and kickboxing, which he learned from his parents and Jazz, doesn't hurt either. He can also attack enemies from a distance with his ectoplasmic energy beams, ghostly fire, ice powers, and Ghostly Wail. Plus thanks to his invisibility, intangibility, and duplication powers, Danny is pretty tough to land a hit on. As for his attire, he would wearing the same outfit done by coffeecakecafe.

-El Tigre: Manny is what you would expect from him and he (along with Frida and Puma Loco) joined the tournament for that prize money! As for his fighting style, Manny is a speed, agility and stealth-focused fighter. He utilizes his feline-like speed and agility to evade attacks from his opponents, and his stealth to get the drop on them when they least expect it. And in addition to possessing superhuman strength and his trusty claws, Manny is also skilled in Tiger-Style Kung Fu. As for his attire, it's essentially the same as it usually is.

-Jenny Wakeman: Jenny is what you would expect from her and she (along with her friends) joined the tournament to have some fun. As for her fighting style, Jenny, like Danny, is a pretty versatile fighter. She has a wide array of weapons at her disposal, has incredible strength and speed, can fly, can stretch her limbs to incredible lengths (similar to SpongeBob) and is immensely resilient. As for her attire, it would be the same outfit from her redesign by drawnfamiliarfaces.

-Tak: Tak is back to his characterization from the original games and he (along with his friends) joined the tournament to have some fun (except for Lok, who's definitely here for the money....and bitches). As for his fighting style, Tak is a mage fighter. He utilizes The Staff of Dreams, which allows him to cast all kinds of magical attacks. Tak's also able to use the staff in a melee style (being skilled in the art of staff fighting) and is pretty agile. As for his attire, it's essentially the same from the games: cape and all.

-Eliza Thornberry: Eliza is what you would expect from and she (along with the rest of her family) joined the tournament as a fun little side quest of sorts. As for her fighting style, just like Timmy, Eliza is a wildcard fighter. In this universe, Shaman Mnyambo not only gave Eliza the power to talk to animals, but also the power to call upon the abilities of any animal, ala Vixen. As for her attire, shs would wear the same outfit from Rugrats Go Wild!, but with red fingerless gloves.

Well that's all I have for now!

This isn't exactly the most detailed or informative post I've made, but this is a part 1.

I promise for the next part, I'll talk about a few other Nicktoons characters and most importantly of all, The Warrior Weapons.

Also, let me know how well you guys think I converted the Nicktoons into fighters.

But until then....

See ya!

[moltensmusings]

@ladydoe8, I did see your ask and went to respond but made the post private and it has since disappeared into the void of my blog. I have no idea how to find it and I'm not sure if that's because this is a side blog or not.

That said I still wanted to make a response.

Part of my issue with some fights in the grand magic games is how much they lack the feeling of being random. Obviously we get made aware that the king has the ability to pick and choose what fights he wants to see, but in the case of a battle like Wendy vs Cheria, it didn't feel like the king himself actually chose to make it happen and instead Mashima just decided to pit those two against each other because he didn't want Wendy to fight anyone else.

I think maybe the king telling Arcadios that towards the end of the games he wants Yukino to battle Lucy would work and set the audience up to be hyped for the confrontation, only for it to never happen because both of them are forced out of the games for different circumstances.

I like Kagura vs Yukino I just wish it was written in a way that allowed Yukino to show her strength more than giving us an "I'm just better" kagura fight. Yukino should've had one fight before this that took no effort for her to win and didn't result in her using any of the Zodiac keys so that her loss to Kagura would allow us to understand how strong Kagura is without anyone having to whisper it in our ear.

As for Lucy, she should've fought someone else for sure, but not Yukino. I've said before I don't think Raventail should've competed and I stand by that. Whatever group takes their place should've contained the enemy Lucy fights and wins against. I hate the cheating plotline because it requires every single character in universe to be so insanely stupid for it to work at all. It makes the guards seem incompetent at their jobs and brings into question why Lacrimas even exist in the first place if not to keep an eye on mages in the stands and stop foul play. Not to mention there should be a barrior protecting the audience anyway because of how dangerous magic is. Anti-magic exists, you're telling me no anti-magic shields could've been used?

