#super interesting player to me <3 very excited to see how he develops

[puckpocketed]

not enough is being said about celebrini’s little :| face

:|

and thats his smile btw thats his media grimace !!

HOWEVER it must be noted when he grins he looks like he has a few too many teeth ! which hits on three different levels: disturbing and delightful and VERY on theme for a shark <3

bonus: the world is an AWFUL and cruel place, they (the evil craft of orthodontics) took everything from us when they closed his tooth gap

WE USED TO BE A COUNTRY. A SOCIETY.

[queenburd]

The use of color in The Stanley Parable: HD and Ultra Deluxe (with honorable mentions to the Demo)

dedicated to @squuote who needs more TSP analysis to rotate

A little over a year ago, I (only somewhat jokingly) lay out the argument that while The Stanley Parable is notorious in its use of yellow, the color yellow is not actually associated to the Narrator. The color most associated with him, I argued, was red. [1, 2]

I've had plenty of thoughts regarding color and TSP in the interim and I want to go over those thoughts today in as much depth as I can manage. You know, for fun. None of this is to argue about creator intent, but it's a fun way to stretch the critical thinking and literary analysis portions of my brain. It's also super cool if you don't agree with my readings, since the point is to get you thinking about these things and studying them to interpret for yourself.

Anyway let's gooooooo

(note: all images are embedded with a link to the source page I pulled them from. For those on mobile, be careful with your scrolling and tapping!)

Yellow

Okay let's start with the “obvious” one. Yellow is seen as one of the main colors in the game, it's the color of the main office and the primary assets associated with the Parable. We see yellow PRIMARILY in the beginning of the office, before the two doors room. It lines the cubicles and the walls are often interpreted as yellow (eh, they're more of an off-white. They're actually absorbing color from the brown-yellow carpet, and they do the same in the lounge).

It's the color of the Line(TM), it's the color of the cargo lift in the warehouse, and, most strikingly, it's the color of the SKIP Button.

We'll get to you.

Okay, so yellow is a color with conflicting interpretations, which is par for the course for all of them, we're not going TOO insane on color theory and color psychology we will be here ALL DAY and I was an ART student. So let's just look at the most basic reading. Bright, oversaturated yellow is a color that can exhaust the eyes easily. It grabs our attention like a highlighter and burns our retinas.

It can be a color of excitement, but it can also be a color of sickness. I've been thinking about the short story The Yellow Wallpaper the past couple days. Or maybe I've been thinking about it for longer. It's just that I haven't reread it in actual years, but every time I saw someone talk about the wallpaper in TSP, I thought about the story. Here's some passing thoughts on the short story in comparison to TSP. [3]

Sickness, and madness, and beginnings, and infinity. In the end, yellow, to me, is the color of the Parable grabbing the player (and by extension the Narrator) by the nose and saying “let's get moving. We have a story to play. Play the game, and keep playing.” Notable to me is how the SKIP button is almost scathingly yellow in contrast to the room it's in, and as the room gets darker the glow gets more foreboding. The Parable did this. The Narrator might think he made it, but he doesn't control it. Yellow isn't his color, and it never was.

Red

“Stanley walked through the RED. DOOR.”

The use of red in TSP is probably the most interesting and fun to analyze for me. It's used extremely intentionally and it's commonly associated with power, anger, and passion. We see red in the Boss's Office, in the Countdown ending, as the door to the Starry Dome, and a TON in the TSP2 Expo. There's red doors and signs in the Escape Pod Bay.

So I've joked that the color red is the Narrator's color, and while it's still a fun interpretation, it's not one I'm married to. I think it's more accurate to say red symbolizes control. The Zending Door is you letting him control the story. The Countdown screens are him taking control from you. And TSP2 is the Narrator trying to exert control over what the developers have made. It's a response to New Content and to the SKIP button. I have a million trillion thoughts about the TSP2 Expo but I won't get into them here.

Anyway, red feels very obviously to me associated with the Narrator trying to take control, or things only being possible when he has control. I'm thinking about the signs in the Escape Pod Bay telling you that it won't work without him. (I'm thinking about how the same door asset for the Zending is used in the Escape Pod Bay. No. shhh. Staying on topic.) So I don't have much more to say on the matter because I feel like I've tread this ground before. Red is about control, and it is held in direct contrast with blue.

Blue

Oh, blue. Soothing blue, sweet relaxing lounge and ocean paintings and boss's bathroom and blue door that leads to broken textures and an irritable Voice.

If red is the color of control, then blue is the color of rebellion. Small rebellion, sure. Rebellion that means nothing in the scheme of things. Blue is the stepping stone to bigger deviations from the path. I mean, the lounge is only the first step to the right, and you can still get on the “correct” path. The blue door you have to go through repeatedly, you have to make the choice multiple times, for it to lead to the Games ending. The boss's bathroom doesn't GO anywhere until after the epilogue. These are “rebellious choices” in a game where you don't really have a choice, and it's the closest you get to defiance.

I like to make it Stanley's favorite color for obvious reasons.

(Hey, fandom, why you keep associating it with the Curator? The only blue in the Museum is in a couple assets on display.)

Green

I gotta admit, while there's definitely something to green and its use in TSP, a clear meaning for it is eluding me, and I've been thinking about it on and off for a couple days now. It's a fairly infrequent color in TSP as a whole, but it does make an appearance. Besides being the color of plants (such as the ever important fern, the potted plants scattered through the office and the ones in the TSP2 expo, and of course the growth in the SKIP button room), it's also the wallpaper in the Demo, and the same wallpaper is used in the Boss's Office in the Real Person Ending. Thinking further, it also appears in the small room before the stage in the Press Conference Ending, and it's the color of the carpet in the HL2 Office that is found under the Games ending. (It was also brought up by my pal glitch that green is the color of the cursor on Stanley's screen, the first thing you see before gameplay begins. Good catch!)

Thinking about it, it's hard to find a throughline. There's something familiar about the green. Not necessarily safe, but it usually comes before something much bigger. Maybe this is a bit of a stretch, though. Let's say for now green is associated with the familiar in the face of the unfamiliar.

(There's possibly a thesis here about green being associated with gifts and surprises. The Narrator makes the Press Conference ending something that teases but also praises Stanley, the Green Room in the Demo is the space where the Demo is meant to be revealed to you, and that alternate Boss's Office is supposed to, in the Narrator's mind, be the first step to a wonderful story made just for you.)

White

Most people, when they think of white in The Stanley Parable, immediately think of the Museum. And they're right to! It's one of the most prominent environments that uses white. With that in mind, we can't forget the other places it appears, since it's best to keep everything in mind when trying to formulate a meaning for it.

So, other places where white is prominent: We have the out-of-bounds ending, and the Art ending (aka play that Baby game for four hours). We also have a massive part of the TSP2 expo.

Honestly, there is a lot of white in the rest of the office, but it tends to be absorbing the colors of the environment in ways that make it less noticeable. White's really good at that, which means the times where it's by itself as the outstanding color are outliers and feel intentional. So what do these things have in common?

Well, they kind of show the seams of the game? Take this with a grain of salt, but the Museum is designed to show you some of the design process for the game, effectively taking you out of the setting to give you a top-down perspective (hehe, literally in the case of the diorama of the office up to the two doors), and the out-of-bounds ending is a joke about breaking the map, falling out of the world , which can break immersion in other games. The TSP2 Expo is the Narrator showing off all the features for his sequel idea, giving a “sneak peek” of what will be included.

The Art ending doesn't fit with this thesis, but it does involve the... revelation, I suppose, of the “character” of the Essence of Divine Art. What I'm trying to get to is that white is a color of revelation and display.

Gray

Gray is not a color that tends to stand on its own merit in The Stanley Parable, and that in itself is intentional. Gray is used as a texture of “unfinished” things, things the Narrator doesn't want you to look closely at, and would prefer you move past Right Now Right This Second Please.

It's the walls of the Broom Closet, as well as the walls of the maintenance room. It's also the walls of the room right outside the Starry Dome—the hall that leads right to the stairs. (Honorable mention, @chirpbudgie brought up that the desks in the office are gray, which is also an implication of the way Stanley's coworkers seemed to disappear with work unfinished. There is a sense of “wrongness” in how they've all vanished. Nice eye, bud.)

You're not supposed to dwell in these places. Go back to the story, please!

Black

“Blackness, and a rising chill of uncertainty. Was it over?”

Last and least is black, less used as a color in its own right and more a use of shadow. It really stars primarily in the Mind Control Facility, dark rooms with a sense of foreboding. Honestly, what is there to say about black?

Only, I tell a lie. You see quite a lot of black in this game, don't you? After all:

It's the Loading screen.

Blackness is uncertainty, and mystery, like the game tells us, because anything could be hiding in the darkness, and anything could happen when that screen is finished loading. It's white's opposite not just in value but in meaning. You don't know what's going on, you just have to wait and see. Any time you might have an answer, or an ending, here comes that loading screen to wipe the slate clean and say “hey, what haven't you found yet? What haven't you tried? What tricks does this game still have up its sleeve?”

(And now I'm thinking about the Figurines ending, and how the Narrator shouts to stop the loading screen, to go back and stay in the familiar please!! Because the fellow hates uncertainty, really he does. But that's a thesis for another day.)

(We also can't forget that Ultra Deluxe's Setting the Time is also set on a black background, and there's always, to me, a sense of foreboding and uncertainty there too. What happens after this is the game, right? Is this for something? Is this doing anything? Is it changing anything?)

Silver

It's a bucket :)

Okay that's the end of this post. There's probably plenty more to say about this subject, this isn't exhaustive by any means. Color is an incredible tool, and visual storytelling and color interpretation is not in any way a science. As I posted bits of this in my server for extra feedback and examples of color, other folks brought up an entirely different interpretation of the color green. And I didn't even bring up Mariella being dressed in full green!

Anyway I didn't bring up orange because there's only a couple instances of it in the game but its always about unfinished things/assets (Baby game, just a lot of Games ending things) but it also shows up in the TSP2 Expo (Button That Says The Name of the Player Playing The Game (Jim)) for features that uuuuuh. Aren't done. So that's funny.

Like I said, there's almost certainly more to say about color theory and the game, but this thing is hitting 4 pages long and that's not including images oops.

I hope this was a fun read! Some of this stuff has been percolating in my brain for a while and it's good to finally get it on the page. Talk to me about TSP I love this game.

[brainimpediment]

[door to the ask box slams wide open] Characters PLEASE tell me your character thoughts if you have any. Favorites? Top 10? Somebody had a wacky hairstyle you liked? Infodump to me if you'd like to I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on it (especially Chapter 2. Top 3/5 favorites, you know how it is)

OH!!! Im glad you asked !!!!

