#thanks for giving me an excuse to ramble!

[muninnhuginn]

Mun!!! :0 I wanted to ask if you watched the new Link Click op and if so, what are your thoughts on it? And also for season 3 in general if you have any expectations for it

Hi! I've seen it, yes. Managed to watch before work, but not had the chance to properly sit down and digest it all before now. Going to put my thoughts on it all below.

Some things to keep in mind: I've watched the opening and I've skimmed the Tumblr tag a few times since then, but I've not gone deep dive or anything. So if I say something that's been said loads already that's probably because I've not seen everyone else saying it yet. The other thing is that I may comment on the lyrics of the song, but not in relation to potential foreshadowing, given bai sha jaws have been pretty clear they're not really privy to any more info than we are as the audience.

With that out of the way, let's go.

We start with the focus on the camera, which transitions to the basketball court. The use of the feather to carry the transition is one of those "which could mean nothing" details, because the use of feathers is pretty prominent in some of the official art pieces.

Next, Cheng Xiaoshi takes Lu Guang's hand and pulls his past self onto the court. The implications of this are pretty obvious (the 'current' Lu Guang is left unsaturated as his past and Cheng Xiaoshi are held in soft light; Lu Guang doesn't feel like he belongs in this treasured past), but I like the extra little aspect of the basketball pitch being the setting because it means the fencing acts as prison framing. And the prison framing is perfect for the line "trapped in a rewind".

Lonely road, long shadow, it's the heat of the summer and he's small against the backdrop of the street. Stick a pin in this one because we'll return to it later.

And over to fake London and its red doubledeckers. Xia Fei looking out when something (someone?) catches his attention. We're then shown Lu Guang in front of one of Xia Fei's posters, but my instinct is that what Xia Fei is looking at/for is unrelated. Anyway, Lu Guang still desaturated, still not fitting in.

Heh. No comment. (Although, tangent time! I've not been able to pause fast enough to catch the 'afternoon tea' sign but I feel the need to point out something after skimming past some posts that have mentioned it. 'Afternoon tea' isn't a drink. It's more a meal? An event? Say, sometime between lunchtime and dinnertime (I won't confuse things further by referring to the latter as teatime here) it'd be a get together where people would have scones and hot drinks and cake, etc. It's honestly low-key posh so it's far from a daily thing for most people, but it's the sort of thing you'd do for an extended family get together.)

Onto Liu Xiao reading some more Shakespeare. My Shakespeare knowledge is limited to Othello and Romeo and Juliet so... I'll leave this one to other people.

More Lu Guang being out of place.

Someone having tea (the drink) followed by a cipher I'm pretty sure people have already cracked:

Then onto this character:

Not gonna speculate too heavily at this point, but I know people are guessing she's either related to Xia Fei or *is* Xia Fei, given the shared eye and hair colour. I lean towards the former being more likely given the whole thing on the bus where Xia Fei's attention was seemingly caught by something/someone outside. Also, flower in the forefront, not 100% sure here but looks a bit like a yellow daffodil. Possibly a bit out of season for them if this is summer, but we don't care about that. We care about the meaning of a daffodil which is rebirth/new beginnings/all that jazz.

And back again to Lu Guang, who immediately reminds me of something I thought was cool earlier but forgot to mention. Lu Guang is entirely desaturated in this opening, yes, aside from the use of red. Is it original? No. Is it effective? Yes.

Puddle of blood and we meet again, dear white feather:

(The puddle of blood is actually completely still until the feather hits it, at which point *everything* in the scene lifts up).

And we're into full colour (light pouring in from the window) as we see photos (memories) fly around:

And these scenes focus on both Qiao Ling and Cheng Xiaoshi. First, them interacting with each other, then with the unseen narrator (presumably Lu Guang). They both brighten his world.

Lyrics of "there will be a fire when it all unfolds". Liking the 'unfolds' maybe callback there to op 1 Vortex and also the snow/ash/fire thing reminds me... so, like I said, not gonna use the lyrics themselves as foreshadowing, but the backdrop in the next section is fair game and there's a pretty clear fire there. I know it doesn't *have* to be a literal fire, but it was pretty striking so I think it's more likely than not there'll be some fire in Yingdu itself?

