#((only for plot movement

[ranger-danger]

In honor of Kane getting a Wyrmling as a familiar in my current dnd campaign. I like the light on it.

[lovesodeepandwideandwell]

Watching Severance does feel a bit like reading a fic with 15000 word chapters that are almost entirely world-building and setup and there are only 2/47 chapters published and those came out 3 years apart

[epiphainie]

honestly what could be the big movement in buck's life right now other than leaving the loft behind? im not even a big fan of the idea of bucktommy moving in together that soon (screentime-wise, not how long they'd been dating in-story) but we know that buck ending another relationship wouldn't be a new thing for him. we know that he won't quit his job to pursue something else. he may go for captain if bobby moves onto chief (i thought his comment on the set was very sneaky actually) but hen's got that job before buck. his relationship with his parents, sister, best friend all seem to be very stable where none of them would lead to a change. finally moving out of that loft is the next step in his life and what could be the catalyst for it if not his relationship with tommy?

[thefuriousmagician]

What a Beautiful Lie

“I’m sorry, you want to take me where for my first time to a droid bar?”

“Ta Nar Shaddaa! C’mon, it’s nice, promise.”

The two droids currently stood in the 1974’s cockpit, Huyang blocking the larger pirate droid from even thinking about getting into the copilot seat.

“I can say with the utmost confidence that it’s not. Why don’t we go to Coruscant? Or somewhere that… isn’t in Hutt Space and rampant with crime?”

SM-33 let out an exasperated huff of noise from his vents, head rearing in a pantomimed eye roll, “I wouldn’t be takin’ ya there if I didn’t think we could handle ourselves.”

“You might be able to handle yourself! I’m a Mark IV, I’m at a far higher risk of dismemberment than you are!”

“Aye, but you’ve survived for this long haven’t ya? You can handle it. You act like you don’t have balls when you’ve been rallying against the Empire without an organic through the entirety of the war!”

“That’s. Well, that’s different.”

“Is it?”

Huyang folded his arms, fingers tapping restlessly on his forearm. Finally he grunted, exasperated, and spoke, “Fine. Okay. But we’re not taking the Four Seven.”

SM-33 tilted is head, “It’s yer turn to drive.”

“I am not flying the Four Seven into Hutt space. If something happens to it, I’d have to explain quite a bit to Lady Tano.”

“Fine, fine. But yer drivin’ for the next two trips.”

Huyang had never been so anxious on a trip with the pirate. He felt ill just thinking about where they were going. And for a bar! A bar that SM-33 swore by? Surely, it must have some merit if the larger droid liked going there.

It didn’t soothe Huyang’s anxieties though. This was new ground for him to cover. He’d never been to a bar before, much less a bar dedicated to droids. Those were rare and far between in the galaxy, and even so, he never felt the need or desire to visit one. Between the Imperial War and keeping himself online over the years without the Order, he’d never really had the memory space to consider it.

When SM-33 had heard of Huyang’s lack of “fun” though, he immediately suggested it.

Huyang had entered a sort of power saving mode once they entered hyperspace and roused when SM-33 spoke from the pilot’s seat. “We’re here.”

Huyang sat straight with a creak of his aging joints and looked out the transparasteel. Nar Shaddaa floated before them, the amber moon’s atmosphere filled with gray smog and the cities sat on its surface brimming with lights.

It looked just as intense as Huyang recalled it in his databanks.

SM-33 flew down through the smog coated atmosphere, no atmospheric patrol calling their comms to ask them for their business to speak of. The Onyx Cinder soared down towards an industrialized section of the city. Huyang blinked as lights and flickering billboards blinded his photoreceptors momentarily before refocusing. The buildings were tall and stretched up to the smoke in the skies, made up of metal and covered in a wide variety of lights. The ship lanes were crowded with traffic, and the Onyx Cinder expertly carved through the crowd, going down, down, down.

The further down they went, the darker the city got. Natural light trickling through the smoke in the atmosphere diminished rapidly and soon, the only lights were the neons of billboards and signs.

The professor asked anxiously, “It’s here?”

“Aye. There’s a hangar down here ta park and then you walk the rest o’ the way.”

Huyang let out a tiny anxious noise from his vocoder and SM-33 sighed. “If yer so anxious, why don’t ya take out them lightswords?”

“I have them in my storage compartment.”

“Then there’s nothin’ ta worry about!”

SM-33 maneuvered the ship down towards a hangar that has certainly seen better days, figures staring up at them as the Cinder lowered itself down carefully like an organic settling into a warm bath. Several pit droids and old astromechs scrambled out of the way as the modified mint ship shimmied into the space.

“Are you sure it’s safe to park here?” Huyang asked, standing from his copilot seat to help switch off the power to the engines as SM-33 started locking up the cockpit.

