#of course you can you funky lizard you

[dumpy-dump]

ffxiv villains

Nael Van Darnus is the english localization team's greatest adversary apparently the unhinged garlean legatus responsible for slam dunking the moon into the ground. she's a big fan of bahamut, sephiroth, and majora's mask, among other things, you see, and decided to incorporate her interests into her work. she dies but doesnt.

Gaius "such devastation" Baelsar is a verbose fantasy nazi who's favorite color is social darwinism. he dies but doesnt, after getting epically pranked by a kingdom hearts cosplayer. later, his many adopted lizard children die. this all causes him to suddenly realize that fascism is not very poggers. it's all very cool and makes sense, you see. gaius "garlean man's burden" baelsar was already slightly less racist than his peers anyway so he's basically a hero.

Nero's not a villain, he's just based.

lol Lahabrea 🍞🔑🗡

Thordan is catholic.

Nidhogg was totally valid actually, but he needed to speak to a dragon grief counselor or something.

Zenos is megatron but sad is a sadistic bishonen who based his whole personality on "the most dangerous game." he's a twisted fuckin cycle path, less a person and more a weapon for the emperor to wield (at least until late stormblood). he's mostly just doing what he was born and raised to do, yeah, but it's not like that makes it fine. he dies but doesn't, as overstaying one's welcome simply runs in his family. he then spends most of his time in early endwalker trying to invite the wol to a nice, romantic, candlelit fistfight in the wendy's parking lot, by pissing on the moon (of course). that, and doing a whole lot of napping, apparently (way to beat the boring allegations, zenos). he helped cause the apocalypse because he's depressed (and very, very battle horny), but it's not like depression makes it all fine.

lol Varis 🗡😱🪦

Emet-Selch is the ceo of fascism, and was a funny and extremely likeable villain who stole the show everytime he showed up, until he wasnt. he stalled in the grieving process and decided to make that everyone else's problem by comitting mass genocide (he kins nidhogg you see) across multiple worlds for thousands of years in an attempt to bring his people back. but he's depressed (about his own ppl, he didnt seem to feel too bad about the everything else), so it's fine. genocide is his coping mechanism you see (very relatable). he dies but still has a ton of screentime and importance even after death because overstaying one's welcome simply runs in his family.

Elidibus more like elidibitch, ayo! was the convocation's little pogchamp who was sacrificed to become zodiark's heart, instead of any of the older members of the convocation who could have made that sacrifice (no, no, by all means, let the lil guy do it). he keeps desperately fighting for reasons he doesnt even know anymore, all while donning his best ff1 warrior of light cosplay (you're doing great, sweetie!). he can also apparently help you travel back in time, even though that's not how that worked when they sent the crystal tower through time initially but yeah okay sure (i kinda already did the twinning broski, cid's funky time robot is gone, how are you doing any of this? dont answer that).

lol Valens 🥛🐄💪

Fandaniel is become zodiark amon hermes a mentally ill funky little jester who is fought three goddamn times, one of those times being in the afterlife after you've already killed him once. one might assume that he may be related in some way to emet and his family based on how he, too, overstays his welcome. but no, he's just one of emet's annoying coworkers. yet another twisted fuckin cycle path, he helped cause the apocalypse (twice technically), but he was depressed, so it's fine. one of two characters whose existence slightly detracts from the whole hope vs despair theme of endwalker (imo).

Meteion is Necron a sad space bird, there to act as an homage to other final fantasy games that also have some random last minute bullshit as the final boss, not acknowledging of course that that is usually one of the worst parts of all the games that do that (i like ff4 but zeromus mcpalpatine-reference is lame). she's trying to destroy all life, yes, but she's mostly just doing what she was born and raised to do, so it's fine. she's also there to connect to the hope vs despair theme, but that is slightly undercut by the player charitably helping a violently mentally ill man die his preferred death (but like in a fun way) right after the big hope overcomes despair moment.

[princess-ibri]

I'd like to know; how do you think Don Bluth's Beauty and the Beast would have turned out? I wish everyone would have been able to watch it. Just what would have been though I am not really into this Beast's design maybe the Baboon design that Disney turned down?

Hey! Thank you for your patience I wanted to have time to give this ask a proper reply, with some pictures. Overall I think it would have done well in the way of becoming a cult classic, full of beautiful images and plenty of nightmare fuel but rather cluttered in the way that most Don Bluth films tend to be, something that definitely adds to their charm but keeps them from becoming as popular as the more streamlined Disney Renaissance movies they were competing with at the time.

In terms of plot I feel like it would have taken a lot of influence from the 1946 Jean Cocteau BatB movie, as well as some influences from the original Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve version, along with some of The Grimm Brothers and Abhorsen and Moe’s “The Singing Springing Lark/Lily and the Lion/East of the Sun West of the Moon” bits, as I will explain below.

I think the Cocteau influences would have been seen most in the primary look/atmosphere of the film, we can see a lot of his dark dreamlike Romantic influences in the clothing and set design of this poster in particular. The Beast and Belle’s clothes could have come straight out of the 1946 film.

This dark dreamlike atmosphere of that film would have worked quite well with Bluth’s style of filmography which tended towards that sort of Fever Dream Unreality in many ways. But of course we also have the abundance of side characters with their own small arcs (and animal sidekicks inexplicably wearing clothes) in the mix as well. We get most of our information about them and the themes of the film from this page:

From this we gain the main theme of the film ‘a thing must be loved before it is loveable’, and several names of our animal/fairy sidekicks. Below we can see Beauty with Nan the clairvoyant dog, with Otto the escape artist lizard on top of Nan. The bird on her finger could be Max the bird detective in a more realistic design then the one with him in the large hat, or possibly just a random bird to go with the random squirrels. Wether these characters would have been true animals with quirky traits or people transformed like the Beast I don’t know, though with Bluth’s other films to go off of I tend to believe they were likely just funky animals who would have used their skills to try and help Beauty unravel the mystery of the Beast and his cursed castle.

Try as I might I couldn’t find any depictions of the King Bats that were mentioned (fairly sure I have Queen Livia and the Wee Beasties though, we’ll get to that in a moment) so I wonder if they were later replaced with these wolves? They sound like they would have e been aligned with the villain in any case.

Here’s where we get to the ‘Singing Springing Lark/Lily and the Lion/East of the Sun West of the Moon’ influences I think would have been in the film. As we can see in the picture below we have Beauty and a very much human prince fleeing from the wolves on Pegusus back— in these versions of the BatB story the heroine is forced to go on a journey to rescue the prince from an evil princess, after his Beast initial curse is broken. She is usually aided by the Wind, riding its back to go and find him, and in the Grimm version the pair escape via Gryphon. It’s not to hard to imagine Don Bluth deciding to swap out a Gryphon for a more majestic and recognizable looking Pegasus for his lovers to escape on once they’ve been reunited.

And of course we have the villain of our story, who I’m pretty sure is meant to be this Queen Livia. I mean look at this lady, all deathly pale and decked out in villainous green, pretty sure that a crown on her head as well. In the original Villeneuve version the Prince is cursed into a Beast by a wicked fairy after he refuses to marry her, I could totally see this woman cursing people left and right. Add that to how the Prince in the sketch version below seems to be facing off against this sinister looking woman’s head and I think it’s a good guess to say that Bluth’s BatB would have had a similar premise.

I’ve also pulled out charters I’m very sure are meant to be Beauty’s father and sisters (the smaller head by the Father possibly being a sketch of their mother?) once more pointing to following the old traditional tale where Beauty is faced with opposition from her sisters as well.

We’ve also got a lot of sketches of what I’m assuming are the Wee Beasties, who are 1000% precursors to the Jitterbugs we later see in Thumbelina, along with some more butterfly like fairies, who could possibly be grouped in as a prettier type of Wee Beastie or just be fairies.

So yeah, I think it overall would have followed the tone of the Cocteau film, with some added animal and fairy sidekick shenanigans as Beauty tries to discover the secret of the Beast, eventually culminating in her discovering he’s been cursed by the evil Queen Livia who seeks to marry him. The climax would be that after Beauty has broken the Beat spell by professing her love he’s whisked away by Livia to her wolf guarded home base, and Beauty and her friends have to rescue him and defeat the evil Queen once and for all, with her and the Prince escaping via Pegasus to ride off into their happily ever after (oh and with his mask I’m thinking maybe Livia gives a masked ball or something to celebrate her wedding with the Prince and Beauty crashes it).

Per the Beasts design I dont really. Ind it so much. It is a bit close to the Disney one but honestly I still preorder a composite Beast over one based solely in one animal sorry 😅 But I did find some alternatives designs for him for you!

Some of these are straight up goblin-y I love it 😆

[theriu]

Day Two of River’s AMAZINGLY WEIRD, SURPRISINGLY COMPLETE DREAMS, apprantly. Note how they always seem to happen when I’ve woken up and made the (logical, poor) decision to go back to sleep for a bit.

Yesterday’s nap dream:

My family was on some sort of funky automated ride/theme park that took you into this big, crazy, super tall hotel, and it was kind of like a giant loopy mystery game. Only I “died” via a volleyball net before we even got to the hotel (dream me was really unclear if I actually died or if the ride operators claimed I “died” as part of the game rules, and awake me is no less sure).

Somehow I get left behind by the massive elevator, which goes up a few floors at a time and then you can explore but once it goes up it won’t come back down, and I guess there aren’t stairs? Not sure how, but me and some others got back down to the ground floor and then bargained a ride up from one of the employees on the cleaning crew (she had like one of those window washing platforms on wires, but indoors). Then it turned into a whole quest to get to the top and to solve the mystery of this weird hotel that I guess people have been getting stuck in and that breaks some laws of time and space.

When we do get to the top, we end up being sent back in time (which was very grayscale), and this clock or something is beeping an alarm, and I hurl it out a window. I think what happened is someone brought this clock back in time, and its existence and the events set in motion by its alarm going off right then caused a rift in time that resulted in the weird hotel coming into being, like a paradox. Destroying the clock unraveled the hotel’s existence, and I ended up back at the point before my family would have gone in the trip, but the hotel was gone and they didn’t know anything about it. So I guess whether I actually or figuratively died from that dumb volleyball net being strung over the ride course and snagging my head as we passed is a moot point now.