Flash through Lu Guang against different backgrounds. Won't spam them all, but we start with the photo studio transition through various Yingdu related backdrops then the clock backdrop (which ofc takes my mind straight back to Madoka) and back to the studio (this time ft. gun in gloved hand (possibly same gloved hand as the teacup earlier - possibly possibly vein, idc to speculate too hard on that point) and finally! We're back to the start of the opening and the basketball court. The whole scene is now washed out and Lu Guang matches it as he wipes his tears, before Cheng Xiaoshi grabs his arm and the colour floods back in.

(Also tangent again but "we fought the tides" as another lyrical callback to the season two ending, nice nice)

And speaking of returning to earlier in the opening, here's the road again:

All three of them running forwards as we pan up to the light in the sky.

And those are my thoughts. There's a lot I skimmed over either because it doesn't much interest me or because I'm pretty sure others'll have written essays already but yeah. Solid opening. Time to jettison my hopes before they get too high.

In terms of the second question, I've not been counting Yingdu as season three in my head, but I'm still genuinely unsure whether it "officially" counts or not. That said, my thoughts on a season three after Yingdu are so murky that I'm going to treat your question as though Yingdu is season three because then I can actually provide some kind of answer.

Basically, I've been thinking of Yingdu as something adjacent to Madoka episode eight - there to provide extra context but technically extraneous to the overall series. This is partly because of the different production layout behind the scenes, with a different studio and directing setup than the 'main' series. I'm basically expecting this arc to help raise the emotional stakes on Lu Guang's side of the situation without actually providing a resolution to the overarching plot.

[jovieinramshackle]

Chris Keaton the man that you are

Save me cricket man SAVE ME!!

Anyways posting doodles as an excuse to ramble about him

I ended up changing him very slightly from the first time drawing him here, not much other than his skin and hair palette, and giving him antennas instead of regular ahoge

Chris is a 29-year-old school teacher and childhood friend to Pio (although due to being 5 years older he always felt more like a big brother). He's currently married to a woman with one daughter!

He loves working with kids, which is why he is a teacher. He tries his best to positively influence his students and reminds them to always listen to their conscience (also fun fact, a lot of his students assume he's gay because of how he behaves, so they're always surprised when he mentions his wife and child).

Not many people know this (only ones being his family and Pio's), but Chris is half-fea with some cricket-like characteristics. Most notable is his second pair of arms, which he usually hides with magic to avoid scaring the humans in his town. His antennas also function similarly to those of a cricket.

Despite being half fae and a mage, Chris has mostly known the way of humans, since he grew up around them. It's rare that he'd even use his magic unless necessary.

He adores his family with all his being and he's completely smitten with his wife. His wife works as a child therapist and his daughter always says she wants to be smart like her parents when she's older.

Pio is usually the victim of his long yapping sessions about his family (think of Hughes and Roy from FMA/B if you know them) and he usually can't do much than just sit down and listen until Chris is done.

Despite finding him a little annoying, Pio has always depended on Chris for support and guidance. He was the first person Pio came out as trans and was immediately accepted and supported.

Chris always saw Pio as a good and good-hearted man. But as he got older, he felt the need to be more independent, and thanks to certain...new influences (Fellow) Pio ended up making decisions he eventually regretted, hearing a painful "I told you so" from Chris.

tag list: @ramshacklerumble @thehollowwriter @summerspook @scint1llat3 @skriblee-ksk

@cyanide-latte @twistedwonderlandshenanigans @oya-oya-okay @viperbunnies @jadelover69

@twsted-void @lallopsyou (lmk/dm if you wanna be added)

[xxplastic-cubexx]

what kind of underwear do you think Erik and Charles wear (i'm not asking this to see them half naked) ((please believe me)) (((PLEASE)))

My Personal Belief is charles is a briefs guy while erik's a trunks guy. trunks/briefs kinda couple because i can

and idk just a lil bonus or somethin. as i do.

[jazzzzzzhands]

Julie Joyful headcanons?

Well i'm a big fan of the "Fluffy Monster Beastie" Julie!! With a tail !! :) Wild and untamed! (but with a cute dress!) I also like to think she likes earrings <3

I also relate to Julie a lot in the way that i'm very silly and happy So i ofc love to project my own little behaviors!!

[aria-greenhoodie]

i saw in the tags of something you reblogged that you were writing something becky/wordgirl related? im interested to learn more!

