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respectthepetty · 7 months

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I think your theory about Saifah robbing Kang’s house seems pretty plausible. Im just wondering what happens after that. We see Sailom getting shot at which is crazy. But why? Are the debt collectors just evil villains willing to murder a poor kid because he can’t payback money or is it something else?

Anon, oooooohhhhh, I have spent far too much time thinking about this particular scene in the Dangerous Romance trailer, and I think it boils down to politics.

So I offer you my wildest ass theory yet!

At first, I thought since Sailom has to go back to escorting with Saifah in jail, Kanghan will fuck up that job with his anger, leaving Sailom with no way to get the money to pay the debt collectors. They follow him with plans to shoot him, but . . . they are the torture type (iron to skin, remember?) because they still want their money. They wouldn't kill him. ❌

So I thought about the possibility of Kang swindling someone on his honeymoon by playing pool to get more money, and pissing someone off, so they go after Sailom, but they have to drive to the honeymoon place, so would that person find them again back in their hometown? No. ❌

Then, I thought that Sailom hustled someone to get the money, and they are pissed off at him. He knows how to make money, so maybe he swindled someone, and they angrily chased him down like the guy who aggressively approached in the alley for sex in episode three.

But then I remembered that Sailom isn't about that life, which is why he gets upset at Saifah. He doesn't like to deceive people, so he can get money. He takes up escorting because the client is getting what he paid for, which is his company and dinner with him. Sailom isn't being deceitful to get money. ❌

This is Laws of Attraction political.

Why would Saifah, who normally asks clients for gifts, rob a client's house? But more importantly, why would he rob a client's house that his brother is basically living in?

HE WOULDN'T!

At least, he wouldn't do that intentionally. But his high school buddy who doesn't have an honest job sure the hell would!

But, but, but, why would Name want to rob the house? He is a debt collector. Saifah and Sailom being in that house assures that they can pay their debt. So is he trying to make a quick buck too? NO!

Either Name leaves his job as a debt collector and joins Saifah in his great adventure as a rich person's caretaker or he has motivation for being in that house and "robbing" it. I have believed someone gets shot during the robbery by mistake, but what if it isn't a mistake? What if the robbery is simply a cover-up, and the shooting is the real purpose for being in the house?

The dad is running for office.

That means he is a target from "all sorts of people."

So Name gets in the house under the guise of taking some stuff, only to intend to shoot Kang's dad because his boss tells him to. Saifah isn't about this plan, freaks out, and tries to stop it. The dad still gets shot, but it isn't as bad as it could have been because Saifah intervened maybe. Saifah gets arrested, but Name (and others?) escape. Sailom believes his brother didn't have anything to do with the shooting and in normal Sailom fashion, he won't let that injustice slide.

Saifah is already in jail, but Sailom has now become an unpredictable loose end. The night of the Sailom's shooting, both boys are in a (police) office possibly hearing more news about the open investigation. This could be before he gets shot, but it could also be him reporting the shooting after Kang rescues him, but either way, it's meaningful to the criminal investigation.

Name or whoever his boss is can't have Sailom out there running his mouth. Sailom may not even know anything, but he knows the debt collectors, he has been escorting (the ONE client who may or may not have some info), and he knows his brother would not shoot someone. He knows SOMETHING that can connect Name or whoever his boss is to the shooting of Kang's dad, so little homie gotta die.

I noticed before that Kang doesn't take Sailom back to his house after rescuing him, and this isn't Sailom's house either. It's not the hotel from their honeymoon stage that has to happen in episode 8 or 9.

If the grandma was shot, I feel the dad would stay at the house, but if the dad got shot, the grandma would move Kang somewhere safe because she knows this wasn't an accidental shooting (Pimfah's house?). Kang is protected, but Sailom isn't.

The last snippets from the trailers and OST are coming up in the next two episodes, which means only the shooting, the shower scene, and the swings scene (which feels like the final) are left for the last three episodes.

It seems like a lot of plot but we need the "dangerous" portion of this romance, so if the dad is shot by episode 9 . . .

my wild ass theory might just have a chance.

#dangerous romance #wild theory time #I think this is political #and the baddies won't be caught until the last episode #we need the dangerous portion now

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solarpunkani · 10 months

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Sonic the Hedgehog and Solarpunk Ideals

Alright, it's June 23rd which means not only is it Solarpunk Aesthetic Week, but it's also Sonic the Hedgehog's 32nd birthday. Let's all say Happy Birthday Sonic the Hedgehog.

Overall, that means it's time for me to do something I usually don't do on this blog--talk about Sonic the Hedgehog, one of my favorite series of all times. Specifically, how I feel it embodies Solarpunk at least a little bit. Hopefully you'll see where I'm coming from by the end of this.

Real quick though, special shout out to @modern-solarpunk for being my beta reader 100/10 owe you my life.

Alright let’s make one thing clear. I’m a Sonic nerd. I’ve been a Sonic nerd since at least the 5th grade. Sonic the hedgehog is one of My Things. IDK if I’d call it a hyperfixation, but it’s definitely one of My Things, and it’s been one of My Things longer than gardening or even Solarpunking and all the other stuff y’all know me for has been. I am about to talk y’alls ears off. Buckle up.

With that in mind, I’m not going to pretend that the Sonic franchise is a perfect franchise made by perfect people working under a perfect corporation. Even ignoring the timeline disasters, retconning, and rushed projects (*cough cough Sonic 06 and Sonic Boom cough cough*), Sonic the Hedgehog is made by a corporation in a capitalistic world who has done some… iffy things in the past, present, and likely the future. We are, here, today, strictly talking about two things--the creation of Sonic and the creation of Dr. Eggman. There will be a super special third topic I bring up later, but that's gonna be its own post. I’ll bring up a handful of things from the shows, comics, movies, etc. If I finish writing and editing and posting this whole lengthy diatribe and someone ignores this paragraph and brings up some inane unrelated shit that the Big Corporation Guys did That One Time Months/Years Ago I might snap. Yes, corporations are bad. Yes, I like Sonic. Let’s establish that.

Ok let’s actually get started.

Sonic the Hedgehog the Dude, Tiny Rebellions, and Freedom

Alright, so Sonic the Hedgehog is a series of games, movies, comic books, TV shows--it's a whole thing, it's an entire franchise. The basics of what you need to know here is that a little 3’3” superpowered anthropomorphic blue hedgehog dude and his array of equally-animalian and equally-colorful friends are ruining the robotics-based evil world takeover plans of a 6’1” egg-shaped human dude on the regular. Occasionally, there are other villains, and other storylines, and sometimes the motivations change, but that sentence boils down the Sonic the Hedgehog storyline to its base essentials.

The Sonic franchise was dreamed up in 1990 when SEGA needed a new mascot to compete with Nintendo’s iconic Mario. Personality-wise, he’s said to have been inspired by “a modern sensibility of wanting to get things done right away, righting wrongs as they presented themselves instead of letting them linger.” As we currently know him, with Sonic “What you see is what you get--just a guy who loves adventure.” He’s a free-spirited drifter who goes with the flow, valuing freedom above all else and wanting nothing more than to live by his own rules and whims rather than bowing to the expectations of others. He loves interacting with the many cultures on his planet (which we mostly see in Sonic Unleashed, but still), trying local dishes with friends frequently. Overall, Sonic is driven by a strong sense of justice and fairness, fighting for the ideal of freedom rather than the name of the law--and he always fights for the underdog. He likes to handle things on his own, but he isn’t above looking to his friends for help when needed--and acknowledges their role in his life and achievements regularly (if he can be a bit smug at times). He appreciates scenic views and nature, with a special fondness for places filled with plants--we see him do this lots in the series--and he hates when people destroy it for their own gain. He doesn’t hate cities, though, and finds they have their own beauty.

So what’s Solarpunk about this? In my eyes, a good bit. If you don’t know what Solarpunk is, it’s described on Wikipedia as ‘a literary and artistic movement that envisions and works towards actualizing a sustainable future interconnected with nature and community.” Aesthetically, I like to describe it as a mix between sci-fi and cottagecore, with a particular leaning towards some steampunk and some cyberpunk elements, but in a brighter, cleaner, more hopeful way. It's important to note, however, that Solarpunk is also a practical and political action mindset--as much as Solarpunks dream of a hopeful future and work to visualize it, we also work to learn the concepts and take the actions needed to make it a reality. I’m not going to sit here and pretend that Sonic is super politically revolutionary, I’m here to talk about how Sonic fits into the aesthetics of Solarpunk.

As such, lets get into the point--I feel like Sonic is pretty Solarpunk, personality-wise. He just fits a lot of the core tenants--wants to right wrongs ASAP, whether they’re his wrongs or wrongs of the past. He values freedom, traveling, and beautiful natural places--a big chunk of Solarpunk is learning to appreciate and protect the natural species around you, and plenty of people have dreamed up nomadic Solarpunk societies. Even Sonic living by his own rules instead of bowing to expectations fits in Solarpunk--A Solarpunk Manifesto states that “the ‘punk’ in Solarpunk is about rebellion, counterculture… and enthusiasm. it is about going in a different direction than the mainstream…” People in the Solarpunk movement care deeply about freedom, justice, fairness, and fixing the broken systems we deal with today--and often start the legwork by forming or taking part in community-based movements and initiatives. We lean onto those around us for strength and courage, to work as a group to think of solutions to problems, whether that be something small like trading DIY patch instructions to bigger things like planning and creating community gardens to even sharing news about unionizing and more. There’s acts a Solarpunk can do alone--like guerrilla gardening, or moss graffiti, or drawing and writing concepts of a brighter future--but we all know we’re at our strongest when we’re not just one, but many.

But one of my biggest arguments to Sonic being Solarpunk actually centers around his nemesis--Doctor Eggman.

Doctor Eggman as the Antithesis of Solarpunk

After all, it’s pretty hard to talk about how a hero of a series is Solarpunk without discussing the people and forces he fights against, and most of the time that’s Doctor Ivo Robotnik--better known to most as Dr. Eggman. He was developed more or less directly alongside Sonic the hedgehog, and as such the notes about his creation not only influence his character, but the character and vibe of most of the franchise so far. So who is Doctor Eggman?

Doctor Eggman is often described as the World’s Vilest Person--he’s evil, mean, cruel-spirited, and a self-proclaimed genius scientist who only really thinks about what he wants and what he needs to do to get it--getting pleasure in crushing anything that gets in his way. His main goal is to establish his Eggman Empire across the entire planet and build his own version of a utopia, Eggmanland--usually taking the form of a polluted, smog-filled city or a robotic theme park. His plans have varied from excavating natural spaces and turning woodland creatures into robotic slaves (Sonic 1, 2, 3), using doomsday devices to threaten nations and blow up the moon (Sonic Adventure 2), tie down planets for his own purposes (Sonic CD, Sonic Colors), or even using cosmic forces beyond his comprehension to flood metropolises or literally rip the planet apart (Sonic Adventure, Sonic Unleashed). In the comics and some shows, he even takes it a step further--a common theme with him is Roboticization, wherein people are forcibly turned from organic beings into robot slaves. Sometimes its a machine fulfilling this sometimes-irreversible process (Archie Comics, Sonic the Hedgehog Cartoon, Sonic Underground), while other times its an all-consuming virus that grows out of his control and turns almost the entire planet into raving robotic zombies (IDW Sonic Comics issues #12-29). He’s fueled by delusions of grandeur, believing that all of the world’s problems would be solved if he specifically were in charge of everyone all the time and had things his way, and makes robotic inventions and weapons to obtain power. He’s overflowing with self-confidence and pride, highlighting his ‘scientific genius’ whenever he can. He’ll leave temporary allies to rot if it gives him a chance to take all the credit and power for himself, he looks down on everyone else and sees them as insignificant, only interested in what benefits him. Fairness and community? With Doctor Eggman? Forget it, he’ll steal candy from a baby and then turn it into a robot if given the chance. And even with robotic helpers he makes himself, he quickly gets sick of them--Eggman doesn’t do friends.

