#like it’s just kind of funny at this point lmao i just look Odd and that’s okay 🤧

[jamesbukkakebarnes]

🫥

[unhinged-transmasc]

"If you go on T you won't look like a pretty anime boy, you're gonna look like an ugly man!" is so funny because I'm SE Asian, have been on T for 3 years with subtle (but satisfactory) changes, and definitely still have been told I look like an anime boy or a K-pop idol (because racism.) I do like to take care of my appearance and make an effort to look nice and stylish, but that's not a "pretty anime boy" or "K-pop idol" thing, I'm just A Guy who wants to look nice and pretty and cool. It's such an odd statement cause from my perspective it definitely does not consider the experience I described above, LMAO. It's assuming a "little white girl who doesn't know any better and likes anime" person, or something like that. (Just putting this out there because transmascs of color definitely need to be heard more, and transitioning on T experiences are all very very different.)

And anyways, the condescending way people talk down to trans men who do want to look like their cute/pretty fictional men transition goals is so weird... Like, what's wrong with that, anyways? Some fictional guys are really designed nicely, and may give new perspective on masculinity or maleness that people IRL may not show depending on where you live. Anyways, I think even if T changes you to be more masculine than you expected, you can still present in a way inspired by characters and styles you admire if you so like.

And the other side -- what's wrong with looking like an "ugly" man? I feel like that's saying any masculine trait is "ugly," so if you think that please reevaluate yourself. Looking more like a man Is Kind Of The Entire Point. Many transmascs will embrace that masculinity, and that's not anything bad, wrong, or poisonous. If you think it makes them look uglier or more like a predator or enemy, I want you to know that is not a very kind mindset to have toward transgender people, or to any man in general; it's rather in poor taste, and shows you are not an ally to transgender people. So if you do desire to be an ally, I urge you to reevaluate yourself and challenge yourself on what being a "man" entails, what being "masculine" entails. Because it's not inherently immorality or ugliness, it's just a gender.

This framing of masculinization as something to be warned against, that we don't know what we're getting into is not very cool, definitely ignoring we have our own agency and choices and feelings about our bodies. Like, when we go on T, often we know what it will do to us, and what kind of person we are gender-wise. We're making that choice for ourselves, absurd that we're treated like we don't know any better. We know. Don't treat it like a warning that we'll become less desirable types of people.

[inmyheaddd]

dancing with our hands tied - grayson hawthorne x reader

a/n: grayson hawthorne talk about ur feelings for once challenge GO! warnings: jealous grayson 🙈, kind of angsty, mutual pining lmao, kissing, fluffy at the end wc: 1.4k masterlist

grayson hawthorne was a lot of things. but to you, the most important thing was that he was your best friend. as odd as it was, considering he didn’t really have friends to begin with. 

you don’t even remember exactly how you became friends, it’s like you woke up one day and it happened just like that.

your boyfriend of 3 months had just broken up with you, even though you were honestly planning on doing it first.

you were hurt, nevertheless, because you really hoped this time would be different at the start. you’d been trying to get over your stupid crush on grayson for ages now, but they were all futile attempts. 

he had never once shown any interest in you, in the years of knowing you, so why would you wait on him? if he clearly wanted to stay friends so badly, you’d stay friends. 

grayson could feel himself itching to tell you how he felt as you complained about how everyone was always wrong for you, but it wasn’t the right time. it never seemed to be the right time, and he couldn’t risk losing you. 

he hated himself for doing it, but he did it anyway. he briefly mentioned one of his ‘friends’, and how he had some interest in you. 

grayson said it would be good for you to go out instead of letting your abomination of an ex (his words) get to you. he never thought you’d actually go through with it.

 —

“what is your problem?” you scoffed at grayson as he glared at you from the doorway, his posture rigid. you sat on the edge of the bed, hastily fastening the straps of your heels.

he’d always be been caring, there for you, even funny when he wanted to be, which is why it was so odd for him to be acting like this now.

“i don’t have a problem,” he replied flatly, though the tightness in his voice said otherwise. 

“yes, you clearly do,” you shot back, your patience was getting thin. “i don’t get why you’re acting like this all of a sudden. you tell me to get over my ex, and then when I try to, you get mad?”

grayson’s jaw clenched, his eyes narrowing. “i didn’t tell you to get over your ex. and i’m not mad.”

“grayson, do you hear yourself?” you scoffed. “don’t even try to lie to me about not being mad, i know you are.” 

you gave him a pointed look before focusing on your shoes. the silence from his side was deafening, so you added, “whatever, just leave already. i have to go.” standing up with a huff, you tried to brush past him through the doorway.

but grayson moved faster, stepping in front of you, his hand gripping your waist— it wasn’t harsh in the slightest, but it still stopped you in your tracks.

“don’t go,” he said, his voice low and strained. “I know men like him. you can’t even call them men; they’re merely boys.”

you glared up at him, your frustration boiling over. “you act like everyone’s below you, grayson. i’m not a child, i can make my own decisions.” you looked him up and down, “besides, you were the one who mentioned him.”

his grip tightened ever so slightly, his eyes filled with something you couldn’t quite place. “i know that, but this isn’t about that.”

your brows furrowed, and your stomach felt heavy after hearing the emotion in his voice.“then what’s this about?” 

he was silent, again, so you sighed and went to get out of his grip to leave. he reached out for you before you could take a step, “you’re right, i’m mad.”

you scoffed again, “yeah? it didn’t take much guessing for that.” 

you saw him hesitate slightly. grayson hawthorne, hesitating — that’s something you don’t see every day.  

“yes, i’m mad. i’m mad at your imbecile of an ex for treating you how he did, i’m mad at myself for pushing you away and suggesting you go on this date, i’m mad at the whole universe it seems, but i’m not mad at you.” he looked at you so intently, with every word he said striking you to your core. 

you could feel the anger dissipating from your body as you looked into his grey eyes.

“never you.” he said softer this time, with a light shake of his head. 

“what are you saying?” you didn’t intend for your voice to come out as quiet as it did.

“i’m saying that it’s killing me everyday to see you with people who don’t deserve you,  who don’t treat you how you should be treated.” again, he hesitated, “who don’t see you the way i see you.”

you blinked, caught off guard by the vulnerability in his voice. “and how do you see me?” you asked, your voice quivering slighty. 

grayson let out a breath, his eyes searching yours as if he were trying to find the right words. “i see you as someone who deserves the world. i see you as the one who makes me want to become a better man.” he paused, “i see you as the only person who’s ever made me want more than what i have.”

you could feel your heart pounding in your chest as grayson’s words hung in the air between you. “then why didn’t you say anything, grayson? you had so long.” you questioned as your brows furrowed.

“i was waiting,” he trailed off, “it always felt like the wrong time. there were always complications with me that you didn’t deserve to deal with. you deserve someone good for you.“ he took in the way your brows were no longer furrowed, and that you weren’t angry anymore, so he spoke more lightheartedly.

“if i can’t be that for you, that’s fine. but i know clear as day that the man who posts his new cars on social media bi-weekly isn’t.”  

you let out a small chuckle, not even realising how your eyes had start to prick. you blinked back the tears as you spoke up, 

“but you are that for me, grayson. you always have been. i wish you would’ve told me sooner.” 

his brows furrowed slightly in genuine confusion, taking in your words. “i mean, ive just been trying to get over you with these guys.” you looked down at your feet briefly as you talked, “i thought— i thought you wanted nothing to do with me, so i tried to find someone else.” your gaze was focused on his now, “it never really worked, though.” 

“i’m glad that it didn’t.” the sincerity in his voice told you just how deeply he meant that.

for a moment, you just stood there, taking in the weight of everything that had just happened. “i’m glad it didn’t, too.”   

“i apologize for just telling you now, it was inconsiderate of me. i know your date will be coming any minute now.” his eyes softened, “if you want to go, i understand. you—“ 

“—grayson,” you cut him off with a small laugh, and he found himself smiling at the sound. “why on earth would i go when you’re here right infront of me? he’ll be fine; he talks to half of the female population.” 

he let out a small breathy chuckle, his shoulders visibly relaxing for the first time that evening. “i want to do this right with you.”

“everything you do is right with me.”

he took a step closer, his hand had moved  from your waist to your jaw and tilting your chin up slightly. “is this?” he asked quietly, swallowing thickly with hesitation.

you nodded, in a daze, and he leaned closer, his forehead almost touching yours. you could feel the ghost of his lips on yours as your breath hitched. 

it would’ve been impossible to hear him if he wasn’t as close as he was. “is this?” you felt his breath fan across your face as you nodded, and in a split second his lips were on yours. 

his hand moved to where your jaw met your neck, and his other hand moved to your waist again. you reached your arms up, wrapping around his neck.

when you pulled back, he was smiling, seriously smiling. you couldn’t help the laugh that escaped your lips. 

