#really enjoyed finding parallels that I didn't see before

[personinthepalace]

Feligami - Give Your Heart A Break

[ssahotchnerr]

HI HONEY!! I have a fic request! Based on Aaron and his love for calling the reader sweet girl/his sweet girl. Where that’s his favorite nickname for her and she loves is sm and he loves it sm AND THEYRE JUST IN LOVE. I think that would be so cute!

endearments

i'm putting a (slightly) drunk aaron take on this 🤭 cw; fem!reader, mentions of drinking, soft drunk!aaron, vague suggestion, a lot of fluff <3

You had been on the brink of dozing off, but had fought against your heavy eyelids until Aaron returned home safely. It had been guys night out; aka Dave dragging him to some top-shelf fancy bar, or whatever establishment the David Rossi enjoyed to frequent.

The slower than normal pace echoed from down the hallway - locking the door, putting his coat away, a quick check on Jack; his usual night rounds. Finally he made his way into your shared bedroom, dropping soundly onto the bed beside you with a heavy exhale. His aim, however, a bit off - he landed nearly on top of you.

You could smell the small aroma of bourbon on his breath. He always drank just enough to be tipsy, smart and conscious of avoiding a brutal hangover, or an alert tending to.

"My sweet girl."

His voice was heavenly deep, softer and smoother in its inebriated manner. It paralleled his actions: drunk Aaron meant clingy Aaron. His immediate tight hold solidified such.

"Hey," You adjusted yourself, laying more so on your side, facing him. Your voice was laced with your drowsiness; tone relaxed, content, making Aaron wonder why he didn't just stay home with you all night. "Have fun?"

"Yeah, it was nice." Your hand cupped his cheek momentarily, moving towards the nape of his neck. His glassy eyes admired you.

"Dave find any new wives?"

Aaron snorted gently, "Not this time."

You hummed in response, fingers running through the back of his hair. You switched between brushing through the short strands, and gently scratching his scalp. Aaron could've groaned at the feeling (he may have, he honestly couldn't recall if he did.) "Poor wing-manning on your end, then."

"Always next time." His head dropped into your neck, immediately pressing a gentle kiss into your skin. Then another, and another. His words were muffled when he spoke, "I missed you though, sweet girl. Wished you were with me the whole time."

You immediately flushed. While Aaron supplied you with multiple terms of endearment, this was without a doubt your favorite. It simply made you feel loved within its purest state. Adored.

Whereas Aaron loved the way it rolled off his tongue. It fit, just like the way his hand fit perfectly into yours, or the way your body molded perfectly into his - just like now. Not only that, he loved your reaction - the pet name turned you into a flustered, shy mess within seconds.

But now, in his drunken state, he wasn't saying so to fluster you, but it was the natural affection you caused him to possess, only elevated. His words rushed out effortlessly, freely. More insistent.

"You're blushing."

You scoffed lightly, all in amusement. "How do you know?"

"Because you're my sweet girl." His words slurred slightly, flowing together. If you didn't know any better, he was also falling asleep. He leaned up to kiss your lips, before his head dropped hastily back down onto your chest. "I know what I'm saying.

"You're drunk. Do you really?" You teased, your eyes narrowing with a small smile on your face.

"How dare you question otherwise."

You laughed softly, sitting up from your lying position, causing Aaron to whine as he slid off, breaking contact. "Let's get you out of these clothes."

Despite the shadows on half his face, half illuminated by the glow of the lap, you could see his lips tugging into a mischievous smirk.

"Wipe that look off your face Hotchner."

He allowed it to linger for just a playful moment longer, before his facial features relaxed, allowing you to pull off his clothes. You tossed them onto the ground carelessly - they could be dealt with in the morning. You tossed him yet another lighthearted glare at the second smirk that followed when you reached his belt buckle.

As tempting as it was, now wasn't the time.

In just his boxers and tee, his arm wrapped around your middle, pulling you as close as he could possibly get you. His face, right back into the crook of your neck. "My sweet girl."

His repetitive words left him in a sigh, quiet enough you wouldn't have known he mumbled them if it weren't him speaking directly into your skin, or for them vibrating into you.

You wiggled your hand out from his hold, draping it over his forearm and lazily tracing your fingertips along the veins his arms possessed.

"I love it, you know." You mumbled into the darkness, scooting back against him, burying your head into your pillow. Confirming the proximity, you almost couldn't be any closer. "Being yours."

He was fading fast, but still awake and aware enough to respond, "Can't imagine anything else."

[love-byers]

st4 music coding: yearning and miscommunication (& lumax/byler parallel)

alright here we go

this will be long so strap in

(yes this is the post i've been hyping up for like 3 days lol)

there's a song that i noticed plays twice in season 4, in two very similar scenes, and a third that ill talk about later. the first is lucas looking at the hellfire club celebrate, and the second is will looking at mike and el skate ahead of him. i've drawn a few interesting parallels here that i think really strengthen byler endgame. please watch the video above in tandem with reading the post

first of all the obvious: lucas and will are both yearning to be with what/who they're looking at. lucas wanted to be there for the end of the campaign. he asked them to move it, not cancel it. he wanted to be there because he likes being in the club and he loves his friends. and we all know will byers is devastatingly in love with mike wheeler, so that speaks for itself. lucas and will are both feeling rejected, forgotten, unneeded, replaced. they are also both looking at their sibling taking their place. erica took lucas' place in hellfire, and el has taken will's place at mike's side. mike and el were attached at the hip the whole day, and that used to be mike and will. will knew mike long before el did, and before they started dating mike and will were a firm duo. mike and el were heavy on the PDA that day, but mike used to be affectionate towards will too, putting his arm around him, holding his hand, sticking close to him, laying his head on his chest, hugging him, etc etc. now mike can't even hug him. and there's a special sting about your sibling of all people replacing you, and seeing your friends (or crush in will's case) having a great time without you, with the better version of you, not needing you, not even thinking of you. and right there, ladies and gentleman, is where will and lucas are wrong. sure, the hellfire club were happy with erica and about the fact that they won, but they wanted lucas there. the whole reason mike and dustin were upset in the first place was because lucas was choosing the basketball team over them. they accepted that lucas had "gone to the dark side" and went on to find his replacement. they feel like lucas doesn't need them anymore, that he's replaced them with the jocks. and little do they know, that is not true. lucas misses them and yearns to be over there celebrating with them. and though it doesn't seem like it in that moment (lucas' point of view), they miss him and want him there too. they are miscommunicating. the same is going on with mike and will. will feels rejected, ignored, replaced. he thinks mike has basically forgotten he was there. he thinks mike couldn't give half a shit about him. he thinks mike doesn't need him. he will soon find out that that could not be farther from the truth. mike was HOT AND FUCKING BOTHERED. he felt rejected by will. he felt like will was purposefully pulling away. he felt ignored. he felt replaced by will's non-existent friends and maybe even a girl will liked. he felt like will didn't need him anymore, that will was doing great without him. he felt like he had lost will. he, like the hellfire club, accepted (or attempted to accept) that they weren't wanted or needed and leaned heavy into filling that void. (meanwhile lucas' replacement wasn't sufficing, and will didn't even have one). and little does mike know, that is all wrong. he missed will just as much as will missed him. he'd been watching will all day hoping will would talk to him. meanwhile will thinks mike has looked at him like...twice, and so does the audience, because we got will's pov first. this is why the rink o mania fight is so all over the place and dramatic, they're basically running smack dab into each other at full speed. they're both confused because the other suddenly cares about their relationship, and they're both hurt. they are miscommunicating. the hellfire club enjoyed having erica there, but she's not lucas. mike enjoyed hanging out with el, but she's just not will. meanwhile , lucas' replacement for hellfire wasn't sufficing, and will never tried to replace mike at all.

onto more specifc and visual parallels: lucas, el, will, and mike all fake smiles. i really want to stress el and mike, because not a lot of people realize that shot is about both of them. mike is faking a smile too. mike is upset too. mike is trying to appear happy and satisfied too. like y'all please cut my son some slack he was having a BAD DAY. his whole day was shitty too just have some empathy. if you really pay attention, you'll see that mike and el are doing the exact same things in tandem. mike sighs, el sighs. mike fakes a smile, el fakes a smile. mike's smile falls, el's smile falls. they're both trying to conform, trying to pass of lies as reality. "I try to laugh about it, cover it all up with lies... I try to laugh about it, hiding the tears in my eyes..."

now lastly: the scene of max listening to the radio call of the game. this falls right in line with the themes of the other scenes. she feels like lucas is doing great without her, like she's not needed. his life is just getting better and better and hers is getting worse. but she's got it all wrong too. she turns it off when the radio guy says "He must be feeling on top of the world right now". he was not. he was feeling shitty and missing his friends. he was missing max desperately, all the time. and he felt rejected by max, like she was steadily pulling away from him. and unlike the others where the distancing happens because of the miscommunication, max and lucas' happened because max distanced herself, and she was not there to see how lucas was really feeling, which was shitty. and yall already know im byler brainrotted as fuck so its extremely important to me that both times this track is used there is romance involved. in the ep 1 scene the song specifically trails into max's scene, roping her into this coding. mike and will are once again paralleled to a canon, requited, well written couple.

i don't really have any closing thoughts

actually here i have one: lucas and will parallels are the reason i wake up and breathe every day

and another actually

at this point to anyone who truly thinks mlvn are getting married:

and byler endgame but wbk

[kotaka-kun]

another short mattfoggy fic rec list

because what the actual fuck was that

Through the Looking Glass by 94BottlesOfSnapple

39,935 words | rated T

Foggy Nelson is in love with Matt Murdock, but he knows it's not going anywhere -- Matt's straight. And that's fine! But when another Matt and Foggy pop into the middle of Foggy's apartment one night, well, things change. This older, redheaded Matt turns out to be... A lot more receptive. Apparently, he's in love with his own Foggy, and it's not going anywhere for him either. (aka: the one where 616!Matt and Netflix!Foggy already know they're bi and in love with their best friend, and 616!Foggy and Netflix!Matt figure it out along the way)

Even though I've never actually read the comics, I enjoyed this fic so much bc it's really just got everything that I love about Daredevil and mattfoggy as a ship -- humor, tension, reconciliation, yearning, (not actually) unrequited love, etc. Not to mention that I'm also a huge sucker for both the trope of two people finding their way to one another in any (and every) universe, but also I love me a crackfic!

I Decided This by patster223

5,298 words | rated T

“I’m contributing yet another lovely sign to our office,” Foggy says, brandishing the finished product with a flourish. Matt can’t see the sign, but he can probably sense the flourish, which is what matters. “It says, ‘It has been ‘0’ days since Matt made an idiotic decision.’” “Doesn’t seem like it will inspire much trust from our clients.” What the sign instead inspires: debates, understanding, a patented Murdock-level guilt trip, ice cream celebrations, a kiss, and perhaps even a way to finally move forward.

I love the idea of Foggy using the whiteboard as a means of keeping track of if Matt needs a check-in. Because Matt absolutely needs it. One of my favorite fics that touches on a way that Matt is still actually blind despite his super senses.

The Vigilantes' Boyfriend Support Group by phonecallfromgod

4,865 words | rated T

The worst part of it was, Foggy’d been having a perfectly pleasant day before he’d woken up blindfolded and tied to a chair. Or Foggy makes an unlikely friend in an unlikely place and they bond over some very specific shared life experience.

