#he was so excited to be able to show star wars to his kid

[spursthatjinglejanglejingle]

I don't care about star wars anymore except for when i do. Who give a shit.

[marvelfanfn2187a113]

My Hero

Dean Winchester x little sister!reader

Requested by Anonymous

Synopsis: Dean is in for a pleasant surprise when he picks up his six year old sister from school.

Dean pulled into the school parking lot, glancing nervously around at all the kids. It was his first time picking you up from first grade—dad went out on a hunt this morning—and the last thing he needed was to somehow lose you.

He didn’t have to worry, because you could spot the Impala from practically a mile away, and you ran for it the second you saw it pull in.

“Hey, baby,” Dean greeted with a grin, “How was school!”

“It was great!” You gushed. “Sarah shared her cupcake with me at lunch, and-and the teacher let me read during nap time, and Brody jumped off the swing set and got in big trouble, and-“

“Whoa there, tiger,” Dean laughed. You were talking so fast that you struggled to catch your breath when you finally stopped. “How about I get you home and you can tell me all about it, ok?”

“Ok!”

Dean grinned. He could say just about anything, and it would make you happy. You were by far the brightest light in his life, and he knew you always would be.

“Are we gonna get Sammy?”

“Not yet, he’s got a meeting for that club he’s in,” Dean reminded you. He didn’t understand Sam’s eagerness about after school activities, but he wasn’t about to stop him either.

“Can I show you what I made today when we get home?”

Dean reached over and ruffled your hair, eliciting a giggle from you.

“Course you can, squirt.”

…

You bounded into the motel excitedly the moment the Impala pulled into the parking lot, and Dean was left behind to grab your backpack, shaking his head and smiling tolerantly.

As soon as he entered the room, you snatched the bag from his grasp and zipped it open, pulling out a little folder which you handled with great care.

“Look, look!” You insisted as you pulled a single sheet of paper from the folder. Dean leaned over your shoulder to get a better look at the crayon drawing.

“Talk me through it,” he encouraged you, and he was glad that you still didn’t understand that that meant ‘I have no idea what I’m looking at’; you still thought it meant ‘explain your genius to me’.

“Ok, so that’s me,” you said, pointing at a small stick figure.

“Wait wait,” Dean interrupted. “What was the assignment? What’d your teacher tell you to make?”

“Oh yeah!” You grinned, “she said, she said, um, that we were s’posed to draw our heroes.” You turned your attention back to the paper, “So that’s me, and that,” you pointed to a large scribble with thick, long arms and legs. “That’s a wendigo, and when I told my teacher, she-she thought that I maked it up, but I told her I didn’t, and that it’s a monster.”

“Good for you,” Dean smiled. He wished you didn’t have to know about the monsters, wished he’d been able to keep it a secret from you for longer, but you had a penchant for eavesdropping.

“Ok, so then, there’s the hero right there,” you pointed at another stick figure holding what he supposed was a flamethrower.

“And who’s that?” He asked. He was expecting it to be either dad or Han Solo—he’d shown you Star Wars a few weeks ago and Han had been your favorite.

You huffed as though Dean should be able to tell who the little green stick figure was.

“Duh, that’s you!”

Dean blinked.

“It’s…that’s me?”

You grinned, “Yeah! See, you’re saving me from the wendigo!”

Dean stared at you for a long moment, unsure of what to say. You thought he was a hero? Not just any hero, your hero.

It was a big responsibility, to say the least. Not to mention a big honor. He felt suddenly light, like he could touch the stars if he wanted to.

“Dean?” Your little voice brought him back to earth. “Do you like it?”

“Like it?” Dean echoed, and looked down at you. You looked suddenly nervous, your excitement ebbing when you noticed his silence.

Dean grinned suddenly, and in a rush of affection he lifted you into his arms, pressing a kiss to your cheek while you giggled.

“I love it! Where should we hang it?”

“Right there,” you said, pointing at the motel’s mini fridge.

“Ok,” Dean agreed, grabbing a small strip of duct tape and putting the little drawing up there. “How’s that?”

You threw your arms around his neck, and Dean swore he’d never felt happier in his life.

“Perfect.”

Dean held you closely in his arms, a contented smile finding its way onto his face.

“Thank you, princess,” he said quietly.

“You’re welcome…my hero.”

[shannonsketches]

lays on the floor i am once again thinking about the goku geets foil in terms of their experience and perspective and parenting

tl;dr: Goku sees letting his child do serious battle as a gift, and Vegeta sees it as a failure.

a lot of the 'goku's a bad father' discourse comes from how he trains/puts Gohan into fights and either doesn't know or doesn't realize that Gohan wants to be a scholar and not a warrior; the reason Gohan keeps joining the fray is because he doesn't want to see people he loves get hurt, right, because that's been his entire experience since Raditz showed up (and remains so until Cell dies).

The discourse re: The Cell Games is interesting though, examining the 'how could Goku not know/how could Goku volunteer his child so blithely' etc and his similar attitude toward the kids fighting in Super('s manga), and it's part of why I say/write/read Goku as deeply inconsiderate but never malicious (and this does tie into the foil with Geets lemme just); Goku's experience with serious combat is fun, and exciting.

Goku volunteering Gohan to fight Cell was something Goku considered a gift to Gohan, to be able to flex his power and go all out on an enemy that could handle it/required it -- that's something Goku wishes he had the power to do, especially at Gohan's age! That's super exciting to Goku. It's not pageant mom forcing her kid to do what she wanted energy, it's Goku being sweet and pure and sharing something he thinks he has in common with his kid. Vegeta says Saiyans live to fight! Goku's entire life has been spent bonding with competitive martial artists! It never occurred to him that someone so naturally powerful and talented wouldn't enjoy fighting.

And Goku does not read subtext, that's not a skill he has, so by the time Piccolo spells it out for him, he's genuinely sorry to have put Gohan in that position.

But in Super('s manga), the larger picture of Don't Put Children in Traumatic Situations still doesn't really occur to Goku, because he doesn't consider battle traumatic, no matter how emotionally intense it gets. Goku doesn't hold onto things. Goku lives and lets live, as long as he doesn't have to kill you. That's his super power. It's why he can be friends with all of these people who have done him and his loved ones and his planet so much harm. He consistently ends earth-shattering battles with, 'that was fun, let's do it again sometime'

Vegeta, on the other hand (see I told you I'd get here, I promised), has had the complete opposite experience. Vegeta considers others heavily, it's what made him very good at being malicious. Vegeta does this for survival. Vegeta's climb to the top is for the vantage point, not the view. He's not looking to the stars dreaming about what else it out there. He's squinting at the dark trying to kill whatever it is before it kills him and his home and his family. again.

Vegeta is a child soldier, who has distinct recollection of his culture being built on the rearing of child soldiers. By the times the cell games come around he is experiencing having a child for the first time, and after seeing (a future version of) that child die in battle, he seems to take on a much different opinion on letting kids fight.

Vegeta comes from a culture in which you send your child off-world to conquer a planet, alone, once they're old enough to walk. The stronger kids go into war zones. Vegeta was giving strategic orders to fellow elites by the time he was five. He was treating Gohan like a soldier when he was five.

But, by the Buu saga, Bulma tells Gohan that Vegeta says Trunks is old enough now to start proper training -- when Trunks is eight years old. Even then, Vegeta's telling Trunks not to push himself too hard in the gravity room, to stop and leave when it's too much for him to handle. Vegeta kills himself trying to prevent Trunks and Goten having to fight Buu. He jumps in to protect the kids when the fight gets too intense in Yo! Son Goku and Friends Return. He begs the kids not to fight Beerus in Battle of the Gods when he's barely conscious. He snaps at Goku any time he suggests them for intense battle in Super('s manga).

Vegeta sees it as not being strong enough to handle a problem, Which totally definitely doesn't have anything to do with some kind of deep-rooted trauma about placing the responsibility of making up for your weakness on your children that Vegeta's had to deal with since becoming a father and he for sure doesn't take it personally when a parent volunteers children to solve problems they had nothing to do with. He's fine! It's fine.

He does not want Trunks or Goten anywhere near a real battlefield (Bulma and/or the other adults seem to be helping to enforce this; in Res F, Trunks and Goten are not invited to go to the Freeza fight, and in the Moro arc both of them were asked to go be rangers in 17's absence again, complaining that nobody told them there was a fight happening at all), because it's got nothing to do with them. They shouldn't have to fight for their -- or anyone else's -- lives. That's the adults' job. That's his job.

Because to Vegeta, it is a job. Soldier, guardian, prince, lord, whatever. It's a role he has to fulfill, and his pride (and a whole lot of trauma-informed necessity) drives him to be the best at it, period, the end. It's an obligation that he must fulfill, because he's decided he's personally responsible for [gestures to the earth] all of this and its survival. It's where he keeps all his stuff!

For Goku, it's a game. He just wants to fight the strongest guys, and it's his understanding that everyone else wants that too. If he's not the best, GREAT! That's more to look forward to. A whole new rabbit to chase to who knows where. It's adventure! It's exciting! So of course the kids would want to get in on it! He LOVED doing this kind of stuff when he was a kid.

Goku has two hands! ...for former villains Vegeta and Piccolo to try to wrestle away from all the other, much worse villains who do not want to play with him.

[quitealotofsodapop]

I'm just imagining DBK holding Bai He up to every person he meets to present his daughter- even if they've already met.

It hits him when he's showing her off to Nezha that he has no idea the date and time of her birth and feels like the worst parent ever. No, it doesn't matter he can rattle off Red Son's birthdate and time, he needs to know both!

"Father. Daddy, please, it's fine. My birthday isn't until summer, you have time. Daddy, blame Uncle Sun, it's not your fault you were under a mountain."

Prev.

In Jttw DBK literally prides himself on remembering the exact time and date of his son's birth - so to miss out on his daughters is like a punch in the gut.

He's nearly crying. How could he have been away for so long!?

PIF is able to provide the date (I feel Bai He is a mid-summer baby), but honestly can't remember the exact time of day since she was in a lot of pain.

Thankfully, Red Son pops in with the same level of enthusiasm as his father;

Red Son: "She was born the Hour of the Tiger! Just as the witching hour came to a close!" PIF, recalling: "Oh yes! It was very early morning! I can't believe I had forgotten. Guanyin even gave us a felt tiger to commemorate the birth." DBK, nuzzling PIF: "It is fine, my love. You were busy with a much more important task." DBK, addresses Red with surprise: "And you made sure to document it?" Red Son, excited: "Yes! You always spoke of my exact time of birth, so I made sure to add time keeping devices to all of the bull clones in the months leading to Bai He's arrival. She was born exactly at 3:58am!" Bai He: "Spooky hour!" Red Son, puts Bai He on his back: "Indeed! I had to yell Stop! at the nearest Bull Clone to freeze it's clock. Then it tried to corral me back to bed!" (*Red runs around in a mock-charge with Bai He on his back, the little girl giggling with joy. Red Son vows never to unable to give his baby sister a piggyback ride.*) DBK & PIF: (*watching their kids with love and pride*) DBK: "He has taken upon many responsibilities in my absence." PIF: "He has." DBK, uncertain: "Do you think... I could ever have such a strong bond with our daughter as he has? Or I with him once more?" PIF: (*flies up to look into DBK's eyes*) PIF: "You are their father. Red Son has built his education and career around you. Bai He has marked the days leading to your release for as long as she could count. They would have not done that if they thought less of you." DBK, leans into PIF's hands: "Thank you, my queen. You always know what to say to quell my worries." PIF, kisses snout: "I am your wife, I know you very well. And as their mother, I know our children very well too. And I know that our children adore their father." (*PIF & DBK melt into each other's gazes. They are about to kiss when a disgusted noise interrupts them*) Bai He, seeing this: "EWW!!" Red Son: "Don't eww them! We should feel so lucky to have parents who love each other so deeply!" PIF, teasing: "I do not believe you had the same sentiments when you were her age, son." Red Son, flustered: "I do not recall." DBK, chuckle: "I do! To quote a fiery scamp; I will never ever ever get married if I have to kiss them!" Red Son, defensive: "I was five! Aversion to public displays of affection is normal for that age!" Bai He: "But gege! You said you'd kiss-" Red Son, quickly covers sister's mouth: "WELL!! Let get back to our plans for world domination, shall we?"

I love writing for this little family. Good Big Brother!Red Son is really cute to write, as is DBK being a dramatic papa.

