#i think all those posts are a tad unnecessary

[ineffable-suffering]

The Jane Austen Ball and why it was never about Nina and Maggie

Otherwise known as (*takes a deep breath*): A completely inflated close-up look at various dialogues and events of Season 2 that prove that the Whickber Street Traders and Shopkeeper's Association Meeting Cotillion Ball was supposed to be Aziraphale's confession to Crowley

Look, the point's been made before but that's never kept me from making it myself again, still. In fact, even I made it before, at the end of one of my other metas. But I feel like it's absolutely worthy enough to get its own soppy, way-too-long post. And I do love it so very much to write ridiculously long essays on something that could easily be condensed into a short paragraph.

So, here we go! Snuggle up, get cozy, settle in and, most importantly:

(Word count: 3.177 | Reading time: ~13 minutes)

As I already said above, I laid out a similar case in my meta about why Aziraphale is somewhat of an unreliable narrator. I'll try and recycle it here briefly, so I can further make my point.

When Aziraphale arrives back in London from his Edinburgh journey, he seems oddly happy and giddy for the fact that he just had a rather odd and threatening encounter with Shax. I explain in my other meta that this is because he just spent the last hours of his drive reminiscing on the thrilling and romantic magic show adventure of 1941 and also the fact that he just found out that Crowley has been replaced by Shax and no longer works for Hell.

Ergo: We have a hopelessly lovesick Principality at our hands, who's practically swooning over his serpent who saved him, his books and his magic show all those years ago.

Ergo:

✨This✨

Realistically, Aziraphale should probably be a tad worried about the eery encounter with Shax, in which she definitely had the upper hand on him. But well, if you spend many-a hours driving across the serene countryside (Edinburgh is about an 8-hour drive from London), pondering on one of the craziest, sticky-sweet romantic adventures of your not-life life, well ... things tend to turn a little rosy around the edges. Head in the clouds and all that. Light shades of grey!

Alright, onwards: Once the angel, filled to the very brim with fond memories and butterflies, gets out of the Bentley, he's kindly met with a face full of verdant plants and a very in-character-grumpy Crowley.

Fhwack! Way to burst the rosy bubble.

Seriously, the absolute lightning speed with which Crowley storms out to vacate the bookshop the very second Aziraphale arrives makes me giggle every time.

Let's make a first small (who am I kidding) diversion into analysing the following conversation in unnecessary detail ...

... simply because I enjoy quoting dialogue as an accurate reference in my metas. I'll also highlight certain passages I want to comment on in individual colours so I can back up my thoughts with them below. Alright, their little chinwag goes as follows:

Crowley: "They you are! I was worried something might have happened to you." Aziraphale: "No, nothing happened to me. Very uneventful journey indeed. No strange things at all." Crowley: "Good. That's what we wanna hear." Aziraphale: "Um .. everything okay with- ah.." *nods to the bookshop* Crowley: "Oh, yeah, fine. He's singing to himself. I think he must have been asleep. I heard snoring coming from his bedroom–" Crowley, to the Bentley: "Did you miss me? I bet you did." Aziraphale: "... I'm sure it did." Crowley: "So, any more clues from the mystery of the missing archangel?" Aziraphale: "Not exactly. Or, if there are, I haven't yet cracked the case. But I'm certainly hot on the trail of something." Crowley: "I'm sure you are. Oh, by the way, the whole sudden rain and awning thing was a complete washout." Aziraphale: "Sorry?" Crowley: "You know, project making Nina fall in love with Maggie. I failed, it's your go." Aziraphale: "I see. Well then, Whickber Street Traders and Shopkeeper's Association Monthly Meeting, here we come!" Crowley: "You're really hosting the meeting?" Aziraphale: "Absolutely! And I can guarantee you, it will be a night to remember."

At first glance, this has little to do with the plot of this meta but actually, it folds into my point very nicely! However, it's not time for that yet, so we'll just state the facts as they are for now and then bring them back 'round later when we need them. That being said: For the love of Someone, will these two ever manage to simply tell each other the truth of what happened instead of thinking they can protect each other by lying about it all the time? Hrmpf. As a big fan of open communication myself, I'm close to developing a stomach ulcer with the amount of false truths being spewed here. (Then again – and yes, that is another, way larger meta I'm currently cooking up – it plays so very perfectly into the whole Jane-Austen-Pride-and-Prejudice tragic miscommunication theme that this entire Season has, so I understand the point of it.)

Very uneventful journey indeed, Aziraphale, except for the fact that you were ambushed by a demon who told you she was Crowley's successor, knows about the rumors of the two of you being an item as well as what went down in 1941 (that almost had both of you exposed) and also seems to have figured out where you and your demon boyfriend are hiding Gabriel, all in the span of about a minute. No strange things at all, nooo!

And Crowley's "Oh yeah, fine" is a total lie too. Again, we see him make an absolute run for it before Aziraphale can even enter the bookshop. After all, he just once again witnessed Jim have a Gabriel-flashback, speaking of the Second Coming, while Crowley was alone with him. As fumingly angry he is with the amnesiac archangel – he's also absolutely terrified of what might happen (to him and Aziraphale) should Jim regain his memories. So, no wonder he's quick to vacate the premises after witnessing Jim's rather eery memory flashback (and was, just like Aziraphale, threatened by Shax mere moments later, lol).

But no, nothing out of the ordinary happened to either of them. Tip-top. Absolutely tickety-fucking-boo.

Alright, let's get back on track with the actual topic of this meta. Certainly hot on the trail of something, hm? At first glance, it might seem like Aziraphale is talking about the fact that Gabriel was in company of someone whenever he went to the Resurrectionist Pub. (The clue!) However, I don't actually think he is talking about that. Why? Because, and this slipped my mind too at first, he never actually follows any of this information up, does he? Yes, sure, he went to Edinburgh, found the capital-c Clue and then returned to London. But what does he do with it? Nothing. He doesn't keep investigating this hot trail because that's not the important thing he realized during his journey. No, the more important clue Aziraphale found during his trip, is that Crowley no longer works for Hell and that he is also very much irrevocably in love with him and must confess this at the earliest given chance. (The latter part isn't necessarily a new discovery for Aziraphale, but it surely is fuelled by the fact that he just realized Crowley's out of a Hellish job and simply hasn't told him yet.)

This exchange just the perfect indicator for the fact that Aziraphale, at no point during his drive back, was thinking about the Maggie and Nina mission. He has no idea what Crowley is talking about once he mentions it and seems surprised, even, that he would. Even though they just talked about it on the phone when Aziraphale was still at the graveyard. Which is another important piece of evidence because it means that the last status update Aziraphale got of Mission Lovebirds, was that Crowley had sensed an opportunity to make them fall in love – and had then hung up on him. Why is this important? Because it means that until that very point of their conversation, Aziraphale did not know that Crowley's attempt had failed! There would have been just as much of a chance of Crowley's weather miracle actually working out and Maggie and Nina already having skipped into the sunset happily ever after.

So, riddle me this:

Why would Aziraphale spend the entire ride back from Edinburgh plotting "a night to remember" (because clearly, he already had the entire Ball planned out down to a T in his head since he goes into action right away after arriving) if he didn't even know yet that Crowley's attempt had failed?

To be very clear here: We're not talking about Aziraphale driving on the M1 to London, having a silly little idea for putting on some good music, miracle-ing Nina and Maggie to dance to it and watch them confess their love–

No.

He planned an entire actual Cotillion Ball with very particular location design that involves re-arranging the entire bookshop, specifically designed individual outfits for (almost) every single attendee, topped off with a live band, hors-d'œuvre, drinks and an actual choreographed group dance.

During one car ride.

Where's the party planner Aziraphale AU? I'm waiting!

Now, sure, we know that it's still quite important for Aziraphale to convince Heaven of the faux-reason they gave for their accidental ✨25-Lazarii miracle✨. But if we're all honest, this all seems to be a tad much just to make two random humans fall in love, even for that.

Glittery ball gowns and suits? Red and gold wall curtains? A modified language filter? Bloody vol-au-vents?

Talk about over the top ...

Once we start S2E5, Crowley is still surprised at the mere fact that Aziraphale is actually planning to organize the Monthly Meeting – and he doesn't even know yet that it's gonna be the most extravagant ball-boogaloo that the Whickber Street Community has ever seen! Aziraphale wanting to organize the meeting alone, is enough to render Crowley incredulous, because Aziraphale never mingles with the other shopkeepers. He usually actively avoids them and any sort of social encounters as much as he can because he doesn't care about the bloody Christmas lights, alright?

These things seem mundane and uninteresting to him, obviously, since all he really cares about is hoarding his book collection in peace like the little hedonist he is and drawing as little attention as possible to his none-business business.

Oh, right, speaking of books:

Let's take another unnecessarily detailed look at the whole Whickber Street invitation scene:

Aziraphale realizes very quickly that he's not the only one who's quite unenthusiastic about the blessed Chritsmas lights. And despite his very persuasive methods of temptation ...

... he has to take some more drastic measurements. And those are?

That's right: Giving away his books.

I'll repeat it again, slowly: Aziraphale is willingly (!) giving away or lending his books to pretty much complete strangers to, allegedly, make two other humans strangers fall in love.

Seriously, who is that angel and what has he done with our prim, fussy, hedonistic Aziraphale that protects his books with the vice grip of an eagle carrying his precious prey?

Believe in the importance of Mission Lovebirds as much as you will, but we're talking about Mr. A.Z. Fell here who, over the past millennia, has pretty much spent every day actively working out methods to stop people from purchasing as much as a single paperback from his holy shelves.

And yet: the 1965 September Dr. Who Annual? Given away. The first edition of Expert at the Card Table that was S. W. Erdnase's personal copy? Lent away to grubby human hands to fondle around with.

Let's do another coloured dialogue diversion (don't worry, it's not as extensive as the last one):

Crowley: "You just did what I think you did?" Aziraphale: "I'm not prepared to talk about it." Crowley: "You gave away a book." Aziraphale: "I had to! Maggie and Nina are depending on me. They just don't know it yet."

Crowley backs up my point: This is a huge deal. Aziraphale does not sell his books – let alone give them away for free. We're all shocked! Flabbergasted!

And the explanation Crowley and us get just ... doesn't satisfy. Something and someone sure is depending on this Ball and doesn't know it yet. But it's most definitely not Maggie and Nina, folks.

You know for whom Aziraphale would give away his books in the blink of an eye, though?

Mhm, that's right.

This pretty old serpent.

I want to take a minute to show you the reaction again that Aziraphale has upon entering the very same magic shop him and Crowley went to in 1941 to acquire the Bullet Catch:

You ... you need a minute there, angel? You're sure looking a little ... affected.

And I mean, well, no wonder. He reminisced about that very memory four hours last night. To him, this shop is where the most turbulent, ecstatic, adrenaline-fuelled and romantic night of his life began. And it shows.

I've made my point in my other meta series about how Aziraphale is an incredibly nostalgic character. He romanticizes so many things in his memories – especially the parts that feature Crowley. So, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that he's once again willing to loosen the tight grip he has on his book collection to get the successor of Will Goldstone's Magic Shop, the shop that started it all for him, to come to his fancy Ball.

As we watch Aziraphale and his little lap dog demon pat around Soho, I'd like to take another second to point out that he goes to seven or more establishments before he even invites Nina.

... and he only does so because she starts talking to them on the street. Almost like he'd forgotten about it. Why not ask her at the very beginning? To establish whether or not he'd have to book-blackmail her too?

"Perfectly ordinary invitation with no hidden agenda of any kind", except that he's using you and Maggie as a pretence to resolve his own clusterfuck of a relationship-miscommunication Jane-Austen-style so that he can then hopefully confess his undying love to his demon not-boyfriend boyfriend.

Marvellous!

You'll forgive me another short diversion but my God, the whole exchange at the Marguerite's restaurant with Crowley literally cat-call-whistling Aziraphale over to him (and Aziraphale checking if he meant someone else first, I–)? I am weak. So, so weak and

However, this is also when we get a snippet of Crowley finally revealing the truth in place of his "Oh, he's fine"-lie earlier and telling Aziraphale that he's actually pretty scared Jim might turn back into Gabriel and smite him altogether. And Aziraphale's response is, in a cosmic sense, (remember the pink paragraph now) so hilarious:

"Have you thought of just talking to him?"

Yeah, have you? Have any of the two of you? Just thought about talking? To each other? About anything?

'pparently not. But hey, it's all good because remember what the ultimate remedy for star-crossed lovers simply misunderstanding each other is?

Bish, bash, bosh, problem solved!

Back at the ballroom bookshop, Aziraphale sends Crowley to invite Maggie in order to, in my opinion, not spoil the Ball-y surprise for him. (Inviting Maggie only now?! Wouldn't she be one of the only two guests who really should attend? Why the short notice? If she's really that important for the Ball you're planning, hm?)

On top of this, we see Nina almost not attending the Ball meeting after her partner broke up with her and Crowley being the one who coincidentally runs into her and ushers her into the bookshop before Shax and her "legion" of demons start creeping up on them. Again, if this hadn't happened by pure coincidence, Nina would have left to go home and this whole Ball would have taken place without her, rendering the apparent sole purpose of making her fall in love with Maggie useless.

Why doesn't Aziraphale care more for both of them to attend and be there? Why is he instead busy fussing over everything looking perfect and wonderful and doesn't even seem to notice that both Nina and Maggie are really late to the meeting?

Well. Well.

The answer's in the title, babes.

Alas, Crowley safely gets Maggie and Nina to join them, Mr. Brown is the only one who doesn't get a miracled outfit (fussy, petty angel, you just don't like him, do you?), Jimbriel stuns with glamour and flirt (and whatever sexually suggestive thing he does with his cheeks) and the Whickber Street Ball is a-go!