I’d compare him to Elon Musk, but at least Dr. Eggman is actually a genius.

A Solarpunk Manifesto was published in 2019, describing Solarpunk as “A movement in speculative fiction, art, fashion, and activism that seeks to answer and embody the question ‘what does a sustainable civilization look like, and how can we get there?’”. Eggmanland is not how we get there--Doctor Eggman is an embodiment of everything the Solarpunk ideology stands against, and not entirely by accident. Here’s a quote from Yuji Naka, one of the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog.

“Robotnik was created to be the opposite of Sonic, and to be the bad guy. At that time, there was opposition between "developers" and "environmentalists", and Robotnik was created to represent machinery and development.”

He represents it pretty well--his common motifs are imperialism and pollution, and his version of a utopia is often reminiscent of pre-EPA photos of US cities. Sometimes its done to a cartoonish level--but the point still stands. Whenever we catch glimpses of Eggman’s ‘Home Bases,’ whether its Scrap Brain Zone in Sonic 1, Chemical Plant in Sonic 2, Metallic Madness in Sonic CD, or elsewhere, we’re always seeing tons of mechanization, smog, pollution, and death robots.

Solarpunks aren’t opposed to technology--not in the slightest. But I feel its safe to say that any Solarpunk would be opposed to the over-industrialized, hyper-mechanized, pollution-riddled empire hellscape that Eggman would call heaven. (And you know damn well he'd be all over those Boston Dynamic robot dogs if he were real). To me, Eggman represents the grim-dark futures that apocalyptic stories tell us we’re barreling towards--the darker, less sunny side of the already dystopian cyberpunk genre. Solarpunk is the sun that burns away at smoggy futures, the light that reveals what we can have instead, the ideas that lead to actions to secure it. Its hope in a bottle--hope that we can enjoy and add to, a dream that we can help make into a reality. The ideals are chock full of resisting the real-life Eggmans who want to send humanity into a nose-dive of mechanization and energy-burning self-destruction for the sake of short-lived profits and smug ego-trips.

Is Sonic a strictly Solarpunk series? I wouldn’t necessarily say so. But I think if the themes and terms had existed in 1990, it certainly would have been cited as a bit of an inspiration. Whether the Solarpunk community would have been chill with a corporation citing the term as inspiration is a whole other deal.

Stay tuned for this posts' sequel, where I talk about how I feel my favorite game in the series--Sonic Colors--is Solarpunk.

#solarpunk #sonic the hedgehog #sonic #solarpunk aesthetic week #out of queue #ani rambles #nobody call me cringe i'll accept critique i'll even accept 'i disagrees' but if you call me cringe or bully me you're getting blocked #BUT ALSO IM NOT DONE YET I STILL HAVE TO POST PART TWO #UPDATE: I'VE ADDED THE LINKS GO HAM

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skaruresonic · 4 months

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Everytime I catch a glimpse of discussion within the Sonic fandom I feel like I'm going insane.

Speaking purely from my own experience, not too long ago practically every Sonic fan firmly believed that Sonic was an unfeeling hard boiled soldier/action man/dude bro who had zero concern for anything other than his personal amusement. Back then Sonic was "supposed to be" an unthinking action drone that only blows stuff up and runs around doing poses. And if you ever dared to imply that he'd do something sappy, than you would get labeled as a baby who can't handle "hardcore material" or something.

Flash forward to now and it seems like majority is convinced Sonic is a fluffy soft boy who would never hurt a fly and he sincerely prays every night that everyone gets a happy ending. including the people who've done nothing but cause pain. Also he's extremely emotional over everything and hurting on the inside or something. And if you think he should snap back at his enemies you're just an edgelord who doesn't understand anything.

What happened??? How did we go from one extreme to the other??? Why is it so hard for sonic fans to see the characters for what they are instead of making up nonsense???

And if you think he should snap back at his enemies you're just an edgelord who doesn't understand anything.

"So you want Sonic to murder his enemies in cold blood?"

"Where the hell did you get that from? I said Sonic doesn't care about Eggman's welfare and that his attitude seems to be 'if he dies, he dies.' Where did you get 'I want Punisher!Sonic' out of that lol"

Fandoms be fandoming. I personally saw a forum thread back in the day likening Modern Sonic to a soulless vehicle designed to get you from Point A to Point B, in contrast to Classic Sonic who had more "soul." There are always going to be people who think the new shift in direction is soulless, whatever that means.

The irony is, the reason the Adventure games were as comparatively dark as they were (YMMV on that, obviously) was because ST didn't like how cute and Mickey Mouse-ish Classic Sonic was becoming in the late '90s; they wanted to reintroduce, or rather retain, the rough-edged, "bad boy" side of his personality. Hence why they had Maekawa write for those games.

Cultural differences exacerbate these... well... differences in how we perceive Sonic as well. What the West sees as a "bad boy" and what Japan sees as a "bad boy" can be based on very divergent concepts. Kanemaru!Sonic's tendency to sprinkle Engrish sounds silly to Anglophones, for example, but in Japan it's a sign of his worldliness and his overall coolness.

Likewise, SoA!Sonic tends to use harsher language than SoJ!Sonic might use, such as saying strawberry shortcake "sucks" in a Twitter Takeover.

While I can't vouch for how Japanese Sonic fans view SoA!Sonic, to Anglophones, Games!Sonic seems like a squeaky-clean goodie two-shoes Gary-Stu. Which, again, ignores the cultural framework against which his character exists.

All that being said, Sonic is still quite a multifaceted character, even if he isn't the deepest or most fleshed-out in the cast. As a static character who represents an ideal and inspires positive change in others, he doesn't exactly need to be.

Lately I've been seeing a lot of overreductive takes with Shadow which attempt to boil him down to one or two traits at the expense of others, but I imagine it happens to Sonic quite a bit also. Despite being a static character, Sonic, like Shadow, has multiplicity of character. People really struggle with contending with that kind of variability. How he reacts to any given situation will change based on circumstance. Truth resists simplicity, which is antithetical to the kind of Declarations(tm) social media likes to make about the cast. Adding asterisks and footnotes risks diluting the impact of the message. So naturally, people are going to forgo context and nuance in favor of more digestible analyses, in addition to ignoring the games and just plain making shit up.

For instance: "Sonic's selfish" or "Sonic's selfless" is a false dichotomy. The answer is the Schroedinger's cat, both selfish and selfless until someone opens the box, maybe in a quantum state of both. To say one or the other is true ignores the spectrum and the circumstances in which Sonic expresses selfishness vs. selflessness. Sonic can be selfish sometimes, just as he can be selfless, but whether he is or is not depends on what he's doing at the moment and what provokes this reaction.

So on and so forth.

#asks #sonic

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cloudninetonine · 1 year

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*sprints on in like I have a lynel on my heels* I CAME AS SOON AS I HEARD AND AS SOON AS IRL STUFF RELEASED ME AND THE SLEEP DEPRIVATION SETTLED HOLY MOTHER OF FARORE-!

First of all, everybody say thank you very much Monarch Cloud, for you have fed us incredibly well and I am FERAL over this recent meal in Player's Aid showstopping, amazing, unparalled, incredible I feel so well fed you have no idea. You're an incredible writer, who allowed you to be this good? Whoever they are I'm going to shake their hand so hard, you're an absolute trooper for writing this well and posting even while tired and I hope you know we're all glad, really grateful and wish you a lot of good stuff in life (or at least me and my dog who had the pleasure of stealing my food when I was trying not to scream at the update like the little land piranha she is), so really thank you, was an excellent surprise and pick me up ^^.

Now to hopefully stop overstepping too much and actually yelling about what I liked so much about this chapter XD.

First of all, the reactions of the Chain and specially Wild's and Hyrule's, it's gut wrenching, it's heart stabbing and it's overall incredible and very in character, why? Because all of the Link's have deep trauma of losing people they care for or failing them in some way (I can make up a whole list from the first Zelda game to BOTW and now TOTK, by the way how we feeling about that gameplay reveal?), But specially Wild and Hyrule and even more so now that they remember Player, so losing them like that to what is basically an obvious trap is like tearing open a scar with a rusty serrated knife and then pouring salt and boiling water on the wound, Wild thinking over the worst case scenarios immediately due to his failure and almost spiralling over it if not for Twilight being the first to reach him to snap him out of it, showcasing both their bond and in a way how Wild's adventure is the most recent as far as he knows it (cause I think the only other Link's to not have more than two adventures under their belt are Twilight and Warriors, albeit for very different reasons), so having the trauma slapped back in his face is obviously not going to do him good since he already failed and lost them once just like how he likely feels he failed the kingdom, Zelda and the Champions. How Hyrule who has more experience under his belt is equally livid and terrified and fully willing to paint the walls of the castle black and red if it means getting the one person who truly, really, was literally always by his side at his best and worse in a ruined world because he doesn't want to lose one of his first friends twice plus the natural Fae instinct of being kind of maybe sorta very murderous when people touch what they consider theirs (which I fully believe to Hyrule would be the Chain nowadays and Player), how Time remains level headed and does his best to keep everyone together, how Sky recognizes their rage as a mirror of his own for what Demise did way back when, pure, mortal fury that could down even the divine for having the daring and AUDACITY to harm someone whom they consider theirs or under their protection in some way (cause I kind of feel like The Chain is a bit like a wolf pack, once you're considered by one, you're basically the person of them all even if it will take time for them to warm up or trust you, because trust hurt all of the Links before but once they trust you or at least know one of them trusts you, they're very ride or die in a very mythologicallg inspired way, fitting for the Hero's Spirit), how even if they're in a high stakes situation any idea goes no matter how stupid or dangerous it is as long as it brings victory (because it's such a Link thing they all share and it makes me blinking hysterical in the best way, because honestly doing instinctual stuff or going off on a gut feeling and STILL succeeding by either pure luck or their instincts being right is very in character for them all), it's all great, chef's kiss, 10/10.

Second of all, Dark Link. DARK LINK. I adore his portrayal here and it's great and amazing, he really comes off as this wrong, unnatural, eldritch glitch in the matrix straight out of some analog horror series, the way his voice warps? How it's pitch is never fully determined? His inhuman aspects like the talons, the look in his eyes being like a feral predatory animal who is likely cornered and willing to drag anyone down with him? How his appearance changes from Link to Link when Player looks at him? How he delights in their fright and revels in the mere though of the heroes dying and suffering? How he basically IS the embodiment of the primal fear of the unknown all humans have and how he clearly should NOT be in the narrative anymore that it seems like the world itself rebels against his presence, but his unrivaled, unmeasurable rage and fury through timelines keep him going and refusing it? Magnificent, unmatched, outstanding, really digging the horror elements on him and he definitely stole the show the entire chapter and makes for a great antagonist, plus I just love Eldritch Dark Link in general which is something we really need to touch upon more because as a shape shifter he has a lot of potential for some really great horrifying moments straight out of nightmares, it's in the details of uncanny valley, in a way it reminds me of this one character related to the Stranger in the Magnus Archives (a great horror podcast), that has a laugh which is multiple of people's voices layered together, and another one who literally is a shape shifter but I won't say much more due to spoilers, and this gives me that same vibe and I love it to unhinged bits.

