#like all you needed to do was hit us with a 'the people repurposed the parts'

[unironicallycringe]

Zelda lore when they make a new game in a further spot on the timeline or different place: "don't worry about the weirdness" yep that's fine ✅

Zelda lore when they make a new game <10 years out from the original and in the same exact place: "don't worry about the weirdness" no shut up ❌

That's actually super annoying - using the same explanation is no longer in the realms of "suspension of disbelief", now it's an excuse used to justify lazy storytelling. I enjoy the game, but this is why I ignore the story for the most part. It's just lazy. It's the type of fanfiction for a sequel that remains a simple daydream. Totally fine for fanfiction sequel, not for a 70 dollar game.

If they wanted to stay in the same place without explaining certain things, they needed to change the timeline wildly. If both Zelda and Link went to the past - there you go. You may now delete the Sheikah tech and no one will be bothered. Anything you want to retcon can be explained via "the history was inaccurate for reasons". Adjust some factions to match the time. *Done.

*I'm not rewriting the whole game in a Tumblr post I know this would require more changes

what if i explode into a million pieces out of sheer anger

[something-about-sunflowers]

ALRIGHT, *cracks knuckles* let's get into that teaser, shall we?

Should I itemize this? I think I'm going to itemize it lmao.

So:

Starting here because this is a baseline for Stede, he's got no neckerchief here. This is likely early in the season, probably the very start.

Man's got a fuckin' ARM.

This is Ed. You can see the bare right arm in both shots.

Red neckerchief. Ed's scrap of silk? Beat to shit if it is, which, he did toss it out to sea so, it would be.

Ed's not wearing the knee brace. Or gloves for that matter. I know the knee brace being an actual mobility aid is unconfirmed canon/fanon but it does make me :(c to see him without it. Either it wasn't actually considered as a mobility aid or he's lost it like he's lost his gloves OR he's going without it because he doesn't care if it hurts.

Closer shot of the neckerchief.

I just wanted to point out all the knives stabbed into the table. Also, those look like bits of paper on the windows, did they keep some of the books to repurpose for window blocking purposes?

THERE HE IS!!!!!!!! Other people have already pointed out the makeup and his ring still on his tie, along with the whip on his hip cjizzy real. He's got a new baldric but I also think his clothes look. Darker? Than in season 1? This is a darker/heavier contrast setting but it carries into other shots of him too I think? Like they're less sun/saltwater faded or something?

Other thing to note: If I have my orientation right, this is to the right of Stede's bed nook and to the left of the library, which means this shelf is the one with the auxiliary wardrobe opening mechanism. Which I bring up because:

This little guy seems to be in the place of the mannequin. Ed kept the auxiliary wardrobe and gothed up the mannequin to justify it still being there.

SO much here. This is, I'm fairly certain, Benjamin Hornigold. This camp he's set up (along with what he's wearing) looks like it was made out of a shipwreck. Ed's barefoot and missing his jacket and gloves, and his shirt's torn up at the sleeves. Definitely where he washed up from his dip in the ocean.

Note the trees and the lighting, that comes up later. Ed shoots here and Ben moves with the shot but it doesn't look like he was actually HIT by it to my eyes.

'Wanted. |Blackbeard| Villainous Pirate. Murderer, thrice over. $400 Reward for the criminal responsible for: theft - brigandry - larceny - arson - tax evasion ➡' Presumably there are more crimes/info on the back, though we see the reverse side in the next cut and it's either blank or all in very small text, I couldn't quite tell.

The poster to the right says 'Port' something which has me wondering Port Royal but that's just the only 'Port' something I know, could def be somewhere else.

(Also, just for fun:

Here's how much abouts Ed's capture would be worth now.)

Wider pic than it needs to be but I didn't wanna cut out Olu lol. ANYWAY. Neckerchief again. Also the back of the poster, see what I mean about it either being blank or very tiny?

Babygirl. . . But also that Bride Ed figure kinda slays. Little bralette with the midriff showing, I see you Babygirl. When will he be allowed to just rest and do silly little crafts WITHOUT heartbreak looming over him?

Well. Four is not nine. So. There's that. The other five could be used or out of frame though, of course.

OH. He's back to his fingerless gloves! They might actually be different from his original ones though, they look different at the wrist to me, not quite sure though.

The BOYS!!!! Frenchie looks like he's having a GREAT time. Considering he suggested they turn the hostage into a table and complained about the Republic of Pirates being a bit gentrified I'd say this is more in line with what he's used to in piracy. I 100% buy he was going along with Stede's way because he knew it was an easy ride compared to real piracy. This wouldn't necessarily be a return to form for him but definitely something he's more used to? And he gets to be kitty :3c

And FANG!!! Look at him showing a bit more skin!! Good for him!!

Everybody say 'Thank You David Jenkins'. Right now. Look at this Mad Max shit. Fuckin' Imperator Jimenez right there. LOVE that tye added the 'beard' after the 'fuck's wrong with your face?' bit in 1x10. Full 'it looked weird on you but I slay' energy.

Jim

Izzy

Fang

Near as I can tell at least. I can't make out if Frenchie is in the shot and I'm pretty positive Ed isn't cause he stayed by the cake when they charged in.

Man, yknow I know we were all kinda clowning on it a bit at the end of 1x10 but this look really is so JARRING. Like, in the dark it's menacing but in the light? It's unhinged and that reads as more dangerous imo.

Also just for comparison's sake the pre-Ed-ified version of the bride figure. He really did full on customize that thing lol.

I DON'T THINK ANNE KISSED STEDE HERE. It feels out of character of the show to pull the 'It's fine if a woman does it to a man' kind of thing with regard to unwanted kissing. This is the frame the scene starts on in the trailer. She's leaning back from him and isn't nearly close enough to his mouth to say for certain that's where she was coming from. My money is on her leaning in to whisper something into his ear, maybe under the guise of it being an advance/intended kiss, which would also explain the annoyed look when she's interrupted. She either got ACTUALLY interrupted or it's part of the act. Stede doesn't look nearly as uncomfortable as he would be if she'd kissed him or tried to, he looks confused.

Izzy going for his sword when this guy tries to get the drop on Stede. He either is starting to care or he knows how much Ed needs him alive.

Also, this is the other potential source of Stede's neckerchief. Mr, Knife right here has a red one and Stede doesn't have it in this scene. I do think this one is a little less distressed than the one Stede has though so it could just be coincidence.

See? No neckerchief. He DOES have a sword at his hip tho! So this, I think, is after Izzy's started training him.

Also, he actually looks really good in red lol.

Baby. He's definitely missing the ring in this shot. It sits higher than the baldric is covering. I want to give him a little kissie on his ouchie and then let him have a nap, he needs that.

The pants match the coat. Also, black shirt. Stede is kinda slaying ngl.

Still missing her head :(c. Isn't that bad luck?

Maybe yall didn't hear me properly with the Jim pic. I'll repeat:

EVERYBODY SAY 'THANK YOU DAVID JENKINS'.

I can't get over how Stede's just standing there politely with his arms behind his back lmfao.

Also, Izzy's got his right leg up, he's putting his weight on his left. . . 'foot'.

I SAID EVERYBODY SAY-

I know tits and all but also. The belly. I would like to. Bite.

*ahem*

ANYWAY. On the left (our left) side of the barrel you can see the tip of his right boot so he's def got that leg off the ground. Perhaps someone is trying to relearn their footwork? Now that they've got a different balance than they're used to? And perhaps a difference in sensory input in the leg he's standing on? Possibly?

This is the same beach Ed was on when he did the fuckin' RAD takedown of the other officer but it definitely looks like different times of day. Having both in the teaser is def meant to be a red herring. He doesn't have the neckerchief in this shot either.

Bra för honom. (Is how google translate tells me you say 'Good for him' in Swedish.)

Is Jackie's hair the same here as it is in the VF pic with Ed? Or like, similar enough to be a 'later in the day after some Fun™ messing it up a bit'?