Yes! I’m writing a fanfic set about 15 years after canon, the first chapter is posted on ao3! <- (link) I’ll be updating it till I either finish it or lose motivation…. Hopefully the former rather than the latter. I’ve already got big plans for it, though…

I also may draw some stuff for it…. Like these! They’re concepts for how I imagine adult Becky and Tobey! (Need to be reworked, not happy with the proportions since I want Becky to be taller than Tobey, plus I’m not happy with Tobey’s outfit quite yet…)

Click for Quality!

[crystallizsch]

Trouble? You're only in trouble if you get caught. So don't let me catch you ~

uhhhhh say hi to jamil and yuusha's kid jas(mine) pt 2 (also here and here are like my only two other posts of her)

HFDDF OKAY SO - i actually had these unfinished sketches from months ago of jas as a nrc student and scarabia housewarden

this sneaky little bastard (affectionate) had never left my cranium she was just sitting idly by

im sobbing i hate jas so much (lie i love her)

jamil and yuusha still aren't supposed to have a kid so i just imagine this to be an alternate timeline for them 🤧🤧🤧

soooo info dump time ---

━━━━━━✦ scarabia housewarden nrc jas

jas has a vice-housewarden who is her childhood best friend (figuring out if i want them to be twst rajah or abu)

also thinking about if i want yuusha to be a staff member in nrc with grim or just dead during this time (why? just because)

no further info tbh, scarabia housewarden jas is just vibing

━━━━━━✦ child jas stuffs

i'm SO indecisive about her design as a toddler/preteen lowkey 😭

she was very sweet as a toddler but somewhere along the line she just became more carefree and chaotic

jas is a mama's girl but is more alike with her father than she cares to admit

octavinelle trio and heartslabyul duo + grim are like the honorary uncles (jas's favorites are floyd, ace, and grim bc they sometimes enable her with shenanigans)

even though jas has favorite uncles, najma is the favorite favorite. i imagine she's just the cool aunt

if mama yuu is "shrimpy" then jas is a "tiger prawn" (bc rajah)

jas LOVES doing people's hair including her own; would rather do them by hand rather than by magic

jamil showed jas how to breakdance once and it became ingrained in her personality ever since

(there's probably still more about her that i'm forgetting but this is it for now)

━━━━━━✦ bonus future jamiyuu stuff because i miss them

jamil took yuusha's last name surprise surprise (if they get married)

i imagine after nrc they'd be travelling together actually, not necessarily settling down

(i'm REALLY not 100% on them settling down and having a kid but i still love jas a lot so im so conflicted) (that's why aus exist 😔✨)

(and if hypothetically they do settle down i think yuusha being staff in nrc with grim + maybe jamil who travels for work (or being a house husband??? maybe they alternate roles) can be adorable ideas)

━━━━━━✦ (i also had this thing that i never posted about that one trope of a fankid finding themselves in nrc bc of portal/time/mirror shenanigans)

(jamil found both of them asleep somewhere and refuses to wake them up)

also some bonus tidbits about this scenario with them:

💜: Is she a family member of yours? How'd she get here?

🐍: I have never seen that child in my life before now. And there's no way I could have missed news about a new relative of mine.

💜: You know how ridiculous it sounds if she's related to me. I'm not from here. She even looks more like you!

🐍: Jas has the same color of eyes as you. Didn't you tell me she mistook you for her mother?

💜: ...Yeah, but I don't like what you're implying.

🐍: Well, I'm not exactly happy with this either.

they're just both in denial of the implication of this child existing and neither of them is saying it out loud.

and the angst/wholesomeness(???) of jamil asking jas's full name and hearing that she has her mother's last name instead of his

eventually they grew attached (unfortunately) until somehow they send jas home to her original timeline

and then they finally have a real conversation about what all that was about

anyways thank you for reading if you've made it this far;;; end tweet

[gaykeithbilance]

Your tags on the fem guys post… you’re so right. Shout it from the rooftops kind of right

thank you! it's very hard for me, being one of the few correct people on this fandom (slash joke)

i've never understood art or fic that makes either of them very fem or masc. i'm still bitter about the fandom on mass deciding to make keith a muscular and masculine man who sweeps lance off his feet after he had the growth spurt in season 6. i'm sorry but that's a twink. keith is perfectly in the middle with gender presentation and will always stay that way. lance in voltron canon dresses more masc-ish than keith, but that's 17 year old lance. he's still coming to terms with his bisexuality and he's still unlearning society's ideals. a theoretical slightly older lance who is more comfortable with himself could be a bit gnc (and look hot doing it). crop tops, well fitting jeans, cool jewelry etc. but he's not a skirts and dresses guy. keith isn't either. you know who is? coran

[esteemed-excellency]

Hiram always wears the irrigo tinted monocle in public, he needs to be inconspicuous and he doesn't want to cause bad deja-vus or headaches to his friends. He doesn't maintain eye contact for long on purpose, and he takes off the monocle only if he knows that his interlocutors can handle the violant effect.

