#typos suck

[iwriteasfotini]

My favorite thing about Ao3 is the ability to go back and edit my published works. I don't think everyone does this, but I do! And it is tedious and time consuming (mostly because I keep a master google doc of each work so BOTH have to be edited), but the part of me which recognizes I can always do better gets excited every time I make an "improvement" edit. Even if it is just fixing a typo.

Maybe some people feel embarrassed thinking about editing their work. They think doing so waves a huge red flag to the wider community that there was something wrong with their writing to begin with. There was not! We are all human and make mistakes. Small mistakes like typos, or bigger mistakes like poor characterization or a line of dialogue which doesn't sit right or too much foreign language text for other readers to find the work readable. ;-)

And of course you should own your story. Just because one person says they don't like something you did or they didn't understand a passage doesn't necessarily mean you should rush out to change it! It is your story and you get to write it exactly as you want to. But I am writing fanfiction because I am working super hard to get better at writing in general. So that feedback, while it is always taken with a grain of salt, is meaningful. It is so hard to judge and analyze your own work. Call it author bias. And being able to process feedback is part of being a writer. By posting to a public platform you are letting the world know you are ok with some level of feedback. Otherwise you could have kept that story for yourself on your google drive, or your word document, or your spiral notebook.

It takes bravery to share. As does admitting something could have been written better or differently. The great thing is, there is no reason to be embarrassed for making changes or corrections to your writing. First, hardly anyone has read it. Sorry but this is just the cold hard truth. Second, with every change or correction you make, you get a tiny bit better as a writer. And to become a master at something it takes millions of repetitions through which you move from being ok at something to being fantastic at it. This applies to every skill you are seeking to improve on. Writing words is fabulous practice for becoming a better writer. You literally cannot get better without doing so. Editing and changing and improving something you have already written is the next step.

So know that if you are a perfectionist (like me) who gets an unwanted surge of adrenaline when I realize I have made a mistake in my work you are not alone! I take a deep breath. Remind myself this is a good thing. And work to improve.

NO ONE JUDGES YOU HARSHER THAN YOURSELF.

Be gentle with yourself. Give yourself grace. Laugh it off. Enjoy the feeling of getting better.

There is also a point at which you should move forward with your works instead of spending your precious time constantly going back and making changes on old ones. And that choice is a personal one.

But as a novice I say a huge "hell yes!" for being able to edit my published works.

PS Trust your gut when it comes to beta readers. Not every beta reader is created equal. And as novices giving each other advice, overwhelming harsh criticism which endures and feels personal indicates you and your beta reader might not jive professionally. I have not had this experience. My beta reader(s) have been fantastic! But I know it happens. Don't let it discourage you if you are on the receiving end... don't give up on writing. Find yourself a new beta reader!

[larz-barz]

@muichirothehashira here’s the comic

[tang0w0tek]

just tried to type "reblogging to watch later" but accidentally typed "rendog is that a war" and all I can say is

no

no it is not

it is a tiktok

[starrystevie]

eddie’s going on a tinder date with a cute guy named steve.

he likes his freckles, brown eyes and cheeky grin. they don’t have much in common but the conversations they have in the app messages flows suspiciously easily. he’s a bit in love and antsy at the table as he watches the door anxiously for his date.

he sees person after person walk into the bar and his beer is dripping condensation onto his hand as he grips it, nerves shooting through the roof. eddie glances at the table and then back up to the door when a guy walks in and if eddie wasn’t waiting for his date, he’d want to go talk to him.

he’s cute, hot even, floppy brown hair and a charming grin, hands shoved into the pockets of his coat as he looks around the bar. his shirt clings to him in just the right way and his jeans fit him a bit too perfectly. eddie can’t help but stare and then the guy is staring back while he waves, ducking his head as he walks over.

“hey, eddie,” the man breathes out, his cheeks tinged pink from the wind. “sorry i'm late. parking was a bitch.”

and eddie’s confused. because this guy has brown eyes but not the ones he expected. freckles that are more spread out and distinct, trailing down to his neck instead of blanketing his face. his smile is perfect and he’s looking at eddie like he knows him. eddie’s a bit stunned, gaping at the guy with a slack jaw, because he’d remember someone as handsome as him if they’d met before.

