#don't make them salty

[captain-amadeus]

[general-cyno]

I really like that zoro and luffy's relationship is weirdly simple while still being somewhat complex. equal yet not quite but actually yeah. it's just interesting bc they've got all these ways in which they match or complement each other right? the importance of their dreams and the will/determination they chase them with, the straw hat vs wado ichimonji, their scars, their views on certain things like death or heroism and literally echoing what the other does or says even when they're not together, the whole sun/moon, god/demon bit and other parallels to outstanding or legendary characters in OP, etc. their goddamn haki too.

then there's the fact that although luffy's not one to enforce strict roles within the crew, zoro very much views the straw hats with a certain level of hierarchy he includes himself in and deliberately places himself below luffy, who won't hesitate to give him orders in certain circumstances that he trusts zoro to follow as well. but the story (via some side/background characters) does make it a point to remark how strange it all is bc zoro is crazy strong and a leader of his own right to the point he's got the haki to match, who in the past refused to join an organization like baroque works unless he got to be the boss. he's even admitted he sees no point in staying a pirate if not part of luffy's crew, and he wouldn't remain in it to begin with if luffy didn't square up to be the kind of captain zoro's willing to devote himself to. just like how luffy wouldn't have invited zoro to join his crew if it turned out he wasn't a good guy.

and luffy. the way he relies on zoro turns my brain into confetti. the almost unreal sort of trust he places in zoro all the way since shells town, the sheer confidence in zoro's strength, steadfastness and protectiveness - the kind of confidence that allows luffy not to worry when the people he cares about or their allies are with zoro, and if someone from their crew is forced to leave bc of dangerous circumstances, zoro's one of the first he can count on to bring them back or watch over the rest in the meanwhile. all of which becomes extra meaningful when you find out about luffy's backstory, how much he hates being alone or when people leave. luffy's not the type to reject help from whoever's willing to offer it and he's been saved by plenty other characters along the way, but zoro's been consistently and explicitly worrying over his safety since the early days and protecting him for about as long, as much as he's able to, and luffy just... lets him. that willing, conscious kind of vulnerability coming from the guy who's the captain and usually the strongest around is so good. so compelling. the pirate king expects and needs no less than the world's greatest swordsman and he can have him, as long as the pirate king remains worthy of it. truly one of the most fascinating relationships in this manga for me.

[pepperf]

Pop quiz, hotshots! Which would you rather have:

A relationship that, when it goes wrong, you can tell the other person that you need a break to reassess your relationship, and they will discuss this calmly, let you go, and then go away and think about what you said, agree that they were in the wrong, and start working on ways to fix their own behaviour;

OR

A relationship that, when you want to leave, they tell you that you don't really want to go, that you're happier with them, that you should isolate yourself from your family and friends so you can stay with them - and when you disagree and tell them the relationship is just a matter of necessity, they start in on your other relationship (which they have apparently decided is the reason you're going back, despite you making no mention of it), telling you that it's broken, that you shouldn't go back to him - and when you tell them to butt out of your personal business, they tell you they're entitled to have an opinion because you've been stranded alone together for a long time...

Is that or is that not what happened? Because I remember Lila making herself pretty clear on these points, but apparently a bunch of people think we should disregard a woman's expressed opinion about her own life, and go with what she's being told. Because Five knows best, amirite? Gosh he's so smart and clever! And he deserves this - he deserves Lila, no matter what Lila herself says. He's owed it by the universe, because he had a bad life.

Lila did have another relationship like that, where she was told what to do, kept in the dark, told that the other person knew what was best for her...and it wasn't Diego.

[demodraws0606]

People complaining about Tsukasa5 already are pissing me off, because like, it's so unbelievably obvious what this event is trying to do and the fact that people are so hung up on "urgh dur tsukasa strong why can't he do a wall climb".

Like, first of all, a lot of Tsukasa's strength has been used as comedy before and also it's never been said that Tsukasa could specifically do a wall climb before so people calling this a retcon or a stretch is really dumb to me.

