#we also technically have his design so i'm not sure he should be on there

[friedwizardwhispers]

I'm excluding the ones we got in season 1 and in sneak peeks (so no Jun Wu, Shi Qingxuan, Lang Qianqiu).

I wanted to cheat and include Guoshi Fangxin but I had to make choices to fit more characters.

[waokevale]

A Clarification to Wormwood's Age (And why he's fully fledged without a shred of doubt)

So, as we all know or have heard some at point, there are still people out there, who think the peculiar lunar plantation is an infant, solely due to the way he speaks, behaves and of conviction that he was literally born yesterday. Which by all means is false.

That's why I'm here to finally dismantle that belief. I'll present you with several compelling arguments of mine based on throughout research I did on his character overall, and if by the end of this post, you'll still hold firm to that same opinion, then I'm afraid that's out of my hands by that point.

If you're willing to stay for the duration of this thesis, and hear me out, I'll be very greatful. And please do listen, so we may not make any more misconceptions as such about him in the future.

I'll be splitting this post into 5 segments, one with additional subcategories.

General Appearance

Behavioral Pattern

Intelligence

Character Interrelations

Canon Information

First of, let's start off with the obvious:

General Appearance

If we're going to interpret his appearance based on 'human qualities', then physically, compared to actual child characters, Wormwood's design is vastly different.

The easiest way for me to prove that, lies in one of the recent animations: (Swine & Dine), where all the (live) children are gathered in one place, alongside Wormwood and Wes.

Here, you can distinctly pick apart the difference between the three preteen characters, Walter, (who's likely supposed to be a teenager on the younger side; around 13-14), and the last two.

The most obvious difference is the jawline. Wormwood, for one, has a massive jaw, easily rivaling that of Maxwell's (while technically, this feature isn't reserved solely for adults, it is moreso common to see an adult with a define jawline, rather than a child.)

This, alongside his torso being usually depicted as an inverted triangle (at least in the official animations), seem to be features added intentionally somewhere post his release, as he looks much more childlike in his animation video, where he's still technically a sapling per se.

Even Several of Wormwood's skins showcase, that he is in no way meant to be seen in a juvenile way.

The best example of that being his Victorian skin.

Look me dead in the eye and tell me that's a child. That is one of the most indisputable old man portrayals, you can get from an anthropomorphic plant character in media. Do not try and argue, how a child is meant to look like that, because neither of the four actual child characters has a skin, which makes them appear that much significantly older than they actually are.

So what reason would Klei even have to make his skin look so apparently elderly, if they saw him as a child?

More examples of his mature skins could be said for the Roseate and Guest of Honor. While they're not outright elderly, as is the former, the general vibe is similar to that of other adult characters' portraits.

Now that we've compared him to human characters and their characteristics, we should take into consideration what he actually is. Let's remember, that at the end of the day, he's partially a plant organism and partially an inorganic crystal from the moon , certainly he ages much differently than us humans, or even most other constant species for that matter.

I'm pretty sure he was also formed with a fully developed body (since he seemingly bloomed shortly after forming, which is a trait reserved primarily for mature plants)

But then again, appearance alone isn't enough to make one truly adult, is it? Thus we're moving on to:

Behavioral pattern

Few things you'll immediately realize about Wormwood is his alleged naivety, playful nature and seldom use of grammatical correctness. Due to this, many immediately assume that he's a child, which is understandable, but not a good enough reason to make such an assumption.

There are many factors involved in building one's disposition, and in Wormwood's case, there's plenty of reasonable causes for his behavor:

As previously stated, he's quite literally a sentient amalgam of vines, brought to life by a jewel from the moon. His origin far disparates that of any known being, especially a human.

His mind develops much differently than that of an average person. This correlates with the point above (since its a big green gem in his chest and not an actual brain). Plus, he likely hadn't had the chance to have a proper education. While he seems to have picked up on a lot of mannerisms from the pigsfolk in Hamlet, I doubt anyone went out of their way to actually school him.

He's feral. The majority of his upbringing, he likely spent surviving in the jungle. In a way, he reminds me a lot of Tarzan (A human, who grew up raised by a troop of gorillas after his parents were killed. He can communicate with the local wildlife just fine, but deeply struggles understanding and relating to the outsiders; other humans, who one day arrived on his land.) That's likely the reason why Wormwood refers to certain creatures with mimicking the sounds they make. Perhaps he can understand them to a degree, or at least is trying to.

Just because he doesn't speak English, doesn't mean he's slow. It is plausible he speaks a different language, while English doesn't come naturally to him. As is the case with Wolfgang, who has similar speech impediment issues and struggles with saying full sentences, but that's quite literally because English isn't his mother tongue. It's been a running gag that Wolfgang is the embodiment of a European man, and whichever country/countries he might've originated from, it's definitely not the UK. As might be the case for Wormwood and whatever constant language he actually thinks in.

He has certain traits akin to people with autism/Asperger's or ADHD (Nonverbal communication, delayed language development, lacking social cues, sensitive nose, short attention span, hyperactive and somewhat impulsive behavior, wild or overexaggerated movement, struggle with fitting in, little sense of awareness etc.) And I'm speaking from experience with this one, he's quite relatable to me, and many of my friends on the spectrum.

With that let's move on to the third segment.

Intelligence

Just how smart is he truly?

Wormwood isn't regarded for his high intellect, that's for sure, but remember, intelligence isn't defined by just the book smarts society imposes on us. Therefore it doesn't always correspond to a person's age and experience.

Wormwood, while definitely not on a level of a Harvard graduate, is extremely intelligent and a quick learner at that.

Let's digest what we generally know about intelligence and what it really means for Wormwood.

With the main question at hand : What differentiates a child mind from an adults'?

While he certainly shares some personality traits with Webber, their mindsets are rather different.

I'd like to present my point with a simple method.(From that one Quora post, believe it or not, it was the most convenient out of all the theories and tests I found) Dividing that, which is known as thought process into five subcategories, of which are:

Cognitive Development

Life Experience

Responsibility and Independence

Emotional Regulation

Social and Moral Development

So let's start with Cognitive Development/Psychology

(Definition : The process of growth and change in intellectual/mental abilities such as thinking, reasoning and understanding. That includes: the ability to interpret information, verbally communicate ideas, appropriately apply words and gestures to given situations, recognize and differentiate various sounds, comprehend your surroundings, use past experience to resolve current or future problems more efficiently, etc. TLDR: How thought process changes with age ; Talking, hearing, reading, remembering, problem-solving, understanding, You get the point. )

By this point, Wormwood's acquired plenty of general knowledge of the world around him and what to expect from it. (In some cases, he seems to know things without realizing it, or simply wishes to not provide more info of what he's already aware of.)

He is capable of understanding various different things, applying appropriate words to them, when given the chance. He often struggles to properly phrase what he means, but you can still get around to grasp it.

And you know what? He's especially good at deducing things not every character can point out. Here are some of the more obvious to least obvious things he's mentioned:

Leaky teacup - "Can't drink from it"

Beaten Beater - "Hmm... Can't use it"

Start tower kit - "Need to plant it on the water"

Compass- "which way?"

N- "North

S- "South"

E- "East"

W- "West"

NE- "Northeast"

SE- "Southeast"

NW- "Northwest

SW- "Southwest"

(The direction one would seem pointless to add but let's remember that there literally are characters in this game who don't know which way is which cough cough Winona cough)

Clippings - "Can sell this hair"

(the plant understands capitalism 👍)

Winona's GEM-erator (out of fuel) - "Oh. Needs sparky"

Telelocator Focus (missing gem)- "Needs Purple Shiny"

Telelocator Socket (missing gem)- "Where shiny things?"

The Queen of Moon Quay: "Oh...she thinks Night Ball is friend hair?"

(He might know what They are after all)

Beast of Hunger (1) - "Oh. Not alive"

(This, plus any other quote of his mistaking a statue or an object with distinguishable features as alive, does not make him dull; this world literally has statues coming to life. He simply uses a reasoning he acquired from living in the Constant.)

Ancient chest - "Put stuff in there!"

(One of 4 characters to have an inclining what to do with it)

Greater Gestalt- "Protect"

Hound Corpse (reanimating) - "Coming back"

(He seems the least bit of surprised or disturbed by this, compared to everyone else)

Antlion (upset) - "Oh no. Needs gifts"

(interestingly, no one else seems to mention why the Antlion is upset)

Mysterious Energy- "Seed"

(...?)

Distilled knowledge- "Plant this in funny floor"

(he's the only one to have figured out what to actually do with it)

I think what we all can realize from going through his quotes, is that he's in no way as clueless as he initially seems. He has his moments, but so do the rest of the survivors.

Life Experience, Responsibility and Independence

This plant has lived through a lot, but then again so have the rest, a lot of them have faced countless hardships most of us can't even fathom.

From what we already know, the fandom generally believes he is very naive and trusting, which really isn't the case. The thing is, it's not that he's naive, he may not react especially negatively to a creature or thing because he's used to seeing bizarre things, or because he's not afraid of them, unlike the majority of the survivor cast, who are alien to the constant.

Barring the in-game mechanics which force characters to be competent regardless of their experience, we're going to focus on his reactions to mobs and items that might pose actual threat to him or others, or are considered as questionable by him.

Inflatable Vest - "Safe?"

Shadowcraft plinth - "Scary hands helping?"

Fish steak - "Watch for bones"

Candy Apple - "Careful! Don't eat stick! "

Platapine (sleeping)- "don't wake it"

Sentrypede husk - "Sleeping. Shhh"

Sea Stack - "Oops! Watch out!

Great Tree Root - "Oh! Don't bump into friends!"

Worm hole (open) - "Deep. Dark"

(When deerclops is near) - "Something scary coming!"

Pressure plate - Hmmm...Odd rock"

Dread mite (about to explode) - "Look out!"

Shadow Reaper - "No...Wants to hurt friends!"

Depth Worm (lure) - "Hmm... not safe"

Depth Worm (burrowed) - "something hiding"

Meat bulb - "Careful!"

