#it's one of my core human needs now i don't make the rules

[illustromic]

My thoughts on drawing wings (an unofficial tutorial)

Do you want to get better at drawing your favorite winged character? Do you have winged OCs? Just want to learn something new? I can't promise this post will help, but maybe it'll give you some helpful tips.

I know, I knowww, wing tutorials have been done to death. I don't care. This was initially inspired by a conversation on twitter, but actually I've wanted to write down my notes on the topic for a long time lol. Basically wings are one of my special interests so it's very important, for me, to draw them both nicely and also realistically.

On that note, let me first show you my resume *distant sound of floodgates opening*

Like what you see? Read on! (Oh, and I will only be covering feathered/avian wings bc those are the type I know best.)

Now, I'm not here to give you a step-by-step guide on wing anatomy and aerodynamics, because there are plenty of other resources that cover this already, and I'll list my faves at the end of the post. Right now, I'm going to give you some easy guidelines and tricks that I wish more artists knew.

1: Wings do, in fact, have bones (crazy, I know) and are actually very rigid because they have to support the weight of a living creature. There are some positions you cannot physically force a wing into irl.

2: Flight feathers are not placed willy-nilly on the wing, because then they wouldn't catch the air properly. Again, like the bones, they are rigid and strong, so don't draw them like fur or ribbons. All wings have the same pattern of feather placement, with slight variation depending on species. If you learn the feather sections, it will automatically improve your drawings a lot.

2.5: Feathers overlap each other like a handful of playing cards, and this looks different depending on which side of the wing you're drawing. They always do this unless they're extremely untidy.

3: The size of the wingspan is important if you're going for a more realistic design. There is no "scientifically accurate" measurement when it comes to fictional creatures, but my general rule is when in doubt, you probably need to make them bigger. Personally, for my original winged human species, I give them wings that can be up to 12 feet long each (the artistic sacrifice is that it's really hard to fit the wings on the dang page lmao, so make your own call).

4: Get used to drawing folded wings. Most of the time, birds keep their wings folded because it prevents them from getting damaged and it conserves energy. The trick is to get good at visualizing how the joints bend and overlap (look at plenty of photos!) In general, they can fold much tighter than you think.

5: Wings and feathers take a lot of patience to draw, but the results are worth it. I've seen so so many incredibly beautiful and skillful artworks that are---well, maybe not ruined, but still negatively affected by a pair of wings that look like an afterthought, or not even like wings at all. You have no idea how much a little extra time and practice will add to your work until you see for yourself.

Finally, some notes on "stylized" wings: Of course it's perfectly ok to draw more simplified/cartoony wings if that's your preference!! BUT there is a difference between a stylistic choice and a lack of effort/poor understanding of the subject matter. Even cartoonists have to learn the fundamentals of realism so they know how to make their designs logical and appealing. Here are some examples of more stylized wings that I feel retain the core principles of anatomy/aesthetics:

And last but not least: A list of helpful links I use personally for reference and inspiration!

I made this pinterest board for general artsy inspo, and this board to curate my very favorite tutorials/refs/information, focusing on the scientific aspect of wings and flight in general. Feel free to use both! (I also suggest pinterest in general for pose refs and such, but try to only practice using photos at first and not other drawings.)

I highly recommend this blog and this blog if you want examples of artists who draw more realism-based winged creatures!! They are both huge inspirations for me and I think you should totally follow them even if you don't plan to draw wings lol <3

If you're REALLY serious about it, my favorite ref books are: Winged Fantasy, a lovely drawing book by Brenda Lyons; Proctor & Lynch's Manual of Ornithology; and Angelus vincens by R. Spano, which is essentially an artbook by someone who (I believe) designed biologically plausible "angels" for their senior thesis.

Ok, idk how to end this lol but I hope it helped! I know it's not my normal kind of post but I'm super busy with college stuff rn and this was all I had time for. If you guys have any questions or feedback, please let me know!!!

-Aloe <3

[astraltrickster]

I feel there's a disconnect between trends in kids' and teenagers' interests and skills as analyzed and reported by teachers and other people who work with kids and teenagers extensively, how those reports are read by adults who DON'T work with kids and teenagers other than perhaps their own, and how those reports are interpreted by the kids and teenagers.

I can't help but suspect that this is a major factor at the core of the perennial problem of generational disconnect.

For example, let's look at the declining rate of casual PC usage and basic PC skills.

What a teacher might say: "I teach a high school class using xyz computer software and it's worrying me that over the last several years, out of every class, there have been at least a small handful of students who don't know how folders work, or how to use a physical keyboard, or who send cell phone photos of their screens as "screenshots", and hell, some don't even know the difference between a laptop and a desktop computer. This wasn't nearly as common ~10 years ago. The system for the years before mine used to teach more of the basics, and now I'm seeing evidence that just expecting people to get it on their own isn't working, and that's a problem."

The reality that this statement is about: A decline from a basic computer literacy rate of (just as an example, absolutely not to be taken as an objective fact) 90% to 80% and even sharper at intermediate to advanced levels, starting with the most underprivileged, in a world where PC usage is still critical for a huge chunk of the professional world, is a VERY bad sign. It represents technical knowledge becoming more and more of a class divider, in a way that has the potential to snowball. We're still in early stages, and it's FAR from being the fault of the ~10% of kids who would have been taught computer basics if they'd been born 10-15 years prior, but it IS real and it shows that we need to make formal classes in PC basics more normal and accessible again, instead of just expecting people to pick it up by osmosis, because that experiment isn't working.

What entirely too many adults hear: Generations Z and alpha are stupid spoiled idiots about technology who don't know computer, they only know how to app store, TikTok, selfie, eat hot chip, and lie! Which is their own fault, obviously. If they just paid attention to their teachers instead of Instagram and Twitter everything would be fine!

What teenagers hear: Man, adults just loooove to look at the teenagers who are doing the worst and make shit up about the downfall of society or whatever, meanwhile all my friends and I know how to use a computer, the only problem is a bunch of old fuddy-duddies talking shit about how back in their day they had to walk 15 miles in the snow uphill both ways just to go to the bathroom, AGAIN.

Because it's hard to see the a pattern like this, especially in fairly early stages, as a matter of statistics. Humans kind of suck at intuiting statistics. We want hard and fast rules. As far as our brains often see it, anything with a probability over 50% is a certainty; anything under 50% is an impossibility. If you're in a room of 10 people, and you ask who doesn't know the basics of a computer, it won't make much difference whether one person raises their hand, or two - either way, if you throw a paper ball at a random person, you're far more likely to hit someone who can install a program than someone who can't. Meanwhile, if you ask all the people in several of those 10-person groups who raised their hands to go to another room, and you see twice as many people as 5 years ago, it's easy to think that NO ONE knows how to use a computer anymore. Whichever side you look at, it's black and white. Either nearly everyone knows how to use a computer, or nearly no one does; it's black and white. Easy numbers. Comfortable.

So far distorted from the realities that created the numbers that it might as well be from an alien planet.

And thus, not only do a lot of people end up not seeing the problem for what it is, but people just end up having pointless fights over which of those black-and-white views is correct, because according to immediate intuitive monkey-brain, it CAN'T be somewhere in the middle. It's very hard to truly, deeply recognize the fact that "most young people still have basic computer literacy" and "the number of young people who DON'T have the skills they need to compete in a tech-oriented professional world is increasing at an alarming rate" can both be true statements at the same time.

Now let's just ask ourselves, how many OTHER trends and shifts across generations have we fallen into the trap of talking about like this?

[bluheaven-adw]

WATCH THE WHOLE THING! Trust me 😏

It's here!!!!!!! I hope this was worth the wait :)

Images and information on a DTIYS below the jump!

This first bit of this might be familiar as it's been posted before. New stuff added at end!

Dark Excalibur Au

Everything happens exactly the same up to then very end of Wizards. The only difference being Jim is able to pull Excalibur then, on his own, making him Nimue's champion. Nimue grants him his crown and restores the trollhunter amulet to him. (Sorry Douxie and Krel, you'll get your time to shine later).. this is when Excalibur's aesthetic changes.

While Jim is 100% human now, he's not without after effects from being a troll. Not much physically (a bit stronger and faster), but personality wise... he's a bit more feral, confident, not really any trace of his former anxieties (except when it comes to Claire). He's not without fear (we don't need gritshaka Jim here...) but has mastery over it. Sometimes he can get a bit more... chaotic and temperamental... than before, but despite that, he's still Jim to his core. Despite all that he's been through, he's still ultimately kind, pure of heart, always tries to do the right thing, fiercely protective of those he loves.... as Blinky put it, a man of honor, courage and valor.

He's stopped fighting his destiny and stepped into it fully instead.

To quote Sakon...

Jim's problem has always been that he cares too much, and the anger inside him burns against the injustice of the world. It's Jim against the world, and the world /will move.

He still has way to much in the self sacrificial department…... but usually remembers that he has a team... literally the roundtable... a wizard, a sorceress... and a literal goddess….. backing him up.

START OF NEW:

You'll notice the blade is whole, not just repaired. Nimue, who for obvious reasons, is not a fan of merlin or arthur... originally only repaired Excalibur's blade instead of healing it. The fractures remained as a check on its power.. kind of like a short circuit. Jim gets no such hobbling. He's entrusted with Excalibur's full power. And if Sakon will allow me to borrow again, his check is in the gem in his crown, but it's only temporary as he learns to control Excalibur's power, and his newfound station and abilities... just a bit of a reminder, but one he rarely, if ever, needs.

There is no incantation on the amulet. It's not needed anymore. All Jim needs to do is think it, and it's there. Excalibur is not tied to the amulet like Daylight was. He can use it without the armor, or dematerialize it if wanted. The armor has two forms, much like Daylight and Eclipse, the 2nd is only a thought away. Normally a steely blue grey, it can shift to black, and if Jim really leans into the power of Excalibur then the whole thing, from crown to blade, turns pitch and lights up. There's so much magic running through him from the sword that his eyes glow with it.

Someone on IG asked if the Dark/Feral bits denoted corruption or Jim gone rogue. The Dark just denotes the color change for Excalibur. No corruption! It's just rockin the black instead of gold. As for feral.... in the sense that he's a tad more aggressive, more willing to finish the fight so to speak. He's got a little wildness, a little otherworldly magic, to him (not in the sense that he's a wizard, just that he's got the magic of Excalibur and being goddess touched).

Now, for the DTIYS!

