#'I AM HERE FOR YOU IDIOT'

[starcurtain]

2.1 Penacony Spoilers!

I know the scene after Ratio's "betrayal" can be read a lot of ways but I am shocked I haven't seen more people interpret it as Ratio being so worried about Aventurine that he couldn't stay away even though he was supposed to.

We know:

1) Ratio absolutely knew Aventurine's plan from start to finish, both his gamble to create "death" in the dream and with the three cornerstones. (Wish people would stop underselling Ratio in their analyses; "Three chips are enough" is a direct enough clue that, genius as he is, Ratio would never miss.)

2) In his own words, Ratio was acting according to Aventurine's instructions while in Dewlight Pavilion and with Sunday and felt that he did a good job not giving them away.

I think most people are on the same page up to there, but then I've seen a lot of people interpreting this scene after Aventurine leaves Sunday's mansion as Aventurine being genuinely angry at Ratio (possibly after having gaslit himself into thinking Ratio was actually betraying him).

But this doesn't make much sense to me because:

1) Ratio actually has nothing to gain by selling Aventurine out to Sunday. They're on the same side in this mission. Information about a Stelleron on Penacony wouldn't be news anyone with a brain like Ratio's and why would he need someone else's research on Stellerons when he already has ties to the Genius Society through Screwllum and Herta, as well as the Astral Express where the Trailblazer is actively housing a Stelleron?

2) One of Aventurine's most notable lines of dialogue is how it's perfectly fine and expected for "friends" to use each other and backstab. This is his default understanding of partners--why would he suddenly be mad about something he expected from the start?

3) If the betrayal wasn't already planned and was just a possibility based on Aventurine's understanding of Ratio, why would he ever have revealed there were "three chips" (aka three cornerstones) in play? If even the betrayal over Topaz's stone wasn't planned, just assumed, why would Aventurine reveal the existence of the third stone? He would gain nothing from doing so.

Instead, I think it makes a lot more sense to interpret Aventurine's frustration with Ratio in this later scene as annoyance over Ratio taking an "unnecessary" risk:

1) As far as Sunday knows, Ratio had just very seriously betrayed Aventurine, completely selling him out and essentially sending him to his execution.

2) In the scene afterward, Aventurine is out in public in the middle of Penacony where The Family's eyes are always watching, yet Ratio walks right up to him to check on him. Why would someone who just sold you out come up to you immediately afterward to check on your health?!

3) It's only natural that Aventurine would pump the brakes and go "Wow, didn't think you'd show yourself after you just betrayed me, remember?" Because that's the act they are supposed to be keeping up! They're still being monitored; it's not safe to break character!

But Ratio is a genius, right, so why would he break character here? From the standpoint of the ploy itself, revealing to the Family that he and Aventurine were still on the same side would only jeopardize the plan, not help it.

The logical explanation, then, is that Ratio went to Aventurine here because he felt like he had to.

He had to check in and make sure the situation was still under Aventurine's control.

(In fact, the entire exchange through the middle of this scene is Aventurine and Ratio confirming the rest of their plot in a veiled manner: Ratio brings up the plan and mentions what's concealed in the gift money bag, Aventurine confirms the cornerstone is good to go; Ratio asks what his next step will be; Aventurine says he's going to do the insane thing of handing out cash while looking pathetic [aka fishing for Sparkle]. Ratio essentially asks if he's crazy enough to take the final gamble with his own life, which Aventurine confirms, and then Ratio sets them up for the finale by gifting him the doctor's note.)

Ratio was willing to risk ruining their entire plan--something Aventurine does seem to be frustrated about at first--just to ensure Aventurine still felt all right about the situation.

He needed to deliver his note demanding Aventurine stay alive.

He needed to tell Aventurine to come to him if the situation got too painful to bear.

In short, Ratio was worried enough that he could not stay away even though, for the sake of their plot, it would have made significantly more sense for him not to appear. The gain of breaking character was worth more to him than the risk of being caught.