[The fish quotes in DST + the candy Apple are giving me an image of him saying that to the child characters (and definitely Woodie for the latter)]

Independence-wise, the one thing I especially took notice of, is how much the child characters seek guidance from the adults in the group, mentioning them by their formal titles too. That's especially frequent with Webber, Wurt and Walter, though Wendy rarely does this. On one hand, she claims she considers toys and fun to be behind her, but contradictory, enjoys playing with other children and some of the adults. (Besides we canonically know she's 10-11 years old)

Wormwood isn't known for wanting to seek guidance either. He's sometimes confused about how certain things work, and thus will ask about it, but that's understandable given his predicament. (As @thebleedingalien once mentioned, he's like an extraterrestrial experiencing bits and pieces from 2 different worlds at once)

He doesn't really care to play with toys either, (barring a couple instances, one being Bernie and the others; toys with wheels and Antlion's sand castle. But c'mon I know some of you grown ass adults own toy cars/collectibles or build sandcastles when the opportunity rises, you can't lie to me and say neither of these things are fun.

And besides, adult characters in this game also goof around. There's the whole sand castle building thing in Shipwrecked , which curiously Wormwood doesn't have a strong opinion on.)

But if we were to compare his maturity to other adult characters...

(Wilson) [aside his many, many jokes]: Silk- "It comes from a spider's butt."

(Willow) Portal Exit - "It's fun to watch OTHER people fall on their butts."

(Wolfgang) Coral Nubbin - "Haha. Rock is bald."

(WX-78) Regular Jungle Tree (normal and stump) - "THIS DUMB TREE HAS A DUMB FACE"

(Wickerbottom) Weregoose - "My! What a silly goose!"

(Wigfrid) Plant (ready to be picked) - "Ugh, vegetables. I'm nöt sure what I expected..."

(Woodie) Ghost - "Boo! Ha ha!"

(Winona) Kingly Figure - "It's BUST-ed! Ha!"

(Maxwell) Frazzled Wires - "I might hide those in WX-78's bedroll if I get bored"

(Wortox) [But if we were to pick an example of many] Potato Sack- "Hyuyuyu, wouldn't it be fun to hide inside and give him a scare?"

Yeah, I think he's good.

In this section I don't really have much else to say. He can be cautious, he can be daft. He joggles the braincells alongside the rest of the survivors. But all in all, I would not consider him any more reckless or goofy than either the child or adult characters. Independence wise, while he can absolutely manage just fine on his own, his desire for companionship far outweighs that.

And since we've already talked about maturity, let's move on to:

Emotional Regulation

Despite common belief, Wormwood is not overly emotional. While, yes, he is excitable and easy to impress, he doesn't usually display intense negative emotions, unless something (more often than not wooden) is destroyed, or unless a plant or a creature he likes, suffers. But then again, in those situations, it's logical to display panic, worry and grief. Imagine if your family member or friend suddenly caught on fire and burned before your eyes... Yeah, I bet no one morally adjusted would be the slightest bit of composed in those kinds of situations...

Worse yet, the majority of the Constant is filled with plants, most of whom are his friends, the closest to his kind, beings which display varying amount of sentience...

In actuality, the children, including Wendy, display a shift in emotions much more often than Wormwood does.

Then there's Willow, WX-78, Woodie (birds) and Maxwell, who all have even less emotional stability.

In comparison, I'd say he handles most situations much more maturely and nonchalantly.

Social & Moral Development

Ah yes, the ability to difference right from wrong, morality, patos or however you would call it. Now this one's a little tricky, on one hand, while he may react strongly to a plant's demise, his reaction varies, when it comes to animals and structures. Sometimes, he doesn't really bat an eye, frankly, other times, he displays intense amounts of grief.

I guess that's the definition of selective empathy.

Curiously, he has 2 separate quotes for a pigeon. One from Hamlet, where he seems a lot more distressed when it perishes, and the other, from The Gorge, where he simply states the fact "Oh. Dead."

I'd like to think this was intentional to sort of give him that fading care many of us experience as we grow older.

Here's another example:

[Hamlet] Glowfly (dead) - "(sob)"

[DST, Host of Horrors update] Koalefant Carcass - "Braump...? Not anymore"

Regarding the other survivors; for the most part, he sympathizes with them. Though he doesn't panic much when they die from average constant shenanigans. He knows it's not permanent or consequential.

He does show sympathy, when some of the others' precious belongings get destroyed or damaged.

Winona's Catapult (burnt)- "Fire bad"

Winona's Spotlight (burnt)- "Oh. So sad"

Mighty Gym (burnt)- "Oh... poor muscle man..."

Or in some instances, when a character strongly disapproves of something and he takes notice of that:

Nautipilot - "Robot friend doesn't like Pull Rock"

What's interesting, is that, while he calls many creatures his friends, he specifically avoids calling Maxwell that. He even considers Lucy, Willow and Woodie his friends, which is just... wow. May he harbor a grudge against him for what he did to the other survivors? Something more personal? Or is it moreso related to the fact he's fully siding with the shadows... Most likely the former.

Overall I would say he's definitely more empathetic than not, and one doesn't have to care for every living being after all.

Character Interrelations

Regarding what other characters think of how old he is...

It's debatable, keep in mind, the characters don't have to be fully aware, or can misinterpret his age based on his behavior alone.

Most people just refer to him as "plant", unsurprisingly.

There's characters like Winona, who seem to intentionally downplay his age. Winona in her quotes refers to both Wormwood and Wilson (who's officially in his 30s) as 'bucko' (a lively, young fellow. Or in some cases a friend, or another version of buddy). As for her quotes for Bramble trap and Compost wrap, she refers to Wormwood with the terms 'lil plant fella' and 'little guy'. She pretty much just teases people who are younger than her or seem younger. Or she genuinely believes he's actually that young.

There's plenty instances of people calling him a variation of little, small or sapling, which might just be how they see him. Keep in mind, just because a character may think he's on the younger side, does not mean their interpretation is the absolute firm belief you should uphold.

Then, there's Wolfgang and Wurt, who both firmly believe that he's a grown adult.

(Wolfgang) Generic - "Is leafy green man, %s! Hello!"

Firestarter - "Leafy green man did a fire booboo."

Syrup of Ipecaca - "Will leafy green man be sad if Wolfgang doesn't have a taste?"

(Wolfgang only calls him little once in his quotes, because he calls everyone little, children though, he refers to as very tiny + boy/girl/child, so there's that.)

(Wurt) Attacker - "Ow! You mean old weed!"

You might think; why would I care about what a child and a man who's considered to not be so bright think? Well, my previous point about language barriers explains that. Besides, Wurt is a constant-born creature who builds an entire kingdom in her play style, by no means, is she clueless. She also refers to Deerclops and Antlion as 'She', while most of the other characters use he or it.

What's interesting is that Wickerbottom also tends to avoid referring to him with youthful terms, aside the obvious general one she uses for everyone and everything. If anything, she's more patronizing towards Woodie, Wilson, Winona and Wigfrid. (All of whom are in between their late 20s-40s)

Lastly, we have:

Canon Information

While there isn't much information relating to his age, there are hints in the game canon that explain that.

In the game's compendium, where reside the survivors' profile, backstory and description, three of the four kids have 'young' in their introduction. Barring Walter, who instead has 'boy' which is as much of a youthful term. Wormwood's simply stated as 'an amalgam of vines' not a seedling, sapling nor a young/little plant.

From his backstory, we know that:

"A green gem fell from the moon, landing on an ancient stone monument in the middle of overgrown rubble. Over a long period of time, a vine encircled the gem and eventually formed a humanoid figure sitting on the monument. The figure, Wormwood, opened his eyes and looked at his hands. (...)"

(Now this simply explains, that a lot of time has passed as he was forming, unlike what's shown in his animation, where his body instantly forms.)

There's also this part of his bio.

“Though the circumstances of his creation were unusual at best, Wormwood came into this world full of optimism and curiosity, ready to make new friends and see all that life had to offer. But as time wore on and he experienced the cold sting of rejection, he came to learn what the moon above had always known: Wormwood the Lonesome does not belong here.”

It's implied that a while has passed since his birth. Everyone assumes that he was just created recently and that he doesn't know anything, but as I've shown you previously, he's very perceptive when it matters. He has the knowledge and experience, even insight or a hunch. He is able to determine things others can't. Ever since Hamlet happened, his quotes gradually became somewhat more apathetic towards creatures dying, as opposed to the worry and care he previously displayed.

So by the end of this post, are you still inclined to believe he's a child?

Was this completely unnecessary and took far too long to construct? Yes.

Do I regret making this? Nah.

[adobe-outdesign]

Kung Fu Panda 4 Thoughts/Liveblog Thing

Just caught this at the theater for a grand total of five whole dollars, so I thought I'd do some quick opinions while it's fresh.

