#member order is a bit inconsistent

[cluescorner]

I cannot imagine being a Damian stan right now. You've got both Zdarsky's bullshit (where he clearly doesn't give a shit about your boy) and The Boy Wonder (where Juni Ba clearly gives so many shits about your boy) coming out on the same day. The whiplash must be insane. I hope y'all get some nice warm soup for your efforts jfc

[astrae4]

HAN TAESAN | happy wife, happy life

pairings — idol!han dongmin x idol!reader

warnings — hanging joke, saying marriage but not actually married yet(?)

genre — FLUFF & romance hehe (wc. 789)

note — mentally not the best so im rlly inconsistent but it’s okay for now guys 😎👍 if u have any requests i’d be very happy to make it for u 😘😘 plspls like repost n follow 🙌

more works — navigation | bnd!masterlist

DING! DING! DING!

The buzzing notification sounds echoed loudly in a busy cafe, making some customers look at the victim responsible for these noises.

Said victim hurries to turn their notification sounds off, before checking his messages—only to see 6 missed calls and 14 messages from ‘manager 😫🔥’.

manager 😫🔥: WHERE ARE YOU???

manager 😫🔥: WE’RE THREE HOURS LATE ALREADY!!!!

you: im On the Way!

you: gimme a bit

manager 😫🔥: dont lie. I literally see your location and it isn’t moving AT ALL.

you: okay im actually almost done.

you: seriously, the line’s almost over

you: [picture attached]

manager 😫🔥: fine. Come back faster! We need to hurry up to isac bc u guys already missed the track comp.

you: 👍👍

“Order 1140, Mr. Woonhak!” Called a server.

Nobody reacted to that call for a few seconds, before the 180-ish-cm man jolted, remembering that he was supposedly Woonhak.

(Ever put a name in your order and forgot about it? Yeah, it happens to me all the time.)

“Here!” He replied, coming to the counter in a hurry.

“Matcha cake with pink frosting and custom lettering?” They asked to be sure.

“Yes, thank you so much!” Replied “Mr. Woonhak” as he takes the takeaway-boxed cake and hurried out the door.

He practically jumped in the car (gracefully though) with how fast he was going.

“Yah!” shouted Woonhak, “why’d you take so long!?”

“Don’t you see the line?” Replied Taesan, his eye rolling as he holds the cake with care.

“Yeah but why do we have to go get this cake? Just get it at any other bakery so we wouldn’t be late to ISAC—we already missed the track race!”

Someone (Leehan) suddenly sat up from the backseat, glasses crooked on his head as if he just woke up (he did), “That’s because it’s y/n’s favorite cake.”

“Yeah Woonhak,” butted another menace (jaehyun), “It’s their 2nd anniversary— but of course youuuu wouldn’t understand since you’ve never had a woman’s touch before other than your mom and sister.”

“YAH!” screamed Woonhak.

Thus, another bonekdo quarrel emerge.

(Woonhak lost once again. Give me a dab in the comments; one dab = one hp for our maknae’s patience)

EXCLUSIVE: BOYNEXTDOOR’S TAESAN MISTAKES ISAC FOR WE GOT MARRIED?

In the ISAC 2024, k-pop boy band BOYNEXTDOOR (under KOZ) arrives 5 hours late to the venue, earning some attention from netizens. Onedoors (Boynextdoor’s fans) called them hilarious, especially with that spectacular entrance, consisting of the members wearing sunglasses and strutting in the building as if they won the games (they will then lose really badly in archery) in a proud manner.

Despite the many games and groups competing in the games, what went most viral was surprisingly not sports-related, and we’re here to tell you the scoop!

Boynextdoor’s Taesan is widely known for dating [reader] of [group name] since the very beginning of their debuts. They also went trending many times for that—like a fresh breeze in the very tense atmosphere of idol-relationships. This time, it seems that Taesan decided to take it up a notch with his display of public affection and prove to everyone that romance is very much not dead!

Running in the building—and then sliding on his knees to stop in front of [reader]’s view—before procuring a bouquet of pink lilies for her all the while his very supportive members threw confetti at them!? Gosh, me when! After that, he also gave [reader] an exclusive cake from [reader’s favorite cake shop] to celebrate what seemed to be their 2nd year Anniversary.

Other idols in the building such as ZEROBASEONE and THE BOYZ’s Younghoon gave their support by cheering on the couple—as well as many others. Later on, it was even said by Zerobaseone’s Gunwook jokingly in his group’s vlog that he was jealous of their relationship, haha!

When asked about it later on in a live, Taesan responded that it was simply because it was their anniversary, and he wanted to make it special for them. In addition, he said a catchphrase that went viral— saying “Happy wife, happy life”, despite them not being married yet. [reader’s group] have not yet responded to this statement.

Many netizens are reacting to this viral video, saying that it’s so fresh and sweet of them two—some even joking and saying that “I’m the guy h*nging in the lights behind them” (source) in Tiktok and Instagram. All in all, netizens seem to think that it’s extremely sweet and wishes them both to remain happy and strong in the relationship!

What do you think about it?

Comments (19.99) | open

More related searches… BOYNEXTDOOR comeback September 25 | Sungho’s so hot in the new concept photo: twenty ver.

TAGLIST @ja4hyvn @flwoie @sulkygyu @xiaoderrrr @ineedaherosavemeenow @lonewolfjinji @teddywonss @taerae-verse

NETWORKS @onedoornet @k-labels

© astrae4 2024 | please don’t copy, translate, or plagiarize my works on all platforms!

[7ndipity]

How They Text

Ot7 x Reader

Summary: What the members texting habits would be like with their crush or S/o

Warnings: slightly suggestive 

A/N: thanks to the lovely anon who requested this! I hope you like it!

Masterlist

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Jin: Jin I think is a very simplistic, but teasing texter. He’ll ask for your opinion on random things like “What should I get for lunch?” only to quip back like two minutes later with “wrong answer, I’m ordering chicken”. If you’re just in the flirty/crush stage, he tries to leave a bit of time in between texts, but once you’re dating, he texts regularly throughout the day about whatever he’s doing or thinking of “Do you think I’d look good with purple hair?”

Yoongi: I think Yoongi texts quite frequently, tho sometimes it’s only a *thumbs up emoji* He’s a man of slightly fewer words, and his texts reflect that, most of them being single word messages like “Dinner??” “Morning” “Missyou(intentionally written as one word like he’s mumbling)”. Every now and then tho, you’ll get one of his 2am, multi-paragraph messages about how much he cares for you and how much you mean to him🥺

Hobi: Hobi is consistent, responding quickly to all your messages, regardless of where you are relationship-wise. He makes sure to text you everyday, even if it’s just “Good morning!😊” and “Goodniiiiigt😘” so you know that he’s thinking of you. He also sends lots of playful selfies of his daily routine with teasing little captions like “bet you wish you were here” with a pic of him getting coffee or hanging out at rehearsals. He also randomly sends sweet little notes about how he’s thinking about you or how he misses you, especially if he’s traveling/on tour.

Namjoon: I think he texts a little inconsistently. If he’s home and in his usual routine, he texts you multiple times throughout the day, but if he’s busy or traveling, he tends to lose track of time and forgets til you text first. I think he prefers talking on the phone or in person, so he mainly texts to send updates abt his day/schedule. I feel like he texts a lot when he’s needy/horny, so if he’s suddenly really quick answering your messages, you know what’s up👀

Jimin: Jimin is a very cutesy texter, with lots of “<3”s and “smooch”s following whatever he says. He sends lots of lil reminders to look after yourself like “It’s cold today, don’t forget your jacket” or “I know you’re busy w work/school, but pls make sure to eat dinner”. He likes to play hard to get now and then, sending flirty little comments and then intentionally leaving you on ‘sent’ for a lil bit just to try and make you antsy, but if you do the same to him, he will get soo sulky 

Taehyung: I see Tae being semi-inconsistent with his texts. He’s the type to send you multiple texts in a row, but then once you respond, it takes him like an hour to reply back with just a“Yea”😑 He tends to get somewhat needy/sentimental in the evenings before bed, sending cute lil comments and scenarios like “we should buy a house somewhere by the ocean, that way we can go for walks on the beach whenever we want” “My bed’s not nearly as comfy w/o you to cuddle😔"

Jungkook: He’s a famously bad texter, leaving everybody on read constantly or taking half a day minimum to reply, but I like to think he would be more attentive if it’s from his crush or S/o(getting prompt answers from him is definitely a partner privilege) He tends to mostly send memes, but when he’s drunk, he texts a lot, rambling about how much he likes you and things he wants to do with you. They’re mostly innocent, but there’s definitely a few things that are a bit spicier too😳

Taglist: @sopebubbles-replies @btsw1fe @this-must-be-my-tardis @whitefoxgirl @bethanysnow @coffeedepressionsoup @main-bangtansmauyeondan @feminympho @classicalelephant @dfqcsqueen @mother2monsters @comingupwithacoolnameishard @universal-travel-er @bo0ghol @captainorangegoose @k4ngelz

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

Centaur Worldbuilding

this one has been in the works for a really long time! but here it is at last: the details about how I personally have chosen to worldbuild with centaurs.

My centaurs are based on chalicotheres, popularly referred to as "gorilla horses". I thought they were a perfect base to start from when making people that resemble a horse combined with a human. Though my centaurs lean way more into the chalicothere look and don't resemble humans much at all.

here are a few variations on color/pattern for centaur coats, based mostly on paleoart of chalicotheres.

(image description: six illustrations of centaurs with different coloration. The two main colors are a red-brown and a duller tan color. the three main patterns are soft gradients, stripes, and spots. end description.)

and it is a really really long post so the rest is under a cut for convenience.

The reason centaurs have six limbs is because somewhere back in their ancient ancestry, chimeric twins became more and more common and then became the default. There was most certainly some meddling from a Life entity in order to make this happen (the immortal beings who channel the world's natural magic energy to mess with living things as they please, though they can only use a limited amount of power before they fade into that vast well of energy and disappear). This does mean that the front "legs" of a centaur are actually a pair of arms. The main differences between the upper arms and the front legs are the placement of the shoulder, the amount of muscle, and how the centaurs trim their hooves for dexterity or support.