Sorry, I just had to chuck this in again because Crowley's face here absolutely kills me every time. He looks so confused, I am hollering.

And the heart eyes Aziraphale is making at Nina and Maggie now that they're actually here?

Oh, bless it, angel.

He's all like "Oh look, it's working! Jane was right! It's all going to be resolved, all the misunderstanding and quarrels! Crowley, where's Crowley–"

Ah yes, there he is.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is an angel who is not listening to a single word being said right now. No, in his head, Aziraphale is already down on one knee, pouring his heart out to Crowley after they just danced the night away.

Oh, yes, right. The dancing.

Parallel much?

But well, as marvellous and beautifully romantic as her stories tend to be, it turns out that Jane Austen isn't always right after all. Because before we know it, the perfect night shatters into many-a tiny pieces (literally).

And once again, fhwack:

... the rosy bubble bursts.

Let's take one more deep breath so I can make my final point:

In S2E2, Aziraphale explains to us very exactly what Jane's Balls (hrhr) used to be about: Solving miscommunication and confessing love to one another.

During his car journey back from Edinburgh, Aziraphale:

doesn't know Crowley's Mission Lovebirds had failed

remembers 1941 and just how badly he's in love with Crowley

and also realizes that they seem to have been wildly miscommunicating for quite some time now. (Crowley didn't even tell him he basically got let go!)

So, what does maddeningly strong love plus a want to resolve all the miscommunication equal? That's right: A night to remember! A Ball to change it all! A dance, a vol-au-vent, a confession. And, ideally, a happy ever after. Because:

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man angel in possession of a good fortune Jane Austen collection, must be in want of a wife demon husband.”

The Ball was never for Nina and Maggie. As a byproduct, maybe, yes. But the whole rest of the glimmer and glamour, the careful, romantic planning and set up of it all, the book-bating the other shopkeepers– that was for Crowley and Crowley only.

And oh, if only it were as easy as in the books.

*whispers* I'm sorry, I had to.

***

Your honour, the tinfoil-hat crackpot defence rests. Feel free to share thoughts (and prayers) if you want to!

Au revoir! 💗

[fiveredlights]

the oversharement of the author: a completely unnecessary post containing my multitude of thoughts on takes one to know one

everyone has been so kind and wonderful about TOTKO so here’s a very, very, very, long author’s note which is me just rambling about anything and everything as a thank you for all the love 🫶

background

for those aware of the fiveredlights lore you may remember in april i had to pause updates because of some weird arm/wrist pain... so that was carpal tunnel syndrome and idk what i did to invoke it this july/august but it came back with such a vengeance that i did not think i was physically gonna be able to write this. but maxiel would not shut up in my brain so i got my hot water bottles and got to work.

this whole idea began after i saw travis kelce go on stage on the eras tour and i went... max and daniel absolutely possess the right type of insane to do something like this.... you can see the original thought post here

the albums

i thought making the albums would take me like a day. literally right up until i hit publish i was still making changes to Sidelines, and i had convinced myself they were real tangible albums with the amount of times i hit albums instead of the playlist button on spotify.

Second Place

the easier album, finished this is a day. cut songs were killer by phoebe bridgers and loml by taylor swift. i was gonna do a whole thing where i was gonna be like “oh the relationship killed him so much he abandoned the guitar to sing a sad piano ballad” and then i realised moon song is rooted in piano. so uh that was cut.

there also was a whole thing where his ex was personified as fire — “can the killer in me tame the fire in you” (killer) with “our field of dreams engulfed in fire” (loml) parallel that i really enjoyed but unfortunately never made it in. also loml has a lyric “the coward claimed he was a lion” which is fun with max adopting the lion as his symbol….anyways

the titled second place comes from another SMAU i used to write for a different fandom (on twitter so it is long gone, rip), where ironically it was also a singer/famous au and i was clearing out my spotify playlists and found the fake album and was like huh. i like that name. luckily for me it worked for the album storyline as well so good times!

Sidelines

this album changed at least fifty times. for the first three weeks of me writing it was called 3 (THREE) because I’m annoying like that, but the more i looked at it i could not convince myself daniel would call it that. because yes, it is his max album but calling it thirty three is a tad too much (in my opinion anyway). sidelines was always on the album, but i was going through my tik tok maxiel folder and saw a daniel edit to sidelines and was like okay yeah that's a better name.

out of 11 songs, only 5 of the original tracklist made it in. cut songs included:

call your mom by noah kahan

apple pie by lizzy mcalpine

orange juice by alfie jukes & nell mescal

orange juice by noah kahan

ivy by taylor swift

science by niall horan

who we are by hozier

with ivy there’s a lyric “and i’ll drink my husband’s wine” which would’ve been the way max and daniel would’ve been like “we’re married lol” but it was cut because to ME ivy is about sapphics cheating on their husbands with each other and i just can’t rewrite ivy like that. here’s some deleted scenes on that:

jeanie 🤠 @/COTADANIEL · i’m sorry daniel WHO’S WINE ARE YOU DRINKING????? driccrodeos [Video: Daniel on stage singing the lyric, “And drink my husband’s wine,” looking offstage to Max, before turning back to the audience and smirking, continuing to sing.] category five event has hit the maxiel towers noah @/ricciardanielo · this album has actually killed me. like i’m not on this earth anymore. why? ivy: “And I’ll drink my husband’s wine.” peace: “Give you my wild, give you a child.” @ max and daniel do you have something you want to tell us or??? ric33stappen if you attend the next race with a ring on your finger and a baby in your arms i swear to god max and daniel i will fuck you up (politely) #like i respect their privacy or whatever but also what the fuck #you know what i mean like what the fuck

in sidelines almost every single song (except for you could start a cult) has a daniel3.jpg post pertaining to a lyric... i realise maybe i should've had someone in universe point it out because i now realise it's quite difficult to spot. whoops.

daniel’s sidelines: live from red rocks is inspired by phoebe bridgers punisher tour (she flicks through the pages of a storybook), taylor swift era’s tour (the lover house) and noah kahan (we’re all be here forever tour; watched live from fenway park specifically on how to write his concert). the whole concert idea was also written literally 5 hours before posting because i originally had a max and daniel article but i could not write it.

easter eggs

i feel incredibly pleased that so many of you picked up on the easter eggs like i get why taylor swift is so insane about hers because it's just so much fun! (spoilers for the rest of my fics...)

blue sweater (thank you to ataraxiaa on ao3 who commented because I didn't realise i had done it) -> glitter on the floor maxiel's communal blue sweater

matthew (rriicciiaarrddoo) & callan (callonmax33) daniel would make a great TP -> old habits die screaming

jake 3(3)81racers Can Max Verstappen fight? -> glitter the floor chapter 3 & 5 recurring plot line

daniel's july 2 2025 post (Photo 2: Max and Daniel sitting in front of a fireplace, the person taking the photo is behind them. Max has his arm around Daniel’s waist, whilst Daniel has his right arm giving the middle finger to the photographer and head turned to the left with an annoyed expression. Max has his head tucked into Daniel’s neck, laughing into his shoulder.) -> inspired by glitter on the floor's 2024/6/7 monaco dark laneway posts

rriicciiaarrddoo "are george and alex married" -> a future easter egg for the glitter on the floor galex sequel

daniel's august 10 2025 post:

 A vase filled with tulips on a table with a white table cloth. -> glitter on the floor, last daniel3.jpg on 2023 has a vase full of flowers, was meant to signify that they got married

Two kookaburra garden statues, next to a rocking chair on a balcony. -> gary and steve from glitter on the floor

daniel's caption: The rumours are true, I am now in possession of half of Max’s WDC and they will be going on auction next week. -> fool me once

things five forgot to include because i have horrible memory but they canonically happened (this will absolutely be updated when i remember new things)

daniel ricciardo broke his hand whilst karting when younger which is why he gave up racing-> lyric in forever "broke a bone that never healed in my hand"

he gets into singing because grace and joe ricciardo put him in choir as a way for him to get out all his yapping and talking at least once a week so they can get a little peace (but it doesn't work because now he sings around the house)

real life references

sometimes i like to use a little reality so that the universe doesn't feel too far away and here's all the real life things i pulled from:

hair tuck max in f1tv japan interview: 2023 honda thanks day

daniel looking like darth vader in austin rain: 2023 monaco boat race

daniel wearing max's hat: 2017 baku podium

checo fought his way to finish p9: probably any race from the latter first half of the 2024 season

daniel ricciardo international relations expert: 2024 post belgium gp

twitter realises daniel ricciardo is hot actually: 2022 abu dhabi gp (the outfit)

daniel playing max's GP in his concert -> i saw adele pause her concert for the olympics womens 100m final so that's how that got in (also i did so much time zone math in order to make sure it was actually the right timing)

max and daniel escaping in a helicopter -> post 2024 belgium gp

[lancer-the-blue]

And oooon we go!

Dawww the hope and relief in Arin when he sees Lloyd (kinda low key he was a tad more excited but that's a nitpick and I'm used to ninjago characters under reacting to situations)

Damnnn Lloyd thinking there was another ninja doing Spinjitzu, idk but the way he said it was interesting, def gonna overthink it

Awwwww no Arin downplaying himself nooo

"I kinda get your ninja fandom now" nooooo Sora calling us out! Also it just hit me Arin's the stand in perspective for returning fans and Sora is the fresh perspective of new people coming in that's genius!

Haha love that Lloyd caught onto their plan of them hacking onto that guy to chop their handcuffs the attention to detail is immaculate so far

"You can wash them?" Lolz mood

Also not Lloyd letting Arin keep his old mask boooo

Master Lloyd! Damn that's giving me whiplash as an Og fan from 2011

Oooh Rapton that's his name, also loving him so far again

Lolz Lloyd low key not believing Arin that he was the one who did Spinjitzu until he did

"Spinjitzu is the single most important ninja technique it took me years to learn to learn it with an incredible tracher" my dude the og ninja learned in a matter of weeks/months at most it's not that big of a deal

Wwwoooh! My girl Sora showing off! Hardcore Nya energy from her

Jeez Lloyd is being a real ass ngl

*New opening rocks but they cut it short nooooo*

Love Lloyd being protective of the kiddos and the dragons tho

Oooh Sora's metal arm might be a reference to Jay ZXs armour!

Nawwww Riyu best boy!

Yes! Sora being sassy with her powers to Lloyd!

"Hey Lloyd! I think I made a bomb!" That got me ngl

"It was a weird version but still" jeeez when did Lloyd get so judgy

"Maybe tech power?" Little on the nose again for me

OMG RAZ IS A TIGER CHIMA CONNECTION CONFIRMED?

Damnnn the Monastery looks so snazy with this new animation

New Destiny's Bounty let's go!

Lolz writers calling out how inconsistent the elemental powers are

Love Sora being Nya 2.0 ngl

Whoop Lloyd and Arin bonding

"Keeping the world from destorying itself" lolz really funny ngl

Ooh I love the detail of Sensei Wu having the symbols from all the ninja on his back *I think*

IT'S CANNON, WU IS A 1000 YEARS, YES WE HAVE A CONICAL TIMELINE YES

Wish we had a tad more pre merge post crystalized ninja dialogue ngl

Oh gods other dragons, again! Low key made me groan *just use the ones we have already damn it*

"What the heck Lloyd!" Low key made me cackle

Nawww sibling hug

Also you can tell the main ninja are aging and it really moves me honestly

Merge quakes are really interesting and cool ngl

Should of said this sooner this season's ost slaps

Awwww I love Arin and Lloyd talk so much, big siblings vibe

"You need Wu but he's gone" low key slashes into me ngl

Omg so cute Riyu playing with a set of Jay's nunckes I presume

"And I do not mind fixing it again" lolz I relate Sora, damn she's so cool!

Idk how I feel about the dragon not believing them feels a tad cliche and unnecessary

Rapton being the goat as always

How fucking strong are those wires to keep a source dragon down wtf

Whow super syan Lloyd! Plus reference to Tornado of creation I think

Oof the animation on the Spinjitzu is a tad low res tho

Damn Lord Raz be cold

Gods Lloyd's speeches are always so ironically cheesy

Kinda funny how ninjago's doing dragons better than WoW did dragons in it's last expansion lolz

That episode slapped another 8/10

[whatudowhennooneseesyou]

LMFAOOOOO RUBYYYY that ask ab ur mommy!hwa series 😭 i mean i kinda get that there might be lots of people like that person who may be uncomfortable about 18+ fanfics but like????? idk why they take those seriously, tbh. it's literally a FANFIC. i dint think those that u write fanfic for would even take their time looking their name up especially here on tumblr. it is very easy to scroll away and let other people enjoy the things that they do.

is it invasive to write stuff ab how he is in bed according to his birth chart? not really but quite? however, i dont think it's something people should take too seriously. astrology is fun. his chart is literally out there for free lmao. u're doing us (whose knowledge ab astrology and stuff isnt broad) a favor. it makes us curious.

and if it's a genuine concern, idk how hard it is for that person to use a tad bit nicer language. fuming mad for something they put themselves into ijbol like plsssss do urself a favor and as per their language, scroll the fuck away???? bahdhshshsh

GENUINE QUESTION THO: what does "mommy" mean when u use it to hwa? is it also like daddy but since hwa is intuned to his feminine side, he's more of like a mommy than daddy? LMFAOFI3IJRKGJJT SORRY I JUST DONT UNDERSTAND ITTTTT : (((( coz i havent read such fic w the same theme— using mommy to a male subject. hope i dont sound rude. ><

and.. pls post more about seonghwa's natal chart observations because i enjoy yours so much. they're very detailed and i resonate with it well since i almost have the same chart as him (as i was born 8 days after him) so yeah!

LOVE UR BLOGS SO MUCH! <3

Hey! The response to this ask is legit over a year late but better late than never and I have been excited to reply to this one for awhile.

