#and become an unstoppable talking machine

[randomgentlefolk]

What would be even more interesting if Prince Whitney was the one to save Frederick, Lance and Blaine? He could stumble upon the dungeon Leland locked them up in, find out what Leland was really like and go all tiger beast on him. Calling the Plaid King out on how horribly he treated his sons which brings up his own feelings on his own horrible family. Though he won’t bring the finishing blow. He reserves that honor for his sons. But his sons just kicks him and declares that Leland is no longer their father. Whitney was proud of them for choosing a different path and tells the brothers to cherish each other and forgive each other for the mistakes they’ve made.

How do you- what—

I was literally thinking about this a few days ago?? Did you read my mind?

This theory so wholesome somehow but

How does Whitney just wind up in Leland's dungeon tho 😭

But like, heck yeah! I really want Whitney to interact more with the Plaid Princes, especially Blaine cause damn homeboy need some talking about "having to please your parental figure or else you'll be severely punished" stuffs.

Lance also need that btw, this guy most probably suffers and hides it behind his jokes.

WHITNEY CAN HAVE THE SAME "Calling out father figure" SPEECH LIKE AURELIA

WHITNEY CAN JUST ARRANGE GROUP THERAPY OR JUST TALK OR SMTH WITH THE BROS PLEASE MAKE THIS HAPPEN I WOULD BE SCREAMING AS LOUD AS A WHALE

[galionne-speeding]

Totally not thinking about a scenario where Sonic & Co and the Deadly Six end up all separated and mixed up on unfamiliar territory, leading to unlikely teamwork and bonding happening

Totally not thinking about that totally not wanting unusual friendships to happen-

[laitbanane]

Moon bullets straight to your heart. (Moon Knight x COD au / GHOSTSOAP)

Continuation of a head canon I wrote a week ago, the brainrot is unstoppable, I'm afraid.

TW: gaslighting, angst, mention of poor mental health, use of simon and ghost.

Simon had a hard time balancing his new lives. Being a lieutenant in the Task Force 141 and becoming an Egyptian's god avatar were surprisingly not compatible. When Khonshu wanted something from him, big or small, he had to immediately end whatever he was doing and it started to put his colleagues' lives in jeopardy. Especially Soap.

Ghost was starting to see through the diety, Khonshu had let it slip that's first choice was Johnny, which made the masked soldier's blood boil with anger and protectiveness. Was it all a tactic to make him behave ? Surely Khonshu could see through him, hell even read his mind and see his feelings towards his sergeant. To use such a vulnerability was really in character for such a childish vengeance-fulled god.

So he cornered the bird one day. Well, he happened to be alone in the rec room at an ungodly hour of the night so he started yelling insults to provoke his persecutor.

"Listen you old geezer, You seem to think that you can control me by threatening to hurt Johnny. There's one thing you don't know mate, I've been controlling you for my own benefits for a while."

A gust of wind made Khonshu's presence known to the lieutenant and Ghost turned on his heels to face the subject of his anger.

" You think you control a god, bug."

" You think you have it all under control Khonshu, that you have me tucked under your rotten wing."

The cupboard started to shake along with the vibrations caused by the deep laughter Khonshu allowed his hollow throat to give.

" I advise you to how more respect to a god, Simon Riley."

It was Ghost's turn to laugh, a laugh that could rival the god's. A laugh filled with sarcasm and disgust, one that expressed his current feeling with the precision he had when he handled a sniper rifle.

"What will you do if I misbehave ? Take back your powers ? Fine, go ahead. I'll be the same damn killing machine without your constant nagging in my fucking ears you bastard."

A staring contest ensued, no one daring to speak. Only frowning faces and eyes meeting hollow cavities.

"I have no feelings, romantic or whatever the hell you may think towards John MacTavish. He's just a subordinate, an annoyin' and clingy one. You need to find better leverage if you ever want me to listen like a good robot. I am not your past puppets. "

A gasp, then the sound of a cup exploding on the tiles near the entrance made Simon's head wipe toward the now opened door of the rec room. Soap, Johnny was standing mouth open in shock, his hands still in the shape of the cup he was holding mere seconds ago.

"Johnny-"

"Simon what the fuck is happening here, who the fucking hell are you to?"

Ghost marched quickly towards Soap but the sergeant made two steps back for every one Ghost made.

"Soap, please, I can explain."

"Explain what ? That you fucking fooled me into thinking we were close ? That you missed your psych eval again ? When did you start talking to things that aren't even real Si' ?"

Right, he can't see Khonshu. He just heard him said a bunch of bullshit about how he didn't care about him and how he was annoying. Fucking hell.

"Do not talk- I don't want to hear any of whatever you might say to convince me you're not going bonkers. I'm telling Prince in the morning. You're fucked up mate."

With that, Soap left hurriedly. Simon sighed, hands on his chest. An anxiety attack, fucking perfect.

He would get discharged and Khonshu could have him as his slave. Speaking of, the god was above Simon's now kneeling figure, smiling.

He was getting what he wanted. A broken shell of a man, a perfect little ghost.

[gffa]

THIS SERIES HAS BEEN RATTLING AROUND IN MY BRAIN FOR LIKE A WEEK SINCE I READ IT and I'm going to write a post that's just for me, but y'all're welcome to read it, too, if you want, because I'm gonna spoil everything, since I feel like that's the only way to talk about why it's been whizzing around my head like a pinball game. So, the above is the true core narrative of Batman and Robin Eternal and ultimately why I really loved this whole story. It's not perfect, I would have shifted around a lot of emphasis and would have given stronger narrative presence to Jason and Tim (this story is really ultimately about Bruce, Dick, Cass, and Harper, even if the others get some hilarious banter moments), I would have focused more on showing rather than telling that Dick was choosing his own path, but at the end of the day, the pieces of this story came together for me. It's a little too long to summarize, but the basic structure of the story is that it goes back and forth between the Present and the Past. The Present has Dick, Jason, and Tim running around the world to find out who this mysterious "Mother" is and put a stop to her, a new face (Cassandra Cain) shows up to give Dick a flashdrive of information on and she's somehow tied into this, and meanwhile, Bruce is in his amnesiac era. In the past, Batman and Robin are hunting down Crane and whoever he's working with, and Bruce is keeping most of this case away from Dick, which the narrative treats it like we're supposed to believe that Bruce is falling for what Mother is doing--she's a human trafficker who is making "designer humans", because as someone who went through mind-breaking levels of trauma when she was a child, she believes that when you break a child's mind through the loss of their parents/their world around them, you can shape them into "perfect" people, unstoppable machines who can do anything. Because that's what happened to her and she knows that Bruce wants a "perfect" protege, one who doesn't make human mistakes or have human feelings, like Dick Grayson is having throughout the series. The story falls a little flat in these scenes, because the sheer idea that Bruce would be willing to let a child's parents be killed in front of them just so that he can have a perfect partner is the absolute opposite of what the character stands for, and it works as him attempting to trick Mother, but it doesn't work when attempting to trick the audience, because Bruce Wayne would fucking never. But he walks right up to the edge of it, so that he can get close to Mother and figure her operation out, and she knows what he's doing and says, well, what happens next is on you, because you thought you could play games with me, but as soon as you agreed, you know what you set in motion. Eventually, it's revealed that the child who would have their parents murdered in front of them to traumatize them to become Batman's perfect partner was Harper Row and she had sent David Cain's daughter Cassandra to do it. Cass can only kill Harper's mother before she breaks down and Harper's father manages to get away. Harper has no idea of any of this until it switches back to the present storyline and eventually Mother tells her the whole story.

Each of the kids that have joined Bruce in this fight are ones that have made their own choices, he doesn't define them, he doesn't actually make child soldiers, this entire series is a refuting of that idea. The children who are manipulated into this life either wind up as empty cannon fodder or have a high rate of walking away or falling away from the methods that trained them. Not a single one of them (Harper, Cass, Jean-Paul most centrally) is still standing with the same beliefs that were meant to shape them into "perfect" people, every one of them turned away from that manipulation. Because they weren't more valuable, they died in droves, not a single one was able or wanting to carry on the legacy--meanwhile, all four Robins are alive and kicking by the end, still standing strong. But it's not just about that, it's about Bruce's guilt, because he knows himself and his relationships, he knows his personality is an extremely heavy one, and he's not wrong to worry that he could shape these kids into something they wouldn't have been by themselves. He's not wrong that their desperate need to live up to his expectations can strike at the core of these kids--when Dick is dosed with fear toxin, that's his biggest fear, that he's not good enough for Batman. Bruce isn't wrong to worry about how that affects Dick and the others long term!

He has a room made up for a young Harper and Cullen who have just lost their mother, but eventually backs off because he can't face the idea that he might be forcing her into molding herself after him, because the force of his personality is just too strong. He worries about how he's done the same to Dick, given Dick's greatest fear under Crane's toxin is that he's not good enough for Batman--Bruce isn't just being paranoid about this, it is a legit concern from his point of view. But it drives him to keep secrets from Dick, who is shown to be incredibly intelligent (he gets that Crane seems to want them to find him, etc.) and also senses that Bruce is withholding things from him:

Which, once I reached the end and was secure in the knowledge that, no, this wasn't the most batshit comic I'd ever read where it expected me to buy the idea that Bruce would actually try to replace Dick with a "perfect" version from Mother, it recontextualized these scenes for me. Bruce has no intentions of replacing Dick but instead is worried that he's destroying this kid's life, because Dick is pushing himself so hard. To the point that he worries that Dick still has fear toxin running through his veins, because he's been over-training himself obsessively.

This isn't a story about Bruce thinking Dick isn't good enough, but instead a story about Bruce worrying that he overrode this kid's path in life, that maybe Dick wouldn't have wanted this. Which circles back to Harper again and I think that's kind of the point. She was a necessary addition to this particular story to show that, when Bruce backed off, she didn't pursue this life. We don't know the exact specific details of Dick becoming Robin in this story (though, if they used the one from the Secret Files for Nu52, this still holds true), but in pretty much every story of the last three decades of telling it, it is always Dick Grayson is mad as hell and nothing is going to stop him. Bruce didn't drag him into this life, he saw a kid willing to sneak out at night to go confront Tony Zucco to bring him to justice because there was a fire in that kid that wasn't going to be stopped. But Bruce himself loves that kid so much that he's not really objective about him, he's so afraid that he's messing this kid up--because he's still in denial that he's a father to this child, just as Dick's still lashing out that Bruce isn't his father, they're feeding into those words hurled at each other, meanwhile the narrative is setting Bruce up as a contrast against "Mother", to show, yes, he is acting as this kid's father. It's a central core of the story, that contrast, how Mother treats those who are loyal to her, who would do anything for her:

She slices David Cain open and kicks him down to his death. Her endless hoards of children are nothing more than cannon fodder. Jean-Paul is loyal to Mother because she shaped him as part of the Order of St. Dumas as well, but she discards him just as easily, and it takes a knock down drag out fight with Dick to break him out of that:

It's not just being on Mother's side or against her, it's about living by her rules and her philosophy and her worldview. Dick has to be the one to break Jean-Paul out of this because Dick is the one who did the same thing for himself when he was Batman's first protege--he chose for himself. Whether or not he ultimately agreed with Batman's philosophy, it wasn't because Bruce's force of personality was so great that he forced Dick into this, no, Dick Grayson was always going to be on this path, it was that Bruce made sure he didn't kill himself along the way--because he genuinely loved Dick and wanted him to live the life that satisfied him. And that applies to how each of the Robins is valued and wanted. This is how Bruce speaks of them:

Every single one of them is wanted. Every single one of them is valued. Every single one of them is loved by Bruce. He parallels Damian's attempts to learn to them, because that is the parallel--they're all Bruce Wayne's sons. The big emotional climax of the story is narratively set on this moment, that Dick and Jason and Tim and Damian are all different from each other, and that's why they're the ones still standing at the end. David Cain dies, Mother's children are all dead or set free from her influence, Jean-Paul Valley turns away from the path she set him on, Cassandra Cain chooses to no longer kill but instead chooses to be a hero, Harper Row chooses to walk away. And the Robins, especially Dick Grayson, the one who created the role of Robin and chose this path for himself, basically kick everyone's ass along the way. Dick defeats David Cain in combat, he defeats Jean-Paul in combat, he gathers together Tim and Jason and Harper with him to actually defeat Mother in a way Bruce couldn't. Bruce isn't always great at what he sets out to do. He's secretive and lies to Dick about what he's doing, he worries that he created Robin when Dick might have lived another life if Bruce hadn't interfered, but in the important ways, he is the inverse of Mother. Which is why Mother, as a character, worked so well for me. Her whole backstory is the inverse image of Bruce Wayne--when she was a child, her parents (and entire village) were killed in front of her and she was so destroyed by this trauma that she was entirely transformed by it and chose to wield her trauma as a weapon, she chose to transform others around her as well. In the most flattened out of terms, Bruce Wayne does the same thing. His parents are murdered in front of him and he is so destroyed by his trauma that he's entirely transformed by it and chose to wield that trauma as a weapon (Batman), he chose to help transform others around him as well. Seeing two "parental" figures be each others' foils in the narrative, how they're set up as parallels to each other, meanwhile are entirely perpendicular in what they're actually doing, the way it shows why the idea of "Batman is creating child soldiers" doesn't really hold up, because you're not looking at what these kids' circumstances actually are, why they were driven to this life. It's not a perfect story, I think the balance is off, I think trying to trick the audience weakened the story, when spending more time on the various Robins' reasons for becoming Robin and the determination in each of them, would have made this a knock-out story, nor am I beholden to this as the current backstory for the characters.

Instead, I chose to enjoy this as a version of how the characters might have come together and enjoyed that it showed these kids are indeed capable of walking away, because that's a pretty important point when it comes to comic book storytelling and Robins in particular. Not a version I'm married to, but one I can pluck a fascinating story about Bruce's role as a father to these Robins, even as he fights it and says otherwise, what the story shows is a much different story.

He cared so much about the children that came to him that he went whole-assedly over the line in the other direction, that he tried to push them away because he was so afraid of being the kind of person who supersedes others' wills. Because he does toe that line a lot of the time, he's not wrong to worry about it.

But if he truly had made Dick Grayson into his own image instead of what Dick wanted, Dick would never have been able to stand up and wipe the floor with Mothers' minions or crack open her hold over Jean-Paul. Yeah, Dick worried about not being good enough for Bruce and that probably drove a lot of him.

But he also mocked Bruce right to his face while they were fighting, that's not a "perfect" little soldier, that's a kid who regularly goes toe to toe with Batman and doesn't back down.

That's not a child soldier, that's a father's son who has the same sheer stubborn force of will that his dad did and a father who desperately wanted the best life he could give his son. And that's what this story really was about for me.

[hummus-birb]

My Reverse: 1999 Rarepairs/crackships!

Exactly what it says in the title! I’ve seen a couple other people talk about their favorite rarepairs for r1999, so I thought I’d do it for mine!!

(Technically some of these are just characters I think would interact well, not all of them have to be romantic) (and also not all of them are super duper rare)

An-An Lee x Poltergeist

- I just really like the ghost enthusiast x ghost dynamic in general, this counts for horropedia and An-An Lee with any of the ghost characters tbf

- But An-An Lee and Poltergeist specifically would be cool because of their personalities!!

- Poltergeist is obviously more shy, while An-An Lee seems a bit more outspoken, and I can really see An-An Lee helping Poltergeist help gain confidence!

- Either way, very cute dynamic and I like it a lot!

Tennant x Sweetheart

- Originally, Sweetheart was my main theory for who the other character in Tennants I2 Portrait, along with maybe Mesmer Jr.

- While I definitely don’t think it is anymore, I still like the concept of them having a relationship!

- Tennant would definitely be in it to scam Sweetheart, but I think Sweetheart would at least know some of it due to her being familiar with Hollywood secrets and the drama that goes down there

- If they did become “partners in crime” I think they would legitimately be the best power-couple ever. I just don’t know if there would ever be a scenario where they both show their cards, so I don’t know if they’d ever reach that point sadly.

- Their rich girlboss energy knows no bounds, and together they will be unstoppable

Sweetheart x Bette

- Actor x Stunt double, just another fun concept!! (I saw a similar idea with Blonney and Bette as well, which would also be cool!)

- Sweetheart is sassy and assertive but befriends her innocent stunt double and takes her to Hollywood parties

- Bette is so confused but Sweetheart is her idol so it’s not like she’s going to say no

- It would basically be like the sassy popular girl falls in love with nerd/shy girl trope, Hollywood edition

- I think they would be very cute though!

ONiON x TTT

- The only news station TTT isn’t sick of

- She was actually covered by one of ONiON’s stories, and she’s been a big fan ever since!

- When ONiON meets her, they hit it off immediately!

- Both of them have different brands of eccentric show host vibes and I’m here for it

AliEn T x Sputnik

- The space besties

- Sputnik literally references AliEn T’s lines, what can I say

- Mostly just them lying to each other about exactly what/who they are to hilarious results

Bkornblume x Click

- Sitting as silence as we speak (consider each other their best friends and know each other really well despite this)

- There’s really no other special reason, I just think they’d get along!!

Constantine x Vertin’s Mom

- Not super rare technically

- There is no info on it but it’s both a super interesting and very funny concept

- I saw a post a while ago about the parallels between Madame Z, Constantine, and Vertin’s Mom to Matilda, Sonetto, and Vertin, and it was really cool!

Regulus x X

- Technically this one I like more as a friendship, but I still want to talk about it

- Regulus hung out with X for longer than she did Vertin, there’s no way they aren’t at least somewhat friends

- They’re both sneakily coming up with ideas of pranking people with machines (They were both definitely giggling at the idea of pouring tea on Forget-me-not)

- Silly little goobers, mostly

[pizzaapplecheese]

I like LMK, but I will admit some of their writing decisions are a bit... atrocious. Don't get me wrong, I love the story and characters, but sometimes I wonder what is the point of the changes they make. The samadhi fire being one of them.

It is honestly one of the most useless and confusing change I have ever seen with no justification. I am going to break it down to 3 reasons why I believe this.

Nothing needed to be changed.

This is one of my biggest gripe with this change is that it doesn't even NEEDED to be changed. The Samadhi fire could still have been sealed without making Redson a newborn (thus removing the whole section where he was forced to become a disciple of Guanyin and being the whole reason why both the Demon Bull King and his brother who guarded the abortion water was angry at Wukong). It is as simple as having it be Guanyin who ordered it. At this point Redboy was Guanyin's responsibility, so why not have her ask the pilgrims to do the ritual. Both the sealing and Redson becoming a disciple can co-exist it isn't something mutually exclusive.

2. Reduces one of Redson's main character trait and takes away exploration of a complex relationship

Unlike in the show, Redson wasn't born with the Samadhi fire, he worked for it. Which outside of his devotion for his parent's admiration, isn't really explored that much. He is a very strong character in book (he caused Wukong to have a breakdown and even made him to NEED Guanyin's help in handling him, the same Sun Wukong who only the Buddha was able to stop during his havoc in heaven) and it feels a bit disappointing to see him be reduced so much in the show.

The Samadhi fire being sealed when he was older and more aware is such an interesting concept as the shift of strength would always be something to be hanged over for Redson. It would be like taking away Wukong's shapeshifting, like sure Wukong can still do many things, but he is significantly weakened. This goes back to Redson's main trait, HE IS A HARDWORKER, in the show he engineers a lot, building many bull clones and used a machine to help take Wukong's staff out. It makes sense for him to search for alternatives to help him match his previous strength or work around the issues the sealing have given him. I will be honest Redson is an overachiever, he constantly works hard on being number 1 in everything he does, he is not the type of character would have this stop him.

Also it makes such a good exploration of the complex family dynamic of the bull family. To DBK and PIF this would obviously have been seen as a bad thing ("not only did Wukong made his son a slave of Guanyin and beat him up, but he even help took away his power!" <- biased) they have every right to be angry and might even dabble a bit of behaviour that parents with disabled child would react (ie. grieving his past self and treating this something pitiful) which would definitely not help with Redson's overachieving behaviour which honestly gives more reasons why he is like that. The dinner scene would make a good moment to show the contrast between Redson and his parents because they do love each other, but the way his parents express it is harmful (they are trying at least) they would have been too busy being upset to actually think to consider Redson's own views of the situation. Like I can definitely hear DBK talking about Redson in his younger years as an unstoppable force who could conquer the world if he wanted to, until Guanyin came around and forced him to weakened out of fear and jealousy (cough cough biased narrator).

3. confuses the story

I don't feel as if I need to explain this one, but it really does confuse the story a bit. If it wasn't because the Redson situation, why did they fight in the first place? What happened in between sealing the Samadhi fire and placing DBK under a mountain? The show never explained that and juging how DBK's relationship with Wukong is constantly overshadowed in the show in favour of SEM I doubt we will ever know.

[fatherfigurefusion]

Danganronpa: Another Iteration (or a talent-shift AU for DRA)

Haruhiko Kobashikawa, Ultimate Surgeon

The protagonist, and 1/3 of the three "brain cells".

Comes from a family of field medics.

Ending up garnering lots of attention from the media for performing flawless surgeries at the age of five.

Would much draw attention away from the whole "medical prodigy" thing, but would lay down his life to save people (savior complex protag, my beloved).

Is a bit too into the anatomy parts of medical textbooks.

Mikako Kurokawa, Ultimate Pilot

Was groomed from a young age to be an unstoppable war machine.

Was told from a young age that "actions speak louder than words", resulting in her not talking much.

Doesn't really open up to anybody, not even her servant/adoptive brother.

People are often unnerved by the pale six-foot-one girl with noticeable muscles underneath her uniform, and rightfully so.

Yuki Maeda, Ultimate Exorcist

Has powers straight out of an isekai/shounen manga, and the underdog protagonist energy to match.

In spite of his title, Yuki actually specializes more in being a spiritual medium and summoning/communicating with the spirits themselves.

Is headmates with Utsuro, a far colder spirit in charge of the actual exorcisms, who finds just about any other activity "boring".

Has an awful and traumatic past that lead to both his attachment towards the dead and his alter.

Rei Mekaru, Ultimate Lucky Student

Primary trial saboteur.

Okay, I have two different prompts for a Lucky Student Rei.