Third of all, Player's reactions, they really capture what someone in a life or death situation react like, specially an ordinary person like Player who's from our world aka modern times in general, they aren't used to life or death situations, to their life really being in danger or the possibility of needing to take a life to survive like the Chain likely is after so long of living a in a world like theirs. They can't flee and fawning sure as heck won't work with Dink, so they practically freeze, then genuinely confused (and honestly I'd be too in their situation, given they don't remember being the Guide and Dink seems to be pulling a Vaati here aka going after myths without actual much research or reading the fine print {I have, way too many thoughts about Player's Aid and theories, but the word count will probably nerf me so I'll probably save a full on breakdown of it and theories for either another time or AO3}, they're both unreliable narrators because they don't have all of the puzzle pieces and that is something I really like), and then to fight (honestly I couldn't help but laugh at their cursing, and was literally mentally chanting "go for the eyes" because I know for a fact that works specially if Player has long-ish nails, don't ask, my highschool years were kind of wild after this one other kid almost set the classroom of fire, but then they did me one better, plus at least they know he bleeds now? If it bleeds it can die! That's usually how it works anyway), How adrenaline basically kept them going with the will to survive and fight tooth and nail for their life and then only once they're out of danger (aka with Wild, whom they recognize as a safe space), do they fully break down and descend into freeze as their situation well and truly daws on them and how close they were to death and it's honestly very touching, heart wrenching and realistic, plus their inner commentary is simultaneously hilarious and serious and realistic as always and just a blinking mood, I adore them as an MC your honor.

And third of all, the stasis scene, need I say more? The way that Player may or may not be realizing that hey maybe they are a protagonist for real in this situation after all ala Kim Dokja in ORV but is too panicked to really dwell on it because they can't waste the chance, how they punch Dink to buy even more time which is really smart? (Thank goodness they're a clever protag, not overly so but just enough they don't do the obvious of just running away when they remember what stasis does and how they can buy themselves more time and distance) How the dings match their heartbeat and build up tension because it's quite literally the clock ticking down for the guillotine to come down on their neck, honestly all of the imagery in this chapter is just really nice and I really like the descriptions, also that cliffhanger was evil but I can't even be too hung up on it cause I love it so much.

Once again, thank you for all your hard work! You did a wonderful job ^^

Also, glad the Fia thing (official doc file title being "Player's Increasingly Bad Day") was somewhat well received? It's just a snippet and I'm not that good of a writer, but I'll send in another snippet later on (featuring Una this time, spoilers, she messes with Fia a lot over Player, and uses an axe) and tag you on my secondary blog once the full thing (and the Lora one) is out if you want? English is not my first language, so I'm not fully satisfied with it, but I did what I could XD.

Now I go tend to my dog, she's trying to steal my coffee again, thank you so much once more!

-Just a Very Awkward Summertime Musician.

Monarch Cloud? You're gonna give me a big head, Sum! But also thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! As for the hand you're shaking that's just another of mine that I totally didn't steal because writing was certainly my passion! Also you're not over-stepping at all! Tbh I'm an over-sharer anyway IUFHOIEUFHFEIU

I'm really glad you enjoyed my depiction of Dink, this was one of the things I was most nervous about because I didn't want him to come across as the normal video game character but an actual visage of horror that he could be in real life! Some people have already mentioned how disturbing he's been described as and I'm so glad for it!

#cloud answers

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shalpilot · 4 days

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Hello! It's been a while since I asked you something

So, i'm not really into ffxiv stuff (like, plot, game itself, etc) but I'm extremely curious about your oc Kiril. Due to this i came up with some questions (they're so basic, because i need to know at least something to ask a proper question)

1. Can we get a lil' bit of Kiril's backstory (other than running away from home). As far as i understood, he ran away with his sister/friend Yesui and something bad happened to her. So, maybe now you can give some extra details on their runaway and her death (if it was death, obviously)?

2. What about Kiril's parents? I didn't get the thing about forehead scales (maybe, it's described in ffxiv wiki or smth, idk) and who were they? Some sort of a ruler? Just soldiers?

3. Not really important but how do you pronounce Kiril and Yesui's names (full, of course)?

So, I'm glad to write again and being eager to wait for your new answers

Probably, if it doesn't bother you, i'd ask more questions in future about Kiril

wheee!!! oh i’m so happy to answer any and all questions about him he’s my current muse. there’s going to be a lot under here you‘ve been warned.

1) I actually rolled Kiril’s last name and ended up getting one of the tribes with canon lore which is GREAT for me bc it helped me mold his backstory more. I’m not at the part where I actually get to learn about ‘em in-game cuz i only started playing like a month ago but to boil down what I know, the Dotharl tribe believes in reincarnation & as a whole the Xaela- pausing. Kiril is an Au Ra (race), a Xaela Au Ra (black scales; nomadic), and a Dotharl (tribe). hope that makes sense lol. anyways as a whole the Xaela are pretty unwelcoming to outsiders and even Xaela from other tribes. Every year they have a Naadam which is battle where the victor “claims dominion” over the Azim Steppe (homeland) for the year. The Dotharl emphasize not fearing death and not being a fucking pussy

all of that is setup LOL. Anyways, Kiril was born shortly after the death of a notable warrior (also named Kiriltugh) and so he was set on the path of becoming a warrior since essentially day one. thing is, he a.) hated it and b.) was shit at it. he struggled to pick up even the most basic parts of fighting and suffered a lot of berating due to it. at the same time, an older girl in the tribe was making strides and becoming a veritable golden child in the eyes of the adults. that was Yesui! she was incredibly strong for her age and seemed to have a natural gift for battle. but very importantly, she was also understanding of Kiril’s struggles & helped train him even after plenty of other people had declared him a lost cause. eventually though, despite her best efforts (and Kiril’s improvements! turns out a mentor who doesn’t yell at you is a lot more effective) Kiril made up his mind to just. leave. when he told Yesui about his plan, she insisted on coming with him. even with Kiril protesting (you’re doing fine here; don’t ruin your life by coming along!) she wasn’t going to let a 10 year-old leave on his own.

They travel together for an undecided amount of time- left vague so I can update it when i get to later expansions (heehee) until they eventually end up in Coerthas, a snowy region. To my understanding this is pretty fucking far away so I think they must’ve argued their way into an adventuring party or several to make it all that way. they didn’t exactly have a plan; it was just “keep going until we feel like it.”

(a realm reborn spoilers until the next question.)

in Coerthas, things take a pretty sharp nosedive for the two of them and they end up alone and very, very lost. their adventuring party was attacked by a beast tribe and the materials they were carrying were ran off with. They manage to find a cave which offers them a small amount of shelter. Yesui leaves Kiril there while she goes to look for any kind of settlement they might be able to hole up in. she’s gone for ages. and when she comes back, excitedly promising Kiril she’s found someplace safe, she seems… off. she’s holding his hand a little too tight, moving a little too fast. she assures Kiril that where they’re going is safe, warm, and “beautiful”, but the storm raging around them only seems to be getting worse.

…i’m gonna get a little more technical from here because i want to make the rest of this into a comic rather than writing it out.

what’s happened to Yesui is she’s become enthralled by a primal god. Garuda, the resident primal of the region, is in the process of being summoned by the same beast tribe that attacked them, with the items they were transporting (large quantities of crystals). the more followers a primal accrues, the more powerful they become, and something in the region has caught her attention.

Kiril.

so, using Yesui as means to draw him to her, she means to take control of him as well. unbeknownst to either of them, Kiril is under the protection of Hydaelyn, a different (benevolent) goddess who grants Kiril immunity to the thrall of primals. in shielding him, She also ends up shattering the crystals being used in the ritual, causing it to fail. in the ensuing chaos, Kiril escapes with Yesui and manages to find an actual settlement. he begs for help for him and his closest friend- who has remained enthralled even after the disruption of the ritual.

the thing about those who become enthralled is that there is no helping them. what’s more, every follower is another source of strength for a primal.

she cannot be allowed to live.

despite his desperate pleas, despite his promises that she’ll never hurt anyone, Yesui is put to death.

he is far, far from home, and he’s never been more alone in his life.

….then some stuff happens and he becomes an adventurer. i don’t wanna fill in everything just yet, haha.

2.) His mom is a goldsmith and his dad’s a hunter! His mom’s forehead scales are just a trait female Au Ra have. men don’t tend to have as many/any scales there.

3.) Key-rill-too (full name is Kiriltugh) and Yesui is like. yeh-sooey. kinda :?

Kiril doesn’t tend to go by his full name because he feels he hasn’t earned it. this is more so a thing before he saved the entire realm; now it’s more of an affectionate nickname from friends.

#ask shal #ffxiv #ffxiv wol #ocs #oc: kiriltugh #oc: yesui

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fullbrave · 1 year

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if i was going to make a direct sequel to bravely default 2 (and don't think i won't. move over team asano) here's how i would do it

friends and family alike will be shocked to learn that i'd borrow heavily from bravely second. not just in terms of style and gameplay qualities that i want to bring back, but also in the sense that i'd make a party comprised of two new guys and two returning guys. if you would guess that the two guys i'm choosing to return to the party are elvis and adelle, then you know me well, but you would be half wrong this time. i'm picking SETH and adelle. my reasons for this are twofold:

firstly, i just think that gloria and elvis have the most potential to be interesting as non-playable characters the way agnès and ringabel were. the newly crowned queen of a fallen kingdom? the laid-back scholar whose kindness transcends age-old conflicts? hell yeah, tell me more!

(in trying to boil post-bd2 elvis down to his bare essentials there i almost made myself CRY but seriously!! i can see him serving in some official capacity as ambassador to mag mell but at the same time being so unserious about it. have i ever told you guys i love him)

(by the way, in this game i would bring back the whole rebuilding-a-destroyed-thing minigame. we're rebuilding musa. it's right there. seth can be the guy in the party who's in charge of the rebuilding effort because you KNOW he would offer to do absolutely anything he can for gloria)

(bravely) secondly, and more importantly, seth and adelle both have personal character stuff the first game left unresolved that really bothers me. seth is obviously the more notable case of the two but i also wanted the game to dive deeper with adelle sooooo bad.

if one of the new guys was the Main Character™ then seth would have to be written differently to fit a supporting role (like tiz was!) and i think this could work wonders for him. a sequel would be a perfect opportunity to make him less of a vague plot device, more of a person.

and then with adelle, of course you can get into figuring out what the FUCK happened to edna to make her end up like that — something happens to make this relevant again in a way that adelle can no longer ignore, which i imagine has been her coping strategy up until now.

you know, i almost held back from saying more about adelle because i was like "this is too self-indulgent..." bitch, in my self-indulgent bravely default post? on my self-indulgent bravely default account? please. i'm going to say more: for reasons i actually won't expand on here because i feel like it's digressing i think adelle becomes the next fairy queen post-game, but i also don't think it's a smooth transition. i don't think she sees herself as a leader, and she's still carrying a lot of guilt over everything edna did, so she'd be pretty resistant to this idea. but i do think people would WANT her to lead. so i guess she's just going to have to go do some soul-searching and figure out what she wants to do! perhaps on some kind of journey, or adventure, accompanied by three other guys... (not unlike edea's bsel character arc, now that i think of it!)

this goes without saying, because i'm me, but i'd also want to flesh out the fairy lore a whole lot more. i need to know so much more information about bd2 fairies right now. yesterday. two years ago, even. who's with me? so that's another great reason to keep adelle in the party. maybe one of the new guys can also be a fairy. that'd be fun. just throwing out random ideas now.

edit: oh i knew i was gonna forget something. this didn't occur to me until i was posting my broken-ass twitter thread, but of course the original protags would all have new designs in this game, and adelle's could proudly include elements from her fairy form, because she doesn't have to hide anymore... this is important to me.

regarding crystals, seth and adelle keep their blessings, but the water and earth crystals choose new guys for whatever reason. if elvis and gloria are missing from parts of the story for reasons similar to agnès and ringabel that could be interesting, and would explain this — that doesn't necessarily have to be the case though. as we saw with sloan and aileen, the crystals can just kinda choose a new guy whenever, and i can also very much see gloria and elvis being retired from the hero of light business on purpose. i think i prefer that idea, in fact; it's a choice that makes sense for both of them in a way that it wouldn't for the other two, in my opinion.

a new party means a new fun little acronym, though! AGES had its day, now it's time for something new. on twitter i joked that the new acronym should be SWAG because i couldn't think of anything serious, but then i realized: if it's going to be a key part of the story that you're rebuilding gloria's kingdom, obviously it should be MUSA instead. so brb i will now be making up some bravely ocs whose names start with M and U.

