#Okay I was going to make (a shorter version of) this post while I was reading the chapter but I exited out once I came to trying to spell

[soleminisanction]

Okay this misconception keeps coming across my dash and it drives me nuts because it means people are lumping two very different versions of the DC universe under one disparaging banner. So let me just say this to get it off my chest because I'm this close to shaking somebody:

The New 52 ended seven years ago in 2016.

That started a section of DC's history called "Rebirth" in which they started bringing elements of the pre-Flashpoint continuity back into the timeline. The first changes came in a big burst called Convergence -- which is how Jon Kent effectively manifested fully formed at 10 years old -- while other reintroductions like Kon-El, Bart Allen, Cass Cain, etc. were more gradual.

The original plan, being forced through by King of Bad Decisions Dan Didio, was that after ~4-5 Rebirth would give way to another full reboot known as 5G. I could go into detail about the plans but they're honestly not important to this post because Didio was (thankfully, finally) ousted from his role as publisher early in 2020, along with something like 80% of the higher-level editorial staff. DC had a complete creative turn-over at the start of the pandemic and completely changed directions as a result. The material being developed for 5G was retooled into the hypothetical future event "Future State" to buy the new staff time to pull together their new direction.

That new direction is called INFINITE FRONTIER. It started in 2021 and THAT is the era of DC comics we're in now. Infinite Frontier is an active push to bring back the pre-Flashpoint characters, as well as some pre-Crisis ideas and characters, while also keeping the few elements of the New 52 that people actually liked (like Jason Todd's more heroic characterization) and actively pursuing diversity initiatives both in creative staff and in creations. And outside of the big events, they're making a real effort to keep these comics short and self contained in the hopes that that'll make them more accessible. So it's actually really easy, if you read comics pre-Flashpoint and dropped off, to just pick up a series and go with the flow. Anything confusing is just a Google away.

Please, please don't make the mistake of thinking modern comics are as bad as the New 52 just because some people are butthurt their ship isn't getting canonized. There have been some really good comics made in the last few years that you should totally try! Spirit World, Monkey Prince and the entire We Are Legends line has been genuinely fantastic. The new Birds of Prey is shaping up to be a ton of fun. Dark Knights of Steel is an entertaining Elseworld. Urban Legends and Brave & the Bold have done some really fun things with shorter anthology books. One Minute War was a really fun Flash family event and everything Stargirl's done recently is liable to make you cry.

I'm begging people to give these comics a chance. It's just really sad to see them being dismissed out of hand.

[germiyahu]

Not too thrilled that my other post is getting so many notes when I'm not satisfied with it for a multitude of reasons. Let's have a do-over, hopefully much more succinct and to the original point.

When Palestinians, actually basically all Arabs, or all Muslims, say "Jerusalem is holy to us it is the 3rd holiest city in our religion." The White Western Leftist (WWL) will say "That's so valid your religion is so interesting and beautiful Hamas did nothing wrong I love the Houthis!"

But if a Jew ever rebuts "Jerusalem is holy to us as well, it's our holiest city, basically the only one we have," the WWL will probably roll their eyes, scoff, probably say something like "Okay but like why are you still using your outdated Zionist death cult to justify colonialism? You really think the Bible justifies killing millions of Palestinians?" and start going on and on about how Judaism invented everything bad about Christianity.

My hypothesis: These people are not allies to Muslims (Palestinians). They are condescending to them. They are throwing them a bone because they feel bad about how the Muslim world has been treated, well ever since Sykes-Picot, but especially post 9/11, the Patriot Act, The War on Terror, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Drone War, Libya, Nato, The Arab Spring, the list goes on. They don't think Muslims are capable of building the kind of societies they want, not without their gracious help. They don't think Muslims should have the same ideals of democracy and human rights, because they don't expect that from the Brown People. They won't ever hold them to such a standard because "Ugh where do we get off lecturing them?" even though they would never think this of Jews.

These people are not equals to Jews, something something Sartre they think they are both superior and inferior (which makes them superior). They are not just trying to hold their fellow citizens of the world to account. They are trying to put Jews in their place. They are projecting their religious trauma onto Jews because they do not understand Judaism. They see Judaism as Power. They are trying to delegitimize Judaism as a religion (and it is a religion, including the parts of religions that give atheists the "ick," including a lot of mysticism). They are trying to caterwaul about Jews being responsible for the world's ills and that they expect Jewish People to be better than this. To evolve beyond religion and community and affiliation and identity. They want Jewish to be nothing more than a box ticked off on a census. A neat little factoid about yourself, like how your neighbor Cheryl has Norwegian ancestry.

My only conclusion is that these people find Jews and Judaism repulsive, and they find Muslims and Islam primitive. Unlike their parents' generation, they appreciate the primitive. It is noble savagery to them. Unlike their parents' generation, the comparatively cosmopolitan modern secular Western sheen of Jewry (applied to Jews against their will) is not something that we almost lost from the world, but an annoying holdover of what we almost successfully purged from the world.

Because remember, while they hate their parents and everything they stand for, they still deep down want Daddy's approval. So it makes perfect sense why the psyche would displace anger and trauma and all that caused by Christianity, and look elsewhere to place blame. It falls at the feet of Jews and Judaism. Because my culture could never, there has to be a missing puzzle piece that could explain- oh there it is. The Jews did it. And wow look how easily this can slot in with every other antisemitism conspiracy theory.

The audacity to think I could make a shorter version of that post 😂 But basically it's this: The WWL, the Zoomer Left, the Tankies, whatever name you call them... they think that they can "save" Muslims by offering up Jews, and the terrorist fascist fundamentalists like Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, they're on board. They're all in. Normal ass every day Muslims/Palestinians? They just want peace, they just want rights, they just want sovereignty. The WWL is not interested in that perspective.

They have not once in their lives thought of what they could possibly do in terms of reparations. No no, tweeting and marching for a weekend are quite enough. They have not once in their lives turned inward and self reflected on the ways they benefit from and their own role in these systems of supremacy, that have harmed Muslims around the world. Jewish blood is more than enough to pay for operation Iraqi Freedom. Jewish lives are a fetching price to assuage the Westerner's guilt. You know since they have so much trouble turning inward and reflecting on their own contribution to Islamophobia, it might do them good to practice a little תשובה... but I don't know 😌

[matchaxberries]

Gaara Relationship Headcanons

Gaara Sabaku (Naruto) x Gn!reader

Drabbles/Headcanons, Not requested, SFW

Summary: Gaara of the sand is perfect, no debates. Cute relationship Headcanons, fluffy.

Warnings: Talk about insecurities and nightmares, pet names, I don’t think there is anything else.

(A/N) Gaara is one of my favorite characters of this series. He deserves so much, and is soft. I do not care who thinks he’s terrible, he is perfect. If it’s requested at all I might make a smut version of this, or if I just feel like doing that. I also for the most part always will put the read more under the gif for my posts. I think it looks clean. :3 If anyone thinks I should change it, do suggest something else.

Gaara is insecure of himself, that’s obvious in the show. He likes physical touch, and words of affirmation.

In public, he isn’t too big on touch though. Being the Kazekage, he wants your relationship a bit more closed. He wouldn’t want anything bad happening to his lover because of his status.

He will melt into grains of sand if you play with his hair while sitting behind him. If you’re taller, he wouldn’t mind sitting right in your lap, or in between your legs. If you’re shorter, he would sit in the floor in front of you, while you’re in a chair just so you run your hands through his red locks.

He would be very flustered by any nicknames, he likes kind words, but pet names turn him the color of his own hair. Bright red. He isn’t going to tell you to stop though, no. He’s going to enjoy it, and pretend he doesn’t like it, and he will turn away from you so you can’t see his expression.

Back on him being insecure, he gets jealous or possessive over you fast. He sees you talking to someone who makes you laugh a bit more than usual? He is by your side in a moment, wrapping his arm around your shoulder. “What is so funny, (y/n)?” He will question, right in front of the person.

They will be scared, he is Kazekage. “Sorry, lord Kazekage-“ they’ll quickly let out, turning heel and getting away from you.

You’ll pout at Gaara, saying they weren’t saying anything with bad intentions. But he doesn’t say anything back, only drags you back to his office so you can tell him how much you love him, and how he’s the only one for you.

While you are laying and about to rest, randomly tell him how you love something about him. He doesn’t mind if he’s heard it before, it helps him fall asleep.

Gaara has nightmares frequently, he doesn’t want to wake you at all, but sometimes he jerks awake and you get jerked with him since you sleep right on him.

“I’m sorry my dear, I didn’t mean to wake you.” He will say, while out of breath. “Don’t worry Gaara, are you okay?” He will only nod, and hold you closer. He doesn’t like to talk about his nightmares, they’re often about things that would happen in his past. He’s afraid you’ll leave him if you find out that he’s a ‘monster’ in his own words.

Gaara doesn’t have too many facial expressions, at first it worried you, thinking you were boring him. But he assured you he just doesn’t react well, but he loves you very much, and finds you very entertaining.

Gaara likes to carry you around on his sand. He thinks it is fun, and you get to enjoy yourself watching over everything. He will have you float just a bit behind him, up a bit higher, but never out of his reach or sight.

His preferred pet name from you is love, sweetheart, and pretty boy. They all fluster him a lot, but those are his favorites to hear. He likes to call you dear, my dear, and on occasion darling. He keeps them to a minimum, and keeps them kind of professional. He will fluster himself by calling you something pretty out there.

Word Count: 571

Character count: 2,974

(A/N 2) The word and character counts on these might not be 100% accurate. I paste everything into a random thing on Google, so it might be a bit wrong. I might make a part two for this, but for now this is all, it wasn’t too much but I just wanted to write something more.

Masterlist

Request Rules

[reasonsforhope]

I keep seeing news about charges and what-not being piled onto Trump, and all I can keep saying to myself is "but is he going to experience one (1) single consequence of this?" So... is there any iota of a hope that something could come of this circus that will make the slightest ding in his capacity to run in 2024?

So, the answer to this is a bit complicated - partly because there are a lot of factors and a long time scale, and partly because it depends on how you define "consequences"

If you mean "any serious consequences at all," good news, that has already happened!

If you need to catch up on the whole "cases against Trump" situation, read this: The Cases Against Trump: A Guide. Via The Atlantic, November 1, 2023

1. The New York Fraud Case

A judge has ordered that the Trump Organization must be dissolved in a ruling that is being widely described as a "corporate death penalty." This is an incredibly rare ruling, and a huge deal.

The details will take a while to hash out - currently, Trump's kids are in the middle of testifying in a trial for this fraud case, but it's not to determine whether he's guilty - only the extent of the damages and the outline of how the org will be dissolved. It's extraordinarily unlikely Trump will be able to get out of this one. And high up on the list of things he's probably going to lose? Trump Tower itself.

Now, admittedly, this actually isn't because of, you know, the whole attempted coup thing. It's because the Trump Organization's finances were built on decades of absolutely massive fraud - including the very wealth that Trump lied about in order to explain why people should vote for him.

Oh, and let's not forget that in this case, Donald Trump spent weeks absolutely shit talking the judge to try to "poison the jury pool" (make sure that people on the jury would go in with a negative opinion of the judge already). ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT THERE IS NO JURY IN THIS CASE because his attorneys forgot to request one, so the sole arbiter of his fate is the judge he just spent weeks absolutely slandering in an attempt to win over the jury! And all else aside, judges very infamously do not like being insulted

Oh yeah, and the prosecutors are seeking a permanent ban on Trump doing business in the state of New York

Fraud trial explainer (New York Times, no paywall) Sources: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x

2. 14th Amendment Lawsuit

Okay so I did all the other sections first, then came back and wrote this one. It's shorter because of that, and because this issue is a lot newer and doesn't have nearly as much legal stuff or investigations going on yet.

What's happening here is that several states have people who are filing petitions and lawsuits to try to get Trump taken off the ballot for the 2024 election, under the 14th Amendment, which was passed in the aftermath of the Civil War and bars anyone who has committed insurrection from holding office.

So far (as of the first week of November, there are cases to kick Trump off the ballot in about 20 states. Oral arguments have started in Colorado and Minnesota.

Basically, my take on the short version is that this could happen, but we'll have to wait at least a few more months to see how likely it is.

However, even if it does go through, Trump would only be kicked off the ballot on a state by state basis. So, if Colorado kicks him off the ballot, he'll still be on the ballot in the other 49 states, and the process would have to be repeated in each one. Still, even if it was just one state, that could be a big deal, voting-wise - and if he gets kicked off the ballot in more than a couple states, he might not end up being the Republican nominee anymore, given the size of that disadvantage.

Correction, 6 min after posting: It's expected that if Trump DOES get kicked off the ballot in any state, the Supreme Court will hear the case and weigh in. The decision would be binding for all states. Supreme Court probably unlikely to ban Trump from the ballot since they cheated their way into a conservative supermajority and 3 of them are Trump appointees

Explainer: Trial to kick Trump off the ballot in Colorado Explainer: Strengths and weaknesses of cases to kick Trump off the ballot Sources: x, x, x, x, x, x, x

3. The Classified Documents Case

So, the fraud case above is actually a civil case (that is, not a criminal case). The classified documents case, however, is a criminal case, and it's arguably the one most likely to lead to legal and political consequences for Trump, in large part because everything's very clear cut.

