#these covers are just random characters combined together

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Okay no joke, when talking about Marvel deciding the straights need rep in Marvel Pride 2024 with a friend on Discord, I straight up joked: "god imagine its a straight x-men next to a gay x-men just, "see??? they allies!"" And low and behold...that's what Marvel's straight allies covers actually are: straight character paired up with lgbt+ character. They literally were so desperate to represent the straight characters, they didn't even think of how to do the damn covers themselves. Hell, remove the 'MARVEL VOICES PRIDE' writing from both and would you even know this was for pride??? You literally wouldn't, because there's nothing to show that, not even a flag at least.

[introboy]

So so excited to share my @mcytblrholidayexchange gift for @follow-the-compass-home! My concept was to combine a bunch of prompts together into one AU.

The premise is a modern-fantasy roommate situation where Tango, Bdubs, and Etho live together in an apartment. The only issue is that none of them are human, but they're all trying desperately to blend in, even though they don't really understand humanity as a concept.

More information can be found below the cut, and an introductory fic snippet can be found here (x)!

Downstairs Neighbors AU

Prompts used as inspiration:

Focus on Tango, Etho, and Bdubs

Include Boatem

Story told from Grian's perspective

Hybrid/inhuman AU

Angst with a happy ending

Emphasis on character dynamics

Here's a summary!!!

Tango, Etho, and Bdubs found each other by looking for roommates on Craigslist. They live in a 4-bedroom apartment together.

Tango is a spirit who wanted to interact with the world in a physical sense, so he built himself a body. He's basically just a ghost possessing an android (but unlike ghosts, he was never alive; he came into being as a fully-formed spirit). He doesn't adhere to normal bodily necessities like food, water, or sleep, which is convenient but also heavily concerning from an outsider's perspective.

Etho is a specific kind of shapeshifter called a mimic. He doesn't have a true form, but can copy the shape and mannerisms of most living creatures. The only constant across all of his appearances is a scarred left eye and white hair. Unfortunately, it takes practice to nail specific species characteristics, so he often forgets what he's supposed to look like and falls into uncanny valley. He wears a mask to cover his more noticable facial slipups.

Bdubs is some sort of plant creature (he doesn't really understand it himself). He has a perfect internal clock and sleeps, without fail, for 12 hours every night. He spends a lot of time in the unoccupied bedroom-- he uses it as a makeshift greenhouse, and it's filled with grow lights and humidifiers. He loves taking care of houseplants, but it's also a cover for him to spend time under the grow lights. Without enough light & water he gets lethargic.

Bdubs, Etho, and Tango, henceforth referred to as BET, all assume that the others are human. But since none of them know how to act human, they continuously pick up stranger and stranger habits from each other.

BET are close friends with Impulse & Skizzleman, who live together across the hall. Their upstairs neighbors are Grian, Pearl, Mumbo, and Scar, who are also besties with Imp & Skizz. BET and Boatem don't know each other well, but Grian especially thinks his neighbors are really odd.

Like BET, Grian is not human, and neither are the rest of his roommates. But they all know about each other, and Grian especially is really good at knowing how to act natural in public places. He's an avian shapeshifter, who can take the form of either a scarlet macaw or a human. Unlike Etho, both forms come equally naturally to Grian, and the shapeshifting process is a lot easier for him.

(Imp & Skizz are not human either-- they are a demon and an angel respectively. But, like Grian, they're really good at blending in when in public.)

One day, Grian gets injured on a flight and accidentally ends up on BET's balcony instead of his own. He's too disoriented to shift back into his human form or fly away, so Bdubs and Etho find him outside their door. Tango calls Impulse over in the hopes that he knows how to fix the random-injured-parrot crisis, but the only result is that Grian and Impulse start to truly take note of how strange their neighbors' living situation is. Incidents like the one pictured above arise (i.e. everyone finding out that there is not a singular scrap of food to be found in the entire apartment).

Ok that's all the rambling I'll do in this post, but I hope you enjoyed! Happy holidays!!

[stevebabey]

Eddie has a test.

It took some time to formulate, a few too many times with guys careless with his heart, who leave behind more heartache than happiness littered in their memory. It’s fucking hard to tell.

More than once, there’s been a dude who promises between kisses i’m not going anywhere and takes more than his fill during a night which Eddie desperately hopes is passion and not some misguided lust. Only to wake a familiar empty side of the bed, them gone — skipping town, back in the arms of their parent-approved girlfriend, or back to spitting his name out with the word freak.

It’s what the test is for.

It’s specific, purposeful, all intending to weed out the straight boys who liked to dip their toes in the pool of queerness and leave Eddie to any consequences of the heart. Eddie doesn’t want to turn cruel, to be too jaded after feeling used too many times. It’s what the test is for. Protect the heart, see what interest is genuine.

Right now, he’s putting the test on Jared. New in town and in Eddie’s life, he’d captured the metalhead’s gaze from the glint of his pierced ear and light eyes that lingered. Kissed a little mean, and with too much teeth, but Eddie chalked it up to excitement. Jared seemed good. Nodded and smiled when Eddie found himself wrapped up in yet another DnD spiel. Said he found it endearing.

The test is simple.

A bid, a nudge, for attention. Never anything big or too exciting— that always got him specifically warped smirks designed to lead him along. Just something minuscule, like will you come take a look at my notes? or can i play you that riff once more? to see if it gave.

The pattern runs deep in Eddie’s dating history; same ol’ jerks who couldn’t bother to come and look at his new DnD sketches are always the ones who are only leasing a new sexuality for a month. It’s like setting a minefield and seeing who stumbles on a landmine, the bids getting ignored is as early as a warning sign he’ll ever get.

He tries the test on Jared.

It’s a Thursday night and Jared’s round at the trailer, lounging on Eddie’s sheets and still a little flushed from the night’s earlier activities. Usually it’s a good sign when the guys stick around after sex, not flying out the door once they’ve got what they want. By now, Eddie has drifted away from his bed, skittish thoughts already off and away with new campaign ideas.

He’s scrawling in a character design, some new boss, half troll, half hellhound, that requires a lot of finicky details worked out. The page is covered in scribbles, nothing in any semblance of lines and a crude first sketch is in the middle. It’s not quite the vision he had in mind but it took him an hour, so he’s hardly going to erase it. Besides, it looks pretty fucking metal to him.

“Hey,” Eddie calls out, a bit soft. No pet-names used— most of the time boys didn’t like them and wrinkled their nose. Those that didn’t mind, never returned them. “Can I show you the sketch I’ve been working on?”

He pauses, then launches into an explanation without waiting for a response, “It’s for the new campaign I’ve been planning, one of the bosses, and honestly, those little shrimps have no idea what’s coming for them.”

Jared, still slouched on the bed, peeks up a bit at the noise. He hadn’t really been doing much, just leafing through some of the junk beside Eddie’s bed. If Eddie let himself hold any hope, he would say it’s because he wants to know more about Eddie.

“Huh?” Jared asks, genuine enough that Eddie thinks maybe he didn’t hear him.

“A DnD boss?” Eddie says, eyebrows raising. He barrels on, thinking about how Dustin had helped propose the new boss, with a grin spreading across Eddie’s face. “Dustin, the little twerp, challenged me to pick a random combination of creatures and mash em’ together- see what crazy abilities come from it.”

“Who’s Dustin?” Jared asks, failing to sound like he cares. His eyes have wandered elsewhere, head falling back on the pillow and Eddie’s initial question about the sketch is long, long gone.

Oof. And that’s like 3 failed bids at one time because Eddie talks about Dustin all the time. Jared clearly isn’t interested in Eddie Munson, just what he can offer. Eddie’s heart grows a little colder.

“Look, I think I’m gonna get going, yeah?” Jared says, maybe sensing Eddie’s mood change as he begins to sit up and tug his shirt back over his bare skin. His sticks his feet in his shoes, laces them up. Eddie nods, tucks his notebook behind him and walks him out, plastering on a smile the whole time.

After ambling down the stairs to the trailer, Jared turns back, after searching the surrounding area for leering eyes, and he reaches out and gives Eddie’s hand a squeeze. Just a split second, before it flies back to his side.

Eddie would like to believe that he’s at least worthy of a goodbye kiss. Even if some wicked part of his brain says he’s not, that boys like Eddie Munson don’t get sweet goodbye kisses. Don’t get good relationships, just mindless flings.

The thought makes hurt flares in his gut, Eddie so desperately trying to protect his hope, and so before Jared can say anything, some pitiful goodbye, Eddie leans out the doorway and says, “Don’t call me.” then slams the trailer door.

It follows him around for the next week, his own personal storm-cloud to keep his head grey even when it’s sunny out. He mopes to Robin about it during her shift, probably the only other person he can talk to about it.

“So, you tested him? What does that even mean? Is there a gay test you know about that you haven’t told me about? That would be so uncool, man.”

She’s talking as she types, half paying attention to the computer. Steve is out in between the shelves, putting out a new batch of films— Eddie knows because he’d instinctively sought him out when he came in. Harrington was a pretty boy, sue him for wanting to enjoy the view.

Didn’t help he was also decidedly declared not-a-douchebag by Eddie during the whole upside down spiel and had the duality of biting off that bat’s head and somehow being the world’s biggest sweetheart for his friends. Friends that now included Eddie.

 What can you say? Going through that much together, including killing a death wizard and getting dragged out of an alternate dimension certainly forms some strong bonds. Plus, Steve was hot.

(Eddie denies the crush on the basis that would. never. happen.)

At the reminder of Vecna, Eddie winces and supposes he should be lucky he gets any sort of attention after that whole scandal. But it doesn’t stop him from draping himself across the front counter, laying pathetically with a pout on his lips. He shakes his head fervently at her question.

“Not a gay test, Robin.” He stresses. “It’s the Eddie-Munson-is-this-boy-gonna-stick-around-test.”

He rolls up onto his elbows and props his head into his waiting palms. “Gotta make sure I’m not being treated like some common whore.”

It’s meant to be a joke, a usual joking lilt to his voice, but the end of the sentences comes out a bit too bitter to land that way.

Robin’s sympathetic expression makes Eddie’s chest twinge in a way he doesn’t like. He waves her off. Slumps back down a bit before deciding he’s done enough wallowing in the public eye.

Robin doesn’t say anything as he pulls out his usual notebook, pages weathered and filled. Eddie usually hangs around the store on days without plans, flits between Robin and Steve, and scribbles in his notebook. She bites her lip, gaze moving between the book and the resigned expression on Eddie’s face as he turns to the latest page— the strange hellhound troll mashed up boss.