"but darcy, seth can't be a supporting character because the player gets to name him in the first one!" way ahead of you. another thing i'm doing is retconning that moment at the end of bd2 when it would have been perfect for seth to reveal what his real name is because that was SUCH A WASTE! i totally don't think about this every day of my life or anything, but i just think that making a big deal out of the fact that the party's initials spell out an important word despite the fact that the player has the power to mess this up for literally no reason is the height of nonsense, so this is not how i would do things. personally ❤️

so you can name my new protagonist guy but whatever name you choose has to fit the MUSA acronym. just kidding, you can't name them. sorry women

(incidentally, if i couldn't bring seth and adelle back, and i was in charge of making a brand new party, i would make their initials spell REVO. nothing but respect for my president.)

when i thought about the way bravely second brought back most of the asterisks from the first game, i wasn't sure at first of how best to pull that off in this game, but then it hit me. elvis has them. every time you want to get one of the jobs from the first game you have to go fight elvis. square enix you can USE these ideas just GIVE ME CREDIT.

but that doesn’t mean all the asterisk holders who are still alive aren't around! they are! in fact i think it’d be funny if they were all part of the sidequests for their respective asterisks but every sidequest still ends with you fighting elvis for some reason. i won't bring any dead asterisk holders back because as fun as it was, that too was the height of nonsense. “couldn’t you just use the stone portal things from bd2 to allow the player to fight asterisk holders, dead or alive?” sure but i like my idea better.

(in fact it kind of gives me plot ideas. maybe elvis has been entrusted with the asterisks but it comes to light that someone is making NEW ONES and the party is charged with finding out who it is and what their deal is. could be a fun way to explain why there's new jobs!)

anyway, i ensure that revo comes back to write the music by offering him a trillion dollars, which i have. seth's new special theme is called "the seafarer's skills tame the storm... 2!" and adelle's is called "please stop praying for the wandering flame she's risen too high she broke out of the hospital". the game itself will be known as bravely default². thank you, and GOOD NIGHT

#crossposting from twitter because twitter broke my thread and i'm genuinely a bit upset because i literally worked on it for like four days #this is just for fun and jokes! mostly. everything i said about what i think the characters end up doing post-bd2 is pretty serious #every day i lament the fact that they didn't give us any kind of epilogue. i just want to know what they're UP TO #bravely default 2 #bravely default ii #bd2 #bravely default #mine #bravely

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mcgnussen · 2 years

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kevin and mclaren - the story of how cruel f1 politics can be:

this will be a long post. in his book, kevin had a lot to say about mclaren - and not much of it good. actually it’s quite shocking how poorly he was treated by mclaren. but his mclaren “adventure” is a little tough since it’s covered in different chapters and with different timelines, but i will try to do my best to lay it out in chronological order. obviously i will not include everything from the book. if you want all the details, i’d recommend reading the book, alt eller intet (all or nothing) if you are able to.

mclaren academy (2008-2013) jan magnussen, kev’s dad, had a very short formula 1 career with mclaren, but they had many issues. ron dennis always said jan was probably the biggest talent since senna, but he did not have the discipline of a f1 driver (like he refused to quit smoking). this is the established connection kevin had with mclaren. when he was only a few years old, ron dennis sent him a birthday card that said “call me when you’re better than your dad” and then in his teenage years, he did call ron dennis. this eventually led to him being invited to the factory for a chat with martin whitmarsh, which led to him being accepted into the mclaren academy.

during his meeting with martin, he was immediately told of all his dad’s failures. martin said they told all the young drivers about jan, about how his vices ruined his f1 career. as kevin said, it was quite awkward to sit there and listen to someone saying all of that stuff about his dad - even if martin ended it by saying that jan was the greatest talent he had ever seen. even placing him above ayrton senna. but kevin was happy that the meeting ended with him getting a spot as a junior driver in mclaren’s academy as a 15-year old.

not long after, he moved to england to be close to the mclaren headquarters in woking. being in the academy was intense and mclaren was super controlling. kevin had to fill out a survey every day about how he felt, they had to do a lot of fitness tests and had to upload a picture of every meal to a profile, so mclaren could keep track of what they were eating. kevin thought it was stupid with that level of micromanagement. he saw it as a case as long as he was fit and performed well on track, everything else didn’t matter - but eventually he learned the game. he became good at the specific fitness tests, placing above those in better shape than him as he only focused on getting good at the tests. he boiled broccoli and took a picture of that before going down to buy a pizza now and then. he filled out his survey with the best possible answers every day. mental health? great. physical well-being? great. focus? great. he impressed everyone at mclaren, and when he was also the best out on the track of the junior drivers, they probably thought it was because he was so diligent with everything else, when in reality kevin was just sensible and a good racer.

his first mclaren season (2014) in 2013, martin whitmarsh used his contacts to get kevin the 2014 force india seat (now aston martin), which meant kevin could get to know the f1 world without all the pressure of driving for a top team (which mclaren believed themselves to be at the time). everything was taken care of except the signing of the contract, kevin waited and waited until suddenly ron dennis showed up, unhappy with the 2013 season and mclaren being on the decline, and told kevin he got the mclaren seat. martin whitmarsh had been fired, along with a lot of other mclaren people, and so had sergio perez, so now the seat belonged to kevin. of course, he was beyond excited at the time and called his mum in happy tears. he skipped the small-ish team and could drive for mclaren, his dream team. but now kevin believes that starting in force india would have been waaaaay better for him.

mclaren did not want kevin to bring along family or friend to his debut race, they did not want him to get distracted. he basically just sat alone on the plane ride there. the only kind of coaching he was given before his first qualification was: “don’t fuck this up.” that is basically all they said to a 21-year old rookie. despite that, kevin went on to qualify fourth, ahead of button, and ended up finishing p2 in the race. when the race was over, he just went back to his hotel room and sat there all alone as mclaren had not allowed him to bring anyone and so he had no one to celebrate with.

but that was the only podium kevin would ever see. despite impressing everyone in melbourne, kevin was a rookie and he made rookie mistakes. kevin admits that he made too many mistakes during his first season and risked too much. but he also says in the book that he was stressed because the team believed they should be driving for the absolute top spots, but the car just could not do so, not even button could manage it. he thinks the only one who quickly realised they had no championship hope was jenson button, who then used his fifteen years of experience to race the best he could in hope others would fall away. kevin realised the bad position the team was in too late and so button beat him comfortably during the races. during his first season, kevin learned he had to be able to adapt. the goal could not always be to win the race as mclaren believed.

for the entirety of the second half of the 2014 season, jenson and kevin knew alonso would likely become a mclaren driver, which was very bad timing for kevin. after that, there was an intense competition between button and magnussen - and they basically told each other nothing in the briefings. in general, kevin was faster but button was smarter. so even when kevin outqualified him, button would more often than not end up in front of kevin during the race. he had fifteen years of experience, kevin did not. but despite things getting a little cool between them, kevin says button treated him with respect. this coupled with the frustration over the lack of good results made the 2014 season really difficult and stressful for kevin, who now also had to drive to keep his seat against an english world champion for an english team. the only thing kevin had was data. data that proved he was faster than button. in fact, mclaren promised kevin the 2015 seat if he could beat button in qualifying with same amount of time as hamilton had beaten button during his time in mclaren – and kevin did.

mclaren’s betrayal (2015) williams had shown interest in kevin during the 2014 season, and when kevin confronted mclaren with this as they took a long time deciding on whether it should be him or button who kept the mclaren seat, eric boullier (racing director) said: “it will be you, don’t look elsewhere.” even button was so sure that his time in f1 was over that he had a special helmet made for the last race of the season, but he never used it since the team didn’t make a decision after the season had ended. during the meeting where the board should decide whether to keep magnussen or button, 7 people voted for kevin, 2 for button – but those 2 were the most powerful, owning more than 50% of mclaren, and they were in a battle for power with ron dennis. they waited until ron had voted, and he voted for kevin, and then talked to each other in arabic and voted for button as the only ones. they did not care about whether it was kevin or jenson who kept the seat, they just wanted to ensure a defeat for ron dennis.

kevin was demoted to test/reserve driver and he was basically in a state of shock, but ron promised kevin he would be able to return for the 2016 season, maybe even the 2015 season if button didn’t do well. there was no role for kevin in the team, but he still got paid and ron dennis expected him to meet up every day for a few hours before going back to an empty hotel room as he had to go to all the races. he was not allowed to participate in any other motorsport, so he barely sat in a car for the season. they did not even allow him to use the simulator. as the time passed during the year, he had no car, and stoffel vandoorne won a lot of races in f2 and suddenly he was the golden child (despite the fact kevin had beaten him in tests). kevin found it difficult to deal with because he had no car, no drive to prove himself. looking back now, kevin is sure he had a depression in 2015. he partied too much and drank himself unconscious, he broke several bones during that year because he was super reckless and just did not care about anything really. he had a constant feeling of being unable to be within himself and did not take good care of himself. but everything turned around for the better when he met his wife in october 2015, she helped him get back on track again. on his birthday in 2015, he was fired from mclaren before getting the call from renault.

and that’s it, that is some of the story about kevin’s time in mclaren. it’s honestly a miracle kevin did not burn their garage down, i would have. kevin basically did everything asked of him and he still lost his seat just because ron dennis was a control freak who made himself unpopular with some of the board members. i still can’t believe ron had the audacity to fire kevin on his actual birthday, it still makes me so damn mad. but i’m glad kevin got away from ron dennis’ mclaren, he deserved so much better anyway and he managed to stay in f1 on talent alone.

