#and there is a non-zero chance they will judge me

[mars-ipan]

UGUUGUUGGGHGHGHGH (<- annoyed)

[turbulentscrawl]

Identity(V) Headcanons: Naib Subedar

yall know the drill ;) If you like how I write the characters, consider sending me a request or matchup!

I also don't really have the patience to sit on my posts for a few days and check for mistakes, so forgive my typos hahah

-Naib got into his line of work out of necessity, not desire. He has never enjoyed taking lives…but he is both very good at it and very professional about it. He’s survived so long, in part, by being good at compartmentalizing his emotions. Work is work, and life outside is not, and he’s somehow managed to separate the two without separating his mental state. Nevertheless, he’s a very different person when he’s on the job and he would prefer that his loved ones didn’t see that.

-Outside of work, Naib shares Norton’s sentiments of all life being created equal. Unlike Norton, however, he uses this as a motivation to protect people rather than concern himself with revenge. That’s not to say he won’t step in if someone is out of line, but he is primarily focused on contributing good to the world in his free time.

-That said, Naib’s moral compass has become a bit warped over the years. He does his best to be a good person, but at a certain point someone can have so much blood on them that it starts to color their vision. The opposite of rose-colored glasses, if you will. He is, however, an accurate and consistent judge of character, so he often thinks about his course-of-actions in the frame of ‘would my mother be proud of me for this?’ That helps a lot with any difficult decisions.

-Naib “gets along” with most people. Being rough around the edges as he is sometimes makes it difficult for people to tell where they stand with him, but in truth he’s very vocal when he doesn’t like someone. It generally takes someone intentionally and repeatedly antagonizing him before he starts to develop a negative opinion. Otherwise, he maintains politeness.

-He is very slow to let people in, however. Naib’s life is dangerous and fleeting, so even when he likes someone he’s hesitant to get close to them. Outside of the manor, he’s a genuine slow-burn sort. A real “we’ve known one another for years and I’ve liked you for almost as long but I wont let myself have you until it’s entirely too much to take and I initiate an explosive night of passion” sort. Inside the manor, though, I think it’s more of a “we take comfort where we can get it, and then it slowly becomes real” sort of thing.

-Used to being the man of the house, Naib has a habit of trying to speak on behalf of or otherwise handle people’s problems for them. Again, he’s a good judge of character, so he’s pretty accurate in gauging how people would want situations handled…but this can still cause tension with friends and partners who are more independent. And if you talk to him about wanting to handle something yourself? There’s a non-zero chance he’ll go behind your back and take care of it anyway.

-The best love languages for Naib are Gift Giving and Words of Affirmation! He likes receiving thoughtful gifts—specifically ones that help in his everyday life, or resolve an issue he’s having. (Even if that issue is just “I’m hungry” and you pick up some of his favorite snacks.) He also likes little trinkets that he can easily carry around to remind him of the giver when he travels. Naib also tends to give kind words the benefit of the doubt, so he accepts verbal affection without argument or doubt. Everything he does is for his loved ones, and he likes to know that he’s appreciated, loved, and missed when he’s gone. Letters are amazing too; he keeps every letter and picture he receives and treats them with as much care as possible.

-Naib could not be close with someone who has a problem with his work. He understands why they would, he himself is rather tired of it.... But he’s been doing this for too long and is in too deep to leave. He and his mother cannot afford for him to quit being a mercenary and take the time to try learning some other skill that may or may not keep food on the table as consistently. You don’t have to like his work, but it can’t be something you hound him about. If you don’t talk about it, neither will he, and you can both just pretend it doesn’t happen.

-He’s a walking garbage can. I mean it, he can and will eat anything provided to him. He has preferences of course, but after years of food insecurity and then subsequent years of service-provided meals, he’s learned to not be picky. He also never outgrew the habit of rationing and hiding food in case of emergencies, and is an avid believer in the 5-second rule because he dislikes wasting food.

-Because he eats so much--and in spite of having irregular sleep patterns—Naib always has a lot of energy. This is useful for work and matches but also shows itself in other ways…such as being a very animated conversationalist. (per the stageplay lol) It’s only obvious when he’s moderately comfortable, but Naib might legitimately be incapable of sitting still when he’s not on guard.

-He’s pretty bad at making jokes. His sense of humor came from his years in the service, surrounded by brothers-in-arms. As a result, his idea of good-natured joking is completely ragging on people. Norton is the main person in the manor who gets this, but it leaves most other people to wonder if they’re actually friends or if they hate one another.

[aceofwhump]

Dear Ace,

I need some advice. I’ve been a whump lover for as long as I can remember and I’ve been lurking around this community for some time now but I’m still having some trouble with feeling the need to hide my love of whump. I like to write but hardly ever do because all my ideas center heavily around physical whump scenarios. I have the hardest time putting pen to paper because once I do, it’s out there….and what if someone accidentally reads it and realizes how dark my mind is?!?

Intellectually I know that’s ridiculous. I live alone and the chances of someone accidentally stumbling over my writing are practically zero and even if they somehow do, it’s a creative outlet right?

But I still can’t seem to manage actually writing any of it down.

Any words of wisdom about how to get over this hold up and be able to write the stories in my head? Thanks in advanced.

Signed,

Anxious Writer.

Hi nonny <3 Sorry for my slow response.

What you feel is incredibly common amongst the whump community. Incredibly common. You are not alone in these feelings. And just like you're not alone in feeling weird or uncomfortable about your love of whump you're also not alone in loving whump. There's sooooo many of us here with you and you are welcome in this community. Your work would be welcomed in this space. It really helped me finding out that there are sooo many people out there who love the same kind of stuff I do. So know you're not alone.