“what?” he asked, and you could hear the smile in his voice. 

you shook your head smiling, “i’m just happy, that we’re us, you know?” you looked for the right words, then spoke again “just me and you, but for real this time.” 

“i know. for real this time.” he echoed with a smile that matched yours, before pulling you into another kiss. 

the pieces had finally fallen into place, they had just taken a good long while to do so. 

taglist: @x-liv25-jamieswife @wish-i-were-heather @thecircularlibrary @whatsamongus

@anintellectualintellectual @tornqdowarnings @maybxlle @sheisntyou @emelia07

@littlemissmentallyunstable @sweetlikeanangel @midiosaamor

[kaeyachi]

NEW CANON KAEYA TIDBITS FROM THE KAEYA HANGOUT PT. 1

The heavy lore post will be posted later! These ones are just more on his personality, likes and dislikes, and brief history hehehe

SPOILERS BELOW!!

I'm doing things in bullet point form coz wow there's a lot

Was the gentle and polite child! Also frequently got sick. Addie frequently took care of him in those times hehe. Is it possible that this is because of his experiences prior to getting to Mond? Travelling as a child would have made him vulnerable to tougher weather and rapidly at that. I doubt that food comes easy too. Additionally, HE WAS LEFT IN A STORM. I still think Kaeya is gentle and polite, though he definitely gives the face of charming and sly (if it benefits him and it works then might as well keep it going!)

Kindness is so inherent in him that he automatically does kind acts. He only acts like he has an ulterior motive, and tbh? I bet that act is only to keep people away. I think I made a oneshot about this saying his biological father may be worried about this tendency? Or something similar. Worryingly enough, Kaeya clearly has a hard time accepting words of affirmation from literally everyone. Heartbreaking to see in action.

Diluc is a menace, asking Kaeya to help him in his mischief, tsk. Kaeya apparently also helps Diluc in the punishments he receives. Kaeya ended up doing the most of it :( (what are the odds of Kaeya also doing Diluc's paperwork while said redhead was out on the field? What if the reason Kaeya wasn't with Diluc and Crepus during that one fateful 18th birthday because he was covering for Diluc's shift...). Tbh? Kaeya never stopped covering for Diluc. Even now, he is still covering for Diluc (DKH).

This one set off alarms in my mind. Kaeya was apparently not a very good liar when he was younger. I now definitely think that Crepus knew Kaeya lied about his origins. The question is, did Diluc know Kaeya was not a strong liar before their fight? Or did he remember afterwards and was immediately faced with even more guilt?

He might actually have a sweet tooth! Dear god look at the number of desserts he ordered. Do note that Death Afternoon is a mixture that lessens the bitterness of Dandelion Wine. Additionally, Kaeya wasn't interested in wine when he was younger, he only grew into it because it reminds him of home after he left :( The Cider Lake drink is also sweet! And I'm guessing plain chicken mushroom skewers weren't sweet enough, so he decided to add fruits to it. I THINK CREPUS ACCIDENTALLY GOT HIM INTO LIKING ALCOHOL AFTER CREATING THE CIDER LAKE DRINK LMAO. Crepus suceeding in preventing alcohol intake from one child and ended up giving it to the other

Fairly sure he was being flirted on here by an entire group of mercenaries and just didn't realize which would make things extremely funny. They saw him and immediately went "we need to see that body in the dance floor ASAP". What if he doesn't realize he is being flirted on until he is slapped in the face with a confession? It's also funny if he flirts up a storm and not realize people are flirting back lmao

So I was right... he was not kicked out. He moved out on his own. Diluc is fine with him frequenting Dawn Winery, expects it even (lol my short 1 shot makes sense now). The staff keep asking him to come back and visit more frequently. Adelinde says that Kaeya is always part of the family. They become so happy when Kaeya comes back, it's like a weight is lifted off of everyone's chests. IT'S KAEYA WHO KEEPS SAYING HE'S A GUEST AND SEPARATING HIMSELF OUGH. He's the one trying to stay away after all :((( Let's summarize this: Kaeya was the sickly, quick to bruise, kind, gentle, and polite child who everyone in the staff (and Diluc) adores and still treats like he is their baby, but said baby of the family KEEPS LEAVING. Go home Kaeya!

Klee keeps looking for Kaeya! And Kaeya reads her bedtime stories!!! Hearing her voice ask where Kaeya was broke my heart, I think I'd like that used for angst purposes. Kaeya is once again letting a mischievous pyro user get away with causing mischief. Kaeya you enabler lmaaaoooo. Kaeya frequently rescues Klee from solitary confinement, done so enough times that Klee now does the same for him (I bet she thinks Kaeya is in solitary confinement whenever he's busy doing paperwork). Not to Kaebedo/Albekae you guys (I am Kaebedo/Albekae-ing you guys), but I'm fairly sure Kaeya and Albedo spend so much time together with Klee. Again, frequent enough that Albedo has tons of drawings of Kaeya (the 3 brushstrokes is a popular meme, but it actually is just a way to say that he has drawn Kaeya a lot. Bet he could draw Kaeya with his eyes closed haha). HE GOT THEM MATCHING GIFTS THATS ADORABLE

Speaking of gifts, he's a great gift giver! He really listens to people's needs and wants. What a thoughtful man (Diluc was right in his letters in hidden strife though. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF KAEYA). Speaking of, I'm guessing Kaeya is rich? Because I'm fairly sure the gifts were bought with his own pocket money and thus the huge amount of travel funds remaining (the gifts are expensive, surely it should have put a dent to the said funds had he used them)

THAT IS ALL FOR NOW, I MIGHT MAKE A PART 2 BECAUSE I WANT TO TACKLE MORE STUFF BUT THE PHOTO LIMIT GOT TO ME

[perfectfangirl]

i'm not new to the fallout fandom but

and i also haven't made a written post in years but yet i'm sure there's already discourse on the tv show about it on here with me not finding it right away but i'd like to talk about how cooper [the ghoul man] decided to unalive and butcher another [going feral friend] ghoul, roger. though terrifying and universally morally reviled... i think it's a genuinely interesting choice of him to me with having his companion hostage [vault dweller] lucy around. morally, on the scale, it was oddly compassionate, for lack of a better phrasing. stay with me now! [ghouls just do not perish under usual circumstances in this universe and that guy would've been doomed to a "life" to fallout's equivalent of zombism] and though obviously i do not like that he did that [lmao like i'm repulsed despite very much knowing how the "fallout" games can go down, i mean there's a cannibalism perk 😭] i still think it was choice. and i think he was thinking about lucy when he made, despite how um how disturbing that entire scene was fldgld listen. when he went to the lead farmer's house, they thought so lowly of ghouls, that man and his son genuinely thought he was eating the farmer's daughter 😭 and until further episodes, i'm basically of the mind he'd probably only consume either bad guys or ghouls or both who are about to turn but anyways. back to the main point. cooper already has to face the prospect that he could be one of "them" any moment too, since he was no vials himself in that episode. so it was duly hard for him to watch--- knowing that person like that and then seeing them slowly turn. i think he knew even with any vials, that man was finished. compassionate might be a very odd word for me to use here but i say this for a couple reasons. it's "compassionate" for this universe, at least. the wasteland is cruel and unforgiving. if cooper was just after meat, why... he could've just had lucy. but i think it was an interesting choice to consume a friend type person and a [going feral] ghoul. he's not even consuming a regular ghoul. he put down one who quite literally was already turning into a feral one. it's giving "lost cause" [this show hurt just like the games, swear] looking back on the scene, he kind of tries to have a [last] warm conversation with him. about food. human food. rewatching the scene now, i actually barely caught the fact that cooper shot roger as he was looking away from him. like, my goodness, he didn't hate this man at all. this was mercy k ill if there was one. in the back of my mind, i keep thinking "was this his call to make?". in a lot of ways, i'm still on lucy's side about everything. but lucy isn't a ghoul. and i don't live in the fallout universe. there's always some type of alternative yet this is what cooper thought he should do. a few episodes later, lucy can't reason with a ghoul anymore and has to do the same thing [minus consuming them]. i guess it was his call. she is gobsmacked that he's really about to butcher and eat that man and it's kinda funny he asks her name. some insane foreshadowing that's intriguing on subsequent watches no less. i want to keep this a little short for sanity's sake--- but like. when lucy asks cooper how does he live like this. why keep going. briefly. for a short moment. while he's turned away from her. he remembers. he wishes. he misses. who he was. before all this. then, feeling contempt for who she thinks she is, he makes her butcher roger. and it was in that moment i realized cooper was for sure playing a character to cope. but that's a post for another time, wastelanders ⚡

[sukirichi]

Okay so I’ve always wondered, let’s say in another universe (but still in the DTD setting but this time he IS infact a prince so all the secrets that were unfold in the later chapters never happened), where Rintaro was actually able to marry Iris and Yuzuru ended up being one of his brother’s wife instead (most likely Kiyoomi’s 🤭), do you think he would probably still be attracted to her after getting to know her as his brother’s wife???

