#I think it’s more interesting because it’s more like. it’s more about defusing a bomb rather than internal conflict lol

[obstinaterixatrix]

lmao they’re so funny

[castianii]

my Ninjago headcanons!!!!

Kai

• Is TikTok famous. He likes to put his camera in everyone’s face while they do normal everday things then says “ooh this is perfect, everyone will love this!!” and then everyone does love it.

• Spends most of his time trying to annoy his teammates. He finds it funny how easily Nya gets ticked off, so he annoys her most often. ex) going into her room and just singing really loud.

• Thinks Tarayummy is his soulmate. He sits in his room in the dark and just watches her videos. He has a hatred for every man she has ever talked to.

Nya

• Says she hates dressing up/wearing dresses, but at night she secretly puts on pretty ball gowns she hides in boxes in her closet. (I do this)

• Loves art, but she mostly paints. She picked it up after seeing the paintings Jay did after seabound. He taught her a lot of it.

• Anytime she sees a friend or someone she knows out in public she has to talk to them. It’s like when you were little and your mom/dad saw someone at the store and they just had to talk to them forever. She does that.

Zane

• There’s a desk in his room with the most random junk on it. He doesn’t even know where most of it came from. This junk varies from model airplanes to defused pipe bombs.

• He’ll give himself weird accents sometimes. If he’s bored he will just put on a new accent and talk to the others to see their reactions. One time he did a Russian accent that scared Jay so much he peed his pants.

• He could watch those videos of dancing fruit for hours. He just loves brain rot, and that’s okay because it keeps him busy.

Cole

• Religiously watches edits of himself of TikTok. Once he accidentally reposted one and everyone lost their mind.

• Thinks Halo by Beyoncé is the greatest song ever written. It’s the only song he will sing in front of other people and he will put his whole heart and soul into it every time.

• Likes to skateboard, but doesn’t have enough time. He thought it would be a fun hobby to pick up before he was a ninja and actually got really good at it. He isn’t as good now, but he can still do some tricks.

Jay

• This man is so zesty oh my god. Everyone in Ninjago thought he was gay until he got together with Nya. There are still people who think it’s all just an act to cover it up.

• If this guy sees a river he is getting in. It doesn’t matter if it’s 10 or 80 degrees, this man is ready to jump in any river he sees. He tries to get everyone else to join, but they aren’t as stupid (except Cole who obviously has to join him)

•Watches Instagram reels instead of TikTok. He thinks they’re funnier, and Kai thinks that it’s the funniest thing in the world and never shuts up about it.

Lloyd

• A lot of people think this, but I think that he bleach’s his hair. He doesn’t want to look anything like his dad, and he thinks his dark hair makes him look evil.

• Also likes art, but mostly draws. He likes to do art with Nya, but picked it up when he was younger. He used to make his own comic books about the ninja in S1.

• Wants to be a theater kid so bad, but he has to focus on his ninja work. He’s made everyone watch Hamilton at least 5 times (so far).

I have other headcanons about a lot of other characters, and more about these guys if you’re interested.

[thatoneneuvichiliauthor]

God, now i want Aven to meet Kaeya (the trio of Aven, Kaeya, and Venti would give Diluc grey hairs lmfao) because theyre so similar and I think they'd get along pretty well after they had a few conversations. Also I now completely agree about Ratio meeting Itto, and I raise you: Ratio stuck in a conversation with Itto, Razor, and Bennett. Itto makes him want to tear his hair out, Razor is a feral child (I don't think Ratio would hold that against him of course, but his huge chunk of missing knowledge would probably stress Ratio out and he'd be planning an easy to understand basic study guide before the convo was even over.) And Bennett isn't unintelligent, but I do think his bad luck would interest Ratio (in a very concerned way), and he would immediately want to do tests to see if there was any way to lighten Bennett's bad luck. I think Bennett would like hanging out with Aventurine actually, because Aven's luck would protect him from Bennett's bad luck, which Bennett would be thankful for. (I also think it would be interesting for those two to have a convo, because their respective lucks have impacted them so strongly but in different ways. The cheerful boy with eternal bad luck meeting the cynical man with eternal good luck, aaaa that would be so cool to see) (plus how ironic that the boy with bad luck has surrounded himself with so many good friends and has the guild that took him in and all genuinely care for him like family, vs the guy with good luck who isolates himself and has been viewed as nothing but a product by nearly everyone he's known since his family died)

Oh damn you're right, and now all I can imagine is Aventurine using his luck/skills to somehow acquire the finest alcohol from Dawn Winery for Kaeya and Venti, and coincidentally causing lots of trouble for Diluc in the process 🤣 Also, since his encounter with little Kakavasha has shown that Aven is good and patient with kids, I think he would get along great with Klee, which in turn would make Kaeya appreciate him more. His luck would also come in handy if a few bombs have to be defused 😅

I totally agree, Ratio would be taking mental notes the whole time and planning whole courses of action to assist them in the best possible way. And the parallel between Aven and Bennett 😭😭😭 Just imagine them getting to know what it's like to have average luck for the first time when they're together!

[tfmedicmedius]

I've been thinking about Tom Taylor's Nightwing run (and also his Titans (2023-) run) and it's just painful.

When I started reading Nightwing, I started pulling Taylor's run at issue 92, and I made sure to read all of his run to understand where Taylor started and caught up. I then read all of Nightwing Rebirth.

And MAN I HATE TOM TAYLOR'S RUN OF NIGHTWING!

I think my biggest complaints with it are the fact that we have barely seen any actual shit with Heartless! He was introduced pretty early on in the run! But nothing has progressed with him! Which seems to be a pattern with Taylor's writing. Things are started and there's good ideas but then they don't get finished or they are rushed because he adds in other stuff. And sure, Nightwing's moments with Batman have been sweet, but it's like nothing outside of Nightwing's run is affecting them at all. Why is he being more and more like Batman when that's the literal antithesis of Nightwing's character? Sorry- Batman is going to be Nightwing in the upcoming arc??? Why not someone better suited, like Tim or something. Are the Titans not protecting Blüdhaven- the city they are stationed in?? Why the fuck does Batman have to be there?? It's just super frustrating because many people say that Tom Taylor is a great writer, but he's been utterly disappointing in this series. And don't get me started on Titans (or Adventures of Jon Kent either....) I feel like the small short story at the end of Nightwing #113 that was written by Michael W. Conrad with art by Howard Porter was better than most of what Taylor has written and there was no dialogue!! It was just a story about Nightwing defusing a bomb on a train and you only got to comprehend everything based on the art. It was amazing! And told me so much more about Nightwing than most of this current run. I'm so ready for Tom Taylor to move off of Nightwing and go somewhere else.

Nightwing also just seems more clumsy and like a funny sitcom character rather than Nightwing. Theres only so much that I find decent with Taylor's writing. It's been interesting for sure, but mostly a disappointment.

[mitochondriaandbunnies]

Miami Vice S1E16: Smuggler's Blues

Sonny and Rico fly to Colombia with Eagles frontman Glenn Frey.