Like, Trump has literally admitted he retained classified documents on purpose - which is super against the law! Trump is just arguing a variety of nonexistent technicalities for why that law doesn't apply to him. But he did it! We know he did! We have photos of classified documents stored in the Mar-a-Lago bathroom! We have testimony from the employees he ordered to secretly move the boxes before the FBI probe. We have records proving he asked Mar-a-Lago's IT guy about erasing the surveillance footage of the move! We even have proof that a) he stole nuclear secrets, and b) a recording of him waving around the "plans of attack," bragging about them to other people!

All super damning.

(Post continues below, at length; sources at the end of each section.)

And another thing that's extremely key: Trump is charged in this case with violating the Espionage Act. And the Espionage Act explicitly does not give a single fuck about why you retained documents, or whether there's any proof you intended to show anyone. Any and all hoarding of national defense documents is illegal under the Espionage Act - EVEN if they're not classified, which is great since "I declassified them with my brain" (not how it works) is Trump's main defense here.

So, this case is basically the surest criminal conviction - and the most likely to have electoral consequences. Partly because Republicans, as few issues as they care about, generally are security hawks - "Trump stole nuclear secrets and showed them to people" is giving Repubs pause in a way that the insurrection just isn't, probably esp in the military and ex-military demographic.

Trump could also serve jail time if convicted in this case (which again he probably will be).

However, violating the Espionage Act doesn't ban you from running for or holding public office, which imho seems like a pretty major oversight.

Classified documents case explainer Sources: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x

4. The Insurrection

So, this is where things get really complicated, because the case is complicated and so many things about it are so unprecedented.

There are two different cases here: a criminal case in the state of Georgia and a federal criminal case (that's the one run by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is also running the classified documents case).

I definitely can't summarize all of this huge situation here, but here's some key points re: whether there will be legal consequences:

I actually have a pretty high level of trust in Jack Smith, in large part due to his record: he's serving as special prosecutor while on sabbatical from his normal job of prosecuting war crimes at the Hague. And he's specifically been prosecuting war crimes from the wars and genocides in former Yugoslavia in the 80s and 90s. That specifically gives me a lot of confidence because - as someone whose family is from the region - I think it's a really strong demonstration of his abilities. It means he has a lot of experience prosecuting high-level government and army officials, in a complicated, multi-year, multi-war conflict, where there were way more sides and factions than we have, along with way less documentary evidence (bc 90s), and a lot of history of political corruption and coverups. I find that really reassuring, especially the "experience prosecuting high-level government and army officials" thing in a situation with, shall we say, extremely contested and variable national leadership, during the course of multiple civil wars

"Schwendiman compared it to prosecuting Kosovo’s equivalent of Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton. “If you indict these people, you’re saying, ‘The founding fathers of Kosovo have committed atrocities, and I’m ready to prove it, in an independent court, with independent judges and rules that apply to everyone.’” And that was Kosovo's founding president. So yeah, I think Jack Smith can handle Trump. Source

Okay now to the points you might have actually heard of lol

The Georgia case is a state level case, which means that no matter what, Trump can't pardon himself in that case

The Georgia case is also charging Trump under the RICO act - aka the rackeeting act, usually used to prosecute organized crime. And convictions under the Georgia RICO Act come with MANDATORY jail time

I think the evidence here is pretty compelling, see: the congressional Jan 6 hearings

There is a pretty high chance that, in a massively unusual step, filming will be allowed inside the trial/hearings. This is HUGE, especially because Trump supporters would actually be watching it too (unlike, generally, the congressional hearings), and that evidence all laid out looks really goddamn bad

Also, if yesterday's fraud trial testimony is any indication, Trump is likely to end up yelling and screaming at the judge, etc. in the trial, which is going to look wildly unprofessional

The federal trial will be taking place in Washington DC, where it should be very doable to get a jury that isn't stuffed with Trump cronies (unlike, say, if the case was brought in Florida)

Trump has attempted witness tampering on a lot of occasions, and tried to poison the jury pool, and he got caught so now he's under a gag order that restricts what he can say re: both of those.

Important note: Jack Smith has brought the narrower of two possible cases against Trump. He's filed against Trump with several conspiracy charges, including "conspiracy against rights," which was historically created to prosecute the KKK for racial terrorism

However, Jack Smith did not actually charge Trump with inciting an insurrection. There are a lot of possible reasons for this, but it mostly boils down to the fact that "inciting an insurrection" is significantly less objectively provable, in this case, esp since "insurrection" isn't actually defined in the relevant law

So, Jack Smith has traded a broader case (the one including insurrection charges) for a case that is much simpler and quicker to argue, and that he's sure he can prove

Jack Smith absolutely knows that he has an effective deadline of November 2024 (aka the next election, because a Republican president would shut down the investigation immediately), and he's planning accordingly

Look. Federal prosecutors - and the prosecutors in Georgia and the other NY case, for bribery of porn star Stormy Daniels - would not be bringing these charges if they did not feel sure they would win. Democracy aside, if any of them lose their cases? That is almost guaranteed to end their careers. So they have a very vested self-interest in only taking on what they are absolutely sure they can prove

The judge in the federal Jan 6 trial is the judge who has given the harshest sentences against any of the Jan 6 rioters, and she is the only judge to have sentenced rioters to more time than the prosecutors asked for

Jan 6 charges against Trump, explainer Sources: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x

A Very Hot Take: It might not be a bad thing that Trump is still allowed to run

So, this is my personal take on the situation - I acknowledge that it's a very hot take on the Left, and that I might well be wrong about this. I might be totally misreading the field here. But I genuinely do think that Trump being the Republican candidate for president could be a good thing, and in fact I'll genuinely worry significantly more if Trump isn't the Republican nominee for president.

The why all basically comes down to this: I think Trump will be easier to defeat in the 2024 general election.

Again, look, I may totally be misreading this, and that would be really bad, but here are my thoughts:

Trump is super popular with the far right base - but that same strength makes him a huge liability in the general election. You CAN'T WIN a presidential election without the support of independents and moderates (including "moderates"). This is a really common problem for Republican candidates, actually: the more they move to the right to win the core Republican base, the more they risk hurting their chances in the general election

Independents and moderate Republicans - again, who Trump needs to win with to get the presidency - are significantly more likely to care about, you know, all the stealing classified documents and committing treason things

I can't think of anything that will guarantee people on the left get their asses to the polls better than "Vote or Trump is president again." A lot of the time, with someone who hasn't been president before, voters can lie to themselves and go "Oh it won't be that bad once he's in office," esp among moderates. But now we have proof that isn't the case!

Look, I don't know if Trump is getting dementia or what, but his faculties really do appear to be declining. They'll likely be significantly worse in another year - his speeches are already way worse than there were in 2016. He just can't track what he's saying well enough anymore. This makes it harder for him to make his case to the electorate

He's also the only actual Repub candidate that's about the same age as Biden - which will do a lot to stop the Right from using Biden's age as an effective weapon to get a Repub in office

Honestly, my biggest worry is that DeSantis will be the Republican nominee. I am way more scared of Biden vs. DeSantis than Biden vs. Trump.

Reasons I would absolutely rather Biden face Trump than DeSantis include: DeSantis is way younger and he has way less baggage. Because he hasn't been president yet, voters can do that self-delusion thing that he won't be that bad - that he'll be better than Trump - and that unlike Trump's, his plans will work. People on the left and in the center often don't know who he is yet, and there's not such a huge current of electoral energy to get them to the polls. And most of all - unlike Trump, DeSantis is actually smart. And as part of that, he is capable of a deep and absolutely premeditated cruelty that Trump just doesn't have the attention span or the patience for. Biggest example: actually literally kidnapping undocumented immigrants and sending them to Martha's Vineyard, and all the awfulness that went along with that, including the part where he started a goddamned trend.

Nikki Haley I'm less worried about because her core support base - conservatives - is also the country's core support base for misogyny. I hate to be glad about misogyny, but it genuinely would make it harder for her to turn out ultraconservative votes, especially evangelicals.

Sources: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x

So, yeah, all told I don't actually have "Trump still gets to run for president" super high on the list of things I'm worried/mad about.

Also worth saying that we don't want just being indicted (aka charged with a crime) to disqualify people from running for office, because then all Republicans (or anyone) would have to do to disqualify an opposing candidate is find literally any excuse to charge them with something

But back to your original question! I genuinely DO think he'll face legal consequences, and I genuinely DO think he'll probably face jail time. Which obviously I am rooting for very hard

[taeiris]

okay guys here’s my crazy unsupported st5 theory that is mostly just me projecting my need for madwheeler bonding and drama and angst also byler duh

disclaimers: i never make theories so this is extremely messy probably, i know jack dookie abt writing shows i think of this as my own little version of what i would think would be very cool to happen, if this has loop holes dont ask me anything bc idk either

OKAY LETS GET ON IT

so first things first here is what i am taking into consideration for the theory to happen:

• mike pov, self reflection and introspection (he is gay and in love with will byers okay)

• madwheeler bonding, theyre both complex n misunderstood

• the upside down isnt just one dimension, i came up with this bc of how different the ud looks now

compared to when henry arrived.

to me theres like an umbrella dimension (yellow one) and others under it (blue one/hawkins ud, the void, etc)

this is also lowkey supported by the silly boobie diagram the writers posted abt

OKAY PREPARE FOR THE WORD VOMIT

in this silly theory of mine, a new dimension variant of the ud will be revealed in season 5, serving as a parallel to the void. this is where max is

OKAY another thing is this is also heavily based on those “leaks” that were going around twitter (for me at least) earlier when the strike first started. i remember a few of them claiming that we would get a deeper insight into mike and his own things, so this is my interpretation

this would serve as another vanishing, not really bc its shorter, but this time mike will be getting stuck in this other dimension, eventually finding max BOOM madwheeler serve

i mean look at them. the potential is insane

ANYWAYS

this dimension is like a combo of all the other ones, picture it like the hawkins ud, with the void’s wet floor maybe

lets go back to the fact max is here, this is her coma nightmare, its like this purgatory dimension vecna put her soul in

in this dimension inhabit your ghosts

this overwhelming, haunting, tormenting realm in your mind where you are constantly confronting all your bad memories, maybe this is kind of how vecna keeps max under his grasp, no happy memories allowed

okay so, mike gets there. how? when? i dont fucking know this is honestly just word vomit fanfiction to me

at first hes confused, scared but mostly confused, picture him screaming for wills name (the parallels) at first it’s empty and eerily quiet, but as he accepts it, the ghosts start coming in.

he gets BOMBARDED with these bad memories, some of them he cant even remember because come on, bro is always neglecting his internalized feelings/monologue in fear of what they say about him

this is where we get his pov on the whole will and eleven situation, amongst other things (like the way he’s constantly stressed thinking about the safety of the people he loves)

for a moment we see him break, bc these ghosts are LOUD and MANY

but it stops

max is here, she’s like “MIKE?”

“MAX?”

shes been here for a fat minute, she knows how to handle these ghosts in fact shes been going thru them one by one ever since, because shes done hiding. and she suspects that the only way to get out is by confronting them.

max saves mike from his ghosts, explains that this place is seemingly a purgatory with levels of memories and ghosts to overcome

this is how we get our madwheeler bonding we so graciously need, as they are part of eachother ghosts since theyre so similar it makes the other mad

this is how our complex misunderstood characters are broken down, explained to the audience, while also discovering the mystery that is this new dimension where at the finish line they might just figure out how to defeat vecna.

because they will

after overcoming the ghosts they find the place that vecna didnt think they would reach as he was so sure they would break and collapse on their own madness

think of it as how el found the source in season 3

or how max found vecnas lair after running away in dear billy

except this place is vecnas actual mind, they can see hear and feel what vecna is thinking, his plans and everything

mike wonders how will feels being able to feel this all the time

will feels this all the time

will is always connected to this piece of vecnas mind, to this source

he can always hear vecna

until he suddenly hears max… and mike and theyre calling for help

theyve figured out key clues on how to defeat vecna, and they have an idea on how to get out. this is how will’s connection comes in handy

mind walkie-talkie

maybe thats what this theory should be called, idk

-

so thats how we get our byler confirmation, madwheeler bonding like never before, mike focus, and the key to defeat vecna

at least in my head

i know this was messy and all over the place but it was very fun to explain and drop all my thoughts ive been vomiting on the gc for months now

let me know what you think, what you would add, if theres anything you think will support this theory?

its all just a theory, for fun! pls keep that in mind

thank you if you’ve read this far🫶

[mybrainproblems]

hello, i'm finales georg...

i don't want to further clutter up the notes on this post while responding to the tags below but the persistence of the "finale is short/scenes are missing/extra ad break” conspiracies drives me absolutely bananas when i've watched the finale ten times and have posted about this A LOT trying to clear things up. (disclaimer that yes, i'm a goddamn destiel shipper but i care about Facts above all.)