First prompt, essentially Teruko Tawaki (right down to the backstory), but she doesn't need to get backstabbed for her to turn her back on others.

Second prompt: the Nagito-esque Rei I outlined here.

Either way, a total menace.

Teruya Otori, Ultimate Professor

One of Haruhiko's supports and 1/3 of the "brain cells".

Highly-intelligent and would drop tons of obscure trivia in a conversation, to the point that you would leave knowing a whole lot of stuff.

Father was the principal/dean of a K-12 school, and decided to hire his genius son to teach people.

He especially loves teaching grade-schoolers, but that kind of leaks into his interactions with his classmates (they all have at least one gold star/lollipop).

Akane Taira, Ultimate Merchant

Classic rags-to-riches backstory, with her going from a door-to-door saleswoman to a street vendor to the founder of a popular market chain.

Perfect customer service voice that she only ever lets go of when angry.

Seems docile and polite, but would punch a Karen.

Basically Akane, but even more girlboss.

Yamato Kisaragi, Ultimate Butler

Has a FuyuPeko-esque relationship with Mikako (minus the romance).

The Kisaragis have been working under the Kurokawas for generations to come.

Instead of Love Live! references, he makes Black Butler and Hayate the Combat Butler references in his dialogue.

Always seems to appear out of nowhere and know exactly what you want/need. Even Mikako is unnerved by this.

Kiyoka Maki, Ultimate Inventor

Specializes in creating weapons (primarily artillery).

Has the potential to make a nuclear bomb, but would rather spend all day doing typical teen girl stuff.

Greatly prefers fixing up old technology, rather than inventing new products.

Gets really dirty by the end of inventing stuff (blame her hyper-focus), and hates it.

Kinji Uehara, Ultimate Sniper

Was adopted by an Italian mercenary group, resulting in him becoming an assassin from a young age.

Is still highly-religious, believing that the lifestyle he has lived has condemned him to a life in hell.

Has a protective attitude towards children, has struck up a friendship with Teruya because of it.

Keeps a distance from the rest of his classmates, not wanting anyone to know the truth behind what he does.

Ayame Hatano, Ultimate Priestess

Can confidently lead sermons, but can barely handle herself in normal conversations.

Regularly goes on tangents regarding her religion, which can veer into some unnerving territory.

Is commonly seen as an upright maternal figure, which always throws people for a loop when they see how she really is.

Due to her talent, she is nowhere near the workaholic she is in canon, and she often encourages her classmates to take little breaks.

Tsurugi Kinjo, Ultimate Sprinter

Still has his strong sense of justice, but it isn't filtered through the black-and-white insanity of the police force. More like a shonen protagonist.

Would gladly sacrifice his life, if it means his peers would survive and/or be avenged. Who knows where that mentality would lead, when in a killing game?

Juu was a former Olympian, who Tsurugi looks up to and seeks to surpass.

Carries the burden of a promise made between him and his posthumous best friend.

Satsuki Iranami, Ultimate Police Officer

Haruhiko's other support, and 1/3 of the "brain cells".

Was born to a prestigious legal family, but was unable to live up to their standards, with Keisuke being the only one willing to give her a chance.

Is more of a Peralta-type cop, rather than a Santiago-type.

Probably owns a prop flag gun that says "GOTCHA!" or "BANG!".

Mitsuhiro "Mitchie" Higa, Ultimate Clown

Fandom's treatment of Mitch be like. /hj

Would have a more sanitized personality, for the sake of the kids.

Imagine Mitchie taking clowning as serious as canon!Mitch takes soccer.

Hates mimes and any other circus performances with a burning passion. Would start the clown uprising.

Kizuna Tomori, Ultimate Soccer Player

Would have a lot of issues with having a "gross" or "boyish" talent, thanks to Minako.

Would compensate for this with her hyper-girly personality.

Is highly competitive, and would do whatever it takes to win and get ahead in life.

Very Arei Nageishi-core.

Kakeru Yamaguchi, Ultimate Cheerleader

In contrast to the American-style cheerleader Kizuna is, Kakeru would be an oendan-leader.

Midori would be more athletic in this universe (although she still has her illness), and Kakeru cheers her at every event, like the good big brother that he is.

Big body = big lungs = loud shouts. Has a very hoarse and raspy voice outside of sporting events, because of it.

Is quiet to save up his voice for his cheers, and loves tea and cough drops.

Kanata Inori, Ultimate Lawyer

Her parents were murdered, when she was a baby, and she was taken in by the lawyer that prosecuted against and exposed the true murderer.

Her naturally polite and optimistic personality has made her the mascot of sorts for the Ando law firm.

Prime example of "A lawyer doesn't cry, until it's all over".

Could be considered an honorary member of the "brain cells", but she isn't a part of the polycule.

[2c75ff]

GET TO KNOW YOUR ADMIN !!

NAME -- 'Miller' will do.

PRONOUNS -- he/him preferable; they/them acceptable.

PREFERRED COMMS -- Tumblr IMs to start, but I tend to prefer moving to Discord once it becomes apparent that we vibe nicely.

NAME OF MUSE -- Seventeen. (I may or may not have a short but running list of names that would feel fitting on him if indeed he ever arrives at a point of being willing to allow someone else to give him one, but that's a whole other thing for a whole other time.)

EXPERIENCE IN RP -- All the way back to the days of LJ, forums, and Yahoo Groups.

BEST EXPERIENCES -- I met somebody on here a handful of years ago who was a long-time fan of the character I was playing. At first they just sent questions to the inbox and tagged me in their art sometimes -- (which was supremely touching) -- but eventually they worked up the confidence in their English to try out an OC blog of their own, and we started doing IC interactions in addition to chatting OOC. It was nice to know that someone felt inspired enough by my silly little blog to go out of their way to befriend me specifically, and to know that they felt comfortable practicing things like art and English with me.

And that's the story of how I ultimately ended up drunk as hell at their wedding in Germany.

PET PEEVES / DEALBREAKERS -- Excessive passivity both IC and OOC. / Excessively lengthy RP replies in which very little of substance actually happens or is communicated. / People treating ships as mere smut/fluff wish fulfillment machines rather than as ongoing plots, or cooling off toward me the instant they realize that shipping with me is going to take actual time and work. / Constant mental health crises being essentially liveblogged OOC on a person's RP account.

MUSE PREFERENCE ( FLUFF, ANGST, SMUT ) -- Variety is good for you, and it's also good for your character. I'm up for just about any flavor as long as it's revealing or playing around with something interesting about our character(s), the dynamic between them, the setting, etc.

PLOT OR MEMES -- I like both. I do think, however, that it's incredibly useful to at least discuss a general, ballpark dynamic and get a vague feel for the overall, initial direction we both want. It's fine and natural if what we want flexes or changes with time, but I think even just a little bit of communication right up front eliminates a ton of guesswork. It also makes it easier to pick memes that could be interesting or useful in terms of advancing the goals/ideas we've already talked over with each other.

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES -- I tend to write somewhere in the ballpark of 2 to 3 developed paragraphs per reply, but overall I ascribe to the principle of worrying less about the word count itself and more about simply taking whatever space is needed in order to get the point across.

BEST TIME TO WRITE -- If I knew that, I would be unstoppable.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE? -- In terms of a passing flavor, perhaps; sure. I've run from the popo, I've had a concealed carry license, the underside of my car's bumper is held together with Gorilla Glue and my own shoelaces, I did Driverless Car Shit for a living for like five and a half years, and I live almost exclusively in men's flannels and Levi's. Anything 'deeper' than that is for y'all to judge as we get to know each other.

tagged by -- no. tagging -- also no. steal it. do whatever.

[purgetrooperfox]

*Blinky Blink*

gazcte post op, shadow!roach ?, talk is overrated (tentatively re/working), and refsheets for the WIP Game pleasse?🙏💘

[wip titles game]

hiiiiii 👁👁

shadow!roach is a stab at What If Roach In The Reboots, basically hinging on him surviving the Loose Ends fire because someone in Shadow Company saved him. I was thinking maybe for leverage against 141 reasons that ultimately fail and then Graves gets it into his head that if they piece Roach back together with the right story, they can use him. spin a tale about Price sending him and Ghost into a trap and leaving them to die, reframing who betrayed who. Operation: Turn Roach Into An Attack Dog. give him a vendetta against Price, misguided desperation for revenge at all costs, extremely poor coping with trauma, and Graves holding his leash. Roach's "loyal to a fault" deal switches hands because Graves saved him, healed him, showed him the truth

then Ghost is alive, but that's not his Ghost. everyone is around, but they're all wrong everything is all wrong. :)

He imagines the ceiling collapsing. The way dust would do the air and fill his lungs in a cheap imitation of gasoline and smoke. Rubble would be heavy, layered with medical equipment. Machines meant to keep people alive could just as well crush the life out of them. It might even be faster than all that, if he takes a good blow to the head. Losing consciousness all at once would mitigate the pain.

The fissure his life creates in the laws of nature would be allowed to heal.

When he blinks focus back into his vision, the ceiling is intact, if not in prime condition. Those life-saving machines buzz and drone what's become a familiar lullabye. He could almost sleep, were it not for the hell he knows waits for him when he lets his guard down.

Letting his head list to the side, he gets confirmation that Graves hasn't left. Yet. Impatience bounces his knee in a rhythmless staccato.

“Well?” he asks, like Roach was listening to a word he said. Like he expects an answer.

The urge to spit and seethe and snap at his throat rises like a tide. Unstoppable. Inevitable. It would be an unwinnable fight, though, and Roach doesn't pick unwinnable fights. He keeps his trap shut. Won't speak until he gets up on level ground, evens the playing field.

Graves isn't so stupid that he hasn't figured that out, but he keeps coming by and running his mouth. The why of it is beyond Roach's reckoning.

aheem gazcte post op is . I dumped Nocte in call of duty and gave him big gay emotions for Gaz. it's very self indulgent, because I too have big gay emotions for Gaz, just a little h/c post-mission recovery blurb. maybe after ultimatum, maybe pre-cod4, idk but Gaz is ambiguous injured. Nocte's there, he's unimpressed, he's worried, he's angry, he's trying very hard to compartmentalize

“I can't be everywhere at once.”

“No,” cuts sharp, “but you can go where the captain sends you.”

A muscle twitches in Gaz's jaw, try as he might to keep a grip on his temper. “I saved the captain's life.”

“And nearly paid for it with your own.”

The fan sputters in the corner, like its own protest to their present condition.

“I'm just trying to get everyone out alive.”

Nocte scowls – stubborn and furious and bright – and refuses to back down. “Maybe you should start by following orders, same as the rest of us.”

talk is overrated (let's just fight) is a vox undercover mission fic that I started a long ass time ago and didn't finish even though I mapped out the whole plot :/ what's written needs a rework so bad

Sometimes, Fox got the impression that troopers on the frontlines felt bad for the Guard. There were several reasons that sympathy would be warranted, from being stuck on Coruscant, to the politicians, to the Chancellor, to acting as military police, to the constant harassment, to the rate of unpunished murder of clones on the streets, and so on. Those weren't the reasons that Fox heard, though. No, the rest of the GAR pitied them because they didn't have a Jedi. Which made no sense whatsoever.

The Guard didn't have a designated Jedi, but they had Quinlan Vos. He was already more than Fox could handle. Vos was a deliberate nuissance and seemed to derive some sadistic pleasure from derailing Fox's entire day. For all that Rex and Cody complained about their admittedly crazy generals, Fox struggled to believe that they could possibly be worse than Vos.

It wasn't becoming of a trooper loyal to the Republic and, of course, to the Jedi, but Fox thought he might hate Quinlan Vos. The feeling seemed to be mutual, for all that Jedi weren't supposed to hate. Fox thought he hated Vos when he came barging, unannounced, into his office at all hours of the day for no reason but to eaate time. He hated the sarcastic flirting and patronizing nicknames. He hated the way he took nothing seriously and his complete lack of professional decorum. Fox hated how familiar he acted around the Guard and himself in particular.

He hated Vos' confident, swaggering gait and the way he draped himself across furniture instead of sitting on it like a normal person. He hated the way gold tattoos contrasted against his skin and brought out flecks of amber in his eyes. He hated how competent he was when he actually focused on a job. He hated his idiotic, regulation breaking outfit and the view of his stupid blasted arms and the knowledge that Vos could hand his ass to him if he wanted to.

And Fox hated, hated, himself for being attracted to such a bastard-ass Jedi

aaaaaand refsheets are gsheets I'm working on for my ocs! I'll link them to a ref post on here when they're done!

[askvectorprime]

What happened to Damus in IDW2? Did he ever become Tarn?

Dear Tarn Troubled,

Damus was one of the very first Cybertronians to be forged in the immediate aftermath of the War of the Threefold Spark and the ratification of the Nominus Edict. His earliest memories were of emerging into a broken, empty plaza populated by a sparse crowd of war-weary Cybertronians, whereupon a haggard Nominus Prime quickly handed him off into the care of his mentor Derail, who—though well-intentioned—was too busy working construction rotas and helping to track down Threefold Spark holdouts to truly spend time with his new mentee. It should come as no surprise that Damus struggled to relate to the people around him, and so with no clear path forward, he immersed himself in Codexa’s archives, learning everything he could about Cybertron’s past. In the days of reconstruction, some forward-thinking Cybertronians came to realize that their empire had been built upon the misery of other races, but Damus never had to directly confront the cruelty that lay beneath the Expansion’s glorious imperial veneer: as he pored through the Cybertronian archives, he saw unstoppable Titan fleets waging war, brave explorers planting flags on virgin worlds, awe-inspiring works of art and music, verminous alien aggressors brought to heel by their so-called “betters”… and he quickly began to resent Nominus Prime for robbing him of the world he should’ve known, a world had never truly existed.

Damus might’ve become an archivist, or at worst a contrarian academic, but his early education took a turn for the worse when the people of Cybertron discovered his unique, deadly gift. When correctly modulated, his vocal harmonics could subtly interfere with the regular electromagnetic impulses that governed ordinary machines… and those that powered a pulsing spark: with enough time and training, he could literally talk anyone to death. Like the Insecticons who’d preceded him, Damus was foisted off into the care of the Cybertronian Science Ministry, where he became an object of curiosity for many of Cybertron’s intellectuals. Eventually, once they’d learned everything they could from this latest prodigy, Damus was released: however, his newfound reputation meant that few Cybertronians would associate with him, and fewer still would offer him the kind of academic position he’d hoped for. Damus eventually collapsed into the dregs of society, where he spent most of his days chasing one high or another… until the day the idealistic Termagax founded a new political movement intended to return Cybertron to its glory days.

As one of the first Ascenticons, Damus became an ardent adherent to the Ascenticon cause; after all, Termagax was the first Cybertronian he’d met who was unafraid of his lethal talents. However, in time, Termagax’s resolve began to falter, and after a string of political defeats that culminated in Termagax abandoning society altogether, Damus sunk back into depression. Soon, however, a new leader arose to take up the mantle of Ascenticon leader—a charismatic firebrand named Megatron. Determined to restore “Cybertronian greatness” by any means necessary, Damus stood by Megatron’s party even as a string of violent incidents began to turn the public against Megatron’s increasingly inflammatory rhetoric. At first, Damus was repulsed by the kind of thuggish, indiscriminate violence exemplified by “The Rise”. In time, however, some part of him began to rationalize its necessity, then begin to take a kind of perverse glee as more and more Ascenticon rallies collapsed into anarchic violence. After all, had Cybertronians not won their cosmic birthright through conquest, as the strong asserted their dominance over the weak?

When Megatron finally made his true intentions known and overthrew the Senate, the Decepticon leader had already sent Damus to assist Jhiaxus as the ex-Senator spearheaded a Decepticon uprising in the city of Tarn and successfully conquered the region. What Jhiaxus didn’t know, however, was that Megatron—correctly suspicious of the lieutenant—had deliberately sent Damus along as a mole to pass information on his doings back to the Decepticon leader and “bring him to justice” should Jhiaxus’s ambitions get the better of him.

As the triumphant Decepticons tightened their hold over the region, Jhaixus began developing a series of full-body upgrades that would hybridize traditional Cybertronian design standards with an experimental bodytype that metabolized both energon and highly-refined nucleon fuel rods. Jhiaxus successfully tested a prototype version of the design on himself, and it should come as no surprise that Damus was the first Cybertronian who volunteered to become the “perfect Decepticon”. Damus emerged from the surgery stronger, faster, and more alive, his unique abilities now greatly enhanced. To commemorate what he proclaimed to be an inevitable Decepticon victory, Damus adopted the nom de guerre “Tarn”, to honor the city where the future of Cybertron had been created… but, before Jhiaxus could begin mass-producing an army of “perfect Decepticons”, Elita-1’s resistance unit attacked! Along with Hot Spot, Cliffjumper, and Wheel Blaze, Elita was able to sabotage the technology and deal Jhiaxus a crushing defeat, permanently stymying any hope of creating an unstoppable army. That did not bother Tarn, however: he proclaimed himself an army of one, a one-man “justice division” who wouldn’t stop until these unruly Autobot saboteurs faced Decepticon law.

[twigs-sprigs]

Two things for the PA AU!

1: pls tell us how Kai unknowingly used Lloyd’s power when he was evil!

2: what was the sacrifice Lloyd made to show he really cared about the team?!

ALRIGHT SO! this au is ON THE BRAIN  and kai (@shadesofvermillionvoid) helped me make some answers to your questions ! (as you know i still suck at explaining DBJWKWD)

before we go, this one needs a few trigger warnings

(TW: supplements/ drug use, experimentation, implied suicide (nobody actually dies, no worries)

alright, we good?

prepare for like an ESSAY KDJWJKWD

1. okokokook ok!!! i'm. im SURPRISED i havent talked about lloyd/gb's power here on tumblr, cause it's such a big part of his story, and why he does what he does. so consider this an important lore dump

so, when garmadon (who, was actually possessed by the overlord the whole time, it wasn't. actually garmadon) and his group were still running the show, back when lloyd was really young. experiments were conducted on the child, leading garm/the overlord to discover that lloyd contained raw power, that could be exploited for his gain.

the power of energy, in this au, is i think a little stronger than in canon ninjago, as in, yeah, it can stand on its own just like in the show, can be used to blast things, to form energy shields and whatnot, and still has access to all the four other elements of creation. BUT it can ALSO regenerate itself, as in if some of lloyds power is taken, it will come back eventually. and it can ALSO be used as a performance enhancer and/or fuel for battery for tech... and people.

SO, with that in mind, the overlord, in garm's body, started taking energy from the child, with painful extraction tech that would sometimes leave lloyd on bedrest for weeks. the first of hundreds of these extractions is what caused the explosion that took lloyd's arm away in the first place.

they'd use the energy filled batteries (which kind of just look like some little glass bottles with glowy stuff in it) to power weapons (you saw kai's sword in the kai ref), machines, vehicles, etc etc. and would also sell them to other parties who were somewhat involved with the group. to use for the same thing and/or performance enhancers for battle.

and...well... to answer your question. kai used to buy said energy bottles. unknowing that they came from the same child that he saw just a while prior. see in his sword and also the reason his fire was blue, and stronger, when he was evil.

and, this all actually keeps going well after lloyd is aged up and he becomes "the green bandit". he keeps giving his power for his gang, because harumi says he should, and he trusts her. so he does.

kai, of course stops taking the energy and using it for his sword and gets to more old school type katanas and such when he starts doing hero work, he only finds out where the energy bottles came from well after zane infiltrates gb's operation. and he is. absolutely mortified.

this is all part of why lloyd depends on his power so much, and why he freaked out when zane blocked it out for the team's safety. he has to be of use, what is he without his power, really?

hope that answers your first question :)

____________________________

2. so, for the "final battle" (it's. not really the final one, me and kai are actually planning a continuation for this au), harumi prepares a giant mech, ready to take on the surface world and make it hers.

whats her plan? to find gb, he'll come out from wherever he's hiding eventually, and use HIM to power up the mech even more, give it such a huge boost that she'll be unstoppable. so her and her newfound gang will rule the underground AND the surface. the mech is specifically designed with like a human-sized tube to stick gb in and actively extract his power from him.

SO ! our heroes go against her! she starts attacking the city and the battle ensues. gb said.. he didn't want to go with them, that he can't face harumi again, he wasn't ready for that.

but that was a lie.

at one point kai is cornered by harumi's huge mech, on top of a building, about to be seriously injured, even killed, unable to get away. but right in that moment where harumi is about to DESTROY KAI... gb shows up and saves him, blasts the mech and makes it fall back for a bit.

gb helps kai up, but then GRABS him by his shirt, holding him up right on top of a huge fall off the building, right on the ledge.

kai thinks this is it. he's being betrayed. he couldn't help gb, he yells out "I thought we were friends!", without really thinking.

gb... almost... almost smiles at him, and says "...We are. And, that is why I need to do this." and he throws kai down to where the others are fighting harumi's goons and keeping civilians safe. he's caught by cole but he's FREAKING OUT.

gb fights harumi and her mech on his own.

this is perfect for harumi's plan. this is JUST what she wanted.

she ends up catching him after a bit, like a little insect. and forces him into the tube i was talking about earlier.

but gb is not stupid, far from, he wouldn't go head first into such an unfair battle if he didn't have a plan. he knew harumi would come look for him, so he decided to give her what she wants, power.

when he's forced into the mech, and the power extraction begins, he also starts PUSHING OUT as much power as he physically can, his scar spreading all over his body because of the stress he's putting himself under.. like his body can't TAKE it. he OVERLOADS the mech with power, so much so that...

well.. it explodes.

with him in there.

____________________________

ALRIGHT that's both those questions! thank you so much for sending the ask KJDWJDW im so glad people are enjoying this au as much as me and kai are. and we wanna make even more for it

AS ALWAYS if you have any questions about this au, either from this post, past ones, or the aftermath of what i just explained, send them my or @shadesofvermillionvoid 's way!! we LOVE talking about it. it is so much fun.