DBK's reaction to learning that he has a daughter is like that one joke from "How it Should of Ended: Star Wars"

Completely forgets his villainous plans to show off his baby girl.

Nezha sighs with a smile: "Yes I know. I've been babysitting for PIF. Hello baby lotus!" Bai He, waving from DBK's shoulder: "Hi biǎogē!"

[galaxygirl-katie27]

Ryouga/Nasch Redesign

Click for better quality!

More Notes about it under the cut!

-Firstly I wanted to make his past life a.k.a. Nasch look DIFFERENT than Ryouga himself. Past lives do not work that way. They may look similar, but not directly a copy paste version. I mean, Ryouga Kamishiro isn’t even Nasch reincarnated. It is implied, if not canon, that the Kamishiros are Descendants of Nasch and Merag (however so, because I don’t think they had kids??), so I guess it makes sense, that they look similar. But definitely not the same! I also made Nasch older than Ryouga, because I won‘t have a 14 year old fight in a war and lose every single one of his soldiers (and his sister and adopted daughter). Here he‘s 19.

-Which also brings me to my trans!Ryouga headcanon, where I think that Ryouga was actually born a girl— Important! Ryouga, not Nasch! Nasch was born as a boy. — So Ryouga was originally a girl, but after the accident, when Nasch‘s soul entered her/his body, Ryouga started to feel more like a boy, because her/his soul was now actually a male and not female anymore.

-Also I finally settled down, what nationalities I think all the Barinas are. As you can see I headcanon Nasch and Merag as Greek (maybe Japanese mixed as Ryouga and Rio, but still part Greek, because of the descendants thing). I just blame the locations of their ruins on volcanic locations shift, as someone informed me about it on my map post. You‘ll see what I came up with for the others, I’m especially excited for Vector.

-I also liked the Heterochromia in his Barian form, so I think he had it already as Nasch and only got it back, when regaining his memories and barian powers. Because the left eye of the barians only turns red when dueling, so they can see the monsters and all. You could say they see… Duel Spirits. But that’s the thing. They can only see them in duels or when they „activate“ their red eye. But I think Nasch, as the leader of the barians is so powerful that his red eye is permanent, making him able to see duel spirits all the time. (I mean Vector had to absorb 4 barian emperors to even truly compete with Nasch, meaning Nasch alone is as powerful as 5 barian emperors)

-I changed his necklace to an actual shark tooth, because I was so disappointed, when I found out it wasn’t a real shark tooth. I mean, yeah it‘s cute that it had a family picture of them in it, but I’m not saying he doesn’t have that anymore, just not in a necklace. I think the tooth is something he got it from his father, because I headcanon he was a marine biologist. Ryouga also wants to become a marine biologist and study sharks. Because being emperor isn’t really an option in this time.

-We know Ryouga and Rio share silver rings and he still has his, he now just has a golden extra one with a sapphire, which serves as a promise ring for him and Durbe. Durbe of course also has one, also golden with a ruby.

-He, Rio and Durbe all share friendship bracelets, with their barian aura colours. It was Rio‘s idea, but Durbe made them.

-I also love the idea of him and Rio having shark teeth. Were they born with them? No one knows…

-Now for the Nasch redesign, I gave him a more casual kind of look. Of course he has some armour, but only wears it later in the story, when really going into war.

-I also gave him a crow BECAUSE KING NEEDS A CROWN and made it look similar to his barian crown, but with extra wings on them. He let them be added to the crown, to show his connection to Durbe and the alliance with his king indirectly to the whole kingdom. Also because he misses him. Of course not every one was fine with this, but Nasch was such a beloved ruler, no one dared to oppose him.

-I got the Idea for the sword switch from a fanfic I read about them once, where they actually got their swords together ad named them after each others stars of the big dipper. So here they got their swords, but switched them and named them after the other (Dubhe and Benetnasch) so they could still fight side by side, even when apart.

If you have any other questions about the redesigns, ask away, because as you can tell I really like to yap about them! :)

[hangmanbradshaw]

Rare personal post, under the cut (trigger warning re: death and grief and complicated family dynamics and a lot of sentimentality haha)

Today would’ve been my dad’s 60th bday. It’s only two years fresh so I never know what feelings to expect, but I was looking through old pics because of my cousin and smiling, and that’s good? He struggled with addition, and caused more scars than I’ll ever be able to talk about no matter how much therapy and EMDR I do, but as complicated as our family was, I love and miss him. There were so many good rays of moments in it, especially when I was younger. My teenage years were hell. The end wasn’t good. It’s all true. I never thought I’d be in my 20s being next of kin- making decisions about life support and planning funerals and burials and giving eulogies and writing obituaries and taking care of my grandparents, but I think I’ve found my peace with it. It hurts, but it’s bearable.

I keep thinking about the eulogy I wrote and gave, what I believe in my heart about loss after losing my best friend, my dad, other friends. They really stick with us? In so many ways we don’t always see. It’s not about moving on, truly it’s about just finding space for the rest of life too. Widening your heart to it. I watch Star Wars and I think of Andrew. I talk to his mom and we laugh. I get excited for football or hiking or going on an adventure and that’s my dad. All these pictures of him younger, healthier, playing football and bringing us to games, teaching my brother and me how to play, taking us white water rafting and horseback riding and hiking and camping over and over. Pictures of him doing it himself when he was younger. And it’s just like. I’m his daughter. He lives on in my life because I see those things in my life, and for that, I’m so grateful. I look at my life and that lyric is so true- There wouldn’t be this if there hadn’t been you.

My writing journey started about a year after he passed as art therapy. I realized I loved it. I met all of you, wrote IWTBY, wrote my novel now. I took myself to the Super Bowl and watched the team he taught me to love win. I took myself to a movie premiere, to Europe, to all these things he never got to do. To national parks he did visit. To parks he took us to. My brother and I are going to Austin this fall and staying out on a ranch like we did as kids. I live in a peaceful little apartment with a job that helps people and wonderful friends and all that pain and hurt led to it. Anyways, just a long, ridiculously sentimental rant to say I’m grateful for this little community. For my little life. It’s simple, and it’s mine, and I am forever thankful for it. For all of you and the love you show me, whether it be for my stories which truly have changed my life, or in general. I wrote that one shot last night, and immediately was blown away by the love y’all give it and me. If my little stories have made you smile, or feel something, it’s all I can hope for. I hope everyone who sees this finds their own peace, no matter how impossible it seems, truly. Keep your head up, keep finding the beauty and joy in the little things. In the sun shining and laughter with a friend and movies that make you inspired. With love, Steph 💙

[kaminocasey]

25 Days of Life Day: Day One - Decorating the Tree with Rex

Summary: The war is over. Rex has never decorated a tree, and you're excited to do this with him.

Warnings: none, just fluff.

A/N: HAPPY HOLIDAYS, MY FRIENDS!!! I know this is a little shorter than I wanted it to be, but I got busy this week with work and family stuff. Excited for the next 24 days!! <3

Rex wasn’t keen on the idea of a live tree. Like, an actual tree. He told you it would shed and die eventually and you shrugged it off and smiled. At that point, with that smile, he couldn’t tell you no. In fact, from the moment he met you, he knew he’d never be able to tell you no. And now here you are, coming home with a seven foot tall tree because you batted your eyes and said you’d “formed a bond” with it. 

As you fill the stand with water, Rex reads from the directions that the tree farm salesman had given him while you were staring at the tree with stars in your eyes. 

“It says that it’s got about four to six weeks.”

“It’s alright. I know it’s not going to last forever.” You sigh, dramatically, making your husband laugh. 

This was your first Life Day as a married couple and you’re determined to give Rex the most magical Life Day ever. On the way to the tree farm, he had told you that as long as you got to spend time together, he’d be happy no matter what. It still didn’t really take the pressure off you, but he was sweet for saying so. 

When Rex gets the tree stood up, you do a small happy dance, making him smile, and pull the lights out of one of the boxes behind you. 

“Blue for the 501st, naturally.” You grin. 

“Funny.” He rolls his eyes, smirking. 

You show him how to thread the lights through the branches and he stands on one side as you pass the lights back and forth until the entire tree is wrapped in lights, just begging to be lit up. 

You’re saving that for the end, though, craving to see Rex’s reaction to your tree. 

“What’s next?” He smiles, peeking at the box behind you.

You hold up a finger, making him wait as you pull out the silver and blue tinsel. He chuckles and shakes his head, in the cute way he does when he tries not to bust out laughing. 

“I’m never living down the blue, am I?” He puts his hands on his hips.

“Never ever.” You reach up on your toes to kiss him before starting the tinsel on the tree. “Plus, you just look so damn good in blue.” 

You throw him a playful wink and he can’t help but think to himself how incredibly in love with you he is. How did he get so lucky?

You see Rex sniff the air and you smirk, knowingly. 

“That’s the tinsel. I love that smell.” You chuckle. 

“It’s definitely got an interesting smell.” He hands you more of the sparkly blue and silver ropes. 

“When I was a kid, this was my favorite part of decorating the tree.” You tell him. 

“I’ll remember that.” He kisses you on the head, admiring the way the tinsel fills the tree. 

“Now the ornaments.” You hand him an ornament out of the box and he stares at it. 

“You hang them by the loops on the branches.” You guide his hand toward the branches and he hangs it and then steps away to admire it.

Maybe to anyone else, this would look silly, but the two of you know that this is an incredible new thing for the two of you. With the war finally ending, you could partake in life stuff like a normal married couple. Which is why you’re so excited for the holidays. You want to give Rex so much. 

You and Rex finish hanging ornaments, some of them from your childhood. You tell him stories of how they came about. 

When it comes time for the very last thing, you show Rex how to hang the star on the top. And as he hangs it, you take a holoscan of him to keep this memory forever. He looks so sweet next to the tree that he wasn’t too keen on only a couple hours ago. 

“What do you think?” You ask him, staring at it.

“It’s great.” He grins.

“Hold on.” You smirk, reaching behind it for the cord and plugging it in. 

It immediately comes to life even more and Rex’s eyes get wide, the twinkle of the blue lights dancing in his brown eyes. It makes your chest clench and when he realizes you’re staring, you look at the tree bashfully.

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” You grin up at the six foot, fluffy Coruscanti Noble Tree. 

“She sure is.” Rex isn’t even looking at the tree anymore, though.

As you lean in to smell the fresh noble pine, it really does remind you of your childhood. You know that Rex and the other clones didn’t have a childhood, so this is your chance to give him a little bit of one. 

“I love it, cyare.” He smiles, taking your hand and kissing it. “Not as much as I love you, though.” 

When he says things like that, it completely melts your insides. Unable to help yourself, you fling your arms around his neck, kissing him. 

A knock on the door pulls you away from each other, indicating that some of Rex’s brothers have arrived for dinner.

“The guys are gonna get a kick out of this thing, just so you know.” He chuckles.

“Tell Fives if he ruins my tree, I’ll kick his ass.” You point at him as you go to answer the door. 

“I think you’re more threatening than me at this point. You should tell him.” Rex laughs. 

He has a point. You’re half tempted to put a baby gate around it just to protect it. 

“Wow, look at that thing!” Fives exclaims, greeting you with a kiss on the cheek before walking into the apartment. 

Echo shakes his head. “Try not to break it, we know how much you like shiny things.” 

You and Echo share an amused look as you let the rest of them in. When you look at Rex, you see him showing his brothers which ornaments he hung and you feel a swell of pride, knowing immediately this is going to be the best Life Day yet.

TAGS: @twistedstitcher27 @rebel-finn @rexandechosandwich @madameminor @dumfanting @corona-one @tecker @ladykatakuri @brynhildrmimi @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond @zoeykallus @maulslittlemeowmeow @littlemousedroid @arctrooper69 @rexxdjarin @padawancat97 @hated-by-me @sleepingsun501 @idledreams @redheadgirl @themcuwriter @ashotofspotchka @sunshinesdaydream @crosshairsimp73 @ariadnes-red-thread @rosmariner @heyitsaloy @starstofillmydream @high-ct5555 @echos-girlfriend @sleepywych @nekotaetae @justanothersadperson93 @aconstructofamind @book-of-baba-fett @chopper-base @palliateclaw @501st-rexster @dead-poolz @nahoney22 @where-is-my-mind-tho @jediknightjana @erishimoon @witching3 @queen-of-many-fandoms @wizardofrozz  @burningfieldof-clover @rebelsriley

[horatio-fig]

Full disclosure I’m not on my meds so everything is going to incite a huge emotional reaction from me but THE ACOLYTE BEING CANCELLED MAKES ME SO SAD 😭😭😭 

I keep thinking about Leslye Headland and how adorable and excited she was. I keep thinking of this dorky teenage Star Wars fan obsessed with the High Republic books and now she gets to bring that to life on TV. I want the world for her, it makes me so sad that it’s cancelled. I’m talking sell my soul, become a tech billionaire so I can buy a film studio where she can make all the gay star wars fan-fiction she wants. 