Rules are

Draw it in your style!

Please no tracing, I want to see what you come up with

Use #DarkExcaliburDTIYS when you post!

Tag me and I will share

Please out a copy of my original art in your post

This will run until June 1

I will pick my top 3 across all platforms

There will be prizes, I just have no clue what lol.

I will link a folder filled with references for you to use! From the armor, to color keys (whenever tumblr lets me paste the stupid link 😡

Have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[digital-magus]

Welp, here in Texas, Summer's finally here. The streets are empty and the power's going out from everyone turning the AC on at the same time. And that means that soon enough people living further north in reasonable climates are going to be getting hit with record high temperatures, because that's just what happens every year now.

SO! To repay their kindness of the past few years in providing tips on staying warm during our Big Freeze(s), I'm gonna share some Gen-U-Ine Texas Wisdom(TM) on beating the heat. Anyone else from similarly hellish climates is more than welcome to chip in anything I miss or forget.

1) STAY! HYDRATED!

Most things on this list are tips and suggestions, but this is a hard-and-fast rule. I know that probably sounds really obvious but I literally cannot stress it enough. If you're hot and sweating, you're losing water and it needs replacing. If you're hot and not sweating, you're out of water and it REALLY needs replacing. Sweat is not your enemy, it's your body's natural cooling mechanism.

Straight water is best obviously but if you can't do that for whatever reason, go whatever you've got. I personally keep a big jug of water by my computer and refill it regularly. A fairly reliable metric is if you go to take a drink and you find yourself just guzzling it down, let it happen; your body knows what it needs. If you start drinking and immediately start sweating, it means you needed to sweat but were too dehydrated to spend the water. Keep. Drinking.

2) Ice water is your friend

I preface this by saying if you're elderly or have heart conditions, be very careful with this one: going too cold too fast can shock your system and stop your heart. Even if you don't have heart conditions, you should be careful about it if you're particularly overheated (e.g. you just came in from doing yard work in the heat). Even if it doesn't mess with your heart, it can mess with your stomach and make you throw up. Start off with cool room temperature water and work your way down.

That said, there is no better tool for cooling down your core. Remember there is no such thing as cold, just lower and higher amounts of heat, and most of your organs are on the inside, not the outside. You can climb into a freezer or sit in front of an AC going full blast, but you're still gonna have to wait for the heat to diffuse its way from your core to your skin before it actually leaves your body. With ice water, you're introducing a great big thermal battery right into your core where it can pull that heat out directly before getting expelled in the myriad way the human body has to lose moisture.

3) Cold showers: not just for horndogs anymore!

Now we've got your core taken care of, but your outer layer's still plenty hot. Lucky for you, water is a great conductor for heat on the outside of your body too! Showers are particularly effective because it's a constant stream of new cold water rather than a singular body that will warm up over time. As with the previous tip, those with heart conditions or the severely overheated should start with a cool or even lukewarm temperature before easing their way lower to prevent adverse reactions from the sudden shock.

4) Keep the air movin' and coolin'

We all know the relief a nice cool breeze can bring when you're feeling hot, but those are often short-lived and not available on command. Now, the people this list is for (by virtue of needing this list) probably don't have central air conditioning, so we're gonna have to find another way. First off, if you can afford it (both the up-front cost and the utility cost; suckers really suck up the juice), a 1-room or window unit air conditioner in your bedroom or whichever room you spend the most time can be an absolute lifesaver. I pretty much guarantee whatever room you put it in will become the room you spend the most time.

4b) No AC, no problem

If that's not an option for you, you're not out of luck though; I'm going to let you in on the tried-and-true method of those too budget-bound for AC; the wind-tunnel method. This should be particularly effective for people with the grave misfortune of spending the summer months in a home built for the winter, made to retain every ounce of heat it can.

All you need is (at least) 2 large box fans (or similar high-power exhaust fans) and (at least) openable windows (or doors to the outside if you don't mind bugs/birds/neighbors coming in). If your home has a built-in attic fan, that can substitute for at least one of the fans and windows, that's what they're made for.

Pick at least two windows on opposite ends of your home. If you only have windows on one side of your home (e.g. a small appartment), choose the two farthest away from each other. If you live in a multi-story home, at least one should be on the top floor and one should be on the bottom. At one window set up one of the box fans blowing in, and at the other window, blowing out. In a multi-story home at least one fan blowing out should be on the topmost floor you're looking to cool. Heat rises and you will notice.

Because they might be called something different where you live, this is what I mean by a box fan:

The idea is to create a gentle wind tunnel through your home to constantly keep the air circulating, bringing in new (cooler) air from outside and venting the old warmer air back out. As such, there will need to be a constant open-air path from one fan to the other, so leave the interior doors open. A few additional tips:

If you have a windowless room you want to include on the circulation, put another box fan (or one of those squat barrel fans) on the floor in the doorway blowing in. The cooler air will flow in at the bottom of the doorway and the warmer air will flow out at the top

Any room that generate it's own heat when in use (i.e. kitchens, computer rooms, etc) should definitely be included in the system, unless you plan on never going in there. Kitchens in particular should get an exhaust fan.

When you run the fans can make a lot of difference. You'll need to work out what works best in your personal situation (especially if you've got a lot of insulation) but what works best for me is to run them from evening to morning when it's coolest out, then shut them off during the heat of the day so the house holds on to the cool for as long as it can.

For a little extra cooling, take some light fabric soaked in water or a wide pan of it and place it in front of the intake fan. The air blowing over/through the water will cause it to evaporate, cooling the air as it comes in. This may not always be effective however, because...

5) Humidity is NOT your friend

Somewhat paradoxically, water can be as much an enemy as a friend in the fight to keep cool. In simple terms, the more water is in the air, the less water can evaporate into it, the upshot of which is your sweat stops doing its job and instead of evaporating away, leaving you slightly sticky but cool, it just stays there, leaving you hot, damp, and miserable. The only real ways to combat this are to a) not introduce unnecessary steam into the air (and venting any you do generate) and/or b) get a dehumidifier. The problem with b is it doesn't really work with the Wind Tunnel Method for obvious reasons. If you live somewhere both hot and humid, an AC unit really is the best of both worlds because it dries the air as it cools it.

So, other than small obvious stuff like "Stay out of the sun" and "Try not to move around too much", that's what I've got for y'all. If I think of anything else I'll be sure to add it, and again, anyone else with tips to add is welcome to do so. And even if you don't have something to add, I'd appreciate y'all reblogging this anyway so it can hopefully reach more people who need it so we can help our northern neighbors like they helped us these past few winters.

Good luck out there and keep cool!

[altocat]

I wouldn’t put this in the tag, but why do certain people in this fandom get so mad when Seph gets any form of humanization so much?? Keeping a bunch of his background a mystery is a reasonable request absolutely, but why is it so bad to see him emote and have connections and deal with shit before his downfall?

Why is it so bad to add to the subtle and delicate writing that surrounds his “fallen angel” arc? I mean, do people want a smirky, one-dimensional villain forever? (Not that he ever was one-dimensional anyway but apparently some think he was).

No villain should just be evil for no reason, and if we want their reasons to be a little mysterious, that is entirely able to be done without stripping them of their emotions or tragedy. Everyone’s favorite villains have carefully crafted downfalls and often there is tragedy and misunderstanding involved.

Seph is an absolutely iconic villain and deserves more of this treatment. He is frankly, overdue for some humanization that isn’t bound to the limits of an older game like Crisis Core that often suffered from a lack of deeper exposition or elaboration. He’s earned it after being a terrifying, mysterious villain for so long.

Just a touch of it doesn’t ruin anything. The writers seem to be treating it with care and delicacy so far, which is good. That’s what we need.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. Twitter is getting on my nerves because people are saying things like “He better just stay crazy and enjoy burning shit for no reason.” and accusing people that disagree of “not actually being a true fan of the character.” (As if Crisis Core didn’t already make him more sympathetic!!)

(I’m also not using his full name so that this doesn’t show up in anyone’s search results if you don’t want to draw any contention. Cheers).

Pure evil villains are boring, unless it's full camp or they're having fun and it's delicious to watch.

I think people aren't paying attention to context. This isn't CURRENT Sephiroth, this is Sephiroth as a child. If he was always evil and always sadistic, it would take away a lot of the message the original game was trying to convey with him--Sephiroth is the product of SHINRA, the product of immoral ethics, war, and greed. Sephiroth was a normal baby given abnormal enhancement, shoved into extremely traumatic rules and expectations, and subsequently loses everything that ever made him human in a mad quest for revenge and control. To say Sephiroth was evil from the moment he was born is a HUGE disservice to his character, and his story as a whole. Sephiroth is a monster. But he is the monster Shinra created.

Now do I think Sephiroth should be redeemed? No, probably not. It's not about his journey back into the light, it's about his descent into darkness. That's what makes his character interesting. For the record, I don't want them to woobie him either. Part of the reason I find those Disney Remakes insufferable is how they take fun villains (Cruella, Maleficent) and try to make them all weepy and sympathetic. THOSE are villains where being pure evil works. It's entertaining. Their evilness is infectious. They're chewing the scenery and it's great. They're nasty little shits and they ENJOY it and they're cartoony enough to where you don't have to take it seriously. Sephiroth is a completely different beast, with an actual message to his story.

I've always found serious pure-evil villains completely uninteresting because there's no layers to them. No pathos. No depth. Part of having a good villain is looking into their eyes and seeing something of yourself in there. YOU could be that. YOU could become that. These are moral lessons for adults as they try to navigate a confusing and unfriendly world. You shouldn't turn into this because, in the end, succumbing to anger and hate ISN'T good. It ISN'T healthy. And these villains, at the end of the day, are extremely unhappy people who bring about their own destruction. You lose that when they're just a smirking sadistic killing machine. It's an empty husk that just exists for the heroes to defeat. I'd like to think that Sephiroth is more than that, and has always been more than that.

Anyway, rant over. Twitter is dumb, hence why I'm not on it. I'll agree with them if the Remake Trilogy attempts at a redemption arc and it's clumsy and unjustified. But this? A tragic Seph backstory was always a given when you look at the lore. So long as they go about it in a balanced morally gray way, it fits very well with his character.

[mandalorianchronicles]

Did Bo-Katan ever believe in Mandalorians being Mandalorian by "blood"?