This is just a fun cute fic that also features Peter/Ned and the parallels between them and mattfoggy are just too good. Ned being so blasé about the situation they find themselves in is also fantastic and I love them all.

Look Around, It's You I Can't Replace by Fickle_Obsessions

12,123 words | rated E

Matt handles his separation from Foggy after the breakup of Nelson and Murdock a bit less well than he anticipated. As in he doesn't really handle it at all.

A fic that I honestly consider canon at this point. Matt not being able to handle the separation from Foggy is so beautifully and painfully in character, and I love it.

no single bite could satisfy by jk_rockin

5,963 words | rated E

"I can feed myself," Matt says defensively. "I'm not a child, Foggy." "And this spoon isn't really an airplane, but I'm willing to pretend if you are," says Foggy, waggling the spoon, and sighing when Matt frowns. "Okay, no airplane, but I made you soup, and you're going to eat it without getting it all over yourself. Be grateful it's not in a sippy cup." "A sippy cup wouldn't boss me around," Matt grumbles, but he opens his mouth anyway, and lets Foggy guide the spoon to his lips.

A smutty fic that's so sweet I could die. This fic satiated something in me, tbh. A hunger I didn't know I had.

Day Forty-Seven by Marchling

17,514 words | rated M

“Stop it with the heartbeat thing, Matt. Seriously, it’s creepy. And invasive. And disrespectful.” He wasn’t ever trying to be creepy about it. It wasn’t something he even paid much attention to anymore. He was always hyper-aware of Foggy’s heartbeat. He used it to ground himself, to block out the rest of the input he got and keep himself from being overwhelmed. Finding ways to filter out all the input his senses bombarded him with was vital to his sanity, to his ability to function and to any chance of sleep he had. It helped, Foggy helped, even when he didn’t know it. But now he did know and he didn’t like it. He wanted Matt to stop, so that was what he would try to do. Things were so tenuous between them, Matt knew from the way Foggy’s voice sounded when he said it that if Matt didn’t stop it would drive the rift between them impossibly and maybe even irrevocably deeper. He loved Foggy too much to let that happen – he loved Foggy too much in general.

A fun take on Matt trying to deal with the aftermath of Foggy finding out about his senses, and his desperation to do whatever he has to to make sure Foggy stays. Because of course Matt uses Foggy's sounds as an anchor, and of course he wouldn't think to try to explain it to Foggy.

Just Wanna Take Him Home by lady_ragnell

12,918 words | rated T

Foggy mostly takes little old ladies to parties doing escort jobs, which he's fine with. Getting hired to spend two hours hugging a lawyer is kind of a departure. He should have known it would all get complicated fast.

A classic prostitute!Foggy premise that I love dearly bc all Matt wants (needs) are cuddles and nice, chill, mostly-one-sided conversations. There's just something so fun about AUs where Matt and Foggy missed each other at Columbia but still find their way to each other in the end.

I'm gonna spend my weekend rereading all of these, probably.

[doberbutts]

hello! I'm the one that sent you that ask a week or so ago. Sorry I didn't check to see if you'd answered for a while because I was just so upset and had to take a second. I will say I scrolled through a bunch of helpful posts you reblogged before I even found the ask again that helped a LOT.

Two things I thought you might want to know is that it wasn't speculation that you'd blocked the weirdo blog that sent me your way: they literally have "proudly blocked by doberbutts" in their bio which was why i felt safe coming to you lmao. Second is I guess my struggle with this issue was an overall struggle with how bad wider misogyny has gotten in general and how muddied it's gotten with the "male loneliness crisis" and like, centering men's issues under patriarchy and just how insanely upset it's been making me. Seeing cis MRAs identify with trans men freaked me out because like, yeah it's important to talk about how (cis) men suffer under patriarchy but it's just so rare for me to find men do that without devolving into misogyny, and I start to feel so helpless because I know validating these issues matter but women are being literally dehumanized openly. I do play oppression olympics with this specific issue and just of COURSE women suffer more under patriarchy, but the same men who demand space to air how they suffer won't acknowledge that truth. (sorry for soapboxing; some of them do! It's just...things are so bad for women rn lol it's really hard to have compassion when it feels like none is being given to me).

So the more I see this issue the more I think people are being affected by larger misogyny like I am, but are doing the typical thing that happens where you lash out at a group you can "reach." Policing and harassing trans men's behaviours is way easier than cis men. I've also been seeing some parallels between this discourse and the "gay men vs lesbian women" discourse. It's not really a one-to-one but the discussion of the role of misogyny re homophobia towards gay men who still have male privilege but, come on, if they have feminine affectation it's Different and the back and forth that used to happen when gay men and lesbian women did oppression olympics, it just feels similar.

idk as i type this I hope I don't come across disingenuous or like, my Too Casual Overly Respectful tone is trying to subtly incept you. I worry my vibes are too "women first" but I just can't help it misogyny really is ruining my life 😭. Anyways I'm very grateful for your perspective and your blog. I feel more settled and equipped to push back against anti transmasculine behaviour with rhetoric that can actually challenge people

To respond to each point in turn:

1: Again I still don't really know who that is, though I am somewhat bemused by the idea that someone I clearly don't really remember is still so obsessed with me that they're proud I've blocked them. For the record, my block list is as follows: people who send anonymous hate, people who continue to harass me after I've told them to stop, people I catch with posts containing inexcusable bigotry, obvious trolls, self-identified zoophiles and MAPs, and people who repeatedly send me fundraisers after I have already said I only share fundraisers from people I know and trust. Being on my block list is, um, not really good company, so it's kind of funny to me that someone is proud to be there. Yeah I'm sure they'll fit right in with the neo-nazis and dogfuckers and cyber bullies. Oh and I guess my ex but I only blocked them after they started harassing me about our failed relationship years later. Enjoy block hell I suppose.

2: I'm not really here to play who has it worse, not because I don't recognize the wider understanding of privilege vs oppression but because I think it is a self-defeating thread of thought because you will always find a "more oppressed" example, and I think that people should be allowed to talk about their hurts regardless of their status of "more oppressed" vs "less oppressed". Talking about the ways society has hurt them is not what makes MRAs dangerous. What makes them dangerous is who they blame, how they go about fixing their problem, and the solutions to their problems they come up with.

To be quite frank, the majority of MRAs are men who have experienced some form of social rejection or isolation. Most have been sold some patriarchal lie about how by being men they inherently deserve good sex with hot women on demand, a wife at home to keep barefoot and pregnant, a high paying job where they are respected and valued regardless of the effort they themselves put into it, and all the luxuries that lifestyle can afford. This is a fantasy, you and I both know it. And when these men realize the hard reality that we live in an age of extreme social isolation, that in order to have a partner you need to actually have more personality than a used dishrag and with only half the mess at max, that good sex is about give and take and not just yourself, that these high paying jobs are few and far between with most takers being born into some level of wealth rather than any merit they themselves have earned... they lash out.

It does not at all help things to understand that many of these MRAs are themselves marginalized in some way, but their framework not only doesn't let them see it but also advocates a harsh rejection of anyone who is self-aware enough to realize it. A lot of these guys are undiagnosed, have trauma, and are just as affected by the systems of racism, classism, homo- and trans-phobia, xenophobia, sexism, and ableism as the rest of us.

Quite frankly, I'd rather these dudes see a group of (trans) men fighting for our place in society by joining hands with other activists with more feminist, black-friendly, disabled-friendly, gay- and trans-friendly in an attempt to lift everyone out of the pit rather than continuing to fight over scraps... than to see them continue to blame women and Jews and then go shoot up a school or a mall about it. One of these helps. The other just kills people and excuses rape. There's a lot of value in deradicalizing people by offering them a path to resolving their pain that is perhaps less destructive and more constructive.

This is also why the constant comparison to MRAs annoys me. MRAs kill people in senseless acts of terror and despair because they're upset that they're not having the sex fantasy the patriarchy sold them. Trans men talking about our oppression- regardless of the word we use to express it- are mostly talking amongst ourselves about suicide and rape statistics and sharing ways to get hormones and surgery despite unwilling doctors and insurance companies. We're talking about how our social groups rejected us the moment we came out, or how people use us being men against us in ways that was not happening before we came out or passed. These are not at all equivalent conversations.

3: Again I ask you- I see people using both cis and trans feminist frameworks to hurt other people. Where is your concern for that? I am equally concerned about TERFs as I am about MRAs, as they have driven multiple transgender people and our allies to suicide and even have committed acts of violence against people irl as a result of their ideology. Most TERFs will also be the first ones to tell you that they have been hurt, deeply, by men and that they also are frequently undiagnosed or untreated, traumatized, and affected by the same systems of oppression. Does their existence and their determination to latch onto every feminist conversation including those of people who are staunchly against them then poison all feminism to you? If not, then why make that distinction for trans men and MRAs?

I am black. I am Indigenous. I am transgender. I am gay. I am disabled. I am poor. I suffer. People hurt me. I see every day how bad things are. Do you think I cannot see it, or that my ignorance is the reason for my request for compassion? Perhaps consider that it is rather my knowledge and my lived experience that fuel my call for compassion, instead. I never said it would be easy. But I do think it would make a better world.

4: I do actually agree that it is very similar to the gay man vs lesbian conversation and have said for a while that it's the same queer infighting discussion we've already hashed out for the last 50 or so years, but the target groups just swapped out. It's just butchphobia, it's just biphobia, it's just aphobia, it's just panphobia, it's just nbphobia- it's the same fucking shit over and over and over again. It was shit infighting before and it's shit infighting now. Privilege is a conversation that depends so heavily on context, and the way it has been bastardized by the internet's poor understanding of political frameworks developed by women of color and their allies into cute soundbites and phrases rather than a deep, nuanced knowledge will never fail to annoy me.

Do gay men have privilege over lesbians? As a class, sure, they would have male privilege. But what do we mean by male privilege? The privilege to not worry about being assaulted on the street? To walk home late at night unbothered? To marry who they want, to have the romantic partner they desire, to feel safe within a domestic partnership? You and I both know that doesn't quite match up to the lived experience of gay men worldwide or even here in the "gay paradise" US. How does this interact with other marginalizations? Does a black gay man have privilege over a white lesbian? What happens if he's a drag queen dressed up for an event and she's a butch that passes for cis male? Does that change retroactively if this "gay man" figures out she's actually a transbian 5 years later, and the lesbian is a TERF? I'm not saying this breaks the framework of male privilege- I am saying that sometimes the theory doesn't match the reality, and a nuanced and intersectional understanding is required when talking on an individual scope rather than class politics.

Additionally- as a side note- it is also incredibly annoying to watch people act like privilege = oppressor = dangerous, and oppressed = victim = safe. Privilege, and whether or not you have any, is not a moral indicator nor is it an indicator of the safety of the person you're interacting with. I have privilege over people who cannot walk, because I can. I am not objectively or systemically oppressing people who cannot walk by the use of my legs in my day-to-day life. Oppression is action- if I vote for policies and politicians that removes ramps and safety regulations and provisions to assist wheelchair users? Now I am oppressing people who cannot walk. If I block or move or interfere with the disability aids, if I mock people or assault or harm them, if I dump them out of their mobility aids or break them, that is oppression. The act of climbing the 3 stairs on my front porch to get into my house is a privilege, but the oppression stems from the people who built my house to even have stairs on both exits.

