#but when it's a show it depends on the interpretation of the crew and this is such a delicate scene to handle

[sunflowerbloomss]

also the teeny tiny flashbacks to kaz's trauma. well.

#no one cares eli #shadow and bone #i'm actually intrigued to see how they'd translate it onto the screen because in the books it's such a clear holocaust scene #not in the sense of genocide in the sense of an abundance of bodies #i really want to see how they make it appeare in the show because i feel like doing it by the book would be too visually disturbing #like it's such a hard scene to read and when we read we interpret stuff in a way that works for our personal minds #but when it's a show it depends on the interpretation of the crew and this is such a delicate scene to handle #especially in a teen show

[toki-toro]

|| Part 1/5!

Gave myself the project/challenge of drawing just about every character from this silly musical :o)

Ramblings about each cat design and a brisk sprinkle of hcs below the cut off 👇

~

I say ‘just about everyone’ bc I didn’t include every single swing in the cats I have planned out. But there’s already like over 40 separate characters to draw and I included the Raffish crew in the list cause I rlly enjoy them. So I think that all makes up for the lack of unnamed male swing #2 that was featured in Broadway one time and had no pictures taken of him at any point.

These first eight took me like a month to finish. I’m hoping that none of the other parts will take me nearly that long but um :) no promises that I won’t completely drop this entire idea once I’ve realized it’s dumb

Whenever I draw a cat I pretty much always combine a bunch of aspects from different productions that I personally like. Nothing drastically different from what’s seen in a typical replica. Basically this is a big ref sheet for me for if I ever want to draw any of them again

I've changed some of their 'three words' if they either didn't fit my personal interpretation, or if they just never had any in the first place. But I do promise none of them stray too far from their original concepts

Anywho, onto the kitties !!

~

Munkustrap ~ Integrity, Discipline, Dignified

Makeup and wig very much based off of earlier 80's - 90's ish productions, such as a few actors from US tours 1 and 4. Love a good slender Munk with angular shapes;.. . .Each stripe is filled with the respective colour of fluff, so he'd naturally be very fuzzy and probably a pain to maintain

As for hcs, I only really see him being an Old Deut son, and maybe a few others…. So I’m ignoring whichever London production that said Tugger was related to them, even tho i realize that him being in the family is like one of the most popular hcs in this entire fandom lol. I personally just don’t see it but I’m NOT against it at all

Rum Tum Tugger ~ Rebellious, Perverse, Preening

Rocky Tam Tam! I went full force on Tugger since ik his original design had SO much potential to be rlly fun

He does in fact have a harness selection to choose from and he changes which one he’s wearing depending on his mood of the day

Rick Sparks and David Hibbard from Broadway, actors from US tours 1, 4, and 5, aand early 2000's Japan productions were inspirations for this big guy.

Special shout out to that 90's Mexico Tugger as well.. one of my idols 💋

Old Deuteronomy ~ Wise, Commanding, Spiritual

Deut is supposed to be trans in the 2019 adaptation and NOBODY told me. I was so mindblowned by that information.. yes Judi Dench… thank you Judi Dench ily.. .

Um I think this is literally just Ken Page from when he was on Broadway. His pigtails(??) are cute :) Do not zoom into his drawing he looks like a literal carpet

Victoria ~ Inquisitive, Romantic, Un- selfconcious

I think she’d be semi blind and very shy when it comes to verbally speaking. Thats just the kind of vibe I get whenever she mistakenly makes herself the centre of attention during the musical, like her entire solo, the pas de deux, and a few other notable parts. Isn’t rlly able to see the audience nor the people watching her do whatever. She can hear the music just fine and can recognize the vague blurs of those around her, altho she is never certain about how the others around her are dancing nor when it’s the appropriate time to just do whatever. So she does whatever the music is persuading her to do at any given moment.

Vicky’s supposed to be a complimentary opposite of Jemima, so she’s brilliant at dancing but not much of a singer (doesn’t sing in the ensemble), and Jemima is vice versa.

I gave her 80’s(?) Paris/Amsterdam inspired pigtails. .. they’re so adorable on her <3 Makeup is kinda early broadway-ish and a sprinkle of Warsaw with the long under lashes.

Bustopher Jones ~ Foppish, Gluttonous, Dapper

Bestie shows up for 5 minutes max, sings about how he love a good luncheon and then runs off into the night, never to be mentioned by anyone again. Banger character

His is pretty basic tbh! Even in some of the non replica productions his design stayed relatively the same compared to replicas lol. No improving upon perfection ig. Based mostly on Tony Timberlake fromm early London. Bustopher is underrated but I can understand why because what’s there to even say about this guy

I LOVE it when they give Bustopher face lines and detailing. Gives him so much personality. So posh so fun. Yet that aspect only adds to how many old people I end up drawing. If I draw one more wrinkle I’m going to turn into one

Jennyanydots ~ Motherly, Controlling, Complacent

Grgrgr Jenny gave me the most trouble out of anyone… . And I love Jenny sm </3

I initially tried drawing her in the outfit she wears during the tap number as per request, but it was HARD for me to make it look any good. I think I went through maybe four separate drafts until I managed to stop myself before I went insane. So no tap.

Super duper inspired by specific actresses in Broadway, such as Carol Dilley & Anna McNeely. Guys she was pink then. Look at what they took from us. And Anna looks exactly like a Jenny rn without all that theatre makeup. She was literally born for the role idk what else you want me to say

Skimbleshanks! ~ Caring, Punctual, Self-Regarding

YAYY I was the most excited for him. Little train obsessed lad dad ❤️

I think in like once year at a UK tour Geof Garratt wore thigh high warmers and they’re so good grgrgrgaheggr. I don’t think there’s any pictures of it but there is a video of which you’re required to watch. I could unironically gush about his performance for several hours, he’s my absolute favourite Skimble 💋💋 Oh and he’s not dubbed by some Scottish dude this time around which is awesome sauce

Whenever I draw this ginger I typically go with a specific makeup look from Robert Burnett in Broadway.. it’s so good and so fun to draw. I never stray from taking creative liberties at all, but he’s peak Skimble imo. I drew a more angular (and lopsided oops lol) version of the wig but it’s basically the same colour-wise.

Grizabella ~ Proud, Hurt, Indomitable

A big sobbing mess :( Griz makes me sad. Couldn’t make grey or brown hair look good in this case so I went with some of the darker looks like Linda Balgord/Liz Callaway from Broadway and actresses from US tour 5. Kinda wish I went with the design Judi Dench was given cuz WOW it’s actually pretty good.

Problem I had with my first draft of her is that she looked way too ugly. Now this time she looks too pretty. I can’t win

Referenced Jacqui Scott for the main idea of the makeup and pose. heavy amounts of mascara tears stained on her face is such an underused element. Those girlies gotta go all out to make me feel emotional. Like damn she really was suffering

I went wild on that mascara but it’s okay it looks kinda cool. Imagine she was crying a waterfall

~

Next part will finish off the rest of the song cats liekk Rumpel/Mungo, Jelly and whoever else isn’t included here idk I already forgot

#cats #cats musical #cats the musical #my hcs #doodles #munkustrap #rum tum tugger #old deuteronomy #victoria #bustopher jones #jennyanydots #skimbleshanks #grizabella

[cartograffiti]

An intro to the historical Zheng Yi Sao

Ruibo Qian's character in Our Flag Means Death is based on a real person, though like all its real pirates, she is a loose interpretation. In particular, the real Zheng Yi Sao wasn't born until 57 years after the real Blackbeard died!

In real life, she lived from 1775 to 1844. She was known by a variety of names; her birth name is usually given as Shi Yang. Zheng Yi Sao is the name most often used, which literally means "the wife of Zheng Yi" (more on him later), and you may also see variations like Ching Shih or Madam Cheng, depending on transliteration. Calling her Zheng, as Oluwande does, is good, or ZYS in fandom chat, but if fic writers crave a more personal connotation for a scene, Yang is a good choice for a given name consistent with the real woman. It's like the difference between Mr. Buttons and Nathaniel.

She was born in the Guangdong province, and many bios of her claim she worked on one of the boat brothels there, but this is speculation only.

When she married Zheng Yi, he was a successful member of a pirating dynasty, working as a privateer for emperors of Vietnam. The couple collaborated to unite six different pirate fleets operating off the Guangdong coast into a confederation, sealed with an agreement signed by the captains of each. Zheng Yi was informally recognized as the overall leader of the confederation until his death in a storm two years after the signing.

Zheng Yi Sao had the respect of other key figures in the alliance, and her smooth assumption of leadership was followed by a period of huge success and expansion for the pirate confederation, driving the Chinese government to desperation. This is where her reputation as a pirate "queen" comes from in real life, though I'm excited to see where the show goes with her fictional conquest of China!

In 1810, Zheng Yi Sao recognized that the confederation faced internal fractures and additional opposition, as Portuguese and British military forces allied with Chinese ships, so she led the confederation to bow out on a high, and use their immense power to bargain for a peaceful retirement, surrendering ships and weapons for pardons, supplies, and money. Although it's fictional that her crew was predominantly women, when Zheng Yi Sao surrendered, she did so accompanied by a delegation wholly composed of women and children who belonged to the confederation. At that time, the confederation consisted of 226 ships, 24 of which personally reported to Zheng Yi Sao.

If you're doing the math, she was only in her mid-thirties, and was far from done with life. She remarried, to one of her former captains, Zhang Bao, and accompanied him to the Penghu Islands, where he commanded a garrison. After his death, she returned to Guangdong and had another career of twenty-odd years, becoming the owner of a casino until her death at age 68 or 69 (nice).

She was one of the most successful pirates in history, both because of her power and her ability to survive it. I think she's neat as hell, and so have a lot of fiction writers! You might have encountered versions of her, or characters inspired by her, before, in things like Pirates of the Caribbean, the Bloody Jack novels, Assassin's Creed, and Doctor Who. It's fun to see a form of her in this! We can expect her arc to progress differently, but I hope having some context will help.

