#because that seem to me like it would be the obvious clear choice to represent the events of CV

[probablygayattorneys]

I am a little confused, though. because in Layton Mystery Tanteisha, Marina has these charms on her bag, and Layton surmises that Luke gave them to her to serve as a means of verification, if she ever needed to turn to Layton for help. He would know that she was truly Luke's wife, because each of the charms represents a case they solved together. The train is clearly the Molentary Express, representing the events surrounding the Elysian box, and the rabbit is Subject 3, representing the events surrounding Future Luke's letter. So what's the bow?

[bit-b]

About a trending Discord warning:

TL;DR: Discord is NOT making "Find your friends" enabled by default. You're probably not giving Discord your contact information without your knowledge. Their UI choices just suck.

There's a warning post going around by a person I'm not going to name, as I don't want people to dogpile on them. That is NOT the goal of this post, and if you DO harass anyone because of what I write, then you're a garbage person with garbage habits that needs to throw those habits in the garbage.

Rather, my goal with this post is to educate about a Discord feature that's not being represented properly.

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Supposedly in the new mobile update, Discord added this ""NEW"" feature called "Find your friends", and then they enabled it by default. This feature allows users to use their smartphone contacts to search for their friends on Discord. It also enables others to be able to find you in the exact same way.

Obviously, this would be MASSIVELY dangerous from a privacy perspective.

Imagine if someone had relatives that use Discord. In a scenario like that, those relatives would have an easy way of finding the accounts of family members. And in some home situations, online anonymity from relatives could mean the difference between having an outlet and not having an outlet.

I'm also pretty sure I know some folks with alt accounts (you know who you are). And if Discord was somehow able to cross-reference all your contacts with the Discord accounts you're logged into, that would be DISASTROUSLY EMBARRASSING, to say the least.

So I totally understand how concerning this would be if it turned out to be true.

The thing is, it's not.

The person who made that warning misinterpreted THIS page:

This is the new "Add Friends" page for the Discord mobile app. Obviously, a page to help you add friends. There's a big 'ol window at the bottom showcasing Discord's "Find your friends" feature.

Now, this feature is actually NOT new. It's been around for a long time. But there's a very subtle change that happened with the new update. Take a look at how "Find your friends" used to look:

It starts by giving you a banner at the top of your friends list, telling you that this feature is available. Then when you click on it, it takes you to a page with UI elements that look awfully familiar.

It's pretty clear what happened. In an effort to condense down their friend-finding functions into one menu, Discord took the "Find your friends" setup menu and tossed it in with all the other ways to contact friends.

But by doing this, Discord has made this setup window confusing. It's not immediately obvious if the "Find your friends" feature is ON and running, or OFF and waiting to be activated.

Maybe it would have helped to make the blurple button read something like "Sync contacts" instead of "Find friends". At least then, you could tell at a glance that nothing has been sync'd yet. (Or y'know, maybe just stick to "Grant Permission". That was working just fine before.)

So it seems the OP:

Looked at the "Find your friends" setup menu that Discord hastily slapped into the "Add friends" page

Noticed the checkbox that read "Allow contacts to add me"

Saw that it was already marked

Then assumed that it must be some kind of tucked-away setting that was left ON by default.

To make this abundantly clear, "Find your friends" only works if you opt-in.

That checkmark allows you to tell Discord you are okay with people finding you in this manner. Unchecking it makes it possible to use "Find your friends" without others being able to find you the same way.

It doesn't get set up on your device until you press the big blurple "Find friends" button. Even then, you still have to add your phone number to your account and verify it via a 6-digit code sent via SMS.

After that, you have to give Discord permission to access your contacts via whatever phone OS you use.

You have to be pretty deliberate for any of these functions to start.

I won't say it's impossible to set it up on accident. It's a strange world, and stranger things have happened. If you want to, go check your app permissions to make sure you don't have contact permissions enabled for Discord. It's always good to be sure. But rest easy knowing that you probably don't have to worry about it.

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In my opinion, I think that anyone who reblogged that warning should consider reversing those reblogs.

Honestly, I also think the OP should just delete their post instead of repeatedly adding amended reblogs to it. At the end of the day, the core of that post was misinformation and misguided assumptions. There's no real reason to keep it up.

Besides, I'd rather pin Discord on things they're ACTUALLY guilty of. Like designing a new UI that's widely mocked. And making things 10x more confusing for the end-user.

Here's Discord's official "Find your friends" FAQ page:

https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360061878534-Find-Your-Friends-FAQ

I hate to beg, but I'd appreciate if people would reblog this post. I fear that the warning post is gonna steer a LOT of people to believe a lot of things about Discord that are logically and functionally not true.

[long-live-astronerd-ghost-king]

DPxDC prompt. Fae!Danny x Jason. Dead on main. Death of a Fairy Tale. or

"Oh no! This tricky hooman stole my heart! What should I do?" *becomes a leader of his court and, just in case, overthrows the tyrant Pariah Dark in order to allow marriages with representatives of other races and live happily ever after with Jay*.

~~~~~

 “You're not allowed to be here. This is not your territory.”

Jason barely had time to catch his breath after escaping from the hot dog vendor when someone noticed him hiding in the bushes.

There were no rides for children or food vans in this park, so Todd didn't understand why anyone would cling to this territory but the guy looked at him with obvious concern. And well, after the morning's adventures, Jay didn't have any energy for another conflict at all. This kid looked pale and thin, so it didn't look like fighting with him would get him anything.

“Calm down, I'm just passing by. What's your problem, dude?”

“I live somewhere ne...here.”

Jason rolled his eyes. It's clear that the guy lived nearby, but it's unlikely that he had a house. The lack of a T-shirt and shoes hinted that in front of him was also a street rat who most likely had not yet learned how to defend his belongings. Poor guy. But this is definitely not Jason's business.

However, did he really spend the night outside in the open air? Sleeping on the bench was a last choice even for Jason. This might be acceptable options in some quiet provincial town, not in Gotham.

“I mean, what are you doing outside?”

Young Phantom checks his glamour, but finds no flaws in it. This man in front of him must be very knowledgeable and experienced, despite his young age, since he immediately recognized him as not a human being. For Danny, who lived with other fairies in Fairyland all his childhood and came to this dimension for the first time, the outside always meant the world of human. Fae shocked and upset that he was discovered so quickly. Haven't people almost forgotten about their existence? The elders would swear a lot if they found out that he had failed. The boy carefully orders the vine and clover to cover the circle of mushrooms, hiding the front door from the human. He was the only one of the entire brood entrusted by Undergrowth to start a practice in a city where there are almost no plants and sunlight, and faeling did not want to let down the mentor who took him under his wing at all.

The old Fairies claim that people are mean and narrow-minded, but Danny himself is intrigued by these creatures and therefore hopes that he will be able to come to an agreement with the boy and to continue his research without obstacles. Danny intends to take the exam for the right to be called an adult fae this decade, which means he has no right to make mistakes. But still, forcing a guy to dance until he drops dead from exhaustion or make him wander along the paths of this small green area without being able to find a way out, as he was taught to get rid of pests at home, seemed too cruel. This boy, just like him, is still a cub and he is here by accident, not to encroach on their possessions. They need not quarrel.

“Don't banish me. I'm just trying to learn.”

“To do what?”

“To steal.” Danny blushes, realizing that such honesty was unnecessary. Stupid, stupid...People know that faeries can take their names, thereby gaining power over them. Now this cub will definitely decide that he has come to cause harm and he will not be able to learn anything useful and interesting. Phantom quickly makes excuses. “Nothing important! I only borrowed trinkets and fruits.”

“You're new to this, aren't you?”

“Is it that noticeable?”

“Pretty noticeable, yes.”

The boy looked at him almost pityingly. And the Phantom didn't like it.

That's how the spirits and other fairies used to look at him when they found out he was only halfa. Because of this fact, his abilities were belittled and not taken seriously too often. What's wrong with that? He's dead just like everyone else, even if not completely.

And now he's screwed up, not even because of his nature, but because of his sluggishness. It was especially unpleasant, as it was deserved. He should have spent his time more productively, but the flowers bred with the help of humans were so interesting and talked about their longing for the sun with such sadness that fae did not dare to interrupt them.

Jason finished both of the stolen hot dogs and leaved the park. The guy still follow him and stares intently, almost without blinking.

“Stop it. What do you want?”

“I study. You seem experienced. “

“People don't really like being stared at like this, in case you didn't know. Back off.”

“Really?”

Jason was ready to be outraged that the kid thought he was an idiot but the tramp from the park looked really puzzled. It seems that if he ever had parents, they didn't care about the boy, since they didn't explain to him that atypical behavior could add him problems. The boy is lucky that Jay is an asshole only when absolutely necessary.

“You're weird. Try to keep your mouth shut near others.”

“Okay.”

Jason took a few minutes to think and sighed. Todd could not leave this strange child alone, because damn conscience would not allow it. He can't survive alone. He will either wander after some other person and become a victim of trafficking or he will be at the beck and call of some assholes in the late afternoon. Jason cursed his bleeding heart once more and promised himself that he would keep the boy by his side no longer than necessary. Jay couldn't afford to be responsible for another mouth to feed. Summer has already come to an end and it was worth starting to save a little money and store things in case of early cold weather.

“If I teach you some of my skills will you promise to stay away from the places where I…work?”

“Maybe. Is this a deal?”

“Yes, if you'll agree, idiot. “

Danny nods and his new acquaintance continues.

“First of all, we'll get you shoes and some clothes. I don't need you to pick up tetanus and some viral crap.”

Danny smiles a little, trying not to make it too noticeable. Great trick.

He nodded to indicate understanding rather than agreeing, and the boy did not ask for verbal confirmation. It seems that he is not completely hopeless at deceiving people. Phantom couldn't wait to tell Clockwork or Frostbite about his success.

They wound through streets and rooftops for a long time until they reached other man's temporary shelter, and Danny had to admit that the man's decision to borrow more clothes was very clever. Strange sharp things and narrow bags of biological fluid were found between the houses disgustingly often. The elders are right about something? Danny must admit. Some people are nasty. They didn't even clean the settlement they live in properly.

A foul-smelling device for carrying things flew into the face of fae while he thoughtfully followed the boy telling him something about removing so-called tires from the iron inanimate horses.

“Dude, stop fighting with a trash bag. You'll stand guard while I give the customer the goods, okay?”

“Fine.” To be honest, the intern was ready to cry from the injustice of life and rush home, and he was only stopped by the desire to visit the observatory, which his new acquaintance mentioned when fae complained that because of the smoke and smog the stars would probably not be visible at night.

Danny realized that he did not regret his decision when, a couple of minutes later, he heard his human quarreling with adult specimen. Judging by the conversation, the man refused to pay the price for the things brought to him and even threatened to hit Phantom's guide. Danny was annoyed by this and decided to intervene a little. To his good fortune, on the balcony of this vile man there was a pot with withering petunias and they did not mind helping lil fae teach their owner manners. A slight whiff of magic and the pot falls on the deceiver's head and human begins to choke on the roots that climb right into his mouth. Danny giggles, congratulating his green comrades on their successful revenge. Other boy doesn't waste any time and grabs the bucks that fell out of the customer's hands and orders new boy to run.

Danny spent several days with human cub and really learned a lot about these creatures. Despite the fact that such a pastime was exciting, he needed to at least create the illusion of practice the fae skills.

It is dangerous to ask a person who knows who he is about this but teachers will be upset if he does not make an attempt. And despite the fact that the people around him seem scary, Nocturn will be much scarier in anger if he finds out that Phantom is such a loser.

“Ma- Can I have your name?” Danny muttered uncertainly and immediately panicked at his own impudence. “Sorry!”

“Jason.”

Todd was in a good mood, as luck had been with him for the last few days, and the new companion was not at all as useless as it seemed to him from the beginning. He was able to hide so well that no one could detect them, and managed to bring fresh fruits, vegetables and mushrooms to their safe house. However, there were problems with the last one, since this strange dude sometimes brought toadstools and satan's boletes to their apartment, which he managed to get from unknown places. Jason thought he was going to have a heart attack the first time he caught child happily eating raw fly agaric. Indeed, if Jay hadn't found him this boy would probably have died of poisoning in that park by now. Todd had to persuade him to bring only chanterelles, which he could confidently identify as edible and not fear for their lives every time the boy tries to help find food. And his padawan really managed to find them. In Gotham. Holy shit. Maybe this park, so fiercely guarded by the boy, was another secret area for Poison Ivy's experiments? However, poisonous specimens will not be wasted either, since you never know when you will need to defend yourself without entering into a fight, but acting more subtly.

“Real name! Real one!” The boy's eyes were as big as saucers and he became very worried and waved his hands as if trying to shake off invisible sticky threads from his fingertips. “You shouldn't say your actual name! Why did you do that? You shouldn't have given it to me.”

“There are a lot of Jason's around. Why do you care about that?”

“You're not just some Jason, you're my Jason, you're important to me. It's dangerous if someone has your name. Then that someone can make you do bad things.”

Tears began pouring down boy's face and Jason was surprised by such a violent reaction. Todd doesn't think there's anything to worry about, since he didn't tell the stranger his last name. He often introduces himself in different ways. Just, for some reason, something made him be honest this time. But how would this guy know that?

“Well…You're not just anyone. We're friends. I don't think you're going to rat on me to the cops or anything. So it's okay. “ Jay tries to calm the newcomer down.

“Friends?”

“Yes. Friends forever?” Jason teasingly holds out his little finger, offering a childish oath that he recently taught his padawan.

“Forever.” The boy supports the oath, and then, after thinking for a second, leans closer to Todd and whispers. "I'm Danny, just so you know."

“Good. I'll remember.”

The young fae is overcome with euphoria. He took the name! He did it! But that was all the other boy had, apart from a rusty tire iron, so it probably wasn't right or friendly to keep it. The human cub helped him. Danny couldn't keep such a gift. He didn't even really try to get his name. “Jason is your name.”

“That's right, buddy.”

“I won't call you that name.” Where I come from, even spouses rarely know each other's names. Danny wanted to assure his friend that he should not be afraid that he would abuse his power. “ I like you so I will take full responsibility for the possession of such a gift, don't worry.”

“Hah, in order to take responsibility, you already need to at least marry me as a moral compensation, given the number of brain cells killed by your antics. “

“Well, if I have to, then I will. When we're older.”

Jason snorts and shakes his head. It's probably not love, since they're just kids, but still, Jason thinks that if all autumn evenings were like this, he wouldn't mind spending his life with Danny, snuggling closer to the boy while they both bask under the same blanket. No matter how many times a day they managed to roll in the mud and fall into the trash can, the boy always gave off a light scent reminiscent of spring greens, which reminded Todd of something warm and cozy. Maybe a home? Although when his father was not in prison yet, his house smelled more like the stench of cigarette smoke and mold.  So Danny was more like a hope for a good home that they write about in books.

On their free evenings Jason usually entertained them by reading. Danny has always been an attentive listener, reacting vividly. After stroking the battered cover of a new book he found, Jason puts it aside. He's too tired today, and  just wants to listen.

Noticing this, Danny begins to chirp about his homeland. His stories are like fairy tales, too bright and colorful for the stone Jungle. Jay realized a long time ago that his friend had something like a defense mechanism. Todd himself snapped and fought when the world was too cruel, this guy escaped to his fictional world, where he was safer and happier. His friend could have been a great writer someday. The descriptions of Princess Dorathea and her cruel brother, pharaoh with an unusual passion for technology and ultra-recyclo vegetarian queen of plants were so detailed and vivid that they seemed true. Danny's imagination contained the whole world.

When the first snowflakes fall to the ground, Danny says that this means that his friend Frostbite will soon come to pick him up. Jason is honestly not ready for such a turn of events. He promised himself that he would not be around another boy for longer than necessary, but he managed to get attached. He hopes that this statement is just another one of his companion's fantasies and forgets about it for a while.

A snowstorm is raging in the city when Danny does not return home. The snowfall does not stop for several days, and Todd realizes that his friend left him, although all his belongings are left in their apartment. He hopes that someone really came for the boy, and not that in the spring his body will be found in one of the melting snowdrifts.  After a few months, when the canned homemade vegetables carefully cooked by Danny are coming to an end, and the mold, sitting alone  in a corner of the ceiling all winter, felt the first the warm rays of the sun, Todd decides not to waste energy on useless worries and hopes.

Soon, as Danny would put it, Batman steals Jason. Todd doesn't really trust the old man at first, but he teaches him to be Robin, and, well, Robin is cool. He's magic. Robin is an urban legend, a spirit worthy of being the hero of Danny's favorite stories. Robin is Jason's connection not only to the city itself, but also to his past. Robin does not need to think about whether he should grieve not only for his mother but also for his friend. Robin is more. There is not only strength and hope in this uniform, but also memories, nostalgia and  humanness. Therefore, Todd is not ready to give up the suit, even if he understands Grayson's displeasure. Because when he goes out on a patrol, the longing becomes less, and he feels that he is getting better and closer to something important. It helps.

No.

It helped.

And then he died.

And things are getting worse by the day, hah.

