#sorry this took so long to answer lmao
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also! i think ocd five in general is a very neat concept, thereās some headcanons i have for him that i didnāt even realize are ocd symptoms until now. since ocd and anxiety are linked, do you think youāll touch on that topic as well? iād also love to just heard your thoughts on how itād affect his brain :)
I read both questions before responding so I kind of already touched on this in this post but I will go into it in more detail here
I definitely think that Five has anxiety and I think that both his OCD and anxiety are intertwined but there are also ways that his anxiety manifests outside of OCD and thatās general day to day life stuff. I think Five would find a lot of anxiety around social interaction. I think Five would struggle with interacting with his siblings. He got better in the third season but it sort of fell apart at the end when they all walked away. Thereās quite a significant wedge between Five and his siblings and I think heād have a lot of anxiety around trying to make himself fit into family
During season three his relationship with people such as Klaus improves. He has a deep discussion with Viktor and he definitely becomes a lot more friendly with Lila. They have the wedding and they all have fun together and theyāre probably at a point where Five feels like he is fitting in with gang a little better. He does his whole wedding speech which he remembers being horrible but the rest of them talk about him being a big old softy and they joke about it and Lila even tried to hug him but at the end of season three it all sort of falls apart. Thereās a lot of tension between Allison and Five specifically. Luther grabs ahold of Five and blames him for Sloane disappearing and everyone except from Viktor walks away from him. That isnāt necessarily because of Five specifically but it could be something that he internalises as being his fault. Luther immediately blames him for something and then they all walk away. Heās supposed to be the time travel expert and everything has gotten all fucked up again and I would be surprised if he ended up blaming himself for that
In this au Five ends up going to live with Lila and Diego but he has a lot of anxiety around trying to make sure that he slots into the family well enough. Lila and Diego are the ones that insist that Five stays because itās clear that heās not doing very fell by himself. Heās drinking; heās sleeping rough; he hasnāt changed clothes in like a month. He was clearly having a shit time so they decide to keep him around but despite the fact that they want him to stay he still feels like the part that doesnāt fit. He still waits to be rejected or blamed for things that arenāt his fault. He has anxiety around making sure that he comes across as someone that his siblings and Lila will like and keeping it that way. He has a lot of anxiety around it all suddenly falling apart like things have before
When he finds out that Lilaās pregnant it brings out a whole other brand of anxiety for him. Heās worried that something might happen to her. Heās worried Diego might get mad at him if something happens to her. Heās worried about being a good uncle. Heās worried about this very small and very delicate family member entering his life. What if he hurts the baby? What if he makes a mistake and Diego and Lila throw him out? What if Lila or the baby die and Diego becomes estranged the way that Allison has?
Heās constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. Heās used to things going wrong and living the worst case scenario. He doesnāt know any other way of living so heās not used to things being so normal and it makes him really anxious to lose it. He hasnāt got all his siblings but he has a few of them and theyāre happy and accepting of him and he really really cannot bare the thought of losing that little bit of peace and love heās managed to accumulate. Itās terribly anxiety inducing and terribly isolating for him but he learns to live. And with help and support from Lila specifically he learns to get better
#thanks for the ask brianna!!!#sorry this took so long to answer lmao#louie says shit#tua#my fan fiction#ocd five#ask
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3. What is your OC's financial status? Are they just scraping by, making enough to live comfortably, or wealthy? Has there ever been a drastic change in their status? If so, what happened?
4. Does your OC have a failed friendship or relationship they still think about? What happened? Is it an unresolved regret or is there a chance for reconciliation?
5. Does your OC have a signature weapon and/or attack? How long did they train to master it?
6. Does your OC know magic? Were they born with magical ability or did they train to acquire it? What is their favorite type of magic? Least favorite?
14. How important is friendship to your OC? Do they prefer to have one or two close friends or a large group of casual friends? Or do they prefer their own company over that of others?
15. What places hold significant meaning or memories for your OC? Do they have a positive or negative association with those places?
for either or all Galethor, Zafir and Balthazar
ty for the lovely ask <3
3. What is your OC's financial status? Are they just scraping by, making enough to live comfortably, or wealthy? Has there ever been a drastic change in their status? If so, what happened?
In our current campaign, it appears Gale lives a life of luxury and wealth. He is the son of a prominent figure in the adult entertainment industry named Ace, and Gale himself is famed for his echoes (the equivalent of porn videos in this setting) and his sex work. This is a complete lie. Galethor, since birth, has been nothing more but a way for his father to turn profit. Galethor doesn't own any money he earns, and anything valuable he comes across is usually taken by Ace if he can't hide it. This being said, he's still provided with an adequate diet (moreso to keep appearances) and lives in a decent sized apartment.
Zafir's wealth is dependent on whether or not he is under oath at any given time. Without one, he is surviving on contracts while he travels. With an oath, he is the equivalent of a lord's personal advisor. This doesn't always equate to wealth, but it does usually mean he is always properly fed and housed.
Balthazar's a weird one to talk about because he's had highs and lows in his financial situation. He was born to lower middle class farmers near Balmora. Before he had an affinity to killing, he would work long hours on the farm. Once he was old enough to leave, he became a mercenary for hire, then later assassin for hire. Then, of course, he would eventually become an assassin for the Dark Brotherhood. He is one of the prime witnesses to the Dark Brotherhood's deterioration at the end of the third era and beginning of the fourth era. While he struggled to find a sanctuary that would stay alive for more than a few years, he hit some pretty deep lows. When he was discovered to be the Listener in the fourth era, and he ultimately shouldered leadership of the Dark Brotherhood, this drastically changed. In my head cannons, he ushers in a new, prosperous era for the Dark Brotherhood. (We'll see how this pans out when new cannon is introduced beyond the fourth era, lol)
4. Does your OC have a failed friendship or relationship they still think about? What happened? Is it an unresolved regret or is there a chance for reconciliation?
As you can imagine, Gale's friendships were always shallow and, if they weren't, ended in tragedy. In his backstory, there was one blaring exception--a guard for Ace named Mitch. Mitch was another tiefling, and always a lot kinder to Gale than anyone else. He never asked Gale of anything, never objectified him like the others would. Without getting too deep into backstory, Gale and Mitch were together for about five or six years before Mitch was killed by Ace for interfering with Gale's work. There's a lot of regret for Gale here, as the last conversation they had was a pretty heated argument. It's pretty safe to say Gale has a very difficult time connecting with people after that.
I don't really have a solid answer for Zafir on this one. He tends to move on pretty quickly or masks his grief with ambition. He's often too focused on the present and future to dwell too much on the past--whether that's with relationships or people he's lost.
Balthazar doesn't think too much on past relationships until the consequences show up at his doorstep (usually in the form of a bastard child, lol). The two most prominent examples of this were with my partner's altmer OC Ingra and a Cammona Tong member named Valna. Ingra hid their daughter, Almythra, from Balthazar, whereas Balthazar left Valna before their son, Lazarus, was born. Both of these children would later find and confront Balthazar individually. If I ever get the energy I'll write how all this went down asdkflsa;
5. Does your OC have a signature weapon and/or attack? How long did they train to master it?
Galethor's weapons are the newfound powers he gains at the beginning of the campaign. He willfully became a vampire, and is testing the boundaries of his new power. So far, his signature power seems to be the domination ability, which he has used once so far to lure a man to his death. When it comes time to actually kill people, he lures them close and then poisons them. (Something I keep kinda forgetting is that he can craft poisons in our campaign asdfkjl). He is also trained to use firearms but this isn't his most effective way of killing or fighting. Gale only trained for a few short days when he was a child, but has a knack for picking up new skills.