Last night/this morning’s dream:

I’m at this very fancy water park and arcade with my sister, likely inspired by my recent mini vacation to an indoor water park. I mostly remember the part where we were supposed to be leaving, and as is typical for me, everything was slowing me down. I lost some of my steampunk gear, our hotel room had a weird puddle in one corner that contained some live snails and an actual lizard (which I failed to catch), my sister left without me but my Grandma is having a good time and not ready to leave uet, and some GUY came up declaring his LOVE for me and I’m like “Who even are you?!”

Turns out he had been pretending to be two OTHER guys so of course I didnt recognize him, but he decided he loved me. Even almost followed me into the bathroom to talk about it but I yelled at him to not even dare and he skittered off.

BUT THEN, there are these alien bug monsters everywhere! And it turns out that the guy who thinks he loves me is actually an alien bonded to a human who was trying to help his host do this symbiotic bonding they can do (instead of the alien just taking over), but it wasn’t working because he didn’t have authorization (I guess his homeworld only picks 3-5 people for the process at a time), so he doesn’t have the right chemicals to complete the process.

And I guess he was a little addled in his desperation and thought I could help somehow?! I continued to make it clear that no, he was NOT in love with me and I did NOT return his affections, but I would fight the aliens trying to take over and forcibly bond with humans, and he would have to help me. Somehow we had cool mech suits and I was really good and just took out a bunch of gross aliens. We found that the little tentacly symbiotes were hiding in these cute rubbery pokemon dolls I’d seen earlier in the dream arcade, but they must have been scared of us, because when we yelled at the people picking them up, the aliens didnt just jump on their heads. We ended up gathering all the little tentacly sea urchin looking things into a pillowcase. And the alien/human duo who helped me somehow got the stuff he needed (maybe he ate one of the aliens…which is rather terrible if so). But yeah, that’s how I guess I saved the world or at least this resort from an alien invasion!

[garakcore]

BESTIE TALK ABOUT YOUR TREK OCS ON MAIN (ONLY IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE THOUGH)

OH I am >:)) okay i took forever to answer this but. HERE WE GO. under read-more because I love to rant

My special little guy, my main OC, is Lt. Aamin Mara! I have recently created a sideblog for him which you can find at @therapy-lizard .

He's a Cardassian assistant ship's counselor! His studies are specifically about alien conceptualization of gender and Cardassian mental health.

He's a bundle of nerves and wants to make the galaxy a better place but can barely bring himself to say hello to someone in the hallway. He was also 10 years old at the end of the Dominion War, so he's, uhhh... been through stuff. But he's totally fine now of course [lying]

He had a punk thing going on in his earlier years and played the drums but now he dresses formally and worries about not being seen as professional enough because of his long hair and [not so many visible now] tattoos. When he's vacationing he dresses like an embarrassing tourist as is his right :))

He's also trans and bi! He's 35 years old and has only started Cardassian HRT a bit over a year previously.

Also, I created him for a Trek RP that fizzled out a few years ago, but I still write and draw stuff about him! If you're reading this and recognize him from the RP hugging you hugging you hugging you

I have a few Vorta OCs, but my biggest one is a guy named Koyun who defected from the Dominion around the time of season 1 of DS9!

He hid himself on the station for a while before surgically altering himself to seem more Bajoran, although he still wears a veil over his hair to hide his ears. He's very quiet and takes up odd jobs around DS9 and ends up running a lot of errands.

He's also forced to be pretty hypervigilant about any whispers of the Dominion, and things go abruptly downhill for him when Eris arrives on the station, however briefly.

Fun fact about him: he wears eyeglasses because he's fascinated by the fact that humans used to wear them. And also his eyesight is not great :')

The last of them I'll talk about here is Vrell Jad, a name you may remember if you've been following me for a VERY LONG TIME. But more likely, if you've read my oldest and more poorly written fics on AO3.

He exiled himself from Cardassia [this is how he chooses to phrase it] after being tortured by Garak on suspicion of having written an anti-state novel. Another man was killed for this offense and Vrell is beyond ashamed about this. Partially because, like... Vrell did write it, so!

He's estranged from his parents because he is gay and now is very happily loud about that. He is extremely flamboyant and has a sense of fashion that he loves but Garak despises beyond words, more on that in a sec. Let's just say he likes funky colors and patterns and gets a lot of "...isn't that... so unique...."

He lives on Bajor, which, not really a great situation for anyone and he doesn't get the nuances of that sometimes. He works at an orphanage aiding the Cardassian children left on Bajor after the occupation ended.

But... he does return to Deep Space Nine, at first just to annoy Garak and rub his 'victory' in his face [trying to ignore his guilt and the obviously not great situation Garak is in]. He also enjoys making Garak make fashion crime clothes for him. This is the focus on the fic I wrote, but I'll be honest, I'm not proud of that one and something related to it makes me uncomfortable even 3 years later. But if you do happen upon it, it's NSFW, so. yes

I have literally dozens more and can and will rant about them if asked but also this post is so long so. Another day perhaps!

[addictedtostorytelling]

Hi! I wanted to know how you think Sara and Grissom’s relationship dealt with his “science experiments” (like the blood in fridge) and bugs he may have had at home. Do you think he was more thoughtful once they started dating, or do you think that took more time?

hi, @happyladylourdes!

personally, i think that seldom do grissom's experiments really become an issue in grissom and sara's home life.

my reasons for saying so are fourfold:

i think we see evidence in canon that grissom does not use his home in the same way he uses his office at the lab (i.e., to store experiments and raw scientific materials).

i think that because of the way grissom's brain works, he is unlikely to carry that kind of "i'll do science any damn where i please" behavior over from a work to a home setting anyhow.

i also think ultimately he's already learned his lesson about being considerate of sara's feelings in that regard, so even on the off-chance he might be tempted to maybe put something funky in the fridge at their place, he'd probably hold off on doing so (or at least ask permission first), not wanting to upset her.

finally, i think that on the rare occasions grissom does do science at home, most often, sara is in on whatever his experiments are; what he's doing doesn't really surprise her because she's his de facto "lab partner," you know?

more discussion/rationale under the "keep reading," if you're interested.

__

so for as much as grissom is a workaholic who brings his work home with him mentally, i think physically things are a different story; on that level, he seems to maintain a much greater degree of separation between his personal and professional lives.

we see several different iterations of living spaces for grissom over the course of the series (not counting the ishmael), and, to a one, they are all supremely well-organized and don't very much resemble his dark, crowded office at the lab whatsoever.

though of course i cannot say so with certainty, my impression is that grissom (even during the period when he lives alone, before he and sara get together) keeps most of his "science stuff" in his lab office, where it will be of most use to him, conveniently within arm's reach should he need it for his investigations. it's there he houses his live insects, amphibians, and reptiles; preserved specimens; the majority of his entomological and forensics libraries; his instruments; his charts; and curios, like his irradiated fetal pig.

only a small percentage of his scientific equipage otherwise is kept at home, and most of this much smaller collection is probably on the more sentimental/antique side; the kind of stuff that may be cool to display for aesthetic reasons but not as useful to him practically.

while the same can be said of his early seasons condo(s), here, since it's most relevant to the question, we'll just focus on his and sara's s7/s8 condo.

from what little we see, there is no visual evidence to suggest that either one of them makes a habit of strewing anything, including science experiments, all over their living space.

while theirs is obviously a home where two scientists live, as is shown by the décor choices of shadow-boxed insects and antique microscopes and mounted fossils and cool rocks, they keep the place incredibly neat, with everything, including the scientific equipment, stored in its rightful place.

you can tell: that back corner by the two windows is the designated "science space," with the active vivariums and working microscopes.

but otherwise the rest of their house, well—just looks like a house.

the kitchen is very much just a regular kitchen, filled with cooking implements and food and cleaning supplies (though some of the items, such as the cloche by the refrigerator, are insect/butterfly-themed).

as we see in episode 07x22 "leapin' lizards," they have a television set in the bedroom. as we see in episode 08x12 "grissom's divine comedy," a sofa and another television set in the living room.

everything looks very normal.

in no way is their home "the mad scientist's lair" that one might expect.

all of the above so, my impression—and, of course, ymmv—is that grissom tends to leave his work stuff, including his experiments and raw scientific materials, for the most part, at work, or at least if he does bring them home, he keeps them confined to their designated places (like to that back "science corner" by the windows or his own study), where they aren't cluttering and contaminating his and sara's eating/resting/sleeping areas.

i mean, albeit we never get a peek into their fridge, but, barring a break from the otherwise established pattern there, i just don't see him treating his and sara's condo like a laboratory.

—and especially not because of how he tends to view the world.

again, while grissom is a workaholic, he is also a great compartmentalizer, at least in terms of his thoughts.

feelings are another story; far less easily confined into neat categories.

two of the main mental "boxes" he has are for work and for home.

according to how i understand grissom—and, once more, ymmv—i think one of the reasons he is the way he is at work, in terms of using the communal fridge in the break room to store science experiments, is because he tends to view everything at the lab as falling into the "work box."

for him, the purpose of the work done at the lab is to solve crimes using science. accordingly, in his view, every person and object in the building is supposed to function toward that end—hence why he gets so frustrated with both policies and people (such as, for example, administrators like ecklie) who impede the scientific crime-solving process; hence also why we sometimes see him make unconventional use of both lab equipment and human resources in his experiments.

for example, why not rope the department secretary into helping you prove a theory about how a corpse was dragged, even though doing so falls nowhere inside the bounds of her normal job description (see episode 03x09 "blood lust")? and what's to stop you from infecting your dna tech's feet with mildew if doing so will help you determine something about a potential suspect in a homicide case (see episode 03x03 "let the seller beware")? and if nick's eating an apple in the layout room, then who's to say you shouldn't demand he hand it over to you so you can stab it with scissors and establish some characteristics of a possible murder weapon (see episode 03x23 "inside the box")?

after all, they all work at/"belong to" the lab, so regardless of individual job descriptions or other considerations, they should, ultimately, be viewed as resources to be used to scientifically solve crimes; they are all "fair game" for that purpose, as far as he's concerned.

certainly, that same line of thinking applies to the break room fridge for him, as well.

though its primary function is to contain the food items of the people who work in the lab (thereby serving them as they scientifically solve crimes), in a pinch, if other lab fridges, such as the one in grissom's office, are full and/or unsuited to the task, it can be used more directly to fulfill the lab's "prime directive," housing experiments if needs be.