“Okay, I’ll bite—what’s the test involve?” She asks, pausing in her typing for a moment. Her hands don’t stop moving, still stressing the fabric of her pants twitchily. Eddie perks his head up, clutching his pencil a bit tighter and rolls right into it.

“It’s not even really a test, technically, but doesn’t matter- that’s just what I call it - it’s like a bid?”

Robin raises her brows and they disappear under her fringe. “A bid?”

“Yeah! A bid!” He waves his arms around as he speaks, gesticulating a bit wildly. “It’s like— like asking them to come look at something stupid and small, just to see if they’ll give your interests time of the day, yanno?”

He punches a finger down into his sketchbook. “A guy who can’t even be bothered to look at a sketch I worked on for an hour? Douchebag.”

Eddie’s tone turns a bit sing-song as he continues, like it’ll somehow distract from the bleakness of them. “Ergo, not sticking around.”

Robin’s hands finally stop their messing, becoming completely still against her legs. She finally swivels her body to face Eddie, a furrow between her brows. Her lips are quirked up, just a bit, like she knows something Eddie doesn’t. He feels his apprehension grow as he slumps his chin back into his hands.

“You mean, like how Steve is with you?”

Eddie stands a bit straighter at that, some flushed combination of disbelief mixing with delight flooded his body.

“What?” It comes out a bit more squeaky than intended. Eddie clears his throat, waves his hands, anything to stop that smirk from spreading across Robin’s face — he can feel his cheeks glow a bit warmer at the mere idea. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Robin smiles a bit and nods over to where Steve is. “Try it, test him.”

Eddie follows her nod, casting his eyes across the store to find Steve. He finds him situated in the romance section, a pile of cardboard box stacked beside him, the top box open and ready to be unpacked.

But Steve’s clearly been distracted by the first film in the box — he’s sunk deep into his mom-stance with one hip popped, one hand on his hip, the other holding the film as he reads the back cover of it very intently.

Eddie watches for just a moment, watches Steve squint and pull the case just a bit closer, wrinkle his nose adorably, snort a little laugh at whatever he’s reading — and dammit, this is just a fast track to insanity if Eddie watches him any longer.

“Steve,” he calls, too hesitant and too quiet. Steve’s head doesn’t move, he just flips the cover back over, marveling at the front. Eddie tries again. “Harrington!”

Steve’s head pops up, eyes skirting about to see who’s calling him. He doesn’t move when he sees it’s Eddie calling, just raises his brows. “Yeah?”

Eddie swallows, tries not to think of Robin paying close attention to both him and Steve. He grips his notebook a bit tighter even though he’s not entirely convinced Robin’s right. Steve Harrington doesn’t like DnD — not even for Dustin who has self-proclaimed himself Steve’s ‘adorable little brother that he never had’. Steve is hardly going to care if it’s Eddie asking.

“Do you wanna take a look at this sketch I’m working on?” He asks, as casual as he can.

Steve’s features give away just a hint of surprise, a blink as he comprehends what’s been said. Eddie holds his breath, ready to turn to Robin and say ‘I told you so!’ and to pretend that he’s not secretly hoping Steve will say yes.

“Sure,” Steve says, slotting the film back into the cardboard box and beginning to meander between the shelves towards the front desk. Eddie doesn’t even get time to be surprised because Steve’s suddenly there, in front of him, all expectant.

Eddie opens his mouth, thinks the better of it, and snaps it back closed. Instead, he thrusts the notebook to the side along the countertop, opened to the page of the sketch and doesn’t say anything. In the background, Robin snorts lightly. Eddie shoots her a glare.

If Eddie could look at Steve, he’d see the lightly amused expression on his face, but Eddie only focuses on the book. Really focuses. God, if he looks at Steve he’ll probably get some stupid mooned expression on his face that would totally give away his tiny stupid not-a-crush.

In his peripheral, he can see Steve sidle a little closer and lean over to peer at the page. And while he looks over it intently, Eddie let’s his eyes drift up, taking in the side of his face.

Curses his stupid handsome face. Then curses it some more when Steve lights up in recognition, turning to Eddie, excited to have a sliver of an idea what Eddie’s showing him. Normally, it’s all mumbo-jumbo to Steve. Not that he hasn’t tried to keep up but those kids are ahead of the curve and Steve wasn’t about to embarrass himself asking them to slow down their explanations.

“Woah, is this that one that Dustin was talking about?” Eddie thinks there might be a bit of genuine excitement leaking into Steve’s words.

“The weird like, mashed up, uh, what’s the word? Hyp- hypb—“

“Hybrid,” Eddie supplies, voice cool. His heart is not feeling so cool. Jesus Christ, Steve wasn’t supposed to pass Eddie’s test— he wasn’t even supposed to be tested. In order for that happen, they’d have to even be fooling around and Eddie blames his building blush on that mere suggestion.

“Yeah!” Steve raps his knuckles against the countertop and takes a second look at the drawing, closer this time. He looks back up at Eddie, so he knows he’s completely sincere when he says, “This is really cool, man.”

“Okay.” Eddie breathes, sounding a bit stupid. He remembers himself, remembers Robin watching him essentially bluescreen at the praise from Steve and wrenches his awed smile into a familiar smug type of grin. 

“Of course it is, Steve-o,” He quickly amends, reaching back and tugging the notebook back. It’s closes with a quick snap, like Eddie’s afraid Steve will take another look. “She’s not finished yet, of course.”

Eddie had to bite his tongue to keep it from either taking an insanely egotistical route to pretend Steve’s praise hadn’t had a profound effect on him, or even worse, start trying to suddenly be humble — oh this ol’ thing? it’s nothing really, just threw it together quickly— Eddie nearly melts against the counter in relief when the bell on the front door saves him.

A customer enters the store, instantly taking Steve’s attention and he bounds off to help them, an easy smile on his face.

Eddie waits until Steve and the customer wandered off into the aisles to release his breath. He doesn’t look at Robin, just turns and presses his forehead down against the countertop. Then raises it just a bit, and thunks it back down, a couple of times for good measure.

“Okay, okay—“ Robin’s gone a bit wide eyed and she waves her hands at Eddie’s pathetic form, his head still bonking against the counter. “Stop doing that. Jesus, Eddie, are the dramatics always necessary?”

His motions stop at Robin’s words and Eddie’s whips his head up. He narrows his eyes at her, and as if to prove his point, exaggeratedly jabs a finger at her.

“Hey! Never deny my right to be a drama queen. It is my god given right as an American citizen—”

“He passed.” Robin says, cutting off what was about to be a very long rant about god knows what. Eddie just didn’t want her to say what she was about to. “Your test. He passed, didn’t he?“

That. He didn’t want her to say that.

“He’s being a good friend! A very good nice friend!” Eddie counters, only sounding a little bit whiny which takes half the conviction out of his words. He slams his hands down against the wood. “That test is for— it’s not for him! It’s for—”

An annoyed noise comes out of Eddie’s throat and he aims for one more thunk of his head against the counter before tugging it back up and meeting Robin’s smug expression. She’s too smug. Her whole face is smug smug smug and Eddie scowls. He points a deliberate finger at her again.

“Different context, alright? That—” He waves an arm behind him, in the direction of Steve carelessly. “—doesn’t count. Nope. Not- that’s not how the test works.”

Robin sighs, as if she realises how fruitless it is to keep chucking this argument between the two of them. Her hands finally resume their typing and Eddie lets his head drop again, this time resting it against the wood a tad more gentle. He slumps, blowing a pointless raspberry as he tries to evacuate every thought that’s entertaining Steve as more. Or Steve wanting more of Eddie.

“Look,” Robin says suddenly, halting her typing once more. Eddie rolls his head so he can see her but doesn’t bother to lift it. She’s sideways in his vision, but still barreling on in that Robin way. “One last thing and then I swear, I’ll leave it.”

Eddie raises his brows. Says nothing.

“Have you considered,” She pauses, and appears to be trying to pick her words carefully. “whether anyone else is putting their bids on you?”

Eddie wrinkles his nose, knowing exactly what she’s hinting at. Subtlety has never been Robin’s strong suit. It’s even more obvious when her eyes dart across the store — Eddie seriously doubts she’s talking about the random customer that had just entered.

“Just think about it?” She pleads, and Eddie feels his annoyance at how easily he can feel his heart roll over. “See if you notice any bids from... anyone! Anyone at all.”

Eddie picks his head up, chances a glance towards Steve and admits, there’s no harm in trying. Even though, Steve had surprised him today Eddie can find a dozen reasons to chalk that up to. A dozen reasons that don’t include mutual feelings.

Eddie mulls it over, because because what are the chances really? Steve putting bids out to him? To specifically Eddie? The chances are slim to none.

So the answer he gives is, “Sure.”

He’ll get to tell Robin later she can stuff it and wipe her smug expression off with the most righteous i told you so on the planet. There was no way she was right about this, right?

Part two. Part three.

