#they have zero idea what theyre actually standing for

[sammygender]

thoughts on how the sam & dean part of the fight before sam left for stanford went !

i am addicted to thinking about precanon so thank you for this <33

i think people r generally way too optimistic about how that initial seperation between them went. dean is awful to sam about stanford even years after he left and years after he came back!! hes still very visibly angry about it in s5 which is NINE YEARS after he left in the first place and refuses to even tolerate the idea it was a good moment for sam. i cannot comprehend how people think 22 year old dean had the emotional maturity to even let sam go without a fight, nevermind be supportive about it.

like. theres this amazinggg art on here of sam hitchhiking to stanford and all the comments are like 'erm that black eye would be from JOHN actually!' (side note but it is so funny to me how spn fans decide john hit them based on implication (which i agree w... to an extent...) but dean hitting sam onscreen multiple times somehow translates to 'DEAN WOULD NEVER DO THAT'. erm. okay.) 'nooo dean would've given sam a lift!'

and like. what show are you watching. if dean would've given sam a lift he would've done it to the bus station in moody silence and then locked the doors of the impala so sam couldn't get out to catch his bus to stanford and they would've started physically fighting for the car keys and dean eventually wouldve let sam get them and sam wouldve left. or something. but it would not be some sweet brotherly moment bc that directly contradicts canon <3

i do think the worst of the fight is between sam & john - that's always what's implied in canon - and in my head dean's just standing there stonefaced maybe refusing to even talk to sam until theyre left alone somehow and he breaks. but i also think dean hits sam at some point, will always have the image in my head of sam showing up to stanford w a bloody nose and fending off questions. (internally hes like no my dad didnt do this it was my brother so its fine. <3.) theres a scene like this in one of my fics so im just drawing from that. but. like....

idk how dean/john finds out. if dean found out before john, i think dean probably wouldve run to him about it in an attempt to get sam Not To Go as much as it would be nice if he didnt, so i reckon they have to find out at about the same time. i think sam is unsure what to expect from dean, who of course (as far as we see both in flashbacks and in canon) alternates between genuine care and support and angry, desperate possessiveness. he probably hopes for the best and expects the worst and gets the worst.

there r definitely lots of different ways it could go....maybe sam tells dean and dean tells john. maybe sam tells john without telling dean at all and thats how dean finds out which totally wrecks him. maybe sam tells them both at the same time. maybe sam never tells them and they find the acceptance letter. this is why stanford fight is sooo fascinating. i feel like i could write five different versions of it and all would be possible/interesting.

but whichever way, i just dont see dean as contradicting john. he generally Doesnt Ever precanon, this is established, he admits it himself, thats why its such a huge moment when he defends sam at the end of s1.....sam going on about dean 'protecting him' is 1. more subtle and probably to do with dean being the one to shoulder most of johns emotional baggage than the heller misinterpretation of 'john hit dean but not sam and thats what this means!!!' (tho i am sure dean did genuinely Protect sam sometimes including from physical violence. of course he did. this isnt to discredit that..i just emphasise the Sometimes.). and 2. partially just classic Sam Rewriting History (u always protected me from dad, from lucifer....girl he did those things very little certainly not always. know your worth sam winchester).

so if dean gives sam a very angry lift (to a nearby bus station...there is absolutely zero fucking way hes driving him to stanford and tbh i already find this quite unlikely but possibilities r interesting) its on john's say-so or at least not disapproval. which like. sure maybe. john certainly is concerned about sam's safety even after he kicks him out, checking up on him at stanford etc, id believe that hed want to ensure sam Gets there even if the fight ended up so bad he told sam he couldnt come back. tho hes stubborn and i dont think hed say it. so maybe itd be a case of dean kind of picking up that that's what john wants and complying even though right now half of him wants to never see sam again and the other half wants to tie him to the radiator so he can never leave. sorry i am literally brainstorming fic ideas in this ask answer now.

anyway....SORRY id say long ass answer as always but this is actually INSANELY long......sorry guys im about to embark upon getting tested for adhd and maybe then my rambles will be, while not shorter in length, more cohesive? tldr fandom is wrong dean is an absolute ASS during stanford fight. obviously sam leaving devastates him and how does dean cope with devastation or perceived abandonment do we think?? hm?? he is just as angry as john for the same and different reasons. and thats really so much more interesting than him being Secretly Supportive. <3

[page-yerin]

literally going to fight someone about ninjago dr s3 because, before anyone flames me, this wasn’t the best season so far 😞

look I’m not the best at analyzing stuff like this but I do my fair share in writing and research so I do want to share my personal opinion on the story and etc.

you’re telling me Cole basically got ZERO SCREENTIME?? ZERO. NONE.

sora GOING WITH ARIN?? WHAT THE F- why. WHY. I’M LITERALLY GONNA JUMP I LOVE THEIR FRIENDSHIP BUT THAT IS NOT IT

I REALLY REALLY need to see Lloyd start crashing out about losing BOTH his students (i have no idea if Frak is considered his student because… he basically didn’t get focus either)

Ras’ bxtch ahh should go to hell just saying

the only thing I liked was MORRO THE LOML AND MY WIFE PIX AND JAYYYAYAYA MY LOVE

OH AND WYFY AND ROBY THEYRE SOOAJRJRJFJ we love supportive Kai that was the best part btw; theyre literally so father and daughter FIGHT W THE WALL ^^

to be completely honest, I feel like in general there was a lot of comedic moments and less storytelling. the only good storytelling part imo was Ras and Arin’s side: specifically Ras’ mfing manipulation over Arin.

tbf that part was always a masterpiece… not the literal manipulation though

and the part where Jay says Arin’s parents are alive… I’m gonna jump if Ras faked their deaths to use Arin like a fvcking puppet

The flashback of Sora and Arin meeting was definitely wholesome, but not… really… expected or like kind of random ig? I feel like they could have showed it through Arin and Sora maybe feeling guilty and remembering how they met or something, more-so Sora since she ends up going with Arin.

like I get they’re best friends and all but… I feel like more could’ve been done with that(?) to show Sora wanting to stay with Arin in the end, esp with the relationship between the ninja and Ras.

And FRAK. DID. NOT. GET. ENOUGH. …development? Character-wise

Frak suddenly going all “I don’t think you understand what being a ninja is” in the last or second to last episode to Arin, but we don’t see enough interaction to build his idea of that other than being a superfan of them in general

I will never stop saying this: they should give him some kind of arc in helping him switch over from Ras’ “anger and hate becomes strength” technique to the ninja’s. We clearly see him more aggressive on the obstacle course in the first episode, but that’s barely touched on later on…

i do like how Arin ends up being able to do object Spinjitzu well enough in the end by.. using his kindness or wtvr that was… to defeat Thunderfang (who will definitely come back and better die for basically killing Morro… he’s already dead but that’s not the point)

i don’t think redoing the merge can “bring back his parents” even if they were actually dead because despite all that talk on it reshaping reality… idk if that’s how things work

I am glad about Arin still stopping Ras from fighting at times and etc.; his character is probably the best here other than Ras imo

other than we have:

that part in the First Realm (or Land ig) where Frak freaks out about the Oni… dude you’re literally right next to one

frak is so real btw I love him, just wish he could be more refined in terms of character

never mind frak though, COLE BETTER HAVE A LOT MORE SCREENTIME IN PART 2; never gonna forgive the writers for this

Oh and Zane dying for the nth time, that was great

Sora and frak bickering… I take back the shipping from my last post, but I do get Sora for being pissed off a bit

And Lloyd saying “green is the best” I LOVE HIM HAHAHSJSJSJN<33

like I said, there was a lot of comedic relief and stuff: not to say it wasn’t funny bc I cackled at most of them, but the overall story just.. wasn’t what I expected

I stand by my case that season 2 is still the best dr season… at least so far

Idk like I said I’m not really good at this stuff and sometimes I change my mind after hearing others’ opinions so lemme know if you agree or if you wanna throw me to the Netherspace

[techlove-1999]

ok, so… securitrons move around with One Big Tire. while it gives their design a pretty memorable Staple, its… well, realistically it would be TERRIBLE 4 balance…!!! while a big tire like that on its Own could probably balance just fine, we of course have a Big (Cute) Bulky Robot that’s gonna be Fucking with its Center of Mass, kind of like a heavy unicycle!! so i have 2 wonder how they do it so well ingame…!! obviously it could be explained through cartoon physics or something like that… but i wanna dig a bit Deeper than that. i love securitrons too much 2 just write it off anyhow…^_^ so lets solve the mystery of how these things can balance so good!!!

now.. it could be that securitrons are specifically coded 2 know how 2 Balance themselves, or have some kind of mechanic that keeps them from Toppling Over every time they want 2 stop moving or stay Still. it could be possible that they have a sort of special Locking Mechanism that keeps their tire from making them roll away…? however this does Not solve the problem of the robot’s center of mass!! because even if the tire is locked in place, the Weight of the securitron’s body will still, well… make it tip over!!

