#i think v1 and v2 are very fun okay..

[loversgothic]

i hadn't thought about the way v1 and v2 dance in my silly ultradanse au until someone commented on v1 being unable to do a pirhoutte (since i drew them falling splat on their face) and i think thats quite a silly thing i hadnt though about!! (thank you by the way for the comment ^u^)

forgive me if this makes no sense

i like to think v1 dances with more power in their step but nearly entirely without elegance, compared to v2 who has a decent balance between grace and strength, this being mostly because of what theyre both focused on. their focus would be beating their opponent at all costs, and i think their dancing would be almost more vicious. v2 is supposed to be the "better of the two" and would perhaps take more care in their movement... they at first, may not try as hard to match v1s energy, holding confidence. this would probably change in the 2nd encounter though, where theyd pull out all the stops :3

perhaps, if v1 were to later on slow down and maybe "enjoy" their dancing, would it become more graceful. its not because of a lack of ability!! i think they would fall on their face though. a lot. maybe on purpose.

[reds-ultrakill-brainrot]

Hello!, I've been reading your works and i love how you depict each character, anddd I have a request for V1, V2, and Gabriel!

How would they handle a reader who is a bit more rough love (i.e; light punches, gentle shoves, snarky words but an undertone of 'hey i love you'), and tend to be a little more defensive, reason for it being.. anything you want it to be :D Also if its okay, could this be a 'read as platonic or romantic'?

Pumpkin, You're Gonna Kill Me

roughhousing reader headcanons (included; V1, V2, Gabriel)

x reader content (read platonic or romantic)

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V1 - it would take them a while to recognise your actions as affectionate, and would probably result in a bruise or two on your end (you tried punching a war machine, if anything that's your fault) - half of your snarky comments are going to be met by blank stares. while this isn't particularly productive for conversations, they like fucking with you in their own way. you never know if they are offended or if your joke flopped (it's neither, they're a little shit and abuse the fact they don't have facial features) - their genuine reaction to said comments is indifference, they aren't usually the type to be spurred on by words. if you say something with especially poor timing the most they are likely to do is to turn and give you a full body 'did you actually just say that' look - sparring will most likely become a common activity. it gives you a way to express affection in a way you're used to while giving V1 a chance to work on using only as much force as necessary. no weapons are involved on their end, but you would be free to use anything besides a gun (unless you're willing to be a blood donor) - while they were never designed with conflict management in mind (at least not the kind that doesn't involve bulllets) they aren't too bad at it. they will quickly recognise that you get defensive and give you space during conflict. quality time is usually how they comfort you, and if you're feeling particularly defensive and insecure they will offer a sparring session. they would never usually rig a fight in your favour, but giving you a few more chances to hit them usually helps cheer you up - after some time of them getting used to it rough contact will be returned, with less force to account for your squishy exterior. on the odd chance they shove you too hard or use too much force their wings will droop in an apology, that or they will give you a free shot to shove them as hard as you want - while they don't care as much about your defensiveness as some others might, it will still prompt conflict at times. if your ego or insecurity is keeping you from resolving conflict they won't give you a pass. they aren't entirely immune to negative comments, if you end up crossing a line or refusing to admit and accept your mistakes they will distance themself until you apologise V2 - they would probably match your energy, if not take it as a sign you want to spar. such aggresive physical contact is endearing to them, you could hardly hurt them even if you wanted to, so feel free to go all out

- i imagine surprise roughhousing would soon become commonplace, you full on tackling them out of nowhere with a "think fast". it's all fun and games until they do it to you, expect a couple bruises after that - any half-hearted snarky comments would be met with playful glares or a shove in return. despite their—at times—staggering ego, they aren’t particularly bothered by snide remarks, serious or not - the both of you would have a very similar way of expressing affection for eachother. while others would look on with mild shock as the both of you do your best middleschool bully impersonations, the both of you understand what lines you can and cannot cross - this would, however, backfire slightly in regards to emotional vulnerability and conflict. V2 can come off as cold or insensitive at the best of times, this is only worsened when one or the both of you are upset. they aren't particularly equipped for comfort, it will take a lot of effort on both of your parts to work through this, especiallly on V2's half - on a serious and slightly less healthy note, V2 would take advantage of your defensiveness. they know how to prod at you to provoke you. while they would normally have no reason to do so, i imagine if they are particularly annoyed at you they would fall back onto purposefully provoking you - similarly, apologies of any kind are going to be rare. a lot of your conflict resolution is going to boil down to leaving eachother alone for a while, before coming around again with an "are we cool?" Gabriel - it would take him by surprise at first. he isn't used to super casual interactions with other people yet alone anything boisterous. this will probably lead to a few miscommunications — him taking a few snarky comments as genuine insults. while he would come to understand this is how you express comfortability and closeness, he probably won't mimic or play along - even when he knows you don't really mean it, snarky comments will prompt dramatic reactions. such reactions will often be followed by a pause as he realises you weren't serious. he's embarrased every time he misses the joke, but a flustered Gabriel was most likely your goal anyway - the one time he tried to copy your behaviour he accidentaly punched you with much more force than he intended. you received one big ass bruise and a myriad of apologies afterwards - he will eventually become used to your behaviour - well, most of it. i doubt he'd ever get entirely used to that type of physical contact (light or not); he will always jump slightly if you shove or lightly punch him. he isn't scared or angered by any means, merely confused and slightly annoyed. he might understand your reasoning, but it just isn't how he acts, and as such there is always a level of disconnect - he would inevitably clash with your defensive reactions. he has a strong sense of justice and gets especially angered by lying in any form - white lies included. if you don't own up to your faults or mistakes he will be blunt about his disapproval. he won't let you get away with trying to save your ego, he'll expect you to fully apologise for any disrespectful behaviour, wether you see it as disrespectful or not - unlike the others he will eventually prompt you to explain why you act defensive. he wants to know it isn't prompted by anything he is doing. he wants you to feel comfortable with him, both physically and emotionally. he's happy to help you work on it, but most of the effort will still need to be on your end

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thank you very much for the request. as usual requests are always open - i'm thinking i might open up slots for short stories as well - but in the meantime i will take headcanons and music matches. thanks for reading

[pigswithwings]

whats ultrakill im very curious

GRINS. SO BASICALLY. (this will be long and I will be YELLING underneath the cut because I feel very strongly about ultrakill)

ULTRAKILL (ALL CAPS) IS A FIRST PERSON SHOOTER GAME THAT IS ALL ABOUT GOING THROUGH THE LAYERS OF HELL. IT WAS CREATED BY ARSI PATALA, ALSO KNOWN AS HAKITA, AS WELL AS MANY OTHERS. ULTRAKILL IS NOT FULLY FINISHED BUT IT DOES CURRENTLY CONSIST OF TWO PARTS (ALSO CALLED ACTS), WITH A THIRD ACT IN DEVELOPMENT RIGHT NOW.

anyways ULTRAKILL's wacky setting in Literal Hell isn't the only unique thing about this game. things such as YOU ARE A ROBOT (called v1) AND YOU KILL CREATURES OF FLESH AND MUST USE THEIR BLOOD / GUTS TO REGAIN YOUR OWN HEALTH is really fun. i am not explaining this concept this is just a given fact in this game. so you can guess how the game might be associated with a lot of violence and (albeit pixelated) gore. that's another thing I forgot to mention: ULTRAKILL has a really cool aesthetic (what with the graphics being based around vintage shooter games) it is very cool to play + watch people play it

AND ALSO you know the whole "you have to bathe in blood to heal" WELL THAT MAKES THE FIGHTING FUN because it encourages players to get up close to enemies and play quickly and in a more risk taking style and I LIKE that I LOVE when the combat is fast but not "I can't see what I'm doing" level of fast and ULTRAKILL DELIVERS ON THAT. let's talk about the fighting now actually.

so you can run and dash and slide and jump and all of these actions either get you very fast or very far. the game basically encourages you to go at a breakneck speed ( also kill as fast as you can - there is what is called a "style" meter that ranks you based on how fast and well you can dispatch enemies) and overall it is genuinely very exhilarating.

the enemies are. well you're in Literal Hell so they look just a little bit weird. most are made of flesh and blood but they're all shaped in unique ways that lets you recognise them pretty quickly. but there are also boss fights that include Regular People like the archangel fucking Gabriel (it's okay he's normal and Not having an identity crisis! and he's Not working that out through slightly homoerotic violence with you, the player) and King Minos (it's okay he's normal and Not incredibly regretful of his ruined kingdom and resentful of you for your actions) and V2 (it's okay this guy isn't You but Red) and a bunch more but they're all so cool. of course each of them is a different difficulty and skillset but god damn if each of them arent incredibly unique and shit. really cool stuff for real.

DID I TALK ABOUT THE MUSIC? YOU'RE GOING TO HEAR ABOUT THE MUSIC ANYWAYS ULTRAKILL's music has been described as "breakcore" and whatnot and it does frequently use samples of the Amen Break (that's the fast paced drum break used in hundreds of songs. you know the one go look it up mate) and it really helps to set the mood and tone for most levels and fights. but also the game frequently makes use of droning / bass tones for more serious scenes and there is even some piano pieces in there for special levels!! and I am a sucker for piano for you know how that goes. seriously please listen to the ultrakill ost it is so.

I dunno I just think ultrakill has a lot of love put into it (you can literally look up Hakita's development videos from FIVE YEARS AGO) and it's really recognizable. I haven't even mentioned the Easter eggs or how most of the negative reviews on Steam ask for robot gay sex or even most of the lore here but this is just a general overview. but I would love to learn more and analyze the lore of the game much much more. it's amazing. I an trying to learn how to draw them. thanks for listening I am not normal about this game

[bestworstcase]

I was exited for Vol 9 but i so afraid at how they would handle Ruby like will she actually get to vent without having her words used against ger for once???

And the answer was a big no and YET

They made it clear that whatever happens its something they cant gloss over anymore

She got to explode in such a messy way

Hurt the people she loves by going for the juggular

Throught that whole scene for me theres was just this feeling of vindication

FINALLY we're seeing the result of the oh so inspiring "if youre not performing at your absolute best then..." she got from Ozpin

The way she basically took a hammer to the pedestal herself is still just so chefs kiss

Ps i know Neo wants her absolutely fucking dead. But i feel with all the narrative destroying (affectionate) going kn the Ruby and Neo would get along so well now that Ruby isnt masking brainworks have activated

hgfsg YEAH!

i only got into rwby like… a bit less than a year and a half ago, went into it mostly blind (<- i knew the fandom was SUPER ship heavy, a very basic summary of who cinder was, and “this is salem, you would love her” lmao) and got as far as 1.4 before i was like

—except at that point i was being facetious bc rwby really does a fantastic job of initially masquerading as your bog standard ‘plucky kids save the world’ fantasy story at first (<- & stories like that are fun! i just tend to read them with tongue in cheek bc they do make me very conscious of my own suspension of disbelief). i remember hitting 1.10 for the first time and going 😬 and then feeling increasingly like, ‘…hold up.’ through V2-3 and by the time i reached V4 i was like. okay this is a deconstruction let’s GO! but figured the salem side of things would continue to be played straight (bc it always is) until lost fable cold-clocked me. and then i became Deranged.

so during the gap in between finishing V8 and V9 starting, there… honestly there wasn’t a single doubt in my mind that ruby would be having, not just an emotional breakdown but a wholesale crisis of identity and reckoning with the huntsman system itself. bc i think watching the whole show V1-8 in one go, while having very little in the way of preconceived notions about what the story would be, really made the incremental progression towards what’s going on in V9 a lot more visible. (<- i also rewatched it like four times in that time and kept noticing *more* of how well everything fits together. genuinely this is a really well-constructed story. so i have a lot of trust in the, like, intentionality of the narrative, that it’s going to follow through.)

but it’s been just. so so thrilling to SEE it actually, really happen. the narrative crescendo. ruby finally detonating her pedestal bc she can’t take it anymore and she’s a human fucking being. GOD. it’s so good.

also as far as neo goes, yeah i’d agree. for as different as they are they do have a lot of emotional similarity—ruby cornered on the huntress pedestal, neo both literally and figuratively silenced and abused bc she wasn’t the perfect daughter her parents wanted, there’s a very symmetrical experience here of cracking under the strain of a dehumanizing ideal. and i don’t think ruby cares about neo enough to have this bloody rampage of revenge against her that most of the fandom seems to be anticipating. the personal animosity isn’t reciprocal. as far as ruby is concerned neo is just a jerk whom her real enemies (cinder, salem) used as a pawn.