[xx-j4nu5-c4t5-xx]

look what finally remembered it has a tumblr account 💀 hi everybody

I drew a couple premades with colors based on albums that remind me of them, thought y'all would enjoy

nervous - who really cares (tv girl)

ripp - sports (modern baseball)

I ramble about them under here

janus shut up about tv girl challenge 💀 this isn't even really my favorite band lmfao I just feel like it suits nervous and pascal so well. there's this overwhelming vibe of longing in that whole album, like you had something wonderful and now it's gone and you're scared that that was the peak of your life, and it's all downhill from here. now it's just the memories and the bitterness and the things you left in each other's apartments. OUUGGH IM RGRGH AUGH

drawing-wise I like how nervous's drawing turned out. I have a tendency to absolutely destroy my colors and make them all muddy and blended so being limited to like five colors total and having to use the screen tones and dithering effects and stuff made it feel really... sharp, I guess? I don't like how it interfered with some of the details (like the face) but it was definitely a good way to tie everything together. main gripes with this one are the bandage on his leg (I know the blue is like symbolic or something but why is it so much darker than his skin it looks stupid) and the brick in the background because WHAT HAPPENED 😭 I finished this drawing at like 3am and I really thought I knocked it out of the park with that

ripp's is definitely worse though. the cover for who really cares is incredibly simple, but the one for sports is a whole picture, and I feel like I didn't lean hard enough into the yellows that dominate most of it. the piece looks nice, don't get me wrong; the colors are way richer than I usually would've chosen and it looks awesome, but... it doesn't look anything like the reference. which was kind of the idea. with nervous's, even though it's not incredibly similar to the album cover, you can see where I'm going with it. I don't think anyone would know that ripp's was based on the album cover unless you told them. I set myself up for failure the second I used more red/orange tones than the yellows and creams. whoopsie daisy I guess

I can't really pick out a single song that reminds me of ripp from this album, but I feel like the whole thing gives off "I need to get out of my hometown asap" vibes, as well as the weird awkwardness that comes with figuring out what to do next, which I feel absolutely screams ripp. go struggling small town boy! struggle to navigate early adulthood!

anyway idk I kinda hate both of them just because I've been staring at them for probably six hours combined and I'm about to explode

I might do more of these with other characters but there's not a lot of other premades that I associate with entire albums rather than random songs so idk we'll see

as a parting gift here's a shitty doodles of pascal and nervous as the dogs from twin fantasy by car seat headrest

(the words in the background are random lyrics from the album)

[dokidokitsuna]

Rise of the Mammalians: Deep Cut Sketches

So…I’ve never really cared much about Deep Cut. On one hand, this keeps me out of a lot of drama, especially around Splatfest time. ^^; But on the other hand, it means that I’m constantly forced to stare at these ubiquitous mascot characters that I should care about, but just…can’t.

Basically, I think they’re shallow and underutilized, and lacking in unique characterization.

For example: The Squid Sisters are weirdo goofballs who are more like living cartoons than actual people, with their constant quips, puns, and random references to their personal lives. And Off the Hook swings to the opposite extreme, with more grounded personalities dripping in charisma, and edgier backstories that flesh them out further, connect them thematically, and chronicle their development as characters.

And then we have Deep Cut, who just sits awkwardly in the middle. They’re not as goofy and campy as the Squid Sisters, but they’re not as edgy and dynamic as Off the Hook, either. They’re kinda just…there, acting out their basic ‘cool’, ‘peppy’, and ‘airhead’ archetypes. Apparently, a shallow anarchy aesthetic (???) and references to their childhood friendship is all we can expect in terms of character depth. Needless to say, it’s not enough. :/

So how did I flesh them out further for their new, more involved roles in this re-concept? The answer is very simple: I just decided to actually make use of that ‘anarchy’ aesthetic.

I found it…actually really disappointing that the word is constantly tossed around in-game, but apparently means absolutely nothing. Considering the original Japanese equivalents of the phrases where it’s used, it might as well be a mistranslation, and it’s honestly such a waste. Whether there’s any true anarchist ideology in Splatsville culture or not, it’s still most definitely the ‘city of chaos’, and yet we really don’t see any of that, especially not in the behavior of the idols that supposedly represent the city. In fact, rather than being rougher around the edges, they seem to be more privileged than any of the previous idols, being essentially born into nobility…

Anyway-- the real kicker for this weird ‘rebels in name only’ attempt at characterization is their secret motivation: the revelation that they’re searching for treasure in Alterna so they can sell it and give the money to the poor of the Splatlands. I KNOW it’s supposed to be sweet and heartwarming, but to me it was just another letdown. Like…that’s probably the most lukewarm ‘bandit’ characterization you could possibly do. T_T They’re essentially dumpster diving for the needy, rather than, I dunno, stealing resources directly from the capitalist overlord next door…??

Like, Deep Cut are supposed to be rebels with hearts of gold who aren’t afraid to use violence to achieve their goals, and Mr. Grizz is literally right there in front of them, hoarding money and energy for his own ends. The dynamic writes itself, but instead the game totally ignores the possibility of connecting the characters at all.

Well, I don’t. ^^ And I think the combination of the two ideas-- ‘rebels in name only’ AND ‘actual rebels who join the protagonist in opposing the final boss’-- is more interesting than either one alone. Like, by day, they really are ordinary idols, who are even willing to shill for Grizzco on the Anarchy Splatcast. They talk tough to appeal to their fanbase, but at the end of the day they do what they need to do to maintain their civilian personas and uphold their family names.

But by night, they reject all of that posturing and take direct action to help people in need. Under the cover of their masks, they become freer, wilder, more honest versions of themselves that can achieve anything together. And this version of Deep Cut is the one that accompanies you through the story mode. ^^

[chiriwritesstuff]

Random Headcanons from Random Characters in 'The Girl in IT' Pt. 1 - Joel

I'm breaking this into parts because my Headcanon lists are pretty extensive - this doesn't even break the surface for the ones I have about Joel. These are just the better ones, iykwim. Let me know if you would be interested in Sugar's list!

Ever since Joel moved into his new home (that he built himself), he goes to the farmers market on the weekend to buy Sunflower bouquets to put around the house, and he smiles every time he sees them on his dining table. This is the house he builds for Sugar - as mentioned in Pt. 4 "Gooey", to be explained further in 'Love, Joel' Pt. 3.

Joel, a self-proclaimed bad cook, took night classes to learn how to cook. Ellie doesn't like to eat fast food and always wants quality time with The Millers, so Joel made it a priority to learn for her. Sarah teases him about how it worked out for the best - now he can impress Sugar with his culinary skills. He's pretty good at it, because he's meticulous with most things in his life.

He goes to therapy - in solidarity to Sugar, who has gone to therapy for her entire life. It has helped him tremendously and is the reason why he eventually adopts Ellie.

Even if Joel has waited for Sugar for ten years, it doesn't mean that he didn't date - he did, and hated every moment of it. None of the women people tried to set him up with held a candle to Sugar, and he felt terrible for even considering another relationship every time.

He's a boxer briefs kind of guy.

He sings and dances in the shower. He uses a combination of Pandora Radio and Spotify - Ellie curates all of his playlists, including cover art.

The chambray shirt he wore to Sugar's birthday when she turned 26 is the same shirt he wore for her when she turned 36. In fact, he bought it at the TJ Maxx, just for her.

Sugar would write Joel little post it notes when she would give him things like water and lunch when he worked on her family's roof - and he kept every. single. one.

Joel is a reluctant millionaire - even if he worked his ass off, he's still pretty humble with the things he spends his money on (with the exception of Sugar). He drives an F-150, wears the same flannel shirts he's had for years, and uses the first iPad pro model - the big one- to redline construction documents. The one thing he does splurge on is instruments - buying anything Ellie asks for at the Guitar Center without the bat of an eye.

Speaking of guitars, Joel learned how to play Sugar's favorite song - 'Silver Springs' by Fleetwood Mac.

Joel keeps his hair long and curly just because of the one time Sugar commented on how he looks "dashing - like Don Juan" once in passing. The first movie they watched together was "Don Juan DeMarco". He also learned how to play 'Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman' by Bryan Adams and played it for Sugar. This is the moment she realized she loved him.

Joel has one tattoo, a small sunflower on his hand - where Pedro has his bullseye. It's the same place where sugar kissed when he nicked himself fixing their roof.

The song Joel sang for Sugar:

[captainpineappl3]

LEGO Red Dead Redemption is a game we need:

You might see a similar post from @phantom-of-the-501st because we were talking about this together!

Also spoilers for the RDR games.

Base Game Concept: We've all played a LEGO game and we know that they frequently make games for other franchises such as Star Wars. LEGO RDR follows the entire storyline from prequel of the second game all the way to the end of the first game. If the game is too big with all that then we remove the first game because RDR2 adapts much better (sorry).

The World: LEGO games have used a large scale open world before so we can assume the exact same for RDR. The LEGO Hobbit game I'm pretty sure used a massive scale map which admittedly you mostly fast travel around but you could walk around a lot too. Another good example is LEGO City Undercover, a very detailed world to explore.

(side note I only just realised the "i" in "CiTY" is the only letter that isn't capitalised)

Obviously including all of the side missions from Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2 would likely be too much for the game include so as an alternative, we reduce them down to character unlocks and small Easter eggs/tasks. Another good example of this is how it's done in LEGO Jurassic World where you can occasionally find sick dinosaurs and you have to search around the area to find what they need.

Now imagine this but with a random character from RDR/RDR2 like Albert Mason. You meet him, the coyote steals his bag and runs away, leaves it in a place that's difficult to reach. Now it's your job to work out how to get it back, perhaps using a lasso or hitting some targets or the good old LEGO building a small object to reach it.

Completing these small side missions can unlock the character for you or give you a red brick/collectibles perhaps (more on those later). Missions that can't be adapted very well can simply be turned into character purchases. Imagine wandering the bayou and finding that cabin with the poem about Jimmy Brooks, then you turn around and the good old Strange Man is stood in the corner ready for you to purchase him.

Unlockable characters also gives you easy opportunities for an Easter egg like Red Harlow.

The Story: The story is possible to adapt to a LEGO game form although obviously it has some significant difficulties we'll cover later. As stated above, RDR2 is our priority to include so the game of course starts with Colter, the whole gang is there in their beautiful LEGO form. Just like the original game, Colter is entirely used to teach the player the basic mechanics of the game. Here's an example of a few starting missions.

Outlaws From The West teaches you basic combat and you finish by unlocking Sadie as a character.

Enter, Pursued By A Memory teaches you how to do parkour and unlocks John (that or John isn't unlocked until the epilogue).

Eastward Bound where Arthur broke the goddamn wheel? Sounds like a great time to do some building, hitting targets and doing some parkour to go get the wheel and the rest of the stuff that fell off the wagon!

You get the point, the story is adapted into LEGO form making use of all the same stuff you've seen in LEGO games before. Some missions could probably be removed or several missions can be combined into a singular level. There's one massive problem you may have realised about this though...

LEGO is a very kid friendly company and well, Red Dead Redemption certainly is not...

How can we fix that?

Adapting Red Dead Redemption To Be Kid Friendly: Well obviously we have the simple steps of just... not including the murder dungeons? Head explosions via sudden increases in kinetic energy applied through double barrel shotguns wouldn't be a concern anyway since LEGO people literally explode into their individual pieces upon death anyway.

But then we have the big concern about the choice language in RDR.

Fixing Red Dead Redemption's Language To Fit LEGO: We all know where this is going right? An aspect of LEGO games that we all know and loved yet sadly hasn't been seen in ages. The non-verbal noises. We can probably steal a few sounds from the original games. Arthur has plenty of "argh"s when he gets shot that would fit perfectly with LEGO's style. But I think we also should still bring in the voice actors to make some noises for it.

