#but I guess the pun in that one is a little more subtle

[robotgirldisc]

I posted 17,420 times in 2022

That's 7,534 more posts than 2021!

45 posts created (0%)

17,375 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@catgirlyawgmoth

@baritonebutch

@doubleca5t

@droamiin

@transmechanicus

I tagged 1,075 of my posts in 2022

#me - 20 posts

#gender envy - 8 posts

#worm - 8 posts

#unprepared casters - 8 posts

#nike - 7 posts

#😭😭😭 - 7 posts

#<- prev tags - 5 posts

#parahumans - 5 posts

#ingo posting - 5 posts

#pla train boys - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#and not just in a ''spent hours hyperfixating on this 1 thing because of my own dysphoria. so now i instantly spot it in other people'' way

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

🦀 time for crab 🦀

today i summoned 101 crabs and then caught all of them! what a harvest

💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 💰

7 notes - Posted April 2, 2022

#4

Can you recommend any good egg stories?

Gonna drop a few egg fic recs, CW for internalized transphobia on most of them, other cws will be listed with the specific fic

I’m Currently reading To Own The Libs, by OfficiallyZoe: A conservative college student decides to go undercover as a trans woman to prove that self-id is a bad idea. The story is ongoing, updating every Friday, and contains content warnings at the start of every chapter. The prologue hit very close to home with me and my struggles accepting myself as a gay trans woman

Getting Into Character by Lotus17: A group of friends play D&D on stream, their newest campaign requires them to all play as female characters, and one by one they start to realize some stuff about themselves. CW for transphobic bullying. Still updating, at a kind of erratic pace. I really like the relationship dynamics in this one

Can’t Make an Omelette: a Chick Before the Egg Story by SapphicSounds is a comedy about two roommates who decide to magically transform into girls to “prank” their other roommates. contains smut, but it’s not the focus. I was laughing all throughout this fic, the main characters are too oblivious

Curse You, Magical Girls! A Flower Blooms in the Heart of a Villain!? by rooibos_chai: Follows the villain of a magical girl anime and her most trusted minion. I can’t really say much without spoiling the entire plot, but it’s <9000 words, so if you enjoy the Evil Queen x Trusted Servant dynamic and would like a somewhat comedic take on it, it’s highly recommended. This was the first egg fic I read, and the thing that got me into the genre

Plot Twist: It’s Gay by Elamimax: A college student is really uncomfortable when his lesbian roommate brings home girls all the time and suspects that he might be harboring some homophobia he wasn’t aware of. Turns out she was just jealous. I really like how the main character’s jealousy continues even after she figures herself out, and that it’s a vehicle for driving the remainder of the story

Trolls and Tribulations by rooibos_chai: An edgy wannabe-hacker hacks into a trans girl’s computer, and figures that the best prank would be to support her through her transition. CW for transphobic parents. I once described this fic as “Miraculous Ladybug for trans people” and I stand by that

Let The Devil Take The Rest by DerbyGhost:A guy searches for his former roommate who went missing, after finding her, she invites him to join her demonic commune. Content warnings at the start of each chapter, kinda horny.

Performative Masculinity by OfficiallyZoe: A closeted trans girl troublemaker runs into another troublemaker from her school on her way home from the gender clinic, who later comes out to her as a stealth trans guy, they form a truce/friendship and help each other stay out of the way of the superintendent’s son, a bully who faces no consequences. CW homophobic bullying, and bullying in general. I really like the relationships in this story, both the familial ones and the main romantic relationship are really good

25 notes - Posted March 18, 2022

#3

47 notes - Posted January 2, 2022

#2

girl who's only ever played disco elysium going to Brazil and seeing the money: getting some real disco elysium vibes from this

47 notes - Posted July 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

A mousegirl will walk out of the shower and be like "I'm squeaky clean"

867 notes - Posted June 16, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[kleotheundeadone]

Scenario: Teaching Alastor To Kiss

(A/N: This is based off of a previous post I made where I talked about how the main group would kiss, & I concluded that Alastor would be bad at it, lmao. I’m still a simp, so I gotta redeem him a little bit, pun totally intended. This may be ooc, but it’s my hyperfixation, & I shall do as I please with it)

“Remind me again, darling, what is the point of practicing such a trivial activity?”

You sighed a bit, rolling your eyes at the demonic deers tone. Perhaps you should have guessed that Alastor wouldn’t know how to kiss. He had (begrudgingly) admitted to having never been in a relationship before you, so it made sense that he had never been kissed before, & wouldn’t be sure how it works. But it would be nice if the egotistical asshole would shelve his pride for 5 seconds so you could help him through this. “Come on Alastor, kissing is just like any other skill. It takes practice, & patience. So if we’re gonna do this, you gotta work with me. It’s okay to not be good at it at first.” 

A laugh track echoed around the room. “Ha! Oh, you truly do know just how to make me laugh, my dear! As if mashing one's face with another requires much skill. What a ridiculous notion all together!” You rolled your eyes. Why were you bothering with him again? You almost decide to just give up entirely before feeling his hand carefully take hold of yours, pulling your attention back to him. “But I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to subject myself to such foolish flights of fancy. If only just this once.” You smiled softly at him, slowly placing your hand on his cheek. The sound of radio static filled the room for a moment, before lulling down into a subtle hum. “If you don’t wanna do this,” You murmured, squeezing his hand slightly in an effort to calm him. “It’s okay. We really don’t have to.” There was a beat of silence, save for the gentle hum of static, before he nodded, his smile strained. You wouldn’t lie & say it was perfect at first- A couple instances of uncomfortable teeth kissing, fumbling at trying to carefully instruct him on how to hold his head, & reminders to keep his lips closed, but after a few minutes, there was a very noticeable improvement.

“You’re doing much better,” You smiled, rubbing your thumb across his cheek. “Lets give it one more try, alright?” You could feel the air around you buzzing around erratically as the grating sound of radio static filled the room, but nonetheless, Alastor kept on a brave smile & nodded once again, shutting his eyes & leaning forward like you had taught him to. You press your lips softly against his, eyes fluttering shut as you shut out the world & focused on the feeling of his mouth against yours. His kiss was soft, careful, & dare you say unsure. There was a vulnerability in it that was completely out of character for the radio demon. Had anyone else ever been with him in such a revealing state? You knew all too well the answer was no. The fact he was here with you like this was… Would it be too cliche to describe it as... Heavenly? The gentle hum of the radio static turns into the soft melody of strings & what you could have sworn was a saxophone. Was- Was he playing slow jazz??? You chuckled softly, pulling away as a consequence of your giggles. Alastor's ears twitched back & forth slightly as he laughed right along with you. "Forgive me darling, but the silence was dreadful! I simply had to do something about it before it killed me. Again!" You shook your head in disbelief as you reached the end of your little giggle fit, playfully nudging his side. "That's fair. Even I feel a bit awkward when kissing someone in total silence." Alastor hummed softly, stroking your cheek before grabbing you by the jaw, placing his other hand on the small of your back as his smile stretched out wide across his face, his crimson gaze glowing eerily. "Well then, I suppose we'll just have to make some noise, won't we my dear?"

[noneorother]

What do Shax and a 30-year-old Sandman comic have in common? Puns. The answer is always puns.

While I've recently revealed Shax does actually know how to spell, (she's just really old), the "angle" message Shax throws through the window to demand the "angel" one was a little trickier, because it's not Middle English, or even Old French, it's probably the oldest pun in Good Omens... it's latin.

Good Omens Season 2, Episode 5, 2023

Fortunately, a time travelling Neil Gaiman left answers for us in his 1995 Sandman special "Sandman midnight theatre." See for yourself.

Sandman Midnight Theatre, Neil Gaiman, Matt Wagner, Teddy Kristiansen, 1995

"Still, they have some illuminated manuscripts in their library which throw fascinating light on early church history. "Not angels, but angles" eh? I've been angling for permission to browse through their manuscript collection for yonks."

Appropriate for an English reverend to be curious about "Angels and not Angles". It's THE earliest christian pun, attributed to Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th century CE.

Oxford reference essential quotations

It comes from a historical account of the pope walking through a market in Rome, and seeing some exotic slave children (i.e. fair hair and blue eyes, and light skin) from what is now the England, and asking where they were from. The master replied that they were "Angles" (Angli in latin) and the pope declared them to be "Angels" (Angeli) instead, which, in latin at that time would have been a pun. This history from Bede actually influenced a lot of the christian world, so we could conceivably make the point that fair blonde and blue eyed angels comes from the idea that they looked liked the English (who were not christian, but pagan at the time of being newly conquered). Aziraphale's looks in the originsl Good Omens are probably a direct result of the lineage in art of this 1,500 year old pun.

Depictions of angels, 1100 years apart Which raises the question: if Shax is asking for the Angel Gabriel with her note, the pun doesn't make any fucking sense.