+ i think a bloody rampage at this point in the would be extremely tonally and thematically dissonant. when has this story ever reveled in violence? and ruby is at a point rn where she’s having severe trauma responses and shutting down every time there’s a fight. (she grabs for her weapon when the jabberwalker shows up, but then freezes—& in 9.7 it’s shown that she’s freezing bc she’s having panic attacks. like we see what was happening in her head in 9.1 & 9.5 while she watched wby engage the jabberwalker.)

like rwby has never been about stomping the bad guys into the curb. it’s a story about healing and compassion and escape from systems that enforce and necessitate violence. rip to all the bloodthirsty fans but that’s just not what the show is about.

[johnconstantinesdick]

Okay *cracks knuckles, accidentally dislocates fingers* @agentscamander-romanoff and @steel-phoenix took the bait and enabled me by asking me to elaborate on my Children of the Watch origins theory. Which means I am about to go ABSOLUTELY feral.

Apologies to anyone for having incorrect Star Wars lore, I’ve barely consumed canon content and I don’t intend to start now. Also sorry if anyone has already said this! I’ve never seen this particular theory/interpretation and it’s made me go a bit insane.

Warnings: discussion of child abuse, cults, and the aftermath of genocide. I don’t go super in depth on any of it but it’s there. Also, I typed this in the notes app of my phone and autocorrect hasn’t quite submitted to some of these names.

SO. I’m going to break this up into sections. 1. Exploring canon 2. Extrapolations/Connecting the red string 3. What does this MEAN??? 4. Complaining about Bo-Katan.

First off, though, here’s my thesis: Children of the Watch is a “splinter group” made up of the children that Death Watch stole, indoctrinated, and abused. They’re also not a cult (Death Watch is though lmao).

1. Exploring Canon:

Okay, so. Canonically, Death Watch has abducted, tortured, and brainwashed children. Arla Fett is an example of that, having been abducted at the age of 14 after her parents were killed and she was subsequently brainwashed into becoming an assassin for Death Watch. She didn’t even hesitate when she found out her brother was alive! That’s how strong the conditioning was! She was so fucked up from it that she spent YEARS in a mental facility, and she outright begged a Jedi to wipe her memories in exchange for a favor. DEATH WATCH DID THAT. And you CANNOT tell me she was the only one they’ve done this to. PLENTY of fic writers have extrapolated off of this and mentioned it, but it’s important to me that everyone know this shit is absolutely rooted in canon.

Another Death Watch Child Abuse Fun Fact: Dred Priest and Isabet Reau, two of the trainers of the clones, canonically had Death Watch leanings and tried to instill Death Watch beliefs in the clones by FORCING THEM TO FIGHT EACH OTHER IN SECRET BATTLE CIRCLES THAT ENDED UP KILLING SOME OF THE CLONES. THEY WERE CHILDREN AT THE TIME, IF IT WASN’T CLEAR. WHAT THE FUCK. If THAT’S not an example of Death Watch abusing the kids under their care then I don’t know what is. It’s suuper not a stretch for me to think that this wasn’t an unheard of thing in more official Death Watch circles.

Also canonically, Bo-Katan has referred to Din’s covert as “Children of the Watch”, and Din, despite obviously being an important and respected member of his community, doesn’t recognize the name, which implies to me that it’s not a name the covert chose for themselves. Rather, a moniker that was given to them after they splintered off of Death Watch. Since this isn’t an opinion and it’s more just… information, I’ll trust Bo-Katan on this one.

We also know for sure that Din’s covert IS connected to Death Watch in some way, seeing as the flashback sequence very clearly shows Mandalorians in blue and gray beskar’gam, the colors of Death Watch. HOWEVER… the Armorer, who seems to hold a high position of authority in the covert, wears gold and copper beskar’gam. Din wears unpainted (v2) or mismatched colored (v1) beskar’gam (I do grant that his paint color counts less towards this because he’s pretty much one of the only people interacting with the outside world and so colors associated with Death Watch are probably a no go no matter what). Paz Vizsla’s armor is a very dark blue with yellow and cyan details and, oh my fucking god I didn’t even know this but he has a fucking MYTHOSAUR SYMBOL ON ONE OF HIS PAULDRONS. THE FUCK???? THAT’S LITERALLY THE SYMBOL OF THE TRUE MANDALORIANS IM. Ok. Okay. I needed a minute. Like I KNOW that the mythosaur skull is Mandalorian symbol in general but I think it just hits different when a Vizsla is wearing it, you know? Especially because the placement is the same as Jaster Mereel’s???? Literal founder of the True Mandalorian movement????? Excuse me???????

Let’s uh. Let’s get back to armor. I can address that… later. So. Anyway. Armor is super important, and it’s uhhh very telling that the covert doesn’t emulate the Death Watch colorscheme strictly. Like, yeah, there’s gray and light blue in there, if you go through some wiki pages, but they’re not the only colors they use, and the Armorer doesn’t even have either of those colors! And she’s the biggest authority we’ve seen! Very fucking interesting!! Bo-Katan still has her armor painted in Death Watch colors! And yet she’s derisive of Din’s covert! Verrry interesting!

We also know that Din’s covert emphasizes children VERY much, more than Death Watch ever would have, imo. It’s expected for the adult members to provide for the foundlings (and it’s VERY interesting that the kids are seemingly all referred to as foundlings iirc. More on that later.), and even though Paz disagrees with Din working with the empire, he and the other members of the covert immediately and with no hesitation come to Din’s aid for this child that Din hasn’t even claimed as his own—it’s amazing! And I will note that Bo-Katan and her warriors do the same upon their initial meeting with Din—Koska dives into danger with no hesitation as soon as Din says the child is still in danger. We see that this solidarity does come at a price for Bo-Katan, though, while the Armorer sees protecting a foundling as a duty that is completely worth all the trouble it brought.

Fascinating also that Boba was 100% on board to help out Din to save Grogu past what Din or anyone else would have expected of him, while Bo-Katan had to be bribed into coming by the promise of Moff Gideon and the darksaber. And she thinks she’s somehow more Mandalorian than him.

And NOW, going way back in time to the beginnings of the True Mandalorian movement, we know that Jaster Mereel originally authored his Supercommando Codex by looking back through history to the Canons of Honor and the Resol’nare, and he took those ideals and ideas and he modernized them to create a set of moral guidelines to follow. And people loved that shit! Death Watch had to infiltrate the True Mandalorians and then trick the Jedi into slaughtering them just to get rid of them, because Jaster’s charisma and his sexy sexy morals were too strong. (God. I fucking LOVE Jaster Mereel if you couldn’t tell.) Anyway, there’s precedent for Mandalorians looking back to their history to bring forth old ideas, repurposed to a modern context. We also know that, canonically, Din’s covert follow the “old ways” of not sharing names and of never taking their helmets off in front of others.

Moving on.

2. Extrapolations/Connecting the red string:

So if we extrapolate from the fact that Death Watch are, uh, super fucking abusive towards the kids that they stole/their own kids, then we’re left with… this group of kids, who have been mistreated and indoctrinated for a LONG TIME, and possibly don’t have that great an understanding of non-toxic Mandalorian culture. And if they’ve been abducted or rescued, whatever, they might not fit back in with the places they were taken from, or they may not have a place to go back to, or they may not even remember where they’re from originally. It’s some prime angst material! Good stuff.

And if we pull the implication from the names that “Children of the Watch” is a splinter group off of Death Watch, it really does make you think… huh, you know what? These two things may be one in the same. Maybe.

And, like, we know that Jaster Mereel and Din’s covert both looked to Mandalorian history to find pillars for their community’s morals. Jaster did so in the middle of a lot of political turmoil, as a way to say “Hey, we can still be Mandalorians in the ways that matter, but being Mandalorian doesn’t mean being a morally bankrupt conqueror. We can have honor and still wear armor and fight and uphold the Resol’nare.”

And I think Din’s covert did so when they were struggling with unlearning the toxic ideals that had been shoved onto them by Death Watch. I think they had to figure out their own way of being Mandalorian or else they would have crumpled under the pressure. And so they looked back to the old ways and picked out the more extreme interpretation of Cin Vhetin (clean slate) which says that, once you swear the Resol’nare and become a Mandalorian, your past doesn’t matter, it’s what you do now that does. You don’t take off your helmet, and you don’t let others know your name, because those things don’t matter to who you are and what you do. (There’s also the issue of the helmet and name rule being an important defense tactic to protect the covert, seeing as how Mandalorians post-Empire are the survivors of genocide. There’s already a fantastic post on it here)

Related, another Mandalorian saying is “Gar taldin ni jaonyc; gar sa buir, ori'wadaas'la.”, meaning “Nobody cares who your parent was, only the parent you’ll be,” which IMO fits in very nicely with how I’m interpreting Din’s covert. It’s all about your actions and future mattering more than your past. I think that when the covert was splitting off and being built, this would be a huge component of them healing. Because the way they were treated and indoctrinated by Death Watch doesn’t have to affect their future actions. They don’t have to perpetuate the cycle of abuse, they can build a covert and a community around caring for foundlings.

Now, onto the foundlings! I find it very interesting that, whenever the covert’s younglings are mentioned, it’s always as foundlings. I think this implies that there’s a focus on saving and raising children more than there is on sharing blood with them, and I think that the covert would be more inclined towards communal raising than typical family units, if only to keep everyone in check and to protect the children from ever being treated as they were. I also find it VERY interesting that there’s a lot of emphasis put on returning children to their own kind. I don’t think Death Watch would have employed that practice, and I think that’s another example of the covert wanting to make their community a better place for children. I think it’s likely a lot of them didn’t get that choice, and they had to leave their cultures and people behind. And so they want to give that choice to their children.

I think it’s also amazing that, like. They keep finding and raising children instead of deciding they’re too damaged or whatever to have kids. Because it doesn’t matter if they have baggage or trauma when a child needs them. That’s FANTASTIC. I’m losing my MIND. It really doesn’t matter who their parents were to them, just the kind of parents they will be. It’s all about breaking that cycle and deciding to be better and I LOVE THAT.

3. What does this MEAN???:

Well. What this means is that Din’s covert has a very clear set of motivations and structure when it comes to how their covert is run. It’s not a cult; in fact it is specifically a group created by cult survivors who are determined to not do to others what was done to them. The rules may seem weird and strict at first glance, but they have a clear purpose and rationale, and no one is trying to amass power. They’re just… trying to do better, and be better.

(This also means that I’m 99% sure that, with the assistance of time travel, at least half of the covert would be SUPER INTO Jaster Mereel. I like to imagine that Paz had, like, a poster of him on his little sewer bedroom wall. I fully believe he painted that mythosaur skull on his pauldron in honor of a good man who was killed by Paz’s own relatives for standing by his morals and daring to try to reform and rally Mandalorians. I also think it would be funny if, like, Din doesn’t know shit about ANYTHING to do with modern history, but Boba mentions that his grandfather is Jaster Mereel and Din is like “OH I KNOW THAT GUY! Yeah he’s cool, he’s the historical crush of like, my entire covert.” And Boba is like. What.)

It also means that it can be up in the air about whether Din was found by Death Watch before his covert splintered off, or if his covert was still just wearing Death Watch colors when he was found. Fun thing to play around with, but right now I don’t want a solid timeline.

Hmm just thought I should add: while the Armorer does seem to have a position of authority, I don’t think the covert can be structured politically with clans and houses like other Mandalorian groups. Like, clan just means family in this context, and is less a part of hierarchy, and I don’t think they would even recognize houses within the covert? Like they MIGHT decide to call themselves part of House Djarin now that Din is Mand’alor, but before that they weren’t like. House Vizsla with Paz as the leader just because they used to be Death Watch. I don’t vibe with that. This isn’t really super relevant, I just wanted to add it.