so i propose an Idea. what if the securitrons center of mass. is actually a lot Lower than it may seem from their build. stay with me here, ok…? ok…

obviously house is too much of a Haughty Smarty Pants or something like that 2 just have written off or ignore this issue. in fact- the way securitrons ingame can effortlessly balance is a testament 2 this fact!! so what did he do 2 let the securitrons actually balance…?

its is My Opinion that securitrons must have their center of mass Lower in their bodies. this would make it Much easier 4 them 2 actually balance themselves as we see in new vegas!! if i had 2 guess where Specifically, i’d say somewhere as shown in This Simple Graphic…

since the part housing the Screen is the bulkiest part of the chassis, you would Typically expect that 2 be the center of mass… however, with it being So High Up on the body, it would cause the robot 2 fall over!!! crash!!! ow!!! @_@

however… if the center of mass is Below that part, in the “waist” area per se, then the robot won’t have as much of a discrepancy in weight distribution. it wont be as Top Heavy, allowing the entire machine 2 stay standing!!

now as 4 How exactly the center of weight would realistically be in the waist area, i’d have 2 say its probably something 2 do with how the Functions of the parts affect how theyd be Built, if that makes any sense... the lower waist area is where the Wheel connects 2 the rest of the body, so the part where it connects is most likely More Fortified so it doesn’t Come Apart, especially considering the amount of Movement that part would have 2 put up with, so it should there4 be using Stronger/More Material so it doesn’t Wear Down so easily. perhaps the material in that area is pretty thick, making it heavy!!

as 4 the part Above that however… we can see its made up of the same material as the Arms, and from securitron movement and idle animations, we see its somewhat Flexible from the way it Bounces!! perhaps theres a comically large spring inside? or perhaps a multitude of springs that allow the chassis 2 Bounce in the way it does? (leaving that outside bit as the only thing letting it bounce would be a bit Stupid, really… there would be Zero support 4 the chassis and it would just always be Crushing the thing…!!!) so perhaps those springs are quite heavy, as they’d have 2 be Strong and there4 pretty Big and Thick so they dont snap inside of the body!

of course this is all just Speculation, as we dont 4 sure know what the inside of one of these cuties looks like. maybe one day we’ll get a good look at the inner workings of a securitron, but until we know that, all we have 2 rely on is the power of Headcanon!! so i could be spot on, or i could be way off. who knows!! maybe theyre powered by cartoon bullshittery 4 real!!!

id really love 2 hear Other People’s ideas and thoughts on this too… i am not an Expert on Robotics by a Long Shot, even if i do love them with my Whole Heart… im just some sillyguy giving its two cents on a cute robot!! so if anyone has different or cooler interpretations on how securitrons can balance, i would love 2 hear them!!

also… thank you 4 reading my speculations as well in the First Place… it honestly means a Whole Lot 2 me whenever people enjoy the stuff i put out here 4 fun, so thank you thank you Thank You 4 taking the time 2 enjoy my silly little works...!!! (seriously everyone leaves the sweetest stuff in the tags and it makes me want 2 Cry Tears Of Joy. who let you all be so kind and wonderful.)

[the-s1lly-corner]

may we please request gn porcelain doll!reader whos on the verge of abstraction (but has zero idea how to stop it and is afraid to admit it) x jax and maybe pomni (separate) ? ot I love how canon your writing is !! have an amazing day/night :3

Jax and Pomni x porcelain doll!reader whos abstracting !

cracks my knuckles. a TADC angst request? dont mind if i do eheheheh! and ueueueueu thank you anon! i gotta admit im really self conscious about writing characters, doesnt matter how long ive been writing them i always feel that i could do better with their characterization... but im so so happy to know that theyre not too OOC!! that means a lot!! got a little too silly on jaxs part so its longer than pomnis i hope thats okay!!

POMNI:

gosh imagine this is the first time shes seen someone actively abstract... like yeah sure shes seen kaufmo in his abstracted form, but seeing the aftermath/complete transformation is totally different than being there in the moment. i think she would.. be all over the place. i mean youre at your worst and you dont even understand whats going on... and pomni doesnt know what to do or what she can do to ground you. can you even be grounded back to the present moment? can you even back up and regain yourself? is that something someone can do? i think her panic makes you panic, which ends up making your.. situation worse.. i think pomni would try to keep you together as best as she can; physically and mentally. i got the image of the readers face cracking open and the abstraction stuff peeking out and pomni just... trying to push the pieces back together... its a horrible situation, and before long you're fully abstracted and pomni just stands there. im not even sure if she would have the mind to run away, probably too caught up in trying to bring you back to her.. i think sometimes she would stop in front of your old bedroom door and just. stare at the brand new red X over your portrait

JAX:

unlike pomni, i think he can more easily catch the signs of someone abstracting, though i dont think hes seen someone actually lose themselves right in front of him and transform right there... hmm... but unless you and him are very close i dont think he would bother trying to check in on you. i mean, if youre not, why would he? but... lets say youre both friends, or even partners, and he notices that youve been acting off.. i think it would still take him a little longer than id like to admit for him to actually come to your room to check in on you. perhaps he wants to give you space, or feels youre just going through something and thats your business, or maybe he didnt feel obligated to ask how youre doing as horrible as it sounds (i feel this is more likely if you guys are just friends, though, perhaps not close but still friendly with one another).. gets tipped off that something is wrong when he sees a stray (and glitching) piece of porcelain on the ground... which turns into two pieces, then three. a trail, leading right to your breaking form. i think at first he would think its some joke, before realizing that this is actually happening. unfortunately, i dont think jax is the best comforter so even in your last moments of being conscious and aware would still be spent in fear and confusion.. but at least theres an attempt to try to help you, right? i think jax would actually try to call for help, at least he might be able to admit hes unqualified to help you.. but regardless of if anyone hears him its too late for you.. i like to think he keeps some of your porcelain shards, on the off chance theyre still hanging around even after youre sent to the cellar

[faelapis]

so i watch wwdits. and i gotta say. that was the worst episode i've ever seen of not just this show, but maybe any show. ever. wow. i'm actually impressed with how bad it was.

i'm considering doing a more serious dissection of how Not to do a character arc or narrative framing. but for now, let me just share some general thoughts:

undoing guillermos vampirism totally shits on his character arc of standing up for himself and taking what he wants regardless of the morality of it. i hate it and it sucks.

also, the reasons make no sense. guillermo has had zero problem killing people until now. the roundabout way they try to explain it, like wow, he could smell someone's shampoo and imagined him picking it out and felt their mutual humanity... why would that not apply to any of the other people he's killed? he's even had somewhat of a relationship with some of them. yet all he's ever done when they die is give a distressed frown AT MOST.

guillermo is a killer and always has been. lately, he's even proud of it. that has, metaphorically, been part of him "embracing who he is."

but what bothered me even more was nandor. we all know this situation (guillermo being turned by someone else) is his fault for neglecting turning guillermo for 13 years... but instead, everything is framed as guillermos own fault for having someone else turn him. like - look at how mad you made nandor, guillermo. look what you've caused, guillermo. look what you made him do.

which, yikes. i feel like i dont need to say how bad that is.

even worse than nandors jealous rage.... i really hate the stupid condescending "forgiveness" afterwards. thats actually worse. like guillermo was right to be meek and apologetic for this, like it IS something he needs to be forgiven for. but its "okay" now because nandor "forgave" him. lets just move on. no need to interrogate nandors entitlement over guillermo.

you can argue theres the unstated idea that nandor is overreacting. sure. we, the audience, dont want guillermo to die, and thats part of the irreverent way the show treats death and killing.

but still, yknow?

i feel like i'm taking crazy pills, because the real question isnt whether nandor should "forgive" guillermo. in this context, guillermo has done nothing wrong. nandor totally reneged on their agreement as vampire-familiar. guillermo is supposed to serve nandor, and in return, nandor is supposed to turn guillermo. but he keeps not doing it, and in general being shitty towards guillermo. so guillermo takes matters into his own hands.

that COULD be a great character beat. it could confront nandor with his selfishness, and this uneven power relationship where he gets guillermo to stay by not fulfilling his promise.

but the question of whether guillermo should forgive nandor for not turning him, or for throwing a fit when someone else does? not even brought up. even though that really seems like the most pressing question. its crazy how subservient and apologetic guillermo suddenly is, like its S1 all over again. he does some token yelling at nandor, but his primary emotion is clearly guilt. its not enough to remotely change the shitty framing.

look. this show doesnt exactly have much "morality", and i dont want it to. i dont want any of these guys to become upstanding citizens. i like the irreverent tone and how theyre all killers.

but i do care about character arcs and agency.

