#idk how important they would be if i make any

[charliepiperw]

I wanna do it too 01: Do you have a good relationship with your parents? Yeah kind of 02: Who did you last say “I love you” to? Idk can’t remember, probably my sister

03: Do you regret anything?

everything.

04: Are you insecure? Who isn’t

05: What is your relationship status?

sibling? Idk to who?

06: How do you want to die? Idk but I wanna at least have some control over it

07: What did you last eat? icy pole

08: Played any sports?

roller skating (that’s not a sport alone but whatever)

09: Do you bite your nails? chronically

10: When was your last physical fight?

idk 2 years ago

11: Do you like someone?

no

12: Have you ever stayed up 48 hours? no

13: Do you hate anyone at the moment? always

14: Do you miss someone?

always

15: Have any pets?

3 cats

16: How exactly are you feeling at the moment?

idk the same as forever 17: Ever made out in the bathroom? no

18: Are you scared of spiders?

depends

19: Would you go back in time if you were given the chance? yes

20: Where was the last place you snogged someone?

I haven’t

21: What are your plans for this weekend?

Get ready for my birthday

22: Do you want to have kids? How many?

I don’t know but if yes like 1 or 2 idk or care

23: Do you have piercings? How many?

one on either ear on my ear lobe

24: What is/are/were your best subject(s)?

art and French (je suis fantastique)

25: Do you miss anyone from your past?

yes

26: What are you craving right now?

death. Idk, sleep?

27: Have you ever broken someone’s heart?

I’d hope not

28: Have you ever been cheated on?

no

29: Have you made a boyfriend/girlfriend cry?

maybe? I can’t tell

30: What’s irritating you right now?

my backs itchy

31: Does somebody love you?

maybe

32: What is your favourite color?

grey blue (like #92a1aa)

33: Do you have trust issues?

yes

34: Who/what was your last dream about?

my friends, myself.

35: Who was the last person you cried in front of?

…I don’t know.

36: Do you give out second chances too easily?

3 strikes and you’re out.

37: Is it easier to forgive or forget?

both are easy. 38: Is this year the best year of your life?

no, and it won’t be

39: How old were you when you had your first kiss?

11 (I still don’t know if I count it though)

40: Have you ever walked outside completely naked? no

51: Favourite food?

pizza

52: Do you believe everything happens for a reason?

sure I guess?

53: What is the last thing you did before you went to bed last night?

watch arcane with my friend @ljmalone

54: Is cheating ever okay?

On a partner? No. On a test? If it’s not important.

55: Are you mean?

yes.

56: How many people have you fist fought?

0, unless it’s play fighting, then like 5+

57: Do you believe in true love? Yes/no

58: Favourite weather?

rain

59: Do you like the snow?

haven’t been in it, but yeah.

60: Do you wanna get married?

not really, that might change.

61: Is it cute when a boy/girl calls you baby?

I hate pet names with a passion. 62: What makes you happy?

blogging/sleeping/drinking anything

63: Would you change your name? Yeah

64: Would it be hard to kiss the last person you kissed?

probably

65: Your best friend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do?

happened before, just ignored it.

66: Do you have a friend of the opposite sex who you can act your complete self around?

no.

67: Who was the last person of the opposite sex you talked to?

my friend and also my dad.

68: Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with?

no idea.

69: Do you believe in soulmates?

No

70: Is there anyone you would die for?

myself, my friends (some of them, otherwise, no)

