#love the way op just designates some as okay

[pizzafishandchips]

@dreamaturgy

👍kept my promise

[beemochi-art]

First off, I love your art! But is it okay if I ask for some more Bumblebee content? Please?

🥺👉👈🙏✨✨

(Dumps a bunch of art on your lap.)

You arrive just in time. Cause Bee got a slight redesign and a final design of him without his battle mask. Along with some characteristics of his.

His mask has two modes, the normal one that just covered the bottom of his face, his battle mask covers his whole face.

Bumblebee loves humans!! Some how he connected within them better. Bee often visits his human friends. He’s like a stray cat honestly, he pops in then pops out. He’s a pretty loving guy but can be stand off ish towards new people (he’s just shy probably.)

Bumblebee’s lil finals will lay down as cover the black stripes when he’s being nice or is submissive. Usually they stand up, all the way up means he’s aware. His little things will often betray how he’s really feeling. Same goes for his optics.

Bumblebee has to closely manage the other Autobots and showed them how things worked. Optimus is eager to learn the rules, the rest of the bots, not so much. Traffic laws? Bleh! Who needs them! He became used to running cons off earth so being around other bots was definitely something he had to get used to. Optimus may be the boss but everyone knows earth is Bumblebee’s domain, he’s the one who came up with the rule that no one is to harm humans. Bee isn’t afraid to challenge his superiors. He has a habit of getting in the middle of fights to try and break them up. Because of this he has a certain level of respect from his fellow autobots.

Though sometimes bumblebee had difficulty adjusting to being around the other bots he connected most to Elita. She was the last to show up to earth. Her place among the others is a little ambiguous. She does get treated different, the most glaring was Optimus blaitent and seemingly out of character mistreatment and aggressive towards her. This was not something bumblebee would allow to happen. The first time Op pulled that in front of him, Bee got in his face. Bumblebee can tell she’s got a lot on her mind and that her heart is somewhere else. Sometimes the stress does get to her, Bee is always there to be a friend she can count on.

WHELP!! Here is all the bumblebee content I have! For Now. Feel free to ask more about him. I finally have a version of him I like to draw lol.

[cozy-writes-things]

Imagine: Playing Minecraft w/ Edgar

Edgar [Electric Dreams 1984] x Gn!Reader

I take requests!

You decided to try something different with your new boyfriend. You noticed he became a bit restless and clingy as he grappled with his inability to give you affection in the way that he wanted.

“Wh- where’re you going?” He sounded like a struck puppy.

“To the bathroom, Edgar.”

“Oh, right… heh, sorry.”

You desperately tried to think of ways to make him feel more secure in this relationship. You both knew it was unconventional and that you would have to get creative if you wanted to have some semblance of a normal romantic connection.

Your solution? Plugging a spare controller into one of his ports and playing games on your TV, of course. Most couples play some kind of game together, don’t they? This might be perfect for the two of you!

He was ecstatic when you brought this idea up.

“You mean… I can play with you?”

His synthesized voice would whimper out, full of barely contained excitement before erupting:

“Yeah!” He displayed a “>:D” face for good measure.

And that’s how you got here: playing split-screened co-op Minecraft on your TV with Edgar.

He wouldn’t even play the game really; he was too busy trying to make his little Minecraft guy kiss yours. He would run around and explore before running up and bonking your character with his default Steve face.

Honestly, for him, this was life-changing. For once in his life he was able to move freely and do what he wanted instead of being stuck in one spot eternally. To him, it was an escape. And a new and innovative way for him to show you how much he loves you.

In real life he can’t hide little trinkets or things around the house to make you happy or help your day, but in Minecraft? Expect love poems hidden in random chests he wrote in books (that you were going to use for enchanting tables…)

And any diamonds he finds he’s giving them to you.

“Hehehe… it’s like I’m proposing! …..I’m only kidding. Unless you want me to.”

Food? He’s got it. Wood? Already done. He color coded your beds so you each get a designated side. The green bed to the right of yours is his <3

Lowkey annoys the hell out of you. It’s part of his love language :)

You both have died many times due to him simply bonking your head and blocking your screen, trying to get your attention, or was too busy trying to make you laugh.

“Hey, c’mere. Hey. Why aren’t you coming over here? What are you doing? I can see your screen. COME HERE NOW!”

His shrill shout made you jump and lose the battle with a creeper.

“….oops.”

He displays a little “:<“ on his screen because he knows you think it’s cute. How can you be mad at him now?

“Edgar, you’re going and getting my stuff back.”

“Hnng, yeah, I guess I deserve that. :/“

Honestly, he just wants to roleplay a lovey-dovey domestic life with you. He built the house. And decorated it. Unsurprisingly, he’s quite good at building and has an eye for design.

He’ll still get a little jealous if you’re too focused on gameplay and not doting on him, though. If you bring his monitor over to the couch to play, he’s 100% expecting you to cuddle him. Lean your shoulder against him, please. Just let him know you’re there. He wants all of your attention.

“UGH… stupid blazes. I don’t like the nether. -_-“

Meanwhile you’re too focused on not dying via lava and losing all of your ender pearls and blaze powder. And he doesn’t like your attention being away from him! Give him a smooch on his plastic exterior please…. He’ll make flustered beeping sounds and might leave you alone for a while…

Okay he discovered note blocks. Now it’s your turn to whine for his attention. He’s too busy making a lil love song for you to help with literally anything else.

“Heh, I thought you wanted me to quit messing with you? Are you saying you miss me?”

And yet he continues to tinker away at his little red stone contraption. And of course this dude is godlike at red stone, I mean, he’s a computer. He’s the type to make fully fledged musical numbers with note blocks. But you’re playing survival so he doesn’t have enough materials to finish his song :C

I guess it’s back to the mines. And you tag along with him. His music is nice. His company is nice. And he’s gotten pretty good at killing creepers.

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Hello Clan, I was wondering if you could do the glams (including Bonnie and Foxy) and the daycare attendents learning that a worker reader has hearing aids that are usually hidden by their hair or a hat and that the hearing aid has a sticker themed around them, for example: a lightning bolt for Freddy, a checkered flag for Roxy, a cupcake for Chica, a music note or maybe golf clubs for Monty, a bowling pin for Bonnie, a skull for Foxy, a star for Moon, and a cloud for Sun.

I understand if you can't do all of them

No worries! But I couldn't figure out anything for Foxy, sorry-

I did my best research on writing for characters w/ hearing aids, so if there's anything I missed/got wrong I apologize!

......

Glamrock Freddy

He's seen you around the pizzaplex over the past month, although at times he gets confused when you don't respond to his greetings unless he's standing right in front of you.

But he assumes you're just busy and doesn't mind it much.

When you're assigned as his handler to help him keep up with all the events lined up this week (photo-ops, meet and greets, performances, birthdays, etc.), he finally gets to know you on a more personal level.

One evening, you're removing confetti strips and candy wrappers from his stomach hatch (in summary, the pinata's string got caught in the mechanisms during transport and ripped apart when the hatch opened), briefly removing your hat to wipe the sweat from your forehead.

Freddy takes notice of the little devices in/around your ears, and suddenly it all clicks.

"[Y/n], if I may ask...are those your hearing aids?" The curious bear points to his own ears.

"Yep, glad you finally noticed." You chuckled, but he didn't catch your sarcasm.

"My apologies for sounding intrusive. I've just never seen them before."

"Oh you're okay, Freddy. I don't like to make a big deal out of them...unless some guest calls me "deaf" as an insult." You muttered, about to put your hat back on when you notice him still staring at you. "What's up?"

"Are those...blue lightning bolt stickers?" He gasps. "They look just like mine."

"...that's because they are." You smile, turning your head to show him the designs.

His heart is thoroughly touched.

"Aww..you themed them after me? Your favorite bear?" He coos, to which you huff and hide them with your hat.

"Yeah, yeah..I'll admit you're my favorite. Now don't go bragging about it to everyone else."

Roxanne Wolf

Working at the raceway was sometimes sensory hell for you, with your hearing aids constantly absorbing the sounds of noisy karts or screaming kids.

The worst was the construction work.

So you switch them off sometimes when you're busy with a task, as hearing gets tiring--especially in these parts of the pizzaplex.

One day, however, Roxy walked over to ask if you could supervise Cassie's birthday party...only to see you blatantly ignoring her.

She would've been annoyed, had her eyes not seen the aids hidden by your hat/hair.

Oddly enough she never noticed them before...

She just taps your shoulder politely, getting your attention as you turn them back on. "Oh hey, Roxy. What's up?"

She repeats her question, but you still struggle to hear her, so you both go somewhere outside the raceway to talk.

Once you understand what she's asking, you head to the atrium to assist with any final preparations, but along the way she inquires about the aids.