4. Complaining about Bo-Katan:

Anyway Bo-Katan is absolutely full of shit and it’s doubly disgusting that she’s standing there in Death Watch armor, seemingly still allied to this fucking cult of imperialism and conquest, and she accuses Din of being in a regressive cult, and she implies that the way he engages with the Resol’nare is wrong and like. Repressed or something. God I hate Bo-Katan. But I love to hate her. She’s horrible but I want her to be included in the list of Din’s friends but not the list of people he’d trust his kid with. I have contradictory Bo-Katan feelings, whatever. The most important thing is that all of her opinions are horrible, like, all the time. And we shouldn’t trust her when she says Din’s part of a cult. Literally why does anyone take that at face value. If we’re taking her word as the authority on Mandalorian issues then I guess Boba and Jango aren’t Mandalorian!!! Seriously.

TLDR; Din’s covert (aka “Children of the Watch”) is made up of survivors of childhood abuse, torture, and brainwashing at the hands of Death Watch, and they’re dedicated to making sure their children don’t go through the same thing. They’re not a cult, but Death Watch sure was! Jaster Mereel is the love of my very aromantic life and Bo-Katan’s opinions can’t be trusted. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[nothingtoseehd]

eah characters as cavetown songs

this was inspired by @/applewhiteapologist's eah characters as taylor swift songs, sooooooo yeah

some characters might not be here because: 1. it's hard to find songs for them (as of right now) 2. i forgot them/i'll do them if i have more time

apple white - devil town v2/green

-i chose devil town v2 because it seemed the most, uh, apple out of all the devil town versions? devil town v1 seems edgy-ish, and devil town v3 seems lower and calmer, i think???? maybe i just chose this because it has those light, floaty chords, i'm not sure, i'm not smart or anything -also i honestly felt like this was hard -i chose devil town because it could represent the future she pictured in her mind when raven didn't sign the book -i don't really know what to explain green, but like, ashlynn and apple in true hearts day??? that's the best way i could explain this song -lyric analysis time: --"i still get a little scared of something new, but I feel a little safer when i'm with you, falling doesn't feel so bad, when I know you've fallen this way too" ---apple is "a little scared of something new" because she's in for an unpredictable future without the storybook of legends ---for the falling part, it's like she's not so sad about being led astray when she's with her friends maybeeeeeee -lyrics for green because i can't explain it but it's just THERE: --"you looked so good in green i hope you’re well and you look so good with him and i’m proud of you still take care of my shirt warm and red i hope you think of me still as your friend i hope you love yourself your body and heart i hope you feel happy that’s all i want that's all i want"

raven queen - devil town v1 (dang it there's no purple text so have plain text)

-i just chose devil town v1 because i think it would work well with her guitar, i actually don't know how guitar works but i'm pretending to know how it works, don't tell anyone i don't know how they work -i think this song could represent her home life and whatnot because she's living with the evil queen -it's lyric analysis time!!: --"you said something dumb again, she's mad, at least that's what they say" (i just used orange so the lyrics wouldn't blend in as much) ---the something dumb thing could be like a 'nice deed' the evil queen doesn't like, and she's mad because of that --"we're all dead in devil town, that's fine, cause nothing's gonna scare us now" ---she's 'dead' after all the nagging and 'be eviL EMBRACE YOUR INNER EVIL' shit and it's now the normal, and it's not going to scare her since it's basically her life now -also slowed devil town can fit her too

madeline hatter - hug all ur friends/talk to me

-she's just so friendly?????? and supportive?????? and oh gosh i need a hug???????? -seriously though, they suit her because she feels so much like a huggy, supportive person and she's friends with everyone sooooooooooooo, hugs for everyone!! except you crystal!! and headmaster grimm!! not forgiving for the time you almost banished maddie!! -the lyrics because i can't explain these songs, it's just that maddie vibe, you know?: --"life’s too short to worry about things that we got wrong, so hug all your friends and let them know, you’re not letting go, i’m not letting go" (hug all ur friends) --"you don't have to be a prodigy to be unique you don't have to know what to say or what to think you don't have to be anybody you can never be that's alright, let it out, talk to me" (talk to me)

briar beauty - pigeon

-i had a very hard time with her but i think this kinda fits -it generates a sleepy vibe? (even though i didn't get this from the sleepyhead album *cough cough*) -okay, so the reason why i chose this for her is because of the chorus, which could kind of tie in with her destiny, with the 100 year coma -have the chorus for reference: --"didn’t give me time to say goodbye in the way that i wanted to, so honey, close your eyes and stay like you’re supposed to do, don’t know how i’m gonna live without, but i’ll stay strong for you"

ca cupid - sweet tooth/for you

-this is already self-explanatory if you listened to the song(s), buT IF YOU HAVEN'T YET, basically it's a song about an unhealthy crush and love and stuff -and you know who she has an unhealthy crush on???? that's right, it's blondie!! /hj (but seriously, in canon it's dexter but uH, i refuse to believe that, they're better off as friends) -lyric examples because like maddie, i can't really explain it but i know the vibe is THERE: --"a sweet tooth for you, i'm wide awake, the sugar went straight to my brain, feel like a kid, i double tap, my chest with my fist, i like you, say it back, say it back"

cerise hood - snail

-snail iS SUCH A GREAT SONG OMG -snail kinda represents her childhood and 'not wanting to be born like this' because of her parents technically breaking destiny (stupid storybook of legends) -lyrics from the song because i kinda don't really need to explain this song more: --"i was just born like this, wish that i could change it" --"i'm hanging out with the foxes and the hounds, and when i fit in i'll break back out"

daring charming - boys will be bugs/lemons (technically cavetown is just a feature but he's still there so yeah)

-it's just about the vibes -and also about the fact that the person in the songs have to uphold some sort of standard (the songs' standards were about masculinity) and i thought it could fit daring because he also has to uphold a standard (being the perfect charming prince) -also in lemons, daring's part is the one where cavetown sings it (if that wasn't obvious) -also ANOTHER LEMONS SIDE NOTE, i'd imagine rosabella singing brye's part, just because -lyrics time: --"don't mess with me, i'm a big boy now and i'm very scary i punch my walls, stay out at night, and i do karate don't message me 'cause i won't reply, i wanna make you cry ain't that how it's supposed to be? though it isn’t me boys will be bugs, right?" (boys will be bugs) --"so i'm gonna take it out on you too proud to show i'm hurting push it on you 'til you're burning" (lemons)

darling charming - 888/trying

-888 is a fun song, very groovy, has peppa pig plasters, 10/10 -main reason i chose 888, it kinda feels gay when you put it under a certain light?????????? -and snail could also fit with darling but i don't want to rob cerise -i was very stuck for a second song for darling because i felt obligated to give the charming siblings two songs because they're that top tier, but i think trying could be a good fit to some extent -could be like 'not great relationship with parents, struggle to fit with their standards ever since she found out she wanted to be a hero or something' -i still do think snail is a better fit for darling but i really really don't want to rob cerise because cerise is amazing -some lyrics: --"i'm workin' things out clouds lookin' strange papercut fingers dancing on the strings if i could see you right now i'd dance just for you when the nightlight goes out" (888) --"please let me know if you change your mind cause inside i'm falling And I need you to pull me out of this decline i realize how hard on you this must seem But trust me when i say it's far, far worse for me" (trying)

dexter charming - telescope/home

-telescope just feels like his vibe???? also because it kinda also have hopeless romantic-ness???? -also i headcanon him to be an astronomy nerd???? so that's fun???? that's my reasoning i guess???? (also, side-note i have just listened to astronomy by conan gray and it fits dexter) -ALSO HOME IS HERE BECAUSE DEXTER IS TRANS YOU CAN'T CHANGE MY MIND -also because it's also his vibe??????? -what time is it????? *clap clap* it's lyrics time!!: --"through the lens, it's dark, single-digit on the clock singing, "yessiree, i sure like-a you a lot" all i need is to get her she'll be happy if you let her" (telescope) --"turn off your porcelain face i can't really think right now and this place has too many colors, enough to drive all of us insane are you dead? sometimes i think i'm dead cause i can feel ghosts and ghouls wrapping my head but i don't wanna fall asleep just yet" (home)

okay the process of this post was just me staring at the lyrics and listening to cavetown a lot, sometimes during online classes but shhhh don't tell anyone (and finding more great songs)

is this post going to flop?? very very likely. do i care? eh, not sure, this was just me trying to put on my big brain hat.

also i realized while reading this post, that i never actually analyzed the majority of the songs' lyrics in this post?? so i'm very sorry

[cinnamon-bunni]

So, bestie... What are some of your Dr otps?

Okay so for v1, I have to say I think ishimondo is kind of a given. These two are so gay for each other and I love it. I was sold after the sauna seen lmao (also like naegami is something i like too,,,,but it could be because i lowkey really like byakuya lmao)

v2,,,,,I am very much in love with soudam. I love the idea of just mechanic with his goth husband. BUT also sondam is,,,very cute as well,,, ALSO! Fuyupeko? So fucking adorable I love it so much--

Fuyusouda is interesting to me, actually. I don't really ship them, but I really like the idea of them being friends and find it interesting with those two doing things together. I think I'm always a bigger fan of friendships rather than ships--like the idea of Kazuichi, Sonia, and Gundam all being friends and doing fun things together makes me very happy,,, and then Taka, Mondo, and Chihiro doing things together with the energy of two dads with their child also makes me very happy to think about. I just like to think about different friendships and interactions between different the characters that we don't really get to see in the games lol

[onionsan]

I was reading your deltarune theory related posts, and I was wondering if you could please elaborate on this: "But if Deltarune and Undertale are like how Homestuck timelines are. Undertale could basically be the equivalent of a post-scratch universe " I've never played homestuck, so I wasn't sure what you meant by this, could you please explain! thanks

Oh yeah!!! I was meaning to do that anyways.

So in Homestuck, there are multiple universes, and multiple timelines of those universes. In Homestuck there is a very dangerous game that causes the end of the world when you play it, but when you are successful, it creates a NEW world.

The universes technically go [Alpha Trolls] -> [Beta Troll] -> [Beta Kids] -> [Alpha Kids], with the previous universe being responsible for the next one. Now, it's been probably 3 years since I last read Homestuck, and this is going to sound messy. But the Alpha/Beta groups are both the genetic ancestors AND descendants of each other (they use the term dancestors for this), because all the Alpha and Beta kids/trolls were made with the use of ectobiology, and they are genetically their own grandparents and grandchildren because of this cycle.

What my current theory is: is that Deltarune exists in a space BEFORE Undertale (we will call this DR v.1). And that by progressing the game, The Fun Gang will either be directly responsible for creating a new universe, or will try and prevent this from happening and fail.

This is where UT v.1 starts, this is different from Undertale (2015), because this is where Gaster still exists. UT v.1 is where Gaster makes the core, and falls in, causing him to scatter across all of time and space (which if I remember correctly, is the literal dialogue from one of the assistants), which results in UT v2 (aka Undertale 2015).

This is where it gets....a little complicated. Deltarune 2018 was VERY clearly designed to be played by people who already played Undertale 2015. There are text options that directly ask characters questions they would only know if they were in Undertale, these arent little Easter eggs, they're EVERYWHERE when you talk to NPCs on the surface world. As much as I love Deltarune, I always tell people they need to play Undertale first for it to make sense. Not because DR is a sequel, but because there is so much meta content that doesnt make sense in chapter 1 if you havent played it before.

But what this means, is that the player has a way to move between these two worlds in a way NPCs cant. Which is why I firmly believe Deltarune 2018 is DR v2. And We will not see a proper DR Gaster, because the cores effected all of TIME and SPACE (which if you ask me, that would include parallel universes. Out of all the fun values, there is not a single, SINGLE time you are able to meet a version of Gaster that didnt have the accident, because he no longer exists).

But because DR!Gaster does not exist in v2 the same way as v1 did, this could effect the timeline in so many ways, because we do not know how much Gaster was originally involved. So instead of DR v2 making UT v1 or even UT v2, DR v2 will end up making an Undertale v3 (no I dont think toby will make a new game for v3, it'll likely just be implied depending on what the player is able to do right vs wrong in their playthrough).

But because of Gaster falling into the core, the timelines are unbalanced, and are going to be trying to correct themselves, maybe Undetale V3 will be stable and okay. But Gasters accident could keep echoing and echoing, causing DR v3, 4, 7, 20, etc. And the same for the UT timelines, because there is always going to be new rules and circumstances that they will be working with, basically: Gaster never existed, but the universe knows he is missing.

Deltarune 2018 may end up exploring this, and our goal in later chapter may be to team up with Sans and fix this (since in Undertale he is said to already be observing timeline anomalies, no regular person would start that without reason).

