#just to impress him later

[leverage-ot3]

I’ve talked about this before but imagine what it’s like for someone in a country/place where eliot is Top Most Wanted and then your tech guy finds a breakout star baseball player on their visual scanner that looks EXACTLY like spencer. but…there’s no way that’s him, right???

and then the next year it happens again but this time it’s some one hit wonder country singer kenneth crane that has like 78 tween-run fangirl blogs dedicated to him. you see a grainy video of him being chased by a horde of screaming teenage girls and ??? no way Eliot Last Thing You’ll Ever See Spencer is a country singer star just. signing pictures of his face right…?

a few months later your intern shows you footage of an eliot lookalike who is in san lorenzo talking about how there is dog fighting in the presidential palace and you just. sigh. because of course. a scant few days later the political geography of the country changes drastically and damien moreau is imprisoned. …interesting

and then a year of silence goes by. he still shows up as blips on the radar but he must have a good hacker working for him because his tracks on the internet are expertly erased.

every time you ask through interagency channels some random interpol guy talks in (condescending?) riddles at you and it also somehow feels like he’s threatening you

and then your friend who recently got into foreign hockey teams sends you a dropyourgloves video of someone called jacques the bear. you immediately get a headache (and watch some more videos because even you can admit this guy is a good hockey player)

and you know he’s a Bad Guy but it’s been admittedly a bit entertaining seeing what claim to fame he will come upon next. and his most recent actions over the few years make you wonder.

a few months later your phone pings because multiple heads of state evacuated from DC. the reason? eliot spencer was in town. you hear two days later a bioterrorist was taken down by… the report was redacted. your hacker tells you spencer and two teammates were behind the successful operation. which, huh.

not even a full year later it is released that spencer is dead and… you don’t know how to feel.

#sorry this turned kinda angsty I just think eliot famousaliases spencer is a great reoccurring joke #eventually an indeterminate amount of months later you see him pop up again and you breathe #at this point all the intel you’ve gotten points that he’s actually doing something good with his life #like he’s changed. and you know he’s a bad guy but he’s doing things that nobody else is really capable of doing. making changes on large #and small scales #he will face consequences eventually you are sure. but his tracks are so well covered already and he’s so slippery so maybe. maybe you just #don’t make your agents work so hard to track him down #you get to know sterling a bit better (and maybe understand him a bit better too) #sterling invites you to an off the books lunch at this brewpub in portland when you’re in the states. the head chef looks familiar #it’s the best food you’ve ever tasted. because OF COURSE it is #at this point you’re not even angry. or resigned anymore. you’re slightly impressed #anyways that’s how sterling’s leverage club gains another member #(mcsweeten was the second member btw. if you’ve seen my other posts) #eliot spencer #eliot spencer meta #headcanons #humor #leverage #jim sterling #(mentioned) #the studio job #the blue line job #the three strikes job #ficlets #mine #a post not on my queue??? more likely than you think #I should make a tag for in universe pov posts #into the leverage verse #headcanons in the tags #the rundown job

[comic-sans-chan]

cursed modern human garashir au where ds9 is an old ruined resort that was built by some evil rich motherfuckers years ago and was recently seized back by the native people whose land and economy it had destroyed. it's since been converted into an affordable apartment complex sort of situation (just... with a pool, bar, restaraunts, spa and tennis court built into it lol) and is run by sisko and kira. since it is rundown, odo gets hired back on to keep kids from further vandalizing it and o'brien's team gets hired on from the nonprofit organization sisko works for to fix the place up best he can. dukat is the old overseer of the property who drops by sometimes to remind them he and his hospitality business still exist, and my, what a fine job they’ve done renovating the place! it’s actually nice again. sure would be a shame if someone bought the property out from under them (lmao jk kardasi hospitality and starfleet are friends! no hard feelings. they should collaborate on some future projects, actually).

garak's a sad bitch who just lost his amazing morally dubious nepotism career at obsidian corp. (which absorbed kardasi hospitality) and moved into the complex just for the comfortingly familiar architecture. even tho he's not on the payroll for his (secret) dad's evil exploitative company anymore he's still vital to its continued efficiency and is an absolute sucker who still does unpaid shady work for them from time to time. so no one in the complex likes him, but also he's a very pleasant and fastidious queer man who pays his rent on time and has completely taken over the laundry room, to the benefit of everyone, because all the machines actually work now, it's always tidy, and there's a variety of forever-stocked detergents and soaps available, plus an iron?? there was not an iron before garak moved in. which is how it eventually becomes public knowledge that garak has an online tailoring and fashion design business, and he's actually pretty good at restoring clothes that get fucked by the washing machine or eaten by rats, soooo. yeah. they let him stick around.