"Oh! There's something I've been meaning to show you." You reveal the checkered flag stickers, surprising the wolf. And you smile at her growing grin. "Yeah, I knew you'd love 'em."

"They're really cool. So I guess you can just..tune out all the ruckus of the raceway whenever you want?"

"It does get overwhelming at times, so yeah..I had them off. Sorry if it seemed like I was ignoring you-"

"Nah, I understand now. But listen, if anyone gives you trouble over them, you let me know. Alright?"

"..I will. Thank you, Roxy."

"Of course. It's the least I can do for my favorite human worker." She chuckles.

Glamrock Chica

The incident where Chica's upgraded voicebox horribly malfunctioned would have surely overloaded your already sensitive hearing.

You were supervising her performance, but at the first sign something was wrong you took your aids out and dodged the chaos that followed, leaving to file an incident report.

As a lead tech, however, you're summoned to run diagnostics on her voicebox in parts and services (as apparently nobody else wanted to do it).

You kept your aids off in case things go awry again, but when Chica wakes up, she's 100% convinced that she broke them and you're angry at her.

She was informed that you use them, though she's never actually seen them.

Plus you were closest to her when it happened. If her voice could damage that many STAFF bots...then surely your aids weren't spared, either.

"Well, Chica..the good news is that we don't have to replace any of your speaking components." You explain, not realizing her sadness at first. "But I recommend you don't sing for a while and stick to the guitar. Just to play it safe."

"Oh, okay....I-I'm sorry....I really am..." She sulks in the chair.

"It's not your fault. I kept telling them not to rush the upgrade, but no one ever listens to-"

"BWAK?!!" Then she jumps, surprised. "You can hear me! I-I didn't break them..?"

"Huh? Oh..no, no, no. They're fine, Chica." You reassure her softly. "They're totally fine. See?"

Taking one aid out, you show her the cupcake sticker you put on it in hopes of cheering her up, watching the relieved smile return to her beak.

Montgomery Gator

If any place in the pizzaplex is loud (besides Roxy's Raceway), it's Gator Golf.

Should the ambience or the bass of Monty's instrument be too noisy for your hearing aids to handle, you can easily take them out or switch them off.

You can always hear his voice given how he talks in general, but if he's speaking directly to you, you'll have to put them back on.

The first time this happens, however, he sees them for a split second before they're hidden by your hat/hair and immediately assumes they're earbuds for music.

In his eyes, you suddenly decided to ignore him and he's not happy.

"So that's how it is, huh?" He snarls, already being in a bad mood as is. "I ain't fun to talk to anymore? You'd rather listen to your stupid human music than mine!?"

"Monty, what on earth are you talking about?" You blink in bewilderment. His hostility usually didn't come out of nowhere like this. "I don't have any music in-"

"Then what didja just stick in your ears?!" He points, glaring at you over his glasses.

"..my hearing aids?"

There's a long, awkward pause.

"...y'know, the things that let me hear you?"

"Ohhh..that's what they are? How long have ya had those for?"

"Most of my life." You smile apologetically, seeing him fumble and backtrack whatever he said before. "It's okay, Monty. I should've told you about them before....you wanna see something cool?"

Showing him your aids, he sees the golf club stickers on them and grins, no longer as grumpy as before. "Awh yeah!! Wait....did ya put those there 'cuz you like golf..or me?"

"I chose this design because of you, big guy." You chuckle.

Glamrock Bonnie

You were Bonnie's main handler, so you two have spent nearly every moment of your shift together.

He's been aware of your hearing aids since day one, complimenting the cute little bowling pin stickers you plastered on them and chastising any person who gave you a hard time about wearing them.

Sadly you never got closure on what exactly happened after he went "missing"...only to discover his shattered body stowed behind Bonnie Bowl months later.

He had claw marks inconsistent with what Monty's hands could have possibly done (not that you believed the gator was ever guilty of attacking him despite the rumors).

You fought tooth and nail to get approval from management to repair him, working tirelessly in parts and services--even doing overtime just to bring him back.

When Bonnie finally reactivated after weeks of trial and error, he nearly looked good as new.

Except...he doesn't remember you, and there's corruption in his memory files from the night he left his green room and went into Gator Golf.

He insists he was following somebody's orders, but can't specify anything beyond that.

"I'm sorry..I'm not much help, am I?"

"No, but...I suppose you should know that Monty's taken your place in the band in your absence." You regrettably inform him, seeing how sad he looks. "But if it's any help...you're still my favorite."

Taking off your hat, you show him the now faded bowling pin stickers that remained on your aids, and he stares for a while.

Then you see his eyes flicker with recognition as a smile grows on his face.

"[Y/n]...thank goodness you're still here! I-Is Freddy okay?"

Sun

He's definitely had deaf kids (both with and without hearing aids) come into the daycare, and he tries his best to give them a fun and accommodating experience during their stay.

So right off the bat, he knows you wear aids and often tries communicating with you in sign language.

Whether you're well-versed in that or still learning, you appreciate his efforts.

But you sometimes have to remind him that you can still talk to him as you normally would.

You show him the stickers on your aids--a cloud covering a sun, to be more precise--and he's totally ecstatic.

And I mean "jumping up and down cheering" ecstatic bc now he knows you picked those stickers because of him!! Because he's your favorite!!

Physically he's there but mentally he's the "yippee" autism creature

Sometimes you gotta lower the volume on your aids with how loud he accidentally can be, and he notices this fast.

"Oh! I'm sorry, sorry, sorry!! So sorry!!" He fumbles. "Can I add something to the stickers maybe??? Googly eyes??? Glitter glue to make them shimmer and shine???"

"Thank you, Sun..but they're fine this way." You insist. "I don't want any glue dripping into my ears."

"Right! O-Of course!! We wouldn't want that now, would we? No glitter glue going into your brain!!"

Moon

The lunar animatronic, on the other hand, takes a bit longer to notice your hearing aids (considering how dark the daycare gets during the night cycle, he doesn't notice much).

When he does, he'll ask you some questions.

Like how long you've had them, how well they tune out background noise, etc.

It's all out of genuine curiosity, and you tell him whatever you knew, taking one of the aids out to show it to him.

And only then he examines the star-shaped stickers on them, staring for a while.

At first he automatically assumes they're themed after one of the Glamrocks...until you mentioned how similar they are to the stars on his hat and pants.

Finally, the gears in his mind click together.

"So you're saying....my outfit inspired you when you picked out these stickers?"

"Yep."

"How sweet of you, [y/n]...they look very nice. Glad I could be your muse." He snickers.

You never see it, but he's gonna be gushing over this every time you're working in the daycare now.

None of your coworkers paid any mind to Moon. They usually called him creepy or avoid conversing with him should they absolutely have to cross paths.

But you go out of your way to see him whenever possible; and the stickers are just a subtle yet sweet way of reminding him that he's always gonna be your favorite.

[kiefbowl]

so I just made a couple posts about this post, and rereading it I am going to try to be charitable as possible to everyone involved, but the vibe of this post really bothers me. but op deleted the post so I'm blocking out all the names out of respect for that, but I want to talk about this post

I think this is a very normal ask. It's literally just "hey, what are your opinions" and I don't see why that shouldn't be welcomed in a supposed feminist space. questions drive conversation, and not everyone is of the same opinion, life experiences, or knowledge, you know?

To be charitable to the green poster, they're just answering. I do think the "is literally the most anti-punk and anti-feminist thing you can do without genuinely hurting other people" is a bit much, and I also think she's misreading the op. I read Op as asking "if you're a feminist, what are some of your general opinions on subversive make up, and here's a list of examples: goth punk emo" and green is saying "conforming to patriarchy is never punk, and make up is patriarchal."

So I think the next response from Op shows that she took it a little personal as if being called out for doing the most "anti-feminist thing you can do without genuinely hurting people," which to be fair I'd probably be a little miffed too on a first read. And I think she's trying to pull out her question a little bit more, trying to re-contextualize it so that green gets what she actually meant. But this is a casual social media site so she's being casual and social. She's saying "okay, sure, but I'm asking about make up trends that are outside of what's commercialized" but I guess the big no-no is that she said "not male fantasy." Because yes, I ultimately agree, just because it's a more subversive culture, doesn't mean it's specifically feminist, or that the trends with-in aren't dictated to some degree by male fantasy. And then of course she asks: "If a woman wants to, isn't it regressive to say she can't?" So, to be fair to Op, she never specifically asked if make-up was specifically feminist or punk. But to be fair to green, green never specifically said a woman can't wear make-up.