(image description: two drawings of a centaur standing while bending down to touch the ground with their hands. the second image shows an overlay of their skeleton, illustrating the chimeric twin anatomy with its split ribcage and two pairs of forelimbs, or arms. They have three hooved digits on each hand/foot on all six limbs. visually, their face is a bit horse-like and their whole body is colored reddish-brown with a pale belly. end description.)

and yes, they can use use their front legs as a pair of secondary arms when needed. They're not as dextrous a pair of arms, but they do make a lot of tasks easier, such as being able to buckle a bag strap around one's own belly, or catching hold of a rambunctious foal before they run face first into your knees.

(any inconsistencies in these proportions from here onward is entirely down to my own artistic flaws, as keeping character/creature designs perfectly consistent is not easy)

Because they are chimeric twins, it is far more common for centaurs to be born with congenital defects than it is for any other group. The second pair of forelimbs and the added height of the upper torso may be extremely useful for leaf-browsing creatures like centaurs, but the messy nature of their gestation often causes problems. Much of the time, this leads to stillbirths and miscarriage. but some defects are survivable and every herd has a good number of disabled members.

(image description: simple sketches of three visibly disabled centaurs using mobility aids. The first one has underdeveloped forelegs, and is using a combination of crutches and a wheeled platform under their lower torso. the second one was born without the chimeric twin, resembling a chalicothere. they have a folding support stand strapped to their belly to support their weight when they need to use their hands. the last one has a ribcage that failed to split, resulting in a short torso like the twinless centaur, as well as a pair of underdeveloped forelegs. they are using a wheeled platform under their chest, which they can push with their upper pair of arms. end description.)

These are just a few of the more visible and survivable disabilities common to centaurs. wheels are a very important invention for centaur life, not only for their disabled population, but also because pulling carts is a much more effective way to carry a lot of items at once, which is very useful.

Centaurs are also enormous. twelve feet, or roughly 3.5 meters, tall from the base of their front toes to the top of their head when standing upright. They tower over pretty much every other people species, as they are basically just a remnant ice age megafauna that became sapient.

(image description: flat colored drawings of an orc, an elf, and a centaur all standing next to each other. the orc comes roughly to the centaur's upper ribs, and the elf is roughly as tall as the orc's armpit. end description)

it would be extremely rude, but anyone the size of an average elf or smaller could easily play limbo under a centaur's belly. it's a really bad idea though.

Orcs are also remnant megafauna, and it's not by coincidence. Their ancestors were the main predator of ancient centaurs. (this also means the ancestors of gnomes were the main predator of centaurs, but this fact is often overlooked since gnomes are so much smaller than their cousins). even into the modern day (of my stories) centaurs mostly live in their own isolated territories, actively keeping other people out. Especially the orcs. The journey from natural predator and prey, to sapient peoples who did not recognize each other as people, to enemies, and then to tensely peaceful separated populations, was a long and difficult journey, fraught with violence on all sides.

Where the line falls between animal and people is murky and difficult to define. When exactly did the natural behavior of hunting prey become grounds for warfare? No one is really sure. Even if the line is drawn, what would it change? nothing. the past already happened. their people already have an enormous divide between them; a chasm of blood that can't be forgotten.

(image description: a vividly colored digital painting of an ancient centaur trying to escape three ancient pig-like predators as they pounce and bite in their attempt to bring it down. end description.)

many orcish artifacts still remain in centaur territory as the result of many clashes and hurried retreats. The orcs conceded, in the end. they returned all their belongings that were made from the bodies of centaurs, allowed the centaurs to draw the territorial lines, and then kept themselves far away and avoided those areas for centuries.

Centaurs are a migrational species, so orcs were too. Orcish culture used to focus on centaurs as a sacred animal, and then they had to toss it all aside and build their culture back up from whatever they had left. and in the meantime, the centaurs who had spent so many generations fleeing predation, watching their most frail herd members be picked off, and fighting back at last to defend themselves, were free to rest and build their culture far beyond their prior means. they became master weavers, using a wide variety of plant fibers to create clothing and art and useful items they didn't have time for when they were more in danger of being hunted. Though most centaurs still choose to go around with very little clothing, if any, because it feels more practical.

(image description: three different centaur outfits. the first is minimal, all jewelry and simple gloves. the note on it says "small accessories and jewelry are often more practical for an active centaur." the second one is wearing bark cloth around both of their waists to act as a barrier between their body and the straps of large bags on their back. They are also wearing gloves and cloth wraps around their hands and feet. the note here says "centaurs are largely nomadic and have developed many durable weaving techniques to create high quality travel bags." and lastly is a ceremonial outfit, featuring a cape and gloves all dyed in vivid shades of green with leafy patterns in the cloth. the cape is decorated with a fringe of thin cedar strips, matching a headdress of the same material. behind their head, the centaur wears a skull. the note here says "Religious garb often uses centaur skulls to reflect the nature of their conjoined deities. The Withered Twins are more commonly represented because they are a healer and gentle guide." end description)

and one very common piece of clothing for all adult centaurs is the "I'm not your mom" blanket; a weighted cloth laid over the flank to deter nosy newborns during peak baby season.

(image description: a striped adult centaur wearing a cropped shirt with beaded straps and a fancy looking leaf-pattern blanket strapped around their lower waist shoos off a speckled foal who looks a bit confused. end description.)

nosy newborns very easily forget who their mom is and need to be redirected quite often. though some lactating centaurs are more than willing to share the burden of keeping all the babies fed, and their culture does involve a lot of communal child rearing. monogamous couples and exclusive marital bonds are uncommon in centaur herds.

Most herds are led by a council of elders, who are trusted to make wise decisions as they follow their ancestral migration paths and constantly assess the needs of the herd. Some of the most important elders are those who act as religious leaders, representing the conjoined deities. Centaurs generally have two main deities. The Perfected Twins, a warrior deity, and The Withered Twins, a deity representing both death and healing.

(image description: two vibrant illustrations of centaur deities, both with a long braid of hair, their heads framed by shining circular designs like halos.

in shades of red, the warrior deity, the perfected twins, is noted to represent defense, fury, power, and hope. they have two active heads, joined at an angle in the middle so they look in different directions, two pairs of upper arms holding a shield, a spear, and a bow and arrow, and four legs. They are wearing armor on their upper waist and all of their arms. They are rearing up and look to be charging into battle.

in shades of blue, the death deity, the withered twins, noted to represent protection, healing, love, and grief. they have one active head and a smaller, partly decayed head attached to the back of their skull. Their forelegs are also underdeveloped and scrawny. their whole body is overlayed with a skeletal design. They are curled into a protective pose, holding a twinless infant with their whole torso and front limbs depicted as bones with no flesh. the deity is also wearing a translucent cape attached to upper arm bracelets.

end description)

centaurs have been fully aware of their chimeric twin biology for centuries, though they did not have the means to study it in detail or understand exactly what was happening during gestation. it's not hard though, to notice that your species is made of fused twin bodies when so many of your people are born with their bodies fused wrong, especially those who are stillborn. They believe they also have twin souls, and that the twin who is sacrificed in the womb gets to be the dominant twin in their next life. those who are born twinless usually undergo a lot of spiritual meditation to connect with their lost twin so they can meet up again in death. the stillborn foals with more obvious conjoined anatomy are said to be twins who had a fight about which of them would be dominant this time, and so they came out wrong and had to try again.

the infant held by the Withered Twins represents the sacrificed twin who waits as a spirit for their turn in the next life while the living twin uses their arms and ribs. The Withered Twins are the most commonly worshipped deity, prayed to for comfort and healing and guidance, acting as a conduit for living centaurs to stay in touch with their twin's soul. but the Perfected Twins also play an important role in centaur culture, even though their fierce warrior nature is no longer needed since the centaurs were able to separate themselves from the orcs.

the Perfected Twins represent the idealize form; the possibility of both twins sharing a body, neither being sacrificed while the other remains alive and dominant. they represent community action, partnership, cooperation. when needed, they are prayed to for strength. their image guards the borders of centaur territories, a signal to all outsiders that the centaurs have not grown docile even in isolation. at a moment's notice, they will take up arms again to keep themselves safe.

in the canon of my main stories, there was a very important historical event involving centaurs. some centuries after the Goblin Revolution shook the world and put everyone through some rough patches as various populations turned to isolation and self-imposed segregation to prevent any other interspecies troubles, while other populations embraced interspecies cooperation, there was an orc in one country who took the lead of a large clan and decided to end their tradition of isolation and reach out to the other people species in the local area. his name was He-esh and he was the first orc in that part of the world to strike an alliance with the nearby dwarf clans. he did a lot of other notable things, acting as a diplomat and repairing the broken relationship his people had with their gnomish cousins.

most notable of all, however, was his bold decision to contact the centaurs and lay his life on the line to carry an apology for the actions of his ancestors and plea for alliance between their peoples, hoping it would someday turn into friendship.

(image description: a grayscale illustration with gold accents, showing an orc kneeling in front of an armored centaur while they hold a spear to his chest. both figures have a golden halo drawn around their heads. the orc is wearing simple but elegant looking clothes, including a fringe of black feathers on the hem of his coat, and a pair of long straight tusks in his hair. his own tusks are curled with the points facing backwards. end description.)

He-esh's plea to the centaurs was received with apprehension, quite reasonably. but he never asked forgiveness, only a chance to let the future be forged anew. eventually, the centaurs accepted his plea and he was able to strike an alliance with them, gradually opening trade between them and other people species in their area. though he was never allowed very far in, He-esh got to walk into the centaur territory once to meet with their elders. at the end of He-esh's life, a centaur diplomat made history again by being the first to enter orc territory in a peaceful manner, as far as any records could tell.

this event marks the beginning of my most central story project, so I won't give away all the details yet.

as a final note on my centaurs: they don't have genders. their pronouns are based on age (child and adult) and social hierarchy (important adults).

ila/ las (child pronoun) hul/ hes (adult pronoun) ma-hul/ ma-hes (important adult pronoun)

I haven't been using the correct fantasy pronouns for all my characters very consistently, because it is a little tricky to keep track of them all and I have yet again made changes due to dissatisfaction with a few of them lol. but when I eventually have completed stories, I'll be using all those pronouns to enhance immersion.

this post has been a long time in the making, so i'm glad to finally have it done!! thanks for being patient!

[ttulipwritezz]

This Is Our Place.~ S.Black

Ootp! Sirius Black x gn! Reader

Synopsis: After azkaban, Sirius falls for his best friend's colleague, who just so happens to return his feelings. They find their place within the confines of a war. Perhaps they'll leave the Christmas lights up till January.