as i talk about here, "[grissom] sees no problem with [putting rancid blood in the communal fridge] because he’s just of such a one-track mind that science takes precedence over everything for him; the human element doesn’t even register (even as the team complains to his face, seemingly not for the first time, about the rudeness of his actions)."

the fridge is lab property; ergo, it can be used for lab business: so goes his reasoning.

however, the same is not true of his home living space.

there, everything falls into the "home box" and anything that may follow him home from work—such as administrivia—is marked as being out-of-place within his mental schema. while his and sara's home does have scientific objects in it because they are scientists with scientific interests, the home itself isn't dedicated, in the same way the lab is, as a space to do science in™; ipso facto, it's not "fair game" for him to leave science experiments all over the place there in the same way it is at the lab. the majority of the objects there have little or nothing to do with science and are instead meant to serve grissom and sara's domestic needs.

frankly, most of the time, grissom probably doesn't even feel the need to do science at home because he can always just go to the lab—with its superior resources and designated space—and experiment there.

doing science at the lab is not only easier but ultimately safer and more manageable.

much better to test his theories in a controlled environment with the tools, resources, and technology he requires already on hand—especially considering that any work-related science he were to do at home wouldn't hold up in court and would need to be redone in a more controlled setting anyway.

note: in the reboot, when we see him doing science experiments in his and sara's hotel room episode 01x04 "long pig," he is doing so specifically because he is, at that point, barred from doing them at the lab; the situation is one where he feels he has no choice but to do the work wherever he can, regardless of propriety, which is a very different ballgame than is in play at other times when he and sara are more settled and fully employed by the lvpd.

under typical circumstances, the only serious science he might even consider doing at home would be stuff he was pursuing either just for his own edification (because he was curious to test something out, unrelated to any cases or his general work as a criminalist) or for his academic entomological studies.

but even in those rare cases, i think that he would a) still relegate that work mostly to the designated science spaces in the condo, and, b) communicate with sara about it and not do anything that might freak her out/piss her off.

—because that's the thing.

grissom learns his lesson about this issue long before he and sara ever move in together.

his whole takeaway from the events of episode 02x15 "burden of proof" is that his actions (even ones he views as being entirely professional in nature) can in fact impact other people, and specifically sara, on a personal level. he has to be more careful about sharing space with her and showing regard for her feelings or otherwise he runs the risk of losing her.

he sees: bad blood in the work fridge can lead to bad blood between him and the love of his life, and that's something he never wants.

while it still takes him a couple of seasons after the point of the "raw hamburger debacle" to get his act fully together where sara is concerned, one mistake we never see him repeat with her again is the actual, physical action of making her deal with animal blood or meat; he is always, from that very early point forward, respectful of her vegetarianism and love of animals in the future.

that so, i've gotta believe: when they finally move in together, he's probably incredibly careful to make sure she feels comfortable in their home in that regard. he won't put anything in the fridge that might squeeg her because he doesn't want her to feel disrespected or uncared for.

should he ever feel the need to bring home anything even potentially objectionable to her, he likely makes sure to run the thing by her, and if she says no, he undoubtedly stores whatever it is back at the lab in his own office rather than at the condo because he understands: there is a boundary there.

and should he ever make a mistake, assuming that she'll be okay with something he in actuality ought to have asked her about, i've got to believe that he immediately apologizes once he realizes his error; unlike with the rancid blood in the lab fridge (which, from the context of episode 02x15 "burden of proof," seems to have been an oft-repeated offense on his part), he doesn't need to be told twice.

of course, as talked about earlier, i tend to believe that only very rarely does he ever even attempt to bring experiments or raw scientific materials into their home anyway, but on the few and far-between occasions when he does do so, i also think: by the time he and sara are together and sharing a home, she is most often in on his extracurricular scientific activities from the get-go.

the facts that she accompanies him to his apiary in episode 08x04 "the case of the cross-dressing carp" and in the later seasons applies for a joint-research grant with him while they're living in paris and works as his partner in marine biology once they are on the ishmael all suggest that at times when grissom and sara are a couple, she is his de facto lab partner both at work and at home.

so if he cooks up some experiment he wants/needs to do "off the clock" at the lab, then nine times out of ten, i bet he tells her about it and invites her to take part in it with him from the onset; it's not the same kind of deal as we see in episode 02x15 "burden of proof," where he is (largely inadvertently) stonewalling her and keeping her at arm's length. rather, she's right there with him in the trenches; she knows what's in that specimen jar because she's the one who helped him collect it and she's monitoring it right along with him.

now.

you may have noticed, most of the above discussion is centered on animal byproducts.

as for bugs—

i don't think sara has a problem with them, as long as they are properly contained.

not only are there numerous mounted and displayed insects visible in their s7/s8 condo, but sara herself also has mounted and displayed insects visible in her s5 apartment in episode 05x13 "nesting dolls," before she and grissom even become an official couple. there are also, seemingly, live insects in vivariums in that window corner of their s7/s8 condo.

she knew what she was getting into when she married a beekeeper.

in terms of how any of the above might change once grissom and sara live on the ishmael, i imagine that on such small boat, adhering strictly to the concept of designated space becomes more important for them than ever.

since the ishmael is not only their home but their floating laboratory, they undoubtedly do have experiments going onboard. however, they are probably careful to keep them where they belong, as out-of-the-way as possible, both for safety reasons (so they're not tripping over things) and also to prevent contamination/interference.

they probably have two fridges: one for food and one for specimens, both clearly labeled and on separate sides of the boat.

anyway, all of this rambling is a very long way to say: i absolutely think grissom is considerate of sara from the moment they move in together, with regards to how he makes use of their shared space.

any science he does in their home, i think he makes sure he has her seal of approval to do and does in its properly assigned area, most often with her taking part in the experiment right along with him. everything else, he does at the lab.

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

p.s., you should set up a profile picture and header and post/reblog some stuff so that people don't mistake you for a bot and block you! if you have questions about how to do so, let me know, and i'd be happy to help.

[sarenhale]

Psst hey can you tell me more about Arihel's tail? In your most recent comic it looks funky and I wanna know what's up 👀

Ah of course!! These are some drawings of mine where you can see his tail better, It's a pretty long and thick tail (the lenght reaches his calves) that has the same reddish hue his horns have, in the middle of the tail, alongside his spine, it's more prevalent, and the tip also gets redder at the end where it splits. The tail has some bigger scales going along the shape of the spine, until it gets smoother towards the end, where it splits into two ends! It's really sensible and moves a lot, especially reflecting his emotions and state, so it vibrates and moves a lot when he's tense/angry, and just swoops calmly like a cat's when he's relaxed or happy ahahah

In comic drawings, I tend to draw it a bit thicker and funky looking, like the in the sketches down here:

But generally speaking, the actual design is the one from the first images! I'm glad you're interested, I love his tail and lizard like features so much 😳🦎

[madamrynodm]

Clone Wars/Prequel Characters + Partner Pokémon

Screw it, I’m gonna do this. Gonna break this down by different star wars properties so this post doesn’t climb into the stratosphere...

Anakin + Talonflame - Everything about Anakin screams fire type to me. I can just see baby Anakin learning to podrace with an enthusiastic fletchling trying to keep up. A talonflame racing alongside his jedi starfighter would be sick as hell. Sadly, this pokemon would probably die in his transformation into Darth Vader, but I’ll deal with that later...

Padme + Ninetales - I almost said milotic here, but I think Padme’s got some spirit to her that matches a ninetales. All pretty and elegant (a ninetales would compliment her wardrobe nicely), and vulpix could be common enough that her handmaidens could all have one. Also a fire type to match Anakin :)

Obi-Wan + Gardevoir - Gardevoir just screams “so uncivilized” to me, it’d fit his vibe. Obi-Wan, as The Negotiator, strikes me as the type to have a fairy type. Something classy, maybe cute, but it can KICK ASS when the cards are down

Ahsoka + Grovyle (later Sceptile) - It’s all in the dual-wielding, baby. I think back to Gen 3/Advanced Battle when grovyle would use leaf blade like Ahsoka’s reverse grip. It could evolve later when she gets her white sabers in Rebels, showing how she’s come into her own since leaving the Order

Rex + Shiny Nidoking - Old school clone needs an old school king. He strikes me as the more grounded heh counterpart to Anakin’s high-flying antics, but he’s got the cunning to utilize a poison type well. A shiny to match the 501st, of course

Qui-Gon + Sawsbuck - He’s got grass type energy to me, and it matches his lightsaber. Also, his “go with the Force” vibes fit how sawsbuck changes with the seasons

Plo Koon + Noivern - This is one part “he would totally have a big softie of a pokemon” and one part “great pilot needs a great flying type”. You know this thing would dote on Ahsoka’s grovyle like how Plo dotes on her

Yoda + Kecleon - It just kinda fits. It’s a pokemon that I can see him taking to the Council but also thriving on Dagobah later down the line. It’s deceptively good in battle for looking like a funky little lizard

Wolffe + Lycanroc (midday form) - I mean, this one explains itself. Woof woof

Ventress + Weavile - Another aesthetic choice with this one. It wouldn’t be her original partner Pokémon but one she gained after starting her training with Dooku. Ice type just feels right for her and she can freeze opponents when she runs away

Greivous + Aegislash - A FINE ADDITION TO MY COLLECTION. Seriously though, a steel type that is a sword just... it fits too good

Count Dooku + Roserade - A Pokemon that’s got that regal drip but can also drag your ass. Dooku would have raised this guy from his jedi days and stayed with it when he left the Order. Maybe it wouldn’t have evolved until after he left, representing his rebirth as a sith

Maul + Banette - The man that refuses to die needs a ghost type. Also, the pokedex states that banettes are pokemon that were cast aside and now come back with a vengeance. Sound familiar?