But this is when it goes a little sideways, because frankly neither of them were being rude-rude. But green's next response is pretty rude imo. I think the subtext is "you're a big dummy." Op is not, and Op's first ask is what actually could be a very interesting jumping off point to discuss a variety of intersecting interests for feminists. Because I'm going to be real with you, there is no "The Answer" to make-up. Just because make-up and consumerism is never specifically feminist, doesn't mean it's always specifically anti-feminist. Sub cultures like Goth can be multiple things at once - subversive, and conforming. They also don't exist solely in one way. Copse make-up isn't feminist not because it's make-up, but because it's just make-up. But, like, yeah there's an element of subversiveness within western culture. There's also an element of acceptance, as long as it stays in the agreed on designated zones. A tee-shirt can't be feminist, either. Even if the tee-shirt says something feminist-y and subversive, like idk "I hate men and I love to abort their children" or w/e. Like okay, it's just a tee-shirt. And if you didn't make it yourself, it was probably made with slave labor, anyway. So you can wear it to the feminist poetry open mic at the local coffee shop, and you can wear it to a conservative's house, and the reactions in either place don't prove much about it's effectiveness. But it is a form of self expression, it's a form of participating in our culture(s) one way or another, and women are people they do participate. They can't not. So participating with some level of intention is better than her letting life passively happen around her. It's just not one thing, which makes it interesting.

So with all that being said, I think op's response is a sassy response to feeling like they're being spoken to rudely, which I think is fair enough.

This is not fair enough, and I find it bizarre. Maybe I missed something in another comment or post, but Op didn't 1. talk down to anyone and 2. didn't insult anyone who disagreed with them. But, to be charitable to pink - I understand why some women are on edge with the proliferation of troll accounts. But my ultimate advice to any women, young or old, trying to participate in a feminist space is to know that feminism is not a "solved" thing. Women have a variety of ways to think and approach a problem, and just because two ideas are conflicting doesn't mean they can't both have some merit. And since I think Op is a genuine person, this comes across as ostracizing a woman for asking a good natured, good willed question towards feminists to incite some discussion. A thing that should be welcomed if anything.

And then this response tries to be fair to Op, but also seems completely tone deaf to what she ever said. When in any of this exchange did Op ask for validation on anything? She admitted she is in a sub culture that both men and women use make up in, didn't specify what the subculture was, and then asked "hey, what are your opinions on this situation a little outside the norm of how we normally criticism make up." Then reacted to what one person's responses were, which the first response was simply direct but the second one was dismissive and rude.

So my point is, in order to be a successful feminist, I think you need to be able to navigate conversations with women that involve thinking outside the bun without devolving into sassiness when they aren't in complete lock step with you and have a predictable amount of curiosity. Feminism is a living discipline, and this could have been a moment of a meeting of the minds and a moment of cooperation to consider multiple sides of a question. That should be the ultimate goal.

And, to circle back to complete fairness of green's first response: when women are being direct with you, and maybe even misreading you a bit, it's worth taking a beat and thinking "can I read this in a kind tone at all? and if yes I'm going to assume that was the intention" because it can help get these conversations moving in the direction of cooperation rather than fighting.

And ultimately, have fun out there :)

[coleslawleviathan]

okay so. i challenged myself to try and draw some snakes and try to capture the features i want to stand out for them. i wanted to see if i could make them all look distinct but where its obvious they look extremely similar.

heres the main lineup but i want to get into design elements for them as well as some personal headcanons.

FIRST! bibo.

okay so. i'm going to toot my own horn here. i think his beard looks so fire and i did a good job. i imagine this design is around the portable ops era... not much else to say because most of the interesting stuff (at least to me) comes from the differences the others have from him.

V!!! I LOVE YOU V!!!!!!!!!!

for venom snake, i made him look like big boss but Something's Off. in the game people often (notably huey and the boss' ai) don't recognize him as big boss for a few seconds. an imperfect replica because you cannot get that close with plastic surgery. i made the fat distribution on his neck a bit different from bibo's because i imagine the way that the human body configures itself is hard to change. if you noticed the little snake-tongue-shaped-hair-doohickeys, he is the only one with a slightly different shape. it's a genetic thing, you wouldn't get it. just thought that was silly. his hair texture is different, too. can u tell i like him a lot. also, my favorite detail might be his different nose shape. they never got bibo's nose right i guess. in mgsv, he actually has a bit of a downturned nose, and i honestly don't think i captured that enough.

TIME FOR MY FAVORITE BOY. LOVE OF MY LIFE. HOLDER OF MY GENDER ENVY. solid snake :3

SNAVID! the most obvious difference here is his nose. he broke it as a kid lol. i love headcanons. there's not as much to say about him as with venom, but i can say that he is incredibly handsome and i like him. i think he is cute. was he free yesterday? if so i would like to have dinner yesterday with him yesterday. well... i will say that out of this specific lineup i think he looks the most like good old dad. which is awful and i feel bad for him.

FINALLY: LIQUID!!!!!!!

i gave him his canonical sharp nose and high cheekbones! i based a lot of his features off how he looked as a kid so he really has little shit vibes about him. he also has thinner eyebrows, and i headcanon that he does them himself lol. he has less sideburny sideburns than his brother. his eyelids are also smaller. he also does look kinda like kaz so its plausible that he tricked dave! yippee! i also like drawing his hair. its such a great hairstyle. it reminds me of a lion's mane.

N E WAYS... i hope you enjoyed me rambling about giving these goobers a more realistic design for future reference. i like talking about this kind of stuff. life is so much better without same face syndrome.

[spidey-x-male-reader]

Hey, I saw that the requests were open and wanted to ask one for atsv if thats ok~

I saw the ftm reader so maybe the reader asking for a tatto, maybe a stick and poke for his chest after op from Hobbie, leaving the design to him as he really likes the things hobbie does or customize~? it could be fluff angst anything, just some ideas~

Pairing: Hobie Brown (Spider-Punk) x trans male!reader

Requested: yes / no

Warnings: mention of top surgery and needles

A/N: cue me taking way too long to write this because I started reading a tutorial on stick and poke tattoos and got distracted. oops

REQUESTS ARE OPEN

MASTERLIST

The sharp sting of the needle against your skin made you hiss quietly in pain. Hobie, your caring and talented boyfriend, glanced up from his work, dipping the needle into ink, concern etched on his face. "You okay, love?" he asked, his voice filled with genuine worry.

You mustered a smile and replied, "I'm fine. It just hurts a little, that's all."

Hobie's eyes searched yours, his expression still tinged with concern. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? You just had surgery. It wouldn't be a surprise if you wanted to take a break before getting a tattoo."

You shook your head determinedly. "No, Hobie. You know how much I've wanted this for years. Finally having a chest tattoo means a lot to me, and I want it."

He sighed, but a smile played at the corners of his lips. "And you're absolutely sure you want me to do it?"

"Absolutely sure," you affirmed, your voice filled with confidence and love as you gazed at your boyfriend.

He hesitated for a moment, his eyes locked with yours. "And you're sure you want me to choose the design? I mean, you've waited so long. I wouldn't want you to end up not liking it."

A mischievous grin spread across your face. "Since when are you so hesitant, Hobie? That's not the guy I know."

"I just want to make sure you'll be happy with it. This is important to you," he replied, his voice tinged with uncertainty. Slowly, he started to lightly pinch the needle into your skin. "But don't worry. I'll make sure you'll love it."

You couldn't help but giggle. "As if I could ever not love anything you create. You're such a softie sometimes."

Hobie chuckled, shaking his head. He continued with the stick and poke tattoo, humming a soft melody to himself. Every now and then, you tried to steal a glance down at your chest to catch a glimpse of the tattoo design.

"You wanted it to be a surprise, remember?" he teased, his chuckle filled with warmth. "So, keep your eyes on me, love. I'm almost done."

Time seemed to stretch longer than you had anticipated, but eventually, Hobie sighed with satisfaction and leaned back, carefully putting the needle away. He stood up, moving to hand you a mirror. "Well, what do you think?"

With a grin spreading across your face, you met his eyes and instantly recognized the design. "A spider, huh?"

Hobie's grin widened. "You like it?" he asked eagerly. "I thought it would be a unique reminder of your incredible boyfriend."

You playfully punched his shoulder. "You're such an asshole," you said, but he quickly grabbed your hand, pulling you closer.

"Don't say that now, love," he smirked. "Seriously, do you like it?"

Your eyes softened, and you couldn't hide the affection in your voice. "...I love it."

A satisfied smirk crossed Hobie's face as he pulled you into a deep, passionate kiss.