I think the reason it upsets me so much is because the cancellation is a result of fan negativity and review bombing, and that sucks because she’s a super-fan, she’s one of us. I think of queer closeted Leslye Headland writing Star Wars fanfic in secret notebooks at school, I think of Amandla Stenberg turning up to The Acolyte panel in Padme cosplay because thats her fave character, Manny Jacinto yelling ‘We’re doing Star Wars baby’ on set to remind himself this isn’t all a dream, Dave Filloni almost putting the phone down on LucasFilm and losing the job of a lifetime because he thought someone was playing a cruel prank on him, Pedro Pascal being so excited to play some random one off character not realising he was about to become Mr Star Wars himself, Ashley Eckstein creating a fashion line for female Star Wars fans because she wanted more options as a fan herself, Gwendoline Christie being distraught when she found out her agent turned down the audition for Phasma and ordering her to call them back, Athena Portillo driving around with her personalised Star Wars license plate not realising it would get her a job working on the very franchise she loved, the cast of Skeleton Crew being the sweetest giddiest giggliest gang of kids, Jon Favreau running up to George Lucas to show him designs like a child eager to show off his latest drawing, Josh Brener writing to JJ Abrams to try and get a Neeku cameo in Rise of the Skywalker, Diageo Luna talking passionately about ‘Little Arthur’, Steve Blum tweeting about his favourite ship, Ray Park doing all he can to be Maul in any stunt scene, San Witwer doing all he can to be Maul, period. I think of these and I see myself in all of them. 

I love Star Wars, I love Star Wars fans, and I love it when Star Wars fans get to make the content they want to see. These super-fans have put the work in to finally be able to make their dreams come true and it breaks my heart to see other ‘fans’ tear them down 😢

[littlespacereader]

It’s my One Year Anniversary on Tumblr!

Thank you everyone for your love and support through this first year! Your love of my fics or my random post mean the world to me!!

My regression and everything about this side of my life is hidden by everyone I know. So to have this community to rant to, to write fics for or to just be silly with, it means everything to me! Thank you for being so welcoming and so kind to me!🥹💞

In honor of this anniversary I decided to write a fic based on whatever I’m obsessed with at the moment. And what’s been my hyper fixation show at the moment is Star Wars the Clone Wars! So please enjoy this fic with Captain Rex and the 501st plus a Jedi Little Reader and their antics of trying to stay up late! Enjoy!!!

Dad Says We Can Stay Up Late!💤🌙

Caregivers: Rex, Kix, Echo, & Tups with a Fem Jedi Little!Reader and Fives, Hardcase, Jesse and Dogman Little Siblings (SFW!)

Tags- Pillow fights, arguing (mild), snacks, sippy cups, bottles, pacifiers, tickling, stuffies, game of tag, snuggles and cuddling, group sleepover

The mission was over and the 501st plus General Y/N were on their way back to Kamino. It was a great victory over the separatists. Another win for the squad. So that mean a victory party!

But the problem? It was probably going to be past most of their bedtimes.

The clones of the Republic are no strangers to regression. Clones don’t get a childhood, they’re just trained to fight. So it’s no wonder some seek out regression and some seek to be caring figures to those little ones.

The 501st has their fair share of the mix. Captain Rex, of course, is the group’s main Caregiver. Both in and out of all of their regression, Rex is always seen as a father figure to all of them. But when they regress, he takes the role very seriously.

Then you have Kix the medic and clone trooper Tups as the second and third Caregivers to the 501st. Finally the last Caregiver is Echo whose quiet and gentle touch gives him the nickname mom of the group.

So four Caregivers of the 501st…but who are the Littles then?

The Caregivers have their hands full with the 501st Littles. Fives is the most energetic Little of the bunch, then there’s Hardcase who’s not far behind Fives chaotic energy. They’re the big kids of the group.

Then there’s Dogman and Jesse, who have a slightly younger mindset but not too far behind their brothers. They’re more kids rather than big kids.

Then there’s the 501st Jedi general Y/N. Ripped away from her family at a young age, Y/N hasn’t really known what it’s like to have a normal childhood or a family. But she would find that with the clone squadron.

She joined them in their routine of coming back to Kamino and regressing. Only thing is…she’s the youngest of the bunch with a little kid headspace.

No one minded though, infact the clones loved having a smaller Little one to take care of! The Littles loved their little sister and the Caregivers loved having someone so young to take care of.

So that’s how the 501st has their own Little Family. But what was this about a victory party?

Oh yes! Rex had promised that if they won this particular battle they would be rewarded with a victory party. The problem? It’s already late and their bedtimes are coming up fast.

“We can’t have a victory party,” Hardcase whined, “We’ll only have an hour to celebrate before we have to go to bed.” He crossed his arms, clearly starting to regress on the ship back.

He wasn’t the only one. Most of the Littles were almost if not regressed already. Happy to be able to do so after the mission.

“Yeah you’re right Hardcase, you make a good point there.” Rex smiles, “Then I guess everyone will be staying up past their bedtime tonight.”

That got every Little on the ship excited. Immediately all their heads lifted up to look at Rex.

“Really?? We can stay up late and do whatever we want?!” Jesse asked, clearly super excited.

“He said you can stay up late, not that you can do whatever you want Jesse.” Kix corrected, smiling all the same as he shook his head.

“We can watch holograms all night!” Y/N smile, clearly as excited as everyone else.

“It’s going to be the coolest party ever!! We’re never going to sleep tonight!” Fives yelled.

“Yeah!!”

“Yeah never sleeping!”

“Staying up forever!”

The rest of the way back to Kamino, the Little gathered and talked about all the things they planned on doing the whole night.

Meanwhile the Caregivers talked as well. “Rex, are you sure this is a good idea?” Echo asked with a glance towards the group of excited Littles.

“Of course it is Echo. No harm in this at all.”

“Do you seriously think that they’re going to stay up all night?” Tups asks.

Kix laughs, “Are you kidding? We just came back from a long mission and now we’re going to have a party? They’ll be lucky if they stay up before their bedtime.”

~~~

The moment the ship lands, the Littles are practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. “Endless night!!” Fives says, being the first to run off the ship.

“Endless night!!” Hardcase yells after him.

The rest of the squad follows behind. Y/N holding Kix’s hand as they walk through the hallways of Kamino. It was obvious the youngest was going to be the first to fall asleep.

“Sweetheart, you don’t have to stay up with the boys. If you feel tired you can get one of us and we’ll take you to bed.” Kix tried to say but Y/N shook her head.

“Don’t wanna miss anything.” She whined.

“I know baby, I know. I’m just saying if you start to feel tired and if you want to go to sleep, you can always find me and I’ll take you somewhere a bit more quiet.” Kix explained.

Y/N nodded and tried to hold back a yawn. “Kay Kits.” She said, leaning close against his arm.

Kix knew like the rest of the Caregivers that Y/N always tried to keep up with her older Little siblings. But late hours and Y/N didn’t mix together. He knew she would be the first to sleep.

The rest? Wouldn’t be far behind.

~~~

Fives turns around and looks to the group of Caregivers and Littles who are ‘too slow’. His eyes quickly landed upon me.

“Come on slow pokes! We can’t waste any time!” Fives walks over to me and picks me up, giving me a piggy back ride as he runs down the hallway. I giggle the whole way as the Caregivers watch and smile.

Fives carries me into the 501st barracks where the rest of the Littles are running about. Jesse smiled seeing us enter, “Great you’re finally here Y/N. Grab all the pillows and blankets and put them by the holoscreen.”

I nod my head running around to all the beds, grabbing the blankets, pillows and everyone’s stuffies. We did this often, making one big bed infront of the hologram so we could all cuddle to sleep together. I took all our belongings to the center of the room, and started creating one big bed full of cushions, pillows and blankets for all of us.

I hold my loth cat stuffie close as I watch the rest of the Littles of the 501st running around. A yawn escaped me as the weight of the day starts to weight me down. But I couldn’t fall asleep yet! Stay up forever!! But…I could start to see it was going to be a difficult task.

The Caregivers finally enter the barracks and watch the chaos unfolding. Fives and Jesse are wrestling around, Dogman and Hardcase are getting everyone’s cup and sippy cups.

But the Caregivers noticed something, everyone was walking around in their dirty and worn armor from the mission. They all needed to be changed into their pjs. But that was going to be their first and one of their biggest challenges of the night.

There was an unspoken game the Caregiver and the Littles of the 501st played after every mission. The Littles, who outnumbered the Caregivers 5 to 4, would try to outrun their Caregivers and see who would be the last Little to be caught and change into their pjs from their armor.

Fives was the resigning winner from their last mission. But today could be a new winner.

“Fives! Jesse!” I call over, pointing to the group of Caregivers strategizing. All at once the Littles realized what was about to happen.

“Ready for our next mission?” Rex smirked to the other three Caregivers. Echo sighed while Kix and Tups chuckled.

“I’ve got Jesse,” Kix called.

“I’ve got Dogman,” Tup called next.

Rex and Echo looked to each other, silently agreeing on who they were going after.

Fives, Jesse, Hardcase, Dogman and I joined each other and stared back at the Caregivers.

There was a standoff between us. Neither of the two groups moved. The Caregivers smiled back at Littles with a mischievous smile.

The silent standoff was broken with a simple cry, “RUNNN!!!!” from Fives.

Suddenly all hell broke loose in the 501st barracks as the Littles took off while the Caregivers chase them down.

I ran as fast as I could, ducking under beds and weaving in and out of the bunks. I ducked under one of the bunks to hide. I popped my head out to see if anyone had been caught yet.

Dogman was wrapped in Tup’s warm arms, giggling as the Caregiver tickled his sides. So there’s one down.

Jesse ran around the beds but his foot caught the corner of one, causing him to fall. Immediately he starts to cry, holding his ‘injured’ leg.

Kix, who was chasing him to begin with, ran over to his aid, bringing the Little close to check his leg. “Hurts!” He cried.

“Doesn’t look like anything major. Just a little bruise.” Kix said after looking over his leg. With a little kiss to it, Kix declared it all better.

Jesse lifted his arms up and Kix right away picked him up, “It’s okay Jesse, I’ve got you. You’re okay sweet one.” He says softly, as Jesse hide his face against his neck.

Because Kix is a medic it meant he was extra gentle and comforting whenever one of us got hurt or injured. Sometimes an injury or cut that’s normally not that big of a deal to us out of our regression, is a big deal when we’re regressed. Kix knew and always made sure we got extra love and comfort for it.

That’s Jesse and Dogman out of the game. That left Fives, Hardcase and myself.

I saw Echo, he was trying to wrangle Fives….but where is Rex?

Suddenly my ankle is grabbed and I get pulled out from under the bed. “Thought you could hide from me you little tooka.” Rex smiled, tickling me on the ground. I kicked and squirmed, laughing to the point of not being able to breathe.

He picks me up off the floor and into his arms. I giggle as he bounced me. “How’d you find me?”

“Your friend here was sticking out just a bit.” He gestured to my loth cat stuffie. In reality he watched as I hid under the bed, but he wasn’t going to ruin the fun.

“Come on, let’s get you changed into something more comfy.” Rex said as he started to walk towards my bunk to change me.

“Wait! Wanna see who last to get picked.” I explain.

Rex smirks, “Alright, alright, let’s see.”

At the moment all that was left was Echo, trying to wrangle Fives and Hardcase all by himself. Fives and Hardcase started working together, staying parallel to Echo. They would be on one side of the bed while Echo would be on the other.

“You can’t catch us!” Hardcase teased as they ran around the bed three, no four times in a row.

Finally Echo had enough and decided to put his arc trooper training to some good use. He grabbed a hold off the side of the bed and swung over in one fast movement.

The moment caught Fives and Hardcase off guard and soon Echo had a hand on both their shoulders, stopping them from running off. “Alright, enough is enough. Let’s get you both changed.” Echo sighed in relief.