#kevin magnussen #mclaren #mclaren f1 #f1 #mclaren f1 team #formula 1 #also kevin calls out people by name in this book #i love it so much #long post #depression tw #themagnussencorner

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marinecorvid · 2 years

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Finally finished pokemon white (beating alder. Twice actually bc I wasn’t satisfied w my first run through) and Hilda <3 in my heart she’s a grungy carabiner-utilizer who wears the same clothes until they’re no longer wearable. The first thing she bought for herself with her first league paycheck was get a classic pair of doc martens (also has freckles. Very important). extensive headcanons under the cut

In my head all the games events happened over the course of a little over a year (starting from late 2011 autumn/winter cusp to early 2013 winter/spring) though plasma was metaphorically poking the bear for years prior until it reached a boiling point, coincidentally just when she finally had the chance to have a fun road trip with her gf and mean gay bestie. (Cheren chasing plasma thru castelia city: LETS GO LESBIANS! RUNNING THROUGH CASTELIA WITH A PACK OF WILD LESBIANS)

has a tendency to be blunt to the point of rudeness. tries to stay in her lane, but will finish shit if you start it. short temper, but very devoted to her friends n family, love language is acts of service. perpetually tired feeling, resting bitch face, but has a fun streak her pokemon and younger cousins (foremost being nate) can easily draw out. worked on her family’s tepig farm prior to going out into the world from the time she was young and doing a short stint in customer service rather than physical labor changed her for the worse (people disregarding rules abt where they can and cant go in the barns, feeding the pokemon outside food, nearly falling in the pignite paddock etc etc) and lowered her patience reserves to near zero. ran track in high school, grew up going to tailgate parties and bonfires and drinking cheap beer someone’s older brother bought bc there’s nothing better to do. adventuring out in unova and being in The Nature really decreases her stress and makes her general demeanor much less agitated/snappish

gets a little better on the mildly judgemental but “that’s none of my business” thing she’s got going after the N/Ghetsis final fight; dual character development of N and Hilda learning that someone else’s different worldview/way of thinking isn’t inherently bad/weird. simultaneously embraces and resents hero of ideals status; embraces giving in to her desires and wants and getting involved in stuff because she wants to (eldest daughter syndrome/grew up in a financially challenged household so didn’t apply to any college or technical school bc she didn’t want to put any financial strain on the household), but resents being initially shoved into the position by N and eventually the league.

she also resents technically being hailed as champion after beating N (who was also technically champion) but the board of directors made a rule deciding champion titles awarded with legendaries don’t count due to their godlike abilities in battle and told her if she wants to count as champion she has to fight them again without zekrom. (words can’t describe how angry-indignant she was. you practically strongarm her into the position then tell her actually she doesn’t get the respect and benefits and dignity?? cheren’s ears were ringing)

i know some ppl headcanon her as kinda getting along with N during the game and trying to reason with him, but not this hilda. girl was down to kick ass from first impromptu battle. N has to trick her with a zoroark illusion to get him on that ferris wheel and she nearly socks him in the face for it. only until Ghetsis earns his #1 father of the year award does it really sink in oh wow this guy was actually just a tool his whole life

used a variety of pokemon early in journey, releasing some and trading others to less intensive trainers locally once they felt they reached a threshold of battling they weren’t comfortable with. most consistent pokemon she’s had with her are neidr the serperior, llyffant the seismitoad, and gantroed the scolipede, eventually joined by adar the archeops, ysbryd the jellicent, and minipete the emolga for the final VS N battle. felt immense pressure to have a “competitive” battle team after passing driftveil city, kinda had a breakdown, chilled out and stayed with the pokemon she had connections with.

however, does restructure her team post-Ghetsis bc one) very rough battle, long term recovery and two) realistically if she wants to continue battling professionally/competitively, she doesn’t want pokemon not interested in battling so intensely to get hurt. she adds 4 new pokemon to the party, keeping neidr and llyffant: tyranitar, galvantula, haxorus, hydreigon. her preferred pokemon are largely tanks, with neidr providing niche coverage (serperior moveset sucks in bw) and galvantula thunder waving and then volt switching. also thunder w compound eyes is based

full name is Hilda Gwynne, will tell you to call her Gwyn if she likes you. notorious lemonade lover. cheap shitty motel inhabitor. snowball fight enthusiast. twin sibling of hilbert (lives with his aunt in iccirus). father was a member of team rocket. thinks garbador is the coolest guy ever. went briefly diving in undella bay with and without cynthia, thinks it’s cursed and never wants to go back down. doesn’t know why shadow triad gave her the adamant + lustrous + griseous orbs and doesn’t want to find out, had them interred in dragonspiral tower in secret. the zekrom i got is defiant + bold natured which means xey’re nearly as stubborn as hilda and generally hostile to anyone she doesn’t explicitly like. when xey were still in dark stone form minipete (an emolga you can get via trade in mistralton) was practically entranced by it, constantly wanting to look at it, cheeks sparking whenever he touched it; now whenever xey’re sunbathing behind the barns, minipete’s the only one allowed to perch on xem. worked briefly with dr fennel, a pioneer in dream study and the entralink, and then did nothing else with that academic connection. thinks deerling are super cute. accidentally picked up a zorua in castelia city at some point and had looney toons shenanigans trying to get it home to lost woods. nickelback and carrie underwood fan. enjoys going mudding in her ma’s old pickup truck with the volume cranked up so high it rattles someone else’s car and still managing to holler loudly enough to be heard (she did a significant amount of this in the immediate aftermath of beating N as stress relief). can shout + pitch her voice real loud + deep. born during an early october snowstorm, has always had a fascination with storms of any kind. nicknames all her Pokémon in poke-welsh

mysteriously goes missing after leaving home to search for N; had semi-regularly with her mother and friends, but after being reportedly spotted around lacunosa town some time ago, seems to have vanished off the face of the earth except for three of her pokemon (archeops, scolipede, and emolga) found nearby, exhausted and nearly comatose, suffering extreme hypothermia despite being found during summertime.

#pokemon bw #pokemon black and white #hilda #redesign #kind of #my art #anyways time to go fight cynthia. wish me luck

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edoro · 2 years

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Beluz sex pollen????

who doesn't love a good sex pollen, right?

under the cut it goes, for the obvious reasons (csa, dubcon/noncon themes inherent in the premise of sex pollen on top of the fuckery of it being csa)

sooo this is an au scenario that takes place in the Belos and Luz's Excellent Adventure au.

basically, they travel through this post-apocalyptic dead world and eventually end up in a crumbling, abandoned city. they take residence in a hotel and use it as their home base, since it has like, you know, beds and amenities and whatnot, while they scavenge through the leftovers to find materials to build a portal with.

one day, Luz goes poking through the other rooms in the building to look for supplies, and ends up stumbling upon a room that was occupied. most of the place is empty, but not this room, and she picks up a bunch of stuff these people brought with them before they died, including what looks like a box of tea! she sure misses drinking anything other than boiled rainwater, and she bets Belos does as well.

of course it isn't just regular tea, but is instead a Fuck Drug - it's an aphrodisiac that heightens sexual desire + stamina and lowers inhibitions and puts the consumer into an altered state of consciousness. unfortunately neither Luz nor Belos can read the box, so they end up sharing a couple mugs of Let's Get It On Juice, and then, well...

anyway i actually WROTE part of this so let me nab an excerpt or two.

---

The door is propped open when Luz gets back, which means Belos is probably out. They had to break it to get into the room in the first place, so if there’s not going to be someone there to let the other one in, they just leave it a little bit open.

Even to Luz’s small-town sensibilities, that felt wrong at first - how many times had her mama scolded her for forgetting to lock the door after herself on weekends? - but she has to admit it’s practical. They haven’t seen a single sign of another living person in all the weeks they’ve been here, and this way neither of them has to sit around waiting for the other one when they want to go out.

She wedges her foot into the gap between door and frame, pushes it open, then turns to catch it with her hip as it swings back closed again. Backing into the little foyer, she calls out over her shoulder, “Honey, I’m home!”

“I didn’t realize we were on such familiar terms,” comes Belos’s dry voice from behind her.

---

He wraps his hands around his mug exactly the way she does, closing his eyes briefly. Most of the time, he’s so unflappable, drifting along as if he barely touches the ground, as if all of this is the most minor of setbacks.

There have been hiccups in that impression - when he was sick, the few times she managed to really get under his skin, when she broke down and told him she was afraid it had been a nuclear war and he told her he was afraid it was sickness, the scared whispering-the-bogeyman’s-name solemnity with which he said smallpox or just plague - but for the most part, he’s been steady.

She hates how much she appreciates it. She doesn’t want to like him or feel comforted by his presence, but she can’t deny that she does. He might be a thoroughly horrible person, and she hasn’t forgiven or forgotten any of the things he’s done to her or Eda, but at the end of the day, it’s such a relief to feel like there’s an adult in charge of the situation who knows what to do.

Here’s another little crack, though: the quiet, wistful pleasure on his face as he breathes in the rising steam from his cup. Here’s another inescapable reminder that he really is just a man, and an old one at that, whose joints probably hurt from the damp and cold and sleeping rough, who still hasn’t quite shaken off that lingering cough in the mornings.

---

She doesn’t know what she wants, except that she wants to be close to him, wants to touch him, wants - wants a lot of things in an urgent, aching, physical way she doesn’t know how to translate into words.

“Can I touch your face?” she asks, reaching up as if to do it, fingers stopping just a hair’s breadth away from his cheek.

“Alright,” he says, sounding like he’s not really sure why she would want to but is willing to indulge her.

What she wants to touch is that broad sweep of cursed flesh. She goes for his ear first, tracing the scarred and pointed edge of it, the nick taken out - she’s never quite been brave enough to ask what happened there. Did someone do it to him? Did he do it to himself? What would that thick, slippery scar tissue feel like between her teeth?

From there her fingers wander across the sharp line of his jaw, softened somewhat by the sagging of age. When she finally does touch the cursed flesh, the contrast is jarring. Thin, wrinkled skin and faint, prickly stubble gives way to something rubbery and strangely yielding. It’s like sticking her fingers into one of those wobbly jello domes, except sickly hot.

#belos and luz's excellent adventure #ask #wip game

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protokirby · 25 days

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Working on a really stupid animation. But I don't know when I'll finish it because of motivation problems. It has 3 different au Draytons doin stuff I plan to finish it but I just have been hit by a pause button on a tv remote when I open the art program. Here's a wip for anyone who wants to see it though.

Warning: Has a few frames about 20 seconds in and at the end that might make it like flashing lights

Inspired by these two videos. (youtube link) and (another youtube link)

Here are the three Draytons. I called them the goober squad a few days ago and I'm still going to call them the goober squad if they're in the same room together or when referring to these three collectively.

Beast au Drayton (the first one) is sure to give me trouble in the frames of the animation that are a lot more detailed. (I may or may not actually get to that or even finish this no matter how much I want to) Also funny imo that the middle one (from an un-named au so I call him the Drayton with the cloak or just cloak guy) is the only one I don't have an edit of a Drayton of and only exists as one of my own drawings. The other Draytons here have both an edit and art of them. (The bat has a lot of drawings but most are outdated because I was just sketching ideas for how he would look) I just usually like having a picture of the au versions in the pokemon artstyle for personal reasons so it often ends up as me having an edit and a plan to draw them myself eventually.

I have a multiverse and travel between universes is a normal and common thing. They are aware of each other and are friends, but they do not always get along. Specifically, sometimes it seems cloak guy and the bat hate each other. Just because the bat likes being active(fighting evil aliens) rather than being lazy and cloak guy thinks he's weird for it. They're still on friendly terms though. Cloak guy is just really sassy. Beast Drayton thinks this is funny because he knows they don't actually hate each other. Otherwise he would separate them when they start talking to each other instead of watching in amusement.

