#thought i was so cool and chill now

[hootyhoowoo]

A little 15 min doodle but first post of the year has to be Bingqiu!

[shannonsketches]

Why is the anime so weird, it's not even the same series dude?? It's like,

Anime:

GOKU: I have a great idea to bring peace to the universe, and my leadership and compassion alone will unite us all. I have No Flaws and am A True Relatable Everyman :)

VEGETA: NO! I AM THE BEST AND I WILL CAUSE PROBLEMS UNTIL I AM RECOGNIZED AS SUCH!!!!

Manga:

GOKU: Vegeta what's cornmeal made of? I know it's what the corn eats, but what's it made of? VEGETA: Hey Kakarot let's play the quiet game until one of us dies.

[turnipoddity]

Um.

[jessicas-pi]

hear me out on this ok. ROTS AU where Anakin still turns to the dark side but that's Palpatine's problem.

So, Palpatine decides last minute that ehhhh maybe dooku could come in handy later and he doesn't encourage Anakin to kill him, and Dooku gets arrested and imprisoned in the Jedi Temple awaiting trial. (Also he didn't get his hands cut off because of uhh plot reasons?)

Fast forward.

Palpatine is encouraging Anakin towards the Dark side, tells him about Plagueis the Wise, etc. etc. But see, the thing is, Anakin is at the end of his tether, probably hasn't slept more than three hours over the past week, and has no remaining impulse control or inhibitions, and upon hearing that the Dark Side can save people from death, his first thought is, "wait a sec, we've got a Sith Lord in-house at the moment!" and he sprints out of the space opera and books it back to the temple.

Now, Dooku has been calmly waiting in Temple custody, confident that Darth Sidious will arrange his escape. But THEN Anakin barges into the cell like OMG THE CHANCELLOR TOLD ME THE SITH KNOW HOW TO KEEP PEOPLE FROM DYING AND I'M HAVING DREAMS ABOUT SOMEONE DYING AND I NEED YOUR HELP TO SAVE THEM

At which point, Dooku realizes Palpatine's plan. He's going to tempt Skywalker to the Dark side and REPLACE DOOKU. this is totally uncool.

So he's like "...who are you dreaming about, exactly?"

Anakin freezes. He can't admit it's Padme because their relationship is top-secret and he can't admit how important she is to him so he tries to think of a good fib and goes "uhhhh OBI-WAN! Obi-Wan, it's Obi-Wan, I'm dreaming about Obi-Wan dying-" and he just throws himself into the drama because now he IS imagining obi-wan dying because Obi-Wan is fighting grievous at the moment and he MIGHT ACTUALLY DIE and that's in addition to Padme dying and he's totally spiraling at this point- "pleasepleaseplease you gotta help me he's like the only father i've ever known I don't know what i'll do without obi-wan I have to save him YOU GOTTA TELL ME WHAT TO DO I'LL DO ANYTHING--"

Dooku begins to smile.

(Would stealing Skywalker out from under his Master's nose be petty? Oh, yeah.)

(But it would also be very, very satisfying.)

---

Obi-Wan calls in to a council meeting to report his defeat of Grievous, but before he can say so, Mace announces that Dooku has escaped and the Sith Master has been killed.

Silence falls between the eleven councilmembers (eleven, not twelve, because their newest one is conspicuously absent. Obi-Wan wonders just what Anakin's up to now. Honestly, that boy will be the death of him.)

Obi-Wan clears his throat.

"...indeed," he says, trying to handle the shocking news with composure. "Well... at least we're down to one Sith, now."

Another awkward pause.

"Yeah, about that--" Mace begins.

[rrredgi]

It seems there's too much Dark Force in me to use pottery wheel

[softquietsteadylove]

Hey! I just started watching the rookie, and I couldn’t help but think of Thena and Gil! Is it possible that we could have an AU based of the rookie? Lots of love! (Your account is the only thing keeping me alive through exam season 😭🙏)

"You're doing well, Rookie."

Gil's back straightened, looking up from his notes. "Uh, y-you think so?"

Ajak smiled at him, though. "Look, I know the guys like busting your balls about being older than them."