“Wait! Who did you touch first?” Fives quickly asked.

“Yeah who?” Hardcase added.

“I think it was a tie boys.”

“A tie?!” The two littles looked at each other.

“Yeah. I grabbed you both at once. Guess you both win.” Echo shrugged.

There was a moment of internal debate before the two accepted their shared win.

“Yeah!! We won!!” Hardcase smiled.

“We’re the fastest!!” Fives added.

Rex walked towards my bunk with me in his arms. “See? Leave it to Echo to get both of them at once.” He chuckled.

“Yeah,” I say following it with a yawn.

As Rex walks over to my bunk to grab my pajamas, I can’t help ur rest my head against him, closing my eyes and wrapping my arms around his neck.

I hear him chuckle, “Someone’s tired after the mission.”

He places me on the bed and starts helping me changes from my usual Jedi robes to some softer more comfortable pajamas. “You did a good job today.”

“I did?”

“Yeah you did.” Rex smiles, “I was very proud of you on the battle field today.”

The praise warms me, making so so happy and honored that I did good and that Rex was proud of me. I hug him tightly, so happy to have him as one of my Caregivers.

After he grabs a hairbrush and brushes my hair, all while I try not to fall asleep to the comforting feeling.

“You know,” Rex stated to say, “If you want to go to sleep, you can Y/N. You don’t have to stay up with the boys. And if you’re worried about being by yourself I’m sure one of us won’t mind staying with you.” He suggests.

But I shake my head and rub my tired eyes, “Noooowwwaa! Wanna stay up with you.” I put my arms out to be held again.

“Alright my little tooka, alright. But if you feel tired you promise to tell one of us okay?” He lifts me back into his arms.

“Promise Dadee.” I say softly, holding onto his as he carries me back to the group.

Every Little is changed into pjs now, as they settle in for their victory party. Kix and Tups managed to get changed themselves in the mayhem and wear pajamas bottoms and loose shirts. They watch the Littles as Echo and Rex go to change out of their armor.

Tups handles the food and snacks while Kix handles drinks, all while the Littles roam around them.

Jesse stays close to Kix after getting hurt. He becomes his little helper, gathering everyone’s respective cups and getting drink orders from the Littles.

“Y/N!” Jesse runs over, “Water, blue milk or juice tonight?”

“Blue milk please.” I reply, watching as Jesse nods and runs back over to Kix to tell him.

“Y/N wants blue milk, Dad.”

“Thank you for asking her Jesse. You’re just a great helper.” Kix smiled and Jesse beams under the praise.

The rest of the Littles hang around Tups and for good reason. He starts making everyone a little bowl of snacks.

“Where’s the desserts?! How is this a party without desserts?!” Fives whines.

“Because it’s too late to have dessert.” Tups replies.

He’s about to say something else when Fives interrupts him, “But we need desserts so we can stay up all night! This is unfair!”

“Fives drop it,” Rex says sternly as he returns with Echo.

Rex wears a sweatshirt and pajama pants, similar to Kix and Tups, while Echo wears a hoodie and sweatpants because he’s always chilly.

Fives whines but drops it, knowing Rex was not going to put up with it. “Fine….but can we have extra snacks because we won?” He bargains.

Tups chuckles, “Sure Fives. You can have extra.” That seems to satisfy the young clone.

The Caregivers started to get everything together for the night, and while they did the Littles started to run around and play.

Fives grabbed his pillow and shouts “PILLOW FIGHT!!” With that the war had been declared. All of us grab our pillows and start to run towards one another, and into the battle.

The problem is…someone of us have an advantage in this pillow fight…

Fives and Hardcase are brutal in their fight. Being the oldest they us left and right with a brutal force. Jesse got hit twice by the two of them and called it for himself.

“You guys play too hard.” He whined, going back over to Kix and hiding his face against his chest.

Kid walked over and took in the sight of the pillow fight. With an arm wrapped around an upset Jesse, he called out to the other Littles, “Hey! Let’s take it down and start to get settled for the night.”

But neither of them listened.

Their final battle was against Dogman and I. It was two against two. Fives and Hardcase were brutal, each hitting us with percussion. Fives took on Dogman while Hardcase went to battle with me.

Fives hit Dogman square in the stomach, sending him to the ground. He held his stomach as tears brimmed his eyes.

“Papa!” Dogman cried out. “PAPA!”

Fives starts to panic. “Nononono! You’re fine Dogman really! Ssssssshhhhhh!! Don’t tell, don’t tell!”

As that was going on, Hardcase and I were battling it out together. My hit are sloppy, the tiredness of the day getting to me. But Hardcase plays dirty, hitting my legs and sending me to the ground.

As he walked over to hit me with his final pillow blow I closed my eyes and focused. I pull his pillow away using the force. With one move of my hand his pillows flew across the room.

“Hey!” He yelled, “No fair! You’re not allowed to use the force!! That’s cheating!”

“You hit my legs! That’s cheating!”

“What’s going on in here?” Rex called out.

We all turned to see Rex, Tups and Echo all standing together looking stern. Our hearts dropped for a moment.

Dogman runs over to Tups, hugging him tightly as tears fell from his eyes. “We were havin a pillow fight but Fives and Hardcase play too rough!”

“Fives… Hardcase…” Rex said, looking at them suspiciously. It isn’t the first time the two had played rough with the younger Littles. Though they’ve been told in the past, they sometimes forget they’re the oldest and need to be more gentle with their siblings.

“I didn’t mean to hurt him!” Fives tries to say.

“Yeah! And-And Y/N used the force to throw my pillow off to the side!” Right away Hardcase tries to shift the blame onto me.

The attention then turns to me. “He doesn’t stop!” I argue back.

Then the three of us starts talking at once, all arguing to get ourselves out of trouble. Echo and his new found headache interrupt the conversation.

“Alright! Alright! I’ve heard enough. Fives, Hardcase, apologies to your siblings for playing too rough.”

“But we-.”

“Unless you want to have a good time out to think about your apology, I think now would be a good idea to just say one and move on.”

Fives and Hardcase sigh but eventually say an apology to Dogman, Jesse and myself.

“Good. Thank you boys.” Echo turns to me, “Now Y/N, you know you’re not allowed to use to force when you’re back home right?”

I look down, holding my stuffie tighter. “Right…”

“So like your brothers you’re just getting a warning this time. But no using the force anymore or next time it’s a time out, okay?” Echo walks over and puts an arm around me.

“Okay mama.” I lean against him, looking up and nodding my head. “Mama, I want sit with you and Dadee tonight!” I smile looking up to him..

“You do?” Echo smiles, “I’d love nothing more.”

Echo’s always had the title of mom of the 501st. He never minded it or thought much on it. But when the Littles started regressing more and more, Mom or Mama starts to become Echo’s new nickname.

While some men might not like the feminine nickname, he loves the name. Mostly because he knew it meant they saw him as more of a gentle maternal figure. They all would come to him when they need someone with a soft gentle touch.

Everyone starts to gather by the holo. Kix passes out everyone drinks, cups with straws for FIves and Hardcase, sippy cups for Jesse and Dogman, and a bottle for me. And Tups passes out the snacks to everyone.

Then we start to settle in for the night.

The holo starts to play a popular kids show. It glows infront of all of us, calming the usually energetic clones and putting the rest of us in a sleep mode.

Everyone seems to wrap around or sit next to one Caregiver or the other. Echo sits on one side of me and Rex on the other. I lean against Echo, his arm wrapped around me as I rest my head against his shoulder.