Palpatine + Persian - Definitely referencing Giovanni with this one. But, also, I think Peepaw Palps would probably have a really unassuming normal type while doing his whole chancellor thing. With Order 66, I’d imagine that this persian would die/be removed in some capacity. Then, I’d give him Darkrai

Satine + Milotic - The elegance and outwardly gentle nature of a milotic fits. Milotics are real dangerous in battle, but I can see Satine raising one as a statement about her pacifist ideals. Deliberately choosing not to fight with one hell of a water type. They’ve kicked my ass before so that informed this decision

Hondo + Sableye - Got that cunning of a dark type with an eye for PROFIT! Would definitely discover mega-evolution by accident

Jar Jar + Magikarp - C’mon. Them both being aquatic beings helps too

Note: The Bad Batch will have their own list. I’ll put Echo in both lists. Maybe I’ll have to make a clone list because... gee whiz there’s a lot of them

[jekyllnahyena]

21 for Margo >:) aaaaand 7 for her also

And because I am super evil 18 for Jackal BUT the "Jackal lives past O66 and also Inquisitor Anndra" scenario. For angst reasons.

*slides in here to answer this ask four fuckin days late with starbucks* heeeyyyyyyyy bestie, beloved, rails <3 (sorry, u should hit me with the alfredo ayayaayay)

aightio, baby Margo, lez go!!

7. What are 3 foods they can’t live without?

Margo joins in on the weird lineage thing where she eats fuckin lizards. If you're lucky, it won't be a live one, but she has chomped down on many and Jackal keeps a package of dry lizards as weird little day-trip-snacks. They're sorta spicy and dry and sorta salty? She loves them. She's very much a snack person. She also really likes fizzy lemonade thingies (it's called sherbet in english? apparently?) and there's these sorta hard candy that have a very fizzy sherbet middle. She pretty much always sneezes when she eats them, but Margo has so much fun with them. And last but not least, there's a very funky fish burger you can get at Dex' and she orders it every time they're there. Dexter's generally has become one of her favorite places to visit and she enjoys it so much when Jackal and the family get together to go eat there >:D

21. What are they most afraid of? What made them fear this?

Being left behind. She has quite a few self esteem issues. She was always good or sorta average at things, but she never stood out, never dared to really speak up and yes, she has friends, but she's nobody's Best friend, right? She was never chosen and it's affected her pretty badly. (It doesn't help that she doesn't have any contact with her family outside of the order. She joined as a baby.) It got worse when she was ready to be chosen as a padawan, but nobody spoke to/chose her. And she knows how to deal with that, she tells herself it's fine, she doesn't care, she still has her hobbys and her friends, it will work out somehow. Probably. Maybe. (That time in particular is spent with many nights being very lonely and sad). So when Jackal does chose her, it means the world to Margo. But the worries don't leave for the longest time, she does end up knocking herself out a few times because she overtrains/overworks in the name of "proving her worth". But now she has a very firm support system that focuses on her and she really, really loves the family and connections she finds within that. But yeah, the fear stays with her and will creep up from time to time. (don't think about Margo watching Jackal's and Lockup's back as they go off in search of Grievous-)

ahhhhhhh yes. sadness and hurts. course. :')

18. How has their hair changed over time? What is their favorite hairstyle?

Right, so, Jackal wears their hair in several braids. It's was something their zabrak Dad did for them so they'd feel closer to their nautolan side becaue, well, they have no tendrils. (also the reason they're deaf. anyway.) After they're found by a jedi, it becomes the thing that keeps them close to their dad because yeah, they loved him and if it weren't for his death they would have never joined the death. Now, they've always kept the braids, one way or another, though they'll put them up for battle and the like. Pragmatism and all that. It's only after order 66 that they really change it up. They are convinced all their children are dead (wonderful fun-fact, they killed Lockup in this au) and they try deperately to cling to any kind of rememberance of them. So they put Upendo's beads in their hair, shave their sides for Margo and braid it up in a reminder of Anndra's ponytail. (they don't dare put in Lockup's streaks, they can't, not when they still dream of his face each night-). They keep five of their old braids, a reminder of the father they've watched die and will forever mourn, but now their hair in and itself has become and sign of all the death that seems to follow them. The lives they had once sworn to protect. A reminder of all they failed to be while they try to carry at least one last keepsake of their children. They keep that hairstyle till their death. (Kaia is the first one in years to touch their hair.)

[greetingsfromuranus]

What qualities do you like about Double D the most?

Soooo so many things I love about him - I often think about how soft his skin would be, like his cheeks are all soft and squishy, and his neck is probably so delicate and warm, his skin would probably be a bit clammy (he's so anxious and riled up all the time....) but not in an unpleasant way, it's just how he is lol. He's definitely one of those people with really cold hands and other extremities, but a warm enough torso

I love the way his face stretches when he smiles! I love seeing all the different shapes he takes but his smile is my favorite :3 how do I describe it- he isn't lumpy or anything, but he just has so many interesting moving parts, I love how his cheeks stick out and his chin sticks out and his jaw behind his ear sticks out, and his lil eye lines/eye bags, and of course his tooth gap! Big ol teeth...... He's just so wonderful to look at and I wish I could give him a big kiss on the forehead... boop his nose while I'm at it.... he's shaped all awkward like a newborn kitten or and I love it

I love how long he is! Lanky lil ferret creature, like a cat, or a weasel, or a salamander! I like the salamander comparison best, I've studied their anatomy before and it ready fits Double D the best..... They're all lanky and squiggly and flexible just like Double D ^w^

I really like Edds funky posture, he has such a cute lil belly and messed up scoliosis back lol..... like he's all tall and thin compared to everyone else but he's still fleshy and soft >u< like you can see his ribcage and spine poking out, but he still has a big kitten belly... I just wanna hold and squish him! his limbs are all lanky and awkward, but theyre more like that of a delicate baby bird than a bony human!

Also... cute butt........ squishy squishy 🤤🤤 LOL I know it's probably just his big ol shorts but it's still cute..... I love how all his clothes are so big on him! It's adorable!! I can imagine all the textures so vividly.... his outfits are def 10/10 comfy ^^ I love how he just wears knee/thigh high socks, it's very cute and funny, I also wear socks that go up to my shorts sometimes and it is VERY comfy when they fit well.

I also love his tiny lil legs and the way he walks/runs! They go pitter patter as he skitters around like a dachshund or a lizard a a funky lil bug!

And I really like the way he handles his energy... ill start with describing the other eds first!

With Ed, his energy is sort of consistently radiating out, he has an IMMENSE amount of power and imagination in there, but he's big enough to handle it. It seeps out like radiation from a 10 ton brick of uranium.

With Eddy, he has more explosive tendencies, he's short and stout, which makes it harder for him to hold everything in, but he tends to compress it all down into a little ball. He's extremely volatile and reactive, you set him off and BOOM it all explodes out! His little body just can't handle anything new, he's already backed up with so much repressed emotion that there just isn't room for anything new. His explosions are like dynamite, or a star that got too much mass and imploded on itself.

Now Edd is the Anxiety Creature™, his energy is also volatile in nature, but I guess he's more electric, or like plasma. It's the kind of heat that's so hot it starts to feel cold again, like coming inside from the snow, turning the bath faucet to the hottest temp and butting your feet right under it. The difference between him and eddy is that Double D isn't able to hold anything down, as soon as it's created it's let out into the world, however that may be. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, expresses any and all fear, excitement, disgust, and affection he feels because he just doesn't have the volume to hold any of it in. He creates huge amounts of energy, and there's nowhere for it to go but out into the world! His tiny body just can't hold it all in.... it's hard to find a comparison like the other two, something so small with so much energy.... his energy sorta functions like the sun, once you look at it up close.

Here's a diagram I made to visualize it better, (it looks better on computer than phone) I feel like Edds colors are different based on whatever emotion he's expressing, but theyre always bright, whipping out like pink and yellow and blue solar flares. Eddy's are definitely more firey and messy than what i drew, think dynamite mixed with a supernova.

I've been writing this post all morning, and I think im gonna call it here for now lol. I will add some stuff about Double D's personality later lol.

[eukaryotesrool]

Animal based fiction creatures and design choices therein

Alright, rant time.

(Smaug, the best Hobbit character)

So, I see some kind a debate every now and again on what the creator(s) of a fictional creature (or a version of a prexistent fiction creature, i.e: dragons most commonly.) 'Should' have down when making that creature to be 'realistic', mostly in regards to the real animal counterparts.

I can appreciate pointing out differences between fiction and reality. However, that is rarely a good idea when it becomes. "The writer is wrong because they made [thing] do [thing], when in real life it would have done [thing]."

I shall go over some reasons why.

Firstly! Even when depicting a REAL LIFE ANIMAL such as a cat mean't to be a real life cat, writers are allowed a lot of leeway in the form of 'creative license', most commonly (particularly if the aforementioned cat is the main character) letting the cat speak and think and act in the same way a human would, with unique cultural cat traits added in of course, like maybe an affinity for mice (which would be a use of creative license in of itself, arguably)

Next! The neat thing about a fictional creature, it's fictional! A writer can do basically whatever they want — as long as they don't break their own rules, and the world/creatures/characters mesh and make some level of sense.

For example: Imagine a creature that looks like a fox, is the size of an elephant, spits acid, and has green fur.

If there were a member of that species with blue fur, which would be the problem? That a fictional fox creature has a fur color real foxes don't? Or that a fictional fox creature has a fur color its species is established to not have?

[To be clear: The writer could have a blue fox thingy if they point out that it is a sub species or a genetic anomaly or whatever. Every rule has an exception or two, but make it clear when you're exeptioning]

Finally, a point that applies mostly to the species that got me to rant about this, lizard people!!!

(An argonian gent from Skyrim)

I'm going to assume you all, same as me, know of the breasts vs no breasts lizard people debate. No breasts side arguing "real lizards don't have them", the breasts side arguing "It's a fictional creatures, I demand it have the boob!"

Well! I always thought that debate was silly, frankly, but it was revived in my mind when Baldurs Gate 3 caused some randoms on the internet to debate if a lizard should have a dick because "real lizards have cloacas"

Uh, someone did point out they kinda do have penises IRL, but they're these funky-ass things called hemipenises (male lizards and all other male reptiles of the very large order squamata have variations of that genital), so the debate still counts.

anyway, other than what I've discussed, the big issue here is that these are lizard PEOPLE (people being humans, in this case) they are anthropomorphized or in other words, given human traits.

lizards don't have breasts and have hemipenises, humans have breasts and have penises... so, it all depends on how human vs how lizard the creator(s) wants them to be.

See, aside from the subject matter (though I'm confident everyone knew how silly that was) the silly part of this debate is that it assumed one side had to be right, but it just depends on what any given creator(s) chooses to do.