I was reading it like pretty late at night + just got out of school so I’m trying to recall everythign that even happened,, but I know 4 sure I rlly enjoyed it!!!!!:33:3:3:33!!! AUGHH ranking all the characters in a top 10 is gonna b so hard,,,,, I can rank all the Gordons tho I think!! (I’m not ranking them from “best” to “worst” rlly, more like,, how attached I am to th character, how much I know abt them,, stuff liekthat) huge apologies if I misremember sruff or use the wrong names or pronouns or anything like rhat, everything is kinda foggy for me rn 😭💔

loverboy/Gordon b./leading light/whateva u wanna call him:3,,, idk if u could tell by the recent sketches I’ve been doing but I’m def a fan,,, all of his designs r incredible and the character overall has been super interesting 2 see develop, esp in Ep2.,,, like. Out of all the Gordons, I rlly did NOT expect LB to be the most genuinely villainous,,,,,!! + the thing that was said abt how he took advantage of Benrey similarly to how he tried to and like,.. completely flipped everything from Y2KVR around tonally was super neat,,, he is #1 lovecore in myheart 💔

Probably Doc!! I feel p similar abt LB to Doc,,, I ended up being rlly invested in his backstory and how his character was developing, and his dynamic w/ sleepless n the others was so fun,,,, :33 also love all his designs sm ,,, including the other characters in his AU, they were great :]] will b drawinf him next !!i prommy!!

Hjonesslty,,, prob Malcom & Player,,,,being from something I had never read I was worried I’d like,, not “get” the character,,, but I found them both super interesting!! The overall concept of the AU was so silly but also rlly compelling,,,and the ultimate outcome of their arcs iguess was cool2 me :] Kittle’s redemption and Player’s complete shift in Ep2 were both great :]

Freeman,,,! I initially figured his character wouldn’t change very much and would mostly just serve as liek,,, a foil to all the absurd characters rhat surrounded him, but I was pleasantly surprised and Very excited to see that he had a lot more to him!!!! :D and was rlly prominent in the story !!!!! Esp him in Ep2!!!!!!!!!!! iwanna write more sobad but I keep getting distracted sndliie I may need to skim thru everything again as a refresher,, ihave So many thoughts ,,,,cant form them 💔

Swap is all that’s left!!! It wss so hard for me to put them at 5 becos I rlly like them but I had nochoic e ,,, swap AUs r always so iconic burlike,,, unlike most others from other fandoms, this roleswap AU introduced lots of unique elements to the stories and characters that it became way more than just ��what if this character had the opposite outfit and personality!” Which I REALLY appreciate and enjoyed a lot in the story,, esp when it came to Swap themself!!!! Like!!! Aaagh!!! Them being an alien from Xen!!!! Is so cool{!!! I’ll def have to read the original fic eventually becos it seems rlly good,,, anyways!! I loved their relationship w/ Neo (and Neo in general!! All the “normal human/player” characters were so silly ilovethrm) aaaaaa

uaaoaoaaithtiejfmghtn ‼️‼️‼️ istill have So Much 2 say abt everythugn but iam struggling to get it all out ,,wuaaa… I’ll talk more abt it later 4 sure :33 overall I very much had fun reading it all and iam SOSO excited 4the finale,,,,, AAAA!!!£!!3!! I’m pretty sure I did see some more stuff to read tho, so I’ll be doifn that later as well!!!!!!!!!!! And potentially live-blogging it too since peopl seemed 2 enjoy rhat :3 sorry if this is completely incomprehensible, I can see that I was typing sort of repetitively but I am too eepy to fix it💔

Extra note: I loved Mothra a lot :3 them just dipping at the end was super silly and is also very much hinting at a return so I am excited for that !!!!!!!!

[zachsgamejournal]

PLAYING: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

Great Series! So sad it's died out (come on Sony). But I'm excited to share it with my children!

I rented this game back when it was the only Sly available. I enjoyed its gentle and not so gentle nods to Metal Gear Solid. I hated the cocky main character (American white men were really into cocky protagonists in the 80s, 90s, and 00s). But the game was good. Later when the HD remake for PS3 was released, I grabbed the whole trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed it! Sly 2 is my favorite though.

I was excited to play Jak and Daxter for my kids. I downloaded the free PC remake that some folks had created. But it's annoying to set up my laptop with my TV. Knowing that I had the Jak Trilogy for PS3, I decided to see if my PS3 and controllers even still worked. they did! But while having lunch, I put on a Sly Cooper playthrough on YouTube and my kids were HOOKED! I offered to play it for them and they were super excited. I guess Jak can wait!

What I remember from the first Sly Cooper is that it's the hardest and most linear. But when I started playing it this time, it felt so great. It's truly a great game and well thought-out and designed. There's some cheap deaths, and the bosses are too hard--but it's really fun otherwise.

Sly Cooper is a great example of Sony's ability to develop unique, original games with great production value. I think for PS2, Sony had three big platformer series: Jak, Ratchet and Clank, and Sly Cooper. What was great about these three is that they were accessible, well produced, charming, and all very unique from each other. Jak 2 & 3 had a little crossover with ratchet due to guns being introduced, but Jak was a action platformer-slash-open world, while Ratchet was much more of a level-based shooter. Sly stood out as a platforming stealth game. It's weird to think a whole game could be built around stealth, but be action-packed and accessible.

Graphically, the game looks pretty good due to the art style. Much of the 2D images (loading screens and cinematics) feature jagged, hand-drawn art. It looks extremely stylized, but then it meshes well with the blocky graphics. So instead of seeing low polygon counts as a limitation, it was asset to the art style. Clever.

This game develop had made a platformer before, but I don't think it was to this scale. They've nailed it. I was paying attention to the level design. For the most part, they take smallish, cramped spaces (such as a single room in a casino) but craft out a level path that criss-crosses across the space to create a decent level experience. One level has Sly scaling the sides of buildings and cat walks and bouncing off AC units. It feels like the level goes on, and on (in a good way) but it's really just a circle, and sly is traveling along the inner edge. This allowed the designers/artists to use a small set of background assets to create an immersive experience. As a game designer, I appreciate this type of design. It makes the level feel open, big, and like a real space, while preventing the player from getting lost.

I like the first bit of levels, the constant rain makes it very moody. The second set takes plays in a Vegas like city. I'm always less thrilled about this one. Rocky deserts just don't excite me much, and it's less atmospheric. I think the level takes place in the day, which feels less sneaky. Still, some good, clever level design.

I love how enemies have flashlights and are on guard paths. It really plays into the sneaking around. Unfortunately, Sly is often defeated in a single hit. It helps create a sense of danger and real consquence for not being sneaky--but it makes a wrong move very punishing. Also, Sly can't swim. So there's a lot of cheap deaths associated with Sly not landing a jump he should have and drowning as a result. Luckily I've unlocked the "water safety" skill that no longer damages Sly for falling in water. Goood thing because the swamp level is filled with precarious jumps!

Somewhat interesting from a story point, every bully gets a background. What I noticed about the bosses (did I say bully?) is that they were often bullied as a child or are overcompensating for something. I wish the game could have taken on a more "healing" approach to the villains, where they deal with their psychology issues and make amends. But Sly ain't got time for that. He's too busy being cocky.

I'm having fun replaying this for my kids. At one point they lost interest and went to their rooms. I got sad. I wanted to keep playing, but I didn't want to leave them behind. Hopefully they'll want to come back to this.

[apompkwrites]

reader impact || first meetings: unreconciled stars

series masterlist characters: scaramouche, fischl, mona genre: fluff summary: a game has been released entitled genshin impact, consisting of otherworldly abilities relying on the basic elements of nature. the game follows the story of an interdimensional traveling twin in search of their other half. along this journey, they meet different characters that live in this world. including you. notes: i'm sorry fischl and mona's aren't that good :(( this is actually my first time writing for them but i hope you enjoy <33

scaramouche's playthrough -

oof scara

scara scara scara

this boy hates his chat and at this point they don't care.

it's not like he'll badmouth them, right?

think ludwig.

that's him.

he's a very angy boy please--

as for what he does?

much like childe he'd do a lot of pvp games.

he's not too keen on showing off his personal life.

he prefers that boundary between his viewers and himself, y'know?

he honestly doesn't even understand why his viewers like him.

he knows he's a mean person and yet here they are :/

he doesn't take requests from his viewers he just kinda plays whatever he wants.

imagine his viewers' surprise when they see him streaming genshin--

they asked why a lot.

"it seemed cool."

this man just wants to play some good ol' anime games.

his chat calls him soft and he just glares.

anyway now he's actually playing.

he's not really into mondstadt's characters they're all... okay to him.

he feels a bit better in liyue.

not because it's pretty oh no no no.

because look at all the enemies outside >:))

he'll clear the whole field don't test him.

anyway, now onto the unreconciled stars event :00

this man really doesn't like katheryne--

anyway at this point he's tasked with find fritz, which he doesn't really want to do.

he sees the dude on the ground but that's only after he sees someone standing next to him.

and then he sees someone standing next to him :0

"is the guy on the floor sleeping?"

"i believe so. i've tried everything, but he won't wake up."

he will pause to look at your outfit.

it's so complex but it's so cool!!!

his chat suspects something's up but... he'll just snap at them like he normally does.

but he'll silently admire you <3

also yOU'RE T I N Y ! !

and then paimon points out your clothes and the cameras pans up your body--

"heh... and by "this person over here," you mean me, right?"

he will choose the "those unique clothes are quite beautiful" option in a heartbeat.

he doesn't care that his chat is teasing him, he just wants you to know :))

he's kinda sad when you leave, though...

"please come back soon..."

his CHAT HAS NEVER SEEN HIM SO SOFT BEFORE

skip to a few events later when the constellation is revealed to be leonard's.

the sudden cutscene catches him off guard because he's prepared to fight someone.

"hi! sounds interesting... mind if i join you?"

he won't say anything but he will physically relax at the sight of you.

you make this man soft please--

he's lowkey angry when his character is teleported away from you :(

(name): the sixth of the eleven fatui harbingers

HYPEHYPEHYPE

YOU'RE SO COOL!

of course he doesn't say that but his chat can tell that's what he's thinking.

this man's eyes go wide when you order the fatui around.

please help he really likes you. you're so assertive and cute and cool and just AGH--

fischl's playthrough -

fischl can and will do cosplay streams.

her fans like to watch her because of the "character" she puts up for the camera.

honestly she just does this because she genuinely enjoys cosplaying and bringing characters to life.

oz is the nickname for her pet bird :))

she definitely gets a lot of trolls in her chat that make fun of her for her cosplays and "dumb" way of speaking.

in which case she'll just yell at them using her "dumb" way of speaking.

she really does care about how people see her but her chat comforts her a lot after, so she feels better after a few minutes :))

the games she plays are very fantasy based and take place in worlds that don't exist.

once she gets into a game, she'd pick her favorite character and cosplay as them everytime she streams that game.

sometimes she does sewing streams where she actually makes her own cosplay with her fans.

they like to make it with her if they have the materials :D

genshin impact was a game her fans recommended because they actually want to see fischl cosplay the characters.

they will beg her to do the cosplay creation on stream.