God, I honestly am looking forward to the later chapters. Even if I'm wrong, I want to see how much they talk about the similarities between the two worlds

[fableish]

So awhile back there was this tag going around where you showed your sim with and without cc. Then there’s the one where you re-do your alpha/mm/nocc/whatever in alpha/mm/whatever style you don’t normally do.

This is kind of a combination of that, plus I’m currently sort of redoing my DL folder (nothing traumatic, I just wanted a clean slate, I still have my old stuff!) and wanting to play around with different styles.

So. This is the same sim (made without sliders because I forgot to add them. I didn’t spend ages making her, if I’m being honest, but I did fiddle with all her features) in different CC styles. Aside from occasionally lowering her brows when I changed her eyebrows I haven’t changed anything.

I feel like this should be obvious (but this is also the internet) but this is obviously not here to make the case of any one thing being better than the other. It’s not. It’s your game, your fun, do it your way.

The No CC version isn’t technically cc free because it does use a skin default+a hair color default+eye defaults but the actual content on the sim aside from that is no cc.

Maxis Match comes in two versions because one uses skin details, the other does not.

There are two different Maxis Mix version because... I couldn’t make up my mind.

The Maxis “Clayified” is dubbed as such because I suspect it’s not technically Clayified, but it’s not exactly alpha so... Yeah. I had too call it something.

Alpha and Realistic were thus dubbed because I thought they were different enough in style and I feel like alpha can be both realistic (bordering on uncanny valley) or just... alpha. So yeah.

The last two are just the same pictures again, but edited like I’d normally do. The first ones are unedited save for reshade + a little bit of vibrance and levels added.

Also, I chose the style names based on what I’d call them. I know there are people out there who can make very realistic sims without adding quotes to the word. I’m not one of them and I didn’t want to do that, so, quotes it is.

Is this useful in any way? Uh. Probably not. Did I have fun? Yes.

It also helped me get an idea of what sort of CC I want this game to have and that’s the real reason I did it, so. Mission accomplished!

Personally I think Maxis Mix v1 is my general style, though I quite like v2 as well. V3 I like, but not enough to actually do again I think. Alpha is cool, but doesn’t really fit my aesthetic (which boils down to “whatever looks kind of okay next to Maxis stuff so it doesn’t annoy me”, specific, I know). Realistic is one of those things I love seeing from other people, but don’t want for myself.

Essentially I just don’t want to have to make over every single sim in a save with skin details and stuff so that my sim doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb. Especially when I’m playing. If I’m just taking pictures... Eh. Doesn’t technically matter but I like being able to use in game content and Maxis Match and Maxis Mix works best (for me) for that so...

Aaand, end babble. 

[thewebcomicsreview]

Tonight on Legend of the Hare: Rasslevania! 

This was originally supposed to be a birthday, but then I thought of the phrase “no holds barred mitzvah” and changed it last second. do like that Jill and Riley both don’t actually know what a bar mitzvah is. Given that the next few pages portray the event as taking place in an arena (?) around a wrestling ring (??) and one of the people in attendance is a music industry scout (?!), it’s also possible that I didn’t know what a Bar Mitzvah was, or at the very least didn’t bother to change any of the later pages to account for this change. This is a really stupid plot point! And it also means that the band is tempted by money at a Jewish event, which is one of those things I probably should have stopped to consider the implications of, but I clearly didn’t consider the implications of anything I was doing on any level. In the aborted LotH Version 2, this whole scene was going to be an actual birthday party, and Riley would sing a song that would be way inappropriate for kids and the family would kick them out, which Riley would blame on Jill before Peggy showed up an arrested them all. It would be at the police station where the rabbits first appeared, and V2 was getting very far from V1 before I gave up on it.

There’s something very Scott Pilgrim vs the World-y in those first three panels, especially Jill’s band being a retro gaming reference. Who came up with that name, anyway? Also, wow, I just told Carlos to draw a generic indie wrestling poster and gave him a sample of one, but I totally passed on a chance to put a joke on the poster. Missed opportunity, past me! Also, using “Goldstein” as a generic Jewish name, bluh.  That’s lazy, it should’ve been a funnier name. If it’d been, like, “Rick ‘The Rack’ Ruckus presents: His son’s no-holds-barred mitzvah” then there’s a little character in it, the idea that maybe it’s the dad who likes wrestling and not the kid, which gives me an opportunity to have a joke later about the son being bored and also kind of helps explain why there’s no actual Bar Mitzvahing going on. You can tell how much I’m feeling a page by how much effort I’m putting into finding these spaces for a joke. In a perfect ideal word, a writer should spend as much time on a page as the artist, going over every line and background detail and trying to find ways to get as much mileage as possible out of every panel and taking every chance for a clever joke. Obviously, this doesn’t usually happen in practice. But it should! It’s very easy to pop out something passable in ten minutes as a writer in a way an artist can’t, but you should hold yourself to a higher standard and even now I don’t do that as much as I should.

Panel 3 looks like a generic alley, but I actually took a photo of an alley in Boston I liked and had Carlos use it as a reference

I’m not quite sure why I found this image so striking, but it adds a little to the sense of place that this alley has a brick road instead of a paved street, and is one of the very few visual clues that this comic takes place in Boston and not Generic City, so it was worth the time to photograph. Also, hey, that’s Eoin in a trenchcoat reading a newpaper in the background of paper three there. The original opening to Legend of the Hare would have had Trenchcoat Eoin (back when he was called Teporingo) and Mary Farrier at Doink Burger scoping Jill out as a potential rabbit champion. This never got past the first draft stage and mostly revolved around Mary being a hyper child and not focusing. Interestingly, the script I have for that opening establishes Legend of the Hare as being set in Oregon. I wonder why I set it there originally, given that I’ve never been. It might have just been a reference to Gravity Falls?

Anyway, this is the first appearance of Riley, and note that even this early he’s making fun of Jill behind her back. Old man Starflower seems to just accept what Jill is saying as normal, which looks like a joke but is also foreshadowing, since Starflower knows a bit more than was ever shown to the audience. Sadly, it never comes up in the comic because everything’s a mess, but Mary Farrier the horse champion is Starflower’s daughter, and it was through him that the rabbits learned of Jill. It’s all connected, but offscreen because I wasn’t doing anything properly.

The Lore Post for this page will be of grave importance to a few people: It’s the first appearance of Helen Alvarez, the Rooster Champion and surprisingly popular minor character! Helen doesn’t actually appear on-panel for like 40 pages, and by then she’s very clearly sick of all the “cock” jokes, but she seems to be in better humor about it here:

Dear Diary,

I don’t know if anyone’s going to read this, but if you’re reading this now, hi.

So today was odd. I skipped school and then a bunch of Roosters flew me off to Cock-Narnia. Little bit unexpected, that twist. They gave me the whole “Chosen One” spiel I’ve seen in a million fantasy novels, though they didn’t seem to know who actually chose me or why. They offered to let me go home, but I told them nah. Even a crappy Harry Potter LARP thing run by birds is better than Mom and Brad. And, honestly, I wasn’t going to make a better career choice than being the “Lady of Cocks”, so I might as well get on the Cock while I can. Got the tattoo and everything. I’m sure that’ll stop being funny any second now, but I’ve only been here a few hours so I’m going to ride the cock train just a bit more.

The cocks – there it is, this is old -the roosters are not very smart. Which I guess isn’t surprising, because they’re birds? But they can talk, so you’d think they’d be smarter than normal birds. And maybe they are, but they ain’t shown signs of it yet.

I tried to get some details on what my Cock Destiny (okay, one more) was, but no one was able to answer me. Kind of defeats the point of having a prophesied destiny if it’s a mystery, doesn’t it? If I wanted vague promises of future greatness, I’d see the guidance counselor again.

Isn’t that life, though? In that….um…..you never know what you’re gonna get? Or something? I dunno. I really don’t know anything. Supposedly once I sign up I get all kinds of magical girl superpowers, but I don’t feel very super right now. I mostly just wanna lie down. Such hero. Very amaze.

Actually, lying down sounds like a great idea right now. I need to stress over all my decisions today. I’m gonna go do that.

How was your day?

Holy hell, you can tell this lore post is old, there’s a doge reference.

[waterwindow]

@bloodshadow213  Okay! This is actually the second ask I’ve gotten about Al in the last couple days.

 So I guess hopefully I’ll be able to help the Anon as well with the information.

    Al’s story is complicated. And 90% of it took place in V1 which means it’s laced with campy jargon, continuity errors, stories being told out of order and.... “””comics logic”””

WARNING, THIS IS REALLY LONG.

  It doesn’t help that a lot of Wiki data and other online sources on him are completely false. Most of them confuse him with his Astral Twin Alvin and they can’t even get his actual height correct EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE THE INFORMATION IN COMICS CLEAR AS DAY

if you’re going to WRITE THE ARTICLE could you please at least---   

 read the comics (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

  ahem.

   Despite that he’s one of my favorite characters, and so I’ve spent a LOT of time (YEARS) thinking about him so I’ll be the first to admit my interpretation of events is completely biased. I’ll do my best to separate concrete information from my headcanons.

anywho here’s Albert, HE’S..... HANDSOME.....

   Okay so Albert- he’s got a few split personalities. Mr. Element and Doctor Alchemy. He’s also got the power to transmute elements. Yes- another misconception is that Albert’s gun or the philosopher’s stone is where he gets his powers. And where it was apparently retconned that Al needs the Philosopher’s Stone for most of his existence that wasn’t the case. 

(and personally I still don’t believe that’s the case, because we’ve only ever seen ALVIN actively loose his powers when the stone is taken from him. And that might make sense once I get into who and what Alvin is. But let’s focus on Albert for now)

  Anyhow, yes Albert is a metahuman.

He got his powers from meteoric radiation beamed into his brain as an infant. And his powers and split personalities are linked somehow or somewhat with celestial activity.

Anywho, the Element Gun at the very least is more like a magic wand that he can use to channel his power through. And it’s actually useless in the hands of someone else.

  (I have a few headcanons that the Philosopher’s Stone might also be a meteorite- if not a larger piece of the meteorite that originally mutated him as a baby. Or it could be a figment of his imagination (link to headcanon).)

One thing that does seem consistent is that Albert’s powers are more or less suppressed and he has to assume one of his undesirable personalities to “unlock” them. 

BUT EVEN THAT’S NOT ALWAYS TRUE. Here’s Al saving a firefighter as Mister Element.  

(This isn’t the first time Mr. Element has been heroic, So it’s my headcanon that the Mister Element personality isn’t necessarily ‘split’ with Albert’s. It’s just a more intense version of himself. Because out of Costume, Albert is quiet and mild-mannered.)

ENTER THIS ASSHOLE

So there’s a plot where Eobard needs Albert’s help to get his speed back. But Albert won’t help because his powers are ‘locked’ behind his ‘Evil’ personality. So Eobard makes Albert go and steal stuff (with the random ability to hypnotize people by vibrating that he magically obtains for this single story) And spends the entire adventure trying to impress Al and gaslight him into thinking he likes crime.

And poor Al is just

he’s so done. It’s horrible I ship it

 OKAY ANYWAYS

My ultimate point here before I got distracted fangirling is that despite Barry’s efforts to help, Eobard wins Al over and convinces him that he IS ultimately Evil.

The story ends with Albert momentarily betraying Eobard right as he was commanded to kill Barry. (using the power of self-hypnosis to counter-act Eobard’s influences.) Though convinced he is forever and permanently evil at that point, Barry knocks him out and uses the cosmic treadmill to take Albert to the future where he can be um

‘cured’

of his evil tendencies forever.

COUGHS this isn’t a lobotomy at all

So yeah! Al is ‘’’’cured’’’’

ENTER THIS STINKY BOY

Albert’s been a good. So Alvin shows up and starts running around as Doctor Alchemy COMMITTING CRIME. This is the first story we see him in so everyone thinks Albert is the one running around in costume, of course.

 (Barry, Iris, and Rita are all part of Al’s life but I haven’t gone into them in depth for brevity- because holy shit this is long....)

(yes you read that right, Rita keeps tranquilizers on hand for Albert- for... obvious reasons- earlier in this post you saw he wigged out and caught their car on fire while they were in it. SHE PUTS UP WITH A LOT....)

