#this has been bothering me for. a while

[tragedykery]

ok I’m gonna say it. the obsession in atla works (both canon and fanworks) with portraying water tribe food as ~strange~ and/or gross is weird and racist. cut this shit out

[ruporas]

lonely

[ID: A limited palette of green and pink, Vashwood comic. The first page serves as a prologue. The first panel shows Vash speaking to someone off screen while Wolfwood is lingering behind him. A black arrow is drawn pointing at him. In the second panel, Vash is buying donuts in the distance while Wolfwood is once again in view, lingering. and the black arrow is drawn pointing at him. In the third panel, Vash is leaving a cubicle and turning towards his right with a slightly peeved expression. He sees Wolfwood, leaning against the cubicle, waiting for him, and with the black arrow drawn, pointing at him, implicating the consistent hovering of Wolfwood’s presence during Vash’s everyday. At the bottom of the page, they’re drawn out of panel with Vash turning to Wolfwood and saying with an irritated expression, “You’re really following me everywhere, huh?” Wolfwood responds, “What, you got a problem?” Vash responds without hesitation, “Yeah, kinda...”

The second page starts with a new day. In the first panel, Vash is seen alone, weighing apples in his hands at a mart, with crowds passing behind him. In the second panel, he turns to his right and starts to say, “Hey, Wolfwood...” In the third panel, he’s startled from seeing a stranger, whom he’d accidentally called out to when he was expecting to see Wolfwood. He says, “Oh, you’re not him. Sorry!” In the fourth panel, the stranger walks off and Vash muses, “Right, he said he had something to do today...”

The third page begins with a close up of Vash's miffed expression, the continuation of Vash's thoughts, "Now that he's not here, this is just like how I used to be, but... It feels lonely somehow. Oh well, I'll see him again tonight, like always." In the second panel, it shows Vash walking through the marketplace crowd, alone. In the third panel, the door panel is a close up of the door opening with a peek of Vash's head. He says, "Wolfwood!" In the fourth panel, Vash is holding a bag of food with a bright smile and says, "Are you hungry? I got you something to eat today!"

The fourth page begins with a shot of the room, two beds being highlighted, one of them being made properly with the blanket draped over the bed and the other with the blanket folded and pillow sitting on top of it. There's no sign of Wolfwood. The second panel shows Vash with a disappointed look as he thinks, "He's still not here?" The third panel shows Vash putting the bag of food on the table. Stapled to the paper bag is the receipt with a written note "For Wolfwood." Vash's thoughts continue "He does like to stay out so, I guess there's no reason to worry..." The fourth panel shows Vash sitting his bed somberly with his thoughts continued, "It's not any of my business anyway..."

The fifth page starts with a close up his blank expression as he looks downwards, thinking, "Even if he left completely... That'd be understandable and better for him. I'll just travel alone again... like before... Huh?" The next panel shows Vash's composure break, tears welling up in his eyes suddenly, as he didn't expect to cry. He starts to sob, putting his hands to his face to quiet himself and wipe at his tears, as he says, "Ugh... Dammit... I miss h..." The last panel shows Vash leaning over into his hands, still crying, and in the back, the door swings wide open with a bam as Wolfwood walks through with the punisher swung behind him. He shouts, "SPIKEY! You in here?!"

The sixth page starts with Wolfwood confused, looking at Vash and Vash looks back, just as confused, with tears in his eyes and snot out of his nose. Wolfwood starts saying, "Ah? You..." No longer in panels, at the bottom of the page, Wolfwood takes the Punisher off of himself and starts to walk towards Vash, continuing with slight concern, "What's wrong with you? Did something happen?" Vash, hurriedly begins to wipe at his tears, denying immediately, "No! No, I'm fine! Nothing happened!"

The seventh page, Vash points towards the table, with a hand still wiping at his tears and he smiles as he says, "I uh got you food. On the table." Wolfwood looks towards to the table and responds, "Oh. I was getting hungry, thanks." He turns his head back to Vash immediately after with an uncertain expression, knowing the other wasn't responding to his concern, and says, "But, I know you're an idiot with this stuff, so I'm reminding you again. Don't brush it off if it's an issue, alright?"