For context, this was sent after I was sent a hate anon ask in my inbox stating that I was gross for calling Seonghwa 'Mommy' and analysing his kinks in my natal chart reading.

I just don't understand why ppl won't take the easier route and just scroll, like you're expelling unnecessary energy writing and I'm expelling unnecessary cognitive energy by reading it.

The 'should ppl write smut about real life celebrities' has been a question asked for literal DECADES now and i'm always on the belief that if you don't take it srsly- it's all good.

I just watched an interview with Ryan Reynolds who admitted to reading the smut ppl have written about him and loving every second of it-

If the celebrity I wrote fanfics for actively said 'I'm uncomfortable with ppl writing smut about me' then I would respect their wishes and not do it but until then, I'm going to keep doing it.

Besides, the members of Ateez know about the fanfics written about them from that time San googled actual fanfiction on Naver in one of his lives.

And so I think they're all probably okay with it and too worried about being an idol to care about atiny's writing smut about them

I personally think my smut fics and readings are on the same level of invasiveness as 'the way I would let this man *redacted* *redacted* me'- like it's okay to say to Atiny's but maybe not so much to the members.

(although if the members read my natal chart readings I would love to get their opinion).

MOVING ON!!!

'Mommy' is just another authority title you would use in the same way as you would call someone 'Daddy', 'Sir', 'Master' etc.

It's not an age-play/age-regression thing at all and ppl confuse the two, I'm personally not into age-play/regression- it's not my thing.

For etc, my fics all use the term w/o de-aging the reader in anyway.

I wAsn't the first person who has affiliated 'mommy kink' with Seonghwa, that title goes to @hongism when I read her fic many moons ago and was in love with the concept.

I just found that the title fit with Seonghwa in such a beautiful way with his caring but dominant persona and I found it's a great way of dismantling gender norms and expectations surrounding masculinity.

In terms of not finding other male idols who have been called 'Mommy', there are a few Mommy!Hyunjin ones (I've written some too) and he's a popular idol for the concept too but there are other idols I've seen such as Lee Know and Mingi.

If you go on my blog and type in #mommy!may there are SO many fics I've reblogged where the mommy kink is used for all your smutty needs.

That's so cool you're born in 98 as well! I was born in April too so I completely resonate with parts of Seonghwa's natal chart as well.

In terms of more 18+ observation...uhh I'm not 100% certain that Seonghwa is low-key an exhibitionist but with his Aquarius Venus and the fact he looks at Atiny's with such a lustful gaze when he performs...

The chances are pretty high.

[rei-does-stuff]

Watched new the little mermaid movie and I have a LOT of thought! Enough for a whole post!!

Little mermaid thoughts LETS GOOOO

-I LOVED IT FIRSTLY but I do have a few nitpicks

-Firstly I don’t like the cgi animals, they look bad, I get they don’t wanna do the cartoony look for all the fish, but I feel like at least for flounder they should’ve so we could’ve connected to him more, Sebastian was fine, so was scuttle but flounder really got the short end of the stick

-The lighting wasn’t that bad, sure there was some scenes that maybe should have been a tad brighter but it really wasn’t as bad as everyone was saying

-Hailey Bailey singing is INCREDIBLE, I was worried that she would be able to sing well, but not be able to sing in CHARACTER, but goddamnit she KILLS it man! You can really FEEL her emotions and she does so well

-ALSO SHES SO PRETTY???? LIKE OMG???

-Sebastian and King Triton don’t really have as much of a friendly dynamic as I’d like, King -Triton especially doesn’t seem as friendly towards him compared to the original, so Sebastian’s quips seem like ACTUAL complaining instead of something more innocent yk??

-Also because they cut out the song where the daughters sing and Ariel is missing we don’t really get that Sebastian is a conductor/composer so his part during ‘kiss the girl’ doesn’t flow as well imo, bc like how would he know this? He doesn’t know anything about music

-They don’t introduce Eric’s statue, so it’s appearance later on doesn’t make sense unless you’ve watched the original, something I don’t really like about disney remakes

-And Ariel finds it BEFORE under the sea, which brings two issues, one is that the statue is supposed to be a gift from flounder TO Ariel, which strengthens their relationship, and two it makes her leaving at the end of under the sea make no sense, since she left TO see the statue

-OH AND UNDER THE SEA WAS AMAZING, I love how they did their own thing instead of copying the og, makes it way more memorable and it looked rlly good!!!

-ALSO ARIEL JOINING IN ON IT WAS GREAT!!!

-OH, and whilst part of your world was amazing, I feel like Sebastian should have seen it. Since he wasn’t there, he doesn’t know much about Ariel’s motive and her desire for going to the surface, they didn’t have to add all the slapstick that was in the original but just having him there instead of him come after would strengthen their relationship a lot more, especially to those who haven’t seen the original

-I like them setting up how Eric and Ariel are two sides or the same coin, both wanting more from their lives and wanting what they can’t have

-when Eric goes to save Max, I think the original does it better, him jumping from the boat and going BACK onto the ship shows his compassion than him about to leave the ship but going back for max

-When Eric sees Ariel with his blurred vision I feel like it was a bit TOO blurry, in the original the og Ariel had this ethereal aura to her from his vision that added to his whole fantasy of her, that the remake doesn’t really capture due to how blurry it was

-When King Triton destroying all of Ariel’s things was good, not as powerful as the original but still amazing, but one nitpick I have is that Triton tells her “never leave again” and doesn’t LOOK at her. In the original he doesn’t say anything, but does look at her crying and you can see the guilt in his eyes.

-Also, the whole, “your mom was killed by humans thats why i forbid you going there” feels a bit??? Unnecessary?? Idk how to describe it, I think because the original had this sort of queer undertone in it, like the original fairytale had, and I feel like the line is removing that a bit?? The whole humans are barbarians thing feels unnecessary too. I feel if they just stuck with the whole “you’re a mermaid he’s a human” thing would’ve been better, no need to over complicate things yk?? Also it gave said human-mermaid line less power imo

-Flotsam and Jetsam aren’t really in the movie, they don’t tell Ariel about Ursula, which is double edge sword I’ll explain later, but them not being in presence makes the ‘kiss the girl’ scene and them dying and Ursula being pissed about it less powerful imo

-How the double edge sword thing does come with a good side, of course, Ursula being the one to tell Ariel gives her more manipulative side strength, and it adds to Ariel’s trust of Ursula, her being related to her adds to that as well, you understand WHY she doesn’t immediately leave yk??

-NOW URSULA’S MAKEUP, im gonna say it, it’s bad, they didn’t go far enough with the drag queen look and it really hinders it imo, she just looks boring and not menacing at all which sucks because the actress really gives it her all

-POOR UNFORTUNATE SOULS, it’s an amazing song of course, but they do change the lyrics to be less about Eric which makes more sense for this movie so I won’t fault it for that

-They did remove the ‘BODY LANGUAGE’ lyric tho so points off,

-And the song is a lot shorter, which isnt good considering PUS was originally a 5 minute song cut to 3 minutes THEN NOW cut to 2, hinders it a lot I feel

-I LOVE THE VISUALS THO, love them doing their own thing and I love how glowy Ursula’s tentacles are, I do wish they kept the lil hologram thing from the original, could’ve added a whole lot to it!

-Them replacing Ursula’s henchmen forcible shutting Sebastian and flounder from telling Ariel to not trust Ursula to just flounder shushing Sebastian isn’t great, makes Ursula less scary imo

-They removed the scroll, and replaced it with her putting her scale in with blood, more intense which I like and removes the question of “if she could sign the scroll then why couldnt she write to Eric” thing the original had

-The transformation sequel isn’t as flashy as the og, the imagery of her tail splitting in two and forming legs was iconic,

-Also Sebastian and flounder not helping her to the surface is something I didn’t like, hinders their relationship

-The whole ‘Forgetting she has to kiss Eric’ thing felt unnecessary? I don’t think the original had it but I could be misremembering

-At first I didn’t like Ariel not immediately meeting Eric but I grew to like it ngl, her seeing the town was really good, and her song is also neat!

-The moment she realizes she cant talk is GOLDEN

-Her bonding with Eric in the little trinket area was SUCH a nice addition, it really strengthens their bond together

-Also the “my little mermaid” thing ADORABLE

-OH OH ALSO, eric and ariel have such autism energy I love it sooo much

-Them going on the town was SOOOO cute, I love them so muchhhhhh, and the dress Ariel wears is really cute, I do wish she had more things to wear it’s really just one outfit and her wedding gown which isn’t that different from her regular outfit, in comparison to the og which had her in a lotta outfits, especially with how pretty hailey bailey is?? She would’ve killed it!!

-OH ERICS SONG IS SO GOOD??? I wasn’t expecting to like it so much but the way it mirrors part of your world is SO good????? And his voice????? Incredible

-Oh i love Sebastian and scuttles friendship it’s really sweet

-also scuttles song wasn’t that annoying?? Idk it was cute and fun and Sebastian joining in was cute!

-They cut out the Poor unfortunate souls reprise which Is a huge let down I really liked it!!!! They use the music for it but she doesn’t SING!!!!

-Vanessa is SO pretty??? Exactly like the og too!!

-I feel like Eric being under control should’ve been hammered in more though, the subtle vibes doesn’t work as well for it imo

-Ariel being the one to stab Ursula wasn’t a good choice imo, the of gave Eric more character, and it would work even better in this movie since theyre so similar. She saved him and now he gets to save her yk?

-Also killing Ursula didnt look that great, you couldnt even tell she was stabbed it had no punch

-When Ursula takes Ariel away she doesn’t say anything to Eric like in the original she just leaves, which is a bit disappointed, they do a lotta things that rob Ursula of her iconic personality

-I think we should’ve seen Ariel get back her legs like in the movie, cutting that I feel like, loses a lot, especially with the bond with her father

-No 80s dress, sad.

-I think that’s everything????? I’m rewatching the original movie tomorrow so I’m sure I’ll have a few more things to add, especially when the 2023 movie goes onto disney plus

-Overall the movie was really good, Haliey Baliey stole the show and the visuals were really nice, special shoutouts to the visuals for Ursula’s tentacles, triton’s triton and the scenes for kiss the girl and under the sea, VERY pretty,

-All the voice actors were great ngl,

-The movie didn’t feel too long either, the stuff they added was good and moved along nicely, didn’t even feel like 2 hours yk???

[malvenor]

alright, i'll give you benefit of the doubt. i'd like to hear exactly what's wrong with my breakdown if you dont mind! i say this with genuine interest in what you have to say, and curiosity, no malice at all. but i do think that if you're gonna say "everything in this is wrong," you'd do well to explain just what is so wrong, or at least just one example. just saying something is wrong without providing explanation also serves to make one look silly! ...hopefully i dont sound pretentious saying that.

i knooooooow i said i didnt wanna argue. i still don't, honestly. but well, debate is ok.

i do also want to give myself just a little defense and say that my post is a casual person's criticisms, rather than a huge big one meant to be taken seriously. emotions are in there, dyeing my commentary unsightly colors at times. not the biggest defense, but hey, its there.

so yeah, all that wordy preamble to say: yes, i'm probably wrong. in the interest of self-improvement, i'd like to know why!

I expected no response and got a genuinely respectful one! Sorry if I sounded snippy - plenty of things I like get a lot of odd and unfounded criticism, and it's very easy for little things to get under my skin. I can give a bit-by-bit breakdown, for sure! And I get that it's from a casual perspective, but such a lengthy review even from a casual perspective should have a tad more than the first third of the release version of a game completed, y'know?

Ahem, anyways! Preamble out of the way, and with all due respect (which is a fair amount thanks to your stellar attitude!), here are my nits and my picks:

Less a correction and more a tip for anyone who read that post: You can re-access the tutorial at any time by going back to Selva Oscura, the game's prologue chapter, under the same menu where you access the Cantos. I recommend everyone do this anyways because you can collect some Lunacy just for visiting the map.

Next bit, I actually half-agree with. Yes, Limbus Company has a stubborn and poorly-explained learning curve, and it is less immediately intuitive than Library of Ruina. It is, however, also an intrinsically less complicated game than Library of Ruina. Having a base understanding of "when my side's numbers are higher, I win more often" will be learned quickly, and the fight against Ebony Queen's Apple will tell you the rest you need to know (since I believe this to be the game's only halfway decent tutorial). However, I will also point out that the intuitiveness is the only part of the previous two game's learning experiences that were actually good: LC and LoR also had pretty fuckin' bad tutorials.

From a casual perspective, the ins and outs of exactly how clash values are calculated are wholly unnecessary, but the basics are pretty plainly laid out, I find. It gives you a big number that will always be the starting number, a smaller number with a plus sign, and 1~5 little symbols that the game calls coins next to those. I feel like most people pretty easily grasp that when the coins flip heads, signified by the glow, they add their value to the big number. Even if this isn't understood by the player immediately as that, it becomes more obvious once you get to, again, Ebony Queen. I'll admit, this is more subjective, but it still stuck out as something people tend to grasp pretty quickly, especially former Ruina players.

aha okay yeah that's fair. the game does not, in fact, inform you how to upgrade your units.

However! It does not take two cantos to unlock Luxcavations. Now I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you dropped the game before that update, but a few weeks after launch they removed thread and exp from the Mirror Dungeons and added grindable micro-stages for them instead. EXP Lux is unlocked I believe around stage 1-10, an upgraded version around 2-18 (?), and Thread Lux after clearing Canto 2, where you also unlock Mirror Dungeons, which is where you get Lunacy and BP Exp. So, while that may have very briefly been true, this has been cleared up and fixed!

Defense skills are probably the only truly well-explained thing in the Prologue tutorial, so I'm sorry to say that this one was purely a personal issue on your part. While the circumstances of their use are not made immediately clear, that's less an issue of the explanation and more an issue of the game's balance, a discussion to be had that is far outside the scope of this post.