The first time I watched this one was before I'd watched Wiseguy, so I don't think I had much of an opinion about Glenn Frey other than TAKE IT EEEEEASY, TAKE IT EEEEEEASY

Anyway I actually really like him as an actor and I think he does a great job of playing a super burnt out aging hippie Vietnam vet here

This is also the second (and unfortunately the second to last) episode directed by my best pal Paul Michael Glaser, so it's thoughtful and well-paced and fairly homoerotic, which is all one really needs for a solid Vice episode

The DEA does not come off well at all in this episode:

Sonny tells a callous and "results oriented" DEA agent who blames casualties on the "politics of contraband" that "the politics of contraband does not involve killing children," and then straight up calls him a fascist

And later a Rico expresses a sense of surprise that they're involved in such "a big operation, moving people to Cartagena," and a DEA agent responds with "not people, just you two"

...which is all fair because the DEA is terrible, although we're still in the portion of the series where (Sonny especially believes) "regular cops" are still positioned as good, so a bit of pot-kettle going on there

Trudy SO wants to go to Cartagena and make a drug deal but the DEA agent tells her she is staying in Miami and posing as Rico's wife. : (

We'll see later in Prodigal Son that PMG is really good at directing Don Johnson, but it's very clear in this episode that he's also extremely good with Philip Michael Thomas

There's a bunch of moments in this one that are very Starsky & Hutch -- the fight in the alley could literally be ripped from an S&H episode, and the later scene where Sonny and Rico have a wordless conversation in matching doorways feels very S&H as well

The lyrics to the Glenn Frey song Smuggler's Blues straight up narrate part of the episode, to the point where it feels a little silly. Trudy sure does have a suitcase when you're singing about suitcases

We don't get to see if their hotel room only has one bed but I like to believe

So. I think this is the episode where Sonny, who is very good at ignoring his own feelings and refusing to process anything, suddenly realizes that he might care about Rico More Than Is Normal or Acceptable. When Tubbs is captured by the Colombian police, he lets him go fairly quickly, and without pushing back too much on Jimmy-- until they get back to the hotel. He doesn't freak out until he has the time and space to process, and then he snaps. Jimmy asks if he's going to just take on the entire Colombian police force, and Sonny says 'maybe,' and he tries to strangle Jimmy. When he calms down, and Jimmy offers him a cigarette, he breaks the filter off. And then as he and Jimmy sit and discuss loss, Sonny genuinely looks like he is (and frankly he could be) crying. He tells Jimmy that Rico is the one guy he's "gotta wait for," and then when Rico gets out of jail, he sees that Jimmy has left and Sonny has completely trashed the hotel room.

You know.

Normal coworker kind of behavior.

Thank you PMG for always supporting your loyal queers

There is an unremarked upon and incredibly ominous small boy who follows Grocero (the drug dealer) around throughout the episode, and I'm sure the intention is something-something the way the drug trade fucks up kids bla bla BUT what it actually comes off as is just. David Lynch Red Room shit. Haunted child.

When Trudy is captured later and Castillo is deciding who is going to try to defuse the bomb she's strapped to, twice Gina asks for it to be her, and twice the entire rest of the team ignores her. It's a really interesting little moment, especially coupled with the DEA agent shutting down Trudy's desire to go to Colombia earlier-- Gina and Trudy are often given short shrift, but it's not usually remarked upon. These lines didn't need to be included-- Gina and Trudy could've just been excluded from the missions as they often are-- but instead this episode actually highlights the ways they're sometimes dismissed and prevented from fully participating in things the men of Vice are never questioned on. I'm not 100% certain, but from what I recall this may be the only time this tendency is lampshaded in this way-- I suspect because this episode was written by Miguel Piñero, which is to say: Calderone himself.

Piñero was a playwright and poet known for piercing portrayals of modern society and its ills (especially with regards to the treatment of Black and Hispanic populations). He died very young, but in that time was nominated for or received a number of prestigious writing awards and helped found the Nuyorican art movement. I do not think it's a coincidence that this man saw some things (Vice's iffy track record with women, the abject uselessness and evil of the DEA, even the portrayal of the Colombian police captain not as corrupt but desperate) more clearly than many of the other writers on the show. It's also worth noting that Piñero was bisexual, and in a relationship with gay painter Martin Wong at the likely time of writing this episode-- which is to say I don't think Sonny's "oh. Oh no." moment about Rico ought to be brushed off as "straight writer accidentally makes something homoerotic because they don't think or care about women."

Tubbs blesses himself when he hears that Sonny and Trudy are okay-- he is not generally portrayed as particularly religious, but he probably had a Catholic upbringing, given his background, and it feels like a very real reaction.

The episode ends with Tubbs waxing philosophical about why anyone would do any of this shit and deciding that "the bottom line is money," and Castillo agreeing, "usually is." That's it folks! That's the show!

So uh. Is Jimmy dead

I know in a later episode some other smuggler will be like "yeah Jimmy told me all about you guys" to Sonny and Rico but like. Someone forgot to wrap up Glenn Frey's storyline here

He gets shot and then we just never see him again

R(?)IP Jimmy

[naivesilver]

Anddddd from the pregnancy and baby prompts, Could I maybe interest you with a AU Proposition that is no.11 or no.20 with Baby Cedar and the Pinocchio fam as a whole? 😏 (August centred with either Archie, Geppetto or both present if you'd like more than just the wooden mans) 👀

NOT GOING IN ORDER BECAUSE THIS ONE HAD ME LOOPING 🥰🥰🥰

Pregnancy and baby prompts

11. Being repeatedly astonished how tiny the baby is

“I think there was a mistake,” August whispers, more to himself than anything else. “There's no way she's mine.”

He feels his father shift position by his side, but doesn't dare look up just yet; up to this point, they'd each been minding their own business in silence, wary of waking up the slumbering beast in the younger man's arms. Cedar has such troubles falling asleep, be it day or night, that any impromptu naps need to be treated with the same caution one would use to defuse a bomb, and that means August is stuck on that couch for the foreseeable future - if he'd been an ounce smarter, he'd have avoided saying something so heavy, something that will certainly bring forth a conversation with a capital C. 

But of course, he messed that up, and of course, like clockwork, comes Geppetto's response, equally as quiet: “Whatever do you mean?”

August briefly considers pretending he hasn't heard, but, though a coward, he wagers he's yet to sink so low, so there's no other option, really. “Look at her. She's so…”

Good, is what he wants to say. She's too good to be real, too good to be his daughter, a perfectly healthy, normal little girl who won't go to sleep alone and never has to cry for more than a minute before getting picked up and comforted. She can't be his, because her life's off to a much better start already, despite the shameful life he was leading when she was conceived. 

But that's too much. Even in private, even to his father, towards whom August has strived to be as honest as possible, that's too much to speak aloud. So instead, he says “Small”, which is also true: Cedar is not an especially tiny child, in theory - Whale said she's a bit on the skinnier side for a two year old, but nothing concerning, for now - but he's never spent enough time with a toddler to get used to their dimpled little hands and grubby fingers, who grab everything and make it look so so big in contrast. 

It's mesmerizing, and it's frightening, like he's cradling the most minute piece of fine china: not even Emma ever felt this small in his arms, and she was a newborn to begin with, though perhaps that had more to do with the fact that August was a child himself when he held her. He doesn't know. He rarely ever lets his mind wander that far, because if he does, he'll start thinking about how Cedar must have looked at one, three, six months, and he'll be reminded he was too busy paying for his mistakes to see it happen in person, and-

He's not sure if his father senses the turmoil behind his lame response, but still, soon he feels a hand landing on his shoulder, giving a warm, gentle squeeze. “You were small, too, once,” Geppetto says, a hint of a smile in his voice. “Not this small, but- I used to be able to carry you around all day.”