It took me a while to become comfortable with sharing my writing and my rambles and general love of whump as well. One thing that helped me is knowing I sharing it in a loving space of fellow whump lovers. So I made sure to tag it so that other whump lovers found it and that non whump lovers who have the tag blocked won't see it. Tagging is a really great way to get your work into the right fandom spaces (both with AO3 and tumblr).

I also share the fear that someone I know will find my writing. My mom especially can NEVER find it because she will not understand it at all. So when I do write I make sure I'm doing in the safety and seclusion of my bedroom where no one can see my computer screen. I don't write when I'm in the same room as my family. Not unless I'm 100% sure they can't see my screen. So another piece of advice I can offer is to create a secluded space for yourself where you can write without worry that someone will see it. I don't know if that's the best advice but it's something that makes me feel more comfortable when I write whump. My sister knows I write whump fanfics just like I know she writes smut but we've made an agreement to never go seeking each others profiles or reading each others fics. Just for our own comfort levels. We don't judge each other but knowing the other wont see what our minds come up with makes us feel better.

And I know it's hard to get over the hump of thinking what you want to write is dark and bad but I promise it is not bad to want to write whump. Tons and tons of people write whump. And not just the hundreds aof fanfic writers either! Look at the stuff written by Stephen King or Mike Flanagan. They're praised for their whump writing.

Another piece of advice I can offer that helped me start to share my work is to create a blog/space made specifically for your whump. As soon as I made this blog I immediately felt more at ease sharing my love of whump because I knew I could keep it separate from my real life and keep it as anonymous as I'd like. If you'd like you could create a whump sideblog and post your work there. Try with something small like a drabble in answer to a prompt post. I did that. I wrote a short little thing that fit a prompt post I liked and i got such a nice response from the community it made me feel more confident with sharing more of my writing. Is there a prompt you've seen that gave some inspiration? Go ahead and try sharing your response! See how it feels!

I hope something here helps you nonny. I know it can be hard but we'd love to read your work! Everyone has something unique to offer and teh more whump the better! This community is really nice and we'd love to have you <3

[rachelsfav-queer]

So just checking, Wednesday is an adult in your baby Wednesday things? I'm trying to not judge but I don't understand, it sounds intriguing but it's non-sexual content? So does Wednesday become a child mentally while being stuck in an adult body?

I've only seen daddy and mommy used in sexual context so I'm trying to learn

Ah yes! Thanks for asking!

So, there’s a thing called age regression or little space. It’s basically the willful regression of one’s mind to that of a younger child. Age regressors can regress to any age but typically it’s ages ranging from 1 to around 7/8, at least to my knowledge. In many cases, it’s a coping mechanism for people to get another chance to be a kid after dealing with a childhood of trauma. For myself, that is what age regression is used for as I had quite a lot of trauma for a lot of my life.

As for the sexual themes, age regression is strictly non-sexual. There is such a thing as “age-play” but that is distinctly different from age regression and it’s not actually a kink explored in VampRavenWolf, at least not yet, so I won’t bother to explain the differences. If you want to know more, I suggest you do some research of your own! But age regression, there are zero instances where there will be any sexual content attached to Wednesday’s little space.

That is because, as said before, age regression is willfully regressing to a younger age mentally, and therefore, when regressed, a “little” cannot consent as they do not have the mindset of a grown adult. But, that does not mean that while not regressed, the person cannot have sex. As long as it is safe, sane, and consensual, an age regressor can still have sex outside of their little space.

As for the use of Mommy and Daddy, yes it’s used in a sexual context quite often and it’s used in that context in this ship at times, but they’re also just a title used for the age regression part of this ship. Another part of age regression is having a caregiver or someone who will look after the regressor whilst they are in little space. They’re not required and some people can enjoy little space perfectly well without any caregiver, but it can help for a lot of people to feel the experience of someone caring for them and loving them as they may not have been able to experience as a child. So, a caregiver acts as just that. They give care to an age regressor to help bring them comfort while in little space.

And a caregiver can have any sort of title, but Mommy, Daddy, or Aunt are the most common ones. It’s up to the regressor and caregiver to decide whatever makes them both happy.

And finally, yes Wednesday is an adult in this ship, as is Enid and Yoko and Bianca. They are all STRICTLY 18+ as I personally do not write ANY sexual content where minors are involved, EVER!! It’s why my blog is strictly 18+ and I will not hesitate to block minors, or ageless blogs attempting to follow me!

Thank you for your question, and thanks for trying to understand instead of just assuming!

[msmargaretmurry]

I don't know if I understand the narrative of Stromer and Ovi. Is it like a parallel thing? Like they're the same person? I don't know if I'm missing something

hi anon! sorry for taking a few days to get to your question, i had a busy weekend!

for me, the dylan and ovi thing is about how dylan's career has been in a lot of ways defined by his proximity to greatness. he was mcdavid's sidekick in junior and then judged and mismanaged after he was drafted for not immediately transitioning to the nhl the way mcdavid and eichel did; he struggled his way through arizona and chicago, never really finding a consistent role and never seeming to have a coach who seemed to really like or trust or trust and invest in him, and then he signed with the capitals — not a great team, kind of a struggling team tbh, a team in transition trying to figure out what its identity is going to be as its stars age out of their primes. but that's fine, because dylan is also figuring out his identity here. it just takes some time, he's in the middle of the ride, etc. he's far enough from the draft that people don't really think about the third-overall disappointment, far enough from the ohl that people don't see him and think connor mcdavid. he's settled in here. was given a real and fair chance, made new friends, endeared himself to the local media and the fanbase, is now a truly trusted and relied upon member of the team. washington isn't a place where you go to win a cup right now, but he told the washington post that he just wanted to feel wanted. and he gets to feel wanted here. he gets to settle down and raise his family in a place where he feels wanted.

but he's still adjacent to greatness. his name is going to be in record books next to alex ovechkin milestones and records. there is a non-zero chance he assists on a goal that breaks the gretzky record. except the thing is, it's not weighing him down now. he's not even really being overshadowed by it. he's just doing his thing, leading his team, trying his best, and the greatest goal-scorer of all time happens to be on his wing. how's that for proximity to greatness?

[fandomshatefatpeople]

hi! so, ik this blog is mostly about fandom stuff, but i was wondering if i could ask for some advice? basically, i'm a skinny person. bony and knobby and tall and always have been. but, my little sister who i adore and love with all my heart is fat, and considered unhealthily "overweight" for her age.

i firmly believe that "fat = unhealthy" is ABSLOUTE BULLSHIT, but i still find myself falling into some weird habits with her--such as resolutely avoiding mentioning that she might be in any way bigger than anyone else (as if it's a bad thing that should be avoided, even though i know it's not!) etc. i do my best to curb those tendencies, but i worry that it's not enough.

in addition, my dad (unlike me) DOES believe that she's unhealthy, and tries to restrict her eating (especially sugar). she's not getting a lack of calories or anything, so i'm not worried about it affecting her physical health too much, but i don't want her to develop a complex because when she was a kid she couldn't have more than one sugary snack a day.

there's roughly a sub-zero chance of convincing my stubbornest-man-on-earth aspie dad that she's not actually going to die of heart disease, so unfortunately i'm helpless on this front. still, if there's anything in particular i can do to support her through it, or if you have any particular advice, i'd love to hear it. it's really important to me to be able to be the best big sister to her i can be, and i worry about her a lot ever since i learned how hard it can be to be a fat person in our world.

thank you so much, and sorry for the long-winded message! any advice is appreciated <3

I want to start with an apology to all of the unanswered asks in my inbox. I started graduate school and am trying not to drown. With that being said, reading this ask tugged at my heart and I had to answer.

To be honest, I don't know how much this will help. I'm not an expert, I'm just a fat woman who thought she was a fat kid who's had to work through decades of fatphobia (internalized and external), but here's what I think might be useful. I would be so grateful for anyone to add helpful, non-fatphobic advice in the comments! Also, your mileage may vary depending on the age of your sister.

One thing that helped me was learning how absolute bullocks things like BMI measurements are. So for that matter is fat = heart disease. If you think you dad would be open to reading it, you could share this with him: Separate and combined associations of body-mass index and abdominal adiposity with cardiovascular disease: collaborative analysis of 58 prospective studies - PubMed (nih.gov) The most important part of this study, for our purposes is this bit, "Interpretation: BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio, whether assessed singly or in combination, do not importantly improve cardiovascular disease risk prediction in people in developed countries when additional information is available for systolic blood pressure, history of diabetes, and lipids."

Other things I think can help is not treating her any differently than anyone else. This sounds obvious, but if you are going out of your way to avoid comparing her size to anyone else's in a conversation where that is relevant then the message she hears could be one of "your body is wrong and I'm embarrassed to talk about it".

It may help to share with her your thoughts on fatphobia as a general topic, letting her know you recognize the value in diverse body types and sizes and how none is better than another. Just knowing that someone she loves and looks up to sees value in bodies like hers can mean a lot. Similarly, if you feel you have the ability to call out fatphobic comments do so, whether she's around or not. Just pushing back with something as simple as, "I don't believe in judging the value of others based on the size of their bodies" or "I don't think that joke was very funny" or even just an unamused stare, can send a huge message.

Another important thing is to be on the lookout for signs of dieting. Dieting is one of the worst things you can do to your health as years of yo-yo dieting are actually worse for your health than "being fat" ever can be.

Forgive me for referring back to my own previous work, but under the cut are some links that might be helpful to combat much of the negative messaging that comes when you are fat.

I am so glad you reached out and I wish you all the best as you support your sister and hopefully help her to thrive!

[contractbound]

a few chen/yu vale thoughts regarding my initial impressions, and things i uncovered while exploring more deeply.

i won't be talking about the world quest series in this post. my thoughts on that can be found here.

924 words

my initial impression was a knee-jerk, strong sense of recognition. i didn't (and still don't) want to come to any strong conclusions, but it felt much like coming back to a place i hadn't been to in a long time — one that was important to me in some way. obviously, i would have come here at some point in my canon, so a feeling of returning or of recognition would be only natural. it wouldn't be outlandish to assume i could've had a few important or otherwise memorable moments here, either. and of course, li/yue as a whole means much to me, so it's no surprise that any location within li/yue would feel important. even so, i couldn't help but wonder if my sense of connection exists for reasons more specific than that.

while exploring more thoroughly, i couldn't shake the feeling off. it grew into an ache that i suppose could be described as nostalgia. i can think of a few specific things that stood out to me the most.

one such thing was yao/die valley. i had to stop and really observe when i noticed the area was full of glowing blue-white butterflies. it also took me aback to see they sprung up from the ground wherever you walked. i couldn't help but think of the glowing blue-white butterflies that accompany me (particularly when i use my abilities). it felt like seeing familiar, old friends. i have more to say, but it's related to the world quests, so i'll save that for later. in the end, i do not expect to be related to these butterflies, but regardless i hope to learn more about them. i don't really expect to, since gen/shin is not one to dwell too much on ultra-minute, tangential details. it has a broader story to tell, after all. still, i'm open to my expectations being proven wrong.

another discovery that stood out to me was the cave northeast of yao/die valley, where cala/mity queller stood abandoned. since it's a usable weapon in-game, i was curious about the state of it lore-wise, and whether or not it was still within that "deserted, water-eroded cave" (seems the answer is yes). since i prioritized reaching waypoints and gathering materials for cloud re/tainer over completing any quests, i happened upon the cave it was left in by complete accident. i recognized the weapon immediately, even from a distance.

i wonder who etched the wind-worn inscription. whoever it was, they were the previous wielder's comrade, and they both had the intentions to "suppress catastrophe" and "purge demons". with regards to the weapon's past wielders... all i know is, judging by the part where it recounts the weapon's involvement in the chasm's cataclysm, cala/mity queller's description points to the weapon having once belonged to fu/she. at the very least, it's explicitly stated a yak/sha once wielded it.

but, with an unclear timeline of its past owners, it's impossible to tell definitively whether or not it was within his possession when it witnessed this "clash between intimate friends" — if it was ever in his possession at all. gen/shin's descriptions often love to give important information without explicitly dropping names.

going with the idea that he was the yak/sha who wielded it, if it was within his possession at the time, i can't think of a possibility other than it having "witnessed" the fight between fa/nan and mi/nu. that would mean there's a non-zero chance that i etched that message in the rock, but i doubt that's the case. the description doesn't make it sound like the "yak/sha who wielded it" is the same individual as the one who "borrowed it from someone" and witnessed the fight between these friends. they weapon's wielder and inscription's author may have been other individuals with interests similar to mine and fu/she's. still, the uncertainty has been gnawing at me.

if fu/she is the "previous wielder" referred to in the inscription, that would mean there's a concrete connection between myself and chen/yu vale, as well as another reference to the other yak/shas on the map. since 2.7, i've spent a lot of time scouring every corner of li/yue for any possible reference to them i could find, which obviously i'd always come back from nearly empty-handed. something to come back to, that they left behind, was one of the things i was hoping for while anticipating chen/yu vale's release. still, i'll refrain from making any definitive assumptions, and give myself time to think about it, as well as give the source time to release more information for me to consider. the curse of having an incomplete source, i suppose.

anyway, my overall suspicions... i have nothing decisive, but the scenery does make me wonder if this is where i first came into existence. how i came to be is still a mystery to me at this time, and my working theory is vague, but i always had a picture of greener, lusher scenery during that time, which fits the sights of chen/yu vale. i have more thoughts on this matter, but again, it's related to the questline, so i'll save it for later.

my only plan of action for now is to keep exploring and wait for more to be elaborated on, as well as formulate my own thoughts. after all, the source can only do so much for me, and my canon will inevitably diverge in places. over time, as i get proven right and wrong about these thoughts and more, i at least hope it feels worthwhile.

[thewertsearch]

He has tentatively named the game SGRUB, which is a word that is NOT TERRIBLY ELEGANT.

Honestly, it makes sense. It’s probably stored on a grub, after all.

It's not up to you to decide what you retrieve from your sylladex. It's up to the spirits.

Poor Aradia is being micromanaged so hard, she doesn’t even have control over her own inventory. That’s fucked up, man. 

Looks like the spirits are being cooperative today, if a bit cryptic, as usual.

It spells ‘Bing’, but - thank god - they mean the Bing Crosby laptop, not the search engine.

You found this baffling artifact some time ago on one of your digs. The creature on its facade is completely mystifying. You have taken to using it as your primary computing device on account of its bizarre novelty, as well as convenient portability.

I’m not even going to ask why this thing was buried in Alternian soil - I’m sure we’ll learn later - but it is interesting that Aradia finds a human being completely unrecognizable.

I mean, from our perspective, they’re just trolls without grey skin or horns - and the laptop even has grey skin! Maybe trolls and humans look less alike than their comic depictions would have you believe. 

GA: Hi Again Aradia AA: 0h n0000000 GA: So I Guess Tonight Is The Night You Blow Everything Up AA: 0_0 GA: Is There Nothing I Can Do To Change Your Mind

GA, as expected, knows exactly what’s going down tonight. The trolls are getting information from a wide variety of sources, so who knows where she’s getting her lore from. 

She’s currently referencing an early Jade conversation - albeit from the opposite side - and she already has plenty of Jade vibes, so maybe, like Jade, she’s been putting her dream self to work. 

AA: but y0u sh0uldnt pretend as if y0u believe this has anything t0 d0 with the state 0f my mind AA: 0r the decisi0ns it will make 0r has already made

They’ve talked about this before. GA knows about Aradia’s railroading, but unlike her nihilist friend, she’s still trying to change their fate.

She won’t succeed tonight, but I still think she’s got the right idea. 

GA: I Thought Id Be Friendly Though GA: And Remind You That You Do In Fact Have A Hand In All The Terrible Things That Are About To Happen

I don’t have a comprehensive understanding of Sburb’s time mechanics - and I don’t know what happened to Aradia to convince her of all this - so I’m not going to judge her too harshly. 

But she is making a choice here, whether she admits it or not.

See, she doesn’t have all the facts. The Voices aren’t telling her everything - they really only seem to be telling her what she needs to know - so she should at least be open to the possibility that she’s wrong about fate. What has she got to lose?

If Aradia was willing to listen, to try and figure out if there are any other options - like John is slowly convincing Karkat to do - then that might change everything. Maybe things are only inevitable because she’s making them so, acting as a pawn for the Voices. 

If you already ‘know’ you’re locked into an unfavorable outcome, why not try and change things? Isn’t an unknown, but potentially non-zero chance of success better than the 0% chance you have if you don’t try and fight fate at all?

We don’t know, because Aradia has decided - maybe as a defense mechanism, to prevent herself from getting even more hurt - that she’s 0k with this outcome. Maybe, as a result of whatever happened to her, she just doesn’t have the strength to fight. 

I’m not judging her. She’s a teenager being manipulated by shadowy forces, and that’s not an easy trap to get out of. It’s completely reasonable for her to shut down, when faced with this kind of existential despair. 

But the fact remains - we won’t know if she can do anything to stop this, until she actually tries. 

GA: Ill Be Here To Help GA: If You Need Me AA: 0k AA: thanks

And she still might. 

[dynared]

One thing in the back of my mind is JDS and LM may be on the kallura is a mistake and allurance should have always been cannon. Lance insting it should be lance and allura not keith and allura made me think that. Though ending with allura dying seems to go against that. I mean they basically wasted the first and given WEPs disapointment only time allurance is cannon.

From everything that's been said about Voltron Legendary Defender, there are actually multiple stories about why it all fell apart and the license is now with Amazon (although like I noted yesterday, there is a greater than zero chance the Filipino GMA Network may not just release its live-action Voltes V, but a live-action Daimos before Voltron hits theaters).

If you believe Bob Koplar's Voltron panels, the man hated what Legendary Defender did in multiple spots. He hated Allurance, hated the race swaps, hated Shiro, and hated that the giant robot show was allergic to the giant robot. The relationship fully fell apart when Universal rejected a David Hayter-penned live-action movie script that used Legendary Defender as its base, and if Koplar is to be believed, while he has nothing but respect for Solid Snake (the man did write the screenplay for the first two X-Men films), the final product, AND I QUOTE, "Did not get Voltron". So once Universal/Dreamworks let the license expire (by not greenlighting any sort of continuation or separate adaptation), the rights lapsed and reverted to WEP, with Bob all too happy to take the license back and shop it around. That being said, the romance element was one of many things Koplar hated, rather than it being the only thing he thought was bad. And judging by the commercial, non-Tumblr/Twitter response to the film in comparison to the utterly insane bidding war the pitch that was based on the original show garnered, Bob was correct.

The actors behind the show presented a much more mundane reason for the show falling apart during a panel in 2021. During said panels, the actors CLAIMED that Legendary Defender was supposed to have a movie about an older Lance going to find Allura and reviving her. However, in their account of the story, when Dreamworks signed a deal with Hulu, they were legally unable to make the movie happen. And then the license expired due to reasons they were unaware of.

Bluntly put, while it's feasible, the story doesn't really add up.

Yes, Dreamworks did sign an exclusivity deal with Hulu (that seems to have since expired). Only that deal did not prevent the continuation of numerous Dreamworks animations, including the Boss Baby show, which is running to this day, and She-Ra, which after it ended and bombed, went to Amazon Prime for its next incarnation, not Hulu or even Peacock (which is owned by NBC Universal, Dreamworks's parent company).

If the Legendary Defender deal did expire, absolutely nothing was stopping Universal, had they wanted to, from putting a new Voltron show into production to retain the license, even if it was some sort of Teen Titans Go-esque comedy.

Universal itself at this point was actually going through significant cost-cutting. They actually dumped a few films they were going to distribute, most notably Detective Pikachu, to save on marketing costs.

I'm of the belief that there was a VLD animated grand finale movie in the cards, but after the show tanked commercially, the movie production went south, and it was clear Koplar was pissed and Universal thought the license was dead (by their own hand), Bob took the license back through the license expiration clause, and when he set out to restart the live-action movie, made it a point to make it the opposite of all the things he hated about Voltron Legendary Defender. Which seems to be "most everything," although yes, that does include the romance in the show.

[cienie-isengardu]

TBB: The Outpost

As a foreword, I want make it clear I watched overall only a few episodes (from the season two alone just the two-part premiere, the one with “Scorch” and Crosshair-centric “The Solitary Clone” and “The Outpost” solely to see how far Crosshair can be pushed before he kill any imperial [non-cloned] officer) so I may missing some serious context. Like why the Empire would demobilize it's one fully trained army (clones) so early in Palpatine’s regime since clones are still healthy and capable soldiers that obey orders (in contrast to the new recruit(s) from season one?) and serve without being paid. Unless this is again about the chip-in-brain nonsense that the show doesn’t seem to remember anymore?

Anyway, the two things that made me satisfied - and really this is the first TBB episode in S02 (and one of few in general) I would call great and interesting - are the visible change in Crosshair’s behavior and the shift in imperial army (and how the new cadre of officers differs from Vader).

The Mayday was the first clone that showed Crosshair any basic kindness - the scene of sharing the heater when they barely knew each other  contrasts drastically with how clones did not want to share the same table with him in the previous episode. And sure, Cody was nice to him too but Cody was already a comrade from the previous war while Meyday was a total stranger who did not blink at all at the mention of Crosshair being one of the Clone Forces 99. And Crosshair latched on this kindness? He said “no point in carrying deadweight” but then carried dying Mayday through the snow and even begged Nolan to save his companion. There are some really interesting changes happening in Crosshair in the face of casual and intentional abuse.

The other thing that nagged me through the whole episode is that Vader would do much better than Nolan. Although the situation was not 100% the same, he did better in Marvel comics when three heavily injured troopers were denied medical help by an officer who did not care to check tapes from the mission and acted solely on the fact that those men killed a sergeant (they did it to fulfill mission). And Vader killed the officer instead of the soldiers, because he acknowledged their loyalty and willingness to sacrifice everything for the mission.

Crosshair and Mayday did not retrieve stolen cargo but they eliminated the whole camp of the enemy and that in the grand scheme of things could prevent losing more equipment in the future so it wasn’t a total failure on their part. But Nolan did not even bother to ask what the clones achieved, doesn’t even care to hear rapport but judged them on the spot.

And when the Sith Lord is capable of showing care for common troopers but your average imperial officer can’t - doesn’t want - then you get a clear and horrible picture of the imperial army. What is also a great point about this show - those new officers have zero battle experiences, no real achievements to support their own authority and openly abuse their power over those serving under them. Abuse those without the right social and political position or origin and soon, with passing time, this corruption will be the norm. Because of it,  many capable soldiers will be shunned. Now it is clones, in future people born and raised in Outer Rim. And Vader is one of few high ranked Imperials who won’t care for people’s personal origin, family connection or even species, only for the skills.