The most helpful things to note for the rest of the season for ofmd fans will be that Zheng is her surname, she wasn't really a contemporary of the other historical figures, and that her connection to sex work should not be treated as a fact, whether you want to include it in this fictional interpretation or not.

#Our Flag Means Death #OFMD #ofmd spoilers #ofmd s2 #Zheng Yi Sao

[bberry005]

thinking way too hard about this page from kanan: the last padawan and how much it shows about him as a character during rebels and also how that relates to ezra and their sacrifices at the end of the show

it's clear from the first episode of rebels that kanan has no qualms about attachment in general, which is a stark difference from most of the other jedi that we see. he cares freely and openly and deeply about all the members of the ghost crew. he might care too much at the beginning, but that's part of his journey as a jedi that we see throughout the show.

"you must not grow too attached, too fond, too in love with life as it is now" is a fundamental thing that kanan must remember during season 2 of rebels. because he DID become too attached to his life as it was with the ghost crew running around lothal, and when they join up with the larger rebel fleet, he doesn't like it and dislikes how things are changing. he has to relearn the ability to adapt and change before he's declared a jedi knight in the season 2 finale.

part of being a jedi is loving enough to know when it's time to go, which is something that kanan mastered. he and ezra leave at the end of season 2 to protect the rest of the rebellion, he teaches ezra to let sabine go with her family on mandalore, he helps hera reconcile with her past on ryloth. through love and attachment, kanan also learned sacrifice. he lost everything as he became kanan jarrus instead of caleb dume. he was forced to leave behind all the attachments of his former life in order to survive. he didn't learn to do that necessarily, he was forced into it out of necessity, which is very different than him consciously learning how to let go during rebels.

in rebels, kanan leaves by choice. in season 2, he knows that leaving is necessary to the survival of the rebellion. in season 4, he's standing on top of the fuel tank and holding back the explosion and he probably wants nothing more than to try and go with hera, ezra, and sabine. because that's his FAMILY. he loves them more than anything, but he knows that if he does not let go, they will not survive.

so he does. he sees them one last time, and then he lets them go and sacrifices himself to save them all, and in a way, this was the last lesson he ever taught ezra

its no secret that their sacrifices were meant to mirror each other, but here's the images again for reference

in his final moments, kanan teaches ezra about sacrifice. yes, you must love and feel and experience life, but to be a jedi knight, you must be able to master those feelings and do what you must for the greater good. in his actions, kanan was essentially repeating what depa told him when he was a padawan. "you must not grow too attached, too fond, too in love with life as it is now. those emotions are valuable and must not be surpressed, but you must learn to rule them lest they rule you". ezra fully learns that lesson during "the world between worlds" when he leaves the memory of kanan's death behind in the world between worlds and learns to stop his attachment from going too far.

and also like...kanan's life had FINALLY worked out when he died. hera just said that she loved him, they're back on lothal ready to free their home from the empire, he's figured out this whole jedi thing, and he may or may not know that hera is pregnant with their child depending on your interpretation. but he must let go. he cannot let his love and attachment stop him from doing what must be done for the greater good. he saves them, but he also leads to the empire blowing up their own fuel depot, which is the only reason the rebels can take back lothal. he put his purpose (saving the galaxy) over his feelings (because there was definitely a part of him screaming to go with his family, but he was able to control it in order to see the bigger picture)

the jedi fight for peace and the greater good, which at it's core requires immense selflessness and sacrifice and a clear head acting on logic rather than emotion. kanan and ezra were learning that together throughout the whole show, and one last time, kanan teaches ezra a jedi lesson that he finally figured out through trying to guide ezra through it

"but remember, caleb, the galaxy is far from static, and as it changes, a jedi's role in it too must evolve." jedi were keepers of the peace, then they were generals, then they were scattered teenagers who didn't know what to do in the wake of order 66, and now? now they are rebel fighters, once again getting at the heart of what it is to be a jedi. to be a jedi is to love, to sacrifice, to keep the peace. kanan and ezra show why jedi are KNIGHTS and not diplomats. they fight for peace, but they know it is just that: a bloody, brutal, violent fight, and that those fights require sacrifice in order to keep going. they both embody luthen's line from andor where he says "i burn my life for a sunrise i will never get to see", which is also a perfect way to think about why the jedi fight for peace. they really believe in it, and are willing to lay down their lives to make a peace that will never be achieved in their lifetimes.

(what's also crazy is that in this episode, we're essentially shown that kanan jarrus has found caleb dume again and therefore reconnected with his jedi past but that's a post for a whole other day)

i have so many feelings about this that basically boil down to: rebels is so well written and so underrated and kanan and ezra teach us far more about what the ideal jedi should be than any of the skywalker saga main characters (WHICH IS A VERY HOT TAKE I KNOW but it's my take)

#i am so normal about the shatterpoint lineage #and also kanan and ezra's sacrifices #totally and completely normal #star wars #star wars rebels #sw rebels #swr #kanan jarrus #caleb dume #ezra bridger #depa billaba #kanan: the last padawan #jedi knights #jedi code #i also love thinking about the jedi code #and how different characters interpret it #so maybe i'll post more things like this

[prokopetz]

The third major revision of the increasingly overwrought tabletop RPG about what if Samus Aran was secretly three to five space gerbils operating a person-sized mech suit is now up.

This is primarily an "expansions and clarifications" type update, with few major structural changes, apart from splitting scenes into multiple types and providing simplified rules for the less critical ones. Those expansions and clarifications are substantial, however, so if you're updating from the previous playtest draft I'd definitely recommend giving the changelog a once-over.

My next steps, in no particular order:

Finish the mech suit upgrades table (there are currently a couple of unfilled slots, and I'd like to bump it up to a full 18 eventually)

Provide some examples of pre-generated space gerbil roles

Discussion of campaign play (including advancement)

Discussion of playing without a GM (possibly including solo play?)

Add a bunch of big stupid random mission tables (needed for both GMless play and hypothetical solo play module)

As always, comments, criticisms, and bizarre rants are welcome. Additionally, this is probably the first major revision of the game where a full end-to-end run is feasible (at least for a one-shot), so if anyone would like to volunteer to run an actual playtest, please drop me a line!

Illustrations by @pencilbrony

Full changelog under the cut:

Space Gerbils Changelog 2023-01-08

Note: all page numbers refer to the PDF version.

Print-and-play token sheet updated with twelve additional papercraft minifigs, courtesy of @pencilbrony

Added a brief inspirational media section (p. 8) and a not-so-brief glossary (pp. 9–14)

Two new full-page illustrations by @pencilbrony (pp. 16, 28)

Added procedures for randomly selecting starting mech suit upgrades and increased number of starting upgrades to 2 (p. 21)

Added two new mech suit upgrades ("Co-pilot Protocols" and "Copy Circuit") (pp. 21–22)

Re-worked "Hyperdrive" upgrade for compatibility with revised critical success rules (below) (p. 22)

Re-worked "Well Maintained" upgrade so that it doesn't require players to keep track of how many times it's been used in each scene; all upgrades are now either "once per scene" or "once per phase" (p. 23)

Added six new proficiencies ("Bodyguard", "Fringe Science", "Machine Empathy", "Motivational Speaker", "Observant" and "Psychic") (pp. 24–26)

Re-worked "Direct Neural Interface" proficiency so that it no longer benefits from cost discounts for pushing yourself (p. 24)

Re-worked "Special Operations" proficiency to be less complicated and (somewhat) less overpowered (p. 26)

Added a note about re-naming proficiencies (p. 27)

Made starting Stress Limit more explicit (p. 27)

Revised phase flowchart to reflect simpified workflow (see below) and made it available as a separate PDF (p. 29)

Re-worked Setup Phase to allow players to choose their initial positions (p. 30)

Clarified that Extravehicular Activity task may not be performed if doing so would result in no space gerbils crewing the mech suit (p. 32)

Revised protocol descriptions (p. 34)

Added rules for multitasking (p. 35)

Clarified handling of Fallout Phase when multiple tests were made in preceding Action Phase (p. 37)

Critical success now occurs on any success where the chosen result shows doubles or better, not just double 6s; critical success and complications may now occur on same test (p. 38)

"Lost" complication re-named "Scrambled", and now disallows Reassigning in following Operations Phase (pp. 39–40)

"Delayed" complication re-named "Time Loss" (pp. 39–40)

Subsection on complications and physical threats removed and replaced with more general discussion of interpreting mixed outcomes (p. 41)

Workflow for End Phase simplified; the End Phase now always follows the Fallout Phase, and its triggers no longer depend on what happened in phases prior to the Fallout Phase (p. 42)

Clarified and expanded End Phase triggers, and included a trigger for all space gerbils Stressing Out at the same time (p. 42)

Added explicit rules for recovering Stress and conditions between scenes (p. 42)

"Hazardous" condition re-named "Unsafe" to avoid potential confusion with scene Hazards (p. 44)

Brief discussion of mission structure added to "Running the Game" (p. 47)

Scenes now divided into two types: engagements and interludes (pp. 49–59)

Re-named Mission Clock to Threat Clock (p. 49)

Expanded discussion of Obstacle traits (p. 52)

Added eight new Obstacle traits ("Barrier", "Cryptic", "Hazardous", "High Risk", "Jinxed", "Small Target", "Stressful" and "Volatile") (pp. 52–54)

"Secure" Obstacle trait re-named "Big Target" (p. 52)

"Consequence" Obstacle trait re-named "Fixed Consequence" (p. 53)

Added rules for scene Hazards (p. 55)

Added discussion of handing the end of an engagement (p. 56)

Simplified rules for handling non-critical scenes and having adventures outside the mech suit (pp. 57–59)

#gaming #tabletop roleplaying #tabletop rpgs #space gerbils #game design

[something-about-sunflowers]

Hot take: The people who are STILL insisting that Izzy is homophobic (despite the NUMEROUS instances of the cast/crew/David himself saying that nobody on the show is being targeted for their identity and ‘it’s not “I can’t believe he’s with a guy” but “I can’t believe he’s with THAT guy”‘ ad nauseam) towards Stede, Lucius, or Ed (I don’t believe I’ve seen anyone say anything about Fang or Pete, though I could be wrong, but I’m gonna touch on that in a bit too*)? They’re, unironically, being homophobic by stereotyping the characters and reducing them to just their sexuality.

