#arguably the most human and well rounded

[bananasareupsidedown]

[mrs-stans]

Sebastian Stan Talks Career Interests And His ‘A Different Man’ Film

By Jeff Conway

Sure, you likely know him for his many Marvel film appearances as Bucky Barnes, but actor Sebastian Stan has often taken “the road less traveled” when it comes to his career, having built quite the unique repertoire of memorable performances in far less conventional films.

That observation has arguably never been more visible than with his involvement in the new A24 film, A Different Man. Written & directed by Aaron Schimberg and co-starring Adam Pearson and Renate Reinsve, it tells the story of Edward (Stan), an aspiring actor who undergoes a breakthrough medical procedure to transform his facial appearance, but soon regrets his decision when he becomes obsessed with reclaiming what he has lost.

I sat down with Stan, Pearson and Schimberg to uncover the origin and the creative thought process that went into this new project, which is now playing in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles - nationwide come October 4. For filmmaker Schimberg, this purposefully uncomfortable narrative and the overall project hits rather close to home.

Schimberg said, “I mean, for me, it’s sort of a personal story. I have cleft palate and it’s just sort of me thinking about how it’s affected me in my life and others’ perception of me and my perception about myself. My previous film [Chained for Life] also dealt with the subject in some ways, so that’s sort of what I am always thinking about when I am starting to write a film. I was also thinking about Adam because I had worked with him previously and he played a shy character in Chained for Life, my last film, and he’s not shy at all - and yet, people I think sort of thought that he was playing himself in my movie because they sort of assumed that he must be shy. So, I was inspired to write something that was closer to who he is - taken to a comical extreme, maybe, and I wanted him to show off his range, but I also just wanted to work with him again, so these were some of the starting points.”

Pearson, a British actor with neurofibromatosis, which is a rare genetic disorder that typically causes benign tumors of the nerves and growths in other parts of the body, went on to share what it was about A Different Man and his Oswald character that most intrigued him to want to make this his next film.

“Well, I enjoyed working with Aaron the first time, so when he said, ‘Would you consider working with me again?’ Straight away, I was like, Ding Ding! Round two - let’s rock and roll. Then the script - all the words have weight. There’s very little wasted motion in the script. The end result of the film is quite challenging and holds up a mirror to an audience. I’ve never been a fan of hand-holding or sugar-coating. I think audiences can be a lot smarter than we often give them credit for. A good film will change what you think for a couple of days, but a great film will change how you think for the rest of your life. We’re certainly trying, at least, to be in the great film business.”

With Stan not only acting in A Different Man but also an executive producer, I wondered how he has perhaps noticed his interests and priorities towards the stories that matter most to him as a professional and human being evolving as time goes on.

Stan said, “Well, you get a little older and the questions get a little scarier. A few years ago, I just decided to kind of just be a little bit more aggressive about finding specific work that was interesting and different and kind of challenging for me than what I was getting to do. Eventually, you find yourself in conversations that are in the development of certain things and that might lead to a producing kind of aspect. I think in this [A Different Man] situation, I was involved before A24 came on, which never really happens for me. Not only because of obviously how I felt about the story and so on, I felt really brought in by Aaron and [producer] Vanessa [McDonnell] into their journey with this film and like what they were wanting to do. So, I felt a much bigger attachment than I usually do as an actor in a way.”

When it came time to film A Different Man, Stan recalls the production not having much time, which he actually found to be helpful within his producer role “because when you’re involved in some capacity beyond acting, sometimes you can kind of go, Hey, let’s continue shooting or something. You can help add more to the making of it in some capacity and that was big for us, given our time - that we didn’t have a lot of time.”

In fact, during one particular scene in the film, Stan remembers while everybody else was wrapping up the production trucks for the night, he decided to head out on the streets of New York City with his A Different Man director of photography Wyatt Garfield and Schimberg to grab additional footage. “I just kind of took one of his other little cameras and then we started going up and down Columbus Avenue. It was Friday night and we just got all these shots. Maybe you don’t always get to do that, so that was helpful.”

As I began to conclude my conversation with these three gentlemen, I wondered what Pearson and Stan would say to their A Different Man characters, Oswald and Edward, after seeing their stories play out on-screen and understanding their wants out of life.

Pearson said, “I’d be like to Oswald, Maybe turn it down a little bit. Be nicer to [Stan’s character Edward] because he might not say it, but he loves you and he needs you right now.”

As for the message Stan would tell Edward, he said, “Listen to me! I’m here - I’m telling you. I don’t know how I feel about this. Just hear me out.”

He then added: “It’s very interesting because we all have these moments in life, big or small, where you make a decision or you even say something because you’re with other people or you’re supposed to say something the right way, but you know your reaction in the moment or the decision you’re making is not what your gut is like really telling you. Then, you feel kind of like you’ve abandoned yourself, but then you just quickly deny that - that can kind of like spiral down. We’ve all kind of not owned certain things in the moment and that’s sort of what happens. He kind of drowns out that voice.”

[sleeplesssmoll]

You know what? I think vertin's biggest strength isn't her perception or leadership or even her immunity to the storm.

I think her biggest strength is how she didn't lost her mind yet.

The more I think about vertin the more I realize...her life sucks beyond words, easily the worst life out of anyone from the cast, and the worst thing is? The more you think about it the more you can make realistic guesses that are even worse.

Vertin was taken in by the foundation when she was only a month old, the youngest person to attend SPDM, she never knew her parents, she has a very *very* bad branding on her back that we don't even know when it's implanted! What if it happened while she was very Young, that would be so traumatic for her, vertin can't casts incantation, even the most basic ones so all the kids call her a freak (and maybe even called a half blood if there is a term for that in reverse) and it also makes her an easy target since she can't fight back,

Vertin doesn't know anything about herself, but funnily enough *almost* everyone knows about her more than she knows about herself, vertin didn't have a true friend until ring, for 12 years she was alone, even sonnetto tried to avoid her (and she lost that friend in the same year she meet)

She has an exceptionally bad arcanum but she has an uncanny perception, but this isn't even a good thing, it's because of this perception she *has* to keep her emotions locked, otherwise she will affect the people around her,and somehow never cracks? (Well she does cracks but not on the degree how Mesmer cracks who arguably has worse perception then vertin since sonnetto said vertin has the best perception she has seen)

How did she even learn to be this...stoic? Did one of the teachers in SPDM teached her? Or did she somehow learn herself after seeing how she can affect people Round her?

Vertin always sought freedom, since unlike other children she didn't even remember*anything* from the outside because of how young she was when she was taking. But unfortunately that desire backfired on her,

Vertin must feel so much guilt from the breakaway incident, just after losing her friends she was offered a role that she didn't understand the true meaning of yet, the worst part is? She probably knew it was more like an order then an offer cause there's no way she was getting away, after the storm the foundation would hunt and took her back, she even knew someone was behind the breakaway incident and was guessing who could it be (mind you, this is a 12 old) she *had* to work with people she knew were awful, and get experimented on or beaten by the adults

...God knows how many people she lost, if saving an arcanist is a rare occurrence for her and somehow she saved 65 arcanists...then how many exactly she lost? Cause she can't save humans from the storm and she didn't know if the suitcase would save arcanists before regulus, I wanna say 100 people but that feels like low-balling more then anything I feel like over 200 is more likely, over 200 people she might have made friends and soon lost it,

God how bad she must have felt, because of her perception things are 10x times worse for her, especially in a crowded place like chapter 2 ending where *she* out of anyone would be able feel everyone's fear and all negative feelings, yet in chapter 2 she was arguible the most calm one

There so much more things you can imagine realistically happening, like Constantine taking children from the SPDM hostage, like staying near a child while looking at vertin, basicly saying "I wouldn't mind sacrificing another set of children" to keep vertin at bay, or how she would make her more guilty about the breakaway incident like "even if you didn't know, it was still *your* idea, if only you listened to the adults this *never* would've happened"

So my question is...how is she still sane? How does she not have attachment issues? How does she not have PTSD about every little thing? Her life is like the definition of depressing, and even after *everything* she still somehow tries her best against something she stands no chance.

I think she has ways of coping with insanity but we know she's not doing well mentally though the trails. The guilt and helplessness eats her up inside.

