#i love hairstyle spectrums for characters

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

Hi, I discovered your writing today and I loved it. So I wanted to request the frist years with a partner who is gender fluid.

First Years With a Genderfluid Partner

Characters; Ace Trappola, Deuce Spade, Jack Howl, Epel Felmier, Sebek Zigvolt

Content; Genderfluid reader (I don't use pronouns though, since everyone's experience is different), fluff, crack, romance, some implications that strangers are rude but not in detail

Word Count; 600+

Author's Note; Sorry that these are pretty short anon (brain is being mean), but I hope that you enjoy!

Ace Trappola

He’s still a little imp, regardless of everything else. But he’s perceptive. He notices the small things; and he’ll reaffirm you as well.

“Huh, they’re not all that bright if they can’t see that you’re obviously the coolest person around,” he’d scoff. “I mean, my dad only allows me one gender- OW WHY DID YOU HIT ME?!”

But he would say things like that, but he does in fact think you are the coolest person around. 

He does take mental notes; of what terms make you happy (pronouns and pet names), what clothing makes you comfortable, and more. No, he doesn’t keep a little notebook, but he has it memorized. 

Deuce Spade

Always checks in to make sure that you’re comfortable; he doesn’t want to screw up, even if it’s something you may consider small. He’s just trying his best and wants you to be happy.

“Wait, do I call you my boyfriend, girlfriend, joyfriend, partner? I want to make sure that you’re okay with it.” He asks that question pretty often, since he wants to make sure that you’re okay with it; you always come first.

He learns more about your identity, only because he’s curious and feels that he needs to do so. Please tell him to put the books down and just come and hang out.

Well-meaning but a little too gung-ho. He just doesn’t want to mess up, but he also wants you to be happy. 

Jack Howl

The most normal of the group; he likes you for you and nothing changes really. He’ll touch in though, making sure that you’re comfortable.

He would let you (within reason) try out some hairstyles or makeup that you want to try out on him. He doesn’t really mind, plus sometimes it takes looking at someone else to realize that that look is indeed a look and a great one at that.

Jack is a pretty large guy, so if you’re smaller than him he raises a brow at you stealing his clothes. But if you’re larger than him? He might wear one of your outfits (he likes lowkey matching outfits couples do).

Super understanding if you have ‘blah’ days, and will let you vent to him. He may not have much to say, but he’s there when you need him.

Scary dog privilege #1

Epel Felmier

He would come to learn more about your identity throughout your friendship before the two of you started dating. May have messed up here and there at the start, but not anymore.

The accent will be coming out if someone is being rude towards you, and Epel doesn’t care if he gets scolded or not; no one treats you rudely and gets away with it.

Pomefiore also helps him understand that gender is a spectrum; nothing is wholey masculine or feminine, that they blur, and that blurring is beautiful. 

“Pardner” is one of his go-to endearments; you’re his partner (in both the romantic, but also if either of you feel like committing felonies).

Scary dog privilege #1.5 (scary like a very yappy pomeranian way)

Sebek Zigvolt

Sebek definitely knows a few people who are genderfluid back in Briar Valley; fae live for a long time, so playing with gender is pretty normal. He commends you for being honest with yourself.

Now, he is putty in your hands, absolutely WHIPPED for you. You thought the praise he was singing for Malleus was bad? Well, multiply that by fifty.

But it’s quiet, not shouted. Yes, it is still obvious for anyone to see; the way he holds your hand and looks at you. You are the royal of his heart; his Monarch, King, and Queen.

Would be semi-awkward if the two of you went to a pride event; he just doesn’t know what to really do. He's having fun, just awkward.

Scary Dog Privilege #2

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Tag List; @afunkyfreshblog @bloomstruck @eynnwwyjth @ithseem @krenenbaker @leonistic @lucid-stories @ryker-writes @syrenkitsune @the-v-lociraptor @xxoomiii

[mai-komagata]

about the "snw can't do vulcans" take

One thing I've seen over and over said in the reactions to the sdcc 2024 clip is that "SNW doesn't know how to write vulcans/has a very bioessentialist take on vulcans".... And that *specifically* Henry Alonso Myers cannot write vulcans (even though we have no idea who wrote the clip episode, afaik, i might have missed it, my bad if so). Which I find completely baffling. Every vulcan in SNW has been wildly different than any other background vulcan we have seen in the entire run of the series. 

(For one, they aren't giving every vulcan a logical bowlcut. Every other series pretty much insists their haircut is mandated by Surak or something -- even the visual language around them is different. Even though both T'pau and T'pring have interesting hair in TOS, as does amanda, who lives the vulcan way. i digress. i just love vulcans displaying personal expression). But yeah, what vulcans do we see in SNW? I'm gonna skip over spock because people have very strong opinions over 60 years about what makes a good spock characterization that has nothing to do with characterizing vulcans in general. First, T'Pring. Huge improvement in what we see in TOS. She isn't coldhearted. She loves spock. She gets annoyed by her mom and has struggles of her own. She is kickass at her job. She can match Spock in getting out of hijinks with logical thinking. She is smart and pragmatic. She wears beautiful clothes and is interested in building a strong relationship, and is willing to engage in human culture. We also have T'pring's mom. She is on the other end of the spectrum. She is very into traditional values even when it will make her angry and illogical. She is into proper appearances and doesn't go in for indulgence. She is a bit cruel, too, not just because of her prejudices to spock, but to her daughter and her husband. Then we have T'Prings dad. What a joy of a character. He is nothing like a stereotypical vulcan. He wants to try new things. He is fascinated by tastes and experiences. In many ways, though, he embodies IDIC and compassion much better. He also has a childish joy to him. We also have a V'tosh Katur prisoner in Spock Amok. He is extremely prejudiced of spock -- showing that dislike of humans isn't a prejudice linked to the teachings of Surak, but something orthogonal to that. He is extremely punchable and gets punched. its great. We have a background character that works with T'pring. She is there for a brief scene, but i loved that they resisted the temptation to put her in a "vulcan haircut" and gave her something distinct. We have Sybok, who is dating a non-binary pirate. I love that for him, great addition to his character.