Wc: 2k

Warnings: lots of italics, probably grammatical mistakes, inconsistency, mentions of presents, Christmas, bad family (s.b), kiss(es), might be ooc idk.

The clouds began to form in delicate shapes, and the roar of thunder echoed through the gloomy room. The light from a candle illuminated the kitchen, in which you sat, your mind preoccupied with the thought of the incoming rain.

Preoccupied with the thought of having to take the clothes off the drying rack anytime soon or bringing all your potted plants indoors to avoid them drowning.

It was not an odd thing—rain—being that it was the end of August.

"Knock, knock."

You looked up from where a blank piece of parchment lay in front of you, curious to know the source of the words.

"You could just, you know, knock? Like a normal person,  Sirius."

You found yourself speaking before you could collect your thoughts. The said man glanced at the parchment once and looked back at your face, his lips curving up the tiniest bit at your attempt to lighten the mood.

"Who am I, if normal, love?" He chuckles with a crooked smile.

You let your eyes roam around his face, his hollowed-out cheeks, and his half-lidded eyes. He looks tired. You conclude.

"Do you want some tea? I was just about to make some.."

You weren't really, about to make tea, that is. Still, you found yourself speaking, wanting to comfort the man, even if just a little.

Sirius was, by no means, your friend. He was just a friend of your colleague, Remus. You'd joined Hogwarts the same year Remus did; being new, the two of you hit it off immediately.

It always amazed you how well of a grasp Remus had on DADA. And he returned the favor by complimenting your herbology. You were a couple years younger than Remus, at best, and had known of him and the infamous marauders during your time at Hogwarts. Sirius Black did intrigue you the most.

You knew he came from a wealthy family, a bad one—of course, by no means did you want to intrude on his family life, but the heart does what the heart wants—and that he found solace in the friends he called brothers.

When Remus introduced you to his falsely convicted friend, Sirius Black, You damn near fainted on the spot, not because of his (undeniable) handsomeness but because of the sheer fear of standing in front of a possible murderer.

Now, years later (two to be exact), you find yourself enamored by the faded gray of his eyes and the curved bridge of his nose, which, you reckon, has been broken at least once during his time at Hogwarts, noting the sudden halt in the curve that then sharply turns to the other side and resumes its path.

Maybe it is a little peculiar to be noting such details of his appearance that you can paint a picture of his past. Strange, they'd call it. But it's routine for you. A routine you find comfort in.

"Thank you, Love," he replies.

A mumbled "'course" leaves your lips as you put the kettle to boil on the stove.

Sure, you could use magic, but these mundane tasks that don't require it seem to bring a sort of normalcy to your life. Even if just for a moment, it stops feeling like you're in the midst of a war and that people aren't dying left and right.

You were only nineteen when the first wizarding war came to an end, when your friends lost their lives, and when the dark lord seemingly disappeared forever.

He hadn't; that much was evident from the current situation.

The tea was set in front of Sirius almost unknowingly. You had been a little into your head and had been going about the task with practiced ease.

"Thanks again, Love. When do you reckon the others will return?"

Remus, along with the other order members, had gone on yet another mission. They left Sirius, concluding he was too weak to fight right now, and you, as you'd offered to stay back.

"Any time now, and really, it's no problem,"

you replied, sort of bashful at both his gratitude and the endearment.

As if on cue, the door opened with a jingle of the keys, and numerous voices rang through the empty corridors of Grimmauld Place.

Remus stalked into the kitchen and put his left hand up, leaning against the doorway with his right for some sort of support, revealing a gash running from his middle finger to his wrist and a sheepish smile on his face as he looked at you. Immediately, wordlessly, you walked forward with your wand and began healing the wound.

Removing a tin of herbal paste from the drawer beside and handing it to Remus.

"How'd that happen? I thought this was a 'harmless' mission," you asked, quoting his reassuring words from earlier.

"I nicked myself on a broken shelf." As confident as he sounded, his lie didn't escape you.

All it needed was a 'really?' look on your face to get the truth out.

"Death eaters," he stated, defeated.

"You really ought to be more careful, Rem. It worries me."

You said that and guided him out of the kitchen to assess his other wounds, which included one on his arm and a twisted ankle.

Unaware that a certain raven head was watching you from the table, envious and defeated at failing at his attempts to talk to you. The rain began pouring down, and the clothes and plants still outside ran through your mind.

The rain mirrored the heart of the black, sitting at the table, gloomy as ever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You'd last seen Sirius when Harry and the kids stumbled through the door of Grimmauld Place, bringing an unconscious, but thankfully alive, Sirius with them.

Harry had told you that he was leaving to retrieve his godfather from the ministry, mentioning something about a dream, but you weren't paying much attention after you'd heard the news. With Dumbledore's permission and assistance, you'd returned to Grimmauld's place to help in case they ever needed it. Praying that Sirius made it back alive.

The kids, along with Remus and a few other order members, laid the unconscious Sirius on the couch and went to clean themselves up as you offered to take care of Sirius in the meantime.

Once conscious, you dragged Sirius to the bathroom on the ground floor of the house, squeezing through the thin hallways and sitting him on the counter as you retrieved a first-aid kit from the cupboard.

"Couldn't you use magic to fix my wounds?" came his distraught voice, cutting your thoughts short.

"Do you want me to inflict pain on them? Just sit still. Besides, it's not like I'm a healer."

As you cleaned each wound with precision, one thought roamed your head.

It's not like they don't have wands—the death eaters, that is—they injured him in a way that seems almost muggle.

"If you're wondering how, it was Bellatrix," Sirius said, trying to suppress a hiss at the particularly deep wound on his arm, as if reading your mind.

"Your cousin?" you answered, or rather, asked, continuing and moving onto the smaller cuts that littered his face.

Humming, he let you get the rest of the wound cleaned.

You glanced up at his face when opening the packet of cotton, only then realizing how close you had been. His breath was fanning your nose as he stared deep into your eyes, no trace of guilt or shame in them, as if he trusted you wholeheartedly.

You could have sworn you saw him glance at your lips in anticipation. The thought alone swarmed your stomach with butterflies.

Only now had you realized how intimate your shared moments were and how he had always tried to enlighten your mood with his jokes. You thought it was his defense, his coping mechanism.

Though now it seemed amidst the war, all he tried to do was hear you laugh. By pausing your movements as if in a trance, you maintained eye contact with him. He looked so stern and so soft all at once.

In his mind swam thoughts of the previous night, when you cradled Remus's hand with such grace and concern.

His lips parted, and you wanted to kiss him. You don't know why, but you did. All you had to do was move your face half an inch forward, and his lips would crash into yours. You wanted to do it so badly.

And so you did.

His eyes fluttered close, and the arm that wasn't injured came up to grip your neck, light as a feather.

His hands caressed the tiny hairs on your neck and sent a tingle down your spine. The kiss was phenomenal.

You didn't sleep that night; the thoughts were fluttering in your mind even hours later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I kissed him."

As soon as those words left your mouth, Remus choked on his tea and had to take a moment to steady himself.

"You kissed whom exactly!?" came his exasperated voice.

"Sirius," you said sheepishly, suddenly feeling small under his wide gaze.

"I didn't even know you liked him," Lupin said as he went to dry his clothes from the tea.

"It just…sort of happened..you know-"

"no, I don't know y/n..what were you thinking!?" Remus was confused, and a part of him felt betrayed.

You liked his best friend, but he had no clue.

The patter of the rain outside added to the deafening silence that you left. The sound brought you back to the first night in the house, the night when you shared tea with Sirius.

Your eyes flitted to the scar running along the Lycanthropes hand, and you grimaced at the angry red surrounding it as it healed.

"Did you put the balm on it today? your hand, I mean " Your words cut through the silence like a knife, and you moved your hand toward one of the many drawers housing your herbal balms.

"You're deflecting, love... If it's any help, Sirius would much rather pretend nothing happened than act on his own; you're best off confronting him first."

Remus's words were assuring, but the tone in which he said them made you scrunch up your brows and tilt your lip downward.

"Umm, I'll see what I can do." Your hesitance was evident in your voice.

You walked back to your room after handing Remus the green and silver tin, silently reminding him of his wound.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the other side of the house, Sirius lay in bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about the kiss.

His mind wandered to the feeling of your lips, his hands on on nape, and your gaze before it all.

Your lips. My lips.

"A Rubber Duck!" A shout came from the room beside him. Harry's room. They were playing a round of charades, he remembered.

Harry! Yes!

He should ask Harry. So he made his way towards their room.

"Harry, could I talk to you for a moment?" Just as Harry was getting up and ready to join his godfather,

"actually hold that-"

He turns to Hermione

"-Hermione!! You're a muggle. You'd know! of course" The hopeful tone of his voice sends Ron into a laughing fit, and Harry's mouth twitches into a grin as Hermione sits confused with a frown.

After discussing the matter with the kids, Sirius decides he's done with his stupid old ways. He wants to say something; make the first move.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It happened on christmas eve.

Everyone had taken to opening presents under the large tree at the living room.

After watching Ron fawn over his new wizard chess set, you decided it was time for a much needed break.

"I think i'm going to go make some hot chocolate...anyone want some?" You asked, already getting up to yout feet.

Most of them nodded no and you only just realised all their mugs were rather full.

Making your way into the rather small kitchen of grimmauld place, you got out your wand to help make your hot chocolate.

"Knock knock" a familiar raspy voice came from the doorway.

An odd sense of deja vu enveloped you and you turned around to look at the source.

"you could just knock. Like a normal person" you repeated your words from the previous day.

The relationship between you and sirius had strained quite a bit after that shared kiss.

"sorry love, how's your day going so far?" He asked, seemingly trying to dissipate the awkwardness from the air.

"Alright...i suppose, what about you?" You replied with just as much hesitation.

"Good." And it stopped at that, the conversation.

Only now did you realise just how close he had gotten. You backed yourself away slightly, only to find your leg hitting the back of the counter.

The world seemed to be silent as the sound of your breaths mingled with one another, accompanied by the ticking clock.

The noises in the living room had become nothing but a blur and muffled by your thoughts.

"I really like you y/n. I truly do" Sirius spoke first, drawing your attention from the planes of his face

"Huh?" Your reply came meek and unsure.

You weren't even sure you'd heard it right.

"i like you." He reiterated.

You did hear it right.