Roach!!! Fully sleeveless now, added a belt, got some flowers tied to the strings/straps of his apron. Looks like he's having fun lighting that cannon lol. Pretty sure this is the same scene as that one leaked photo of him dancing with Fang and Izzy's green screen sock. He had the flowers in that, right?

[Ran out of allowed images, please hold]

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Just One Reason: A Shoulder to Cry On

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

Character: Lloyd Hansen

masterlist - to be added

Summary: A chance encounter at the sandwich shop doesn’t end how you expect.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging ❤️

You admire the sparkly blue polish as streetlights flicker in passing. Lloyd's care is warm, almost too warm as he blasts the heat, and you're exhausted from the impromptu, somewhat coerced, self-care session. Your social battery is flagging, meanwhile Lloyd seems to never tire. 

You yawn up at the night sky. You can smell the spa on you. Jasmine clings to your skin. You run the filed edges of your nails up your pantleg. 

"Next time you should try tips," he says. "Most girls like them." 

"You must know a lot more girls than me," you say. 

"Huh, no, that's not-- no, I mean, girls... I get around but, ya know... down season." 

You could laugh at the unexpected reaction to your innocent statement. You've never really seen him flustered. And why should he be? Your friends. You wouldn't judge him. 

"I wasn't meaning anything," you assure softly. "Really. Guess I just never noticed my nails very much." 

"They look nice. It's a nice colour," he insists. "Damn, maybe I should gone wild. Clear coat? What was I thinking? Pink is my colour." 

You laugh and lean heavier into the seat. You don't know why you feel so meh. So drained. Maybe all the aromas got to you. 

"Everything okay, tootsie?" 

"Yeah, I'm...good," you answer as you watch through the windshield. There's still that nipping doubt. Nice car, nice shoes, nice hair... then there's you. Thrifted and repurposed and worn out. 

"Don't worry. I'll get you home and cozy. Want me to come up? Make you a hot chocolate?" 

"Please, Lolly, you've done enough," you say. 

"Ha, usually people tell me that in a much different tone," he muses as you recognise the street signs. You're close. 

"Like cashiers?" You wonder. 

"I told you, it was a bad day," he sniffs. 

"Mhmm." 

You glance towards you block. Strange. The dark blue sky seems to turn amber in that direction. As he steers down a side street, the smell of smoke overwhelms the lingering jasmine in your nose.  

You sit up as he turns the corner. No. Not that's not possible. Your mouth falls open as a blaze licks up the side of your building. You feel a similar heat creeping under your skin. 

"What-- oh my god!" You point ahead as Lloyd slows. He leans forward to see better and hits the brakes completely. He blinks up at the flames and you face them in speechless awe. Your apartment. Shoot! 

Without a thought, you hit the button on your seat belt. You flip back the lock and push the door open as Lloyd calls your name. You barrel through the snow, pumping your legs against the thick powder. How can the fire be that bad? There's snow all around. 

As you cut across the neighbouring lawn, a man in a neon suit turns and catches you. He stops you from getting any closer to your building. The firetrucks flash red light across the ivory carpet of snow. 

You hear snow crunching and Lloyd grumbling. You fight the large man in his equipment. He grunts as you writhe and reach past him. You need to get inside! 

"Hey, tootsie, you can't go in," Lloyd catches your arm from behind. "Are you mad?" 

"I have to! I have to!" Your eyes well at the thought. The fire is so high. It could already be too late. 

"Come on," he tugs on you as the fire fighter continues to block you. "Let them do their job." 

"You don't understand!" You shriek as he grabs your other arm and pulls you away from the man. "You don't-- you don't--" 

You thrash helplessly as he hooks his arms around yours, trapping you in a hug as he holds you against him. You kick your legs desperately.  

"Tootsie, nothing in their is worth your life." 

There's a sudden crack and more flames spurt out from the brick. The other residents gasp as they stand watching, just as helpless as you. Some have their pets, other have snagged a few possessions, but you got nothing. No, you lost all you had left. 

As the top of the building folds in, you wail and your legs give out. No. No. It's happening again. You're losing him. Your father! 

Your eyes spill over and you bend over Lloyd's arms to catch your tears. You sob helplessly as your life crackles in the air, ashes floating down into the snow. 

Your father's urn sits next to your bed, kept safe in your nightstand. And there's a picture of him with it. The only picture you have of him. He always hated cameras. No, not anymore. It's gone. It's gone. 

Your father's dying in front of you all over again. 

“Tootsie roll, it’s... it’s things. Okay. You’re alive. Could you imagine?” Lloyd angles you around, shifting an arm onto your shoulders as he brings his other hand to cradle your face. “If I hadn’t come, you could’ve been trapped inside.” 

You bat through the wall of tears and look at him with an ugly snivel, “it’s gone. All gone.” 

“Honey, please,” he pets your cheek. “I’m just happy you’re safe.” 

“No, no, no,” you babble dumbly and cover your face again. 

He slides his hand around your head and stands straight. He draws you into a hug and holds you to him. The smell of smoke threatens to choke you. Your head pounds as the world falls apart around you. 

You’re just happy you’re not alone. 

“It’s all gonna be fine. You can come crash at my place. Hm? How about it? Like a sleepover, huh?” He rocks you as he coos, “don’t worry, tootsie roll, I’m gonna take care of you.” 

You can barely understand what he’s saying. You can only cry as grief floods over at last. You thought those days of endless tears were gone. No, you’ve just been keeping your head above the water. Now you’re drowning in it. 

[teacasket]

spilled

genre: fluff au: non idol au warnings: none word count: 0.6k   pairing: gn!reader x bang chan

Even with your thumb sealing the top, your straw still won’t go through the thick lid. You raise your arm higher, aim, and stab at your drink again, but that only results in a bent straw. Someone behind you murmurs something inaudible over the crowd of customers, and your ears burn. You’ve been standing at the pick-up counter for at least a minute, fighting with plastic.

“45!”

You step farther to the side to let the person grab their order. They take a straw from the holder, and you do the same.

“46 and 47!”

Another small step to the side. With envy, you watch from your periphery as they easily punch their straw through the covered hole on the lid. Why new tea houses won’t stick with the traditional cheap plastic sealing is beyond you, but you suppose it’s a reason why they charge more.

“48! Hey, do you need help?”

You startle at the voice. The barista, the cute one who didn’t take your order today but did last time, gestures at your cup. You feel your blush traveling down to your neck.

“You’ve been here for a while. I can give you a hand, if you want.”

You shake your head and peel back the paper holder of your fresh straw. “I’ve got it, thanks.”

“Okay. Let me know if you need anything.”

You smile gratefully and turn your attention back to your drink. Help—you don’t need help. All you need is a good, forceful hit.

One, two, three!

Something pops, and a flood of green rushes down the counter. You instinctively step back to protect your white shoes and finally realize that you’re holding the source of the mess. A black straw pokes out through both ends of your cup.

A good, forceful hit was what you asked for.

“Sorry,” you say, repeating it every single person standing behind you. Miraculously, no one got hurt or stained.

You grab a wad of napkins and try to start cleaning up. Ordering something with matcha was a mistake; it all looks like milky slime or snot. No one tries to help. They couldn’t anyway since there’s barely any room for them to do so. The air conditioning in the shop isn’t enough to cool down your embarrassment.

When you reach to get another stack of napkins, the same barista comes to the counter to ask, “Everything okay?”

You hold up your mangled cup as an explanation. “Sorry.”

“No, don’t worry. I can remake your order,” he says. “What was it?”

“Uh, thanks, but everything spilled. The counter and the floor—it’s all over. I’m really sorry about that. I probably should’ve let you help me.”

He cracks a smile. “I’ll get someone on it. What was your order?”

You tell him and wedge yourself into the nearest corner as another employee comes out the back with a mop and a bright yellow sign. You scroll on your phone, trying to appear invisible. Everyone knows it was your fault. Hell, you even saw someone point in your direction. You keep your head buried as you wait.

“Matcha green tea latte, no ice and 75% sweetness.”

