#very cynthia-esque

[marinecorvid]

brainstorming some outfits for my platinum girl dawn “dusk” dušková

[constarlations]

Pokémon Timeskip Series: Champion Dawn 🌸❄️

Known as Sinnoh’s Ice Queen, Dawn is best known for her intimidating yet caring nature. She’s fierce and calculating, never leaving any room for error especially when it comes to battling. On her off days you can find her in the contest hall, a hobby she picked up from her mother, or in the Battle Frontier/Pokémon Lab to catch up with her best friends. It is said she was recently engaged to a certain johto boy (Ethan. It’s Ethan.) however they will not publicly revealed their plans for the wedding as of yet

Made a timeskip adult champion Dawn design a while back! It’s still my favorite of my timeskip series hehehe I hope you enjoy!

Twitter link

[wrenofwvnds]

it’s officially 3 months till the wicked movie is released!

ever since we got the cast announcement i’ve been working on a separate digital illustration of ‘historically accurate wicked’ but it just so happened that i finished this one a lot faster haha. it started out as a redraw of the photo ariana and cynthia took in paris and turned into this!

i was re-acquainted with the original wizard of oz illustrations by W.W Denslow during my research and so i decided to try and create the pieces in the same colour scheme! i’ve been having lots of fun working in a more minimal pallete again - very screen printing esque, which is something i love very dearly and always enjoy the challenge of! despite its frustrating endless-puzzle like process (which you’ll see in the timelapse).

glinda and elphaba’s outfits are inspired by 1870s ball gowns which is around the time the story wicked would’ve taken place, if time in oz is parallel to the real world that is? but frankly ozian quantum-physics is very much not my specialty.

[childotkw]

okay but imagine the grindelwald! harry au mixed with that ybtm(ibty) au where it's actually harry that goes to nathan's world. i would assume that dumbledore wouldn't allow those rumors to spread if harry came to him first, but if harry had built up a reputation beforehand... it's technically not allowed/ taboo to discuss the rumor (not like the school can place a ban on it), but the whole student body knows it by the time harry is there and assisting dumbledore. dumbledore can't even claim harry as his son or relative at this point because it would just end in even more disaster. harry is super adverse to the rumor but his refusal just kinda stokes the flames higher and at this point even grindelwald is aware that his supposed son is hanging out with dumbledore at hogwarts. and wouldn't that be rejection of the highest order again? or perhaps he wouldn't really even believe the rumor but that power that harry effortlessly wields, that's something to see. i feel like nathan would believe harry when he said that he wasn't grindelwald's son, but orion would do the real plotting when he connects nathan's attackers to grindelwald, like, the amount of drama orion lives for is RIGHT THERE orion would prob be disappointed when he doesn't see results tho lol, but he has plenty of other entertainment. like harry and his everything. and tom too, but he sees tom more than harry, and tom likes to hide everything, so. anyways this idea has consumed me so i'm sorry about the word vomit lmao your aus are very plot-bunny inducing

A spin off of Dark Side of the Moon where Harry side-stepped Dumbledore and Hogwarts completely, and became some vigilante-esque figure in the Wizarding underworld because his saving people thing was alive and well even if he's a grumpy boy.

His actions - stepping in and defending others regardless of status or species, breaking up the more destructive and illegal rings in Knockturn and making things a little safer for those living there, dodging the aurors with all the skill of a career criminal, etc. - drew attention.

Because of course they did.

And people loved to gossip about him.

Because of course they did.

Harry was focussed on trying to get home (he has yet to chat with Death), and unintentionally kicked off some of those rumours himself. Rumours that, for some reason, had people thinking he was Grindelwald’s son?

(It was absolutely because of the Deathly Hallows tattoo on his hip - don’t ask how it got there, don’t ask how the group of hags spotted it, Harry purged that memory from his brain, it did not happen).

Anyway.

Harry was strolling around Knockturn on Halloween and stepped in to chase off the men attacking Nathan, safely whisked the boy back to his family and let them know that Grindelwald’s men were on the prowl. Benedict took that warning seriously, and Cynthia proposed Harry stop by one afternoon for tea as a thank you.

And one gossipy vampire who witnessed Harry curb-stomp Grindelwald’s men spread the word that the Dark Lord’s apparent son was ‘on the outs’ with his father because why else would he attack a group of Acolytes unless there was trouble in paradise?

Long, long story short - Harry eventually ended up at Hogwarts as some weird teacher assistant / in protective custody / a God (people are too scared to ask at this point). He just chilled in the school, occasionally disappearing without a word to dismantle an illegal poaching organisation or bulldoze through some of Grindelwald’s men.

It was only after a few months that Harry even heard the rumour that people think he’s Grindelwald’s disgruntled, long-lost son. He tried denying it at first but by this point the rumour is so pervasive and wide-spread that he couldn’t change it. So Harry just rolled with it.

“Why yes, I am Gellert’s son. Yes, I think his political agenda is stupid. No, he’s not all powerful, he’s actually a moron and I’m going to break his nose when I next see him.”

People are lowkey terrified. Nathan has his pseudo-older brother who is training him to be a badass. Orion is frothing at the mouth and Tom is vibrating at a frequency that could propel himself into the sun.

Gellert just wants to know why anyone would look at him and think he’d ever sleep with a woman. Then he claims the magically-powerful-possible-god-man-thing as his son because why not?