Zafir favors large, two handed weapons. In a fantasy setting he uses a combination of melee (usually a greatsword or glaive) and magic. Self buffing spells are his go to, but he is known to use short range spells to engage multiple targets. In a sci fi setting, Zafir is proficient with large sniper rifles (something equivalent to a 50 cal) and usually uses some sort of cloaking technology. Zafir usually has a pretty harsh training regimen to keep in shape and his mind sharp.
Balthazar fully relies on his stealth, sometimes amplified through spells like muffle or invisibility. He prefers daggers, and is the character in my headcannons that tracked all the pieces of Mehrune's Razor down and put it back together. In an upfront confrontation, he will dual wield Mehrune's Razor and the Blade of Woe. Balthazar never really had formal training because he grew up in House Hlaalu, which is why he depends mostly on his stealth.
6. Does your OC know magic? Were they born with magical ability or did they train to acquire it? What is their favorite type of magic? Least favorite?
I don't think this ability is considered "magic" by D&D standards (mind you, my group plays 3.5 and uses a lot of homebrew) but one special trick Gale learned was the ability to hide objects in his shadow as if it were a bag of holding (he can only store things 3 times his class level in pounds--currently level 3). He learned this at around sixteen from a dragonborn man simply called the Butler, who is a servant of Gale's father. Gale hasn't experienced too much magic besides things provided by magic items or from healers, so he doesn't exactly have an opinion on it at the moment, lol.
As mentioned, Zafir is at least decently knowledgeable about magic and uses it as a secondary way of fighting. He usually acquires both his knowledge and ability through training as a child from a mentor. Sometimes his blood (such as being half elven in the Witcher) amplifies his magical capabilities. His favorite spells to use are protective abilities (such as the Quen sign) or spells that enhance his physical ability (in BG3 he is an eldritch knight fighter and I like using spells like enhance jump or longstride). His least favorite magic usually have to do with illusions, he really hates being tricked lol.
Balthazar can only cast a few spells, he's not well researched and never really paid too much mind to magic, at least until he became a vampire. He started taking an interest in necromancy, but it's more of a hobby he does in his free time than a dedicated practice. Any fire destruction magic is his least favorite as a vampire, before that he found alarm spells to be particularly tricky to navigate as someone who trespasses to kill his targets. :).
14. How important is friendship to your OC? Do they prefer to have one or two close friends or a large group of casual friends? Or do they prefer their own company over that of others?
Okay so... this is where it starts to get pretty sad for Gale. As I mentioned in one of the earlier questions, any close relationship he's ever had (whether it is romantic or platonic) has never ended well. Because he is terrified of Ace and what Ace has done to the people Gale cares about, he tends to keep everyone at an arms length... emotionally speaking. It is much easier for him to be physically intimate with people, but he can't afford to get truly attached to anyone in fear Ace will kill them. Because of this, he tends to come off really catty or outright mean or annoying. If he had this choice, I think he would enjoy any level of friendship. He does end up spending most of his time alone, however, and he doesn't particularly mind it.
Friends aren't so much as important to Zafir as are alliances. He has issues with being emotionally intimate, and physical intimacy isn't something he is particularly interested in. Zafir does highly value the people who have grown to know and trust him and who he could call friends. I imagine he definitely prefers his own company most of the time.
Godspeed anyone who thinks Balthazar is their friend. That being said, I think he would have a few very funny friendships with some of my other TES OC's and some cannon characters. Cicero, for example. Balthazar puts a really peculiar amount of trust into Cicero, simply because Cicero, out of everyone who survived the attack on the Falkreath sanctuary, always remained true to the Old Ways of the Dark Brotherhood--something Balthazar pushed for with Astrid but was never successful! If I ever get around to fully writing out Balthazar's story I'd be very delighted to show that dynamic but just know, in my head Balthazar--oddly enough--respects fucking Cicero more than most people. Anyways this one got way off the rails but Balthazar typically doesn't have friends, which honestly is probably for the best.
15. What places hold significant meaning or memories for your OC? Do they have a positive or negative association with those places?
I'm so sorry everyone about Gale is sad. This is no different. One of the places Gale and Mitch would go to drink and be dumb kids was an abandoned department store on a side of the city that wasn't patrolled very often. Gale often painted on the walls and they once stole a camera to take pictures of themselves and each other there. When Mitch was killed, Gale returned to this building and burned it to the ground. He was caught and arrested for arson, he hasn't been back since.
There aren't many places Zafir is sentimental about, but as a traveler wherever he was trained at he typically refers to as his home.
Balthazar hated the entirety of Vvardenfell, where he grew up. He associates pretty much all of Morrowind with his lineage (in my headcannons he is an unofficial descendant of Queen Barenziah), and how King Hlaalu Heleseth and his associates hunted Balthazar until House Hlaalu dissolved. On the flip side, Balthazar actually loves Dawnstar, despite its cold and unforgiving climate. He's also spent a lot of time in and around Riften, and enjoys that area as well.
#oc: galethor#oc: zafir#oc: balthazar#sorry this took so long to answer lmao#long post#i had to do a lot of thinking
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Do you have any tips for writing Obi Wan or any meta in mind with his characterizarion?
hmmm sure why not! i'll give a few tips on how i'd write obi-wan. mind you this is how i interpret the character, so ymmv.
i truly do not like it when fics have obi-wan voluntarily leaving the order. like it's so out-of-character for me in my head that the premise of the story + the writing would have to work triple-time to get me to stick around. now if he's been removed from it by an EXTERNAL SOURCE (not the order. i cannot stress this enough: the jedi kicking obi-wan out is so jarring to me i'll leave the fic in an instant) or somehow unable to return to the order for whatever reason, all is well.
not a prodigy, but a genius. obi-wan is an incredibly intelligent person with an absolutely staggering knowledge base in a wide variety of topics, but all that knowledge was earned through blood, sweat, tears, and time. he sat down with his game face on and put in the work. that's also why he makes an excellent teacher: he knows what most students will struggle with because he struggled too, and knows through experience how best to overcome them. i headcanon that it contributes to why he's such a good negotiator: he's really good at stripping down information to the essentials and communicating that information effectively and efficiently to others because of his intense study habits.
humble, but not ignorant of his skills. it's pretty impossible to fully divorce yourself from pride in your achievements, and i don't think it's healthy to not feel any pride at all, so i think obi-wan has a very clear understanding of his skillset and how best to use it. i don't think he'd be ignorant of how good he is at something, especially since the direct consequence of his aptitude led him to being a member of the jedi council. pretty hard to be blind to your strengths when you're being asked for your input on topics that directly draw from that knowledge.
