#initial d propaganda

[cheetahplaza]

my best friend got me the three omnibus initial d mangas for my fucking birthday and i could genuinely scream. these things are SO hefty and i reckon if i threw it hard enough i could kill someone but by god they are my fucking babies

like are you Fucking kidding me. theyre so gorgeous

im midway through the first and holy shit its so much funnier than the show omfg 😭😭😭 the stupid drawings are so funny and i WILL be updating this post with the drawings i find funniest

[hewoweens]

missed this bitch at 3am

[hussyknee]

THE LEFTIST THIRD PARTY HAS WON SRI LANKA'S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

WE HAVE A PRO-LGBT, PRO-UNION, ANTI-ETHNOFASCIST, ANTI-IMPERIALIST PRESIDENT. MY ANTHROPOLOGY PROFESSOR IS GOING TO BE PRIME MINISTER. A COMPETENT ACADEMIC WHO HAS WORKED ON FEMINIST INITIATIVES AND RESEARCH ALL HER CAREER.

please please please please god don't let them fuck this up don't let them turn into a bunch of cunts to retain their new voter base don't let them fuck up the economy don't let them let the minorities down please please please they won't ever get another chance if they ruin this one we'll be stuck with more idiot corrupt nepo babies till we die please please please PLEASE LET THIS BE THE END OF THE EXECUTIVE PRESIDENCY AND PREVENTION OF TERRORISM ACT AND PERSECUTING THE NORTH please please please let them decriminalize being gay and not bury LGBT rights please please please let there be a god I can't take anymore of this shitshow please please please don't let hope be something that keeps pissing in our faces please please please please please please please

ANURA KUMARA DISSANAYAKE WILL BE THE NINTH PRESIDENT OF SRI LANKA. TAKE THAT YOU TWO PARTY VOTING MOTHERFUCKERS.

Edit:

WHAT DO YOU MEAN FUCKING COLOMBO WENT TO THE IDIOT NEPO BABY???

AKD HAD 52%!!!!! HE WAS ALL BUT SWORN IN?????

THEY HAVE TO COUNT THE SECOND PREFERENTIAL VOTE FOR ONLY THE SECOND TIME IN HISTORY??

There is a very real chance that nobody will get over 50% of the vote. That would be really, really bad.

Fuck.

I HATE YOU MOTHERFUCKING URBAN MIDDLE CLASS LIBERAL CUNTS SO MUCH. PLAGUE ON THE WHOLE DAMN COUNTRY. FUCK YOU.

Edit 2:

Ok so first counting gets AKD 42% and SP 32%. It's very likely the preferentional vote will put him over the 50% line.

It's so poetic that Ranil's greed for power ended up handing the country to the very Marxists that his uncle hunted like animals. You love to see it. 🥰

Edit 3:

So the preferential vote didn't give anyone a 50% majority and we're still at AKD 42% and SP 32%. But apparently that's enough to declare AKD President as per the Constitution. I don't think that's ever happened before. He was sworn in an hour ago.

Point of clarification: The NPP are not Marxists. Foreign news is just uncritically regurgitating the pro-government Red Scare propaganda. AKD and his JVP party used to be Marxists back in the '80s and '90s. They're now more very pro-union socialist. The NPP is their coalition, which is even more mildly social democrat and just happens to be a little more left than the other two. Calling them a Marxist is like how MAGA thinks the Dems are commies. 😂

I truly don't have great hopes that much will change, but there's a chance one or two important things might. Which is more than we've been able to hope for in decades.

See this post for a run down of the what's really been happening.

Edit 4:

I retract the "openly bisexual" part with many apologies. I completely misremembered. It wasn't AKD but JVP senior K. D. Lalkantha, who said in a 2018 interview is that he has also had same sex encounters with his friends as a boy and young man, and that he knows others who have had as well. And he specifically said he doesn't see the need to maintain a label for his sexuality. Still, the fact that his party allowed this in a country that still criminalises homosexuality, to a Sinhalese magazine, speaks to a commitment to LGBT rights. He also explicitly stated his support for women's rights, trans rights, polyamory, open relationships, explicit sexuality in media. It's impressively progressive for this country. The interview is in Sinhala and you can read it here.

Here's an excellent write-up of AKD's career, political outlook and creation of NPP in The Hindu by correspondent Meena Srinivasan, a journalist whose reporting I've always liked.

[hotvintagepoll]

Una O'Connor (The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Invisible Man, The Bride of Frankenstein)—One of my favorite character actresses! While many people know her as the shrieking innkeeper's wife in The Invisible Man, I've always loved when she played a character who was a little more grounded (though that scream of hers is pretty iconic.) Her character of Bess is warm and loving towards Marian, but also tough and takes no prisoners. When they are captured in the forest, she comes forward to protect Marian with so much ferocity that Sir Guy (the villain) moves out of the way so quickly because even he doesn't want to feel Bess' wrath. She could switch from hilariously over-the-top to gently and sweet in the blink of an eye and she deserves a little more recognition! Also her hats in Robin Hood are ridiculous and I love them.

Bokuzen Hidari (Seven Samurai, Ikiru)—His Wikipedia article literally says "this guy is so scrungly," though technically they word it as "Hidari was famous among Japanese audiences for his portrayals of meek, downtrodden men." His job is wandering around going D: This certainly touches on the question of whether the actor himself is scrungly, or just the parts that he plays - in fact, this dude initially trained (in 1914) in Japanese opera and dance. At one point he suffered from gangrene, but "fearing for the loss of his livelihood, fought to keep the leg even though it meant using crutches for the rest of his life - except when performing." [link] Anyway, he made his film debut in the 50s and was one of Kurosawa's collection of remarkable character actors, generally as a scrungly little guy.