There is Vice Admiral Pasalk, in Una's trial, which Spock hates from his time working with his dad. He is a stickler for the law, but also a vindictive MF, willing to punish Batel despite her doing her job to the best of her abilities despite her personal reservations. There is a Vulcan judge on the panel, who *is* willing to judge in Una's favor, proving that all vulcans aren't voting/thinking in lockstep when adjudicating law, as well. Finally, there is the Vulcan who rejected Chapel's application and then tries to get her back when he hears she met the Kevorkhians -- this vulcan does have the traditional vulcan hairstyle, lol. He is probably the most stereotypically vulcan of the bunch. But yeah... I'm not sure where people are getting that SNW writes/depicts cookie-cutter biologically race determined vulcans when it has written more different types of vulcans than any series other than Enterprise (and that was over the course of 4 seasons...). and I will note most of these vulcans are in episodes Henry Alonso Myers wrote. (although as one of the showrunners along with Akiva Goldsman, they are involved in all the episodes to some capacity). Maybe because they don't like how it characterizes Spock in particular? But Spock is not all Vulcans. Spock is Spock. And I don't even mean it because spock is half-vulcan. I mean it because Spock is one of the most famous characters in the western canon. Everyone has opinions on spock. That has nothing to do with how the show treats Vulcans as a whole. Not to mention the huge amount of things they have sprinkled in about Vulcan culture from all the shows and things they elaborate on, including lots of references to kalifee, the use of telepathy to show connection between family members, sensory differences in smell, temperature, taste, etc, descriptions of their prison system based on rehabilitation, courtship rituals, etc. There have been more interesting takes on mind melds than i have seen on any star trek show. They repeatedly emphasize that Vulcans have strong emotions and what they need to do to control it. 

Anyway -- this is why I'm not gonna assume the writers of SNW suddenly got amnesia and forgot everything they knew about Vulcans based on a 5 minute clip. (as with everything, i'll caveat, i could be wrong, and its a bad episode --- but just because it is a bad episode it doesn't invalidate everything they did with vulcans so far. have i mentioned i want to adopt tpring's dad?). ------------

Non-vulcan specific opinions i've also seen and don't want to make a separate post of: Couldn't they use surgery instead of this serum?: I don't know! neither do you, because we haven't seen the episode. I wonder if wherever they are going on mission requires a more thorough camouflage. Or maybe it has something to do with the research Chapel has been doing since s1 e1. I'm very intrigued as to what they possibly could be doing with a lirpa on a mission. Ok but why does snw have so many genetic modification plotlines: Because that is a question SNW has chosen to engage in in a sci-fi manner, through characters like La'an, Chapel, and Una. like it is one of the big recurring themes in the story -- is all genetic therapy doomed to eugenic applications? Is genetic therapy desirable? what things will it be used for? Are the answers we considered 60 years ago the same as they are today, with the advent of CRISPR and adult stem cell treatments? That the serum represents what vulcans are "really like": We don't know why they are in communication with the kerkhovians, who have previously been shown to be uncaring and bureaucratically inflexible aliens. Why are we assuming their serum is what "biological vulcans" really are like, when we know they screwed it up with 1. how long it lasts and 2. with whether it would work on a lanthanite. And previously they screwed up in assuming spock would want to be fully human, and that spock being spock was a mistake. (they are explicitly shown as bad/intransigent aliens in Charades. they aren't neutral helpful aliens, they are unreliable narrators in that way). That newbie Vulcans should just be Romulans: Well, no, Romulans *also* have their own culture, just because it is not the teachings of Surak doesn't mean Romulans also don't have their own inflexible codes of honor, duty, etc that *they* have adopted in order to regulate their society, which are more similar than different from Vulcans. Romulans aren't pre-reform Vulcans. I'm not even sure there is such a thing as "one type" of pre-reform Vulcan. We've never seen pre-reform Vulcans. Surak didn't emerge in a vacuum. Lots to explore here, and would love to explore the implications after seeing the episode. Why is racism against spock genetic: maybe their literalness/pedanticness/lack of a filter is something that comes more naturally. Romulans do have a sect built entirely around Radical Candor, and Vulcans famously "do not lie." Maybe overcoming being overly literal when its not charitable is part of the lesson they learn/struggle with. Also, there are plenty of biological reasons one might suddenly lack a filter/not be thinking clearly/acting out of character that could come with the serum. 

There was something else I meant to be doing instead of this. (sleeping, maybe?).... But im just bursting with so much speculation from the clip. My brain has just been spinning with theories. 

[welcometothejianghu]

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: สามเราต้องรอด / 3 Will Be Free.

3 Will Be Free is a 2019 bisexual Thai thriller about a complicated and extremely sexy trio on the run because they've been accused of some crimes they mildly to moderately very much did commit.

If you love an earnest and often frankly absurd revenge drama with smokin' hot people from across the gender spectrum who like to kiss other people from across the gender spectrum, then strap in, buddy, because this is just what a certain kind of doctor ordered. It's a blockbuster concept on a street-food budget. Its greatest joy is finding flimsy excuses to take off its male characters' shirts.

One of the best things the show has going for it is that it's a relatively quick bite -- ten fast-paced, 50-minute episodes, long enough to tell the story, but short enough that it doesn't overstay its welcome. If I've caught your attention, keep on reading for a somewhat brief five reasons you might have a good time here.

1. Hope you're horny...ish

I feel this is obvious but still worth saying: All three of the main characters are stupidly hot. They are, left to right in the photo below, a very tall bisexual boy, a fairly short ostensibly straight girl, and a regular-sized gay boy. Two of them are sex workers who know exactly how sexy they are, and the third is a complete virgin.

The tall boy is Neo, a sexy club dancer whose initial character brief was clearly "bisexual Magic Mike." The girl in the middle is Miw, a sexy club host who is a bitch and I love her so much. The gay boy in glasses is Shin, a sexy art weenie who has disappointed his mafioso father for many reasons (though being gay is not among them!).

And yes, they all hook up. I know sometimes with me, it's hard to tell because I talk about things like they're textually gay when they aren't actually, but these three hook up canonically, onscreen, and it's hot.

And yet -- and this is going to sound so weird, but go with me on it -- it's not very salacious, as horniness goes. Like, someone's pretty much always sitting there consumed by lust, but onscreen you don't get to see as much as a butt crack. It's kind of PG-13 horniness, perfect for people who are cool with the idea of sex, but not into seeing it. It's basically the radio edit of a much steamier show. You could have aired this on USA in the '90s, right after Silk Stalkings, and it would have fit right in. It's Kidz Bop Kinnporsche.