“…hi?” he says like it's a question, taking a sip of his beer to do something with his hands.

he watches as the man’s eyebrows crease in confusion and the way his shirt stretches over his chest as he takes off his jacket. “it’s- i’m steve? you are eddie, right?”

eddie can feel his own eyebrows raising, wiping off his damp hand to fish his phone out of his pocket. he quickly finds steve’s profile, ignoring the messages they've sent each other over the past weeks that leave his stomach filled with butterflies, and pulls up the profile picture steve uploaded.

looking at it closely, he glances at who he thinks is steve, at the freckles dusting over his face and the toothy grin he's flashing at the camera. he's not exactly they type eddie usually goes for, but he's witty and sweet and knows about dnd, apparently, so what's not to love?

but then he looks at the other person in the picture that's slightly out of focused next to ‘steve’. looks at the two moles stark on the side of his neck, his pink tinted cheeks. the floopy brown hair and the pretty brown eyes and-

“steve?!” eddie exclaims, looking between the man in front of him and the picture on his phone. “you’re steve?”

the guy- steve- grins sheepishly, leaning on his elbows over the table to look at eddie’s eyes phone. he’s close, too close, close enough that eddie wants to-

“ohh,” he says and scratches at the back oh his head, eyes downturned with a blush trailing up his neck. “yeah, maybe i shouldn’t have used a group photo for a dating app.”

“so who did i think you were?”

their eyes meet and even in the dim bar light, eddie finds himself falling into the specks of green he sees. steve looks at the phone quickly then back up with a smirk. “my best friend, tommy. he’s kind of an asshole, though. you’re better off with me.”

“is that so?” eddie leans back, taking a sip of his beer, and really takes in his date that he now knows is steve. his toned arms, his broad shoulders, his pretty pink cheeks and pretty pink lips.

“what, are you disappointed?”

steve smiles gently and it lights up his face in a way eddie isn’t expecting. between the way he looks in a dingy bar and the way talking with steve is easier than any date he’s had before, he can’t imagine what disappointment he could ever possibly feel knowing that his date is who he is.

suddenly there’s a foot hooking around his ankle and it sends goosebumps tingling up his spine. steve’s smile softens just a bit and eddie can feel himself mirroring it back, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“i don’t think disappointed’s the right word.”

crossposted on twitter!

[burningcheese-merchant]

Oh how wonderful to find a person who adheres to the same views as me and also feeds us such wonderful art.

You know I would have a question....

How much do you think GC and BS would have youngsters and who would they be similar to? </3

It sounds like you're asking about how many kids BS and GC would have and what they would look like (sorry if I misunderstood, you phrased it a bit strange). I saw in another ask of yours that you missed that these have already been answered (which they have been haha I like talking about my blorbo children). Weeeeeell I'm using this ask as an excuse to drop this, EAT IT!

Perhaps this more thoroughly answers the family question? Hope you can see the family resemblance, at least haha

[kettlefire]

Mr. Mind is a brilliant villain who can face off against beings claimed Champion by Gods. Facing off doesn't always mean winning, in fact he doesn't win rarely at all.

But this time Mr. Mind has a new trick up his sleeve. A ghostly being he tracked down and hired to build him a suit similar to the ghost's own and to hunt down the mighty Shazam. Mr. Mind with Skulker at his side, prepare to defeat the Big Red Cheese once and for all.

Skulker wasn't used to being searched for his fame. Not following his death, not when he turned into a tiny, glowing green booger.

He knew exactly how he looked. It was one of the biggest things he had to deal with in his afterlife. Skulker had died like a hero and lived as the greatest hunter in his time. He died the same way he loved to live, and he had few regrets.

Skulker refused to let the world see him as this insignificant, annoying piece of trash. So he put all the effort he could into his suit. Created something that mirrors his image when he was living.

And no one had been the wiser. Not until that little whelp had destroyed his suit pulled him from the casing like nothing more than an insect.

It had been the catalyst for his need to get that pelt, to take down his foe because Skulker had never met a prey he couldn't best.

Yet, the little dipstick always seemed to one up him. Skulker found his fight waning as the days grew on. His want to take down the whelp ended up dying, and he found himself a little lost.

And then, he met Mister Mind.

Normally, Skulker wouldn't give his time of day to a worm. There was no need to. It was an insignificant thing, just like Skulker felt, no matter how large it was.

But Mr. Mind had searched for him, had put so much effort into finding him, and Skulker figured, why not hear the thing out? Why not see what the fuss was about?

