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meraki-yao · 2 months

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RWRB Thoughts: The Deadline Contender Panel

Quick list of very direct, subjective, random and spontaneous thoughts I had while listening/watching the panel:

I absolutely understand that Taylor probably doesn't remember every detail of the movie off the top of his head, especially with nerves, but Sweetheart really didn't describe the played DNC scene correctly😅

That being said Taylor calling Henry Alex's boyfriend made me SO FUCKING HAPPY???? I was squealing and kicking my legs because of all the feels. On top of that, intentional or not, Taylor takes a breath so it goes "wanted to bring his... boyfriend!" and there's this subtle emphasis on the word, I am screaming

I do question why this scene though? I don't know much about this whole process, but just an educated guess, if we're trying to get an emmy nom via this panel, shouldn't we be showing a scene that's more representative of the movie's core? Like, say the New Year's scene, or Kensington Palace, or the Lake scene. If we have to include the comedy aspect, then show the freaking Red Room. I love this scene of course, but if the purpose is to nominate ourselves and show ourselves then I feel like another scene should have been picked

Why can't people freaking pronounce Nick's surname correctly? It's phonic! Ga - Lit- Zine

"Orange Guy was still president" I snorted

I heard there's stupid discourse over this minor, harmless thing, but because people are stupid, here to clarify "especially Taylor since he's here" is CLEARLY A JOKE BETWEEN FRIENDS and if you didn't pick that up then that's kind of sad :P

I'm wondering if there's still recordings of the zoom auditions/chem read. I can also imagine zoom chem read being much harder. Honestly I think zoom auditions only work with monologues.

He did the chem read in his sister's apartment lmao

THEIR CHEM READ WAS KENXINGTON????!!! WHAT THE FUCK???!!! THE MOMENT THAT MADE MATTHEW GO "there's the one" WAS THIS FREAKING SCENE??? This also implies they had to say "I love you" upon the first time meeting each other oh my god I wanna see that so bad

Also I cannot freaking imagine this intense of a scene via zoom, God I really want to see it (don't think we'll ever get it but still)

Someone ask Matthew or Nick what the other scene in the chem read is

The notebook, pride and prejudice and 10 things i hate about you mention made me happy :D

The speech thing... Kinda feel like should be a Matthew question? It's cool to hear that Taylor referenced President Obama but this is still ultimately him being Alex? Plus Taylor's a great public speaker to begin with

Did he dabble in political science? Did he ever mention that? I know he did Spanish and Community but political science?

I think the only really bad gay movie in recent years was Bros and that has a myriad of issues internally and externally, but I think it's just this one?

Why is TikTok the metric? Might write something longer in the future when I have time but the thing is with this

Speaking of Taylor and queer roles, I think I saw somewhere that Noah Torres was bi?

I talked to @pippin-katz about this but dear God, I have heard the question "What is your favourite scene" being asked to the boys at least three times now, and they always answer the cake scene. Why don't they ever expand on the question, especially since Taylor affed the Kensington scene this time, and why don't they ever ask other questions or ask about specifics? Between me and my friends, we came up with at least 40 questions that could be asked to the boys and haven't been asked yet.

Nick how the fuck did cream stay in/ behind your ear for two days and Taylor how did you spot it

I'm honestly getting really tired of the sequel question, it's always phrased the same way, and of course, the answer is gonna be the same. Even if they knew, they contractually can't tell us, the first announcement of a sequel will have to come from a bigger source like Amazon themselves.

I understand being nervous but this interviewer felt too timid and unsure of herself

Overall still very enjoyable, always more than happy to hear Taylor speak about his baby that we all love, but the question are so freaking repetitive. I said it clearer in my discussion with Pippin so here's a screenshot of that part

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #taylor zakhar perez #nicholas galitzine #alex claremont diaz #henry fox mountchristen windsor #henry hanover stuart fox #firstprince #my rwrb list #rwrb rambles #deadline contenders

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completeoveranalysis · 8 months

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Of Yūko's customers, which ones you find most memorable?

Most memorable customers, you say?

I hope you don't mind me using this as an excuse to make an arbitrary list by way of answer. (Arbitrary lists, my beloved...)

Yuuko's Customers In Order Of How Well I Remember Them

(Though I will exclude all the bigger characters for fairness. So, Syaoran, Watanuki, Lava Lamp, Fai, Kurogane, Doumeki, Himawari, Seishirou, Ashura, Tomoyo, etc, etc. Regular xxxHolic customers only!)

10. Birdcage Customer

What was this about? Was he even a customer? We just don't know!

But the thing most memorable about this whole situation is the most pressing question: WHY DO YOU HAVE EVIL WOLVERINE'S SYMBOL ALL OVER YOUR HOME? It's even on his front sign!

WHO ARE YOU?????

9. The Liar

Mostly at the bottom because I can't resist the irony. She's the first big customer we see - but what do we really know about her? Absolutely nothing, because she lied every step of the way!

What can we really remember about someone who never actually told us anything about herself?

Though I guess you could say her ending causes quite an impact.

8. Monkey's Paw Customer

Did I forget this had happened? Perhaps!

She's one of those cases where the cause and effect are so clear that the rest of the cast might as well not even be there - and I think most of her story IS told through scenes entirely from her perspective.

I think the most memorable thing about her is the Sheer Audacity of hunting down a monkey's paw and being convinced that, actually, she already knows what it does so it can't possibly go wrong. Love that for her. Would kill for this confidence.

(Not literally - but she kind of did that also)

7. Ame Warashi

Her impeccable style. Her winning charm. She's an icon.

I had just completely forgotten that she was also a customer at one point.

She makes up for it for being absolutely great in every scene she was in, but what are you going to do in a list based purely on how well I remember the customer part? Woops! My bad!

6. Karasu Tengu

They get huge points for this being a Central Event in the narrative, but also I completely forgot they were in this as customers. The entire plot scenario? Incredible! Character defining! Et cetera!

The actual Karasu Tengu themselves? Woops! I forgot they were there. My fault though!

5. The Computer Addict

I love this one. She's so ahead of the curve that she was addicted to the internet back when you had to be on the pc to use it. Honestly, relatable. I also went through a phase like this as a young teen, so the struggle was real.

Little did we all know that in the present day the accessibility of the internet would be so rampant that she literally wouldn't even need that pc to indulge her habits anymore. Oops!

But that aside Yuuko is peak during this arc and I love everything about it. Especially the fact that Yuuko just hangs out on message boards in her free time? Wonderful information. I can do so much with this.

4. Oops! All Ghosts

Another incredible storyline. The twists are preserved by some sneaky panels from Watanuki's perspective and Yuuko's morally grey approach to the whole situation is wonderful. What if you wanted to get rid of the ghost in your home, only to find out that YOU were the ghost all along? It has the DISTRESS. It has the CONFLICT. It has the TRAGEDY. 10/10

3. Haunted Photo

Another customer with Peak Audacity. Trying to wish away the consequences of your own actions? Committing something awful but being unable to actually look at the proof yourself? The ultimate wish being an anxiety inducing curse that is sure to fail? Love it.

It's also one of those juicy situations where the morality of the situation basically drives itself. The customer causes her own problems and can't actually be saved - and doesn't deserve it either.

And honestly I think CLAMP should get a lot of credit for having the haunting effects of a photograph slowly turning around in a purely static medium. They really pulled that off.

I still love the evil smile in the photograph the last time we see it. PURE memorable.

2. The Twin

WE LOVE HER? WE LOVE HER.

Being consistently cut off and run down and overwritten and slowly clawing your way out of the situation through the sheer desire to be your own person?

And then the answer is a haircut?

It's another glimpse into the side of Yuuko that really does try cut people a good bargain. The wish could have been taken in any number of ways, but Yuuko went for the easiest and most affordable way that would genuinely help the customer actually fix her life on her own. She didn't specifically need supernatural help for this, but it was the route that presented itself, and it was the one that got her the help she needed when she needed it. Very hitsuzen, very relatable, very identifiable storyline that sticks with you.

Just like the final entry!

1. Kohane

Listen do I even need to explain this one.

Kohane is like THE storyline. It's THE example of what it's all about. It's not entirely supernatural in nature but completely heart wrenching. It has Watanuki playing a central role in fixing the problem, setting up for his future (or at least, what I assume it will be). It ties xxxHolic to Tsubasa and hints at a secret tool that will help with someone later.

And it has Kohane! You can't go wrong.