( Headcanon-talk though. It couldn’t have been easy for Al either knowing he could be called a liar or drugged by his spouse at the drop of a hat. Of course Rita has every right to fear for her life. And she’s done a lot for Al, at the risk of her own safety. But that being said... they do get an off-screen divorce, and I believe it was 100% mutual. 

   This has got to be an unpopular opinion, since the fandom loves Rita and of course I’m sad they wrote her out of the story as well. I love her too! But it couldn’t have been easy for Al either. Living with a mental illness and a distrusting spouse who keeps a weapon on hand to use against you. And it’s clear later on that Albert literally has such an awful time keeping his shit together that he needs much more help than just Rita can provide. RAH RAH BLAH BLAH-)

Anywho,

 they cart Albert off to jail, but Alvin kidnaps him. With every intent to frame him for all the crime he sees fit to do.

According to Alvin, he is Albert’s psychic/astral twin. Born at the same time and with an identical childhood to Albert’s.

Again according to Alvin, they sit on some sort of moral Teeter-totter. Where whenever Albert is good- Alvin feels an uncontrollable urge to be evil. and vice-versa.

Anyways he invented this potion called Desmodium where the fumes can cause people to be susceptible to hypnotic suggestion (Wow Alvin knows about hypnosis too, his entire life is so coincidentally similar to Albert’s) - which is how he was able to use Rita to lie about Albert’s alibi and frame Albert for Alvin’s crimes. He explains that because of their psychic connection, Alvin was able to locate where Albert hid the philosopher’s stone and used it to take up the mantle of Doctor Alchemy.  (in this scene Albert is also under the influence of Desmodium which is why he’s just sitting dead-eyed like a doll)

  So Alvin leaves to try and kill the Flash, and once he believes he has won, he reveals himself to Barry- and obviously he doesn’t succeed, so now Barry knows the truth of what’s going on and is on Albert’s side. Meanwhile, Albert escapes and feels the uncontrollable urge to don the Mr. Element costume to combat his evil twin. (Wigging out from the stress probably- which is why I headcanon that the Mr. Element personality is just a stronger-willed and decisive version of Albert.)

SO THEY FIGHT. It’s glorious. 

Albert saves a firefighter, Barry sees the whole thing. Also Rita and Al meet up off-panel where he explains everything to her and she in turn explains everything to Barry and that’s completely convinced him that Albert is completely innocent and is in fact trying to do the heroic thing.

  SO Albert, Rita and Barry work together and ultimately defeat Alvin. And from there on Alvin takes up the mantle of Doctor Alchemy permanently, becoming an honorary Rogue while Albert goes into retirement.

 (Alvin seems to be the only one who ever hung out with the Rogues at all and had a relationship with them. He seems to have got along well with Lisa - or at the very least she seems entertained by his antics. Whereas she has no patience for perverts, and yet she’s bemused by Alvin’s flirtations when he’s drunk. Also Alvin being in consortium with the Rogues is why I believe Hartley much later comments on how ‘Freaked out’ the Rogues are of Albert. 

Because whO IS THIS GUY? WHERE’D THE FUN REDHEADED AL GO.... Also all things considered, of course he laughed in their faces.)

I’M NOT DONE YET.

VOLUME 2

  So somewhere along the line, Alvin discovers that he isn’t in fact Albert’s astral twin. That he’s actually a completely artificial construct born by the philosopher’s stone (or Albert himself depending on your interpretation) Personality completely made up of Albert’s ‘Dark Side’.

 (WHEN or HOW Alvin came to this realization isn’t explained, but if I had to headcanon it might have been when he somehow survived his ‘death’ in his Blue Beetle cameo.

He attempts to merge with the Philosopher’s stone and it leads to his demise... AND THEN APPEARS AGAIN FOUR YEARS LATER IN THE FLASH. WE CAN READ INTO THIS- THEY DEFINITELY DIDN’T MAKE A MISTAKE.....)

Anyways, back to Flash v2. In volume 40 and 41 Alvin has completely lost his mind- likely due to his identity crises and tries to take over Albert’s life completely. Convincing Wally and Linda (and himself apparently) that he is ACTUALLY Albert Desmond, and not the evil twin.

But Wally figures out that it’s actually Alvin and defeats him.

   And finds Albert locked up in the closet (FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG....)

Hopefully not long, Wally postulates that Alvin had been listening to Albert’s phonecalls and wanted an opportunity to get the Flash once and for all. 

 Alvin is taken to jail, but escapes almost instantly, leading to a fight with Wally that doesn’t look like it will end well for him. BUT GUESS WHO SHOWS UP JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME

butt

Fake memories you say, Wally? Would certainly explain why Alvin’s life was so identical to Albert’s.

And that is the end of Alvin, killed/absorbed by his own brother.

....

hey- remember this?

It’s almost like Al’s story could be read as a metaphor for neurodiverse repression to the point of self-destruction. Instead of working with him, they literally lobotomized the ‘evil’ out of him and gave birth to a physical manifestation of how he felt himself perceived by the outside world.

i’ve been reading these comics for too damn long

Anyways! After that, Albert vanished into the wind. He became Doctor Alchemy permanently and denounced the Mr. Element name- calling it an ‘embarrassment’. He became solitary and committed crimes much darker than his previous. (notably, a cop-murdering spree in Gotham).

  Albert is literally unstoppable and the only reason he’s not wreaking havoc is  He’s now characterized by his unhealthy obsession with books and escapism and finding ‘Peace and Quiet’. 

Not only that, he seems to have developed a something of a grudge against Wally. (Either that or he’s too far gone to care about anything any more)

And that’s..... basically the end of the story. There’s some loose ends that got nuked out of existence right before Flashpoint. Something insinuating that Albert may have a larger role to play or knows more than he’s letting on- but it’s literally so vague it could be interpreted as anything. The plot is lost in the wind, unfortunately.

  But If you made it all the way to the end, thank you for listening to my dramatic summery of Al’s story

 Believe it or not, but I wasn’t even half as thorough as I could have been. So I definitely encourage you to read v1 and draw your own conclusions.

[calliecat93]

Top 5 Things I Liked About RWBY Volume 2

(Top 5 Dislikes)

I’m gonna be honest, I think that V2 is a pretty good volume. Sure, it doesn’t have much in terms of story and that’s its biggest weakness as well as having no true accomplishments. But what it makes up for is it’s character writing and development. V1 was our intro, and V2 begins to flesh out many of them. If someone like say… Weiss didn’t appeal to you in V1 cause of her being mean, this one puts her in a much more positive light, for example. I was worried that I would dislike the volume more upon rewatch… but my opinion is pretty much the same as when I watched it in 2014: I really enjoy it.

I had to stretch hard for the Dislikes post. I did not, however, have to stretch at all for this post. So let’s waste no time and go over the Top 5 Things I Liked About RWBY Volume 2~

#5. Improved Pacing/Runtime

One of the biggest problems with V1 was it’s pacing. It could feel all over the place, and the reason why was due to chapter runtimes. With a few exceptions, the majority were under ten minutes. This could cause storylines that in the current standard could have been done in one or two episodes, like Jaune’s Arc. But since it got stretched out for four weeks with short runtimes… yeah, it annoyed people, to say the least. CRWBY got the hint since I remember before the volume began, they mentioned how the extended the runtimes. It came at the cost of fewer episodes, but honestly? That was for the best?

Volume 2’s runtimes range from 12-15 minutes on average, with the longest being 17 minutes. This has essentially been the standard ever since for the most part, and it was a very good change. It also helps that instead of going for a more episodic approach as they did in V1, they told one continuous story. It can be divided into three sections with the first four episodes, the Dance Arc covering 5-7, and Mountain Glenn covering 8-12. But they all connect with each other and flow together much more naturally. As such since unlike V1 I watched V2 episode by episode, I never felt like it dragged or anything overstayed it’s welcome. It’s one of the best-paced volumes, to be honest. 

I’m pleasantly surprised that it flowed so well. Pacing in recent volumes have been an issue, mainly with 4 and 5, but that’s due to the split storylines. Something that I think that Miles and Kerry have learned was maybe a little too ambitious afterward and have gone back to this kind of formula. They pretty much use this three-act structure in V6, and it worked amazingly there. T seems to be what works best for RWBY, and this volume is what kicked it off. So yeah, good work CRWBY~

#4. Jaune and Pyrrha Relationship

I love these two. They have always been my favorite ship in RWBY, and still is despite… certain events. While I was kinda harsh on Jaune in the last post due to how cringey he was regarding Weiss, his relationship with Pyrrha is what saved him. He’s gotten a lot of flack in the past for not noticing Pyrrha’s feelings, but… I don’t really blame him. Pyrrha never tried to tell him herself or really let on that she had romantic feelings for him. Jaune isn’t a mind-reader, he can’t just magically know if Pyrrha won’t say anything. Nora practically points it out when Pyrrha advises Jaune to just go and ask Weiss out without any stupid gimmicks and just speak from the heart. “Practice what you preach.” indeed. That’s not to be harsh on Pyrrha because it’s clear why she doesn’t. She knows that Jaune likes Weiss and wants him to be happy, so she tries to be content with just supporting him with his pursuits and his training. She’s just that nice of a person.

It’s not like Jaune is careless regarding Pyrrha either. We see in Chapter 5 that he appreciates Pyrrha helping him train and in Chapter 7, he is shocked that no one asked her out. I mean, is everyone blind? Pyrrha is an amazing person? How could no one ask her out? Well… it’s because she’s Pyrrha. She’s a world-class fighter. Too many, she’s out of their league. Remember in Chapter 5 when Mercury calls off the fight, saying that Pyrrha’s out of his league? We all know that was a lie, it was because he got the info that he wanted about her Semblance, but you can see how much that hurt her. It reminded her how she can’t really be normal or form real relationships because of her fame and status. The only person to treat her like a real person? Jaune. He didn’t even know her name when they first met. And it’s after that when Jaune pretty much throws his own needs out the window, puts on that dress with no shame, and dances the night away with Pyrrha.

These two have such a beautiful relationship. Pyrrha helped Jaune find value in himself and grow not just as a fighter, but as this volume shows as a person. Pyrrha got to find happiness and a sense of normalcy through Jaune, which let her form friendships and find love. Even if she still can’t say it out loud, she got to be with Jaune, and that was enough for her even right to the end. Jaune still doesn’t know that Pyrrha has feelings for him and IDT he fully realized his own feelings, but he was still willing to be humiliated just to give that girl a good time at the dance. Because she earned it more than anyone else in that moment. It makes their relationship that much greater, and their ultimate end that much more tragic. But this volume really demonstrates them at their best. It shows Jaune mature and recognizes his friend’s feelings, hence why I can forgive his cringe. It’s painful to see, but he got over it. I just love it so much, and it’s still a bright spot of this volume.

#3. Blake Development

I love Blake. She’s gotten so much hate in recent years because of utterly stupid reasons. While I had issues with her in V4, I’ve always loved her and her story. V1 got me interested in her story after the final two episodes, and this one made me love her even more. You can tell that the White Fang is getting to her, and it makes sense why. We don’t know the whole story, but we do know that the WF was a peaceful group when she was younger, and when it became a terrorist group she broke away. So seeing them act with a human, something that she knows that they would never due, would understandably catch her attention and make her obsess over it as well as reawaken any negative feelings.

In V1 while she was reserved, she clearly was capable of opening up and clearly did want to be friends with these three girls. Some say that she was OOC in The Badge and the Burden, but I disagree. She was trying to form a new life and tried to adjust to her new teammates, so yeah her being a little light-hearted and silly makes sense to me. But with the WF back in her life, it puts her back in a bad place. It makes her obsess over what they’re panning because it can’t be anything good. She tries to close herself off until Weiss reminds her that she promised to open up to them. She does, and her friends are on board with her pursuits.

Then we get the Dance Arc, where the WF obsession is actually affecting her health and performance. Her grades are slipping. Her attitude is at it’s lowest. She doesn’t care about the dance because she’s worried about the WF doing who knows what with them all utterly unprepared. Her harsh dismissal of Sun and her rejecting her team’s help despite them assuring her that they’re going to make sure that everything is fine demonstrates this. Blake feels guilty for her involvement int he WF and doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. To her, she feels like she has to stop them and like it’s her weight to bear. And this is before we know anything about Adam, which she starts to open up about him as well as why she left the WF to her team in Mountian Glenn. But we’ll get to that later.