Non-spoiler opinion: It was Okay(TM), but the movies were considerably stronger as a trilogy. It's worth seeing one (1) time if you're a KFP fan (and really, who isn't), but I wouldn't bother paying full price for it or anything

SPOILERS FOR ALL 4 MOVIES UNDER THE CUT:

A list of things that slap:

The animation is stunning and fast-paced. Really loved the use of Chinese-style paint brush strokes to accentuate the action

Also I'll talk about the 5 later but I also really liked the animation change when describing where they are—all KFP movies have at least one animation shift and I'm glad this one kept up with it

Some of the fight scenes were super good, I liked the one that uses the tilting bar on a cliff in particular

(side note: the Missing Link did something similar, just on a ship. Go watch the Missing Link)

The Chameleon served straight cunt the entire time she was on screen and I kind of loved (almost) everything about her. Character design was incredible, voice was perfect, palace design was amazing, abilities were sick

Also the way she rides up chilling in a golden tree branch of all things? Fellas, we have no choice but to stan

Also I just appreciate the choice to both do a female villain for a change and to get a reptile in here after having only mammals and one (1) bird as villains previously

Speaking of character design there were a few really good ones in there, like a pangolin that moves Sonic the Hedgehog-style, a cool looking female boar, and a bunch of Komodo dragon henchmen. Good stuff

The jokes were a very mixed bag for me, some hit and some didn't. I will say that Zhen just going "that's great for you" in response to Shifu stating he's a red panda got me for some reason

If anyone hurts Po's gay dads I'm killing everyone in this room and then myself

Jack Black's cover of Baby One (1) More Time is unironically better than the original

A list of things that Do Not Slap:

Pacing/Plot:

This movie lacked a color scheme? KFP 1 was blue (also some gold), KFP 2 was red, KFP 3 was green. These colors weren't subtle either, there are entire scenes in each movie drenched in these colors and it was really obviously missing here

The whole first half the movie feels really breathless and too fast-paced. Apparently it was a studio mandate to have it not go over an hour and a half which is A) stupid and B) hurts the pacing

As much as I love Po's two gay dads we REALLY should not have been wasting time on their journey when the runtime is so tight

Also them tagging along felt off? Mr. Ping was worried sick about Po in KFP 2 but he doesn't tag alone because obviously he needs to let his son have his space. It's more in-character with Li Shan but it doesn't come across like he's talking Mr. Ping into it or something

In general there are so many plot points in this movie that feel under-developed. You could've made an entire movie out of the previous villains returning, Zhen and the Chameleon's relationship (see below), etc.

Po's Character:

People not knowing Po is the dragon warrior is weird, I'm pretty sure he would've been more well known than that

The entire thing with Po needing to give up his role as the Dragon Warrior doesn't really make sense? The Dragon Warrior is literally a made-up title. There's no need to have a Dragon Warrior because there is no such thing technically, it's why Oogway denied Tai Lung the title and then waited years and years to give it to Po. Like it's not a role that needs to be passed down, that's missing the entire point of the Everything

Also Po's only been like Dragon Warrior for a few years? I don't think we're ever given a time scale but it wasn't that long

The jokes about Shifu and Po having trouble with inner peace/mediating feels off given that was the entire plot of the second movie

It felt like Po regressed a bit character wise. He acts like he has no idea how to be a teacher in this movie but he already was a teacher by the end of the third, that was the entire point??

Also he seemed like he was more gullible in this movie but I could be wrong

Why is Po so impressed with Juniper city. He literally spent most of KFP 2 in Gongmen hello?? I think(?) Juniper is bigger but he shouldn't be acting like he has no idea what a city is

Zhen/Chameleon:

Zhen's character design doesn't match anything else, which is weird because most of the new characters in this film keep the distinct style in some form or another

Her wanted poster shows her with the bold markings KFP is known for and it looks SO much better

The plot twist with Zhen working for the villain was so obvious I did not realize it was supposed to be a twist at first

Also, the entire thing with Zhen was entirely unneeded? The Chameleon could've just just stood up and announced her plan to take over and Po would've shown up on her doorstep with the staff

I guess the idea is that Po needed to hand over the staff willingly for it to work? But if that's the case the Chameleon could've just impersonated Tigress or something and gotten it that way in like 1/3 of the time

Originally she was supposed to have kidnapped Shifu which would've been a much better plot point as it would've given Po extra motivation

The other problem with treating Zhen as a plot twist is that it hampers the relationship she has with the Chameleon effectively being her mom, which is FASCINATING. They had some really interesting chemistry together (the whole "stand up straight" thing as one example) and I could've seen it as a Mother Gospel from Tangled kind of deal, but we barely get any interaction between the two and it's like AAAAAAA

Fanfic writers fix this shit. I believe in you

I'll have to chew on it more but my pacing thought would actually be to start with Po finding out about the Chameleon's "take over everything" plan very early due to Shifu's kidnapping. He breaks into the lair like at the 1/3 mark or earlier and he meets Zhen inside which then leads into why she's doing what she's doing and the mother angle, etc etc blah blah

The Chameleon needed to just straight-up murder someone, comically shoving them down the stairs isn't good enough. I know stairs are Po's greatest enemy but I don't think that applies to everyone

Shen was allowed to stab someone on-screen so I think the Chameleon should be a allowed to strangle someone or something. as a treat

If violence was the concern just keep it off-screen like Master Rhino's death in KFP 2

The shapeshifter turning into a giant monster trope is overrated and I'm glad it was just used briefly here and not even for her defeat

Also the Chameleon's thing with her being rejected from Kung Fu because she's too small makes no sense b/c Mantis, which I'm pretty sure everyone's pointed out already. She does say "lowly" I think but was she ever poor? Could make a very interested parallel to Zhen if that was the case but it was never brought up again

I've heard some argue body image parallels w/ Po in KFP 1 but if that was the intent it's not explored, like, at all, which is a shame because it could've been an interesting angle

Also If they wanted a better excuse related to body image just say she was too frail instead of too small. I haven't owned chameleons but I've heard from people who have that they are very frail and very hard to keep alive, which would be a much better reason to turn her away

Cameos:

Yes I'm devoting an entire section to five second cameos don't judge me

I have mixed feelings on the Five not being present (save for the end cameos). On the one hand they are sorely missed but on the other hand they would've just made the plot bloat even worse

Lack of speaking was also bothersome. Part of me is glad they weren't recast with cheaper VAs because it's disrespectful to interchange them, but on the other hand that might've been better than just not having them speak and not paying anyone anyway

Tai Lung had all the best lines and was also the best used out of all the cameos, even if it would've been nice to have him on screen for longer. Also if they stuck with Shifu being kidnapped those two could've had some much-needed dialogue

Side note, while I don't think it contradicts anything from KFP 3 the spirit world having only kung fu masters in it feels off? It makes it seem so small and limited

Kai being there is weird. He's like. dead dead. Deader than dead. I guess you could argue that you can't kill something that's already dead but there's nothing even acknowledging this

Trying to take Shen's kung fu is really weird because the entire point of the fight with Master Rhino in KFP 2 is that he is not? a master?? like he's GOOD but he's not amazing, like if a master is like a 10/10 he's like an 8/10.

"The Chameleon has the powers of all my old nemesises!" WHAT'S SHEN'S POWER EXACTLY. HIS ONLY POWERS ARE GUN AND MOMMY/DADDY ISSUES

She does summon him way later than Tai Lung and Kai so maybe she was just camp spawning every single person she could think of regardless of skill level? she also uses his wings at one point so maybe she just wanted those, I don't think(?) there were other birds summoned

Though speaking of which she claimed she was using his wings but very clearly wasn't? not only were they black but they were raggedy and lacked the five longer feathers on the tips

Also Shen's model was super off, it looked way too fluffy and like an entire row of eyespots were missing from the edge of the train (which might have been a clipping error? unsure) it's been said the new models were made out of glue and popsical sticks and I believe it

Tai Lung has a habit of just like Grabbing anyone that's smaller than him and it amuses me

It's honestly really weird that everyone would just agree to go back into the spirit world willingly?

Like I think it works for Tai Lung because he's a noble person who just goes into a disassociative state and commits atrocities. Like I think he'd be willing to accept his death

Also it checks out for Shen because he killed himself and given his "dead belong in the past" mentality I can't imagine him wanting to stick around, he'd probably think it was unnatural

But Kai?? Kai was FURIOUS at being dragged back into the spirit world at the end of 3, like hell he'd just go quietly

Also I can see Tai Lung maybe respecting Po enough to bow to him but everyone else is pushing it unless they have therapists in the spirit world. Po offered Shen some nice advice at the end of KFP 2 and his response was to kill himself on the spot, I don't think him or Kai would be bowing

All of them were definitely in the middle of a mahjong match and were experiencing the equivalent of being woken up in the middle of a nap so they were just going along with things

Chameleon: I'm going to steal your kung fu

Everyone:

Misc:

I did like some of the more subtle callbacks. Stuff like Po seeing his reflection in the blade the way Shifu did or the "I can't even beat you to the stairs" scene were nice and not overly overt or in-your-face

If Po actively refers to himself as the "Kung Fu Panda" one more time I'm going to end it all

anyway that was not supposed to be a 12 page essay but it's too late now, goodbye

[youredreamingofroo]

The Roo-seum...

group pics and other stuff under the cut! (just to avoid flooding the dash lmao)

CAS pics in the NEXT POST

Now onto me ranting.

The Roo-seum is a 16 sim project that's consumed me for the last couple of days (in a good way), this explores most of Roo's lifespan (not implying he's dead LMAO), from the age of 9 years old, up to now, 28 years old, talking about what he went through for each year (for the most part anyways), of course, I didn't start at 1 or 2 years old, mainly because, way back when I made all of these Roo's (roughly back in July '23, this is not an idea that suddenly sparked, I only acted on it because I have a way to show off each age that isn't a Picrew lmao... I can't draw well so I just used TS4), I made them in Picrew, which... at the time couldn't find a Picrew with kids/babies so the youngest I went was around 9 years old, and just built up from there.

Roo is my persona gone OC, around 5 or 6 years ago, I put on this persona of "Roo", which started as "The Unfortunate Roo" and Roo's (or Mine, since this was technically a Persona, doubling as an OC) design was COMPLETELY different back then, He wasn't a he, the design was a sucubus I think, I don't really recall and I really couldn't care for it, it's embarrassing 💀 I don't remember how he came to fruition, but I remember finding this one picrew that I LOVED, and I used that picrew to create ~Roo~, his initial design was akin to the 22-23 year old Roo, there's a lot about his design that I could talk about but will avoid doing so, but just know that his Sims design isn't super on the dot to what his actual design is supposed to look like.

