Bombastic minor villain

Scruffy words boy behind extraneousdominomask (and the now-retired weirdzootopiaframes). You can find me elsewhere as IronicSnap, particularly on AO3 where I write (cool and good) fanfics. My profile picture is by jessienyres!

[glazeliights]

☝️ what if they were animals

[mr-owen-burnett]

dead meme. dead fandom

[sinni-ok-sessi]

I do think the ability to emoji-react is a net win for human communication. not only does it give you an outlet for 'I see and acknowledge this but don't have a verbal response' but it also adds a pleasing alethiometer element to things

my coworker announces that he's off to the dentist. someone reacts with a tooth emoji. is this a statement of dentist solidarity? a wish for my coworker to return with more (or fewer?) teeth than he set out with? simple word association? who can say

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

caine does the slideshow for all the abstracted people and gangle screams "KAUFMO WAS ARIN HANSON?????" so loud that jax un-abstracts and climbs out of the fort shouting "HE WAS WHAT"

[secretmellowart]

[see below the cut for the binary code, if you'd like to translate it!] I love the bit in the end of Ep 9 where Zooble fixes Caine a drink and he acts surprised/touched that they're offering it to him, so I drew: this comic of extended bar adventures. I’m riffing off the headcanon that Caine would get back to being a little more Goofy/insecure when he's no longer in full apologetic mode. I like the episode 9 moment a lot because it feels like a cute ending coda for both of their character arcs: Zooble learning to be at peace with their body, and also to embrace the idea that they can find meaning through building community for a few people who need it even if they can't change the world; Caine learning to sincerely care about the humans and their ideas, even as he's still early on the path to internalizing that he is also a person. The ep 9 moment is also a cute ending to the running Thing throughout the show where Caine's been desperate to be accepted by the humans, and his belief that Zooble in particular resists him for not being "mature" enough. I Just Think Their Friendship is Cute. {Check below the cut for the binary code + some extended thoughts.]

Binary code, if you'd like to translate: 01100100 01101111 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01100010 01100101 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01100010 01110010 01101111 01101011 01100101 01101110 00111111 00100000 01010111 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100001 01100010 01100001 01101110 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01100001 01100111 01100001 01101001 01101110 00111111 00100000 01000100 01101111 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110111 01100001 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101000 01110101 01110010 01110100 00100000 01101101 01100101 00111111 00100000 01000100 01101111 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110111 01100001 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101011 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101101 01100101 00111111

For some other bonus extended thoughts: I think Caine had two main things he needed to learn. The first was "you need to make an effort to understand/care about other people," and the second was "you are also a person, who exists outside of your programming and function." I think Ep 9 Caine has figured out how to empathize with others, but is still early on the path to recognizing his own personhood and his own capacity to love/be loved [see his scene with the moon, and her advice that "all good things take time."] He's still treating himself as a tool for the humans to use-- but will slowly learn to see himself as a person as he spends more time genuinely befriending kind & empathetic people. I like that Ep 9 Zooble is both more at peace playing with their digital body,  and also at peace with the idea that their life can be meaningful through the impact they have on a few lost & lonely people [even if they can never do anything that "changes the entire world."] Their IRL counterpart running an alternative clearly queer bar feels like a piece they were missing; they're someone who may not be changing the entire world, but is changing the world for the people who get to find the community they build. I also have a lot of thoughts on Caine & Zooble's dynamic throughout the show: Mainly that the circus has trapped Caine in a state of forced eternal infantilization, and he's resented Zooble because they've made him confront his own immaturity. I think that Zooble's bar in the real world really highlights how Zooble manages to do what Caine wishes he could--  build a place that people want to be a part of, serve people in a way that actually makes them happy, and become a sort of "pillar" in a community.

[secretmellowart]

The Amazing Transgenderism Circus [featuring Jaxxine's internalized transphobia & cringe-phobia.] A post-episode 8 "Caine gets a redemption arc & joins the humans as Just One of the Guys" AU that I'm sharing before episode 9 drops.

This comic is here to be Goofy, but I do think Caine's whole deal is meant to tie into the series' overarching trans themes [even if he's not canonically trans.] I think the show's trans themes are broader than a few characters; it's a show about people who are forcibly assigned bodies & names they don't want, forcibly assigned "archetypes" & roles that don't reflect their real selves, and struggle to express their despair around this because their bodies & roles are so ridiculous that their despair is easy to mock. It's safer to play along with your role, when exploring the alternatives can easily make you an object of ridicule. Caine fails to understand Zooble in episode 3 because he is constantly performing the role he was assigned at his creation, and doesn't allow himself to acknowledge his deep insecurity with it-- so he's confused that Zooble can't simply accept the thing they've been assigned. After all, he's accepted what he's been assigned. He refuses to recognize that Zooble is dissatisfied in a way no "adventure" can fix, because that would mean acknowledging the possibility that he could be dissatisfied in a way that no "adventure" can fix. So instead he throws himself into performing an inauthentic caricature of the role he believes is "all he exists" for & is not allowed to ever exist outside of, even as that performance just leaves him feeling "used" "broken" "defective" and overall extremely unhappy. The parallel to the series' Gender themes feels very clear to me. But anyway, I believe all these little guys can figure themselves out eventually.

