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vivienna-vivid · 3 years ago

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Arjuna (Janaka) (Alter Ego) Mock Bond Profiles 1-5

A Servant that appeared during a major mishandling of Saint's Graphs. The messy accident caused the Endowed Hero Arjuna to become another version of himself, taken from the Javanese version of the Mahabharata — the Kakawin Bharatayuddha. For the sake of ease, he's asked to be called Janaka instead of Arjuna.

A kind-hearted prince who is both charming and strong, Janaka's many travels and quests became a source of inspiration and awe for the people of Java. While often likened to a gentle dove, he is still able to rip and tear his enemies without much effort. It could be said that this Janaka took the positives of his two older brothers: Bima's unapologetic zest for life and Yudhisthira's kind virtue.

Most famous is Janaka's love of women — or more correctly: women's love for Janaka. The prince has an astounding number of wives and flings, some of them being divine in nature. It's said that Janaka's beauty was so dazzling that many women would fall head over heels over him, and he too would accept any woman that approaches him.

"Who is Don Juan and why are you comparing him to me?"

Bond 1

Height/Weight: 177 cm, 72 kg

Source: Kakawin Bharathayuddha

Region: Indonesia, India

Alignment: Neutral Good

Gender: Male

Bond 2

A clueless idiot, but makes it up with his endearing determination.

"Um... What's the Spanish word for quesadilla again? I've been learning Spanish so I can get Lady Quetz to like me."

A noteworthy habit of Janaka is that, when on a quest to receive divine weaponry, he often introduces himself as Begawan (Monk) Mintaraga.

Within a European context, Janaka can be said to be a questing hero — traveling to and fro, meeting new people, and learning new things.

Indeed, within Janaka is a deep-seated desire to learn. Whether it be new combat techniques, sacred spells, philosophical arguments, or even just a person’s life, Janaka is eager to understand these things.

No matter the distance he has to go to reach this understanding, no matter the risks, he is always willing to take all these on head-first.

Such curiosity makes him quite the skilled conversationalist and an easy favorite for his granduncle. In other words, Janaka is that kind of students who gets good grades and is beloved by most teachers.

“Uwaaa, there’s so many things I didn’t know about! This world is truly wonderful!”

Bond 3

Janaka cannot feel love. No matter how many people adore and pamper him, those feelings cannot be reach Janaka.

Not to say he’s heartless or cruel; the man can understand happiness and kindness, and is close to his mother and brothers.

It’s simply that he doesn’t understand that base soul-moving feeling that can inspire many people.

In his eyes, a mother cares for her children because she must. A brother cares for his siblings because he must.

Janaka too diligently performs his duties as a prince, warrior, brother, and husband because he must. However, he finds great enjoyment in these tasks even if he cannot understand the “core” of these actions.

Janaka’s wise enough to understand that his brother may have just said empty promises, but he likes to think his brother was right. He never lies, after all.

Such sentiments made Janaka a carefree man, but he does understand that there is something “missing” from him.

Because he cannot love, he has trouble connecting to others. And a warrior who cannot understand the hearts of others is a powder keg waiting to explode.

His mother fortunately caught this when Janaka was still a young prince and, with the help of his eldest brother Puntadewa, drilled in basic concepts of virtue into him.

While this made Janaka the dutiful and kind warrior that he is, he becomes deeply aware that he’s different from everyone else.

“It’s fine,” his brother would assure him. “You’ll find the answers eventually. So walk on with your head up high.”

“I don’t really get it, but everyone does it so I have to do it too, right? Besides, if it can help me reach others, then why stop?”

Bond 4

Ideal Gentleman: A

Arjuna is seen a symbol of peak masculinity by the Javanese, even outranking the mighty Bhima. His softness as a prince, strength as a warrior, and kindness as a man inspires great respect (and even love) within men and women alike. Thus, Janaka has an air of likability to him.

“I have an idea! Just trust me on this! I haven’t died from my ideas yet——!!”

Loveless Inspiration: B-

Unable to feel love, Janaka may do things that seem stupid and is able to get through seemingly impossible things. This Skill allow Janaka to take less-thought of route due to his condition. Very nifty! Though, it could also be argued that it’s Kresna (Krishna) who’s covering for his reckless choices...

Bond 5

“Ehhh? Why is it only Pasopati that gets all the love?! What about my other arrows?! Ardadali?! Cundamanik?! What about my sacred knives?! Damn it, I’m gonna use ALL my weapons!! Don’t force me to play favorites, ever!!”

『Fly Freely, Arrows That Announces Certain Death』

Rank: B++

NP Type: Anti-Unit/Anti-Battalion (Anti-Unit)

Range: 1-100 (1)

Maximum Target: 1-50 (1)

Pasopati. Originally Pashupata in the Mahabharata, this is the arrow Janaka received from Batara Siwa capable of killing any being—no matter the blessings protecting them. In essence, this arrow can “cut through lines that keep a being whole.” Compared to the terrible Pashupata, Pasopati is quite tame and can only target one person at a time. However...

...Janaka has found it more appropriate to use every weapon he has before firing Pasopati. And these arrows are the size of short swords, mind you. Before firing, Janaka has decided to get in close and personal to the enemy and use his arrows (and bow) as swords.

Due to this, this Noble Phantasm will be recorded to be stronger than it actually is.

#vivien writes #oc; janaka #his majesty prince dumbass #fate series #fgo #fate grand order #fate oc #arjuna fgo #janaka is a joke servant but dammit jokes deserve love too #HE'S DONE YEAHHHHH #will I write lines for juna and junao? yes but later

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nobrakes · 3 years ago

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It’s weird. Maxiel is a pairing I didn’t think would work but did so and did SO fucking well. Dando is a pairing I thought would work but hasn’t really…

I am friends with Dando truthers and therefore cannot say much about Dando not working if 1) i don't wanna get kicked out of our own discord server and 2) these motherfuckers have been acting like they like each other since Monza, i guess nothing other than a 1-2 cured their relationship. 3) their dynamic is literally annoying younger/older brother, lando who will forever think daniel is lame, daniel who will forever think of lando as a baby (don't shoot me besties)

Now Max/Daniel definitely shouldn't work conceptually. Feral youngling raised by karts fast-tracked to f1 who has no real concept of how to interact with ppl gets paired with the notoriously most adored by everyone in the paddock has everyone eating out of his hand charming teammate? SHOULD NOT WORK.

Daniel should've absolutely thought this kid is weird as hell and also fuck him for beating me and making me hate this fucking team. Max should have HATED Daniel because here is this man who pretends to not be phased at all by things, who breaks the wall to my driver's room if he has a bad day but pretends he's cheery in front of the press, here is this man who is handsome and confident and has tattoos and is friends with everyone who also sometimes beats me in qualifying cause i wasn't good enough that day. and YET both of them can't help but LIKING each other.

Daniel finding Max's quirks incredibly weird but soon enough endearing, Max thinking Daniel is the FUNNIEST PERSON IN THE WORLD can't help but to die of laughter every time he's around him. Both of them being weird after a c**sh or a fucked up thing that has happened (Daniel not giving Max a tow in qualifying when they had an agreement in the team), but also silently agreeing that they shouldn't take that too seriously between each other and JOKING about it (well DONE baku) (On The Sofa 2017 when they were talking about DNFs and Daniel jokes about having had 6 dnfs and "it...could've...been...five [looks at max who is the reason why he dnfed]" and then they laugh harder)

Did i even answer your question or did i just rant about max/daniel for too many words....

#answered #anonymous #max/daniel #maxiel #edit lemme add a tag here #ON PURPOSE I'M GOING TO LOVE YOU ON PURPOSE

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lunaastoir · 4 years ago

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cute things i think the genshin characters would do

characters included: diluc, kaeya, venti, and albedo

****minor lore spoilers for diluc!****

an: i’m thinking of making this into a series bc this was such an adorable concept to write so lmk if you’re interested 👀 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

diluc

sorry kind of starting off with something a little sad

i think diluc would have a habit of rubbing his vision

ok seems kinda dumb at first but let me elaborate:

after the death of his father, diluc was quite obviously devastated

he basically withdrew into himself after letting all the grief, pain, and rage flood his senses

i think during this time of grieving, he would’ve developed this habit of running the pads of his fingers across his vision to calm himself down

(v similar to katara from atla)

since his father had always been proud of diluc’s vision, the thought of touching something that reminded him of his father has always been able to bring him some sort of relief no matter how short lived

it serves as a constant memory of his dad and i think being able to have that kind of connection - no matter how small would hold a significance to him

stressed? you’ll see his fingers dance across his vision as the crease between his eyebrows gradually loosens

ok here’s a bonus habit (bc the previous one was sad)

whenever he’s bartending at angel’s share, he always flips the bottles in this cool bartending way before pouring the drinks

like the whole shabang - flips in the air, shakes it in a way that the drink foams just right

people are usually v surprised when they see this bc woah mans has got some sKILLS

but also bc he’s known for being pretty serious and reserved so seeing a “trick” is kind of breaking the stoic image they have of him

after he’s done pouring the drinks he’s also really precise about closing the bottles

he makes sure that the caps are on tightly and that nothing is leaking (which ig is another reason why he does flips with them so he can make sure that the bottles are tightly closed)

yes he’s rich but he also wants to make sure the drinks don’t go bad bc 1) kind of a loss if they do and 2) his customers deserve the best

sweet man pls protect him <3

kaeya

when he’s sitting down at his desk, he brings his legs up so he can sit on his chair criss- cross applesauce

since he’s in his office and the only other person who’s in there with him is jean, he feels like he can drop the suave, charming cavalry captain facade he puts on when he’s in public and just dial it down slightly to who he really is in that moment

jean doesn’t say a word the entire time even tho she quite obviously notices

don’t get me wrong, he’s still the smooth talking kaeya but just,,, more relaxed and comfortable?? if that makes sense

so since he’s a lot more comfortable in his office, he usually folds his legs into his chair bc damn they hurt from walking around all day

this is kinda dumb but i also think he has a lot of ink stains on his hands from writing so whenever he sees a fresh one he just likes to stamp it onto a piece of paper

usually that piece of paper ends up being an unimportant report that goes to jean

dw he also has a bunch of pretty small towels in his bottom drawer that he uses to wipe his hands on bc the public can’t see the pretty cavalry captain w ink stains!! the world would end!!

oH kind of a side note but i also think he would keep a small folded up picture of something klee drew him in his pocket

he thinks it’s very sweet and he periodically takes it out just to look at it soft for this man

last one for kaeya but since he wears boots that have the little lip on the bottom (not really a heel but enough to make some noise) he makes sure to always try his best to walk quietly around the streets of mondstadt at night

if anyone catches him doing it he’ll wave it off and say something like “oh me? i’m just practicing my stealth - it comes in handy when you have to sneak up on enemies you know?” but in reality that’s just bs

he really just doesn’t wanna risk waking people up <3

venti

this adorable man is obviously notorious for drinking

he loves alcohol!! i mean he’s the anemo archon of the city of wine and freedom so is anyone really surprised 💀

anyways venti always jokes abt not having any mora (he really doesn’t he’s not wrong) but he always makes sure to pay his tab at angel’s share

the only reason diluc lets him drink sm is because at the end of the day, venti always comes through w the mora

he really is a talented bard so everything he makes in singing and composing music for other people to listen to always goes straight to angel’s share (debatable if that’s for the best or not but i’ll leave that one to you)

so yeah <3 basically venti pays back his tabs even tho he’s an archon since he doesn’t want people to experience a loss bc of him

it’s the archon nature coming out but also the venti nature bc he’s a sweet boy

anyways getting onto the actual habit 🕺

he has a tendency to skip/hop regardless of wherever he’s going

he uses his anemo elemental skill a lot while doing this just he can feel a light breeze whenever he skips around

i also think he carries around extra bard strings in his hat bc he thinks it’s a cool party trick to take them out and be like tada i have extra strings no need to worry!!!

people are usually not that amused but he does it anyway

also yeah uh those strings sometimes fall out when he’s skipping 💀

he’ll be hopping and suddenly bOOM they fall out, he loses them, a kitten by the name of prince takes them, and he has to ask for help to find his strings (i believe this is exactly how venti lost his strings to prince during the windblume festival and no i will not take any criticism and if venti says something different he is lying 🔪)

also has a habit of putting his hair into a bun sometimes!!!

he loves his pigtails but he finds that he gets bored of them occasionally and his hair needs a break from its wavy tresses so he just plops it into a bun instead

so so cute 10/10 hairstyle he can do my hair

anyways love this man thanks for coming home <3

albedo

i had a feeling i would kind of have a hard time w albedo since he is a little hard to read so i hope this is ok LMFAO

he has paint stains. everywhere. no you cannot change my mind.

they are subtle tho i will give him that

you can’t notice that anything is amiss until you really pay attention and then you’ll start to see the pretty pastels and greens of the sunset he was painting up on dragonspine softly smeared across his clothes

very rarely you’ll see a cute swipe of paint across his cheek or neck and it’s honestly adorable

he was probably pushing his hair out of his face while he was painting and some excess paint on his finger landed on his cheek :,)

he doesn’t really care tbh he thinks it’s just a part of him and it really isn’t that noticeable so he just leaves it

also!!! since he is a big alchemist and he’s constantly working on labs and experiments i think he would accidentally misplace a lot of his written work

he seems very organized but w someone as intellectual as him w his brain running miles a minute, i’m sure he has definitely forgotten where he’s put stuff away

so!! in order to help him remember, he has little notes across his lab detailing where everything is

if he was working on something and he immediately has to put it on hold bc something came up (klee came in demanding attention or sucrose needs help) then he’ll quickly jot down a note and stick it to his desk so he’ll remember when he comes back just in case he forgets

sucrose as a result has noticed A LOT of notes across the lab and it’s simultaneously funny and endearing