The eight page, Vash's tears have dried and he looks to Wolfwood with a soft smile and responds, "Yeah. It's okay though..." A panel at the center shows a side view of Vash approaching Wolfwood. At the bottom of the page, with no panel, is a close up shot of Vash's hand, holding onto the edge of Wolfwood's jacket sleeve, as he says, "Because you're here now. Wolfwood."

The final page is a back shot of both of them standing next to each other, Wolfwood's head tilted slightly to the left, not fully believing Vash as he says, "That doesn't answer anything, Spikey." Vash responds, "There's no need to talk about it! You should enjoy your food. Let's have a drink too?" Wolfwood responds, "Tsk, tsk. Fine, yeah. I could use one." END ID]

[messiahzzz]

i’d briefly like to talk about the “it was fine” dialogue option that happens the morning after gale’s Last Night Alive scene in act ii and about the fandom's general reaction to it.

gale is a character who evidently enjoys the occasional teasing. taking the piss out of your partner every once in a while can certainly be a way of showing affection. however, it is important to consider the context of the situation: what is at stake for him and his current emotional state, as well as what exactly had transpired between the two of them prior to said conversation.

gale: forgive me. these were already trying times before elminster delivered his missive. now, for me at least, they are potentially end times.

after he and tav had spent the night together and confessed their love to each other, gale is once again showing himself utterly vulnerable and is carefully asking them for reassurance.

gale: [..] i hope that night meant as much to you as it did to me.

gale: but you - you led me away from the edge.

gale: without your words, your touch... i fear i would have sought purpose and solace in that void. you reminded me what living can feel like.

he wants to check in with them, after both of them have shared something tender and very intimate, something he might even consider life-altering.

gale: we didn't just make love. we bonded, body and soul. i got lost in you.

it’s not even about gale “not being able to read social cues” and “not recognizing the fact that it was meant in jest.” in fact, i’d argue it is a rather tone-deaf, inconsiderate response and just genuinely a REALLY BAD TIME to joke at your partner's expense when they are actively baring their feelings to you and are asking you for reassurance.

i have seen people write off his reaction as “unwarranted” or “overtly dramatic” but in my humble opinion, it is pretty understandable given the nature of their conversation and what he is asking of them. it's also sad how there seems to be a general pattern of gale's emotions and boundaries getting played off as a joke, while other companions get shown the courtesy of thorough analysis/understanding. he is proud of his skill as a lover and the fact that he was able to bring them pleasure, yet his inquiry is less about him wanting tav to stroke his ego and more about him, once again, asking if you indeed share the same feelings for each other… after the emotional high has now passed.

gale has an ever-present need for clarity in his relationships, very likely due to the fact that this was something he couldn’t request of mystra. he might appear more sensitive in that regard compared to the other companions. he doesn’t want to take himself too seriously, but this still often clashes with his general feeling of inadequacy. where he is able to take criticism as long as it isn’t related to his performance, overall prowess and usefulness.

yes, his response is passive-aggressive and yes, he IS obviously hurt by what tav said. yet merely repeating “it was fine” in response to a heartfelt, genuine question could’ve as well been interpreted in that manner. if tav does clarify that they have only been joking, he apologizes to them instead. otherwise his dialogue remains the same, albeit said in a more embarrassed & awkward tone.

gale is a character who is dealing with deep-rooted self-worth issues and yet that doesn’t mean that he wants to be handled with kid gloves, far from it. he craves a relationship in which his emotional needs are recognized, respected and cared for, where he can be unabashedly open and vulnerable without facing ridicule nor pity for it. and he is more than willing to give the same in return.

also y’know — there is a time and a place.

[millidew]

red's sumo official art kept scaring me so i wanted to redraw it.... which then led me to redrawing the whole kantrio in the span of like 4 hours

BODY HAIR + LESBIAN BEAM!

[puppyeared]

learning abt friendship decay and "not reaching out to your friends for months at a time unprompted is not neurotypical behaviour" has me feeling a certain way

[magicstormfrostfire]

Something that confuses me a lot is some people's reactions/analysis to Sonic saving Shadow in the void in Sonic Prime.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE it, and its parallels to what happened in SA2. That is incredible. But what confuses me is that a lot of people assume that in this show, SA2 happened and Sonic is losing Shadow again.

But I don't think that's the case...? I know it was said that the show follows modern games/everything is canon, but I dont think that means what some people think it means. I've seen some people criticize this interpretation of Sonic BECAUSE they think all of the games happened in this universe.

