#i apologize to both fandoms for this

[egophiliac]

back at it again with the extremely self-indulgent diafams! I am being emotionally supported by overly-cutesy interactions between anime characters right now, don't judge me.

(also continuing with my headcanons that 1) mustache Bauru, and 2) he'll be hugely tsundere about it but you can, ultimately, convince him to do just about anything via careful application of Sebek.)

[yanny-77]

…But what is Sunball?

Do you ever find yourself sitting around, watching NFL RedZone, tracking your fantasy team and wonder to yourself, well what is Sunball anyway? No? Just me?

Well, my latest obsession is All For the Game by Nora Sakavic (If you haven’t read it, check the content warnings and prepare to suspend your sense of reality. Totally worth it.) and the fictional sport Exy. I love it and I hate it and it’s so stupid but I’ve read the series twice this month and want to do it again. Seriously, I’m not well.

Anyway, I decided to marry Sunball and Exy together into a short vignette paying homage to my current two favorite series. It’s not my best work but it’s been demanding my attention all day.

Ithan Holstrom lined up for the serve. His eyes flicked up to the scoreboard. The game was all tied up at six goals with two minutes left to play. His hand tightened on his racket. This game was a must win if CCU was going to make it to the semifinals.

The Palmetto State backliner who’d been dogging him all night, a bruiser of a male with the number 04 stenciled on his orange jersey, lined up across from him. Matt Boyd bared his teeth at Holstrom as they waited for the Fox’s dealer to start play. Holstrom smiled back at Boyd. They’d settle this on the court.

A whistle sounded and Holstrom was moving. Dan Wilds was good, but not good enough. She’d served the sunball directly to Kevin Day, easily Palmetto’s best player, but impossibly, Holstrom got there first.

Holstrom’s stick knocked the other striker’s out of the way just in time for the ball to land safely in his net. He needed to move quickly; Day had raced up the field to join Josten, one threat gone, but Boyd was now charging toward him.

Holstrom scanned the field for his fellow CCU striker and passed the sunball. He had barely enough time to brace himself for Boyd’s body check before they slammed into the plexiglass.

Holstrom didn’t care. Sunball was a rough sport and he was used to coming off the court with bruises at the end. It hurt now but his shifter blood meant he’d be healed by the time he left the showers. The only part of this that truly annoyed Holstrom was that he couldn’t see what was happening with Boyd’s body pressing his face into the court walls.

Fortunately, the roar of the crowd told him that his aim was true. Jason Regez had caught the ball and was running down the court to take a shot on the goal.

Boyd realized Regez was about to score at the same moment Holstrom did. The weight against him eased and Holstrom was able to shove Boyd off. Both players took off down court to join the fray.

Regez looked relieved when Holstrom arrived and gestured to Holstrom get open. He couldn’t get a shot lined up past his defender. Leave it to Regez to struggle against Nicki Hemmick, of all people. Holstrom hoped his eye roll wasn’t visible beneath his helmet.

Regez passed the sunball and Ithan took a shot on the goal. Bitter disappointment halted him for only a moment when the Fox’s goalkeeper caught the ball in his net and hurled it up field to his strikers. The goalie scowled at Ithan for even daring the attempt.

At 5’0, Andrew Minyard didn’t look like much on the field. His racket was actually longer than he was tall, but Holstrom had done his research and knew Minyard was a Hel of a player, when he wanted to be. Despite his small size, piss poor attitude, and lack of professional polish, the blonde male glaring at him was one of the best raw talents in the sport.

Holstrom hoped he’d get another chance to make the winning goal.

Up the court, Day and Josten passed the ball between them, yelling commands to each other in French. A useful skill that allowed them to communicate without giving away too much of their strategy to the CCU backliners defending them.

Josten took a shot on the goal and for a moment, Holstrom thought it was all over for CCU. Somehow, miraculously, the CCU goalie have saved an impossible shot. No one on the foxes expected it and Holstrom was completely unguarded. He caught the ball and turned to the goal. Fifteen seconds were left on the clock and Andrew Minyard was the only thing standing between CCU and victory.

Holstrom ran, putting all his strength into the wind up. The game clock ticked loudly in time with his pulse. With two seconds to go, Holstrom heaved the sunball toward the goal.

It lit up red and a blaring noise filled the stadium. Minyard looked at him for just a moment before he shrugged, dropped his racket, and walked off the court.

The game was over. CCU was going to the semifinals. Holstrom sank to his knees in victory. His teammates swarmed him and he was lost to the celebration. CCU students pushed their way onto the court. It was mayhem. It was madness. It was NCAA sunball.

