#hopefully this makes a reasonable amount of sense

[viperwhispered]

Quick question: how comfortable are you with gore? I have an interesting scenario in my head.

Warning: light description of dead bodies and massacres.

So I was looking into mythology again and took a look at the story of Kali, the hindu goddess of pure unstoppable rage, death, time, and a form of Parvati. And it gave me a little scenario for OB!Jamil.

Let's say that everyone has some form of extreme/dark side. All these dark sides stay in their own dimension of sorts. For mages, it manifests as an overblot. For normal people, it's usually a manifestation of what they are at their worst.

The reader's darker side manifests from their desire to help others. Specifically an intolerance towards evil. While normally they'll accept that some people can't be changed while still promoting non lethal punishments, their darker side is basically kill on sight. If you're a scum of the Earth who commits unjustifiable evil (ex: abusers, pedos, rapists, etc), you're dead.

Cue the scenario: so we got OB!Jamil chilling in his massive palace partying it up with other darksides. It's basically a convention for hedonist (with limits, Jamil still has standards). Suddenly he gets a the news that there's a huge scuffle on his turf and it's getting in the way of party supplies.

Royally pissed off, Jamil marches out to deal with (ie kill) whatever is getting j the way of his party.

Then he sees this: a pile of massacred bodies, all darksides who's he's quarreled with or heard to have been below his standards, with what has to be the most sublime creature he's ever seen dealing a finishing blow to one of the survivors. The person slowly turns their attention to him, all the while oozing bloddlust. Just one look and Jamil understood: this is one of the most dangerous being to walk this world and they could crush him like a bug.

Cue cupid's arrow. Why? Because OB!Jamil is still Jamil and normal Jamil is currently in a very loving relationship with the normal version of the reader. OB!Jamil knows nothing of the person in front of him. Not their name nor their personality. But he does know that he loves them.

Jamil, now throughly enamored, grabs their hand and starts flirting, gleefully inviting them to his palace. The reader, still covered in blood and guts, just goes "huh?"

Reader: I just finished slaughtering your guests and your response is to flirt?

Jamil: well they're barely acquaintances. But I must say that you're radiance greatly outshines their filth! So how about it? Hmm, I promise the finest dishes and entertainment if you come along.

Reader: *starts laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation while slightly blushing"

Jamil: 😍

The pair then proceed to head back to Jamil's place and live happily every after.

This version of the pair also comes with the visual of Jamil and his beloved dancing on the corpses of their enemies.

We sure are headed for a full on au with these, huh?

Now I can't say I'm big on gore (at least when we get graphic about it, like it kinda put me off from watching game of thrones and the fallout show) but ngl I can kinda vibe with the sheer unhingedness of this all.

I'm also thinking of this in relation to the previous ask, with reader's destructive tendencies being particularly directed towards anyone who they feel has wronged Jamil. Those people (or whatever these beings are) not even knowing that crossing reader's path might be in some ways worse than Jamil getting his revenge on them. (Or if we're looking at darkside versions of people who have wronged normal Jamil… well, there's a few of those as well, isn't there?)

At least for Jamil's canonical overblot, imo the two things at the center of it were wanting power and wanting recognition (aka no longer being the one having to hold back and no longer having to take orders from others). Which, sure would be a reason for plenty of conflict with those other darksides, who probably aren't exactly enthusiastic about submitting to his will or anything like that. Plenty of folks for reader to lovingly mow down 🥰

I do love the concept of the feelings from the real world carrying over to these reflections, even if these reflections may not fully understand what or how it is happening.

Just “I'd crush the whole world for you 😍” “How sweet 🥰” for these two, huh?

Ah yes, dancing together on a field of your slain enemies, what an epitome of romance.

But talking of Kali also makes me think of one of them taking on the role of Shiva. Throwing themselves on the way of the other to stop their wanton destruction. Just, the potential for drama there.

Maybe even regular Jamil doing this with an enraged reader for whatever reason? I mean, he'd definitely have to be desperate to do something that endangers himself so directly, but the uncharacteristicness of it all just makes it even more tasty (and angsty, presuming it would still involve Jamil getting hurt. Tho depending on the particular history they have, he could always play it off that at least they're even now after he hurt reader during his overblot…)

Love it how I'm here like

Me: I'm not an angst writer

Also me: but what if Jamil was in such a desperate situation with someone he loves that he forgets all his usual cleverness / sees no other choice to stop what's happening except getting himself hurt by this person who he normally feels totally safe with

Oof 🥲

[margarrivergod]

i just read chapter 46 of jinx and OMFG WHATSUSJDKFKFKRKD (spoilers)

fyi i’m absolutely zooted rn so if this is wacky then sucks 🤡🫵🏼

BROOOOOOOOO the fact dan suddenly went a full 180!!! like FINALLY HE REALIZED LIKE FINALLY DAN!!!! jaekyung is lame asf we don’t need him here

BUT OMG THE PLOT THERES A REAL PLIT WTAFFFFFF the fact some mafia bastard r targeting the human asswipe is so funny to me, like finally u reap what u sow bitch 🤡

but the plot is actually so interesting i was NOT expecting it like wooooaaa

it’s crazy man

[thedevotionaltour]

in terms of art alone im sorry. im a jrjr defender to my last breath you be fucking nice to him. i dont wanna hear shit❗️❗️❗️

[gay-dorito-dust]

Domestic fluffy things you say? I’m here to hopefully help with that!

Can we get some cuddling hcs with the Lin Kuei trio? For example are they big on cuddling, favorite cuddle position, how is it like cuddling with them, ext. Just a lil idea I had and thought was cute and simple and classic also I hope you have a better day :)

Tomas Vrbada

Is MASSIVE on cuddling.

He loves it, lives for it, craves it. Cuddling to Tomas is therapeutic and gets his mind off of things that would normally disrupt his ability to get proper sleep.

It helps ground him and redirects his mind to focus on you and how your presence gives him comfort, reassured him of his insecurities and daily stresses, bringing him into a more relaxed state.

His top 3 would have to be;

Honeymoon cuddle

Sweetheart cradle

Good old fashion spooning

They’re all very self explanatory so I ain’t going to go into details. The man just likes holding you okay?

Cuddling either Tomas is bliss. Utter bliss.

He made you forget about everything that had ever concerned you, everything that had caused you pain, fear, anger, despair. He made you believe that everything was alright because you were within his loving embrace and that nothing else should matter.

Even his evened out breathing made you feel calm as it focused your mind onto his breaths, reminding you that lying beneath you was a living, breathing man who’d do anything you could ever possibly ask for and request for nothing in return. Tomas heart was too kind for most people, even you didn’t feel deserving of something so pure and beautiful despite everything he’s seen and done in the past, you were surprised that such a man still exists in this day and age.

So as a solemn vow, you swore to have this every night, not just for you but for Tomas too, where the both of you would be able to shed the worries and daily stresses. Only to eventually forget all about them as you fortified yourselves within the comforting arms of the other; Sleeping more peacefully than either of you had in ages.

Bi-Han

Isn’t massive on cuddling, he doesn’t like anything that might portray him as weak or soft in the slightest.