This is round 3 of the contest. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. If you’re confused on what a scrungle is, or any of the rules of the contest, click here.

[additional submitted propaganda + scrungly videos under the cut]

Una O'Connor:

she eats this:

The things this woman does with her face when she sees Frankenstein's creature. Your fave could never.

Bokuzen Hidari:

Here's Toshiro Mifune calling him out on his scrungliness:

You can see him at 0:17 here, going D: and at various points throughout that video looking absolutely miserable (for good reason).

[kirbyoctournament]

Hello again all! After the riveting finale of last year's tournament, we've spent a few months collecting a selection of fun stats into our final 2024 Tournament Review!

From which participant had the most propaganda posted, to the total number of votes cast across the event, to which canon Kirby species was most represented, we hope you'll enjoy this send-off for the 2024 tourney!!

. · ͙ * ̩̩͙˚ ̩̥̩̥ * ̩̩̥͙ ✩ * ̩̩̥͙ ˚ ̩̥̩̥ * ̩̩͙ ‧ ͙ . . · ͙ * ̩̩͙˚ ̩̥̩̥ * ̩̩̥͙ ✩ * ̩̩̥͙ ˚ ̩̥̩̥ * ̩̩͙ ‧ ͙ .

★ POLLS WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF VOTES a selection of the highest performing polls that attracted the most public attention

Mama D vs J: 848 votes

★ Dawn vs Starry Dee: 749 votes ★ Fylass vs Clark: 741 votes ★ Astro vs Noir Fontaine vs Techie: 592 votes ★ Sir Meteor vs Life: 554 votes

★ CHARACTERS WITH THE MOST PROPAGANDA characters who had the most propaganda posts for them, either from their own creator or from other artists

Fecto Flora 155 posts

★ Valfrey 112 posts ★ Sir Uther 108 posts ★ Noir Fontaine 98 posts ★ Dotty 95 posts

After applications closed at the end of April, the tournament ran from May 10th, 2024 to October 28th, 2024, just a few days shy of six months! During this time...

★ 143 competitors joined the tournament and made friends ★ 1,813 Propaganda posts were made by the community supporting those competitors, and reblogged to the @kirbyoctournament blog ★ 202 polls were made pitting your favorites against each other ★ across those polls, 43,165 votes were cast ★ and of all these, winners starstruck dee and Rope MF received 1179 votes and 699 votes respectively over the course of the event

★ RANDOM STATS

★ 36% (52) of entered OCs were of the "orb" species, with 33 of those taking up the mantle of "knight" specifically. far and away the most represented species ★ Waddle dees were the next most common entrant, with 17 OCs. ★ Ripple Fairies were the least showcased non common-enemy/custom species type, with only a single representative! ★ Of all OC names, "S" was the most common initial at 16 OCs, a statistic we do feel is influenced by the frequency of "sir" before names. Removing those, it was the letter "A", with 13. ★ The least successful initial was the letter "J", with all but one of their 4 representatives (75%) falling in the first round.

★ PROPAGANDA WITH THE MOST CHARACTERS INCLUDED most tournament characters included in a single piece (or single series) of propaganda

★ Tournament OCs Part One and Part Two by @ivynajspyder with a total of 60 competitors

★ 55 competitors Havent You Noticed I'm A Star? by @giantchasm ★ 29 competitors and 2 non competitors (total 31 characters) Congrats To Fecto Flora! by @ceoofmetagala ★ And an honorable mention with 13 competitors and 15 non competitors (total 28 characters), Stargate Commemorative Piece, by @moonverc3x

During the tournament, creators and fans of all kinds arrived to showcase their best skills in support of their own ocs, their friends, and even brand new favorite characters they had found. While it's of course impossible to pick just one stand out piece -and we strongly recommend you check our full propaganda tag to see many more of these incredible works- here are some notable and unique highlights suggested by the Kirby OC Tourney community!

★ Propaganda Hijack; Music cover by @boa35 ★ Vote Dotty; by @cauliarty ★ Vote Flora; by @metagalacafe ★ Valfrey icon; by @gethoce ★ Friendly Talk; by @sacrificecage

★ Dont Stop Rope MF Now; Animated music video by @mint-termsandconditions ★ Just another Astral; by @aseuki ★ Tea Time; by @quanblovk ★ Nighty Knight Mod; by @windstriker427 ★ Tournament armours; by @rosiegardenlove

★ Havent You Noticed I'm A Star; Animated music video by @giantchasm ★ Motifs and Symbols; by @kirbybecomesastarwarrior ★ Surprise propaganda; by @poppybros-jr ★ Go Life!; by @shippyo ★ Not In The Lead; by @hnm-tech-support

★ Noir's Field Trip; Masterpost of art, comics and asks by @desultory-novice ★ Space battle; by @pinkestmenace ★ Only In Passing; by @what-is-love-babey-dont-hurt-me ★ Wolfbell's Illustrated Roleplays; by @zombiecicada ★ Not Over yet; by @a-stardusted-sky

. · ͙ * ̩̩͙˚ ̩̥̩̥ * ̩̩̥͙ ✩ * ̩̩̥͙ ˚ ̩̥̩̥ * ̩̩͙ ‧ ͙ . . · ͙ * ̩̩͙˚ ̩̥̩̥ * ̩̩̥͙ ✩ * ̩̩̥͙ ˚ ̩̥̩̥ * ̩̩͙ ‧ ͙ .

And with this, we officially conclude the 2024 Kirby OC Tournament event!

Over the next few days we will reblog a few final propaganda posts we received notifications for since October. We also have a new pinned post with an FAQ regarding the tournament and when things may be picked up next!

Thank you for coming along on the ride with us, for sharing your creativity and supporting OCs, and for helping us to make this into a wonderful and enriching community event!

See you around!

[fictional-orphan-smackdown]

ROUND 3, MATCH 5!