5: lastly to end a very long post, I don't actually think there's any harm in centering yourself when discussing things that objectively affect you, as long as you remember to include others who are affected and let them have their floor to also center themselves when they need to speak up. I am a black trans man. My politics are pretty centered on black feminism. I don't think that is objectively a bad thing. I prefer to let the demographics with similar problems speak for themselves- I would rather my trans fem friends get the mic when they open their mouths, my lesbian friends, my Jewish friends, my latino and asian and arab friends. I don't think there's anything wrong with them centering their own problems and outlooks, as long as they recognize that there's shared space to be had with others who feel similar hurts. I think it's pretty normal to center yourself. I think the difficult thing is knowing when to relinquish the megaphone to someone who's been dying to use it, while you yourself still have so much to say.

[ohandcounting]

Getting The Most Out Of Deltarune Chapters 1+2+3+4: The Mega Guide.

Want to read this as a google doc instead?

If you are the rare person who heard about Deltarune (the parallel story to Undertale, by Toby Fox!) through the recent Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, this is for you. This is also a good resource for anyone that's just been out of the loop, or wants to make sure they've "seen it all" before getting to the next chapter.

It details not just what to play before Deltarune's new release content, but also has tips to make sure you don't miss anything important while getting through it without wasting time and detailing what happened between releases so you can go in with the same full experience I've had waiting for it to release for the past 7 years. You've got a little under 1.5 months to pull this off, so I'd get started right away! All of it is below this read more, and it comes with only the necessary spoilers to save you some time. You can read it all in one go before starting any of the games, if you want. It's like, 10 years of stuff in here though. Take your time. If I missed anything, tell me and I'll edit it in. The best way to read this post is on my blog so you can see any of these edits. Feel free to share this around, make a video essay where you just read this off word for word, and/or repost it in any other fashion. I just want people enjoying the games! Credit is appreciated of course.

The Undertale Essentials

1

Go play Undertale! (you can skip any steps you've done before) It's on Steam, Xbox, Playstation, Switch. You can find android mobile ports of it pretty easily too, apparently. You can find a way to play it, I promise.

Just get to the end however you want, it largely doesn't matter what you do since a large appeal of the game is it reacting to your decisions. But if you get an encounter with no enemies, that means you've killed enough of them to activate an optional mode that skips a lot of the normal stuff in the game. So I would quit out to reload your save in that instance. You absolutely need to experience the game that started it all because a lot of Deltarune's enjoyment comes from the knowledge you'd have after playing this game first! Including the music! Don't mute the game just because you think the Ruins music is kinda mid!

2

Play Undertale...Again! This time, you need to be going for the True Pacifist Ending. Which just means you do all the important side quests, and don't kill anyone at all.* Don't worry about this being boring, there's actually plenty of unique dialog for a second playthrough.** If you don't super-kill The Flower™ from the trailer and all the marketing during a playthrough, he'll give you tips and hints on how to do it without having to look up a guide after the normal final boss. But really just try and maximize the dialog you see in this playthrough and you should get it. Just make sure you pour water on the blue lady after she passes out in the lava area, if you leave the screen on accident before pouring the water on her it locks you out of a side quest and you'll have to load a save from before the boss fight. If you save after this, that means you have to start all the way over...again again! *If you never killed anyone in your first playthrough and didn't lock yourself out of any important side quests, you can just hit continue to load into the room before the finale, and go back to do the side stuff you missed. **If you can't tell that the dialog is new, that means you can't complain about it being boring since you didn't remember the original dialog anyways! (This is a spiteful remark towards my biological older sister)

3

Play Undertale...Again Again Again! In step 1, I mentioned an optional mode that skipped a lot of the normal parts of the game. Well now you're going to do that on purpose, by not fighting an area's boss until you've exhausted the encounter limit. It's one of my favorite parts of the game to play. This can only be done by Fighting enemies until they fall to ashes before you, and stop showing up entirely. After the first area, save points start giving you an enemy count so you can't miss them on accident. Do this for the whole game, and you'll be able to reach The Final Conclusion to Undertale.

...Or...

You could watch someone else do it. (Don't click that out of curiosity if you're not at this step yet, it starts with super spoilers for the True Pacifist Ending!) This video playthrough features no commentary and uses YouTube's chapters feature, allowing you to skip through the monotonous enemy grinding if you just want to see what's new. Not everyone wants to do this playthrough, for obvious reasons.

This step might feel optional, but it's so important that I would highly recommend watching the video if you don't want to play it yourself. (You can check the end of this video yourself even if you played it, as this ending does change some things in other parts of the game!)

Congratulations! You've now finished The Undertale Essentials! (or you already did all of this like 10 years ago) Time to move on to...

The Extracurriculars!: Part 1

I don't believe any of this section is skippable if you want to really get the most out of Deltarune, despite the name. Feel free to use this time to think about Undertale even more, on a deeper level. These are events that happened between Undertale and the surprise release of Deltarune Chapter 1. Starting with...

The UNDERTALE Anniversary Q&A

Just make sure you read those instructions! It's not very long, so you could read it all in a single bathroom break.

The UNDERTALE 2nd Anniversary Alarm Clock announcement

This has since been cancelled, but it has some unique dialog for the characters found nowhere else. Again, very short.

The trailer for UNDERTALE's Switch release I guess?

This one is just funny, I really like this trailer. It didn't even release for the third anniversary on time outside of Japan. However, there is a fan favorite Exclusive Boss Fight and also Whatever This Is (<- 1/100 chance) that you'll miss if you didn't play the game on Switch! These are essential to know about going forward, as it's effectively two entirely new characters.

Here's the Exclusive Dog Shrine for the Playstation release, which is...Not Important...I'm watching this just now for the first time and it kind of sucks...badly. Okay just this one is skippable.

The Deltarune Essentials: Chapter 1

0

I want to take a moment to set the mood here for you. We just had the Switch release for Undertale, for the third anniversary. Nobody is expecting anything from Toby, who's now a multi-millionaire off of game sales alone (official merch comes from Fangamer, I wouldn't look at it yet though as you might run into spoilers) and if he does release anything else, we expect it to be just his "next project."

Then, the morning of October 30th, the day before Halloween, the official Undertale account tweets this and this. (<- start that one at the bottom I formatted it wrong) Then, after waiting a full 24 hours and finally downloading the new thing it greets you with THIS terrifying premise. We were terrified!

Now, after reading that, it is finally time for...

1

Playing Deltarune! But just chapter 1. It's free! After installing it, if it's the steam version, right click it and open up the "properties..." menu. Then go down to Betas and set it to "chapter1.2.lts.test - 11-25-24" to make sure you're playing the latest version, if you can't it's not a big deal but this does make some changes that will be in the final game. Meaning it's just a way to play the final-ish version of chapter 1+2 a bit early!

It's your first playthrough, just do whatever you like. It's only a single chapter rather than an entire game, so replaying it won't take nearly as long even if you mess something up. I will warn you though, you will need at least 90 minutes in a row after fighting the final boss of Card Castle to complete the next section that has no save points. This is, technically, for the best. You'll see. But please, for your own sake, do not start Chapter 2 yet. I promise, it's worth it.

2

Playing Deltarune But Just Chapter 1...Again! Or don't. While I do personally recommend playing through it again and doing the opposite of what you did the first time, that's not really important. At least not that we can tell yet. What you will want to do is load your first save file, and then making sure you have the White Ribbon armor item and watching the chapter 1 portion of this guide (it starts in partway through the video to avoid spoilers, make sure you stop the video before he starts talking about Chapter 2) to make sure you didn't miss anything important for Chapter 2! You will need to get to the ending cutscene again to make sure any changes to your file transfer to Chapter 2 properly.

This is just a general playthrough tip: When you're in town, you can just go all the way down to the bunker at the south-most area first thing. This will let you explore through the town in "layers", making it hard to miss anything that isn't hidden (the guide does mention the hidden part of the town!) Really, the most important part is just talking to sinks before anyone else in the room though.

Now that you've finished Chapter 1, it's time for...

The Extracurriculars!: Part 2

At this point, you're probably thinking to yourself "Why should I wait? Why would I not just go into the next part of the game now? Why do all these extra parts?" The simple answer is, Deltarune uses its Chapter releases to give you time to think about it. Probably, too much time, given the way some of us react to it. But this does play into its strengths as a series, giving us tidbits and mysteries to dive into. Trying to predict and figure out what's being foreshadowed and find the characters hidden and all the little interactions you could of missed. This really is the true strength of the series, and why people love talking about it. There's so much to find, there's almost always more you haven't seen.

This section covers the events that happened between chapters 1 and 2 of Deltarune. It's honestly quite a doozy, but less of it as vital as last time. Starting with:

Toby Fox talking about his thoughts on the game he's been working on since 2012.

Yeah, it turns out Deltarune started development before he even started working on Undertale. This is more or less unimportant if you don't care about Toby Fox or the creation of the game.

Honestly a lot of what's here and between the 5th Anniversary is mostly little tweets here and there. If you DO care about a little behind the scenes stuff, you'll just have to open the TobyFox's twitter account and scroll down until you see the big blue "Windows protected your PC" images because everyone's PC's thought he was releasing a virus because he called the game "SURVEY_PROGRAM" lol. (then you can start scrolling up to see the stuff!)

Also the Chapter 1 Demo released on Switch with a very funny trailer

Seriously though, it's all just other stuff he's worked on, jokes, behind the scenes/scrapped content, or previews for chapter 2 which you're about to play anyways.

This all changed on the 5th anniversary however...

THE UNDERTALE 5th Anniversary Orchestra Concert

This doesn't have much exclusive in it (excluding the music itself, of course) other than a commercial for some merchandise that was released on the 5th anniversary. There are also some piano covers from Toby Fox himself at the 3:03:00 mark, including a song you might not have heard yet. It's a very fun listen and watch, but it isn't vital if you just care about the story and characters instead of the music. Somehow. (If you played through the game muted you're doing it wrong [Unless you're deaf. Sorry.])

The UNDERTALE 5th Anniversary Alarm Clock Dialog

Unlike the other alarm clock dialog, this is actually very entwined with the characters, to the point where despite it being their Undertale versions, it actually gives insight for their Deltarune versions as well. A very important read, if you ask me, and very enjoyable if you just like the characters. Not nearly as short as last time, but it's sectioned so you can come back to your spot easily if you get interrupted.

The UNDERTALE 5th Anniversary Deltarune Status Update

This is more or less just talking about how far along chapter 2 was, and why it's been taking so long! Non-vital if none of that interests you, but there are some cool screenshots of Chapter 2.

Microsoft (probably) paid Toby a ton of money to release the game on Xbox for some reason lol

Again: really funny trailer. Here's most of the Exclusive Xbox Stuff (the rest can be found here, thanks @undertale-encyclopedia for having such a good pinned post) which doesn't sucks and gives more information on a few characters, even some we only meet in Deltarune!

Now for the 6th anniversary we have something very special.

The UNDERTALE 6th Anniversary SO WE PLAY deltarune CHAPTER 1 FOR SOME REASON live stream featuring 3 dads

This is really cool and important to the experience if you ask me! I genuinely recommend watching it, beginning to end, skipping nothing and keeping your eyes peeled throughout. It's not a very "normal" playthrough, and the waiting periods have exclusive songs & information.