You honestly don't even have to take this in a shipping context. The real point here is that Ratio is an incredibly good person who wasn't okay with Aventurine's self-sacrificial plan and who felt morally compelled to check on a person in pain. He's a healer through and through, and ignoring Aventurine in this condition--ignoring someone who was taking so much risk on themselves--simply wasn't possible for him, no matter the danger it posed to the plan.

But for those who do ship Ratio and Aventurine... I hope more people will come to see this scene as another example of Ratio's genuine concern for his mission partner! He did not have to appear here at all; it would have made much more sense for him to leave Aventurine to his own devices to uphold the illusion of their "betrayal." He showed up in this scene--very likely against Aventurine's expectations--because he was concerned for Aventurine's situation and wanted to ensure Aventurine knew he could fall back on Ratio's support at any time if the plan went awry.

tl;dr: I wish people would stop interpreting this scene as the aftermath of a betrayal. Aventurine wasn't ticked off with Ratio in this scene because he felt like he'd genuinely been backstabbed; he was ticked off because Ratio was literally breaking their pre-established "betrayer" character just to be fussy over Aventurine's safety and well-being. (Okay, and to double check on the plan, but let's be real, the first part was definitely more important. 👌)

[merlins-art]

Pathetic podcast protagonist is such a male dominated industry

Petition for more women to be pathetic podcast protagonists. Like yes queen, experience the horrors

[i-ate-the-rats]

hehehehe oh shit indefinite sad dark shadow (⊙ˍ⊙).

[angry-kid-with-no-money]

"Nora doesn't know anything about the things she writes about" "aftg is terrible queer rep" "the queer characters in aftg are so problematic"

Idk guys maybe the book series abt problematic ppl set in 2006 and written in the mid 2010s shouldn't be expected to hold up against scrutiny of what we consider to be moral and correct now, in 2024

Idk tho, idk

[krysmcscience]

Look, Aym, I know you wanna annoy your big bro sometimes, but y'all really gotta stop putting the death god into silly mode. He is Very Dangerous, you see. ŎuŎ;

this idea wouldn't go away until i drew it so here it is lmfao

[mutantfactor]

Fangs of Fortune 𓆩𓆪 Zhuo Yichen & Zhao Yuanzhou

[ricky-olson]

THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA REWATCH: The Terror of Tal’Dorei - Part 1 Oi! Tavern Keep! Another round for Vox Machina; the greatest band of mercenaries in all the realm.

[b0nelessdoodles]

i keep thinking im gonna like actually finish these but that ain't happening so have some gay people

[limonnitsa]

THE DISTURBANCE [part 4]

Description: Ida and Sebastian have different views on finding a cure for Anne

[part 3]

[part 5]

tagging @elizabeth916 : part 3 & 4 is here now! Sorry I forgot to tag you for the update 🌸

[bonefall]

I understand being upset by the moonpaw dog post but i dont think talking about some random teen publicly (on a pretty big fandom blog) as opposed to like, dming them about it, is a very nice thing to do? Would recommend keeping that kinda gossip in dms going forward personally.

??????? "That kinda gossip???"

Saying that it's fucked up that a publicly posted incest joke about how deformed she should look went to the top of the Warrior Cats and Moonpaw tags, is gossip???

TRENDING TAGS?? GOSSIP?

I'm not talking about "some random teen," I have not even dropped a username and been VERY clear I don't want harassment of anyone. During this discussion about wider ableism against Moonpaw, I've directly answered two anons about the contents of a post that was/IS extremely popular to the tune of nearly a thousand notes.

One of those two asks was an anon who only stumbled in to say that the post was funny in a display of SHOCKING tonedeafness, while I was talking about how shitty it is to compare people who are the products of incest to unethical dog breeds, especially in the context of WC. The other was an actual XX/XY chimera who expressed that the extremely popular post hurt their feelings, and when they tried to express discomfort to someone, got told they "probably killed their twin in the womb."

