#at very least while they've both still so (comparatively) young

[recurring-polynya]

I was thinking about how it's cool Rukia and Renji's bankai are pretty complementary in terms of making a good battle couple. Renji has always been a straight-to-bankai sort of guy, which makes sense. In the grand scheme of bankai, his isn't the most powerful or the most destructive, but it doesn't have any detrimental area effects and he can use it for a long time. Rukia's on the other hand, is very powerful, but it's only good for a very short time, and it leaves her vulnerable. Fighting together, she can back up Renji with kidou support or her shikai attacks, and then he can give her cover while she transitions in and out of bankai, if needed. This is a lot more fun, imo, than say, Kyouraku and Ukitake, who are both so hesitant to go to bankai that we never even see Ukitake's. (and maybe this works for them, given that they are side characters and the most senior in Soul Society, that their powers get the super slow burn reveal)

That being said, Renji and Byakuya's partnership works much the same way-- Byakuya's bankai isn't quite as perilous as Rukia's, but he tends to save it (my headcanon is actually that he can't go straight to bankai, he has to sort of build up momentum, so to speak). I'm not gonna lie, the scene early in the TYBW anime where Renji pins As Nodt with Zabimaru and then Byakuya slams him in the face with petals was one of the most satisfying moments of the anime so far.

All this is to say that for the approximately 1,000,000 characters Kubo crammed into Bleach, it's a real shame that he couldn't have developed an interesting side character that we might say "hell yeah!" to see stepping into place as Rukia's lieutenant post-time skip. I mean, not to diss Sentarou, but 98% of his job seems to be clownery and the other 2% is carrying heavy things. Would it have killed Kubo to let him do something during the Blood War? (him and Kiyone both, tbh) I honestly don't think it would have been too much to ask to see his shikai, if he's going to eventually be the battle partner of the series' deuteragonist. I dunno, I also just think it would have been cool for Rukia to have another friend in Soul Society besides her love interest and her brother. There's Hanatarou, I suppose, and on one level, I would love to see him as Rukia's no. 2, but he so thoroughly attached to the Fourth, and also his shikai is too gimmicky for a serious character.

Flaming hot cheetos take I just came up with: Ganju should have had grudgingly join the Gotei after the Soul Society arc and come around on Rukia after learning what Kaien meant to her, and then eventually taking over his brother's job. I mean, Kubo liked him enough to write him into the TYBW, an arc that definitely did not need more characters in it than it already had.

[imagobin]

🔯Zoldyck Family HCs🔯

I wish this had been explored more in the actual manga, because to me the Zoldyck family is one of the most intriguing things in HxH.

We did get this chart which is very interesting, but I wanted to expand on it with a couple more headcanons and speculations. Doesn't include Maha, Zigg or Grandma Zoldyck cause there's too little info on them (Seriously Zeno, where do you keep your wife?)

---

🪭Kalluto🪭

Starting with Kalluto because he's the youngest and also gets very little time to shine.

It is commonly agreed that he cares about Killua a lot and wishes he'd pay attention to him, and I think so too.

His relationship with Illumi is possibly one of mentor and apprentice, they go on missions together and Illumi supervises him to make sure he carries out assassinations properly, without toying with his victims too much.

We don't see him interacting with Milluki at all aside from flashbacks, but the two might have a pretty positive relationship. I think it still means a lot to Kalluto that his shut-in brother would take time out of his day to go on walks and play with him, even if that hasn't happened in a while.

As for his relationship with Silva and Zeno, I do like the idea of both father and grandpa being proud of Kalluto for mastering Nen at such a young age, though Silva might be a bit disappointed that Kalluto disobeyed him and became part of the Phantom Troupe.

---

🧸Alluka🧸

Such a sweetheart aaaa I wanna see more of her and Killua's future adventures.

Ever since her ability was discovered by the other members of the family, Alluka's either been used to get something (Looking at you, Milluki), or feared. Silva and Kikyo definitely fear her powers, and Zeno probably does too. Though... I have a weird feeling that unlike the rest of the family, Zeno would be like Killua and at least respect Alluka's pronouns, if she likes 'she/her', Zeno doesn't see the problem with referring to her as a girl.

I think Alluka on the other hand really wants to love the members of her family, despite how horribly they've treated her. She probably doesn't even understand why they all became so cautious around her at one point.

The only family member that Alluka does not like is Illumi for... pretty obvious reasons. Illumi isn't subtle at all with his desire to control her and her powers; plus, Illumi's hurt Killua the most, I don't think she could ever be okay with someone who's hurt her big brother so much (even by Zoldyck standards).

---

🪀Killua🪀

Not much to say about Killua since we see him interact with most of his family a bit more in-depth... aside from Kalluto-

Killua has definitely always favored Alluka over Kalluto, despite how much the youngest Zoldyck strives to get his attention. This is probably because of how close Kalluto is to his mom.

Killua finds Kikyo annoying, and definitely doesn't trust her, so since Kalluto spends a lot of time with their mother, by proxy, Killua can't bring himself to trust his younger brother either.

Aside from Alluka, whom he obviously trusts deeply, the other member of the family he trusts the most is probably his grandpa; Zeno clearly favors him and seems to be more supportive of Killua's choices compared to the rest of his family.

---

🎮Milluki🎮

Milluki my beloved, how I wish you weren't just the butt of a joke 90% of the time.

Physically speaking, he's probably the weakest Zoldyck besides Alluka, so he's most likely afraid of the other men in the family, and would definitely not want to get on their bad side.

He obeys and respects both Silva and Zeno, but I also think Milluki would like to be treated like Killua by his grandpa, that's why he shares his invention ideas with him; he wishes Zeno would praise him some.

Milluki is 100% a mama's boy, he cares about her so much, he definitely had the strongest reaction out of everyone when his mother's safety was threatened by Nanika's powers. Despite this, Kikyo doesn't seem to give him any particularly special treatment, again, that is reserved for Killua.

He's most definitely also the unlucky middle child, I think he was definitely put to the side once Killua was born; his family fully focused on Kil since he's the heir, and left Milluki to kinda do his own thing. I feel like this consequentially brought him to be jealous of Killua and all the attention he gets.

I swear he's even worse off than Kalluto, cause at least he's got his mother's love, Milluki's basically neglected even by Zoldyck standards.

---

📍Illumi📍

Man's the family's workaholic, you can't change my mind, he's also a little fucked up, but we love him for it.

He definitely cares about his whole family in his own twisted way. That includes Milluki too, they were the first two Zoldyck siblings so until Killua was born, they most definitely spent a lot of time together. Illumi doesn't really understand his brother, but he humors him.

His relationship with Kikyo is never really explored, but I see them as being definitely close, not as close as she is with Kalluto, but close. They share the same mindset when it comes to Killua. Illumi was also her first child, so she definitely poured her heart and soul into training him into being the perfect assassin, and it definitely shows.

Illumi's dynamic with his father and grandfather is definitely one of mutual respect, they may not agree on everything, but they trust each other's strength. Silva also appreciates Illumi's dedication to the family's business.

---

👒Kikyo👒

M'lady- okay no girl needs to take a chill pill, her fashion tho, on point.

Obviously her view of love is completely warped, growing up in Meteor City and marrying a world-renowned assassin didn't do her mental health many favors. But just like Illumi, she does love her kids deeply in a really twisted way.