You walk to the second register which has been repurposed as the pick-up counter.

“I already put your straw in for you,” the barista says. “A lot of people struggle with it, too.”

You doubt they do, but it’s sweet that he’s trying to console you. “Thanks. Sorry again about the mess. Do you guys have a tip jar or something? I didn’t see one around.”

“It’s built into the payment system. You can leave us a review and mention me and Jisung, though. Say we did a good job or something. You can keep it vague.”

“Sure. What’s your name?”

“Chan. I’ll see you around.”

You smile and say goodbye. Cute as he is, you can never come back here. You’ll leave a nice review, but dear God, you are never coming back.

[writtentodeath]

Hero x villain were the hero had been captured and the villain is slowly corrupting them to the villain side?

Thank you I love your work so much! If you were an AO3 writer I'd follow all your fics!

The morning of the sixth day, Hero awoke to find they weren’t alone. Villain sat across the room, silently watching. It made Hero’s skin crawl- though if they were honest, the itching, burning feeling wasn’t just disgust. They hadn’t seen anyone in days. 

“Finally decided to visit?” they said, voice cracking over the words. They cleared their throat. 

Villain tilted their head, continuing their silence for a moment too long. Hero was about to open their mouth for another cutting remark when- 

“I didn’t mean for it to take so long. I apologize.” 

Hero blinked. They looked at Villain again, closer this time. They weren’t just being quiet to creep Hero out they looked… worn. If it were anyone else, Hero would call them exhausted, but Villain was tireless. Wasn’t that why they were stuck here in the first place? 

“I suppose you want me to ask why it took so long,” Hero said, feigning boredom. They moved out from under the covers of their bed as nonchalantly as they could. 

Villain smiled a bit. “I missed you.” 

Did they. Hero’s jaw clenched, efforts to move the blanket freezing them in place. And wasn’t that something Villain would say. I missed you. As if they had the right. 

“That why you locked me up and then left?” 

“I was doing something for you. Actually, I have a present. That’s why I left.” “To get me a present?” Hero said, aghast. 

“To get you this,” Villain said, and tossed a bag at Hero. 

They caught it before it hit them square in the face. “I don’t want anything from you.” 

“You already have it,” Villain said, “just open it, why don’t you?” 

 “This better not be a severed head.” 

Villain’s face fell. “Oh. I-” 

“You didn’t.” 

Villain grinned, then winked. “I didn’t. But I couldn’t help teasing.” 

Hero sighed, the tension leaving their shoulders. The bag itself was nondescript, black, and bulging in odd places. They reached in and pulled out a strange orb-like device. 

“What is this?” 

Villain moved closer, staring at it. “I did actually consider bringing you a head. I thought you might appreciate something from one of your enemies, but then I remembered that a lot of your enemies are people I work with, and while they will need to go at some point, I didn’t know if you would like it enough to make it worth the bad blood.” 

“I wish it was your head in here,” Hero said, though there was no vitriol in the words. They were too busy staring at the strange device. It had a number of metal pieces sticking out of it at odd angles, and place where it looked like it plugged into something else at one time. “Is this what I think it is?” 

“That, dear Hero, is the core from Chief Sommer’s Ortega. If you want, you can use it to build a machine capable of infinite creation. Obviously, Sommer used it to control the populace through threat of violence, but I thought you might have some better ideas for how to use it.” Hero had missed everything after the word Ortega. They had been trying to take down Sommers for years- it was what got them into the game. The abuse of power, the injustice. It was in their hands. They were holding it. Finally, they tore their gaze away from it and up to Villain’s face. 

Villain was looking at them.

They cleared their throat, looking back down. “You got this- you stole? This?” 

“Well. The chief wasn’t going to be able to use it anymore, so I figured someone should take it.” 

“Me?”

“You. Us. I have the resources you can use to repurpose it. I’ll let you use that, use my resources, and all you have to do is work on it here. It’s where you’ll be anyway, in order to get that thing working again.” 

Hero swallowed. They weren’t stupid; they saw the ploy for what it was. Villain didn’t do anything out of the goodness of their heart. But this… Villain just handed them the key to everything. 

“When can I start?”

[corruptedsignal]

>can u see me

closed starter for: @mephistosperch

The apartment was a mess of wires and dim light, a half-abandoned machine shop disguised as a living space. Atlas didn’t care. The walls were stained with time, the air thick with a metallic tang. Half-dissected devices littered the desk—outdated hardware repurposed into something smarter. His own little graveyard of forgotten tech.

A single monitor bathed the room in pale blue light, the code scrolling down the screen. He leaned back, fingers tapping idly against the keyboard. The forums had pointed him here—whispers buried in the deep corners of the dark web, between lines of encrypted messages and dead links. If Onychinus knew anything about EVER, about his father, this was where the trail led.

They weren’t exactly a secret. Everyone knew the name, the way you know not to touch a frayed wire. Just shadowed enough to be untouchable. The kind of people who could make a man disappear. If they had answers, they wouldn’t just hand them over. He needed to make them notice him first.

That’s where the Cicada Protocol came in.

It wasn’t elegant—just loud enough to get attention without painting a target on his back. A multi-layered exploit that piggybacked off old, forgotten security loopholes in the city’s grid. Power surges, subtle ones, threaded through the network in an almost musical pattern—blinking streetlights, fluctuating traffic signals, a Morse code no one would notice unless they were looking for it. Or smart enough to notice it.

All he had to do was run it. And wait.

The N109 Zone was a dead zone by design—separated from the city grid, a place the government pretended didn’t exist. Too volatile, too lawless. A perfect place for people who didn’t want to be found. The network there wasn’t locked down like the corporate sectors, not guarded by the latest security walls or AI-driven countermeasures. It was old, patched together from scavenged infrastructure, barely holding itself together. That made it easy.

The challenge wasn’t breaking in. It was making the right kind of noise.

Atlas didn’t need brute force. That would get him the wrong kind of attention. What he needed was a message, something Onychinus couldn’t ignore. Not a name, not a demand, but something they would understand—a whisper in the right language.

In the N109, he had to be more direct. He rewrote the script, embedding the message into the digital skeleton of the zone itself. A repeating signal, subtle at first, buried in the emergency response frequencies that no one used anymore. Numbers. Pulsing. Shifting. A sequence bleeding into the background noise of the district. To most, it would seem like interference, a glitch. But to Onychinus, it might mean something else. If they were as deep in the city’s systems as the rumors said, they’d catch it soon enough.

He executed the hack in stages. First, he piggybacked off a forgotten utility node, routing the signal through an abandoned maintenance server—the kind of system that should have been erased but wasn’t. The kind people forgot about. Then, he pushed it out through the zone’s crumbling CCTV network, repurposing the flickering cameras as relays.

And just for good measure, he tapped into the local power grid—not enough to cause an outage, but enough to send brief, calculated fluctuations. Blinks of light, timed with the signal.

His message was simple:

I see you. Do you see me?

Now, all he had to do was wait.

Atlas had spent years reinforcing his system, building a firewall that could take a direct hit from some of the best netrunners and come out unscathed. But he knew perfection was a lie. Nothing was truly unbreakable—until someone smart enough came along.

So he’d left a flaw.

Not obvious. Not a backdoor any script. This was deliberate, a crack woven deep into the layers. A weak point that didn’t look like a weak point. He’d structured it like an old vulnerability, one patched in every modern system. It was a challenge, a silent invitation—because Onychinus didn’t ask for permission, they took what they wanted. If they wanted him, they’d find the gap.

And they did.

Atlas pulled an e-cigarette from his pocket, rolling it between his fingers as he watched the screen. The executed code sat there, the blinking cursor almost mocking him. Still. Waiting.

Then—a flicker.

His firewall registered an anomaly. Not an attack. A slip, smooth and practiced, like someone picking a lock instead of kicking down the door. They didn’t trip his alerts, didn’t trigger any countermeasures. They weren’t testing his defenses. They were answering.

A single line of text appeared on his screen:

2AM. Right across the bridge. Come alone.