I feel like he would have regardless, but maybe he wouldn’t act upon his feelings since he “loves” Iris so much, or maybe he still… would??? 👀 I mean his actions were pretty unpredictable when he was a prince since he always needed to have it all. But I know for sure that Yuzuru would definitely be loyal to Kiyoomi if she was in love with him first. She would never cheat but I can’t say the same for Rintaro lmao.

Basically I just wanted to know if he would have been attracted to her regardless, or not.

oooOHHHH I love this question! to answer your question I think the answer would be yes! he’d still be attracted to us! I think it starts off slow – that he doesn’t realize what he’s lost until we’re at one of the family dinners and iris is being moody and distant… he tries talking to her, tries lightening up her mood with wine but at that point iris is just her plain, bland, irritable self. and then there’s us, sitting on kiyoomi’s lap, throwing our head back in laughter at whatever he’s saying and his hands are on our waist and god rintaro is seeing red because he used to be in kiyoomi’s position once. he used to be one that made us laugh. and he knows his brother – kiyoomi isn’t that funny. so he just stares and sulks and wonders if he’d done the right thing after all. he’s married his ‘first love’, he’s gotten what he wanted. he should be happy, right? so then why doesn’t he feel celebrating?

if on the same dtd universe though and you mean that rintaro meets us after he’s married iris, and therefore we never went down the route of him wooing us and such, then yeah I still think he’d be attracted to us. and again, he wouldn’t notice it at first. several of his brothers have partners already. it isn’t anything new. but he just can’t help but think you’re so pretty, and his quiet, reserved brother being with someone so bright and bubbly just seems kind of… odd. it makes him curious, so he “observes.” meaning he watches us a LOT. and during gatherings, he learns that you’re so easy to talk to, that you’re so kind and your heart is too big and pure for such a terrible place such as the palace. he thinks maybe kiyoomi made the wrong decision of bringing you into the family, but then he wouldn’t have met you.

one thing leads to another and you’re right, he does have this mindset of “I’m the crown prince, the only true heir, I need to have it all!” would he cheat? hhhhMMMMMMMMM AGAHSJKA emotionally cheat, yes. he’d slowly stop paying attention to iris – which wouldn’t make a difference, since the two barely talk and they seem to be hating each other’s guts through this marriage upon realizing they have no similarities at all, and rin thinks iris is too greedy and bratty – and focus more on you instead. across the dining table, he’ll watch the way your lips move when you speak, wondering what it’d feel like on his.

he’ll “coincidentally” visit the library during your reading hours and pretend he totally did not know you were there. he also totally didn’t read all the books you like just so he’d have something to talk you about. and then he’d innocently ask to walk with you in the gardens simply because he wants to spend more time with you. he knows its wrong, and his feelings are pointless. you’re so in love with kiyoomi that you’d never look at him that way

I hope this answered your question though!! I had fun answering this GAHSJKAA because yes!! he totally would’ve fallen for us regardless 💖

[starr-finn]

Hi!!! So I got something (a request) for u :)

- Anyways, it's for Faith (John) bc as that one Tiktok comment said, 'sometimes babygirl is a 35 year old man'

- So reader isn't necessarily religious, but she comes along with John on these 'missions'(?) to make sure he doesn't go completely insane

- (This was suggested by Father Garcia, saying that it would be good to make sure that he doesn't go mad with grief or something)

- Reader is somehow SO optimistic and like a ball of sunshine all the time???

- Like she (or they idm too much) always manages to be somewhat optimistic and always focuses on the good side of things?

- Like, we almost died? Yeah, almost dude! We did it :D

- At first John finds it kind of weird but he kind of grows on it?

- At one point, John gets really down and sad about things in like, the clinic or whatever, and Reader's like 'Don't worry, we'll make it, you and me! :)'

- She just turns around (like this ig) and gives him a really warm smile and John's heart go BOOM BOOM (💀)

- And John's like 'Oh no I like them in a not platonic way ohno'

- Idk where this is going lmao 😭

AHHHHHH BESTIE YESSSSS!!!!

John Ward X Reader

Author's note: Reader is so Bubbly, it's odd in this time the game takes place. Minor angst and depictions of injury potential minor mentions of gore, reader was stabbed like 7 times, poorly written Catholicism mention again lol and very random additions to the story I made up because why not, no mention of the abortion clinic cuz that's my least favorite part lmaooooo

John had never met someone like you, You were so joyful! Sure, he thought it was funny, and oddly cute sometimes, But sometimes, the sheer joy was off-putting and sometimes uncomfortable. He didn't fully understand why you seemed so happy and cheerful in the situation you both are in together. He remembers the day Father Garcia told him it was a good idea to keep you around, claiming it was good for mental health to have someone else around to talk to in these situations. He never understood that, but he was willing to keep you around, he thought you were nice. He genuinely cared about you, so when you got attacked by a couple demons, and were left in the clinic at the base of operations you guys all set up together, John almost lost his mind, he had seen you get stabbed, and he was told by the guy they had running the clinic that if he hadn't been so careful carrying you in that you may not have made it. John was basically crying when you were put into surgery, you were bleeding so badly, and he swore he thought he could inside the wounds, He felt so gross after seeing you like that. John was pacing around outside listening to Garcia tell him it was going to be ok, and then the doctor walked out, and gave the news you were ok, and John never cried that hard in his life. He was given the ok to go in and see you, and he wasted no time. The sight of you laying on a stiff, uncomfortable bed, looking tired and defeated, while also smiling at him, made his heart feel a way he hadn't felt since he married his ex-wife, he knew the feeling too well, but he never expected he'd feel it for you of all people.

John walks over and sits beside you "How are you feeling?" He seemed scared, but happy, and you had a feeling you knew why

You smile and gently brush his hair back "Like hell...but hey, that's better than what I felt earlier!"

John chuckles and ruffles your hair softly "You're so strong..."

You smile and lean closer to him, closing your eyes and falling asleep. John blushes a bit and smiles, he felt he would never come to terms with the way he felt about you, but, he knew he would protect you with his life, even if it meant losing it. To him, you were a gift from a god he had been losing belief in, a god he worried forgot him. You were special to him, and he never wanted to lose you. He stayed sitting beside you for a couple hours until he was forced to leave, but it became routine, he'd stay with you for hours until you were cleared to leave, and while you felt it was a bit odd, you were happy to have him close, and he was happy you were ok

[beevean]

a star ⭐ AND a query: are there any particular notes you have for Rain or What We've Lost and What We've Gained?

Ohhh!

Not much to say about Rain, it just came from a prompt and the idea that Hector would be "odd" enough to prefer rain over the sun. I'm not particularly proud of that one, to be honest, although I liked writing from Rosaly's POV and I took the chance to flesh her out a bit without straying far from what we know of her: she's disgustingly cute, she trusts Hector unconditionally and doesn't judge him for his weirdness, she's traditional in many aspects including having prejudices but willing to meet Hector halfway, and in short she embodies the better qualities of Christianity. I tried to incorporate other symbolisms, such as comparing Hector to a snake echoing his edgy moment in PtR, or Rosaly coming to appreciate the rain because it does kind of resemble his beloved in a way. And as I said in the notes, I just wanted to write a fully happy Hector for once lmao, let the man have one joy in the trauma conga line called his life :P

WWLAWWG is dearer to me, because I wrote a big part of it after suffering a loss - Julia's words about Isaac and her blaming herself for not loving him enough resonate too close to how I was feeling back then. I have all the feelings about her relationship with Isaac :) and i might have teared up a little when i wrote "i just want my big brother back!"...

It's worhty of note that it was born out of an idea that has little too do with the general theme of the fic - that Hector and Isaac can't have children due to their powers, something that would weigh on Hector when married to Rosaly as he'd see it as yet another consequence of his mistakes - and then spiralled into a much more wholesome headcanon that at last fixed all my grievances with the idea of Hector going to live with Julia. Maybe in the game Rosaly's makeshift orphanage doesn't exist... but nothing stops me from integrating it into the setting >:) I also go absolutely feral over the idea of Hector becoming Dracula, but this time in a positive way: by welcoming unwanted children and actually raising them with love, not to use them ;A;

Julia is a fascinating character for me to write, because she is a big big liar lmao. "Unlike her brother, whose thoughts and emotions were akin to a river in flood, and unlike Rosaly, with her clear, crystalline honesty, Julia was a placid lake, surface smooth and undisturbed." I could have phrased it better, but I liked the imagery here: Rosaly was gently honest and Isaac was brutally honest, but Julia hides everything behind her smile and slightly witty attitude, and Hector knows that something is lurking under the surface, and it's only a matter of time before it breaks the illusion. makes you wonder why she's like this...

