#the answer is probably both this time

[chungledown-bimothy]

On this week's episode of Are They Hot Or Is It Just Gender Envy:

Doctor Robert Wenabocker!

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

How do Jake and June get along?

its... complicated? <;D

They are friends, don't get me wrong, but their friendship is definitely one of the more bumpier ones amongst the group.

There are some aspects of their relationship that are heavily influenced by some plot points of this AU that I dont want to reveal rn, but I can explain some other reasons why its complicated in broader strokes for now (in a bit of yapping under cut) but the short answer is probably that they get along maybe just a little better than Jenny and Ben. xD

As you know, both of their shows are very similar in many aspects, but also different in others and those differences are actually what makes those two clash more often than not.

Despite both being of magical world, and both being chosen as respective guardians of it - their positions in it are different.

Jun, was chosen by Magical Elders, or basically be magic itself, as Te Xuan Zhe, while she was very young. And while she comes from magical line, its clearly that aside of that she is human. Also, her position is not something she can just abandon, not until a suitable replacement can be chosen at least, and that can take decades until she or her brothers (or maybe other relatives) have more descendants. So she more or less has no choice at being Te Xuan Zhe, and while she doesn't necessarily resent the position itself, she really doesn't like all the restrictions that come with it.

Jake, on the other hand, comes from a line of magical creatures. And yes, not everyone can manifest this hidden magical part of them, like his mother, but they are still considered as part of magical community, since they are still aware of it (unlike Jake's dad who is human). So, while Jake awakened his draconic abilities that are inherently part of him now, his position as protector of New York/USA - is not inherent. We saw him train for that position, we saw Hailey being considered for it, we saw him lose it too! And while, yes the Dragon Council apparently has the power to seal someone's dragon side away if they fire them from that position, but it still doesn't inherently change the fact that he is from dragon line.

The reason why I brought up this seemingly not big of a difference between their positions in the magical community - is the freedom of choice that Jake has and Jun lacks. If it comes to it, Jake can resign from his position as American Dragon, but it would not mean that he would stop being a dragon or being a part of the magical community (I mean just look at retired Lao Shi). While Jun on the other hand doesn't really have a choice at being Te Xuan Zhe. Sure, she can probably return the title to her poor aging Ama, Jasmine or even find a way to pass it to Ray Ray, since their whole entangled magic thing - but it doesn't change the fact that she was chosen by The Magical Elders - by the highest magical authority there probably is - to be Te Xuan Zhe. And if she hadn't, she probably would have not access to magic and knowledge about it - she would have essentially been like the rest of their family - their parents and Dennis (before he learned about magic). This freedom of choice is not necessarilly something Jake and Jun discussed directly and openly very often, but it's a thing that is an almost palpable tension current in their interactions.

So, the second point that kinda spirals from their positions is about the authority and power. Jun, is essentially a boss of herself. It might not seem like it, but its kinda true - because she works mostly under her own power, without the Magical Elders directly breathing down her neck. Sure, Ama, Monroe and others help in guiding her, but more often than not she is not working necessarily under any orders, but on her own decisions. (It's actually a lot like Danny operates, but, well, with a lot more assistance than poor Phantom lol) In comparison, Jake, like I said, is essentially hired/chosen into his guardian position by the Dragon Council, and he is mentored by his grandfather and trained in some aspects by the Council. And while, sure, largely he also operates under his own power and makes his own decisions in regards of doing his job, there is also this constant watching from the Council and the threat of beings 'sacked' and have his powers restricted or completely sealed, like I mentioned before. It seems like such a small difference, since essentially they operate the same, but its another thing that kinda comes up in their interactions.

When it comes to less magical aspects tho, their families play a role in how they interact too. We all know that Jake has a little sister - Hailey, who seems like a perfect youngest child and often is shown to trying to one-up her older brother in the eyes of their parents. And we all know that while Jake and Hailey love and care for each other, the both clearly have sibling issues (like rivalry and feeling of inadequacy) between them. Jun, on the other hand, is a middle child, with a bossy teenaged older brother Dennis, and a chaos gremlin of younger brother Ray Ray. Jun constantly sqwabbles with Dennis (a little less after he learned about magic) and as Ray Ray's older sister, she constantly have to keep him in check. With those close relationships its no wonder that sometimes interactions between Jun and Jake can descend into similar sqabbles - it really doesn't help that Jake and Dennis have a few similarities, and that Jake has just a tiny bit of similar chaos gremlin energy that Ray Ray has; and that Jun is fiercely independant and very self-sufficient, which would remind Jake about how Hailey can be.

