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fancyfade · 10 months ago

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Could I get your thoughts on how the Teen Titans cartoons have influenced recent or fandom characterisations?

I'm not sure I'm the best person to answer this, because I haven't been keeping up on a lot of modern titans comics. I know that @ravensvirginity has read a lot of them.

In general what I do know:

Kory's solo title (starfire) was very toon-influenced. She felt like a completely different person, and they really played up the 'doesn't understand idioms' thing from the toon, even though that was never part of her initial characterization in the comics. And she had all her rough edges shaved off to make her boring. In general, if kory is portrayed as like... overly soft or kind of just would cry if someone said something mean to her, that's toon influenced (also like. I don't think she even does that in the toon, but people like flanderize an already OOC version of her). If she just wants you to hug and make friends -- same thing. Like Kory loves her friends and she is a very affectionate character. But she's also the Teen Titans Character Most OK with Murder ™. Her character has a fascinating dichotomy where she's merciless to her enemies and incredibly loving to her friends and that's not an inconsistency that's part of the point.

Raven is generally de-aged a lot more readily than Kory, probably because Kory is tied into being Dick's love interest so they can't de-age her, but the toon really made teen raven a thing for people and then in the comics in tt2003 they also brought her back as a teenager -- I don't know whether that was toon synergy or an independent decision, but the same comics did have a plotline that pretty much just existed to give beast boy pointy teeth and ears like in the toon, so I wouldn't be surprised.

In general, if Raven is not portrayed as struggling against her father's influence and fearing being like him, but rather just fearing that he'll hurt her (or any instance in which she is used as a portal), that's toon influenced. A key point in NTT's raven is that she fears becoming like her father.

Also Raven as like... more sarcastic and deadpan is generally a toon invention. Raven was emotionally reserved, but she's not really sarcastic. She's a very genuine character, emotionally, she just fears expressing it.

Fandom perception wise I'd say when she's portrayed as like edgy or OK with people getting hurt ( and it's not something that horrifies her and/or tied into Trigon's influence and a slow decline into becoming demon raven), that's ... OOC but I also don't think it's really toon influenced, since she wasn't OK with people getting hurt in the toon. But maybe people read her character wrong? She wears black (toonwise) and acts sarcastic so she must be morally ambiguous. Even tho even in the toon the whole point was she thought she was destined to destroy the world and spent her whole life trying to save as many people as she could before then.

Vic I know we have people who view him as like. joined to beast boy/gar is pretty toon-influenced. I mean, they were friends in the comic, but Vic had a lot of strong relationships with other titans. IT wasn't just a changeling (his NTT name) thing. And even in his own solo they addressed the 'booyah boy' thing which is like... I will not even lie I didn't even notice he said booyah a lot in the toon the first time I watched it I have no clue how that became part of his character's reputation.

Slade thinking Dick is super special is pretty toon influenced, as well as any apprentice-related arc. I think Slade as a nightwing villain NGL is toon-influenced. Like. In the comics we saw him fight Slade once after Joey's death. But earlier more tension was set up (and then regrettable friendship) between Gar and Slade and I Don't approve of the decision really because it was mostly the writers treating Gar as if he got more anger due to the fact that he had a crush on terra (They weren't even dating before her death), but... I also don't approve of the 'slade as nightwing villain' thing, especially any that act as if Dick is just somehow more talented or special than the other titans.

And I know that Titans Academy (and also Terror Titans for some reason, though he was just mentioned in Terror Titans) brought in Red X. If I recall correctly (I read the comic a long time ago) they made references that acted as if the Red X thing in the toon had actually happened in comics, which again, is stupid. Not necessarily the 'bringing in something from cartoons to comics' (I mean, I like Renee Montoya and she's a cartoon invention) but the way that comic is presented in the toon and the 'dick is the most special boy' plotline that goes with it.

Anyway I'm not sure I really got into depth here, b/c like I said I haven't read much recent Teen Titans stuff (I think that Titans Academy was actually the most recent, besides the Kory and Raven 1 shots when they did tales of the titans), and I don't browse fandom tags a ton. But hopefully other people can add if they want :P

#dc comics #teen titans #the new teen titans #teen titans animated #starfire #koriandr #raven #ask #armed with a waffle iron

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ask-tdw-0666 · 7 months ago

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Tough Love (The Villains Lair) (Minecraft Villains Version)

Alvar:

Ever since I was a boy my own father vowed I must find the way to power through a noble brow I married once for love, then my senses came I must marry for the stature of my wife's name Onto marriage number two I knew what I had to do And my poor wife was killed in a year or two Solved problem number one, now to problem number two Her doe-eyed little boy with gentle point of view

Would I ship him off to school? No! I told him if he stayed that he'd have To earn his keep and so he became the maid

Charlie and Joey:

He was lazy He was crazy He was talking to the mice

Alvar: Janis was hopelessly naive, so he had to pay the price I moved him to the attic out of sight and out of mind I could have thrown him out, but I'm benevolent and kind

Charlie and Joey:

Sire, your heart's too big for you!

Alvar:

I knew what I had to do After all, difficult children will take advantage of your good nature

So you lock them up from away the key There's one on every family tree

Charlie and Joey:

Ungrateful Hateful Vile too, the things he put you through

Break their spirit so they obey Now they'll do anything you say Maybe you'd call it cruel but others would call it love Tough love

I ask you, is it a crime to strive for perfection in all things?

Walda:

Oh no, they're so cute when they're little but Then they grow up and just ruin everything

I never wanted children, life was better on my own All the screaming, nagging chilled me to the bone But then one day I came across a flower growing free It's magic kept me young, so I kept it all for me But someone dug it up, now a baby held the power So I "borrowed" him, locked him up and hid him in a mansion, Years went by, Oh, the sacrifice And against my better judgment, I fed him once or twice Teenagers now I know I wild eat their young But that's messy Manipulation's easily more fun A little guilt, a lot of force of course you have to lie Remind them that without you, they'd shrivel up and die

They only have themselves to blame If you'd been there, you'd do the same

Walda:

So work them hard 'til they fall in line There's one way and it's only mine The children are lazy Spoiled too

Alvar and Walda:

But we know what to do Govern them with a heart of stone Lock them up, so they're all alone Maybe you'd call it cruel but Others would call it love, tough love

Herobrine:

Ugh, his own room with a water view and He runs away, the first change He gets?

Alvar:

These wretched brats think the World owes them something, but it doesn't..

Herobrine:

Far and wide I rule the kingdom with a heavy hand But there was more, I had in mind a greater plan I never cared to share, so my brother would have to fall But his "child" blocked the way to me and "Fairest of them all" He was chubby, He was dumb And grotesquel optimistic He needed structure in her life He wasn't realistic I give him chores and took away the things that he'd enjoy But then I caught him singing songs with birds and then a girl Love? Was I just sit by and wait? For him to take my crown? No He had sealed his fate He had to go, and so he did and you know what They say, "An apple once a day keeps your enemies away"

All:

Don't be fooled by their tender smile Give an inch and they'll run a mile

Our idea for a happy home Is one where we live all alone Dark Depressing Desolate Now let's all drink to that Call us wicked call us mean Cruel and everything in between You could say it's unjust Turning their dreams to dust This is what we call love, tough love!

#minecraft oc #minecraft #mineblr #alvar thornburn #rotai walda #herobrine #disney song

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inkdemon-whore · 2 years ago

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hmmmm how would you describe your characterization of the ink demon? what i mean is like key personality traits, goals/motivations, feelings, view of the world around him etc etc.

Still bendy. Still an easily scared, well meaning, occasionally mischievous little devil, but due to him being a cartoon from a specific era, he's made to fit specific roles. From a firefighter, to a dancer. They all still fit his personality though.

But, because of how he came out looking, because despite him being in the real world he was still treated like a cartoon, because of mistreatment, and abuse, and removing of his agency and autonomy, and making him out to be a monster. That very simple core bendy personality got shoved way down for "Fine, you want a monster? I'll give you a monster."

In the ink realm, for a while, Joey was able to rewrite bendy in a may. Making him do things his innocent character wouldn't normally do. He got so use to being used like this, he started to belive it's all he was. This horrible monster willing to destroy his creator over and over again. He became numb to it when his hands would do things he never wanted them to do. And when he stopped being written for, he was still doing those things, because that's all he knew by that point.

At first he didn't want to hurt anyone. He thought everything was his fault. He still thinks everything is his fault. He still thinks he's being punished for so many things out of his control. He's the scapegoat, the villain, and he wears those titles like a crown at this point. Completely forgetting that he's still doing these things out of fear and habit.

He things everything bad is about him, and he smiles about it cuz he's "suppost to".

His actual goals and motives are likely a mess in his own head. His wants vs his needs. He wants to get out, he wants to get revenge for his mistreatment, he wants to kill Joey and anyone else who helped in bringing him to life. He wants to kill people, to hurt people, because that's all he is.

What he needs is for someone to actually acknowledge that he's alive, that he has feelings and isn't just some cartoon anymore. That he's more than what people tell him he is, and that he can be happy without faking it with a smile all the time. He needs to be ok. Not good, not perfect, not a monster. Just, ok.

Most of the time he's aimless, just assuming what others want from him, what others see him as, and going from their because he's been told in the past that's exactly what he is, and he goes for it blindly. Doesn't matter what it is, from just scaring someone to down right killing them, "it's what the people want from me".

Honestly, I doubt he even knows himself at this point. He thinks everyone is out to get him just for existing. He's trying to be what they "want him to be", and they still hate him. He assumes he's supposed to be hated, so he keeps going with it, feeding into it. Maybe it's grown into an ego at this point, a toxic, negative, self feeding, seft defeating, self destructive, ego of self hate and loathing. He doesn't know why he hurts people anymore. It's just what he's use to.

As soon as something changes, and he's allowed to relax and be "bendy" again, he locks up. He doesn't know who that is by this point. For as long as he knew, he was a monster, the "bad guy". To suddenly be allowed to play, be soft, be vulnerable, be scared, be just a little mischievous but we'll meaning, to care about someone else. Who even is that?

Trdr;

Bendy from the cartoons, but forced to be the villain and taking it way too far. Scapegoat with a self hatred fuiled ego. Wants to hurt people, but doesn't know why exactly at this point. Is it what he wants, or is it what other people expect him to be? He isn't sure anymore. Thinks everyone is out to get him, because it's always been like that, but if he makes himself big and scary... Well, it doesn't really help, but he at least feels a bit more safe knowing he can hurt ppl who hurt him. Really lost in who he is and what he's doing half the time, but keeps doing it out of habit, and to change would be to pick at scars and open old wounds. Probably increadably lonely cuz he's essentially pushed everyone away, fuiling his own self hatred and victim complex, which then fuiles his ego, which then makes him think "I'm right, and everyone else is wrong and mean to me", and he doesn't know how to stop. And if someone does somehow get through to him, being vulnerable makes him feel uncomfortable and unsafe, and he might cry because he's just, not use to it anymore and it scares him to be "bendy" like he use to be.

Man's lost, pls help him find his way home.

This is still kinda long, but I hope it's better than the mess I answered with last time. Tho I'd argue both might be helpful in understanding his character.... Tho, I kinda suck at, describing my characters motivations n shit hkdobetkcj

#Batim #Batdr #ink demon #Al #Talk

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oneshotgremlin · 28 days ago

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It took a hot second to compile this into something semi coherent, (and also the format kept fighting me on the app) but anyways

HERE'S OUR CAST:

- Pizzahead as Joey/Wilson: The CEO of Tower Studios! What a cheerful, jolly guy!

