#maybe some character growth

[rika-mortis]

Headcanon: Deep down they both want to be their fairy godparent/godkid again after losing them, but don't believe they deserve each other and feel like they aren't worthy to be their companion anymore

They both need counseling and therapy as a whole package

[gravybasquiat]

Omg i can't believe they just put Klaus and Dave in a cottage, happy and in love, romcom style, that's exactly what we needed

[kenzan-brainrot-mp4]

Adding to the post credits scene a bit. The way Majima kept staring up at the hospital (presumably the floor Kiryu is on) made everything just that much more painful.

And I know this is a reach but I got serious flashbacks to Majima's one-sided attraction to Makoto. It happened again, he fell hard and I don't think he can let go this time. Can they please stop tearing into his feelings like that my god.

OUGH I DIDN'T EVEN THINK OF THAT Of course I guess we can't know for sure, but god. God, Imagine the possibility. *holds head in hands*

Also now that I think about it, you're right, when you put them side-by-side, the shots of Majima walking away from the camera in pirate yakuza is a bit reminiscent of the shot of him in yakuza 0.... Oughh imagine the parallels though, Majima walking away from the viewer and away from Makoto in yakuza 0 (and yk2) with the intent/hope that they never speak to each other or see each other again, vs Majima walking away from viewer but towards Kiryu (y8 gaiden) to spend whatever time he's able to afford left with him.

Obviously there's a lot of factors surrounding why Majima decided to keep Makoto specifically at a distance post-y0, but I think what's killing me with this parallel in particular is the idea that Majima, by the time we get to post-pirate yakuza, doesn't really have anywhere left to run/can't afford to walk away like that with Kiryu in this game.

Like, it's not like with Makoto where he can keep their relationship suspended indefinitely until they forget about each other (or rather Makoto forgets about Majima), it's not like yakuza like. Five-to-infinite wealth where Kiryu was keeping everyone at arm's length, which prevented Majima from really reaching him in general (Majima's own avoidance at being anything but roundabout with Kiryu aside), or all the previous games where Majima could just get away with not voicing his feelings towards Kiryu directly. They're on a very directly stated time limit now (in all fairness rgg has left a window of possibility of Kiryu surviving, but typically you'd probably assume the worst), and now they're in a situation where Kiryu can't push people out anymore, and Majima can't keep this distance going for much longer because he's already spent years and years dancing around this and now he's officially running out of time and he Knows it (basically there's no room left for the possibility of them reaching a point where they can just 'forget about each other and move on', that he was hoping to achieve with Makoto (not that he'd want that atp with Kiryu probably but you get what I mean)). There's nowhere for them to run anymore, so this time when Majima walks away from the viewer, he's actually going to fact the object of his interest, rather than run away from it.

[milquetoad]

of the many injustices put forth toward the show by fans i think the most overall damaging and telling of a complete lack of critical viewership is the idea that sam riegel builds his characters with nothing more than the bit in mind. like you are only telling on yourself if you think characters like scanlan shorthalt and veth brennato are one-dimensional and depthless

[starflungwaddledee]

my artwork summary year in review for 2024! template from papakkapao_ on twitter

definitely fell off the wagon with regards to regular full comic updates around the time of the kirby oc tourney this year, but in its place i ramped up a lot in drawing and appreciating other folks' ocs!

my highlighted favourite piece is from october, launching kirbytober this year, while my most popular by a long-shot was bandee's birthday comic in march.

in 2025 i want to finish the few in-progress challenges i have outstanding and resume some more serious, chronological storytelling for starstruck in particular. things are scripted and planned and i'm excited to work; just need to find the hours in the day!

looking forward to another year in this community, and hopefully adding some fun lore drops as we go! thank you to everyone who's following along and enjoying my work!

[thesandsofelsweyr]

Why is everyone in this game 6 feet tall??? Aaron Cash, Jim Gordon, Alfred, Joker, Jason, Tim, etc. etc. I'm gonna ignore heights from now on, lol.