She plays favorites, Killua and Kalluto are the ones she cares about the most, and with how dismissive of Milluki she is, he's probably her least favorite, kinda tragic since Milluki loves his mother a lot... but then we have Illumi, where does he stand? Kikyo cares about her first born child of course, she's very proud of him, and trusts him a lot with keeping Killua in check, since they seem to share opinions on how he should be trained. She wishes he'd spend more time with her for sure.

Her opinion however is way too often brushed off by Silva, not because she's a woman, but because she's not been raised like a Zoldyck, she doesn't fully know their ways, so she's not seen as a valid voice. It's an unfair treatment, and it really pisses her off.

---

☄️Silva☄️

True winner of the 'Father of the Year' award, along with Ging, great job you two.

Silva honestly has evil mastermind vibes, he cares about Killua, but also wants to constantly control him and test him in his own way (the needle was a massive proof of that). He's just a lot more subtle with it compared to Illumi and Kikyo.

He loves his wife, no doubt, even if he doesn't show it very often, I think the man is prone to small displays of love, and definitely shows it more with his actions than his words. (Him agreeing to let Alluka out of her room because he doesn't want Kikyo to die is definitely the biggest display of this we've seen canonically, he's aware of how dangerous Alluka's powers could be, but he still chose to risk the consequences of that over sacrificing his wife).

His relationship with his other kids is not really explored that much, but I believe he's mostly satisfied with all of them. I don't think he's super disappointed in Milluki either, but he definitely doesn't expect much of him, he does wish he'd take things more seriously.

---

🐲Zeno🐲

My favorite anime old man! I really wish people would pay more attention to him, he's cool as hell.

Zeno is probably the most chill man in the family, maybe cause he's old, but he's definitely the least likely to snap back at any of his family members.

He has a very strong set of morals, with him not wanting to cause any unnecessary deaths and all. I feel like because of this, he silently disapproves of Illumi's ways, especially regarding his Needle People, and the older brother's desire to control Killua.

Zeno doesn't really think much of Kikyo, he acknowledges her skills and such, but doesn't really go out of his way to interact with her. These two have definitely had their disagreements, mostly because Zeno tends to act on his own without consulting anyone, let alone her, which inevitably angers Kikyo.

He is quite proud of all his grandchildren, even if he's mostly focused on Killua. Much like Silva, he is happy that Kalluto mastered Nen at such a young age. He also sees more potential in Milluki, but wishes he was more committed to the family's business and used his genius to its full potential.

---

[darkonekrisrewrite]

AFO and Toga

Reactions to Learned "Love" and real Love

It's also really interesting (like some already pointed out)in how AFO compares and then contrasts to the other members of the league in terms of Love, what they believe is love and what could be considered real love for others.

Toga and AFO are similar in many ways.

Both having a Quirk that lets them take on aspects of other people, also adopting personas for personal reasons.

Due to her Quirk and upbringing full of rejection, toga initially believes that bloodshed is an expression of love, her quirk tying into that through a mental compulsion to consume blood.

Not so unlike AFO, the only true and positive experiences they find when they're young, is taking something from someone else.

Both are compared to Demons, willingly and unwillingly, with AFO embracing the title and Toga being branded with it.

And both eventually becoming villains and smiling, after everything they've been through and currently are, trying to live and make the best of things the only way they can.

But how they react to real Love (and/or compassion) is where the similarities end.

Once ochako reaches out to Toga and attempts to willingly connect with her, offering her blood for life, something that ochako knows would be considered love according to toga, things change.

Even though toga thinks ochako still intends to lock her away and knows (because ochako said so herself) that ochako won't overlook everything (probably talking about the killing, I guess?)-

-Toga isn't willing to kill ochako or let her die, even willing to risk her own life, to save someone who is still very much an enemy that she herself wounded.

Just because ochako showed Toga the acceptance (a form of love) that she never had before.

But AFO already had a form of real love in his brother, despite their circumstances, and his reaction to his brother no longer being on his side is the exact opposite.

AFO can't accept his brother's autonomy in any way.

First when he locks his brother in a vault for refusing to follow the villainous way of doing things and then when he tries to escape to "the other side" - AFO straight up kills him.

(at least heavily implied, maybe he didn't die right away or maybe after the transfer of OFA?)

That difference between them is what makes Toga capable of being more than the persona she has while AFO can only be a linear standard "demon lord".

[dk-wren]

A Buddy Daddies' Halloween

School and work have been slamming me yet again, so unfortunately could not write a fic for today (on top of the pile of wips I still need to finish). But, I really wanted to do a little drabble/throwing out of ideas for what a Halloween with the Kurusu/Suwa/Unasaka family might look like.

I hope you enjoy and happy Halloween!

It's their first Halloween at their new home and at the Diner's Nest

Kazuki and Rei get a notice from the city council that as a local business, they are invited to participate in a Halloween event similar to the one that takes place in the 3rd CD drama (i.e. kids visit local business to essentially go trick or treating)

Determined to make a good impression with their new community, Kazuki decides that they are gonna go all out: decorate the restaurant, have specialty food items, and only hand out the best and biggest candy bars

After Miri returns from school that day, the family takes a trip to the local dollar/general store to search for some decorations

They all go off in their own direction and reconvene later: Miri found pumpkin decorating kits, Kazuki found some banners and streamers, and Rei wandered down the "scary" section for decorations, and returned with a few statues that are very terrifying and gory looking (at least to a fairly young child)

Kazuki reminds Rei that the trick or treaters are trying to scare them, not the other way around. But, he eventually relents and agrees to get one of the decorations Rei found so that the decorating process can truly be a whole family effort (and on the agreement that it will sit in the back corner of the restaurant)

Once they finish shopping for decorations, Miri says they need to look for their Halloween costumes

Miri picks out another princess dress and she makes Papa Kazuki and Papa Rei match with her, with Kazuki getting a jester costume and Rei getting a knight costume

Over the next few days, the family spends time getting the Diner's Nest prepared for Halloween. Kazuki is also testing out how to put a Halloween spin on a few of their dishes. His proudest moment is when he figures out the right amount of pumpkin spice to add for a delicious, seasonal pumpkin french toast

Halloween finally comes and the front-facing decorations and pumpkins are inviting and loved by all those who stop in at the Diner's Nest.

The regulars try out the handful of dishes Kazuki developed (and Rei and Miri approved) and enjoy the hidden, little corner decorated around the scary statue Rei found, especially when compared to the cuter decorations seen throughout the rest of the restaurant

It's around mid-afternoon when they run out of candy to give to trick or treaters, causing Kazuki to panic slightly. Rei comes up with the solution to bake some cookies or cupcakes that they can start handing out instead.

After they close up the diner, Kazuki and Rei get into their costumes and take Miri out to go trick or treating in the local neighborhood

Miri gets a bunch of candy, with some families giving her a little extra to share with her papas

Upon returning home, Kazuki agrees to ordering a pizza for dinner. Then, they watch a Halloween movie together while eating their pizza, with Rei and Miri digging into the candy stash afterwards

Kazuki tries to limit how much sugar the two of them eat, but knows how much both of them looked forward to Halloween and wants them to enjoy it

Rei and Miri eventually crash on the couch while they are on their third or fourth movie. Kazuki knows he should probably move everyone to their bedrooms, but he's pretty tired himself. And also, it's been a while since they've had a family nap/cuddle like this. Kazuki is pretty sure he'll regret letting them all sleep out there in the morning, but that's a problem for later. Soon, he too is asleep with the rest of his family on the couch.