Your knees felt weak but at the same time you were on cloud nine.

Before getting the chance to gather your thoughts you found yourself speaking..

"I really like you too sirius"

your voice came out just louder than a whisper, you're sure he wouldn't even have heard it.

His next words sent a flurry of butterfiles to your stomach.

"May i..?" You noticed him glancing down at your lips and back at your eyes.

You couldn't stop the smile that bloomed on your face as you nodded yes.

The kiss was diferent than the last, less desperate yet more passionate. It was slow, steady and loving.

You could feel his smile against your lips before you pulled apart.

"I've waited so long to do that" his voice came a mere whisper

Your eyes followed the movement of his lips, which were on yours moments ago.

" I...umm got you a gift" he continued, his hesitation surprising you.

Forcing your eyes to look back at the grey irises you managed to let out a breathless

"what?"

Sirius pulled out a box, a small one of velvet, the kind that would normally house a ring, now held a singular locket that was shaped as a star.

"A star...for my star" he said

You couldn't stop the heat from spreading to your cheeks, eyes widening a touch and lips quirking up the slightest.

Two voices giggling could be heard from the kitchen that night.

The whole night.

A/n: I spent WAYY too long on this- and the ending is super rushed lmao i hope you enjoyed it and all reblogs help me reach more ppl! I had sm fun writing this. i'm v proud of this ❤️❤️

[favvn]

At the risk of being a contrarian (because I have browsed the tag, I've seen the complaints), The Deadly Years isn't entirely out of character for Jim Kirk. It's just that we get to see him at his worst again.

Back in season 1, the Conscience of the King shows that he will pull rank on both Spock and McCoy--the two people on the entire ship that Kirk allows himself to be closest to--to keep them out of his life and to shut down their concerns for his well-being. Kirk is not sick or inhibited by anything in this episode (other than haunted by his past). His decision to use the Enterprise to transport the acting troupe doesn't delay a mission or risk lives outside of the Enterprise, although it does inadvertently endanger one member of his crew (Lt. Riley). In other words, he acts selfishly in this episode and lashes out towards those who want to help, much like he does in The Deadly Years.

Earlier in the season, The Galileo Seven shows that Kirk will reassert his authority as captain to put off completing a mission to deliver emergency medical supplies to Makus III and aid a colony overrun by a plague because he has "standing orders" to investigate quasars. This mission is ordered by Galactic High Commissioner Ferris, which the Enterprise is transporting to oversee the supply transfer. Ferris himself later states that he outranks Kirk and can cite regulation to support his taking command of the ship to complete the mission once Kirk makes it clear he intends to take 2 full days to locate and retrieve the Galileo's crew rather than use those days to get to Makus III. This situation is interesting in that it shows how Kirk can respond negatively to those holding authority over him, especially when those same people question his decisions. Ferris is technically correct when he argues that the Galileo did not need to be launched to begin with, given how Kirk would rather trade the life of a colony for the lives of seven crew members.

I realize TOS is inconsistent about background details with how Starfleet operates owing to its standalone story structure, and this instance of "standing orders" is yet another case of that structure hindering the world building. While Kirk doesn't follow the Prime Directive even at the best of times (best of times being the absence of a cult. I'll grant him that exception), he will ignore a high galactic commissioner to follow "standing orders" all of a sudden because, at his core, Kirk doesn't want to follow orders. He's the captain. He's supposed to be the one in charge. If he's a perfectionist (his guilt at losing crew members during missions to the point of Spock having to console him, although this also comes from his survivor's guilt from Tarsus IV), it wouldn't surprise me a bit if he has control issues alongside it. In other words, for all the good Kirk tries to do and strives to do, he is still just as capable of acting selfishly and in his own best interests, and he has done so since the start of the series.

More to the point of The Deadly Years, aging is not always painless or graceful. We get to see Kirk starting to forget recent events and commands (forgetting recent events and conversations is one of the first symptoms of Alzheimer's disease) to the point that he is an active risk to the safety of the crew. Of course, he will be in denial about it, to the point of anger and deflection. It's a painful thing to reckon with, to live in a body that doesn't work like you know it should, and to have others place judgments onto you for it because they're in perfect health. Not everyone can accept that with grace. This doesn't make Kirk out-of-character. It makes him human.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Tim Murphy at Mother Jones:

Arizona’s fourth legislative district, located in the suburban heart of Maricopa County, might be the ultimate bellwether in the ultimate bellwether state. And this fall, the stakes are impossibly high, not just at the presidential level—where polls show Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in a dead heat—but all the way down the ballot. Republicans control both chambers of the legislature by just one vote. In Arizona, where each legislative district elects two representatives, control of the state house could come down to Democrats’ efforts to flip one seat and hold another in this district that includes parts of Phoenix and Scottsdale.

In their quest to hold onto the legislature, Republicans have turned to a member of a famous Arizona family—Pamela Carter, older sister of the original Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter. On the campaign trail, the candidate Carter has talked up her work as a successful entrepreneur and a record of academic accomplishment, and boasts of having “my family’s full support” for her state house run. But a review of her record and past statements tells a much different story: In contrast to the fourth district’s moderate profile, Carter is a fervently anti-abortion minister who has been “blessed with end-time revelation” and who has made confusing claims about her past. And one notable member of her family is not on board—her famous sister, an advocate for reproductive rights. “On her website, Pam claims to have her ‘family’s full support,'” Lynda Carter said in a statement to Mother Jones. “I have known Pam my entire life, which is why I sadly cannot endorse her for this or any public office.” 

Pamela Carter has offered an inconsistent accounting of her educational background. Her page at Ballotpedia states that she “earned a master’s degree in Communications and Biblical studies and attended Arizona State University,” which a spokesperson for the elections site confirmed was based on an informational survey that was “verified by the candidate.” “I was raised in Scottsdale, went right here to Arcadia High, ASU, and I just love our city,” she said on a podcast in 2022. This is technically true. Carter did attend ASU, and she does also have a master’s degree. But the reality of her resume is a bit more complicated. According to an ASU spokesperson, Carter was at one point enrolled at the university, but did not graduate. Instead, according to her LinkedIn page and other interviews, she attended an unspecified bible college in Kansas City, Missouri, and later received a master’s degree in “communications and media studies” from the Primus University of Theology, a Phoenix-based institution that affirms in its mission statement that “life begins at conception.” (One of the prerequisites for admission is that you order a copy of the founder’s book.) Primus, which aims to prepare its students “for their Ministry calling,” is not accredited by any agency recognized by the Department of Education. Instead, it cites the approval of the University Accreditation Association, which evaluates institutions on their adherence to “biblical truths.” Its degree programs are “designed for the specific and singular purpose of qualifying individuals for Christian Ministry.” But Carter has also described that degree differently in different contexts. Her campaign website during her unsuccessful 2022 campaign for Scottsdale city council said she held a “Master’s Degree in Business and Communications,” a claim she also repeated that year in an interview on a local podcast. In another video that year, she boasted of having a “master’s degree in theology, as well as in mass communications.” A current campaign biography states that “I received my master’s degree in Communications and Biblical studies.”

Carter, who did not respond to requests for comment, has leaned into her biography during her run for office, arguing that her business experiences give her an advantage in the political realm. Foremost among those ventures was Jon Cole Systems, a gym she once owned with her ex-husband, the powerlifter Jon Cole. Newspaper ads for the fitness center sometimes featured Lynda Carter, touting the benefits of Cole’s “TOTAL WOMAN” workout program. 

“It was the largest [gym] in the nation at the time,” Pamela Carter boasted in a 2022 interview, in which she suggested that working people struggling to find housing in Scottsdale needed to hustle as hard as she had when she owned two homes and was helping to run the business in the 1970s.

For a few years, the gym was a major success, with clients such as the Green Bay Packers and members of the Phoenix Suns. But it soon went downhill. The company pursued Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1982, and was sold for $60,000 the next year, according to an Arizona Republic report in 1983. The couple divorced around the same time. After the gym business fell through, Carter went on to a long career as a Christian wellness influencer, pitching the gospel alongside weight-loss and nutrition tips. She moved to California and hosted a fitness show called “Get in Shape with Pamela Carter” (on the Trinity Broadcasting Network) and another program on CBN called “Fit for Life.”

[...]

Carter was not just pitching products, though. She was selling a very particular kind of theology, rooted in a desire to see the United States “united for Jesus,” and a belief that modern-day prophets—like herself—were transmitting revelations from God. A biography at the ministry stated that Carter “is very passionate about her love for the Lord and has been blessed with end-time revelation of His desire for His bride.” (The full revelation was available for purchase for $25.) She talked frequently about building influence on the “Media mountain” and said in 2011 that she was part of “God’s media army…to be raised up for such a time as this, to take possession of the arts, the entertainment media, the internet.” The term is often used by proponents of a Christian nationalist movement sometimes called the New Apostolic Reformation and a belief its adherents subscribe to known as Seven Mountains Dominionism, which aims to take gain influence over the seven spheres (or “mountains”) of government, education, media, family, entertainment, religion, and business.

In response to a candidate questionnaire from the city of Scottsdale two years ago, Carter said she had “been involved…as a volunteer” with three churches or organizations, all of which had ties to the NAR. They included Intercessors for America, a national prayer organization that warns that “there is an Enemy of our souls and our nation who orchestrates a coordinated battle plan that is discernible and beatable with spiritual weapons.”  Another group she touted her work with was the Kansas City-based International House of Prayer, whose founding pastor, Mike Bickle, was dismissed last year amid allegations of sexual abuse. The church, where worship services have run 24/7 since 1999, has “been criticized by some pastors for what they describe as unorthodox theology and a cultish atmosphere, charges that Mr. Bickle rejects,” the New York Times reported in 2011. (In response to a Kansas City Star investigation into Bickle earlier this year, the organization emphasized that his alleged abuse predated the church’s creation, while Bickle has admitted to “inappropriate behavior” but not “the more intense sexual activities that some are suggesting.”) Long before he was forced out, Bickle had courted controversy with his assertions from the pulpit that Oprah was a forerunner of the Antichrist and that God sent Hitler to kill Jewish people because they wouldn’t accept Christianity.

[...] In that interview, Carter, who served that year as an advisor to the Trump campaign in the state, said she had acted as a prayer “intercessor” while working as a paid poll worker in Arizona. “I was dancing around, I had so much joy in just praying over every person that came in, you know, it was so fun,” she said. “But there’s also a lot of corruption I saw—not at the poll where I was working but at the election facility—and we just have to really watch and pray, watch and pray, and then you can cut that off in the spirit and then report it.”