guillermo has been treated like hes inferior the whole time hes been a familiar. and hes put up with it because he wanted to be a vampire. so by becoming a vampire, he forces the relationship to become equal. he also finally gets what he wants. which is ESPECIALLY poignant when it happens regardless of what nandor wants. it takes back his own agency over the situation, because nandor CAN'T hold it over his head anymore.

and then nandor doesnt like it. and goes into a murderous rage because of own entitlement at being the one to turn guillermo. thats fine as a starting point to a character arc, but guillermo doesn't even stand up for himself. he doesnt fight back as he should - or really, would, given how he's evolved to be more assertive. and then its reinforced by the stupid "forgiveness", like nandor has any right to forgive someone who did nothing wrong. it sets up this convenient scenario where nandor is not confronted for being a shitty master, but guillermo IS confronted for taking control of his own life.

and now, just as conveniently, guillermo just... doesnt like being a vampire, either. so nandor gets to further be a "good friend" making amends by helping "unturn" him. all framed like its about guillermo finding out what he "really" wants.

this is lame and it sucks. not only because guillermos reasons make no sense (again, he's been a killer this whole time? if anything, his arc is more accepting his own lack of morality), but because it resets the chessboard in a way where nandor doesnt have to learn anything.

nandor doesnt have to confront the sting of guillermo having agency to make this choice without him. he doesnt have to deal with the fact that it never got to be him who turns guillermo. he doesnt have to be forcibly confronted with the fact that he now has to treat guillermo as an equal, because guillermo now doesn't need anything from him.

and it sucks because all that could actually be a great jumping off point for them to, despite everything, start a real relationship. maybe even a romantic one. they could mutually realize they actually care about each other. regardless of this pact.

and you can say that by guillermo deciding to be human (as extremely lame and deeply uncool as that is), it also gives them this "equality." because he would stay with the vampires because he wants to, not because he needs something from nandor.

but you're missing the point - its NANDOR who needs to learn. its HE who needs to be confronted by guillermo making his own choices.

so guillermo just... conveniently changing his mind because he was a full vampire for one (1) fucking day and suddenly decided he's too good to kill people?

it robs nandor of that entire arc. and no, i'm not counting his stupid "forgiving" guillermo as learning to treat him like an equal. that would require a lot more introspection about his own entitlement. that would require him to actually say with his chest that guillermo had every right to make this choice, and its not on nandor to forgive him, its on guillermo whether he would forgive nandor.

that doesn't happen. what actually happens is nandor decides to show guillermo "mercy," which, again, firmly places the agency in nandor's hands. at no point does he have to be vulnerable and accept that guillermo might not want to be with him. at no point does he have to introspect about how he's treated him this whole time.

also. there is a long, proud line in patriarchal thinking of husbands "forgiving" their wives for perceived "disobedience," which only reinforces the husband as the head of the household and that said wives "should" have been more obedient. forgiveness is not always an act of kindness. sometimes it's very condescending. which it is here.

(same for the interpretation i've seen from some, that nandor "always knew" guillermo wasn't cut out to be a vampire. like that's why he didn't turn him. what a horrible, condescending idea. i don't know how you can look at nandor being like "i'm not going to give you what you want, because i know better than you" and not think it's shit.)

yes, i'm aware of the cheating metaphor. but its a bad metaphor. at least, not without acknowledging that its been an unequal relationship for 13 years where one partner has been neglecting the other constantly. at that point, the nuance should really come out and maybe the partner "cheating" isnt the worst here.

but that doesn't happen.

also... it's just a bad episode. like. in general. like the whole thing with the guide, where you think she actually gets to assert herself? sounds great. too bad its totally undone by gaslighting her into thinking they do like her and are nice to her. like the problem is they just didnt verbalize that "enough." thats yet another bullied or ignored character whose arc of standing up for themselves (even by immoral means, because its an immoral fantasy show) is undercut.

it sucks. guillermo sucks for losing his defiant streak (and metaphorical empowerment through vampirism), nandor sucks for being entitled. this whole show sucks. i suck for bothering to stick with it so long. i'm done. i'm out.

[mqole]

hbjhkgvhj ok here are uh. some character designs i did abt a year ago

these are all based on the incredible @kayzero's fic zero win game, which is a rewrite of ztd with akane as the protagonist, and it has possibly THE BEST characterization of akane ive ever read- listen just. just go read it you will be enriched i promise.

im not putting an image description bc i dont know where to start (sorry!!) BUT ill put a bunch of character design notes below the cut for people who are insane like me <3333

ok first of all. i know when i sent these to kay the other day they said there were some details canon to zwg that i missed (akane's lil hoodie pocket, aoi wearing white to contrast junpei's black (which is SO inspired btw.)) so just. PRETEND those are there bc i forgor <3

i spent the most time on sigma, phi, akane, junpei and aoi just because they've had multiple iterations of designs. it was fun to take bits and pieces from each version of them, so thats why they get a feature page

you can see a lot of my little pink notes with criticisms of the ztd designs there. in general, i really dont like the ztd designs, they all feel unnaturally bland to me (although thats probably also the artstyle).

most people whove looked into the colour symbolism in zero escape are probably familiar with the whole red/blue thing: that is, theyre colours representing the morphogenetic field. akane and aoi are the most obvious examples of this. 'aka' means red, and 'ao' means blue. in the first nonary game, akane and clover wear red - the colour for transmitters - and aoi and light wear blue, the colour for recievers. in 999 proper, akane wears purple, to symbolise how she can recieve AND transmit, while junpei wears red and blue by themselves. you can do a whole analysis of these colours and i will not put it here thats a whole SEPERATE post

anyway! the actual designs!! i'll start with sigma. i wanted to reconcile his vlr design with zero ii's design, and initially i planned on giving him a coat, but it didnt really have a nice silhouette, so i ditched that idea. instead, i turned his jumpsuit from vlr into a polo shirt - much like what he has in ztd - and gave him some zero-y accessories: the white turtleneck, the belt and the gloves all come from zero's design. once id included the white turtleneck, making the pants white felt really logical. in character design, its generally best to limit the palette of colours as much as you can, so it was a good excuse to reuse a colour while also paying homage to his ztd design. i also cut his hair bc hes a scientist and he'd do that.

phi's design is a lot more like her vlr one than her ztd design. the blue coat was her hallmark accessory, and im shocked that they ditched it for ztd, so i gave it back - along with her boots and hair accessory. i kept her pants and glasses from ztd, as well as the way the bottom of her shirt is tucked into her pants. they just have a much nicer silhouette to me. between my first pass of colours and my second pass, phi's colours changed the most - i realised i had too many blue guys in the lineup, and wanted to make the colours stand out individually. so i leaned into phi's orange-ness. giving her hair accessory, pants and boots an orange hue instead of a blue one, as well as shifting her coat to a more teal colour really helped make those colours pop.

AKANE MY BESTIE!!!! her design was probably the one i had the most fun with. i basically just took her ztd design and purpled it. I did want to include some more details though - her neck scarf was in both her 999 AND vlr design, so it felt wrong not to include it. i also added some gold highlights to her design, just to complement the purple - her boots are also toned yellow, so it felt fitting. the cut of her sleeves, as well as her hair, felt really natural: i gave her the side ponytail from ztd, while letting more of her hair fall to the side to retain her silhouette from 999. i stole the sleeves wholesale from vlr akane, but can you blame me. look at that robe. its so pretty.

overall i have mixed feelings on ztd junpei as a character, but i think his darker turn is at the very least a fun direction to take him. I do like the jacket he has in his concept art. IT SURE WOULD BE NICE IF THE MODEL ALSO HAD A JACKET. his design went relatively unchanged overall, i basically just retoned his hair, gave him a button-up instead of a t-shirt, and puffered his jacket. the red and blue from his vest in 999 is reused here, but in darker, more muted tones. you can see in the corner of the drawing i played around with swapping the red and blue, but the red focus felt too edgy for junpei. the blue also pops really nicely against his dark clothes, so i kept it.

anyone who has spoken to me for more than ten seconds will know how insane i am about aoi kurashiki i mean come on my name is santa. i think a lot about his two designs: that of the first nonary game and in 999. in the first nonary game he wears a blue scarf, harkening to his role as a reciever, but in 999 he wears monochrome. my personal interpretation of this is that his 999 fit was him purposefully disguising his connection to the morphogenetic field. so post-999, since he doesnt have to worry about that, i gave him his blue back!!! his general fit is the same- his pants and shoes are artistry so obviously i kept those, and i ended up making the rest of his look black to contrast his 999 design. if i were to redesign him now wearing white, id probably go a different direction altogether. that third little drawing ive included has some test outfits for him, carlos, and maria, but i never really went anywhere with them. also i gave him dark roots to show his relation to akane a bit more. and also because i like projecting my roots always grow back SO fast

that brings us to the 4 characters introduced after vlr: carlos, mira, diana, and... maria??? yeah like i said go read zero win game. do it. maria is such a fun character. she was, coincidentally, ALSO the only character where i had to design someone from scratch. you can see i fiddled a little with colour palettes, trying to figure out how to give every character a unique look. diana and carlos' designs actually go almost unchanged here- i think dianas design in particular is actually pretty great, and works as a nice foil to luna in vlr. carlos is just kind of normal. he can have his silly polo shirt.