No name. No confirmation. Just the expectation that he’d show.

He exhaled slowly, vapor curling in the dim light as he pushed back from his desk. The city outside was a mess of neon and shadow, pulsing with the kind of life that never really slept. He grabbed his jacket, slinging it over one shoulder, and shut the terminal down.

If they thought he’d be scared off, they were dead wrong.

[revryebread]

wild wild west

The door opens with a slam, and one of Bruce’s animatronics- Stuart- was in the door way, holding it’s leaking side. “Sheriff Wayne! There’s been- The Una Gang- they’re here, and they’re breaking people outta the jail!” It’s voice comes strained from behind it’s porcelain face, the gears in it’s voice box struggling to run on less fuel. 

It gets it’s message out, and it collapses onto the floor- a oily handprint smearing from the doorframe as it slumps into a pile of metal, the gears grinding to a halt. Bruce Wayne gets up and tries to level his emotions. He’d been prepared for this. He’d put away so many other problem citizens in his time, Trish Una and her crew would fall just like the rest. His hand is shaking when he grips the brim of his hat, and settles by the time it goes over his head. The title is something he hides behind. Bruce can be scared, but Sheriff Wayne has to be strong, else the people of this town would be helpless.

There’s a part of him who reminds him how he got this job, and who he was before he had the hat and gun, but he shakes it off. No time for second guessing now.

He moves to the doorway and kneels down to pick the badge off the deputy in the doorway, and pulls up his mask as he moves out into the sun. As soon as he steps into the heat of day, he can hear it- the sound of people yelling, the sounds of chaos and disorder. He narrows his eyes and begins to slowly walk towards the other end of the street where the prison is. He had taken over the old Saloon and repurposed it once the jails were full, and then next came the general store, and eventually an entire block of the town had been quarantined as a prison for people he’d found guilty.

A troublesome individual with a book was the first one who was running his way, quickly spotting Sheriff Wayne and trying to go for his book at his side. He was met with the business end of a gun, hitting him in the shoulder that was bending to reach for the book. He looked to him and tried to speak, but the words couldn’t cut through to the Sheriff, he had moved on to the next prisoner escaping, trying to scan for Una.

And there she was- standing at the stables with her crew. Two of them up astride the horses looking down. “What are you doing? People are going to get killed.” the voice he uses for the Sheriff is booming- deeper than his normal cadence. It’s an attempt to make himself more intimidating, and it usually works, but not for her.

She pushes away from her crew- the dark haired boy looks to the Sheriff and- it gives him a stop. He’s looking at him like he’s already a corpse, and he looks pitying about it. Like he’s never seen something more destined to happen. Trish pushes past people on her walk over, and the boy whispers with a voice that Bruce can almost hear- “You need to run.”

“How long?” Trish shouts over the crowd, and it parts for her, as if a ravine was cut from her to the Sheriff. “How long have you been in charge?”

The question is absurd to him- but he answers. “Four years. I’ve been here four years “ The weight of tose years sit on him- but he’s done the best he can in that time. There is so much evil in this world and he’s just one man. He says as much, but Trish narrows her eyes. She’s not listening anymore.

She asks him another question- a non-sequitor. “What sound does a train make?”

“What the hell are you talking about? Look- just help me get everyone under control here and you and your friends can walk free. Just stop wha-”

A gunshot cuts him off. His eyes dart down to the growing red on his chest, and then back over to Trish, who was holding her signature revolver, with a rose gold inlay to give it that pink sheen. She fires again, and again, and again- and when she empties that one she reaches to her other holster and pulls out a reddish gun that has had whatever inscriptions and markings shaved clean by a nail file. She unloads all 12 bullets into Bruce and flips the cylinder out, letting the empty casings drop to the ground.

He’s frozen in place, slowly falling backwards. He sees the boy with the bowlcut reach to the girl and the two of them share a nod, and leave on horse back in separate directions like they’re the only things moving at a normal speed. Trish turns her head and sees that they’ve left- beginning to run back through the crowd to her other crew member who’s still standing there. Her last crew member.

He hits the ground and sees the sky- letting his last breath out of his lungs. He sees a woman step over him and reach down to grab his hat off his body- the hat that used to be hers.

[capt-sievert]

Does anyone want to listen to more of my Oblast rescue Au? I'm not waiting for an answer y'all are getting my rambles whether you like it or not hehe

Oblast lore:

The Oblast is a ship run by an Ukrainian agency focused on rehabilitating and helping "difficult situations" get back into social life, such as addicts and/or mentally ill people. It's more like a school trip than an actual job. It's funded by the state so they don't have to pay anything, but they won't get paid in return since it's, as I said, not a job.

The whole ship is in Ukrainian so Pripyat and Nikolai are captain and co-captain since they're the only ones who can understand it.

Pripyat however believes in a more "everyone's say is fundamental " type of approach so he views himself as more of a spokesman than a captain.

They get bi-weekly check-ups by the crew on earth, except on emergencies, where someone (usually Nikolai) needs to send a request for an emergency meeting (hehe amogus)

The ship is... Old, to say the least. It's not really well cared for and its state isn't the best, but it holds up. It's something state-owned after all. It doesn't look way as "fancy" as the Tulpar does, it doesn't have big screens or machines to cook their food, but it has a tv and a game console brought by Isaiah.

They do have portholes though, which is how the crew saw the Tulpar.

Isaiah is only there to supervise Darien since she's a minor.

The ship used to be a big industrial freighter ship that got repurposed. It has a shitload of rooms because it used to carry dangerous stuff that entailed a lot of personnel for its supervision.

In relation to the Tulpar:

The Oblast crew sent a message to the wrecked ship in Ukrainian, English and Chinese consisting of an "Hello? Is somebody there?"

Once they get a response, they immediately set up a rescue to transfer the Tulpar workers to their ship

Pripyat hits it off quite well with Swansea, Daisuke admires him and Anya and Curly are pretty intimated by him, as he's a big guy after all. He doesn't have good vibes from Jimmy but doesn't interact with him almost at all. He's cold with everyone but cares a lot for his crewmates (hehe amogus again)

Nikolai really likes Anya and almost immediately takes her under his wing. Well, Nikolai is a social person so she hits it off with basically everybody. Him and Daisuke become good friends

Emily doesn't like anyone but Anya off the bat, especially Jimmy. He ends up getting a bit too touchy with her and that pisses her off.

Isaiah is a chill guy with everyone. Curly enjoys when he sings to himself when he's tidyng up the medbay or helping him do something.

Darien is distrustful of everyone except Anya and Daisuke.

The crew takes shift taking care of Curly for the most basic tasks such as feeding, while the more "medical" roles are filled in by Anya and Nikolai.

They have game nights! Sometimes it's board games, others are videogames, others are card games. Pripyat hates monopoly with a passion so he dips out every time they play it.

I have some more, let me know if y'all are interested to hear about them!

[cozymochi]

Have you thought about creating other Oc or is that enough for you for now? And which of the existing ones is your favorite, which is closer to your heart?

I mentioned it once before but I only really create OCs if it’s something I really really want to see that I know will never happen, or if there’s a story that could be told (even if the the latter happens privately). Or in the case of a “story I wanna see” sometimes character creation ends up becoming a necessity. Usually a whole scenario comes first before any character hits the canvas at all.

Then, if the character needs a little more to fill out their world, like a family member or something I’ll tack on some supporting characters too. They might be faceless or mostly irrelevant, but their existence even if it’s just for my own self reference can be useful. I don’t really do the “WOW NEW THING. IM GONNA MAKE AN OC FOR IT!!” then ultimately drop them (Even ones I dont post about publicly I still use today or they’ve been repurposed) And on top of that— a lot are made a year in advance so they can go through all their iterations and have the kinks mostly smoothed out so nobody has to watch any “sigh…im gonna redesign them…” ordeal 😭 THATS DONE BEHIND THE SCENES OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME since i do change my mind a lot. Even if I liked some aspect at one point, over time I can go “actually, this doesn’t work as well as I thought.”

