#take all of these with a grain of salt

[violinist-rachel]

Character Notes

Karl:

Playful, rebellious, and quick to tease.

He enjoys pushing people's buttons to see what makes them tick. In the past, it's mostly in light fun. In the present, it's mostly out of malice or to deflect.

Held a mixture of bitterness, sadness, and fondness towards humans due to feelings of abandonment when the park closed. This gets twisted into a deep hatred after the events with Rachel.

He's typically careful and calculated, but when successfully provoked, all plans get thrown out the window.

Though still guarded and masks his emotions with a smile, past Karl is more trusting and emotive than his current state. Because of this, I'm allowed to draw Karl with a wider range of expressions.

Presently, Karl is now shown almost exclusively smiling. He specifically makes it a point to never show when he's bothered by something (though this is often betrayed by his eye-twitch).

"Deary me" is generally used in a mocking, faux surprise/concern. It's a phrase he coined in the past to mock Rachel's speech patterns.

** The important thing to note about Karl is that he was a casualty in the incident with Rachel. None of what happened that night was planned. **

The last thing he says by the end of the story is "I hate you." This is also his final lie.

----

Rachel:

Catholic; Half Irish, half Jewish.

She comes from a middle-class family and is relatively well-off.

Her and her family were close friends with the owner of a shop that specialized in violins.

As a child prodigy, she suffered heavily from gifted child syndrome, both in childhood and in adulthood.

She used to be more rebellious and mischievous in the past, but became notably more placid and subdued after the incident with Karl.

She leaned strongly into religion after the incident with Karl due to heavy, unresolved guilt. However, she was never a devout believer and wanted very little to do with it in the past.

She's often seen smiling and content in front of others, but more often than not, it's not entirely genuine; a parallel to how Karl acts.

The people around her actually picks up on this, but doesn't say anything about it to her.

Similar to Karl, she also has a tendency to bottle up and hide her emotions. This often results in emotional outbursts when she reaches a tipping point.

** The important thing to note about Rachel is that the events of the incident were triggered directly as a result of her actions.**

One of the last things she does at the end of the story is perform in front of others with her violin. This is also the last time she plays the violin for an indeterminate amount of time.

[ghoulspaw]

Zzg rerunnig wedding jin and then 10 DAYS!! later releasing manspreading jin was EVIL and GREEDY.

Also, it's interesting to see how the banner period between a character's cards (or at least jin's lol) is getting shorten overtime (does this make sense? Am i redacting this correctly?). Like, during the first few months of the game, it was a 4-3 weeks period between jin banners (new releases and reruns), and his last two banners had a 2 weeks and a half time period.....

Which, according to my calculations ☝️🤓 (I MIGHT BE WRONG!! IM NOT THAT GOOD WITH NUMBERS!!!) we should be getting a rerun of either his standard, manspread or shirtless card anytime soon..(it'd be funny if we actually get one tonight lol). Like, it's been 5 weeks since his last banner soo....

[mushyposts]

I saw a post talking abt how Zuko fought as the blue spirit in silence bc he couldn’t risk his voice being recognised, and how difficult it would’ve been for him to fight without yelling, which is very funny and also I agree, but I do have other thoughts on it!!!

I think this is a VERY VERY interesting theme to explore. Fire bending, as we know canonically, is all in the breath. Zuko, when bending, forces power into his breaths vocally. Azula and Iroh in comparison are very quiet when bending, exhibiting extreme breath control, and when Azula does start to lose control of both herself and her bending she becomes vocal. Screaming, grunting, yelling while bending.

Zuko fighting as the blue spirit both in silence and without his bending IMO is such a good way of highlighting where his strengths lie. He’s a good bender, of course, especially by the end of the show where he’s found a new source of strength, but he’s never been as proficient as other fire benders.

I think the blue spirit was such an easy role for him to slip into because while fighting, for once, he didn’t have to force his strength. He took time training with swords, hand to hand, etc because he knew he lacked in bending ability.

I like to think he found it easy to not yell while fighting as the blue spirit, because he felt confident. In his ability to fight, in the hidden identity aspect removing him from the role of the banished prince and the expectations that came with it. Putting a space between himself and the burn that has been used to identify and humiliate him many times.

I just think Zukos bending and fighting evolution is so neat….