Sure we can make jokes about it, but this is not like a serious writing problem or anything.

Also are we just gonna ignore the fact this event is literally just a reference to his 3rd event in a silly trenchcoat. Or the fact that this is obviously meant to be WxS's downtime and training arc to prepare them to face the loose plotpoints in the future?

His inner dialogue when chasing the ninja is very clearly a reference to the whole Pheonix thing, how he can't reach it no matter how hard he tries.

The wall climb is like an extremely fucking on the nose metaphor to him climbing over his issues as an actor.

THERE IS ALSO THE WHOLE THING THAT HINTS THAT TSUKASA CAN ONLY OVERCOME HIS PROBLEMS IF HE HAS HELP FROM OTHERS (AKA tsukasa would've literally BEEN INJURED, if it wasn't for the fact the troupe's leader was there).

In fact this literally followed an event aka Tsukasa 4 where he FAILED to do his role correctly.

It's almost like this event is meant to be a transition point between Tsukasa 4 and 6, where Tsukasa builds up the knwoledge on how to face his problems.

But no this is just mid event because it's very silly and "wow plot is stupid why can't tsukasa wall climb".

WxS fans are slowly just turning into VBS fans in terms of how whiney they're being i swear

[lesbianbanana]

genuinely how was Dakota born? Does Bacchus sometimes come to life while Dionysus is at chb and randomly go reproduce because he's not confined to Zeus' rules? Did Bacchus just think the kid into existence Athena style? Was he just really fucking drunk one time?

[bitternace]

If you want a few heres some ideas! 8 for axel? I'm so clever and funny. Or how about 9 for demyx! Luxord for 22! :D

fair warning; i accidentally went off the rails..

8.- i shine only with the light you gave me

9.- i'm scared i'm gonna die as lonely as i feel

22.- you remind me of the things that i miss

[ID: a digital drawing divided in three rectangular sections that overlap.

on the left, shown from the thigh up, is axel, with his back to a sunset sky. he's shown with tan skin, and slightly overgrown and disheveled hair. he smirks, with a wide eyed daring expression. There's a highlight around him, where the light would hit his back. before him, are three hands that have a blue-tinted overlay. from left to right they represent: xion, with a relaxed pose, saix, reaching out, and roxas, whose hand is in the process of closing. A flare on the left upper corner of his rectangular section goes beyond the bound.

in the middle, demyx stares down at his lap, with an slightly upset expression. he is leaning on the arm rest, sitting on one of his legs over a vaguely lined white couch. the background is segmented blues, and his hanging foot goes beyond his rectangular section.

On the right with a green background, is luxord. only half of his face and some of his shoulder is shown, he frowns at the audience. over his shoulder are two stylized faceless cards that go slightly over bounds. the one closest to him is sora, as the king of hearts. he rests a hand over his stomach and the other barely holds the keyblade of heart, that stabs him in the chest. Slightly above and behind that, is roxas as the king of diamonds, he holds his blue marble in one hand, and half of oblivion's handle is by his side. /end ID.]

close-ups (no id) under the cut :]

[bonefall]

do you ever worry your own writing might come off as misogynistic though? it seems deceptively easy

When you have anxiety, PTSD, OCD, or multiple of these things, every move you make is something you will self-doubt. It can become endless if you let it, and you can be frozen by absolute indescision.

Embrace the void and reach enlightenment with me; There are many ways to read a story, and no writer can pre-empt every possible interpretation. Not even myself.

If they think my work comes across as misogynistic? Let them. Salty amoebas are often wrong on the internet, but the block button and xkit are beautiful transwomen who are also my friends.

[thesimquarter]

About two (?) years ago, I had made a quick chart that lined up all the characters in the Urbz for DS in approximate tallest-to-shortest. I wanted to remake it (using proper sprite-ripping techniques) plus make one for the other GBA games. So, here you go. :D

[guardian-of-da-gay]

for various reasons I feel pretty confident that in the Knuckles show/Sonic 3 they're gonna reveal that Knuckles and Tails are sharing the attic with Sonic, but honestly? tf they mean this house doesn't have ONE spare bedroom???