“started experiment with sweet flowers to try and turn them into a youth elixir: papers --> on the desk right next to klee’s photo”

final point: he lets klee braid his hair sometimes if she wants to

she doesn’t really know how given how young she is so she ends up messing up but albedo always walks her patiently through the steps again

always makes time for klee no matter what bc he really does care a lot abt her :,)

i love him sm pls

#diluc #kaeya #venti #albedo #genshin imagines #genshin scenarios #genshin headcanons #genshin impact #genshin diluc #genshin kaeya #genshin venti #genshin albedo #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact scenarios #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact fluff #genshin fluff #diluc ragnvindr #kaeya alberich

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clarkgriffon · 3 years ago

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i got 2 yeses to talk about the icarly revival and that’s good enough for me.

okay, so the icarly revival was nostalgia bait. obviously we all knew that going in. but it was weirdly endearing revival bait and at the same time was very obviously flawed.

this got really long so im not going to bother most people with scrolling

so, the show starts with an excellent premise: carly is rebooting icarly without sam and needs to find what her vision is. but the problem is... they don’t utilize that like at all after introducing it? the web show pops up a couple times throughout the series when a backdrop is needed, for example, when freddie & griffin are touting griffin’s MLM scheme, but otherwise, the web show is pushed far in the background. sure, carly deals with a few modern consequences of being online, such as going viral as a meme, but the concept of the internet and more importantly, carly’s webshow is severely underplayed.

so that takes us to carly. they do some things right with carly, playing on some of her original character traits quite well, such as the fact she’s a notorious busybody. one thing i really liked as well was her relationship with harper and the way it was differentiated from her relationship with sam. in particular, the episode where harper makes carly’s finale dress into a new red carpet look was excellent development there. but there’s a lot of focus on carly’s love life in the revival that, as i mentioned in the previous paragraph, seems to supercede the webshow. now, carly’s love interests were always a Thing in the original 2007 icarly, but in the revival it really does feel like the question of season 1 turns into: is carly going to find a boyfriend vs. the original prompt of “can carly revive her webshow?”

speaking of carly’s love interests, let’s talk about freddie. i think the writers really struggled with freddie’s character. 2007 icarly freddie has a couple of core character traits: being in love with/obsessed with carly (which is resolved within the original series, so they can’t bring that element back), being a techie (which they attempt to adapt into his desire to be an entrepeneur/have his own startup, but this focuses more on him as a businessman than as a techie which confuses me), and being bullied by sam. with no sam, the writers choose to have the narrative bully him instead. he’s down on his luck, constantly fails, is bullied by his own daughter, and things just generally cannot go right for him. and because this isn’t a nickelodeon show and physical assault the way sam did it isn’t as funny as it was on a 2007 kid’s program, freddie isn’t getting physically abused anymore, but getting emotionally torn down again and again, which just isn’t satisfying to watch! the highlight of freddie’s character turns out to be his relationship development with his adoptive daughter millicent, which is sweet, heartfelt, and just about the only way he gets to win this season. i also think that carly & freddie’s relationship is pretty underplayed in season 1- a lot of the scenes they get together are ship bait, and they get a few genuine heartfelt moments in s1 but as the only 2 members of the original trio in the revival, i think they justified more screentime together.

millicent, freddie’s adoptive daughter, was a surprising highlight of the season. i was skeptical about it in theory since freddie and carly are still so young in the series, but she gelled well and had a really fun dynamic with a lot of the cast, especially carly and freddie. she was a little on the nose for what they were trying to do with the “new generation” of internet users, but overall i enjoyed the character.

i also enjoyed what they did with spencer. of all the characters, he felt truest to his 2007 coutnerpart. maybe it’s because 2007 icarly spencer was an adult and the adaptation was just that he was an older adult. jerry trainer was spectacular, as always. i think the biggest falter with spencer was that he was underused and didn’t have a designated pair. a lot of time the main characters in icarly have counterparts- in the 2007 icarly, though there were variations- there was often a spencer plot and a main trio plot, and spencer would have various characters he could riff off of, like gibby or others. in the revival, a lot of the time carly would have a solo journey or was with harper, freddie was with millicent, and spencer was kind of left floundering for a storyline.

and our last main character, harper. now, harper is interesting because i really enjoyed her relationship with carly and how differentiated she was from sam (trying to create a sam carbon copy would’ve been a disaster). I also enjoyed that she didn’t HAVE to be connected to the OG characters to be relevant- she got her own storylines even without carly or spencer or freddie. but i think where harper fails is that she’s very exclusively connected to carly. the original show, as i said, has a huge TRIO vibe and the fact that freddie is almost nonexistantly connected to harper loses a lot of the essence of the original.

but like i said- it’s nostalgia bait. and the way this really hits in the wrong way is with its guest characters. They bring back characters for the purpose of bringing them back with no thought to their original characterization. if they were going to focus on carly’s love life as much as they did, it’s shocking to me that they brought griffin back as an MLM joke rather than a real love interest- it had nothing to do with his original character and was a huge missed opportunity- they could’ve addressed carly’s growth from breaking up with him for his beanie baby collection to having a more well-informed view of masculinity. but instead he’s an MLM schemer? and it felt like that with a lot of the guests. they were there just so fans could point and go “wow! that’s freddie’s mom!” i would say the most well done one was nevel’s reintroduction, drawing on his original characterization and pulling a crazy scheme to marry carly because he’s still holding that flame for her. it was absurd and silly, but it was nevel (though they sort of ruined it in the end by nevel getting his happy ending with the girl carly thinks is a robot).

another place the show struggled was in its comedy. it really couldn’t find the feeling with its jokes. when it wasn’t pulling on old gags for laughs ( “was it supposed to catch on fire?” “never is”), i think they were trying to “adult-ify” the humor and it just wasn’t working. icarly in the original did have a lot of random = funny and i’m glad they decided to steer away from that, but by the end of season 1, i still don’t think they’ve found their comedic voice.

so, why did i think it was good? why did i still enjoy it overall? because i think if i added up positives and negatives, negatives would probably outweigh postiives. but i think that despite it all, the icarly revival was endearing. i thought the actors, particularly the returning actors, did a great job breathing life back into the characters and i did enjoy seeing them again (although, weirdly, i think miranda in particular was a better actor in the original than she is as an adult in this role). i think the show has a lot of great actors and has a lot of potential as a revival. i like that it’s not a reboot, but a continuation of the canon.

so, we’ll see how season 2 goes. i’m holding out hope and i think even if it doesn’t address a lot of these problems, i’ll still be decently entertained.

#icarly

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7-deadly-simpin · 4 years ago

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Got a request! The brothers with a writer mc that writes about the brothers in a lowkey way

(Im guessing you can do that!)

Congrats on 300 followers!!

Oh yes of course and thank you! 💙💚

I wasn't sure if you wanted serious or silly, so I kept it rather light and fun, hope you enjoy!

MC that Lowkey Writes about the Demon Brothers

(In order of most to least likely to figure it out)

Satan:

First to catch on about MCs indirect references to him and his brothers when they write.

MC always asked Satan to proofread their writing to see if it is captivating enough.

Being the bookworm he is, and always looking for something new to read (and new ways to impress MC) he happily agrees.

There were just too many similarities in the “characters” or “misadventures” for him not to take notice.

Finds it rather cute that MC feels inspired to write, let alone write about him and his brothers.

He may lightly touch on some similarities to watch you squirm.

Gauges your reactions to his teasing to see if it was your intention for him to find out or not.

His favorite story is about the ‘Cat Detective: The Purr-fect Crime’.

I wonder why…?

Lucifer:

Second to realize exactly what has gotten MC so inspired to write.

Ugh….of course you would allude to that time “some” Lord had a “bunch of male characters” parade around as ladies.

While some of your work causes him to blush out of embarrassment, he can’t help but enjoy some of your other work.

Your attention to detail in his implied attire brings a smirk to his face.

Oh no, the Avatar of Prides ego is swelling.

He will tease you about it, definitely.

Not until he’s had a chance to read all your work and discern which of him and his brothers are your most favorable for writing.

He hates to admit how much ‘Dad Dealing with Six Little Shits’ makes him chuckle.

Call him an old man in your work again though...you might run into some issues

Beelzebub:

Off handedly understands the entire concept involving his brothers, causing your eyes to widen in amazement and slight fear that he’ll tell everyone.

Of course he recognizes his brothers being worked into your writing, his family means more to him than FOOD.

He starts pointing out which characters are meant to represent his brothers, and even some random ones YOU didn’t catch

...maybe you didn’t realize just how much they inspire you.

But his hunger gets the best of him and he trails off while stuffing his face.

Woo, that was close….you couldn’t handle much more of him reading in-between the lines.

Not that he would ever say anything to his brothers if you asked him not to.

Finds it endearing and asks to read your writing when you’re finished.

Enjoys the story about the ‘Family Chef Extraordinaire’.

Asmodeus:

“Oh? May I read this MC? Your writing always brings a smile to my face!”

Cannot stop talking about how beautifully the words flow.

Your ability to make this one character in particular sound absolutely exquisite!

He’s highkey fawning over your imaginary character.

He must know more!

Oh how he wishes they were real so he could do more than just imagine things about them.

Asks for more writing about the mysterious attractive character.

Is...is Asmo unknowingly asking for fanfiction about himself?

Only after you ask him “How do you think you would react given this scenario” a few times does he catch on.

“Oh MC! Even in words I am gorgeous!”

Any and ALL work involving his alter-ego is an instant favorite.

Leviathan:

First off, he thinks the titles of the games you mention are WAY too short, how is he supposed to know the entire plot if the name of the game is 3 words???

Wait, this character likes gaming too?

*sudden interest*

You see a tiny smile displayed on his face as he starts to get more involved in the story.

Ah, this character is so brave, no wonder MC wants to write about them.

*Sad Levi noises*

Little did he realize, you basically wrote him into a Lord of Shadows AU.

Page after page, he gets drawn in even more.

He knew about fanfiction and AU’s, but he never expected himself to be a part of one.

*Happy Levi noises*

Sheepishly asks if you will be writing more and if he can read it when you are done.

Mammon:

Stumbles upon your writing on your blog while he’s skimming through items to...borrow from your room.

“Oi, what’s this?”

You figure it’s alright to show him, if it doesn’t involve making grimm, he usually isn’t very captivated.

Read a few lines in complete silence.

Leaves.

You’re slightly offended, but again you weren’t expecting much and that’s fine.

He comes back with some snacks and says to move over, he’s not done reading.

Mammon really likes the misadventures of the casino goer down on his luck. *cough*

“Oi, where’s the rest?!

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?? DOES HE MAKE IT BIG???”

Guess you have to write a part 2.

Belphie:

It’s not that he's actually less likely to realize than his brothers.

He just can’t stay awake long enough to read anything.

Even your shorter works.

All your work makes him want to take a nap, which might sound mean, but it's actually high praise from the avatar of sloth.

Your writing puts him in a calm state, they make him cozy and warm….and he’s knocked out.

He only got two sentences in, but at least he started reading your work...sort of.

Welp, guess he won’t get to hear about ‘The Wandering Magical Twin Escapades’.

You decide in the future that you really should switch to reading to him, like a bedtime story.

Feel free to send in requests!

#obey me! hcs #300 follower event #obey me satan #obey me lucifer #obey me beelzebub #obey me asmodeus #obey me leviathan #obey me mammon #obey me belphie #gn! reader #obey me x gn!reader

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discotreque · 4 years ago

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LwD 1.10, “No Small Parts”

Well, that was the most fun I've had watching Star Trek in literally a quarter of a century.

I had high hopes for this series. I love TAS, largely because of its wacky outsized concepts that could only have worked in animation—not that they all did work, but the potential was so apparent to me, even as a kid reading the Alan Dean Foster novelizations—and as an adult, there's something about the imagination of Lower Decks's FX setpieces that transcends even the glorious CGI bonanzas of Discovery.

Pause for a confession. I've long pushed back against criticism of serialization in new Trek. That's just how TV is now, okay? Might as well complain about it being in widescreen. But I'm backing down a little, because I've realized there is something about Star Trek that's inextricable from at least a partially-episodic format. And while Picard was telling a different kind of story, I can't deny that my favourite episodes of Disco have been the ones with a mostly self-contained A-plot. After 10 delightfully episodic instalments of LwD, its focus on long-term development of characters instead of a season-spanning puzzle-plot (okay, mostly just Mariner, but we only have 10 × 22 minutes and she is the star) has been downright refreshing.

So here we are, at the end of the most consistent and well-executed Season 1 of a Star Trek series since, arguably, Those Old Scientists. And sure, if they'd had to produce another... yikes, 42 episodes? Then sure, they probably would have dropped a clunker or two—but they didn't, and winning on a technicality is still winning. I'm practically vibrating with excitement for Disco to come back next week, but damn, I'm going to miss this little show while it's on hiatus.

Spoilers below:

Something I've been keeping track of finally paid off this week! (Which never happens to me, lol.) The destruction of the USS Solvang marked the first present-day death(s) of any Starfleet officer on Lower Decks, the only other on-screen killing at all being a flashback in "Cupid's Errant Arrow". Which makes sense, being (a) a comedy, and (b) about typically "expendable" characters: it hasn't been afraid to flirt with a little darkness here and there, but killing people off at Star Trek's usual pace wouldn't just be wrong for the tone, it would be downright bizarre.