“Aye, it’ll be fine. Jus’ need ta triple lock the maintenance hatches and landing gear ‘n’ we’re set.”

Huyang grunted, letting out some hot air from his vents. The older droid was happy for SM-33’s caution, relaxing a little more.

“Also,” SM-33 spoke up. “You definitely cannot wear that apron.”

Huyang blinked, looking down at it and looking back up at SM-33, “What? What’s wrong with it?”

“No, and I mean no, droid is wearin’ something like that in this district. That thing is way too expensive looking. Jus’ th’ belt, if you can. Remember, most these droids down here are pirates or thugs or whatever, not toy makers.”

Huyang huffed, “A lot of rules to this outing.”

“Lookin’ out for ya. I’ll wait outside for you, go put yourself together.”

SM-33 stood outside of the Onyx Cinder, a deathstick hanging out of his modded mouthguard as he waited for the professor. He saw the occasional repair jockie take a peak at him and the ship curiously, but quickly rushed away when SM-33 gave a warning with a whirring huff of smoke from his vents.

He perked up when he heard Huyang’s footsteps on the landing ramp and turned to look up at the architect.

Huyang was only in a leather belt, to his credit. Not only that, but it looked like he rubbed himself down in an oily rag to tone down his blue and white paint job. Artificially placed grime was pressed into the gaps between plates and stained the white of his torso and legs where it would conceivably gain the most wear and tear. SM-33 didn’t think he’d ever seen Huyang without some form of covering over his pelvis.

SM-33 whistled, slipping the deathstick out of his mod. “Well, well, well, who’s this pretty old thing?”

Huyang groaned, “Oh, sod off.” But SM-33 could hear the flustered puff of air that came from Huyang’s vents.

SM-33 raised the landing platform with his keys and made sure to lock down everything he conceivably could on the Cinder. He even locked the landing legs to the hangar to ensure someone couldn’t fly off with it.

Huyang watched, arms folded and feeling more than a little nude without his apron. SM-33 came back, stuffing keys and the keycard for the hangar locks into a storage compartment on his person.

“Alright! Ready ta go. C’mon ‘Yang, let’s get ya buzzed!”

Huyang mumbled, “I’d rather not be too intoxicated, thank you.”

“Ah, whatever ya wanna do. This is supposed ta be about ya feelin’ yerself! No organics, no base programming, jus’ you and whatever yer processor desires!”

Huyang let out a considering noise, and started when he noticed the pirate already hobbling off into the metal jungle of the droid slums. He jogged a few steps to keep up and fell in step with him, arms folded behind his back and his fingers tapping anxiously at his wrists.

SM-33 walked with large loping strides through the crowded streets of the industrialized district, Huyang practically stepping on his heels with how close he was staying to him. Every once in a while, the professor would reach forward to grace his fingers over SM-33’s arm, and he would slow down a little to let Huyang look around before they would proceed. SM-33 glanced at the older droid, who currently had his head on a swivel. It made sense, Thirty-Three had to admit. He was the same way when he first came here with his old crew.

Soon, work stations, repair shops, and upgrade stations started fading away into blacklight shops. Here, there was a little more organics than none at all. Being a pleasure droid made decent credits, especially for organics with… interests to say the least. Huyang was quick to avert his gaze, staring directly at the floor and Thirty-Three and his peds. SM-33 didn’t mind though. He gave a polite nod to the occasional flirtatious wave from a few robotic escorts and made a mental note to come back around without the professor to indulge himself.

He told himself he would be starting the older droid light.

Huyang asked, “This is it?”

“Aye.”

SM-33 and Huyang stood before a bar that was crowded all over. The proximity of the metallic bodies in the streets and against the walls speaking in binary to each other made his frame warm, to the point his inner fans kicked up. SM-33 shouldered his way through the crowd and into the bar, making a path for them both.

Huyang scuttled after him, head ducked to avoid eye contact with anyone unsavory. He froze up when they made it inside. The bar was dark and lit with flashing neon lights and filled with steam and smoke. There was a mingling of binary, Common, and Huttese fighting for dominance in the air, loud and clambering for attention in his audio receptors. His olfactory sensors picked up the cloying smell of oil, alcohol, nicotine, cleaning fluids, and a variety of other artificial products that a droid could conceivably be effected by. It was crowded inside too, but a little less chaotic. Droids sat on benches with each other, leaned against the walls, settled at the bar itself. He whipped his head away when he saw a couple of droids with their power sources plugged in and their interfacer spikes entwined.

“‘Yang? You good?”

Huyang looked up to SM-33. He had a hand placed on his shoulder, his head tilted slightly to the side as he seemed to be watching his photoreceptors for… discomfort? Panic?

"Yes," Huyang replied after a moment of small hesitation.

"We can head back if this ain't doing it fer ya."