In the event that we do keep a few voice lines, I personally recommend "LENNYYYY!".

But what about how this impacts the story? How will Dutch explain all his amazing plans? How will the Pinkertons threaten the gang? So much of the game relies on verbal communication to progress the story!

How To Replace The Talking: Our first issue is Dutch explaining all his plans. If he can't speak up then how could he get his points across about making a lot of money and leaving to Tahiti?

Simple! If you're not at camp, Dutch does an overly animated pause as he thinks before suddenly and excitedly reaching into his pocket and pulling out a hastily drawn diagram on a piece of paper illustrating exactly what to do.

If you're at camp then there's plenty of options available, my personal favourite being he wheels in a whiteboard and draws on it with his coloured pens whilst the gang all sits there on the floor with their legs crossed looking up at their great glorious leader.

It's the exact same for whenever the Pinkertons come to demand Dutch from the gang. They walk up and pull out a wanted poster of Dutch and angrily growl at the gang.

Also just to make sure Micah is still unlikeable despite not being able to insult anyone, we may just have to make him a bit of a bully. Stealing food, kicking and shoving people out his way, forcing others to do work for him etc.

Speaking of Dutch and his ability to manifest a whiteboard out of nowhere, it's about time we finally discuss characters.

Character And Their Abilities: LEGO games are known for their characters having different abilities and I think it's best we make the entire gang as playable characters of course. Maybe not all available at the start but they certainly are needed eventually. Here's the main ideas for the gang so far and their abilities. A lot of them are still yet to be worked out.

Dutch - Investigative (able to find details others can't that then reveal objects or their locations) Hosea - Disguises Arthur - ? John - ? Javier - ? Bill - Strong (able to break objects other's can't) Micah - Dynamite (can place it and thrown as a projectile) Charles - Tracker (able to see footsteps and follow trails) Sean - Pyromaniac (throws fire bottles like which cause splash damage on impact unlike dynamite which has a fuse) Lenny - Double jump/more agile? Sadie - ? Karen - Disguises/Distractions (able to lure NPCs away from places) Tilly - Double jump/more agile? Mary-Beth - Pickpocket? Uncle - ? but he has to throw out his back after any strenuous activity. Abigail - ? Susan - ? Pearson - ? Strauss - ? Trelawny - Disguises Swanson - ? Kieran - ? Molly - ? Jack (young) - Small and can go through crawlspaces.

Most if not all of them will also have some sort of ranged weapon depending on what they mostly use in game. Arthur likely with a revolver, Charles with a bow, Susan with a shotgun etc.

Some characters may also act slightly differently, a good example being brutes like Tommy in the Valentine saloon who is harder to fight and requires you to fight differently, like the stronger opponents seen in LEGO City Undercover.

Another important thing is collectibles.

Collectibles: Red bricks are obvious. They're in every LEGO game and there's always the obvious ones like stud multipliers. But we can also include ridiculous ones like: All horses become cars, Lawmen and Pinkertons have little police lights on their head, All guns become water pistols, Dynamite explodes in confetti, All guns fire explosives.

We could also consider other collectibles like special hats or weapons.

The final point I have to cover here is character deaths.

Character Deaths (obvious spoilers): The story has to reach some character deaths eventually... it's inevitable. But LEGO likely isn't going to be very comfortable with good ol' Sean Maguire getting the worst surprise party ever.

How do we fix this?

SLAPSTICK COMEDY!

We can't keep them around because the story doesn't make sense so we have to remove them in LEGO friendly ways. Here are my suggestions!

Jake Adler - Technically already dead but to avoid showing a corpse in the wagon we just go with a classic skeleton.

Sean - As you walk through the streets sudden swinging log booby trap flies down and absolutely punts Sean into orbit, never to be seen again before a the gunfight rolls out.

Kieran - Instead of being killed and rode into camp, a cutscene is shown where Kieran is on guard around the camp, caught by O'Driscolls and quickly tied up and thrown into a dingy which floats away before the O'Driscolls send a fake scarecrow copy of Kieran into camp which confuses the whole gang before the ambush attack.

Hosea - Instead of the scene that broke everyone's heart, Hosea boots Milton right in his little brick balls and jumps down a drain into the sewers.

Lenny - Whilst running across the rooftops Lenny is caught in a snare trap which quickly loops around his foot and lifts him away with party balloons.

Molly - Miss Grimshaw during the middle of Molly's rant pops Molly's head of just like a LEGO minifigure would be and boots it off into the woods causing Molly's headless body to go chasing after it. That or another idea which I think I prefer is Dutch and Molly have a dramatic argument in the middle of camp, once again someone gets kicked in the balls before Molly storms off, never to return.

Leviticus Cornwall - Whacked around the head with a frying pan by Dutch or Micah causing him to fall overboard from his boat and he is chased away by a shark.

Cold O'Driscoll - It may be best to change the story a bit here and instead of making sure Colm is hanged, you make to make sure he gets arrested by either leading them to the cops or leading the cops to them.

Eagle Flies - Instead of being shot he is whacked round the head with a frying pan and knocked out, almost arrested before Arthur saves him and you return him to the Wapiti tribe albeit a little dazed.

Agent Milton - Arthur, Abigail and Sadie beat him up, tie him up then shove him inside a barrel and stick it on a passing ship.

Miss Grimshaw - Tricked by Micah somehow (maybe by him pointing behind her making her turn away from him) before somehow she is dragged away perhaps by Micah typing her to a horse or something.

Arthur Morgan - Rather than Arthur dying, he helps John to escape (more on this later).

Micah - I'd love to kill this man but LEGO probably wouldn't allow that. I'm not sure how you work around that. Maybe you freeze him in a bit of ice and turn him in to the lawmen but honestly I don't know.

I don't know Red Dead Redemption 1 as a game well enough to discuss the character deaths in it as I have never played it through (sorry but I cannot ride a horse in that game) however with the death of John and Uncle, instead of being killed by the Pinkertons, in exchange for john's help capturing the gang, John, Uncle, Jack and Abigail are all rewarded with an all expenses paid trip to Tahiti. The final thing to note in all of this is what we see in the credits of the game and the thing I said I'd elaborate on with Arthur.

The Credits: Just like the original Red Dead Redemption games, the credits feature cutscenes showing the aftermath and current events happening once the gang falls apart. The cutscenes go like this:

Remember how Sean got launched into oblivion back in Rhodes? Well the first shot we see is of a nice sandy beach and who comes falling out the sky? The good ol' Irish legend himself! He's made it to wonderful Tahiti.

A little after Sean has set up his nice camp on the shores of Tahiti, who comes rocking up in a little boat still tied up by the O'Driscolls? That's right, it's Kieran.

Y'know it really is strange but did you know that the sewers of Saint Denis seem to connect up with the plumbing networks of Tahiti? It's honestly quite nice because it means Hosea was actually able to wander through them and eventually find himself with the others on the nice sandy shores.

Lenny! Whilst he's flying over the ocean looking pretty bored and annoyed that he got to miss out on all the fun back at that bank robbery, he suddenly notices Hosea, Sean, and Kieran all looking up at him from the beach and manages to untie himself from the rope of the balloons, dropping himself down to them where they all hug and reunite.

Turns out after Molly's breakup with Dutch she really just needed to get away from it all and clear her head. Good thing that she was able to afford a one way ticket to Tahiti!

Miss Grimshaw ends up their somehow I don't know.

Arthur. My sweet old boy. After helping John escape the gang and the Pinkertons he finds himself at a port, waiting for a boat. His brother John says one final goodbye to him and waves from the pier as Arthur pulls out a ticket from his back pocket and puts on his sunglasses and Hawaiian flower shirt and boards the ferry of too the wonderful Tahiti where he spends his days lounging around in a deckchair next to his horse (also in a deckchair), sipping his drink from a coconut through a straw with a little parasol in it as Hosea and Lenny come to sit by his side. Obviously because he's warm and relaxed his Tuberculosis heals too and he's cured. Amazing!

This concludes my 2395 word explanation of why we need a LEGO Red Dead Redemption game and the amazing ways it could be adapted. Come on, Rockstar, you're already a games development studio just get that partnership and work with Traveller's Tales and their experience to make this a thing!

[falling-star-cygnus]

are you still interested in doing character design analysis?? like what you did for dan heng and boothill

if u are could you perhaps do blade or robin ? or just anyone tbh, i adore seeing ppl analyze photos designs bc they’re so detailed

me when I get asks: 😍🥳♥️💟💞 i love when people request things

things i’ve noticed about HSR characters bc it literally brings me unprecedented amounts of joy

part three: Mr. Immortal Edgelord himself ✨Blade✨

Robin coming soon :D also i don't have Blade as a character and i have not met him in game so most of these came from youtube and his index [very sorry for the low quality of some images!]

i love his one random cowlick strand of hair- + his confused expression being closer to disgust and gentle expression being genuinely gentle. i love it, i love the range they gave him considering his archetype

during his first idle animation, Blade has a bandage wrapped around his sword. And you can see he has bandages wrapped around his chest from the gap in his neckline

and from his sixth eidolon, well, we can see why. His eidolon titles are so hauntingly tragic too, oh my gosh -> the more i look at his character design and his behaviors, the more i really love the simplicity of it all i've talked about this more in a previous post- but all of the Stellaron Hunters have symbolic names. Blade's own alias is a symbol of justice! [post in question]

Blade is not one of the more decorated characters in HSR, but honestly i think that's a good thing considering how complex his lore is. The gold decal on his coat is half a spider lily, the clasps are eyes [they could also resemble spider lily buds, but it's stretch] -> He has matching jade clasps with Dan Heng :D and when you combine them they make up the emblem on his back!

honestly, the emblem being surrounded by a knotted and crisscrossing red ribbon is a fantastic symbol of how these two are tied together in their fates

Spider lilies really are the crux of Blade's design, especially in his attacks, which makes a lot of sense considering their symbolism in a non-final death. Rebirth, transformation, reincarnation, etc

Hoyoverse really put a lot of thought into the floriography of this game. Bc- where genshin has a very heavy focus on star symbolism, each character in hsr has a specific flower- or plant- attached to their theme

ok- this one doesn't have to do with Blade's design at all, but it does tie in with your HC for the Road -> this is a mara struck foe, we all know this, but specifically i mean the design- the ginkgo leaves growing out of them [gingko leaves are a symbol of peace and longevity- and hope in the face of despair]

Blade is also mara struck [again- we all know this] so.... without further ado~

HC for the Road: Blade sprouts spider lilies in the spots where his bandages cover and that adds to the reason he wears them -> ok, imagine Silver Wolf and Firefly [bc let's be real, he's a girl dad] sitting against his sides as he's changing his bandages- and imagine those lilies sprouting up and he kinda stiffens bc he doesn't know how his daughters coworkers are going to react

but these two are star struck [pun intended] they've got a million and two questions, they're holding onto Blade's wrist and arm- Silver Wolf even puts down her console. And Blade relaxes

[oiblackestsheep]

Hi! I really love your memes. Have you already done MBTI types as video games?