So one thing I keep on seeing Bo-Katan accused of is this idea that she believes the Mandalorians are Mandalorians by blood. I believe this started when the Armorer said she took the title of Mand'alor by right of blood and the Darksaber, which anyone who watched Rebels would know was not the case. She has never said or done anything to make me believe that she held that view. If ever she did, she certainly doesn't now, as the writers have made exceedingly clear. But did she before?

It was Satine and the New Mandalorians who held the view that Mandalorians could be a race of people or, at the very least, a nationality. Those who held to the old ways, The Faithful, always believed that Mandalorians were Mandalorian by creed, not by blood. When Death Watch formed as a sect of the Faithful, they also held that view. They wanted to return to the ancient ways of Mandalorians when they were conquerors, and they certainly taught their followers that anyone could become Mandalorian as long as they followed the creed. This was canon in The Clone Wars, by the way.

Now, I've heard people argue that Bo-Katan also believes in right of bloodlines because she said things like "My family once ruled all of Mandalore". That in no way means that her family believed they had the right to rule because of "royal blood". Mandalorians are a religion of warriors. Warriors require an enemy in order to be warriors. They fought each other for dominance.

In the old days, the Tuang conquered those who lived on neighboring worlds and subjugated them. They were imperialists who presided over the mass genocide of many races. Eventually, when their race began to die, they started teaching their slaves and vassals to follow the resol'nare too - that's how humans and other species first became Mandalorian. In the present, most Mandalorians are human. In centuries past, when their expansionist efforts were repeatedly thwarted by the Jedi and the Republic, they were forced to stop trying to colonize. But a warrior society still needs an enemy to fight. So the clans turned on each other and began jockeying for power. This isn't to say that the clans didn't struggle for power before, only that it became all out civil war when they didn't have a common enemy to unite them. Those wars wrought terrible destruction on their planets, evident on the surface of Mandalore and the ruins of Concord Dawn. Rebels really delves into the cold, hard facts of Mandalorian culture and their self destructive nature.

Over the centuries, certain clans rose to power and stayed in power. Clans that held the fealty of lesser clans became Houses. House Vizsla and House Kryze were two such families. They ruled because they were strong. Those houses were comprised of family members who were born into the clan and some who were adopted into the clan. Whether you were born into it, or adopted into it, you were raised to become a Mandalorian. Their children were (mostly) taught to be warriors. I say mostly because the old canon when TCW was being written tells us that the New Mandalorians had been around for centuries, and that there were family members of even the great houses who had people on both sides. There's some disagreement on when the ideals of the New Mandalorians came about in the current canon. The Mandalorian concurred with the old canon that Bo (and probably her older sister, Satine) had been taught the warrior ways by their father, who was a powerful warlord and the head of House Kryze. We don't know if Satine ever took the creed like Bo-Katan did, but it's implied that she did not when Bo says that "she [Bo] didn't embarrass her father". I don't know how opposed to fighting Satine was in her youth, but when she was sent to Coruscant to protect her during the conflict, she became an all out pacifist. Honestly, though I think pacifism is flawed to its core, I can understand her desire to remake Mandalore into a more traditional society, since years of civil war had driven Mandalorians to the brink of extinction. But to rebuild a civilization, one must break the old one - so all traditional Mandalorians who believed in the creed and followed the warrior ways were banished to Mandalore's moon, Concordia. Adonai Kryze was killed in the Great Clan Wars, and so began the downfall of House Kryze. Bo's nephew, Korkie, was raised in a society where Mandalorians were Mandalorian by blood. Bo would have also also raised in this society until she was old enough to be on her own and she left her remaining family to join Death Watch.

Death Watch was fighting against the ideas of a Mandalorian race or nation, but the tactics they used to achieve their goal of removing Satine and her government from power were brutal and dishonorable. However, it's important to note that their brutality was in keeping with the ancient culture of the original Mandalorians - the Tuang. Yes, they were terrorists. Yes, they were brutal and they treated weaker people terribly. But, that's actually in keeping with the old ways. Since they are also followers of ancient tradition, I'm extremely curious what the Armorer and the Children of the Watch will want to do with their strength and power once they do retake Mandalore, but that's another matter.

We see the subject of bloodlines come up as a very serious matter in Chapter 22, Guns for Hire. Axe Woves is young enough that he was probably introduced to the ideas of Mandalorians by blood when he was small, as Bo-Katan was. We don't know when he became a part of Bo-Katan's Nite Owls. He may not have been with her during her time with Death Watch, joining her sometime in the years that followed, after the Empire rose to power. In any case, just because he carried over those beliefs into adulthood doesn't mean that she did. There were people in Death Watch who believed different things, obviously; that's why they split when Maul gained the Darksaber, even if it was by creed.

As of yet, there is no evidence that Bo-Katan ever believed that Mandalorians were Mandalorian by blood instead of creed. She believed in the greatness of her family, but she never insinuated they ruled because it was their right by blood, as opposed to the honor they had earned as capable and powerful warriors. Mandalorians are supposed to be loyal to their clan, always fighting to put their family first. Whether you're born into it or adopted into it, your family is everything. When Satine rejected everything they had been taught, Bo considered their family ties severed, and she sought her own sister's death. But when Maul murdered Satine and took the Darksaber, she saw the wrongness of it all. She has been walking the line of retaining their warrior culture while also uniting their people and stopping the endless bloodshed (that she was once a part of) ever since the end of the Clone Wars.

Personally, I don't believe Bo-Katan's belief in Mandalorians by creed instead of blood began with her introduction to the CoTW. She's been with them for too short a time for there to be that much change in deeply held beliefs. Her conviction that Din was just as much a Mandalorian as the rest of them was heartfelt and passionately spoken. I think this is something she has believed for a long time. But, even if it isn't, we are seeing that this is a woman who believes in the resol'nare, even if she doesn't believe in the "add-ons" (ancient tradition or otherwise) that the CoTW have adopted. And if there's one thing that we (and Bo-Katan) learned in TCW and Rebels, it's that neither old ways nor new ways are necessarily good ways. They have a chance to make Mandalore into a truly good society, and I think that Bo-Katan is the perfect person to lead them into that because she's seen both extremes and rejected both. She can forge a better way forward for their people...Din certainly believes so.

[thoselethalarts]

ℙ𝕙𝕠𝕓𝕠𝕤 𝔹𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕣 - ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪

(SR) Lab Coats (Part 1): "It’d Make This Exchange a Lot Less Fun."

(NRC: Library)

Phobos: Different types of poisons affect the body in different ways. Phobos: Some of them work through the nervous system... attacking the body’s nerves, causing muscles to seize, the brain to fry, and the heart to stop beating. Phobos: Others work through the circulatory system, causing the blood to coagulate within the veins and cause internal congestion. The victim is likely to die of a stroke or heart attack through this methodology. Phobos: Still, others are more corrosive. They eat away at the internals of the victim, dissolving muscle and flesh, causing internal hemorrhaging and decay. The victim is more likely to bleed out when they can’t stop the corrosion. Phobos: With that in mind, the real question is… what of these methods are capable of being replicated without the actual presence of poison? Phobos: Coagulation and nervous attack, possibly, though I doubt corrosion would be… Unless somehow the body could be forced to produce more powerful stomach acid, maybe. Hm…

Rook: What plans are circling your mind, Monsieur Malicieux?

Phobos: -! I don’t like that you could sneak up on me like that.

Rook: Even a novice hunter always knows how to silence his footsteps when stalking his prey~ Rook: Oya… are you studying poisons?

Phobos: None of your business, leave me alone.

Rook: Ooh la la, but if this is part of your studies, I could be more than a worthy partner in your quest for knowledge! Rook: As a member of the science club, and vice dorm head of Pomefiore, poisons are something I have a great deal of confidence in knowing.

Phobos: …I’m not studying poisons. I’m studying biology.

Rook: Even better! As a hunter of hearts and beasts I do have keen knowledge in biology as well-

Phobos: I didn’t ask for your input! I told you, I’m fine! Phobos: Tch... If you’re so adamant to butt into my business and leap into the jaws of death, then fine. How about you be my "lab partner" then?

Rook: Gladly! I'd be more than happy to assist you with whatever you need. I've always wanted to spend more time with you~

(Phobos rips a piece of paper from his notebook and begins scribbling something down upon the page.)

Rook: Hmm? Is that poetry you’re composing? Rook: “Cursed eyes gazing upon this page-”

Phobos: Rule number one: Don’t read this out loud.

Rook: Oh?

Phobos: Rule number two: Don’t read this until I’m finished writing this. Phobos: Rule number three: When you’re finished reading this, give it back to me immediately. Phobos: Rule number four: Report to me everything you felt after reading this note. Phobos: If you’re gonna keep annoying me, these are the rules you’ll be following for our experiment. You will ask no questions, and you’ll tell no souls about what we did today. Got it?

Rook: Oui. I’m now very much intrigued to see where your plans lie~

Phobos: Hmph… Here. Now you can read it. Silently.

Rook: Very well. Let me see~ Rook: ………?! A-Ah… what is…?

Phobos: Finished?

Rook: Oui, my… my heart is…? Rook: Haah… what a fascinating sensation.

Phobos: Rule number four, Rook. Status report.

Rook: Hmmh… I could… feel my heart palpitate with strain, every muscle in my chest tightening like a vice, before very gently and suddenly releasing. Rook: Like the claws of a beast had torn its way through my ribs and clenched my very heart within my chest… before quietly granting mercy and releasing its grip… Rook: W-What a powerful reaction. Your prose shook me to my core, stronger than any poison I’d ever experienced before. That was… exhilarating~

Phobos: Keep that part to yourself. I don't need to hear it. Phobos: But, that all but confirmed my suspicions in one regard... Phobos: Poison doesn’t need to even attack the human nervous system, it just needs to command the nerves to do what it wants… to turn the body against itself and go in for the kill. Phobos: Generally speaking, poisons use chemical compounds to command the body to do its bidding. The chemicals don’t need to be present for the reaction to occur, as long as the body can generate the end result needed on their own. Phobos: Chemicals are words; words command the body to self-immolate… Perfect. Phobos: Alright, guinea pig, you’re dismissed.

Rook: Oui~ I look forward to helping you with your studies again, Monsieur Malicieux~

(Rook walks away, footsteps heavy and unsteady.)

Phobos: Hmph… Not exactly happy with someone having an insight to my power and walking away scott-free, but it’s hard to say no to a willing guinea pig. Phobos: A stupid, willing victim… The easiest toy to play with the inner mechanisms of. Phobos: Heh… Heheheh… Keep jumping into the jaws of death, little mouse. I can’t wait to tear you apart, piece by piece.