Cloak guy looks like a normal Drayton actually- he hides his cloak when people from his home universe are around. And his hair looks normal usually. When I first drew him, I had drawn him with his hair down because he fell into a boiling lake in another universe when he first got the cloak which caused his hair to be like that until he went home to fix it. He secretly became a magic wizard after being forced on an adventure. Very few people from his home know he can use magic. His universe is one where other universes are generally thought to not exist, therefore portals and stuff don't exist where he's from. He can make his own portals using magic and often goes to the beast world to escape the consequences of his actions. Cloak guy is a troublemaker; the most poorly behaved of the goober squad. Only at home, he keeps his powers a secret. The trouble he gets into at home is normal stuff that can be done without magic. May get into the more magical side of mischief away from home or if the prank he's about to pull at home exclusively affects someone who knows his secret already

Here is cloak guy without the cloak with the addition of the scars he gained during his forced adventure that aren't present in my drawing of him with the cloak on. The face scars will be present in the animation on the scenes with more detail though

#drayton pokemon

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creampuffqueen · 2 months

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finished natla!

mostly incoherent thoughts behind the cut. spoilers, obvi

overall rating: solid B, 7.5/10

alrighty, that’s done and dusted. overall it was pretty decent. if you’re on the fence about watching it, i’d say go ahead and give it a shot

let’s go with my complaints first lol

- the costuming kinda bothered me for some reason. like it was all very show accurate, but it just doesn’t translate as well to live action. it all looked like cosplay to me tbh

- sidelining sokka and katara for an entire episode was. a choice. i know they were sidelined once or twice in the og show but with such a limited amount of episodes i think it really took away a lot of what could have been used for further character development

- also not a fan of how they just offhandedly mentioned the other adventures but never showed them. i think a lot of my issues with the show will boil down to them simply not being able to fit everything in with their limited episode number

- and also that atla as a premise just isn’t good for live action. it’s just not. at its soul this show is a netflix money grab trying to piggyback off the success of atla

- i wasn’t a fan of the continued idea of “the avatar must work alone”. like bro that has never been true for any avatar. sure they carry the burden of being the avatar alone, but they aren’t supposed to work alone. all of the avatars before aang had friend groups!! let aang have friends jfc

- some of the spirit stuff was kinda goofy and not in a good way. idk it just didn’t hit the same way as in the og

- and my absolute biggest issue has to be with zuko not being saved by aang in the north pole. that is such a titular moment for zuko’s development and it was just thrown out. not a fan of that choice at all

- also i really hated sokka’s flashback scene. both because it doesn’t make as much sense continuity wise since ice dodging is a coming of age ritual and sokka wasn’t of age during that time, but also because hakoda would never speak about his son that way??? not the hakoda i know, at least

- as for smaller gripes: they made suki a nepo baby??? they almost killed momo??? appa really doesn’t feel like an actual character in this show, just a mode of transport

- the cave of two lovers plot was both put in book 1, and given to sokka and katara. while i love sibling relationship appreciation, they really shortchanged kataang in this show

- aang does like zero waterbending. in the og show he’s nearly a master at the end of book 1. in this show i think he’s only bent water in the avatar state. how can he move on to earth if he isn’t waterbending

- although i really enjoyed how they went about with sukka in this show, i feel like it could have been done differently to align more with the og. even though sokka is not sexist in this (which i don’t mind, it’s not nearly as much of his character as people claim it is), he’s still insecure about his ability to protect his tribe. i would have liked to still see him humble himself to suki, because he’s at first embarrassed to be beaten that easily but then comes to respect her abilities. they sort of tried to do that but without the humbling part, which i feel is an essential starter to their relationship

okay enough complaining onto what i liked

- i think the actors all did a great job with their characters

- the fight scenes were pretty great

- the bending also looked pretty good

- i think a warm hug from gyatso would fix me

- i know some people hated all the exposition stuff but i really liked it personally

- i enjoyed getting to see azula and her girls this early. also love baby face azula, it really adds to how fucked up the situation is because like. that’s a child

- i think the producers did fairly well in combining some of the episodes. it was interesting and didn’t feel too weird

- it’s fun that the producers also have all this extra atla universe knowledge now. there was stuff included in this that was only shown in the comics or in the kyoshi novels, which is very neat

- despite my prior complaints, like action sukka really did eat and leave no crumbs. i’m very excited to see more of suki, both because she’s my fav, but also because i think her actress did a really great job!

again, overall it was a fun, entertaining watch. it’s kinda like the atla sparknotes version. you get most of the plot, some of the charm. would i rewatch? i will rewatch episode 2 just because i want to see suki (and her milf mom). otherwise, eh, probably not, i’d rather rewatch the og

though i will be adding these three things specifically to my personal atla canon:

- oma and shu are lesbians

- the 41st division 🥺

- milkbending is a thing

#natla #avatar live action #natla spoilers

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venomous--fics · 3 years

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@geekgirlofarchangels Requested: Hi! (I just wanted to say that I love your writing, it's amazing)😍

Can I request Eddie Brock x reader, who bake sweets for him, basically try to show her love for him in many ways in a day to day basis, and when she decides to tell him that she loves him, she sees him with Anne and misunderstand everything.

She panics, but ends fluff? Sorry for any mistakes English is not my first language

A/N: No worries!! Thank you for the request and I hope you enjoy!! Day 6! So many more to go!

"I think I need better piping tips." You said, looking over to Eddie for some reassurance.

The man had a one track mind, and right now, the only thing he could think of was the cookies you had in the oven. He's been staring at it for the last five minutes.

"A watched pot never boils." You said, finally catching his attention.

"And watched cookies never bake." he retorted turning around to look at the cake you'd be decorating, "I think it looks nice."

"Really?"

"Of course!"

"You're not just being cute and nice, right?"

"What would I gain from lying? Name one thing."

"More sweets?"

"That is true, but I don't have to lie to get those."

You rolled your eyes with a smile as you moved the cake to the other counter so that way you had room for the cookies. Before you, Eddie wasn't really the type of guy to have a sweet tooth, but oh boy you sure did change that. You worked at a bakery, and you were still practicing your skills any chance you got.

Eddie was a good and somewhat unbiased judge. He never lied to you, but he was never mean about anything either. If something needed worked on, he'd tell you nicely.

"Why are you stressing so much about your decorating skills anyways? I think you're amazing at it."

"My boss really wants me to start helping out in the decorating area..I was just worried that I was totally going to suck." You set your piping bag off to the side and wiped off your hands, "I just want to make sure I can do everything perfectly."

"You got this. It'll be a breeze for you. I mean, c'mon, look at it. It's really good."

You took a moment to really admire your cake. Yeah, it was pretty good.

Eddie really was so nice and loving to you. He was nothing like any of the other people you'd chosen to spend your time with before. Eddie actually wanted to do things with you, and he was constantly dragging you along for new adventures, and actually paid attention to your wants and needs.

You really liked him. Well, if you were being honest, you were really hopelessly in love with him. And you wanted to tell him, and you were sure he felt the same, but you really wanted to make it special.

Should you write it in icing on a cookie? Or maybe he was a bit tired of cookies. Maybe he'd expect you to do that since you're a baker and all. Maybe you should just tell him. Face to face.

You both left for work, saying your goodbyes and sharing a kiss or two. You were going to tell him after work. It'd finally be a weight off your chest to finally say just how you felt.

Despite having a seemingly normal day, you began to feel a little puzzled towards lunch. Normally, somehow, someway, Eddie always found his way to your work. It was bizarre how your lunch breaks always lined up, but you were sure he did that on purpose.

He didn't show up today, so you spent your break alone. You'd texted him to have a good rest of the day at work, but he never texted back. Maybe he just got busy, you told yourself.

You managed to clock out and make your way home, and still no response from Eddie. He wasn't even home yet. It was 6:45. Normally, he's home way before you. You shrugged it off as a late day at the office as you changed out of your work clothes.

Eddie got home at about 7:15 pm, and didn't say much as to why that was. He was his normal cheery self. He doted on you as usual, and you two ate together. Every thing was fine, but it didn't feel fine.

Things continued on like that for a few days. You had this persistent nagging feeling that Eddie was hiding something, and it was getting in the way of talking to him. It was getting far too annoying to ignore.

Today, one of your rare days off, you decided to hell with it. You were going to make Eddie a nice dinner and just tell him. Maybe then the nagging feeling would go away. Maybe you were just nervous because this was a huge thing to say, especially to Eddie.

You were making your way downtown, to the store, to pick up a few ingredients for dinner. Your list was short, so this really shouldn't take too long. You walked passed a café that you and Eddie frequented, and your body froze just a few steps passed the big front window. The hell was that?

You must've been seeing things. Surely you hadn't seen what you thought you saw, right? Not wanting to be seen, just in case your eyes weren't tricking you, you turned your body a little. You couldn't believe it. There was was. Even if all you saw was the back of his head, you knew it was him solely because of who was sitting across from him at the little table.

"Anne?" you asked yourself quietly.

She looked like she was in good spirits today. Her smile was warm and inviting as always, and it looked like she was chuckling at something Eddie had just said. You couldn't look away.

Why would he do this to you? Are you really surprised? After all, he did love her first. Maybe he never really loved you to begin with.

You made your way back to the apartment to gather your thoughts. There was to be a rational explanation for this. They weren't doing anything bad, but, you did find yourself worrying because...Well, you know, it was Anne.

For the first time in years, you felt angry. How could he do that to you? You should just leave and just call him later and tell him that you're never coming back. You froze halfway to the door once you realized what had really happened. Eddie chose her. And you knew that time after time he'd do it again.

You felt stupid. You felt a few tears slip out and you tried to fight them off, but that only seemed to make it worse. The door opened, and the sound of keys hitting the counter caught your attention.

"Oh!" Eddie said, "You're home! Good, I have- Hey, are you okay?"

You just stared at him.

He walked over, attempting to comfort you, but you took a few steps back, causing him to freeze. He looked wounded.

"Did something happen?" he asked, lowering his hands.

"I don't know," You said bitterly, "Why don't you go ask Anne?"

"Anne?" Then it registered, "Oh! Oh, no, babe, that's-"

"I don't want to hear any excuses, Eddie! How could you do that to me? How could you string me along and then just backstab me like that."

"No!" He really wanted to hold you, but he knew he had to refrain, "No, no, no! It wasn't like that. I swear!"

"I can't even look at you." You rushed into the bedroom, slamming the door. "God! I'm so, so stupid!"

Eddie listened to your slightly muffled yelling for a minute or two before moving over to the door to open it.

"I shouldn't even be here anymore!" You shouted, throwing open the door, "I have to go."

You tried to move past Eddie, but as a reflex, he grabbed your arm, "Please don't do that."

You tugged and pulled, but you couldn't wiggle free. He wasn't holding too tight, and he wasn't hurting you. You just couldn't get free, "Let go of me!"

"I swear I'd never do that to you!" He pleaded, "Will you just let me explain?"

You stopped fighting and just stared helplessly ahead, "What is there to explain, huh? You don't love me like I love you, so there's nothing left to talk about."

"You love me?"

"Of course I do! But it's obvious that you don't love me! So, just, let go!"

"I love you too!" He said loudly.

It's like the whole world stopped in that moment as your head whipped around to look at him. He looked like his whole world was about to end. This wasn't how any of this was supposed to go down.

"I love you." he repeated, "I- I'm so sorry I didn't say it sooner. I..I got nervous so I, as stupid as it sounds, I went to Anne for advice."

Your whole body relaxed as you listened to him.

"I wasn't sure how to say it- Or, I guess, say it right." Eddie sighed a little, "I asked her what I should do. She was always better at this stuff. She gave me this bright idea of a movie and dinner...But it seems like that's all out the window now."

You realized your mistake, "Eddie, I'm sorry...I didn't want it to happen like this either. I had a plan too, and I guess I ruined it."

"I should've just told you. I was just scared you wouldn't feel the same."

"Wouldn't feel the same?" You wanted to sound offended at the thought, "Eddie, why do you think I do all these nice things for you? I wanted to tell you for ages, but I just couldn't."

Eddie let go of your arm, and pulled you into a hug. He hugged you like his life depended on it. You hugged back before sighing, "This really isn't how I wanted this to go."

"I know." he said, "Doesn't make it any less true, does it?"

You shook your head.

"I mean it. I really do love you. I just wanted to make sure I did everything right this time." He sounded disappointed with himself, "I guess I'm always going to screw some things up."