ok but this is weird because i'd swear the episode was shorter (11 missing scenes!) but okay. maybe we all mandela effected ourselves into #beleving that. because it felt shorter. but i will die on the hill that it had another ad break. i understand this person has the thing #recorded with ads so i am thinking maybe different ad breaks in different idk time zones??? #because the finale did air an hour earlier in canada so maybe idk i am reaching here but maybe different states or whatever had different #ad breaks??? as for the last minute changes - wasn't the cover band asked for permission to use their version of carry on like a week before #the thing aired??? so even if the episode was 42 minutes and had no additional ad break - which i am side eying but lets say all was normal #i will always say they were changing thing until the absolute last minute (carry on my wayward son X 2 #the crew on the bridge which is not only giant 4th wall breaking but also wow they really got all those people in one place in times of #covid???) #anyway. tinfoil hat stays on sorry guys :/ (via @officialmisha)

short and snarky: there are plenty of real and sourced examples of network homophobia and scripted/directed destiel scenes being cut to point to. we don’t need to make this stuff up just bc the finale wasn’t what we wanted. so it’s not the mandela effect — it’s ppl repeating a conspiracy/rumor bc it supports their narrative and it’s easier and more fun to repeat something that supports a narrative they already believe (misha or something destiel was cut) vs the boring act of fact checking.

longer circumspect answer with links bc like many ppl i am in my debunking era and i rewatched "roblox_oof" last night.

like i said. i've watched the finale ten times. i’ve gone over the episode with a fine toothed comb and posted a detailed breakdown of timing marks on my blog. it’s actually extremely obvious where the ad breaks are once you know roughly where to look for them (they have a longer fade to black instead of a quick cut scene change). there’s no room for extra ad breaks and i think this conspiracy/rumor persists in part bc the episode feels so sparse in terms of cast and the fact that the episode’s momentum hits a barn post (and rebar) less than 20min into an hour-long programming block.

also i’m begging ppl to actually look at that timing mark post. it’s very straightforward and i spent a lot of time on it. i don’t care if ppl plagiarize it at this point if it means this conspiracy stops. i've got almost every second accounted for.

the "eleven missing scenes" that you're thinking of are probably from the finale script of questionable authenticity that @spnscripthunt acquired back in 2021 which can be found here. it's dated as the “final draft” from 11 sep 2020 and filming on 15x20 wrapped on 10 sep 2020. as noted at the bottom of this superwiki page "[the] script came from someone claiming to have been the person who did the closed captions for the show in Russia. There are some indications that it possibly may not be authentic, but this has not been confirmed."

if we go with the possibility that this was a transcript meant for subtitles, the "omitted" scenes were probably written but never filmed since it's the "final draft" and not a color revision (blue, green, yellow, etc). unfortunately, i’ve lost track of where i read it and a preliminary duckduckgo search isn’t bringing it up bc there's a program for script writing called final draft, but iirc the “final draft” version of a script is a transcript of what was filmed (e.g. there are parts of that 15x20 script that ended up being deleted scenes on the DVD). spnscripthunt also has an example of a confirmed final draft for 09x02 (funnily enough, also a dabb-penned ep). if anyone can confirm with a source that i have the purpose of the “final draft” version designation wrong, please let me know! i love being proven wrong with Facts.

i do want to acknowledge that the two “final drafts” do look different from each other and the 15x20 one doesn't look like a “real” final draft script since it lacks the revision/versioning dates that a script would normally have on the cover page. it could be that it was intended for subtitles; there's the chance it's been re-typed to anonymize it if there was anything indicating who the "owner" was, tho that seems a wee bit cloak and dagger to me. and again: it's considered of questionable authenticity. there are some things that don't quite line up but oh dear god i don't want to get even further out into the weeds than i already am.

i won't disagree that it's weird as hell that neoni only got asked about using their cover seven days prior to the episode airing (tiktok here). my personal theory is that they were hoping to get a more expensive song (maybe a zepp song, idk) and didn't manage to secure the rights in the end. again: this is pure conjecture on my part! but i could absolutely see someone working on the show hearing neoni’s cover and liking it and then maybe they were using it as a placeholder until it got down to the wire and they had to make a call/send the ep to networks. because yes, it is baffling they played a song and then a cover of it with only a 40 second break between. (i do actually really like the neoni cover! the placement is just weird and i think it could have worked if they had the kansas version at the beginning and closed with neoni's full cover.)

as to the 4th wall break COVID stuff: robert singer talked with variety magazine about filming the last two episodes and the logistics of filming during a pandemic. whether they should have been filming during a pandemic is a separate discussion but their use of office vs set pods, strict quarantining and daily testing meant that they had zero positive tests in the month they were filming (18 aug to 10 sep). so given all that, i personally don’t think it’s totally out of pocket to have everyone standing outdoors on a bridge for maybe an hour to get a drone shot of them together. (i won’t get into incubation periods and viral load, but if everyone tested negative that day and every day for a month prior, it was a fairly low risk scene to film outdoors and for all we know everyone was masked until the last possible second. there were plenty of outdoor masked protests in 2020 that weren't superspreader events.)

and before anyone brings up “but misha was in vancouver!” i know someone who looked into it and they said no dice, nothing matched up between the backgrounds in those pics and places in vancouver. his statements about “us” going back to set over the summer were pretty generic in hindsight and “we”/"us" could be him or the spn crew generally. unfortunately i’m not able to find those tweets but the use of “we” was likely so as not to give away he wouldn’t be returning to set. (bc we were absolutely casbaited!) and bc it comes up a lot: the "onion field pic" was from when they were filming 15x17 and was not taken while filming 15x19 and 15x20.

besides, it would be ridiculous to go through the financial and logistical headaches of bringing someone into the country to film during a pandemic, only to cut their scenes in the end! honestly, the script is pretty tight when the scenes are given so much breathing room! the only thing i could see being further cut down is The Monologue and even then, i don’t think there was any intent to cut it down given it was filmed in fairly long takes.

i’ve said it many times before, but i believe the finale was fucked long before they returned to set. walker got the green light in sep 2019 and it was being marketed heavily as a “follow on” show to spn given jared’s involvement. the demo they were courting for walker has little to no overlap with the demo for destiel fans — why would they want a finale that catered to a demo they weren't interested in courting? we just went through a historic double strike that exposed so much of the rot of business interests overriding creative vision. this isn't completely unfounded conjecture.

i will not apologize for the length of this bc i wanted to be thorough, but i do want to give context that i think the reason these conspiracies and rumors grind my gears so much is because anyone can fact check all of this. the truth is out there and absolutely none of it is that hard to find. the most time consuming/difficult part of this was finding someone who had a DVR’d copy of the finale from when it aired live and they actually found me themselves after i’d been low key asking around for a year!

and like. i get it. conspiracies are fun. but there are so many sourced instances of network homophobia and destiel being cut that it's like. why is this something folks are hanging onto? the cw is notorious for having upper level meddling with finales bc there's a follow-on show they want to shuffle fans along to and spn is no exception.

[thesupernaturalhouse]

Ooooookay! Hazbin Hotle redesigns....but not really? Honestly, it's just me drawing them in my style, but they could be considered redesigns, I guess, specifically Charlie

Uhhhh I guess we start form left to right sooo, Emily!

Right, so, Emily is obviously a fallen angle. Thiguht this isn't her fallen look, since we already kneo what she looks liek with wings and a halo I didn't think about making a 2nd version of her without the demon disguise- but maybe I should

Either way, I kinda kept her original dress, with the symbols and what not, I feel liek blue and purple really suit her so, indigo

I tried to add red to her, but it just didn't look good. It gave me an eye strain.though her till and horns have a sort of dark magenta color going on

I wanted to add more 'freckles' cause, thier cute, and I have a bunch of freckles ove rmy arms and legs and face and stuff so, added them to em, I put a few on her ears and tail and horns to

Gave her gold buttons and fishnets on her arms, i forget what their called cause they are cute, and I like Athnek(?) Posts about Emily and uh, goth Emily, I think, is pretty cool and so boom, fishnet glive things- I gitta look up what there called

Lso ehr shoes look liek dolphins, which I didn't mean to do but it happened and I've accepted it

Next is Charlie!!

Um. Obviously, Charlie is the most changed from her canon design, I relaly like her hooves and others redesigns of her looking more liek a goat

Originally, I was just gonna add gaot ears and stuff, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of her having fur soooo tadaaaaa~

I gave her a little red stripe between her eyes and fade on her legs and ears to match Razzle and dazzle, and since lucifer was a high angle a seraphm/archangels hoenstly I dotn see a difference. I gave her some white freckles as well to sorta, show that connection

Also, toe beans! If she has claws, she can have beans, I think that Emily would have a normal human hand while vaggie would have little soft spikes on her like moths do, tho that's not shown

I also drew charlies wings cause it's cnaon she has them, and I wanted to play around with the demon/angle wing/s she could have, my irl friend K helped me decide which one to choose

I also drew her leg so you can see the fade in full. Side note that her belly has the same cherry red fur

I also added some chest fluff because why not?

As for her horns, I kept them the same color but added rings like Lilith has to show a connection between them. She also has her mom's eyes and heart tail point. I wanted her to have some demon stuff out just cause, she is a demon, she should......also realizing just how long I made her tail-

Uhhh, oh, right, side note, which I'll have to make a separate post about, Lucifer/eve/lilith are all dating each other, and Chalrie is all 3s kid. Eve is where she got the goat aspect from, inckuding horn shape, her scaly tail, snake fangs, red cheeks and color scheme over all are from dad, and Lilith is where she got her eyes and horn rings and heart point from, and beans to I guess

Maybe I should make a gene sheet one day; I gave her Jean shorts, like how I usually wear just cause I didn't want to add too much red or black

Okay, vaggie time!

Vaggie is the least changed. The most I really change about her is how her wings look. Her hand snow has soft spikes like moths do, and her hair

I do think when she fell, she got more demon aspects, but since her wings were torn off, she doesn't have to many physically other than fangs and the spikes

I also made her hair shorter because please, nobody has their hair that long!! or if they do, then I've never seen them!

I know it's a show, but it was driving me crazy! I'm not that skilled at draw front view bodies yet, so if vaggie looks off I'm sorry:(

Play that should be it!-

Oh wait, hold on, right. The reason they have gold rings/objects on them is because in term software demon courting their all technically married, okay bye-

[vampwritesstuff]

if you dont mind, can i request sfw headcanons on how the tmnt show affection towards their (gender-neutral) crush/partner before and after getting together? your tmnt headcanons are so cute ❤

TMNT Brothers Showing Affection

Yes !! So requests may come out slower because I’m currently in trouble with my parents and I won’t have much time to post headcannons and stuff- oops but I will work on some of the requests that I do have during this time and close my requests until I can post more !

Type: Headcannons

TMNT Version: unspecified, but I imagined 2012/Bayverse while writing this !

Requested?: Requested, refer to ask above

CW: None, gender neutral reader

LEO

- Before you guys get together, he’s actually very respectful of your boundaries and doesn’t really go past hugging unless you initiate a different form of physical contact like hand holding.

- Short circuits if you even hold his hand before y’all start dating.

- Will give you a nickname or two but they’re usually just plays on your name and not like pet names.

- Although he totally uses them like pet names and uses them to flirt.

- Poor boy just wants to grab your face and kiss you all over 😔

- He gets much more bolder with his affection after you get together.

- Is actually the one who initiates most cuddle sessions.

- He’s touch starved so please just hold him and he’ll melt like putty.

- Likes to just nuzzle his head into the crook of your neck while hugging you from behind and doesn’t care what you’re doing.

RAPH

- Before you start dating, he’s not really affectionate at all.

- Seriously, all you might get is a fist bump or a high five.

- However there may have been a few occasions where he got really happy and actually picked you up into a bear hug and spun you around while shouting.

- Refuses to acknowledge that ever happened though.

- Totally a softie once you start dating though.

- And those bear hugs? LAWD HIS HUGS WOULD BE LIKE HEAVEN.

- Very very good hugs, 10/10 absolutely recommend.

- He’s like your personal weighted blanket, he will just lay on top of you whenever he feels like it.

- But obviously he doesn’t put his full weight cause he’s afraid he may crush you.

- If you’re shorter than him, he’s definitely picking you up to reach high places.

MIKEY

- Not much of a difference before and after you start dating, he’s a very affectionate person in general.

- Maybe his hugs and such become a bit more romantic feeling than friendly?

- Loves holding your hands, like literally can’t get enough of it.

- If he hasn’t gotten to see you in a while he will quite literally koala hug you and not let go for a solid 10 minutes.

- Gives you head pats. That’s it. That’s all I gotta say on that.

- He plays with your hair, doesn’t care how short/long/etc. it is, he’s finding a way to run his fingers through your hair.

- 10/10 head massages.

- Speaking of massages, he has a habit of rubbing your shoulders when you’re feeling stressed.

- Likes to cuddle up on the couch of the lair while you guys eat pizza and watch tv.

DONNIE

- This man does not know how to function around you before you start dating.

- Literally cannot handle any physical affection because he just short circuits.

- He just sticks to trying to impress you with his inventions.

- Eventually is okay enough to handle simple contact like quick side hugs.

- Oh but after you start dating? He is ALL over you.