[landinrris]

i have a question to cleanse your mind from that young royals hot mess on twitter. do you think norrix may in fact be real and if it is when do you think it became real? and if not do you think it might ever become real? my own view is they've not acted on anything right now and would say they're only very good friends if asked and are most likely even still hooking up with women but there are feelings much stronger than normal friends bc well it's crystal clear that it's not a normal friendship but a fair chunk deeper than that like a soul connection or something as an anon said the other day. but i don't know if they'll ever get up the courage to act on it. my projection clearly as we'll never really know how they feel if they don't act on it and go public but they come across like of two of my friends who so clearly care for each other in a non-platonic way and are joined at the hip every opportunity and are physically affectionate with one another but never did anything about it so far at least from what we all know anyway and only one has recently come out as not straight. though i guess even having that deep love even if it remains platonic is a special thing regardless. was wondering what your take on it is if you don't mind being public about that.

Okay, so here's the thing. I'm very hesitant to speculate in an open space about someone's sexuality where anyone can see it. (Sometimes I really wish Tumblr's search function didn't catch literally everything, but whatever). I don't know, I have really complicated feelings on the matter in general because I recognize things from my own life, but nothing is universal etc etc. And maybe I blur the lines on my blog a bit, but at the end of the day, the plausible deniability side, and the side that doesn't really know any of the people I post about, will lean towards these relationships not being real in the romantic sense.

That being said, I will gladly address this question from a more "fictionalized" viewpoint using things that have actually happened. It might be counter-intuitive to write like that, but it hasn't stopped me yet because I am not them, so it's default fiction.

In one of the things I'm writing that utilizes real-world timelines, I have them kind of getting together following the Spa 2023 gig when Lando goes back to Amsterdam and posts the photo to his Insta Story from Martin's balcony. All the feelings from the past year build up until they can't hold them back anymore.

The reason I think Spa (besides the fact that the aforementioned picture kills me), is that following it, and even the event itself really, Lando largely stops posting their meetups on his social media. Someone else brought to my attention that after New York and Canada, McLaren also largely stopped posting content of the two of them. As compared to Miami where there was plenty of content of Martin hanging around Lando's driver's room.

So New York/Canada happens with "Real Love." Then Spa happens with Lando and Max flying into the show and Lando going back to Amsterdam. Lando specifically realizes then that if he wants to avoid scrutiny and rumors and gossip as much as possible, he has to let the psycho girl rumors go wild while he flies under the radar with privacy and avoids advertising who he's with. Hence, a tangible lack of material from both him and McLaren for the rest of the season when Martin is present.

The ski trip is the exception because I think the ski trip is special. Especially because Martin was nowhere near France prior to it. Lando says, fuck it, for a brief moment and posts the photos he wants to post.

But then we have winter break and go back to both of them being very quiet when they're together. Martin gets to post the proof that they've been together while Lando keeps his profile meticulously bare of anyone but himself. The fact that Martin was back in Amsterdam for ~8 hours and posted 3-4 things says a lot. But he's quiet again, now that he's somewhere snowy while Lando's plans of Finland seemingly grow nearer.

They're not sure if they'll ever broadcast anything, but maybe they'll work back up to posting like they used to pre-New York where they were much more likely to show up on one of their Stories at the least.

So, in my world, yes it's happened, and this is why I think so.

In the real, tangible world, who knows. Whatever their relationship is clearly means a great deal to them both. If it's purely platonic, if there's a legitimate romantic element, or if they just sit there and pine for the next few years, I hope they're happy and content they have one another. Finding people you click with that quickly and genuinely is a special thing.

[batbeato]

so I started playing persona 5 tactica the other day. at the moment I'm finishing up the first kingdom (Marie). I thought I might share my thoughts. I promise I am having a blast playing tactica but I am also a little hater who latches onto what I don't like and must exposit about it for hours before I return to the fun parts.

With that said. I cannot stand Toshiro.

As far as design goes, he's pretty much forgettable. He looks like the standard politician/businessman. He could be in the background of an anime, in one of those scenes where the politicians are reacting to the main cast, and all of the politicians look the same.

As far as character, I have been slightly spoiled, I'm vaguely aware he goes apeshit at some point. However, how he generally acts is... boring. It feels like a recycled, worse version of Zenkichi (they have him being shocked about the Metaverse, they have him being less physically able than the Phantom Thieves) in some areas, but while Zenkichi's personality is compelling, Toshiro's is not.

Zenkichi, from the very beginning, is a character with divided loyalties. He makes himself interesting because he is an adult who believes in the Phantom Thieves' innocence when it comes to what's happening in Strikers, but he is also loyal to his boss. Over the course of the story, we learn more about his history, his struggles as a father, and his struggles with the corruption of the system.

Toshiro starts out as a man with amnesia as to why he's even relevant to the plot. The Phantom Thieves compare him to past corrupt politicians (Shido) that they've stopped, but they are also so willing to trust him and his strategies (which should be entirely unneeded, as Makoto is already the designated strategist of the group) that they appoint him as the bridge between the Rebel Corps and the Phantom Thieves.

Toshiro's gags are about how he's very skilled at negotiating and running away. They come off as flat and get on my nerves constantly.

Rather than a character that fits in well with the Phantom Thieves as a fellow outcast, he's a man with power for whom his easy inclusion in the group - which has had issues with politicians and authority from the beginning - seems ridiculous.

As his backstory with Marie was unveiled, I also found the connection made between him and Haru to be similarly ridiculous. Haru is a young woman, still in high school. She does not have the ability to tell her father 'no' due to her age and gender (as well as years of less than ideal parenting, I'm sure). However, Toshiro is an adult. In Japan, you must be at least 25 to be a member of the lower house (and 30 to be a member of the upper house). He is an adult, a man, and should have been more than capable of telling his father that he would prefer a different spouse for a financial backing.

Marie does seem to be very abusive, and I'm not discounting that, but from how the story is presented, it seems that Toshiro was aware of this from the start. He had the ability to say no. He did not exercise it. The story frames it as Toshiro being forced into an arranged marriage. He is a grown adult. It is infuriating.

Not to mention the fact that while Persona 5 had its first villain be a man abusing his power to torment male students and sexually abuse female students, now Persona 5 Strikers and Persona 5 Tactica have both had their first villains be a woman abusing her power to torment/abuse men. I sincerely wonder why this decision was made.

I'm sure Toshiro has more interesting qualities to offer to the story as I keep playing, but these initial attempts to endear him to me are awful, and I can't help but feel that, if they did want another adult character in the story, they could have reused characters from Persona 5 (Sojiro, Iwai, Yoshida) or even reused Zenkichi from Strikers. Toshiro, as a politician, is a member of the very system that the Phantom Thieves are often fighting against, as it is a system filled with corruption and abuse of power.

Anyway, besides Toshiro, every day I am haunted by the fact that Elle was localized as Erina for no reason except to make me suffer. The Persona localization team is... interesting, and often makes decisions I disagree with that wildly change the meaning of lines.

