#thank you for the ask! hope this makes sense LOL

[danceintheskies]

sam do you think an fe4 remake is actually happening 😔

😔 my honest answer is a solid Maybe. i remember echoes came out of nowhere at the time, and it was later revealed in developer interviews that it was conceived of as like an "in between" project for the staff to release while their next big-budget title was in development (three houses); so it's possible they could take the same approach to an fe4 remake. and I think it's possible sigurd being played up in engage and feh in recent years is building up to it, but I think it's equally possible the fe fanbase is just desperate ghdgfhj

my main concern is like... fe4 is a game that would unequivocally benefit from being remade with a loving hand, it's an ambitious title that would thrive on newer hardware with prettier graphics (as much as I love the mold-crusted fe4 sprites). I would kill to see seliph's story fully fleshed out with the care and nuance of a writing team that understands him beyond "something something softboy... something something uncritical filial piety". but it's very much up in the air how faithful to or even understanding of fe4's themes a prospective remake with FE's current writing staff would be, if that makes sense

tl;dr im cautiously optimistic 🤭 if it doesn't happen it doesn't happen, the original fe4's still fun, ripe for analysis and easy to emulate. if it happens and the remake is Bad I trust in our collective ability as a fanbase to gaslight ourselves into believing it was good the whole time o7

[rickfucker]

What positive influences do you think a really good, loving relationship would have on Rick and his behavior? 🥺

i must feed my children before the premiere >:)

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “hurt people hurt people.” I think that a lot of rick’s negative feelings towards love (other than the obvious) have to do with feeling constantly rejected. Not just romantically, but from his friends and family, as well. He may be charming and charismatic, but he’s also cold, rude, argumentative, and a walking red flag. It’s clear our rick hasn’t had a significant relationship since his wife (or birdperson), and I have to assume that’s the case across the multiverse.

For you to make it past the hard exterior he portrays, you’d have to be damn patient. When you’ve been around long enough, he will push you away, because he expects that you’ll do the same eventually. Better to leave than to be left. When you refuse his behavior and the fact that you won’t stop until he has an honest conversation with you about why, he gets annoyed. Then angry. Then, confused.

In fact, I’d say those couple emotions cycle consistently when you do nice things for him, or look at him with affection, or compliment him, or are honest when he inevitably asks you why you even like him. His god complex and insecurity are constantly at odds with each other. Obviously you want to be with him; he’s a genius sexpert who can take you to space, for fucks sake. But in that same vein, he’s paranoid that it’s the only reason. 

& actually to answer the ask, your kindness towards him & patience with the relationship slowly make him realize that he’s a gigantic asshole. He already knows this, obviously, but now he feels something about it. He feels bad. When he snaps, yells, insults, or generally hurts your feelings, and then gets drunk to tell you he’s sorry, you forgive him. He harbors this guilt because he sees his behavior as something he can’t or supposedly doesn’t want to change. The more his partner reassures him that it’s okay (i mean, the pain in this man is palpable) and that you’ll be around when he’s ready to unpack all that, the safer he feels in the relationship. It translates to the other relationships he has, too, as he starts to really take note of the way his family (inconsiderate and like him as they can be) hasn’t given up on him, either.

Some of the most important things a person needs when recovering from trauma are feeling safe, having a support system, and confronting the negative self beliefs your trauma has instilled in you. He’s unlovable, he’s a failure, he only wants what he can’t have. These are things he thinks about himself subconsciously, and as love and comfort overtake what was once a lonely, pointless waste of space, he finds himself wanting to finally confide in you.

I think the thing about feeling safe for the first time in a long time is that all of worst feelings you were able to push down and away (due to the focus being on surviving the situation and not your own brain) become impossible to ignore. Those feelings need to go somewhere, and even though the happiness and comfort of a loving relationship terrifies the shit out of him, he doesn’t want to be miserable anymore. He didn’t realize how absolutely miserable he was because he didn’t know it could get better.

I have a lot of thoughts about trauma and the process of healing. Rick will never be the perfect man, he’ll probably never go to therapy long term to learn all of those sick coping skills, (he’ll probably still drink bc autism) but he likes himself more as the person who’s trying to be better than the person who refused to. Mostly because he loves seeing you happy because of him.

[dragonsarecats]

To be fair CF is just as much about found family than VW

Hi anon! I'm gonna link the post I talked about the Golden Deer here for clarity's sake lol.

I think when discussing themes of found family in different three houses routes, it's important to talk about Byleth. In a game where the single, main variable between possible futures is Byleth's interference, it means the story has to be written in a particular way--I mentioned this before when talking about character supports and endings; each character needs to be able to have a romantic ending with Byleth, which affects how their supports are written. In the case of the Lord's, this means you're given tangible reasons why you should've chosen them.

I mean. Let's be real here. Claude has the highest survivability rate of any character in the base game. He can't die if you're completing Verdant Wind (for obvious reasons), or Blue Lions. He's heavily implied to live to see another day in Silver Snow, and you can spare him in Crimson Flower! Edelgard and Dimitri die without the professor's stabilizing influence--but Claude? What does he lose without the professor.

That's sort of how I determine subtler themes of each route in a way--by comparing what you get with and without Byleth.

So when I argue that Verdant Wind is the most about found family, I mean it thematically; the other routes don't have tangible less found family, but without Byleth members of the Golden Deer just blatantly disappear unrecruited post time skip in several routes!

Without Byleth, the option for found family is removed for Claude in a big way, I personally feel, and not just by full recruitment runs lol. Not completely, of course--even in Crimson Flower a recruited Lorenz laments having to face off against Claude and Hilda is willing to die in defense of him and the city--but enough that it was blatantly shocking to me that if you don't recruit Marianne, she does not appear at all post time skip, no exceptions.