Violant and irrigo cancel each other out, so the lens tint is not easily noticeable. When people look at him while he's wearing it, his irises seem just a bit reddish, and the lens looks like a normal lilac glass. Only someone well versed in the properties of the neathbow, like other midnighters, can figure out the violant + irrigo effect.

Without the monocle his eyes are bright violant and, since his latest visits to Zenith, they glow dimly in the dark.

[leafdragon16]

I'm yet another person from AO3 but I do have a question lol-

Was the design and stuff for Wheeljack based on the IDW comic sparkeaters? Because I've been thinking abt this for ages and it seems so-

It's also made me think abt another character- Soundwave- like he has a visor (that's possibly over his face) and he has tentacles- like it could be very easy for him to be one as well-

I mean I'm not saying to include this in the story- just smth I thought I'd point out lol

Ok so I just went to the IDW TFWiki page for sparkeaters and

WHAT? WHAT. WHAT?? WHAT???

So I have never read IDW and the only information I have about it is what I’ve absorbed from my TF mutuals. I knew sparkeaters were some kind of monster BUT I NEVER KNEW WHAT THEY LOOKED LIKE?? WHAT?

First of all that’s really creepy looking and secondly THEY LOOK ALMOST EXACTLY LIKE HOW I IMAGINE EX!WHEELJACK DOES. DOWN TO THE KNIFE TENTACLES AND EVERYTHING. HOW?? I’VE NEVER SEEN THESE THINGS IN MY LIFE I’VE ONLY VAGUELY HEARD OF THEM

So to properly answer your question, no, Ex!Wheeljack’s design is not based on sparkeaters, it’s just a really weird coincidence (and frankly I kinda wish I had because these things look cool lmao). His design was actually based off the first plotline I had for Horror Show before I scrapped it. Shockwave was originally going to try to create synthetic energon but since he has even less information than Ratchet does in canon, it doesn’t go well. Naturally he decides to go big or go home, mixes it with Dark Energon, and injects it into Wheeljack. But that felt too much like copying canon and a virus seemed more like Shockwave’s style anyway so I changed it. You can still kinda see the original plot in his design because I just started by basing it off of the Terrorcons from Thirst and then I went “what if he had stabby tentacles too wouldn’t that be fucked up”

And YEAH. I think it was the Art of Prime that mentioned Soundwave was deliberately designed to seem alien even when compared to the other Cybertronians? I’m not sure when sparkeaters were introduced/if Prime was out by then but Soundwave’s design, especially when compared side by side with sparkeaters, is certainly a CHOICE. [eyes ideas folder contemplatively]

[to-be-a-dreamer]

you sound like a right winger. cancel culture?

This is legitimately the funniest insult I’ve ever received thank you Anon. Like, you can’t think of any better way to discredit my post about how I wish people would just let a character be Not Racist and acknowledge that sometimes people can learn they were wrong and become better people so you call me (a queer woman of color who is college-educated and an immigrant, btw, just so we’re all on the same page) a “right winger” for using easily-recognizable terminology to ensure everyone reading understands what I think is the core issue. Incredible, insane, I wish you weren’t a coward who posted anonymously so I could scroll through your blog because I’m sure you’ve got jokes.

But anyways, since we’re all here I’ll take the opportunity to explain what I mean and my thoughts on cancel culture.

Original post that Anon is talking about for reference

People on the internet are obsessed with this idea of perfection. They think that a person has to do the right thing, always, every time. They think that a person who does or has ever done something shitty is just a shitty person who doesn’t deserve a platform. And they think that a person who was a shitty person in the past should always be viewed in that way. They can never accept that someone could have toxic or harmful views, realize they were wrong, and then become a better person, especially if they went through that journey offline or a long time ago. They don’t care if the person they see before them is clearly an open-minded, good person who doesn’t possess those views anymore. In their eyes, that person is still that same bigoted asshole from three, five, ten, twenty years ago and they have to acknowledge that past and be publicly shamed for it every single day in order to be “forgiven”. (They will never truly forgive)

And it’s just. I don’t understand it because what is the point of activism and education if we’re not going to allow people to learn what we’re trying to teach? How is our movement supposed to grow if we don’t accept the people who have been touched and reformed by it? How does any of this get better if we don’t allow people to be better?