A mindset he’s developed overtime, repressing any and all childish wants and desires he might’ve had at the earliest convenience. Not wanting any distractions on his road to power. Plus he’s cold in more ways than one because like Kuai Liang, due to his body temperature, it makes something seemingly easy as cuddling difficult all of a sudden.

Even if you did ask hypothetically what his favourite cuddling positions, Bi-Han would probably say ones that requires the least amount of contact on his end:

Back to back - so he can feel that you’re still there.

Back cuddles- you’re the one cuddling up against that broad back of his.

Shoulder to shoulder - same reason as back to back; knowing that you’re still with him.

Cuddling Bi-Han is…something and I don’t mean this negativity but it’s Bi-Han, what else can I say other than cold, rigid, and a little awkward? The man is on guard even in his sleep and cuddling him the way you do doesn’t necessarily help.

Besides that there’s some semblance of companionship when you press your back into his own. It felt as though you had each made a nonverbal pact to have each other’s back in your most vulnerable states; Something that naturally comes with a sense of trust being put in the other and Bi-Han isn’t one to trust blindly.

Cuddling Bi-Han maybe awkward and a little finicky due to the walls this man had put up in order to protect himself from everyone else, he oddly enough made you feel safe, he made you feel guarded and warm, which was weird considering how abnormally cold he was in every possible way. Yet you knew he held honour- or his version of it at least- highly, so you didn’t feel like you’d have to second guess his every actions because that wasn’t the type of man Bi-Han was…

Even though cuddling him was obviously something he wasn’t attuned to, he nonetheless made you feel regarded in his own special way.

Kuai Liang

Kuai Liang runs extremely warm, which could be considered overwhelming or perfect depending on the type of person you are, so whilst he likes contact; he likes to keep it minimal unless told otherwise.

He prioritises your comfortability over his own and understands that his abnormally body heat can be a bit too much at times. Outside of that he’s more than accepting of cuddling.

Kuai Liang’s top 3 favourite cuddling positions would have to be ones that were less on the physical context but unlike Bi-Han, it typically ends up with him cuddling you in some form of him protecting you:

Leg hug- incase you get overwhelmed by his body heat and need space but also wanting to keep touching some part him.

Face to face - this one’s a personal favourite of his because he loves waking up and falling asleep to your face.

Chest rest -the one where your heads on his chest and he’s keeping you in place with his arms.

Cuddling Kuai Liang is warm and secure because when you’re in his arms, feeling his warmth deep into you just as his arms tightened their grip, you’ve never felt more protected in your life then you did in Kuai Liang’s hold.

You never had to worry about being hurt, especially when Kuai Liang was there to shield you from all possible forms of harm; nor the way he always had his back facing towards the door so that if something were to happen then he was able to keep you safe with his body.

It was his duty to protect you, as he would often say whenever you asked him why this was.

You couldn’t act as though his declaration didn’t have your heart melting into a puddle.

So now you just allow his warmth to consume you like a thick, warm, weighted blanket that blocked out any and all cold that threatened to try and get to you; all the while you snuggled closer into him because despite every last part of you touching every last part of him wasn’t enough, you needed to be even closer to him. You wanted your souls to touch and feel the presence of the other but since you physically couldn’t do that, you settled for forehead touches instead. It was just as intimate after all.

[ganondoodle]

(new totk rewritten - super rough concept)

so this was a super rough sketch for retrieving the enigma stone of the zora- im currently redoing it since im not happy with this one-

but i have run into a bit of a problem; see the reason why theres monsters causing trouble everywhere is bc ganondorf is trying to keep the stones out of raurus hand(s) thus creating all those bosses to hopefully stop link from reaching them, or at least to slow you down BUT i cant seem to decide whether it makes more sense if the whole reason they are split up among the other regions is because the ancient .. 'sages' wanted to ALSO keep them away from rauru, or if they were instructed by him to do this and await his return (which would be a good reason why they are wearing that sonau helmet still .. if they werent completely in on it i doubt they would do it lol)

(the thought being, would rauru be more likely to not give the stones away at all or he was too afraid that gan could wake up earlier/break free and get his hands on them first- so he sends his trusty servants- sages out to construct big temples and await his return but to stop gan if he were to seek them out first ... also possibly so all the stones arent in one spot, since they, in my rewrite, are the highest concentrated version of spirit energy and would emit an extreme amount of energy likely to attract something... yeha its all based on luminous stoens containting spirit energy and that also powering the shiekah tech .. made a diagram (?) about it once actually, though some parts arent true anymore bc im omitting the whole dragon transform stuff)

(im also using this concept for the skyward sword comic btw, the mining of the timeshift stones being the reason the lanayru region becomes a desert bc the lands been robbed of life energy meant to go back into the system over time edit: i mean this as in an environment was drastically altered from its natural state in an extremely short amount of time, which is generally a bad thing, not as in desert areas just being dead sand filled wastelands, theres plenty of life there if meant to be like that/given long enough time to adjust or turn into it)

while i want to make rauru a villain i also dont want him to be too overtly evil since ... thats kinda boring and just pushes that role onto someone else, im aiming for more nuance overall (which is also why gan isnt some goody two shoes perfectly fine with hyrule, like yeah .. the calamity was his doing still)- so im leaning more towards the latter- though perhaps the gerudo did so more with the intent to keep it away from rauru

(also, i am including mineru after all.. but only as a mummy like so (sorry) but her stone is gone when you reach it bc its been taken by the yiga- for which you have to tract them down and fight koga (and possibly supah/sooga) )

[k2ntoss]

okay so yet again i was scrolling through insta reels and i saw this and immediately thought, 'oh jason would love one of this with his helmet' so i thought i'd share (hopefully the video doesn't just disappear into the ether or this wont make much sense but yeah)

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8XdIwStYFg/?igsh=MWdzZXVpZHV3dm8zbw==

((in case it does for some reason disappear, it was a reel of a girl making a diy spiderman mask shirt with a pattern and then the red colouring bit of the mask was filled in with kisses using paint))

but yeah, i think making a red hood one for jason would be so fun and i just know the man would be so so smitten when it's given to him

anyways, love you, glad your posting again

- the ever present 🦊

"the ever present" OMG I ADORE YOU!!!!!! hi baby, been missing you with your brain tickling requests (i have one on hold but just you wait)

i've been looking to do one of those for me with red hood's logo bc i'm as single as one can be and i know i won't be getting someone to do this for me but okayyyyyy i can do it on my own. here comes something short but done with a lot of love

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ𔓕 ۪  ۫ ୭

jason had been waiting outside the room for hours maybe, he was just sitting on the couch as he looked at the door like a sad puppy because he had arrived this morning to your apartment looking foward to spend time with you. some cuddling, watching a movie together or reading, jason just wanted some quality time with his beloved.

he knew you had been busy during the week with a huge amount of projects you wanted to do but he wasn't expecting you to get so fixated over one to lock yourself into your room and not even peek to see him and he didn't knew why, what jason also didn't knew was the fact that you were already getting dizzy by the smell of paint inside your closed room as you placed the shirt over your desk again, grabbing a pencil to fix the outline of the desing for the hundreth time in the day.