Thank you so much!! Honestly, I probably have at some point in the many years, but if I have, it's been a long time, so let's give it a go. I tried to get a mix of old, new, classic, and modern games in, and tried not to give every one a SUPER OBVIOUS game. Hope you like it! 😸

MBTI Types as Video Games

INTP: Slime Rancher

It took everything in my power to not do Portal 2 for INTP, because it seems like the obvious choice and I wanted something other than that. Maybe not as puzzle-oriented, but Slime Rancher captures a different side of INTPs like their affinity for unique experiences through Ne, comfort Si that allows them to organize all their slimes effectively, and their inferior Fe that lets them take care of cute little creatures with minimal risk.

INFP: Minecraft

An instant classic that lets your imagination run wild and live your life the way you think it should be lived, without the limitations of oppressive reality. Build the comfiest home with as many floors, rooms, walls, etc. as you want. Your house wouldn't be structurally sound and is impossible to create in real life? DOESN'T MATTER, it's what the INFP wants, and it what they can have in their own little world.

ENTP: Among Us

A creative and random environment where you have to either find the killer or be the killer terrorizing the space ship crew, interrupted by segments of ARGUING ~*~discussion~*~ about who the imposter might be, followed by voting to eject them into space via mob-mentality? Is there any game more chaotic and perfect for the ENTP to thrive in that I'm missing, here?

ENFP: Skyrim

You are the nonspecific protagonist with unique dragon powers that let you literally scream somebody to death, and, once again, live your life the way you want to live it, as chaotic or lawful as you might want. Become a criminal werewolf who leads a dark, murderous cult by night, and is the dean of a magical college by day? YOU CAN DO THAT.

INTJ: Satisfactory

Slowly and steadily building the most effecient space colony to mine resources and build interesting and novel alien technology? What could the INTJ want more. It won't happen overnight, but the efforts of the INTJ compound with each and every day, and one day, they'll make use of every square inch of the planet's surface for their factory.

INFJ: Coffee Talk

A lesser known game to some, but just as impactful, nonetheless. You're simply a barista in a coffee shop, but you have the pleasure of meeting and hearing the stories of a diverse cast of characters that let you into their unique inner worlds. You'll get to explore their experiences and choose your own dialogue to interact with their lives and offer your input that is tailored to the individual character.

ENTJ: Left 4 Dead

The goal is simple and well-defined: survive the zombie apocolypse. But the only way to do it in this game is to have all 4 players work together in perfect syncronicity as a well-oiled machine to cover all your bases as you traverse each level. It requires delegation of tasks, foresight of what's to come, and just a little bit of quick, thinking-on-your-feet, a perfect combination to engage their Te, Ni, and Se, respectively.

ENFJ: Mario Kart

Everyone knows Mario Kart, and everyone loves Mario Kart. Much like an ENFJ, themselves. Mario Kart has a very low barrier-to-entry so that the majority of people can learn to play quickly, and enjoy time with their friends! It's fun, it's casual, and it requires a bit of that tertiary Se to make some quick turns to finish in first. The game resembles the ENFJ personality itself, and it is a favorite of an ENFJ I know for those same reasons (as she doesn't play many video games).

ISTP: Assassin's Creed

(Couldn't find any good covers with Altair that fit tumblr's format, so I did Ezio, the fan favorite (and also probably an ENFJ assassins which is p cool?))

The franchise has undergone a lot of change over the years, so I do NOT mean the RPG elements, but rather the original elements of the games that made them so great! ISTPs would rather have a more focused way to engage the game, instead of the endless possibilities of an open-world, anyway. Quick reactions to stay hidden, a good grasp of the terrain around you and how to use it against your enemies, and a solid amount of Ti to calculate the most logical time to strike makes for a great way to engage the ISTP's top functions.

ISTJ: Super Smash Bros

Again, the goal is simple, fight your friends and be the last one standing. The rules are simple, in fact, they are completely customizable so you can save your settings to define exactly what kind of experience you want to have, and you know what to expect. You can play it simple with a set number of lives and no items, or you can crank the spawn rate of all items up to the max, if you're in a particularly low-Ne, (low-risk) feeling, kind of mood. Still, the goal is always the same. Hone your strategy, defeat your friends (or foes lmao)

ISFP: The Sims

Introverted by nature, they appreciate being able to spend some time alone without having to give up the things they like about the sensory world, including house and clothing fashion-design. These aesthetics were made to be seen, but sometimes they can only be made in a video game, and sometimes you need a break from real people. It's a realistic enough game that they can connect with it in a more relatable way than more abstract types of games, but they still please the Fi desire to live their personal life the way they wish without the limitations of reality.

ISFJ: Animal Crossing

Again, it's a familiar environment, with just a little flaire to excite that inferior Ne. You've got what seems like endless tasks (in a good way lmao) to keep you busy taking care of your island, and also forming positive relationships with your fellow residents! You get to meet new people, help solve the residents' problems, become a pillar of your community, and at the end of the day, retire to your cozy home.

ESTP: Palworld

It's new, it's weird but somehow familiar, it's Pokemon with guns. It might not be the most "original" game, but it was an inspiration nonetheless for the simple fact that it took all of the known successful elements of gameplay that people enjoy from other games, and put them all into one game that, for lack of better words, "just gives the people what they want". What you see is what you get, and it packs a punch.

ESTJ: Dark Souls

Although it is the more introverted game compared to ISTJ, it requires an incredible amount of strategy in order to champion this game. The medieval themes are familiar, but that's the only comfort the game provides due to its overwhelmingly punishing gameplay style that only the thickest of skin can overcome. What says thick skin like inferior Fi?

ESFP: Rocket League

It's extreme soccor (or football for my friends from across the pond), but instead of playing as people, you play as cars with rockets to propel them. Why, they ask? Because you want to, obviously. Realisitic enough that the concept is still based in a familiar reality, but the mayhem and competetion has been dialed up to 11 simply because it makes it more interesting that way. Again, what you see is what you get, AND IT PACKS A PUNCH.

ESFJ: Tabletop Simulator

It might seem like an odd choice, but hear me out. It's social, it's familiar, it's easy to jump into, and you're not limited to the physical copies of games that your friends have at their houses - you've got, like, any tabletop game you could possibly want to play! It alleviates the limitations we feel in real life when we want to play games with friends, but maintains the integrity of connection and fun you have with them. PLUS, you can flip the table after losing a game for comedic effect without making a mess in someone's IRL home.

[assiraphales]

HELLO HI let me start this off by saying i love your posts so so much they are so silly

Anyways since opla season 2 has been confirmed, what are some things you REALLY want to see? Im genuinely curious

so i'm assuming they will start off with loguetown and end with alabasta. i'm hoping that since the first season was so successful netflix will order a FEW more episodes (ideally ten or more) but I have to stay realistic so I know every detail won't translate to screen

a lot of the anime loguetown arc was filler (zoro mopping the marine's floors, luffy running around lost and drinking milk at a bar, sanji entering a random cooking competition) and I know there's a few things they're unlikely to skip (zoro aquiring kitetsu & hopefully throwing the sword in the air to see if it'll chop his arm off, luffy on the executioner's platform, smoker) but i really they have time for

-nami n usopp bonding. especially the moment where usopp faced off against daddy the parent bc not only was nami there supporting him/willing to fight for him, but it also was a glimpse into his complicated relationship with his father. daddy the parent quit his job so he could spend more time with his daughter, while yasopp completely abandoned usopp. it was also so cute when they were fangirling over sanji together -i'm so excited to see inaki laughing with his head in the stocks seconds away from death I just know he's going to devour that scene -there probably won't be time but it would be funny if we see luffy n zoro on their lunch date with a combined zero dollars in their pocket and buggy ends up covering their bill without knowing who they were -i'm can't wait to see who they cast as smoker!!!! their casting has been honestly great so far so i'm looking forward to the reveal

laboon the giant whale. LABOON THE GIANT WHALE !!! I know in the grand scheme (at least from a standalone season perspective) he's not that important to the plot. but by god !!!! give us the depressed whale that luffy gives the will to live back to!!!! practical effects are very important to the one piece team I think they can figure it out

whiskey peak is going to be controversial but I hope luffy n zoro's fight goes EXACTLY like it does in the anime & manga (aka they're so in sync that they're punches are meeting in the middle and they're yelling in unison & five minutes later they're laughing about the prospect of meeting a warlord). this arc also requires the writers to let zoro have his funny guy routine because him hecking the agents is so good

while I don't know if we'll see zoro fighting a triceratops and saying "oh so u do three sword style too" we NEED to see him do his stupid pose in the wax. season ruined if not. (jk but its very high on my list)

chopper my wittle cutie. I know we'll see him no matter what but I'm banking on a puppet. i'm pretty sure its already confirmed that they're using practical effects for him, but I heard maybe prosthetics which could be a hit or a miss

nami and vivi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! karu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm truly on the edge of my seat to see how they'll handle zoro n sanji's rivalry considering they've made the decision to base it around their relationship with luffy. the girls WILL be fighting

similarly excited to see live action sanji fawning over not only nami but also his little meow meow luffy (fantastic change from the anime imo)

crocodile better be the greasiest motherfucker I hope he's absolutely vile. i can't wait to see him wearing a FUR lined coat in a desert

I also know they're going to go off with pell's character design

ACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bloodyshadow1]

so the percy jackson series was good, not just decent, but genuinely good. There are 5 criticisms that I have to make though to get them out of my system. Mostly small and 1 that will hopefully change as things move forward. Please dont take it seriously, the show has been great, but there are some things I need to get off of my chest as I watch it

I don't really like how the minotaur looked. just a preference I thought he looked too bulky and too much like a bull that happen to stand on 2 legs instead of a human bull hybrid. I was actually wondering for a while if they changed things and he was going to stay on 4 legs for the fight.