averse to healthcare. listen i enjoy obi-wan whump just as much as the next obi-wan stan (the desire to put him in the cosmic salad spinner comes with the territory, i fear) but as a character who grew up in an environment that deeply cares for the well-being of all, and knowing that you cannot help others unless you yourself first have the ability to do so, i can't really see him ignoring injuries outside of combat scenarios. like on the battlefield he's got more pressing concerns than a pesky little shrapnel wound or five, but once the battle's over?? he might not be first in line to the medics but i can't see him avoiding them entirely. an army without a general is working at a sharp disadvantage and i don't think he'd risk his men by neglecting his physical health in that manner. note that i said 'physical'. make of that what you will :)
duty. obi-wan is the definition of a paladin. he takes an oath and by the force he's going to keep it. train the boy? absolutely, qui-gon. whether or not anakin chooses to respect that training is another matter, but he did definitively get knighted! refuse to kill anakin? listen he's handed vader his own ass to him twice post order 66 and each time he did it he did it nonlethally. that takes skill. that takes dedication. exile yourself to tatooine for 19 years and then decide fuck it, we ball, and die after Once Again Deciding Not To Kill Anakin Skywalker? step aside casper, there's a new friendly ghost in town. every time obi-wan commits to something the man COMMITS. you GOTTA respect that grind.
flirty but in the sense that he's going to match the energy someone brings to the table. like he's a negotiator. he knows how to read people and figure out the Vibes. if he thinks the other person will be 1) 100% receptive and 2) will respond with a delightful wit, why the hell not? obi-wan's highest stat is charisma and he's got expertise in persuasion. whether they're allies or not does not factor into this equation. he can have a little flirtation with morally dubious and potentially hostile characters. as a treat.
this has nothing to do with his character but i firmly believe that he and quinlan vos had at LEAST a fling when they were padawans. there is zero evidence to back this up aside from a few comics where they were being goofy teenagers together but i stand by this. it is an unshakeable aspect of obi-wan to me that has only gotten worse with the kenobi show.
no matter what, no matter how terrible or devastating or downright apocalyptic it gets, obi-wan kenobi will never fall to the dark side. never. it won't be easy, but that is a line he has never, and will never cross. i will not hear any "obi-wan touched the dark side during the theed generator fight" slander. if that was true tell me why the force theme was playing during his moment of triumph!!! Would John Williams Lie To Us Like That?? to our face?????
anyways i could go on forever about obi-wan because he is My Ultimate Blorbo but this post is getting super long so i'll leave it there. hope this helped even a little or at the very least was entertaining for you to read <3
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Does Luka ever accidentally stumble into Adrien's Mind Palace when Marinette accidentally calls him the wrong name?
(Not trying to salt here, I think it would be hilarious)
He doesn't so much as stumble in- Luka has free access to anyone's mind whenever he wishes really.
He does use those powers for good though
#sorry this took so long to answer!!#im terrible at answering asks lmao#ask#lily doodles#Mind Palace AU#miraculous ladybug#luka couffaine#adrien agreste#chat noir#claw noir#mlb fanart#mlb shitpost
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The children of the big three are painfully beautiful.
beautiful as poisonous flowers.
One touch and you're dead.
they are thoughātheyāre venomous creatures, poisonous flowers, forces of nature. the world itself runs through their veins. gods treat them with caution; mere humans donāt stand a chance.
Percy is a riptide. heās the calm of ocean, moments before its rage. heās the sun on the beach, the warmth of the sand, the calming, constant crash of the waves. heās the smell of the salt in the air and the cold of the water against your skin. you can swim, you think, youāll be fine. he smiles and itās more beautiful than a sunset over the shore. and then the pull starts. in seconds, youāre farther from shore than youāve ever been before. trying to swim back tires you out and sees you no closer than before. in fact, now youāre even farther out. the water pulls you under, still as beautiful as it was from shore, and you canāt find your way back up.
Thalia is the eye of the hurricane. the deceitful calm at the end of the storm, luring you out from your shelter. there is nothing more peaceful, more still and tranquil. the sun peeks out from the clouds that surround you from all sides. the wind and rain have died. thereās a rainbow in the sky. the storm is overāexcept it isnāt. one moment is all it takes, and the hurricane is back with a vengeance. the wind tears at you, rain lashes at you, thunder shakes your bones in place. you walked too far from your shelter, and you might not be able to make your way back.
Jason is hail. the rain is beautiful. itās a breathtaking storm: impressive thunder, streaking lightning, howling wind. the house shakes around you and the lights go out. the concussive sound of the rain on the roof is soothing, until it isnāt. until it isnāt rain, and the roof isnāt whole. now, the storm is invading your home. the hail is punching its way into everything it can reach. car alarms spring to life outside; those who were watching in awe are now fleeing in terror. it only takes one hit, after allāone lucky piece of hailāto end a life.
Nico is an earthquake. the planet is ancient; the ground was old before you were here and it will be old after you go. itās sturdy, and supportive, provides life and food and shelter. long ago, when the ground danced, when it shook itself free and sent cities tumbling to the ground, they called it the godsā wrath. now, itās called plate tectonics. no matter what it is, no matter why it happens, it is lethal and dangerous and uncaring of those it affects. nowhere is safe when the world turns on you, and if it decides you and your shelter should fall, you will.
Hazel is a sinkhole. the appearance of stability, of rock-solid ground and firm foundations. nothing is wrong, will ever be wrong, sheās the rock that holds everyone up. and then that rock is gone, and youāre falling, down, down, downāyour home collapsing around you, your belongings claimed by the morbidly hungry earth. thereās a light at the end of the tunnel, but is it sunlight, far, far above you? or is it magma, far far below?