"fuck, fuck, fuck..." you muttered as low as you could to keep jason from darting into the room and ruin the surprise and it took you a good couple of hours to finally have it done, the paint almost completely dry now and the image of it was neat, making you smile and giggle happily.

and it's just then when you decide it's time to open the door, peeking your head through the small space to find jason almost melted on the couch, his head resting against the wall as he kept his eyes closed but it wasn't even a second by when he snapped his eyes open to look at you with a small frown.

"baby? why are you-?" she stopped mid sentence, taking in the sight of your paint smeared lips and chin, the red bright color now cracked on your skin as you smiled back at him as if you just made the biggest discovery in your life.

"hush! c'mere, jaybirdie" you say, leaving the door to your room wide open just to reveal the fact that your whole frame was a mess and that the paint was not only on your face but it had dripped to your shirt and also to your bare thighs to the skin that wasn't covered by the sleeping shorts you were wearing.

jason stands up from his seat, stretching completely from his quick nap and walks into the now messy room. the small paint pots across the floor and desk in different shades of red, paint brushes here and there and then the sight of you standing in front of the middle of your desk, covering something jason couldn't quite see well enough to know what it was.

"i saw something and i had to do this... it's probably the cheesiest thing i've ever done so feel free to laugh at me" and those words make jason tilt his head because what on earth could be so cheesy and made with paint that needed this much time leaving him out of your room? because yes, jason wanted to cuddle and don't blame him.

"princess-" he starts but goes silent the second you pull from the desk a black shirt with a print of his helmet on it, all made in different shades of red kiss marks that emulated the shade of light and everything. his lips remain parted as he walks slowly towards you, his fingers gently tracing the outline of the print on the shirt before he looks at your face, the paint in your skin the evidence of the time you spent painting your lips and pressing kisses to the shirt to make something so sweet for him.

"is it too much? you know, you can just put it into your closet if you don't like-" but your words are cut by a tender kiss, jason cups your face in such a delicate embrace as he lets all his feelings pour into that simple kiss.

"i love it. i love you" he says, his voice a soft whisper even in that deepish tone of his and it makes your heart flutter because jason looks completely happy with the shirt as he holds it into his hands, still admiring the way you decided to replicate a part of him "it's just perfect..."

"can i wear it already?"

the question itself is the sweetest reaction he could give you, the eagerness to wear something you made for him making you giggle excitedly as you shook your head with a small pout.

"not yet, red... i should iron it and give it a quick wash so the paint stays on the fabric" and he pouts slightly because god knows how much he wishes to have your kisses closer to his heart.

[merakiui]

What are your thoughts on who just can't get over their ex-wife? Who is still crying into their pillow each night? Who is obsessively looking for gossip about them and how they are obviously not doing well (and should come back to him)? Who let them go because it was the right thing to do, and yet, they still leave ex-wife's space in the closet set aside like they'll be home at any moment?

AAAAAA OMG!!!!! This gives me a tremendous amount of thoughts omg omg!!!!!!

I can definitely imagine Azul searching for any and all information on you (mostly bad) because he wants to gather more reasons and evidence as to why you should come back to him. He just won't let you go.

Perhaps Vil operates under the similar notion of searching for you online, but it's only because he wants to ensure you're doing well for yourself and none of his fans (or your fans if you're famous as well or have just gained popularity through Vil due to your relationship) are causing you issues. If an obsessive fan comes after you, that gives Vil all the reason he needs to contact you and offer, at the very least, security to look after you until things calm down. Or, if anything else, why not just come back to him for the time being?

Floyd lets you go. He knows that if he was in your shoes he'd hate having to force something that just isn't working no matter how much he wanted it to work. It would be wrong to be selfish. He still leaves the empty space in the closet untouched for you. He still sets out an extra plate and utensils for you when it's mealtime, cooking portions to feed two instead of just one. He leaves your side of the bed made. Even though he knows you're not there, he still calls out to you when he comes home, hoping you'll one day respond. You never do and you probably never will.

Deuce is crying into his pillow. He's so heartbroken. :( he misses you so much and can't believe you're not here with him. He looks at pictures of you saved on his phone and in photo albums and enjoys the good memories that are photographed, but they always make him emotional. He loved you so much (and still does love you).

Riddle,,,,,,, he has no sense of what a "healthy marriage" is because of the poor example his parents set, so in his mind he thought things will improve if he simply forces it to get better. If he tolerates the growing divide between the two of you. Inevitably, that divide grew cavernous and now you're gone. He's torn between picking up the pieces and trying to move on from there and simply holding onto the misplaced hope that you might return eventually. He doesn't touch any of the things that are yours. Even if you still have some belongings left at his place (though he hates calling it his because it's both of yours), he leaves them be as if expecting you to return for them and (hopefully) stay. He still can't get over you and maybe he never will. Riddle doesn't understand the concept of soulmates, but he's certain that, with what limited comprehension he has on the matter, you were something close to that.

Lilia lets you go and from there he looks forward. It does sting and he is upset, but he's mature enough to know that some things just don't work out and it's best not to dwell on that. People drift apart just as easily as they grow old. That is just a facet of life and what it means to be alive. Instead, he holds onto the memories and when he speaks of you it's always with a smile. Though the look in his eyes is wistful, it's obvious he has nothing but fondness for you even in your absence.

[hotvintagepoll]

hotvintagepoll Hot Men Tournament rundown thoughts

I promised a final recap post and here it is! I'll try to cover the questions I saw the most as we closed out the bracket, reveal my ✨secret faves✨, and talk about the biggest surprises and turnarounds I saw in the brackets.

Yes, this will get silly.

ROUND 1

As I've mentioned before, I worked off submissions for who to include in the bracket, so if your fave was missing—that's why. I used submitted pics when I could, but many submissions didn't have one, so I tried to find decent ones in the couple of days I had to prep the first round (I didn't always succeed). By decent, I mean pics where 1) I could see the hot man's face, so not too much moody lighting, and 2) hopefully conveyed something about his vibe, even if it was a funny thing (yes, I showed Howard Keel in full Shakespeare get-up—I'm not beyond putting up a pic because I think it's funny). I didn't know all of these hotties going in, so some I had to guess with, but when I could I tried to pick shots that had a touch of the humor, class, or genre of the hot man.

For Round 1 and Round 2, I grouped the hotties by each decade, so only '60s actors ran against '60s actors, '50s against '50s, etc. Male beauty standards shifted pretty dramatically over the sixty years this tournament covers, and I didn't think it was fair to pit dramatically different styles of beauty against each other immediately.

I pitted hot men against each other based on opposing energies—hot vs cold, elegant vs rough, comedy vs drama, etc.. I wanted the polls to be interesting and I've never liked brackets where everyone is clearly in different "lanes" until the finals! I also wanted to make polls where I couldn't tell which way they would swing, so by setting matchups that felt opposite but equal, I got to be surprised by the bracket results too.

The only reason we had any three-way matchups is because the amount of men submitted didn't round to a nice bracket number. I don't like them generally and find them really hard to balance.

