#things bouncing around my head

[mayhaps-a-blog]

I’ve seen a few people asking why Thrawn would attack the New Republic – shouldn’t he join them and fix the system from the inside, or just go back to the Ascendancy? Why would he destabilize the galaxy further?

But if you think about it

Really, the only reason Thrawn needs is to believe that the New Republic is a threat to the galaxy. Which, well...

Thrawn joined the Empire to oppose the Grysk, because Thrawn believes in a strong military. Thrawn’s not good at politics, and deals with everything in military terms – remember the Lioaoin's economic issues? That’s why he got along with the Empire, and why he put up with all their crap. In Thrawn’s head, big military = big victory = stop bad guys = good.

Enter the New Republic.

What are they doing? Disarming. While there are still pirates, the Hutts, Imperial Remnants, and, of course, the Grysk nipping at their heels. In the midst of a tumultuous time, they are deliberately weakening their ability to meet the challenges ahead, and opening the galaxy to invasion. Says Thrawn.

It doesn’t even matter if they’re Grysk influenced or just stupid – it’s the same result. The galaxy loses. His people lose. Says Thrawn.

What do you expect him to do? Join them? Of course not – he at least knows he’s terrible at politics. And the New Republic is all politics – it would put him at a disadvantage, in a fight he cannot afford to lose. And it would open him to attacks on fronts where he has no power: trials for war crimes, possibly leading to execution – or worse. The Mind Flayer.

You think Thrawn would risk his mind?

Besides, better to ask forgiveness than permission, as they say.

And if you want something done right, do it yourself.

Conquering the New Republic would be better for everyone, Thrawn says. It would save the galaxy from annihilation, allow him to turn the resources of the Empire against evil, bring peace and order to the galaxy and beyond. He would keep all the good of the Empire, Thrawn says, while getting rid of all of the bad, Thrawn says – whatever that means to him.

For the greater good, Thrawn says.

Everything he’s done has always been for the greater good, Thrawn says.

The tragedy is that he believes it.

[bizarrelittlemew]

Finally gaining approval and popularity in a world you always craved being a part of vs. watching the other person enjoying the very thing you're trying to escape

One difference:

[waveoftheocean]

"i can see it in his eyes" 🥰

[ar-mage-ddon]

new game+

[corrodedcoughin]

thinking about how if Eddie was cornered for a fight he’d probably play to his strengths and try to freak out his attackers by bouncing around like old timey boxers, looking like a kangaroo and punching the air while saying ‘oh you wanna go??? You wanna go??? Well let me tell you! There’s going to be three hits!!! Me hitting you, you hitting the floor and the ambulance hitting 80 when it takes you to the hospital. That’s right. The old left, right, goodnight. The ol’ razzle dazzle!’

And the guys just…leave? Because what is this guy doing? And why is he moving like that?

Eddie munson: 1, bullies: 42. Things are finally looking up.

What Eddie doesn’t know is that Steve Harrington was standing just off to the side and waved the bullies on when he saw it all kick off. Not wanting to interrupt Eddie’s…technique…he did what he could without raising suspicions

[sopstuck]

gamzee: fancy church edition

[☕️]

⬇️ close ups & talking under cut ⬇️

these gams exist in the set of my au's where he joins the church fleet and finds basically everything he hoped for (and whatever would make him choose to leave is going to be a world-shattering event)

working in and refining some of my clurch aesthetic staples: purples and orangey golds, the red-green pair, the primaries trio; rainbow beads, rainbow gradient fabric; some harlequin diamond variations, that multi size spot cluster pattern i made that i really like; some bone and horn in the jewelry; snakes, and ribcages

i do have headcanon thoughts i keep meaning to write out about how different trolls choose to wear and style their sign, and what that says about them - highbloods put more emphasis on line signs and ancestors, i’m sure some seadwellers just get atrociously gaudy with it; within the church, the capricorn sign could have some extra weight given who the grand highblood is

this version of gamzee only seems to show his sign on clothes that he’s wearing in some official capacity (vestments, uniforms) but still dresses to clearly show off his blood and religious affiliation, and i’m sure that makes a multitude of statements depending on who you ask

anyway i like these outfits and i Will be using them again probably

[dizzybizz]

bigolas dickolas wolfwood

[front-facing-pokemon]

[feroluce]

So I spoke somewhat about my thoughts on Emanator Sampo here, but I never really thought of it from a design point of view or what kind of powers he would have until just recently. But I actually kind of love leaning into it from a "stage hand" perspective?

Because like. Aha's body in THEIR official art is completely black, giving attention to all the fun brightly colored things around THEM. And that's so fitting for Sampo! He usually prefers to be a side character. He likes to act from the shadows. His is a much more subtle hand.

So I wonder if as an Emanator, a lot of his clothes are actually very dark? Not necessarily plain, still extravagant and needlessly detailed in things like cut and quality with lots of different fabrics and textures and ornamentation, but dark. Or maybe even his skin itself becomes blackened further down his body; his hands in particular are dark, as a sort of sleight of hand reference.

The motif of a lot of straps wrapped around him like in his canon design is still present, but they're all loose and flowing off of him like paper streamers now instead of restraining him or holding him together. He is no longer contained! Or maybe they're still a bit more rigid/heavy, but just draped more like red stage curtains!

And this is like. Fully self-indulgent, but I love inhuman designs, and there's nothing in canon to say I can't do this, so screw it! Go for broke!! Maybe it's not visible to normal people, but Sampo having a second set of arms would be really cool, as further sleight of hand reference. One set is almost normal looking, but his hands are a bright, attention-drawing white, and the other is dark, set almost in the shadows of the first arms, to act less noticeably.