[purpleruneleaf]

so i played with the horror and farm dolls, but decided i didn't like them as much after all. not putting this on ao3, but putting this out in the universe in case someone else might enjoy it. i dunno, i don't feel like i captured either of them very well. rottoncrops (farmer/horror)

3am coffee

He'd heard the stories of UFOs and aliens beaming up cows and people, so when the flashes of light and strange noises seemed to be coming from his barn, Farm's first thought at 3am was Aw shit, I've got me uh intergalactic problem...

With that in mind, Farm did what any sensible person would have done in the same situation.

The skeleton got out of bed, stepped into his slippers, put on his robe, and made his way downstairs. In his kitchen, he put on a pot of coffee and whipped up a quick batch of biscuits. While the dough rested, he washed his hands, stuffed and lit his pipe, grabbed his shotgun and flashlight, and headed towards the barn. 

By the time he got over there, of course, the light show was over, and everything seemed normal. To the point that Farm briefly wondered if he’d dreamt it in the first place.

Better safe than sorry, he thought with a sigh, huffing out a puff from his pipe. Shotgun draped over his elbow, he clicked on his flashlight and got the barn door open. His eyes followed the beam his flashlight made. Nothing seemed out of place.

But he could smell it.

Something faint, bitter, and rancid tickled his nostrils. It was a smell Farm was familiar enough with that he smiled a little.

Fear.

“Yuh can c’mon outtuh hidin’,” he said out loud. Something tensed in the air like a held breath. “I ain’t gonna hurt you none. I got fresh coffee made, and the oven’s warmin’ up fer biscuits. Why don’chyuh c’mon out, an’ we can talk over some fresh biscuits ‘n’ gravy?”

“What’s the catch?” a voice hissed from the shadows around him.

He swallowed hard. Every instinct in him now warned Farm not to make any sudden moves. The voice almost sounded like it was behind him. Farm forced a smile. “Ain’t no catch, I swear. Just a peace offerin’. Yuh come a long way, right? Yuh must be hungry.”

There was a quiet while the stranger considered Farm’s offer. “I… don’t have anything to give in exchange.” A knife flashed in the corner of his eye, the blade curved towards Farmer’s throat. “This is some sort of trick!  You’re going to try and kill me for food!”

“Fer… what?”

The knife edged closer to his throat. Farm lifted his chin. “Food, you simpleton! There’s not enough to go around, remember? You ‘re going to kill me and eat me!”

Farm chuckled nervously, holding up both hands. “I don’t know what’s goin’ on on yer planet, friend, but we got plenty of food here. I don’t gotta kill nobody to live, I promise. ‘Cept fer the occasional pig ‘r cow… or chicken. Or rabbit, but that’s a treat I save fer the holidays.”

The hand holding the knife wavered; the blade came away from his throat. “Rabbits? You… raise rabbits?”

“Sure do!” Farm replied with a grin. “Got me some sheep and a goat too. And a funky little lizard that looks like a dinosaur. Got all sorts uh critters.” He laughed. “Darn learnt everything but uh fishin’ pond, and even then, river ain’t too far away. If yuh stay past sunrise, yuh can mee’ em iffin yuh want.”

Again that hand lowered a little more. “I don’t have anything to give in exchange,” the stranger repeated. “I can’t pay you back.”

“Don’ need tuh,” Farm assured. He shrugged. “But iffin it’ll help yuh feel better ‘bout the whole deal, I can put yuh tuh work. If yuh like, you can stay as long as yuh need. Ah don’ mind none.” His smile fell. “Awful lonely way out here since mah brother moved to the city. Could use some company.”

Finally the knife came away from his throat. The shadows to Farm’s left solidified and moved, taking the form of a skeleton that stepped into the light of Farm’s flashlight.

Immediately noticeable was the chunk missing from the stranger’s skull. Farm did his best not to stare, turning his gaze to the stranger’s bloody, dusty hoodie and shorts. The stranger was both taller and wider than Farmer, and his teeth seemed both sharper and harder. Like they could break bone… His single red eyelight stared at Farmer with wary suspicion as he slid the knife back into his sleeve.

Farm moved the flashlight to his other hand so he could offer it to shake. “Farmer Sans,” he introduced himself. 

The eyelight flicked between the offered hand and his face. “Horror,” replied the stranger, not accepting the hand.

Which didn’t offend Farm at all. He suspected his guest had a list of reasons why he should keep his guard up. Farmer shrugged and changed flashlight hands again. 

“C’mon,” he offered with a grin. “Coffee’s gonna burn iffin we let it sit too long undrunk. Yuh like coffee?”

The red eyelight shifted to one side sheepishly. “It’s… been a long time since I had coffee…” 

Farmer patted his back. “Well, lucky fer you, I grow mah own.” He led the way out of the barn and closed it up behind them. “I even got uh special greenhouse so I can grow ‘em out of season.” He laughed. “Yuh’d be surprised how nice it is tuh have good, fresh coffee in the middle of winter!”

The skeleton paused to look back at his guest when Horror didn’t reply and found the stranger standing several paces behind, his gaze turned up to the sky. Black tears trickled down Horror’s cheeks. Farm smiled and looked up as well.

“Stars are mighty purdy tonight,” he said with a wistful sigh.

“Stars…” mumbled Horror. “Real stars…” He nodded and wiped his face with a shaky hand. “Yes… They are rather… pretty…”

Farm took a hesitant step closer. “Yuh ain’t never seen the stars before, have yuh…”

Silently the other skeleton shook his head.

“Well tell yuh whut…” Farm’s grin returned. “How ‘bout yuh make yerself nice an’ cozy on the porch swing while I make our coffee? That way we can talk an’ watch the stars together, a’ight?”

Horror wordlessly nodded. Though he remained unspeaking and his expression betraying nothing, Farm still sensed a deep, profound sadness, like a wounded animal just about to give up hope. And a small flicker of wonder at those stars. Saying nothing else himself, Farm led his guest to the wide porch swing. The hinges and chains squeaked a little as Horror hesitantly sat, wobbling as it tried to swing under him. It didn’t escape Farm’s notice that Horror sat on the edge of the swing, ready to leap to his feet at a moment’s notice. He would have said something about it, but Farm knew his guest wouldn’t simply accept the words “you can relax, it’s safe.” 

“You jus’ wait right here,” Farm told him. “I’ll get started on them biscuits an’ bring out some coffee, a’ight?”

Again, Horror only silently nodded, looking more and more like a child unsure if they were in trouble or unwelcome.

I just wanna wrap him in uh blanket an’ hug ‘im ‘til he gets it, Farm thought with a sigh as he retreated inside. 

He put away his gun and flashlight and got the biscuits rolled out. Cooking was little trouble for Farm; he enjoyed the task and saw it as a form of meditation. There were certain recipes he’d make on certain days, based on the weather or his mood. Focaccia was good for when he wanted to punch something, and fudge was for when the humidity was just right. 

Rolling and cutting out the biscuits gave him something to focus on so his mind wouldn’t wander in worry to his quiet guest.

He got the biscuits on a baking sheet and in the oven, then made coffee. Unsure of how Horror took his, Farm mixed one with extra sugar and creamer and one with just sugar, and would let his guest choose. 

As he left his kitchen, booty-bumping the door since his hands were full, Farm expected his guest to be gone.

But when he stepped outside, he found that Horror was right where Farm left him, sitting on the swing, crying black tears as he gazed up at the stars.

“How do yuh like her coffee?” Farm asked gently as he sat beside Horror on the swing. 

The broken skeleton shrugged.

Taking that to mean he didn’t care, and figuring Horror needed the extra goodness of it, Farmer gave him the bug with the cream-and-sugar coffee, keeping the black with sugar for himself. Farm leaned back on the swing and stretched an arm over the back of it. He crossed one leg over the other and used his foot to slowly rock them. Horror fumbled a little about to spring up and flee, but once he realized the movement was only them, he relaxed visibly. Leaning forward onto his elbows and knees, Horror rocked the swing with him.

For a while, neither spoke. They existed together in a comfortable quiet, sipping coffee, rocking on the swing, watching the stars. Farm had all the time in the world, and his patience was rewarded.

“I’ve never seen the stars,” Horror admitted. “I’m from a place so far away from them, we had a room that mimicked the night sky. Sparkling crystals embedded in a high ceiling… There was even a telescope you could look through for five undollars.”

“But…” Farm nudged him. The broken skeleton was speaking in the past tense.

Horror huffed a brief smile. “But it’s gone now. We needed the room for something else. We needed the crystals for something else. The star room was the first to go.”

“You don’ gotta talk ‘bout it iffin yer not ready.”

The broken skeleton nodded, and that was the end of the conversation.

[db-reviews]

#114 - Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava - King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard (2022)

Probably the most prolific band to come in the 2010s and had made a big name for themselves would have to be King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard. They have released over 20 albums in 10 years with each year or so they would release a completely new album that showcases the band trying completely new styles of music that go from psychedelic rock, to blue rock, to jazz, to even rapping with their recent efforts this year with Made In Timeland and Omnium Gatherum. Throughout the band’s history, they have had a consistent track record of fun new twists that are intriguing as they are delightful. I think by the end of this century they would’ve made almost 100 albums because it seems like they can never stop no matter what. To me they aren’t just progressive, they are so forward-thinking that you don’t even know what they’ll do next, and that just makes them even more appealing. Their consistency is their lack of consistency. This is the 3rd album they have released this year, and 1st album they’ll release this month with 2 more coming out. In this incarnation, we get some of the band’s most jazzy works yet since their 2015 album Quarters and their 2017 album of Sketches of Brunswick East.

The album kicks off with Mycelium which goes into a more funk style of playing mixed in with a sense of smooth jazz. It is the most chill-out song they made in this more jazzy style as every aspect from the guitar, the saxophone, and the whole feel of the song is just cozy. What I love most about this song though is how they capture the feeling of mushrooms in a forest. If we discount the parasitic fungi that take control of animals, most fungi do look and feel very comfy. Have you ever seen a fantasy book or movie with pictures of giant mushrooms, and just imagine lying on them and just relaxing? That is what this song feels like, being in a fantasy book and just chilling on a mushroom. It is a nice woodsy jazz song that I think will age to be one of King Gizz’s finest works.

