#what's extremely weird about it - it's absolutely NOT what i consider the best new year night

[faith-alhazred]

today i can't shake away a feeling that it's 31th of december, and it's a work day, the last one in this year. it's dark outside and my workplace is lonely, abandoned, as everyone has left it to go home. and in a couple of hours i would go home through empty snow-drifted streets. and at home i would find the New Year spruce (magnificent smell), olivier salad, tangerines, cola, festive table, decorations... And at midnight - the chimes, gifts, fireworks, and then - whole night and winter break, when i would be left to myself, not knowing - what's next, like an explorer who just discovered a whole new land.

[eldritch-bf]

Herbert West identity related headcanons:

ftm (obviously) gay and demi

if he’s 24 in 1985 then he was born in 1961 oof

I’m also using some info from the novelization as canon so he is Canadian and his parents died in a chemical fire in the house when he was 12-13

was forced to take ballet when be was 5-10 (something Jeffry Combs joked about in the commentary from Bride)

his parents were neglectful of him and didn’t really care about him wanting to have short hair or boy clothes plus they chalked it up to his presumably undiagnosed autism

realized he felt weird about the older boy in the foster home (13-18) but didn’t really understand it; mostly he is jealous when girls take away the boy’s attention; closest friend he ever had as they were alone together but Herbert knew he could never act on it so he kept those feelings to himself

he wants sex but only from someone he’s emotionally connected with which itself is rare and at the same time intellectually he considers sex to be debasing, while also being curious about the sensation and knowing the benefits of the chemicals produced during orgasm

this is coupled with the fact that at least before starting T any thought of sex or masturbation made him extremely dysphoric and repulsed so his whole relationship with sex is very complicated

he is deeply repulsed by femininity bc it reminds him of his childhood spend as his agab and the stupid gender norms his parents thrust upon him including dismissing him being a scientist just because he had the wrong parts

he is canonically annoyed by pretty much all sounds and I suspect higher pitched sounds including women’s voices are worse; lower register sounds like thunder and men’s voices can be calming to him

upon moving from Canada to the U.S. as a student at NYU he used his new name on everything and making a clean break from his old identity was a big reason why he picked a different country to study in

hated NYU and the only good thing was it was easy to synthesize testosterone

T made him so fucking horny and also eviscerated his dysphoria; man was cranking it fucking constantly for a year straight and did some of his best work before moving to Switzerland for 3 years

Dr Gruber immediately figured out what his deal was but didn’t say anything and just treated him normal and for that Herbert was extremely devoted to him; Dr Gruber also did his top surgery in Switzerland despite having never done such an operation before

Dr Gruber was the one and only member of his support system the only person who knew everything about him and understood him and accepted him, losing him was a devastating blow and Herbert decided he would keep himself closed off

Also Dr Gruber didn’t have anyone either and adored Herbert and according to the book fucking left Herbert his money when he died which paid for his tuition and moving costs etc

if I didn’t genuinely like the father/son dynamic they have, I would absolutely say he was fucking that old man

So he was cool and clipped to Dan when he first met him and when he moved in trying to keep Dan at arm’s length away but he saw how smart and hardworking Dan was and he knew how difficult it was to conduct this research alone and he desperately wanted the company

and Dan reminded him a lot of the first boy he ever had a crush on and it would give him a certain satisfaction to vicariously have his first crush through Dan yet also knowing that Dan is way better than the idiot teen boy he was in the foster home with who never gave him the time of day; he’s also pleased with the idea of dragging Dan (normal, supposedly heterosexual, law-abiding) down with him; he’s pulling the brightest kindest handsomest hardest working med student out of Miskatonic into his orbit and making Dan’s life revolve around him

literally “look at the bad bitch I pulled by being a little freak” absolute nightmare Herbert West takes personal pleasure in ruining sweaterboy Daniel Cain’s life

the chaos of everything they do is so much more important that when Dan finds out Herbert is trans and gay it doesn’t even phase him.

(Daniel Cain is bisexual and basically decided it was just easier to be pretend to be straight and get a girlfriend so he ignored his feelings for men. But now with Herbert he doesn’t have to.)

he is completely shocked by sex with Dan however despite knowing that Dan is experienced he was not prepared nor was Dan prepared for how awkward yet demanding the virginal Herbert West would be, yelling at him one moment before becoming cock stupid the next

[johnconstantinesdick]

A series of AAI2 headcanons

(biased towards Sebastian and using the unofficial translation names bc I am not emotionally adjusted to the new ones)

Kay bounces around between jobs for a while—she works under Lang at interpol for some time, and then spends a few years as a detective, and eventually settles into working as a PI. It gives her the free time to pursue her own investigations, and she can work with either the Prosecution or the Defense as she pleases. She does the full Yatagarasu intro every time she’s called in to testify. She adds special effects each time. No one knows how.

Kay also gets fuckoff tall. Just like. Fully over 6ft, and extremely buff to boot. Her vibes are very Gender and I can see her going on testosterone at some point, so maybe she has some scruff. Really emulating Badd.

Sebastian also gets tall. No concrete height but he must get taller than Edgeworth and Edgeworth must have a crisis about it. Full beanpole though, no muscle.

BIG fan of long hair Sebastian. Tied in an elegant little ponytail. He flicks it when he’s smug about making a point. It makes people want to punch him.

Relatedly, everyone on Team Edgeworth is a smug asshole. This is just canon. Edgeworth? Bitch energy off the charts. Franziska? She can and will mock you to your face. Small children hate her. Lang? Fantastic dude but you could NOT get through a conversation without wanting to deck him. Kay? Absolutely insufferable and she’s going to make it everyone’s problem. Sebastian? You may want to make him kind and soft because his dad sucks and he DOES care about doing the right thing and he cries a lot. However once he gets his confidence back he’s going to go back to being an arrogant bitch, except he’ll be right more often. Which is Worse. Ray is the closest to being straight up Nice. But at what cost.

Cape Sebastian. I rest my case.

Sebastian wears blue as his accent color for a long time, and actively avoids wearing red. It’s not until Edgeworth gives him a red cape that matches his suit that Sebastian puts red on again and feels like he earned it. It’s an emotional moment. Sebastian sobs through their entire shared lunch break.

Lang, Franziska, and Kay worked together really well in interpol, and went on some highly classified missions. They may or may not have smuggled political refugees out of Khura’in. Whenever anyone asks if they’ve been there, they give the exact same smile and copy-pasted response about it being a beautiful country and no of course they’ve never been! The Wright Anything lie detectors all blare alarms. Edgeworth doesn’t let them near Prosecutor Sahdmadhi when he’s in the country.

I actually think Franziska slowly leans more and more into her investigative duties for Interpol. Will she one day realize she’s more of a detective than a prosecutor? Who knows, but she fucking loves chasing down criminals. She and Lang are best friends. They will one day make friendship bracelets and cherish them for the rest of time.

Kay and Sebastian get platonic married. Kay arranged it for a case. Sebastian thought they were making a blood pact. They never get it annulled. (aro Kay and demi Sebastian ftw)

They are also SO gender and goofy with it. Kay is Sebastian’s husband. Sebastian is Kay’s wife. If Sebastian ever dates anyone (Blackquill/Sebastian my beloved rarepair), Kay is going to call them her wife’s mistress for the rest of time.

Sebastian and Edgeworth never have a formal conversation about it, but they consider each other family. They refer to each other as father/son only when the other isn’t present. Sebastian is in his will.

Sebastian and Courtney DO have a formal conversation about the same topic. There’s a lot of crying. John exclusively refers to Sebastian as his “weird brother”

Edgeworth and Courtney have a custody agreement. They meet weekly for lunches. They deny they’re friends but they ARE coparenting. Divorce rumors abound.

Conflicts of interest don’t exist in the ace attorney universe but if they did these two would have to declare one. Edgeworth would be like. Sorry I can’t work with one of three entire judges in our district. We’re coparenting a teenager together. And Justine would be like yeah. Also I think he’s a bitch :\

Sebastian goes into child welfare. He specializes in criminal cases with children as the victims or defendants, and often gets called in on cases where kids have to testify. In civil cases he acts as a Guardian Ad Litem (I like to think he was Trucy’s during the adoption proceedings!)

I see the Klavier and Sebastian highschool friends angle and I respect it but I actually think Klavier should have vastly complicated feelings about Sebastian, while Sebastian barely even thinks about him.