- Pizzaface as Dudley: A new main villain Pizzahead's trying to pitch for "The Adventures of Pizzaboy!" Seems to be pretty popular with the kids! Wonder what happened to the old one…

- Fake Pep as Ink Demon/Bendy: The failed (and only) living prototype of Chef Raider. Basically Pizzahead's attack dog before Peppino managed to escape. Very violent <-(it's lashing out. It doesn't know better). Kills (almost) everything that moves. Almost always smiling. Blind, relies heavily on sound and smell. Don’t bother hiding. It can hear your heartbeat. It can smell your fear.

- Peppino as Henry/Bendy: Pizzahead's former business partner/head cartoonist turned experiment. Unable to speak. Due to lost dexterity from experiments barely able to draw/write <-(near illegible). Very expressive tho, so he's pretty much an open book anyways. Very skittish, but in a "yelps and punches people if you sneak up on him" kind of way. Pizzahead has a bounty out for him, and you’ll get quite the reward if you bring him in.

- Gustavo as Audrey: A fresh-faced animator who got a little too lost. An overall friendly guy, but boy is he regretting not questioning why he got hired on the spot.

- Brick as Buddy: A large cheese rat (the sidekick of Pizzaboy in the cartoons). Scared the hell out of Gustavo when he first came across her. Doesn't speak, but can sing, write, and read. Huh.

- Noise as Malice: The former voice actress of Rascal Rabbit, the zany rival and sometimes partner to Pizzaboy. She got a little melted getting into her character and seems obsessed with returning back to "perfection" through any means necessary. The Noiseys work for her, so watch out!

- Noisette as Al: The replacement voice actor of Rascal Rabbit. A nice and cheerful lady, all things considered, but watch out for her sword! Only one who's encountered Raider multiple times and walked away alive (she doesn't know this, she just thinks she's chatting with a new friend that just happens to always be out of sight…and never gives their name…oh well, that's the studio for you!)

- Vigilante as Tom: Also a large cheese rat, although his arms and legs seem to be mechanical. Can't speak, but has a nasty glare and a hard wrench. Has a cool hat tho. Sticking around to protect Noisette (and looking around for Snotty).

- Pepperman as Sammy? Bertrum?: I feel like having him be the music director pre-"everything going to shit" makes sense in terms of there already being a lot of artists. However, he's not a zealot. On the other hand, I'd like him to be more mobile post-machine than Bertrum is, so this one's a tough call. Maybe he could lead this place's equivalent of the lost village, but without the zealotry <-(or have his trust and loyalty be directed more towards Pizzahead. Gonna have to come back on this one)

- Stick as Grant: Let's have the capitalist experience the horrors of budgeting for a change lmao.

- Gerome as Wally: "I'm outta here." Left his keys in strange places.

- Burton as big steve: Quiet. Will move out of the way if you ask him politely.

- Toppin Monsters as Keepers: Best stay out of their view.

- And John ain't even in the studio. He's just concerned as hell that his brother went missing. Basically, the only person that DOESN’T get cursed, maimed, killed, or all of the above.

Howdy I've had this PT/Bendy au idea rotating in my head and as the fellow PT/Bendy fan I've decided annoy you with it so hear me out:

Peppino as Bendy (specifically little Bendy from batdr) to Fake Pep as Ink Demon

It's like a shared body situation where Peppino gets got by his "business partner" Pizzahead and is sacrificed to be made into Fakey. It's kinda like what happened to Buddy/Boris but unlike Boris Fakey's Fucking Pissed and making that everyone else's problem (hence the ink demon role). Also the two can switch back and forth (usually against their will, as Pizzahead also double role as Wilson/Joey here).

I have more (trust when I say this has been spinning in my head. Microwaving even) but I feel it'll take too many words for an ask (and also I'm shy) so um. Ask/message me for a 30 minute unskippable cutscene lmao.

OK I'm done being annoying now kbai

🏃‍♂️💨

/vpos HOLY FREAK KEEP COOKING

you have NO idea what you just did TELL ME MORE ABOUT IT NOWWWWWW ¡¡¡¡¡ i love aus so much in general but this one . makes me go autism bc it's 2 of my comfort media in one ... i already have some speculations (like i'm assuming that there's no audrey and the protagonists are peppinos so what if gus is boris EHEHEHS) but anyway HAND OVER THE LOREREE ¡¡¡¡¡¡ and don't even worry about being lengthy or whatever i'll gobble it up

#I’ve got like ideas of what they’ll all look like #and some ideas of a plot #really the only thing I’ve got mostly fleshed out are the character dynamics (which are NOT one to one with BATDR/BATIM or pizza tower)#but yeag have my mad ramblings lmaooo #idk what to call this #Tower Studios?#Maybe. I’ll stick with that for now.#Tower Studios au

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bigskydreaming · 3 years ago

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@hood-ex

Okay but re: the subject of wingfic.....picture this....His Dark Materials style AU where instead of kids having daemons who shapeshift until they settle, kids have wings that are constantly shifting and trying out new forms until they settle.

And maybe Dick’s generation is the first one to have this.....like, the DC multiverse is constantly having these universe-altering Crises, that are all metaphysical and unleash and reshape cosmic and universal creation energies....and early in Dick’s tenure as Robin, let’s say the DC multiverse undergoes a Crisis whose resolution has an unexpected side-effect.....at that point forward, teens begin manifesting their like, soul or whatever, in physical or metaphysical form, in the shape of wings.

They first pop up around when kids start entering puberty, and tend to settle around them kinda ‘finding themselves’ as adults....and we’re not talking just bird-type wings. Wings of any kind, any shape, any material. They’re described as ‘metanatomy’ not in the sense of metas having altered anatomy but more in the sense of how metaphysical relates to physical.....these wings don’t have to prescribe to any biological or anatomical rules because they’re not biological in nature. Kory’s people describe the wings as a child’s ‘over-soul’ - a manifestation of their fundamental, individualized essence that’s overlaid on top of their physical self.

So, many wings are bird-like in nature, physically capable of being touched, damaged, healed, etc....but just as many are batlike or dragon-like, they can be just wing-shaped and made of fire, they can be mechanical appearing or insectoid or pretty much anything. There was a period when Dick was around fourteen when his wings were just wispy wing-shaped stormclouds behind him, lightning constantly flickering up and down their lengths as though it were the wings’ veins.....another period where they were just giant sweeping shadows behind him that he could nevertheless fly with, and while he was Robin, they most consistently manifested as bright, gleaming swaths of luminescence that glowed as though they constantly had spotlights trained on them.

(Which had Bruce paranoid it would just make Dick an easy target, until they realized that a ‘side-effect’ of Dick’s wings when they looked like this was instead of making it easier for the bad guys to train their weapons on him, even the most hardened villains would find themselves hesitating to pull the trigger. Some kind of pulsating, emotion-laced effect of those wings drawing their attention was it was more like moths drawn to a flame....they were so busy being momentarily entranced or hypnotized by the spectacle of them that they were usually a second too late in actually firing....by which time Dick was in a position to strike them first. Well, at least that’s how it went until the Joker managed a lucky shot anyway. But then, when isn’t that asshole an exception to the rules?)

Some wings had little quirks or fringe effects that went with them taking on a certain form or appearance....though those didn’t tend to stick around when the wings shifted to a different appearance, unless a person’s wings settled in the shape a particular fringe effect was associated with. Like when Roy hit adulthood, his wings settled in the appearance of bright red feathered wings with black accents......his wings are fairly small and not suited for long range flight, or even flight in general, as they tend to be more useful in helping him glide in short, quick spurts. But they also come with a perk unique to him....when Roy uses his own feathers to fletch his arrows, those arrows never ever miss.

In adulthood, Donna’s wings settle as giant bird-like wings, all black feathers with silver specks of stars scattered all across them, same as her Troia costume. They’re like patches of night sky sliced straight out of the heavens, and when Donna’s in costume she’s impossible to see cutting through the dark. Her huge sweeping wings would cast an easily noticed shadow over the ground if not for the silver specks dotting her feathers, but thanks to those, by the time she’s close enough for you to make out her features, distinct from the night sky, its far too late to do anything but go oh fuck.

Wally’s wings are more of a presence than a visual. Hummingbird type things that match his speed but never manage his stillness. Beating at the air a furious several hundred wingflaps per second, so even when he’s standing still he’s far from motionless....the air around him thrumming with movement, humming with vibrations that make it look like he’s constantly surrounded by shimmering ribbons of heat baking off an asphalt pavement. And again, that’s when he’s just standing still. When he actually gets agitated, they hit the air like a thunderclap. Sparks shooting up from the points of contact as the friction of them is so fast and furious it ionizes the atmosphere around him all on its own.

Garth’s can be a bit unwieldy when on the surface, but in the water they make him glide faster and smoother than any Atlantean before him. Stretching out from torso to underarms like the wings of a manta ray, they’re black and gray and streaked with purple like his eyes and the tattoo around it, just inverted. The material of them thick and coarse enough that when he flings his arms out or wrapped around himself just so, the folds of his wings draped around him create a dense barrier capable of shrugging off any number of projectile impacts.

Vic’s are mechanical marvels, smooth and sleek metallic expanses that aren’t dissimilar to Marvel’s Archangel, but where Warren’s feathers are knife-like flechettes, Vic’s host a variety of sensory arrays and feed him all sorts of data. Gar’s never fully settle....they shift as often as he does, sometimes vast and feathered, sometimes batlike and leathery....always green though, and always there no matter what animal he shifts into. He’s never a snake so much as a feathered serpent, a pegasus instead of a horse, a manticore instead of a mere lion, and well, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen Beast Boy take to the streets of Manhattan as a T-Rex with giant pterodactyl wings. Why his wings never fully settle could be due to his shape-shifting or it could just be in his nature.....Gar’s the original Lost Boy who’ll never FULLY grow up.

Raven’s are purple and black on the outside but bone-white on the inside.....like her empathy, they cut both ways. When she pulls her wings tight around her and someone else like a protective shroud, they can shield her and those in her care from prying eyes and scrying magic....when she throws them wide and strikes out with them at enemies on either side, the touch of her feathers is like feeling the cold of the grave. Kory’s are a deeper, royal purple juxtaposed beside Raven’s shadowed inky violets.....but rather than feathered, Kory’s are tall and draconian, imperious and imposing canvases adorned with swirls of red and green like nebulas painted across a cosmic backdrop. Curling emerald flames lick around the edges of them just like her starfire sometimes dances through her hair.....even when ‘ablaze’ her wings are cool to the touch if she invites you to touch them, but touch them uninvited and you’re going to get burned. Badly.

Lilith’s are four enormous feathered wings of green and gold and black spread behind her like the many layered wings of a seraph. They’re decorated in various places with dark concentric circles like those found on peacock feathers....until those circles flare and open wide and you realize you’re staring at dozens of eyes that are all looking back at you.....each a window to your own soul, freezing you in place with a glimpse of your own darkest secrets or possible destiny.

Joey’s are many-hued mosaics, like wings made of stained-glass windows. Hazy and indistinct shafts of rainbow light slanting through his varied ‘feathers’ when he spreads his wings in the air behind him.....like viewing screens or windows they show glimpses, afterimages of everyone he’s ever joined his soul to when riding shotgun in their bodies.....making them forever a part of him, a link he can tap into at will and rendering his power less about possession and more about connection, a forever-door that lets him merge with one of his previously tethered-to teammates, no matter where they are in relation to him. But with the slight change that now what he makes up for in range, he loses in stealth, as his wings show up behind the body of his ‘host’ for as long as he remains merged with them.

And Dick’s wings finally settle in adulthood to sweeping feathered wings of blue and indigo banded with gold.....but where his presence is less attention-commanding than in his younger years, his impact is definitely felt. As his settled wings act as an epicenter for a kind of gravitational bubble around him that’s keyed to his mood.....when he’s lighthearted and in high spirits, everyone around him feels a little bit lighter, purely in a physical sense, gravity within his sphere of influence being a little less heavy, leaving his friends and teammates a little lighter on their feet, quicker in their reactions, etc, etc. When he’s feeling heavy though, his immediate environs feel it with him - though that’s not always the worst result when surrounded by enemies he’s better off having feel overburdened, weighed down, like they’re struggling to get to their feet and the air itself is sitting a little heavier in their lungs every time they take a breath.