/ To be continued…

[cleverthylacine]

I'm not well versed in Transformers, but who is your favorite Autobot? What's one thing that if Hasbro called you up right now and said they would do whatever you suggested, you tell them?

My favourite Autobot is easy because I don't like most of them very much. I love Decepticons.

It's either Jazz or Ratchet or Rodimus, depending on the phase of the moon and whether my brain is in RavWaves mode or Deadlock mode.

Jazz and Ratchet and Rodimus are all people who probably would have been Decepticons if it weren't for a stroke of fate.

I also love Rosanna, but she's a civilian and she's been in like 3 things, one of which almost everyone hates.

The problems with Autobots:

they tend to use the same colour schemes which makes them hard to tell apart

many of them are boring af

the Decepticon movement was a legitimate revolution against an extremely bigoted and oppressive government, and the Autobots were the liberals who patted them on the hand and said "we can do this the nice way" even though most of them were from social classes that were literally disposable.

some of them are fucking fascists

some of them are just such goodie two shoes rule bound characters you have to laugh (Star Saber in anything other than IDW was probably the robot version of Sheldon Cooper once)

It's really only in TFA that I don't think Optimus Prime is a giant hypocrite. I don't hate him. I think he's an awesome character. I enjoy him a lot! I also write a lot of fic where he gets his aft handed to him, at least verbally.

But I don't really sympathise with him. Because even when he's unfailingly sweet, like in TFP, he's still...a part of the problem, not the solution.

In some series the Decepticons did become horrible and genocidal, which is wrong, of course, but that led in IDW at least to both sides playing atrocity chicken.

In other series the Decepticons are anti-human mostly because we're in their way and we like the Autobots. In the Bumblebee movie they never even wanted to come here, but they had to--it is Prime's fault that their war came to Earth.

If Hasbro was willing to do whatever I said I would ask them to create a series of all the femme characters most people don't know about. And not make them teeny tiny Core Class dolls. (I own a few of them because they're cute, but.)

I would get them to include Ravage now that ES has confirmed her for a femme. (She is ACAB, assigned cat at birth.)

This would also include:

Esmeral, who should really be a leaderclass because her husband is the size of a small planet (from the Victory manga)

General Strika, who is the least feminine female character in all of transformers and a butch goddess of war (from TFA and Beast Machines)

Botanica because she's cool AF

Rosanna and her evil twin Flipsides (Rosanna's in KP but both of them are in... TFA, I thought? For a heartbeat.)

Howlback (done like her twin sister Ravi, with biped-to-quad transformation that does not involve extra limbs hanging off, because both MMC and Xtransbots have done it just fine) from the Cobalt Sentries who never got a show

Lyzack (from Victory -- the twin sister of Leozack who defends the home front and is a teal and pink seeker)

Nautica (from the IDW comics, who is the most adorable of nerds even if she is Ravage's unwanted aemula/kismesis/hatecrush until they make friends)

the Megatronia combiner which includes Megaempress, Trickdiamond, Lunaclub, Flowspade and Moonheart)

Minerva (yes there's a legacy but it's tiny and they made it a walgreens exclusive)

Clobber (from Cyberverse)

Nightbird (G1 not ROTB)

Termagax (Megatron's mom from the IDW 2019 series)

I have nothing against Elita-1, Arcee, Windblade, Chromia, Moonracer and Slipstream but some people can name hundreds of male characters and only those six and not even all of them.

If I was also G-d of the Transformers franchise as a whole, I would revive Kiss Players, cut out all the bad sex jokes and dropped panties of teenagers, rename a few things -- we do not need a base called "the spiral vagina" -- and take the plot we were actually given in between sex jokes, which was very cool, and write it all out as a comic/story/cartoon. They did the plot in the last few episodes of the radio show after kind of leading up to it very slowly between dirty jokes.

Everyone says Kiss Players is the worst thing Transformers ever made. I'm sorry, that's RID 2015, which is a Transformers show for the "Blue Lives Matter" crowd where the entire plot of the show is to find all these low-class Decepticons who are from denigrated castes that escaped from a prison ship and throw them all back in jail. Like seriously fuck you very much.

I will take perverted panty jokes over asskissing the cops any day. Besides some of the stuff that looks so bad and gross looks so bad and gross because it is--you're not supposed to be down with it, you're supposed to guess that a certain person is being groomed looooong before she figures it out. and the main human characters are actually Secretly Lesbians

I'm sorry this is way more info than you asked for but this is my main hyperfixation other than thylacines, fossas, small wild cats that can't eat you, and other cute weird predators.

[werewolf-girl-knot]

SO. About W5...

I ended up "legally acquiring" a digital copy of the core book and just finished my first read through of it. Some thoughts.

First of all, let me say my major gripes about it re: indigenous and disability erasure remain present, and do end up being a deal breaker for me regarding Paradox and giving them any money.

Still, there's some interesting stuff in here. I am personally a V5 enjoyer. I dislike 'gothic superhero' type chronicles, cumbersome lore and mechanical bloat. I do like Personal horror, power that comes with serious costs, character-focused storytelling, urban fantasy that feels contemporary and grounded, and brave, direct political themes. so V5 ended up being a general improvement for me over V20, give or take some small things. These are the biasas I'm carrying into my thoughts on W5.

The good: Rage Dice make a return from V5's hunger dice, and with improvements! Hunger dice were controversial in V5, but personally I found them to be a fantastic way to keep the Beast as a present threat in your chronicle. Finally, a reason for being a vampire to actually feel like a curse! And Rage dice in W5 I like even more. I enjoy how they turn failure into success when you're trying to accomplish something violent, but otherwise can cause critical problems with your approach when you're *not* trying to be violent. It really encourages you to get into character and play your character more impatient and aggressive when your rage is higher. Finally, Rage that actually feels like a double-edged sword! The things Rage does is also an improvement for me. I dislike extra actions in TTRPGs, ironically I find that they just slow things down with too much dice rolling. Making Rage something you spend to regenerate faster is a much better idea.

The forms are more distinct and interesting now as well. This is one of the things W5 takes from Forsaken than it very good. Finally, a reason to use Hispo and Glabro! Crinos feels extra powerful, *and* risky, with its rule that it will enter a frenzy if you don't kill something that round making it much more threatening and dangerous, which is precisely how it's always been described in the lore, but never really represented in the game very well until now. Claws are high damage but only deal mundane types of damage and Bite is lower damage but Agg. Also good from a design standpoint, makes the rule about not eating human flesh finally matter.

Harano and Hauglosk. Harano finally becomes a present threat for Garou. Something they need to fight against, and help their pack against. It seems to operate a bit like a humanity stat, only that your sweet spot is in the middle. Too far in the other direction, and your character starts to flirt with fanaticism. This is just fantastic for making Werewolf have an actual morality system, a balance in their faith/convictions based on actions taken in the chronicle. Much more interesting than Gnosis as being an essentially meaningless resource. I have seen some braindead takes about this being a way for STs to punish players?? Don't play with STs who try to punish you and force you to do what they would do. Simple as.

The bad: new takes on the tribes. Generally I like how the book explains lore concepts, but the new tribes are so sanitized with any possible ounce of controversy taken out of them, that the political themes most of them were built to explore are totally absent, or significantly muted. In a vaccum I would think making the Get of Fenris fall would be a very interesting way to drive forward the plot, but the execution here makes them feel a little cartoonist. Very roundabout in saying that they've become werewolf eco-facists, a better way to do this be making a Hauglosk-ed version of each tribe to represent the corruption of each tribe's ideology. The cult of Fenris work as a general condemnation of the worst side of Garou in general, but having the bad guys camps in W20 just worked better for this, and had lots of room for improvement. As with all the other tribes, the Get of Fenris feels flattened and removed from its cultural context.

The Ugly: Paradox being horrible and racist. If you haven't read about this already, then... Idk how you found this post really. But this post covers it more thoroughly than I could.

The book attempts to address this with a note I put in the bottom, listing some facts about the issues experienced by indigenous groups, while making a half hearted attempt to connect it to the Garou. In the face of this erasure from their actual game though, it feels like a platitude.

As for the removal of crinos-born Garou, it's another flattening of a complicated part of the game's politics. It might have been nice to see Garou culture advance a bit, but removing them entirely removes the representation they embodied. Most of the direct representation in this game has been removed, but I think the the indigenous and disability represent the most egregious loss, especially in a game about those who are most actively being sacrificed in the name of capitalism. Which isn't some fandom interpretation, it is literally stated in the book.

This all leaves me very sour on the game's fiction, which for a storytelling game like Werewolf the Apocalypse, is important. Which is a shame, because I see a lot of good steps forward in the mechanics, making a game that's more fiction-first, without all the terrible attempts at capturing D&D's wargame combat. But frankly, it's hard to want a game who's treated it's writers so poorly to do well, even if I do think the current writers did very well with the constraints they were given. It's hard to recommend that anyone pay money for this.

[silentcrowsilentravens]

A Gentle, Well-Deserved Quiet

The Charlotte Deshayes x reader tag is barren, you guys. Since I have a massive crush on her and run an x reader blog, I figured it was my civic duty to contribute some fic content.

Summary: Few traverse the path near your home. In fact, outside of your very rare treks to the nearest market, it's been years since you've seen another person. It's just you and the animals.

But the cries that startled you awake tonight... they are most certainly not animals.

Chapter 1 of 6

(Gender ambiguous).

Warnings: violence, injury, blood.

Additional notes: takes place outside of the fog in France, Victor didn't die when escaping the Black Cloaks with Charlotte, and I love both of them very much <3

Ao3 link here!

For quite a few years, it's just been you, the animals, and the house left behind by your family. It can get rather lonely, but you would never dream of abandoning this place. It was built by your grandparents after they ran off together.

Your grandfather... When your grandmother fell for him, she was met with nothing but vitriol from her family and others. Everyone viewed him as a monster, but he was simply a man.

Fueled by an immense love for each other and fear for their safety, they vanished together in the dead of night. They found a place where others rarely trek and over time, built their home.

As the years passed, your uncle and mother were born.

Your mother met your father during one of your family's rare journeys to the nearest market. He noticed her stealing something they needed from one of the vendor's stalls.

Now, all this time later, you're here and everyone else is gone. Dead.

Things are quiet.

You try to go about your days like you used to.

They feel so much longer now, you think. Today especially. You head to bed earlier than usual.

Things are quiet.

But then, suddenly, they aren't.

The cries are loud. The screams are primal. You wake from slumber with a start, the noises rattling you to your core the moment you're awake enough to process them.

These are not the general sounds of nature that you are used to. These are human. And they are far too close.

You crack open one of your rickety shutters. In the darkness, almost nothing can be made out.

"Monster!"

You were taught to keep your head low. You do not want to draw attention to yourself.

...But there are always exceptions to that rule, and these are easily the most gut-wrenching sounds to have ever reached your ears.

"Leave us alone! Don't touch him!"

You throw on your weathered boots, seize your pitchfork, and step out into the night, following the noises into the forest.

A woman barrels out of the undergrowth and into a small clearing. You press yourself up against a tree.

A man chases after her, pausing to draw his bow.

An arrow slams into the back of the woman's calf. She collapses with a muted cry, her own weapon slipping from her grasp.

The man nocks another arrow and begins to close the distance between them. She scrambles to pick her blade back up.

You remain unnoticed.

There isn't much time to make a decision here.

You quickly step out from behind your hiding place. With your heart pounding in your ears, you raise your pitchfork and swing it with all your might.

The flat side of the iron prongs strike the man's head. He didn't even have the chance to turn and look at you.

He hits the ground roughly. After a moment, he begins to move again, so you panic and hit him once more. He stills completely, a big crimson spot staining the crown of his head.

You turn your attention towards the woman. Even ignoring the arrow sticking out of her leg, she appears to be badly injured. Her breathing is ragged. With half-lidded eyes, she stares up at you, an arm held protectively in front of the right side of her chest.

It is only now that you realize that there are three people, not two. A second, smaller body is protruding from hers, hanging limp.

As you take a hesitant step closer, she makes a clumsy swing with her battered sickle and levels it at you. The blade wavers in her grasp.

"I mean no harm." You lower your pitchfork.

She says nothing.

Her grip loosens on the sickle.

She slips into unconsciousness.

It isn't until well into the next day that the woman, Charlotte, comes to.

She's surprised that she's still alive. Her body aches like nothing else. Last night's events are somewhat hazy, but she can remember how visceral the fear was. She recalls how intensely she had been shaking and the all too familiar taste of blood in her mouth.

Her brother's hand wouldn't leave her shoulder.

Their pursuer... so cruel. Same as everybody else. His figure is vague in her mind's eye, but she could easily picture him swathed in a black cloak. Even if he hadn't been. They had managed to lose his friends, but he...

He...

Charlotte hadn't gotten away from him, had she? She couldn't. She couldn't continue to push past the pain...

So, what happened? Where are they now?

She's almost afraid to open her eyes, but she knows that she needs to.

There's a soot-coated thatch roof above her and a mattress beneath her. She can't remember the last time she woke up in an actual bed. It must have been back when Maman when still alive.

Where are they?

How's Victor?

He isn't awake, but he is alive and...

His wounds have been dressed. Hers have as well. With what seems to be quite a bit of care, too.

"Good morning," a voice greets.

Charlotte quickly sits up, wincing as a sharp pain flares across her side.

A person is sitting at one of six stools situated around the fire pit in the middle of the floor, stirring something in a pot suspended above the flames. It is only now that she takes notice of the enticing smell of food mixed with the rich scent of burning wood.

"How are you fairing?"

Charlotte doesn't respond. She eyes you warily. "Who are you?"

You turn halfway on your seat to face her. You aren't one of those awful people who chased them, at least. You tell her your name.

"Where are we?"

"My home," you reply simply. "The two of you were in quite a state when I found you."

A dark figure wielding a pitchfork flashes through her mind. There's a wet thud as the final pursuer falls to the ground. You came to their aid.

This is strange. It's all so strange.

"...Why did you help us?"

"Because I didn't want you to die."

Why? It seems like everyone they cross paths with wants them dead. Is this a trick? Where's her sickle?

It sits not too far from the bed. The rest of her things seem to be there, too. If need be, she could easily grab it.

You stand. "Are you hungry?" You can feel the woman's pale eyes trained on you as you spoon a generous amount of stew into two bowls, leaving a third one out for when your second guest wakes. You hold a bowl out towards the woman.

She leans away for you, bringing an arm up in front of her chest while her hand not so subtly inches closer to her weapon.

"I'm not going to try anything," you try to assure. "Here."

A moment passes. A few moments.

Slowly, she relaxes slightly and takes the bowl from you. She doesn't eat, though. Just holds it and continues to stare at you.

"Try it. It's quite good." You pick up your own portion and hook a foot around the leg of your stool, pulling it closer so that you can sit in front of her. "I haven't poisoned it or anything, either. See?" You take a sip from your bowl.

Charlotte is tempted. She is quite hungry. Plus, you're eating it. She follows suit and drinks a small bit of the broth. It's the best thing she's had in quite a while. She'll make sure to save half of it for Victor.

"What should I call you?"

"...Charlotte."

"And him?"

That protective arm instinctively raises up in front of him again. "My brother, Victor."

"Charlotte and Victor." You set your bowl down on your lap. "You're the first visitors I've had in quite a long time, you know. Not many people find their way out here. The path is too treacherous."

"A group of hunters had been chasing us for a long time. I thought we might finally lose them on it."

"A group?"

"We needed to make a quick stop in their village for supplies... We weren't welcome there."

"Well, you're welcome here."

[yoonyia]

my friends referred to me as dark academia but a person and I don't know how to feel about it.

Anyways here's my thoughts on enders shadow so far and by that I mean basically nothing about the book and more about how Orson Scott Card can be what he is and still write stories of such compassion.

Orson Scott Card, for being the horrible person he is, is remarkably good at looking at a story from a different perspective, from a different lense and voice, to completely recontextualize a scene in a way that I really can't see a lot of other authors doing.

It really perplexes me that a person of this type of nature can be so judgemental and stubborn in their beliefs.

Now im no psychology major, nor have a lived long enough to consider my experience a proper case study but from what I saw from the people I met people of this nature are

1. incredibly rare, especially when it comes to subtlety and going against their own beliefs (or even just critiquing a slight part of their own beliefs)

2. incredibly kind and understanding, usually a bit aloof due to their way of always looking at an idea from the eyes of a million people. You can't really make a joke with them because they will take it as fact or see the sourness behind it, and they might be too understanding of horrible deeds and people, but at the end of the day they're kind.

Now of course exceptions to these kinda 'rules' always exists, if humans were black and white we wouldn't need to entire fields of study about it. But I find it so intriguing that osc wrote Ender as the exact person I mentioned before while seemingly not being like ender at all.

But the way he talks about his work and how he write about his loves makes me ponder at his nature for hours on end. When you read his introductions and how he came to write what he wrote he really seems to be absorbed by it. He said it gave him jealousy to not have him be the person writing enders shadow and the way he talks about his own work and ender really just seems like he's talking about himself, a constant reflection that's common among people of this nature.

Now im not saying he should be forgiven for his actions or that he didn't mean any of the horrible things he said, he meant every single word of it I'm sure. But I do also believe that he is a person of deep kindness, somewhere behind that twisted outlook of life I believe he thinks of himself as just and believes his words to be of compassion.

Or I'm assuming incorrectly, like I said I'm not qualified to psycho-analyze a person I've never met. He might have put nothing of his aiua into his writing, it might have been idea given to him by random chemical patterns in his body and he has no emotional connection to it beyond that. Who knows.

the answer is no one, or at least definitely not the writer himself.

And now that I look at what I wrote it really isn't that big of an assumption, of course he believes himself as being kind everyone tries to do that about something in their life (unless you're like me and assume everything you do is out of malice and if so I am so sorry) no the bigger mystery is how a person who can look at things from such distinct perspectives come to that conclusion.

I often wonder if the price to be a good artist is to be insane. Or inherently broken in some core human way, a giant contradiction.

I would pay the price to be a good artist, perhaps I maybe already have just without seeing the results of work. But it does make me afraid that I find myself so similar to a person like OSC, or similar to people who drove themselves mad or people who were killed or judged or punished for their ideas.

Maybe I only try and see the justification of the writers actions through his own mind because in some part of my heart I love the work to much to even mildly dislike the author. Because this world that was made inside this persons head is so beautiful it took away a piece of me and I feel unclean knowing that it was taken by someone who said some absolutely horrible, foul things.

Maybe I feel guilty of enjoying a story made by such a person

and maybe the person feels as guilty by writing it

[high-voltage-rat]

Welp, with the encouragement of my dear sweet enablers, I've done it. I posted what I had sitting in my docs of the RvB university AU onto AO3.

The basic gist: Blood Gulch Hall is a student residence of the local university. It has a red hall of students, a blue hall of students, and a purple hall meant for the Residence Assistants. Sarge, of course, is one RA- convinced the two halls of students are separate and rivals- and so he's moved himself in amongst the students there. Flowers was the other RA until he suddenly died, leaving the blue hall with no real oversight.

After a prank gone wrong, the university decides a new RA needs to be assigned. Wash, a student who's distinguished himself to the school through the Project Freelancer student research placements, is given the job- much to his relief, as it's a sweet deal that saves him from his crushing student debt. Naturally, the local residents do not take kindly to his attempts at enforcing rules, and tomfoolery ensues.

Church is a history major finishing his final year of undergrad. As the member of Blood Gulch Hall that's been there the longest, he's especially tired of everyone's shit, but knows exactly how everyone seems to operate. He's also the son of the Director of the university, and has one of the biggest grudges against him and the school. In general, he's jaded and cynical, but likes fucking with the other residents and shooting the shit with Tucker.

Tucker is a political science major- after going on a student exchange program in high school with the intent of just getting away for a while so he could slack off and "pick up chicks who think foreigners are hot", he ended up accidentally adopting a role as an unofficial ambassador of his home country-and decided to try and pursue it as a career. He also minors in human sexuality- which he thought was going to teach him about how to be a sex god, but actually ended up making him re-evaluate himself and realize his constant talking about chicks was covering up his insecurity about his bisexuality.

Caboose is a mechanical engineering student in his third year. Though no one knows it, he's actually only been at the school for two years- he overloaded courses and passed them with surprisingly strong grades. He doesn't spell very well, which is mostly me leaning into the classic "engineers can't spell" joke, but he's extremely gifted in math and robotics, thinking in numbers and spacial reasoning- baffling his professors and classmates alike. Caboose is accustomed to a large family, which naturally comes with a lot of bickering. He views the group at Blood Gulch Hall like a surrogate family that way- and is happy to just smile and nod when they argue amongst themselves, more concerned with his latest robotics projects.