#I'm not counting the ghost who tries to kill Watanuki #because she was lonely #Or uh... all the other ghosts that try to kill Watanuki #Didn't buy anything! Not customers!#replies #traditionalartist #not liveblogging the reservoir chronicle #xxxholic #Oh am I doing a ranking list for no reason?#YES ABSOLUTELY #Listen I love it #I'll rank anything for any reason #But also #The thematic links between all the longer Customer arcs?#The overlaps between the computer addict the twin and kohane?#The line between the haunted photo and kohane's mother?#Wonderful #I love how they play with themes all the way through #But in different flavours and in different stages

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sueske · 1 year

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See this is why I could never let go of the “sarada was an experiment/test tube kid” because everything about it makes so much more sense for sasuke and sakuras absolutely bizarre dynamic in gaiden and beyond including how they don’t act like a normal married couple at all and how there’s still so much mystery around their relationship even after gaiden

i just could never really subscribe to the “sakura wore sasuke down and followed him for so long so he just finally married her and had a kid” theory HOWEVER i can easily see sasuke quickly marrying sakura after sarada is born and playing pretend normal family with her as his own way of trying to make sarada’s early life be as normal as possible with two parents because he knows that her finding out she was an experiment would be extremely traumatic for her (and it just sounds like something sasuke would DO because it’s a rational decision and he wants sarada to grow up in a somewhat normal environment)

also I know for a fact that sakura’s character would HAPPILY agree to raise sasuke’s kid (or any uchiha clone) because in her mind if she raises sarada…….she will also by default finally have sasuke…..like they would finally have something that actually connects them (cue sasuke’s “because we have you” weird speech) even though he still can’t manage to kiss or hug her like if they were actually in love

kishimoto certainly portrayed them as being in a loveless marriage whose feelings are only connected because of their kid. and what type of feelings exactly? it's left pretty vague, but it's clear they're not feelings of love from sasuke's side. the test tube theory makes the most sense tbh, even with the new developments in boruto.

in any case sasuke didn't quickly marry sakura after giving birth to sarada. you can tell by the uchiha crest.

this is during a flashback in gaiden - sarada looks quite young here, but neither her or sakura are wearing the uchiha crest.

this is during chapter 700 - they both look a bit older, but again neither of them are wearing the crest. it's also an interesting choice to show us their backs in clear view like that, we all know how careful kishimoto is with his angles and perspectives 😅

then we have another flashback in gaiden where finally we can see sakura wearing the crest - it's a bit unclear but you can still make out its shape.

the exact timings of the flashbacks are unclear but based on how they look my guess is that once sarada got older and started asking questions about her dad, sakura raised this concern to sasuke, and sometime during while he was in konoha to accept the mission they got officially married on paper, in sasuke's case to make it easier on sarada. they certainly didn't have a ceremony or anything because sakura doesn't have a ring and there's not even a wedding photo to show for it.

and then in gaiden (sarada is much older now) we can see the uchiha crest on their clothes and on the house that sakura eventually destroyed because she got angry her daughter was questioning her marriage... uhm...

I know some ss like to bring up 'sarada's memory' of them all:

but first of all kishi doesn't draw flashbacks like this. the actual flashback started after that panel. secondly, they're all wearing the uchiha crest. in the actual flashbacks above neither sakura or sarada wore the crests until sarada was much bigger. sasuke doesn't even wear his at all after the last anymore. It's more of a fantasy image on sarada's part. and kishimoto did draw something in a similar style at the start of gaiden:

this is sarada's fantasy of how she thought her father daughter reunion was going to go down, but never actually did. both of these events are things that never happened basically, but that she likes to imagine.

edit: forgot to mention that sarada herself said that for as long as she can remember she has never even met him. so yeah, it's obviously not a memory.

#anon #ask #anti ss #my stuff #also the fact that sakura doesn't have a ring #cuz everything was done quickly

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cantsomeoneelsedoit · 2 months

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Ch 50: It's Up to You Now

Failure Is Not An Option: A Shoujo Story About Love and Monsters

UMA Autumn has gotten both bigger and stronger from eating people while Fuuko and Andy were in the book. Andy suggests that it's starting to enter its second phase and busts out a new move:

Autumn can regenerate! That's perfect for Rip, except...

he can't even injure it in the first place because he's still just a kid!

We get to see Latla's ride, and it's a motorized broom of some kind. I hadn't really thought of her as a witch before this, but I guess it makes sense since she can predict the future. Her side-saddle riding is so cute. Is Latla a magical girl now?

She's got her back turned to Autumn both because it's gross and so she can make a quick getaway if she needs to. I don't blame her tbh.

Anno Un says they'll draw an Artifact that can capture Autumn while the group distracts it. Rip asks Latla to fact check Anno Un and we FINALLY get an explanation for her ability.

Also, I kinda can't believe Viz hasn't fixed Andy's typo in the first panel. I wonder if they fixed it in the print edition. UU is usually pretty clean, so it caught my eye.

Anno Un reflects on their strange life as they draw the Artifact with the G Liner in their mouth. The first object Akira manifested from a drawing was a little car, and that discovery led to the creation of Anno Un.

Once they had a human avatar, they tried to visit Akira's mom, but she had already passed.

Akira couldn't bear to even look, and so Anno Un did the grieving for him. Anno Un did all the things that Akira couldn't, including drawing those characters that little Akira had been so eager to show her:

Each character is described by their relationships and loyalties to other characters. It's their relationships and interplay that make up the core of the story, no matter what the plot is.

Beyond the fact that his mom likes handsome (adult) characters, I think she would like Rip because Rip also lost someone. I don't believe there's ever an explanation for what happened to Akira's father, but it must've been a loss at some point, whether through death, divorce, or abandonment.

Akira's mom took a different path than Rip by devoting herself to those who remained instead of pining for the one who left. After all, she had a kid to care for, and there wasn't anything supernatural she could do to bring Akira's father back, unlike Rip using the Ark. But she probably understands his feelings very well. After losing Akira, I'm sure she'd do anything to find him again.

Anno Un uses the Life Is Strange Artifact on Rip and turns him back into an adult. Latla's expression is hilarious:

With his prosthetics getting taller and his shorts shrinking, Rip's kinda got an Absolute Area/zettai ryouiki thing going on! (Which reminds me to add that Tatiana's ability is named after the A.T. Fields in Eva, which are protective barriers like Tatiana's that expand around the users. Which of course, got turned into a stocking fetish by otaku...)

ANYWAY, Rip already knows how the Artifact works because it's the same thing that Feng used on him when Andy almost killed him. It causes the user to age 10x whatever they aged the target.

Rip has a moment of pure kindness and offers to use the Artifact on Anno Un to try to even out the damage, but they won't allow him. The look on Rip's face in this bottom panel is a turning point.

It's like he realized how much they knew already and how much they really did care about him. Rip has a hard time understanding selflessness and altruism, like when Fuuko saved Chikara. And here's someone he barely knows--someone he was recently trying to kill--and they're willing to sacrifice themselves for his sake. Rip's expression is childlike, which is funny since he just got aged up.

Rip is still stunned as Anno Un fades away, leaving only the tracksuit, Soul Caliber, and the broken G Liner. The unlikely team of five will have to fight the rest of the battle without their advice. Will we ever see Akira again?!

Masterpost

#undead unluck #overreading undead unluck

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thoughtfullyrainynightmare · 6 months

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2, 3, 6, 11, 23, 25 for Rades pwease?

Oh some of these are very surprising questions, but let's see!

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Hmmmm... I guess I like his tenacity. As in, Rades is one of those characters that just refuse, absolutely refuse, to just roll over and quit. Sure, he seems to be the type to do first and ask questions second, but at least he takes action (like at the very end of the elf arc, where the EOTMNSs' henchmen's redemption arc kinda begins). I can admire his determination.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

Rades... I get that you have... issues, but boasting to a toddler about how you're going to destroy the kingdom really is NOT the way to go...

6. What’s something you have in common with this character?

Now, this, this is a difficult question. But... I suppose if I had to find something, I, too, feel betrayed by the society, the feelings of inadequacy and (though not me, but my family) being essentially being stabbed in the back by the very system that's supposed to be there for the people.

11. Would you date this character?

...No Unfortunately. I just don't see appeal in him as a romantic partner. As in, sure he's strong willed and driven, but ... those individual pieces don't real count for much if I'm not particularly fond of the bigger picture, the pieces of which they are. Could I write a dating fic for him? Sure. I'm pretty sure I could, but I'm just not drawn to him.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

Maybe one of these?

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

I think my first thoughts, when we were shown just the panels outside of the city, so not the attack itself yet, I was intrigued, because the conversation between Rades and Valtos was obviously going somewhere. And, then, when he was boasting to the little girl about destroying everything she loves, I think my exact thoughts were "wow, you're so screwed up in the head". Also, the words of how Clover and the MKs stabbed him in the back earned no pity points from me at that point. Which... well, I still don't think that I'd grant him pity points from what he did/how he was in the very very beginning of the manga, but he has been growing since then. Granted that he doesn't seem the most eager to atone for his crimes (which I think would be, the most eager to atone for their crimes during the Elf arc, Valtos). But I think that I understand him better. Plus... he was... what, 21? In the beginning of the manga, and by then the events that lead to the attack had been under construction for some years already, most likely, so Rades had been under 20 when he was recruited. My guess would be somewhere between 16-19, because he would have needed to be in the MKs for at least some time before being dismissed. And a 16-19 year old (hell, they wouldn't even need to be a teen, even an... adulty-adult) that is basically kicked out of the society, who is fuelled by anger, can be easily controlled by a cult. His anger was fed and ... justified isn't the right word, because his anger is and was justified, but... encouraged further? So, there definitely are a lot of themes and reasons at play.