In a narrative sense, perhaps slightly unshocking; but in a practical sense? This leaves Claude without a healer.

Claude can't hold onto all his Deer even if you don't recruit any of them in the Academy phase. Silver Snow, Azure Moon, Crimson Flower--Marianne will always be gone; consistent, non variable. Depending on the route other characters like Lorenz might disappear as well.

The themes of found family are prevalent in all the routes, but since each route is pretty much defined by the Lord who leads it, I feel as though their personal relationship with the found family is most defining, if that makes sense.

People stand by Edelgard, Dimitri, and even Rhea for better, or for worse. Even recruited, characters like Felix make it abundantly clear that switching sides doesn't change the immense emotional attachment they have to their original lord.

This just. Isn't true for Claude.

Without Byleth, he doesn't get to keep everyone together. Without Byleth Hilda is recruitable in two routes. The idea that you could ever do the same with Hubert or Dedue is blatantly laughable.

Byleth's presence is what enables Edelgard, Dimitri, and Rhea to remain the most of themselves, if that makes sense. Edelgard's war strategy in Crimson Flower is a lot less aggressive and scorched earth then it is in the other two routes because she's had the professor as an emotional rock. Similarly for Dimitri, he's able to recover because Byleth is there to keep him alive and safe. And then Rhea will blatantly die in the Verdant Wind route where she doesn't in Silver Snow. Byleth, in every sense of the word, keeps these three characters alive and well.

But without her? They still inspire loyalty and devotion--unquestionable, again, if no recruitment takes place. Dimitri, Edelgard, and Rhea can all face up against you as enemies with the full force of their houses/allies (save for, oddly, Annette).

Claude does not.

Claude's whole route is about learning to trust others in a way that allows them to trust him. The Deer are devoted to Claude in Verdant Wind in a way they just, textually aren't otherwise, and that's due to Byleth's influence, both as a Professor to these individual students, and to Claude.

When I say that Verdant Wind is the most found family thematically to me, I mean it at a very base level. Claude knows he doesn't have what Dimitri and Edelgard seem to take for granted. It seems almost effortless, in Verdant Wind, the loyalty and devotion he inspires in his friends despite how often you, as Byleth, are told that Claude appears to be an untrustworthy and sneaky individual.

But it's easy to see in routes where you don't chose him that without Byleth, that image mantains. Claude is an outsider. And maybe he doesn't need Byleth in the way the other lords do to survive or achieve his dream (after all, there's nothing saying he can't open diplomacy with his former classmates after he goes back to Almyra so long as he lives to do so), but just as Byleth is uniquely able to be a peer to the Golden Deer, so can Claude uniquely trust and gain the trust of his house in full.

It's not as dramatic as the other two houses, and I think it's the point. Edelgard and Dimitri have already built a solid foundation of devotion and loyalty. Ferdinand and Felix (your "rival" characters in those houses) are loyal without Byleth, even if Ferdinand claims it's to guide her or if Felix complains every step of the way. Lorenz isn't. In Verdant Wind, you sort of take it for granted that everyone will be there at the reunion if they survived the Academy phase. Of course they will--they promised, didn't they?

But outside Verdant Wind, it's clear to see that you as the player took it for granted. And that's why I think Verdant Wind is thematically the most found family. It's not because the other routes don't love each other as much or aren't as complex or there isn't devotion. It's because fundamentally Verdant Wind is about Claude, for the first time in his life, having a group of people he can rely on and who will rely on him without hesitation. It's about the formation of found family, and how Claude doesn't need it to achieve his dreams, but man, does it give him something to achieve those dreams for.

[nanatsuyu]

what makes you like kandrew so much?? what drawns you to them??

(not trying to sound rude or condescending or anything im just curious lol)

I really adore characters that bite and snarl at each other for the purpose of enrichment in their respective enclosures.

On a more serious note lol—other than the fact that I have A Type when it comes to pairings (davekat, edxizzy, amberprice, etc), I enjoy characters that have somewhat of an unhealthy codependency on one another. Which is the extremely general way of putting it. I like characters that are kind of doomed to the narrative to never really be sated by what the world has to offer, but their person makes up for that (not that they always recognize it as such or that it's entirely positive or sometimes even completely mutual). And I don't mean doomed in a "never amount to anything" way, but in that bittersweet tone where both of these characters, wherever they fall into each other on the timeline, are at a place where their lows sync up, and that harmonizing rattles something to the perceived tune of "we're the best we're ever going to get". Again, that's all really general for the vibes of why I was drawn to them. There's a bit more nuance for them (and the other pairings ofc).

I like that they have a deal that encompasses both of them trying to push the other into being a better version of themselves but they're both too stubborn/scared to move first because realised potential means you have to recognise it too. Kevin can't expect Andrew to try his best when he himself is not, and Andrew can't expect Kevin to show him his worth* if he doesn't bother to try in the first place. (Though I know their deal was labelled more as moriyama protection for Kevin, I think that kind of encompassed the idea that Andrew would be a crutch till Kevin could stand on his own if that makes sense)

Not to quote the ec but it's one of like 3 parts I would willingly print and eat:

Andrew is the kind of character I adore because he says this and he really genuinely means it. Keeping what little he has left of himself is a last ditch self preservation tactic because he can't get hurt if he has no hopes/expectations/aspirations. No one can let him down if he doesn't let them. But he's so wonderfully flawed in his own ruleset because he keeps doing just that in the hopes that maybe someone will be different this time . Like maybe this time someone will be right when they say he's worth it** like maybe Kevin is right and he can make Andrew see what he's been refusing himself.