That makes the corner of August's mouth twitch in faint amusement. “Don't give her ideas.”

“Ah, but there's nothing wrong with holding her for as long as you can- it's never too much, for a little girl. And I'm sure it will make you as happy as it did me.”

His hand moves as he says this, until he’s all but wrapping his arm around his son’s shoulders; and as he leans into the older man’s hold, August can almost believe that’s going to be all it takes to soothe his doubts - he can almost convince himself that he deserves the warmth that’s coming from both directions, and the reassurances that come with it, and the slight, endearing tilt of the head he sometimes sees in Cedar like he does in his own mirror, more self-suggestion than evidence of where she actually belongs.

Almost.

[save-the-villainous-cat]

Write about lesbians pining over each over.

Like the villain is kicking their legs in bed thinking about the hero, and the hero panics everytime the villain touches her in an nonaggression way

The hero could be so stupid. It hadn’t been much, quite the opposite, the villain had touched her waist and guided her out of the way.

She had wanted to go out of the way anyway but of course the villain had made it worse. A blushing mess, not being able to speak, sweaty palms — those were the results and the hero hadn’t been of much use when the villain defused the bomb.

While her enemy had talked about the mechanical details behind a bomb, she’d just stared at the villain’s neck, unable to hold herself together when the villain’s hair allowed her to view it.

Now she was home, still in terrible condition, and tried to forget the day by crying into her pillow.

“Bad day?”

“It was horrendous,” she told her sidekick, groaning a bit. “Heartbreaking.”

“I’m sure it was.” No one understood it, she was sure of it. Not even her sidekick was able to put themselves in her shoes. Being in love with an enemy…she was so ashamed of herself.

“It really was. She touched my hips.”

“Wow, how terrible,” the sidekick replied bored. The sarcasm was thick enough to make the hero even more cranky.

“You’re really not helping.”

“What do you want me to do?” She looked up and stared at her sidekick who was sipping on (presumably) tea. They looked calm, completely disinterested even.

“I don’t know. It’s forbidden, so— I don’t know, tell me she’s ugly,” the hero rambled. Suddenly, she felt the all too well known blush on her cheeks.

“We’ll, she isn’t—” The hero buried her face in the pillow once again because yes, she wasn’t. She was strong and smart and pretty and independent and so, so, so self-confident.

“No, she isn’t. I just…I can’t tell her. This will pass.” Suddenly, the sidekick laughed and the hero almost got offended. It wasn’t fair. Every other hero fell in love with other superheroes but she had to fall for the villain…

“Listen to you, you think this will pass?”

“Maybe. With a lot of luck,” the hero said quietly.

“Jesus fucking— do you even hear yourself?” The sidekick set down the cup and walked over to her. Once they were at the couch, they crouched down. “You gotta tell her how you feel.”

“But the rules—” The hero looked up.

“Which rules? Who says that you’re not allowed to fall in love with someone?” the sidekick asked.

“I—”

“Tell her. This won’t go away. You’ll be heartbroken and turn into something very disgusting and evil and I’m not interested in explaining to my friends why I am still running after you when that happens.”

The hero was perplexed. She didn’t find the right answer for that. Instead, a whole new problem developed.

“What if she doesn’t feel the same way?”

Now, the sidekick — who’d seen both of them flirting with each other for months — was speechless.

The hero was smart but she was apparently very oblivious regarding love.

[thezombieprostitute]

Hi Zombie😌❤️ For your return trip:

I've read about intergalactic fics recently, and there's a particular interesting setting that soldiers could develop their spiritual animal that could fight alongside of them in a physical form.

Suppose you are one of the soldiers on the intergalactic battle field, who do you want to fight alongside with and why?(you could come up with their spiritual animals)

A. Ari, who always comes up with the craziest ideas and encourages you to jump from the fleet to the Bug's nest like he does. Crazy, but his plans always work out. Your superiors order you to pair up with him to train him to care about casualties.

B. Steve, who you can always count on to have your six. But he is even more reckless than Ari. You could only pray that he gets lucky and escape Death in the next battle. Your superiors order you to pair up with him so he doesn't go solo as he always wants to.

C. Curtis, who was born in Project Wilford, one of the deadliest soldiers alive. Rumor is he has gutted hundreds of Bugs in one battle, and made it out alive. He's mysterious and silent, and you can't help but wonder if he is a man or a literal killing machine. Your superiors pair you up with him to keep an eye on him, in case he runs wild.

Bonus Extra: D, Winter Soldier. The real Killing Machine. Losing an arm in a battle before scientists made him a robotic one. The only reason why your superiors ask you to pair up with him is because the winter soldier is highly unstable, and that he had asked to see you (why is that? You don't have the slightest clue)

Most of my contemplation on this has gone into what my own inner beast is/would be. I've settled on "Mutt". While different breeds can specialize in types of training, a mutt has the potential for all types, especially if it's a military service dog. So let's go through your list!

++

Ari - I'm gonna say his inner beast (in this scenario) is a Firehawk. A bird that starts fires in order to flush out its prey with no consideration for the damage it causes.

For this, I'd probably be a mutt with guide dog training. Ari has this huge blindspot in his vision when it comes to casualties so I've been assigned to guide him through the parts he can't see. Additionally, guide dogs can practice selective disobedience so that they don't accidentally walk their human into traffic just because they got the command to walk. This will be very helpful for working with Ari and helping him to navigate casualty costs.

++

Steve - I kinda wanna make Steve's inner beast a honey badger for this one. They are intelligent, fierce and survive a lot of things they shouldn't.

To help Steve's survivability, and to increase the likelihood he'll actually want to keep working with me, I think my inner beast would have to be a mutt trained for medical service. Whether it's getting him medical care or getting him out of danger until rescue can arrive, a medical service mutt would likely be most helpful.

++

Curtis - I'm actually not sure what his inner beast would be. I'm torn between a shark and a large feline (i.e. Jaguar).

Either way, my inner mutt clearly needs PTSD/psychiatric support training. Learning to read his body language since he doesn't talk but also helping him find his voice again. Being a barrier between him and others when he needs it. Protecting him. Reminding him of his humanity and caring.

++

Bucky - I'm sure a lot of people think Bucky's inner beast is a wolf. After all, one of his nicknames is White Wolf. But I don't think so. He's a sniper first. Silent, attacks from a distance, patient, solitary. His inner beast is an owl.

The reason he's asked for me is because, in this scenario, my inner beast is a mutt with military training in bomb detection. He lost his arm because, from his bird's eye view, he missed some traps that were set out. He's not gonna risk that again so he's asked for me to accompany him so we can keep each other safe. I'm his scout, his trap disarmer, bomb defuser, etc.

++

I hope you find these answers satisfactory!

[ranchthoughts]

more thoughts on Tinn, his mother, coming out, and Gun

In episode 11, Tinn's mom goes to Gun's mom's cafe to talk to Gun. She's seen her son's caller ID for Gun (Chinzilla Baby <3 and a cute selfie) and has realized there is something going on there she didn't know about. She's here to get to know Gun a bit better, to scope him out, make an effort to get to know him, etc. This is made all the more clear in the next scene, when she and Tinn are walking home and she gives him a pastry from Gun's moms cafe and too casually mentions that she goes there a lot, while very carefully gauging his reactions. She's trying to figure out what Tinn means to Gun and what Gun means to Tinn. However, I don't think she intended to directly question Gun at the cafe until he talked about hearing Tinn sing.