#rades spirito #black clover #anon flamelets #this was very interesting #but I also don't think about him that often

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diagonal-queen · 11 months

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dia entirely forgot it was thungo thursday until mayoi reminded her and she dropped everything to watch the ep. here are all her thoughts, live-documented, in chronological order (apologies for this):

NOT RANPO CHILLING LIKE SHIT'S SWEET WHEN THE CAR HE WAS IN JUST FUCKING CRASHED LMAOOOOO

ranpo is so small next to minoura. he's so tiny and cute i just wanna cuddle him sm (and yes i am a little taller than him- height means nothing to me. we all know where the rest of his inches went YKNOW WHAT IM SAYIN YA FEEL ME)

'the police of this nation are idiots' yes minoura you're absolutely correct but consider this: the police of every nation on god's green earth are idiots

isn't it amazing how it was written in this magical reality-bending book that nobody would believe in the agency's innocence and in a couple minutes worth of running his mouth, ranpo just...undid it?? for like hundreds of police officers??? the sheer power of this man

god i forgot just how fucking fantastic this intro is. tbh this is probably my favourite intro of all of them. the colours and imagery and the chaos of it all MWAH (also kishow voice mm)

bones. was this panel too hard to animate properly?? did you read the fucking manga bones?? do you HATE US BONES??????

i could listen to ranpo talk for HOURS. literally hours, in a language i don't even speak, about anything he wanted, for hours, and i wouldn't get bored. his voice just...*kicks feet and giggles*

i missed you tecchou <3 please keep cooking for fukuchi. you're doing great sweaty xx

some loser: 'when do you suppose a life ends?' even bigger loser: 'when it becomes unable to adapt to change' fukuchi on his celestia ludenberg arc ok

IT'S BEEN LIKE ONE FUCKING WEEK AND THE UN IS ALREADY MAKING AN ANTI-TERRORIST GROUP??? THEY'RE FULLY READY TO FIND AND EXECUTE THE AGENCY MEMBERS IN UNDER A WEEK?? THE ICC LEGALLY CAN'T EVEN DETAIN CRIMINALS ON THEIR OWN IRL

i wish people reacted to seeing my posts on their dash the same way that the united nations reacted when fukuchi appeared onstage

congressmen will excuse mass shootings of gay ppl and then have shirtless fukuchi posters hanging above their beds where they half-heartedly fuck their wives and go to sleep before the thought of helping her also cum even crosses their mind

wait. *pauses and zooms in*. WAIT. YOU'RE TEL

YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT

THAT ABRAHAM STOKER WAS THICC?????? THAT HE HAD A DUMPY???? THAT HE HAD SOME JUNK IN THAT TRUNK???? ALL THAT ASS INSIDE THOSE JEANS???? CURSE YOU FUKUCHI OUCHI FOR RIDDING THE WORLD OF BRAM'S CAKES

thinking about it, doesn't the decay of angels sound like a really cool name for an operatic metal band??

fukuchi: *enters room* ranpo: YOOOOOO STEPDAD GUESS WHO'S AN ENEMY OF STATE :DDDDDDD

fukuchi really is like 'you havent changed at all, boy' ranpo is literally eight years older than me. if he's a boy i'm primordial soup

fukuchi also said that ranpo's title of 'excellent detective' is self claimed. the thousands of people whose lives ranpo's probably saved must all be like 'say sike rn'

ranpo trusting fukuchi solely because the president said he trusts him. crying screaming throwing up ranpo GIVE ME ONE CHANCE (that's right guys we're back to this again)

fukuchi thinks he's hot shit cus he can jump high?? well my ocs can also do that fukuchi. sucks to be basic huh

IT'S NOT RANPO'S FAULT HE WAS BORN LATER AND THUS MET FUKUZAWA LATER??????? FUCK OFF FUKUCHI (also i love the way they're sitting they're all so silly mwehehehe)

omg ranpo also commented on the 'boy' thing lmaooo he and i are so good for each other <3 if only he'd give me a chance... </3

i wonder what portion of atsushi's budget goes towards emergency ramune. also imagine someone caring enough about you that they always keep one of your favourite snacks on you in case you get hungry or something. that's so cute i can't <3333

imagine coming up with a complex plan, twelve or so years in the making, to end the world, all because u asked ur friend out like thirty years ago and he said no T-T

fukuchi: *tilts neck* *minecraft skelly noise*

oh atsushi. i know other people won't like me saying this but you're so hot and i want to do the sex with you <3333333

wow bones. you've outdone yourself. this has to be the best fisheye yet- maybe even beating lucy's fisheye for how terrifying it is. i'm genuinely speechless

AKUTAGAWA

omg atsushi's speech on how loneliness is his biggest fear and how much he cares about his loved ones (kinnie moment), and the one thing he needs, truly needs right now is someone to fight alongside him to save all that he has to lose and the world as he knows it, and then akutagawa appears? soulmates. i mean it's not even like this is a surprise to me as someone who read the manga but, like, it's different when i'm watching it. soulmates. soulmates soulmates soulmates

and that's a wrap for tonight's edition of dia's thungo thursdays!! be sure to tune in for next week and see them cry tears of hopelessness and despair!!

#dia's daydreams #i say thungo thursday instead of wungo wednesday #because #what is wednesday to many of you #is often thursday to me #and this is also the case #when new episodes are released #timezones amirite #so thungo thursday it is #this post is so long and dumb im so sorry #if you read all the way to the end #im sorry

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kingofdoma · 2 years

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...

so ep 8 of strange new worlds inspired me to write a ficlet (is that the term? this is my first time doing this)

it’s the first thing i’ve written to completion in ages, so be kind

call it “a final gift” i guess?

yeah.

all below the cut.

"Noonien-Singh to M'Benga! I have a possible infectious fauna in my quarters! Report here immediately!"

The doctor, half in reverie as he was filling out the toughest report he had ever had to complete, snapped out of his staring contest with a console and answered his comm. "La'an? What's going on?"

"I reported back to my quarters after the... incident, and when I returned there, there was a creature in there. I sealed it within before it could escape. I need you here to establish proper quarantine and run a limited baryon sweep if necessary."

"A baryon sweep? I don't know if such procedures are necessary, but... in any event, I'm on my way. M'Benga out." A smile flickered across his face. Could it be...?

When M'Benga arrived at La'an's quarters, he saw her rigid and stern, phaser trained on her quarter's door, as if the "fauna" could leap through the entrance at will, two other security officers flanking her. "Doctor?" she said, barely looking away. "Good. You're here. I need you to-"

"I think I know exactly what I need to do," M'Benga said, cutting her off slightly. "Tell me, have you done a scan of the creature yet?"

"No," she replied, absolutely not showing any embarrassment whatsoever, and don't you dare say otherwise. "That's what I contacted you for. In situations like this, I shoot things, or defer to different pools of knowledge. For this thing's sake, I went with the latter."

"Right. One moment." M'Benga went to the panel next to the door and initiated the in-room sensors. It only took him a few seconds to interpret the scans and start chuckling to himself, then a moment more for it to turn into full-blown laughter.

"Doctor? What... what's going on?" La'an inquired. "What's so funny?"

The doctor ended his laughter with a sigh. "You can dismiss your men. There's no danger here."

The security chief, again, NOT looking embarrassed, can't stress that enough, holstered her phaser and curtly nodded to her officers, who exchanged puzzled looks as they left. La'an leaned in and spoke in low tones. "You're absolutely sure it's not a threat?"

M'Benga smirked, and hit the door control, opening the quarters and allowing the small, brown furred creature out of the room, whereupon it immediately started yipping and putting its forepaws on La'an's leg. M'Benga took the officer's frozen gaze as a sign that she did not know how to respond, and picked up the creature.

"Do they not have dogs where you come from?" asked M'Benga.

"Not like that," La'an replied, secretly thankful to be able to focus on literally anything else. "I'm used to dogs being much bigger and much more aggressive. Besides, even if it appeared to be harmless, there are creatures that can change shape or temperament at a moment's notice. There are chameloid predators from the Imani cluster, not to mention the Alfa-177 canines are bloodthirsty half the time-"

"It's a mutt," he said. "Likely a bichon frise-cocker spaniel mix. That was..." He paused. "Can we take this inside?"