[undying-love]

Paul's stepsister calls John Paul's "wife"

"Paul and the world had just lost someone very dear to them. I had lost my Uncle John, the myopic, misunderstood, manipulative, mystifying Mop-Top who had helped me to learn to ride a bicycle; Julian and Sean had lost a father; Cynthia, her knight in shining armour; Yoko, a fellow artist, contemporary and house husband...and Paul? Well, call me crazy, but he lost the wife. I’m certainly not implying anything of a carnal nature here, but to almost all intents and porpoises (as John would have put it), what they had was a marriage. Mark David Chapman’s selfish quest for his Warhol-esque fifteen minutes of fame was the fatal wound to an injured relationship that had lasted almost 23 years. This unconventional partnership, much like a paradigmatic marriage, had endured its sundry situations...its honeymoon period; its seven year itch; the adoption of its offspring by Northern Songs and some time foster parent Michael Jackson; the tender temptations of Jane, Cynthia, Yoko, Linda, May Pang and others. [...] On the February 9, 1964, Ed Sullivan shone the proverbial light on the viewing public. The long night was over. The Beatles had conquered America. For the next two and a half years, John and Paul, (together with George and Ringo), would travel, eat, rehearse, write, play, record and “sleep“ (again, not literally) together." ---Ruth McCartney

------------------------------------------------------------------

"Honeymoon period", "the tender temptations of Jane, Cynthia, Yoko, Lina, May Pang", "they would 'sleep'(not literally) together", "Im certainly not implying anything carnal here"......JESUS

Source: https://articles.absoluteelsewhere.net/Articles/ruth_mccartney.html

[sapphosclown]

if rotpl was set in the glee universe with things mostly the same but set in current time lydia and cynthia would in fact have a very dramatic dream-sequence-esque duet of lacy by olivia rodrigo

[celestialholz]

For some reason, I’m seriously wondering if Brassius is /younger/ than he looks, like…Cyrus does NOT look 27, yet there he is. And Brassius was confirmed to have had physically and mentally torturous younger years as an artist struggling for recognition. I’m not saying he’s also 27 mind you, he’s more likely in his late 30’s, /maybe/ early 40’s if we’re being generous.

This…also brings up the potential of an age gap in his and Hassel’s relationship, depending on when they met. Hassel’s likely in his 50’s (somewhere on the low end, maybe), meaning they might have anywhere from a 10 to 15 year age gap in their relationship!

I’m not saying there was any orbiting mind you, they were both fully-grown legal adults when they met, and all my homies hate orbiting—but it’s something to consider, given we don’t have canon ages for every character outside of a very small few.

Ah, my dear anonymous friend, today I must have a chat with you all on coding.

Cyrus looks like this at 27 because he's wrong. His storyline is finding a way to mend the 'incomplete human spirit', and yet in his design and actions we see his flawed viewpoint. The narrative asks you to consider that if this is what perfection looks like, why is everyone else different? Why does everyone else look their age, or younger, and yet they're somehow incorrect? It's because everyone else isn't wrong. Cyrus' cold heart is draining him of his youth and vitality - he's too serious, and so it shows upon his skin. He's a commentary, a man too driven and too angry at entirely the wrong thing. He will unleash the literal embodiment of Satan to 'save us all', which is dictator language if I've ever heard it. It's why he wears grey, white and black - at his 'core', where the white undershirt is (the colour of purity), he has good intentions, or at least believes he does; his jacket is grey because he's morally ambiguous, lying to his team with again, what he thinks are good intentions - he's saving everyone, isn't he, what's the sacrifice of some good soldiers compared to that? And it's predominantly black, because his heart, and his thoughts, are literally 'dark.' He's a walking red flag on virtually every level, which makes the fact that his name literally means 'sun' particularly funny. He thinks he's bringing light to the world, but all he's bringing is darkness.

Contrast all of that to this lovely fellow here.

Brassius is physically marked by time because of both illness and depression - he was never 'wrong' in the way Cyrus is, so his lines and frown are a measure of struggling rather than a mental issue. The transformation here is palpable - the man we see jumping from rooftops and being the King of Drama is not necessarily young accordingly, he's alive. He's living his best life later in that life because he never could before - he's been healed, physically and spiritually, by Hassel. The coding here is of a youth unfortunately missed - he was drained of it too, but in an entirely different manner. Hilarious, because as I've pointed out before, Brassius is moon-coded to Hassel's sun coding - he's reflected his light, and now shines in his own right, whereas Cynthia - whose name similarly means 'moon' - is a reflection of Cyrus, the 'good' mirror to his wild ideals.

The difference lies not only in narrative, but in coding. Cyrus is a petulant youth, shouting at the world that won't listen until he makes them; Brassius is a grandpa-esque figure of art and wisdom. He's seen shit, and therefore he's basically every child's adorable little gay uncle. He's not jumping off windmills because he's full of youth, especially when we know from his rematch that it hurts his knees - he's jumping off windmills because he can. Because he's living now, because he's a role model, because he basks in literal sunlight... which is probably why he trains Grass-types, narratively. Needs that photosynthesis. <3

Likewise, speaking of men who are living nowadays...

Here is a man who has also been through some shit - the burden of responsibility vs. the freedom of being your authentic self, who has also been healed by finding his little free-spirited, unapologetic artist husband. You'll see looking at them together like this, the only thing really distinguishing the two in wrinkles is the lines around Hassel's mouth... which is pretty easy to explain away as continuous frowning, when you've spent a good portion of your life hiding your true softness and trying to be the head of the family your heritage expects you to be.

It's a very different and beautiful take on the Sinnoh dynamic, honestly. Where Cyrus and Cynthia are at odds, both fighting for their own greater good, the sun and the moon here are in harmony - they're equals at every turn. One heals the other, and vice versa; they're both role models for young people; Brassius' art depicts them both to varying degrees; Hassel shows up at gym two; Flapple is half of them each... neither seems inadequate at all. Even the skill gap evens up, because they become very similarly levelled during the gym leader rematches.

And when you've got coding like that...

Is Hassel the older one, here? Oh, almost definitely. We don't know any canon ages in Paldea except Dendra, who explicitly tells us she's 25, and therefore, Tulip must be a very similar age as they grew up together. Everyone else is up for debate, really, aside from the kids obviously being kids. But this has all been a very long way to say, dearest anon, that I don't think this age gap's as wide as you might think. :) I think, in the spirit of equality, Brassius looks older than he is, and Hassel does too, because they've both had lives of turmoil - if I had to stick numbers on it, Brassius is early 40s, and Hassel's late 40s. But as you rightly point out my unknown pal, there's no orbiting here. This is a healthy and wonderful relationship of absolute equilibrium, as my meta masterpost on them will explain more easily than I can summarise here. Both of them are utter sweethearts with good hearts, and everything they are is built on mutual respect and appreciation. But you don't usually achieve mastery of your craft, and especially not after early disadvantages, unless you're of a certain age. These two are endgame life material, the 'happily ever after' of achieving true self-worth as well as true love. They stand as our in-game grandpas for a reason. :)

[reasoningdaily]

Futureland - Walter Mosley

Futureland - Walter Mosley

Projecting a near-future United States in which justice is blind in at least one eye and the ranks of the disenchanted have swollen to dangerous levels, Mosely offers nine interconnected stories whose characters appear and reappear in each others' lives. For all its denizens, from technocrats to terrorists, celebs to crooks, "Futureland" is an all-American nightmare just waiting to happen.

Nine interconnected short stories capture the high-tech world of the United States in the near future, capturing the lives and fates of such characters as Ptolemy Bent, a child genius whose merciful actions land him in a privatized prison, and Fera Jones, a heavyweight boxing champ who abandons the ring for a political career. 75,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Futureland is bestselling mystery author Walter Mosley's first science fiction book since Blue Light, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Futureland's nine linked stories will provide an accessible and intelligent introduction to written science fiction for mystery or mainstream fiction fans who do not normally read the genre.

Experienced science fiction readers, however, may be less than satisfied with Futureland. Reading it, you might decide Mr. Mosley grew up reading SF, respects the genre, and still watches SF movies, but has read little SF written during or after the New Wave of the 1960s. However, something more may be going on here than a genre newcomer making beginning-SF-writer mistakes. Mr. Mosley may be deliberately, and craftily, creating SF accessible to his large non-SF readership and to others who are strangers to this genre.

Some have labeled Futureland cyberpunk, and it does present a dark, infotech-saturated, corporation-controlled future; but it is in fact an inversion of cyberpunk. Instead of that subgenre's cliche of cool, cutting-edge, street-smart, but not very believable outlaws who out-hack and outwit powerful multinational corporations, this Dante-esque collection presents outlaws and outcasts who may be street-wise, but who have little chance of overcoming the corporations and governments that control, and sometimes take, their lives. Like shockingly few other SF works, Futureland directly examines the lives of the working and the nonworking classes, the poor and the marginalized, the criminal and the criminalized. In other words, Futureland is set in a world quite alien to many veteran SF readers, and is therefore a book they should try. --Cynthia Ward

From Publishers Weekly

After the qualified success of his first science fiction novel, Blue Light (1998), Mosley (best known for such mystery fiction as the Easy Rawlins series) returns with nine linked short stories set in a grim, cyberpunkish near-future. Unfortunately, heavy-handed plotting and unconvincing extrapolation weaken the collection's earnest social message. "Whispers in the Dark" introduces prodigy Ptolemy Bent, who will grow to be the smartest man in the world in spite of his poverty-ridden childhood. Ptolemy reappears in "Doctor Kismet" as an adviser to assassins trying to kill the richest, most corrupt man in the world and as the brains behind a series of global plots to overthrow the status quo in "En Masse" and "The Nig in Me." Champion boxer and much-hyped female role model Fera Jones steps away from the ring to take hands-on responsibility for the influence she wields in "The Greatest." With its easily befuddled talking computer justice system, "Little Brother" is more Star Trek than high-tech cyberpunk. In more familiar territory for Mosley, PI Folio Johnson investigates a series of murders linked to Doctor Kismet in "The Electric Eye." Although packaged as SF, this book is likely to disappoint readers of that genre who've already seen Mosley's themes of racial and economic rebellion more convincingly handled by authors like Octavia Butler. Mystery fans, on the other hand, are far more likely to embrace this latest example of Mosley's SF vision, with its comfortably familiar noirish tone and characters, than they did Blue Light. (Nov. 12)Forecast: With a five-city author tour and national print advertising, both mainstream and genre, this title book should be slated for solid sales.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Mosley's first foray into writing science fiction since Blue Light (LJ 10/1/98), these interrelated stories, set in the near future, read as a natural but chilling extension of our present. From child genius Ptolemy Bent, sentenced to prison for euthanizing his grandmother and uncle, to female boxer Fera, who becomes a feminist icon for the 21st century, his characters battle for both personal survival and a chance to turn back the clock. In this futuristic world, privacy is little but a memory and prejudice and suspicion still sour race relations. Mosley's reputation as the best-selling author of the Easy Rawlins mysteries may entice a number of his regular readers to pick up this book, where they will find some of the same bleak outlook, flashes of insight, and true-to-life African American characters. An additional audience will come from iPublish.com, where the first two stories were previously published as e-books. Recommended for all public libraries. - Rachel Singer Gordon, Franklin Park P.L., IL Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Mystery star Mosley tries his hand at science fiction again, to better effect than in the novel Blue Light (1998). For these nine interconnected stories, he conjures a mid-twenty-first-century world in which one company is the most powerful force in the world and political correctness is the law. The only significant revolutionaries are black, and blacks and whites are still highly antagonistic. All Mosley's good guys are black, including the smartest man in the world, imprisoned for assisting the deaths of his ailing grandmother and uncle; the world's heavyweight boxing champ--a six-foot-nine-inch woman who goes into politics after KO'ing the male heavyweight champ in less than a minute of round one; a private dick who solves cases with the help of a greatly enhanced artificial eye; and a regular-joe worker who becomes the reader's eyewitness to the dawn of a new world when a backfiring biological weapon kills everyone who isn't at least 12.5 percent black. Lest that last bit of business seem too black-triumphalist, the worker-hero quickly discovers that intraspecies predation hasn't vanished. Ably slinging the technobabble to explain the odd wonder-gadget in his tales, and greasing them with plenty of "oh-baby" sex, Mosley creates sf in which Shaft and Superfly would feel at home. Can ya dig it? Ray Olson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Walter Mosley is the author of the New York Times bestselling Easy Rawlins novels. He lives in New York City.

[everyone-with-a-para]

This is the response for the Pokémon ask thing. Sorry for the super late reply, got caught up into some real life things. But please enjoy this deranged ramble :>

Anyways! Grand choice! Grand choice! If I have to be honest, I was anticipating for either one of the Poké villains because they seemed very popular. Though, Cynthia is popular too. Also, a Cynthia dup, huh. Well, that's a first, I usually kept running into Lusa dups in the Daydreaming Discord server I'm in, lmao.

She may not be as lore heavy as the other blonde bitch, but she gets enough to the point of getting a backstory and some significant ties to the paracosm's big bad evil mouse guy.

So, Cynthia.

This Poké para is practically similar or the same as her canon counterpart personality wise. Just more serious and maybe a bit sassy/sarcastic given the trauma and suffering I put her through with the mouse alone. She was very well off at first in lore. A very respected actress for her job when on camera and a renowned fighter when off camera.

Yeah, the main cast in the paracosm are this skinwalker-esque species who are made mainly and solely to act and entertain the audience. In order to do that, they must wear the meat suits of their given characters and bear their names. Should they try to physically diverge or remove the meat suits, let's just say that bad things happen if they try to disown/change their names, and it'd hurt like shit if they remove the skin suit. They don't know who exactly are the audience, but they've been told by their creators over and over again that there are entities watching or playing their work. And these entities must be entertained, get something out of their performances.

Back to Cynthia, she's been very popular amongst the fellow actors thanks to her work/performance, and her character leaving a lasting impression on people. Because of her role as one of the good guys in the canon Pokémon storyline, she has the advantage and the privileges to navigate in a society that favors those who play that role more.

So, how did she got traumatized? How did all that fame, fortune, and privileges slipped past her finger tips?

It all started with a mouse.

In 2010, Cynthia had to perform for Mickey live for his birthday. It was a live performance for Pokémon Platinum. It was all fine and dandy at first. Though, over time, Mickey... Let's say his delusional episode started kicking in. You see, he can easily tell that his own project is an act all the time. But he can't easily tell if the others' works are real or not most of the time, so he has a tendency to attack the villain actors for what their canon personas did. Even if he does tell what is real and an act with some of the others' series, he'll still be a bigot towards villain actors and even commit hate crimes against them.

Towards the end of Cyrus's final act, Mickey tried to attack him in the Distortion World because of his delusions, insanity, and saviour complex. Cynthia saved Cyrus, but at the cost of losing a leg to Mickey. Right after they escaped from the mouse king, they tried to report him to the authorities of the Nintendo Empire. However, the trial kinda ended on a tie or a null. No one got guilty'd or taken to jail. Mickey is a king and can easily get away with a lot of things, this incident and the other Pokémon live performance incidents included. Cynthia still has privileges, so she's spared, and Cyrus just barely survived and only managed to escape from getting enprisoned because Cynthia had him cover.

Some months after the trial, rumours begin to spread, they were about the Sinnoh Champion herself. They can consist of her relationship with Cyrus and being brainwashed by the villain actors to help them overthrow the Nintendo Emperor, Mario. These made everyone become suspicious of Cynthia, leading up to robbing her wealth and her home, along with her socio-economic status. After that, she's been banished into the Villainous Underground, a ghetto-like place where villains, usually from very oppressive territories, live when off camera. Since then, she's been taken in by the residents and just lives there.

Nowadays, she hangs out with the villain actors of her series since they're all she has now. Some of the champion playing colleagues who were once close to her now reject and disown her from their social group thanks to those rumours.

In a following Live Performance incident, Cynthia lost an eye while helping Lysandre. I just thought it'd be neat and cool to give her a key stone for an eye. In another incident, I decided she loses a forearm while helping Lusamine with Mickey's attacks. It doesn't help that it was Ms. President's very first gig and her live first audience was not the Sponge bestie she intended to invite over, but the deranged mouse king himself.