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hello-im-not-a-possum · 3 years ago

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16. Play.

Noticing the power shift created by Joey’s new form and role in his story, the Ink demon, the Prophet, and the now much more lucid searchers are interested in playing a few games with their old pals Henry and Joey. (Or not very interested, in the prophet and searchers’ cases) (Set in the AU where by yeeting Joey into the ink machine before going through the portal-door in the kitchen, Henry is accompanied by a chatty, useless, and overall insufferable little imp.)

The novelty of Joey accompanying him as a friendly, (Henry used that term loosely considering what he knew now.) tiny, cartoon demon wore off the second the story actually kicked into play. For starters, the former animator knew that whether either of them liked it or not, Joey was going to be clinging to him whenever he felt like it and following him like a lost puppy.

At the moment, the imp was running ahead of the animator, tapping his feet impatiently as he ‘waited’ for the old man to catch up before scurrying off again and occasionally tripping, but Henry knew that by the time the Ink Demon came into play, the little devil would use him as a meat shield.

Speaking of the two devils, Henry approached the freshly boarded up ink machine room which Joey was already peering into with an uneasy expression on his pale face. The animator also peered into the room, but instead of being greeted by the Ink Demon popping out of the hole and starting the chase, he watched the Ink demon pace about the small room with an expression he’d never seen on it before: a grimace.

In addition to the demon’s seemingly much more expressive face, he seemed to have a different approach to his role as a villain now that he had no script from Joey to follow; a villain who was much more dangerous than a smart animal.

“SAMMY! JACK! JOHNNY!”

The Ink Demon shouted and called up three figures of ink.

“Alright, now listen up you three good-for-nothing, sewer-water-brained Lackeys, the creators will be here ANY second now, and if I find out YOU STUPID INK BLOTS let them get away, I’m gonna wring your necks out like wet towels! Do I make myself clear?!”

“Yes, your vileness.” The swollen searcher with a bowler hat replied in a tired sounding tone.

“Clear as day, your assholiness.” The Prophet added, sounding like more of a smartass than he had ever been when he was alive.

“Y-yes… Lord Ink Demon… We’ll take good care of them all right! W-well not good, but- EEEP!” a third searcher that appeared to have teeth made out of piano keys meekly stuttered and hid from the Ink Demon’s untrusting glare from behind the safety of the Prophet’s legs.

“Good! Now listen up: they’ve started up our machine already so we don’t have much time to plan: So what do we do to stop them?”

“Uh... ...Same thing as always?”

“W-well… I’m sure that you’ll have the best plan out of all of us, your rottenness!”

“You can stick your hand out of the holes in the boards and watch them run and fall to their doom like a pair of stray sheep who don’t see the cliff.”

“NO! When Joey’s not in control, I’m calling the shots around here! And I say: We’re not going to run his stupid story through the machine any more! We’re doing something completely different, something that will really make ‘em suffer...”

“Henry!” Joey tugged on the man’s pant leg and whispered loud enough for him to hear, but not loud enough to grab the ink monsters’ attention. “He can think and talk! He’s not supposed to do that! Hell, aside from Sammy, none of them are supposed to be any smarter than feral animals! Not to mention, they all look different… I think that stuff on Sammy is supposed to be hair, but it’s never been THAT long before...”

The Ink Demon slapped his forehead and grumbled under his breath.

“Speak of the %*#@ing devils…” He then stared expectantly at the confused trio of searchers. “WELL?! THEY’RE HERE; RIGHT OUTSIDE THE DOOR! ARE YOU GONNA MAUL ‘EM OR ARE YOU JUST GONNA SIT AROUND WAITING FOR THE COCKROACHES IN YOUR HEADS TO CHEW UP THE GARBAGE YOU CALL BRAINS FIRST?!”

“Why not take the pleasure in offing them yourself, your dicklessness?”

“Uh, Yeah, and when you fail at that, we’ll set up traps for ‘em downstairs. It’s not like they’re gonna escape the studio.”

The searcher with piano key teeth sheepishly nodded along.

“What?! But I had this cool dramatic entrance planned out and everything- ARGH! FINE!” The Ink Demon grumbled as he started breaking the boards. “If you want a mauling done right...”

Henry held Joey like a football as he ran through the rapidly flooding studio as the Ink Demon cackled manically throughout the chase.

“READY OR NOT HEEREEE I COOOOMEEEE~”

Henry found himself having to jump and duck to avoid a lot more falling debris and had felt the demon’s claws at his back at times, the situation was not helped by Joey screaming and crying the entire time.

He felt more dread than relief as he saw the exit coming in, no matter how close it got, he never got to it, like every time before, the floorboards broke underneath his feet. He always fell, and now, someone would try to catch him.

“HA! NOT WHEN I’M IN CHARGE, CREATOR!”

And would succeed.

It happened so fast that Joey couldn’t tell if he did it intentionally or not, but he had slipped out of Henry’s grip and had fallen down to the depths of the studio with a loud ‘splash’ announcing his arrival.

Announcing that he was alone, defenseless, and weak. In a studio that Joey now knew no longer was his to control, and was filled with many, many enemies who would fully take advantage of that.

“Y-you just need to stay c-calm, Joey...” He pulled himself up on a floating piece of stray wood and started paddling towards the valve. “There’s an ax nearby, all you need to do is get to it and you’ll be fine. you’ve seen Henry do this hundreds of times, you’ll be alright, you just need to believe in yourself.”

In spite of his reassuring speech, the scared little imp felt a large pit of dread in his gut. The former Music director, former lyricist, and the former organist would probably hesitate if it was Henry instead, but those three caught him... Joey shuddered just thinking about it.

As the ink drained he took his miraculously unstained bath robe off of the floor and put it back on. He was also missing his pants now, but it wasn’t like he could go back up to get them, and even if he could, he wasn’t going to fight the Ink Demon for a pair of fucking pants that were too big for him anyway.

“Get the ax, get back with Henry, get the ax, get back with Henry, get the ax, get back with Henry...”

He repeated to himself under his breath as he repeated his task of descending and turning valves as an attempt to keep himself from jumping at every twist and turn. The imp also kept his eyes peeled for anything that looked suspicious or out of place, fearing the looming threat of the searchers’ traps.

The ax and the room was exactly how Joey had left it, not a single thing changed, which did make him feel relieved.

When he moved forward, he didn’t find any evidence that Sammy was worshiping Bendy at all when in the shrine room, there were plenty of ritualistic circles, plenty of cryptic messages, but they all had the little devil as a thing that was meant to be sacrificed, not as something worth the former musician’s worship.

“Of all the runs for Sammy to not worship Bendy...” He groaned. “It HAD to be the one where I became an imp...”

He wasn’t sure whether he was grateful or even more afraid when he didn’t see Sammy moving the cutout around.

------

When Joey got to the music department itself, he heard the sounds of laughter, pool balls clacking, cheers and glasses clinking in the distance. Following the sounds, he found the three searchers lounging around the pool table in the middle of a conversation and a game.

The upbeat atmosphere fizzled out when the three noticed him. The Swollen searcher muttered something about the game just getting good, the Piano key-toothed searcher groaned about Joey spoiling all the fun as usual, and the masked mad maestro smiled at him.

Not in a sarcastic or forced way like how his human self smiled at people, it seemed genuine enough. But it also wasn’t a warm or kind smile, it seemed more ...hungry.

“Hello little Lamb.” The prophet stood up and got into the imp’s face, “Are you interested in playing a game with us?”

‘Oh fuck, he’s still crazy.’ Joey thought to himself. “N-no thanks!” He smiled and waved hoping that he didn’t look as terrified as he felt. “I’ve got a friend of mine to get back to and I really don’t have a lot of time to play.”

The imp dashed out of the break room and slammed the door shut behind him, completely unaware that the merriment had returned to the room.

“Thank god he didn’t go for it.” Johnny sighed. “If The Ink Demon found out about this room because of that little runt...”

“I told you it would work.” The prophet took the mask back off and set it aside on a crate. “...But he’ll probably come back to pester us into trying to help him find Henry, maybe even take up the game offer.”

“Yeah...” Jack poured himself another shot. “Kinda surprised that you didn’t jump at the chance to make his life hell though.”

“Less is more.” The prophet hit the eight ball and watched the rest of them knock against each other. “If you get one big punch left to linger, it hurts like a bitch, if you get hundreds of them, you grow numb to the pain. But I don’t think that Inky understands that.”

“Well, at least he can have fun playing his game of cat and mouse with Joey...”

“Yeah.” Johnny raised his glass. “Cheers to those two being each others’ problems instead of ours!”

“Cheers!”

#Bendy and the Ink Machine #joey drew #Henry Stein #ink demon #sammy lawrence #Jack Fain #johnny batim #ink demonth #fanfic

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chroniclerdl · 3 years ago

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Seven Fundamentals to Writing Better Yu-Gi-Oh Duelfics

Ever wanted to write a duelfic just as good or better than canon?

Done right, duels are memorable action scenes.

Done wrong, duels shatter the suspension of disbelief. It’s already a big ask to imagine the world revolving around a card game.

You don’t want the tragedy where your readers yank the scrollbar past your duel, or worse, close your tab. Even the small pool of duelfic readers/writers like me will skip huge chunks of your chapters when the duels sag.

By implementing basic storytelling techniques tailored to dueling, you can hook your readers into following the play-by-play.

High Stakes

Consistent Rules

Sneaks Checked

“Balanced” Gameplay

Foreshadowing Victory

Engaging Description

Dramatic Tension

1. High Stakes

When you advertise your story as a duelfic, your first duel tells readers whether or not what you wrote is worth their time.

If your characters duel without a concrete reason to rip the opponent’s throat, readers already know the outcome:

You lose.

Why? The game is pointless. Who’s dropping whatever they’re doing just to read the equivalent of your characters sipping afternoon tea? If you’re introducing the setting and characters, why can’t you introduce exciting threats?

No reader expects your first duel to decide the fate of the world, but your characters still need to bet.

Characters wager life chips.

If your character loses, they suffer death or suicide-inducing despair.

Is it too much to start with life-and-death? No. Think of the life chip as the culmination of hopes and dreams.

As the story progresses, the stakes will rise, must rise. How? Others will entrust the main characters with their own life chips, and/or the life chips acquire additional meaning. Consider this loose analogy: at the end of a poker tournament, gamblers sit at the final table with stacks built from the chips of others.

Life chips mean different things to different characters. Let’s take the Duelist Kingdom arc.

Yugi’s life chip is the hope to save his grandfather (and later, his own soul)

Joey’s life chip is the hope to win the prize money to fund his sister’s medical operation

Kaiba’s life chip is the hope to save his little brother (and later, his own soul)

You don’t even need your final showdown to revolve around the fate of world; it just has to be one or more things that matter to your characters.

Also, make sure to communicate the stakes, or why the characters accept uneven bets.

If you have the chops, you can also play around with disguising the stakes. As in, your character thinks they’re wagering something small, but it’s actually their life chip. However, your readers still need a vague reason to believe that a defeat will devour the character.

Always make sure the characters stake one or more life chips!

2. Consistent Rules

If you watched the Duelist Kingdom arc and tried to understand the moves everyone made, your head exploded.

Ask yourself: will the clever scheme that your hero invented drive readers crazy?

If I write a magic system that requires a wand, this applies to all. I cannot become a genius and suddenly wave my hands to cast magic.

Demonstrate the rules early, preferably in the first duel, and keep them sacred.

If you must make an exception, establish it early. In that case, the exception becomes a well-defined branch of the rules that the readers can anticipate.

Can the players magically draw the card they need, whenever they want?