meanwhile julian's a hot doctor who works at the local hospital and is absolutely buried in student debt that he refuses to let his moderately-wealthy family help him with because they're awful people who had him on illegal drugs without his knowledge since he was a little kid. they were afraid he had something wrong with him, apparently. he was too far behind in his class or w/e. they couldn't handle having a kid with special needs, so they pumped him full of dangerous experimental stimulants. only reason he found out is because he snuck off somewhere to start transitioning and had some tests done that revealed all the crazy shit in his system. he's insanely lucky he didn't end up in the hospital with seizures or fall into a coma or worse. not to mention his parents still dead-name him left and right over a decade later. it's a whole mess and a huge secret, because he technically has a history with illegal drug abuse, and it's a partially ongoing history because going cold turkey off drugs he's been on since he was six is Not A Good Idea, so??? fuck his life, actually. he lives in the apartment just down the hall from garak's. 

garak hates the country his dad's company expanded into and would like nothing better than to move back home, but it's not really logistically possible. especially since everyone there hates him cuz his (secret) dad's company is a mega-corporation that's completely taken over everything p much and is a complete monopoly nightmare, and he did... kinda... work there for decades. no one would hire him if he went back. it would be an extreme conflict of interest, since everyone wants to stay on tain's good side, including garak. but starfleet is interested in him, so he does some begrudging contract work for them sometimes, but he really has no desire to join them. he just wants to resume his old career and reclaim his assets.

julian's hospital is owned by starfleet, tho. his scholarship into medical school was also from starfleet, in fact--they're the only reason he was able to (sort of) afford becoming a doctor at all. so he's a big fan, even tho they are pretty hardcore anti-drugs in a way that's made him have to forge medical records and risk serious legal charges and prison time. julian comes across as a squeaky clean medical professional and an adorable idiot, but he's intimately familiar with back-alley dealings. which is kind of how he ends up helping garak with his drug addiction, and keeps said addiction off the record.

but basically, how it begins is julian likes to support the local restaurants in the complex and garak finds him there and thinks he's gorgeous, and it proceeds as expected. they fuck nasty and become codependent. ten years later, julian lives in a modest house with garak in his home country and garak irons all his old university hoodies.

#julian's addicted to trashy romance novels with mysterious ceo love interests with fancy high rise apartments and private jets #if they have an accent Even Better and garak has a thick one #so when he meets garak he's immediately drooling #but he later finds out garak was never especially wealthy he was the bastard son of the housekeeper in his (secret) dad's mansion #and as an adult he was Not paid well so he lived pretty much like a normal person #he does not drive an italian sports car it's just a kia #but garak Was on his way to taking over his dad's company and becoming filthy rich and he Is familiar with that lifestyle #so he plays it up to impress julian in the beginning of their relationship #saving up to take him to fancy hotels and restaurants in exotic locations for business purposes and doing weird sex stuff #this eventually peters out into them just loving each other for who and what they really are #but julian can't deny finding garak particularly irresistible when he's in a suit and talking about the stock market #garashir #my posts

[skrunksthatwunk]

something he can't put into words.

#ANOTHER DAIGO POST!!!! <333 #also sorry for being like teehee yaoi dojima anyway daigo can't/probably shouldn't be close to his bio dad and latched onto this random #20 year old but Doesnt Quite recognize what is so wrong about sohei and so right about kiryu and how he should feel about either #meaning he cant fulfill his true desire (baby duck around kamurocho with his babysitter who's probably got better things to do bc people #always have better things to do than take care of him but at least kiryu pretends he enjoys it #for hours and hours and hours. some of the others ask him how he is or what he's up to at school but they don't really reach him like kiryu #does. he wants to impress him soooo bad. aughhh baby daigo you're annoying but you're also so emotionally neglected #haha latching onto mentors bc they're more involved/easier to connect to than parents haha who would do that not me ahem uh anyway #(skrunks be normal about and not project onto a kiryu + child dynamic challenge: impossible) #anyway he can't just say sohei's his father bc he's a big crime daddy but he hasn't really.. accepted? whats going on with kiryu yet either #i dont think he knows kiryu's his dad is my point #rgg #ryu ga gotoku #yakuza #dojima daigo #like a dragon #daigo dojima #ykz #i accidentally saved over soo many versions of this so i had to be like fuck it we ball. thats the final version of that panel now #gonna schedule this for later today bc i dont wanna stifle the kazumi posts but i also uh. am impatient #anyway more little daigo content he's such an ass but it makes so much sense why he's like that and he deserves a whole lotta love #also i just realized i used different name orders for kiryu and yayoi... sorry idk im just incapable of writing kazuma kiryu #uhOOPS POSTED IT EARLY NVM #yer gettin a loootta skrunk content today ig #skrunkart

[safyresky]

the only way i would EVER call ten FOURTEEN is if they let David Tennant just be Scottish this time

#dani speaks #doctor who #dw spoilers #sorta #anyway. had they done that i'd be like okay. okay cool i GUESS this is different #but they DIDN'T soooooo #🤷🏻‍♀️ #this got 400 notes #that is IMPRESSIVE by my standards #i'm glad we all just want him to be scottish eh? #now it's at 600 #i love that this thing is SRTILL getting notes weeks later #also i STILL have not seen the finale lmao

[hellothereiplaygames]

Some thoughts on Asra's route...

Replaying Asra's route after having played Muriel's really hits different...

In one of the other routes Asra and Muriel appear to start a romantic relationship, and in Asra's route it's very clear that Muriel cares very deeply for Asra and dislikes the Apprentice. He mentions in one of the paid? dream scenes that he's worried about Asra and the Apprentice fading into their own world and leaving everyone else behind (again, apparently), and that he's determined to stop this from happening. His concern for Asra and initial hostility toward the Apprentice may be rooted in jealousy, not only because his oldest (and only) friend was more or less taken from him, but perhaps with romantic connotations as well.

In Book XI: Justice, Asra and Julian stage a mock trial by combat against Muriel. Though he apparently agreed to participate and is implied to have returned to the Coliseum of his own volition, presumably out of concern for Asra, who has been accused of being Julian's accomplice... he is still more or less backed into a corner and forced to play along with Asra and Julian's plan to stage a fight.

Now, to be fair to Asra, he states after everything goes wrong that it wasn't supposed to end this way, and it appeared that he was attempting to not only exonerate himself and Julian from their charges but somehow help Muriel overcome his past (he does disintegrate Muriel's chains during the fight no matter what choices you make). There was a point during this that I thought I could guess what Asra's plan was regarding Muriel's past, but being refreshed on how it actually pans out, I can't remember it now. Something about making the people of Vesuvia realize how barbaric the Coliseum was under Lucio.

The thing that stands out to me throughout this whole ordeal is that Asra knows about Muriel's trauma. He knows he was enslaved to Lucio and forced to fight and execute people in the Coliseum. He knows that Muriel is terrified of hurting other people, especially those he cares about. In Asra's route, the only person Muriel cares about is Asra, so hurting him is triggering for him. He literally is in a stupor after the board he was using as a weapon splinters off and hits Asra in the mouth, making him bleed. This is clearly meant to make the reader worried about Asra, but Muriel reacts as well, and appears hypnotized by the blood. I remember the first time I read this I thought he was going to have some crazy berserker-Hulk sort of reaction, but having read his route, it's way more tragic.

Though Muriel did seem to return to the Coliseum of his own volition, it does seem that Asra took this as a sign that he was coming to terms with his trauma. He was willing to exploit Muriel's care for him in order to save his own skin so he can be with the Apprentice. Though I recognize Asra's other toxic traits to some degree, I also have similar ones myself so they don't really stand out to me. This, however, where he more or less disregards Muriel's feelings on the matter, is actually really crushing. In Muriel's route, his whole thing is that he DOES NOT want to fight, he DOES NOT want to even spar with the Apprentice with blunt sticks out of fear of hurting them, so why would he willingly go along with this unless he was more or less in the same position Lucio put him in? Fight in the arena, or something bad will happen to Asra.

Asra knows this, and puts him through it regardless. During the whole fight, Julian's actions are written so as to make it seem like he's the one messing things up--he takes the "finishing blow" that Muriel was going to deal to Asra and gets knocked unconscious. Asra spends most of the entire time doing flashy, dramatic magic tricks that get the crowd cheering for him. After he "wins", he and the Apprentice are carried out of the Coliseum like heroes. Though Asra will try to soothe Muriel if the Apprentice so chooses right before the end, and he does look for Muriel in the crowd, he seems otherwise unbothered or unaware of the impact this may be having on his oldest friend. Which is pretty shitty.

Of course, Asra, Julian, and Muriel are all playing characters during their fight--Asra is the flashy magician, Julian is the rogueish BDSM dagger guy, and Muriel is the Scourge. Asra obviously can't show his concern even if he wanted to because he's supposed to be fighting Muriel. But putting his bro into this situation in the first place says a lot about his character. Though Julian is the one whose route is based around self-loathing because he believes he hurts everyone around him, Asra is the only one who gets what he wants out of this ordeal, and he even says so right before the chapter ends. Muriel was forced to relive his trauma and didn't get the resolution that was intended, and Julian gets KOed by a punch that literally sent him flying across the arena (though he probably enjoyed it tbh, he's a nasty little man like that lmao).

I wonder if this dynamic between Asra and Muriel was intentionally written this way in order to further amplify his tunnel vision when it comes to the Apprentice. Is this is how he acted in the past, causing Muriel to hate the Apprentice as he does and remark that he won't allow it to happen again? Maybe (probably) I'm reading too much into it, but as a survivor of abuse and trauma it rubs me the wrong way much more than Asra's obsessive, clingy nature. Of all of the reversed ends, Asra's is the one that actually scared me and kind of haunted me, because it hits a little too close to home.

These are all just thoughts that I wanted to spill out because I thought it was interesting and I wasn't sure if anyone else has talked about it before.

#the arcana #asra alnazar #muriel the mountain man #muriel of the kokhuri #asra the arcana #asra the magician #muriel the arcana #my thoughts #i mean maybe they do talk about this later in the route and i just forgot but??? #considering lucio's route and the way that was handled i don't expect it #i adore asra #he literally checks all my boxes for my favorite tropes #but like... this actually is kind of insane and i hope muriel was the one to be like “i can play scourge... i guess” but i doubt it #it also makes me wonder if asra projected onto julian and that's why ilya thinks everything is his fault #because i can't see mazelinka and the grandmas raising julian to think he's not worthy of love #asra however might have given him that impression during their time together?? which is just a big no from me ok #just some thoughts though lmao #this game has returned as my major hyperfixation so i apologize for the novel and all these tags

[sysig]

Stop bringing your own couch just so you can crash here (Patreon)

#Doodles #Wander Over Yonder #Commander Peepers #Emperor Awesome #Invited himself over and is making a nuisance of himself lol #I guess in a timeline where he and Peepers are at least tentative friends - specific-context friends only-once-work-is-done friends lol #I guess it could also be considered Eyesome lol very lightly #He's not done with his work Awesome! Leave him be! #No he's bored for real and he wants attention lol #Peepers is soldering something - I do love how he refuses to take off his helmet for anything work-related lol #Awesome only intended to bother him enough to get attention but Peepers is Not in the mood try again later #He got him talking and thought that was enough! Nope! #It's really that kind of thing of their mismatch that gets me about their dynamic ah ♪ #Awesome's ''Any attention is good attention'' and Peepers' need for things to be done a certain way without compromise #Even if he overall would have positive feelings towards Awesome by this point getting in his way to his ends is unforgivable! #He's not gentle with Anyone not even Hater on that front :D Awesome gets to learn that up close and personal! #He doesn't get his way just 'cause anymore! He can't sway Peeps just by flaunting and he doesn't want to (? :3c) intimidate him into play #Peepers on the other hand not at all shy about voicing his displeasure and it's surprising because?? Awesome not getting what he wants?? #He is still only as effectual as he is impressive haha - I love him but he's not exactly a formidable form #Tippy toes <3 #Get this man some heels stat

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

thinking so so hard about LaughingStock and how that'd go down. disastrously, probably

#and ill talk about it at Length in the tags until tumblr cuts me off like a rowdy drunk after last call #please keep in mind this is all in my Brain and relationship dynamics etc are all technically speculation. anyway #so while franklydear is your more classic 'oh no im in love with him! / aw shucks im in love with him<3' #laughingstock is 'feelings what feelings / oh shit oh fuck this is bad' #to Me. #in my mind howdy is completely oblivious to his emotions #he's out here like 'gotta get the store impressively neat & shiny for barnaby! and everyone else' without blinking an eye #he starts assembling barnaby and wally's dogs slower an slower so that barnaby has to hang around a smidge longer than usual #he's out here giggling at barnaby's jokes while sweeping Hours or Days after the joke was told like a lovesick idiot #all while being like Ah Yes Barnaby My Dear Friend. My Platonic Buddy Whose Jokes I Laugh At A Little Too Hard. Platonically. #meanwhile barnaby Realizes his own feels. has a minor crisis. goes through the 12 stages of grief and absolutely panics #he's like 'ok just gotta play it cool. normal. dont be weird. he'll fall for your natural charm in no time' #'ill hold all of my feelings right here until i die or howdy reciprocates. i just cant tell anyone about this.' #'....hey wally you can keep a secret right' #and rizzes it up yk. rolls a nat 20 on charisma every time without howdy even realizing it. ig barns rolled for stealth too #and from barnabys pov its going great! #howdy is flirting back! hes showing all the signs! when eddie views their interactions he comes to barnaby later and is like A+ gay as fuck #so barnaby is a soft pining mess and howdy is Absurdly Oblivious despite being a clever & observant guy #so im imagining (will freely admit that this Train of Thought is slightly inspired by the latest chapter of Stamps by Indigopoptart) #that eventually barnaby is Confident in their budding relationship ok. hes ready to ask howdy out. #everyone who Knows (wally & eddie) are like Go For It He Clearly Loves You #and when barnaby tells howdy. howdys like 'ohhhh geez um im really flattered 🥺 but i dont feel the same 😔😭' #cue barnaby turning into the 'never again' meme while trying to laugh it off and pretend like he didnt just have his heart mr starked #so he goes home to smoke his pipe and cry and howdy goes about his day feeling Strange #why cant he stop thinking about that confession. what are these emotions. i mean its not as if hes in love with Ohhhhhh No. Oh No. #so howdy has his 'holy shit! im in love with barnaby! (lovestruck. swooning) ....Holy Shit I Rejected Barnaby (horrified. nauseous)' moment #cue howdy expecting barnaby to come by in the morning as per Routine so they can talk. he Doesnt. cue howdy stressing the fuck out over it #meanwhile wally sally (eddie sent her in his place. hes too busy) and barnaby are having a girls day (eating ice cream and watchin romcoms) #eventually barnaby hears that howdy has been Dropping The Ball and cant not check on him. cue emotional heart-2-heart outside the bodega #this is all very specific but its in my brain. these scenarious lull me to sleep every night lately

[squea]

corn is on the mind i have so much Lore for him which will be hard to fit into the gameplay but i’m so excited about this passion project bc even if like no one cared about corn i would enjoy looking at the posts and being proud so it’s ok

#it’s so fun to be like ok gameplay and how would this aspiration link to the next then why would he do this and have this relationship ug #brain fizzing with thoughts #the sims is just forcing me to be creative with his story and it’s fun! i’m using the limitations to enhance him like when i remembered he #doesn’t have a reflection i’m like brrbrr write that down write that down #when he has negative impressions of everyone he meets and bad compatibility with everyone but 1 person i’m like oughhh i know why that is #i wanna model him a ring tho bc i’m not a fan of the one i’m using but blender is dusty #delete later

[mobius-m-mobius]

I finally actually watched that Loki s1 bts clip where Owen quotes the first line of Two Gentlemen of Verona and. WHAT DO YOU MEAN he doesn't have any particular connection the play he 'just' took a Shakespeare class in college. He's so clearly trying to laugh it off like it's not very impressive but that's sure not working on me Owen, I can barely remember which classes I took let alone verbatim quotes from plays I'm not even that into WHAT

Everything about this ask, yes!!! 💕

Thank you anon because that's something I've been going on about for years ever since the s1 Assembled ep dropped lol, the fact that Tom just casually mentions Owen knows most of Hamlet BY HEART is wild but of course he shrugs it off as usual insisting it isn't true before dropping that line from Two Gentlemen of Verona verbatim?? Like okay tell me more about what you don't know then 😳

He has very possibly the most literary mind I've ever experienced and it actually drives me a little crazy that somehow isn't a more well known or acknowledged fact about him. After the first season of Loki ended I thought I'd just be going through his many films I hadn't gotten a chance to watch yet but instead got just as captivated with interviews where he was detailing his home libraries, referencing lines from even the most obscure novels or scenes at the drop of a hat and falling even more in love with how that's clearly shaped his sense of humor and delivery.

It's also why I wish he didn't laugh off the idea that he himself could've played Hamlet, which he likely did since as we've noticed he's quick to downplay his skills and talent, but also because that's how most of the general public would react if the same question was presented?? And he isn't especially comfortable on live stages so theater probably isn't a medium he's considered in any serious fashion but for me at least it's far more fascinating to see the take an actor more well known for comedy would give a dramatic role of any kind and I don't doubt he'd be incredible at any he set his mind to 🥰

#reminds me of this time he was called overseas to pick up extra scenes in the middle of a profile #and two weeks later started talking to the interviewer at the EXACT point of reference they left off at as if no time passed at all #his mind is huge and it's the hottest thing ever tbh #apologies as usual this reply was longer than expected but your ask is seriously something that's always on my mind bc he's SO IMPRESSIVE #and passionate!!! #just in every possible way which blows my mind every single day like there's always something to be surprised by with him? #it's just the most amazing thing ever so tysm for a wonderful ask and i hope your upcoming week is an amazing one #sending lots of love your way 💖💖 #ask

[doctorwhoisadhd]

so wait, since i was just reminded of the recorder thing donna talked about in the giggle, i now have a question for uk ppl: do yall learn the recorder in school? like in a music class? and like how much do yall have music class over there?

#this is a very interesting topic for me as a music educator from the us #ik a guy from ireland and he said there was no music class in schools for him and like not the same country BUT same island #(as northern ireland. not the others in the uk but still) #and its so wild and fascinating music education is a fascinating field and the way we do it in the us seems to be largely vvv unique to us #for clarification on how things are different so ppl have a better idea on how to answer my question lol: #in the us music class is standard in elementary schools and most places have general music until abt 5th/6th grade (year 6/7) #(general music = basics- music games learn recorder SOME notation-reading; often classroom instruments eg boomwhackers claves maracas #orff instruments if you're lucky/from a school district that isnt poor. also some world music) #its less standardized after that and not every school will have music after middle school but concert bands and choirs are both huge here #choirs start right on the heels of general music classes (sometimes start earlier + students elect to be in choir instead of general music) #bands USUALLY start in 4th grade (year 5) but sometimes can be later 5th/6th (year 6/7) or even 7th (year 8) (WAY less common) #depends on the state generally 4th is most common i think (choirs start at around the same time i think so probs 4th but choir isnt my area #orchestras are weird bc theyre a lot less common but can commonly start younger bc of one of the big approaches to music ed (suzuki method) #so like maybe 3rd grade (year 4) maybe 4th w/ band (year 5) but i have a friend who teaches at a private school #& said they have 1st/2nd graders (year 2/3)!! orchestra is also not my area though #also marching bands: vv common! usually just in hs (starting 9th grade / year 10) bc it supports the football team at games #but starting in 8th grade (year 9) is also common (sometimes even 7th / year 8) #theres two different styles: collegiate/show band and competition. former is very rah rah pop music etc; competition is more abstract #show bands are clearly designed to entertain whereas competition is designed to be more impressive and tell a story #so more impact moments abstract shapes/lines on the field and has movements - opener ballad closer (fast-slow-fast)

[socksandbuttons]

when i made an underrem 'height' chart BUT theyre like smallified versions SO I CAN DRAW THEM BETTER AND CONSISTANTLY THUS NOT A VERY USEFUL CHART.

#like i can tell u how tall dream is vs asgore undyne is slightly shorter than dream #alphys and nightmare are around the shortest (not including the children) #muffet is JUST slgihtly taller than them. TSIURIS HEIGHT IS AN ENIGMA SOMETIMES WE'LL GET TO HER LATER #gaster???????? MY AVERAGE MAN??? good LUCK me #grillby has yet to even be in this au by the way hes not EVEN HERE i dont what to do with him yet so #(more designwise i mean. i dont need a story for him in this i have ENOUGH) #mettaton is like... maybe average sized i dont KNOW hes short than dream and undyne taller than muffet and MMM #WE DONT HAVE NUMBERS BTW U JUST HAVE TO G U ES S #its just cause im bad with heights so. i need a comparison to understand Tallness #anyway um i dont what brought this up i think i was thinking of something else #i really should share undyne or something cause i love her casual outfit cause HELLO beautiful lady THAR SHE BE #alyphs has every right to crush on her are U KIDDING #muffet is so proud of that woman (but also impressed how oblivious she can be about the swooning ladies) #underrem #goes in the tag because im just typing things now

[decamarks]

I'M MAKING SOMETHINGGGGGGGGGGG (violent explosions & nuclear detonations)

#i was right animating him is fucking FUN. it is also hard. #this is just a short little thing nothing THAT impressive. i intend to go much harder at a later date #BUT! this is good practice eheheehee.

[someonesomewheredown]

I've been playing Disco Elysium a bit lately and I have to say I can already see why people love this game so much. I don't know how to describe it but it just feels good to play and interact with the world. Kim is also such a delight to talk to!!! Everyone feels real and alive and it's blowing my mind. I'm so excited to keep going and see where things go!!!!

#also i 100% get all of the hype around kim. i haven't even finished the firs day yet and i already have a lesbian crush on him #i need to impress him sooooo bad. and also simultaneously pick the stupidest dialogue options. surely this will work well #well. i guess playing shot-put with a ball for another game and crying to get a possible witness to stay is good stupid #vs like. siding with that one racist fuck what's his name #maybe that's mean to say since people can play however they want without it necessarily meaning anything about their character #but i just can't be mean like that. not during my first run #i can be a walking nightmare later but for now i want to do the best i can #disco elysium

[sysig]

One better (Patreon)

#Doodles #SCII #Helix #ZEX #Blood #I knew going into this and it was still so distressing :'0 #Who needs plot twists when you can create such an intense sense of Dread #Probably doesn't help that I read this At Night In the Dark lol - actual shivers #Gods this was a hard scene to read - there have been several instances of my face hurting from furrowing my brow so hard haha #The way that ''Doctor'' is written is So skillful - I'm so impressed by everyone's prose and quirks and syntax! #Not to mention when he breaks character in a later scene to apologize for taking a bit to move the scene along haha <3 Play!! #It really does speak to just how much skill and effort is put into everything <3 It's so well done all the way around!! #Anyway to the actual scene at hand lol ow :') Drawing blood is always fun but I wish it wasn't his ;u; #Ugh the way he takes the surgeries is so well written - fear of course but a kind of stoic suffering as much as he's able to - #Until it comes to his eye #Ugh the /break/ of it all he goes from so eloquent - almost snarky and silly! Still trying to find an out make peace do /something/ #It all goes completely out the window he's so /reduced/ and nothing hurts worse than that ughughugh #For all his intelligence and wit and prior successes and charm and just - everything that makes him /him/ to be dissolved into abject fear #It's so sad ;; And so well done <3 #And he still holds enough of himself to know what he'd be losing wegh it's so sad!! He's so defined by his vision as most VUX are it's fjdsl #Zelnick is already gone by this point but I wanted to throw him in for extra sad flavour :') #Plus - I've mentioned his post-Op was one of the ones from the gallery that Actively kills me every time I look at it #Can you imagine my heartbreak to find out that he didn't have his Captain to comfort him after this in actuality? That he was fully alone? #''Are we home? Is it over?'' ''N...not yet'' - The Absolute Devastation of realizing that Never Was not really #Just tear my heart out why don't you ugh I'm fully bleeding out 💔 #That last one is actually meant to be Max but it's open to interpretation :) #I think it's such a waste that his eye was just disposed of! Someone else could've used that (lol) #I do think there's something to the idea of seeing what used to be a part of your body elsewhere - like the Leftovers! #Even just keeping as a memento tho - a trophy - insult to injury but literally #Just points to no one being special and nothing being sacred I suppose