(they defintitely know who she'll choose to cosplay but it's fine)

when she reaches the unreconciled stars event, she's really excited to learn about the fated meteorite granting sleep upon touch.

she's ready to go around teyvat in search of an answer when...

"katheryne! vassal of the immernachtreich, do mine ears deceive me, or didst thou cry out mine holy name in earnest supplication not one moment ago?"

some of her chat is obviously confused by your speech but her long time viewers can understand some of it.

oz, who fischl had brought with her to play, seems excited to see your familiar flying to you :)

fischl is just as excited as he is!!

please you speak just like her and you're voice is so nice and it actually sounds like the developers put thought into what the speech would mean in "proper speech."

"a pleasure to meet you again, katheryne."

YOU'RE FAMILIAR IS JUST AS COOL AS YOU ARE!!

some of her viewers will beg for her to skip through your dialogue.

when she sees those comments, she will purposefully let your dialogue play out, proceed to read out that same dialogue, and respond to you as if she was actually talking to you.

not just to spite them but because it's also a lot of fun for her <3

"it would seem the gods have blessed us with meeting such a well-respected being!"

translation: she's really excited to have met you.

as soon as you spoke she decided she would cosplay as you.

she's already planning out all of the materials she'll need and how much time it would take.

if your familiar is a bird, you best bet oz will be in her photo shoots for your cosplay.

most of the time you're on screen, she'll talk to her viewers about you in her classic chuunibyou style <333

she's really sad when it's time for you to leave :(((

"... goodbye, fischl. you are a good listener. i enjoy chatting with you. to be honest, most of the other adventurers in the guild only ever talk to me when they wanna hear (familiar)'s reconnaissance reports... this little journey we had... it was a great adventure. i'm just sorry that is has to end so abruptly..."

she might cry wait--

she relates to you even more now :(

"ah! what am i doing? i totally broke form..."

you're too cute pleas--

mona's playthrough -

mona does a lot of nightly streams.

it's very rare for you to catch her streaming with daylight.

she likes to share things about astrology while sitting outside drinking something warm.

she'll do a lot of nightly gaming streams as well.

mainly calmer games that people can vibe to in the background.

she prefers to keep her streams lowkey and chill, much like the life she wants to lead.

if only she had the money to do so...

yes, mona is still struggling with money even as a streamer.

she greatly appreciates any donations her fans give to her because she practically relies on them to pay her rent and daily necessities.

of course, it's not like she's completely struggling, just enough to barely get her by.

anyway, her fans ask her about playing genshin impact, inticing her with their talk about the stars and night sky in the game.

she's the type of player to take her time in the environment and take a lot of pictures of her character at night.

she's actually really excited when she hears about this new event centering around the stars and sky :D

soon enough, she gets around to the part where she is need of an astrologist.

she's HYPED to hear there's an astrologist in the game.

"someone looking for me? who is it?"

she will squeal, please.

look at you!!!

your whole design has stars and is space-themed and you're so cute and you're voice is so soothing ! ! !

she really likes listening to you talk about astrology because your voice gets even softer than before.

that scene where you go to the cliff??

please she has that scene as her lockscreen <3

you just look so cool when you start to do your process.

you're so focused and the way they animate your process in the game is beautiful.

and then the fatui harbinger interrupts one of your meetings :00

you grab onto mona's character and teleport away in a cloud of stars and specks of your elemental vision.

she's kinda embarrassed when you scold her about getting involved with the harbinger--

but not only are you really cool and awesome, you're super strong, too!

please be sassy more she really likes how proud you sound :))

[justalittlebluetiefling]

Erin, I'm sure you've answered this before, but I'm finally getting ready to listen to CR now that I can at work. Should i start with campaign 1, 2, or 3? Thanks in advance!

Oh, this is exciting! And also a hard question to answer!!! In the end, this is going to depend on what you're looking for, I suppose.

If you start with campaign 3, you'll be able to catch up the live episodes faster and stay caught up while you listen to the others. But if you do that, you will hear not-so-vague spoilers for previous campaigns. I'm very interested in where the story is going, but haven't really formed any major attachments to the characters like I had during c2 at this point. I also currently have zero ships that I'm invested in, which is BIZARRE.

Campaign 2 is my personal favorite. I think the bonus to this campaign is that you get to see them from the start of their journey with each other. They come in with a couple established groups, but you get to see the growing pains they have as a group, which I think are super compelling. Plus, there aren't the audio issues that you have to deal with at the beginning of c1. There are, on occasion, vague spoilers for c1. Probably a few overt ones later on, but it's hard for me to keep track.

Campaign 1 will also always have a special place in my heart and I am one of the few people that would recommend starting from episode 1, being aware of the 8th player who will leave after 27 episodes but is very hard to deal with after a while. I do really enjoy the first arc of the campaign though and he's easy for me to tune out when I'm in the right mental place. The downside (or maybe upside, depending on where you look at it) is that they're already an established group and care about each other very deeply, so you don't get to see that build. But you do get to watch how those friendships develop and evolve. It's just in a different way than campaign 2. No less emotional, obviously. There are also major audio issues in the first 10-20 episodes with a lot of audio spiking issues, so they are a little difficult to listen to with headphones in.

Now that I've typed for too long about this, I suppose my personal recommendation would be to start with c3 if you don't mind the spoilers. Episode 14 airs on Thursday and there's an off week next week, so you would probably be able to get caught up to live episodes pretty fast if you're interested in interacting with fandom about the current campaign. Once you're caught up with c3, I'd move on to c2. And after c2, I'd definitely recommend c1.

Ultimately, though, I think you could start anywhere and be very happy. Please let me know where you start and what your thoughts are!!!

[help-im-a-gay-fish]

Okay I had to do some stuff, but here I am rambling about relationship between Killer and Nightmare in Colours of LOVE.

Some of this I might mention before some of it might be your and Jann or Yuri ideas... Anyway!! The way I see that:

Even though this is soulmate au Nightmare and Killer aren't perfect fit for eachother. They are perfect fit in threesome - Ccino softens rough edges of both of them, and changes their attention from being mad on eachother to carrying about Ccino together (especially at first when he is really depressed). But before that... It was hard.

Killer is really open about everything he thinks and feels. If he founds someone who is attractive he will flirt. Even when he is already dating Nightmare. And also he always shows his affection to Nightmare everywhere, in public too. That's cute and sweet, but Nightmare is really closed person so that makes him really uncomfortable. Night often got jealous with Killer flirting with anyone else, got embarrassed with his kisses and all on public, and in general is a bit annoyed with Killer's actions. Killer on the other hand doesn't really understand why Nightmare is so "tensed" (he is not, Night is just much more calm, but Killer don't get it).

They were braking up and coming back again a few times, because they had argued a lot about everything and got tired of this. Right now they are on their "best days" - they started to date again a few weeks ago and right now they are through some stuff, they understand eachother better, and pretty chill about eachother weird actions. Like in the second page Night is a bit flustered by Killer's kiss but he almost used to that. Same as he is worried about being late, since Killer is almost always late, but he is more or less fine by that. On next page (which you haven't seen yet), there are an interesting dialog between them, and I will definitely write some of "subtext" about it when I will post it.

Actually if they haven't met Ccino they would break up again after a few months. And maybe come back again after a week.

Also! Interesting thing about third soulmate: at the beginning of the comic (before Nigh met Ccino) Killer is 100% sure that they have third soulmate, but Nightmare is sure for about 60%. Killer is existed about that, he knew knew that he is polyamorious for a long time, but Nightmare hesitates a lot, because he can't really imagine himself in polyam relationship. It feels weird and also he is soooooo jealous about Killer paying any attention to anyone except him, that he worries to become "third wheel". Will it be different with Ccino?? Who knows (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)

Hi kotikaleo!!! This was super fun to read.

Firstly I'm going to tag @zu-is-here since she started the studio verse

It's definitely an interesting insight to your comic and the characters!

It reminds me a lot of an early version of my own ideas about the studio verse nightkiller relationship! And I can definitely see the way we have bounced headcannons of each other paying off.

Them still dealing with a softer kind of lovehate dynamic is an interesting one. It doesn't seem to be as extreme as my version, but it's interesting that it's still there.

The fact that they are meant to work as a 3 makes sense as well. If they are supposed to be bounded as a 3 it makes sense that three they their relationship would be unstable. They don't work as a two, but they are soul mates and something would always pull the two of them together.

I'm also curious, since Nightmare isn't 100% sure that the lack of colour is due to them being soul mated to another person. I wonder if he ever felt like the universe got it wrong? And that he'd been mated to the wrong person? Or perhaps he felt it meant that him and Killer don't have soul mates and that's why they have some connections.

It sad boy.

Also if Killer knows he's poly by nature, is that something that causes disagreements with the 2 of them?

And now for mine and @jann-the-bean version.

This story has been something that we mostly developed in tumbler DMs but both me and Jan wrote a story about it. Jan wrote

KillerNight(s)

And I'm writing

Round and round till we all fall down

Nightmare and Killer's relationship started off baddddd, it basically started as a mutual dislike for one another. This is due to their conflicting personalities and morals.

Nightmare was originally quite excited to meet Killer, as he'd heard a lot about the actor. But almost straight away he found Killer to be rude, childish and irritating. Killer found Nightmare to be stuck up, snobbish and entitled.

The two first met at an awards ceremony and got into a yelling match after a few drinks and were separated. From there their dislike for one another was made quite well known to the public because of a social media battle back and forth.

This only went on for a few months however, as the characters of 'Killer' and 'Nightmare' were cast to play together.

Nightmare and Killer agreed to be civil in order to function while working and get the filming completed as soon as possible.

As they worked together, their dislike turned into a playful banter and respect for one another. And then something else shifted.

Now Killer has a reputation for being a player and one who likes to sleep around, as you said, he's open about his interest in people when he has it and enjoys casually flirting with just about anyone.

Which came to include Nightmare.

Nightmare paid no mind to it really, though he couldn't understand why it embarrassed him so much.

Killer comes to find Nightmare to be very attractive and enjoys his reactions when teased, he rights him off though because he was under the impression that Nightmare was straight, and he'd never try to change that.

It was a day when they were talking about Killer's eyes and how it's caused him to struggle, that Nightmare tells him that he thinks his eyes are very pretty and that they are an attractive quality, and something in Killer breaks and he kisses him.

So Killer feels like he messed up and the two avoid each other. But it causes Nightmare to start questioning things about himself.

Nightmare at this point had only every dated women. He assumed that he was straight. But after that kiss a lot of buried feelings are dragged to the surface and exposed, and he realises that he's also attracted to men.

So Jan goes into full details about this, in the fic Killernights, but basically Nightmare confronts Killer about the kiss and Killer tells him he 'has a thing for him'

The two go back to Killer's flat to talk, but their normal banter, leads to flirting and then another kiss. And Nightmare who is curious and suddenly craving new sensations becomes lost to him. Killer who finds Nightmare physically very attractive, also gets wrapped up and the two of them sleep together.