I also tried to make Hector sound a little different here. This is post-CoD Hector, this is a Hector that has fully affirmed himself and his own agency. He's no longer the boy who would let himself be eaten alive to fill someone else's void :) it was very important to me that he took the decision to remove himself from a toxic situation, while still not looking like he was simply running away: I'm proud of myself for the idea of leaving the Devils with Julia, who in Kojima's art is shown taking care of them. There is something to be said that in theory, Julia would be an even better companion for Hector than Rosaly, because she fully understands Hector's powers and "curse", and being shunned because of it, and they can both be fully themselves around each other. This alone makes me imagine that the two would keep in touch through their lifetime, even from a distance.

(similarly I like the part where Hector muses that trying to assign blame on one person is eventually a futle endeavor, becase "it would always return to its starting place". You can't run away from grief, and what's the point in blaming dead people or yourself?)

And as I said in the notes, it's funny to me that it's the very first fic that used the Hector & Julia tag lol. But I still feel I wrote them as rather romantic, even though it wasn't my intention, perhaps for the moment of vulnerability they share together. I suppose you can read them as having the potential to fall in love, but kept apart by their trauma, which is the whole point of the story lmao.

and finally, this

“Then I’d better start packing as well,” she snorted, “for you seem hardly willing to part with your money.” “With all due respect, one hundred gold for a short sword may be on the excessive side–” “I’m simply teasing. Forgive me, but your pride is too easy to prickle.”

was a heartfelt jab at the game, specifically at my first playthrough where I didn't know how to stop being too poor for her shop :P

[xmoonlitxdreamx]

Notes/thoughts/interpretations/critiques on p. 1-7 of the junker short story "a friendly rivalry"

I'm not much of a reader but I thought I'd try to read the junker short story since it's available for free now. I took page-by-page notes on my thoughts/impressions while I was reading, which I'll put below. :0

This is only the first 7 pages because the latter half of the story was kind of confusing for me (a lot of combat that wasn't making sense to me), but I'll try to give those a proper read some time too.

(Please note that I'm critical at times because it's easier for me to write about things that don't work rather than do work, so if you don't like reading critique this might not be for you. I try not to be too negative or upset sounding but idk not totally sure how I come off in these notes. personally I'm like Extremely Neutral™️ about the story because I don't really care much about reading in the first place so lskdfjlsdfj)

This will prob not make much sense unless you have the story open at the same time, just a heads up;;

Page 1

Narration is 3rd person mostly limited to Junkrat’s thoughts/impressions (aka narration is in 3rd person but comments/etc made in the narration is indicative of Junkrat’s perception of things)

The cover art made me think it was gonna be from Roadhog’s POV but nah it’s mostly Junkrat

Narration refers to Roadhog as Junkrat’s “best mate” (implicitly Junkrat’s thoughts, so Junkrat thinks of Roadhog as his best mate)

Roadhog possibly nervous & Junkrat is able to pick up on it OR Junkrat is nervous & projecting his nervousness onto Roadhog (as the story progresses, it becomes clear that it’s the latter)

Junkrat calls Junker Queen “Queenie”; can be interpreted as affection for her or disrespecting her

Junkrat thinks he and the Queen have a mutual respect; Roadhog disagrees; indicative of Junkrat’s inability to accurately assess his relationships with other people I guess

They sell boba at a bar in Junkertown apparently LMAO?? I always interpreted it to be that Junkrat picked up the taste for boba from traveling around the world during his heist spree (tho honestly Junkrat’s boba interest was just a fun thing they added based on a fan question about Junkrat’s canteen iirc so I kinda get not taking an earnest route with this lmao)

Sludge pit = some sort of punishment for criminals in Junkertown I guess. Also Junkertown has a jail. I guess there is some sort of criminal justice system in Junkertown idk.

Footnote on p. 1 is kinda funny (meant to emphasize that Junkrat’s a blabbermouth) but tbh I always took Junkrat’s “secret treasure” to mean “Junkrat has a treasure but no one knows what it is,” not “Junkrat has a secret and it’s a treasure.” (Junkrat telling everyone/bragging about having a treasure is in line with my headcanon though)

Unclear if this story takes place before or after their heist spree. Honestly continuity-wise it doesn’t make much sense either way; it kinda more feels like the heist spree never happened.  (If it was before the heist spree, its weird that Junker Queen would try to execute them here but then just exile them later. If it was after the heist spree, it’s weird she let them back in Junkertown just to execute them since they’re not her problem anymore.)

Page 2

Roadhog’s “worried look” was apparently just him waiting for Junkrat to shut up, cementing that Junkrat’s perception of Roadhog’s emotions was just Junkrat projecting his own worry onto someone else

This is a formatting thing but I don’t like when books have big blocks of text on the page from stuff that hasn’t happened yet LMAO why are they showing me spoilers.

It’s reveal on this page is that they’re here to be executed. Tbh this is kind of tonally weird to me, like I know Junker Queen wants Junkrat and Roadhog killed but it’s kind of at odds with the kind of cartoonishness of how the story’s written. (cartoonishness elaborated on in later bullet points)

Anyway the execution reveal also reveals that Junkrat’s perception of him and Junker Queen having “mutual respect” is something he made up

Junkrat is social in Junkertown and he seems to likes the people there, but he isn’t liked by the people (exemplified in part where someone throws an egg at him); apparently has some sort of sentimentality for living in Junkertown even if no one likes him

Scrumbo Wigley is a ridiculous name.

Scrumbo Wigley’s name & someone throwing an egg at Junkrat = cartoonish tone of the scene

Roadhog taps Junkrat on the shoulder to get his attention -> kind of a light touch from Roadhog which is cute to me, but tbh it’s probably meant to just shift the attention of the scene lmao

Page 3

Idk why “look” was italicized here, it felt kind of unnecessary since “gave him a look” already means “gave someone an irritated look.” (I’m just an italics hater in general tho dslfksdjfsd)

Junkertown has a premium sausage stand

The Outback Bill bit kind of emphasized the cartoonishness of the scene again; entire listing of the crimes bit intended as humorous. (Outback Bill part in particular felt so random to me, like trying to do an “avatar cabbages guy” bit in like 3 sentences)

Outback Bill crime suggests Junkrat and Roadhog blew up some people for fun (I guess the sausage stand was their target but some customers also got blown up; unclear if just injured or killed, but given the intended humor in the scene it’s probably not supposed to be anything serious)

Cartoony tone makes it feel kinda wild that they’re getting executed but I guess it’s more of a Colosseum battle than an execution

Junkrat is apparently not intimidated by Junker Queen given that he banters with her about her not wanting to fight them herself (though later he’s scared of her when she comes down to the battlefield thing so maybe that was just fake confidence.)

Junker Queen apparently finds Junkrat and Roadhog funny/entertaining (biscuit incident) which tbh makes it all the more random to me that they’re getting executed imo

This doesn’t exactly work tonally imo (again, hard to tell if there’s any gravity to this battle or if it’s just supposed to be wacky silly) but Junkrat getting pissy and saying “unbelievable” like a disappointed grandma about having to fight Wrecking Ball is pretty funny

Footnote on this page says that city factions (demolitionist, wrecker, etc) apparently work together or something I guess. Not really sure what they’re trying to suggest with this footnote; I guess it emphasizes the idea of Junkertown being self-sufficient or something. Or that they’re all destructive and violent, but like. In a community-building way.

Page 4

Roadhog pulls Junkrat out of danger (this isn’t new, he did this in Going Legit)

Junkrat eagerly joining in with the bantering/heckling conversation (?) in the crowd -> emphasizes his chatty/friendly personality, wants to make friends

Junkrat largely unaware of what Roadhog does during combat & focuses more on himself; incorporates Roadhog into his plans when it’s convenient for him; possible that it usually works out/Roadhog usually does what Junkrat asks given that it seems to be a regular occurrence (“Roadhog, catch me!” happens at the end of the story too)

Junkrat uses “wicker basket” as a swear. (???????) Again, this kind of just highlights the cartoonish/silly tone of the story

Page 5

Wrecking Ball’s reveal is also very cartoonish/unserious. Personally I don’t really know what to do with Wrecking Ball’s reveal in this story; it’s kind of not cohesive imo but I guess it’s sillay which seems to be the main goal of the story so it’s like fine I guess

Junkrat saying “It’s alright, Roadhog!” is another instance of him projecting his fear onto Roadhog and comforting himself in the guise of comforting Roadhog

Idk I’m not an action story reader (or a reader at all LMAO I never read) but the action feels kind of slow paced. Maybe because it keeps getting interrupted by jokey cartoonish things

Writing kind of too literal at times for my taste (eg: “He threw the grenade.” -> not much rising tension to this moment, almost seems like he does this casually. For example maybe there could’ve been a tense moment between the heckling from the crowd messing with Junkrat’s confidence or something (knowing that he seems to value the approval of people in Junkertown or is at least affectionate to them) but idk the scene ended up feeling very literally like “the crowd chanted -> Wrecking ball started spinning -> Junkrat aimed at Wrecking Ball -> Junkrat threw the grenade” without much investment)

Outback Bill gag happens again on this page (more cartoonish tone) but like he’s not bothered by it so good for him I guess

Junkrat’s scared of Junker Queen on this page; wasn’t much explicit indication of his worries or fears about Junker Queen before this (mostly just the implicit stuff with him projecting onto Roadhog which was very light), so idk to me this felt kind of out of nowhere for him to be explicitly scared especially since he bantered with her earlier. There’s also been like very little feeling of gravity through the whole thing (see: cartoonish moments) so it was hard for me to feel scared with him.