Nitpick among nitpicks, dungeons do not have a different combat system! Normal battles still occur within them, and starting in Canto 4 the Focus Battle system (reminiscent of Ruina's battle system) will also occur on overworld stages on occasion! Just a matter of "not quite as cut and dry as immediately laid out"

Ah, the classic victim of the tutorial and it's vague misrepresentation of the purpose of Resonance. This will have multiple parts, so starting off with the most understandable misunderstanding: Resonance does not, in fact, increase the damage you deal. Weird, right? It increases the Offense Level of skills in the chain, which is a small but extremely important distinction, since Offense Level can also affect Clash Power. Is this ever explained? Fuck no. Not your fault, just a bad tutorialization moment again.

While this is not made immediately obvious to the player, Sin does carry more weight to the battle system than you may think! First and foremost, adding a second layer of resistance really highlights how powerful the game's multiplicative damage scaling can really be, and allows some units to still be useful even if their primary damage type is resisted by the enemies.

It's not just that, though! Even on release, the sins did sort of have their own little niches like you described in your post, but you didn't quite make it far enough or get a large enough roster to really notice the patterns. The most obvious example of this is the difference between Envy (purple) and Gluttony (green). Envy is basically the plain and simple damage color, associated with multiple "nuke" skills, as well as being the primary color for Charge, which is Damage: The Archetype. Gluttony, on the other hand, lacks "nukes" altogether and is often used as a technical, status and self-healing type Sin, and also has a fair bit of Paralyze for some reason? Regardless, there's identity with each Sin, which I think is cool!

There is, because Limbus sort of fails at gacha-ing, still an odd sense of progression in Limbus! Not only are the LCB Sinners automatically upgraded as you finish the initial batch of Cantos, but the feeling of getting bigger, better, stronger options comes from not only expanding your roster, but the feeling of more complex teambuilding and additional gameplay mechanics through gameplay-story integration. Eventually we even get new story-locked toys to play with! There's also the micro-progression in Dungeons (including Mirror Dungeons, arguably especially so) but even on a grander scale, there is a nice sense of it. Less so than Ruina, of course, no denying that, but they go out of their way to make it still feel good to play through.

I will not be touching upon the story comment because you already included that edit. Yes, anon is right, it does give you the tools you need to understand what is present.

Some more subjective things, but I tried to tackle them in as objective a manner as possible. But as we are all experiencing art here, there will inevitably be these subjective matters to discuss! Many of these things weren't your fault either as they were added later in updates to the game, but such things are to be expected in live service titles.

To circle back to the original point, sometimes you just have to sit back and wonder if what you're saying will hold water, and if you happen to know enough to speak at length. I'm sorry you had a negative experience with the game to start, and I am morally obligated to not recommend gachas to people in general if they don't wish to play them, so I'll not be asking for your return. I just like clearing things up!

I hope this was informative, and I thank you for reading!

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Shadow and Bone 2x03 Review

I have finished ep 3 hooray! Going to be honest, it was an ok episode don’t get me wrong but I do feel like the pacing was a little off in this one, I feel like a lot of big things happened and it might have been better if some of those things happened over a couple of episodes, it just felt a tad bit rushed. Anyway as always spoilers, lots of spoilers, any book spoilers will be between two * for you to skip at your convenience if you so wish. 

Nikolai, Alina and Co

So I am going to start off with Nikolai and Alina and that storyline involving that crew. I will say that the flying ship was very cool, I liked the way it detached from the ship. I also thought that Alina’s reaction to the boat taking off was very relatable like yup I too would find the nearest seat and then sit with my eyes closed hanging on for dear life. 

We also finally got the Nikolai reveal and not going to lie was very happy they kept the punch in, it was amusing but also I think understandable for Alina’s character as this is the second time that she has been lied to by someone who she put her trust in. That being said I did really like the conversation between them where Nikolai points out that she makes it too simple and that people do what they have to do to protect those they love. But I also like that he pointed out that Alina never would have trusted him if he said who he really was at the start which is very true. I do think this logic can also be applied to her relationship with Aleks as well as its the same scenario, if he had revealed to her from the start that he was the creator of the fold she never would have trusted him. As Nikolai said it is never that simple. 

I was surprised that they’ve introduced the spinning wheel so soon but it was nice to see Alina and Nadia reunite, I also liked the relationship between Nadia and her little brother Adrik, I am glad we got to see him. We also see Zoya again and it was nice to see her and Alina kind of make up and Zoya pledge allegiance to Alina. I’m still not sure how I feel about them all being at the spinning wheel this soon though. *In the book its not until way at the end of book 2 that they flee there so its almost like they’ve covered the first two books in ep 1 and 2 and now they are doing the end of book 2 and the beginning of book 3 in this episode. Which again as I said multiple times in speculation posts before the series aired just feels way too fast. But hopefully I am wrong and the pacing will sort itself out. 

We also got Nikolai making his proposal for a political marriage to Alina. I guess it does make sense to show a united front and a way of bringing otkazat'sya and grisha together and like Nikolai said his royal family name would give her some protection so it does sound good politically. One thing I will say about the whole scene though, is I appreciate that they are trying to make Mal less of a toxic jealous control freak over Alina than he was in the books but I feel like they are stripping him back too much and making him too perfect. Like to me his reaction was a bit too chill which just seemed very unrealistic. Like I think it would have worked better if he initially had the same reaction as Alina of this guy is coo coo but then later in the episode he comes to her and says he’s mulled it over and realised it is the best thing for her and ravka, it just would have felt a bit more natural than the immediate acceptance.  

 The Crows. 

So the crows had some tension amongst the ranks this episode and Kaz was definitely beginning to unravel a bit. It was clear the others in the crew felt like Kaz was taking unnecessary risks with their lives seeing as last episode Nina got shot and Inej got hurt. It was interesting to see these cracks in the crows relationships but honestly I am worried for Kaz because it does seem like he is spiralling. 

We do learn more about Kaz’s backstory through some more flashbacks. Looks like Kaz’s brother invested money in some kind of business with Rollins and then Rollins ran off with it all, which I am going to assume meant they were left with nothing. We also learn through Wylan that the disease we saw in previous flashbacks was called firepox and it sounds horrific, we learn there were so many bodies that the crematoriums couldn’t keep up and so they had to float all the dead bodies on the harbour, which is what those previous scenes of young Kaz were where I said it looked like he was lying on a pile of dead bodies well that was because he was lying on a pile of dead bodies, and god did this get morbid fast. I am assuming they thought he was dead and so threw him on with the rest of the bodies. We also learn from Kaz confiding in Inej that Rollins killed Kaz’s brother, though I don’t know if he did that directly or not as there was that flashback of his brother coughing which makes me think he caught firepox and died so it was Rollins fault indirectly. Like them losing all their money meant they had no where to go and as they were homeless they were exposed to firepox. That’s my theory anyway. 

I do have to talk about that scene between Inej and Kaz though because damn was it a good scene. I loved it, I loved that Inej called Kaz out and what I loved even more was that this time he trusted her and opened up. I also love how Inej immediately was on board and in ok well now Rollins shall die. It was also a rather tender scene between them as he tended to her wound. Also I think I may be a bit slow because I am pretty sure that Kaz has a touch eversion and that is why he wears gloves and that was probably covered in season 1 but I totally missed until this moment. I liked the discussion they has about finding the opponents weakness and how when Inej asked Kaz what his is he said his limp and cane but that no one had been smart enough to find his real weakness. But I think I have figured it out. His real weakness is Inej. In this episode we discover Rollins has a son and its clear that the other crows are worried Kaz in going to use his son against Rollins, I think this links into Kaz’s on weakness and fear that someone will use Inej to hurt him.   

So Wylan and Jesper’s little side quest together was kind of cute not going to lie and I totally killed in last eps review they did totally sleep together and surprisingly it was Wylan who left the morning after. I knew I wasn’t just imagining the vibes between them. The song Wylan played on the piano was really beautiful, Jesper did seem to have quite the emotional reaction to it so I wonder if that song has some relevance to his past somehow. I am really enjoying the energy between these two though. They are really wholesome. 

Nina finally got in to Hellgate and saw Matthias in the fighting rings, these rings do seem really messed up as it looks like they not only have the prisoners fighting each other but fighting wild animals and the like, its giving very roman colosseum vibes. I did feel bad for Nina when she was calling out to Matthias and eventually gets his attention only for him to then give her the cold shoulder. Its obvious that she is not only desperate to make up with him and reconnect but also is so desperate to get him out of there. That being said I don’t think she will take Rollins deal. I reckon they are going to do a cop out where it looks like Nina has but then it turns out she told Kaz from the beginning and they came up with some kind of plan together, what that plan might be I haven’t the foggiest. But like Kaz said at the beginning of the episode, Nina is a crow now and I just don’t see her betraying them. 

Aleksander, Baghra, Genya and David

So when I said I felt like this episode was rushing the storyline a bit, I do think Aleks’ story in particular is being a little rushed. The first scene we see of him is the one between him and baghra near the beginning of the episode and I adored this scene, it was just really interesting. I loved how it starts out with Baghra telling him to stop lurking, it really does remind you that this is a mother and her child. But I think what I loved the most about this scene was that it does address how much of an effect Baghra’s parenting had on Aleks, the scene does kind of call her out on the mistakes she made. The thing is the lessons we are taught when we are young are the ones that’ll stick with us and the ones that are the hardest to unlearn. So I think this scene was important to show how Baghra’s teachings have informed Aleks views of the world. For example how she taught him that grisha were superior and that the otkazat’sya should fear them. It also addresses the events of Demon in the Woods a little talking about how she would burn down villages in the name of protecting her child. I have talked about the significance of this before how it set the example for Aleks that if you love someone then destroying entire towns and villages is acceptable to protect them. This is a lesson that stays with him and I do think it played a part in why he expanded the fold into Novokribirsk, he has love for Alina and Zlatan in his men tried to harm and would continue trying to harm her, he has love for the grisha and Zlatan was a threat to them too, so to him destroying Novokribirsk was an act of love and he saw it that way because of the example he was set by his own mother. 

I did think the line about how she didn’t teach him compassion was a bit of an odd one if I am being honest because it implies that Aleks doesn’t feel compassion yet we’ve seen multiple examples throughout season 1 that would say otherwise. I mean if you look at the definition of compassion: 

A strong feeling of sympathy and sadness for the suffering or bad luck of others and a wish to help them.

He clearly has compassion for the grisha, you kind of have to have that compassion if you are going to recognise they are suffering and your response to be that you want to do everything in your power to help them and give them a safe place. He also shows concern and sympathy to Alina when it is clear she is suffering in season 1. Whilst I would say that he might struggle more with his compassion for others as years have gone by and he has had to numb himself in order to make those hard choices but I don’t think he is devoid of it or that he never learnt it like this moment suggests. Like when baghra starts listing off all the rumours she’s heard about the grisha being persecuted and killed by the first army, you can see that this pains Aleks, that he feels guilt over it and that he feels compassion for their suffering.   

However I will give it to Baghra that moment when talking about Alina and she says ‘there was a moment where you might have earned her love instead of claiming her power’ wow talk about a hit in the gut. You tell that one really did hurt Aleks. However it is also worth pointing out that if Baghra hadn’t got involved then he still may have earned her love and might not have tried to claim her power and none of this may have happened. But ya know hind sight and all that. I can still appreciate that it was a damn good line. 

David was pretty smart in this episode in that he played nice with Aleks and used that trust he knew Aleks had in him to his advantage to learn more about the Nichevo'ya and their effect on Aleks. But it was interesting how Aleks actually seemed to be kind of sweet to David, like he seemed genuinely happy that David was there it was kind of a bizarre contrast to how unhinged he also seems to becoming with the merzost poisoning him. During the conversation Aleks talks about how apparently Morozova went mad so I am guessing this was also a result of the merzost and could be where Aleks himself is heading, we could see him continue to lose his mind. I won’t deny that I do find it an interesting concept. 

However the part that I do think was rushed was what he does to baghra and genya. I get that they are trying show that Aleks is becoming more unhinged the more desperate he gets but I think having both these big and violent moments happen in the same episode was too intense and made it feel to sudden if that makes sense. Like I feel like the pacing would have worked better if he had cut Baghra’s finger off in this episode and then saved his attack on Genya until episode 4 then it would have seemed like a more gradual shift, and like him sinking deeper into this madness caused by the merzost. 

One thing I will say I think they did right was that as opposed to the books they did make these two acts of violence make sense for Aleks’ character. * I also think the change from blinding baghra to cutting off her finger makes alot more sense than it did in the books.* Like I can follow Aleks’ chain of thoughts here, he is feeling very angry and abandoned by his mother, who also keeps talking about Alina, another person he feels angry and abandoned by and that anger at his mother only grows the more she refuses to help and so by cutting off her finger he can exact his revenge on his mother and satisfy that anger he feels but also he is desperate to find out more about Morozova’s amplifiers and knows that he made them from his own finger bones so thinks if his mother won’t give him any answers he’ll take her finger bones and see if they will give him some answers instead. It is also really unhinged which furthers that storyline of him being poisoned by the merzost. What I do think is an interesting touch is that both when he cuts off Baghra’s finger and when he attacks Genya you can see those blakc veins creeping up his neck. With Genya you could probably explain it as him summoning the nichevo’ya and using merzost but it is interesting that it is there when he is cutting off Baghra’s finger as he isn’t actively using merzost in that moment but it is clearly still having an effect on him, its almost like the merzost itself has a hunger for violence. 