I should note that I don't think the show's choice of slightly coy tone is necessarily a good or a bad thing. It is, however, something you should know about before going in, in part because the promotional material definitely implies something far pornier than what you're actually going to get out of watching it. But if you like looking at sexy people and then having imagination adventures about the parts you didn't get to see, this is a can't-miss experience.

2. Mae, my beloved

Mae has done exactly one thing wrong in her life, and that is her hairstyle. Your face was not made for those bangs, baby, to say nothing of whatever you think you're doing with that little topknot. Grow those out, brush it all back, and it'll be perfect.

Mae has the most complex character arc of anyone in this series. When you meet her, she's a mild-mannered waitress saving up for bottom surgery and dating a kind and loving thug who's going to do one more job before he gets out of the thug game for good, so you know that's going to go real well for her.

I love that the show knows exactly how loveable she is. Two different hot guys fall for her, and you know exactly why!

3 Will Be Free has some incredible moments of tonal mismatch, where the fairly uncomplicated action narrative of the main getaway plot suddenly slips and reveals something almost profound. My wife made the very astute comment that whenever one of Mae's scenes starts, it's like the show has cut away from Fun Action Television Time! to a (slightly less bizarre) season of Fargo. The moments and conversations she has with her boys are intense and often heartbreaking, which is a big part of one of the unexpected features of the show...

3. When it's good it's weirdly great

It is at this point I am going to talk about episode 5.

This episode kind of knocked me on my ass. It's almost like they ported it over from a different, better show. It slows down and does some backstory for Neo and Shin, which means that we get a long stretch where no one is shooting or fleeing or doing crime. It's just two people getting their footing around one another while posing nude for an art class, semi-crashing a bachelorette party, running into old flames at a restaurant, and playing badminton.

And it is the episode that, hands-down, gets the best acting out of those two goobers.

They are not bad actors! They are actually quite good at their craft! I've never seen them in anything else, but people who have seem to enjoy their work! It's just that this drama is, by and large ... well, I'm not going to call it badly written, especially since I'm consuming it via somewhat roughly translated subtitles, which puts me in no place to judge. It's just not especially meaty, as far as the material goes. It's mostly lot of panic! and bad feelings! and misunderstandings! that add up to some artificially melodramatic moments.

Here, though, the drama demonstrates its ability to build some great dynamics between its characters, not just for a single scene, but for a whole episode. The boys get some room to just roll around in their characters, and I more than slightly suspect they got a chance to do some ad-libbing too. Nothing even really happens in the episode! And yet it makes you feel like everything that does happen matters.

When I got to this episode, my ears perked up! I was like, wait, is this show going to be Actually Good from now on? Am I going to have to start taking this junk-food series seriously? ...Well, no. As soon as this episode was over, the show settled back into what it had been before -- which, I hope I've made clear, is a whole lot of fun! But high-quality television, it ain't.

I joked at first that this episode must have been done by the second unit. But no, what I suspect actually happened is that this episode is much more the director's real speed. That'd also explain why all the quiet, tense moments with Mae are so good! This drama is an action series made by someone who comes across as way more comfortable setting the camera down and letting two people talk.

Or, you know, make eyes at one another from across the room.

You could probably just watch episode 5 by itself. Minus some foreknowledge you need from the main story, this episode would actually stand pretty well on its own as a little oneshot BL piece. But if you did that, of course, you'd miss...

4. My Little Miw Miw

Shout out to the beautiful and incredibly named Mild Lapassalan Jiravechsoontornkul for hands-down being the best actor in the whole cast.

...Which, unfortunately, is a bit of damning by faint praise, considering a lot of the cast sounds like they learned to act from a career of being side characters in gay porn. So let me be clear: She does a fantasic job, and in doing so, she makes Miw a real, solid, loveable character -- and that's important, because Miw is kind of the glue that holds the whole series together.

Having a character who's a bitch is tough! You have to write her so she inhabits a space between so bitchy that you actually find her offputting and so toothless that she's not fun anymore. Miw is just right in that sweet spot where she's definitely cruel, but you can also tell that being recreationally mean is just her home language. A lot of the time when she's around her boys, it's kind of that drag-queen mean, the verbal equivalent of slapping someone's ass hard enough to sting. Neo knows exactly what this is like, so he can have fun with it.

Shin does not, though, which makes his and Miw's relationship fascinating. He does not have any natural immunity to play-fighting, so he reads it all as real fighting. She's ready for them to wrestle and chomp one another on their way to friendship, while he's certain that this means she hates him forever. This is the leg of the OT3 triangle that is the weakest -- something the show acknowledges in so many words -- but it's still absolutely necessary.

Miw is frankly inspirational. She has been kicked in the teeth by life so many times, and yet she's still going. She's got that perfect cockroach motherfucker vibe, the kind that lets you know the girl has Seen Some Shit. But she has put on her big-girl panties and decided to just fucking deal with it, like the legend she is.

I suppose I'm especially grateful for Miw because of the number of trio-based things I've seen where there are two fully fleshed-out male characters who have rich internal lives and reasons for what they do, and then there's The Girl. Even if The Girl is cool in theory, in practice she's at best an accessory to the men's stories. You could replace her with a sexy lamp that said sassy things occasionally, and mostly you wouldn't notice the difference.

Neither, though, is Miw some superhuman Strong Female Character whose job is to be smarter and stronger than the boys at things (until, of course, the boys become smarter and stronger than she is). She's as out of her depth as Shin and Neo are. She does not have some special training. She just knows that she wants to survive, and she's willing to do whatever is necessary. She's done it before.

She's also just stupidly gorgeous. What a babe.

5. Diversity Win! This Local Mafia Kingpin Supports the LGBTQ+ Community!

One of the things that weirdly warmed my heart about the show was how it never went for homophobia or transphobia as a cheap villain characteristic. It would've been easy to jump to making the bad guys extra-nasty about the queer and trans characters, and that's never what happens.

This is perhaps most prominent in the case of Mafia Dad, Shin's father. He's the major antagonist of the series and an objectively bad father in many respects, but he completely absorbs the idea that his son is gay without blinking. He's even weirdly supportive!