You'll see why at the end of it, but now that you've definitely watched that entire video (it's okay if you did it at 2x speed) it's time for...

The Deltarune Essentials: Chapter 2

0

More spooky tweets...So Spooky... (again, bottom to top. Just like manga!)

1

Playing Deltarune Chapter 2! Your first playthrough, do whatever you want. There aren't any long stretches without save points this time either. I highly recommend getting at least 1 of everything you come across and keeping it safe, with your new storage ability this shouldn't be too hard. There's plenty of secrets to find too, so keep an eye out!

This will save you a lot of time though: There is a part in Chapter 2 where the party changes in some meaningful way I'm being intentionally vague about. As SOON as this happens, use the new Chapter 2 save menu to copy your save into an unused save slot (I recommend the bottom slot) and don't touch it or save over it for the rest of this playthrough.

There is a hidden B-side route, requiring either a guide to go through it or someone behind your shoulder telling you what to do. Saving at this moment will allow you to do this B-side route, without having to start the chapter over from the beginning. Having someone telling you what to do is the recommended way to do it.

2

Do the hidden B-side route, which is significantly shorter than a normal playthrough. If you saved in the correct spot, you should have a save file ready to go right before the branching point. Again, someone else telling you what to do is recommended. But if you need a guide for it, there's one on the wiki in the "Method" section near the top. Try not to read anything outside of it.

I recommend to stop reading the guide as soon as possible, as once the route is initiated a low-pitched sound will play whenever you successfully keep the route going. If a different sound plays, you have aborted this B-side route, meaning you need to reload your last save. If you get stuck, you can go back to the guide as necessary. Do note that you WILL need to find The Dumpster and buy from it.

After you Do-The-Thing with the Dumpster-Thing-You-Need-To-Remember-To-Equip, you'll be locked in, so you won't need to consult the guide anymore for the rest of the playthrough.

3

You can now watch the entire "Making PERFECT Deltarune Save files..." video beginning to end. I originally linked it at the 6:40 mark, so you can watch what was before that to see what spoilers I skipped. If you just want the Chapter 2 guide portion, it starts at 13:30. This step of "making perfect save files" is technically skippable, but there are some REALLY good items in Chapter 2 that are VERY missable! This will make sure you get them all, maximizing your Chapters 3 & 4 experience. But this one really isn't vital if you're enough of a gamer to not need strong items for "optional" hidden bosses. Oh, and make sure you talk to sinks before people whenever possible.

The Extracurriculars!: Finale

The Finale. All the extra bits and pieces that have been dropped for us here and there as we've been waiting for the past 3 and a half years for that Trailer. You may not want to read this section until after you're done with Chapter 2! It's easily the longest section to get through. But I'm sure you've been wondering...

Who the hell is that guy from the intro that's been making those spooky tweets before chapter releases? and Part 2 of it. These videos are, of course, not gospel (something like this really can't have one) But it's a very good summary of the information we have and what the common consensus was/is for some things.

Also there's been this unused code that has a person talking the entire time lol. This actually changed between the chapter 1 and chapter 2 release. This is probably Dess? Who you may or may not even know exists at all. Hope you've been paying attention!

The UNDERTALE 7th Anniversary Deltarune Status Update

This one has content you, someone who just played Chapter 2, will actually care about! It previews content and music for chapters 3 & 4, but still effectively tells us nothing! It's awesome! More importantly though it tells you about

THE SPAMTON SWEEPSTAKES

Don't watch the video at the top. This is for your own safety. You can't handle it. Not Yet. This features tons of exclusive music, previews of stuff you already saw and other stuff that wasn't featured in the Switch 2 direct trailer, and ads that you actually SHOULD click on. Can you find all 26 hidden pages? No? Are you sure you checked the product descriptions really thoroughly? Okay here's the wiki page that lists them all. Really do go through them all though, there's a lot of character building that just won't happen in the game here! Also, here's a live Spamton FAQ that got buried in Fangamer's twitter for some reason. Very funny and informative.

Successfully managing to get through all 26 hidden pages, and reading all of the text on the normal page, and the FAQ, should inoculate you to [Spamton's Essense] allowing you to now watch the video at the top of the sweepstakes page. I am not liable for any [injures] you suffer.

THE NEWSLETTERS

After this, everything became consolidated into Seasonal Newsletters (sign up here, I recommend truck freak) that are archived here on Toby Fox's website. Just click into the Newsletter archive, and scroll down to the bottom first and work your way up. Seriously, just go up through them and enjoy what we've been waiting for months apart.

These talk about everything Toby Fox has been working on and have cool stuff like interviews with the characters and also real people who work on the games! It'll cover a couple things that happened before this section too, so don't worry about me missing anything if you think I haven't mentioned it here. However, there are some Famitsu articles linked, and you may notice that when you try to read them...that you do not speak Japanese...

Here's translations by @chartcarr of pretty much every Toby Fox Japanese only interview! You can find the one's mentioned in the newsletters under the "Toby Fox's Secret Base" link if they're not on the front page. (Chartcarr is going to re-do most of these at some point. That might of already happened, check’em out again if you’ve already read them!)

Newsletter Issue #5 Has 3 Random Valentine's Day Cards. Here's All Of Them In One Page. We had to hunt these down as a community, together! It was brutal! A lot of them only went to a few people, and if those people weren't online or aware we didn't have theirs yet, we just didn't have it! It was great.

All that's left for you now is to remember to click the snowman at the bottom of Issue 8.

Big Questions FAQ:

This Series Has Irrevocably Rewired My Brain How Do I Cope With This

Watch this. It's a great video, even if you don't have this problem. It's basically what happened to me.

How Do I Become A Theory Lord With All Of This In My Brain Now?

Here's Device Theory, by @m0llystars, it should get your gears turning just watching it. Yes all 3 parts are out. It's especially worth your time if you like thinking about this game perhaps a bit too much really.

I Really Need Specifically More Undertale Not Deltarune Right NOW!!!...Please?

Here's an Undertale exhibition by Shayy on the show That's Never Happened Before. You can probably just google "Undertale Theory" or something though if this isn't enough.

I Need To Give This Man More Than The $1-$35 I Have Already Given Him For His Game(s), How?

Official Merch can be found here, there are also EU and JPN sites linked at the bottom of the page. Here is the Bandcamp page to Buy the digital versions of the soundtracks (also on most streaming platforms)

I Like Music Theories

Here you go!

All Of This Happened So Fast I Need Something To Help Analyze The Characters In This Largely Character Driven Series! Help?!

Here's Dorked's Undertale & Deltarune Analysis playlist who you can also find on this website running the blog @megaderping

I've Managed To Consume All Of This Before Deltarune Chapters 3 + 4 Released, Or Came Back After They Released, And I Crave More. Now What?

The biggest inspiration for Undertale and Deltarune are Earthbound, Mother 3, Live A Live, OFF, Yume Nikki, MOON: Remix RPG, Brandish, Cave Story, and the TouHou series. (and a few more not mentioned here!)

OFF The RPG is getting a re-release on Switch & Steam soon with new music (some is by Toby Fox!) and revamped combat, so look forward to that. Or you can play the original OFF for free.

Earthbound is on every Nintendo console ever. Here's an excellent Let's Play of Earthbound you can watch if you don't want to play it yourself. It will show you more than you could possibly find on your own. A great series just in general, if you need something to watch.

Here's a video on how to play Mother 3.

Live A Live can be purchased on Steam or Nintendo Switch, and is excellent. Each campaign is relatively bite sized so you'll never be stuck on anything for long. I recommend disabling tutorials and starting with Imperial China, it's very linear and simple so it's perfect to learn with. Looking up guides to make sure you don't miss anything is fine though!

Cave Story is just free.

Yume Nikke is just free.

MOON: Remix RPG is on steam and Nintendo Switch. If you're a theory head, I highly recommend playing this one through to the end.

TouHou has a very dedicated unofficial translation scene, as there is no official translation for most (any?) of the games, so you'll need to go through them to play the games unless you can read Japanese.

I don't really have anything for the Brandish series, I just absorbed information about it from a blog that's no longer active. If anyone knows a truly exceptional let's play of it or the best way to play it, I'll edit it in here!

But I can strongly recommend ZeroRanger & Void Stranger if you just want that feeling of digging deeper. Finding obscure interactions and details buried deep within the game, challenging but deeply rewarding in gameplay and lore discovery...Also play them both if you want to hear the music do that thing where the motif is established in the first game to give hints towards stuff in the second game in action. It's very cool.

Wait that's really how you're ending it? A random game rec where all you say is they're very cool without explaining anything about them? One of these wasn't even a question!

[sorry-not-feeling-it-right-now]

Hello! :D I'd absolutely adore hearing your thoughts on Paranoid, in the Nightmare too, but more specifically In The Cage and The Apotheosis, and also his dynamic with Broken in The Apotheosis!

I feel like I'm missing something about him, something obvious, that I'm mischaractising him in my head and fic, but I can't put my finger on it!! (Also if you've already talked about him somewhere im so sorry I've searched for it but didn't find anything about him specifically!)

Like, he's called The voice of the Paranoid but he's right!! Like?? He always catches on how their world works way quicker than the others!! Like in the Cage when he figures that if they believe that the chains are rusty, then they can cut through them! Or in The Apotheosis, he convinces Broken to fight back!! (if i remember well!)

I adore your explanations/thoughts about the game and the characters, they really help put into words what I observe but cannot really verbalise myself! :)

-FlowersandMiel

Hello!!!

First of all, thank you for enjoying my rambles!!! And speaking of him, I’m actually currently writing a response on another ask about him, but it’s not quite done yet. I still needed to check a few things for him before I decide it’s good enough to be sent!

And now, for the analysis… (sorry if it’s a bit messy)

First, before we start analysing we need to remember how we get him in chapter 2. (Long ramble below!!!!)

There are a lot of ways we can get him in chapter 2. Either you go down there with the blade and then deciding you can’t trust her, then locking her in the basement, or you go down there without the blade and the locking her in the basement. Or you can flee from her while you’re fighting you with the blade and then lock her down the basement. Paranoid is generally defined by his indecisiveness, his distrust towards the Princess (and the Narrator), and self-preservation. These traits of him are important to remember. The blade to him represents the control he has in a world where nothing feels real. Despite how he sees the world as unstable and untrustworthy, the one thing he desires most is to have something solid to believe in. A solid reality to ground himself in.

To get him in chapter two, you’d have to decide that you can’t trust the narrator, but you also can’t trust the Princess as well, making Nightmare be the only chapter 2 Princess that you can get through both soft and sharp Princess. (Technically Stranger counts as well but the difference being that you didn’t actually meet her here in chapter 1 (speaking of there’s a neat little parallel between Paranoid and Contrarian. I’ll get to that later)).

Nightmare is a big example on his worldview of the construct.

Imagine with me. You are Paranoid. After listening to what the Princess has to say, you still couldn’t decide if you want to trust her or not. So you chose the safe option where you lock the Princess within the basement and watch over her, just in case she is actually dangerous. Or, you got yourself in a fight with the Princess, and found out that you are unprepared for this. You don’t want to feel pain and be hurt. And so you rush out and lock her in, hoping that maybe she will bleed out to death.