miras ztd design is. ugh ok look its FINE but i hate the boobie designs in zero escape because they always feel like they were designed seperately from the character. mira in zwg is still a sussy baka, but she's a lot more cordial- i enjoyed seeing her more as a snake lying in the grass. I ended up giving her green because its a fun colour to give characters who youre meant to distrust. SO MANY TIMES reading zwg i was like "oh maybe mira's chill - oh wait maybe shes not - oh wait maybe shes chill again" and i love her for that honestly. she still gets boobies because i love women but i gave her a fun little long sleeved corset top. the amount of skin she shows directly correlates to the amount you should trust her (i am only half joking.)

i wont talk about diana because honestly the only change i made was giving her a little blue strip at the bottom of her skirt, but i'll talk about maria and carlos together. carlos i kept as a little pink boy because i love him and i love pink and listen its my character design ill do what i want. maria in ztd AND in zwg experiences reverie syndrome, which is connected to the morphogenetic field. her and carlos' designs both incorporate red and blue again- (just realised diana also has red and blue. pretend that was intentional) -to show their connection to the field. yes yes i know its pink but listen its red enough. like aoi, i gave maria and carlos both different iterations of their designs. i'm less sold on carlos', but i did actually like the baggier, heavy designs for maria. with those ones she looks more depressed than she does wearing overalls, so im calling that a win. maria's was the design i was least satisfied with overall, but hey i did these like a year and a half ago and ive gotten much better since then soo.

if youve read this far this is once again a reminder to read zero win game by kayzero on ao3

[deadaggressor]

time for a wall of Text i might just start throwing tons of kirathrun shit under a cut every so often. half of this is exchanges with mari but i cannot stop thinking about all of these again so im posting and expandng on it

the thing is like when theyre really oblivious about it, they are so romantic but think its normal. and like. on missions shinn gets the worst brunt of it

Shinn: are you like. Positive Athrun isn't in love with you Kira: (just turned around from Athrun feeding him) yeah why do you ask

They all have to stay overnight somewhere and with zero hesitation Kira asks for two rooms both singles Like OBVIOUSLY he and athrun are sharing a bed. What’s so strange about that

Hotel receptionist: im so sorry we only have one room with two twin beds is that ok Kira: ye— Shinn: NOOOOOOO!!!

LIKE. shinns assumptions on the situation : gay sex what actually happens : this is the most peaceful hes ever seen athrun in his fucking life. rare times athrun zala does not look like he has all the stress on gods green earth

shinn having to slowly get acclimated to being in a squadron with them and thus rooming with them on missions and he has this wildly, vastly different idea of what their relationship is as it stands watching them just… slip into these solid routines like they never left them Going from feeling absolute dread to feeling a kind of longing for that kind of bond with someone He has such an abstract idea of what a “relationship” even means and seeing them shows him what it can look like

athrun asks shinn what he wants for dinner (ordering takeout) and shinns like "but kiras napping shouldnt we wait to order" "no. i know what he wants." shinn picking up on the little things they know about each other and know to do for each other, lacus & cagalli intentionally planning this kinda co-opted mission for the sake of humanizing those two a bit more to shinn

shinn witnessing this causing him to expand his horizons —> realizes and reciprocates Rey’s feelings —> shinnrey somehow get together before kirathrun do

Shinn hearing two “oh but I don’t know that he’ll ever love me back 😔 ” speeches back to back in confidence: oh god I cannot let thsi happen to me --> I NEED TO TAKE THE FIRST STEP. REY I DONT BELIEVE IN HOOKUP CULTURE DIE IN MY ARMS

shinn taking psychic damage from asking kira and athrun the same question and proceeding to get identical answers about things. they give him t he Same exact "but hes my childhood best friend what if it ruins everything because he doesnt like me back" and to kira especially shinn is Holding Back from talking about how pathetic athrun is about him. like i dont think theyre dumb but kira and athrun had such a specific deep bond. they are also both very autistic and they were just Like That to eachother without realizations.

[raisinchallah]

you know the post that had me the most oh my god maybe im not autistic this is insane was this video where this guy was like acting out a fake dialogue with a neurotypical person who was annoyed that he was overexplaining things and hes like well ur not doing it right and like saying just full stop its the neurotypical persons fault for being annoyed at being told how to do stuff because they were unenlightened to the correct way and like seemingly not able to understand this would annoy someone and everyone in the comments was wholeheartedly agreeing wishing everyone was super normal about being told how to do stuff which is so wild to me cuz i get like the overexplaining thing and i know it often is not like malice or critique but literally how are u not driven up a wall because its like immovable object vs immovable object like this conflict would be worse with two autistic people tbh this isnt a neurotypical thing no force on earth greater than an autistic person and their specific routine like dont tell me this is wrong dont tell me what to do explodes u with eye lasers like akfkakkf im very familiar with this type of conflict my last job i had a coworker literally nicest dude in the world but was soooo particular about how stuff was done like more stringent than our managers telling me to only shake the noodles dry with a specific hand grip type stuff and again he meant zero malice and was just trying to help me and train me but i literally felt like i was clawing the fucking walls like um dont break my routine and like again i get the impulse i do i was like mentally feeling like noo how could u be doing it wrong (different from me) when working with my less experienced coworker and like i get the insane micromanager thing lol my autistic dad also hates being told what to do but will try to offer wayyy too much help and advice and corrections to the point u cant do it urself and i think i was just like so fascinated and appalled that like i fully get people being like of course my overexplaining is just helpful and kind cuz thats how its taken but having zero idea of the reverse of being on the other end of someone telling u how to do stuff but theyre wrong about it or simply different being literally the worst thing in the entire world the systems the rules the order comes crashing down and somehow instead everyones like yeah neurotypicals just gotta get it together and listen to our advice and im like no actually wheres the rights for people who are particular freaks to a degree they cant stand being told what to do in a different manner like how do u not suffer with this all the time if u have such strong opinions

[rontra]

holding your hand looking into your eyes is the exact energy I intended thank you for picking up on it

🤝

typeoneninja asked: Maybe though do say who powergirl is because I have actually less than zero idea

oh my god i get to talk about my blorbo...okay well you MUST understand i'm still a comics newbie and laser focus on only the stuff i directly care about so it's not like i've read everything about her or anything (and things do vary--sometimes A LOT depending on the character lol--from comic to comic as is DC's dark design). so take everything here as kinda loosy-goosy from someone who's Casually Acquainted. however (LONG POST)

^me.

you know Supergirl right. heard of her. kara zor-el (spelling may wary) she's superman's cousin (usually) and has the same power set. it's me supergirl and i have all your powers

power girl is Also kara zor-el (spelling may vary) from a Different Dimension. two of them.

the details about her backstory vary a little but the agreed upon IDEA for her is that her home dimension has like collapsed somehow or the earth in it is torn to shreds or whatever. she's either like the only survivor of a dimension that went poof or she's been isekai'd here from an earth that was getting blown up by demons or whatever.

and now there's two karas and theyre forced to coexist on the same earth and they can't both show up dressed like supergirl so now power girl has to do her own thing.

that's like generally the gist of whats going on w her conceptually. she got vooped over here and now she's stranded on an earth that isn't hers with castmates that aren't the same people she knew

like i said the specifics of her backstory vary but on top of being Dimension Displaced she usually shares Supergirl's whole "after their home planet exploded she arrived to earth much later than Superman did, due to Space Shenanigans" thing. she's usually older than supergirl. and she DOES have bigger boobs also. NOT sure why that's a dimensional difference between them but i'll take it (what were they feeding her on earth 2?)

sometimes they're drawn basically looking identical. i can understand the impulse (they are both kara zor-el after all.) but i think it's kind of a shame when power girl doesn't look Older than her because i like it when she's older than her. i guess sometimes they either ditch that part or just don't feel like it. F.

anyway when they look identical you can usually tell them apart by identifying which one DC has bequeathed the Boob Window upon and that one will be power girl. works every time

to me i became enamored with her when i was reading some green lantern comic (it was my first comic, they had launched a guy's coffin into the sun and had to go get it back it was wack) and i noticed a boob window girl (my beloved) had BEEN INVITED but didnt get to DO anything. she spent all her time standing in crowd shots while other people did the main stuff. and i thought "wow. now there's a character i need to put in my purse". and the rest is history

it was like this

i felt like bad for her i was like oh honey...you're coming with me... my girl in the ensemble

she kind of struggles in general because she doesn't get a lot of content coming her way. (and when she does it's not usually stuff that i love.) she shares this with supergirl too 🥰

anyway i hope that helps a little. she's supergirl from a different dimension and she's stuck here now. is the gist of it.