Apparently no one cares about Junkrat’s treasure. This suggests that Junkrat hires Roadhog just to protect him from the Queen’s men who want him dead since he’s a troublemaker. Tbh this is totally at odds with Wasted Land, where the Queen’s men are threatening him to give his treasure to them or something. Personally I think it’s just better drama for Junkrat to be wanted by the Queen and other greedy people in Junkertown for his treasure, with that being the main reason he hires Roadhog. Plus I think it just kind of ties in with his apparent theme of wanting to be liked by people: there’s something interesting to the notion of a guy that no one likes or wants to be around being literally wanted/coveted for his treasure

Junkrat’s kind of hurt when the crowd groans at him in annoyance but acts proud about it; suggests he’s not oblivious to people’s opinions of him and does get bothered when people find him annoying and don’t like him

Page 6

Crowd kind of feels like a studio audience or something at times LMAO kinda just emphasizes the cartoony/silly tone of the story

The reason given for Junkrat finding the final door is kinda wild lmao like he just fell in from holes in the roof??? Guess it’s again just supposed to emphasize his ~zany nature~. Either that or he like maneuvered his way in like a rat, but the phrasing makes it kind of unclear exactly what he did imo.

Junkrat’s “saucy wink” at Junker Queen meant to emphasize the importance of his eye and also make him flirt with Junker Queen I guess

“The crowd considered this” again kind of literal writing; I guess here it’s especially supposed to be snappy comedy but idk if it was working for me

There’s an abrupt free-for-all for Junkrat’s eye, which is kind of at odds with earlier where no one seemed to want or care about Junkrat’s treasure. I guess they’re all that curious to know what’s behind the final door? Idk the free-for-all would make more sense if the previous part about no one caring about Junkrat’s treasure wasn’t included.

Point of the free-for-all idea here that Junkrat revealing his treasure was supposed to be something he used to get the upper hand, but instead became something that gave him the lower hand (?); aka shows Junkrat is not able to read the room, is poor at manipulating/negotiating, and is always flubbing things

Page 7 (last page I read carefully)

“I thought you were gonna say idiot” -> suggests Junkrat values Roadhog’s opinion of him, insecure about himself (overcompensates when he suggests “Junkrat you’re a genius?” because he’s insecure)

Junker Queen saves Junkrat from a knife, so I guess his plan to reveal his treasure to Junker Queen did kind of work as leverage to get her on his side

 Junkrat never told Roadhog what his treasure is or where it is; not sure what’s meant to be implied here, it’s kind of weird that he’d never tell Roadhog especially since this story emphasizes Junkrat being a blabbermouth. It’s possible that he was saving the details specifically for a situation like this so he could use it to his advantage. Initially I thought maybe Roadhog said he didn’t know either as a lie (because he doesn’t trust Junker Queen) or because he forgot (suggesting he doesn’t actually care much about Junkrat’s treasure), but the end of the story makes it seem like he really just didn’t know anything about the treasure.

Roadhog agreeing about looking forward to Junkrat dying was kind of mean-spirited imo LMAO like I guess supposed to be just a joke given the overall cartoony tone of this story + the unserious atmosphere it’s created surrounding execution, and I usually don’t mind when Roadhog’s kind of an asshole to Junkrat, but that was kind of out of pocket for me lskfjldsf

Other misc notes:

2nd half of the story is kind of action-heavy (since there’s no heckling from the crowd anymore) which is kind of at odds with the cartoony tone of the first half imo.

Specific detail I liked: the idea that Junkrat projects his fears/worries/nervousness/etc onto how he interprets Roadhog and that he talks “Roadhog” through his “worries” as a way for him to verbalize his own fears and work through them. Basically this quirk allows him to believe he’s still a cocky, self-confident person when he actually has worries or insecurities. (Like “These aren’t MY problems or worries, they’re Roadhog’s!” but like they’re clearly his.) I guess it is kind of a selfish reading of Junkrat in that it seems like he doesn’t really understand Roadhog but idk for me I think it makes sense for him to be kind of a self-centered person most of the time.

I also kinda liked Junkrat being chatty with some people in the crowd and him being sentimental for Junkertown and its people. Honestly all the details I liked were so minor; I kind of wish they were somehow expanded on a little more. Especially think there could have been a lot more tension between the crowd & Junkrat’s desire to be liked or whatever vs how that might affect (and distract) him in combat. I mean it was literally a crowd, they could have very explicitly made him try (and probably fail) to be a crowd-pleaser. (Like there was a little of this but not much and not in a way that I found super compelling while reading. imo)

I think the main thing for me is that the writing was very straightforward or literal so most of the time was spent describing things that were literally happening instead of writing with a particular theme or goal in mind. Unfortunately I don’t really have a ton of examples of what I mean so. Whatever LMAO;; I think this kind of story just isn’t really my taste in the first place since I like moody/introspective stuff more than combat-heavy stuff. The lightheartedness was like fine I guess but I did feel like it was frequently awkward when couched between the combat scenes. Again I don’t have examples/evidence of this off the top of my head so I may be totally off here but the writing style felt a bit like describing an action movie or cinematic rather than being a work that utilizes writing to portray action scenes. That’s not really a big deal to me because I’m not expecting like amazing writing from Overwatch (it’s primarily a fps not prestige literature) but idk maybe it would’ve worked better for me if it was animated or a comic or something.

Sorry for the Junkrat-heavy notes; the story was mostly from Junkrat’s POV in a way so it was easier to write notes about him than other characters. maybe I'll have more to say about other stuff when/if I try to reread the last couple pages of the story.

Anyway thanks for reading if you did! Hopefully it was interesting to someone!;;;;;

[randomrabbidramblings]

Random speculation about "Rayman in The Phantom Show"

[A bit of story related theories from what we have at the moment. I only know Rayman's lore and abilities in a very superficial way, so if you know more about him and want to add something, feel free to!]

First of all: I find it strange the objective is just to fix Phantom's Space Opera Network's ratings… Will it make this a more open worlded Tower of Doooom? Nothing wrong with that, I'm just wondering if there will be more plot to this than we got told. How could Phantom possibly convince the Heroes to do such a thing after Kingdom Battle? And where would his expected song fit into the story? He seems like he's gone on the good side, so… no Rayman roast? Unless it's a friendly roast? I find Phantom's heel-face turn a bit odd.

[I'm very torn between hoping for him to betray the Heroes at the end and having him as a final boss, or actually having a friendly (or at least passive) Phantom. Both lead to a very fun time, lol. Evil Phantom thinking he got them all while Beep-0's like "I told you guys!" and nice Phantom trying (in vain) to convince the Heroes he's not a villain this time.]

The enemies seem to be all the kinds of Darkmess infested baddies we've already seen in Sparks of Hope and The Last Spark Hunter. They are called "supporting crew" by the narrator, so maybe the place isn't infested with them, unless it's all an excuse to hide the fact Phantom's show has disaster ratings because of them.

There are Darkmess eyes and puddles too, so looks like the DLC is set in between the previous adventures and Cursa is still around. Or Phantom somehow managed to get his hands on some of Cursa's minions, but this doesn't explain the Darkmess.

We can kind of piece together what's happening in this scene: seems like Phantom just made his entrance after the lift scene seen in the trailer (there's its staircase behind him) with Rabbid Peach and Rabbid Mario reacting accordingly. We can also get some info about the environment. It seems to be the entrance we already saw in the trailer. On the corners of the floor there are dirt mounds? Is that dust or sand? Is the building in a desert or just very dirty? In Phantom fashion, like the old theater in Spooky Trails, the place seems a bit run down with ripped wallpaper revealing bricks, torn curtains and glass on the floor. At this point I'm wondering if the problems with the Space Opera Network are due to the Darkmess infesting the place or to Phantom's... very poor understanding of "keeping the workspace free of hazards".