But there is one going on for Vertin: hope.

If she stops, if she obeys, then she'd lose more people. She took that risk with Regulus because if she didn't the cycle would never break. She'd be watching people disappear and get hurt until the end of time. Instead of being a witness, she is trying desperately to be a savior despite knowing her weakness. She can only do what she can.

Vertin is not fighting against the world per say, she's fighting for a better future. There is an end game in mind where she can keep her crew safe. She has her issues, her weaknesses, her fears. But she also has hope and she tries to be better. Key word being tries.

She can't afford to let her problems eat her up because now she has people depending on her too. Sometimes it's easier to care about other people than yourself. You end up working so hard to make them happy you don't have to think about what's wrong with you.

But now that she has a support group, she might finally be able to start recovering instead of repress. Her crew has shown that they are going to fight for her the way she fights for them. The amount of strength knowing people are behind you is incredible.

Vertin is a growing, developing character. What we know her as today might not be who she is later in the story and I'm excited to see that!

[bradsmindbrain]

Roquefort Headcanons because I’m Down Bad for this Man

● The oldest of the game’s cast, being a few years older than Roxanne, and being in his mid fifties.

● Gay, I say this solely because that line exists.

● Whatever the Hi-Fi Rush world’s equivalent of Māori is.

● Gained his position a while before Kale’s takeover, but Kale was still the one who initially “discovered” him for the company. Even though Roxanne was the CEO at the time, his loyalty was towards Kale and not her because he saved his life.

● His penny-pinching nature was nowhere near as bad prior to his illness. Not only did it force him into an early retirement, the medical costs it caused tore through his live-savings. Ultimately, this lead to an extreme fear of lacking control in his life, and developed the belief that more money=more control. This is also where a good portion of his stress and anger issues stem from.

● Roxanne mostly kept that flaw in check, but when Kale took over he just allowed Roquefort to handle finances as he saw fit.

● He knew what Kale did to Roxanne was wrong, and he knew Kale’s plans for SPECTRA were horrific, but he turned a blind eye to that because he’d be dead without him. Not to mention, it’d give the company more money, more control.

● Ended up surviving being buried by the third quarter earnings, janitorial staff dug him out shortly after Kale’s death.

● What’s arguably more surprising is that Roxanne allowed him to keep his job after everything. He’s arguably the world’s best economist, it would be an incredibly idiotic move to get rid of him.

● That being said, she didn’t allow him to get off completely scott-free. She’s keeping him on a very tight leash (heh) to keep his greed in check and ensuring he doesn’t try anything. Furthermore she’s making him attend mandatory anger management classes.

● Doesn’t like most of Zanzo’s designs solely because he feels the costs to make some of the higher-quality models do not match the profits they bring in. That being said, he has a fondness for the BA-B00 and KEM-0N0 series’s of units.

● To no one’s surprise, he’s an animal lover, and has a fondness for just about anything fluffy. Ironically enough he’s more of a cat person.

● No one’s sure whether the wolf thing was his or Kale’s idea (it was his).

● The operation to install his cybernetics was very experimental, and there’s still a few minor issues, most notably him involuntarily shifting partially or completely into wolf form if he’s particularly stressed or angry.

● Even though Marketing can sometimes outdo even R&D in terms of spending, he’s much more lenient with Mimosa than with Zanzo because more often than not she gets the money back and then some.

● Interested in (the Hi-Fi Rush world’s equivalent of) Japanese history and folklore, hence the screen in his office and his designs for the WA-ES-2s. Does not care for anime and manga though.

● His wolf form’s mane is surprising soft compared to the rest of him.

● Yes, one of the better ways to calm him down is to give him ear scritches in wolf form. Good luck getting close enough to him to do it though.

● Freakishly durable even in human form, his cybernetic body basically has military-grade defenses that were built to withstand tank rounds. There’s no meaningful way to actually damage him, as his cybernetics also repair any damage he does sustain.

● Held a higher opinion of Korsica than the other Department Heads did, mostly because he found her very competent at her job and she managed her budget pretty well, so he had a level of respect for her.

[thetrashywritingwitch]

Hi!

I wanted to ask why you didn't like the ending, or what were your expectations?, I have seen a lot of people saying it was terrible and stuff but I don't understand why, I liked it and thought it was a good closer, so I wanna understand why it's "bad"

anon - i'm not a meta writer and feel like others can more succinctly put into words why the ending falls flat and the narrative feels exceptionally grim and that nothing of significance truly happened in the end

putting some links to some explanations and summaries below for folks who don't mind leaks/caught up with the manga:

but to me, i say at 1 am on my birthday when i would like to feel joy now:

the entire narrative of bnha from the beginning was about who was worth saving. their humanity. that people aren't born villains. that society is flawed. that the hero system is flawed. that the justice system is flawed.

and yet? NOTHING CHANGED. everything is EXACTLY the same now as it was in the beginning. Hawks is continuing on the work that brainwashed and conditioned him as a child. he was not truly punished for killing Twice, which was repeatedly pushed as the Wrong and Unheroic thing to do. He was not made to face Jin's ghost and the reality of his crazed obsession (and he *is* crazed, he truly loses his composure and is yelling about killing the villains at the end). i was hoping for a Toga - Hawks confrontation. that he would see and face Sad Man's Parade and the absolute pit of despair that developed in Toga when Jin was killed. that made her truly cement that they as villains are not "human" to the Heroes. That they aren't worth saving.

and they fucking weren't!!!! THEY ALL DIED!!!! THEY WERE ALL KILLED!!!! We aren't saying Touya is still alive because him potentially living on as a husk in a tank forced to talk to endeavor is not him "living" in any sense of the word

izuku did not come up with a way to save Tenko. he had no plan. he never listened to or attempted to understand his point of view, or what was wrong with hero society at all. the last link above states this better than i can, but his total chosen ignorance of the reasoning why the villains are the way they are is why i just do nooooot like this kid and never have. his arc from scared quirkless bullied kid to confident hero who people look up to was a decent one - but outside of those surface level accomplishments? he's as flat as the paper in his notebook. he still keeps secrets and is not transparent with Uraraka or his friends (from ch 429 he hasn't grown at all in that respect) and Uraraka still bottles up her feelings.

society doesn't KNOW ANYTHING about what happened during the war. most of the fights were not televised. uraraka and toga's ending, arguably the best and most well rounded of the villain fights because she actually fought hard to understand and empathize with toga, falls on deaf ears because no one knows about it. no one saw it. Everyone still dehumanizes Toga and the rest of the LoV from their ending comments about how evil and awful they were, that they just wanted to destroy and sew chaos.

and toga died. she, out of all the LoV, had the best chance to live a better life. her quirk could be used for blood transfusions as we saw in the end. there was no reason for her to die. to make uraraka miserable because she couldn't save her - something Uraraka's character arc just throws away because she goes from wanting to be a hero for the money to wanting to save people after nighteye died. but she didn't save Toga, and izuku didn't save Tenko. no one really saved anyone (save for Shouto who made a new move specifically to stop his brother and NOT KILL HIM, but damn touya i'm so sorry they did you so dirty)

her fear came true: they weren't human in the end, not to the audience, not to the heroes (outside of uraraka), and certainly not to society that hasn't changed at all. there's no new support system in place for helping troubled youth, there's no destigmatization of "villainous" quirks because no one fucking knows or cares to know more about the LoV's roots. Thank god spinner's alive to yell at izuku about how stupid he is for killing his friend who loved video games and reading manga because no one else is gonna do it!

the hero ranking system and hero vs villain dynamic still seems alive and well. to our knowledge, villains haven't become fewer. no social services to help homeless or abused kids (touya, toga, tenko, etc), no real lasting change when it comes to quirk vs quirkless folks. that was NEVER really addressed properly - that Aoyama's parents were so terrified of their son being bullied and having a bad life for being quirkless that they reached out to a villain who gave him a quirk that was incompatible with his body and caused him pain and discomfort. all to avoid societal stigmas that come with being quirkless. as far as we've seen, society hasn't grown or changed in that regard, either. quirkless folks are probably still bullied and have fewer opportunities than people with quirks.

the whole child soldiers/kids going to war thing, well that's a shounen staple so we can't expect that to go away. the fact that the kids were maimed and katsuki fucking *died* in the war that killed all the villains... yet new kids come into UA wanting to be the new gen child soldiers. fucking WILD dissonance there.

i said i'm not a meta writer but damn i had to get some of this out there lmaoooo

anyway, maybe this clears up some of our frustrations with the manga ending and how it's been handled. have a good one

[sleepy0s]

The Ariana Griande concert

Havent written Ariana much so lemme know any tips!