I also love that their deal extends far past the deal itself. In the most basic of terms, it was: 'you go, I'll go.' Andrew didn't have to trust Kevin beyond that. But he gave Kevin his meds and trusted him not to abuse that. Kevin had even already promised to help him figure out a way to wean off them before if they could earlier (and I genuinely think his fear of Andrew getting off his meds early was both a kneejerk 'the game/my safety' reaction because Kevin has a lot riding on this semester too, but also because he knows he made his own promise to Andrew and he thought Andrew coming off his meds early might have been an obstacle even Kevin's stubbornness couldn't hurdle when it came to helping Andrew on his feet after). Likewise I have to imagine that very few people put their trust in Kevin with much of anything outside of Exy given his temperament and wallflower disinterest in team building extra curriculars. So for Andrew to willingly give Kevin his meds to hold onto that he's gotten violent over before probably created a very morbid sense of.. pride, I guess? Like I trust you to hold onto the thing that ruins me is so... clenches fist

There's also this rough handed care that comes with all of that. They're unforgivably honest with each other at the best of times and unnecessarily biting at wounds just to get a genuine reaction at the worst. But then they also have these quiet side/off screen moments that are unyielding in tenderness? Andrew inspecting Kevin's hand for injuries. Kevin covering for Andrew when he's sick on court. Andrew telling Kevin to trust him during a panic attack and that he'll take care of it. Kevin turning his entire attention away from the Raven's to pull Andrew up to his feet. Them smiling at each other first genuinely?? Being idiots on the court with playful mocking shoves that don't get heated?? Like you give me these two characters who make it seem as if their hearts will genuinely stop beating if they stop nipping at each other, and then show me that they're actually wrapped up in one another so tightly that they're rarely seen apart? And are burdened (affectionate) with the task of keeping the other from doing the very thing that drowns themselves?? Okay

Also a looooot of this is from my perspective on Andrew's perspective on Kevin since we're given a lot more to work with, but I genuinely think Andrew was the first to push back at Kevin and make him prove things to Andrew and himself. Kevin had maybe a couple people at most before he fled to the foxes. Like he had nothing other than his name and reputation, good and bad, when he showed up at wymack's door. I can't help but imagine some part of Andrew saw this as amusing but also rather tiresome when it came to seeing Kevin constantly shut away in hiding. He was so loud before, where is all that roar now? When Kevin left Jean, he really left his only friend behind (sorry Thea fans I know she's there I know). So here you have Andrew, offering a deal that becomes this codependency because being out of the nest alone most certainly took its toll for a while, and it sounds too good to be true but most things are. So Kevin snatches it up and then there's the trust in the meds and the constant presence (in the sense of comforting consistency in spite of any disagreements (but abandonment issues kandrew is a whole other post now innit)) and the care and it all looks a lot like what someone might call a friend. And I mean they could both say they're not friends till their dying day but they're the only ones they're still trying to fool.

I just like that they gnaw on the scraps that they snag off one another, these leftover cuts from failed attempts at love and kindness, and act as if they didn't hand the pieces to each other themselves in the bed they share.

—

*Andrew is worth more than his ability to play Exy obviously, but I'm working from the angle that these boys have a very limited vocabulary in how to express that given their upbringings lol ie: my absolute Favourite part of the ec:

Like again I have my hangups with some of the ec but this provides soooo much more context to their beef pre-canon and the history behind Andrew's failed recruitment. Not to mention Aaron internally calls out Andrew for blatantly lying to Kevin when he tells him he doesn't care. (I think Andrew probably holds a certain disdain for Kevin struggling to verbalize how he measures worth and how that might differentiate off the court, because that line between wanting to be told you're worth putting in the effort for versus being told it's because of your latent potential is most likely rather precarious. Shipping goggles on: I imagine wanting to get someone's attention whose love language was built up around Exy is a tad difficult even if Andrew does in fact hear what Kevin's trying to say. I also don't think Kevin's malicious in his inability to truly express that Andrew really could have everything and it's infuriating to watch Andrew self destruct.)

**And for me, this, coupled with the above conversation with Renee, really puts into perspective how agitated Andrew is with Kevin for squandering his potential. He thinks Kevin has zero self preservation skills when it comes to maybe not putting all his balls in the exy basket, but that's also why he's so drawn to him because he has this insatiable drive to live for this one thing? And yet he's not even giving it his all like he's asking of Andrew despite that? It'd be easy to dismiss Kevin's overzealous love of the game as gross infatuation that's bled into Andrew's life, but if he smothers Kevin's drive and doesn't encourage him to be exactly as he sees Kevin, this person who really can achieve these things, what is there for him? He wants Kevin to thrive, but Andrew also wants Kevin to be right and that he can thrive too.

[smilesrobotlover]

Talk my ear off about knights and maidens

Ok ok here is the knight and maiden lore. I rambled a lot to Ladye about this so idk if I already mentioned some of this or not 😭😭

So the status as a knight or a maiden is the highest honor a man or woman can have. Knights are for those who are courageous and powerful in fighting, while Maidens are those with powerful magical abilities. They’re meant to parallel Zelda and Link basically. They work very close to the royal family and can only be called by the one who has the goddesses’ blood in their veins. So basically only Zelda can call upon knights and maidens.

There are the leaders of each one, and those are mostly voted in that position by the fellow knights and maidens. There’s the first knight and the head maiden. But they are very rare if there’s a small numbers of knights and maidens. But they’re in charge if the Royal family isn’t there. They’re the defense to Hyrule and defend the castle with their lives if it’s to come to it.