I still would've wanted Lucy fighting Flare, but in a fight that doesn't take place in the arena. Flare comes to either take out or kidnap Lucy under orders from Ivan, and we get a parallel to Phantomlord where this time Lucy holds her own and comes out on top, or at least manages to escape largely unscathed.

I want Lucy to actually be on top of the world before the Naval battle. I want to see her feeling good about herself and actually winning before Minerva gets thrown in because not only will it make Minerva more effective as an antagonist, it'll be actually horrific to watch what happens. Now first note is I would never draw or show the Naval battle with Lucy in a fanservice way because that takes away from the emotion the audience should get from the scene.

For Minerva, the elements are interesting in canon but the execution is BS. I want Minerva to be incredibly good at sticking just enough within the rules to never get Sabertooth penalized while skirting the edges in a way that infuriates her opponents. Instead of wailing into Lucy, she simply keeps her from leaving the bubble until she passes out. The rule as given by the announcers is that all enemies must either say they forfeit or be knocked unconscious, as long as Minerva doesn't kill her they won't intervene. Aquarius would actually care about Lucy in this version and only be forced back into the spirit world when Lucy's lack of oxygen makes her magic far too unstable to maintain a gate. Minerva doesn't kill her enemies. She knows it's a game so why would she kill anyone. But the horror of the scene is what I'd lean into. I think this set up for Minerva would also make her eventual reappearance in Tartaros a bit more terrifying because if she was willing to essentially torture in opponent before becoming a Demon how much worse will she be afterwards.

I think setting up Minerva in this way with her first battle in the games being something that sticks with both the rival guilds and the audience in such a harrowing way is a good idea. It makes her stand out and really sets the tone for her future involvement in the story.

[miminmimikyu]

Episode 7-8: so, one day after drinking that coffee + espresso abomination Dal thinks diving into a Borg transwarp conduit to save travel time is a good idea. And later starts admitting that he has a tendency to forget about everything else when there’s an important mission to focus on. Who does that remind me of?

So the death racing episode that disabled Zero is simultaneously a breather episode lmao

Of course the Kazon Maje wasn’t the big bad in this episode, that would ask for some unprecedented competence from them :’D love how so far they’ve been relegated to “child abductors for a despotic slaver” and now “doing kidnapping for a rogue ai that’s channeling world’s worst tutor”. Not even that really, this Maje pretty much is forced into an “NPC who makes you do a racing sidequest on pain of death” role.

Ohh I really love the personality swaps in the holograms! The voice acting is so good! Brett Gray’s version of Zero was so spot I had to go back a bit just to listen if it wasn’t actually Angus Imrie imitating Brett Gray’s voice @_@ Same for Angus Imrie’s Dal!! Rylee Alazraqui’s Jankom shouting at the Doc and Jason Mantzoukas’ Rok Takh being so sweet and innocent are so funny! Also, taking the Gwyn hologram out is such a convenient way to prevent Murf’s personality from talking

only just realising the Maj’el - Majel Barett name connection!!

Ovidia IV is so pretty and the designs of the corporeal non-corporeal aliens are so cool but it’s a trap it’s a trap it’s a trap, it’s giving me Star Trek TOS vibes of “Faustian bargain aliens” or “planet with a death ritual masquerading as a incredible party”.

After watching the whole episode, setting aside the scenes on Voyager-A, episode 8 really really felt so much like a TOS episode with a modern twist to me! It had the uncanny idyllic planet, the race of telepaths enthralled by their senses, the weird euphoric call to death, culty death festival, the inability to leave once you’ve made The Choice.. but then it has the emotional arc you see in NuTrek and also includes a beautiful, thrilling scene flying on top of the Nazamon (very Discovery). And obviously without the gruesome deaths and madness that would have accompanied a TOS episode. (Ok maybe TOS deaths aren’t that gruesome compared to Disco/Pic//SNw but when I was 9-10 and watching TOS repeats with my dad on Sunday afternoons against my will it was terrifying so that’s what in my brain now). And despite the weird vibes they weren’t actually bad people, just dangerously secretive.