Like with Baghra I do think him using the nichevo’ya on Genya made more sense in the show’s scenario. *It didn’t make much sense in the books because of the order he gave not to harm Alina and yet he punishes Genya for not harming Alina which made no sense.* I do think it is understandable why Genya running triggered Aleks I mean not only it because its another betrayal from one of his grisha, like Zoya betrayed him in the fold, but it is very similar to how Alina left him. When he catches up with him he doesn’t ask why she ran but why she abandoned him. I think Aleks at this point is so lost and unhinged that he can’t understand why all these people who used to stand by him are leaving. Afterall his goal is still the same, to safe grisha, in his now warped mind achieving this goal is the most important thing in the world and he doesn’t understand why no one else is willing to go to the same lengths he does to achieve that goal.  

I will say also that while I understand why David and Genya ran watching a guy produce shadow and monsters and cut his own mother’s finger off is bound to unnerve a person, I do think this is another thing that is a bit rushed. Again though I think this comes from being a book reader because in the books it takes them both alot longer to realise how dangerous Aleks is. Its another thing that I think maybe could have been pushed into ep 4. That would have given it just a little bit more time to stew and also that would have put David and Genya’s escape attempt half way through the season which I think would have worked better, like the first half of the season they are loyal to Aleks but then come mid season they have that epiphany of hey this guy is bonkers lets skedaddle. 

Going back to Aleks and the merzost we see those black veins again when Aleks has that angry outburst after discovering that the Morozova journal is gone, it really does seem like it flares up when he is angry and causes these violent outbursts. What is interesting though is that Aleks’ way of calming down is to call on that connection between him and Alina. To visit her, its like he is using her to keep himself steady, like she is the focal point he is using to stop himself from spiralling completely out of control. 

Right well that’s another review and episode done. On to episode 4 and then we are at the halfway point, so that’s exciting. 

Favourite Lines 

‘There was a moment where you might have earned her love instead of claiming her power.’

‘There are no mistakes, only lessons.’ 

‘Pekka Rollins killed my brother.’ ‘Then we destroy him.’ 

[dashawfrostart]

These Two Weeks In "Time & Again" #18: Everything Is 99% Ready For Printing! (Through Blood And Tears... Almost 🤣)

Hallöchen!.. All of a sudden, two weeks have passed. And I didn't even notice. To be completely frank, I haven't been feeling very comfortable over the course of those 2 weeks. Difficult life endeavours are sure not helping the situation, and I keep feeling antisocial - even more so than before (meaning: a bit less social than my normal introverted self). Intermitting work, home stuff, pushing it with "Time & Again" (still the top priority in my life), and simply being a human being has been a tad tense and somewhat distressing for me... So the emotional background is not exactly a candy right now. That said though, it doesn't mean that I'm not trying to persevere. Because oh booooiiiii, I sure doooooo!!! 😎 (keeping it up as the cracks are growing is something that Lothar is struggling with in his day-by-day life, that handsome bastard. His situation is a little different though)

Although it might seem that the amount of work on "Time & Again" that had been done was nowhere near tremendous, some things were subjected to substantial and quite important transformations. Plus, as per usual, considering writing short posts is most certainly NOT my forte, this post is most likely gonna be very wordy - but it will also contain a bunch of WIP screenshots. So brace yourselves - and more screenshots pop up as you go further ahead into the post. (Also, brace yourselves for a little bit of beeped soft cuss, because it had to happen)

... But before I begin today's oversized tale, I have to ask a curious question (because changing the topic randomly is what I excel at 😎):

How do y'all feel about cover artworks that have little, to nothing, to do with the story itself?

That's quite a daring question, isn't it? And I know that some might be frustrated with such a choice, shall the artist resort to such a rebellious decision. But lately, I've discovered that, to me this is not an issue. It's a difficult question, really, and it's a matter of a personal preference, for sure. I like puzzles and mind-bending stories. I like questions, and I like hints - and yet, I do not necessarily ask for any answers at all. As I read stories, I love co-creating/co-writing them in my imagination rather than reading about unnecessary [in my humble opinion] and meticulously explained points of the story that would've been better off kept in the dark, for the sake of the reader's joy. I also like stories that start somewhere from the middle and provide no introduction/exposition whatsoever. I'll figure it all out as I go ahead, all by myself. I don't see a problem at all. Perhaps, you can already see a certain correlation with "Time & Again" and the way it's written. But back to our question! I don't mind it when the cover art is a bit... off. I think it really depends on the story, on the author/artist, and the idea it is trying to convey. I don't take things like that as something offensive or disrespectful; I treasure creativity, and I deeply rejoice at the signs of mystery, and I love the excitement that a cover art like that could reward me with. But I would like to know your humble opinion on the matter, as well.

They reason I asked is because the cover art for Chapter 6 is still the only one that does not have a clear design in my pile of sketches. I think I will come up with the idea for it on the go, during the development, but currently 've got absolutely nada de nada (except for a meme sketch. Frosty loves old-skool dank memes. The meme sketch is not exactly suitable for the cover art tho, so I'll stash all my precious thoughts of longcat deep in the corner of my heart so that it doesn't accidentally pop up on the cover design).

But back to the topic now!!! Finally!

In the previous post I promised to head further and farther into the mysterious forest of the techy depths of 2D art creation.

So, I've been working on the "Clean Cut Edition". One of the most important objectives in this respect for me was the conversion of Chapter 1 into a Letter page format. The original release had a different width/height ratio - it was based off the European/Worldwide page standard that is A4 that is narrower from the sides (more in-depth info about the differences between Letter and A4 page sizes is here). I know, I know, Imma dummy: I should've done it right from the start. But I didn't, because back then in 2020 I couldn't even imagine that I might want to print my story someday. But wait, there's more! 🖐 My second objective after changing the page format/ratio was to add full bleed to all the pages for the proper printing - plus add a little more cushion to the speech bubbles to make sure nothing gets cut off when printed. I know, I know, Imma dummy: I should've done it right from the start (deja vu feeling here, anyone?).

So this is exactly what I've been doing during those 2 weeks of online absence 😁. AND I DON'T EVER WANNA DO THAT EVER AGAIN, NEVER EVER IN MY LIFE. Full bleed areas forever now, for all my projects, regardless if they go to the printers later on OR NOT. That's all. 🙅‍♀️

As you might've already guessed, I did not feel particularly happy about having to redo everything manually. That would've been a nightmare!.. 😱💀 And a supermassive amount of work...

However, I knew that I needed to fix some stuff manually anyway. Moreover, not everything was actually as hopeless as it seemed to begin with: on some files, the backgrounds already extended enough beyond the canvas boundaries, so I only needed quick fixes to make them look good. So I started off with the simple stuff first, such as the cover arts (oh boi, talking about cover arts a lot today!).

☝ Here you can see how much the full bleed area extends, thanks to the areas that are not filled with white colour. Cover art for Chapter 2 was super easy to add full bleed to. Actually, none of the cover arts needed any desperate measures. Somebody was half-smart a few years ago 😁😅

And yet again, I'm eager to dream about the [sadly] non-existent AI algorithms that could've been INCREDIBLY helpful in my situation! From the older post you already know that I'm not opposed to AI when it comes down to help with already existing stuff and with the prospects of automation, which in the end results in saving precious time. And to me time is of the essence right now, because I would rather invest my time and effort into the new chapter of the story rather than trying to recreate neater full bleed areas on already existing pages to make everything, well, printable. More content, new content, please!!! So my obvious thought was to utilize the help of the modern technologies and to use AI generators to automatically expand my pages to create bleed areas! Nice, fast, and simple, innit?!

So after a short search, Brian stumbled across a plugin for Krita called Krita AI Diffusion. And it sounded awesome!!! The manual said it can outpaint - meaning, it can extend the artwork beyond the canvas boundaries. And that was EXACTLY what I needed for my work! For that, I even updated Krita to version 5.2.2, for earlier I've been always using 5.0 😅 After setting everything up, installing the server and the packages as the manual suggests, after learning about it and playing with the settings for a while, I came to conclusion that...

The Sc***ße doesn't effing work for my bloody task 🤣

The plugin seems to work very well for what it is, but sadly, not for extending the canvas to create full bleed areas suitable for printing - which was THE task I specifically installed it for. It fills up the empty areas just fine, but... it doesn't really guess what I want or doesn't guess the pre-existing patterns.

For a test, I took the title page of Chapter 1 and requested to extend the canvas based on the artwork. I wanted the AI to simply extend the hexagonal cells pattern 40 pixels in each direction. After 5 minutes of thinking, it got me... a wooden pattern (as represented on the close-up screenshot to the right). That was a good guess, no doubt... But alas, far from what I needed ideally.

But I had a hack: since the high-res version of this background has been already created earlier as I'd been working on Chapter 5, I decided to swap the backgrounds and just scale the new one to the size suitable for printing. Didn't have to generate the pattern all over from scratch. Yay!

But the real test was to make the AI extend the actual comic page with a complex artwork on it. I took one of the first pages of Chapter 2 and tried the Extend function on it. Again, after, like, 5 to 7 minutes of it thinking, it gave me... some intricately designed fairytale-stylized forest pattern - with a heart on top nonetheless. Mind you, it also smudged Jeanny's pretty face to make her look as if she's a horror vision of sorts. (another kind of Abomination, maybe?..)

Yikes forever! 😬🤢 After that I pretty much understood that AI will have no use for me right now.

I will write a more in-depth review of Krita AI Diffusion plugin for the sake of contribution to its development, and to provide precious user feedback in one of my future posts.

In cases like that, one always wonders to themselves: what will be more time efficient right now?.. Trying to fight with the new unknown tech, learn it and make it work to automate the future work? Or is it more time efficient to simply do everything manually instead of potentially spending hours and hours on something that might not even work out in the end?.. I took a less risky path this time, obviously.

Well, since the help of the modern tech was out of question... I buckled my pants, mentally embraced the amount of work ahead of me and... pressed on. Because what else a starving artist will do in this case?..

To my surprise, it actually didn't take too much time. Some pages did tho. I DON'T EVEN WANNA TALK ABOUT SOME PAGES. Goodness gracious, I'm so happy the work is done now!!! Below there are some examples of what my pages look like now after adding full bleed to them ("safe zones" are included on the templates, too. I made my templates all by myself, based on the professional printers' templates I already had downloaded):

Surprisingly or not, extending Chapter 3 was as easy-peasy task - perhaps, because the chapter features relatively simplistic artworks, at least of the foreground.

And finally, "Clean Cut Edition" includes some little visual and textual improvements, not because that would've been better for printing, but because I said so. For example, as shown below, I rewrote the scary background font on the angry Jeanny panels to make it more readable, and I almost completely rearranged and redrew the speech bubbles on the bottom of the second page of Chapter 2. Now they look much more lively and playful, and fun. And no random tree patterns and hearts, for crying out loud. *cough cough*

I s'ppose, that is quite enough of reading for today. You guys must be very tired of my giant tale that stretched out across time and space.

So I bid farewell for now. The next step will be quite exciting 😁

[yuexias]

"en! the costume design team was really proud of this outfit, you know. you're doing it justice." his response garners a little amused laugh from her. of course it's intentionally so, and the director knows her target audience well enough to know what fans would expect. and anruo herself would unapologetically fall into that category, and such an outfit already has her looking forward to how it would look like when it's finally on screen post-production. just the sneak peak she's gotten now already has her feeling giddy, if she even dared to admit.

it's not until they're standing side by side that she realizes just how tall he is compared to her, and she makes a mental note to ask him for a picture later. (because the outfit is amazing and she should get one in before the other crew members swamp him up and she loses her chance, that is!) maybe he'd even put an arm around her shoulders and she's get to lean it a bit closer and it'd definitely end up on her top picture of the year --

she glances away for a moment in case he needed any privacy -- not that it works, as she's back to staring at him again and coming to a conclusion in her mind that all those compilation videos of him doing whatever cute things does not even come close to seeing it in person. and she thinks she's going to be done for if she so much as think that he's cute once again (and how is it even possible to find someone blowing their nose out cute...) being a stylist means working with artists all the time, and there's plenty of attractive people, yet she still finds him the cutest of them all, and it hasn't even been an hour yet since they start talking.

"shengbingle yeshi haokande." anruo says matter-of-factly, turning sideways to face him and she debates if trying to convince him that she really means what she said is worthy of an effort, before deciding against it. he's probably heard enough compliments that hers would sound just like another unnecessary one. "the fans will definitely find it cute. once the behind the scenes footage gets released, i can already see videos of you dominating my w.eibo feed again." a teasing smile settles on her lips, as she shrugs a shoulder a little. she wouldn't complain if that's the case, and surely one gif or two would end up saved in her phone.

what he asked next catches her by surprise, not quite expecting it. (just what was she even expecting, in fact...) "i do...?" a pause, before she continues, a bit wary, "do... do you mean f.anfiction?" she's seen video clips of him admitting to having read those, but she's always had the benefits of doubt -- after all, who would willingly read such cheesy things sometimes? granted, she couldn't even read her own writings sometimes and -- wait, did he just say he wishes it to be real??!

anruo blinks, eyes darting sideways trying to make sense of his words. it oddly feels embarrassing, but at least with tons of those scrambled around the internet, the chances of him having come across hers is nearly none. with that in mind, she's a tad bit more relaxed. "it's not weird though. and i think there's a lot of people who would line up just to take care of you." herself included, even if the most she could now is just getting him that honey tea later. "i know i'm not at the place to say this but you don't have to apologize for being sick. you shouldn't have to."

what's fortunate is that she's saved from having to explain herself further, realizing that she's simply a nobody and shouldn't be commenting more than necessary when yan tuo enters the room. somehow disappointed that their little moment in the small room is disrupted, she barely shows enough energy to greet the manager. "not sure how that's fortunate, but sure." she mumbles, moving to grab the next outfit, having already remembered the shooting sequence. it's unfortunate, that they will only have one scene.

now she definitely needs to get a picture with this outfit as soon as she could.