Sure, maybe I’ll make minor edits after the fact like height changes or best subject changes, but everything needs to be at it’s most final iteration I can get it to be. Though once something is out publicly it’s very hard to renege details I wanna change after the fact. I know none of this is serious at all by any means, but sometimes I think people can feel when there is or isn’t a lack of effort. So I end up treating these made up things with a lot of scrutiny, especially if anyone outside of myself is going to see them. But even I’m caught off guard if innocuous details are honed in on by others that I didn’t account on anyone scrutinizing.

Also a lot tend to be collaborative with @/oddberryshortcake. Contribution levels vary. I dunno. It’s just how things end up working out.

So, even if a new OC ever dropped, it’s probably been cooking under wraps for a year and won’t be known until the day it’s posted since I never talk about my process openly. Or it was hinted at a year ago and is undergoing another checking process with no promise on when that’ll finish.

My current favorite is TIA!!!, at least going by twst standards but everyone is close to me to some level.

Otherwise, I’m not too interested in making more.

I’d need to really be struck by something to want to do that.

The most I do now is assist oddberry with hers (tho I’ll remain mostly hands off outside of visuals). And if any “new” ones show up, again, they were already being made and just now hitting their final stretch, or it’s mostly oddberry’s brainchild.

But as for me right this second in the present there’s not much else I wanna do.

im boring lmao

[bepisconsumer]

New from the people who brought you Car-dependent infrastructure:

Plane-Dependent Infrastructure!

-Tired of being stuck in traffic?

-Sitting at stoplights for hours on end?

-You can rest easy, now that all infrastructure will be based around Air Travel!

-Parking Garages and Lots will be repurposed into hangars

-City streets will be repurposed into runways

-Highway? More like FLY-way!

-You can use helicopters too I guess idk kinda weird though why would u wanna do that

-Family-sized Jets will now be available at plane dealerships

-Computers are good enough at this point we don't actually need a real life person doing Air Traffic Control at runways, it'll be fine just automate it

-Drunk flying won't matter (what are you gonna even hit lmao ur in the sky)

-Seatbelts optional!

-Speed enforced by land craft!

-we have electric planes right? Yeah I'm like 70% sure those exist. Low carbon emissions! Yay!

-Now you won't need to pay hundreds of dollars for plane tickets, just fly the plane yourself! (Fuel and maintenance might cost something but I doubt it's much in the grand scheme of things)

-Smoke all you want! The only airways you'll be clogging are your own! (And your family's but that's irrelevant)

-A wide variety of anti hijacking measures are at your disposal, including but not limited to:

Your own personal TSA branch at your house!

Rent-An-Air-Marshal!

Gun

Eject Passenger Compartment Contents button!

-Why wait? Switch to Plane-Dependent infrastructure today!

[omegaverse-guide]

The Tools Of The Omegaverse

This post summarizes and explains common tools people in omegaverse stories have developed to deal with the ramifications of their biology. Some are entirely fictional, while others are items that do exist in real life and have been repurposed. Not every story will have all of them available, but these all have widespread usage within the trope.

Alpha/Omega Perfume - Don't have a scent because you're a pup/beta? Don't like the one you have? Want to hide your identity? Want to attract alphas/omegas to you? Well, just spray on whatever scent you want, often including actual pheromones! Notably though, these fake scents are stagnant, so they won't change according to the users emotions, meaning the charade may fall apart once the desired partner is trying to get you off and there is no arousal to be smelled. Obviously, the scent will also fade with time and will need to be reapplied.

Collars - These have two main uses in omegaverse, though in both cases they're primarily worn by omegas. Collars can be worn by unmated omegas, especially in heat, to obstruct their mating gland, making it impossible for an alpha to mate them. On the other hand, they can be worn by mated omegas as a sign of the alpha's ownership of them.

Heat(/Rut) Inducing Drugs - While these can have medical uses or be taken willingly to synch cycles/have fun sexytimes/conceive, they usually are used to make an omega helpless and horny, enabling an alpha to take advantage of them. Which is why they mostly seem to exist to induce heats rather than ruts, though if modern medicine is available and you can make one, it's very likely you can make the other as well.

Heat/Rut Rooms/Hotels - Safe places for people to have their heat/rut outside of their own home, either in public locations like schools, or as a paid service. These usually serve as a solution for when a heat/rut hits unexpectedly and for whatever reason the omega/alpha can't go home. They're outfitted with basic nesting materials, often provide sex toys, as well as a bathroom, and they're usually sound- and scentproof.

Heat/Rut Suppressants - Generally assumed to be pills you can take that will stop you from going into heat/rut even when you otherwise would. They may not work indefinitely, with the heat/rut breaking through them at the worst time, or have side effects such as making the person taking them irritated or overly emotional, and often are unhealthy to take consistently, implying the body needs heats/ruts at least occasionally. While they usually are a product of modern medicine, they can be substituted with magic or oldtimey medicine such as chewing certain herbs.

Knot Dildos - If an omega goes into heat but doesn't want to/can't/isn't allowed to spend that heat with an alpha, they need to take care of themselves. While fingers and normal sex toys may still work, something that simulates a knot is often seen as the best one can do, though it never reaches quite the satisfaction an actual alpha can provide. The dildos are often still made out of silicone, with a base that can swell/inflate with a switch, sometimes having multiple settings for the knot size.

Muzzles - Just like a collar on an omega's neck, a muzzle can be worn by an alpha during their rut/an omega's heat, to enable them to have sex without mating when there's the worry the alpha can't/doesn't want to control themselves and will mate the omega otherwise.

Scent Blockers - Generally assumed to be pills you can take that will suppress your scent. It will make other people unable to discern a character's secondary gender, as well as any emotions their scent may have otherwise given away. Sometimes this will make them seem like a beta, other times it's obvious their scent has been blocked. The blockers will often fail if the scents get too strong, such as during heat/rut, or someone experiencing extreme emotions. They generally have few side effects, but may dull a scent (semi-)permanently if taken without pause.

Scent Patches - Literally small patches one can plaster over their scent glands like a band-aid, that will stop the scent from reaching other people. They usually lose their effectiveness over time and must be continually reapplied. They're sometimes required to be worn in modern societies where everyone is supposed to be equal, though usually only in select scenarios like job interviews or competitive sports.

Did I forget anything? Let me know!

[alkalineleak]

when i think of gillion and caspian, one of the first things to IMMEDIATELY pop into my mind is their relationship regarding the undersea, specifically leaving. be warned, this is a bit of a LONG ramble:) for the sake of time, ill only be focusing on gillions side of things

leaving home is one of the biggest things you can do because then you either learn to govern yourself or be controlled by what was taught by you.

its a very strict binary that tears you up from the inside out as you switch sides, for the better or for the worst. i look at this and i look between those two it is immediately so FUCKING apparent how the cycle of learning and restructuring your thinking process is stored between them. thats how they live, thats how they dance around each other in each others head

gillion is pretty obvious. when he was a child he was cold.

the thousands of pounds of pressure did not make up for a lack of warmth that was offered and redirected into an inhumane idol to be looked and wished upon like a shooting star. in the same way i think he learned that he will not last forever, and so the moments he have have to hold some merit, some sort of worth. now imagine him, kicked out of a home he didnt want to miss, a family who was kept in the dark and left to the fate of the seas. and the seas decided he would live. So it had to be for a purpose, correct? thats how the ocean works, it kills it births and then it repurposes whatever is left as food for whatever is lucky enough to make it out alive. hes been repurposed from whatever failure he was in that damned city to be something greater, something new.

Then comes along Caspian, right? And he wrecks all the things gillion thought he knew.

He values leisure, the small simple things. hes a man who could run his hands across anything just to feel the textures YET, he knows how to fight. fight better than how gillion does, though not surprising. he was always told he was subpar for a hero handpicked by gods and a cannibilistic sea This brings him to a crossroad. he has his goals - live comfortably, enjoy things while you can, hes one of the biggest epicurists he could think of, and gill shares a ship with chip whos impulse drives mistakes and successes alike. and there, he finds the difference between the different flavors of hedonism: calculation.