"That's okay." You reassured, "I don't know if you noticed, but I ruined this whole thing. Your plan, my plan. All of it."

"I wouldn't say ruined." Eddie pulled back to look at you, "I'd just say this was a little out of the ordinary."

"Do you still want to go out for dinner? Is that still in the cards?" You asked curiously.

"Of course. Why don't we just take a breather for a little bit."

#eddie brock x reader #eddie brock imagine #marvel imagine #marvel x reader #venom imagine #venom x reader

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thehaitanis · 3 years

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𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔣𝔢𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔣𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔡: 𝔟𝔞𝔧𝔦, 𝔨𝔬𝔨𝔬𝔫𝔬𝔦 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔬𝔲

❮★❯ summary: how will baji keisuke, kokonoi hajime and haitani rindou be with their female best friend?

❮★❯ warnings: my bad writing.

❮★❯ disclaimer: english is not my first language, so forgive me for any mistakes.

you and baji became friends when you helped him with his homework, the way you so patiently explained things would leave him in awe, were there people this nice at his school? it was such a surprise to him that it wouldn’t be weird to see him linger behind you every time he saw you in the school hallways after that, introducing you to chifuyu later and making you two best friends too.

when you’re alone, baji tends to be more calm, talking a little bit more softly and basically being a toned down version of himself because he knows you won’t judge him for that, he has a lot of interests and if you share some of them with him, then it would be even better for your friendship. he’s the one who always sends the first message of the day, the one who makes sure you’ve eaten and, of course, the type of best friend that likes to scare people away whenever he thinks you’re getting too uncomfortable.

the type of friend that always wants to go out and do something exciting with you, he likes to go on adventures and wouldn’t be opposed to doing whatever you want if it means you two can spend time together, he just wants to have a good time with you. baji also likes when you both share things, like food, peyoung yakisoba, clothes, hair ties and whatever else he likes and knows will look good on him.

very protective. he doesn’t really say it out loud, but baji feels the need to make sure you’re ok in every moment and although he tends to be excessively mean with the people he doesn’t like, you have learned how to ignore his overbearing character after so many years dealing with his childish self.

you two will definitely have matching rings or phone cases, something small but really significant that he can proudly show to everyone.

you both met when koko was doing some of his money business, he wasn’t actually interested in you nor what you were doing but something about the way you tricked people into giving you their money made him curious enough to approach you and see for himself what you were doing.

after your first encounter you both will always be competing, trying to outsmart each other when it comes to business but, when you’re alone and just had enough of competing, you both will probably just hang out somewhere calm, staying at either one of your rooms listening to music or watching some shitty romcom just for the fun of it.

you both always draw attention whenever you’re together, it is simply impossible to not look at you two when you decide to go out dressed in the coolest matching outfits out there. but now, when i say matching outfits i don’t mean that you’re dressed the same as him, your outfits usually match in colors or in little accessories that let everyone know you both compliment each other just so you can flex on everyone else.

let’s himself into your house as if it is his own. your mother knows him and never questions why he’s there, letting him go up to your room so he can wait until you finally decide to show up. also, kokonoi has zero shame so it wouldn’t be a surprise if you enter your room to see him going through all your stuff, reading things he’s not supposed to read and eating what you thought was well hidden in your closet.

koko loves taking pictures of you both, he’s the type of friend who has an album with every photo you’ve taken together as a sign of how much he appreciates your friendship. these pictures are not exactly flattering for any of you, but you love them anyway because they remind you of all the moments you’ve spent together.

you’re actually rindou’s childhood friend. you two met one day at the playground, when he tried to steal your toys and you used all the strength in your toddler body to punch him just to also get hit in return, leading to a very interesting fight between two five year olds and a seven year old ran as the only one cheering for both sides.

since you both have known each other for a very long time now, rindou feels like you’re the only one (besides his brother) who can comprehend him, he’s always coming to you whenever he gets sick of dealing with people, complaining about human stupidity while he rest his head on your shoulders. he allows himself to be vulnerable only in your company, so please appreciate these rare moments of rindou being completely true to himself.

like baji, the younger haitani feels extremely overprotective of you, he sees you as his little sister so, in his head, he has to protect you just as an older brother will. no one can make you feel bad or uncomfortable if he's present and, of course, no one is allowed to call you names or give you compliments that were not asked for because the only thing they’ll receive would be a kick directed to their heads.

rindou tried to teach you how to defend yourself but everytime he tries to show you what to do, he’ll get frustrated because the thought of you getting beaten up by someone else just makes his blood boil. only he is allowed to fight like that with you.

you both share the same brain cell, and that brain cell is always with ran because you two don't seem to make a good use of it. the older haitani often finds you two arguing over stupid things, pulling each others hair and more often than not, critizicing everyone around you two.

❮★❯ requests are: closed!

#tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers imagines #tokyo revengers x reader #baji keisuke #kokonoi hajime #haitani rindou

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incorrectlumityquotes · 3 years

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Why Amity fell for Luz: A Theory

Watching all the episodes of The Owl House and reviewing them brought back a lot of thoughts and feelings that I maybe forgot about. We all ship things and sometimes we do it for fun; sometimes for deeper reasons. I just started lumity because it reminded me of Diana & Akko from Little Witch Academia. I loved that show so much that I wanted more, and I thought it would be cool if Luz & Amity did something similar. I had no idea that it was going to go beyond that, so DAMN. To quote a talking science wolf, “For years we ask how, but we should ask why.” I mean, we saw how. But why? Well I can take a guess.

If we’re are going to start anywhere it’s going to be with the girl in question, Amity Blight.

As far as I know as of this typing, Amity Blight is a witchling from The Boiling Isles. She lives in Bonesboro at The Blight Manor estate with her parents and her siblings. She attends Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. Good for her.

Amity has an ambitious and competitive personality. She’s always striving to be better and be at the top of whatever she is doing. When she’s introduced in I Was a Teenage Abomination, she’s showing having great pride in being the top student in her abomination class. In Adventures in the Elements, she goes to The Knee in hopes of training to beat her siblings’ high score on the placement exam.

Amity also has a bit of a temper and gets annoyed easily. In I Was a Teenage Abomination, she sics her abominations on Willow and Luz just because she wasn’t named top student that day. In Enchanting Grom Fright, Amity snapped at the person she bumped into before realizing it was Luz. And later in the same episode, Amity beat up Hooty when he decided to get too close.

But she does have a soft sensitive side. She keeps a diary in her secret room in the library and even reads to kids in her free time. Amity also has a strong sense of integrity. She despises cheating (and cheaters) and feels guilt when she’s forced to break ties with Willow.

So why did someone like this fall for Luz of all people? (see above image)

Enter what I call my Shipping Theory of Compliments

The Shipping Theory of Compliments is that two characters would be shipped and sometimes canonically enter a romantic relationship based on their personalities complimenting each other and fulfilling elements they don’t have alone necessary to developing the character.

People like to use the image of a missing puzzle piece, but I don’t like that comparison because I think it’s a little inaccurate and I don’t like puzzles. Think of it more like the two pieces of the yin and yang coming together and then growing the circles of the opposite colors in them.

Something like that.

And it’s compliments, not opposites. When you think compliments, think more Star and Marco from Star vs the Forces of Evil. Star wants to go on a magical adventure. Marco also wants to go on a magic adventure. The difference is that Star goes in recklessly while Marco wants to plan it out a bit. They still have their adventure as oppose to Star’s opposite who wouldn’t want to go on a magical adventure. That sort of thing.

So how do Luz and Amity compliment each other?

Let’s start with that they have in common. Obvious stuff aside, they’re both training to become the best witches they can be. The difference comes that Luz is a human who has to learn magic via glyphs that she finds and Amity learns magic the “proper” way on The Boiling Isles.

Luz and Amity are also both fans of The Good Witch Azura book series. Difference is that Luz is more open about her fandom while Amity tries to keep it a secret. Also petty thing but they’re both fan artists too, but I think Luz might be a better than Amity. But hey, her crosshatching is improving.

Luz and Amity are also (at the start of the series) both lonely people. Luz’s mom says that she doesn’t have any friends, and Amity doesn’t like her “friends.” The difference is that Luz reaches outward to ease her loneliness (being social and friendly, trying new things, etc.) while Amity reaches inward (keeping a diary, staying busy, having a secret spot, etc.). They both also use escapist fiction to ease their loneliness.

That’s all well and good, but now we get into the real speculative parts.

...complimenting each other and fulfilling elements they don’t have alone necessary to developing the character.

When I was taking acting classes I was taught that the way you see people act is a persona based on their experiences on what it takes to survive and avoid physical, emotional and social death. So now we have to speculate based on what we were given on what emotional/social needs and wants has Amity not been getting before that she has with Luz.

First let me point you to another show called F is for Family. F is for Family is an adult animated sitcom on Netflix that follows a very dysfunctional family in the 1970s. These are legitimately bad characters, not in terms of being poorly written. What I’m saying is that these guys are assholes. But here’s where it gets interesting.

One of the characters is Kevin Murphy, the teenage son of the family. He’s a dim-witted wannabe rockstar who is always yelled at and put down by his parents throughout the entire series. However in season four Kevin meets Alice. Alice teaches Kevin that his favorite band is a big reference to Tolkien and gives him a copy of The Hobbit. They bond over their love of Lord of the Rings and get along really well. Alice calls him smart for being able to read all of Lord of the Rings over a few days and never puts him down. Even in the one time they did fight she never yelled at him or raised her voice which he found weird because he’s so used to being yelled at. Alice gave Kevin the emotional support he always wanted but never got from his family.

Using that as a backdrop, let’s go back to Amity.

Amity grew up with her parents making her do things she didn’t want to do, making choices for her. Amity wanted to be one way. Her parents wanted something else. Amity’s mother even dyes Amity’s hair green so it matches her siblings. Amity wanted to be friends with Willow. Amity’s parents wanted her to be friends with the mean kids. While Amity does work hard to be the best at what she’s doing, her parents also put pressure on her to make sure that she is at that level.

Her siblings are another bag of awful. They constantly refer to her by an annoying nickname that I’m guessing has an embarrassing moment attached to it. They seem to live by a double standard that Amity despises. She has to work hard and follow the rules just to be accepted while they are naturally talented and break the rules with everyone still thinking that they’re perfect.

Family is supposed to provide unconditional love except it looks like the love of the Blights is based on conditions. Nobody just likes Amity for who she is. She doesn’t have a friend.

Enter: the friendliest person she’s ever met

Amity has to struggle and work for the simplest things, even affection. Except when it comes to Luz. Luz is naturally friendly and positive. Amity doesn’t have to earn her kindness. Even when she’s bullied Luz before, Luz is always coming back with a smile. I suppose when you live life surrounded by jerks, you’ll want to hang out with the one person who’s always nice to you. Sort of.

Yes, Amity did think Luz was a bully for constantly getting her into trouble. But even at Covention and Lost in Language, Luz kept reaching out to her. This combined with Amity’s awareness of her own behavior is what convinced her to try to reach out in kind to Luz by the end of Lost in Language. “She’s trying to be nice to me, so I should try too,” I’m guessing is the mindset especially in Adventures in the Elements. And then...Luz continued to be nice to her which is kind of a big deal for Amity.

Let’s tally up what we have so far:

Luz and Amity have similar interests (The Good Witch Azura series, art, fiction, learning magic)

Luz and Amity have similar values (work ethic, disdain for cheating, protecting those closest to you, etc.)

Luz gives Amity the positivity and affection that Amity doesn’t normally get anywhere else

They still have differing personalities with Amity being more competitive and Luz having more of a live-and-let-live attitude.