-

for a bonus side-elaboration on what IM doing over here in my AU, my main basis for CTDE power girl is her shenanigans in the n52 where she gets stuck here WITH another extremely normal girl (they get isekai'd together during like a big dumb demon war on their home earth). that's helena wayne she's batman's daughter in the other dimension and no such person exists on this earth. they're both stuck (together) (the only 2 people on earth who know and understand each other) (it's romance) (superbat for girls)

in that story power girl becomes like mildly obsessed for a bit with devising a way to get HOME to her own dimension and earth which is (as far as she knows) still under siege by Planet Fucking Hellmouth. shes building machines. shes using technology

(while helena believes there's nothing to go home to anymore and they should try to make a new life in this new dimension)

what gets me about it is that its SO FUNNY that this specific power girl's setup is basically a supervillain origin story that they just don't lean into because her name is on the book (obviously). (hey why do so many villains build a DimensionFucking Machine that's gonna Fuck Up the Dimensions because theyre obsessed with something on the other side anyway)

but i feel no such restraint obviously!!!!

so anyway my CTDE "Arc 1" is about Power Girl (now almost two decades deep in her desperate fixation) finishing building the ultimate DimensionFucker 9000 to get home. shes been working on this for years. she doesn't care very much about this earth and she needs to go back to her own one NOW

Helena is realizing with horror she's way too late to talk her babygirl out of this one because PG just isn't listening to her anymore (and as a human she would struggle to snap PG out of it by force). she feels she has no other recourse but to betray her most specialest girl and sell her out to supergirl, who's investigating the Weird Dimension Rift Shit that's been going on (and is strong enough to actually fight her)

And Supergirl has to stop PG because what that thing is doing to HER universe is NOT GOOD!!!!!

(Supergirl was like a teenager when her home planet krypton went kaboom--she Remembers it and feels detached from everything because she doesn't Have a home anymore + oh my god the trauma + also no one on earth even really needs her that much. but that doesn't mean PG can DESTROY THE DIMENSION!!!!)

(also in my AU the other earth is actually lost for good, so it's not only a Grief Quest but a FUTILE Grief Quest because there's no one alive and nothing to salvage on the other side of the portal anyway)

It's the "Power Girl As Villain In A Supergirl Book" arc. because i think women should have cute obsessions that endanger other people and i LOVE when the karas interact

this is why i drew pictures of them being very not nice to each other 😔

like it all works out. it's fine. they do some crying and screaming at each other, some kicking and punching, helena gets her piece in, and PG's brain fungus finally calms down enough for her to take the "Protagonist Kara" seat for Arc 2 (when Supergirl has her own issues to deal with)

theres just a lot of "kara zor el screaming At Herself that she can't go home because there is no such place anymore and she has to live with that forever in a place she doesn't belong". you know. girl talk

anyway that's like roughly power girl + what im doing with her in my first arc (helena is here too dont worry) hope that helps. shes my comic blorbo. hope she gets the main stage in a good comic someday. MDGHBJFGM

[pineapplerightsideupcake]

hello im on anon bc im new to radblr and im a crypto but just wanted to say thank you for standing up for bisexuals on this blog. idk why but for some reason i expected radblr to have better opinions on bi women than the whole ‘sexually promiscuous bihet’ and ‘traitor for being osa’ and ‘more privileged than homosexuals’ bullshit that everybody else spews. the alphabet cult is actively erasing us in favor of ‘trans inclusive labels’, radblr is invalidating us by blatantly ignoring so many bi women’s experience with sexuality. the biphobia here is almost worse than any offhanded comment ive heard from a straight person. i also don’t think many understand that some women know they’re bi and are confident in that, but others may use bi during a time when theyre unsure if they’re actually attracted to men. ive gone a few of my teenage years acknowledging to myself that im bi, but now in my 20s im questioning if i ever truly felt attracted to men. the things i feel sexually in my most recent relationship with a woman are things ive never felt or even imagined were possible when ‘crushing’ on a guy. i acknowledge that *some* men are aesthetically pleasing for me to look at, but i’m also penis repulsed and always have been. theres nothing sexy to me about penis. truly. it makes me ill thinking about it. and that is confusing for me, bc seeing so many lesbians on here say how sure theyve been about liking women makes me think they did not grow up in an area like i did where homosexuality was truly thought of as demonic, even by the most ‘liberal’ people. i had no idea ssa was normal until i was probably 12 or 13 years old, and before then i just. repressed those feelings. i still did until i was about 17 and fully admitted to myself that ‘hey, i like girls’.

also i didn’t even know what the ‘comphet masterdoc’ was until exploring radblr, but i had heard comphet before and felt that it was very accurate in describing how i feel about men. idk anything abt what’s on the doc. regardless of my ‘true’ sexuality, it feels like theres a very hostile attitude towards bisexuality here, or even someone saying ‘ive tried to have a crush on guys before but only feel sexually/romantically attracted to women’ is met with ‘if youve even THOUGHT about having sex with a man then youre not a lesbian.’ no room for nuance.

sorry for the rant in your inbox, i hope this is okay. but yeah. thank you for being open about bisexuals here and standing up for them.

Thank you! I realized a while ago that radblr had a lot of issues that need to be challenged but I’ve also come to appreciate why these issues occur.

At the end of the day, almost nowhere allows women to speak this freely. Lesbians have had even their online communities absolutely destroyed by the TQ. So more than a few lesbian women on here really don’t want to talk to or about non lesbian women. And I think they’d be happier if they created a separate space for themselves on here where they didn’t feel pressured to, which I think is where a ton of this negativity comes from.

Bisexual women also need to stop offering themselves up as social sacrifices. I see a lot of the anti bi stuff come from bi women themselves sadly. A lot of women on radblr never unlearned that deeply unhelpful ID pol hierarchy from their TRA days.

As for your own personal journey, don’t let other people’s pain, no matter how legitimate, compound your own pain. The way I navigated my sexuality was I called myself a lesbian in my head because men did repulsed me. But it felt like a lie. I’d see a handsome dude jogging and feel a pang of attraction. Men still crept into my fantasies. I have zero desire to sleep with or date men. But that’s got nothing to do with my attraction to them. It’s a conscious personal choice I’ve made for my own happiness and safety.

So call yourself a lesbian just inside your head. Do it everyday. Look in the mirror and say “I am a lesbian” and if after a few months that feels like a lie then you’re bisexual and that’s amazing! If it feels like coming home, if everyday it feels more true, then you’re a lesbian and that’s amazing!

Please love yourself no matter what 💛

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

Ohmygosh I literally just saw the reply u had to my ask and you KEEP GIVING ME SNIPPET IDEAS !!! sugu with an arm around your waist and playing with your hair is soooo cute :,(( okok but talking about what that made me think of… one idea that’s really growing on me is (very specific but hear me out) childhood friends with stsg — you all have some pretty deep personal feelings for eachother (ur in love) (but shhh it’s for the plot) and (RELEVANT!!!! HEAR ME OUT!!!!) reader is a bit too nice to people who don’t always deserve it, maybe struggles with saying no to people. SO… somehow, maybe you end up in a relationship with someone who stsg just immediately do not like. Probably someone who they simply just don’t think is right for you (only they are :3), or is toxic but in a very sneaky way. So that they can see it, but you can’t. And the whole reason reader would be dating this other person in the first place is not actually because they like them but just because they want to experience romance (maybe gaslighted themselves into thinking they DID actually like the person) because it’s not like you have two of the most caring and loyal best friends that are in love with you to help you experience romance, right???? RIGHT???? 🤨🤨🤨 and reader doesn’t seem to immediately recognise that what their “partner” is doing is unhealthy/understand how to set boundaries in place. Me personally I think stsg would go insane after seeing you tolerate someone that treats u wrong :,( I feel like at first they would be a bit hesitant to do anything bold because you know!! As much as they hate it, it’s your life and only you can decide who to date !! (even if they both know damn well u would be so much happier with them) but then. After meeting your partner and seeing the way they treat you, I don’t think it would be long before satoru is attempting to explode them with his mind and sugu is straight up deathstaring them SHDJDHHF THEYRE SOO SILLY PLS😭😭 maybe you leave to go the bathroom or something and when you come back the mf is shaking and sweating in fear. and they’re like “🧍🧍 we didn’t do anything we swear…” I CANNOTTT 😭😭 okok thank u for listening to my silly speech about how I love them more than life itself shehdh.,,, I feel like this one and the cheated on!reader go together well ,… :3 — stsg anon !!