I talked about this in my other post, but when Tinn's mom says no one in her family is very musical or sings, and Gun says Tinn has sung for him several times, she realizes that there's even more about her son she doesn't know. She came into this conversation knowing there was a closeness and romantic element to Tinn's relationship to Gun that she was missing, but now she is realizing there are whole other parts of her son she doesn't know, and that Gun does. Immediately after Gun shares that he has heard Tinn sing, Tinn's mom says "Can I ask you something? It's about Tinn". We don't actually get to hear her question or Gun's answer, because another customer comes and interrupts, but with the tension in the moment and the looks they give each other, it seems that she was about to ask about Gun and Tinn's relationship/Tinn's sexuality (and Gun knows this too). Tinn's mom didn't intend to ask so directly about Tinn and his relationship, but faced with the knowledge that there is so much about his son she is missing, she can't help it. She has to ask. She has to know.

The next scene is all about Tinn's mom trying to get a read on Tinn. They are walking home and she is trying to use the pastry from Gun's mom's store to gauge he son's reactions when Tinn asks if he can go on a beach day trip. And Tinn's mom immediately (but deliberately casually) asks "Who with? Which friend?". She has learned that last time Tinn went on a beach vacation, it was not with the student council as he said but was in fact almost certainly with Gun, and she sees here an opportunity. The pause, they way they look at each other when she says "which friend?"... Tinn's mom is going into this like a bomb defusal expert, just armed with carefully casual curiosity. She knows which friend, and she has a strong suspicion that the "friend" in question is not quite a "friend" at all, but she's going to let Tinn come to her. Tinn says "a friend from music club" (which is the first time he's told her so explicitly that he has friends from music club, that he is on such close terms with them - progress!), and she sighs, because while he was honest, he still wasn't fully honest. It's time for a more direct approach. So she steels herself and asks, "Was it Gun who asked you?". Again, there is a moment of significant eye contact as Tinn registers her very pointed question and thinks about how he has never mentioned Gun as a friend, and Tinn's mom waits to see if he will tell her the truth, or at least part of it. Tinn says yes, it was Gun who asked him, but doesn't offer anything else, just immediately re-asking if he can go. And again, Tinn's mom sighs because while he did tell her another personal detail, she knows there is more he is not saying. And Tinn sighs too, because he knows that he has gotten closer to the truth than ever before but he still didn't tell her.

It is a moment of real progress in their relationship though, maybe not as much as Tinn's mom would have liked, but Tinn has now told her he is friends with the music club and that he is specifically friends with Gun, and she has signaled to him that she doesn't have an interest in controlling his life or stopping him from doing things, she is just curious about what he is up to and what is important to him, while also making it clear that she does not have a problem with him being friends with Gun.

Another note about this scene too - Tinn doesn't know that his mom was specifically digging about Gun and his relationship when she went to the cafe and when they talked on their way home. During the next scene, Gun asks if he is sure his mom was just there to buy food or was it because she suspects anything, and Tinn says she didn't say anything to him, so he thinks it is just a coincidence. I want to point out that Tinn was so sure that if his mom had another reason for going to the cafe and talking to Gun she would have told him because they tell each other everything (though there is a level of "Tinn not picking up on hints" and perhaps willful ignorance playing a role here too). But regardless, Tinn has a good relationship with his mom! He's used to talking to her about everything, so much so that he doesn't think she had any other intention in her actions last night because she would have told him otherwise! And his mom would have said the same thing about Tinn until recently too (e.g., she assumed that if he had another intention behind him helping the music club he would have told her), until she realized how much he wasn't sharing with her, how much she doesn't know about him.

Back to the original train of thought - this is two times now on the show Tinn has gotten close to telling his mom about the most significant new thing in his life, his relationship with Gun, but not gone through with it. The first time was in their home gym, when Tinn's mom asks him if he likes anyone. We saw Tinn steel himself to tell his mom the truth, but she started talking about possible girls it could be and we saw him lose his nerve when faced with the triple task of 1) telling her he is actually close friends with people in the music club (and in particular Gun), 2) telling her he is seeing some one, and 3) telling her that someone is a boy. The second time is here, where he has finally told her that he is close to people in the music club, especially Gun, bringing him one step closer to the truth: that he is seeing someone, and that someone is a boy. But he couldn't do it. And he's a bit disappointed in himself, but he's not ready yet.

Ep. 11 ends with Gun going to tell his mother about Tinn and Tinn returning from the beach trip to find his mom waiting for him. She says, "Can we talk? It's about Gun." Tinn's mom's words echo what she said to Gun in the cafe ("Can I ask you something? It's about Tinn"). Like in the scene with Gun in the cafe, its clear from her words and delivery that she's cutting to the chase. She is about be direct about this, to get answers to her questions, to get confirmation for her growing suspicions. And just like Gun in the cafe, we know Tinn knows where she is going with this. He tenses up so much as soon as she says Gun.

The beginning of episode 12 cuts between Gun telling his mother about his relationship with Tinn, and Tinn and his mother facing off. Cut together, it's downright diabolically painful and really drives home the differing relationships the boys have with their mothers. Gun is nervous, but he tells his mother everything and is embraced. Meanwhile, each cut to Tinn shows how SCARED he is - picking at his nails, wringing his hands, looking away - and the tense silence between him and his mom is overwhelming. Tinn's mom notices her son's genuine fear and doesn't follow through. Instead she inquires after Gun's mother's health, and Tinn can relax, though he's still tense. He knows how close that was.

After Tinn leaves, his dad comes in and asks "You didn't ask him?" and his mom replies "I couldn't. I've never seen our son look so scared." And I mean... god my heart. I've talked before about how much this part of Tinn's story resonates with me. Logically, objectively, Tinn shouldn't fear coming out to his mom. Sure we haven't seen her be openly supportive of gay people, but we haven't seen her be homophobic either, so odds are she would be safe to come out to, right? Right? I know I, and a lot of queer people, can relate to this. We may not have any reason to believe that our coming out won't be met with support, but you can never be sure. There are so many people in this world who might be fine with queer people in general but not with their own kids being queer, or people who have never shown violence or hate towards queer people but aren't necessarily supportive either, and you don't want to learn what category your loved ones fall in when you are coming out. Coming out is the end of something and the beginning of something else - in the best case, it's the end of having to hide and the beginning of freedom and support and being who you truly are. In the worst cases, it's the end of safety and love and the beginning of abuse, abandonment, and homelessness. Watching Tinn stand there in front of his mother, the as-of-yet unspoken but clearly known question hanging there in the room... I felt it. Once it's out there, he can never take it back. It will change their relationship forever (maybe barely, or for the better, but maybe significantly, or for the worst - and he won't know which until after the fact).