"No, I'm okay. Come. You know this bar better than I do."

The professor took the lead, his skinny frame allowing him to shimmy through the organized chaos of metal bodies without disrupting droids in deep conversation or drinking or whatever else one did while here. SM-33 made his own path behind him, needing to shoulder a few hulls of metal with clinks and clanks as he moved.

When Huyang made it to the comparable calmness of the bar counter, he was faced with an overwhelming amount of choices once again. The service droid behind the counter looked up, and hummed curiously. "Well, don't we got a fancy one here," the service droid observed, one pair of hands reaching behind it to set cleaned glasses aside, the other pair supplying support as the bartender leaned forward on its elbows. "Hm. I've never seen you around before. Who-"

Before the bartender could even say another word, SM-33 was next to Huyang, wrapping an arm around Huyang's slim shoulders. Huyang let out a choked noise from his vocoder, and SM-33 cheerily greeted, "Fiftee-C! Been a while!"

The bartender straightened and let out a hearty laugh that had it's vocoder whining with static. "Thirty-Three! I thought you got dismantled out in that big galaxy!" It reached across the bar with one of its hands, and SM-33 clapped his own palm against it's in greeting. "Where've you been? I haven't seen you for… well, a long time!"

"Ah, y'know, pillagin', ransackin'… Eh, no more Rennod though."

"Figured as much. He's a legend I hear floating around every once in a while. Never heard anything about you, so I thought you'd crawl back up like the spider-roach you are."

50-C gestured at Huyang, "And I'm also guessing this one's yours. Who's this?"

Huyang cleared his throat, "I'm ah…"

SM-33 broke in, "Y4-N6. I call 'im Yang. He's not me crew, jus' a friend."

"A friend?" 50-C hummed, tilting his slim silver head. "Never took you for the type to like them skinny and chrome, Thirty-Three."

"Ah, not like that! Anyway, this is his first time. Need somethin' light to start us off."

"Mm, sure, I've got something in mind. What fluids can you take, N6?"

Huyang blinked his photoreceptors, "Oh, uh. Nepenthé, caf, alcohols, oil-"

"So, anything."

The professor stood stunned for a few moments before replying carefully, "I can't ingest beer, but I can spirits."

50-C nodded, silver torso spinning on its ball jointed spine to its selection of tonics behind the counter. "I can work with that! Oh, and here." A silver arm spun around behind the bent torso and held out two small durasteel sleeves. Huyang tilted his head, taking one while SM-33 took the other rather eagerly. "Jolt packs, on the house."

Huyang almost dropped the sleeve, "Jolt packs! Well, I- Thirty-Three!"

The pirate droid already had one of the thin circuit boards between his fingers, snaking a thin cord out from under his helm, "What? I told ya, we're here ta feel ourselves! And I haven't had a jolt pack in centuries."

The pirate pulled out a barstool, sitting down heavily with a grunt and plugging in. There was a buzz that sounded from the connection that had Huyang wincing, but SM-33 seemed more than pleased. "Ahh, there it is," SM-33's gruff voice was vibrating with excess electricity. His entire frame relaxed against the counter, head tilting and photoreceptor flickering.

Huyang sighed, sitting down next to the taller droid. 50-C looked up from filling some glasses with nepenthé, asking, "Do you need an adapter?"

"No, thank you."

50-C slid two glasses of nepenthé to the both of them, humming,

"There you are, nepenthé with a little bit of stimulant to spice it up. Holler if you need anything else."

"Thank you." Huyang quietly took the drink, looking down into the black liquid. He swirled it idly, jaw clicking against its pistons, before he lifted it to his faux mouth and took a sip.

SM-33 awakened while Huyang was nursing a half empty cocktail, the glass he had used for the nepenthé already handed off to 50-C. SM-33 straightened with a creak of his joints, groaning, "Ah, that's a lot better. What'd I miss?"

Huyang replied, "Not much. Your nepenthé is getting warm."

SM-33 tilted his head, his pistons slightly overextending. "Oof. Aye, I forgot about that… Hey! Ya already ordered somethin' else?"

Huyang's photoreceptors side eyed him, as he replied, "You overcharged, I'm not waiting on you to continue with this… learning experience? I suppose its a learning experience."

"Wellll, what'd ya get?"

"… Don't laugh," Huyang started, turning in his stool for face him. "It's a Takodana Quencher."

SM-33 did laugh. It was a startled sort of noise, a loud guffaw that had 33's vents huffing with the force of it.

"I said don't laugh!"

"'Yang, that's just a real fancy fruit drink! I'll order us somethin' stronger when I finish my nepenthé."

Huyang bemoaned, "What will that do to my poor processor?"

"Ah, you'll be fine! Ya ain't made of transparasteel!"