I dont' know if I like Percy having Riptide at the start. Personally Percy's first training session where he every normal sword doesn't feel right in his hands was one of my favorite scenes. I like how he does have a weakness where only certain weapons, (powered by the sea) feel right in his hands while others feel awkward to him. I don't know how they would do the scene in a show where you aren't having Percy's inner POV so I get it, I just feel sad that one of my favorite scenes is gone

Chiron sometimes just looked weird. Not the actor or anything, but the way they shot him sometimes. The scenes where he's walking with Percy, when they cut to him they show him from the waste up and without Percy by his side, like they cut back and forth between the two like the two actors were shot in different locations and they are trying to pretend they weren't without digitally editing them together. They also sometimes seemed to refuse to show Chiron's horse parts, I assume to save on CGI for it, but it looks awkward sometimes because the actor moves like he has a centaur body in some of the shots, but because they don't show the horse body the way he moves doesn't look human, like he looks very stilted and doesn't move his body like he's taking steps. Combine with the first part it doesn't even feel like Percy's talking to Chiron, the centaur, but Chiron, the 8 foot guy from a lower budget project.

I'm kind of mixed on the fight scene by the river in ep 2. It was well done, well choreographed but I don't think Percy ever steps foot in the water until Annabeth pushes him. The whole point of the scene was to show Percy gets a power boost when he's in the water, that he goes from a 12 year old to superman when he touches it. In the show, he just starts to get good, kind of like Jackie Chan mixed with the first Matrix Neo. I think it's to show him as a natural swordsman, but I liked that it wasn't just him, but the powerboost he gets due to being a son of Poseidon not just a prodigy. It is somewhat mitigated by him already having Riptide, a blade that fits perfectly in his hands instead of a basic camp sword that would already feel awkward in his hands, but still, I would have preferred it like it was in the books. Also Clarisse's scream at the end wasn't great either, should have done another take. Screams are hard though so whatever but still felt cringy. Also also, the whole strategy was to put Percy on boarder patrol near the river specifically so he would have the same advantage he had in the bathroom, not just him guarding a random road on the battlefield and stumbling into the river. The strategy still works because the main goal is to draw Clarisse away due to her grudge against Percy, but it would have showed off Annabeth's strategy chops to have multiple reasons

This one is gonna be controversial because the Actress playing Annabeth is already getting a stupid amount of hate, but I do think they sand down her edges and slightly girl power her up when it isn't necessary. Annabeth is one of my favorite characters in the series, tied with Percy for first, but I like her flaws and all. I like how she stood aside when Percy and Clarisse have their first clash, and got covered in toilet water too, I like how she has a dumb little girl crush on Luke who views her like a little sister and is embarrassed to the point of blushing when he addresses her, I like how she interrogates a barely conscious Percy about something he has no idea happened. I just feel like by reducing her screen time and letting Luke show Percy around it lessens who she is as a character and sands down her edges in attempting to making her a 'girl boss.' Which brings me to the other part of the issue, Annabeth is a super smart badass and talented action girl, you don't really need to say it if you're not going to show it. She doesn't need to be shilled, the character should just be allowed to be. That's why Luke's comment about her being the best warrior in camp kind of rubbed me the wrong way. The line could have been something about she's only 12 and one of the best warriors int he camp already and I think it would have amounted to the same thing and kept things more grounded. I don't mind her being hailed as one of the smartest or best strategists, but maybe it's just me being an adult, it's weird to say a 12 year old is the best warrior in the camp where they train child soldiers. That being said, she's only been in one of the two eps, she'll have plenty of time to show off her other skills. And again I want to be clear, it is not a flaw of the Actress, it's a flaw of the writing that I hope they course correct as a book reader

--> PS to point 5 Unfortunately, TLT doesn't have that many fight scenes compared to the later books and while Annabeth is the brains behind the quest, I'm not sure if she's going to get a chance to show off her fighting prowess unless they change the books so from a book readers perspective it just feels like a tell not shown line

-> PSS to point 5. Also another small nitpick, kind of feels blasphemous as a percabeth shipper, but I think the 'you drool in your sleep,' line wasn't delivered in the proper area. when Annabeth is being Percy's sleep paralysis demon, she interrogates him over what's happening on Olympus and the solstice, it felt weird to her just standing there just to say the line. I think she should have said the line at the toilets when Percy mentions seeing her in the infirmary and asks if she's stalking him. I think changing some things around makes it feel more real and less like a line they had to say, but that's just me

Other than that, sure there are moments that made me cringe, but I'm also an adult and the show is for kids, it's fine. I think the series is great and it's only been 2 episodes, there's plenty of time to find their groove. They change stuff sure, but eh, I'm okay with most of it and even happy in some cases. Even if I'm criticizing I'll only mention it in my posts if I think the books genuinely did a scene better.

[zarvasace]

Zarvasace’s LU Stuff

Shatterproof

aka Mina’s disability AU. An AU where each Link has a different physical disability, ranging from Legend’s RRMS to Twilight’s transverse deficiency to Sky’s Deafness

First appearance: 10-17-2022

Tag: #disability au (for older posts), #shatterproof

(there is too much to link it all so just a few things)

Series on AO3

Summary post

Original art and introductions for: Twilight, Hyrule, Time, Wind, Wild, Warriors, Sky, Legend, Four

Silly jokes one and two

Four’s chair reference

Crayon doodles

Dazzling Diamond Danger outfit doodle, Four and Shadow doodle, hyrule doodle, legend doodle

bonds physical booklet

Four and Shadow from "Mirror, Mirror, Listen to My Wish", anime-style

Shadow art

Marvelous Misadventures

In a world where "Hero" is a legal distinction given to extraordinary people who have done extraordinary things—a symbol on a driver's license, permission to carry a sword—the goddesses ask much. Magic is rare, magical beings even more so. Is it so strange that those most capable are those who have achieved?

Link Waker can See things: the ghosts on the docks, the feathered wings on a strange man's back. He leaves his home in the Archipelago to go gather the eight blessed others as required by the prophecy the goddesses seem fit to shove at him. It's not as simple a task as it seems.

First appearance: (not on tumblr) 5-17-2022

Tag: #marvelous misadventures

Fic on AO3

Group art

"cover" art

Random art of Wind

1931 Vampire AU

In a post-WWI world, Wind is a centuries-old vampire working with a small team. Little does he know that literally everyone else is magical too.

First appearance: 2-12-2023

Tag: #1931 vampire au

Series on AO3

Summary post

Relationship map

Art of Wind being extra

Art of Wind and Warriors

Doodles of Wind

Art of Sky and Four

Art of Time

Pathfinder Chain

Fake silent movie title cards

Art of Wind and Tetra in 1700s clothes

Character summaries and art as if the Links were present in Pathfinder’s world, Golarian.

First appearance: 4-24-2023

Tag: #pathfinder chain

Masterpost

Linked Nexus (LU Space Crew AU)

Most who work the celestial highways long to find a place that they can call home. Most drift between crews and jobs, whether within the Kingdom or without. Some, however, live for the stars and find home is a cramped ship with engines rumbling the ground beneath their feet, and a crew that’s almost family.

First appearance: 3-1-2024

Tag: #linked nexus (Old tag: #lu space crew au)

First post, summary

Lineup Art

Fic series on AO3

Gift fic!!! Twilight whump

Legend transforming into a bunny animation

Legend looking around mini-animation

Twilight art

Hyrule and Wild art

Sky and Sun video calling art

Deity infodump

Half Fours

Literally just, what if Four was merged into two people instead of one or four?

First appearance: 1-10-2023

Tag: #half fours

Mini comic

First doodles and names: one, two, three, four

Shadow’s relationship with each combination

Red + Vio = magenta

Full drawings for: Magma, Storm, Dust, Haze, Spark, and Mire

Spark doodle, Dust doodle, Spark and Mire together

Magma drawing remastered

Storm and Magma in the forge

Dust and Haze fighting a monster

Darkverse AU

Each hero has a dark reflection. This is about them.

First appearance: 4-21-2024

Tag: #lu z darks au

Masterpost

Mini-comic introducing Depth

Posts with art and information about: Depth, Agony and Lost, Shackle and Nothing, Dire and Madness, Prince and Mirage

First lineup art

Upgraded lineup art (same as above but more detail and a higher resolution)

References for artfight (mostly same as above)

Warriors and Prince, anime style

FIC FIC FIC

Misc. Fourdow Art

Four and Shadow take a selfie with Wild's slate

sleepy

follow-up selfie art, done a year later

Other Significant LU Art

(fics can be found on my AO3, Zarvasace)

tattoo doodles

Fancy Warriors I spent hours on

LU/FE3H crossover art

What I thought the LU boys looked like when I read a bunch of fic but hadn't seen official designs yet

LU group & AU prompt generator

Cute Four doodle (pfp at one point)

LU panel redraw that I'm proud of

Imprisoning War trio for @/skyloftian-nutcase's AU, not technically LU but it will go here.

All the LU boys as mermaids for Mermay 2024

[your-average-genshin-enjoyer]

Hello! 💕

Can I request the Detective Conan fluffy headcanons about Fluff relationship with their shy!female!reader for Shinichi Kudo, Kaito Kuroba/Kaito Kid and Heiji Hattori (separately)? Hint#1: She knows Conan is Shinichi Kudo. Hint#2: She knows Kaito Kid is Kaito Kuroba and she helps him in Kaito Kid situations. Please??

- D c m k boys headcanons

with Shy!Fem!reader -

CHARACTERS: Kudo Shinichi, Hattori Heiji and Kuroba Kaito x reader (separately)

WARNINGS: May be OOC(out of character), can be sort of off topic, could have a little spoilers for Detective Conan/Magic Kaito.

A/n: Sorry if this was not really that good TvT I never really written headcanons in the past so this is sort of my first attempt at it, also I might've write shy in a not really accurate way so, sorry if I do write it like that qwq

- S h i n i c h i K u d o -

- He sometimes was the one who do the talking for you if you two we're in public, he knows you talk just fine, but he'll do it when he sees/figure out you we're not feeling like talking at the moment, whether as Conan or Shinichi.

- He likes it when you hold his hand/sleeve when you're nervous, since in his perspective, it shows that you trust him enough to come to him for reassurance. But if he's in Conan form, most of the time he's the one who initiate the hand holding first, bcs of the height difference you two have. And also bcs sometimes you're too shy to ask if you can hold his hand.