But... people die on Star Trek. That's one of the core themes of the show, really: space is full of knowledge and beauty, but also danger and terror, and believing that the former is worth the risk of the latter is (according to Trek) one of humanity's most noble traits. I'm the least bloodthirsty TV watcher I know, but the longer we went with a body count of nil—ships completely evacuated before they were destroyed, main characters hilariously maimed without permanent consequences, etc.—well, I didn't mind per se, but the absence of truly deadly stakes was definitely getting conspicuous.

Turns out they were saving it up for maximum impact. And holy fuck, I've never felt such a pit in my stomach watching a ship get destroyed that wasn't named Enterprise. It felt grim and brutal and somehow both much too quick and dreadfully inevitable—and yeah, it looked extremely fucking cool—and I'd like every other Star Trek property for the rest of time to take notes under a large bold heading labeled RESTRAINT.

Comedy doesn't need to do this, but my favourite comedy does, and in a way that few other art forms can even approach: lower my emotional defences by making me laugh, endear character(s) to me with goofy-but-relatable antics—then BAM, sucker-punch me in the motherfucking feels. M*A*S*H is probably the classic example on TV, Futurama was notorious for it, and even Archer has pulled it off a few times; it's also a staple of some of my favourite standup. I wasn't sure if Lower Decks was going to go there in Season 1—and wasn't sure if they'd earn it—but I knew if they did, that they'd nail it, and damn. Feels good to be right.

Last batch of notes for the season!!! I rambled enough already, so let's do it liveblog-style:

I fucking KNEW they were going to use "archive" visuals from TAS at some point, I KNEW IT :D

"THOSE OLD SCIENTISTS" ahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I like chill and confident Boimler a lot? You can really see—

oh bRADWARD NOOOOO

That opening shot of the Solvang tracking down to the red giant was extremely Discovery-esque... minus the motion sickness, that is

A lady captain AND a lady first officer? That's—oh hey, it's Captain Dayton's brand-new ship. Hahaha, that means they're totally fucked, right?.

Yep! They sure a—umm, wh—shit, okay, but—oh no—no, you can't—wait DON'T

...fuck

FUCK.

Narrator: "And then Amy needed a five-hour break."

[live-action Star Trek showrunner voice] "Gee, Mike! Why does CBS let you have two cold opens?"

Okay, yes, the bit with Rutherford cycling through all the different attitudes in his implant was transparently an excuse for Eugene Cardero to vamp while waiting for something to do in the story, but as far as I'm concerned they can contrive a reason for him to do a bunch of different silly Rutherfords in a row any time they damn well want, because that was classic!!!

EXOCOMP EXOCOMP EXOCOMP EXOCOMP

AND THE EXOCOMP IS PAINTED LIKE THE EXOCOMP IS WEARING A LITTLE EXOCOMP-SIZED STARFLEET UNIFORM

EXOCOMP!!!!!

The slow burn and now the payoff of the Mariner-is-Freeman's-secret-daughter plot has been executed so well. I'm beyond impressed with this writer's room, y'all—they are threading a hell of a needle here

"Wolf 359 was an inside job" would have been a spit-take if I'd had anything in my mouth

...how many memos do you think Starfleet Command has had to issue asking people to stop calling the USS Sacramento "the Sac"?

CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW THEY'VE DECORATED THE SHUTTLECRAFT SEQUOIA THOUGH

Is, uh, is it weird if I'm starting to ship Tendi and Peanut Hamper a little? It is weird, isn't it. I knew it was weird...

Coital barbs??? I take back everything I said about wanting to know more about Shaxs/T'Ana.

The "good officer" version of Mariner is... kind of hot, tbh! But Tawny Newsome has done such a great job of building this character all season that her voice getting uncharacteristically clipped and martial and "sir! yes, sir!" is also deeply, deeply weird

Ah, so this is literally exactly like when TNG (and DS9) would bring in, and then blow up, a never-before-seen Galaxy-class ship, just to underscore that we're facing a real threat this week, baby. And hey, it fucking worked—my heart was in my throat, omg, for the reveal of the—

PAKLEDS?????????

The fucking PAKLEDS have been gluing weapons to their ships for the last 15 years. GREAT.

(We interrupt the SHIP BEING SLICED INTO SCRAP for an interesting bit of world-building: on Earth, the traditional First Contact Day meal is salmon!)

"I need a dangerous, half-baked solution that breaks Starfleet codes and totally pisses me off! That's an order." I'm starting to think Captain Freeman might actually be overqualified for the Cerritos, y'all—she's REALLY awesome

OH SHIT IT'S BADGEY, this is a TERRIBLE IDEA

"How much contraband have you hidden on my ship?" "I don't know! A lot!"

Awwww, Boims!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHA, FUCK THIS, PEANUT HAMPER OUT

BADGEY NOOOOO

AUGHHHHH WHAT THE CHRIST DID HE JUST—BUT—RUTHERFORD'S IMPLANT????

RUTHERFORD!!!!!!!!!!

SHAXS!!!!!!

F U C K ! ! ! ! !

ahaIOPugdfhagntpgjrq90e5mgu90qe5;oigoqgw4ouegrw5SP;IAEHURVa IT’S THE TITAN???????????

IT'S CAPTAIN WILLIAM T. RIKER ON THE MOTHERFUCKING TITAN??????????

i'm screaming I'M SCREAMINGGGGGGTGGGTGQER;LBHAOIBVNV;OAPBIJNVagr;h;oagruipuwtnaetbaetgq35ghqet

I'M SO GLAD THIS WASN'T SPOILED FOR ME WTF

I AM WEEPING LIKE A CHILD

...

(Just a brief 20-minute pause this time)

And oh wow, seeing Will and Deanna hits different after Picard too, in a few different ways, which I may even get into later now that my heartrate is back to normal, lmao

Oh, I am always here for some jokes at the expense of the Sovereign class. The Enterprise-E sucked. They should have built a new bigger model of the D and new Galaxy-class interiors for the TNG movies, and I will die on that hill

OKAY, FINE, YOU GOT ME, RUTHERFORD × TENDI WOULD BE ADORABLE AND THIS IS ACTUALLY A PRETTY GOOD SETUP FOR IT

Awwww, Shaxs though :( Congrats on the single most badass death in Star Trek history, dude. The Prophets would—well, the actual Prophets would probably be slightly confused about most of it, but Kira Nerys would be proud of you and I feel like that probably counts for more. RIP, Papa Bear

I am here all damn DAY for the Mariner–Riker parallels, ahahahahaha

Pausing it to record my prediction that Boimler's commitment to not caring about rank anymore is going to last 3... 2...

Yep.

Bradward, how DARE YOU.

"Those guys had a long road, getting from there to here." OH FOR THE LOVE OF—

What a brilliant way to resolve and renew the various character arcs and relationships moving into Season 2! The writers could easily have brought everything back to status quo—chaotic Mariner fighting with her mom and being a bad influence on Boimler, etc.—and done another 10 just like these, but I suspect that wouldn't have been ambitious enough for these writers. What a blast. I cannot wait for more.

Thanks for following along, friends! Stay tuned for my (similarly patchy and amateur) coverage of Discovery, starting next week!

#star trek #star trek lower decks #lwd spoilers #lower decks spoilers #lower decks #amy's episode notes

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pro-fangirls-unsocial-life · 4 years ago

Note

Can I be a funky folk and ask a question??? 😋What is your favorite movie or tv show, aside from Star Wars?

You absolutely can!!❤❤

That is a tough one though. I’m a film major but like... a bad one I guess cause none of my favorites are any of the classics that we have to watch lmao. I chose my favorites based on how much fun I have watching them!

But also, because of that, it is hard to pick just one so I’m going to give you three random ones from my top ten list (excluding Star Wars of course cause those are definitely there lmao)

Movies:

1. Yojimbo (1961) This is probably the one that would be the most acceptable for my film professors. It was made by Akira Kurosawa, who some of you might know as a Japanese director who made quite a few famous samurai films. For all of my fellow Star Wars fans (and maybe other film people lmao), the episode in the Clone Wars and The Mandalorian where the small farming villages are taught how to protect themselves from bandits/pirates is based on his movie Seven Samurai (which is what The Magnificent Seven was also based on). And, the season two episode of The Mandalorian, The Jedi, was heavily influenced by Yojimbo, specifically this scene:

I highly recommend the movie to anyone because it is honestly very entertaining and for my fellow film nerds, the blocking and camera work is stunning (although Kurosawa is a fantastic director and his blocking of scenes is always fantastic)

Another little fun fact, the actor who plays the main character in Yojimbo (as well as many of Kurosawa’s films) was who George Lucas originally wanted to cast as ObiWan Kenobi. His name is Toshiro Mifune.

Another bit of trivia that probably none of you are interested in is that Kurosawa always tries to have an element in every single shot of his movies. The elements always have something to do with the shot, or story as a whole and add another interesting layer to the movie. Like in the shots above, the main element is wind, signifying the turmoil and unrest that is taking place (I won’t spoil the movie for you though❤ the plot is not at all similar to the episode of the Mandalorian so there is no need to worry). In another one of his movies, Rashomon (1950), the element throughout a majority of the movie is rain (water) and it does not change until the mystery of the murder that took place is solved, and the skies become clear. (I also highly recommend that movie as well)

2. Pacific Rim (2013) Ok, this one is just a fun time. There is nothing particularly groundbreaking about it (although the special effects are stunning), I just enjoy it. And, unlike other monster movies, you see the monsters right off the bat. They don’t hide them and the story is honestly really interesting. I just really love this movie. Its fun, the characters are well written and endearing (plus the side characters the gay scientists have a side plot that actually furthers the story, the story is interesting and the concept of drifting is beautifully unique and done very well, the score is phenomenal, and as I said before, the effects are beautiful. They did a very good blend of practical and CG effects and it really pays off in the end product. Guillermo del Toro really put his heart into this (like he does with all of his projects I am so excited to see his Pinocchio movie) and it really shows. This movie is so good and I will defend it to the end of my days. Also for any of you that are interesting I am currently working on a Pacific Rim Clone Wars AU so... do with that information what you will

Side note, I really wish the sequel was good cause John Boyega is a good actor and deserves to be in a franchise that will use him and his talents properly. Guillermo del Toro did not direct that one and.... it shows.

3. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) I cannot shower this movie with enough praise. If you haven’t seen it, you need to. It is one of the most gorgeous, beautiful to look at, piece of art in every single frame thing that has ever been put to film and I will fight people on that (fuck you professor carter). The story is fantastic. The whole movie is a visual masterpiece and you can tell that a lot of hard work and love went into making it that way. Both the score and soundtrack are amazing. It is, in my opinion, the best superhero movie ever made. I could go on for hours about what a masterpiece this movie is. Please go watch it if you haven’t seen it.

TV:

1. Criminal Minds (2005-2020) I know, I know. Everyone loves this show. I know I’m basic. But again, I judge based on my enjoyment of things lol. I just like shows like this. I watch a lot of them NCIS, Castle, Bones, Law and Order. I just find them super entertaining (even if the writing can be bad at times *cough* final season of criminal minds where they tried to do a JJ and Spencer romance *cough*)

2. Face Off (2011-2018) I know there is a Nicolas Cage movie of the same name but this show is fucking awesome. It’s a reality competition show where make up artists are given a new prompt/concept/challenge that they have to do prosthetic make up for. It is so cool to see all of the designs and the process behind them being made. The first season starts off with a bunch of drama like most reality TV, but after that, the competitors are all mostly very kind with one another and it is a very friendly environment. Still a bit stressful because of the time limits but still a fun watch!!

3. What’s New, Scooby-Doo? (2002-2006) If there is any show that was my childhood (besides clone wars), it is this show. I love this show with my whole heart and Scooby-Doo is very dear to me. Its just a fun kids show. Simple as that. But I absolutely adore it.

Thank you so much for this!! I really love talking about movies and TV. And if you ask me a simple question, you will most likely get a mini essay as an answer lol.

I’d love to talk about any movie or TV show that you guys ask about though!!! If you ever want to send something in, please do so!!

#pro speaks #haloangel391 #you are a funky folk #and i love you

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crusherthedoctor · 4 years ago

Text

Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 15: DR. EGGMAN

There are some villains I like. And there are some villains I don’t like. But why do I feel about them the way I do? That’s where this comes in.

This is a mini-series of mine, in which I go into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the villains in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and why I think they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions! I don’t bite. :>

Anyhow, for today’s installment, it’s finally time for him. The bad doctor himself. Gather round ladies and gentleman, for the spotlight is on the arch-villain that shines above them all... Dr. Eggman.

The Gist: It's the dawn of the 90's. A little company called SEGA had an ephiphany. They wanted to make a video game juggernaut that could rival the quality and iconic appeal of the then-unmatched Super Mario Bros, and their current star, Alex Kidd, just wasn't doing it in the way that they hoped. They promptly set about starting anew, as a worldwide phenomenon wasn't going to make itself.

So a gentleman named Naoto Ohshima created a selection of design concepts for this brand new mascot. One of these concepts was President Roosevelt in his pajamas.

Seen here with his catgirl body pillow.

The response to this character was “This is good, but we think kids would prefer kicking the shit out of him”, and so he was given an antagonistic role instead. In the meantime, after juggling the rest of their ideas, they eventually settled on a rabbit hedgehog named Sonic for their main protagonist, knowing his Mickey Mouse-like aesthetic would help endear him to the audience, and the franchise as a whole would have an easier time gaining a DeviantART fanbase later on down the line.