And when it comes to their parents, well, there is one super obvious glaring difference. Jake's mother always knew about magical side of the world, presumably that while she did not awaken her own dragon abilities she still possessed some inherant magic - and she had always been a stauch supporter of Jake's position as American Dragon (does not mean she was necessarilly happy about Jake being in danger, but since he awakened as dragon, there probably was little she could do), while Jake's father finally learned about it in the finale and accepted it and his family. Jun's parents on the other hand... are still very much oblivious, and very much human. And while its clear that they both love their kids, its inevitable that there would be some sort of distance between them, especially after all three kids learned about magic. And I feel like for Jun, being a middle child is not easy in general, but while also being a magical protector and staying close to her parents is probably twice as hard. Though, I guess to balance it out, Jake and Hailey are not really that good at getting along, at least compared to Jun, Ray Ray and Dennis, who got a lot closer ever since Dennis learned about magic.

But in conclusion: not only Jake gets a freedom of choice and the open support from his family, while Jun is literally caught in her position, and still prohibited from revealing about magic to her parents.

And I know it sounds a bit bleak for Jun when I put it all like this. I know it seems as a very solid ground for a relationship where Jun resents Jake and etc. but BUT!!!!! Those plot points that I mentioned before come in play, and it changes that relationship dynamic a bit, and while SURE there are some resentment from Jun about Jake, its not as strong, due to those PLOT POINTS THAT I CANT REVEAL BECAUSEEE AAARRRHH SPOILERS

it would be much more fun to reveal in stories ;)

But, so yeah, their relationship is just kinda really complicated??? It's the best I could give you rn. TTwTT

[waitineedaname]

mxtx characters who, in my humble butch opinion, should be butch

Luo Binghe: listen. look me in the eyes. in a genderswap situation, Binghe should get to be butch. one of the key themes in SVSSS is gender, and one of the things that distinguishes SVSSS!Binghe from PIDW!Binghe is that he's not the hypermasculine protagonist and instead is allowed to enjoy more feminine things (like being Shizun's housewife). that's why he's specifically called Bing-mei and it's also why im on my transfemme Binghe soapbox all the time, but that's a whole other topic. what im saying is if we're reversing the gender situation, then fem!Binghe in SVSSS should get to enjoy more masculine things. it's what she deserves. she strikes me as the kind of butch that gets a thrill out of doing gentlemanly things like giving SQQ her coat when she's cold. she should be the Bing-di to PIDW's Bing-jie

Shang Qinghua: this one is deeply self-indulgent projection but don't fucking worry about that okay. SQH is a very specific flavor of low effort butch nerd. SQH is the cookie monster pajamas to butch pipeline. SQH cuts her own hair with regular scissors for convenience and Shen Yuan is dying to get her to just buy some goddamn clippers. SQH is running off of four red bulls and spite. She inexplicably has game and she's just as confused about this as you are

Xie Lian: imagine this for me. you go to one of those volunteering events where you're cleaning trash out of a creek or something. there is a woman there in cargo pants or maybe overalls, something with a shit ton of pockets. she has not shaved in months, maybe years. her hair is in the messiest bun possible, or maybe tied back under a baseball cap. she is somehow the most beautiful woman you've ever seen. after taking away all the trash and informing everyone how to sort the recycling, she is picked up by another woman who appears to be the definition of high camp. you leave this encounter feeling like you might have been converted to something. perhaps to lesbianism. this is what an encounter with butch Xie Lian is like.

[recurring-polynya]

Once was one thing...

...but I feel like this is not just a "I'd have two nickels," situation, I think Renji really is the designated shouter for situations where everyone wants to stand around and do a two-page spread look cool. Is it because he won the All-Gotei Trash Talking Championship, or is this one of those things like tenteikura and opening senkaimon that are just traditional lieutenant duties? He's the only lieutenant present in the first situation. In the second, and in the second, he's the only lieutenant whose...captain is present?

He's also very tall and projects well. Ikkaku is also good at hollerin', but he this happens two panels later, so it's unsurprising that he's been banned from spokesperson duties:

[canisalbus]

have vasco & machete ever gotten into any big arguments?