- If he was back to Shinichi for a certain time, and he was not busy at the moment, he wants to smother you with hugs and cuddles. But he'll be debating with himself on whether to do it or not since he doesn't want to make you uncomfortable. Either way it always ends with you two snuggling up in his house, or reading a book together in his library, basking in each other's presence.

- When he knows what is your favorite subject, he'll bring that up almost any time so that he can see you rambling abt it. He loves how passionate and free you look when speaking abt it. When you realize you just rambled for a while to him, and you start spilling apologies after apologies, he'll sometime respond to it with something like

"Hey, it's fine relax. I already rambled about cases and Sherlock Holmes to you all the time, so we're even here."

-When you and Shinichi go out, and have an argument like how you kept insisting on paying the bill, he already knows how to win/end the argument right away. But he sometime stretch it up so that it'll go for a while, since he likes to see you all flustered, struggling to come up with an argument against his point.

- H e i j i H a t t o r i -

- Similar to Shinichi, Heiji will also do the talking for you. Though he will ask you if you want him to do the talking or not since he doesn't want to assume things.

- He knows Osaka like the back of his hand, and combined by the things he learn abt you overtime, he will be the perfect person to go to if you're bored. He knows your preferences on places, like how you prefer places that are less crowded, and he is more than happy to take you out to refresh with his motorcycle when he's free.

- When he has a Kendo tournament, he never forgets to ask you if you want to go see it. And if you agree to his idea, he will wave towards your direction if he wins the tournament, which sometime gets some people looking at your directions, making it a happy yet awkward situation.

- He buys you a matching hat like the one he wears, and whenever you get too embarrassed to face him, you have a habit of pulling the hat down to cover your face and spilling apologies to him. And bcs of this, he also has a habit of pulling the hat away, and then flicking your forehead(not too hard) while telling you something like

"You idiot, You've done nothing wrong here, so no need to be all embarrassed about it, okay?"

- This is pretty random, but I feel like if you we're being all blushy and flustered because of him, he'll also boop your nose or ruffle your hair to snap you out of your flustered trance, another reason he did it is because he just can't resist how adorable you're being.

- K a i t o K u r o b a -

- Will tease/flirt with you unpredictably, but won't go overboard with it. He just think it's adorable when you're caught off guard, all flustered and struggling to come up with an answer.

- He sometime does this thing where he shows you a magic trick, and when you're all impressed and flabbergasted, he revealed the trick behind it. The tricks he use are often pretty simple so he'll tease you by saying you're dumb for not figuring it out, so that he can see your little flushed face.

- If you do something out of your usual shy character in the relationship, like kissing him out of the blue, or hugging him without asking, he will say something like

"Oh? Is my dear Y/n chan started getting bolder recently?~"

And will never stop teasing you abt it for the whole day. But deep down, he's actually melting from how cute your attempts on giving him affection is.

- When you asked him if you can help with his Kaito Kid business, he won't allow you to help him when he's in action, since he doesn't want to drag you to danger. Usually you'll help with something less dangerous like preparing his costume and things behind the scenes, or taking care of him if he's injured.

- You two have a soft-serious moment when you we're tending to his wounds, you're worried for his condition and usually lightly scolds him for his reckless actions. But he always manage to remove the seriousness in the air by pecking you at the lips so that's you'll get flustered, or just messing with you in general.

[thenerdyindividual]

Ship ranking?? Uhhhh I want in!

The most random ships I have:

Mithian / Vivian, Mithian could turn out to be the one to free Vivian from the enchantment and make her into a better person!

Hunith /Uther or Ygraine / Balinor or Hunith /Ygraine etc etc. All the combinations

Gwaine / Elena I just think they're neat. They both have chaos energy. Plus, Elena's Father seems like a chill guy who would accept a peasant (who isn't actually a peasant huhhhhhhh)

Hear me out... Finna / Alator.

Nimueh / Freya

Julius Borden / Will

I swear I am not throwing these name out randomly there's a thought process behind it

Like Nimueh is of the old religion, so maybe she finds Freya after death in Avalon. And Freya being the kind soul she is can help her heal and grow out of her hatred.

And for Julius and Will... Picture a world where Will didn't die. And now everyone thinks he is a sorcerer. Julius hears rumours of the son of the last dragon lord living in Ealdor. So he goes there and he assumes it's Will, and Will just agrees to cover for Merlin, so he has to fake being a Dragon lord until the letter he sent reaches Merlin to warn him and to idk get help? But huh huh they actually fall in love.

Okay! There’s a lot here and I’m going to unpack all of them! This is fun!

Mithian / Vivian

I’m in favor of lesbian queens ruling a kingdom together, but also I like Mithian and feel she deserves better than Vivian. And I really dislike Vivian because she was mean to Gwen and I adore Gwen. I’m just not that interested in Vivian’s character, personally. I think Mithian, Gwen, and Morgana are all more interesting in her. So for that reason I rank it:

E-Tier

Hunith /Uther

No. Just no. Okay I know Uther was probably not always a genocidal maniac, but to quote Brennan Lee Mulligan “Before you were a fascist, you were a bully.” I think Hunith deserves to get her needs met by someone who would not one day gleefully send her son to the pyre. I rank this ship:

E-Tier

Ygraine / Balinor

Ohhhhh now this has some interesting vibes. Does Ygraine have a romance with Balinor before meeting Uther? Does she find out that Uther cheated on her, and got revenge on Balinor? Was it both? Does that mean that Uther and Ygraine were an arranged marriage? If so that makes Uther and even bigger hypocrite by using her death to justify his hatred.

For sheer implications and intrigue, I rank this:

C-Tier

Hunith /Ygraine

Ooooo a parallel to Arthur and Merlin, hell yes. I’m in favor of more sapphic romances in this fandom, and this could be fun. But also I now want an extremely cracky one shot where Merlin and Arthur are dating and introduce their moms, only for their moms to start hooking up, much to the horror of Merlin and Arthur.

I rank this:

C-Tier

Gwaine / Elena

I see this one a lot in the background of fics and I’m never much of a fan. It’s just a little too quirky for me. Like I’m sure there’s a fic out there that could get me to ship it, but most of the time it feels like people just want to ship the chaotic one with the chaotic one. It rarely feels thought out to me, and often feels like shoehorning it in because everyone needs to be a couple.

That said, it’s never enough to make me click away from a fic. And I could see how I would enjoy it if there was more time and thought put into their relationship. I mean, Gwaine is wandering rogue pre season 4. Chances are he ended up in Gawant at some point right?

I rank it:

C-Tier

For the potential

Finna / Alator

Tbh? In my soul, this is canon.

B-Tier

Nimueh / Freya

I just feel like Nimueh would trigger Freya. Super powerful, super scary, witch lady? After Freya got cursed dating Nimueh would just set Freya up to be terrified all the time. I don’t vibe with it. Also I think Freya has been through enough and doesn’t need to be fixing Nimueh.

I rank it:

D-Tier

Julius Borden / Will

Here’s the thing, I love Borden as a character but I like to make him Merlin’s shitty ex. I know the go to is Cenred, but he has way more chemistry with Borden.

So as far as shipping him with Will? Idk man. I’d maybe be tempted to read the fic you described because it sounds fun as hell, but Borden is just such a fun scummy piece of shit that I don’t ship him seriously with anyone. So without reading that fic, going on vibes alone…. I rank it:

D-Tier

Send me a Merlin Ship and I’ll rank it on a tier list. Note: This is a subjective ranking and a low ranking in no way means that I am shaming you for your taste in ships.

[kell-eramis]

🔥talk some mad shit on taao

OOOH ok this is gonna take a while and i'm writing this in many places--on campus, after school, on the bus, so forgive me if anything doesn't make sense.

Topics: windblade, starscream, elita, combaticons, combiners, and bumblebee

Windblade:

Disclaimer, I *love* Windblade and I love what she represents (and this could be it’s own mini essay).

However, I don’t think M Scott had those ideas particularly in mind when writing Windblade. Retroactively knowing she intended Windblade and Starscream to have a r*ylo dynamic, paints both of them and their dynamic in a completely different light: Windblade is now no longer her own character, but a tool to redeem Starscream, and becomes a “blank slate or self insert” for this dynamic and purpose. As a result, she’s not really given the opportunity to grow from flaws, and she’s not really punished for mistakes (it’s moreso Starscream paying for her choice to have Optimus Prime reveal himself as the “true Prime” to Caminus, and this is almost always framed as Optimus being in the good and Starscream being in the wrong), it’s moreso that we’re told that Windblade is “tempted by Starscream’s ways/by power, but triumphs over this because she is Good, and is able to redeem Starscream in the process.” We also see others taking the fall for her mistakes, as Chromia takes the fall for the cover up—there is no repercussions on Windblade’s part in terms of trust of Cybertron. (This also serves to take Chromia out of the picture and focus on Windblade and Starscream over any potential chromeblade narratives that could (and did) arise).

I think if I were to fix this, I would look at how the war that affects everyone on Cybertron also affects her, one of the first Camien immigrants. Like… living in this new environment that is *so* traumatized, and you, yourself are traumatized too but in a completely different way. (And this is especially obvious in the first Windblade run, with both her and Chromia’s arcs.) Not the idea that Starscream/Cybertronian politics “corrupts” Windblade, but the idea that living in this environment that has barely started to heal will inevitably rub off on her—in both good and bad ways. And she, being someone on the outside coming in, can see how the factions are flawed and how everyone needs to come together to make Cybertron more of a home than it has ever been. I don’t know if I worded this completely right, but I hope I’m getting my point across.

Starscream:

OOOOH. I could go on and on for days on end. I think the way M Scott handled Starscream’s dysphoria is very transphobic and concluded in a way that’s like “if I were not dysphoric, I would not be evil.” That’s… not what dysphoria does. Starscream would be Starscream no matter if he were cold constructed or forged—maybe just with different problems. Nurture over nature and all that. Another problem I have is due to the established windblade and starscream dynamic, starscream is often portrayed as evil—often to the point of irrationality. While Starscream might not be the best leader, she’s smarter than sending badgeless after random cons and inciting further violence as a result. We get a lot of “tell and doesn’t show” with Starscream’s tactics (and Onslaught’s, as well), and while it would make sense for Starscream to be paranoid (hence the distrust of Windblade) and to try to prepare for a second coming of the war (even if she doesn’t realize that’s what he’s doing by amassing combiner and titan power), some of the actions Starscream takes are outright irrationally evil, just to put that dichotomy between her and Windblade and incite the redemption. Other characters become tools either to show how evil Starscream is (the Combaticons, Rattrap, etc) or to redeem Starscream (Windblade, Bumblebee). I could go on and on about this but I will end it here (for now).

