#but like. so did other people. there were so many different interpretations of his design

[emmabirb8]

I've been an Invader Zim fan since 2011.

I was 15-16 at that time, and though I did thoroughly enjoy the show, I was not mature enough to really get it. Sure, it was funny, but I didn't pick up on the subtleties and style of humor beyond the surface level. I liked the wackiness and the characters, but I SURELY wasn't at a point of being able to deconstruct themes or analyze character motivations and narratives (like I very much enjoy doing now). I remember discovering an artist on DeviantArt who drew cute ZaGr stuff, so that was the pairing I liked too. I didn't think too deeply about much, and honestly, I don't think the majority of fans (if they were my age or younger, that is) did either. Everything was taken as dumb and silly for the most part, and that IS truthfully a major component of the show itself.

Getting back into Invader Zim within this past year though, I'm looking at it through a WILDLY different lens. I like Invader Zim for what it is and how it's intended to be perceived. I like that the show is meant to be dark, satirical, and tragic at the same time that it's silly, chaotic, and nonsensical. Almost everything that happens onscreen is written in to be funny above all else. (I've mentioned before that I've been watching Jhonen's Twitch streams for a while now, and I have a MUCH better understanding of his sense of humor bc of that. IZ makes way more sense if you can sorta see things from JV's perspective, lol.)

But at the same time, I also like Invader Zim for what it offers in terms of interpretation and what it can imply (intentionally or not). There is genuinely SO MUCH DEPTH to this dorky lil cartoon that a casual viewer wouldn't immediately pick up on. And a lot of that depth, I think, was not woven in purposely. The show itself was never meant to be taken so seriously. Nevertheless, I'm constantly fascinated by what IZ implies about good and evil, the nature of general society, and especially how it goes about demonstrating the devastating effects of social isolation and bullying. Meta for this series is always pretty damn *chef's kiss.* And what's even more interesting is how viewers manipulate canon to expand upon this world and these characters.

Given that I've come to understand Invader Zim better, I've also grown very fond of ZaDr. Now, while I wouldn't want to see this pairing happen in canon material, I love the potential it possesses in transformative contexts.

In reality, I get that these characters were intended to have a deep hatred for one another and a never-ending rivalry for the sake of comedy and not much else. It's an extraterrestrial perpetually throwing hands with a 12 year old because he's incompetent and his plans often fail. And that's funny. That's the point. But beyond that, canonically, these are two characters who are mirrors of each other; they're both treated like garbage by their respective peers, and they both crave acknowledgment, validation, and a sense of purpose. Throughout their story, they find they're only able to obtain these things from each other, so as a consequence of their similar personalities, they become utterly, unhingedly obsessed with each other (to a sometimes unhealthy degree). They are undeniably forever intertwined by design of how the show is set up.

And because of that, shipping of these characters was, frankly, inevitable in fandom spaces. I myself fell victim to their appeal too. (Sorry, Jhonen. 😅)

I'm not gonna go into any discourse surrounding this pairing because there's already PLENTY of that to go around online. Everyone has their own opinion on the subject, and that's fine. I respect that. Point is, even though I understand and appreciate what Zim and Dib are supposed to be in the context of the show, I also enjoy the idea of them as friends and romantic partners outside of and beyond the confines of canon.

And that's something that I think many fans who are biased toward ZaDr would also agree with! Actually, I'd say the majority of people who ship characters in ANY media would concur. We like the idea of seeing how specific relationships could develop over time and/or within different settings and circumstances. It's NOT always about wanting to see a relationship unfold on screen or in fan works strictly adhering to canon. It's about stretching canon, or in some cases, scratching canon entirely however you see fit! Who cares! It's fiction!

For me personally, I enjoy ZaDr because its attributes fall into so many trope categories that I've come to adore over the years (ones that I either wasn't aware of when I was younger, or that I didn't enjoy in the same intensity as I do now). Zim and Dib are, or could be, depending on context:

Codependent toxic soulmates

Human/non-human

Shared history

Classic enemies to lovers (or, as I often prefer it, enemies to friends to lovers)

Bicker couple

Battle couple, when put in the right setting for it

Violence as a love language

Smol and tol

The wild card paired with the rational one, the best part about this being that sometimes the more rational one is Dib, and sometimes it's Zim bc they're both a special flavor of insane

Make each other worse/stupider when together, tho oddly, they also kinda bring out the best in each other too

And, my personal favorites, the potential for hurt/comfort and angst with a happy ending, with the comfort and happiness aspects ultimately coming from each other

I like what these characters could be, to and for each other, apart from their roles in the show.

I would never want to explore a dynamic between Zim and Dib that goes beyond "frenemies" territory in canon (because that doesn't fit what the show is, and I do appreciate the integrity of Jhonen's vision). The subtle foundation for them is there, it's just that it can't really work unless a few key details are changed or manipulated, and, well...

I sure as hell like exploring every bit of that expanded potential in fan works because it's fun to imagine the various directions things could go if they were different!

This isn't me, like... trying to defend my (or anyone else's) enjoyment of this particular ship or trying to convince people to like it. Or the show for that matter! To each their own, truly. And I'm obv aware of the controversy ZaDr often incites and why. Everyone has valid reasons for liking OR not liking it, and I accept differing viewpoints on it. It's a touchy, nuanced subject to be sure. But this isn't about that.

I don't really know what this is, actually, aside from a very long very weird essay, lol. I just wanted to process why and how all of this works for me with my changed perspective from when I was first introduced to Invader Zim in my teens up until now.

It's strange, looking back. I didn't get ZaDr years ago. But I do now, and so much of it, at least from my perspective, has to do with taking the crumbs present in canon (that are undeniably there, whether you choose to acknowledge them or not, and whether they're intentional or not) and absolutely running with them to the ends of your own wild imagination.

[legendary-alliance-stance]

so I’ve doodled my HC designs of viktor/archemorus a couple times now and while I kinda wanna show them off, I’m also really really self-conscious about sharing the designs ;;

i think the main issue is like. there’s no one else out there making content for them so afaik I’d be the first one to put out drawn content and designs and that’s. super spooky!!

[acoraxia]

How do you view Erlang, SWK, NuWa and MK?

SO GLAD YOU ASKED ANON! I HAVE. N O T E S.

Firstly: I do not view Nüwa as someone who is motherly in the same way other people (seemingly) do. I do think, because she created humans and has spent time with them, she has a distinct personality. She’s approachable but she’s also got a cold and closed off personality.

Secondly: I think back on how she cursed a king because he lusted after a statue of her and claimed he wanted to marry her—pissed her off so badly he sent three fem-spirits to keep him from performing his kingly duties.

So she is not a good motherly figure—even if she sometimes acts a little goofy. She’s also the Jade Emperor’s daughter in Investiture of the Gods and thus I kept her as such (meaning she’s Erlang’s cousin).

(Below is my design of Nüwa; to me, the more powerful gods/celestials have no pupils and only appear when displaying heavy emotions)

I read of the myth where a piece of sky fell when she was patching it and that rock that formed was Sun Wukong; I loved that myth so much I kept it for my interpretation of LMK Sun Wukong. He wasn’t meant to be born, he just sort of happened, and she made no effort to keep an eye on him.

Much like Nüwa, Erlang is different during the FSYY Era, he’s devoted to Heaven and fights alongside them even killing one of the evil spirits Nüwa sent down in a fight.

But eventually, after witnessing Su Daji’s execution, he realizes he, just like many other soldiers, were merely pawns in Heaven’s game. He moves away, to the mountains, with his sworn brothers and no longer obeys by Heaven’s rules so easily. He only visits when summoned by the Jade Emperor himself,

Cue our favorite monkey being thrown into the mix.