"I have a large amount of archival information in my database that isn't found anywhere else in the galaxy. That is most definitely something that fragile."

"Then don't take processor washers or virus clips! Simple as that."

Huyang grunted, thumbing his arm for few moments. Finally he admitted, "There is a rather pleasant buzz happening in my central processing unit."

SM-33 beamed. "See! That's th' spirit! Let's get karked!"

"Not that inebriated. We still need to fly back to the hangar on Lothal."

SM-33 chuckled, "Oh please, I can fly ta Lothal with me photoreceptors shot."

SM-33 snaked out his waste pipe and slipped it into the glass of nepenthé. "Maybe I can talk ya inta tryin' a jolt pack."

"Don't get your hopes up."

SM-33 had learned several things about the older droid over their friendship. One: Huyang was definitely not as innocent as SM-33 thought he was. He had proved that over and over again the more he talked to the professor. Second: Huyang was capable of bantering with him, almost on par with Rennod if he shut off his visual receptors and thought very hard. Third: Huyang was tougher than he looked. And finally: Professor Huyang was the lightest weight he had ever had the pleasure of knowing.

SM-33 could throw it up to Huyang being a drink ahead of him, but that cocktail he had before he woke up from his system reboot was more fruit juice and pop than alcohol. Music had started playing in the bar by now, other than the thrum of aesthetic acoustic and the background of mingling languages. Huyang was listing to the left directly into SM-33's side, one hand gesturing wildly as he spoke and the other occupied by an empty glass that was coming far too close to SM-33's face as the professor gesticulated.

"And I mean, honestly!" the professor shouted, vocoder warbling. "It feels like those organics never listen to me anyway! Why do I even bother trying to give them a lick of advice if they're just gonna, uhh, krik it all up! Shove that wisdom right up my aft I suppose!" Huyang set aside his glass with a clink of finality on the bar counter, groaning, "I swear to… to the Force! And all that is above, Lady Tano is just traveling with me to make me suffer. Or maybe I agreed because I'm a- a… masochist! I'm a masochist. I just love torturing myself and seeing how far I can get without getting completely demolished!"

Huyang's photoreceptors stuttered, digital eyelids flickering at a disjointed timing and SM-33 broke in, "Aye, I hear ya. Organics, annoying little kriffers."

"No!" Huyang roared, and that had SM-33 blinking in surprise. "That's not what I… I mean! They're so…! I love them! I love Lady Tano!"

SM-33 tilted his head, "… Thought she was like… a child ta ya?"

Huyang paused, processing before he shouted, mortified, "That's not what I meant! She… She's my student…! She's my student, my last student! The last student I'll ever-!" Huyang's voice hiccuped. His photoreceptors flickered, narrowed, drooped, and then he dropped his helm into his palms. "S-She's my last student! She's the only student I have left! If something were to happen to her… I don't know what I'd do! I have to keep her safe! But she never listens to me!"

SM-33 sat awkwardly next to Huyang as his voice broke like a dry twig underfoot, and pitiful simulated sobs leaked out of him as his vents huffed and puffed with his overwrought emotions.

He didn't know what to do. SM-33 was a pirate. He wasn't good at comfort. He was good at encouraging people to run from their problems, good at distraction, good at banter, good at pillaging, singing, carousing. But he wasn't good at comfort. He looked up helplessly, looking around for something to guide him. Huyang was the one that was good at this, not him. 50-C had turned to look at the commotion and made eye contact with the pirate. SM-33 could see the bartender's wince from where he sat.

A pathetic shuttering from Huyang's vents was what called SM-33's attention back to him. "Stars, 'Yang. C'mon, it's alright… Ya can't even leak, no need ta waste battery on this, heh. Eh…"

He wasn't sure if Huyang heard him and that made it worse, or if the professor was stuck in his own processor, but his shaking grew minutely stronger.

This was not what SM-33 had in mind for their night out. He wanted to make the older droid loosen up, not make him cry.

SM-33 spoke, voice a little louder, "Huyang. Hey. I don't… 'M not… Ya need ta tell me what ya need. What do ya want me ta do? Do ya wanna go back to th' Cinder? Back ta Lothal? Is that what ya need?"

The professor shook his head, fingers tapping anxiously at his helm. "No, no, I don't… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make your trip so bad, I…"

"Ya didn't make no trip bad, 'Yang. I wanted ta take ya here. 'Tis our trip, not mine. Tell me what ya need, 'nd we'll do it."

Huyang let out a simulated sniffle. "I don't want to leave."

"Do ya need a hug?" SM-33 did not know where that came from. Maybe it was from spending so much time around the kiddies, recognizing their need for physical affection while taking care of them as they flew around, looking for At Attin. Maybe it was from taking care of the rat stuck in his eye, or watching the kids reunite with their parents after everyone managed to come out of the pirate invasion mostly unscathed.