[2hoothoots]

i was having a chuckle to myself last night about Gristol, and how his plans are basically:

Restore Ford Cruller's memory

Find Maligula

???

Profit

but then... of course they are, right? this is Gristol we're talking about. Fatherland Follies drives home again and again that he's still operating on a child's logic, a warped and reductive version of the world that he never bothered to grow out of. both of his memory vaults center on the images of his childhood, this idealized version of the past that he clings to no matter what. and that's still how he remembers Maligula, too - as this saviour figure, who rushes in to help him when he's in trouble.

[ID: Two slides from Gristol's memory vault, Glory to Grulovia! Left: Gristol clings to Maligula's back as she summons waves to sweep away his assailants. Right: Gristol and Maligula waving from a balcony as the people cheer. Gzar Theodore brandishes a dagger in the background.]

like so much else, Maligula represents a return to this idyllic childhood - to the peace and simplicity of his youth, when he was free from worries and responsibilities. in his mind, he doesn't need to make any further plans - once Maligula's back, everything will go back to normal. Maligula will make everything better.

...is what i thought, but then i remembered this line:

[Screenshot source. ID: Gristol, in Truman's body, bows on his hands and knees in front of the newly-awaked Maligula. The caption reads: "Yes, High Priestess! I am here to correct the mistakes made by my father!"]

and that's kind of interesting, right?

to be clear: this happens directly after Maligula sees Helmut-in-Gristol's-body, and recognises him. her line before this is:

"Little Gzesaravich! Have you come to pay for your father's sins?"

my first thought was that Gristol hadn't expected to still be in Truman's body by the time he managed to find Maligula, and this was him trying to placate her and buy some time until he could explain the situation. but watching the cutscene back, that's clearly not what's happening here. Gristol is answering as himself, and his response of throwing himself to his knees before her is, as far as i can tell, genuine.

so what is going on here?

in Fatherland Follies, there's this line in the ride narration that stuck out to me:

"Why didn't the Gzar help Maligula in her time of need? No one knows, but historians agree - it is Gzar Theodore's biggest failure."

other lines mention Gzar Theodore's "mistake", and it's wording Gristol himself echoes in the screencap above. evidently, he believes that his father abandoned Maligula, leaving her to her fate at the hands of the Psychonauts, and it was that mistake that lead to them being driven out of the country - that mistake which he seeks to correct. maybe he even feels like he has a debt to repay to her for his family turning their backs on her all those years ago.

the 'High Priestess' thing, though - that's kinda weird, and threw me for a loop the first time i played the game. it took me until my second playthrough to connect the dots, and remember how the room in the Lady Luctopus - Gristol's room - was full of Delugionist scribblings and symbols.

[Screenshot source. ID: left, the walls of the hidden backroom in Gristol's hotel suite, covered in scrawlings of eyeballs and Maligula's name. Right, the pinboard from the hidden backroom. On its surface are photographs and newspaper clippings connected by pieces of string.]

i mean, look at this stuff! he had a whole conspiracy board and everything!

we learn very little about the Delugionists and their beliefs as a whole during the game, but i think drawing the connection here suggests two important things. one: that Gristol was in deep with this stuff. i don't know how he linked up with them - maybe via old family connections, or just good old-fashioned digging (we know he's skilled at worming his way into peoples' good graces, after all) - but it seems likely that he's begun to internalise their ideas, maybe even warping his own memories of events. and two: the Delugionists themselves are, if you'll pardon the pun, pretty far off the deep end.