"Please," La'an agreed, and entered her (spartanly adorned) living space, closing the door behind her. "So, fine," she said, sitting across from M'Benga on her bed. "It's a dog. What is it doing here? Does it have to do with our missing time?"

The doctor smiled as he balked. "I'm still writing my report. Basically, we all became characters from a fantasy book. Most people's characters... did not match their usual personality. The captain was a sniveling chamberlain, for instance."

"Really?" La'an smirked. "I'd have loved to have seen that. What was Una, a flighty princess?"

"She was an archer of the forest... YOU were the princess."

"... what?" she replied flatly. "That's... that's ghastly. Horrible low cut dress, I assume? Terrible hair?"

M'Benga cleared his throat. "I... will show you the illustration later. You can judge for yourself. But the important thing is, that princess had a dog. THIS dog. When things returned to normal, I thought this little lady would disappear with the rest of the changes, but it appears... she did not. Which means that this is a gift from my daughter... to you."

"To me? I didn't even know your daughter... wait, your daughter?"

"That will be in my report as well," he replied wistfully. "Rukiya. She had cygnokemia. I was trying to give her more time by putting her pattern in the medical transporter buffer, but... she was running out of time. So the entity that lived inside the nebula literally made her dreams come true. Even to the point of letting her see the stars."

"Wait. You had an unauthorized pattern in the buffer? Presumably since we left drydock? That is a massive breach of protocol! You could face court martial!"

"... it will be in my report," he restated grimly. "I've... come to peace with that. But the important thing, right now, is this." He held up the dog to be eye level with La'an. "This is the princess' beloved companion. She called her Runa. And right now, she's yours. We can drop her off at McNair Starbase when we get there, but... that is up to you."

It finally dawned on La'an that M'Benga was offering the dog to her, and reluctantly took the beast into her hands. It sniffed and flicked out its tongue at her as it wiggled in her grasp. "We... we can decide that when we get to McNair. ... do we have a raw meat tape for the food synthesizer?"

M'Benga grinned again. "I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, I should get back to incriminating myself. My count is three major offenses so far, but I'm only a third of the way through things. I'm sure it will go up from there."

Slapping his legs, M'Benga stood up, and started for the door, but before he left, he turned and said, "You know, when Rukiya was old enough to know what gifts were, she got myself, my wife, and herself teddy bears, all with different faces and decorations, and told us all to sleep with them every night. I went with it at the time, but I never understood why she did it. But now... I sleep with all three of those bears every night. It helps me... not feel so alone. My daughter's gifts may not have made sense at first, but they were always excellent.

"You may want to cherish this one."

Once she was alone, La'an held the dog a moment longer, then placed it on the ground. Runa immediately ran around for a second, jumped back onto the bed, and snuggled in next to the chief's thigh.

La'an sighed to herself. Reaching for a nearby console as best she could without unseating her new companion, she said with resignation, "Computer... bring up any available files on canine care. Everything you've got. I'm going to need it..."

#strange new worlds #la'an noonien singh #joseph m'benga #dr. m'benga #star trek #the elysian kingdom

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jade-everstone · 1 year

Photo

The yearly tradition returns: 2022's Summary of Art!

And hey, I did something a little more design-y than my past ones! Will admit it was a bit tricky to fit each month's pics into the frames this time but I'm glad I tried a different look than usual

thoughts on each pic + reflection on the web + how I want to handle art going into the new year below:

January - Iri Intro!

From a somewhat short-lived thing I wanted to try out: Doing sketches of OCs just to serve as an introduction reguardless of quality. The good thing is, because quality's not a factor I can do these whenever in whatever format or polish. I just prefered doing larger pics this year

Febuary - A 'Cereal' Debate (comic short)

Ok, but she's got a point when you think about it.

From a comics class I took spring this year. The only prompt was "conversation"... well, heated debate in this case.

March - The School Mystery (comic short)

Another one from that Comics class and goddamn I think the panel featured here alone is one of the hardest things I drew that semester. That's pen and ink with minimal digital edits and damn hoping one day I could somehow make a longer comic with a similar style bc it was really fun to ink honestly.

April - The Fish Project

JADE WITH THE FRESH SALMON???? REAL!

Ok but for the real context, this was an April fools project I had in the works since 2021. I turned all my active art accounts at the time into an OC Fishing irony page and sent Jade, Iri, Risa, Jpeg, and both Prisma's on a fishing trip. Not sure how I'll top that in the future... I'm not revealing until April >:)

May - MOONROT

May was when I redesigned & revealed Io to the public! They got a bunch of art this month, but the CN challenge art is my favorite of all of them.

Huh. Suprised I didn't immediately burn out because that semester was extreme in terms of work. I guess wanting to draw Io was that strong.

June - Life, After Wither

A pre-Artfight 2022 pic: I was Team Wither! I like doing splash pics for my own page for Artfight and this stayed my main banner for just about most of the year.

The mini-story I made up for this is these three teamed up across dimentions or something to visit this forest.

July - In the Studio, fr

I don't normally do post-Artfight related pics, but Moog ended up getting the most attacks this year and I wanted to give her an extra pic based on it.

Seems she kept a souviner from the forest in the last pic.

August - B-Hold! The Portal King!

For Clockday on Newgrounds, Strawberry clock the portal King himself!

Kept getting swept up with other things to jump on Newgrounds events, I wasn't gonna miss one of the bigger ones!

September - // DIRECTION //

(outside of being gay for the robot-) I just wanted to draw Alia tbh. With a similar energy she had in her older art too.

October - HELLSPAWN

ABSOLUTELY NEFARIOUS HALLOWEEN PIC!!!

Featuring Io's true/original form + their 'powered-up' state

November - The Fowl Pest (Mock-Cover)

The last two are for my Digital Illustration class. This one is a mock-book cover based on a worldbuilding project of mine (still need to organize it before sharing).

Though tbh if I do want to do more art for said project I might go tra-digital or use a grittier style. During crit I was told this looked "middle-grade"... when the world is "older-YA/Adult"... still like the pic, but damn.

December - Lan Party!

*Sigh* Always wanted to go to one of these! But alas, me and my irls are all busy these days. This is based off a different project I'm working on.

I ended up debuting some different designs for my OCs for said project (notably; Iri, Risa, and Human!Midi) but separate pics for them will have to come next year. In terms of digital lineart, this was the most intense I did this year (traditional lineart comes easier to me than digital).

---

So... 2022. Jesus Christ

This year was rough for me on things personal, and things non-personal. I mean jesus christ every other week something came out that was hostile to artists one way or another on top of some rough patches in my life. I don't want to jinx 2023 or leave things on this note though...

I think my biggest takeaway from this year is I need to rethink a lot of things. How I want to do art, where I want to go, or even my 'digital wellbeing'. This year, I realized keeping art a Hobby or staying "part-time" (as in small gigs & private comms only) might be healthier for me in the long run. I've already had my doubts with a lot of "professional" practices when I was shooting for it (a tl:dr it felt like "no fun allowed" half the time). But realizing how horribly i've treated myself and my art with this chase? That was another thing.

I think i've done a lot of strong pics compared to past years. Especially in terms of backgrounds and not being afraid to draw them (though I could always use more practice, lol). But I've also come to terms with I've been affected by social media without realizing it and how it hurt how I do art. Basically, for the past two years I've been working under the fear of being boxed into doing one thing. Be it fanart, genres, etc. To the point I stopped doing things to force a "brand". Specifically, I stopped doing fanart unless it's oc-centric. I hid straight-up fanart, and started getting irrationally upset over the metrics fanart gets over my original works.

And I hate it. I hate how I let myself judge the value of my work over "numbers and engagement". I hate how I boxed myself in trying to avoid being boxed, because of chasing this corporate measurement of worth. And most importantly, I hate that I nearly forgot that I enjoyed making fanart, because of some dumb culture caused by social media numbers and algorithms. I'm exhausted. So for 2023, I think I want my main resolution to do better with my online life & how I treat myself and my art. I want to pull away from social media a bit more (ironic considered i just came back here heh), spend more time on the slower web & offline if possible, and break that cycle of letting numbers judge my self-worth. And maybe help others do the same. It's much easier said than done, but I don't want to do nothing about this toxic hellscape that is how art is treated online, I want to do something even if the only person I directly help is myself.

And for what it's worth, focusing on my site so far has been cathartic. It's somewhere I can set up my art, projects, weird shit, etc. on my own terms, how I like it. It's quieter over there. And I'm glad I kept working on it beyond just a "portfolio site".

But I guess I have all of 2023 (and what's left of 2022) to process that. For now, I could use some extra time to pretty-up my website some more and take a few more naps before the year ends.

---

extra note: this post is a (slightly modified) mirror of a post over on the everlogs:

Website Version Here!