~~~A few hits with a crowbar later~~~

Jason learns about a new attempt of eco-terrorism relatively late, when he is officially called to help. Even so he stays at the place of the fight before the rest of the family. Firstly, because this time Ivy decided to start destruction from the closest to Crime Alley park, and secondly because Ivy's creations always pay little attention to him. Even the famous pollen has almost no effect on Hood.

Making his way through the furiously writhing vines, Red Hood notices the enemy and realizes that it is not Ivy, but decides that he will analyze the situation during the battle and rushes forward.

“Hey! Don't touch B, you.. “Almost flying into a guy with such a familiar face, the Hood slows down sharply “... pointy-eared.”

A guy with sparkling green energy in his hand and a vigilante with a pistols in each hand freeze looking at each other.

“Man, is it you?”

Snow-white hair, glowing green eyes, transparent dragonfly-like wings and razor-sharp claws are completely unfamiliar to Todd, but facial features, expressions and a bracelet with star pendants that Jay gave Danny for his birthday, adorning one of the impressive polished horns, allow to recognize him.

“Jay! It's been a long time, my friend.” Hearing Todd's voice, despite the sound changed by the helmet, the creature calms down. “You've grown up a lot.”

“And you're still so short. Wow. And, by the way, I can't believe you're still keep it.” Red puts the safety of the guns and then points one of them at the jewellery. “It's from a dollar store, nothing special.”

John says goodbye to the hope of a day off after the mission, cursing the manners of the bat and his offspring. Is a couple of days without the risk of interdimensional conflict really that too much to ask for?

“You gave it to me. That's why it's special.”

The creature smiles and Todd feels his face blushing. It's a good thing he's still wearing his helmet. Danny looks too…magical…in every sense.

“Do you know him, Hood?” Of course, Bat cannot stay out of the conversation when nothing is holds him back.

“No.”

“Yes.”  Danny denies the statement of Hood, proudly puffs out his chest and declares. “He was my first. He calls himself Hood these days? How strange.”

Bat gasps and exhales indignantly.

Jason quickly connects the fact that his friend is definitely not human with the possibility that Danny's stories were true.

“Name!” Trying to fix the chaos that his friend is trying to involve them in, Red Hood hurries to explain. “He's talking about damn name. I'm the first one who gave...”

“Oh, come on, spoilsport. He almost believed me.” The fairy winks playfully and Jason has to do his best to focus on the mission and not on the guy. “You're my betrothed anyway. And, hey, I collected the library as a wedding gift.”

“Hm.” Hood rolls his eyes. This joke about their childhood promise would have been hilarious if he hadn't felt the old man's rising pressure behind his back. So, returning to the problem, he still needs to get these two away from each other as soon as possible. Neither Danny nor Bruce has a calm personality, and Jason didn't want to start Danny's acquaintance with Alfred by giving first aid to these dummies. “So what's all the fuss about? Are you like um.. Ivy's pet-pixie or what?”

Now John Constantine, who carefully watched the meeting from the sidelines, almost feels his blood pressure rising too. Compare faeries with garden pests. What was Batman's son thinking about, showing such disrespect? He wanted them to have more problems or what?

“Hm? Who is Ivy? I've never heard of her. To be honest, I'm only here because our gate was disturbed.” The fairy chirped angrily and, with a nervous flutter of his wings, flew up to the bushes. His finger pointed accusingly at the crushed mushrooms that John and Batsy had landed on when they unsuccessfully attacked Dr. Isley. “But even though your companions' behavior is inexcusable, I don't blame you, of course. I am glad that we met again because of this incident, Tagetes.”

The Faerie circle...John hadn't seen this in years. Damn Gotham. He difenetly doesn't want the problems of this crazy city to fall under his and Shazam's responsibility. Now it is clear why Rogue disappeared so quickly. She probably knew about it and wanted to make them someone else's problem. Damn it twice, John should have sent a message instead of coming to Gotham to discuss business with Wayne. Being uninvited guests of such mischievous and malicious hosts does not bode well.

“You are lucky that the Fright Knight is not on duty today. But someone will have to answer for it. Is it really so hard to look at your feet? Or is this a deliberate provocation? I demand an apology.”

“No, enough games for you. They're a little busy chasing someone, in case you didn't notice.” Jason starts pulling on his friend's hand, intending to take him out of the park. Next to these paranoids, it's better not to ask an old friend about anything. “Only good little fairies are invited to my safe house to taste my signature lasagna today, so stop trying to give my old man a heart attack, okay?”

“Wait. Is this Willis?” The fairy's eyes narrow and he looks at the cloaked dark figure with disapproval.

"No, another jerk. B has a problem with adoptions and that's the reason I'm now part of his brood." Jason reluctantly explains. "He literally dragged me off the streets without consent after I tried to take the tires off his car."

“Oh my Ancients, he did what?! But you're mine! He had no right to steal you.” Danny indignantly rustled the leaves of the closest trees.

“I prefer to be considered as my own man, thank you very much.”

“Riiight…but still, speaking absolutely one hundred percent theoretically, who would you rather stay with, darling? If only you were mine~”

“Ja-..Don't let yourself be fooled, Red Hood. You can't trust him. Ten or even fifty years spent on a prank don't mean anything to this creature.” Bruce doesn't look happy with how at ease Todd is with the threat, but frankly, he rarely looks happy at all, so the crime lord doesn't attach too much importance to it.

"Wow. Rude. This is partially true, but it still hurts. Jason is a friend. I won't do anything to him and I don't demand anything from him. I can't say that about the rest of you. I was preparing for a long-awaited vacation, and because of your fuss I have a new bunch of paperwork to do. What can you say in your defense?"

The boy with the snow-white hair didn't look really upset, but just because there was still a smile on his face, it couldn't be said that he wasn't furious. Next to fairies, all human senses became enemies, not allies.

Despite the deceptive good-naturedness of merrily fluttering his wings guy, John was on high alert. Short-tempered, playful and obnoxious temperament were both a blessing and a curse when working with these creatures. Fairies skillfully searched for loopholes in contracts and in general were the best deceivers among those who could only tell the truth. Faeries prefer to bend victims to their will with words, but they are skilled users of the magic of nature and chaos. They also, despite the business acumen as strong as the alligator's mouth closing strength, were willing to play cat-and-mouse with those who dared to turn to him for help or just walk near their possessions. And this specimen was also clearly not one of the fairies that Morningstar had taken over control, since his energy reeked of Infinite Realms. Unknown territory. John urgently needs to come up with some ingenious plan to get everyone out of this fighting safe and relatively unscathed and…

“Fuck off, B. I told you he already has my name. If he wanted to hurt me, he would have done it at any time. You should show more respect for your future son-in-law, you know.”

“Jason, honey, since when do street rats hang out with bats?” Danny obviously didn't have much sympathy for the Gotham vigilante before, but because of his story, their chances of getting along tended to zero.

“Oh, come on, don't even start this conversation. What is more important…Who would I rather stay with? Hm…Let's say, um, theoretically, of course…If your fiance was killed by one very very bad cruel clown, what would you do, Stardust?

"I would tear clown molecule by molecule."

“Yes, yes! Right!” Jason pats Danny on the shoulder and turns to Batman. “See, that's how you should have reacted.”

Constantine: …What an Addams family. I'm leaving. I've already seen enough. If you get kidnapped, don't call me. Damn freaks.

Come with me now to see my world

Where there's beauty beyond your dreams

Strangers Like Me - Phil Collins

[fanfic-obsessed]

Ten Years in Two months

While the meat and potatoes of this idea comes a bit later, it does require some finangleing beforehand. Some of the beginning does feel a bit contrived, because it is. In order for the dominoes of the plot to fall right later, we do have to force them into shape now in a series of improbable actions. 

Bear with me for a bit, we’ll get there. 

There is not really a particular point this starts, save that it is after Padme becomes pregnant (though well before she realizes she is) but before the Umbara arc (or ignoring the Umbara Arc), for no particular reason other than I want Waxer there.  A mission is assigned to the 212th to escort Padme Amidala and her retinue to a neutral world for negotiations with the Separatists.  They are taking with them commander Ahsoka Tano (the in-world explanation being that she was on Coruscant catching up with course work and they would rendezvous with the 501st, who were on a campaign in that region). 

On the way to this neutral world, from the perspective of the rest of the galaxy, the 212th in its entirety vanishes for two months. 

From the perspective of the 212th they become trapped on an uncharted planet for 10 years. 

For the rest of the galaxy those two months are enlightening into Anakin Skywalker's particular brand of instability.  Without the tempering influence of the bonds to his Master and Padawan, compounded by the fact that his secret wife disappeared as well, Well…his attempts to find them could, in the best of lights, be described as unhinged. He did not fall in at this time, for he was given no reason to make that choice (and falling to the dark, into evil is very much a choice. One does not fall by accident, after all), but he made it very clear that the war, protecting innocents, the Republic, or even the lives of his own men meant nothing compared to finding Padme (occasionally he would remember to make it seem as though he was focusing on finding Obi Wan or Ahsoka, though he never quite remembered to include the rest of the 212th). His obsession presented itself in such a way that even Palpatine was reconsidering some of his plans (he still intended to break Anakin into Vader, but he was now inclined to let Padme-and maybe even Ahsoka; Obi Wan was always going to die-live on as a stabilizing influence to his ultimate apprentice). 

He was swiftly removed from command of the 501st and had to be kept partially sedated for at least 6 of those 8 weeks. 

With the 212th for the first few months, from their perspective, they tried to contact the rest of the fleet. Tried to contact anyone.  Tried to escape from their orbit around this one planet, thankfully habitable and with an abundance of edible food. However, though they did not know it, the planet was out of sync with the rest of the galaxy.

Over the period of about two years they shifted from living mostly on the ships with just enough people on the surface of the planet to keep everyone fed to a more permanent settlement on the planet with a rotating skeleton crew up on ships to keep everything running. 