Secret faves from Round 1—I am a James Coburn girlie and knew he would die immediately, so that was not a shock but a bummer. I similarly knew Robert Preston is only magical to people who have seen him do His Little Dance Routines in That One Iowa Musical, but it would have been nice for him to last longer.

Surprises—Jeremy Brett was a last-minute add and I didn't think he really had a shot, so I put him in as a third wheel on the Sean Connery/Dean Martin matchup. Little did I count on the Granada girlies. (Always count on the Granada girlies.) The Elvis/Peter Falk poll was the first one to gain any momentum—Elvis was winning for the first 24 hours but then, my god, did Peter fight back. I didn't expect the Tab/Toshiro poll to make that bad a mincemeat out of Tab—people have different tastes, and I thought the people who like blonde sunny All American white boys might turn out for The Blonde Sunny All American White Boy. Sorry, Tab. I hope you've peeled yourself off the sidewalk by now. And, of course, I was SHOCKED and APPALLED that James Cagney would be obliterated by, of all people, Mr. Bing Crosby.

SHADOW BRACKET

The fervor of the Harold Lloyd and Fredric March people inspired the shadow bracket, and I couldn't be happier at the way it's gone. You were right, the original photos I had for them did suck. Cunty Harold Lloyd in his little life guard uniform was a revelation.

ROUND 2

For Round 2 I'd gotten a better sense of who was doing well and who was not, so a little of that came into play, but I mostly paired on vibes again. (I genuinely think this is a good way to make a fun, challenging bracket.)

Secret faves—Noooo not hot dilf Dick Van Dyke don't take my hot inventor dilf away uwu!!! (He was up against Marlon Brando. I would have been shocked if he'd won but for a minute there, a glorious second, it was possible.) I am also a big old softie for David Niven's particular brand of repression to the point of volcanic rupture, but he is one of many hotties who does not look good without moving and speaking so I figured he would be going.

So much beef—hey! hey you. I ran a poll asking if we are horny for dancers. Yes, was the resounding poll response. Where, then, did all the fucking dancers go? This round we lost Donald O'Connor, Fred Astaire, Harold Nicholas; Sammy Davis Jr., Danny Kaye, Frank Sinatra, and Bing Crosby all sneak into this category as well, by token of having been in the kind of big MGM bang-a-pan-and-put-on-a-show beloved bedlams we all watch at Christmastime. Round 2 voters HATED musical matchups. Except for one.

The one—SOUND OF MUSIC, the voters said, WE LOVE SOUND OF MUSIC. we will KILL the man responsible for salad dressing because of the SOUND OF MUSIC. every other dance man can die but THIS man dances a FOLK DANCE with JULIE ANDREWS in a GARDEN. I did not go into this poll with strong opinions about Christopher Plummer or Paul Newman but my god did I leave having heard all of them.

Surprises—James Edwards/Anthony Perkins matchup was a nail biter! Conrad vs Oscar kept me up at nights. Surprised to see Basil Rathbone survive against Sabu Dastagir—both very fetching, but Sabu had some top-tier propaganda. Cesar Romero put up a surprisingly stiff fight against Cary Grant (an omen for things to come).

Oh horrors—horror heroes surprisingly fell all over the place. I was sure either Bela Lugosi or Turhan Bey would sweep their three-way matchup, but Michael Redgrave of all people carried through; Boris Karloff went down against Johnny Weismuller (while holding hands with fellow fallen hottie Fred Astaire), but at least we got his guacamole recipe before he went. Delighted to see that the Venn diagram of the coalitions who support horror hero Vincent Price and funny lil guy Donald O'Connor is a circle.

Secret faves pt 2—oh yeah, I fucking love Danny Kaye and Donald O'Connor. RIP funny lil kings.

ROUND 3

For some reason this was the hardest one to make matchups for. Oh no, all the men are hot.

Secret faves—Michael Redgrave i love you SO much you're SUCH an idiot, how did you make it as far as round 3. I want you to sweep the whole thing but you should NOT be surviving this. I love you, here's a kiss, go home.

Surprises—Marlon Brando is gone! Errol Flynn is gone! Christopher Plummer exhausted himself beating the organic oreos man to death and goes out with a whimper. Beginning to actually see the roots of #mifunesweep as Tyrone Power, a hot man very different from Burt Lancaster, who was in turn very different from Tab Hunter, also gets swept under the wheels of the unbeatable toshirobus. Conrad Veidt finds that no amount of purring svelte eccentricity compares to the people who will fuck a young Lt. Columbo.

SHADOW BRACKET 2

Cannot believe it but Veidt loses this one too. Perkins sweeps and becomes Prince of the Shadow Realm!

ROUND 4

At this point I've set a formal bracket that I'm following.

Secret faves—this isn't secret anymore, but losing Jimmy Stewart hurt.

Surprises—The Gene Kelly/Jeremy Brett matchup was the diciest one all round, moving back and forth between the two by sometimes .01%. Far more surprising, however, was Cary Grant getting eliminated before the quarterfinals. Grant has never been my type, but he is famous for being THE type, so while the writing had been on the wall the whole tournament—how on earth did Michael Redgrave even get 36% in his matchup?!—seeing Grant go down was a SHOCKER. Other fallen hotties included Gregory Peck, James Dean, Harry Belafonte, and Sessue Hayakawa. Peter Falk finally met his match in Omar Sharif.

QUARTERFINALS

Secret faves—I don't know if it counts as a secret fave, tbh, as my horses in the race really went out with Stewart, but I do have a soft spot here worth mentioning. Here's my childhood dog, Keaton.

The resemblance is truly striking, and yes, he was short, fast, and not prone to smiling.

Surprises—I couldn't predict how any of these matchups would go down, but I was most interested in Keaton vs Sharif, as they are both SO hot in SUCH different ways.

SEMIFINALS:

This was such a good batch of semifinalist contestants. By this point I think we could all tell Mifune was unstoppable (though I thought Sharif might give him a run for his money), but I really didn't know which way Robeson vs Poitier would flip.

FINALS:

I wanted Sidney Poitier to pull a last-minute sweep out of nowhere, but alas, Toshiro is just THAT GOOD (maybe. I will admit that I find Toshiro's domination a little hard to believe, given the variety and hotness of all his competitors; the man is hot but all these men are hot). I'm still happy with how the tournament went.

FINAL MEDITATIONS:

Biggest shock of a dropout: the loss of Paul Newman

Biggest "you people have no taste": the loss of James Cagney

Biggest victory: Paul Robeson making it to the semifinals over often-assumed champion Gregory Peck

Biggest coalition who deserve justice: dancing men

Biggest ask character: vents anon (currently eating Laurence Olivier)

Biggest, uhh, anything: how many of you are here! I genuinely thought it would be me and 10 other people voting for the whole tournament. I'm thrilled it took off like this!

I think that's everything, but I'm happy to answer addl asks. And THANK YOU to everyone for your tags, rants, impassioned propaganda, beautiful pics, and love for the hot men! See you for the ladies!