Initially, the character of today's review was but a mere lackey among many, seemingly little more than one of numerous minions working for Sonic's originally intended main villain, the Nonspecific Goblin. He was also dressed as a bee for some reason.

Which is the least weirdest thing in this image.

At some point however, they all got together and decided that actually, the guy with the moustache was the only one worth shit, and so he was upgraded to the role of main villain himself. With a spiffy new attire of red and black, he was given the bold title of Dr. Eggman, because with a shape like that, what else are you gonna call him?

“Funny you should say that”, laughed SEGA of America, as they rebelled like an angsty teen and named him Dr. Ivo Robotnik instead. While this name does make equal sense for the character, as he is indeed a hard worker who also happens to like robots, the reason for this name's existence seems to have been mainly because they thought Eggman was too out there of a name for an egg-like man. Whatever the case, this would confuse a lot of fans for years, and remains a point of divisiveness to this day... Unless you're like me and your first game in the series was Advance 2, in which the manual clears it up right away, and you accept the idea of a character having two names and immediately carry on with your life.

He would have aimed it perfectly if it weren't for the Sonic Heroes Parrot distracting him.

And that was that, really. It didn't take long for them to come up with his characterization, which was that of a cackling fiend with an ego to end all egos. This guy was the Narcissist Alpha, more king than actual kings, no strings attached. Other villains would build statues of themselves, but only Robotnik would deface Ancient Egyptian monuments to improve them with his face. Other villains would think “Nah, refacing all four in Rushmore would look silly”, but only the Eggman, the Eggmyth, the Egglegend, would go “Well fuck you, I'm doing it anyway.” Then he'd do it anyway, and proceed to address to the entire world that he did in fact do it anyway.

It also didn't take long for them to develop his primary schtick. With the dynamic of Sonic VS Eggman, you had a classic rivalry between nature and technology. Interestingly enough however, this turned out to be executed more tactfully than your typical Amish-abiding examples in similar media. Never was technology itself regarded as a corruptive influence that you should never utilise no matter what. Rather, it was only as good or as evil as the person using it, with it just so happening that the villain loved machinery only slightly less than he loved himself, and it was countered by Sonic’s best friend being a techno wiz in his own right anyway. Anyhow, with his machinery, the doctor would make a name for himself among video game baddies by confronting his enemy as the boss of nearly every zone in each game, rather than hide away until the endgame.

And all without a driver's licence.

In his soon-to-be-30 years of activity, he has largely remained the same since his inception. Other characters have been introduced, other villains have came and went, but Eggman has remained THE villain of the franchise, and he's remained a vital part of the Sonic the Hedgehog universe... with a slight redesign along the way.

The only ad I don't want to skip.

The Design: Eggman's design may be more simplistic than the likes of Bowser and Ganondorf, and he may not look as openly threatening at first glance, but it's still a very iconic look no matter what look it is. His original appearance was devised so that kids could have an easy time drawing him, which only makes me feel worse about not being able to do it as a grown adult without it looking like a Sexy Legs Kirby.

Still, it's a classic for a reason. With his to-the-point colour scheme, contrasting heavily with Sonic's blue, and his capelet collar resembling walrus tusks, it was an instant winner and made everyone goo goo for g'joob.

The Emeralds he’s juggling are a metaphor for the divided fan community.

And when it was time to give the cast an update for Sonic's first real 3D adventure (or at least the first one that didn't get axed for being a magic eye seizure), Eggman got a respectable change of his own. He was taller, his getup was militaristic, and his body was more legitimately egg-shaped rather than basketball-shaped. He also gained a pair of goggles that he never uses, except in scenes where he puts them on and then never uses them.

“How do my chicken legs not collapse under the might of my gluttonous mass? Find out in an unrelated tie-in novel that you have to pay additional money for.”

There was also that one redesign from 2006, but...

Be it Classic or Modern, I've always loved his design. Before he even says a word or does anything, you know from his appearance that he's a bit of a clownish sort. But he also has a subtle creepy vibe going on, with the way his glasses often obscure his eyes, and how this only makes the pearly-white, unnecessarily wide grin on his face that much more empty and unsettling. This little bit of eeriness hiding among his cartoonish physique reflects the full extent of his character pretty accurately, as we’ll delve into soon enough.

If nothing else, it's more effective than him having no eyes at all.

GRRRRRRRR FUCK YOU BUNNIES THAT I CAN'T SEE

The Personality: If you've seen my villain reviews, then you'll have gathered that Sonic's rogues aren't known for having much in the way of personality. There are exceptions, but they are indeed the exceptions. More often than not though, whether it's an alien conquerer, an ancient monster, or Dan Green the Recolour, they can be summed up thusly: They're evil, they want to destroy the world, and the heroes stop them because they're evil and want to destroy the world. If they're feeling particularly daring, they might go for a second colour.

Luckily, as if to counter all these cardboard drawings, the central adversary of the franchise makes up for these voids of personality by actually having one. And what a personality it is.

The writers of SatAM looked at this and thought “No, this won't do, there's no character to work with here.”

He really is brimming with comedic charm. Every moment that he's present...

Every moment that he shows off...

Every moment that he basks in his own glory...

Every moment that he unveils a new wicked scheme...

Every moment that he puts his enemies to the test...

Every moment that he challenges the world...

Every moment that he laughs at the world...

Every moment that he lives, nay, every moment that he breathes...

Yes, the man has plenty of humor, and it's part of what makes him so enjoyable and memorable. However, if you think being a clown is all there is to him, then prepare to have your expectations subverted initial assumptions taken in a unexpected direction, because although he puts the goof in goofy, he ALSO puts the “oh...?” in “oh shit”.

For you see, Eggman is by all means the epitome of Laughably Evil, but do not, under any circumstance, take him at face value and write him off as a joke. He is anything but.

For starters, he can swing a planet.

There is a rule of thumb that I personally go by with Eggman’s characterization, one that I believe is an immediate make or break factor in regards to whether or not you understand what makes this villain work. Eggman - when you put all his secondary traits aside - is made up of two prominent halves. There’s the egocentric meme machine that bounces up and down like a kid with his N64 and laughs like Santa... and there’s the monster buried within that remains completely and utterly unrepentant for everything he’s responsible for. This is very important. Despite the character’s simplicity at his core, many writers have failed to grasp this, official writers included, and I for the life of me cannot understand why this is such a recurring problem. Eggman is funny, AND Eggman is evil. Both are equal. When you take away one or the other, you may have a funny character, or you may have an evil character, but you don’t have Eggman. Simple as.

Armchair intellectuals may argue that Eggman’s deeds aren’t that evil, since he tends to be merely callous rather than actively trying to hurt or kill people. Those people are probably the types on TV Tropes who weigh a villain’s evilness and effectiveness purely through the surface-level scale of their goals rather than what they actually do to achieve them. While it is true that Eggman tends to be more apathetic about the aftermath of his actions, that doesn’t - and shouldn’t - negate how dangerous he is. It shouldn’t negate what he’s capable of. It shouldn’t negate how far he’s willing to go. And it shouldn’t negate the consequences and casualties that can and do result from his many schemes.

Seriously, think about this for a second. If you confronted Eggman about his current plan to... I dunno, make a water park in Africa or some shit, and you informed him that there has been unexpected mass suffering as a result of this, how do you think he would truly feel about that? What do you think he would actually say to that?

Spoiler: No fucks.

If anything, that he “merely” doesn’t care either way as long as he gets what he wants is more uniquely horrific and deplorable than if he were a generic baddie who committed his evulz specifically for evulz’s own sake and nothing more. At least you’re inadvertently acknowledging that other people’s lives have value when you act one-dimensionally gleeful over ending them, but when your immediate response to the side-effect of a million potential deaths and environmental disasters is “Oh well, fuck ‘em, Eggmanland time baybeeee”, that’s a new level of cruelty.

Besides, even in the Genesis era, he was carpet bombing Angel Island...

“Good thing I have this shield. Sucks to be this forest!”

And he’s only gotten worse since then, indulging in such acts as going full suicide bomber with a missile, after his initial plot to destroy and rebuild Station Square through the means of Chaos and the Egg Carrier didn’t work out...

But don’t worry, he kept it lighthearted by making it look like a penis.

Making one of Sonic’s friends go insane with power against their will, forcing the Blue Blur to put them down personally...

It’s ironic, cause he’s metal. Or do I have to awkwardly explain the joke two more times before I’m a proper YouTuber?

Capturing thousands of innocent aliens, and forcefully converting them into mindless beasts...

I’m pretty sure I saw Alfred Molina conduct this experiment one time.

He even removed the heroes’ collective IQs so that he could shoehorn a cliffhanger on an already terrible game.

Thanks, cunt.

And honestly? When it comes to Sonic and chums at least, Eggman does let out a more openly sadistic side now and then. Need I mention that time when the doctor forced Sonic and two random buddies to make their way through a trap-infested island of his own creation? Not for the sake of nabbing Chaos Emeralds or anything of the sort mind you, he just wanted the blue motor mouth to suffer.

Images you can hear.

To make matters even worse, as befitting of his manchild tendencies, he’s ridiculously petty. How petty? Petty enough to abduct a little girl’s mother for no other reason than because Cheese completely trivialized his forces the girl was friends with Sonic and helped participate in the latest kicking of his own ass.

He only picked Vanilla because there was no Strawberry.

But at least his captives can admire the sheer variety that their captor has to offer. One of the greatest things about the doctor's style is that anything goes. With all due respect to Bowser, he tends to stick with his fiery castles (although he has been branching out recently), and plenty of other villains in gaming tend to be similarly stuck in their ways when it comes to tastes. Eggman, on the other hand, will create all sorts of fortresses and reside anywhere on the planet and beyond. It can be in the sky, in space, somewhere hot, somewhere cold, under the sea, in a circus... and every now and then, he might combine some of them together and thensome. So long as it's even vaguely mechanical in some way, his ground rules have already been ticked off.

Hang on a minute...

You know what else Eggman is? Relentless.

Persistence is a quality that most villains by their very nature share, lest they cease to be an effective antagonist. But once again, Rrrrrrrobotnik maxes out more than any other, and will often go to insane lengths to keep the current plan going, or if not that, then to spite Sonic.

Exhibit A: Sonic 3 & Knuckles, in which the grand finale consists of the madman throwing a gravity-shifting contraption your way, busting out a Kaiju-sized robo, escaping with the Master Emerald after his defeat, continuing to escape even after the Death Egg has been thoroughly destroyed, getting chased through the asteroid fields in space by Super Sonic, and only finally going down when the escape craft and the piloted mech controlling the escape craft are down. And all of this came after a grand adventure where, among other things, he destroyed an entire level just to kill you.

There are immortal omnipotents that put up less of a challenge.

“Looks like it’s time for Plan... *checks paper*... F.”

His relentlessness also reveals another side of the doctor that is simultaneously admirable and terrifying: He bows to no one. No one. Doesn’t matter who it is. Doesn’t matter how powerful they are. Doesn’t matter how much the odds are stacked against him. If another villain were to demand that he cower before them, the scientist would laugh and show through physical demonstration that this is not the way the egg rolls. Unless he’s absolutely unable to do so, he will give it his all every time, and even if he can’t, he’ll use his crafty mind to find some other way to get around the issue. You can beat him in battle, you can foil his plans, but you absolutely cannot break his resolve.

“Dad said it’s my turn to play with the Ruby. I know this, because I’m your dad.”

What about his relationship with those who actually serve him? Specifically, his own robots? Well for the most part, he treats them like absolute crap, what with verbally abusing them at every corner and being all too willing to go full Vader on them the moment they mess up. He IS capable of expressing fondness and giving praise to his more successful creations, like with Metal Sonic and Gamma, but even then, it’s a roundabout way of praising himself, since he’s the one who made them what they are. So basically, you’re only valuable to him if you make him look good.

Gaming in the Clinton Years in a nutshell.

And as for Sonic? Yeah, like with any legendary and long-lasting hero/villain dynamic, it’s obvious that Eggman has some degree of begrudging respect for his opponent. But if you think this respect would dissuade him from actually going through with his ambitions of rulership...

As the hedgehog’s apparent demise in Sonic Adventure 2 proves, as well as his defeat at the hands of Infinite and the subsequent six months of brutal conquest in Sonic Forces, Eggman is dead serious about his goals. If you think he’d get bored after conquering the world, he would simply expand his resources and have a crack at conquering the rest of the universe. When he says he hates that hedgehog, I’m inclined to believe that he means it, and although he may enjoy his “games” with Sonic to an extent, I also can’t see him wanting to remain stuck on square one forever.

If this were Sonic X, he’d just grieve.

By the way, the scene above? Undeniable proof that for all the doctor’s boasting, he’s not actually lying or exaggerating when he prides himself on his brilliance. Because when you get past his goofy exterior, when you look beyond the occasional, relatively minor mistake (*glares at IDW*), you’ll see that... yes. He IS brilliant. And not just in the science department either, although his countless robots and strongholds over the years are no doubt a testament to his credentials there. While he may prefer to go in big and bold, he can also be shrewd with his strategies when he wants to be.

Sonic’s aforementioned near-death experience, for example, was the result of Eggman turning the heroes’ own cunning plan on its head by being one step ahead of them. And in Sonic Unleashed, he lured his enemy into a trap, culminating with him cancelling out Super Sonic.

“...and pay the price for your Werehog gameplay...”

And after all those years of struggling, he finally got a giant monster under his complete control. “But he had help!”, you say? Yeah, from himself.

Did Flynn sleep through all this...?