[alienturnip]

Finished FF16 a few days ago and I do have some (long) thoughts about it, so I'm noting them down below. Reactions include the Waloed & Origin arcs.

Tagging @zadien as you requested <3 My thoughts won't be organized but I'll try my best to articulate as I go. Wall of text alert!

I think this is yet another case of "the story didn't satisfy me a lot but the characters bewitched me body and soul" so here I am at the end of the roads... with a lot of grievances toward how the story was structured & written but also impossibly attached to the cast haha, needless to say I have fanart ideas planned and incoming.

Things that I enjoyed a lot:

CliveJill's scene with the snow daisies, where she tells Clive that she wants to spread her wings after all this is over. MY GIRLFRIEND... YOU SHALL HAVE THE WORLD.

Jill being so good with acting dkfjsl <3 <3 she's so cute....

Jill being as much of a ruthless mtfk as Clive, they're soooo in tune when it comes to wrecking havoc

Everything about Joshua he brings SO SO MUCH to the table both with his personalities and the themes he represents. I would ramble if not for fear of this post's length...

Dion's contradictory demeanor hahahahaha - he insisted everyone call him "Dion" but wouldn't shut up about "Ifrit" and "Phoenix", he also refused Harpocrates' gift but then gave another to Clive 2 seconds later, then sauntered off without even checking if Clive likes it or not...

I generally bemoan the lack of discussion on Dion's relationship with his country's imperialism and his hands in that (like, everything about him was perfect to address that topic even in very brief ways?), BUT I highly enjoyed Dion's theme about the loss of personhood and to be reduced to a vessel of power and worship, his multifaceted relationship with the concepts of power & duty & hierarchy. So subtly yet powerfully done with so little screen time... I think Clive's own engagement with the theme (which is supposed to be his central theme) comes short in comparison.

Dion's side quest with Harpocrates also scratched my brain in INCREDIBLY ways, but again I won't ramble too much in this post...

(Hahaha by this point I think everyone knows who my fav is)

Dion & Joshua's dialogues are all so well-written (maybe save for Joshua's last speech...)

Everything about Mid & Gav, they're beautifully done, I love them they have such solid places within the narrative and lovely personalities too. When I watched Mid navigating the Entreprise I was just squealing and cheering for her! Her talking about the dream of flight and the danger it might entail, and her plan of turning such a weighted topic into a lighthearted treasure hunt! My gosh 💗 Gav's drinking scene with Clive is also especially touching, I felt a lot for his burdens.

Lady Isabelle may I have your hand in marriage--

Clive holding Joshua or clutching his body...... breaks me every time I love love LOVE tragic siblings

I can honestly write an essay for each of the characters (especially Jill & Dion my thoughts about them are overflowing) but they will have to be separate posts at this point, let me know @zadien (or anyone else reading this 🫣) if you'd like me to talk some more.

NOW onto the criticisms proper...

Waloed & Origin arcs were pretty underwhelming, mostly because I feel like they haven't offered anything new that wasn't already resolved in the previous arcs...? I enjoyed Barnabas' vibe but his impact on me was a big fat 0, and here comes the conundrum because, well, I'm guessing him being emotionless & devoid of a personality is supposed to be the point with his worship of Ultima, but even that was not done well... All his bedroom scenes kinda ruined all of that, not to mention the out-of-nowhere 'mother' appearances that the story doesn't even bother to explore aside from showing her naked body (Benedikta got the same treatment after her death my god I'm so sorry my beloved)...