To expand: Sebastian is head of the class (Klavier is sporting about it but also jealous. They don’t really interact. Klavier has friends and Sebastian is an asshole.) >> Blaise Debeste’s bribery and other crimes come to light (Klavier feels a little bad for him. He doesn’t say it out loud but there is some very real level of “he should have noticed. What an idiot. I would have known.”) >> Sebastian prosecutes his father because conflicts of interest don’t exist in Ace Attorney. He cries the entire very public trial, and sometimes the court needs to go into recess because the defendant won’t stop hurling abuse at the prosecutor, but he otherwise presents a very solid case. (Klavier watches in stupefied horror. “I could never do that to someone I love,” he thinks, “no matter what they did.” He’s wrong.) >> Sebastian slowly picks himself up and builds his legal career with Edgeworth and Justine’s help. (Klavier still feels a bit of condescending pity, but mainly it’s a “good for him” kind of thing, with a small but lingering amount of distrust.) >> State v. Enigmar (Klavier takes a leave of absence. He shoves down his misgivings about the case. The Dark Age of the Law starts. Sebastian stays behind, and does his best with every case. He doesn’t run. Klavier is desperately bitter.) >> Seven Year Gap (Klavier becomes an international rock star. Sebastian is thrown to the wolves every day he practices law under the Debeste name. They’re both stained, but the difference is that Klavier is from his actions and Sebastian is from others. There’s at least one hit single based around this. Sebastian does not listen to rock music.) >> State v. Wright (2026) (Klavier’s brother can’t be guilty. Klavier knows him. Klavier loves him. Doesn’t he? Did he miss something or was he kidding himself? Klavier begins obsessing over Apollo Justice. He and Sebastian work in the same office again. Sebastian feels no particular way about this. Klavier hovers outside his door when no one else is around and thinks about guilt. Did you know? Did you suspect? Did you care?) >> State V. Tobaye. (Another betrayal. Will all of his loved ones abandon him? Did they think he was that stupid or did they think he loved them enough to look past their crimes? Which is worse? Klavier does not knock on Sebastian’s door.) >> State V. Misham. Sebastian takes Klavier aside and tells him not to hold himself responsible. Says that he can’t be blamed for not noticing, and that he just has to try and build himself up again. Sebastian tells him his door is always open. Klavier says thank you but I’m okay. (Klavier thinks “Maybe you couldn’t have known. But I could have. I should have. I was not supposed to be the fool.”) >> Klavier goes to Edgeworth-mandated therapy. He comes to terms with Kristoph’s betrayal. He realizes he has been obsessing over someone he barely knows from high school for over a decade. He wonders if this is a crush. If he had a friend to tell this to, they would say that this is actually just an externalized form of self-loathing. He does not have any friends. His therapist tells him this instead. >> Klavier knocks on Sebastian’s door. They proceed to have a series of very normal conversations. They become friends. Klavier is too mortified to ever tell Sebastian about any of the above.

The Klavier and Sebastian analysis could have been it’s own post but I got in too deep. I think Klavier should get to be an unfair bitch sometimes, even if he never says it out loud.

Alas, this post is now too long for me to expand on my Blackquill/Sebastian thoughts. Of which I have many. There’s 7k of fic written in my notes app. Blackquill thinks Sebastian is pushy and confident and the hottest person he’s ever seen. Sebastian thinks Blackquill is extremely pretty and kind to small animals and children. No one comprehends their views of each other.

[creativity-deficient]

So, in defense of Stanford Pines

As the gravity falls fan in me has awakened once again per the release of the Book of Bill, I wanted to write a quick character analysis/essay on one of my two favorite characters in the series, Stanford Pines.

Now it’s important to note that Ford is in fact, a very flawed character, and this essay is in NO means meant to downplay that. He’s absolutely an egotistical asshole who was way too in his own head and focused on the end goal to fully appreciate the people and things he has around him, which ultimately ended up playing a huge part in his downfall.

However I do want to talk a little bit more about his side of things, as this is something I feel like isn’t quite done enough justice in the series, making it easy to just see him as a jerk or take Stan’s side in the fight between them, and has always been something I’ve really appreciated about both Journal 3 and now, the book of bill, both providing a new perspective on his character and exactly WHY he turned out the way he did.

I want to start from the beginning, by delving a bit into Ford’s childhood.

It’s a common misconception in the fandom that Ford had a good relationship with his father. He was the loved child, while Stanley was the unloved child. Now there’s no denying that Stan’s relationship with his father was…considerably worse, but with how deep Ford’s own insecurities and his obsession to “be the best” lie, I find it very hard to believe that his own relationship with his father was a healthy one either.

Filbrick was considered a VERY strict man, who was not easily impressed, making it very likely that Ford was either groomed into thinking, or at least at some point convinced himself that his smarts were the only worthwhile thing about him, especially since he pretty much already felt like a freak because of his fingers.

It’s even mentioned in the book of bill that his father wouldn’t want him returning home without millions. I mean, does that SOUND like a loving father to you?

And that brings me to his falling out with Stan. Yeah, EXTREMELY dick move to let your father kick out your teenage twin brother over some dumb mistake, however, it’s always felt a bit weird to me, like there was much more going on then just “you destroyed my project I’m throwing out our entire brotherly bond we spent the last 17-18 years building fuck you” because let’s face it, huh??? Kicking your own TWIN BROTHER, who you have been best friends with all your life, to the curb for some dumb school you literally learned about DAYS ago was something that never made sense to me, and I always struggled to understand why and how it even had to come to that.

But, let’s look it at this way. To Ford, Stan was the only person he had. They were the only people each other had, the only people that truly got each other. Ford considered Stan the only person he could trust at that point in time, this only person who wouldn’t treat him differently than others. And what does that person do? Completely betray that trust and destroy his project. Yes, we know that it was an accident, but Ford didn’t. Was he wrong to automatically assume that Stan did it on purpose instead of just, you know, talking it out? Oh absolutely, but we already established that he clearly doesn’t have healthy coping mechanisms, and all things considered, I don’t think Stan really helped his case when it came to proving his innocence, as both before and even after the confrontation, all he can seemingly think about is their boat. All things considered, I can’t completely blame Ford for thinking it was an act of betrayal. Does that completely justify his response? Oh absolutely not. But I DO think the situation goes a bit deeper than people assume.

Then we have his time in gravity falls. It’s hinted at a bunch throughout the series, journal 3, and the book of bill that Ford, despite his anger, truly missed his brother, and regretted his actions towards him (the swingset and stan o war in his dreamscape, holding on to that photo of him and Stan as kids all those years, not being able to think back on his childhood at glass shard beach without growing sad, etc).

“Well, why didn’t he just contact him then???”

Well, to be fair, he kind of had a lot going on, and by a lot, of course, I mean Bill.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the relationship between Ford and Bill was EXTREMELY toxic. Bill, doing what Bill does best, leeched onto Ford’s already deeply set insecurities to led him into a false sense of security, one where bill and ONLY bill truly understood him, and that everyone else was out to get him and couldn’t see his true potential, effectively isolating him from his friends, family, and even society.

Ford went through HELL in this period of time. He was left alone by bill for long periods of time until he was desperate and dependent enough to lash out. He was gaslit and manipulated into pushing the people he cared about away. When he decided he wasn’t going to do bill’s bidding, he was literally TORMENTED for it. In all fairness, I don’t really think he was in the right mindset for ANYTHING during that time, losing himself in BOTH his own stubbornness and this endless cycle of abuse.

Despite this though, despite ALL of this, all the manipulation, their falling out, etc, Stan was still the ONLY person (apart from Fiddleford) Ford thought of to take the Journals, the only person he considered to be trustworthy. Yes it was petty of him to bring up the project yet AGAIN (let it go my dude), but I do think it is important to acknowledge that he still thought of Stan pretty highly at the time, or else that wouldn’t have been the case.

“Oh but Alex he told Stan to get away from him yadayada!!!” Uh, no he didn’t. He just told him to hide the journals, not that he couldn’t come back afterwards, that was just Stan assuming the worst.

On that note, I do think it’s important to also acknowledge that while Stan is definitely, in the eyes of a lot of people as well as myself, the more sympathetic of the two, he’s definitely made his fair share of mistakes as well. I don’t think there’s really truly a right or a wrong in this argument, I think instead both of them are two very complex characters who had both been through a lot at that point, and both have made their mistakes (even if Stan’s were a bit more justified in most cases)

Then of course, he gets pushed through the portal, and spends the next 30 years between dimensions.

Now for anyone who hasn’t read journal 3 (spoilers ig? The book is pretty old atp but I figured I’d give one anyways) Ford is basically told by an oracle that he “has the face of someone who is destined to defeat bill” (a lot of people call him egotistical for assuming the oracle was talking about him and not his brother, but I digress. If an oracle looked YOU deep into your eyes and told you you had the face of someone destined to save the universe, be honest, would YOU think they were talking about your sibling??) Ford then proceeds to spend the next 30 years building a weapon to effectively defeat bill, and just as he’s about to finally use it, he’s sucked (not literally) back into gravity falls, not ONLY effectively erasing all of his hard work and progress, but risking weirdmaggedon in the first place. On TOP of it all, he also learns that Stan has been using his name all these years, and that he now has a pretty extensive criminal record.

Yes, Stan did it all in his best interest, and Ford could’ve absolutely shown more appreciation, but all things considered, I’d be pretty pissed off too.

But, all things considered, at the end of it all Ford still has those he hold close to his heart. He missed Stan all those years, considered Fiddleford a true friend and was super appreciative to have him there while they worked on the project together, he’s joyous to find out he has a niece and nephew, etc, and when he realizes he’s hurt these people, namely his brother and former lab partner, he feels immense guilt, and does everything he can to atone to it.

I truly think Stanford’s character development is one of the best in the series, as he finally learns to appreciate what he has instead of trying to chase down an unachievable end goal, and it’s definitely something that I feel goes unnoticed in the grand scheme of things when it comes to his character.