All propaganda and what each competitor is from under the cut

Trafalgar D. Water Law (Once Piece)

Law is a genocide survivor who saw his parents' dead bodies along with experiencing a whole bunch of other messed up stuff (his sister burning to death, the people of his country being shot for being poisoned by their own government, being terminally ill, escaping the genocide by hiding under a pile of dead bodies, etc etc). After all this shit, he eventually got forcibly adopted by this one guy and dragged around the world looking for a cure for his illness. Right when Law started to trust and love his new caretaker, he is also brutally murdered in front of him. Law's life goal for the next decade is to get revenge on the person who killed his adoptive father. Vote for him bc he needs a goddamn win for once in his life. He is the people's princess and the narrative's favorite punching bag. Also, his depressed, PTSD-ridden autistic swag and scoliosis realness have captivated me body and soul

His biological parents were killed (before his eyes, by the governement) when he was 10(?). He then joined a bunch of pirates, knowing he wouldn't have much time (and will) left to live anyway. There he was sort of adopted by the Big Bad Pirate's brother, who managed to save his life, only for said brother to be killed (more or less before Law's eyes, by the Big Bad Pirate), when he was 13. You could say he was orphaned twice.

He’s literally got the double orphan special (Parents died and then the guy who took him in after them died too) that’s a 50% increase in orphannedness above your standard orphan. He’s also cool as fuck.

Law's parents were already on death row along with him and his younger sister due to a disease that shortens the life span of a person. The disease can only be passed down genetically and has afflicted everyone in the town that he has grown up in. Due to the sudden outbreak and unknown nature of the disease to the rest of the world panicked and the government closed off his city, killing everyone there. That is how his first set of parents died when he was 10, I think. Still then Law would later join a pirate crew where he would eventually be taken away 2-3 years later by Corazon, marine working undercover as a pirate in order to take down this brother, who is the captain of crew Law joined. Corazon took him in order to cure Law's disease which he still had and to get him away from Doflamingo, his brother. Over the course of 6 months the two became close with Corazon essentially becoming a father figure to Law. I am simplify this but at some point of Doflamingo catches on to Corazon being a double agent and finds him. Doflamingo then proceeds to find Corazon and shoot him in front of a chest that Law was hiding in.

Law has faced many hardships since he was a child, but used his experiences to become an extremely powerful doctor. His pirate crew theme and his Devil Fruit ability are all owed to his adoptive father. Law acts really gruff and serious most of the time, initially seeming like a cool, calculating character and feared swordsman… but one second around the Straw Hats and you quickly see just how silly he really is. He hates bread. He collects coins. He is obsessed with ninjas and superhero comic books. In one arc he just fucked around with his powers and INVENTED harpies and centaurs. Oh, and his First Mate is a polar bear. What could be better than that?

The government ordered to kill everyone in Law's country due to everyone getting "fantasy lead poisoning" disease, which was wrongfully thought to be contagious stroked. Law's family was living at the hospital when they got attacked, his parents (who were doctors) got killed and the hospital got set on fire with his little sister inside. He managed to fled the country hiding in a pile of corpses and ended up joining a pirate crew lead by Doflamingo. Law knew he had the disease and it was going to kill him in three years. Doflamingo's brother, Rosinante took Law hospital to hospital to find a cure but they always rejected him thinking the disease was contagious. Then they learned that someone had offered Doflamingo a devil fruit that could grant him immortality. The fruit could also cure Law so Rosinante stole it and made Law eat it. He then made sure Law could escape Doflamingo and got killed by his brother.

dude spent his childhood getting thrown out of windows, while dying from a deadly disease (that was eventually cured) but while he was still showing symptoms of the disease no one would go near him out of fear and disgust, save for his father figure.

nothing can ever go right for this man. its fucking hilarious in the series and makes for some wonderful angst content. i want everyone who has not watched or read One Piece to know that, for half of his 'main' arc, he's carried around like a potato sack by MULTIPLE people. he is a damsel in despair. he didn't even need to be carried, he honestly could've walked, but he had to save that energy so he could take the like 17 lead bullets out of him. he's always getting shot or thrown out a window and he's severely injured more often than not. he's also a doctor/surgeon, one that should be able to cure incurable diseases, yet his pathetic loserboy ass is too busy being emo to worry about the several gunshot wounds and internal bleeding. god help this man but also don't because honestly it's really fucking funny

Ok, FIRST, when he was a tiny frog-disecting little kid, him and his family and island contacted a disease equivalent to cancer BUT his fam didn't die from that. No, no, his parents got gunned down by the military and his little sis was burned alive with the rest of his house, so, yeah, very traumatic, horrific in a way that makes you very angry at yourself and life and want to oh I don't know, kill everyone and everything possible until the day you die, which won't be long because you have cancer after all. Later, after joining a mafia/cult/gang, Law meets Corazon who after like 2 years kidnaps him to try and get him healed and so they spend the next 6 months bonding, WEEEEEE!! Wait, no, NOT weeee because Cora who is now his father-figure DIES having protected and saved him, and thus bruv becomes orphaned not once, not thrice, but TWO very traumatic times! If this isn't an orphan, idk what is……

Anthony Lockwood (Lockwood and Co)

Lockwood (he's known by his surname mostly) is the mysterious, daredevil and charming founder of Lockwood and Co., a detective agency specialised in protecting people from angry -and sometimes sort of hungry- ghosts in a world where they're rampant. His agency is starting small despite Lockwood bragging it's the best in London but get more and more recognition as the series progress and the agents composing them meet success (when they're not on the verge of dying). Lockwood has open manners but hid his painful past from his coworkers to protect himself. He and George, the first teenager he recruited, are quite stunned by Lucy, a country girl who fled to London after disaster striked in her hometown. Thanks to her talent, she quickly becomes known as one of the best ghost fighter in London and finds her place in the small team despite having the same determination to hide her past than Lockwood, which draws him close to her, making George jealous, but Lockwood's manifest good skills in leadership and the three of them become fast friends while unravelling secret truths and risking their lives repeatedly

He has a lot of trauma and a lot of pain but he always smiles and always has a warm and polite attitude; he’s so protective of the ones he loves that it overrides his suicidal tendencies; at the end of the series he starts to heal from his past; he’s hot but has only two braincells.