Kai is a business major- she's been running side hustles most of her life, it seemed natural for her to take it to the next level using the savings she'd made. She knows people don't typically view her as smart, that they look at her as a bimbo- and doesn't care. She sometimes even leans into the role if it means she can turn people underestimating her to her advantage. She throws awesome parties, knows all the cool people on campus, and has all the best self-care tips and tricks. She also delights in embarrassing her older brother at every opportunity.

Grif is a chemical engineering student- at the time, it seemed like a good idea. He had a dream, you see, to develop a banana flavouring that actually tasted like bananas, a grape flavouring that actually tasted like grapes. By the time he realized it would be a lot more complicated than that, it was too late- he was committed. He now spends his time suffering through and scraping by in all the core engineering classes, learning about motors and thermodynamics and waiting for the light in the tunnel. He passes his free time by developing a tier list of all the pizza joints across campus, and perfecting his own brownie recipe (with and without weed).

Simmons is an electrical and computer engineering student. He was always a nerd, but until he gained a bionic arm, he'd been leaning more towards the theoretical side of the sciences. After that, though, he was constantly studying in his own time, learning how to tinker with it and improve its performance- which naturally brought him to engineering. He's the kind of keener who does all the readings well in advance, visits every office hour even when he doesn't need help just in case there's interesting discussion, and stays after class to chat with professors. He pretends to be tired of Grif leaning on his to study for the things he doesn't find interesting, but he secretly enjoys being the smart one who can lecture his friend on a topic.

Donut is a vet sciences student- he grew up on a farm, surrounded by and caring for a myriad of animals, and kept the passion for it throughout his whole life. He plans on specializing in bovine and equine medicine, which means he doesn't get grossed out by much anymore. It throws people off when he cheerfully discusses sticking his arm inside a cow's ass- but he's so desensitized he doesn't even consider it, much to the dismay of Grif and Simmons. He and Kai are the residence's biggest supporters of self-care regimens, regularly getting together to discuss skin care while they give each other manipedis. He also enjoys wearing novelty themed earrings... when there isn't a concern of a patient biting them.

Sarge is the RA for the red team... and while very few people know it, that's actually the umbrella term over his true role as Faculty in Residence. He's a member of the engineering faculty, specializing in combustion modelling. After developing the Stagnation And Radiation Generalizing Equations method of computation and modelling (SARGE method for short), he was granted tenure and celebrated as a pioneer in his field. However, over time, he was left in the dust as the field was largely dropped in favour of more environmentally friendly things like electric vehicles. Very few people remember his contributions to the field now, and he's never really asked to teach classes, so he was appointed RA so the pay wasn't going to waste... and he's thrown himself quite cheerfully and passionately into his work.

Wash is a walking disaster- and by that, I mean he's in his third year, has no declared major, and is still trying to figure out what he wants to do with himself. Formerly part of the university's Project Freelancer, a research placement that recruits undergrads into a high-pressure work environment for very little pay, he's found himself burnt-out and exhausted. Being given a work-study position as the peer mentor RA of Blood Gulch Hall is a relief- it doesn't pay, but it's free housing and a waived tuition fee for the year that gives him time to figure his shit out. Unfortunately, his reliance on the job ends up becoming another source of stress... and it's a while before he learns the motions of living and working with his fellow residents.

...Obviously there's way more to it, more characters, more lore tidbits that I've yet to sprinkle in, et cetera. But this post is already long enough, so if there's interest, I'll probably post that another time.

[starsnheroes]

So what are Clint's thoughts on the various members of his thunderbolts team?

ANONYMOUSLY ASK ANYTHING -> Accepting All Anons, Asks, & Memes

So this needs a little preface that I personally thing that T-Bolts / the writers fundamentally misunderstand Clint's character, as well as I think T-Bolts is a poor follow up on the Freefall storyline, which I do think was an interesting turn for Clint's character and than there was no continuation or pay-off, or more there should have been more.

There should have been a longer run for Freefall, or a Hawkeye book or run that explores how exactly Clint goes from end of Freefall, to making his way back to being included in greater superhero society.

I just think it's a poor handling, or there could have been a lot more. There's also the fact that it doesn't acknowledge that Clint is a good leader to most degrees; that he had for the most part done well with the WCA and than the original Thunderbolts? It's good, I'm reading that right now, and I feel like the very short T-Bolts run sucks for content, because it's just too short and not building up anything, besides the next big world ending arc event.

That and when I say it misunderstands Clint's character, they needed to show more of the aftermath of Freefall and see Clint having perhaps legal struggles, or see that something happened in those years between, to explain why he wouldn't be riding on Luke Cage a lot harder, cause Clint hates PR, hates marketing, and Tbolts feels corporate, like Clint made it clear if he had been alive during Civil War 1, than he'd have stopped the Superhero Registration act with A BULLET, and even in Civil War 2, he was again removed from that action; and he's the one who gave Carol this unknown to the readers deux ex machina to end the second one; like Clint to his core, would be against what is happening in the current canon of NYC in Marvel comics; like everything that we have based on this character that builds his personality, would be against this, like his last major character arc; we literally see him go against these laws, and be ronin, and like. . .

at the core, when he is presented with everything by Luke and the "PR" manager of the Thunderbolts "project", he should have been more against it based on what we have decades on his character; and he just agrees so quickly. like it just. made no sense. should have been handled differently. like clint was literally thinking about leaving new york, to start a team, because outside new york there weren't legally sanctioned teams / all these extra laws on superheroes, it's just in NYC. LIKE. he was going to leave, start somewhere else, where he wouldn't have these rules and things.

So just to preface, the mun's own bias about the 2022 run, and that will affect how i respond to this and what clint's thoughts are; and to be honest, I did not know most of the characters (i know one of them is new/created for this comic) before literally they appeared in thunderbolts.

like i don't know a lot about the others, so some of this is affected by the fact, that i know nothing of the others beyodn their tbolts appearance and my feelings of 2022 run is very poor.

But to preface a well, that I don't think there is anyone that Clint dislikes on the team. He likes the team, sees that roaster is good, but there's again in the really the issues lie with the fact that I don't think this Tbolts run understands Clint, or goes into the depth of why he would take on this team; like it doesn't recall on the fact that Clint was part of the original Tbolts team, as their leader in their attempt redeem themselve and turn their lives around.

LIKE I'm giving all this preface, cause like, I am a bias human, and thus this colors how I react and view things, and that to go into how Clint feels, which is generally he likes them, and respects them. wee gotta go into why i don't have much of an opinion or more to say there.

also just the way that no one really respects or listens to clint's lead or orders, as the leader. and like they do have moments where they allow him to be written as competent and doing a good job.

it's also why for my blog canon to explain why clint is not super good in this, or why he kind of seems to be a doofus that fumbles (which have we not established that's a bit of an act for clint), is the alcoholism and that he is an alcoholic ("functional") and that perhaps that's playing on clint more and affecting him

ANYWAYS TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION UNDER THE CUT

MONICA RAMBEAU

This is who Clint knows the most about; they have been on teams together and been in the same sphere of each other plenty of times before as superheroes. Monica was on the East Coast Avengers team for a team, when Clint was running the West Coast Avengers; and worked together due to WCA Annual #1 (read it im not going into the plot of that).

He knows Monica, likes Monica, and trusts her. Clint knows what she was capable of, and is glad to have her on the team because they go years back at this point, before any of the other team members.

Clint has a great deal of respect for her and has known her from all her alias, from her being Captain Marvel, to Photon, to Pulsar, and now Spectrum. He is definitely glad to have her on the team, because he's old guard and she's old guard; and there's solidarity and understanding found there.

AMERICA CHAVEZ

This is the next person that Clint knows, personally knows. That's Kate's best friend, so he knows about her. Knows her deal, and has personal opinion formed on her. He likes her, he finds her dependable and knows she's a good kid, a good person. Why wouldn't she be?

They've worked together, were both there for Kate's West Coast team, and there's enough a history there to know how she operates and how to work with her. He respects her and he's glad that she's on his team.

VICTOR ALVAREZ

The new Power Man. Clint would know Victor from the Avengers Academy, although he was not a teacher there for long; but he would know at the least that he's a good kid, and than he would have known from through the extension that he was on the Young Avengers, which was Kate's original team.

He also gets that this is the personal tie in for Luke, because Luke's the original Power Man, and now Victor bears that title. SO Clint comes from Luke's side of view, in knowing what it's like to have a legacy and share a title. So he knows that there is some pressure on his shoulders, and tries to really give Victor some slack on that.

KARA KILLGRAVE

Clint knows that she has been around, may as well be counted as old guard as well, but he's never ran much over lap with her. He knows of her, doesn't have too much of an opinion, besides knowing what its like to be worried about being their own father, about being in their fathers' shadow. He knows to give her the benefit of the doubt. There's respect there, knows that she's got to live up to and redeem herself against.

He's still getting to know who she is, since Clint's rarely ran in the same circles as Alpha flight, even if he did run in the same circles as Carol Danvers and Monica Rambeau.

Terrible taste in sports team though.

GUTSEN GLORY & EEGRO

Who the fuck are these guys? What the fuck are their deals? What's Gutsen's powers?

Clint's gives people the benefit of the doubt; and he doesn't really get the say on who is on his team or not. So he can't say anything more on that, would he have these two on his team if he had control of that?

Probably not, because Clint would need to know them a little better; he would need someone to vouch for them. and that someone, sure can't be the government to vouch for them. The government's word can mean shit-all to Clint. Just look at US Agent coming into the West Coast Avengers.

He doesn't like unknown entities or trust government-vouched for individuals.

NOW He doesn't dislike either of these two; but he doesn't have a good enough read on them. He'll trust them, cause he has to; give them the benefit of thde doubt and extend trust first before judging them harshly (if earned or deserved).

[minalblood]

So the cancellation anouncement came 😞 but Imma still be on my bullshit and doing my rewatch. I hope they're able to shop it around cuz I'm way to invested in these characters now.