Here’s my biggest problem with “cancel culture” (the mass ostracism and shaming of someone who has behaved or spoken in a socially unacceptable way). I think that this kind of mindset has led to an entire generation of internet users who are terrified of ever doing “the wrong thing” on the internet. We’re so afraid of making mistakes because we know how hard it is to come back from that and how unforgivable the rest of the internet is. And it’s turned us into overly defensive people who struggle to admit when we’ve done something wrong. We’re terrified to consider the possibility that we’re the "bad guy" in any situation because we've convinced ourselves that doing something shitty makes you a shitty person. We think our individual actions are lifetime sentences. I've seen so many people on the internet make small mistakes but double down and take things way too far when they're called out for it because they don't want to see themselves as a person who does problematic things. Because we've convinced ourselves that making a mistake makes you a bad person on a fundamental level. We've tied the amount of criticism we receive to our self-worth.

I also notice that it prevents people who actually need to learn and be better from realizing that. Because the amount of hate someone receives is so disproportionate to any mistake they actually made, it's so easy for a person to think "okay there's no way I deserve to be harassed this much, this is probably just the internet overreacting again, I haven't done anything wrong" and instead of learning the small lesson they needed to learn they just brush off the hate and dismiss it as cancel culture.

And so to bring this back to 9-1-1, I do think that some of the hate towards Tommy is due to shipping wars, but on a deeper level I think people just can't handle the truth that Tommy is actually a good person now. Maybe it stems from people hating the idea that someone who made their own lives miserable could learn and grow and become a better person later in life like Tommy did. Maybe people have some unresolved trauma about bigots that they're projecting onto these characters. Maybe they want to feel morally superior and just don't like the idea that someone who was shitty in the past could go on to have the same views and ideals as them. It's hard to tell for sure and it probably varies from person to person but I think the idea that a person has to be defined by their past is a big part of it on all levels.

Anyways, those are my thoughts on cancel culture as a whole and why I think the current generation of internet users has a really tough time taking accountability and why we all have rejection sensitivity (not RSD, the actual real medical condition, just a general sensitivity to being told you're in the wrong). We don't like to confront our own flaws because, according to the internet, those flaws make you a terrible person always and forever and you will never be able to overcome them or move past them. I hope this all makes sense I've been thinking about this a lot since 2020 but I've never tried to explain it in words. I don't think there's anything wrong with holding people accountable for past actions, I think there's something wrong with the disproportionate hate those people receive and the amount of shaming and shunning they have to go through before they're allowed to move on with their lives.

[journal420]

Please, tell us (me) more about your pinecest x paz thoughts / timeline. Are pinecest together before they realize they’re into Pacifica? Does one of the twins date Paz and accidentally groan the other twin name instead of her’s during intimacy? Do one of the twins become selfless and try to push the other twin to date Paz — because they know deep down they’re hopelessly in love with both their twin and Paz?

rubs my hands together like a fly

SO.... honestly in my head i think for them, pacifica crushes on the twins for a loooong time. on both of them. she goes through phases thinking she's straight, then a lesbian, then realizing wow i like them both at the same time. then she hates herself for being "weird" about it. i like to think she's straight up bi but has internalized homophobia cause of her parents

i like to think the twins are weirdly codependent and in love in that way, and while they teeeechnically know its not "healthy" they could Not Care Less, because theyre happy being themselves with eachother (and have bad influences COUGH THE STANS). their relationship is ambiguously Undefined they just know they do everything together. including being romantic

pacifica over the years becomes a staple at the mystery shack. maybe she even takes wendy's place as cashier when wendy eventually goes to college. she goes from being overly formal with everyone (mr. pines, mr. pines 2, mr. ramirez, etc) to being semi casual (mr. stan, mr. ford, mr. soos,) to just being straight up casual. hell she's let a couple "grunkle stans" slip out. she's just another part of the group that hang around the shack and she gets super close to dipper and mabel which doesnt help her crushes