Jon Hamm plays Gabriel as an "American", specifically not English like the rest of the cast. He does have blue eyes, but as far as Shax is concerned, Gabriel's eyes are violet, not really a human colour. Shax could just actually be stupid (I guess?) and not realize that in modern English that constitutes a mistake (boring), or that Americans succeeded in 1776 (hilarious). But here's a quirkier theory: Shax knows what she's talking about, and she's gunning for Maggie. If you look really closely, demons show up and start hanging around the street earlier in the ball than you would guess. Once a fair number have amassed, they stay waiting for Shax to lead them. However, even though she hasn't shown up yet, they eagerly chase Maggie down the street from her shop. They're only stopped by Crowley, and Maggie gets safely into the ball.

Once inside, she has quite a stunning change of costume, highlighting her blonde hair and blue eyes:

There's so much more evidence to suggest that Maggie isn't really a normal human, but this post is long enough. What I will say is that it's subtle, but once the demon attack really gets going (no thanks to Maggie), Shax and the other demons never look for Jim once, even when he leaves the mezzanine. They concentrate all their efforts on Aziraphale, Maggie and Nina, and never mention Gabriel again.

While Maggie is a Scottish name, and she clearly has some links to Scotland if a random pub in Edinburgh is buying records from her in Soho, she does have a distinctly English accent, and lest we forget...

———————————————

thanks as always to @embracing-the-ineffable and @thebluestgreen for the tasty links and sounding board.

[hoeforinarizaki]

FOREVER HERE.

Type: Headcanons

Nekoma x Manager!GN!Reader

Summary: Since you wanted to join a club to pass the time, now you pretty much were recruited into the boy's volleyball club as a manager. How did this happen again‐?

Warnings: Bad Pun Jokes, Nekoma VBC being simps

Nekoma:

NAW BECAUSE THEY ARE SO CHAOTIC?? 😭

Literally Kuroo will not stop his subtle flirting, and not to mention the terrible pun jokes it comes with.

You began to rethink your choices of becoming their manager at some point, i know it. From the amount of stupidity they gave you...how are you still alive?–

Lev always sticks around you. He's probably developed a puppy crush on you and it's so adorable hrgghh 💕

Kenma doesn't often talk to you, but since you play games as well i guess it just kind of clicked.

Ya'll are inseparable so everyone is highkey lowkey jelly~

"KenMAA stop hogging them!" "They hung out with me and chose to stay with me first. Shut up." He spoke an actual sentence, that's surprising 🤠

Now, don't even get me started on Yamamoto. Dude is a feral (Y/N) simp and will never stop being one 💀👌

Can't reach the shelf? He's on it! Forgot your bento? Hehe, maybe you can...share?~ Feel cold? Have his jacket! Totally not an excuse to make it smell like you–

Everyone catches on quickly and for real, you swear you can feel their gazes burning through you omg 😭

Fukunaga loves it when you laugh hard at his jokes.

And PLSSS Inuoka tries so hard to act chill around you but end up tripping or looking bad in the end, poor guy–

During every match, don't worry about having any other team checking you out the boys will literally turn into actual cats and be HOSTILE 100% 👹

Like this emoji 🏃 they will run to you at full speed and intimidate everyone so bad. Their eyes be glowing like don't mess with them buddy.

Yaku and Kai is in charge of making sure everyone isn't doing anything weird when you're not there.

But cannot actually since they might a little more chaotic when you're sick...DAMN why are they crying? You won't die from a little fever chill 💀

Despite all that, Yuki tries his best to be noticed by you.

Boy always thinks you don't care because you barely even breathed in his direction.

But that changed when you greeted him the next week at school and gave him a small bag of his favorite cookies. Like he was so shocked 😃💅

Ma'am you fr right now?–

These guys will not let go you, sorry, but no one else is allowed the manager position like you.

Kuroo comes to you one day like, "Are you like copper and tellurium? Because you're CuTe." Please stop him, he won't until you actually say it–

Now him, Yamamoto & Lev are all telling you stupid pickup lines and now you can't escape it MUAHAHA 👹

Take it or receive it. You have these boys for the rest of your school life...and maybe even for the rest of your life.

They ain't loosing contact with you wdym pff 💀 so i guess, you're forever here. In nekoma.

[silentwhispofhope]

Could I get soooooome headcanons for Vash having a crush on a reader who is kinda sassy and tough and smart mouthed, but also super sweet and caring and goofy?

Like they are there to comfort him and care about him and others all the time but is ready to throw hands at the drop of a dime, or sasses or curses Nick out if he does something mean?

If that’s not something you wanna do that’s totally fine!

Vash just gives me “I love a person who could kick my ass….but wouldn’t” vibes 😂

A/N: Oooooo! I honestly this is such a great idea, and this type of person would be a great match with Vash! I’m totally not procrastinating from studying for my first biochem exam pshhhhh

Vash Headcanons with a Tough but Sweet S/O

Your quips back at Wolfwood’s criticisms of him, pointing out the undertaker’s own contradictions, always make him feel better himself. It makes Vash feel like his own methodology isn’t completely wrong, even though he does know it can be flawed.

He’s also deeply grateful for you defending him. This poor boy has been chased away and betrayed by so many people, your trust in him makes him fall harder for you.

Vash knows you’d be willing to throw hands for him, but he tries to keep you from doing this as much as possible, often having to put a hand on your shoulder to calm you down. As much as he loves you, humans are much more fragile than Plants, and he would rather see you not get hurt.

He also appreciates that you know when to be brutally honest and when to give subtle lies. However, sometimes your mouth does get the two of you in trouble when you don’t hold back. Vash has to do damage control at that point to prevent the two of you from being kicked out of the bar or town.

Your tough love is also something that he needs. Your “nagging” about his latest injury makes him realize he does need to keep himself out of harm’s way as much as possible in order to help others. You also always give him a teasing little flick to his forehead after patching him up, which always makes him laugh in response, lifting the more serious atmosphere of the nagging session.

He loves when your goofy nature slips out. One of Vash’s favorite memories is when your dragged him away from the campfire to dance with him under the stars. The two of you have no idea what you’re doing, but the night ends with him picking you up and twirling you in the air and in a fit of giggles.

You once managed to find an old, battered pun/riddle book that managed to survive the whole journey from Earth. When it’s just the two you traveling to another town, you’ll try and read them to Vash. He knows the answer a majority of the time, but he doesn’t have the heart to ruin the little guessing game going on when your eyes shine that brightly.

[thana-topsy]

The Neloth Post Nobody Asked For but now I'm making it everyone's problem

I guess I'll start out by saying: all of this pertains to my very specific version of Neloth who can be found alive and well (for now) in my fic series "Legends Never Die". It's a big wide fandom, I do not claim to be an authority on Anything, and I think everyone's little pocket universes and OC-ification of NPCs are all equally valid. These are just some of the ways I write and characterize him. So if you have any Neloth headcannons of your own, please sound off!

The Basics:

I estimate this old crusty bastard is in his 700s, or thereabouts, probably on the later end. He stopped counting at a certain point and can't be arsed to keep a talley. There are more important things that occupy his brainspace. He maintains his spry and youthful visage [cough] through his rigorous magical practices, (and his not-so-subtle interest in necromancy and discovering the secrets to immortality).

He was exiled decided to retire from the Telvanni Council a good fifty or sixty years before the eruption of Red Mountain, retreating to Solstheim to continue his experiments in seclusion. Due to severing his mainland ties and House loyalties, his power and influence are significantly weakened, though he continues to expand his studies and has a relatively well-functioning settlement of workers, as well as his current apprentice, Talvas Fathryon, under his tutelage.

And of course, the question on everyone's mind: do he fuck? In terms of his sexuality, he's finicky and if I had to slap a label on him, he's definitely in the realm of Aro-Ace, but on the gray side of things (pun intended???). Here, have an Ace Neloth Pride Flag because why not:

Personal Interests, Likes, and Dislikes:

The list of dislikes could probably rival the "color of the sky" post, so let's try to condense that into the main point: he dislikes inefficiency. The definition of what he finds "inefficient" can and does vary greatly, even in his own work. I would say one of his driving motivators is IncreasE Efficiency, above all else.

His likes are few and far between. As it stands, I could probably list three off-hand. He likes well-made tea (preferably dark, bitter, and stimulating), he likes an organized bookshelf, and he likes Teldryn Sero (who is also dark, bitter, and.... stimulating).

Morality:

Huh? What's that? Never heard of it.

I kid (kind of). Neloth has a complicated psychology. I characterize him to have underdeveloped empathy, but he is not entirely devoid of it. I suppose I'll let him explain it, (from chapter 5 of "Breathing Water"):

“I do…” Neloth began, [...] “I do… feel.” He twisted the stiff bedroll between his fingers. “I do.” [...]  “It’s just…” He didn’t know where he was going with this, but the words were clawing their way out of him like some kind of sick, emaciated animal emerging from a cave. “I don’t think I… feel… correctly.” He exhaled sharply, letting his head roll from side to side, neck popping. “I’ve always been this way. It’s not just the result of graying morals from a prolonged life. I’ve always had this,” he gestured to his chest with trembling fingers, “hole. Like something’s missing.” He pulled the bedroll tighter around him, curling in on himself. A small laugh. “It’s been useful, if I’m honest.” 