[secretmellowart]

@castielrisingabove replied to the original post with an attack helicopter reference that sounded like it could be Jax dialogue, so I continued the story. The comic dialogue is basically a reverse of the episode 3 therapy session: also featuring Zooble's later character development and redeemed Caine being slightly better at listening to people. Anyway: silliness.

[secretmellowart]

Isn't that lovely, and isn't that cool? And isn't that cruel? And aren't I a fool to have...

[ladygrinninghole]

obsessed with star trek repeatedly writing themselves into a corner by creating alien races that are supposed to be The Bad Guys when that explicitly conflicts with their previously established notion that no group of people is inherently good or evil.

first it was the klingons—they’re originally supposed to be this cruel, bloodthirsty, war-obsessed people—and then tng comes along and it’s like wait no maybe war and violence is a part of their culture and actually ties back to ancient traditions and philosophies so we have to be woke about it.

hey these are the ferengi and they’re supposed to represent everything we hate about capitalist society; they’re greedy, scheming, profit-obsessed, and they look like ugly little trolls to emphasize how much we fucking HATE capitalism. oh wait fuck here comes deep space nine and we have to recognize that they’re PEOPLE. okok what if the pursuit of profit is actually part of their culture and ties back to ancient traditions and philosophies. so we have to be woke about it.

this is the borg, they’re a hivemind race of cyborgs who have no sense of individuality and their only motivation is assimilating people into their society. they want to assimilate humanity and we are completely defenseless against them because their technology is eons ahead of our own and they’re incapable of being reasoned with. oh sweet we have a borg prisoner this is the perfect opportunity to commit genocide against them. fuck actually we can’t commit genocide we’re woke and communists and in space.

hey these are the cardassians, they’re part of a cruel and vicious empire which is supposed to be a representation of fascism and authoritarian regimes, they’re a cold, bloodthirsty people with no sense of empathy or compassion, their society literally references 1984 on multiple occasions, and they’re known for the insanely cruel and inhumane methods of torture they use against their prisoners of war. we hate the cardassians…….. except, here’s a cardassian kid who grew up on bajor, and……. fuck. he’s a person. now we actually have to consider his humanity. and being racist is actually……. bad.

this is the jem’hadar, they’re genetically engineered soldiers who have no sense of individuality and only live to defend the state. they’re all born addicted to a synthetic drug that’s manufactured by the state and administered by their masters—this is how they’re kept subservient. they’re ruthless and powerful and they’re incapable of being reasoned with because their only motivation is violence and killing. so we should kill them all, right? FUCK….. what if they’re actually people. goddamnit. now we have to consider their humanity.

hey these are the romulans. hey these are the founders. the list goes on. i just find it really interesting

[writergeekrhw]

Mission accomplished!

[ncc-42069]

(For those that don't realize, the previous reblog is one of DS9's writers.)

[jackirii]

watched arco again, need to hug mikki more than any other robot it's unreal 🥹

[whatachaos]

Bonding

[ayviedoesthings]

I got tasked with the most serious commission, after the box office results of last week (Jax is a trans woman)

[marzipanandminutiae]

many of our ancestors worked so hard to be not farming and I deeply appreciate that

I love not farming

I respect the hell out of farmers and I'm glad that's someone's dream. because it's sure not mine

I would not be taken in by the tradwife influencer grift about milking a cow in a sundress. I have been around cows. my uncle was a dairy farmer. I love not milking a cow. I love getting milk from a store. I love getting vegetables and fruit and meat and bread from a store.

would I rather it be a local farm's store or a local bakery or butcher shop? yes! maybe when I make more money!

but oh. my god. I love not farming so much

[secretmellowart]

After doing that Kinger doodle the other day, I decided to illustrate some more quotes from Frankenstein I thought were Relevant. The moral of the story is: if you make a sentient abomination and then abandon him, he's probably going to have some emotions about it, SMH. I think I just like how Caine is a sort of "Frankenstein's monster in clown shoes," trapped in a way that's both horrible but also ridiculous— Mary Shelley in comic sans. [and let me know in the replies/in my askbox if there are any other Frankenstein lines you think are Relevant and I might illustrate them as well!]

[ironicsnap]

Yesterday's "I'd totally trade my physical flesh for a cold metal body that cannot eat or sleep, sorry Alphonse" has become today's "I'd totally trade my future as a real human being for an existence where a weird silly teeth man makes curated adventures for me to go on, sorry Zooble"

[secretmellowblog]

I could hear it in his voice.

[ironicsnap]

I am become Jax, destroyer of vibes 😔

[ironicsnap]

Yesterday's "I'd totally trade my physical flesh for a cold metal body that cannot eat or sleep, sorry Alphonse" has become today's "I'd totally trade my future as a real human being for an existence where a weird silly teeth man makes curated adventures for me to go on, sorry Zooble"

[lakemojave]

People are unfazed if you hate women but if you dislike dogs they assume you're a bad person

[lakemojave]

Tumblr users will read a post complaining about normalized misogyny and hyperfocus on your claim that it's ok to dislike dogs

[ventresses]

This is a perfect time to read the brilliant and unforgettable graphic novel(s) Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, about growing up in Iran during and after the Iranian Revolution, and the rise of the oppressive theocracy that persists to this day.

Both graphic novels are available free online (Persepolis vol. 1, Persepolis vol. 2)

It also was adapted to a wonderful film (co-directed and co-written by the author) which is available to watch for free on Sundance Now (sign up for the free trial)