There is a point near the end where someone says, almost verbatim, '[character] is at the transgender clinic with his transgender girlfriend!' and Mafia Dad's reponse is, 'Oh, so he's trying to live a normal life now, huh?' And we just cracked up, because, yeah, to this show? Normal life.

It's not a world where homophobia and transphobia don't exist. The show acknowledges that legal and medical things can be rough for gay and trans people, and there are of course a couple outright jerkfaces here and there. But on the whole, the main conflicts in the show are fairly agnostic on categories of gender and sexuality. Sleeping with the wrong person gets you in trouble no matter what your genital situations are!

It's a great example, too, of how the answer to bad representation is more representation. Neo has two trans/gender non-conforming neighbors (pictured above) who are there as sexualized fujoshi comic relief. If they were all the trans representation you got, then yeah, that might not be great. But they're two of several! So because they're not bearing the burden of being the show's entire commentary on trans existence, they're allowed to live the truth that trans people can be just as annoying as cis people are.

This is not to say that the show is a perfect queer utopian fantasy. It's more than a little hung up on cishet ideals. For all it tries to be very LOVE IS LOVE! about things, it can't quite escape an understanding of the world that will allow queer and genderqueer variations on bodies and relationships, but only so far as they mimic and do not challenge the supremacy of cisheteronormative standards. The director is openly gay and makes other gay media, but even that's sometimes not enough to break out of the tyranny of "normal."

It's also not a perfect polyamorous utopian fantasy either. The ending takes a kind of hard left into pushing pair-bonded relationships the true ideal happily ever after. How you feel about this is going to depend a lot on how you feel about a certain character who gets introduced in the back half of the show. It doesn't sink the OT3 ship by any means, so you don't have to worry. But it does get in the way of it, and that's all I'm going to say about that.

If that's all going to frustrate you, then yeah, that's going to frustrate you. (It did me!) But if you can roll with the fact that it's trying (and it is!), you can be charmed by how it's getting there. (Also me!)

Ready to jump in?

This YouTube playlist has you covered! All of the episodes are broken into four parts each based on commercial breaks, which comes in handy if you ever don't have time to sit through a full episode.

You may notice the playlist is longer than what's needed to cover a mere ten episodes. That's because the last hundred videos on the playlist are clips, trailers, and reaction videos -- so if you want to get an even better sense of what the show is like, well, there you go! Beware of spoilers, of course, both in the clips and in the thumbnails.

I will be the first to admit that I am probably cutting this show a lot of slack because I am starved for actual onscreen ongoing bisexual representation, where it's not just a boy who makes out with a few girls, then falls for another boy and never goes un-gay. Is it my ideal bisexual polyamorous love story? Oh, heavens no. But it's what we've got, and what we've got is fortunately pretty darn fun.

They're free now!

[yeyeducks]

Ancient Ducks

We need to talk about how the Donald Duck universe sometimes works like looking at history through a window. Cos like, at first you got the old weekley comics. They were published in the 1940’s and meant to show daily life. By now, some of them have become far less relatable, because times change.

Although you don’t really think about it when reading it, todays world is much different. Most normal men don’t walk around in suits everyday and I bet if you’re a girl (like me) reading this, you’ve never went into a fancy hat shop if they even still exist at all.

Moving on to the characters themselves. None of the characters have changed either, physically. I mean look at Gladstone in his first comic debut in 1948 and what he normally looks like in the Topolino comics now. The suit? Ancient! The hairstyle? Even more ancient!

(I’d say he’s somewhere on this spectrum? Goofy ahh hairstyle ngl)

This man’s tophat? Ancient! Old! I haven’t seen someone wear a tophat in my life ever, if it wasn’t for my 7th grade Christmas carol musical. And since we’re talking about Scrooge. If you think about it, his goldrush era 1896-1897 was like how for us the seventies (1970) are now. Think about that. Here is the math if u didn’t get it:

1947 (Scrooge is created by Barks and people read about him for the first time) - 1897 (goldrush) = 50 years

2023 (present) - 1970 = 53

He would’ve made his fortune by digging gold while listening to David Bowie or The Cure.

And last but not least, the Duckatti. If you’re not familiar with this phenomenon, cause you only watch Ducktales; Donald has been driving the same goofy car since the 40’s (or even 30’s if i’m wrong).

It was based on that car on the left, forgot the name. The fact that he still (somewhat) drives a car from the 30’s must mean that thing is a fortune worth by now. Maybe 90 years ago there was was some inside joke and the Bantam was like the Fiat Panda of the 30’s. Either way as the decades pass, it gets only funnier he’s still driving around in a can on wheels.

This was just my way to say how much I love history and Donald Duck comics, thank you for reading.

[chenfordsbby]

"The Roundup"

Season 1 Episode 5: “The Roundup”

“Nolan, the rookies and their training officers get involved in a competition that pits them against each other; officer Lucy Chen notices officer Tim Bradford is obsessed with winning at all costs”

Original Air Date: November 20th, 2018

Directed By: Nelson McCormick

Written By: Elizabeth Beall

_____________________________________________________________

A new episode! Im ready to get right into it!! This was a fun episode to do!!!!

The episode starts with our favorite trio out in the field, at some type of fair/event and we are introduced to a new Lucy hairstyle, her iconic braided buns and it is one of my favorite ones.  There is visible tension between John and Lucy as they are freshly broken up, but that tension is oblivious to Jackson as he isn’t picking up on it, like at all.  The break-up is one that was for the better but seeing John being all mopey as he is literally a grown man is an ick. Like get it together man!  It doesn’t help with his longing pining as he overlooks Lucy talking to a firefighter, Antonio, who is by far better suited for her, mainly in the age range.

The premise of this show is about an older than average guy joining the police academy so it is to be expected that this first season would primarily revolve around John.  I appreciate how he can be the hero and the comedic relief at the same time.  For all the times he isn’t our favorite, we have to give credit where credit is due.  John has some of the best one-liners and funny bits, that we have seen from everybody! I like that for him.  On the complete opposite spectrum, he also shows heroic acts.  I don’t know what made him wander into the side yard by those kids to quickly rush into the back yard, but thankful he did because he rescued the little boy who fell into the pool.  

We have the introduction of a new character, John’s friend, Ben, who is also the owner of the house that John has been staying in.  I mean, lets be real, did any of us think that  house actually belonged to John!