Now, what was the point of this 1 am ramble?? The point was the highlight the wonderful complexity of Stanford Pines’s character. Yes he was an extremely flawed man. Someone who pushed away those he loved him pursuit of greater things, and let his own pride be the fall of him. However, at the same time, he’s also a man who bears a lot of scars, both metaphorical and literal, and an extremely complex character who deserves a lot more than to be characterized as this “cold, uncaring asshole” something I’ve seen WAY too much of. I feel like it’s important to acknowledge that he’s made mistakes while also recognizing the complexity of a lot of it too, as well as acknowledging that he did indeed, learn from those mistakes.

[x--ghost--x]

Hi, can i request HC platonic little sister (female reader she/her), who wants to make her 4 brothers happy?

Like she knows mikey wanted that famous rare cooking book that got sold out years ago and she comes up to him saying " hey mikey, close your eyes and give me your hands, i swear it's not a prank! " and when she gives him he gets so shocked he almost cry and scream of joy at the same time.

She do the same with her 3 older brothers because she loves going so far to make them happy.

( in case you couldn't find a thing that may make the brothers so happy may i suggest; a poster of leo with lou outfit back when he was fighting in BNC, for Donnie a rare computer chip, and for raph she sew a ghost bear - she hates him btw - teddy bear big size for raph).

If this request is too much then please feel free to ignore/delete it.

Okay that's honestly so cute, I love that idea ♡

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Little presents

• you never thought you'll find yourself considering four mutant turtles your older siblings

• but it did happened somehow

• and you were really grateful for that

• there wasn't any boring moment with them, always having some sort of fun activity going on like Mikey teaching you how to cook, Leo showing you his favorite Lou Jitsu scenes or doing tricks with his blue portals that you had no idea how they worked, Donnie explaining to you how he build his inventions even tho you didn't understand any word he said or Raph showing you the best ways to protect yourself in the dojo

• they cared for you deeply and you cared for them

• that's why you decided to repay them for their kindness, you really wanted to make them happy just like they made you

• it wasn't easy but being a really determined kid you went on a mission to get your brothers some presents (April helped you get some of them because she was a little concerned you could get in trouble doing this all on your own and almost got a heart attack more times she wanted to admit)

• when you achieved your task successfully it was time to deliver the items to each of the turtles

• first on your list was Mikey

• and when I tell you he was extremely happy I mean he was absolutely delighted when you handed him that super rare cooking book that got sold out years ago and no one was printing it anymore

• he definitely picked you up spinning around and giggling saying "thank you" repeatedly with the biggest grin you ever saw

• he did question tho were did you get that and you started to tell him a story about that cool old book shop you found somewhere in a weird alley where cashier looked like a big owl, how she was very nice too and helped you look for this book

• Mikey thought he would pass out because how the hell did you get into the Hidden city- oh, you ran off already

• the next turtle was Leo, who you were able to find doing tricks on a skateboard

• when he saw you he momentarily stopped and asked what's up and why you and Mikey were so loud earlier, he stopped when he saw you handing him something

• he thought he would cry when he realized it was a poster - with him AND Lou Jitsu

• that was, like, the coolest thing ever

• he didn't even asked where did you get that, just thanked you million times and went to the first person he saw (which was Mikey, going to kitchen with his new cooking book) to brag about him being your favorite brother because "have you seen what cool pesent she gave me? none of you got something this awesome-"

• your next stop was a lab, so you knocked in a irregular pattern - a code that Donnie taught you so he knew it was you

• when the doors opened you went straight to the chair he was sitting at, tinkering with things you did not recognize

• not wanting to interrupt him, you slowly slid a little square to him, finally catching Donnie's attention, he lifted his mismatched goggles and examined onject and upon recognising what it was he let out a verbal "gasp!"

• Donnie isn't very good at expressing his gratitude but the excited sparkle in his eyes resured you he really liked that computer chip that he tried to get a grasp on for quiet some time now and even though you may not understand what exactly was so special about it, seeing the turtle so happy was enough to make your efforts on getting it worth

• and speaking of that "I am grateful for this thoughtful gift but, uh, could you enlighten me on how did you get into a possession of something so-"

• you, again, decided to disappear into thin air

• finally, the last one on your list, the oldest big brother, Raph

• finding him was easy, it was the time of the day for his training, so you headed to the dojo, already hearing him from afar

• announcing your arrival, not wanting to accidentally get hit, he greeted you with a smile and pat on the head

• the gift you had for him was probably the only one you did yourself (okay, maybe not entirely by yourself but for the most part that was true) - a Ghost Bear plushie, almost as big agroun

• your heard that he liked him, you not so much after hearing about his evil doings, but if it's what would make your older brother happy then so be it

• maybe for you it was not perfect, in some parts steaches were visible, but for Raph it was indeed perfect and he couldn't dream of a better present, which was clearly indicated by the loud thumping of his tail repeatedly hitting the ground

• "it's really amazing! and it's detailed too, just like you have seen him while sewing!.. wait-"

• let's say, you did end up with you making your brothers extremely happy

• and extremely concerned at the same time

• good luck with explaining where did you get all those gifts ^^

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Hope you liked it!

Have a nice day/night ᕦ( ᐛ )ᕡ

[inchidentally]

https://x.com/safeforlando/status/1750936311563723024?s=20

I don't need to add anything. The best driver duo on the grid without a doubt <3

you're so right to say there's nothing more to say, anon. and yet ! lol

(behind a cut so no one can think I'm literally reporting facts here or that I'm living and dying by my own weird and pointless takes I'm just enjoying over-analyzing for fun)

(I am fully switching off RPF/narrative here)

so temporarily switching off friendships or any kinds of ships and focusing solely on driver partnerships, I love how certain Lando's always been about what Oscar has done for his (Lando's) performance. I think this is where age and generation play some part bc Carlos and Daniel are both firmly in the same age group and separated from Lando to a certain degree bc of that. they both viewed Lando as a little brother type of teammate and their careers were never perceived by themselves as especially tied to McLaren or to Lando. they'd both kind of become the lone wolf type by then which is honestly how most drivers have to be. (even moreso in the Max/RB dominance era)

whereas Lando isn't just toeing the line by saying he's a big team player, he adores working in groups in absolutely every area of his professional life and even having hobbies that put him with a minimum of 3-4 people. he also needs to feel the safety of a support network to be at his best. he's the very opposite of a lone wolf. hell, he literally said 'it took an actual village to raise me'.

he very intentionally developed the shared interests with Carlos and Daniel to create those kinds of bonds and familiarity (that's The Lando Effect). and while it's too much of a leap to say for sure, I think it's likely - at least at the start - that Lando felt like they might each have been his teammate for longer than they were. either way, the shared hobbies and friendly bonding didn't really translate to his time time spent with them in team meetings, speaking to the engineers or in development back at the factory. Lando has said he and Carlos were on completely different planes of experience and ability and Carlos was one foot out the door after what, the first year? and well, we know the lack of synchronicity between Lando and Daniel as drivers that started to set in not long after that first season together.

so when it was announced Lando's next teammate would be a rookie and also younger than him, he didn't really hide that the swapped dynamic worried him - even if he was half-joking. and then Oscar being so quiet and independent a person definitely threw him. he even describes their pre-season interactions as friendly but only really having time to say a few words. Oscar had his own work cut out as a rookie (and as we found out, wanting to prove himself most to the engineers and folks at MTC) and Lando already had a full life running alongside his racing career.

and it sounds all projection-y and armchair psychology to say this but genuinely it's clear to state that unlike the usual PR push that a lot of new teammates partake in, Oscar's been notably disinterested in any of that - not even just overplaying a friendship or a bromance with Lando for the sake of the cameras. that's an especially unusual choice for someone who could really have used the Lando Effect boost to his own image after contractgate with Alpine and the hoards of Ricciardo fans/McLaren fans ready to hate someone they saw as a snake or a pretender (usually both). especially considering Oscar pre-F1 was extremely active on social media and had his own viral moments and a much more colorful, fun personality than what he's allowed F1 fans to see so far - it was a pretty deliberate choice to not carry that over right away to selling the partnership with Lando.

we might be able to glean through the murk of Netflix's highly questionable editing of this upcoming season of DTS how much was really going on behind the scenes between Lando and Oscar around this time. but it really seemed like Oscar was more focused on letting his loyalty to the team and his own driving do all the talking (and Mark Webber often said as much). when you compare a lot of those early Lando and Oscar videos and challenges to his Prema ones, he's so unusually quiet and reserved. so he had absolutely no interest in trying to sell himself as a persona or a character to F1 fans. he was perfectly sweet and polite! and boy, did Lando enjoy having someone with endless patience for him lol.

but it's very marked how, despite whatever was or wasn't developing between them as teammates, Lando has consistently always said the same as he has here about Oscar being so talented and giving Lando that "push" and how "you hate and you like it" bc it made him (Lando) take his own driving to the next level. that healthy competition and 'wow, this guy is bringing it' seemed to strike him immediately. Lando can't lie for shit so if he'd found Oscar to be a crappy teammate in any way there's no way he'd be able to choke out any praise for him even for the sake of the team alsgfljasgfa.