Which is why I think the scene would play differently with Vader there (as in, he most likely would go himself to hunt down the enemy or maybe even break Nolan’s neck for wasting the good potential of loyal troopers. Shame Crosshair didn’t have a chance to join Vader’s 501st Legion, his life wouldn’t be so depressed lke it is now. 

[ultimateplaylistmaker]

(tumblr.com/ultimateplaylistmaker/742319588217372672/i-know-exactly-how-i-would-go-in-v3-if-i-was-there)

Now what would you do in THH and GD?

In THH I would honestly just mostly just stay in my room and never go out at night, which judging by how that game had every single death caused by doing stupid shit at night unless it was suicide, I'm 100% surviving. Non zero chance I fuck up at the end by not remembering which lever is hope and which lever is despair though.

Goodbye Despair I'm a bit less sure, the memory motive wouldn't effect me because imagine having memories in general, im unaffected by the second motive, despair disease is just a wildcard, I might last a bit longer then others in the funhouse due to my diminished ability to feel hunger, and Komaeda (Komaeda) so honestly I'd lean towards I'd survive just by not having any motive targeted around me and also I would be so unimpressed with Junko, but with despair disease you never really know for sure

[questioning-aspec-culture-is]

hi help. i am questioning if im aromantic? the thing is that i feel attraction to fictional characters quite strongly if not dominantly. but i dont think i feel anything like that for real people. ive tried over the years but it feels no different than friendship. either that or whatever i thought i felt seems to fade away and its like it never happened at all? i know for certain i am allosexual across the board, but romance is the one thing where i dont understand whats happening with me. it feels deeper than just fictional characters being a 'safe option'. because if it was just that, wouldnt I still feel romantic desire for real human people, but feel wary or afraid about it? ive tried to seek it out actively, make the desire click within me, but I just never feel right, i never feel what i think you are supposed to feel. Even for some of the most wonderful people i've encountered who fell in love with me. It never seems to click the same way for me as it did for them. I feel so much happier alone. I don't know if I ever will meet "the one" and i dont really care to try anymore. Thats what makes me feel i might be aromantic, but when its a fictional character, things are different, and I'm really into self shipping. I don't know. What do you think? Sorry for the lengthy ask. This is all just new to me and I've not talked to anyone about it yet.

hello! mod amaranth here

good news, anon! judging by what you have said, there's a non-zero and pretty good chance you may be fictoromantic!

if that doesn't feel right, then there are other microlabels that may be helpful. off the top of my head, grayromantic may be helpful!

hope this helps! <2

[overobsessedfanboy23]

Guys... we need to talk.

Being misunderstood is one of the most distressing yet common occurrences for me, especially offline. So... having people believe what they did about my take on episode 98 of Go Rush is still actively distressing me.

So... warning for discussion of su*cide below the cut once again.

Because not at least attempting to clear the air is just leaving me really freaked out.

Just to be clear, this is not a targeted post. It's just me trying to be more coherent about why episode 98 made me as uncomfortable as it did.

First of all, and probably something I should've stated in my original post: I have been suicidal in the past. I don't want to go into detail but just know that this is firmly in the past and I am safe. I do not mind a character being depicted as suicidal so long as it's presented respectfully. My problem with episode 98 isn't that they made Zwijo suicidal. They didn't. I could tell that absolutely was not the intention of the writers. And the episode doesn't have that implication as much as I felt it did on my first two viewings.

My problem, and the reason I still don't like the episode, is a more complex issue that admittedly later episodes can rectify which is why I didn't initially want to say it. However, after wracking my mind trying to figure out why exactly this episode was still bothering me so much, this was the only answer that made sense: I don't want it to be the end of Zwijo's character arc.

He was, at least at one point recency bias admittedly confuses this for me, a character I liked and his character arc, in my eyes, was about him not valuing his life because he wasn't a "real being." It was logic I never fully wrapped my head around admittedly but that's not a flaw in the writing by any means.

My point though is that killing him off permanently after he finally did value his life... wouldn't exactly be a flaw either it would just be... Miserable? Maybe it would be realistic but it's a card game show, dammit! I don't want "realism", I want satisfying character arcs and... I know a lot of people were satisfied with how episode 98 handled Zwijo and while I definitely see where they're coming from and get what the writers were going for, it really just doesn't work for me as Zwijo's final appearance. If that's what the episode is.

Because yes, I'm one of those people who thinks there's a non zero chance that Yudias will go into season 3 as the final Velgearian, much like Ai was the final Ignis in season 3 of VRAINS. It's not confirmed at the time of writing so it feels unfair to judge the episode for that, hence why I didn't bring it up initially. However, because of that, along with other outside factors, this is an episode I just don't think I can really have a concrete opinion on, at least until the arc is over.

Basically what I'm saying is that the original review I wrote was a mistake and the result of me staying up way too late brainrotting over this show. All I can really say for sure about the episode right now is "stop using Soul Galaxy at the ends of episodes, I beg you. I get what you were going for and that it may have been necessary for the runtime because of the duel being longer but holy shit please stop-"

And that the episode just depresses me, but not in a way that makes me enjoy watching it like episodes 34, 90, or 95, all of which I'd personally consider more sad (and are also three of my favourite episodes...)

I just personally find episode 98 unsatisfying as a final Zwijo episode, which I pray it's not but we'll have to see...

[incorrectsmashbrosquotes]

The Super Smash Questionnaire

Sakurai: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the 1st anniversary of Sora's playable debut in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate!

(Much hooting and hollering ensues. King K. Rool even shoots his Blunderbuss.)

Sakurai: Thank you, thank you, and please don't shoot that anymore.

Sakurai: I know this game has seen better days in the past year, between competition from other conglomerates, and my own YouTube channel being a thing. But this is going to ask the one question people have on their minds.

Sonic: Are we getting paid for this?