But then she started ramming the door. It further confirms your fears. But it’s fine right? She’s locked down there, she can’t actually get out of the place, so you decide to sleep for a little bit while she’s at it. And then after who knows how long, you have awaken, and seeing that the door is wiiiiiide open. But hold on, you literally locked her in the basement and yet she still finds a way to get out of the place??? This shouldn’t be possible, and yet here we are, with her slowly stepping towards us. Wait, but we did think about the possibility of her being able to get out despite locking her in there, does that mean that’s the reason she’s able to get out??? Oh my god this world makes absolutely no sense at all!!! Doors and the lock doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to, the Narrator can’t be trusted, the Princess can’t be trusted, and oh my god she is stepping towards me and my heart starts racing and and and-

Boom, Nightmare.

In Apotheosis, he and Broken share a lot of similarities with one another regarding their desire to find something stable to confide in. Broken, where he had found a sense of control and safety in Apotheosis/Tower in a world where he had been broken down, Paranoid in turn finds control in his thoughts and the blade. Of course, him having a breakdown in Apotheosis and realising that the world is not real and solid at all is gonna break him, cause having his thoughts and worst fears about the world be confirmed just means that nothing really matters at all. But Paranoid being That Guy, use those fears and this new revelation of the world to his own advantage, and thus creating a new sense of control over what he used to believe an uncontrollable world. And with that he encourages Broken to believe in themself and regain that sense of control, to the point where they’re able to fight against the goddess herself on equal footing. Apotheosis herself actually comments on it herself, questioning whether he is fighting back because of his courage, or is it madness that drives him.

Speaking of Apotheosis, both Paranoid and Contrarian find their place in this route. Paranoid and Contrarian parallel each other in a way where they would both choose a third option instead of what they were presented with. Paranoid, with him choosing to keep the Princess in the basement instead of choosing to fully committing to freeing or slaying her. Contrarian, on the other hand, just didn’t want to do what he is told by an authority figure. The difference in getting them is in whether you tell her that she’s destined to end the world or not, and whether you bring the blade down with you(I have yet to understand the significance in not bringing the blade down with you to get Paranoid here, so forgive me if it seems a bit incomplete). In a way, their Princesses became mini-versions of the Shifting Mound because of this. Nightmare and her embodying the fear and terror of change, and Stranger with her many perspectives and all of the possibilities that comes with change.

Cage is basically Paranoid falling into despair instead of him have a self-actualisation in Apotheosis. The blade, something Paranoid saw as a symbol of control, is the thing that is keeping the both of them trapped. If you make the choice of not doing anything while Cage is walking towards you, Cage stating that everything they do is just the same shade of the same cycle would lead to Paranoid to have the perspective that nothing they ever do mattered in the first place. That they had absolutely no control in the situation, and their choices don’t matter. This is. Probably a horrible spot for Paranoid to be in.

Paranoid is overall a really intelligent character. But unlike Skeptic, whose logic runs on very grounded and unchanging reality, his runs on anxiety. Both Paranoid and Skeptic would notice little details and would attempt to piece the pieces together in a way that is coherent. Both wants to have a truth to ground themselves in.

As for the reason why he’s the first one who gets a grip on how the construct works is because… he’s paranoid. Hear me out.

The construct doesn’t work with a concrete standard logic. But instead it runs on your perception of the world, which by itself is very flimsy. The conclusion of “the world shifts by our beliefs” type of logic can only be thought by someone who literally doesn’t trust anything around them. Which is someone Paranoid is. That’s the reason why Skeptic wasn’t able to figure out how the construct works but Paranoid could. They’re like, two different flavours of logic. Skeptic’s more of a detective, while Paranoid is more of a conspiracy theorist (kinda? I dunno what other words I should use to describe him). So if you put Skeptic and Paranoid in the “real world”, Skeptic would thrive while Paranoid is just gonna flop real bad. In the construct however it’s the opposite.

The detachment to something grounded is something Cold and Paranoid share. Cold with his emotional detachment and Paranoid whose thoughts runs 5000 miles per minute makes him really detached from a grounded reality. Because of this, these two are the two voices that figured things out before any other voice did. Cold regarding Quiet’s nature(or “The Self”), and Paranoid the world around them. And ironically these two would absolutely fumble if they were placed in somewhere much more stable.

Annnnnd that’s it! These are my current thoughts of Paranoid as a character! Hopefully it’s helpful for your writing ^^

Good luck on your fic btw!

[dreamwreaver]

ngl it's surprising to see how many parallels from canon ships Charlastor has with. lucilith, stolitz, Millie x Moxxie (have no clue what their ship name is) and Huskerdust(not canon yet but there's definitely a few similar traits charlastor shares with it)

For a non-canon ship, it sure is similar to a lot of canon relationships

If hazbin was made by literally any other person charlastor would be endgame canon. Viv has made a couple of comparisons about what chaggie is "allegedly" like that I simply don't see. They're like Jack and Sally, no because Sally never told Jack stop being the person you are to please others she actually told him to stop being something your not to try and fill an emotional void.

Oh, they made chaggie canon because the boarders were working on scenes where Charlie is talking to her partner and they just kept drawing vaggie in there because there was so much chemistry. Like, can we see this fucking amazeballs script that had the boarders sticking vaggie in all those moments because from where I'm standing show vaggie doesn't even pass the sexy lamp test. We already know chaggie wasn't originally supposed to be canon because Proto Vaggie was paired with angel dust! So what exactly is so captivating about Charlie and Vaggie's dynamic that they're established canon and yet don't feel like it? And before anyone says "well they've been together a while so it's dumb to expect them to be as passionate as the beginning"

Fizzmodeus. I don't care that Ozzie's the embodiment of lust. Half the time we saw those two together the point of their dynamic was demonstrating how stupidly in love they were while trying to disguise it as simple sexual attraction. And just based off simple math; fizz met Ozzie after becoming mammon's heir right? That clown competition has been held every year since fizz first won it right? And by the time he quits he's been doing it for nearly 10 years. Even being generous and figuring fizz and Ozzie didn't immediately get together I would still wager based on Ozzie's protectiveness, the detailed portrait in his office, the fact that he has a first aid kit with ready to go robotic limb placements it's been at least 5 years they've been together. So in that 5-10 year range they are still so in love it's sickening and obvious enough to everyone that the general reaction to the public finding out was "I knew it!"

And before we say that it was constrained for time, fizzmodeus before season 2 had a song, and Ozzie comforting fizz after he'd been knocked out. And the entire fandom clocked them as a ship. Even if they weren't originally intended to be, like chaggie, like huskerdust too, we can see them as a pre-established couple that STILL has chemistry despite having their own lives and having been together for a while.

Ozzie flat out refused to give stolas a crystal because fizz hated blitz, was trusted enough to be given the details of the worst day of fizz's life, could clock immediately once fizz and blitz had reconciled that this was the person who had his most important person's back and could be counted on. And even though Ozzie didn't like that fizz felt obligated to continue on with the clown thing for mammon, communicated that he didn't like how so many people saw fizz as a product to be bought and enjoyed, didn't like having to be the one in charge of MAKING that product, he never stopped fizz from making his own choices, he supported his partner in MEANINGFUL ways that do not change the essence of who fizz is. He listens and offers support if not solutions, encouragement that their partner can handle themselves and they will be there if needed.

Who does that for Charlie? Who refuses to leave her alone while she falls into a pit of self loathing? Really look Charlie and alastor's screen time in hello Rosie. Alastor is very calculating, and when he chooses to speak is exactly as important as what he chooses to say.

1. He doesn't like seeing Charlie wallow in self pity, as condescending as it likely comes across we already know he loves seeing Vox with his tail between his legs and doesn't believe in Charlie's goals so why wouldn't he take the opportunity to gloat about being right?

2. While he may like to prey on overconfidence in his victims we already know Charlie would have been more than willing to sell her soul for a chance at protecting her people. She was at her lowest point and rather than striking when she was in her darkest most defeated place he chose to wait until she was good and pissed and STILL didn't ask for her soul.

I fully believe he intended to make her mad because being mad means you're more than likely to do something about it. He antagonizes her on purpose so her fire comes back. When they go to Rosie's (which, again, we know he chose because cannibal town caters to Charlie's natural communication style) he only does enough to make sure Charlie's needs are clearly communicated to the overlord and provides a tangible benefit catered to their sensibilities. And when she's fully ready to be herself he does the equivalent of putting his actual heart in her hands. He had every confidence she could convince the other cannibals to join her cause. And then again the night before they could all die; he gives her his mic AGAIN. Charlie and Alastor might as well be pre-established canon because he does all the emotional work of a partner and they work together so seamlessly even when he's doing things she doesn't particularly like she knows why he does business the way he does.

[onboardsorasora]

so my brain hasn't been the nicest and I literally can't seem to find the focus to write anything lately (I'm also looking for some serotonin T_T) so I'm popping on to drop the first like scene of otaku daniel because i honestly in my current state can't see me ever finishing it but I love it so much so yeah. I hope you guys like it, I've been meaning to post this for so long so I'm doing it before I chicken out again :(((

“Oh, a new sub! Max_v_maxx33, enchante.” The voice was accompanied by a grin and wink before a pink tongue was once again sticking out of the side of a heart shaped mouth.

Max settled himself in his rig, scratching a pec absently. He wasn’t scheduled to stream with Team Redline for another hour and that was good, he’d made sure to schedule the group stream after Daniel was finished with his. 

He’d found the account by accident a few weeks ago, a clip from a stream had made its way to instagram and he would admit to himself and himself only that he’d been dazzled by a smile and crinkly eyes. He didn’t watch many other streamers, and didn't particularly care to. He only streamed because Gianni had said it would have been a good way to get sponsors for Redline and he’d been right. 

Their streams were popular, no matter what they were playing. And once they disconnected, they tended to stay online longer– just to play some more together. Privately like they used to. 

Max didn’t really enjoy watching other people game. He also didn’t enjoy vlogs, yet he found himself tuning into Daniel’s streams when he could. If only to hear him laugh a little, or a lot. Daniel laughed a lot and Max loved to hear the sound.

He figured it wouldn’t hurt to sub from one of his burner accounts. Daniel’s account was a guilty pleasure of his and he didn’t need to share him with the wider world.

Dan_the_Badge3 or Daniel was a relatively smaller account. He lived and breathed anime and anything kawaii. It took Max a little time to understand that, he’d been annoyed at himself that he wouldn’t stop watching after the third time when Daniel went off into a rant about which anime were better for people starting out. He’d gotten into a full blown argument with the chat and ended up pausing his game. Max didn’t watch anime, didn’t plan to, but he found himself making note of Daniel’s choices all the same.

Daniel’s curly hair was dark, long and wild. And always covered by his favourite headphones that had cat ears on top. He rotated between three designs, and currently he used a blue and white pair with ‘old skool’ flames on them. He always sported a sweatshirt or hoodie, mostly his own designs and he loved them oversized so he could have ‘sweater paws’. Max found it endearing as hell. 

Today was Wednesday and Daniel used those for productivity power hours for his subscribers. He usually did something mundane and would chatter away for an hour or so. He called his Wednesday streams “Badger Mode” and at first Max didn’t ‘get it’, but a quick lurk of the chat had produced people chiming in on what they planned to work on and others thanking Daniel for his ‘parallel play’ and ‘sprints’.

Max inadvertently found that he relaxed more before Redline’s Wild Wednesday streams than any other day. So maybe Badger Mode had more positives than just him staring at the slope of Daniel’s nose for an hour. What a cute nose it was.