This is the lift Phantom is seen coming out from in the trailer. And of course it's one of the few things not damaged in some way. He has standards! I don't know what's with the green color theme for him instead of blue, but I like it! I imagine this lift connects the various sets we've seen. In this floor there seems to be some minor sets for different shows, like a cooking show with Alkementor, some kind of music show with DJ Cheep Tuna (no more stranded on Beacon Beach, Augie seems to have finally paid him, lol) and one with a red Spark. I think it's some kind of dating game? There are three hearts on the background screen and the floor has the shape of a pink letter.

Phantom in his intro scene and on the poster has three spotlights on him. Probably a callback to the ones that kept him invulnerable in each phases of his battle in Kingdom Battle or maybe they are hinting at another boss fight. Either way, he sure does seem like he's very afraid of ending up like last time with the spotlights following him even when he's inside the lift, lmao. It would be funny if he sometimes popped up in places where physically there shouldn't be any spotlights, but still lights shine on him for some unknown reason

Finally, I wonder if there will be Phantom's backstory portaits like we had with the Wardens. They could explain a lot of things, especially how and why he's apparently not evil anymore. I don't know how they managed a (supposedly) good guy Phantom, but I bet he's going to be very annoying (in a good way, lol) and a very insufferable boss to his crew. Reminds me of another insufferable, drama-causing Rabbid from Spooky Trails we've already encountered.

[obsoleteozymandias]

Hello! If you're still doing them, could I please get a Baldur's Gate 3 matchup? I hope you don't have too many, I know that matchup requests tend to pile up very quickly so I apologize if you already have a lot. 

Irl I'm AroAce but I am attracted to fictional characters, so any gender works for me. I am also genderfluid (she/her is fine), autistic and disabled with joint pain, asthma and sensitivity to cold. I'm a professional librarian, witch (and pagan, I write a lot about both things), herbalist/ethnobotanist and athlete. I really enjoy working out and getting big muscles, and I'm thinking about competing in either the Highland Games (at my state's Scottish festival) or the Paralympics. I have to be really careful with my breathing when working out and stuff because of my asthma, but I'm very stubborn so I make it work somehow lol. I'm a really odd mix of athletic and scholarly - I'm a librarian and I love plants, I can name almost any plant I find on the side of the road, but I also really enjoy being strong and impressing people with my muscles. I like to describe myself as an irl Shounen anime protagonist - I'm very spunky and determined, like if I'm going to be a witch or an athlete I'm going to be the best witch or athlete. I'm a little perfectionistic in that way but I also know when I need to take breaks. 

I love plants, I have a myriad of houseplants that I care for very deeply, and I also really enjoy cooking and baking. A big fact about my appearance is that I’m very short, I'm under 5’ (152 cm). I also have really wavy long auburn hair, glasses, big muscles, and I love collecting shirts and clothes that I think are funny. I once bought a really ugly pair of pants because they were called “gamer pants” and I found that hilarious. I'm basically if a girl was also a lame boyfriend and I love it. I'm generally a little confident and I like who I am, but I get anxious and awkward sometimes. People are actually a little surprised by my real chaotic personality because I usually put up a pretty sweethearted demeanor so they get caught off guard by some of my antics. That being said, I genuinely adore taking care of people and I like being nice to others. I’m also both a walking trivia machine and a himbo, so I know tons of facts but can’t figure out how to turn the wifi on lol. I really just do my own thing and I don’t keep up with pop culture or trends, so I’m clueless about most movies and series and things. 

Sorry if this is too long, I got a little too into it lmao! I hope you’re doing well, and thank you!

The AroAce-but-not-for-fictional-hotties (/j I cannot emphasize that enough) army is growing. We will conquer and we will kill. 

== Baldur’s Gate 3 ==>

I match you up with…

Karlach

Pre-relationship:

You and Karlach get on from day one. Your kindness gives her a sense of belonging amidst the morally grey characters in the party, and yet your chaotic tendencies make her laugh like no one else. 

Thus, she’s pretty smitten with you from day 1. 

She also likes that you’re intelligent and strong - you’re everything rolled up in one dorky package that she deeply admires. 

When you wrap up her wounds after she gets injured, you can practially hear her infernal engine exploding with emotion. 

She’ll constantly ask you about the plants you find, amazed you can identify them. She’ll make you bouquets of the nicest flowers she sees, and it’s all so terribly romantic. 

Confession: 

Karlach tells you how she feels point blank, but in a nice, private setting with some flowers for you. She wants you to know how she feels, and she isn’t afraid of that at all. 

Relationship:

You two are a force to be reckoned with on the field. You both knock in goblins’ heads together and look into eachother’s eyes lovingly as you do. 

She likes your penchant for wearing silly clothes. She enjoys that you are so put together and confident, but also that you let yourself be silly and whimsical at the same time. 

She’s always there to help you when you feel awkward, and there to cheer you on while you tear up both the physical and intellectual battlefield.

Y’all are perfect for each other, enough said.

[mincedpeaches]

rvb19 post

So I’m writing this post without looking at a single other person’s post about the season so my thoughts may solidify more after this and even change a little bit, because a lot of times people are better at putting into words and meta my own thoughts that I’m not as good at articulating. But at the immediate aftermath. I’m like. It’s fine? I suppose? And I think I will sour more on it over time. Maybe even by the end of this post. I definitely would not call it good. The best way I can describe it was:

It was a collection of scenes.

And you might say, what? For years Red vs Blue was a collection of scenes, the show was broken up into five minutes episode chunks! And I would say yes, but also it was masterful in that those episodes felt like they were woven well into a complete story too. This felt like it had story beats that it wanted to hit in the script (Tucker!Meta, Sarge Dies, Tex and Carolina in cool (“cool”) fight scene) and did it without regard to character. Except the Grimmons scene after Sarge died and Wash/Doc bit. Which I’ll get to later.

The info dumps were odd, it felt like the first ten minutes clearly wanted to remind us of some things (in case we forgot I guess), but took other things at face value (479er+freelancer cameos for example). If you think about the plot for more than five minutes I think breaks apart easily (why did the Reds+Caboose end up at bases again after Chorus, why/how did Tucker leave with all the AI, why did Epsilon leave messages for the reds and blues instead of CAROLINA)

Also going back to story beats w/r/t to character, I think it also really failed to expand on anything that the previous seasons had laid down. It’s always been a tall order after the character arcs of Chorus, but the bits where the Reds didn’t help Caboose and then did after re-consideration felt like going through the motions at this point. So it definitely wasn’t a funny gag, and since they’ve done that SO many times before it almost felt cruel to have the Reds refuse to help at first. The conclusion at the end of series, wasn’t really informed by anything done HERE. In this movie. I mentioned in my liveblog I was having trouble articulating this, and I still am. I’m kind of hoping someone will put this into words better than me.

Tucker!Meta might as well have been a completely different guy for how much it informed the story. There was the one bit where he lets Caboose get away, that’s it. Otherwise he had a COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS evil laugh and mannerisms for NO REASON and it sucked. If this was supposed to contrast with Tucker for angst reasons it didn’t work. Meta’s entire thing was he was huge, threatening, non-verbal, and was mentally unsound from so many AI. WHY would having all the AIs coalesce into this mustache twirling thing.  I liked the scene where the AIs are piloting the ship and they’re all talking while Tucker is groggy. THAT was suitably creepy and threatening. I could not take Meta!Tucker seriously most of the time.

And then since they had so many guys gone by the campfire scene (Tucker trapped as the villain, Donut not there with no explanation ever, Lopez missing after his first scene(where did he go?), Epsilon dead (still), Sarge dead (newly), Carolina not there with no explanation, Wash not there with no explanation, AND not to mention different Caboose voice actor) the reminiscing felt a little hollow.  Its like a metaphor for the state of Rooster Teeth when they were working on this lmao. Same with the scene when Grif and Simmons go to confront Tucker!Meta, it felt kind of hollow with just the two guys. That worked a tiny bit better because it was supposed to be sadder, but then the save in the form of Carolina & Tex wasn’t as character driven either. Remember scenes like the season 8 Meta fight, the Season 10 rescue of Carolina, or the final shot of Season 13. The entire team come to together, not just for the cool action scene, but as character conviction (Sarge’s speech, choosing to help Carolina, choosing to help the people of Chorus).

Okay this is already getting a little long and ramble-y and its getting VERY late right now. Let’s take it a step back and bullet point the Pros and Cons.

BAD:

NO DONUT. Why was Donut not there. If he couldn’t be there for voice actor scheduling reasons, why wasn’t his character acknowledged in a way that was good and respectful and made sense at all. First it’s the gay angels now it’s the gay simulation troopers. I can’t win.

GRIMMONS SEPARATION. FUCK. ESPECIALLY after I was cock teased with the “come with me”. God.