In the roll call room, spirits are high as everyone knows what day it is: Roundup Day!  I think this is the first time since episode 1, we’ve seen Tim excited and with a smile on his face. Angela and Jackson are just as excited and ready for this competition day.  The rules are explained and the game is on.  

We have not seen any previous Roundup days, but we know that Tim hasn’t lost in the past 5 years and he wants to continue his streak, so he makes sure that doesn’t happen.  Enter Nell, another new character we are introduced to this episode.  She is the precincts 9-1-1 dispatcher and Tim knows how to woo her to get what he wants: the first one she calls for any incoming calls and she does exactly that.

Angela and Jackson are returning to the precinct booking 2 felons before Tim and Lucy have even left the station…let the games begin.  

Jackson and Angela respond to a call for a wellness check for a hospital disappearance.  After checking in on the elderly gentleman, Mr. Walker, Jackson was too quick to dismiss the call and leaver after speaking to him where as Angela knows.  She tells Jackson there’s something up with Mr. Walker and wander around to the side of the house and they witness him with a bag full of stolen drugs.  Angela knows the signs and what to look for, that’s not say Jackson won’t, he will, he just needs to learn them through his training.

John is itching to get in on this game, so he makes the executive decision to enter into it himself but only after getting highly annoyed by firefighter Antonio who asks him about Lucy.  I mean, you can’t fault the guy, he is young and Lucy is pretty.

Side Note: My fellow One Tree Hill fans!!! Skills!!!!! I love seeing other favorite actors on different shows!

Back in the “7-Adam-19” shop, Lucy initiates, or at least tries too, a personal conversation with Tim about Nell.  He quickly shuts it down with his infamous, “I’m married, Officer Chen and this isn’t something you and I talk about”. (Again, I’m trying so hard to act as if I haven’t watched any other episodes/seasons but little does Tim know….) Stoic, emotionless Tim is activated as he tells her to keep her eyes out for the DUI suspect, much to Lucy’s dismay, as I think she’s just whole heartedly trying to get to know Tim, with no other ulterior motives, and he isn’t being receptive towards it.  They come up on the DUI suspect and Lucy is taken aback with Tim as he is reading him his Miranda rights as well as demanding a blood sample while basically bleeding out before the ambulance takes him away.  Lucy is associating the DUI suspect as a human who was severely injured and not as a drunk driver who possibly killed a child and committed a serious crime.  I think this is where we start to see her empathy start to show.  No matter TIm’s feelings or not towards this suspect, he’s being a police officer.  He needs to demand and obtain the blood sample before its too late for the drivers victim or else it will all be for nothing.  Lucy will eventually learn that.  

In the shop again, Lucy is clearly annoyed with Tim after his behavior and actions with the DUI suspect. Tim picks up on it as well based on her attitude towards him that she isn’t happy, but he explains it needed to happen.  Her annoyance continues as she thinks he seems more interested in racking up points on the scoreboard than prioritizing the arrests of the bank robbers in front of them, which is not the case per Tim, because he can do both!  Tim is smarter than them, as he proves it when he pepper sprays them out of the money truck.  As good as Lucy is, her methods of policing still reflect naively.  Lucy would’ve just waited around for back up if it weren’t for Tims quick thinking methods and they both gain points making 2 more arrests.  Let us all just very much appreciate the bickering of Tim and Lucy literally bickering like an old married couple so early on, and it is only the beginning of this beautiful relationship!

It’s a nice sight to see Captain Anderson again!  

Getting closer to the end of the episode, is usually when all of the separate storylines wrap up and merge into one larger one, as we see visible when John, Talia, Tim and Lucy come together to take down these Mob bosses.  I don’t think Lucy meant to trip and fall, but it helped with all of the arrests, so Go Lucy!!  It seems to be a trend, but I like this way of ending episodes, with some, if not all of the characters working together to achieve the common goal!! A great way to include the entire ensemble!

This is the first time we really see Lucy interact with Angela and again with Talia.  So far, we’ve only really seen her mainly with Jackson and John, personally and Tim, professionally.  Lucy overhears the girls trying to decide what to do with their own points and how to divvy them up and when she puts things together, she realizes that they are doing it all in the sake for Tim so he can win.  It’s brought full circle because of Isabel. Tim and Isabel used to excel as partners in the Roundup, so of course this would be a sensitive day for Tim.  Angela and Talia were witnesses to those years prior and know how different this year looks so they need to too this for him.  Lucy took note how much this competition means to Tim but Talia and Angela knew the importance and meaning all along. 

Angela announces Tim and Lucy as the winners, now 6 years for Tim and the first for Lucy and Tim is thrilled.  He remains the reigning champion, yes, it probably boosts his ego a little, but at the end of the day, he needed to win it for his own mental health.  A reminder of what was once good between the relationship that once was with him and Isabel. 

Jackson is still struggling with, I suppose, his self worth of being a cop.  He knows that he got to where he is at because of his dad, but Angela encourages him to prove where he can go in spite of his dad. I love that for them.  This friendship is quickly growing on me!

John and Lucy still seemingly pining for each other is becoming old quick.  It is clear as day that Lucy is so far out of Johns league.  She doesn’t need him and she really never did.  I think the relationship started out of convenience and maybe even boredom while in the academy.  At this point, just be done, and move on. 

The episode ends with John (of course) and his friend Ben, who may be the best thing that The Rookie introduced us to so far.  Ben and his wise words is what John needs to hear: maybe its time for him to be alone for a while and see where that gets him….only time and watching more episodes will tell!

______________________________________________________________

Honorable Mention: Lucy’s Braids! I wish they kept this hairstyle longer!

Episode Peak:  Tim winning The Roundup. 

Episode Pit: There really wasn’t anything that bad in this episode, so none for this week!

Quote of the Episode: “We’re not robots, Officer Nolan.  We all have our bad days but our bad days pale in comparison to the people we meet” - Talia Bishop

Episode Rating: 8/10.  This episode was a quick and easy watch.  Nothing too major happening but not too slow either.  We got some solid baby Chenford crumbs in it as well! I liked it!

___________________________________________________________

I decided to start adding pictures throughout the blog! I'm thinking it add a little extra spice to it!