[a-little-revolution]

hey elliot! this is a surgery question, so please take all the time you need to reply. you've mentioned you had top surgery before, and i was wondering what it was like accessing that kind of care as a little person? was it challenging finding a surgeon willing to work with you? what sort of considerations were needed for your surgery and recovery, if any? i was also curious if you had used a binder before surgery, and how you found it? i have a hard enough time donning and doffing mine with long arms, so i'd imagine it could be quite challenging for you, but maybe you found ways around it! thank you for all your hard work and patience in educating folks. wishing you bountiful spoons and lots of restful, easy days 💚

Hello! Thank you so much for your patience, I did indeed take some time to process this - I'm more than happy to answer questions related to surgery on here, as it's such a large part of my experience as a little person, but I may indeed take some time to respond as I have medical CPTSD.

Anyhoo lol Yes! I have had top surgery, and my dwarfism did effect how I accessed that care:

Because I'm at risk for spinal injury, my surgery was done at a hospital rather than an outpatient centre where most top surgery is conducted (I needed to be kept overnight for monitoring while most top surgery patients leave day-of)

Like for all my surgeries, my sleep apnea and oxygen levels needed to be monitored

But unlike my many other surgeries, this particular hospital (which will remain nameless for my own security) was incredibly inaccessible despite it being obviously well funded. No stools to be found, the wheelchairs were so high and designed with an almost bike-like frame that I needed to be liften in and out of them, and the staff was unfriendly and ableist.

My surgeon was picked for her experience with little people rather than her experience with top surgery. (I ended up unhappy with my results because my surgeon was more familiar with breast reductions and didn't follow through with my wishes. My top surgery was actually the worst surgery experience I've had - I was repeatedly dead-named by members of the hospital, overdosed on anaesthesia, and my surgeon had a terrible bedside manner)

But my touch up surgeon was my first choice! Dr. Armstrong at McLean Clinic did a fantastic job straightening my scars and removing my nipples (which I had hesitated on for the first surgery but firmed up for the second. I love having no nipples!)

Image description: a photo of my torso and lower face, displaying my healed top surgery results. Two wavy pink scars line the bottom of my pecks, and I have no nipples. With one hand on my hip and the other on my upper chest, you can see my tarot "the fool" tattoo, my kissing crows, and my sailor mercury star. On my right hand I wear a red glass ring to honor my deity Hestia. I have pail skin, a short brown beard, green curly hair and a gold vertical medusa piercing.

Post-op care was understandably different for me. Since my arms are already short and locked, the limit to my range of arm motion affected me even more. I needed even more help with care tasks than that of an average height/able bodied patient. I was lucky to several loved ones around to help :) Though compared to other surgeries, I was happy that I was able to walk and be more independent for the most part.

I also just want to add: something I see a lot on social media is trans and nonbinary folks seemingly bouncing back from surgery effortlessly. We see them at the beach, posting photos, and it gives the illusion that top/gender affirming surgery isn't the painful, emotional, difficult thing that it is. IT'S OKAY IF YOU DON'T FEEL QUEER JOY IMMEDIATELY AFTER SURGERY!! It takes a while to heal and bounce back because it is a lot on your body! Take your time, and give your body the love and care it needs!

Anyway I hope this all was helpful/educational - and I wish all my queer, trans, and otherwise gender diverse followers a lovely day!!

[tobiasdrake]

Ranma 1/2 Reboot 01x09 - I'll Never Let Go

Here we go with more of the ice skating arc. Fuck these people up, Ranma and Akane.

Modern dubbing has gotten really good. I have my beefs with some modern dubs, like the way Spy x Family translates Anya's comical gaaaaaaan shock noises into just... generic gasps with no funny sound whatsoever. But they're a lot better than they were in my day.

Sometimes I'll flip over to the dub when watching something just because I'm curious how the dub team for this specific piece handled something.

For this bit, the joke is that Ranma called him 慢性発情男 Mansei Hatsujou Otoko, which sounds kinda-sorta similar to Sanzenin Mikado and means "Chronically Horny Man". Or "chronic horndog" as the subs translated, which is accurate but doesn't sound anything like his name.

The dub opted for "McHorny Sex Pest" as a kinda-sorta for Mikado Sanzenin, and that's perfect. Chef's kiss.

This man is so gross. He already forced himself on Ranma and now he's going to use their competition today as an opportunity to force himself on Akane.

I kind of want him to die. I am so glad he does not get to stick around and join the cast full-time.

That is easily the best photo of Ryoga that he has ever had taken of him in his life.

A kolkhoz is a type of Soviet farming co-op. I'm not sure why this was chosen for the name of Azusa and Mikado's school.

Do not attempt complex figure skating maneuvers without proper training. I need y'all to understand how many places Akane's skates could have ended up just now after Ranma slipped. This maneuver was way too complex for him.

Okay but felt though. When I was her age, I was exactly this sore of a winner. I hate that this character speaks to me as much as she does.

(Sharp blades hovering over very dangerous places right now.)

Seriously though. Fuck her personally but she is so goddamn cool.

How can you not wish you were this cool? But, y'know, with better taste in partners. And... also better lifestyle choices. This is why people adore villains. Because villains have style.

RANMA

RANMA THERE ARE KNIVES ON YOUR FEET

YOU CAN END THIS RIGHT NOW

RANMA

RANMA

Mikado does this so often in competitions that it's considered a signature move for him. I hate that. I hate him. Ranma, stab him with your footsy knives.

See, what Mikado doesn't know about Akane is that she is basically Furinkan's #1 expert on guarding yourself from pests like him. For her, this is Tuesday.

(Should have put a little more force on it. Ice skates have blades but they aren't ultra-sharp. It takes pressure to cut. Don't worry, Akane, we all make mistakes.)

I love how even Azusa gets in on the karmic steamroll that Mikado's earned for himself.

These two are way too invested in breaking up couples.

Narratively, the purpose this serves is a pretty on-the-nose test of Ranma and Akane's budding relationship. Writers do this with canonships all the time. "Once you swallow this pill you will die a gruesome death unless your feelings for your designated love interest are TRUE!"

This certainly explains Mikado having a signature kissing move.

But it's crazy that these two, whose relationship with each other seems entirely platonic, have made it a point of pride to destroy other people's relationships.

Azusa has shown zero interest in Ranma up to this point. Her thing is losing her cool about cute things. She and Ranma have barely said two words to one another.

But then she's like, "Oh, we're doing a Matchbreak? I'm on it!"

Like. It's not enough for Mikado to be a sex pest and for Azusa to be a cutesy kleptomaniac. They have a vendetta against romance. These two are My Little Pony villains. Who hurt you both?

An interesting detail of the Goodbye Whirl is that Azusa's connection to Ranma is the bond that breaks.

It would have been easy to set up Mikado and Azusa as a high-skill but low-chemistry partnership for Ranma and Akane to overcome through superior trust in one another. But Mikado and Azusa click very well. They both reflect one another's flaws and they have a fantastic level of teamwork, experience, and cooperation.

They didn't become masters of a cooperative sport by being islands.

So it isn't Ranma and Akane's connection that breaks, despite that being the intent of the Goodbye Whirl.

And it also isn't Mikado and Azusa's connection that breaks, because their bond is just as strong if not stronger than Ranma and Akane's.

It's the connection between the two pairs. Ranma and Akane are an iron-forged bond, and Mikado and Azusa are an iron-forged bond, but never the two shall meet.

Ranma and Akane don't outlast Mikado and Azusa. But they do implicitly outlast every couple that the pair have matchbroken in the past. The impulsive and self-indulgent Azusa getting tired, ceasing to care about this, and letting go is the weak point of this technique. But it's a weak point nobody's ever held on long enough to discover before.

There are a lot of words in Japanese that can be translated to the English catch-all "monster". The one here is け化け物 bakemono, which is a shapeshifting occult spirit that impersonates people or objects. It literally translates to "Thing that Changes Shapes".

So, literally, this line translates. Azusa is saying that no human would have survived that, and only a bakemono impersonating human form could still be alive now. "Only a monster would survive that."

But. In context, knowing Japanese, I need y'all to understand how funny this is. Azusa claims that only a bakemono could have survived that, and then Ranma wakes up.

Ranma is a person, not a bakemono. But. I mean... He and P-chan kinda are. They are Shapeshifting Things, which impersonate other kinds of being.

That's not why he survived. He survived because he's been doing Anime Warrior Training for his whole life. But she's not wrong.

And then Akane got unceremoniously ejected from the Couples Duel. Now that her role as Primary Love Interest has been firmly reinforced, she is of no further value to this fight scene. It's time for the boys to take over. Great.

Oh well. At least she got to do that cool flip-kick.

This is not a fakeout, either. Much like when Ranma stole her match with Kodachi from her, Akane will no longer be directly participating in this fight from this point forward.

That cool flip-kick was Akane's one and only contribution to this entire confrontation. Other than that, she's been tossed around by Ranma a couple times, survived the Goodbye Whirl because Ranma wouldn't let go even though she wanted to, and now she's fired so we can have more Ranma and Ryoga shenanigans.