.

[rontra]

how she looks with tower and reversed temperance in her spread

this was a diverted joke (decided to save the actual idea for something else) so i rerouted into that one post i adore. good luck girl

[hoofpeet]

I'd probably have to read the printed version and web version back to back at some point to note all the differences but... ough

[tombstoneswerewaiting]

uh peter, u doing okay buddy ??

[xmagicalpotatox]

genuinely unable to choose which one I’m gonna be SICK!! /silly

Noir @desultory-novice

Rope MF @mint-termsandconditions

The Poll

@kirbyoctournament

Timelapse Under Read More (FLASHING LIGHTS!)

(Song: Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai)

… (if it plays)

[yujeong]

Me being totally normal: I can surely figure out what page he's at if I stare at it for too long

Also me, staring at it for too long: Wait...is he reading....the foreword...? I can't believe it took me this long to realize Vegas is reading the first page here. It might not even be the foreword, it might be info about the author, it's so funny. But don't worry, the good news is that he's actually reading the book in this scene:

which, of course, you can make the claim that beforehand, he was not in a good mental state (Vegas? not being mentally well? No fucking way right?) so he was trying to distract himself from whatever the fuck the whole thing he's doing at the safehouse is, but after him and Pete talk and bond and all of that good stuff, his mind can focus and actually read the damn book. Sidenote Because I'm a bit insane and very committed in finding things to obsess over with my hyperfixations, I estimated the possible percentage of the book he might be currently at, then went to the appropriate page and found this line there: "He felt very gay and light-headed, and quite forty years younger, as he walked to the door."

I swear to God, it was there, and I laughed so hard they must have heard me over in Thailand.

[sun-e-chips]

I'm sorry for sending another ask so quickly! But I just thought what if the Waterpark AU had Restaurants that are Tiki/Luau theme?

How cool would it be if it was a dinner and a show where the tikis would perform fire dances (if too dangerous, they could still do the dances without the fire). It would be nice to see Sun and Moon occasionally join every once in a while for fun. Also, I thought it would be hilarious if the restaurant had crowd interaction shows where they would pick some people from the crowd, bring them up on stage to do the "grandma and grandpa dance." This dance is where the selected audience has to match the dance of the hula dancers while keeping to the beat of the drum, and of course, as dance progresses, the drum gets faster and faster. The goal of the dance is to move the bottom of the body as fast as possible, while the top remains as still and graceful as possible. I can picture y/n just watching this completely enthralled, idk if anyone can get them on stage, though. XD

Anyways, just some silly thoughts. But I just really wanted to share them with you.

No absolutely not silly thoughts!!!

Having a luau dinner show is exactly what I had in mind for this au!

I’ve only been to two luau shows so I definitely need to do more research of what acts the show would entail but I definitely want to have the tikis performing the traditional dances and guest participation being pulled up on stage!!! Oh I think I remember a dance where a guest tries to mimic the performer I didn’t know what that was called I’ll definitely look up more about it I absolutely adore your description!

Oh! And for the fire acts because the tikis don’t have mouths (or robotic lungs) I was envisioning Moon and maybe Sun performing that section. They would be able to do those “fire breathing” tricks! Besides that the Tikis would handle most of the show’s performances but of course the boys can’t help but involve themselves into the guests portion, dancing along with kids and pulling up members from the audience to join in on the fun!

(As a fellow shy person nothing could get me onto a stage but let’s just say the water boys are very good at what they do and have their ways of getting people to step out of their comfort zone while still having a very fun time :))

[teecupangel]

Was looking at Pokémon that are red cause of reasons, don’t ask it doesn’t make sense, and then had the thought: Desmond reborn as Charmander. And just imagining him growing up into a Charizard. Like, especially in an au where Desmond comes from a universe without Pokémon into this one, he’s just adjusting to “oh fuck I’m an animal?!” into “oh fuck I can breathe fire?!?!” and juuuuust when he’s getting over the concept and feeling of evolving, he becomes a Charizard and has a moment of “Wait…I have wings…I’M A DRAGON?!?!”

Meanwhile, Ezio/Altaïr/Ratonhnhake:ton (whoever you wanna put him with) just watch on in pure confusion as their partner Pokémon has a breakdown.

Okay, what if it was a First Gen Pokemon AU where Desmond is one of the three starter Pokemons in Monteriggioni, the first ‘town’ in the continent they are in and the headquarters of the Brotherhood.

