#defective and effective

[timetodiverge]

wake up babe new personal motto just dropped

[seeking-elsewhither]

Love the headcanon that Omega can dry-swallow pills because of her history as a medical assistant.

Honestly wish we got that side of her more in the show, but she seemed to be tending towards Tech’s role most often. See: maintenance of droids, knowing too much, piloting, etc.

So like, where’s her experience in medicine?

[seeking-elsewhither]

@margindoodles2407

"You're losing blood" no I know exactly where it is. The floor. Don't ever underestimate me.

[seeking-elsewhither]

@margindoodles2407 this is actually something I have thought of in ridiculous depth so I had to make a whole post out of it

I had this typed down in the tags of some post actually.

AH here it is

BASICALLY:

Hunter started the tradition of biting regs, training sergeants and Kammies when he was a cadet (that boy was feral and you know it). It was a phase he grew out of slowly once he became Sergeant (not completely, though; in his very worst moments, he will bite), so now he has to deal with the repercussions, aka, biting little brothers.

Crosshair, as put together and superior as he appears, took on this habit with the glee of a toothpick eater. He will bite anyone and everyone he finds. Literally any and no reason and he will bite. The best part is Hunter can't say anything because that would make him a hypocrite.

Wrecker only bites when he remembers his strength isn't his only weapon. He doesn't do it very often, understandably, since his strength and size gets the job done most of the time.

Tech only bites as his last resort. It's not that he has any qualms about biting. He just sees words as more effective a weapon. But he will not hesitate to bite if it comes to that.

They're all biters (mainly the oldest two) and Om'ika was naturally decanted a biter, but they like to say she got it from them.

Bonus: Fives and Echo are both enthusiastic biters who fully support her.

[seeking-elsewhither]

Me: Gosh, Crosshair’s hair is literally the hardest thing to draw, where are you gonna find someone who keeps his tight curls cropped super close to his head and at times so close he’s basically bald and his curls are black with highlights of grey and-

*my dad, literally chilling where he’s casually existing*

Me: …Ohh

Observations: Crosshair’s canon short-cropped haircut is very much how curls work, i.e. straight and sleek. My dad’s even has tufts here and there where it’s a tad bit longer, as in, long enough to have a bit of curl.

Kinda upsetting, this info, but I could make it work

[seeking-elsewhither]

@margindoodles2407 about the sniper-lad?

friendships end. relationships end. fictional man whos doing even worse than you is forever

[seeking-elsewhither]

Here, have some Triple Threat obsessive analyses as I work out how to translate their hair into the infamous Fett Curls ™️

Mox:

Bangs on either side like Hunter’s stray bangs

Haphazard, short, choppy layers -> frustration, but still trying to hold it together for the team*

Stak:

Shorn close to the head like Crosshair’s was

Really problematic cut, small locks chopped off - more like hacked off -> impatient, sharp, feather-blade like**

Deke

Lots of volume, thickness

Bangs and layer-cut reminiscent of Omega’s cut after first rescue from Kamino

Round cheeks -> youthful, hopeful, vibrant***

Additional notes:

*what I mean by ‘short’ is how his layers start off way too short on top of his head

Mox, my beloved boy, I hate your haircut man. Those…sidebangs?? Sideburns?? Mock sidebburns-via-sidebangs?? Idk but they’re horrible and I know for a fact that they were a choice.

How he came about the choice is something I’m still playing around with. It could be A) Mox chose to cut his hair this way, B) Mox was trying to cut his hair and failing miserably and just gave up and decided this worked decently enough, C) either Stak or, more likely, Deke cut Mox’s hair for him and it ended up this way and he didn’t have the heart to say anything against it, or D) one of their fellow cadets (possibly Mox’s own batchmate) who’d managed to escape with them into the jungle gave him his cut but died along the way and this is his way of remembering his brother.

Mox’s hair is a nightmare to turn into curls :/

**I add 'hacked off’ because his hair looks a bit like he grabbed a pair of scissors and rage-cut his hair by grabbing really thin locks, but idk I’m not hair specialist, don’t take my word for it

Stak’s hair is something I can deal with, it’s not too bad (screaming as I stare at those really short cuts smack-dab on the top of his head)

***no cuz every time I look at him my brain shuts down with a squeal of Baby! because his cheeks are just SO chubby man he’s got the ROUNDEST face ever asdfghjkl

Deke’s hair is, objectively, my favourite because of how much it looks like Omega’s - all poofy and bouncy, and it frames his round face so well!