So... what's Piametia?? Why did you come up with that?? How did you come up with that?? To be honest, I never actually came up with a name up until yesterday when writing the note for 10-12 year old Roo, I don't really remember what sparked me to come up with a condition that "has the Patient suffer a sudden loss or gain in pigmentation and melanin in the eyes and hair," I guess 17 year old me thought it was cool, and it is! It opened up a new story for him, where I couldn't provide story (for someone without Piametia), like how being affected by Piametia caused him to go from extremely accepting of himself, to getting bullied into "normalizing himself," While he achieved this, it was really in vain, because he was still bullied for his condition, but as he grew older, out of his teen years and into adulthood, it bothered him less and less, because, well, shit like that doesn't fucking matter, sure it still bothered him, sure it still traumatized him to some degree, but it's just what some stupid kids say, it doesn't determine what his worth is, and he understands that, so after recovering from almost ending his life, he realized that something had to change, he couldn't live in this wallowing ball of agony because some kids determined "hey! That kid is different! They're no longer as cool as we are! Get him!!"

I should also mention that he didn't develop Piametia til he was around 9 years old, which is exactly what the condition does, it's genetic (although it never occurred in Reese or Virginia, the only reasonable conclusion was that it skipped a generation) and it's drilled into the person's DNA and only takes effect before puberty (in the average kid). So Roo was considered a part of the other kids' little cliques and stuff, but only until his hair and eyes changed color.

I kind of hyped this up to be something extravagant and maybe it is, idk, I don't have the eyes of the audience, I'm just a guy who made this and I have a rather critical view of my work sometimes, I try not to, but force of habit lmao. I really liked making this because Roo is an OC who has grown with me, mainly because he's both a persona of me while also being an OC, so where I change and grow, he often reflects that change and growth, in his own ways of course, I often wish he was real, but he's not and that's the harsh reality. Also gonna clarify that his life does NOT completely reflect mine, I'm only 18, he's ten years older then me lmao, where he was 8 I was 10 years to be conceived- Roo is still his own character, he's had his own relationships, all of which have went poorly (reflecting my own), and even had his own stalker (which escalated)- But parts of his life like when he became extremely homophobic of himself and who he truly was is not reflective of myself, I never had that stage in life (whether you did or not however is not a bad thing unless your actually just homophobic, then gtfo like?? 😭).

I went on a rant there, and I probably could've kept going, but figured I should stop at some point lol, but I hope you guys like this, I sure LOVED making this and I love doing Roo related things and posts. I also provided text in the image descriptions in case it's hard to read in the images (I tried to keep it as clear and readable as possible), and in case anyone who uses a screen-reader finds this post :)

[marshallpupfan]

All Good Things...

We've known about PAW Patrol's upcoming new animation style for a while, and although we only had a taste of it before, more and more leaks have given us an even bigger look at it. From what I've seen, most fans seem to like it so far, and to tell you the truth, I do, too! With one exception, I think all the pups look great, and I'll even go as far to say I like these more than the theatrical designs... and especially what Rubble & Crew gave us. Like most fans, I'm eager to see more!

Still, I can't help but feel a little sad. I know I say this often, but, Marshall's my #1 favorite character, and he's been at the top of my list for over five years now. I'm crazy about him, which is why I started these accounts, why I began the whole "Daily Marshall Pics" thing, why I purchased a crazy amount of his merchandise, among other things. It's all driven by just how much I love this pup. And while there are many reasons why I say this, one in-particular is why I'm making this post; his character design.

Marshall's appearance in the above pic is one I came to love over the years. It's also involved in practically everything I do here. My avatar and banner is this Marshall. 99% of my daily pics are this Marshall. Nearly my entire merchandise collection is this Marshall. My Ready Race Rescue poster is this Marshall. That $400+ costume I purchased is this Marshall. Basically, I'm saying that, to me, this IS Marshall. Despite his altered look in Rubble & Crew and the theatrical films, this is what always comes to mind whenever I think of the pup.

...and it's about to go away, huh?

Whether it's later this year or the next, one of the things I love about this Dalmatian will no longer be the same. That simplistic yet wonderful design will soon be replaced, and we'll no longer see it in anything official, such as new episodes, commercials, toy packaging, etc. Outside of repeats, it'll just be... no more.

Okay, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic. Sure, the pups are getting a visual makeover, but they'll still be the same characters, right? And, unless the new season 11 director changes things, no doubt Marshall will still be the same clumsy yet lovable pup that became my favorite way back when. I mean, he looked different in Rubble & Crew, but the other aspects and qualities I love about him were still there! And in the theatrical films... er, never mind that. My point is, I suppose we're technically not losing anything here; just a visual style many of us became so accustom to when we first started watching PAW Patrol, whether it was all the way back in 2013 or later. No doubt some fans might even consider it a bit special to them.

But hey, change doesn't have to be a bad thing! As I mentioned earlier, I do like what we've seen of the new style so far, and personally, I'm feeling quite optimistic about it! Sure, it might take some time getting used to it, but given how often we have to adjust to the pups getting new voice actors, I'm starting to get used to change with this franchise. Besides, as much as I still enjoy the old style and wouldn't mind it sticking around, I'm not going to shun the new or stand in its way. And you know, when I look at the two designs of Marshall side-by-side, I still see a lot of the old in the new, so maybe we should look at this as an upgrade instead of a replacement? Perhaps it's not as much of a goodbye as I thought?

I'm going to hope this new style works out for everyone in the end. However, I'll still miss the old. It stuck with the franchise and its fans for over ten years, so with great respect, I take my hat off for it.

...Of course, the old style will live on through its older fans, and I'm certainly not going to let it go. You'll still see it through my dailies and various edits, of course!

[amazingdeadfish]

if you do drawing reqs, can we get mayor in different clothing from different time periods... specifically the victorian era? i'd love to see your interpretation of what he would wear, since i liked the 1950's one a lot!

The funny thing about this question is the fact that the Victorian era is in fact, a long period of time (1820s-1900s). There's a lot of differences in fashion all across the globe during this time period.

But I'm about 82% sure that you must be talking about British Victorian era clothing. And adding into that, middle class fashion. The 'educated' class. The people who owned businesses and factories and the ones who could spend their leisure time doing whatever and wearing whatever. Because that's definitely what the Victorian era fashion was known for. The extravagant upper class clothes. Not the working class, or anything below that.

So, after a little bit of a google inspo search, I think you were expecting something like this:

Mayor in middle class, British, Victorian, masculine fashion. He probably wouldn't be too bold with their outfits in order to fit in. It was quite fun to draw this guy in a top hat and tail coat (even more fun than looking at all of the different types of Victorian neck wear haha). But, honestly, if we are going to be a little bit logical about this, he would not have arrived in England (if he's ever been there at all) all dapper and nice straight away.

In fact, I think it would be more likely that for a while, he would (even if just for a little bit) wear things similar to the working class of Britian. Coal soot and all.

Look at the silly man! Like a newspaper boy. Obviously he will rise up the ranks of the class hierarchy but like, come on, he probably had to shove coal into a train furnace at least a couple ten times. I hope these designs satisfy you, they're not much, but I hope it was what you were thinking of.

I would also like to bring up the fact that, again, there are a lot of different periods of time during the Victorian era! One notably, the American Wild West (1860s-1890s)!!! Hence, I of course have a cowboy Mayor design (rather plain like the others but I haven't put too much thought into it really, maybe I should):

And then there is the fact that before the Victorian era was the age of piracy. While technically for the west that period was decades before Queen Victoria came into power (1650s-1730s), the biggest flat fleet in China (and, I think also the world), was at its most powerful during the 1800s-1810s (literally a mere decade before the Victorian Era began)!!! That decade was under the leadership of Zheng Yi Sao, one of the most successful pirates in history. And of course, I do like to think the Mayor must have encountered her at some point. He might have been intrigued by the powerful woman she was.

So of course. Pirate Mayor:

Out of all time periods I do like to think that Mayor was at his most grumpy at this point (even worse than their Chief era). Life out at sea was not very glamorous. But hey! They're a pirate! That's so cool!

If any of you are still here reading my rambling, I also want to say that this question just reminded me of an old drawing I drew last year. I kind of cringe looking back on it but I'm still just a little happy that I actually drew the thing.

You can probably spot them, but the pirate and cowboy Mayor designs are there (right next to each other too)!!! Along with, some 1900s designs. A doodle I made about the Mayor through the ages :))).

Thanks for sending in the request! It was fun to answer :))).

[sophieinwonderland]

r/FakeDisorderCringe doesn't know what biblical canon is, atheists are offended by saying God is plural, and other people casually throwing out some blasphemies and ableism!

👎

For uncreative title.

Atheists Pretending To Be Deeply Offended...

So, let me guess, you're not actually Christian are you?

Those guys sure aren't.

So weird how people pretend to be offended over a religion they aren't even a part of.

(Let's be real though, that's most of the tulpa discourse.)

Oh... you considered converting.

That clearly gives you a say in this conversation. /s

Meanwhile, my host actually lived the religion. He was Christian through his teenage years, and as a child helped his mom teach Sunday School and went to sleep every night on a Noah's Ark pillow.

Sorry, I distracted from your point. We're thieves stealing from a religion. 🙄

Okay, let's talk "canon!"

I just... I LOVE this whole conversation! 🤣

THIS is actual cringe.

Does anyone see the issue here?

I'll let u/AdSuccessful3533 spell it out. Possibly the only person with sense in the thread.

It's not just Catholic Canon either, but Biblical Canon! Like, there's a whole Wikipedia article on it!

The sheer self-righteous ignorance of r/Fakerdisordercringe (and r/systemscringe) never ceases to amaze me.

All of these people so bent out of shape over the use of "canon" to describe biblical text as if that's not been in use for hundreds of years!

"Something a middle schooler would say."

The Heresies!

That's correct. This is NOT the modalism heresy.

Modalism suggests God is a single unified being who reveals himself in different forms. God being plural would mean that God is three beings in one. This is completely in-line with the views of Trinitarianism.

An example of the modalism heresy would be more like this...

Comparing God to Optimus Prime, arguing that they're just different forms like Optimus Prime in a truck form vs him in a robot form, is modalism.

But if modalism isn't enough, we've got some tritheism too!

Besides the tritheism... it's really hard to take people who are calling tulpas appropriative seriously when they don't even know basic facts about the most popular religion in the world.