Idk what I'm supposed to take away from the character and, in consequence, the Waloed arc? I know nothing of who he was, his dialogues didn't even match Clive's growth at that point - again, why is Clive questioning his humanity NOW of all time, when the story has been going so well? Could they have, idk, shown Clive's fear coming back to him after reuniting with Joshua & discovering Dion's descend to madness, so that they can segue into the Waloed arc more smoothly - that despite Clive's best intention he may lose all his control at the most crucial point and ruin all that he holds dear (like Dion), and that he never let go of his guilt at Phoenix Gate, and having Joshua back unwittingly brought back the nightmares he'd lived with for 13 years? Maybe that would give his identity crisis at the beach some more substance instead of "Barnabas bested me twice and now I'm wet and sat" situation he got going on... I am thankful for Mid & Dion's arc & CliveJill romance & everything about Joshua but the main villain & plot points felt so distant... MY BRAIN WAS NOT SCRATCHED

(I adore Mid & Dion & Joshua hahaha they're so colorful in 3 entirely different directions, my silly children)

I am also not really convinced by Ultima's writing. The plot reveal of him being a God who created humanity but then abandoned us all *could* have been pretty powerful and on point if it wasn't executed in such fragmented ways. If only they dig deeper into one or two specific aspects of that concept to explore...

I am especially fond of the idea of Ultima as symbolic for "the absent parent" and "the narcissistic parent" (both in the intimate familial context and the wider context of head-of-state/leader figures), which could have paralleled SO WELL with Anabella & Sylvestre & EVEN ELWIN had they not cut off Anabella's presence immediately after her death, or had they make Dion reflect deeper upon his relationship with his father beyond "I killed him I am so sad", or had they make Joshua's and Clive's memories of Elwin more complicated - maybe in how they (especially Joshua) worshipped his as their father & leader, but less so as a man, someone human & flawed? And then they can explore how the children gaining autonomy & freedom despite their parents & the circumstances that shaped their childhood as a direct mirror to them breaking away from Ultima? The frustrating thing is, I THINK they did try to do that, what with all the Inner Voice snippets and the initial buildups and all, but the execution keeps coming up short...

Ultima & the Eikons as symbols of "power that binds & enthralls" in contradiction with Clive's fight for a "free world" could've been much more relevant and poignant if maybe they allowed us to get more invested in Ultima's backstory (flashback cutscenes perhaps? more involved murals? a more multifaceted discussion around the concept of will? some attempts at humanizing Ultima's race so that when Clive says "you're just like us" we feel it a bit deeper?) instead of just having the guy monotonously narrating all the plot twists... my god. Not to mention all the on-the-nose dialogues of power of friendship & crude slavery allegories... I don't know! I think Square did NOT do it well in this one.

That's all I can pull from the top of my head at the moment! Ready to hop into replies or asks to talk some more, but yea!

#ff16 #I have both love and frustration for this game in equally intense measure #hoping that the general impression didn't come off as being too negative but yeah... #...at this rate I am just listing all my wishful thinking for things that might have happened #trying to rewrite the game in my head etc. etc. #On an unrelated note #I was fighting the Knight of Splendent Heart and was again filled with longing for A TERENCE BOSS FIGHT #for twinside arc #that'd be my dying wish... #Just-- Square #listen #just lift these moves in wholesale #or maybe even reuse Clive's later Bahamut skills #MAYBE DION BLESSED HIM LIKE JOSHUA DID CLIVE I DON'T KNOW-- #jura plays ff16 #ff16 spoilers

[apoemadaykeepsthehoesaway]

Song of Songs

- Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

Sing me at dawn but only with your laugh:

Like sprightly Spring that laugheth into leaf;

Like Love, that cannot flute for smiling at Life.

~

Sing to me only with your speech all day,

As voluble leaflets do. Let viols die.

The least word of your lips is melody.

~

Sing me at dusk, but only with your sigh;

Like lifting seas it solaceth: breathe so,

All voicelessly, the sense that no songs say.

~

Sing me at midnight with your murmurous heart;

And let its moaning like a chord be heard

Surging through you and sobbing unsubdued.

#so welcome to the summer of 1917 #so this one is interesting #it’s allegedly the first poem he wrote for Siegfried Sassoon #in the sense that it’s the first one he wrote which impressed him #which Sassoon allegedly: applauded fervently… pronounced it perfect work #absolutely charming #etc etc. and begged that [owen] would copy it out for him to show the powers that be #it was then printed in The Hydra which was sort of the resident owned paper of the hospital Sassoon and Owen were staying at #and he won a constellation prize for it later on #apparently Owen eventually outgrew this poem #but I stand by it and would gladly use it for my vows if I ever get married #since imo thats how it’s written #and SPEAKING of my opinion… come on #what else could’ve inspired Owen to write such a beautiful love poem which was EXPLICITLY TO IMPRESS HIS CELEBRITY CRUSH WHO JUST AGREED TO #TUTOR HIM AND WOULD BECOME HIS LOVER #which is why I’m tagging this as #wilfred owen #siegfried sassoon #queer poetry #love poem #ww1 #poetry