Caspian is fucking smart.

gillion can see it in how he weaves between people and shops respectively, in how he can change his demeanor to achieve a goal. his charisma has a motive every time he uses it, it has a purpose every damn time he employs a joking manner or a flirtatious tone. its all calculated to hell and back, and it entices him because THAT is what he was meant to do and learn. he follows him helplessly because he has parts of his home with him, both negative and positive he NEEDS to see how to do it all, what it all fucking meant (maybe along the way hed find what he was missing all these years). but every time he tries he hits a roadblock because caspian, free and live, contradicts EVERYTHING the elders taught him. hes impossible to exist as a paragon.

And then without having the chance to ask himself, caspian offers out his hand, and offers to teach him.

ANOTHER time he got chosen, he dreaded it when it happened. hes nothing but a follower. from the prophecy to Careless elders to Awful teachers, its what he does worst. He accepted regardless. he was impulsive like that. a decision like that could get him killed one day. hed get scolded for acting so quickly on something he barely knew, but its just a wound to post pone treating. just like every other one hes ever had

he tries to bring his familiarity with harsh treatment and punishment, but instead every time hes prepared to learn something, he gets something to heal instead

Its fucking frustrating, to be completely honest. FIRST, it is a gentle fixing of his mistakes as if this happening in the real world could cost him his home and people. he has more targets than ever, yknow. from chip and jay, to ollie and wherever he came from, to every person hes protected and saved in every individual island, as well as the sea and everyone on it. every single person the moon protects with her waves and every person the sun scorches too harshly. its all up to him hes tried to bring it up, but caspian just tugged at his determination to learn and improve, and gillions a follower before anything. he follows a prophecy, he follows chip and jay over an unfamiliar world, he follows wherever his blade lands to avoid a hit.

Gillion started noticing how smoothly he started moving

it was terrifying, despite being his active goal. It got less scary when he started hearing caspians smile creep over from the caunch shell after what had to be a hundred hours of calling and training

its different from jay or chip teaching him the world, because if it truely disturbed gillion to stop the stagnation carved into him he could just chalk it up into a cultural difference.

in cases where he clung on desperately to what he built himself around, he could go as far as to simplify it all into a moral inferiority, something he needs to teach instead because hes a hero. he must spread good and purge evil. unfortunately those sometimes meant damaging his fucked up sense of honor and pride for something he wasnt even familiar with beyond scrolls that keep getting manipulated in translations and a sword thats awkwardly weighted when he held it.

gillion would say its alien, but he keeps catching details of his home

he sees it in the 23 pieces of jewelry across caspians face. he sees it in the way he dances, always caught slightly offguard that he isnt in the air as long as he wanted to be. he sees it in the small amount of times gravity caught his friend by surprise, even if a change in which foot caspian placed all his weight hid it to everyone else. he sees it in how caspian taught him the dances for songs he could only ever hear behind closed doors.

He keeps seeing suggestions that maybe his home was harmful in general, but thats bullshit. Could a purely cruel place make his sister? his mother who fought to keep him? his grandfather who was the only one who knew how to properly teach him his own history? No.

And Caspian all but confirms it. the ocean is not inherently harmful, it just wants to live in the same way he keeps repressing.

He builds a new home for himself above water, but not absent of it.

[icharchivist]

Ad for the fa service it might either be the new director or simply competition

It's something that I've noticed for around a year or two now but ha ha game characters get more and more horny bait... Heck few days ago on Twitter there was a mess for the FUCKING COOKIES for making a sexy cookie with tiny waist long legs and heavy make up and giving a bunny suit to a minor

I fear this might only get worse with time when the whole genre starts to dip into that and it's sad af

No yeah, totally agree.

I mean it was always kind of a part of the genre and tbh Granblue was always sexualized, but trying to be more daring than what it used to do ends up. being way worse.

The new director is probably a possible cause. He's been taking over for the past 3 years they said and it really is when things started to go really downhill.

Like it's just. genuinely frustrating when it applies to any characters regardless of reasons. Like at least Hekate or Metera have reasons to be sexy. I still remember cringing at Mirin's summer uncap because it felt so out of character (and rightfully so when we saw the artbook: it's repurposed concept art from someone else, i think it was Dark!Jeanne).

I get that it's competition on the gacha market, and i get that it's probably more dire than ever considering how many gacha there are nowadays + the hit covid likely had on the economy of these games (ex: gutting the price from in-person events from the profits and/or people spending less on gacha when they have more urgent things to spend money on)

but it's genuinely losing me.

It fucking sucks for the cookie also, btw. It's gacha for you i guess but. man it wasn't always this bad. Not Granblue at least. It had bad moments but. man.

And i just read the preview to Flo's FE and i'm even more pissed. It's fully unrelated to what just happened in the event AND it's a whole "what! how did you not know that i, a girl, love fashion? but i'm too old (30, you know, a grandma) to wear what i like to wear!" and it's just. Oh this is what we're doing. This is what female characters can only have. Dalmore is at war, Florence is a powerful witch who went as far as cursing her own brother to try to protect him, but of course we need to release an episode about how she really likes fashion to justify putting her in a dress with a major decoletage.

I'm sorry but this is genuinely losing me, the sexualization was one reason i didn't want to play gbf at the time my friends recommended it to me, and eventually i caved in because Percival pretty, and eventually because i loved the plot i decided to stick around, i got used to the sexualization enough i didn't see it as a deal breaker anymore and all, esp since it usually touches draph girls which i already was ignoring bc their sexualization annoyed the fuck out of me..... and it just keeps getting worse in worse and now it goes to some of my favorite female character while stripping them of individuality.

this genuinely pisses me off like man.

[salarta]

Thoughts about Polaris and Fall of the House of X #1

This post will have SPOILERS SPOILERS YOUR MILK IS GOING TO SPOIL SPOILERS you've been given fair warning. I'm also not including pictures cause I figure you cool people have seen them already.

Background

First, some background leading up to this issue. Context matters.

Last time we saw Lorna before this issue, she was at the treehouse from Duggan's X-Men book, crying about her father's death. It took about a year after his death for readers to see that or any reaction from Lorna (which I have a very strong suspicion as to why, but will keep out of this post).

Shortly after this, Orchis burned down the treehouse. We didn't know at the time what happened to Lorna. Was she inside and burned alive? Was she out somewhere off the grid? It was a mystery. This issue answers some of those questions while leaving some gaps of what happened between then and now, which might be explained later in this series or by a future writer.

Thoughts on Issue

Throughout the issue, there's a few characters that Xavier directly contacts via telepathy asking them to leave a Cyclops break-out plan to take part in a different plan he has in mind that he says needs to be done right this moment. Lorna heads off to Knowhere before Kitty arrives to give her the go-ahead for pre-made plans.

Now, where we're at right now with this first issue, we actually don't know what prompted Lorna to head to Knowhere. The running theme of characters running off for Xavier's plan suggests Lorna may be playing a part in it, but we have no actual confirmation one way or another. No scene showing Xavier reaching out to Lorna, no scene of Lorna saying or thinking that it's something Xavier asked her to do, etc. Maybe those things happened in the background after all and Duggan just didn't waste panel time on it. Or, it could be that Lorna is simply doing this of her own accord, using what she knows to hit Orchis hard. We'll have to see in future issues as they unfold.

A second key and interesting detail is how Kitty goes to find Lorna on the island where Magneto originally operated the Brotherhood, Island M. As you can see from the wikia article, there's other interesting details (repurposing for Krakoa into Cradle Two, a history with the Ancients/Great Old Ones, etc), but I think the Magneto Brotherhood elements are the most interesting and most valuable for Lorna. We've spent the time since Magneto's death seeing Storm used as the focal character for just about everything regarding Magneto's death and legacy, including running the Brotherhood, while Lorna was shown with no reaction at all to her own father's death until the gala. So I think touches like this are a way to tell us in the gaps of the story that Lorna's been thinking about and dealing with these things in-universe even though the company wasn't properly addressing it until now.