Another one down! I definitely took a different approach to this recap, I don’t know why, it just felt way better to recap it in episode order, rather than by the parings and relationships.  I guess it will all depend on the episodes for my blog style, but I am not minding it!  They are also getting way easier and more fun to do! 5 down, 15 to go for season 1! My god I am flying through these!! This one also is probably my shortest review but that’s okay!! They all don’t have to be super long!!!

Until next time in “Get in the Shop”… ;)

[cjcroen1393]

Allow me to introduce you to one of the most self-indulgent concepts I have ever created!

So I found myself thinking "Y'know, I have these ship dynamics I love and yet, I don't think I've created an original pairing that invokes them quite enough" which in turn became "I don't think I've created something that has ALL the things I like blended into a single thing".

Because of this, I set out to create THE most self-indulgent pairing I could, which eventually morphed into this thing.

I created John first. I think I started with his hairstyle and the vague idea that he'd be a paleontologist on the autism spectrum, but what really made him fall into place for me was this little sentence that floated into my brain one day:

"He's a genius with fossils and an idiot with everything else."

And that brought the whole character together for me. I named him John, just because that name has been omnipresent in my life for years.

Then I needed to make his partner, and the first thing to pop into my head was a character I saw in my dreams once -- a kind of chubby guy in a hoodie, with emo bangs, a fondness for dinosaurs (especially raptors) and a strange hatred of shoes. I wasn't sure about this at first, but it felt right to have a character from my dreams be the boyfriend of this self-indulgent character I made. And yes, "Raptor" is his legal name. He chose it himself.

I made some alterations to his design -- when he first appeared in my dreams, his hood was always up and he had fluffier hair. I made his hair a little more jagged, put his hood down and gave him an ahoge, since his hair felt a little plain. I also made his hoodie drawstrings look like raptor claws, because fuck yeah!

Sushi, the pterosaur, was added later when I started thinking about the idea of giving these boys a plotline to focus on, and it ended up being raising a baby pterosaur that hatched out of an egg John brought home, initially thinking it was a fossil (and it definitely was when he brought it home, so the boys don't know what happened there). I haven't drawn a lot of her, but I plan to base her personality off of the cat my little sister adopted a while back -- that cat is one of the stupidest animals I've ever met and I mean that in the most affectionate way possible.

Also, I LOVED coming up with the punny title for this concept: "Pterodactyl" + "Dads" = "Pterodads"! Loved that!

I think I can do a lot with this concept. You guys may well be seeing more of these boys and their flying daughter soon ;)

Also, more Monster School stuff and more Pterosaur Rider stuff, and I also have plans to reboot at least one old concept I've had. This is, so far, the only new original thing I've made that has a "proper" title, which will from here on out be the dedicated tag for it!

[lore-gore]

I find it funny that on aromantic awareness week I come up with not one but TWO characters that are on the spectrum.

Want me to tell you about them? Too bad I'm telling you anyway.

Essentially I came up with them while listening to the song "Final Girl." I haven't figured out their names yet so I'll refer to them as final girl and slasher.

Final Girl

Like the song describes:

"Hot blonde, big tits

School girl, lipstick

Virgin whore, innocent

The cheerleader who babysits

At home, I'm alone

Stranger calls me on the phone

Lights go out, you cut the line

I'm the perfect sacrifice

Yeah okay, well here's the twist

I'm a stone cold cunt, a killer bitch

And I'll break your heart, I'll make you sick

And I'll rip you apart from limb to limb

You'll learn right now I don't play nice

And if you hurt me once, I'll kill you twice

And I won't go first, Drew Barrymore

Cause I'm the last bitch up

The final girl"

Specifically she is a black girl with a wavy blonde wig and baby hairs. (I've never made any black characters who didn't have natural hairstyles, so this is a nice step out of my comfort zone.) She is a recipromantic asexual lesbian and ends up falling for the slasher.

Then we have the slasher.

She is a white girl with pale, dull skin, short black hair with baby bangs, and green eyes. She is skinny and VERY tall, with broad shoulders and perhaps toned I haven't decided yet. She wears a white mask that looks like a doll with rosy cheeks, pink lips, and black mesh over the eyes. Might give her a veil to cover her hair if I decide to keep her identity a secret to be revealed later. She is a uniromantic asexual who has feelings for the final girl and is NOT HAPPY because why the fuck can't I bring myself to kill you?!??!!

I'm going to make their romantic attraction something that confuses and distresses them, but also sorta enjoys at the same time, if that makes sense. I'm allo, so I don't know if this is the best approach, if your allo and reading this mess I'd love if you gave me some pointers, obviously you don't have to though.

Also if you have name suggestions please give them to me!!!! I'm also white, so I would especially love to hear some suggestions from black girls for the final girl.

[sexysilverstrider]

im always curious at the application of fan favourites in canon games. for example:

1) did they purposely make red the silent type or did they roll with it being a widely popular hcanon and apply the thing in pokemas masters (making it the funniest thing)?

2) was N supposed to be an emotionless doll (generations) turned loving human (pokemas) as part of his journey or did the developers see how widely sweet N is in fanarts/fanfics that they decide to put it as canon?

3) was steven meant to be a popular heart throb by the public in game before the remake came out as well as pokemas or was that a silly jab at the actual fans who genuinely go gaga over him?

4) was touko meant to be a rowdy protagonist because of her outfit or because its a famous hcanon from the fans?

5) the submas twins are very popular so did pokemas give them THE perfect japanese voices the fans hcanons about how they should sound like?

like right now. immortal hiker volo is quite a famous hcanon. i wonder if pokemas will ever make an alt of that. i doubt it but if that ever happens thatll be so funny.

but one things for sure: volo earned his spot as one of the most famous male pokemon characters in a span of a year. thanks to his resemblance to cynthia (who is already extremely famous) + the fact that hes a memorable villain, volo is widely loved fans. hes also designed to be a very handsome/pretty character (yes even in his stupid final boss form hes cute imagine if gamefreak didnt nerf his hairstyle) and even without a canon voice yet, lots of people have imagined him to have this sweet, prince-like voice who can be cunning and piercing. ive seen the ウォロショウ go from 0 to nearly 100+ fanarts in a year. hell, even the volo tag is expanded in like 3 diff social medias.

volos fame reaches its peak that it almost rivalled N when he was first introduced. steven and red are famous, yes, but volo is a fan favourite in many aspects. hes designed in a way that caters to fans who loves whatever spectrum N falls under.

and they gave N an amazing voice in pokemon masters. steven also has a charming voice to match his rocks for brains. red has a great seiyuu for someone who says 'A' as an actual dialogue. even adaman has a great voice. iridas voice matches her so well. ingo has a hilarious scream that will also sound great (and heartbreaking) if we ever get his legends version. emmet sounds adorable in his japanese voice. hell even cynthia has THE voice to match hw everyone hears her. so far pokemon masters do a great job to match the voice with the characters.

so the question is: when is volo coming out to pokemon masters ex and who will voice him?