STSG ANON YOU’VE DONE IT AGAINNNNNN u already know how i feel abt stsg childhood friends to lovers ……. 😔😔😔 i am a weak weak individual.

goshhhh stsg anon ….. ur concepts are always so tasty and full of potential …… this kind of reader would be so perfect for stsg like they would protect u soooo fervently T—T… i can imagine them being like little guardian angels when they were children, scaring bullies away and encouraging u to stand up for urself….. :(( they’re just the sweetest little guys ever!!! and i agree that u dating someone who doesn’t treat u well would literally make them go insane LMAO “satoru is attempting to explode them with his mind and sugu is straight up deathstaring them” THEY’RE SOOOOOO SILLY SO OVERPROTECTIVE……… 😭😭😭

no but i agree sm though, i think they hate ur partner INSTANTLY and want them to Die but they don’t want to upset u yk??? and they don’t want to act like they have control over ur life either. so they just trashtalk them in secret 😭😭 but once they realize that the relationahip is dragging u down and causing u harm i honestly think they just get desperate … like. your happiness and health ALWAYS comes first to them. and suddenly they’re staging a whole intervention, making a powerpoint to convince u to see your own worth + break up with ur partner….. and if u refuse?? they are NOT above threatening the loser themselves. like. stsg are sweethearts but they have zero respect for anyone who hurts you <33

aaaaand then mysteriously your partner breaks up with you :33 toooootally not bc of stsg. they’re innocent ur honour !!! they’re just relieved that u aren’t stuck with someone like that anymore. (aaand they’re happy that they get to be as touchy as they want without u getting worried abt making ur partner jealous <333)

tbh i think stsg might suffer even more if u were to date someone who’s genuinely a very good person LMAO…. because they can’t help but feel overprotective, a little hostile, but they just can’t find anything to complain about???? your s/o is perfect. but they still feel this strange dislike towards them …. (i think this would also force them to realize that they do in fact like reader 😭) anyway i feel like they’re very much grumpy and a little stiff at first but when they see how happy ur partner makes u they can’t really hate them anymore 😔😔😔 and i do feel like they’d become friends with them eventually…. reluctantly…… as long as they can stay by your side, they’re satisfied :’3

[lakesbian]

this is a post i and i alone care about but sometimes we have to make posts like such. as bedtime stories for ourselves. anyway if he didn't die due to they never go to behemoth fight it'd be like

normal bestiefriendship for extended period of time but like. ft their brand of absurd amounts of physical intimacy and secret-sharing and gay little 'heehee i'm putting my feet on the table in front of you' 'heehee i'm pushing them off' flirting

aisha 'impulsive' laborn randomly kissing him one time when they're hanging out bc she was feeling Particularly Well Perceived or Teenage Hormonal or whatever the fuck and then just immediately resuming pretending absolutely nothing happened and theyre having a completely normal time watching this movie together. which alec goes along with because he emotionally bluescreens and his response to any sort of realization that he's having Feelings, Of Any Kind, is to play it cool calm and casual

alecs attempt to convince himself that he's calm cool and casual and doesn't even care and is absolutely not going to make things Weird or Uncomfortable for his Exceedingly Flighty Best Friend Whose Traumas And Approaches To Interpersonal Relationships He Is Deeply Aware Of fails within 48 hours tops because he keeps laying awake rotating the kiss in his mind and being like. doyou think she would do it again. not that i care. would she though. for longer. does this mean she likes me. do i like her.i guess i like her probably. not that its a big deal. i mean i dont care that much. would she sit on my lap. What if she hates me forever and we're not friends anymore. ok no i should just go to bed. and subsequently he caves and starts a conversation to ask where the hell they stand. while being like "if i ran into the street right now that semi-truck probably wouldn't be able to stop in time to avoid hitting me" the entire time in his head

comically enough theyre Literally Canonically the only undersider pair thats even remotely functional about communication and subsequently said conversation is awkward and both of them hate being in it but they survive. mutual conclusion is both of them think the idea of a relationship with anyone sounds awful due to the horrors. which does not change that they still patently like each other and overcompensate by spending the next 1.5 weeks being cartoonishly stilted w/ each other. out there standing 3 entire feet apart while talking. actual sitcom for lisa. brian finds the entire thing very suspicious but can't pin down why. and hes mad bc lisa won't snitch.

they eventually get back 2 their normal equilibrium. and then like 3 weeks later kiss again anyway. and this time they put their brains together and come up with the genius solution of "woagh....if we're Both severely traumatized teenagers with zero interest in or readiness for the idea of a traditional relationship we can simply do whatever we want all of the time forever without making it a Thing." but like in less direct words.

2 straight years of unlabeled meandering until they realize they're more or less for all intents and purposes dating and may as well not bother Refuting The Accusations anymore. but they still go around calling each other dude and fistbumping and glaring at anyone who calls literally any attention 2 their whole deal. this isnt to say that couples calling each other dude or fistbumping is notably out of the ordinary just that they would start gagging if they even Thought about doing anything traditionally romantic. irony-poisoned little shits. they would be cute though. like if alec was there when aisha is being scared of heights during the cauldron base invasion he would yank her down so theyre sitting together & hug her from behind and be like "now when we fall and die they'll find our skeletons together :)" while patting her hand and she would be like Dont Say That Dickhole. but still not move an inch until they got 2 the ground. and most importantly he would engage in highly academic debate regarding the nature of dragons genitals with her.

if alec doesn't die because they never go to behemoth fight in the first place he and aisha have a relatively pleasant and normal time and are kind of sort of ambiguously dating in a genuinely functional and reparative and cute manner 2 years down the line. if alec doesnt die because he tries to kill himself but god or whoever intervenes for the sake of watching him continue to do freak behaviors they become the worlds first strained dead bedroom married couple with children to have never dated at all. brian style. and because aisha has never actually had the "havent said wowzers for a while probably due to grief" inducing experience of her best friend and only confidant killing himself in front of her at the age of 13 she is entirely un-sobered and like 45% worse at herding the heartbroken. it also doesnt help that one of her toxic traits is if alec kicked a baby into traffic in front of her she would be like Lol hes so silly and that includes if that baby is one of his own siblings. miserable for everyone involved butv ery funny. give it 15 years and they can all laugh about it. maybe.

[junietuesday]

who are thseterius and bareleifdrjas?

anon you have zero idea what youve just unleashed. (this little parenthetical was writtten after everything else in this post but this is focusing on thesterius bc it just got SO LONG. barreleifdrias will have to wait </3)

ok so. hades video game 2018. you play as a dude named zagreus fighting to escape the ancient greek underworld but the point is that when you get to elysium, the two guys blocking your exit are theseus, the theseus of minotaur and ship and labors fame, only hes an annoying pro wrestling vibes egotistical blond (/derogatory /JOKE) dude, and the minotaur, the cannibalistic half man half bull monster in the labyrinth, only hes a chill honorable (hot) dude named asterius. and theyre best bros!!!! despite their meeting and the myth theyre most famous for being theseus killing the minotaur, asterius and theseus are now super best friends. theyre so unlikely but the respect for each other is clearly so deep. reason one why theyre compelling.

here they are btw. (via hades wiki)

and its like, theseus is so annoying that general fandom opinion is that hes the worst character in hades, in a “you love to hate him” playful way sometimes, or real hatred depending on which circles of the hades fandom you trawl, but hes Written to be disliked. even tho hes the hero of the original story, a hero among the ranks of like, heracles and that ilk. and meanwhile, everyone loves asterius bc hes such a bro, hes so chill and respectful and honorable, so many people think hes hot, people are like “dump theseus you could do so much better”, hes such a fan fave. even tho hes the monster of the original story, the villain!!! that role reversal is so so compelling!!!!!! hades didnt even change anything abt their backstories on paper but their personalities are what makes it a sort of roleswap. like theseus’ only redeeming quality is that he loves asterius so much, and asterius’ only real flaw is that hes so dedicated to theseus lmao

(all these dialogue images via @/hadesgamedialogue here on tumblr)

and its especially cool in hades bc its like, asterius, the minotaur, the one that everyone in the hades fandom loves way more, is an actual person. the minotaur is half man of course. theres so much thats added to the story of theseus and the minotaur overall by making asterius a person. but so very few stories take advantage of it. hades game first opened my eyes to the potential of asterius being an awesome character and i love it so much for it.

and THEN through menu stuff you eventually find out how the minotaur got such a high standing in elysium despite being a monster, fighting side by side w his killer-turned-bestie, adored by a crowd of cheering fans that watches your every fight, and especially constantly talked up by theseus himself. and as it turns out!!!!! after asterius died, he actually ended up in erebus. no surprise there, why shouldnt a half-animal monster end up in tartarus 2 electric boogaloo. but then when theseus died, he thought of asterius, and decided that since "their fame and glory were intertwined" (according to the in-game codex), if theseus deserved elysium for being part of the legendary theseus and the minotaur myth, surely asterius did too.

can you fucking imagine??? youre famous for killing a monster, you had an epic one-on-one fight to the death, but then when you get eternal paradise for it can you imagine thinking "hey what happened to the monster. hey what if he was a person. hey what if he was a person i could have join me in literal ancient greek heaven." and the codex says theseus almost certainly risked his own spot in elysium for it — the guy writing the codex would know, he tried to get his own boyfriend into elysium but ended up having to stay in hell in his boyfriend's place. but no theseus literally just got asterius into elysium, kept his own place there, and now theyre basically gladiator celebrities living(ish) their best lives(ish). THE SHEER ROMANTICISM OF IT.

like i was saying before asterius has always been a monster, but now the man who killed him is also the man who first saw him as a person...... a person worthy of paradise, a person worth saving, a person who gave him a glorious fight for the ages, a person. circling back around the roleswap thing, like a comment on one thesterius fic i read puts it, the player hates theseus bc of his in-game annoyingness, but learns to see him as a person through asterius' eyes, through asterius' high esteem of theseus and theseus' decent treatment of asterius. and at the same time, asterius has always been seen as a beast, but it was only through theseus' eyes and esteem and asterius was able to see himself as anything more.