Gil made a face. Both of those were understatements; they loved giving him hell for it, and it was because he was more than a few odd years older than them. "Well, they've stopped calling me 'Grandpa', I guess."

Ajak laughed faintly, nudging his shoulder. "And within your first year? That's pretty good."

He sighed a little heavier, allowing himself the more casual talk with one of his superior officers. "I thought I would see more improvement in myself, y'know?"

"Hey," Ajak took a seat on the other side of the table from him. "You're doing great. That speech about how few people even get through basic training isn't just bullshit."

He chuckled with her, pulling at the collar of his uniform. "The academy exams weren't so tough. Somehow facing the public during a traffic jam is much worse."

Ajak laughed louder at that, encouraging him to do so too. The briefing room still felt a little sacred to him, but Ajak always had such a natural charisma, it was hard to feel up-tight around her. "The people are always gonna be the hardest part of any job. But you're good with them."

"I am?" he asked as she leaned back in her seat, toying with the ends of her long, dark ponytail.

"You need some self-awareness, Gil," Ajak poked his arm. "You're the talk of the town. Even the captain thinks there's some promise in you. The detectives, too."

Gil blushed. "W-Well, they were really nice when we worked that case last month together. But they're professionals, after all."

"So are you?" Ajak suggested, which honestly had him stumped for a moment. "I'm pretty sure Thena even brought up how well you did."

His blush worsened.

And it definitely didn't escape Ajak's notice. She raised an eyebrow at him. "You liked working with her, right?"

Gil cleared his throat, shifting in his seat. "She's, uh, yeah--she's really different from...everyone."

He wasn't doing himself any favors.

"I mean she doesn't talk much," he rushed to elaborate on his sole statement so as not to seem totally and completely weird. "But everything she did was right on the money. Obviously she was smart enough to make detective, but she's really observant."

"Mm-hm," Ajak gave him a smirk that made him sit up straighter. "Thena's like that. She notices things about everyone around her. She has incredible instincts when it comes to people--always has. That's how she made detective so fast."

Gil nodded. Everyone kept telling him it was an option for him beyond being just a rookie in training. He still wasn't sure if it was for him, but it had some tempting sounding perks. Better pay, better benefits, wearing what he wanted instead of the standard blue uniform.

Thena always wore white, professional looking clothing. And how she kept it so spotless was beyond him.

"And she's not very easily impressed," Ajak continued in a tone of voice that made him feel like he was talking about a girl at school with his mom.

"Well," Gil shrugged. "I don't know what I would have done to impress her. I just followed procedure."

"Gil," Ajak insisted. "I've worked with Thena for a long time. She's not exactly a people-person. But she appreciates it when people are genuine. And you approach things...honestly."

He just stared at the woman now his friend, and technically still his TO. "Honestly?"

She gave him a sweet smile. "You have a good heart. It's easy to see, especially to someone like Thena. That's why she let you into the interrogation."

Gil's eyes shifted. "I thought she let me talk to him because I was the one who made the arrest."

Now Ajak made a face. People kept telling him he was funny; maybe they were right. "No one at that level cares who made the arrest, big guy. Most of the other shields wouldn't have given you the time of day for bringing that up."

Thus, bringing up the question; why did Thena?

"But she could see that you cared about finding out the truth, not getting the case on your record," Ajak shook her head, leaning forward in her seat. "Did she suggest you play bad cop?"

"No." And he was relieved, because everyone else did, and he really didn't like it. He didn't play it well, in his own opinion.

"Because it doesn't suit you," Ajak gave his arm a little touch to drive the point home. "And she could tell. Plus, she played a hell of a bad cop after you were very sweet in there."

"She was pretty effective," he had to admit. He'd had his reservations when she had suggested it herself, too. Sure, she was quiet, but he didn't think that would inspire fear in anyone for such a reason.

He'd briefly imagined that maybe her beauty would simply stun the perp into confessing.

"She is pretty, isn't she?"

"Huh?" he looked up at Ajak again, because surely he didn't hear that right. But she just pursed her lips as if she hadn't said anything at all. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you trying to get me fired so you don't have sign off on my training hours?"