and I liked that here in I think March? he said how he planned to get Oscar into all his own hobbies and bring him out of his shell, but apart from one last minute invite to golf that never really happened. we know they spent a fair amount of down time together but it was always mentioned in passing rather than posting about it online or having anyone film it (that we know of yet). the reason I like it is because Lando went on to say how Oscar has reminded him by example to "keep calm and be yourself". and in this interview he'd said how he considers himself and Oscar to be pretty similar people in terms of their approach to their F1 careers. so instead of them bonding through hobbies and interests or both of them being chatterboxes, I think they bonded (if that's the word?) over not being stereotypical extroverted drivers in terms of their personalities and also that they've so adamantly never wanted to have driver in-fighting make life harder for their teams (and themselves). plenty of guys from F2 and F3 can attest to that for Oscar and of course there's The Lando Effect as far as Lando's concerned.

you could almost say they both needed to be teamed up with the other bc for all that Oscar projects Just a Guy, he also finds himself incredibly awkward when it comes to everything about his job outside of racing the car or talking about the car. Lando's just as much the same but he's learned to charm his way through it. he's still awkward as hell even in Quadrant promo videos and he's been doing those regularly for years now, and with all his friends there! they're both enough off-center that they either need an extroverted teammate to lean on or in their current situation, someone who can sympathize.

which I think considering how much loyalty to the team and a sense of 'home' and consistency are for Lando, it makes all kinds of sense that Oscar was the teammate to show up and really form that partnership that he considers to be 'the strongest' on the grid.

they're the same generation, have the same ethos when it comes to their racing careers and Oscar not only went through a court case to get to McLaren he then extended his contract to 2026 the second McLaren made the offer. Lando's got stability as well as a serious challenge from Oscar. he's more poised than ever for that win(s). and now I just hope he listens to Oscar in other ways like not self-flagellating in front of the cameras so much and focusing on where he has done well.

[octolich]

I was Scared for Dragon Age: Veilguard.

I take it back, we are so back. The release date trailer fixes so many of the anxieties of this post, Im keeping it up because I ain't no bitch but consider this an archive post of sorts. Ima make a new one glazing the new trailer but for now this is absolute cinema. Nice going Bioware! Still not pre-ordering tho, fuck EA. I want to say before I state anything, I'm still buying the game, I just want to warn fellow DA Fans to be cautious about this game and its potential quality. I could be wrong and this could be game of the year, best in the franchise. I've just got a weird feeling about Bio ware's marketing that I want to get off my chest.

This is just a personal opinion and warning from a Dragon Age Fan. Disagree? You're probably right. Your opinions are valid and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

SPOILERS FOR DRAGON AGE SHTUFF.

TLDR: Bioware has been very sneaky with marketing as well as dodgy choices in design that I do not agree with. They keep on talking about how this is the best game in the franchise and how the characters are the most in-depth yet, but I personally am sceptical. I could be wrong and this could be game of the year, best in the franchise. I've just got a weird feeling about Bioware's marketing I want to get off my chest and warn others about. We're treating breadcrumbs as buffets. They refuse to show anything substantial off and rely too much on "The games good, trust me bro. we've got nudity!"

I love Dragon age Inquisition to death. Played through it multiple times over the course of 7 years (Necromancer homies rise up). I played Dragon age Origins a wee bit and really loved the freedom and gritty setting which was a complete 180 for what I'm used to from DAI. I didn't play dragon age 2 (sorry besties I'll try it at some point) but I've heard it introduced a lot of controversial concepts but ultimately "modernized" the franchise.

Now, I actually didn't mind the trailer! I was jamming to the bombastic song but found the dialogue in it to be extremely corny. It definitely is a major shift in tone from the other trailers but hey! Maybe it won't be like that in the game. Marketing can mislead the perception of a game through the trailer like with Dead Island (amazing trailer btw) But then I saw the gameplay preview.

I was quite shocked to see Minrathous! I loved the city's whole MagicPunk theme and with the floating Archon's palace in the sky? Even though it looked a bit... off, I still liked it. The city looks old, and powerful. I absolutely love that. But then we get to the immediete problem. The Demons. I believe I heard from somewhere that the artists designed them this way to be similar to that of the human nervous system. What I presumed to be despair demons looked creepy with this artistic vision, but the pride demon??? It just looked goofy and not intimidating at all. They really traded how unique each and every demon looked, and went with floating kool aid spirits?

Moving on, Dragon age Inquisition has 8 slots for abilities you can fill in, allowing you to combo them and have a wide arsenal at your disposal. But with Veil guards 3? It was an immediate red flag. Now, I heard from Bioware that Rook can have an ultimate ability, but that is still 4 out of the original 8 you could bring. Companions are said to have a fixed 5 but can only bring in 3. BUT, Bio ware has been said in the game informer to be encouraging combining abilities with other companions, and not with just your own arsenal. But I still don't like the change.

A 60 second cooldown though??? either the fights shall be long, or you'll be a sitting duck spamming basic attacks waiting for your cool spells. I suppose there would be ways to reduce the time with cooldown reduction perks, but again, I do not vibe with this. aswell as following to comment this:

Now, Im no expert on game design, but I loved the combat in DAI AND DAO, yes it had its flaws but I find it was a highlight, now a flaw of the games. To say that Combat was "Uncharitably meh" I find spits in the face of the philosophy of combat in the previous games. DAI was all about about levelling up to build complex arsenals of spells to combo with, and unlocking specializations which further added spells to play with. DAO was all about freedom, you can be a necromancer/pyromancer/blood mage/spirit healer and it would work! Im afraid that Bioware has forgotten why this was fun and risk the chance of making combat one of the worst aspects of Dragon age Veilguard.

Now, instead of Bioware talking about gameplay, they love to talk about companions, throughout all of the game informer articles they talk about Romance, nudity, character creation (I admit I'm a bit hyped about this one though), and the companions.

Again, the wordplay of how Veilguard is even better than all previous dragon age games doesn't sit well with me. Are the previous companions also not complex? Is Dorian not a man who's constantly fighting between hating his father and loving him, while this love is also reflected for his home land? Is Morrigan not a woman who is on a fight between the discovery of ancient magic, the love of her warden and son, as well as the fear of her mother?

I just find it so strange that they focus so much on the companions in these articles, while also keep quiet about the gameplay, spare the game preview (Basically a vague tutorial) and a few pictures. Now, again. They could actually be the best in the entire franchise. I could eat my words and these companions could shake the very foundation on what it means to be a companion, but I just don't buy this narrative bioware is trying to feed us.

"These followers or companions don't exist by themselves" "Your assembling a family." "Everything you do ties into the critical path" "things are done towards a goal." "In Origins things are done just to do them."

https://www.gameinformer.com/exclusive-video/2024/07/19/the-making-of-dragon-age-the-veilguard (blue text is excerpts from this video. There's more but I can't be assed putting every quote into this. You may watch it yourself if you wish to see more)

They continue to use flowery language in these statements. How complex they are, how they're their own people. But where's the proof? these are all just words at the moment. In the 20 minute preview, I wasn't sitting there immersed in Minrathous, (still pretty gorgeous though, love you concept artists and 3d modelers xxx) or sitting there amazed at the characters. I'm just a dude sitting there watching some Batman Arkham knight look ahh combat.

The Video used above is just so much yapping, with re-used footage from the gameplay preview, trailer and images previously released. There is nothing new they are adding or introducing, only saying "The Characters and Story is good, trust."

Honestly? My theory is that this entire campaign is damage control. Lots of people who viewed the trailer immediately hated it (to be fair most of them haven't touched a single dragon age game in their lives) and the gameplay preview was a mixed review at best. After mass effect andromeda? I don't trust them. Not one bit.

I am going to buy the game and either enjoy it or hate it. I don't prefer gameplay over story, I'm a mix of both. I think one cannot exist without the other. I am just extremely worried for the future of not only Dragon age, but Bioware as a whole. I have a feeling that after this, if this game flops, Bioware is headed for the guillotine by the hands of EA (bunch of pricks).

One thing I will say is I like the skill trees!

This type of skill tree I think outdoes Inquisition's skyrim style perk tree, and really leans into the way Origin's does its abilities and perks (which I like more and Inquisition). From the looks of it, you can twist into what type of mage you are, as well as specialization. Control Death Caller? Burst Spellblade? Or maybe mash Control/Sustain together? It really beckons the imagination. THIS is what I want to see. Instead of words I want action! I want snippets! Not reused footage of the trailer or game preview, I want hard proof of how great this game is!

Not only that, but I do have to admit. the New UI puts all of the previous games to shame. I'm a big fan of the prismatic purple UI they've got going on.

I got to hand it to the Artists and graphic designers, It feels like the artists have fully realised their creative vision. I've never wanted a MagicPunk city until I saw Minrathous. I admit its a small thing to like about, but its the small things like these that can elevate a games quality. If there's one thing that I find that Dragon age Veil guard does better than the rest is the UI.

I post this out of love, not hate. I'm terrified that my favourite franchise is going to turn dogshit thanks to questionable choices. Bioware is doing nothing to comfort these fears by pumping out bloated statements like how the characters are the best in the series, and bringing up transmog and hyping up the character creator. Like, yeah? where is it then? are there no snippets? You're willing to post entire skill tree's why not post the character creator? or a sneak at the transmog?

After mass effect andromeda, my faith has been lost on bioware. But I still love the dragon age games. I just wish they do it justice. I will still buy the game, and leave a positive or negative review depending on the quality. If its good then ya'll have full permission to clown on me!

