✧ Infinite Castle ✧

but how the final climax was quiet. the darkest shadow, a void falling over new york. it wasn't loud, there wasn't any screaming. it descended upon the city and the people didn't have a chance to react before it swallowed them whole.

how the team's battle was internal, inside their own minds, instead of a huge punchy shoot-off. (especially with this group's skill set, it was unexpected) how they all fought through the shame and guilt and their worst nightmares only to embrace each other anyway. the villain fighting against himself only to realize he is allowed to be loved, despite it all.

how they are all fucked up and have done terrible things but saved the city by holding each other tightly, so tightly that bob realizes the void isn't all he is, and light always comes again.

FLORENCE PUGH as YELENA BELOVA

Thunderbolts* (2025) dir. Jake Schreier

I, too, would save the little hamster guinea pig

(Some of these asks are ancient at this point sorry!)

Flight Rising: I used to be an avid Flight Rising player (joined in 2017 when I was 13 years old), but I don’t play anymore. No reason in particular, my interest just died out. I sometimes hop on to read the news and take a look at new content though

Wings of Fire: So I actually didn’t know anything about it, but every comic about Swordfish brought on a gazillion comments of “is that a Seawing??” (mostly on TikTok), so I got curious and read through, I think, the first issue of the graphic novel? And although it has everything I like in theory, I just didn’t get hooked nor attached to any of the characters. I do like the dragon designs though! And yes, Swordfish does look similar to a Seawing - not intentionally though :)

Both Swordfish and Hopper are actually from the game Istaria: Chronicles of the Gifted! It’s an old MMORPG where you can play as a dragon (and other fantastical races) and it was THE game of my childhood!!! These are the “canon” appearances of Swordfish and Hopper from the game I drew up right now:

Try making cute dragon comics with these faces lol

But yeah, Istaria was the birthplace of these two, before they developed into their own thing. I still rediscover the game every 1,5 years and hop on to play! It has a very small playerbase, but they have a tight-knit Discord server with very-very sweet players. The game is very grindy with outdated graphics, but it singlehandedly shaped my taste in basically everything. I live and breathe the Istarian aesthetic I really do love it so much. So I really recommend checking Istaria out because I want to pay homage to this uniquely beautiful game! Maybe you’ll even see Swordfish or Hopper running around

Screenshots of Hopper with another Istarian player below cut.

It started when he was a kid and he was trying to help everyone get better at hockey including the opposing teams players, he would say something like “your stick grip is weak” or “you’re slow on your right” (idk i don’t know hockey very well ESPECIALLY little kid hockey) but he says it totally deadpan because little Shanebug doesn’t understand tone yet.

This makes the other teams so mad! They try and fight him constantly! Little bitty baby hockey fights and then Yuna sits him down in middle school after the first fight that he actually gets hurt (black eye and bloody lip) and asks him what he is saying to make everyone fight him?

“Nothing mean I swear mom!!! I’m trying to be nice and help correct their form”

And suddenly Yuna gets it and explains to Shane that not everyone but especially not the opposing team likes to have their flaws pointed out to them even if it’s coming from a good place and how that could be seen as chirping.

So he stops for a while, then his coach for world juniors tells him to try and piss off Rozanov enough that they can draw a penalty. So Shane does what he does best and points out a flaw at each face off. Jokes on him though because Ilya is actively changing those things and getting better every face off because he is taking it for what it is, advice.

Which pisses Shane off, he thinks his chirping tactic won’t work now that he is older. So he points out at his first scrimmage at practice in Montreal that the center who has been there for years (who he is probably replacing) is favoring his left side is staying too far left to compensate (again I don’t know hockey so I am trying to translate things I know about soccer lol)

And the center loses it on him! Immediately yelling about the lack of respect and how a rookie makes it to the MLH and thinks they are hot shit.

So Shane realizes his chirping DOES work just not on rozanov and becomes a menace he studies game tape specifically to find holes in his opponents game and pre prepares chirps and it fucking works because all these men are so far up their own asses that they just get mad instead of using the advice.

So some fanartist drew a “sexy” (read: booby) version of a (cartoon) character who is traditionally very non-sexualised. Fans of the character got mad about it because it’s kind of groundbreaking how that character is written and portrayed and this art totally ignores the entire point of the character. They demanded the art be deleted. In response to that other people said, well what the fanartist did may be distateful but they have every right to draw what they’re into. The two sides fight for days and each starts a harassment campaign and even report their “opponents’” accounts.

So far so typical. But things eventually come to a head and they decide that this will be settled by votes - not through a poll. Through donations to a children’s education charity via each side’s portal. Whoever can get the highest amount of donation wins.

2026: