#and also learning something of your own volition is really fun

[generic-enthusiast]

over an hour working on a drawing and what i have to show for it: two brick walls with an iffy perspective

[sakasakiii]

some rumil doodles in response to @whimsicallywiddershins who asked: Oh my god I love your art!!! I'm curious about Rumil. I've never really heard of him and I'm curious about what happened to his eyes....

thank you for the ask!!!! im real happy to hear you like my art, and even happier you took the time to ask about rumil! <333 it took me until your ask to realise that, despite him frequently appearing in group concept sketches n doodles, i've never really elaborated on him haha 😅 i tried to illustrate and summarise some of the key points in the art, but more detailed yap incoming under the cut!

so! to start off, my version of rumil is pretty much at his core the same as canon rumil wherein he's a noldorin sage/scholar responsible for inventing the Sarati and later going on to write the Annals of Valinor. his whole being captured and enslaved in angband for a while comes from the other version of him the Book of Lost Tales, where he was a slave of Melko who learned the speech of monsters and goblins --essentially i thought it'd be fun to combine the two to give him a more complicated backstory ^^

in response to your query about his eyes, i hc that during his time in angband he was one of those who were experimented on by Sauron - acting on Morgoth's orders - during the initial testings for the evolution of elves -> orcs. (maybe sauron thought that blinding the first elf-orcs would make them more unlikely to disobey orders/easier to control? hmm) his band of captives were able to break him out in time and they fled back to safety before he was too far-gone, thus allowing him to reunite with finwe, miriel and co, and then eventually follow Orome to valinor :D

him being miriel's dad was also something i felt would be fun to explore, especially because i thought his ties to Sarati and Feanor would be an interesting dynamic! it's very very much noncanon, and incredibly self-indulgent on my part (im so sorry... 😭), but i like to go on tangents abt their relationship! i think rumil wouldve made attempts to dote on feanor and encourage his linguistic pursuits, but would have been held back a lot on truly being around him by both his health and his lingering guilt about miriel. he is incredibly proud when feanor refines his abandoned Sarati concepts and turns Tengwar into a near-universal system of writing however :D

other thoughts on rumil... hmm... i think he's kind of pitiful tbh. something about him being an absent (albeit not of his own volition) father to miriel, and then in turn him feeling unfit to offer feanor as much emotional support as would be ideal, is a theme i would like to keep exploring (^3^) adding on to the fact that he outlives his wife, daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and like 6/7 of his great-grandsons while miraculously not Fading himself gives him an essence with parallels to maglor that i do appreciate...

major apologies for going off on such a rambly tangent, but i do suppose an explanation on my rumil has been overdue for a few years!! i hope i havent misled anyone since i first drew him in that family tree, but thank you so much again for taking the time to ask about him! im always grateful for the interest in my absurd headcanons, and i hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead!!! ❤️

[d-emeter]

Johnny Mactavish who realizes he likes his girls a little bigger when he visits a museum for the first time — plus-sized!fem!reader x Johnny 'Soap' Mactavish

CW: mid/plus-size reader! this is absolutely far from body neutral, talk of bodies/body image

Some love for my curvy gals🫶🏻

Johnny's first encounter with the beauty of the female form is as expected, almost stereotypical — staring at the pictures in the playboy magazine he stole from his older cousin. Usually hidden under his mattress, only coming out in the dead of night with a flashlight in hand. The girls are pretty. Scantily clad, sultry expressions, and Johnny quickly learns that this is what is considered hot. He sees girls like this in films, too — films shown to him by that same cousin, God forbid his ma ever found out he watched it — and he hears his cousin and his friends drone on and on about how sexy Megan Fox is as she bends over the hood of a car. Desperate to impress the cooler, older boys, he joins in too. This is what he should find hot.

It is what he thinks he finds hot. That is, until his final year of secondary school. He's freshly turned eighteen, overeager to enlist (his ma had insisted he at least finished school before he did), and taking what he thought were the easiest electives to try and coast through to graduation. He finds he actually really enjoys art class, unlike most of his mates who had the exact same plan he did (he's particularly talented at drawing anatomy, and tries not to preen too much when the teacher compliments him for it to avoid teasing).

Said mates and him are fucking around during the busride to the school-mandated museum trip, none of them particularly excited to spend the day between what they deem boring paintings and sculptures. Well, Johnny is actually quite curious — his family never really took him on trips like this — but he pretends to be just as annoyed as the others.

Find a work that calls to you, and use it as a drawing exercise in your sketchbook. That was the assignment. Johnny's friends take the easy way out — beelining towards the modern section of the museum, finding the paintings that are simple squares of colours. He's planning on following them, but then his teacher lays a hand on his shoulder and points him towards another hall — classical sculptures. He's torn, not wanting to be left out of his friends' fun, but also not wanting to disappoint his teacher. He decides to follow the direction of his teacher's outstretched finger.

He's surrounded by white marble and plaster. The genuine old-as-fuck sculptures are displayed on a plateau in the middle of the hall, the plaster copies piled along the walls. He wanders, pausing here and there to sketch a hand, or a nose. And then he spots her.

It's like he's hypnotized, body moving of its own volition, bringing him towards his object of fascination until he's face to face with her. His eyes flick down to the plaque on the floor — Venus. She's a goddess of... something (he wasn't paying attention during that class, okay?). It doesn't matter. The first thing he notices is that she looks nothing like the girls in the magazines, or films — no, her body is softer. Well, it's not really, it's plaster, but she looks softer. There's a roundness to her shoulders, a fullness to her thighs, a pudge to her tummy, the skin in rolls where she's bent to the side. Hot, is the first thing that comes to mind, but then he shakes his head at himself. No, hot doesn't do her justice — she's beautiful. Gorgeous, stunning. He scoffs; she's tucked away in a corner, like she isn't the most breathtaking thing he has ever laid eyes upon. He spends the rest of the afternoon taking down every detail in his sketchbook.

—

Johnny's been searching for her. Or, rather, for that pull he had towards her, all those years ago. He knows it's stupid. His Venus was perfection in plaster, she was made, without faults. No woman can measure up to that, not a real one. And yet he searches. He flirts with the curvy girls, the ones that rarely get any attention among their group of friends. He enjoys the way they react; some fluster, some flourish, none of them expecting his undivided attention. He takes home pretty, plump birds from bars, spends a night worshipping them. Nothing about it is not real, per say. He finds them attractive, frothing at the mouth at the way his hands sink into soft flesh and roam wide curves — but they're not her. He searches.

And then he finds.

It's the day you come waltzing into his life. Or, more realistically, you come waltzing onto base. Price was getting a new secretary, courtesy of Laswell. Johnny hears the comments — she's a pretty thing, young, and smart. He doesn't think much of it. There's plenty of those walking around base.

Then he catches sight of you and — bloody Jesus. You are young, and you are smart, but you're not just pretty. You're beautiful. Plush in all the right places, sending Johnny into overdrive, an incessant need to get his hands on you as soon as possible. It's out of his control, the way his legs carry him over to you until he's face to face with you. He's already decided he'll worship you, if you'll let him.

His goddess. His Venus.

[lsd-astronaut]

Books the LoTR characters would read:

First of all, a disclaimer: this is my own opinion and I will not care if you think otherwise. Second of all, I always gift books to my friends and family, and I've never got a complaint, so that has to count for something. I'm also putting some of my favourite books but that's just me of course ♡

Frodo:

Sloggiest classical high fantasy books you can find. Yknow these '90s fantasy books with like eleven books in a series, and each book is at least 500 pages long? He would love that.

I'm currently reading the first book of Crown of Stars (seven books baby), which is like an alternate fantasy medieval Europe, with lots of details and research done and it's super gritty and entertaining. Frodo would inhale that. The rest of the Fellowship are worried for him, they haven't seen him in days.

Sam:

Fantasy and poetry because he's cool like that.

Something not to complicated like Uprooted by Naomi Novik, and then he will surprise you by reading something super dark like Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang.

Also really likes literary fiction. Idk he strikes me as someone who would like reading about people's lives, and a plot where the action is less important than the characters evolution. Tried to read weird lit but didn't like that the main themes were rot and body fluids, it reminds him of Frodo during the Quest.

Merry:

I'm basing this on personal experience; but every time I see a cute guy either on the bus or on the Friday train, they'll be reading something like Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, or something by Hemingway, which does not strike trust, and it's a bit pretentious and on the nose. Like are you really reading Marcel Proust for fun? Be honest with me, my guy, you looked gay (for legal reasons this is a joke).

He likes non-fiction. Some of the books he has are Tristes Tropiques by Claude Lévi-Strauss; Folie et déraison by Michel Foucault; and he once even started talking about how he didn't really agree with Freud's Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis. The glare that the rest of the Fellowship gave him could have killed Sauron on the spot.

Pippin:

I doubt his AuDHD allows him to read anything really dense (or maybe he hyperfixates so badly that he reads one book in less than 12 hours who knows)

Graphic novels and comics are a must in his bookshelf! Eventually becomes a Marvel brainrot fan, to the dismay of everyone else, especially Aragorn who has to pay for the merch.

YA fantasy bc I'm taking into account his age. Percy Jackson hyperfixation and that's why he's gay now (again a joke)

Aragorn:

Romantasy but not of his own volition, he is just a really good partner, and Arwen seems to me like a romantasy girlie. Poor guy has been forced to read A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Fourth Wing, and Powerless. Put the limit at Colleen Hoover (not saying that Arwen likes her either, she just likes to make Aragorn suffer like a good gf). Will deny again and again to the rest of the Fellowship that he likes any of these books, and once even drew his sword at Boromir.

Legolas:

These random ass raunchy period romance books you find on your mother's bookcase just lying there and you read them out of curiosity and end up learning about things you should not be aware of yet, and they're not even written well but you can't stop reading. Chick lit, if you want.

Has read the Bridgerton books multiple times.

Gimli:

Science fiction. Gets really nerdy about alien invasions, but it's not like he believes in any conspiracy theory of course. Legolas barely understands what he's talking about half of the time but who cares when your boyfriend is that cute.

He loves and actually understands pretty well space operas. The Final Architecture trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir are favourites of his.

Boromir:

Sports romance. HOCKEY. He just likes the whole "turn off your brain to enjoy this" honestly, he needs a break sometimes of course!

Read Vampire Academy out of curiosity and really liked it, though he does admit it and Faramir will act like he doesn't know him (it's actually a good saga I'm sorry okay)

Faramir:

This guy right here owns the entire Realm of the Elderlings book saga. It pains me to admit that he would relate a lot with Fitz.

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman because he's not dead inside, okay?

Éowyn:

Really basic sorry but she is a Hunger Games girlie through and through.

Actually, I feel she would like dystopian fiction a lot. Has watched Divergent (only the first movie, the rest are trash) with Faramir more times than she can count. Faramir gets cold sweats whenever he hears something that reminds him of the movie (he knows the dialogues by heart)

Éomer:

Yes, yes, I know Rohirrim don't read or write, BUT he would own all the Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey. Why, do you ask? Well, purely because it's a fantasy series of mages that are Chosen by their Companions, which are white horses. And Éomer is a good ol' horse girl so what more could he ask for.

[caeslxys]

Your tags...you're right and you should say it, honestly. Saying C3 deserved a few more episodes could sound like your average "I wish my show never ended" take, except...what was everything for, if BH don't get to exist in the aftermath? Their endgame choice, everything they've been working towards, was informed by them having been on the moon and met its people. Final episodes aside, if the Ruidus plot is The BH Thing, I really wish the first trip could've had them less in a rush to report back. I wish they had the opportunity to connect even more with Ruidians and, yeah, I wish they had fought the Weavemind. I'm also rambling, sorry! I just can't believe it's controversial or made to sound like hate to say we shouldn't be begging for Moon x BH crumbs in the Moon x BH campaign.

Prefacing this with reinforcing that I truly, deeply adore those final bells hells episodes and what they contain. They’re fantastic critical role episodes in general but more importantly to me they are fantastic bells hells episodes. In a vacuum, i’m extremely happy with what we got.

That said, yeah, c3’s ending on the grander scale of its narrative structure in totality was unbelievably (and, frankly, unnecessarily) rushed. Everything since episode 91 has been in a spiral towards a finish they simply could have chosen not to spiral into so quickly. And this is seen in several things: from how Delilah was “handled” with next to no actual processing or difficulty, to the nein’s inclusion not bearing any narrative weight beyond the vague feeling of having some “avengers assemble” moment i simply did not care for and think ultimately took from bells hell’s story rather than added to it (which, were it not all rushed, is something it could have been given to them and their inclusion in the way that vox machina’s inclusion did), to the hells not even actually being able to participate in what their own campaign was ultimately about beyond quick epilogue scenes and one political discussion that they didn’t even all need to participate in.

I think the decision to have c3 be “the end of an era” irt to critical role’s ten years deeply hurt both its structure and its narrative intent. I still remember them marketing this campaign as a good jumping in point for new critters, and yet the finale doesn’t even end with bells hells. It ends on vox machina. That, to me—and in addition to the vox machina and mighty nein solo episodes—showcases a clear shift in intent that happened way, way too late to feel at all fulfilling as an audience member looking in. I’m sure as players it rocked, which I point out because obviously the fun factor matters substantially as well, but that has no bearing on criticism of the narrative it produces.

All that said: it’s truly incredible to me how much of this would have been fixed very simply by just…having more episodes. You could say this of anything but I feel it’s extremely noticeable in this story—the one thing it needed to make the constant rushing pace of its forward plot land was a denouement that allowed the characters and story to breathe for more than one eight hour episode. Bells Hells needed to learn about the culture on Ruidus. They needed to spend more time with the volition—more time even with Liliana, I would argue. They should have had their story structured in such a way that they fought the weavemind and ludinus both (especially if matt knew ludinus would ultimately make it out). They should have actually had to delve into what the story had set them up to delve into.

I adore, to pieces, campaign 3 and bells hells. I think much of the ire thrown towards it is unwarranted at best and often misplaced. But I will likely also always be at least a little mad that their final act was so clearly rushed.

[xx-j4nu5-c4t5-xx]

Favorite character to draw?

What other fandoms (aside from the sims 2) are you in?

What was your first experience/contact with the sims franchise?

What is a sim that you find underrated?

(I hope these are good questions xD Btw good luck on your studies!)

Favorite character to draw is probably Nervous. So much stuff you can do with all the shapes he's got going on, it's like a game to see how far I can push his design. A lot of sims are like that but I think his mohawk really elevates it.

I don't think I'm as deep in any fandom as I am the Sims right now, but I'm keeping an eye on both Deltarune and Gorillaz because it seems like they're both amping up for something in the near future, probably chapter 3 and a new album respectively. Excited to see what's gonna happen in those spaces in the next few months.

First contact with any Sims game was playing the Urbz on my dad's PS2 at like age four. My first real contact with the franchise of my own volition was (unfortunately) buying TS4 some time in middle school. I played the shit out of the base game with no online features (for some reason) until I heard about TS2 in December of 2023 and I officially sealed my fate. I have been trapped here ever since, please help me

Most underrated sim is a hard one, actually. I'd probably say Lazlo. He's not like unpopular or anything, but most of the time he's not the main focus of anything going on (mostly because the other Curiouses are so ridiculous that he seems very average in comparison). Ajay Loner also falls into that trap; it would be really funny to have an excessively normal guy as a contrast to the insane shit everyone else in town is doing, especially if he's so normal that he wraps back around to being weird, but I can't really say anything because that man has never left my family bin even once 😭 Other than that, I think Stella Terrano from LFT also has potential to be really neat, in a sort of slice-of-life way, like she's learning to adapt to everything in human society.

Thank you for your questions! I really had fun answering these. Also thank you for the best wishes with my schooling because I'll be real I need it

[gloriousbookwyrm]

I’ve been busy most of today, but had a last minute idea for a Pocky Day ficlet, ft YuuMalle

Nonbinary Yuu, who is mentioned to have had a girlfriend at some point in the past

After the sun sank below the horizon, and the campus grew dark, Yuu stepped outside and waited by the gates of Ramshackle. Sure enough, the air soon filled with green sparkles, and Hornton joined them, holding a box of pocky, and explained why after he greeted them, “Lilia tells me there is some human celebration around this snack. Apparently it involves some manner of game, but he didn’t explain what. I don’t suppose you learned anything about it from your classmates?”

Somehow, Yuu was more surprised to learn Twisted Wonderland also had Pocky Day than they had been to find out they also celebrated Halloween. They answered Hornton quickly, “Actually this exists back home too. I can teach you the pocky game, if you want?” Hornton nodded smiling, and Yuu opened up the box and pulled a stick out. They had been harboring a crush on their charming, elusive visitor for a while now, but had no idea how he felt about them. They didn’t even know his name! And from some of the things he said, they had put together that he almost definitely wasn’t human, and was probably some kind of fae, which they had heard from a few people apparently existed in this world. Even if he was interested in dating a human, who knew if his romantic customs would even be recognizable to them, or vice versa? This could be a fun way to gauge if he shared certain things in common with them, and if he did, how receptive he was to those things, coming from them. “You take one end of the pocky in your mouth, and I take the other. We’ll take turns moving down the stick until one of us breaks it. Whoever gets to eat the most pocky wins.”

Hornton blinked, “That seems too easy for whoever gets the first turn. What’s the catch?”

“How about you go first and find out?” Yuu bit gently on the chocolate-covered end of the snack, sat up in the stone wall so he wouldn’t have to bend so far, and waited. For a moment, it looked like Hornton really was going to just take the entire pocky at once, but halfway to them seemed to realize how close their faces were, blushed, and stopped there. So fae did have kissing, and considered it at least intimate enough to embarrass him, even he had been a little slow on the uptake there. Equally interesting was the way even the pointed tips of his ears turned pink, and how his slit pupils widened when they made eye contact.

It was Yuu’s move now. When they had played the game with a now ex-girlfriend back home, they had liked to surprise her by making exactly the move Hornton had threatened, claiming the bulk of the snack and a kiss at the same time. Something about Hornton’s reaction made them want to draw it out little, though, so they moved forward by barely an inch. Hornton would have to draw in closer by his own volition, or else break off early.

He opted to move forward, but only barely. However, when Yuu responded in kind and moved an even shorter distance towards him, he huffed, and took enough of the snack that there was only a fraction of an inch between them. A moment later his fluster caught back up with him, and he blushed even further. His face was too close now to really see his expression, but from his eyes and action, Yuu could see he clearly wanted them to be the one to close the gap. They leaned in until there was barely any pocky left between them, and Yuu took in the way his pupils had blown out so large that almost none of the green of his eyes could be seen. Briefly, they considered taking pity on him and the way his lips had parted slightly in anticipation. Instead, they bit the snack in two, and hopped back down onto the ground before he could react. “Well, looks like you have the bigger piece! Want a rematch?”

“I— That is— ” Hornton stammered, but before he could answer, they both heard the raised voices of a pair of Diasomnia students who sometimes patrolled nearby, presumably looking for dorm mates straying out past curfew like Hornton clearly was. Instead he hastily bid them good night and disappeared, leaving Yuu with the overwhelming desire to keep teasing him, whenever they next met.

[cityandking]

O, R, T for Dai, Minah and Kol?

thank you!! // AU ABCs

O. omegaverse. What’s their subgender? What's their scent? How do they feel about it?

DAI — I hate saying this. he’d be an alpha. he’s got the defensiveness and the protectiveness and the instinct to put himself between a threat and his pack. scent would be something kind of rich and ozone-y. fresh-turned earth and the baking heat of the sun, maybe

MINAH — omega. one more thing for her to try to hide. no idea what she’d smell like. kind of maple-y maybe? she’d be so fucking annoyed about it most of the time, and also afraid of it being used against her

KOL — I think she’d be an alpha. she’s got the propensity to turn to violence as a solution and is just a kind of big aggressive presence in general. she had a really hard time with her presentation growing up but has learned how to control herself to a degree that leads to her sometimes (often) ignoring her own instincts. not sure about her scent. something gunpowder-y or a little metallic, I think; the smell of a fight or a battlefield. kinda unsettling.

R. royalty au. How would your OC handle being royalty? If they're already royalty, how would they deal with being a commoner? What kind of royal would your character be?

DAI — oh prince daichi 🥺 the ritual and the respect and the gold circlet of a crown almost like a halo. there are so many ways this could go—pelor-touched and helaine's heir, or the scion of house amelkiir in the underdark (t’velle is the older twin, and lhoras was the heir for so long but then along comes dai and the lines of inheritance shift and oooooh queen regent grandmama would be so furious to have this half-djinn Wished genasi as her heir), or just a normal prince in his own right. he’d be patient and wise and constantly worried about fucking everything up—shouldering the pressure of expectation and holding people’s lives in his hands (royalty au arranged dairef marriage…. I’m in trouble)

MINAH — I’m trying to imagine minah as a princess and blanking. maybe she’d be kinda princess and the pauper barbie-core? like, royal but flirting with the freedom/adventure of a more common lifestyle? it’s all fun and games til her dad dies and then she has to deal with like, actual responsibility

KOL — kol kinda has strains of this with her mom’s (and step-dad’s) social standing. I think if she were actually royal it would be both better and worse—it would be all the expectation and the ceremony and the rules about what she can and can’t do/who she can and can’t see dialed up to eleven, but on the other hand, maybe she’d have a little more power to bend the rules and (eventually) change them. I think any world where she got to stay with her family/didn’t get sent to military academy would be better for her, even if she had to contend with being royalty. though I also think as royalty she might have had some standing/protection in the academy that also would have made her life a little better. it’s bleak when life as an unsubtle political pawn and prisoner to keep your family in check/prove their loyalty to their conquerors is the better life than just being A Guy in the same situation

T. (star) trek au. What would your OC's role be in a Star Trek AU? Are they part of Starfleet? Another organization?

DAI — he’d join starfleet. medical track, but he might end up in a command position (I could see him getting his own captaincy eventually). I think he’d be part romulan—his dad left his homeworld when dai was a baby and he grew up in federation space and dai always knew he wanted to join starfleet. he's gonna boldly go!

MINAH — she’d be in starfleet and work in engineering. I think she’d have come to the academy late? she definitely had a period in her late teens/early 20s where she was off with a touring company doing mostly performances and maybe a little crime, and it wasn’t until later that she joined up (maybe not entirely of her own volition—maybe the orchestra gets caught and alesso talks the officer into taking her on as a cadet, or she’d caught on her own and given that ultimatum). she’d really take to it, though. I think star trek au minah is significantly less paranoid and happier than canon minah

KOL — this is the best possible AU for kol. she’d 1000% join starfleet. all that structure and purpose and organization loyalty but turned towards science and exploration and discovery and helping people? she’d fucking thrive. I think her parents would pressure her to go command track for the prestige but she’d take so many science-track courses that she’d practically double major and end up in a sorta spock situation—command crew, but science officer. she’d have such a good time. my god. get this girl a uniform.

[utilitycaster]

Hi! Feel free to ignore this, of course, but I was wondering, what are your thoughts, if any, on the (seemingly) currently prevalent fandom view on the difference of experiences between Team Bells and Team Hells during their separation?

That is to say, I've seen *a lot* of posts claiming that the party's going to fracture, or at least that there'll be lots of tension because of how much better Team Bells has had it in Wildemount, and I find it, well quite overstated and a bit annoying? Like, yes, comparatively their half was arguably a bit lighter in tone and definitely ended on a much more hopeful note, but it was hardly a weekend trip to the Frozen Wonderland it's sometimes made out to be. Team Bells still spent a week or so trudging through a frozen wilderness and then creepy eldritch ruins of a city, all while not knowing if their friends are alive or dead, with something as fundamental as magic of their world suddenly not working as it should

(I mean, imagine if some of the laws of physics just stopped applying tomorrow. and also physics specifically was responsible for two of your friends being brought back to life/kept alive. also I don’t know very much about physics, can you tell?).

So, thoughts?

(con'td): Sorry, if it wasn't clear in a previous ask, I meant, what are your thoughts on if, and how, the dynamic might change between the two parts of BH post-reunion!

-----

"Overstated and a bit annoying" is a really apt way to put a lot of speculation I dislike, especially like, the "what if my bad whump/angst fic were real but I need the characters to be okay" whole school of thought.

Anyway I don't want to, in response to some of the more melodramatic predictions, understate that Team Wildemount did have a better time of it. They got closure or information on some personal past issues (Chetney and FCG), gained the favor of a political power while also helping Umudara, went to and survived Molaesmyr entirely of their own volition, and learned a lot of useful information about Ludinus while also having some fun romantic encounters. Team Issylra went to a small town, were used by them in a conflict they had no part in just to get information about their friends, and then they were betrayed from within. Like, I don't want to emphasize the extremes, but I don't want to diminish them either.

But with that said I don't think this will drastically introduce conflict on a broad scale because I don't think that the conclusions they came to are terribly different. Ludinus obviously needs to be stopped. The Vanguard obviously need to be stopped.

I think any dynamic shift will hinge on Laudna, who changed most drastically and who will be grappling with her own feelings of guilt and power and may withdraw from some relationships/lean more heavily on Ashton and Orym. I think it's possible just generally some people might lean more heavily on their solstice group rather than their prior relationships, but like, I don't see why Fearne and Orym wouldn't pick up their friendship exactly where they left it. I could be wrong! Dynamics are hard to predict! But I don't think that open fighting or the "Team Issylra will be FERAL and OUT FOR BLOOD" ideas have any basis in the reality of the show.

[cptn-m]

One Piece chapter 1101 review

I'm very pleased to finally see full colour schemes for all the Vegapunks. Sure, we got a hint at their intended appearances with the vol 106 animated trailer, but I'm glad Oda found the chance to circle back around and give us his vision by his own hands, because there are some differences. Putting this next to the Strawhat outfits and environments on the vol 106 cover and you can see that Egghead is going to be a vibrant piece of work when the colour manga catches up to it a few years from now.

Despite the milestone colour spread, this is another transitional chapter plotwise, continuing to fill in the timeline as the present day looms. Maybe Oda really is just looking to show everything up to Sabaody and/or the present and is fine taking his time with it, but I can't shake the feeling that there's one last tragic twist to Kuma's story yet to be revealed. But even without immediate plot progression or huge reveals, this ends up being another emotionally impactful, as so much of this flashback has already managed to be.

Kuma's visit to Windmill Village ends up not being a huge deal in the long term, something done more to provide a cliffhanger than anything else. As expected, Kuma's orders have nothing to do with Luffy or Goa. But copout though it might be, it does give Oda the chance to show us a little more of Dragon's motivations and personality. I get it, the high stakes battle he's fighting, he can't afford to give the Government the leverage of using his child against him (as we saw with Roger and Ace, you don't even have to be alive for them to try it), and he obviously cares enough that he knows it would work.

What's interesting is that the conversation with Dragon happens in flashback, seemingly when they were in the area for the Grey Terminal fire. Interesting that Kuma has chosen, of his own volition, to check in on Luffy as he passes by. Does he see it as a favour to Dragon, who he can no longer contact, to check in on the kid while he has a chance? Does he feel the similarity between himself and the Revolutionary, both forced to keep a distance from their children, and visit Luffy as penance for not being able to see Bonney. And you would hope this development at least slightly dampens the number of people online memeing on Dragon for being a deadbeat or whatever. Probably not though. Memes are short and snappy and more fun to spread the nuance, even it becomes impossible to have serious discussions on places like Reddit because you can't tell what level of irony anyone's on when they seem to be experiencing the story purely through agenda and slander posting.

So, I initially thought I'd dedicate a section of this review to going back over Kuma's scenes in Thriller Bark and Sabaody and analysing his actions with what we know now. Obviously it was clear from the start that Kuma went into Sabaody intending to save the crew, but somehow I got it in my head over the years that Kuma's actions and intentions at Thriller Bark were more ambiguous, and that there was a chance he'd sincerely tried to take out the crew before learning more or changing his mind later. But then I rediscovered the scene right after Zoro's big moment where he says that Luffy has exceptional friends because "he's your son, after all… Dragon." So yeah, Kuma knew from the start. Oda knew Kuma knew from the start. There's no possible retcon or new motive to look closely at, just the same info we've actually had since 2008. I love these kinds of discoveries (or rediscoveries in my case); they're going to make the series so much fun to fully reread when it's done.

There are some things of note though. I feel very differently about Kuma asking Nami if Ace was really Luffy's brother having seen the conversation about Dragon's weakness in this chapter. Ivan would also mistakenly worry that there was a blood connection that would drive Dragon to do something rash when he heard they were brothers during the Impel Down arc.

Knowing that by this point on the timeline Bonney had already escaped does shed a little light on Kuma's willingness to toy with the crew and let them go, despite Moria deriding him as the only Warlord who follows orders a few chapters earlier. I wonder how differently things would have played out if he'd been put up against Luffy while the knife was still at his daughter's throat.

My main thought about Kuma at Sabaody is that Sentomaru doesn't seem like he's written to be as familiar with Kuma as we know he would be. "But no one knows if that's true," he says of the rumour that Kuma's powers send people flying for three days and nights, as if he couldn't have just asked at some point. When he calls Kuma out for attacking the Pacifista he calls him 'bear-man' instead of his name. But maybe the harshness is something he's putting on to distance himself, knowing what his boss is going to be forced to do to Kuma in the near future.

But getting back to the chapter at hand, I was caught off-guard by how upset I was when Kuma's letter was intercepted and destroyed. His message is simple but heartfelt, but you understand how much it would mean to a child still too young to understand why her dad isn't around and what's been done for her. Alpha's choice to destroy the communication is just so callous and unnecessary, far beyond what was needed to keep a hostage, and you can't help but empathising with how let down and abandoned the young Bonney must have felt. If anything, keeping her satisfied with the promise of going to the sea in the future in the letters must have made it easier to keep the girl under control. But Alpha, as the kind of person who'd take on this kind of assignment for the Government, just needs to be cruel.

I'm not sure what to make of Stussy's comment about free will. She's perhaps already gone into Government service, but she also gets to moonlight as an underworld boss, and obviously retains her loyalty to Vegapunk, given what's happened at present-day Egghead. What parts of this vibrant career did she choose, and which ones were expected of her as one of Vegapunk's successes?

It's heartwarming to see the locals and Conny come together to dupe the Government and facilitate Bonney's escape. The simple joy of getting to go outside for the first time in years is cathartic for Bonney as well. Similar to the fishmen trapped at the bottom of the ocean, Oda uses the absence of the sun as a symbol of oppression, and it didn't even occur to me how similar Bonney's indoors incarceration was until she was appreciating the sun in this sequence. No wonder she got so into her dad's stories about a liberating sun god. Whether you're a prisoner, a slave, an underclass, a hostage or just unwell, the sun is freedom; its absence, chains.

I actually don't love what Bonney is able to do with her fruit at the end. It feels too extreme. Ageing like a particular person? Fine. Getting super buff or anything else a human could reasonably achieve in a lifetime? Yeah, great. But I don't get what the power is drawing on to warp her appearance that much. And while she was kept conveniently unconscious (fainted because of bugs) for the Gear Five sequence in the lower lab and blasted away before the transformation in the upper one to keep her from recognising Nika, she did personally stop Luffy from using Gear Three against a Pacifista near the start of the arc, so you'd think there'd be some kind of conversation to be had there. Could be that she was just too distracted thinking about her dad to connect the dots at the time though.

But weird power-releated stuff aside, it is immensely satisfying to see Alpha cop it after what she's done. And to see Bonney win her freedom and take to the seas like she always dreamed.

I think the flashback is nearing its end as we close out the year and start exploring volume 109, but there's still this gut feeling that there's one last stinger or final bit of info we haven't been shown yet, maybe relating to the moment Kuma fully loses himself. But even if we're just taking it slow filling in the time up to the present with Kuma's perspective of Thriller Bark, Sabaody, protecting the Sunny and the Reverie, Oda's proven here that he can still make low-plot chapters tug on the heartstrings, cuing up a quick but effective combo of frustration followed by catharsis. Very much looking forward to all this pain and suffering and emotional build-up coming to a head when Kuma arrives at Egghead in the present, presumably in the new year.

Wordpress!

[helenapsent]

Something has pushed me to do some thinking…

Let's say, in the Russian-speaking social network (the so-called vkontakte), I have a group of guys I know who are engaged in PR for underrated artists. And actually the project is very cool, a lot of people have joined it and the main trick of the project is the usual "like", "repost" and "write a comment"

So, at some point I realized one thing: I'm a little scared to post links to my fanart on "Justin and the Knights of Valour," on "The Adventures of Puss in Boots" and "Quest for Camelot". It's just a funny thing that many of the artist commenters I know have no idea these cartoons exist and they're not very knowledgeable about them. And you know, reading comments in the spirit of "I don't know who the characters are, but the artwork is great" doesn't make me very happy. In other words, I wouldn't be comfortable listening to something like that

Why indeed? Because these cartoons mean a lot to me. I don't know how to describe the feeling, but it can be compared to the most vivid memory in life. Like the food you first tasted and how much you liked it, or when you visited an amusement park for the first time in your life and it was so damn cool and fun. And so, these particular cartoons were the first cartoons that I decided to make art on my own volition. Usually half of my life I tried to keep up with my friends and sometimes drew content on cartoons for fun and more, but in this particular case I personally stuck to cartoons. I wasn't particularly provoked by anyone, I decided on my own: "damn, I like it so much, I want to do something for it, I want to make some drawings with these characters, I have my heart set on them!"

I'm not going to hide that also my initial goal was: to make more people know or remember these undeservedly forgotten cartoons, because they're really great. And I'm so pleased that through my art people really learned about cartoons, even somehow it happened by itself that they decided to watch them, just by seeing my drawings. This is so great, it really warms the soul.

And now that the day is approaching for dropping off links to PR art, I don't know what I can drop off. So, and not otherwise, some of my best work is linked to these cartoons and I'm uncomfortable with the idea that after the comments, "I don't know them/I don't know the fandom, but I like the drawing," I'll just hate my work. It's happened, and I frankly can't like some of my previous work because I become ashamed of that surge of emotion because of the chemistry of the characters and the fact that I put my whole soul into the illustration with them. I really don't want to hate these works for that reason.