After such a chill song, we get to Ice V, an equally chill, but very different interpretation of the band’s style. It continues that funky jazz Mycelium had, but amped it up a bit, being a bit more wild and free in sound. In this we can get a cool vibe running throughout it, which I think plays into the theme of the album, taking random things from our world like ice, and mushrooms, and creating a cool jazzy song surrounding the feeling you’d get from seeing it. In this case, since ice is very cool, yet very slippery we get a nice cool funk jam that slips yours around in a glamorous fashion. It sticks to you like glue and the rhythm will never leave your head. It is just a really fun track, to be honest, and I love it.

From cold to hot, we are in Magma. In the album’s themes, this is of course a more hot-sounding song, if that makes sense. It has an emphasis more on the guitars than the saxophones or keys, delivering a more spicy delivery in music that keeps up with the funk levels that drip off this album’s body. While it isn’t completely metal, it does start up leading the album’s more hard-hitting melodies. With that they stretch their legs here, creating a nice and groovy jam that I bet a lot of King Gizz fans will love once they hear this album if they haven’t already.

After Magma, the rocks crumble away and we get Lava. This time they pull back a bit, going a bit more minimalistic, emphasizing more on the drums this time around. The song picks up speed after the halfway mark and I cannot help but love the poetry that captures the whole song perfectly, about how life is death and vice versa. Captures how lava reacts, how it burns things away but was created due to tension and build-up, almost how life in the universe can be interpreted as tension building up and exploding. The volcano represents the Big Bang, and the lava represents life as a whole on how things are taken away by death but new life can sprout up at the same time. Now the first half though is a little mixed for me. I do like the more calm and tribal feel but I do think it breaks the tension from the more funk-laden songs we got from the previous three, and in a sort of bad way. I do not think it fits all too well, so if I could fix it I’d have a bit of flute or horns in the background with a soft guitar leading the charge. It’d be fitting since it can be a great follow-up to Magma, and it’d work well with the whole thematic elements of heat in the instrumentation. The second half is great, but the first half is not so much.

So we went from magma to lava, and with lava being about death and life, what happens next after we die? Well in most religions we’ll go to an afterlife, whether it is Heaven or Hell. In this case, we’ll be going to Hell. Hell’s Itch is the longest song off of this album, and in it we get a combination of their more psychedelic jam sound with the funk-jazz fusion, resulting in 13 minutes of pure greatness. Everything about this song drips in this psychedelic balancing act of the calmer funky moments with the intense jamming. It all pays off in spades, with a song that I think is a great continuation of the sound we got from some of their previous albums, namely Quarters, but does so in a way where it constantly feels fresh. King Gizz has been a band about being fresh and new, and this song is a good example of being ahead of the curve.

While Hell’s Itch felt like a balancing act, we get the peak of the refinancing process of the more funk jazz and psych-infused mix with Iron Lung. This is the album’s masterpiece for me. The sounds, how it goes from a more wobbly guitar lead song to a bassy one, and how it perfectly encapsulates the album’s style while also being new just help this song so much in being some of the finest music we have gotten from King Gizz. It is like a well-prepared steak, delicious, and juicy, and after the first time, you get a second serving. Once the song was done I immediately went back to it because it was super good. It felt almost bizarre how good it was, but I doubt King Gizz didn’t make it in the name of being randomly good, since really they are all talented musicians to the point where they can replicate this to a tee and it would still be fantastic.

After that wonderful song, we get into the last track of the album, Gliese 710. This song is at an odd place in my heart since you jump into it right off Iron Lung, which felt like a befitting closure for the album, so having a song afterward is pretty neat all things considered, but I think it is unnecessary. It is still a fun song, and very psychedelic and jammy, but since it is at the end of the album it never really pays off like how Iron Lung did. It feels almost as if it was originally just a bonus track but was reconsidered to be an album track at the very end when it wasn’t supposed to. Not only do I feel it makes the album end with a weird whimper, but it also makes the whole experience feel not as well planned as once thought out. It is like going on vacation and having a good time, and when you need to fly back to your original city suddenly the planes are delayed for a day, so you have to waste your time driving to a hotel and waking up to try your luck again. You had fun throughout your trip but that bump at the end felt kinda poor. It does make the album feel a lot more varied, but I’d rather this just be a bonus track than an official track of the album.

That said, this album was super fun. I think this is a part of a top 10 King Gizzard album list due to how well it is. Every song is just a fun time to go through, and it all feels like they had a blast making it. This and Omnium Gatherum have become some of my favorites from this band, and I bet the next 2 albums later this month will be just as good. 100% check this album out because it is a treat to behold.

4.5/5

[aceofspadegrass]

Pancake Day, but Better

Characters: Niragi Suguru, Dori Sakurada, Last Boss, Cabot, Aguni Morizono, Chishiya Shuntaro, Hatter

Genre: Crack Part 2, now with pancakes.

1.9k words

Prompt: Can you do like a sequel for that dori and niragi crack,cause i want to see dori in pancake day and introducing himself to chishiya,last boss(and catbot)aguni,and hatter. And i have an urge that maybe hatter would like him because how he dresses himself how hatter likes it to be,also chishiya would just go up to niragi and say" Wow, he's actually even more better then you niragi. Maybe he's smarter then you too" As he walks away leaving a a angry niragi - @a-simp-20

(Counts as a Part 2 to this)

*Rubs hands together* Heck yeah, more gentle chaos. Time to gently bully this giraffe lizard man again.

Now with the added addition of pancakes! Fun times for all!

Despite the laws of the Borderlands and the highly likely chance that nobody knows the actual date that passes by, people still managed to produce what someone offhandedly referred to as the 'Borderlands Holy Day'.

Now, what pray tell was the Borderlands Holy Day? Was it a religion?

Despite the fact that it had 'Holy' in its name, no. It wasn't a religion. Although if someone tried hard enough it could become almost like a cult. Wouldn't be the first time.

So what was it?

Well, obviously.....

It was Pancake Friday. The greatest day of the century. The premise was simple enough: Every Friday everyone gets a pancake. A single pancake. Want more? Well, you better bet and compete for other people's pancakes. The only thing more exhilarating to the members of the Beach than winning games and living another day to party and do fuck-all was Pancake Day.

So, of course, when Friday rolled around, people weren't thinking of anything except the spoils of little bets and competitions over the week, thick fluffy pancakes topped with whatever they pleased and whatever the Beach had in stock at the time. Even Niragi was thinking about pancakes, because what's better than bragging about how many pancakes you got that week?

Nothing, that's what.

Pancake Day was great.

Niragi walks down the corridor with the strut of a man that knew he was feared, and he heads to the dining area where the pancakes would inevitably be given out. People were already there, a few making last minute bets in an attempt to win just a little extra amount for the day. Niragi found it almost amusing. Such a pitiful sight. Niragi himself had already gained a total of four whole pancakes, two of which he won off of some idiot who just thought he was really pretty.

" There's a lot of people here. It must be really important, right?" A smooth voice pipes up from just a little behind him, and Niragi is reminded quite forcefully that he didn't come here alone.

" Of course it's important, it's Pancake Day! Haven't you ever heard of it?" Niragi spat, Sakurada merely shrugging and walking away to talk to other members of the Beach. Niragi scoffs and storms away. At least he didn't have to think about the other him anymore, no matter how neat he looked.

He ends up finding Last Boss standing in the corner by himself, watching everyone else with a self made distance, leaning against his katana. His cat was chilling right besides his foot, apparently having her snack before the pancakes came out and making quiet eating noises. Niragi made sure not to accidentally step on her, which wasn't that hard to do. Niragi stares at Last Boss almost expectantly, waiting for even the slightest hint of a greeting, but all the other man does is stare ahead, lost in his own thought.

So, like a completely normal person would do to a guy ignoring the other, Niragi starts poking Last Boss in the side with his sniper rifle.

" Hey. Hey. Hey. You awake?"

Last Boss just continues to ignore him, and Niragi's pokes get a little harder the more he gets ignored. " Hey! Why are you ignoring me! Come on!"

Last Boss finally looks in his direction, and Niragi grins in victory, Last Boss just staring at him blankly. " Fucking finally, you were ignoring me."

Last Boss just continues to remain silent, but Niragi didn't care, instead putting his rifle back to balance on his shoulder as he looks out among the people still puttering about. Niragi could barely make out that Sakurada guy, who was talking to some random nobodies, Niragi scoffing to himself. He points him out to Last Boss, whose gaze follows the direction of Niragi's slender finger.

" See that one? Yeah, that one busted into my room and kept spraying me with water, the nerve of that guy."

Last Boss mutters something under his breath, Niragi not picking it up properly. He glances at Last Boss suspiciously, Last Boss just continuing to stare off at Sakurada without any sign of emotion on his tattooed face. Niragi groans, and he looks back in the direction of Sakurada, only to see that somehow the bastard has disappeared. Niragi frowns and looks around from where he stood to see whether he could see him again, but no dice.

The area was getting more and more full the longer Niragi tried looking, to the point that he gave up even trying. At some point Last Boss' cat had finished her snack, and he could feel Cabot rubbing her body across his legs as well just for the hell of it. He looks down at the feline, Cabot just doing her own thing like she usually did.

" Hey you little fuck. What's up." Niragi mutters down at the cat, Cabot just continuing on her little rub spree before going over to Last Boss and meowing loudly until Last Boss bent down and picked her up, Cabot resting happily with her butt in the crook of Last Boss' arm and her head and front paws draped over his shoulder.

Niragi rolls his eyes at the sight, and finally the time had come, Hatter walking in with the utmost grace, people cheering him like they do every time they see the man, with Aguni not that far behind. Niragi and Last Boss head towards the little stage Hatter insisted needed to be built for Pancake Day, standing in position as Aguni joins them, Hatter going up to the Pancake Podium.

" Greetings everyone! Today is the glorious and absolutely magnificent Pancake Day! I hope all of you have worked hard to acquire your pancakes!" Hatter shouts with arms outstretched like a bird's, people cheering and whooping excitedly. " I, for one, have a total of five whole pancakes, as throughout the week I have worked hard to get them from my loyal and beautiful members, and that one person who sadly perished in a game and bequeathed their pancakes to me for many months to come! May their soul be at rest, the courage of them~" Hatter announces, the crowd going wild.

" Now, may the pancakes commence!"