HOPE I DIDNT OVERLOAD YOU WITH INFO LIKE LLOYD OVERLOADED THAT MECH THO, AHAHA

[fantasyinvader]

So now that G-Witch is over (and I finally ordered a HG Aerial), is it a step up from Gundam IBO? I feel like G-Witch is the better show, but IBO is the more important one. I’ve been saying this since the first season, so much of G-Witch felt like it was done in response to IBO. IBO, on the other hand, felt like it was taking the hypocrisies of the Gundam franchise to their absolute limit.

The franchise wants to say “war is hell,” but also wants to market model kits of cool robots. We occasionally get bits on how war can mess kids up, but at the same time the franchise uses the war as a means to mature it’s protagonists. It usually wants to use a grey vs grey war setting, but at the same time the narrative wants us to support one side over the other. The enemy must be stopped, but it’s meant to be grey because the other side are just guys fighting for what they believe in and some of their commanders aren’t complete shitheads (though the upper echelons are another story). So while the “bad guys” are defeated, the good guys will talk about the need for “understanding” despite them having unstoppable killing machines. Violence is okay when the good guys do it, especially if they don’t kill the enemy pilots. It’s okay for the good guys to use illegal weapons, even if we condemn the enemy for using the same weapons. Worldbuilding fluff is often left out of the show, told in side-materials, despite how it could help us better understand the conflict (though that gets in the way of the narrative). And the whole not repeating the past thing is a joke considering we either base events on real wars or reuse the Universal Century timeline.

I mean, you can look at something like SEED and see how these things can be problematic. Old interviews with Fukuda have him saying things like he wanted to make it like super robot shows of the 70’s, the mold Gundam tried to break out of, or how things were done simply because they were cool. That got to a point where SEED was being deconstructed in crossover games and 00 was made with the intent, according to it’s director, to examine what happens when you fight to end fighting, something that was a major part of SEED’s morality later on (though Fukuda himself has dismissed this, saying that Kira fights during Destiny for a world where there will be conflict because that’s needed for people to grow and the Destiny plan would have eliminated conflict). Yet people believe SEED is emblematic of Gundam, and that 00 deconstructed the entire franchise in it’s first half.

IBO intentionally cranked the hypocrisy up to 11, made it’s main characters the villains in the eyes of history and punished them for their crimes while saying more people needed to question them (the creators backed this up0. It’s lost on a lot of people, but damn, that takes some balls. You really can’t go back to Gundam as normal afterwards, you need to be conscious of what messages you are sending out.

IBO sounded the alarm on what Gundam had become, G-Witch fought for the franchise’s soul. That's the way I see it.

Still would rather rewatch Witch though, because it doesn't drag like IBO did and the animation is way better.

[kuroshirosb]

REESE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE TYPE OF DECKS SLATER WOULD USE.. and I think the thing about Piper is he doesn’t use any concrete deck of his own. Both before and after the horrors(tm).

The thing about Piper is that he’s always chasing after feelings of fulfillment, success, and being the top of his league. Being at the top of league guarantees a name in the stars (his mark in history.) and fills an empty void in his heart (at least he thinks so) and because he chases after this constantly, he wouldn’t find himself sticking to just one deck.

He’d use decks that make people angry and tick them off. Dominating control decks (stuff like mystic mine (which is horrible to think about in a Zexal-like duel arena)) and agonizing combo decks. He has experience with stuff like burn decks, and even exodia too. Whatever is the top, he’s played.

The meta changes constantly, so he must keep up, adapting to the newest deck by making it his own. So he can be the best. He has no desire to attach himself to just one.

But that’s before the horrors.

DURING the horrors, he ends up building a Jinzo centered deck. A deck that’s supposed to be unstoppable weapon unlike the one seen in the dominating meta. And it’s a deck he ends up making stronger himself with the inclusion of the number cards that he gathers for team plasma (which hurt him every time he uses them. Btw.)

Jinzo is a dark, machine type monster. Which falls back into the idea that Team Plasma is using him as a tool for their own goals. Which he was helpless to realize before both he and Slater are too late to realize. (And also is the opposite of the heralds, fairy, light monsters) And it becomes his duel spirit during this time. Unlike Herald of Perfection, who gives Slater absolute silence, Jinzo doesn’t shut up. Grilling him on every move he does and ordering him around. Like the tool he’s become.

His deck focuses on absolute control of the board. Making it so that, no matter what his opponent does, they’re completely shut down and helpless to fight back. (This gets turned against him with Ghetsis using his own deck against him. As well as using Jinzo, Layered (a card he didn’t even know existed) against him. Reflecting that even what little control he thought he had, never existed in the first place.)

After the events of the horrors, he and Slater don’t duel for a while. They deckbuild, sure, but a passion they had becomes tainted for a long, long time.

But during the time where they just deckbuild, he finds himself building obscure, rogue decks. Instead of focusing on nothing but tier 0. He’s focusing on decks he enjoys and makes himself feel happy and proud of what he’s made.

He’s not limiting himself to just one deck still. But instead of it being a desire to be the best… it’s just because he likes the game and is expressing his passion for it. And through his numerous deck builds, a different duel spirit manifests.

Ash Blossom and Joyous Spring is a staple among every deck. Yugioh players can’t escape it from both their opponents and their own decks. And no matter how many decks he builds, with varying gimmicks and strategies, one handtrap (Ash Blossom) always manages to work its way in.

He does manage to get his hands on his corruption deck. But even when he’s comfortable dueling finally, he takes a while to warm up to the idea of even playing it. He gets comfortable enough experimenting with Jinzo (albeit with Slater only.) but he’s still focused on just. Having fun and trying what no one else can think of.

[hanarchy]

ooooh i promised @wantbytaemin a post about hanji covers (not that you asked, i just want to talk about it more) and i just came back from listening to your suggestions several times and i have sooooooo much to say ok, so little numbered list again for ease bc i cant shut up to save my LIFE.

Here’s some wishes I would have for jisung if he listened to me

1. Straightforward/Live/Acoustic Instrumental music with some VOCALS!!

This is why i have my country girl agenda, like why i picked kacey musgraves. I love the tinyy snippets we have gotten of him just singing over guitar. The softness, and yes as you mentioned!! The emotionality he can put in his voice!! I would love to hear more of that. Just quiet, no electronic beats, not the usual slightly overproduced instrumentals he gravitates to, I want to HEAR his voice even when its quiet. acoustic, stripped. like fast car, absolutely.

I would just love more rock, more guitars, more real drums (FREE ME FROM THE KPOP DRUM MACHINE). This is why like. arctic monkeys are appealing to me. they have three instruments and alex turner pretending to be cool and the tension in a song like ‘do me favour’ is so thick. Would do Jisung amazing BUT. you’re SO right that he could also build that emotional tension that carrie underwood does on this with his voice (btw hearing this again after years made me listen to shania again, which, fun fact: first album i ever bought with my own money was shania twain ‘up!’) if he just WANTED. I hope he practices more, i hope he collabs with day6 or xdinary heroes. he has the bands IN HOUSE!!

2. More production experiments but specifically more stripped back beats and funkier basslines (and real drums but whatever).

Now this one he is on the way to himself I think.

His production sensibilities are just very pop-focused and i respect it and understand why and I also don’t have the terminology or knowledge to explain what makes both the brent faiyaz song you suggested and the internet different but like. He demonstrated on 1,2,3,4,5 and on Run what that could sound like for him. Those are maybe my favorite hanpop songs so far and i desperately want him to explore this direction more. The vocals on run are so good, relaxed, laid back, the change between lower register and high parts. Now the next thing he should do is make a song with a rap part that offers a nice contrast. Rhythmic, strong, kinda takes you out of it and then plunges ur head back under water. Or if it’s something more melodic, make it airier, more ethereal, more surreal. Like fka twigs yess exactly. nebula by cifika is different vibe but also so atmospheric and a bit otherworldly.