If you can establish the when and why, by all means. The readers proceed with the understanding that the players can reach into their deck like a glorified toolbox.

For example, Duel Links has a concept called “skills” that function like a player’s special ability. At the time I wrote this, Yami Yugi’s “Destiny Draw” skill lets the player take any card from their deck once per duel after losing 2000LP (and even if they stacked the top of the deck earlier!).

Card should also have the same, predictable effect. If the card prevents attacks, I doubt the text discusses physical properties or mentions holding things in the air. But you knew that, right?

The rules are the laws of the universe.

3. Sneaks Checked

I love duels. I also love getting what I want.

Why does getting what I want have to be through a duel?

If we talk, maybe we can come to an agreement. If I blackmail you, maybe you’ll give in to my demands. If I shoot you, I can loot your corpse. Give the readers a good reason as to why your characters would bother with the hassle of honest dueling and can’t wiggle from the consequences of losing.

Often, the duel takes place in the context of a tournament. Hopefully, the tournament officials are keeping a good eye on the players and cracking down on cheaters.

However, even that’s not a guarantee. What’s the key concept?

Power.

The competitors have equivalent capacity for coercion (usually violence) or have a neutral referee presiding over the match with the most capacity for coercion (shoutout to gambling manga Usogui).

Anyone who enters a game otherwise has lost before the first move.

In Yu-Gi-Oh, magical and sci-fi enforcement are common. The Shadow Realm can trap the loser in a desolate hell. In a digital world, the loser suffers deletion. Or just have good tournament officials.

Be vigilant when your duel doesn’t call upon these tropes.

Your amoral characters won’t mind blindsiding your other characters, and they won’t mind blindsiding you with a plot hole.

If you’re not careful, the readers will ask you why they played uncharacteristically fair.

4. “Balanced” Gameplay

Duels should be fair and fun…for the villain.

Ostensibly, everyone plays a balanced game, designed to give both sides a sporting chance. In reality, the villain tilts the field to their favor with one or more tricks up their sleeves. Why would your villain ever fight fair?

But that’s fine. We love rooting for the underdog and watching the villain get their comeuppance.

Overpowered ability to let the villain read minds? Deck full of unbalanced cards that makes the villain’s monsters invincible with no drawback? Creator who knows every strategy in the game? Readers will turn the page as they wonder how the hero will prevail.

The more obstacles you can throw in the hero’s way, the better.

Got custom cards? No problem, just follow a couple guidelines. After all, some duelists are more equal than others.

The hero’s deck is full of regular cards that have a cost to use. For every play they want to make, their cards insist that they give up their attack, discard to play, etc.

The villain’s deck is full of rare cards that power up their game for free. So long as you can justify why the card made it to print, the villain can play whatever they want.

For every step your hero takes, the villain gets two.

5. Foreshadowing Victory

How many times have you watched a duel where the protagonist comes up with this never-before-seen card that does exactly what the protagonist needs to clinch the win? In the final showdown, no less? It’s like the writers begged to be called amateurs and idiots.

No other genre tolerates such laziness.

However, readers don’t want an infodump of the characters’ decks. Show the cards in action. To cover the deck, you'll probably need multiple duels.

This also implies you have more freedom in how your character defeats their early opponents in the duelfic.

Does that previous statement contradict what I said about never-before-seen cards clinching the win as the mark of laziness? No, because here’s the rule:

Tolerance for the hero’s new cards decreases as the story progresses.

(Notice that I specify the hero’s new cards; your villains exist to make life harder by inventing unfair tricks.)

When you must include new cards for the hero late in the duelfic, at least find a way to make them first backfire.

Now, some writers have lots of knowledge about the card pool and metagame. Can they assume the readers a priori know the hero has access to any of the available cards in a given archetype?

I’d err on the side of caution and properly foreshadow the cards before they appear late in the duelfic. Not every reader is a walking card database. They have no reason to assume something exists unless you show the card.

Take the tolerance rule into consideration when planning your duels. If you know the awesome combo you want to use for the final turn in the duelfic climax, that’s your cue to scatter the cards into the earlier duels.

Plan the last duel first and your early duels last.

6. Description

Every reader wants a front-row seat to the action.

They’re paying you their time, so make it worth the admission: sleek combatants & budget-busting fights. Kaiba invented Solid Vision technology for a reason, so help readers envision your duels.

Who’s fighting? Describe the point-of-view’s impression of the monsters’ appearances. Red-Eyes Black Dragon should be self-explanatory.

What about a decorated monster like Time Wizard?

You could go into detail about how the red clock humanoid has yellow gears that form epaulets and purple, pointy boots and a green mustache made from clock hands and so on, but such a level of minutiae bogs pacing and invites skimming.

Readers just need to hear about a purple-caped, red clock humanoid with a wand to form an image. Their imaginations can handle the little details.

Paint appearances in broad strokes and one or two brief sentences.

How are the monsters fighting? Duel Monsters is a game where the target takes the aggressor’s attack like a champ. That doesn’t mean you can’t spice it up.

For example, my opponent’s dragon attacks my weaker knight with a fireball. My knight, interested in not dying, raises his shield. Unfortunately, he screams as the flames engulf him.

You wouldn’t just stand still with a straight face if someone armed with a knife lunged for your gut.

A fight scene is a string of action and reaction.

Most people also experience life in more senses than just sight.

A dragon’s fireball is a bright reddish-orange, hot, dries the air, smoky, and explodes with a boom on impact. I never tasted a fireball, and I hope I never do, but that’s still four senses: sight, touch, smell, and sound.

Include multiple sensory details.

Let’s spare a moment to talk about the heads-up display (HUD).

In Yu-Gi-Oh, cards have multiple stats and abilities. You’re free to mention whatever you deem necessary. No set formula exists. On one extreme, you can mention nothing to keep the narrative clean at the risk of confusing the readers. At the other extreme, infodumps about the monster’s abilities provide great detail but wreck the pacing. But there’s a cozy middle.

State only what you need from the card.

If your duels occurred before the era of Synchro, you don’t need details about levels. You can just display the basic stats to determine the stronger monster. If a deck has Pendulum monsters, just mention the scale numbers when they're played as scales. And so on.

You can also make an index of new cards at the end of a chapter.

BONUS TIP! Understanding show, don’t tell.

What is show, don’t tell? At its core, this concept refers to immersing your readers in the senses and feelings instead of exposition. Unfortunately, that definition is a bit vague to execute. After writing for a while, I had my lightbulb moment.

Don’t TELL the readers how to think or force-feed them a conclusion.

SHOW your readers the evidence.

Here’s a written example from Joey vs. Rex in Duelist Kingdom. See if you can spot what makes this prose telling instead of showing.

“Joey watched nervously as Two-Headed King Rex stomped Baby Dragon. He messed up his Baby Dragon-Time Wizard combo!”

You can see two failures: “nervously” and the second sentence.

Adverbs like “nervously” and other “-ly” friends get a bad rep because rookies tend to use them as telling crutches (especially beware adverbs after dialogue tags!). “Nervously” tells me how Joey reacts. But what does “nervously” look like? One character might bite their thumb. Another might fidget in their seat. The adverb in this context lacks nuance.

We also have the second sentence: “He messed up his Baby Dragon-Time Wizard combo!” When you’re explaining the “why” to something, you’re telling. It’s like talking down to your readers.

Contrast with the next example.

“A bead of sweat rolled off Joey’s face as Two-Headed King Rex stomped Baby Dragon. He stared at the Time Wizard in his hand.”

The first sentence shows me Joey’s physical reaction. I see him sweating, so I think he’s nervous.

We also see a second physical reaction: “He stared at the Time Wizard in his hand.” This comes on the heels of the first sentence, and I also have knowledge of when Joey used the Baby Dragon-Time Wizard combo in a prior duel. Combined, I think Joey is ruminating about a missed chance.

Readers are smart; they’ll catch your intention if you show the proof.

7. Dramatic Tension

I bet you know what it's like to draw a bad hand.

Imagine: The hero staggers into the arena, and the villain just needs to win one duel to take over the world. The villain draws a bunch of powerups with no monster, but the hero draws a one-turn-kill combo.

Anticlimactic. The readers throw that duelfic straight into the trash.

Don’t just write real-life duels. “It really happened” doesn’t mean it’s emotionally satisfying.

That’s why we have literary structure.

Success and setback pace together with progressive intensity to maximize dramatic tension and emotional payoff.

I’ll spare the nitty-gritty theory detail, but your duels should look like this on a basic level:

Part 1: Villain’s basic threats. Introduces the villain’s deck and style.

Part 2: Villain’s minor strategy. The villain’s first serious attempt to defeat the hero.

Part 3: Villain’s major strategy. The hero’s reversal! But the villain has worse in store.

Part 4: Hero’s imminent defeat. The hero must break through, or else will instantly lose!

Ideally, you’re also integrating the story itself into the duel; themes and duels synergize to create a stronger effect.

You may notice how the format resembles the three-act structure.

Act I is Part 1

Act II until the Act II midpoint is Part 2

Act II midpoint until Act III is Part 3

Act III is part 4.

I’ll use Yugi/Pharaoh vs. Pegasus in Duelist Kingdom as an example.

Part 1: Mind scan. Pegasus can read minds to counter combos.

Part 2: Toon World. Indestructible, cartoonified monsters attack.

Part 3: Shadow game. Toons destroyed! But playing a shadow game weakens Yugi.

Part 4: Yugi passes out. The Pharaoh must find a new way to stop Pegasus’s mind scan!

Figure out each part of the structure for your duels before writing the turn-by-turn plays.

By the way, modern real-life Yu-Gi-Oh duels don’t suit drama because the rules provide weak constraints to creating strong boards. A good modern deck usually establishes a scary turn one board and jumps straight into Part 4, whereas other card games like Magic: The Gathering and Hearthstone force the powerhouse cards to wait several turns until the player builds the mana to pay costs.

You can still write a good modern duel. Here’s a basic outline of Arc-V’s duel between Sora and Shay. Technically, “tragedy” is the structure of this duel, so I’ll make Shay the “hero” to flip it and keep matters simplified.

Part 1: Basic monsters. These clash before a monster appears from the Extra Deck.

Part 2: Frightfurs. They come one after another to crush Shay’s Raidraptors.

Part 3: Sora’s wrath. Rise Falcon survives! But Sora’s malevolent nature comes to light.

Part 4: Frightfur Chimera. Sora chomps candy and summons his biggest fusion horror!

If following the four parts is too difficult for you, that’s okay. They're just logical extensions of one basic concept. Keep the following in mind, and you’ll never go wrong:

The villain’s subsequent threats become increasingly overwhelming.

Conclusion

Much of writing a duel boils down to storytelling technique.

Let’s tl;dr the main takeaways.

High Stakes: Minimum ante is the life chip, worth a character’s hopes and dreams.

Consistent Rules: Everyone plays by the same logic.

Sneaks Checked: Characters can’t skip the duels with violence and coercion.

“Balanced” Gameplay: Villains enjoy advantages.

Foreshadowing Victory: Readers have a chance to predict the winning combo.

Engaging Description: Immerse senses and invite reactions.

Dramatic Tension: The villain makes progressively stronger threats.

As a duelfic reader/writer, I can gauge a writer's ability by measuring their duels with the fundamentals. Many fan writers struggle; even the canon writers struggle.

But writing a duelfic isn’t rocket science. With practice, minding the fundamentals will become second nature.

And don't forget to tag your story as a duelfic. It's a whole genre in fanfic, so sort it properly and help readers from the future find you.

May the heart of the cards be with you.

…

Want to see in-depth examples of my advice? I rewrote the Orichalcos arc to reimagine its untapped potential without the failures of the canon presentation. You can find it on FFnet and AO3.