#sorry it took so long to answer i forgot my password lmao#dark percy jackson#mav.ask#thalia grace#jason grace#nico di angelo#hazel levesque#children of the big three#the big three#powerful percy jackson#percy jackson headcanon#percy jackson#pjo#heroes of olympus
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what do you think toshiro's version of laios would've been like if he was still with the group during the shapeshifter shenanigans
there have been a few speculations in the tag and among the fans and they are all very good SO i am going to take this opportunity to insert a bit of my shipping bias as i like in my interpretation LMAO agdsfgdfgv
i noted that in actuality shuro seems to have a very good grasp on laios' character??? this is most obvious in the manga later on but even seeing how he criticises laios in their fight... iirc nothing he says is actually untrue or wildly exaggerated, and while he does express frustration over something he feels like laios Should have control over (noticing his cues), he is also aware that laios isnt being malicious and that hes Just Like That. what i mean to say is that while i think his version of laios may seem more pushy and in-your-face, i dont think it will be overwhelmingly so. if its post-fight, i think the idea of laios (and marcille) being willing to do anything to get falin back made a big impression on him, as well as the idea that they need to eat and rest in order to succeed in their goals, so those aspects would be prominent in his version. he seems pretty observant, so i think for the most part the physical traits would line up, but i think there would be specific things that stand out to him that would appear strangely striking on his version of laios (like. idk something about his eye colour or the subtle contrast of his armour and chainmail. he seems to have a weird sense of aesthetics if extras are anything to go by lmao). if hed actually been paying attention all those times laios had gone on about what the hell ever, then it might be even MORE hard to tell apart his version since he would also have a good grasp on what laios should know. so either his version of laios is pretty difficult to pick out, OR despite the character being accurate his appearance is too. stylised lmao (exaggerated features or something) OR!! they just get him to pull out his monster gourmet guide thing and are able to tell from there. iirc everyone was surprised at its appearance so its possible toshiro had also never seen it before
IN MY IMAGINARY SHIPPING SCENARIO............ lets say that his laios isnt able to be picked out immediately and that the monster guide thing also doesnt immediately occur to anyone. what the real laios Specifically notices is how close this other laios keeps getting to shuro. and hes like. ??? why is he getting so close to him, theres no way i get that close to him??? but no one else seems to be picking up on it as weird, so hes having a small crisis like do i REALLY get that close to him???? and now that hes on the outside he notices shuro subtly leaning away and he feels both a wave of shame and..... protectiveness??? (JEALOUSY??????) and he immediately steps in and grabs him like Hey!!! cant you see hes uncomfortable???? weve been through this already!!! and like. ok i cant believe im doing this again but i need to separate this into different endings
a) the whump route: i dont think shuro ever envisioned Actually Telling laios about his frustrations outside of being basically cornered into it. has he ever spoken up against what was expected of him?? has he ever been confrontational???? i think part of what held him back from expressing his frustrations, along with the cultural norms, could be fear of what the reaction would be. if he had done the same in any other aspect of his life (his family, his inheritance), i think he would expect disappointment, disapproval, more proof that he doesnt add up to expectation. to be honest i dont think he Truly believes that laios is the type of person to react like this. but it was strong enough to prevent him from acting and i think would be projected onto his image of laios. maybe fake!laios says something dismissive like Well if it really bothered him hed say something right? what, he cant even stand up for himself? cmon, shuro, prove that you cant handle it just like everything else. and thats pretty much the fastest giveaway that it isnt really laios. of course this would be a HUGE tonal departure from what the actual episode/chapter was, so:
b) the dumbass route: both laioses break into fisticuffs, and, yes.... barking. and so they speedrun the entire encounter as the shapeshifters true form appears and, after laios points out that thinking too hard about others versions of you can tear apart groups and peace of mind, they pointedly do not speak of it again. they think about it though. a LOT
c) the normal route: both laioses argue normal like and the group ends up being able to tell them apart because the fake laios goes on a little too long about how theyre all here for falin and everyones like ok its not like he DOESNT love his sister but.......... the rest of the scenario probably goes like canon, though then i would want to see what everyone Else thought of shuro
#if it had been pre-fight i think shuro must have seen him as someone who wasnt serious enough or was too directionless#it would definitely have been easier to pick him out i think....#i realise that very little actual shipping made it into the scenario. but i hope you see the vision#anon#ask#laishuro tag#if shuro actually ended up having to judge them i cant tell you how accurate he would have been#i DO know that compared to laios he would have been watching their social interactions more carefully#maybe he notices certain habits. i dont know if he would get all of them right though. he definitely gets laios right#long post#huge fucking post even. im so sorry. i hope this answered your question#this is actually shorter than it originally was i took off a paragraph#and.. shorter again because i just revised the final route LMAO#its kinda important that laios is the one that judges so i fixed it. originally i was like well what if shuro judged#which u can kind of tell from the tags above lmao#ok i give up i cant edit this anymore here u go <3
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Dukeās early vigilante days are so funny, because whenever he interacts with a criminal Batman is behind him staring the criminal down like āyou better be fucking intimidated by my precious little boyā
I also believe that this happens whenever Hal and Duke interact because anyone who has met Duke can see he qualifies for a ring and Bruce does not want to have to share custody with the Lanterns
Oh yeah cursed wheel arc to me is Bruce pretending So Hard that he's not there and just like supporting Duke and his detective abilities
(^ā¢ā _ā¢^ā ) =^ā ā¢ā ļ»ā ā¢ā ^=
Duke is extremely lucky he's not in a reverse Robin au because if he had to be one of the first heros after Batman?? In those colors??? He would get laughed at, thankfully two-ish decades of Robin has trained crooks to be Very Scared of people in bright colors next to the bat and Duke is all together, one of the gentler robins ever (his anger is very focused, he doesn't have a lot of the General Anger that is symptomatic of being age 10-15, he's angry of course, who isn't, but idk I think because of his background and personality he is smart enough to focus it productively)
Bruce and Hal beefing over Duke is a Favorite headcanon for me, everything after his metahuman bar mitzvah is, can be, and Should be a clusterfuck
Hal and Bruce are like a divorced couple with Duke they're throwing money (Bruce) and experiences (mostly Hal) at him (like any of this really makes up for Duke not having his actual parents ;-;)
Divorced dad guilt is a Hell of a drug
#batfam#duke thomas#bruce wayne#i will spare the lantern fans from me tagging this lmao#sorry it took me so long to answer this i had a really big exam XD#you would think that graduating college would mean i was done with those womp womp#but really i love it when duke has a ton of justice league friends i want him to make more#like yes he is a street level hero and yes hes supposed to be grounded but dont u think its funny if the gods come down every now and then#to bring this one guy a corn dog?#anyway i Really want duke to start making friends with all the capes' non-caped friends#that would be even funnier imo#anyway yeah#bread talk
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your ocs š« tell me everything and anything you wanna share
HI CRYPT i have a lot :]
so i have four main guys with an actual storyline (avry arlo rass rocks). technically five but the fifth doesn't have a name yet so we're not talking about her. and then i have funky little guys (moth, some other clones who i havent posted, and my newest guys cobra and lio!!)
avry is in her early twenties! she was knighted roughly a month before the clone wars began and wasn't supposed to lead a battalion at first. the jedi master who was going to lead the 409th battalion was several weeks away from kamino as the clone wars started, though, and avry was temporarily assigned to the 409th because she's closer and there isn't time to wait.
this temporary assignment is when she first met arlo, who at the time was a captain. in their third or fourth battle, the LAAT/i that was carrying arlo was shot down and his helmet was knocked off in the crash. avry lifted the rubble of the LAAT/i off of the survivors of the crash using the force-- if she hadn't been there, arlo probably would've bled out from his head injury before anyone managed to get to him.
shortly after this, the jedi master in charge of the 409th finally arrives! she's an older rodian training her second padawan, rass. she and avry's master are padawan siblings. avry leaves the 409th in the jedi master's capable hands and is assigned on several small relief missions.
of course, a few months later the 409th has an encounter with general grievous. the jedi master does not survive, but she does make sure rass will make it out alive.
avry is in the area, so she returns to the 409th. rass is supposed to go back to the jedi temple but they can't fathom leaving all of the clones they've befriended and fought beside-- they've already lost their master. so avry (impulsively) offers to take rass on as her own padawan.
and. well. this solves some problems. this also creates more problems. avry is already absolutely terrified about being responsible for a battalion. now she's also responsible for rass as well, who's basically her little sibling. she's not prepared for either of these things, but she's good enough at faking it so she's not going to think about it too much because she might break down and there isn't time for that. she can process everything when the war is over and everything goes back to normal.
she's very good at convincing herself that things will go back to normal.
arlo is doing better overall-- he's been promoted to commander (the original commander died a few weeks after avry left). he has a lot of confidence in avry. between avry saving his life early on, and the jedi master's competence and poise, he's a little ridiculously loyal to the jedi.
he's also a little bit blind to avry's flaws.
hold on. about arlo's pronouns: she is not thinking about her gender in universe until pretty late in the clone wars. i swap between she and he because she will end up using she/he pronouns.