For the first 11 eps, MSP doesn't deal a lot with homophobia. Again, and I talked about this in my other post, the main hint we have that this show might not take place in a homophobia-free “bubble” is Tinn’s hesitation around coming out to his mother. This moment at the beginning of ep 12 is the first that slams us unequivocally into the "real world". Tinn is SCARED. Before, we could chalk up his hesitation to tell his mom as him being nervous that she wouldn't like or approve of Gun given her history with the music club, or perhaps even the fact that she knows Tinn in certain contexts and ways and it can be hard to break free of that. But now, it's abundantly clear that there is a queer element to his hesitation. He isn't just scared about coming out as "dating" or as "dating Gun", he is scared to come out as "into boys".

And it's all the sadder because Tinn fell first, he's wanted to be Gun's boyfriend for nearly 3 years at this point, he's the romantic who loves the gestures... and he's the one who tells Gun they have to keep it hidden, that he doesn't know how his family will react.

[quipxotic]

A couple of thoughts about c3e78; spoilers below, obviously:

First of all, I loved it so much! Story is always the thing that hooks me, which is why, even though I like fights in D&D, it's RP that lights me up. 4 hours of professional actors leaning heavily into the angst? Yes please! Sign me up. (As an aside, this is also part of the reason I love Candela so much.)

So many people have said it, but I missed Orym. It'll be fine, Liam will slay us all when he comes back and in the meanwhile it's free space for fan fiction writers to dream up conversations as much as they want. Still, I wish he'd been able to be there.

I've always wondered why I identified so hard with Ashton because on the surface we are nothing alike. But this episode? It made it all clear. The low self-esteem, the intense love and care for other people without the ability to express it in a way that anyone could understand, the awkwardness, the being misunderstood by the people you love most and not even fighting it because of course it's what you deserve, the burning all-encompassing desire for a family who loves you coupled with the knowledge that you may never get it, the suicidal ideation - it's not an exact mirror of a younger version of me, but it's close enough. And it's so cathartic to see it outside of yourself in a fictional space.

And that is part of why some of the fandom's reactions to Ashton are so painful. Look, I don't care if people don't like Ashton - they're a complicated character and people can like or dislike whoever they want. I don't have a problem with characters I like experiencing the consequences of their actions, because that makes for interesting storytelling. I don't have a problem with the reactions of the characters in-world to Ashton's choices. I don't think they're all healthy reactions, but I also don't think they were meant to be. What I do have an issue with is folks being so gleeful about another person's pain, particularly given Ashton's background and mental health issues. And yes, Ashton is a fictional character, but so many of us in the fandom also share those feeling and qualities, if not the same choices, in our real, actual lives. It feels like people punching down, rather than punching up, if that makes sense.

I rarely cry at anything Critical Role, the notable exception being EXU: Calamity which makes me bawl no matter how many times I watch it. But that scene with Laudna giving Ashton the doll completely blindsided me. It was so well done.

So many juicy narrative choices in this episode, I can't wait to see how they cause ripples (or tidal waves) through the rest of the campaign. Laudna's conversations with Delilah. Imogen confessing to FCG (but no one else) that she and Fearne had seen Delilah manifest. Chet comforting people and challenging them in a mix of endearing uncle and manipulating asshole energy. Fearne's anger, at herself as well as Ashton, and her praying at the Raven Queen's temple. Gwen breaking windows! Ashton and Percy's talk. Just so many good moments.

Getting to visit Nana Morri again feels like a present just for me. I love her weirdness and her funky house, it's all just the right kind of creepy to delight me. And the fact Allura is there with Bell's Hells is a bonus.

I'm also thrilled because I think Ashton taking the shard, it rejecting them, and the aftermath has defused one of the potential time bombs that Taliesin's been hinting at for months, mainly Ashton trying to take down the gods as a means of finding someone to blame. I am not particularly attached to any of the gods of Exandria, but that wasn't a plotline that interested me at all.

I'm sure I'll have more useful, detailed thoughts later, but for now I am just so pleased.

[jewwyfeesh]

The Detective's Banquet 4

Writer: Mitsuki

Character(s): Shino Hajime, Mashiro Tomoya, Hidaka Hokuto, Sakuma Ritsu, Isara Mao, Harukawa Sora, Tomoe Hiyori, HiMERU

Translated by: jewwyfeesh

Tomoya: ……I’m sorry, but I need to do this.

Location: Inside the Helicopter

Hiyori: So, how did this even happen!? Finding a ticking time bomb under the seats… What foul weather!

Mao: Ahaha… I’d originally thought that being in a heli in-game isn’t something to be scared of;I really wasn’t expecting to experience something even more terrifying in the end… Parachute jumping[1]…

Ritsu: Sigh… I’m here only because Maa~kun said he wanted to ride the helicopter, so Maa~kun, you need to take responsibility~

Hiyori: Everyone ready? Later, when you’re in the air, don’t panic and remember to protect yourselves!

Three, two, one, jump—!

Location: Seishou Hall Common Room

Hajime: Even though everyone successfully parachuted to safety, the helicopter exploding and disintegrating right above our heads was a little scary…

Hiyori: Not to mention, why were we banned from returning to the island to continue investigations after parachuting? I definitely remember even calling for the rescue team to bring us back!

Sora: HuHu~ Sora helped produce SSVRS part of this project, so Sora will answer!

This project is a little bit like a trial level, that’s why the Blizzard Mountain Villa map was made relatively simple. If you leave the boundary of the island, a high-difficulty level will be triggered.

Because the island is rather isolated, the investigation would’ve been long over by the time the rescue team brought everyone back~

Hajime: So… Is there really no way to leave once you step foot on this island?

Sora: You can leave once you’ve cleared the high-difficulty level! In order to keep the game balanced, Sora made sure to design skill sets well! In this batch of detectives, there should be someone who’s able to defuse bombs, no?

Mao: Ahaha, I think the ‘Bionic Detective’ should know how; what a pity Hokuto wasn’t in the helicopter with us then.

Sora: Getting someone with bomb defusal abilities to call and give instructions is also an option; if you’d like something more realistic, you could also try your hand at defusing the bomb yourself with the toolbox in the plane. Interesting, right ♪

Hiyori: Fiiiiiine. After all, a trial stage made with so much love… I guess there’s really nothing that can be done about it. But I’m not exactly happy about it!

I spent so much time learning how to pilot the helicopter in-game, only for it to end so abruptly! My screen time was too short, too!

Hokuto: In any case, Tomoe-senpai did leave a lasting impression on everyone. I can benefit greatly from your usage of over-the-top actions to portray a character’s defined set of skills.

In the end, you did snag a rather important role in the official project – as expected of Tomoe-senpai.

Hiyori: Oh? Hokuto-kun, when did you become so adept in praising others? But what you say is completely right – truly, as expected of me ♪

Oh right, I just thought of this… Isn’t there an Easter Egg lying around — an additional puzzle meant for the Detectives to solve? In the end, I didn’t get the chance to have a go at all… When the game’s released, I’ll definitely try again~

Sora: Sora remembers that that particular riddle was solved by the ‘High School Student Detective’ in the end—

Location: Luxurious Hotel Room

[Returning to the time when someone knocked on Tomoya’s door]

Tomoya: W-who…? Who’s there!

???: It seems like you didn’t close your door fully, ‘High School Student Detective’.

HiMERU: No, let HiMERU address you by your name, Mashiro Tomoya. You, who have committed a crime… you’ve already forsaken your identity as a detective, haven’t you?

Tomoya: Erm… May I ask you what you’re doing…? Why did you suddenly barge into my room, calling me a murderer…?