What I understood is that this is simply using the current ongoing personalities/traits/styles of the modern Sonic characters in games, but this is NOT the same universe. Its a different one. The direction they are going with the characters in Sonic Prime is writing them closer to their mainline game counterparts, just in a different universal setting. The universe is just not as drastic of a difference as say, Movie!Sonic or Sonic Boom's universe. (Which i think is why they made a point to say its following mainline Sonic; because Boom is a universe with its own games, Sonic, and canon as well.)

This is also why I think so many people judge Sonic Prime on what Sonic should know, how he should act, and what he should have learned from. But this is a different universe Sonic! He's a lot more naive and learning to get around. Its why I interpeted that Sonic catching Shadow was not ptsd of losing him again, it was fear of losing him period. This is very likely this Sonic's first world-saving scenario; he's use to just stopping Eggman's latest 'Robot of the week'. He is out of his depth with the shatterverse situation.

Now, I think its totally fair if this kind of 'new & naive' direction with Sonic's character turns people off, or if they dislike/hate it. This is not me trying to pursuade people into liking it if they don't. This is not me saying 'hey if you dislike this, its prolly because you're interpreting it wrong and if you see it this way you will like it.' But I constantly see people criticize the show for not taking into account things that happened in games. Or in this case, praising it for taking account events in the games. Those things didnt happen here! This is a different Sonic!

Of course, I could absolutely be wrong, and if I am, that's fine. But honestly it feels like they're making a different Sonic altogether, and frankly it wouldnt make sense for this to be the exact same Sonic.

So I guess my overall point is that I kind of feel like Prime is being saddled with game expectations it literally cannot meet, via being a different universe. Like I said, hate it, love it, idc I'm not your mom. I just think that this needs to be said and added to the conversation.

('Everything is canon' means 'every interpretation is valid'. Sonic has different universes, so its a lot more validating to fans to say everything happened, instead of alienating entire swathes of fans who all experienced Sonic differently through different media, by saying their experience isn't 'real' or 'true' anymore. And I think the more people realize this, the less people will argue 'evidence XYZ in game and this comic and the Japanese version of this podcast, and this game dev, and this episode, and this writer contradict your theory of Sonic hugging people' you do not need canon as gospel to validate why you like or dislike a certain take.)

Sonic in general is so fun because of how freeform and multiverse and endless it is. We haven't had that in a long time. There are things I love and things I hate, but not because of how closely they follow mainline. Its because I just like or hate it. We should cultivate this new growth and diversity, not prune it to fit into one shape. 🌱

[givehimthemedicine]

🍦I just got the elmax ice cream thing

ok El's ice cream has been bugging me and I finally have the answer to a question you didn't ask

as I and many others have said, Max suggesting the trade was sus given how much more of her ice cream cone El appears to have eaten already. even if Max likes strawberry and vanilla equally, she's taking a significant loss in this deal in ice cream volume.

while that's true, I want to note that El hasn't eaten any more of her cone than Max has of hers. they both look almost the same as when they received them:

Steve didn't seem to be charging them, so budget wasn't an issue, but Max's order is a modest single scoop of strawberry. El's order is vanilla with extra whipped cream and sprinkles.

now I know this is totally subjective and no offense to vanilla as a flavor but... girl, this is the weirdest, blandest ice cream order. sprinkles look fun but have no taste. whipped cream is good but not hugely flavorful, mostly a volume filler. is this some kind of all-flash-no-substance metaphor, I wondered?

stranger still, El's cone is barely even filled to the rim in the first place. and "extra whipped cream" means probably most of the contents of that cone is whipped cream, not ice cream. is not Max's cone what a 1 scoop cone looks like? El could only have a half scoop at most? she must have asked for it to be that way, but why?

Steve doesn't announce this part out loud, but look at their cones. Max ordered a sugar cone, El ordered a waffle cone.

ha ha, El and waffles, yes, but keep going.

waffle.... whipped cream.... sprinkles... negligible amount of ice cream despite it being an ice cream cone. do you see what happened here?

El walked into Scoops Ahoy, saw the words "waffle cone," and ordered an Eggo Extravaganza, not knowing that's not a thing.