Nowwww this is getting long so I'll try to shorten it down a bit.

Basically, it's an amazing night. It's passionate, enjoyable and a lot of fun for both of them. Upon finding out Night has never been with a man, Killer guides him carefully though the process.

After that night the two can't stop thinking about each other, even though they both planned for it to be a one time thing. Again, they avoided each other until talking after a while.

And killer admits his desires for the other, and offers Nightmare a safe environment to experiment with his sexuality, where he won't be judged.

To cut a long story short, this spirals into a passionate and carnal, on and off booty call/fling with each other that spans for years.

Other that time they grow very close with each other, and come to recognise the similarities that they share, and have soft moments of just enjoying being together with one another.

For Killer, Nightmare is the first person to ever tell him he had beautiful eyes and mean it. The first person who wasn't at all put off by them.

To Nightmare, it feels like Killer is the one person that will never pick Dream over him. And he makes him feel wanted and desirable in a way few have before.

However, their are still parts of their relationship that conflict. Of course a healthy relationship will always have some conflicts. But for Killer and Nightmare the conflicts clash and fight with each other.

That along with both of their past traumas, (I wrote about Killer's back story here) means they find it difficult to talk about genuine feelings and what's bothering them. Causing things to bottle up and blow up over time.

They also find it impossible to admit that they actually love each other deeply.

They tried to be in a full on committed relationship once, (which I'm writing about in Round and Round) but it didn't work out for these issues. As well as the fact that Killer is poly by nature, and therefore gets anxious and uncomfortable in a relationship with one person only. Which he won't talk to Night about for the reasons stated above.

Enter Ccino.

Now Ccino is the missing piece for Nightmare and Killer.

He's soft and gentle spoken, which easily helps them calm down when things get heated between them. He also provides a safe and loving space to open up about what things are bothering them.

Nightmare and Killer's also, as you said, spend more energy caring for and sometimes worrying about Ccino, so they have less energy for the constant fighting.

Ccino was the missing piece. He's the person who will cuddle and read books with nightmare, but also the one who's super into affection, which Killer loveesss.

A relationship would never work between just killer and Ccino, since Ccino wouldn't be able to keep up with Killer's libido and killer doesn't know much about Ccino's mental health. And Ccino wouldn't work in a relationship with just Nightmare because Night's colder and more straight forward personality would leave him affection staved after a while.

They just work together! They are basically soul mates in this universe as well!

P. S Nightmare in this universe was also very veryyyyy jealous when Killer showed interest in Ccino. Which is something he took out on Ccino till Killer stopped it. After falling in love with Marshmallow he regrets this a lot.

I'M SO EXCITED FOR MORE. COLOURS OF LOVEEEEE

[carebearcody]

Alex!! No worries if you don’t want to answer these but I have some LFC questions that i’ve wanted to ask since the season ended if that’s ok? : 1) What do you think our best performance was this season? 2) What would you like to see done this transfer window? 3) What’s your opinion on the development of the squad in the past 5 years?

hi ofc!! this got super long and rambling so i’ll put it under a read more <3

i’d say best performances over the full 90mins would be: both utd games, arsenal (home), watford (away), leeds (home), leicester (home), villarreal (home) - this is me being extremely picky but w no goals conceded i’d say these are very high quality. one extra shout i have to make is the first half vs city in the fa cup semi final bc that was 45mins of liquid football (i hate that phrase but it’s the only way i can describe it lmao)

honestly, i’d really like to see some development in midfield. i’m rly glad milly got a contract extension but we need younger midfielders even if it’s simply just a rotational option. i think getting another forward is key as well and there’s loads of discussion abt that but position wise is the question (i personally think winger bc already have a goal scoring no 9 in diogo/bobby but some ppl think otherwise). there’s talks abt rb backup for trent so i’m interested to see what the club is thinking about loan deals (neco is an amazing talent but i’m sure he wants to play regular football and played rlly well at fulham on loan / same for nat phillips as i think bournemouth can really utilise him as a cb).

honestly i’m super happy w how the recruitment staff as well as klopp and all the coaches ensure development occurs: buying konate, tsimikas, diogo, taki etc has given the team a rotational ability that we did not have 5 years ago. if you think back to the 18/19 or even 19/20 season, we rarely changed our starting XI (and it worked super well at the time). but after the horrors of 20/21, i think klopp and his team have done super well to rotate and bring in new members of the squad to the starting xi at the right time and also semi-regularly so we don’t see a drop off in quality when different players play together. we also do well in developing young players and that’s why i’m really excited for kaide/rhys/curtis/neco and all the youngsters (+ fabio when he joins!!) as they seem to adapt so quickly to first team play when need be

[arhvste]

dad hcs with your top 3 HQ boys? 😚

my top 3 haikyuu boys? #exciting 😌

-

KUROO, IWAIZUMI AND ATSUMU AS DADS

-

KUROO

he’s always wanted 3-4 

growing up the only child in the household with his grandparents and father got a little lonely when he wasn’t with kenma

so you, y/n his wonderful and beautiful wife, fill his world with much more joy by bearing his children 

you have 3 so far and phew good luck

two boys and a girl 

kuroo has already started teaching your kids his trademark catchphrases 

to your despair your youngest son’s first words had been “oya oya”

your face dropped while kuroos hyena laugh roared through the house

“wHY WOULD YOU TEACH HIM THAT”

“because bokuto dared me??”

for the first few weeks all you can hear is little mutters and screeches of “oya oya” and it’s driving you ✨insane✨

kuroo is however good with kids 

and he will put a stop to it by giving your kid a pacifier to keep quiet

kuroo would love if his kids took an interest in volleyball 

but he won’t force it on them 

he’ll support whatever they want to do

your kid wants to try ballet? kuroo will buy several pairs of specially made shoes

art? kuroo is more than happy to hire a whole studio for the day

swimming? he’ll have a pool installed in your house

material arts? kuroo will find a ninja to train your kid

he wants to be the best dad he possibly can for his kids 

i’m not saying he plays favourites but he does have a soft spot for his little girl

he will absolutely try and encourage her that boys are the worst and she shouldn’t date them until they get his seal of approval

he has a ridiculously high standard for the type of boy your daughter can date

you could be a high achieving graduate, astronaut in training, saved 36 old ladies on the street and a candidate for president 

and kuroo would still be like

“is that it? 🙄”

good luck to your daughter then 

he is there for every event 

his whole schedule will be made around any birthdays, graduations, shows etc

he will make sure of it

he doesn’t care if he’s scheduled a meeting with the highest world leader

if that meeting falls on the same day as his kids sports game he will not be sat in an office chair but rather in the crowd cheering his kid on alongside you

he wants to give his kids the best in life but he also doesn’t want to completely spoil them 

he was raised pretty normally so you and him agreed you should try to at least do the same

however when uncle kenma or uncle yaku babysits his kids 👀

“dad uncle kenma bought me a new pc!”

“uncle yaku bought me a pony!”

that’s it

kuroo will spoil tf out of your kids from time to time just to one up his friends

overall he is such a doting dad

yourself and the kids mean the absolute world to him 

and he appreciates you to no end for bringing them into this world 

together the two raise such humorous, perceptive and successful children 

and he couldn’t be more proud of his family 

-

IWAIZUMI

years of practically babysitting oikawa have prepared him for this 

he has the patience levels built up

he is also extremely responsible and level headed 

the two of you have 1 son who is 4 years old

the toddler has iwaizumi wrapped around his little finger 

iwa denies this though

whenever your son misbehaves or makes a mistake (which is rare btw) iwa is looking down at him sternly

“s/n, you know better than this”

but all it takes it one pout and iwaizumi is all soft again and swoops your son into his arms 

lmao i just know he’ll teach your son to insult oikawa 

“say trash-y-ka-wa! that’s my boy!”

“iwa-chan stop teaching your baby to bully me i can’t even handle it from you alone 😩”

sometimes iwaizumi takes your son to work if you’re feeling particularly tired or have somewhere else to be

he definitely will wear on of those baby carrier harnesses 

that’s kinda hot tbh 

bokuto and hinata are all over your kid while iwaizumi is trying to train team japan

while he manages to get both players back over he notices his son is missing from the portable baby chair he brought with him 

“omi omiiiiii look! baby germs!”

atsumu is running around with your son securely in his arms while sakusa  is SPRINTING away from the blonde shouting profanities at him 

needless to say, iwaizumi tries not to bring his kid along whenever serious training needs to be done

he will bring him to more laid back sessions though

iwaizumi is THE responsible dad of the year

he cooks, he cleans and he knows how to handle your son

by now your son has started to develop into his personality more

being around his calm and level headed dad has really rubbed off on him

he doesn't get too overexcited and knows how to behave well

there is something that bothers iwaizumi about your son though

his first words

“iwa-chan~”

iwaizumi’s face dropped when the familiar phrase left his sons mouth

“shittykawa i will FLY over to argentina to personally beat you up”

“it’s not MY fault s/n likes hanging out with his uncle tooru 😗”

oikawa is a doting uncle too

whenever he can he visits your family and spends time getting to know your kid 

the nickname ‘trashykawa’ did happen to stick though

iwaizumi considered it fair now that your son called his best friend after the nickname he taught him 

another dad who would like if his son took up volleyball, but won't force it

your kid does actually pick it up though 

and he’s damn good at it 

not to be clichè but he will like the position of ace the best

this is to your husband and bokuto’s delight

iwaizumi will be there for every game and will absolutely let him come to work with him more often as he gets older so he can watch pros up close

maybe one day your kid will end up on the very team his father trains

and he’ll be there alongside you cheering him on

-

ATSUMU

atsumu is blessed with the gift of twin daughters

hey, twins are in his genes it was bound to happen somewhere down the line

his girls are the most precious beings to him

other than you obv

to him, you are his heart, soul and everything inbetween

he treats his girls like princesses 

like kuroo, boys are off the table 

“oi if ya think you’re bringin boys home you can think again!”

“baby, it’s only their first day of preschool please calm down 😀”

unless these boys can beat him at setting, they’re not allowed within a 48 mile radius of your daughters

he will defo want you to bring them to his games

put them in personalised jerseys and he will be showing them off to his team and the crowd

every point he scores he’s pointing at you and your girls

“THAT ONE WAS FOR YOU MY PRINCESSES!”

when his team wins he will absolutely bring the three of you out onto the court and pull you all in for a tight hug and shower you all with affection for the world to see

your kids take a liking to sakusa believe it or not

they find his presence interesting in comparison to the other msby players

lmao sakusa will show your girls his flexible wrist trick and they’ll giggle in excitement 

“uncle omi is so cool!”

hang on a minute

‘UNCLE’ omi???

atsumu is in shock 

“how come’s ya nice to em and not to me omi omi?”