Kitty also finding Lorna's minidress ensemble is a meaningful choice. They could've decided not to show that, but it's valuable for how it symbolically represents a change in attitude for her. From the laidback casual approach while on the X-Men book, to the warrior about to take on Orchis. Goes a long way to demonstrate Lorna as the multifaceted character she is.

Costume Thoughts

The costume change is the most visually and symbolically striking development, but I put it last because I think to put that front and center as the first (possibly only) discussion topic is a mistake.

The story is more important because keeping that focus improves Lorna's chances of doing meaningful things in future stories. Focusing TOO much on the costume runs the risk of certain people at Marvel thinking that she doesn't need anything more than a fresh coat of paint.

I think it's Lorna's best costume to date. Not that it's the best of her potential for costumes, as I think there's a lot of things they could do or change to make it better. But of what's been done so far, it's the best IMO.

Her headgear design is apparent with the helmet. The helmet itself is reminiscent of Magneto without being just a duplicate of his helmet. On repeated views, I've come to notice that it's a neat concept for a helmet - whereas Magneto's covers all, Lorna's leaves her ears exposed and allows her hair to come out the back. It feels like a meaningful evolution from her tiara that keeps her character identity intact.

The varying shades of green do a great job of mixing up her color without undermining her core of green. It retains her cape too, and I've said before that I think her headgear design and her cape are the two most important visual identifiers she has.

The one thing I can say right now that I wish it did differently is her bodysuit. Especially in this scenario, I wish it looked more like battle armor. She's going to war, and battle armor can be a powerful intimidation factor (aside from being greatly protective when augmented by her powers). But what's here is still good.

And that's all I've got for this round! I encourage buying and reading this one.

[mariacallous]

Charli XCX said it, so it must be true: Brat Summer is over. In a tweet so echoey it got several news hits, the club rat/pop girl said goodbye to the season that may come to define her career—and America’s political future. It was September 2, 87 days after Charli released the album Brat and 43 days after she declared that Vice President Kamala Harris “IS brat.” Normally, the fall, spooky end-of-summer vibes don’t really start until, like, the end of the month, but being online has always been a surefire way to warp one’s sense of time.

This year, though, that warp comes at warp speed. As Bethy Squires pointed out at Vulture this week, the internet seems to be “starting spooky season early.” Perhaps Demure Autumn didn’t give people enough of what they needed; maybe everyone just wants to get in a lot of Halloween before everyone has to start preparing for the holidays on October 1(ish). A few TikTokkers are advocating for a fall dedicated to Magdelena Bay’s album Imaginal Disk.

More than that, though, I’d say this all has something to do with the fact that being extremely online means observing one’s own calendar, one slightly aligned with the Gregorian one but with its own set of holidays and traditions.

You already know them: Galentine’s Day, Beyoncé’s birthday (which was just honored on Wednesday), that time in spring when everyone starts posting “It’s gonna be May” with an image macro of Justin Timberlake’s grinning mug. Right now, perhaps a bit early, Spooktober and a new Pumpkin Spice Latte/PSL Season is upon us. Like many others, that last one, similar to National Doughnut Day, is one that while perhaps not entirely the product of a corporate marketing whiz, is definitely one that benefits Starbucks. #Brands like hopping on #trends. Now, when they know there’s a surefire way to be a part of something, like Pride Month, they put it on a calendar and roll out a whole campaign.

This is perhaps how things got here in the first place. Everyone from Gen Z TikTokers to the Dunkin’ social media manager needs to know when to get on the trend and when to get off. Presumably this is why the Kamala HQ X account has already removed its Brat Green hue. As my colleague Leah Feiger discussed with writer Hunter Harris a few weeks back, as the US gets closer to Election Day in November, the pop culture moment around Harris will likely shift back to a more political one.

I’d like to point out the possibilities here for a crossover moment. Rather than committing to Brat Autumn or admitting it’s time to get out the ghosts, what if there was just Scary Brat Season? Consider, if you will, Lewis, the super-tall Target jack-o-lantern/queer icon who took over TikTok last year. He’s back, he’s got friends, and, idk, they all seem pretty brat. Elvira seems pretty brat. So do most slasher villains. Just imagine the stripes on Freddy Krueger’s shirt a slightly slimier shade of green. Maybe we all need to go to Michael’s and repurpose July’s “Lesbian Halloween” trend.

See? This is what a lifetime on the internet has done. My brain tries to find the meme in every thing, every season.

[natlacentral]

‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Boss on Adapting Beloved Anime: ‘It Was a Balancing Act’

Albert Kim needs you to know that he is an “Avatar: The Last Airbender” superfan.

The writer and executive producer of Netflix’s live-action retelling of the Nickelodeon cartoon took on the role of showrunner after creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko exited the series — but he was already part of the writers room and a longtime “Avatar” fan before that.

“I did work with [DiMartino and Konietzko] for a short period, and we overlapped while we were here and I got along great with them,” Kim told IndieWire ahead of “Avatar”s February 22 premiere. “I was excited just as a fan to be able to dig in and ask my own nerdy fan questions about Zuko’s mom and who Aang’s parents might be, and all the fun stuff fans like to talk about.”

Since diving into and immersing himself in all things “Avatar,” Kim may have unlocked a new level of fandom. During a 30-minute chat with IndieWire, he references details both in the animated series and in his own version, specific musical pieces, and the number of rings at the Pohuai Stronghold. But when it came to turning the adventure-of-the-week cartoon into an eight-episode drama, he knew he had to look at the story differently.

“The first thing I did was layout all 20 episodes of the original series on a big whiteboard, and then took a step back and looked at the whole arc and said, ‘What are the elements that can go together? Where the narrative through lines that connect?'” Kim said. “When you take a look at the overall arc, you realize there are certain things that go together just naturally, thematically. You have a character like Jet (Sebastian Amoruso) who is someone who’s pushed to an extreme place because of the war, and then you have a character like the mechanist (Danny Pudi), who is also someone who has been pushed to an extreme place because of the war. They both have good intentions, but they find themselves on opposite sides of the line. In the original, those stories take place in completely different locations, so we thought what if we bring them together? That felt like a natural way to create a thematic throughline.”

That also meant making sacrifices, whether it was because of new story directions (the break in to Avatar Roku’s temple) or for practical reasons like scale and budget. The writers room was a mix of diehard fans and the uninitiated, as was the set (there may have been some “Avatar” tattoos), to create accountability for which story points were essential and which could be repurposed.

“It was more a matter of getting the right ratio — mixing and matching the familiar elements with the new elements, whether or not something felt true to the spirit of the original,” Kim said. “That allowed us to explore new stories, which is also hopefully what fans will expect. They want to see all the familiar stuff, but they also want to be surprised. You don’t want to do a direct one-to-one translation. You want to be able to say this is a fresh story in its own right.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

IndieWire: The show really feels like it’s made for fans. How important was it to you to hit that but also make it accessible to newcomers?

Albert Kim: Well, that’s the whole game, isn’t it? It’s about making sure that millions of diehard fans aren’t disappointed, while also being appealing to a whole generation of new viewers who know nothing about the original — and that was a tough tightrope to walk. Every step of the way we just tried to remind ourselves that we can’t get too caught up in our own cleverness, and had to remember there are some people who don’t know who any of these characters are or what the bending is or what this world is, and we had to make sure that everything felt accessible to them. 

At the same time, we knew there were plenty of people who had very specific things they wanted to see from the show, so we tried to make sure we worked in as many of those as we could. It was a balancing act. Luckily, it wasn’t necessarily exclusive. It wasn’t like including a great action scene involving Aang (Gordon Cormier) and Bumi (Utkarsh Ambudkar) precludes new viewers from getting into it. So the main thing with the diehard fans is making sure that they’re aware this is a new version of the story. As familiar as it might seem, we are telling our version of “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” so things will change, things will feel different, but hopefully in a way that also feels familiar. One of the things we told ourselves throughout production is it should be fresh, but familiar.