If you recognize that Stede is a multifaceted character and you recognize the ways in which he is multifaceted - He’s a man born into wealth and raised on classist, colonialist ideals. Yes, he’s also traumatized by how he was treated by his father and peers but trauma doesn’t exempt people from blame when participating in, embracing, enforcing, and benefiting from classist and colonialist ideals - you will understand that Izzy is not being homophobic towards him just because he hates him.

If you only view Stede as a gay man and ignore everything else about his character then the only motivation for Izzy to hate him MUST be because he’s a gay man and therefore Izzy MUST be homophobic.

If you recognize that Lucius is a multifaceted character and you recognize the ways in which he is multifaceted - He’s a man who likely was born into some level of the middle class, given that he can read and write (It’s also possible that he was born into a working class family and he learned to read and write there, but it’s the unlikely option by default. None of the rest of the working class crew know how to read or write save Jim who was raised by a nun and would have been taught by her.), he also avoids doing work which is necessary for the function of the ship that they live on and depend on for their livelihoods and encourages the rest of the crew to do the same with his insubordination. He’s also in an unorthodox relationship that people who have not experienced the concept of consensual non-monogamy would not understand and might interpret as cheating - you will understand that Izzy is not being homophobic towards him just because he hates him.

If you only view Lucius as a gay man and ignore everything else about his character then the only motivation for Izzy to hate him MUST be because he’s a gay man and therefore Izzy MUST be homophobic.

If you recognize that Ed is a multifaceted character and you recognize the ways in which he is multifaceted - He’s a man of color, born into a working class family who worked hard to make a name for himself, to the point where he did not have to endanger himself or his crew to earn their livelihoods. He’s also some level of neurodivergent and understimulated by the environment he’s in (because he excels at his job) which leads him to make irrational and dangerous decisions and puts the lives of himself and his crew in danger. He’s also been making increasingly out of character decisions (corroborated by Fang and Ivan) by the influence of Stede - you will understand that Izzy is not being homophobic towards him just because he’s angry about his relationship with Stede.

If you only view Ed as a gay man and ignore everything else about his character then the only motivation for Izzy to be angry about his relationship with Stede (and only Stede, because he had no qualms about Ed and Calico Jack’s involvement with one another given that he sent Jack to get Ed out of the way of the English, but that’s another post I don’t have the spoons to make) MUST be because he’s a gay man and therefore Izzy MUST be homophobic.

If you IGNORE that Izzy is a multifaceted character and you IGNORE the ways in which he is multifaceted - He’s a gay (we’re not having this argument) working class man who earned his high ranking position on an extremely respectable pirate’s crew. He’s capable and is rightfully angry when he’s looked down on because of his class. He recognizes the importance of ship maintenance and is rightfully angry when those tasks are ignored. He doesn’t understand Lucius’ relationship dynamic and thinks he can use (what he thought was) him cheating on his partner (seriously, how is ‘I’m going to tell the man you were fucking that you were fucking another man’ threatening to out him?) as a motivation to make him do the necessary ship work. He is rightfully angry when his orders are ignored because he’s the highest authority on the ship next to the captains. He is in love with Ed and is jealous because Ed is in love with Stede - you can pretend that Izzy is homophobic because of how he behaves towards the other gay men on the ship.

If you ignore that Izzy has valid reasons for his actions (which does not mean that the actions are all entirely justified) then the only motivation for them MUST be because he’s homophobic.

(* The persistent neglect of Fang and Pete in these discussions is also rooted in homophobia. Fang and Pete are the only explicitly gay men on the ship who don’t, at any point, present ‘femininely’** and therefore don’t fall so easily into the bubble of the stereotypical gay man and so they get ignored in these discussions because they aren’t suitable to push the narrative that Izzy only interacts negatively towards ‘feminine’/’gnc’** gay men.)

(** The insistence that Stede, Lucius, and Ed are in any way, at any point, LEGITIMATELY presenting ‘femininely’ or are ‘gender non-conforming’ is ALSO rooted in homophobia - and I’d argue a touch of racism via Ed’s hair and beard as they relate to his indigenous roots. The assumption/association with those three being considered feminine comes from their identity as gay men. That is homophobia.

Stede wears men’s clothes. He wears RICH men’s clothes. Bright, colorful, patterned fabrics are worn by RICH men in the 1700s - if you want to argue that, say, king George presented femininely or was gnc because of the way he dressed be my guest but you won’t because he doesn’t and he isn’t. Lucius wears men’s clothes. His clothes are perfectly at place amongst the rest of the crew’s clothes. Ed wears men’s clothes. His leather is in direct relation to gay leather-men which is a hyper-masculine aesthetic in the same way drag is - typically - a hyper-feminine aesthetic. His appreciation for Stede’s clothes comes from the wealth and privilege that centers around the easy possession of those types and quantities of fabrics.

None of them behave in ways that are stereotypically feminine. Having and expressing emotions is not a uniquely or inherently feminine trait. Caring for and maintaining your appearance is not a uniquely or inherently feminine trait. Even if they were, Izzy also does those things. Izzy frequently expresses his emotions - yes, anger, a stereotypically ‘masculine’ emotion, but others as well. He also puts a great deal of care into his appearance, aside from the materials, the only difference between his and Stede’s outfits are the type of shoes and the presence of a jacket. If those traits are to be considered inherently feminine then it is disingenuous to not apply that label to Izzy as well.)

#the dork is being a dork #izzy hands #the izcourse #always feels like i'm swinging at a hornet's nest tagging them but #edward teach #stede bonnet #lucius spriggs #seriously tho we're not doing the 'izzy isn't canonically gay' shit. #if you're still peddling that at this point you're basically saying that your opinion is only worth dismissal #because you don't know how to listen or pay attention to anything that isn't spelled out for you in a goddamn picture book #and MAN have we been given practically kindergarten level reading comprehension tests by the cast/david #it's okay to admit you were wrong about this by the way #you're not going to be forgiven for the constant and consistent harassment you've engaged in towards people who were saying the right things #from the beginning (izzy is gay and none of what he does is motivated by homophobia) but you're at least not digging yourself deeper for #when your INSISTING on it being true doesn't pay off

[agentrouka-blog]

Hiiiiiiii :3 I’m here with another stupid (😎) ask :33

What do you think of Sansa’s line “my father and I have other concerns” when she and Maester Colemon are talking about giving Sweetrobin sweet milk. Maester Colemon objects to Sansa’s demand that SR be given sweetmilk again when going down the mountain. She’s pretty adamant about SR sweetmilk even as Maester Colemon shows concerns about nosebleeds. Many have theorised this as Sansa knowingly poisoning SR and has been touted as the Sansa = villain (🙄) theory by the antis pretty steadfastly. Does Sansa know about poisoning SR? What other concerns do she and LF have? Is she actually poisoning SR or is she just irritated with him and wants him to shut up?

Hello!

Neither. She's genuinely concerned with Sweetrobin's future as Lord of the Vale, after GRRM has taken care to insert not one but two shaking fits into the previous chapters that leave him incapacitated and soiled, and which are generally treated with "medicine" just as harsh or worse, like high level narcotics, alcohol or leeching and bleeding. .

This stuff is rightfully seen as an improvement. He's awake, calm, not losing blood or ingesting addictive substances.

And while he hedges and mutters, Colemon never comes right out and states "It could kill him". He lets a distracted Alayne cut him off or trails off by himself. And he eventually relents, giving the appearance that his concerns are not that serious.

And Alayne is rightfully distracted. After a peacefully resolved siege against the rule of Littlefinger (guardian of Sweetrobin), they are coming down to spend the winter with Lord Nestor, accessible to the Vale lords (his future subjects who need to respect him) for the first time in a long time. And the descent itself is also very dangerous, as we will be shown.

“The Lord of the Eyrie cannot descend from his mountain tied up like a sack of barleycorn.” Of that Alayne was certain. They dare not let the full extent of Robert’s frailty and cowardice become too widely known, her father had warned her. [...] “It was too soon. My lady, you do not understand. As I’ve told the Lord Protector, a pinch of sweetsleep will prevent the shaking, but it does not leave the flesh, and in time …” “Time will not matter if his lordship has a shaking fit and falls off the mountain. If my father were here, I know he would tell you to keep Lord Robert calm at all costs.” “I try, my lady, yet his fits grow ever more violent, and his blood is so thin I dare not leech him any more. Sweetsleep … you are certain he was not bleeding from the nose?” [...] “Very well.” They paused at the foot of the stairs. “But this must be the last. For half a year, or longer.” “You had best take that up with the Lord Protector.” She pushed through the door and crossed the yard. Colemon only wanted the best for his charge, Alayne knew, but what was best for Robert the boy and what was best for Lord Arryn were not always the same. Petyr had said as much, and it was true. Maester Colemon cares only for the boy, though. Father and I have larger concerns.

(AFFC, Alayne II)

That's his future she is trying to protect. Not to mention, this is before she ever learns about Harry the Heir. Why on earth would she support poisoning him, when Littlefinger's protection of her depends on his role as Sweetrobin's guardian?

This is the same Sansa that is planning his new bodyguard crew in her TWOW sample chapter, who considers what his future wife will love about him, the same Sansa whose gentle care even Colemon acknowledges helps Sweetrobin calm himself without medicine. No, she is not knowingly poisoning the kid.

(Also, Maester Colemon may well be playing his own game, giving him antidotes or refusing to administer doses, depending on how you want to interpret the fact that Sweetrobin still suffers a shaking spell on the mountain, and the "vile" substance mixed into his milk without explanation.)

#sansa stark #alayne stone #sweetrobin #maester colemon #sweetsleep #rouka ask

[lostsneeze]

Cold Space (F/F)

Yila was counting the minutes until her shift in the medbay ended in hot anticipation. She was a startling sight inside her containment suit; one look through the window of her helmet would be enough to tell she was suffering from a particularly vicious cold. To make matters worse, her restriction to the inside of the suit meant she couldn’t even clean up her own nose, and it had been clearly running unrestricted down her face for some time.

Her infection would’ve normally been a surprise, here on a starcruiser with a clearly functioning medbay in the most technologically advanced period of human history to date. In fact, Yila herself was an accomplished physician and could’ve treated herself for the virus with ease. But, noticing her blue skin and the row of small ridges just beneath her jet-black hair, anyone familiar with the federation’s medical practices would realize that she was an Acrturian, and therefore purposefully remaining sick.

Through the manipulation of morphogenetic fields, Yila’s species has the ability to engage in pseudo-telepathic communication between herself and other living organisms, even non-sapient ones. Being such a useful boon on spacefaring journeys where a crew can expect to encounter lifeforms of all kinds that they may have no clear way of communicating with, Arcturians are a frequent sight on federation starships. 

But there is one complication; Acrturians cannot interpret the thoughts, feelings or sensations of organisms they are totally unfamiliar with. A workaround to this was discovered in the form of using a mediating organism, until such a time as the familiarity could be achieved. After some research into the statistically least risky contagious illness, it became established policy for Acrturian science officers to voluntarily maintain an infection so they could be on standby not only for communicating with new intelligent lifeforms but also for diagnostic purposes on crewmembers in case of emergency, as they could even achieve low-level communication with alien illnesses.

Normally, volunteer infection is only done in shifts during the same timeframe as when encounters with new planetary or spacefaring bodies are anticipated. However, Yila had medically prolonged her infection for nearly 2 weeks, the maximum time permitted before recovery was policy mandated. This was because she had come to enjoy it. The cold virus, when rampaging through a host system, experiences something that morphogenetic empathy translates as, essentially, ecstasy. And thanks to the aid of her girlfriend, yeoman 3rd class Rebecca Wong, she had been doubly reveling in it.

Glancing at the time and frowning at how much longer remained for her standby call in medbay, Yila reflected on the joy of yesterday, the 2nd day in a row Rebecca had called out sick after having caught Yila’s cold. Rebecca was of course not restricted from getting it cured by an professional obligation or personal satisfaction, and she had done so after a night of indulging Yila several times in the past. But now she was granting Yila’s request to hang onto it for a while, let it develop, let her soak in the pleasure of not just one but two “healthy” colonies of germs.

She thought about their first night together, when Rebecca had started showing symptoms and, in a hoarse and husky voice, had seductively invited Yila to make them worse. Rebecca held Yila in a strikingly lustful gaze, despite (or because of, depending on perspective) the fatigue already showing in her eyes and a thin trail of snot hanging down her little round, slightly upturned nose from after she’d sneezed just moments before. Not her usual, girly, polite, partially stifled “Hh’NGTX-cheww~” kind of sneeze she would do around mixed company, but the uncovered, blasting “HAAKTCHEEW!” kind of sneeze that she only did around Yila.

The Arcturian had tackled lover into bed with an animalistic ferocity. Her own nose, which was broad and flat with an almost snoutlike quality, was dripping in two thick streams, and they kissed through a curtain of snot that Yila refused to fully break off even as a trio of sneezes overtook her. Instead, she released three fierce “Mmpht’SHUUH”s directly down her girlfriend’s sore throat before finally pulling away as Rebecca gasped for air through a series of coughs and reverse-snorts. Meanwhile Yila reeled her head back with a satisfied moan. After those sneezes she was streaming wet, both on top and bottom, and Rebecca let out an excited sigh as she felt that wetness spread over her.

As Yila began caressing Rebecca with her entire body, she reached out to pin her girlfriend’s hands up above her head and stretched to position her own generously sized breasts in front of the yeoman’s face. This wasn’t really a position of proper restraint; the medical officer was slender to an almost waifish degree, and the yeoman maintained athletic training actually a bit above what was regulation for crewmembers on call for away missions. Rather, it was a physical reminder for Rebecca to forgo ordinary etiquette in preventing or flinching away from the contagion which Yila was delighted in both giving and receiving. Every time Rebecca would turn from force of habit to redirect one of her little coughs or boisterous wet sneezes away, Yila would greedily nuzzle her own face into her lover’s or thrust her breasts towards her to catch the spray. 

“Hwah…Ha…HAAAHKSHEEW! HaaAH’TSHEW! Haah’kshew! Haaah…Hhh’KTCHEEW!”

And each time Rebecca saw Yila’s wide, horribly chapped and red nostrils flaring even wider in building a sneeze, Yila would gently squeeze her hands or wrists to stave off her instinct to cover herself.

“Heuhhh…Heuaht’SHUUH! Heah-Ah-AAARSHEUUH! EEUGHSHEUUH!”

Throughout the entire time she was sick, Rebecca adhered to a request from Yila to blow and wipe her nose only with her hands if at all. The sight of her well-worn nose now overflowing beneath eyelids fluttering in preparation for a sneeze excited Yila into a frenzy. Yila mushed her own ragged nose down against the yeoman’s, kissing her hungrily even as she swiped their snot back and forth across each other’s cheeks and lips. She finally released her grip on Rebecca’s hands and traced them down scattered black bangs to lovingly hold her love’s flush, snot-strewn face.

“Haah…Hah…AH!”

Seeing a powerful sneeze starting to build, Yila exhaled sharply in anticipation and traced her fingers lower down her chest, then lower, reaching them in to take hold of Rebecca just as she tightened to take hold of her back.

“HAAAHK’SHEEEUW!”

And as if in sympathy to her memory, at that moment Yila sneezed herself out of her recollection back to the present.

“HEEURGSHUUH!!”

As wetness dripped down both her nose and her thighs, she glanced at the time. She’d been lost in the memory for long enough that only a few minutes remained, easily within reason of her leaving her post early. Without any acknowledgment to the other staff, she left at just short of a sprint, struggling slightly for air between her completely clogged nose and prickly pained throat. When she reached the door to Rebecca’s cabin she didn’t even bother trying to catch her breath before opening the door. She was greeted by the sight of its occupant lying in her bed with the covers somewhat haphazardly over her, completely naked and shivering slightly just as she had been that morning when Rebecca had left, mucus absolutely soaking down the front of her face and bare chest.

“You gudda warb mbe ubp?” she asked, followed by a lengthy, soggy snuffle.

With a combination snuffle and squeak of pleasure, Yila literally tore her containment suit off, ripping it in several places that would have to be patched later. Rebeca blushed at Yila’s wild passion, staring with growing excitement at her naked body emerging from the suit as the door to the cabin quietly automatically slid shut behind her.

#snzblr #snotfcker #mess warning #my first 18+ish thing so be gentle #but also plz give criticism I want to write this stuff better

[markantonys]

There's a lot of things in Rand's story that play into male power fantasies and the show has already veered away from that majorly so I wonder what else they might change to stay with that trend. Like even him conquering half the world would fall into that category (though that one might be unavoidable since it feeds into people's fear of him. They could frame it differently while still keeping the fear though).

this is interesting to think about! i think in the book version, a lot of rand's story is things that sound like male power fantasies on the surface, but whether or not it truly feels that way as you're reading along all depends on the specific reader. for example, it's no secret that a chunk of (male) readers (on reddit) very much read a lot of rand's story as a male power fantasy, seen in things like the way they idolize lan's extreme stoicism, consider rand & the asha'man making the aes sedai kneel at dumai's wells an epic moment, and think that elayne and avi are great for rand to have on tap for sex because they're hot but min is his only "real" girlfriend and it's ~weird~ that he claims to love all of them equally.

but when *i* was reading, i had different interpretations of these things. i read lan's extreme stoicism as a bad example for rand rather than a good one, so it didn't feel like a male power fantasy to me. i read dumai's wells as a grim moment showing rand and the world at large taking a turning point into darkness, so it didn't feel like a male power fantasy to me. i read avirandlayne as an equitable and queer polyamorous relationship rather than as a rand-centric harem, so it didn't feel like a male power fantasy to me (min's attitude did make it feel like a rand-centric harem to me lmao but if we exclude her i never got those vibes at all for avirandlayne).

some of this is down to, of course i as a queer woman will instinctively interpret some things very differently than a straight man would, so maybe there are instances where RJ did kinda get lost in the male power fantasy and they simply went over my head or were interpreted differently by me because that's not something i look for or hope to find in stories. some of it, though, is that RJ included instances of toxic masculinity/male power fantasies because he wanted to criticize them, but readers who are pro-male-power-fantasy only see the instance itself and miss the narrative's critique of it. and there's also some "he's a little confused but he's got the spirit" instances where RJ wanted to critique something but didn't quite pull it off because his own unconscious biases & cultural norms were affecting the way he wrote.

(then there are things like RJ telling us that the shadow will try to target people they know rand cares about and at the same time having min be My Lady Ta'veren being flaunted about on rand's arm all over the continent and facing absolutely 0 consequences from being publicly known as someone he loves, where i'm like "yeah this is 100% RJ getting carried away by a male power fantasy and muddling his own story because of it" lmao)

anyway, back to the show! rand & lanfear is a good example to look at because on the surface it very much SOUNDS like a male power fantasy (young doofus has a stunningly sexy older woman all over him), but it doesn't FEEL that way at all when you're watching it play out in context in the show (i mean, maybe a few rabid rand-haters might claim it does feel like a male power fantasy, but everybody with critical thinking skills can recognize this is a fucked up situation for rand). so, that makes me feel pretty confident that the show will be able to portray things like rand conquering half the world in a way where it feels like a tragedy rather than a triumph. a critique of male fantasy hero tropes rather than a glorification of them, same as the books so often did even if some readers miss it (and tbh this can apply just as much to the ~woke~ crew as to the redditors, where they declare that everything about rand's story is a shitty male power fantasy and completely miss how the story is showing that having a ton of power & attention actually makes his life suck; even things like the common "ugh women are constantly throwing themselves all over rand" complaint - with the exception of his 3 love interests, the abundance of women trying to hit on him makes rand extremely uncomfortable and isn't something he enjoys or benefits from! and the ~woke~ crew does not have the critical thinking skills to read this situation beyond the surface level of "all women want to fuck the male protagonist".)

now, as for what the show has actually *changed* so far on this front, the only big thing i can think of is that the EOTW & TGH finales are group efforts rather than Rand Shows. but this was done to make the first two books feel like as much of an ensemble story as the rest of the series does, and also to give rand realistic power-scaling and ability progression so that they don't have to keep resetting him again at the beginning of the next season. i don't think the show's intentions were "let's change this so it feels like less of a male power fantasy", but rather simply "let's change this so it feels more realistic" - but male power fantasies do naturally get removed when changing the story to feel more realistic, since they tend to be unrealistic. so something like rand conquering half the world, by the time he's doing that, he's gotten enough training in channeling/weapons/politics that it feels realistic for him to be able to do that, so i doubt the show would shy away from portraying it.

(then there's stuff like rand's All Women Must Be Protected But Who Cares If Men Die attitudes where the show IS getting rid of that specifically to get rid of the books' gender essentialism & toxic masculinity, etc. so there definitely are places where they make changes specifically because they want to get rid of book attitudes that the showrunners (and i) don't jive with, and that may have been a *factor* in the s1 & 2 finale changes, but in those instances it was other things that were the main reasons for the changes.)

#anonymous #answered #wot book spoilers

[total-drama-brainrot]

Fake Dating AU, how aware is the actual production crew of what is actually going on with the cheating? are they as in the dark about what actually happened as the cast or are they very aware of it?

Mainly asking since depending on the timeline of events the entire plan to have Aleheather be potrayed as sympathetic and scorned relies on production not revealing it at the wrong time

like how would alenoaheather play around production revealing the plan, or alternatively, letting the plan go on for way longer than intended?

I think we touched on this very briefly in one of our reblog chains, but the production crew are fully aware of Alenoaheather's scheme- they're aware of everything that happens on the jet, since the whole thing is bugged with cameras.

Given the timeframes of both the episodes themselves and the Aftermath, it's safe to assume that each episode is edited and aired within a couple days of them being filmed, meaning the editing crew has a few days notice of any plot twists and can choose which footage to air accordingly.

So when the fake cheating plot is devised, the head of production decides to let it play out exactly as the three intend it to, but with the added bonus of the audience itself being kept in the dark. A ballsy move for a reality tv show, but a great plot twist to reveal later on in the season (they're investing in future drama. It's very on-brand).

Because what's better than a successful villain? A sympathetic villain.

Alejandro and Heather have set up the perfect antagonist redemption arc AND a bigger cheating scandal than the Gwuncan fiasco; it's ratings gold! So the production crew are instructed to play along, editing the episodes to ommit any mention of their ploy and depicting Heather and Alejandro as sympathetically as possible. (At the cost of Noah's reputation, but who really cares about him anyway?)

So pretty much everyone on the production crew are fully aware of what's really happening, they're all just under a non-disclosure contract so they can't spoil the season before it airs. Meaning that anyone In The Know can't leak their footage to clear Noah's name, or to expose Aleheather for being perhaps not as sympathetic as they've been portrayed as.

Of course, Aleheather spend the rest of the competition under the impression that the audience and the ex-competitors are fully aware of their ruse, so the warm welcomes they recieve in Hawaii come as a major shock to them until they realise that, oh shit, the show itself has played along with their scheme.

But that whole plotline has already been explored/explained in a previous reblog chain.

(Of course, this is all just my own ideas/interpretation. Nothing is set entirely in stone for this AU, and my word isn't law since it's become sort of a team effort, joint custody type deal. /pos)

#total drama #fake dating au #alenoaheather #silly ideas #replies #feel free to add your own ideas into the mix btw

[lara635kookie]

My Ship Ranking:

Okay so a few warnings about this:

1-I added all the ships I could find. If there is any missing, let me know and I'll add later.

2-This is my opinion and it isn't meant to be offensive to anyone. You can agree or disagree and it's totally fine. If you wanna do your own rankings, I would love to read it.

3-It's a long post that I've been writing for weeks. I made revisions but if something passed through me and you guys notice, you can tell me.

1-Red Crackle:

Is that even a surprise to anyone? Red Crackle is my whole life and owns my entire soul lol. But jokes aside, these two are just so linked and have a foundation not even time and space can separate. Even when they're apart by circunstances, they meet again. They always comeback to one another. Duane Capizzi said in this interview Carmen and Gray "will definitely meet again":

https://youtu.be/PIjX9rGvUmk?si=4paV3k7alKrt-B4f

And I haven't seen other interviews yet but in this specific interview the person just says Duane said Carmen doesn't see Gray in a flirty light and brushes it off asking about Carulia. Then Duane just talks more about Julia's character and then says, "if it's there, it's intentional" which indicates, from what I got, that the double meaning is there, you can choose how you see and interpret it. They could have made the carulia interactions more clear and chose not to do so on purpose. So I imagine the same thing applies to Red Crackle, Carmivy, Jeantonio, etc. The show ended so now is up to us to interpretate with what we have. Even if Duane, and the whole crew of the show overall, ship something, we can ship something different. As the show is not romance focused, we can choose from what we have. And no way there's no people who ship Red Crackle among the show staff. Michael Goldsmith(Gray's voice actor) seemed to ship. This guy seems to as well(not sure tho) considering the way he directed the holy trinity of Red Crackle episodes:

Gray's character is fundamental for Carmen to be the person she is. Can you picture Carmen jumping from the plane with El Topo, Le Chevre or Tigress? She trusted only Gray enough to do that. Without him she wouldn't have jumped, and would not realize what V.I.L.E. truly is about. And if so, a lot later, maybe too late. And at the end, they could have chosen Devineaux, Zari, Julia, or even Ivy to save Carmen with the A.C.M.E. machine. I think it would be kinda nice if it were Ivy so she would have an interaction with evil Carmen, like Zack had at the ferris wheel, and would impress A.C.M.E. instead of just randomly joining it with Zack out of nowhere at the end. But I'm glad it was Gray and then Shadowsan finished the job. The thing that gets to me is that she looks to the crackle rod on the floor and screams:"Gray!". The person she always prioritized the safety of the most was "dead", by her. Then she asks what has she done and I think here she could have also shown some concern for Devineaux and Julia. Specially Julia. Because Devineaux was there, standing, and depending on the impact of the thing that fell on her head, she could have died. And she seemed to faint under a curtain that also could kill her by asphyxiation if she didn't wake up on time. But the only thing she cared about was Gray. She could have remembered on screen she hurt other people too by seeing the crackle rod, but she only remembered Gray and I was like:"But what about Julia? Aren't you worried about her? Carmen is not gonna care about her at all? Really?" "That's it? That's the ending?" I believe that if there was no red crackle shipper there, the show would be a lot different. Gray's character wouldn't be so important as it was if that was the case. Speaking of which, I want a red crackle week because I never participated in one and I want to write an AU about what would have happened if Gray decided do join Team Red on the train to Paris and on the Himalayans and red crackle week is the perfect excuse for that. Also one if Carmen decided to go back to V.I.L.E. on the train to Paris to destroy them from the inside. If we have a Red Crackle Week it could be in December with a Christmas-themed vibe, @redcrackle-week ? Christmas is my favorite holiday and Red Crackle is one of my favorite ships, perfect combination.

2-Carmivy:

Again, no surprises. I've got nothing to say about this two that I haven't said before. They are so in love and they have my heart. I'll never understand why they are so underrated, they deserve more appreciation.

3-Jeantonio:

It's almost a crime that they aren't first place, but they were so close. They are like, the only ship the whole entire fandom agrees it's canon and I got mad respect for them for being able to unite the shipers because everyone likes them and wants to protect them(specially El Topo). They were clearly dating and were romantic boyfriends and I would do pretty much almost anything for them.

4-Cleobellum:

The same thing with Jeantonio, they are just a little bit lower because they don't have the general consent and less moments but to me they are a married couple.

5-Chasari/Zarineaux:

I think they would be the greatest girlboss and malewife ever. Devineaux is a dumbass but he would be Zari's dumbass. The little they interacted I could tell they would be an amazing couple. I just can see it. I can picture all their interactions perfectly in my head. When Zari fell into his arms, and the way Devineaux held her. Zari telling Devineaux not to be in her way and slowly getting softer to him with time, like, they would be such a good storyline. I wanted them together so badly so they deserve this place at my top 5.

6-Chasulia:

These two are a little bit lower because I'm not sure about them. At the start, they are a definite no. But after the fourth season Devineaux was prasing Julia the way she deserves to be praised and treating her better, redeeming for his past actions towards her and actually listening to her. He admited that he was wrong with Julia and did better. They are such adorable dorks together and while I love them as a platonic ship, I feel like they could also work romantically. It would be an interesting plot. I feel like most people think romance and friendship can't coexist but it can and it should. These two combined are one of the factors that make a good and healthy relationship and I feel like Devineaux and Julia have potential to be that way. I would like to know more about their Interpol days like why they were partnered together and how did they got to Carmen Sandiego, etc. So because of their wholesome platonic relationship that may or may not be affected my romance, they are a little bit lower but they are amazing and I love them.

7-CarChase:

This one, I did not expect to be this high up. First, the ship name is just as funny as "Red Crackle". Carmen and Devineaux did have quite a few number of car chases. Second, I'm aware that they have a 12 years age gap but I have a pretty high tolerance for age gaps. While I would rather not have an age gap too big for romantic relationships, 17 years age gap or less I don't mind. It bothers me a little, but it's not that big of a deal. If it's 18 years or more, it bothers me because I go like:"They could be their dad/mom." I just think they would be so funny together. The idea of them is surprisingly good. It makes me laugh when I think of Coach Brunt calling him handsome and Carmen being so done and after maybe going like:"He ain't ugly"(Carmen Sandiego is that kind of show that the animation is so pretty nothing and no one is ugly). And Carmen not wanting to see Devineaux because it's "really not a good time" and then seeying him even more to the point she doesn't mind it and even starts appreciating it. They would be a hell of enemies to friends to lovers story. They interact more than Carulia, but not as much as Chasulia so seventh place sounds about right for them. Not my favorite but I approve.