- Loves to have you sit on his lap while he’s working in his lab.

- Quite literally made a chair that makes it possible for it to happen while being very comfortable at the same time.

- Still gives you lots of gifts that he makes.

- Please tell him that his inventions make you happy, he loves hearing that from you.

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

FNAF Movie Requests - CLOSED

Requests CLOSED as of November 16th, 2023.

(Requests are now closed, and I am keeping this request form up in case I have need for this again.)

So, I highly resisted the urge to fall into the fanfiction hole with the Five Nights At Freddy's Movie characters, but here I am lmao. Josh Hutcherson is so wonderfully sat, wet, and pathetic and I can't help myself.

I have tweaked my prompt list for this fandom, and you don't have to use these prompts when requesting fics, but please keep in mind that I am more likely to write and complete a request if it is simplistic and can be written in a shorter fic. I aim to keep request fics under two thousand words (around three thousand words at most).

Characters I write for: Mike Schmidt, Vanessa Monroe (Afton), and William Afton (Steve Raglan). (I may also write platonic fics with animatronic characters if people want to see that?)

Note: I will be writing for the movie version of the characters, but because I am a fan of the games, I am not against making references to the games and playing around with the canonicity. I care much more about the themes of the games than any solid sense of canon.

Requests can be sent to my ask box here or to my ask box over on my writing blog @sundrop-writes - I am probably not going to get to requests right away because unfortunately I am feeling sick right now, but I wanted to post this request form to help me get inspired. Please read all the rules/guidelines below before sending in a request.

(More information below the cut - please read it before requesting.) 

(Also - warning, this prompt list technically does have some mild spoilers for the movie.)

I will accept requests for poly ships. (Character x reader x character.) I love requests like this - I think for this fandom, the only one that really works is Vanessa x Reader x Mike (which is one that I would really love to do), but under certain circumstances, with the right request, I might write Mike x Reader x William.

In your request, please specify if the reader character is female, male, or gender neutral. When I write gender neutral fics, I do not describe what kind of genitals they have in any way, so I don’t write ‘GN AFAB’ reader fics. If you want the reader character to have a vagina, that would be a fem reader in my fics. 

EDIT: Typically, I don't write for reader characters that have specific traits - like a specific race, height, described as having specific looks, etc. but my one exception to this rule is that I love writing plus sized/fat reader fics. I love spreading love for fat bodies, especially through fics, and I love making people feel good about their fatness through the gaze of a fictional character. So feel free to send in requests for a plus sized reader character, it's one of my favourite things to write!

I will write smut, angst, or fluff, but I mostly prefer writing smut or angst. When requesting smut, please specify if you want the characters to be dominant or submissive. In your request, write ‘sub!reader’ or ‘dom!reader’ or something like this to let me know. I am a big fan of writing submissive men, so know I don’t shy away from that, but I will write any dynamic as long as it’s properly communicated to me. 

I will for a lot of dark topics and different kinks. In general, the list of things that I won’t write is a lot shorter than the list of that I will. So if you’re wondering if a request is okay with me or not, just ask!

Just for reference, my big no-nos are: virgin!reader, sexually inexperienced!reader, or innocent!reader - I am okay with doing a ‘faux’ innocent reader or writing about the canon character being a virgin and having their first sexual experience with the reader. I am okay with writing about sexual cocercion, sexual blackmail, or dubcon.

Also, I don’t write fics about miscarriages, safeword use, or extreme choking kink. While I don’t write about miscarriage, I am okay with writing about pregnancy (and it’s something I enjoy writing about). 

Smut Prompts/Ideas: 

The canon character is a virgin (ex: virgin!Mike) 

“Just the tip.” 

Stuck and Fucked/Situational Bondage 

Hate Fucking 

There Was Only One Bed

Caught Masturbating 

“Can you teach me how to do (blank)?” (ex: “Can you teach me how to give someone an orgasm?” “Can you teach me how to perform oral?”) 

Late Night Semi-Public Sex (bathroom sex, kitchen counter sex, etc.) where they shove a hand over your mouth to keep you quiet (or purposefully try to make you scream) 

Overstimulation 

Breeding Kink (or Faux Breeding Kink with a Strap-On) 

Extreme Dirty Talk

Phone Sex

Underwear Stealing

Them taking dirty pictures of you

Unknown surveillance/Perv!Canon Character/Them getting off to you doing something mundane

Dumbification Kink/Objectification 

Daddy Kink or Mommy Kink (their reaction to being called Daddy or Mommy for their first time) 

Them masturbating to the thought of you 

(There is more kinks that I enjoy writing, but this is just all that I thought to add to this list) 

Angst Prompts/Ideas: 

(You should definitely send in some of these, I love writing angst but people don’t request it as often. I will even write hurt/comfort just to write the angst part, so you can send in a hurt/comfort request if you prefer.) 

They break up with you to keep you away from danger (this one would work really well with Vanessa)

Attending to their injuries after a fight (or, them attending to your injuries after a fight) 

You are attacked (verbally or physically) and they step in to save you 

Their reaction to you being killed/your death (bonus angst: you died before they got to confess their feelings to you) 

One of you has been brainwashed and completely forgets the other 

(Directly inspired by the movie) - you are in a coma and they confess their feelings for you thinking that you can't hear them

They save you from a near-death experience (or you save them) 

They find out you are alive after thinking you had died 

Being reunited after years, but you didn’t part on good terms 

“Who did this to you?” 

Unrequited Love (they see you with someone else, they think that you’ll never love them back, etc.) 

(For hurt/comfort, I can do any of these with a sappy ending!) 

Fluff Ideas/Prompts:

They confess their love for you

Your first kiss together  

They surprise you with a cute date 

(I am really stalled for ideas for this list, I suck at writing pure fluff lmao)

(Again, you don’t have to use these prompts, I just think that these are good examples of things that will fit the 1k-2k mark.)

[sonkitty]

Crowley S2 Hair Post #10

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 1, The Arrival, storming out

Due to how this part of the episode is structured, this post requires a different format than usual to start.

I am going to start with a specific sequence but cover several things after that sequence in the rest of the post.

This sequence is very important and very special. It is going to demonstrate several game mechanics to the audience in a tutorial.

I strongly believe in my guesses that there are at least 2 fake Crowleys in this sequence. There could be up to 3.

Crowley is going to walk from the threshold of his private meeting room with Aziraphale, into the main bookshop first floor area, through the bookshop's overall threshold, and into the street, stopping specifically at the center of the street.

Let's begin.

When leaving the room, Crowley's sideburns have become longer than being in the room but not as long as when he encountered Gabriel. I strongly suspect this fake is Gabriel.

Then there is a cut.

This fake Crowley—who is probably Aziraphale—stiffly walks his way past a cardboard box with visibly long sideburns that are likely to be the same length as when Presumably Actual Crowley encountered Gabriel as shown earlier in the episode.

Then there is another cut.

Now we have a Blurry Possibly Fake Crowley. This version does not show us enough to guess the sideburn length. Instead, the sequence focuses on an avoided plate of Eccles cakes while a right hand picks up Crowley's sunglasses.

Then there is another cut.

A human walks past Now Presumably Actual Crowley. His sideburns are shorter than the Aziraphale-Crowley but not as short as when he initially entered the bookshop. He has passed the bookshop's threshold.

Then there is another cut.

Now Crowley's left profile view almost looks like it matches his left profile view before he entered the bookshop with the left sideburn. It seems to be a little longer still.

If the sideburns had not fully shortened in the preceding cut, they have here when Crowley is going to tighten his face in anger. I'll go over this part in more detail in the Earthly Objects section, along with the complex window scene that follows it.

...

Sideburns Check

Okay, so this storming out sequence told us the story was blatantly lying to us but not because the sideburns changed in length. It's other things detailed in the Earthly Objects section.

When first trying to figure out the sideburns, I saw this sequence, made a post about it, thought it over, and grew exasperated. How else am I supposed to figure out how the sideburns work if I know the story is so blatantly lying on things that are not the sideburns? That's the trick to it right there. The answer is in the question. There is no other way to know. If I want to keep playing the sideburns game—because I sincerely think someone or something in the story wants me to find their meaning, I have to believe there was a hidden message within the lie that was true. This sequence just told me some important things about how the sideburns work. It was a sideburns tutorial.

Proximity to Gabriel will make the sideburns longer. Proximity to humans, or a private space with Aziraphale, will make the sideburns shorter. There can be a length in between the two types with distance involving the thresholds of the bookshop.

Playing the game without that assumption makes the game much, much harder.

Reaching that conclusion took several days of just plain thinking, trying to make more posts, and otherwise living my life. I had to go back and thoroughly update my initial post.

The longer sideburns in the lie are also a clue that Gabriel was there after all, in whatever really happened.

Here is what it takes playing the whole game of season 2 to understand even more. There is an invisible supernatural border between Aziraphale's bookshop and Crowley's car when the car is parked across the street. The bookshop is Aziraphale's home. The car is Crowley's home.

Because this border exists as a human-dominant space, Crowley's sideburns will shorten to the length they usually are around humans once he has reached the proper distance—currently the center of the street—between these two special, supernatural places.

This border will disappear—or expand as a radius—at the end of episode 4 when Crowley visibly crosses the bookshop threshold and walks with Aziraphale all the way to his car while they both hold cardboard boxes of Crowley's plants. As noted in my main sideburns post, I think that's from the shared loan of the homes to form a special connection. After all I have been through with my limited progress in the Rainbow Connection for The Pocket Trick, I am all the more convinced. At my best guesses going over my archive here on Tumblr, I came up with the word "connection" in my main sideburns post a little over a month before I found The Pocket Trick, then took another few weeks to find the Rainbow Connection in The Pocket Trick's Pocket Chain existed.

After the border expands, Crowley has to drive far enough away and give the sideburns enough time to shorten to the desired length for being read as human in the street again.

The story demonstrates such an action with episode 5 showing him arriving back from a drive. A player has to give into the admittedly questionable chronology of the story for that conclusion as well.

...

Brighter Red Streak Check

For Gabriel-Crowley starting off the sequence, I cannot find the brighter red streak of hair.

For Aziraphale-Crowley, there is something lighter in shade compared to the rest of the hair above the center of his left eye, but that's not the same thing as being more saturated in red.

For Crowley exiting the bookshop, it is mostly gone. It is only when he is about to stop in the street that I can finally see something that looks like more saturated red in the same general area I found it before he entered the bookshop. That is the only thing that might be the streak, and it is small. The above image is not brightened. When I tried to brighten an image to check, that part looked even less plausible to be the streak.

After that, I cannot find it.

...

Hairstyle Changes

The hair changes quite a bit during the whole thing.

For Gabriel-Crowley, the middle area of the front goes up and to his right some. There's something like a curl behind it on the top of the head.

For Aziraphale-Crowley, the style is more tidy. The front top swoops up and back.

For Actual Crowley, the style looks similar to before he entered but darker and with the tendrils on top positioned a little differently. I like this one too. It is very distracting in trying to make this post because I like it so much.

When Crowley's face tightens in anger, the cut ensures not being able to see if the brighter red streak is there.

After that, his hair looks to be losing its stronger red saturation before the lightning itself is actually released. It looks more relaxed too.

From what can be seen, the hair is getting darker.

...

Earthly Objects

(For reference: Earthly Objects | Earthly Objects Study - Windows Part 1 | Earthly Objects Study - Crowley's Sunglasses)

Whoa, there is a lot happening with Earthly Objects here.

So, the way I interpret the storming out sequence to right before a human passes by Crowley past the bookshop's threshold is that is basic rule-breaking in Earthly Objects on purpose.

It might not be, but that's how I like to think of it in the way I play the game as an audience member. Plus, I can name a place where I think the rule-breaking ends and the rule-following starts.

Aziraphale—or Crowley as Aziraphale—is in the chair. Gabriel-Crowley touches the door on the push plate, and somebody picks up those sunglasses. So, there are touches.

However, the main earthly objects meant to be noticed are the cardboard box and the plate of Eccles cakes because they were both left untouched with the box also being unquestioned. Dialogue is lacking when the fakes are on screen.

As I said in my main first post about Crowley and Muriel, Actual Crowley is a top tier player in Earthly Objects who is incredibly deliberate in what he touches, especially with his hands. He's also someone who tends to ask questions.

This part is not the Metatron editing the Book of Life. This part is Crowley, Aziraphale, and Gabriel collectively working together for their edit in the story through breaking the rules of the game, Earthly Objects. That rule-breaking then informs the audience of the lie.

When Crowley is leaving the bookshop, two fingers are touching the sunglasses. That is not enough to earn credit for touching them as an accessory yet. That is the end of the rule-breaking.

A human passes by, and then he is touching the sunglasses with at least three fingers. So, rule-following has started. The rule-breaking edit ended, and we have entered the main draft of the story.

By hiding the thumb, that helped put the sunglasses into Accessory Mode too and earning a point for that touch.

Crowley angrily mutters, "Just breathe, that's what humans do...then they count to ten before they do anything stupid!" The number "ten" is a dialogue point. That is Crowley's second point in this solo set.