It’s why Yang’s interference is so important. Yang understands that Blake is getting obsessed to an unhealthy point because she went down the same road. She and RUby almost got killed because she made a dumb decision and went out on her own when she found out about Raven. When talking to her one-on-one doesn’t work, she makes Blake realize that her unhealthy state means that she can’t fight before finally hugging her and essnetially asking her to stop and to trust her and the others. It’s a really beautiful scene that really does make Blake see reason. While I myself don’t see anything romantic in this scene, at least no more than Blake and Sun’s scenes in this arc, there’s a reason why so many care about the Bumblebee ship. Yang genuinely tried to reach out to Blake because she understood where she was coming from, and wanted to help her when no one else could. She didn’t have to, but she did because he wanted to. They’re teammates. Partners. That’s what they’re supposed to do.

This was when Blake truly began to trust Yang. To trust her team. She goes to the dance and has a fun time. It makes you wonder how long it had been since Blak ever relaxed. How long it had been since she laughed. She got to have one night where she could just have fun,  makes  By the end of the volume, she’s in a better place and is clearly happy with her friends. Even though they don’t stop the WF or uncover their overall plans, she’s okay with what they did manage to do and isn’t obsessing or driving herself to exhaustion anymore. Without that progress, then who knows if she’d have been able to bounce back after what happened in V3. Blake here is great, and I loved seeing it again… despite how much it hurt due to what happened next. But that’s a tale for another day.

#2. Mountain Glenn Arc

This arc was fantastic. By far, the best part of Volume 2. First, it has Doctor Oobleck. We saw him once in V1, but all we learned is that he talks and moves fast. This volume gives him much more character. She’s certainly quirky and not the image of a badass Huntsman, but he’s freakin’ great. One, he’s funny and really adds to the RWBY dynamic to the arc. He’s intelligent and knowledgable on history and tracking. But most of all, he’s insightful. He’s clearly a good teacher as he subtly gives guidance to these girls and gets them to question their motivation and dedication to the paths that they’re on. He may not be teaching them cool fighting skills, but he is teaching them about life essentially and prepping them for the harsh life of being Huntresses. With what happens later down the road, that was a good thing. He’s just great. Also his coffee urn weapon? Best.

But speaking of motivations and dedication, that is what makes this arc so great. It answers an important question and was one that I was surprised by when this arc started, why did the RWBY girls decide to be Huntresses? And we find out here. Yang did it for the thrill, Weiss did it as she felt it was her duty, Blake did it to do good in the world, and Ruby… well… she actually doesn’t get questioned. Why? I’ll go into that in a bit. But having their motivations questioned really shakes up WBY quite a bit, making them reflect on their reasonings on choosing the paths that they took. Which is good, because it allows us to learn more about them and their characters.

We see WBY talk about their motivations deeper. Weiss chose to be a Huntress because she recognizes how much her father has ruined her family name and the company and she wanted to change things, but not in Atlas. She decided to do it as a Huntress. Blake opens up about Adam and how she felt that the WF fell, so she became a Huntress to do good. But she hadn’t thought past that and is afraid of not being able to make up for her mistakes and end up running away again. Yang doesn’t really have anything driving her, she just wanted to have the adventurous lifestyle that being a Huntress would give her and didn’t really think anything else of it. Safe to say, none of them I think really expected Huntress life to be the way that they experienced it here.

But where does Ruby factor into this? Well as I said, Oobleck never questions her motives. We do hear about his though. He became a Huntsman because when he looked at history, he saw lives that could have been saved. He wants to pass that history and knowledge onto his students so that more lives can be saved and not end the way that Mountian Glenn did. As for Ruby herself, she’s always wanted to be a Huntress, Even as a child, this was what she wanted. She didn’t do it for thrills. She didn’t do it to redeem her family name. She didn’t do it to make up for any past sins. She did it for one simple reason: to make the world a better place. Her dedication has always been clear and later volumes have shown this. Even after V3, she got up and pushed on anyway. During V6, even after all the secrets and The Apathy messing with her mind, she remained dedicated to the cause. Why? Because her dedication has never wavered. He chose that life, the other three needed to understand what they had chosen as well.

The arc offers really good character insights and makes the girls more three-dimensional. It is what made me love all four of them. It showed that they were just more than their anime stereotype. They felt like real people who were trying to figure their lives out and what it is that they truly wanted. Ruby may have known what she wanted, but the other three weren’t 100% sure. This is when they began to understand. V6 would more solidly solidify it when it became even more than anyone bargained for, but this was still a very good step. It was such a joy to rewatch, and it is still a highlight for me.

There were me other great things too. First, Zwei! Zwei is best~! We got some good info on the Grimm and how they aren’t just brainless monsters. The Goliaths especially are fascinating with how Oobleck describes them, but also terrifying because the waiting just for the right moment to strike. We get word building in how Mountain Glenn was a disaster but shows how people tried to make lives within the world of Remnant and deal with Grimm. There were fantastic fight scenes and the train battle was especially super fun. Especially with how we got our first taste fo Raven in it. The finale is... well, not the best-received thing in the world, but was still fun to watch. Just an overall super enjoyable arc with plenty of comedy, badassery, and most of all heart.

But speaking of Team RWBY!

#1. Team RWBY Becoming a Team

V1 is when Team RWBY formed, but it’s V2 is when they actually felt like a team. It might be because while half the volume was on the forming the team and the other half on school hijinks, this one keeps the four center stage. There’s a real sense of friendship and sisterhood that comes off them in this volume, and I love it. There’s the food fight, the card game in CHapter 2, them all devoting themselves to investigating the White Fang, them trying to get Blake help, the Mountain Glennmision, a lot of things. Even just their interactions show off their comradery so well. They all play off each other very well and are honestly at their best when together.

It was just so much fun to see the girls working together, laughing together, supporting each other, etc. From the team attack names to just silly banter, you get the feeling that these girls are friends. That they’re a team. After how long they were separated in recent volumes until V6, it was so much fun to focus on just them. As I said, this volume is what got me to love these four as their own characters. It’s also true int hat it got me to love them as a team. After how much RUby and Weiss bickered in V1, they feel like genuine friends here. Weiss kept her word about improving herself as a teammate and not caring about Blake’s Faunus status. Blake started to open up more and trust int hem. Yang acted motherly and comforting to everyone. Ruby pretty much acted like the little sister of the group, but also acted as the leader when it was necessary like coordinating the previously mentioned team attacks.

It just works so well. The chemistry between the four is fantastic. I think it really was something that we missed in V4 and 5, and I’m so glad that we got it back in V. I expect that V7 won’t be lacking in that area either. Seeing Team RWBY again during the simpler times was really nostalgic and got me to appreciate them so much. For that, this will always be my favorite thing about V2~!

Okay, so… I’m supposed to do Likes/Dislikes for V3 next. But… well… check back tomorrow cause lets just say that it’s gonna be slightly different with that one.

[faunusrights]

OFFAL HUNT REMASTER LIVEBLOG // CHAPTER 9

oh goody!

well this is it. the Date Chapter. the chapter, in which, the Date happens. lowkey im so fucking hype for this stupid goddamn chapter AAAAAAAAAAAA this is when the sexy got kicked up about seven notches and i know its gonna be a fucking twenty from here on out so LETS GO LESBIANS LETS GO

“Is this your date, Ms. Fall?” he asked.

Cinder didn’t look away from Glynda. “Mhm.”

STRAIGHT OUT OF THE GODDAMN GATE WE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A SECOND TO EVEN GATHER OURSELVES JUST STRAIGHT UP HUH!!!!!!!!! ‘is this your date’ im legally dead

What the fuck.

already im fucking THRIVING im so glad this chapter’s mood got encapsulated within the first ten seconds and im definitely gonna have to re-read this chapter for the full unannotated experience OOOOOOOOOH MY GOD IM SO READY

Glynda’s thoughts ricocheted inside her head like coins left in a dryer. A part of her couldn’t understand what was happening and disengaged. The rest of her, grasping for purchase in all this, reasoned that going with Cinder was better than staying here confused, alone, and utterly displaced.

glynda ‘i aint ever had a gf before’ goodwitch at her PEAK right here. like GOD shes gone from ‘cinder’s trying to murder me’ to ‘cinder just plopped me right into a date’ like CINDER. CINDER YR CHANGING GEARS SO FAST. YOU DIDNT EVEN SEND FLOWERS OR ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

is it because shes a u-haul lesbian or

Higher, Glynda realized the dress itself was backless, revealing the black tattoo she’d seen so often before, perfectly centered between sharp shoulder blades.

this gay energy is BONKERS, quite frankly??????? where did cinder get her dress from? why does she have it? did she buy it just for this fuckery? or will she pull the ‘i just had a this lil number laying around’ line????????? does she wanna seduce glynda to death?????? was this PLANNED OR DID SHE JUST DECIDE SHE WANTED A DATE AND WTH LIFE REALLY IS SHORT ON REMNANT THESE DAYS?????????? cinder fall please explain your workings to the class

maybe Glynda wasn’t the only one who’d become adept at reading her opponent.

👏 when 👏 will 👏 they 👏 kiss 👏 already 👏👏👏👏

me: this is a slowburn also me: if u assholes dont give me this in the next ten seconds-

“Unarmed? As if you could be so helpless.”

cinder’s style of flirting is just. commentating on a person’s deadliness. that’s IT it’s the only TRICK SHE HAS and its working, is the thing,

im reading the description of the table and remembering the shitpost and oh my god i have to draw this???? hell IS real!!!!!! COULDNT YALL JUST TOSS EM IN A PLAIN BOX,

Cinder eyed her from her bastion of dark cushions,

cinder, ass-deep in cushions: this is peak cuddle territory come and join me

Cinder, for her part, seemed delighted Glynda had noticed. Touching the pendant more gently than Glynda might have ever thought her capable of, Cinder said,  “Yours? You didn’t seem to mind parting with it.”

im still deeply enjoying this powermove the novelty NEVER wears off (and at risk of light spoilers i do enjoy its place in this story 👀)

Cinder let the necklace drop, settling against the swell of her bust once more,

/lightly coughs 👀👀👀

im losing my MIND at how gay this bit is i physically cannot HANDLE IT and if they even describe the meal once im gonna pop off cause i am. SO HUNGRY RN. AAAAAAAAAAAA

Cinder indicated a dish of lamb and vegetables, served on a bed of rice and drizzled in some sort of sauce.

SRY THIS ISNT GAY BUT OH MY GOD IM SO HUNGRY I WANNA E A T I T THAT SOUNDS SO GOOD UGHGHGHGHGHGH WHY DID THIS CHAPTER HAVE TO BE TODAY OF ALL THE DAYS,

Glynda cleared her throat, working out: “The Grimm.”

like. GOD WE KNOW GLYNDA IS JUST SO FUNCTIONALLY BAD AT CONVERSATION BUT OF ALL THE THINGS glynda please just. just. stop thinking abt her sexy tattoos for a fifth of a second,

“You can control them.” A sedate blink. For all the world, Glynda might have just commented on the weather.

which is a faux pas for a date!!!!!!!!!!! at least tell her the DRESS IS SEXY WE ALL KNO WHATS WHAT YR THINKIN ABT

Glancing down as though it were being pointed out to her for the first time, Cinder shrugged and adjusted the end of the glove a little higher on her bicep. “And?” 

a quick aside im enjoying how like... visually expressive cinder is in this remaster! i can see her facial expressions and her motions really clearly in my mind’s eye which is a fun little boon if only because i have to redraw this nonsense hjsgdfjhfksgd but cinder’s got a Good Face this time around! A QUALITY FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You should know by now, there’s something about you that’s simply irresistible to Grimm.”

HERE COMES THE PLOT (and a single surviving line so far... this one sentence has survived all the world could throw at it... we stan)

Cinder straightened, and Glynda saw that this was what she’d been waiting for.

“It isn’t every day the great Glynda Goodwitch kneels before her adversary, is it?”