" ... meant to be like this ? so ... it's ... it's intentionally so ... ?" ān jīnyuè trails off, the gesture he makes conveying the implied meaning in his question. he's never shied away from showing some skin on-screen, but there wasn't exactly anything in the script to suggest that he should've expected this sort of an outfit today.

but whatever he'd been mulling over regarding outfits ( or ratings boosts, or the sorts of things this director --- he's worked with her before --- is known to like from her male leads ) all falls away the moment anruo answers his question in the affirmative. the minute that shuài falls from her lips, he breaks into the sweetest, most genuine smile.

"nǎlǐ nǎlǐ ... nǐ guòjiǎngle." the distance she'd begun to close, he finishes, stepping beside her and turning back towards the mirror; though he studies both their reflections, there's no denying the way his expression softens upon looking at hers. she's been so genuinely kind to him. someday, the chance to repay that kindness tenfold will present itself, and he fully intends to take it.

( plus, she's so pretty, isn't she. he wouldn't mind having an opportunity to get to know her better outside of work ... )

"wǒ shì bìngle." though he's trying his best to play it off, there's a brief hint of glumness creeping into ān jīnyuè's voice. he reaches for his discarded sweatpants, fishing through the pockets for a mostly-empty pack of tissues. "wǒ jīntiān bù tài shuài. nǐ kànkàn --- " he blows his nose ( apologizes sheepishly first, of course ), then steps back, gesturing to his face. " --- this is what i'll trend for."

sure enough, his poor nose is red. ān jīnyuè laughs again; though it sounds progressively more husky and rough, he doesn't let it stop him. "i'll sound crazy for this, but ... do you ever read stories people write ? like ... on the internet ? someone wrote one once, about me ... about someone taking care of me on a shit day. sometimes i wish that story could be real." a pensive pause, and then he chuckles. "sorry ! that sounds insane, i know. forget i said it ! and don't tell yán tuò i thought his home remedy didn't work. it's not his fault i didn't take better care of myself."

"yán tuò shì ma ?" it's nobody other than yán tuò himself. this time, he doesn't knock --- he simply opens the door and stares at the two of them, his gaze shifting from ān jīnyuè to anruo and back again. and then the corners of his lips twitch, like he's fighting back a knowing grin. "you two. time's up. come with me. měinv --- " a gesture at anruo, "if you'll bring his next outfit out as well ? he only shoots one scene in this one --- " a pause for effect, a pointed look at ān jīnyuè, " --- fortunately."

[apopcornkernel]

.

[litgwritersroom]

When you started this page, I was already thinking about making a page for LITG prompts in general, for people to share ideas just because I know I get ideas randomly but don't want to write it. Then you started this page, do I didn't because even though it's not the exact same, it felt like copying. Anyway, is it possible for you to do more open prompts, because when you do share those, the response is huge and I love to see the creativity, and selfishly, it also covers what I wanted to do anyway without making a page and kind of stealing your idea.

It was tempting to answer this with a simple ‘live your life, babe, don’t mind us’, but we actually did want to address a couple things from this ask.

First off, we understand not wanting to follow through on your idea for the fear of being labelled a copycat. Part of the reason we actually don’t do many open prompts is because of the monthly reddit prompt in the litg fanfiction thread. When Bia, Suzi, and I first set about constructing the page, it was something we mused with, but the three of us agreed that we needed to focus on our page’s goal first, which was to answer asks, at least while we found our feet.

Obviously, we’ve grown substantially since those early days, and we’ve had so much support as well as some unnecessary criticism for our choices. So, why haven’t we done more open prompts?

Well, we actually have. When we first started, we were clear that if any ask we answered inspired anyone in any way, that we encouraged them to go for it! We took it out of our front page because no one has ever done it, so why keep it, you know? I’ve now added it back in case anyone actually takes note this time. Besides that, we’ve had two open prompts where we encourage people to join us in creating one shots, but you know what happened?

Only two people joined in. Two people each time. So, when we looked to expand the writing team, naturally they were at the top of the list, and that’s how Callie and Tammy were suckered into joining us.

To say that Bia, Suzi, and myself were shocked at the response of the lie detector challenge is an understatement. They were fired out quickly, and with such great quality to so many of them! It was fantastic to see, and we felt so heartened by it.

We’ve spoken, and yes, we’d like to do another open prompt soon because we loved seeing the wide range of responses we got. It was great fun for us, and there were so many variations, so many different love interests were included, it was all around a great idea (if I do say so myself).

I don’t want to think the worst, but this ask was a little off to me, and the timing of it coming after we posted to celebrate a massive milestone like 500 followers? We aren’t going to gatekeep an idea, anon, especially one that we didn’t have.

But what we are going to do is host more open prompts, but it won’t be frequent. As previously stated, we’re here to answer asks mainly, and we don’t want to broach on the reddit forums territory (even if they’re totally cool and we know they don’t mind).

One last note to say that if you wanted us to do more open prompts, that’s all you needed to say. We don’t know what your intentions were with the rest, but we hope you understand that, from our point of view, this does come across as a tad rude. It’s happenstance that we had similar ideas.

[shinelikethunder]

Not to sound like I'm batting for tumblr but it's not like the content labels are IMMEDIATELY put into new posts, at least, not from what I saw on the tumblr app. You'd have to label it yourself and if not then others would suggest to have it labeled. But as mentioned before, it's not a change that's gonna be like... Super immediate since I doubt that the update has been fully rolled out yet. And having the options to choose which mature labels you don't want to see and want to see is more useful than having just a one time big time "Mature" label? Like, you might not mind seeing gore and stuff but sexual stuff is triggering to you so you can use that as show and hide respectively and it'll automatically filter things out. I don't know. I think that people going "THEY HAVE IT AUTOMATICALLY TURNED ON FOR US IT'S COMPLETE CENSORSHIP" is a tad bit overreacting when it's literally just... Buttons you can easily turn on and off. Well, at least if you're above the legal age.

i mean yeah the point is not that the feature is crap. it's that the rollout and communication have been crap, the UX for finding and changing those 4 settings is totally unnecessary levels of pain in the ass, and those two things combined = the new labels mostly just mean voluntarily choosing to have no one ever even freaking see your post (as well as signing it up to be de-monetized and then nerfed in unspecified, unpredictable ways in the future, which tumblr already has a track record of doing). so the labels stand a very nonzero chance of only being used in practice for grudge-reporting, and the sheer scale of what falls under them allows for all kinds of abuses of the reporting system, and basically it's a mess and I'm not impressed with the implementation. I'm willing to BE impressed if tumblr does get around to loosening its nsfw restrictions, but as-is, it's a disappointing way to lay the groundwork.

[inventors-fair]

To The Best of Your Abilities

Congratulations to our winners this week! @grornt with Mutable Flittermite, @dabudder with Terish, Scourge Seeker, and @i-am-the-one-who-wololoes with Graveyard Trickster!

~

Mutable Flittermite

Short, relatively simple, and to the point. It’s a 1/1 flyer that can turn into a different card while still being a 1/1 flyer. I’m glad it isn’t additive, only one thing at a time, though you can still do stuff by activating it twice in the same turn. I’m also very impressed by the restraint in the “only as sorcery” and even more impressed at the templating. It’s written about perfectly, so far as I can tell. Closest things to complaints I have is that I wish the ability cost some blue mana, and maybe was a bit pricier. I feel like the weakness of being 1/1 is counteracted by the flying letting you get combat damage triggers easier and faster, and being 1 mana is also worth noting. But even that I’m not sure of. In total, a very good card.

-

Terish, Scourge Seeker

Art Description: A spindly vedalken hunches over a grave, grimacing. She has dug her fingers into the grave, and a purple magic has begun to pulse from the ground, illuminating the body she is reanimating.

Well look at this, a mix of mechanics! Don’t see that often. I love the way all of this card interacts. The surveil is so powerful with unearth, but still requires getting lucky. The unearth text is really powerful, too, but a tad confusing. The assumption is that you’re copying the unearth, but you actually get the full creature. Normally, I’d say that trading a single card for a whole creature is maybe too good, but the thing about unearth creatures is that they’re already kind of overcosted. You’re not going to break anything by getting an free kathari bomber. Even so, it won’t have haste, so there’s plenty of time to react to that one. The only time it gets broken is if you’re granting other stuff unearth with Sedris or that one sliver, but that’s more about those cards being broken than this one. The cost being a discard is also clever, it lets you just keep unearthing basically forever. You’ll never need to cast a card again! This card has a clear direction to go with, a synergistic but not overpowered mix of abilities, and seems well balanced. Good job!

-

Graveyard Trickster

Seems good. What more can I say? This card feels right on the money. A decent body, an ability that requires a little bit of building around but doesn’t break anything, and a way to benefit off that ability just by playing other copies of itself. The graveyard exile ability might be a little unnecessary, both because I could see it being a little too good as an uncounterable instant-speed removal spell that you can get free value from with self-mill or discard, but I understand it as a way to make it more self-synergistic. I also might just be playing it too safe. I could see this seeing play, but not an auto-include, which is I think were the best designed cards belong. I think the flavor text could have used a little more work. It’s a little unclear to me whether she’s come to an agreement with the dead or is messing with them. The typeline feels great, though.

~

And there you have it! I was really happy with a lot of the entries this week, and I should have the runners-up posted soon. I will be at prerelease when this gets posted, and tumblr’s “schedule post” function is not working great, so I’ll post them when I get back.

-Mod Mr. ShinyObject

[gwynrielendgame]

Gwyncien part 3

Idk if y’all will like this one as much. It’s kind of a filler but it took forever to write so I’m posting it anyways. I’ll tag people who have asked below.

Gwyn thought she might puke and it had nothing to do with Lucien's winnowing abilities. She never thought she would feel so nauseas especially after the blood rite. She supposes that the imminent fear of death had her more distracted from her typical anxieties. Now that she could focus on the fact that she was actually leaving Velaris, she felt sick. She grabbed onto Lucien harder and closed her eyes tightly. What felt like hours later, although it was truly only a minute or two, Lucien spoke.

"Welcome to the band of exiles." She opened her eyes to a surprisingly large castle. She was not sure what she expected, perhaps an abandoned cabin, but the building was spectacular and beautiful.

"Jurian and Vassa are excited to meet you." Lucien added as they continued to stand out front. It appeared that he would allow her to stand here for as long as she needed. She knew that if she demanded he take her right back he would. His words finally caught up with her brain that seemed to be running a mile a minute. Why would his closest friends be excited to meet her she thought. It made her anxious for the first time. Perhaps she mistook his friendly countenance for something less than it actually was. She would address it later. She began walking towards the door, mumbling under her breath.

"Let's get this over with."

"That's the spirit!" Lucien inserted much more enthusiasm than necessary into his tone. He grabbed her arm and laced it through his which had her feeling very grateful. Her knees were shaking as she walked and she knew he could tell. Gwyn felt the need to remind herself that he had a mate. She wondered if he would be desperate enough to make a move on her. A large, beautifully decorated foyer greeted them. Two very beautiful people stood in the middle of the white marble floor. Gwyn tightened her hold on Lucien when she saw the new male, stopping them mid-walk. She started her mind-stilling technique as the anxiety clawed at her chest and throat. She would eventually have to face men if she ever wanted to get her revenge. She could not allow a few measly physical reactions hold her back. She took one last deep breathe and then continued walking towards the couple. She spent less time analyzing the female, but from what she saw Gwyn knew she was beautiful. She also had red hair, however, Gwyn's hair was more of a copper/bronze red while Vassa had a deep maroon red. Gwyn kept her eye on Jurian though.

"You are making her nervous, standing there like two parents ready to scold their children." Lucien reprimanded his friends with a roll of his eyes. The female waved his comment off, completely ignoring him. Gwyn did not miss the look they shared, however.

"I am Vassa and this is Jurian." She gestured to the male next to her. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I have heard so much about you." It unnerved Gwyn that the few interactions that she had with Lucien warranted Vassa knowing much about her. She did not think much on it as she continued to watch the beautiful male. He had hair cropped short to his head and a deep skin tone. His looks were not what had her distracted though. It was the weapons. Gwyn found it unnecessary for him to require weapons while meeting with her. Instead of exchanging pleasantries like socially integrated Fae would, she began her questioning.

"Why so many daggers?" She gave him a scathing look while cocking her head to the side. He would not manipulate her into believing anything but the truth and she wanted that to be conveyed in her facial expression. His eyebrows shot up into his hairline as if he were surprised.

"I could ask you the same question." He threw back at her with a smirk. It only infuriated her more. He could not tell she had daggers on her. She was wearing a cloak over her priestess robes with silver majesty strapped to her thigh. There was no possible way he could see the outline through her clothes. She narrowed her eyes and waited for him to respond. The staring contest was only broken when Lucien cleared his throat and Vassa nudged him.

"Fine." Jurian conceded with a smile. "Vassa is woefully bad at handling anything sharp, so I have taken on the role of her protecter while soon-to-be high lord is out and about." Both Vassa and Lucien seemed annoyed by his explanation. The anxiety began to loosen in her chest though. He was not completely trusted, but in this moment he would not attack.

"Gwyn." Is all she managed for an introduction. It seemed good enough for Lucien because he began leading her off to the side of the room towards a grand staircase.

"I will be showing Gwyneth her room and then we can talk." He threw over his shoulder. She held onto his arm all the way up the long staircase and through an even longer hallway. She laughed internally at the size of the mansion considering only three people resided here. A thought occurred to her when they finally came to a stop at a door.

"How many people live here?" She finally let go of Lucien and took a step back.

"Just us three. And now you. Occasionally we have a guest or two, but I will give you ample warning before that time. This will be your bedroom here. Mine is right across the hall if you need anything. There is a lock on the inside, but if you would like I can show you how to set up some furniture to keep the door from opening at all." Lucien gave her a small smile. It made her soften towards him even more.