Some au facts for this certain one-shot

Allay Grian! (I felt like Allay grian made the most sense to be a singer cos there like musical??)

His voice sounds different due to Allay stuff- makes it higher pitched?

Hermits know he's an Allay but no one knows he's Ariana Griande (Not even pearl- very important for this)

I've decided. When Grian is just grian he is he/they and when he's being Ariana Griande has she/they

This is my longest one yet! (1303 words)

—---------------------------------------

“Pearl! Pearl! I got them!” Gem came sprinting round the corner, clutching four tickets in her hands

 “Let me see!” Scar pushed Pearl to the side wanting to see the tickets, 

“Gem! You're the best!How did you get four VIP tickets?!” If Scars Vex wings worked then you best believe he would be floating

. “I have friends.” She smiled, handing the tickets out to her friends before pocketting her own. “We are forever in your debt Gem.” Scar bowed down, almost hitting Mumbo in the nose on his way back up. 

“What are you doing?” The voice made all four jump, having not noticed Grian get closer, the small allay was trying to climb Mumbo to see what was in his hands but was failing due to the suit material. “Gem just got us V.I.P tickets!” He made sure to take a pause after each letter in VIP, Grian just looked at him, sliding down the suit. “To who?” 

“Ariana Griande, of course!” Pearl responded before Mumbo could.

Now, they’re not sure what they expected from Grian but it certainly wasn’t for him to lay on the floor and sigh in what seemed to be sadness, “Grian?? You all good down there?” Gem put her arm out to help him get up- he took this as a chance to climb onto Gems shoulders instead, whatever her fault. “Yep. I'm fine.” Scar however seemed offended that Grian had responded this way to such an idol, “G, do you not like Ariana? She is the best idol in the world and you need to agree.” Grians response was a sad sigh as he hopped of Gems shoulder and fluttered towards his base. (Can you blame the guy tho? He just found out four of his friends were going to be at his concert, pressure much.)

~ ~ ~

Ok, so it turns out Gem is Amazing. They had front row seats to the concert and would be able to see everything perfectly, she had managed to get her hands on some merch so all four were decked out.

Gem was wearing a nice laced white shirt with a baby pink skirt, her hair was put high pigtails (One of Ariana's signature hairstyles) with two bows clipped on.

Pearl was wearing a pink shoulderless shirt, a bandana wrapped around her wrist, and her hair had been put into a plait with pink ribbon.

Mumbo was wearing pink glasses (Vampires don't do well with the lights), he had a pink jacket on which was covered with pins.

Scar, who was arguably the most enthusiastic, was rocking a pink cowboy hat, heart shaped glasses, a half buttoned up white and pink striped shirt (Think limited life) and had a bag covered in pins, bandanas and keychains.

So yea. They were decked out.

~ ~ ~

They had gotten there early and had been waiting for around half an hour (Though all would claim it was worth it) and now, finally the lights were dimming around the stadium  signalling the start was near, all the chatter quieted down as people looked to the stage. 

“I'm so excited!” Scar whispered from beside Mumbo

“Scar shush. I'm concentrating.” Pearl elbowed him, making him shush,.Just in time as well because suddenly a bright pink light appeared on the stage and a platform rose from underneath the stage, and there she was! Ariana Griande rose from the stage, wearing a sleeveless white shirt and a gorgeous red and pink skirt, her hair was put in high pigtails with ribbons wrapped around. It was genius really, the pink she had claimed as ‘hers’ matched the light blue of her wings and the small horns in between her hair.

“Good evening Ladies, Gents, Hybrids and Humans!” The four screamed at her entrance, waving their hands in the hopes she would notice them, “I hope everyones having a lovely night, and hopefully you're happy to be here!” She began walking to the front of the stage waving at audience members as she spoke, “We have an action packed night ahead of us, so first let’s just have a little talk!” She gave a young girl a high five, causing the girl to scream, someone threw a poster up luckily, Ariana caught it before it hit her, “Guys, please don't throw stuff.” Ariana began talking and walking again, just chatting normally as if one would with a friend about how her day had been and occasionally pointing the mic towards someone else to let them respond. 

She got to Scar, Mumbo, Pearl and Gem and gave them each a high five and smile, and honestly they looked like they were on the edge of passing out. “All right everyone! I think it's time we start!” 

~ ~ ~

The concert was around 2 hours long and honestly they wished it was longer. But now it was time for the best part. “We get to meet her!? Gem I dont think ive said it enough but you're amazing.” Pearl was smiling madly, hugging Gem as if she was going to disappear, “Yep, Yep I know- pearl. I can't. Breath.” Pearl immediately let go, making sure she was okay before running to go find the VIP line. “Pearl, wait up!” Mumbo called after her.

The three met her at the line, she had gotten near the front and was talking to one of the body guards, who seemed to know her? “Pearl! We're here!” Gem waved her hands in the air to get Pearl's attention as they got closer. 

“Ah! You guys made it! Look, meet my friend Martyn!” The three introduced themselves to Pearl's friend, “Martyn I wish we could talk longer but it's nearly our turn!” Martyn just laughed and gave Pearl a hug, promising that they would have to meet up sometime.

Scar dragged them forwards once it was their turn to meet Ariana Griande.

“Hello! Welcome, it's lovely to meet you!” Ariana smiled at them happily, from where she was sitting. “Hello! We are such big fans!!” Gem led the group to sit on the seats opposite Ariana. “It's great to see you so enthusiastic. Is there anything you'd like? I can do signatures, photos, could just chat, or really anything you’d like- under reason of course.”  There were probably loads of things she shouldn't do, but c'mon. They were gonna do anything bad. Hopefully. “Can you sign our photos? Please??” Mumbo had been put in charge of holding all four photos, and happily handed them over to Ariana to sign them. “I am so going to brag about this to Grian.” Scar said, causing Ariana to chuckle, The five talked for a bit, it was mainly just questions like if she had any pets, her favourite song she had made, just the normal things you ask your Idol. But obviously others needed a go so they had to leave, “Would you guys like a picture before you leave?” Ariana asked,

“Yes please!” Scar answered for the group as they all stood up to take the photo.

“Alright! Have a lovely night you guys! I hope to see you at the next concert!” Ariana smiled happily at them as they left the Private room, and headed back to the hub.

~ ~ ~

Scar popped around Grians base the next morning, poor lad looked exhausted. What had he been up to whilst they were at the concert? 

“Griannn!” He called out in a sing-songy voice, “Guess what I gottt”

Grian just sighed, rolling over and looking at scar, who was proudly showing off his Signed Ariana Griande poster. 

Grian rolled back over, “Scar, that's great and I love you. BUT. Its 5am go back to sleep.” Scar laughed a bit before wishing Grian a good sleep and leaving his base, promising to tell Grian all about the concert once he was more awake

[copaganda-clobberfest]

WELCOME

TO THE FIRST ROUND OF THE COPAGANDA CLOBBERFEST!

“You know that trope? That one trope *Everyone* hates? The trope in which a well meaning antagonist to our heroes, one looking out for the good of a certain community, suddenly does something horrible and drastic to make not only them, but the ideology they stand for the most villainous of all?”

NOW IS THE TIME TO BATTLE THEM OUT! Like Ken dolls, fighting for survival! Like your Polly pockets discarded in the closet, we’ll see which of these bitches jumped that slippery slope harder! Whose character did numbers on y’all, and blew up a bunch of grandmas and babies and hospitals with it!

ROUND ONE

SUPERFLY from TMNT: MUTANT MAYHEM vs JET from AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER

Superfly propaganda:

“He just wanted humans to accept his mutant brethren and protect them. Sure he was going to commit genocide but he thought that was his only option. (Or was he? It seemed like he was going to expose people to mutagen.) His first memory was human private police killing his dad and burning down their house. And his other interactions with humans supported his belief that mutant kind wouldn’t be safe among humans. Armed civilians used to attack them for just being mutants. And people continue being violent until they realized that mutants were trying to save New York.”

Jet propaganda:

“had all the right intentions of fighting for his nation and all the wrong ways of going about it by:

flooding an entire village which would also harm the earth kingdom people living in the village that he claims he’s protecting

robbing the elderly and defenseless just because they’re fire nation, we don’t even know if he was a colonial official or anyone with power or just some random dude

fixating on zuko and iroh maybe being firebenders instead of like. helping smellerbee and longshot make a living

he did some good things, like arguably taking care of all those children in his forest robin hood lost boys treehouse compound and I’ll even include the food heist on the ship to ba sing se (I feel like it was unnecessary but also really funny and not truly harming anyone so it goes here) but all of that is massively overshadowed by the whole flooding-the-entire-village thing

thank goodness for sokka”

“He was the leader of a group of freedom fighters in the earth kingdom going against the fire nation and was generally a good guy, up until the writers decided that he should target an entire village of civilians out of, idk, blind rage or something. Then he came back for a few episodes in season 2 in which he was brainwashed by the dai li and when he was finally able to escape their hypnosis he was abruptly killed. Oh and he was just a kid.”

“a teenage boy who dislikes being colonized and so decides to flood an entire town out of existence. he later gets brainwashed and dies for continuing to dislike being colonized”

Always feel free to rb with more propaganda :)

[adobe-outdesign]

Have you done the Tyrogue line yet? (Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, Hitmontop, Tyrogue)

Tyrogue is interesting because it's the only case of two unrelated Pokemon being connected into a single line via pre-evo after their original release. I think this was a good change—there was nothing wrong with Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan being separate, but there is a really cool concept with Tyrogue evolving into either a kickboxer or a boxer-boxer depending on how it trains.

The design itself is good. I always enjoy designs that are humanoid without being too human-like, and Tyrogue strikes a good balance between the two extremes. I like the purple-ish pink body in contrast with the dark brown areas—it's definitely the best palette out of the line—and the expression and pose/animations give it a lot of personality.

My only issue with it is that it does feel a lot more like a pre-evo to Hitmonchan than to Hitmonlee. I can see some elements of Hitmonlee—the brown "pants" and "shoes", the bandage-like markings, the circles on the cheeks that arguably are where the arms go, the hands—but the eyes, head spines, and separate head instantly invokes Hitmonchan. Not entirely sure how you'd fix that though, and it's not a big deal by any means.

Tyrogue also had a beta in the form of this guy, known as "Gong". It maybe looks a bit more like Hitmonlee than the final version does, but it also feels less like either and is a bit more generic in terms of body shape. Final design's definitely the better one.

Hitmonlee is a really cool design, being what I can best describe as a drumstick with extendable legs. Very monster-y, and the stretchy legs are fun and convey the typing well.

Visually, the simple color scheme works well, and the black eyes pop nicely without bringing extra color into the design. The arms also have a good deal of anatomy to them despite the weird body shape.

My only nitpick is that weird yellow circle on the feet feels like an afterthought. Oddly, some of the early sprites suggest that used be a dewclaw, but now it's just this out of place element that probably could've been dropped.

Hitmonchan has a completely different vibe to it and is more humanoid in design, but it still works well to convey its concept. The head spikes mimic the shape of the "skirt", and the shoulder pads have this plated look to them, a design element that you rarely see after Gen 1.

My only nitpick with it is that the purple areas of the body are way too low-contrast and don't really add anything. Pumping up the saturation might've helped, but it also could've stood to be a different color—maybe a light tan, to go with Hitmonlee's palette. Other than that, it's solid.

Hitmontop has always been kind of a strange addition to the line. For example, Tyrogue is neutral, HItmonlee is kicking, Hitmonchan is punching, and Hitmontap... is the Brazillian martial art of capoeira. It works well enough, but it is oddly specific all things considered.

It's also weird because it has little in common with its other evos. It has Himonlee's claws and bandages, and Hitmonchan's head spikes, but it also has completely different eyes than either of them and a bright blue palette that comes out of nowhere. It doesn't look completely out of place or anything, but I do also feel like it could've been its own thing entirely with few tweaks.

Visually, the top idea is fun and the design gets it across well with the head spike and eyes and mouth that can be read regardless of direction. However, I'm not a big fan of the overly round body or the weird V cut in the blue, and the tail's always felt a bit out of place to me.

Of course, the reason it might feel slightly out of place is because it was originally... well, whatever the hell this thing is. Seriously, this has got to be one of the most out-there beta designs, and I'm telling you, there are a lot of out-there beta designs.

There are some elements to this design that I do wish had been kept. For example, the three legs form a perfect radius regardless of position, and I feel like they work better than the tail due to how rigid they are in structure. They also look a bit more like Hitmonlee's legs, so that's a neat touch.

I also really like how the face works. Hitmontop is a creature that's upside-down, but this thing has two completely different faces, one upright and one upside-down depending on which way its facing. That is VERY cool, and feels like a fun play on the concept.

However, it's undeniable that this thing is utterly bizarre, with its complete lack of a mouth, single eye when upright, and three legs. It honestly feels more like a UB than any kind of regular Pokemon. I do like elements of it more than the final, but as a whole, Hitmontop was probably the better choice and the more "Pokemon-esq" option.

Anyway, as a whole, this is a solid line with some fun abstract monster designs and clear themes. Personally I think Hitmonlee's the strongest while Hitmontop's the weakest, but all of them have their own charm.

[adventure-showdown]

What is your favourite Doctor Who story?

ROUND 2 MASTERPOST

synopses and propaganda under the cut

The Book of the War

Synopsis

The Great Houses: Immovable. Implacable. Unchanging. Old enough to pass themselves off as immortal, arrogant enough to claim ultimate authority over the Spiral Politic.

The Enemy: Not so much an army as a hostile new kind of history. So ambitious it can re-write worlds, so complex that even calling it by its name seems to underestimate it.

Faction Paradox: Renegades, ritualists, saboteurs and subterfugers, the criminal-cult to end all criminal-cults, happy to be caught in the crossfire and ready to take whatever's needed from the wreckage… assuming the other powers leave behind a universe that's habitable.

The War: A fifty-year-old dispute over the two most valuable territories in existence: "cause" and "effect."

Marking the first five decades of the conflict, THE BOOK OF THE WAR is an A to Z of a self-contained continuum and a complete guide to the Spiral Politic, from the beginning of recordable time to the fall of humanity. Part story, part history and part puzzle-box, this is a chronicle of protocol and paranoia in a War where the historians win as many battles as the soldiers and the greatest victory of all is to hold on to your own past…

Propaganda

Is it about Dr Who? I mean, sort of. Arguably. You could say the Doctor is present in it. Somewhat. Not by name tho because that would be illegal. But definitely there are uh. well. there's definitely stuff in it that's DWesque. It's Dr Who Adjacent. It's Dr Whoish. Strong Dr Who vibes. (@eighthdoctor )

Experimental sci-fantasy that defined the Time War and started a whole series of its own. (anonymous)

The City of the Dead

Synopsis

“Nothing can get into the TARDIS,” the Doctor whispered. Then he realised that Nothing had.

New Orleans, the early 21st century. A dealer in morbid artefacts has been murdered. A charm carved from human bone is missing. An old plantation, miles from any water, has been destroyed by a tidal wave.

Anji goes dancing. Fitz goes grave-robbing. The Doctor attracts the interest of a homicide detective and the enmity of a would-be magician. He wants to find out the secret of the redneck thief and his blind wife. He'd like to help the crippled curator of a museum of magic. He's trying to refuse politely the request of a crazy young artist that he pose naked with the man's wife.

Most of all, he needs to figure out what all of them have to do with the Void that is hunting him down.

Before it catches him.

Propaganda

It has dark magic and someone is hunting the Doctor in his dreams. Also great worldbuilding. (anonymous)

[ask-mortarion-the-death-lord]

The problem with [primaris] dreadnoughts

Since I've been seein it around a lot, I will note that whats arguably the actual problem with the old firstborn dreadnought being 'squated' in favour of the shiny new primaris dreadnought model is that the new primaris dreadnought looks to much like the old one but messes enough with the design to make it unpleasant/unpalatable to look at.

namely the legs having an extra joint, its most obvious on the ballistus dready but that extra joint [at the knee] throws the whole design off balance by giving it legs that are ironically too long for its bodies design and shape to not be uncanny. the castaferrum is a squat lil dwarfy boy for dreadnoughts, but the primaris dreadies have the contemptor legs essentially which are designed for tall narrower/rounded bois with more human proportions. so you get the uncanny valley of a dwarf with long human legs.

and i can already point ya to a pair of legs that would have worked better for the primaris dreadies, and thats the leviathan.

the leviathan is not a dwarf dreadnought its a big honker, but it shares a general silhouette with the castraferrum in the sense of being wide and boxy, with what is essentially a squat posture. and its legs are designed to lean into that visual aesthetic being effectively more compact so more of the designs outline rests on the upper portion giving it a more solid appearance of weight. compare that to the contemptor

who has legs that are not only obviously thinner but obviously much taller in proportion to its body. and finally compare that to the primaris redemptor

whos legs are thin and tall [and even look more like the contemptors legs then the leviathans legs]. and to drive the point in compare to the ballistus as well which better highlights the problem

and for the sake of comparison heres a mortis castraferrum to further contrast things

[stainedmystery]

Collated Nemesis / Phalanx Lore

Howdy! Here's a post that's a few years in the making, collecting all of Nemesis' lore in one place, with references to videos and the like. Unfortunately, there's a lot of rewrites of lore, but it's really interesting to track the evolution of the Phalanx. It's evolved over four distinct eras of Nemesis history, which I'll track here. For ease, I'll refer to the four eras as the OG Era, Nemesis Sub Terra Era, the Scare-maze Tetralogy, and the Reborn Era.

Beginning with the OG era, there are two distinct and important pieces of media which cover the lore of Nemesis. The first is this advert. It's the best record for the Nemesis Creature's lore, whether or not it's still accurate is questionable with how much from this era has been rewritten. You can see Alton Towers' love for human sacrificing cults appear from day one, as this video goes on to explain a cult surrounding Nemesis. The creature had the ability to mass hypnotize crowds into visiting it, and the cult leaders would use a chant to awaken the creature and let it feed. It... also implies that it would use the track to feed on the unsuspecting towns folk. The advert spends a good chunk of time devoted to setting up a talisman, that can protect people from the creature and its followers. The other important media related lore we got during this era was this comic. This comic is the first ever mention of the Phalanx, and they look absolutely nothing like their modern day counterparts. First of all, they're undeniably heroes. There isn't a single shred of moral ambiguity, they're 'lawful good' aligned. The Original Phalanx, established centuries ago, were created by aliens who had lost their home planet to Nemesis, and vowed to protect the rest of the galaxy from her. It's implied that King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were Phalanx Operatives, back in the day. In the comic, they're fighting the cult leaders, who are known as 'Nemesites' and call on the power of Nemesis to kill nonbelievers. They're very much just humans with glowy hands and wearing cloaks in the comic, however. Sights such as Stonehenge were established to protect our world from Nemesis, but some of the Nemesites had torn down the protection by Alton Towers, and that's how it was able to penetrate through. Hilariously, the main Phalanx soldier in the comics is a guy called Smile... And the Phalanx's secret base is known as The Sanctuary.

And then, for twenty odd years, Nemesis' lore was quiet. Nothing was added, nothing was really changed, until the Nemesis Sub Terra Era. Most of the content for the Nemesis Sub Terra Era came from Nemesis Sub Terra, the ride. The best link I can provide is this, which was the queueline video and provided a rough overview of the Phalanx. From this, we learnt that the Phalanx had been roughly completely reinvented, while keeping the same core. The Phalanx have no longer been protecting the world from specifically Nemesis since before King Arthur's time, nor do they seem to have a really old, secret base built in Alton Towers. They're now a militaristic research group, that provides 'tactical support to sensitive regions', and collaborate with global governments to be able to respond to any emergency within 48 hours. They've lost their unique, brightly coloured superhero meets knight aesthetic, and are more subdued and militaristic. But, for all intensive purposes, at this point they were still intended to be heroes. Or, at least not active villains. We're entering what was, in my opinion, the best characterisation of the Phalanx. They were well intending, largely egotistical, but insanely incompetent. For example, the main issue in Sub Terra is that the Phalanx created an observation station, where members of the public could learn about their research... only to lose control of that research and resulting in the implied deaths of civilians.

Next, we move onto what is arguably the worst archived section of Nemesis' history: The Scare-maze Tetralogy. The story begins with Dark Apocalypse, and then the narratives of Project 42 and Sub Species: End Games happen concurrently. Unfortunately, unlike above, most of the lore was stored only officially in the Alton Towers Scarefest webpage, which I've used the Wayback Machine to preserve.

The plot of Dark Apocalypse was: A deadly virus has spread across Forbidden Valley. The infected show signs of highly aggressive behavior and rapid physical decomposition. Phalanx control has quarantined the area however, a recent security breach has questioned their ability to contain the virus and keep society safe.

For Sub Species: End Games, we had: A post-apocalyptic, sewer dwelling community have been infested by a species from another world. In order to survive, they appease the creature’s hunger by sacrificing innocent people from the surface. However, over time, insanity has twisted the feeding ritual into a sick contest. Your demise is now their entertainment. This year find your way through the underground system with new routes to take but which will you choose? Let the death race begin! Located within The Towers." AND an audio walkthrough, which can unfortunately be the best way to experience Towers' past mazes.

For Project 42, we had: "Project 42 invites valiant volunteers to enter the underground Phalanx compound in a bid to outwit what awaits them inside. The Phalanx requires volunteers to enter the compound, find the vaccination and rescue the technician. Can you get out before contracting the infection?" AND this trailer

And finally, for Sub Species Operation Lockdown, we had: "This Scarefest, join The Phalanx on their latest mission. Take on a series of challenges to destroy the alien species and work together as a team to ensure the rest of humanity survive and you escape from Sub Species: Operation Lockdown." AND this video. Any information on Operation Lockdown is extremely difficult to come across, as it only existed for a very short period time as an escape room few people did.

The overall summary was that the Phalanx became established as trying to do the right thing, but consistently making critical errors that cost civilian lives. Tying it all into one narrative, it began when they lost control of the zombie like outbreak in Dark Apocalypse (the disease is called B10-NST). Continues into Sub Species: End Games, where after evacuating the townsfolk into the sewers to keep them safe from the zombies, the townsfolk now find themselves trapped with something even worse. And finishes with Project 42 where, after creating a cure, the Phalanx base becomes overran and they must recruit civilians to retrieve it. Throughout the story, there is only one scene where the Phalanx act with a truly malicious nature, and that's the end of Project 42, where they execute the volunteers by firing squad in an attempt to control the spread of the virus... It's also important to mention that Project 42 has a critical scene where it's revealed that the cure is missing.

I don't know much about this attraction, but it was brought to my attention that in a local university, Alton Towers created an escape room only for students called Sub Strain, where the cure to Project 42 is found alongside Dr Arten, who created it.

The first time the Phalanx are revealed to be truly antagonistic is during the Reborn era, where the 'Seek The Truth' began to whistleblow their recklessness. Now, it seems that the Phalanx have evolved from a noble, Arthurian Knights-eqsue organization that existed only to protect people from Nemesis, to a morally grey militaristic organization that's only interested in the profits that arise from selling the Nemesis Eggs. I asked a walkabout Nemesis actor about B10-NST & Project 42, and they reacted as if it was still part of the lore, and that the cure had been administered so it was business as usual. I've been light on the Nemesis Reborn Era lore, as I imagine a lot of people have been covering it.

Interestingly enough, it seems that, while I haven't really focused on them, the Nemesites evolved too. It's implied in Sub Species: End Games, that the creature trapped in the sewers with the townsfolk is a more humanoid nemesis creature-eqsue being, which would loop back around to the whole 'cult worshipping Nemesis and feeding it people to stay safe' idea. The junkers from Festival of Thrills seems to be implied to be the citizens who were once trapped in the underground sewers.

If you've gotten this far, o7! I salute you. I hope this helps you on your journey to understand the Nemesis lore better.

[ghoulangerlee]

rain and aether thing somewhat takes place after the other one I posted. this one is just biting? a lot of biting and hints that rain ghoul is making his rounds among the others and partaking in freaky sex as well

i will eventually get to writing the actual sex between these two and not just rain being a smug asshole and flashing his bitey teeth at aether

im not too happy with it and it was going to be something totally different but it grew into aether thirsting after rain's freaky teeth

minor cw for the end where it's alluded to that rain's drinking blood

its not been read over im yeeting this to to public bc if i have it in my drafts any longer im gonna be even more discouraged

-

Rain's teeth are, arguably the most terrifying part of him—next to his eyes and the strange mimic voice he projects into Aether's mind when he wants to be heard.

Two rows of sharp, serrated teeth, the inner row situated just behind the first—even more terrifying when Rain chooses not to glamour (which is all the time usually, unless he's out with the band, and then he uses the barest minimum of glamour—his claws, skin color, his strange inhuman eyes, all hidden; he doesn't dull his senses, he doesn't hide his aura, just physical changes to fit in), he hasn't properly bedded Rain just yet, but he does wonder about the teeth, if Rain's careful with them.

He's of course seen the mouth shaped marks on the others, half formed teeth marks across Dew's throat, or the neat double row on Mountain's inner thigh, bruised and scabbed over—even Copia carried a mark, one that Aether had accidentally seen on his side while he'd been changing.

Each one, similar in a way but also different—two rows of teeth, four neat lines of marks showing that something, or someone had been there.

(Aether tries not to think too hard about teeth catching on too sensitive skin, painful and not at all arousing.)

Not that bedding Rain was the only thing on his mind of course, helping the water ghoul acclimate to life on the surface, giving him a crash course in human ways so Copia didn't inexplicably insult Rain without knowing—etiquette and language (though Rain didn't vocalize), teaching him how to build and hold a proper glamour that couldn't be seen through by just anyone, even pop culture and human food, those were the things that Aether had mostly been concerned about.

The tour was coming up fast and Copia would be summoning another ghoul sooner than later—the faster he had Rain acclimated meant that when the new ghoul was on the surface, Aether wouldn't be in charge of two otherworldly beings.

Rain, by himself, was a handful.

He was absolutely perfect during band practice, sticking by Dew's side and learning the cues from both Copia and Mountain, studious and eager to play. He used his voice more during these moments, his mimicry of a vocalization projected into all of their minds at once so they could all discuss as one.

It was when it was just the two of them that things were...different.

He was intense, always watching Aether with his dark eyes, so dark that he couldn't tell where the pupil ended and the iris began—the dark maybe blue almost black blending into one color.

Of course, Aether knew that from the set of his eyes, the sharpness of his teeth and claws, Rain was a predator, through and through. It wasn't that difficult to figure out, how he'd track movement and his affinity to blood—the one time Copia had accidentally cut himself on the edge of a small stack of paperwork, Aether had seen the way Rain's nostrils flared, his gaze snapping from the book he'd been reading to Copia across the room, muttering to himself as he shoved his sluggishly bleeding finger into his mouth.

The control he held, the way he'd kept his eyes on Copia the whole time until the man had left the room, carrying the stack of papers now safely on a clipboard.

When Aether finally managed to catch Rain's gaze, he had noticed the glazed look in his eyes, the impatience radiating off of him as the book in his lap had been forgotten.

If he had to place a name to the expression on Rain's face, it'd probably be something like ravenous, hungry, a caged animal waiting to pounce.

And when Rain had stood up, closing his book with a firmness, he'd briefly caught Aether's eyes again, a sharp grin on his lips before he'd left the room as well.

While alone, he pondered what it'd be like to be on the receiving end of Rain's gaze—to be the one who caused that reaction in him, to be the one who'd be at Rain's mercy...

He quickly banished the thought and quietly thanked every prince of hell that today had been the one day he'd decided to go without genitalia—the only clue to his tumultuous thoughts being a quick spike in his scent and an uptick in his pulse that he could easily explain away.

And then one day, one day, Rain had cornered him, they weren't much different in height, with Aether being slightly taller than the water ghoul, but something about the squareness of his shoulders, the way he carried himself, the confidence in which he'd rested his hands on Aether's hips, guiding him back against the wall had Aether feeling small.

He shivered, heat immediately pooling between his legs as Rain pressed against him, his body warm and firm as he hooks his fingers into the hem of Rain's shirt, keeping him close.

Aether.

The vocalization is warm and amused, and when Aether glances down at Rain, he's smiling, somewhat fond.

You're the only one who hasn't come to bed with me.

Aether snorts softly, feeling the tension bleed out of him at Rain's words—the phrase so reminiscent of something that Copia would say, "I didn't know you were trying to collect us," he says, feeling Rain shake against him with laughter as the water ghoul noses along his jaw.

I like a full set

Aether feels teeth graze lightly against his skin, the sharp points drawing a full body shudder from him as he grips Rain's shirt tighter.

You think so loudly about me, Rain's voice cuts through his frenzied thoughts, When you look at me, you look like you're contemplating jumping me.

A flush spreads across Aether's cheeks, the pink of it so obvious on his pale, human skin and he's glad that Rain's more occupied with mouthing at his jaw and throat, not focused on his face.

"S'why you have me here now, right?" he asks, tipping his head back against the wall as Rain's mouth continues its way across his throat, "Because I keep lookin' at you."

Rain laughs again and it's very odd, to not hear the laughter, to only feel it where Rain's shaking against him, usually, there's a projection even if the laughter sometimes doesn't come out right.

You're always looking at my mouth, figured it was time I finally took a bite and let you see what all of this is about.

As the words echo in Aether's mind, Rain's teeth bite down, not hard enough to maim but definitely hard enough that Aether feels them sink into his skin, sharp and painful in a way that has Aether pushing up onto his toes as if he's trying to get away from Rain.

He vocalizes something, the pain shooting through his body as hot as molten lava—a hand, Rain's hand, pets against his side, now under his shirt and warm against his skin, petting claw tipped fingers gently over him.

Too much?

Aether goes to respond, to tell him yes, let me go and no please don't stop but before he can, the words die in his throat as Rain pulls his mouth away, soothing his tongue over the bite marks.

Now you match with your pretty fire ghoul

Aether shivers, remembering the teeth marks across Dew's throat, the dopey look on his face whenever he'd leave Rain's room and he feels Rain smile against his skin as if he also knows what Aether's thinking about.

Prey are usually scared of the teeth, not aroused by them.

There's an amused tone to Rain's words and the barest hint of sharp teeth against Aether's earlobe, making the quintessence ghoul shiver again, pulling at Rain's shirt, his hands fisted tightly in the material.

Too much?

It's an out, an offer to step back and regroup, try something else, try again at a later time and if Aether were smart, he'd do that, he'd let them regroup, talk about it with Rain first to make sure no boundaries were being crossed—but Hell below, Aether is tired of thinking things through rationally, of talking things out before diving head first into something.

The others have had a chance with Rain, have tumbled into bed with him multiple times, have the marks to show for it and Aether's just feeling a bit like he can be selfish this once.

"No," he says, untangling his fingers from Rain's shirt, feeling the water ghoul perk up a bit at his words, "Not enough," he offers, sliding his fingers into Rain's hair, guiding him easily to the other side of his neck, "I heal pretty fast," he says, "Within a few hours the mark'll be gone if you're not fastidious enough about it," he tilts his head back against the wall, guiding Rain up into the perfect spot; the stretch of skin just below his ear, something that'll be hard to cover up when he's not wearing his full uniform.

He feels Rain's fingers flex slightly, his nails catching against his skin briefly before he seems to settle down.

There's a pause, a moment where Aether worries he's read the whole situation wrong, but then there's a piercing pain that melts into something that sends molten heat to his core, warming him up from the inside out as his fingers hold a bit too tight in Rain's hair, keeping him exactly where he needs him.

He feels Rain's jaw work against his skin, the loud exhale of air from his nose as he presses Aether harder against the wall, shoving his leg between Aether's, hot and hard and perfect.