[cirrocula]

shaggy hair roy harper bc i enjoy the trope where characters with hidden eyes actually have hawklike vision

[szynkaaa]

kicks down everyone's door folks I might have figured out how tall Sun Wukong/Destined One is in Black Myth Wukong.

Starting with a disclaimer that this is just my speculation and nothing is confirmed unless the dev state otherwise

So y'know how the collector's edition came with this amazing Wukong figurine:

amazing right? I want one too.

The description states that the figure is 40cm tall (according to playasia)

The figure is made by Queen Studio, specifically the INART team that makes 1:6 figures.

So we know that the figure is 40cm tall. It is not clear if that includes stand or not, and I was not able to find any information how tall the stand is

On another website (which I don't want to name because I don't know how serious the website is) lists up the figure as 315mm/31.5cm

If that is the height of the actual figure without stand, and it's a 1:6 figure, that means 31.5cm * 6 = 189 cm

So that means it is very possible Destined One/Sun Wukong is 189 cm / 6 feet 2 inch tall.

that is TALL. a lot taller than I thought he would be tbh LOL cause in the books he is usually described as the shortest (cause well, monkey)

which ALSO means.

Wukong better be paying for her chiropractor with the amount of crancking her neck up she has to do.

EDIT 07/01/2025

Some more evidence that the Destined One / Sun Wukong may around 180-190cm tall in the game:

Justin's Collection posted a very detailed and unboxing and review video for the 1:6 scaled figure that came with the Collector's Edition, which you can watch here.

There is one where the Destined One stands next to the VTS TOYS Ghost of Tsushima ~Jin Sakai figure, which is also a 1:6 scale

I tried to find how tall the Jin Sakai figure is, and according to this reseller website, it is listed up as 30 cm

30*6 = 180 cm

if you look at the eyebrow level as pointed out by @blackknight-kai, chances are our Monkey is a wee bit taller

My previous math put DO/SWK at 189cm without base, and 180 - 190cm does sound about right.

I know that in some game screenshots, Monkey looks very tiny compared to the enemies, with NPCs also sometimes being 2-3 times his size.

I personally think this was done for the gaming experience, because it is easier to see enemies and their moves when they are bigger, but when you look at the opening cinematic of SWK and Erlang fighting, Erlang is just a bit taller than Wukong

Here is a screenshot of Pingping next to DO, we don't know how tall Pingping is but say she is average women height (160cm?) the height difference would make sense

So yeah. Please keep in mind the height is not officially confirmed, just what my math is mathing base don the officially released figure!

[whoisnotmyname]

A very short and messy How I draw mabari!

[isatartdump]

Would do the entire dialogue but drawing Bonnie crying is the bane of my existence! HA

Anyway my reaction to when this entire dialogue was over was just. Hihi.

[youmagnificentbeast]

apparently this happened

[marragurl]

Look. This ain’t true. Like at all. This is so not the dynamic of this ship-

BUT

It’s fucking hilarious

So I made this on a google doc on my phone and I’m heading back to my sleep because of course, this came to me in a dream

[graythursday]

‘gotham gazette’ newspaper promo for ‘the penguin’ hints at harvey dent addition to the universe— “is our legal system dented beyond repair?” + riddler crumbs :>

[spicyvampire]

Hate /heɪt/ verb -> Enduring anger focused on a particular person or group of persons. Over time hatred may generate the personality trait of hostility. Surprise /sɚˈpraɪz/ noun -> The briefest emotion, surprise is triggered by the sudden occurrence of an unexpected event. It is often a way station that leads, after more appraisal, to any of the other emotions. Fondness  /ˈfɑnd·nəs/ noun -> A liking. Guilt /ɡɪlt/ noun -> Regret about a past action [...], a feeling of worry or unhappiness that you have because you have done something wrong, such as causing harm to another person.

Atlas of emotions + Cambridge dictionary

4MINUTES (2024) EP. 6

[girldriveroscar]

CRACKS KNUCKLES heres some parasocial nonsense. pls dont take too serious im just being silly.

insp by @inchidentally the 814 essay GOAT… Hi.

Okyeah analyzing this video and recent posts.