Im uh, still new to Tumblr so I don't know how to end this. Treat yourself to some water, maybe order just eats? Just treat yo self! Thanks immensely for reading this, hopefully you've learned something from this rambling. And hey! If you disagree, that's more than welcome! Your opinions are just as valid as mine. and I'd love to hear what you think and love about Dragon Age. Who knows? we might agree! (Lucanis is so handsome its not even funny)

[lea-andres]

Okay so @iamapoopmuffin I will try to really boil this down into layman's terms for ya but let me know if I lose you anywhere lmao. But here's my FNAF OC!

So... I'm the most fascinated by the FNAF series in its later years (2030s according to the timelines I was looking at last night), when it's got fucking pizzeria complexes and training simulator programs and it's after William and Henry are in charge of the company and alive(ish... you know what I mean) so at that point I imagine Fazbear Entertainment has a corporate board running it up at the top who are sure dedicated to finding the line between "the bare minimum" and "absolute jack shit" lmao.

So... it's no surprise Fazbear Entertainment is a fucking dangerous company to work for. Murders, Bites of varying years, malfunctioning animatronics, fruitshark has a series on mostly TikTok (some on YT too) where she finds all the OSHA violations... These guys suck lmao. Also there's been a long history of dismantling, setting on fire, and leaving animatronics to rot so... They're not happy either lmao. (And that's ignoring the ones that had corpses stuffed in them or the child souls possessing them, but we'll come back to child soul possession shortly)

So Fazbear Entertainment went "We totally hear you guys and all of your issues! Look, here's our new Human and Animatronics Resources manager! Take her issues to her, and she will do the best she can to solve them! :)"

Enter Lydia DuPont. I don't know where Fazbear Entertainment found her, but this stupid bitch (/aff) missed EVERYTHING. She knows nothing about Fazbear's history. The murders, the Bites, none of it. Combine that with the extremely limited budget FE gave her to work with, and... Lydia's trying to fix deep seeded psychological trauma with pizza parties and stickers. She MEANS well, she sure wants to help, but... Most of the employees and animatronics find her annoying and off putting lmao. They side eye her while she's running "wellness questionnaires" at best, worst case scenario they're fucking with her by bringing up the terrible things that have happened and watching her squirm with the knowledge she can't fix this with smiles and sparkles.

Lydia's only made progress with one person so far. Well, animatronic really: Helpy.

Ya know, this guy (skip to about :50 to watch Mark abuse the shit out of Helpy lmao):

So... Helpy is very puntable lmao. I could've sworn I saw SOMEWHERE that employees abuse Helpy on purpose for funnies. I can't find it now, but I do what I want lmao. Helpy's puntable, and doesn't like being puntable. Only Lydia is nice to him and uh... That's starting to turn into its own problem with Lydia. Helpy has declared Lydia his mother (we've seen lots of instances of animatronics latching onto kids in various manners, I think it'd be fun to explore the reverse and have one latch onto an adult), and is DEFINITELY too clingy with her. And Lydia is... encouraging the behavior. Probably too much. So NOW anytime you have a "wellness chat" with Lydia, Helpy's there too! STARING at you while Lydia holds him (he wanted uppies and gets upset when she puts him down lmao). So yeah, no one likes Lydia all that much. They want her to take her weird robot son and take a long walk into the trash compactor. 💕 (Also definitely no hurt feelings floating around regarding the child soul possessed animatronics watching Lydia baby fucking Helpy instead of like... any of the actual children lmao RIP)

@doomzday-zone helped me decide last night what horrors I wanted to subject Lydia to (because I wanted to but *gestures at FNAF* there's so many horrors to subject her to lmao). Vanny seems most appropriate considering FNAF timeline era AND *checks notes* maximum amounts of evil toxic yuri attainable. Anyway, so TL;DR Vanny thinks fucking with (in... multiple senses of the term 😏😉) the loser clueless hr manager would be really funny actually, but there's uh... Helpy sized elephant in the room preventing that. And it won't GO AWAY-

If I possessed the power to make a game of this (maybe I'll dust off the text adventure game maker someday)... it'd be a Tattletail/FNAF blend style of the Horrors™ are trying to separate Lydia and her Shit Son™ so Lydia can be subjected to the terrors. 💕

But yeah, that's Lydia DuPont. I love her, I love her awful relationship with Helpy, and I want her to experience the horrors.

[itsclydebitches]

The opposition to rewrites in the FNDM is just so goddamn weird to me, given that one of the cornerstones of another fandom I'm in is a rewrite of a canon storyline that had some really cool ideas but dogshit execution. I see people saying that the rewriters are arrogant for thinking that they can do RWBY better than the official team, but no, in my experience even if they are arrogant it's equally possible that they're right. Official doesn't mean "The Best" or even "Good", just official.

Exactly. Ultimately it shouldn't even matter whether rewrites are "good" or not because

a) That's a highly subjective interpretation no one will ever agree on

b) They're written by amateurs for free as a hobby - with "amateur" meaning someone who does not produce RWBY writing in a professional capacity, not someone who is automatically "bad" at the art - and thus rewrites would be at huge disadvantage even if we did want to judge their quality

and c) That's just what fanfiction is?? Transformation??? The writer's motivation is inconsequential. Whether they're producing this because they think they can craft a better story than canon, or whether they simply want a creative means of celebrating it, the end result is still the same: a new, unofficial RWBY product that readers will inevitably compare to the original, favorably or otherwise

So yeah, it's wild to me. I've literally never seen another fandom so anti-rewrite. It's usually the opposite - as you say, a cornerstone of fan engagement - where fans, both jokingly and not, talk about how sometimes fic is a love letter and sometimes it's a "FUCK YOU STRONGLY WORDED TELEGRAM TO FOLLOW." Despite RWBY appearing unique at first glance (from my perspective, anyway) I wonder if part of this is due to larger fandom trends? Meaning, RWBY is comparatively young as fandoms go and I've noticed in recent years a prioritization of canon that hasn't been around before, particularly when it comes to shipping. Some of that is good imo (like the push for queer canonization) and some of it is just downright odd (what do you mean I'm not "allowed" to ship them just because they haven't spoken to each on screen? Since when is THAT a requirement?). Though RWBY is definitely an extreme case, there seems to be this generalized move from, "This is our canon and it's great, or maybe it sucks, but either way it's a spring board for all of THESE cool things" to "This is our canon and it is scared. It is perfect, flaws and all. If you're going to add to it I need a detailed proposal for how this fits into the established world, encapsulates the original author's vision, and maintains characterization even though I'm too young to know what OOC stands for." Certainly in RWBY's case, I wonder if part of it stems from the rise in social media and, as a result, fans "personal" relationships with the actors and writers. When you're seeing a creator's tweets all day and feeling like they're your online friend, you might be less inclined to "mess with" their work; as opposed to seeing an actor/writer at a con once a year, going home, recognizing that they're a complete stranger outside of any fantasies, and then getting on with playing in their sandbox because why wouldn't you? They're never going to know. This is the age of fans sending their fic to actors to read aloud and tweeting at writers that such-and-such had this to say about the show. Though this was done in a cool and positive light, I have legit had a meta of mine tweeted at a OFMD actor and, if the like he gave is any indication, he read it... which is a weird thing to think about considering he was not the audience I had in mind while crafting it. Those kinds of interactions has got to have some kind of impact on fans' perception of what they can and cannot do with the material...

Anyway, today's PSA is that if you want to do a rewrite of any story - yes, even RWBY! - you are absolutely allowed to do that regardless of how "good" it supposedly is. Go forth and get creative. Get messy. Do whatever the hell you want and if someone in the fandom tries to make you feel bad about that, tell me and I'll manifest a Lego in their shoe.

After all, it's not like the entirety of RWBY is built on transforming others' stories or anything :)

[jetiisyandereclones]

Hey! I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your blog! Your writing is truly incredible and inspires me so much! Thank you for being here ❤️

OH MY GOD!

I havnt heard from you in ages! (Mostly my own fault.)

Life's been hellish this past year and I'm gonna take this opportunity to explain myself for why I've been so silent and non existent.

The year 2024 has tested me.

In the beginning, my brother in law had a mental breakdown due to a run in with the cops, threatened suicide (he's okay now) amd because of the association with the place he was living he decided he absolutely had to move.

Now, what this has to do with me is that I was boarding with him and my sister, in their spare room.

And i don't know if anyone here is familiar with Australian community housing, but you can't qualify for housing if the total income of the residents is deemed too high.

Because I had a job the income of the household was considered too high for my sister and brother in law to qualify for a new house so I was told that I would not be allowed to live with them any more.

So I had to make extremely last minute arrangements and ended up in a co tenancy in a week.

That turned out to be a bad decision as my housemate was in with... a bad crowd.

She also wouldn't pay any of her rent or bills on time.

By month 5 I had had enough and decided I would be leaving the tenancy at the end of my lease.

At the end of month five I got a knock at the door from the police telling me suspected drug runners had been seen peeling out of my yard.

I'd seen those bikes before, and they were definitely friends of my housemaid, although I am not sure just how deep in she was with all that mess (I suspect fairly deep, but I have no actual evidence)

I told the police I was just her housemate and worked nights so we didn't cross paths alot, and that I was planing to move in a month.

He basically told me that they were gonna be back to turn the place over, and that if I was leaving, I should leave sooner.