Typically Hylians are only called as knights and maidens, but in kotg I think it’d be fun for Zelda to call the champions as knights and maidens after the calamity. She was able to call Link before since he was a Hylian, but she decided to change that after the calamity and made Mipha, Urbosa, and Impa maidens, and Revali and Daruk knights. This is a HUGE deal cuz there’s never been non hylian knights/maidens before (except one but I won’t mention them for spoiler reasons UwU). But yeah, there’s a lot of strict rules to knights and maidens. It’s mostly tradition and not so much a need, but they’re very useful to have in situations.

And the princess can only call a knight or a maiden when she’s 17 (since the calamity was approaching they sorta… bent the rules slightly with kotg Zelda, but she was close to turning 17 so Rhoam was like “eh it’ll be fine”)

But yeah I’m having so much fun with this lore! Unfortunately most of my aus don’t explore this enough so I guess I gotta get working on my four swords au cuz it’s the only one with a lot of knights and maidens lol. Idk I think it’s a cool concept :>

[aura2023]

Jack sometimes falls asleep while taking care of the sheep's and when he wakes up there is a bouquet of flowers at his side or a basket with food.

He wants to know who's the person leaving the gifts, but every time he is about to find out, his secret admirer slips away.

His sister knows the secret admirer is hiccup because one day that she came with jack to take care of the sheep she saw him leaving another bouquet of flowers while jack was a little far in the pasture guiding a sheep back to the flock.

She promised hiccup to not say anything but she also promised jack to help him find out who the secret admirer is. She tells jack. But jack is like "Hiccup? That can't be. He is busy being a dragon rider and I'm sure he probably is dating someone else"

Well, she tried. Plan B.

She saw hiccup hiding and ready with another gift for jack. She tells him that jack's asleep and he can leave it without problem. And yeah, he sees jack lying in the grass under a tree so he goes but he didn't consider that the girl pushed him and he ended up falling over jack, waking him up very rudely.

Now here we are, jack shocked to see hiccup but holy shit that hurt can you please get off of me, hiccup being embarrassed and apologizing over and over and jack's sister laughing at them.

[im-smart-i-swear]

What's Tashi's relationship with Webby and Taka like? Cause while I can imagine him being just as protective and smothering, as he's with Stick (maybe a bit less) I can't imagine Webby just letting him do it without having a thousand and one complaints, like I feel like she'll be much more assertive and confrontential than Stick is

thats a great question!!

first of all i think tashis relationship with stick specifically is a bit diffrent - idrk how to phrase it but basically tashi was his role model for a while and he had a lot of respect for him growing up. so theres this weird air of... expectation, almost? the two of them were really close when stick was younger and that coupled with how tashi still percieves him as a helpless confused kid makes their relationship a lot weirder...

with ryou (taka) hes obviously very protective and smothering, bc thats A BABY!!!!! ryou takes it well for the most part i think, at least before becoming a teen - hes the youngest, he likes attention and being papmered (most of the time)<3 also, by the time ryou is around 13-14 tashi is already starting to get a bit better after the whole stick fiasco, so its also that his older siblings sorta made his life easier? bc now tashi knows what he did wrong and is trying to not make the same mistakes again(not to say he doesnt fuck up at all tho!! he does! a lot!!! but at least its not nearly as catastrophic as w stick lol, and hes just one of MANY adults in ryous life, so it evens out more).

also, bc of how young ryou was, he didn't really fully comprehend just how bad tashi was getting at the time, and that helped him a bit? when we're young we dont really see our caretakers as people who are flawed and make mistakes. that comes w age. and i think it was very confusing for ryou to realise that the man who raised him since he was five is NOT some sort of a wise higher being but instead just. a messy guy. who is a bit cringe. so i think ryou lets him pamper him a bit (it helps that he is not that good w people and would rather stick to ppl he already knows), bc he knows neither webby or stickbug will let tashi do that. its annoying sometimes, but ryou is way better at establishing boundaries than stick was, so they get through it somehow.

webby has always been pretty independent (or at least tried very hard to appear as such) and she does NOT handle tashi being overbearing well AT ALL. out of the kids she has always had the least respect for tashi and the other adults in her life, so her relationship w tashi was a bit more levelled? equal? ever since the beginning she was pretty good at being assertive (and was a huge help to stick when he was figuring out the whole 'setting boundaries' thing), and that helped her wriggle out of tashis hold, at least partially. she was also whole-heatedly on sticks side when he was getting sick of tashis shit and she WILL yell at him whenever does or says anything stupid.

she still loves him tho. they all do, in diffrent ways, and they want him to be happy, despite his parenting being less than stellar a lot of the time. i think the thing that allows their relationships w him (and bud and soup too) to heal and strenghten in the end was them just simply GROWING UP. when the power dynamic of tashi as a caretaker was gone, they could finally start seeing each other as people! yay!!

sorry if this answer is more messy than usual lol!!

[werebutch]

WSBH chara q’s: (you don’t have to answer all the numbers, just whatever you want to 𖢘)

16/35/51 for Scotch

1/6/55 for Atlas

I LOVE YOU

16. What kinds of people do they have arguments with in their head?

okay i truly think scotch argues with seraph in his head all the time. ALL the time. scotch largely ignores them, and vice versa, because he dislikes them and they know it. seraph is very conflict avoidant lol, and as long as hes not a "threat" they dont care to talk to him about their problems. he probably argues with atlas and jacob (his older brother) too, atlas about more stupid small stuff, and jacob about childhood and life stuff :p

im trying to think of more general groups he would argue with but i cant come up with anything BAHAH. hes not exactly conflict avoidant in the annoying libra way that seraph is, he more just ignores conflict for his friends’ (mostly atlas’) sake. idk if that makes sense LOL

35. What is the smallest, morally questionable choice they’ve made?

hmmm.. smallest? i mean scotch strings eloise along for most of the time pre timeskip. its not a main focus but its definitely important in order to understand scotch as a whole. she and scotch go out for a while, and mid way through that he realizes hes GAY gay. lol. and obviously lying to her about that is pretty questionable after a while. especially since he and atlas have been 👉👌 like the whole time. but she kind of knows. well

something a little bigger would be him encouraging or otherwise turning a blind eye to all the weird stuff atlas is up to. he doesn't know what it's like to be a werewolf, he can't say anything, right? lol.... murder is okay if its a talking dog doing it. scotch enabler supreme. actually when seraph is introduced, he and atlas have a 'joke' (kind of starts being real) about luring seraph somewhere to kill them. obviously doesnt happen and gets abandoned. but i think its important to know about their dynamic LOL

51. What’s a phrase they say a lot?

this guy is kind of goofy. i cant think of phrases rn but he has a specific way of speaking.. you could watch pretty much any old pop punk band interview and kind of get the idea. HAHAH

1. What’s the lie your character says most often?

atlas is a big fan of saying 'its fine' for all situations ever. family in mortal danger? its fine. completely splitting? its fine. arthritis excruciating? its fine. hes one of those people that dont like to deal with the fawning of others unless hes feeling real special. Ends up putting people in more danger a lot of the time. i think eloise is the only fan of communication in this friend group to be honest. i should have made her the main character

he tends to make promises he cant keep as well, but thats more general..

6. What’s their favorite [insert anything] that they’ve never recommended to anyone before?

i have NO idea. i feel like atlas would be a music snob, so maybe his favorite 'super underground' bands. otherwise he'd probably never recommend raw human meat to another human (no matter how much scotch asks -__-).. (he would chicken out anyway)

55. What’s something they’re expected to enjoy based on their hobbies / profession that they actually dislike / hate?

um. so atlas hates working out. he especially hates running, you know, the thing that wolves are known for doing a lot of? unfortunately the lycanthropy came with a side effect of pretty bad arthritis, so that doesnt exactly encourage him. he DOES exercise, a lot since hes pretty much required for his ermm "side job", but he hates it 😸 besides the arthritis it’s mostly because I think it’s silly that he hates it. yay

[the-kipsabian]

chris brookes match recs

hello anon! so nice of you to ask!

these are just some of my personal favorites that are available free on youtube, i know i have more from around the internet but they are behind various paywalls so we'll stick with these for now. i want to believe tho that if you are new to chrissy b, they are a good place to start as they definitely were most of that for me when i started to look more into his work so!!

vs konosuke takeshita (DDT, 2020)

vs shunma katsumata (DDT, 2021 - deathmatch warning)

vs pokotan (DDT, 2022 - one of my absolute personal favorites for the sheer absurdity)

vs lulu pencil (ChocoPro, 2021 - 30 minute iron man match, but its so worth the story)

vs maya yukihi (Baka Gaijin + Friends, 2023)

cdk vs rina yamashita & drew parker (Baka Gaijin + Friends, 2023)

and literally just watch anything from baka gaijin + friends (the videos linked come straight from their youtube channel where they have the last three shows streamed live, the second one is on the gatohmove youtube page (also linked above with the lulu match) and i think the first one exists in some void right now due to copyright reasons but its out there in some form. i can dig it up if you need it im sure) and chris is heavily involved in chocopro content which can be accessed through the gatohmove youtube channel above, or really just search for chocopro on youtube! pretty much every match his involved in there is worth it i promise <3

[northern-passage]

the parellels between the hunter's dream at the beginning of the chapter and jorah's appearance if/after they've been shackled are so, so tasty. that desperation of a hunter in this no win situation where the only option HAS to feel like fighting to death or giving up with the knowledge that giving up's been trained out of them (and they're so exhausted and vying with so much both physically and mentally from the fight to the vel so the training is all they have to fall back on) only for all of that to be turned on its head by this man who's been one of the only sources of comfort? oof. masterful, tbh.

thank you so much!!!

that dream/flashback sequence is definitely what i built a lot of the fight with Duncan around - i wanted it to feel familiar, and in general i like emphasizing a lot of similarities between Duncan and Jorah. their grey eyes, their familiar ruthlessness, and even the way they fight and twirl their swords. similar but very different.... and contrasting the training and earlier command of "get up" from Jorah with Duncan shackling you or nearly killing you and then Jorah stepping in to stop the hunter instead has been one of my favorite moments so far. i had that dream written for over a year (i literally posted it as a preview for ch2 on patreon in march of last year 😵‍💫) and it's just been really satisfying to finally feel like it's complete; the dream and the fight mirror each other just like Jorah and Duncan.

[stressedanime]

Tell me about canines 👀

OKAY SO canines was originally a short vent piece I wrote for myself. it’s about experiencing like, an almost debilitating wave of negative emotions like anger and frustration and not being able to express myself how i wanted, and being jealous of how dogs can bite and bark and growl and tear into things etc etc etc BUT i think im going to turn it into a jason grace character study. because he’s got so much pressure on him, to be the perfect son of jupiter, that he’s probably expected to not give in to big, rash emotions. and having to keep everything inside like that is what he does, but it can also be such a harrowing experience. like, he’s not with the wolves anymore. he has to be the perfect, gracious leader. he can’t bite.

[if-mirrormine]

First, let me just say that this IF is one of my favorites! I am so excited for the new chapters to come! 💜 Second, a question because I am curious and Grayson in particular is ripe full of character development potential; I love him. First a tiny bit of background to get to my question though:

Years ago, when I had a crush on a friend super hard, what happened to me was that I fell for the *image* he gave off; in reality he was an ass and used me as a second choice, and when I realized this I noped super hard.