I forgot to add/mentioned that Mickey adn one of the high ranking cult members started a smear campaign on Cynthia's ass and that's how she got angsted

That sounds so much darker and more convoluted to my poké paracosm where they're all just silly little guys with their silly little mons and their silly little family relationships but I kinda love it. My Cynthia isn't a main character in my paracosm but she's trans and immortal and terrified (/hsrs) of a 15 year old that keeps kicking her ass and she's so iconic about it. Girl committed atrocities and it's coming back to bite her 250 years later

[mercy-mercie-mercymorn]

TAVS.

bg3 spoilers ahead!

aurora (gold dragonborn cleric of mielikki) grew up in the woods, far away from the city. she likes animals and once spent three days chasing a unicorn, just to see what it did. on a diplomatic trip to stop logging that was infringing on a grove once considered sacred to mielikki, she got abducted. pokey sticks and fire breath quickly proved to be the best way to make her way through her new life. on the way she fell head over heels for the two dumbasses who got fucked by the Hells. so they decided to start saving people, hunting things. and now it's wyll and wyll's wife aurora and aurora's wife karlach's family business. yay hell polycule!

(aurora is the reason i call wyll my wife. he's just. my wife <3)

kassandra (seladrine drow warlock) has never been to the underdark. she has a cousin there, on her mom's side, maybe? she grew up in baldur's gate and made a career for herself as a shrewd businesswoman (she makes jewelry; that's how she got warlockéd). using people's impressions of drow against them is like her primary skill and it works surprisingly often despite the fact that she is 5'3" on a good day and has the face of a disney princess. she also has the animal skills of one. aurora is steve irwin, kassandra is cinderella. karlach and kassandra were instant besties, which evolved in the sapphic tradition of "surely she doesn't mean it like that haha" until kassandra just straight up said she wanted to make out with karlach.

(i haven't finished her playthrough yet because i'm afraid teehee)

winter (avariel [mod, winged elf] bard) is your manic pixie dream girl. i stole her name and most of her appearance from Winter The Lunar Chronicles because i am a silly little criminal. winter has never met a problem she could not make marvel-esque quips at, much to shadowheart's eternal chagrin. desperately wants karlach to teach her that silly tiktok dance she's always doin So Bad. her adventure is a very strange change of pace for her because she was previously a tavern waitress/occasional entertainer when there was literally no other option. as such, she does not know how to use weapons really at all and makes everyone else protect her (insert pleading face emoji). anyways, she's the golden retriever gf to shart's black cat gf.

(her wings get in the way of every cutscene but i still love her)

marie (human durge paladin) is like if tinkaton was a person. she hates the murderhobo ps5 in her brain and loves weird little guys (gale). voted most likely to cry at dog food commercials. i really haven't played much of her, so i haven't decided on much backstory for her.

(i just think she's a little funny)

the one that only sort of counts.

cynthia (tiefling wild magic sorcerer) is literally just my OC who got isekaid to faerun. the only people who know this are the """dream guardian""", the gods, and the three dipshits and their lame goddess. she's there to cause problems and live up to her old nickname: Godkiller. her fake persona, Lady Cynthia Tav, is from a little town on the coast and enjoys the finer things in life. her most fervent desire is to have a spray bottle so she can get astarion to stop that (at any given moment, "that" ranges from mild horniness to wanting to violently murder people). she is beginning to understand what it was like for her brother to raise her.

(don't have many pics of her, but she's the most frequent subject of my drawings)

there's a bunch of more in my notebook that i doodle in while playing

[crystalelemental]

Pokemon Team Analysis - Geeta

Alright, time for something that’s stupid and ill-advised.  I’m gonna talk about Geeta’s team.  Because general consensus is “It’s a bad fight,” and while I don’t disagree, I think that, like usual, it’s kind of just a blanket statement of “Too easy” rather than something discussed and dissected as to why it’s not working.

Also I think there are legitimately great aspects of her team that deserve some recognition as fairly solid game design for a challenge, that maybe people miss because overleveling is basically the norm.

I’ll start with the big thing: “Geeta should’ve led with Glimmora” is a bad take.  “But the Toxic Spikes!”  Are borderline irrelevant.  Players have no significant issues getting around them.  And to make matters substantially worse.  Glimmora is setup fodder.  It’s slow.  While it’s strong statistically, it’s weak with offensive types (Rock and Poison is a bad combo).  It would be exactly like Cynthia’s fight: super weak to setup.  Seriously, if you replay Platinum, try a Calm Mind sweeper with decent speed, and see how much of her team just drops.  Cynthia’s fight is not especially challenging when you can set up, it’s why they locked the boosting TMs to Battle Frontier in post-game.  To prevent you from doing that.

In the situation where Geeta leads Glimmora, Geeta is now significantly easier to beat.  Because Glimmora cannot threaten a good booster.  But you know what threatens a good booster?  Opportunist Espathra.

This is my favorite aspect of her fight.  Espathra is a fantastic lead for the game.  Because this isn’t competitive, it’s main game, where the AI won’t switch ever.  Where the goal of the AI now is to stop your tactics from just running train on them.  Opportunist copies your boosts, which means anything short of Swords Dance benefits her as well, and Espathra is notably fast.  And, most significantly, has Lumina Crash.  Anything not Dark-type gets hit with -2 special defense.  So if you’re boosting but you’re slower, you are guaranteed to be dead.  That’s...actually a good lead.  That’s a smart tactic for the main game.  It’s very Emerald-esque.  In Emerald, where boosting moves started to take off, nearly every major fight has something in their lead slot that can obliterate yours, be it paralysis, accuracy drops, Perish Song, or outright Toxic in Steven’s cast.  Espathra feels reminiscent of that, and is, in fact, a pretty strong lead because of it.  I just think maybe they could’ve done more than Reflect to bypass Sucker Punch strats, you know?  Like maybe ditch Quick Attack for Hypnosis or Confuse Ray.  Otherwise, great pick.

Glimmora’s the other I like, but more for thematic reasons.  I think it’s really interesting how much conversation has been generated around the simple fact that Geeta even has this thing.  For the story, I think it’s a great inclusion as her ace...I just also think Glimmora should’ve had a better speed stat, or Tera shifted into a completely different type.  Personally, I’d say Grass, because you know what blows up four of Grass-types weaknesses?  Rock.  Though admittedly, I think Glimmora needs to go Fire.  It’s got a solid defensive profile, and notably means Tera Blast can cut through Steel that otherwise hard walls its STAB combo.  I think the big problem is that it’s just a bit too slow to ever be threatening with its offenses, but its typing, including Tera, is just too defensively poor.  Poison would’ve been more valuable as a Tera type, with only two weaknesses, than Rock with like five.

The other aspect I do like is that Geeta’s team is representative of the region.  Espathra from the west, Gogoat from the east, Veluza from the lake, Avalugg from the mountain, Kingambit from the north, and Glimmora from the crater.  It’s a cool idea!  But also, when you know that?  You can...probably build a better team yourself.  And you may also notice, Geeta has a battle focus.  She’s bulky offense.  All of these options, barring Espathra, are fairly slow but also reasonably bulky.

AND BULK DOESN’T WORK

The player has natural advantage, thanks to EVs, and Pokemon is a game that works entirely on hitting each other with supereffective hits.  As coverage has expanded to insane degrees, virtually every offensive threat packs ideal coverage.  It is not had to clean sweep someone with one Pokemon when you have four fantastic coverage moves and a solid offense and speed stat.  Because of this, bulky offense cannot work in favor of the AI, which doesn’t switch out to avoid supereffective hits or leverage resistances.  Moreover, it especially doesn’t work when your heavy defenders are (1) Grass type, (2) Ice type, and (3) quad-weak to Fighting, one of the most common coverage options.

Geeta’s team is poorly balanced for the type of playstyle she’s trying to run, and we’re going to talk about better options from around the region to keep that focus, while also playing a lot better.

Espathra stays.  It’s a good lead.  I also keep Glimmora.  It’s a very cool ace.

From the east, instead of Gogoat, I would recommend Cyclizar.  How is this not considered an integral aspect of the region?  Cyclizar is such a hugely important thing.  Also, for bulky offense, the substitute is ideal.  While you could argue the idea of leading with Cyclizar, and I don’t strictly disagree, I think you’d want to program the AI to cheat a little.  If the foe boosts, switch to Espathra.  If they attack, switch to a resist.  It’s a pretty clean solution.

The lake is the most obvious solution.  Dondozo.  Curse setup, Liquidation, Earthquake, Avalanche.  Dondozo fits perfectly in bulky offense, but unlike Avalugg and Gogoat, Dondozo is blessed with a wonderful defensive typing in Water.  Dondozo would be perfect.

For the mountain, I’m going to say all of them are bad.  Most of what could fit is already a staple on someone else’s team, and I assume they were avoiding a lot of overlap.  So instead?  Gholdengo.  We need to talk about this: how in god’s name does she not have Gholdengo?  I don’t even like the thing, but a bulky offensive Pokemon with fantastic defensive typing and absurd offensive capabilities, backed by potential for either Nasty Plot or Recover?  That feels like the most obvious pick.  I feel like this has to happen.

Which means dropping Kingambit.  I don’t dislike Kingambit specifically, but I also feel like it’s pretty easy to take advantage of, especially when she doesn’t let it learn Sucker Punch.  It’s just so slow as to be laughable, and its typing isn’t super weakness-laden, but it’s not as powerful as Gholdengo’s.  If you wanted to keep Kingambit, then I’d probably say take Drifblim as the mountain Pokemon.  Make it more utility-focused, maybe taking Tailwind or something to buff the speed of Glimmora or something.  But instead, I’d say give her Lurantis with Contrary.  It has Leech Life, an ideal recovery tool.  Also give it Close Combat, since you think it’s so funny to take away Superpower as like the only useful thing it could have.  Bastards.

I think these shifts would largely improve on what she’s got going on.  But also, I think it doesn’t matter.  Again, bulky offense on AI doesn’t strictly work.  Especially without items.  It’s probably worth noting that the easiest BDSP fight, despite how hard that game cheats, is Bertha.  Because it is not hard to beat bulky offense.  I just...think a major problem is that Geeta’s approach effectively stands no chance of being particularly tough for a player.  Especially not in the era of forced EXP All and infinite coverage.  It’s just...not going to be difficult to stop her.  At all.  And I think we have to acknowledge that, with the way Pokemon is...that’s going to be the case forever.  They literally cannot design a challenging fight.  The system doesn’t allow it.  The reason older games felt harder is because it was super hard to keep on pace with the opponent’s level, so you were statistically under-prepared.  There’s a reason the only modern game to be considered difficult was Gen 7, which comprised entirely garbage mechanics to massively inflate enemy stats and force stupid 1v2 matchups.  It’s because they can’t design a fair fight that’s fun.  Because your solution is to just set levels way higher, and when you do that, the only solution is grinding, but they’ve spent four generations changing the gameplay flow to no longer require grinding, so they’re out of options.  At this point, only a major overhaul to the battle system would be successful.  And I’m...not sure they’ll know what to do with it.

[doomreed]

If Marvel were to give Doom an ongoing, which themes would you like to see covered?

I'd love if they'd do a respectful re-telling of his & his peoples' fight against the Latverian government, get into the Robin-Hood-esque side of the character that Lee & Kirby touched on briefly (Books of Doom didn't really cover that, nor was it treated particularly well imo) -- with an emphasis on how his really is a standard "heroic" origin story that subverts expectations.

And ofc, I'm always in favor of them digging into the *real* reason for his long-time conflict with Reed (Victor's inability to accept his own feelings). I'd also love more detail on who his parents *were* as people, like Cynthia has usually been written as very pragmatic, while Werner was more of a healer archetype, he was compassionate, he was a bit of an idealist. What common ground brought them together initially? Did they argue about how Victor should be raised? Did Werner know his wife was dabbling in black magic?

[kenobster]

@lifeinwisco tagged me to list my top seven comfort movies, thank you! :) I'm leaving Star Wars stuff off this list because we all know what we're about here lol.

Note that (1) I took the term "comfort movies" seriously lol... my list of favorite movies would be different; (2) my "comfort movies" are not your "comfort movies" aka viewer beware because I am very strange.

Interstellar in which wormholes, space travel, and climate change are depicted through the most brilliant emotions, soundtrack, and visuals, the latter of which via consultation from actual RL physicists--but also in which rational science is stumped by the human being's unquantifiable capacity for love, a variable transcending the laws of space & time

What About Bob in which one absolutely deranged patient and one absolutely deranged psychiatrist are set upon two absolutely deranged, diametrically opposed, and escalating paths. This will infuriate the patient, this will infuriate the psychiatrist, this will infuriate you, this will infuriate me—but somehow you and I will still be laughing into the stratosphere for ages.

World War Z in which Brad Pitt decides to plagiarize and displace the words of a popular epistolary novel investigates a zombie apocalypse ex-Navy-Seal style (and FYI, in this one, those bitches RUN)

Bad Times at the El Royale in which I go in for shirtless Chris Hemsworth portraying a cult leader, realize halfway through that I'm actually here for Cynthia Erivo's singing (and briefly yearn to punch Chris Hemsworth in the fucking face for his unnervingly convincing performance as a villain), find myself uncomfortably aroused in a very crowded theater what with all that unexpected fictional dubcon, and leave sobbing harder than I ever have in my life because an old man pretended to be a priest one last time (and believe it or not, yes, this is a better description of the movie than any plot synopsis you'll ever read)

Poseidon (any version of this movie works for me, but this is the one I own) in which the tabletop-RPG-esque characters find themselves in an escape room with only a certain amount of time to get out. Except it's not an escape room. It's a ship. And the ship is upside down. In the ocean. And their starting location is the ship's top floor.

Legally Blonde (or John Tucker Must Die which ties with Legally Blonde for this genre of comfort movie) in which there is a ex-boyfriend douchebag, a pretty blonde student who is misunderstood (but not dumb), some misunderstandings and/or poor decisions that almost ruin everything, and some awesome women who fucking slay.

Emma, a movie with the typical Jane Eyre lighthearted intrigue/gossip, societal drama, and the actual embodiment of the Mr. Darcy you all seem to have in your heads.

Honorary Mentions: I watched both of these movies for the first time pretty recently, so I couldn't put them on the list... but I think in the future #6 will be replaced with Jennifer's Body (which is like Black Swan but done Mean Girls style and with a healthy dose of feminism)... and American Heist (in which Hayden Christensen's character gets trapped in a prison pipeline story), which might get on there too because it's exactly the kind of movie I'd want to cry about on a bad day.

Tagging @kcrabb88 @librarianladyx @coruscantrhapsody @ooboowoonkoonooboo @tired-bshocked @foreverchangingfandomsao3 @palfriendpatine66 @battlekilt @underacalicosky @that-gay-jedi @ihathbenobiwankenobied but only if you want. No pressure.

[novumtimes]

Part Two moves release date up a few days early

As audiences get the epic adaptation of the Broadway musical split into two parts, Universal has changed up the schedule for the second film. Universal’s large-scale Wizard of Oz film Wicked was bumped up in its release date to coincide with the premiere of Ridley Scott’s Roman sequel Gladiator II. Gladiator II star Paul Mescal not only welcomed it, but hoped it would become the next Barbenheimer-esque phenomenon. It looks as if Universal is also eager to release the immediate follow-up of Wicked as Wicked: Part Two, which was once slated for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, November 26, 2025, will now be released earlier in the week on November 21, 2025, according to Deadline. Wicked is the untold story of the witches of Oz. The film stars Emmy, Grammy and Tony-winning powerhouse Cynthia Erivo (Harriet, Broadway’s The Color Purple) as Elphaba, a young woman, misunderstood because of her unusual green skin, who has yet to discover her true power, and Grammy-winning, multi-platinum recording artist and global superstar Ariana Grande as Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition, who has yet to discover her true heart.  The two meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical Land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. Glinda’s unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power, while Elphaba’s determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, will have unexpected and shocking consequences on her future. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfill their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.  The film also stars Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh as Shiz University’s regal headmistress Madame Morrible; Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton, Fellow Travelers) as Fiyero, a roguish and carefree prince; Tony nominee Ethan Slater (Broadway’s Spongebob Squarepants, Fosse/Verdon) as Boq, an altruistic Munchkin student; Marissa Bode in her feature-film debut as Nessarose, Elphaba’s favored sister; and pop culture icon Jeff Goldblum as the legendary Wizard of Oz. The cast of characters includes Pfannee and ShenShen, two conniving compatriots of Glinda played by Emmy nominee Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live) and Bronwyn James (Harlots); a new character created for the film, Miss Coddle, played by Tony nominee Keala Settle (The Greatest Showman) and four-time Emmy winner Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) as the voice of Dr. Dillamond.  Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights), Wicked is the first chapter of a two-part immersive, cultural celebration. Wicked Part Two is scheduled to arrive in theaters on November 26, 2025. This first chapter will be flying into theaters this year on November 27. Source link via The Novum Times

[experthiese]

@pr0tur0 asked: describe me :]

Now that you've noticed his... Let's be kind and call them quirks, you can't seem to stop noticing them.

You might have dismissed it at first, but his movement is so fluid. The way he stands, the way he walks, the way his gestures are always perfect arcs and lines. There's none of the usual shakiness you've come to expect from human limbs; he moves smoother than a well-oiled machine.

There's his agility, too. It's not that he can scale the sides of buildings or follow Lupin's leaps across the rooftops -- though he'd still argue that such activities fall well beyond the skills of a normal professor -- but rather, the ease with which he seems to do it. His speed and precision borders on superhuman, or at the very least, the skills of someone familiar with this kind of demanding exercise. A master thief who'd been mentored in these arts since he'd taken his first wobbly steps, for example; or the detective dedicated to catching him and having spent years learning each and every one of his tricks. He'd even accept some sort of Goemon-esque samurai background with a rigorous training regime to match. Something. Anything.

But no. There's nothing you've been able to dig up, even after hours of poring over online articles and newspaper columns and even the archive of old Uva newsletters from way back when, when he was still a rising star within the Academy. He was a Champion, but that wasn't enough of an explanation. It wasn't as though Leon or Cynthia doubled as acrobats and parkourists in their spare time, and they were among the best Champions the world stage currently had to offer.

And while Turo had always praised for his intellect and academic capabilities, no amount of brainpower should be able to grant the kind of predictions he was capable of coming up with. There's been more than one occasion he seemed to know where you'd be going even before you yourself did.

You still remember the first time he grabbed you, snatching you out of the air like a bird of prey seizes its next meal. Your back burned from your rough collision with the concrete pavement beneath, and your lungs burned from the sudden decrease in oxygen -- all thanks to the pair of hands wrapped around your throat and squeezing. You'd squeezed back, grabbed hold of those wrists and tightened until the bones underneath should have been rubbing together. He'd paid no attention to your actions, ignoring the pain that definitely should've been shooting electricity up his spine,

Even laying on your back, panting for breath and peering, half-lidded, skywards... The lack of pores on that handsome face -- though it's not the first time you'd noticed such a thing -- had been distracting. So had been the distinct lack of sweat, despite how his chest heaved above yours. It was as if, you'd thought, it was attempting to fake the aftermath of exercise. A convincing performance, but one still lacking the tell-tale signs of a body truly put under strain. You'd attempted to slip your thumb sideways, to press against the wrist's pulse-point and find out just how fast that heart was beating, but he'd pulled his hands off your throat, out of your grip, and stood up.

He'd been saying something, turning to gesture in that odd, too-precise way at some sight or another over yonder, and by the time he'd turned back to look at you you were already gone.

You still don't know what he is. But one thing's for sure--

He's not Professor Turo.

He's not even human.

[shinxeysartgallery]

Remember when I said I probably wasn't going to to Shatterverse versions of Cynthia and Sabrina? Well, a friend and I were talking the past few days and it made me REALLY want to make them, so I did. lol Allow me to introduce the new counterparts!

Starting with Sync and Torch Wolf (or just Torch, for short)!

Sync - Cynthia’s Shatterverse counterpart in New Yolk, representing her deep feelings of just giving up because it’s easier than fighting. Pretty timid and cowardly of a person. After being threatened by the Chaos Council, she felt it was better to just give up and do what they wanted, so now she works under them as a maid and maintenance person for the non-tech things.

Torch - Sabrina’s Shatterverse counterpart in New Yolk, representing her deep desire to be able to go all out on her foes. Very reckless and aggressive of a person. She hates the Chaos Council and wants to see them burned to the ground. A pretty feral arsonist.

Next, Terra and Fern!

Terra - Cynthia’s Shatterverse counterpart in Boscage Maze, representing her battle spirit. She is an Amazon-esque warrior that frequently antagonizes and battles with the jungle folks. She uses stone-based bladed weapons to fight, with her signature weapon being a large, heavy battle axe that she wields with ease, thanks to her telekinesis.

Fern - Sabrina’s Shatterverse counterpart in Boscage Maze, representing her fear and shyness. Very timid and reclusive, even more-so than her usual self, basically being a jungle hobo that hides herself away from others. She’s completely mute and is almost always wearing a wooden mask to hide her face. She uses a simple stone spear for self-defense.

And finally, Pearl and Shell!

Pearl - Cynthia’s Shatterverse counterpart in Noplace, representing her indecisiveness when it came to what she wanted to do, making her a bit untrustworthy due to her wish-washy nature and frequent changing of sides as a result. She’s a hydrokinetic mermaid equipped with a trident, though she doesn’t usually fight.

Shell - Sabrina’s Shatterverse counterpart in Noplace, representing her desire for companionship. She’s overly friendly to a fault, being very naïve and easily trusting of others. She tends to get tricked/taken advantage of because of that. She doesn’t believe in fighting, instead desiring everyone to be friends.

And that's my girls! They're technically not new characters, since they're basically just fragments of two already existing characters, so I'm not totally sure whether or not to count them as their own separate folks yet, but I'll still give them their own tags. lol Still, I had a lot of fun making them all. :D

I've been theorizing that all the canon Shatterverse counterparts of the main cast are basically like fragments of their original selves in a sense, so I tried my best to fit with the theme of not just that, but with each respective Shatterspace when it came to both their designs and personalities. :)