HELLO??????????????????????????? WHATS THIS WORDING????????? honestly tho for a second i thought she meant like. quite literally and i thought id missed some PROPER SHIT RIGHT THERE BUT YEAH WTH!!!!!!! C I N D E R

“You cheated. You can’t beat me on your own.”

yes glynda we gathered that yr a top

“Really, Glynda? Poison?” she sneered, something like offense simmering in her expression. “After all this?”

looks at the camera

anyway,

god im literally losing grasp of words to say because theres such a charged mood in this scene............. theyre brushing fingers............ trading jabs.......... im slurpin it up babey!!!!!!!! this rly is the BEST remaster of this whole scene it DESERVES this wordcount!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Beat you,” Cinder corrected. “And call it a point of pride.”

yes cinder we gathered yr a brat,

this dynamic is why this fic is so fuckign good when will winter have a swift return to add even more fuckery to this wild ride

Then, with a heavy-lidded look, Cinder found Glynda’s hand between them, the touch so sudden and daring that Glynda flinched. The fabric of those gloves was smooth against Glynda’s flesh, and for all that cruelty had marked every other instance of contact between them, Cinder was surprisingly gentle.

whomp there go my nuts

WHAT IS THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHO MADE THE EXECUTIVE CHOICE TO ADD THIS LINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELLO???????????? im losing my BRAINCELLS

What she wasn’t ready for was for Cinder to guide her hand to her own throat and hold it there.

THERE IS IT THERE’S THE KINK IT’S BEEN SPOTTED

oh my GOD what even IS THIS WHO ADDED THIS SECTION WHO ALLOWED THIS TO COME TO P A S S WHAT THE FUCK EVEN IS RN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELLO????????? HEWWO??????????

Now… Now Cinder interested her.

tbh how can i liveblog this? what commentary can i POSSIBLY add that we arent already all THINKING. we just launched into a level of hell so deep that lucifers gonna have to pull some goddamn tricks to follow us down here!!!!!!!!!! WHAT IS THIS SCENE! THIS MOMENT! IM SCREAMING

Glynda mirrored the expression back at him, and finally, he coughed, not making strong eye contact with either of them. He set their plate before them and hurried out without so much as a check-in.

i just KNEW that was gonna happen JHGDSFGJHKSDF he was gonna walk in on SMTHNG but i didnt think itd be CINDER’S CHOKING KINK,

okay i took a break and ate my weight in roast chicken and we’re back babey

Almost nervously, her fingers carded through her own dark hair, and there, among the locks, Glynda spotted a glimpse of something white, structured and ridged.

AND I AM INSTANTLY KNOCKED BACK UPON MY ASS 👈W👈H😨A👈T👈

It was easier to ignore the rest of it—whatever it was.

glynda you are a fool and a moron im withering into DUST

On no level had she expected those to be Glynda’s words.

then what... did she expect... well probably -- and rightly so -- ‘bitch WHAT ARE THOSE’ TBH

wait sorry i have to jump back because i forgot customary fingerguns on the most brazen bit of Shit yet:

Cinder was occupying herself with something else: the head of a dragon, perched over the door and staring down at the two of them with red, glossy eyes.

👈👈👈😎👈👈👈

okay BACK TO THE FIC

Fangs snapped together around the word.

aka back to me horni

/chanting TEETH! TEETH! TE

okay but the reason i doubled back to catch that fingergun is because we’re getting ass-deep into plot now!!!!!!!!!!! WITCHES AND DRAGONS BABEY......... HERE’S WHAT OFFAL HUNT IS ALL ABT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i cant rly drop more fingerguns than that because any astute reader will start realising the dots im shouting abt and honestly half the fun of this fic is the ride so >:3c

“Funny. I was sure he would have told you.”

that blow was so low i think cinder hit the concrete with that one

oh god theyre gonna get to the bit and i-

“Is that what all of this has been about? You called me here to remind me that I'm autistic?”

/SCREAMS

The words were delivered firmly, calmly, but Cinder’s response was the opposite, sudden upheaval seizing her. Her expression opened in something akin to panic. “Wh—no? What? No! That's not what I—”

/SCREAMS

oh my GOD CINDER YOU HAVE FUCKED UP LEGENDARILY!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD SHE WAS FELL ASS-FIRST ONTO A LANDMINE OH MY GOD

offal hunt v1 cinder: im totally in control and im playing glynda every step of the way

offal hunt v2 cinder: OH JESUS OH FUCK OH NO THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT-

Cinder seemed genuinely stressed now, speaking quicker as though trying to bury the last sixty seconds.

i knew this remaster would have sections that would blow me away but this bit really took the fcuking cake DGHSJFSJHFDG holy SHIT this is AMAZING

It was difficult to tell in the low light, but if Glynda wasn't mistaken, there was a bright flush of embarrassment coloring Cinder’s cheeks.

this is SUCH prime content hey remember in one of the early liveblogs that cinder would descend into full dork? WELL THE DESCENT CAME EARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! /pops bottles

“Cinder.” There was a very real line of threat in Glynda’s tone. “Don’t.”

oh this whole scene just keeps getting better i am LOVING this dynamic now!!!!!!! before it was all pretty one-sided so having the conversation rock back and forth is 👌👌👌

That Witch soul of yours—it was designed to void out everything but the prey before you. To be numb to all human emotion. To focus on the hunt and nothing else.

finally the fruit of 50% of my fingerguns COMES TO LIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! PLOT PLOT PLOT

“This is bullshit.” Jabbing an accusing finger at Cinder, Glynda said, “You’re a liar. You’re a criminal!”

i LOVE glyndas pottymouth in this its such a good like... change from her being strict and formal and teachery and now shes full on gremlin huntress hell YES BABY!!!!!!!!!! GO OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“There’s all kinds of things I bet he never told you.” Cinder continued. “Did you know he was close to your predecessor? The Witch who came before you—they were inseparable.”

SRY IM LIKE STRUGGLIN TO COMMENTATE because so much of this like. speaking as an Old-Ass Reader this is like. a LOT! A LOT HAS CHANGED and yet,,,, stayed the same,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, yall kids WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL CHAPTER LIKE................ 15 FOR THIS SHIT (but like. chapter 15 was different because this chapter used to be like chapter 7? so now everythings moved along so chapter 15 doesnt sound that impressive but trust me it was a different fic back then)

When they fell away, burnt and ruined, she could see Cinder’s bare arms for the first time. The red lines drawn across her skin sloped down the entire length of her arms, circling her elbows, carved into her wrists. They ended right at her hands, ensuring any long-sleeved garment would hide them. Every covered inch of her was filled like a canvas, like abstract art.

lets pause the fight scene for glynda to be gay!!!!! god im. okay look i said this earlier but im so glad we have more cinder like this tbh. the first version was rly lacking w/ cinder content until late-game when the plot sorta. got itself going? but now we’re eye-deep in this content i LOVE cinder i love this WEIRDO who is a HUGE LOSER and IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Glynda could not dispel the fear that she had been telling the truth.

and after committing Some Amount In Damages, we’re at the end of the chapter!

okay so i really enjoyed this version SO MUCH MORE. everything abt it was polished and worked together so much better and it really needed the space to breathe in its own chapter. its been horny, gay, intense, hilarious, and way more in one chapter and its SO good this really is PEAK offal hunt!!!!!!!!!!!! good job diesel and kc but im still going to murder you both,

[dawittiest]

HOW $#@! DO I READ NEW AVENGERS?

New Avengers (Vol. 1) is one of the most recommended Avengers runs by me and it’s a classic. Great, so how do I read it? Not by picking up the first issue and hoping for the best, that’s for sure. To get it, you have to know the context behind Avengers Disassembled and the House of M, and it’s a good idea to maybe read Young Avengers v1 too, and when you finally start reading actual New Avengers run then you get to Civil War and things get… confusing. (This is going to be a long post).

SO! Welcome to the biggest cluster of events in Marvel U history! It’s also my fave.

(see also: totally subjective intro to avengers comics)

Most of it is a brainchild of Brian Michael Bendis – now, to be a proper Comics Fan™ you need to be aware of the Bendis Discourse. My good friend Brian here is the definition of a Problematic Fave; he has written a good chunk of my favorite comics ever – he’s also written some of the worst. Now, I’d argue that his New Avengers era (running impressively from 2005 to 2012) is his Peak moment and one of the best creative moments in Marvel’s history. But it’s a fuckton of comics.

First in the NA run comes Civil War – the original limited series written by Mark Millar is probably one of the most controversial Marvel comics to be published (up until last year’s Secret Empire but we don’t talk about that). It’s, well. For starters, it’s not great for the characterization of all involved. Then there’s the issue that it seems not a single editor was involved in publishing this comic (is Matt Murdock in jail or prowling the streets? Who the fuck knows!! Certainly not the author). It’s aggressive. It’s over the top. It’s very Millar.

But Civil War is undeniably one of the most iconic storylines in modern comics. And while the original series is, let’s say, problematic, some of the tie-ins and aftermath issues are good. Plus, Civil War practically singlehandedly birthed the SteveTony fandom into existence. What can I say, I’m biased.

Once upon a time in my younger and more foolish ways, I decided to read the entirety of Civil War, spanning over 100 comics total, over the course of one summer month. I came back from this experience aged with wisdom to obliterate Bad Discourse with my encyclopedic knowledge of all relevant panels and to tell you which Civil War comics you should read for best experience. Honestly, no regrets (well, maybe except Moon Knight. I regret reading that a little).

Mind that this is a completely subjective selection. Also, seeing as Civil War spans over one-fucking-hundred comics I didn’t list all that are worth reading – just those that are most relevant to the story. It’s still a Lot.

BEHOLD – CIVIL WAR!

Prelude

-       The New Avengers Illuminati v1 #1 (one-shot)

-       Amazing Spider-man v2 #529-531

-       Civil War #1

-       Amazing Spider-man v2 #532

-       Civil War Frontline #11

1 CW Frontline is great. It’s also 11-issues long. If you’re not intimidated by the sheer number of comics to read, I really recommend it. If you’d rather cut the unnecessary comics out of your diet you can skip it on first reading, though I recommend you go back to it someday – it guarantees to make you look at certain players in Civil War through whole different eyes.

-       Civil War #2

-       Civil War Frontline #21

-       Civil War Frontline #31

-       Amazing Spider-man v2 #533

-       New Avengers v1 #21

-       Civil War #3

-       New Avengers v1 #22

-       New Avengers v1 #23

-       Black Panther v4 #182

2 The real wedding of the century! It’s not really all that important in the grand scheme of things but I included it because it’s just one issue and really, it’s iconic. Definitely worth the read.

-       Civil War Frontline #41

-       Civil War Frontline #51

-       Amazing Spider-Man v2 #534

-       Civil War #4

-       Amazing Spider-Man v2 #535

-       Civil War Frontline #61

-       Civil War Frontline #71

-       New Avengers #243

3 You can skip it, really.

-       Civil War #5

-       New Avengers v1 #25

-       Iron Man v4 #13

-       Iron Man v4 #14

-       Amazing Spider-Man V2 #536

-       Civil War Frontline #81

-       Civil War Frontline #91

-       Iron Man/Captain America: Casualties of War

-       Civil War #6

-       Civil War Frontline #101

-       Amazing Spider-man v2 #537

-       Civil War #7

-       Amazing Spider-man v2 #538

-       Civil War Frontline #111

-       Captain America v5 #254

4 It’s part of the Brubaker’s run on Cap, which means it’ll probably throw you on a few occasions since you don’t have the full context. Still, you should read it, it’s important; besides, not knowing what tf is going on is just part of the Comics Experience.

-       Civil War The Confession

The Aftermath

-       What If – Civil War

-       Fallen Son: Death of Captain America

-       Iron Man Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (IM Vol. 4)5

5 Do you like TEARS and PAIN and some BODY HORROR? This run is for you. You don’t really need to read it right after CW; it’s acts pretty good as a standalone and you can always go back to it later. But I really recommend you do – it’s some of the best comics there are.

-       Captain America Vol. 54

4 Ah, the (in)famous Brubaker Cap! Some love it, some hate it. I have to say, it’s one of my favorite runs, period. It’s epic-length so I don’t recommend you dive into it right this second, but you should go back to it sometime – it will give you some further insight to the NA era and it’s just good storytelling. (There is some misogynistic bs to beware of, but honestly, that’s like token warning for all comics).

So you’re done with Civil War! Time for a breather, right? Wrong. Marvel has another event in store for you and this one is probably my most favorite of all.

BEHOLD – SECRET INVASION!