Now here's where things get even more weird and tricky, but thanks to the annoying, difficult pocket mechanics that are so silly and emphasize a human presence in The Pocket Trick, I have a stronger belief in this ridiculous theory.

Crowley is creating a very specific context to allow him to earn a point by touching the sunglasses with his face.

Once he reaches the center of the street and stopped, the sideburns are shortened to the desired length for human spaces. He is being read as human. Humans use sunglasses as accessories. While pockets are what tend to use lighting as clues, in the cut where he is stopping, there is extra light on his left sunglasses lens that could very well be a clue about the sideburns, this incoming touch, and a couple of pockets of hair shown by toward the end of the cut. There is a lightning imprint visible on the forehead yet again.

Crowley tightens his face in anger. The cut itself focuses on the act, and the subtitles note he grunts. The eyebrows lower for an active touch on the top of the rims of his sunglasses and the cheeks rise for an active touch on the bottom of the rims of his sunglasses.

When Nina sees Crowley, she refers to him as "that bloke," so there is even further confirmation that yes, here is a human looking at Crowley and seeing him as human after he has done that particular touch.

So, a benefit to the short sideburns is that it allows him a face touch on the sunglasses in this special context. That doesn't seem like much, but it's valuable to Crowley because, if this theory is right, he does it two more times during Good Omens 2. That would make 3 face touches in a game with a Rule of Three.

He plays this game like it is a competition. He is likely the top tier player because he makes choices like this one: short sideburns for a slight advantage in earning 3 special accessory points across the game during the entire season.

...

Moving on, it is time for the story's first complex window scene!

These scenes have three steps, and this part is the game's initial tutorial on those steps.

The steps are:

Step 1: The looker looks.

Step 2: The window sees.

Step 3: The looker is seen clearly behind the window pane with at least some of the window frame visible.

When Nina gets Maggie to look, there is a shared blur between the two. That blur is the main one that made me think they mean pass or share in the game. When Maggie looks, she is known to have been attending to her tea, but if she is touching an earthly object, the touch itself is not on screen. She is at the threshold of the window touch with this particular look.

There will be more complex window scenes that will do the same thing to help further confirm this threshold component. For instance, in the next one, Maggie is doing a self-touch with her hand in her mouth and then actually removes the touch during the look. This threshold component is important because of figuring out the steps Crowley is following in The Window Trick without knowing whatever further advanced pocket mechanics might be involved.

For the window seeing, that would be the cut with Maggie and Nina shown from the back while Crowley is seen through the window. Generally, these parts make sure a window frame is somewhere in the cut.

Maggie is seen behind the window pane when the lightning shoots out. While it is a little blurry because of the lightning, that blur is not the same type as what the game uses for the passes and shares, so I think she is still considered to be seen clearly enough to earn the point for looking. The reflection of Crowley's lower body is in the window pane with his lightning.

While Maggie and Nina are looking, Crowley is still busy earning his own solo points, which the game focuses on when not focusing on Maggie and Nina.

I think it goes that one set is the hopping on the ground is point #1 as a touch. Shouting the number "Ten!" is point #2 through dialogue. The lightning actually hitting the coffee shop twice is point #3 as a touch.

The lightning earns its own 3 points with 3 different touches on the door. I eventually took that sequence as a clue about the Rule of Three in Earthly Objects.

For Crowley's next set, his lightning is channeling out of his own neck and striking him. There are actually three specific points on his body where the lightning is channeling out from him, like little nodes. I'm hoping I'm not supposed to count how many are doing what where because I won't do that, and it's mainly communicating the lightning is striking him for a point here.

Maggie will remind the audience in the dialogue that lightning striking someone or something is what lightning does on Earth. Hence, that is how Crowley earns that point.

With Maggie finally forced to see Crowley, the surrounding Soho people react oddly, almost in tune with her. They were moving when she first saw Crowley, but in the next cut, almost everyone is stopped and looking at Crowley. They see him release the lightning. Maggie says she thinks he was struck by lightning—which technically he was because of his own lightning striking him. As if in response, everyone in the street moves on as if nothing happened.

Another theoretical point for Crowley is bringing his teeth together in a chomp. The rules for supernatural beings and self-touches are very confusing because they look like they don't exist for various reasons, but Crowley's play especially suggests there is something like requiring an earthly object touch in several instances for him. This chomp would be one such time. Crowley can do it because of the lightning striking him. The chomp is so fast, I can only ever see it going frame by frame, but I don't think he gets a second point any other way, even with whatever he is doing with pockets.

The third point would then be Crowley letting the smoke hit him as he grunts.

Additionally, it is in this movement where I think the Tied Hands are finally officially re-tied because it's the closest thing resembling one of the clasps possibly striking an edge on the lapel to the jacket. It's hard to tell through the smoke, but I assume it's acceptable because of that and something found I'll describe further down.

Regarding whatever else is going on with pockets, Gabriel-Crowley has pockets existing while visually in the door frame before leaving. After he closes the door and starts walking, the tie strands switch though as they switch, only one of the clasps is visible. As he keeps moving and does another two switches, both clasps are not visible.

Aziraphale-Crowley makes a few pockets with his arms as he walks.

Whoever is the blurry Crowley makes a pocket with the left arm, then more pockets with the legs, waist, and dark horse statue holding the sunglasses. The left hand does end up in a pocket between the body and dark horse statue as the sunglasses are grabbed, creating even more pockets within.

When Crowley is exiting the bookshop, the tie strands are visibly off his chest before pulling back in as his arm obscures them. They looked about to switch, but he hides confirmation of if that happened with his right hand and blurred movement.

After that, the pocket mechanics finally let up a little bit to give the face touch on the sunglasses and the complex window scene the focus they deserve for what they are.

Crowley creates a pocket with his legs after he is done hopping and the lightning is shooting out from him. In his angered grunt of letting the smoke hit him, his right hand aligns with the jacket, so that an actual thumb joint is at an edge before re-tying of the Tied Hands is done.

Usually, when I refer to a thumb joint, I am specifically referring to the carpometacarpal joint (CMC joint)—which is connected to the wrist, but in this case, the thumb joint would actually be the metacarpophalangeal joint—which is within the thumb itself. I had to look up this thumb stuff. I don't magically know these things.

Further into the movement, the left thumb is visually over the assumed lapel area and avoiding a visual touch on the actual tie strands.

The pocket made with his legs opens to reveal little bit of reflected red light from the road. The CMC joint of the thumb is visually touching a different reflection of red light.

The Belt Head is partly visible between the smoke and likely has a tassel tip near it.

Yet another pocket is formed in the process with the left arm and torso of the jacket. As Crowley's position changes, that pocket opens. The left thumb tip is carefully managed to visually touch the edge of the jacket torso while a pocket is created using the left thumb, left arm, and torso. This pocket includes a red light that is not a reflection found on the road.

There is another red light by the right arm. So, this one is not reflected from the road, but these two red lights by the arms exist as a visual mirror to the camera. A human helps separate the red lights of the car by the right arm by being pocketed between those red lights and having their foot visually touch behind part of Crowley's arm.

I'm assuming these are all factors that help get the job done for retying: "smoke and mirrors".

So, given how much pocket care is being done, yes, I do believe the Tied Hands needed retying after all and required considerable effort to get it done.

I'll go over Muriel later where the phrase "earthly object" is at last uttered in the story after these tutorials the game is giving.

...

Story Commentary

For the record, I am going to use the phrase "appearance swap" and not "body swap" because I actually do believe Neil Gaiman on saying so here.

Unfortunately, I did not save a lot of valuable posts I skimmed or just read when I was first trying to understand what was happening in Good Omens 2 and not knowing I would eventually be making posts of my own. I'm not the first person to think that Crowley was Gabriel leaving the room, but I have long since lost the link and took a long time to come around to that idea.

Likewise, I don't have another link where someone speculated Aziraphale is later trying to grab Gabriel's hand as if about to do an appearance swap when about to do the little miracle to hide Gabriel. So, I at least had those things in the back of my mind when eventually figuring this sequence must indeed include some fake Crowleys involving appearance swaps.

The main reason I eventually accepted the idea of the fake Aziraphale was comparing the stiff walk he does in this episode compared to the stiff walk he does at the end of season 1:

They were close enough for me because the shoulders don't move as much compared to Crowley's usual walk. Gabriel-Crowley emphasized the shoulder movement for contrast in the preceding cut. This particular Tumblr post and a couple of comments for it helped point out the stiffness in season 1: Crowley's signature swagger walk.

I suspect that cardboard box was touched and questioned. Somebody might have even eaten some Eccles cakes. Crowley was willing to help Gabriel sooner with understanding the situation better through whatever he learned about the box. I don't know if Muriel was literally on Earth, but they seem to have had a big role in whatever happened because I sincerely believe Crowley has a deep trust in Muriel. I assume Muriel earned it. Beelzebub may have a had a role in things as well.

As I have said in another post, I theorize the original draft had a Big Miracle where the Book of Life was put in the matchbox. It might be more elaborate than that because of so many other things that happened after, but I suspect at least that much.

Still, such things are not in this draft. Whatever really happened has been hidden from the audience for now and replaced with this obvious lie.

Recognizing the fake Crowleys—especially Aziraphale—is crucial because it is extremely important to understand that Aziraphale knows about the sideburns even if Aziraphale never explicitly comments on their changing length. Without believing Aziraphale knows, the sideburns game is, again, much harder.

The lightning itself might be a cover for whatever really happened or part of an elaborate set up for what is going to happen.

It shot out multiple times. Generally, it went upward, spread somewhat in the back and to Crowley's left to do its thing to the coffee shop. It most assuredly did not strike toward the bookshop.

Regardless of its intention, this type of thing is what I love to see in fiction with my favorite characters. I love the anger and the release of actual lightning power. I live for that stuff.

Among the many weird things happening is something involving the car.

The car is very obviously black in its exterior and parked in front of the coffee shop when the lightning shoots out.

In the cut after Crowley starts to walk way with his head conveniently not shown, there is a blurry figure who looks like yet another possible fake Crowley. It is hard to tell with the blur, but it looks like they are wearing dark clothing and have dark red hair.

Later, we'll see that Crowley lost a lot of the red in his hair.

The figure's blurry left hand passes along where the car should be.

The little exterior visible looks more like a dark blue. Nina realizes she and Maggie are locked in, then moves to further confirm this oddity. So, is it the car or is it a fake car now too? Aziraphale-Crowley's attire looked more dark blue compared to the other versions of Crowley. Whatever the car is, Crowley does not get in it and is not seen driving it away. However, Crowley will be seen getting in his black car later at night.

...

Muriel

(For reference: Bookend Buddies - Crowley and Muriel (Part 2))

Well, now that we've had tutorials, it's time to learn the name of the game—the Big One that is. I don't think the word "sideburns" is ever said in Good Omens 2. I just made up "Sideburns Scheme" after awhile but given the word play for pocket mechanics, it might be a name I was supposed to find too. But back to the one I initially meant, Uriel will eventually say "earthly object".

After Nina and Maggie realize their phones are dead, the story cuts to Heaven. The scene starts with Michael and Uriel, leading to the arrival of Saraqael and Muriel.

As noted in other posts, thumb tips are relevant to Door Mode. It is my guess that given how the game works—especially with Crowley's sunglasses in The Sunglasses Trick and pockets in The Pocket Trick, a thumb tip could be like a password to activate whatever is in the matchbox.

Saraqael is even giving a clue to an audience member playing Earthly Objects that's possible by actively adjusting their hands to hide their own right thumb before Muriel reveals the matchbox. Thanks Saraqael!

Muriel brings out the matchbox from behind a folder. A thumb tip is visible, but there is a little shadow added to it, I assume to help cast doubt given how the rest of the scene goes. Muriel seems to be a hidden pocket expert and is making a pocket with their legs, among other things happening in the framing, so that likely contributes too.

At first, Uriel uses the phrase "material object" to describe the matchbox Muriel shows to all of them. Well, I assume it's Uriel. The subtitles technically say "Saraqael", but it sounds more like Uriel to me.

Muriel is holding the matchbox with their index, middle, and ring fingers. The touch is avoiding the palm and the pinky. The thumb is nearby and keeping the thumb tip off the matchbox.

When the matchbox is set down, the thumb is touching a corner, ensuring the thumb tip is not actually touching the matchbox. Meanwhile, the pinky tip is touching the side with the quote from the Book of Job. The subtitles do not inform the audience of the following. In my opinion, the sound that object makes is that of a disguised magical book, possibly a heavy one at that.

Another interesting thing I'm noticing as I type this post is that Muriel avoids having their digits touch their reflections. By this point in the story, Crowley has actually shown his index finger touch its reflection on his phone and a thumb tip touching its reflection during The Perfect Entrance Trick.

Still, the sound effect is part of why I think the Book of Life is in that matchbox. I also suspect Muriel's methodical touch is why that sound is heard with Muriel's touch but not what will happen with Michael's various touches.

Someone or something turns that matchbox around without us seeing it because the Job quote side was facing away from Michael when Muriel set the matchbox down. It is facing toward Michael when Michael touches it.

Michael touches the matchbox at the top with their index finger. The object does not react.