Also, the part about System not being a term for a person with DID is technically correct. System is, rather, the term used for the total collection of all the alters. But it is very much a term used by psychologists and it's accurate to refer to the Trinity as a system in this way.

Also, if the Tritheism bothers you, don't worry! We're going to go right back to modalism.

The H2O metaphor is controversial for the same reason as comparing God to Optimus Prime. It suggests God is simply changing form to become these different things.

Miscellaneous

Can you show me that rabbit hole?

I'm the one who Tweeted that, and have NEVER been on the OSDD sub.

Who do you think I am?

No... it definitely doesn't sound right. Religion shouldn't just be a thing for neurotypicals.

If one believes in God, then surely God made all people, including those of us who have mental illnesses. Why should Christianity and biblical references be kept away from people with mental illness other than ableism?

I mean, if by in peace, you mean without endogenic systems, then no. You can't.

We're here and we aren't going away. Ever.

And we exist in all spaces, including in your churches and your religious communities. And Christian systems shouldn't be expected to hide who they are because our existence bothers bigots like you.

We're going to share this world, and we're going to share spaces. And that includes churches and religious spaces too. Deal with it. 🤷‍♀️

Acknowledgements:

I would like to thank everyone at r/fakedisordercringe for giving me the free material. For a subreddit that's designed to laugh at people for supposed "cringe," you all sure are a goldmine for it! 😜

[hannahmanderr]

ACTUALLY WAIT I ASKED FOR DANNY AND DAMON SO I ALSO HAVE TO ASK FOR VALERIE AND JACK AND MADDIE to make it fair 😌

(affectionately calling this Duly Deputized Hunting)

part 1 ~ part 2 ~ part 3

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

"So!" Jack clapped his hands together, nearly making Valerie jump from the sound. "I bet Danny told you all about the Fenton EctoScrambler, huh? Did you want a demonstration? I mean yeah, we're not using actual ghosts as test subjects anymore of course, but we can still -"

"That's okay!" Valerie said, throwing her hands up with a kind smile. "I already heard about it from Danny." That was a lie, but hopefully neither Fenton parent would pick up on her fidgety fingers and bouncing leg.

She would lose whatever nerve she'd gathered before coming here if she got sidetracked now.

Maddie, thank God, could see the somewhat unrestrained panic in her eyes. She laid a gentle hand on Jack's shoulder. "Honey, let's not overwhelm her. I'm sure I heard Danny say something about demonstrating it to her later this week." Valerie relaxed and met Maddie's eyes. A knowing twinkle glimmered behind the older woman's irises, a twinkle that carried the experience of taming her husband's energetic zeal. "You said you had something to ask us on the phone?"

And just like that, Valerie's heart rate skyrocketed again. She picked at the edge of her sweater, desperately wishing she had something to tinker with. "Yeah. I mean, yes. Only if that's okay, of course." She nearly smacked her forehead. Way to play it cool, Gray.

"Of course!" Jack said with a hearty laugh. "Why wouldn't it be okay? You're practically family! Danny's brought you 'round often enough, you should know that by now." He shot an exaggerated wink to Valerie as Maddie gasped "Jack!" and nudged him in the arm.

Valerie's face flushed warm, though strangely not from Jack's teasing. You're practically family echoed in her mind, sending an electric warmth down her spine and across her whole body.

It wasn't as though Jack and Maddie had never accepted her. Far from it, in fact; they'd been ecstatic to finally discover that the famed Amity Park Huntress was, in fact, one of their son's classmates, and his girlfriend at that. Jack in particular had been thrilled that there were more from the "younger generations" interested in taking up ghost hunting.

And both of them had supported her ceaselessly. They'd sponsored a paid internship for her the moment she'd gotten her high school diploma. Helped navigate her out of her contract with Vlad. Continued to provide her with whatever tech and repairs she needed, even after her internship technically ended. Designed gear specially for her.

It was more than she could've ever dreamed. After Danny had told her about how rough it had been getting them to let him keep up with his ghost fighting after they learned of his secret ("Of course I'm grateful they don't hate me," he'd told her, "I just wish they could be slightly less overbearing with their love."), she'd expected them to stick her with lectures about the dangers of the job and how she should be leaving such risky endeavors to the grown-up professionals.

She couldn't have been happier to have had her expectations blown out of the water.

"It means so much to hear you say that," she said, her voice beginning to tremble with emotion. Darn it, keep it together girl! "You two have done so much for me and taken me under your wing, and you've gotten nothing in return."

Maddie scoffed. "Don't be silly." She took the hand on Jack's shoulder and reached across his lap to lay it on top of Valerie's. The kind smile on Maddie's face nearly melted her heart all over again. "Not only have we gotten to see our Danny happier than he's ever been, getting to spend his time with you, but we've gotten to see you grow into a bright, beautiful young lady. That alone is entirely worth it." Jack nodded eagerly beside her.

Now the tears were truly threatening to fall, and Valerie Gray did not cry. She sniffed and took a deep breath. "These past years with Danny, getting to know you and Jazz and be a part of your family, they've been the best of my life. I know Daddy wasn't exactly keen on letting me hang out here too much at first, but he knows this whole family cares about me almost as much as he does.

"And I care about you too. I seriously can't even begin to describe everything you've done for me. I didn't even need to ask; you just did it." Another sniffle. "It's like you somehow knew what I needed before I even asked."

Maddie's smile faltered just slightly. "Well," she said slowly, "I wouldn't say that was entirely the case..."

"It was Danny," Jack said. "We wanted to help you, of course, but he was the one to tell us exactly what you needed. Kid was always fretting about how you wouldn't accept the help if it came from him, but he just loved you so much. He wanted to make sure everything was perfect for you."

Valerie's breath caught in her throat. "Danny..." she whispered.

God, she was going to strangle that boy the next time she saw him. And then kiss him like there was no tomorrow.

Breathe girl. In and out. "He's... he's done so much for me too. I wouldn't be who I am without him." In and out. "I can't imagine my life without him." In and out. "I don't think I want to live life without him."

Maddie jolted upright. "Oh my..." she breathed. "Are you saying...?"

"Yes." The tears were falling uncontrollably now, but Valerie's smile felt like it could split her face. "Yes, I absolutely am."

"What?" Jack looked back and forth between the two women. "What's she saying? What are you saying?"

Maddie had started crying too, clutching Valerie's hand in one of her own and Jack's with the other. "She wants to join our family," she said through her own tears.

"Really? That's what this is all about? Well heck, what's all the fuss for then? Like I said, you're already part of the family, Val!"

In spite of herself, Valerie giggled. "No, no," she said with a shake of her head. "I'm saying... I'm saying I want to spend every day with Danny. I want to be a part of his life forever, and I want him to be part of mine. I want to get to share you as parents, and Jazz as a sister. I don't care what might happen, I just know I want me and Danny to face it, together, for the rest of our lives.

She took another deep breath. "I'm asking for your blessing to ask Danny to marry me."

Valerie suddenly found herself engulfed by the warm embrace of two sobbing Fenton parents.

Soon to be her parents too.

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

part 2 here

[wilcze-kudly]

Beifong babies appreciation post

This is gonna be a more self indulgent post. But if you spend any time on my blog, you know how much I adore the Beifong family, particularly Suyin and her children. And you know what I don't see enough appreciation for Suyin's babies, which makes sense, since they're side characters, but here's a lil ramble about them and some reasons why I love them.

Baatar Jr

Actually, I think Baatar is actually a very underutilised character for being Kuvira's supposed right hand man, as well as her fiancé.

He's technically the brains behind Kuvira's collosus, and probably much more.

As damaging as living in his father's shadow was for him, I do find it extremely adorable how he engineered all Baatar Sr's projects, it's really cute!

His loyalty to Kuvira and his love for her is admirable. It's honestly adorable, how much she means to him.

Btw mans stared into Korra's eyes while she threatened him im the Avatar state and laughed. Say what you want about him but he has balls.

The angst surrounding his involvement with Kuvira is absolutely delicious.

Like imagine turning your back on everyone you know and love for one person, only for then to turn on you and try to kill you with upur own creation?

And then everything you've worked for for 3 years is null and void? Gnarly

Also him being under house arrest with the family he betrayed? You could argue he got off really easy, which he did... but goodness gracious the angst.

Huan

I'm like 75% sure that he's a reference to The Dark One, one of Toph's metalbending students, which is actually really fun I love you emo metalbenders.

I always found non combative benders very interesting, especially when they use their bending for things like art, it's very cool.

While I think a Huan's character is made to mock "tortured abstract artists" a bit, he actually isn't terribly caricaturised?

Like... he has a pretty clear ideology and moral compass, and he sticks to his guns, even when threatened. He clearly values personal freedom and freedom of expression, and is willing to stand up for it.

I also love headcanoning that he had a close relationship with Aiwei. Since some of Huan's ideals match up more or less with Red Lotus ideology, which makes me wonder if Aiwei did subtly indoctrinate Suyin's children.

Huan and Ikki's friendship is really cute too lol.

His design is also really cool ngl

Opal

MY BABY AHHH 🧡 honestly my fave female tlok character.

Free her from the heterosexual love interest dimension she deserves so much better lol.

Like, I really dislike Bopal as a ship, and part of it is because of how much of a disservice it does to both characters. But most anti Bopal takes I see are also horrifically anti Opal.

Honestly, Opal just gets a surprisingly large amount of hate in genral? Like why? People call her annoying and a brat/ a knockoff Korra and she's barely done anything lmao

Opal's is very interesting, her journey to independence, her unseen development between B3 and B4, her firece loyalty to her family despite her separation from them

A lot of people criticise her attitude towards Kuvira, but honestly, she was quite rational in her anger? I also think she should have been allowed to hold a grudge against Bolin for longer, like yes he redeemed himswlf somewhat when rescuing her family, but it does feel really shallow and a fast way of tying up a pretty complex storyline.