It wasn't often these days that he was seeked out for his skills, his top-tier hunting that everyone seemed to forget, or his ability to craft wonderful tech. Despite being bested by a mere mortal child.

When Mr. Mind had given his proposal, had promised Skulker anything he wanted exchanged, it was a hard deal to pass up. He had been promised the power he needed, the unlimited access to whatever material he might need.

If he ordered a bit extra, put that towards his own pet projects, that didn't matter. Mr. Mind hired him on for a specific task. However long it took Skulker to complete it, it didn't seem to matter.

The sooner, the better, though, so Skulker put full attention into the creation of this suit. He worked hard in making sure everything worked well, and it fit perfecting to Mr. Mind. He totally didn't get Technus' help.

Mr. Mind had been overjoyed when Skulker showed him the final product. Immediately jumping in and going for a test run.

Skulker was equally proud of his creation. It was strange to create something for someone else, especially a worm. Yet, he felt prideful as he watched the suit in action.

All that was left was the showdown. The breaking moment between Mister Mind and this Big Red Cheese, the worm seemed to talk about often.

The Cheeseman seemed like a notorious foe compared to Skulker's little whelp he dealt with. The sight of the magical being was a sight for sore eyes.

A welcomed change.

Skulker was only there for mechanical support, though. He wasn't meant to join in on the fight, not unless Mr. Mind was losing. But even then, the worm had a handful of other tricks up his sleeve.

Skulker hadn't planned to jump, truly. But the magical whelp hand managed to escape him. When Mr. Mind told him to find the man, Skulker didn't refuse.

Managing to track down the magical being in an alleyway a good few blocks away from the initial fight.

At first, Skulker felt pride and joy at the sight of the beaten man. The way he was struggling to even stand straight. Skulker hadn't failed his task, and it was all he could ask for these days.

But when he saw the Big Red Cheese suddenly be struck by a flash of light, he had felt a moment of fear. Specifically, in losing this catch that he was meant to catch.

When the sight switched to a young boy, a child. Something barely the age of the whelp that plagued his thoughts, Skulker couldn't fight. Couldn't bring himself to want to hunt.

It was one thing for him to hunt down a child that did him wrong. It was a completely different thing to attack a child for something that had nothing to do with him.

It hurt Skulker to lower his weapon, where it was aimed at the boy. It was losing a bounty. A task, a mission, a hunt. But he couldn't do this, it struck something deep his core.

Even as he watched the child try and be brave, despite evidently cowering in Skulker's eyes. He let his gun settle by his side, extending his hand towards the boy.

This wasn't that infuriating whelp, and Skulker reminded himself of that as he felt a clammy hand begrudgingly accept his suited hand.

[dragonspiral-tower]

backwards lune jump

[sanctus-ingenium]

Book's out! It comes as a pdf or an epub with 3 maps (1 of which is brand new) and 1 bonus tarot card art (repainted from the old demo version)

Synopsis: "Félix Ortega is the survivor of a childhood werewolf hunt, a deeply unpopular middle manager of a thieves’ guild, and the Púca’s newest toy. Félix’s death by exposure one cold winter’s night is reversed by the Black Horse’s hand, and he returns to a world that has moved on without him. While his oldest childhood friends from the guild struggle to accept him back into their lives after the argument that tore their friendship apart, the tyrannical lycanthrope monarchy of Inver chooses its newest victims.

SAID THE BLACK HORSE is a gaslamp fantasy inspired by Irish folklore and oral tradition set in a world pushed uncomfortably close to the margins of the faery realm."

[your-new-favorite-mouse]

Fresh out the oven!

Lint prepared a surprise for Troy, and Troy forgets how to say thank you. Luckily, she finds a good enough alternative!

---

hi guys . jrwi fluff week day 1 uhhhh i dont know how many of these im gonna do! this'll probably be the only thing i write for it though. had fun writing this teeny tiny little treat :3 was abit rushed sorgy

QUICK EDIT I FORGOR TO TAG @justfluffwithit

The sun is just beginning to sink below the horizon as Troy walks home through the cold. The wind bites at his face but like, in a bad way.

Today was great, but she can only assume that it’s going to get even better. Troy did amazing at practice, like always, and Lint said they had a surprise ready for when Troy got back to the house!

She rushes home as fast as she can. His hands are freezing even through his thick leather gloves, her face is flush, and she really should have brought a scarf with her, but none of that matters! He opens the front door to a small, cozy, warmly lit living room, walls painted a neutral shade of green. It’s familiar, he missed it.