[...] The district offers a glimpse of how reproductive rights is playing at the ballot box in a highly competitive area. Christine Marsh, the district’s Democratic state senator, won her election in 2022 by a little more than 1,000 votes by relentlessly linking a Republican incumbent to the state legislature’s 15-week abortion ban. The current Republican state representative, Matt Gress, was one of three members of his party to break ranks and vote to repeal Arizona’s 1864 abortion ban, which offered no exceptions even for cases of rape. A recent Fox News survey found that supporters of an abortion-rights ballot initiative in Arizona outnumber opponents by roughly three-to-one—and 50-percent of Republicans said they approved. Carter, though, has sung a different tune. 

Pamela Carter, the sister of Lynda Carter (who played Wonder Woman on the Wonder Woman show), is running for a State House seat in Arizona. Lynda is not backing her, citing Pamela’s anti-abortion views.

Read the full story at Mother Jones.

[smashupmashups]

Presenting the screenshots I've made of the main characters of My Life as a Teenage Robot crossing over with Danny Phantom! (In chronological order.)

Made on January 27 and later updated on May 16 over how I noticed the shading on the top wasn't added on the walls and the lines were too thick to be TV episode/special material.

I've been at this for nearly seven hours and here it is.

I first started with the background of the Fenton Works laboratory, looking at the screencaps of "The Fairly Odd Phantom" for the modern look of the place. Took me a while in figuring out the correct detailing of the wall as the next frame was inconsistent with it, but I got the finished result.

Next was doing Danny and Jenny, which led to doing a new Danny with existing and new art pieces while Jenny was made new for this.

As the characters and background were finished, I scaled 'em down to appropriate sizes and pieced 'em together while making sure the centering on the two was right.

This was finished on May 8.

For the background, I used an existing one I made priorI already made a baseline for Sam and Tucker on April 12; I just never got around it until after celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Jimmy Timmy Power Hour.

Jenny, meanwhile was made with tracing over my existing Hartman-styled Jenny image while making her pose freely.

For this, I wanted to make one with Brad, Tuck, and Sheldon in the Danny Phantom universe looking for Jenny. This was started onMay 19 and finished on May 20.

I started on the background, taking place in the Fentons' living room, considering I already had Jenny introduced in the Fenton Works' lab.

Danny was next, using screenshots from notably "Frightmare"; "Mystery Meat"; and "Memory Blank".

Next was Jazz, which was a trace of an existing art piece from a few months ago, while the hands were changed for this.

Brad, Tuck and Sheldon relied on tracing over the artwork of them in the Danny Phantom style and freehanding the poses, while their heads were slightly tilted with the help of Free Online Image Editor. Sheldon was made to be pretty nervous from the look of Danny's universe while Tuck notices he now has five fingers compared to how he had four back in his universe, as a little nod to how the Jimmy Timmy Power Hour had made meta jokes on the animation styles.

I had my head wrapped around this, but I decided to do Vexus in the Danny Phantom style, through a fan-made screenshot.

This was in the making from May 20 to May 21.

It was updated twice that day: once to add a shadow beneath her feet, according to the screenshots, and again to make the outlines thicker after another look at it.

Everything was made without any reference images, while I looked at screenshots from The Fairly Odd Phantom for the Fenton Portal and screenshots from the My Life as a Teenage Robot episode "Queen Bee", which showed off Vexus' current look.

When I realized "Queen Bee" was her last appearance in her respective show, and only time presenting her in her new look, I thought I'd have her as the main antagonist in this crossover idea. Should this turn into a real thing, I'd definitely wanna see how Cree Summer, who had voiced her in two episodes, could take over the reigns as Vexus in place of the late Eartha Kitt.

This one was in the works since May 9 when it was in its original conception. I stopped on May 10 to spend the weekend at my mom's. I resumed a bit on May 13, then finally finished during midnight on May 15.

After making that screenshot of Jenny with Sam and Tucker, I had to make something with Danny.

My first one was of Jenny and Team Phantom (or just Danny, depending on whether or not I'd make all four members in the same place) located at Jenny's front doorstep, which I had the background completed along with an image of Jenny. As I was making Danny shown at a center angle and with a surprised expression, I had the new idea of having him, Jazz and Tucker arriving in Jenny's universe seeing how they look in the Teenage Robot style a la Jimmy Timmy Power Hour with how Timmy and Jimmy responded appropriately at how they looked different in each other's universes.

Figuring out the location of the portal was a toughie, but I came to the epiphany of placing it by the entrance, with the portal being hidden by one of the walls near the front door via rotating wall. I looked at the reference images to make the wall of the entrance. With the portal, I spent time with the details and adding the inside of the Fenton Ghost Portal, which would be interconnected with Nora's portal. The Fenton lab was the hardest part, especially adding the details in the Ghost Portal's interior by looking at screencaps from The Fairly Odd Phantom and a sketch by Butch Hartman of Sam looking on at the Ghost Portal.

Jenny was made with reference images, while Team Phantom relied on tracing over the existing Teenage Robot-styled versions with adding new poses and expressions.

And there you have it, my series of fan-created screenshots of the Teenage Robot and Danny Phantom characters together! Hope you like 'em!

[charmwasjess]

Okay, I finally finished The Living Force, and as promised, I have thoughts. These are just my musings as a fan and a reader - if you enjoyed the book more than I did, I'm really glad! If you hated it, good for you too! Let people like things, let people not like things. <3 My feelings with this book were somewhat down the middle. I'm interested in reading it again in a couple months and seeing how I feel.

Overall: a fun, engaging read, genuinely hard to put down once the action starts going. The book isn’t afraid to be funny. SO MUCH GOOD JEDI CONTENT! Miller takes on a huge task trying to write perspectives for all twelve Council member characters and does a pretty good job bringing them to life. Mace and Depa steal the show. I had a hard time with some of the meta plot and overriding messages about the Jedi Order.

Andddddd the long version:

The entire conceit of the book comes about when Qui-Gon goes head to head with the Council, who are bogged down in committee red tape Senate paperwork disconnection, and challenges them to “help one person.” So inspired, the Jedi Council in its entirety goes to the planet Kwenn to help close down a hundreds-year-old Jedi Outpost. 

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan serve as the book’s inciting incident, our quest giver NPCs, who hang around close enough to the action to keep the readers who bought the book only for them engaged. It reminds me a little bit of a spin-off TV show where the fan favorite character from the original series shows up to boost ratings, saying their classic catch phrase while the live studio audience goes crazy. Look, Qui-Gon is Being Kind to Pathetic Lifeforms! Obi-Wan drops a “hello there” in the first scene! Oh, them!

Lest you think I’m being shitty, let me say that it was actually great to see Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan on the eve of TPM working together well and having a blast. Both in Padawan and Master & Apprentice, they are still very much figuring out their relationship, and now it’s clearly evolved to its final magnificent form. They’re utterly corny together - I love that for them. This is the same pair that gave us “the negotiations were short” and the baffling “there’s always a bigger fish!”

I’ll talk a little bit about Sifo-Dyas because of course I will. He appears only in mentions, but so many of them, he's a huge part of the subtext of the book as he's recently left (been fired) from the Council and been killed - he's apparently on everyone's mind. I’ve posted about this before - I love the Seeker Sifo addition, and further, letting him be a rightful problem, a true pain in the Council’s ass and who ultimately got himself fired for not following the rules. Of course I have sympathy for him: this is a person who is beyond desperate to save his world and willing to try anything at this point in his life. And I think it’s worth mentioning that this is well within Cavan Scott’s characterization of him as a natural born troublemaker. I mean, he’s on screen for about two pages in Dooku: Jedi Lost before he just fucking literally steps on Yoda. Apparently, he never stopped. 

The book is oddly complimentary of him in weird places. Canon is inconsistent about Sifo-Dyas and how much his visions were impacting his judgment or even his simple ability to function. The last we heard of him in the Yoda comics, Sifo-Dyas was so routinely incapacitated by them that he was traveling with Lene full time. So it was cool to see that he had apparently gotten in control of them enough to be a super crucial member of the Council. Mace complains about Sifo’s absence and how that has directly impacted their entire ability to perceive the future, an acknowledged blind spot that comes up quite a lot in the prequel films and Clone Wars. Yoda goes on and on about how what a powerful Jedi he was.

...I don’t think the scene where the ENTIRE FUCKING Council round robin style takes potshots at Sifo-Dyas for *checks notes* rescuing some orphans was particularly successful. Of course, accuse me of bias, he’s a favorite character of mine, and it’s rough to see his colleagues - who are also his only friends and family - sitting around talking shit about him (to a bad guy no less!) for a page and a half, when he literally just got violently killed. (And they know he’s dead, at least, if not the circumstances. Killed on Felucia was the official story reported to the Council per wookiepedia.) Just tonally weird.

But really, I think what actually bothers me about that scene is the treatment of the baddie, Zalestra’s motivation as in any way legitimate, credible, or worth an apology by the narrative. Wow, the villain had a good point! To be clear, her issue with Sifo-Dyas taking her friends away to be Jedi is not that it changed her situation in any meaningful way in terms of care provided. It was a crime of omission. And these friends were so dear to her that she goes around indiscriminately killing Jedi of their exact generation? I suspect Miller liked his cool Nautolan Pirate Joker OC and wanted to give her a sympathetic excuse for why she was going around torturing and murdering Jedi (and just random people, including children) for fun, and “I got separated from my friends as a kid because of a Jedi” was the best he could do. Of course, it sets up Depa for a really beautiful line about not using other people as a canvas to paint grief on. 

The question of Attachment is a strong theme. Depa seems to be Going Through It - about attachment in particular, but also generally in the book. She’s shown relying a little too firmly on the no attachment cause in the wake of grief for a lost student. For example, she is quick to volunteer that Zalestra’s friends who were brought into the Temple together would be immediately separated so as to not form attachments - without pointing out the rest of that, that this separation would be specifically into Creche clans so they could bond with other Jedi kids and grow up in a community. Mace’s reaction to Depa’s attitudes make me suspect this is a Depa character growth thing, not something we’re supposed to take as a face value fact about the Jedi Order. Indeed, she ultimately overcomes her fears about this and decides to take a Padawan. And the final lines of the book include Qui-Gon defining for us that it isn’t attachment that’s a problem for Jedi – it’s indifference. 