[misconceivedcapricorn]

What is it with blonde boys and the general idea (usually fanon but sometimes very rarely canon) that they try to push past their trauma by making an effort to distinguish themselves from a relative who they look similar to? And why is each of them on a spectrum of whether or not it is healthy to change how you look because of your resemblance?

(Mostly everything except for Hunter from here on out Is centred around the fanon and an exploration of how the same concept holds different connotations in the context of the character and situation)

Kaveh and Klavier are on opposite sides of the spectrum.

For Kaveh, the headcannon that he dyed his hair brown is usually out of guilt for looking too much like his mother or father. Either way, it's usually because he blames himself for the death of his father and the following collapse with his relationship with his mother. So therefore whenever the headcanon is portrayed it is portrayed as a bad thing that happened in the past or present that he needs to overcome, a stage of his life he needs to push through and realise that he, as a child, was not responsible for the death of his father and he should not have to change himself out of a place of guilt.

For Klavier, the headcanon is that generally after the events of the Apollo Justice Trilogy he cuts his hair because he resembles Kristoph too much. This is usually an emotionally charged decision fuelled by his hurt and sometimes anger at his brother for using him to disbar a lawyer whom Kristoph had a vendetta against, as well as the murder plans Kristoph put into place that followed. Even though when it's usually written or drawn Klavier cuts it in a moment of vulnerability, it's also portrayed as a good thing- he gains a sense of freedom from no longer emulating his brother.

With Hunter, it is very much canon. He is smack dab in the middle in my opinion. He cuts his hair in the intro to Season 3 due to being reminded both of Caleb, the Wittebane brother who he was created to emulate, and also Belos (or Phillip) who was responsible for a lot of his trauma and also the man who killed Caleb for falling in love and beginning to start a family with a witch. He cuts his hair (and his little iconic hair strand) in order to attempt to not be reminded of either of them. It grows back like super quickly due to Belos' interference, but even four years later after the main series canon happens, Hunter has been shown to have kept his hairstyle as it used to be, showing his growth. His decision to change his appearance was neither good or bad, I feel, it was just a choice he made that may have made him feel better, but obviously, there were some negative factors contributing it as well.

[sweetmiremoonie]

I'm aware that it's been all but (unofficially) confirmed that Futaba is autistic, but I'd like to think that Haru is as well. I've always felt a connection to her even before the game's release due to the fact that we look strikingly similar physically, down to the fluffy bob hairstyle and oversized pastel sweater.

It wasn't until I discovered I'm on the spectrum as to why I love Haru so much. She has many autistic traits that I also have, as well as similar struggles:

The shyness and reservedness, being viewed as eccentric, keeping to myself and avoiding contact, trust issues due to having trouble figuring out intentions, finding an overabundance of meaning in words, loving plants and horror, being underestimated due to my gentle and delicate nature, finding thrills in risky activities, passive aggressivess towards loved ones, the pure joy felt when the things I'm good at can help others and not feeling like I'm enough and the low self esteem that comes with that, saying that being creative is the only thing I'm good at, describing myself as weird, being polite with refined speech and maintaining a friendly smile as a form of masking, being playful and teasing, not being good at speaking my mind, valuing every little freedom I can get, describing things as "luxuries", high empathy and awareness of my privileges, not holding resentment even after being wronged...

Phew... I just love Haru so much. I'm so honored to have her as a comfort character 🌸

[gabrielle-writes]

Devlog 7 - 06/09/2023

LINK FOR DEMO |  PLAYLIST

So. Writing for chapter 2 has begun. I'm writing the first event for the Necromancer Path. The events are "the same" for both paths, but written from different perspectives and with different happenings around it. At the moment, there are around 8,5k words in it, both text, code, and flavor-text for variation in personality.

Regarding code, there are two things: first, there are two more choices regarding appearance, specifically hairstyle and weight, and as a result the descriptions in "Appearance" will now appear.

And the second, I coded in such a way that the game records the tendency of your personality at certain points - for example, if at the end of the first chapter you were more restless or calm - and then this influences how much your next choices regarding these traits actually influence them.

For example, you were more restless: choosing to be calm both will shift the trait more towards calm and will be noted either by people that knew you in the first chapter and/or by yourself, while choosing to be restless will have less of an impact in shifting the trait towards restless and at most will cause someone that knows you to be like "oh not again" lol. It will be done in such a way that, as the second chapter progress, your personality traits can go all the way to the other end of the spectrum when compared to the first chapter, or just shift towards the extreme of what you already were. I don't intend on locking any of the personality traits at any point, but as the history progress the choices will have less of an impact for the numbers-behind-it-all, instead focusing on flavor-text: if the trait leans towards one side, but you choose things reflecting the other, the text will reflect that what you choose is not your "typical".

My intention with this is that, yes, we tend to have our typical way of being, but sometimes we deviate for whatever reason, and people around that knows us may notice. It's hard and a lot of work, the coding and math to make it's all well-balanced and correct is maddening, but it's hella fun and rewarding to write these variations.

Regarding writing in itself... Oh my God. I've finally reached the point where the Necromancer is made aware of Gehfeer's existence; as I said when answering an ask, about the structure of the IF if I remember correctly now, MC and RO know each other, but it's more of an acquaintance/professional colleagues that occasionally see each other thing-y in general, not exactly profound. Still, they have interacted enough to form opinions and impressions on each other, and this is what the second chapter brings forth alongside building your own abilities and your reputation.

And I'm loving writing this.

How do I put? Gehfeer is Silb-Ziidre, but Gehfeer is also their own person, with their own personality and quirks, and as a result both writing them in itself and writing them interacting with other characters is totally different from writing the Undead path. And I'm having so much fun with it. For example, Gehfeer's dynamic with Lilana, with Gehfeer being a sarcastic little shit? I'm in love with it.