[ifishouldvanish]

@pansexual-chocolate recently did one of these things for their Nocturne rarepair and uh... I wanted to do one too. So here's more Alurox propaganda by yours truly 🙂‍↕️

OVERVIEW

TRUST: Neither of them trusts easily because they've been hurt so many times, but Alucard still believes in giving people the benefit of the doubt. They both kinda have their guard up around each other at the start, but as they get to know each other, they each find something of a kindred spirit in the other.

JEALOUSY: Mexica society was very strict, and Olrox is used to people like him being treated as less-than by colonizers, so when someone treats him with warmth and affection, it feels like this finite resource and he feels a little threatened when he sees them show that to someone else. Alucard is too tired and poly to really get jealous.

HORNY: They're both a normal amount of horny. Olrox tends to come off as more horny because he's more sexually assertive/likely to initiate, Alucard comes off as less so because he's a little more passive and repressed about it. He's the more kinky one though. Like Alucard will be like "You know what would be so hot? *Proceeds to describe the filthiest shit imaginable*" and Olrox is just like "*thousand yard stare for 3.6 seconds* ... You know what? Sure, let's do it."

CLINGY: Olrox is very tactile and enjoys a lot of physical and emotional intimacy with his partner. Alucard is more aloof and prone to episodes of self-isolation, which Olrox often has to drag him out of.

HOW IT HAPPENED: It takes a long time for Alucard to recognize his feelings, and he spends a bit of time willfully ignoring them out of loyalty to Richter and the Belmont family. Olrox is pretty immediately curious about Alucard, and while he doesn't expect to fall for him, his efforts to piece together what makes Alucard tick lead him there.

RELATIONSHIP ATTITUDE: Alucard has a harder time connecting in general. He is still mourning the loss of his polycule somewhat and struggles to believe he can have a love like that again, so he tends to keep himself at a bit of a distance. Olrox lives much more 'in the now'. Once enough trust is there and he knows they're on the same page, he's ready to put 100% into the relationship.

CONFESSES FIRST: Alucard is more careful with his heart. Once he accepts his own feelings, he's mature enough to be honest with the other person before letting things develop further. Olrox is more willing to just play things by ear and let things remain ambiguous/go on without acknowledging them for as long as they do.

WHICH OF THEM...

GOES FOR THE KISS FIRST: Olrox is more daring. Once he's sure of Alucard's attraction, he doesn't hesitate to go in for the kiss.

IS FIRST TO APOLOGIZE: Depends. Olrox can be stubborn, more prone to storming off, etc... he's too proud to apologize to most people, but he's willing to apologize to his partner when he knows he's in the wrong. Because he's more hotheaded, he's more often the one who needs to apologize. Alucard is more willing to apologize for the sake of making amends, regardless of who is at fault.

INITIATES CONTACT: Olrox is more physical, more clingy, more talkative... Alucard is again, more aloof and prone to isolating himself.

SPOILS THE OTHER: Once Olrox is committed, he loves to dote on his partner, lavishing them with affection, and often in more conspicuous ways. Alucard shows his love in more subtle ways.

WAKES UP FIRST: Alucard wakes up early to start the day and go about his daily tasks. Olrox wakes up early to have a coffee and read a book while the sun rises.

DOES THE COOKING: Alucard. Olrox does NOT have the patience for cooking, but he's highly appreciative of Alucard's culinary talents.

DOES THE HOUSEWORK: Alucard likes to keep himself busy with housework and out of a sense of discipline. However, when he's going through a depressive episode, Olrox is perfectly capable of picking up the slack. He's more of a 'naturally' tidy person, and once he notices clutter/dirt he can't ignore it. He'll notice some dust and get sucked into cleaning the entire room on impulse.

DOES THE TALKING: Olrox is the bigger extrovert, and he likes to know as much as he can about the people around him. He doesn't shy away from arguments and knows when to step in if Alucard's social battery is fizzling out.

MORE POPULAR: While he's more extroverted, Olrox is intimidating to most people. Alucard has a profound kindness and gentleness that endears people to him more.

IS THE DESIGNATED DRIVER: Olrox hates driving and would probably get a lil road-ragey/impatient on the road. Alucard finds it relaxing.

IS THE BETTER CAREGIVER: As much as Olrox enjoys doting on his partner, he is less patient/disciplined when it comes to day-to-day stuff. He has a poor bedside manner.

IS OVERPROTECTIVE: Olrox hates to see Alucard ignoring his own needs, being taken advantage of, etc. He doesn't trust others' intentions and is skeptical when he sees Alucard going out of his way to help people who he doesn't think deserve it.

IS THE PLANNER: Alucard plans life stuff, matters around the village. Olrox plans things between the two of them. Olrox is more meticulous in his plans, though.

"HE SAID NO PICKLES": Olrox, Olrox, Olrox. See 'overprotective' above.

TRAITS

BIG VS LITTLE SPOON: They take turns, though Olrox enjoys being curled up against Alucard most of the time.

EARLY BIRD VS NIGHT OWL: For the most part, they both rise early. Though of course they each enjoy a lazy morning in bed from time to time, and sometimes Alucard's depression makes it hard for him to get out of bed.