Wherever it came from, it turned out to be the right thing to say. Huyang's vents huffed, his vocoder let out a tiny noise. Then the droid's listing became more intentional, shifting to get closer to SM-33's chassis. SM-33 carefully circled his arms around the leaner body next to him and Huyang buried his faceplate into his shoulder. The positioning was awkward, SM-33's embrace was unsure, and Huyang was more laying in SM-33's arms than hugging back. It wasn't perfect. But it was enough.

SM-33's thumb rubbed circles into Huyang's armor, smudging his intentional weathering job. "There, there, 'Yang. I've got ya." He tightened his hug when he felt the architect's plates shake. "I've got ya, 'Yang. Yer safe."

SM-33 held Huyang for what felt like a millennium. He only loosened his hold when SM-33 couldn't hear Huyang's vents puffing against his hands.

He leaned back, holding Huyang's shoulders to keep him upright, "You alright now, 'Yang?"

Huyang rubbed at his photoreceptors, obviously an unconscious mimicking tic, "Yes. I'm okay now. I'm sorry, I-"

"Stop sayin' that, old man. No need for you ta be sorry. I think I got ya too pumped full of alcohol."

Huyang chuckled. "I'm afraid I, uh, can't hold my liquor."

"Tis alright."

SM-33 looked up, finally aware of the music in the bar. SM-33 stood, bringing Huyang with him. Huyang let out a startled, questioning noise, and of course he stumbled on his unsteady feet. "C'mon, no more mopin'! Ya ever danced before, 'Yang?"

Huyang stuttered, "I, uh, no. Read about-"

"Readin' ain't the same as doin' it!" SM-33 practically dragged the stumbling architect into a more open space of the bar, where there were already droids gathering to dance or mill about. "C'mon, follow me lead!"

As expected, Huyang was not good at dancing, especially while inebriated. He moved like he had been manufactured with two left feet. Although, Huyang was of the opinion that SM-33 wasn't either. All he knew were pirate jigs, and therefore all he did were those, even if it didn't match the genre of the song. It made Huyang laugh far more than it probably would've if he was sober. Huyang attempted to at least match the genre to the movements, even if it made him look silly.

The goal of the trip was to feel himself, right? It was to be free, something that Huyang and SM-33 couldn't be, at least not really or legally.

But they could pretend for tonight.

Huyang could pretend that he wasn't a lightsaber architect left behind by time and SM-33 could pretend he wasn't a pirate droid without a crew and an illusionary future.

Huyang watched SM-33 as he tried to match his steps, awkward and loping as he was between his bulky frame and his peg leg. If he was organic, he would grin. Instead his photoreceptors narrowed in a pantomimed smile. They were so close, Huyang could feel SM-33's puffing vents and pneumatics on his armor and joints.

Perhaps it was the liquid courage sloshing around in the droid's wastebucket and coursing through his circuits. Perhaps it was being caught up in a beautiful lie like this, that they could dance and be more than they were designed to be. Perhaps it was something more.

Whatever it was, Huyang took a step closer, directly into SM-33's space, grabbed the pirate droid by the wires extending from the back of his head, leaned up on his ped's toes and pressed his forehead against his and clacked his faux mouth against 33's grill.

There was a shock of static electricity between their face plates, and it made Huyang jump, but he didn't let go. In fact, he pressed closer. SM-33 let out a tiny startled grunt, but otherwise leaned with him. The grunt morphed into a growl that vibrated his grill and Huyang's vents huffed in response. Huyang released him after a few moments, but it felt like they had been entwined for hours.

They stared at each other, SM-33's single photoreceptor gazing at the older droid in shock. They stood like two statues in the middle of the dance floor, before SM-33 took Huyang's hands.

And they continued to dance.

The walk back to the Cinder was uneventful. Huyang leaned more on SM-33 as they walked, giggly and talkative as ever. He gestured wide and broad as he told SM-33 stories of the galaxy that he thought he would like. 33 was more than eager to trade, telling Huyang about his tales of plunder and scavenging. The alcohol made both of the droid's vocoders looser than usual. Huyang told 33 about his time as a Rebellion spy, stories that even Ahsoka didn't know and 33 talked about Rennod and the old crew of the Onyx Cinder.

Unlocking the Onyx Cinder was difficult. Between the two of them, they barely had the dexterity to undo all the locks on the ship. Huyang collapsed from laughter when SM-33 tried to tug off the stuck hangar lock after undoing it with his keycard and fell down when it popped off with a thoonk.

By the time they clambered back onto the ship and Huyang had settled into the copilot seat, SM-33 announced, "Ready for takeoff! All settled, 'Yang?”

"Aye aye, Smee," Huyang called back drowsily.