That was my 13th reason why. I quit my job at the petrol station, packed up my car and with the help of my sister and BIL was out of the house the next morning.

I moved back into my dads place where I went for my licence (and got it on the second attempt) and started job hunting. At that point I was looking for something with some actual perks so I looked into remote work.

A couple of months after applying around for any remote work I could find that included housing, I got an offer to work as a Cafe supervisor in a community in remote northern Territory and I jumped on it.

They flew me up to the other end of the country after my interview, for a recruitment trip so I could see where I would be living and working. At that point it seemed okay.

A month later I was moving and two days into starting my new job I realised I hated it and was horribly ill suited to do it.

So I spent about three weeks going through the right channels to figure out an alternative arenagement.

Now, getting people to work remote is a bitch and I was already up there so I was pretty confident that the company I was hired by was not gonna cut me loose, and they didn't.

I was moved to an office job where I was much better suited.

And I'm just gonna speed run what's happened over the last few months since moving up north (keep in mind my closest family is clear down the other end of the country, 5000 kilometres away, so it's just me up here)

I damn near fell in love with my team leader, and never said a thing about it cause I wanted to keep things professional and not weird in the office.

He has since left for a better paying job elsewhere.

I made best friends with a co-worker who has since been moved to the kitchen supervisor job that I didn't want, and she's so happy doing it.

One of our travelling support officers has left the company to work for a different business in the community where I live, the other Travelling support officer was moved to her next assignment.

All this left me the most senior staff member I. The office after only a month and a half. The only other staff member is also fairly... useless.

In my personal life,

My sister, who i lived with before is getting divorced soon, as she has had enough of him using her for free labor and not treating her with respect.

My brother is probably engaged to his boyfriend (who is a lovely guy) but I havnt heard any official confirmation

My mums had a health scare due to suspected complications after thyroid surgery. But she refuses to go to hospital cause she's the main carer of my young, disabled neice, and I suspect she's afraid she will be deemed physically unfit to care for her and my neice will be removed.

So yeah. After all that I managed to stumble my way into an extremely challenging, but very rewarding and secure full time job where they pay for all my housing and bills.

So... still got shit going on in my personal life but I'm in a much more secure situation now.

Between all this i just have not had time or energy to write. And I can't make any promises of anything coming out any time soon, but I still massively appreciate all the likes, comments and reblogs.

They really do make my day when I see them.

[spiderpider]

can you hit us w some hcs for what the mercs do in their spare time maybe? :0

YES!!!! I'll put it under the cut because I'm gonna get elaborate

What Mercs do in their spare times!

Scout - Scout is really the only member of the team that isn't satisfied doing the same thing over and over again. He gets antsy fast- he's the first to suggest dumb excursions and the first to accept them. He loves visiting new places to scope out the best bars, and of course to set the world record in getting kicked out for flirting with the bartenders. Batting cages and running tracks are also high on his priority list! When he feels like spending a day at home, he'll pour over comic books, and maybe vandalize the base with scribbles and graffiti.

Soldier - Taking inspiration from his career as a tour guide, I think Soldier really likes visiting museums. Of course, he's an absolute nightmare to bring anywhere. He's enthusiastic, but Jane will explain just about anything, anywhere, ad nauseam. Go to a history museum? Soldier's gonna tell you how the was actually weaponizing raccoons and weapons made out of garbage. When he isn't terrorizing Teufort, he's probably at the base bossing everyone else around.

Pyro - Honestly probably setting forest fires. And stealing shit from campsites right before they set said fires. Teufort officials have yet to explain the rise of arson/robberies in the woodlands, but they're close. The current theory is a picnic-basket loving bear that just happens to have a penchant for arson. When they're not terrorizing campers, Pyro loves sewing! They make their own plushies, and they're getting pretty good at it!

Demoman - Weirdly enough, Demo loves going to the beach / desert to look for treasure. You can usually find him with a dingy old metal detector. It started off as a secret santa gift that blossomed into a genuine hobby! When he's at the base, he loves watching soaps on TV. Doesn't matter if it's the middle of a season, or something he's never seen before. He'll get really invested really quick. He's kind of a hopeless romantic. You'll usually see Demo, Medic and Spy surrounding the TV yelling at it.

Heavy - I think Heavy really does enjoy reading! That PHD in literature isn't just for show, he probably journals his thoughts and essays on the stuff he's read, too. Weather permitting, he'd like to sit outside and maybe even garden? Something calming and most importantly: quiet. His favorite things to garden are definitely hearty leafy-plants, and vegetables. He likes flowers, but they mess with his allergies. There's something extremely relaxing about being able to tend to-and protect- little baby-plants from the elements.

Engineer - Surprisingly enough, he likes fishing! On his days off he'll go down to the nearest lake, plop on the edge of the dock and fish for a few hours. He also loves solving puzzles, he routinely finishes the crossword before anyone even gets a chance to look at the daily paper. He's also the go-to repair man around the base (though he doesn't consider this much of a hobby, he has to admit that nothing feels better than solving problem, even if it is a leaky pipe.) He's dabbled in woodworking, too. Definitely has built a chair just for the heck of it.

Medic - The scientific pursuit of knowledge drives him- but you can't do science 24/7, even Medic would be burned out within a few years! He's definitely a workaholic, but when he's forced to have spare time, he really likes practicing the violin. He's one of those people that can pick up a hobby and won't set it down until he masters it (or, gets frustrated that he can't pick it up immediately and abandons it after about a week of work. There's a ton of half-knitted scarves shoved into drawers.) Taking care of his birds isn't exactly a hobby, but he does give them extra care and love when he has more spare time.

Sniper - Definitely going on hikes, hunting game and going on "vision quests". The dude is weird. He likes solitary activities, and rarely "hangs out" with anyone else. Really, really has a knack for taxidermy. He's one of those guys that doesn't try to go campy or kitschy with it though, thinks the little taxidermy squirrels in top hats are for serial killers and psychos. He sticks to trying to make them as realistic as possible, thinks it's way more respectful that way. He's spent more than a few weekends testing his wilderness survival abilities, too.

Spy - Honestly, it depends on his mood. He's definitely spent sour afternoons just smoking, drinking and reading his Dapper Cadaver magazines for hours on end. When he's not pouting, Spy is traveling. Anything to get out of a town made of 90% gravel. He likes visiting art museums, wine tasting, anything that he can brag about to the other Mercs. Secretly, though, he loves going to see B movies in theaters (obviously disguised). Cheap thrills are a guilty pleasure that he is incredibly embarrassed about.

[kuruna]

OC rambling... putting this under a readmore cuz i predict it'll get long

I've had it so that if Xan appeared in the game he'd be a "post-game dlc" type character, but lately ive been thinking about what kind of role he may have if he were in the main story! namely i've been picturing a scenario where he frees AZ from the team flare lab 😭 sneakily following behind the protagonist... overhearing AZ telling the story of what happened during the war from his own POV (Xan would tell the story slightly differently as you can imagine) .... maybe when Lysandre goes to leave he gets jumped off screen so Xan can acquire a device needed to open the weird little cage/jail cell/illegal holding facility AZ is in.

(I also considered Xan entering WITH the protagonist and them doing double battles together which is cute, but there is No situation in which I can see him willingly using the spin-pad thingies. This scenario would also require Xan staying back a liittle while the protagonsit goes to confront Lysandre here, because I don't think AZ would say all that he does if he knew Xan was listening in on it. At this point in time their relationship is a absolutely better than it was near and immedietly after the war, but they're not at a point where they can actually discuss these difficult topics with one another yet)

I like this idea bc I think it could make for a really sweet scene. Something important about Xan is the lengths he'll go for his brother (even to his own detriment, sometimes even to AZ's detriment if it's a scenario where Xan thinks he knows best). But of course this is a scenario where it's just a very caring gesture. Something with AZ sorta tiredly stumbling forward and hugging Xan 🥺

I do like the idea a lot, but I would have to figure out why Xan is in Kalos to begin with 😭 for AZ the implication is that all his years of searching have finally led him back to Kalos. Xan isn't searching for Floette, he's a pessimistic and doesn't think she'll ever return (though he never says this to AZ, because he knows it would be cruel to admit what he thought deep down), so that couldn't be his reason. Of course it could just be a coincidence... something where during a conversation with the player he mysteriously goes "Hmm? You met a man my same height not too long ago? ...Hah. We two always end up in the same place, eventually..."

waaaiiiittt now that i'm thinking about it, it could be something as mundane as "yeah there's a mysterious super tall guy whose our neighbor. yeah it seems like despite living here for decades he hasn't aged at all. but he's really nice (if a bit overly serious and humourless and pushy) and likes helping out so everyone's pretty much gotten used to him." I actually do like this idea a lot, it's simple but it works... a point of contrast for AZ and Xan is that like... while AZ has been essentially deified, Xan is extremely, painfully human. Even when he's at his angriest he reacts in a very human way, he doesn't have the capacity to do such huge and horrific things like AZ does.

Anyways. I keep thinking about how I would handle the parade at the end if I did go this route because it's such a big moment for AZ and I don't want to lessen it for him or take the spotlight off him! But also "King-brothers AZ and Xanthos would like to battle!" is very charming and a good way to show the start of a new beginning for both of them. also something very, very sweet about the idea of floette returning to him in this context too, AZ choosing to stand besides his brother is very tangible evidence of him finally letting go of his anger.