TIDY VS CHAOTIC: Cleanliness was highly valued in Mexica society, so Olrox hates mess and is used to keeping his space and his person in impeccable shape. It doesn't come as naturally for Alucard, but he's disciplined enough to keep tidy most of the time.

BUGS: Alucard is unphased by bugs beyond just finding them a nuisance. Olrox hates to see bugs that might indicate something is unclean, but he's not squeamish about it.

LENDS VS BORROWS CLOTHES: Alucard is selfless and happy to give someone the clothes off of his back should the need arise. Olrox is more particular and doesn't like to do either unless he's forced to.

ROMANTIC VS CASUAL: They're old enough/have enough serious relationship experience to not focus too much on grand gestures, but they both take the relationship seriously in a more pragmatic sense.

DECISIVE VS INDECISIVE: Alucard tends to overthink things a bit and get inside his own head. Olrox is pretty good about knowing what he wants and making decisions quickly.

TAKES HINTS VS CLUELESS: Olrox is highly perceptive and knows what Alucard is thinking/feeling better he does most of the time. Alucard, again, tends to get too caught up in his head and misses the forest for the trees.

MATURE VS PLAYFUL: Olrox doesn't have much of a playful side to him at all. Alucard's comes out once in a while when he's having a good day. Olrox thinks it's endearing, even if he doesn't act like it. Sometimes (sometimes) he'll indulge him.

STRAIGHTFORWARD VS VAGUE: Olrox is straightforward because he doesn't see the point in tip-toeing around things with his partner (that's for everybody else). Alucard is straightforward in the sense that being in a polycule for so many years forced him to learn how to communicate effectively.

CONFIDENT VS SHY: Olrox is a cocky little shit who's hot and he knows it. Alucard, while introverted, is confident enough to be a leader and effective communicator. He's just a little awkward about it sometimes and prefers to stay out of the spotlight.

RAY OF SUNSHINE VS 'DONE': This overlaps with the Playfulness prompt pretty closely so I won't repeat myself here 😅

REALISTIC VS IDEALISTIC: Alucard is always trying to embody the values instilled in him by his mother. Olrox is terribly jaded from witnessing 300 years of colonization and genocide 🫠

NEEDS ATTENTION VS INDEPENDENT: Were Olrox to lose Alucard, he'd be able to bounce back pretty quickly. Alucard would last a few weeks before making dolls or taking another 300 year long nap 🥲

TENSE VS EASY-GOING: Alucard worries more if he is doing the right thing, worries for the future, etc. Olrox, despite being a much more 'intense' person, doesn't sweat most things and is generally pretty confident in the choices he makes.

HEAD VS HEART: Also overlaps with the above mostly. (TENSE vs EASY-GOING and DECISIVE vs INDECISIVE)

[lockandkeyhyena]

For the runaway cultist au! How would Fluttershys friends react to the switch in roles between Starlight and Fluttershy? I’m sure in just passing word they’d be “fluttershy would never” but when they actually see it with their own eyes?

And what is your favorite interaction between Fluttershy and Starlight in this au so far!

the runaway cultist au isn’t super fleshed out BUT i’m aiming to change that so questions like this are super appreciated!!

the thing is, fluttershy isn’t being evil or trying to be a bad pony. she genuinely believes this is for the best and while starlight initially talks her into it, the roles start to swap as fluttershy gets more and more zealous while starlight has more and more second thoughts.

the dynamics change a lot throughout the story, so these are everycreatures thoughts near the beginning, shortly after fluttershy left with starlight and began traveling equestria spreading their propaganda in secret.

discord would. be. pissed. he doesn’t believe fluttershy went with starlight willingly, he doesn’t believe that the mane 5 did all they could to convince her to stay and he takes that out on others by having fluctuating bursts of anger and depression.

rainbow would also be pissed, but at fluttershy. she’s mad and upset that her best and childhood friend left her for some crazy cause thats completely stupid and idiotic. she’s also really sad about it but she hides that under layers of anger.

twilight would get Analytical about it. kinda throwing herself into her work and studies and trying to learn all she can about starlight and the concept of equality just so she can understand why fluttershy would leave them. because she can’t. she doesn’t understand.

rarity would be the most empathetic i think, she and rainbow are the closest to fluttershy and while rainbow’s mind is too clouded by her anger, rarity can see why the concept of equality would appeal to fluttershy. she disagrees with it entirely but understands that fluttershy thinks she’s doing what’s best.

applejack would be sort of be the most resigned to it. she pushes down all her emotions about it and tries to focus on being the ‘rock’ for the group. her emotions don’t matter when something so world-destroying has happened. it happened. she needs to be there for her remaining friends. they also need to start thinking about a new element holder in case something happens <- twilight would also be thinking about this.

pinkie is also trying to keep everypony together, but in less of an applejack way and more of a pinkie way. don’t worry everypony! fluttershy is just a bit confused at the moment! she still loves her friends and she’ll be back any day now! don’t be sad! please don’t be sad.

HOWEVER if you guys think i have mischaracterised any of my gals in any way, please chime in! i’d love to hear what your guys’ interpretations of their reactions would be :D

[polish-art-tournament]

paintings* round 1 poll 91

tap to view full images!!

Self-portrait with an elf on my hand by Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, c. 1920

[no propaganda has been submitted]

about the artist: Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska is probably best known for her poetry :)

Falsehood of a Woman – Self-Portrait with the portrait of Maryla Grossman by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, 1927:

propaganda: Basically Witkacy was commissioned this drawing by a rich woman (Maryla Grossmannowa) and while he initially refused to do it the money she offered made him change his mind. Since, as stated by the rules of his company, the client had no input in the artwork and was forbidden from criticizing it, we now have 3 portraits beautifully contained within this canvas. One is Maryla drawn in his type A (the more “polished” one, which was probably the only one she wanted to commission), while behind her on the left is Witkacy himself drawing her “true self” in type D (which was his own interpretation of the subject’s psychology, which in her case looks rather demonic). Also do you see this stupid fucking cat? It’s hilarious

submitted by @ponyatowski

[a-door-to-somewhere]

Watching skeleton crew, here's a bunch of my unorganized thoughts and theories for ep 1-5, spoilers below!!!