HiMERU: As matters stand, there’s no use acting stupid anymore. This is your disguise, no? Cleverly hiding amongst the masses whilst donning the identity of the most ‘ordinary’ person.

Tomoya: Ah, could it be that you’re knocking on everyone’s door and telling this to them, in the hopes that you’d be able to bluff the real murderer into revealing themselves?

If that’s what you’re trying to do, you should’ve already gotten your answer. The person you’re looking for isn’t me, so please just leave me to my own devices?

HiMERU: There’s no use beating around the bush nor playing word games with me. You’re very smart, and the tranquiliser gun in your hands is the best evidence of that fact – the item you received for unravelling that riddle.

If you don’t intend on admitting, then I suppose I’m left with no choice. Let’s call everyone over, and HiMERU will confront you—

Ack… You?!

Tomoya: W-w-wait, wait a minute, h-how did that happen!? I had no intention of firing the gun! Was it because I was so nervous that my muscles unconsciously tightened, and the trigger was pulled?

Thank goodness it’s just a tranquilizer… I’ll just explain it to him when he wakes up, it should be fine…

It was really scary… That senior detective approached me in such an imposing manner… I thought I was gonna die…

Is there something wrong with this place…? Feels like everyone, me included, has become more volatile… And it really feels like we’re constantly on the brink of confrontation.

If the truth is unable to be uncovered, and we’re unable to leave this island, then… more cases would occur.

(Aah, not to mention, Hokuto-senpai’s here. He needs to act as an Android, and is unable to protect himself in front of others. So it’s only right that I protect him!)

Location: Prop Room

[In the Resort’s storage room]

Hokuto: For the ‘High School Student Detective’ to specially request to meet me here, is something the matter?

Tomoya: ……I’m sorry, but I need to do this.

‘Bionic Detective’, you’ve taught me many things. So now, it’s my turn to protect you.

Hokuto: I apologise, I don’t understand. Could you please clarify what you meant?

Tomoya: Then, let me address you by ‘Hokuto-senpai’ one last time. Goodbye, Hokuto-senpai… Please don’t hate me… Though, you probably won’t even know what that means.

Hokuto: Mm~ So you’re taking your leave first? See you tomorrow, then.

…………

Hold on a moment, why did you lock the door and walk away?! I need to leave too!

Tomoya: This place is rather out-of-the-way, so no matter how loud you shout, no one will come and save you. Rather, think of it this way – it’s very safe, you can rest assured.

Hokuto: (Kidnapping someone, and proceeding to say it’s for the other party’s protection… Why do I feel a particular sense of déjà vu…? Where have I heard this before…?)

(Nevermind. Hibiki-senpai must’ve taught Tomoya some weird things again.)

(All in all, I can’t stay locked up in here. Tomoya must’ve encountered something for him to act this way. If he encountered some real trouble, as his senior, I can’t just sit on the sidelines uncaringly…!)

(Calm down. Now, I need to figure out a way to break out of this room… but I also need to do it in a way that doesn’t go against what Androids can do. Hm…)

First of all, the main entrance should’ve already been locked from the outside. I am not a combat-type Android, so I lack the weapons capable of breaking the door down.

However, there are many materials in this storage room that can be used to make a living, as well as various tools lying around. Referencing the things around me, I should be able to create some usable props.

The window is rather high up, and can be accessed by climbing up some boxes and the like. Not to mention, this Android body is strong enough to sustain falls from a height, but it is unclear which part of the resort is the window facing. A scout of the environment is necessary.

(Tomoya most likely didn’t do a thorough search of the surrounding areas either — the difficulty of this escape isn’t particularly high. Of course, there’s always the staff to help me exit the game if absolutely necessary.)

(Still… I’m unable to calm down and think it through. Even though the plans I’ve come up with are rather simple, it’s still best to try them out…)

← Chapter 3 | Chapter 5 →

[mint-termsandconditions]

So, for the ask game I'll ask about ✏ (mostly when did you start taking drawing a bit more seriously?)

Also 🧚‍♀️ (I might have a feeling on who that could be)

Prompt 1:

I think started drawing in late elementary school because both of my sisters knew how to draw, and being the young wee lad that I was, copied them.

But I started taking art more seriously in late middle school when I discovered that there was more to life than those videos usually titled:

"The Sad Reality Pictures That Speak Louder Than Words".

I started asking myself, “What would I like to do in the future?” and this led to me toying with the idea of making games and I figured if I wanted to make games I'd better start developing a more interesting art style than 'Story Time Animators', which was my old art style.

Articuno gijinka from middle school:

Once the pandemic hit, I basically drew everyday and now we’re here, with me posting Kirby fan-art by day, drawing surreal horror at night, like an average Kirby fan.

prompt 2:

Let's hope your intuition is correct because my favorite character is Bandana Waddle Dee. 

Reason:

I'm a sucker for a good underdog story and I find it hilarious that Bandana Waddle Dee is mostly consistent in whatever media he's in, usually portraying him as a hard worker but constantly about to snap. He's just a regular guy who decided to grab a spear and take on the world after failing miserably to Kirby once, and became a role model because of it. Somehow, the fandom portrays him as both a nervous wreck and as someone who would leak your IP address because you insulted his friend and both interpretations work. My favorite interpretation of him is from the light novel (though I am slightly disappointed that they still decided to keep him as cowardly and dependent on the others even after getting his spear, but it's not a big deal (but also I have not caught up with the most recent light novels)). He just seems like a good kid overall and he wears a blue bandana what else would you want in a character?

But I have noticed I've been Meta-posting recently, but that's because he has the most comedic potential. In my head, I think it's funnier hearing the phrase "Meta Knight has a nervous breakdown while defusing a bomb" than if it was any other Kirby character.

[rescue-ram]

I did a double feature of MASH (1970) and The Hurt Locker (2008) last night and let me tell ya, that is an interesting back-to-back experience.

I mean fundamentally the genres completely change the way the movies scan, but there are some striking similarities.

Both are shot in this "realistic" way that is both very striking and technically impressive. The Hurt Locker uses slow-mo to capture real explosions in great detail, and roaming documentarian filmwork to capture action in a more naturalistic way, and Altman's use of overlapping soundtracks was both very naturalistic and revolutionary and influential. His frequent use of busy unfocused framing is very important to the visual language of the film.

Shallow comparison, but I was struck that both films open with "thesis statement" quotes, The Hurt Locker with "War is a Drug" and MASH with excerpts from MacArthur's "Old soldiers never die" and Eisenhower's "I shall go to Korea" speeches. Because THL is a straight up drama, it's quote is more of a tone setter, while MASH's quotes are more sarcastic contrasted with the satire that follows.

Both eschew a traditional narrative, and are more of a sequence of thematically linked vignettes. I don't want to belabor the comparison too much, because they're very different films, and the thematic links, rising tension, and character arcs are much more clearly drawn in THL. The descent into madness is terrifying, and then the contrast with the banality of the real world does paint why James has been seduced by war. But MASH makes a lot more sense if you watch the movie knowing each scene is an escalation in absurdity running from the genuinely beautiful, eerie, and realistic opening sequence of casualties being flown into the unit, through a relatively grounded first act, an increasingly outrageous second, culminating in the almost nonsensical football bit at the end. (Uncontroversial opinion, I don't fucking like the football bit, but I do get what they're going for here.)