I also think this niche of rnb has become the sound of situationships and messy breakups and i loooove that for him because he occupies that in-between of love and hate so well. resentment, anxiety, uncertainty and yes. pettiness. Which brings me to my next and biggest point.

3. Explore more uncomfortable and ugly feelings.

Listen. This may be the parasocial relationship speaking but I know that kid has some powerful perfectionism and jealousy going on. There’s a self-hatred and a desperation there that, if he were to explore it, would make him unstoppable imo. Now I absolutely understand why his position and his genre make this impossible and I am absolutely open to having a discussion about whether artists are really obliged to share everything or not.

Like this is gonna sound negative to the average kpop stan but i KNOW he is a judgmental little dick. I know he has an ego that is barelyyyy being kept in check (by his own limitations and working in a group) but is also just kind of explosive and i KNOW he knows exactly how good he is but being anything other than humble and only boasting in the context of largely meaningless skz title tracks (im sorry but they havent made a title with an emotion other than ‘look at us being so great at doing our own thing’ since like… idk. levanter. many of them are bangers regardless but explorations of real emotions they are not.) is just not acceptable. This is why i bring up that pettiness so much (lol) bc its the hint of like. an unpleasant emotion that (record execs think) doesn’t sell to teenage girls.

Don’t get me wrong, the anxiety and the romanticism and the fear and the love are all real emotions too - many of them uncomfortable - and he has built and recorded great songs around them. I’m not calling him emotionally dishonest. But they’re emotions that are acceptable for a boygroup member to have publicly. Stuff like Paramore (i dont actually know their discography very well so your input was MUCH appreciated and i agree wholeheartedly) or the way alex turner or julian casablancas write unfavorably about women while it’s extremely clear that the only reason it’s unfavorable is because of their own shortcomings and smallmindedness and self-obsession is something that would simply not be allowed of a man that is being marketed by a kpop company. And yes i do believe it’s uncomfortable for him to explore publicly and there may very well be many other reaons and cultural barriers that i do not understand but this is my wishlist so it has to work with my limitations.

And well anyway I know I’ll never get it but i would just enjoy him leaning into that. Doing some introspection and some scary shit. I think it would be transcendent.

little tangent: (I love bands like hole and sleater kinney and bikini kill because theyre unapolgetic angry women but ironically i used to love kanye west for the same (not exactly but very similar because he was extremely unapologetic in his own confidence and ability and his personality in an industry that didnt want it at first) reason kfkfkdk. hes not ok to listen to anymore and frankly i dont like talking about him and the women in these bands would crucify me for putting him in the same sentence probably. But what they have in common is that they publicly explored and explore emotions that society thinks unacceptable. (If you ever want to hear an EXTREMELY intelligent analysis of kanye and his career, FD Signifier has two incredible videos on youtube that go so deep into like… pop culture, hip hop culture, black masculinity, mental health… just music history. cant recommend them enough))

4. storytelling

listen. what i look for in a songwriter i become obsessed with is so simple: emotionally honest to the point of personal detriment, tells a good story, self-obsessed in a self-hating way, driven by love and the belief in beauty and magic underneath it all and a good hook every now and again. jisung checks most of these boxes and i think tbh he could just learn a lot from country musicians or people like tracy chapman or bruce springsteen or leonard cohen etc etc etc

like do NOT get me wrong i dont think hes bad at it and i also think its likely there are many korean songwriters better suited but due to my personal mental illness this is just sth i think about a lot. what jisungs version of like… Johnny 99 would sound like…

[hishighnesstheprincess]

Okay my thoughts on SATAM so far (bear in mind I am like four episode in lol)

Overall: 7.5/10

Cons:

Antoine. I feel like I could just leave it at that, but I like doing things in depth. Basically he's nothing more than a stereotype in this show, when everyone else, while fairly basic characters, all feel like more than a stereotype and are given both good and bad qualities, while Antoine is just bad. Also his design sucks ass

The animation quality is not great. The mouth movements for talking have thrown me off sometimes, charaters are frequently miscolored, and while the rest of the animation is functional, most of the designs are good (MOST), and there is some cool set design in Robotnik's machines, it never becomes anything more than just functional

I do not like Sonic's quills just being. A line. I'm sorry but I don't like this Sonic design all that much

Don't like Tails being brown either sorry. Also don't like how Tails doesn't appear to be involved with heroics at all in this show, and he doesn't appear to have his trademark intelligence. He is still absolutely adorable but so far he hasn't done much and that makes me sad

Muttski

Pros:

The female characters so far are amazing! Bunnie is the powerhouse I expected her to be, and Sally is the tactician and leader that I know she is. Love them both so far

Chuck (bursts into tears)

I like Sonic's personality in this one! He both feels like a kid who has to deal with a lot of stuff and someone who has been fighting for a long, long time. I'm not sure how old he's meant to be, but he feels like a solid mix between Classic and Modern, as well as a precursor to Archie

I really like how the Freedom Fighters both seem like a ragtag group of kids fighting back against an unstoppable force as well as an experienced group of rebels, because they are both of those things

Sonic and Sally's relationship is SO well done in this show, even from what little I've seen of it

This is personal to me but I love the vibes of the show as well as the two main settings, the gritty cyberpunk dystopia of Robotropolis, and the cottagecore feeling Knothole is great as well

Environmentalism themes are great

Robotnik is a really good villain so far

Muttski

Voice acting is good across the board, even for Antoine who could have definitely been phoned in

Neutral:

Sonic's cavalcade of catchphrases and how frequently he uses them are too perplexing to be either positive or negative to me. My brain can't decide whether to be annoyed or amused

Muttski

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

As a sith or jedi what was anakin/vader better as.

I always thought he was met to be a Sith.

Meant to be a Sith? I'm not sure that's a thing. That's not how Lucas talked about it, but that's its own separate discussion that frankly takes way too long (and still hasn't quite got a definitive answer ever since Sophocles wrote down Oedipus. Is being doomed actual fate, or is it what happens when trying to avoid fate? Or, like in most tragedies, is it the hamartia - fatal flaw - that makes the protagonist doom himself? I'm leaning towards fatal flaw in regards to Anakin, but as I said it's its own separate discussion.)

Anyway, as a Jedi? ... I don't exactly know 😅 he was good at a lot of things: he a good strategist (or, well, the story tells us he was even though the claim isn't always substantiated lmao). He was caring. He was very good with a lightsaber, but not as good as Yoda, Mace - or Obi-Wan, as it turned out. I'd say he was best with his use of the Force but I'm not even sure that's entirely accurate movies-wise.

What he does on Mortis is unparalleled but... Mortis isn't a random planet. If it even exists physically, then it's a direct conduit of the Force that increased his abilities considerably. I think Anakin is best defined by his potential, really, and Mortis showed him what that was. If he hadn't fallen, he might have become as powerful as Mortis made him but anywhere, at any time. But as it is in the Clone Wars/RotS era he seemed to rely more on his lightsaber.

I think that relative to only himself, Anakin's best quality was being daring and resourceful:

(have a wholesome yoda grandpa moment as a treat)

As Vader... his use of the Force. He would have been better if he'd never fallen, but by the time of the Empire this nightmare rage machine fueled by never ending pain could hold back entire oceans and survive having whole freaking Sith Temples dropped on his head and strangle people via facetime. He was near unstoppable.

Which makes it all the sadder that he never got to his full potential as he'd have if he'd lived in the light.