70 horrible questions ... Fuck it

01: Do you have a good relationship with your parents? 02: Who did you last say “I love you” to? 03: Do you regret anything? 04: Are you insecure? 05: What is your relationship status? 06: How do you want to die? 07: What did you last eat? 08: Played any sports? 09: Do you bite your nails? 10: When was your last physical fight? 11: Do you like someone? 12: Have you ever stayed up 48 hours? 13: Do you hate anyone at the moment? 14: Do you miss someone? 15: Have any pets? 16: How exactly are you feeling at the moment? 17: Ever made out in the bathroom? 18: Are you scared of spiders? 19: Would you go back in time if you were given the chance? 20: Where was the last place you snogged someone? 21: What are your plans for this weekend? 22: Do you want to have kids? How many? 23: Do you have piercings? How many? 24: What is/are/were your best subject(s)? 25: Do you miss anyone from your past? 26: What are you craving right now? 27: Have you ever broken someone’s heart? 28: Have you ever been cheated on? 29: Have you made a boyfriend/girlfriend cry? 30: What’s irritating you right now? 31: Does somebody love you? 32: What is your favourite color? 33: Do you have trust issues? 34: Who/what was your last dream about? 35: Who was the last person you cried in front of? 36: Do you give out second chances too easily? 37: Is it easier to forgive or forget? 38: Is this year the best year of your life? 39: How old were you when you had your first kiss? 40: Have you ever walked outside completely naked? 51: Favourite food? 52: Do you believe everything happens for a reason? 53: What is the last thing you did before you went to bed last night? 54: Is cheating ever okay? 55: Are you mean? 56: How many people have you fist fought? 57: Do you believe in true love? 58: Favourite weather? 59: Do you like the snow? 60: Do you wanna get married? 61: Is it cute when a boy/girl calls you baby? 62: What makes you happy? 63: Would you change your name? 64: Would it be hard to kiss the last person you kissed? 65: Your best friend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? 66: Do you have a friend of the opposite sex who you can act your complete self around? 67: Who was the last person of the opposite sex you talked to? 68: Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? 69: Do you believe in soulmates? 70: Is there anyone you would die for?

[skykidsam]

Forest Temple and Darkstone Production:

How this elaborate door may tell us more about the process than we originally realized

Yesterday, I believe I had an epiphany. When I was watching this door activate, I realized that it quite literally might be giving us the recipe for darkstone production.

Let's outline what we're seeing.

First, the major structure on the door seems to represent the inside of the Temple and the machinery within. We see two people on boats above with jars full of golden-white light - the signature color for regular, non-colored light. We also see two cyan-colored lights below, not in jars, but seemingly in some mechanism in the machinery. This light must first be retrieved before it is taken by boat to the center of the machine.

Let's look at some concept art from Tom Zhao to compare.

Here we can see a little bit of what they imagined the darkstone refinery process would look like. We see raw material goes in the center golden chamber, it gets stamped into a diamond shape, the refined "artificial star" gets imbued with energy while still in the chamber, and then it rolls out the troughs, presumably ready to use.

Something that stands out to me is that the cyan-colored light in this concept art matches the cyan-colored stones on the temple doors, making me wonder if those stones represent the energy that is used to fill the darkstones. That energy, as seen in this next concept and also in the Abyss murals, comes from trapped light creatures.

It's important to note that these are concepts, not the final design, so things likely won't add up 1 to 1. However, we can at least try to glean some of the core ideas that were being captured.

These concepts appear to be:

Collect raw darkstone

Shape raw darkstone into diamond shape, creating refined darkstone

Imbue darkstone with light, creating charged darkstone

Whether or not all darkstones required the light of light creatures is up for interpretation, but we do know basically for certain that creatures have been used for that purpose at some point in Sky's history.

So let's look at the door again.

Two cyan-colored lights from below

And two golden-white lights from above

To make one singular darkstone

So what are these ingredients?

I have two theories.

The first theory is that the golden-white light represents natural, regular light (like the light that the Prairie Elder hoarded in jars), and that the cyan color, in this instance, represents light drained from light creatures. Combining these ingredients creates a charged, refined darkstone, ready for use.

The second theory is that the golden-white light represents any light used to charge the stones (including light from light creatures), and that the cyan-colored stones represent uncharged darkstones. Combining them, you once again get a charged, refined darkstone.

What brought me to these conclusions? Why do I think the colors represent certain things over others?

Well, let's look at some more concept pictures.

The color scheme in Sky is very important - we can see how orange and white represent the closest things to pure Light and when we start getting into blues and greys, it represents a lack of connection to The Light.

So, I think the golden-white lights speak for themselves - they are natural light in some form or another.

The cyan ones are more ambiguous. I think it's relatively safe to rule out Cyan Light itself, the element associated with wind and Valley (although, I guess you could go that route and maybe assume the cyan light is meant for the stones to be able levitate or something, idk).