I think I will ask my acquaintances to leave comments under these drawings "at will"

[youngster-monster]

fortunately it was of my own volition that im taking this spanish class but on account of never having learned another language before its just a Lot to take in... such is life, its still a really fun class!

the telltale wips.. ive mostly made peace with them (i no longer think they all suck so i think thats a win) so the real issue is that i never want to start working on them again ("GRAHHH ITS SO MUCH WORK AND I AM SO TIRED!!!!" < - - - me talking about any wip ive ever started, ever)

REAL THOUGH you'll think your motivation for a work is done and gone and then one day you wake up and sit straight up like youve been possessed and the passion for a wip you havent touched in like a year returns from the grave

partially related i am so excited for monachopsis. ive been so distracted with essay-length anon asks that i forgot to restate that i am still losing my mind abt it im so EXCITED

the price that we pay to fulfill the wishes of baby us is worth it but Only Just.., i dont know how younger me would feel about my fanfiction but im sure they'd at least be confused because its not oc writing or anything like that

wips are SO much work (I am haunted by the dozens of half-finished fics in my files) (should I clean my Google drive? Signs point to no)

Sometimes old wips grab you and shake you until they're done which is Really good for efficiency (monachopsis 3 1.0 was 13k words written in a single 12h stretch! Wish I could do that on command!!!) but god imagine being able to start something and then finish it without taking fifty detours

I also did so much oc writing... I still do it I just have more FF7 to my name now

[bonesandthebees]

Another big part of this conversation is Tommy finally learning about Wilbur’s lack of self-worth (a result of how everyone around him treated him). And Tommy doesn’t get it right? Because that’s his older brother, who always knew how to get him out of a mess, who always seemed to have everything under control. Wilbur is probably the person Tommy looks up most too in the world. He loves him more than anything. So learning Wilbur doesn’t see that in himself. That hurts. And that’s something they are going to have to talk about more when all of this is over.

I think that’s also part of what makes Tommy suddenly accept Phil: learning that Phil was helping Wilbur see his own self-worth. Tommy also consistently asks Wilbur how’s taking care of him if he isn’t allowed to do it. Now he realises that Phil might have been doing that, or trying to least. He learns how much Wilbur and Phil talked about. How much value Phil sees in Wilbur. And through the lines of Phil putting Wilbur in the personal wing out of his own volition and little bird, he sees that Phil cares about Wilbur.

And more importantly, he sees that Wilbur needs to be cared about by someone because very few people seem to give a shit. And the most important of all Wilbur wants Phil to care about him. I’m wondering if Tommy hears the meaning of little bird and realises Phil was fully willing to adopt Wilbur. Because to Wilbur, saying it out loud is the same as admiring it was real.

And we learn how Tommy and Techno got so close. How Tommy got to see Techno’s soft side. A side that we saw some glimpses of through Wilbur’s unreliable narrator (mainly when he was drunk), but are only now hearing the full extent of. So Tommy asks Wilbur if he thinks they actually cared, because it’s becoming increasingly clear that maybe they did. And Wilbur says: [“I hope they didn’t,”]. Because if they did then all of this was pointless and they are dying for nothing. But then they also betrayed Phil and Techno’s trust. And they know what it feels like to have your trust betrayed. It ain’t fun.

(3/3)

-🌲

tommy finally realizing how bad wilbur's self-worth is and standing there like wtf because it doesn't make sense to him. he's looked up to wilbur his entire life. wilbur is the person he trusts most. wilbur is his older brother who always takes care of him. why would wilbur not think he's worth something when he's worth everything to tommy?

:) yup that's pretty much it. when he realizes how phil has helped wilbur see his own value and encouraged his confidence, he's more willing to accept him. the last he really heard of what phil and wilbur were talking about was when phil was still making ominous threats to wilbur in the middle of the night. he thought phil intended to manipulate and carve his brother into something else. but now he realizes that wasn't his goal, and when he sees how much he meant to wilbur, he's more willing to be okay with phil and wilbur's closeness.

tommy's not stupid. the minute he heard the explanation for little bird, he knew what it implied. he doesn't know if phil actually feels that way about his brother, but he can tell that's what wilbur wanted it to mean, so that's why he hugs him.

it was definitely fun coming up with what was going on between techno and tommy 'behind the scenes' and only showing glimpses through wilbur's eyes. now we know how tommy and techno got so close, and it's just similar to phil and wilbur. it took time.

god the "I hope they didn't" line hurt me to write. because they're finally starting to accept that they probably really cared about them. that it was real. but this is the worst time to realize that because it's when they're going to die and never see phil or techno again. because it was all for nothing.

dying with regret isn't fun :(

[hazelcephalopod]

The Eye of the World Ch 36-38

I’m back with another, whatever this is!

In the city Team Luck finally catches a long(er) break. Mat gets a nap, in a bed. Rand makes a strange new friend. Team Experience comes across Team Competent in a dire situation. The reunited groups continue on their way to Caemlyn.

It’s going to be a long one!

Disclaimer: this is my first read thru but I’ve watched all of the show this far and been spoiled on some book things. So… I’m going to lean into that. Enjoy figuring out what I know, and what I think I know, and what I just don’t. Also s/x I add commentary when I edit.

Spoilers for the first book and up to the most recent episode under the cut. Potential spoilers for latter books.

Ch 36

Rand POV

Be gone well before then

But. Food!

A story to rival an Aes Sedai honestly in stepping carefully thru the truth. Still… hard sell (editor me- Is Rand and Aes Sedai? Is that still how that works?)

Oh joy court politics /s

You do own the place and she does work there

Rats… well that means the dark one is around, apparently

Lol. G’luck sorting out who is and isn’t a Darkfriend. If they will act is indeed another matter

Food. But sad fear eating

Oh sweet relief. An attic with a bed!

Rand’s discomfort with girls like I understand it’s b/c he’s a teenager -and meta reasons. Like I know that. But… tbh I keep having to remind myself because my first instinct is- ‘why are you like this and why does it feel queer?’ Which does say more about me but… I think it’s gonna be more fun to also figure out why he’s queer so I think I’ll do that instead. I guess this is your warning?

“He [Rand] expected some comment from Mat, but as soon as she was gone, Mat threw himself on one of the beds, still in his cloak and boots, and turned his face to the wall.” -after the barmaid shows them to their -attic- room and flirts with an uncomfortable Rand. Also, the latter half is verbatim for the show scene. Fantastic.

Library?! I knew it the library is in the inn they are staying at isn’t it?! In the show. Because it appears to be. Many books and now I’m probably too excited

Even tho I’ve seen more I fully relate to the awe of seeing so any books in one place.

Excitement valid! Yesssss. Loial! I’m as excited as an oyster growing it’s first shell!

Lol. Fails to draw sword. And he fell on his ass

So Ogiers haven’t really interacted with humans in the hundreds of years since the War of Hundred Years (I later learn it’s just less rather then not at all)

4 days isn’t too long at least

90 years and that may still be a teen in his culture?

Lol. Yup. He just left cuz they were taking too long to let him

Right?

It’s also cool meeting someone who left home of their own volition to contrast the TR crew being mostly forced to leave or at least having little option to return

Oh they built a bunch of cities after the Breaking. For humans. Huh

Something about trees? Idk what that is but I’m for it. That’s sounds cool

Ok the trees have something to do with the stedding?

And there are Ogier in Cairhien that work on the cities still. And various Ogier communities in the multiple steddings

So yes a teenager, basically

Lol. Few refute the pattern exists I guess

That is absolutely a part of it yup

“I suppose it’d be fun to live as long as you do, but I never really thought about it.” -Rand to Loial on Ogier long life vs humans shorter ones

“We Ogier are bound to out steddings.” - Loial to Rand. Why?

Don’t think the groves and the stedding are the same thing now ???

Carihein was once called “Al’cair’raheinallen, Hill of the Golden Dawn”. They forgot the name but remember the sun imagery

“Caemlyn is still Caemlyn…” that name hasn’t changed

Tear and Illian names have changed.

“‘Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the Last Day.” -Loial, clearly quoting something to make a point about human nature.

“Sightblinder” again, and eyes being mentioned. That’s the Aiel name for the Dark one I recall.

Oh he’s expecting some phrase in return then. Nice… that’s a good little egg, maybe?

“The Great Trees… Are they like *Avendorosa*?” -Rand trying to fill the silence after Loial’s quote and silence. Didn’t someone mention that earlier? I can’t remember who to whom tho. Maybe Rand and Tam? ??

Oh lol. Yup. Loial absolutely thinks he’s Aiel. -b/c he is, ethnically at least-

Lol. ‘No!’ ‘Huh? Yes.’ ‘No’. ‘Weird! Guess the world has changed?’

“Your pain sings in my heart, Rand al’Thor.” -Loial

Hmm… is he actually like, feeling his pain somehow!

Ohh he’s like ‘large man… friend? Plz be friend’

“…it was almost as if he were two people…” -Rand

Rand tells Loial everything, ‘this is fine. Yup totally fine’. Tells him about the dreams: “Maybe Loial would just think he was going mad.”

Loial pointing at Rand ‘main character.’

“I could live on the farm or in Emond’s Field, and that would be a small change. If I wanted to be king…” -Rand al’Thor trying to understand Loial’s explanation of the pattern

So. Much. Lore. So… normally the Pattern is elastic but sometimes it just chooses a person/people/place for a while and says ‘this is what’s gonna happen to you now. Buckle up. Or don’t. It’s happening regardless’. That’s the web (ta’maral’ailen) and it happens to ta’veren.

“Artur Hawkwing was ta’veren. So was Lews Therin Kinslayer… I suppose.” -Loial on the pattern.

‘Kinslayer’ can’t deny it fits.

Rand ‘no. No. I’m nobody to the pattern and neither are my friends’

“It’s just ridiculous.” (Rand) “I wish to travel with you, Rand.” (Loial)

No bring him!