Sun Wukong met Erlang Shen shortly after becoming Bimawen. But the two officially met when he was the guardian of the peaches—so before the whole banquet situation happened. Sun Wukong, being wildly unaware of Nüwa’s play into his creation, is essentially a good parallel to how Erlang was: he believes Heaven is looking out for him, respecting him as if he were one of their own, and happily listens to them when they beckon or call for him (blissfully unaware that Azure Lion has been lying to him and that Heaven is genuinely scared of how much power he possesses).

Eventually, after Sun Wukong gets triple shot traumatized by Heaven, realizing Azure Lion groomed him to be this usable pawn for his own fantasy game, and he got Journey’d by a random monk—he and Erlang had a heart-to-heart after defeating a demon (king?) together. They both realized how messed up their lives were after touching upon how cruel and unusual Heaven’s punishments are (how they both have high expectations from the mentors in their lives)

And bam! Sworn brotherhood formed! (Swk is the little brother Erlang never wanted <3 and the little sister he misses <3)

Eventually, after Wukong meets Xiaotian—he connects the dots so quickly as to why this magic monkey-kid can replicate all his abilities, magic, tricks, and even withstand training with him for months without breaking much of a sweat,

Because baby boy was also crafted by the human-creating Goddess of Marriage.

He is disturbed by this.

He did not want a little clone.

Ultimately: the four of them have CENTURIES worth of trauma and influence on each other (You cannot escape the “heaven is cool” -> “fuck heaven i’m making my own rules” -> “i have 500 years of trauma in my bones” pipeline)

What a weird family <3

[mirai-e-jump]

Hero Vision Vol.14 (2004/Spring) ft. Kamen Rider Blade Cast Interviews Ryoji Moromoto x Makoto Ito (Suit Actor) Segment (translation below)

Publication: May 20, 2004 (between episodes 17-18) Ryoji Moromoto (Hajime Aikawa) x Makoto Ito (Chalice Suit Actor)

"When did you two first meet?"

Ito: When? (laughs)

Moromoto: When we first met? I'm pretty sure it was before filming started. My first impression of Ito-san was that he was, "A kind big bro."

Ito: He made me think, "This year's also going to turn out cool" (laughs).

Moromoto: We talked alot about Chalice back then. You said, "Chalice has existed for 10,000 years, so I want to show you 10,000 years worth of my career." What were some of the other things you said again?

Ito:……not much, I really don't remember (laughs).

Moromoto: Ahaha! One thing we have in common, is that we have similar bikes, don't we? We've talked about how we want to go (motorcycle) touring together after the show ends. I ride a Yamaha SR400 and, ah...I'm sorry……(Note: The bikes used in Kamen Rider are provided by Honda)

Ito:…Sorry, but I'm also a WR250F (Yamaha) rider~, but before that, it's always been a Honda! I'd love to see Moromoto-kun's rumored SR. I've heard that they're loud and rather slow……

Moromoto: That's right! I actually modified it too much, and now it can only go about 80kph (50mph) (laughs). Right now, I'm too busy to work on it. I feel like my love for it is fading~!

"What were your first impressions of Chalice?"

Moromoto: I received a call from my agency, saying I passed the audition with, "You're Heart." "Eh?! You mean Momorenger?!," I was so surprised and alittle bit intimidated (laughs), but when I saw the design in person, it was cool and I liked it alot because it was something I had never seen before.

Ito: When I was first told about it, I jokingly thought, "Heart……(sinking in)…ah, alright then, I'll just act like a gay guy……" But, after seeing the design, I was relieved and thought about what kind of pose would suit this Rider. My first thought when I read his setup, was that it would be nice to have something wild and different from the other Riders. Compared to G3-X in "Kamen Rider Agito" and Knight in "Kamen Rider Ryuki," this is the wildest work I've ever done. Even with Kaixa in "Kamen Rider 555," I tried to keep martial arts like movements in mind, and to avoid any unnecessary movements. But with Chalice, there's just so many unnecessary movements…(laughs).

Moromoto: That's why I also tried to make the movements bigger in that fight scene (episode 9).

"Morimoto-san, "Hajime Aikawa is not a normal human being," what do you pay attention to when playing such a role?"

Moromoto: When my heart is closer to the human side, it's not so different, but when it's closer to Chalice's side, I try not to blink as much as possible, and when I talk to people, I try to give subtle pauses in my responses. It's almost like a foreigner hearing Japanese and interpreting it in their head before replying. In general, when I'm on Chalice's side, I don't think with my mind, but instead, try to act with my feelings

"Do you have any techniques for the dubbing process?"

Moromoto: I have a high pitched voice, so it can be difficult for me to make Chalice sound intimidating or violent. That's why I'm trying to lower the tone of my voice. I also did research by studying "monsters" such as the Hulk, Akuma from "Street Fighter II" and King Piccolo from "Dragon Ball Z." One time I even played the videos, and would try to voice the characters myself with the sound off, but there was still something wrong. What could it be…I don't know what Chalice's true form is yet, so my image may not be perfect. (Note: The actors have not been told where the story is going at this time.)

Ito: When it's my turn to "Henshin!," I'm trying to decide if it's better to change or to fight and further develop myself. Essentially, Chalice is supposed to be used to fighting, so I want to keep my methods in check. I'm so focused that I feel like I can see my opponent's movements, even when they've stopped. However, the tension is still high.

Moromoto: The way I say "Transformation" is different depending on if I'm fighting to protect Amane-chan or with my natural emotions. For Amane-chan, it's, "Henshin!" but naturally it's, "…Henshin" (lower tone).

"Did you face any challenges during filming?"

Ito: I'm not good when it comes to cold weather, so I almost cried during the snowy mountain shoot.

Moromoto: It was -15C (5F)! And when the sun went down, they brought out one of those giant fans! It kept spraying us with cold water! Man, I remember my face being scrunched up with anger (laughs).

Ito: When I did a test shot without the mask on, my hair ended up freezing. It wouldn't even melt when I put my head over the space heater, so I just had to keep it as is.

Moromoto: There was also the scene where Amane-chan's father gives Hajime the photo, with it being so cold I thought, "This guy, is he really going to die?!"

Ito: I'm bad with Winter, but I'm also bad with Summer too. When I wear a suit, my body temperature rises and my face turns bright red. My heart starts to race too and I think, "Ah, my life is getting shorter…"

Moromoto: It's good for Chalice though, isn't it? Blood rushing, a fast pulse, it's like an unleashing of the instincts.

Ito: But, when I get like that, I become quiet. In the Summer, Chalice becomes more like a domesticated cat (laughs).

Moromoto: Please keep doing your best~, I'm also prepared to risk my life for this role!

Ito: I also want to play the role of a Rider who will continue to remain in everyone's heart. Personally, it's frustrating to often hear people say, "Chalice looks like Gills (Agito)" (laughs), regardless, please continue to watch us in the future. We're going to give it our all!

[justenjoythegossip]

The polarization of the fandom and the impossible closure: a few thoughts

Did Chris and Abba spend the holidays together?

There was some controversy this week-end about what a mod wrote about a TikTok vid posted by Dustbin showing that Abba spent the holidays in Portugal. Dustbin then took out this vid very quickly after realizing his mistake. 

I won’t name this mod, not because I don’t trust them (I do trust them) but because they have been harassed and attacked enough as it is. I do find puzzling that people (anon and other mods) were so interested and aggressive in their asks, as if that piece of information would change how they view this shitshow. 