So Like. oscar piastri being the normalTm guy whos still w his hs sweetheart, wears graphic tees and beat up af1s and still vacations w the guys he grew up w, who was actually kinda socialized (as well as any other well-off posh kid who’s parents could afford the luxury of fucking them off to boarding school i digress).. but like, he played pranks w the Lads and got congratulatory slaps on the back, his first crushes wer probs navigated in small talk during class and walking together in the halls? generally just a guy who balanced his social life and Career to Some relatively healthy degree so it’s not like Completely foreign to him how to talk to girls and make friends. and so he gets that building an intimate relationship w someone is mostly just hanging out, experiencing new food tgthr, new movies, walking around a new city, he just gives such a NORMAL GUY answer of a perfect date, and i think part of being socialized the way he was gave him the understanding that grandiose gestures of love kinda just come off as disingenuous. oscar jus reads as a guy whos never resorted to showboating bc his introduction to romance was just like anyone else, awkward shuffling and bonding on the weekends over pizza and homework. and even as a formula 1 RACE WINNER GUY W MONEY hiiiiii, he still has such a cute simple recipe for a perf date bc hes been through it. he knows how to court someone bc it worked and its been working!!!

then on the flip u have THE peacock tm, shirt unbuttoned so low might as well forgo it atp, lando norris whos perfect date idea is hi, (wtf.) YACHT. and sex (exhibitionist freak. sorry who said that…) like boyyyy oh my god shakes him by the shoulders u are so not normal. lando norris, who’s always ben a little comfier than his peers growing up. always out of place bc his dads pockets were Open and Ready to ensure he never had to worry about pinching pennies for some chips after class Yeah and he doesnt even know it bc thats NEVER been his life? yeaaa and add in a dash of Always being on the race track, never rly socializing w. girls or boys who weren’t in direct competition w him, turning 19 and immediately being sized up to his older hyper-masculine charming And sexy teammate. (getting carried away mb)

lando himself explaining that having to grow up so fast and be a good boy (His words.) prevented him from finding his footing in social settings and only now being able to experience these things at 23/24?!

i digress now also factor in his (alleged…) favorite movie is a silly romcom?! (also maybe just peacocking tho bc “girls love a guy w a soft side” and lando wld know bc he watched one movie about it…. like srsly u want me to believe the hangover and stepbrothers belong in the same category as Romcom u dont rmbr the name of okk weirdo)

so yea of course a boy who’s never passed notes to his crush in class, never asked anyone to a dance, never pulled pranks w his schoolmates, Understands intimacy thru cheesy romcoms an weekends emptying his dads wallet on flights to wtv racing event. LIKE OF COURSE he thinks romance is wtv he can mimic from A. how his dad showed him love (…$$..) and B. what the movies r saying ! (thats socially repressed twin.) AND THE GAG OF IT ALL!!!! is he puts on this front, so suave so playboy, “i have sex and let me announce about it publicly in case u doubted it” when the reality of it is like? dude u are thirst-liking instagram models while oscar is Getting it every night ur such a loser omfg.

just Like. Ugh the contrast of oscar whos so secure in himself in his dad shorts and ANKLE socks and lando who just grew out of his awkwardness in his early 20s and now Needs to slut himself out to make up for lost time.

(AND. the double gag is landos still so obviously not secure abt the fact he Doesnt Really Know what hes doing that every one can see it ouhmygodd lando x chernobyl levels of imposter syndrome u are so complicated and angsty U TEENAGE GIRL. holds a can of diet coke to his lips. there there girl. there there.)

[canisalbus]

Oh hey didn't know Finnish doesn't have gendered pronouns!! So good to finally see someone else who shares my experience of "why do I need to separate people by gender that's so weird" while learning English lol (Hungarian only has ő (singular they) and az (it))

-local Hungarian lurker

Very distantly related languages (as you may know already) :]

Giving you a friendly Finno-Ugric high five.

[haveihitanerve]

Vicky Vale: would you kill yourself if Batman asked you to? Robin(Dick): thats a bad question Vicky: why? Robin(Dick): *makes eye contact with her camera* because my father would never ask me to do that.  ~~~ Vicky: would you kill yourself for the Batman? Robin(Tim): No. Vicky: no? Tell me why. Robin(Tim): *makes eye contact with her camera* because the Batman would never let me.  ~~~ Vicky: would you kill the Batman if he turned on you? Robin(Jason): No. Vicky: you wouldn't? Why not? Robin(Jason): *makes eye contact with her camera* because I Gotham needs the Batman. And I would never do anything to harm Gotham.  ~~~ Vicky: if the Batman asked you to, would you kill him? Robin(Steph): No, never Vicky: even if he was dangerous?? Why not? Robin(Steph): *makes eye contact with her camera* because he’s dangerous now. And I would never dare to harm the one person who actually cares about me the people of Gotham and not just himself.  ~~~ Vicky: Would you take a bullet for the Batman? Robin(Damian): undoubtedly. But I never will. Vicky: no? Why not? Robin(Damian): *makes eye contact with her camera* because my father would shield me and take the bullet instead.