“So I told Chelle that I wanted to like try crochet– because she makes all these pretty things and like she laughed at me and asked me if I could count.” Daniel’s voice was fondly annoyed while he spoke about his older sister. Max grinned to himself at Daniel’s exaggerated eye roll. He had a skein of red yarn in one hand and a hook in the other, the pattern had already been started. “So I annoyed her until she gave me these and started a pattern for me. I wanna make like a small plushie, but maybe I should like start with something basic. Like a scarf. Or maybe a– a square.” Daniel continued to ramble and Max felt his shoulders drop in relaxation.

“What are you guys working on today, chat?” Daniel leaned back into his gamer chair– that also had cat ears– and put his foot up on the corner of the desk. A static rectangle popped up on the screen obscuring his feet with a cartoon honey badger holding a sign that read ‘no feet for free’. Max chuckled. 

“Good luck on your essay Falconado73! Meerlymeerly I feel your pain, that laundry isn’t gonna do itself!” Daniel continued to babble to the chat while attempting to crochet and Max enjoyed watching his fingers as he tried to work. “Jeepers, I really can’t count. Do you guys mind if I like count aloud for these next couple rows to get the hang of it? No one like told me there was so much counting involved?!” Daniel laughed before starting a halted counter while he focused hard on the red material.

Max checked his phone, answering a few emails about sponsor stuff and replying to the Redline private discord. He looked up a few times to see that Daniel’s tongue was once again sticking out of his mouth and he felt hopelessly endeared. His cat, Sassy, jumped into his lap for a second. 

“What’s that mark on your neck?” Daniel leaned closer to his screen to read before leaning back and laughing merrily. Max’s eyes honed to his exposed neck for this proposed mark and he absolutely ignored the slight clench in his chest. 

“I bet you all are hoping it's something like juicy but it isn’t. Yeah nah, sorry to burst your pervy bubbles.” Daniel snorted and Max took a deep breath. “I thought I was gonna get stung by a wasp and like was trying to bat it away with my brush and I scratched myself with the bristles. Then I realized it wasn’t a wasp but like a bee and I felt like so bad cause I didn’t want to accidentally kill it.” 

Daniel continued to ramble while he worked and Max stared at his mouth, at how his lips formed his words before stretching in a smile. Max thought Daniel’s Australian accent was hot as hell.

“How is the apartment search going?” Daniel read again and groaned. Max’s ears perked up, apartment search?

“Itssssss not going? Nah, yeah I haven’t like started looking as yet. I don’t even know which country I want to move to yet. So we’re still in the beginning stages of like that whole thing.” Daniel laughed. “Move to Japan with Yuki? Oh mochiro– I mean it's not out of the realm of possibilities. Yeah that’s all I’ll say there. I have like a list of countries and I guess I need to do a pros and cons thing–” 

Daniel did that sometimes, mixed other languages with his babbling. He spoke Japanese with his friend Yuki when they streamed together– there was an ai translator bot that provided subtitles, except for when they started rambling and laughing and it couldn’t pick up what they were saying. Those times, Max just liked to stare at Daniel. And he sometimes spoke Italian, specifically when he was speaking to people off camera, like his grandparents.

Max’s phone beeped with his Redline stream reminder. He stroked Sassy’s fur before hovering his mouse over the exit stream button. He took a long look at Daniel’s smiling face before leaving the stream and jumping into his team’s account.

[akirathedramaqueen]

No, I am not done with Western Energy yet, and I am not sorry

I. Just. Can't. With those parallels.

Just look at that! I am sure bunch of people already pointed that, but Hell knows it makes me think a lot about this shift.

Murder Family

[Blitzø]: Stolas, this is really a bad time!

[Stolas]: Mm, when isn't it a bad time, Blitzy?

Stolas *knows* Blitzø is in danger. There could've been a room for speculation, if it wasn't for the next exchange:

[Blitzø]: What is it?!

[Stolas]: I've been meaning to follow-up on our last little conversation regarding my grimoire.

[Blitzø]: What did you just call me?!

[Stolas]: My book, Blitzy. The book I was given to do my job. That I've allowed you to use to do yours.

*gunshot*

[Blitzø]: Shit!

[Stolas]: Anyhoo, I have been thinking... You know I've been permitting you to access the mortal realm less than legally for some time now? But I do need it back to fulfill my duties. I was thinking; what if we worked out some kind of an exchange? Favors for favors... Doesn't that sound...

*gunshot*

[Stolas]: ...enticing?

[Blitzø]: You gotta stop using your fancy-ass rich people talk, okay? I am trying to concentrate to not getting FUCKED IN MY A *gunshot*

I will omit the rest, as it won't add much to the point (if you've seen the show, you know the conversation doesn't stop here), but you can draw some conclusions from the dynamic:

Stolas sees Blitzø in projection. Gunshots do not give any chance for the wrong interpretation. He knows imp is getting chased.

Stolas takes his time to get to the point, speaks slowly, as if playing with Blitzø, with his life even, and he enjoys that. He knows Blitzø can't turn him down as imp is on a hook.

Blitzø is clear that he would like to pass on the call for the better time, but Stolas keeps him on the line. Blitzø is clear that Stolas needs to get to the point because he is about to get killed, and Stolas, although does that, is still slow in speech, playful, and demeaning towards him.

Overall, Stolas does not care about Blitzø being safe at the beginning of the series. You can also get from that convo that he crosses boundaries without guilt, and if he was able to jeopardise life of his potential lover, it's not surprise at all that he is demeaning, creepy with overly sexual talks at inappropriate times, and does not take Blitzø's offence as something to care about (I don't think Blitzø was called by his name properly at least once in the 1st season, but I have to check), as shown in later episodes. Stolas is abusing power and knows he will get away with it, because Blitzø has nowhere to go and has to put with it.

Western Energy

[Blitzø]: It's really not a good time, buddy...

[Stolas]: I'm sorry it's a bad time yet again, Blitzy, but, um...

[Stolas]: I seem to have found myself in a bit of a sitch.

You see the parallel, right? Right?!

I'm sorry it's a bad time yet again, Blitzy.

The first time we heard that, he wasn't sorry. He was dismissive.

Mm, when isn't it a bad time, Blitzy?

And the situation... Stolas is literally getting kidnapped, and finds time to ask an apology for calling at wrong time. *Again*.

Let's look at another piece of conversation:

[Moxxie]: That's Striker, sir!

[Blitzø]: Oh, for fuck's sake! Can't you just get away? Aren't you powerful?

[Stolas]: I believe he has me bound with blessed rope, which limits my ability to free myself I'm afraid. So I think you should come save me.

[Blitzø]: Oh, shit, Stolas, I can't today, alright? I'm sorry. I-I'm literally on my way to take Loona in for her very important Hellbies S.H.O.T. It takes years to book an appointment at that place, it took me five to get this one... and she's doing a lot of field work, so you know, she needs it...

[Stolas]: Oh, ha-ha, well, I do agree that is very important... but I-

We know the rest. The phone is taken away by Striker, and the conversation is interruped. We also know that Stolas gets a sudden realisation that he is in danger, which gives a hint that before he didn't recognise the situation quite as serious.

You see the shift that happened?

Stolas apologises for taking Blitzø's time, despite being in imminent danger. He went from total dismissive to total apologetic and even evasive.

Stolas takes into account Blitzø's reasons, and admits their importance.

This time Blitzø is the one who talks more, but he is on point the whole time and generally sounds uneasy, understanding that this time this is, despite being the bad time, very important. As we know, after the conversation he rushes in, before agreeing with Moxxie and Millie for them to go instead.

And why is so?

I find it very interesting that the similar phrase was used in so different contexts. In the comparison, the power dynamic simply has flipped.

Stolas was the one who needed attention, and Blitzø was the one who was asked for help.

The first time around, Stolas needed attention as well, but his matter was so diminutive and Blitzø's problems at the moment were so serious, it was simply disrecpectful, to say the least.

The second time, his request is to literally save his life, and he apologises, puts Blitzø's interest higher than his. He now feels like he is a burden, a nuisance in Blitzø's life, not wanting to disturb him at all. The connection that holds them became so fragile, because Stolas realises he has nothing to offer besides power, and from that sole conversation it becomes clear that he now avoids using it against imp even on the verge of being hurt.

Stolas's attitude shifted from dominant to apologetic, he went from assertive to frightened, and, as Blitzø's importance in his life grew, so grew Stolas, giving us hope for his redemption, but also showing how insecure he really was all the time.

So much for the regal title and eldritch powers, if you can't hold onto a meaningful relationship with the one you care for.

[hexfloog]

i am sooo thematically consistent actually lmfao

My final contribution to Repostober 2024 :) Loose "redraw" of this sketch that I posted last year. Scan and words below the break.

I know the phrase "rewired my brain" gets thrown around a lot in fandom but I honest-to-God think Ghost Channel really did it. If it's not THE formative thing in my taste for horror, it imprinted pretty damn hard on my little babby brain. To this day, the memory of watching it for the first time stands out as my earliest experience where I've needed to pick my jaw off the floor and then marinate for a bit.

For those not in the know, Ghost Channel is an episode late into season one of Code: Lyoko. It is freely available to watch online, but if you're even a little interested in watching it, I highly recommend watching it in sequence, despite the episodic nature of S1.

Original scan, from 2009ish:

I'm sure I've mentioned it, but before I realized the importance of archiving my art I threw away virtually everything I had relating to CL >___< Later, I thought it might be fun to redraw some pillars from my childhood fandoms and this sketch happened. I've posted a few things for Repostober so far that were products of this same effort.

Reinterpreting this in 2024 was a challenge. My taste in horror hasn't changed much over the years, but the way I enjoy it definitely has. The 2009 scan reads as an in-your-face tribute to the episode (to me, at least), but these days I'm a much, MUCH bigger fan of subtlety and the power of implication. Redrawing it 1:1 bugged me a little since I didn't feel it'd meet my current standards or do the episode justice. I'm a firm believer in "less is more" so I spent a loootttt of time grappling with a good 'redraw' that 2024 me would accept while still passing as... well... a redraw xD I suppose it is still conceptually the same.

Jeremie is easily my favorite in the CL gang which definitely has nothing to do with the fact that I seem to have a proven history of latching onto the prodigal child with glasses and I've always found it crazy poetic that one of the only (or maybe the only?) big bad's true manifestations in the show is in his image. Something something thematic parallels, you love to see it >:) CL already has this habit of depicting shit that I would normally attribute to the modus operandi of a supernatural, demonic force so of COURSE I was gonna get in on this LMAO

Unfortunately, unless I find a hidden stash of old CL fanart somewhere... or enough time passes for me to draw this again... this is probably my last CL art for a while </3

On a more technical note for as much time as I gave myself for this I really popped off, especially on the background o___o Code Lyoko BG art goes super hard in general though, I don't think I would have settled for anything less. Had tons of fun with the VHS effects, learned lots of new little tricks to distort images for future projects.

Also this piece is called "ENDKAMPF" in my files lol

[moonsuke]

Episode Nagi 33

Lol this chapter has so much typical shonen rivalry composition like thank you knsr for the narusasu-reonagi?? 😭

I'll never stop finding it funny and ironic how reonagi makes a better “duo” when they’re separated, like they're literally more in sync and on the same page than when they’re together lol. Perhaps this is the true alone・together chapter (good ending ver) after all.