rass meets rocks when their first master is still alive, while scouting out a droid factory. rass is leading rocks' squad and there are droids coming their direction. rass asks the clones if any of them have something that rass can throw to distract the droids. rocks hands over a rock. a few minutes later rass asks for another object. rocks hands over another rock. he has at least ten more.
rass nearly compromises the mission by laughing at the fifth rock produced. after this rass and rocks are inseparable. rocks, who is about an inch and a half shorter than the average clone, is delighted that he's no longer the shortest person he knows.
rass and rocks are my beloveds i love them dearly.
i also have a fair amount of info about avry here and some assorted info about all of these guys here
beyond my "main" four, i have moth (can be summed up by this and this) and cobra (very new guy. hes living his best life. having an affair with lio.) and lio (full name lio veniid. senator. a bit pretentious. not very significant politically. extremely disappointed by cobra's lack of appreciation for wine, has made it his goal in life to change this. its not working very well so far but they're both having a great time)
also fun fact: i have a curse in which i am incapable of drawing arlo's scar correct on any full piece. it's on the left side of her head. (forgot it) (flipped the canvas too many times)
#star wars#sw ocs#star wars ocs#star wars oc#sw oc#star wars the clone wars#the clone wars#clone oc#jedi oc#clone trooper oc#oc rass#oc rocks#oc avry#my ocs#oc arlo#oc moth#oc cobra#oc lio veniid#chagrian oc#tholothian oc#thanks for the ask!!!!#sorry it took me so long to answer LMAO i had to draw like. half of this#the formatting is showing up differently on my laptop than my phone. sigh. oh well
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Rachel, did you love karl again
"H-huh?... Carl who...? Sagan...?" "I -hic -enjoyed watching his show growing up, but I haven't -hic- met him in person before..."
#castle of nations#dynart#rachel#anon#alisyaqaisara0bz20#this is actually a SUPER old question and I'm very certain it was in ref to that old drunk post lmao#sorry it took so long to answer!#I've had the answer in mind for the longest time and originally wanted to answer it for New Years#but for some reason was really struggling to draw out the reaction..?#alas... better late than never :')#Carl Sagan made the Cosmos for those who don't know#all#blog#thanks for the ask!
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What was their first kiss like? How did they react?
he had the AUDACITY to kiss the scar on her eye.
so , she had to one-up him. for her pride or whatever.
#rw shipping#rw regicide#artificer redemption au#see i DO answer my asks i just. take forever#im sorry this took so long lmao
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Phigting headcanon ask!
What do think are the phighters fav drink? :D
YES YES YWA YES YES!!!! I LOVE ASKS LIKE THESE LETS GOOOOOOO!!!! IM SO SORRU IT TOOK SO LONG FOR ME TO GET TO THIS BUT!! LET ME JUST COMPILE ALL OF THEM REALLY QUICK!
Sword, ice water with lemon. I actually headcanon heās allergic to caffeine (because anything with caffeine will make birds very sick)
Rocket, sprite or blue Fanta
Subspace canāt drink due to his rot, he probably eats electrolyte packages lmfao
Medkit is addicted to black coffee
shuriken loves green tea/matcha
vinestaff likes sakura tea or cherry ramune
Icedagger likes sƶderblandning and Julmust especially
Scythe likes vinegar, straight vinegar. (And sometimes a key lime martini on the side)
Broker, once more, likes whatever is illegal.
Skateboard likes coca cola
slingshot likes milk because cat
boombox likes ginger ale (the bottle is green okay I couldnāt think of anything better)
Banhammer likes his mamas smoothies
Zuka likes those gas station slushies, blue raspberry mixed with Coke is probably his faborite
Hyperlaser likes beer or any sort of alcohol (duh)
Katana likes Baekseju
Valk like champagne
Dom likes red wine, but only the most expensive kinds
Voidstar likes the blood of her victims
Windforce likes protein shakes
Firebrand adores root beer floats, he also likes to make them with Dom and valk! His favorite is probably just with vanilla ice cream
Ghostwalker doesnāt drink but if he would it would be watered down cremated ashes
Illumina likes communion wine and holy water
ghostdeeri canāt drink liquids since it would extinguish her flame lmao
Darkheart likes chemical waste
Venomshank likes French Bloom Le RosƩ
Coil likes monster energy drinks
Lord PWNATIOUS only likes the most expensive kinds of alcoholic drinks on the market
traffic likes gutter rain water /afF
okay so thatās all of them! Enjoy these I love getting to talk about stuff like this ;3
#Iām so sorry this took me so long to answer I kept getting sitracked LMAO#I loveeeeeee asks like these oh my goodness#ALSO#SPEAKING OF ASKS#To anyones who given me any suggestions or whatever in my ask box- I HAVE SEEN THEM!!#Iām not really intentionally avoiding asks Iām getting Iām just very busy and donāt have time to get to them#That and my social battery is always a gamble :āDD#I very much appreciate the amount of small art suggestions and stuff Iāve gotten and I do hope to answer them someday-#Iāve just been very very busy with school/life/and other stuff like commissions and owed art#Actual fandom art should be coming soon though! I have a LOT of ideas all lined up#specifically some lyric pieces and potentially even some pmvs if I can commit to themā¦..#TLDR art soon!!!#phighting!#phighting#phighting roblox#roblox phighting#roblox#phighting subspace#phighting medkit#banhammer phighting#phighting! roblox#phighting! coil#phighting! subspace#subspace tripmine#medkit#scythe#phighting broker#broker#hyperlaser phighting#vine staff phighting
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hiā¦.! any chance we can see your art process ? itās fine if not! i was wondering if u do a sketch before your lines or you just skip directly to lineart? your art is very beautiful!
HI!!! AUGGHHHJHH THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH T__T my art style is kinda simple imo so my process is pretty bare-bones ^^;; there's not rly much too it!! it also kinda changes depending on how uhhhh lazy im feeling in the moment HAHA
probably around half of my drawings are straight to line art bc they're rly just doodles or things i decide to draw without any planning (but also im kinda impatient so i try to skip the sketching step if i can LOL...). but if i DO have a specific pose in mind for a drawing, i'll start with a sort of mannequin sketch or loose pass, then depending on how messy it is, ill either do the lineart pass on the layer on top or duplicate the sketch and then clean it up.
and then my coloring process is not sophisticated at all i just create a new layer and then paint bucket tool away LMAOOOO
here's an example of a drawing where i did sketch first ^_^
#clarification on the second image: usually when i make changes to the sketch i just go straight to lineart rather than doing a second pass#which i what i did for this drawing. i just like to minimize how many sketch passes i do (again bc i am impatient and lazy lol)#but also bc personally i get frustrated when my lineart doesnt turn out like my sketch so the solution my brain came up with is to..#...skip sketching i guess LMAO;;#idk if this was helpful or not AHGHAAH my process is rly nothing fancy and there's not much to show T_T;#ALSO OMFG IM SOOOOOO SORRY THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO RESPOND TO GKJFHDJG THIS WAS SENT LIKE A MONTH AGO I THINK T_____T#i saw this when i got off the plane coming home from a trip and then i remembered it a few days later#but then in the middle of writing my answer i left to eat dinner and forgot to save so when i came back the page refreshed#and deleted everything i wrote T____T AND THEN IFORGOT ABT IT AGAIN
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https://x. com/ProbASociopath/status/1580629363762290688
ghoap? ghoap.