Sakurai: Except for that question, which does not need answering now.

Sakurai: The question is: Which third-party characters could get a callback for the next Smash entry? Now, may the first non-Nintendo character step up to the plate?

Snake: Kept ya waiting, huh? If you guys simply must know, I was part of Brawl's E3 trailer to drum up extra hype, as it may. I also represent Konami in the gaming pantheon, if that helps.

Mario: But not only is Konami not the most cooperative studio to work with, but you missed out on Smash For. Next!

Sonic: Sonic here. I'm the mascot of Sega, the progenitor of 16-bit chaos, and I appeared the most in this franchise.

Link: You know, this guy has potential. Next applicant.

Mega Man: Hi! I'm Mega Man. People still think of me as the face of Capcom, and my franchise was a big part of the NES legacy. We don't talk about my animated past, though.

Captain Falcon: I dunno. If we're restricted to just one rep per company, it'll be hard to justify bringing you back.

Link: Said the second most likely Smash 64 vet to be cut...

Falcon: Hey! At least I'm in the game at all!

Mario: We'll keep in touch. Next.

Pac-Man: How ya doin? The name's Pac-Man, but you can call me Pac. I'm the face of Bandai Namco, who helps develop Smash games nowadays, and I'm one of the most mainstream gaming character ever conceived! How's that for good reasons?

Mario: Allow me to be biased for a moment, as we go way back here. You didn't have to bring up the developer credits to justify your return.

Pac-Man: R-Really?

Link: Really, really. Next.

Ryu: Sup. Name's Ryu. It has been my life's mission to fight alongside and against anyone I meet. And for the business side of things, I'm the face of Capcom that they don't want to remove.

Mega Man: What did you say?

Ryu: Nothing personal, but if it was up to them, you and Zero would have swapped representation tiers for Ultimate.

Link: To prevent any harm in this stage, I will say that it's a really tough decision. Cap's right. If we do pick a single rep for each company, it would be a hard choice.

Ryu: Fine. I won't judge you for this. I'll be waiting backstage.

Mario: Next!

Cloud: Hey.

Link: No offense, kid, but Square Enix is already quite stingy, and there's also that persistent rumor that Sony's gonna buy them. However, in your favor, there is the fact that you are the biggest name from that company in terms of fighters.

Cloud: Thanks. I was worried I wouldn't be able to get a say in this.

Link: Just be thankful you're still in the game.

Cloud: Oh, I am.

Falcon: Next up, please.

Bayonetta: Hello, boys. While I might not be the biggest third-party character, my company, PlatinumGames, has a very good relationship with both Sega and Nintendo. Especially the latter. I even think they want to be on the same level as Retro and Next Level before it.

Falcon: At the risk of dating myself even further, woah Mama!

Mario: I sure hope Peach doesn't see that.

Link: What they're trying to say is that you might have more of a chance than the Smash community would hope to think. Some of them still think that you rigged the ballot.

Bayonetta: Oh, really? That's a shame.

Mario: Next.

Simon and Richter both show up.

Mario: Okay, why are both of you here at once?

Simon: Because we're apparently Echoes of each other, according to Sakurai.

Richter: But at least we're more Nintendo-friendly than Snake.

Mario: That is true, but we only need one Belmont for the franchise. Which one shall it be.

Simon: Let's just cut to the chase. If we're getting one Belmont, it's gonna be me. Richter can be an Assist or something.

Falcon: Good concept, but I wouldn't put Richter on that level if I were you.

Richter: See? He gets it.

Link: Next.

Ken: Hi, guys!

Mario: If I can be blunt for a second, I'm not sure if Echo Fighters are gonna make it in the next game, and we already have Ryu and Mega Man duking it out for the Capcom invitation. So, you should probably prepare for the worst in your case.

Ken: Alright. I'm already a big part of Street Fighter 6, so I don't need Smash to stay alive.

Captain Falcon: I take offense to that, you know.

Ken: I'm sure you do. See ya!

Joker: Hey, is this spot taken?

Mario: For a Sega rep? Twice over, but state your case anyway.

Joker: Thanks! For one, Atlus is an actual Sega division, meaning I'm higher up on the totem pole than Bayonetta. For two, I'm the Cloud of Persona, if that makes sense. For three, since Sega also owns TMS, you can give me a Lupin III-esque skin for the next game if people want their "anime in Smash" comparison.

Link: Yeah, but we were thinking of using your gimmick to keep Marth in the game. If you've seen the Engage trailer, you could see where we're going with this.

Joker: (beat) Okay. Save a spot for me next month.

Captain Falcon: We'll try.

Luminary: Hi. As the main Hero skin, I'm gonna speak for all of them. The four of us are some of the most well-known Dragon Quest protagonists, and the worst part about how we went into the game probably isn't a big factor anymore.

Mario: Hmm... You make a fine point for you and your colleagues, but Cloud outranks all of you in popularity. However, I suppose I could see you make the cut, with or without the other Heroes, like we can see Ryu or Snake representing their companies second.

Luminary: Thank you, thank you! You won't regret this!

Captain Falcon: Shall the next combatant come forth?

Banjo: Guh-huh! Hiya, folks!

Mario: Banjo! My old buddy! How's it hanging, pal?

Kazooie: Not as well as it should be, but it's nice to be wanted.

Link: Kazooie! Be nice.

Banjo: For once, I agree with her. It is nice to be wanted. Plus, the folks at Microsoft are pretty chummy with the Nintendo bigwigs nowadays, which means we have hope to return. Right?

Kazooie: Please say yes. It's all we have left now!

Mario: I'm thinking, I'm thinking. And from the fandom's perspective, we'd probably have some beheadings if you guys got cut.

Banjo: (sigh) Yep. You likely would...

Mario: Just don't count your Jinjos before they fly.

Kazooie: Fine by us. C'mon, Banjo.