But back to our shit. Episode 6 Art of Dying. It's honestly one of my favourites as well, this time focused on Lata aka the Dean mirror d'jour. It's very significant that Dean's voiceover here speak of who the actual monster is and when does that line begin to include you. Because fuck knows he's one of the few people who can actually fully speak on this, having gone through every iteration of monsterhood on the show. So for this episode I'll get a bit into that if y'all don't mind: what is a monster in supernatural. Now that's a broad question so let's break it down a bit. We have monsters as species (aka anything non human in spn case) and monster as behaviour/moral value ( anyone at all and henceforth refered to as monstrous to make a dif when talking). Sorry for all this, I happened to write my bachelor's on this topic so I've many thoughts about it ( but won't be delving into that today). Now Dean has been both at various stages (though personally I'd argue the monstrous has been more sparce for Dean) and has seen people become both (including loved ones). And it's both that we'll be seeing in this episode as well tho whether one person will inhabit both is another question we'll round back on.

It is interesting as well that this is one of the few episodes that have Dean's voiceover at the beginning and the end of the episode.

But let's return to Lata, who while Dean is giving us forshadowing and heartache, is trying to do her meditation and is unable to because of Carlos and John bickering in the next room. As fun as the scene is, I do find something to pull at with it, because it's, at its core, an oversimplification of dealing with trauma while hunting aka you try to but there are always interruption, always more important things to take away your focus so that, much like Lata here, you end up worse off then when you started. Fun line to add here, John saying "I'm not obssessed, I'm thorough" could literally be his life motto because this line just encapsulates his general approach to ... most things tbh but trauma certainly and as discussed, the trauma he's had pushed to the surface in ep 4 has yet to be dealt with and, moreover, he's actively pushed it to the side to help Mary deal with her own trauma in ep 5. So at this point John is in the same both as Lata, in need of an outlet and not having been able to process anything due to interruptions. But unlike Lata, who is trying to cope as best as she can, John is hyperfocusing on the task at hand despite not having any leads as Carlos makes clear. Carlos who has actually been working toward progress on the Akrida front because they have contacts they can approach and avenues for more information to take. John has neither, he's not been doing this enough time to have built any connections like that (and in spn we know he chooses not to built any connections like that with very few and often quickly fading exceptions). God I love that both Lata and Carlos give him two different choices in how he could deal with his issues. It's been a constant open helping hand from them and Mary and John has pushed it aside everytime. It is deeply frustrating to see but also very much in character.

Deanna mention! Eyyyyy!

Tracy is Mary's equivalent to Dean's Lee. Like sure the relationships are wildly different but both Tracy and Lee ultimately represent the same thing for Mary and Dean, hope for a normal life without hunting only to have that dream crushed because of the way both Tracy and Lee went about achieving it, through monstrous means in both of their cases. They are both the exception to the rule (they got out) while simultaneously acting as a cautionary tale about how far should you go to achieve your goal/dream. And while Carlos says they were being dramatic in the Pilot about how hunters end up, it was still the truth, so much so that Mary was shocked to realize she actually does know someone who, as far as she knows so far, got what she wants. And John has to point this out to her. So again, it's the exception to the rule not the norm and in this case the exception isnt even fully accurate because of how Tracy left things.

Another fun fact I thought bout while grinning like a dumbass whenever Carlos spoke this episode? It's their general approach to hunting that has kept them alive this long ultimately, the "mellow out" that John was so pissed about, the "how much weed you could grow" comment. It tells me that while Carlos clearly understands the urgency and pressure and responsability of hunting, they also know not to get lost in them, not to consume themselves trying to solve a case. Carlos, it seems to me based on what we've seen, has learned very early on that things being taken seriously does not mean you have to torture yourself if you can't do something right that instant. Something the Winchester's have never really been able to do. It's made clear multiple times that Carlos does remember the people they weren't able to save and the people they personally lost, but at the same time, that loss and those past failure have been used as a learning platform, get what you need outta that experience, deal with it, then move on as much as you can, put all those experiences into being better in the future, there's no point killing yourself over something you can't change, you just learn to do better going forward. And while Carlos treats things seeming without any seriousness, I've been mentioning every episode how in truth they are the ones who've been behind the scenes, putting (likely very stylish) boots to the ground, a perfect counterpart to Lata's intelectual work. They may act irreverent, but they certainly do the job when it's necessary.

"Kill or be killed" is how Tracy sums up hunting life and while Mary, Carlos and John all have some degree of resignation/grief about that statement, Lata's reaction is different. And we of course know why, shes a pacifist, she doesn't kill, can be killed sure, but hasn't so far. This episode Lata feels most like an outsider to her friends because is she a hunter? By Tracy's definition she def isn't, by Samuel's definition she like isn't either and ofc Mary in the Pilot def didn't think she was hunter material. But this is overturned by the end of the episode (will add thoughts then)

*cannot believe I've written this much and only watched 7 min of the episode*

And speaking of Carlos again to prove my point! Mary, Lata and John are checking out the body and then Mary notices Carlos isn't there. Turns out they just took off a bit to investigate on their own and brought back a vital piece of the puzzle, a claw. Once more Carlos is putting in the work, doing it flawlessly all while also finding the space to make jokes. It's honestly this trait of theirs that most reminds me of Dean.

I love the funeral scene 🥲

I will say it is much more spiritual and culturally significant that what we have in spn, but we've seen close-enough funerals on spn. We see it with John's a bit, despite the focus there being complicated mess of feelings about what John's last words were. We have Asa Fox's funeral that is very much making clear there is a hunter's culture and it's important and we see it with Cas', the reverence with which Dean wraps him up in 13x01.

There is something else significant about the funeral scene though. And it's the illusion shattering for John. I think he'd likely convinced himself when he found out about Tracy and after the convo in the van that actually hunting isn't that dangerous, see people can get out, Carlos was just dramatic. But the funeral and the fact that there is a ritual to it for hunters made it real for him and made him aware of the danger Mary has been and is in every hunt she goes on and that no matter how good you are ("Darla was one of the good ones" has multiple meanings here) you are not imune to death.

Tracy having completely removed everything related to hunting is a perfect parallel to spn!Mary and her having done seemingly nothing to prepare for the 10 years coming up (Tracy has been out of hunting for 10 years too btw)

I love that Lata talks about her concerns with Carlos, that she doesn't keep it in. And I also love that they don't give her empty platitudes as a response. It shows Carlos genuinely listened to her and took it in and is considering her stance.

Anton!!! Yesssss!!!

The way Carlos freezes after just shit talking Anton omg. The pure disaster bi vibes are immaculate! And it's still less disaster then Dean and Aaron 😂

Deanna mention once more, she's maaaaybe in Minnesota or was recently. Deanna and Samuel have separated in the past, something Mary seems surprised by. Samuel was the one to go get her back which is intereting here, with Deanna being the one to leave the home... so in this case Samuel is a Mary mirror and Deanna is the John mirror (think Dark Side of the Moon Mary and John). But like I said before, the Winchester-Campbell romantic relationships seem to have always been fraught with a on again off again vibe. I'd like to mention Sam and Dean both count here as well ( think both Cassie and Lisa and Cas, even Benny, for Dean, Sam and Eileen obviously, even Sam and Amelia work here tbh, we might've seen it with Jess had she not died since we know Sam was lying about who he was to her)

I do like Tracy's advice to Mary though, she should look out for number one, herself, but there is a way of doing that without having to step on corpses which is where Tracy fucked up.

I love and hate this thing in Anton's shop, I see it everytime it's on screen and it always startles me. Sorry, entirely left field but yea... it haunts me so... y'all have to see it too

John really thought he was doing something here. He has been dying to make this case somehow related to the bigger picture he is in fact obssessing over, but in doing so he jumps to conclusions. Not a good look, jumping in thinking you're right without having all the info, especially with hunting where having the wrong info will get u killed (read spn!john was a shit hunter teacher/leader to Sam and Dean because he withheld info)

"Mac was impatient and took of after it" John hears Tracy tell them and decides to just do the same shit... goddamn.

I appreciate Carlos patching John up, cuz medic! Wish we'd see more of that.

I adore it when Lata is enjoying her morbid curiosity about monster physionomy. Cuz I get it! And Anton being the same is soo fun. I also have to give her props for how she saved Carlos there, gave them an out since they're really all over the place with Anton. But in doing so she kinda revealed a bit about herself. I hope the fact that Anton's reaction to Carlos being "squeamish" was to be understanding probably on some level helps with her own issues regarding where she fits in as a hunter.

The sheer joy on her face at the ectoplasm is just soo fun!

I love that Mary confrunts John here, and I say confrunts but really what she's doing is checking in and trying to offer her help, giving him another option to deal with his shit, in addition to the ones he got from Lata and Carlos at the beginning of the episode. And once it's clear he's not willing to listen and may pose a threat to himself and them, because he isn't thinking through his actions, thats when she brings up taking a break. She does get him to talk a bit. Ohhhh, I love that she hears him mention the funeral and what he thought about it and rolls her eyes. Because she has tried to make it clear from the get go what the stakes are, she's never had the benefit of ignoring the life and death of hunting so John coming here suddenly claiming to be spun out because of that is not just ridiculous, but almost insulting, that he's essentially putting his behaviour on her. Absolutely love that scene. But the moment John says he isn't joining, I knew he was going to do the stupid thing.

Ok, we're getting into the Mac of it all and that usually gets me fired up so let me just mention this about it: Tracy and the others thought Mac was paranoid bout them attacking him so they decided to ... and here's the kicker... attack him. Thus validating his worry and completely proving him correct aka Mac cannot be described as paranoid, Tracy, because paranoia requires irrationality and you fuckers attacked him exactly like he feared thus rationality.

More about this : Mary is correct when she says Tracy lied. Tracy said Mac ran impulsively after the soucouyant and the cave in just happened, that was a lie. Not a lie by ommision (tho that too is still a lie), but a true complete lie, and def not a "didnt tell you everything" situation. And here we get into monster/monstrous territory again with Carlos saying they've been hunting the "wrong monster". And I do genuinely believe that when Carlos refers to monsters, they do so as monstrous aka the behaviour makes them monsters not anything inherent to their species.

Ah, "wielded him like some kind of weapon". Lata really summed it up perfectly here. And the contempt on her face and in her voice are exactly how I feel about it ( and about how Dean was treated throughout, Sam and Cas and Jack too tbh) I also adore that Tracy keeps trying to rationalize her (and the other's) behavior but no one is buying it. Appreciate that a lot.