Lint pokes his head out of the kitchen and buzzes, “Troy! Hi, you’re early! Dinner’s not finished yet, sorry man.”

“Ohhhh cool cool cool, what’re you making?” Troy says, wandering into the kitchen and sitting at the already set dining table. Lint unties their red striped apron and hangs it up on a small hook before sitting down with Troy. He looks nice, their hair is up in a ponytail and they have some old band's t-shirt on.

“Uh- a mac n’ cheese bake! You mentioned you were wanting one a few days ago? I thought it’d be nice since like, I haven’t had much time to hang out lately and stuff. Sorry about that, by the way... And you did soooo good at practice today, I thought you deserved a treat!”

“Yeah, dude, you’re so freaking right! I did amazing.”

Lint laughs, and jumps in his seat as the oven beeps. They scramble up, grab the oven mitts, and return just a few moments later, placing a small, square glass pan on the table. Troy smiles, plates his food, and takes a bite! Lint is staring at her expectantly. He’s got strange eyes. Troy loves those weird, strange eyes.

“I’m not much of a chef, sorry…” Lint whispers.

“Dude, what? This is like, really good! Better than my mom’s!”

“Oh- really? Maybe I should make it more often then!”

Troy really does appreciate the meal. She’s been missing his mom’s cooking a lot lately, she doesn't know why. and this isn’t quite it, but it’s definitely good. Because Lint made it, and Lint is almost as amazing as Troy! There’s a thing he’s supposed to say when he feels like this, right? Well, he can’t remember what it is right now, so she gets up from the table and walks over to Lint. They look confused, and let out a surprised buzz when Troy pulls them into a hug.

And when Lint hugs back, everything feels a bit warmer, a bit brighter, a bit better. He’s still buzzing, and they seem even happier now, calmer, content. After a minute or so, though, Lint speaks up again, laughing a little. Cogs, Troy loved his laugh. 

“Are you gonna let us eat dinner now? It’s gonna get cold, man!”

Troy doesn’t particularly want to let go, but he knows she has to. Maybe everything will stay warm, and bright, and better. Everything already is better with Lint by his side!

Today was great. Today was perfect.

Lint is perfect.

[vantastic-villain]

Merry Christmas from my Tomura doll!

[kveom]

@userdramas get to know me bingo: favourite group

↳ seventeen

[umbra-borealis]

Dimitri Lousteau is the most 'human' villain in Sly Cooper

Hello and welcome to my TEDtalk, I've been meaning to type out my yapping for a long time but always talked myself out of it because I mean, this is coming from a guy with Dimitri for a pfp and I figured people would just take it as a guy on tumblr simping for a weird lizard but no. The reasons I care for Dimitri the way I do goes pretty deep and I could sit here and talk about it point by point but to save us both some time (and because I am DEAD tired) I made a graph!

I used Luciano, my little sona, to personify myself in this.

I focused mainly on formative things and similarities in personality without inserting headcanons, even if based on traits or even symptoms I recognize. Most of these are rather straight forward but some run a little deeper. The funny pattern here (maybe aside from the drug thing lol) is that there's a high likelihood that you reading this right now can at least relate to just one or two things on those list and while you could argue that you could do the same with other characters, I picked these traits because in my opinion they ride that thin line between just relatable enough to apply to a lot of people, but not too superficial to be on the same an interest or hobby. Anyone can get upset when angry, it's HOW you express that anger that says something about you as a person for instance.

I also want to quickly mention that yes, a LOT of characters in Sly Cooper are very human, but I said 'villain' for a reason. After all I don't think your average college kid can relate to Contessa, Rajan or Panda King because mass brainwashing, destroying villages and being a literal drug lord are bordering on supervillain and that's not what Dimitri is. A supervillain can be relatable to a degree as well, but it makes sense that the Panda King had to have a whole Moment TM (several really) to come to terms with the kind of person he allowed himself to become. When we see Dimitri in Sly 3, he seems to have already done this perhaps because his sins aren't nearly as great. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I'll insert a read-more here but I'd like to ask you to keep reading anyway if you can because my biggest pet peeve is that Dimitri is seen as a dumb, sleazy (and old??? which is dumb and I got math to back up that he's not in fact in his 40s during Sly 2 lmao) lizard who's only good as a level 1 boss for beginners to learn the game and all he's remembered for, though fair, is his manner of speech and not what he's REALLY saying. None of you ever picked up on what he was throwing down so I'm going to spell it out for you.