[florallylly]

less steve harrington "i try to be a good guy despite my past" and more steve harrington "i've always been a good person (albeit probs annoying asf), you just stereotyped me based on my interest in sports"

[bookwyrminspiration]

me, of my own free will, clocking into the kotlc tag every morning to see what we’re arguing about this time

[lord-squiggletits]

Semi related to the other day's post about people calling OP a hypocrite for not wanting to kill people, it also really annoys me how often this fandom (even in corners like MegOP where OP is ostensibly one of the main characters) just disregards or does not care about how Optimus feels. Or seemingly doesn't even comprehend that OP having his own emotions/goals besides validating Megatron/whoever else he's being shipped with or interacing with. Or they think that every time OP is "mean" to someone else it's bad and awful, but when any other character does bad things it's justified because they were upset/hurt.

It's not really a commentary on character apologism or morality so much as it is annoyance that the spaces I've been around in near universally don't give a crap about how Optimus feels ever. Like, to use MegOP as an example since that's my main context of seeing Optimus content, I always see takes like this that only center Megatron's experiences/feelings while completely ignoring anything Optimus feels.

Like. TF One? It's okay for Dee to turn on Orion because he feels betrayed by him "siding with" Sentinel and Orion is such a jerk for banishing him from Iacon. But god forbid that OP might be a little upset about being dropped down a pit by his own best friend (and then said best friend immediately tries to kill him again when he comes back) and want Megatron to get the hell away from him if he's gonna be so violent.

Can't even count the number of examples in IDW1. Megatron is traumatized and oppressed so that means he can do as many crimes as he wants and hurt Optimus as much as he wants because "Optimus should've just listened to him better" never mind that OP literally did listen but no one besides dedicated IDW OP lovers ever points out that OP has a right to be pissed off at Megatron for some of the shit he did to him. People get mad at IDW OP for making Megatron give a speech denouncing the Decepticons because it's mean/controlling/anti-revolutionary or whatever (never mind that OP letting Megatron go free on a space adventure is incredibly permissive and informed by his personal bias towards Megatron) but they could care less about the fact that OP is staying on Cybertron dealing with the remaining Decepticons + shit with the neutrals and might maybe want Megatron to pull his weight deescalating the post-war situation so that Optimus has an easier time trying to manage.

It's very much a thing that heroic characters are held to higher moral standards than villains and grilled over doing similar things that villains are cheered for. But this isn't even some strictly moral thing, it's just. So fucking bizarre how ready people are to demonize Optimus because "he hurt X" or "he got in the way of Y" or "he sided with Z when he should've sided with A" but completely disregard all of the many, usually valid reasons Optimus has for doing what he did! It's all about poor woobies who suffered so much and are doing bad things because they're upset and justified from their perspective. But all of a sudden when it's Optimus, his feelings don't matter and how things look from his perspective (his goals, values, obligations, what he feels is right or wrong, the depression he often has across continuities) doesn't matter either. He did something that made someone else feel bad therefore he's the literal worst who only does things out of hypocrisy/self-righteousness.

It's not like Optimus could ever experience emotions like depression, anger, frustration, fear, loneliness, urgency, etc etc that drive him to do what he does. Optimus has no internal struggles between what he desires as a person versus what he feels is the right thing to do/what he's obligated to do. Getting sympathy for the very real hurt and struggle he experiences is just for every other character except Optimus, I guess. Swear to god the majority of the fandom doesn't actually see Optimus as a character and instead just sees him as a prop to either validate their fave or to act as a scapegoat for whatever's wrong with the plot.

[quixtrix]

tired of people being like "yall dont talk about dolph" "yall dont talk about sarah" the answer is right there look at both of them

[imagine-to-be-a-pike]

Arthur had every right to hate magic. I won't take back these words.

[dragonagepolls]

Can you do a “Most mischaracterized by fandom” poll?

Heck yeah anon tomorrow I will be: kicking a hornets’ nest

I normally don’t post the poll asks but I wanted to appreciate this one give everyone a heads up: The polls will come out tomorrow at the usual time (I jumped them up the queue) and will be tagged as fandom critical just in case anyone doesn’t want to see them

[choices-binglebonkus]

Since the very first book, Kaitlyn’s always been kind of a wild card, but this, I think, is the exact moment her character took a turn for the worse and never recovered.

The gang puts up flyers all around campus for Kaitlyn’s band performances, cheers her on and encourages her when she performs for the first time, the MC helps her reinvent herself with a makeover to boost her confidence, and the gang all goes out of their way to attend Kaitlyn’s band performances even though Natasha and Rachel openly and repeatedly treat them badly just to support their friend.