Padme found out about her pregnancy pretty early on, and with it came the knowledge that her relationship with Anakin was not the secret she thought it was.  Nor was the relationship forbidden like Anakin told her. The marriage was forbidden, because of the Oaths Anakin swore as part of the Jedi Order and how they conflicted with the traditional Nabooian Wedding vows (though she also finds out that the Jedi Order would have helped revise both sets of vows so they did not conflict).  Even beyond her own misunderstandings of the Jedi, she started to see the many places where Anakin either deliberately misunderstood his own culture, or deliberately misled her.  

In fact it became obvious within the first six months that every culture represented in the ships (The variety of cultures from the natborn admiralty, the Nabooian Delegation, The clones, and the Jedi) all had some misconceptions about all of the other cultures ranging from the humorously minor to massive misunderstandings (One of the minor misunderstandings is between the Jedi and the Clones on names and numbers. The Jedi believe that they are making sure that they are calling the clones what the clones want to be called instead of their designation. The clones think that the Jedi as a whole are uncomfortable with their designation AS names-Which yes but also no-so even though most of the clones prefer a name to their designation, even the few that want to use their designation are told by the other clones that the must choose a name to use around the Jedi). 

Obi Wan takes over Ahsoka’s training and the gaps that Anakin had left become very obvious; the place where he taught her something that was outright wrong even more so. About three months in, Ahsoka tells Obi Wan about Anakin’s ‘training’ of being surrounded and fired upon by the 501st.  One of the few things that Anakin was right about was that he Jedi would not understand, nor condone, that training. Ahsoka had not realized how disconnected from her own culture she had become in her short time with Anakin. How isolated he had made her from her people. Though she and Obi Wan were the only Jedi, she felt closer than ever to everything she had grown up with as he took on her tuition. 

In month 8 Obi Wan, who was looked to as the leader, arranged for a series of times to address the misconceptions held by an for each culture present.  When it became clear that they were cut off for the long haul, he helped the variety of people to start to live instead of just surviving.  And at the beginning there were a number of natborns among them that were anti clones, or anti Jedi, just as there were many clones that were anti nat born.  But with only about 1500 people in total (1300 clones, about 50 natborn officers and support staff, about 150 senatorial support staff) there were simply not enough people to support those kinds of prejudices.  It is hard to say that the clones were not human when you listen to the stories of decommissioned batchmates during one of the remembrance ceremonies.  Or hate the natborn lieutenant that got drunk and cried all over you about the pregnant wife they left behind.

The twins were born with a village of aunts and uncles, and though they are the oldest, they were not the only ones. Sache, one of Padme’s former handmaidens and part of her senatorial retinue, entered into a relationship with Waxer and Boil, having a child with them that was a year younger than the twins.  Many relationships formed and broke apart during those years.

Ahsoka and Padme ended up co parenting the twins, with Padme being called Mom and Ahsoka being called Mom Ah.  It was the twins who insisted on their names from their earliest ability to speak. 

In year four Cody and Obi Wan get married. Though theirs is not the only relationship that develops, nor the only one with healthy communication, their relationship does highlight to Padme how unhealthy her relationship with Anakin actually was. (It should be noted that, although Anakin’s instability and actions were flashier, this is not Anakin abusing/coercing the poor innocent Padme. In this they are toxic together, both acted in unhealthy ways that compromised their own morals).  Padme was able to see how Cody and Obi Wan did not use their love for each other as a bandage for deeper wounds. That CodyWan did not become all consuming; each man had friendships and hobbies and duties separate from each other (even with the friends they shared, they did not act as a single unit, inseparable from each other).  The other relationships she saw only drove this point home. 

At some point in those ten years she tells Obi Wan of what happened on Tatooine, just before the start of the war. And Obi Wan, eyes betraying his grief and horror at the massacre of the Tuskens asked her why she absolved Anakin of his crimes (By technicality, as a senator Padme did have the authority to absolve Anakin-so even if Tatooine becomes part of the Republic, and the crime is reported, Padme’s actions mean that Anakin cannot be tried under Republic Law). Padme cannot answer him.  

Though it does take time, Padem is eventually able to meet Obi Wan’s eyes again after the revelation. 

6 years in, Ahsoka and Padme realize that they have fallen in love.  Driven by the Jedi teachings for healthy and open communication (though many cultures value open and honest communication, few need it in the same way as the Jedi who are all some degree of Empath), they talk about what was happening. Neither is sexually attracted to the other, but they do want to date each other.  But Padme is married to Anakin. And it might have been six years, so they do not know if Anakin even still lived, and if did, he had likely moved on (both of which are reasonable assumptions) but being together without first speaking to Anakin felt too much like giving up the idea that they would find a way home. So they agreed to wait until they were ready to give up that idea. 

They had not given up by the time that the 10 year mark rolled around.

In year 7 the chips begin to deteriorate. The material they were made up of were not meant for the extra years of use, plus the method Helix used to stop the accelerated aging (discovered within 5 months of actually having time) created an enzyme as a byproduct that had no effect on the clones, but accelerated the deterioration of the chips.  The first three chips were removed after the clones involved complained of migraines. All the documentation in the computer banks (the archive of what was readily available, instead of what was stored on the galaxy’s version of the cloud) of the ships said the chips were to inhibit excess aggression. No one had any reason to not believe the documentation, not even with the realization that the chips were not in the right place for what they were supposed to do (the assumption is that the Kaminoans, for all their genetic know how, just do not understand near human neurology enough to have put it in the right place).  Obi Wan met with Helix, the head medic, with Cody after the removal of those first chips.  Obi Wan assumed that he did not know about the chips because he had not been on the council when the order was put in. Helix is able to confirm that all of the clones have these chips and what they are supposed to do (according to the literature) and that some were beginning to deteriorate.  After it becomes clear that the removal will not hurt the clone, they make the decision to remove all of them. However, believing them to be behavioral modifiers (if incorrectly placed), and as they did not have the optimal equipment to decode them, they all left it at that and put the Chips into storage and basically forgot about it. 

Just 15 days shy of the 10th anniversary of their arrival to the uncharted planet, whatever grip that was holding the ships bound to orbit the planet vanished (The planet was in sync with the rest of the galaxy- it is a window of time that is six hours long in the larger galaxy, or 15 days long on the planet) Still not able to raise communications to anyone outside of the planet’s orbit, not knowing how long they would have before they were stuck again, and fearing that they would be cut off from anyone left behind (no one had forgotten that the planet had not registered as there until they were trapped), everyone was loaded onto the ships along with all of their food stores and the 212th left the uncharted planet. 

As soon as they hit the galaxy at large again, alarms began to shriek. Every system that communicated with the central systems (basically everything outside of life support) experienced a fatal error upon reconnecting with the galaxy’s central system. It takes 4 days to fix. They have to reset all of the internal clocks/calendars in their computer systems to a date and time two months and 3.5 days after they became trapped (the last 24 hours of that time was spent inputting random dates into the system). 

NOTE: There is a very important reason for this. Computers are very black and white about some things, and communicating between computers is often validated on specific information to make sure that both systems are dealing with the same information at the same thing. Current Date/Time had to be validated for the purpose of navigation. Galactic/Stellar drift is very real, and in the mapped regions of the galaxy that drift is precisely calculated.  It is impossible to keep a real time map of every object in the galaxy, instead there is a systematic ping that goes out at specified times (Twice per Galactic Standard year) remapping every object in the known galaxy and correcting the location in the centralized system.  Then Navigation computers calculate how long it has been since the last ping to figure out where everything is and a safe route.  That only works if the current date time matches the current date time of the centralized system exactly (some of those object movements, even objects large enough to damage the largest of ships, can be measured in microseconds). 

No one realizes why this is an issue. The entirety of the 212th believe that 10 years have passed (born out by their time keepers, which had ticked along for ten years) and yet to the larger galaxy only two months have. They absently notice that by the time anything is working again the planet they were on had vanished. 

A message is sent to Coruscant, to the Jedi temple, but it is a hesitant thing. Deliberately vague in details. Obi Wan has no idea what 10 years has done for or to the war effort.  The response is almost immediate,  a call from the Jedi council. The very first question out of Mace Windu’s mouth is a cranky sounding ‘Where in the Force have you been for the last two months?’ (Look Master Windu is absolutely ecstatic that they are safe and not dead, but he has spent the four days helping to keep Anakin contained-the sedation began to wear off faster now that he could feel Ahoska and Obi Wan in the Force again-, the last two months realizing that Obi Wan ran about a third of their side of the war, and had been in the middle of sleeping for the first time in weeks).

There is quite a bit of confusion as both Obi Wan and Mace were absolutely sure the other had lost it over how long the 212th had been gone (Obi Wan: we were trapped for ten years; Mace: Bullshit! You’ve been gone for 2 months).  It is Ahsoka’s appearance that convinces Mace that something more is going on (he would not know the children, and Ahsoka is the only other one for whom 10 years-or 10 years and 5 months for the clones- would make a huge visible difference). Mace is able to convince Obi Wan that they really have only been gone two months and the 212th makes its way back to Coruscant, reeling over the disconnect (The Lieutenant who spent the last 10 years mourning over the missed moments with their wife and unborn child…hasn’t even missed the birth).

The mind healers who have been dealing with Anakin nearly weep in relief at the news that Padme Amidala is with the 212th and safe. They know that Anakin needs many much therapy still but they have hope he will actually pay attention now that his wife is back. 

The 212th, now a community in a way that they had not been, returned to Coruscant.  They do not split in the ways that they would have before (before relationships and children) and peer at the lives they had left behind that they no longer quite fit the shape of. 

The lieutenant brings home their best friend (a clone who had not picked their name before the mission, but decided to go with 29, which they picked to reference the number of a decommissioned batchmate)  to meet their wife, only for some of the wife’s family make an awful comment about flesh droids and being a pet (thankfully their wife was equally embarrassed by her brother’s behavior). 

Obi Wan, Cody, Padme, and Ahsoka go to the Jedi temple, to the Jedi Council (the twins, like the rest of the children, were left aboard the Negotiator in the care of their extended family). They speak of the planet where they had been trapped and the lives they grew there. 

Padme took the time to apologize to the Council, formally, for the violation of their beliefs that she and Anakin had perpetrated by marrying as they had.  She could admit that while Anakin had not told her of any Jedi traditions for marriage, or really any traditions they might be violating by marrying, she had made no effort to check either. 

As an afterthought Obi Wan told the Jedi Council about the chips deteriorating, but that they did not appear to be doing anything anyway (To which every other member went: “What chips?”). Upon being asked Obi Wan calls for Helix to get a chip or two out of the storage closet they had been forgotten in. Which was then promptly handed to people with specialized equipment for decoding bio mechanical chips. 

After the latest round of sedation has worn off Padme, Obi Wan, and Ahsoka go to see Anakin. They are told that before Anakin can be released he needs to be assessed by three different mind healers. They go intending to tell Anakin of the twins. Padme also goes with the intent to test the waters about the possibility of separating (She does not know that her and Ahsoka dating would go anywhere, nor are either of them even thinking of it right now, but even leaving that aside Padme has realized that her and Anakin are not healthy together). Things do not go quite as intended. 

At first Anakin is so happy to see all three of them, he exclaims over Ahsoka being so grown up (she is now 24, now older than Anakin). It rapidly becomes clear that Anakin expected he would be released immediately, now that they were back.  There was a small blip, a frown and a strange heaviness when he realized that all three of them were backing the healers that he needed to be assessed.  Anakin also did not like how close Ahsoka and Obi Wan were, oh before they vanished he would joke about Ahsoka being their shared padawan, but he preferred it when Obi Wan’s lessons unintentionally reinforced the idea that Ahsoka was better off with Anakin than any other Jedi.

There were a few moments when he could speak to Padme alone, and the way he spoke left  Padme feeling cold. There was nothing overt but it all reinforced a possessiveness that Padme realized she did not want in her or her children's lives. They leave without telling Anakin about the children. 

Padme tries six more times to go and talk to Anakin about separating. At best he acts like he does not hear or understand her words.  At worst he starts ranting about Obi Wan trying to steal his wife and needing to be sedated. 

Regretfully, and with the backing of both the Jedi and the 212th community, Padme starts the process to get a divorce. Nabooian traditions insist that a couple that wants to divorce must meet with a Nabooian marriage counselor first, to see if reconciliation is possible.  Setting this up takes several months as, upon being informed of proceedings Anakin had a second breakdown. His connection to the Force was such that the Jedi needed to block the connection lest he become very destructive. Only the Force Blockers left him not coherent enough to attend the session with Counselor. In the end the Jdi built a special room just to block Anakin’s specific connection to the force for them to meet in.  Traditionally the divorcing couple meets at least 5 times before permission is given to divorce.  It took one meeting for the Counselor to grant Padme her divorce. 

The 501st had not been assigned a new general by the time the 212th returned, and Ahsoka was almost ready for knighthood.  She took command of the 501st for a total of 4 months, it was too uncomfortable and too much like she was replacing Anakin (made weirder by the fact she still wanted to date his soon to be ex wife  and was helping to raise his children).  In the end Obi Wan ended up taking direct command of the legion, with Cody taking the lead of the 212th.  This also made everyone uncomfortable, thankfully the war ended three months after that (the revelation of what the chips did had the council contemplating finding the planet that 212th had been stranded on).

Palpatine had been indiscrete around someone who he had assumed would back his power play for an Empire. To be fair, in another world that family would have been high ranking imperial with very human centric tendencies. 

Palpatine had not expected a Lieutenant of the Galactic Navy, member of the 212h or not, to whip out a slug thrower and shoot at a party when Palpatine had admitted to knowing about the slave chip in the clones' heads. 

To be fair, neither did the Lieutenant.

[dokries]

hiiii my moon :3 im here to request a dino f2l drabble hihi! if u want more details then maybe dino has a crush on a classmate (yn) and sees her eating alone at lunch one day n decides to go sit w her >_< could lead to a confession maybe? ur choice :P i hope it isn't too much & ill be waiting excitedly ヽ(^o^)丿

oblivious

pairing: lee chan (dino) x gender neutral reader

genre: fluff, high school au, classmates/friends to lovers

word count: 724

warnings: mentions of food, chan is a down bad loser who’s oblivious

author note: HI DORI thank you so much for requesting <3 this was so fun to write (i was literally giggling the entire time he’s such a Loser) so i hope you enjoy 🫶 lots of love !!

masterlist

chan hopes that it isn’t too obvious that he’s always looking after you.

well, that is his job as class vice president but still. seungkwan already teases him for how “down bad” he is but come on, how can he not like you as more than just a friend, with your sunny smile and easy disposition?

chan refuses to admit that his crush on you is the reason he doesn’t sit with the rest of his friends at lunch today—he’s just doing his job as the vice president, and making sure you’re not alone because the person you usually sit with has been sick for days on end.

you sigh, bored as you play around with the food on your plate before chan puts his own down on the table in front of you, and calls your name to pull you out of your thoughts. “hey!”

you sit up properly once he gets comfortable and smile at him, and he pats himself on the back in his mind for making the right decision.

“hey, chan! i thought you usually eat with seungkwan and vernon…?” you say, pointing over to where his friends are sitting, and where seungkwan is making kissy faces at the two of you.

thankfully, you’re oblivious, and only giggle at the silly motion as chan glares at his best friend, his ears becoming a deep shade of red.

he turns back to you clearing his throat and with his hand up, mimicking the position he took when taking the pledge after he was elected. “as your amazing vice president, it is my duty to make sure all students are represented and treated well, which includes me making sure they’re included—even if it’s just sitting with them at lunch.” chan winks, giving a small bow when you clap politely for his dedication.

he picks at his food, mumbling, “besides, i would always sit with you if i could.”

you pause, narrowing your eyes at chan. “what did you just say?”

his eyes widen, and he starts to talk frantically. “hey—i just mean that you’re a really cool person, and you have a really nice smile—no scratch that. wait, i don’t mean that you don’t have a nice smile—” you laugh, cutting him off, and he gives you a dopey smile before he realizes what his expression looks like.

“what i mean is…i think you’re good company. nothing more, nothing less!” he nods, proud of himself for covering up his mistake—nice one, chan.

however, his cover up doesn’t seem to be that good because you smirk, leaning closer to him. “is that so? the way you talked about me doesn’t make it seem like i’m just ‘good company’ to you now, does it?”

chan gulps, taking his carton of strawberry milk and chugging it down before he speaks, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand when he’s done.

you grin at him, before placing a chicken piece in one of the compartments of his tray. “you can just say you like me, you know.”

when chan doesn’t respond, you freeze, apologizing immediately. “chan, i’m so sorry if i read the vibes wrong, i didn’t mean to make assumptions—”

your vice president interrupts you with a sigh as he puts his face in his hands, and peeks at you through them. “…was it really that obvious?”

you pause before nodding, and biting back a grin. “so i was right?” you don’t hold back your smile when he nods tiredly and you let out a sigh of relief. “and here i thought i was being obvious.”

chan’s jaw drops as he struggles to find the words. “y—you? no way, i had no idea.”

you sigh, already knowing that fact. you always go out of your way to help him fill out the attendance sheet, collect the textbooks for him even though it isn’t your job, and even buy him snacks from time to time!

“oh, chan,” you smile lovingly at him. “you’re just a little oblivious guy, that’s all.”

he shrugs, face turning red. “i could be your oblivious guy…if you want me to.”

“yes, of course i want you to be!” you grab chan’s hands in yours and squeal, and he can’t help grinning.

seungkwan was definitely wrong at the beginning of the year; being the vice president certainly has its perks.

[luxwing]

oh i would like to hear your thoughts on transparent umbrella? Is it significant to serizawa

I don't know if I can articulate it very well so I hope this makes sense but the original umbrella was opaque (I think, ok, I have no idea if ONE meant it this way but I think about it a lot) and it represented him blocking out the world because he wasn't able to cope with existing with his powers. The original umbrella was given to him by Toichiro who told him to see it as an extension of the room he locked himself in for 15 years. Instead of helping Serizawa overcome his struggles and become stronger, Toichiro gave him a crutch and that was why Serizawa would lose control if he ever lost the umbrella. The umbrella was a way to still hide from the world.

Now, in the manga, the umbrella Serizawa has during the ???% arc looks like this

It's transparent. Like, obviously transparent. Again, this could all just be reading too hard into it like the autism does to me, but the fact that it's transparent means he's no longer blocking out the world. Even under the umbrella, he can see everything happening around him and exist within it. It's a small detail but to me it's just??? Like it just seems like a really obvious choice he makes to have something representing his personal growth.

But then the anime has it be an opaque umbrella just like the one Toichiro gave him and I'm just

Ugh it just bothers me more than it should it's stupid and a tiny tiny detail but my boy...Serizawa is just a cool guy and I think he's important and his growth is important and stuff.

EDIT: EPISODE 12 PREVIEWS SHOW A CLEAR UMBRELLA SO I WIN

[dampfur]

I finally finished designing all the voices for my Redlico Slay The Princess AU so here they all are ✨

This was all pretty fun to make and figure out for Licorice

Maybe I’ll at some point do legitimate interpretations of the voices in canon but no promises

Under the cut I’ll be explaining the design process of these guys and I’m sure the inspiration for most of them are pretty obvious

The Hero: Since he’s basically the default or standard voice you have in the game due to being the first voice and the voice that’s always with you, his design is based on the standard look of the licorice servants as well as a bit of Licorice himself with the cloak and eye color. (the gold lining comes from my own design of Lico that has those bits on his robe) He also gets the privilege of carrying the pristine blade

The Smitten: He’s the most flashy of the voices so the ZZSkull costume/minion design is what I went with since the red fits with the theme of love and with the whole K-Pop band thing going on with this costume I’m sure you could sweep the Prince off his feet with a musical performance~ 🎶

The Cold: I mostly chose the Pale Reaper costume/minion design for the color palette as it’s well- cold. But I did look at the costume description and it describes the Pale Reaper minions as “a ruthless army of obedient servants knowing no fear or pain.” Which did remind me of the Cold with the whole lack of feeling.

The Stubborn: Based on the bomber minion Licorice has in his OB ability. It’s an angry little guy and what better way to win a fight than to literally just explode I guess.

The Cheated: Based on the Parfaedia school uniform. Even tho it’s not confirmed Licorice went to that school it’s a good enough placeholder for what the Cheated represents for him. A time in his life where he studied magic and got no recognition out of it. Much like the name, he felt cheated out of success.

The Contrarian: His Grumpy Shroom Fairy costume felt a bit difficult to place on any of the voices but ultimately I went with this one. I basically chose this costume because Licorice dislikes it. And the Contrarian is certainly known for pushing peoples buttons and wanting to make choices that usually oppose what most of the characters want and more usually at the Narrators expense. So he wears this costume in opposition to how Licorice generally feels about it as it doesn’t paint him in any intimidating light. It’s a silly goofy outfit for a silly goofy voice

The Paranoid: Based on the Licorice Oozlings. Licorice himself expresses disgust over having to see the Licorice Sea again and the citizens of the Dark Cacao Kingdom have stated how much effort they put into making sure the monsters never get past the wall. The Oozlings make a great representation of the sense of fear and paranoia the cookies from there have felt over having to deal with them and Licorice probably felt a similar way when he had once lived there. And of course Licorice did use them as minions within the chapter 13 story so there’s another heavy association he with them.

The Opportunist: Based on the Aberrant Conjurer costume. Aside from the clear upgrade in outfit, this costume seems also like an upgrade in power. Licorice himself is much like the Opportunist always wanting to come out on top. In this costume it definitely feels like he’s gotten what he wanted. Although he can never outshine the powerful Dark Enchantress Cookie who he continues to be devoted and loyal to, and certainly would be to his benefit to be loyal so he can continue getting stronger with his magic and to not get caught in the crossfire of DE and her spreading of darkness and destruction. I’m basically comparing the Opportunist and the Wraith Princess to Licorice and DE since Licorice joining her is highly beneficial to him in his pursuit of power (of course in his case he’s doing it out of actual willingness not survival but the point still stands given how being on her bad side would be very dangerous)

The Hunted: This is the only voice not based on anything related to Licorice aside from the bones. He leans more into the animal appearance with the bird look and being the only voice to have pointy hands. There’s a few reasons for the bird motif specifically. One, the Hunted acts like prey always trying to run, hide and survive hence looking like an animal that can be easy prey. Two it’s a reference to the Long Quite being a bird so might as well stick that in here. And three, my personal Licorice design has bird skulls instead of human(?) skulls so it really was just preference.

The Broken: Based on the potion minion Licorice has in his OB ability. This minion I thought just had a sad looking face so I thought that’d fit him. This potion minion of course carries a potion around and it has a heart inside it. I thought to incorporate that into the design with the cracked heart as a sign of his broken spirit.

The Skeptic: The most difficult and bizarre design choice out of everyone as he’s based on Rocky, the rock that Licorice finds in Last Cookie Standing. I initially thought of this as a joke cuz I ran out of ideas and was just like “I’ll put Rocky here and call it a day” but I actually ended up making this make sense. Rocky comes a series that’s a Survival/Total Drama Island parody. Which of course is filled with characters using their wits and other skills to get through the challenges. Part of the appeal is watching the contestants build and destroy trust with one another. It is important you choose your allies wisely and think things through if you wanna win. So ya Rocky’s association with Last Cookie Standing made my decision with the Skeptic make sense.

[vivacissimx]

I know you have analysed them a lot but what is your fav part of rhaelya? And what's a fic idea you would like to write about them?

oh Rhaegar & Lyanna are the reason I joined fandom for the first time, so you know my love for them is special 😅 as for my favorite part: I have probably talked about this before but I'm very touched by the concept of 'human connection in a hurricane.' It's about how chaos causes panic & panic can overwhelm us but it's true purpose is clarity. In the mire of asoiaf political intrigues and betrothals, Rhaelya represents that clarity. In general, I find Rhaelya to be more similar than not (for all the icefire chatting). What do you do when you love your father but he's the reason you can't go home? If the people who love you can't help you or save you, does that turn you cruel or empathetic towards the world? When do/don't we trust?

There is also the obvious which is that Rhaegar & Lyanna fall in together because the other is what they admire. It may seem like a random & sudden pairing but really there's a mirroring from the beginning. Rhaegar sings a song to an audience which doesn't understand—Lyanna cries for a reason her family doesn't get either. Their coming together is about hiding the Knight of the Laughing Tree's identity and in that moment they see each other. Lyanna jousts for Howland—Rhaegar does it for Lyanna. Ostensibly the latter are chivalrous acts (defending the weak/honoring the maiden) but because they're not performed within the usual paradigm as expected these actions are a) reviled and b) reveal what truly motivates the two: Compassion. Justice.

I am also partial to the complication of returns/how leaving a place that is no longer safe is a love story/the moments that beg you to run headlong into them and you, human as can be, make that choice. All of these are part of Rhaelya's story. It's true that Lyanna left her family who she loved. People will say ah she was young, she was stupid, she was blinded by Rhaegar's charisma; but again, this is a moment about clarity. About certainty. Justice is about what happens in the future. Lyanna ran to the future & left behind only those whose love mattered less than their ability to possess her.

Rhaegar I have recently longposted about so it's clear how I formulate him. On the Lyanna part I've definitely said this but basically once the war kicked off there was no way for him to transport Lyanna anywhere without further endangering her and/or him family with Elia—you need to understand that Rhaegar loved his children to understand him at all. That he loved his mother, his father, had seen them broken down & turn apathetic or even cruel towards the world. You need to understand that Lyanna represented a shining light of hope against this backdrop for him. I am also one of the people who believe that Rhaegar & Lyanna's sexual relationship only started after Brandon/Rickard were executed so clearly this is a complex but also painfully simple story about the human heart for me. I love people at their most human. Affirming people's dignity during suffering or crisis is an ethical duty I feel I have towards others. And GRRM did exactly that for Rhaegar and Lyanna, so how can I not love them? I'd ship Rhaelya if I was born in a small Bavarian village in 1753, etc etc.

As for the fic I'd love to write, there are two:

1—

Rhaegar riding through the Riverlands on his way to the Ghost of High Heart. He's with Myles Mooton, Arthur Dayne, Richard Lonmouth, Oswell Whent. They stop at the Inn at the Crossroads. Everyone's laughing and drinking, Myles is flirting with the one pretty barmaid while Rhaegar is ContemplatingTM—Bess is her name. Bess boasts about all the ladies and lordlings who stopped at their inn recently & gives a description of what sounds like Brandon and Lyanna Stark. They enjoy riding out on their lil horses. But, Bess says, the Northern lord didn't like the look of our little lordling so they didn't stay long & haven't been bacj. The girl was kind though! She gave a few coins for the boy after slipping away from her wroth brother. Suddenly, Rhaegar's tuned in and the little lordling is trotted out...

A toddler with black hair and blue eyes. Soon after, the plans change.

2—

Their first meeting including Rhaegar nerding out a bit over meeting a crannogman after Howland uses lite magic to try and help them escape. Benjen & Howland trying to take responsibility for being the KOTLT and failing. Lyanna not just a winter maiden but a stubborn Northern bitch hardened by winter (it's the iron underneath baby!!). Sussing each other out during a long silent stare down. Maybe somebody even cracks a Joke? That kind of thing.

OK long answer 💀 sorry but I can't help myself!

[natalyarose]

𝓔𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓱 𝓢𝓲𝓰𝓷𝓼 - 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐸𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒽 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒷𝑜𝓇𝓃? 🌏

I've always wondered why it is that in traditional astrology, Earth isn't typically considered a planet used when reading a birth chart. Kinda rude to our mother if you ask me, tsk tsk!

It made sense to me in my mind that the energetic influence of the planet that we actually live on would be very important, if not possibly even the most important of all of our placements.

I decided to start exploring the concept in my everyday astrological musings. From what I'd read, I found that the main reason Earth wasn't considered a planet in traditional Astrology is solely because we are actually on the planet and therefore we cannot visually see it when gazing out out into the night sky. For this reason, people deemed it unnecessary to consider it an influence. Almost like 'if we can't see it externally, it's not relevant'... huh? I mean, all due respects to the ancients, but this always struck me as very strange logic- it's like saying that the state of your own house doesn't matter, because the houses across the street is what you see when you look out the window. Or that a person'ss inner state is irrelevant because you physically can't see your face without a mirror, you can only see other people.

So, I did what a good little Astrologer does and started to test merging interpretation of Earth signs into my practice. I'll have to do a seperate post outlining examples at some point, but time and time again I found that the sign & Nakshatra that the Earth is placed in absolutely manifests, sometimes seemingly even more strongly than their Sun's placement. Correlations were found in life experiences, talents, everyday habits, choices, etc. Earth signs kept showing me that they do play a very significant role in the celestial makeup of a person. Appearance-wise too. I realised a lot of times when I'd felt someone would likely have a planetary influence that they didn't seem to have when I checked, it was in their Earth sign.

After seeing the very clear pattern and establishing that Earth Signs do have an obvious influence, the next step was to try to understand what the Earth sign actually meant.

There definitely has been literature written about Earth signs to be clear, I'm definitely not the first ever person to talk about the idea, but I did struggle to find a piece where it was actually delved into beyond a one page novelty article for example.

Here are my thoughts- Earth in our charts is going to represent our natural state of being. The state physically, mentally and emotionally that makes us feel most at home and aligned with our divine purpose. Some say that Taurus could be considered ruled by Earth, given archetypal 'Mother Earth' associations.

Where it becomes interesting/complicated, is when looking at the fact that Earth is always 180° opposite the Sun- so your Earth Sign is directly opposite your Sun sign. Sun at 11° Taurus will be Earth at 11° Scorpio. This adds a beautifully complicated layer when it comes to interpreting what exactly the Earth sign is.

Especially in more Tropical/Sun sign centred astrological schools of thought, I often see people talking about duality and how people can often embody the traits and energies of the opposite sign. This could definitely be people picking up on Earth signs.

The Sun is essentially, a person's outwardly projected nature. The traits, goals, experiences and general character consciously portrayed. The Moon is the subconscious mind, emotions, the more instinctive personality. The Earth can be seen as representing a person's soul, the foundation, the 'mission on Earth'. Whilst the Sun is projecting an image, a goal, actively working to radiate light, the Earth simply 'is'.

To wrap my head around this, I think of how in order to want something, to have a will to obtain or be something (the Sun representing willpower), we must understand what it's like to be in the complete opposite energy. Earth can represent the skills and resources we already naturally have, and Sun is the raw and powerful potential/ability to manifest the exact opposite.

Eg. the soul of an Aries Earth has a deep understanding of passion, impulse, carnality, independence and was born naturally/organically into the Earthly plane with those abilities. In this lifetime, this person has the extreme will and drive (Sun) to embody Libran energy- radiating kindness, pursuing harmony and partnership, to learn about people.

I have a lot of different thoughts and ideas on Earth Signs and I'm really excited to continue to share them as I keep learning, researching and reading whatever I can find. I realise a lot of what I've written so far here are kinda open ended and still developing thoughts, but nonetheless I've been sitting on these thoughts for years now and felt it was time to document them!

Now when I look at charts, I always consider Earth and it really has added a whole new layer to Astrology and the way I understand people.

As always, I have no desire to push anyone else to use this in their practice- also, I respect the simplicity of traditional astrology. I'm just grateful to be part of the ever evolving yet ancient magic astrology is & share my thoughts.

Peace & love! <3

[endlessame]

Actually, thinking more about it, the more I start to realize that... it makes sense. If we believe Kotoko with what she said about not having a sad or traumatic childhood... maybe something happened in her young adult years that made her into what she is today. I'm gonna keep pushing my agenda of regretful Kotoko, because I really, really think that even if we voted Kotoko innocent again (which I sadly doubt) she would not do the same thing again. Because we voted her innocent. We told her "hey, we approve of your ideas. Your morals are correct." And yet, look at Deep Cover. Is that the song of someone actually prideful? Not at fucking all! This is not a "It's Not My Fault". Actually, I think this is more of a "Backdraft" type song! Like. Let's analyze some parts of the lyrics which I think are. Genuinely really interesting.

At first, I think we should remember something important. The whole concept of Milgram. These are Kotoko's feelings. And I see it as a layered thing. You can stay with the obvious surface layer! Kotoko beat everyone up, she's evil. In her MV she sees herself as a guard, in control of the prison. She doesn't regret anything, we're voting her guilty.

And, you know? That is a completely fair way to see it! I just have this really personal belief about MILGRAM and forgiveness. I believe Kotoko represents the most brutal part of Milgram's whole moral system, but I'll explain that later on.

The thing with Milgram is, you can choose to stay in the upper level. And no one will judge you for that. But... also you can try to look at the motives. Look, analyze, understand… and forgive. I think what this is all about. And looking at Deep Cover, I don't see a person saying that they've got full control over the prison. I see an scared, regretful person trying to convince herself that she has even the slightest bit of control left in her situation.

Now I want to draw some attention into some lines I've seen... not a lot of people say anything about?

god she's so pretty

Who don't we want? Give me the verdicts of GUILTY. That's why I became your fangs, as the long awaited hero.

And,

So make yourselves my reason. Just choose the only choice, GUILTY. Say that sympathy is useless. Hate evil as the evil that is.

Damn, girl, ok!

Again, layered thing. We could say "Oh, this is just Kotoko telling us to vote everyone guilty because they are guilty except her...!" Do y'all really think she means that? Do you all really think she THINKS that? Because I really don't. I really believe Kotoko is pushing us to vote her guilty. She wants that. Why? Because as I said earlier, not only she's regretful, at least to some extent... but also she represents the worst parts of the Milgram ideology. Milgram tries to make us look at this prisoners as people with problems and struggles who drove them to murder. Milgram is asking us to understand, while Kotoko represents the hatred and the desire for revenge that Milgram, specially Jackalope, is trying to make us do so much. "You can vote based on whatever you want!" Yeah, we can, but that is not the right thing. If it's not clear by now, I'm a firm believer in the All-Inno theory. I believe every single prisoner should be voted innocent, and that doesn't mean that they will all end up as murderers believing that they're right. I just believe that that is what Milgram is trying to do, as in the end, this is THE Milgram experiment! We're being told to understand, reject the authoritarian voice and forgive. Maybe it's not the easy route. It is not, actually. But I believe is the correct one.

And now, I want to talk a bit about the girl. The girl who Kotoko killed to save. At first they had a good relationship, or so it seems? Kotoko took care of her, and they apparently met each other regularly? Until the thing we see at the end of the MV happened. What happened, really? Something happened between HARROW and Deep Cover.

So I translated this.

I'm not the best at japanese, but it roughly says:

The murder incident that ocurred in Minato, Tokyo, is currently shaking Japan. The victim is Ado Kaneshiro (24). The fact that he is the only son of Kenyu Kaneshiro (68), the representative of Akebono Shimbun, and that the person who comitted it was a 20 year old female college student enrolled in a famous university in Tokyo also helps the topic of conversation. At a press conference, Mr. Kaneshiro appeared in front of countless cameras with tears in his eyes and criticized the brutal behavior of the female student. The judicial decision is this case is "legitimate defense". According to her, she had no choice but to kill the victim after getting into a scuffle while trying to stop the victim, who was caught kidnapping a minor. The defense argued that an elementary school girl who was present at the scene gave similar testimony, and that this constituted self-defense. However, Mr. Kaneshiro claimed at a press conference that a subsequent independent investigation revealed that the body had multiple bruises and wounds, indicating that he had been subjected to more violence than necessary. Furthermore, Mr. Kaneshiro announced that the elementary school student who was saved by the college student has retracted her testimony. In addition to the possibility that the elementary student had received some sort of threat. [...] This refers to the rumors about Mr. Kaneshiro. The female college student in question was hailed as a hero by [???] who said, ``An unidentified rumor of multiple murders has surfaced, and it is a legendary internet meme that leaves doubts about itself.'' It is said that there is Mr. Kaneshiro strongly condemned both.

Okay, so... this is a Really rough translation of what it says, I specially want you all to take the red part with a grain of salt. I don't think it's quite right, because Kotoko's finger makes them hard to read and translate. But there are some really interesting things. Hat girl retracted her testimony? Was this what upset Kotoko?

Anyway, I think by far the most interesting part about this is... the last part. That one about multiple murders, how Kotoko was hailed as a hero... and an internet meme? Did Kotoko by any chance become this kind of revered hero? Did she drown in the knowledge that she was right? I believe that Kotoko had a bit of a meltdown because not only she became what she hated the most, but also... everyone loved her for it? She's inviting us to vote her Guilty to continue the cycle. She wants us to keep punishing evil, and if that evil is her, so be it.

I honestly think this is an amazing way to end T2 because it leaves us with a question. Kotoko... will you forgive her? Will you understand what she did? Not only Kotoko, but everyone?

Or will you just say they're murderers and continue the cycle of guilt?

Because, a 100%, this is the look of a heartless murderer. Not someone full of trauma and regret. Kotoko Yuzuriha regrets what she has done. I'm not saying that she's entirely putting up a façade, but she is not the vigilante murderer we all took her as.

Also, she refers to Es as another prisoner here. 11, Inept. Just something to note.

They're still here, still here, it grates me.

Who's here, Kotoko...? Who are they? Finally, the symbol of the wolf again. I'm gonna repeat myself with my last post, but a lot of people have wrongly associated the wolf symbol with Kotoko, when in fact she was (or is) never depicted as such. She's always surrounded by them, she's part of the pack. But she's not a wolf. She's only going with them.

In HARROW, we see her surrounded by a pack of wolves, then the pack grows smaller and smaller until it ends with her alone and the skin of a wolf in her chair. And now, again, we don't see a wolf. We see a werewolf, a monstrous version of Kotoko.

What does this mean, genuinely? I'm sure Kotoko has a reason to act the way she acts. I really don't believe it's a traumatic childhood thing, I believe it's something a bit more recent.

Here's my final theory.

I believe Kotoko at first acted in a group, either in an official thing, such as the police, or just a group of vigilantes. But something happened, probably their views weren't lining properly, which caused her to quit. Where they too violent? Or the opposite, were they too tame for what Kotoko wanted?

Anyhow, I believe this last shot symbolizes that Kotoko doesn't really want to have much to do with her old group. But something has made her remember them. And made her be just like them.

I guess only time will tell.

[lingering-42-long]

i love seeing cod furries!!!!!!! 🫶🐺✨️

So do I!!!! And just for you I made this post based off of what I think each of the COD characters fursonas would be. Let me know if I should do more characters!

And now to our list:

Price : Bear

 I can totally 100% see Price as a bear. A lot of people think bears are fat and lazy, but in reality there are a whole bunch of muscle that can haul ass and put you on the censorship. Grizzly bears are definitely aggressive and very protective especially the females over their cubs. While Price is no Female, he definitely takes great consideration on looking over his team. For this I dub him the bear.

Gaz : Chocolate Labrador Retriever

Gaz is loyal, strong, sweet, and always ready for when Duty calls! Like a Labrador retriever, they are always eager to please, very friendly, and hard-working. Chocolate labs are known for being incredibly family and friend oriented and this really fit his personality. 

Johnny “Soap”: Scottish Red Deer

This was surprisingly hard because I had three options I wanted to go with a rough collie, a jack Russell terrier, or a Scottish red deer. The Scottish red deer one. Deer may seem skittish on the outside but in reality they’re actually very fast, very skilled at dealing with tough situations, and very quick on their feet. I feel like his personality match that of a red deer because of not only a Scottish red deer being from his natural homeland, but they’re also incredibly rugged creatures and very strong. When push comes to shove, you do not want to be in their way when there is a male that is willing to protect his herd. I feel like soap is kind of like that. Once again, very protective of his team, loves the outdoors, and can be very obnoxious to those who don’t see his enthusiasm the same way *cough* Ghost *cough*.

Simon “Ghost” Riley: Skull dog

This was actually easy. Skull dogs, also known as Scullys, are highly misunderstood creatures. While they may appear aggressive and terrifying on the outside, this is usually a way to deter creatures from befriending them. They prefer the silence of their own selves over a large group. With that being said, they are very possessive and aggressive over their personal belongings, and yes that can include a group. Ghost represents this very well. Maybe at one point in life he was a normal dog, but through the pain and torture that he went through he changed into a Skully after suffering with so much.

König: German Shepard

Another obvious choice, but this one was actually surprisingly hard. I wanted to give him a dog that was also a little misunderstood, like he is, as well as a dog that had a great sense of personality and charm, that also made it lovable in a slightly aggressive way. I think the German Shepherd is a good fit for him. They are loyal, strong, built for the military life, and can make a great family dog with proper care. König is the same. Misunderstood as a aggressive creature, only to be believed to be good for clearing out a room, all he wants is to have A happy and fulfilled life.

Horangi: Tiger

Like his name states, he is a tiger. He’s earned his stripes in battle, and he isn’t afraid to fight. He has a sense of purpose now in his life after making bad decisions in his youth. A tiger is a great fit for him. Strong, agile, and bold hunters, a tiger learns from their mistakes in order to become a better hunter.

Phillip Graves: Treeing Walker

Coonhound

Coonhounds is a short word for a large category of dogs that specialize in hunting raccoons, a type of critter that likes to live in trees. They can also be used to hunt foxes or any other small game. Philip matches the hound, not only because the hound was created in the United States, but also because they are incredibly loyal and will obey any order without question. Philip may have been the bad guy in the story line but that doesn’t mean that he was the bad guy at heart. Back at home he was seen as the good ol’ boy and poster child for every want to be military kid.

Alejandro and Rudy: Xoloitzcuintle

Bold and fearless the Xolo was the dog used by the ancient Mayans to protect and be used as guard dogs. Highly sacred and prized for their strength,  these dogs served their masters well as well as becoming active family pets. Alejandro and Rudy our a perfect example of this amazing Mexican breed. determined and loyal mix in with the fierceness, they protect the people of their small town from Valeria and her goons.

Valeria: Coyote

When I think of a force to be reckoned with, I do think of a coyote. They are smart, cunning and very dangerous. Always working together in large packs with one being the bait, leading and drawing in their victims until the rest of the pack members around, and slowly kill the unsuspecting target. They are able to survive in any climates and are incredibly resourceful in almost every terrain. They are a pest that so many farmers and cityfolk alike hate. Valeria Fits as a coyote for her ability to evade Alejandro and his team as well as always seeming to do the worst amount of damage in the quickest amount of time without losing her low profile. like a coyote, she is skilled in handling herself in any area, always keeping minimum contact and yet seeming to make the biggest impact without revealing anything. She keeps her cards close and she knows the game well.

Kate Laswell: Rough Collie

no creature is a better guard dog than a rough collie! They are very good at keeping an eye on a large flock and are always making sure that nothing happens to them under their watchful eye. Just like a collie, Kate has dedicated her life to being the eye for the team. She’s also very good at giving information out and resourceful. 

General Shepherd: American Eagle

When most people hear the American eagle they think of freedom they think of power they think of strength and they think of United States of America. What a lot of people don’t realize is eagles are pretty mean and have been known to steal and harass other eagles. I feel like general Shepard matches this perfectly because of his title and position in charge but in reality he’s just a shady bird that had worked his way up through the cracks and crevices of a broken system and he knows it too.

[stillness-in-green]

Pair of Advisor (Anime-Style) Asks

For @shockersalvage and @plf-advisor-stan, with thanks for your patience. I've got another ask from salvage coming down the pipe shortly, but it developed a rant on me that I want to give the space of a dedicated post, whereas these two covered quite similar ground!

First up!

I went and looked up the scene out of curiosity, mostly to hear what his voice sounds like in advance of the hospital stuff, and wow that is not the voice I would have gone with; it sounds way too old.  I realize the advisors are all supposed to be heads of bases and such, but it’s very clear from their designs that a number of them are still rather young people, and I feel quite strongly that Scarecrow should have been one of them, the better to have him, Spinner and Shouji all fighting for control of the crowd at the hospital, all thinking about and representing different visions for the future.

(Putting the rest of this under a cut, because between the two of them, they got fairly rambly, and also the second one has a bunch of pictures.)

Getting past my gut response there, the pep talk framing is a little strange, given the fact that he’s the second-ranked behind Nimble, so it’s pretty weird for her to be in need of a pep talk from him.  On the other hand, given the way the dialogue flows, I would not have to strain myself to imagine that Nimble is rolling her eyes a bit to herself at Scarecrow reiterating all this stuff they already know and replaying a message they’ve already heard half a dozen times because he likes to hear himself talk and also feel validated by the higher-ups.  XD

(Man, I also still dislike the choice for Skeptic’s voice actor—or if not the actor himself, at least the emotional range they’ve directed him to play the character in.  Needs to be 300% more spastic-sounding.)

As to the colors….yeesh.  Scarecrow’s pretty straightforward—I expect I’ll have more opinions once we see him unmasked and I can check his head-stripes and his scar.  The birds-egg blue for Cementoss’s cousin is at least eye-catching, and probably any color they chose would look pretty strange, given his appearance!  I do like that they maintain his somewhat uncertain, pensive expressions (insomuch as those can be read off of him in the manga).  I'll have one other observation to make about him (his wildly inconsistent height) which I'll cover in the next ask.

Nimble, though.  MAN, if I could sit down and have a chat with whoever in the BNHA production staff is so unbelievably enamored with blue-eyed blonde women……  Why would you look at her strange paper-strip hair and think, “Yeah, obviously yellow-blonde is the right color for this.  And give her purple-gray eyes, which is far enough from blue for plausible deniability.  And the blocky dude can be a shade of blue chiefly associated with blue cotton candy, but The Girl definitely needs to have a skin tone indistinguishable from the palest and most conventionally attractive female characters in the show.  Oh, and of course make her shirt pink.”

Just yeesh.

As to lumping in The Question, it’s a pretty strange choice to make, given the explicit dialogue being played there about how all three of Spinner’s advisors—obvious heteromorphs, the lot of them—were placed in his regiment Because Of Who They Are.  The group shot the anime uses seems to mostly understand that,[1] given the anime-original designs of the rest of the people in the shot, but The Question is not a clear heteromorph; he pretty much just looks like an alternate dimension Mr. Compress.  Kind of feels like the animators just wanted to minimize the amount of designs they had to come up with, so they grabbed the only one of the other Support Regiment advisors who could feasibly be a heteromorph and threw him in there, even though including him kind of misses the point—that it’s only Spinner’s underlings who are specifically and universally heteromorphic, not the entirety of the regiment he co-leads with Mr. C.  Which we know because neither Galvanize, Band Jacket Guy nor even The Question visibly qualify as Obvious Heteromorphs the same way all three of Spinner’s advisors do.

1: Mostly.  There’s a Hero-looking gal whose closest thing resembling a non-baseline feature is an unusually squared-off chin, which mostly comes off as mild cartoony caricature rather than a truly divergent facial structure.  There’s also a bowl cut dude two over from her who would need to have some truly bizarre eyes hiding under that hairline to make him anything other than baseline as all get-out.

Anyway, I see between this and the ask below that the anime’s made a few calls about adding them in where the manga never indicated their presence!  I wonder if that means it will also try to show more of them arrested when the anime inevitably gets to the tiresome scenes of the police talking about how they’re for-sure-definitely wiping things up at their designated battlefields?  Most of that stuff is, I think, just floating talk bubbles in the manga, but the anime will have to kill several seconds of time for voice actors to read those lines, and I think pretty often will try to fill that space with actual illustration of what’s being talked about, which Horikoshi only does when he’s in full montage mode, seldom when he’s in active/ongoing action.  Having more advisors available increases the number of Known Faces the animators can use for such filler shots.

While I forever crave more about them (more on that shortly), I definitely don’t relish the anime’s increased screentime being all A) still-frames of advisors when their group is being talked about in broad terms or B) anime-original shots of them being arrested!

Thanks for the ask, and I should have the other one up before the day's out!

---

Second up!

Also included in the ask were the following screenshots!

I gave my general opinions on the anime-mode advisors in the answer above but ohhhh my heavens, the sizing is so funny.  So, so funny.  A lot of the issue is probably that Horikoshi is not very consistent either, of course, but wow they weren’t even trying to keep #3 consistent there, were they?

For some comparison purposes, here’s Scarecrow’s first panel where you can really, fairly judge his height:

A true short king. Smolest of boys and realest of meowmeows.  Scarecrow they could never make me hate you.

Look at him.  Mentally try to move him back to where he’d be standing directly next to Hose Face.  He’s, what, maybe four feet tall?  No wonder he has to stand on top of a tall building to give his speech. 

Then look at this one, where he’s of a very comparable height to Koda (height: 6’1”):

  

Then these two, where Horikoshi can't decide whether he's a little shorter or a little taller than Nimble, but certainly over 4’0”!:

   So he’s a bit all over the place—and that’s hardly unique to him; Horikoshi draws pretty wildly inconsistent heights even amongst his main cast.

But man, #3 is on a different level even from that.

Let’s expand the frame on that last picture, shall we?

Now, when I had looked at this shot in the past, I had mainly been focused on the faces of the characters in it, particularly Bindi the Younger because I was so pleased to see she’d escaped her even-more-ignominious-than-Piercings-Dude no-hit wipeout against Edgeshot.  I hadn’t paid a great deal of attention to Not!Cementoss save to note that he was pretty big.  Like, wow, look how tall he is when he’s standing there behind Scarecrow’s shoulder!

But of course, if you look closer, he’s not standing behind Scarecrow’s shoulder.  He’s standing in the background, with probably at least three rows of people standing, roughly, between him and the people in front.  It’s given away by the silhouetted black heads of the people who are actually standing right in front of him:

   Like, not only do those presumably-grown men not quite come all the way up to his shoulder, the width of them compared to him is just cartoonishly shrimpy.  The guy is a giant, clearly built on a scale taller and heavier than any normal human.  Wow!

…And then of course you go back to this shot and just have to shake your head.

   Still, even if his height’s pretty inconsistent, his width is less so.  He’s in profile in the shot above, but compare this one, from the advisors’ introductory spread:

   He’s taller than The Question, if not by a monumental degree, but even if he were facing the camera directly, his cube-shaped head would still be 2-3x wider than The Question’s.

So it’s a shame that, as your screenshots show, on top of his height being much reduced the anime can’t even manage to keep his width intact.  Sad.

Thanks for the ask!

[solar-plant-princess]

Some people seem to think they aren’t canon, but I will simply state that they’re missing the point that they don’t need to explicitly say it.

“”The themes speak for themselves, and make it clear what the intent is. In this actual mini-essay I will actually talk a bit about why focusing on ships being “canon” is wasting the potential of queer representation, in particular reference to Lycoris Recoil.

Lycoris flowers represent a lot of different things, most famous is that red variants symbolize death and final goodbyes. However, of that same species are also a pink variant which symbolize love, passion, and … ahem “feminine beauty”.

There are also yellow and blue variants in other species of Lycoris plants. Yellow represents cheerfulness, courage, and cherishing what you have. While blue represents being calm and dependable, but also freedom.

It hardly gets more on the nose and it’s clear how these apply to the characters and the themes of their arcs. And how the story overall is at the intersection between love and death.

Plus there are literally multiple homages to pieces of media where the characters have been thought of as gay in the story or by audiences. In particular the scene in Stand By Me where the characters kick each other, which the animators made the deliberate choice of copying the overall mannerisms of to draw a direct parallel.

The story is about a hell of a lot more than just a romance, and that is a good thing! I don’t need every piece of representation to be about just romance. And you’d also have to be joking me if you don’t see them using the term “partner” even after retiring from being Lycorises to describe their relationship, as being tongue in cheek about how there is so much media where the characters are obviously but not explicitly queer. Throughout the show they are constantly making references to other ambiguously queer media, and using common language that is unclear about the exact nature of their relationship. Like, everyone wants their confirmed representation I get it, but could we also not call the show doing the most on the nose and tongue-in-cheek queer coding of their main characters “queer baiting”.

The creators have clearly purposefully evoked when not just directly referencing other media where the characters have been queer coded, or queer audiences have resonated with the experiences of the characters. This isn’t subtext that went nowhere, this is a deliberate choice to code the leads as queer by reclaiming things and phrases that have been used as subtext. And then, this is the important part, actually reframing the context to emphasize when they are doing it. See no further than the picture below this. “Partner” has a long and storied history of being used ambiguously, because how we use it slots between purely romantic and purely platonic, and can mean either depending on ... that’s right the context. Now let’s imagine you’re a restaurant employee, two women come in and order drinks. When one of them gets up to pick up their drinks and brags about the other woman being her “partner”, and reiterates the point. Now what sort of meaning can we imply from that context? Because if it was a straight couple, nobody would for a moment doubt that partner is in a romantic context.

Like c’mon people, they aren’t hiding it, but they don’t have to look directly into the camera saying they’re a couple for it to be obvious they aren’t “just besties”. Also I don’t even have time for going to go over how all the official art that’s come out since, and the fan art by the creators hasn’t been at all shy about showing them being more intimate than you’d expect from “just friends”.

Or that the season ended with them vacationing in Hawaii of all places. Or that the whole show had a rather open ending clearly hoping for more seasons, and this probably isn’t the end of their story together. Or that one of the original writers who was behind the entire idea for the show, and was a lead writer for the screen play has publicly stated on twitter he’d love to make them official, and told fans asking if the show would end up being a yuri show to “stay tuned for future stories“

Update: and behold, literally new art and products just got released of them literally in wedding dresses together. It’s more than obvious what exactly their intentions are with these characters. So please, please, understand that queer baiting is not just when a relationship you wanted doesn’t happen on screen. Queer people don’t only start existing once they’re in a fully intimate relationship. And queer people not ending up together at the end of what will probably be the first of multiple seasons is not the same as queer baiting. Especially not when the creators have clearly taken a lot of time and effort to consistently code them both as queer, in high effort and direct references to other media. (In a country like Japan where acceptance of queer people is certainly rising, but is also let’s be frank, far from in a good place and there are clear pressures to not show genuinely good representation for fear of upsetting a bunch of weirdos from the publisher’s perspective) (Yes I know the new Gundam show has lesbians in it, that’s also one of the biggest, most profitable, and longest enduring cross-media franchises in Japan, which is in a lot safer position to risk alienating bigots in their audience than a fully original animated show that didn’t get manga or light-novel deals until after the show was already being released and doing well. And an update since this was posted: the publishers of Gundam literally tried to retcon their queerness. This is my point, if you are expecting a country that hasn’t even legalized gay marriage yet to give you explicit queerness consistently you are barking up the wrong tree. They’ll literally try to walk it back if they think they can make more money off of retconning an explicit gay marriage out, you can’t rely on profit-driven corporations to actually care about making and keeping explicit queer relationships in their media just because it’s the right thing to do)

[florelia12]

well flora is the magix version of latina, so saying she might not be is a bit inaccurate. especially because she was based on someone with latin ethnicity.

and the design choices are interesting to me because it's clear that planets in magix don't follow a certain pattern. in melody musa is based on a chinese actress and so is her family, but the princess of melody looks german. same with flora and her lynphean people or stella compared to chimera.

but for helia, I don't believe you should get that defensive. I think the specialists are up for interpretation. helia isn't based on anyone in particular and I also read on his page that he was supposed to be a female character too. with the way he was designed, that's pretty much obvious.

it's like when people hc him as gay or transgender based on his looks, but that does not mean asian people look that way or are like that. it's just that he's a fun character to play with that isn't suited to a single stereotype.

helia is very much bishounen or androgynous, whatever you wanna call it. I notice his design is similar to female characters from winx rather than looking like brandon, sky or timmy. same goes with riven's eyes for example.

I'd say riven is the equivalent of a korean man, especially with the colored hair.

going back to the differences between the winx and people from their planets, I think the winx and specialist designs were just made exclusively to be immersive and present different cultures. it's also why I hate that they killed nabu when he was representing indian and south asians very well, then aisha had to choose between two white guys. they're white right?

so if I had to describe helia according to irl traits, he looks half caucasian half asian (like japanese) to me, especially because saladin is a white old man. although at first I didn't even think he was more asian until people mentioned it, then I changed my perspective. the drawing style is also a bit inconsistent with the body built and height, but helia looks like he could be very tall.

I agree with you that he could be the tallest because he just gives the vibe. around 1.84 and 1.85 suits him a lot.

but still, helia is the specialist people have the most fun with, just because he's not just supposed to fit one appearance.

Hi

Despite the diversity in the main characters, the show itself has its moments. It is not perfect and free of making mistakes such as the princess of the realms of Flora/Musa looking different. 

We have to take into account that these are entire planets they are talking about. We have the unique genetics and features we do because our bodies adapted to the regions they were inhabiting. So even these realms could have countries and colder or hotter regions. But of course, it’s mostly obvious when it is whitewashing that is happening and not world-building that is being done here.

I apologise if I came off as making it seem as though my statement was that Helia is Asian and every other perception of him is wrong. But I do think it is rather problematic when some refuse to see his Asian coding because most of the time, there is underlying prejudice or ignorance. I would have not snapped the way I did if I thought they were coming from a good place. I don’t believe they were.

To say that it is obvious Helia was meant to be a female character would be unfair imo. Also to say “when people hc him as gay or transgender based on his looks its not to say asian people look that way or are like that” is not entirely true. 

When it comes to assigning or discussing races, gender and sexualities or even religions of a character, there needs to be an understanding there there are intersections here. 

Firstly, when it comes to the opinion that Helia was meant to be a female character, there are quite a bit inconcistencies. To start with, I don’t see the point in them wanting to either introduce another female character (they did that with Aisha) or change the gender to “give Flora a boyfriend”. Helia was introduced to be Flora’s boyfriend, there is no doubt in that. So for that, considering this was early 90s and 2000s and a kids cartoon, it was always meant to be a guy they wanted to introduce in season 2. Changing the gender would imply that Helia as a character (regardless of his gender) was meant to serve a plot point or at least be relevant outside of being Flora’s partner before they decided to make him her partner. Did Helia have that? No. We saw next to nothing of his interactions with the other Specialists or Winx or any other character. Almost every time we see Helia, it was to further his development with Flora.

Secondly, it is the reasons why they say Helia was meant to be a female character that I wouldn’t entirely agree with either. For example, his hair. Avalon, Valtor, Tritannus, Nereus and a lot of extras have long hair too. It’s not something unique to their depictions of asian-coded characters or considered female characteristics in the Winx world. Another one would be his name, which has feminine and Greek origins. Maybe that could be a reason, but then there would be the meaning behind the name which is sun. Then following the Winx naming conventions (“Flora” for a flower fairy, “Musa” for a Music Fairy, Tecna and etc) it could imply that he was supposed to be a sun fairy or have sun magic. But then Helia as a character doesn’t really give me ‘sunny’ vibes. Funnily enough, I like to think of it as a contradiction to his character. 

Though one point I haven’t seen around is that Helia could have also been added for diversity. Aisha was admittedly added for diversity, but at least the main Winx already had 2 other poc characters. The Specialists had none that were explicitly said to be poc. So it makes more sense to me that they would add him as an Asian or poc character rather than change the gender of a character that doesn’t truly serve the plot. Then again, I don’t think they cared that much because even if it was to include diversity, they still fell into stereotypes about Asian men.

This brings us to his “androgynous” features and the intersectionality I was talking about earlier. Because it all comes back to stereotypes we have to be extremely mindful of when it comes to perceiving or interpreting characters.

Poc and specifically Asian men have a history of being stereotyped as “feminine” for their appearances and personality by white people. It could stem from wanting to put them down or to emasculate them and a sexist way to do that is compare them to the “weaker gender” aka females. Even the pacifist hcs can be harmful because “feminine men” are considered weak or emasculine for not being aggressive or wanting to fight. So it is not the same as changing up Sky’s gender or sexuality ( I say this as he is a character who with blonde hair and blue eyes that’s mostly associated with white people) because he has longer hair than what would normally be considered masculine. Outside of that, to immediately also go since Helia has long hair and “feminine” features he can’t be masculine or was meant to be a girl has its issues because you’re feeding into the stereotype that guys have to look a certain way to be accepted as a male. 

Helia is absolutely a fun character to work with but not because he is entirely a blank canvas. He has certain characteristics that when changed, twisted or ignored can cause more harm than good. Helia having close to no development or backstory are some of the things that make him the fun character to play with. 

In the end there is nothing inherently wrong in perceiving him as androgynous or ‘feminine’ but you always have to ask yourself why you see him that way and why not the other Specialists. Because if you want to go along with stereotypes, Timmy is almost always seen as white and with a leaner body type in his civilian clothes, is considered meek, and sometimes emasculine. But we avoid it because it is harmful to consider men who aren’t super macho or bulky as weak or feminine. Yet we don’t hold that same reservation with poc or poc-coded characters. 

But then to also make Helia make super violent without reason could be harmful because poc men are at more risk for being assumed to be dangerous.

So yes it is a grey area, but it’s also not too complicated once you ask yourself why. Just one small question can help you differentiate amongst the intentions behind wanting to assign certain races, genders or sexualities to specific characters. Once you do, you can always tell when it comes from a place of experience and knowledge (such as a trans person seeing Helia as trans compared to a cis or white person doing it) or ignorance. Because informed takes on Helia’s gender or expression or sexuality are often quite interesting. I love seeing non-binary Helia and I also see him as bi. 

At one point, I too explored Helia being half-white and half-asian. But, I also wouldn’t say Saladin is definitely an old white man. I think his design is also ambigious as there was one scene of him where they showed the company of light in their younger days and he looked very similar to Helia. 

I do see Riven as Asian too, I think there is a lot to explore with that. And, yes definitely killing off Nabu then attempting to replace him with supposedly white guys is harmful. Though Nex could be Latino if he’s from Linphea since he studied in Linphea College but Thoren from Eraklyon is also there so they both could come from other realms or Thoren could be mixed since he is Sky’s cousin. So yeah, there’s a lot to explore and everyone is free to do it. Just be mindful and don’t be careless with how you describe races, genders or sexualities.

I used to think about his body built too as he looks leaner in his normal clothes. But I would assume the Specialists uniform would have the necessary paddings in certain ares for protection that gives him the built he has when he is in uniform. 

[solhrafn]

I went Full-Fuji! (GFX One Year Review)

One year ago, I decided to ditch my Nikon DSLRs for a Fujifilm GFX 50R.

The GFX's sensor is larger than a full-frame sensor with a crop factor of 0.79

A little over a year ago, I still was using a few Nikon DSLRs to do just about anything. For portraits and landscape, I had a very respectable D810. Enough megapixels to provide some room for cropping and a decent dynamic range for most situations. For action and hobby-wildlife I had a D500. A durable mini-tank with performance that to this day would be hard to dismiss even in the light of mirrorless flagship innovation.

However, the question of my camera-future slowly crept into my mind. Was it time to change and upgrade into the Nikon Z system? Switching to a Z7 would indeed have been a sensible move, adapting older lenses while getting the sensor of the D850 in a smaller, cheaper body with an ecosystem of native lenses with the optical quality up to specs for the next decade. On paper and elsewhere, it should have been the obvious choice. Yet my answer to this question was a resounding "no" and I went against reason to set my sights on a Fujifilm GFX 50R. I took that model over the S because I enjoy the rangefinder form factor.

In hindsight, the smartest of all moves would probably have been to remain with what I had, adhering to the ancient photographic wisdom: "lenses are more important than cameras". My kits could have kept me satisfied for probably another 10 years if we are being honest. I could have stayed within the F mount ecosystem and could have taken advantage of its downright insane price drops to get top-of-the-line lenses for peanuts instead of selling the farm on a whim, however carefully considered it might have been.

These old and trusty Nikon DSLRs got sold off to finance the 50R

The truth is that after fifteen years of walking the beaten paths camera-wise, I wanted to shake things up. I longed for a change of pace. I felt confident enough in my practice to know what type of photography I would want to engage in for the foreseeable future. I also felt confident enough that I'd be able to answer the call of the occasional assignment using a camera system that would have a non-negligible amount of drawbacks. The challenge even seemed like a fun new variable to add to contracts. Thus, the choice I made for my photographic future has been one born out of love rather than made from a place of reason.

When I think of good photographic memories involving the process — how photography is approached with mind and body — I immediately have two very different ideas jumping to mind and each has an ideal type of tool that best suits it. Neither of these are about efficiency. Neither of these are about performance beside niche-performance, perhaps. But that, is more of an acquired taste and it also comes at a price, but we'll see about that later.

The first idea is an instinctive and spontaneous approach, form of feral and visceral active meditation, akin to Daido's rabid dog method; roaming the streets clear of thoughts and letting the subconscious take the helm. Shooting, shooting, shooting and discovering everything later. No plan, only image-taking. No clear framing, no image-reviewing, no judgement to pass, no threads to weave. Only arrange and make sense later, if there's any of that to find.

Results using the "rabid dog" method, using a Fujifilm X100, 2014

For this type of photography, the Fujifilm X100 was the tool that instantly clicked with me. The "poorman's Leica" is an apt way to describe what the X100 represented when it came out. I got the original 12mp camera in 2012 as a fun but capable toy to bring along my Nikon D700, until the shutter release button (which also is the on/off switch) broke off in 2020 after one power-up too many. I have since replaced it with a Fuji X-Pro 2 with the XF 18mm F2, 27mm F2.8 and 50mm F2 lenses. To this day, such small Fuji bodies are my tool of choice for this kind of photographic mood (and of course, for family pictures).

Fuji X100 later replaced by the X-Pro 2 as street photography go-to.

The second photographic process that I tend to naturally gravitate towards stems from my first year of photography school, during which all projects had to be done using film and would have us deal with the whole process (that is to say; shooting, developing, printing, framing, and displaying our work ourselves). It is with nostalgia that I look upon the memories from that time.

There sure is something inherently different in figuring out what to do with the exposures one has left on their film than being able to inconsequentially shoot within two hours three thousand pictures through which you can almost immediately browse. The latter is of course more practical and a welcome technological improvement, but the former brings an unhurried and deliberate focus that I find both refreshing and appealing.

When I think of my strongest recollection of touching the quintessence of the analog experience, the days of using my Mamiya 645 immediately come to mind. Such sluggish, heavy-as-a-couple-bricks box-machines compel one to being careful and purposeful every step of the way. I need that too.

Mamiya 645 Super, since sold to finance GF lenses.

I have for the longest of time considered getting a more serious medium format camera but some quick-math with the price of film, chemicals and photographic paper made me realize that digital medium format was actually much more worth the investment while most definitely retaining some of the core characteristics of its analog counterparts. My love for the film process couldn't hold up against all the advantages of going digital, especially when buying second-hand.

Using medium format always felt like journeying inwards. It has allowed me to spend long hours in daydreaming-states paradoxically laced with an acute awareness of my surroundings. When thinking about medium format, I can recall the soul-washing quality of some of the winds that swept my cheeks while I was standing next to the tripod waiting for the exposure of the 50iso film to finish.

States of contemplation. Another kind of active meditation?

Of course, any camera can provide this type of feeling, but of all of the digital cameras available, medium format is the one type that will weigh you down the most and dictate the pace you work at.

Telepanoramas created with the Fujifilm GFX 50R

Notice how these two ideas are almost the ends of a spectrum?

The first one is nervous and agitated, highly reactive, while the other is composed, meticulous and invites introspective fugue-states, yet they both share one vital element in the way that I approach them in that they take the practical considerations out of the picture to leave more space for what is going on within me.

The setting up of the camera or lack thereof becomes an excuse for something else. Maybe it isn't a surprise, that my adhd-ridden brain experiences this inexorable attraction for both these approaches. For they are in essence, two sides of the same coin, with each side matching different, specific and fluctuating needs.