#art summary #art summary 2022 #2022 #2022 summary of art

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thewul · 10 months

Text

Sports Deck

design notes: I think we can fit 4 courts in there, at any rate it is taking shape

seats for squash tournaments is the main feature that developed, and yes a changing room in the back

there's no definitive absolute size to a squash court, I guess we will just divide what we have in 4 courts with 2 practice courts in the center

after that it's how clean you like your courts, again there is no definitive answer as long as the lines are clearly visible

how big are they, some squash courts may be more challenging than others, these are 8 meters wide and 12.69 meters long, so quite bigger than regular courts

providing we can take on the height of the deck below we should have awesome bleachers and nice height courts

and it's quite astonishing that the ship has all these things, it's warehouse layout really paid off

design notes continued: it's safe to say that we can do without 4 lateral supports in the mid section for this deck because we have the steel frames of the airflow conducts, which maximizes exposure for the squash courts

more glass surfaces, glass plexiglass, I think we could be fine with plexiglass when the surface is not directly exposed to sunlight which come to think of it is most of them, even on the seadeck the surfaces are not directly exposed to sunlight just on the sides of the ship, and that can be mitigated if the sun is really harsh by raising the glass panels of the galleries so yes plexiglass in the end, much less brittle than glass, and for the good reason that it won't break or crack where glass would, added to the ease, also safety, of replacing plexiglass panels vs glass panels plexiglass has went a long way, surely for the right price a grade of plexiglass that will not yellow anytime soon, atleast not before the ship needs to be refurbished, can be procured with the necessary anti UV coating or film for the surfaces that we know are going to be exposed to sunlight, maybe we can replace glass completely for this ship, and that's a net weight gain most of all much less to worry about during rough seas, because each of the glass enclosures would have been a concern

design notes continued: what more could there be to it, a wide variety of soft drinks distributors on the sides of the courts, because guest will want to grab one

and designing player comfort oriented, after a grueling match the first thing they will want is their drink bottles and a bench, so we situated sport benches on the sides of courts gateways, also useful for depositing sport bags

they're fixed, the ship has almost no moving furniture or objects

as for the changing room it turned out to be more with 2 sports massage stations

different clubs are shaping up aboard for martial arts and now for squash

Last but not least how do we manage refurbishing the plexiglass panels of the ship, with slits the car collection module is perfect for that, allowing us to transport them to the cargo bay that we have and from there they can be taken out replaced with new ones

As for the large plexiglass pieces that we have in the front of the ship servicing them takes removing ie replacing the plexiglass cockpit above them Ideally we want to make such extensive refurbishings every 35 to 40 years, maybe we can keep the ones not exposed to sunlight for longer, maybe anti UV treatment can allow us to keep those exposed to sunlight for more time Generally the longer we can get by without having to change them the better, focus on servicing the cockpit regularly to keep it crystal clear

#ionosphere VI

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is-the-primate-vid-cute · 2 years

Note

I love your blog, and I love apes and monkeys! And I have to say that, beyond just the ethical issues (which are a dealbreaker entirely on their own), I think primates acting funny in a natural environment is just, like, inherently funnier? It’s just a lot more fun to see primates acting like primates, than the humour being that they are acting like humans, or interacting with humans (unless they are humans I guess gsggshdhd).

Do you have any more funny ape stories? I love those so much they are so funny with their WANTS and WILLS

Agreed! They are so funny in their own right!

Ape wants and wills.. hm. As far as first hand experience I can only speak about chimpanzees and whoo boy are they a particular bunch of kiddos.

We regularly gave the chimps blankets for nest building and one chimp made his nest every night in the drain of the enclosure, where the water runs off when we hose the indoor. So his blankets got wet every day and we had to replace them everyday.

And I've mentioned trading before so with a dry blanket, I can point at it and show my reward and the chimps would usually slide the blanket over to me. Sometimes one of the females would suddenly decide she wanted that blanket that was sitting in the dirt so she sometimes refused trades and that's her right. But I could never, ever get them to touch a wet blanket. They hated it even for 2 whole bananas they wouldn't do it. They would play dumb as if they didn't see what I pointed at and would bring me anything else around in an effort to get the reward. Wet blankies are icky!!

One of the female chimps would "dance" to music, she really liked a distinct bass and would rock side to side to the beat. The first few times I saw this I was worried about it being a stress behavior but she stopped whenever I would stop the music.

I've mentioned it elsewhere but every morning when I did first checks, the chimps all wanted to play chase. If I didn't do this, they would get very upset with me.

The matriarch of one of the troupes I worked with was older (59!!) And she she was slowing down and not as mobile as the youngsters so I had to be sneaky and get her extra treats and supplements because she sometimes would get her produce stolen from her. It was fun to sneak around with her bc we would make eye contact, look around to see if any of the other chimps are paying attention, I would flash what I had to give her and we had a spot we would meet where it was easy for me to shove the sandwich or whatever it was through the mesh at a spot where she could easily reach it.

The alpha male of that group was very fast and dare I say, selfish. It's not unusual for the alpha to want all the good stuff to himself but this guy would straight up steal from the elderly lady mentioned above. I always had to bring 2 extras of anything good because if his hands weren't full, he was charging to steal from the matriarch.

Occasionally, though, she would get mad at him for stealing something good and she would cryyyy so loud you could hear it a half mile away at produce storage. She'd swipe at him and yell and get mad and huff away and he would usually approach her later for grooms or other bonding.

A different female chimp had kinda bad hand eye coordination. To feed these guys, the paneling on the roof was wide enough for them to stick an arm out and we would toss up produce or enrichment and they could grab it from the air. Well, she wasn't good at catching and I'm not the best arm so sometimes I would have to toss the same apple or whatever a handful of times before she caught it and when she finally did, she would shake her fist at me and try to fake me out as if she was going to hurl the apple right at my head.

My groups absolutely loved vidoes. I even brought my own tablet from home so they could watch on a bigger screen. Anything with people or animals and especially other chimps were a huge hit and my go-to rainy day enrichment.

One of my groups was extremely difficult to get locked inside to clean the yard. They were super suspicious and wouldn't hang out inside if I was there, regardless of the treats I brought. But, like most chimps, they hated rain. So any day there was a big storm that group would be easily locked in and I had to do all my cleaning and maintenance in that habit in pouring rain. Thanks, guys.

#not primate vid #inquiring minds want to know #chimpanzees #mod E

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odekiisu · 4 years

Text

Basic Guide to Clone Trooper Armour

I don’t know about you guys, but I have a hard time keeping the terms for various parts of clone armour straight in my mind. So, I decided to make this Guide To Armour, to make my life easier for those times I’m drawing or writing stuff and need to reference what this, that or the other piece is called, how it’s put on or taken off. (I’ve also tried to include/come up with some casual or slang terms for some parts because you cannot seriously expect these guys to use the Right Proper Terminology for everything all of the time.)

This is based on the Clone Wars cartoons, because that’s what I know best. Also, this is just the standard armour of regular troopers; if y’all want something about the possible additions/variations that you could have then lmk and I’ll see what I can put together I guess?

Note: a lot of this terminology is taken from medieval knights’ armour. Many terms are originally French; alternative names provided where possible. I did do a bit of research on medieval plate armour, which is the closest thing I can think of to clone armour, but I am by no means an expert so if you have any input or corrections feel free to @ me. Likewise, if you’ve cosplayed as a clone trooper or stormtrooper, I’d very much like to hear about your experience wearing this stuff, how it moves and how it might be similar or different to the “real thing” so to speak.

Figure 1: Clone trooper armour, front view. Kix got chosen for this because he’s a vain little bastard and loves to be painted. (ETA: this diagram now comes with a second, funnier version.)

(long post under cut)

Figure 2: Back view of armour.

According to Wookieepedia: The armour is produced on Kamino and has UV spectrum markings visible to Kaminoans. It is made of plastoid-alloy composite, and the plates are attached to the bodysuit via magnatomic gription panels. In general, Phase II armour is lighter, stronger and more ergonomic than Phase I, which has been described as heavy and uncomfortable (Wookieepedia also says that it weighs ‘just under forty kilograms’ which sounds like way too much but eh, I’ll roll with it.)

Body glove/bodysuit – the stuff worn under the armour. Provides thermoregulation, some level of protection from things like blasterfire, vacuum, etc. AKA: blacks.

Helmet – The Bucket. Stuffed full of various tech: tracking device, display screen, comlink… Phase I helmets also have life support capabilities, while Phase II helmets do not, requiring an external oxygen supply*. Helmet crest contains comlink antenna. AKA: bucket, I think Rex once called them sun-bonnets, etc… this is the piece likely to have the most slang terms associated with it. Go wild.

* this is according to Wookieepedia; I’m a bit sceptical but I haven’t yet seen the episode it refers to. I headcanon that Phase II is capable of limited life support for emergency situations, but extended missions require external respirators.

Cuirass – there is some conflicting information on whether this refers to just the front chest armour or both front and back. If both, it consists of breastplate and backplate, joined at the sides and shoulders. Shoulder connections appear to be different for Phase I and Phase II: Phase I has a separate piece covering the shoulder seam, implying that it can be opened, whereas Phase II looks like it has an integrated flexible band; it may or may not be possible to disconnect. Either way, the front and back pieces must be able to separate in order to get the whole thing on.

Plackart – belly piece, wraps around the back to protect kidneys as well. Probably flexible to some extent, has been seen to slide down under belt, as demonstrated by Jesse in Figure 3. Might also have to have at least one open-able seam in it in order for troopers to get into it efficiently.

Figure 3: I have no idea how the lower edge of this isn’t stabbing him in the crotch, but *shrug*.

Spaulder/shoulder bell – also known as pauldrons irl, but that term refers to a different item this context (the pauldrons that commanders, captains and ARC troopers wear), so I feel like it might be better to differentiate between them with different terms to avoid confusion. That’s just my opinion though, you feel free to do as you wish.

Rerebrace – bicep plate. Phase I has cutouts in the back to fit pointy elbows (see below); Phase II does not.

Couter – elbow plate. Pointy elbows in Phase I, unpointy elbows in Phase II, as shown on Figure 4. In Phase I appear to be attached to vambraces in the animated version, Phase II is more mobile. I admit, I’m not a huge fan of this word, I kinda prefer elbow plates.

Figure 4: Phase I and II elbows. Am I getting way too into this that it’s gotten to the point of studying clone elbows? *shrug* who knows.

Vambrace – forearm armour. Has wrist-mounted comlink (see below).

Gauntlet plate – covers back of hand. The 212th absolutely calls these “droid-punchers”, no you cannot convince me otherwise. I think I’ve seen fanon that some troopers sharpen the front edge of this plate to do more damage when punching. Decide for yourself if plastoid alloy would do more damage to the metal of a droid’s chassis if sharpened or unsharpened (and therefore sturdier).

Codpiece/crotch plate – covers the front hip and crotch area. Possible slang term, courtesy of @mockingjay34: cockblock

Skidplate – covers butt and back hip. A lot of troopers probably just call this piece their shebs, and once again you cannot convince me otherwise. Note that in the clone wars cartoon, Phase I armour is triangular in the back and has a sort of erm… diaper shape, in that the codpiece and skidplate are connected in the crotch (I cannot imagine that being comfortable in any situation, but then again, I have Thicc™ Thighs. Do clones have thigh gaps? Also, I would not want to get pinched by the armour joint between crotch and thigh plates).

Figure 5: Sniper Butts! (Featuring Echo and Fives in quite possibly the only comfortable position in this armour.)

In Phase II the crotch and butt pieces are separated, which sounds a lot more sensible, as well as having better butt coverage – think cheeky panties vs full briefs.

Figure 6: Hardcase kindly demonstrating the new crotch plate alongside some significant gaps in his armour… please get yourself some bigger shoulder bells my dude!

I’d imagine that, given the amount of time these guys spend fully armoured, there should be some way of conveniently opening some of this up or removing individual plates for practical reasons (and if any particular trooper wanted to use this feature for… other things, well, that’s their own business).

Cuisse/Thigh plate – covers thighs. Phase I and II have different shapes in the back to account for skidplate shape, with Phase II having significantly less coverage in the upper thigh/butt area, but I guess better range of motion.

Figure 7: Troopers Hardcase and Dogma demonstrating the Butt Cutouts, or Buttouts.

Poleyn/knee plate/knee pad – important for maintaining kneecap integrity. Like elbow plates, appears to be integrated into greaves in Phase I, but moving freely in Phase II.

Greaves – cover shins, nothing fancy.

Boots – boots. Do not appear to be armoured, are soft enough to bend your toes for walking/kneeling/whatever you need bendy toes for.

Belt pouches/boxes/compartments – A place to keep your stuff when out & about. I’m assuming this is a Pocket Substitute. Clones deserve pockets too!

Comlink – Generally four large square buttons and one smaller one (live action has more buttons). They also have comlinks in their helmets. Wookieepedia mentioned that they used wrist comms in the show so that the audience could clearly see when characters were talking to each other. Possibly used for long-range communication, whereas the ones in the buckets could be for shorter range?

Life support/those box things on their back – I have no idea what they’re actually called but these also have different designs for Phase I and II. On stormtroopers they contain a power pack and a small oxygen supply, and I guess it’s reasonable to assume that they have the same life support function for clone troopers. Also read somewhere that they have comlink scanner for long-range communication?

Thermal detonator – why would they all have bombs on their back? Seems unsafe. Also I don’t think I’ve ever seen one used? Idk. These things confuse me.

#star wars #the clone wars #swtcw #clone troopers #clone armor #clone wars meta #wow this got long #also damn I've missed just... sitting down with a mug of tea and going down a research rabbit hole or three #star wars meta

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one-piecee · 3 years

Text

#ONEPIECE1031

Are we ready? No we're not.

After last week's chapter and the conflicting emotions everyone had regarding how they felt about it, Oda drops this... this amazing chapter that makes me kind of want to hit him because... well you'll see why.

The chapter this week is called 'Soldier of Science' (this is Sanji's cry for help, SOS.)

We start off immediately with the aftermath of Law and Kid's combined attack from the awakenings, and everyone thinking Big Mom is "finally down" (obviously not)

A stronger Big Mom, is an ever bigger Big Mom... anyways. Their attacks definitely affected her because she clearly states that this is the first time in decades she's felt pain like this (which is insane, and says a lot about that combined attack) but I'm happy Oda gave her a scene like that (especially the first panel of getting up) because a lot of one piece fans often forget just how strong Big Mom really is. They downplay her a lot (as if she doesn't casually go head to head with Kaido)

A panel I especially liked:

"I'll show you what it means to be an emperor."

An interesting point is also Law mentioning not being able to "uncover true history" if he can't take her down - which is further proving the point that Law's ambition isn't to become the Pirate King, but similarly to Robin, uncover history - but Law wants to do it (probably!!) to understand the Will of D.

Before we move on to the crazy parts of this chapter - these three 'numbers' that were shown next to Apoo in the last chapter... look awfully familiar.

(first panel from chapter 1024, and the second one from chapter 1030)

It explains the 'mystery' surrounding them and also their uncanny resemblance... It would be interesting to see what would happen, and also why they're numbers now... It also explains one of their reactions to Yamato popping in, in this chapter:

Okay! Now we get to the completely insane part...

First of all - Sanji. Sanji, and his steadfast morals. Sanji and his 'I-will-never-hit-a-woman-in-my-life". Sanji, and choosing to get beaten up but not raising his hands on a woman ever, something that has stuck to him since we first got introduced to him, something we have never seen him ignore or forget. Yes. That Sanji.

(happens from left to right)

That Sanji. Who lost control over his body and his mind, blacked out and hit this random girl, making her bleed. Oda just,,, loves never letting Sanji breathe. This man has been suffering his entire life, why can't he just rest 😢.

One of my absolute favorite moments in this chapter, is Sanji's monologue about the suit, about his powers, about Germa, and firstly mentioned, about Luffy.

A version of him who could 'easily take down Queen' with the help of the raid suit? He says 'even a beast like this, would be easy to dismember'.

'What kind of person does the pirate king need by his side...?'

'I'm not sure of the answer but...

And then finally, finally, he breaks it.

Because Sanji does not need the suit to be strong, or to defeat Queen. Of course the suit already made his body chance, but him breaking the suit was him trying to break his shackles from Germa - hopefully now he can find a solution to his body, because that hasn't happened yet either (do we have to wait til after the war? I will literally explode)

And of course (of course :)) we can't leave it at that! No! We have to add an element let-me-break-some-more-people's-hearts and have Sanji hold a conversation with Zoro about

you guessed it

Zoro "putting him down" if he can't control himself after the war... So this is the why. The why I WANT TO KINDLY JUST PUNCH ODA HOW MUCH MORE SUFFERING WILL YOU MAKE THIS MAN GO THROUGH?

I am: suffering. You better not die period. You better not suffer. you better not get hurt, actually what should happen is you just being happy, and carefree and just. Why?

We end the chapter off with Hell Memories that we haven't seen in a long time (since Fishman Island?). Also, break next week.

This was a rollercoaster of emotions, further cementing that Sanji is one of the best written characters in this show, and his character development and story just will not stop getting better. If something happens to Sanji I will officially sue Oda for 10 years of my life.

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inhonoredglory · 3 years

Note

another character based question - how do you feel about mikasa? a lot of fans dont like her, im curious about how you feel! - armin anon

Hellooooo Armin Anon. OMG it’s been forever since I had the time to sit down and do a proper meta, and I apologize.