Ch 37

Nynaeve! POV

“At Whitebridge she had begun to believe Moiraine. Somewhat. More, at any rate.” -(Nynaeve) lol

And the penny drops. Or rather the magic tracking coin

Wait that’s how the coin works? Penny back in the air

Idk if I’m using the penny phrase right or not

Perrin and Egwene. Yay?

Honestly what the Whitecloaks are interested in they are terrible at getting. (I’m never going to stop saying this or dissing them btw)

“Light knows it doesn’t take much to make Whitecloaks suspicious…” -Moiraine. Truth!

Oh shit. Sabotage, get rid of the horses.

Don’t worry about the wolves. Lol they did

Finally! Someone making their skirts easier to move in. It’s not hard

Lol love Nynaeve and her competitive crushing.

They’re not cult-y at all /s

Truly NPCs

These horses are indeed more perceptive than their riders

I have never feared *a horse* more

Bela!

Would Lan not have seen which boy it was in the camp? Like… at least know it wasn’t Rand? And maybe in the books Perrin and May look enough alike that Lan has not yet learned which is which. Honestly is so, hilarious. I’m fine with that then.

The horses: fuck yea if Bela wants to go let’s leave these assholes behind!

Lol. Nynaeve: I wish Moiraine would do the thing. Moiraine: I got you girl!

And… all the horses loose it of course

She got Bela, and another horse! Good call!

Ch 38

Perrin POV

Well that sounds miserable

And horrifying

And deeply sad. Because people do torture each other

That Byar guy is evil. Like, just a pure evil person, and I don’t say that lightly

So just… absolutely horrible humans all around then. Still dangerous fools

That feels like a trap. Is he really going to help them escape and let them go? More like help them escape and kill then as they run

Perrin agrees (I soon learn we are right)

It does! Help is coming. And not soon enough

Lan- me dead? Lol. Not to these fools at least

Well add all this to the “List of A Bad Times”

It’s like dark dark out then

Wait… Perrin doesn’t have night vision anymore?

“He felt a prick as it settled around his shoulders, a stab of worry between his shoulder blades. Was it Byar’s cloak he had ended up with?” -(Perrin) as he puts on one of the Whitecloaks cloaks worrying if it’s the one of the guy who has been tormenting and abusing him the most of the Whitecloaks -which all of them have/ but Byar, the guy, especially. Show honestly toned that down, which… uhhh ‘Kay.

More hand holding! My babies!

Moiraine Lightningbringer [redacted] Sedai

More evidence the Whitecloaks are doomed to failure. Utterly incompetent

Ok mild spoilers for later: truly how is Nynaeve not te’veren in this. I assumed Moiraine was doing some telepathy magic but no she just got impatient.

Not Lan wanting to go after Nynaeve immediately after learning she’s been gone a little too long

“Remember your oaths, al’Lan Mandragoran, Lord of the Seven Towers! What of the oath of a Diademed Battle Lord of the Malkieri?” -Moiraine when Lan wants to go back for Nynaeve. Just real intense there, he must really want to go back for her!

Don’t worry tho man. She’s fine

Also that sounds important. Lan is a fucking lord?

And see all’s well!

Love Nynaeve always noticing Egwene first

Lan showing affection- grips the arm of one he has affection for

Fully adding Byar to the Hate list right above Bornhold.

And back on the run!

Mm be interested to know what’s happening in Egwene’s head. Obviously that was awful for Perrin and it sounds awful for her too

When do we get to burn down the Whitecloaks as an institution?

Honestly nothing you did was justified for that Perrin.

What the fuck type of plants do that? Nynaeve that is just magic

“It isn’t anything.” Perrin *lied* (about his yellow eyes)

Moiraine just tell her what it is ffs. Or say you don’t know. (I later learn the latter option would be a lie)

Does she? How much does Perrin know about the, er, conflicts to come? (He soon learns a bit)

I’d also be pissed if I was Nynaeve

Lan knows Elyas?

Elyas was a fucking Warder? Near the Blight?

What doesn’t Lan want to say?

Tower politics? Not even at the tower yet. Excellent

Ah. The web mention again. Te’veren stuff, don’t remember the name of the web in the old tongue

Dude pretty sure you naming or not naming the Dark One does not matter. He takes what he wants, or at least makes every effort too. Yea, like those dream

Yup. It’s not the Dark One is connected to the wolf power it’s the patterns doing stuff which indicate things are changing

Well those are ominous looks Lan

I think it is very much for him to worry about by the sounds of things actually

The Dark One fucking up his life is basically his life now regrettable

Can’t the Dark One change that tho?

Yup no magic with those other two at all. (Flash thru all the absurd shit Rand has been doing)

Well good news about that!

Note- I get that the dark one is like bound but he still clearly has me as to influence the world at least thru his servants.

[citadelspires]

P1 - Given how great you're track record's been for doing hypothetical interactions of Amphibia kids with the Duck kids and Owl House kids, let's try doing the Duck kids meeting the Owl House kids and who they'd like the best. I'll exclude Violet for this for the sake of evenening things out 5 to 5. I'd assume Luz would get along best with Dewey (both jump into adventure), King with Louie (could see em teaming up for a scheme), Willow with Huey (eh, more leftover interaction but can work)

Screenshot of second half of the ask provided. Text: P2 Gus with Webby (would totally ask each other lots of questions about their species), and Amity with Lena (both got abusive figures they stood up to and would totally talk about their crushes on Luz and Webby LOL). Would love to see you take on Duck kids and Owl House kids interactions.

First of all I’m very pleased to hear you find my track record on these posts good, they’ve been really fun to write and it makes me really happy people like them! Second I am so sorry it’s taken so long to get to this ask, it’s a really in depth one and it took a long time to write, I hope you’ll find it was worth the wait!

Aight! Oh and one last thing real quick before I get into it. I hope you wouldn’t mind me adding Violet back in, partially due to the fact I love her, but mostly because there’s actually another owl house character I think works significantly better with Louie than anyone else and I really want the chance to talk about that. Saving that one for last hehe. This’ll be another long one, writing below the cut.

Luz and Webby So I do like a lot of the possible interactions brought up by your suggested grouping but my mind went in a few different directions. I’ll start with Luz, who would fit in best with another excitable adventuring partner, as pointed out, but I think the best fit for her in that regard would actually be Webby. While Dewey would no doubt get along great with Luz, there’s a special element to the potential relationship between Luz and Webby that really elevates the potential of their friendship to another level, that being: they both want to eat a hamburger.

An aspect of Webby I wish the later seasons of the show got into a little more, but is definitely something I would consider a core part of her character, is the fact that she got held up in the mansion her whole childhood, with no opportunities to interact with the world around her, have all the adventures she wanted, and most importantly to just be seen as the kid she wanted to be. And while Luz was technically able to go out into the world, the place she found wasn’t one that was willing to see her, or give her any of the chances she longed for. Both Webby and Luz fully understand that feeling of being trapped in your own life, of finally getting the chance to break out and just doing your best to make the most of it. I think there’s a lot the two could gain from spending some time together.

(Also, to borrow the bit about gushing about their crushes but from the other end, these two would totally get sidetracked talking about their respective crushes and also trying to play wingman for each other. It’s a massive comic disaster in both cases, but somehow both Lena and Amity manage to find it endearing).

Amity and Violet Okay wait lemme explain. While the two of them don’t have a whole lot in common at first glance, I think they would genuinely get along extremely well. While a lot of Amity’s focus on school came at the force of her parents, you cannot honestly expect me to believe that girl isn’t a studious nerd on her own anyway. Heck even outside the realm of studies she throws her full dedication into literally every single thing she does. Remind you of anyone? Beyond just being extremely intelligent Violet is clever and ready for anything. She takes everything in stride and always has a plan, she can go from “we were sleeping over and you said everybody get on the plane, so we got on the plane” to “I brought an axe” in a minute flat.

I like to think the two of them would have a mutual respect for each other based on their respective intellects upon first meeting, but as they become closer friends they find they can move from more serious respect to a casual enjoyment of each other. I would go as far as to say that both of these characters really value dependability in a friend, and that they each provide a lot of that. To wrap back around to the stuff about intelligence I think Violet could provide a lot of insight to Amity as far as showing her that pursuing studies and academic heights of her own volition can be something that she can just do because she wants to, and that’s no excuse for unhealthy parental relationships. Getting along so well with someone like Violet only to see that her parents are actually really loving and supportive, that would be really eye-opening for Amity I think. For Violet’s part she could get a lot of help from Amity as far as her pursuit of the secrets of magic goes. I suspect Amity would be much more interested in the study of her magic than Violet would be able to get Lena to tolerate lol.

Bonus Round: Amity would absolutely be a senior junior woodchuck and she would love it you cannot convince me otherwise. She starts quoting the JWGB around the owl house kids and they all look at her like she’s crazy.