They’re just called the Brotherhood, not the Assassin Brotherhood, and they’re rivals with the Order.

So three teenagers come to age and gets to pick their starter Pokemon before going on a journey across the continent to battle gym leaders and be legible to join the tournament held annually during the end of the year.

These young teenagers?

In Desmond’s eyes, they look exactly like Altaïr, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton.

Oh.

And apparently he was now a lizard with a flaming tail.

What the fuck.

The last thing he remembers is emptiness that made him sleepy.

When he woke up, he was there, in the middle of a large circular scifi looking table with a blue turtle with a curly tail and some kind of animal with a large closed plant on its back and…

Holy shit.

What the hell is this place?

He could see his reflection from one of the nearby monitors and he was a red lizard with a flaming tail.

He began to flap his tail, accidentally smacking the turtle who let out an indignant “Squirtle!” and smacked him back with his own tail.

Desmond, still not used to his new center of balance, staggered and accidentally slammed against the plant animal on his other side who went “Bulba-saur!” and…

All three stared at the sudden all out brawl happening on the presentation table as Ezio asked, “Uuhhh, Tio…?”

“Such lively Pokemons.” Mario simply laughed it off, “Don’t worry. We’ll heal them once you picked your first Pokemons!”

“Are you telling us to pick now?” Ratonhnhaké:ton asked with a frown.

“Yes. And…” Mario grinned at them, “As your first duty as a Pokemon trainer, you three should stop them from fighting too.”

“You just don’t want to get between that fight yourself.” Altaïr dryly said.

Mario just laughed instead of denying it.

(You decide who gets Desmond. By this point, you guys know me enough to know which one I would pick hahahahaha)

[coldgoldlazarus]

Maybe the solution to egg discourse, is that sometimes suggestions help trans people figure it out, and sometimes it pushes them deeper into denial instead, and so we shouldn't be making broad assumptions about what is or isn't good for someone, and just take each instance on a contextual basis?

[canisalbus]

AU where there is some sort of zombie-like (maybe something like a rabid vampirism?)

Where one of the boys is bit/infected and desperately wants the other to join them, while also wanting to resist?

.

[yourlocalabomination]

i need your opinion. jeff blim tinky or curt mega tinky

Oh this is such a good question!

While I do have aspects that I love about both portrayals my overall favourite is undoubtedly Jeff’s.

In Time Bastard we get to see Tinky be absolutely deranged when it comes to fucking around with Ted, and Jeff manages to protrude that sadistic energy entirely. The laugh alone solidifies that for me. Jeff has such a way with playing unhinged characters (Hidgens in Workin’ boys, Aladdin in Twisted, The father in Trail to Oregon, etc) that I don’t think there is a better Starkid actor to play Tinky.

While Grace, Steph and Pete are acted as being scared in The Summoning honestly wasn’t that scary? For me at least? Idk it was more silly (don’t get me wrong I love The Summoning scene it just didn’t have that scare factor- I mean Curts dancing around in neon yellow). And while I do like Tinky having a more silly goofy side to him I prefer the portrayal of that having a more sadistic streak, as seen in Time Bastard.

I know that in The Summoning the LIBs “hold court in your own tongue and form”, (aka appear as teenagers) makes sense story wise and for a on stage preformance. But I’m a big fan of horror, so even the description Tinky being a:

“A solidarity figure. It wears a baggy, furry body- suit. It’s yellow and matted. Dirty. Stinking. Worst of all is its head. A motionless, demented goat mask. It has glassy, evil eyes, a slack jaw with big crooked teeth, a flopping wet tongue”.

Fuck so hard to me. That shit slaps ok. Tinky being refered to a “The thing”, “This creature”, “The nightmare goat”, in the Time Bastard script? Give me more of that please.

(I know that this isn’t particularly pertaining to Jeff’s portrayal, more of the script writing, but they go hand in hand. The script is only as good as the actors can make it. And Jeff does that description of Tinky so much justice).

All that being said- when it comes to drawing Tinky I prefer to draw him as Curt (plus a few extra things added to put my own spin on the design) due to that being his first human form portrayal. Also because I can’t draw goats.

Despite all this, I need it to be known that “oh boy! A spankoffski! I’m going to have the whole set in my toy box!” has and will continue to rot in my brain for many more months to come.