I'm like so hung up on how emotionless Nagi looks here, its borderline unnerving and scary (and kinda sad if you wanna dig deeper) BUT I LOVE IT. His mouth is so small its kinda cute? Scary, beautiful, cool and cute, that's my Nagi! We haven't seen him "scary" since first selection I kinda miss him. He's was such a menace and arguably the most hype and best written "final boss" to date.

And that's why he'll be back as one. Isagi's ultimate foil, let's go.

And I love that it’s nagi=sasuke and reo=naruto. I know reonagi and narusasu dynamics aren’t exactly similar, mostly because reonagi never really have that rivalry sun/moon yin/yang symbolism going on but when it comes to hot/cold, red/blue I guess they still fit? The second picture kinda have a yin-yang thing going on too. Nagi's aura is black but his heart and character is very pure, while Reo's aura is lighter but inside he has darker thoughts and feelings? That's just me trying to force a yin-yang parallel on them but I honestly don't think they fit that well, unless it’s foreshadowing for the future? 👀 I’ve seen people say it’s reflective of Nagi’s downfall etc but I would think it’s more like the cyclical nature of their progress lol. But I’m mostly of the stance it’s for hype visuals only, knsr seems to like doing that before shit hits the fan. Doesn’t really mean much.

I actually made a lot of mental comparisons between Sasuke and Nagi before, like to understand why are they my favs and why I see them the way I do in their shipping dynamics etc (I only ship them as bottoms) etc. And I’ve always thought reonagi’s kinda like a flipped shonen duo? Like usually Reo would be the typical shonen protag with his red hot fiery passion and energy while Nagi would play the cooler, calmer deuteragonist but for them, the calm one's the protag. It’s like if Sasuke's the protag instead of Naruto lol

I rmb knsr making another narusasu-reonagi comparison before with the kyuubi-susanoo fusion lookalike and I was so insulted then?? I don't even wanna include it here cause they were never narusasu??? Naruto and Sasuke were actually equal rivals but reonagi was toxic codependency with Reo giving up his ideal self (!!!) for Nagi's dream and becoming his passer?? That's the part I was most hung up on honestly (but some shippers like it for some reason, explains why they're also the ones who didn't expect Nagi's "death" even though its so obviously written in the text lmao).

Like you've no idea how glad I'm this current arc ended with Reo scoring and his ego awakening and lusting for goals again. I don't necessarily need him to be a full striker, I just need him to have that hunger for goals back again! And with the way its consistently brought up in both epinagi and bllk that his ideal self is to change in different ways to score goals, I'm confident that's the direction he's growing into. GOOD. I like Reo so much more when he has the “striker mentality”. It's nice to see his Chameleon developing too with him questioning "what is his colour".

Talented learner matches really are very different from Geniuses' ones lol. Ngl, personally I enjoy reading TL matches more. Seeing them actively thinking, predicting, observing and making plays, its more fun than hype moves to me (I'm so sorry this feels sinful to say as a Nagi fan 😭 I love you Nagi your hype moves are still the best and beat all other moments 😭)

-

My absolute favorite parts of this chapter though was all the nicknames Nagi's getting. Little baby? Silver fox-hair (ロマンスグレーボーイ)??? “Romance grey boy” is such a random nickname tho, I know it’s to call out his white hair but still 😭 Maybe Luna’s also half calling Nagi good looking???

And why does everyone Nagi meets keep treating him like a baby chick?? I mean it’s so accurate and I love it but I wanna know what exactly these people are seeing to call a 190cm boy a baby lol. He's even drawn exceptionally baby this chapter 😭

I love it though, keep hammering the Nagi is baby agenda please knsr, just like in bllk too. We know it won't last anyway so let us savor this please 😭 My greatest fear is Nagi changing super drastically during his development honestly. Like please, his personality is what endeared him to his fans, please write him well knsr I'm begging you 😭 You can make him badass and independent but still a cute babychick too right? 😭 I don't want some overly egoistical chad coming back 😭

Like even his speech is baby. Its not translated over when Nagi says "tell me before you leave" but in Japanese he says 「教えてよバイバイの前にさ」 ("tell me before you say bye bye") which is again... so cute. It's like when he said "let's live in a dream as we say bye bye" in a previous chapter. Why aren't they capturing the cute nuances of Nagi like before?? The translations are so trash these days!!

Anyway, can't wait for him to get wrecked by Loki next chapter lol considering how sus it is he barely appeared much. I need my ultimate genius-genius interaction!! Idky but Loki has always given me the creeps since his first appearance. He's always drawn so unnerving in a predator/hunter vibe and his background is always dark too... Curious.

I didn't expect Nagi to be interacting with Luna this much instead but I enjoyed it. Lunagi is my new ship :)

Also didn't expect a Rin/Barou kinda speech from Luna lol. Again, flight and bird symbolism. I'm still on the Nagi's gonna gain wings in his aura agenda (delusional). Like no way is this just a "he's currently a baby bird who needs to learn how to fly" reference. And my personal theory for his ego is still "being the one who shines the brightest/feels the most heated up on the field" which can motivate him to do hype moves only he can achieve. But we shall see. He's still being so vague with his ego which is expected since even at NEL he didn't figure it out...

Like Reo's is clearly articulated, his ego is "to shape my destiny with my goals" but for Nagi what he wanna trust in is "to face the world here and now and tear open a new path with this surging emotion"? It feels like he just wanna be immersed in the moment since he's usually so apathetic? I mean it makes sense, I've said this so many times everywhere but Isagi's journey is to learn techniques and logic that can bring out his innate fire to become the number 1 striker, but Nagi? He has all the innate techniques being a genius and all so his journey is to learn how to discover that fire to motivate his genius. So basically his end goal is to feel fired up! Going from death to feeling alive finally!

(Also thanks knsr for the chiginagi crumbs)

About the main manga, I wonder will 299-300 be two chapters of Nagi backstory before its break 🥺 Somehow I’ve doubts we’re getting his backstory here even if I really want it.

[coimbrabertone]

Offtopic Offseason #3 - Clone Wars Rewatch Thoughts: Part I.

We're deep in the motorsports offseason and I've been on a Clone Wars rewatch for the past week or so. I'm in early season three right now, still before the timeskip, but I've been enjoying it a lot and it's gotten me thinking about Star Wars again, so I wanted to yap about it in a blogpost.

I think I'll even do a part two once I'm done rewatching the whole thing.

For now though, I'm going to talk about what I've watched so far, so seasons one and two, and the first couple of episodes of season three.

So...Clone Wars starts out pretty rough, I'm not gonna lie. The first few episodes are just a bit cringeworthy with annoying battle droid dialogue, the voice actors still finding their footing, and the animation is pretty spotty - I'll talk more about that in a moment - and of course the classic complaints of "Snips" and "Skyguy" and all that.

All of these problems started in the movie - which I most recently watched in 2023 but skipped this time because, well, it sucks unfortunately - but they are still apparent in the early episodes of season one.

The early episodes still have their moments.

The Malevolence arc is pretty competent, Rookies is probably the first legitimately good episode of the show, Cloak of Darkness and especially Lair of Grievous are good, and then from Trespass onwards the show really comes into its own.

That being said, I think season two is better than season one. Season three is another step forward, and from the timeskip onwards I think the show really hits its stride, especially because the updated designs look a lot better and fit with the animation bump.

That being said, already in season two I noticed the animation is getting better.

Season one has that classic CGI cartoon problem where the environments are rather drab, and they can't have too many characters on screen at once since it's expensive to do - and Clone Wars was an infamously expensive show - which led to a lot of battles consisting of...two Jedi and like three clone troopers against five battle droids with two super battle droids in the background. It's an understandable error, and they get much better about it as the show goes on, but it's pretty noticeable in season one.

That's a problem for a lot of CGI cartoons though. Watch Beware the Batman, Transformers Prime, or Jimmy Neutron and you'll notice a lot of these same traits.

Even some of the Barbie cartoons have those problems and it's really noticeable because it's like these blondes in bright pink colors against like a flat brown background. It's pretty trippy.

Alright, enough about the flaws of early 2010s CGI animation.

Here's a two-parter I didn't really pay all that much attention to the first two times I watched it - the first time back when it aired on Cartoon Network, the second time when I rewatched the whole series on Disney+ ahead of season seven - the Zillo Beast episodes.

Before I always just saw them as a pretty basic Godzilla homage - they awaken this giant monster on the Malastare battlefield, they eventually subdue it, but Palpatine wants to study it on Coruscant, it inevitably breaks out, and they have to stop it - but this time, it hit for me for whatever reason.

First there's the electro-proton bomb, and the nuke parallels there - they're obvious enough that I must've picked up on them before but I guess I didn't come to appreciate it - but then even when they wake the Zillo Beast, it never actually tries to leave the hole.

In fact, it doesn't until the Dugs force it out with the toxic gas.

Then the beast is clearly suffering when the shock tanks bring it down.

So, this giant, hurt animal gets sent to Coruscant in the laboratory, and Palpatine wants it killed so he can study its indestructible scales more quickly.

Only then does the Zillo Beast break out and go on its rampage, and even then, the rampage is focused directly on Palpatine.

Then they kill it with the gas bombs, and you can see it suffer as it dies, and the Jedi are so clearly disturbed by all this.

Palpatine, however, immediately tasks the scientist with cloning another one - and apparently that story is followed up on in Bad Batch season two which has unironically given me more motivation to actually watch the rest of Bad Batch than anything else I've heard about that show.

Anyway, the reason why I think this episode clicked with me this time is because this plan has Sidious written all over it, but he's forced to maneuver it as Palpatine.

He keeps trying to justify the Zillo Beast experiments but eventually his patience wears thin, and he just starts threatening the scientist to do his bidding, despite the fact he's supposed to be the kindly old Chancellor here.

Moreover, when the Zillo Beast is after him, it's probably the only time in the whole show that Sidious is in real danger, but he's with Anakin, Padme, and the droid so he can't do anything about it.

The whole show Palpatine is pulling the strings, controlling both the Republic and the Separatists, ensuring no side gets the upper hand.

Except for here, because the Zillo Beast wants to kill him, and he can't do anything about it.

He needs the Jedi and the Clones to kill the Zillo Beast for him, and once its dead, all he can do is task his scientists to clone a new one so he can try again.

It's such a cool thing to do with Palpatine/Sidious and there's a karmic justice to it all because it's entirely his fault too.

So yeah, I used to just dismiss these episodes as "oh I guess Filoni wanted to do a monster episode" but no, there's some substance here and it's pretty great.

It also goes to show that, even before the timeskip, Clone Wars was a really, really great Star Wars show. After the timeskip, it becomes the best as far as I'm concerned.

I'm excited for more Mandalore episodes, I'm excited for the Savage Opress arc - even if his name is even more on the nose than playing the Imperial March whenever Anakin does something evil - I'm excited for the Citadel, and Umbara, and the undercover Obi-Wan episodes.

I'm excited for Maul, for the Sabotage arc, for the Order 66 arc in season six, and I can't wait to finish strong on the Siege of Mandalore which is probably some of the best Star Wars content, period.

That's not even all of it. There's so much good stuff.

I love Clone Wars, it makes me happy.