Otherwise, Elle is a serviceable character who's very fun, and has little charm points like her hilarious names for battle plans. I'm still very aware that she exists to be cute and sell the game, and to ship Joker with (for men who self insert as Joker), but she's cute. I also like that she's voiced by Mash's VA (since they both have purple hair, I think it's cute). I'm going to enjoy learning more about her as the game progresses (unlike Toshiro where I have already mentally checked out of any emotional investment and will need to be enticed back).

The gameplay is really fun. I'm playing on Normal and if I do a NG+, I'll probably play on Hard. The new artstyle also works for the game, since it's cuter but can still look serious when the mood calls for it. I like getting to see the main cast again, even if I already feel like Strikers is the more well-written spinoff.

[hexnexusdan]

WarioWare Characters Ranked by How Likely They'd Get Into Mario Kart

(There's no MoveIt! spoilers here, don't worry, but I do reference Get It Together's postgame and Gold's ending)

Thought I'd do some fun speculation thing on how likely some of the more notable WarioWare characters would get into good 'ol Mario Kart. They don't often appear in Mario spinoffs in the first place, but hey, there's a first time for everything. I'm going off the assumption of a rule of three Wario characters (well, two given what is likely one of the characters is just a skin) getting in and no more, maybe two.

Biker outfit Wario: I think this would be almost a guarantee if we get WarioWare rep. His outfit is strongly tied to the series, and it'd look out of place for there to be rep but you only have yellow overalls Wario. Plus, a biker outfit makes sense for Mario Kart!

Jimmy T: Medium chances, I'd say. He's an iconic character that's been there since day one and has plenty of fans, but compared to others on here, he has tough competition.

Mona: High! Another iconic WarioWare character, she has plenty more popularity and love, not to mention she already drives in a bike and all.

Dribble and Spitz: This is kind of a two-parter, but if they were to come together (which I think is possible, just have Spitz on Dribble's back or something) I'd honestly say high here as well. They HAVE to be together, though; one without the other is just weird, and I'd say them being separate would be low as there'd be other tough and deserving competition for one of those spaces.

9-Volt: Another notable WarioWare character! I'd say his chances are high from his notoriety, and he already got Mario's blessing (well, I assume haha) to use his likeness in the microgames; why not turn it around and throw the kid into the races?

18-Volt: Low, unfortunately. I don't see him being anywhere without 9-Volt, and with both tough competition and me not really seeing him coming in the same way via Dribble and Spitz with 9, I don't like his chances.

5-Volt: Also low. I think she's got some good popularity from being a menacing stage hazard in Smash from the Game and Wario stage and I think she's got more love from fans compared to 18 (at least from what I remember), but 9-Volt takes more priority that for the same reasons as 18, I don't see 5 getting in.

Dr. Crygor: Medium here as well. Similar reasons to Jimmy T: Think he has plenty of fans, but tough competition.

Penny: Medium-high! She came a good while after Crygor, but from what I've seen, she's become much more popular (to the point that she even got a stage and theme song where you play as only her in Get It Together) that she's got some fairly high chances, I'd say, and I feel she can stand on her own without needing her grandpa.

Mike: Low. I don't think he stands on his own very well, not to mention I don't see him taking priority over Crygor and again, tough competition.

Orbulon: Medium. He's a charming character who's got his own piggy spaceship that can easily be adapted into a kart, so I think he's got a fair chance.

Kat and Ana: Medium-low, I'd say. I can see them being together in one, but I dunno, I'm just not thinking they've got good chances compared to the veterans and other high chance characters.

Ashley: Very high. Barring biker Wario, Ashley has the best chances out of everyone here. She's not known for driving, but she's also a long-runner in the series (not the first game-long, but still very long), has a lot of love from the fans, and even seems to be in enough high standing that she got a Mystery Mushroom costume in Super Mario Maker. She didn't even have an amiibo and she got into some kind of Mario game that isn't WarioWare! She's perhaps the best example of the "tough competition" and would likely get in over the others.

Red: Low alone, but he'd probably have a good chance of being with Ashley; I kind of don't see him turning into Ashley's ride in a MK game.

Young Cricket: Medium? He's got a good amount of fans, but I dunno, he just doesn't seem like he'd overcome some of the other options.

Mantis: Low. He's highly tied to Cricket in the first place and I would not like his chances.

Lulu: That's another low. She had her time in the limelight with her introduction in Gold, but that time's since passed and from what I recall, not too many like her.

And that's my theoretical chance evaluations! Personally speaking if they do add WarioWare characters, I'd see both Biker Wario and Ashley getting in then if there's one more spot, Dribble and Spitz in one.

[dcwnthercbbithcle]

OKAY MY BROAD THOUGHTS OUT OF THE WAY; now I can talk about the Blorbo! Re: this prior post

DOE

One of them man-eaters! Obligate carnivores and belongs to a species of the Survivor!murmaids, either fortunately or unfortunately renowned for their pack hunting skills and extremely tight social bonds.

To compare them with a kind of fish based solely in reality, think of Orcas, or really ANY cetacean, though aesthetically they follow more of a scaled-fish appearance to in keep more with the mermaid theme.

Social bonds and social rearing were and are an extremely pivotal part of both social, emotional and survivalist rearing for Doe's species. Older specimens in a Pod of up to 20 will teach the young vital tricks, maneuvers and tactics on hunting prey, creating waves to topple over small vessels, communication, etc.

It's for this reason that it's especially unfortunate that Doe was orphaned as it were during a period of intense human activity in one of their hunting grounds. Whether it was deliberate on behalf of the human fishermen as some act of vengeance or purely a coincidence. Doe was separated from the others and netted down, making her unable to catch up in the direction of her Pod as they were forced to flee the area under threat of harpooning and becoming tangled in nets themselves.

Doe never saw them again after that, and though social bonds among her species are strong, so is the notion of becoming outcast, and whether intended or not. Doe WAS an outcast after that point.

As it turns out, hunting while alone in a species that relies on strength in numbers and clever strategy doesn't often lead to success. At times, the only result of this is a bruised ego and a hungry stomach, but more often, and especially where human prey are concerned, Doe has many times been left with line and nets caught over her fins and tails, large scars and gashes from run ins and even pieces of harpoons, hooks and broken off knives for her troubles.

It's frankly a miracle she's survived as long as she has between the lack of Pod support and the failed hunting attempts that turned ugly. But she has somehow in spite of it all!

In light of her struggles, Doe becomes more scavenger-esc in her methods of hunting and so instead chooses to rotate between common hotspots of human activity and further out ashore. Waiting and preying on victims of accidents in the water, wipe outs, those pulled out by currents, etc. and watching for them to lose their strength enough so she can drag them down into the depths to properly eat them.

Doe is friendly-ish, but more in the wary sense. She mistrusts humans greatly but her nature dictates that she stand her ground even when terrified. Swimming still in place, flaring all of her fins out and giving warning sounds. Doe is, HOWEVER, more than willing to follow the honey pot when she's found it in a person and when they show to not be a threat and/or feed into her and her curiosity.