Can you tell I have ptsd from my latest haircut where my layers started off too short?

I’m wincing for Mox and Stak’s cases here. Hunter had better make a priority out of haircare for their sakes.

[lurking-latinist]

Actually I take back what I said in the tags of that “what would fix your blorbo” poll. 10,000,000 USD, in specifically that form, would potentially fix Horatio Hornblower. Untold riches in United States money, unaccountably delivered to a Royal Navy captain? What could it possibly be but the price of treason? They’d hang him for certain. And he’s always so angsty when people don’t hang him. He wants so badly to be punished for things nobody else thinks are that bad. Maybe if they executed him as the result of an anachronistically phrased Tumblr poll, maybe then he’d finally be happy.

[seeking-elsewhither]

SCREAMING

For sale: ship of theseus

Condition: used, like new

[galahadiant]

pre-campaign starfinder character art dump because I realized I had posted none of this stuff on tumblr.

Beloved Kalev (he/her) is a ganzi biohacker who recently defected from Dominion, a human-dominated necromancer empire ruled by an undying god-king...or, well, relatively undying, largely thanks to the secretive efforts of biohackers like Dr. Kalev herself.

[redsariot]

I hate crashing out about hsr because out of context I sound like a mad wizard losing his shit pondering unsatisfactory orbs

[seeking-elsewhither]

the problem with the bad batch is it constantly gives us both sides of the equation and balances it out perfectly, which means we as the audience see everything and understand the problem as a whole, but the characters don't

and that's something a lot of people forget when they pit Crosshair and Hunter against each other

[seeking-elsewhither]

This reminded me of this fic -> All The Broken Stars - Chapter 1 - RosePointe - Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own]

(have you read it? has evie? @whyoneartheven?)

[blluespirit]

Zuko's official defection post-DOBS

I made a post about this here, but I NEED to talk about Zuko defecting more, so here's a deeper dive into Zuko's desertion post-the Day of Black Sun and the crazy impact it could have had on the narrative if only we'd had more time:

In the series before the day of black sun, Zuko had been labeled a traitor, even if he'd not fully committed to the cause yet, but the reason that this is so different and should have had far reaching consequences is because of two things:

Zuko returned home. He was a great propaganda story for Ozai to use in his continued campaign. Despite years banished, ordered to do the impossible, Zuko actually did it. He 'killed' the Avatar and returned home to take his rightful place at his father's side. It's a version of a 'rags to riches' story (except riches to rags to riches and all of it is a lie lol).

The uhhhh... incredibly suspicious circumstances of Zuko leaving. To the outside it looks like this: Zuko 'kills' the Avatar and returns home a hero. Then, when his nation is at it's weakest, the Avatar reveals himself to be alive and leads an invasion right into the capital. Zuko escapes at the same time the Avatar and his companions do. So... Zuko obviously didn't kill the Avatar, and mysteriously disappeared before any consequences could befall him. So, there are several burning questions that people would be desperate to know: What did Zuko do to convince Azula of all people that he really did kill the Avatar? How much did Azula know? Did Aang and Zuko plan for this so they'd have an inside party during the invasion? Did Zuko come home always intending to defect? Regardless of it being true or false would quickly become redundant. The point is that people will talk and react according to what they hear if they see him; most likely it won't be a positive reception with few exceptions.

With all of that, the Gaang must navigate the Fire Nation: the place that hates Zuko the most right now... which says a lot, considering he's the son of the man trying to destroy the world.

Building on what I said in point 1; the smear campaign against would have been dialled up to a thousand. The literal Crown Prince of the Fire Nation defected. You cannot get a more high-profile defector than that. Jeong Jeong's leaving was a big deal, now lets take that and make it so much worse. Ozai would understand that such an event is undoubtably going to stir conversation and thought; and he wants that conversation to be directed in a very particular way. He and his council/generals would know they need to squash any potential rebellion before it can breathe and use Zuko's actions as a reason to become even more patriotic. They'd be doing everything they can to stir up anger, to make them out as the victim - Zuko was corrupted by the Earth Kingdom people since he spent time living among them, eating their roof, wearing their clothes, sleeping in their beds. He can no longer be seen as Fire. Truth would become redundant. Zuko has committed the ultimate betrayal. (I think to Zuko and Mai's interaction at the Boiling Rock prison;