Much like his inner nature as an evil bastard, Eggman's effectiveness is likewise commonly underestimated by writers. Yes, he occasionally makes mistakes. Yes, he occasionally overlooks details. Yes, he occasionally lacks foresight. But he is NOT stupid. A hero is only as good as their villain after all, and if Eggman is portrayed as a bumbling fool, then how can Sonic be a truly great hero? Eggman is humorous, sinister, and when the chips are down, competent.

...Did I mention that he's also a master Olympian?

The Execution: There's no surprises here. You knew from the moment you saw this review that my stance wasn't going to be anything less than 100% fanboy adoration. In that respect, this section almost feels redundant, because there's only so many ways I can say “Dr. Eggman is the fucking shit and I'm eternally grateful to Mr. Ohshima for bringing this absolute masterpiece into our world” without it getting repetitive. So to cap this review off, I'm going to very briefly compare his portrayals in other media, and explain why they tend to not be as good as the original SEGA Eggman.

“Cause they’re not balanced, right?” you ask. “Cause they veer too far in a particular direction? You're so predictable,” you add. To that I say:

1. Yeah, basically.

2. ...S-Shut up...

3. While the conclusion may be obvious, it's nonetheless important because as I mentioned previously, despite how straightforward this villain is, writers seem absolutely intent on not getting the point. There are loads of villains out there who share Eggman's talent of mixing hilarity and evil together with a bow of competence on top. Two of those villains are among the most famous supervillains of all time, in fact. You might have heard of them.

Joker can do it just fine. Green Goblin can do it just fine. And plenty of others can do it just fine. So why is it such an issue with Eggman? What is it about a round body and a long moustache that gets people to think “No, this guy is absolutely incapable of being comedic and threatening at the same time, no question, end of.” Is it because he’s a more cartoony franchise? Well, that can't be the case, because even Mario has a couple of beloved examples. Fawful, anyone? How about Dimentio? Cackletta? King Boo? K. Rool? Hell, you could even count Bowser himself depending on the portrayal.

Anyway, the point is, writers tend to miss the mark for one reason or another. With Sonic X for example, he wasn't too bad in the beginning, but as the show went on, he became exactly the toothless non-villain that many people misjudge him as. We all know that scene where he berates Black Narcissus for harming their captives (not for pragmatic reasons mind you, he genuinely took issue with the act on moral grounds, even though his own hands weren’t exactly clean either), but even before that point, he was doing such things as healing an injured Sonic without an ulterior motive, not taking any opportunity whatsoever to start conquering Sonic's world because he was pining for Sonic's attention, and being the Jiminy Cricket to Chris Thorndyke's Pinocchio. Why they thought the goddamn villain should be the moral conscience of this show remains an unanswered question, but at least it no longer influences how he's portrayed in the games.

Then you have the IDW comic, which is a similar tale of starting off decent and then careening wildly into the abyss, but for different reasons. Initially, he was built up to be in-line with his competent, foresight-packed self from Forces, with his inevitable return being met with dread, and a delightfully devilish scheme to match when he finally did so. But somewhere along the way, Ian Flynn thought that Eggman coming back from his amnesiac period and returning stronger than ever with a new minion and a deadly virus wasn't enough to up the stakes... so they decided to “up the stakes” by turning both the doctor and his new minion into massive imbeciles so as to justify their plot getting hijacked by the Deadly Six, a move so predictable yet infuriating that it got even me to turn against the Six. And the reason the Six got invited in-universe is because Starline decided he didn’t like being unique and devolved into Snively 2.0 behind Eggman’s back. All this from the alleged “best writer” for the series...

Yeah, same.

And then you have the Boom version, which shares basically the same issues as Sonic X but in a more mundane fashion. It's easier to dismiss because it's a comedy-centric show and his redesign makes it easier to separate him from mainline Eggman, and I'll gladly admit that he does have a lot of genuinely funny lines that redeem him a little bit. But yeah, too much of not being a true villain for my tastes.

Now this isn't to say that there haven't been portrayals in other media that are up there with the original. The versions that I consider better off than the ones above include...

- The OVA Eggman is pretty faithful all things considered, aside from his romantic feelings for Sara, which feels slightly off since the idea of Eggman loving anyone other than himself is incredibly unrealistic at best. But it doesn't actually soften or undermine his deviousness, so I'm willing to let it slide for an alternate take. Especially since he gave us the best Metal Sonic out there.

- AoStH is far from a perfect show, but there's a reason why even its detractors tend to treat its version of Robotnik like a national treasure. Admittedly most of that is because of the legendary Long John Baldry and the endless memes associated with this incarnation, but despite hailing from a comedy-focused show like Boom Eggman, this Robotnik still had a lot of legitimately dangerous moments, more than you'd think.

- And of course, Jim Carrey's Robotnik in the Sonic movie is just... *chef's kiss*

So obvious aesop though it may be, but you see what the more effective portrayals have in common, I assume?

Granted, this also isn't to say that SEGA Eggman himself has had a perfect track record. The decade's worth of upstagings and backstabbings by other villains should be enough of a counterpoint to that claim, and I've also made it clear now and then that I take issue with certain games regarding what they do with the doc, no matter how revered they may be by other fans. Sonic Adventure 2, for instance. I praised the fake emerald scene, and I do sincerely believe that he has a number of other badass moments in that game, but because Shadow was playing him like a fool the whole time, I can't help but have a bitter taste in my mouth when I look at the bigger picture.

So close to greatness, yet so far...

So in that case, which game do I think has Eggman's best showing overall? That's not in any way an easy question, but lack of dialogue aside, I'm gonna go with Sonic 3 & Knuckles again, as the classic journey through the sights of Angel Island plays out in a way that highlights just how determined, ruthless, and underhanded he is with carrying out his mission to revive the Death Egg by any means necessary. Other games do win out in other areas - SA1 for how bastardly he is, Forces for how cunning he is, Colours for his hilarious announcements, CD for using the scenery to show the effects of his actions, Mania for not letting the other villain walk all over him - but for the purest essence of the doctor at his cartoony yet competent best, I'd say S3&K is a reasonable bet.

And when it comes to all his many traits, which one do I find the most special one of all? Well again, far from easy to answer, but I think the coolest aspect about him is also one of the most overlooked. Robotnik, despite whatever superhuman qualities he may occasionally unveil, is for all intents and purposes a regular guy with a big brain. This might make him appear unimpressive when compared to your average Final Fantasy villain and the like, but if anything, it paints him in a more flattering light than expected, because he doesn't even need to be on their level to still be on the radar. It's easy to be a big bad threat when you're an ancient demon or an almighty god-like being, and you only have to wave a hand to cause armageddon. But when you're just Some Guy™ going up against superpowered opponents, meaning you have to earn your threat level the hard way, and you prove to be a challenge every step of the way regardless, because you're just THAT much of a genius... that's fucking awesome, no other way to put it.

And you know what else is awesome? You may not like Eggman, and you don’t have to like him, but like it or not, he is directly and indirectly responsible for a vast majority of the coolest and most loved moments and aspects of this franchise.

The opening to Unleashed? Eggman set up the scene.

Shadow running around and continuing to be part of the franchise? Eggman released him.

Blaze getting involved with Sonic’s world and continuing to be part of the franchise? Eggman’s half-responsible for that.

Metal Sonic? Eggman made him.

Egg Dragoon? Eggman.

Big Arm? Eggman.

Monkey Dude? Eggman.

That text is missing a blue checkmark.

This review is probably longer than the echidna family tree in Archie at this point, so I better finish it off. If it wasn't obvious from all the paragraphs I've belted out in this post, I'm very passionate about Eggman and the way he’s portrayed. Ever since I got into the Sonic franchise in 2003, I immediately took a liking to the doctor, and to this day, he remains not only my favourite Sonic villain, my favourite Sonic character, but also my favourite character period. Some may find it a weird or lame choice compared to other, “better” characters, but that's the way it is, and I ain't about to change it. I am very unlikely to ever stop enjoying the hell out of this villain, and even if he got irreversibly ruined in some way, I'd still continue to love what he was before that point.

Because yeah, he's not the deepest character ever, but... who cares? Is it not enough that we find something that appeals to us? When I got into Sonic, I was introduced to fantastic games, a likable cast, high quality soundtracks, beautiful worlds, numerous friends on this very site, and of course, the lovely treasure that is my partner. I may not have been with this franchise during the 90's, but it's given me just as much fun, nostalgia, and happiness as those who were. Despite the flawed titles, despite the fandom conundrums, I still love this series.

And I still love this absolute prick.

Crusher Gives Dr. Eggman a: TWO Thumbs Up!

#Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite?#Opinion #Sonic the Hedgehog #Dr. Ivo Robotnik

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valhalla-awaitsfor-us · 5 years ago

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My bad opinion: Monoma doesn't deserve the treatment he gets from the rest of UA. Aizawa legit choked him out and he doesn't even know the kid. Mirio calling him the dark side of UA is bad as well. Also why does everyone resort to hitting him when he's in a manic mood. I understand it's funny but I wish they showed class B being nice to him during his manic mood once. Also Kaminari calls him mentally ill everytime they meet and it pisses me off that people ignore that. 1/2

Heeey there, whats up, Anon? Nice to see meet you

SO. Let me talk a little bit about this whole Monoma situation (And yeah, I already done this in other post, but I love writing rants, and you give me a perfect excuse. Thanks)

Bakugou

Im gonna start poiting out something that may seem out of the blue for some people who know me. I do NOT dislike Bakugou at all, hell, Im even a bakudeku shipper and their relationship, I think, is one of the few reasons I still feel draw to the story.

I feel like is natural that people cares more for Bakugou than for Monoma. For starters he is a main character, and for that reason he gets a lot more of screen time. Also he is good looking, and people tends to overlook bad characters developments when the characters in question are"hot"

NOW, HAVING ESTABLISHED THAT.

Yes, Bakugou has more screentime than Monoma. Is reasonable that Monoma is not the favorite. Now, why is that a issue?Because there are significant flaws on the story and in the development of characters.Yes, Bakugou is a main character that has more screentime, and yes, he does have emotional moments in the sotry that make you feel or him. And yet is not enough. And plase keep in mind that Im not here saying he deserves the worst of fates because he was a bully. I suffered from depression and anxiety all my life, and people on school bullyed me in horrible ways for that same reasons. And yet, I can tell that BNHA is a fictional piece of media. I can discern between reality and fiction.Probably because I’m a filmmaker who studied about this, but I learned that a review of a piece of art cant be done focusing in only one specific point, because if you do, you lose sight of the biggest picture. Yes he was bad, but what is the author trying to say here? How is the author writing the character development? I think Horikoshi does knows what future he wants for Bakugou, i do truly think that he wants this to be a big redemption arc, and put Bakugou and Deku side to side as the greatest heroes ever for the end of the story…. But…. Horikoshi struggles a lot with character development. A lot of people who likes Bakugou, excluding those who just like him for his looks, do it because they can see the potential and get the general idea.Which is great. but the character development, at this point of the story, is just not enough.Not enough to justify a lot of Bakugo current actions. Hell, even my bakudeku heart was disappointed with the movie because the structure of the story was weak and Bakugou arc went to nowhere. Instead of meaningful conversations or actions between characters (Wich there a few are ofc, I almost cried watching Deku vs Kacchan) , we have to assume the Bakugou aggressiveness is just endearing now. And that’s just not how this work.

I realy hope Horikoshi gets better at writng Bakugou develoment because I truly think he could be such a good character. Im rooting for him.

Now, how I connect this with Monoma?

Monoma

Monoma, just like Bakugou, can be a “problematic” character. (God hate to use that word) but the differences between the both of them are crystal clear.

1) Monoma is not a main character, so even if Bakugou is this aggressive and short tempered character, we still see the other side of him because, again, he has more screentime. With Monoma we cannot see the other side of him that often, which can be a problem when the only side you show of a character is such a pathetic and unfair side. In comparison, you would think Monoma is worse than Bakugou, but thats only because they are showing us only the worst side of Monoma. Wich bring me to the second point.

2) Monomas mental state is treated as joke. Just as I said that I don’t care about Bakugou being a debetable ex bully, I should say the same here and affirm that just because they make fun of his mental issues it shouldn’t affect me, even if I deal with depression and anxiety. Well kids, let me tell you something: You are wrong. Why you may ask? For a little concept called: Character development.With Bakugou, even if is FAR from perfect, does have more little moments here and there, where you can see the other side of him. Monoma isn’t that lucky. So you are showing just his crazy side and making fun of that. Which just simply bad and a little sad that you think that is a good character design. When you have a piece of media with this kind of success, you cant ignore this. You just can not. You need to take responsibility of what you put out there.And we are talking about Monoma, but we could also be talking about how they treated their token characters, how they treat those characters who are mentally unstable (cofcofTwiceforexamplecofcof). That is just another rant, but is bad. Realy bad.

BNHA has a really problem in justifying villainous actions just because class A or a Pros do them. And yes I’m talking about Mineta and Endeavor, but Im also talking about a lot of your Favs like Aizawa, or class A students.I understand that in japanese culture Monoma being loud and weird and just being legitimately crazy is funny. But some things you can’t justify. Just like you cant justify a lot of what happened in this story and how some characters are treated.

3) Monoma was supposed to be different.We all know about this, he was meant to be this cunning strategic individual who could actually be more interesting that the freaking main character, but because he dared to do look at Bakugou in the wrong way, the fans started hating him,so Horikoshi changed him… I just can’t . How could an author change his characters because of that reason? Sometimes you have to stand with your ideas man.