People scattered to tables near immediately, and the kitchen doors open as the designated chefs come out with the freshly made pancakes on carts. Niragi and Last Boss end up following Aguni and the rest of the executives plus Hatter to what was apparently the special table, used only by them.

Niragi grins as he leans back in his chair. At least Sakurada would stay away for now-

" Oh, there you are!"

Speak of the devil. Niragi shuts his eyes in annoyance as his clone comes over. Several pairs of eyes shoot to him, and despite his eyes being closed, Niragi could still feel the smug and interested smile Chishiya was giving off.

" Oh? And who are you, you splendid looking being?" Hatter's voice rings out. " Your outfit is immaculate, but I have never seen you before. No, wait...... I have seen you! Except less fancier. And usually with a hat. Who is sitting right there."

Niragi wanted to shoot this man so bad.

"My name is Sakurada Dori, it is very nice to meet you." Sakurada greets them.

Niragi finally bothers to open his eyes as Hatter stands up, and apparently does a quick check over of Sakurada, nodding to himself. " Yes, you are absolutely stunning. I love what you've done!"

" Are you the one that made Niragi take off his hat?" Aguni asks, low and stoic as always. Niragi rolls his eyes at that. He didn't intend to get rid of his hat, Sakurada just kind of yeeted it outside his window without even asking. The nerve of this guy.

Sakurada quickly nods. " I will get him another hat eventually, as I promised, but only as long as he shoots his gun responsibly!"

" Is that so...." Aguni mutters, and just kind of nods like a sort of proud dad.

Hatter grins even wider, and claps Sakurada across the back. " Now that's some courage! Hey, what say you, would you like one of Niragi's pancakes? As a sign of strength!"

" What?!" Niragi shouts, and he stands up, slamming the table. Aguni watches him quietly, as does Last Boss, the latter just staring more than a tired gaze like Aguni was sporting at the moment. " You can't do that!"

" But I can! I'm the leader after all, I can say what I want, and what I want is practically law here, Niragi. Remember who your boss is." Hatter smiles at Niragi in that sort of way that Niragi hated, but a firm tap on his arm by Aguni made him relent, Niragi angrily muttering to himself as he sat back down.

" Ah, thank you very much, but I don't need to take his-"

" Nonsense, you deserve it! Besides, Niragi already gets... how many?"

" Well I had four, but apparently not anymore."

" Three is plenty for you! Anyways, so that means you get two pancakes, you funky little ball of glory!" Hatter states.

" Are you sure? Is that alright with you Niragi?" Sakurada looks to the man, Niragi just grumbling some more.

" Don't worry about him, he'll get over it." Chishiya mentions, and Niragi quickly glares at him, Chishiya casually looking back with that damn smug ass smile on his lips.

" Fucking undercooked egg white." Niragi mutters under his breath, Chishiya just continuing to smirk.

Still, the pancakes arrive to their table, Hatter inviting Sakurada to sit with them for the day so he could talk about fashion, mainly about what kinds of hats the other liked, Sakurada easily falling into conversation with him. Niragi just drowns his now three pancakes in maple sauce, grumbling under his breath.

Last Boss was watching Niragi just nearby, eating his single pancake as Cabot got to treat herself to two whole cat-specified pancakes like she deserved, and goes to whisper to his cat, Cabot flicking her tail a little at whatever Last Boss muttered.

" You have a very nice cat there! It must be enjoying everything since it appears to be very well cared for and happy." Sakurada mentions at one point, Last Boss staring at Sakurada silently. Sakurada just politely smiles back, and Last Boss just slowly blinks, then nods.

" Thank.... you." Last Boss says, and Cabot looks up finally, and bumps her body against Last Boss, the man quietly petting her as Sakurada watches with a happy expression at how sweet the sight was. Sakurada makes small clicking nosies in an attempt to beckon the cat over to him, Cabot meowing and wandering over curiously, sniffing at Sakurada's fingers before letting herself get pet by the man softly. " She seems to like me already!" Sakurada says happily, Last Boss slowly nodding.

" That's good. She likes being pet gently." Last Boss mutters, and even Hatter tried to get in on the cat patting session.

" Hey Niragi." Chishiya's voice catches Niragi's attention, and he looks up at him, already despising of what he was about to spew out from his lips. The limestone fox man just smiles at him, pancakes already gone from his plate.

" The fuck do you want now."

" Your clone is actually way better than you. Perhaps even smarter than whatever half brain you have up there." Chishiya remarks, and with that he stands up and walks away from the table, immediately sliding himself into a group of people leaving and disappearing from his sight.

" YOU LITTLE FUC-" He whips out his gun, ready to chase Chishiya down and kill him like he always wanted to.

Water gets immediately sprayed on his face the second he stands up again, Niragi sputtering. " No. Bad Niragi."

[thevalleyisjolly]

19, 31, and 32 for the D&D ask meme?

Thanks anon!

19. How did you discover D&D?

As with so many things in my life, it’s all down to my fantastic nimble bird friend, who sent me a link to a clip of the love potion prank in Critical Role campaign 1. The rest, as they say, is history!

31. Tell me about your current party!

YES, ok, I’ve been waiting to gush for a while, let me tell you about EWF (names redacted/abbreviated for privacy reasons)

So our party currently has four active members - Vyce (my character, a tiefling rogue), “O” (tiefling monk), “D” (human cleric), and “N” (gnome wizard). We also have three past/infrequent members - “Z” (kyrid (home-brew lizard race) bard), “T” (dwarf barbarian), and “Ol” (half elf sorcerer).

“O” is played by my nimble bird friend, and she’s both a very competent fighter and also very young. Vyce, who has been a little brother his entire life, thinks of her like a little sister, albeit one whom he’s slightly in awe of. In Vyce’s opinion, she’s the beating heart of the party - she takes such joy in things (especially shiny things) and she doesn’t seem to be weighed down by the unfortunate things that have happened in her past. She’s not very smart (aka the best type of D&D character) and she’ll run where angels fear to tread, but it’s that kind of reckless bravery that’s saved the party’s bacon more times than we can count. I personally am of the opinion that "O" should be allowed to use a gun. Would this solve some of our problems? Maybe. Would this cause a lot more problems? Certainly. Should "O" even have a gun? Probably not, but the correct answer is yes. She's got the guns, now let her fire a gun!

We're just wrapping up a story arc dealing with “D’s” backstory, and it’s been so fun to see how his character has grown and changed over the course of the arc. He’s gone from a bit of a directionless adventurer, getting drunk and squabbling with “T” about who is in charge of the party skyship, to really coming into his own as a captain of the wind and waves. Like, it’s truly been so satisfying to watch him instigate revolutions, reach out to old friends and stand up to old enemies, lead fleets into naval battles, and step into the heart of the storm. I think for Vyce, “D” has really gone from someone that was a bit of a dark mirror in many ways, to someone that he respects and admires. Not that there isn't still a streak of recklessness in "D" but hey, that's part of what makes the game fun!

It is impossible not to like “N.” “N” alone has shifted Vyce’s dislike of mages (although with our most recent session, there’s been some regression!) “N” is like that friend who is enthusiastically, 110% up for anything, you tell him the plan and he’ll commit to it so hard. You will never meet an Abjuration wizard, or flat out any wizard, who loves Fireball more. He’s also ended up in so many situations where he’s separated from the party and 1v1-ing a baddie all by himself and no one knows, and the thing is, he’s actually won most of the time? I mean, apart from the time he died, but he’s better now. You’ll also never meet a wizard who uses a dagger so successfully in combat. He’s literally killed at least two bad guys with his dagger, we’re all bewildered and both Vyce and I are delighted, you go you funky lil old gnome you. He’s currently got a running interest in trying to figure out what shape the world is, which is some of the funniest and best wizard RP ever. He’s also come out with some of the most devastatingly poignant lines in the campaign so far, his memorial speech for a beloved NPC friend still haunts me ahhhhhhh.

32. Most memorable NPC you've encountered in a game you played in.

Hmm, gotta be three-way tie between Lynley, Rutley, and Frode. Lynley was an old friend of “D” and was also a cleric (I think?) of the same god. He helped us start and lead the revolution against the pirate lord, and when the pirate lord sent a massive fleet, much larger than our remaining ships, to retake the port, he loaded a ship with gunpowder and sailed it into the middle of the attacking fleet.

(Does Vyce feel guilty because he suggested that as an idea, albeit with unmanned ships, when we first heard about the fleet? YUP.)

Anyways, the party wasn’t in the port at the time, we were trying to retake a temple partway down the coast, but we got to see his death scene in a scrying pool, and just, the way our DM narrated it and the music he put on, it was just this incredibly heart-wrenching and moving scene that will stay with me forever. Our DM is incredible, that’s all I can say.

Rutley is just a goblin with a gun. He is very good at shooting the gun. Naturally, I love him.

Frode is the worst person ever (in Vyce’s opinion). Vyce dislikes mages in general, he very definitely dislikes charmers, and he fears wit and wordplay because he’s not in the least good at it (-2 CHA baybeeeee). Of course, this means Vyce’s mortal enemies are bards (except for our party bard, who is just a lil lizard with a cello and not, say, an obnoxious know-it-all with higher Perception than Vyce’s Stealth). Frode is a mysterious bard we found wandering in the forest, who may or may not be our world’s equivalent of Jaskier. Vyce loathes him with a deep and unshakable hatred, and I the player loved every minute of that interaction.

[incorrect-mha-bnha]

Headcannon/Au Drabble

Kirishima is standing too close to a villain when Bakugou detonates a viscous blast, not taking into consideration that he couldn’t harden everything immediately without fair warning. Kirishima ends up going deaf because of the close proximity.

Nitroglycerin is addtictive, therefore? Midoriya has been around Bakugou the longest (excluding his parents which would have been warned by a doctor awhile ago) and is probably addicted to it despite Bakugou’s many attempts to keep their distance. Midoriya is just a crackhead.

Shigaraki was never able to play patty cake as a kid and that’s depressing in itself.

Ship hc: Person A plays video games with friends and wears a headset. Person B doesn’t play but likes wearing a pair and sitting in their S/O’s lap while talking with everyone.

The Joker/Harley Q trope for a couple dynamic is really valid in many BNHA ships. Person A and B are very capable heroes/people that know how to defend themselves but like to call their S/O in times of trouble. Person A is stopped by a bad guy and calls out for Person B with pure enjoyment for what is about to go down. All the villain hears is loud banging as B gets closer.