i like to think that at some point pacifica breaks and admits she likes them. maybe she phrases it "i like you!!! and more than just a friend!!" to both dipper and mabel who stare at her and then are like "did. did you mean that for me or for -" and pacifica is like "i meant both of you!!!" . she'd probably run off in embarrassment after that too leaving mabel and dipper to talk about what to do now and how they both feel about pacifica

i love the angst potential of one of the twins trying to be Selfless and stay away so the other can be with pacifica, but in my head theyd only get into dating around 17 and at that point the twins already know theyre weird with eachother and are totally chill with it

honestly IDK how pacifica would react to learning that dipper and mabel are romantical together and that they also both like her back. apart of me thinks she'd be grossed out but come around or she'd just be like "oh well im an only child so i dont really get it. must be different for twins i guess!" and she doubles down on that viewpoint after realizing the stans are the same LMFAOAOAOOA. the idea that the pines family tree is just a circle is really funny to me and pacifica gets roped into it (gladly) LOLOL

[mondothebombo]

Mondo 👉👈 could you explain all the ways you connect the song Home to Wytyaa?…. Like Important Lyrics. I have been listening to it a lot and I need to know for reasons. :)

oli you have no idea how long i’ve been waiting for someone to ask this. all the lyrics are technically important, and i may or may not have storyboarded scenes to this song in my head lmaooo. i’ve been wanting to talk abt this for SO FUCKING LONG so here we go!!!

Often I am upset that I cannot fall in love but I guess

This avoids the stress of falling out of it

jay doubting whether nya actually wants to be with him or if she’s just pitying him, when he wakes up from passing out in chap 6

Are you tired of me yet?

I'm a little sick right now but I swear

When I'm ready I will fly us out of here

this is jay noticing the others are getting worried and him sitting with all his bad thoughts, also as him talking to nya, kinda like “once i get my shit together and get over this, i’ll make things better”

I'll cut my hair

To make you stare

jay and nya both subtly subconsciously changing their appearances to separate themselves from what happened

I'll hide my chest

And I'll figure out a way to get us out of here

jay hiding his scars and trying to ignore everything for nya’s sake, intending to keep his promise of fixing his mistakes

Turn off your porcelain face

jays facade dropping and the others getting progressively more worried

I can't really think right now in this place

cole confronting jay abt his scars and jay getting overstimulated he lashes out

There's too many colors enough to drive all of us insane

jay freaking out when he gets high from the pain meds and yelling at kai for touching him the day after alec breaks his wrist

Are you dead?

jay seeing nya’s dead body when he looks at her

Sometimes I think I'm dead

jay/nya feeling the phantom pains

'Cause I can feel ghosts and ghouls wrapping my head

jay hearing nadakhan’s and the pirates voices in his head

But I don't wanna fall asleep just yet

jay having that dream

My eyes went dark

nya finding out abt the SA

I don't know where

My pupils are

jay looking in the mirror and hating his eye/scars

But I'll figure out a way to get us out of here

again, jay trying to be ok for nya

Get a load of this monster

He doesn't know how to communicate

this is most definitely jay thinking his friends hate him while he’s alone on the ship

His mind is in a different place

jay spacing out during scrap n tap, thinking of how the others see him

Will everybody please give him a little bit of space

transition back to him training with lloyd the day after he resets time and freaking out, accidentally hurting lloyd in the process

Get a load of this train-wreck

His hair's a mess and he doesn't know who he is yet

this is him stuck in the memories and believing everything nadakhan and the pirates said abt him, hallucinating and seeing nadakhan at random times

But little do we know, the stars

Welcome him with open arms

slowly fades to the present, where the others keep trying to prove they love him

Time is

nya and jay having the conversation where she talks abt the extent of her trauma

Slowly

jay and nya laughing together while lightly training in the middle of the night

Tracing his face

their talk w wu when he says he’s proud of them

But strangely he feels at home in this place

and finally, the last scene of chapter 7, where jay and nya come and sit with the others after their talk w wu, and jay finally cries with relief as he cuddles w the others

i hope i explained this well enough, please feel free to ask me if anything needs clarification :D

[bobaboob]

talk to me about diluc and sun imagery ^_^

awea where do i START

ok so most importantly first of all. diluc and crepus both have sun-related names, with crepus meaning "twilight" [e.g. dusk] and diluc meaning "morning" or "dawn" [hence his title, "the dark side of dawn"]. this means a Lot of things to me lol but i won't expound here lol

diluc's motif is the owl, but it's also the phoenix (see elemental burst and namecard), the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes at dawn. more rising sun imagery, especially relating to what he "became" when he devoted himself to vengeance in snezhnaya. he was reborn as something angrier, something even more fiery and dangerous, out of the wreckage of his past.