[ceaseless-bitcher]

-TMA Spoilers(?)-

As I re-listen to The Magnus Archives (again), I become increasingly aware of our lack of actual knowledge about how the characters’ relationships develop. We only hear what The Web deemed relevant enough to lure the Fears: interactions directly related to The Fourteen. We hear statements, commentary, encounters, and fights/conversations that specifically develop The Mother’s own plan, as that is what allows her to build her literal web on Hill Top Road.

Even in early seasons, when it isn’t just The Web compelling various people to start recording at points (or turning on the recorders itself), we literally only get post-statement commentary and interruptions. So few give us direct insight into who these characters are beyond their jobs.

It kinda breaks my heart that we don’t get to hear how Jon and Martin slowly grow closer, becoming friends after such a rocky start. We hear Jon’s fights with Tim and Melanie, but the only things we actually get are the breaking points. There are massive gaps in their personal and private lives over the years the story occurs. Jon, Sasha, and Tim were close friends, and yet it takes nearly the entire series to realise that!

We hear Tim make some very interesting remarks in episode 65 (Binary, statement #0170701), in his fight with Jon:

“And the worst thing – the actual worst thing – is that no one here has my back. With any of it! Elias doesn’t care, Martin just wants a tea party, and Sasha – ugh – and you! – you’re treating me like I’m somehow to blame for it all, like I didn’t suffer the worst right alongside you!”

What I find fascinating here is the, “and Sasha- ugh,” as he sounds highly distressed in the recording. We know the two are very close, particularly due to the 2015 Tim-Sasha interaction played in episode 162. They were best friends, so Tim was the most directly affected by the Not!Sasha’s new personality. We can compare the two Sashas to find that the original was far kinder, showing her goofier side almost exclusively to Tim. Right after Tim’s own traumatic experiences with Prentiss in episode 40, his best friend completely changes, refusing to offer him any support. In Episode 78 (The New Cousin, #0011206), Jon can hardly get through a sentence talking about the Not!Sasha. It is so heart-wrenching to know that they experienced that hurt and confusion we never hear in those 7 months (29th Jul, 2016-16th Feb, 2017).

Also, Melanie and Helen were friends??? We never hear Melanie and Georgie’s relationship develop! Listeners are, deliberately, deprived of the soft character-building one has come to expect from media.

I think it’s a fantastic plot device and I completely understand why they did it, but another part of me desperately wants to know the smaller details of their lives. What was the break-room gossip like? What other weird things were kept in Artefact Storage?? How did the rest of the Institute react to the Archives constantly nearly dying??? How often did Elias come down to fuck with them????

What I am arguably most curious about is whether The Mother intended for these recordings to be heard in the universe they enter next. The last word we hear from them come from Basira, after the Panopticon’s collapse:

“If anyone’s listening… Goodbye.

I’m sorry, and… Good luck.”

It implies that the diegetic reason we hear these 200 episodes at all is because our universe was the one the Fears were flung to. If that is the case, then it would make sense that the Web would ensure the next “round” of humans was fully equipped to repeat the actions taken to allow the Fears to escape entropy- the plan is put at much higher risk because the Fears enter at a point where the human population is much greater, with advanced technology and communicational tools that could enable The Watcher’s Crown too fast for favourable conditions for The Web to develop as well.

Maybe the recordings placed into the Hill Top Web weren’t just to attract the Fears, but also to prepare a new humanity to confront them.

[morsartis]

Compliment Part 2

Peter Maximoff x Reader

Tagged: @floraroselaughter

It’d been weeks since your rather awkward encounter with Peter, well maybe awkward wasn’t the right word for it. Hindsight had been a bit of an eye opener for you after that day and you had spent that time growing more and more embarrassed with yourself. It wasn’t that you were ashamed of it, not at all, in fact it was more the urge to keep doing it that had caught you off guard. Watching Peter the way you liked to do had revealed he didn’t have many friends and certainly even less compliments. Your one off handed compliment had seemed to brighten his week and as you watched him revert back to his old self you couldn’t help but feel… Sad. Everyone deserved compliments. While you yourself hadn’t been on the receiving end of many compliments that didn’t mean others weren’t deserving of them. Your mother had drilled into your head to be the change you wanted to see in the world and mostly you just wished people were kinder to each other. Especially with all this mutant nonsense that seemed to be cropping up. Perhaps you were tenderhearted with your belief that one should do unto others as they’d wish others would do unto them, perhaps you were overly optimistic in the hope that humans and mutants could coexist. You weren’t sure. 

But you did know that you liked seeing others happy. 

After having worked yourself into an embarrassed mess over the compliment a few weeks ago it took you some time to work up the courage to try it again. This time however you took your time formulating the compliment you wanted to give. It’d be something small, insignificant to most, but something only someone who was watching might think to give. Arguably you knew he was self conscious of certain things. It was quite obvious in the way he acted what made him jittery. So there you were in your shared class with your chin in your palm as the teacher droned on in the background. Peter seemed to be developing heterochromia in his eyes, that pale blue ring to them more visible now than before. But you had already complimented them. You didn’t want to come off as a broken record. Instead you had zeroed in on his hair. Years of watching your mother straighten her own hair had given you a clue what natural straight hair and ironed straight hair looked like. As track season had begun and Peter had taken to it you’d noticed that his hair had gotten almost curly at the roots. Why he’d hide such a thing didn’t make sense to you but you figured that was just something he did. His eyes darted to your own and he tensed clearly not expecting you to be watching, giving him a warm smile you hummed to yourself in thought. The smile was what made him pause. His lips parted to speak and you were reminded that he also had nice lips. They looked soft despite most likely being chapped. Kissable. That particular thought was set aside for later. 

“You’d look nice with curly hair.” You spoke, interrupting him before he could speak himself. The soft incessant tapping of his foot paused. For a moment he merely stared back at you. He blinked the words setting in slowly. But just like the last time you complimented him that barely there blush threatened to rise to his cheeks. His face was more round than other boys, betraying a youth that hadn’t yet left him in favor of puberty. He cleared his throat after a moment, eyes darting nervously around the room to see if anyone had heard or was paying any attention. Or perhaps he was looking to see if you’d been set up by someone. That thought rather hurt. 

���I look weird with curly hair.” He mumbled after a moment. His hand scrubbed over his face and you couldn’t help but smile a little more. 

“I think you’d look handsome.” You shrugged. To your fascination that blush deepened, his face reddened in such a way that you could clearly see the pink. Those interesting eyes darted between you and somewhere off to the side as if trying to think of something to say. Something to refute your claim. But you continued to gaze at him with a warm smile. 

“You have nice lips.” He blurted out your eyes widened the same time his did. That blush now a bright flaming unmistakable red as he ducked his head. “Fuck.” He hissed to himself. 

Huh. You thought past the embarrassment. You tried not to immediately deny the compliment as sudden as it was. Had he been staring too? Your face felt warm as your smile curled a little at the edges with the heat. Going more crooked as the embarrassment set in. Taking a steady breath you willed your voice not to crack. 

“Thanks.” Your voice swelled with that bashful feeling threatening to overwhelm you. Gnawing on your cheek you glanced away. When you glanced back you found him staring right at you, some strange expression on his face you couldn’t place. Unsure of yourself you shuffled nervously in your seat. Strangely enough you could have sworn you saw his pupils dilate but that was silly. 

He cleared his throat suddenly and flipped erratically through the book you were supposed to be reading for your class. Taking that as your cue you opened your own book and flipped to where you’d marked the pages. Self consciously your fingers trailed to your lips. You couldn’t help but let out a silent huff of amusement at what an awkward pair the two of you must have made. As the teacher continued to talk you glanced shyly back up at him and found his eyes. 

“I like your jacket too. It’s cute.” 

He shuffled around in his seat, teeth digging into his lower lip. A pretty deer in headlights. 

“I like the little hearts you doodle in your notebook.” He blurted and then flushed red yet again. It was clear he hadn’t meant to say that either. The confession caught you off guard, you didn’t think anyone noticed the little absentminded doodles you drew when you were struggling to focus. Much less noticed enough to realize what they were. Which meant that somehow Peter had been watching you like you had been watching him. All without you having noticed at all. The heat in your face returned but you couldn’t help the smile that tugged at your lips. 