Thinking of Grayson made me wonder if he is stuck on an idealized version of MC, especially with them being gone for so long D: Do we get a chance to express our worries to him about that? Last thing I want to do is hurt him more— he is so sweet and deserves the best!

Sorry for my ramble, and take care!

i've never actually thought about it before but it's a pretty good question.

grayson knows the mc better than anyone else so his version of them is the real thing but that doesn't mean they'll stay that way. gray definitely isn't the same person and mc wont be the same for very long either; he's had the time to grow and change whereas the mc (in their mind) has all of a sudden been thrust into a future they don't know how to operate in.

i think it would fair for them to express that worry to all of the ros, not just gray - that they (the ros) still perhaps view the mc as the person they remember them to be when they're not anymore.

[eorzeashan]

Weird Question: The different degrees of force sensitivity, how different would Eight (self/story) be for each? LIke, if he had not been born the (I assume) Standard force; where, everything he “has” is because he is a “vessel” (or extension) of Darth Jadus’ power/influence. Like what if he was born a: Force null (Granta Omega), Standard-none (current self?), Touch (Raina Temple), Average Jedi/Sith, or Above (Darth Jadus/Chosen Ones/SkyWalker(s)/Celestial/Abeloth/etc.)? What would change?

Interesting question! I've never thought too deeply about those designations because Eight is so...attached to who he is without the Force, but it really intrigues me.

Force Null: Essentially the same, I can't see much difference regarding his life or story having the pure lack of it, though that would make it impossible for him to form a force bond with Jadus (which would be at first a huge shock, but knowing those two they'd take advantage of such a trait). I imagine Jadus would take more of an interest in him because he's a Null ironically, as it would serve him better on his missions to be unaffected by other Sith/Jedi. And as usual, Jadus is especially fascinated by those untouched by the Force.

Standard/None: Current self.

Touch: Given that his mentor had a distaste for Sith, she most likely wouldn't have given him up to be taken to Korriban--and his story would remain the same as his standard self, with the addition of having to hide his force-sensitive side, or, she simply abandons him on Thyrsus where he was first found out of an unwillingness to take on such a liability.

In the first case, Jadus would most likely find him more suspicious than anything and more of a danger, but given his history of isolation from others like him, might be twice as drawn to Jadus' presence--though it might hurt him twice as much. Eight as a force-sensitive would be far more withdrawn and less avant garde as well as possessing a weaker link to Intelligence, but retains the same insatiable desire to know that his normal self does. It's even more of a dangerous game with Jadus, who could either reject and destroy him for his potential, or, unexpectedly accept such waning power into the fold when he makes himself vulnerable to him. He and Raina would probably find solace in each other, though she wouldn't be able to soothe the part of him that feels alien.

Average Jedi/Sith: Eight would have the most difference from his normal self as a Jedi, given it's a direct contrast and completely different lifestyle from being an Agent. His family would willingly have given him up to the Jedi corps, as it would be a good path for him to win the favor of the Republic in their name and personal honor as an Echani, and he would be more or less similar to his post-Alliance self--brave, skilled, bright and incredibly quiet with an eccentric side. He'd excel at all forms of Jedi-taught martial arts, and spend way too much time in the creche... well, babysitting, given the Echani tendency to raise litters at a time, and otherwise be an absolute star of a Jedi knight. It's a rather cute alternate universe where his life is free from the fear that makes him Jadus' Hand...

As a Sith, however, he'd be miserable. An unfitting and ill-suited role for one who only wants to study martial arts and has no interest in power plays nor its history of domination would make Eight incredibly apathetic, if not selectively mute from the horrors and abuse. He'd spend his days as someone else's assassin most likely, always fighting for the next day and scraps at another master's table. I can imagine he'd only find relative peace by finding another Echani Sith to marry and be absorbed into their powerbase by, but he would never become prestigious.

Above: THIS is an incredibly funny question to me, given how wild it is as a concept. Eight as a Force entity... would hardly be the Eight you know at all. He wouldn't even appear as he is--and instead as some sort of free floating spirit who wanders the Living Force, occasionally forming Force bonds with those he finds unique enough to share experiences with, much like he does with Jadus normally. Jedi and Sith alike would speak of the appearance of a brown and white Eshan wolf with many legs in their dreams, who asks them to share of their memories so he may partake--accidentally re-igniting belief in the Echani pantheon and its titular wolf deity, Trul, who resembles such a creature. That is how Eight would live his life if he were powerful enough in the Force to go and live as he pleased. So, yeah, a giant dream-invading Force wolf not even bound to a mortal body. XD

[meova101]

Very curious about gridslut au!

Gridslut!au is a joke that got out of hand so bad slkjdsglj

So we all know how Seb has the tendency to flirt with everyone, right? And how Charles looks so good when he's suffering? What better way to combine those two facts than in a plot where Seb fucks everyone except for Charles. Stop laughing this has taken up months of my life and tens of thousands of words so far

You see, one of the things about Sebchal for me is that Charles is the first one Seb really wants to settle down with, and it scares him. Him trying to deal with that while Charles is just trying to be happy with what he does get from Seb is a recurring theme in so many of my fics because it's a particularly pervasive headcanon and this is just another excuse to indulge in my own insanity while I also practice writing some other ships in case I need it.

But that's not all. No, no, not at all.

Because it became very clear to me even as I was outlining this monstrosity, that it would have to start at the beginning. This story would have to grow with them to really round it out. It would have to be a showcase of their history, how they've grown right in front of my salad, exactly pinpoint how and why they drive me crazy even after all these fucking years and at this point, it's pretty much my love letter to the ship.