He does try, at a certain point, to understand this side of himself a little bit better. Though, honey, he's got a big storm coming.

Anyways, that's my Neloth post for now, maybe I'll add more another time. :) Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[strangelock221b]

S3E4 (spoilers abound)

Portia, Prudence, and Philippa listening at the open door while Debling calls on Pen. The three of them are anything but subtle.

Aww, he gave her a potted plant so she can have nature indoors with her. I hope somebody in this house has a green thumb. He is sweet but he'd better be honest with whoever he ends up marrying about his actual reason for finding a wife.

Has Pen truly given up on Colin? It's sad if that's true.

"I will surely eat all of the biscuits" You mean we FINALLY have an appearance by Colin's bottomless pit of a stomach? It only took what, TWO AND A HALF SEASONS?!

Violet knows when something is up but she also knows a dismissal when she hears one.

Benedict and Lady Tilley. Yeah, she's this season's Siena, though I will say I like her a lot more than I liked Siena (which isn't hard). She won't last but at least they'll be fun to watch while she's around.

Agatha and Marcus. Their dynamic is interesting -- "Do whatever, I'm too busy to get involved." I doubt he'll last beyond S3, but you never know.

"to become the new Marquess Samadani" OH MY FUCKING GOD, SHONDA, YOU DID NOT!!! The wife of a marquess (or a female marquess in her own right) is not called a marquess, but a MARCHIONESS! I know marquess isn't a common title in the British peerage but Shonda, you have access to Wikipedia, FUCKING USE IT!!!

"You read me too well." God, I love Charlotte and Brimsley.

Violet, El, Fran, and the kids are expecting Lord Samadani but Maybe-John has dropped in instead. We'd better learn his name soon, this is driving me nuts.

"John Stirling, Earl of Kilmartin." FUCKING FINALLY!!!! I don't care that his accent is wrong, I love this guy already! Is your cousin Michael in town too, John? Or is he earning his title of the Merry Rake elsewhere?

John and Fran are simply enjoying the silence and the rest of the family is completely baffled, I love it. And here comes Samadani, lovely. John, your timing is awful.

Samadani seems like a nice enough guy, he's just wrong for Francesca.

Love the library, hate Portia's internalized misogyny. I really feel for Cressida now. Can Debling marry her once Colin finally gets his head out of his ass and marries Pen?

I take "revelry" to mean Colin's friends are going whoring and want him to come with, lovely.

Debling is finally being honest? Well, not directly, but still, I'll take it for now. Oh, he's being subtle but he is being direct, got it. Poor Pen, she's torn between the life she wants and a good life that's being offered to her.

Colin with his two ladies again but this time, he's not into it. If you've already paid, Colin, you could've just bid them goodnight and left, you didn't have to stay.

Francesca running into John on the street. These two are a little too quiet for their own good, but I'm sure they'll be fine, maybe with a little help from Violet.

The Cowpers' sitting room has to be the most depressing room on the planet. Lord Cowper's forbidding Cressida from being friends with Eloise? Is it because of Colin? Or Pen? Or maybe he thinks she's putting too much effort into the friendship and not enough into finding a husband. Cressida, I'm guessing you're the same age as Daphne, so I believe that makes you 23 now. You're a legal adult and have been for two years. It would be highly irregular but you could move out of your parents' house. I'm sure the Bridgertons would take you in if Eloise explained everything.

Uh oh, the Mondriches' pub needs saving (again). We'll have another last-minute save by a Bridgerton by the time S3 is over, I'm sure. Frankly, most of the ton can fuck themselves, and that includes Colin's "friends," especially Fife. Pig.

Colin wanting more out of sex is a great sign of both his maturity and him falling in love.

So Debling's serious about proposing to Pen. Poor Pen and poor Cressida.

BTW, I love how the subtitles keep calling the music this season "pensive," it feels like an unintended pun.

For a woman who can't come up with a decent metaphor to save her life, Violet is very wise when it comes to her kids. Oh, she is playing Colin like a fiddle! Go, Violet!

I really like her and Marcus together, he seems like a great guy, though apparently somewhat estranged from Agatha.

Cressida came to Eloise. El really brings out the best in her, something her parents really try to keep hidden. I swear to God, Shonda, if you don't give Cressida a happy ending, I will.

Be careful, Fran, especially with the Queen watching.

Colin has finally outgrown his "friends," halleluiah!

Well, at least Debling bowed out gracefully. And Cressida still has a chance, as slim as it is.

Oh, is this THE carriage scene? Not quite how the book one went but hey, if we get the same outcome, I'm all for it.

Aww, Colin looks like he's about to cry.

"Are you going to marry me or not?" Colin, I could kiss you but I'll leave that to Pen. WE GOT OUR BOOK PROPOSAL!!!

And we don't even get an answer before the episode ends.

Nice cliffhanger, Shonda.

[mauesartetc]

Thoughts on Helluva Boss Episode 203 (”Exes and Oohs”)

Pros:

- Crimson’s facial animation is great, especially when Moxxie and Millie first walk through his door, and when he finds out Chaz isn’t rich. His expressions convey a lot of menace through the timing and eye movements alone. It’s subtle, but I hope whoever animated those scenes knows their efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.

- I like the concept of Crimson’s trophy wall, which shows he actually keeps mementos of those he’s killed, seeing them as no better than animals for him to hunt. Now if there are actually cops in this version of Hell (which the existence of jail implies), this would look very suspicious if they ever stopped by, like a serial killer displaying the hands, eyeballs, etc of his victims. But I guess he could always press a button and flip them all to the dildo side if he didn’t mind the weird looks he’d inevitably get.

- I actually liked Moxxie’s introduction to Blitzo in the flashback. It showcases his fast-talking, big-thinking personality well. Shame he’d go on to treat Moxxie like shit after this.

- I wasn’t expecting the dildo scene to get a laugh out of me, but goddammit it did. It’s such an absurd overcompensation from an old straight dude who thinks he knows what the gays like that it caught me off guard. It’d be kinda tasteless if Moxxie were the butt of the joke, but clearly he’s the straight man (no pun intended) here. The real source of humor is Crimson’s misguided, ridiculously silly attempt to accommodate his son, which just shows how little he really knows (or cares to learn) about him.

- Fuck YES, Moxxie standing up to his dad. Great, satisfying scene. Now do it to Blitzo, Mox. It’s been a looong time comin’.

- Millie’s climactic fight scene is pretty good. The choreography is fluid, the kills are creative and fun to watch, and the music fits perfectly. There’s just one aspect holding the sequence back from being great, which we’ll get into later.

- Good ending. Shows what became of Chaz and hints that Crimson might try to get revenge on Moxxie in the future. More Crimson is a win in my book.

Cons after the cut.

Cons:

- Dammit, the “Moxxie is fat” jokes were never funny, show. Let ‘em die.

- So Crimson lives in the Greed ring, yeah? Why is everything green? The color traditionally associated with greed as a sin is yellow, while green is reserved for envy. For that matter, you’d think all the sharks here would fit in better in the Envy ring, since it’s ruled by Leviathan, a sea creature. Did they seriously just slap the wrong name on the Envy ring? They used the traditional deep blue for the Lust ring back in “Ozzie’s”, so this is a glaring inconsistency.

- I’ve mentioned before that Viv Medrano likes using the same design elements a bit too much in her characters (bow ties, gold teeth, differently-colored fingertips, etc), and it looks like we can add concentric eye rings to the list. Notice how both Striker and Chaz have these.

The other sharks in the mob have them too, but Striker’s an imp, not a shark (despite looking like he was ripped off from a shark), so it’s not species-related. Does it represent the characters’ personalities or serve any sort of plot function? Fuck if I know.

- Bit of a nitpick, but the black “cross” shape at the tip of Chaz’s nose is wildly inconsistent from scene to scene. Sometimes it’s thin, sometimes it’s thick, sometimes it has pointed tips, sometimes it has rounded ones. More thorough model sheets for the cleanup department would help mitigate this in the future.

- So prison is a thing that exists in Hell, huh? And so are banks, I guess. And they look exactly the same as they do in the human world. See, this isn’t the kind of episode that’d necessarily benefit from worldbuilding, since it’s not relevant to the plot (or not yet, anyway, but we’ll get there). But seeing all these ordinary settings just reminds me of how pointless the entire “Hell” thing is, and how no one could be bothered to invent a new world for the characters to live in. (Seriously, demon characters disguised as humans in the human world. I’m tellin’ ya. Barely anything in the story would change.)

- Guys, ya didn’t have to explain the Titanic reference. Most viewers probably would have caught it even if Blitzo hadn’t pointed it out. I’m sure even the zoomers who hadn’t been born when it came out would at least recognize the meme. Give your audience more credit.

- I’ll level with y’all: The dildo pixellation is distracting as hell. If a show made for network TV had it, fine, I understand. But Helluva Boss is made for the internet, which has much more lenient censorship standards. Hell, BoJack Horseman, a Netflix show, features a sex robot with a couple attached dildos, neither of which are censored. Is this just a Youtube monetization thing I’m not aware of? Because I checked their community guidelines, and while they mention “using sex toys to give viewers sexual gratification”, there’s nothing remotely sexy about their use in this episode. They function only as comedic props, not tools of titillation. All about that context, baby. Not that I’m super gung-ho to see a bunch of multicolored dicks in their full glory; the censorship’s just a little annoying.

- I understand the need to give Moxxie a reason to fear Crimson, but the physical violence is a tad gratuitous. Crimson didn’t really need to hit Moxxie’s mom in the past, or Moxxie in the present, to be intimidating. Abusers don’t have to lay a finger on their victims in order to frighten them.

I’m starting to see a pattern: Stella tried to hit Stolas, too. It’s like these writers think abuse needs to employ some physical element, or else it’s not really abuse. Which... no, that’s not at all how it works. And considering how Moxxie escaped an abuser only to find himself working for another one (oh, but he’s hard on him because he CaREs, guys! Yeah, bullshit), it only makes this sequence harder to watch. Mox deserves so much better.

- Helping his dad drown that guy seems like a traumatic memory for Moxxie, so why is he in a business where all he does is kill people? Hasn’t he ever wanted or tried to be anything else? A musician, maybe? We know he can sing and play guitar, so...

- Holy shit, did we really need that shot of Crimson with the dildos just after the exceedingly dark flashback? Talk about tone whiplash!

- I mentioned earlier that worldbuilding wouldn’t affect this episode’s plot... for the most part. The wedding scene is a case in which it would.

So, really think about this for a second: We’re in Hell. And there’s a wedding that looks like a typical one would in the human world. We’ve got flowers, an aisle, a block of chairs on either side, and...

A priest?!

Seriously, the dude officiating is dressed up like a Christian priest. White robes, hat, the works. Sure, his outfit and book have inverted crosses, but that doesn’t explain why everything else looks so similar to what you might see in a Christian ceremony. It’s like the demons of Hell saw a Christian wedding and were like, “Oh cool let’s do it exactly like that”. Don’t you think Lucifer, the king of Hell in this universe, might have a tiny problem with this??

And for that matter, why is marriage even a thing in Hell? Why do demons feel the need to justify their long-term relationships with human customs? Why can’t they form their own traditions to celebrate their love?

I get that this is all visual shorthand the audience will be familiar with. I get that they’ll take it all in and recognize this event as a wedding in seconds. But in earlier scenes, Crimson already established that a wedding would take place the next day. So with that label in mind, the audience should be able to tell that this ceremony was a wedding, no matter how it looks.

Would a more unorthodox version feel out of place in the very “humanized” culture and surroundings the show has established? Yeah, kinda. But there could be a throwaway line from the priest explaining that he insists on doing things the old way, with the traditions demons once embraced before Hell was overrun with human souls and human practices (”This is how we did it back in my day, before the sinners came.” Then Chaz is like, “Ha! You said came!” or something). This could be a glimpse into a demonic subculture fighting to preserve their heritage, which future episodes could explore further. Think of all the subtext and story potential packed into a single sentence. But, y’know, creating a by-the-numbers world is just easier. So.

-  Remember how I said there was one thing holding Millie’s fight scene back from being great? It’s the camera. It zooms in too far and moves around way too much, to the point where it’s hard to see what’s going on at times. Ideally, the animation and frame composition should work in tandem, hitting all the snapshots of action they need to hit for visual clarity, and doing little else. A bit of camera shake here and there is fine, but there’s no need for all this wobbling back and forth. I shouldn’t need Dramamine just to watch a damn web series.

- At one point, Crimson says to his minions, “What the fuck! She’s a dame! She’s a broad! Kill her!”, implying that women should be easy to kill. I don’t know if Horvitz improvised those lines or what, but considering that Crimson’s gang has two female members (one of whom we even saw moving a body earlier), it feels like there’s a disconnect between the dialogue and the art department.

I dunno, man. If women aren’t that tough, maybe don’t use them as soldiers in your crime syndicate?? Inconsistencies aplenty in this episode, sheesh.

In conclusion, running the script by another set of eyes during the writing stage would benefit this show immensely. I know it seems like I had a lot of gripes with this one (what else is new, amirite), but honestly, this is one of the better Helluva Boss episodes. When the series ends (or when the writing gets so bad I can’t watch anymore), I might post my personal ranking of all the installments I’ve seen. For the first time in a long time, I’m actually curious to see what kind of story the next episode will tell. It’s almost like a series with an episodic plot structure can be interesting without the creator’s favorite ship hogging the focus. Funny how that works.

Later!

[jinjojess]

Stupid Names: Rain Code Edition (Vol. I?)

I gotta say, I do appreciate that the Rain Code characters’ naming keeps the DanRon sensibilities, but formats them in a Western enough way that I can finally point to something to get people to understand the specific kind of stupid that DR names evoke.

Up until now, the closest I could get was the Gyakuten Saiban/Ace Attorney series, but in those games the names are extremely on the nose, where as DanRon is a tiny bit more subtle.

Like all of these characters’ dumb, dumb names sound hit the ear just the same way as most DR characters’ do to someone who knows Japanese. Aside from a few extra tidbits here and there, I’ll mostly let you guys soak in how dumb the names are this time and do quick intros for the characters.

First up, we’ve got our crew of detectives with their special talents. (Why is special backwards? Does that mean something?) They’re all dispatched out to the Kanai Ward, where the game takes place.

First one out in the open and the rest under the read more:

Desuhiko Thunderbolt

Special Skill: Disguise

Okay so I have to assume that the “desu” here is evoking “death” and not the meme about the part of speech, but you never know. The “-hiko” ending is, as you may know, a common boys’ name suffix. This is our womanizer character, who also wants to become a famous detective. He’s always carrying his giant backpack full of disguises, like a horny little happy mask salesman.

Also, reading the notes about how he can change not just his face and clothes, but his height, voice, and body type is making me laugh, because they really just made a More OP Sagishi, didn’t they?

Aphex Logan

Special Skill: Detecting Life

A veritable Seer of Life, here. Can sense and pinpoint the location of any living thing within a 50 meter radius. His posture, backstory, and overall vibe say yanki tough guy (after his lawyer parents died, he grew up in the slums), but that hat/mask thing kinda says New Japan Wrestling, so now I’m wondering if his last name is a reference to one half of the internet’s shittiest brothers. It does say he tends to solve things with violence.

Zange Eraser

Special Skill: Thoughtography

I want the last name to be a pun on eraser + razor so bad. I mean, the “zan” in the first name could refer to slicing with a sword, so it’d be so good! Oh well. In Japanese, “erasing” is slang for killing someone, in the same vein as “rubbin’ him out” kind of Looney Toons mobster talk. This older guy has the vibe of a seasoned warrior, and never speaks about his past. However, since he sometimes refers to himself as a “former official”, it’s possible he may be an ex-govt employee. His ability is that he can project his own memories as images onto digital devices, so I’m not sure what the pole is for. Selfie stick?

Zilch Alexander 

Special Skill: Animal Puppetry

Being able to control animals is cool, I guess, but man this is a really good example of DR’s trademark “One Normal Name + One Really Stupid Name” principle in action. 

Anyway, Zilch here loves the harmony between man and nature, and so he specializes in things that blend the two (i.e., animals). He has tendency to overtake conversations in order to make sure things proceed optimally, which gives off the impression to others that he thinks he’s better than everyone else. But hey, nobody’s perfect.

What an amazing character design. Love these animals’ poses and expressions, too. No notes.

Vivia Twilight

Special Skill: Separating Spirit from Body

Despite the name sounding like someone’s MLP OC, this little twink can yeet his soul out of his body to become invisible and not let walls or floors stand in his way. This name is so good, damn. 

Vivia is one of those people with aesthetic, decadent kinda vibes. You know the ones. He’s got a self-indulgent type of personality, and you can often find him sleeping under the agency’s heater or beneath a hotel grand piano or whatever.

This is 100% the fanbait character.

Pucci Lavmin (Pucchi Ravmin)

Special Skill: Super Hearing

She may look like a little kid, but beneath her petite exterior lies machine-like serenity and intellect. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t get to talk to other people much, but she has a habit of unexpected responses or emotional outbursts in conversation. Guess she took the touching grass thing prescriptively?

Her skill seems a bit underwhelming considering we have a guy who can shapeshift and one who can re-enact that Pokemon Tower anime episode at will, but what do I know. I guess there’s lots of good practical applications to this one, which they point out, like listening in on conversations or for footsteps and stuff.

Harara Nightmare (Halala Nightmare)

Special Skill: Past Vision

Oh sure, don’t give me any direction on the romanization for this one, thanks. Also, why are both detectives on this page voiced by someone named Yui, written the same exact way? Weird. Anyway, excellent name, love it. Hindsight is always 20/20, and imagine if you could look back at actual 2020? Nightmare, right?

Harara/Halala always keeps a cool head and is able to make very precise deductions, so they’re a veteran of plenty of tough cases. That said, they trust nothing more than money, and won’t take on any clients that don’t offer sufficient compensation for their skills.

※ Thanks to @jadyjads​ for letting me know that the character’s official English profile uses they/them! (I’m sure you’re not surprised to learn that there are zero gender indicators in most of these blurbs in Japanese, so I usually just go off the VA to make a decision.)

Fubuki Clockford (possibly Crockford, but come on)

Special Skill: Rewinding Time

This one is my favorite name. As you may or may not know, “fubuki” means blizzard but is also a common girl’s name, but that’s not what makes it wonderful. The real star of the show is the meaningful last name that also sounds like a background character in Illbleed.

Good news: this Knight of Time’s powers aren’t busted, because you can only go back once, and after that you can’t use the power again until more time has passed. 

Fubuki herself is an illustrious daughter of the noble Clockford family, and hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to interact with the normal, everyday world. As such, she’s got some unique views on things, and she’s often causing issues for people by marching to the beat of her own drum. She’s also got a bad tendency to drop conversations, which doesn’t help.

Melami Goldmine (Merami Goldmine)

Special Skill: Necromancy

This is another great name, because this one seems to hint at an avaricious nature, rather than being a direct reference to her talent. (Unless of course this is also a Zombieya no Reiko reference in which case, WOW.) She can raise the spirits of the dead for a price, but only if she’s wearing something the deceased wore in life.

Melami likes clothes, and people who'd look good in clothes she likes.

I... Okay, sure.

Yakou Furio

Role: Head of the Yakou (Midnight Service) Detective Agency

Not one of the Super Detectives (or Great Detectives? I haven’t kept up with the direction the loc is going), but still an accomplished sleuth recognized by the International Detectives Organization (World Detectives Organization? This might be a WHO reference). Presumably the founder of the agency, he’s also the only office staff, and everybody’s boss. Despite running the agency, he tries to keep operations on the downlow to avoid dealing with the Amaterasu Co. Security Dept. He’s known for his timid demeanor, but his name belies fiery rage (”yakou” can also mean “let’s burn”).

Yomii Hellsmile

Role: Head of Amaterasu Co.’s Security Dept

This is simultaneously a floor master from Kimi ga Shine (name, personality) and our Junko (personality, presence in a Kodaka game). He’s young but delights in the misfortune of others, crushes people with a serene demeaner, and uses his underlings just to toss them aside after. He rules Kanai Ward, and uses that achievement to broker influence within the Amaterasu Mega Company. (Wasn’t the big evil company in Enen no Shouboutai called Amaterasu too?) 

Also, I revise my earlier statement, this may very well end up being the fanbait character...

Suwaro Electro

Role: Vice Head of Amaterasu Co.’s Security Dept

Meanwhile this character design is one that speaks to my heart. The first name kinda sounds like both the imperative order “sit!” and the English word “swallow”, while the last name just sounds like a C Tier comic book character. This is Yomii’s right hand woman, who is the beneficiary of his sprinklings of trust and love, and she thinks very highly of herself. She normally has zero mercy for those who oppose her but makes an exception to be a loyal lackey for Yomii, making her sorta like this game’s Mukuro. I hope she’s just as fail and tragic as my beloved Corpsey.

Then there’s these weirdos who work in the Amaterasu Co. Security Dept:

This rejected Persona enemy is Spank Cassanero, and he likes money.

I’m guessing at how to transliterate this name, since it could also be Spunk, and the last name could be a little different. Seemed like it was going for Italian to me, I dunno.

Next, the bullybait looking person is Seth Brows(e), the head of the security department’s investigation team. He speaks so softly that he needs a megaphone to help him project. He’s pretty subdued when he speaks, which makes him come across as kind of sickly.

The third-string Vtuber is called Gyoumu Hall, which is a classic stupid Japanese name, where you use the Western surname to just call a character “conference hall”. The leader of the security department’s Anti-Terrorist Unit, she talks fast, is rather animated, and uses the first person pronoun “this” (kore).

Finally, we have this 6′6″ fellow known as Dominic Fulltank. How apt. He sure looks like a Dominic, doesn’t he? He’s the vice head of the Anti-Terorrist Unit. He’s totally loyal to Gyoumu, though sometimes struggles to carry out more complicated orders.

...Some of these characters have unfortunate optics, man.

So there you have it!

This includes most of the actual info from the Famitsu issue last week; if you want to see some of the other text on the pages then cool, but you aren’t missing too much.

Thanks for reading and have a good week!

[idleorbitals]

only friends ep 3 watch through (part 2/2)

(part 1)

got too wordy again for a single post. maybe next week I will do Less Scenes. not right now tho

*begin vid section [3/4]*

boston and nick pull up to the party in the car we understand boston and top will be banging in later tonight. nick asks about top and mew and boston says, to nick's face, that mew is soooo into top but won't admit it. then they both play at accusing the other of being into top. I don't think either of them is into top. nick is into boston and boston is into conquest

there is faint eerie music playing over this entire scene. also this shot is just....gorgeously composed. goddamn

I don't know folks boston is such a manipulative jerk. we see it right here in this scene when he tells nick he can call their relationship what he wants to keep him on the hook. but also he is broadcasting to nick over and over how casual he wants to keep this and like. I don't sympathize with boston at all but idk if nick still has a firm grasp on the moral high ground here. not least, you know, now that we know that nick is bugging boston as this conversation happens

at the party we get a brief little sandray flirting scene. sand's "I don't know, I'm not a jukebox" line is an absolute winner in my book. ray casts move into your flirt-ee's personal space, say something suggestive in a low tone, and then smirk. straight out of ayan's book. haven't counted but this has definitely happened in nearly every scene they've shared so far

*pre read more warning this got Long*

mew smells a sandray rat. ray swears he doesn't have feelings for sand and thinks he's telling the truth. top walks up and ray gives him the stink eye but cannot compete with this entirely over the top (pun intended) move from sand:

baby doesn't do subtle even though he seems to think he can

boston shows up to mess with ray so that ray will help him mess with topmew. ray says "who's sleeping with who is not my business" which is generally true and nice of him to say but you know. he's feeling it anyhow. especially as boston keeps digging in on how pathetic ray is and how manipulative top is. boston really setting himself up for the karmic retribution here

then boston proceeds back into the kitchen to mess with top about mew and ray. particularly noteworthy here is that the picture he has of them was obviously taken without permission. was this a funny little *ooh my friends are kissing each other* moment for boston?? did he have some kind of motive even then to be creepy? is this just to add to his bad guy cred? anyway he promises he has even more but he's not going to show it to top unless he comes to find him in the parking lot after the party. now nick walks in and eavesdrops on this whole conversation. mess! mess! mess!

now boston is sending nick home alone but says "i'm worried about you" and this is a lie! I think! but it's hard to be sure bc everyone's lying all over the place here. we know that boston is staying behind to try to get in top's pants and nick is staying behind to watch and no one is to be trusted. "I'm a grown up" nick says, "no one dares to hurt me" in the voice of dramatic irony. then he says "look at my face" and pouts very cutely at boston

idk this reads to me as a genuinely fond expression. dunno if that's relevant but it feels notable somehow. I guess what I'm trying to say is boston is obviously a manipulative asshole but for everything he's pulling with top-mew-ray right now the main thing he could really be accused of with nick is stringing him along. he's obsessed with top for separate reasons than nick is obsessed with him but they are looking more alike than different in this episode to me

meanwhile mew comes upon ray watching sand pack up and accuses him of having feelings again. mew is picking up on some things ray seems to still be oblivious to. but also not picking up on some other very big things??

mew says: "you can finally get rid of your loneliness" "I want you to be happy" and this absolute kicker:

yes he is, because his crush just took him around the shoulder and told him he wanted him to be happy while gazing lovingly into his eyes.

especially now that we have proof positive that something happened between them in past it makes this difficult to read. can mew possibly claim ignorance of ray's feelings atp? is he well aware but doesn't return them and is trying to be a good friend by encouraging him to pursue something with sand? what's the line here?

ray's iconic throwing of the solo cup after mew leaves with top gets cut for, according to p'jojo, shot continuity reasons. interesting because not having it there gives a minor bump to how sym/pathetic ray looks coming out of this scene. once again he gets the nicest framing here and I could be wrong but I don't think this is my bias showing

*begin vid section [4/4]*

here come ray and sand to have their weirdly wholesome dynamic where sand checks in on ray looking blue all night and ray checks in on sand getting home safely

sand is having rideshare issues and ray insists on taking him home and sand gazes longingly up at ray from like half a foot above him once again. unreal

cut to brief shot where mew insists top goes home instead of coming in with him. good job advocating for yourself mew but bad job choosing the option that leads to at least two more messes tonight alone

sandray car makeout scene (the first?? 👀👀). I wrote a lot of this up here and in the interest of not making this post any longer than it already is that's where it's going to live

but I will use just a little bit of all that space I saved on this shot of ray looking absolutely blissed out about these moves

and also these much less fun character beats. in the first one ray looks up from the phone call and there's this awful moment where we see him look over at sand like he's just remembering he's there. ray cares about sand already more than he thinks he does. but when mew calls his attention refocuses so entirely on him that sand's feelings don't even rank. this whole thing feels so real and they're playing it so well

ray chews on his bottom lip and gazes forlornly after sand as he goes but he doesn't try to stop him or fight him when he says they're better off leaving it as a one night stand. I read this as an almost thoughtful move. ray has expressed already that he'd like to keep seeing sand but that this is contingent on sand being comfortable leaving emotional involvement out of it. right now ray knows his own priority is mew, and it would be a dickish, boston-ish move to try to pin sand down by placating him on his way out

we'll see what's up next for these two though. my guess based on what we've seen so far? ray will start to pursue sand more emotionally sincerely; he will hang onto the just-friends line but justify this to himself and to sand as showing proper care toward his new friend who he also happens to want to bang. sand will be drawn back in despite his better judgement. eventually they will concede that they are not just friends any more but/and ray's feelings for and prioritization of mew will keep messing with the dynamic. sand will find out about ray's long running feelings for mew but probably not from ray himself, and he will feel hurt and used, rightfully or not. as they continue to hurt each other they will both blame themselves, sand because he thinks he should have known better and ray because he does self-hatred like it's a competitive sport

can't wait

okay final scene: boston and top have their long-teased car sex and nick stands in a lit doorway a stones throw away watching and listening to the whole thing. I have many thoughts here but instead I'm going to just take the moment to appreciate some of the mechanics of this scene bc it exemplifies how many moving pieces they are stitching together to elevate this show to the next level narratively and compositionally:

-sand slamming the door as he gets out of ray's car perfectly synched with top closing the door as he climbs into boston's car is chef's kiss

-another absolutely gorgeous shot. the contrast of this one with the same shot (see top of post) of boston and nick except we see boston and top through the windshield and the rain

-boston sitting there behind the steering wheel of his perfect little car literally and metaphorically driving the plot with his manipulations

-neo's acting in this scene holy moly

👏 CI👏 NE👏 MA

(all ofts watch throughs)

[mt10lt20]

Finally, an Ace Combat Fanfic (or two)

Finally got my AO3 account approved, so I posted my first (two? Do 2 Chapters count) fanfics, and its of Ace Combat Zero & 6 (Ciphixy & TaliSham) - Featuring... some plot with subtle horror AND smut. Also, I realized that I cannot write pure vanilla T_T

AO3 link here - F*ck like you fly

Additional notes that were not mentioned on AO3 as they were linked to HCs: under the cut.

The protags are technically male. But because I sometimes also draw them as females + because they are faceless, they are written to also have some feminine qualities in their appearance. Or, they may not be human at all, considering the way they fly; and their wingmen will do well not to forget that they are predators, no matter how alluring or nice they seem to be.

-----------------------------------------

AC6’s Shamrock/Talisman are my rare pair. Their story started out when I was thinking about how they’d ever get together, considering how much baggage Shamrock has. And I just happened to write it down, and by that time it was already a full-length fic. Might as well dump it on AO3.

-----------------------------------------

ACZ and AC6 go together for me. I find them like mirror images of each other and hence, easier to write or draw as a “set”. Besides a weakness for the Angel and Demon trope (I blame Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett for writing Good Omens), I think ACZ and AC6 were purposeful corporate “mirror projects”: ACZ and 6 were developed around the same time (release date 2006/2007 - the only 2 main platform games in the AC series developed so close to each other), and both teams prob practically, in a very corporate fashion, were given tasks to focus on building FACELESS protagonists that were opposite just to ensure no overlaps when the biz was running 2 similar projects. As a testimony to some of the development similarities, the Garuda team even had a 3rd wingman (but dropped), very similar to the Galm Team.

Note: This a hypothesis based on understanding & practical experience of messy, large corporate cultures. Unproven in the Namco (pre-merger) context, but I guess similar patterns prevail across industries?

So, I think the Demon of Ustio was conceived first and management just went like ok, corporate has a demon now, this faceless thing is gonna be a challenge if we’re running 2 concurrent games cos we just can’t make them LOOK different, let’s do an angel/ angels for the other one so there will absolutely be no way we can clash the characterizations. The Angel and Demon trope was just too convenient and I think that resulted in Cipher and Talisman being developed to achieve the same outcome (ace pilots who are a cut above the rest, instrumental to winning the wars they were in etc), while being the exact opposite of each other.

A feared mercenary bound to no rules | An admired leader in the air force. Lone contributor | Strategist. Fear inspiring | Awe inspiring. Faces off against a wingman who breaks orders | Stays together with a wingman who breaks orders. Both their wingmen are also highly effective but one turned out to want to kill them | the other will die for them.

At the end of the day, Ciph & Tali would both be annoyed at how similar they really are despite trying to be so different (affectionate) - hence the basis of their beef in the chaotic ACZ/6/7 AU that sometimes features here. But they do have a grudging respect for each other and might bond over their shared love for capable-idiot wingmen (again affectionate), and TROUNT lol.

And after all, both are still to be feared, bringing salvation and destruction in their own way. Cipher - all shall fear me and despair | Talisman - all shall love me and despair. Pun intended cos they fly Eagles, but not to Mordor.

-----------------------------------------

Would like to try writing Trount sometime, perhaps as a 3rd chapter. But due to their lighter hearted nature, they are a little more challenging to write with the subtle-horror undertone vs the ACZ and AC6 pairs. I will get there!

[daydream-corpse]

Ok so

12 ! His design differs from Dexter in multiples ways, more or less subtle :

He's way thinner, since his diet is just.. this weird goop that brings him what he need and nothing else. Because of this he has a pretty weak stomach and has lost a lot of muscle mass.

I draw one of his cowlick in a zap zap pattern, Dexter's ones are straight like a tv antenna.

I give adult Dexter goggles, 12 keeps the glasses.

He's also taller than other Dexters (i put a height comparison at the bottom) but he's still smaller than Mandark

He both works on his computer but Mandark also makes him work on some of his droids and maintenance, since he's not allowed to wear gloves his hands are covered in tiny scars and cuts

His hands are very rough because of this, otherwise he is somft.

He got more scars on his back, obviously, and bruises on his wrists.

Mandark marked him with a M on the base of his neck.

And for some random hcs…

Canon I guess, but he developed a stutter. It gets worse when anxious.

He forgot who he was before working at Mandark's company. He doesn't really care about it. He still hold the protocore but forgot what it can do, he just remembers that it must not end up in Mandark's hands.

Terribly touch starved but he will jump at any contact initiated with him.

Afraid of water ! Don't try to bath him.

The fact that he made the cubicles is played as a joke in the movie but it's in fact what he does, he makes the company more efficient and designed his own prison.

His labcoat is a comfort item and he will cry if given other clothes. This is a warning.

12 might have forgot most of his life but he stills remember how robotics work and creating robots

He enjoys repetitive tasks

Even more stuff under there

more little hcs but this time about his relationship with Mandark, this is 12Exe so pass this if you don't want to i guess.

At first there was no attraction or love, it was simply less painful to follow along Mandark's obsession. But he found himself enjoying the attention and the more and more positive interaction.

Because 12 is LONELY, he wants, he needs his only meaningful relationship to be a positive one.

Of course this relationship is a trainwreck because Mandark is volatile, inconsistent and severely in denial.

This cause 12 to overthink everything he does and everything Mandark does. It's frustrating for both of them really.

Heavy Stockholm syndrome (i guess?? lmao), 12 is anyway happy to work under Mandark and wants to please him. Mandark acts more and more decent towards him as their relationship progress, obsession actually letting some place for genuine love and affection.

He doesn't like social gathering, especially when Mandark let's him be all by himself.

His psyche recovers more and more as he his away from Mandark brainwashing devices which lead us to…

Twelve!

Twelve is 12, simply later down the timeline. The number became his name, after Mandark asked if he wanted to become number 2. He didn't decides on Dexter because even after research about his past, he still doesn't feel much connection to his past life.

Broke the nose of Mandark and threatened to defenestrate him at least once.

Lack of empathy for other humans, doesn't care much about animals.

His back is broken in two, even with the technology that was used to heal him. It hurts when he stays up for too long.

He got a resting bitch face but he actually got a very dry sense of humors and likes puns.

Hunt people that are against the regime for sport.

He likes sweet but still have to watch his diet closely.

Finally got back some muscles.