First off, I finished the manga!!! (So, spoilers ahead for anyone else reading this.) I had to lie down after reading 139. It’s a tremendous story and I’m still taking it all in. The set pieces and personal/emotional stakes of everything that happens is just astounding. If it’s one thing Isayama does good, it’s the gut-wrenching personal anguish that underlies the action. I’m absolutely floored. My favorite bit was probably the timey-wimey stuff in Paths and Eren. That blew my freaking mind. But onto Mikasa!!

A Cruel Yet Beautiful World

I remember way back when I started the anime that I started liking Mikasa first out of the group. I liked how sullenly silent and no-nonsense she was, and I liked her loyalty to Eren. Her emotion, especially when Eren died in Trost, was palpable and terrifyingly beautiful. Her grief was incredibly realistic––rushing off with a death wish that even she couldn’t succumb to in the end, because of the drive to fight that she got from Eren. In a world like SNK, her relentlessness breaking through her grief was incredibly moving. And her philosophy is basically the driving theme of SNK: “This is a cruel world, and yet so beautiful.”

This is the same moral message she gives Eren when he can’t find the strength in him to fight Annie––and gives him that warm, understanding, inscrutable smile that allows him to finally accept his own monsters, fight Annie, and save her and Armin. (One of my favorite panels of her from the manga, actually.) Mikasa is basically the first character we meet who embodies this contradictory morality, which grows to engulf SNK and other characters as well (Levi, Reiner, and Armin especially come to mind). Which could be why I was drawn to her at the start, since the complex moral outlook of SNK was the primary reason I fell hard for this story.

(And gosh, it’s tragic to realize that it’s teaching moments like the scene above that made Eren into the person who could influence his own child self to murder, the person who could wipe out so much of humanity, the person who could take Ymir’s challenge to free her by destroying the love of the person who cared the most about him. I’m still processing yo.)

Acker-parallels

I started really analyzing Mikasa when I had to defend her from a friend of mine who accused her of resenting Levi (for beating up Eren) and that’s why she attacked him so violently in the RTS serumbowl. Because of my research into rebutting that, a lot of my affection for Mikasa now comes in seeing the little ways in which she cares and trusts other people, including Armin, Levi, Gabi, and Jean. And her quiet sensibility that goes beyond her love and protectiveness of Eren.

With Levi in particular, I find a lot I like about her. Because you can definitely see her annoyance at him, but she also trusts him more than anyone else in the Corps outside of Armin. After Levi’s violent encounter with Historia, she was the only one who implicitly trusted Levi’s judgement, backing up Armin’s more reasoned logic. She sees beyond her own emotions and even moral feelings and realizes the world is cruel enough that sometimes people have to do dark things to help others and survive.

This is very much the same statement Levi made to the 104th when he had asked them to follow Erwin’s orders when the commander’s plans were questionable on the surface: “Do you trust him? Those dumb enough to say yes… come with me.” These two understand each other on a moral level, and they ask for their comrades’ loyalty without demanding it, because they each know that everyone’s conscience is their own.

There’s a clear parallel between Mikasa and Levi, not only because of their Ackerman heritage and sensibilities (loyal to a fault to their chosen person, impossibly strong, quiet and grim), but their frustration when they cannot protect the people they are responsible for. They both know they are the strongest around, and if they cannot fulfill on that power, a lot of people will die.

There are many moments in which Mikasa puts aside her personal feelings to do her soldierly duty, from leaving Eren to help with the evacuation of Trost to leaving Eren and Armin to fight the Colossal Titan alone in Shigonshina.

And then there’s the fact that Levi’s the one who could break past Mikasa’s headspace and distraction so that she can do the right thing. He understands her strong emotion, he respects it, but he also knows when that has to be put aside for the greater good. But he doesn’t put her down for having those emotions, either.

Strength from Eren, Humanity from Armin

Mikasa’s love and loyalty to Eren challenges her tremendously after the timeskip and her sorrow at Eren’s change is what really stands out to me about her character in the Marley arc. The absolute grief in her eyes when she tells Eren what he’s done is devastating, and it shows just how much goodness and compassion she does have.

And yet she longs to understand Eren, to trust him, to believe there can be something redeeming, and not merely jaded and tired, in what he taught her so many years ago––to fight, to win, to live.

There’s such a difference between these same words said here by Mikasa, so many years later, after so much heartbreak, to the anger and flame that were in them when she first heard them, back when she realized that this was the way of the world. That death and killing happens in the natural world everyday and that’s how you survive. That the world is both cruel and beautiful.

And yet as the years wore on, as Mikasa grew closer to others, found purpose in protecting others, sought a life with Eren… as she wandered further into the forest of life and society and relationships, she lost some of that simple injunction... to live is to fight, to fight is to win. She, like so many of the 104th and the others on this journey, found that it’s not enough to just fight and live and be satisfied. We really want it all to mean something, to have our actions be redemptive. To allow ourselves to believe that we do what we’re doing because we’re not just saving ourselves, but saving others, “saving the world” like Yelena points out (in the forest therapy session pfff). And it’s that drive for something bigger in our actions that grieves her so much with Eren, because as she wants her own actions to be fundamentally good and selfless, she wants his actions to be moral as well.

So while Eren is the person that frustrates Mikasa and motivates her to become stronger and braver than she ever was, Armin is the person who humanizes Mikasa and allows her the space to be gentle and vulnerable. She comforts Armin, confides in him, puts her faith in him, and puts her life in his hands.

She trusts Armin with Eren, and she values Armin’s intellect and compassion, qualities she doesn’t have in nearly as much quantities as he does: “There are only so many lives I can value. And… I decided who those people were six years ago. So... you shouldn’t try to ask for my pity. Because right now, I don’t have time to spare or room in my heart.”

This bit from her confrontation with Ymir and Historia was a defining moment for me with Mikasa. It’s honest and realistic in a way that few of us care to admit about ourselves, and it’s just super chilling and badass coming from her, too. It also shows how much she fights for Armin and Eren both. They are the two people she loves the most in the world, and she never gave up on saving either of them––from death or from themselves.

I’m looking back on Trost now and finding so much irony with the ending to SNK. In Trost, she was the one to give up on Eren, telling Armin that it was hopeless to try to extract Eren’s personality from his Titan form. And yet, like in the end, it’s always been between Armin and Mikasa to try to salvage Eren’s humanity. In Trost, Armin tells Mikasa to leave––to go do what she’s good at (saving lives)––and to entrust Eren to him.

It’s a huge expression of both Mikasa’s trust in Armin, and her belief in Armin’s abilities and friendship for Eren. And in the end, it’s the two of them again debating on if there’s any humanity left in Eren. The bond they share is intimate and deep. With all the military doubting Eren and scheming to take away his Titan (with even Jean and Connie unavailable to them emotionally), it’s only Armin and Mikasa against the world––the only two people who can truly consider Eren’s actions and hold off on judging him. And you can feel their love for him even as they doubt him.

And like back then, it has always been Armin who understands Eren most, the one who recognizes his own evil and Eren’s and finds a redemption in having others stop you, because you cannot stop yourself.

And that’s the thing I really take away from SNK and from Mikasa’s journey, that we all have devils inside us, and yet there is still beauty to be found, within us and in the world––from the natural wonders that Armin dreams of, to the comfort of purpose and companionship that Mikasa has in Eren. Love and wonder is what redeems us of our devils. And yet love itself is complicated, and can turn ugly in its obsession. That giving up that love is what makes the love selfless and beautiful, what absolves us of the selfishness within us. That’s what Mikasa learned. And in the end, she was able to release that love for the good of the world.

So I guess to sum up, I really love Mikasa. I can see why her dogged loyalty to Eren might annoy some fans, but I think there’s a lot more to her than simply that, and in fact, her journey and growth is heart-rending and one of the most symbolic arcs of SNK and fundamental to its entire theme. She’s a badass with a lot of emotion and depth behind her cold mask.

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captnjacksparrow · 3 years

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Hey, really liked your analysis of Hinata. I feel almost the same way about her. Even though generally I dislike female characters who are naturally meek, subservient and pointless with no character arc in any type of media, what made me absolutely hate her character was how she treated Neji. If Kishi wanted to show her arc being developed organically, instead of proposing to Naruto that removes her stuttering and gives her new found confidence (because girls only get confident when proposing to guys 🙄), Kishi could have shown her talking to Neji after he literally told his bitter story on the chuunin exam grounds in front of everyone. She is shown like she is sympathetic but didn't do anything about it. She didn't even talk to him after he was hospitalized. She knew exactly why he was the way he was, and yet she fights him as if it was his fault. She, an heir of the clan, could have asked her father to support Neji, she had some clout. But nope. In fact, it was Neji who apologizes to her in a way, he is the one who trains her and help create a new jutsu for her. What did she ever do for him exactly? And Neji didn't have to help her. She was in the best position to help and understand Neji but what did she do? A lot of fans like her character because she is reserved but kind and sympathetic. She is reserved but a coward. She was not kind towards Neji. He died for her when he didn't deserve to, he had dreams and goals that were much bigger than Hinata's entire existence. She couldn't even see her own cousin's pain and she claims to understand Naruto?? Really??