Michael nervously uses both index fingers, so that the left one holds the object from the top and the right shoves the inner box to Michael's left. Michael's thumb tip is actually visible and even touched by Michael's hand at one point within a pocket formed between the matchbox and Michael's hands. That's still not enough. The object does not react.

Michael nervously does another touch looking similar in reverse but not quite the same. The right index finger holds the matchbox from the top as the left index finger pushes the inner box to Michael's right. The pocket formed between hands and matchbox have the left thumb tip notably away from the touch and the right thumb generally hidden with maybe a right thumb joint visible. The object does not react.

With another last nervous effort, both index fingers work together to shove the inner box back into the outer box. The thumb is shown to be clearly aligned off the matchbox and by the bottom of the index finger in a cut. In the next cut, the right thumb might be visually over the matchbox, but it is understood to be not touching the matchbox because of its previously shown position. The object does not react.

As the whole affair concludes, we at last hear Uriel say, "That's definitely an earthly object." That is our key phrase, merely missing its plural form. The name of the game we've been watching at play in this story is Earthly Objects. All of that touching was a clue that Earthly Objects is a game based on touching. The matchbox was touched properly to remain an "earthly object" and theoretically not touched properly for Door Mode to fully activate and reveal whatever supernatural object it is actually hiding.

The scene in Heaven ends shortly thereafter with Uriel remarking they think "he" went to Earth. One would guess Uriel means Gabriel, but it is Crowley shown on Earth in the next cut.

That transition allows this Muriel scene to act as a front bookend to another Crowley scene. In fact, the next Crowley will scene will have the next touch of The Sunglasses Trick, so it is yet another bookend connection to the Threshold Tricks overall.

...

That's it for this post. Sometimes I edit my posts, FYI.

...

Main post:

The Sideburns Scheme

...

Past version of this post:

Post #10 (angry lightning)

[rhythmic-idealist]

The shorter (better) version of this post that contains every detail ever— Some of you know my partner @crimeronan.

(This is the part where I gush about my partner. You can skip down a few paragraphs if you wanna.)

If you do know—or know of—Kitkat, you might know them as a resource, or as a writer, or as that person who has been known to sit down and write six paragraphs of advice to the scared young person in their inbox.

Watching their blog I see people trading autoimmune stories, younger queer and polyamorous people asking questions about what it's like to be in your mid twenties and settled into those things, and people who found stories who resonated in ways stories don't always succeed at.

Or maybe not! That’s my platonic partner of four years. Happy to introduce u.

(This is the part you can skip forward to.)

If you ARE aware of Kitkat, you might know a little about their running 2+ year health mystery, and about the recent updates that it is FINALLY starting to be solved. Kitkat has been too sick to work consistently for a very long time, has lost multiple freelance writing clients to ChatGPT, and has been doing physical gig delivery work to try to make up the gap—while remaining too sick to work a majority of the time.

This post exists because their car broke down.

To say the money situation is already tight would be, though I’m sorry to put it like this, understated. Basically: because of this auto repair bill, they’re not going to be able to make rent.

A little info about what we're doing moving forward: I'm gonna be moving in next month, finding a job that will train me instead of the original plan of finishing trade school first (I'm happy about this turn of events for many reasons! Just explaining where I fit in the whole financial constellation). And at that point, I'm gonna be helping with bills, since Kitkat's entire focus right now should be on getting well again. I expect we as a group will probably be okay once I’m in Oregon and more established/able to help out with the household income.

The problem is just that things aren’t there yet, and this isn't money we're going to be able to make back later. Kitkat has been too sick to work consistently for much too long, and that's just untenable without looking for community support right now.

Kitkat has limited mobility and is going to need to get to upcoming appointments, and speaking honestly, also just really needs access to a car to make things like groceries feasible. She’s not the only one in the apartment with limited mobility or chronic pain.

The bill has come out to $717.80.

As of now, rent money has been used to pay it—the car has been repaired now, but that money was for rent and daily expenses. There is already financial assistance in play, particularly Medicaid. As it stands, because of this bill, they're not going to make rent.

To account for GoFundMe's fees of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, the goal has been set to $750.

If you’re in any way able to give, the link is here: https://gofund.me/c0f9d7fe

Otherwise, a share goes a really long way.

Thank you a ton for reading this far. Please know: this post is an appeal to those among us who have disposable income and are looking to donate some of it. Take care.

Thank you.

$1,478/750

Date posted: July 27th, 2023 Updated: August 10th, 2023 because I noticed donations are still trickling in wah??????? 🥹😭

[bettsfic]

How do you know when it’s time to move up from post it note, to index card, etc…? What if we can’t objectively dictate we improved or you are the kind of person who needs a lot of space from a work to even like it a little? This isn’t me trying to be extra I truly mean these questions.

And could you use the same technique of lifting small weights by writing a novel that isn’t as complex as I’d prefer

Responding to latest ask

but that's the challenge. learning how to love small, imperfect things. it's not about writing. it's about revising.

here's another analogy:

visualize yourself in a factory. this factory has a number of machines, and each one helps take a raw material and turn it into a finished product. you have to run all the machines. you know in theory how to create the product; it's a product you use so frequently that you're intimately familiar with it. and you want to make a big, intricate, beautiful version of this product, just like the kind you buy. the problem is that when you walk inside the factory, all the lights are off. you don't know how big the space is or how many machines there are.

you stumble around and find the first light switch. you approach the first machine. you have the raw material in your hand and you put it into the machine and turn the machine on. you want this thing to be enormous, so you shove a whole lot of the raw material into it. it takes forever, and the machine doesn't do a great job. like the first batch of pancakes, you have to throw it out. so you try it again and maybe this time the machine more or less does its job.

before you can find the next machine, you have to find the light switch. it takes a while, and you get tired quickly from carrying this huge amount of not-quite-raw material around, but you do and you put the material from the first machine into the second. the second machine mangles it. you have to start over. but that's not a huge deal, because you've already found the light switch. you return to the first machine, and this time you know not to use so much raw material because you don't know how the second machine is going to work. the third thing comes out even better, and when you return to the second machine--much more easily!--it does an okay job. okay enough to look around for the light switch over the third machine.

but you're so eager to make the thing that it never occurs to you to stumble around for an excessively long time finding *all* the switches. that seems like a waste of time when you're making so much progress with this machine right here, and anyway, knowing all that work you have ahead of you might freak you out, and so it's best for all that to stay in the dark until you get to it. and that's fine. god knows that's what i did.

there's one machine that just won't work. you need to fix it but you don't know how. so you leave the factory. maybe in your frustration, you burn it down. you find a new one. in this factory, you know from the previous factory to find the first three light switches before you begin, and make sure that weirdo machine from before is working fine. you also know to use a smaller amount of raw material so you can get through it faster and waste less in the long run.

do you see what i'm saying? when writers tell me they're disappointed in themselves for not finishing a novel-length project when they haven't even taken something shorter and simpler through the revision process, i just imagine them in a dark factory in front of the first machine, shoving in tons of raw material, not knowing how many machines there are or what they do or how to fix them when they break. you swear you'll take it through the whole factory on the first try by feel alone. some people think they can skip right to the final machine.

the light switches are important, because once they're on, they're on forever. that's what it feels like when you're ready to write a novel. you can see the full process lit in front of you. and even with all the lights on, it won't go perfectly, but you've worked with broken machine #4 before and you know how to fix it, or maybe you call in a repairman (editor) to take a look at it and give you some advice.

i've been writing for ten years, i have 1.5 graduate degrees in writing, i teach writing, i've been published and i've earned more accolades than i ever thought i would. and i still don't have all my lights on. i'm still taking raw material through the machines i'm familiar with, and i have enough lights on that starting all the way at machine #1 with new raw material, knowing how many machines there are and how long it takes, has become more daunting than it used to be.

i've gotten to the point where i'm happy with the product that comes out of my lit-up machines. i'm even happy giving it to others. but i'm missing that final machine that will turn it into a product that can be sold. a lot of writers think that last machine in the dark is overrated, and i'm inclined to agree. you don't need it, you know? it's more fun and satisfying taking new raw material through the process than it is to light up that last machine and put in an agonizing amount of work, when you don't even know if the product will sell. but here i am, getting closer and closer to finding the last light switch.

perfectionists know they're in a factory, but they don't know how big it is. they don't know what's ahead of them, and instead of turning on the lights and playing around with the next machine, finding out what works and what doesn't, throwing away raw material because they believe it's precious, they move into a new factory hoping that this one only has one really good machine, an intuitive one that they already know how to use, so they can turn on the light, shove in all the raw material, and the product will come out perfectly.

[moritakathedrawer-leonaguilez]

Support differences of the Hoshidan siblings from the Original script vs the English localization

They say that in the Original Japanese version of Fates there are many changes that were different from what we got in the English localization. So I wanted to see for myself if that was true, however, I don’t know Japanese yet, I’m still starting. Very fortunately, I found a translation mod and this is the closest thing I could feel to the original.

And when I played it, I did not expect differences in the script and supports, they are not just mere translations or rewording. And the whole time I was like “WHY DID THEY REMOVE THAT?! It makes more sense and flavour for the story, and without it, there would be gaps in the story. But on the flip side there are things I like in the localization and funnily it added more flavour too.

Thus, I would like to share what I noticed with the support differences with the Hoshidan siblings in my Birthright run.Mostly the main theme of the supports are the same however the mood, feeling and tone would be changed if some lines are removed or changed, I notice the changes could affect  Corrin/Kamui’s relationship with his siblings.

--Very long post ahead--

Note that I would use Corrin’s Japanese Hoshidan name, Kamui interchangeably for flavour. I would use Corrin for the EN while Kamui for the JP.

Let’s start with Hinoka, because I noticed a few differences.

 Hinoka’s support’s seems to be the same in both version but in the localization it feels worded better since in EN she felt relieved and proud to be Corrin’s big sister but in JP she still feels guilty of what she did with Mikoto and doesn’t feel she deserves to be Kamui’s big sister. This is one of the few times I prefer the EN version, however this is one of my least favourite supports so I can’t impartially look at this.

For the rest of the siblings,it is way longer and I will go through every little detail I noticed.

Sakura and Kamui

C SUPPORT:

Besides some changes in the wordings and such, I could not notice major differences in tone or mood of the script that changes the flavour of the conversation even though the Japanese script seems to be longer.

B SUPPORT:

In the EN version, the conversation starts with Corrin asking Sakura questions right away about why she wanted to become a priestess, it’s more like an interview. However, in the JP version it is longer and feels like a conversation— Kamui starts by discussing a book on History and gods which was cut out in EN, here Kamui tries to connect with her anxious and awkward little sister.

This may be minor or not, and the localizations may not be translated word for word, but I noticed the differences between the portraits of the two versions. It seems that Kamui is more direct and Sakura is more anxious or uneasy in the EN ver than in the JP where Kamui is more patient and Sakura is calmer. We can also notice these portrait differences with other supports.

A SUPPORT:

This part is very noticeable, the EN version is so condensed than the Japanese version that it lost meaning than the original where it shows a lot why Sakura she is now— the causes of her anxiety and overthinking. The JP version expanded Sakura’s overthinking that shows her scenario of what-ifs, like if she was the one who was actually kidnapped, Big brother Kamui would be the one would be worried, and she really feels bad about Kamui’s kidnapping and fears Kamui would not be kind to her which this leads to her more anxiety. Kamui reassures his little sister Sakura that it’s all okay and he will always be there for her.  

You can see that the EN is awfully shorter than JP. And JP Kamui’s words are more caring and worried while EN Corrin feels pity.

MY THOUGHTS:

As you saw,the EN version is awfully short and many parts were cut/condensed that it paints that Sakura is just very anxious and Corrin is direct with his words and looks at her with pity making her more anxious. Compared to the JP version, it gives full context and story why she’s so anxious, socially and mentally. It shows the whole story why she is an overthinker, and the whole reason why is scared of facing her lost sibling knowing she was originally planned to be taken according to rumours and she feels guilty to be not taken. I also like the flow of their conversation because it shows Kamui is trying to connect with Sakura and not scaring her too much with questions compared to the EN version. I especially love the last part of their A-support where Kamui says that he will protect her as a Big brother and never leave her precious little sister’s side. Most of all, I love the JP version because it made me appreciate Sakura a lot more because honestly when I first read the EN version it felt lacking.

The EN version is so short that I suspect: Do they have a word limit counter?

Takumi & Kamui

C SUPPORT:

In EN Corrin wants to connect to Takumi, but his response is hostile and they’re being sarcastic with each other due to Corrin’s background with Nohr. Corrin wants to learn archery to prove his loyalty and dedication to Hoshido, to gain trust and give him a chance to prove himself in battle his loyalty.

In JP, Kamui wants to connect with Takumi like in EN BUT because he wants to bond with him. Takumi isn’t fully trusting him but he is open to bond with Kamui unlike his reactions in EN. As Kamui didn’t grow up with Takumi, he didn't know what to talk about and it became awkward. As Kamui sees that Takumi is into archery, learning through him would be a good place to start bonding.