Mace and Depa are the clear stars of the book. The Shatterpoint lineage vibes are immaculate. I’d read that the Living Force is supposed to set up an upcoming novel about Mace, and I am legitimately thrilled for it after reading this. Anyway, their dynamic is fantastic. Mace treats her 100% like a respected colleague, no cute Padawan infantilization tropes, even when he is put in situations like rescuing her after weeks of prolonged torture. Instead, he gives her his lightsaber to use, since hers has been taken. A really powerful and beautiful moment of support, while still recognizing her strength and agency. 

That said, if you’re looking for a deep dive into more obscure members of the Council or an EU/Legends junkie looking to see your favorite backstory pulled from the fire, this book might not be it.  With his five wives and seven daughters in old EU, Ki-Adi-Mundi might be the least likely Council Member to be the comedic butt of a bit revolving around awkwardness around women, but Miller goes for it, and there’s no mention of his family situation. 

Another odd reference, this time to current canon: the civilians the Council are working to help are mentioned as being the relocated survivors of the Protobranch disaster. It’s an ironic choice to frame the narrative of “the Jedi have been too focused on the big picture/the future at the expense of their duty to ordinary people” and then set the story in a community of people that the Jedi literally saved after getting a vision of the future disaster. The fact that it was our problem child Sifo-Dyas’s vision, and the rescue only happened after he and Lene outright defied the Council to get the gears moving is never mentioned or addressed, despite its seeming supreme relevance to the other themes in the story. 

For a time, I thought the narrative tension there between those two truths - that the Jedi should be concerned about ordinary people and living in the moment, but that this doom future is truly about to be a huge problem for the Jedi Order and the galaxy - was intentional. Having now finished the book, it doesn't seem to have actually been. Maybe someone else has a different perspective.

In truth, I didn’t understand what I kept reacting negatively to about with some of the meta themes of the book until the literal last page, John Jackson Miller’s author’s note where he says it outright. He talked about the other Star Wars books he has written over the last decade - how they all have depicted (Jedi) characters who are off on their own, away from the Order, “loners like Luke Skywalker,” and how his depiction of the Jedi Order from that perspective has been very critical. With this book, he decided that ALL Jedi couldn’t be bad, and that “Qui-Gon Jinn was the greatest symbol (of diversity of thought in the Order)” so he wanted to explore that. 

I closed the book and gently placed it in the trash can.

No, I’m kidding. Kind of. You know that I love Qui-Gon Jinn, he is my first favorite character, but this take exhausts me. That he is the magical exception to all of Jedi’s problems leading up to the prequels, and that if he were somehow not a direct product of that same Jedi Order, which encouraged him in his particular way of thinking almost to a fault, starting with Dooku.

In the final scene, with a magical twinkle in his eyes, Qui-Gon explains his own “defiance”of the Council: “I’m not insubordinate. I’m unorthodox. The insubordinate are ignored. The unorthodox are heard - grudgingly.” So the book finally resolves for us the narrative confusion in the difference between Sifo-Dyas’s bad future-fixated rulebreaking, which is shown to create villains and piss off his colleagues alike, and Qui-Gon’s good Living Force-serving unorthodoxy, which creates friends for the Order and moments of spiritual understanding for the Council. 

...Smashcut to six months later when Qui-Gon himself is outright defying the Council’s decision on Anakin and sidelining Obi-Wan because he’s convinced the Chosen One prophecy is just that important. 

Star Wars: The Living Force by John Jackson Miller, 6.5/10 stars, would have been 7 if I hadn’t read that asinine author’s note and gotten all mad again. 

[prismatic-glow]

a quick guide to hyperbloom triggers

hello everyone! Today I have a quick guide for you guys on hyperbloom triggers. Before I get into it, let's talk about what exactly a hyperbloom trigger is

╰┈❥➔ a "hyperbloom trigger" is the electro character in your hyperbloom team responsible for triggering hyperblooms

so, why does this matter? choosing the right character and build to trigger your hyperbloom teams is important to having an actually functioning team. depending on who is (or isn't!) triggering hyperbloom, your character builds and even team archetypes will change.

to start, here's a quick introduction/recap on hyperbloom teams

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ parts of a hyperbloom team

・❥・ a hydro character

・❥・ a dendro character

・❥・ an electro "hyperbloom trigger" on full em + 4pc gilded dreams

・❥・ 1 character on 4pc deepwood memories. any member of the team except the hyperbloom trigger can run this set. yes, even your hydro or flex slot (4th slot) character can run it! note that only one character should have it, otherwise you are wasting the 4pc effect

now, let's get into the most important part: hyperbloom triggers!

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ the 3 types of electro characters in hyperbloom

there are 3 different "types" of electro characters when it comes to hyperbloom teams. these are:

・❥・full hyperbloom trigger. this character will consistently trigger all of your bloom cores. your team should only have 1 of these characters. this is because having 2 full em triggers does nothing and if only 1 hyperbloom trigger is full em, the other will "steal" dendro cores but cause them to deal less damage

・❥・ semi-hyperbloom trigger. this character will trigger some bloom cores but will do it less consistently than full hyperbloom triggers. Oftentimes these characters will turn your team into a "quickbloom team". more on this later!

・❥・ non-hyperbloom triggering. these characters can be slotted in for other purposes without interrupting your hyperbloom trigger

note: these are not official/widely used terms. i'm just giving the different roles names to make it easier to refer back to them

next, let's break each role down one-by-one to better understand it

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ full hyperbloom trigger

your best options for a full hyperbloom trigger are Kuki Shinobu and Raiden Shogun (elemental skill)

Lisa played on field can also work

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ semi-hyperbloom trigger

to go in-depth on semi-hyperbloom triggers, let's talk about quickbloom

"quickbloom" is a team archetype for hyperbloom. In a quickbloom team, dendro core production is lower in order to maintain a quicken aura on the enemy. The lower core production and translates into less hyperbloom triggering which allows you to invest in both EM and personal damage for your semi-hyperbloom trigger.

so, the best options for electro characters in hyperbloom teams are semi-hyperbloom triggers with good personal damage, allowing them to deal both electro and hyperbloom damage. Semi-hyperbloom triggers usually don't run 4pc gilded dreams

that being said, here are your options for semi-hyperbloom triggers aka quickbloom characters

・❥・Cyno is probably the best option for quickbloom as it is his best-preforming team. I might reccomend against pulling Cyno just for quickbloom unless you already wanted him

・❥・Yae Miko can work for quickbloom as her triggering of bloom cores is kinda inconsistent

・❥・Keqing is viable for quickbloom but it isn't her best team. I personally play her in quickbloom with Furina and it's lots of fun!

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ non-hyperbloom triggers

this section might seem a bit weird because a character that won't trigger hyperbloom doesn't seem very useful for a hyperbloom team.

But, slotting in one of these characters (4th slot/flex slot) can bring a lot of benefits such as energy or damage! Let's look at the best options for electro characters that won't trigger hyperbloom

・❥・Fischl's Oz doesn't really often hyperblooms so she's a great option

・❥・Beidou pretty much never triggers hyperbloom so she's a great options

note: non-hyperbloom triggers often end up triggering a super small amount of hyperblooms. Luckily this number is low enough to not really cause an issue

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚

i hope this guide was helpful! feel free to ask any questions in the replies or send in an ask!

For a more detailed explanation check out the KeqingMains guides for Lisa, Fischl, Beidou, Cyno, and Yae Miko that I referenced to make this post!

[ariesmoontarot]

Water Sign Reading🌊

Cancer♋️:

I feel like you’ve been talking to someone who is in a very distracted and inconsistent energy. You’ve been keeping things very lighthearted and casually expressing feelings to this person and I feel like they just don’t show you attention or hardly give you the time of day. I’m seeing that it irritated you to the point where you just gave up on it and completely blocked or cut this person off. You feel intuitively something about the situation just doesn’t seem right or like you’re missing the truth on something and the fact is that you are correct. Listen to your intuition about this person and know that right now this temporary fix is just simply not what you want or deserve. It would almost feel like you’re wasting your emotions on someone who will not value the love and time you give them unless they really felt like it. Never be too available to someone who isn’t consistent at all towards you and set healthy boundaries!

Scorpio♏️:

I feel like you’ve been dealing with some distractions and immature behavior. You could be very much entertaining casual connections like friends with benefits, flirting, or something of that nature. However that’s not even what you really want or care about and in order for you to get what it is you want you need to get rid of what doesn’t serve you at all. Your own pride is getting in the way of what really moves and inspires you. I feel like you need to use this time right now to somewhat distance yourself from others then reflect upon your thoughts and feelings so you can take a moment to give yourself a mental break. It is needed because right now you may be feeling confused and second guessing how you feel. It’s just an energy of uncertainty and doubt surrounding a specific situation. However, not making a decision or change that you know is necessary, is also a decision that says a lot about your energy . Also not taking the right approach to get what it is that genuinely makes you happy will only stress you out more because you need to approach things differently than how you been doing.

Pisces♓️ :

I feel like lately you’ve been dealing with this energy of feeling like you aren’t getting the results and progress you want. You’re feeling a lack of motivation, creativity, & energy. This is making you feel a bit disappointed and frustrated but I’m seeing you can confidently move out of this energy and allow yourself to enjoy the present moment if you really wanted to. Instead of focusing on what isn’t working or happening for you, focus on what is happening and what you can control. Your perception will always change your experiences because even when a situation seems negative you can look at it with more of an optimistic attitude and know that what doesn’t work out just simply isn’t for you in that moment. Sometimes we see others who seem successful and have material things that we desire such as cars, money, lifestyles, etc. & we look at our own and don’t feel that great. You have to know when to draw the line between inspiration and comparison. You can choose to compare your life to others and feel negatively or you can look at it from a place of creativity and be inspired to think and move differently. I feel like you’ve been feeling confused and indecisive. Not really sure on what decisions to make and what direction to go in. There is someone in your life who you may be solely dependent on and it could be a partner, friend, or family member. However this person seems to be struggling with their self worth, confidence, & almost just doesn’t feel good enough because they’re not feeling the financial and emotional security that they want. They could feel like at times you talk and don’t deliver the promises and commitments you make. They’re feeling a bit disappointed because they expected more, however I feel like this could be fixed with an honest and deep conversation. You aren’t revealing too much about what’s going on with you internally and they’re feeling shut out or neglected in some way. You and this person are overcoming a really hard time in life and I feel like that deserves to be acknowledged. You’ve came a long way from where you used to be, let alone who you used to be. Maybe you also have a hard time fully trusting this person because of your past, but I feel like this is someone you can open up to and rely on to be who you need them to be. Not that they will change every single thing for you, but they will do what needs to be done to make sure the ones they love are taken care of.