Lena and Willow I feel like this one might seem a little out there at first but trust me on this one. Initially Lena doesn’t think too much of Willow, being as close as she is to Webby she knows liking flowers and cute things doesn’t mean Willow is automatically to be taken lightly but she feels like she’s got a good read on her that she generally prefers to avoid trouble and turns down opportunities for violence, which isn’t really Lena’s deal. Over time Lena figures she was right about her first impressions as Willow doesn’t seem to take many opportunities to expose some hidden power, even when Lena knows the people around her kinda deserve it.

She learns to adjust her opinion when she finally does get the chance to see Willow in action and realizes that girl is more powerful than any of the other kids she’s met in the boiling aisles bar none(yes this is my genuine opinion of willow if you don’t think she could kick your ass you’re wrong). It’s at that moment where she starts to pay more attention to Willow and notices a lot more of the strength she puts into all the little things, how much she cares for everyone and everything, and it does a great deal to show Lena that maybe having super strong magic powers isn’t mutually exclusive with being kind and gentle. And maybe gentle isn’t her thing but still, it’s nice to know.

For Willow’s part she’s just happy to make more friends. Especially if the opportunity arises, as I like to think it would, when they’re close enough friends, that Lena would start to hint around asking questions about how Willow remains so casual and nice with the ability to do so much damage, and Willow takes the chance to help Lena figure out her magic a bit more, and learn how to better appreciate it as an aspect of herself she doesn’t have to be scared of. (I mean come on Lena never really learned how to do any of it except barely kind of from Magica of all people she could really  use something like that).

Huey and Gus Now there are some certain things about Gus that would drive Huey absolutely nuts. His lack of primary and reliable sources for any of his information being a big one, but at the end of the day I think he’d enjoy Gus’ desire to learn in the first place. Gus would probably be a little dubious about Huey’s “sources” and “citations” but if it helped him get more info on the human realm he’d certainly go for it in the end. In that way the two balance each other out pretty well. Gus is studious and intelligent but he’s a little off the wall, he’s got a big creative streak, and he’s really excitable. Huey is really really good at facts and analysis but he lacks the strength in imagination that Gus has. Huey is able to take all the grandiose concepts Gus is able to think up and help make them actually happen. Gus has that specific brand of an adventurers soul matched up with the fact he’s not actually the type to get into danger and fights, meaning he’s able to drag Huey out of his comfort zone a little and help him reach new heights with his mind that his struggles with creativity prevent him from reaching, while managing to not make him feel like he’s actually in danger. I actually believe the two of them together could get some really incredible stuff done.

What I’m saying is that with Huey’s help Gus could absolutely complete his tunnels under Hexside.

Dewey and King Now this, this is the pair who would go incredibly well together, at the detriment of literally everyone around them. If there is one person King “I Will Rule Everything” Clawthorne should not be exposed to its Dewey Duck. Within minutes of meeting each other the two of them would immediately have so many bad ideas. Between Dewey’s insistence on being the best and most daring adventurer while putting his name on everything and going down in history & King’s trying to rule everything and everyone, the attempts to raise the stakes would be constant and the two would spend literal hours endlessly trying to one-up each other. All in one day they search for legendary treasure, discover an entirely new civilization, try to take over said civilization, create a new species just to name it after themselves, and build statues of themselves in the middle of Bonesbourough. And that’s all before lunch.

Louie Here it is. The one I waited till the very end for out of sheer excitement. I even kept the second name out of the heading thing. That’s how secretive I’m trying to be about this. See, there’s one character in the owl house that works so well with Louie it’s practically canon. Their interactions have so much potential, they each bring so much to the table, I just couldn’t Not talk about it. And yeah, I know this ask was specifically asking about the owl house and ducktales kids, but I just couldn’t resist talking about the relationship between Louie and Eda.

A con artist from another world who was so successful she became nationally famous? There’s no way Louie would pass up an opportunity like that. For his part I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already managed to set up another underworld identity in the boiling aisles, or at the very least that Eda could totally have been to the ducktales realm and heard of his one there.

Either way I’m convinced the two of them would start planning a heist as soon as they figure out who each other are. Eda is a little prideful and wants to show this kid he can’t out-con her, but Louie knows what he’s doing just as much. Honestly with the two of them combined Eda wouldn’t have to worry about losing her stand for a long time. Over the course of their planning and seeing Louie in action Eda begrudgingly gains some respect for the  kid, and while Louie was definitely just using her as a learning/profit opportunity at first, he’s pretty susceptible to getting attached.

For Louie, it’s the fact that she actually respects him for being good at what he does. Even back with his family who all love and care about him and all that he still feels like most of them don’t really get what he does or see what’s special about him, so having someone who made a whole life of it be even a little proud of him feels really nice.

And of course, at the end of their heist when they finally have the money in hand, and Eda just casually hands over his half, he stares at her like she’s crazy.

“You’re just.. Giving it to me?!”

“Well, yeah. That was the deal wasn’t it kid? I mean if you really want I definitely have a few ideas for it.”

“No! Uh, no, thanks, I’ll keep it. It’s just that you really remind me of someone, I guess I was expecting something else.”

[skellebonez]

Hear me out: Spider Macaque in the Spider Monkie AU with prompts 14 and 35?

I hear you and oh this was way too much fun... I took a great deal of liberty with exactly how Mac transforms into his Spider Monkie form and who says what and the TIMELINE because I... re-wrote this into a ship fic because of you. I call it ShadowCodingShipping because someone had to name MacaqueSyntax eventually! I guess you could say this is definitely a what-if story more than anything.

Warning for body horror because Mac is slowly turning half spider and that's kinda gross and painful. Also this is hurt/comfort but heavy on the HURT. This does not have a happy ending.

Am I scaring you?/I believe I can be of some help here.

"Am I scaring you?" Macaque asked with a smirk, pain clearly barely held at bay behind it. The monkey demon was a mess, fur tussled and miscolored splotches that hadn't yet grown in properly littered his torso. His torso that had gained a good inch in the last failed attempt at... what they were trying to accomplish. "... are you going to answer me, scientist?"

Syntax did not answer. Whether it was out of fear or knowing that regardless his answer would not make the demon leave him be even he didn't know.

"Queenie calls you Syntax," Macaque continued, moving around the computer to watch him over the screen. "That can't be your name, can it? I didn't give enough of a shit to ask before now. Hey. Hey. Hey. H-"

"No, it is not my birth name," the scientist snapped eventually, watching as Macaque smirked in victory. "Only a complete fool would agree to work with someone as infamous as the Spider Queen and use their legal name as if they were sending an unencrypted message containing confidential information across basic messaging applications without a VPN. What in the world are you trying to accomplish?"

"Ooooo, wordy," Macaque chuckled out as he leaned against the monitor and made it tilt at an awkward angle. "I'm. Bored. Entertain me, scientist, you're the most interesting person in this place. believe it or not."

Syntax raised a brow at the demon, sighing as he continued to type into the computer. "Do you want this to be finished any time soon? Because the more you bother me the longer it will take. I may be able to multitask but humans have limits."

Macaque scowled for a moment before shrugging, failing at hiding a grimace of pain. It must have made the new bones in his spine ache horribly. But he moved easily past Syntax without a word, only whipping his tail against his shoulder as he left.

It didn't hurt at all... he wondered what the point of the gesture even was.

~

The screaming rang through the entire hideout, Syntax's ears ringing even as he covered them. They'd tried twice more in their attempts at Macaque's twisted idea, Spider Queen slowly seeming to become less and less comfortable with not only their methods but with what they were even doing. It was working, sort of, but not correctly.

The changes were supposed to be immediate, so fast that the pain receptors wouldn't register properly. Not for the comfort of the converted, but so that it would happen so quickly they wouldn't be able to fight it. Less pain, less of a change for your body to try to fight off the transformation. Syntax had insisted on mechanical changes, nano-bots or something of the sort instead of organic growth. Macaque himself had vetoed this, saying something about how it wouldn't make him feel whole again.

This made the changes slow. Too slow, so much so that the mixture was fought off by his immortal monkey biology too quickly for it to take hold the way it was supposed to, requiring Syntax to make it stronger and stronger each time in the hopes it would finally kick in.

Now Macaque laid on the ground, holding his face and screaming so much Syntax feared his vocal cords would give out. The last two treatments had lengthened his torso even more and changed his fur consistency entirely. Once soft and thick black fur was a mixture of that and the coarse purple hair of a spider, not meshing together at all and instead forming an odd pattern on his body. At some points silver had begun to peak through, though if that was supposed to happen or if it was a reaction to the sheer stress of his body undergoing a change that should not be happening he was not sure. Syntax could see the red mark on his face warping, changing into the same purple on his torso around his eyes and moving up on his face as two more eyes grew above the ones he already had. It was fascinating to be sure, and he would have said that it was almost pretty had it not seen the build up of them forming in a fashion he wished to never see in slow build up ever again.

He was a scientist. He was supposed to be impartial to his work above all else, and he had agreed to help of... mostly his own volition. But this... This made him more uncomfortable than he was ready to admit.