Comparing the two versions, you will see that EN’s theme is all about loyalty, while the JP version is about sibling bonding. [Skipped lines means they are exactly the same]

Like I said, EN Takumi is more sarcastic and hard on Corrin versus the JP version. Also take note of these closing lines of the JP version because it will appear again in their A-support and it’s worth mentioning.

B SUPPORT:

In this support, it shows Takumi teaching Corrin archery, then taking a break. When EN Corrin says that Takumi makes it look easy, he does not take this well and sees it as sarcasm and when talking about archery they both just brush it off as effortless. But in the JP,when Kamui expresses that archery is harder than it looks. JP Takumi gives his insights about the beauty and effort of archery which was cut out in EN. Kamui praises Takumi how amazing Takumi is and Takumi didn’t expect such praise that it caught him off guard other than the sarcastic remark in EN.

You can see how the EN version again condensed the JP script comparing the two. In short. The EN version shows Takumi doing it effortlessly while the JP version shows beauty and perfection in archery.

A SUPPORT:

At the end of the B support Corrin injured his hand and in this A support he still strives to learn archery despite his injuries.  

In EN, Corrin says that Takumi is a strict but a good teacher and he hoped that Corrin was worth his time. Then Takumi admits that he is good but doubts him. This shows that he’s truly dedicated and loyal to Hoshido and wants to continue to train him.

But in JP, the whole time Kamui is genuinely excited to learn, you could tell he wants to bond with his little brother Takumi, and compliments him how amazing he is. And in turn, Takumi is liking Kamui and sees what a gentle and kind person he is and now sees him as a sibling and enjoying his company. This recognition makes Kamui very happy.  

The major changes in themes you would notice is that in EN Corrin is doing it as an obligation/business to prove his loyalty and dedication. And in JP that Kamui wants to connect and know more about Takumi who once was hostile to him, it is a true sibling bonding and to have connection.

Remember those final lines in their C-support, it’s cute in A-support there’s a call back to that in the JP version: “Please treat me well, big brother Kamui”.

MY THOUGHTS:

 Takumi and Kamui’s relationship is interesting because it had a rocky start. I always find their dynamic interesting and I am curious how their support would play out. When I first read the EN supports, it didn’t feel like they’re connecting, it felt more like a business relationship and just doing it to resolve things. When I read these supports in JP, I LOVE IT! It mending their relationship, it felt more meaningful than the EN version, and it felt like a genuine sibling bonding.

 The whole time I was reading the JP version , I was like “WHYYYY???????!!”. Why the heck the localization team rewrote this from a nice bonding/connecting to just doing it to prove loyalty. In the original Takumi is more receptive and I love the final lines of Takumi, “please treat me well, Big Brother” because he also said that in C-support too, I love that call back it shows that Takumi has trust with Kamui as a sibling. The JP version shows Takumi’s passion and love for archery through expressing the beauty and striving for perfection.  While EN Takumi is just reactive and too proud. Dammit localization team! 

In short EN version made it about duty, dedication and loyalty vs JP version’s sibling bonding and connection.

Ryouma and Kamui

C SUPPORT:

In this support Kamui wanted to know about his Hoshidan siblings when he was taken away and wanted to connect. In JP Ryouma looks forward to talking and excited to connect with Kamui and he even has a gift that has a lot of meaning to him. It felt more sincere and warm . He is accommodating, and even tells Kamui that they, his siblings,  have a good opinion on Kamui. However, EN Ryoma tells Corrin’s situation is just sad or unhappy and his conversation felt short, and he is too busy that they’ll talk in another time.  

As you can see again that EN is shortened and condensed again than the original which loses the meaning and expression of desire of Ryouma to get close with Kamui.

B SUPPORT:

In this support Ryouma is describing his siblings, both versions felt the same but EN Ryoma is shown to be very busy again and when he talks about his siblings it’s brief and it seems that his mind is somewhere else. But in JP he is very eager to talk to Kamui and takes his time. You can see in the first part of this conversation he does not imply he is busy unlike in EN, and when talking about his siblings it felt more detailed. However it’s too long that I couldn’t add the screenshot here. The huge difference can be noticed in the last part of this support.

 When Kamui feels left out from Ryouma’s stories, it feels more depressing with his reply in EN where he reiterates that his background is troubling and sad— “Your story is troubling one”. In contrast to JP Ryouma, He comforts Kamui and is very thankful and happy that Kamui is back to them safely and he values his moments with Kamui — “I am grateful you treasure our moments together”. 

Notice the contrasts with their portraits:

A SUPPORT:

Corrin felt left out and melancholic when Ryoma was talking about their siblings, in JP version the way he handle it that he is more caring, concerned and brotherly which makes Kamui very happy and comforted, which the conversation again is longer and meaningful than EN, which is short and condensed.

Little detail I noticed comparing the two: It felt out of place with the Ryoma shouting in this part which didn’t happen in the original version.

Later in the support, Corrin is given a ring from Ryoma and their siblings. In JP there's additional information, the ring is a prayer ring for self-defence particularly. Comparing the two it seems lines in the EN  are condensed vs the original with Corrin’s reaction when given a ring. Also take note of the closing part of the JP version it says that link as siblings vs ties of EN.

Again, I noticed a little detail with the differences with the portraits:

 “Happy to have you”, frown portrait lol

MY THOUGHTS:

The EN version seems to lean more about Corrin’s background and more of how sad his situation is while the JP version is more on sibling bonding and connection. The JP version is what I had expected of their supports,as the long lost sibling I am sure the eldest brother would be very hyped to connect with Corrin/Kamui, but in EN and it doesn’t feel that way and I even didn’t like their supports at first in EN  as Ryoma felt a bit distant and  it felt something was missing and now I found out that many was cut out from the original. Now I love their support more, especially that in JP that it felt more caring and there is brotherly bond and connection that was lost in the localization.

Also another thing I noticed, it seems JP Ryoma seems calmer and nicer than in EN, in the supports and in the main story. In EN it feels like he’s rash, tempered or temperamental. I have a conspiracy theory that the localization team is trying to do a character assassination attempt with Ryoma. Though I have no solid proof at the moment but if ever in the future when I am fluent with Japanese, I’ll do a deep dive into how they changed the characterization of Ryoma and the rest of the cast.

CONCLUSION:

I always thought that there would be few differences between JP vs EN but now see is that is not the case, there are many changes made for the international audience, both little to huge. I didn't even expect that they would change small details like portraits that would make subtle changes.  

Is there a word count limit for the localizers?

As you can see time and time again,  EN is way shorter than JP that results in meaning and sincerity gone, and warm interactions become cold. Cutting the script made it bad. Are they lazy?! Or were they rushed?  

Most of all. Why am I fussing about these? About Corrin’s/Kamui’s relationship with the Hoshidan Siblings?

Because I was expecting that the siblings would be very welcoming to Corrin especially as a long lost sibling and eager to reconnect . I was so disappointed in the EN version that it seems that they aren’t much interested and Corrin doesn't feel welcome. It is upsetting especially that’s one of the reasons for choosing them and to be at their side and the whole theme of the plot is which family would you be with.

When I played the original/ JP version, albeit with translation mod, I am so happy to find that in the original JP version that they are warm, welcoming and want to connect with Kamui, and it feels like they have a genuine sibling bonding, making choosing them very worthwhile. It did improve my opinion of them and I love them more.

I have a hypothesis, why EN toned down the sibling bonding due to S supports. Probably it would be awkward with all that sibling talk, afterwards to marry them. Personally I really don’t like Corrin marrying the siblings, it ruined the story for me. I pretend that those S-supports never existed and that is why I didn’t include those in this write-up.

So does this mean I’m one of those “the Original is better” persons, NO. I’m more into good writing, it so happens most meaningful interactions are in the JP script. And to be fair with EN, there are things I like with the changes like Corrin’s supports with Hinoka, Rinka, which surprisingly feels better than the original.  

I could go deeper if only I knew Japanese so that I could notice the nuances and subtleties which were lost in translation. For now I’ll make do with these translations and hope that the translations are accurate. And hopefully someday I could look back with this write-up and make improvements.

 That’s all and THANK YOU!! Thank you for reading this long essay. This took me months to write and I truly appreciate you taking your time to read this. I hope it sees the Hoshidan siblings in a better light. 

[inkindofmagic]

What I did during the full moon lunar eclipse in Taurus 🌕🐂🕯️

disclaimer: I'm not a professional anything but today I did a full moon "ritual" and I wanted to share it! Hope you'll enjoy it and hopefully be inspired~

So this full moon lunar eclipse in Taurus is all about releasing, letting go of what no longer serves us. It's closing a big chapter started November 2021 and even though we may feel tired, even exhausted, we should take a moment for ourselves and take a deep breath. What I did wasn't properly a ritual, it was a series of actions done with intention (okay, perhaps it was, indeed, a sort of ritual)

I started by lighting a candle and put it near my bathtub

I filled the bathtub and used a bath bomb that I bought exactly for this event

I took a moment to enjoy the water, closed my eyes and rested in silence feeling my body

After that, I started taking my energy back. I've spent a lot of energy for people who didn't deserve it, so I said this, out loud, multiple times:

I lovingly and peacefully call all of my power back to me now

As I was saying that, I was visualizing all the energy in the form of a white light coming from them to me and entering my body once again.

I did it for as much time as I felt, until it was right for me. Then I started letting go. Similarly to the situation aforementioned, I was spending a lot of energies for the wrong people and, even if it may feel hard to do and sad, it is right to do the best thing for us and let go. So I started saying:

I accept what enriches me and I let go of what no longer serves me.

I was saying that taking deep breaths and letting stuff go as I exhaled and accepting while inhaling.

After that I started washing myself, as I did, I focalized with what I was saying and I also began to talk to the universe. I said how grateful I was for all the blessings it was providing me, and that as I washed myself I was reborn. Just like a snake, I was letting go of my old skin and mind, I was accepting to become my desired version of myself and I was so happy for everything the universe did to me, because I was able to be present in that exact moment. I was able to thank it and to accept all the blessings it is about to give me. I thanked it for always rooting for me and making everything fall into place just the way I want and it is supposed to be.

I then started to empty the bathtub, I continued talking throughout this process and I didn't leave the tub yet, I waited for the water to be all gone, with all the stuff I had released with it.

Once I was done I dried myself up and I did a thing that was mind-blowing for me: I cut my nails. I know it's nothing special, but it is something so simple that can become so meaningful if done with intention. I cut them visualizing everything I needed to let go and I was happy after I saw my nails pretty and without any superfluous emotions in them (as I was writing it I thought it could be something like "hair holds memory", why shouldn't nails? Of course it's a shorter amount of time but it's still time)

And that's about it, it was so good I had to share it right away, for closing my morning I will also do a special tarot reading and then I'll have a nutritious breakfast.

Hope this post reaches you and brings you some inspiration! Fair Winds~ 🧿

@inkindofmagic

[batfam-rewrites]

Batfam During Quarantine: First Patrol (Remastered)

Batfam During Quarantine: First Patrol

Hey, quick heads up, this is a slightly reworked version of the second post I made for this series. My continuity on this series got really messed up for a bit and I have so many drafts that I still yet to publish so I'm going through all of my old stuff to fix the chronology of the stories and also put a bit more pressure on me to finish this series. Please keep in mind that my writing skills kinda improve throughout the series, so this is not my best but just somewhat reworked, and there is a good chance this will be reworked again in the future.

Dick: Unfortunately there was a homicide down in crime ally a few hours ago...

Jason: Ooooooh! What are we talking about? Was he shot, strangled, mangled, stabbed?

Dick: He was cut open and the killer dug around in his organs. Only the lungs were missing.

Jason: So mangled, got it! I will give you $50 for the case!

Dick: It’s not a bid, I’m going to assign the

Damian: $100 for the case!

Stephanie: $125!

Duke: $200!

Jason: $210 and I won’t use any fire arms!

Dick: Interesting, who thinks they can top that?

Tim: $225 and I’ll give you my secret stash of Keurig coffee cups!

Cassandra: $250 and I’ll let you take my mini fridge!

Jason: $350 and I would exchange my lethal rounds for rubber bullets and I won’t cause property damage or kill anyone!

Dick: SOLD!

Cassandra: DAMMIT!!!

Dick: Okay, so cases will be assigned as normal with the exception of Jason’s. Now because we’re in the middle of a strict city wide lock down crime has reached a low meaning some of you will have shorter nights on patrol. Each sector has been divided between all of us so make sure to stay in your sector. There’s been a little bit of activity caused by Scarecrow in sector 1, Babs I’m putting you in charge of putting a stop to it. Kate you have 2. There isn’t much going on there but there has been a reports that bags of heroine and cocaine are being left against some windows. It could be nothing but just take a look to see if anything is going on. Tim and Steph you have 5....

Tim: Woah, I thought we weren’t partnering up!

Dick: You’ll partner up for an hour, but mostly on calm nights you and Steph will patrol for 3 hours by yourselves. You’ll get half of the shift and Steph will get the other half. Anyway, Selina you have 3. Cass, 4. Harper, 8. There’s not much going on in those sectors but just patrol for a little bit. Duke, last night there were some gun shots heard in sector 9, go investigate. Jason you’re in sector 6. Julia and Alfred, you’re going to be here updating us on anything that happens. And Damian you’re going with me in sector 7.