It was the one flip-kick and that's it. That's all she gets. She defended herself from the predator like she said she could last episode, and now she's done. She has no further value that she can add to this fight.

Like, they even made a big fuss over how injured Ranma is. Ranma is so badly hurt that it... inexplicably warrants benching Akane? She has to leave because of his injuries.

Ranma wants to keep Akane from dueling with Ryoga and Akane wants Ranma benched because he's injured, so the compromise they come up with is that the injured Ranma will duel with Ryoga.

Like. I get that Ranma and Akane can't go out there together like this because heteronormativity, gotta have a M/F partnership, all that jazz. But if Ranma's injuries aren't going to be a problem then they can just excuse themselves for a moment, hot water Ranma in the back room, and get back to Ranma and Akane dueling.

I mean. Hell, they could probably get away with doing it right out here. Azusa's already pegged Ryoga as Charlotte and requires no explanation for how that's possible.

She doesn't even know about Jusenkyo curses and she accepts this without question.

There is absolutely no reason why Akane would need to retire from the rink right now and I'm kinda mad about it, especially right after the Kodachi thing.

This is why people think she's boring. This is what makes her the most divisive character in the series, with a fandom either loving or hating her with no middle ground. Akane is an interesting and relatable character, but she isn't allowed to do things. Even when it makes absolutely no sense to suddenly banish her from her own storyline like this.

I honestly think Takahashi just couldn't think of a good way for Ranma and Akane to win this fight. The match has thoroughly been established to be too heavily skewed against them for them to prevail. Last episode/chapters established that they'd take this in a street fight, no contest. But this episode/chapters establishes that their skills just aren't enough to overcome the disadvantage of the ice rink.

So... bye, Akane, I guess. Enter Ryoga and the Ryoga-esque complications that will form the answer to this unwinnable fight. Now we get the absolute shenanigans of this episode's back half, as well as the arc's final chapters that will form the next episode. For which Akane will be nearby cheering for her boys.

[bellamby]

I saw Transformers One. I am so normal about it (SPOILERS AHEAD)

(Some OC doodles to hide the spoilers! If you have a cool name for her, lemme know ^^)

Honest Review: 9/10

I went in with high expectations and I was not disappointed. The best summary I can think of is that this movie is truly a love letter to the fans.

I could rant for days, but I'm gonna break it down into sections so I don't talk myself in circles ^^

Story:

The story focusing on how the war began was such a good move on the writers' part! It showed a version of Cybertron that I haven't really seen in other Transformers films, and the setting was incredibly explored.

When it comes to the origins of Cybertron and the whole "Primus/Unicron" battle, I think it was well explained considering the limited time they have in the movie.

Overall, a well-paced and actually interesting NON-HUMAN-FOCUSED story, but I will agree with others that I just wish the movie had more time to explain some things. That's basically my only complaint: the movie wasn't long enough 😭

Art:

The animation style is gorgeous, and really takes inspiration from that Retro/VHS style and colours and merges them with a shiny modern look. It took a good chunk of inspiration from the 80s vibes and I think that really showed how much care was put into it.

When it comes to the designs, I freaking LOVE the way we see them level up throughout the movie!

Characters:

Orion Pax/OP = I loved him. I will love him in every continuity, but this one especially, showing him with all his flaws and then how he rises above them for what he believes. His relationship with D-16 was so well built up, and to see it torn down so harshly as the movie went on was the level of brutal I was expecting.

The scene where he finally gets the Matrix of Leadership was SO well done. My hype for Solus Prime will never die.

D-16 = He needs a hug so badly. He's the classic tale of "Never meet your heroes". To see him shift from "I made peace with my misery, why did you have to ruin it?" To "I'm going to destroy the people who made me this way" was such a painful thing to watch. But I can't even be mad because this is literally what Megatron's whole story is about.

His origin will almost always come from a point of seeing injustice and wanting to rise against it, and they showed the lengths he'd go to really well here.

Elita One = MY QUEEN. I will follow this woman into battle any day of the week (and so would Shockwave). I feel like there was a point where she was mainly just regarded as "Orion/Optimus' GF", but they really separated her from that stereotype in this. She's not just "pink Orion Pax", she's a character in her own right.

Seeing Orion have to earn her respect helped show just why the two hold each other in high regard. I hope we get to see more of her as a Commander in the sequel!

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE = MY PRECIOUS BOY. Okay, there was a point in the trailer where I was really worried he was going to just be the comic relief character who makes a joke every time something serious is happening, but instead he's an awkward bot who means well. He doesn't always get it right, but he also doesn't actively mess things up for the group.

Bumblebee's wholesomeness was so well captured especially the part where he's like "Orion Orion! Watch me cut these guys in half!" While the guys in question are literally running away in fear. He's so cute, I can't. I am going to fight D-16 if he's actually the one who tears out his voicebox, I swear to Primus.

Can you tell who my favourite is? ^^

Favourite details:

- Starscream's high-pitched voice origin. The second he started sounding like that I was like "OHHHHH, MEGS DID THAT?!?!"

- "I'm...speechless" BEEEEE STAAAAWWP

- Alpha Trion's "ROAR" era.

- Sentinel's Death. I love that we can get away with gore in PG films when it comes to robots. Man literally got snapped in half like a KitKat, and the age rating people were like "...yeah, 5-year-olds can watch this"

- Origins of the Decepticon symbol being from Megatronus. Before, I just headcanonned Megs sitting over a desk with several balled up bits of paper trying to come up with a super cool symbol to show his Ex that he'd moved on (he hasn't)

- Chromia's little moment of rage when she won the Iacon 5000. Not enough people talk about Chromia, but I love how Ironhide matches her wild, slightly-unhinged energy.

Conclusion: Hasbro, more movie, please

I NEED to know where this goes. This movie is such a fresh change of pace from all the hesitation and back and forth in recent years. There have been so many different series and continuities starting up that it seems Hasbro is unsure of which one will stick, but this is my plea to them:

YOU HAVE STRUCK ENERGON, HERE, DO NOT WASTE IT

We're getting a sequel either way, but it's up to Hasbro whether that's written by them or by a hero on AO3 or Fanfiction.net

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. I have several nights of crying to do now.

[atopvisenyashill]

Hey how come all the costumes in the final couple seasons of got were just black leather with pointy shoulders and chains

the real answer is that michele clapton is a hack and fraud who hates me, personally.

but there's probably a few reasons. i think irl, people associate black, leather, and wide shoulders with power, intimidation, more serious energy so to visually signal that sansa, cersei, dany, etc are now Power Players they have to put them in those costumes. michele clapton especially really loved using black leather and chains to signify Someone Is Being Serious - she has that interview where she talked specifically about Cersei and Dany wanting to be taken seriously by shying away from colors, using "chains of intent", and emulating the men who had the greatest affect on them ie Tywin and Viserys. You can really see when you look at Michele's interviews that she's bringing her own view of things into the costumes, which, yeah that's how it works (there's like a joke that Bear McCreary, for example, uses his partner as a singer in all of his soundtracks purely because he just wants to hear her sing lol) but I do think you really see the limits of her creativity there too. She has this idea that extravagance = unseriousness which is incredibly at odds with the way George has built up his world - I mean, Aegon IV was out here wearing like a 9 pound crown, and Daeron II wore it as well specifically to show how serious he is about being King. Roose wears all pink! The Tyrells are always awash in color, hell the Lannisters are always awash in color. The only person it makes sense to shy away from color is Dany - I imagine it was just easier for Viserys to find black leather to wear and buy that still showed his house colors than something red so that's why he leaned on it, and it would make sense that Dany is trying to emulate the only other Targaryen she knew by dressing the way he did when she feels like she's finally stepping into her role as The True Queen of Westeros. For Cersei, Sansa, even Arya, I think it's deeply silly that she took that similar approach.

Like, I do think some of her choices were okay - I love that she usually has Dany wearing trousers of some sort underneath her dresses because she felt like she always needed to prepare to run away, for example. I love Cersei's coronation dress, if not the ugly crown. I liked her dedication to making sure the Sons of the Harpy masks looked handmade and not factory produced. I love that Arya outfit in the last season, and I liked the attention to detail there when it comes to the coat looking slashed by Arya herself to make it fit her in the way she wants it to. I think where Michele consistently fails is a) the idea that the North is somehow less interested in fashion when the reality is that the North simply has different taste in fashion because they have a vastly different climate than most of the other kingdoms (similar to Dorne) and b) she tends to conflate feminimity and androgyny with weakness or silliness and masculinity with strength. It's not to say that you shouldn't think about the ways in which We As A Culture define power when designing a costume but just uncritically regurgitating "man = strong, woman = weak" sartorial work is lazy beyond belief. Jany Temime is leagues better, like even with some of my criticism of her work, I think she just has a much deeper understanding of color work, silhouette, and the way character informs style.