What I'm saying is that this will either be my magnum opus or I will have to quit writing after pouring my heart and rat soul into this for the last seven months slkjdsglkj

Does this sound pretentious? Yes. Does it sound insane? Probably. What does Seb fucking everyone have to do with anything? Look we do not question the plot bunnies, we just watch him bat his eyelashes prettily while Charles sulks because Seb doesn't see him since he's too deep in a conversation. (real crumb, btw, it was hilarious, especially how Charles just lit the fuck up when Seb did finally notice him)

Anyway since I really want to get this out, I've set myself the deadline of putting the first chapter online on 16/05. Pray for me that I actually make it. Little snippet under the cut because after all these ramblings, I might as well show a little of it. Sorry for the monologue anon, this fic has taken over my life at this point xD

Charles isn’t exactly paying attention, but now that he knows, it’s clear to see. He didn’t even want to believe it at first, but now that Pierre has shared the stories… It’s hard to not notice, anymore.

When he watches Sebastian on the podium in Monaco, celebrating a deserved win, Charles is only a little star-struck. But he notices Ricciardo looking at him, the too-familiar touches. It feels almost like foreplay.

Charles can’t help but imagine himself in that position, in a few years hopefully. Would he get to be desired like that? Could he maybe want to have something like that?

He very carefully doesn’t think about Sebastian specifically. He’ll cross that bridge when he gets to it.

He just wishes Pierre hadn’t told him about Sebastian being a slut, as it had been so eloquently put. One day, he hoped to be teammates with the guy. This was not helping.

Still, he watches the ceremony. Daydreams a little about maybe being in Räikkönen’s place, or even in Sebastian’s place, the German next to him.

One day, he’d get there.

[serenedash]

HOW did you make your Baldr cosplay. You've inspired me to wanna try and make one too, got any tips on doing it?

aaaaaa I feel so honored I inspired you!!!! ;0; my disclaimer is that I am the farthest thing from a professional lol, but I will show you how I did it! My cosplay philosophy is that I am lazy and want to spend as little money as possible ⭐ I always use clothes I already own, the base outfit I already owned I only needed to get the belts, hoodie and wig

This is long I'm so sorry I just went thru the whole process :')

Here is every part of the finished cosplay:

Boots

Black jeans

Pants chain (mine is just an old one from hot topic)

Blue belts x2 (got these on Amazon, $10 USD each)

Black shirt + vest (or you can do one black button down, in canon Baldr looks like he's wearing a black vest over a white shirt but I felt like my vest was too low it would've looked weird)

Black fingerless gloves

Hoodie (Amazon, $18 USD) + tassel (Joann's Fabrics $10 USD)

Mark of mastery by MadeByFjori on Etsy ($6 USD) I bought it unpainted to save money and just got some metallic gold paint :) its really good quality and shipped fast! I had taped a safety pin on the back of it to attach it to the hoodie (I had tried super gluing it but it mf broke off!!! Tape it is,)

Wig (mine is the Skyelar classic in silver from Arda Wigs!) If you have no experience styling wigs that's fine since Baldr's hair is so choppy that if you fuck it up it works LOL I always style my wigs while wearing them thats just me, I brushed the hair in front of my face and cut the bangs around the bottom of my eyes and went from there. I also cut part of the sides framing my face

If you have dark hair like me I recommend a skin colored wig cap!!! Dark hair spilling out from a white wig will look weird, they sell them kn the Arda Wigs site

Optional: Starlight keyblade from Spirit Halloween ($40 USD) it's solid plastic, lightweight and looks amazing! The only bad thing I've found is the keychain just. Is not durable. Last year it broke off at a convention and I lost it 😔

Optional: face mask by KumalatteCreations on Etsy ($16 USD) I wear it with all my KH cosplays lol I have 2 masks for cosplay from them, really great quality, fit and has a place to insert a filter. I have the OSFA teen/women size because my face is tiny :')

Okay but let's talk real shit: the Hoodie. It's a plain white sweatshirt from Amazon, size up to get that oversized look Baldr has. Also disclaimer: do NOT get a thick hoodie I tried my best to get a light weight one and oh my god. For something that is essentially Just Sleeves I was SWEATING TO DEATH okay anyway materials:

Hoodie base

Gold fabric (I bought 1 yard and had more than enough)

Black buttons x2

Black ribbon

Tassel

Fabric scissors, fabric glue, needle/thread, safety pins

Black and orange markers

If you get a hoodie like mine where the hood strings have metal around the edges, use white paint or white out (I did not have time to buy white paint,) to paint over the metal so its not distracting

Now the How To:

Pull out your hood strings if applicable, paint any metal like I mentioned above

Use fabric glue to add black ribbon around the sleeves, do this in sections not all at once, do the ends of the ribbon around the back of your armpit to hide the ends. On my hoodie there was a hem on the sleeves that I followed so it was easy to make it even on both sides

Crop sweatshirt in half and cut down the middle front but DO NOT go all the way to the top where the hood is, stop about 2 inches away from it otherwise you will be me having to sew that shit back together

Measure where you want the front to fold open, you will probably have to cut more off of the sweatshirt bc if its too big you will be pinning that shit onto the top of your shoulders, basically shorter in the front and longer in the back (I know mine is so messy I didn't measure I just guessed I know wtf @ me-)

Flip hoodie inside-out and add gold fabric to the inside of the hoodie, leave about half an inch room around the edge for hemming, yes the entire inside too, I found that when I moved around I could see the back of the inside and it looks weird when the gold fabric suddenly stops

If you have a sewing machine or want to do this by hand then fold over the edges and hem it on top of the gold (not me tho I was con crunching and glued that shit all the way around,) it cleans up the edges and adds the white border to the part you will pin open

What I WANTED to do was to sew the buttons onto the hoodie and add button holes on what would get pinned but I did not have the time so I sewed the buttons directly onto the front pieces so when I fold it open I used 2 safety pins on each side to hold it up

For the tassel: I colored it with a peachy/light orange sharpie and a black one. I measured how long I wanted it to be and cut the other end off and used fabric glue on the end to stop fraying. I wrap it around the buttons and do a simple loop knot to keep it in place

if you end up doing what I did irt the tassel, don't go in with a regular orange marker bc it came out so dark on the fabric its made of like I just happened to have this peach/skin tone sharpie that came out the right shade on the gold fabric

Finally, pin the mark of mastery in place!