light is often used in the context of uncovering truth and executing justice like the phrase "bringing something to light." this pursuit of the truth has been diluc's sworn, self-imposed mission ever since his father's mysterious death. [see the like. 40 voicelines of diluc's about truth, sin, and justice]

with diluc and kaeya especially as teenagers there is an implicit sun/moon undertone i think. diluc, the sun, who "always had a warm smile and a confident posture" and kaeya, the moon, who "For years [...] had stayed out of the way in his brother's shadow."

many cultures regard the sun as the undisputed ruler of the sky, the king of the cosmos. much like many regard diluc as the "uncrowned king of Mondstadt," despite having no actual title to that effect.

of course there's the obvious comparisons between a hot-headed fire wielder and a big ball of fire in the sky but we won't get into that lol it's enough to say that they're both hot

[conanssummerchild]

Ok I really need to see if other people think the same in this and needed mootie input: Rick hyperfixations... aren't dealt as well as they should by Morty nor Summer

Like Summer ENABLES it to unhealthy point and Morty doesn't seem to want to know it enough soon cutting strings to things like the crow hyperfocus despite Rick never really closing the walls for him to come too

.... thoughts?

ooh okay, first off i just wanna say that i love that rick is shown to like full on unhealthy hyperfixate bcs real. i mean its not great for him and his wellbeing but its great for me loll, love the representation

anyway, to continue i'll preface that it probably shouldn't be summer and morty's responsibility to look after rick seeing as theyre 17 and 14 but also who else is going to? beth should bcs yk hes her elderly father but yk she definitely wouldnt

and to the actual point of this ask, summer i feel like just doesnt really get like the extent of the unhealthiness of ricks hyperfixtations, i mean finding prime he basically tore apart his life (i mean, even more than prime already had) but she wasnt there for that, wasnt even alive for half of it, with the gotrons she was wrapped up in her own stuff and with crow rick she wasnt really involved in the situation, etc. she gets that rick does that sometimes but she doesnt really see like how its taking a toll on him, she seems to look up to rick so ig she just assumes that whatever hes doing hes just doing idk

and then with morty we can kind of assume they've had an at least minimal conversation about it seeing as he says that rick asked morty to remind him that enough was enough, so that's not just morty intervening, its rick actually having asked him to, so i guess they've talked about it a little, wonder how that conversation went. overall morty is closer to rick than summer and is more aware of ricks habits and other things so i do think he would be able to kind of identify when rick is starting to neglect himself to pursue a hyperfixation when he does it openly, like in gotron jerrysis rickvangelion, whereas for example in the knights of the sun episode he would've had no way to know because rick just dissapeared and replaced himself. as for the crows episode i feel like its less about morty not knowing rick was hyperfixating and more about the fact that he was too emotionally invested in the situation, while summer was detached from it, morty was too close, to him it felt like rick was abandoning him (which, well, he was) it didn't matter why, he was hurt, not focused on whatever rick was doing (which again he shouldnt have to be)

sooo yeah anyway thats my hot take 🫡 or cold take maybe, idk what im yapping abt

[maddymoreau]

@bunny-kisser In my Pokemon Mystery Dungeon AU Grant is a Shiny Fearow and my Self Insert is a Shiny Wurmple.

Rambling:

For context Grant's backstory is that he used to be in the Army until his Lieutenant made a bad call, resulting in all of Grant's Squad/Friends getting killed. The only survivors were Grant and his Lieutenant who he drifted apart from after the Army. When Grant left he moved into his parent's old log cabin. Later he sees the player in town, starts stalking them and eventually kidnaps them.

Instead of being in the military in the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon AU Grant would've been part of a Rescue Team. Specifically a Hyper Rank on the cusp of becoming a Master Rank.

Things play out the same, Grant's Leader makes a bad call and all their Team/Friends getting killed in a dungeon. Grant stops being an Explorer, returns to where he grew up and notices a weak Shiny Wurmple in town.

The storyline plays out basically identical to my regular self ship lore. Except in the game Grant calls the player on the phone under the guise that he received a fake number. When in reality he's outside their window and gauging their reactions.