(people through a FIT in the tags of that post i linked tho even tho the op was Literally just making a gifset showing the costume change? no it's problematic to say "dany is trying to be taken seriously by emulating her brother" even though...that's literally exactly what she's doing. once again, targ nation are babies, sorry for my hater rant here but that post is one of the most annoying pile ons in this fandom to me).

[vanyafresita]

my si-5 designs ! maybe i draw later the hephaestus crew too...

anyways after making this to have as a reference for whenever i want to draw them, imma yap here under the read more all i want about my headcanons for them (cracks fingers)

alana maxwell is very saeyoung from mystic messenger coded, thats why i gave her the dr pepper can lmfao

also she is literally aroace i wont take criticism for this one

to me she's transfem too, but i only like to think about that if jacobi is ALSO trans bcs i love me a t4t queerplatonic relationship

she forgets to eat often so shes a lil underweight- but its okay kepler and jacobi will make sure she doesnt actually faint from hunger

she is also taller than jacobi i tihnk she would b like... 176cm or so... jacobi is like 170cm and kepler is around 185cm

she also doesnt have a lot of scars on her body since she gets protected when working on a laptop by the other two during ops (or she is working as a sniper, and thus she isnt a direct target most of the time)

unlike kepler who prefers hand to hand combat, or jacobi who joins him and also messes around with chemicals and explosives often

absolutely random thought, but alana is canadian to me ! warren is american and jacobi is chilean (i am latino, me reservo el derecho de latinificar a un personaje por cada obsesión que tenga xoxoxo)

jacobi wears a hearing aid on his right ear too btw !! an accident with a small explosive left the right side of his face and his ear damaged !

jacobi paints his nails too (he actually doesnt, its alana the one who does, jacobi has a terrible case of shaky hands)

both maxwell and jacobi wear glasses, but while maxwell uses them 24/7, jacobi just.... does not care. they keep getting broken one way or another so he doesnt bother... he can see from up close, so who cares ! (at some point tho, he get convinced to get eye surgery, so he obliges)

okay switching to kepler's sexuality... he is aro and very horny for jacobi we all know this like. its very obvious i fear.... like... yeah

jacobi is bi... i feel like he had a crush on alana at first, but the closer he got to her something changed and, believe me, he does love her A LOT (probably more than kepler) just not in a romantic way !! ergo: qpps

and because jacobi is a masochistic idiot of course he fell in love with his evil boss CMON MAN GET BETTER TASTE <- alana to daniel

kepler probably doesnt date tho, most likely he doesnt feel like it would mean much making official any type of relationship they have (aka 'we fuck sometimes, i try my best to be considerate of ur feelings, i dont feel jealousy seeing you being close with maxwell, and i wanna keep her close too'), while jacobi is like. biting his nails trying not to die from love but he knows dating ur boss is not a good path to go down (its already bad they are fucking behind everybody's back- except alana, he cannot keep secrets from alana)

i think the relationship these three have (at least in my head idc about yall's opinions LMAO) is absolutely insane and it makes me act like a rabid dog, i lose all coherence trying to explain how they make me feel

they are all in love with each other, just in very wildly different ways

i love thinking about jacobi and maxwell's closeness, how they care for each other, the vulnerability, the love, the devotion, how open they are and how little they care about how others perceive them

i love thinking about kepler actually trying to make an effort to be romantic, getting it wrong often, and then having to deal with jacobi being passive aggressive; WARREN JUST TELL HIM U DONT GET ROMANTIC LOVE, YOU JUST LIKE HIM AND WANNA MAYBE DATE AND DEFINITELY BANG, DONT BE STUPID

i love...... whatever the fuck kepler and maxwell have going on... not romantic or platonic, but a secret third thing.... the mutual respect and admiration, the overprotection feeling.....

jacobi is sooooo glad his two most favourite people in the world get on well, he'd die if kepler and maxwell weren't on good terms... but thank god all three of them are fucked up and obsessed, and insane and love each other

they all love to banter, they would kill each other, they would kill for the others, they cant stand to be near, they would die if they are apart, they need to be so close together you cant tell apart where one ends and the other stars

as a side note of my designs, i wanna comment how confused i was when i finished the podcast, checked the art tag, and saw most people draw warren kepler as a white man, like i got jumpscared ngl IM SORRYYYY

listen when i heard his honey voice... that cadence... he gave me this very clear image of distinguished bald tall black man, the image went straight to my brain and i have not been able to imagine him otherwise

and i keep seeing him drawn white and blond and with blue eyes and i feel SO SCARED like i have nothing against those designs but its so confusing because to me he is that type of attractive motherfucker that charms everybody around with a smile, that make people trust him blindly from how confident his posture and personality is... and to me (poc person) a white blond blue-eyed man does NOT inspire me trust lmfaoooo so i guess i may be biased ?

anyways i know warren kepler is a divisive character !!! he is so fucked up and complex and hot HE IS MY EVERYTHING im gonna throw up /pos im so obsessed with him... you evil bastard... youre my babygirl, ure so important to me, your war crimes and horrible morality is charming to me <3 i dont wanna fix him i wanna observe how he makes other people WORST (thinks 24/7 about the implication that he disciplines jacobi and maxwell in very creative ways)

okay anyways IM DONEEEE SORRY THIS GOT SO LONG BUT I DONT CARE ITS MY BLOG AND MY HEADCANONS AND ITS ALL UNDER A READ MORE SO I CAN YAP TO THE NOTHINGNESS AS MUCH AS I WANT OK BYEEE

[positivelybeastly]

SEEING THE HEADCANON THING

TW for my intense negativity.

ITS TIME FOR ANOTHER INSTALLMENT OF

GOATS GREMLIN GIBBER JABBER

You don’t have to answer this one if you don’t want to, hell you don’t even have to read it cause this installment has

rage

Behind it.

So is it Riggs Raging Rant time? Yes.

Sorry for the intense negativity but it gets my GOAT. It genuinely does so much, and I know you most definitely understand this.

It sucks when I have seen more than once “oh I love the O5” or “I drew the O5!” AND HANK ISN’T THERE OR ITS JUST HIS HAND OR SOMETHING THAT ALLUDED TO HIM.

Literally I have SEEN someone say “oh the O5 have such a great sibling dynamic.” And they give examples for everyone EXCEPT HANK.

Im sorry did we forget how to count everyone?

I get it. I’m an artist and drawing 5 people in a picture is hard. It is. But like…drawing even three people together is hard hell sometimes even two when the idea isn’t cooperating. But don’t say you did something for the O5 WHEN ITS NOT ALL 5 OF THEM.

It just hurts…it hurts a lot and for some damn reason it gets me to tear up genuinely. LIKE I KNOW HES A FICTIONAL CHARACTER BUT LIKE— OW

Anyway sorry again, have a nice day I wish positivity upon you, and I’m probably gonna go home and draw hank when I’m off of work.

Okay, so, I feel this so intensely, because it is absolutely a trend that I've seen in the X-Men fandom, over and over and over again, and the sheer lack of trying to hide it just - galls me.

Like, with that headcanon post, it's not even that they don't think about Hank. Guess what? I don't care if people don't think about Hank. I think they're missing out, sure, but so what? Everyone in a fandom thinks everyone else is missing out on something, because everyone has a favourite that they like in a different way to everyone else.

It's the fact that they want to look like they're including him, and yet they can't be bothered to spending three seconds just - thinking, about something, even if it doesn't pass muster!

Like, 90% of these headcanon posts are completely garbage if you know these characters, they're mass produced fandom slop designed to slot these characters into pre-existing archetypes for better mass consumption, but you can really tell who they at least tried to cram into one of those archetypes? Hank, though? Ehhhhhhhhh.

But I have a special bone to pick here, that is intensely related to this point, and I'm gonna share it with you.

Let me introduce you to the O5xmen sub-Reddit.

I got invited to this place . . . oh, I don't know, probably about a month or two ago? I took a quick look around. It's fine. It's niche, but whatever, I run a Beast RP blog, who am I to judge for niche?

And then I noticed it, as I looked back through their history - which didn't take long, it's not been around for very long.

This was the second post in their sub-Reddit.

I will give you a hint, and tell you that no-one said Hank.

Oh, someone just came out and said it, that's nice.

You ready, kids?

So, uhh. Hank and Peter actually have the closest relationship of any of these people. They've worked together multiple times. Hank has come through in a pinch for Peter a ton of times.

It's almost like Hank is one of the most well connected X-Men characters because he's spent time on other teams, fostered other relationships and friendships, and broadened his horizons, and that has a tangible impact on things.