#yugioh #ygo #yugioh fanfiction #yugioh fandom #fanfic writing #duelfic #writing #writing tips #writing advice #writing help #how to write #listicles

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practicalmagicintuitions · 3 years ago

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I remember once you mentioned Joey from friends series...so I'm guessing you watched/know about friends. There was an episode where Monica went out with Chip (the hottest guy when she was in highschool)...

For those who don't know- Monica was very very fat in highschool and could never imagine herself with a guy like Chip. When she grew up, lost weight, is beautiful, (after 10 years maybe) Chip one day asks her out and she says yes ...she herself says that this is "for highschool Monica"! But later she learns that Chip hasn't changed a bit, he is like the same guy from highschool and she dumps him!!

I think the case is somewhat similar to HC and NV! NV does give a "very bullying, hot girl, cheerleader types who were mean to nerdy guys" type of vibe! This is not Henry Cavill the actor dating her or smitten by her...this is the childhood "Fat Cavill" who is smitten by her. This is all very deep rooted and psychological issues. This is why he did that FO post, he wouldn't leave her or officially introduced her on ig. He is thinking he is doing justice to fat cavill. That is why he is so stubborn! It all goes very deep! And honestly, a bit sad too!

Maybe, one day he'll realise that he cannot stay in this high school mentality forever, and see what type of a lady she is, that she is still the same bullying personality that she was 16 years ago. I am not painting him as a victim who is "trapped" by her as fans like to paint her as a villain! Instead he is "trapped" in his own mentality and I wish one day he gets well and seeks the professional help he needs! Till then, good luck with your love and life, muscle man🥰❤️

I love Friends, grew up on it when it was aired the first time. So I am an OG fan (lol)

I agree on the Fat Cavill part, I think many people have the same impression and it was discussed briefly. I absolutely think this is the key or one main reason behind this. I think Henry is fascinating in psychologically. Probably that's why I am here. His acting, his stardom is not something which could make me stay. His look is fading, but the motives, reasons behind his actions is amazing to watch and try to understand.

Also agree very much on the trapped in his own mentality part. He is his own prison guard (as every human who has a mental block). Leaving this behind is a painful and hard work that starts with a realization and an urge to change. I am not sure he is there. Or will be.

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gxlacticlove · 2 years ago

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tbh I think that Made In America probably goes the hardest out of all of Starkid's songs and I don't think it gets enough attention

#you opened the box a doll came out #like when they sing #oh my goddddd #i ascend to another universe every time #that song makes me want to scream cry #im so sad they didnt do it on tour #but also feast or famine goes so hard too #i cant wait to hear jeff's npmd music #im so pumped #wagon on fire goes hard too #maybe villain joey is the key #thats also written by jeff too #black friday #starkid

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steve0discusses · 4 years ago

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S5 Ep 4: But His Name Backwards is Nomolos????

World is still kind of a mess, so lets go back to Yugioh, during an arc that is so incredibly tame that no one has died. Not even a little bit. No one has risked the destruction of the ecosystem with Pegasus’ historical fanart drawn on digital playing card. No angry gods have done really anything. They’re all on break.

Except for Pharaoh, but Pharaoh isn’t that angry anymore ever since the Orichalcos thing. He mostly just talks about card matches I couldn’t care less about because it’s Grandpa and Joey.

hey you know what bro just noticed that I haven’t noticed over these past 4 seasons--Look at Yugi and Yami’s hair.

Yugi’s hair has 3 extra floppy down bangs by his eyes. I just always assumed those were the same number as Pharaoh’s bangs--but turns out no, those are Pharoah’s streaks but flopped down.

Which means when he de-charges, his hair just flops over directly into his eyes.

And now I have an urge to animate something for the first time in years (spoiler: I do not have the time to animate this.) because WHY would they never animate this hair flop for us??? The POTENTIAL.

Grandpa spends most of the time saying “Joseph, can you guess what card I’m holding???” and Joey is like “Why would I tell you that? I’m trying to play a game? Would you stop explaining the rules? it’s getting kind of weird.” and I got a little bit of an insight into what the homelife of Yugi Muto must have been like growing up with a Grandpa who is just always talking about cards.

It does explain why Yugi plays so freakin slow, though.

(read more under the cut)

This is clearly just a visual gag but also maybe this is also how the Doctor just gets around?

Speaking of visual gags and getting around, it’s our two most inconsequential minibosses, refusing to leave the series.

Y’all let me know last time that we are in fact, still in America, and I guess this is proof of it, because there’s no other way they could have walked here. I mean Yugioh is real bad at geography but they seem to have a good grasp of a big ass ocean existing betwixt Japan and the US.

Not sure where they got those rad Hobbit outfits, though. If this is their new look, I’ll accept it.

(Yes, this is a new font. Again, I’m trying out stuff to try and make it accessible. I will figure this out before the season is over)

Honestly, I didn’t think Rex and Weevil could get much worse than being dead. Thought that maybe waking up in a hospital bed after joining the Big Bad would be enough of a wake up call to the direction their life is heading.

But, considering that this arc has no real villain so far other than a guy who likes the color purple and bathing in milk...maybe that’s fine. It’s not a BAD thing to play cards, necessarily. This doesn’t make them bad people...it’s what you do with those cards.

Like destroying a Caltrain with it, for instance.

Unless of course, the amount of energy it takes to do a card hologram is the same amount as an NFT, in which case I guess that would make them bad no matter who you play against. But we live in a universe with Noah in it, who probably had enough energy pumped into that orb to fuel like 15 Americas. Fossil fuels seem to be just fine in this universe.

In fact I don’t think it’s ever come up? Surprisingly, Seto Kaiba has never had to deal with an eco terrorist, unless you counted Raphael. That is hella rare for a 90′s early 00′s show. I feel like they were contractually obligated to have at least one fossil fuel episode.

Well, good for the Yugioh universe, who managed to solve the energy crisis off screen. Good for them.

PS Hawkins said this and afterward was like “I just want you kids to appreciate what you’re seeing here today.” and it’s like damn Hawkins. Condescend much? This old guy is like King of Throwing Shade While Appearing to be Helpful.

Anyway, the gimmick of Solomon Muto is that he plays a bunch of history cards. Arthur Hawkins was super excited about it, but I feel like the other kids were like “We straight up have never heard of any of these old ass cards for a reason.”

Bro has informed that this card also sucks ass IRL, and like...I’m not surprised.

(grandpa’s font has also changed to something he’s actually wearing, and to something that is way more legible.)

To think that during the time Grandpa spent trying to get this dragon working, he could have been researching the damn God Cards and helping Pharaoh figure out his past history. Youknow...that history stuff that he devotes his entire life to studying.

Course, maybe Grandpa was smart enough to know NOT do that. I feel like Grandpa putting the brakes on revealing Pharaoh’s history is reason enough to just not open that Pandora’s box, but that will be another arc, I guess. This one we’re just showing some ancient dragon merch to sell toys to kids IRL. Gotta have your episodes to remind you that Yugioh is in fact toys.

Also, Hawkins proceeded to point out to Yugi in a way without literally saying it, that Yugi doesn’t go home often enough to distract his Grandpa with cards.

Which Hawkins followed up by throwing shade at Joey Wheeler for the rest of the match, since he was the only one here who stans Grandpa. You can see who Rebecca gets it from, is what I’m saying.

Joey reveals his only motivation to be here--which should be to get a plane ticket. Like their only reason to be in this tournament is already done?

But his other motivation is silly.

uh huh.

Tristan really did lay this specific dunk in the show. He is being given a plane ticket to do nothing. Wow, Tristan.

At least Joey’s motivation isn’t based on fixing some girl. For once Joey is just doing this for himself and not for a relationship that will never happen for at least several years, or to be a Father for his oblivious Sister. Thank you, show. Course I say that, and there could be another Mai arc right around the corner.

Anyway, there really isn’t much else to say about this arc other than Joey has finally bested his mentor in a card game. Still can’t best Yugi or Pharaoh or Seto or hell, probably even Tea or Mokuba if they ever pulled out cards again...

...but he bested Grandpa, who got polished off by being beaten up by several thug-like holograms.

Not sure why he fell over other than...something in the holograms must be real in this universe. There’s no other reason this would happen!

(honestly I can’t handle Grandpa’s face. It looks. SO BAD. There’s something offsetting about it that I really do not like, and I think it’s the eyes and the tiny nose and the very skeletal bone structure--I don't like it)

Like every person here is convinced that Yugi’s grandpa is one step away from keeling over and it’s low key hilarious to me. The man has died and been resurrected. You think Pegasus did that bad of a job??? Grandpa Muto will likely outlive all of you.

This show really can’t lift Joey without taking two more punches to get him back down. Like the show keeps telling me that Joey is a complete idiot, and he kind of is, but I want to point out that he is a talented idiot who was second in most of the tourney’s he’s been in and he should have killed Marik straight up if he wasn’t like struck by lightning first.

Yes, he got distracted and raced after Mai last season so he prematurely died, but that was clearly just a phase because I don’t see Mai here.

Yes, in the actual show, they each said “ohhhh” and it’s like...the brain damage on these kids. We need to get them back to school.

I think there’s like 30+ other characters introduced but the only ones I know are Rex, Weevil, Leon, and...the girl who hugged Yugi once? I don’t remember her name. But they’re probably next. I feel like this is a bit of a slower arc, but hey, if anything it’s easier for me to cap.

anyway, if you just got here, this is a link to read these in Chrono Order!

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

I’ll have you know I wrote this whole thing thinking Nomolos is a Fleet Foxes song and it hellllllllla got stuck in my head, but it turns out the word I was thinking of is Mykonos.

youtube

#ygo #yugioh #yu gi oh #recap #photo recap #S5 #Ep4 #Yugi muto #joey Wheeler #Grandpa muto #solomon muto #tea gardner #tristan taylor #duke devlin #Mokuba Kaiba #professor hawkins #at least this duel was short

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finding-fallen-stars · 4 years ago

Text

YGO Questionnaire Part 2 Electric Boogaloo

So, my gf/bf @howaboutalittlehelpneos tagged me to do this again a... good long while ago, and I had wanted to wait until I'd finished my GX rewatch before trying this again. But ouch oof I accidentally also got through all of 5Ds again before getting to this lol

But the 5Ds rewatch definitely reshaped a lot of my thoughts, so... cracks knuckles. This won't be spoiler free, fair warning~

Favorite Series: ugh the formatting killed my original essay on this but okay GX and 5Ds are pretty tied in my book, now-- I love them equally, but in different ways! GX fulfills my love for subversive coming-of-age stories with a heartwarming, humorous, and also soulcrushing touch, and I love how each season brings a new story and new characters-- it's like reading installments of a novel series, and I think the formatting works wonders for it as a whole. It has some absolutely phenomenal character writing, too-- even the characters I dislike are ones I can appreciate for what they introduce to the story! And honestly, not enough people give the first two seasons of GX the credit it deserves: they're half the charm, really. How are you going to feel the full impact of the heartbreaking content in seasons 3 and 4 if you aren't properly attached to the characters?

But on 5Ds's side of things... it fulfills my love for stories with time loops, found family, human nature, and of course, love and death and how they intertwine. I love how the leading characters are just a bunch of broken kids from broken circumstances who all find a home with each other, and of course, how it highlights class disparity and how fucked up the prison/"justice" systems are. Yea, sure, maybe it underwent executive meddling and all, but I genuinely love it for what it is and I wish more people appreciated it... my only problem with 5Ds is the untwist with Z-ONE and then the ending s m h I adore it overall and I could go off for a long while on it. Overall, these are my two instinctive recommendations for anyone getting into Yugioh!

(look at these boys they're so important) Favorite Protagonist: Oh, believe me, absolutely nothing has changed here-- Yusei Fudo is and always will be my favorite protagonist, and my rewatch only solidified that.