Not easily jealous but terribly co-dependent to Mandark. Yes, they will see a therapist at some point.

[notesonartistry]

subtract, Ed Sheeran - First thoughts

I think this feels most like an album that I've heard from Ed and because of that, it's instantly my favourite. It's just the kind of music that I can listen to over and over. With Ed's previous albums, I've generally had a few favourites and a number of skips. Cohesive has become a kind of overused term (and incites a fight/flight response for some, I know), but I really do think it applies. I think you can really feel that these songs were just pouring out of him at the same time.

I like the water and nature theme that runs (no pun intended) through the songs. I enjoyed Eyes Closed more in the context of the album, but it's definitely still the most commercial and not my favourite. I thought Boat worked really well as a track 1 - that line about how "the waves won't break my boat" still really resonates for me and then the rest of the album explores some of those waves.

Aaron's production is so delicate and I agree with what he said in The Guardian the other day about how the melodies support Ed's voice (particularly on Borderline - I'm generally not that keen on such a high pitch, but it worked). Maybe on multiple listens the subtle sound that is pervasive in the whole album will appeal less because there is quite a lot of similarity, but there's little upbeat injections like Curtains that work to keep some variety.

Parts of The Hills of Aberfeldy made me think of I See Fire and, on first listen, I think it's my least favourite of the standard edition (sad for me as a Scot who loves Aberfeldy!).

There's a lot of lyrics that remind me of some things that Taylor has written (and I don't mean the ones about sparks although I guess "hope the spark survives" could parallel "love's a fragile little flame"!). End of Youth had a couple about the transition from youth to adulthood that I can't recall exactly right now, but that I liked (I wasn't sure about that song when it started, but it grew on me as it went on).

It's definitely not a complete reinvention, and it's instantly recognisable as Ed, but I do think it's a nice evolution and change from his previous albums.

[cavernfullofexistentialdread]

OK HERE WE GO LIST ON WHY EX WIVES IS THE BEST THING TO EVER <3

It instantly tells you what to expect. Bunch of amazing women with insane vocal ranges and the energy of a Taylor Swift concert.

Amazing composing

The use of motifs, every single verse with the queens saying lines in order has the green sleeves melody snuck into there

Great symbolism with said motif! We are quite literally forced to hear it even if the situation doesn’t particularly call for it

EBM GREENSLEVES MY BELOVED <333333

The use of the different vocal ranges overlapping in the “Wives” and the first sung note in musical is just ✨chefs kiss🤏✨

“All you ever hear and read about!” RAW LINE. RAW. OMFG YES

All of K Howard’s lines. That’s the entire bullet point.

Great introduction to the queens! The problem with Uranium Suite and Fall Fair Suite is that Uranium depicts how people would see the choir (only on a surface level) while Fall Fair shows us how their actually like but doesn’t provide that much context as to that their a choir. However what Ex Wives does it that it shows them as individuals as well as clearly shows they CAN work as a group but they don’t get much individuality from it

Also speaking of RTC’s St. Cassian Chamber Choir, the Queens are technically a choir! MAKING THISE DAMN MELODIES SO MUCH MORE SATISFYING TO LISTEN TO

Also iconic lines

Quickly foreshadows in subtle ways (AUDIBLE STORY TELLING MY BELOVED)

Once again comparing my 2 fav musicals, RTC has this thing where each character gets a version of Karnak’s theme, SIX does this too in the Queen’s intros

AND ALL THE REMIXES. ALL SOMEHOW MANAGE TO SNEAK IN MORE GREENSLEVES. THE SYMBOLISM. THE MOTIFS. YESSSSSS

Already tells you the amazing humor of wit and sarcasm you can expect to see through out the musical

More audible foreshadowing via the style of each remix

Lina is simple at first with a few strings, but has a lot of little bits added from time to time. It toys with the melody and what it can apply into the already catchy tune. Her intro is probably the one with the most inconsistency as it does not keep the added stuff going. It has a relatively low and steady beat but makes up for simplicity in vocal potency. ALSO JUST SO SAVAGE SHE ATE THAT UP FR FR. Just like No Way

Anne has a slightly higher and more excited melody. The Tempo is the same but serves less of a heavy role unlike Lina’s and is mainly just the supporting cast to the melody. While Anne’s vocals stay relatively high throughout at the end she goes lower and more sinister. Great audible storytelling! There’s little to no playing with what’s been set up and when there is it’s all subtle. As mentioned before the break is only at the end. It’s so cherry and cheeky but if you look at the lyrics it uh- kinda intense. Very DLYH if ask me

JANE SEYMOUR JUST IS PUN FILLED, THE JOKES. It perfectly sets her up to be the one overlooked and the more… patient and forgiving one of the group. She only ever snaps in one of the two fight scenes. Also the fact that she claimed she was the only one he truly love, while sadly likely to be true, also contrasts how loving and caring her sing ends up being with the slight cockiness that the line can be read as along with the infamous “RUDE!”. Her melody is the middle. The added wind pipes(?) later are the high. The tempo is a sort of balance from the higher notes. Her melody is so melancholy and monotone. It’s very Jane and very Heart of Stone fr fr let’s keep this greatness up!

ICH BEN ANNA VON CLEVES. This one does not disappoint either! You can already see the consistent parallels of Anna’s relationship with online dating throughout the song, so it’s good that’s it’s inky reinforced here but not much! Also Haus of Holbein foreshadowing so I guess that softens the whiplash somewhat- Also this intro if the only one where the other Queens serve vocals more than once, I guess you could connect it to how Get Down is the only song that has Anna going out of her way to get the Queens involved (THATS ISN’T BY U BEING PROBLEMATIC ANNE). Also Anna’s snarky comment at the end is ironic as she was probably the only one besides Cathy who didn’t have to deal with Henry in that aspect. Also very very simple only having the accordion, tempo, and clicks to compliment. Get Down!

PRICK UP YOUR EARS IN THE KATHRINE! WHO LOST HER HEAD! For the longest time I thought it was “beheaded; before I promised you I’d see outside of wed” referencing both how short her life and time with Henry was. But no it’s “promiscuity outside of wed“ 💀. Either works however! Kinda ironic that Kat is the one to interrupt Anna’s comment as… ya know… But anyways. The chord progression on this one is especially of note as it’s actual kinda different from AYWD. While AWYD goes High and ten descends, this one go High -> Lower -> Lower Medium -> Low. Interesting indeed! Long of stings and slashes to replace the clicks that Anna had! Also not sure but Tempo seems to be more dominant?

BAM TINY WHIPLASH STRAIT INTO A LAMENT BABY. Then it goes pop again as Cathy gains her balance. Notice how the beats don’t comeback until that point. The first two lines rather have the piano as the click clack. Past that THEN the tempo beats come back once Cathy is talking about and addressing them as a GROUP. She is the one to slide them back into the chorus after all! Foreshadowing as how she convince them to write fanfic- I mean reclaim their stories! Anyways as I saying, she’s probably the one who shakes it up the most. More foreshadowing!!! Also Pt. 1 of Cathy being an independent women’s who may or may not come off as slightly protective and clingy-. Still very IDNYL!

So to recap that giant section; it’s Good use of simplicity, effects, and contrast -> Vocal centric within a happy lucky tune and beat that breaks at the end -> Puns and a somewhat monotone melancholy feel that easily shows character -> More simplicity and focused on the vocals to carry it, also ironic jokes and sarcasm! -> Interesting chord progression and really good wordplay -> Amazing and subtle foreshadowing mix into a lament turned beautiful transition to chorus

Also apparently the Queens go from right to left if you have ear buds in but as a half deaf person I will sadly never get to get the full experience-

Have I talked about the amazing vocals???

MUST WE HAVE A GOOD PLOT WHEN WE HAVE GODLY VOCALS???

THE DAMN RISING NOTES ON THE LINE “WIVES” AHHHHH

IM SORRY ITS JUST TOO SATISFYING

ALSO NOT TO MENTION THE LINE IS ALSO YET ANOTHER GREENSLEVES INFUSED SNEAKY RAT THING

I SWEAR THE OVERLAPPING VOICES EFFECT GOT ME IN A TRANCE

THE RISE AND THEN THE STOP AND THE LOWER RISED IS SO

SEJSJKSKEMSKKEMEMSKEKEK

Also can we talk about how dramatic the beginning is? I love it lmao

Also how over time when they the rhyme their just like “ugh this b*tch again stfu I’m too tired to deal with this”

The fact that Catalina is the first every voice you hear in the entire musical but Cathy isn’t the last line in the sing or the whole show is a nice detail, idk if it was intentional fore shadowing but it’s great!