In the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon AU at night Grant would approach my Self Insert outside her home. His body would be completely hidden in tall grass, but he'd use his long neck to make his head hang low to appear smaller/at her eye level. She can't see what he looks like, but knows someone is there. Grant would talk to her and lie saying he was supposed to meet someone here.

The dialogue would be almost identical to what happens in the game. Except it says address instead of fake number:

Grant: “I just had to ask. Why would someone who was hitting it off with someone else turn around and give them a fake address afterwards?”

Player: “Lots of reasons. Maybe they didn’t know how to let you down? Didn’t want to hurt your feelings. Maybe they were afraid.”

Grant: “Are you afraid?”

During the kidnapping one of Fearow's Pokedex Entries would come into play: "It cleverly uses its thin, long beak to pluck and eat small insects that hide under the ground."

Funny enough a lot of Wurmple's Pokedex entries mention being preyed upon by bird Pokemon: "Often targeted by bird Pokémon, it desperately resists by releasing poison from its tail spikes."

My Self Insert would try to fight, fail and get kidnapped. Not long after being taken to Grant's home she'd evolve into a Silcoon. Her body reacts to this stressful situation by evolving as way to defend/protect herself. Since it gives her this silk barrier and increases her defense while still allowing her to move.

Off topic but I LOVE how the anime shows Cascoon move. I imagine Silcoon moves the same way:

Grant's motivation in the AU is the same, to have complete control over her to do whatever he wants.

To live the domestic fantasy he's imagined with her.

After almost a year has passed since being kidnapped my Self Insert stops trying to escape and evolves into a Beautifly. Even though she now has wings that would help her, she doesn’t try escaping. Also a fun little detail is that she goes from being just a Bug type Pokemon to a Bug/Flying type once she accepts her fate. She gains the Flying type that Grant has.

Visual Details:

Why I picked Fearow and Beautifly:

I wanted my Self Insert to be a Bug type. Very weak, with her main focus on surviving, never imagining herself being capable of becoming an Explorer. Behind on evolution compared to where she'd like to be, in this very awkward stage figuring out what she wants to do and how to connect with other Pokemon.

Compared to Grant who is at his final stage of evolution. Grant has lived a life with past relationships, friends, a successful career and knows exactly what he wants.

I really liked the contrast between the two, especially Grant being stronger. Along with the dynamic between a Bird and Bug type Pokemon since Grant enjoys having power over her.

I actually decided Grant as a Fearow first. From similarities in vibe/appearance and after reading Fearow's Pokedex entries.

Once I decided on Grant as a Fearow and thought of the Bird Bug type dynamic. I searched for a Bug type Pokemon I thought would suit my Self Insert.

Which Beautifly does especially this entry that make me laugh: "A colorful and incredibly beautiful but also greedy Pokémon. In an effort to keep its favorite food all to itself, it will chase away Combee as they try to gather nectar."

The tall grass idea came from Wurmple’s Pokedex: "It lives amidst tall grass and in forests. When attacked, it resists by pointing its venomous spikes at the foe."

Also they were slightly inspired by Team Tasty:

[itsybitsybatsyspider]

Hey so I've been *eating up* your TDP au and I looove everything you've made for it!! (The fact that I've finished season 6 yesterday is not helping aaaaa)

May I ask if Valka joins the party? Is she around?

AAAAAAA thank you thank you! Im so glad you enjoy it! It is my current brainrot and i have so many ThoughtsTM about it

And Valka is around......somewhere...... in Xadia.......

When she still lived in Berk she believed that peace was possible with the elves and dragons and did everything she could to convince anyone that they were not bloodthirsty monsters they had to fight. But of course no one believed her.

And so when she got taken by a dragon, after defending it and saving it's life during a raid, she figured that maybe Berk was hopeless and decided to stay in Xadia. (is this a flawed decision?? oh 100%. This action will have consequences in the future ;D)

And now 18 years later, she lives in the Uncharted Forest, helping and healing injured creatures and dragons and giving them a safe haven to reside in. She doesn't get many visitors, mainly because of the boundary spells that are set around her home, but she does get visits from her Sunfire elf friend who drops by from time to time to fill her in on things and ask for her help.

Recently though he's been trying to figure out what's been causing a corruption in the creatures of the region, and asked for her to keep an eye out for anything strange. Aside from that, the only other news Sandy has to share is that there's been a Sunfire elf terrorizing Berk. How strange. :)