I just... love him so much? He's seen so much hell in his life and carries so much guilt on his shoulders, but he still has room in his heart to believe in others and to believe that anyone can defy fate and find hope even at rock bottom. I love that he's initially introduced as this quiet, brooding figure when he really just turns out to be a huge softie who wears his heart on his sleeve half the time and wants to bring about change for Satellite and its people. Plus I just really love that his greatest flaw is something that would ordinarily be a positive trait-- he's Overly self-sacrificial, to the point where he's basically setting himself on fire to keep others warm, and that's not really framed as something Heroic

Just... he makes me so happy. I have two Yusei charms that I ordinarily keep on my keys (one was a gift from Zenzen) and they're a constant source of serotonin for me. He's Peak comfort character for me. Best protag in my book Favorite Rival: Same deal here-- still Manjoume!

look at him he's so important

While he spends a lot of the anime getting the good old damsel in distress treatment (getting suckered into a cult, getting knocked into a coma, becoming a zombie, getting fucking Killed, etc), I still think his character arc is really well-written overall and I only appreciated it even more when I watched GX again. I love the fact that he's got a soft heart he buries beneath the edgy facade, and that he's simultaneously really sharp and also kind of dense lol. He's just a fun character and watching how he evolves from episode one to episode one hundred eighty is such a satisfying journey.

Plus, props to him for being such a versatile duelist-- 50 wins in a row is HARD as is, let alone with a deck full of cards he just found laying around in the Arctic. Three ace monsters, three different archetypes... he's a really good duelist and I'm proud of him for it

Oh, but honestly, I don't really dislike any of the rivals-- I'm neutral towards Revolver and Reiji, but the remaining four (Kaiba, Manjoume, Jack, and Shark) compel me. yes I accidentally wound up liking Jack Atlas shhh Favorite BFF: Honestly, I really like most of the characters who fit this archetype-- Joey, Crow, Gongenzaka, Soulburner... I still lean a little bit more towards Joey, but I really appreciate all four of them. I'm gonna say Joey again, just because I find his evolution as a character the most compelling, but I appreciate the other three a lot. Soulburner has the best design though Favorite GFF: Oh absolutely still Aki, but I honestly... really love most female Yugioh characters? I'm assuming this is lead girls only, but like. I'm dumb and gay and I love Girls so this is naturally the most difficult one for me to answer lol

Aki just resonates with me the most because she's the prime example of how trauma doesn't always manifest in palatable ways-- when we first meet her, she's angry and lashes out at anyone and anything just because she wants the world to suffer in the same ways she's suffered, and then... we get to watch her grow from that, once she's free from Divine and able to heal the way she needs to heal. I know the second half of 5Ds didn't give her character the attention it deserved, but I'm still proud of her for winding up on the path she did-- seeing her channel her power and energy into wanting to heal and help others was just so good and was one of the few things I really Loved about the 5Ds ending.

oh, but like. Asuka Tenjoin and Aoi Zaizen are very close seconds for me!!! Aki just has a vice grip on my heart Favorite Villain: Okay, it's still technically Vector-- I think he's the most entertaining, well-written, and effective villain out of all of the ones we've seen so far, but... I also want to add Takuma Saiou and then all of Yliaster as honorable mentions?

As someone fond of tarot myself, I was naturally pretty intrigued by Saiou the first time I watched GX, but my attachment to him only grew the second time around where I actually got the chance to understand his character better. Plus, like... the visuals with him are fucking astounding and he's always so interesting to watch.

As for Yliaster, I just... really love how the big bad of 5Ds turned out to just essentially be a broken man desperate to save anyone and anything and three robotic reconstructions of the friends he'd lost. I still think the untwist with Z-ONE was stupid and I much prefer the idea of him and Yusei being the same person, but I'm still compelled by the other three-- well. Paradox less so, because we don't get a lot of Paradox lore, but. Aporia and Antinomy for sure.

ugh Yugioh has some damn good villains

Favorite Card: now that I actually play the TCG game...

Stardust is always going to be my favorite of all cards because it checks every box for me (my favorite YGO character's ace monster, space theme, what more could I want), but Aromaseraphy Rosemary has really become one of my aces in my best TCG deck! I'm still mastering irl plays, but I'm happy with my progress and I love my plant gang...

Favorite Episode: alright, here's where there's actually been a Lot of change, so...

Season 0: Episode 16: "Turnabout by a Hair's Breadth - The White-Robed Crisis" -- The more I think about this one, the more I love it; there's a... lot of corruption in the medical industry, and I've seen a lot of it firsthand, so just. Seeing a corrupt doctor get what he deserved at the end was cathartic, in a way? Plus, a Jounouchi-centric episode is always a good time.

Duel Monsters: Episodes 96-97: "Darkness vs. Darkness/One Turn Kill" -- this hasn't changed, I still love seeing Marik and Bakura bitch at each other for two whole episodes LMAO

GX: Episode 152: "Activate Super-Fusion! Rainbow Neos" -- This one hasn't changed and it likely never will-- I take so much pride in seeing Judai push forward, past the fear and guilt he's carrying, all to save Johan... it's cathartic and I never get sick of watching it.

5Ds: sweats. still all of Crash Town, but also episodes 137-147-- the Ark Cradle is one of my favorite parts of 5Ds and one of my favorite YGO arcs period, and even though each duel is a fucking gut punch, I love the emotional intensity and weight in each episode... It hurts but in a mostly good way

Zexal: Episode 143: "The Aloof Duelist 'Nasch': The Destined Final Duel" -- this one hasn't changed! Still hurts, still love it, I still weep over Ryouga Shark Kamishiro on a daily basis

Arc-V: Episodes 81-82: "Our Respective Battlefields/The Ultimate Falcon VS The Black-Feathered Thunder" -- Okay, honestly, this was hard because I... genuinely. really don't like Arc-V very much at all lol (it's just not my cup of tea, but more power to those who do like it!), but I thought this duel was a lot of fun! Shun is my absolute favorite from Arc-V and I really like the friendship he struck up with Crow a lot, so here we are

VRAINS (so far): Episode 25-26: "Virus Deck Operation/Three Draws Leading to Hope" -- honestly I am so biased because I just really love Blue Angel and I loved seeing her get a well-deserved victory like this lol. I'm not done with VRAINS, so this is probably gonna change, but anytime Blue Angel or Soulburner are on screen, I'm happy

Favorite Decks to Use: Aromages will always have my heart, but I adore Cyber Angels too! I'm building my Trickstar deck, my Synchron/Stardust deck (just waiting on Dawn of Majesty...), and my Magician Girls deck, too! Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, XYZ, Pendulum, or Link?: Synchros my beloved... but also Ritual Years in fandom: I've been here for just a little over one year now! and I wuv it... I'm never looking back Who am I tagging: no one I'm too shy

#yugioh #ygo tag meme

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inevitable-anna · 5 years ago

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‘Black Friday’

I’m about to go and watch it! Wish me luck! :D

And I’ve decided that while I’m watching the show, I’m gonna edit this post with my thoughts and reactions because I think it will be funny and I like to theorise while I watch things.

Major spoilers below!

so the opening tickle me wiggly song is giving me ‘The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals’ (song) vibes? So are they pulling a ‘TGWDLM’ where everyone is going to get wigglied at the end? Because I don’t think I can handle that again...

3:55 EMMA! PAUL! WHAT? DON’T GET ME WRONG I LOVE YOU BOTH BUT YOU’RE BOTH DEAD!

Wait!? This is an alternative universe? Like where the asteroid never happened and it’s wiggly who’ll be converting everyone instead?

Oh Emma! I love you, please never change (or die on me again?)...

5:53 DYLAN!

Emma’s doing Paul’s “Okay... okay... okay” thing!

Loving the songs so far, I’m at Tim’s song. But I remembered someone saying that Lauren plays the villain in this musical but she’s also playing Emma... so she’s dual-casted but I have the feeling that either Emma’s gonna die, or Emma will become the villain... but that doesn’t really make sense since I know her other characters name, I just can’t remember it... whoops?

Okay, I like Lex. OH! She just stole a wiggly!

17:55 well... that wasn’t ominous at all, random delivery dude played by Joey.

“Don’t you fucking laugh” how does Robert face that without cracking up?

“Cross my heart, hope to die” yeah I get the feeling that that’s gonna happen, Ethan.

Is anyone else noticing that they’re bringing back things from ‘TGWDLM’ like the “okay... okay... okay” line and Ethan just did the thing that the smoke club girl does. it’s probably just references but I feel like they might be important?... This is probably me just overanalysing stuff.

^ Me right now...

Hannah doing the smoke club thing is hilarious!

Oh! Here’s Lauren’s second character, the villain... Linda? I wanna say Linda?

Yay! it was Linda but bad news everyone...

Linda’s a fucking Karen!

Although we’ve met Becky now so that’s cool.

I’M ABOUT TO THROW MY FUCKING HANDS AT LINDA! YOU BITCH! YOU NEVER EVER SAY SHIT LIKE THAT TO AN ABUSE VICTIM! FUCK YOU LINDA! YOU PIECE OF SHIT!

32:57 is it just me or does Joey’s character in the back look like the homeless guy from ‘TGWDLM’ just without the mustache?

42:00 uh oh... it’s starting...

43:32 Jeff yelling “Chaos reigns” is a whole-ass mood

I feel like Hannah is connected with the wigglys somehow? Like I feel like she’s gonna be really important later?

The actress playing Hannah is really good.

OH SHIT! Leave Ethan alone! Oh shit, that looks bad!

Wait! No! Don’t hurt Becky! Thank god for Tom!

The lawyer doesn’t even try to fight Tom! Tom just grunts at him and he runs away squealing.

Wait... did they... did they just kill Ethan? No! Oh my god! His last words were “Lex. I’m gonna get you to California, Lex. Then you don’t gotta cry so much no more”... 🥺 I was just joking earlier...

FUCK! TOM JUST GOT STABBED! by the guy...! Wait! Is that the guy who tips Emma at Beanies in ‘TGWDLM’ and then gets mad when she won’t sing?

Oh shit! Creepy delivery guy is back and making plans with Linda.

So now the president and 3 other people are fighting over a wiggly and they’re screaming but I just heard the president yell “I’ll bite your nipple!”! XD

My current theory on Wiggly is a form of alien mind control? Maybe Hannah is connected because of ‘Webby’. ‘Webby’ could possibly be a telepathic web between the Wigglys and Hannah is somehow keyed into it so she’s hearing the Wigglys talk to each other via the telepathic web?

57:04 IT’S GENERAL MCNAMARA! HE’S BACK! WOOHOO!

General McNamara just started singing and in the song he said ‘sometimes you gotta step into the black and white” and “black and white” is what Hannah keeps saying!

Onto Act 2 now, boys, gals and non-binary pals!

Okay? I take it, we’re watching the ‘Santa goes to high school’ film that Ethan was trying to take Hannah too. Yep, Robert’s jacket has ‘Kringle’ on the back.

Lauren and Joey dressed as elves is brilliant XD

Yay! Tom’s alive! “What the fuck am I watching?” XD

Okay, the actress playing Becky is amazing! I’ve got chills listening to her talk about ‘that night’ and Stanley fucking deserved it, he was an abusive asshole!

Becky and Tom’s song is amazing... but after ‘TGWDLM’ I’m trying not to get my hopes up and a part of me is just waiting for one of them to die...

The way Jaime just goes “Santa!” Is fricking hilarious!

Haha Tom and Becky are having some fun and Tom just pops up and goes “This is the best movie ever!” XD

1:19:15 I love how you can hear “America’s Great Again” in the background as General McNamara enters P.E.I.P headquarters with the president.

Wait? General McNamara said that there’s psychic energy they call ‘the black and white’ so Hannah is connected somehow! Because that’s what she keeps saying! I think she’s connected to a telepathic/psychic web between the Wigglys or from the Wigglys dimension that she’s tuned into somehow!

General McNamara said they’ve known about the other dimension for 13 years... how old is Hannah, she looks to be around 13 maybe 14/15 at most?...