No thanksgiving together and yet…

People know for an absolute fact that Chris and Abba didn’t spend Thanksgiving together thanks to the GQ event in Portugal and yet it did nothing to change anybody’s mind. People who think they are exclusively pr were obviously not very surprised. And people who think they are a legitimate couple with a PR spin didn’t suddenly start believing Chris and Abba were exclusively PR. And why would they? It is true that some real legitimate couples sometimes spend the holidays apart. And for all sorts of reasons. One of their family members might be sick. Or you might need to flash a ring at an event in your home country from a brand that sponsor your “RS” so that a trillion articles can be written about it… (Sidenote: contrary to what happened with that horrific cringy Valentine’s story, we can appreciate that the publications published those articles after the event happened and not before…)

So again, the information that Chris and Abba didn’t spend Christmas or New Year’s Eve together is unlikely to change anybody’s mind. But isn’t it the point?

The polarization of the fandom 

From the start of this shitshow, people have been fed so many breadcrumbs (follows and likes and emojis for ex) that were designed to have people speculate and invent an entire narrative about this “RS”. And since then, their teams have continued with the same strategy, the purposefully badly manufactured PR has enabled them to feed both “team real” and “team PR”. Can we just take a moment to look at the terminology used to describe the two opposing rival camps? The polarization of this fandom is both obvious and has been quite useful in keeping people engaged. And just like in politics, the tactics of divide and conquer were used over and over to keep people’s interest alive and to distract from the truth. Each event, each photo, each whatever were dissected by the fandom and could be interpreted in different ways to feed whatever narrative they chose to believe. 

The closure his fandom is looking for… 

One thing is certain, the truth is absolute and it’s out of our reach as we can only catch a glimpse of what is being fed to us. Some of Chris’ friends have made their profiles public long enough to leak a pic before returning to being private again, some material (pics, videos) were badly altered on purpose, we were shown the terrible behind the scenes of their first papwalk… Breadcrumbs, so many of them for us to try to put the puzzle back together. At this point, not much will have anybody change their opinion on the matter.  But more importantly, people are unlikely to get the closure they need. Even when they officially break up, people won’t hear from any of them that it was just a show. And a catastrophic one it was.

[chucklesbuckles]

Tim drake could be so interesting, something more than “shows up 15 minutes late with a venti espresso & designer eye bags to solve a problem that the entire bat team was stumped on” in fanons case, or “the only Robin who was worth a damn, the only teammate who was ever close to Bruce’s level” in canons case.

He was like, what? 13 when he forced Batman to take him on as robin? 13 or 14 when he belittled and put down a dead kid? 14 ish when he belittled and talked down to Steph? 17 when he fought a 10 year old and put him on a hit list?

Tim was an upper middle class to wealthy white kid. He didn’t know shit about shit. Being exposed to the wider world as Robin, and by being on teams with people from different strata’s of life could have opened his eyes to experiences different from what he grew up with and helped him to realize that he doesn’t know shit and isn’t better than others.

Teenagers are stupid and self centered, and Tim realizing that, that the things he said and did were rude and mean (in Steph’s case) or downright cruel (in Jason and Damian’s case) could be really interesting.

But fanons stuck in a “Poor tim! Little baby Tim! He’s so meek and timid!” Like this mother fucker didn’t tell Jason that he is the better Robin during a brutal beat down. And DC’s stuck in “Tim’s the best of us all! And still Robin! And will one day be Batman!” Like this mother fucker doesn’t turn into an authoritarian dictator with that mantle in the future.

I don’t like to yuck other fans yums, and I get that Tim’s Robin is a self insert Robin, but I really will rip out my eyes if I see anything even approaching ‘Dick wanted to throw Tim in Arkham’. Dick told Tim to consider therapy, for fucks sake. Or, ‘Tim could have withstood getting beaten by the Joker’. Could Tim have withstood the bomb? The bomb that killed Jason? Tim’s got special bomb proof skin and organs and bones? I didn’t even read the Damian one. What would be the point? I don’t like seeing many interpretations of that run of Batman comics on tumblr since most Tim stans just butcher Damian and blame a kid raised in a cult who was being iced out by his father for acting out. Like, Damian was a kid. A kid kid, not a teenager close to being a legal adult.

I am just tired. I want to like Tim, I want to like the canon bisexual Bat! but by god it’s hard when other characters around him are flattened to make him seem more capable, or villainized to better baby him.

Just. Read a comic. Enjoy what you enjoy, but just read a comic.

(Side note: Cass should be Batman. Dick’s the best of them all, save maybe Superman. Every Robin was great, and did an amazing job. And Damian’s still a fucking kid and deserves better.)

[snobgoblin]

so here's what I thought Russel's friends might look like I'm gonna put the explanation under the readmore bc im gonna go on for a bit.... also before u say anything I KNOW Russel's eyes are white but they actually didn't turn white until after he got posessed by his friends

ok so what inspired this is MOSTLY these specific verses in the Phi Life Cipher version of Clint Eastwood- sang from Del's pov

so we can assume, from this, two things about the appearence of the rest of Russels friends. 1) at least one of them has braces. and 2) they're all different races

so OK next point. that's all we know about them.... and that's not really a lot to go off of, from a design perspective. so! I know Del likes baseball, and assumed the rest might be sporty as well, so I assigned them with different sports so I'd have a way to pose them....... the last girl doesn't have a sport she's just kinda The Cool Girl (doesn't know many sports and couldn't think of one) also I tried to make them all have a bit of sporty/grungy fashion bc that's always nice

ANYWAY the reason I chose those specific appearances- we know Russel picks up skills from his friend ghosts- at least he does with Del. we know his drum skills were amplified by Del's inclusion in his body- and we also know Del can understand Japanese in Jump The Gut, and guess what, Russel can sometimes understand Noodle in early phases despite her needing an interpreter with most people. I believe him knowing how to understand Japanese comes from Del... so it's reasonable to say, some of his other traits could come from his friends, also. now, I've heard people say Russel is Muslim so I just included someone who is Muslim, and according to my partner some of the ways Russel cooks are actually common with Mexican people, so I had a Mexican guy, and I really couldn't think of anything else I could pull from Russel so I added an Indigenous American bc there never seem to be that many characters that are

anyway also the reason there are five is because I asked my friends how many there should he and @/euos-the-cat said there should be five total including Del so they can all easily fit in a car together and I thought that was cute (he also suggested color coding them like a little rainbow!)

I think that's everything I wanted 2 say... also I'm stupid as fuck u guys so if I did something that's like Against The Rules and I'm not aware (like I used reference pictures for the Muslim girl but I'm still not sure what pieces of clothing she's really allowed to wear you know) so if you notice something that's just Wrong let me know... also yeah I know Muslim isn't a race don't worry

[chipsncookies]

Have you ever thought of making an Explorer oc or explorersona?

Ok so this is not really my oc or sona, he exists in the show (but I'm sure he's actually different than what i designed so i think this counts as oc..?) recently i made a fan design for gibeon!!

Yes you can tell based on his hair i headcanon he's amethio's father lol.*

I think as a leader, Gibeon is, well he always seem cold and calculating, and he and Amethio are related to Lucius' friends** so he wants his son to continue whatever his/Explorers goal is (assert his right as descendants of Lucius' friends? Money? Power?) meanwhile as a father maybe he cares for Amethio but he's too caught up in his own ambitions that he forgets/doesn't realise his expectations for Amethio is putting pressure on him.

I headcanon he distances himself from Amethio in an effort to not coddle him, because he wants Amethio to grow on his own + not want to show favoritism among the Explorers members***, but he makes sure Hamber reports to him about the boy (we see Amethio communicates with him a lot). Even though Gibeon is not harsh with Amethio - removing him from the mission but did not scold or berate him like i expect a villain team leader would do - Amethio still feels the need to measure up to him. Which is made worse because he's in his emo teenage years (just look at him in the new op)

He doesn't have a good role model, he doesn't have people to confide to (well actually he has Zir and Conia but he doesn't talk to them about his feelings) and the rest of the Explorers are not really friendly with him either so he's kinda stuck, he feels he had no choice but to do things on his own.