Jesse stays close to Kix, laying similarly to me against him. Hardcase sit on the other side of Kix, Fives sits between Rex and Tups pointing out thing about the show to each of the Caregivers, and Dogman leans against Tups other side watching the show intensely.

~~~

The holo plays on the screen while all the Littles settle in for the night, drinking and snacking away. But as it plays on and the drinks and snack start to disappear, the plan to ‘stay up all night’ start to become harder and harder for the 501st Littles.

For Y/N and Jesse, they’ve lost the battle.

Y/N is out 10 minutes into the show, laying peacefully against Echo sound asleep. Her bottle still in her mouth, with one hand wrapped around Echo and the other holding onto their stuffie.

Jesse held a strong battle during the holo. But eventually Kix could feel Jesse snuggling against him. He wraps an arm around him, pulling him close and rubbing his back softly. Eventually Jesse’s asleep, thumb in his mouth and head on Kix’s chest.

Dogman nods off every so often before jumping back awake. Then the cycle repeats itself.

Eventually Tups takes it upon himself to pull Dogman close, having him fall asleep cuddled close too. The Little doesn’t object, closing his eyes and falling asleep soon after.

Then it’s just the oldest two.

Hardcase is in a similar state as Dogman. His eyes droop close and his head falls forwards before he jerks awake.

Kix leans over and takes his hand, rubbing his knuckles. “Hardcase, why don’t you just go to sleep? See? Jesse’s already asleep.”

Hardcase tried to fight it. He rubs his eye and yawns. “But I wanna stay up all night.” He whines.

Kix smiles at the stubborn Little and comes up with a cleaver plan. “Oh, alright. I guess I’ll only have Jesse to cuddle up with tonight.” He sighs. “Though I really wanted to have you to cuddle up next to too. But I understand, you need to stay up all night.”

He knew it wasn’t the nicest plan in the book, but being a medic he knew it wasn’t healthy the way Hardcase is fighting his sleep.

Hardcase looked at Kix worried. He thought about it for a moment before he moved closer to him, “I can still cuddle next to you and stay up”

“You can? Oh that’s great! Come here kiddo.” Kix wrapped an arm around Hardcase and pulled him close. Hardcase leaned against Kix’s side, resting his head in his lap.

As the holo started to near its end, Kix rubbed Hardcase’s back and arms. Between his already sleepy feeling and the soft and gentle touches here and there, Hardcase is out like a light.

The last one standing is Fives…stubbornly so.

The holo ends, Rex stretches and looks to the remaining Little. “Alright Fives, let’s head to bed.”

“What?! But you said we could stay up as late as we wanted too!” Fives stands up and argues. The Caregivers shush him, careful not to wake the sleeping Littles.

“I know I did Fives but it’s getting late and everyone is very tired.”

“But I’m not tired!” Fives tries to say without yawning. Rex and the other Caregivers share a knowing look.

“How about this Fives? Go pick out a good book on your datapad and I’ll read it to you before we go to sleep. Sound good?” Rex bargain.

“What if I’m not sleepy after it?”

“Then you’re allowed to stay up.”

“Really?!”

“Yup. Now go chose a good one.” Rex ruffles Fives hair before he gets up and go to grab his datapad.

With another shake of his head, the other Caregivers chuckle at Fives never ending energy. They settle in for the night. Getting comfortable on their makeshift bed by the holo.

Tups is already asleep next to Dogman. Both of them wrapped in a blanket with Tups snoring and holding protectively to the Little.

Kix is not far behind him. He adjust himself so that he’s able to lay down with the two Littles comfortably.

Echo cards a hand through Y/N’s hair. He pulls her bottle away and grabs a spare pacifier to replace it with. Immediately Y/N latched onto it, snuggling impossible closer to Echo.

Echo looks over to Rex. “You sure you’ll be able to get him down for bed?

“Trust me, I’ve got Fives. You head off to bed with Y/N. It’s been a long day.” Rex nods.

Echo nods back, stretching before pulling Y/N close and laying down himself. “Let me know if you need anything.” He pulls a blanket around him and Y/N before he starts to fall asleep himself.

Fives runs back over and sits next to Rex. “Okay so I have 5 books I want you to read!”

“5 books? Well then we’re going to need to get comfortable first aren’t we?” Rex gestures for Fives to come close.

Rex lays down, pulling Fives to lay next to him. Fives lays his head in Rex lap, feeling his hand start to card through his hair. It’s heavenly. Finally a blanket is pulled around the two of them.

“There we go.” Rex smiles, “Now let’s see what stories we have here.”

Rex begins to read the first story to Fives, all while he continues to card his hand through his hair. He knows like the others that Fives biggest weakness is having his hair played with. It’s always a go-to to calm him down or in this case put him to sleep.

And it works perfectly. As the story goes on Fives can no longer fight the sleepiness any longer. He eventually gives in and falls asleep against Rex.

For good measure, and maybe because he’s curious, Rex finishes the story before he checks on Fives. Looking over he sees the Little is in a deep sleep thankfully, arms wrapped around Rex. He looks over to the other Littles and Caregivers and finds that everyone is peaceful asleep.

He decided to join them, feeling exhausted himself. He pulls Fives close and wraps their blanket around them more snuggly. With a little kiss to the top of his head he whispers “Good night kiddo.” Then Rex starts to sleep himself.

The barracks of the 501st remain peaceful throughout the night. Caregivers holding onto their Littles ones and their Littles reciprocating. All of them happy to have one another.

But soon they’ll find out something interesting…they’re not the only clone force that had this ritual. Which means they’re in store for some playdates in the future or possibly some new babysitters.👀

[looney-mooney-studio]

I have two questions for the Linda Cipher AU! (More might come in the future lol)

-What do some of Linda’s friends/colleagues/family members think of Linda during her time with Bill/after the initial breakup? Especially with how it seems like she gets worse and worse overtime?

-Also does Bill have any alternative forms (such as a more human form) in this AU? Or is he just his funky triangular self?

Excited to see more of this AU’s development :)

Okay, so. In my mind, she fucked the triangle. It is the triangle she dated, the triangle she had a partnership with, and the triangle she had kids with. But in the Star Wars special, Candace specifically says “Oh cool, mom remarried?”, meaning she WAS publicly married to SOMEONE. Most likely someone who at least APPEARED human enough to have seemingly 100% human kids with.

But Bill doesn’t have a physical form in the human world, and he certainly doesn’t have the ability to make his own body here. (Sorry human bill fans.) We know he can possess people (my friends and I even tossed around the idea he might have possessed one of her colleagues), but then that’s a whole other person he’d have to make a deal with to bring into this and I’d prefer to keep the story cleaner than that. This isn’t about Linda being with some random guy who Bill happens to be possessing, this is about Linda being with Bill.

We know he can possess corpses, but I don’t think Linda would agree to keeping a deceased human body in her house, even if it’s just a vessel for her husband to keep up appearances. What’s far more likely, especially in a show with hyper realistic prosthetic and robotic technology like Phineas and Ferb, is for her to make him a puppet. Or at least, have one commissioned.

With that established, let me throw you a curveball. Do yall remember this guy?

This guy is Professor Parenthesis (pronounced paren-thesis, like a college paper), a former colleague and current wannabe arch nemesis to Major Monogram. He was introduced in the OWCA Files special. When promo materials of this dude were first going around, there was a pretty decent chunk of the Phineas and Ferb fandom who theorized he might be the biological Flynn father, since he bears a not insignificant resemblance to Candace and Phineas.

Then the episode aired and we found out he was actually a bug piloting an android.

So. You know. That kind of killed the theory. And now the Book of Bill’s come out and the closest we’ll ever get to canon confirmation of a possible biological father for the Flynn kids is a one-off joke implying that Linda had intimate relations with a sentient demonic extra dimensional triangle, so the theory’s like, extra turbo dead.

What I’m about to propose is absolutely not true. Professor Parenthesis is shown to be a skilled roboticist, and most likely built this android from scratch himself. But WHAT IF this was a discarded android that Professor Parenthesis found, studied, fixed, and modified for his own purposes? That would be much easier for him to do than building it from scratch himself, considering the amount of large heavy machinery it contains.

I don’t think Linda has much experience working with robotics, but Linda very much strikes me as a collaborative scientist, not the lone pioneer that Ford tried to be. She could very easily have found fellow scientists in other fields to help her develop technology like this, and she could say she wants it for the possibility of remote space exploration, making it easier for people to experience space and do tasks such as space station repairs without spending money sending actual people into space.

She’d argue it should be as humanoid as possible, since humans are used to piloting ourselves and she’d say the transition should be as immersive and seamless as possible. She could also propose the technology could be used for other purposes, such as the development of artificial limbs. She wants a remotely pilot-able android that mimics the human experience as much as possible, including the dexterity and sensory feedback of an above-average human body to compensate for a large variety of skill levels. And she thinks this sort of technology will need several prototypes, some of which will fail.

It’s not too difficult for her to obtain a “failed prototype” as a gift for her partner.

When people meet Linda’s new partner, she introduces him as William Cipher Birchtree, long-lost heir to the Birchtree family legacy of Ciphertology, named for their god. He seems strange, but he makes her happy, and though his beliefs are peculiar, he also seems to be a good match for her wit, and it’s not like there aren’t scientists with strange beliefs out in the world. Her colleagues tease her for her involvement with the cult, but her work is sound, revolutionary even, and she works exceptionally well with her colleagues. Even if she’s getting bizarrely involved with her husband’s obscure cult.

When she breaks up with her partner - her husband - she cuts off all ties to the scientific community. She destroys her own life’s work - a portal to other dimensions, one specifically designed to make faster-than-light speed travel feasible by taking advantage of foreign laws of physics - and renounces it all, warning everyone she knows never to use the portal.

She can’t skip town though, she kept most of her technology in the basement, and she doesn’t want anyone else getting their hands on it and potentially letting her ex husband through. And beside which, her daughter’s best friend lives next door. She can’t bring herself to cut out her safety net entirely, and not many of her neighbors were even aware she was an astrophysicist in the first place. So she stays in Danville. And, eventually, she meets someone who loves her even when she’s not being revolutionary.

[fandomforg]

i love star wars time travel fix-it as much as the next guy, but we need to be thinking bigger! none of this ‘clone wars obiwan goes back to his childhood’ nonsense, let’s see how far we can rocket some unsuspecting force sensitive back in time

now, i’m not familiar with anything outside of movies/tv shows, so someone else could probably rocket them further, but i wanna send like rey, freshly skywalker’d, back to like pre jaster mereel’s death. yes i want her to be like 10 and feral and adopted by jaster. because he’s my favorite and i said so.

so she’s just standing there with her yellow lightsaber that is now far too big for her child hands, suddenly she has a shiny new buir and an eight year old brother that seems vaguely familiar??? like his name rings a bell?? but what could this little kid possibly do that would have such an effect on galactic history that she would know of him like 90ish years in the future???

so basically rey’s wracking her brain for that one pre-imperial history class she took that one time for anything useful she can do to help save the future. all she’s able to come up with is pretty much ‘palpatine bad’. rey would totally just go off on her own to kill him (and make sure he stays dead, the crafty bitch), but jaster seems strangely reluctant to let his ten year old daughter take a ship by herself to assassinate an extremely small-time politician from a peaceful world without any sort of explanation.

but regardless, rey kinda just ends up butterfly-effecting stuff as she grows up a little bit. like preventing jaster’s death and galidraan. in turn, leading to jango not building his revenge army and a generally more stable mandalore system, maybe?? all the while, she’s is getting some sick mando training and super cool armor, like any self-respecting jedi-adopted-by-mandalorians would.

actually, at galidraan, rey’s able to meet up with some jedi for the first time! hooray! dooku’s not quite sure what to do with this strange, unknown, armored, force sensitive teen with a weird, jerry-rigged lightsaber.

rey takes this opportunity to lay out every bad thing palpatine has done/will do in the most incoherent way possible. when asked how she knows this, rey panics and answers that the force told her so. unbeknownst to her, this is actually a completely valid answer to give these jedi masters, and the incoherence of her explanation made it seem even more plausible to be a string of confusing force visions, rather than being completely made up. the masters, particularly dooku, promise to look into the possibility of a sith and ask rey if she’d like to come to the temple with them.

she, of course, goes ‘yes, absolutely! i’ll go tell buir and jango that we’ll all take a trip to coruscant together!’ and the masters just grimace and go ‘yeah for sure that’s definitely what we meant’

they go to the temple, and amongst talks about the sith, and jaster just having a delightful time in the jedi archives (rey has a delightful time too, just think of how master skywalker would react to all these jedi texts!), rey gets to meet a preteen obiwan! fresh off of child soldier-ing on melida/daan! he’s a little traumatized at the moment, but rey is just so excited to finally recognize a historical figure other than her shitty grandpa. she then obviously latches onto little obiwan and like. vibes with him. obiwan is a little baffled by this cool older mandalorian teen that seemingly wants to be his best friend, but he’ll take all the friends he can get after the stressful few months he’s had. rey scares off anyone (padawan, knight, or master) who might give obiwan any shit for melida/daan related stuff. or just anyone that gives him any shit at all.

eventually, palpatine is arrested for tax fraud. he actually is pretty new at the whole ‘sith machinations’ thing at this point, so he didn’t hide his simple tax fraud very well and after his arrest, the jedi are able to get him for the more sith-y crimes. so then the jedi go on the hunt for the sith master.

while they do all that, rey is able to go back to mandalorian space with jaster and jango, making sure to have weekly holo-calls with obiwan and his friends. rey may really miss all her friends and the whole support system she left behind in the future, but she’s got a pretty good support system here as well. hopefully because of her, those friends she left behind in the future will be able to live full, free, and peaceful lives.