8-SpinTrap/FlyKick:

I don't know what their official ship name is but they are assigned partners and that, by V.I.L.E. standards, for me, usually means they make out. I wanted more development for both of their characters, which we don't know much about, so eighth place sounds nice. They clearly work well together and have a great harmony so I would say they are a cheaper version of Red Crackle. Like: "Kid:Mom, I want Red Crackle. Mom:We have Red Crackle at home." And they are the Red Crackle at home in question. Still, it works. Of course they are nothing compared to Red Crackle, but they still work. In the, idk three times we saw Spin Kick and Flytrap, you can tell they have the chemestry to convince people they are a romantic couple so this place is well deserved for them.

9-Dokusan:

No, you haven't read wrong, it means Shadowsan and Lady Dokuso. Just hear me out:I can picture it perfectly:They meet at V.I.L.E. academy, they fall in love, they start dating. But then, Shadowsan is promoted to a member of the faculty, a position Lady Dokuso also wanted, but she was happy for her boyfriend anyway. Then, it ends up not working out a faculty member dating a mere operative and then they break up but still love each other, but their relationship was full of ups and downs and they are both bitter and salty about it. Then, Shadowsan backfires V.I.L.E. and joins Team Red and Lady Dokuso can finally have a chance as a faculty member but at the cost of destroying Shadowsan. The drama, the angst, the complexity of loving each other but being different and being in two sides that can't collide or meet in the middle. If you stop to think about it, they are basically a toxic version of Red Crackle that went wrong(Yes, I use Red Crackle as a parameter to measure other couples because they are the standard). So why are they so high up? Because a sad ending love story can also work. Representativity matters and tragic love stories deserve to have some spotlight sometimes.

10-PaperTiger:

It wouldn't be me if these two didn't make it to the top 10. I know Paper Star is a psycho so she can't actually feel love or empathy for anyone other then herself, but hooking up without commitment works for these two. It would also hold some drama like:Paper Star and Tigress start being passive aggressive to each other, then they start being assigned to even more and more missions together and get to know each other better, Tigress falls in love for Paper Star and Paper Star starts caring for her a little bit more than the others and they start confiding in each other and telling things about themselves they wouldn't tell anyone else, and they try a secret relationship because Tigress accepted Paper Star's condition, but they end up not working out because of the V.I.L.E. work and the missions that they put in first place other than the relationship because they aren't El Topo and Le Chevre, unlike them, Tigress and Paper Star have other priorities and other things to worry about than each other. As you can see, I really love some angst, and they had the chemestry for that. Their versatility could also hold some fluff and funny moments like:Tigress judging Jeantonio for cuddling then doing the exact same thing with Paper Star, Tigress saying Paper Star isn't that bad to them(she is bad to everyone else tho, she would only be "soft", in her strange way, for Tigress), them trying each other's clothes and weapons, them teaching each other stuff, going out on dates, they would be V.I.L.E.'s IT couple like evil Carmen and Crackle were people, there's no way around it.

#carmen sandiego #carmen sandiego 2019 #graham calloway #gray #crackle #red crackle #netflix #carmen sandiego netflix #carmen x gray #redcrackle #carmivy #jeantonio #cleobellum #chasari #zarineaux #chasulia #spintrap #flykick #carchase #dokusan #paper tiger #ship ranking #ship rankings

[mosthuggableffxiv]

As Promised: The Ardbert Essay

(specifically the one that didn't come from a wiki)

Full text below

Alright, fine, 8 paragraphs? Honestly, I should've seen this coming. But here's the thing, mod. My original Ardbert submission was just his Wikipedia article copied and pasted. I mean, what more could I say? His story and pain speaks for itself, and for that reason, I thought there was no better propaganda for Ardbert than who he is. But I see that is not enough, and so, I am responding with a fully fleshed out essay of at least 10 paragraphs.I hope it goes to show the lengths to which I, @teridani, believe that Ardbert Hylfyst needs a hug. (Or, depending on your interpretation, "is the most huggable". More on that later.)

When Ardbert first appeared in patch 3.1, it was a mysterious hook meant to drawn us players in. Who is this guy? Why is he speaking with the Ascians? The Warriors of Darkness appear as a threat. When Ardbert first introduces his group, dear mods, I laughed. I was playing through the game with a friend and I found it hilarious that they would be called "warriors of darkness". It's not really any sillier than "warriors of light", but the idea that our enemies, our RIVALS, would just use that name was... so silly. I did like their style, though.

I was a bit frustrated at the return of the Ascians once again. You must remember, dear mods, that I was playing through the entirely of ARR just recently! I was binging the story! And the early Ascian characterization left a lot to be desired. So, here I was, believing Ardbert and his crew were nothing more than Sunday cartoon villians-of-the-week, here to end the world just because. This initial reaction is important for you to understand how big of a switch first impressions were to where I'm at now.

Ardbert himself seemed to relish in this role early-on. He fell into the role of a villain easily, casting aside any doubts towards his goal. He had to. Look what being a hero had brought him and his friends. Still, a degree of hesitation persisted. Ardbert didn't really want to hurt anyone. He never did. He says himself, "We were just adventurers trying to make our way. An odd job here, a favor there—we never aspired to be Warriors of Light." His feelings towards being a hero, I believe, mirror his feelings towards being a villain. Swept up in the tides of fate and tragedy, there were no other paths left for him.

Urianger was the one who brought up the idea of luring out the Warrior of Light, casting the realm into chaos with their death. Of course we have the blessing of hindsight to understand that Urianger never wanted them to come to harm, but Ardbert steeled his resolve and set forth. All he said was that he would make it quick. A mercy in its own right. There is no way Ardbert didn't see a reflection of himself in the WoL, an echo of the same unsundured soul. Through his eyes, eventually any hero who espouses the virtues of *one* element, be it Light or Dark, would doom their world. It seemed a choice between two paths with the same end: doom the Source now, or later. The only difference is how many he could save by doing the former.

Over the course of the finale to his Heavensward arc, Ardbert reveals the missing pieces to the puzzle to us. How he and his friends took their lives just to have a chance at saving their world. As heroes to their world to the very last, they participated in the ultimate sacrifice. I believe I do not need to remind readers of this line. "We did everything right, everything that was asked of us, and still—still it came to this!" How could you not want to give this man a hug? When you think of the pain, regret, grief, and anger he must be feeling? When you see the blind unfairness of the world rest entirely upon him?

In the end, the most heartbreaking thing was when the Warriors of Darkness placed their trust in Minfilia and Ardbert simply asked if she could take them home. They had failed, it was all up to someone else, and at the very end without any other choice... They chose to go back to their home that they destroyed. If only Ardbert could've passed on with his friends, at the very time, perhaps he would have felt some degree of finality. Some measure of redemption. But instead, they were gone along with Minfilia, and he was left for a hundred years alone.

Whether he whispered or screamed, not a soul could hear his voice. His body and mind were barely held together by the time the WoL came to the First. Devoid of hope, he still followed the WoL and watched as piece by piece, sky by sky, night returned to the Norvrandt that he alone beared as his mistake. Ardbert was denied, again and again, any chance of redemption. The only person who could bring hope and joy back to him was the WoL. Of course he was more than willing to sacrifice himself once again at the end of it all—for such a person, he would be willing to do that and more.

I also promised to speak more on his huggability, so I will do so here. First, we look at his height. As an average height Hume, Ardbert comes in around 5ft 9in, or 175cm. I can't attached a picture here, I don't think, but if you find a height comparison tracker and input the 50% height data of each race, I believe it will be of use to you. I used the Male 50% sliders because I'm nonbinary and I get to make the rules here. Au'Ra: Ardbert comes up to shoulder height, a perfect height to rest his head upon your clavicle and wrap his arms around your waist. Roegadyn: Oh baby! How couldn't you hug him? Ardbert comes up to a Roegadyn's tit- I mean chest. There's a reaction image somewhere on the internet about this very thing. I'll leave it up to you to find. Miqo'te: At 5ft 5, Ardbert is slightly taller than the average Miqo'te, and you can rest your head extremely easily on his shoulders. As he wears traditionally Warrior attire, this means nice, high quality leathers and soft furs. Of course, he'd take off his shoulder pauldrons for you. Elezen: The average Elezen can rest their chin perfectly atop his head. I believe that says all I need to say. Viera: A Viera is slightly taller than Ardbert, and but not overtly so. At this height, neither person would have to bend or stretch too far: they would fit like puzzle pieces. Lalafell: For this, not only will I note that a Lalafell could be completely wrapped up in Ardbert's arms, but I ask you to remember one of the other best characters of Shadowbringers. Lamitt wouldn't fall for ANY person who wasn't extremely huggable. Her endorsement says it all. Hrothgar: A Hrothgar and Au'ra are only 2 inches apart, but ther's something more I would like to note. Ardbert has both scruffy hair and facial hair! Like whiskers and fur of his own, he would be a perfect nuzzling companion.

So! For the true hero of the First, for one who gave us the push we needed at the end, who has suffered more than any person should ever have to, I believe we owe it to Ardbert to give him a hug. And also, we owe it to ourselves to hug him, regardless of our height, because as proven time and time again in the story... Ardbert loves you. Thank you for reading.

#ffxiv huggability #final fantasy xiv #ardbert #ardbert hylfyst #warrior of darkness #shadowbringers #shadowbringers spoilers

[cipher-zoo]

Have you considered what Buggys’s reaction would be if during a fight between cross guild and the red haired pirates, shanks offered for them to team up and head to LaughTale together?

Okay, I finally get around to answering this!

TBH. I have tried to answer before and that ended with me going on a 500 word tangent about a different subject because I got distracted ... and I really didn't want to subject you to that, so now I am trying to stay on the topic!