Let's dive in!

After selling my DSLRs, I started looking for a good second-hand candidate. After a month or so, I found a barely used GFX 50R sold with a 50mm 3.5, a couple additional batteries and an L-bracket to boot. The price was rather attractive for the bundle, so it seemed like the time to take the leap. After a short but excruciating wait for the package to arrive, I finally was able to join the larger-than-35mm-sensor club.

How it started

My first few months with the camera had me immediately blown away by the difference in output. The higher resolution and the sensor's qualities made the (very much existing) noise hardly noticeable when downsized to small printing or screen-viewing sizes. What also immediately struck me, was the looks of the images the camera produced. Images taken with the GFX feel more "3D" to me. It is a very peculiar and hard to describe feeling. I suspect it is a combination of factors; the depth of field of the larger sensor and the very smooth transitions between what's in focus and what is not that it permits, the colour depth, and the quality of the optics. I've seen many Youtube reviews, read forum threads or been in discussions on Discord about GFX cameras where people (who more often than not don't own one) will maintain that these qualities don't exist at all. After a year in the system I can confidently state that they're wrong.

I can't really put my finger on what causes these differences as I am not as tech-savvy as I could be, but it is still clear as day. To use a pretty apt analogy, I would say that the difference between full-frame and (crop) medium format is akin to the difference between aps-c and full-frame cameras. Are they deal-breaking? Not necessarily. For some people they can be. Are they noticeable? Definitely. It is especially funny to me to see medium format cameras being dismissed by such a many full-frame shooter who at the same time, is constantly bashing aps-c sensors.

Don't you love to pixel-peep? Omnomnom (imagine with 102mp!)

This being said, I will always fully stand by the statement that full-frame cameras are the more sensible choice as they are better all-rounders by design. High-res cameras like Sony's A7RV or equivalent are also better high-iso performers than the aging IMX161 sensor that the GFX 50 series uses, which sees its operational limit at around 6400iso (but the GFX 100 would be another matter entirely). A top-tier full-frame camera is evidently more practical, lighter and cheaper without any deal-breaking image quality difference to what the medium format niche can offer. When all costs are factored in, the choice would seem self-evident. If you consider medium format, it should be understood that you know this before committing to any bigboy sensor. Or don't heed this and make people who buy second hand happy, as GFX gear loses almost one third of its value once it hits the second hand market (a consequence of too many people jumping on the medium format bandwagon only to realise — way too late — that it wasn't for them).

Are we cooking yet?

I need to talk about the GFX's files for a little bit; I'm a raw shooter only — which hopefully you'd have guessed — (in my opinion anyone buying into a medium format to shoot jpeg must have cognitive issues or too much money, or possibly both) and I have to say that when I opened the raw files to give the sliders their very first +100/-100 or +3/+4 EV from base iso (or any combination of these) I was utterly floored by how well the files could handle such an ungodly beating.

This isn't a joke, I promise.

This type of camera makes the slider memes come true, to a point where for the first few months, my ability to edit properly was severely impaired by the glee I experienced while pushing everything way too far. I believe it is not an uncommon symptom at the start of a medium format journey. It takes a while to come back from that and simply be able to tell yourself "ok here, maybe less dynamic range would be a good edit". I'm getting better at this as I consciously try to avoid overcooking.

Clean recovery? Can do!

On the image-taking side of things, the major change for me with regards to file-handling is that I'm almost systematically exposing for highlights now. Adding 3EV and boosting shadows in post when shooting at low iso is inconsequential in terms of image quality as there won't be any visible noise whatsoever on the output, unlike my aps-c cameras that will show noise even at base iso. Similarly to many other aspects medium format manages well, this is something I got used to very quickly.

To adapt or to not adapt, that was the question, here's my answer:

At first, I tried adapting my old Mamiya 645 lenses to the 50R. It was useful in the sense that it allowed me to enjoy different fields of view at no cost but it quickly felt like a plaster on a wooden leg. I'm not someone who enjoys the manual focusing as a default and I've grown more and more intolerant of the optical flaws of older lenses as time went by. I realised that it wasn't a viable long term solution for me and quickly chose to sell all my Mamiya cameras and lenses to finance native glass for the GFX.

My experience adapting? It was alright but not at all ideal.

Which lenses then?

Getting into the GFX system I promised myself I would make no compromise whatsoever on optical quality and directly aimed for the 250mm F4 (mainly for tele-landscapes) and 110mm F2 (mainly for portraits). The grind felt long but it really wasn't, as I managed to secure both lenses from the second hand market within 6 months. It is only later that I added the 35-70mm "kit" lens to my arsenal to fill the wide-angle gap I had. As I seldom feel the need to shoot wider than short-tele fields of views, this is more of a lens of convenience.

The difference between adapting older lenses and using native glass was night and day to me. Two things made this the better choice in my view: first, I've been actively seeking the "clinical" quality of modern optics. I do not care much for the "character" of older lenses especially not if the word is used to help one overlook a lens' unforgivable flaws. Second, while there sure are lenses worth adapting out there, this come at a cost for the adapting to be worth it (the cost of an AF-capable adapter and of course the cost of the lenses themselves) which I saw as a waste of my limited resources. I told myself I wasn't going to make compromises, remember?

One year after switching, I am now knee-deep into the system, having sold most of my Nikon gear as well as my Mamiya medium format film-cameras to acquire some of the incredibly hard to resist GF lenses.

After a year of transforming a heap of dormant gear and side-gig revenue into new lenses, I also noticed that the representation I had about the worth of money also changed radically when gear was concerned.

A little over a year ago, an XF lens priced 800€ definitely seemed like a steep investment I'd try to find alternative choices for. Nowadays, 800€ is a mere budget lens in my mind. Seeing the price tags of GF lenses doesn't make my head spin anymore and this is somewhat worrisome for the thrifty Dutchman living in the back of my brain.

With the announcement of the 500mm F5.6 lens being in development (a focal length I definitely miss from my Nikon days, I'm a sucker for ultra-telephoto landscape photography), I fear I will manage to push my monetary boundaries further back yet, which I will help achieve by selling my X-T3 video-oriented kit.

APS-C: you're dead to me.

An unforeseen consequence of my GFX switch was that my aps-c cameras were pretty much relegated to the bottom gear drawer and seldom used barring a few notable exceptions (such as a wedding gig) where the need for its autofocusing speed was greater than the need for image and file quality.

To reuse the analogy I made earlier; my X-Pro 2 and X-T3 have become to me what a micro-four-thirds camera would be to a full-frame camera user. Getting into Fujifilm's medium format system prompted me to think about how I use my cameras and to what end. The realisation that there is a clear split in my photographic approaches I evoked at the very beginning of this article is the result of that thought process.

Although I will sell my X-T3 because it feels superfluous and I want to stop my video gigs completely, (and because my need for GFX lens money is still great), I would never part with my X-Pro 2 nor the few XF lenses that I have as they serve a totally different purpose to that of the GFX's.

Having a compact, fast, discreet yet still capable camera that can be casually put into a pocket is an advantage that I would be a fool to part with. The X-Pro is a more practical choice for street-photography, documentary in less-than-favourable conditions, as well as for family pictures, when packing a brick of a camera and two bricks worth of lenses for a walk in the park in suboptimal weather would be met with a tired roll-eye from my spouse.

My dear X-Pro, I'm Never Ever Gonna Give You Up

Of course there have been many occasions for which I have chosen to take the challenge and went into these situations with the GFX. However, I wouldn't want the GFX to be the only option at my disposal in such cases.

For example, during the last wedding I shot, when the dining room got darker and the guests started moving around a lot (and dancing), the switch to aps-c cameras was absolutely necessary because of how difficult it was to consistently get acceptable results in poor light and with subjects making erratic movements. When you are held under a result-delivering imperative, you have to be able to honour it.

Packing a Fuji GF or Fuji X kit can be a slightly different experience

"Megapickles don't matter!"

This was an idea that I lived by just a few years ago. I changed my mind. I still believe that megapixels don't matter when you don't have them. Just like one should shoot with the camera one has / is able to afford. It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things but all these technical niceties just make one's life more comfortable. Cropping, denoising through file reduction algorithms, or enjoying detail endlessly because one can, these are just the icing on the cake. I just happen to like my cakes with more icing than cake now.

Regarding resolution specifically, it's been another area in which there seems to be no possible coming back. Nowadays, every time a manufacturer announces a new camera and I discover they plan to fit it with a 24MP sensor I dismiss the information entirely. It doesn't register anymore. 32-36 is the new 24 in my mind now and it's sometimes difficult to come back from those expectations.

This being said I have no issue using lower resolution aps-c that I own and could perhaps even have fun with a X-Pro 1 because then the output quality wouldn't be my prime concern. It is only concerning new releases that my interest dips firmly for "low" MP cameras.

Did I tell you that medium format AF sucks?

Before I conclude this one-year review, let me hammer this point in with a two-handed mace; it can't be understated, especially for the GFX 50 series which uses contrast detection — the autofocus will throw you back to the early 2000s. Be ready to be stuck on single point, single AF mode because that's the only thing that will be consistent enough.

Then let's not forget other factors that add to the bad and make it worse; the shutter lag is half a second, the sensor readout speed is 1/4th of a second, and the time the shutter takes to clear the large sensor in combination with the camera's high resolution means you'll need higher shutter speeds in order to get rid of motion blur when shooting handheld (count about one stop faster than usual). Those would be valid reasons as to why a less niche camera system makes more sense for a lot of people.

The final comment:

Despite its sometimes dramatic drawbacks, I definitely have found the pleasure I sought when I originated this system switch. The change and the adapting my process is engaging and makes me think more about what I do, what I use, when and why. This is a win on its own.

All in all I feel like I am still at the very start of my journey though I've had the opportunity to test my GFX 50R in a wide array of situations in the past year (portrait, landscape, documentary) it seems like the way forward is clear and also opened for plunging deeper into this incredibly fun (but needlessly expensive) rabbit hole.

The upcoming 500mm, the prospect of finding an original GFX 100 (with its weirdly appealing tiltable EVF) are ideas that will — for the foreseeable future — definitely keep pulling me back in (and emptying my pockets).

Fun! Fun! Fun!

[countbarov]

So, I've been thinking,

specifically about Buck and Eddie's writing, and I have some thoughts. See, if their stories pan out the most obvious way (Buck either mends things with Natalia or he has another cheating arc, while Eddie dates Marisol), I'm gonna be disappointed. Let me make this clear: I will not be disappointed *because* they're not together, but because of how badly written this is

Buck's been dealing with a lot of bad relationships lately, and at its core, this is what the couch metaphor is about. With or without Eddie in mind, the couch represents bad relationships. For him to repeat the same mistakes he has over and over, to jump into a relationship with the first woman that looks at him, to make the same mistakes over and over... It would make the couch metaphor fall flat

And Eddie is clearly not into casual dating. At all. He's choosing women in his life because of how well they get along with Chris - and that's fine. He's a single father and his priority is his kid, after all. I don't think it's wise for a man in his position to choose WITHOUT his son in mind. But in what way has Marisol proven to be a good parental figure up to this point? She's been in a grand total of one episode. And I like her - but we just don't know anything about her

For them to continue down these paths seems nonsensical to me. And again: this is not me necessarily hinting at a relationship between the two. It's just lame. Buck is caught in a whirlwind fling again, and Eddie decides that the love of his life is a woman he rescued once and met again at a hardware store

Why didn't Buck spend the entire season developing a meaningful relationship with a woman? Why didn't Eddie? Why do we get last-minute relationships that have two episodes each under their belts? Considering this was an uncertain time for the show, and how there was a non-zero possibility of being cancelled, this season finale is supposed to serve both as a reasonably good ending for the series while keeping the possibility of future plot threads alive

Would you be satisfied with Buck and Eddie getting last minute relationships? Would you consider it an appropriate ending for their stories? We know it's not, but this was supposed to be at the very least "good enough"

And this problem is for Buck and Eddie specifically. Other characters definitely get "good enough" endings this season. Hen gets to live comfortably with Karen and the father of her son is in his life again; Chim and Maddy are getting married; Bobby (provided he doesn't die, as many believe he could) and Athena have a much needed vacation. What about Buck and Eddie, separately? They hook up with the first woman they meet

Most of the characters are already past the "dating" stage, and are already transitioning their lives into the next phase. Buck and Eddie have been kept in a perpetual state of nothing

If the show so desperately wants to keep them apart, so be it. I don't watch the show just because I want them to be together. But I wish they did justice to these two characters, even if they're not together (as I am known to want)

Buck HAS seen development this season. The comma episode, the many times he's questioned his life choices, his sudden desire to be a father when asked to be a sperm donor, his death and eventual resurrection -- he's been through it. And it seems to hint towards him finding a way into the same "next stage" the others already are in. So why hold him back?

Eddie, on the other hand, is dealing with loneliness. For a character whose main flaw has been emotional distance, he has come a long way too. And yet he keeps his heart closed off to any woman who wants to be with him. But suddenly he wants to date again, and he finds Marisol, who couldn't have been any less meaningful to him as a character. We're supposed to believe THIS is it

Now, I know people blame the writers, but I don't. I don't think they're choosing everything that happens on their own. They're often told to get a certain ending, a certain character has to do X, things like that. So no, I don't chastise the writers or any of the staff behind the scenes for what's happening to the characters. But I chastise the SHOW itself, and anyone in charge of these decisions

I WILL watch season 7. I WILL support the show. But if things pan out in the most obvious way they seem to be, I will emotionally check out of Buck and Eddie's characters. I can't invest my energy into something I don't enjoy