"Thank you. I appreciate that. I appreciate all that you have done for me. Truly. I cannot say thank you enough." She gave him a short hug to convey her gratefulness. He returned it, hesitantly. His touch was feather light. As though he did not want to touch her and make her uncomfortable. She stepped back towards the door once more and began to walk inside.

"I will come get you before dinner. You have a full wardrobe to pick from in there if you would like to change. If there is anything you require, just ask." Gwyn nodded and then he was gone.

The first thing Gwyn noticed was that the satchel she packed earlier before leaving was sitting on the bed. She had been so nervous about everything else that she had not even realized it was missing. Gwyn continued to survey the room. It was beautiful. The decorations reminded her of the night court. Lucien really did pay attention to the smallest details. Gwyn truly believed Elain was an idiot for not giving Lucien a chance. The bedding was all black and the drapes twinkled with specks of a shiny material. It almost made them look like stars. The bed was unnecessarily large and so was the desk that was off to the side of the room. It had been such a mentally exhausting day that Gwyn decided a nap was needed. She locked her door and stripped off her cloak. She knew the lock would do nothing against winnowing, but as far as she knew only Lucien could do that. She placed her desk chair under the doorknob anyways. She fell onto the bed without even removing her priestess robes. She did remove her dagger and place it under her pillow for protection. A small smile graced her face as she thought of a certain spymaster who also slept with a dagger under his pillow.

Soft footsteps woke Gwyn from her sleep. She had no idea how long she had slept, but knew that dinner must be approaching if it had not already passed. A light knock on the door made her jump.

"Gwyn? Dinner is almost ready if you would like to join us downstairs." Lucien yelled through the door. Gwyn's racing heart began to slow as she realized where she was and who was speaking to her.

"One moment." She decided this dinner was not worth changing her clothes so she grabbed her dagger, putting it back in its sheath, and flattened her hair down with her hands. She did not want to keep Lucien waiting after all. The second she stepped out of the room, a sly smile crossed the male's face.

"What?" Gwyn demanded a tad self-consciously. She flattened her hair once more.

"Enjoyed a nap I see?" He was teasing, but that did nothing to stop her from shoving him.

"Oh shut up and show me the dining room." A real smile graced his face as he put his arm out for her to grab. She was half tempted to shove his arm away for his teasing. Instead, she rolled her eyes and held onto his arm anyways.

"Your wish is my command."

The castle was truly beautiful. Gwyn knew she could spend hours looking at the art pieces- some of them looked familiar. She would guess those were done by Feyre. The marble flooring and intricate ceilings were only part of the beauty. It has clearly been decorated. Perhaps Vassa and Lucien bonded over similar tastes in rugs. The thought made Gwyn giggle internally. The castle was so large that it took them about five minutes before they reached the dining hall. Gwyn took her place next to Lucien across from Jurian and Vassa who were already pleasantly discussing Vassa’s doomed fate. They quickly stopped talking once she sat down and turned the conversation to her.

"So I have been dying to know," Jurian begins "is Rhysand as much of a prick as he pretends to be?" Lucien sent him a glare which only had Jurian shrugging with an innocent expression upon his face. Gwyn sighed.

"Depends on who you are. He is kind to me, but only out of pity from what he witnessed at Sangravah. I have seen him be cruel to those he purposefully does not want to understand. I am not here as your spy though. That is as much from me as you will get about Rhysand." Gwyn truly felt a level of gratefulness to the high lord, however, he often squandered any other positive feelings she had of him by constantly looking at her as if he was seeing that day in Sangravah all over again. It did nothing to help her forget. Jurian gave a contemplative look before turning his attention to his plate. Vassa decided to try her hand at conversation.

"How are the Archeron sisters? I know the death of their father was hard on all of them." Vassa took a sip of wine. Gwyn did not want to discuss this either though. Speaking of Nesta made her miss her sisters.

"They are as well as could be expected." It was generic and had the fiery red head pursing her lips in displeasure. Gwyn did not quite care.

“Gwyn is a beautiful singer.” Lucien finally changed the subject to something that she did not mind engaging in. “We will need you to sing for us sometime.” Gwyn nodded in agreement. The conversation continued on with Lucien boasting about Gwyn, talking about her training as a Valkyrie and winning the blood rite. She started feeling uncomfortable with all the compliments he was sending her way. It reminded her of a conversation she needed to have with him. Right now was as good of a time as any she supposed.

"It was extremely generous of you to offer your help, but I feel I should inform you that I am not interested in anything other than your friendship." Gwyn interrupted Lucien mid-speech to clarify. He looked startled by her statement. Jurian choked on his wine and Vassa cackled like there would be no tomorrow. It made Gwyn feel as though she was on the outside of some joke they all knew.

"Excuse me?" Lucien, for once, looked genuinely surprised. It was as if he could not quite believe she would say that and needed her to repeat it just in case he heard her wrong. Maybe Gwyn misinterpreted some of his advances.

"I know our coupling seems inevitable," Gwyn explained further a bit shyly, not quite sure of herself anymore. "But I am not interested in any one that is not Azriel." Vassa's cackles slowed down to more of a chuckle and Jurian kept sending amused looks to Lucien.

"Gwyn, I am your grandfather." Lucien approached the topic slowly. "I assumed your mother talked about me, but, and I really hope this is the case, you did not know this?" His tone lifted up at the end in questioning.

Oh, Gwyn thought. She was not easily surprised, but this topped the cake. She tried to think back to anytime her mother mentioned her grandparents, but the instances were few and far between. Gwyn realized she did not even know their names. Suddenly, every compliment and favor from Lucien no longer appeared odd. He was complimenting and bragging about his only living granddaughter. This took much longer to process than Gwyn would like to admit. Unexpectedly, she felt an unwarranted amount of anger towards Lucien.

"And you waited until this very moment to tell me? What the hell Lucien? Or should I say grandpa?" Her tone was more hostile than it had been with anyone else. The sarcastic comment at the end had the red-haired male cringing. Jurian and Vassa started laughing once more.

"I know this is not great timing to interrupt, but I, for one, will be referring to you as grandpa from here on out." Jurian inserted. Vassa gave an amused smirk, but said nothing. It earned him a glare from Gwyn and Lucien though.

"I apologize, Gwyneth, for the delayed reveal. I thought you knew that's why I offered to help you, though. I assumed your mother had spoken of Jesminda and I. She was rather young when we had to surrender her, I suppose." Lucien looked so genuine that Gwyn's anger diminished as fast as it had appeared. Gwyn's family history had always been a mystery to her. She might finally get some answers.

"Jesminda is my grandmother?" Gwyn inquired. Her own mother had never given details. This adventure was beginning to answer many questions she had always had.

"Yes." Lucien said. Gwyn was trying to understand his expression and tone. She spent another minute watching him. Their other table mates had gone quiet as well. It did not take a genius to understand the moment. Jesminda had never been mentioned before to her from anyone and she was not here right now. She was dead that much was clear. Lucien cleared his throat and for a brief second Gwyn could see the emotion he was so desperately trying to hide, guilt.

"Why did you give my mother to Sangravah?" Gwyn realized it probably had something to do with Jesminda's death. She truly wanted more details. Lucien sighed heavily, probably understanding that there were many questions in store for him.

"Beron just ordered for Jesminda to be tortured and executed in front of me. I am certain if he had known of your mother, he would have had the same future in store for her. I had kept the child a secret from everyone except a brother, who helped me hide her after Jesminda's death." It did not escape Gwyn's attention that Lucien neither referred to Beron as his high lord nor as his father. Lucien ran a hand through his hair roughly. Her hair was clearly from him, but it was his one russet eye that had her pausing. An eye that suddenly reminded her so much of Catrin.

"Why did he kill her?" She asked softly. Gwyn realized she would never be able to deny Lucien anything. One look from his russet eye and Gwyn would give in simply because of its similarity to her dead twin.

"Because he's a spiteful old man." Vassa spit out. Clearly, she was just as enraged by the situation. It made Gwyn wonder if Vassa and Lucien had ever been together. Lucien rolled his eyes at the fiery female. He seemed to roll his eyes constantly while he was here.

"Because he could," Lucien added. "Your mother, who was about six at the time, was extremely unsafe even under my brother and I's protection. Beron would put your mate to shame with all the torture tactics he uses. I dropped her off on the doorstep of that church in the middle of the night. I always planned to go back and visit, but I was nervous and I knew she was safe there. I felt it was selfish to visit her since it only put her in more danger." Gwyn felt sad for everyone involved. Sad for Lucien who watched his love be tortured and executed in front of him only for him to have to turn around and surrender his daughter to a church. Sad for Jesminda who died that day. Sad for her mother who must have lived every day wondering where her parents went and why they abandoned her. Sad for Catrin who never got to meet her grandfather.

"I had a sister." Gwyn felt the need to mention. She was unaware of how much Lucien knew, but it suddenly felt important to her that he knew of Catrin.

"I know." He responded with a sad smile. "This family is well versed in tragedy." Gwyn had so many more questions. She had time to ask though. Her questions were making Lucien relive memories that were better left untouched. Perhaps he had endured enough for one night. She looked down at her full plate. She had been so distracted that she had not touched a thing. She began to devour her food as the rest of the table engaged in a debate about seasonings and which was the best.

"Have you and Vassa..." Gwyn trailed off, leaving the innuendo open when Lucien walked her back to her room after dinner.

"She wishes." He chuckled.

"Would you be with Elain if you could?"

"I would not jump into a mating ceremony but I would like the chance to get to know her. She has not given me the opportunity." He answered practically with his arms folded behind his back. Gwyn felt the need to assure him that knowing Elain would not make any of this easier.

"Trust me, it's better this way." She did not want to leave the conversation on such a sore point. As they approached her door, Gwyn jokingly shoved him. "So this would make Elain my step-grandmother?" Lucien was quiet before speaking. It was not the reaction she hoped for.

"Elain does not know. No one knows. And no one can know, even Azriel. At least until Beron is dead. Make no mistakes if Beron were to discover you, he would torture you simply to spite my mother." His lips pursued together in displeasure.

"Azriel is very good with secrets." She felt the need to remind Lucien. He is a Shadowsinger after all.

"Not with his high lord. If Rhysand knew, he would tell Beron if he had too. If Nyx or Feyre's life were on the line, he would do anything to save them. That includes selling you out. This is very important, Gwyneth. You cannot tell anyone- promise me." His stare was so intense that she could not look away. He grabbed her hands in a tight grip to make sure she understood how serious he was. Gwyneth had never purposely kept a secret from Azriel before. Hopefully, Beron would die sooner rather than later.

"I promise."

+++

Two weeks later

"What do you mean she’s gone?" Azriel was shocked to discover that Gwyn had left two weeks ago. He thought she had been avoiding training because of the kiss they shared- not because she was gone. He had been eating dinner with Nesta and Cassian when he finally had the courage to mention the priestess and where she had gone. Now he was mad that he had not asked sooner.

“She left with Lucien on some adventure. I am not really sure. Her note was unclear.” Nesta responded solemnly. The House dropped a piece of chocolate cake in front of her which made a small smile curve at the brash female’s lips. Azriel’s stomach dropped at the mention of Lucien. Gwyn did not know him well enough to go on an adventure with him. Gwyn would not leave her sisters here and she would definitely not choose Lucien to be the first person she left Velaris with. He was certain of that. He also knew Lucien to be a spiteful person. Perhaps he was tired of watching Azriel and Elain parade their relationship around him, making a fool of the one-eyed male. He could have taken Gwyn as retribution.

“He must have kidnapped her. Gwyn would never willingly leave the House of Wind with anyone- let alone Lucien.” Azriel knew this had to be true. Gwyn would never just up and leave. Guilt started gnawing at his chest as he realize he could have prevented her from being taken. If only his shadows would work properly around her, he could have prevented Lucien’s nefarious plans from being completed. His siphons started glowing the longer he though about it. He had to clench his hands around his silverware to keep from winnowing straight to the Band of Exiles and demanding his mate be given back. Nesta gave Azriel an odd look before speaking.

“She left a note that said she was willingly leaving with him and as much as he annoys the shit out of me, I don’t think he would hurt Gwyn.” A frown marred her face now, though. As if she had not considered that her sister could be in trouble. It only annoyed Az further.

“He could have made her write the note.” He reminded in a quiet, harsh voice. Gwyn and Lucien were not friends. She would have no reason to leave with him. Cassian was cautiously glancing between his mate and Azriel. He did not know what to say that would not piss off Az, so he was choosing to let Nesta handle the situation instead.

“She is not in danger.” Nesta declared after peeking at her wrist. There was no possible way for her to know whether Gwyn was safe or not. Even Azriel could not find out given how stubborn his shadows were being. He could always take a trip to the Band of Exiles, but he had to assume Lucien would not be stupid enough to take Gwyn there.

“You do not know that.” His wings flexed in anger. The siphons atop his hands were glowing dangerously bright now. He needed to get his emotions under control.

“Yes I do.” Nesta insisted with a roll of her eyes that annoyed Azriel to no ends. “My bracelet is not glowing. They glow when any of us is in trouble. It’s how I found her in the blood rite. It has not glowed since then either.”

“Hers could have fell off.” Gwyn would not have left after the kiss they shared. It was too important of a moment between them for her to have left immediately after.

“Gwyn and Lucien are friends, Az. You know if you want someone to blame for her leaving, maybe you should look inward.” It was a sharp jab that hurt more than the Shadowsinger would ever admit.

Suddenly though, he could see the hurt on Nesta’s face. It was there for only a second, but he saw it. Nesta was just as hurt by Gwyn’s departure as he was. He finally unclenched his hands from around his silverware- his fight giving out. Nesta was right. Lucien would never kidnap Gwyn especially if he thought it might upset Elain. Azriel chose this time to leave, however. He would not stoop to Nesta’s level and trade jab after jab. He headed to the training arena. It was hours later when slight footsteps could be heard making their way over to him. He was sitting at the edge, his exhaustion forcing him to take a break. Nesta took a seat next to him, resting her head against his shoulder.