When you’re done with Civil War’s aftermath, you can continue reading NA up until you hit

-       New Avengers v1 #37

then you proceed to

-       New Avengers Annual #2

in which Brian wraps-up his pre-SI storyline and the next issue after that begins

Prelude: The Infiltration

-       New Avengers v1 #38

-       Mighty Avengers #7

-       New Avengers Illuminati v2 #1-#56

6 You don’t really have to read all of them, but I recommend you do. If you recommend I shove it, read at least #1 and #5, as the events in these will be brought up again and again.

-       New Avengers v1 #39

SECRET INVASION

-       Mighty Avengers v1 #127

7 Mighty Avengers are great for further insight into SI! But you don’t really need them. You can always go back to those later.

-       New Avengers v1 #40

-       Secret Invasion #1

-       New Avengers v1 #41

-       Mighty Avengers v1 #137

-       Secret Invasion #2

-       New Avengers v1 #42

-       Mighty Avengers v1 #147

-       Secret Invasion #3

-       New Avengers v1 #43

-       Mighty Avengers v1 #157

-       Secret Invasion #4

-       New Avengers v1 #44

-       Mighty Avengers v1 #167

-       Secret Invasion #5

-       New Avengers v1 #45

-       Mighty Avengers v1 #177

-       Secret Invasion #6

-       New Avengers v1 #46

-       Mighty Avengers v1 #187

-       Secret Invasion #7

-       New Avengers v1 #47

-       Secret Invasion #8

The Aftermath

-       Mighty Avengers v1 #20

We’re saying good-bye to Secret Invasion with MA #20 and moving up to an even darker period in Marvel’s history

BEHOLD – DARK REIGN!

Now, Dark Reign isn’t considered an event per se, because Marvel just advertised it as “The New World Order” (see how long that sticks). But I’m still gonna treat it as one, since it’s hard understanding just what tf is going on if you don’t have some background reading.

-       Dark Reign The Goblin Legacy8

8 This is not as much as a new comic but a reprint of some older comics that give you much-needed background on Norman Osborn/Green Goblin. Don’t get discouraged by the silly Silver Age-ness – the comics are the product of their time and anyway, this is basically required reading.

-       Secret Invasion Dark Reign9

9 Not a required reading but an entertaining behind-the-scenes look. Definitely recommended.

-       Dark Avengers10

10 Okay, again, not required but so much fun. If you like asshole antiheroes and more in-depth look at Norman Osborn’s twisted shenanigans you will really enjoy this book. And Victoria Hand is everything. (If you decide to read it right now, I recommend you read NA up to Siege and then read all of DA up to Siege too).

-       Dark Reign New Avengers: The Reunion

-       Invincible Iron man: World’s Most Wanted (IIM v1 #8-19)11

11 Cool concept, uneven execution, cool characters, uneven characterization – Fraction’s IIM in a nutshell. Plus, Larroca’s ugly-ass art. I have sentiment for this arc but admittedly, you can probably go back to it later.

Continue reading NA up to

-       New Avengers v1 #60

after which you should read

-       New Avengers v1 Annual #3

which leads you up to

SIEGE!

Maybe I’m biased but Siege is a pretty lukewarm event. Still, you need it, so I’m going to give you bare required reading.

Prelude

There’s like… 15? Thor issues leading up to Siege but they’re boring and I didn’t read all of them so you can skip them too.

-       Captain America: Reborn12

12 I don’t really think you should read it without reading Brubaker’s Cap first or you’ll be very confused. All you need to know is Steve is back! And you can read up on everything leading up to that in CA v5 later.

-       Invincible Iron Man: Stark Disassembled (IIM v1 #20-24)13

13 Fraction is back at it again! And just like before, you can probably get back to it later. Still, I dig the whole Disassembled concept.

SIEGE

-       Siege #1

-       Dark Avengers #1314

14 only if you decide to read the series

-       New Avengers #61

-       Siege #2

-       Dark Avengers #1414

-       New Avengers #62

-       Siege #3

-       Dark Avengers #1514

-       New Avengers #63

-       New Avengers #64

-       Siege #4

-       Dark Avengers #1614

The Epilogue

-       The Sentry: Fallen Sun

-       New Avengers: Finale

Aaaand that’s that! Wow, you read a fucking load of comics. Get back to me when you want to devour even more.

NEXT STOP – HEROIC AGE!

[acm320jewelracasablog]

Week 6: I Took It Easy This Week Because I Was Very Stressed

As the heading entails, I tried to take it a little easier this week with my workload because I ended up burnt out by the end of last week because I got overwhelmed by school and work assignments and lack of sleep. There was a lot of major projects due last week unfortunately. I still got a lot done though, just not as much as the previous weeks. Anyways, onto this week’s progress check up! (This time with less words and more pictures! Still a long post though, sorry!)

Visual Development

After reviewing my character turn arounds again, I realized a problem with Apolaki’s color design/palette. His skin was too close in value to part of his hair that it’s a little hard to see the separation between the two parts. This is made more visible when in greyscale. I ended up changing the value of the darkest part of his hair so that it no longer blends in with his skin. (V1 is the original, V2 is the new one.)

Script

Once again, we are back with another update on my script. We are now on version 3.3 woo! With this version, I did mostly edits around Apolaki’s dialogue and character. I tried to make him less mean and more of this smug prankster who really cares about his sister. Some examples being that I removed the line where he’s gloating and laughing that he won after Mayari gets struck in the eye. Most of the major dialogue changes were made in the Tagalog version of the script, in order to make it more modern. (Major thanks to Apolaki and Mayari’s voice actors for the help!) 

Araw at Gabi: English Script v3.3 / Tagalog Script V3.3

Recordings & Voice Actors

On Wednesday I got to record the dialogue for Apolaki and Mayari. I struggled a lot with my words when I was trying to explain and convey what I was looking for with each line, but I think I did okay. (Big thanks to Molly for helping to record and direct as we were working with Mayari’s voice actor!) Overall, I think the recording sessions went really well and I had a lot of fun. Hopefully, I don’t need to call them back to do more recordings. I have Apolaki’s lines and have ben reviewing the recordings. I’m currently waiting for Mayari’s lines to be sent over to me, so I should have them by Sunday at the latest. In other news, I got to see and experience the new ACM Media Center at Sinclair. We got to use this really nice sound proofed room. It was really cool! Here’s a picture my friend took of me as we were recording his lines for Apolaki. lol

Sequence/Shot Breakdown & Production Schedule Overview

I finally got to a place where I wasn’t so overwhelmed by the spreadsheet, and since I’m in the more finalized stage of the animatic, it was a lot easier to fill out. I’ll probably still be making changes to it as production progresses but I’m glad I’m at a point where I’m more gaining more confidence to plan out the rest of my production schedule. (I’m sorry if the images are hard to see. There’s a lot of shots because of the numerous camera changes due to the action scenes and reaction shots.)

Here’s a link for a better look at the spreadsheet: Production Schedule

Animatic

I almost forgot to put that I edited the animatic! It’s still under the process of editing but we’re so close to finalizing! Just waiting on Mayari’s voice lines, and the addition of just 1 or 2 more reaction shots. What I have of the edits as of right now are the addition of sequence and shot numbers, Apolaki’s recorded lines added in, fixed timing of some shots, and changes to Apolaki’s mad expressions to smug to match the new lines and delivery of the voice actor. (Sorry if the English captions are too fast, the Tagalog lines are generally shorter.)

Araw at Gabi: Animatic 3rd Pass w/ Apolaki

Music

I have a composer on hand for the film, but as of right now I’ve mostly been doing a lot of research as to what I want for my film. I’m still on the fence about mainly using traditional Philippine instruments or not. (If I don’t go with this idea, I will opt out for more modern concert instruments instead.) Traditional instruments can be hard since a lot of music and sounds commonly associated with the Philippines are due to the colonization by the Spaniards or the Americans. Another issue that comes into play is that I want to do a thing that the show, Steven Universe, does with its music, where each character is represented by an instrument.

Examples: Steven Universe Music Analysis / Sardonyx’s Theme (Pearl + Garnet) / Sugilite’s Theme (Garnet + Amethyst)

In Steven Universe, Pearl is represented with a piano while Garnet is represented with a synth bass. In Sardonyx’s theme (Sardonyx is a fusion between Garnet and Pearl), you can hear that the music is a mainly a duet between piano and synth bass, accompanied but percussion. Same can be heard in Sugilite’s theme, where this time it’s Amethyst (drums) and Garnet (synth bass). 

For my film, my idea is that Mayari would be represented by a bamboo flute due to her soft-spoken nature. (Bamboo instruments known to be more traditional instruments in the Philippines.) I’m still deciding on Apolaki’s representative instrument but for as of right now, I have him as the kulintang, which are like these horizontal gongs, laid out like a line of drums. I think this instruments matches his more brash personality.

Examples: Bamboo Flute / Kulintang / Modern Flute + Kulintang

Other research I did: Inspirations

Closing Notes

By the end of the week, I realized I spent a lot of time on Apolaki’s character. I know I said I took it easy this week, and this post kind of contradicts that from the looks of it, but I swear a lot of these things we’re quick and not physically/mentally draining, so I still stand by my original statement lol. I also got a lot more sleep this week! Woo! I am very thankful to everyone who has helped me or expressed excitement/interest towards my film! I hope when the film is completed, that you all enjoy it and it’s thanks to all of you that I am able to continue working on my film!

Anyways, time to sleep, good night! :]

[halkeye]

I am somewhat addicted to making helm charts with 57 charts and counting now. And as such, I often find myself building or tweaking docker images to see how they work, or make it easier to deploy.

I'll admit, the effort to go through making a new repo on docker hub, with all that clicking, just to be able to deploy an image to test on my Kubernetes cluster is well.... Okay like 5 clicks, but now I don't have to!

I've always been envious of @jessfraz's docker registry, apparently originally setup when docker hub was super slow, so I've wanted to setup my own for fun.

🎉🎉🎉🎉 So I'm now introducing https://r.g4v.dev 🎉🎉🎉🎉

Right now I'm just using it for throw away images. I don't know if I'll ever publish something serious on there since I'm running it out of my apartment.

That being said, moving on to how its done!

How its done

Basic Docker registry is open source and commonly used, so I started there. The registry speaks HTTP, and there's already a lot of very common instructions out there. I started with the docker-regstiry helm chart and went from there.

Once installed i found out that essentially out of the box you had 2 modes. Everyone reads/write or Logged in users read/write. For my purposes, I wanted something without credentials to be able to deploy to Kubernetes, so #2 was out, and I didn't want random strangers to write, so #1 was out, unless I keep it beind my firewall.

I did start looking at some of the other systems, Harbor (which i think is a registry), Artifactory, and whatever else I could find. But I kept coming back to the simplicity of docker-registry.

Okay, next steps, cause I've seen it done, how do I get docker-registry to do the right thing. Turns out the auth system, other than http basic, supports open id connect. So I looked into keycloak support. Its actually really cool, docker-regiistry + keycloak work really well. But that didn't allow to me have anonymous reads.

Next I found out about . Its essentially a simple proxy in between. I ended up using ldap as a source, but I could write rules as to which repos could be accessed by which user, including anonymous. Sweet, that so problem was handled.

Next. I wanted a web interface. I've wanted to use reg server for a while, and while i could run them on a separate domain, I wanted them to match up. I knew docker-registry took over /, and all the sub paths by default, so that wasn't going to work out. Well it turns out that docker-registry prefix all of its urls with /v1/ or /v2/. So I changed the mapping to only handle /v1/, everything else goes to reg-server. Bam! that worked out great.

Okay, now that it all works correctly!

Now what? Apparently it supports clair, which is a vulnerability scanner for docker. So off I go again. I found out that clair provides a helm chart, so I figure nice and easy.

Well the version they use is way newer than the one reg-server supports.

Luckily jess fraz published her own version of clair, so I just swapped the image the helm chart was using.

Bam, reports to the images I have.

For those who want to do the exact same setup, all the details are in my helmfile repo, but that's the overall setup. I'm pretty happy with it, I can publish and delete images super fast, since its all local, then when i'm happy, push it up to docker hub.

TL;DR

TL;DR - https://github.com/halkeye/helmfile/tree/3ecfb76ca06aada5ca5c68e6a4e3ddddd144765d/namespaces/registry

via The Nameless Site