I like to think that their family ties will be tested one day, with Amethio questioning if he's really worth to be a successor for Gibeon. Since episode 1 fans have noticed the different dynamics between amethio-explorers and liko-rvt, the former is cold and formal(?) meanwhile the latter is more organic and found-family like, therefore many people speculated amethio will join rvt and find that they treat him better (im in this camp and i want him to sing the pokerap)

*This is mainly based on my interpretation of Amethio's behaviour, how he really wants to get the pendant no matter what, it could be caused by him wanting to gain approval from his father. And during the first Explorers meeting, Amethio was physically present, suggesting he was near their headquarters compared to the others who joined virtually - suggesting closer ties? He's also not afraid of breaking rules by continuing to pursue the pendant even when gibeon officially removes him from the mission and he's not punished for it, compared to how Hamber (the butler) is more strict with Sango and Onyx.

***Also Amethio has his own personal grunts and a submarine meanwhile other members don't really have those (spinel only has a van lol).

**Hamber pretty much confirmed that Explorers have ties with Lucius (they were his friend), and Terapagos had a strong reaction to Amethio specifically??

This turned out really long im so sorry anon I'm obsessed about Explorers especially Amethio but thanks for asking!! 💖💖 I'm pretty sure a lot of these will turn out wrong but it's fun to speculate lolol

[spacedadkronos]

Ooo, lol, looks like someone got their knickers twisted so hard they wrote a whole essay about how they're categorically correct about an ultimately subjective matter. That's always a winning approach.

Please do not try to "educate" me the difference between writers and executive producers in animation. I have an animation degree. I'm not a child.

 I follow both Brent and Alan on Twitter and have been for like 3 years now. I have been watching their updates since the announcement of the show 2 years ago. I have pics of them celebrating finishing up the writing. Here's proof that they wrote it, including screenshots of the IMDb Brent had linked on his Twitter. 

I said this is not what they consider THE sequel. Obviously it is *a* sequel. I'm saying people should not be treating it like Megamind 2 when it is a pilot for the TV show. They want a real theatrical sequel.

This is a random screenshot I felt was important

I think this person better put what I meant about not as many people would care this much if it wasn't on streaming:

Megamind was an arrogant little egomaniac for the entirety of the first movie. Not sure how you missed that. Roxanne appears dissatisfied with her place in life from her recording at the Metro Man Museum with Hal onward, and does her level best to become the hero her city needs because no one else is going to stand up and do it - not sure how you missed that, either, but her whole character arc is about stepping up to the plate to do good. Well done reducing her to a single career point and then discarding her. I wasn't surprised to see her frustrations with going right back to reporting. That was a headspace that made a ton of sense for her. It was set up incredibly well.

And Megamind himself says, "some days, it felt like it was just me and Minion against the world," so you might think I agree with you there - but in fact I'm going to point out the SOME days, it FELT LIKE. There is no reason to believe that he never had any other professional associates between the time he left the schoolhouse and the time we see him as an established supervillain. In fact, I can and will argue that there's room to interpret *he himself* saying he wasn't always flying solo. It's up to interpretation - but it's there.

And no, Roxanne and Megamind are not and should not be "quasi-dating" unless you want to look past the enormous Bernard lie. Which I can't say I'm surprised you did, since Roxanne doesn't matter as anything other than Reporter Romantic Interest, apparently. The end of the original implies they have *potential.*

But I'm not trying to convince you. At the end of the day, you didn't enjoy something you hoped to enjoy. You missed a few key points about the original, so the pilot of the show didn't line up with some of your expectations and it pissed you off. That's a shame. But instead of offering some grace and recognizing it for what it is - a movie designed for a younger demographic than the original, the first ounce of love Dreamworks has shown this IP since its initial release more than a decade ago, and as much story as could be crammed into 83 minutes because the people making it only had so much time within which to work, which is *honestly a fun ride* if somewhat tonally dissonant compared to what YOU were hoping for - you've decided instead to focus on what it wasn't: What You Personally Wanted. And you've decided to make your disappointment everyone else's problem instead of processing it like an adult and moving on.

I think you're boring, I think you're unkind, I think you're a whiny little bully who came onto MY POST to bitch and complain about how you're the god of what I'M allowed to enjoy. Block me, if I make you so miserable. I'm busy having fun.

[macleod]

The importance of stupidity in scientific research

I recently saw an old friend for the first time in many years. We had been Ph.D. students at the same time, both studying science, although in different areas. She later dropped out of graduate school, went to Harvard Law School and is now a senior lawyer for a major environmental organization. At some point, the conversation turned to why she had left graduate school. To my utter astonishment, she said it was because it made her feel stupid. After a couple of years of feeling stupid every day, she was ready to do something else.

I had thought of her as one of the brightest people I knew and her subsequent career supports that view. What she said bothered me. I kept thinking about it; sometime the next day, it hit me. Science makes me feel stupid too. It's just that I've gotten used to it. So used to it, in fact, that I actively seek out new opportunities to feel stupid. I wouldn't know what to do without that feeling. I even think it's supposed to be this way. Let me explain.

For almost all of us, one of the reasons that we liked science in high school and college is that we were good at it. That can't be the only reason – fascination with understanding the physical world and an emotional need to discover new things has to enter into it too. But high-school and college science means taking courses, and doing well in courses means getting the right answers on tests. If you know those answers, you do well and get to feel smart.

A Ph.D., in which you have to do a research project, is a whole different thing. For me, it was a daunting task. How could I possibly frame the questions that would lead to significant discoveries; design and interpret an experiment so that the conclusions were absolutely convincing; foresee difficulties and see ways around them, or, failing that, solve them when they occurred? My Ph.D. project was somewhat interdisciplinary and, for a while, whenever I ran into a problem, I pestered the faculty in my department who were experts in the various disciplines that I needed. I remember the day when Henry Taube (who won the Nobel Prize two years later) told me he didn't know how to solve the problem I was having in his area. I was a third-year graduate student and I figured that Taube knew about 1000 times more than I did (conservative estimate). If he didn't have the answer, nobody did.

That's when it hit me: nobody did. That's why it was a research problem. And being my research problem, it was up to me to solve. Once I faced that fact, I solved the problem in a couple of days. (It wasn't really very hard; I just had to try a few things.) The crucial lesson was that the scope of things I didn't know wasn't merely vast; it was, for all practical purposes, infinite. That realization, instead of being discouraging, was liberating. If our ignorance is infinite, the only possible course of action is to muddle through as best we can.

I'd like to suggest that our Ph.D. programs often do students a disservice in two ways. First, I don't think students are made to understand how hard it is to do research. And how very, very hard it is to do important research. It's a lot harder than taking even very demanding courses. What makes it difficult is that research is immersion in the unknown. We just don't know what we're doing. We can't be sure whether we're asking the right question or doing the right experiment until we get the answer or the result. Admittedly, science is made harder by competition for grants and space in top journals. But apart from all of that, doing significant research is intrinsically hard and changing departmental, institutional or national policies will not succeed in lessening its intrinsic difficulty.

Second, we don't do a good enough job of teaching our students how to be productively stupid – that is, if we don't feel stupid it means we're not really trying. I'm not talking about `relative stupidity', in which the other students in the class actually read the material, think about it and ace the exam, whereas you don't. I'm also not talking about bright people who might be working in areas that don't match their talents. Science involves confronting our `absolute stupidity'. That kind of stupidity is an existential fact, inherent in our efforts to push our way into the unknown. Preliminary and thesis exams have the right idea when the faculty committee pushes until the student starts getting the answers wrong or gives up and says, `I don't know'. The point of the exam isn't to see if the student gets all the answers right. If they do, it's the faculty who failed the exam. The point is to identify the student's weaknesses, partly to see where they need to invest some effort and partly to see whether the student's knowledge fails at a sufficiently high level that they are ready to take on a research project.