Max and Steve had to help her reverse engineer what that meant, and it turned out that it didn't even involve ice cream. Steve was probably like "well, this is an ice cream place, don't you want a little ice cream in it? what do you want, like... vanilla?" and she was like, sure fine? Scoops likely didn't offer Hershey kisses, jelly beans, or Reese's Pieces as toppings, so sprinkles had to suffice.

so: Max asking if El wants to trade cones (not "let's trade" not "trade me" but "you wanna trade?") is actually a symbolically important detail!

El doesn't look unhappy with her order at all, but Max, aware now of the Eggo Extravaganza origins, wants to give El yet another opportunity to branch out and try something new, at Max's own personal loss.

it's another subtle shedding of Hopper and embracing of new things. and then she dumps Mike a minute later holding that cone. Not Hopper, not Mike, you! 🍦

PS El did like strawberry and part of it is it reminds her of Max. she's wearing the strawberry festival shirt for the El / Max RUTH transition <3

[endlessfuckup]

just gotta say the speculation into dans gender is really sad and hurtful to see. it genuinely bothers me that people really saw everything this man (and trans people) had to go thru over the past decade and said

"lets try that again but even worse this time!"

-

i have personally gone thru this kind of invasive speculation; being harassed into publicly answering questions i didn't even get a chance to ask myself.

every outfit. how my hair looked. the way i sit. how i carried myself. what my interests were. my sexuality. what position i prefer in bed. everything. everything was used to prove or dispute any speculation about me.

it was extremely traumatic, painful and scary

i wound up being forcibly outed and put into serious danger over stuff like this.

Please Stop

people can cross dress or be androgynous and still be cis/binary. and that is okay.

[halfagone]

I won't lie to y'all, I'm surprised by the number of fellow DPxDC fans that believe Barbara and Bruce dating is the most common canon.

Especially because when they discuss her relationship to Bruce in some canons they also don't mention how those were the same continuities where she got married to Tim Drake.

Should I also mention that one time the comic writers gave hints towards Barbara and Jason being a thing?

This has nothing to do with Bruce or Barbara's age at this point, it's just that DC authors had this weird obsession with Barbara where they had her date every possible Batfamily member.

Barbara is only a year or two older than Dick in most canon timelines. They went to school together.

I know it makes some people uncomfortable to have Barbara and Dick date because they've gotten so used to Barbara and Bruce, but the only memorable canon continuities where those two date are The Killing Joke, Batman Beyond, and Lego Batman. And almost everyone I have spoken to loathes The Killing Joke.

It has some incredible monologues from the Joker but the story itself just wildly undermined Barbara's character between having her sleep with Bruce and then using her as a prop against Jim Gordon that ultimately got her shot and paralyzed from the waist down. There is a reason the Young Justice cartoon had that part of her story changed out of respect for her character.

I don't know, you guys, it's just... wild to see that make a comeback when I've gotten so used to so many DC fans saying fuck that.

[fitzselfships]

Pros of having a partner with floppy ears: you can do this :]

Cons: there are none

Proshippers/adjacent dni. 100000 shark attack 🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈🦈 also Zooble self ship doubles dni

[hyakunana]

I was yesterday years old when I realized I've been coloring my Exo wrong all this time — but instead of updating in game, I'm retconning my art

[mvrdermeharder]

Soo I’ve just noticed in the recent chapter that Loki’s number is 10 on his uniform… which made me pretty surprised, as I was certain that Rin had that number on PXG.

Now, this all made me think about how the current match could possibly go, since the uniform numbers are VERY important regarding Isagi’s development.

In the U-20 arc we see Isagi for the first time wearing the number 11, which he has stuck with ever since, and we see Rin wearing the number 10. But why is this important?

Right at the beginning of the NEL arc, after the BM vs Barcha game, we see Isagi acknowledge the fact that right now he can’t challenge Noa as a striker. What he has to do to get into the zone, is to challange Kaiser instead, whose skills in terms of quality are in between those of Noa’s and Isagi’s.

And this established hierarchy is reinforced visually as well: Isagi’s current number is 11 —> Kaiser is a better, but still comprehensible 10 —> Noa is the currently unbeatable 9.