AND THATS NOT EVEN ALL. this is all the backstory stuff, everything that takes place off-screen before the player even shows up. but zagreus (the player character) shows up and hes a polite guy so hes very nice to asterius bc asterius has been nothing but nice to him, even if they do have to fight often (bc asterius is both a miniboss on his own and the regional boss alongside theseus), its more like friendly and respectful sport than anything by the time they get to know each other. but theseus is constantly insulting zagreus bc of his own skewed sense of honor and dedication to the gods bc of theseus' own willful misunderstanding abt who zagreus is. that isnt super important but the point is, when theseus sees asterius, his bestie, being friends w zagreus, the guy he despises, guess what happens.

thats right. the "asterius is cheating on me 😭😭😭😭" arc. bc theseus is so sad and pathetic that he cant conceive of his bestie having any other friends. asterius Must be abandoning him to marry some other guy who is just so much nicer and cooler than him. and so theseus has a temper tantrum abt it. im bullying theseus rn bc hes a loser but also i dont like how relatable his feelings are during this arc.

if theseus sees asterius as a person worthy of love, then its also the same vice versa: asterius is the first person to see theseus as a real person Also Worth Love. hes not a monster, in fact hes a hero. he should be adored by all. and he does have his supporters in the arena! but do they like the real him? hes deeply annoying. he talks too much. hes desperately clingy to what friends he does have bc he just has so few of them. all of his relationships have ended Awfully, and it was his own fault for reacting so strongly and passionately to the things around him.

he and zagreus are actually kinda similar: theyre endlessly kind to people they deem worthy of it but also scathing to people they hate, theyre both accomplished warriors, theyre extremely stubborn (zag keeps trying to escape the underworld no matter how many times it takes, and theseus keeps meeting him and trying to stop him every time no matter how many times he loses), etc etc. but unlike theseus, zagreus is so charming and friendly. theseus tries so hard to be charismatic, but everyone flocks to be friends w zagreus after like a single conversation, and theseus only has asterius. so its very easy for this deeply insecure guy — no matter how he tries to cover it up by a massive ego and a constant barrage of insults toward zagreus — to believe that asterius might see zagreus as a way better version of him, and break up w theseus and go date zagreus instead. and zagreus does nothing to discourage this notion lmao. (honestly most hades players wouldnt have done anything to discourage this lmao. ive seen so many memes, such as this post, abt wanting asterius to just divorce theseus and "get himself a better man" and date zagreus already.)

and honestly its like, as zagreus himself says in a different dialogue, theseus took asterius up to elysium yes, but like, theseus also killed asterius in the first place, so they should be even. but its not just abt that for asterius. its abt how during their fight in the labyrinth, asterius got to at least experience once during his life what it meant to meet someone as an equal. its abt how theseus was the first person who saw him as a real person, not a mindless bloodthirsty beast. its abt how theseus took asterius to elysium, yes, giving asterius the chance to spread his wings and figure himself out and truly live, in a way he never would have been able to in erebus. its how theseus gave asterius the chance to experience friendship and love. so asterius, of course, doesnt gay divorce. he says this.

“he doesnt even understand it” and its literally so true. zag doesnt understand any of the things abt theseus and asterius being the only people to really understand each other and stay, despite everything repulsive abt the other, and be friends. i would bet the average player doesnt understand it either (see all the common hades fandom opinion “asterius dump theseus already”). but asterius understands it. he reminds theseus of this shared understanding. no matter what, no matter everything that should have come between them long ago, no matter anything that theseus fears might come between them now, asterius and theseus are a pair. its always theseus and the minotaur, their names together have gone down in legend. their theme song in hades is even called the king and the bull!!! bc theyre a matched set, theyre hero and villain, theyre inseparable, theyre gay.

also since theyre really just the regional bosses of zone 3 of hades (almost all of the contents of this essay are entirely missable), they get a cool new best friend battle move called the “counterstrike”, where asterius charges into theseus’ shield to create a shockwave, after they reconcile. to go along with their previously established bestie attack “bullhorn”, in which asterius picks theseus up and literally throws him at zagreus. theseus is such a dork he literally shouts “counterstrike!” and “bullhorn!” when they perform those moves like this is some kind of anime. gay wrath moments <3

tl;dr: thesterius is the ultimate ship of all time. thankyou

[shynessboys]

I love stories where like the intention was never to find that person or that race of people, it was something else but they accidentally fell into the situation.

Even better if person B (from the different race of people) is incredibly stand offish and defensive) while person A just kinda wants to go home lmao. Or OR the researcher route where it 100% is person A’s intention to find person B and they actually do….

Clearly I’ve got a shit ton of supernatural brain rot but I’d like to think there were definitely young hunters who didn’t know a thing maybe even didn’t believe completely. Their hunts never lead them anywhere, they aren’t connected to other hunters only hearing folk tales about them that could very well be fake! To normal people they’re a simple weird conspiracy theorist and they’re losing hope quickly.

One day though… they catch a trail and fortunately or perhaps un-fucking-fortunately they come faced to face with… I HAVE NO IDEA perhaps a vamp, maybe a demon🤔 they have to have some sort of human nature or else person A will be killed lol. I love the idea of demons getting attached to humans though lol

Anyway I’m so like into the whole Hunter community aspect of supernatural, at the very least what they showed in seasons 1-2! The bars, the infighting, connections etc etc the whole moral dilemma of “do you kill them because of their race or do you kill them because theyre genuinely bad? What if they haven’t done anything bad…” UGH so good.

Out of everyone in BTS I think Hobi is the only one who screams Hunter🤔 Taehyung is so fucking supernatural it’s no debate what he’d be. Kind of the same with Seokjin imo! I think Yoongi would be not a Hunter but an informant that knows how to work a gun or if he was a hunter he’d be the type to consider the character of a creature. Jimin…. For me goes both ways. I love supernatural Jimin but also highly trained and skilled Jimin who has little remorse…. YES PLEASEEE. Namjoons the king of hell what else can I say🤷🏽‍♀️ and yes of course Jungkook is the inexperienced one

The thing about Jungkook is that he’s so smart. Speaks latin and multiple forms of other tongues. Knows how to draw circles and owns just about every book there is but in a sense he’s normal? He’s just a guy with ideas and theories and zero way to confirm their truth. He’s also a hunter who has a ton of sympathy, his fascination comes from their existence but outside of that he has no desire to do harm! He’s sweet :( he really is!

Anywho this is random sleepy word vomit that I’ll probably never come back to. I’m realizing writing isn’t nearly as satisfying to me as reading….

In the mood for a nice lil fanfic in which one character meets another from a different race of people and they fall in love 🤔 let’s see what they have….