link
god yeah... I love that it can go both ways, too
for Ghost it's a punishment bc he has to think of things he actually likes about himself (and maybe Soap even makes a rule that it can't be military related for extra difficulty and torture)
for Soap, it's a punishment bc he has to sit still for long enough to actually write it lmao
#thanks for the ask!#sorry it took so long to answer lmao#call of duty#cod#simon ghost riley#john soap mactavish#ghoap#ghostsoap#soapghost#d/s dynamic#d/s relationship#tombstone's epitaphs#tombstone talks
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caps fan here!
as follower of pld (the few, the proud, the courageous!), i was wondering if you had any thoughts about how he might fit in with our team, assuming he's going to be 1C with Ovi on the left and one of Wilson or Mangiapane on the right, and basically taking the former Kuznetsov/Backstrom spot on the halfwall on PP1. my thinking is that he can easily return to being a 60 point player just by the increase in ice time alone this coming season, and maybe even flirt with 70 if he has a triggerman like big O on his wing.
as someone who knows a hell of a lot more about PLD than i do, is that just wishful thinking because i'm a caps fan? what do you think?
The PLD Post, Part 2: mask-OFF
Hii!! (we are SO brave and SO correct). i am so sorry this took ages to answer, i was trying to decide how serious to be. I will admit, I was hesitant about going mask-off and hitting up the microstats and revealing that i do seriously think he can be better than he was bc that shit is kinda lame ESPECIALLY when defending a clear failhorse. but at this point any rep i have as someone with good opinions must be gone considering how many media scapegoats i've attached myself to (i got a fucking. c.gauthier ask the other day aslkjdkljas) so. mask is coming off. we've hit somewhere between well-considered manifesto and vibe check so . um. enjoy!!
I remain optimistic going from everything I've heard and from what you're saying here! But, big big asterisk. He absolutely needs to take ownership of his lack of engagement. when he speaks in media availability I believe him when he says he wants to change. The will to change is there, idk if itās possible that any player would be satisfied with their performance being the way his was. Thereās a lot that needs to be unpacked about his lack of production, the Character Issues, and what his role might look like going forward. You and any other Caps fan who reads this will have to tell me if the fit is right. Hockey talk below the cut lol!!
So before I start I have to say I know dick all about the Caps except:
You're dragging that old man (Ovechkin) to Gretzky's lawn (record) to set it on fire (break it before he retires)
Everyone is pining away for your very very injured 1C who is also Ovechkin's boybestfriend/perfect set-up guy/work wife
There's. intricate pre-game rituals?
So I'm not sure I can speak to how he will fit with your (our? i AM picking the Caps up fr given every acquisition/draft pick they've made) team with any depth or specificity. also i don't think i'd call myself a PLD expert. like. i just got here !! I haven't been following him since he was drafted or anything!! I have, however, consumed TOO MANY Kings games this past season and I can give you a broad look at what actually happened with them and why I think it didn't work out. I will not be making any overtures about being unbiased. My biases WILL slip through because I think Dubois is a sweetheart and I find the mental exercise of defending him fun <3 Iāll give you stats and observations and I will build a story that runs counter to what the prevailing media narratives say. While I stand by my opinions, they're also just one of many available interpretations of what happened.
character concerns
Everyone will be bringing it up at the first speed bump of the season, the first bad game he has. Please be prepared to have a crisis of faith and also be deeply disappointed in him. god knows I am, like, all the time <3 But... I always want to dig deeper when it comes to dominant narratives, because in following multiple teams Iāve become acutely aware of just how miserably Bad media can be at reporting on teams that arenāt their own.
I hear āLocker room cancerā accusations bandied about and Iāve yet to see anyone produce a primary source for this ā podcasters, journalists, even people on nhl broadcasts will throw these words around so casually, assuming theyāre correct because everyone knows the story. Some confounding factors in the character narratives arise when you scratch the surface. People who've worked with him speak well enough of him. Todd McLellan called him āmisunderstoodā, and had nothing bad to say about his character.
Matt Roy, who also just got picked up by the Caps, has recently said heās a great teammate. MORE proof if you want to hear it directly, Roy went on Dropping The Gloves and had this to say about Dubois (transcript by me):
[on what actually happened] Honestly, I donāt know. I mean if you asked him he would say he had a down year. But itās nothing like ā I feel like the media paints this picture of him, and to me it couldnāt be further from the truth, you know. Heās a great teammate, heās a great locker room guy, he gets along with everybody. So, in terms of all that I donāt know where the media is getting all this stuff. If I hated the guy I probably wouldnāt have come to Washington. Heās one of my friends on the team and I really think heās going to have a bounce back year. I think heās really going to be good for the team.
Matt Roy signed with the Caps of his own free will as an RD, a contested free agent in a sparse market, knowing Dubois was already here. He couldāve gone to plenty of different places. Why the hell would Roy sign here long-term, clearly wanting to play and win, if Dubois was as disliked as some pundits would have us believe??? Credible reports (and not just speculation) point to PLDās other teammates liking him!!Ā
And hereās some propaganda; I direct you to this extremely sweet video where he gets asked about assisting on Akil Thomas' first NHL goal (and a bunch of other first NHL goals). He is so, so genuinely happy for Akil, who battled through injuries that set back his development for years. Just LOOK at his smile!! He canāt hold it back. (Others have said this but it looks like a little v. Like :> !!!! HELLO !!)
How does all of this happen when, supposedly, heās a low-character asshole and a ālocker room cancerā? It doesnāt line up for me.
On the other hand, I have seen Dubois cruise. He really canāt seem to bounce back from a poor start, and if you were just looking from the outside in, the scoresheet this year reflects this. The critique is fair; Iāve turned this over in my head enough times. there are less physically gifted, less skilled players, who are working so hard to stay in this league, and Duboisā poor showing does feel somewhat like, idk, something Iād be mad about usually.
Here comes the ābutā. Call this next bit the narrative section, because Iām showing my ass here: I think Dubois gets a lot of scrutiny because of his infamous Shift, which went a specific kind of viral, under the exact right conditions, and it has just. defined his career. And okayā¦ I am not denying that the shift happened, but plenty of guys in this league have taken shifts off. come on. the season is long and they're only human. Iām not excusing it either! It was bad and he deserved his benching. Ideally, he one day becomes a player who always puts effort in. Working hard is one of my favourite traits in any player, and usually this would be enough for me to dismiss him as not worth being invested in.
and yetā¦. the reactions to his floundering performance feel so much like theyāre about expectations as seen through the lens of The Shift. Theyāre calibrated differently because he went 3rd overall, and he's got this big body, the speed, the skill ā it's the fact that he's got the tools and seemingly squanders them. All of this is amplified by the contract he's sitting on and his run of short-term stays on teams. Does he get this much scrutiny if he went in the 2nd or 3rd round? Does he catch this much heat for his low energy performance if that one shift clip hadnāt done all that damage? Weāll never know obviously but . I do wonder.