Productive stupidity means being ignorant by choice. Focusing on important questions puts us in the awkward position of being ignorant. One of the beautiful things about science is that it allows us to bumble along, getting it wrong time after time, and feel perfectly fine as long as we learn something each time. No doubt, this can be difficult for students who are accustomed to getting the answers right. No doubt, reasonable levels of confidence and emotional resilience help, but I think scientific education might do more to ease what is a very big transition: from learning what other people once discovered to making your own discoveries. The more comfortable we become with being stupid, the deeper we will wade into the unknown and the more likely we are to make big discoveries.

[cookii-moon]

I think post DOTD Cole still deserves to be at least a tiny bit affected by his time as a ghost yk

Explanations!!

Ngl the fact that Cole literally defied life and death and we never talk about it makes me sad like cmon it’s so interesting we give Lloyd Oni dragon features and Nya water features but we NEVER talk about when Cole literally transcended the barrier of ACTUAL DEATH. He should get more than a scar that vanishes afterwards and some cool powers SO IM GIVING HIM IT because this fandom has a criminal lack of ghost Cole content

So yeah here’s my explanations for each thingy plus my headcanons slash fanon

You can find the exact lines and contents in the ID if you can’t read my messy handwriting or tell what my messy sketches are supposed to be dndfjhgfdhgi know I know it’s very bad anyways

first one is self explanatory, Kai’s worried about Cole because the guy was dead and came back to life, Cole denies it (no it’s not ship but idm if ur a lavashipper and want it to be ship you can tag it if you wanna) because he’s Cole ofc he’s gonna deny it he’s an idiot. Meanwhile we go on to list alll the ways it’s most definitely 100% affecting him.

first one. the Cole vision. BASICALLY I follow the theory ghosts have different eyes, and when designing those eye, I take inspiration from lizard eyes. A lot of lizards, particularly nocturnal ones, not only have good night vision but can also see many more colors than humans, so I applied that to ghost eyes as well, essentially sight is one of their few senses that aren’t muted. They have night vision and can also see a much broader spectrum of color than humans can.

Since Cole has his scar on the left side, he also gets a ghost eye on the left side, which still has all the advantages he did as a ghost. On the other hand, his right eye is back to usual, meaning it doesn’t get those advantages and he’s still red/green colorblind in it. That means his left and right vision is pretty different now, which takes quite a lot of getting used to. Obviously this would be easier to show with a colored thing but it was. Hard to color for obvious reasons (you can’t demonstrate someone being able to see more colors than humans because we will always interpret it as a color we can see due to how we filter it) the ghost eye stays his entire life and there’s not really anything he can do about it.

Onto the arm - the markings are essentially burn marks / scars from his lava arms, and his nails are claws. I see ghosts as getting less and less human as time goes on because they forget who they were and what they looked like, therefore being incapable of mimicking a human form. Because Cole was around the ninja he never got far, but he did end up with some intrinsic ghost traits that carried over, like the claws. He has tried cutting them but it basically requires a massive claw clipper and even then they grow back very quickly and you can still see that they’re claws, they’re just less obnoxiously sharp. He usually opts to hide them with gloves a lot of the time. The claws are also permanent, but he can regularly trim them to be less obvious and also less annoying and more manageable.

The one where he’s scared of water is. Self explanatory. Obviously he has a big fear of water after coming back from the dead. Even just a few drops can send him into a panic attack. It gets better eventually with exposure therapy, though it may still cause him to be anxious around it at times.

most people have already done the “Cole runs into doors and walls after coming back from being a ghost lol” but like. It makes sense. So.

Right. Onto the ANGSTTTT.

“Everything is too much” refers to his sensory issues. Now obviously Cole is autistic /lh so he’s always had some sensory issues, but oh boy. Getting the ability to feel literally everything instantly after so long of not having it whatsoever?? Yikes. Pretty much everything is obnoxiously and incredibly overwhelming to him. it goes back to the usual after a lot of help from his family, though! :)

“But also”. Aka the image of him looking out at the stars. Lot more vague. Interpret it as you wish. There’s a few intended meanings to it but go ahead and figure them out for yourself. I will say that going with the idea that it’s dissociation related, he has a tendency to dissociate a lot after coming back (which is strange since he used to be pretty grounded). It never really goes away.

”Too little” ok so this one DEFINITELY needs explanation. I talked about how he’s overwhelmed. Well. Sometimes he’ll have bouts where it’s the exact opposite. He’ll suddenly feel a cold chill followed by a spreading numbness. Sometimes it’s just his hand, or his arm, other times it’s his entire body. It’s basically a psychological thing, sort of like phantom limbs except instead of a feeling where there is an absence, it’s more of an absence where there should be a feeling. Of course it’s absolutely terrifying for him, but the others eventually learn how to help ground him when it happens. Over time It gets less frequent but it doesn’t go away.

Anyways yeah that’s all I just. Think there should not only be more ghost Cole content but also. More post ghost Cole. He’s gotta be impacted SOMEHOW. Right.

Anyways yeah this is that so like

[katiekatdragon27]

I'm so normal about the teensies.

I'm so normal about the teensies that I made a pre-Rayman origin story for the teensies. The teensies built the world lol, idc how inaccurate it is to the lore lol.

It's my interpretation, I get to decide the lore!

(THING TO NOTE: All of their designs are based on already existing teensies, whether it be canon or concept doesn't matter. If you can accurately figure out which teensies inspired who, I will give you a gold star🌟)

General plot synopsis: Polokus made the world. The fairies were also made; however, they were not "sentient" beings yet. All their births were from teeny terraforming of the land but that'll be explained in a later post. Anyways, the teensies were created not only to make sick beats with their noses, but to give the world guides and watchful keepers of order. Once every creature was created, Polokus took his leave, leaving all his "kids" to figure everything out. As one could imagine, that caused a lot of fighting over who's in charge. One teensy in particular knew in his heart he was built to lead. However, due to his short stature and insistence for violence, many did not even lend a passing glance.

When Polokus had a bad dream and a certain first nightmare invades the Glade, death in introduced into the world and no one knows how to deal with it. In a test of leadership and strength. This one teensy beat the odds, uniting every clan of teeny around, recruiting their most powerful fighters, and taking down the nightmare, restoring peace to the Glade.

Despite the win, there were still many rabid creatures running around, so in an attempt to establish order permanently, they "built" the Snoring Tree, the most middle part of the world where every teensy leader (and other creatures if needed) could come to discuss diplomacy and general plans of action (a knights of the round table kind of thing). It is where the Hall of Doors is located along with a direct link to the Livid Dead, which was established just a few years earlier. (After the Snoring Tree was made, that's when the fairies were "born" with Betilla being the first.)

However, his establishment of peace fell on it's face almost immediately due to teensy nature being lowkey selfish lol. The first "generation" of teensies was very good at this "guide and order keeper" job, but as each generation passed, more and more of the teensies' diplomatic mindset was pushed to the wayside in favor of a superiority complex. And when Betilla made Rayman as a protector of the Glade, many teensies lost interest in fighting themselves, leaving them very susceptible to attacks. That's why every creature ever is adamant in sticking these guys in cages. Cuz they're lowkey assholes who can't fight lol.

There are gonna be 10 important people to the plot, but I only got five finished right now. Their bios are below the cut:

_________

Aurthr the Grand Minimus (Fighter):

Aurthr is actually the First King in his prime. He was the first teensy made by Polokus, although he is not the "oldest" (like imagine a creator making ocs of different age ranges but they were all made at the same time). By default, he feels an entitlement to the first throne position in his kingdom, but before he is deemed "king", he has to go though a trial. That trial is ... defeating Jano! Yes, these are gonna be the group of teensies that defeat Jano and create the Livid Dead lol. But in order to do that, he needs to learn to be a leader. Along the way, he also learns that to be a grand leader, he needs to value solutions through diplomacy over violence (something that is lost in later generations *cough cough*).

Orion the Adventurous Ranger:

Orion is Aurthr's childhood best friend who comes from outside the castle walls. Being a Murkin (a clan of teensies that has since disappeared), he is very good at going undetected and just navigating the world outside of civilization in general. Despite his soft-spoken nature and cowardness, he really wants to make a difference for the better in teensy society, and it may just come around by teaching Aurthr to listen first before attacking (along with how to be an amazing Kungfoot player).

And yeah, he has ears. Ears are a recessive gene, but the Murkin were the clan that had that trait the most. (They usually get cropped if they're too big to hide in their hats.)

Sapphie the Beautiful Bard:

Sapphie is a teensy who's primary magic use is of the darker arts (hence her ability to go natural hair). Before being Aurthr's first recruit, she spent most of her days traveling about and doing small thieving jobs. She was a well-know musician, and she performed for money a lot. However, what she loves more than money is adventure. She immediately jumps onboard to Aurthr's crew, leading as healer until a different teensy joins the group later on and giving her the chance to fight. She teaches Aurthr about strength in presentation (and how to play his nose like a musical interment).

Umber the Undead Warlock:

Umber is one of the two mages that Aurthr sought out to help fight Jano. They are the Griskin Chief and trying their best to keep their people safe. This dedication to their people's safety led to a deal with a slumbering spirit, giving up their voice in exchange for power and sanctuary near his den. While constantly struggling to keep their clan quiet, they have been trying to manage the sudden influx in stressed out and scared ghosts showing up and causing a ruckus. Stressed and overwhelmed, it takes more than just some talking to convince them to go with Aurthr. But after helping with some big tasks and beating them in a game of Kungfoot, they decide to assist, and put a stop to whatever is killing everyone from above the bog.

Soria the Stunning Sorceress:

Soria is one of the two mages that Aurthr sought out to help fight Jano. Being part of the Sylkin sorcerers, she was the main protecter of Polokus's resting place high in the mountains. She is incredibly strong for a teensy in terms of magic, making her quite the formidable fighter. However, she would much rather sing and dance, and overall just have fun being alive than perform combat. She decides to help defeat Jano after being bested in music fight with Aurthr and having her eyes open to the destruction occurring down below.

She also has ears. They are long, but since her hat is also long there was no need to crop them.

__________

There are five more characters that will be posted later, but these are the important ones at the beginning of the story. I have a lot of this world thought out with a very solid plotline, so if y'all got any questions, I would be more than happy to answer them. Thank you for your reading all this and have a lovely day ^^

[ae-azile]

3. 8. and 22.

(for ask game)

3. Screenshot or description of the worst take you have seen on Tumblr: 

There have been many bad takes on Tumblr (and on social media in general). But I suppose when it comes to this show, it's any time I see someone express their views on a character in a manner that obviously puts other fans’ analyses down. Like, it isn’t the fact they view a character differently. It's the fact that they feel the need to belittle a different interpretation to make their point. If you need that, is it a great take? 

I won't get into specifics, because the few I have seen this from do actually have interesting takes. It's just the way they feel the need to write them passive aggressively. This seems to mainly happen with Kim meta, but I occasionally see it with Vegas meta too. 

8. Common fandom opinion everyone is wrong about: 

Bahaha, I wrote myself into a corner with the response to question 3! 😂 I guess I am going to go with Korn and Gun. Both are viewed with a lot of hate, and rightfully so. But I also think they are products of their environment and have a lot of layers to them. And overall - at least from what we have witnessed solely in the show - I feel like Gun is more redeemable than Korn, despite Korn being a better father. Can't forgive him for what he did to Namphueng, Pat, Porsche, and Chay. He literally destroyed a family. I think Gun being under the impression they were all dead, losing the mother of his children, and likely being abused himself was what made him abusive. While I have no doubts Korn also carries a lot of trauma that plays into who he became, I also feel like his worst actions can't be viewed with any compassion like Gun's potentially could. Don't get me wrong, perpetuating the abuse cycle is NOT okay or excusable. But unfortunately, it can potentially be a reality that abuse victims who don't have help, resources, or healthy outlets end up re-enacting. There is an explanation for his worst crimes. There is no explanation for Korn's, nor will he ever offer a truthful one.

22. My favorite part of canon everyone else ignores: 

I don't know if everyone ignores it, but I love that Arm is working multiple guard positions? Boy does surveillance, builds and distributes weapons, designs high tech spy gear, and goes on missions with Kinn (which is sort of dumb in hindsight because he is one of the main people holding that compound together). On top of that, he was the first one to tend to Big when he was shot, implying he has some medic or strong first aid knowledge, led the clean up crew after Tawan set off the bomb, and then built bombs of his own for the attack on the compound later on. 

He does all of this, and still manages to be a guard to Tankhun, who is likely the safest yet most emotionally demanding family member. And he seems committed to that position. I am sure Arm could easily be removed from Tankhun's team. He has plenty of other work demands, and he better be the highest paid guard other than Chan. Yet he chooses to stay with Khun along with all of those duties. Hm. Love that for him though. 

[heliza24]

Wilhelm and Sara as A Plot and B Plot Protagonists

This meta was originally a part of two-part answer to an ask box question, but since I've seen the idea of Sara and Wilhelm as parallel characters catching on recently, I decided to repost it as it's own meta for easier reference. This is one aspect of my personal Young Royals interpretations I'm most passionate about, so it's been great to see people start to talk about Sara and Wilhelm this way, and I look forward to future discussion. Ok, here we go:

Let’s talk about story structure for a minute, specifically TV story structure. Most TV has an A plot and a B plot (and sometimes a C plot too). In old school cable procedurals, the A plot would be the mystery of the week, while the B plot would be about whatever was happening in the characters’ personal lives. If there was an overarching mystery or storyline that tied the whole season together, that would be the C plot. As you can guess by how they’re named, the A Plot would take up the most time and do the most to drive  the episode forward. The B plot is next most important, etc. Once shows started to become more serialized in the age of streaming, the concept of A and B plots changed a little bit. Now the plots are divided by character and theme. The A plot will be headlined by the protagonist and will explore the main themes of the show. The B plot will be headlined by a secondary protagonist, who doesn’t have as much to do as the A plot lead, but is still answering a dramatic question that relates to the central themes of the show. A lot of times the primary and secondary protagonists’ actions influence each other, but they don’t share a ton of screen time. (If they did, their stories wouldn’t be separate.) You can think of the A and B plot protagonists as two sides of the same coin. They’re intricately connected, they’re exploring the same ideas, but they rarely come face to face, and they often represent different perspectives on the same themes. Black Sails is probably my favorite example of this. (I’m not as active in the Black Sails fandom as I am in the Young Royals fandom, but Black Sails is probably my all time favorite show and I absolutely love all the ungovernable pirates over in the Black Sails tag. Shout out to them). James Flint is the main protagonist and headliner of the A story, but Max is the secondary protagonist that headlines the B story. Both are struggling with the question of how to achieve and wield power in an unjust world, and their political maneuvers consistently influence each other’s plots. They share a lot of secondary characters across both of their plots, but they themselves never interact. So that’s one example, and if you look around at your favorite shows you’ll be able to find lots that adhere to this formula, including, I would say, Young Royals.