[akutasoda]

hi! jing yuan,aventurine,blade, dan heng and sunday with a teen!reader like collei? (not for the event)

they were used as an experiment from a very young age, thankfully [insert character]rescued them, they also took them in but they were still traumatized from their time as an experiment,they are chronically ill which makes them weak and are scared of being touched due to their time as an experiment subject

experimental beginnings

synopsis - they save you from a past of experimentation and try to help you get back on track includes - dan heng, blade, jing yuan, aventurine warnings - gn!teen!reader, fluff, angst w/ comfort, mentions.of experimentation, wc - 1.7k

dan heng ★↷

↪the astral express always stopped at other planets to help them. meeting plenty of people and experiencing vast cultures. dan heng normally went with the group when they landed on new planets or re-visiting old ones - often being one to help those that need so.

↪but he hadn't expected to help you. normally the express crew would help those after seeing the situation through and deciding what was best - although this time, everyone could agree that you needed rescuing.

↪the unanimous decision led to the express crew very quickly rescuing you and getting you to board the express - they knew that they needed to get you as far away from that planet as possible and as quickly as they could.

↪the astral express crew understood why you were so closed off and scared, they didn't blame you but they did wish they could help you even a little. they would have to quickly learn to just try and help you break out of that shell little by little.

↪dan heng didn't quite understand at first why you began spending most your time with him. you barely spent time with anyone and they couldn't blame you at all, but it was a surprise that he was the first one you began seeing a miniscule amount of trust in - but he didn't see it that way.

↪he understood that trailblazer and march could be quite overwhelming or confusing at times, that welt and himeko could be rather intimidating. so he began to reason that his usual calm and reserved demeanor might seem like the best option to you.

↪he didn't mind you hovering around him. he could tell that you weren't much better off than the first day you boarded the express, but atleast this could be seen as a little bit of progress.

↪due to your unfortunate illness, you were extremely weak and so he'd have to keep on you to make sure that your condition dis not worsen - they all kept an eye out but since he saw more of you, it only made sense. they couldn't cure you but they didn't want you experiencing more pain.

↪dan heng would be happy to help you with anything, he wanted you to trust him so he could help you. he wanted to help you forget all about everything taht you'd been put through and hopefully make better memories with the found family that helped him.

blade ★↷

↪elio always knew how missions would play out, it would be weird if elio didn't seeing as it was always “elios script”. but elio never told them exactly how their missions would play out, only telling them who as required and where they would be going.

↪a rescue mission wasn't exactly blade’s first thought when elio told him and kafka that they had a new mission. blade never complained however, he would go along with elio's script.

↪when kafka and blade found you, he seemed indifferent to your situation - if anything it seemed like he couldn't care less about your sorry state. but in truth, it was quite the opposite.

↪kafka's concern was much more obvious, from the way she gently tried coaxing you to come with them and leave that horrible place, to the way she offered you help along the way. blade's concern was more concealed into anger, a rage directed toward the sick freaks that thought they could get away with doing what they did to you and who knows how many others.

↪you being put into the arms of the stellaron hunters didn't seem like the greatest option after everything you've been through, but it was in the script. clearly it was meant to be. the hunters could just hope that they'd help you get back on track.

↪most would've assumed you would first start opening up to any of the other hunters, blade didn't exactly seem like the best option. but due to his normal silence and rather neutral actions, he provided you the comfort of knowing that he wouldn't do anything. so you started hanging around him because he seemed like the best option.

↪blade didn't push you away, in fact he wouldn't dare. he knew what you'd been through and he knew how kafka or elio would reprimand him for making your state worse - that and he wanted you to recover himself, to try and re-build your life.

↪eventually, the time you spent in a comfortable silence with him developed into you starting to trust him - admittedly not massively but it was still a very welcome step. blade seemed like he would protect you, and you'd be right although a verbal answer would never occur, that he wouldn't let uou fall back into the hands that hurt you.

↪in a very distant way, blade could sympathise with your illness more than the rest of the hunters - in a way, his mara was an incurable illness. and because you spent most your time with him, blade was automatically put in charge of watching over you and your condition.

↪blade would always look out for you, he may seem cold and distant but he had his own ways of helping because they were determined to help you in any way they could.

jing yuan ★↷

↪jing yuan was first introduced to you when he was called to assess a rather serious situation aboard the luofu. you were placed under bailu’s care for the time being, your state was not one of a healthy body and nobody else seemed suitable enough to care for the extent of your “injuries”.

↪although bailu was having a difficult time. due to what you'd been put through, you trusted nobody and they couldn't blame you, so you refused to let anybody come near you. jing yuan felt an immense amount of empathy for you, he couldn't begin to imagine what they did to you and he could only regret that it wasn't discovered quicker.

↪he saw it as a personal fail on his part, representing the whole of the luofu's failure to save you sooner. and so he decided that he would personally see over your recovery - with the help of bailu of course, but he would help you any way he could.

↪again, you were very opposed to being near anybody and it took alot of convincing from jing yuan to eventually get you to come with him. he wanted to help. no matter how long it took or the challenges he would face along the way.

↪initially, you showed him zero trust and he respected and understood it. jing yuan would always go out of his way to try and prove that he was trying to help. although he was extremely glad when you began taking a liking to mimi, who also seemed to take a liking to you as well.

↪eventually, you developed a small bit of trust with the general and jing yuan was over the moon. he saw it as a massive step for you, it was a starting point for helping you get back on track.

↪it pained him to hear from bailu that you had an illness that couldn't be cured. he hoped that you could get better but now that wasn't possible, but he'd still insist that there must be a way to help you a little bit - even if bailu found something for you, they both knew you'd be against it and they would understand.

aventurine ★↷

↪he met you by accident. it was more of a wrong place wrong time situation, but he knew that he couldn't do nothing. he couldn't ignore it and so his main goal was no longer whatever his original intentions where, it was now rescuing you.

↪you unfortunately reminded him of himself around your age. it pained him to see that in you but it pained him even more to know just how much and how long you suffered - and if anything, aventurine was determined to help you himself so that you wouldn't fall into the hands of the IPC like he did.

↪he kept you to his private life, away from the IPC's prying eyes for that exact reason. although you were extremely distant and rather scared if anything at first, he couldn't blame you and if anything it hurt to see someone as young as you like that.

↪slowly but surely, aventurine tried to build up your trust with him, if he was really going to help you he needed your trust and cooperation, but he didn't mind how long you needed to build that trust.

↪it didn't take long for him to notice how you were much weaker most if the time, it worried him in honesty. so aventurine reached out to a very close acquaintance of his to see if he knew anything about how to help you. it pained him even more so to learn that you had a chronic illness - there was nothing he could do to help and it hurt to know that.