Zero’s arc is also so interesting. Their desire to obtain corporeal body is such a contrast from S1 Zero, who waxed lyrical about life with other Medusans, how they miss it and how it’s like nothing the others can imagine. It figures that now they’re liberated from being a living torture device and have had time to spend so much time enjoying freedom with their corporeal friends, they are able to put into words something might be missing. The joy on their face and in their voice after the transfiguration was so sweet! Also I like these shots through Zero’s cracked visor

I think it’s also an interesting juxtaposition that the previous episode, which ended in Zero performing a self-sacrificial, disabling manoeuvre, started with the gang diving into a Borg transwarp conduit and Zero voicing discomfort (fear) at that. Zero did stop talking less about their Medusan physiology post-Borg encounter (also after injuring Gwyn?) iirc. There was that fear of hurting others just by being Medusan. But this episode talks about fear being an essential aspect of life (ok. corporeal life i guess). Also interesting that Prodigy is framing the corporeal/non-corporeal thing as a binary. I hope it's going to delve a little deeper into that and go a little more complex. I can't wait to see if Zero’s new body lasts and what its possible deterioration will mean for Zero and their feelings about living as a Medusan among humanoids.

Another thing that I like about this episode is that the gang only cares that Zero was properly informed about what choice they were making and that they were safe during the process. They are sure that Zero knows what’s best for Zero.

Poor Gwyn can't catch a break, even her hologram is traumatised now.

Can’t believe how strong this first half of the season is already. If season 1 is anything to go by it’s going to be a hell of a two parter for the midseason finale!!!!!

(I’m still in doubt about the Entity being a time-displaced Chakotay, because in the second message it called Janeway “Janeway” and not “Kathryn” or “Captain” or “Admiral”. Even if he was trying to hide his identity for timey wimey reasons I can’t imagine he’d call her just Janeway and not “vice admiral Kathryn Janeway” or some other more businesslike title.)

Oh no these posts are getting so long OTL

[kay-then-i-guess]

The Updated Quackity design! Original is the image below.

Quackity is, by far, one of the most fun characters to draw (except at a full-body, front-facing angle, as I found drawing this). He's always been one of the most expressive and high-movement characters. Even back in the beginning, he was just so much fun to draw. He was always bouncing one way or another with big arms and expressions. That said, once shit hits the fan, you guys better get ready for a shift.

Spoilers (kind of) aside, Quackity in the role of Tubbo was one of those things that made me kick my feet and giggle (maniacally). It's so good. I'll get more into this once it actually comes up in the comic, but in the Canon dsmp, I wholeheartedly believe that if Quackity was let into L'Manberg in the first place, he would have easily become a Tubbo figure. Perhaps a more competent leader than Tubbo, too. The only reason C!Quackity became power-hungry is because Wilbur refused to give him any. And, one could argue, he was envious of how much power Wilbur had despite his blatant failings as a leader. So, in Roleshuffle, I essentially play out a version of Quackity where he wasn't forced into this serious, anti-hero, power-hungry character. Instead, he stays relatively lighthearted for much longer (not forever, of course).

I think Quackity was what made me realize how much I enjoyed a more cartoon-y style as opposed to an anime style. I don't think I ever really had an anime style for an extended period of time, and certainly not when I started drawing the original character sheets, but you can still definitely see the anime influences. And as much as love that, I think the more cartoon style has really helped me develop my skills. As contradictory as this sounds, I'd argue it helped me with my more realistic drawings, as I'd be able to sketch out a silly expression/pose in a cartoon style for practice, and then translate it into a (mildly) more realistic style.

Oh, also, he's based off of a Cayuga duck.

[twig-tea]

Final Thoughts on To Be Continued

Ok, I know I was loudly still mad at this show last week in @respectthepetty's notes, who was very kind (and even encouraging) about it. @happypotato48 talked me down a bit by suggesting there was more in the novel that might still come, and he was right! This week we got an explanation that helped me find the through-thread that was missing between the flashbacks and the start of the show, so I can let that go. I was pretty satisfied with that part of this week's finale overall, and was really glad that they added that connecting piece for me.