Damian: Because you don’t trust me!

Dick: No, because you’re Robin. It would be weird for Batman not to be with Robin while you’re in Gotham.

Damian: Oh, yeah that makes sense.

Dick: We’ll be dealing with Two-Face. There’s been chatter that he’s going to make a move on the Falcone crime family. I’ll take sanitation duty tonight. Keep your radios on and contact someone if you needs help. Now, move out!

Batgirl

Batgirl: *she flies over the civilians in sector 1 in the bat-jet and sprays an antidote for the fear toxin until noticing Scarecrow, then drops down beside him and kicks his side*

Scarecrow: *falls to the side* Ah! Batgirl! *he gets up and tries to run away*

Batgirl: Oh no you don't! *chases after Scarecrow*

Scarecrow: *turns a corner and hides along the side*

Batgirl: *turns the corner too and is immediately stabbed in the arm with a syringe, she is then standing in her apartment and hears a knock at her door* No, no, no, no, no! *she then moves forward towards the door and places her hands on the door knob*

Scarecrow: Oh yes Batgirl! Not even you, let alone Batman, could stand this new batch that I made specially for you lot. *moves closer to Batgirl and kicks her side*

Batgirl: *she opens the door and is shot in the stomach, then falls to her side, she sees the Joker standing in the door frame, staring at her limp body, as he begins to start kicking her* Ouch!

Scarecrow: *he keeps kicking Batgirl as she is lying on her side in the street*

Batgirl: NO!!! *she tries to fight the feeling of paralysis, she begins to bring her knees to her chest*

Scarecrow: *he kicks her again and this time Batgirl rolls to her knees with the last kick* Stop fighting Batgirl. There is no use in doing so! *he moves closer and winds up for another kick*

Batgirl: *she rolls backward and gets back to her knees and sees the Joker shoot the floor of her apartment but the recoil makes him stumble a little bit, which allows her enough time to stand back up and she squares up*

Scarecrow: I anticipated this much resistance, but I know that you are still seeing the boogeyman that lives in your head. *he walks closer to Batgirl*

Batgirl: Rent fucking free. *she throws her punch but the Joker dodges it*

Scarecrow: You're slow.

Batgirl: *kicks in the direction that the Joker was standing in but he dodges*

Scarecrow: Weak. *he begins to reach forward to inject Batgirl with more fear toxin*

Batgirl: *grabs Jokers arms as he tries to grab her, but he pushes her against a wall*

Scarecrow: Stop resisting, you can't fight me and the toxin at the same time.

Batgirl: *continues to try and push his arms away, then kicks up at his balls*

Scarecrow: Ah! *he hunches over only to get kneed in the face which causes him to fall back* Fucking Bat-bitch!

Batgirl: *she reaches for her utility belt and reaches for the antidote, and stabs it into the inside of her thigh and leans against the wall*

Scarecrow: *he gets up and lunges over*

Batgirl: *dodges Joker and kicks him again, she reaches for a sleeping agent*

Scarecrow: *stands back up*

Batgirl: *stabs Joker with the sleeping agent and continues to punch and kick him until Joker falls to the floor unconscious, she looks around and notices that her soundings have changed, she then sits down for a minute and collects her thoughts* Batgirl to Bat-cave.

Julia: Go ahead.

Batgirl: Scarecrow is down.

Julia: Copy, go ahead and tie him up then survey the area and continue to help spread the antidote.

Batgirl: Got it.

Red Hood

Red Hood: *looks at the the crime scene and finds a pair of bloody latex gloves from behind a trash bin* Penny-two.

Julia: Yes, Red Hood?

Red Hood: I’m going to stop by to run some finger prints and a blood sample. 

Julia: Alright, I’ll set it up.

Red Hood: *he rushes over to his motorcycle and rides off to the Bat-cave*

Batwoman

Batwoman: *spots a girl in a sky blue hoodie and a dude in a yellow hoodie, and drops down into the alley as they place drugs against the windows*

Girl and Dude: *turn and look at Batwoman* Run! *they begin to run*

Batwoman: *She kicks the boy into the wall, grabs the girl by the shit and pins her against the opposite wall* Why are you doing this?

Girl: You know exactly why! Not all of us could run around the city playing dress up, taking down criminals and claim to protect this city! Some of us need this just to get by!

Batwoman: Where’s your boss?

Girl: Don’t have one. We make it ourselves.

Batwoman: *she grabs her grappling hook and fires at the top of the of the building and reels her up, then lifts the girl over the edge* Where’s your boss?

Girl: I’m telling you, we don’t have one!!! Don’t drop me, please!!!!

Batwoman: Who's we?

Girl: Me and my boyfriend!!!

Batwoman: Leave, take your drugs! If I see you or your boyfriend again I won’t hesitate to drop you from a rooftop! *they lower down to the ally*

Girl: *grabs her boyfriend and they run*

Batwoman: *she reaches for her utility belt and places the card of a local rehab center in between the windows, then continues to patrol the area to make sure there is no more drug activity*

Red Hood and Julia

Julia: The blood definitively belongs to the victim.

Red Hood: Run the prints then.

Julia: Already done. They belong to a man named Doug McGrath. He’s a crook arrested several times for drug trafficking, drug possession, and suspected for robbery but was not convicted. He is also has 3 accounts on a HENCH.

Red Hood So this could be the work of one of Bruce’s rogues.

Julia: Indeed.

Red Hood: Can you send me his location?

Julia: I’ll get on that now. Done, his coordinates

Red Hood: Got it, if you could, hack into his HENCH account and see what offers he has recently received. *he begins walking back to his motorcycle*

Julia: It’s insulting that you even asked.

The Signal

Signal: *he drops to the street and walks around where the shooting occurred and notices the two bullet holes in the buildings, but witnesses have said they heard three. He walks down the ally and searches for anything but can’t find the bullet, but finds blood on a few trash bags. He opens the backs and looks inside and finds a pair of lungs and a few other organs*

Thug: Hey kid!

Signal: *turns and runs towards the thug, throwing a few punches*

Thug: *pulls out a gun and shoots far over Signal's shoulder*

Signal: Nice shot, I heard the Empire is hiring. *he sweeps the thugs legs from underneath him* Maybe you should get a job as a Stormtrooper. *he throws a few more punches knocking the thug out. then examines the body and notices on his phone that there was a notification from HENCH*

Red Robin and Spoiler

Red Robin: I don’t get it! I could patrol the entire time and still help Bruce. It’s called never going to sleep.

Spoiler: You realize you're the only person I know that has ever made me worry about their health, right? Why can’t you be normal?

Red Robin: Ask my parents.

Spoiler: Dick.

Red Robin: No, I’m Tim. You’re getting your Robin’s mixed up.

Spoiler: HA!. Don’t you think you’re spending too much time with Nightwing if you’re making jokes like that?

Red Robin:  Eh, maybe.

Red Hood: Hey, Red Robin, I need you to patrol 6 for a bit. I’m following a lead. I got the okay from Batman.

Red Robin: Got it. *he then takes off, jumping from roof to roof off to the other side of the city*

Batman and Robin

Batman: Got it Red Hood. Robin, Red Hood is on his way.

Robin: I hate Red Hood!

Batman: You realize you’re quite a bit like him, right?

Robin: NO I’M......

Batman: SHHHH! We don’t want to attract too much attention.

Robin: I am nothing like Red Hood.

Batman: *looks out at the site and sees Bane and Two-Face then grabs Robin's head and turns it towards the direction of where the two are standing, then watch as a black SUV drives in and Carmine Falcone steps out*

Falcone: I see you brought your muscle. Where’s my drugs?

Two-Face: I have it where it should be. 

Falcone: I'm not playing games, Dent! Give me my drugs or there will be consequences.

Two-Face: Hit me with your best shot!

Batman: Signal, Spoiler, Red Robin I’m sending you the coordinates to our location. Somethings about to go down. Red Hood, where are you?

Red Hood: Not too far.

Batman: Everyone else stand by, in case this goes south.

Falcone: Release the beast.

Batman and Robin: *jump in between the few crooks and start throwing punches and kicks, when they hear a gun click from the behind them*

KGBeast: I've been waiting for a while to put down "The man who killed Batman" on my list. *aims right for Batman*

Robin: *turns and looks at KGBeast* You ASSHOLE!!!! *rushes towards KGBeast*

Batman: ROBIN! NO! 

Bane: *rushes towards Batman*

Batman: *attempts to evade Bane’s each strike, eventually diving towards Two-Face, knocking him down*

Bane: *punches towards the two*

Batman: *rolls out of the way, causing Bane to punch Two-Face in the head*

KGBeast: *fires towards Robin*

Robin: *dodges each bullet then jumps on KGBeast's back, he then reaches for a batarang and slashes at KGBeast's back*

KGBeast: *tries to get Damian off of his back*

Red Hood: *shows up and starts shooting at KGBeast*

Robin: *jumps off of KGBeast's back, throwing a few explosive batarangs at KGBeast's feet*

KGBeast: *flys back a few feet*

Robin: *rolls forward landing next to Red Hood* You could have shot me!

Red Hood: I would have enjoyed that! *lifts up his arm and shoots Falcone a few times*

Falcone: *falls to the floor*

Bane: *throws Batman into a wall*

Signal: *arrives and runs right for Bane* Red Hood, boost me!

Red Hood: *squats down and gets ready to launch Signal towards Bane*

Batman: *throws a few batarangs at Bane's face causing Bane to look away*

Signal: *throws an uppercut to Bane's face*

Batman: *runs up at Bane and punches him in the face*

Red Hood: *jumps on Bane's back and puts him in a choke hold, hanging from his neck*

Bane: *tries to swing Red Hood off but falls to the floor*

Dick: *huff* Anyone else feeling the aster? *huff*

Jason: AHG!!!! NO MORE WORDS FROM YOU!!

Dick: Come on.............

Jason: NO!

[whattimeisitfic]

Hey, Hey! I wanted to draw some stuff for your fic, but I had a question. Do you have more details on how Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael look? I know Gabriel has some fem-characteristics and Michael seems to be the largest of the angels. No pressure tho!

Okok, I’ve actually had someone ask me about their appearances before so I’ll just post my response to them to give you a guideline, and if you had anymore questions just let me know duckling. The format of this is: there will be a number w/ a question they asked, and below that I answer it. (The questions came from @the-stress-express if you wanna check out their WIP)

Anyway, here u are:

1. Are Micheal, Gabriel, and Raphael kind of like copy-paste versions of Lucifer? Like, do they have Lucifer’s red cheek spots? Do they all have white ass skin like Lucifer?

- I imagine they all have white skin, and that Rals has the cheek spots, but Micheal and Gabriel do not. They’re kinds copy and pasted, but with a bit of variation in body structure (Rals being more rounded, Micheal a tad bit more square). And also while I’m here, I’ll say that Raphael is a little bit taller than Luci (probably just under Charlie’s height) and that Gabriel and Micheal are the same height, and quite a bit taller than their two brothers.

2. What kind of hairstyles, textures, and hair colours do they have? I’ll probably take some creative liberty, so don’t feel too pressured for detailed explanations, but I want to hear your designs so I can make it accurate to your vision. Also, I’ve heard theories that Micheal’s hair is a lot like Lucifer’s but idk if you are having that there.

Okay, we’ll go through this character by character.

Micheal - Same blondness as Lucifer, but perhaps a little shorter. Maybe a little fluffier at the top? Idk. No real big picture ideas.

Gabriel - Long, silky, straight dark brown hair. It comes down to about his mid-back/chest area, and it’s all like flowy and elegant and pretty well maintained. Shiny probably too

Raphael - Pretty much a mix between the others. Kinda like Lucifer’s style, but curlier, and with a similar brown hue to Gabriel’s (tho a little bit lighter). Again, no real preference other than that, go wild!

3. Eye colour. I remember you stated that Micheal has gold eyes, but what about Gabriel and Raphael? I feel like you mentioned it at some point but I forgot.

I honestly can’t remember what I said either, but I’ve been picturing Raphael with green eyes, and Gabriel with something more greyish-blue hued? I think. Idk if that reflects in what I’ve written but that’s what my brain had decided they look like now.

4. Did you have specific designs for the 3 angels’ robes? Or does it matter what they look like? If it doesn’t matter to you I’ll just let creativity take over there.

Not really. Just that Micheal’s are white/gold, Gabriel’s are a pretty pale blue, and Raphy’s are a pale, rich green (with the green being more on the blue side than the yellow). I struggle w/ outfits so I usually just don’t put much thought into them.

5. I will obviously include Raphael’s beautiful hummingbird wings. So do Micheal and Gabriel have specific wing styles? And furthermore, we know Lucifer had 6 wings bc he’s a former seraphim. I forget but, in this fic, are his brothers seraphims too? I feel dumb for asking but whatever lmao.

Yeah, they def all have six wings. I imagine Micheal’s looking more eagle-like, and… idk about Gabriel. It might be cool if he had more of a “pigeon-y” shape to them as a fun little correlation to his messenger status, but idrc. Do what you think looks best