But then the MC gets knocked down in the mosh pit, Zig leaps to her defense, and then violence erupts all around her and the rest of the gang, through no fault of her own. And what’s Kaitlyn’s first concern after things get violent? Not the safety of the MC or her other friends, but the fact that her band might get blacklisted from the venue because of the fighting.

And then, she even goes so far as to accuse the MC of egging Zig on to get back at her because of the fight she and Abbie had…the fight that stemmed from Kaitlyn’s lack of receptiveness to the concerns Abbie expressed about her skipping classes after late nights with her band.

But somehow…the MC has never been interested in supporting her with the band. Right.

There are definitely worse characters out there…but shit, Kaitlyn grinds my gears like you wouldn’t believe.

[throwawayasoiafaccount]

of course it’s an alicent profile pic saying this shit:

the thing is, i would’ve agreed with the original sentiment of this post if it wasn’t for the tags, but then this person goes mask off and proves to me that they were only pretending to offer meaningful criticism.

cause all i see in these tags is buzzword 🗣️🗣️ buzzword 🗣️🗣️ buzzword 🗣️🗣️

i just wanna know, why are the targaryens always singled out as the house that ‘regularly cannibalizes its own?’

these don’t exist ig: the she-wolves of winterfell, the current lannisters, and literally every House ever.

why are the targaryens held to such an unfair standard? and why are they held responsible for the sins of their ancestors?

it is literally so funny. but like… in an astonishing kind of way.

in these tags there’s no objective language used 🙅‍♀️ no care for nuance 🙅‍♀️ and no meaningful interaction with the main themes of the series 🙅‍♀️

OP kind of tries to pretend, but it’s all surface level shit. it’s clear that they’re blinded by their hatred of the targs and dany.

because george never holds things his characters can’t control against them. what a character should be judged by is their actions, and imo, that’s what george writes about: how individual characters actions and choices can shape the world around them (bonus if the character is a cripple, bastard, or broken thing and is trying to protect others); and he also puts a lot of emphasis on a characters intentions and how they come to their decisions, which gets us his famous ‘human heart in conflict with itself’ thesis statement.

george, someone who’s interested in the choices of the individual and how they get there, clearly thinks it’s important to showcase how different characters handle great power, otherwise he wouldn’t have so many POV characters in positions of such great importance.

on that note, asoiaf isn’t an anti-monarchy piece. you could easily claim that it’s a criticism of systematic oppression, systematic violence, corrupt institutions, and unbalanced social structures; it’s a sort of think piece on how people in positions of power destroy the lives of the common in their petty fights of greed and ambition, all whilst ignoring the incoming humanity ending threat.

and through this thought process, you get the title of the first book: a game of thrones. the political shifts are a game for these powerful people, and this motif is one of the most important statements to understand in order to interact with the series discussion on what it means to be a good ruler. this motif also comes up in a conversation jorah and dany have about the smallfolk: “It is no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones, so long as they are left in peace. They never are.�� it’s high lords, not royals. it’s a critique of the whole social structure and political system, not a criticism of one family.

so, if you’re of this belief that petty power disputes are dumb and are angry that most high lords don’t give a shit about their subjects, then you should love daenerys, who’s one of the few characters who’s using her power to make lasting societal change.

now, is she perfect? no. no she’s not. cause she’s a teenage girl trying to take down a slave trade that’s been around for thousands of years (hilarious that she’s actually fixing the mistakes of her ancestors…). but dany is learning and is doing her best to get better and is trying to empower the powerless. that sets her apart from almost every other ruler in asoiaf and makes her one of the most important POVs in this book series quest to find out what makes a good ruler. something something gods make kings and queens to protect those who can’t protect themselves…

with that in mind, i agree that the conclusion of the series won’t be a character sitting on a throne because of their blood or because of some divine right mumbo jumbo. imo, a character will only sit on a throne if they’ve been smart, gained allies, formed alliances, have control of an army, have gained loyalty from the people they wish to rule, have been honorable, maybe have a dragon or three, and are a hero.

dany has checked off almost all the boxes, so i think it’s safe to root for her. and considering the foreshadowing, i think it’s logical to guess that peace will be ushered in, even if it’s a hard won peace. and what’s wrong with believing that daenerys will be one of the ones who helps usher in this peace after all the work she’s done to protect those who don’t have the power to protect themselves?