[kaija-rayne-author]

Reaction to Dragon Age Veilguard Gameplay Preview. Editorial Critique.

Heads up... this isn't the most positive of reviews. And I'm a die hard (bleeding into the dirt) solavellan so if that's not your cup of tea you can stop reading here. Images and videos are all copyright of Bioware/EA. (Updated after the Q&A on June 14th)

Spoilers for all previous games, books, comics etc.

Content warnings for extremely colourful language.

I've worked really high powered corporate jobs, so I can play the part of cool, calm, perfect professional. But this is my gaming blog. I don't censor myself here. I grew up around truckers and it shows 😂.

I'm also neurodivergent so please know my emotions about this are confusion, sadness, a bit of horror, and depression. I've been told the way I use words can be read as confrontational. It's unintentional. (And again, it's my blog, I don't particularly feel it's right or necessary that I mask my AuDHD traits here, too.) I'm honestly not angry, or pissed off, or anything like that. Shrugs. I'm just sad. I don't bother to critique things I don't love. (Unless I'm being paid for it.) Much less to this extent. How much I've written here is in direct relation to how much I love Dragon Age.

Well.

I've watched it. Twice. Once on slow mode so I could get a better glimpse at the details.

I re-watched the trailer that I hated twice more. Again once on slowmo.

What. The. Actual. Fuck. Is. That?

It sure isn't Dragon Age. If it didn't have Bioware copyrighted material, I really wouldn't have been able to tell that it was supposed to be Dragon Age. If Rook had whipped out a light-sabre, it wouldn't have seemed out of setting. I want to play Dragon Age, not some weird Star Wars knock-off.

And yes, I know most of the fandom is going gaga at this point, but I don't understand why people can't see the issues amidst the excitement. Being the odd enby out in this situation is depressing as hell. I want to love it as much as everyone else seems to. But my editor brain won't shut up.

I'm used to having unpopular opinions. Just don't bloody crucify me for these. Editing media is my actual job. It's what I do. It's a highly developed, niche skill set I've been practising for over a decade.

Some people are extremely good with cars, I'm extremely good with editing. I only started doing it professionally because my writing critique partners told me my suggestions and the things I noticed were worth their weight in gold.

TBH, it wouldn't surprise me if I have some savantism when it comes to editing and writing. When I look at a piece of fiction in an editorial perspective, it's a lot like looking at a 4d puzzle for me. I can instinctively see what works, what doesn't, and how things that don't work can be tweaked so they do. I don't meet many others in my profession who do that.

And I have multiple NYT bestselling clients. I'm truly not talking out of my ass here. I'm not perfect, no human being is, but like many middle aged AuDHD/neurodivergent people, I know where my strengths and weaknesses lie. It comes off as arrogance for some reason to many people.

So, back to the preview.

It's got the right voice actors. It's got the copyrighted characters. It's got an absolutely terrible art style that is far too reminiscent of the comics for my taste. Because those comics were a travesty of both writing and art style.

And again, why the fuck does Varric have black hair? He's a strawberry blond! He looks like Varric and Blackwall DAI had a kid together. Or like they shrunk Blackwall DAI down. I don't want Varric to look like Blackwall. I didn't like him that much.

What? Did Varric have some sort of end of life crisis and dye his head, beard, and even his chest hair black? (Much reduced chest hair, fuck Bioware, why did you reduce his chest hair!) Did it all caterpillar its way up to his face? There were story significant reasons Varric was a dwarf without a beard. Did you forget that?

(Update from live stream Q&A. One of the devs said it's because Varric has been adventuring for a time and is mostly grey. That he's shown in dark light so it looks black.) Uhuh.

Reality bites sometimes, cause my dad is a strawberry blond gone grey and he never looks like he has black hair. Not even in the dark. But whatever. They've got an excuse for it. I don't buy it because it doesn't track with y'know, how hair usually works.

I could maybe get used to the steampunk vibe? Big maybe. That's still within the realm of Dark Fantasy.

Also... I've seen some reaction videos and y'all... Dark Fantasy is a genre. It has absolutely nothing to do with the colour palette! It means it's fantasy with dark/horror elements FFS!

I swear the reading comprehension of people has suffered since I was a kid.

But, but, but... if you've been reading me for a while you had to know that was coming.

What. The. Fuck. Is. This?

Walmart Sans? Bad Halloween decor they couldn't sell until it was 99% off at a home goods store?

Is that... is that supposed to be a Darkspawn? SERIOUSLY!?! Given a Warden was fighting it, I have to assume someone at Bioware has ergot poisoning.

It looks like a modern cartoon version of Skeletor. Which is definitely insulting to Skeletor. This dude looks like he's got on his tights, speedo, boots, a bitchin' mohawk, and orange lights on his garb for the Halloween party at the club. He might win best costume, but he fails at being a Darkspawn.

They didn't just swing and miss with going to the club dude, they couldn't even find the bat and glove.

And yes, I've heard the 'lore' excuse that it's the red lyrium warping them that way. I could buy that if they were A) red lights, not orange. B) Kinda spiky, crystal-like in structure. Y'know, like the red lyrium infected creatures in DAI? (That's called continuity.)

The lines are too smooth, bone doesn't warp like that, and he (the ogre version too) seriously just look like really bad Halloween decorations.

Also, whoever drew that needs to study human anatomy a bit more. That skull shape is so wrong. In so many ways. Former forensic anthropologist and artist. I've held more human skulls than people can probably guess. I've literally pieced them back together. I'm not awful at drawing either. That image is just bad.

I'm not a player who lusts to have DAO back as the only kind of Dragon Age. I've loved them all for different reasons. Games change over the years as new ideas, new creators, and new technology comes out. That's honestly a good thing. Innovation is awesome. Most of the time.

Sometimes it's a complete miss. Like with going to the club dude up there. I love a lot about the art in these games. It's a large part of why I play them. And that thing up there? That's not a Darkspawn.

THIS is a Darkspawn.

This is a Darkspawn.

This is a Darkspawn

This is a Darkspawn

They're supposed to be kinda gut wrenchingly horrific. The graphics are older yeah, but maybe you get my point? If you know the Lore of Dragon Age... I've marinated myself in it... the Darkspawn are blight corrupted humans, dwarves, qunari, and elves.

It's supposed to be the whole concept of 'what used to be, but no longer is' that's often used in horror. You know... the thing that looks like it was at one time a deer but is walking on its hind legs with a broken neck and glowy eyes that sends atavistic shivers down your spine?

They aren't... modern cartoon Skeletors or the Halloween deco you hide in the back of the garage 'cause you're embarrassed you ever bought it.

WTAF were they thinking? I honestly can't get past my utterly confused shock on this whole thing.

I've been saying for quite a while now that Bioware needs better developmental and diversity editors. (Or maybe even any? Do they have any? 'Cause that preview really makes me doubt it.) And uh... well. Yeah. That. (I'm an editor, yes. I do both kinds, yes. I'm very good at it, yes. No, this is not me hoping for a job at Bioware/EA.)

I suppose me writing all this down is mostly just to get it out of my head. And to maybe let other disappointed Dragon Age fans know they aren't alone. Given some of the things I've seen on the 'net. I'm far and away from being alone in these opinions. You're not wrong. They've absolutely changed it so much it doesn't even remotely feel like Dragon Age.

And no, before you take that and run with it in an anti-diversity direction, I utterly love that they depicted Rook as Black. I love that Davrin is a Black elf. I love that Neve has a prosthetic leg. It's not the diversity changes I have an issue with. I adore those.

Snorts. Would I accept a job if a Bioware fairy dropped into my life and offered me a good living to look critically at that game for problems that could maybe be fixed?

Probably. They'd likely pay better than my current job. And I really do love Dragon Age so much that if I could contribute to it in a way that made us middle-aged gamers happy too? It would be pleasing.

The likelyhood of that is probably akin to winning the lotto though, so no, it's not the point of my post.

But I'm going to slide this monstrosity of a post toward the devs. Maybe they'll listen to the free editorial critique and make this game make a wee bit more sense? Or at least feel like Dragon Age, sheesh.

Because who the actual fuck wrote most of that dialogue?

I want to point my finger at the ground and scold them like a puppy who peed on the carpet.

Then give them a really basic 101 lesson on dialogue.

It was either boring for the player characters (I absolutely assume it will get better there, it was just the beginning of the game, to be fair). And I definitely trust Patrick Weekes to have done an amazing job as lead writer for most things.

But I really would've figured that Bioware would know by now that fans want to know what the character is going to say exactly before picking an option. Not just a yes, no, mediocre choice. Players have been pretty loud about that. BG3 gave us (mostly) what we wanted and it swept GOTY.

The rest of the dialogue was such freaking factory canned bullshit that I almost rolled my eyes out of my head. Which would've been awkward. Fishing them out from under the dresser and all.

A Venatori shouting 'avenge our fallen brethren' (or whatever, I'm not watching it again to get the exact dialogue) has so much stanky cheese on it I can't even. People don't talk like that. Apparently, a few Bioware writers could stand to take a few writing classes. That's basic.

Patrick Weekes is an amazingly skilled writer. But obviously, not all Bioware writers are. (Snorts, which I know very well and it's why I'm so disappointed they chose Lucanis.)

Although, since Mary Kirby did the writing for him for the game (glares at Bioware) there may be hope for him.

Music? There was music? Hans Zimmer was a bloody mistake. Everything he's made in the past decade has sounded the same. Such a shame, because the soundtrack of DAI was epic.

The demons are fine-ish? I guess? If you utterly ignore how similar they look to Fortnite demons. They look a bit weird, but demons are just emotional emanations from the fade so could conceivably look like anything they wanted. (Lolz, the rather skilled artists I know are kinda pissed off at the lack of artistic skill used for their development. Even the under 30 years old ones. Especially them.)

But also... they had really cool demons already designed from DAI (from what I understand they used the same engine, Frostbite). Why didn't they just give them a glow up and use them?

This dude would've been way better for the pride demon. Plus, there would've been some continuity between DA:I and DA:V. In series work, some continuity is important. Or the thing doesn't feel like the thing. Just like based on those previews this doesn't feel even remotely like Dragon Age.

While I don't have epilepsy, I can guarantee those demons as pictured/audio in the preview are going to give me and probably many other gamers massive headaches. Gods know what they'll do to people who actually do have epilepsy. I mean... there are epileptic gamers. Gaming is supposed to be inclusive.

And I don't really want to fight Fortnite demons. I want to fight Dragon Age demons. I don't like Fortnite. (Or, y'know, I'd spend my money and time playing Fortnite?)

Why are there so many freaking Venatori? I mean... I'm flattered to have been right when I called it that we'd be fighting them again. But in Tevinter Nights they're depicted as being on their last legs as an organization.

They're freaking everywhere in the gameplay preview? You fight so many of them! They're like toadstools after a rainstorm. Popping up like daisies! Whatever. Guess the major amount of bad guys in the Tevinter cities is likely to be Venatori. Which is just weird considering their god, Coryphyfish, is dead.

And dear gods he had better stay dead. He was such a lackluster villain in DAI to start with. And bringing back a previous defeated-supposed-to-be-dead villain is an overused fantasy trope that needs to die the miserable death it deserves already.

Again with the Venatori. A little uninspired to be completely frank.

I bet they have huge spiders in this game somewhere, too. Sigh. Why is it always spiders? Or wolves? Or big cats? It's fantasy! Where is the creativity? (Also, you know that's kinda ableist against people with arachnaphobia, right? Which is a lot of people.)

But I've gone on at length before about Bioware and their ableism issues. (Which is why they need diversity editors.) I personally like spiders, but they could at least stop having them everywhere. Or give arachnophobic gamers the option to turn them off or replace them with a different image.

Moving on from their complete loss of the horror element with the Darkspawn; I wouldn't be scared of that thing even if it surprised me in the dark. I'd laugh at it. (And I'm a jumpy person. A lot of things can scare me if they come at me in the dark.)

And I'll ignore the absolutely uninspired bad guys in Minrathous, and the Fortnite clone demons.

What is that thing Bellara is holding?

It sure as fuck isn't a bow. Someone has been playing Final Fantasy a little too much. Don't get me wrong, I've got a lot of hours in FF. I like it a lot. But one of my major complaints about it? Is the completely, utterly, ridiculous weapons. Someone is compensating. Not sure what exactly they're compensating for but it's for something. Sheesh.

I've always loved the somewhat realistic-ish weapons in the Dragon Age universe. I mean, yeah. Still heavy on fantasy... but they at least looked like they'd work. I loved Neve's reduced staff, that was awesome! Whatever Bellara is holding does not look like it would work.

I remember grinding for days in FF to get a special bow. Bows are my thing in a lot of games. When I got it made, it looked like someone had glued two surfboards together and tried to call it a bow. Bows have to be, y'know, functional? All weapons do? That's rather the point?

So... I'm not an archer and if you are, do feel free to weigh in, but would that thing even work?

A bow is a precision instrument. Our species has had bows for a long damned time and their form hasn't really changed all that much. Because they, y'know, work the way they are, and don't if you change them too much?

You've got the curved wood/horn/other material with a string kind (I'm being deliberately simple in terminology, I do actually know what a bunch of bow types are called) and you have the cross bow type.

What we do not have is front heavy monstrosities like that thing. Okay, okay, she's a veil jumper. Maybe she got it from some ancient Arlathan temple or something. But the ancient Elvhenan were supposed to be technologically advanced. Not Final Fantasy obsessed gamers.

Oh, but what about Bianca, gods rest her beautifully crafted soul. They excused that as a one of a kind thing never to be replicated. It's handwavium, but fine, rule of cool works for her. It doesn't work for whatever Bellara is holding unless they come up with a damned good story reason for it. (And it had better be damned good 'cause that thing might be pretty, but it's just severely uneducated about weaponry, at best.)