Anyway, I liked the JTs Monoma. And I hope Shinsou ends up in class 1B with him. THAT would be an interesting writing. But I learned to never expect anything. So… We’ll see

#monoma neito #bnha critic #bnha criticism #neito monoma #sol talks with cool people #class 1b

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kihyunswrath · 4 years ago

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what are some tiny details you love about kihyun? details that maybe people wouldn't notice at first until they've biased him for awhile?

Shit like... do you understand what you just did???? I avoided responding to this for a second because I was like what the hell do I even say and how do I avoid making this into a FIVE MILES long post?

There’s no tiny detail about Kihyun I DON’T love so that’s the ultimate problem.

But okay. You asked. Blame yourself.

I’m going to mainly focus on things that are not mentioned very often, because like you said, these are the details people don’t either notice, pay specific attention to or know how to put into words, unless I guess they’re like me and spend all day thinking about Kihyun.

1) First let’s talk about his personality and the way he handles his relationships and reacts to other people:

I love how he shows intimacy and closeness to his friends. I mean I’ve said it before, he has a pretty big personal space for someone raised in a Korean culture (where personal space is somewhat... challenged by the cultural norms) and he definitely doesn’t allow anyone to come too close. He doesn’t get hugged, kissed, held or squished by the other members and he doesn’t do that to them either so it makes me believe he just isn’t comfortable with such intimacy. However he does initiate intimacy by doing other things - and one thing I love is how he pets other people’s ears:

LIKE WHO DOES THAT? WHY EARS? It would never in one thousand years occur to me to touch anyone’s ears but he has done this occasionally. I love it so much I want to cry. Like I become teary-eyed now looking at those stupid gifs. Maybe that’s just because Changkyun starts looking so soft and shy after being touched but still.

Even in general when he does reach out for his members and is not intending to slap or hurt them, his touches are like. VERY gentle. Like I don’t even know why he decided to hold Hyungwon’s head like that but. I love it:

And if he’s really excited and giddy he might start lifting people in the air despite the size difference. He does this surprisingly often too, it’s his thing:

Also I’m guessing his eagerness to take pictures of his friends is his other way to show he likes them and it’s pretty cute, even though Jooheon right here thinks he’s being a nuisance:

In general I love that despite him being pretty dominant, controlling and demanding, he isn’t cold, merciless, cynical or hard to impress. Like for being so perfectionist and eager to scold others, for being so interested in maintaining his cool image in front of the cameras, you could imagine those being his most defining characteristics in his personal relationships, but they’re not. His most defining feature, in my opinion, still seems to be his endless curiosity, genuine interest and sense of wonder. The members have said it before that he’s actually rather gullible and I don’t know about that, but I love seeing that curious, gentle and very tuned in look on his face when he follows whatever the other members are telling/showing him:

I also love how easy it is to impress him:

And to make him slightly intimidated, confused and still 200% involved:

How easy it is to make him die from laughter no matter what you tell him and whether it actually even is that funny:

And that no matter how much he nags and scolds and how people love to make that his biggest personality trait, I don’t think people give him enough credit for ignoring and “true neutraling” his friends’ (Minhyuk’s) bullshit just about as often:

And I mean, how could I not again mention that one thing that never fails to amaze me:

He just does not get tired? Ever?

Like yeah, obviously he looks a bit swollen and exhausted right after waking up and you can technically tell him to go sleep and he probably then does. But that’s normal. I still don’t think we’re talking enough about how he’s constantly 100% present, alert, bouncy and involved when the cameras are on, no matter how hard he has worked, how exhausted he is, how tired the others are, how boring the situation is, how stressful it might be and how long they have been awake. Like. It’s funny when people mention Hyungwon’s sleepiness as one of his personality traits, when that’s not a personality trait at all, he’s just acting exactly like 99% of the world’s population if we became idols. Let’s face it, we would all be like Hyungwon. Or Changkyun, or Shownu, or Wonho, or Jooheon, who all visibly look tired and fucking fed up sometimes. Even if we were like Minhyuk, full of energy, sometimes we would still run out of battery and just stare at nothingness eyes wide. Or become fucking angry like he sometimes does. Minhyuk might be the hyperactive member in the group, but oh boy does he sometimes show that he isn’t feeling good.

Meanwhile, Kihyun is still out there kissing dogs and cats and tiny babies, taking 5678 selfies and posting them all at once, jumping up and down, slapping people he passes, filming cover songs in his tiniest little recording booth, laughing at staff members or nonexistent things, making incoherent dance moves, preparing noodles for the entire group to eat, singing ear-piercing high notes, dumping the entire fucking refrigerator to the bathtub and washing it, and playing drums with his thighs and hands when there’s nothing else he’s allowed to do.

You physically cannot find me a video (that isn’t taken right after he woke up), where he actually shows his exhaustion, where he puts his guard down and either lets his gaze go out of focus or shows he doesn’t fucking care. You cannot, that kind of footage simply does not exist. You won’t be able to find a video where the others would say something like “yeah Kihyun won’t participate, he’s tired”. That’s just not a thing.

I mean sure, it kind of scares me too. I want him to just fuck off sometimes and look at the camera like he just didn’t give a shit, because that’d be a sign of humanity in him, but at the same time? It’s fucking impressive and a whole talent on its own, and even if the other members don’t often say it out loud, I think it keeps their spirits up too.

So unlike Hyungwon, whose exhaustion is just a normal reaction and not a personality type, it says something important of Kihyun, in my opinion, that he has decided to just push through whatever obstacles and emotions he might actually have, in order to focus on whatever he thinks is important.

I mean I’d like to have this kind of a determined nuclear factory somewhere near me too:

2) There are many other things too of course, but let’s move on to his outer appearance / his tiny mannerisms I love the most:

There’s this thing he does with his mouth when his laughter is dying down or when he’s generally thinking of what to say, or sometimes just because. He tightens his upper lip a little and it forms this bow shape and I just. Yeah. He also jolts his head back like someone literally shot him in the head with the joke, and it’s very endearing to me. Here he does both:

Then there’s this absent-minded tongue-thing he does occasionally. Yeah I know, most people think anything involving tongues is probably sexual, but no, this is just fucking cute. I mean look.

Then there’s the fact that is related to what I said earlier about his curious and 100% involved personality: he often reacts to things with not just his face, but his entire body. Every time he does that I want to hug him:

And of course, just like all Kihyun fans, I love his smile a lot in general, but I especially love the one that starts from his upper teeth and slowly opens downward to reveal his lower teeth while his eyes become rainbows:

I love that gif for other reasons too of course. Like despite Kihyun being kind of annoying and scaring Jooheon often, he never goes out of his way to do it. Like I wouldn’t let him to do that to me because my responses to being scared are wildly unpredictable, but I love how he never continues with the prank or seriously tries to make anyone uncomfortable. Here he left his hands on Jooheon’s shoulders for a while to make sure he couldn’t get too scared.

Then there’s this entire video the gif below is from that people like to pretend doesn’t exist but I think is the best video ever made. No one aces that kind of cringey but cool but cringey concept like Kihyun. No one does this “fuck you looking at” face like Kihyun.

And of course no one holds dogs like Kihyun, like he’s an almighty dog deity whose lap any puppy can climb into and then doze off in heavenly peace while he’s gently rocking them:

And then there’s the way he sniffs:

He actually sniffs with just one nostril, like Minhyuk who blinks unevenly. Anyway I also whole-heartedly support his outfit and nonchalant munching in the latter gif.

And then let’s face it, one reason why many Kihyun fans end up liking him so much is because of how expressive and lively face he has in general. Like he might not show his real anger and exhaustion in front of the cameras very often, but otherwise he walks through all the stages of grief, anger, regret, pain and giddiness and his facial expressions definitely reflect that. He just throws himself into those experiences, and although that can’t be heard from these gifs alone, he also constantly lets out sounds of displeasure, excitement, fear or amazement. Like he’s a person with a noticeable presence, even if he isn’t quite as vocal and loud as Minhyuk.

Here you know exactly how cold that ice cream is:

And here his entire face changes shape after he just got slightly scared of that whatever DJ machine:

And I don’t know exactly how to describe this combination of mild irritation and sun-shining-on-your-face but we have all been there:

And obviously there’s this “I’m trying to smile while slowly transforming into a walnut because of how fucking much I reject all of what you just said”:

And whatever this is:

He can visibly express politeness, curiosity and anticipation by just flaring up his nostrils:

And other times he shows emotions with just his cunning eyes:

Occasionally he even reminds me why he once felt connected to Ron Weasley. I mean that’s Ron if I have ever seen one:

He’s also one of those people who can’t wait to get to tell you the story and he’s just spitting around a little as he does it and it’s annoying but endearing at the same time:

Like.

Yeah. I could continue forever, I really could. I love him because of these things and thousands of others, and I have no intention of ever stopping. He inspires me, soothes my soul and pisses the hell out of me and he is also a genuine human being that exists and breathes out there somewhere and just that alone makes me happy.

I hope he is too.

Bonus: here is Kihyun released into the wild, existing in his natural habitat, in harmony with the world. I hope he can do plenty of this after he finishes his idol career. Let him go soon Starship, can’t you see him thriving there on the rocks?

None of these gifs are mine but I thought I couldn’t respond to this ask without them. Thanks to the MBBs who made them 💙💙💙💙

#kihyun #asks

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inknose · 5 years ago

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mdzs read diary part IV, the end

It’s inspiring how much self care wwx is gonna finally get now that his husband will go along with whatever he does, so he’s gotta look out for lwj’s well being if not his own. that is emphatically the STUFF

dragging my hands down I face as I read this, after all these chapters of getting up close and personal with ghouls bleeding from every orifice, slaying ancient beasts, rebelling against the entire cultivation world, the two of them are absolutely paralyzed by middle school crush sleepover math

chicken

he actually drew kissy doodles .... he....

IDK I THINK I JUST DOCUMENTED THIS PART CUZ I WAS STILL SCREAMING you cant expect me to have very useful things to say at this point

this is torture you are both so mushy you are so GONE

This part really stood out to me, it’s an attitude I feel like wwx implies with his inner narration a few times but most clearly says here: he’s not one for allowing himself to exaggerate how bad his circumstances are/could be even a little bit - he’s already lived through some extreme low points and found a way to keep going, so he never makes sweeping statements about what he couldn’t live without (Inner JingYi: you’re supposed to say you’d be lost without him here!!!) Instead he seems to accept as a given that being alive doesn’t guarantee him any pleasantness or joy at all, and as a result his feelings toward being in TRUE LOVE are surprisingly pragmatic, but also colored with such gratitude. There are a lot of things in the novel that struck me, like this, as being just a little to the left of familiar tropes/sentiments, and were more touching for it. Whether it be the influence of culture difference as opposed to what I’m used to reading in most western romance stories, or MXTX’s unique outlook, or a combination of both, it was really refreshing and made me pause over it. Not “I can’t imagine living without you” but “I could be living without you, but instead I get to be with you and I think that’s the best thing that could happen.”

ADJFDKFJ THE UST BEING SO STRONG THAT EVEN THE VILLAIN COMMENTS ON IT IN THE MIDDLE OF EXECUTING HIS EVIL PLANS IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT WILL NEVER FAIL TO MAKE ME LAUGH MY ASS OFF. hes like god damn! here I thought I had problems

it was at this moment that I realized we were doing this Now... I’m still recovering. What a scene. I am so glad I saw the most incredible fanart soon afterwards, bc the fact that someone has already drawn a perfect comic of this part means I don’t have to

I love you so much, you are so annoying, you are perfect... I like how he’s been experiencing openly requited love for all of ten minutes but he’s already figured out how to weaponize it to piss people off

doing!!! his!!! job!!!!!

ahh... it’s a really good story. JGY is a great character. One of the most interesting differences for me between drama watching vs. novel reading experience is that without an actor to bat his vulnerable doe eyes at you and smile faintly with his cute dimples, the book does not go much out of its way to try to lull the reader into a false sense of security around him or *endear* him to you the way the show does. But just by seeing events through wei wuxian’s POV, its still enough to evoke pity or understanding towards him. The overall impression is a bit more detached though, there’s less emphasis on the spectacle of how he could manipulate everyone closest to him and more of a general feeling of resigned tragedy that everyones the worst on this bitch of an earth.

I CANNOT DEAL WITH YOU FOR EVEN ONE MORE SECOND!!!!

I clearly paused to take note of less and less parts at the end & the extras due to: a) too excited to reach the end b) too spicy to photograph and c) too sleepy cuz I kept reading in the middle of the night. but I absolutely took the time for Bro We Are Teens appreciation corner:

I’d absolutely read 40 more extra chapters of their monster-of-the-week field trip antics.

god... poor Jin Ling now basically has to deal with divorced parents that talk shit about each other to him whenever he is saying with one of them. except they are both his uncles. just a disasterhood of all uncles from start to finish. AUUUGH wei wuxian and jiang cheng have fucked me up completely, I dream of them reconciling but I also REFUSE to believe it would ever be easy. let me know if theres a fanfic that absolutely tortures you for decades before they hug

HAHAHA oh no this man ain’t making it to immortality thats for damn sure. HE’S JUST GONNA TRY AS HARD AS HE CAN HIS WHOLE LIFE NOT TO LOOK AT HIM BUT THEYRE *MARRIED* SDLKFJSF ohhhh it’s too funny, like... the mundane domestic family drama IN the fantastical swords and sorcery setting is what really ratchets up these things from amusing to fucking hilarious I think

aaaa the end... final random thoughts? No not final, I would like to please keep discussing at length and exhaustively, all the time please - CQL has gotta be one of the best TV adaptations I’ve seen. ANY adaptation of anything would be lucky to be so good!! reading the novel has just made me appreciate it even more.