Both render the "meat" of their characters' work in loving gory detail. The surgery scenes in MASH are very realistic compared to the broad comedy scenes, and were genuinely shocking at the time. They provide a good contrast to the silly scenes, and I think a lot of the bite of the anti-war message comes from the contrast between their bloodiness and the pointless absurdism of the military around them. The attention to detail in the defusing scenes, the realism of the detonations, and the bloody aftermath provides the tension and horror in THL. Also striking neither film is about infantry, and feature little to no direct combat sequences- the characters are mopping up the damages after battles, either in bodies (MASH) or in munitions (THL).

James and Hawkeye are similar in their devil-may-care attitudes and lack of respect for military protocol and hierarchy. Both are hyper competent "wildmen" who will do whatever the have to do to do what they do very well. But this leads into the biggest contrast between the two films- Hawkeye was drafted and James has volunteered, repeatedly, to be here.

One last similarity- the theme of suicide runs through both movies. I think it's most overt in THL- James repeatedly rolls the dice with his own life and is called out for it, implied to be passively suicidal, or at the very least to be incapable of enjoying life without a metaphorical gun to his head, and it's not coincidental that the last two bombs are suicide bombers, neither of which are defused. The theme is more subliminal in MASH because again, comedy, but the notion that war is suicidally stupid is not hard to read.

Okay, getting into the contrasts, of which I'm going to highlight just a few:

The biggest biggest difference is in the make up of the army. In MASH the conflict is between draftees and Regular Army, and the Regular Army is given zero (0) dignity or respect. "How did that man get an officer's commission?" Hot Lips asks indignantly, to which Mulcahy replies "He was drafted." Thesis statement of the film baby! In order to go to war, you either have to be crazy and stupid (Regular Army) or dragged there against your will and driven crazy by your desire to do literally anything except be there (the draftees). THL is an all volunteer army, and the three main characters give a nice little range of "why are they there." Eldridge is a kid implied to have been seduced by unrealistic patriotic propaganda, and is now having a bit of a breakdown realizing he's going to kill and die for nothing. Sanborn is a career soldier, "ten years military intelligence", who ends the film breaking down realizing he wants a real life away from war. James is already broken at the start of the film.

Maybe this should really go under similarities, but the way commanding officers are handled is interesting. In MASH, to reiterate, they appear and are depicted as universally incompetent, stupid, and/or delusional. They are absent in THL, the EOD team acting mostly independently, and I can only think of two who appear on screen- the guy who is impressed by James' cowboy bullshit at the embassy bombing, and the ineffectual psychologist Colonel Cambridge who gets killed because his attempts to be nice allow an insurgent to plant an IED within their perimeter. Not sure if the absence of superiors is a comment on the remove of the brass from on the ground action, the result of focused filmmaking, or something else.

I think the final and biggest difference is the role of fear in the movies. THL is both a tense movie to watch, and one in which characters feeling fear tells you important data about them. I was struck by how reactive most of the American soldiers are, repeatedly screaming orders, ducking for cover, and frequently freaking out. The biggest contrast between Sanborn and James are their reactions- Sanborn openly emoting and freaking out when things go wrong, contrasted with James excitement, focused competence, or quiet and internalized breakdowns. James honestly comes across as better than most of the other soldiers who are more reactive, but the film is explicit that that's a symptom of his pathology and addiction. I saw current day reviews of MASH that criticize it for being a movie about the horrors of war with very little horrors- to which I thought "Yeah babes, it's a comedy, and if there's one thing the horrors of war are not it's funny"- but I think what a lot of people are picking up on it that at no point do the characters seem afraid. While war is immediate and threatening in THL, in MASH, although the 4077th is just 3 miles from the front, no one is particularly concerned. The Regular Army are delusional and more concerned with spreading American values through fucking football and other bullshit, and the draftees are more focused on distracting themselves and making their own fun. I think this is commentary on how pointless the American interventions in Korea and Vietnam were- literally no one cares- but as the audience correctly points out it directly detracts from the horrors it opposes. The film originally had a subplot where Ho-Jon is drafted by the Korean army, injured on the front lines, and dies on the operating table on the 4077th that Altman cut for being too much of a downer, but I kind of wish had been retained. I think there's an alternate universe where a slightly less funny version of the film was made, and the last fifteen minutes replace the football bit with Hawkeye being sent to the front lines to provide medical assistance as he did on the show, and we get 15 minutes of absolutely brutal and horrifying combat, then he returns, gets his discharge papers, and steals a jeep and bugs out of there with Forrest. I do think a little fear would've heightened a lot of the themes in MASH, but it's also psychologically interesting to me that the anti-Vietnam movies appeals mostly to anger and outright nonconforming rebellion, while the anti-Iraq movie is both less anti-military in its messaging and it's characters are fearful or dissociative under stress rather than angry.

[cleromancy]

exhales exhaustedly. sure i have time

1. do you understand the concept of anger and trauma not being mutually exclusive. do you understand that anger can in fact be a response to trauma. you stupid fuck

2. you're reducing a really interesting character moment for jason to oh he mocked moor wittle bwuce whos never done anyfing wrong in his whowe wife 🥺 like. jasons first response to blud exploding is devastation and its only when he thinks bruce is going to leave him to go search the wreckage for a corpse instead of facing his *living breathing son* that he gets angry and lashes out. he says *repeatedly* that if dick was in blud theres no point in bruce going bc dick would be dead already. this is, to jason, yet *again* bruce putting something over jason, refusing to prioritize jason, which is specifically THE THING HE IS SO UNWELL ABOUT. so yeah he does feel fucking bad about being othered and excluded by bruce and *no,* hurting bruce doesn't make him feel *better,* or are you forgetting the fact that he couldn't make himself kill bruce even when he tried?????

3. HE ALMOST SET THE JOKER ON FIRE HIMSELF LIKE HE HAD HIM COVERED IN GASOLINE AND HE COULDN'T DO IT. SHUT THE FUCK UP LMAO

"jasons rude and disrespectful and doesnt take bruce seriously and wants to make him so angry at him and violent because jasons a rough abrasive brute" shut up lmfao this is just "jasons from a bad background and got himself killed bc he was too violent and treated all life like a game" repackaged

FUCKING WHERE LMAO. there is no insult there is no bragging. should he have taken a break from defusing the bomb that was literally already hot to give the random cop an apology blowjob for existing on ~his sidewalk?????

have you ever read any anecdote of literally anyone trying to explain what they were doing to a cop? it takes time and they run you around in circles. it would not fucking *matter* what jason said it wouldnt matter how ~respectful he went out of his way to be, it would've been a waste of time he could have spent DEFUSING A BOMB. but no he should have prioritized being nice and respectful to the police officer over saving peoples lives?????

god like this post is so annoying bc like jason *is* an asshole, jason *is* angry and self-sabotaging and abrasive and violent, and i love him for that, but op cant shut the fuck up about how jason should be bending over backwards to make everyone else more comfortable, as if the reason hes an asshole is *because* hes DISRESPECTFUL, and acting like jason being that way negates his loneliness and trauma is. stupid and sucks and i hate you

and literally why the fuck should he show respect to bruce or some random cop???? what the fuck is wrong with you

i suspect i will be complaining about this more bc i have another thought cooking but its not done yet. but i am MAD

[proton-selfships]

🪐 & 👀

‘Imagine Your S/I Was Canon…’ Self-Ship Asks

Thank you, Lee!