[softantlers]

why do you ship lottienat when nat said "maybe lottie dying wouldn't be the worst thing" on 2x08? gen question bc i just wouldnt want to ship two characters where one of them says the other dying isnt a bad idea

kay, i'll bite.

i think a thing to consider here is that no one really is suggesting that they're canonically together and making out in the shadows during season 2 -- what people enjoy about this ship is the possibility between the character's, the tension, and all of the thematic parallels. it's an enemies to lovers kind of vibe.

so following shauna beating the shit out of lottie & lottie recovering, natalie says something about maybe it not being a bad thing if lottie dies to coach. i'll point out here that season 2 for me kind of represents an evolution in how natalie views lottie, like their relationship is pretty core & they get a lot of moments together as foils over the episodes. tbh not to diminish your point, but when natalie said that, my first thought was "that's so high school of her." it tracks with her frustration/resentment over lottie's influence on the girls. natalie also follows it up by talking about how everyone has changed because of lottie & coach asks if she's jealous. again, the jealousy thing? so high school to me.

personally, i don't think natalie is the type to actually wish ill or death on anybody. she's having a moment of frustration after witnessing extreme violence & not able to understand how they got to this point. tbh i can almost see echoes of the victim blaming she likely directs toward herself wrt her own dad in the way she says that. like in that moment, she's feeling that lottie let this get out of hand -- likely in the same way that she probably blames herself for her dad's death... i think it presents an interesting insight into natalie's character tbh. when shauna points out in season 1 that she has all this guilt & she's dragging other people down? i mean... she's not wrong.

okay going further though. another thing i would touch on is that season 2 is when natalie carries jackie's bones back to the plane. she has a moment with jackie (although they didn't particularly get along before she died) where she sends her off, so to speak, and mentions that she's made everyone jealous one last time. here you can see a bit of natalie's suicidal ideation come into play. honestly, i'm not sure that she thinks dying is the worst thing, in general, at least not that deep in the winter. (i won't make this too long by going into it, but i think that fundamentally changes when she finds purpose as the leader in the spring, re: the way she tells ben that the suicidal feelings will pass.)

another thing: if natalie actually wanted lottie to die, why wouldn't she have suggested they eat her? natalie was fully participating in the queen draw just like everyone else. at that point, everyone pretty much agreed that lottie was off the table. it's telling that there's no scenes where she argues that they should eat lottie. in fact, when she draws the queen, she's fundamentally moving toward dying in lottie's place. by the end of the season, it's my impression (and it's so delicious) that her feelings toward lottie start to change a bit. when lottie gives her the leadership, there's a switch there & for the first time in the winter, natalie feels seen for all her efforts (instead of passively ignored by the other girls). i think it's extremely meaningful to her that lottie did this for her, even if she doesn't have the words to explain it.

anyways, i hope that answers the question? (i know you said /gen but with the state of things i'm always worried they aren't in good faith.) anyways, i don't think that line really needs to be taken so seriously tbh.

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

hi! love love love all of your haikaveh analyses! they're so wonderfully done and itch my brain so right. i was wondering if you had any thoughts on the recent quest featuring them ('an odd textual mystery')? hope you have a wonderful day!

hiya! firstly, thank you so much for your ask! i'm so glad you enjoy my haikaveh analyses!?? they truly live in our heads <333 secondly i am so sorry this reply is coming late!! i wasn't able to play during the first half of the event, and then i've had technical difficulties, so i've only recently finished the quest! that being said, here is part one of two of my thoughts!

firstly, i love how this event feels like a reference to kaveh’s hangout, in which alhaitham says that kaveh’s annotations, according to the ex grand conservator, are too long and hard to read, and that as a student, kaveh had the habit of scribbling in all sorts of books, which won him the nickname “the urchin of Kshahrewar” ???

we're starting off strong with kaveh canonically hiding behind a ladder out of sheer embarrassment after trying to find the book on which he inadvertently founded a conspiracy. things will just never go his way huh :(

i thought it was interesting (and very deliberate) that when we go to where we would find kaveh, it's The House, and when the traveller and paimon believe they've heard kaveh-

it's this guy... homosexual jumpscare next time.... and then he says this phrase (before leaving in his typical manner, which parallels his 'see ya' in his character quest, plsss he's so !?!?!?)

after waiting again, the traveller and paimon believe theyve heard kaveh, and this time it IS kaveh... you mean they couldnt be told apart...?? really leaning into alhaitham and kaveh being innately bound by the mirror motif i think.!!

paimon then impersonates alhaitham, to which kaveh recognises, saying that paimon doesn't sound herself - which could parallel how the kaveh comments that the traveller sounds like alhaitham in one dialogue option within his hangout, a cute detail <3

also, kaveh clinging onto the narrative that no one knows he lives with alhaitham, and then listing a scroll of names, being all of his and alhaitham's close friends... ironically very intimate

also it being confirmed that kaveh has low stamina, i didn't know i needed this until i was given it

kaveh drunkenly circling a spelling error in permanent ink, thinking nothing about it but that the book is terrible, returning it, and then creating a city-wide mystery, believing it to have happened AFTER he returned the book, and frantically trying to piece together what happened is so kaveh coded, ofc it WOULD happen to him

tighnari checking the book out when kaveh complained about it him because he thought it sounded FUNNY!! i love hibm..,m,,,

also kaveh using red ink and alhaitham using green ink... oh so the contrasting outfits aren't enough, you're also canonically using complementary colours... oh so.. huh...

tighnari immediately clocking that alhaitham joined in by adding a circle, calling it a 'game', so he knows that alhaitham is having fun doing this...? dare i say... f-flirting,,,

tighnari saying flirting.!! HE DESERVEDLY CALLEDHAIKAVEH OUT!!! they are too much in their intricate (homoerotic) rituals.

tighnari using a leaf in the forest metaphor... very interesting

cutting to cyno and sethos, cyno being bitter that sethos makes excuses to not play TCG, referencing their voice lines about the other, this is such a nice detail

absolutely no thoughts here just pure homoerotic brainrot of knowing what style of ink and the penmanship of your life partner, along with an unnecessary specific memory of the two taking breaks from their schedules to spend time together in their secret spot in the tree in cyno's second story quest... ive not had one coherent thought since this, the writing for cynonari is so so great and lovely and everything, they deserve the best

"back to the book" BRO GOT DISTRACTED!!! FR THERE WAS NO NEED TO TELL THAT STORY ABOUT HIM WATCHING TIGHNARI DO HIS HOMEWORK IN THEIR SECRET PLACE HELPPPPPP

also, cyno wanting to solve the mystery of the book for tighnari's sake and protection. oh. (if this weren't haikaveh's fault/event then cynonari would own it... tighnari, i, too, am so tired of them.)

and cyno canonically calling sethos bro!! another reason as to why its a crime this mini quest wasn't VOICED????

this is part one! part two is here and focusses on the final scene with alhaitham and kaveh, my bane...

[rikan-oo]

So I was thinking about creating a loose list of recs for ORV fans or, in other words, "If you liked ORV, you also may like this." I decided to add things less obvious because I think people already read works like Trash of Count's Family, etc.

Princess Tutu

“The beginning of a story is a sudden event; the start, a happy accident, the end, the fate for which it's meant. A story that never ends is a sad fate.”

Let's start with Princess Tutu (PT), anime, not manga because they're different. I watched it about a week before ORV and after finishing both, I can't help but notice their similarities. However, meanwhile, ORV is about the relationship between the reader, the author, and the protagonist, and PT is more about the relationship between the author and their creation: the story and its characters. Don't let the name fool you, don't be like me. It's much darker than I expected from this style and genre. Be ready for angst.

Plot: Ahiru is a small duck in a pond. One day she notices a dancing boy with a very sad gaze. Boy every day goes to dance near the pond and the little duck is completely mesmerized by him. She can't help but notice sadness and loneliness in his dance. She wants to make this boy smile and at that moment a writer Droselmeir appears. He tells her that she could do this by collecting shards of his broken heart but under some conditions. He gives her a magic pendant that can transform her, first into an ordinary human girl, then into the graceful ballerina Princess Tutu, a fictional character from the tale that was doomed for tragedy in the original story.

Later we find out that this city is kinda enchanted by Droselmeir's tale (reverse isekai before it became mainstream) and some characters broke out of the tale like the boy by the lake - Mytho or Raven - the villain of this tale. Tale elements blend interestingly in the city and its residents.

Also, I have no idea wtf is happening with the main characters' dynamic in this complicated rectangle, but there is no straight explanation for this.

I can't help but see some parallels between Mytho - KDJ, Fakir - both YJH & HSY, Ru - HSY, and Droselmeir - Dokkaebi. I love how the story describes characters doomed by narrative and the struggles of being a writer. Also, all of these subtle references to fairytales at the beginning of the episode? Love it. I bet there are more references for the ballet part, but I probably didn't get it. I gently encourage you to check it out. (Definitely not gently, I'm as desperate as Kim Dokja trying to advertise TWSA to other people)

“May those who accept their fate be granted Happiness, may those who defy their fate be granted Glory.”

Miss not Sidekick

It's a much simpler read, just to chill and have fun while laughing at Mc shenanigans. Plot: Typical isekai story, where Mc is a fan of the internet novel of the reverse harem genre. When isekaied decided to invent popcorn and enjoy full time 4d immersion in the story.

There are not so many similarities in themes like with Princess Tutu, but more the role of MC – Latte as reader. I liked how she continued to behave like a spectator of a story inside Isekai world, treating it like she's inside a special 4D theater, not existing in this world as a part of it, until she couldn't.

Until her 4th wall is shattered (*badabums* it's a bad pun, she doesn't have it like kdj) and she realizes she could actually die, (quite shocking I know). Also, MC invents BL for this world and converts other people into it. Overall, the art style is different from other isekai romfant and it's something you need time to get used to, but after a while, you understand it suits perfectly for the narrative and silly tone of the comic.

Inso's Law or My Life as an Internet Novel

I feel like it's more reverse isekai similar to orv, where the story becomes part of your life. But if in KDJ's case, this transition is obvious and life-crashing, then in MC's situation is really creepy. It blends seamlessly into her regular life making her feel insane because everything remains the same except having a whole new friend who behaves like your bestie and a different school, where everything starts to feel like a romantic novel full of clichés. MC like KDJ is also unreliable in her perception of others here and thinks her knowledge of clichés like a reader-outsider makes her more omnipotent than she really is. Too bad they used 3 person POV, so it's really obvious, but funny nevertheless. (One of the cases where she thinks one of her classmates is a girl pretending to be a boy cause of some kind of cliché family drama, when in fact it's just a boy and I find it funny how this classmate looks like Jang Hayoung twin and have similar fate, poor souls) guess she also has similarities in her character to pre-scenario or regular life KDJ. They both seem to have this introverted avoidance type of personality. I'm curious about supernatural events happening in manhwa and I hope we'll get some explanation for it.

Pandora Hearts

Nice little thing with funny and cute tea parties that everyone would enjoy. 😍

SHHH, nothing about the plot. Let it be a small surprise for you.

It's all vibes and similar tropes now, folks.

Like dynamic between the main trio: Gilbert - Oz - Alice YJH - KDJ - HSY. Also this time loop thing? Daddy issues? Self-sacrifice as a form of love? Ugh. (Also, I need this scene with Oz and Brake "Where in the world are you?" But with KDJ. Maybe I even draw it).

It's all for now, maybe I'll write more. Please share the recs if you have them!