"Are you kidding? The last rookie I got had such an irritable bowl I drove around with the windows down all winter. You're a breath of fresh air, sweetheart."

He chuckled; Ajak was funny too.

"Ajak--Gil?"

Gil rushed to stand in greeting, which he immediately realized was way too much, because it was just them and they were off hours anyway. He blushed (again). "Ma'am."

"Don't," she scolded him, but at least it was with a smile. She moved from leaning against the doorway to leaning against the table ahead of theirs to face Ajak. "Done?"

"All set," Ajak grinned up at her, an all new glee coming over her face. "And absolutely dying to get into some proper shoes."

Gil looked down at the standard issue shoes on his own feet. "I think they're not bad."

"They're not good," Ajak corrected him, standing from her seat as well and grasping Thena's sleeve. "And more importantly, they're hideous. I need something light and breathable for happy hour."

"How did you end up in this line of work?" Gil shook his head faintly as he trailed behind them and out of the briefing room and bullpen all together.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about it," Ajak patted Gil's arm, again with that motherly smile despite being close to his age and probably half a foot shorter than him.

Thena let Ajak somewhat pull her along towards the locker rooms. She glanced at him over her shoulder. "Nice job, wrapping up the identity theft."

"Thank you," Gil just barely dashed his eyes over to her. "I wouldn't have been able to without you putting in a good word for me, so-"

"You're too modest." She certainly didn't soften any blows, the detective. But even as she turned around again he heard her say, "you're good, for a rookie."

He would take that as a compliment. He was about to split off from them to gather his own things, but Ajak and Thena shared a look and then looked back at him. He blinked.

"Gil," Ajak broached, already beaming with excitement. "You should come with us to happy hour!"

"Oh!" he hadn't expected that. He looked at Thena, expecting her to be the most opposed to it. But she seemed almost amused by watching him be fawned over by their mutual friend. "I wouldn't want to intrude! You're-"

"Thena doesn't mind," Ajak held out her hand to Thena, who looked passive at best, to him. But the blonde nodded her permission. "See?--come have a drink with us!"

"Don't give him a reason to go to HR," Thena pulled Ajak along again. "If he has plans, it's none of our business."

"Oh," Ajak looked at him, "hot date?"

"No!"

"Ajak," Thena laughed. Maybe she did have a sense of humour, but only if it was the woman she was now trying to drag down the hall. "Now you're really harassing him."

"Fine," he huffed at her. And Ajak stuck her nose up in the air in satisfaction. He rolled his eyes at her with the utmost affection before going to retrieve his bag. Although, if they were going straight there, maybe it would be better for him to change here.

"I know you wanted to know if he had a date," he could hear Ajak 'whispering' - extremely loudly - to Thena.

"We are both his bosses, you are asking for trouble," the blonde attempted to dissuade her friend's fun.

"You said he was cute."

"I'm a detective, Ajak. It's my job to state the facts."

[red-moon-at-night]

One thing I want to say about the Vengeance Saga, is the instrumentation was so, so good. It's probably the most video game-y sounding saga yet, especially Charybdis and Six Hundred Strike. Which fits well with how video game-y and anime the plot got.

But also Charybdis in particular is incredibly synth-y and giving me Jeff Wayne's War of The Worlds soundtrack vibes. Very otherworldly.

Absolutely loved the strings in I'm Not Sorry For Loving You as well. The minor key slide (reminiscent of the strings in Puppeter), not just at the end of the song but building up from the beginning, lingering in the background... chills. Isn't Penelope's instrument the viola? If there was indeed viola in that track it would fit so well.

[puppppppppy]

what if i snapped and made an oc carrd

[creative-hanyou-girl]

I don't know if anyone else feels this way but I think a big reason why I'm so chill about the changes made to the PJO show from the books is because I kind of look at each other as their own seperate canon.