"I miss her too, Shadowsinger." He said nothing in return because there was nothing else he could say. "You are worse than I was with the mating bond." Nesta tried again with a joke this time to try and get Azriel talking. She knew he was not normally one to discuss his feelings though. He gave her a withering look at that comment. It was an ongoing joke within the inner circle that Nesta handled the mate situation particularly horrible.

“Shut up.” Was all he responded with and he only said it halfheartedly.

"I am just saying, if you ask me for advice I could save you some time and heartache." They both continued to look out at the Velaris skyline.

"And what precious advice would you bestow upon me?" The comment was dripping in sarcasm, but he decided to humor her.

"Anyone other than your mate will be a disappointment, especially to you. Just accept it and her and everything else will become background noise." She looked up at him for a second before setting her head back down. He was not one to seek out comfort through touch, but sitting here with Nesta made him feel a bit better. Maybe it was because they could both ruminate in their sadness at Gwyn’s departure.

"Ah so wise. I had not considered that." Again the sarcasm was heavy.

"Well if you have thought about it and have not done it then I would consider you an idiot. You do not strike me as an idiot, Az." She was frustrated now- throwing her arms up and crossing them over her chest. He chuckled lightly.

"I think I might be." He admitted. Everything was so confusing with Mor and Elain that he lost focus of what was truly important.

"Gwyn is the most compassionate and understanding person I know. If she can love me, she can love you too. Just be honest with her." Her voice was soft now in a way that it never was. She always seemed to push him even when it seemed the rest of his family refused. It was the thing he liked most about Nesta- she was never scared of him or his feelings.

"Thanks Nes." He settled his head on top of hers and they stayed like that for hours- reminiscing in all things Gwyn.

[davids-cartoon-corkboard]

Here’s the final part of the “Raph is a system” theory compilation post! It’s the last of what I can scrape up from canon; while I still have ideas on how it might loop back into character interactions and plot and so on, they’re much more speculative in nature. (Part 1 is here) (Part 2 is here) (You’re reading Part 3)

---

"Red” is the alter with the least screen time, so it took a while for me to connect the dots on when and why he formed.

His shadowed face, the dramatic background music when he speaks, and his seriousness are reminiscent of the “brooding on rooftops in the rain while gloomily staring off into the distance” thing that Raphs throughout the franchise will do sometimes. That’s easy to poke fun at on a superficial level because most of us look back on our edgy phases with self-deprecation, but it’s a lot less funny in the context of the life he lives. Being a normal human teenager in normal human society is a fucking nightmare; being a mutant teenager who has no idea what to expect in terms of development or lifespan, only five people he can safely interact with ever, and a very limited future hiding from everyone else for as long as he lives has got to be just awful.

RR’s few lines in “Pizza Puffs” tell us a lot. “It’s the only way they’ll learn” and “this is for their own good” suggest that he formed when the turtles started exploring more of the sewers and going aboveground, and Being The Leader became more of a responsibility. A thousand new ways for them to get in trouble meant a thousand new ways Raph would have to bail them out, and that got old fast- especially since they didn’t have April’s knowledge to help them in the beginning. I doubt they met her the very first time they left the sewers. The wiki says April knew the boys for five years as of “Mystic Mayhem”, so they would have been nearly eight at the time, perhaps the mental equivalent of a ten- or eleven-year-old human.

A while back I sifted through all the eps with Raph in them in the vague hopes that “Pizza Puffs” wasn’t the only episode featuring RR... and lo and behold, I found something! The shadowed face and dramatic background music are also present in “Minotaur Maze”!

“I can’t do it. I got no mystic mojo. I’m useless.”

“Hey, that’s not true, brother. You just gotta believe in yourself, and know this: If I die in this maze, I will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

(I know that’s only two data points, but y’all canonically cannot scoff at me.) RR shows up when HR is no longer able to tolerate the bullshit at hand. “I’m not going to baby you Leo, get your shit together before your ego kills us all” was a reasonable response to nearly being shish-kebab’d.

“Pizza Puffs”, on the other hand... LDM pulled through in the end, but that RR got HR to stay behind added an unnecessary level of risk. Getting his brothers to learn a lesson should have waited until after the giant mutant cannibal had been dealt with and they were no longer poisoned.

This hands-off “figure it out on your own” approach probably came from Splinter. I swear to Pizza Supreme In The Sky I’m not trying to shit-talk him, but his lack of involvement with his sons was a major flaw. Before all that character development he was terrible at things like “emotional support” and “life lessons”, leaving Raph without the blueprints to deal with a lot of problems. HR would respond by rushing in and figuring things out as he went, but sometimes RR would have to say “No, we’re maxed out and can’t deal with this, we’ve gotta step back”. As we’ve seen in other iterations, when Raph is maxed out and doesn’t step back...

...he goes too far. Plenty of folks have commented on how rarely the Rise turtles smack each other around compared to other versions; it’s telling that RR spoke up just a moment after HR smacked Mikey in “Pizza Puffs”.

Raph is much bigger and stronger than his brothers this time around, meaning such an outburst would have a much higher risk of Genuine Grievous Injury. And while his size and strength also mean a measure of gentleness has been baked into him since day one, there would still be times HR would feel himself boiling over and RR would head off somewhere quiet for fear of the above situation; which was potentially alluded to in “Hot Soup: The Game”.

“You went out on your own when you were his age.”

The context of “Man vs. Sewer” suggests Raph isn’t going to go off on his own without very good reason- such as cooling down before he does something he regrets. That this detail shows up in Casey’s debut episode suggests it is how they will properly meet and bond, since befriending Casey and doing vigilante shit with him is what usually gives Raph a way to blow off steam while having someone nearby to keep him in check. But that probably won’t happen until partway through season 3, since I doubt we can cram the rest of Casey’s redemption arc into the movie alongside the invasion and time travel trauma shenanigans and leader drama. So in the meantime RR will continue to brood on rooftops in bad weather and listen to Ephemerality songs and monologue to himself because he knows nobody’s going to hear him over the incessant background noise that makes up the cities above and below.

I was a bit stumped about how that meeting would take place- the events of the finale (and possibly also the movie) would no doubt have both the human and yokai populations on high alert, making it dangerous for RR to slip away for some peace and quiet. But the events of the finale also gave us some insight on Raph’s powers; he has a way to leave without actually leaving!

Hardlight Clone Jutsu, baby!

So whenever HR finds himself in a particularly sour mood, a wisp of power winds its way up through the open-air portion of the lair and forms into a clone aboveground. HR doesn’t have to leave for a while to cool down before coming back and dealing with the situation calmly, because RR is already on a rooftop somewhere dissipating those bad feelings by listening to the rain and/or yeeting trash cans.

But mutants can’t freely walk the streets of New York, and the Hidden City Police probably still have it out for Raph. And someone, hero or villain, will eventually realize that Raph has a gloomy stray clone running around and ask questions that can’t be answered without cracking open the can of worms that is This Whole Situation. RR needs to get creative. That we’ve seen clones have both full color and the basic red/white palette suggests their color could be altered in other ways; and that the holo-form grew extra arms in the lair fight vs. the Shredder suggests their shape could also be changed further.

So what will he choose to look like, if not his body?

Obviously he’ll use a red and black color palette because it slaps, leaning more towards black since I compared him to Batman back in Part 1. A low-detail design makes it hard to identify him, giving onlookers the impression that they just couldn't see him well in the dark. Mentally filing down his spikes and decreasing the curve of his shell are easy enough, but it takes him a while to figure out five fingers instead of three, and there’s not much he can do about his voice other than lowering the pitch so he just opts to not talk much within earshot of others. A cape further disguises his silhouette and again, it slaps. The impression of a mask means he doesn’t need a face and it lets peoples’ assumptions work for him. Humans are more likely to think he’s human than a Very Human-Shaped Mutant, and yokai come in so many shapes as is that he could be anything from a witch to a dehydrated googlyschmootz.

(You know how it is with franchises. Old patterns repeating in new ways.)

New York City never sleeps, and I doubt the Hidden City does either. He’ll run into Casey eventually, but in the interim he stumbles across and intervenes in some attempted purse-snatchings and kidnappings and the like. Most of the would-be victims use his arrival as their chance to escape, but one of them is too frozen with fear to move until their attackers are chased off into the dark. He escorts them home, and it’s only once they’re at their doorstep that they work up the courage to ask him who he is.

It’s... a difficult question, in more ways than one. “Raph” is out of the question. “Red” isn’t quite right, and neither is “Angel”- they’re a tad too identifying still, and the R.A.P.H. thing was HR’s idea anyway. So he shrugs, and melts away into the shadows.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m Nobody.”

[decadennce]

Epic swag villain asks-

For Azale... Syndrome, Tamatoa, and Mor'Du?? However many of those u wanna answer

And for Jupid, how about Alien? (This is a joke)

[For Azalea]

SYNDROME: Was there ever a point they could have been a hero?

-Oh there were multiple points. So many points. Literally at any point in his life before he decided to get into politics he could have been a better person, and honestly if he quit early enough in his political career his path still wouldn’t have been as villainous. If only he was a small town mayor for a few years before deciding to switch careers but alas, he turned out like this </3 but here’s some of the more major turning points in his life where things could have gone differently

I think the first key point that formed his views/outlook today is joining the military as a young adult. I unfortunately haven’t really named the conflict or figured out too many details but the TL;DR is that he went to fight in an imperialistic war and thought it was 100% justified and got radicalized because he’s fucking weird <3 If he hadn’t had that experience I don’t think he would have developed such a strong drive to get directly involved with politics and tbh he probably would have avoided it altogether. Also funny story but he barely met the height requirement at the time when he joined… if only he was just a tad shorter…

This one was in college. Azalea is a huge perfectionist and he wants to constantly do better than his past self, and this translated to him going absolutely fucking insane with studying. If you can’t already tell, he is a Highly Stressed And Anxious Dude. He began to develop a bit of a drinking habit, though he mainly just maintained a state of tipsiness as a shitty second rate anxiety treatment. He never majorly messed up in his studies but man if he did I could honestly see him drinking more to cope with the fact that he’s failing and then completely flunking out of school and just isolating himself while going from dead end job to dead end job for the rest of his working life. Failure is a massive fear of his and this would have fucked him up bad enough to where I don’t think he’d even try to get back to where he was before. So like. Unironcally he would have been a better person if he just went full alcoholic and destroyed his life lol

So by this point in his life he’d already strayed pretty far from the hero path because. well. he’d currently be a dictator by this point. But man he really didn’t have to start an unnecessary and ideologically fueled war huh </3 like come on man maybe former territories are former territories for a reason and you don’t have to invade them 60 fucking years later but what do I know <3 And god I don’t know how to succinctly explain the fictional politics around this point bc this conflict is actually more developed(mainly because uhhh this is when the main story happens lol) but here’s another TL;DR - cringe guy invades his neighbor while internal political tensions worsen, gets ganged up on by his other neighbors causing him to start losing, THEN a second civil war happens due to said internal tensions and the overall shitty conditions of uhh everything. Like good job man you really did great things for everyone :)))

I know You’ve seen me post massive essays about this world’s politics on discord but for any random people seeing this I cannot possibly fit it all into one ask because we’d be here all day <3

TAMATOA: What is your antagonist's theme song? (or playlist)

-So a lot of his playlist is based off an event in his backstory that I later removed because it didn’t make sense #oops but here is the link. I think the song that my brain mostly associates with him is poison apple by uncle acid. Somehow my brain decided to associate him with stoner rock <3 OH and also masked jackal by coroner because that’s about being a corrupt politician :D Though honestly he’s not traditionally corrupt in the sense that he bribed people or anything, he just has awful views and policies.

MOR'DU: How are they different from the hero/How are they similar?

-This is such a sexy question because I’ve thought about this in depth in the past. It’s also sexy because Aureus himself isn’t even much of a hero, though of course he is leagues better than most of the characters in this universe. For similarities:

Aureus and Azalea both struggle with morality to some extent, albeit in different ways. In Aureus’ case, it’s a huge deal for him, so much that instead of facing the fact that he was wrong, he instead just changes his moral compass so his actions fit within it <3 Eventually his actions do catch up to him and he can’t rationalize it anymore and he kinda loses his shit and has a breakdown but that’s a ramble for another day and also something that happens post-story. In Azalea’s case, his desire to be right mainly stems from his longing to succeed. If what he’s doing isn’t the correct thing, then wouldn’t that just be failing? Occasionally the thought will come into his mind that he’s not doing the best thing in the world, but he pushes it away because he doesn’t want to deal with it <3 If only this bitch actually self reflected.

They are both very anxious people, but once again the core motivation is different. In Azalea’s case, his anxiety stems from insecurity and the feeling that he’s not, and will never be able to be enough. For Aureus, a major source of anxiety is him being found out for being a spy which is a. pretty obvious one. But another one is he gets overwhelmed with the expectations of life very easily, and he often feels like the world is too fast paced for him. I decided to project my dyspraxia onto him and this is mainly why and wow this is reminding me that I should post a dyspraxreus ramble explaining how it affects him someday ANYWAYS back to the point-

-As for how they’re different…

So this first point is for basic differences. Mainly: Azalea is extroverted while Aureus is introverted, the massive height difference between the two, their conflicting political values, etc etc. uh uhhhh Azalea is outwardly friendly and polite while Aureus can be kind of cold and a bit of a prick sometimes… yeah

Okay so I am losing steam </3 but a lot of their differences are kind of explained in the similarities section since the root of their respective issues are different for each of them

[For Jupiter]

ALIEN: Are they a parasitic, acid-drooling, two-mouthed terror?

-Hi for some reason I misread two-mouthed as unwashed, which he is indeed unwashed a lot of the time however that was not part of the question lol. But yes he is all of these things… and more………….