I think a lot of people are kind of subconsciously looking for this kind of structure, and have decided that Simon is the protagonist of the B plot. I understand this, because we all love Simon. He’s really well written and acted, his personality is so compelling, and his chemistry with Wilhelm is great. I spend a lot of time writing him in fic (I’m the writer of all the Simon content in Heart and Homeland) so I understand this impulse. But if you were looking for Simon to be anchoring the B plot in season 2, you might have been disappointed. Because in reality I don’t think he’s the secondary protagonist. I think Sara is. 

Sara is set up as a foil to Wilhelm, the main protagonist, in so many ways. I always say that the driving dramatic question of Young Royals lives with Wilhelm, and it’s something along the lines of “should I conform and live the oppressive life that was designed for me, or rebel and find my own path to happiness?” Sara is wrestling with a similar question that’s kind of the inverse of this; for her settling into a prescribed role in the Hillerska class system initially seems like a relief. So maybe for her the dramatic question is something along the lines of “is the price of fitting in worth it? Will it lead to true happiness?” They feel so much like opposite sides of the same coin to me. 

So Sara and Wilhelm are both trying to define themselves in relation to their families and also the class system. This comes up in the similarities of their family structure (they both feel very connected to their class position through their families; they both have complicated relationships with their mothers and bad to negligible relationships with their fathers; they both have a deep connection to their siblings) and in the relationships they choose to embark upon. They’re both navigating a very serious and complicated first love. They’re both dating across class (in the opposite direction, a perfect example of the “different views on the same theme” aspect of primary and secondary protagonists). They both have concerns about how and when their relationships become public, and by extension are both playing in the sandbox of themes around privacy and authenticity that defines so much of the show.  

Both have difficulty regulating and recognizing their emotions. Sara seems to exhibit alexithymia, a common aspect of autism that makes it hard to recognize one's own emotions. Wilhelm has been taught to repress his emotions, which he does well until he explodes (like when he got into the fight at the top of the series or when he yells at his mom on the phone). He’s also managing a lot of physical symptoms of anxiety. 

Both also struggle with questions of justice and how to make things right. In the beginning of season 2, Wilhelm is initially determined to destroy August because he thinks August will never repent, but by the end of the season he’s starting to realize that this was the wrong technique. He realizes this largely because of Simon; he only puts down the gun and walks away from August because Simon does first.  Sara makes the opposite journey: she starts by trusting that August will change and repent on his own, but then she is forced to confront the fact that this is not true, and that she needs to use the legal system to bring August to justice. She also makes this realization largely because of Simon, and seeing the ways that she has hurt Simon, in the same scene with the gun. 

The other big argument in support of Sara as the secondary protagonist of the show is that she and Wilhelm never directly interact. Their actions affect each other all the time, but they don’t share a scene together. They’re living on parallel but separate story tracks. 

Simon is a crucial character in both Wilhelm and Sara’s stories, but the fact that he is close with both excludes him from being a protagonist of his own plot line. (I would say the same about August, who is a sort of antagonist for both Wilhelm and Sara, and Felice, who is a friend and confidant to both.) That doesn’t mean that Simon isn’t well written. He has a very compelling character arc, motivates much of the plot, and his relationship with Wilhelm forms the heart of the show. But I think the reason people were disappointed in his story in season 2 is that they were expecting something from him that the structure of the show doesn’t support.  

If you’re interested in reading more about A/B/C plot structures I found this website really easy to understand. Also shout out to @bluedalahorse for talking to me about Wilhelm and Sara and helping me articulate what I was trying to say here.

[distant-eclipses]

Uh- who?

Aka a deep dive of sorts on the character formerly known as Eclipse, who I'm going to dub Pseudo-Eclipse(is there a popular new name for him?) and the stuff that followed. Spoilers for part of Security Breach Ruin

Who is Pseudo-Eclipse: Most people who have the Daycare Attendant as their favorite character(s) know who this is, but even now there's probably some fans who don't know(or, if they do, don't know the fully situation)

In Security Breach there's an arcade cabinet in the Daycare Attendant's room called Balloon World

In the game you play as Balloon Boy and try to stay floating as long as possible. The game is similar to Flappy Bird, but with a few differences. One of the important ones is the day/night cycle, with Sun and Moon in the background of their respective times of day

Another difference is the purple glitches which, if touched, lead to this weird glitchy world

If you follow the weird line of glitchy squares, eventually the trail will end and this will happen

After a few seconds of this screen(which isn't a still image, but I wanted a good shot of the "good night" messages) the arcade game crashes and you get sent back to the Daycare Attendant's room

This (sorta)character eventually became known as Eclipse to the Daycare Attendant side of the fandom(I don't know how well known it is outside of that group)

Why this interpretation: Why was he called Eclipse by most of the fandom? Why was he usually called a fusion? Some people called it something related to Sun and/or assumed he was Sun if he was infected by Glitchtrap, but those people were in the minority

Well here's a clearer look at Pseudo-Eclipse's sprite. While he has Sun's rays, his face is obviously Moon's(Sun also has a grinning sprite, but Moon's smile seems closer to it). Almost like Moon is right in front of Sun, aka

an eclipse(specifically an annular eclipse). Which would explain the odd coloring(due to the moon's lack of light to reflect and the ring of fire) and the background(the redder color of the sky mixed with the virus' purple)

So because of that, he was called Eclipse. And while it's unclear if Moon is just in front of Sun or if Pseudo-Eclipse is one (fused)entity, it's funner to imagine it as a character

Fanon: interpretations of Pseudo-Eclipse can vary wildly in design, personality, and origin. But one common personality I see is him being depicted as evil, which makes sense because of the implied connection to Glitchtrap. There's also quite a few who depict Pseudo-Eclipse as a middle ground between the two(one could argue Eclipse works in a similar way)

The way he shows up also differs depending on the universe. In works that are more similar to canon, I've seen it show up in specific lighting conditions, be a security mode, or just come from the arcade. In aus where Sun and Moon are separate beings I've seen Pseudo-Eclipse be a sibling, some other relative, or just a dude that's entirely unconnected to them. Funnily enough, I haven't seen many people depict it as an actual fusion

One trait I've seen in a lot of fan designs is him having 4 arms(I even ran a poll for it, a majority of the voters preferred 4 arms), though I did see a cool design that gave him 6 arms. This fits with his nature as a glitch/fusion/generally odd being

However, while "Eclipse" quickly became a fusion name(as well as its own character in some way pre-Ruin), some designs seemed to forget or not notice why Pseudo-Eclipse was called that in the first place. I've also seen designs that, while obviously based on the arcade glitch, take a lot of creative liberties

On the more astronomy-accurate-arcade-inaccurate side of Pseudo-Eclipse designs, I've seen a lot of people make it look more like a partial eclipse than an annular one. This fits with the Daycare Attendant's half and half design and is possibly what Steel Wool chose to do with Eclipse(though it may be a coincidence)

There's also those who make Eclipse more purple/blue? Some of the designs may be based on other types of eclipses, but aside from a possible Sun-design-Moon-color for balance reasons(astronomy accuracy be damned), I'm not sure why this is

On the other side of the coin, there's those who decided to make ocs and/or other fusions

Fan characters: Pseudo-Eclipse was able to open the door to other ideas for eclipse-based designs that weren't supposed to be the arcade glitch or your average fusion. One that I've only seen a few times is fans noticing that Pseudo-Eclipse is an annular eclipse and making a design based off of a total eclipse

Another Sun-based design is "Solar Eclipse", despite Pseudo-Eclipse already being one of those. Accuracy varies, but these tend to be on the more accurate side and I've seen ones based on annular and partial eclipses. There's also those who call the "Nice Eclipse" from The Sun and Moon Show this, despite him looking like a weird Sun most of the time

But the thing about Pseudo-Eclipse is that he mostly looks like Sun. So the idea of a Moon-based design, aka Lunar Eclipse, became a thing. These designs are usually pretty blue, probably meant to mirror Pseudo-Eclipse's orange. They usually have a nice personality, possibly because of Pseudo-Eclipse usually being depicted as evil. A popular example of this is Lunar from The Sun and Moon Show