Her arc reminds me very much of Toph's in atla, which is bittersweet since we see how that ended for Toph.

I love her lil pouty face ahh.

Wei and Wing

Genuinely. Might be my fave underdeveloped side characters.

Avatar has a habit of making very interesting twin duos and these two are no exception.

I really like their strong bond with their mother, they really are the most mamma's boys to ever mamma's boy.

Similarly to Opal, the twins' firece loyalty to their family and city is really sweet, but also there's a lot of potential for angst here. Like, Opal gets to see the world and adventure, but the twins are probably stuck in Zaofu forever.

The twins also are the only ones of their siblings upholding that "Beifong metalbender" archetype that Toph started. I think there is a bit of pressure on them, ad they are the "golden boys" of the family

I'm also a sucker for when benders work together/combine their skills so seeing the twins work together is really sweet.

Also. Gay™️. [Insert longass ramble about weilin lol]

I actually find the small differences in personality between them that we are shown. Where Wei is a bit more snooty and competitive, Wing is very playful and outward with himself. I like picking their differences apart.

Okk.. that's it my ramble for today us over 😭 I love the Beifong babies so much and wish there was more appreciation of them lol

[bonefall]

just read that briarlight from your rewrite doesn't only have her thing with Millie and her inappropriate behaviour (at least from what I got) BUT also has strained relationship with graystripe,which I think is interesting concept 👀 could we get more detail on that ?

Sure thing! I don't plan to completely eliminate Millie's inappropriate behavior, but her abelism is treated as abelism by the narrative.

Graystripe is not allowed to get off blameless here; he should have protected his daughter. But he didn't. Briarlight has complicated feelings towards the fact that her dad didn't help her when she really needed him.

I actually really like Graystripe as a character so this matters a lot to me; the narrative treats him like he's a perfect being when he's an extremely complex guy. Graystripe does what he wants to do, and is a passionate and loyal person, but how would he decide between telling his mate to back off, and protecting his daughter?

I don't think he can decide. Siding with one could mean losing the other, and after what he's lost, he can't do that. So instead he does nothing, trying to play 'Both Sides', and just ends up alienating both.

Briarlight

Around the time of Bramblestar's Storm, ThunderClan is working on a better mobility device for her that will allow her to get out of camp, on more types of uneven terrain. I plan for Jessie to actually be the one who finally figures this out, a proper kitty cat genius of engineering, using that blanket they salvaged to help prevent chafing.

Here is a mouse drawing in paint lmao, it is a modified version of @cryptidclaw's Briarlight design, which I asked for their permission to use!

[ID: A drawing of a paraplegic cat, Briarlight, from Warrior Cats. She has a furry 'mullet' mane and a mobility device in three colors. There are green rings around the neck, hips, tail and back legs labelled 1, a blue blanket stretched over the belly labelled 2, and a red bark sled under the immobile legs marked 3]

The rings are made of twine of some sort, with the blanket sewn into the ones on the neck and legs, with the ones on the hips looping around the sides of the bark sled

The blanket prevents thorns and rocks from scratching her body; very important because if they were caught under her legs, she would not feel the pain to know it needs to be removed else cause infection

The bark sled is the only part that touches the ground, to prevent wear to the blanket and prevent it from getting ripped up too quickly. (oops I drew it too short lmao it should reach as far back as the paw)

This version is an improved model of the one that Wildfur used and made the entire TNP journey with; his would look very similar to Cryptidclaw's initial design (For the record it is the best mobility device for a paraplegic warrior I'd ever seen and they deserve a ton of credit here, I just improved some technical aspects of their design!)

ANYWAY back to discussion of abelism

So around this time, Briarlight finally sets a hard boundary with Millie. Her mom can't respect her, makes her feel horrible about herself, can't appreciate this incredible new mobility device, so finally Briar says, "Do not talk to me until you understand that my life isn't a tragedy!"

I think this actually does make Millie reconsider what she's been saying and doing to her kids, but fixing the relationship from this point is slow and gradual. Graystripe also gets caught in this; I'm thinking it was a sort of, "honey please speak to your mother," "Dad if you keep that up you're getting cut off too" situation.

Thankfully there's going to be plenty of time to do it since I'm not letting Briarlight die in AVoS. She survives AT LEAST until TBC, where her outspokenness against Bramblefake is going to put her in danger.

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2024: #27

27. FRANCE Slimane - "Mon amour" 4th place

Decade ranking: 103/153 [Above The Black Mamba, below Marco Mengoni]

Slimane has a very powerrful voice. 🙂

THE RANKING

Okay, FINE. I suppose I can't leave it like that. 🙄 Although I'd much rather would.

So *SLIME*-MANE. There's a lot to unpack and a lot I know most people will disagree with my takes, but oh well. I've ranked Joost low, and Mustii low, so it's only fair the Slimane fans get some scalding hot truth tea splashed in the face from this deluded overthinker. Disliking men is a much more productive way to run away from my problems than simpling them is.

So remember how I spoke about songs designed to Make People Cry? You know I hold emotional extortion in contempt. "Pity" is just a slightly more charitable way of looking down at others, and shouldn't be strived for. These anthems are inherently designed to manipulate the undiscerning into uglycrying while offering very little sustainance. Yep, we're here yet again. Another song that doesn't pass even a tiny bit of scrutiny, except in a language most viewers do not speak.

In fact, I'm pretty sure that "Mon Amour"'s francophoneness is what made many people sleep on the fact that it's not exactly narratively sound. Most people that I've spoken about ESC to that understand French haven't responded well to "Mon Amour" (lol one of my French friends bursting into chat all "SLIMANE REPS US? EW. HIS MUSIC IS SO BORING AND CORNY 😣" hours after Mon Amour's release passed without comment from any of us ♥).

The indifference makes sense when you read the lyrics. It's filled with cliche's that scream "I YEM ZE FR0NCH~", a little bit too much on the nose. If I thought "Évidemment" was bad, this is worse. Lines such as "reviens à Paris" and ''Es-ce-que tu-m'aimes où pas?" are such clichés they feel thoughtless and expected, like someone writing out the monologue on autopilot.

But what sets me off is the overal narrative. Slimane and France have attempted to retcon "Mon amour" as "the story of an artist reaching out to his fans, seeking validation" but that is not what the lyrics read out. Instead, speak of the aftermath of a broken romance, where SHE has had her heart shattered to a degree that she LEFT THE PROTAGONIST'S HOMETOWN FOR AN UNKNOWN DESTINATION AND BROKE OFF ALL CONTACT. Instead of giving her, you know, personal space or time to reflect, or even lick his wounds, he keeps desperately asking her whether she still loves him or not. Dude, I don't know her, and I know the answer is "no". Give it a rest, and move on. Sadly, Slimane didn't move on and spends a full three minutes wailing on about it. "I want her, I need her only her, why doesn't she love me". We know where this ends - with a restraining order and either her or him dead and dismembered inside a dumpster six months later. (Australia's jury of snarky yet emotionally intelligent gays picking up on this and ranking him dead last ♥ bless them ♥)

As you can perhaps tell, the above realizations completely KILL the romantic aspect of the song for me. I cannot, and WILL NOT get into its grief and sadness. All the parties involved should be GLAD it's over.

Instrumentally, the song's just... generic piano ballad, nothing new or innovative here. Dime a dozen, we've heard it before, bla bla bla. "Mon amour" is a nothingburger, an empty vessel for Slimane's vocal chops.

Which brings me to another problem I have with it - I personally don't really care much about technical skill? Eurovision is an audio-visual SONG contest, not a SINGING contest. It is cool that you can nail those masturbatory vocal projections. You're a singer who can sing. "Loud" however is a pitch, not an emotion. It would have been more impressive if you've also discovered the cure of cancer alongside it. (Curing tumors with vocal vibrations. Medical students reading this, get on it so I can be impressed by Slimane.)

Focusing exclusively on that though, is annoying to me. Good Eurovision entrants start with a SONG. "Mon amour" barely classifies as one. End off.

That isn't to say I cannot respect Slimane's vocal for what it was. I mean THIS:

is a feat only a few vocalists can successfully pull off. It is MORE impressive the first time you witness it before the laws of Diminishing Returns kicks in. But it was immensely clever to trial it at Dora and then include it into the song itself - it gives the performance stakes and gravitas, so why not?

However that brought the song's weakness even more to the forefront to me. My logic is the following: if you can pull off such a stunt, then why aren't you the immediate fave to win? Eurovision 2024 was the most open year perhaps of all times, and I'm supposed to believe a voice THIS strong cannot win it by itself? There are enough examples of strong vocals POWERING through merely decent songs (Céline and Corinne Hermès for instance) into a first place. If you can pull that off and still lose doesn't that prove your song is fucking shite?

Going into the contest I was HOPING to get something out of the live besides Big Vocals and also that France wouldn't morph into a direct contender to win (You would HOPE that 2024's varied and exciting line-up was competitive enough as to not crown a vocal projection exercise as its winner), and ultimately, I got both of my wishes because Eurovision 2024 was BORISVISION. I was the meta this year, bitches, and I think fourth place is a perfectly reasonable result for a vocal that strong on a song that nonexistent.

But more importantly, Slimane managed to inject his performance with EMOTIONS and good god I really needed that.

It took a LOT of effort from Slimane for me to recognize that yes, this man is cooking with gas, and his expertise elevates the whole package. "Seductive" is the incorrect emotion for the subject matter but whatever. Ignoring the subject matter is the only way you can enjoy the song, so if that's what one must to do end the night on a high note, so be it. I let it pass, with few regrets.

Like Nutsa, he served enough for me to respect him ~as a performer~ who deserved the result he got. Like "Firefighter", I still have some contempt for the song itself, and there's a strict limit for how Im i'm willing to place it.

Turns out that boundary lies at Marco Mengoni. "Mon amour" always felt like a lazy, soulless answer to "Due vite" for me, and I'm not willing put it ahead, nor to re-examine my stance on DV so quickly after my 2023 ranking. "Due vite" was a song that ultimately wasn't my cup of tea, but it was the superior composition, and deserves a higher mark.