“they take after y/n more than you. they're not annoying and gross like you that’s why”

as he’s apart of the dedicated dad society, atsumu will make sure he’s there for every event he can too

if his games fall on the same day as an event with your daughters you can bet ur ass he is there as soon as his game is over

celebratory drinks with the team? not on his watch when his daughter has a dance recital 

any moments he misses when he's playing an away match or can’t get out of training he asks you to record so he can watch it back multiple times later

probably cries when he watches your daughter win her sports match or perform in a dance show

his camera roll is FULL of pictures of you and your daughters

insists on posting them all so he can show the world what a beautiful and loving family he has 

uncle osamu makes sure he tells your daughters embarrassing stories about their dad

“and then your dad turned around and told the girls to stop squealin like pigs when they were only showin their support”

“wth dad that's so rude 😠”

“thEY MESSED UP MY SERVE SAMU SHUT UP”

your family is raised super close 

atsumu always knew he wanted both of your families involved with his daughters upbringing so he makes sure everyone is included and the two girls are familiar with their whole family 

it’s important to him that they’re familiar with his volleyball family too

he loves the fact they're so comfortable and familiar with his teammates 

uncle bokuto and uncle hinata are a hit with the twin girls

but its uncle omi who takes the crown for favourite

there is never a dull moment in the miya family 

and atsumu couldn’t ask for better people to be involved with his daughters upbringing 

-

requests are open!!

[thevindicativevordan]

My Superfamily Set-Up

By and large I’m fairly happy with the upcoming Infinite Frontier status quo for the Superfamily. Granted that’s in part because I’m still convinced Kara will get an ongoing or mini in 2021, probably to coincide with her show returning, and PKJ hinted at plans for Steel on Twitter. But Kon has escaped the Titans dumpsterfire for a little while, and I’ve heard good things about Thompson as a writer as well. Kenan is popping back up in a one shot written by Yang that will hopefully herald more appearances in Batman/Superman. Jon is still co-protagonist with Clark in the main books, Tanya is in the Future State Shazam book and also a candidate for the FS Justice League book, so hopefully she’ll be in Titans Academy, and Lois is poised to be a big player in the upcoming Checkmate mini by Bendis. So fingers crossed, all the core members of the Superfamily will be in stuff come end of 2021.

Now that said, were DC to suddenly realize that I alone can save Superman, and asked me what kind of status quo I would like (whether for a mainline or Elseworld book makes no difference to me), this is the basic set up that I would go with:

Superman - I’d do a traditional status quo. Superman is disguised as Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter, married to Lois Lane, etc. I’d have Ma and Pa go back to being dead since I still am not a fan of them being alive. Note that this isn’t a reaction against Bendis, I loved Bendis’ run, but I do want to play with the traditional status quo a little bit before diving into something different. Especially since so many Superman writers have traditionally completely wasted the potential of Superman’s status quo.

Lois Lane - Similar to Superman I’d go with a more traditional status quo at the start. She works at the Daily Planet, she and Clark are married, she’s the best reporter in town, etc. I would eventually have her take over as editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet from Perry, I thought that was a great idea the New 52 wasted, and I love the idea of her and Cat Grant being rivals with the Daily Planet and Catco competing. 

Jon Kent - I’d restore kid Jon and toss him back to the Super Sons, not because I think what’s been done with him has been bad, but mostly because I don’t want to write him as Superman, I want to write Clark. Jon seems to be being set up to be co-Superman, and I just don’t have any interest in writing that. To restore kid Jon without destroying Bendis’ run which I enjoyed, I’d explain that teen Jon is actually the “evil” Jon we saw from the Super Sons of Tomorrow future. He went back in time and rescued his kid self from Earth 3, and explained to him that he wanted to prevent that future from coming to pass, but that he needed to take his younger self’s place to do so. Kid Jon agreed, after all he was terrified of becoming evil in both Tomasi’s Super Sons of Tomorrow and Bendis The Man of Steel, and has basically been in hiding watching the events and also studying Hypertime so he can learn how to avoid ending up evil. 

Clark and Lois would blow up at the Jons for the lie when Teen Jon judges he’s changed things enough for his kid self to return, but both Jons could point out that both Clark and Lois have kept secrets when they deemed it necessary from each other and Jon. That would be a neat conversation to have, and a way to continue the untraditional family dynamic that Bendis set up. You could keep teen Jon as a time anomaly until Hypertime catches up with him and restores him to his timeline, with him continuing to be Superman as penance, while kid Jon goes and pals around with Damian in Williamson’s Robin or whatever.

Superwoman/Kara Zor-El - I like the idea of Kara “graduating” to the Superwoman name. It’s open right now given Lana’s retirement, and I think it would suit Kara. I would keep Kara in National, it’s her own little corner to play in, but I would keep that development from (I believe it was) Andrea Shea, where Kara gets fired from Catco because she’s a terrible intern due to always running off to be a heroine. She and Kal talk, Kara admits she doesn’t really want to be a journalist, and so she goes and interns at STAR Labs. I hate how DC keeps turning all the members of the Superfamily into Clark clones. It’s goddamn stupid and I want them to please STOP. Why the hell would Kara want to go into journalism anyway? We’ve never even seen a damn journalist on Krypton! It’s a stupid thing they did on the TV show because they wanted to swipe Clark’s stuff. Let Kara be the scientist of the Els, the one who carries on the family tradition. What form that takes is something I’m open too, I liked Venditti making her interested in history in his annual, maybe make Kara an anthropologist? That would be hilarious. 

Also give Lena to Supergirl, they can be best friends, enemies, lovers, I don’t care. But Lena is wasting away in a vault under Lexcorp last we saw, and that’s a damn shame considering how popular CW Lena is. I’d also add Natasha Irons (who I’d rename Mastersmith) and Tanya Spears (Powerhouse) to Supergirl’s supporting cast, they could play off each other as three supergenuis women).

Kon-El/Conner Kent/Scion - I’m really excited to see what Thompson is going to do with Kon on the Suicide Squad, but here’s what I would do with him. Kon would finally be able to shake off the Superboy moniker and leave that to Jon. Instead he’d take the name “Scion” as a reflection of his origins, and a tie-in to his new status quo. In the wake of Death Metal, Lex Luthor would abruptly step down as head of Lexcorp, stating that he needs time to redefine himself in the wake of his latest attempt to justify himself as the true hero by serving Perpetua, ending up with him needing Superman to save the day again. While he is away, he’s turned over complete control of Lexcorp to his sole heir: Conner. Conner is now head of one of the evilest megacorps in existence, and is one of the wealthiest men alive. Conner knows this is just another maneuver by Lex in his neverending crusade against Superman, but he’s determined to not just be another pawn. He accepts control, renames Lexcorp Superman, Inc. His mission will be to transform the megacorp into the force for good it pretends to be. Conner will have to take on not only Lex loyalists and traitorous underlings who would love to be CEO themselves within Lexcorp, but new megacorps who have flocked to Metropolis in hope of establishing themselves, now that the former Master of Metropolis has abdicated his throne. Threats within and threats without, but armed with the powers/morals of Superman and the charm/brains of Lex Luthor, Kon is just cocky enough to think he can handle it.

John Henry Irons/Steel - It will be a big year for John Henry Irons. His private company Steelworks is about to go public and make him a billionaire. Lana Lang has accepted his marriage proposal and they’re due to be wed. His niece Natasha has left the nest and is off working at STAR Labs. Irons is posed to finally resurrect the decrepit Suicide Slum and allow it to catch up to the rest of the City of Tomorrow. However there are problems: new megacorps are moving into the city in the wake of Lex Luthor leaving, people are disappearing from Suicide Slum with dark rumors are spreading about the reasons why, and the people of Suicide Slum are accusing Irons of planning to gentrify the borough. Making matters worse, weapons that Irons designed as a young man are appearing on the streets of Metropolis, attracting negative attention from the media and putting Steelworks at risk. Irons is going to have to suit up and take up the fight all over Metropolis, from the darkest levels of the Undercity, to the bright deceptive board rooms at the top of skyscrapers in the city’s heart. Irons will have to reckon with his past to secure his future, and confront the evil Metropolis would rather pretend doesn’t exist.

Kenan Kong/New Super-Man - Look just give Yang a damn Kenan book and let him go wild. Right now is either the best or worst time to give Kenan a book given the situation with Hong Kong, but if anyone is equipped to deal with it, it’s Yang. I’ll just add that I would love to see Kenan on a Global Guardians team, but I’d also love to see Justice League of China as a spinoff book of the main Justice League. Kenan is as close as DC has come to their own Spider-Man/Invincible take on Superman, Jon sadly hasn’t really differentiated himself from his dad while Kenan is VERY different. I would love to see Kenan pushed more and would buy a new book in a heartbeat. Also put out a damn New Super-Man omnibus Jim Lee, for God’s sake can’t you abuse your power to push the character you wanted created and is actually good unlike most of Wildstorm? You’re shoving Grifter back into everything but not Kenan? Christ.

So yeah that’s the Superfamily status quo I’d establish. Keeping my Clark and Lois ideas close to my chest for now, but I might go into more detail later.

[mangop1e]

my Thoughts about mcc14, because this is my blog and the official year of no cringe (in that i will no longer regard my interests as cringe and enjoy them wholeheartedly and post about them if i want)

overall !! it was a really fun event, i was watching blue bats punz pov and they popped off so it was a really good watch for me, the updates to the games were sick as hell and i cannot wait to see these get more refined as we go along plus see what they have in store for bingo and sands of time

putting everything else below the cut for the sake of all the mutuals i have on here that have never interacted with a mcyt in their life! 

so. will preface this by saying i’ve watched every mcc live starting with mcc9 and am . just very very into this tournament, i’ll probably do a little analysis post next mcc because i just find it all very fun !! and tumblr is like a void i can scream into and sometimes it screams back so it’s the perfect place to let myself ramble. that being said, here’s my thoughts on this mcc from the blue bats punz pov, with vague knowledge of what happened in a few other povs

build mart: so sue me, i’m a build mart fan. the new map build is INCREDIBLE and i love the choice of elytras rather than the scuffed boats!! the new addition of the golden build is really fun too! not something that could necessarily be changed but build mart is definitely a killer for teams that don’t have good comms and coordination, and having it as a first game can really shake some teams and cause a drop in morale that could affect the rest of their performance in the event. overall, though? im loyal to build mart and i think it only got better with the updates

tgttosawaf: i love how pedantically long that acronym is <3 i think some of the changes really threw players into the deep end, that one round where they had to break the wool in the targets to get through especially, and terra swoop force Definitely threw some players that are otherwise cracked for a loop, especially if they were unfamiliar with the map, but this one was also super fun to watch!! definitely a good game for the first half of the event

sky battle: at long last, sky battle returns <3 as a shameless inniter sky battle is one of my favourite games simply because i Know tommy will always pop off, but it’s also such a fun twist on classic minigames like sky wars and a faster version of skyblockle done super well! i like the new map layout a ton as well, the little towers in the middle ring plus the structure of the innermost ring made for some really interesting plays all around. this game’s another one that can go south really fast if your team comms aren’t great, but definitely more forgiving than build battle, and a hell of a lot more adrenaline-inducing!! in terms of the updates i think this one was probably one of the best, tied with build mart.