Wheres the fucking post. The found family FUCKING post. Hold on I'm reblogging it before I post this. To be linked here.

Carolina was done dirty in terms of getting no screen time and her character beat(ish) deferring to making Wash feel better. Man. I really thought she was gonna be involved here. This was a CHORUS follow up.

The action was soooo whatever. Budget who. But this wasn’t really BAD bad. It was just like. Sure this is there and happening I guess. I was never one for the action in rvb though.

OKAY:

Wash angst was good, had a throughline, BUT it was at the expense of not having him interact with the Reds and Blues and also Carolina should have got some of that. Getting serious flashbacks to Seasons 9 & 10 where Carolina was shafted in this department as well.

There were a number of jokes that I laughed at. You may think that this is a given for rvb but remember we last came off rvb zero. Also the teaser that had humor that was really off. So I am happy that there were jokes that I could laugh at.

Sarge death scene was good, especially in a vacuum. I think it would have struck better if the buildup and stakes had been better (collection of scenes….) but it was still good.( <- This may be the emotions talking. TBD.)

The scene where they go back to bury Sarge at Blood Gulch. VERY GOOD. I think the best scene in the whole thing. THIS, more than the last scene of the entire series, felt like the goodbye to Red vs Blue. Then when Simmons offers to discharge Grif? Ten out of ten. Acting was happening here. Grimmons acting.

Tex showed up! Fun surprise. Feel like she could have been utilized better though (more character moments less action)

It’s past midnight and I can’t think of any more things... but there may be more. Time to sleep on this. And reblog posts.

I will stand by my summary though: It was a collection of scenes.

[agoddamn]

Finally got into the Engage groove. Sat down and went from 10 to 15.

Something about MC's "I can't do this without you!" at the Emblems is really funny. Big waifufag energy.

Again, another point where I wish the Emblems were original characters. You could actually do something interesting with Alear having some kinda mildly codependent relationship with the Emblems in spite of them not being truly alive if they weren't cool iconic FE characters that need to be objectively good and admirable at all times.

Heck, you could address the unsettling idea of the Emblems not being truly alive in the first place! They identify themselves as Emblem Name, which means even they see themselves as a derivative. Are they trapped in a hell of undeath, watching everyone around them age and die? Do they still feel the human need for interaction? They get used as weapons against their consent-- isn't that an awful existence? Why would they want to become an Emblem in the first place? They're like the cookies from Black Mirror...nightmarish.

Interesting characterization glimmer from Alcryst. His boss convo with his dad has him saying that he wants to be the one to kill dad in order to spare Diamant having to do it. Damn, son

The sad piano music on the retreat chapter is nice.

I don't get why localization did that with the shitenno names...they're supposed to be colors. Mauvier and Griss are recognizably colors, but the girls are weird. Zephia = Sepia, Marni = Maroon (or maybe Marron, the French version).

Fogado feels like the character the fandom wanted Claude to be lmao

Also not sure why they renamed his sister? She's Misteria in Japanese, the siblings are fog and mist, that's the joke.

...dragon badguy kinda sexy. Forehead clit is a turnoff though

I like how Hortensia wigs out thinking Ivy is dead and everyone just chooses not to correct her

Kingdom 1's name theme is French, 2 is rocks, 3 is flowers, and 4 is...not sure, actually. Jp had the fog/mist thing, but English...

MERRIN IS MY WIFE

Oh, the gay bandits again. Wait...do they both call one another little brother in their death lines??

Solm palace is very pretty. Easily the nicest-looking castle interior

RIP to whatever localizer got handed Fogado's fratboy retainer lmao there are plenty of things I'll drag the localization on, but the party peep lingo is so bizarre to translate. I won't even touch it. They did their best with that shit

Kagetsu has gotten str level after str level. He's terrifying. Complete animal.

Kagetsu and Zelkov feel like weird AU cousins of Odin and Zero...Koyasu voicing Kagetsu only hammers this vibe home even harder

Starting to suffer on supports. As of chapter 15, MC doesn't have one B support. They took away support-building on the enemy phase and two-space supporting, which makes it a massive pain in the ass to get support points. I've been doing arena and cafe after every battle, too! Squeezing as many support points as possible outta this, but it still ain't much

Reclassing ends up being kind of an odd beast thanks to how Emblem-dependant it is. Losing your initial batch of Emblems takes away your ability to spread weapon proficiencies around, which hobbles your ability to reclass for several chapters. Compounding that, it's a good while before you can buy Second Seals, and money is very tight. If you have a unit who starts off in a class not suited to their growths (Jean, Clanne) they're kinda just fucked. What's the point of designing a system with so much flexibility only to take away your ability to use it for most of the game? I would have preferred the system be more stripped-down and actually usable.

Goddamn, do I feel the money crunch. Buying gifts? In THIS economy?

[longeyelashedtragedy]

Have you already been asked for Deki?

nope! the Orange Guy (as he's been called lol) in my icon! thanks Anon for providing me with what's clearly going to be my most controversial post 🤪 (i don't know if i've ever used this emoji before, what a historic day)

favorite thing about them: it's gotta be his loyalty to the people he loves. sometimes it's even to the point of stupidity, or "you didn't have to do that." but i've never seen anything quite to his level of devotion and committment. all heart ZERO brain on this man. not one brain cell. it's all in the heart.

he's also really hilarious* and like. kinsey 7. nothing will convince me this man is not 100% gay and only married because he's a religious catholic.

(*i don't like most "comedy" because i have an odd sense of humor, and if i want to have a laugh, i'll more often than not put on some liverpool movren content because of how genuinely fucking funny they are together. i always wind up laughing out loud. standup comedians WISH they were movren however he is also funny on his own, albeit sometimes unintentionally...i think)

last--his appearance, duhhh. if i could look like a man i'd want to look like him, this is a known fact. he's got just the right vibe of strong, confident masculinity and the fucking shoulder/back/arm situation is 🔥

least favorite thing about him: ...do you hear me heaving a heavy sigh? lol. i won't go into the graphic details, but the amount of time i've spent being his pro bono defense attorney when it's not deserved! (some things are also not worthy of defending.)

i remember there was a post a while back that said something like "whatever your special interest was at the beginning of the pandemic is always going to have a weird level of significance to you." and at first i was like doesnt apply to me--football was my thing before the pandemic, and it still is. but then i remembered that the pandemic hit just as i was developing an interest in this fool 😂 i guess that explains everything.

favorite line: HOW DO I CHOOSE????? he's so quotable. he also once responded to one of my questions on an insta takeover--he only chose 3 twitter questions and i'm convinced he picked mine because my display name at the time was "Monlyfans" lmao. maybe on one of his lajvs with šime when he was like "who are all these people on instagram pretending to be me????" and šime was like "they're fanpages" or the classic on his southampton twitter takeover, "Peter Crouch is so tall OMG". orrr on his twitter q&a two years ago, when someone asked "your wife or Mo?" and he went "don't make me choose..."

brotp: oh it's gotta be him chilling with Domo, even though tbh. he's so GAY to me that most dudes he talks to make me wanna ship it, lol. i kind of liked him with timo at zenit...oh and when he was gay mentoring dalerka and mostovoy, who seemed to do very well with his teachings (RIP kustovoy)

notp: hmmm. deki x trashy american right wing culture, lmao

otp: it's always that impossible choice of šejan vs movren. they're both so different. something about movren really gets me because i think it has a lot of layers of depth that is not discussed, and i love the contrast especially toward the end of their time together at liverpool, of like global beloved star vs 4th choice center-back on the bench, and how dej had not one ounce of jealousy or resentment toward mo...Idk that's just quite special

random headcanon: i don't think i have one.

unpopular opinion: sigh...i've expressed this before and am Weary...but the lockdown fucked him up hard and he absolutely never recovered mentally. and that just makes me feel bad. you don't have to! but i do and i'm glad that i do. maybe it could have all been different yknow? especially because i've seen similar things happen to people i'm close to in real life.

song i associate with them: well, aside from 'sin pijama' lol...i only really associate songs with him because of my movren fanmix (only time i've ever made a good fanmix for a football ship! and as i've said, it's a very 'i liked the movie Garden State too much when i was a teenager' fanmix lol (guilty as charged)) (lmk if you want me to link it somewhere) some of them are more "mo," some are "dejan," and some are a mix. i'd say the dejan ones are:

-moment's silence (common tongue) by hozier: singing boldly about oral sex and the catholic church? that tracks.

-the only living boy in new york by simon & garfunkel: uh the gayest and most loving song alive? but also the story behind it makes me think of what i said about movren earlier--the "flop" being just so happy for the star. (not saying paul simon is more of a "flop" than art garfunkel LOL but the idea of him writing a song for his friend going down to mexico to be in a movie, and just being affectionate and proud about it! idk!)

favorite picture of them: ahhh...how about:

also this from ligue 1 for the LOLS 😂 if i had a deki rainbow jersey i'd never take it off

[scruffyssketchbook]

What is every character’s biggest insecurity and the thing they’re most confident about themselves with?