Elita-One:

Again, a case of “tell and don’t show”. We’re told that she’s “another Megatron” but there’s nothing to back that up—why is she another Megatron? What has she done to imply that? She’s traumatized from being hypervigilant over being the one in charge of Carcer (wherein Vigilem and Liege Maximo are incarcerated), and that shows in how she interacts with Cybertron. I don’t think she’d be a good leader for Cybertron—for the same reason neither Bumblebee nor Starscream (nor Optimus or Megatron) could be the right leader for Cybertron. They’re too stuck in the war, though it is possible to move on from it with time and effort. I do think, however, that she’s not this grand villain that M Scott paints her out to be. God forbid women do anything.

The Combaticons:

I could also talk at length about them for days. I think that they have the issue of becoming a tool to show how evil Starscream is, rather than their own characters with their own arcs. Which is a shame, as I think all of their individual arcs and as a whole gestalt could be *so* interesting.

With Blast Off and Onslaught:

We see Onslaught being extremely stuck in the war--he *wants* it to come back because he *wants* that purpose--what does a tactician do when there's no battles to be a tactician for? And Blast Off, who loves Onslaught (and his group), wants peace. Wants rest. Wants that peace and rest for Onslaught most of all. TAAO contextualizes what Blast Off does as a *selfish* thing—he does what he does because he wants that relationship. But that’s *not* what it is. She does what she does because she wants to see Onslaught heal from the war. He (as well as Starscream) knows this can’t happen unless Onslaught is given something new to obsess over—without that something, he’ll go back to the war and vengeance. So Blast Off, in a way, offers herself to be that. This isn’t selfish, in my opinion, because he knows that the relationship is doomed if she does that. Onslaught will find out, and when that happens, any possibility of a relationship will cease to be. It’s a sacrifice Blast Off makes to save Onslaught and the other Combaticons.

Brawl:

Now, I love the part where Brawl goes to Windblade and says he can’t have the war come back. He goes behind Onslaught’s and Starscream’s backs to do so. However, I wish this transition was shown more. He willingly chose to go with Galvatron and continue the war. He’s with Onslaught and Vortex when they want to make Cybertron burn. What changes? He says it’s “feeling what it’s like to die”, but beyond a few moments in Issue #4 and the annual, we don’t *see* this. No feelings of uncertainty at post war or relief when it comes to just staying Starscream’s bodyguard, just a comic relief along with Vortex.

Vortex:

Which brings me to Vortex. He’s reduced to a comic relief character. However, we know he’s an interrogator. I think we should have seen him interrogating bots for information on Swindle, searching it out. And then I think we should have also seen the ramifications of such a violent combination on him, too. (Though that could be said about all the Combaticons).

Swindle:

And that brings me to Swindle. I think Swindle, (and I also think Bumblebee should, too, but that’s a different argument) should be more present in the narrative even when she’s dead. While this is arguably present in the first arc, she’s moreso used as a catalyst for Onslaught’s grudge with Starscream turning into something more, but I think he’s used moreso as an excuse for why Onslaught’s doing all this more than an actual reason. Then Swindle is brought back in an *incredibly* traumatic and violent way. What does this mean for how she feels about the new Cybertron? How the gestalt and combination intimately affects her in ways it doesn’t affect the others? How this —frankly, violation— of her mind and memories for Onslaught’s purposes affects her and his relationship with the other Combaticons? Ooooh the things I wish TAAO went more in depth about. Then, there’s also the fact that he had helped Windblade. How does this affect the relationship between them, especially now that Chromia’s gone? How does this affect Swindle’s relationship with Blurr???

Combiners in general:

This is a problem I have with phase 2 in general, but I wish combiners were used more. They’re A Thing now that the enigma of combination is a prominent artifact. But they’re only really seen as temporary threats. We don’t go into the reason why Starscream wants one, and when that reason fulfills itself, they’re NOT used. We could have used combiners in Titan’s Return, for example!!!

I also think that IDW writers in general don’t really know what they might symbolize. Are they abject? Are they holy? Unholy? A monstrosity or a beauty?

If I was writing a continuity, I would look at combiners as the closest one could go to “being one in the allspark” without being dead. I could go into Augustinian philosophy and theology here, but I won’t (for now). However, they change the members of the gestalt in irreversible and abject ways! They blend together with the other members—they are no longer inherently individual. They are bound to each other.

Bumblebee:

Same as Swindle, really. I wish he was more present in the narrative as haunting it. Their death is the catalyst for many things and adds to others. However, M Scott only really uses Bumblebee as a passive advisor for Starscream. I think TAAO and starbee could be a significantly more impactful narrative if Bumblebee’s ideology and perceptions of things such as factions and power also moved in a way that was more towards Starscream’s perspective, rather than just Starscream becoming more “good”. It would also give us a chance to actually highlight the flaws of the autobot faction without being like “optimus is shitty, prowl is shitty, the primes were shitty, insert cartoonishly evil villains that happen to also be autobots to show how flawed they are”.

Okay, I’m finished. This was not at all all of my opinions and ideas but with a topic as broad as all of TAAO, how could I choose?

[girl-next-door-writes]

All I Want For Christmas Is You

Characters: Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: Now you and Steve are officially together it’s only right that you are so adorably cute it makes people want to puke, right?

Word Count: 1026 words

Prompt: #8: A and B give each other gifts in a gift exchange

A/N: The amazing @stupendous-science science requested this prompt for the wonderful Mrs. Steve Rogers and I figured it was the perfect ending to this little series. I hope you have enjoyed my Steven’s Greetings. If you did then please reblog, if you didn’t then feel free to move on with your life and not give it a second thought.

The month of December seemed to have flown by in the blink of an eye, and part of Steve was sad to see it go. So much had happened, lots of little things that had led him right here, sat with you snuggled beside him on the sofa surrounded by your friends. The final gift exchange of the year was always a much celebrated tradition, something thoughtful that represented the past year for the person you had pulled from the hat. And by hat, that was H.A.P.P.T, Highly Accurate People Picking Technology. Tony insisted the p’s were silent.

Steve had been nervous and excited when he had picked out your name, torn between revealing his feelings for you and keeping them hidden. Now the cat was out of the bag about his deep affection for you he decided to combine the gifts he into one super soldier sized gift.

Secretly, everyone hoped that Tony had picked them. His gifts were always incredibly personal, outrageously expensive and the envy of everyone. He had a knack for gifts, despite claiming to hate the sentimentality of the season. Steve could only hope that you weren’t too disappointed.

“Okay, so this one is for Capsicle. Well done whoever bought this, you have perfectly disguised your handwriting and I have been unable to figure out who you are.” Tony narrowed his eyes as he looked at his friends, trying to see any hint of a reaction that would give them away.

“Tony, if you really wanted to know who everyone got you could just ask happt.” Scott grinned, knowing how much the mispronunciation would irritate Stark.

“Come on, punk. Open it up so we can get round to Tony’s before he has an aneurism.” Bucky chuckled, knowing full well who Steve’s ‘secret santa’ was.

Carefully, he unwrapped his gift, folding the paper and placing it to one side just as his mom had always done when he was growing up, no point wasting good paper. His brow furrowed as he revealed a box, wondering if this was one of those trick gifts from Stark that would result in him opening smaller and smaller boxes until he found a set of car keys. Removing the lid, a smile tugged at his lips when he saw it was basically a hamper of all his favourite things. There were a couple of records, new sketching pencils, a book he had mentioned wanting to read a couple of months ago, some soft, fluffy Captain America socks, some bubble bath which claimed it helped relax and sooth aching muscles, a small bottle of Asgardian mead and a sketchbook that looked somehow familiar. His fingers ran over the leather cover as his mind tried to pluck out where he had seen them. It was hand bound, filled with handmade pages, no two the same size or shade. It reminded him of his first sketchbooks made up of random pieces of paper he had shuffled together between two sheets of cardboard.

He must have been completely silent as he stared at his gift because people weren’t sure how he was feeling about it. Was he disappointed? Was he upset?

“Hey man, you okay?” Sam asked softly, bringing Steve back to the present.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. I just can’t believe one of you guys put so much thought into this! This is amazing. Thank you.” He looked up and smiled at everyone before turning his attention back to the mystery of the sketchbook. He had seen it recently, seen a whole bunch of them, he just couldn’t figure out where.

He had been so preoccupied that he hadn’t realised Tony was passing a gift to you until your elbow bumped him as you pulled back the wrapping paper. Steve’s eyes flitted from the pile on your lap to your face, eager to see your reaction, hoping he had this all right.

Your heart stuttered when you saw your haul. “Looks like we had the same idea.” You looked over at your boy with a soft smile and he realised where he had seen those books! It had been at the Christmas market he’d gone to with you because Bucky bailed. You had left him standing in the crowd and must have bought it then.

Steve grinned as he watched you inspect each item. Your favourite chocolate, favourite book, favourite movie. There was a mix cd with all your favourite songs on it and you chuckled at how old school that was before making a mental note to ask Tony if he had a way to play a cd. There was one of Steve’s hoodies that you had commented on several times, a lip balm in your favourite flavour and a plushie of your favourite animal. In amongst all this was a small box, which you looked at curiously before picking it up and looking at Steve.

It was too big for a ring, but smaller than shoes. The box itself looked a little battered but that didn’t bother you. Opening the lid, your brow furrowed in confusion for a moment. Inside was a paper napkin, a golden brown leaf, some ticket stubs, a square of folded up used wrapping paper and various detritus. It took you a moment before you realised the wrapping paper was the kind you’d used to wrap the tree presents. The ticket stubs were from the Christmas market. The napkin was from the restaurant you’d had dinner with your family. Each and every little piece of tat in that box was something Steve had kept over the past year that had anything to do with you.

“Oh, Steve.” You whispered breathlessly as the full emotional weight of the gift hit you. Carefully placing everything on the ground, you climbed into his lap and wrapped your arms around him tight, whispering a million 'thank yous’ in his ear.

“Anything for my girl.” He murmured back, holding you just as tight. This was everything he had ever wished for, and he would happily give up each and every gift he’d ever got because all he wanted for Christmas was you, and you were all he needed.