I'm more inclined to believe this represents something with distance from The Light, whether that be the refined stones themselves, which are often represented with a similar color in the concept art, or the light from drained light creatures, which may also be represented with a similar color scheme.

What this really pokes at is the fact that we genuinely have no idea what the extraction process of light creatures looks like - the only thing we can compare the process to is ourselves as skykids and the way we react to losing light (which is not foolproof because skykids and light creatures are pretty different in a lot of ways).

We could also maybe look at things like manta projections/spirit mantas, as well as the eel from Treasure Reef to take note of the other unusual ways light creatures can present so we can try to discern whether they are that way due to light extraction or other factors.

Ultimately, though, we know so much and still so painfully little about this process, so please enjoy these crumbs lol

[mr-laveau]

I told I would show up eventually and here I am (even tho i should be asleep)

for the design lab: Sweetheart oc

1. What's your listener's name and nickname?

Cassiel (chosen name), commonly referred to as Sneaks or Cass (still called Sweetheart by Milo)

2. What's their backstory?

Cassiel comes from a family of five, having one older and one younger brother (Jonah and Raphael respectively). He comes from a well-off family, high middle class, both parents work in healthcare. Their older brother is studying to become a surgeon, and their younger brother wants to become a sculptor but is being pressured to pursue a science instead. Typically Cass doesn’t get as much feedback about their carer from their parents. A few times it was suggested they should become a teacher or a lawyer, but Cass never liked the idea of those. He never considered going into medicine, since they knew how much it strained their family, and they wanted to do something outside of the beaten path. Make a name for themselves as *Cassiel* not as a Grandwood (family name). Because their parents worked such hectic hours, Cass was often the one to watch their little brother in the evenings/weekends, and did not have free time for themselves because of this. They were not a very social child either, obsessed with books—mystery books in particular—and pouring themselves into their studies so they don’t get chewed out for their grades. When they found out that they were empowered, being the only one in their family to be empowered, they were very freaked out. They were only 13, and had no one to turn to. One of his teachers, also empowered, alerts Mazeed al-Masih (goes by Maze generally) who is a department worker, and he teaches Cass everything they need to know. They find out the opportunities they now have because they are empowered, things he didn’t even dream about, and he sets off for DAMN university as soon as he’s graduated high school. DAMN is in a different state than Cass, despite being the closest, so this does separate them from their family, and they don’t make a habit of keeping in contact with anyone but their little brother. They make it their mission to become an Investigator, and the best one around at that.

3. What's the desired aesthetic of your listener character (punk, greaser, bimbo, scene kid, schoolgirl)?

Kinda thinking punk meets 1920’s investigator. If that makes sense. idk if it does.

4. What's your listener's gender presentation like?

Trans-masc, usually says that they’re non-binary. (they/he pronouns)

5. What's your listener's ethnicity?

Irish

6. What's your listener's age?

33

7. What's your listener's body type/build?

I’m not sure any official words for it, but like a volleyball/swimmer build (they played volleyball since middle school)

8. What's your listener's star sign?

Sagittarius

9. What are your listener's most important relationships and who are they connected to?

Familial (both found and blood): The pack, Mazeed, Raphael (little brother), their friends from DAMN, the rest of their family to an extent

10. What's your listener's hobbies/interests?

Reading, puzzles (both jigsaw and things like crosswords/sudoku/etc), walks/cafe visits to people watch, volleyball

11. If your listener was a deity from a known mythology, what deity would they be?

Athena

12. What Audio RP series are they from?

Redacted Audio (if you couldn’t tell)

13. What kind of lover are they to their partner/what kind of friend are they?

They’re pretty attentive to the ones they love. If there’s the tiniest thing that they notice they’re going to attempt to fix it. Very much a quality time/acts of service guy. Some would think that because of the effort they put into their work, they wouldn’t be a very good lover and those people are very very wrong. They will make time for everything (even if it nearly kills them)

14. What is something/are some things that your listener values?

Family, justice, quality time (if that counts??)

15. Pick a song that you think represents your listener.

Second Child, Restless Child by The Oh Hellos

16. What's the inspiration behind your listener's design?

Honestly a lot of Cass’ design/vibe is just a mash of a bunch of things I enjoy in a character, but the main thing i think of when i think of him is “tasks themselves with fixing the world” and a lot of 1920’s snuff films. Cass is definitely my most chaotic oc so far.