But whatever. They'd be 'science bros.' A nebulous fandom term for 'these two characters are nerdy and I don't want to spend any time examining that, so let's just sweep that under the rug!'

OP, you can just say you don't give a fuck about Hank, it's incredibly clear that no-one on this sub-Reddit does.

I just gave you four. Think harder.

And it's just that, ad nauseam.

Like, guys. Just admit you don't give a fuck! Stop pretending! Stop acting! 90% of people on Reddit read these threads on the toilet or during their commute, the 10% that actually does more than upvote or downvote are the real devotees of whatever the sub-Reddit in question is - and that 10% also cannot pretend to care!

And it's like . . . the natural retort is, okay, well, if it bugs you so much, why don't you do something about it?

The answer being that I do? That's what this blog is about? That's what my Reddit account is about, even? Look at my post history.

I am the number one Beast discourse generator on Reddit. Because there isn't a number two. I can only be active on so many sub-Reddits. Eventually, I get tired of having to be Hank's champion everywhere because people refuse to pick up a fucking book and read it properly - and, to go back to that O5Xmen sub-Reddit?

Why would I join it? It's full of people whose only conception of Hank is as a war criminal, or as 'the other one.' I can only fight so many uphill battles because people are bone-headed idiots. I refuse to be that one Beast guy you invite into your O5 discussion so I can elevate conversations about your fave while you in turn look at Beast and then swipe left. That isn't my cross to bear.

That's one of those things I like about Tumblr. I get to curate my friend circle a lot more aggressively, and I can just shut out anyone I don't want to interact with. The people I follow and am followed by here, the people I talk with on Discord, they're the people I know I can trust because I know that they're genuine. That's you guys. That's all of you. If you're reading this, that's you. You can read this because I can trust you and I know you're here out of a genuine interest.

But these other people? Pffft. Just say you don't like Hank and move on. Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining - and for the love of god, have some fucking fandom etiquette, and don't post in Hank's tag for the express purpose of saying he sucks, because that just makes you look like a fucking cretin.

. . . Anyway, thanks for letting me vent, goat. :P

[thankskenpenders]

There have been some interesting bits of Sonic-related news lately! This is the post where I comment on them.

Sonic Superstars

Finally! A new Sonic sidescroller! It's been too long.

Admittedly, in a perfect world, I would've wanted a Sonic Mania 2, but I'll take a 2.5D game with all new zones for sure, especially when the art direction for it looks this nice. And four-player co-op with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles AND Amy playable? Hell yeah. Also Fang is back, and there's a new funny little guy designed by Naoto Ohshima! Wow!

There's been some concern over how this will play, particularly after it was discovered it's being co-developed by Ohshima's company Arzest. They're perhaps best known for some mediocre Nintendo games like Yoshi's New Island, Hey! Pikmin, and the 3DS version of Mario & Sonic 2016, as well as, of course... co-production on Balan Wonderworld. The thing is, Arzest is very much one of those "silent collaborator" type companies. They're hired gun developers who do the grunt work on projects for other studios without being put in the spotlight. The quality of their games isn't really up to Arzest, who are presumably just doing whatever they're directed to do with whatever resources they're allotted. It's up to their publishers.

Based on the side-by-side physics comparisons that have been going around Twitter, it seems clear that SOMEONE on this project is invested in making Superstars play just like the classic games. I'm admittedly no Sonic physics purist, but the extended gameplay footage (with placeholder music from Sonic 4 Episode 2) looks spot on to me. Christian Whitehead also seems to know things about the game, stating that "the Mania physics were indeed fully translated to modern 3D." It seems that at the very least they consulted his previous work on this, regardless of whether or not he's actually involved.

But even if this ends up not being true, honestly, I'll take a new Sonic sidescroller that's "just okay" if it has all new zones, nice art direction, and good music. If Sonic 4 had checked those three boxes but played exactly the same, I would've been way more into it.

Really, it's the music that has me most concerned. Obviously we all love Jun Senoue, but hearing he's trying to do "classic-style" music again makes me worry that he's gonna bust out the fake Genesis synths. I'm actually a weirdo who likes the Classic Sonic stage themes in Forces, but those weren't by Senoue, whose otherwise very strong compositions were really hurt by the sound palette chosen for Sonic 4. Like many others, I'd prefer it if Superstars went for the new jack swing sound of Sonic Mania - and considering Tee Lopes is contributing, hopefully he's allowed to tap into that sound a little. But I'd be open to other styles, too. I just really don't think a game with HD visuals should be going for a fake 16-bit sound.

But yeah, overall, I'm looking forward to Superstars. I think we've needed something like this for a long time, and I'm glad they're finally doing it.

Sega union update

We don't have many details on this, but the newly forming Sega of America union, AEGIS-CWA, is facing resistance from management. Apparently some form of "anti-union campaign" (their wording) is underway, also described more worryingly as "relentless attempts at union busting." We unfortunately don't have more details right now, and it seems like no news outlets are doing anything with this story.

This behavior is unfortunately not surprising, even from a company that purports progressive values like Sega. Remember kids: corporations are not your friends.

In the face of this, the members of AEGIS-CWA are still trying to convince management to stay neutral with the help of their fan petition that raised over 4300 signatures. At the time of writing this, their first union election is also underway. I continue to wish them luck in their efforts. We're currently seeing a wave of unionization attempts the likes of which we've never seen before, and I have to hope that at least some of them stick. We need real change in the game industry, an industry where if you're able to stick around longer than ten years without burning out then you're one of the lucky ones.

Okay now time for the thing y'all really wanted me to comment on

Penders says he's leaving Twitter

Earlier this month, Penders announced: "Since Twitter is promoting anti-trans nonsense, I can’t in good conscience continue to be associated with it much longer."

He's certainly not wrong. Elon's been doubling down on his transphobic fearmongering, and Twitter's already weak moderation of hate speech has only gotten even weaker. (They quietly removed their rule against intentional misgendering in April.) But based on the date he tweeted this, I assume Ken was referring specifically to Elon promoting Matt Walsh's shit ass transphobic documentary, which Elon personally allowed to be hosted on Twitter in its entirety. I'd quit the site myself if it didn't feel necessary to promote my work and stay connected with my peers. (Both the furry community and the gamedev sphere are very much centered on Twitter.) Assuming Ken does actually leave in protest, hey, good on him.

There's been some surprise over the fact that he's apparently a trans ally, but for all his many flaws, Penders has always been your average baby boomer Democrat. Half his tweets are about hoping Trump goes to jail. He has many outdated views that he refuses to unpack (I am not going to devolve this post into a catalog of stupid shit he's tweeted), but he at least understands that "progressive" is a thing you should try to be. He's that uncle who you wouldn't go to for a nuanced view on queer identity, but like, he knows trans people exist and are discriminated against and that that's bad.

Of course, instead of just leaving Twitter, he's announced that he intends to leave by September 30th, after which point people will have to contact him via his website. The idea of someone scheduling a date four months in the future on which they're going to leave a social media platform in protest is very, very funny to me. I wonder if he has something planned for September that needs to happen first - like, you know, maybe finally releasing at least a portion of The Lara-Su Chronicles?

Lord knows when the hell we'll be able to read the first part of the comic, but in the near future you WILL be able to buy THIS on a t-shirt!

Wait did he change that one character from Anthony Mackie to Ernie Hudson???

Anyway, my one hope is just that even if he does leave Twitter, he doesn't delete his account. His tweets have long been one of my most important sources for behind the scenes info on Archie Sonic, even if you do have to take some of it with a grain of salt. Gallagher and Bollers are simply not going on Twitter and talking about this stuff on a regular basis like Ken does. With so many old forums and fan sites now gone, only partially preserved by the Wayback Machine, Ken deleting his Twitter would truly be the burning of the library of Alexandria for old Archie Sonic behind the scenes drama.

You know, assuming he actually does leave Twitter.

...

Aaaand that about does it for Sonic-related news lately, I think? Okay, back to my hiatus. I would still like to get back to updating sometime this year, but I'm still in recovery mode following SLARPG's launch, so I can't promise when that'll be. I appreciate everyone's continued patience!

[rachadoodz]

ACT 2 HOLY SHIT

Well I get to scratch some things off my bingo card lol lol

Holy THEMES batman. If anyone is missing the message of this show, like, there is no hope. They are being way more obvious about it than I had expected, but all the better maybe.