Doe does eventually get adopted into a new pod with many of the Survivor!murmaid gals (Feng, Nea, Meg, Yui and sometimes Zarrina who comes and visits) yes, I do feel like it's at least a polycule in a very informal fuck-buddy sense

Doe does have an ongoing relationship and kind of trade with other sea mammals in her frequent hunting grounds, often hunting along side them or sharing in kills that they've helped her herd. Seals, in an ironic stroke, are somehow both an often victim of hers and a helper when the moment calls for it. Porpoises and dolphins too. Though Dolphins, well, they're evil and Doe knows to not trust them!

Doe can also sing!!! It's more of a haunting cry and whistle, but damn if it doesn't draw in attention when she lets it out and inevitably one or two always peak around to see what's making that strange sound. Likewise in a darker sense, Doe has learned to mimic the sounds of a drowning person in terms of gasping and panicked water movements in order to draw in 'help' (a meal)

It is also of note that she has mastered the art of intentionally beaching herself then pivoting and riding the waves to slip and slide back into the water. It's not pretty but it works! Especially against seals!!

TWO-TAILS TOO! Very important, more Starbucks mermaid esc than Disney Ariel, though exclusively for character design rather than speculative biology reasons! Doe has big 80s hair in all verses and having leg-like tails which flare out and visually resemble the fanciest bell bottoms.

Per Doe's species, the tails separate over time, baby tails are almost a single thing but older the mermaid, the more their tails become distinct from each other at the waist point to allow for more precise movements, a more human appearance bettering the hunt and much more defined and powerful movements ( Yes, Logically I KNOW evolution doesn’t actually work like that and logic is, at least for the ocean that one tail is better than two for aerodynamics in most cases. HOWEVER we’re dealing with mermaids and I’m allowed to fudge the lines a bit!! )

[anxiously-sidequesting]

Hiiii

I'm curious what you think about Pirate101 - specifically, if you think there's a distinction between "young pirate" and "young wizard".

In both games the protag is referred to as "young" by lots of characters, but in Pirate this was already old enough to be (infamously) arrested for brawling/smuggling/treason/dueling/hoodoo, as well as lead their own crew. Personally that feels like an indication that being called "young" doesn't make them a kid, or at the very least it feels very older teenager/young adult-ish. In a similar vein, I feel like the wizard wouldn't be elementary school age or anything (although no matter how old they are they're still under-equipped to be saving the world but that's not really the point).

I hope I don't offend you, and you're free to headcanon what you like of course, since they will never have a canon age so to speak. But personally given that context I just can't see the wizard protagonist being as young as everybody says that makes what they're being put through so much worse.

HIIII THANK YOU FOR THE ASK and please don't be afraid of offending me!!! Literally the only way to do that is to break into my house and kill my family so you're good 💖

So first thing's first my first answer will disappoint you because I don't play Pirate101 and so I know fuck all about it HALANDIEKE I get the general gist of the tutorial (i played through that) and everything but I could not tell you anything about what I think about how the YP interacts with people or how they feel or what the general vibe is because I dont know that. Like at all. Feel free to send me stuff about canon I'd love to read it and form my own opinions 💖

As for the ambiguous age of the wizard yeah it can be confusing. Because since the game is primarily designed to have the protagonist be You instead of any set character there's no consistency as to what the canon age of the wizard is. It really just all depends on what you WANT the Wizard's age to be; whether that's your age when you started, your current age, a separate age for a separate OC, etc. Like you said other than the prefix "Young" we really have no idea just how "young" young really is

So yeah I've heard that the Pirate is arrested for crimes and is in jail, and you're right it's hard to imagine someone like 5-11 being in jail for organized resistance of the Armada. And like, in my opinion, that's only because a little child would most unlikely have that intelligence or be cognizant enough to do things like that. So yeah a teen or young adult would work better in my opinion

But like here's the thing, and this is my personal opinion - I don't consider P101 and W101 protagonists to be parallels. Like just because the P101 protagonist may be in the adolescent stage doesn't mean the W101 protag couldn't be any younger, or older.

Especially since there's a difference between the canon protags already. While the Pirate was canonically organizing and participating in the resistance by themselves or with a skilled team, the Wizard was just all of a sudden poofed there. The Pirate has prior training and homeland advantage. The Wizard does not.

I don't really like comparing traumatic experiences between people personally (even though these charas are fictional) but I feel like. Subjecting someone to a war when they've had war experiences vs. someone who has never been in a war before/has no idea how to practice magic is a HUUUGE difference. Not like the former isn't bad by itself but yeah. The Wizard came from Earth, INVOLUNTARILY, and without their permission is thrust immediately into a bad and dangerous situation with no prior experience, training, or preparation. It seems like the Pirate, to me, chose willingly to fight in the Resistance and knows how to defend themselves. There is a huge difference there

And whether or not you headcanon the Wizard to be a child or not I do half agree with you that subjecting such a young person, OR ANYBODY for that matter, into a situation as dangerous as war is a terrible thing to do I get it. But, and this may be unpopular, I'd have a bit more sympathy and alarm for someone who was forced/pressured into it, someone who was unprepared, rather than someone who was already used to it, training for it, organizing plans for it.

So yeah regardless of age, there's a huge difference between both canon protags of both games. I personally feel what the Wizard has to deal with is much worse. Their only "support" system to start out with is a complete stranger who (in post-update) gives them no choice, decides their fate FOR them, and expects them to HURRY UP about it. The Pirate AT LEAST has a crew and other people who literally care about them and back then up and fight WITH them. The Wizard starts out with no one by their side.

So yeah that's just my personal opinion. And this isn't to like bash anyone on the head who thinks any different or has a different story than canon at all 💖💖💖 this is just how I feel. BUT THANK YOU FOR THE ASK IT WAS A VERY COOL ONE TO ANSWER!!!!

[utilitycaster]

001: TAZ (Specifically interested TAZ Balance takes but if you wanna mix in Amnesty or the mini arcs between the two go for it!)

002: Percy/Vex (I'm sure you've talked about about them a ton, but as a bit of a new follower I'd love to hear your opinions) 003: Fig Faeth (or if you haven't seen Fantasy High, your pick of Dimension 20 characters)

below a cut simply bc this shall be long as fuck

TAZ Balance

Favorite character: Lucretia

Least Favorite character: none really;

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): I feel there were not really five ships in this but like, naturally, Lup/Barry and Taako/Kravitz were both a delight

Character I find most attractive: I mean, probably Magnus.

Character I would be best friends with: I want to hang out with Carey and Killian

An unpopular opinion: I think TAZ Balance is very good and I love the graphic novels and all that but I do still think that Amnesty was stronger and deserves more accolades.

Most Badass Character: Lup, this is not a question

Most Epic Villain: I guess John? The main antagonist is like,

Favourite Friendship: the Taco Twins

Character I most identify with: Lucretia, for better or for worse. I do not think I am a well-intentioned extremist irl but I think in a D&D story I could absolutely fall into that.

Character I wish I could be: Davenport but after his memory is restored and he's just a sea captain

Percy/Vex

When I started shipping them: hard to say in that I went into C1 knowing how the general ships shook out. I do remember loving their interaction when Percy first tells VM about the Briarwoods and Vex immediately is like "oh this is 100% our problem now too",

What makes me happy about them: everything. My ideal for fictional romances is truly "we are flawed in the same way, but through each other we can see how we are worthy of love despite that" so like, this is my fucking jam.