Also the fact that Hamilton ends on “Who lives who dies who tells your story” and SIX instantly throws you with a “Listen up let me tell you a story!” Is my favorite coincidence

Kat’s lines are potentially longer to match AYWD’s length

ALL THE REFERENCES TO BOTH THE QUEENS AND TUDOR HISTORY I CANT GO INTO BECAUSE THERES TOO MANY

LOOK AT GENIUS

LITERALLY EVERY LINE HAS SOMETHING BEHIND IT

EVERY. LINE. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

Ill try my best to fit as many as I can off the top my head

I can’t fit everything so this is it- thank you for coming to my Ted talk

[xhanisai]

My Lady

AO3 / FFN

Pairing - Ladynoir

Prompt - ‘His Lady’

Summary -

"Hey, mon Chaton. I've always wondered...why do you call me 'My Lady'?"

"Why, My Lady~ been thinking about me all day or something? What an absolute honour~! To think that your Chaton lives rent-free in your head!" That earned him a light flick across the forehead from her polka-dotted finger, an endeared chuckle escaping him whilst she simply pouted from his obvious tactics to avoid answering.

"Just answer my question you silly tomcat. What's with that nickname in particular?"

"Other than it being a wonderful pun on your even more wonderful name, ma Buguinette?" This time, she rolled her eyes at him exasperatedly, his childish snickering growing louder in volume, eating up her miffed expressions with glee. "Ah, that's the reaction I live for. Your adorable little eye rolls and your even cuter groans in annoyance. Hehe~!"

"Chat No-waaaaaaah?"

.

"Okay, okay. Fine, you win."

~(x)~ . . . "Hey, mon Chaton. I've always wondered...why do you call me 'My Lady'?" Ladybug asked innocently on a whim, baby blues twinkling from curiosity and intrigue as she peered at her partner under her dark, thick lashes. Said boy was clearly taken aback, gasping quietly as he spun away from the lovely view of the orange sky on the rooftop they were settled upon to her inquisitive and virtually adorable face. A sight that was a thousand times more beautiful than the sunset according to his pounding, excited heart. Regardless, he was quick to flash his iconic flamboyancy, a devilish smirk resting on his peachy pink lips as he leaned in close to his cherished and spectacular heroine. The tip of his sharp nose almost grazing her softer one with mischief and feline mannerism and his faux tail steadily looped itself around his Lady's slim waist. "Why, My Lady~ been thinking about me all day or something? What an absolute honour~! To think that your Chaton lives rent-free in your head!" That earned him a light flick across the forehead from her polka-dotted finger, an endeared chuckle escaping him whilst she simply pouted from his obvious tactics to avoid answering. "Just answer my question you silly tomcat. What's with that nickname in particular?" "Other than it being a wonderful pun on your even more wonderful name, ma Buguinette?" This time, she rolled her eyes at him exasperatedly, his childish snickering growing louder in volume, eating up her miffed expressions with glee. "Ah, that's the reaction I live for. Your adorable little eye rolls and your even cuter groans in annoyance. Hehe~!" "Chat No-waaaaaaah?" . "Okay, okay. Fine, you win." A subtle bloom of rose began to spread on the apples of his sun-kissed cheekbones, his teeth nibbling on his lower lip anxiously as he averted his gaze for a little bit. The tangerine sky that reflected within his feline greens created a spectacular shade of dark, golden honey and the setting sun illuminated the ends of his blond tresses into a brilliant halo which almost made him seem ethereal. Seeing her bubbly partner look quite vulnerable and almost timid was an infrequent sight (a rarity that rivalled the appearance of a blue moon) so Ladybug couldn't help but be thoroughly entranced. . "You see, you're...you're one of the first most important and most personal someone to me...especially after Maman suddenly left the picture a few years ago," Oh...? Her lively, energetic and extremely compassionate Minou didn't have his Maman anymore? Oh, oh no. She never would have guessed if he never told her. And the way his eyes momentarily flashed with pained grief and yearning indicated just how much he loved and missed his mother. Her pouvre Chaton... Ladybug felt her breath catch in her throat, taking away all the words she wanted to say in order to comfort him and soothe his broken heart. However, all she could do was eye him with some encouragement, beckoning her partner to carry on. "You're not just my partner, not just my friend...but you're also irreplaceable in my heart. And I can't help but call you mine. You are my most trusted someone. My most bravest someone. My most...most beloved Lady." His heart couldn't take it anymore and he had to look away just so the hammering organ didn't explode in his chest after sharing some of the most rawest and sensitive parts of himself. "Ehem...so that's...that's why...that's why I call you 'My Lady'," Chat Noir gathered all the courage within himself to face her once more, his boyish lips tight and his hands clenching behind his back. The heroine continued to watch him with pure reverence, capturing every single detail on his handsome face, tattooing the moment to her brain just so that she could remember such treasure for the rest of eternity. The way his face resumed to blossom in a beautiful sakura hue, blending beautifully with his tan, flawless skin. The way the subtle wind breezed through his short, tousled hair, individual strands taking up all the light of the setting sun and making them seem like strings of gold glittering within his soft locks. The way that his feline emerald-topaz greens just sparkled and glittered and shimmered as he gazed down at her almost nervously after having poured out his entire heart before her. . And Ladybug would be utterly damned if she didn't cradle his beautiful, dazzling heart with all the tender care and unconditional love she could ever muster in her entire lifetime and the ones to come. . All she could do was give him a brilliant and true smile dancing on her rosy lips, her face indescribably soft, her sky blues filled with fervour and her heart beating generously with gusto and might. "I see, I'm honoured that you chose me to be your Lady, mon Chaton." She then wordlessly leaned into his now relaxed shoulder, a happy hum leaving her mouth as she basked in his delicious warmth. . And if someone were to ask why she didn't protest against her Chat Noir's sweet nuzzles against her head and his even sweeter kisses against her hair, well, she was just being extra nice to him that evening. Her traitorous, lovesick heart ignored. . . . ~(x)~

[unskilledpoint]

does prevskilled have symbolism? he's a cool character, but i'm wondering if he was just there or actually meant something.

ummm yreah a liddol it was probably my like worst attempt at subtle symbolism ever thuogh so fuck it lets just do complete analysis of prevskilled. hes pretty fun to talk about actually. also somewhat personal to me? tangentially speaking.

anyways. prevskilled! quick lore recap he was an asshole capitalist who achieved immortality, before shedding the "universal veil," seeing that the world hasn't started yet and killing himself. fun!

so symbolism. prevskilled is a very meta character. his introduction was meta, he concept was meta, and thus his analysis is meta.

prevskilled's entire arc is told from something that unskilled is looking back on. their character arc has happened. they are no longer capable of changing because their character arc is in past tense. they are doomed to remain stagnant. hence the complete lowercase and almost utter lack of any punctuation, and emphasis being in bold rather than italics or caps or even with the 8x quirk. his inability to change went through to his speech.

okay, so let's look at the contents of said arc. prevskilled basically, got too meta. he learned too much, lovecraft style. the "universal veil" he mentioned in one of the journal entries was literal. he saw, somehow, that the EPPRBCU didn't actually start yet. this was pretty much worldending for him. especially when you read through some of it and realize how much of it involves being known and recognized. but since the EPPRBCU wasn't a thing yet, prevskilled was pretty much doomed to irrelevancy. and he was well aware of this.

here's the part more relevant to unskilled. before prevskilled killed himself out of sheer hatred of irrelevancy, he cloned himself in the form of a second file, in the form of unskilled. he edited his own file for certain traits, killed himself, and released the second file in a last ditch attempt for relevancy. so now, we have unskilled. and there are some pretty major differences/similarities between the two!

prevskilled had a god complex, unskilled has. all of that. prevskilled was also really ambitious, unskilled genuinely wants to be left to their own devices. but also they're very similar! a fondness for the number 878, a tendency to dryly and judgmentally comment on others, etc.

this leads to the question. we know prevskilled did change unskilled's code. but how much? did all of that actually affect unskilled's current personality? or was it all just luck? would prevskilled also have turned out like unskilled had they been coded earlier? would unskilled have turned up like prevskilled? i don't have any particular reason or desire to answer any of these, but if you do some analysis of him yourself i'm sure you could come up with something.

you could also draw some parallels of unskilled/prevskilled's computer code to real life genetic code. should my parents have made me, with their history of mental illness? again, i've no interest in answering this. just a little tidbit, i guess.

last topic! i just want to call to attention prevskilled's relationship with unskilled. he's pretty much always critiquing unskilled, usually telling them to kill themselves or calling them weak for trying to kill themselves. unskilled, obviously, points out how prevskilled is a hypocrite, as he attempted suicide a long time ago. prevskilled usually responds with "it was just a moment of weakness" and leaves it.

this in turn raises a couple interesting questions. could prevskilled be projecting his own insecurity about suicide onto unskilled? does unskilled remind him of themselves? it's pretty likely, in all honesty. again, you could draw some parallels of unskilled and prevskilled and irl parents and their insecurities, especially combined with the pun of genetic/computer code.

anyway! that's pretty much it. i dunno. this isn't super long so hope you aren't like disappointed or anything. i'm sure i could've forgotten something but i'm pretty sure i've hit all the major points. so. yeah! stay sillay and stay safe its a wild world out there :3c