🪐: What would be your most popular AU and why?

I already mentioned here that I think that soulmate AUs would be popular since my ship canon is so much the opposite of that. Aside from that, I think the most popular would either realistically be a Realism/No Powers AU just because it seems popular in the fandom, but I love imagining myself with powers so I don't know if I'll dwell on it too much myself when making selfship stuff.

But Crossover AUs, oh man, those would open up so many possibilities for crossing over with other things! I've got ideas of what Pokémon teams we'd have if we were trainers, what Pokémon we ourselves would be in the PMD universe, and what species we'd be in a Sonic AU! I was thinking of making another slideshow post about them sometime once I have enough. I need to think of more verses to port Laurelton into, it makes my brain so happy to think about...

And fun fact, I'm actually joining a Pathfinder campaign with some friends based on Dungeon Meshi and I'm basing my character on my S/I and writing Laurel into her backstory! It's gonna be so much fun~

👀: How does your ship with your F/O influence both of your characterisations and the world? Would there be any interesting metas written about your dynamic?

Would it ever! Our character arcs are super intertwined and have major implications for the themes of the show. Not to mention, the people shipping Wednesday and Enid would have a field day drawing parallels.

In actual canon, Laurel doesn't really have an arc so much as she has one mask that's traded out for another mask at the end. I don't think either of them are truly who she is. "Marilyn" is obviously a persona she puts on, but I think there's tiny bits of evidence that parts of that character are who she'd want to be in more peaceful circumstances, like her love of her plants being a part of her even without needing to keep up an act. And then everything she does while not pretending to be that person is in service to a cause that she had no say in being indoctrinated into as a child, not to mention likely informed by the horrific trauma she experienced when she lost her entire family.

All the ingredients are already there for her to have a crisis of faith when her plans end in failure to avenge her family and the scorn of the ancestor she'd been raised to worship. My S/I just adds that final push: someone that she can't deny that she misses and feels bad for having used. And, in turn, her reevaluation of herself and rejection of what she'd been raised to believe proves to my S/I that nobody is inherently a monster and everyone has the capacity to change, something my S/I desperately needs affirmed after believing my powers and intrusive thoughts make me a ticking time bomb that nothing can defuse.

There'd be so much meta about all the themes at work there:

How our union blurs the lines between our social classes that start out being treated by the narrative as immutable and hereditary—I'm actually considering making her temporarily gaining powers from saving my S/I a permanent change to strengthen that theme.

How the buildup to our relationship demonstrates the importance of rehabilitative justice, how we should hold people accountable for their actions while also not deeming their character irredeemable.

How the fact that we become family and bridge the Addams and Gates Families represents a brighter future of coexistence, contrasting the past where Crackstone slaughtered outcasts and Goody had to sacrifice her own humanity to stop him.

How her beginning her redemption and saving my S/I specifically during my most destructive meltdown shows that people are still worthy of love and support even when they're at their worst.

So yeah. So much meta potential, and I'm sure I'll think of even more the moment I hit post and regret not adding them skjdkdshfdsfdsf

[charnelhouse]

if you are taking requests i would love to see flag with a really soft reader! it would be so cute 🥰

A/N: Rick Flag x F!Reader. Brief mentions of smut. Fluff. Gore. Me stuck using just random gifs of Joel because I'm running out of SS ones.

These are the nights he fights for.

At least that’s what he tells himself in order to keep going and pull through and one more mission - one more mile - one more bomb to defuse and then I’m home.

“This movie is terrible,” he deadpans as he shoves more popcorn into his mouth.

You twist your body to stare up at him - big eyes reflecting the blue screen - the shrieking face of some cheerleader getting her throat cut.

“It’s October, Rick,” you pinch his waist and he jerks - still stupidly ticklish.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning we’re watching shitty horror movies until Halloween.”

He places the popcorn bowl at his side and wraps a firm arm around your hips so he can pull you flush to his chest. You squeak - your ass wriggling against his crotch and - shit - he’s hard (he’d been half-hard since the movie started - since he came home to you three days ago. Constantly ready to fuck you into any surface available). “We could be doing lots of other fun things rather than watch...” he gestures to the screen where a chick is getting stabbed through the forehead. “...this.”

“Babe - we did all those fun things an hour ago and the hour before that and this morning,” you curl deeper into him - your fingers picking at the cotton of his shirt. “I need a break.”

He grumbles, the heat he holds for you is something all-consuming and he knows he can’t get enough. The next mission will come and he will go with the orders drilled into his head and all the while he will dream of you and think of you and hope that he returns one more time. He strokes the back of your neck - squeezing the warm skin. His soft girl - his girl, period.

He remembers the first time he’d met you - little nurse sewing the jagged wound across his bicep. The damp press of your breath and when he’d asked you your name, your eyes had drifted up and shined.

“That’s pretty,” he said - fidgeting under your touch - the sting of the needle.

“I suppose.”

He glanced at you. “It is.”

Your lips quirked - expression relaxing as you returned to the bleeding mess of his arm. He flinched again and quickly apologized. “I’m a bad patient.”

“Not as bad as the others.”

He frowned. “Others?”

“The rest of your squad,” you explained. “Very jumpy - especially the crocodile.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You patched them up?”

“Of course - they were injured.”

“Waller doesn’t usually allow that.”

You blinked at him - distaste wrinkling your nose. “They’re still people.” You dragged your fingertips over the puckered flesh of his wound - the pink and red and nasty tissue. He could smell you - floral and sweet. Girlish. It made him think of sundresses and long grass and he suddenly wanted to see you in one.

They’re still people. It hung between you - that strange truth that Rick thought was only his to carry.

“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed. “They are.”

He tightens his grip on you - yanking you into his lap as the screams from the television echo in your small living room. You’re a kind thing - too kind for someone like him. He worries every day that something will go wrong - that someone will find out about you and take you from him or use you as bait.

Waller had before - with June - with other people Flag had shown a smidge of interest in.

Hell - even the fucking Joker had been infamous for pulling those cards - capturing the loved ones of the people who tried to screw with him. Harley had laid it all out - giving Rick every detail of that piece of shit’s disgusting pattern of thinking.

He’s on crazy-backwards, Flag. Won’t hesitate to hurt yah where he can, you know? He did it to me - a lot - every day - until I liked it and all.

He murmurs your name and you lift your chin to look at him. There’s that bare face - that open and trusting gorgeous face that he would kill for. He sweeps his thumb over your jaw as his lips hover just above yours and he knows that he’d do just about anything for you. He’d like to get out of his line of work - maybe settle down - figure out all his wreckage so he’d have a clean slate.

Take you with him. Far and away from Waller. Maybe - a ranch. Maybe - anywhere else than the slick, tar-dark streets of this city.

“You wanna play, Rick?” you whisper - nails scraping through his hair - tits shoved up against the relaxed thrum of his heartbeat. That’s the other thing - he’s calm with you - his head is on straight. These are the small blessings he asks for and is given. What he thinks about when he presses his temple to his gun and prepares to storm a fire-fight.

“Thought you wanted to finish the movie, darlin,” he teases - touching at the band of your sweats - skating inside to feel where you are warm and wet.

“This movie sucks,” you mumble before you kiss him.