17. Could you give me a vague concept of what your listener's visual vibe is?

Fashionable when trying, very cozy when they’re not. They’re very intimidating when they dress up, usually has rings and the like on. If it’s for work, it’s very much business attire with a few personal touches that won’t get them in trouble (their rings, for example). If it’s a casual day in with Milo/the pack they let themselves dress cozier with over sized sweaters and such.

18. What are some extra tidbits you wanna tell me about your listener?

This kinda goes with the program but i kinda wanna stress how stubborn (maybe headstrong is a better word idk) they are. They will do something the hardest way because that’s how they started it and they don’t want to change plans now. They also have a necklace that their little brother gave them that they won’t take off. I think that’s all I wanna mention.

LaVeau-gue - design #004 - Sweetheart - Cassiel - Pluto

I haven't touched this series in a while but I'm back at it and starting it up slowly with Pluto's Sweetheart, Cassiel!

Design Notes

I would say this was difficult to design but that would be a lie. Instead I will say that it was fun to mess with this design.

First off, my major considerations were that this was a design for sweetheart, it was supposed to be inspired by Athena, it was noir punk and that you're a Percy Jackson fan (debatable since you like the movies but oookaaayyy/j).

So for this, I wanted to lean into different things; Cassiel should look put together but similalry uncooperative-you mention that growing up, they got good grades but did so for the sake of earning them to pass off as a good student rather than having a love for it. Additionally, the mention of their love of puzzles as well as their meticulous attention to detail concerning their loved ones gave me a good idea of what their shape language should be.

Cassiel reads someone who is somewhat athletic, attentive and keen to question things so while their hair might be slicked back, their posture upright and their attire somewhat kept, they do not concede to the complete idea of being wholely tidy by appearance. Following old british punk influence, I loosened Cassiel's tie, gave him a blue patch in their nice dress pants, added a blue studded belt and choker while also giving them a fishnet top which is more emo than punk but the addition of it feels it's anti-DUMP dresscode so I ran with that.

I did take note of Cassiel's penchant for dressing up and rings but elected that such a look would not be regular enough to make up for a complete design so I leaned away from that and into something that Cassiel would wear while in the field.

Finally, after those aspects, I then leaned into their athena inspiration and DUG for some inspiration from Epic The Musical-that led me to using blues and grays within the design BUT the majority of the influence came from the concept of barn owls. This shaped out with their hair being slicked back, their colour pallette mimicking the same distribution of colour across a barn owl's feathers as well as the framing of his face. As a smaller note, I gave them blonde hair and a grey streak as a callback to annabeth who sports that kind of hair in the PJO books if I'm not mistaken.

I hope I did you concept some justice with this design @agentplutonium!

[angabby-zzz]

Decided to add 4 new cabins what do we think (placements arent final and i might add more if i find gods im interested in)

[fangirl-erdariel]

One of the things about Tolkien's books that is so important to me is how much compassion the narrative has for the characters. Even characters that are frustrating, or annoying, or that do or attempt to do horrible things, there's still compassion for them. Sometimes even when characters in the story (even characters that are very deeply good, sometimes!) aren't that compassionate toward a given other character, because they're also still human and might run out of patience or have their own biases etc and can't always find it in themselves to have compassion for everyone, the narrative might still show compassion. It's just so good.

[girlmetalsonic]

something that is like the baseline of amys entire character to me is that shes lonely. shes clingy and physically affectionate in a way none of her friends really are, shes always getting pushed aside and left behind. yeah, she helps out people she doesnt know because shes a nice person, but also, she sees part of herself in them. she wont leave someone else behind because she knows the feeling —and more importantly, hates the feeling. if she doesnt have somebody to stand by her and be there for her, then shes going to be that person for everybody else. something something her obsession with sonic is really just like a manifestation of that desire for closeness with someone, and she thinks that romance is the only way to get that. idk... this hedgehog can have so many abandonment issues.

[worstloki]

something very horrifying about the concept of Thor but not Loki being told that Loki is Jotun when the brothers are old enough to understand the importance of the secret

[dogsandfrogsandhogs]

You make a lot of good points

1. Fair point, jerky would be one of the best things for them to find. But still, the writers choose for her to pick beef for a reason. It was a food she genuinely enjoyed, for various reasons, and the trauma from the island ruined it for her.