survival games: survival games was CRAZY i do think this is one where you need to get good rng with your loot pickups as well as have good team coordination but it’s definitely a really fun pvp game!! only thing i will say is it can be a bit bland next to the rest of the crazy games in mcc but it’s definitely a classic and depending on how its played (cough red rabbits cough) can definitely turn things wayyyy around for a team!! very high stakes in a fun way

hole in the wall: god :sob: the glitch. ohhhh hbomb you and your glitchy ways. this glitch was definitely a new one compared to the usual “spam-space-bar-and-pray” glitch that our dearest tommyinnit has taken advantage of before, but i honestly can’t really blame him too much for using it? it did give aqua an advantage but it’s only slightly different from falsesymmetry using the spam-space glitch to win a few rounds of hitw in a more recent mcc (would have to double check which one, but i do remember hbomb taking note of this when he was reviewing mcc vods the day after). hole in the wall has been a glitchy bastard for as long as it’s been in mcc and it was truly hilarious to see hbomb clip through walls, so - all in all i think if the glitch could be fixed that’d be great but it was still a fun watch! also, pete zahutt is CRACKED.

ace race: whoo boy. ace race. honest opinion? i think the map is REALLY cool and has a lot of potential, but there was a lot of confusion and bugs that need to be fixed for next time - the fact that the players could reset back to a previous checkpoint, the general confusion over where to go which cld mean they need to add more directional arrows. overall i’m really really excited to see how people will perform on this map when they’re more familiar with it and some of the kinks have been worked out on the developer end. i do think scott had a Huge advantage here and it was really prominent due to the fact that this was a new map for everyone aside from him, albeit him seeing a much earlier version that wasn’t the same as the version that existed in the event, and it would definitely be wise of noxcrew and the developing team in the future to be more aware of how much involvement scott has in the gameplay side of testing. the general confusion and checkpoint resetting also did Not help anyone and i do think a few teams really lost out this event because of the issues with ace race, but this map has a ton of potential and im really excited to see what they do with it in the future.

battle box: oooo battle box !! this one didn’t really leave too big of an impression on me but the new map was definitely interesting!! the fact that the way to get to the middle was a bit unclear was ,, definitely interesting to watch :sob: but you can’t go wrong with battle box to be honest. solid team pvp game!

parkour tag: PARKOUR TAG!!! having this as the final game was so fun :] the map they had this time was complicated which definitely comes with its pros and cons: pros being that it creates potential for a lot of really interesting routes and unique usage of the area and environment, and cons being that it can feel really cluttered and overwhelming especially when its your first time playing. overall i liked the fact that it was busier but i think striking a better balance between full and barren could really elevate parkour tag from a good game to a great game

dodgebolt: blue bats </3 they had a fantastic run in the games and had an awful dodgebolt and sometimes that’s how it shakes down !! i always always love the unpredictability to the final winner that dodgebolt gives - the first place team pointswise isnt guaranteed a win, reverse sweeps have happened multiple times in the past, and dodgebolt is always nail-bitingly exciting to watch!

misc thoughts: i do think aqua had an advantage but from the sounds of things scott and noxcrew will be taking genuine criticism into account for next time and have learned from this event, i DONT think that removing parkour warrior was unfair because it wasn’t an event that noxcrew could ever successfully balance by making it hard enough to not have the same guy dominating every event and creating a gap, especially when played later, that no other players had HOPE of reducing and i think parkour tag was a really really fun alternative to it especially since runner and hunter play to diff strengths of the team members and it has a bit more strategy to it plus team comms than parkour warrior did, and i think build mart is a good game and i WILL die on this hill

if you read this far, fantastic, you madlad, i appreciate you

[footballxwrites]

So I just read this insta post on the Man City player Rodri where he’s actually studying for a business degree and is super down to earth. So maybe you could do one where you’re with Mason Mount but meet Rodri at a coffee shop or something and he knows you cos you run a Super successful company at 22 and also cos of Mase and he seems very down to earth and intelligent. You really liked the conversation because it’s rare to see a footballer like that, given that you’ve been in the football world forever cos of Mase. You go home and tell Mase about it and how it was nice to see this kind of mentality and be able to have a different kind of conversation with a football and doesn’t give two flying fucks about money and social media. It was a nothing conversation and you forgot about it but Mase gets super jealous ans insecure and starts looking at open university colleges etc and reading books on business ans finance instead of playing FIFA etc. you obviously notice this change in behaviour and ask him about it so he comes clean and is super vulnerable, please make it angsty and cute 🤍 sorry if it’s a bit long 😪

apologies for how long this has taken me to write, but I hope this was something you had in mind! Enjoy x

“Is this seat taken?” you heard a voice gently say as you titled your gaze to the stranger, his face lighting up in sudden realisation, “oh you’re Y/N” he continued, not thinking twice about taking the free chair beside you. “Yeah that’s right” you laughed, puzzled as ever wondering how you he even recognised, “you look so familiar...famous?” you asked the guy who handed you a smile and gently shook his head. “I guess I am, well I don’t like to think I am but...yes I’m a footballer, play for Man City” he went on to shyly say as the light bulb in your head clicked, “yes! you’re Rodrigo, I thought I’d seen you before”

“But can I ask how you know me?” you questioned, still surprised as he stared down to the sheets of paper that were spread across the table, most of it probably seeming nonsense to him as it was mainly just business plans and developments, “oh I’ve heard about the new company you’ve opened not far from West Minister and I of course know Mason” he nodded, immediately turning back to the piled paperwork, invested as ever. “Ah yeah fair enough. I didn’t think you’d be that interested in the business sector” you smiled as he was grinning, the happiness clear as day in his soul, “well I’m actually studying a business degree, in between all the football and that”

“Oh wow that’s amazing. I would be lying if I said I was not surprised” you giggled as you opened the many folders stacked on the table and gave him a closer look into your job, him bombarding you with questions which you didn’t in the slightest mind answering, excited that someone could finally take pride and an interest in what you do...with was more than could be said for your boyfriend.

—————————————————

“It was nice to escape the footy talk for once” you sighed, falling onto the settee and snuggling up to your boyfriend who let out a hummed reply, not in the slightest bit bothered by your conversation you had to share, “and he was actually really lovely to talk to, different you know, not like the typical footballer” you rambled, filling him in on all the details of you day and not caring whether he was listening anymore. “And how was your day Mason? Ah yes it was great to ask for asking, bit tired from training but overall content” he interrupted in the most sarcastic tone he could possible, “alright alright twisty knickers calm down” you laughed, shaking your head as he let out a huff and picked up the empty bowl of cereal on the side, taking it to the kitchen in an obvious mood about god knows what. “Ok then” you whispered to yourself before dragging your feet to the kitchen where he was stood washing up, his back to you but a clear frown still sat on his lips as you gazed upon his reflection in the window, “you coming to bed then” you smirked, kissing down his jaw, attempting to get him into another type of mood, “I’ll be up in a minute” he said, not playing along to your act to which you gave up and headed upstairs, hoping he was just knackered from his ‘stressful’ day.

—————————————————

“Should smile more, it’s good for ya” you laughed, yawning as you wondered into the kitchen the next morning having slept like a baby, not even realising you boyfriend had been up for a good 3 hours before you even moved a muscle in your king bed. “Hmm? Oh erm yeah just still got a bit of headache from yesterday” he smiled before quickly shutting the lid of his laptop as you passed the table, clearly hiding something from you. “Go back to bed then, got a free day haven’t you?” you suggested, wrapping your arms around his neck and pecking his lips, your eyes glued to shut laptop, wondering if you wanted to know what he was keeping from you, “yeah i might actually, gonna have a shower first” he softly grinned, before sighing and dragging himself up the stairs. “You seriously not been on the PlayStation today, that’ll make a change” you shouted in disbelief with a laugh to the floor above, “I know shock horror eh, but Nah I’ve been busy this morning” he called back down, which got you thinking...

“What are you hiding Mount” you muttered, waiting till you heard running water from the bathroom before you found yourself taking a sneak peak at his prized laptop, spotting a few of your books from back in Uni that you used to study with, not having a clue how they got there because you haven’t used them in a good year and a bit. You were greeted with multiple tabs opens, half of them ready to apply for finance courses at local universities and to be honest you were concerned, I mean why is your boyfriend, a professional footballer who is making millions a year looking to go back to basics and get a degree? None of it made sense...

“You’re going to tell me exactly what in the hell you are doing” you said, leaning back on the chair with crossed arms as he walked back in, fresh out the shower, his curls fallen light over his head as he stood with widened eyes, stumbling over his words. “Nothing I was just looking out of interest, don’t make it out to be something that deep” he shrugged, playing it off as if you could be fooled as easy as that, “right yeah course because you’ve been interested in my work before-“ you said with a half raised voice as he let out the loudest groan, “FINE, well these two years we’ve been together I’ll be honest I haven’t a clue what your job and company is apart from it’s ‘business’ which is very very ranged...I just wanted to know more about you, my girlfriend, is that such a bad thing” he shouted back, collapsing on the chair in defeat. “What so you were planning a trip to Uni just to find out what I do for a living” you said, unconvinced, knowing he wasn’t giving you the entire truth, “well you seemed so interested about Rodri and his out of football life, just thought you’d appreciate me that bit more if I made ‘an effort’ every now and then”

“What are you going on about Mason?” you sighed, shaking your head in confusion, his jealous arse chatting a load of shit as per usual, “oh shut up...you’re joking right, this is about that conversation I had with him at that cafe isn’t it” you laughed, remembering telling your boyfriend the harmless chat last night, not thinking anything of it as like I said...it was harmless and not a big deal. “I wanted to be more involved and know about your work life, you know all the ins and outs of mine...I just wanted to be able to appreciate your career like you do mine” he mumbled as your expression softened, “bloody hell what are you like, you don’t have to go off and do a degree to know about my job, just ask it’s a simple enough question” you giggled at his innocence, moving to straddle him as you cupped his face, giving him a small kiss of reassurance.

“All I meant yesterday was it was a nice change to speak to someone in the same working sector as me who can relate to what I’m talking about and it not seeming gibberish to them, you know it’s like you and Ben rambling on about the training drills and special sports terms and me not having a clue what any of it means” you smiled, stroking a hand through his damp locks, “ok fair enough, but I’d love to be able to understand what you day for 9 hours a day, 5 days a week” he grinned as you nodded. “It’s a deal Mr Mount, I’ll take you through it all but you have to be focused mind because this shit ain’t easy...still, I appreciate the efforts you were willing to go to for me” you teased with a wink, making him go all shy and sweet once again🤍

Here is the article about Rodri if you’re interested 👇🏼

[anne-intrepid-hero]

Saccharina is really interesting to me bc something about her in this episode just feels so fake. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. She honestly reminds me a lot of Misty in the early days of TUC bc you could tell that Misty was wearing a mask and putting on a show. There was always something about Misty that felt like Siobhan was trying hard to be something specific, and that something specific wasn’t quite genuine.