So ultimately, I end with Slimane a bittersweet note. A man with the capability to win the Eurovision Song Contest, yes and who manifested his impending loss with below average penmanship. If the French are looking for someone to blame for not winning once since 1977, they can start with their failure to recognize their 2024 song needed a revamp.

THE RANKING (again)

[thana-topsy]

Hello! I hope this isn't too much of a loaded question, but do you have any general tips for writing? I'd like to give fanfic writing a shot at some point.

Not at all! I'm always happy to talk shop about writing! As far as general tips go, there are some things that I think everyone could benefit from, so I'll try to condense my opinions and suggestions into A Numbered List. (We'll limit it to 5 suggestions for now).

Read Actively I mean this in the sense of really chewing on whatever it is you're reading. Dig into the meat of That One Paragraph and look for things you enjoy, things that tickle your brain. I'll give an example from something I read recently, which is our lovely @kookaburra1701's newest story "Aristeia" "They crested the final hillock; Mor Khazgur dominated the shallow valley below. When she had been younger, Borgakh had often imagined the longhouse was a lazy cat asleep on a bright green rug, curled up against the rocks of the Druadach Mountains. When the stronghold’s goats were pastured in the glade, they played the role of mice scurrying about under the cat’s nose." I was just ENAMORED by this passage. The whimsy, the rhythm of some the repeating consonants -- stronghold's goats, glade -- and just the imagery it drummed up, reminding me of those fanciful imaginings of my own childhood. So don't just read a lot, but read actively. Read works that inspire you, authors that impress you, and subject matter that's similar to the type of stuff you want to be writing. And think about why you like the things your like, and draw that inspiration into your own writing. Imitate your heroes until you're no longer imitating and it's just how you write.

Accept Constructive Criticism This one is always a challenge in the beginning. The Ego is a powerful little devil, and it'll try to confuse you. It'll tell you that your value is tied to the words on the page. But I'm here to tell you that YOU are NOT the words on the page. Take an objective stance on your prose and your plot. Everyone starts somewhere and (hopefully) nobody ever stops learning or improving. NOTE: Notice I said constructive criticism. This does not mean you should let people tear your work into shreds in bad faith. Listen to people who want to see you improve and also find joy in the craft of writing.

Read Your Writing Out Loud This is kind of self-explanatory. You'll get a really good feel for your own rhythm and flow VERY easily this way. And you'll catch almost any mistakes right away.

Cut All Unnecessary Words This is getting into the technical side of things, but why not? One of the first books I read on the craft of writing (whose title unfortunately escapes my mind at the moment) contained this advice, and it is STILL something I struggle with. Obviously, when you have a character with a specific voice, sometimes they get flowery in their internal speech and observations. I'll use Aiden as an example: "The fort loomed over them, massive and severe. Aiden attempted to judge the architecture and found he wasn’t quite sure what race or nation could have possibly built it. Or when it was built, for that matter. Second era, perhaps? The design seemed more Breton than Nord: austere, angular, and formal. But so close to the Velothi mountains, it could have been Imperial."  I bolded words that don't actually add anything of value to the descriptions here. We lose nothing by cutting them out. But they're how Aiden thinks about the world around him. So I keep them to give shape to his internal processing. I'd say to try to write without these kinds of flavor words first, then start adding them in. Learn the rules before you break them, or break the habit before it becomes the ONLY way you write.

Write Every Day This one is tough in the beginning, but it's so crucial to becoming a better writer. WRITE. EVERY. DAY. Even if it's just 200 words, do it. Make it your little morning ritual or evening wind-down. Pick a time that's just for you and your words. Close all your tabs, put your phone on silent, and just write. Be alone with the world that you are trying to create. And soon enough, you'll find that you can't go a day without writing something. And what a joy that is.

That's my list! I hope you found these tips useful! I also recommend reading books on the craft of writing, too.

Best of luck on your journey! You have infinite possibilities before you.

[consumeroflemoans]

What's your thoughts on a Shroud brothers reverse au? Like Idia is the one to die, and Ortho survives and so he builds a new "Idia". This is technically a personality swap au, but I think it would be neat.

I'm not sure if either of them would be Ignihyde's housewarden in this au, but for simplicity sake we can say Ortho is the housewarden and Idia helps him out with his duties. Ortho is a first year at NRC and Idia is the 'protective older brother' that's accompanying him to NRC.

I do think Idia being 'older' than Ortho means he would be more pushy about Ortho getting out and socializing since "he's a growing boy" and all but wouldn't force it, since he doesn't want to push Ortho too much out of his comfort zone. I would say he's about 50% more protective than regular Ortho, since he doesn't want Ortho to get hurt.

Ortho himself is a tech prodigy, and he does enjoy anime just like his brother did. But I like to think his passion for anime comes from it being his older brother's passion before he passed away. And so Ortho sees anime as like a comfort and a connection to his older brother. I don't think he would be as big as a shut-in as regular Idia is, since he doesn't want to disappoint his older brother by staying inside all the time. But he definitely does still spend most of his time inside his room either playing video games or making new gear for Idia.

Events of book 6 would play out the same way, just switch Ortho and Idia's roles.

And because vilidia is on my mind 24/7 gotta touch upon it here. Which is to say I'm not exactly sure how their relationship would work out in this au. But hey maybe love can bloom between a robot and a model, I will say if they do end up dating, then it would be after book 6.

Ok ok I just had some ideas for this sort of AU.

I’m kind of thinking along the lines of their earlier personalities. Ortho was always the one sort of more passionate about adventure and I feel like Idia dying because of that would either go one of two ways.

1. Ortho takes his love of adventure and exploration to the extreme with the mentality of ‘hey, it doesn’t really matter if I die since my big brother died just like this’ I think this could be a fascinating exploration of Idia’s trauma though Ortho’s more outgoing personality.

Or

2. Ortho causing Idia’s death leads to him being extremely hesitant to try anything new. He relied a lot on his older brother earlier on in his life and I feel like losing that support could make him far more timid. They are different people so I feel like the same traumatic event would cause different effects on them.

On another note, I am curious how the age differences would work with them. Because Idia was older than Ortho, by the time Ortho successfully built Idia he would probably be older than his brother was. I probably worded that so badly omg. Basically, would Ortho build Idia as an older, adult version of himself he’s never met or would he keep Idia as the child version of himself he remembers? That would kind of shift their sibling dynamic if Ortho was suddenly the older brother.

Ortho doesn’t really know what Idia would be like as an adult, so there’s no sure way of creating an AI that would still be Idia.

Actually Ortho being really mature for his age as a 16 yo would be fascinating in contrast to og Idia. He still enjoys video games and anime because they remind him of his brother, but I’m fascinated by the idea that because he didn’t have that figure caring for him anymore, he had to care for himself more.

Also aauaugh Vilidia

Vil asks for Idia’s help from Ortho for his film studies club. Having a robot around is handy for heavy lifting and reaching places humans can’t. Not to mention he’s more bearable to be around than most humans.

Vil ends up suggesting aesthetic designs for the metal armor- even robots should look good, after all. He can’t help but find Idia pretty, as odd as the thought is.

And then there’s Idia. Who wants nothing more than to be more human so he can be with his brother just like they were before. So he studies Vil, learns his acting and how humans truly work from him. He grows fascinated by this man with so many different masks on. He starts spending more and more time, wanting to know more, obsessing over it.

And after the events of book 6, he finally begins to truly feel. His fascination develops into an infatuation and into a crush from there- though he has no idea what’s actually happening. Vil saved his brother’s life, of course he feels affection towards him. Surely there’s nothing more going on than that.

Oh, but Ortho knows. He can see it in the way Idia’s computer brain fires. Idia becomes erratic around Vil, even if he doesn’t realize it. And who is Ortho to deny what his big brother wants?

[bcomic-blog]

Tonight in El Goonish Shive

HOLY

SHIT

Okay, I'm not sure how people generally come across this post. I'm assuming MOST have already read the update first. But I don't doubt that for a few tumblrites seeing this in their dash is their reminder, "oh hey, I should check out the new page"

Just in case, I ain't saying fuck all about this page and especially not SHOWING anything from this page without a cut...

(Maybe I should always do this? But especially tonight.)

If you are not caught up with EGS up to the Wed 12/6 update proceed no further, this is your warning lol

WOW!

I wanna call this a HUGE update, where so much happens. But technically we learned almost nothing new lol. Most everything that is confirmed about Mist in this update we already knew, basically...

Quick review of all of the plot points that Mist is part of:

Alternate universes aren't all equally "alternate"

The universe that the Griifins come from is inherently connected to the Universe the main cast live in. For simplicity, we'll call them Moperville and Avalon:

Like Moperville. Avalon has Uryuom and Seyonulu people. In Moperville they live in secret, disguised as humans. In Avalon, they live openly, but as a distrusted and opressed minority. Evidently it is believed that they originally arrived with intent to conquer, and they are legally prohibited from touching tech out of distrust that they aren't STILL plotting something

(Fuckin Dwight, man...)

So, on the Moperville side magic is a secret on the verge of coming out, but on the Avalon side, magic has been open for a long time. On the Moperville side humans believe they are the only sapients on Earth, and they aren't far off. Secretly, there are also some Uryuom and the Immortals, but that's mostly it. On the Avalon side, humans are one of a variety of sapient species, including Griffins, unicorns, and we haven't yet seen who all else. But the humans are a minority with a monopoly on political power, which is concentrated in those who have what is called a "royal aura"

So, the ENTIRE point of everything that happens in the "Balance" chapter is that Liam (the owl griffin) is sympathetic to the plight of the oppressed Uryuom, so he arranges the entire rigamarole of himself getting mind-controlled to attack royalty all as a distraction to pull one of the guards (Dwight) away from the portal from Avalon to Moperville, allowing three insurgents to sneak through to our side.