- I don’t think I can do justice to what I find most fascinating about comparing the two versions briefly, to do that I need to get drunk and ramble at my friends for hours but... the condensed version is something like this. Really all the significant differences between the two versions (besides the ones which can be attributed to censorship and therefore aren’t worth discussing) are a side effect of the structure of how the story is told - there’s barely anything changed arbitrarily. Aside from having a cold opening, the drama sticks to a very linear version of the story, and I think for a TV show or film, that’s probably the best way to do it. We see everything, we get shocked and tricked and betrayed and surprised along with the characters, we feel the biggest impact at the climactic scenes having experienced all the build-up. The novel on the other hand is not only much more non-linear in WHEN we learn bits and pieces of information, but that information is also obfuscated under wei wuxian’s multiple layers of Unreliable Narratoritis, which are as follows: 1) difficulty remembering things because of personality/avoiding painful memories/actual memory loss, 2) No Homo Goggles still on, and 3) a wry sense of humor that makes the reader unsure of how much they can trust his attitude toward things, especially near the beginning. The experience of reading is a puzzle the reader has to mentally piece together through all of the above listed camouflage, and the puzzle itself is a three-sided mystery: One - How Bad of a guy was Wei WuXian really, and how exactly did all the bad stuff in his life go down; Two - wangxian epic pride & prejudice gambits; Three - political murder mystery. (I love stories like this btw... though I fully admit I’m glad I watched first this time bc it might have taken me a long time to tackle otherwise.) Because of this, where the drama wants to pull you in and submerge you in all the most potent emotional parts, the novel in direct contrast deliberately side-steps around these things and asks that you hurt yourself by filling in the blanks. In fact the more intense emotions and painful memories involved, whether it be his relationship with jiang yanli, his DEATH, the darkest days of war times etc, the more the novel evasively withholds details. I actually really like both styles of storytelling but each one is obviously way better suited to its medium. ANYWAY.... THATS BASICALLY WHERE MY BRAINS AT WHILE IM READING GAY SWORD WIZARD BOOKS

- The extras are so saturated with domestic married bliss that it’s a good thing I stopped taking pictures because I’d just take a picture of every page. this is too much for me to take... I did jump the gun a few times and read a few fanfics while I was still mid-read of the book (I tried to hold out but alas I am mortal) and at one point after finishing I was like “wow what fic was it in where lwj says something cute and wwx kisses him in public but they’re in the corner of the restaurant so no one really sees... OH NO WAIT that was actually in there.” and ... and that’s the LEAST OF IT... *stares into the distance* theyre married wow

- I ofc couldn’t help but see a few vague blogs beforehand so honestly I was braced for something like, wildly ooc for the sake of porn to happen in the extras... I definitely appreciate how the incense burner porn interludes could be uhhh a lot for many people and not my personal cup of tea in terms of smut however [here follows the words of a poisonous frog who has dwelt her whole life in the rainforests of BL] the concept is also surprisingly SWEET SDFLKJF like wwx sees lan wangji’s darkest mixed-up violent teenage fantasies and he’s just like aww babe you had a crush on me!! just... good for them

- I swear I’m not gonna rehash every cute married thing they do but wei wuxian grading papers in the tub........................rEALLY GOT ME

- I want to Draw - ok thats enough if I keep going I’ll just write “wei wuxian grading papers in the tub” seven more times probably

#mdzs readthru #this obviously has many spoilers

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obaewankenope · 5 years ago

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"I read a fic a while ago that had Az and Crowley painting the bookshop and when Az rolled up his sleeves, Crowley was "tempted" and now I cannot stop thinking about the concept. Az tempting Crowley? Entirely on accident? On purpose? His temptations being more gentle than a demon's and has a lovedrunk affect? Him using it to get Crowley to do absolutely anything (after getting full consent ofc)? My new kink" -retyped by fucker so you can respond properly to an incredible prompt

Okay, thank you fucker for resending me this. To the original nonnie, my sincerest apologies for tumblr fuckery. Now onto the prompt! [AO3]

Thebookshop needs painting. Well, it doesn’t. The paintjob it’d had in the earlytwentieth century is still good—in Crowley’s opinion—but it seems thatAziraphale feels it needs a little updating[1]. Crowley’s suggestions ofcolours are all clearly ignored by the angel who putters about the bookshop,arranging books here and there so they are out of the way of the paint. Aroller and some rather nice looking brushes are on a small side-table with twotubs of paint in shades Aziraphale refuses to allow Crowley to see just yet.

Crowleyis seriously considering a miracle to find out the colours because come on all ready angel! You’re takingforever when Aziraphale does something rather unexpected.

Heremoves his coat.

“Angel?”

“Hmm.”

“Whatare you doing?” Crowley is rather proud of the way his voice doesn’t catch orwaver and is exceptionally thankful he’s still wearing his sunglasses—thanksomeone for the sunshine today—because he is rather shamelessly staring atAziraphale calmly placing his coat on the back of a chair.

“WellI can’t exactly decorate with my coat on now, can I?” Aziraphale gives Crowleythe look one usually receives when the person they’re talking to thinks they’veasked a rather stupid question; one with a clearly obvious answer that doesn’tneed stating aloud. “I’d hate to get paint on it.”

“You’rean angel, you can literally miracle it away,” Crowley points out, shifting onthe sofa he’s claimed as his ever since the bookshop opened.

Aziraphalefrowns at him. “But I’d know the stain was there,” he says and that’s a pout onhis face, the same pout Crowley has seen on Aziraphale’s face when the angelwants something but won’t actually ask Crowley for whatever it is. It’sthe Please Indulge Me pout and Crowley hates loves it fiercely.

Crowleylets his head flop back so he can’t see Aziraphale anymore, the gesturehopefully conveying to Aziraphale that Crowley is done with his behaviourrather than overwhelmed by looking at his angel without his coat. It’s- it’s-it’s obscene really. Aziraphalewithout a coat on. The soft beige tone of his overcoat is something Crowley hasactually found rather pleasant to see and he’s long grown used to Aziraphalealways wearing it.

Withoutit, the angel seems—if Crowley were ever to admit it aloud—rather vulnerable.Meek. Mild. Things that Aziraphale must assuredly is not.

Hestares up at the ceiling, resolutely ignoring the sounds of Aziraphale makinghis way about the bookshop, the noise of the roller in the paint-tray, thescrape of paint-bristles on the wall. They blend together in a gentle sort ofmelody, a calming tune that has Crowley relaxing into the sofa more and moreuntil his body does that thing where it twitches in an awkward way and bringsyou right back to alertness.

Crowleylifts his head, easing the ache in the back of his neck from having his headback for so long, and looks in the direction of the working melody he’s beenlulled by. He’s greeted by the sight of Aziraphale standing on a small set ofladders, the type with only two steps, body stretched as he reaches the edgesof the wall and spreads paint along the top—cutting in, humans call it.Aziraphale is, for an angel, not quite as fit as he probably ought to beaccording to Gabriel the fucking archangel who thinks the perfect form for anangel is himself. Crowley finds Gabriel to be actually quite repulsive. He’s ademon, he can sense sin and Gabriel—oh so mighty and bright and Holy Gabriel—isbrimming with sins both big andsmall. It makes the archangel repugnant for Crowley who is of the opinion thanan angel should be—well—Holy and goodand kind and strong. All the things that Aziraphale just so happens to be[2].

Butback to the view Crowley has of Aziraphale right now. It should be fine—it’s a view Crowley can somewhat appreciate with thesafe distance of being on the sofa away from the object of his gaze, securethat at least he won’t make an utter fool of himself with his gawping—but unfortunatelyfor Crowley, it seems that the universe has decided to both tempt and destroyhim in one swift act. Namely, Aziraphale with his shirtsleeves rolled up to theelbow, wrists and forearms naked for all the world to see, and two top buttonsof his shirt at the neck undone to allow him to breathe better without hisbowtie in the way. It is, Crowley can admit, a mesmerising sight, but it isalso a sight that has Crowley hissing out at the flare of Desire that flashesin his body, making him want to reach out with his long fingers and touch thatlovely revealed skin.

Suchbehaviour is most unbecoming of a demon but very typical for Crowley and,thus, the demon known as Crowley is stuck staring helplessly at a decadent-lookingprincipality who has no idea the affect and effect he has onsaid demon.

Orthat’s what Crowley thinks at least.

Outside of the perspective of Crowley, thedemon from hell who is a serpent and creator of original sin, it is much easierto witness the fact that Aziraphale, principality and guardian of the easterngate of Eden, is very much aware of the effect he’s having on the demonCrowley. It is, to put it bluntly, very entertaining for an all-seeing,all-knowing being to witness. A good way of passing the time that unfortunatelyhad to be made in order for mortality to be a thing.

Theonly thing the omnipotent and omnipresent being is missing is some popcorn butcreating popcorn out of nothing can be a bit hit-or-miss[3].

Dueto the demise of Crowley’s only braincell, it is easy for the demon to miss theway Aziraphale subtly glances at the reflection of said demon in the window tothe angel’s right; a window that provides a fantastic view of Crowley on thesofa at an angle it otherwise shouldn’t be able to provide. But that’s whatmiracles are for, aren’t they?

Aziraphale,meanwhile, is seriously contemplating calling for Crowley’s assistance justmoments before he has to stretch a little further to reach a little higher withthe paintbrush. The principality had considered simply miracling the bookshop paintedbut had, ultimately, decided otherwise after one evening at the Ritz when he’dnoticed Crowley’s rather distracted focus on his wrist when Aziraphale had spilthis wine and fussed over the ruined cuff of his sleeve. Crowley’s eyes,actually on display for once due to Aziraphale’s insistence, had been quitedilated—almost like a cat’s actually—and the golden ember colour bled beyondthe usual limits Crowley allowed it.

Aziraphale,that evening, had come to a series of conclusions regarding Crowley that haveled to this moment in the bookshop wherein his dear friend is currently a uselessheap of feelings on the sofa while Aziraphale steadily redecorates his bookshop.It is, considering everything, a case of “two birds, one stone” consideringAziraphale has been fretting over how to broach this Issue with his long-timefriend and… something else, but has dithered rather typically over the natureof how and when.

Removingseveral layers, rolling up his sleeves, and undoing buttons at his throat hasbeen remarkable effective in leaving Crowley in such a state that Aziraphale iswondering if it was a good idea to possibly rile the demon up so with so littlewarning on his part. But then, of course, the principality turns his head andcatches Crowley’s gaze—even through sunglasses, Aziraphale always knows when heand Crowley are looking each other in the eye—and makes the split-seconddecision that yes, yes it is a good idea and no, no he shan’t stop any timesoon.

Fromthe tertiary perspective here, we can witness the exact moment Aziraphale makesthat decision and the rather lustful tint to those angelic blue eyes that hasCrowley’s body burning even more than it was before although Crowley himselfconsciously misses the lustful tint. The benefit of having a subconscioussmarter than you, apparently, is that it reads cues and responds accordinglylong before your singular braincell is capable of even noticing said cues.

Itis a good thing Crowley is the curious sort by nature lest he be even moredysfunctional than he already is. And it is also a good thing that Aziraphaleis just enough of a bastard to recognise this fact and utilise it at the mostopportune of moments.

“Crowley,you know you could help,” Aziraphalesays, loudly and pointedly, with an arched brow and Crowley—dear, awkwardCrowley—makes a rather amusing sound that has Aziraphale wishing to smile. Hedoesn’t, but he does quite wish to, if only because Crowley has such a look on his face and it’s ever soamusing. Endearing, even.

“I-uh- angel,” Crowley says, as though that is a coherent response although,considering it’s from Crowley, that is acoherent response. Either way, it forces Aziraphale to roll his eyes at Crowleywho seems to find the act something else to make sounds over. “Right.”

“ReallyCrowley, what has gotten into you?”Aziraphale asks innocently. He’s not at all innocent or apologetic but it isentertaining nonetheless to pretend he’s oblivious to the effect he has onCrowley. “You seem all out of sorts dear.”

“Ngk.”

Aziraphaleraises an eyebrow. How fantastically eloquent of Crowley. Truly.

“Asalways, dear, I’m in awe of your commend of the verbal word,” Aziraphale drawlsand he sees the moment Crowley’s brain kicks him, recognising he’s being insulted,and the angel bites the inside of his mouth to avoid smiling. Trust Crowley tocome back from wherever his mind has wandered off because of an insult.

“Oi!I’m- I’m plenty good with words, angel!” Crowley sits forward on the sofa, shoulderblades up, chest arched, head positioned in the way Aziraphale has witnessedsnakes do in the past. Predatory posture. It’s ever so enticing for Crowley to dothat—makes Aziraphale’s own instincts flare a little.

Crowleyhas his tendency for all things serpent but Aziraphale has a certain fondnessfor all things avian. It makes their relationship all the more surprising and endlesslyfascinating. Any omnipresent and omnipotent being would find themselvesnaturally caught up in examining and analysing such a connection even if saidconnection weren’t between an angel and a demon who helped thwart the end ofthe world.

“OldShakespeare wasn’t anywhere near as gifted as them historians like to think!”Crowley scoffs. “Gave him half his bloody sonnets myself.”

“Oh.”Aziraphale gives him a look, purposefully pausing in his painting to lower thepaintbrush and he’s very aware of how Crowley’s eyes follow his arms, the waythe demon’s chest heaves a little harder than it typically does and the angel smiles. “I don’t believe you evermentioned that.”