General McNamara’s mentor, Wilbur Cross, went through a portal connected to ‘the black and white’ and came out a “raving lunatic” and he pleged himself to the forces within...

I think ‘creepy delivery guy’ is Wilbur Cross!

Uh oh, Lex and Frank(?) have been caught by ‘the cult of Wiggly’. Actually Lex makes a point, where is Hannah? Did she go to the playground tunnel like Ethan to told her too?

1:24:00 let me guess ‘the prophet, the mother, mommy!’ is fucking Linda...

Yep, it’s fucking Linda and she’s getting what she wanted. To be worshipped.

Oh shit! They’re going after Hannah!

Lauren’s villian song! Lauren’s villian song! Holy shit! That was awesome!

But what happening with Emma, Paul and Tim? Are they alright? I’m still confused about how Emma and Paul are alive? Unless this is an alternative dimension where Wiggly invades instead of the meteor.

If anything happens to Hannah I will fucking riot!

Ethan?!? Oh wait, this is gonna be a vision or something.

I just wanna give Hannah a hug!

HANNAH’S IMMUNE TO WIGGLYS INFLUENCE! HANNAH’S IMMUNE TO WIGGLYS INFLUENCE!

At this point, I’m seriously asking myself if Webby is actually a real spider from space because this is StarKid and they had a walking, talking lobster called Corn-Wallis!

Okay, I really don’t like the way Tom and Becky are talking to Hannah. They’re probably under the influence of Wiggly...

Yep, Tom and Becky have been Wigglied and now they wanna drug Hannah! (Where the hell did Becky even get that syringe and sedative?)

Hannah please run! Just run away! Drop the doll and go! Becky and Tom’s song is so creepy!

Okay... where did Becky go to nursing achool because she just stabbed herself with the syringe full of sedative... unless she managed to momentarily managed to brreak from Wigglys control for a split second and did it on purpose?...

The president has gone into the black and white!

Is the voice in ‘the black and white’ that Xander(?) the guy from P.E.I.P? Because he’s bben the only person to call the president ‘Howie’? (Okay, it’s not)

I knew ‘creepy delivery guy’ had some part in this! I bet he’s the Uncle Wiley(?) guy who made the Wiggly dolls!

OH, THAT IS FUCKING AWESOME! Using the tinsel on the upper bannister of the stage as Wiggly’s mouth and huge lights as his eyes! That’s a fucking awesome idea! They included set designs to make a character! That is wicked! One thing I love about StarKid is always their set design, it always seems so simple but it’s so immersive!

Oh shit! They’re gonna kill the president! Uh oh, this doesn’t loo-YES! GENERAL MCNAMARA IS HERE TO KICK WIGGLYS ARSE!

1:42:55 to 1:42:57 It’s an instrumental of the “Look what happens, nightmare time!” riff from ‘Not Your Seed’! That’s such an awesome detail!

I still think this is an alternate universe! If General McNamara dies in ‘the black and white’ how is he in ‘TGWDLM’ unless he travels through ‘the black and white’ to the universe where ‘TGWDLM’ takes place!

Oh shit! Wiggly started WW3

NO! DON’T YOU DARE! DON’T YOU DARE KILL LEX! But the song she’s singing is only 3 lines in and I love it already... just please don’t kill her!

That song was so beautiful... and I’m crying... Lex is dead.

OH MY GOD!

OH MY GOD! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! GENERAL MCNAMARA IS HERE AND HE’S HELPING LEX! I’M CRYING! THANK YOU!

Kick Sherman’s fucking arse Lex!

Yes! “I’m authorising you to use my firearm!” Yes! General McNamara! Yes!

Yes!

Wait! Oh MY GOD LEX HAS FUCKING POWERS!! WOOHOO!

I feel like they are getting our hopes up so that they can pull another ‘Inevitable’ on us...

That fucking eagle screech as General McNamara looks dramatically into the distance is everything!

The speech Lex gives while trying to talk to Tom is sad. But I really hope that Tom just rips that Wigglys head off!

Yes! He dropped the wiggly doll!

“Shall we clear these boxes first?” “Fuck yeah!” Is the new “should we take these chairs?” “I’ll get the piano!”

2:02:56 THAT’S CHARLOTTE! OMG! IT’S CHARLOTTE!

LINDA YOU BITCH! GIVE HANNAH BACK THE HAT ETHAN GAVE HER!

Charlotte’s now wearing the hat... she really could have used it during ‘TGWDLM’

Yes! Lex and Tom here to save the day... hopefully... I still feel like they’re gonna pull another ‘Inevitable’ on us.

Linda’s screeching 😂

Oh crap! Linda has the wiggly. This is not good!

I’m at 2:06:06 and there’s not a lot left to watch!!! Ahhhh!

I’m loving all the Christmas song tunes they’ve worked into the songs since this is set near Christmas time.

Becky is awake and she has the gun!

“Look at you, you’re paralysed with fear.” “No. I’m just lining up my shot” fucking Becky is badass

OOHHHH! BOOOM! HEADSHOT! THE PROPHET IS DEAD!

Lex, Hannah, Tom and Becky are alive and the malls burning down... but there are still a few minutes to go and I’m just waiting for ‘Inevitable’ take 2.

Plus I’m hoping that they’ll resolve Webby?

Emma and Paul are back! Still waiting for ‘Inevitable’ take 2 though.

Emma: “I have this kooky reclusive biology professor” audience: “screams”

Paul: “I don’t even know what time it is. What am I supposed to do without my iphone?” Hannah: “Wear a watch.” Audience: “screams again”

Hannah is singing... she has a lovely voice but still hoping this doesn’t turn out as ‘Inevitable’ take 2 (O.o)

Wait, isn’t the song that Hannah’s singing the one used in the ‘Black Friday’ announcement trailer?!

2:13:24 IS THAT ‘HOT CHOCOLATE BOY’ IN THE BACKGROUND!?!

I’m worried, everyone has joined in and are singing and dancing!

2:14:47 Charlotte is on the backstairs again and Ted is in the center in the back!

2:14:57 There’s Bill!

2:15:19 It’s Mr Davidson!

They all huddle in the middle, and look at Tom’s watch and then count down till midnight. Hannah sings “What if tomorrow” and then they all look up and there’s this whooshing noise over heard, the screen goes dark AND IT ENDS!

I HAVE QUESTIONS! WHO OR WHAT WAS WEBBY? WHAT HAPPENED TO GENERAL MCNAMARA? WAS THE ENDING ‘WOOSH’ A NUKE SIGNALING THE BEGINNING OF WORLD WAR 3?

Well...

That was my reaction to ‘Black Friday’. I really liked it. The set design, choreography, costumes, everything was great. I love it. I think my favourite song is the one Lex sings as she’s attacked by Sherman, I thought it was really beautiful. My favourite characters were probably Lex, Hannah and Ethan (R.I.P).

What did you all think?

#starkid #black friday spoilers #black friday #team starkid #lex foster #hannah foster #ethan green #becky barnes #tom houston #emma perkins #paul matthews #general mcnamara

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life-0r-death · 4 years ago

Note

Drabble prompt: superhero

This took a while, but I finally have it for you! Thank you for the awesome prompt! It was a lot of fun to work on, and I hope you enjoy this puppyship.

also, Neo Kaibaman is based off this image: http://fav.me/dacftla

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“Never knew ya had a kink fer costumes.”

“Watch it.” Kaiba frowned, glaring at his idiotic boyfriend despite the fact that he couldn’t see his eyes through the helmet on his head. Joey leaned against the doorframe, his arms over his chest while his honey brown eyes raked over Kaiba’s physique. Had it been a few years ago, he would have been uncomfortable with Joey’s outward thirsty approvals. Dating the horn dog had taught him plenty of his flirtations over the initial bite and snark that had been their previous relationship.

“Aw, don’t be embarrassed Set’. Ya look good.”

Glancing toward the mirror, Kaiba regarded himself in the newest design of Kaibaland’s mascot, Neo Kaibaman. Normally, he wouldn’t lower himself to wear such a ridiculous outfit, but with the previous performer fired for drug use, they hadn’t had time to replace him with the proper muscular definition, size, and height. Neo Kaibaman had to have Kaiba’s physique, as well as his attitude and poise. That was his whole purpose: be the hero while subliminally reminding everyone who owned the park.

The particular problem they were facing dealt with Neo Kaibaman’s public relations. Posters had been set up weeks prior to prepare everyone for the day of his new design. It was a publicity stunt to attain more park attendees, and Neo Kaibaman absolutely had to be present. With no one else to fill in his shoes last minute, Kaiba had to don the hero himself.

“I don’t need your sass right now, Joey.”

“What are ya, nervous?”

“You’re on thin ice, Wheeler.” He hissed, going back to the crude use of Joey’s last name. His surname had an extra bite to it, forcing Joey to glance at him with annoyed eyes. Good. Kaiba couldn’t be the only one on edge.

“Oi, superheros are supposed ta be nice, Kaibaman.” Joey grinned at him. With eyes running down his neck and chest, Joey’s leg bounced while his honey irises darkened. Unable to contain himself, Joey pushed away from the doorframe and strode the couple of few between them to stand by his side, slightly in the tailor’s way. Warm palms pressed to his chest, feeling his pecs right where the blue LED lights glowed upon the new blue vest. They matched his colors better than the previous red.

The tailor frowned, but gave Joey space to feel Kaiba up. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence when Kaiba was getting fitted with a new suit.

“It’s Neo Kaibaman, mutt. Make sure to say it right. You can’t address me as anything else when we are in the public. And no, you can’t touch me.” Kaiba ignored the tingles his boyfriend still sent through his body, holding his arm out for the tailor to continue adjusting the new white gloves of the costume. They fit snug against his forearm, flaring out like scales the closer to his elbow.

“Better get it out of my system then.” Joey snickered, his fingers trailing up his chest and following the lines of his muscles, memorizing exactly where they were. The tips tapped over the center glowing LED, swirled and shaped like a dragon’s marking.

“Man, ya put a lot more funky designs in this one. Matches yer style.” Joey was purring, his fingers now upon his black collar. He pulled it down, letting some digits caress his Adam’s apple. Kaiba closed his eyes, swallowing and feeling those lovely fingers press gently against his pulse point. The tailor grunted off to the side, agitated by Joey’s ministrations. Peeking open an eye, Kaiba paused at the predatory hunger within Joey’s irises. His tongue swept over his bottom lip.

“Master Wheeler, please. We just had that pressed.”

Joey giggled. Kaiba arched his eyebrow in question, but remembered that Joey couldn’t tell his expression aside from his lips. His helmet was shaped like Blue Eyes, the azure stained glass making his scleras look menacing and hiding his own true crystal blues. Despite how clunky it may have appeared to others, with a large helmet covering half his face and so much fabric even in the summer heat, Kaiba’s perspective and world were ten times clearer than thought.

The costume was breathable, meant for hours of use, and the helmet produced a screen to allow the performer to see as normally as possible, hell maybe even better. The tech sharpened the view, and displays could be pulled with a press of keys hidden all around the suit’s nooks and crannies. Meant to be unobtrusive and easily deter children from finding them.

Neo Kaibaman could see behind himself with a press of his thumb. He could gain the statistics of where the most children were gathered for morale, and his schedule of villainous defeats would remind him of his next performance every hour.

Joey chuckled, garnering Kaiba’s attention, “Imma have a superhero on my arm! That’s always been a dream.”

The tailor finished his adjustments, stepping away from Kaiba to inspect his work. Joey’s own palms took hold of his, forcing Kaiba to do a ‘spin.’ Though it was more of Joey just walking around him and touching the hair extensions and the costume’s jacket.