I would love to know more about the decision to move up some of this season 2 stuff, not only Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim) and Azula (Elizabeth Yu) but even some of the Omashu stuff.

It was all part of that same process of looking at the entire arc thematically and seeing what worked best. At certain points we found there were certain elements from later seasons that worked really well in our story. We had the benefit of hindsight; we could look back at a completed series, the three seasons of the original series and knew what was to come and what was going to happen there. So we were allowed to pick and choose a little bit without hopefully disrupting too much of the future seasons. The decision, for instance, to have more Azula and Ozai in the first season, that felt natural to me because I wanted to be able to balance out the story a little bit and show more of the Fire Nation than they did in the original. They are the antagonists so you want to know more about them, we want to know more about what went into Zuko’s (Dallas Liu) makeup and psychology and why he is the way he is, as well as tee up Azula and Ozai a little more for the subsequent seasons. Those felt very natural to me; again, I’m sure some fans are gonna have an issue with that, but I’m comfortable with those decisions. Again, there’s also practical reasons; The Fire Nation storyline gave us standing sets and locations we could cut to, whereas we’re going from different locations with our heroes every episode, so it provided storytelling balance in that sense too.

And then what was particularly exciting or daunting when you got to actually filming and being on set? It sounds like the visual effects and the budget was a big looming factor.

There are things you can do in animation that prove extremely difficult to do from a practical and financial reasons in live action. A sequence like the escape from Pohuai in the animation, which is incredibly epic sequence, is a very challenging one to do live action. We knew we wanted to do it because it was such a memorable thing, but we had to cut some corners here and there. I’m sure diehard fans will notice that our version of the Pohuai Stronghold only has two rings as opposed to three — that was cost savings thing. Hopefully it didn’t affect that sequence or the storyline that much. There were little corners we had to cut here and there to make those things work. It’s about being able to do something in live action that may be a little easier when it comes down to just illustrating.

Who’s your favorite character to watch or to write for — or both?

Oh, that’s always hard to answer because they all feel like my babies. They’re each great in their own way. Who doesn’t like Sokka (Ian Ousley) and his sense of humor? It’s so much fun to write for that. Or Aang and his optimism and childlike sense of hope? It’s incredibly refreshing to be able to write a character like that, and dare I say it’s something that’s needed in this day and age, so that was great. Katara (Kiawentiio) is probably the most emotional of the characters, so that’s catnip for writers. I would argue Zuko is probably the most popular character from the original series because of his incredible redemption arc; I think one of my favorite episodes of our series is all centered around Zuko; the sixth episode may be my favorite of the whole season.

I was really struck by how much Aang really seems like a little kid in this version. Was that conscious or just a byproduct of casting Gordon?

One of the things I’ve talked a lot about as being authentic in the show. That means being culturally authentic, being authentic to the original series, and also being age authentic. Aang is 12-year-old, and I wanted to make sure we cast a 12-year-old — actually Gordon was 11 when we cast him but he became 12, we had his birthday on set — and same with Katara being 15 and Zuko and Sokka as well. I didn’t want to cast a 25-year-old to play a 15-year-old. I know that’s a convention that happens in Hollywood, but that didn’t feel right to me because the journey of these characters is the journey of a bunch of kids, and it’s their outlook as kids that ends up changing the world. So it was very important for me to cast age-appropriately. I think fans will be surprised because it’s one thing to see a 12-year-old as a cartoon as another to see a real life 12-year-old, but I think it’s right for the story and hopefully people will will accept that.

It was very hard to watch him cry! He’s baby.

It makes you automatically feel for him when he’s a live-action 12-year-old kid — not that the original cartoon didn’t either, but there is more immediacy to seeing a live person going through those emotions, especially when they’re a child.

As a fan of the original, do you participate in shipping? I can’t help noticing certain choices in this show… Cave of Two Lovers, no Aang? Interesting…

I know better than to get into that debate. There’s no winning if I start talking about which ships I’m into. Fortunately for me, that becomes a tomorrow or later-season problem as you get into the original series and where those actually start to develop. It’s not something we had to address a whole lot in the first season. There were choices — like you said, with the cave of two lovers, but that was less about any kind of future romance or relationship and more about thematically what worked best for that story. That was a time in our season season where Katara and Sokka were in conflict, and it felt like the right move to have them go through the tunnels and be hit with the message of “Love is brightest in the dark.” It was less about shying away from any potential romance or relationship and more about what felt right for that story at that moment.

Having now filmed and watched it, what is something that has really struck you to see now on live action?

Seeing the final VFX go in and witnessing the epic nature of the story has been incredible, because even knowing what’s to come and having been there while we shot those scenes, it’s still not until you can see it on the screen with all of the VFX in place that you realize the emotional impact of certain scenes. Aside from that, it’s actually seeing the performances of these actors. Having been there on the day in production and seeing them is one thing, but then seeing them on the screen as an episode cut together, it’s just so much more moving. The ending of 106 I’ve watched so many times I’ve lost count, but it still brings a tear to my eye every single time. That’s something that I never get tired of.

Paul’s (Sun-Hyung Lee) performance during the episode with the funeral of his son is another scene that brings a tear to my eye every single time. As great as the original was, it didn’t have that kind of impact on me back then. I mean, “Leaves From the Vine” can make me misty every single time I hear it, but seeing Paul do that scene at his son’s funeral was just shattering.

The finale ends with Zuko recognizing that he has been manipulated by his family, and the comet coming back. Because of those back-to-back scenes, I feel like they’re positioned as equal conflicts, which is another significant change.

The comet was an interesting element in the original because it provided a ticking clock for the story. Aang and the others knew that they had to complete their mission before the comet returned. We didn’t have that available to us for a very practical reason which is that we didn’t know how long it would be before we can shoot a Season 2 or 3. However, I always knew that the looming threat of the comet had to be there, so we added it as that very end scene, to show that we were aware the threat is out there. It’s coming. And as it so happens, it ends up capping Zuko’s arc for the first season as well. That’s what creates that parallel that you’re talking about. That’s another thing that we had to consider in making the transition from an animated show to a live action is how do we account for the time span of the story? In the original series, pretty much all three seasons took place within the span of a calendar year. That was not something we’d ever be able to do, and it’s not something we can even try to do because human actors actually age and grow older and change. We had to account for that going into the first season.

It bookends Zuko’s arc but then you also have the very clear parallel of the comet in the beginning in the comet at the end, which I thought was a nice touch.

We wanted to do that bookend — to your point, new viewers might not even recognize what that is, probably won’t. But there’s that bookend there both for the fans of the show, but also if you go back and rewatch it you’ll see it begins and ends with the comet. Another way we bookended the series is the opening episode highlights Firelord Sozin’s (Hiro Kanagawa) strategy of misdirection and how he used that to attack the Air Nomads; and at the very end you see Firelord Ozai use the exact same tactic and reveal that he used the misdirection to conquer Omashu.

I’m still so curious how people who don’t know this world at all are going to respond. How would you pitch this show to someone who knows nothing about “Avatar,” who is just opening up their Netflix on February 22?

I would say that “Avatar” is this epic fantasy about a group of kids who set out to bring hope back to a world that’s in desperate need of it. Along the way they become a family, and bring that sensibility to everyone they meet on their journey. At heart, that’s what it is to me emotionally. On top of that, there is epic action and adventure with fantastical creatures, incredible environments, and bending effects that will blow you away.

They will airbend you away! Sorry. It sounds like you’re bracing yourself for some criticism, but what would you say to fans after they’ve watched these eight episodes, knowing that Season 2 or 3 may or may not be on the horizon?

I hope that they recognized and felt the love that we all had behind the scenes for the show and the story and the characters. We, like them, approached it as fans first and foremost, and respected what they expected from the show, and hopefully delivered on that. It sounds a little obvious, but I get the impression some people actually question our fandom level of the show itself, so I hope that comes through.

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” is now streaming on Netflix.