Like, imagine being stranded for almost a year with scarce food, and when you finally get back home you start to find you can’t even stomach your favorite meals because they remind you of the horrors you witnessed. So now your options are to trigger yourself by either eating the food or by depriving yourself of food that you desperately want but can’t bring yourself to eat.

^ This is why I think her being a meat-lover is important, definitely not a core part of her character, but it is, or was, a part of her and it shows how traumatized she is. She’s the only one of the group, so far, who changed their entire diet as a result of their trauma because she literally can’t bring herself to eat it anymore.

2. Now that I’m remembering Sammy saying the campgrounds were almost as big as her family’s ranch, it’s definitely a feedlot if they supply that much beef on that amount of land.

They could have other farms, but that seems to go against canon. She never mentions her fmaily owning any other place than the ranch, and the ranch is the only plot of land Daniel mentions buying from them. If they have any other farms or businesses it’s most likely on that land, and if they don’t and have more farms on different properties, then it kind of lowers the stakes for her family. It’s still horrible but they aren’t losing everything they have like the show implied. At least before the park goes down, they still have a lot to fall back on.

And the borrowing money part is why I’m not sure about the idea that her family’s wealthy. They’re super wealthy but they don’t have enough in their savings account to cover unexpected costs? They don’t have good insurance in case something breaks down or is damaged? They couldn’t get a loan from a bank and had to turn to shady lenders instead?

Granted, we never learned why, or how much(?), they had to borrow in the first place, which is kind of odd. Seven seasons of the show and we’ve gotten no insight on that when it a major plot point (but hopefully season 3 of CT brings it up).

3. Masrani has absolutely no interest in the well being of livestock, he does not care about them. If he did the park wouldn’t use live prey, which may or may not have included cattle, to feed the dinosaurs, he would’ve opted for toys and other things to keep them engaged like regular zoos do, and on top of that the staff would never have been given the okay to use baby animals to draw out the velociraptors. (Seriously, the piglet scene was horrible.)

If the the Gutierrez’s ranch is that humane it has nothing to do with him and everything to do with the them.

Also, the reason we were given for why they refused wasn’t because they were loyal to Masrani. They’ve might’ve been on good terms with him since he invited her in the first place, but Sammy said that they refused because they weren’t going use her like that. And as far as ethics go, not putting your child at risk is the bare minimum for parents.

(Tags)

[#but also she probably didn't get to see a lot of the hand-on stuff and darker sides of the industry] - I don’t know, she was 14 at the start of CC, possibly the oldest child, and was raised on a family owned farm in rural Texas. I feel like she would’ve seen the hands-on stuff and darker sides of farming at least a few times, considering she knew how to calmly and properly handle a large, frightened animal on her own at 14 and, while revealed at 21(ish), knew how to help egg-bound chickens*, and also just since they had chickens. (Idk what it is with people and chickens, but people are a lot more comfortable having kids, even little kids, be present for their slaughter more than other animals.)(*Also, egg binding is more common in younger hens and can kill them/lead to them having to be put down. For chickens it’s an actual medical emergency, and it’s one that she has hands on experience. She doesn’t have chickens on her ranch, so they would’ve have to be her family’s chickens.)

[so yeah no thank you for her that's the trauma] - I wasn’t trying to say what happened wasn’t the trauma that lead to her going vegetarian, because it is. What I’m saying is that witnessing animal suffering and death in of itself wasn’t what caused her to go vegetarian, it was witnessing the suffering and deaths of specific animals (possibly including humans?) that lead her to the point.

It sounds nitpicky, but the the difference matters when going through how her trauma affected her and led her to becoming vegetarian.

Sammy going vegetarian isn’t as simple as seeing/hearing/being around a lot of animal suffering and death, because she’s always been exposed to it, whether directly or indirectly.

The realization of “wait, it’s wrong to do this livestock” didn’t come because she saw the suffering and deaths of animals, she had seen enough of it surrounding livestock already, it came because she saw the suffering and deaths of animals that she wasn’t raised to be okay with. It was a species specific revelation.