Also, why couldn't it have been the less useful Bianca Solas blew to bits? (Can't stand the dwarf version in the slightest.)

Moving on.

The settings look interesting. The teams doing the backgrounds and settings have always blown it out of the park, so I imagine they'll be suitably gorgeous when we actually do see the game.

Though I had sorta expected Arlathan to look a little more... jungley forest like, rather than paved shopping mall. But whatever, I'm hopeful there'll be better parts of it later in the game.

Rook looks like they'll be fun to play. And I really hope we're not class locked as a rogue. Rogues are my usual choice but I'd still like to have the choice. (Edit. Reports say we have complete flexibility in our character creation. I just want to know if I can make a fat adventurer.)

The steampunky science-fantasy vibe. Enh. It's not my favourite. I feel it was a mistake to try to horseshoe the depicted kinds of science into the fantasy of Dragon Age that way. Because it really feels shoved in whether it fit or not.

And I write science-fantasy, so it's not like I don't love it. I adore it. It's just something that sort of has to be designed that way from the start. Which Dragon Age most certainly was not. Don't they ever get sick of retconning stuff? I sure get sick of seeing the retconned stuff.

I could see how Minrathous might use magic in a way that we use neon lighting. Or for any number of cool fantasy type magical uses. I just don't get why it had to look like a Star-Wars knock off. If I wanted to play Star Wars, I'd, y'know, play Star Wars?

I think they did capture the grunge and dirtiness and personality of an ancient city pretty well. Like it almost has a consciousness of its own. But as I've said many places, the settings artists are freaking amazing at what they do.

Although, if they have floaty spaceship like things why exactly are the Qunari even a worry? I don't have strong feelings one way or the other on the Qunari, but I know a lot of gamers were hoping to see a Tevinter/Qunari war. If Tevinter has space shippy things, what threat could the Qunari possibly be? Or even the teased Minrathous monsters?

Last I checked (which was a couple of days ago, re-reading those awful comics) the Qunari were still using bows, swords, spears, and knife type war implements. Some bombs, too, because gatlock. And enslaved, lyrium addicted mages.

Big floaty space-shippy thing means small floaty space-shippy things because that's how invention works. Where are the small ones? That thing is just a plot hole the size of Canada. (And a skilled developmental editor could've told them that before they put it in the sky. Sheesh.)

The fighting and conversation options look very similar to DA2. I liked the fighting in DA2 so after the usual adjustment to a new game it would probably be fine. Not sure how I feel about only having the ability to have two companions.

That art style though? I just cannot imagine having romantic scenes with characters done in that art style. And the Romances in Dragon Age are a large part of why I play them. Cartoon sexy times aren't my thing.

You do you, I'm not judging. But for me cartoony sexy times are just weird. Not sexy.

And no matter what they said after that disastrous character reveal the other day, the gameplay reveal doesn't look different enough for me to not call it cartoony. Especially for those Halloween decorations.

Now, I need to get to the end where we see some weird looking mage who I think is supposed to be Solas.

Really? That's supposed to be Solas?

This is the Solas my solavellan heart fell for so hard I've been simping over him for the entire time since I started playing these games.

Regardless. THIS is Solas.

Beautiful, nerdy, a little stylized, but with an art style that really worked for me (and probably most other solavellans given how much we love him).

So who in the living fuck is this?

I guess he's Solas shaped. But he doesn't make my heart squeeze in that OMG he's finally back!! way. He doesn't do anything for me. All I feel is numbness for that version of Solas. Which is disappointing as hell.

I didn't really have high hopes for him given his early looks for this game, but dang. Just dang. He's like a plastic ken doll. Very much like a too shiny plastic ken doll. And while I know Gareth David-Lloyd did the voice acting for him, he somehow doesn't even sound like Solas?

I've also been sadly informed by someone who would know that that is the absolute best they could do with him. We're not getting him fixed no matter how much we scream. He doesn't even have freckles! (And your eyes are fooling you if you think you're seeing them. Our brains often do that. Fill in things that should be there when they really aren't. There was some sort of design issue snafu which is why he doesn't have and cannot have freckles. This is confirmed insider information.) Freaking Lace Harding is peppered with them. Why can't my Solas have freckles?

Edit from Q&A (I think? It's second hand). Someone said they wanted to make everything look more 'painterly'.

Listen. I paint. Digitally and traditionally. You really have to work at it to get something that texture free. That's not 'painterly' its like... glossy modern playing cards. I hate it. Especially given the kind of fresco style paintings that Solas did in DAI. There is ALL sorts of texture with those.

Sigh. Maybe he'll grow on me. Like virulent mould. (Edit. He honestly hasn't. Every picture I see of him kills Dragon Age a little more for me. Which is bloody heartbreaking.)

IDEK man. I keep asking myself what Bioware was thinking. This game feels like it was made for a much different type of gamer than those of us who have loved the previous games for so very long.

It feels like they were trying to draw in a younger crowd while almost keeping the appeal that held us older gamers. That 'almost' is important there. (Edit. Confirmed by John Epler during live Q&A. This is exactly what they did. I feel incredibly betrayed.)

We older gamers are the ones who've kept hope for this game alive. Who have kept Dragon Age alive. The company made it, but without us hoping for it, talking about it, making mods for it, repeatedly replaying it? Would it ever have gotten there?

And we get Fortnite demons, Ken doll Solas, Halloween decoration 'darkspawn', and space shippy nonsense that kills about 50% of their foreshadowing.

I know I'm not the only older Dragon Age player feeling a little (lot) betrayed right now.

Based on these two trailers (and I'm absolutely praying I'm wrong) I think they failed project Dragon Age. Miserably.

I am pleased to learn that there are confirmed non-binary options for character creation and decent hair. So that's a plus. (Looks at the drops in the bottom of the almost empty bucket and sighs.)

I'd still like to play the game. I'd honestly LOVE to be wrong in my opinions on this. I'd really, really love to be wrong as much as I love Dragon Age.

I will happily sit down to a meal of crow if I'm wrong. I want to be wrong, because I love Dragon Age.

Though, I'm pretty good at prediction. I have stereotypical autistic pattern matching, which is a lot of what prediction is.

But I'm sadly coming to an end of what I'll be able to write about Dragon Age, no matter how much I love it.

My computer, which is literally duct taped together, isn't going to be able to handle DA4. It can barely run BG3 without overheating. As much as I love my computer, (and I really do, I get attached like a lot of AuDHD people do) it has broken or missing keys, and several of the more important keys just don't work. The screen is also starting to go.

I have lived and breathed the art and lore on these games since I started playing them. They're one of my most prominent AuDHD special interests. It's killing part of my soul to know I won't get to play it.

I'm a disabled, neurodivergent editor/author with a family to support. There's absolutely no extra for me to save up for a new rig. I'm ineligible for disability aid because I'm an immigrant. (Not that you can actually survive on disability here, anyway.) And I live in Canada, which is having a rather obscene cost of living crisis right now.

Even with my issues with the... er... everything, I still want to know what happens. I want to see it for myself.

Being an editor makes reading/tv fraught for me. If a piece of media makes me feel like I'm at work I can't really enjoy it. And 99% of books/shows do. (Don't become an editor if you love to read.)

Games tend to have fewer things to trip up my editorial brain. (Not this particular game, obviously 😂.)

That's all to say that gaming is basically my only form of accessible entertainment. I do it a lot in whatever spare time I have.

Even with my misgivings on the previews. I really would like to both play it and be utterly, completely wrong about it. I'd love to be able to keep writing about Dragon Age. But without being able to play the next one, all I can really do is rehash old stuff.

My work of words is my only income. And most writers really don't make all that much. Editors can, but I'm currently working a job that pays less than minimum wage doing editing. I'm under NDA, so I can't even tell people which huge corporation a lot of people use every day pays their editors so poorly.

Doing freelance work, I make between $50 and $70 an hour. Because editing is skilled, niche work. Experienced editing even more so.

That's why someone can be an amazing writer and a shit editor. You really do have to dedicate yourself if you're going to be good at editing anything. Most people don't put in the time or effort. I'm a better editor than I am a writer. (I'm not an awful writer, I just know where my strengths lie 😂.)

But there isn't a whole lot of freelance work available since COVID.

My partner has a broken back from his last job so can't work (and they denied his disability because that makes complete sense) so we barely scrape together enough to pay the bills each month (and lately have been failing even on that).

I think Rook and company fucked up badly by interrupting Solas' ritual. Lolz, I rather hope Solas 'greatly disapproves' in Rook's head or something. That would be bleeding hilarious.

I suppose if Solas had... I dunno... talked to people and told them why he felt he needed to take down the veil it would've helped. But his arrogance always does get in the way. In the writing trade that's termed his fatal flaw.

I think what Rook did at the end there is probably going to get Varric and a whole lot of other people killed.

Solas killing Bianca was awful, yes (and the merciful option, btw, Bianca can be fixed, Varric can't). But I think it's just the prequel. I don't think our beloved Varric is gonna be around long enough to miss her.

[baddest-batchers]

Happy Star Wars Day, sweet friends!

I was only 1 when the first prequel movie came out and then a few years later the rest of the trilogy had been released. I was 8 when I watched the entirety of the prequels and I remember loving them. My first crush ever was Anakin. 🥰 At the time, my dad was (and still very much is) and huge Star Trek fan so he introduced me to that world of sci-fi when I was young. I quickly fell for Star Trek after my dad introduced me to it and then especially when the Abrams films came out. I was a Star Trek girl through and through. That is up until September of last year.

I saw the gifs and screenshots of Hayden Christensen as Anakin in Ahsoka and something in me was like you should definitely watch this. So I turned on episode 5 and just fell head over heels in love. I turned on the prequel movies (which I hadn’t seen since I was a kid lmao) and sort of instantly became obsessed. My husband and a few of his close friends suggested I watch The Clone Wars so I watched the movie & then the show in like a month and a half. After finishing TCW I was sort of at a loss at what to watch next so I casually turned on The Bad Batch and just instantly loved it. I vaguely remembered the episode with the Batch from TCW (I usually multitask when watching tv so I missed bits and pieces of certain episodes, including the TBB arc in TCW, but obviously they were familiar.) I was so drawn into their story when I watched Aftermath and watched the entirety of season 1 in like 3 days. It was December by this point and we ended up traveling for a month before I could watch all of season 2 in January. So by the time I got through season 2 (and crying because Tech had plan 99’d) the teaser for season 3 came out and I was so excited. Fast forward to now and I have just been completely obsessed with Clone Force 99 and they very quickly became my favorite characters in all of Star Wars. I honestly don’t remember being this excited for a TV show since I was a little girl and it was such an immense joy/rollercoaster to watch season 3 along side so many of you who have loved The Bad Batch from the very start and I am so grateful to have been able to watch it as the final season aired.

There is just something so special about Star Wars as a whole and all of the stories within it that have drawn me back in as a 26yo. I never thought I’d love it as much as I do. And I’m beyond grateful for the people I’ve been getting to know on here who love TBB and Star Wars as much as I do.

My only regret is not having fallen in love with Star Wars and The Bad Batch sooner. 🖤❤️

[theultimatenonbinarynerd]

Mel's 2023 Reads 🎉🎉Tier List🎉🎉

F Tier

I would consider this tier the You Sucked Tier

These books all disappointed me in major ways. Some were just two short and underdeveloped whilst Insurgent was just a crime on humanity. It committed Character assassination badly and really underplayed abuse.

I was not the audience for the Leia book as its clearly for kids who aren't old enough too watch the Star Wars films.

Honestly I've had a pretty decent year F Tier is thankfully been minimal.

D Tier

I would consider this the Very Underwhelming Tier.

Sorry Marvel fans the Spider-Gwen comic would be higher if I didn't start with issue 5. It was cool okay I saw it at universal and went mine!! I also apologise to Good Omens fans. As a huge fan of the show I just didn't enjoy it. It works a lot better as a TV show. It was too crowded and I wish similar to the High Republic that there was individual pov chapters.

Allegiant I'm suprised I enjoyed it more then Insurgent but it didn't character assassinate Tris character but instead had weird new characters because the villians in the last book were defeated. I cried and the ending so therefore it belongs in D Tier. Old As Time was the most disappointing out of all of the Disney Twisted Tales I was expecting more. Some really good ideas that weren't fleshed out properly. I also found Belle really unlikeable in the first half of the book. I also wanted more Enchantress, her being Belles Mum was fascinating. Would still recommend though it has a beautiful message.

Again not bad for being one of the lowest tiers.

C Tier

I would consider this tier the Enjoyable But With Huge Flaws Tier.

The two books here I enjoyed but have too many major flaws holding them back. I'm suprised that there aren't more but then again 2023 has been a great reading year so I shouldn't.

Look I'm a new to the World of FNAF so I may not be able to accept weirdness. I also accept and respect The Creator didn't expect his game to be popular and as a result is new to writing but the second Fazbear Fright Book Fetch whilst improving on Into The Pits flaws had its own flaws to the point I couldn't put it further. Don't be angry FNAF fans.😰

I adored the Bullet Train movie and was super excited when I found out that it was a novel originally. But the outdated language, highly visible fatphobia and transphobia meant I couldn't put this any higher. I don't care the year it was published, call me a Snowflake but as a Trans Nonbinary Plush Sized person I do not want to read stories that mock my existence, so it's going in C tier. Still a really good story though.

I'm happy that most of my 41 reads ended up in B, A and S Tier

B Tier

I would consider this the Loved It But Could Have Been Better Tier.