Final word on the character stuff is that we donāt know what truly went on in those locker rooms and i don't want to give more air time to baseless speculation. What we can examine is the hockey. The hockey tells the truth <3
the 23-24 la kings
Assuming the plan is to give PLD a look at 1/2C while heās on the Caps, I think heās a complementary type of player. The way he is right now, I don't think he can drive his own line or pull people up. He works with the calibre of lineys he's got and will produce the expected outcome. That sounds so obvious, but what Iām saying is I donāt think heās capable of miracles like the best playmakers in the league, he's not about to make your guys look 15 years younger. In this vein, I look at his many first NHL goal assists as a symptom of what kind of linemates he was being paired with all season, and how unstable the situation was. His drop in point production IS more complicated than "he's just a piece of shit". From this article, the best summary I've seen of the Situation PLD was in:
LA acquired a player who had been a top-six center (and at times, winger) his entire career playing with established NHL talent. Yet after investing multiple assets to acquire Dubois and sign him to a significant contract, the team decided to put him in a third-line role where his most common linemate was a first-year NHL player who wasnāt expected to be on the roster in Alex Laferriere. Those two had a revolving door of wingers throughout the season. Moreover, Duboisā most common on-ice teammates after Laferriere at 5-on-5 this season were Matt Roy and Andreas Englund. Gee, I wonder why he didnāt produce?
Context about Roy and Englund: Roy is a quiet but capable d-man who is defensively geared with a bit of offensive upside (j'adore. does things the right way and is very responsible and good. will throw hits but doesn't chase them or headhunt. I think playing away from the Kingsā more passive system will unlock more of his offensive potential. Matt Roy you will be SO good for the Caps I truly believe mwah mwah); and Englund is a leg weight/goon who, going by every single stat I can pull out, makes his d-partners Worse (with affection <3). Point here is neither of them being on the ice was particularly conducive to a lot of scoring chances.
As I said in my previous post, I think Dubois absolutely needs finishers. At some point there was hype around his shot but I didn't see much of that at all on lak? Eye test says: he was unwilling to shoot, and when he did shoot it felt like there was low/no commitment, no power behind it. Comments on his shooting called him ātoo deferentialā at different turns. Thatās just an insulting way to say a guy likes to pass and I truly think it circles back to the expectations thing. Would there be anything wrong with him not being much of a shooter this past season if he was another player? (Can't we just say he passed a lot this season without bringing value judgement into it? leave my failhorse ALONE!!!! like must a man score goals ,can't he be very very sweet and happy for the rookies he assisted ? wailing about it forever.)
More fun stats from that same article:
#1 on lak for passes that led to high-danger scoring chances, and scoring chances in general <- again, not a miracle worker. did not have finishers who could capitalise on these chances. its so fucked up what they did to my failwife
one of the best on lak in actually carrying the puck into the o-zone. (another reason i quite liked watching him!! transition forwards my BELOVED) everything I've ever observed about him off the cuff holds true here: he draws penalties this way, because he's fast and when he's locked in he is pretty good for controlled zone entries <3
Dubois had a career high in even-strength assists per 60, this is all in spite of his weird linemate situation and his reduced TOI and the power play mess (more on this later). he might have been deferring, but I truly think the lack of stability + good finishers, and ice time held him back from being more productive.
jim hiller
Building off that last point: even worse on the stability front, which I did allude to in the initial PLD Post, was what happened when Jim Hiller took over. You must understand one of the first clues that we were working with a different animal of a head coach is he was NOT afraid to line shuffle, and shortly after he found short-term success with that, they started running 11 forwards and 7 defensemen (you can see where it started precisely if you scroll back in lak lb because you'll find ME yelling about it LMAO). This shortened forward bench resulted in mid-game line shuffling, as in it was uncertain as to who they would be playing with from shift to shift. Hiller is on record saying he thinks it was beneficial, per this article:
Itās all about getting his deep forward corps engaged in the game. Thatās sometimes difficult if youāre running four full lines and there are penalty kill or power play opportunities that alter the flow of the lines. Especially for the group of forwards who donāt kill penalties ā think Kevin Fiala, Viktor Arvidsson, Quinton Byfield, Pierre-Luc Dubois ā itās an opportunity to get them extra shifts and engage in the game. āSome of our other players who donāt penalty kill, you know they can lose the flow of the game, so they enjoy it more I know,ā Hiller said of having 11 forwards in action. āWeāve talked about it a lot. We really just think for our team, the way it is right now, that gives us an advantage getting those players more ice time.ā
(and ok sorry to go off about my gripes with how the kings are run but .They were doing this into playoffs. This article was written during playoffs. god. CARL GRUNDSTROM, WHO HAS NEVER NOT PLAYED HARD, PLAYED 25 SECONDS IN GAME 2. all this while they were trying to get people 'engaged'. Idk. Maybe it did work for some players. I wasnāt behind that bench. But sitting one of your most energetic and committed forwards during a series in which youāre trying to come back from being down several games was a CHOICE!!!! also like what if you didn't double-shift QB. what then. And we all know how that series ended. lak coaching/management i am beating you with a pillowcase stuffed with bricks . <3)
Much was made of the Hiller takeover. I liked it at the time. In his first couple of media availabilities post-TM, Hiller emphasised bringing back "fun" to the game for many of the players who were slumping ā and a reportedly tense locker room during the big skid that lost McLellan his job. It was all very Ted Lasso of him. Hiller also introduced a new way to rate Dubois for his performance every night, separate from the scoresheet. I made jokes about PLD's very special star-chart, everyone who knew about it was making jokes about it. This merit system was tailored towards communicating with Dubois what he did and didn't do well, and while no one ever went into depth about it we do know a few things:
It measured things outside of +/-, goals and assists, and was likely a score out of 5 per metric.
One of the metrics was about hits/physicality, another one was likely ācompeteā levels.
He alluded to being measured on penalties drawn?? Or something??
Anyway it sort of ā¦ worked?? The change in Dubois was pretty immediate, the moment he was given some clear direction to work in. He played some of his BEST games of the year in the wake of this change. He got involved physically, he was not losing steam, he was drawing tons of penalties because heās huge and fast and has good hands and IF he puts his mind to it he can truly be a transition monster.
CUE THE LINE SHUFFLINGā¦ imo, much of the progress made seemed to be lost, and the rest is history.
NOT saying Dubois is free of fault here. Needing that extra motivation to get physically involved is kinda wild, and I understand why for some people itās a bridge too far. EYE am here for the laffs though and it's really funny that the communication came in the form of super special individualised performance evaluations/a glorified sticker chart. This is why heās my temperamental desert flower. Wilting violet. Soggy kitten. <3 and for the record I truly donāt think Iād care if he put up 40 points per szn for the rest of his career. I donāt care because heās a sweetie and the Bit i do when defending him is too funny. I donāt think Iād care if everyone was right about him ā I just donāt actually think they are.
the power play problem
So okay, as per part 1 (my last email <3) we know Dubois thrives net front. Itās where he scored a bunch of his goals on the Jets. Every stat and the eye test supports this. So how come Lak had him stationed on the half wall doing jackshit, if he was on the power play at all?? I will admit I drove myself half crazy studying power play structures and watching LA Kings games back before coming up with a garbled, half-formed idea about how LA runs their PP. I was going to attempt to explain it here ā had to do with Kevin Fiala and Dubois being lefties and how that's just an awkward passing sitch ā but it turns out more than one person has had this thought and MAN I love being validated by actual hockey people. I fully thought i was making shit up in my head for a good week or two, and was seriously considering scrapping this portion . but itās SO important for contextualising the production drop, so here goes !!