Captain Falcon: Next.

Terry: Let's get to business. While SNK is a more minor player in the video game field, they were more than happy to let me in the game. They don't say they got a free newcomer with the purchase of a soundtrack for no reason, after all.

Link: He's got a point. Plus, Sakurai was inspired by King of Fighters to make Smash more inclusive in its gameplay.

Sakurai: That is correct.

Terry: So, I can make it back?

Mario: Perhaps.

Steve: Hello, fellow Smash fighters. I'm Steve.

Alex: And I'm Alex!

Steve: Not only is Minecraft now the highest-selling game ever made, not only is it a Microsoft IP that provides a steady income for the executives, not only is it recent despite the style of the game...

Alex: But if we return, there's actually more than eight starter skins for the game now. No more Zombie or Enderman or other skins for us!

Mario: All those reasons sound great! I'll just tell Banjo and Kazooie when the show's over.

Steve: Okay.

Sephiroth: (evil chuckle)

Mario, Link, and Captain Falcon: NO!

Sephiroth: Oh? You won't even give me a chance?

Captain Falcon: No offense, pretty boy, but FFVII has too much exposure.

Link: I get enough trouble from Ganondorf, thank you very much.

Mario: And your trailer was the closest I ever got to death since Ridley's debut at E3 2018!

Sephiroth: Okay, fine. I can take a hint. Send the folks at Wooden Plank my regards.

Cloud: OH, YOU AGAIN!

Sephiroth: Save it for Final Destination, Cloud.

Cloud: You bet I will, fly boy!

Mario: Next, please!

Kazuya: Hmph. It's not like I wanted to be here, anyway.

Captain Falcon: Well, it's not like you have a shot at returning, either. Pac-Man's a better Namco rep, Ryu and Terry are better fighting game reps, and Cloud's a better PS1 rep. In short, good luck getting that lucky phone call.

Kazuya: I can say the same thing about you and mean it.

Falcon: That does it! I'm going through All-Star Mode after this.

Link: Looks like our next guy is the last third-party character.

Mario: A-ok! Let's see who it is.

Sora: (inhales)

Mario: Owned by both Disney and Square Enix, with Disney having more of a say.

Link: The obligatory "too many swordfighters" claim that I'm surprised hasn't been brought up by this point.

Captain Falcon: And your lore makes the Encyclopedia Britannica look like a picture book.

Mario: Sorry, but you're not making it in next time. It's just business, and business stinks right about now.

Sakurai: That's all the time we have left. Tune in next week for the non-Nintendo characters who want to get in the game.

Captain Falcon: Dogpile in 3. 2. 1.

Mario: CHARGE!!

[latefrequencies]

.

The thing I've forgotten to mention with regards to the pandemic - and I don't mention this often because I'm worried about getting judged for it - is that I can't wear a mask.

I have panic attacks whose likelihood is increased when I wear a mask. I have seizures that are triggered by, among other things, panic attacks.

Seizures can injure and kill people.

When I wear a mask, there is a very good chance that I will have a panic attack and be unable to perform necessary tasks that no one else will perform for me and that I cannot afford to perform except in person. This has happened many times before.

There is a non-zero chance that I will die. This has of course never happened before, and I don't want it to.

While there is always a risk for me to have seizures and panic attacks no matter where I am and what I'm doing, I still want to do what reduces their likelihood as much as possible.

I used to love going out and I did spend part of this pandemic trying to be social but I feel like I was doing the wrong thing and I didn't care about other disabled people enough so I honestly feel guilty for it.

Additionally, I'm scared of getting long COVID. I'm already fucking miserable and I assume that being even more disabled for the rest of my life will just make me more miserable.

I was initially very very in favor of wearing masks and did wear one everywhere, even though it was making me non-functional when I had to go out unavoidably. It wasn't until I remembered that seizures can KILL you that I went "hey maybe I don't want to die in public".

I guess maybe people who don't have those concerns can somewhat safely have a life outside the house, but that's not an option for me.

(Also to anyone who is going to send me harassment for not wearing a mask: please bear in mind that I am a disabled person trying not to die, either of COVID or of seizures.)

[habadabadooda]

Tagged by @strange-wanderings

Last song: Spotify tells me it was J'ai cherché by Amir (eurovision 2016). Had my eurovision playlist on shuffle hehehe

Last movie: I’m pretty sure it was the Fellowship of the Ring, but there is a non-zero chance that it was actually the 1995 Pride & Prejudice. Genuinely can’t remember, but I know I’ve watched them both recently fhdjdjdjcjdj. Tbh if asked at any point in time there’s a pretty good chance that the last film I watched was a LOTR film or a P&P fjfjdjdjdj

Currently reading: I’ve got two books sort of 'on the go' right now, I’m reading 'Murder at the Savoy' by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö with my sibling, in that we get together and I read aloud, so we have to find time to both sit down and do it and it’s going slow fjdjdjd. I usually have one non-fiction book that I dip in and out of on train journeys and that kind of thing, and right now it’s 'Murder: The Biography' by Kate Morgan. I swear I do read non-fiction books that aren’t morbid, but in terms of fiction murder mysteries are about the only thing I can get through fjdjdjdjd. My family has also been gradually getting through audiobooks of LOTR over dinner for the past month or so but idk if that counts

Currently watching: 'The Devil Judge'! If a pig flies past and I watch smth new and fictional I tend to binge it, but I’m watching with my sibling so we’re going at a rate of two episodes a week fjfjdj

Current Obsession: well it would be the devil judge if I’d finished it vjfjdjdjdj but I haven’t so we’re just on good old favourites: LOTR, Hannibal (the show), and Seventeen

I tag @jisungshotfirst @galacticfeels @meganlophobia @berry-kitten-paws @hellafluff and anyone else who wants to!!!