“Of course you have. You are a damsel in distress.” Kaiba allowed himself to smirk, to take in Joey and feel revitalized. Fingers danced on his hips as Joey came back around front, cheeks a light pink as that predatory glint speckled in his eyes once more. Shaking his head, Kaiba flicked his wrist to check his schedule. He had a ‘hero’s act’ in 30 minutes.

“I’ll be yer damsel if ya’ll come save me. The sheets are a fearsome foe.” His eyebrows wagged, palms burning at Kaiba’s hips while a crooked smirk graced Joey’s lips. If he wasn’t wearing the helmet, Kaiba was sure Joey would be mocking him for the flame surely on his face. Had the mutt no tact?

Taking in a deep breath, Kaiba slapped his palm down on Joey’s shoulder, shaking him and startling him before Kaiba spoke, a dangerous grin spreading,

“Heh. Nothing can defeat me.” Kaiba’s fingers danced up Joey’s neck to firmly grasp his chin. With his head tilted upward, Kaiba dove in, effectively turning his head so when their lips pressed, he didn’t smack the helmet into Joey’s nose. Soft lips melded against his, opening as a familiar tongue reached out toward his own. Inhaling through his nose, his chest rising, Kaiba kept Joey’s chin in a tight grip as to keep the kiss light. The libido of the mutt could startle most, his need and efficiency for sex making Kaiba’s head spin on many occasions. As much as Kaiba wanted Joey’s hands pulling him out of the costume, fingers following the lines of his muscles and diving into pants, he forced them to remain light and romantic.

Pulling back, lips making a soft click from skin leaving skin, Kaiba grinned, exposing his pearly white teeth. It was an old grin he rarely pulled upon his boyfriend, but one that made his heart stop nonetheless. Quickly, he pressed his lips near Joey’s ear, fingers still tightly gripping his chin, “I expect a reward once I defeat these ‘fearsome sheets.’”

Joey opened his mouth, lifting a finger up, but closed it once again. Grin going back to an intimate smirk, Kaiba pressed a quick peck to the corner of Joey’s lips. He released his chin, stepping back and sweeping passed him toward the doors. Another alarm within his helmet screamed that his ‘hero’s act’ was on in 25 minutes.

His coat flared as he walked passed a bodyguard who bowed, waiting for him to head on out first before following. All his men knew to keep a distance, close but out of sight. Although Kaiba needed guards, Neo Kaibaman did not. He fought his own battles and ‘defended’ the park against his foes. A bodyguard would ruin the image. But he still kept precautions, allowing one man to trail after him while another was always within reach of Joey.

“Have fun out there, Kaibaman.” Joey called, a chuckle in his tone as Kaiba rolled his eyes. He merely pressed forward, taking on the persona of the hero his company had built. Well, at least it was easy to do. Kaibaman was all things Kaiba was but with a bit more edge and a constant duel or battle in his wake. If he didn’t have a company to run or a dog to care for, he’d actually enjoy doing this gig every day. For now, he’d fight crime until they hired someone new to take his spot.

#ask box #for alectoperdita #puppyshipping #violetshipping #seto kaiba #joey wheeler #jounouchi katsuya #kaibaman #neo kaibaman #yugioh #yugioh dm #ygo dm #established relationship #superhero

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yayninjabob · 4 years ago

Text

Author Commentary

Ramblings from Yay Ninja Bob about her monstrous creation~

Besides working on my fic, I personally try to journal every day, and I realized that a lot of my journaling has become me pretty much rambling about the process of writing this damn fic lol. So I thought I'd share some of that for those who may want to know more behind my chapters from my author's perspective.

It's certainly not everything I can say, but it is a lot haha..

Chapter 1 - Thirteen

Behind the title:

Well, when I first began writing VillainR, I hadn't planned on having chapter titles at all. Mainly because coming up with chapter titles (or titles for stories in general) has always been something I struggle with personally. Anywho after I decided I wanted to challenge myself with chapter titles, I went back and named chapter 1 "Thirteen." Why? Well, it is the PpG's thirteenth birthday, of course there is that. VillainR as a whole is many things, but one major thing is it is a coming of age story for Buttercup/Joey/Jojo, as well as a story of self-discovery. There's a few important ages I wanted to cover and 13 is around the age where many kids start to "develop" and being a super-powered kid, Buttercup finally begins to develop her own "special power" at this age. I wanted this "growing pain" to be the catalyst for the events of Part One. So, I gave the chapter the title of "Thirteen" to try to highlight the significance of that age for Buttercup. The self-discovery made at this age is that special power (although they are unaware of it at this point). It's considered an unlucky number, and as it turns out, it is an unlucky year for our main character.

During the writing process:

First draft was written on Halloween night 2019 and pretty much all of it was completely scrapped haha.

I started writing it in first person, like the original Villain, in Buttercup's POV. I kept the events but approached it again in third person and liked it so much better that way. One major thing I wanted to improve on with the rewrite was character development which is pretty hard to achieve when writing in a limited POV of a character who eventually loses sight of much around them. I debated briefly on maybe doing alternating POVs between Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, but then I felt like it would still exclude a lot for other major characters like Mojo and Princess. I could add them too but I thought alternating too many POVs would be overwhelmingly difficult (for me as the author for sure but I imagine for the reader too) Third person seemed to be the best way to handle everything and really my only challenge with that was tweaking the whole "unreliable narrator" trope which I will be honest is my favorite trope ever. It is a challenge to try to recreate the same effect in third person, but I decided that a close third person was the best way to 1) tell a broader story and 2) still set limits on the reader's perspective, and control when and how I drop information and attempt to recreate a similar experience in an entirely new way I've never tried before heh. (I guess I will spend more time on this on my notes for Chapter 6)

Second draft I scribbled out in another few days with this new approach. It began at the start of the carnival and ended where it ends. Simultaneously I was reworking my overall outline for the fic and began to narrow down all the characters I wanted to be my key players for this epic. Once my outline was expanded to include everyone, I added the scene with Mojo and Him. For me, that's when I was like "Ayyy it's all coming together 👍👍" haha.

Another thing I wanted to improve on was setting and world-building. So final draft I decided to include some "history" behind Townsville and that's when I worked out the final draft.

This chapter definitely had the most trial and error during the writing process than any other chapter other than 5 so far.

Inspirations:

Townsville world-building/history - much of it is inspired by the city I grew up in (for the most part) which is Los Angeles. I mean it has all the sort of settings we've seen in the show which are all pretty diverse right? Townville had to have a diverse cityscape ranging from a busy downtown setting to quite suburbs to upperclass mansions, beaches, an island, forests, etc. Well I knew LA had all that and so I tried to re-imagine Townsville as basically an alternate universe LA lol. Monster Isle, I based on research I did on Catalina Island. I imagined the Utonium household was in a middle class neighborhood like Pasadena- close to the heart of LA but still a relatively "calmer" part of the city. Morbucks Manor would be in the Hills like Beverly Hills. Downtown was the heart of the city like Downtown LA. I debated briefly whether or not to have the Gangreen Gang be from an area modeled after South Central or East LA, but eventually I went with East LA because TBH I am just more familiar with it since that's where my mom's side is from and where I grew up early on in life. PLUS East LA actually has a pretty big punk scene so that fit the story too with Ace being in a punk band and all that.

1998 PpG Show References:

"Oh my gosh they have giant Bunny-Bunny's at the prize tent!"

(Super Zeroes)

Pop Culture References:

(OK most of my pop culture refs are just punk references lets be honest lol. Why Punk?? - because it is rebellion and rebellion is the heart of this fic)

The Clash - OK in original Villain I established that this was Buttercup's favorite band so I HAD to have that back for the redux. Here's all the refs I crammed into chapter 1 lol:

"Oh, Man! It's so hard to choose, like, I love literally everything by them. But I gotta say it's a tie probably between their first album and London Calling."

"Hell yeah. Jimmy Jazz is my jam."

youtube

"You know, my band does a cover of White Riot," Ace continued to talk music with the teenager as he lit his cigarette and took a deep drag. He held the smoke in his lungs as he continued, "Only we call our version Green Riot."

youtube

Blondie:

The one artist Buttercup had introduced Robin to that she instantly obsessed over was Blondie.

(Some) Symbolism:

- Blossom is 5'9" and Buttercup is 5'8" - Buttercup is always falling one step behind Blossom.

- Bumper Car scene - has some foreshadowing and well...

Blossom sat behind the wheel of a red bumper car at the opposite end of the metal floored rink. Buttercup crossed her arms in protest, "No way. I'm driving." she demanded.

Blossom also crossed her arms from where she sat behind the metal wheel. "So you can just rampage and crash into everybody here? No way." She fastened her seat belt with a quick snap and placed her hands firmly on the steering wheel again.

"Ugh. That's the whole point of bumper cars! It's to bump the other cars! You're supposed to try and bump everyone before the times up!"

"You always take it too far, Buttercup. I'm driving, so get in." The redhead grasped the steering wheel in her hands firmly, and refused to move.

And...

"You drive like an old lady," Buttercup shook her head in disbelief as her sister managed to avoid yet another collision.

"Well, that's your opinion," she shrugged off the insult, "Personally, I think it takes just as much skill to avoid every single car in here, as it does to hit every single car," she smiled at her sister.

And finally a brief allusion to the OG Villain lol...

"Blossom!" Buttercup shouted louder so she could get her sister's attention. She pointed at the fast approaching purple car that zoomed towards them from their right side. Behind the wheel of that car was Bubbles who wore a rather determined look on her face as Robin cheered for her.

Blossom saw, but by then it was too late. Bubbles and Robin's car slammed into Buttercup and Blossom's car at full force, spinning Buttercup and Blossom's car into the wall of the arena. The loud buzz which signified the end of the ride then sounded.

- the roller coaster is Buttercup's ideal carnival attraction; it's got the thrills, twists, turns, ups and downs. And makes Bubbles sick.

- the Ferris Wheel is Blossom's ideal carnival attraction; it's a staple of any fair, grand and big, overlooks everything, and traditionally romantic

YNB's favorite scene:

Personally, I loved writing the whole exchange between Buttercup and Blossom in the car. Establishing their rivalry, Buttercup's jealousy over Blossom's special power and heroism, Blossom's projection of her own insecurities, their differences, and their commonality.

Final thoughts on the chapter:

I was pretty satisfied with how it turned out but I did wait to post it until I had a decent headstart on chapter 2. I was pretty nervous about whether or not I could stay personally committed to writing this fic so I just wanted to make sure I was really feeling it first, lol. It had been so long since I'd written fanfic so I just needed to be sure.

When I outlined everything I estimated the chapter length to be around 6-7k words... And I was surprised that it was double that at about 12k. Which was wild because on my outline each opening chapter for Part 1, 2 and 3 were supposed to be shorter and more like preludes to everything else. Well, I guess they ARE shorter chapters but STILL definitely longer than any chapter I used to write for my multichaptered stories. At the time I thought "Ok obviously my writing has changed but surely I wont go much longer than 12k for future chapters...." Hurr hurr.

Personally, I was pretty proud of myself for spending so much time on it and rewriting it over and over and all that. In the past, TBH whatever was my first draft was pretty much also my last draft haha. I cranked out a chapter in one sitting usually and edited it mayyyybeee lol. I just wanted to get it posted so I could move on and get to that next point in the story. But I suppose now that I'm older and a bit more self aware, I realize a lot of my own anxieties manifest a lot in my writing though and I can recognize it in my old works like the OG Villain where I JUST WANNA GET TO WHAT I WANT TO WRITE RIGHT NOW OK?? I forced myself to slow the hell down this time, take it one scene at a time, and when things felt off I took breaks, slept on it for a few days and came back with new approaches or ideas. And so far that's how I continue to work on it.

Also, CHVRCHES. I listened to a ton of that band while working on this chapter especially.

#villainr #ppg fanfic #yayninjabob #behindthescenes #writing process #chapter 1 #let me know if you guys like this kinda stuff and I'll continue for the other chapters #commentary #author stuff

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