Firstly, thank you so much for the message! 💙 I am always happy to talk about Shanks and Buggy and especially this specific part of their dynamic.

I was surprised, when I realized that this is actually a hard question for me - on one hand, because I keep going off on tangents, while trying to answer and on the other hand, because I think Buggy's answer and reaction would be very dependent on where they, what exactly is going on and how Buggy is doing in general.

I can already tell this answer is going to end up being far longer than it needs to be, I am so sorry, please bear with me!

Before I say anything else, please note that this is simply my opinion and my interpretation of the character and if anyone sees this differently, you are very welcome to do so. Let me know how you would answer this question!

Now, let's talk about Buggy.

Buggy, in my eyes, is characterized by two very important - and at times seemingly contradictory - traits. His sense of survival and his pride. And I know what some people (those who are not nose (haha) deep in Buggy Characterization Hell) are thinking:

"Cipher, in what world does snivelling, growling "I'll lick your boots" Buggy have any pride? Don't you mean Shamelessness?"

And to that I say, no I mean pride, because Buggy is a lot of things but definitely not "shamless" in fact Buggy is riddled by shame - but I won't go into that right now.

What I want to talk about is his pride. It's not the same pride Sanji has in his cooking or Zoro in his swordsmanship. No, Buggy's Pride, like so many things in his life, is often a mask.

One he puts on, when he gets hurt.

For example: He is deeply ashamed of his nose, so as compensation he turns himself into a clown, a "genius Jester", puts on a whole show and takes (or fakes) pride in being not only a pirate but also an entertainer of sorts. Because nobody can hurt you, if you are proud of your flaws (now, this of course doesn't work out in the end, because his shame and his body dysmorphia is stronger than his pride, but - in my eyes - it is still an attempt.)

The same goes for the whole Shanks situation. I, personally, don't think that Buggy hates Shanks. He can say so, and he does, but his actions speak louder. Because when they met again, what did Buggy do? A favor for Shanks [And yes, of course Shanks offered him a treasure map in exchange, but come on. If you hate someone to the level Buggy claims to hate Shanks, would you agree to a deal like that? I personally wouldn't.] No, Buggy is deeply hurt by Shanks and that is something he doesn't want to be. Because being hurt by someone is out of your control, you take a passive position in that case. But hating someone, being angry at them, that is something you can "chose".

When Shanks told Buggy that he wouldn't be looking for the one piece straight away, but still offered to sail together, Buggy claimed his pride as reason why he wouldn't.

"I'm not going to work under you!" that is what Buggy tells Shanks. The reason why I won't keep sailing with him. And we know that is simply not true. Because barely a panel above Buggy is fine sailing under Shanks as long as they are looking for the One Piece. In fact, he tells Shanks, "You said it yourself, didn't you, Shanks. You said your crew would to reach Laugh Tale one day too"

There is no indication at that point that Buggy has a problem with being a part of that crew. In fact, I get the sense, that he needs to be a part. Because his dream rests on Shanks' shoulders. But then Shanks makes the (rightful) decision not to look for Rogers Treasure, Buggy sees his dream die and immediately switches from "hurt in his feelings" to "hurt in his pride."

But his pride isn't always a character flaw. No, I think the whole scene, where he tells Crocodile and Mihawk about his dream - or, to put it differently, the scene where he finally reclaims the dream he gave up as a kid - is a show of true pride. A moment of being on the floor, as low, as he could possibly sink, and still not giving up. And that is the first time Buggy's pride is stronger than the other character trait I mentioned before.

His sense of survival. Or better said: His deep longing to survive. Buggy is a character who desperately wants to be alive. He is prideful, in his own way, but that won't stop him from grovelling at Crocodiles feet, because what does his pride do him good, if he dies?

We have seen this throughout all of One Piece. In Impel Down and now at Cross Guild, especially so. Buggy wants to live, and he is smart enough to know what lengths he has to go to, to do so.

But in that moment, when his sense of survival takes a backseat, we finally saw a glimpse of his true pride. Not the one he puts on as a show.

NOW! Did I say all of that just to talk about Buggy? Yes, but it is also important for my answer, because I think, the question we would have to answer is: "What is Buggy dictated by at that moment." His fake pride? His sense of survival? Or his true pride?

Let's say it's his fake pride. Let's say the fight between Cross Guild and the Red Hair Pirates is not tipping in one direction and Buggy feels like he could actually win: I don't think he would accept the offer: There is a Star Trek quote that Jean-Luc Picard says to Miles O'Brian. It goes: "I think, when one has been angry for a very long time, one gets used to it. And it becomes comfortable, like old leather. And finally, it becomes so familiar, that we can't remember feeling any other way." [man, i love me some star trek quotes]

And I think Buggy is teetering dangerously close to that feeling. To not remember any other emotion he every felt towards Shanks, other than hurt and anger. And in that case, Buggy would say no to teaming up.

Now, let's say it's his sense of survival: If the Red Hair Pirates are clearly winning. If the threat of Crocodile and Mihawk is minimized? Yeah. I have no doubt that Buggy would say yes to a team up. We would complain about it and have his conditions and boast to his men that he managed to convince Shanks to a ceasefire (he is still Buggy after all) but yes, if Shanks actually met him on eye level [at this point I am keeping myself from going off on how, during their meeting at Marine Ford, Shanks kinda looks down on Buggy - even if he maybe (doing a kind reading here) doesn't do it consciously], then I think a team up could happen.

Last but not least, what if it is not that fake pride that makes Buggy angry or his sense of survival that makes him stick to the strongest player? What if it is his "true Pride" that we saw so little so far? Well, the boring answer is: I don't know.

I have spent a lot of time thinking about Buggy in different situations and context, but this Buggy is so new that I still need a little more time to decide how he would act.

I hope you aren't too disappointed by this answer, because I do feel like I am taking the easy way out, giving you an "Anything could happen" but yeah, the truth is what it is. I don't know.

But I would love to read everyone's opinions!

#thanks for the ask 💙 #cipher answers #one piece #buggy the clown #red haired shanks #manga spoilers #spoilers for 1082 #I love them so much #I could talk about buggy for ever #sorry for the tangent

[kirbybecomesastarwarrior]

 Kirby becomes a Star Warrior / Sir Uther (OC)

Now I’ve seen Uther used from the Arthurian mythos in other Kirby AU merely defining him as Sir Arthur’s father who he inherited the GSA from. Not many are written as straight up bad guys, that is until today Sir Uther is a villain in the KBASW universe and he’s not Arthur’s dad in this one just mentor in the story (but frankly he shouldn’t be anyone’s dad.) 

I just had to post this before publishing the story cause everyone’s gonna wonder “who’s he when reading?” So yeah this is the face of Uther, when he’s mentioned in the story.

I definitely wrote him as the guy everyone hates and though he maybe gone, his selfishness and pride were what ultimately what brought down the GSA. After his death Arthur vowed to reverse and rewrite the mistakes of Uther’s cruelty; becoming the new leader of the GSA. Arthur was and still afraid of his old mentor, his influenced is what made Arthur hide MK’s wings all the time. Meta thought Arthur was afraid of his demon side when in reality he was afraid of Uther. Uther does and kicks off many of the downfalls and tragedies of the GSA & MK’s crew. Due to his own prejudices towards Meta which come back to haunt him.

This Uther is highly inspired by Merlin (2008) Uther the show’s but if your want to hear more explanation on the character but basically yeah the Uther in that show hates magic and kills many innocent people because of that so just switch that around with Nightmare and his demons and yeah same principals.

Also his character color scheme is actually based off the Queen of Hearts from Alice & Wonderland. A bit of foreshadowing of his temperament as well as his madness. 

And his relationship with Galacta Knight; well let’s just say his ego was knocked down a peg once Galacta was recognized as the strongest warrior in the galaxy by the Ancients. Before Galacta it was Uther and he was the leader of the GSA because of that... with Galacta there he felt his authority was challenged..

He guys I’ve been actually working on this OC for months since I named dropped him in Dec. it’s also my first OC and let me tell you creating an OC is tough, I hope my efforts were worth it and you guys like it.

keep reading the content character explanation below...

Now I’ve seen a lot of people characterize Sir Arthur as a well-meaning person who’s just stuck in their old ways. Sometimes straight-up “good guy” or “leader” who live long enough to see themselves become the villain; similar to the many interpretations depending on which version you see/

Now I don’t mind Uther being interpreted as a good guy or someone in the grey area but I’m just surprised with the lack of villainous Uthers. A constant in Arthurian legend is that Uther has always been a rotten human being. In the original story of Arthur’s conception, Uther wanted to get with the Duke of Cornwall's wife and started a war because of it. (I'm not going to explain any more of the story but yeah you should read the original for the rest of it.) But yeah he straight-kicks up war cause he gets what he wants which ends up being betrayed by his own people.

I wanted to take that type of self-destructive villainy from the original Uther making him as despicable as the original from the story. With a little mix of my own spin on the character with some modern-day villains too. 

When designing his character I knew I wanted to have some foreshadowing and symbolism in his design. I really wanted to make him very intimidating along with the level of regality. I ended up thinking about old-school villains from Disney and I came up with Queen of Hearts which fit his character perfectly. And after I just knew I had to give him a scythe as his weapon no questions asked! He’d definitely say “OFF WITH YOUR HEAD”, before slicing up one of his victims. 

And I got a bit of inspiration from Avatar’s Ozai too similar temperament as well. that’s how I got the idea to have Uther control fire as well as light. Which emerged the idea for his wings. Couldn’t decide whether I wanted to give him dragon wings or bird wings... But when the concept of Phoenix wings came up I knew I could work more story into them than just the dragon wings. 

I also wanted to show the importance of status to him with his armor and cape & mantle; being adored with gold.  His mask has two colors red & black very reminiscent of a checkerboard; conveying his two-facedness. Seeing his soldiers as pawns wanting to be in control of everything. I hope I was able to convey that in his design... He cares so much about his position and hates when his authority is questioned in any way; he makes sure everyone knows who’s in charge. 