Now you are Baldr :)

[ghost-of-you]

#5sos5 is about one very intense relationship falling apart and I will write that post one day -> can that day please be today 🥺

i would love to hear your thoughts on how all the little album threads fit together!

Okay, sure, let's do this msksoakaala

Here's a Spotify playlist with songs in this order because I'm extra.

I will be using only the standard version of the album and considering that this is about a romantic relationship, I will be ignoring the 3 songs that are not about romantic relationships, best friends, take my hand and carousel. I will also be ignoring older, since it doesn't fit the narrative of the rest of the songs. For the sake of clarity I will also be using he for the narrator and she for the subject.

So, the album is about a relationship that's going in circles "we go around again we jump back in bed", "another glass until we come around", "we're going around again in the emotional blender" and we catch that relationship in the middle, since we don't have a song about falling in love, they're already there.

But it all starts in haze. They're still in that good in love, well, haze. The world only feels right when they're together. And there's no reference to the divide that's making them go around and around yet. The relationship is that easy thing that he'll keep chasing until the end. The love that made him feel human again after he's been through bad times, the person that makes him feel alright whenever they're around. Is chasing that high that keeps him coming back.

Then we go into complete mess. The relationship is no longer easy, she makes him complete, but she also makes him a mess. There are also beginnings of the divide between them "call it a lesson when I feel you slide away" and "I learned my lesson when I felt you slip away" and the relationship is no longer the easy "and I am human once again" from haze, he's questioning because he's "caught up in heaven but your heaven ain't the same", he's hanging on to the good moments through the confusion, because he loves her and she makes him complete but the relationship is not just the beautiful things anymore.

Then we have me, myself and i. The beauty of mm&i is that she fits in any of the off moments of the relationship. It's that desperation of trying to believe he did the right thing letting the phone ring. The song is a loop and lyrically it ends without really ending. He's alone, it's his fault and he's trying to convince himself he's fine with it. "I guess I got what I wanted" but at the same time "I never knew what I needed" and he has the same words running around and around and around. I did put this in the beginning over the "i know you wish me well" because the belief that she's still in it with him fades with time.

Then we go into easy for you to say. This song could be an attempt to make it right once they come back. She was someone who saw him through bad times and he's trying to explain how he got caught up in that bad side. But they're already stuck in a cycle. He lies then comes back to explain it and he promises that "each and every time I'll try and change my ways" but it's easier for her to make demands than it is for him to actually comply. Ultimately he's trying to get her to understand the darkness in him that makes him do stubborn things that might end up with him doing something to jeopardize the relationship but he will keep trying anyway.

Then we go into blender. Like mm&i, blender fits in the beginnings of any on period. But he's already tired. The song starts with him watching her across the room, so they aren't in the best place but "we just can't keep away" so it's starting again. I think the blender metaphor here is great because a blender spins things around while chopping them up, so no cycle is without consequence. Being trapped in this is bad for both of them and they know it but he can't stay away. He's still trying like he promised "I tried for you" but at this point he's questioning if all they're doing is hurting each other while going around "but all a hear is..."

Then we go into bad omens and caramel. I think they are the same cycle, the last cycle, from both points of view. I wrote this back when the album came out, you can read that if you want something more elaborate on why i feel like these two songs go hand in hand. But both songs are about holding on to something that's clearly beyond saving, but while bad omens is desperately fighting to keep it together, caramel is going through the motions in that failure. In bad omens he knows he's chasing something that's hurting him, but he needs to keep trying because that's what you do when you love somebody. There's also the "we go around again we jump back in bed" that goes with "all the things you said in my head ricocheting off the bed" in blender because they jump into bed just to ricochet right of off it and it's just creating more of a mess. And caramel he's chasing that easy, being in love and being known and being with that person that makes everything better he had with her in the beginning, but he can't find it, it's right there and he can't reach it but he's hanging on anyway because "it used to be easy" so why can't it be easy again? So he just can't let go.

Then we go into bleach. Bleach is the realization that maybe he's fighting for something he can't save. It ties back to bad omens and the "I'm still making sense of having nothing left to save" he's literally trying to make sense of watching "everything i want and everything i was spinning down the drain". "Brought a knife to a gunfight" he's not equipped for the fight that he's in. And he knows it's not easy and "it takes time to let go but i can't take it no more" it's the realization he needs to step out of the cycle to figure out a way to live with her.

Then we end it all with red line and you don't go to parties. Why am I grouping them together? They're both waiting for something to happen. They're both waiting for her to walk in. But red line is in that hopeless how many times can I come back if you keep pushing me out feeling and ydgtp is accepting the fact that she just doesn't fit in anymore, since "everyone I ever knew is standing in my house" but she's not there. Red line is actually him finally accepting that he has nothing left to save, going back to bad omens, and he did lose who he was while falling out of love, going back to bleach. And ydgtp is him contemplating all the times he intentionally lost his mind in the name of being passionate about something. I also like ydgtp as the last song for the relationship because it's the one where he accepts she's not there anymore. And that also ties back to blender because he was watching her across the room in blender and in ydgtp he's scanning the room for her even though he knows she's not coming back this time.