"Started a farm and played make-belief" is also a very important line because yea thats what she did, but more importantly, that's to some degree what spn!Mary herself tried to do. Moreover, the story makes it clear that Tracy actually does not understand Mary's reasoning for quitting hunting at all. That distinction is important. And the similarity between spn!Mary and Tracy's situations is also important. Because while spn!Mary was planning on leaving hunting, it was ultimately the fact that she lost everyone tying her to hunting that actually got her to leave, not a choice she made for herself, but rather one made for her when Azazel killed her parents and John, her only choice then being to revive John to be able to move forward in some way. John also made it easy to play make belief as well which helped. But even then Mary didn't actually kill anyone, it wasn't that kind of guilt that made her quit hunting. But it was still the consequences of hunting and choices she made while hunting that led to her death, much like Tracy nearly dies here.

Sooo yea, I am very very mad about what they did to Mac and I will continue to be.

God, John you are so dumb.

The fucking handprint on the barn door of the soucouyant is soooooo Something Wicked Striga vibes and I hate it, but John is behaving similar enough that the tiny call back is relevant af here.

I will say, it is very important I think that while they did recognize the similarity to Mac, Mary, Lata and Carlos instead chose to offer help to John, multiple times, each in a dif way. And on a macro scale, I also wanna say the way the show tackled this is important to me, because like I've been saying, John here is very spn!John and as I've said before, I kinda hate John in spn a lot. But even with the parallel drawing from Mac and my being angry on behalf of Mac here, it doesn't detract from the fact John is and has been (and technically will be if nothing changes and spn happens) fucking up. Pretty badly. But it is never brushed aside or excused. He is offered help, yes, but he is also challenged and confrunted when he goes overboard or tries to rationalize his own behaviour. Mary makes it clear she won't stand for him using her as an excuse not to deal with his bullshit, but she is there for him anyways. Ultimately, John is both a Mac mirror and a potential Tracy mirror here, the way Mary is an imperfect Tracy mirror. It's not 1 to 1, it can't be, but it's the ways it compares and contrasts them that make it so interesting to delve into.

Another fun thing, Mac is very clearly only after the people who hurt him, he pushes Carlos outta the way, but doesn't kill him. He only tries to attack Mary because she keeps preventing him and even then he tries to just push her outta the way.

I love that Lata doesn't try to say she knows what Mac went through, because she can't possibly, but she can let him know what she's been through and allow him to make the coice for himself whether he thinks she understands him or not, whether he needs to keep the cycle of violence going or not after he listens.

In other news, Lata's story here, after knowing what happened, is so much more interesting because while yes, her hitting her father after what happened to Sonia was a response of her anger and it did have the consequences of him responding to it by taking it out on Sonia, part of that anger I think also has to do with Lata leaving without Sonia, something she did also out of anger. It was both these things that cost Sonia her life. So Lata is right that letting urself drown in anger until it consumes you is wrong and there is a choice to be made there. But Mac is also correct in that their stories are different enough that there are other things he needs answers to. Because that was the thing with Mac, he needed to understand why they did what they did when he trusted them.

For all that I've shittalked Tracy the last few paragraphs, her parting words to Mary are the whole point, cuz yea, it wasn't the hunting that was the issue, it was Tracy's decisions that compromised her life outside of hunting. Tho I will say, I personally dont think returning to hunting is the only way she could've made up for things, that was another choice she made. Because ultimately what's done is done and no good you do going forward will erase the past. But also, no bad you did in the past can erase the good you do now. So it's less about hunting, more about Tracy asociating hunting with doing good and thus alleviating her guilt. She could've found something else to do that would've put good into the world, but this was the one she chose/preferred.

Oh Carlos, I love you for having actually taken the time to answer her question afterall. Also love their friendship soooo much. The very thoughtful moments and the ones when they bicker.

John making progress is soo nice to see. It's so good that it's not just him saying Mary was right, but actually offering a bit more information to her, opening up. And then trying to do something about it all by joining Lata. It's an odd feeling being proud of John Winchester, usually my thoughts about him are that I wanna punch him in the throat. And there was plenty of that in this episode tbh, more than the 1st 3 ep of the show had, but I don't actually mind the pride either. It's sth about people changing and being willing to try that gets to me.

I do love the symetry of the end of the episode. The meditation, Dean's voice over, the interruption. It reinforces what Lata said, it is a choice. One she makes everyday, even with the interactions, even with the world's fate being in balance, even with cases like the one they just did hitting waaay to close to home. Still she chooses to try again and again despite them, for herself and her own happiness.

See y'all for ep 7 I guess and still hoping for a season 2 cuz I'm way too invested in these characters not to want more.

[egg-emperor]

sorry can you tell that I've had enough and that this was kind of the last straw lol

first of all: what the actual fuck

second of all: this was my response that's long enough that I look insane in my YouTube comments but it's just normal for me here lol

The small moments of humanization for Eggman in previous games were so much lighter and more in character because they didn't try to apply things that were impossible for the type of character he is to feel or change to do so reasonably. So it feels jarring and forced in this game for them to suddenly play it up so much. This kind of stuff doesn't work for every kind of villain that exists and some of them should just be allowed to be evil, expected to be what they were created to be without wanting to change every single thing about them and make them into a different person, taking away all the things that are appealing about them as evil characters. Evil can be fun and entertaining and characters don't always need a good side.

You can believe we need more villains that are humanized to the point they're redeemed and aren't so bad and stuff but... I have absolutely no idea how people are thinking that this works for Eggman, I can't fathom it. The whole point is that he's a deeply selfish self centered egotist, which is exactly why he wants to take over the world. He shouldn't be expected to be able to care for others because his core important character trait is literally against the entire idea and that's why they didn't show that before now. They really tried to disregard the defining traits of his entire being to try to make this happen and I don't think this is a good thing.

Also we definitely shouldn't want to become Eggman and he's not the type of guy we should redeem. The guy that carelessly harms animals and the environment, manipulates and gaslights people into getting what he wants, is carless towards innocent people getting hurt and sometimes even tries to target them intentionally like when he tried to blow up Station Square in Adventure, tries to kill Sonic and friends who are children sometimes as young as 8 and saying it will be "[his] pleasure" to do so, enslaves other beings to force them to work for him and keeps them there by causing them pain and fear, mistreats his creations and other robots severely by yelling insults and hitting/destroying them, has no remorse or empathy for all the people he hurts in any way, terrorizes the world to try to get what he wants- a world where he rules and forces people to worship him with no sense of self and freedom ever again. I can go on and on. There are some characters that have gone so far that you cannot convince me that after all this time and all they've done, they'd very abruptly change in heart like that.

Eggman isn't a flat or boring villain just because he didn't have a good soft side and empathy and he doesn't need to be given one. Eggman isn't someone they should use for us to try to be inspired by and want to become, not every villain needs to be to be great characters. He's a monster but he can be funny and he does have feelings and passions but just not ones that involve caring for others. Humanizing a villain, fleshing them out, and making them feel real can be done without suddenly implying that this character can suddenly change in 5 mins after 30+ years. It's very poorly done and I can't understand how the English version's lazy cheap attempt at forcing a dynamic to try and get emotions out of people is actually working. But then I remember it's because people don't actually like real villains and want all of them to change. Sigh...

I'm so glad that this was toned down severely in Japanese and presented in a way that feels so much more like him and actually adds up with his behavior and actions in other games and actually considers and respects them, instead of forcing a huge drastic change of entire character at the end like they did in English.

[brightgnosis]

If another neurodivergent person with multiple mental illnesses and conditions is "anxiety inducing" to other "neurodivergent people" by having a clear cut and forward page about their own boundaries for interacting with them on their own blog ... To the point you feel the need to send them a completely random Hate Anon about "typical Wiccan behavior" instead of just moving on if it ain't for you?

Then you have far bigger mental issues (and multiple issues at that, clearly) to deal with than my incredibly limited request for literally the barest, and most basic iota of respect because I don't want to be treated like a brainless content farm by zombies who can't be bothered to interact with me like a person anymore ... In an age of social media which actively encourages everyone on the internet to treat each other as subhuman.

Like, starting with your exact participation in that system by sending Hate Anons in the first place ... Though, honestly, I literally cannot fathom how the core ideas of:

"Don't have a blank blog because it's common tumblr courtesy to show others you're not spam; actually customize your blog and I'm going to assume you're spam or just not putting in any effort to learn this site's etiquette (etc), if you don't"; and

"Actually interact with me and my original (non-content) posts or go away, because there's no point to you being on a personal blog unless you're interacting with the PERSON behind said blog", and

"I actually DO pay attention to who follows me, so I will boot you if you don't follow my rules and / or I just don't like the content of your blog and think you'll wind up being Drama"

Is so difficult for people to understand- or even "anxiety inducing" on any level ... Let alone "typical Wiccan behavior"; like oh no someone asked you to treat them like a person- and then told you exactly how to do that, and what behavior makes them feel Human online!

A. I love having clear cut knowledge of exactly how to interact with people in their spaces. It's so nice. Some people aren't like that, though, and that's cool. You don't have to be. But don't piss on others who do because you don't like "the rules" you were handed for their spaces. Especially using your own neurodivergency as an excuse to do so, oh my God ??? Grow up; you're not the only model of neurodivergency to exist.

B. Y'all are really reaching with that one, wow. Because I literally had these rules well before I was even Wiccan. It has nothing to do with Wicca. And the absolute best irony is that I got praised for this same exact set of rules before I started calling myself NeoWiccan, and told it was "so nice to have a clear set of boundaries to follow" by other Anons ... But now that I'm calling myself Wiccan, suddenly it's bad and "Typical Wiccan Behavior"; your hypocrisy's showing BIG time, y'all.

C. Though, like, frankly? At least you could've had enough respect to put your name to it so I can avoid clearly anti-Wiccan people in this shit hole. Because if you don't want to interact with me because I'm Wiccan, I'm more than happy to oblige because I don't want to interact with y'all either; I keep a permanent block list of people from the Wiccans DNI tag so I don't bother y'all. Y'all could have the same basic fucking courtesy. Good Lord.

You don't have to be here. I am not holding a gun to your head and saying "you must follow me or else" ... If you don't want to be here because you think it's too much effort to actually treat me like a human being, cool. Clearly my blog isn't for you, and I wouldn't want you here anyways.

Hate Anons are literally the last thing you need to send, however. Just move on instead of acting like a child; go back to Twitter or whatever other platform you came from where that behavior's acceptable, if that's your way of interacting with people and you're going to get big mad about someone putting their foot down and saying "not here in my personal space".