[dazzlingskydreams]

I made a fan kid!

So this is Takahiko, my Arukenimon/Mummymon fan kid at about 7 years old. He's pretty sulky and doesn't smile much with people he doesn't know. This boy is much happier reading in a quiet room than dealing with new people. He's not a bad kid though; if he cares about someone, like his parents, he gets pretty attached to the point that it can be considered by some to be clingy. If he befriends someone he will help them out any way he can. His emotional empathy is also surprisingly high, so if someone he cares about is sad he'll do his best to cheer them up in his own way. Plus he has an extremely warm smile that can be disarming to people that aren't familiar with him! (I purposely didn't draw it so his default personality with strangers comes through more. Maybe another time!)

Takahiko's a really musical boy. He plays the recorder really well and, if necessary, can use it to obtain some level of control over insect digimon like his mother. He also can make spirit needles, from the darker hair surprisingly, but since there aren't any more control spires he has no idea what they're for. He occasionally just makes them, looks at them a bit, then leaves them on the table and heads away. (Honestly though even if the control spires were still around; this kid would only use them to make a dog to play with.) He also has the entirely unique ability to communicate with the Oikawa butterflies to some extent, to the point that he's aware that they used to be a single man. He calls him the nice butterfly man. Other than music, he loves the stars since his dad loves horoscopes so much and spends time looking at constellations. He is absolutely terrified of bats though and vampires of any kind, even cartoon ones, leave him in floods of tears. This is probably a subconscious response to the trauma his parents experienced in a certain dream world that got imprinted on his dna somehow.

His darker patch of hair is where Mummymon's data is more prevalent. That area of his face, his right arm and left leg are a similar shade of grey. He also has only the one eye but, unlike Mummymon, the other eye is kinda there just permanently closed. This doesn't bother him though. He can see just fine and he thinks his grey patches and weird eye are really cool! Plus he's so well wrapped up clothing wise, that it isn't really apparent. He is ambidextrous and can summon a sickle, which is connected to his digimon form, but he usually isn't in a position to need one. Also he loves his purple scarf. Seriously, don't try and take it away from him.

Takahiko is unusual in that he picked out his own human name. He couldn't actually turn into a human until he was around 4. Until then his parents just called him by his digimon name(s)/pet names etc; but then one morning they get up and the kid is just standing there in human form asking Mummymon what's for breakfast. (Yes he was originally an egg, but it's more complicated than that and I won't get into it here.) Anyway, once he realises, he decides his human form needs a name too because all his evolutions have specific names. So he looks through his books and picks one he really likes, and is pretty determined to use it. Arukenimon takes a look and sees that it can be written with the kanji for 'resolute prince' and decides 'Yes, that's a suitable name for my son' so she agrees to it. Mummymon gets no say in the matter but is too proud to care.

I know there are other well established fan kids for the pair; but I'm so happy to finally have one of my own that I just had to talk about him at least once! Seriously, I have had no idea what their kid would look like for years, to the point that I was semi-convinced that a child was impossible for them and to have this cute little guy just come flying at me makes me so happy! I'll leave it at that because I could write a lot more about him. (This is a *severely* cut back version of the full bio I wrote for him.) I might put some more stuff in the tags though. If anyone is curious about him feel free to ask. I know a bizarre amount about this kid!

[kirbles]

Why do you like Mystra so much? I prefer dnd mystra to bg3 mystra, so I'd love to see a new perspective :)

hi :0 oouuu this is kinda hard to put into words but i'll try my best!

i'll preface this by saying i have literally 0 dnd knowledge, i've never played it before. bg3 is my first real 'venture' into it. all my knowledge of mystra comes from gale's personal quest/origin story and living on mystra's wiki pages for a few days.

rambling under cut oops. it's gonna be a lot of my own interpretation, headcanons and opinions so... if you read it and don't agree w me pls be nice i'm just a lil guy who likes morally grey women.

firstly. i can understand why it can be hard for ppl to view gale and mystra's relationship with nuance when we don't have the basis of mortal/deity relationships irl to compare it to. i don't doubt gale's adeptness in magic wasn't cultivated to be of use to mystra by her for the majority of his life, but to see it as starkly black/white i think fails the narrative that larian tried to establish.

mystra as a goddess isn't inherently evil at all, or purposefully seeking out to be malicious towards gale. imo she is indifferent and self serving, which honestly? i think is far worse in the context of a romantic and sexual relationship between mortal and deity. i can imagine gale falling in love with her after years upon years studying under her in her domain, and being so worried she'd cast him away because he has feelings for her. but in the grand scheme of things that is redundant to her. she cares about what he can provide for her and that he doesn't overstep the bounds she has set for him and every other mortal.

i have absolutely no doubts that mystra cared for gale in her own weird way, he WAS her chosen after all. but she is a god, incapable of mortal thoughts and feelings. any love gale felt towards her was not returned in the same capacity. it is more narratively appealing to me that she would encourage their relationship developing to what he wanted it to be because it made gale a better wizard if they're 'in a relationship'.

she made the mistake of allowing gale to stand beside her at the absolute crucible of magic. he, a man hungry to learn more and be better, got to witness the magic that he would never be able to wield. and when he begged mystra to allow him, that it would be put to good use and he wasn't like other mortals, she told him to be content with what he had.

she, the goddess of magic, wanted to keep balance in the realms. gale, her chosen, who was a prodigy, was not allowed special treatment because she had to keep the status quo.

gale himself did the research into 'a lost piece of weave' and he incorrectly assumed that it was a piece of HER weave that she had lost after the second sundering. he went out of his way to get it, not because he wanted to benefit her, but because he wanted her to be SO impressed by him and what he was capable of achieving that she would disregard the bounds she put up and allow him access to the power and magic he deserved.

but this isn't me hating on gale at all. on the contrary, his hubris is extremely fucking human of him, and something mystra could have dealt with in a FAR more gracious way than she did. consider the weave in the book he found was karsite weave, that was made with the intent to destroy mystra's weave. that would scare her absolutely shitless!!! but is it not petty that she did not think to tell gale that it wasn't a piece of her? not even warn him it was dangerous, BEFORE he opened it and had it latch onto him??

she had told gale, her chosen, to be content with what he had. (and he had a LOT more going for him than most mortals or wizards could dream of.) instead of listening to her, he went out of his way to seek it out anyway, completely disregarding the order's of his goddess. she likely felt justified in punishing him in the way that she did, even tho it was overkill.

mystra herself is not without blame. while she may not be out to get gale, she was clearly VERY petty in how she went about punishing him for a very, very human act of folly - a folly that, had she immediately alleviated from him, he might not ever endeavour to repeat again.

and in peak petty fashion she banishes him. he is no longer considered her chosen. his magic is slowly being drained by the netherese blight in his chest, which he still has no explanation for when you keep in mind that he thought it was MYSTRA'S weave in that book. so why was it eating at the magic inside of him, when it belonged to the goddess he adored all his life? mystra purposefully hides the truth that it was karsite weave from him, even though she knew from the start. she let him suffer the aftermath as the orb ate his magic when she honestly could've cured it the entire time.

she only bestows the charm to halt the magic feeding from him to instead feed on her weave, when she is under the impression that it is temporary, and that gale will utilise the bomb in his chest to get rid of the crown of karsus that threatens her very existence. which, by the way, she purposefully dressed it up in the term 'the heart of the absolute' and did NOT mention it being the crown of karsus - something gale learns RIGHT before he has to make the decision to blow himself up.

she paints it as a holy missive to make him feel important and bestow forgiveness she has no right to grant, just so he will do it. because though he is no longer her chosen and he is lost, he is so clearly devoted to her still and she NEEDED that devotion in that very moment! his existence was incredibly convenient, and she was willing to 'forgive' him if he followed one last order from her. for was it not his disregarding her order that got him in this mess in the first place? the weave was lost once before, it would be detrimental to everyone if it were to happen again.

it was gale's own hubris that lead him to possess the orb, and i think gale fans that focus more on him being a victim do his character a great disservice by not recognising that his want for more power, whether for mystra's benefit or not, was his own undoing. it's a complete disregard to his character to just say 'mystra groomed/abused him! he did nothing wrong!' when he was a grown man who ignored the warnings from his goddess.

but also. mystra had no empathy for him. he made one mistake and she punished him and withheld information from him, and when she does begin communicating with him again its through a messenger. even in act 3, mystra commands gale to come to HER. as soon as he made one simple careless act she discarded him. but i think that's what makes her so interesting to me is how fucked up and flawed she is.

mystra and gale are both flawed and not faultless, but gale was absolutely taken advantage of, and while his act of hubris was the result of his own hunger for power, he was also weighed down in the same environment for decades, with an overbearing goddess that he dare not disappoint.

mystra (and i think by extension most gods) may not be 'evil' but they are so very fucked up in how they use mortals for their own benefit with almost no regard for their mental and physical wellbeing.

the ketheric thorm quote 'we are copper pieces in their belts, tokens to be traded for scraps, you may have beaten me, but the gods beat me first.' it's so very, VERY raw and real because it relates to majority of companions. but especially so in gale's case.

ugh this got more rambly than i intended it to. it's hard to talk about (bg3) mystra without talking about gale too and vice versa because their stories are SO interwoven. i only rly talk to a couple ppl abt her but. she is just so very interesting when you look at her as a former mortal turned goddess who cares about self preservation and will use her devotees as a means to an end, as opposed to boiling down to gale's crazy ex gf. idk idk she is incredibly flawed and fucked up and i just think she slays

[raisedbythetv89]

Keith Mars in You think you know someone:

Veronica I am so shocked and disappointed that you’re acting weird and not at all welcoming to me dating the closest thing you have to a therapist from the school who’s been nothing but cruel to you! You’re usually so warm and welcoming to new people! And this one is gonna replace your still missing mother whose disappearance is still a mystery! And this woman is clearly extremely desperate for your acceptance and approval making literally everyone extremely uncomfortable with her desperate plays to gain favor with you putting all sorts of weird pressure on you and was careless enough to call the house and leave a message which is how you found out which isn’t traumatizing for you at all!!