Like, I read a lot of anime and manga, and anime adaptations have a huge habit for changing plot points for various reasons, and as a fan of said anime and manga, I've found that I can enjoy both versions of the same story even with the differences when I look at them as their own universe or canon. That's not to say I don't want them to be faithful or true to the source material, but if a scene or situation plays out differently for a logical or entertaining reason, than I can still appreciate that deviation from the manga even if I still like the other original version of that part more. And I can even like the reversal way if I feel an anime does something better than even the manga. But if I want to, I can look at certain moments as more canon than others because I got 2 different versions of that same scene or moment.

And, I don't know, I kind of apply that reasoning to the PJO series as well, mainly with the books, the show, and even the musical (not the movies put that right back where it came from). So far I'm loving the TV show, and while I miss some of the things they changed (like the pink poodle), this adaptation really is doing a great job with staying true to the heart and spirit of the original book that I personally am not even really bothered by the changes, especially when I remember that the books will always still be there with it's own version, or canon, of events.

Like, I will say 1 thing I adore in the books that isn't really in the show is the fact that a lot of Percy and Annabeth's "rivalry" during TLT has more to do with the rivalry between Poseidon and Athena. I just really like on how this adds a level of "forbidden friendship/love" to their relationship 'cause I personally eat the forbidden relationship trope up, especially when it's done well like with Percabeth.

Yet, even if this isn't really the reason percabeth have beef with each other in the show, I can still appreciate and enjoy that according to the show's canon, they have issues because they genuinely have problems with each other as actual people rather than their parents' rivalry, because at the end of the day, that's the PJO TV show canon, and I can always turn to the books for that version of Percabeth's "rivalry", as that is the PJO book canon.

Same goes for the characters too. I will always have and love my dark haired Percy and blond haired Annabeth in the books, but I can also welcome and love Walker's Percy and Leah's Annabeth from the show. And so far, they along with Aryan are KILLING IT as those characters.

I can love both versions of the characters.

I can love both versions of the same story.

I can look at both versions as they own seperate canon or mix them together if I so wish too (especially since both versions of PJO are written by the same guy)

And that's ok. The adaptation doesn't have to be a complete copy of the books. It doesn't have to have things play out eactly the same way. The characters don't have to look exactly the way they are described as in the books. And that's ok. I will still always have the books to love and appreciate, but I can also start to love and appreciate the new adaptation for it's new spin and twists to the same story that sets it apart as it's own canon while still staying true to the spirit of its predecessor.

Anyway, sorry if I'm not making a lot of sense. I just think the people complaining about the changes in the show are looking at it all the wrong way. The show has it's own canon just as the books have their own canon, or even the musical. At the end of the day, isn't that kind of cool to have different versions of the same story and characters? Doesn't it give you so many more options to look at the story in different ways that you can prefer or choose from? Doesn't it give you new versions of canon that you choose from? And really, as long as the PJO adaptation, or any adaptation for that matter, stays true to the heart and spirit of the original story and characters, do the changes made really matter?

[consularmain]

HELP THEY'RE TRYING TO KILL ME

[sleepless-in-starbucks]

reasons i cant make jokes about characters' genders: it will not be a joke for very long

[rawliverandgoronspice]

oh my gooooooodddddddd

here's the thing: zelda is a fandom that veers young, so I guess it's on me to want to introduce nuance to the conversation and reflect how my relationship with the series changed with time, but fucking hell do people make it *so* ridiculously high stakes to be a ganondorf enjoyer around here

[lucydacusgirl]

I literally have a moustache that’s so cool… I’m a girl with a moustache :) shoutout to my naturally high testosterone for making me so hairy

[leftoversludge]

argggghhhhhhhuuuhhhhhhhggghhhh

[copiawife]

i feel bad sometimes because all my dolls just sit on shelves all day so i've decided to take a few with me to work the next couple days! i decided to start off with abbey ^^

[seaofreverie]

On the other hand I think it's actually good to try to go to the extreme end of this and compare myself with these specific people I look up to or feel like I have something I guess in common with and who have achieved cool things. Because the more I think about it the more absurd it becomes. Like it starts with "oh mannnn I'm already past the age Neil Cicierega was when he made View-Monster...." which progresses into "oh mannnn this incredibly successful tennis player is my age and she's winning all these tournaments...." that's when I realize I'm just being silly as hell