- first off i genuinely like this show. It knows what it is and owns its allusions to Goonies and other pirate media. It really nails the campy/cheesy feel in earnest- it doesn't feel cheap. I'm also glad that it's rather small stake-wise (in the scheme of things). I think it was a good decision in general to have a nice self contained story here

- I'm really glad Neel looks so good. Seriously, we haven't had an alien quite this non-humanoid have such a prominent speaking role in a WHILE. like, ahsoka, jecki, and the various wookies were all make up or costume based. Neel is not acted using a human face and yet his expressions feel so readable and he's not stiff or uncanny. It's like what jar jar could have been

- I love jack/jod/silvo/dash/whatever he's so cringe fail. I genuinely don't know if he is tied to actual jedis or if he's force sensitive or if he's faking it somehow. The framing around his use of the force is so clever it's making me second guess things: initially when he levitates the key over, the force theme plays and he's even wearing a little cloak. However he's only shown using levitation to summon thing, and not mind tricks, force pushes, or even a general ability to have "bad feelings" about things. Also, that one line in ep5 about forgetting his parents because they're 'attachments?' If he isn't associated with jedi, that's some really funny lampshading, star wars

- I love kb. No further notes here

- yes I see it. You're telling me jod tied that pirate robot down. What freaks. Gay af

- it occurs to me that if at attin was completely sheltered from the war and effectively still in old republic era (they didn't know about alderaan 💀) then they might not even be aware of the Purge. They might not even be aware of the propaganda spread by the empire of the jedi becoming traitors. Clearly jedi are still rare, but they might not understand how rare jedi actually are and why. Poor Wim nobody tell him about order 66

- I love how the parents are dealing with andor-esque dystopian surveillance nightmares but because it's a b plot in a kids show it's mostly used for comedy. I actually love the Utopian with a secret trope, at attin totally reminds me of the City of Embers with the Great Work and the test and all that

- I'll put more as I think of it :D

[artificialmoth]

Descends like Jesus in your inbox

MOTH...... MY CHILD........ YOU MUST SPREAD YOUR DELTA/ALPHA/OMEGA PROPAGANDA.......

Ascends away

YEAHHHHH

Alpha/Omega/Delta, okay. Right? We got it? Hadjf LETS GO

They are SOO in love. Definitely like the old retired husbands of the Abbey(even if Delta's the only retired one).

They're like THE pinnacle of romance for a lot of ppl. The type where you go 'if they EVER break up, romance is dead.'

Out of the three of them, Omega's the only one with another partner that isn't a ghoul, it being Terzo. Alpha lovingly teases him about his human side piece, but if asked seriously, will insist that Terzo is just as important to their dynamic.

alpha also has a MAJORRR crush on terzo that he REFUSES to talk about.

Delta's quintessence, because for Me it manifests in premonitions, tends to be rlly finicky. He can either give accurate dates of events, or vague descriptions of them. It's usually near-future.

You already know this Aru BUT, he doesn't remember what he talks about when his quint is acting up, so usually he only recalls when he's informed of it. A few ghouls(Alpha, Omega, Aether, Ifrit, Dew and Mist) are given permission to record him during it.

The only premonition he remembers, is when he accurately predicted when the three older Emeritus brothers were going to be killed. He was alone, and he didn't tell anyone about it, to save the preemptive mourning. He also, years in advance, had a premonition of Copia!

Specifically his ascension to Papa. Delta was very confused, at the time Copia hadn't even come to the Abbey as Cardinal yet, so Delta hadn't met him or heard of him

Omega's the head of the hospital at the abbey. He takes his job EXTREMELY seriously, though Aether helps with it. Delta would've also been working there if his quint was viable for it. He still visits regularly, to bring Omega his lunch or try and coax him out for dinner.

Alpha does a bunch of odd-jobs around the abbey, though primarily he does a lot of handy-man repairs, on top of any guitar tech that needs done. Through winter he helps keep the abbey warm, alongside all the other fire ghouls. They can sustain going out in the cold temps for more firewood, and he keeps the main hearth in the chapel lit.

he also is the official un-official guard dog of the siblings. He sometimes disappears for a few hrs and shows back up saying there was "a small issue". That usually brings an unknown hiker corpse found later, dead to a presumed animal attack. It's never just a hiker. In my hc, Cowbell helps out, as the local woods cryptid, they inform Alpha if they catch an intruder scent.

Delta generally does a lot of little things around the abbey! Lots of helping out where he can, small busywork like replacing candles in the chapel, helping with laundry, dusting, etc. He enjoys it well enough. In the summer months, he's usually out in the lake diving, though. When his quint is forgiving, he spends a lot of time there. Some siblings will play fetch with him, too :D

ALSOOO In terms of timeline for them, Alpha and Omega were summoned first. They were all together in the pits, all three in some way having left or been kicked out of their previous packs.

They hadn't made it official, back then, but Delta had begun courting the two of them. Alpha and Omega were summoned together, an accidental mixup opened the summoning for quintessence and fire, and they got nabbed together.

Delta continued to add to the two piles of courting gifts for them, in hopes that if they ever returned, they'd accept his courting.

Topside, Alpha and Omega were initially furious. Every summoning, they watched and hoped their Delta would be the one to crawl through. Every time, they left with a different ghoul.

In the time it took for a new water ghoul to be summoned and for Delta to be the one nabbed, Alpha and Omega were silently accepted as a mated couple. Despite not being official, they were rarely seen apart for long, so everyone assumed.