Short non-spoilery version of where I landed: I was skeptical it was going to land the core storyline, but for me it did. I liked it in the end, but there are a number of hurdles to enjoying this show so I wouldn't recommend this without caveats (mostly related to pacing).

With all of that being said, it's one of the better pulps this year so far, and worth a watch if you love mutual pining, don't mind slow episodes, and enjoy when a show lets its characters make mistakes. I'm glad I watched it.

For anyone curious about this show, here's where this show worked for me, and where it didn't. Spoilers under the cut!

What I Liked

I really enjoyed Ji getting to be petty to Achi at the beginning of the series, and the way the show made clear that Ji knew exactly how conflicted he was about Achi showing up in his life again.

I love yearning, and the yearning in this series was top-notch. The way Ji could not help himself when it came to accepting Achi's overtures, and the way Achi used his overtures to say over and over again "I know you; I know us; I am willing to put in effort to prove I mean it" was delicious.

I did like the flashbacks and how they were doled out through the series to add context and explain what was happening. The timing of the flashbacks in the story was well done and gave us the info we needed when we needed it.

I liked how clear consent was in this show, and how consent alone did not result in a perfect scenario, especially as kids. I did appreciate how the main conflict from the past was essentially teenage boys did not know how to communicate and blew everything out of proportion/did not understand how to think about things from the others' perspective.

And from this last episode, I liked how the show let us see that years of reflection helped Achi realize what things must have felt like from Ji's perspective, and once he had confirmation that Ji was devastated when he left, it makes sense that he would be able to meet up with Ji again with both confidence and contrition in order to get the reconciliation he wants. I also really liked the contrast in the sex scenes between their first time when they didn't kiss for most of the scene and their first time as boyfriends where they can't seem to stop kissing.

Finally, I love competence, and I really enjoyed getting to see Ji be a competent surgeon and Achi be good at his job managing fan expectations of his personal life. Achi handled the relationship reveal with confidence knowing he'd be able to manage the fallout, and his manager was supportive once he was sure Achi actually had a plan.

What I Didn't Like

I seriously considered dropping this show after episode 4 because for the first little while, every other episode really dragged. It wasn't the order in which the story was doled out that was the issue, but there was so much unnecessary footage and scenes lingered too long within each episode. In short, there were moments when this show draaaaaaagged. So in terms of who it works/doesn't work for, having patience for really slow pacing within an episode is critical. It does pick up a bit after ep4, but never fully gets over this problem.

Egregiously in a show where some episodes felt too long, the show also didn't use the time it had to fully close off all the threads it started and some of the plots felt rushed. There was a redemption arc for Ji's father that felt incomplete/sudden to me (not to say people can't snap out of a 10-year depression but I wasn't really given any chance to feel much about this because we didn't really sit with him or his kids after it happened); the side characters' romance felt like it barely got off the ground (they honestly had the time, they just didn't use it), and Poppy's romance and career trajectory also barely got any time (this one is more forgivable as a third and het couple).

Beyond the multiple pacing issues, the acting was also shaky, and while the sex scenes are well staged and cut to hide this, they were a little awkward together during some of the moments of physical intimacy.

For my taste, I would have wanted to see more of the characters working on things and changing their behaviour; a lot of the push-pull in the middle of the series felt circular rather than progressive. Some of it was necessary: Achi did demonstrate he will stick around no matter how hard Ji makes it this time, and Ji did show that he can open up and be vulnerable with Achi eventually, and trust him when there are external threats. But I would have liked to have seen more of the parts that led to the change in them happen. They also spend a lot of time falling into old habits when they started hanging out together again, which was charming and realistic, but I would have loved to see more incorporation of their new lives. Achi basically takes a break from stardom to woo Ji, so we don't get a real sense of what their relationship will be like except in the finale which is quite brief.

I already gave my high-level summary above the fold: TL; DR I'm glad I watched but not everyone will enjoy this one.