Like bro forgot who his daughter was and what her life has been like for the last year for a whole episode.

And the way he yells at her??? calls her snotty and is basically all HOW DARE YOU and claiming they considered her feelings when they absolutely did not 😹 they kept springing Mrs. James on her first at work and then at her house where she was just by herself for Veronica to find?? Basically just being like BE COMFORT WITH THIS BECAUSE WE WANT YOU TO BE. Only to end things after all that! Making Veronica feel INCREDIBLY guilty and like it’s her fault for taking happiness away from her father when he is the one who handled things horribly just like he did with Lilly’s murder investigation.

I genuinely CANNOT listen to him interviewing jake and celeste 😭 he’s being SO WEIRD and creepy and uncomfortable. Like bro there are about a billion better ways to handle knowing they’re lying that aren’t terrorizing powerful successful suspected murderers who just lost their daughter 😭

The older I get the less and less I like Keith Mars and the more I connect his behavior to making Veronica’s life so much worse

The show is all about criticizing the wealthy elite yet Keith Mars every chance he gets is pushing Veronica to become one!! “Got to and ivy league school and get a high powered corporate job and never think about private investigation again in your perfect life”

First of all thinking her life will be perfect just because she has a well paying job is CLOWNERY. Her best friend was murdered and her alcoholic mother abandoned her in the same year and she lost all of her friends because of how poorly Keith went about investigating said murder AND she’s sa’s twice in the same night once by her ex she gets back together with and a future mass murderer. Those are not the usual childhood things to happen to a person and a high paying job isn’t what’s gonna magically make her happy and give her a good life. It’s so frustrating that we get “oh my god they care more about spring break business than saving lives that’s soooo fucked up” yet Keith is like YOU MUST PLAY THE CAPITALISM GAME AND WIN OR YOUR LIFE IS A FAILURE every chance he can.

And when he finds out she helped Duncan kidnap his daughter and he’s like “I wouldn’t survive if you went to jail or something happened to you” ummmmmm codependency with your child much???!!!!?!?! Again SO MUCH PRESSURE ON HER telling your child can’t live without them is so inappropriate on so many levels because you’re literally saying my well-being is tied to yours which is literally the definition of codependency. So he forms this codependent relationship with his daughter but then is sooo disappointed with her that she wants to stay in Neptune and work with him like the mixed messaging is INSANE.

And while I don’t really view Lilly as the good person the show paints her as she was really good for Veronica because she helped her push back against a very overbearing, overprotective father which is really important for childhood development.

It’s another reason I HATE the finale of season 4 so much. She is literally EXACTLY back where she started in season 4 including being overly dependent on her dad while losing the only person who she cared for more than pleasing her father because she knew he didn’t want her to be with Logan but she did anyway because it’s what she wanted. She didn’t want law school, she didn’t want New York, she didn’t want Piz. Those were all to make her dad happy after everything that went down at the end of season 3. The movie was her finally, after NINE YEARS forgiving herself or at least letting herself off the hook for her mistakes and letting herself live her life the way she wanted again. She lived a life she didn’t want for almost a DECADE purely to please her dad.

I mean the fact that she never tells her dad about being sa’d, especially after Lamb doesn’t believe her - not because she can’t talk about it but because she’s afraid of what he’ll do/how he’ll react - that’s BAD. That is a sign of TERRIBLE parenting mistakes that your child feels the need to protect you from the awful things that happen to them.

I still don’t hate Keith and I do enjoy their dynamic a lot of the time still but Oooooooh does he piss me off especially when he’s adding to Veronica’s guilt or burden, usually in a very hypocritical way.

[badluck990]

There are Ways to Kill the Immortal

AI-less Whumptober Day 1: Drugging/Sick/Poisoned

I'm tired and will do tags in the morning,

“How many of these do we have left at this point?” Emily asked as she counted out her arrows.

“I think about 30 still, they’ve been more careful since you shut down their original operation in Riverrun.” Irene explained.

“We get it, another town, another base. Let’s just go in already.” Jamie explained, acting like she wasn’t thinking about how she should have gone home to sharpen her knife before this.

They’d been at this for about 10 years now. Irene had clones herself and like any sci-fi movie ever, they had teamed up and began traveling to take them out.

“It still feels weird splitting up is in our best interest,” Mike laughed.

“Well as long as they still got those damn corruption darts it ain’t safe to be around each other.”

“You know, except for me since a corpse can’t exactly revive herself,” Jamie remarked, beginning to walk with Mike.

“Stay safe everyone.” Irene finally called as they all parted ways.

Jamie held her dagger close as she and Mike wandered the east most hall looking for literally anything. Finding their darts would be the best outcome considering the amount of damage those bastards could cause with fucking corruption. 

The two most basic forms of magic were white purification and black corruption magic, both extremely dangerous, both the clones had dabbled in. White magic they had as a powder than a dart like the black was. They used the white as a fail-safe for their mind control work and the black essentially made beasts.

Granted finding the mind control devices and breaking those would be equally useful.

They peaked into a room they had someone from the town tied up in,

“Do you see the dart they’re loading in the gun?”

“Yeah..completely bandless…what do you think they’re trying.”

“New dart, trail 16. Subject,” The clone turned from the captive, “The bot and the halfbreed.”

Realizing they’d been heard, the two split up and ran.

Meanwhile, Emily snuck around to find the clones themselves whether for information on what their plans or to take one or two out would depend on how many were there and if she could get a good enough vantage point. No matter what, anything could be useful. She followed one of the bots to a lab room with darts & parts galore.

“Bingo.” She carefully opened the vents, readied her bow, and aimed for their weakest point. 

The stone arrowhead jammed into the neck and the bot fell to the ground sparking. Emily jumped down glancing over the darts, black band for corruption, purple for magic affecting moondust, gray for knockout serum, and…

“What the hell are blank darts for?”

“Well we can't have you finding that out can we?” Irene A Clone laughed from behind and shot Emily with a gray banded dart before she could even turn around.

In other parts of the base debated on playing it safe and hidden or trying to blend in with her mistake for information. But if her fear was recognized, she’d be interrogated for sure, granted she still had her necklace but that was only for an absolute– no other way out –emergency. She decided to wander around, trying to look like belonged there, just had to hope to find something before her enemy did. Granted it had been Mike & her’s base before all this so she did technically know where certain things were, but many things had been moved around. Plus they were doing very different things. She passed a lab room to see Emily getting knocked out.

Frick.

Not thinking she grabbed her gun hand gun & took out the clone really hoping no one was close enough to hear. Irene scooped her friend up and noticed the blank dart herself and wondered what in the multiverse they were up to this time. But never mind that, for that she did need to get Emily Safe.

Back at the entrance the four came back together. Only Irene was still carrying Emily and Jamie was on the floor, one the new darts in her arm.

“You got any ideas on what the hell these new darts are?” Irene snapped as she knelt down to take a look wondering why no one was around, unless it was a corruption dart it wasn't like them to just leave the victim on the ground.

“Poison, I saw them talking about it, but I don’t know what type, they noticed me..” Mike was pale as could be, why didn’t they run the same direction?!

“I-it’s fine, let’s just get out of here, stab Jamie in the forest and recon in a starpeak hotel.”

“No.”

“What?”

“Jamie…Jamie can’t revive from poison. We. We talked about it a while ago. We need to get back to Riverrun. Now.”

Emily woke up as they got back and was able to get an explanation while Jamie was put in bed. Mike began poison testing and she awoke just after he finished. Her head hurt, everything ached, & she felt hot. But how? She was half fire demon, she didn’t get ‘hot’.”

“Hey Jamie~”

“Fucking hell. Why does everything hurt?”

“You got darted at the base, you’ll be okay. It’s a minor poison, it should pass even without an antidote,” He lied.

She laughed slightly, “So it's basically like your damn mortal flu? If that's all, then I should pry just go home to the demon realm, so I can take care of myself better there.”

“No! I mean, we don’t know if the poison will react to the realm change, considering it's not a thing that’s ever been studied. And with you not being able to-”

“Yeah okay I get it. But still don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”

“Alright, alright.”

“So what are we actually working with?”

“It’s called Kyotin. The symptoms are nothing serious, as Jamie already noticed it’s meant to mimic a normal flu, but if we don’t get her help, it’s gonna kill her.”

“How long do we have?”

“About a week likely.”

“What are we gonna do?”

“Only thing we can do. Find an Antidote.”