The day Delta was summoned, they'd both felt ODD. Kinda like the feeling before a big storm, they knew something was going on, but assumed it was their hopes for Delta getting to them. After so many tries, they were starting to lose hope of ever seeing him.

So, when Alpha scented Delta, even though he was still slumped in the middle of the summoning circle, covered in muck and ash from the pits, he KNEW.

He broke from formation with the others, bolted for it the moment the circle was broken and he could enter. Omega followed shortly.

Everyone knew when they reacted like that, that whoever was just pulled from the pits, was IMPORTANT.

Delta clung to them, after. All three were crying, holding onto each other and trying to confirm it was real. That they were finally, FINALLY together again.

of course in a short while, Delta would undergo the experimental ritual to become quintessence. It would partially fail, permanently changing him, temporarily damaging his relationship with Alpha and Omega, and changing their lives as a whole.

But at that moment, none of them knew what the clergy would do to Delta, and just held each other.

The upside is, Delta is given favor from the clergy. They have hearts, kinda, and feel bad that it didn't kill him. To them, death was a blessing for this ghoul, neither quintessence nor water, plagued by visions of the future and with quint too powerful for his body.

Delta's made peace with himself, now. He doesn't trust the clergy, neither does Alpha, but he's also allowed to ask for anything he wants and it's usually given to him!

Delta did, however, almost take out half the abbey when he heard about Dew's transition. Several days were spent where his quint and water acted up. Violently. Severe flooding, and the abbey was completely cut off from the outside world. Power and flooding meant the roads leading away were flooded too bad to drive or navigate on, it was a complete blackout. The ground floors had a few inches of water for days, the oldest parts of the abbey had roofs caving in from the weight of the water.

No one could get close enough to try to calm him, until Omega did. Had Delta kept going, had Omega listened to the clergy's appeals to let him keep going and it'll stop, Delta would've burned out. A complete collapse of a star, he would've taken out the abbey with him. Omega managed to get close enough to spike him with enough quint to knock him out, which unfortunately meant both of them ended up unconscious.

Alpha was the second to go for Delta, refusing to wait while HIS mates were possibly in danger. He was the one to bring them back, practically burning with anger.

Delta was in a coma for a while. Omega woke up after a few days asleep, but Delta took longer. The amnt of quint his body burned through should've been catastrophic on him, no one's sure HOW he survived, but Omega and Alpha are relieved he did.

They love each other so much they'd die for one another.

Alpha and Delta had a rough go at it for a while, a period of time where Delta felt isolated not just from his pack but his own mates, while Alpha struggled with feeling like he couldn't protect Delta, not from the clergy. Omega, similarly, blamed himself, Delta's transition was directly linked to Omega over-doing it and being unable to use his quint or perform as a result, had he not pushed himself, Delta wouldn't have had to go thru with the ritual.

[cheetahplaza]

hardest set of drawings anyone can come across (takahashi bros r a wip)

[hewoweens]

initial d synopsis

[tomorrowusa]

It's the media, stupid!

No, I'm not talking about specifics of various news media outlets or nitpicking about particular stories or attitudes. The problem is the vast overall state of the media environment in the United States.

Kate Riga is on target with her blog entry at TMP. (emphasis added)

Democrats Just Can’t Compete In This Media Environment

[T]here’s one leading factor that Democrats absolutely need to respond to as quickly as possible to avert this kind of electoral disaster in the future: the media environment unequivocally favors Republicans. We don’t have a ton of data yet, and much of it is partial. But we can already tell that Harris performed best — that is, underperformed least — in the battleground states. In the places where her campaign flooded the airwaves with her messaging, put her on TV shows and radio stations and in local newspapers, scattered driveways with information flyers, positioned her beside local celebrities, she improved on the repudiation of Democrats that infected nearly every other state. In other words: In the states where she set up a temporary but pervasive media apparatus, she negated some of the nationwide drag. That speaks to the reality that most of the country is awash in right-wing propaganda all the time. For the olds, it’s Fox News and conservative radio; for the youths, it’s the right-wing manosphere podcasts and streams that Trump so assiduously courted all campaign long (plus soothing TikToks promoting retrograde gender roles, evangelical values and distrust of government regulation — think the trad wives and crunchy so-far-left-they’ve-looped-around-to-the-right content — aimed specifically at women). It helps explain Biden’s prodigious unpopularity, despite passing a ton of legislation that not only polls well, but has meaningfully improved people’s lives. It helps elucidate the consistent claims that people don’t know what Harris stood for, before and after she released her policy proposals. It’s a playing field that Republicans not only dominate; Democrats don’t even compete. They still depend heavily on traditional media sources that simply don’t operate the same way these right-wing PR arms do. And we know that these forms of media are powerful; they reach tons of people, and are seen as useful enough pawns that Russia has invested in some of them. This isn’t a novel observation. The Obama alums who started Pod Save America and the greater Crooked Media family did so after Trump won in 2016 specifically to try to build up a Fox News of the left. There are structural problems with mimicking this right-wing content beat-for-beat. The Pod Save guys, while open about their political allegiances, often criticize the party and its politicians. It would be much more difficult to recreate the fawning adoration of Donald Trump Fox News and those podcasts produce for, say, Joe Biden on the left. It requires creativity and investment, but I think Democrats and those aligned with them could do it. Voters say over and over that they prefer Democratic policies — even Republicans often vote for them when they’re standalone ballot initiatives. It’ll require a cultivation of talent, a saturation of these spaces, finagling how to wrest back the counter-cultural bad boy persona from those who are espousing a way of life most people consider retrograde, confining, divisive and exhausting, not to mention solely in service of the plutocratic elites that run the party. Obama was such a revelation because he hijacked technology in a way that was new and exciting for people, and it helped him micro-target low propensity voters. Trump has since taken that mantle. In the two and then four years ahead, Democrats have to find a way to get in people’s eyes and ears, to figure out how to make an affirmative case in these spaces that people would likely respond to if they were exposed to it.