If she hadn’t witnessed the suffering of non-livestock she’d probably still be eating meat regardless of how many frightened cattle she calmed or chickens she helped with, or even loss due to, being egg-bound.

It’s like the difference between tagging a cattle’s ear and tagging a dog and/or cat’s ear. The pain the three of them would experience from it is the same, but it’s only considered cruel to do to two of them. And that’s what would cause some people to start thinking about the cattle, not because the cattle suffered, but because a different animal, “the wrong animal”, did.

Eating meat was never a core part of Sammy's character? She wasn't walking around talking about how she only likes hamburgers, or she would kill for a steak, or cracking beef related puns, or anything that would indicate "I like eating meat" is a core personality trait the same way running is to Yaz or dino facts are to Darius. The core personality trait is her devotion to her family on the ranch, where yes they process cattle for food, but that doesn't make eating meat an ingrained part of your DNA lol.

Sammy saw a lot of animal suffering and death on Nublar and beyond, its understandable why she would maybe want to become a vegetarian. I'm not even a vegetarian, I think you're just wanting to see something that's not there.

What about the time Sammy said "I love nothing more than steak and Yasmina, and I'm all out of steak" and then proceeded to suplex a Scorpius Rex

[crownedwille]

.

[ganondoodle]

im not lying when i say that i was just finally getting "over" totk, like i hate it still, but the immediate anger and need to rant has died down-

and then the elden ring DLC fucks with me in a very similar way, just even moreso focused on my favorite character in that entire franchise, completely unexpectedly, and the more i learn about it the worse it gets and now i feel even worse bc i dont have the energy anymore to get as angry as i did with totk and its just kinda ... depression and sadness ..

it was like the interest i could fall back to when zelda annoyed me too much or i needed a break from that and i was honestly thinking about doing more with it but now

i know i know i can always draw 'my own stuff' but being a fan of a piece of media or character is just fun and .. furfilling to me in a different way and now i feel so empty again ... and finding new things to obsess about is easier said and done bc i dont 'decide' to stop liking something and neither can just decide to obsess over something so im just kinda left hanging here ... and in a way, i still like it and care about it, frustratingly so, and dont WANT to just stop and find soemthign new ...

[unma]

My theory is that you've had (or currently have) a big thing for roleplaying, perhaps directly related to your aptitudes as a writer.

I feel like someone just sniped me through a buncha buildings and windows and still hit a head shot. How could you tell? I haven't actively roleplayed in at least a couple of years—not because I don't want to, tbh, I would if I could actually get back into it again—so I'm surprised anyone could tell. I still have a bunch of my proudest rp posts saved (it was mostly crp), and I was into it for at least 3 years or so.

It's definitely related to my aptitude as a writer though. Having to respond so often to some of the most detailed crp posts where you would and often did get technicality'd into oblivion (and would do the same back) definitely made me care a lot about the details, and I'm not gonna lie I do still draw on that still when describing combat sometimes. Getting technicality'd into oblivion doesn't sound too fun, but I assure you it was (once you got used to it anyway), and that community was definitely my closest set of online friends for a good bit.

[thelingering]

*exasperated sigh lol* changeeeeee is hardddddd

[nullians]

It’s actually insane how fandom in general has become so scared of making weird and dark and ugly works. Like I look at myself and see how I have also subconsciously adapted this instinct to self censor and make things “marketable” and it’s making me want to crawl out of my skin. I need to get weirder and worse and more off-putting hello

[freakinator]

If you don’t mind, I’m gonna yap for a second.. I think another problem with Kab is how sudden the turn around was. Like in the first convo where Kab was acting “evil”, Zam fought back with the argument that she’s wasn’t really evil at all and I think he did believe that at least a little. And if Kab slowly began to turn her path around then he would be a bit more trusting cause he would have SEEN her actual emotional growth but the turn around was so fast, it feels like there was no emotional growth at all and that Kab is still the same as before, cause she basically is. She still wants Mane dead no matter the cost and she’s still, intentionally or not, trying to manipulate Zam, but she wants to be treated as if she’s had that whole long term emotional growth

yeah ii think this is where her majority experience with short-term smps really bit her in the ass, i think there are two main directions that other ppl take it tho: 1. is as what you speculate in that some ppl think that she hasnt had genuine growth and hasnt changed at all and 2. that she genuinely changes too quickly and is therefore unreliable regardless of if shes being honest or not

i think the reason zam was so receptive to her in silent scream was cause this has been a recurrent plot point for a couple streams now, kab trespassing zams base to yap while zam tries to decipher her wants and motivations until eventually she just let it all out and in that instance i think he did genuinely believed that she changed even if it was slowly/just a little bit