MAI: The warden's my uncle, you idiot. [Zuko facepalms and sighs; Mai shows him a letter.] The truth is, I guess I don't know you. All I get is a letter? You could have at least looked me in the eye when you ripped out my heart. ZUKO: I didn't mean to - MAI: You didn't mean to? [Reading the letter.] "Dear Mai, I'm sorry that you have to find out this way, but I'm leaving." ZUKO: Stop! This isn't about you. This is about the Fire Nation! MAI: [Sarcastically.] Thanks Zuko, that makes me feel all better. [Throws the letter at him.] ZUKO: [Stands up.] Mai, I never wanted to hurt you. But I have to do this to save my country. MAI: Save it? You're betraying your country! ZUKO: That's not how I see it.

Mai's complicated and misguided feelings are all tied up in Zuko, because she's right. She doesn't know him. She thinks he's betraying them all; Zuko is trying to save them all. She fundamentally does not know who he is. When they last knew each other, they were just little children. They're older now, and there's an abyss of experience between them; one of them staying in comfortable familiarity of the Fire Nation, the other falling further and further out of that sphere until eventually he realises the truth. Mai doesn't really love Zuko - she can't, because she doesn't know he is (and vice versa).

Rant aside, I think this energy can be placed to many civilians in the Fire Nation. Although only gone for three years, he was so young when he left, it's unlikely anyone had much of a conceptualisation of him. Now, all people know is this: Zuko was banished for disrespect, he's lack of honour. He 'killed' the Avatar and returned home, only to disappear soon after the Avatar appeared, leading an invasion. That's not much to base an opinion on, and when your surrounded by propaganda, it might be impossible to see through the lies.

We can also some healthy inferencing here to how the Fire Nation would feel about Zuko's action as well by remembering what Iroh and Zuko's first wanted poster read: “Permission is granted to kill them on sight" and that was in Book 1, when Zuko's in-denial treason was pretty tame compared to this. I'd wager the bounty on Zuko's head would be... large. Whether he'd be worth more alive or dead is up to you. I can see the lines falling either way (he's committed an egregious act against his nation: there's either np other option but to kill him, or they want him alive as a big power-play).

Regardless, a bounty on his head makes him a target and not just any target, he's the target. What is he wanted for? Treason of the highest order, that is consistent. The details? Well that depends who you talk to and what poster you read. The point is that each detail creates fear and loathing until only two things are certain, capturing/killing the traitor prince will reward you with a lot of money; helping the traitor will cost you your life.

Lastly; Zuko was the crown prince. Now, he's the traitorous ex-prince allying with the Avatar to overthrow his own country. He's dangerous in a whole new way. Even though Ozai would remove him from the line of succession, it would be clear what the Avatar's ploy here is. Zuko is not just his Firebending teacher, but who he intends to sit on the thrown after he disposes of Ozai

All of this to say, navigating the Fire Nation should have been harder and navigating it with a newly traitorous Zuko should have been terrifying.

[sapphorror]

Y'know... A lot of ZaDr fics have them either gradually drifting into a less contentious status quo or establishing a deeply bizarre multilayered dynamic that is nonetheless very consistent and beholden to its own rules—which works, to be clear, because slavish adherence to the rhythm of their endless 'game' is already their canon baseline.

WITH THAT BEING SAID. I think it would be very funny to depict a ZaDr dynamic in which they're like, on-again off-again nemeses. As they get older theyre gradually forced to acknowledge the true depth of their mutual attachment, but instead of actually improving themselves in any lasting way or compromising the conflicting elements into an ill-definable state of contentious codependence, they just start oscillating wildly between periods of obscenely clingy allyship and devotedly murderous enmity. There's never an in between. They'll dedicate all their energy to trying to horrifically torture each other to death, until one of them gets uncomfortably close to actually dying or an external crisis pushes them together or they just get bored—at which point, they become obnoxiously glued at the hip until one of them relapses into anxiety about their ambitions or an argument escalates past the the point of no return or they just get bored. And every time they both Really Mean It, They're Not Gonna Do This Anymore, before naturally going ahead and doing it again

[unopenablebox]

at some point i'm going to crumble and try to get people online who know about clothing construction to advise me about whether tailoring could successfully adjust the wedding dresses i'm looking at to fit me and give a desirable effect that doesn't alter the appearance too much. but not yet. i'm holding out