It's not just Fox News – which is bad enough by itself. There are the rightwing talk radio stations dating back to the 1980s. They joined Christian fundamentalist stations which had been pushing social conservative positions since the 1930s. And now there are countless bro types who talk rightwing shit for hours at a time on their podcasts.

Apart from Obama's skillful use of social media when it was still new, Democrats have fallen behind with digital media. Most recently, Elon Musk bought Twitter simply to use it as a propaganda machine. Facebook and its sister sites like Instagram use algorithms which promote rightwing talking points.

There had been attempts to set up liberal talk radio. But they have been sporadic and met with mixed success. Al Franken set up a liberal radio network called Air America Radio in 2004. But it had only modest reach on mostly medium powered stations and ultimately filed for bankruptcy during the Great Recession.

We need to increase our news and information footprint in a major way and on multiple media platforms – and fast. Obviously that takes money and business talent. So if you find yourself next to Mark Cuban, Bill Gates, or Michael Bloomberg on a flight or in an elevator, have your pitch ready. If that doesn't happen, we need to start raising money on our own. Nobody said that freedom is free.

[hotvintagepoll]

Bokuzen Hidari (Seven Samurai, Ikiru)—His Wikipedia article literally says "this guy is so scrungly," though technically they word it as "Hidari was famous among Japanese audiences for his portrayals of meek, downtrodden men." His job is wandering around going D: This certainly touches on the question of whether the actor himself is scrungly, or just the parts that he plays - in fact, this dude initially trained (in 1914) in Japanese opera and dance. At one point he suffered from gangrene, but "fearing for the loss of his livelihood, fought to keep the leg even though it meant using crutches for the rest of his life - except when performing." [link] Anyway, he made his film debut in the 50s and was one of Kurosawa's collection of remarkable character actors, generally as a scrungly little guy.

Harold Lloyd (The Freshman, Safety Last)— Look at this little dweeb. His limbs are like Popsicle sticks someone taped to a noodle. His face is so downtrodden and cherubic. His entire schtick was "scrungle extraordinaire."

This is round 2 of the contest. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. If you're confused on what a scrungle is, or any of the rules of the contest, click here.

[additional submitted propaganda + scrungly videos under the cut]

Bokuzen Hidari:

Here's Toshiro Mifune calling him out on his scrungliness:

You can see him at 0:17 here, going D: and at various points throughout that video looking absolutely miserable (for good reason).

Harold Lloyd:

[gaslightgatekeepgirlbosscombat]

Group F, Round 3, Poll 4:

Propaganda under the cut

Tsurumi Tokushirou

in two words: "it's love". I was already insane about this guy but this line. just wow. the context is a flashback in which Tsurumi has been away fighting in the Sino-Japanese war and is now telling his dojo master that even trained soldiers are typically reluctant to kill another person and many will only pretend to fire their weapons. he spent a long time considering how you convince them to overcome that before figuring it out. "the motivating force that can bring out the aggressiveness in your soldiers... it isn't hatred of the enemy troops, nor is it fear... it isn't even a difference in political ideals. [what is it then?] it's love". this man is *surrounded* by soldiers who will do anything for him and you slowly see through multiple flashbacks just how much he has been pulling strings for *years* to make them love him. this particular flashback involves two fourteen year olds fighting over his attention until one of them kills the other and tsurumi helps cover up the murder and tells the murderer how *of course you have always been my favourite*. that kid goes on to work under him and when tsurumi draws on his face as a punishment he gets the drawings tattooed on so they stay forever. in another case he orchestrates the kidnapping of a different 14yo son of a navy commander by "Russians" (his loyal subordinates) and then pulls off a dashing rescue, earning the livelong military support of the dad and a major crush from the son. this kid chooses to go to army route rather than follow his dad into the navy, specifically because of tsurumi who he also ends up working for. he can't speak comprehensibly to tsurumi and edits himself into photos of him. case 3: while a soldier is away at war he crush appears to commit suicide by drowning in the sea. upon finding out that his dad told her he wasn't coming back, he beats him to death and ends up on death row. I forget exactly what info is revealed when but a) the woman is alive and tsurumi helped her move to Tokyo and get married, b) tsurumi planted fake bones under tsukishima's father's house to frame him for her murder, c) this then allowed tsukishima to be freed from jail, as long as he agreed to work for tsurumi as a Russian translator (he doesn't speak Russian at the time), d) tsukishima doesn't know all of this initially but tsurumi sets things up so he overhears a convo that reveals some of it so that he can know exactly what lengths tsurumi went to and feel even more in his debt, e) tsukishima later realises that conversation was set up and its purpose but *even with that knowledge* and being probably the character most aware of Tsurumi's manipulations, the pull is too strong and he will follow him to the ends of the earth. literally his only goal in life now is to have front row seats to the Tsurumi Theatre, which btw involves chasing convicts around to obtain their skins, wiping out entire prison populations and invading parts of Russia. he sometimes blames his erratic actions on the brain damage caused by a mortar shell to the forehead but he was doing all the same things before that, just more quietly. he knows *exactly* what he's doing and has everything planned out in detail

that post by @temp-propaganda because no way I can fit that all in propaganda section

Goncharov

He spends the entire film lying to and manipulating as many people as possible to achieve his ultimate goal (Katya is an obvious example; her having enough of that is a driving force behind their breaking relationship), and also including himself (insisting that he doesn't like Andrey when they're basically about to kiss anytime they're on screen). Also Gaslight Gatekeep Goncharov amiright