↪aventurine was dedicated to giving you the best life possible. with all that you'd been subjected to up to recently meant that he needed to help you recover - he understood he wasn't exactly the best person for it but he was determined. determined to help somebody.

taglist - @little-miss-chaoss, @frankiesteinn

[actual-changeling]

i think one of the reasons why crowley and aziraphale stuck together for six thousand years is because when it comes down to it, they have pretty much the same problems—they're just at entirely different stages of dealing with it.

aziraphale sees god and wants to be what he thinks she wants him to be. everything they've been told as angels amounts more or less to the same personality blue-print, and he is trying to fit himself into. unfortunately, as even he realises, there is so much wrong with the standards and ideologies, his goal is not only unachievable but also fundamentally fucked up.

his current solution for that is to compartmentalise the parts that don't make sense to him and otherwise try to get as close to it as possible without abandoning what he has of himself.

meanwhile crowley never fit into that shape to begin with, not even remotely, and he fell from grace because of it. all that pain, rejection, and suffering, but there are still standards, simply different ones compared to before. if you don't fit into one shape, you're supposed to squeeze yourself into the other—but he doesn't want to.

crowley wants his freedom, to be him, whatever that turns out to mean, and he wants aziraphale there with him, and yet he cannot fully let go of god.

they're both looking at the sky and screaming love me back.

aziraphale continues because i can be what you want me to be, while crowley says i'm still your child, i still want to be wanted but for myself—you made me like this, love me like this.

they're both terrified of the way the other is dealing with it, which is why they split; it was never about miscommunication, it's a fundamental difference in beliefs that cannot be combined.

crowley could never go back to obeying that way and aziraphale cannot fathom giving up on it just yet (though in season 3 he hopefully FINALLY will).

[sqwdkllr]

i find it so fun when c!phil is only seen through the lens of assisting in his son's suicide and the damage he causes. But then nothing more. Because this is exactly what c!phil does to himself throughout the entire plot.

From that moment forward he only sees himself as his son's murderer that destroys everything he touches and something he must repent for by destroying everything that brought his son to this point including punishing himself. Like even he thinks he's the worst person and if the world isn't giving him a fitting punishment then he will do it to himself to feel better. Losing friends isn't enough, losing his limbs isn't enough, being used repeatedly isn't enough, ruining relationships isn't enough, starving himself isn't enough. And it isn't ever enough ! No amount of repent will ever make him feel better about how he assisted in the death of his son even if he is back from being literally dead !! Because we quite literally see him STILL spiraling despite this.

It isn't until he is told by his goddess that "he has to move on" and that "till be okay" and he finally accepts that at the very end because if he stays the way he is, he will die. Its particularly why i love the ending so much because we never see the end where they escaped to. We are just told in the same way c!phil was that "they will be okay" and we just have to trust that they will be and hopefully move on and begin to heal

c!phil does so many bad things but they all connect back to reasons that make sense for him as a character. He had one son and lost him to his own hands and this action ruined him in ways that puts his war crimes to shame. Yes he is not a perfect angel, but that is what makes him so likable because he also doesn't think so either <3

[into-the-feniverse]

Finished reading Trigun/TriMax a couple days ago and have been feverishly trying to piece together a timeline, so here’s the result of that ✨

EDIT: as of 3/13/24 this has been UPDATED

For a more detailed timeline (with vol/ch marks): google sheet

Full res of the graphic (& other resources): bit.l/trigunresources

Notes & rest of the timeline under the cut!

Edits as of 3/13/24

The detailed spreadsheet is organized and color coded! If you'd like a more concise breakdown of events/see some of my reasoning behind certain time stamps feel free to skim through that

Changed where in the timeline the Maylene and Wolfwood events happened (originally where I had placed them would have made Maylene like 6 when she and Wolfwood reunited which is NOT correct)

moved where in the timeline Knives started collecting the GungHo Guns (at latest he started in 0090 (20 years before 0110) since it's noted that Monev has been training in a cellar for the past 20 years

Moved where Knives initially tracked down Conrad (felt like it needed to happen at least a decade before July)

Changed up some of the months (personally, I don't think the Ark launched in December, since that'd put Milly and Meryl's arrival to the colony in July, which wouldn't make sense. So I placed the ark launch in October which of course offset some of the other month stand ins)

Added an earth year for when Knives and Vash are born. The explanation is I think at minimum there was at least a 2 year period between them and Tesla (since Rem was around for that whole process). I do think it was more than that, but that’s the earliest possible year I think it could have happened. Personally I’m more in the camp of 5-10 years, but def not 50 like in tristamp

Old Notes:

If you see any typos or phrase inconsistencies: no you don’t 💕 (😭)

Blue text can be completely ignored, that’s just kinda my personal preference/wild guesstimating of when “exactly” those events happened

Blue lines can also be ignored, they’re also just rough guesstimates on where exactly in the timeline these could have happened

The distance of the lines from one another doesn’t really mean anything, I started trying to follow a system to notate when things happened really close together but it was//// not consistently done ngl

Fun fact: by the time Wolfwood leaves the orphanage Meryl is 18! And she was 14 at the time of July’s destruction

Additional fun fact: Brad is 17 when he and sensei meet up with Vash in the Factioned city (which I think is absolutely RIDICULOUS), and we know this because he was 4 the one/last time he had met Vash and it’s been 13 years since

It was noted by Karen, one of Meryl’s coworkers, that she and Milly had been on assignment with Vash for about 4 months. (Might be that they were out searching for him during that time as well, but I’m choosing to interpret it as they were actually with him for that amount of time)

I’m also working on a 98 timeline for comparison (but more like just sequence of events cause I don’t think I have the patience to sift through the lore quite as much… mainly making it just to clarify how the anime delineates from the manga)

I am//::: feeling v unhinged after this and feel like it could be improved/i need to do a more thorough read, but I’m calling it quits for now before I actually go insane (but hopefully some people will find it somewhat helpful!)

Also: if anybody has any notes to add or clarifications/corrections I would be more than happy to hear them 👂

[cat3ch1sm]

hii i think this is my first time requesting from you so hopefully I do it right..

can you do sfw headcannons of Hisoka, illumi, and Kurapika with an s/o who has a terrifying nen aura? like stronger and more menacing then theirs? and can you do gender neutral reader? thanks :]

🕷️~ hello!! welcome to my inbox 💚 thanks for your request! if you’re ever wondering what info to put in a request just view the pinned post on my profile! tyy <33

(:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅[̲̅:♡:]̲̅:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅) gn!reader, sfw

𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐤𝐚, 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐢, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐤𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐬/𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐚

hisoka

hisoka isn’t usually fazed by anyone’s aura because his own is so overpowering. his aura is just so eerie and unsettling that he never needs to pay any mind to anyone else’s because he’s usually the one people stay away from. but when you enter the picture, that all changes. the second you even enter a building every person in there is instantly weighed down by the darkness and menace of your aura, including hisoka, and he can’t help but feel fearful because that is simply the only emotion your aura allows anyone around it to feel. but fear doesn’t affect hisoka like it does other people. rather, he’s intrigued.