When I call Uther an elitist, I mean that he would give very little care to the soldiers who were not as puffballs and would immediately categorize them as lesser beings. During the war when the GSA & the ancients were defining other galaxies' worth: they would prioritize the more advanced civilization and the lesser solar system was the last to be protected. This eventually formed the Star Systems Alliance (or the S.S.A.) which was controlled by the Ancients, the GSA elites, and the upper crusts of the galaxy so yeah corrupt government everybody.

I got this idea in the Wolfwrath episode with Sword & Blade explaining their backstories as he described that the war had turned the galaxy into a wasteland and that they had to become bandits & thieves to survive.

So yeah that’s basically what Uther’s doing... he would use lesser planets as battlegrounds, and make many of the inhabitants helpless. This is how the volunteer army gets started.  The GSA would offer benefits and supplies to those who volunteer to join. However they’d have to live long enough to actually receive these benefits. So yeah he took advantage of lesser planets to get new soldiers and made sure they’d be his battle plan guinea pigs. 

This brings Jecra and Garlude into that mix as well... Jerca who had just lost his partner did not have the means to provide for his baby son (Knuckle Joe). He had his parents but they were too old to work. Heard about the GSA’s offer and signed up; his parents weren’t sure and knew their son would be on the front line. But Jecra brought up the point that it’s either that or they all die by starvation. Sadly they agreed and promised to take care of Joe.

As for Garlude she was noble and had people under her care, the war had been pulling resources away from her people. Her husband (a man she married out of obligation but was friends with) went himself to negotiate for resources with the Ancients & from the S.S Alliance but mysteriously disappeared afterward. So to find out the truth of her husband’s disappearance and to provide for her people (as well as her daughter) joins the volunteer army. 

Eventually, there were so many who volunteered that they needed someone to supervise and train them. Uther didn’t want to waste training these volunteers and use one of his elite soldiers (they were gonna die quickly anyway). Then there was the Meta newly knighted Star Warrior, who he rejected into joining the Holy Knights. The other higher-up knights and ancients didn’t know what to do with him because they didn’t want MK to represent them and they were all looking to Uther for an answer. It was more of a way to stall until he could think of what to properly what to do with him properly. Which was probably the best thing he could have done for MK.

After 4 months of training, Meta Knight wants to join their ranks and become the sole person in charge of the Volunteer Army. Which lowers his status never being able to join the higher-ups. Uther thinks this is a great way to save face and get rid of MK. To him, Meta was finally accepting his fate of dying on the battlefield, but to Meta Knight, he was freeing himself from all of them. 

And with that MK renamed the group Team Halberd... and became the most beloved group of Knights of the GSA. And Uther became pissed he’d give MK and his group the most difficult missions but that made them more famous. Things only started going south for the team after the fall of the Ancients & Yami’s betrayal. Also, Yamikage was not part of Team Halberd he was part of the ninja section of the army which Dragato was in charge of.  (And yes I made the MK ship into angst fuel Halberd the ship being named in honor of his original unit). And Uther starts to go mad and plays a big role in Kirby’s birth... hope you guys stay to find out.

#kirby #Sir Uther #Meta Knight #kirby oc #kirby right back at ya #sir uther #Sir Arthur #Hoshi no Kaabii #kbasw #kirby au #my first oc #fanlore #GSA

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

I've been trying to get an idea of the timeline in s2. Big caveat before I share my thoughts: s1 had a very loose timeline, too, and I think trying to figure out exactly how many days pass between seasons is a waste of time because this show is powered by vibes. But here's what I'm thinking!

Episode 1 is our baseline - we don't know much time has passed exactly between seasons, but it's enough for Ed to break Ned Low's record and for Stede and co. to get settled in at the republic. I think episode 1 most likely takes place over several days - Stede's section does not clearly establish anything, and Ed says "we've got a record to break" right after he shoots Izzy, meaning the record is not yet broken during that scene.

Episode 2 most likely takes place right after ep 1, at least on Stede's side of the equation - Stede acts surprised about the wake-up call on Zheng Yi Sao's ship and they're all newly assigned roles; it's clearly their first day. I would buy it, however, if Ed's story has a few days between ep 1 and ep 2 - Izzy's leg might have needed some time to start rotting, and it would give some extra time for things to get dire for Ed's crew before the Red Flag finds them if their ep 2 events took place a few days before our timelines catch up.

Episode 3 isn't clear; there's been enough time for Stede and co. to get settled in with Zheng Yi Sao and enough time for Ed's crew to need to resort to hunting seagulls. It's probably not a lot of time; it's likely they didn't have many rations to start with (given they hadn't been returning to land) and it wasn't enough time for Ed to actually die of his injuries.

Ep 4 is easy, immediately after ep 3.

Ep 5 seems like it takes place immediately after ep 4, but personally I like to think there's another day in between. That would give Stede time to talk to the crew and figure out their conditions for Ed's probation and for Stede to write and make Ed memorize that little apology speech (Ed clearly didn't come up with that, Stede is mouthing along and Ed fumbles the safe space ship line). I also like to think Ed gets a day to nap and recover from his many concussions.

Ep 6 is the hard one. Lucius and Pete tell everyone they got engaged during this episode, but I honestly think that's just because there wasn't an episode in-between. Many people have talked about how it feels like there should have been an episode between 5 and 6, and I agree - I think it probably would've started with a "time is passing" montage like s1e6 did. In any case, enough time has passed for Ed to get out of probation (which he and Stede specifically agree would take more than a day in ep 5) and make good progress towards re-earning the crew's trust. The crew are much more comfortable with him in ep 6 and we know things have been calm enough the crew are feeling kinda bored. Personally I think it makes the most sense for there to be at least a week between 5 and 6.

After that, 7 and 8 are easy; they take place immediately after 6 and directly follow each other.

So, depending on how you interpret things, s2 could all take place in about a week or it could take place over a couple weeks. I lean towards the latter; I'd believe anything under about a month.

One thing that makes me lean towards a longer timeline is Ed's makeup. He's got a bruised cheek and a split lip following the mutiny, and given that this show likes to hand-wave injuries when they're not plot-relevant and TV shows don't usually waste time on makeup just for fun, I think that serves two purposes. First, and most importantly, it's a visible reminder Ed survived a suicide attempt not long ago, he's still in a fragile place. Secondly, it lets us know time is passing.

Ed looks like warmed-over shit in ep 3:

Still has visible bruises and a scabbed lip in ep 5:

And by ep 8 he's still got a faint bruise on his cheek but his lip has healed:

Again I know this show is hand-wavey with how injuries heal but I think the healing of Ed's injuries is an intentional enough sign that at least a week has passed between ep 3 and ep 8.

#ofmd #our flag means death #thank you for indulging me in this over-long analysis of the timeline in a show where the timeline barely matters

[patchwork-artists]

What would it be like if Original Felix met his IM counterpart and the IM crew and Circus? Would he tease IM Felix about Ozzy?

that's a hard question because it depends what counts as original felix,(⚠️autism moment upcoming⚠️) there's his black and white self, his comic self, and a lot of people look at either the 1950s show or the twisted tales show for references too 🤔 im not as knowlegable on his comic self as i didnt read those, on his black and white self as ive only seen a couple shorts(ive been meaning to watch more but im always meaning to watch more of x ajjsajjda rn im trying to catch up on some oswald and some popeye classics to better understand them and i didnt even Began tackling the mickey shorts—and i fully dropped the alice comedies i dont like them very much, i'm more of a fleischer than a disney guy i watched muuuch more of bettys black and white ones and fleischer generally has much stronger characterizations amongst the black and white era!the other cartoons had characterization but i wouldnt say they were at the level that fleischer was beggining to do with its protagonists)

anyways sorry. you tackled the hyperfixation lemme cut myself from ranting more and answer your question qjsjajdjajdjw i thiiiink. i think, if we speak on a more general term, some b&w felixes would tease him but theyd look more towards the chance of teasing him in general than the chance of teasing him over romance in specific—or they wouldn't care at all/would care more about other things(i know there were a lot of comics and shorts that implied felix to be someone who had this ideology of sharing to your community in a very communism utopia manner, and they might be a bit more focused on the fact that felix is a famous rich writer and isn't doing. anything with that, while some of those felixes are starving on screen he had a lot of starving and poverty issues), from what ive seen of the 50s shorts(i havent seen them all! i just got the luck to find a cd with several episodes on a store nearby so i know those episodes)that one is a little bit more calm and nice and would probably try to help him confess, and twisted tales felix which was tap's main inspiration for his younger self i think would think "oh this poor dude is about to get ruined with another romance he has no chance in. sheesh. anyways how can i either steal his man or steal his money(surely no comical hijinks could come from that)"

now the crew. as in questers. hhhggh long one so i'm just gonna resume it to strongest friendships. black and white shorts felix would hit off very well with bendy, and a little bit boris but deef with bendy. 50s felix would probably like holly the most, mugs second. twisted tales would be interacting with cup the most but always in an almost rivalry to him, not full on rivals but not buddy buddies kinda thing, and i say that because i can see him passing by when cup's playing a luck game to see if he can get him to loose, him seeing cup get himself dates and flirting and try to steal those girls' attention to it not only not working but cup laughing at him, and he's def pretty zany on that show which cup doesn't like because it's unpredictable, not to mention cup's entire attitude could get him to mutter sassy remarks, but i think they'd find enjoyment in that entire dynamic he wouldn't full on hate cup and cup wouldn't full on hate him either

but i might be wrong i haven't watched those in like 3 years ajsjjajdjajd and besides everyone has different interpretations of the characters. as much as i love felix (literally got gifted a felix notebook and felix socks and a felix shirt all by different family members and considering i had already made myself a little felix necklace and was also gifted an oswald bag i finally have the full "i am normal about black and white cartoons" fit 💥 ahsjsjskcja) i am a 6 people and i can only watch and analyze and remember so many shorts while everyone else also uses the brain for their own hyperfixations kwjdjwjfja

#ask #the inky mystery #inky mystery #bendy and boris in the inky mystery