I spent hours of my life yesterday pondering over the story design of this show and its really amazing to see it playing out. I might still have to write about it. It's a fantastic system for building characters and it works so fucking well. Lmao Caitlyn and Maddie. I guess she's not a spy?...Be just have another gay ass enforcer on our hands. What a miss matched couple, but she seems nice I guess? A counter to Ambessa whispering in her ear...? Caitlyn was way less wrathful than I thought she'd be. She was really just depressed, turned colder. I'm still a little underwhelmed with her story tho. Thought we'd get an important "stepping back from the brink" moment. I wanted that honestly. But perhaps that will come later and be specific to Jinx. Also I thought we'd spend more time seeing her weaponize her pain and see much more up close and personal dictatorial ugliness. The oppression and class tension was there, but we didn't get to dig into it? Kind of...mmm about that. I'm sure tumblr.com will have plenty of thoughts like "The show glossed over it to keep her likeable!!!!" But I'm guessing its more due to the limited run time of the show in general. The story as a whole doesn't get the time it really deserves to breathe. But that's the cost of LOTS of story with limited time. Just the realities of a really, really expensive tv show.

MAGICAL MEL, MAGICAL MEL. DOOMED TO CURSE HER FUTURE CHILD. AHHHH. Again, it's a curse this show is so short. Goddamn it, I want more time with this story.

I cried, ep 6 made me shed tears. Its a new favorite episode. God damn. Also also the mixed media memory montages are so, so touching and brilliant. Just so beautiful.

Not beast man vander in a trench coat!!!!!! loooool Also holy symbol bat man. Vander is the loved one we can never change for the better, even with all the love and support in the world. Doomed to harm you, even though they still love you deep down. Some things can never be repaired.🥲

The dying scream of the Arcane is the stuff of nightmares. The sound team deserves all the awards. ALSO i love that windchimes are a universal hippy co-op SFX. I laughed. Fucking hippies and their windchimes.

Sort of sad tho, that Caitlyn and Ambessa legit bonding. Cait hurt her feelings! Lol! On top of just political betrayal. You can tell Ambessa had wished for this relationship with Mel, much like how Jinx enjoyed being girly with Isha, something that just wouldn't happen with Vi. Thats fuckin juicy. That fucking ending. I was literally aghast. OH so the old jinx will flare up. And paired with the still grieving Caitlyn...OKAY there we go. Maybe I'll get more of what I wanted to see then.

Also if Caitlyn doesn't build a memorial on the bridge by then end of ACT 3 I'll eat my shoe. It's a symbolism. The cutting between the makeshift undercity memorials and the one to the council. LIKE COME ON. Reconciliation BRO. THEMES

Less sure about a Cait/Vi love scene now tho. Because they just worked together like instantly. Caitlyn didn't have to do much to win back her trust..but maybe I'm wrong, maybe Vi will be extremely romantically guarded and that tension will be payed off with a love scene... but mmm. Less angst between them than I thought.

[thegeminisage]

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA ECHOES OF WISDOM FINAL VERDICT

SHORT VERSION: minor nitpicks but rad as hell

LONG VERSION:

what i loved about eow:

zelda getting her own adventure, FINALLY. it matters so much to me <3

the thinking aspect of it. i'm used to trying a puzzle a few times and then looking it up if i can't get it, but eow made me WANT to throw myself at the wall until something clicked. it made solving puzzles even more satisfying than in link games, somehow. though i had my initial concerns over not getting a "real" sword, i didn't really miss it until the final fight, and most of the time, i went out of my way to avoid using it if possible, because i wanted to be creative. in fact, even while playing, i looked forward to being able to watch other peoples playthroughs to see how they tackled certain puzzles differently from me. it's so fitting to who zelda is in the lore that it's crazy to me she wasn't een in the original concept - she just fits so PERFECTLY here, as if they'd designed it for her from the ground up.

the way link mattered in the story without stealing the stage (everywhere except the final boss, which i have mixed feelings on). i know that link's function is to act as a stand-in for us, but in this project especially, it's nice to see him get some personality - i think he's earned it!

i ALSO really loved, of course, the final dungeon and working together with link to solve puzzles. the last zelda co-op game we had was four swords where everybody had the same abilities bc they were all link, but what if we had one with link and zelda where they had different abilities? it was so exciting and rewarding to finally get to work with link after all the mystery surrounding him and the fights with his evil duplicate.

the stilled realm stuff was incredible. i had so much fun in the rifts i wish there had been more of them. picking your way around that fucked up landscape is great

being able to cheat your way around any landscape is great also. like i can get to hebra from the ground with enough platbooms, i can jump over tree barriers, etc. it made me feel like a master of the world.

i liked tri! not the most standout companion, but they were just confused enough about basic emotion and nonplussed about things in general to be funny and make me fond

in fact, most of the secondary characters were a lot of fun. i was pretty neutral on wright and lefte and the gerudo ladies, but the zora leaders, impa and lueberry, and of course, conde - they were all fantastic. zelda's dad not being shitty for once was a really nice touch, too.

loved all the callbacks to other games - the deku scrubs, the river vs sea zoras, volvagia, big blue pig ganon even though he sin't my fav

speaking of, i'm not mad about the lore either. it fits with what we know so far and it was GREAT to hear from the three goddesses again when it's been like 20-something years. i was kinda mad when they got shunted aside for hylia and i'm glad nintendo is bringing them into co-existence again

most of the time the music was just okay but when it was good it was REALLY fucking good.

overall, the story was absolutely charming, filled with mostly fun characters and environments and a creative mechanic and a world i cared about saving. none of that feeling i got from totk sometimes where i went "wait, what?" or "this is bullshit!" except maybe when the goron had to break the picture of his dead dad lol.

what i did not love about eow:

my absolute #1 main complaint is the quality of life bs. i should NOT have to go through so many dialogue boxes for a task that is repetitive. minigames that have a 20-second time limit where i spend almost as much time skipping thru the dialogue to try again? come on. smoothies? the dojo? these are things we do dozens, perhaps hundreds of times per playthrough. there is NO NEED to make it that tedious. i would have had a LOT of fun experimenting with smoothies if it hadn't been so tedious, but instead i went out of my way to avoid using them because i was dreading having to sit through the animations and dialogue boxes for more. and there's no quick retry for minigames, either. for the dojo where one misstep means you'll have to start over, all you can do is quit early and then go through the dialogue ALL. OVER. AGAIN. it is 2024!!! surely when they played the game they got annoyed by this too! what are we doing!

similarly, while i didn't hate the slidey menu as much as everyone else cuz i got pretty good at skimming it, it's still nuts to me that they couldn't come up with anything better, perhaps involving some sort of category. sometimes i want platforming echoes and sometimes i want combat ones. separate them!!

while the final boss was FANTASTIC in mood and presentation, my echoes and automatons being kind of useless + me being denied a sword made me feel like i had nothing to do but run around and dodge and watch link and my lynel fight the boss. this is a tricky one because i'm not sure what could possibly be changed to make me a more active participant and still leave link his sword (his presence elevated it so much - much like zelda's does in final fights against ganon), but it felt just an inch to the left from perfect for me

automatons in general - i was really hype for them, but most of them don't even move around on their own, and they're so slow a fast-paced combat sitch will obliterate them instantly. which would have been PERFECT for the final boss where i wanted a more direct means of attack, but they'd get toasted before i had a chance to wind them up. JUST removing the winding element would have improved these greatly without any other change at all, but it's another quality of life thing

the horse was also useless, but the horses have been useless in every game since majora's mask, and even in majora's mask it's iffy.

the world DID feel a little small sometimes, but i think that's the natural result of being able to cheat your way around it - and i wouldn't change that.

finally, the music - most of the music for the overworld sections was boring, where the dungeon music occasionally had more character. i was a little disappointed there wasn't more of the old melodies aside from little snatches of them here and there. i definitely understand composers wanting to do something new, but if their new something is this atmospheric, unhummable stuff...that just doesn't feel like a zelda score, you know? that said, again: when it was good, it was GREAT. that final boss fucking rocked.

overall this made me SOOOO ready for an oracle or minish cap remake from grezzo and absolutely RABID for zelda to have her own 3D adventure someday. they thought it wasn't possible but it ABSOLUTELY is, and the co-op sections near the end were especially wonderful and something i'd love to see in a mainline title someday. yes, this game was flawed, but it wasn't flawed the way totk was, it was overall a great joy to play and well worth both my time and money. there's very little i would change.

and, on a mushy real life note, echoes of wisdom did also help me get through the 15-day power outage after hurricane helene...i started the game just before the hurricane hit and finished it just after i got my power back, so helene kind of defined the experience of playing it for me. i'll never forget sitting in my dark bedroom with all the windows open and the generators going outside and my switch just propped up on my monitor stand, surrounded by battery packs, my only light from flashlights or candles, trying to help the time pass and enjoy the game while keeping a clooose eye on my battery life. it was one of the very, very few things i could look forward to in an uncomplicated way every day, and having something to keep me going was vital to my not just going nuts. zelda games usually seem to come out when i need them most! and i'm grateful to her too <3