hisoka obviously has a thing for people who can kill him, so he likes to be around you just for the twisted euphoria he experiences of being actually genuinely scared. he knows that if you wanted to or he made one wrong move, that you could kill him in a second, and that fills him with an uncanny amount of pleasure. as a matter of fact, he’ll regularly push your boundaries just to feel the rush when your aura spikes. it’s like his favorite thing to do

illumi

okay let me just say you’ve gotta be pretty goddamn scary to overshadow an aura like illumi’s. even when he’s not trying he’s still scary as shit 🙏🏾

illumi isn’t someone who normally feels things like fear, anxiety, anything along those lines. but when he first encounters you, he can’t deny the overpowering sense of dread he’s filled with when he’s even near you. it’s not like he’s legitimately scared of you or anything, but it’s more like trepidation is literally forced into him. like he has no choice but to fear your aura. this is a brand-new thing to him, too- not even the phantom troupe or anyone in his family has such an awful presence. and to be honest, illumi doesn’t like having the tables turned on him- he’s usually the one people run away from and go out of their way to avoid.

i imagine he’d watch you from a distance for a while- either by having needle people go keep tabs on you or by constructing some other nen tactic so he can observe you. the dread that comes with being too close to you and that horrible aura is too much for him to handle for now, especially since like i said it’s a new feeling. i think only after illumi has watched you long enough to discover a weakness that he’s able to exploit would he go and approach you, so if you try and pull something illumi can have a better chance at taking you out.

illumi’s next thought, though, is to make an ally out of you- and what better way to do that than have you literally join his family? that’s what causes him to seek you out in a “romantic” way- his goal is literally immediately just to marry you so you become a zoldyck and can’t turn against him.

i feel like during the relationship illumi might be a bit distant for the reasons i listed earlier. also illumi just isn’t a clingy or affectionate person. with how powerful your nen is and the hostile nature of your aura illumi isn’t inclined to be near you often. basically you both just do your own thing, but illumi does keep tabs on you and still doesn’t let you see other people. not that anybody wants to because you’re scary but still😭

kurapika

realistically, i doubt kurapika would be with anyone whose aura is this horrible. it reminds him way too much of the spiders. and in his mind, nobody with an aura as ghastly as yours can mean anything good for anyone. plus, kurapika has destructive tendencies of his own, so having someone even worse than him around would not benefit him at all. so i think he’d want to stay far away from you, and would be protective of those around him when you’re near.

but because these are headcanons and we are supposed to be delusional, let’s say that kurapika isn’t immediately deterred by your nightmarish aura. his mind goes a similar route to illumi’s, so Kurapika is going to want to get you on his side for sure. he isn’t someone who approaches people that much, so he devises a situation in which you both can be alone so he can try and develop some sort of bond which you can build on.

usually Kurapika would be more protective than not of people he’s in a relationship with, but not with you. he kind of keeps his distance, actually. if you want to do something dangerous or deadly he just steps back and lets you. he doesn’t feel the need to protect you at all, more so like protecting other people from you lmao 😭

these were mid asf but it’s 2 am 💔 i hope u enjoyed <33

[randybutternubber]

More goo kid and worker drawings for the like… one other person who remembers them. If you wanna see my first post and drawings of them plus HCs (they’re better than these I swear), you can go through the goo kid tag on my blog. And also one shadow kid snuck in

@mjrdm

I guess I’ll sprinkle in a few more HCS

In the third picture I basically just drew my idea of why the goo kid looks like a burnt up hairball covered in tar. They were chased by a worker(s) into part of the factory that had large vats of that weird goo liquid. The worker ended up attacking them, tearing one of their overall straps, and with no other choice, they took the plunge and proceeded to get lost in the sauce. Quite literally.

The goo isnt something that they can just wash off, especially since they kept putting it back on as a way to blend in with the workers. It’s kind of a part of them now.

The goo ended up blinding them in one eye when they initially fell into the vat

I guess warning for more dark HCs, although I feel like they all align with the darker content in LN

The goo is made up of whatever the workers don’t use from the body of a child, oil, tar, melted plastic and other things that you probably don’t want to be smeared on your body. After a worker kills a kid, they essentially strip their body for parts like fabric, metal or plastic from buttons, teeth, etc. basically any sort of material they can use. Most fabrics and other materials that the workers can’t use are sent up in a dumbwaiter to the chained lady so that she can hopefully find a use for them. Most of the organic parts of the kid can’t be used, so they burn them in a furnace that’s very similar to the one in the maw. It likely has a hand in powering the factory as well. The ash is then processed with some other materials to create the goo. This goo plus some other bullshit or something is how workers are made.

Something something pink sauce McDonald’s

If you actually look at the factory/stone giant as a whole, a lot of it doesn’t actually make sense or should work logically. There are a lot of machines that just shit out their products into god knows where and a lot of them are just needlessly complicated

The reason why goo kid adjusted so well to life in the factory is that they were taken to the nowhere at a relatively young age. The incident with the vat happened shortly after they arrived. They basically grew up among the workers, and while they aren’t really friendly towards them, they aren’t outright aggressive unless they mess with the machines. They probably see them as a defective worker or something.

All workers have mouths, but not all of them have permanently exposed teeth

Workers are VERY fast and able to react quickly, especially to light, but they do still sometimes get limbs torn off by the machine. All workers are ambidextrous, as in they do not have a dominant hand and can use both with an equal amount of skill, so they usually just use their other hand, but since they sometimes use two tools at once, they might use their mouth to carry it or tie it to whatever is left of their arm. The goo can stick to it, but they will usually tear off part of their overalls (most commonly the leg parts/cuffs which is why a lot of workers have torn short overalls) until it grows back.

Goo kid got most of their food from the upper levels of the stone giant- just eating whatever was thrown down into the trash

Workers do eat- but not for sustenance. They use their stomachs as just a place to store stuff. it’s mainly because not all of them have tool belts or pockets, so they might swallow down some nuts (don’t) or bolts or other small objects so they can regurgitate them while working.

Most workers start out decked in the same or very similar clothing (overalls, tool belt, hammer, wrench, etc) but they like to steal from each other, plus it’s a factory setting, and it’s very common for them to get their clothes ripped. Workers do occasionally get new clothing, and while they are somewhat of a hive mind, they do vary in personality, especially when away from others. Some workers also differ visually. They can have all different lengths of hair, unless it’s ridiculously long and gets stuck, which usually isn’t a problem though as the goo mats their hair. Different overalls are usually because the person who makes them, (chained lady or the really weird doll with the sewing machine) sometimes use different materials or different styles

Workers are highly flammable, but do not react if set on fire unless the fire is damaging a machine. Unlike shadow kids who are very scared of fire, workers really just don’t care. It doesn’t hurt them like light does.

Workers are a bit larger than most LN children, it’s just that goo kid is small because he’s younger/just short which might give the appearance in the images of them being a lot bigger

Goo kid wears worker’s overalls but they’re sinched since they’re quite short

Workers can climb on all fours on sheer drops while facing downwards since their feet can twist the other way, similar to a few kinds of cats who can also do this

[i-heart-hxh]

I just want to say I appreciate you for staying positive about killugon. Admittedly, I’ve given up on them. Maybe it’s too many angsty fanfics or metas I’ve seen that basically make it seem like they’ll never be close again but it’s nice to see some people still going strong with this ship! Hopefully one day I can enjoy this ship again the way I used to. Currently everything I read about them in fandom just depresses me.

Hi anon!