(PS I have ADHD and it's 3 AM so go easy on me this is coming from the HEART baby)

To make it easier on myself and you, I'm going to start sectioning the word soup in my head into four categories based on Dimitri's enterprises and roles and just kinda... waffle on about my thoughts regarding them. I'll start superficial and work my way down to the Deep Shit. Feel free to skip around to whatever interests you since I include some lore too, though changes are you're already aware of said lore.

Lets start with:

Dimiti, the club manager.

Nightclubs, and the people that run them tend to have a bit of a sleazy stereotype attached to them, which I suppose is fair. Though a large chunk is attributed to movies and other media, there were in fact some really large and important movements surrounding nightlife and club culture. Just look up the Club Kids if you want to go down a rabbit hole, in short they were a fairly large group of partiers from the 90s who contributed a LOT to fashion and art movements as well as being generally very fluid when it came to gender. Unfortunately that too would eventually be plagued by drugs and members getting addicted to drugs. Again, I digress.

Dimitri is seen partying in the intro of his chapter in Sly 2,

which is a nice touch because not only is it in-character, it's something that would actually happen. Owners of a popular joints would be popular or just enigmatic figures that would regularly get subjected to patrons schmoozing up to them. Some weren't a fan but there were many that soaked up the attention, bought rounds on the house when business was good, maybe get a little TOO cocky with confidence. It's a bit too simple to look at Dimitri in relation to all this info and say 'no doi he was in it for the money it checks out.' because if you spend enough time in his club or just, in the safe house after placing the bug there's signs of more going on.

We KNOW Dimitri is a criminal and he did his whole art forgery business on the side, or maybe it's the other way round? Either way he seemed fairly confident in his skills with this. His biggest risk being that time he tried to marry someone over a STATUE. (Really dude?) So then why was he so damn paranoid? While you could argue that he was sippin' his own supply I don't think that's what it was. He was so paranoid he played his music super loud in almost all areas of the club JUST to keep his security detail awake through-out night and day, whenever his club wasn't open to the public. To compensate he would promise them they could all 'retire early'. with that fake confidence chuckle that masks a sense of 'haha please don't abandon me'

So, ever heard of Imposter Syndrome? Because his behavior as a club owner SCREAMS it. He wasn't JUST cocky and sleazy, he was simply fitting in with the culture of the time because *everyone* was overly confident, over confidence was something to be admired, something to look at and go 'yeah that guy has it figured out' while in reality most struggled with something, anything. So what is Imposter Syndrome? To keep it short and blunt, the overwhelming feeling that you're not worthy of your accomplishments. We know that Dimitri is a 'failed' artist who turned to forging art to make money, it could just be a sense of guilt telling him something he's not ready to hear so he starts overcompensating and this insecurity bleeds into Sly 3 after Sly puts him in his place. His success with this insanely toxic coping mechanism lands him a new enterprise.

Dimitri, the Spice distributor.

Rather than going chronological, I'm going through the 'layers' that is this lizard. So if his career as a club owner is the tip of the ice berg with some neat little facts and info about the stereotype he conveys, this subject is a tier deeper. Dimitri the Spice distributor is Dimitri the next level criminal, or so he thinks. When you think about it, it's pretty strange that they gave Dimitri some Clockwerk parts at all. He was never mentioned by the other Klaww Gang members and thus seemingly not missed either when he was the first to get busted. In fact, nobody was upset that their DISTRIBTOR was arrested, putting a hold on their primary income... or so we thought until the Contessa was revealed to have a rather large and lucrative side hussle Dimitri probably could never compete with. Dimitri was expendable, sure he had a role and he played it well but he was also a loss they could cope with without much harm done to their wallets or their pride.

I think about it often, Dimitri in his jail cell, maybe hearing from another criminal or even his lawyer after the whole Clock-La thing about the full scope of the plan. He might've gotten a reduced sentence for ratting the other members out because if you think back to his legendary conversation with Sly he really doesn't seem to know what he's talking about. ("What is it with clocks bro!?") All of Dimitri's other crimes aside, he was young and naive, Sly 3 reveals he came from some form of poverty as well so it makes sense that he'd chase easy money. That's all it was though, he wanted the money and the fame, he didn't want to brainwash an entire city, he didn't know about the giant robot owl. He's once again left feeling like a failure, this time one that was easy to fool and all the confidence he had as a criminal would've seeped out of him, starting this weird cycle of him trying something only to be caught breaking the law and ending up where he began.