[jade-len]

luo binghe better than me fr i think i would've gone fucking apeshit if the person i loved with my entire soul pretty much said "fuck you" because of my race and pushed me down into literal hell for me to suffer for years

i've said it before and i'll say it again, i really don't think we give binghe enough credit. that man was on concerning levels of forgiving all the way from the start

[prismbearer]

Idk why there's disbelief over Mark S/Helly in terms of motivation. Helly is just as capable of cruelty and selfishness as Helena. They are at the core of it, the same person with different memories/experiences. They can be two perspectives worthy of indulging their own dreams and desires and also be the same person. Narratively here especially, this isn't about morality, it's about human nature.

Helly was never cruel, sure, of course. Helly felt like she was the same as the other people in MDR. But Helly has something right now that she never even achieved as Helena. Someone who loves her. Someone who is choosing her. Helly is Winning over Helena here.

Jame Eagen wanders down just to be a freak and reinforces the reality of it. Helly is "More" than Helena, hasn't been worn down by the weight of experience and the world (and their cult and corporate bullshit). She still has, in some way, the innocence of youth and lack of experience with the world. She doesn't have the same fears and burdens or triggers as Helena in her conscious experience. She still has the ability to express her passions and outrage and defend herself. And to love and not feel sorry for it.

Severance gave Helena a chance to exist without the learned perspectives and burdens of the Eagens and she is able to be free with herself and her passions and desires-- whereas Helena was likely drained of any dreams for potential beyond a strictly guided future decades ago.

Of course Helly is feeling a rush of joy and satisfaction over Mark loving her. Mark choosing her. She tried to do the "right thing" by being logical with Mark. "I'm her." Even outside of Lumon, if they bring it all down, there's no hope for an Eagen and an ex-severed employee in reality. In the Real World they will never be together. Mark couldn't love Helena, how could anyone love an Eagen? (Poor Helly really with like, the enemy is within etc, but that's kinda the situation framed by Lumon for everyone by setting the stage with your Innie isn't human kinda rhetoric.) (This was also reinforced by Helena trying to get close to Mark to see if he still had feelings or chemistry with her and finding out they were not going to work outside Lumon.)

What if the equator is a building that could be a continent? Can be their whole world? They're choosing to live Now. Together in the present despite knowing that with their half lives, they could be brought to an end at any moment. It's very willful young love of them. And why wouldn't it be? This is their First Love. They haven't even been "alive" that long or have any memory of romance beyond their current infatuation. They don't know the world or it's places, and maybe that's okay, maybe they can exist in this space so long as they have love and the others.

It's completely human for Helly to accept Mark choosing her. To run to him just to see him for maybe the last time. It's human for Mark S to run to Helly. It's human for poor Gemma, who doesn't even know her fucking husband is severed, to be pounding on the door.

But this is their Final Day to Mark and Helly. Maybe the very end of their world. It's Judgement Day. Of course they'd have them holding hands and running back to the unknown to face the end together. To die together.

There is also zero fucking chance Mark Scout would risk his life and brain continuing reintegration once his wife is back. Mark Scout is going to choose his wife. Mark is choosing Love on both sides here.

All of it is reasonable.

[canisalbus]

in light of that last ask, would you ever consider drawing Machete enjoying a little treat? Maybe licking cream off his snoot after devouring a sweet, or laughing at something unexpectedly silly, or being caught up in the beauty of something and showing some wonder...? Glimpse of happy Machete

(which, as an angst writer, is also a large part of how to make the bad stuff hit. Rip that happiness away, make a smile too ephemeral, etc. Joy as the most fragile of things, that can't be pursued and comes on its own terms...)

I love how you put it, "joy is the most fragile of things and comes on it's own terms".

I do, in fact, have a bunch of happy/content/uncharacteristically genuine Machete pieces underway. If I can keep up this surge of motivation I've been having during the past five weeks or so, you should see them soon.