Hmm. I’ll do insecurities cause it was the first one said. ask again for the most confident part cause this is a lot of writing already lol

Blizz: He’s insecure about not being good enough and being made fun of. He’s actually really sensitive and jokes at his expense will make him very upset ^^;; (which is funny because he himself can be super blunt) He tends to show that he doesn’t care about things that he genuinely loves so others don’t ruin it for him by making fun of him or using it against him, as this happens a TON. This also contributes to his social anxiety.

Dusk: He’s insecure of close relationships with others. He thinks that if he opens up to them, bad things will happen, so he just doesn’t open up. And he’s also really insecure about being alone or others not liking him. He gets kind of obsessive when this happens because he can’t handle not being liked.

Eve: Eve’s biggest insecurity is how she looks and acts. I think you can see that from the comic that she doesn’t exactly think highly of herself. And she is really insecure about it. She thinks it’s her fault that she is bullied and there is something wrong with her, so she tries to act cute and hide her true self so others can like her. She doesn’t think she’ll be liked otherwise, she doesn’t want to get bullied or hurt, and she thinks that I’d she didn’t act this way, she will.

Vay: He has an insecurity about being weak, being unable to do things on his own, and needing help. When he was a kit, he was abused by somemon who always called him weak, told him that he needed help, etc etc, so anytime he is met with a challenge, he refuses help and insists he can do it himself, mostly cause, if he can’t, he’ll just be proving this somemon right.

Bolt: Bolt has issues with being alone as well!!! And also being the odd one out ofc. Which is why he gets so upset when others call him weird. He hates being left out/the odd one out to the point where he lets the others do awful things because he doesn’t want to speak up and get ostracized.

Flame: Flame is actually very insecure about how he looks right now and his position right now. He realizes that he let himself go and even though no one really says anything to him about it, he himself chastises himself for it. He is very insecure about how he just. Isn’t doing anything right now, how idle he has been, how he’s not doing anything except reading his corn and sleeping. He actually kinda hates himself for this. But- you know. Mental health is very much at play with this. He wants to change, but he just can’t seem to. And that frustrates him

Daisy: Hmm. Honestly I can’t think of any for Daisy right now Lmao. You might think she’d be easy, but that is… very much not the case 😅

Dawn: She is very very insecure about her position on the main team, especially now. She was honestly fine until Eevui came in. But when he came, suddenly she felt attacked, like something was wrong. She puts all her worth in how useful she is to the trainer and how much the trainer loves her, so she is actually very very scared about the trainer leaving her.

Miku: Miku’s insecurity is her herself. She thinks very VERY lowly of herself. I think this post is depressing enough so I am not going into specifics cause- it’s pretty depressing ^^;;;;

[neverchecking]

Something cracky with the Chain I thought up while rereading through all the Triplet Shenanigans.

so Imagine Tia successfully kidnapped rescued Sage and Aaliyah and now they are living in her Hyrule peacefully. (She pays for their house in Tarrey Town, no arguments and both she and Sweetpea make sure they haven't set anyone on fire or gone Full Hermit)

Only for the Chain + Cal (and maybe First because I love him) to show up in this Hyrule. Which is honestly a bit odd for recruitment because Tia's like "Which one were you after? The Gremlin one or the Feral one? Oh, Wait, It seems Sweetpea's multiplied again." (Tia asks about Flora and Fauna and possibly starts another kidnapping plot but that's a whole other thing.)

Wild and Cal, of course, have the same taste as their counterpart, much to Sage's absolute disgust while his moronic self-proclaimed Twin keeps poking him about it. (I think Sweetpea just went "Yeah, he's my Twin and that's my new Sister-in-Law." when Sage showed up in this Hyrule and got asked about it.) So Sage spends most of his time snarling at the Tick and the Prude, hiding Aaliyah away and throwing the occasional knife at Sweetpea who keeps smirking at him (and who's only allowed in because he is Sage in a way and he looked after Aaliyah.)

Only for everything to come to a halt when they spot Tia being flirted with by one of the others in the Chain. And she's blushing. And letting it happen.

Tia isn't Aaliyah. Sage has no desire to gut anyone who even so much as glances at Tia the same way he would Aaliyah and Aaliyah feels the same way but,

Tia protected Sage while Aaliyah couldn't and she protected Aaliyah in a way Sage couldn't. She gave them a home. She gave them a new life, a safe one, far away from destiny and duty and spoilt princesses. She deified gods to help them. She loves them for who they are, not what they could've been or who they were. She's their Princess and their friend.

So Keep Your Bloody Hands off her unless you want them removed permanently.

(Sweetpea would usually try to rein them in, but he's a bit overprotective since the Switch and is in full support of Testing This Potential Suitor of his Princess. [Ariel, my version of Sweetpea's sister, is also in full support of this])

Now Cal and Wild have two choices. Either A) take advantage of Sage's slight distraction to get closer to Aaliyah or B) win brownie points with Aaliyah by helping.

OKAY OKAY IVE BEEN SO EXCITED TO TALK ABOUT HOW THE CHAIN FALLS INTO THIS-

So, I offer you this as an alternative; Since they were switched for son long, I imagine Ganon tears something in the space/ time continuum and now instead of just two of them fighting Ganon at a time, all four of them are just...there. And after Ganon is defeated, their timelines just kind of...merge? So there, now their best friends forever! And Sage and Aaliyah get to live the best domestic life they can in Tarrey Town, away from all semblance of Royalty-- save Tia and Sweetpea-- and Tia gets to rule as the queen she is.

Natura is idk still a dragon or locked in a house or allowed to run around playing scholar. As long as she stays out of the way.

(IFDBFF TIA AND SWEETPEA MAKING SURE SAGE AND AALIYAH INTERACT WITH CIVILIZATION FJOFNF-)

Now, at this point they are the group. Like if something happens in Hyrule your getting any duo of them or maybe all four there to investigate. It's who they are. And when there are talks of this random portal? It fits the bill. Probably something big enough to get all four of them moving.

Tia takes the forefront, talking with Time and Wars as the most civil and when they mention they're here for Link she's probably like "Do you have a preference? Because one of them is a two for one deal." And her just shrugging off 'hey look more links!'

And then she's like "hey wait- what about your zeldas?"

Wild and Cal being all over Aaliyah is so funny to me (I say that a lot lmao) because they do have the same tastes. Meanwhile sweetpea is just "ew that's my sister in law. Her husband, but not yet, will GUT you and take a picture with your remains." ALSO SWEETPEA DECLARING HIM AND SAGE TWINS RKDKRNR I LOVE IT-

Sage hates it. Loathes it even. But he puts up with it bc the girls probably think it's funny (for two wildly different reasons. Tia probably thinks it's cute and Aaliyah is cackling bc now people think he's as approachable as Sweetpea)

Sage is on his guard dog Era. He's daring then to get even a little closer. Even if aaliyah shows little to no interest, they're hooked bc this woman was someone designed for them. To help them survive. No, not only survive but to thrive. But now there's an obstacle And they won't stand for it .

Sweetpea is so used to the flying knives he just catches it and throws it back, all with a chuckle and smile. He knows that he and Aaliyah have a bond now and Sage can't interfere. He's proven his worth. Besides his loyalty lies with Tia.

Now someone has caught the lovely Tia's eye? Oh-ho-ho-and if she reciprocated? Idk if Tia knows this, but she has two feral wolves and a Doberman ready to fight for her honor at any given time.

Bc while yes, their main priority is each other, they've sort of let the other two into their circle. Of course Sage and Aaliyah would absolutely mutilate someone should they have to for the other, they would probably leave the person alive for Tia and Sweetpea. They're honestly comparable to wolves in a pack? Like once your in. Your in. No take backs.

They allowed these two to thrive and they'll do the same for her. They owe their soul mate's life to her and they aim to repay her. They're not in the same bracket as Sage and aaliyah are to each other, but Tia and sweetpea are family. As foreign of an idea as that is to them.

And they'd hate for anyone to interfere with their family :)

(Sweetpeas secret weapon is those two lmao. He for sure is letting them do whatever they please if only for the link the prove his worth. If he can't survive the most feral beings he's ever met then he doesn't deserve Tia.)

(Ariel is their collective little sister and is in full support of this.)

Why not both?

Wild is probably using the distraction, both helping his chain member and getting closer to the sheikah (watching for Sage all the while) while cal is acting as backup. Sage can't be everywhere at once ( to which Sage begs to differ) so if Cal is watching Aaliyahs back while she's setting up a trap of some sorts for the poor victim I mean link, he's probably getting at least a thankful smile from her.

And if that doesn't just make his heart swell