Obviously they’re both player characters so we know they’re good people and we know we can trust them. That doesn’t change the fact that they’re both acting in very specific ways that are just slightly off from normal and so the characters feel off. Misty it was because she was a theater person and they’re like that sometimes. A little too intense, a little too left of center, caught up in their own problems that sound absurd when we compare them to the world outside theater.

Saccharina feels like it’s because she’s playing the role of true heir and lost queen and magical savior and she doesn’t quite know what that’s supposed to look like so she’s trying to figure it out on the fly. She’s probably never met nobility before so all she has is what the peasants know and that’s everything and nothing like what the actual nobility is like. She’s trying to do good but she’s not sure the exact way to go about it and she’s had to struggle for everything she has. And I think that comes across. She’s struggling not to show her emotions after accidentally coming face to face with her long lost dad whom she doesn’t know that he didn’t know she existed until he was marched into her hideout. For all she knows he knew about her and left her with her mother to suffer in purpose. There’s so much being said and not said as she desperately tries to get the party to like her while also maintaining her status with her troops and also maintaining the way she thinks she needs to act based on her perception of her royal status. It’s a lot and I can’t wait to see it develop.

Another thing to point out is that Brennan and Emily implied that she had an abuse childhood. I think it was explicitly stated that they tried to beat the magic out of her when she was young but I’m not sure if that was in the ep or adventuring party or if my brain just made assumptions. That plus what Brennan said a couple adventuring parties ago about running a bit on child abuse that made him sad enough to put a content warning on the episode makes me worried about just how bad it actually was. People who are abused generally have issues with social skills and can sometimes overcorrect in what might be perceived as odd ways, especially when they’re out of their depth, which she is. Also placating people and acting extra sweet so they don’t get upset with you is literally a learned trauma response so like that too.

My final comment is that saccharine, which is where her name comes from is defined as 1. containing sugar (she does) 2. sweet to the taste or sugary (she’s an ice cream Sunday so she’s got us there) 3. cloyingly agreeable or ingratiating (which she kind of is this episode, hence my she feels fake comment) and 4. exaggeratedly sweet or sentimental (I hope we get there with her).

So like it’s okay that she feels fake because I kind of love it. I love that she’s layered and it feels like we’re only seeing the very beginning. I’m excited to see her develop and grow more comfortable as she decides who and what she wants to be. Like I get that she’s already an adult character but there’s so much room for on screen growth and I’m super excited about that.

[ladyzayinwonderland]

Hiya Zay! So I noticed you posted about a Hadestown crossover and I wanted to ask you what you love about the musical! Favorite song? Favorite quality? What about the story/songs/costumes/characters/choreography/atmosphere/etc evokes Feelings? What is/are the primary mood(s) it inspires in you? Favorite headcanon or tender moment? Favorite line/lyric? (FYI I know you're not on here regularly and I RESPECT that, so if you want to answer, feel utterly free to take your time)... ❤️ Poly

Okay this has been a long time coming (I just didn’t realize how long it would take) but I finally have an answer! Thank you for your patience, dear Poly, and thank you for the super ask! I’m always willing to gush about Hadestown and it was so fun to have the opportunity ^_^

It is, however, a very long answer... it kinda got away from me in the process, hehe.

Favorite song: I feel like it might be cliché to say Wait for Me, but… all the versions of the song are gorgeous in different ways. If I had to be more original, then I would have to say We Raise Our Cups. I tear up every time I listen to it.

Favorite Quality: In the words of Hermes, “it’s a love song.” Orpheus loves Eurydice enough to go to hell to get her. Eurydice loves Orpheus enough to follow him out, though the way is hard. Hades loves Persephone, though he doesn’t know how to show it and is afraid to lose her. Persephone loves Hades enough to keep coming back to him to “try again”. I know that some of those loves are flawed, but they’re human. The beacon of that love and what it represents is important.

Story: I adore the inevitability of Hadestown. We know from the very beginning how this is going to end and yet we still hope that maybe it might just be different this time. We can’t help but hope. I think it speaks to the quality of the musical that it can still pull you in every time. Very cathartic.

Songs: My favorite thing about the songs is having been able to witness their growth and maturity from album to album! Themes, lyrics, and melodies have so many subtle changes that only seem to ring more true with time. It’s also so cool to see how it needed 10+ years to ruminate into the musical we have now. (But this might also be subjective to me because I found out about Hadestown when there was only a concept album, then kept up with each new development until my husband and I were able to see it on Broadway just after its premier.) And I’m very excited to see how the national tour turns out!!

Costumes: I love the tattered/steampunk/industrial look of the OBC show. But I also love what I’ve seen of the off-broadway show, the whimsical costumes of Nabiyah’s Eurydice and early Persephone’s dresses and boldness of Damon’s red jacket (bring! it! back!). The costumes definitely change the vibes of the show though, which is just fascinating to me. Mostly in Eurydice’s character, so…….

Characters: Eurydice. Has. Character. She is three-dimensional, rounded out, and can stand on her own. (this was always something I wished had been different with the myth) It’s interesting to note how her character is portrayed slightly differently depending on the show though? I can’t speak so much to Nabiyah’s portrayal because I didn’t see it, but the music makes me think that she’s harsher and angrier than Eva’s softer and more hopeful version. Orpheus too experiences subtle shifts between Damon and Reeve, specifically bolder to more naïve, which… I don’t hate, but I miss Damon’s Oprheus. I also love that all the main players experience change/growth! They all have agency!

Choreography: I love the transition between carefree in the world above to stark and sharp down below. Tbh Livin’ It Up On Top is not my ~fav~ choreography-wise, however, I recognize it’s a chance for the cast to let loose and have a good time, and it’s important to show just how different things are between the two settings. But the moment we are down below? Stellar. Sharp, synchronized movements that immediately remind you of the cogs of a machine. And I do love how the movements become more human by the time we get to If It’s True and Wait for Me II.

Bonus—the lamp choreo in Wait for Me. I sobbed when I saw them swinging and being used to light an otherwise dark space, leading Orpheus deeper underground.

Atmosphere: slight steampunk vibes my beloved. The off-broadway and Canadian productions’ Tree is something I wish had stayed for the OBC production. In addition to being gorgeous, it adds an element of nature to juxtapose to Hades’ cold, harshly lit, industrial underground. The OBC loses that little bit of earth by taking place in a train station bar. That said, I do enjoy the bar setting in parallel to Persephone’s dismal speakeasy down below. The presence of the band on stage, motley but involved in the story beyond just the music.

Inspired moods: I like angst, for better or for worse. I’ve always been drawn to Orpheus and Eurydice because of how tragic it is. I think it’s very Romantic™. Therefore, any incarnation or representation of the story is automatically my jam. I like that, regardless of how many times I have listened to the album, I still hold on to the hope that it might turn out differently. Just once. That hope is something so precious, something that still deserves to be passed on even if it’s been dashed to pieces. It’s never in vain, you can always try again.

(And, this probably isn’t as relevant, but I think there’s something to be said from a Christian perspective on the show as well. Orpheus is just a man and prone to doubt, as the show illustrates. He fails. We all fail. But there is hope found in One who literally can’t fail in bringing the lost back to Him, and that is an encouraging thought.)

Headcanon: I hold to this one interpretation of the tale that Orpheus looking back was a sign of love (though I don’t discount it being an act of doubt or weakness). I like to think that he was just wanted to see her again, wanted to make sure she made it too, but he was just a fraction of a moment too soon. It almost makes her “death” more tragic.

Tender Moment: my favorite tender moments from the show are 1) when Orpheus runs to the stage through the audience to reach Eurydice again in the second act. Mostly because I didn’t expect it. I was focused on her when a white and red blur with a guitar ran down the aisle to peek his head above the edge of the stage with a joyful “come home with me?” My Heart. 2) when Orpheus finishes Epic III and Hermes says “and you know what they did? They danced.” There is a twenty second bit of acoustic guitar and violin while Hades and Persephone dance for the first time together in ages. It wasn’t a grand or sweeping moment—it was just an old man stumbling through a rusty dance with his wife, and it felt genuine.

Favorite Line/Lyric: starting off strong with the first words of the show. There’s no introduction to Hadestown, no warning it’s about to start. Just Hermes sauntering onstage, looking you straight in the eye, and saying “Alright?” Then the band starts playing and the show begins. Incredible. Unprecedented. But also I weep for all of the Epics. Such solid poetry. So soft.

So anyway, those are my thoughts! They may be a little repetitive, but hopefully I conveyed myself decently enough. Thank you again, lovely!! <3

[dinosaurtsukki]

haikyuu!! characters as their zodiac signs (pt. 1)

aside from being obsessed with haikyuu!! i’m also That Bitch Who’s Into Astrology and i’ve really been into looking up the characters’ zodiac signs so why not make it into a post ? these are basically me analyzing how the characters fit their zodiac signs, and also making headcanons based on their signs. ofc i’m only basing these on their sun signs because it would be hell to go over their entire freaking birth chart. so let’s get into it!!

hinata - gemini/cancer cusp

okay for starters one thing very interesting abt kagehina is that they're both cusp babies

(for those who dont know being born 'on the cusp' means ur born a day before another zodiac season so u share traits between both signs)

in hinata's case its gemini and cancer which makes sO MUCH SENSE

the hyperactivity and hinata just being In Constant Motion is very gemini

but the his pureness of heart and soul is very cancer 

u can even tell jus by the way he talks which is 50% pure excitement and love for volleyball and 50% volleyball sound effects

the way he's very extroverted and at the same time kind with his opponents is very gemini/cancer

baby boi basically gets a long with everyone and everyone loves hinata which is why he has a harem

as a gemini he's also very very excited about learning new things and new opportunities because geminis are very passionate abt learning

and his love and devotion to volleyball is very cancer esp since its a skill he chose to develop over time after falling in love with the sport

he is the bestest friend you could ever have, super loyal and caring

but also such a bABY. he’s clingy and pouty and down for Attention 

in conclusion: the softest and noisiest boi

kageyama - sagittarius/capricorn cusp

oOOOH ANOTHER CUSP CHILD

which is interesting because while hinata is an air/water sign cusp child, kageyama is a fire/earth sign cusp child

which makes for some very interesting dynamics because they're quite different in terms of personality

if i were to summarize this whole analysis it would be: sag is responsible for kageyama's dumbass energy and cap is responsible for his talented volleyballer energy