....but then die for you happened lol

ssee the thing about kab is that shes shes all-or-nothing, going from one extreme to the next after just a little bit of change in character which can be jarring to some ppl to say the least (unless you thought she was lying and therefore any character development shouldnt be believed i suppose) but is something that was a great asset in shorter and arena-based smps where you had to get as much advantage against your opponent as possible without having to worry about the long-term consequences of these actions ie them not trusting you while still having to interact often in mundane ways even after messing with them. while she Can be swayed this only really works with things she was already unsure of which while a great motivator and trait to keep her on track with her goals (again another great trait for short-term smps), can be really jarring and distressing for other ppl if the things she was absolutely sure about goes against their own perspective like for example her thinking that derapchu killing her constitutes zam getting payback for her as the protector of the server (The protector, not A protector like zam insists, The protector of the server)

i think shes far too used to the fast-paced instant acceptance of changed personality in arena smps that is a natural consequence of them being short-term and having a revolving door of members and teams which is why she expects ppl to accept her growth and efforts so quickly even if realistically nobody would hand over their trust that easily esp after essentially being harassed in their own home multiple times, like even in normal smps where theres a baseline amount of trust ppl still wouldnt trust you after doing that, what more in a server like lifesteal where general trust is low basically all the time?

[agirlinthegalaxy]

It's been rolling around in my brain the last few days for some reason, but I still hate the family backstory reveals for Sophie and Eliot. I've seen some of the meta for it, but quite frankly, it still makes no sense. If it had been something actually thought of and intentional in the original, I think it could have been so fascinating. I mean, Sophie's willing abandonment of Astrid to contrast with Nate's loss of Sam or Eliot's adoption in contrast with Hardison's and Parker's? Could have been excellent! But they came out of nowhere in Redemption and don't work with these characters.

Sophie was still actively using the fucking alias that she met Astrid under! She met with someone from her past on the show! Like. Quite frankly, that one is unequivocally bullshit that they made up and threw in and pretended could fit with the established canon. (And I'm sorry, but the idea of Sophie abandoning Astrid and never telling Nate about her just... So much of Nate's trauma was rooted in the loss of Sam, and I think that introducing this element after he's gone and unable to respond to it taints Sophie and Nate's relationship in a way bc I'm not exactly sure how Nate would've responded to learning about this but I think that it's something he'd have needed to know. I don't know how to fully express my thoughts on that but yeah.)

As for Eliot, I don't like the adoption aspect literally at all. The way that he would interact with his family and the memory of his family would be different, and I think that it's flat out ridiculous to think that he'd have never mentioned it to the team in the original show, especially when dealing with the kid cases. (I also dislike the biracial adoption as its own element because if Eliot was actually raised by Black parents in the... idk what 80s/90s? That just. doesn't feel congruent with how they write Eliot interacting with PoC, not necessarily in a bad way, but babe, he's written like a white southern man raised in a specific kind of culture that does not jell with that. It also makes Eliot look... really bad that he was apparently raised with the knowledge of how fucked up the military was and his parents' history and made the choices that he did.) Like the show may not have explicitly stated it but the implication of that relationship was vastly fucking different throughout the original show.

Just. These were not backstories that were congruent with their depiction and characters in the original show, and they're also just moves that I don't particularly like or find interesting directions for those characters. There's also something to be said about how it was apparently unacceptable for a woman to not have kids or someone not reconciling with their biological family when that was something that the original show handled a lot better. Out of all the directions to take Sophie and Eliot's stories, that's just not really one that I think was a good idea.

[musical-chick-13]

I hate when something looks like it would be RIGHT up your alley and the cast is pretty stacked, but there's one person in said cast who is just. Genuinely a horrible human being.