[murmurmurl]

I LIED I'm gonna talk about my pjsk ocs again sorry

*editing to say that these are post 3rd anni :3

This time relationships with canon characters!!!!!

(They're all subject to change bc,,, I'm inconsistent and everything is still in development teehee)

I'm gonna kinda try to explain these btw

Toshiro! They're in class 2B, which makes then classmates with Mizuki and Toya. They've interacted with Mizuki a few times, but a little more so with Toya! Toshiro kinda admires Toya's demeanor in a way? And good grades/intelligence. Toshiro isn't the best with school, really.

He's a BIG MMJ fan actually. Like, going to all the concerts, following them on social media, absolutely fangirling over them fan. He has a lot of respect for Heruka with the way she holds herself. Actually, I think Toshiro would like to be less all over the place, so he tends to respect people that appear to be call and collected.

They met Ichika somewhere in middle school (though I didn't mark them as childhood friends, idk, just. didn't feel it) and became friends, but got really closer only in high-school, having similar interests (mainly vocaloid), and being able to share experiences and advice about being in a band! (Though I'm still not sure what exactly my Little Guys are. Are they a band..?) Anyways, through Ichika he knows the rest of l/n, but isn't close with them.

Toshiro has crossed paths with Rui, Tsukasa and Nene, being in the same school, and he pretty much thinks all of them are cool, but finds himself respecting Tsukasa's ambition a lot.

Matsu! He's in class 3C, being classmates with ruikasa. They've interacted a little, but not much. He thinks they're both kinda fun, that's about it. He's also interacted with Akito, Toya, and An, but it's the same situation, where he just thinks they're neat. Matsu had also encountered Mizuki before, and he thinks they're extremely cool and loves their style. He's also encountered Shiho in a uh. music store? instrument store? yk. He just thinks she's rlly cool.

Toshiro often drags Matsu with them to MMJ concerts and stuff (which can be a bit overwhelming, but he still likes it and has way of dealing with it pretty easily), and he found himself kinda admiring Airi for her energy! Though he doesn't care that much about the rest of the group, to Toshiro's slight disappointment. (Toshiro constantly tries to get Matsu rlly into MMJ. Matsu thinks it's fun. Maybe he will also become a fan?)

Matsu's and Emu's energy kinda match, so at some point they met and became friends! I haven't really come up with how they met though,,,, yet.

Fumi! She's not as social as the other members and doesn't have that many connections to canon characters. She's in class 2A, but isn't close with any of her classmates!

They've come across both Rui and Tsukasa while they were running away from a teacher, so. Fumi might kinda think these two are a little annoying. Which is understandable ig,,,,

With Shiho it's a similar story as with Matsu, they've seen her in a music store and the two kinda darted talking and their energy also somewhat matches, so over time they became friends! Fumi likes Shiho's vibe and often talks about music stuff with her. Overall, Fumi might be a bit judgemental, but she has her reasons. I think,,

Oh, also, Mafuyu! They've only interacted for a short period of time, but something about Mafuyu makes Fumi admire him in a way? (Though I did mark it as respect)

Finally, Seina! She's in Miyamasuzaka in the same class as Mafuyu. The two haven't interacted all that much, but Mafuyu once helped her, so Seina has a positive opinion of him.

She once came across the Shinonome siblings in a café she works at part-time (fun fact!), while they were arguing about something (flavor of cheesecak idk), and ended up having a small conversation with both after taking their order.

She's friends with Shizuku because, yea, again, somewhat similar energy, I think they'd get along. Ended up meeting the rest of MMJ through her, and thinks Haruka is very cool. When Toshiro found out Seina knew MMJ personally, he almost passed out.

Also, Seina ended up meeting Ichika through Toshiro. She thinks Ichika is sweet and whenever she comes to the Cafe Seina works at (which isn't that often, but still), she likes to chat with her a little.

I'll talk about the relationships between the unit members layer because I can literally talk about it for hours, it's a whole other thing,,

Also ty @razzmothazz for the chart thingy, that's very cool and awesome :)

[plagued-melodies]

A hodgepodge of Genshin theories that all connect sort of lol: Genshin Impact

Me and my mother were talking and we noticed a lot of strange parallels throughout EVERYTHING in the recent Archon Quests (this is just our theory, people might have talked about it before, sorry if there are any inconsistencies.)

SPOILERS FOR LITERALLY EVERYTHING in Genshin so far!!! Obviously

please know, this is probably incorrect, just some funny little ramblings

Sumeru was ALL about cloning one's self, Dottore and his clones, Ei and Scaramouche, and Rukkhadevata and Nahida. It's in this quest we learn about our sibling being recorded in Irmunsul, essentially telling us she is not a descender. What if the sibling we're chasing... isn't our sibling?

At first, we thought that maybe Khaenri'ah had cloned us and convinced us through their technology (which would later inspire the Samsara technology the Academia would use) that we had a sibling. But there isn't much as of late to corroborate that that's entirely the case. With this recent quest, it's making usthink, what if we weren't the one cloned... but our sibling...

(I will be using Aether as the traveler in this post and Lumine as the Abyss Sibling for pictures for the sake of using official trailers and screenshots and for clarity but will still neutrally refer to them)

The abyss sibling here seems so... detached. They ask more about Dain than the sibling who is willing to travel to the ends of Teyvat to look for them?? it feels super one-sided to me like we're super concerned and emotional and she's just like "damn bro sorry, ttyl :/"

But like- this sibling in this trailer looks attached. they're emotional, they look shocked, and they look excited to see us. Yes, they talk similarly to the sibling from the quest, but their eyes are more open, they look like they recognize us, the traveler.

Why are they so emotional when watching us from afar, but when we come face to face for the first time in 500 years.... they're detached?

Well... we think the sibling is a clone, at least the sibling we meet is. I find it VERY weird that in the quest that we discover that our sibling isn't a descender, JUST SO HAPPENS to be a quest ALL ABOUT CLONES. Specifically, cloning one's self.

Either a: they are a clone of the original sibling so that they can be watched and monitored by the heavenly principals and throw them off while the real abyss sibling works in the background... or a more unfortunate alternative... A clone of our traveler. Khaenri'ah is confirmed to be underground deep beneath Sumeru, perhaps this technologically advanced civilization had wanted to create their own descender and tried to siphon off the traveler's power which then pried open the abyss and caused the cataclysm, and in order to keep the traveler in Teyvat, they planted false memories of them and their sibling (a bit of a stretch, i know, but we've had instances of there being mind altering technology in Teyvat but I understand why it may be a stretch) so that when the sustainer took the one she recognized as being "a part of this world", traveler would stay in Teyvat. Again, its all a huge stretch but i think it could be a route they may go down especially with the abyss quest coming up for Fontaine here soon.

Some people think the abyss sibling is the third descender, but I don't think thats the case. We learn that the third descender was the one who created the Gnosis (plural??? how to make this word plural please???) from their body in the Fontaine Archon Quest

What character do we run into that has no body? and is more than likely not a part of Irmunsul? Irmunsul seems to be the standard on if someone is a part of this world, thus we can use this information to narrow down potential suspects...

Mage "N", a member of the Hexenzirkel, I believe is a possible candidate

We run into this character in THE VERY SAME QUEST where we learn about the third descender's fate. The reason why the descender would possibly have no body yet be a voice is- they don't belong to this world. What happens to the spirit if they aren't able to be recorded in Irmunsul but lose their body? If they cant be recorded by Irmunsul and the leylines, can they move on to the afterlife that is possibly powered by Irmunsul? I would reckon not.

well, the Ley Lines are what records the memories of Teyvat, hence why we get ghosts and manifestations of the dead, it's just the leylines, which are branches of Irmunsul. I can't 100% guarantee how the afterlife works in Teyvat, we only really get some details in Hu Tao's story quest, there is a purgatory but it seems like Purgatory is that pretty dreamlike space before they move on. We aren't really given much information on whether someone can leave purgatory into Teyavt (let me know if this is false, it's been a cool minute since I did her story quest)

But even so, even if someone could leave purgatory, she still manipulates the world around her (pouring herself some tea) and seems to remember events denizens of Teyvat SHOULD NOT remember, essentially spoonfeeding us the truth after Wanderer's quest.

This is what tells us that the events still happened. History didn't actually change, just how it was perceived was changed. (at least from how I interpreted it)

This could easily be explained by the fact that she is simply powerful in her own right but I don't know. Even the GODS were affected, something like this is simply too powerful to write off as coincidental especially since the only peoplewe know that are confirmed to remember is Wanderer (due to Nahida's interference and planning) and Traveler who can only remember due to him being a descender and not apart of Irmunsul.

But it's still so weird to me that WE NEVER USE THIS EVIDENCE in the trial she is introduced in this manner. Never once IN THE ENTIRE trial do we use this. AND YET, once again, what is the biggest piece of information we learn about the third descender within the very same storyline?

That the third descender's remains were used to make the gnosis

(again??? how to make the word Gnosis plural? is it like goose and geese? Gnoseese??)

Mage "N" is a being without a body, able to manipulate the world around her, and has knowledge about the world that the only other descender seems to know. She's also a huge part of the Circle of Witches who seems to be untouchable, even to the Celestial Principals.

Rhinedottir, a member of this group, created several (dangerous) forms of life (Durin and Albedo, who fears he will destroy Mondstadt one day) and was not punished like Focalors was for doing the exact same thing with NON DANGEROUS BEINGS.

How can a GOD not get the Heavenly Principals permission to create these humans in a benevolent manner, but Rhinedottir, who has several creations BEING DANGEROUS, not get any known reprucussions? (I'm only assuming since she created Durin, then went on to create Primordial Albedo and is... somewhere???) SHE ALSO (at least according to the Wiki, please correct me if im wrong) CREATED THE RIFTWOLVES! THAT BITCH. She may have the curse of immortality like Dain but Dain was just a guard captain, Rhinedottir created monsters that terrorized Teyvat AND WENT ON TO CREATE MORE! Why would her punishment be the same as Dain's???