"Help him up," Spider Queen said after Macaque collapsed onto the floor, screaming ceased as his body fought off the mixture for the fourth time. She looked... perturbed. Discomforted. "After his last treatment... move on to your idea. We are not doing this again."

She moved out of the room quickly, to fast to even tell her if he would or not, covering the side of her face with her hand to shield her from the sight of the collapse man on the floor. Yes... discomforted indeed.

Syntax didn't have that luxury. And he would not leave Macaque to lay on the floor regardless of orders. But the way he shook and covered his new eyes and the small amount of tears leaking from his normal eyes made a pang of pity shoot through him. He was a scientist... but he was still human.

"I believe I can be of some help here," he said softly, taking off his lab coat and folding it part way before shoving it under Macaque's head and laying the unfolded part over his face. The demon let out a half whimper, clearly bit back as he didn't want to show weakness, but eased ever so slightly as he realized the coat blocked out the light of the lab just as well as his hands had. "It's not a perfect solution, but it gets the job done.

"Th-thought Queenie s-said to help me u-up," Macaque stuttered out, moving his hands to grip the coat instead of his eyes.

"Yes, but that would be a bad idea," Syntax explained, sitting on the floor next to him with a sigh. He pulled his tablet down from a nearby table, there was no point in not getting at least some work done, and began scribbling away with the attached pen. "Your eyes are far too sensitive and with the other changes you have gone through your body will likely collapse again before we could get you to a cot. It's best you remain stationary for the time being until I am able to assess your pain tolerance properly, then I will move you to your quarters."

Macaque didn't say anything, just huffed in reply and seemed to relax. Syntax wondered if he was thankful he wouldn't have to move immediately this time, and he could have sworn he heard something... rumbling.

Maybe it was the machinery behind them.

He felt Macaque's tail hit his side after a while, thumping softly against him... but he didn't push it away.

He wondered if this would change anything at all.

~

Syntax saw more of Macaque than usual after that. Sometimes he would wander into his lab and just... stay there. Silent as the shadows he liked to hide in. Sometimes he would just watch him work, other times he would bring him plums or mangoes. Syntax never had much of a taste for fruit, not really enjoying any form of sweets, but he would not pass up free food when his stomach rumbled in protest from his long hours. One time Macaque had brought in a book, sat on his desk, and just read it.

That was bizarre, even for him. But Syntax found he didn't exactly mind the company. It was quite... lonely in the lab. He was the only human in the Spider Queen's entourage and her other two companions weren't exactly the best company. Oh, the big guy was nice and all and Syntax even enjoyed his presence well enough. But he would grow bored of the scientist's techno babble and science talk eventually and leave with a nod and a wave goodbye. He was grateful that he seemed to listen, however, even if he wasn't interested in the specifics.

The other one, however, was a pain in his ass. Constantly one upping him, trying to belittle him for being a human, just being an all around annoyance. He tried to act cool and suave but Syntax just found him obnoxious.

Macaque... Macaque stayed, listened even if Syntax ran out of things to talk about. And it was oddly nice. He felt himself growing excited for when the part-spider part-monkey would make his presence known.

He wondered, distantly... if Macaque was starting to mean something to him. To matter, in a way.

~

The day of the final treatment eventually arrived and Syntax actually dreaded what might happen. This was their last shot to make this work completely, there was a greater than 0% chance that this would cause irreparable damage to the monkey demon if they had to continue farther. But it seemed his worries were unfounded. He was smart, a genius even. He had done his job properly, even if it had taken far too long and was the least beneficial way to accomplish the goal.

Macaque screamed worse than with every other treatment, and understandably do. It would have shocked him if Macaque hadn't since he was growing two new arms.

The Spider Queen had taken her leave shortly after, disgusted by the sight before her. It was Syntax's job to watch as Macaque slowly changed before him, bones and muscle and sinew growing slowly and bit by until finally... finally it was finished.

They had learned from last time, placing a cot on the ground for him to sit on while this happened, and he collapsed onto his back. Two new arms limp against the floor as he shook and twitched and cried cold tears in agony. But it was finished.

Syntax couldn't stop himself. He rushed forward, kneeling beside Macaque's head, watching his eyes and expression for recognition and any sign that he was alright. It had only been two weeks since the last treatment, the time needed for him to recuperate, but in that short time... he had grown oddly fond of the man on the cot. He did not know what he felt for him, not yet, but he knew that he did not dislike him in the slightest.

"Ma-Macaque?" He asked softly after no response for nearly 15 minutes, waiting and watching and finally Macaque's eyes turned to him. "How do you feel?"

Macaque didn't say anything to him at first. Just blinked before a weak chuckle resounded from his throat.

"Whole."

~

The transformation was a mistake. Syntax had never felt guilt for any of his scientific achievement before, and he did not feel guilt for helping the Spider Queen in her endeavor, bit this? This he felt guilt for.

Macaque was in pain. Constantly. Sometimes it was just a dull ache, other times he almost collapsed as something moved the way it shouldn't and he had to bite back a scream. But there was no taking it back now and Macaque reveled in "feeling whole" again.

Syntax felt a mix of awe and wonder whenever he looked at the demon. He was... handsome, the purples and blacks and silvers of his fur blending together properly now. His eyes brilliant gold and green. And when he wasn't in pain his smile was nice, soft even if he could call it that. He was unsure of how much of it was true, he knew the Six-Eared Macaque to be a trickster. But he hoped some of it was, at least when directed at him.

But when he was in pain his face twisted in a way that made Syntax sick to his stomach to see it each time the agony rang true on his face. But Macaque brushed it off, not seeming to pay it much mind. Not when he had his eyes and arms "back".

The Spider Queen agreed with him, he could tell, but probably not for the same reasons. She seemed frightened of him. Goliath and Huntsman were just scared of him too. They avoided him like he would kill them on sight.

Syntax, despite his guilt, welcomes his presence still. He was not frightened of Macaque in the least. No, he just felt guilt that he was in pain. And he would never not want to help him through that now. The spider monkie had grown attached to him, almost a constant companion at his side. And he had grown fond of him as well.

He learned that Macaque had a flair for the theater. He made shadow puppets when the Spider Queen wasn't watching, though for what purpose and what audience Syntax had not asked. He liked to watch Syntax work, and eventually as he started to rest his head on the human's shoulder he learned the rumbling from the second to last treatment was a purr. He didn't know demons could purr, let alone to speed up recovery from injuries.

But the day of the Lunar New Year was coming and Syntax could tell he had something else... someone else on his mind.

~

The next day was to be the day. Syntax's last chance to get the new formula and tech right. It almost felt like a repeat of the past treatments but with less screaming. He was worried.

Macaque wasn't, however. He had never been worried, assuring the Spider Queen (sometimes through growls and bared teeth) that it would be done in time. He'd been a success after all. (Syntax said nothing each time.)

They'd never been this close before, but Macaque had eventually dragged the scientist away from his computer for rest. Taken him to his room, sat on the bed with him, and just. Held him. Purring loud and deep and eventually Syntax was lulled into slumber sitting up against the soft-coarse fur of Macaque.

He realized that Macaque mattered to him more than he cared to admit.

~

Syntax had failed. His formula and tech hadn't worked. They only had one shot left, and there was no time for him to fix his mistakes before the end of the celebration. Macaque had been in too much pain, on the other side of the room, to tell Spider Queen off this time. It was all over...

Until she came. The young woman in white and blue. She'd done something, added an ingredient he had not been able to calculate for, and then...

"Let's give it a spin," Spider Queen had said with a smirk as she turned toward her human scientist... her human guinea pig.

"Wait, no!" Syntax backed up, knowing that it was almost pointless to attempt escape. There was nowhere to run. "I helped you! You need me! Maca-AGH!"

Before the spider monkie could rush to his side the little spider drone had jumped on Syntax, adhering itself to his face before he fell backward over some machinery. It crawled around him, situating itself on his back and digging in it's injectors and

pain agony pain pain something came out of his back pain another painpainhescreamedandscreamed ANOTHER AGONYISTHISWHATMACAQUEFELTPAIN one more

And then it was over. Syntax felt... nothing. No pain. No agony.

No... guilt.

He stood straight, facing forward before kneeling. He knew what he had to do.

"My queen."

Yes. His queen. The Spider Queen.

She was the only one who mattered to him.

He heard his name spoken from the other side of the room but paid it no mind. That voice didn't matter to him.

That wasn't the voice of his queen.

~

"Syntax?" Macaque called, unable to stand from his spot as his arms throbbed in ghost pain. He had tried to stand before, when the drone had lunged at him, but the pain shot through him for a split second and send him to his knees too quickly.

His screams... his screams made his ears pull back not from the pain of the volume but from fear and something else.

Then Syntax stopped screaming and stood and knelt before the Queen.

"Syntax!"

... he never responded.

Macaque wondered if this is what guilt felt like.