They flew out of Nar Shaddaa the same way they had come, and soon had entered hyperspace to get to Lothal. SM-33 stood, flicking on autopilot and ensuring the Cinder was on course before he turned back to Huyang who was staring at the colors flashing past in the viewport.

"Do ya need help with that oil smudging yer armor?"

"Hm?" Huyang flicked his gaze away, and looked up at SM-33. "I think it quite suits me, don't you?"

SM-33 chuckled, "Aye, it do, but unfortunately, you like keepin' up appearances fer yer Lady Tano."

Huyang grunted, slowly standing from the copilot seat. He stumbled a step or two, but then regained his balance and dragged himself over while holding the wall. "I don't think I need help… Where's your sonic?"

"Here, I'll show ya."

Huyang did need a little help undoing the utility belt and reattaching it to his apron, but otherwise, he cleaned up rather nicely. SM-33 had to admit, it was impressive considering the droid was very much sloshed.

By the time he crawled back to the cockpit where 33 waited, he was back to his old chrome self with the apron strapped around his waist and hiding his pelvic plates. 33 had to admit, he would miss seeing them.

"You okay ta get back ta the '74?" SM-33 asked Huyang once they landed in the hangar where the T-6 was parked. Unfortunately, the T-6 was just in another hangar suite.

"Yes, I'll be fine," Huyang unsteadily stood, and paused. "Thank you. For taking me to the bar tonight. I had fun."

33 nodded, "'Course. 'Nd we can go again whenever ya want."

Huyang hummed, photoreceptors lidding, "I'd like that."

[saveadancejustforyou]

The term "curl police" feels like a thinly veiled way of saying "type 4 hair isn't welcome here" atp

[squipedmew]

ok I’m just gonna say this but full stop if you think that RWBY “fell off” or peaked in the first 3 volumes then I’m sorry but you need to rewatch the series because i know for a fact it’s the nostalgia talking. Volumes 1-2 and like half of 3 are just. Not that good.

[hana-bobo-finch]

ah yes…..time for another pdbc post….why make proper character introductions or lore explanations when I can make rushed doodles explaining the questionably-canon lore of Crackhead Yoshi

anyway in the most recent lore development that will play absolutely no role in anything, bellona had a yoshi plush she used to store drugs in. not to take but to just. have on hand in case they were needed yknow? she named him crackhead yoshi and is ashamed of his existence but also refuses to let anyone take him away from her

fun fact! one of the few times her brother visited her as a kid he found crackhead yoshi and that Probably contributed to the whole being-pretty-distant-from-the-rest-of-the-family thing

[kalosian-woods]

(yo its the "haunted by the synchro ep scene" anon)

you 🤝 me

studying and dissecting THAT scene like a specimen under a microscope

anyways i love love love love how you dissected it like it got me curious on how greninja feels about all thjs

It's a curse I will gladly bear if it means having fun with all of you heh! I'm not just studying the sciences for nothing after all, gotta get as much out of these scenes as we can (*pushes eps through a lemon squeezer*). If I don't, then who will, after all??

And ahhh, tysm!!!!! <333 :D You've given me so much food for though I had to just dive in and see what I could extract at that moment. Now that I think about it, there are like 20 more things that we can do with those scenes: using them as a metric for all the other times Ash gets weak and/or faints, seeing Greninja's reaction in those split seconds, the progression of the bond as the series goes on, a whole bunch of stuff.

You raise a pretty good question though!! In the anime proper we don't get much about Greninja's reaction (both physical or mental) regarding the bond - I would say the most we get is in Snowbelle when both he and Ash split paths and idk run away. I'm trying my very hardest to not go into the whole ep because GEEZ does it have a lot to unpack lol, but I find it so interesting that while Ash is on the ground pacing around a log, Greninja is sitting up a tree, recalling his two back-to-back losses and clenching his fist (just like Ash was) while looking away in disgust/in pain, as if he couldn't stand the sight of it. And back in the Pokemon Centre while facing his back to him (dreamscape memories, anyone???) Ash apologizes to him, saying that he should've gotten his act together (that's the moment where Grenin opens his eyes and I mean in that active way). After recalling what Ash said to him he then slams his fist on the tree before going on the move (presumably back to Ash or the Pokemon Centre). To me, I feel like Greninja assumes just as much responsibility over the bond as Ash does, wanting to reach that same state of power and exercise complete control over it. He also feels blame towards himself when he loses (especially since I think in both instances Grenin knocked out before Ash could or, as with the Sawyer battle, before they could even activate the change) and tends to immerse himself in his fustrations as a result.