This leads me to believe that this group of ladies, the Hexenzirkel, has close ties with a descender or Celestia in some form

This can also explain why the Fatui want the Gnosis of the seven nations so badly. If the Hexenzirkel really is as untouchable and powerful we think, then maybe they're trying to rebuild the third descender. If so, and if Mage "N" really is the third descender, then this group of witches who seem to be above to laws of Teyvat, would more than likely be on very good terms with the fatui if they accomplish this, why would they want this? who knows. Maybe to overthrow Celestia, who can say right now?

[planet-crait]

I am once again filled with extreme rage and frustration at Her Universe

I discovered these pants thanks to an IG reel that has the tagline “this one’s for our Rebels fam” immediately showing the faces of….Ahsoka and Bo Katan. Seeing the full design we see that both Kanan and Zeb have been cut in favor of two characters not apart of the Ghost Crew while trying to pretend these pants are “for Rebels fans”. Bo is only in two episodes of all of Rebels and Ahsoka is only really their in season 2. It is also certainly a…choice to Have Ahsoka at the very top of what is supposed to be Rebels merch. The order of characters also is….a choice. It’s placing two characters not even in the Ghost Crew above the actual Ghost Crew (or who was allowed to be apart of the merch) with Ahsokas placement seemingly positioning her as…well Kanans replacement which is a reoccurring theme with merch having Ahsoka replacing Kanan and it feel’s especially gross and ableist given how Filoni used Kanan as a human sacrifice to bring her back.

It seems no matter when the merch is from certain members of the crew are consistently getting cut out and it’s so frustrating. Regularly their is “rebels” merch only showing Hera, Sabine and Ahsoka. It’s really more of a girl power thing but they want Rebels fans so they pretend it’s Rebels merch. These stupid pants can’t even have that “excuse” because Ezra and Chopper are on them. It’s just Kanan and Zeb who are cut out and replaced for some bizarre reason I can’t really fathom. It’s almost like Her Universe wants Ahsoka to be the leader but they realized how fucked up it would be to only replace Kanan so they tossed in Bo to try and pretend that’s not what they’re doing. How can they market this as something for the “Rebels fam” while cutting out a third of the Ghosts crew? Let that sink in, a third of the crew is missing and replaced but somehow this is Rebels merch?

Ontop of all of that the Ghost Crew members allowed to be on this merch just look wrong. The proportions of Hera’s head vs Leku are all wrong, this is what she looks like in the show

She has a long and pointed chin and her Lekku don’t extend that much further past the bottom of her chin.

Taking a close up look at the merch her chin is much shorter and rounded and her Lekku are significantly longer. This also causes the spacing to feel wrong and inconsistent with how much empty space this creates between her and Ezra below her.

Sabines helmet is also missing quiet a bit of detailing that Bo’s helmet for some reason is allowed to have.

I think this is the helmet they’re supposed to be recreating but again details are missing while Bo’s details are correct.

The colors seem wrong so they couldn’t even get her right lol. But my bigger point is the argument that they had to cut out details just doesn’t hold up at all given Bo’s have those details. And if for some reason they couldn’t then just…use Sabines face not her helmet. If you can’t get the helmet right don’t use it.

Chopper is unfortunately so blurry it’s hard to comment on him properly but poor Ezra looks sickly with his skin tone. This is what he normally looks like in show.

And in the patch his skin is lighter and well yellow looking. Ahsoka is conveniently the only character they seemed to bother getting the details right on and it’s frustrating, this is supposed to be Rebels merch but really it’s just more Ahsoka merch with other Ghost Crew members slapped on so they can pretend to care when they just don’t.

[vergencescatter]

Axel Greylark

I have so many thoughts about Convergence. I'm still piecing them together.

One that stands out is how I'm at a bit of a loss with Axel Greylark. I can't say I'm not surprised with how the book concludes. Particularly interesting is the final few moments of Axel in his prison cell at Prison Barge CA73Z. It's revealed, on the one hand, that he often considered the idea of sending a holo to Phan-tu and Xiri, and to his mother. I read this as him being sincere; whether out of insecurity or self-loathing, or something related, it is suggested that he always stops himself from doing so. This is insightful, because I think such instance where he wants to send a holo (assuming a nice one), or those where he reflects on remnants of his affection for Gella, show the good side of Axel.

On the other hand, although I've read some people complain that Axel's development is inconsistent, I actually think his story so far is fairly consistent in the sense that there is something bipolar about the way in which he interacts with himself and others. For example, in the final paragraphs, he thinks of Gella as though with deep fondness and care. But then, in a flash, these thoughts trigger him to spiral into a state of destructive self-loathing, yearning to feed his "chaos". Like how he picks fights when he is bored in prison, and that he enjoyed the pain when someone named Zygerrian broke his nose. It's these two sides that are consistent throughout: his self-destructive spirals that leaves him to fear that he will hurt others around him, perhaps even those he cares deeply about (his relationship with his droid QN-1 comes to mind). In prison, he thinks to himself that with him locked in a cell maybe he will then only be able to hurt himself.

What is probably a decent approximation of the truth is that Axel's mental state completely eroded after his father's death, and after so much time in a self-destructive he has a craving for nihilism (to destroy everything because everything for him was destroyed). I imagine the machinations of the Mother didn't help in reinforcing his inner "chaos". It's clear, at least on my reading, that Axel is not a member of the Path, nor is he committed to its future; but the Mother has a way of enchanting people whilst knowing what bruises to push in order to manipulate them. At the same time my impression is that Axel knows that the Mother is manipulating him, but his nihilism is pragmatic. Something about their arrangement also served a need in him.

[mainstoryarchive]

Ensemble - 123: Military Order

Eichi: … …

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Location: Auditorium (LIVE)

Eichi: … …

Tori: Wah, prez?

Are you alright? Your face looks really pale, what should we do, Yuzuru?! The prez is going to die!

Yuzuru: Please calm yourself, Young Master.

We're on top of the stage right now; it'd be bad if an accident occurred with everyone watching. I will support you, so please keep standing with confidence at least until the voting is over, President-sama.

Eichi: I'm sorry. As expected, my consciousness does feel kind of hazy.

Rei: Kukuku ♪ I see you're trying to earn votes by staggering and showing a weakly person appeal.

Don't you think it's unfitting for one who is called the Emperor to use such sly tactics?

Eichi: …You sure are rude. In fact, I think you did quite well.

One of the Three Oddballs, Sakuma Rei. It's not like I was underestimating you, but…

This is the first time in my life that I was driven in such a corner, I suppose you'd call this the cunning of an old fox?

Rei: Oh, we were only taking a bit of vengeance. Suffer, suffer, because wails and hostility are nourishment for us UNDEAD…♪

Be that as it may, this is our limit. It isn't enough yet to make you fall.

You've had a lot to deal with from the very first match and now you're in overtime, haven't you passed your limits endurance-wise a long time ago?

This is us returning the favor for that B1… no, for having been oppressed by your tyrannical rule for this long. It's retribution; have you learned your lesson even just a little bit?

Eichi: No, I am not wrong—I still believe so. An overwhelming ruling power was needed in order to reform the lawless Yumenosaki Academy.

An 'Emperor' that could unify and control it all.

Staying undefeated is the duty of the 'Emperor'.

I've kept true to that. I don't feel any regret in regard to that either, even if it means that in the end I'll be put to the guillotine.

I'll go down proudly, with a smile. Of course I don't have any intention to give up my throne's seat quite yet.

My apologies, Yuzuru, but you don't have to support me. I can stand properly, with dignity.

I've dreamt of the day when I could stand on the same stage as you while I was hospitalized. I'm going to be enjoying this to the fullest.

Yuzuru: If that is what you wish, then I have no choice but to respect your standpoint.

Tori: Don't overdo it, okay? Our opponent for the finals is that Trickstar, right? We are more than enough to defeat them!

We'll crush those guys easily ☆

Eichi: Thank you, my cute Tori. However, there is no need to worry. There's no way I would pitifully fall to my hands and knees.

I'm the 'Emperor'; I will keep ruling imposingly.

(Aside from that, I'm not the only one whose endurance has been chipped away at. The other members of fine are undoubtedly overdoing it to support my fatigued self.)

(We can't afford another test of endurance.)

(This is for my comrades, for the people who follow this tyrant-like me, who have supported me…)

(At the very least I want to make sure to not increase their burdens, I can't show them my shameful appearance.)

We'll be executing UNDEAD to start off with. We'll be thoroughly beheading you so that even you undying won't be able to revive again.

After that we'll execute Trickstar and rule over the DDD.

I won't let myself be overthrown, I will be the one to put an end to this insurrection, to this riot. I was the one who started all of this, after all.

Wataru: Ufufufufu ♪ A heroic, but tragic determination, you are pure and prideful to no bounds! That is why you are so interesting, I can't help but say 'Amazing'!

You are by no means evil—despite being just, you act like a tyrant and devour people's tears and dreams!

Love and hate, hope and despair. Dreams and nightmares. You live a life riddled with both contradictions and inconsistency!

There's a tale that only you can spin. I'll be observing from your side for some time to come, your vibrant and exceptional tragicomedy.

Eichi: You're almost like Mephistopheles​. You sometimes scare me. Well, it's fine—we do need your power in order for us to win.

I still have some use for you, Oddball Wataru Hibiki.

…It seems you did something uncalled for with Hokuto-kun. I'll need to reprimand you about that sometime after the DDD ends however.

Wataru: Oh, you certainly have sharp ears. I might have stirred up a hornets' nest, dangerous, dangerous ♪

I got moved by RYUSEITAI's Chiaki-kun's act of putting his life on the line for his kouhai, you see.

So I also felt like showing off my good side as the theater club's president…☆

Besides, is this not the development that you were wishing for?

Eichi: … …

Rei: You are quite composed; the result of the voting has not been revealed yet.

The current situation might very well call for an extra round. We are still plenty energetic, but how are you holding up?

We don't mind just taking you down with us. Let us have a good time falling to the depths of hell together…♪

Eichi: I'll be politely reclining that offer. You people are nothing more than pebbles on my road to glory.

My foot got stuck here needlessly, but I don't have any more time to waste on you. We will crush you and go on ahead.

Now that it's come to this, no one… not even I myself, can stop me from continuing on this road.

[ ☆ ]

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