Even Kishi said she was a pitiful character who only watches from a distance. He deliberately made her that way, no goal, no backbone and no lines. And I think she sucks the most after Danzo.

WoooW!!!! Thanks for the ask, Anon.

[[Hinata and Sakura fans!!!! Please stay away and don't interact. I fucking tagged them properly]].

Even though generally I dislike female characters who are naturally meek, subservient and pointless with no character arc in any type of media, what made me absolutely hate her character was how she treated Neji.

We definitely share the same thoughts on this one, Anon.

I am really tired on most of the media for their poor treatment of female characters.

The last time I was amused by a female character was from 'Game of Thrones', I loved Cersei Lannister, who is an absolute biashhh and Sansa Stark, started out as an annoying rose tinted princess but ended up winning everyone's heart. Both are non-combative, soft spoken and somewhat powerless women in a world dominated by men. But they just didn't let the inconveniences stop them and instead they learned how to fuck that world back and take control. Both are similar and yet very different.

After seeing, such well-developed characters..... For me girls in Naruto series, is blehhhhh..... Nothing to get inspired from them. And I knew it by episode 3 itself. I have no idea how can girls, in real life, treat Sakura as some feminist icon, which makes my skin crawl for number of reasons. If you point her mistakes out in any discussions, they will pull the misogynist card to your face. When in reality, I am also a girl and my world views are entirely different from Sakura or Hinata. There is no way a 12 year old girl would want to look at the Duck of another boy.

And the problem is, They form the majority, I mean people who can connect with Sakura or Hinata. So, as long as girls like them exists, we really should suffer from these crap portrayal I guess.

That's why I advise people that If you want to see a good woman character, Narutoverse is not the place.

Having said that, I find Temari, Konan, Tsunade were better (I mean inside the Narutoverse). Though their motivations or reason to achieve a goal revolve around their men, I find their attitude relieving. Unlike Sakura or Hinata, they don't wet themselves on the sight of the men they love.

What irritates me was, Kishimoto could've easily put a character like Temari or TenTen or Tsunade into Team 7. It would've made my viewing experience a lot better. If he doesn't want the strong girls to take over the attention from his boys, then he should've introduced a meek character like Rin Nohara. She is silent and cute but atleast she was willing to die for the Village and never wetted herself over Kakashi, though she loved him. And she treated Obito like her best friend. But he deliberately made Sakura hateful and he never stopped.

Sakura and Hinata were the lowest of the low, compared to any other side characters. And, in the end, they got the main Character's Ducks without actively doing anything. For me this tells me three things

He was using these girls as a shield to close the hetero normative mouths while in reality hiding those boys true feelings under that shield.

He really hated these kind of girls and constantly showing his hatred on them at every given chance and never redeemed them back.

He knew the target audience’ mindset and he simply caters them by giving them what they need and at the same time writing the important arcs according to his wish.

I think, it’s the combination of all three.

Just to give you an example.

There is this delusional SS shipper Who justifies Sasuke was acting Tsundere throughout the war arc. I mean, come on!!!!

I came across this post because, the Original Poster was an idiot who comes into the anti SS tag and reblogged my content and saying I was wrong... So, I don’t mind sharing that person’s content.

So I don’t know where this delusion comes from... It's truly pathetic.

There are millions of idiots who believe in this kind of shit and Kishi is deliberately feeding them with bits and crumbs while making his boys go out and save the world.

These delusional mindset tells us they don’t give a single shit about the story as a whole. They watch it purely for the pretty faces and getting high over them. In this case, Sasuke.

It’s as clear as day that Sasuke didn’t care about anyone other than Naruto when fighting the war. You don’t have to be a shipper but even a non-shipper can point this out. I mean Sasuke wouldn’t have saved Jugo either, if he didn’t come to Sasuke and advice him. Do you think Sasuke would’ve tried to look for Jugo and saved him at all cost???? It’s just that he came to Sasuke and he helps him back. But Sasuke would’ve saved Naruto from the bomb blast even if he was standing a mile away.

So, if these delusions reflects the mindset of the majority of the women audience, then the creator will never try to give anything better but instead give us some low-life characters like Sakura and Hinata.

So, Anon, your expectation for Hinata’s character could’ve been developed much better is just a wishful thinking. Because, Hinata is a character for these kind of people and not for us. And the author deliberately did it.

She was in the best position to help and understand Neji but what did she do? A lot of fans like her character because she is reserved but kind and sympathetic. She is reserved but a coward. She was not kind towards Neji. He died for her when he didn't deserve to, he had dreams and goals that were much bigger than Hinata's entire existence. She couldn't even see her own cousin's pain and she claims to understand Naruto?? Really??

For me, this also irked me a lot.

Hinata could’ve tried to talk to Neji about his problems even when he was a child. But she was simply playing innocent when in reality, she is just a coward. Even after the Chunin Exams, there was no apologies from her side, like you said. Because she is from the Main Branch. That hierarchy never changed. If she had the gall, she could’ve easily broken that hierarchy by saying, ‘I want Neji Nii-San to take over our Clan, He is the best candidate for this and I can gladly help him with all my efforts’. A single line and just 2 or 3 panels, it all takes.

For me killing Neji is where Kishi asking us silently,

Do you really want these pair to happen despite having a blood stain of another character???

Most people said, ‘Yes!!!’, because they don’t give two shits about Neji. As long as Hinata gets Naruto, the main character’s Duck, that’s all there is to it. It doesn’t matter who dies, who lives.

That's why Kishi is shitting on them by making her as a non-existent woman in the Boruto Manga.

Even in real life, there are many hopeless foolish little girls who would do anything for the man she loves. I've seen them and I always stay 2 miles away from them. I mean, they even ditch their own friends and spends her entire time with him and when he dumps her later, she will come back to her friends for consolation. I think Sansa Stark is the best example for this. She started out much similar to Sakura and Hinata, believing in Princes and shit, she even naively betrayed her father for the man she had crush on. But the author made her to learn her lesson in a much painful way and later she came out as a Queen who no longer needed any man at the end. I think, this is called Development.

At the end of the day, Romance and Sex is all that matters. The author knew it. So, he is feeding these girls with some low quality cookies and they are very glad to take and eat it.

#ask #anti naruhina #anti hinata #anti sakura #anti sasusaku #anti nh #anti ss #naruto analysis #sasunaru #sasunarusasu #sns #antisasusaku #antiss #antisakura

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waywood-1965 · 2 years

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hello followers!

i have tried to be a stronger person so i logged in here again.

of course i have been absolutely thrilled with the recent waywood news so a recap:

early april, cassandra jean posted this.

Been working on the thumbnails for TMI volume 6! I have reached the scene where everyone sees someone they love. It would be a shame if I were to... draw Robert... and an even bigger shame if my hand were to slip oh no Michaeeell oh dear. guess that will stay. oh no i hit save.

as tmi graphic novel vol. 6 is the adaptation of the second half of city of glass, it includes the scene in which clary uses one of ver new runes to make everyone in the room see the person they love the most when they look at her (luke saw jocelyn, alec saw magnus, amatis saw stephen, jocelyn saw clary). i have always wondered if robert saw michael and looks like cassandra jean plans to make this answer canon through the graphic novel.

pointless to try to convey how this makes me feel. moving on,

april 6th cassandra jean reseted my whole existence posting this

Waywood doodle.

Been waiting 21 years.

there's so much going on and definitely more than i can handle. i am so grateful for this because it really enlightened me so much. i am obsessed with robert's face looking at michael in the second panel and their hug... i can't live. this art fits very well as a imediate prequel to the other afterlife waywood art that was the last waywood art we got before this one (in 2018! i have been waiting a long time!) and i am so happy cassandra jean still remember them - i assume she got inspired by drawing robert for the graphic novel (and i absolutely adore his graphic novel design, it's all i could wish for him). waywood love each other so much!

the running joke of robert's height is something that twists my mind because the evil we love made the timeline of robert's height very weird but i can totally let cassandra jean have this because it's her world i'm living in at the moment.

i don't think we got cassandra clare's public instance on this one by the way. the former one got her caption that semi-canonizes it but this one unfortunately not. i can't bring myself to care about this right now though!

april 19th the graphic novel vol. 5 came out, being the adaptation of the events of the first half of city of glass and it included some heartbreaking robert lightwood artwork that i don't know how to process. cassandra jean has really been feeding me while crushing me at the same time and she has all my support in doing so.

after robert's cameo was removed from the lost book of the white and turned into mentions, the graphic novels are the only canon robert content i am supposed to get and i am in peace with it. i know he is not a major character and these things happen. i will be ready to enjoy all crumbs.

#i'm back?#robert lightwood #michael wayland #waywood

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