As early as September 2023 there was a story published about PLDās role on PP1 ā a place where he certainly shouldāve belonged as a top-6 guy with plenty of ppgās under his belt. From this article, which explains the issue very very neatly, and much more eloquently than I could ever hope to:
The addition of Pierre-Luc Dubois was a big one this summer; at first glance, he should be a great addition to the power play. But when digging deeper, the Kings might struggle to fit him onto the top unit. Dubois played mostly as the net front player for the Winnipeg Jets last season, the role Gabriel Vilardi often played for the Kings last season. So, itās an easy one-to-one switch in that spot, right? Not necessarily. Dubois has all the talents to be an effective net-front player. He has the size and strength to battle in front, with the skill to effectively pop down low and create chances. However, his handedness is a big problem for this role. The Kings run their power play primarily on the left side with Kevin Fiala ā Anze Kopitar when Fiala is hurt ā which necessitates a right shot down low. When a right shot player pops out on the left side, thereās an easy passing angle for the half-wall player and more options for the player down low. Quick passing is key for a successful power and a left-shot canāt move the puck quick enough down low. They would have to either move too far into the corner or take the extra second to step out from and open up their body to create an effective passing angle. Time that would slow the power play down too much and allow the opposition penalty kill to get back into position. Thereās also minimal shot threat from a lefty down low. We saw both Vilardi and Viktor Arvidsson frequently take the pass down low and quickly turn it into a shooting opportunity, something a left shot wouldnāt be able to do.
It then goes on to suggest 2 solutions that arenāt appealing at all:
Flip the power play entirely to accommodate Dubois net front. Not great as they dont have the players for that, and if they tried it theyād be hamstringing Adrian Kempeās one-timer.
PLD on the bumper position. This oneās hard to swallow because that displaces Kopitar to PP2, thereās his position as captain and the optics of moving him off his spot.
In this article it is once again suggested that LA MUST flip their power play and figure out how to get PLD net front. In this article they point out how useless he was playing on the wall down the stretch, and how the only reason he seemed to be able to produce something was because heād taken Kopitarās spot in his absence. This article calls to attention Duboisā worlds performance, where team Canada utilised him net front.
Big picture, the Fit
Do we see the problem here yet? Itās not the flat narrative I was sold by the national media, random assholes on twitter, and podcasters who donāt actually watch Kings matches!!!! Do we see how weird and messy and complicated it is, beyond āhey heās just a sack of shit who isnāt trying hard enoughā. Rob Blake himself has come out and admitted that they didnāt put Dubois in a position to succeed. And absolutely there was effort required on his end ā a different player might have sucked it up and adapted to circumstances, a different player might never have needed that extra bit of communication, a straight up better player might have dragged his less skilled lineys up to a higher level. But the problem has always been two-fold: LA was trying to coach and manage a completely different player to the one they had in front of them and expecting good results; and Dubois was unable to keep competing with all he had in the face of that. I think both parties are at fault here. And I think, given the chance and the right circumstances, Dubois can hit 60 points again.
Okay, circling back to the big question of Fit. Will he be able to work with Ovechkin? Hard to think he could fail with one of hockeyās best goal scorers on his wing, if he does get a look at 1C. People who know the Caps better than I do, does this sound workable? Is Dubois going to be too difficult of a nut to crack for your coach? Your locker room?
And, of course, the power play issue. Maybe Dubois learns to be better on the half wall! Idk!! Maybe it was a matter of coaching and he thrives in Washington running your PP1 from there. For my moneyā¦ I like him better playing net front or bumper. Do the Caps have the bodies to accommodate this? I did ask someone familiar with the Caps PP to explain it to me so I could try and figure this out but ouuuugh. My head is spinning. Someone smarter than me please jump in. I am TIRED . We donāt know what it will look like, what theyāre planning to do with Dubois on the power play. You guys probably have a better idea about whatās possible than I do <3
Conclusion?
PLD is fast, big, a passing threat and a formidable net front presence when heās given the opportunity and playing his A-game. As far as I can tell, his B-game is garbage </3 His poor performance is more complicated than people think and Iām pretty sure only the LA Kings beat reporters + the 12 kings fans on twitter know this. Most of them still dislike PLD anyway bc his low motor. I donāt blame them, Iām just more inclined to be forgiving because I love redemption arcs and I think heās a good person. i would love to be wrong about his low-effort B-game LMAO but im trying to be realistic here. I want him to fit in and be embraced by the Caps so bad <3 Your coach sounds like he wants to help PLD succeed and is up for the challenge. The vibes from my friends who follow the Caps are always good, Iāve read through various tags and it sounds like a place that will take him in whether he likes it or not. I might be stupid but I believe in him !!! and Iāve laid out all the hockey bullshit for you to the best of my ability. Given all of thisā¦ do you think heāll do well?
#the.. the pld manifesto... good gravy... i did it..#just above 4k words. not even bad#sorry i couldn't maintain the any kind of consistent serious tone LMAO its too fucking funny and i think enjoying him as a player#comes with a requisite level of silliness that one must maintain for the sake of . sanity <3#i dont think i have enough knowledge of the caps#to say anything about your side of the equation. so. ball in your court caps girlies (gender neutral)#also sorry this took so long i was honestly agonising over the power play thing bc i thought i was hallucinating#and i wanted to source everything to the best of my ability since i was bringing real stats and hockey analysis into it#im sorry this might not be the clear answer u were looking for </3#pierre luc dubois#washington capitals#caps lb#asks#user lonewolflink#primers#<- does this count. LMAO#my writing#<- this definitely has to count#la kings#los angeles kings#lak lb
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since youāve been drawing young robotnik lately I had an idea for the merman au: what if he saw/briefly met a merperson as a kid? I imagine no one wouldāve believed him at the time (I could also see the other kids bullying him for āmaking it upā) which caused him to be stubborn abt it for decades and led to his current-day study of them.
It was a rare day where the kids at Ivo's orphanage were awarded a beach day. No one ever bothered to teach Ivo how to swim, however, so he wasn't planning on getting too close to the water until his towel got taken away by the wind. What he saw that day by the water's edge changed him forever, though, instilling in him a life-long interest in marine biology.
Bonus:
(Be warned I will take ANY OPPORTUNITY to insert the 'forgotten first meeting' trope, no exceptions)
#stobotnik#agent stone#dr. eggman#dr. robotnik#jimbotnik#sonic movies#stobotnik merman au#sonic the hedgehog#I can get away with this because merfolk have long livespans!!!#i just want them to meet as children okay!!!#is this canon? no idea#i just thought it was adorable#anon I am SO SORRY it took me so long to answer this ask lmao#i have no real excuse i've just been busy
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For some reason I imagine the pixel guy ( ballista if you read the wiki) as being competitive with caveman drawing (Primal if you will, idk where they get these weird ass names), do i think this because of the height diffrence? Yes. Yes i do. Is Pixel dude like an angry chihuahua? Absolutely.
Also Bathroom sign man is my favourite, hes just so KAHDHDIDBISKAKAGDIDHDHXJZH yk?
Bros the he dont bite of the group
Also i get u with bathroom sigh guy he's fucking hilarious USVHSVSHBS
#I AM. SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO ANSWERššššš#Also damn who coming up with these names lmao
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