[biblicalhorror]

Honestly iiiiiiii kinda hate how they resolved the whitney/canaan/kimberly drama. I get where whitney was coming from (specifically re: kimberly lying to her) but she's had a whole summer to cool off and she's spent it apparently lying to everyone around her about not missing kimberly. And I've posted before about this, but I really don't think it was fair to expect kimberly to want to bring it up literally 1 day later in front of all their friends before she even knew what her and canaan were going to be. I wish the writers handled her side of this with a little more empathy and grace because yes, what she did was selfish and impulsive, but canaan and whitney had been broken up for awhile by that point, which in my mind means that the only thing kimberly really did wrong in this situation was lying to whitney about it, and again, I think she would have told the truth if the confrontation had been in private. It kind of seems like whitney threw a temper tantrum and decided to ice her friend out of her life instead of talking about her feelings or allowing any kind of dialogue, and then she only forgave her when she broke things off with canaan and essentially groveled at her feet taking full responsibility for the whole thing. Literally all she did was kiss a boy and then not want to talk about it immediately afterwards.

[straylaughs]

matakara places so much faith in arajin based on who he was like over 5 years ago that bro still somehow doesn't give up on him even after arajin straight up says they're not friends while he's still in the same room 😭😭😭

[ford-ye-fiji]

You know, ngl, Niles kinda carries the entire show

[petercushingscheekbones]

Loki really went "the laws of time are mine" didn't he

*cue "timelord victorious"

[ghostlynimbus]

So many stranger things characters are so under developed that including them in any fics feels basically like writing OCs and also there are not enough girl characters

[clumsycapitolunicorn]

it's been nearly 6 months since the ted lasso finale and im still pretty much:

[vanlegion]

I don't buy it.

I mean, if Bernie legit flat out said " This is a retcon; we're throwing it all out," staring at the screen like Steve from the Office, then. . . obviously, okay he's saying it is. But I just don't buy it, if it's all being based on what was in the teaser for S19. In order for Seasons 15-18 to be Epsilon Simulations, that would imply Epsilon would need to know information he could not possibly have: Knowledge of the AI Gods Knowledge of Huggins Knowledge of Dylan Andrews Knowledge of Kaikaina's deepest regret/fear from her early childhood Knowledge of Tucker's fear of being a shit leader Knowledge of how the other Alien Temples actually work - not just their function but how they'd actually work on the planet Knowledge of both sides of the war on Chorus and every single inhabitant's motivation, feelings, flaws, speech patterns And so much fucking more between interpersonal thoughts, memories of people he's never touched, locations he'd never been to, etcetera. Like, No. There's no fucking way you can run a simulation on data you DO NOT POSSESS. Or at least, not without it being very unbelievable. Unless they're trying to just say all this shit was made up, which frankly would be such a dick move to do. Not to mention, as someone else also pointed out, that Red Team finally got some awesome story beats and arcs for all their people. Finally got some movement on some much needed interpersonal developments. Like, the way I took the teaser, it felt and sounded more like Church(Epsilon) was saying how he was going over the big fight we didn't get to see, and how he was trying to make sure everyone would live - and that THAT was what was causing him problems. Like there would have to be some kind of sacrifice somewhere, and the only way to keep everyone else alive was for himself to be that sacrifice... AND then, on top of all that... Once he does, and the events we witness do come to pass, perhaps the change is that maybe there's a moment here and there that plays out just slightly differently or we see like, missing moments during 15-17... like Retconning to add in moments/tweek moments...instead of flat out trying to rewrite/rid all that development and emotional journeying we all did. I dunno. I want to have faith and be hopeful for S19, but to just think that everything we got from 15-17 (not counting 18 atm since it's not full out and also very different) could be hand-waved? I REALLY do not want S19 of Red vs Blue to do to it's series as a whole what Trollhunters: Attack of the Titans did to it's legacy.