like... i understand why PN2 didn't go heavy on the "mass-murderer cult worship" aspect of things, in the end, but man this is such a tantalising glimpse into the wider mythos around Maligula. Gristol is proud and haughty and thinks himself above everyone else; the fact that his first reaction seeing Maligula is to throw himself to the ground at her feet says so much about the way he's come to see her. he's not just trying to bring back Maligula, his childhood bodyguard. he's trying to bring back Maligula, the High Priestess of the deluge, the semi-mythical figure whose supporters believe even death couldn't stop. he doesn't even flinch at the way she confronts him, and maybe it's because he's bought in so completely to this deified figurehead, this idea of Maligula; more a living force of nature than a person. and it all comes back to the same place: an abdication of responsibility, not just to the person who protected him when he was little but to this avatar of floods and destruction. Maligula will make everything better.

i'd write more about my thoughts on the Delugionists but that'd be taking a hard turn into speculation, and this is already kind of long and rambling so i'd better end it here. but what an unexpected and evocative line, right? it's some of the only stuff we have to go off of regarding the Delugionists as a whole, but i think it does such a good job of hinting at the wider story - at teasing another layer to the mythos surrounding Maligula, one whose ripples we see throughout the game but which never quite breaches the surface.

[act-more-like-a-dog-sirius]

HP Rants: Things Fandom Gets WRONG

The Dark Mark (tattoo)

where oh where is the reading comprehension??? did y’all really not read any of GoF??? not only does the minister of fucking magic not know about the Dark Mark tattoos, as snape has to explain and show it to him (which just ????? astounding incompetence from the ministry of goddamn magic and the wizarding world at large) but sirius literally says in response to the kiddos telling him that Karkaroff showed snape something on his arm, “'He showed Snape something on his arm?' said Sirius, looking frankly bewildered...'Well, I’ve no idea what that’s about." despite the fact that he KNOWS for a fact karkaroff was a death eater. (and his own goddamn brother was a death eater. And his family was super pro-voldemort).

The whole fucking point is that no one knew.

Otherwise it would have been obvious who was and who wasn’t death eaters, or at least, inner-circle death eaters. Sirius would not have gone to Azkaban. The Malfoys and literally every other free death eater would have.. but this didn’t happen because the wizarding world is complete shit at handling things and disseminating EXTREMELY IMPORTANT information.. that’s the whole fucking point.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Ngl it's weird finishing the Knuckles tv show and going to tumblr about it only for people (even who I consider bigger name fans) who also watched the entire show to claim that it "confirmed Knuckles Wachowski"

Like

I'm sorry

Did you somehow miss the part in the last episode where Knuckles had a whole montage of hanging with the Whipple family and Wade and saying "home" or something?

[yume-x-hanabi]

The greatest tragedy of Rays closing down is we'll never get to see Wingul get seasonal outfits.

Like don't get me wrong I am incredibly grateful the Chimeriad got a couple of costumes here and there (thanks mainly to Drama CDs, and Asteria bringing them over). But I'd be lying if I said I'm not disappointed we didn't get more.

I think what makes it the hardest is that Rays actually made me hopeful we'd get Wingul (& other Chimeriad) contents. It added Agria a few years ago and I loved what it did with her. Other games got their antagonists (and even NPCs!) regularly being added. Unlike with other gacha which barely did anything with non-party members, the possibility was right there, it was just a matter of time! ...Except it never happened in the end. And this hurts more than having no expectation to begin with.

[ley-med]

Some days the hardest part of my job is convincing other people that they actually need to do their job. No you are not doing me a favour and I'm not asking for a favour either, I'm telling you to do your goddamn job.

[flufflecat]

Can someone explain what the narrative stakes are even supposed to be anymore in jjk. All the characters are essentially guaranteed to die, the current cast is comprised almost entirely of characters who showed up 2/3rds into the story and we're supposed to care about them for some reason, and I do not even know what the threat is supposed to be anymore. The apocalypse? Destruction of an amorphous innocent society? Like has ANYTHING been shown of "here's the regular world that apparently needs to be saved" or are we just supposed to assume "this society is just Real Life+, so you're REQUIRED to care if some guy threatens to kill all humanity, because one of those humanities may be... a child" or something. Can you spare two seconds to show anything other than some magic randos fighting, or is it just a superhero story all the time now, minus the fun. Remember when yuuji had friends.