Like I said all of this would bleed into Sly 3 and it's pretty damn neat that for how little lines he had and how little he was on screen, they managed to convey this well in my opinion. By the time we reach Sly 3, most of us don't remember him as a Spice distribtor at all. Which leads me to...

Dimitri the Artist.

Being an artist is a pretty broad term and while we know Dimitri as a painter, I think he applies his artist mindset in way, way more. He's genuinely creative an smart, he thinks out of the box to protect his secrets and to cover his tracks. His identity as an artist is also his most vulnerable and 'real' self. Folks will say art is about self expression and usually mean conveying complex topics with pretty pictures or thought provoking stories, however it can be apparent in smaller ways too and the most obvious thing for Dimitri is his business in forging art. Think about it this way:

Picture you don't speak a LICK of english, you're from a lower in-come family or even straight up poverty but you grew up on tall tales of your grandpa being a total badass who lived freely and seizes every opportunity he could to make money... or take it rather but you get the idea. Your grandpa used his talents as a diver and deep down, you know what your talent is. It's art. So you somehow manage to move across the world to Paris, go to an art school work your ass off to develop your own style, your own identity and when it came to making a name for yourself you were rejected super hard. You're now probably in debt, in a foreign country and all you're known for is being the art community's clown.

One thing that gets overlooked is that Dimitri's paintings aren't actually that bad.

He very clearly knows the basics quite well, he's using color theory to shade and add depth but as he goes from student to independant artist, he breaks away from the basics and develops a style. His color use becomes brighter, he adds little stars just because why not? He likes em! This style is PERFECT for the nightlife club scene he ends up in down the line of course, but in the world of pretentious parisian artist hipsters? Absolutely not. So while he's just being himself, he's shown that that isn't allowed, that wont get him success. It reminds me of artists who say shit like 'I'll just learn to draw furry porn I guess!' thinking it's a guaranteed money printer (heh) and whether they enjoy making that kind of content is irrelevant, which leads to burn out or in case they DO find success, imposter syndrome. The dread that you do not deserve this recognition because it's not something you're actually that passionate about, not something you want to be known for. Say what you will about Dimitri but he never compromised. And while the cutscene shows shoddy painted depictions of classical paintings, I think this was more to illustrate him forging paintings to a younger audience than imply he was a bad painter as just before those crappy version, we see what's probably the REAL version he would've painted and sold.

This is conjecture on my part but I have to believe it because well, art forgery is HARD. You'd have to actually be a freaking genius to do it and sell it for so high, you can just afford what is basically a freaking opera house in PARIS and turn it into a nightclub. Also did I mention Dimitri just, HAS a ~mansion~ in Monaco? Because he does.

I've also always liked that scene for the expression on his face. It's smug, it's so full of petty, passve aggressive anger, a stubborness to admit defeat and instead to just 'prove a point' even if that point is lost to the means being SUPER illegal. That being sad, I don't think any of us feel bad over this man stealing a couple thousand from billionaire pockets. Billionaires that probably have their own little illicit ways to get that cash. Funny... It seems Sly isn't the only one who steals from other criminals.

And you might've stuck around this long and gone 'Umbra, get to the fucking POINT already." to which I have good news.

Dimitri, the Marine Iguana.

My favorite part, feel free to skip ahead to this headline if you want.

So who is this guy anyway? Well, from Sly 3 we see that he has a mother, a sister and his grandparents and that's about it as far as we can tell.

Just look at that smile! He looks like your average, awkward teenager. No struggling on the streets from what we can tell, no bullying by bigger kids, no weird sociopathic tendencies, no childhood trauma or grudges. The events that changed him seem to all have happened after he left for Paris. Sure it aint much to go off of but even if his life was hard, it seemed he was close with his grandfather and got to know him for a decent couple of years. Marine Iguanas are, like the name implies, an aquatic species of reptile. They're well adapted to land but due to low food availability in-land, they migrated to the beaches and started living off of sea algae, learning how to dive in the process. Even in Sly 2 the devs included plenty of references to Dimitri's affinity for water. The windows in the dancefloor area of his club are partially submerged, there are two massive aquariums in his office, he lives on a boat (or hides there anyway) and has several water features but inside and outside his club.