In a way, both Ash and Greninja are mirrors, but they aren't perfect copies of each other. They will inevitably experience different emotions, see different things, react in different ways. We see this all the way at the start in EP 3 'A Battle of Aerial Mobility!' where Ash was focused on catching Fletchling to add to his team (on account of being fast) while Froakie wanted to beat it up for making Bonnie upset, and this is right after the last ep where Froakie chose Ash because of both of them being of the same mind in helping Pokemon and stopping bad guys. Ngl early eps do set up pretty well the whole 'aura/connection' thing that Greninja will eventually grow into - he derives his power through strong emotions. Most of the time the Bond is activated through their shared excitement in battle, and they tend to lose it because of some disconnect that they experience afterwards. Back to XYZ EP28 'Seeing the Forest for the Trees!', when they finally manage to break off the bond without any strain (after how many eps....), it is due to the relief of a job well done. Just,, look at this!!

Now that I think about it, XYZ EP25 'Championing a Research Battle!' is also a nice place to see a bit more Greninja imo. When they get into the transformation after a successful hit on Diantha's Gardevoir (a rare sight, considering it's a speedy one) (also, interesting moment to lock in), Ash tends to shout out 'stronger!' or some variation after every so moves. Greninja is also a lot more evocative through his movements, or at least it seems so to me, and he's very hands-on in-your-face with the battle, with many attacks coming after him closing the gap while running forward most of the time. A interesting part that I noted was this observation by Clemont in regards to Greninja and Gardevoir:

It's not just me, Greninja is actively more agressive with his moves during the Bond Phenomenon, or at least here in this situation, faced up against a Champion's Ace. Right after this Ash calls Greninja to go 'faster, faster!' and then Greninja lauches himself forward again, with the graph looking tighter and tighter (I wish I could gif it but it's so transparent lol). Even Clemont is surprised! It's the fact that looking at the graph and the actual battle itself, all those commands Ash keeps calling out (to go faster, to be stronger, more, more) is something that Greninja also echoes at the same time. Greninja also believes this and so reflects this change as the battle rages on.

It goes to the point beyond them summoning a massive Water Shuriken, it goes beyond managing to slam through a Mega Gardevoir's Shadow Ball, it even goes beyond the wavelengths as well...

Those wavelengths look like two seconds away from just being a straight line imo. And that begs the question, if them being 'more' means merging more and more to the point where each wave is barely indistinguishable from the other, then what does that leave them? Does that mean that Ash and Greninja as we know it will cease to be seperate entities in every sense of the word? Will they truly become one?

I guess this is all to say, I feel like Greninja never really let go of that pride that he had since he was a Froakie - he truly measures himself by his strength and the results that brings him (and others too). While a bit more pragmatic about than Ash (usually), he still feels losses just as keenly as him and tends to stew in them to his detriment. He also lusts for power too, being just as eager to tap into that potential as Ash; not just for the sake of it, but in the service of others such as helping others in need (or at least it used to, until they both got lost in the greed and the rush in the Snowbelle arc). Greninja probably assumes he's the one with the biggest slice of the burden regarding the transformation because he is the one with the potential in the first place, but in the end it is a bond. It goes both ways. And it will take a lot for these two to realise that.

Maybe therein lies the journey, to learn how to share responsibility.

[themyscirah]

Reading shit comics kind of sucks but at least I get the satisfaction of proving my own point w this

[cheswirls]

internet was laggy today which meant i was getting like 2-3min of play time on the new dcst episode at a time, and i enjoyed it but not to the point where i was willing to rewind and watch like 5min or so again

well

until the 2nd half anyway, where i proceeded to watch the same 10 second clips over and over and over and ov

[tanzakukun]

“It’s a contrived plot, simple as that”

Actually, it doesn’t matter what it is or what the author even intended. As a reader, we’re supposed to play with interpretations and looking at things from what we can learn and understand from the characters.

[dukeofthomas]

I'm enjoying btas so much bc the villains usually only have 2-3 henchmen employed- and that's enough. Bc no matter how talented or skilled Batman is, a huge guy coming at you with a weapon is always gonna be dangerous. Batman is a human which means he can lose.

[fromtheseventhhell]

Do you think Arya will be present in the Stark vs Bolton’s conflict since George told us he intends to use Nymeria’s pack against the Bolton’s Hounds? It would make sense that Arya is present with the foreshadowing of her leading a pack which could be a combination of both the Northmen who support her and Nymeria’s pack

I think the Bolton/Stark conflict will be concluded, or on its way, by the time Arya actually makes it back to Westeros. I go back and forth on the idea of Arya returning North before the end of the story, but regarding her wolfpack going up against Ramsay's dogs...I doubt it? I don't think his Hounds are anywhere close to presenting a true challenge to Nymeria's pack, so there'd really be no stakes. While the numbers are likely exaggerated, I still think it's grown to a formidable size. I also don't see a pack of that size traveling so far, especially when the winter is coming and game is becoming scarce. If they do travel it's more likely that they'll move up the Neck (or thereabouts) given their previous movement pattern. I'm a firm believer that the Long Night won't be fought exclusively in the North, so I can see them serving as a line of defense for fleeing Northerns + against the Others. Either way, If they do end up making it North it's going to be for more than just fighting Ramsay's hounds.