What makes me sad about them: not much, honestly! lifespan angst was made up by mediocre fanfic writers to sell more mediocre fanfic.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: nothing specific to them; in general I am a very "he would not fucking say that" person when it comes to fanfic so getting the voices right is crucial, but that's always true for any ship.

Things I look for in fanfic: see above; get the voices right.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I mean, they are perfect for each other and no other ships for either of them compare, but I would not be mad at Percy/Tary or Vex/Zahra.

My happily ever after for them: they've got it! Percy just wants to do weird science in a workshop while a competent partner does all the political work; Vex wants the security that power grants her after a childhood and young adulthood of profound instability and emotional abuse, and both want someone who loves even their more vengeful and complicated side, and that's what they're doing!

Fig Faeth

How I feel about this character: She is great. Love how Emily leaned into Angry Teen in a way that felt real and understandable.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Ayda

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: I mean, all the bad kids, but Riz and Kristen are some of my favorites. Also her relationship with Gilear is wonderful.

My unpopular opinion about this character: None really?

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Nothing specific other than "please give us a third season one day, please d20 cast, please"

Favorite friendship for this character: Probably Riz; Emily and Murph as players are hilarious in that they NEVER explore romantic chemistry despite being irl married, but their characters almost always end up really good friends.

[pebblysand]

Hello. Do you feel that in the future when Hinny get together, would herry ever feel insecure about the fact that Ginny has done it with a lot of boys? Would the press taunt him calling him a cuckold husband? Would they have relationship problems over this?

hi! okay, so:

would harry ever feel insecure about the fact that Ginny has done it with a lot of boys?

i think this is an interesting question. it's something i'm planning to explore in the latter chapters of castles (i.e. set after they get back together) but i think yes, he does, but i also think they both do, in different ways.

i think for her, she feels insecure about it because of everything that's been said in the press, and people calling her "easy" or a slut, and while that may be very far from justified, it's also hard and hurtful, and also in reference to a time in her life when she was actually very insecure and still very psychologically traumatised. there is a part of her (and that's very evident in the letters) that thinks of herself as damaged goods and unworthy, because of having "slept" with amycus, and that's also saying: "well, they call me a slut, i might as well act like one." and i think that's something she later grows to accept and see for what it was but i think early in their relationship, there is a part of her that feels insecure about harry thinking she's not "worthy" because of what she did. i think she compensates that by making sure he always feels wanted, and making sure he knows that ultimately, the way she feels about sex with him is very different from the way she feels about sex with other people.

i think for harry, yeah, of course, it's human to wonder how you compare. so, there is a little bit of insecurity there. which ultimately is a bit funny because i think you learn a lot more about sex from long-term relationships (or at least hooking up with the same person over a number of times) than you do hooking up with random people every other night (which, btw, the way gen z has brought back the body count number does my head in but that's a wholly different problem). but yeah, he probably feels that a little bit, at least at the beginning. they're both really young, too, which is when you always feel these things matter most.

Would the press taunt him calling him a cuckold husband?

i think so? maybe a bit, at least at the beginning of their relationship? but, like, i think that's not something he would care about. i think his insecurities (as per the above) exist more as a thing between the two of them, rather than as a reaction to what other people might say. i think he is so furious about the treatment of ginny in the press, especially knowing what he knows about what happened to her and her mental state, that he would never really give any sort of credit to what they say about her (or, frankly, anyone else for that matter). i think if he read a headline with that kind of content, he'd be more like: how dare you talk about her like that? rather be insecure about what they're saying about him. he's long since learnt not to care about what the press says.

Would they have relationship problems over this?

i don't think they'd have relationship problems. i think they'd have relationship conversations. i think what creates problems is imbalance in those situations but here, they both know of each other's insecurities. they both love and want each other very much, and they've both been getting a lot better at communicating. so, i think it certainly is a thing, a thing that needs to be addressed, but i don't think it's a problem.

and, i think once they properly settle and have kids, they 100% stop caring. their relationship is much stronger than whatever shit they did to survive 98/99.

-

of course, don't hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions :)

[healingheartdogs]

This isn’t me disagreeing with your post, in fact I mostly agree, but I feel like puppies(or at least above 6 months) could use confo as an opportunity to get used to shows and being handled by a judge. Beyond that though I do agree that structure/breeding stock wise, it’s useless for puppies. And tbh, I feel like it could be placing too much pressure on young dogs. (Mostly I just don’t really like the beauty pageant part lol) Take this with a grain of salt, really didn’t mean offense with this

I'm all for puppies doing confo classes and mock shows if their handlers want to do that with them for fun and practice, yeah, I just don't think they should be allowed to actually compete for points or titles. I do agree that it is a lot of pressure though for small puppies and that was my experience trying to get Hermes show ready as a puppy to live up to expectations to title ASAP, only for both of us to burn out and have to step back from the idea of showing entirely for couple of years to recover. Part of this is because of how aversive heavy the AKC club I went to in FL was, (making people with rowdy dogs or dogs who didn't stand still for the judge put prongs on their dogs in confo class to correct them for doing basically anything but stacking which is A TERRIBLE IDEA DO NOT DO THAT), part of it was also that he was not socialized to things like being stacked, handled, and groomed for show as a baby so trying to introduce him to it at 5 months old relied heavily on CCing him to those things as well as to loud crowded show environments which was a lot of extra work for us.

I personally don't think getting started at 5-6 months is really going to make a difference compared to starting a bit later (1-2 years) for that second reason, because if a puppy was socialized to those things early and had good exposure they'll likely be fine regardless once you start doing practice shows and classes and if you were unlucky like me and they weren't it'll be CC work no matter when you start it and you can't rush that sort of thing and need to be wary of puppy fear periods while doing it. Obviously an earlier start with CC means getting to a point where they can handle it and title earlier, but since my disagreement is with the idea of titling early to begin with you can see why I would find that less important.

My personal preference is that puppies just get to be puppies and only learn the basics of life and things like impulse control, cooperative care, how to exist calmly around people, etc. their first year of life. If you want to get really into an unpopular opinion I honestly think dogs should not be titled at all before maturity and not bred before like 4-5 years old (blasphemy to the type of people who insist bitches should be having their final litter and spayed around 5-6 years). That's an opinion I have formed because of the issue of decreasing average lifespan across a lot of breeds and increasing presence of later in life health issues (particularly in show lines) because of dogs being bred as soon as they title and pass health testing at 2 years old only to develop health problems later on, after they've already contributed their genetics to puppies. I'm very partial to the idea of breeding the way I see some sled dog kennels breed, where dogs must mature and then spend a few years proving their functionality before they are bred with more value being placed on breeding healthy older and more experienced dogs.

But enough of my rambling because I'm getting slightly off topic, my main point was just that I don't agree specifically with puppies being able to get titles in conformation so we are in agreement there, yeah.

[tuliharja]

BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War ep 11 (short) review

There isn't really much to say (write) -at least for me about this episode. After such a big hype train of amazing fights, I felt like we didn't get a proper breather between everything even though the animators tried adding Zero Squad scenes here and there, and an introduction about Ichigo's true origins.