[casscainmainly]

Jason being turbo evil during the Dickbats era is so interesting when thinking about Black Mirror. I don't think it's intentional, but SO many things could be read differently in the context of Dick and Jason's relationship.

Like the core theme in Black Mirror is letting go vs. not letting go, which manifests in the circus motif of holding onto someone who's falling:

Importantly, Dick is on the side of letting go. Of releasing, of letting things fall. It's probably just meant to distinguish him from Bruce, but it's interesting that this is happening post-Battle for the Cowl, which ended with this scene (in Battle for the Cowl #3):

This fall represents Dick's inability to save Jason, and Jason's unwillingness to save himself. So the falling/letting go motif in Black Mirror could be read in direct response to this - he had to let go of Jason (physically and emotionally) to become Batman.

Jason's name never appears in Black Mirror, and he is only alluded to once. In an auction selling off items of horrific value, the auctioneer puts up the crowbar that Joker beat Jason with for sale:

This crowbar is what Dick is using in the above image where he says "the feeling is like slipping, like your hands sliding out of the hands holding you". This again connects Jason to Dick's philosophy of letting go, but Dick never actually thinks about Jason. His internal monologue here is entirely general, despite him holding the item that killed his brother; his mentality has completely let go of Jason, to the point where he doesn't think about him anymore.

Dick's response to Alfred finding the crowbar is also interesting:

There's something dismissive about the way he says "just toss it in the river," yet it's clear (through his shadowed facial expression) that the crowbar deeply troubles him. It's the war between letting go (tossing it in the river) and not letting go (keeping the crowbar). He then talks about the growing evil of Gotham, which is another of Black Mirror's motifs - being unable to recognise something that was once familiar. I wonder how much of that is also linked to Jason, whose turn in Battle for the Cowl is described by Dick as "a flipped switch".

Jason's words also echo throughout Black Mirror. In Batman and Robin #6, as well as Battle for the Cowl #3, Jason is the most vocal about Dick being a bad successor for Bruce:

Dick's insecurities about being a good Batman in Black Mirror can be traced back to these conversations, and Jason gets Dick so bad in Batman and Robin that Dick actually tries to resurrect Bruce in the next issues. Despite Jason never appearing in Dick's internal monologues, it's clear he heavily affects Dick's actions and beliefs, or at the very least compounds his insecurities as Batman.

Of course, the most obvious parallel to Jason is James Gordon, Barbara's (clinically) psychopathic brother. I think Babs and Dick mirror each other a lot here - they both have the attitude of 'letting go' of their respective brothers, whereas Jim represents holding on. The narrative itself, though, implies Jim is right:

Holding on isn't about forgiving James for his actions, but about never giving up on him. About believing that he (and, by extension, Gotham) deserves someone who will stay and fight (to protect them, and to protect others from them). Dick comes to understand this:

Dick uses the word "redeemed" here on himself, implying he feels he needs to be redeemed for something - in the context of this post, we could read it as his failure to save Jason, a failure baked into his adoption of the Batman mantle from the start. More importantly, this monologue shows a shift in Dick's philosophy. The idea of letting go is the idea of mobility, something Black Mirror hammers home with the circus imagery. Here, Dick is rejecting that in favour of stability - of staying still, or fighting instead of dodging.

If the New 52 hadn't interrupted the Dickbats era, it would've been interesting to see Dick deal with Jason in this new light. He's tried to help Jason before, but kind of accepted that Jason would never use it:

Post-Black Mirror, though, I think Dick would have a different approach to 'saving' Jason. Idk I just think there's some untapped potential in their dynamic that this era represents, as it indicates a potential repairing of their relationship rooted not necessarily in Dick's love for Jason, but in Dick's newfound approach to Gotham and redemption.

[hecatesbroom]

Ever wondered which of the golden girls you really are? Well, I got bored and made a uquiz, so take it now to find out (and let me know who you got)!