He also has something of a broken heart design to him in canon (the front of his black shirt with its jagged shape down the middle; his coat looks like a full heart shape in the back), and I actually like him keeping that element as an Emanator, because I think it suits him. Sampo says his taste in aesthetics and views on Elation involve human dignity,

and the story he helps create in Belobog involves the long and winding road of resistance and survival and eventual triumph in the face of some very adverse, oppressing odds. (I'm pretty sure I heard he once called Wildfire "artless" though, plus the man acts like he thinks Shame is some kind of dessert, so like ndkdjzjskkd) But the point being!!

I think Sampo is someone who can appreciate heartbreak and angst and tragedy in a story, because it makes the victory at the end all the sweeter. And this would be another thing he shares with Aha, because I think THEY did bless the Mourning Actors partly just to be a little shit, but also because Aha does recognize tragedy as part of THEIR Path, too, and you can see it in some of the game. So a broken heart motif can still suit him, and I like him having elements of both comedy and tragedy. Like his clothing having a happy sun/sad moon (like the moon in Aha's art) or him having both of the traditional comedy/tragedy masks in his design.

And as Emanator, Sampo can maybe play with the stage settings environment, too. Like lights sometimes behave strangely around him, appearing blindingly bright to someone or dramatically dark. Sampo wills it and suddenly there seems to be a metaphorical spotlight right where he wants everyone to look. And when he doesn't want to be noticed, his face seems to be cast in shadow, he seemingly just fades into the background, no one notices or recognizes him and he sneaks away easily. He can create smoke or fog literally out of thin air without his bombs now, too, the air will just suddenly thicken until his stage is obscured, and Sampo can set the scene as he pleases or disappear without a trace.

And in line with being a stage hand, Sampo can direct attention like no other. He was already extremely good at this as a normal mortal, and becoming an Emanator only took it up to 11, past human limits. Sampo points, and all present feel compelled to follow his fingertip. He looks away, and they all follow his gaze. He can even affect the mood of an audience; he can influence everyone to be calm and placid or he can whip them into a feverish frenzy. Sometimes a crowd will start to become unsettled, agitation stirring until it boils over, until it incites a full on violent mob.

And in the middle of all that chaos will stand one perfectly calm figure, face cast in shadow, until they quietly slip away out of sight.

[bristledthistled]

a broken world for a broken god

without all the overlay effects- I have no idea what i'm doing, haha 8 u8)

[cuubism]

hello friends. despite my 9 million existing dreamling wips i'm feeling the need to branch out a bit for the sake of my mental variety. what pairing other than dreamling should i write a little something for? could be romantic or platonic

other way of phrasing i guess: any pairings you really want to see more fics for in the fandom?

[eissaphir]

I thought of this with a carnival in mind but feel free to interpret this any way you want. Looking at you, Radioapple shippers

[lorillee]

pearl my darling baby angel

[laatmaar]

The thing I like a lot about sidestep as a character concept is that in my eyes they feel like such a natural conclusion to the setting and the themes in fhr. Taking as examples for this post the body as a tool and the social performance to being human(don't know if i worded this right but bear with me).

Firstly, in the setting of fallen hero there seems to be a greater move towards the use of bodies as military tools, both through the hero drug and of course cybernetics. This is most reflected in steel and ortega. Where they both have had their bodies modded for of course their own well-being, but are also now contractually obligated to serve the military/government in exchange for these modifications. Especially with steel the knowledge that while the cybernetics improve his life and are of great benefit to him, he would probably not have received them or at least not of this quality if they did not also make him a great tool kinda looms over his character. However, with both ortega and steel there seems to be some pretense of care for or at least acknowledgement of the person that comes with this body. Which gives way to the natural progression of such setting, what if you can create a body just as a tool and not have to bother with the person behind it (and the accompying things such as bodily autonomy, personal rights, moral codes, identity, etc.). Which seems to me very much where the regenes come in. As far as sidestep knows (and as far as we as readers/players know) their body was created purely to serve as a tool, and any personality sidestep displays "a breach of protocol" ( I think the narrative explores how difficult/near impossible it is to just use a body as tool since to use a body means that there is always a person experiencing the world through that body and thus the body becomes something more than just a tool something something the puppet? but i'll probably only be able to be definitive on this after the series ends)

Second example is how fallen hero is, as mentioned by others, very concerned with, well, the social performance of being human. With how in order to be respected as a person and granted the privileges that come with being human one must adhere to social rules and codes in appearance, behaviour, and interaction with others (and if you're lacking in one category better make it up in others). This is i think very apparent in almost every major character in fallen hero. However their various hangups and struggles with how to present yourself to the world and others, and others expectations of them in turn are written realistically. In that they are born out of a lifetime, of having grown up and being taught the rules through experience and shame, and of course the implication that these rules are just what is naturally expected and never truly explicitly said outloud. The fun thing about sidestep and the cuckoo regenes is that this is all explicitly spelled out and taught, in order to be accepted and seen as human (and gain the privileges that come with being human) you need to behave and look like this. It is canon that Sidestep didn't have a childhood and i think heavily implied that the farm just gave the cuckoo regenes lessons on how to be a human being. It makes the implicit explicit.

There are a ton more themes in which sidestep as concept is just the implicit made explicit or like the natural conclusion to that theme (self-actualization probably being a big one). It makes the relationships (whatever form they may come) in fallen hero fun, because no matter what kind of person a specific sidestep is their concept as a character always kinda holds up a mirror to all the other characters in the story.

[ar-mage-ddon]

rusted starlight

[blueskittlesart]

Op your comics drive me Absolutely Insane thank your for your work

thank you! they drive me insane also. if i did not write them this shit would just be bouncing around in my head forever and i think it would kill me. glad yall like them