But somehow...this episode didn't really reach me. I suppose the fast pacing is finally coming back to the animators as I feel like Bleach has so far gone from one climax to another. Little building at the beginning and then bam! Something epic happens. While the structure of this episode followed a similar route, it still felt a bit weaker or it might just be because it came so soon after the Kenpachi showdown. In a way, it's a good thing they're keeping this fast pace because things are progressing quickly and nicely, but building up things can fall flat in certain episodes if things aren't hyped...if it wasn't that, I would say (write) this episode was very solid. Even despite that, it was very solid. I just hope the flashback arc will be concluded in the next episode or even half of it and we'll move to another scene. This makes me already curious since as far as I'm aware, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War will be 13 episodes long. It means they've to somehow wrap nicely things for next season or part 2.

I still think the animation is top-notch and this episode proved it as animating rain is (as far as I know) hard. The fact they made the rainfall at different speeds and showed even separate rain bubbles. I couldn't help but be amazed about that.

Ah, I believe a lot of Gin and Kaname fans were excited to see their favorites in this episode. Just loved scheming Aizen and despite the fact, their experiment 'failed' he just saw it as a new opportunity like a true "villain".

I think young Masaki was very adorable. I really liked her brightness which reminded me of Orihime. Though, the fact she was more stern when needed to be and the stunt she pulled? Yes, made her a bit more different than Orihime which I'm glad about. (Though, I like both of them.) In fact, I think Masaki's stunt toward White was very brave and she was otherwise very brave. I bet that's what caught Isshin's eye with her.

Alright, Quincies were back in the past very posh, lol. Really gave me that upper-class, European feeling at Ishida residence. Young Ryuuken was adorable and I liked the fact he tried to appear very stern and 'I only think about Quincies' future!' Erm, yeah. Doubt that highly.

As a side note, I can see how animators/director(s) are cutting the fan service and some random scenes down such as taka-taka with Toshiro as in the manga when Isshin lifted Toshiro, he was all 'look at the baby!' Made the scene much smoother, yet they managed to still add that Toshiro was younger and a bit immature, thanks to the fact he had secretly eaten that manju yet tried to downplay it. xD Goes to show how much he has "grown" when compared to the present. Kinda made me feel sad for Rangiku that even in the present...she is still Tenth's lieutenant. Oh well. At least she has a trusty captain, so she can now slack in the present time when she wants to, lol.

That last scene in this episode, at the very end, was very interesting as it shed some light on what comes to Uryuu and what he will do...

[seelestia]

'ELLO MATE HOW ARE YOU I AM BACK-

they've disbanded me from the shadow realm!! thankfully it seems like they resolved the issue faster this time yayyyy

ohhh i see! i am biased to the jp version bc i am familiar with the va but i've been getting used to his en va too! i haven't listened to his korean va actually, maybe i should do that 👀

for zhongli... all of his va has their own charms i can't choose 😭 i love the en version va (but dear lord he grunts a lot like seriously grandpa you ok do you need to rest lol) but again, i am biased to his jp va bcs i am super familiar with maeno... i had a phase where i listened to jp drama cds in the past and he's one of my most favorite va hahah

itto was so good to me... i pulled for him with my brother in our parents' house and i screamed when i got him (cause i wasn't expecting him at all), and my brother yelled along with me, and my parents were like "WHAT HAPPENED" lmao it was chaos-

i borrowed my friends' luck and they did a total of 10 pulls for me on cyno banner.... good news: 1) i got candace, 2) i got a 5 star. bad news: it's qiqi lmao ah well at least i have guaranteed now!!

LOL it's ok i can always bow or stand on the lower ground so you can pat my head (cause i do like my headpats <3) hskdjsjdj i can only be savage in writing tho. i'm too timid to be savage when speaking ;x

all the headpats for lin~ i am excited for his voicelines too! i love that he'll help us spam ult hakdjs yes more meteors yessss *evil raccoon laughter*

RIN JIE, YOU'RE BACKKK — ahem, what i mean to say is that i've been faring quite well, as per usual! it pleases me greatly that you've returned, dearest cousin. i assume your journey has been rewarding? did it help in loosening the burden on your mind as you expected? i hope it was, lest the days i had spent missing your presence would all be for naught then.

finally, the results from our anxious wait bear its fruits. i was honestly getting concerned, especially after what happened previous times before. it serves me great joy to see you around again, truly. hm, i suppose saying "yay" would be a better way to express myself? hehe, yay!

breaking character for a sec to say that ayato's korean voice is luring me into a hole and i am absolutely and willingly following 🕳️🚶how ironic, i thought we've already established that he is, indeed, an elderly soul trapped in a young man's body? i'm starting to believe that his true age is manifesting itself through the cracking noises made by his bones. (/lh) i see, so you're similar to me; the familiarity just had that sense of preciousness that attaches itself to us~

that oni has always been clumsy and leaves trails of chaos wherever he goes... but who would've guessed he did an excellent job at coming home to you? ha, i can almost see him seething at me for saying that in the corner of my mind. i also assume your brother was mentally eating this snack called popcorn in his hands while everything went down? how amusing, hehe.

even with the power of borrowed luck, the child is still very fond of you. hm, i was looking forward to seeing a disheartened expression on your face but you seem to be looking at the bright side instead, what a letdown. aha, i was jesting, of course. i also happen to experience the same event as you did; i happened to meet a certain forest watcher from sumeru instead of the well-known general mahamatra, but i have no complaints. the both of us now have guaranteed luck for the next banner that comes around, wonderful! although for me, i don't have a specific character i'm keeping my eyes on since it seems like the yashiro commissioner's return seems very distant in the future. but perhaps, one will catch my eyes soon enough. nahida, perhaps? maybe, even that spirited fatui harbinger with the ginger hair.

i can see why you compare yourself to madam kujou sara... if i may be so bold, i'd say you're akin to a puddle of tender goo hidden inside a cold exterior? it's quite entertaining to see you let loose so easily around mr. zhongli. love is an interesting factor that stirs one's soul, indeed.

(and ty for the headpats, lin is very flustered by them <3 actually, speaking of voicelines, it reminds me of the in-game script/template for voicelines that you did! 👀 and yesss, ult spam is satisfying, especially in domains 🤌)

[ballet-symphonie]

Hi Ale, I know you're very busy right now, so no need to respond. I just wanted to reflect a little on the results of the Moscow IBC 2022. I watched the whole thing live from start to finish, as I was off work sick for 2 weeks - so it was a great way of passing time. It was clear to me early on that Koshkareva would get gold, she stood out in her cohort in terms of artistry and strength. I am beyond delighted for Maria Iliushkina whose individual uniqueness as a dancer was also clear to see, even on the livestream. Her Raymonda was stunning, as was her Odile. Nikita was more mercurial, and I feel his partnering let her down in some places (in others they were simply beautiful together), particularly that late lift in the Legend of Love pas de deux. Long story short: even though Iliushkina was not perfect in all respects, her unique quality shone through. I am really happy that the jury saw that, too, and have awarded her gold accordingly. For me she is a modest dancer with a natural reserve which - and this is the interesting thing - she seems to be able to convert into something ethereal and otherworldly, and yet she is still able to channel the demonic too (her Odile is becoming one of my favourites). Her all-round dancerly intuition is utterly uncanny.