Even with all these things in mind, why was Amity so scared to ask Luz to Grom?

Speculating again but my theory is that Amity wasn’t sure if Luz actually liked her or if Luz is just friendly because that’s how Luz is. Amity was scared of being rejected because she felt that maybe she was just reading the situation wrong. Luz is this ray of sunshine in her gray skies (if you’ll forgive the cliché). People like Amity always think of all the worst possibilities (I know because I do this too). Amity was probably thinking a bunch of what ifs. “What if Luz doesn’t actually like me? What if she’s just being friendly because she feels sorry for me? What if she has feelings for someone else? What if she never actually liked me? What if she’s straight?”

Luz is Amity’s first crush and it is scary as all hell to put yourself out there like that for the first time. She wasn’t expecting to get married at Grom night. She just wanted to dance with the girl she liked.

The dance at Grom was like confirmation for her that it could happen. Amity didn’t have to ask out Luz because Luz asked her. Being with Luz isn’t a pipedream. It’s a definite possibility. And we all know how she reacted to that idea.

Uh...she’ll be in her bunk.

While Luz and Amity aren’t together as of this typing, I believe it’s bound to happen. Until then, after The Lumity Trilogy, Amity knows that Luz is the girl she likes.

tl;dr version

Amity fell for Luz because they have similar interests and values, their personalities differ in a compatible way and Luz provides Amity emotional needs and wants that she doesn’t get anywhere else.

Also, round eared girl pretty.

Thanks everyone for reading.

#my thoughts #lumity #meta #analysis

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maxwell-grant · 3 years

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I was inspired by your Ryu post so I wanted to ask about another Street Fighter character. Growing up I didn't play the games but I had the toys and of all the toys my absolute favorite was Necro. I loved him and thought he had to be the center of the SF universe. Now I know better but the guy still has a special place in my heart. What would your 5 tenets be for handling Necro the strange rubberband man?

Oh man, I really love this ask, this is exactly the kind of question I dearly love to answer and would not get anywhere else. I really like Necro, he's a character I've grown to really love over time, and I also love reading stories like these, about the kinds of ideas people develop for certain stories or franchises based on what little information they have, that end up becoming almost like little glimpses into alternate scenarios. I really like reading these stories and I would eagerly appreciate being sent more of them if any of you all have some to spare.

I remember back when I discovered JJBA for the first time through it's tangential connection to Street Fighter, way before the anime and before I even knew how to read English proper, and how I used to think Lisa Lisa was the main character because she was associated with Rose, who's heavily associated with tarot cards, and because all I could find about Jojo was stuff on Part 3 and Heritage specifically, I thought it was a series about a bunch of weird tarot mystics duking it out (turned out it was about a bunch of weird -everything- duking it out and tarot was only a very very tiny part of it).

I'm not sure if I even 5 "tenets" for handling Necro, he's a very simple character who barely gets featured as is in the series, but I'll make an effort here. I've done a lot more for a lot less.

1: Necro is an outcast, a weirdo even among weirdos. He's a science fiction comic book character.

As described by one of his designers,

Necro - A warrior who emits electricity from his body, and can elongatae his limbs. The sad tale of a man who got developed into a weapon by the secret society Gill is in charge of.

Necro was a character took a lot of inspiration from Street Fighter 2. Primarily Dhalsim, of course. Dhalsim elongates his limbs because of his mastery of yoga, but regular people obviously can't do that, so we went a bit of a science fiction-y route by making him a human who had been experimented on.

He was conceived as the "oddball" of Street Fighter III, even exemplified by him taking traits from Blanka and Dhalsim, the previous oddballs of the franchise. Visually, Necro doesn't look like a representative of a fighting style or nationality the way most of the other characters do (or at least did, before SFIV), he looks like he wandered off a Hellboy or X-Men comic and ended up on the wrong franchise, this comic book comparison seems to have been even reinforced recently as Capcom's taken some steps to characterize Effie as a Harley Quinn-analogue, and I think it helps to set Necro apart as a character: He's a Superhero Comic Book character born in a franchise not built to accomodate him, where he's never gonna find his calling as a costumed adventurer or part of a team of fellow freaks, he's just gonna fight people while on the run from his creators trying to put him down.

While on paper Necro's design is often boiled down to "Dhalsim meets Blanka", I'd argue he uses these gimmicks better than the other two. He uses his electric powers in ways other than just shocking himself on contact, and stretching-wise he uses his powers in much more varied ways than Dhalsim, in a way he almost reads like Street Fighter's equivalent to Plastic Man, another stretchy punk character with an unusually grim origin who ends up becoming one of the cast's cartoonier characters. And speaking of said origin,

2: Necro is arguably the darkest, and the most tragic, of the Street Fighter III newcomers: Necro's entire origin is that he used to be a poor peasant named Illya, living in a deserted Russian village with 4 siblings (two older brothers, one younger sister), who left his home and family when he was 18 looking for a better life of freedom and riches. At some point, he was tricked by the Illuminati with the promise of a great future, and turned into a freakish pale monster with elastic rubber skin, electric powers and a computer in his brain to enhance his fighting abilities. One of Necro's earliest victory lines even was "I'm in pain!", which is something he says even when he wins, which possibly indicates his powers hurt in some capacity.

He was made into a slave fighting under the command of the Illuminati (you see the scientists mess around with his monitors in his stage), fighting based on the promise Gill made to him of eventually getting his freedom (and he secretly wants to take revenge on Gill). Gill in his ending then lies to him and entraps him to be destroyed as nothing but an expendable failure, and then he's rescued by his girlfriend Effie. His plotline in Third Strike is that the two of them are on the run from the Illuminati, which is trying to kill the two of them purely to cover up their existence, and there is no one they can rely on other than themselves.

Personality-wise, Necro can be snappy and bitter, he makes grim jokes about how he can smell "freshly cooked brain matter" or see the sweat crackle off his defeated enemy, and in 1st Generation/2nd Impact in particular there's a desperation to some of his victory lines like "Get outta my way or I'll tear you limb from limb!" and "I'll win by any means necessary. I will survive!", which only makes sense considering he's quite literally fighting for his freedom and his life in a way none of the other fighters are (it shows even in how much more mellowed out he is in Third Strike, because he's no longer with the Illuminati and he's got Effie). A SF3 Q&A from Gamest released prior to Third Strike that detailed information on the characters even remarked that Necro regarded every fight as an exertion made "to earn tomorrow's freedom". Where as his motivation in 2nd Impact emphasized his desire for freedom and revenge, all he wants in 3rd Strike is to escape with Effie from the Illuminati targeting him.

He's not a soldier, he doesn't work with law enforcement, he's got no allies among the main cast, he's not a trained warrior, he was an 18 year old kid who tried to find a better life outside of home and was transformed into a monster and shackled, and is now currently on the run from a criminal organization that practically controls the world, with seemingly no end in sight.

3: ...But all things considered he's actually taking it really well.

Necro's got an interesting dychotomy character-wise because, despite having an unusually grim origin by Street Fighter standards and a design that's meant to be eerie and corpse-like (it's in his name after all), he's got a fairly upbeat, cocky attitude as a fighter, he's extremely expressive and cartoony even by Street Fighter designs.

Character-wise, Necro's far from a bad guy. He's a well-meaning misfit with a chip on his shoulder (and brain) who, amidst all the bad hands he's been dealt, has managed to achieve exactly what he wanted even as Illya: freedom. His endings are downright sappy and uncharacteristically so among the cast, as they depict him and Effie overcoming the odds and running off together into the sunset, or him using his superhero powers to rescue her and proclaiming that, for the first time, he's grateful for his freakish body that lets him protect what matters to him.

(Art by Gene Fayne)

4: Necro and Effie are dorks

Actually, Necro's a dork even without Effie joining him for singing win poses, laying down next to him when he's defeated, or dressing up for Halloween. He cracks poses with his stretchy powers while fighting, he sings opera when he wins, he canonically likes "love poetry" and even has this really dumb rhyme for a win quote (I'm long and strong! To challenge me would be so wrong!), he likes to use his body as a pirate radio station, and remember how I mentioned that his backstory describes that he left his village to find freedom and riches? In that Q&A mentioned above written for 2nd Impact, we get to read what Necro's dream looks like, before Effie came along:

A dream to him?

A: Things such as a Rolex on his arm while eating a hamburger, jeans and a T-shirt while driving a Benz around.

That's what being rich and free looked like to him. Driving a car with a fancy watch and eating hamburgers. This is all the dude wanted in life. Just the simplest, dumbest pleasures that he never got to have growing up.

(Art by betofu)

5: Necro was designed from the start to have a romantic angle to his storyline, and while he can work as a character without it, with Effie, he becomes one of the rarest things in fighting games: A captivating love story

As Sadamoto elaborated recently on the origins of Effie

We also made a girlfriend for him.

Capcom Representative: Effie, right? Effie was planned from pretty early on, wasn't she?

Tomoshi Sadamoto: Yes, yes. We worked out a supporting cast for the characters to deepen their backstories from the very beginning, to bring them out in their endings and such. Every character in the game has supporting characters attached to them, right?

Capcom Representative: Indeed, there are loads.

Tomoshi Sadamoto: Contrary to the Street Fighter 2 days, it was difficult to tell a story with just the characters alone, so we wanted secondary cast members to develop the main cast more deeply.

Capcom Representative: So you created the very characters with their supporting cast in mind as well?

Tomoshi Sadamoto: Yes, it's good to have as many hooks as possible to reel people in with.

It's good that people seemed to like that a lot, as well.

This in particular I think comes back to what you mentioned in your ask, about how you used to think that Necro was the center of the SF universe and then you found out he wasn’t.

Because this used to be one of the greatest things about fighting games: the fact that someone who played the games off the arcade could have made the same assumption you did. The fact that, at the character select screen, knowing nothing about the game or what lore it has or where the storyline is going, every character can be the protagonist. Every character had a complete storyline, a motivation, a supporting cast of their own. Necro wasn’t any different from Alex, or Ibuki, or Dudley, he wasn’t given any more or less attention than they were, it all depended on just how much the player wanted to invest into the character, how much they wanted to learn, how willing they were to fight their way to the boss and learn about their future in the ending.

Every character was their own universe you could learn glimpses about through the bits the game would give you and you could look up later. This is lost when the game prioritizes the existence of a singular big story where obviously some characters are expected to take precedence over others, and this is certainly not a bad approach, it’s basic storytelling. But putting it like that, I suspect this may be part of the reason why I’m deeply indifferent to superhero events where every character becomes the ensemble of a juggling act.

Or to put it simply: Anon, it doesn’t matter that Necro is a low-tier, obscure, barely featured character in a universe full of vastly more important or well-liked characters, and none of that matters, because those other characters didn’t have the impact on you Necro did, none of them were the strange rubberman who made for the best toy of the bunch and gained that special place in your heart, none of the others mattered to you the way Necro did.

To you, Necro’s the center of the Street Fighter universe, because he’s at the center of the way you interacted with it. Even if you’re not really a fan of Street Fighter in general, that place in your heart occupied by the strange rubberman and the joy of a childhood toy, is something you’re gonna carry with you for life. Frankly, that’s the highest honor that could possibly be attached to any character or piece of media.

#replies tag #street fighter #necro #effie #capcom #videogames #deeply delighted to hear that Necro was someone's favorite Street Fighter character #personally my favorite was Sagat #I even got into Muay Thai because of it #and today even was the first day I was able to go back to Muay Thai after 5 years #i'm feeling great because of it and this ask was particularly timely

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