“You do?” You asked, unable to hide the bashful tone of your voice. Those wide eyes skittered across your face and you wondered what he could possibly be thinking. 

“Yeah.” He answered plainly. “They, uh, they’re cute. I mean…” He trailed off clearly trying to think of something to say and grasping at straws. Taking pity on him and on yourself you found yourself stretching your leg out to rest your ankle against his. The featherlight touch had his foot immediately stilling, freezing him momentarily in place before he swallowed so hard his adam’s apple visibly jumped. 

“Thank you.” You told him genuinely. It was strange how that was the compliment that caught you the most. An unwitting admittance to being perceived by someone else. You had gone to pull your leg from his when his leg suddenly twisted to lock yours into place. Shifting so that the back of your ankle was pressed against the front of his. A new, surprising, development. Did Peter… Like touch? Did he want it? In all your time observing him you hadn’t noticed a preference for or against it. But if he wanted touch… You forced your leg to relax against his. Letting it rest there as if it were the most natural thing in the world as you turned back to your book. For the rest of the class period the two of you stayed like that. Ankles locked together harmlessly under your desks.

[raspberrysmoon]

SOTBAW questions cause they make me ill:

Out of the lords, who’s the most physically affectionate???

what are the lords’ favorite thing to do with kai??

Wiggly’s first reaction upon seeing kai?

POKEY’S first reaction upon seeing kai?

fuck it can you just do 3-4 for the rest of the lords i feel like getting sick

ARE UNCLE BILL AND AUNTIE CHARLOTTE CANNON??? Please say yes…

do the lords celebrate Kai’s birthday?

did Kai keep anything from the black and white?

does Kai know Webby? Auntie Webby?

do Paul and Emma ever find out abt Kai’s past w/ the lords

besties w/ max????

Kai’s fav thing to do with the lords?

is the hair natural or is dyed like in cannon? If so where tf did she get that dye

how tf did the lords survive raising an infant

Does kai ever become a singer like in cannon?? Or at the very least does she sing for recreational purposes

weird question but I’m kinda interested: is Kai’s gender/sexuality same as cannon? Or have the different experiences shaped her attraction differently? Or does she not know what gay people are? Does she know that gay people exist raspy

favorite thing to do w Paul or Emma or both?

Can the Gary ending be cannon pls pls or the one where they all live together pls it’s so sillayyyy

does Kai have sick ass black and white powers™️⁉️

Kai’s favorite memory with the lords/lords favorite memory with kai?

thank you baby for making this fic series off that goofy au i made I am violently ill about it

jfc thats a lot of questions. ok here goes.

1- probably wiggly or tinky. fucking ticklers. wiggly's also one to fall asleep with kai a lot

2- overall i think they just like to teach her things. nibbly likes to teach her about food, pokey has his music, blinky has his.. well. he's blinky. he knows everything. he teaches her the fun parts of life. tinky takes on teaching her about life itself, how to sustain it and how to keep time/do things quickly, and wiggly handles just about everything boring. tinky also likes to play tag with her (he loses on purpose)

3- which time? the first? awe. shortly followed by adoration. the second? fear, mostly. fear that she'll bring him to his knees when hes so, so close to taking what he wants. once he knows she can't (or won't) it's replaced by anger.

4- pokey's honestly kind of apathetic to kai when he first sees her. its a human baby. it cries. why would he get excited about that? the second time, he's angry. of course he is. but he's also terrified. terrified she wont come home, terrified shes hurting, terrified of.. he's not sure what, exactly. (he finds out, when kai starts to scream.)

5- both times nibbly is overjoyed. he quite likes human children, he always has, so he took to little kai easily. the second time, he knows she won't come home to him. he can smell it- feel it- on her. but he saw her again, eyes bright and cheeks flushed, grinning. that was enough for him. even if it destroyed him a little, on the inside.

6- blinky's forced himself to be apathetic both times. it hurts more the second time, but he has a job to do and he can't do it if he's caught up in emotions. no, ignore the fact that he's the most hurt by the lose of her. he mostly pretends its not her, when he has to face her.

7- tinky, arguably, is the hardest to explain. he was.. violently excited, when he first saw baby kai. at first, he was going to treat her how he treated any other human. cruelly. we all know thats not how it worked out. well, not until he saw her again, after it all.

8- sure. i dont see why they wouldn't be. kai still goes to watcherworld with bill and alice, after all.

9- i dont think they understand birthdays. they have parties year-round with her

10- she carries one of blinky's monitors with her. it's small- barely big enough to be a necklace pendant- and long-broken, but its something. she also has a small stuffed rabbit she kept, a gift from pokey.

11- maybe. maybe not.

12- not fully. they know something about her early life is weird, but she doesn't want them to stop loving her, so she keeps quiet about it.

13- absolutely. max and kai are a constant, aren't they? well, until npmd, anyway.

14- she always liked exploring with them. they didn't get to go far, but they went where they could. (where she could. some parts of the black are.. less than friendly, to humans.)

15- probably natural, a side effect of the black. if not, pokey got the dye for her. anything for his little actress.

16- no idea. im not sure they actually did lol

17- she sings for fun! but with the amount of.. stress she's put under, she doesn't have time to do more with it. maybe post-canon, if she makes it there

18- emma has to teach her about gay people. its the worst "talk" she could've imagined giving a child. kai was raised by five ungendered, entirely unlabled things. she has no concept of gender or sexuality, just her own feelings. the feelings are mostly the same as kai cannon, though i imagine she's straight up sex repulsed. can barely joke about it. it's almost body horror-esk for her.

19- she likes to take walks with them and listen to them talk. or watch movies with them. she really likes watching movies they like with them

20- we'll see. the ending is fuzzy for me right now. i have five options though, titled bad, good, love, loss, and awh fuck. "love" is the split custody ending. "awh fuck" is technically the worst, then "loss", "bad", "good" and "love".

21- is she kai drew without some sick ass powers. of course she has sick ass black & white powers

this ones getting split again ;-;

22- kai's favorite memory is the first time they took her out of the black. she was eight, they took her to watcherworld. she fell asleep on tinky before they could make it out of the park.

23- wiggly's favorite memory of kai is clique. the first time she chose him. called for him. not any of the others. she was four, and had fallen. he fixed the scrape, of course, but it was more than that to him.

24- pokeys favorite memory is dancing with her when she was 12. she wrote the song they danced to. it's his favorite, still.

25- nibbly's is the first picnic they took. it was simple, but kai was so.. excited, would be the best word, but it was stronger than that. she was six, and she picked flowers for each of her papas.

26- blinky's is more a collection of memories. if he had to pick, it was the last dinner they had together. pokey put on a show for them, brought kai on stage and made her his princess. their princess. she left about 36 hours later.

27- tinky's is the same as kais. it was the first time she fell asleep on him. he bit pokey to keep her in his arms until she woke up.

im glad you approve of my bullshit :3 hope these suffice !!

[best-evangelion-girl]

Ramiel is the fifth angel that appears in neon genesis evangelion. it appears as a floating crystal octahedron capable of deploying a drill and firing a large destructive laser with perfect accuracy. it makes noises that sound like high pitched voices singing. it is the least organic and most mechanical of the angels, and is arguably not "alive". an internal scan shows that a massive nuclear reactor is contained within it's body. it uses it's drill to try and breach the geofront to reach Adam. realizing that an eva could not get close enough to attack Ramiel, Misato came up with the plan to channel all of Tokyo-3's energy into firing a massive experimental positron rifle fired by unit 01. Ramiel counterattack but it's beam was blocked by unit 00 and it's heat shield. Ramiel was defeated, but unit 00 was badly damaged and received repairs and a color change afterwards.

https://wiki.evageeks.org/Ramiel

beast mode is a form activated by Mari Makinami Illustrious in Evangelion 2.0 where she enacts a sort of controlled berserk mode with heightened power. the restrictive pilons are removed, and the eva undergoes a transformation where it "abandons it's humanity". the proportions are far less human and it looks animalistic. Asuka enacts an ungraded beast mode in 3.0 where unit 02 becomes even more animalistic and seems to affect Asuka as well as she seems to have fangs and glowing eyes

https://wiki.evageeks.org/Beast_Mode