Even with Nikita perhaps not performing to what I think can be his level, I had the impression that this was to some extent down to the competition environment. On the Mariinsky stage, he strikes me as more self-assured (kudos to Iliushkina for getting past that and still managing to channel her uniqueness, what a true artist). But he is (I think) so promising and has more artistry to come. There were moments of real beauty in what he did, too. I was very struck by their partnership in the Hans van Manen piece - it sent out imo a strong impression of what they can become as a pair over time (and perhaps already are in some ballets). Their lines were so beautiful - but what I found fascinating was how they danced eeriness in that piece. They could potentially be brilliant in Giselle.

I am skipping over lots of the other brilliant contestants now because I'm aware that this is a v long message (thank you for bearing with!) - but as much as I am thrilled for both Iliushkina / Korneev, I am most disappointed for Anastasia Smirnova. For me beyond everyone in all categories across both junior and seniors she was the stand-out star, very different to Iliushkina, but with a comparable distinctive artistic uniqueness that is already articulating itself very clearly in such a young dancer. And then: great technique and what a jump. How on earth could the jury have awarded her only a silver (and a shared one at that) on the basis of her performances. She was so consistent across her solos, too (at least that is what my admittedly untrained eye tells me). I am no expert, but I was so confident she would get gold (and a part of me sincerely hoped the jury might even think of her for the Grand Prix). Am I totally on the wrong track here? (I also do not mean to diminish the achievements and talents of everyone else who I am not mentioning here - I was very impressed by the other soloists in the senior women's category, but Smirnova seemed to me to have a considerable edge).

Am I right to be wondering about the composition of the jury? What must it be like for e.g. Fateev to be sitting across from a stage that this major talent, no longer at the Mariinsky, is streaking across? Does this not constitute a conflict of interest? I guess not, because most of the jury would be 'out' if that was the case - it's a small world. But the silver did give me pause for thought, and I wondered what your view was.

Posting this separately because it's so long and detailed!

My thoughts in response:

I agree, Koshkaryeva and Iliushkina unquestionably deserved gold

Iliushkina/Korneyev looked much stronger on the pieces they've been doing for a while (eg SL, Raymonda) compared to the new ones

Nikita had some moments where he was definitely the weaker one in the pair. That Legend of Love is certainly what dropped him down in the prizes but the Grand Pas Classique was also not super clean

I agree that he looked more nervous and less self-assured than I'd been accustomed to seeing from him. Even when he was debuting in a lead role along with someone like Skorik, he had more confidence. I too wondered how much of this had to do with the competitive environment. Perhaps he felt the pressure more here than for normal performance.

I too think that Smirnova was robbed, she really was head and shoulders above everyone. Each time she stepped on stage I was wowed. . But perhaps there were simply too many people against her politically for her to prevail...

I know she was never in consideration for the Grand Prix. There was talk that it was going to be given to Iliushkina but that was impossible after their poor LOL.

About the conflicts of interest. At some competitions, most notably YAGP and PDL, teachers/directors can not judge their own students, their scores will be thrown out. (Bo Spassoff famously will give his students ridiculously impossible scores as a joke, he awarded Issac Hernandez 500/100 points at the YAGP finals)

However, I think everyone judged everyone here, simply because the background of the judges is too narrow, there's so much overlap. For example, Tsiskaridze, Zakharova, Fayteev, Eifman, Elvira Mnatsakanyan, Vadim Pisarev, Valentin Yelizariev, and even Yuri Grigorovich have too much history and connections to judge any competitor from VBA or MT totally 'objectively.' If I were to list the BT/ MRAX people... there's almost as many, and tons of overlap between the two. So where do you draw the line? Because that's essentially half the jury!! You can't have them all sitting out because then that totally imbalances the voices of those who don't have all the connections (ex those from non-soviet countries). Considering the egos and tempers of the most powerful people on the panel.....they're going to want their opinions taken into consideration for everything.

[roleshirked]

[Re: the fanart comparison] that's what i mean. Some probably don't do the bishie thing because it's not hitting the right spots. What they want is the kind of butch that is bulky, hirsute, rugged, maybe older too and that's pretty much nonexistent everwhere. Drawing somthing like those youthful smooth elves as m/m or f/f is meh because its the opposite of what they crave. Some of these women desire "the ugliest lesbian type imaginable" but cant bring themselves to admit it others just are bi

2/3 To illustrate my google Anna Turaeva and then google Phranc. Both are ssa female and look rugged, but see how anna is not hairy while phranc is not hairy nor big bodied. That's the closest example i could think, and it took me 2 decades to even know these women exist, and they STILL dont have all the traits combined. Now compare with how many chubby elder bearlike men are out there irl and in m/m stuff from day 1. Millions. Male bears are reality female ones are like stigma loaded mirages

3/3 On the ace lesbian thing, my first inclination is to think these are bi women who want to engage with their OSA from a place they deem safe. It's also possible the woman is just ace and confusing same sex platonic preferences for romantic desire. Still it's possible they're still an actual lesbian, for example see her experience: youtube com/watch?v=hnkuEsGFcUY/ she got her libido killed with meds and gravitated to m/m. See the comments of th vid too, some had similar trajectories

hmmmmm. i think i see your point and i agree with the purview that these Super Butches are well outside the scope of easy consumption, especially in fandom/fiction. ex. ask any average fandom lesbian drawing this stuff what their idea of butch is and they'll probably say like ruby rose, instead of boo from OITNB (just examples). the description of "stigma loaded mirages" is very apt.

i disagree that the lesbians/"lesbians" who draw gruff bearded dudes sucking each others' dicks are thinking of these women when they do so, though, and would instead wager they've never seen someone like Anna or even Phranc in their lives. this toes dangerously toward baseless speculation which i understand isn't helpful in the discussion, but i guess it's because i just don't understand it. like at that point if i had such a specific and underrepresented taste in women, i would want to see more of them. and if i had the power of a fanartist, i'd just draw that, instead of the "male equivalent".

maybe i just have a really hard time looking past the beards and turgid, veiny dicks lol. it could be just that simple. it's one thing when i'm reading a fic and can skip past or can substitute my mind's eye with something else; it's another when i'm met with fanart that gives me much less room to mindbend stuff.

tl;dr i think my bottom line is i agree they are either just bi or, possibly, are in that camp of lesbian who explicitly do not get off on drawing or writing erotica, and the choice to draw the gruffiest dudes with the most explicit dicks is a confusing one but for them not a sexy one.

i've seen the video you linked! when i was in the very early phases of thinking on things critically, she was one of the first channels i found. that's another great perspective so thank you for reminding me it's out there. it reminds me of the fourth perspective/reason a lesbian might consume slash (and not just the easier-to-consume bishounen types but also the gruff, hyper-masculine bear/bara types): because she has not reckoned with her own body or her own sexuality yet, but implicitly understands her same-sex attraction, and has a need to manifest these feelings somewhere. if not in f/f, then it may as well be m/m. i have at least two lesbian friends who are in this camp (though admittedly their tastes are milquetoast - think whatever shounen anime is popular at the time, or like, shipping their male oc with g'raha tia finalfantasy) and subjectively this was my experience too as a very young teen. like the further removed it was from me and my body and my experience, the easier it was to consume.

if you're still around anon i'd love to know your thoughts! this is a great dialogue.