[dootznbootz]

Trying to ask my grandma if she knows anything about Finnish folklore/mythology as I learned about it recently, and she loves talking about our family history but all she said was "...Does the Communism count?"

...Grandma 😅

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

When British writers come up with an American character’s dialogue and give them the most painfully British things to say with their American accent and inflection and it makes the actor come off as stiff. :P

[fundielicious-simblr]

(Valentina's POV)

Harvestfest was a wonderful time full of refreshment and family, but it’s also great to be back home and back in the swing of things. We were surprised one day with a light dusting of snow one morning, it didn’t stick but it was a great sign that the seasons are soon to change and that winter will be here before we know it! Recently at church our pastor preached a message on never wavering in our faith despite the changing seasons, and how timely his message was. There’s so much change happening all the time, yet we shouldn’t get caught up in our lives that we forget our God and his goodness to us! My uncle Allan preached the message on Harvest Sunday, and it was wonderful having almost all of our family in our grandfather’s church. The message that weekend was also apt and spoke about building a Godly legacy that will follow on even when we’re no longer on the earth. My grandparents made sure to live in a Godly manner and raise their children as such, and it was a good reminder to us grandkids that now that we’re having children we need to have the same fervour for the Lord and prioritize raising Godly children! 

The kids have been excited to start school again, Aria is 8 turning 9 next year with Ansel turning 8 in the new year - so they’re only a grade apart with her starting 3rd and him starting 2nd. We use loads of different curriculums depending on how they teach different subjects, including the one that I used growing up, so I feel confident that I know the subject content inside and out since I was taught it and reviewed it. They both get right into homework after breakfast so they can be done and head outside to go play, we do quiet time with the younger kids if they’re up so that the mornings aren’t as hectic as they can get. 

Since they're close in age, they're on the same level of piano and violin lessons. At home they have their own violins, but for piano they travel to a piano teacher's home for their lessons twice a week. We're in the process of looking at electric pianos so that we can get one for them to practice on. Music has always been important to me, growing up my parents showed us that music was an incredible way to worship the Lord, even the Bible says so. Having the kids play music that honours God will help them to redirect their thoughts to Him and keep worship of him in their hearts and minds, the hymns I was taught as a little girl still play in my head daily and I would love the same for them. Eric works from home so he's usually witness to their music lessons, thankfully for all of us the kids have been improving in their skills so the music is nicer to listen to - but regardless of how it sounds we always make sure to cheer them on.

Aria loves to keep the little kids occupied when I need a few minutes to recharge, she loves helping them with their learning cubes and getting them to say their letters, numbers, and colours. When we do family devotions we all pick our word of the month, and Aria (after learning the definition) chose patience and her word of the month. She says that having younger siblings is a way the the Lord teaches you patience, and I have to agree with her! She only ever engages with them for around 15 minutes as a toddlers attention span is only so long, but she says that those 15 minutes are enough for her in the moment 😂.

Eric has been teaching the kids how to ride a bike, he takes each kid out on their own so they can move at their own pace. Ansel is slightly more apprehensive than Aria, to our surprise, you'd think that the little boy would be all gung-ho about bike riding, but in this case it's Aria who has more confidence! Eric says she's be zipping around in no time!

My sister Sabrina came to stay with us too, Tucker was out of town on farm business with his parents so Sabrina and little Campbell came to see us. She's in her second trimester now and will have a gender reveal with the family at Celeste's wedding to reveal what this newest blessing will be! While she was over we looked at baby names, they won't reveal the name until the baby is born but at least we got her down to a shortlist of names. I'm out of my pregnancy/labour & delivery season of life, and I've enjoyed getting to pour into those around me who are just entering motherhood - especially my younger sisters and sisters-in-law. The Lord having Sabrina live close to me feels like a blessing in that I get to be here for my sister, along with the fact that we have each other for support. We're headed to Britechester in a few weeks for her final dress fitting, she wants all the sisters there for her final fitting as she's only had one or two of us there at a time for her earlier fittings. She's asked Macie and I to be her maid and matron of honour, so we're in the process of arranging schedules for a nice bachelorette weekend for her. She wants something small with her loved ones, so we're aiming at renting a cabin and heading up the mountains for some fun in the snow to take advantage of the winter weather.

Zach was also with us after Harvestfest, he stayed for a bit to spend some time with Kelsey. It's heartwarming seeing my younger siblings meet their person and work to build the firm foundations needed for a Godly relationship. Kelsey is such a wonderful girl and makes Zach so happy, hopefully there's news of an engagement soon!