These designs are nice, but most of them are in a similar boat to several fan designs for Pseudo-Eclipse. Because while lunar eclipses do exist, this isn't an "astronomy accurate" design. Though in my experience, some people will probably be more familiar with another name for a lunar eclipse

aka, a blood moon. Which is also the name of some fan characters, though the most popular one is probably from The Sun And Moon Show

Despite both being lunar eclipses, Blood Moon and Lunar Eclipse don't seem to have any connection beyond them both working/having worked with SAMS-Eclipse

Ruin(ed) tags: When the ruin dlc came out, Daycare Attendant fans were blessed with a canon Eclipse(who is a wonderful character, but not the topic of this post)

But all good things come at a cost and this is no exception. While Eclipse is the main one showing up in search results and tags, Pseudo-Eclipse still appears a lot. On top of that, as of now there's no real way to search for(or stop seeing) Pseudo-Eclipse content and without any pictures it can be hard to tell which one a person is talking about(I don't know how ao3 users are doing, but I imagine it's a similar story over there)

"Glitch Sun" seems to be one people like(use of this name goes back to 2022), but while it may be getting more popular it's not nearly as well known as "Eclipse. It also assumes that Pseudo-Eclipse is Sun, which a lot of people disagree with. This interpretation may get more popular thanks to Ruin, but it doesn't really work for those who still view Pseudo-Eclipse as a eclipse and don't want to call it a sun

I've also seen tags used for specific au versions of Pseudo-Eclipse and The Sun And Moon Show. While designs vary, several are accurate or inaccurate enough for a lot of fans. However, these are specific characterizations of him with specific origins. Not to mention the specific settings and lore. However, too many of these would defeat the purpose of using specific tags to filter stuff out

One fan name I've seen suggested is referring to Eclipse as a lunar eclipse and Pseudo-Eclipse as a solar eclipse. But they're both obviously solar eclipses or at least solar eclipse adjacent. Also, it would just turn into "which Lunar are they talking about" for those who post about Lunar Eclipse

Ruin: While fans love Eclipse(and hopefully Steel Wool will give it more attention), that doesn't mean they're done with Pseudo-Eclipse. And neither is the game

As I mentioned in a previous post, while the arcade game is broken and unplayable in Ruin, if you look up in the room and wait a few seconds while wearing the rabbit mask

it's still there. So, that begs the question of who this is. While we know that he's connected to Glitchtrap/the Mimic's virus and is most likely not a sun, there's not a lot to work with

But at the end of the day, he's just a neat little easter egg character that fans grew attached to. It may not have a major place in the lore, but he still left a big impact

[leavemetoexist]

I finished all 4 Studio Investigraves games and I have opinions. (Spoilers to all the games by the way but you already know that)

I played them all backwards from the most recent to least recent by complete accident hence why I shall be reviewing them from least recent to most recent. I'll be judging them based off gameplay, characters and story. Of course don't take this too seriously it's my general opinion and I wouldn't mind hearing other people's personal tier list about which game was their favourite. My interpretation of the characters can of course vary from others opinions as well so keep that in mind.

4. Eloquent Countenance

Gameplay: the gameplay in this one wasn't actually bad, I quite liked doing the different tasks however with that being said, I also got lost multiple times about what I was supposed to do (I think i'm to blame for this once honestly because it was spelled out for me). Overall I still liked it but again I had issues. I did however adore the mix of 3d modelling and 2d models.

Story: The story isn't bad, if anything it leaves room for so many things. The explanation to the end did confuse me though because I couldn't tell if Forcas was talking to the woman trapped in the body or if he was talking to the angel that had taken over the body. And also why did us the angel decide that we did want to give the body back to her? Again a lot of questions that I think can be expanded on if they ever to second game. (I think this is mostly me wanting a second game so badly lol)

Characters: Our character Lisa is alright, I have no grievances with her, she's funny and sarcastic as hell and honestly my favourite. Forcas on the other hand... I like his shenanigans, but there is only so much fourth wall breaking one can take before it isn't very special, I guess? The way he speaks is like how I would write an overpowered annoying know-it-all character when I was 13. So yea not my favourite. I do love their characters designs though, absolutely gorgeous in my opinion.

3. Cold Front

Gameplay: I had no problem with the gameplay, except maybe when I was running from the monster, that was the only hard part. This was a shorter game so there wasn't too much gameplay and coming down to the end I was honestly a little annoyed that we'd basically ceased gameplay and had started basically just started reading out the rest of the story. I wish there was a boss fight to the end, a little something something to really close it off would've been nice.

Story: It was heartwarming (ironic). I can not express it enough that I really love how well done the story is, both endings really got me. One was a happy ending technically with only Augustine living and it was so dark that he was happy to finally feel seen again once Winnie was dead. Winnie had no idea that he was breaking a lot of Augustine's boundaries but at the same time, these two just needed some communication and they were fine in the end which was perfectly okay with me. They both reflected and became better people together.

Characters: No notes, they were good. I loved the fucked up anxiety version of Augustine and Winnie, it really shows how anxiety is and how overthinking and keeping everything in can really harm a friendship.

2. Dead Plate

Gameplay: There is so much that needs to be talked about with the gameplay. First of all, our character Rody, does not have a side and back angle so that you can tell which way you're facing, which messed me up a lot when I tried to serve tables. When I first booted up the game it took me way too long to figure out the what to do in the tutorial (This one might be on me tbh so I won't be too mean to the game about it). The various customers did not make any facial expressions as to help indicate to the players their level of annoyance going from good-> annoyed-> angry-> leaving. I really wished they had that, even if it weren't a face at least some sounds would've been nice.

Story: I adored the story, it's fucked up, it's nice and it's overall really good. Genuinely no notes, it's cut and dry, nothing overally complicated and I loved it.

Characters: I loved the characters. Rody is so deeply in love with his girlfriend (Marieanna) and loses his sense of self. He literally does not know who he is without her and instead of listening to her and improving himself and becoming his own person, he makes himself think that if he just had enough money, that she would take him back. Vince on the other hand, woah that motherfucker is a little mad in the head isn't he? I was expecting your usual obsessive yandere esc character but no. He becomes not really obsessed but more like testing a theory. He has never tasted food and wants so desperately to make food where you can taste the love in it so when he found out about Rody whiles dating Marieanne, well he just had to put this theory to the taste test right? I also live for the theory of him wanting to express his love to Rody by feeding him the thing that he loved most (I think this theory is actually pretty solid tbh and I'm not sure if it's a theory or confirmed within the game. I played this so long ago that I've kind of forgotten).

1. Elevator Hitch

Gameplay: This one might be obvious to most people who follow me but Elevator Hitch is literally my absolute favourite. The gameplay itself was quite fun, I enjoyed the puzzles and tasks that had to be done and the uniqueness of each floor. I had one problem where I didn't realise you could look around the elevator, I wished there were some arrows to indicate you could do that but overall the gameplay was solid.

Story: The story is simple, simple in a fun complicated way. It certainly didn't answer why the building is the way it is but that was alright with me. I enjoyed especially the small glimpses at protag's life before he got stuck in the elevator. I loved the ending, the fact that he had no real choice but to go back was *chef's kiss* Sad ending for Protag but that's okay, solid story.

Characters: One of my favourite head cannons about this game is that coworker is actually pretending to be stupid about the situation that we the player are experiencing and I can be more than be convinced about that. Our main character definitely has shit going on, as saw in the end he needed that job and well the fourth floor with his parents. I loved the dialogue options and the dynamic going on between the two of them. They're both silly and share one brain cell and I adore them for that.