[danmeichael]

"ewww this character is so possessive and creepy" have you never known love? have you not spent years of your life afraid of your own hunger? does the safe catharsis of watching someone else eat their fill not appeal to you?

[the-time-between-the-ether]

I'm actually really pleased that it seems like we'll be getting more of Blitzø with this journey of self discovery. Don't get me wrong, I love Stolas, but he is not the totally innocent, blameless borb that a lot of people in the fandom make him out to be. They're both kinda shitty. And I'm excited to see (fingers crossed) more of Blitzø's side fleshed out.

Now, I would also love to see more of the actual workplace comedy the show once was with the rest of the cast getting more fleshed out, but that's a conversation for another time.

[dusty-pistol]

Would yall crucify me if I drew suggestive Callum art yes or no

[citrusai]

some shippers when solas has had important relationships from thousands of years ago and he can't just forgive himself for failing those closest to him then and go "okie dokie!" when his wife tells him he can come back home

[mushroomsie224]

Hey hi hello this is me drawing comparisons between Sofia the First and Percy Jackson because I need to let it out.

Listen. Sofia reminds me of Percy so much. She's a kid who's had to take on too much responsibility at a young age to save the world, fighting villains and whatnot. I feel sorry for them both. Sofia especially, since she doesn't even realise how fucked up it is that she has to do all this! She definitely had more choice in the matter than Percy, but still!

They both have magical abilities. Sofia's is mostly thanks to her amulet, Percy's is due to his parentage. They both can talk to animals, though Percy's ability is limited to horses (adding to that, they both have flying horses), horse-like animals such as zebras, and fish. Percy's abilities are mostly water-related (can control water, can breathe underwater, etc.) while Sofia has a wider range of them. She does have one water-related ability where she can turn into a mermaid, but I can't think of more similarities in their powers.

They both have amazing mothers (Sally Jackson I love you). Both of them grew up mostly without their biological fathers, both fathers also coincidentally being linked to the sea. Both fathers were said to have been lost at sea as well, also in Percy's case this was not true.

Okay, now let's come to their stories. Percy Jackson is part of the Great Prophecy, one that came before his birth. On the other hand, Sofia's fate is also in a way predetermined. Roland mentions that he thinks the amulet chose her. Her whole journey throughout the first three seasons, Elena was testing her to see if she would be the right person to save her, amd when she decided she was ready, she sent her a sort of vision. Sofia also has her own story in the Secret Library that she has to finish.

At the end of their respective series, both have to battle a serious threat in order to save the world. Both times, the threat is a great evil that is possessing a previously-established villain that also happened to betray the protagonist (Luke betrayed Percy at the end of The Lightning Thief; Prisma betrayed Sofia in The Mystic Isles). Sofia has to battle Vor (who's taken over Prisma's form); Percy has to battle Kronos (who's taken over Luke's form). At the very end, both Luke and Prisma, now themselves again, are remorseful for what they did.

Of course, one thing I'll add though is that both Luke and Kronos were far better villains. Yeah that's it. Anyways...yeah. That's the post. I have yet to think about the other characters in both series' and how they compare (apart from their parents which I have already mentioned), that may be in another post if I do find anything significant.

Of course, these are two different pieces of media with two different themes and tones, with protagonists who have very different personalities, but I like finding similarities in things I like.

[accirax]

so... exciting announcement... i was hired to work on Reality Resort as a storyboard artist!

for those of you who haven't heard, Reality Resort is a Total Drama-inspired show on YouTube, produced by Cove and animated by Odd Nation Cartoons. its pilot episode just dropped a few hours ago!

to be clear, i didn't contribute at all to the first episode-- i was only hired about a week ago to contribute on episode 2 and beyond. speaking of, it'll be a lot easier for us to make episode 2 and beyond with more support for the show, so please consider checking out the pilot if the show sounds up your ally. the team is super cool and welcoming, and i've had a ton of fun with what i've worked on so far.

as for this blog, given that i'm now part of the show's staff, i won't be making any sorts of speculative content about Reality Resort or any of the other planned shows in the Reality Gauntlet. this is obviously because i know things the average viewer doesn't, and because i wouldn't want anything i was genuinely blindly speculating on to be interpreted as fact/a hint. however, Disventure Camp content (as well as all of the usual stuff) will continue as normal! (other than that i now have a bit less free time :,) )

anyways, i hope any of you who do decide to check it out will enjoy! as Cove has said in the comments, the first episode isn't perfect, and there are still plenty of quirks to iron out in the future. but, i think that the future of the show is looking bright, and i and the rest of the team appreciate any support you're willing to give. :)