Bakugou is actually really amazing at doing makeup and hairstyles, along with doing nails. I’m going to say he learned most of that from self taught occasions, his mom, maybe some aunts and Best Jeanist. ANYWAY, all the class girls love to ask Bakugou for some pampering whenever they can. They always win him over after the fifth or sixth time they beg or give some sort of puppy eyes but Bakugou would never admit to actually liking doing those things.

Kirishima is the type of guy friend to carry pads/tampons in his bag at all times just incase any of the girls may need emergency supplies. He may go as far as bringing Tylenol or even an extra hoodie.

Bakugou owns a lot of house plants, and for many reasons. He’s the best and pretty smart which means he’s eco friendly. What does eco friendly entail? Going green! I hc that he probably refused to show his room because it’s completely jungled out (or full of cute plants and fancy pots). Based on his personality and my own projection, he’d like a plant that isn’t too demanding on care but I doubt he’d mind a challenge. Maybe a handful of succulents and a good amount of cacti- throwing in some Devil’s Ivy and a cute palm tree. Bakugou could spend hours tending to them, watering and building a nice ledge to rest them on just before his window. Indulging in new pots and fancy equipment for the sake of being extra. It’s all about the principle really. Plants produce oxygen, not to mention that some are really good for health as well.

BAKUGOU IS TRANS (but I would never press that on anyone)

Deaf Bakugou?? At a young age when Bakugou was first starting to learn about his quirk, he unleashed a very large, uncontrolled explosion way too close to his ears. That resulted in him becoming completely deaf in one ear and partially in the other.

Shouto is partially blind/visually impaired/completely blind in his right (left??) eye thanks to the BOILING HOT WATER being poured on his EYE. You can’t tell me homeboy didn’t get some sort of damage done from that besides some gnarly burns.

Kaminari has ADHD

Kirishima is extremely roudy and wild, also gay. Very gay.

Kirishima is trans (there are many things that point to this conclusion). Such as: If a transmasc got top surgery, he wouldn’t wear a fucking shirt again either. Talking manly and wanting to be manly is like the basis of what trans guy are working on. And the whole thing about him being gay? Is he really attracted to them or does he want to be them????

They aren’t allowed to have animals in the dorms despite a lot of begging done by all. However, Bakugou decided to say fuck you to the rule and has a bunch of animals in his room. Now. He gets away with it for a few reasons. 1) He isn’t loud about it, doesn’t go around showing them off or boasting like usual. Won’t bring them out of the dorm or let anyone see when he brings supplies back. 2) No one would suspect Bakugou to be such an animal lover or one to break that rule. Sad to say, he does. Many times over the course of high school, in fact. What animals could he possibly have? HMmMm let’s think, shall we? No doubt a hamster, a real grumpy one though. It has to have personality. A Bearded Dragon, Ball Python, a few Corn snakes. Maybe a gecko. But you have to believe he has a cat too. There is no way he wouldn’t. A furry brat that keeps him company while he studies and works out? Jumping on his back as he does yoga and sleeps on his face at night. There is no way. The best part is that the cat is deaf, which is why he adopted it. He went in looking for another lizard and came out with a sassy feline with no hearing. So what? He went soft.

Midoriya would be the first to go to jail between him and Bakugou. Hands down. Think about it... He broke numerous laws just to get a friend back and had no guilt for it. He was just all ‘Ehh, what you gonna do about it?’ when the fuzz pulled up to press charges. Bakugou is just crass and volatile, he threatens to kill people... but has he ever been seen killing someone? In conclusion, Midoriya is a delinquent covered up by his positive cinnamon bun nature.

Alright, personal projection time!! Kirishima bites and chews ice cream. Denki eats soup with a straw. Shouto eats cereal with a fork, “What? I don’t like too much milk. It strains out this way.”. Bakugou is just as bad, he’s a teenager and will do shit just because. Aka, he will go down to the kitchen in the middle of the night for some milk n cookies. When he realizes there is no more milk, he will throw a silent fit because he wanted those damn cookies. Begrudgingly though, he will pour a glass of water and dunk his Oreos in then eat em like that. I don’t make the rules, it’s just what happens.

Bakugou needs constant love and constant positive reinforcement along with help on his anxiety. Give that boy a service dog. A big fluffy golden service dog. A really large, extremely fluffy service down he can hug and hide his face in whenever something is bothering him. A real big puppy that makes him feel secure and makes him laugh. Damn it! Give him a dog now!

Kirishima is rowdy and wild. Baby boy is a teenager. Not to mention is invisible and hyped up on manly shit. THERE IS NO BOUNDS FOR WHAT HE WOULD DO. Think about it. He’d literally card Todoroki into setting him on fire just to see how long he can hold his hardening for. He would have Inasa drop him from the FUCKING SKY just for the hell of it. Hello? Is this thing even on? Kirishima is wild.

Dabi is afraid of spiders. Don’t ask me to elaborate. He just seems like a man with that primal fear.

BAKUGOU IS A FUCKING FASHION ICON OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL. SO FUCKING HELP ME I WILL SCREAM THIS LOUD N PROUD—

Bakugou and Midoriya don’t know how to tie a tie. Midoriya learned that weird funky napkin trick shit from just giving the fuck up and saying “Oh, hey! That looks sorts similar!” And went with it. Bakugou just can’t. He can’t. The only reason his ID shows him with a tie is because Mitsuki tied it for him before hand, and he never let it happen since. They are hopeless. That is all.

[blackestnight]

for my own amusement, have even further worldbuilding details for that last fic, comprised of a horrifying amalgamation of sf game canon, shameless self-indulgent rule-breaking, and my complete unwillingness to care about how science actually works, because this is science fiction blended with fantasy and i do what i want.

the bar they’re in is a location from starfinder canon; it’s called the click-clack club, sometimes “c3″ for short, and caters almost exclusively to mechanical clients (androids, a mechanical race called anacites, and folks with cybernetic enhancements), hence the name. (hanami has enough cybernetic augmentations to put her squarely in the last category; aymeric does too, to a lesser degree--most ‘player characters’ have augmentations of some kind--but his are more biomechanical in nature, and much less obvious to the casual observer.) i didn’t get a chance to work it in this time, but i like to imagine hanami has sort of a big brother-little sister vibe with the owners, who are a bonded dragonkin/ryphorian pair; hanami is also (mostly*) a dragonkin; if memory serves, the owners are also retired skyfire centurions, which is the mercenary company that hanami (and aymeric) currently serves with.

the augmentations hanami is “recharging” are entirely voluntary, and probably fifty years old at this point--which is why she has to juice them up once a year, unlike “modern” (to this setting) augmentations that don’t require an additional power source. this is not at all based in canon, i just wanted an excuse for her to have little charging lights implanted in her spine and i thought too hard about it. the actual augmentations are a cardiac accelerator (think a reverse pacemaker, which she can activate to overclock her circulatory system and do some supremely stupid shit), and a series of sensors in her spine which work for both her mechanized spinal struts (allowing her to lift something like four times her own bodyweight without breaking a sweat) and the speed suspension in her legs (lizard go nyoom). she has other augmentations both in her neurological system and in her skin, but they’re newer and (in the case of the dermal augmentation) not powered, so they don’t require recharging.

yes, she could get the old augmentations upgraded or replaced, and it wouldn’t even be that costly or invasive. she’s just dumb sometimes.

brutaris, the sport hanami mentioned, has been compared to rugby, but instead of tackling you hit people with chainsaw swords. the brutaris team that hanami mentioned, the absalom station buzzblades, did actually get turned into techno-zombies. and then murdered violently. after they violently zombie-murdered a bunch of other people. really put a damper on the season. (and they were aymeric’s home team, too! poor guy.)

the show that’s airing instead of the brutaris match is called pact world warriors, which is an extreme sports show modeled vaguely on american ninja warrior, except much more deadly. the version players can enter in an official adventure path begins with an obstacle course over a pit of alternating lava, quicksand, and corrosive acid, and ends with the zero-gravity capture-the-flag but-with-guns-and-also-grenades game seen in the fic. it (and several other, similarly lethal shows) is hosted by an undead man named zo! and yes, the exclamation point is part of his name. he’s a much-beloved npc, despite the fact that 99% of the time he just wants you to die in a spectacular manner to bump his ratings.

yes, this is all perfectly legal in the pact worlds. no, i don’t know why either.

a “cosmonastery” is a knockoff jedi temple, basically. it’s a center where solarians can train and study and master their powers; solarians are a special type of mystic soldier who harness the raw energies of creation and destruction present in the universe to do funky things like create black holes, or turn off gravity, or create supernovas. estinien is a solarian, as well as one of aymeric’s oldest friends; hanami is also a solarian, although she studied at a different (rival) cosmonastery, and met estinien by virtue of getting into a very intense theological debate with him at a tournament that ended in at least three explosions. this is not an uncommon occurrence at such events.

“coin” is anachronistic in this setting almost to the point that aymeric probably shouldn’t use it, either (everything is done in credits now), but i needed something for her to tease him about so he would be suitably distracted for the drink theft. i handwaved it with the excuse that he did spend the last several decades working at what is essentially a giant bank, so he’s probably at least familiar with older terminology for currency.

hanami’s joke about breaking into the cosmonastery of the empty orbit is just a joke; it’s not the one she studied at, but as a solarian herself she’s welcome to avail herself of its services and equipment whenever she likes, and as her bonded partner aymeric gets a free pass too. he and estinien probably weren’t “sneaking in” as such when they were kids, either; more likely, since estinien would have still been in training at the time, they were just breaking curfew like a couple of teenagers are wont to do.

i spent probably too long waffling over whether to identify things like ground beef and salsa and guacamole by name. starfinder is generic in its item naming conventions almost to the point of comedy, and i don’t actually know if absalom station restaurants could affordably source beef (or an equivalent) given that it’s a space station, and they will most certainly not be raising their own cattle. then again, food synthesizers exist and can convert “universal polymer bases” (the all-purpose crafting currency) into just about any food you can imagine, but that seems like a depressing way to make game night nachos. hence: unidentified seared meat and vegetable paste on chips.

*i homebrewed a hybrid race because i wanted her to at least vaguely resemble an au ra, rather than just a miniature dragon, and because i can.