Now, I think we can apply this symbolism to the U-20 game as well. Rin and Sae, while both better and more skilled, are still usable puzzle pieces for Isagi: he understands their playstyle (Sae destroys beautifully, Rin destroys hideously) and he manages to one up them both by the end of the match by scoring the winning goal. And what a coincidence that both Itoshi’s have the number 10 on their jerseys.

However, in the current PXG vs BM game Isagi is having trouble comprehending Rin.

He just so manages to grab onto something about putting his life on the line, but that is not nearly enough to stop Rin, as he still manages to do the unthinkable, and score by colliding with Isagi.

Which is why I think that the key to defeat PXG lies in the challenge that is Loki. Rin became a 9 that is too far away, and based on my theory Loki is the appropriate hurdle in Isagi’s way that he should focus on overcoming. Which might seem crazy, as he is already a master striker, but Blue Lock’s visual symbolism obviously points to this conclusion. I mean Kaneshiro could have just chosen any other number for Loki’s uniform…

Also, it would make more sense narratively for Isagi to still have Rin as a well established, but unbeaten rival by the end of the NEL. Based on how manga tropes usually go, this would be much more logical going into the U-20 World Cup arc than Isagi being the top player on the team.

Anyhow, it’s also highly possible that PXG will win this match. In that case the rivalry and competition between Isagi and Kaiser would also be unresolved, as they would both be left with an equal amount of goals. This would make the most sense actually, to still have an unbeaten Kaiser and Rin for the World Cup arc.

[messiahzzz]

i’ve seen many people interpret gale’s outrage at nettie poisoning the player as concern for them. that it’s super sweet how much he cares and how protective he is over tav after they had just met. while he (naturally) does care about his companions, it should be pretty obvious that he is mostly projecting here. he states so himself:

player: are you all right, gale?

gale: yes. yes, i am. it's just that, had it been me... had it been...

gale is terrified of what would’ve happened if he had met the same fate. if all of his precautions had been rendered irrelevant merely due to the self-righteousness of some healer, acting as a judge over another’s life without being aware of the consequences. the destruction nettie would’ve unleashed, how many innocents she would’ve doomed to death, merely because she believed she was doing the right thing.

gale is furious at nettie’s ignorance.

gale: how dare she snuff out life with as much thought as snuffing out a bloody candle?

player: she thought she was doing the right thing.

gale: right? she had no right!

player: it was one hell of a surprise, but nettie came around!

gale: yes - against her will, without rhyme or reason!

gale: it's not right to feel the cold breath of death in your neck, then move on as if it was nothing but a soothing breeze.

gale: one respects life by fighting for it, and one respects death by fearing it.

once the orb becomes too unstable (if tav refuses to help gale with his condition and elminster doesn't stabilize the orb) he will state that he can’t stay any longer with good conscience. he will then leave the party immediately, search for a secluded place and wait for death to take him.

gale: i'm afraid this is where we part ways - my condition's deteriorated beyond even my capacity to salvage.

gale: it would be selfish of me to stay, when in doing so i'd be putting you, and everyone else within spitting distance in catastrophic peril.

[nodecontext: saddened - he's about to wander off into the wilderness to die, essentially]

[stiffyck]

I think I already talked about this and I've seen others mention it but it's been on my mind again:

Is it weird that grian is usually drawn looking like a teenager or just a kid in general while the others look like adults

[dukeofthomas]

"Angry robin" "violent robin" "misbehaving robin" shut up and accept my alternative; spunky Robin. Determined and head strong, can out-stubborn the Batman, has a strong moral-backbone and does what he thinks is right regardless of what anybody else says, Robin. Jason who was sassy and quippy and made crude jokes with a smile on his face. Jason who hid in Bruce's cape and whispered gossip to him. Jason who, if Bruce refused him something, could keep bothering endlessly until Bruce caved. And also dramatic Jason. If Bruce tells him no, it becomes a whole theatrical show; a monologue, a narration, embellishments, and falling onto the floor in his grief upon the fact his cruel father has denied him once again.

(Jason who has suffered through abuse and homelessness and poverty and starvation, who is the Fight out of Fight or Flight, who's built up defenses and walls and when pushed and triggered responds with the thing that's always protected him; anger. He's sweet and kind and funny, and when he sees a pimp hitting a prostitute he gets furious and responds with violence.)

[redstrewn]

I simply think there's a difference between feedback and entitled disrespect maybe