(This is just a short example of Gehfeer's sarcasm. Atm the test-save for the Necromancer is a nb Necromancer and a female Gehfeer)

Sincerely, I can't wait to finish writing the first event in the Necromancer Path and start with it for the Undead Path. I can't wait to write the Undead meeting Cosmos, and properly write Cosmos, instead of only notes. Of getting the proper feel of writing them and their short temper and how they fit with the people around them - I have only written before short scenes with them that I'm not even sure will make into the IF, just to try out some things.

Notes and outlines are essential for not getting lost, but they don't compare with really writing what they talk about, at least for me. It's always a discovery and an adventure, and there is always space for bringing forth more than what you had planned.

I think this is what I had to share about the progress this month.

Thank you all for the support and the patience! Love you all and stay safe! Until the next Monthly Lore!

LINK FOR DEMO |  PLAYLIST

[raisinchallah]

the designs i have in mind are kind of a whole spectrum from like working off existing costumes for the different aliens to totally winging it but ive had an idea to draw klingons in something inspired by the thierry mugler macbeth costumes for sooo long and then um also just kinda doing whatever i love inventing things that make no sense costume wise for bajorans tho i wanna go for more natural real clothes look but with weird asymmetrical pattern work and lots of warm tones ive had this collection of very dramatic vulcan hairstyle inspiration saved as references for sooo long and already a bunch of vulcan costume sketches from my failed attempt at making a dress up game i have this fun idea of a giant fluffy white fur coat on an andorian because tbh tho i think black leather is very fun i am trying to change things up and i have multiple black leather ideas for klingons and like wheres the andorian cold weather fashion oh other klingon idea i really love the weird spinal cord they have on their military uniforms i wanna try and incorporate other stylized bones as well as try some kind of muscle cuirass mixed with goth fashion.. something really crazy pattern wise for the ferengi gotta really push the limits of taste on that front also excited to tackle elaborate cardassian hairstyles and tbh i dont think i could invent a betazoid character as entertaining and stylish as lwaxana so i will maybe just try my hand at designing something she would wear which idk if i am worthy of such a task oh and i have some fun ideas for like 60s sci fi looking stylish borg very mod metropolis cuz i think it would be fun :3 as well as some weird biological and mechanical hr geiger art stuff for the borg queen mayhaps anyways i somehow got the vision for almost all of this while lying in this insane not really sleep not really awake state tossing and turning in the dark after sleeping for 10 hours but still gripped by the sleep demon i was having coherent thoughts but only about star trek zine projects i was also writing out theoretical recipes in my head during this 2 hour devils awakeness thrown from the bounds of sleep but not embraced by the waking world either situation

[eidolonshiva]

What's your favorite part about drawing Fumiko? What about the siblings? Love your art, always wishing you the best.

Thank you, anon!

Regardless of the character, my favorite part of the drawing/colouring process is the face. I do think I have a bad habit of falling into "same face syndrome," but I try my best to give characters different features in their eye, nose, and overall face shape.

Gyutaro, in particular, is so enjoyable for me to draw as I don't have to worry about making him conventionally attractive. Although I think he's the prettiest princess that's ever been conceived, he's considered canonically ugly so I can play around with his features/expression without worrying if it comes off as attractive. He has a monstrous anatomy that also allows more freedom (seriously, what is up with his hipbones?)

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I also loooove drawing pretty girls. A lot of the Demon Slayer ladies are just stunning; Daki and Mitsuri in particular have such appealing designs. I like how each character in the series has a strong aesthetic in terms of colour palette, motif or pattern.

In Fumiko's case, I especially enjoy drawing her overall figure as she's on the heavier side with a soft tummy (though the clothing she usually wear obscures this.) I also love the way hime hairstyles look, and drawing the little sidepieces of the fringe is fun.

[become-potatoes]

ichika 1 4 7 9 for the ask game

1. ive always seen ichika as somewhere on the spectrum of being gnc/trans. it all started when i saw her colorfes card with the shorter hair and thats the hairstyle i always headcanon her as having. i like to think of ichika as someone who doesn’t really care about gender but if she had to pin it down she’d describe herself as nb and not caring about pronouns. this also has to do with my personal headcanon of the characters appearance in their colorfes cards being their ideal appearance (except maybe toya) also ummm shes asexual biromantic and demiromantic bc i said so

4. made to order literally makes me sob but honestly all ichika comms are bangers (except the wall - i am escorted off of my soapbox)

7. ichika and sakis relationship is near and dear to me (they got that sun&moon wlw swag that im never immune to) and i love how sakis constantly the one really pushing and motivating ichi. saki is always on her mind

9. i love ichika into the night, 1, and made to order

[gffa]

I think what I really object to in a lot of the push for “morally gray characters are more nuanced, rather than perfect, flawless, boring characters!” is that it too often flattens the spectrum into where any character who has the slightest flaw is now a morally gray character and if I say I like them as a good person, then I’m denying that flaw and instead flattening their character.  When, no, my fave can be kind of a dick, but still a genuinely good, heroic character that I appreciate for doing their best in every situation they’re in.  I can love a character for always choosing to be kind whenever they can without that character having to spend literally every single waking moment helping others.  A character can say bitchy things sometimes because they think they’re funny and that doesn’t have to mean they’re a morally gray character, they can still be a thoroughly good person, a morally righteous person, and tell someone their new hairstyle looks like they cut it themselves with a lawn mower.  A character can be reserved or even downright stoic, they don’t have to be sunshine and gentle smiles, to still be one of the kindest people.  They can tell someone to sit their ass down because they’re about to throw a tantrum and still be a character fully in the light.  A character being less than perfect does not mean the same thing as being morally gray.  A character being flawed does not mean they’re barred from being entirely a heroic character.

[transfaguette]

I love the game Cozy Grove's approach to gender. No one ever refers to your character by gendered pronouns, you can wear clothes and have hairstyles from across the gender spectrum, and there's hijabs! My genderfluid queerab self was a shrieking mess when I realized I could have a character who actually looks and dresses like me. It's so nice to finally have that. (I switched it over to the French version to see how they handled pronouns there since I'm learning the language and they got around it by having characters refer to you by gender-neutral nicknames that aren't based on your actual name, like Sunflower and Bright Eyes and Scout. I am LIVING.)

ooh i was eyeing that one on steam, I'll have to give it another look!