[daaziscoolbesties]

minecraft endermen are really weird. theyre unnatural and make me feel off.

when i was a small child like seven years ago i would always play minecraft on creative mode and i made an ugly ass enderman "farm" made out of bricks. i had an enderman spawn egg and id just spam it and the enderman couldnt get out (so i thought). anyways having them in this enclosure was probably so i could feel "powerful" over them because to date theyre still the only mob in minecraft that makes me anxious. even above skeletons(which i used to have a horrible fear of (the real life ones not mc ones)) and spiders (which i still have a horrible fear of (again the real life ones not mc)). anyways the endermen just ended up completely teleporting out of the farm and i checked on my world the next day and they were all gone and i didnt appreciate it (this was the same world where my brother blew up my pets but thats a different story).

anyways back to endermen. besides the fact that i just didnt like dying and i did like building ugly structures, one of the main reasons i didnt play survival much for a while, or if i did id put it on peaceful, was because of the enderman. every time i passed one my heart would drop and if i happened to look it in the eye on accident my throat would feel like its closing up and idk why. if it sounds like im bullshitting you or not remembering correctly i swear im not because it still happens actually.

i play survival a ton more now simply because i enjoy it more, it feels like theres actually a goal to achieve, but i never really make efforts toward said goal(ya know, beating the dragon). none of my worlds are really created with the intention of beating the dragon, and therefore i dont have to worry about endermen. if i happen to be outside my house and theres one there, no worries i just wait for it to go away. it may spook me for a sec but im fine.

but recently me and my sister started a world with the sole purpose of beating the dragon. we may have cheated a little (like putting on keep inventory cause honestly we both suck at pvp and have died so many times) but its okay cause thats it. we still have to fight endermen to get pearls for the end portal. and so we were hanging out in the nether and made a little two block tall hidey hole and id stand by the front and taunt endermen to get them to come close so i could kill them without them being able to get to me and it worked really well actually. except for the fact that to get them to come near i had to get them to aggro onto me and to do that i have to look them in the eye and you know where this is going. and so i was like "it has been so long since i looked an enderman in the eye surely i cant still be scared of them" and i turn to my sister like "<sister> you stay in the hole ill get us some pearls"

so i go out and taunt the dudes and guess what bitch got the pit in their stomach from these fuckers!! thats right bestie and my throat started to close up and i started talking to my sister again but i could tell me voice was off from it and i dont know why it happens but it pisses me off. like theyre not even scary looking theyre just a bit odd. and i continue to do this and kill the endermen and it just. doesnt. stop. my throat keeps closing up and im not "in pain" or anything just inconvenienced like what the fuck dude its a bunch of fucking pixels. i dont know its weird.

and now this part is gonna sound super fuckin stupid but ever since i started watching dsmp i immediately got attached to ranboo (cc! and c!) and knowing that c!ranboo was half enderman made me really think "hm endermen arent that bad. granted i havent interacted with one in a while but still not that bad. perhaps my favorite hostile mob" because you know people get attached to characters and think dumb things. and then again ranboo's character straight up existing and also this one specific headcanon i saw that was like "endermen use telepathy to talk so when a player looks at them all their thoughts get projected into them and it hurts their brain :((" makes me feel kinda bad for aggro-ing them and killing them again even though its literally just some pixels dude. my brain is not kind to me about this stuff and its really dumb.

i dont know what about the endermen staring back at me sets off the sort of fight-or-flight that makes me unable to breathe for a second but its something. its not the fact that their jaws basically unhinge when theyre mad because the throat closing up sensation happens before that. it happens when i look at an enderman and it looks back up at me and holds my gaze. i dont know. i dont know why im worked up(even slightly) over a video game. theyre still my favorite hostile mob i think (not just because of ranboo honestly the other hostile mobs just kinda suck).

and also i like the idea of how humanoid they are. not human. humanoid. they have the basic aspects of a minecraft human- square, head, torso, legs, arms, eyes. most mc skins dont even have mouths anyways just eyes. but the endermen have these features differently than us. their eyes are unnatural, legs and arms too long, body all one color, one that can blend in, and you can only see its purple eyes staring you down from a distance. theyre basically just cryptids.

despite skeletons and even zombies looking closer to the player than the endermen, they still seem the most human-like of all of the mobs. they arent aggressive unless provoked. they dont like eye contact(socially awkward). they like picking up stuff and moving it around. theyre curious (i cant explain this one they just are, okay?). even the sounds they make are just phrases like "hey" "hello" "whats up" distorted and in reverse.

i want to know more about them.

i want to know where they came from.

why theyre found in every dimension.

why they sound like us.

i want explanations, i want to know why they scare us.

i want to know if they know.

if they know that we're like them in some way.

that some of us dont mean harm, but for others thats all they want to do to the endermen.

i saw a post once that said "what taught humans to be wary of things that look human, but arent?" i believe the phenomenon is called uncanny valley. what if in the minecraft universe, the thing that taught us that was endermen. or rather, the thing that taught the endermen that was us? because again, the endermen pose no threat to us unless theyre provoked. by one of us. the endermen try to communicate with us- "⊑⟒⊬" "⍙⊑⏃⏁⌇ ⎍⌿?"- but we kill them without reason. thats why they dont like eye contact, its been ingrained in them through evolution that eye contact with a human/player will end in death, and they dont want it to be theirs, so they attack first.

we- or rather, the first minecrafters, maybe (in the lore(?)) people before the game, taught the endermen to fear us. i mean we literally kill them, use their remains to enter their home dimension, and then kill their leader/mother. they do their best to stop us, but we can respawn and they cant. and then, some people even go as far as to make farms, having them all spawn in one place, crowded, cant teleport out- their only defense mechanism gone- and then are slaughtered for their pearls. and due to the mass of these farms there will be chests upon chests full of pearls that no one's using, i saw someone the other day ask what people do with them and someone straight up said they just burn them like god what a waste.

"but izzy, players make mob farms all the time and not just for endermen!!!1!!11! why are the endermen ones so bad why are you only talking about those1!1!1!!!1" 1) because i can, 2) this is an endermen-themed post, and 3) i dont like the other mobs. and of course im not actually mad at the players who like beating the game and making endermen farms and such, i mean thats what it is its all just a game just a bunch of code, 0's and 1's, so why does it matter why bother writing a whole post on it?

because when you look paste the game, when you read in between those ones and zeroes and discover this non-intentional lore, it can make things so much more,, interesting. this is fanfic material. hell, its probably fanart material too. its all for the content to see what the community can create i guess. or maybe i just really like talking about endermen and this has been on my mind for two days now and once i started typing i couldnt stop.

but yeah, thats my final thoughts.

we, humans, experience uncanny valley about the endermen.

but the endermen experience uncanny valley about the players.

[wickedpact]

Wildly unpopular opinion time: i love Nile, I do.

But narratively it made the least sense for her to kill Merrick. She literally only has one scene with him and that’s the scene where she kills him. Imo it was badass but it felt empty, lacking of any real emotional pull. She only kills him because she’s the main character if we’re being honest. Otherwise it makes zero sense. It would have felt more rewarding if Joe or Nicky had killed him as they’ve had the most scenes with him out of all the OG crew. It would have even been more rewarding if it had been Booker, redeeming himself. But honestly Nile, who virtually has no real idea who Merrick is, killing him, the big bad? Felt like a I’m The Main Character So This Is Why It’s Happening And No Other Reason moment. Sorry??

i get what youre saying but.. idk i like that nile kills merrick. or to be specific, i like that nile&andy kill merrick. bc the movie is all about nile and andy’s relationship, theyre the two heroic leads, and merrick is the one villain lead. it makes sense that the Big Bad would get killed by the Big Good (ie. nile and andy) rather than one of the borderline-side characters (as much as i do love joe and nicky and booker) (also the idea of booker killing merrick to redeem himself is fascinating)

idk its like... merrick is both reminiscent of & the exact opposite of what the old guard stands for. merrick is, essentially, a man who does bad things for a good outcome. he kidnaps and tortures the squad for cancer research. but the thing is abt him is... hes not doing it for good reasons. hes doing it for money. greg talks a little in the podcasts about how good should be done for the purpose of Doing Good, not for moral desserts.

meanwhile the immortal squad is both That and the exact opposite. they do bad things (murder) for a good outcome(to save people) and the thing is abt merrick vs. the squad is that merrick gets rewarded for doing that (money) and the squad doesnt. they dont even get the reward of knowing for certain that theyve done a good thing, they just have to kind of believe. they get literally no reward for it. killing merrick is a bit like rejecting the idea of doing ‘good’ for selfish reasons

so it makes sense to me in that regard that nile and andy kill merrick. especially considering how they do it -- with an inside joke/reference (do you think he speaks russian), which the squad passes around throughout the whole movie (bedhead/malta, sao paulo 34, etc). its like a shorthand to show how close they all are, that they can communicate so easily that they rarely have to say exactly what theyre thinking. nile being involved in one of those jokes for the first time shows how shes beginning to actually be a part of the group, and nile killing the guy who stands for the opposite of what the old guard does also accomplishes a similar purpose

& like you said it is kind of ‘I’m The Main Character So This Is Why It’s Happening‘ but it would feel kind of weird if nile, the protagonist, wasnt involved in the killing of the main villain. if joe or nicky had done it, itd make sense in that they have the most beef with merrick, and it would kind of be a ‘GET HIS ASS’ moment, but it would kind of derail the story too. is this narrative about nile growing into her immortality or is it about Joe And Nicky’s Torture Vacation? if it were the latter, joe and nicky killing merrick would make sense, but its not. joe and nicky are there to be the Sexy Kidnapped Lamp and to add thematic and narrative flavor. they arent the focus of the story, nile is