“Well-uh-” Crowley fumbles. “I- didn’t think you’d be interested,” the demon finisheslamely.

“Iam.”

Aziraphaleplaces the paintbrush on the tray, a minor miracle ensuring it won’t get allpainty on the handle or dry out and descends the little two-step ladder. Theangel crosses the space of the bookshop, intimately aware of how Crowley’smouth opens a little, tongue barely darting out past those teeth of his andAziraphale remembers reading about how snakes smell. They use their tongue.

Witha thud of his heart, Aziraphale sits down primly beside Crowley who shiftsautomatically, instinctively, to accommodate the angel beside him. A snap offingers and they both have a cup of tea each—Aziraphale is uncertain that winewould be a good idea at the moment; though he is tempted.

Crowleygulps the tea while Aziraphale politely sips at it, the angel watching the waythe demon goes at the cup like one would go at water when dying of thirst. Hewaits just long enough for Crowley to gain some measure of control over himselfbefore purposefully reaching out and laying a hand on Crowley’s arm, a little bitvindictively pleased at the way Crowley shudders beneath his hand.

“Shareone of those sonnets that are yours?” He asks though it’s more of a commandbecause Crowley—for all that the demon insists he is a demon and evil and thusobeys no one—has always caved to Aziraphale’s demands; usually with somewhining and complaining but seldom has Crowley refused him. Now is another timewhere Crowley caves to Aziraphale and it probably has more to do with the wayAziraphale’s thumb is stroking lightly on the smooth material of Crowley’ssleeve, his golden-pale skin offset beautifully against the dark black ofCrowley’s clothes.

“’kay.”

Thisis the point, readers, where things Change with a capital C for both angel anddemon. Perhaps it’s the metaphorical dropping of a penny, or some other metaphorthat conveys the sense of realisation, but both Aziraphale and Crowleyrecognise the Shift in their relationship at this very point in time. It is apoint that they will both think back on in years to come and smile rathergoofily. At this precise point however, we have Crowley beginning to blush,fingers fidgeting with the fine bone china cup in his hand, while Aziraphalestares at Crowley’s face and his thumb continues to stroke the soft fabric ofCrowley’s sleeve. It’s an intimate, emotive scene and ever so suited toadmissions through poetry if I do say so myself.

“Devouringtime, blunt tho the lion’s paws,

Andmake the earth devour her own sweet brood;

Pluckthe keen teeth from the fierce tiger’s Jaws,

Andburn the long-lived phoenix in her blood.

Makeglad and sorry seasons as thou fleet'st,

Anddo whate'er thou wilt, swift-footed time.

Tothe wide world and all her fading sweets.

ButI forbid thee one most heinous crime;

O,carve not with thy hours my love’s fair brow,

Nordraw no lines there with thine antique pen.

Himin thy course untainted do allow

Forbeauty’s pattern to succeeding men.

Yet do they worst, old time;despite thy wrong

My love shall in my verse ever liveyoung.”

[1]Considering how out of date Aziraphale himself happens to be, it’s no stretchof the imagination to assume he means a slight change in the shade on the wallsto update it by a ten year margin or something else equally out-dated in theeyes of the modern world today.

[2]Gabriel’s hypocrisy when it comes to the Ideal Angel Form is no where moreapparent than when you look at Sandalphon who is short, snivelly and lessappealing to look at than a sack of rubble dumped in the Tiber. Crowley hasstated this to Aziraphale before, multiple times and rather directly, over somewine and thus has witnessed the amazing sight of Aziraphale spitting out hiswine and laughing himself silly. Crowley isn’t quite sure what is quite soamusing about his derision of Sandalphon but it amuses Aziraphale and he’s okaywith not quite understanding when Aziraphale is happy.

[3] Last time there was the matter of an accidentalearthquake and we wouldn’t want that to happen again now, would we?

#Good Omens #GOmens #Good Omens fic #GOmens fic #my writing #kat writes #ineffable morons #ineffable husbands #crowley #aziraphale #prompt fic #the fucker anon #Anonymous #Kat answers #People talk to me!!!

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blackidyll · 5 years ago

Text

It's been a long while since I've been on Tumblr, but here I am, trying to get back into my usual rhythm of life. Mainly: I'm alive, but I'm really, really tired.

The end of 2019/beginning of 2020 has been really insane. I fell sick for most of December - the whole cough/cold/sore throat trifecta that got so bad I finally ended up on antibiotics on New Year's Eve. I actually took two weeks of leave in December, but I was so sick and busy during this time that I basically got no rest whatsoever, and when I got back to work in January it was to drop straight into an absolute tsunami of work - one huge project ended the day before Chinese New Year, and immediately after CNY holidays I had another huge executive event to prepare for (I was working over weekends), and when that ended last week I got YET ANOTHER project dumped on me. Covid19 and the political situation in my home country is also taking its toll. I feel like the past two months has been an absolute blur - mostly of stress and negativity.

I'm so tired, you all.

Anyway, I'm trying hard now to pull back and strike a balance between work and having down proper time. I owe quite a few of you replies to messages and chats, and TBH there's like 60+ comments in my AO3 inbox that I haven't had a chance to respond to. I'm going to try hard over the next few weeks to get to all of them. I really appreciate every message and comment I get, because they constantly remind me there's still people and the entire world out there, when sometimes it's so easy to get caught up in my head with all my stresses and worries and the day-to-day grind.

I'm going to go throw a bunch of things in my queue to get this place kickstarted again, but in the meantime - have some fic recs. I've been reading a lot of fic to keep afloat the past three months; these are the WIPs I'm following at the moment. I'm completely out of creativity so my own fics will have to wait, but it always gives me a boost when I see some love for my WIPs, so if any of these appeal to you, give them a read and drop some love to those authors too.

The Bureau Files series by Catsafari [The Cat Returns, episodic/case style canon-based sequel; Baron/Haru]

i kill giants by diasterisms [Star Wars new trilogy; canon-based sequel to The Rise of Skywalker; Rey/Ben]

Ragnarǫkr, Part 3 of the Sharingan Rising series by weialala [Naruto; canon-divergence with supernatural elements; Sasuke-centric, technically Sasuke/Naruto but is more Sasuke's relations with everyone]

Peripeteia, Part 4 of the Carry Your Heart verse by mondaze [Shingeki no Kyojin; canon-based A/B/O verse, eventually diverges at the retake Shinganshina arc because Erwin lives (\o/); Erwin/Levi]

Just Another Day by Tierfal [Fullmetal Alchemist; post-manga series, Roy has severe PTSD; pre-relationship Roy/Ed]

try something new by gdgdbaby [Nezha (2019); post-movie oneshot where the two have grown up and gotten their bodies back; Nezha/Aobing]

WIPs that haven't been updated recently but since I'm on a roll, you all should read them:

Nukume Dori by Leareth [Tokyo Babylon, X/1999; canon-divergence, kind-of time travel with X!Subaru falling back into the TB!timeline with all his memories intact; Subaru/Seishirou, a lot of trio interactions with Hokuto]

boy with a coin, Part 5 of the signal to noise series by twigcollins [The World Ends With You; post-game sequels exploring the consequences of Neku winning the long game and Joshua deciding to bring him back to life; Joshua/Neku]

(more info and my comments on each fic under the cut, because they get long)

The Bureau Files series by Catsafari [The Cat Returns, episodic/case style canon-based sequel; Baron/Haru]

I've been (re)watching Studio Ghibli movies on the weekends and I fell completely in love with The Cat Returns (I love Whisper of the Heart but I missed this movie somehow?). This wonderful sequel fic series focuses on an adult Haru that becomes a full-fledge member of the Cat Bureau and goes on plenty of adventures with the Bureau crew. It's also 500K words (!!!) of delicious slow slow slow SLOW burn between Baron and Haru. I just found out the author will be posting the next installation in the series this month, so you know. Perfect time to read the existing content and then follow the author's weekly updates for more of this amazing series.

i kill giants by diasterisms [Star Wars new trilogy; canon-based sequel to The Rise of Skywalker; Rey/Ben]

Yes, I'm a Reylo fan. I find the grey dynamics between Rey and a vaguely redeemed Ben Solo fascinating. I think it's because I was such a huge Luke and Mara Jade shipper from the Legends days. Anyway, I'd recommend pretty much all of diasterisms's Reylo fics (they nail the characterization + growth arcs incredibly) but this WIP in particular is a direct TROS sequel, which is great for all us fans who were very WTF about the way TROS ended. Also - lots of Force ghosts :D

Ragnarǫkr, Part 2 of the Sharingan Rising series by weialala [Naruto; canon-divergence with supernatural elements; Sasuke-centric, technically Sasuke/Naruto but is more Sasuke's relations with everyone]

I think my bookmark gushes enough about this series (and the previous installment) that I don't need to rehash it here. But anyway, this sequel is flipping amazing. The world building is so incredible omg. The wait between chapters is very long but so very worth it.

Peripeteia, Part 4 of the Carry Your Heart verse by mondaze [Shingeki no Kyojin; canon-based A/B/O verse, eventually diverges at the retake Shinganshina arc because Erwin lives (\o/); Erwin/Levi]

I'm usually very, very particular about my A/B/O verses (the concept squicks me a little but some writers subvert the trope and those are amazing) and this is a really great take on the trope - Erwin and Levi bond first out of necessity and then have to rebuild/realize a romantic relationship out of it later; they're already such strong friends and incredible partners that the bond actually throws them out of whack initially lol. But the evolution of their relationship is so well written, and the sub-plot about Levi being targeted is also great. Anyway, in this particular sequel goes back to the canon-timeline; Erwin survives the Beast Titan charge, everyone finds out about Marley, and the Survey Corps goes on a mission to make contact with the outside world. I don't actually follow the manga but I know enough that this sequel is really intriguing me. Also, Erwin lives. Thank goodness Erwin lives.

Just Another Day by Tierfal [Fullmetal Alchemist; post-manga series, Roy has severe PTSD; pre-relationship Roy/Ed]

Everything Tierfal writes is golden, but this one. Oh man, this one. It gets dark, and sometimes that's bad if you're already stressed (your mood doesn't need more depressing things to drag it down) but sometimes... you also want to indulge in it, because when you see a character go through hard and traumatic times and make it out the other side, it gives you hope too, you know? Anyway, right now at chapter 2, it's all trauma and pain for Roy, so take caution while reading this fic, but......... Ed. Oh my goodness, Ed. He tries so hard. He doesn't give up. This fic reminds me a bit of But Not Buried This Time, where Ed is the one drowning in his guilt... I remember thinking while reading that fic, "goodness, everyone needs a Roy like this in their life." Well, for this fic? I just keep thinking, "goodness, everyone needs an Ed like this in their life."

try something new [Nezha (2019); post-movie oneshot where the two have grown up and gotten their bodies back; Nezha/Aobing]

not a WIP but what the hell. So this version of Nezha is hell of a lot different from the Nezha I remember of my childhood (in that....... Nezha 100% kills Aobing lol and I remember being very conflicted because I love dragons and Nezha kills a lot of them, but at the same time deity!Nezha is pretty badass?). So anyway, someone with creative control DEFINITELY has shipper glasses on when they made this movie, I cannot get over how adorable Nezha and Aobing are. I really enjoyed this movie, it was so over the top and funny. And they made Nezha and Aobing literal soulmates? This fic is cute and adorable because it's Nezha and Aobing traveling and helping the world after they grow up and regain their bodies, and it's just tons of adorable teenage(?) confusion where they're hovering on the edge of friendship and something more. THEY ARE SO ENDEARING I love them!!

Instead of dying on the Promised Day, 25-year-old Dragon of Heaven Subaru wakes up in his 16-year-old body during the Tokyo Babylon timeline. Having seen what the future holds, he decides to continue with his original Bet with Seishirou - this time fighting to win. In the latest installment, we go pass the TB timeline into the years before 1999 and the changes that the divergence makes is just absolutely fascinating, plus we start seeing more of the X/1999 cast, whom I love and adore.

I love Joshua so so much but he digs his own bed willingly and he lies in it with all the broken pride he can muster. He's very much the master of forfeiting the game before he can lose, except this time it's Neku standing beside him, and Neku is very, very stubborn. Trust your bloody partner, Joshua (I say, with all the love in my heart for this Joshua and this poor beleaguered but incredibly stubborn Neku and the all the game mechanics and worldbuilding in this series). Also, the latest cliffhanger is killing me but I'm ready to see Joshua go absolutely feral on anyone who would dare touch his city and his partner.

#*#fic recs #i looked down and then back up and suddenly it's march #and yeah i read in a zillion fandoms that i don't write in. i read a LOT of fanfic #i've been surviving on reading fanfic and listening to studio ghibli OSTs and watching figure skating competitions #i'm so tired i want a nap #btw i've gotten a lot of lovely comments on my fics and i love all of them #but i'm so numb from tiredness it's hard to muster up the energy to reply #but i love them all! esp all the people who commented on my 00Q RB fic #i was feeling very emotional because it's probably going to be my last 00Q fic (unless no time to die really changes things)#and i was stressed from work and CNY obligations but so many people said such lovely things about my 00Q fics #and told me they'll still follow me on tumblr #ahaha i felt guilty because i hadn't been on tumblr for a few weeks even back then #but it was definitely motivation for me to get my ducks back in a row and start using my tumblr again #ngl tumblr will be an escape because if i keep reading local politics and covid19 news on twitter my soul gets sucked into a black hole #i hope everyone else's 2020 is going much better #keep safe keep healthy and please take care of yourselves!!!

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