Only six books in this tier again it's very surprising how many books have dodged this tier. I loved also this books but they had wasted potential and could have been better. They definitely would have been in A and S tier if they were.

I hope FNAF and Star Wars fans aren't angry at me but Darth Plagueis and Into The Pit absolutely deserve to be in B Tier. I loved Darth Plagueis as my first legends novel but the pacing was garbage fire. I would have much preferred a Trilogy where Book 1 is Plagueis's Backstory and Training With Darth Tenerbous till he kills him. Book 2 is Plagueis Grooming Palpatine to be his apprentice and then Book 3 takes place a few years before and then during Phantom Menace. It would have made the book feel less like 3 books squished into one. As for Into The Pit well, all three protagonists we're insufferable especially Millie in Count The Ways and the stories as a whole are to vague for me. The ending of Into The Pit had me scratching my head. I'm hoping I have a better time with the Tales Series.

As for the comics I haven't even Read Phase 2 yet so I was way too lost to properly enjoy The High Republic Adventures it also in genuine felt way to short. I loved Maz and Dexters appearances though. 2024 is looking to be the year I delve more into Doctor Who extended media with Big Finish having their first fifty stories free on Spotify but 2023 was a good start. Seventh Doctor comic was a pick up from the library and it was good but it also felt way too overcrowded with characters so in B Tier it goes.

I will come back to Plagueis someday and see how it goes but for now I'm super happy with my decisions.

A Tier

I would consider this the Amazing But Not Peak Tier. All the stories I really liked but they just missed a single step preventing it from being S Tier. Nine stories again which shocks me as it shows how generous I am.

Again hoping that fans of these novels are meant. I loved seeing my favourite prequel film turned into a Shakespearian play but unfortunately but unfortunately the source materials flaws stop this from being rated higher. It has however got me excited to read the orginal Trilogy Shakespeare plays.

Would have loved to put The Story Book Of Legends higher as well as it was very enjoyable and brought back alot of nostalgia for me involving Ever After High as it was basically my childhood but the world building is very nonchalant. It feels like if I hadn't been a fan of the orginal show I would have been dreadfully confused. I hope the next two stories in the Trilogy are less alienating when I get to them.

Bloodline and Spider-Man Hostile Takeover are definitely gonna be the most controversial. I loved Bloodline as a Leia Stan but I do not love Disney assassinating Leia and Han's relationship be like Satine and Obi-Wan. Leia even gave up being a jedi for her family. I just don't think that Han would listen to Leia and stay away whilst she's going through so much. Han would never be satisfied with only a video call. As for Hostile Takeover, Liss really messed up with one of the characters Anika she felt tropey and stale, only there to be Peter's over love interest option. Hostile Takeover is such a good Spider-Man story but Anika really let's down this book for me. Echo was written brilliantly I don't understand why Anika couldn't have been as well.

Congratulations to the books in A tier for coming very closer to S Tier though. 🎉🎉

S Tier

Welcome to the Peak Writing Tier it feels like I just give books the S Tier too generously but trust me when I say that these books have absolutely earned it. These books blew me away and are the reason why I've had to do a Tier list instead of a ranking. I'd mention all the books if I could but then this post would go on for hours so I'm just gonna mention three.

Claudia Gray dominated this year and has honestly become one of my favourite authors. The way she writes Leia is so masterful and awesome. Leia Princess Of Alderaan shined and hugely redeemed Holdo as a character for me. However as usual The High Republic lands on top as usual. Into The Dark By Claudia Gray blew my mind in all the best ways possible. It gave me a rollercoaster of emotions and I enjoyed the smaller cast of characters alot. Each character arc felt well done and hugely earnt. As a Star Wars fan I can say your missing out if you don't check out The High Republic in my opinion its so much better than the sequels cos all the writers actually sat down and talked with eachother laying out a clear plan. Peak Star Wars with amazing representation.

I got to go to my first authors talk this year and it was amazing. The Many Half Lived Lives Of Sam Sylvester is a book I wish I could have shipped off to younger Mel who had been bullied in High School for their Autistic traits and was so confused about their identity. Maya MacGregor is such a lovely person and a great author it was a privilege to meet them. They really did the queer Autistic community the representation we deserved. And their next book which I won an arc copy of was just as good. I will be following more of their stories in the future they deserve the hype.

Finally When Our Worlds Collided was an emotional book that brought out the rage in me. I hope this book gets put on the GCSE English curriculum and replaces the harmful stuff such as Of Mice And Men. As a lighter skinned biracial person I was heartbroken realising the struggles and injustices Black teens might face in the UK. I loved Chantelle, Jackson and Marc and how they managed to come together through tragedy and help eachother through their battles. So glad that I impulsively bought this July 2022. Everyone needs to read this especially if you are White. Read diversely people it's important.

Conclusion

Overall 2023 was a great reading year I'm excited to try dip into more nonfiction and fiction in 2024. I'm also listening to Doctor Who Big Finish this year which means my 2024 tier list will certainly be larger next year.

Here are my storygraph and goodreads if you want to follow me.

Goodreads: Melody Soundy

Storygraph: melsage1823

-Melody-

They/Them

[onwingsofwords]

as a kid I watched the star wars og and prequel trilogies approximately 28273271 times so when the mandalorian came out I figured I'd watch it and then I got sucked in and got really obsessed with it but my star wars obsession has been so weird bc up until 2020 I had no idea that clone wars or rebels existed so it's been a really bizarre learning curve having been slowly watching them both these past couple years having already seen the mandalorian and bobf and kenobi. like so much of what I know is either a) from memes, b) from accidental spoilers on social media and c) the mandalorian. so like, I'm watching rebels and bo katan just showed up and was all "oh I can't take the dark saber I'm not a leader" and all I could think was "wow where was that energy in the mandalorian chapter 16" or like the first time I saw the darksaber in tcw my first thought was "omg that was in the mandalorian!" and when I first saw cad bane in tcw I was like "yes finally I will understand the full significance of his appearance in bobf!" and I was excited for when thrawn shows up in rebels bc he was name dropped in the mandalorian. it honestly feels kind of rewarding to discover all these new bits of lore and see my favorite episodes of the newer shows make sense now that I have the background lore. anyway I'm trying to finish rebels before mando s3 comes out bc I actually want to be able to understand what's happening so wish me luck I guess

[sofiiel]

Thoughts about Eddie in the "Future"

Imagine Eddie didn't actual die, he just, popped into the future, our future in this AU world of ours (to/with you). He'd be living his best life because:

Warning: this is so long it's a crime. But you won't be sorry. All the happy thoughts.

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Dnd:

I mean, his mind would be blown at all the new wonders added to Dnd, being able to play with people anywhere in the world now. Creating online Maps and the detail of the character building sheets? He'd be spending hours using them to build characters he probably won't even use to play because he created like 40 of them. The level of detail in custom DM/GM screens? pffft He'd lose it. Not to mention all the world building tools online now, His campaigns would be epic.

And He'd probably stream his campaigns, become internet famous.

He could create or order props, and costumes to be extra dramatic as he sat behind his DM screen or webcam.

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Fandoms:

He would sit, nearly wiggling in his seat with excitement, watching the Lord of The Rings trilogy. You'd have to get him the extended version. He'd spend all his money buying replicas of weapons and accessories. He'd get you Arwen's necklace, but we won't go there right now.

Eddie would be one of those fans who are SUPER picky about the Hobbit movies and the TV series. But at the same time he'd consume them like water while he complains about, loving and hating them at the same time. Crying about Tauriel and Kili because you know he would. Just sitting there sniffling, "I'm not crying, you are."

Just movies and series in general, there would be so much to get him into, and you would be watching his reactions more than the actual media. Star wars, GOT, Hotd, Vikings, The Matrix, Harry Potter (he'd want his letter so bad and would swear it's real), Dune, Narnia (he bought a wardrobe and is hoping one day his kids will find the door), you get my point by now.

...but Eddie wanting to be Jack Sparrow for Halloween after watching Pirates of the Caribbean.

He'd try and go to every Con that he could. He's cosplay, yes he would. He would want matching costumes. He would want the 3 days passes. He would buy flight tickets to get to certain Cons, he would go broke going to them. There would be that weird moment when he meets Joseph because our world is a different universe.

Joseph would be just quaking, they'd take pictures together, you'd be living your best life. No one knows it's actually Eddie, so Joseph just thinks he's an impressive look-alike.

He'd be reading smut and fluff about his favorites ships and characters at night when he can't sleep. He could be reading all of that with you. Digging through the vast gallery of amazing fanart with you. You could show him your hoard.

He'd collect Funkos and limit edition things from all the fandoms he loves. He would support Etsy artists by commissioning custom stuff.

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Gaming:

Don't get me started on games. Eddie would be the biggest Elderscrolls buff, He'd play Daggerfall when most people complain it's outdated because he grew up on old school games. Morrowind would probably be his favorite, though. I can see him favoring Dunmer. When he plays Skyrim for the first time, he'll want to side with the Stormcloaks due to the opening scene and then find out they're kinda terrible and be like "fuck that" but he wouldn't want to join the imperials either because he doesn't want to offer any support to the Thalmore. Which means Eddie hunts down Mods, so he doesn't have to pick a side, and he can give the Thalmor hell.

In Skyrim, he'd also be joining the Thieve's Guild and the Dark Brotherhood because no matter how sweet our boy is, "WE KNOW" is too tempting not too and he'd be a completionist.

He'd be a Bethsda fanboy, excited about Starfield, lost in Fallout binge playing all the series of Bethesda games.

He'd be trying to build places from his Dnd campaigns and Hawkins in Minecraft, Valheim, and any other builder he could. He would recreate what he was homesick for In the Sims.

Let's be honest, no matter how you feel about it, he'd probably give Homestuck a try.

He'd play horror games and be scared out of his wits, probably holding you for the emotional support as he tries things like: The Forest (he'd try to build the two towers), Outlast, Slender, Amnesia, and you would have the best time ever playing Phasmophobia with him.

He'd be stuck on the Witcher, talk your ear off about it, then he'd want the books, and then he'd watch the show until he'd memorized all the lines.

Dragon age? Holy mother of Andraste, he would play the hell out of that series. Romance every character he could. He'd be a fan who was torn about "those" characters (Anders, Solas, Blackwall, Connor...looking at you lot) Both mad at them and still fond of them, it's a grey blurry blob of an area.

He'd be a Mass Effect kind of person too. He'd have fun in GTA. Adore Kingdom Come Deliverance, He'd have a breakdown playing the Red Dead Redemption series, the Stanley parable would have him in stitches as he does everything he isn't supposed to do, and you'd have the best time playing Goat Simulator.

Eddie would be a Pokemon player, and He'd play Guitar Hero just because.

He'd have a hoard of Mobile games, and ya'll.....he'd probably dabble in Otome's secretly loving them and then playing the cringe ones for giggles.

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Music:

He might not like new music, but there would be some select bands he loves, and he would be a die hard fan. He would consume the old music and bands still, and go to as many concerts as possible.

His Spotify account would be a hot, unorganized mess of playlists. He'd follow all the start-up metal musicians on Spotify, TikTok, and YouTube.

He would be one of them. He would go viral in no time flat because Eddie Munson, and people wouldn't know it was actually Eddie. They'd just think Joseph got into cosplay and started his own band as Eddie, and somehow keeps up the American accent every single time.

Then people realize he's not Joseph eventually, but again think it's just an impressive look alike.

Eddie hoards guitars, get them signed as much as he can, he'd want all the up-to-date equipment. Probably have a studio in his man cave somewhere.

Eventually his band would probably start going on tour, he'd be actually famous, rocking with bands he grew up with and probably out somewhere being Joseph's twinsy.

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Bonus:

He'd get more tats, probably of his new obsessions.

Eddie would be a foodie. He'd want to convert his own van to try van life, at least for a while. His tour buss would be a Schoolie tiny home.

He'd fuse 80s fashion and new fashion and be a complete icon, even though it's mostly comfy casual.

He'd be homesick constantly watching stranger things, and then befriending the cast of the show to try and fill the void a little.

Eddie would watch ST from season one and be amazed at just what everyone went through, the sides of things he never got to see. Our sweet boy would probably even feel bad for Jason a tiny bit. Be cheering his friends on whenever a fight scene popped up.

He's watch himself in that final episode and be crying with you for many reasons.

Eddie would try to get into shifting just to spent time with his friends again. But he wouldn't regret his new life at all, it's purely just a bit of homesickness.

We won't talk about the love stores and what he finds in them.

The cannabis and how it's legal in a lot of places. All the new strains, hybrids, oils, candies, edibles, are on a whole new level now. Weed lounges, he'd freak out seeing his first dispensary.

He'd try vaping, you know he would.

He'd be an obnoxious gif user, and it would be the best thing ever.

Eddie would abuse video chat and rarely just text or call. He wants to see your face and have his face in your face via screen all day.

He could get his diploma <3, and you could help him do it.

He'd know what it felt like to be adored, because almost everyone would. It'd probably be overwhelming.

Eddie would probably get all kinds of special treatment, lol

Imagine him arguing with those people who would try and shame him for "cosplaying" or thinking he had plastic surgery to look like Joseph. Just rage shouting, "I am Eddie Munson!" or "It's not surgery!" in the same tone as this is music.

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This could go on forever, so.... I'm going to stop. Now. I just wanted to dream and invite you all to dream with me.