(not too generalize but most of the sags i've met are basically Big Dumbass Energy)

but sag signs, and fire signs in general, are typically very energetic and competitive. also super aggressive and passionate abt what they do

caps on the other hand are hardworking and tend to be reserved emotionally

god i know so many capricorns who are basically 'hAh, emotional repression go brrrrrrr'

 but also very practical-minded, they don't take things personally and expect you not to

n e weigh back to our boi

you can esp see during kag's 'king of the court' era how sag/cap he is

his frustration and bossiness is very sag but that frustration was based on the fact that he was working hard on his tosses and he expected his teammates to do the same

that's why kags is also not very socially intelligent and sensitive because he values results first 

at the same time, he's able to put personal feelings aside and be accountable for his mistakes. his pride balances out with his desire to do better

in conclusion: someone pls be friends with him

tsukishima - libra 

aHhh libras

there's just something about libras. in my experience no two are the same and the differences in their personality are very dependent on their moon sign

(this is why moon signs are v important y'all)

but first off air signs are very intellectual which we obvs see in tsukki but when it comes to libras, they recognize the importance of decision-making

(am i making an excuse for their indecisiveness? maybe?)

his intellect and ability to quickly make decisions upon reflex is very obvs in his gameplay (esp the shiratorizawa match which i keep on 24hr loop in my head)

at the same time he's very patient and very able to get into his opponents' heads

when it comes to how he is with people, tsukishima's ability to intimidate or annoy people just by speaking are very libra

air signs are also known to be easily distracted and tend not to take things that seriously which can be seen in tsukishima's initial behaviors abt exerting minimum effort

but once he got that taste of excitement oH BOI all of that brain cell juice just goes into winning 

tsukishima's pessimism is also very rooted in how aware he is of the realities of life

that emotional distance (hence the infamous Tsukishima Kei is bad at feelings ao3 tag) is very air sign

but once they find someone they like libras are such softies

apparently they’re the flirtiest sign sooooo

 in conclusion: kuroo has his work cut out for him and yamaguchi is the bestest friend Ever

yamaguchi - scorpio

okay i have a feeling some of y'all are familiar with the stereotype that scorpios are kinky, goth people

which is not true because my gf is a scorpio and has the personality of an excited puppy

which is what yamaguchi is but aGain. moon. signs. are. very. important

while scorpios are very emotional (like every water sign) and tend to be quite dark , serious and pessimist with thinking, i've read that they usually undergo a large amount of personal transformation

with yamaguchi, his anxieties tended to overwhelm and prevent him from thinking of alternate possibilities and doing his very best

“when i start gaining self-confidence it’s over for you bitches - yamaguchi tadashi, probably”

but his fears also pushed him to do much better and eventually develop his skills to become a key player for the team

scorpios are also very protective, honest and the most no-bullshit out of all the water signs

that's why when he told tsukishima off for being uncool, it was very much a build up of his frustrations abt tsukishima not being serious enough despite all his skills

his relationship dynamic with tsukishima is also v interesting because they're basically sister signs 

so they're different but they keep each other grounded

while yamaguchi is protective of tsukki he's also unafraid to call him out which makes him a Great Friend

in conclusion: a cinnamon roll but a spicy one 

haikyuu characters as zodiac signs series: pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3, pt. 4, pt. 5

[chyuans]

          hello , hello  !   first of all ,  i’m super excited to be here even if i’m like 10 hrs LATE  ( gmt timezone things )  i’m noe ,  a gay  they / them at the age of 19 ,  and this privileged lil disappointment of a jock boy is gonna be filling the position of kong_01 . despite the rumours ?  yuanjun’s actually not nearly as bad as some of the people he’ll be meeting here >:)  but you’ll get to know more about that below  !  if you’d like to plot just light up that HEART , or add me on disc*rd which i’ll give out in im’s , where i’m infinitely faster .  if i’m not gaming .  no tw’s under the cut  .

* backstory. > many people know of yuanjun, but few people truly know him. he's the famous kong families’ son, heir to the kong legacy, now forward position for south korea men’s national hockey team - which brought forth a ton of international fame from back home and amongst hockey lovers worldwide. while his talent is undeniable, he is long overshadowed by his families’ accomplishments, forever reminded that he’d never be the perfect son they’d hoped for, and no one ever lets him forget it.

> being the child of business tycoons who’s art business seemed to never be on the decline, tended to lend itself to an unconventional, pretty lonely childhood. 

> although jun no longer wants to dabble in the stupid shit he probably did as a teen, and escape from their home in a childish fit of rage and make the lives of the various nannies that tended to him while his parents were off being great hell, he still wonders sometimes whether this profession is what he would’ve wanted if he’d just not wanted to spite his parents. he loves hockey - that fact is undeniable. he thanks the nanny who took him there once out of necessity to stop his whining, and he fell in love with it almost instantly. but he also questions whether he gravitated to it because it was something he could throw himself into wholeheartedly to fill a void.

> he's very open to different types of people, and after being scouted at 19 and having a massive shift both in culture and identity as he then begun to travel worldwide, he’s a tiny bit more wordly now than he was back then. he's much more concerned about who you are underneath than superficial appearances, which means developing relationships are few and far between, because a lot of people do approach him because of his fame/fortune. he's unjudgemental to the point where his friends worry about his naivety and how easily he trusts people, but he's absolutely not dumb, just very well versed on telling good people from the bad.

> jun may even come across as naïve, but he's very aware of that perception is nearly important as reality. he's not extroverted in a way that demands conversation, but he knows how to talk to anyone from any background even if its just to maintain pleasantries. after competing in various competitions and versing players from canada to japan, he's become much more sharp and ambitious, a guy who very rarely lets distractions take their course. perhaps it’s with this that his family loathe his choices all the more, with his appetite, he was born with the skills required to run a business - pity he never took to anything of the creative sort.  

> working in a fast, stressful, highly coveted job such as pro-sports is a full time job and then some; jun doesn't spend much time not working on it. outside of his schedule, he likes bettering his stamina at the gym and eating healthy. he likes being surrounded by authentic people or nobody at all. he’s not one for trying new things and having new experiences due to time management, tending to stick to a schedule.

> he gets a lot of bad press though, which is beginning to weigh a little heavy on him. doubly now the murder has people talking. from being accused of performance-enhancing pills, various personality scandals, to being linked with ‘dating’ (see: ruining the image of) idols and chaebol’s alike. right now, he’s currently battling a lot of unwanted publicity because of a misunderstood interaction online against a wealthy sweetheart that went sour. 

> while jun might be generally unsympathetic and analytical when it comes to developing relationships with people that’ll last long-term, he's a bleeding heart when it comes to kids who may have experienced the same lonely upbringing as he did, without the financial gains. right now he spends sunday’s teaching a bunch of local foster home kids how to skate, and is trying to fund a couple of sports scholarships for those who show promise under a fake name, just generally being a good ‘ole guy.

> his family do not approve of his job, ofc. in fact neither of his parents have ever attended any of his matches to this day, and are only on semi-decent terms with him because jun begrudgingly is still tied by name to the business and shows his face at events for all of 30 minutes until he physically can no longer maintain pleasantries. his celebrity image perhaps is one thing they can manipulate, and even then, jun could get into scandals galore and still be doing his job. good press, bad press, it has the kong’s family name at the forefront of peoples’ minds, which always brings forth revenue.  

> pros: could be a lot worse considering his upbringing, collected, and level-headed most of the time. wicked good at sports, and keeps a cool head in a tough situation. ambitious, curious, a little reckless. eager to prove himself, rich? and very endeared to people/places he finds fascinating. which are many. knows where the good, authentic chinese cuisine is. hardworking and very interested in the idea of Progress.

> cons: the most private person alive, will not divulge any palatable information about himself or his feelings. devil's advocate always. will put himself and others at an arm’s length the second he feels (disgusted noises) e-emotions (love, namely). gets bored easily. paranoid, leads with the head more than the heart. friends > > > family. a little self-involved, never fucking sleeps - will be that neighbour you can hear padding around above your apartment at 3.05 am like it’s mid-day, aaaaand Loves Winning Above All Else

* personality & relationships.

> like many others, jun has his fair share of surface-level friends. he’s quick to be interested in people, to get to know them better, but it's difficult for him to get closer than that after a childhood of being picked up and dropped by those who looked over him - which kinda has left him with abandonment issues.

> he’s a curator of neat things that aren’t too overtly complex, and that includes friendships. so if you have something unusual about you, whether it's a talent or a way of thinking, he would be inclined to get to know you better. also, he has a lot of leverage with his job. being friends with a sports star slash million dollar trust fund baby who can get you free shit never hurts, just don’t befriend him for the perks, yanno?

> jun is very dedicated to his vision of things, and can sometimes be very obstinate in the way he a) wants them to be done b) doesn't accept other options, think steve jobs. he's very mercurial and can be nice one minute but isn't afraid to switch to hardass boss to get things done and did.  > he is insanely competitive and his strive is drawn out by always wanting to be on top. truly first child material. that's the kind of guy he is, with standards that do not reflect his passive side too well, which sometimes can get him into some “personality” scandals. he is driven, motivated, always looking for ways to be winning.

> i'm sure someone is bound to hate him, he’s probably got a few accounts online dedicated to a steady stream of shit-talking, given his cutthroat status or holding many hockey cups.

> jun doesn’t think too much about his sexuality - he'd probably best be labelled as pan, but leans towards those who identify as women? because of his current placement in a workspace, and with a cultural identity, that both don’t often lend themselves to lgbtq+ rights, i doubt he’d ever make that public.

> he works amongst some of the fittest people in the world, he knows how to appreciate beautiful bodies, but he's not about to discriminate. he's tragically a committaphobe and isn't interested in anything long-term right now, although i think it'd be funny if someone tried. he's very open for flings and one-night stands and even a friends with benefits sort of set up. 

* wc’s.  >  bring me his baby bro and sis. i command u. i have many thoughts  >  somebody who maybe gets in on his foster-kid situation? idk maybe they have a perception of jun being what he is in the articles they read of him, but they see him and are like <3_<3 he actually real Nice huh. i see this being romantic but it could bloom a really nice, wholesome friendship too. >  enemies. not gonna lie, he doesn’t vibe with rich kids w / a stick up their ass, especially since a lot of the people he works with aren’t from exorbitant families. people who loathe him for declining to take over his families’ business? like the boy can’t even name more than 3 artists off of the top of his head?   > fwb except neither of them know what “just friends” mean.  > i would love if jun had a confidante. a best friend, a partner in crime, a total bromance 'cause i can never get enough of those. whatever label you ‘wanna put on it. wiping up each other’s messes. maybe a Betrayal in the works  > again, gonna be a wc, but i would love a “rival” of jun's on a similar level (or bigger)  that’s entirely fabricated based off of trashy articles or a misunderstood interaction online. bonus points if they’re an absolute sweetheart, well loved by most people, and generally the antithesis of jun with his multiple drug/personality rumours, which in contrast, make him seem like the bad guy. 

> party buddy. this guy hasn’t touched alcohol/cigarettes/any other stimulants since he was underage and wanted to rebel. the word “relax” does not exist in his vocabulary. Help