I'm sad to hear the negativity has gotten to you to this degree! It actually surprises me how much the fandom seems to think what happened between them can't be fixed. I've been into HxH for almost 8 years now and as time has gone on and I've revisited the series and analyzed it deeply and discussed it with others, I've only grown more certain that things between them will be okay--assuming Togashi can reach that point in the series. And right now is a great time to be hopeful about the future of HxH, with Togashi working so actively on the series the past few months.

Sooo many of the messages in my inbox amount to "Is there really hope? Are Gon and Killua really going to reunite and reconcile? Or is their relationship hopelessly broken?" so even though I feel like a bit of a broken record addressing this topic so much, it seems like it's a topic people really want addressed, so here's some more of my thoughts. (Trying to make my answers on this topic at least a little different each time even if some repetition is inevitable...!)

Here's this post I made of some of the reasons I anticipate a Gon and Killua reunion and fixing their relationship. And here's this eye-opening analysis post of the separation, yet again, which also offers hope.

So much of HxH is about second chances. It's about how love and human connections transform people and make life worth living, no matter how painful and difficult it may be. At the end of Chimera Ant Arc, Meruem and Komugi (who are, by the way, absolutely parallels for Gon and Killua) find their meaning for living in each other, and decide to stay together even knowing the only way they can be together is in the afterlife. If you trace back this scene to all the factors and character moments that made it possible, it goes all the way back to Gon extending kindness to Killua and changing his life. I believe Gon and Killua are on a path wherein they will ultimately find their meaning in each other and vow to stay together again (albeit without the dying part).

Gon and Killua are the protagonists of the series, and they are emblematic of the themes of HxH. Looking at the themes of HxH and the worldview it presents, it doesn't make sense for Gon and Killua to experience this horrible traumatic incident as the young teens they are, then never ever get to fix and resolve it even though they're both clearly upset to have to leave each other and they definitely have more to say to each other. Why show them feeling dissatisfied and unhappy to separate if they'll never get a chance to fix things and be happy together again? Do you really think that's the direction Togashi wants to go in, with the focus of the series and the repeated emphasis on how the hope we can find in a cruel, painful world rests in the connections we have with the people around us?

It's meaningful that they make each other so happy and transformed each others' lives. It's meaningful that even now in merch and artwork and such, they're portrayed as a pair. It's meaningful that a huge chunk of the audience so desperately wants to see them together again, and I'm certain Togashi is well aware of that. These two are at the heart of what makes HxH so wonderful and moving.

It's okay to take a break from the ship if it's not bringing you joy. Sometimes I get frustrated by takes and interpretations I see about it, too, trust me. Ultimately, it's here for you whenever you want to revisit it, and there are plenty of fanworks with happy endings and reconciliation between them if you need something to tide you over until canon hopefully resolves things between them. But do what feels right for yourself--it's okay to focus on something fluffier and less complex if that's what you need for now. I hope eventually you can come to see it with more hope, as I have lots of hope for their future--and I don't think it's unwarranted at all. 💖

[sunny-day-jack-official]

So! The demo is finally out! Or, a bit of it is. What’s next?

Let’s run over a few questions, so hopefully everyone is in the loop!

Q: Why is it only a little bit after so long?

A: Development has been all over the place and a big reason is just how difficult it can be to mediate between artists, programmers, writers, etc.. Mental and physical health, personal emergencies, etc.. are also a big part of this— and it wasn’t anticipated that this would eat up so much time.

The original game was planned to have Sauce (presently speaking!) handling a large majority of tasks all at once. So— when health stalled, production stalled.

Of course, healing took a bit of time to. And even now, that’s why so much of the demo is left unfinished. Overall— it wasn’t possible to complete the demo in the same amount of time the original demo was completed because realistically speaking— that was extremely unhealthy and rushed.

Because of that tight deadline, 48 hours to a week, many significant errors or retconned elements made their way into the game. A huge toll was taken that resulted in extreme burnout after. Quality (as can be seen in the CGs) suffered. An emphasis on quality is currently being prioritized, but I can safely say that I am no longer able to work at my original 2021-2022 pace.

—

Q: Why are you (Sauce) working alone?

A: At this point in time— we had spent a while working on the GUI and design/function of the game. It is, after all, set to have some pretty hefty features.

Translation and dub settings

Censorship and Softcore modes

A VERY LARGE story map with several endings

An additional “one-shot” story mode wherein every ending you unlock, you then unlock additional content

That takes a lot more planning than we’d anticipated.

How do we make this efficiently run on most systems?

Are we able to make sure that the size of this game is compatible with older devices?

Are the assets optimized? ( A lot of time has gone into re-drawing and working out sprite systems )

What settings are accessibility necessary for impaired players? How do we implement those options?

How do we design a stylish and efficient system?

That was something we had figured originally would be pretty easy to work out! But multiple people here are wearing multiple hats.

The rest of the team is actively working on those portions. But at the moment— we’ve decided to shelve literal art development and scripting (which was where we were hovering for a while) until we got the programming bits truly sorted out.

That leaves little old me! While they worked on this, I’ve been spending time making sure we could serve you a sample of what’s to come. My job is doling out a taste of the narrative, style, etc.. That way, once they’re finished, we can consider any feedback in the implementation of these portions of the game in the final, official build.

Hopefully that makes sense! TL;DR - Everyone’s busy making the important program my bits and designing the menus. So I’ve stepped away to work on this so you all have something to see in the meantime!

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Q: Why are you REBUILDING THE DEMO?

A: The old demo— you’d think it would be easy to patch up. But it’s literally the very first build, sized up and fixed and stitched over. Unfortunately it was an unoptimized mess, even for what it was.

Hopefully a cleaner, more organized build will allow for better gameplay. But the key factor is just a desire for better quality!

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Q: How often will you be uploading new additions?

A: Until all the bugs are fixed and the whole demo is rebuilt. This should be every week or so until then. Once it’s all done, the demo will see a re-release publicly!

In the meantime, please keep in mind bugs may be aplenty— and I personally apologize for this. Demos released are intended to show proof of work— but they may not be the best, most fun experience for narrative-seeking players. It’s advised immersion-prioritizing players wait until the build is fully finished and christened on our steam page!

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Q: Will there be Mac support?

A: I will absolutely try!

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Hopefully that helps give a bit more insight. Unfortunately it’s difficult to articulate everything that’s going on, but we’ll do our best! We’d like to have someone more verbally gifted helping us to write these posts, but until we decide how to go about that, you’re stuck with me.

We’ll do the best we can to answer any questions as clearly as possible. And again— we thank you all for your patience.

Making SDJ was clearly a messier experience than we had considered. It’s been a rollercoaster— and as Sauce speaking, I can actually attribute most of the delays to my own personal health and absence.

That— I am sorry for.

The rest of the team is working very hard to put something together that’s quality. I can promise with my whole heart that they’re doing their best. We’re all just people passionate about this project, and no matter the weather I don’t think it’s ever not on our minds.

I look forwards to putting out a large Kickstarter update soon, detailing our work and more! And I’m excited to open the airways for more and more communication.

But for now— we’ll see you next bug-fixing update.

- Sauce