When you take a step back and look at all that, Dimitri is... just a guy who left his home country, his family, to follow a dream only to have that dream shatter and he's left to pick up the pieces all alone, making poor choices in the process. Choices based on anger and a broken heart. And the truth of the matter is that ALL of this, could happen to anyone. Granted in varying different ways as not everyone's life is the same and not everyone will make the same choices but I think many of us had a dream career as a kid only to become a jaded adult who thinks it's unrealistic or only does that thing as a hobby, I think there's many of us that remember the moment our hearts were broken and we realized the cold, unforgiving nature of real, adult life.

We see the effect of ALL of this come to a head in Sly 3, when at first he's not sure if he should still be mad at Sly for putting him in jail while he's currently the only guy he knows that COULD break him back out of jail as well. He still overcompensates, he's still overly confident and he put himself in that cell but still, he honors his word and helps Sly and Bentley find their friend. Then in Holland we see him behind a bar, seemingly as if he's actually got a job as a bartender there. Heck, he DOES have a job! He's the announcer! He may not super like it but he's being humbled by it all the same and when Sly comes for help a second time, the bravado is gone for a moment. He expresses genuine fear, not necessarily for his own safety but for losing a job, for *failing*. Of course the right answer in this scenario is to hype up his confidence again. And because Sly has proven himself to be trustworthy in the past he figures he can trust him with a favor of personal, sentimental value. If anyone would understand how it feels to have your family name dishonored and an heirloom stolen, it's Sly and Dimitri knows that damn well.

I think this is about as real as Dimitri can get, aside from the whole scuba gear thing. I know the gang is disguised but I don't think Dimitri is at all. I think that's just... what he likes to wear, further making me think he's just a regular guy with so much heart ache he lashe out in some pretty vile ways. Tortured artists are known to do some crazy shit after all. And while he continues to be his funny eccentric self we know him to be, he starts to have his first real moments of genuine care and loyalty while a part of the Cooper Gang. He tells Bentley he 'has his own flavor' which is his way of telling him that he's unique an valid the way he is. He dives after Sly's cane in VERY dangerous waters, risking injury or even his life, no questions asked. He sends Bentley postcards and letters to let his friend know he's safe and doing well. But perhaps something that hits me harder than any of that, is how angry and shocked Dimitri looks upon Sly's 'retirement announcement'.

Here he was thinking he made a friend out of Sly, and just like that he was gone. It makes me wonder if he held onto that grudge or not but a part of me likes to imagine that he didn't. I think his time with that gang made him realize that although he might not understand and he might be upset, it's not all about him. If anything he silently continued the rivalry by seeing how many girls he could cram into one post card with him to one up Sly's act of running off with a girl himself or perhaps he took it as a sign to make a career switch as well. Either way, Dimitri ended up changing for the better, he became himself in the end. A sweet, goofball iguana who loves the ocean and loves to paint. Making money became a nice bonus rather than his main focus.

Coming from a similar, rough background, having gone to therapy and trying to find my place in the world, this gives me hope. Hope that if I look hard enough, I can find my niche too and that being myself is the best I can be. If you read all this, thank you. I fgured it was best to just get it ALL out at once. I hope it was a fun read or made you look at Dimitri a little differently.

[vasfasan]

oh im sure

[slugbutterfly]

Whats with the Shuro/Toshiro hate?😭 Guys its completly fine for a character to be in the wrong and not being a bad person.

The conflict between Laios and him stems from him coming from high context culture and Laios is from low contextual culture (+his neurodivigenci ). Laios is alredy seen as "annoying" or "dense" by his friends so how do you expect a nobleman who had etiquette beaten into him from a young age? He himself probably feels emotionaly repressed and he even addmits at the end of the episode that he envies Laios his straighfowardness: "that is the part of you that I hate...to envy you"

That is the reason he never said anything to Falin about his feelings, only when he proposed to her. I dont think his atraction towards her was as shallow. Or maybe it was... but he never could force himself to get closer to her (even tho he probably tried, like when he invited her to dinner that Laios crashed lol.)

His anger at Marcille and rest of the party for reviving Falin probably stemms from his noble upbringing that thaugh him strict morals. Its obivous the "black magic" viewed as very serious and moraly wrong crime. Its like someone addmited they made medical experiment to cure someone you loved.

Im not saying he isnt in the wrong for how he reacted. He definitly was and it was made clear in the story. But he isnt that horrible of a person people made him out to be.