Their plan is to use the fact the Uryuom can use magic on the Moperville side again meaning that over here they can use magic items, specifically:

this thing, to allow them to STEAL the Royal Aura from someone over here, then go back with the aura that has always meant you are considered one of the powerful few on the Avalon side, and use that power to end the oppression of Uryuom and Seyunolu people.

There are three members of our cast that it's confirmed have a royal aura:

So in this page, Mist is looking for a way to supercharge the dream search, which is what happens in the NP chapter "Parable" which had been in a state of "canon, but it hasn't happened yet" but with tonight's upfate i assume it's going to finally happen!

Evidently, though, Seyunolu, unlike griffins. can't just see a royal aura. So that's Mist's part of the job: he can sense a being's auras and stuff, but only by entering their dreams, a process that wasn't finding their candidates very quickly. (Not too surprising,as they would have focused on the wealthy and powerful based on the mistaken assumption that if the Royal Aura people didn't rule openly here, they must be ruling from the shadows...)

So-- as I said at the beginning-- we don't actually learn a lot that's totally new about Mist... except we now know for sure that he is a Tulougol Seyunolu with a combination of human, Uryuom, and Unicorn... but that always seemed the likely bet. And we learned what he looks like without his disguise (which is one hell of a cool character design!)

I mean, wow!

Before this, it seemed likely this character would look like some sort of Unicorn/Human, but we couldn't be sure if that would look cool

It does!

So, at first when I read this I thought this was a confirmation of the character's NAME, but no, that had been confirmed a while ago, i just missed it!

For a long time this character was known by a placeholder name: "Mystucorn":

BUT, in passing, the leader called him "Mist" a while ago, as easy as this was to miss!

Another cool thing this page does is give Mist's pronouns. This is helpful because he has a very feminine appearance, even more so than the androgynous Noah, and it would be easy to accidentally misgender him. BUT that one also isn't actually new info: Mist's gender was established WAY back in his first appearance:

But there is one other COMPLETELY new thing established in this page: the NAMES of the other two Seyonulu involved in the plot to steal a royal aura, as well as their roles!

Saou is the leader who the plan is to make into Seyonulu royalty, and Potestas is essentially the bodyguard.

At this point I think it is safe to say which is which in their various forms and disguises going back to their earliest appearances!

Mist:

(note the uryuom antennae!)

(the scene with different shaped speech balloons to distinguish different speakers)

And finally:

Now...

Saou:

And

Potestas:

So, anyhow, this is all super exciting, I can't wait to find out what happens next... I mean, evidently "Parable" happens next, but now that that's no longer "sometime later this year", we'll finally find out more what happens AFTER "Parable"!

[gingergari]

Hi!! (I'm sorry this is the third time I'm trying to send the ask, I think my wifi is fighting with me aksdasl) I love your Mareach babies! and the art you have of them :''v Also their names are perfect bc of all the meanings jsdskd I'd love to know more of them bc I too love twins whdjwhdw How are they when they grow up? Or even when they were still babies!

i’m so glad you like mela and pera! :^) (and dw, the internet’s been wonky here too)

on the backend of things i’ve used mela for a mareach kid for a few years but it’s only this year when i was actually like. designing her that i was like ‘they should have twins. something something runs in the family (on my dad’s side of the family his mom had twins and the twins also had twins) something something legendary star twin having twins’ so i trialed a few names (mainly arancia) before i settled on pera! :^)

i’ve been having the time of my life this semester (/s) so i really haven’t developed them very much unfortunately :( but that’s what asks are for! (so please send more if you’re curious!)

this is getting long so here’s a post cut

mela is the more excitable twin and comes up with a lot of ideas, but as they grew up she defaults more to pera to lead because she tends to execute them better and think of details mela would miss

though as kids pera would go along with whatever mela suggested bc she thought it was fun ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (mela was the one who proposed playing with fire, pera would probably just say ‘lets do it outside’)

i think they fully developed their own ‘firebrand’ around 3-4! but there were signs beforehand, like mela sneezing smoke as a baby and having a higher normal body temperature than pera

(but peach’s magic is so strong there was little doubt that her children would inherit her abilities, and they do end up doing so to some degree! fire just manifested early)

in terms of them as babies, they were definitely a handful but overall ‘good’ babies

once pera knew how to walk tho it was a wrap

very adventurous and loves pursuing knowledge no matter what it takes (nosy and persistent) meanwhile mela has that same curiosity but doesn’t really know what she wants. the happy hobby pursuer

we know mario has experience with younger children and babies (mallow, goombario if you squint a little, watt, yoshi kid, himself (PiT moment), olivia) and peach likely doesn’t have nearly as much but it’s still a different ball game when it’s your kid and two of them and being prince consort(? king? in my head he stayed prince consort but i like @istadris ‘s thing) but he does have a huge community so they do end up well traveled/being cared for and spoiled by many of mario’s companions, and especially so by luigi, peasley, and daisy

back to them being more grown up

mela is the oldest (and as such wears warm-reddish colors in accordance with my headcanon of mushroom world sibling pairs) so technically she’s first in line for the throne, but she doesn’t have as much of an interest in it and believes pera would be a better choice. pera (wears green tones) to her credit does show more interest so they may forgo tradition once more when the time comes but joint ruling was never out of the question

but they don’t have to worry about that for quite a while (but i think peach would do well to make sure both are prepared regardless because of her own experience)

as a pair they aren’t as joined together at the hip as mario and luigi were/are mostly because they didn’t grow up in an environment where mela or pera absolutely needed to protect the other (nor were they ever forcibly separated like the bros were in yoshis island) but they absolutely love each other and would be friends if they weren’t sisters

when they were little tho they were obviously fraternal and always wanted to look identical so they mostly dressed the same until they got to be maybe around 6-8? wide range ik but yeah

but i’m not entirely sure what the situation with bowser is like when they’re growing up but it isn’t as volatile as it currently is. the @justcallmerosey post with clementine giving me ideas tho👀

[looniecartooni]

Weird IDW question- how many hearts does Mimic have?

Clearly, he's a heartless individual, but octopuses normally have 3 hearts- so let's humor the question.

Now- Mimic would most likely only have 1 heart as he does not visibly have gills (2 of the 3 octopus hearts pump blood through the gills while one pumps blood throughout the body). Mimic has been seen breathing air like a mammal and theoretically according to Ian Flynn on a Bumblekast (I really need to start citing where I hear these), he can breathe under water. But with no visible octopus gills and hints of a humanoid torso, perhaps we can assume he has lungs. Unless the hearts are located where his lungs would normally be like a real-life octopus (except real life octopuses would have their hearts and organs located on the giant soft part of Mimic's head, not a humanoid body...)

However, if Mimic does have three hearts like a normal octopus... would they be located near gills he shapeshifted away to look more mammal like? Can he shapeshift his internal organs?

Most likely the answer to these questions might be yes as he was able to fake an arm injury and I'm pretty sure a doctor would have listened for Duo's heartbeat and perhaps noticed, "Huh... this guy sounds like he's got a couple heart beats here." (if only his poor acting skills could have been seen through that way...). Mimic can also supposedly mimic people's voices as well when he shapeshifts, therefore he can control his innards to some degree.

More random octopus facts to tac onto Mimic- technically each tentacle on your average octopus has a cluster of nerves that connect to the brain that gives each tentacle almost a brain of its own... So technically- Mimic should have one central brain and 4 separate other "brains" connected to his tentacles to allow them individual movement and ability to detect objects around him perhaps before even he notices. However- he might have evolved out of this trait or his tentacle nerve clusters are slow as seen with the fight with him Tangle- he's not great are detecting people attacking from behind. Then again- its more of a resource for octopi to detect food rather than danger and in Bad Guys we've seen him break into a room via one tentacle so maybe the nerves clusters work just fine. Helps make him a good infiltrator rather than fighter.

Last thing- a lot of people hate on his design for a variety of reasons, but one aspect of his design I will forever be thankful of is... he's one of the very few animated octopuses with a frickin' beak. Sure- its not a true beak as we've seen him get hit in the cheek and hold his breath with his cheeks puffing up. He is a cartoon character after all and as established- anatomically not all octopus like. But surprisingly a lot more than most.

Seriously- for years the media has been subject to an octopus mouth looking like this in a cartoon or media:

Finding Dory tried to put the mouth in the correct location, but the very few times you see Hank speak, it's still a weird human mouth. How come in a franchise where most of the animals barely resemble their animal counter parts or have an anatomical difference slightly wrong (I'm looking at you, Starline with your misplaced nostrils!), the token sea creature in IDW Sonic who is disguised as a cat trying to heck over and kill a bunch of people, is one of the few octopus characters that at least has a beak-like mouth like a real octopus than so many others that have tried to give them human mouths?!

(Sorry- delved into an entirely different rant lol)

Anyways... Mimic seems to be able to shapeshift his organs- or at least some of them and likely only has one heart, but it can't be denied that he could plausibly have three as on a regular octopus. They are a part of the way they breathe and unless all Sonic characters have mammal/human lungs, said hearts are likely a part of the lungs or he just has lungs. Actually- the more I think about it- his gills would have to more likely close to or a part of his chest, hence we can't see them on his head (because the gills are a part of the lungs on most if not all fish if I'm not mistaken. I need a biologist to correct me here). We of course cannot see his torso to confirm nor deny the location of his gills as he is fully clothed. We also are now aware that Mimic has individual control over each tentacle which is capable of some form of independence from his own central brain (Nine Brains Are Better Than One: An Octopus’ Nervous System | Biomechanics in the Wild (nd.edu)) (but this is possibly not true due to Tangle able to sneak up on him twice in one fight, but it also isn't really meant for defense as far as I am aware). And the person who wrote this rant post is way too happy that Mimic has a beak-like mouth rather than a human mouth forced above the 8 tentacles like he was Davy Jones from pirates of the Carribean.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk on Mimic the Octopus from the Sonic IDW series. I'm sure there are plenty of flaws in it, but I just really wanted to rant about what I know of octopus anatomy.