It's not just one rando weenie little blog the minute half of the Tumblr space is openly laughing at a joke about deformed incest kids and hoping Moonpaw dies because she's so "gross." Not nice?? Your feelings are hurt? OTHER people's feelings were ALREADY hurt.

NOTHING about this was "nice" to begin with!

Difference is, when YOU cry me a river, you can build me a bridge, and get right the fuck over it. A person who's the product of incest cries and has to go right back to every shitty banjo-hunchback-hapsburg joke they've heard before, just feeling more unsafe about a space that PRETENDS to care about the abuse they experienced. If you feel guilty about that, maybe you should!

If you were under the impression I was ever "nice" about bigotry, you were mistaken. I don't appreciate calls for ME to be more polite when I'm at a trend of fandom ableism and calling it fucked up. I've named NO names. Sounds like what you ACTUALLY want is for people like me who have a platform to shut up.

[r-aindr0p]

Re watching Slayers directly from season 2 because Xellos my beloved I couldn't wait 26 episodes before seeing him (although I really like Rezo from s1 too) And I don't recall posting this art at all here ??? It's maybe 1 year and a half ?? old now?? (feb 2022) but I still like it so I'll drop it here.

Redraw from a screencap of Xellos fighting Valgaav in s3 (second favorite season after s2 it was an entertaining season and I'll die on that hill I even cried at the end)

[kalashnikovlobotomy]

uuh can i get the rusame apology special to go? yes the one with no "sorry" pronounced, that's right. and fries.

[courfee]

due to unforeseen circumstances (sick) (no writing) the update for the next ritardando chapter will have to wait a little longer so instead i am finally offering you this James POV snippet instead. enjoy :)

Regulus’ lips are soft and warm and perfect against James’. An involuntary noise escapes him as he leans closer into the kiss. It’s uncomfortable, straining his neck as he balances himself where he’s sat too far away from Regulus, so he reaches out to hold himself up against Regulus, one hand next to his thigh, one on his shoulder.

A shudder goes through Regulus under James’ fingers and James would think it’s a sign for him to end this kiss, but then Regulus shifts, slides further up on the sofa and closer to James.

Theoretically James knows there exists no rational reason to continue the kiss. To make this more than a quick little peck on the lips. If someone asked him under truth serum if he’s kissed Regulus, he could with full confidence now say that yes, they’ve kissed. Unfortunately however, with Regulus’ lips on his the rational part of his brain is very much not accessible to him right now. So what he does instead, stupidly, selfishly, is gently nip at Regulus’ lower lip, a tentative request to deepen the kiss.

Regulus lets out a small breathy noise and parts his lips, meeting James with the same urgency. He is still not touching James, his hands still firmly planted in his lap, and James is getting a little desperate at the lack of touch. He wants – needs to feel Regulus everywhere, the contact of their lips making him get a little greedy for what he can’t have.

Slowly James runs the hand on Regulus shoulder up to his neck and again there is that shudder going through Regulus, accompanied by a small whine when James’ hand comes to rest on the nape of Regulus’ neck, his fingers gently twisting around the fine hairs growing there. The sounds give him new confidence, makes him a little heady and he slides his hand higher, properly burying it in Regulus’ hair. Regulus leans into the touch while simultaneously trying to push even closer against James, biting his lip, tugging slightly, dragging his tongue over the spot to soothe it. It takes everything in James not to let out a moan.

He knows he needs to end the kiss. Knows if he keeps kissing Regulus like this he will reveal things that Regulus does not want to know. Knows all of this is a terrible idea but he is anchored to Regulus, the little points of contact they share tying them together too firmly for James to break.

With every slide of his tongue or gentle tugs at Regulus’ hair there is a little breathy noise falling from Regulus’ mouth onto James’ tongue and it is the sweetest thing James has ever tasted, intoxicating and alluring, and he never wants to taste anything else again.

It’s the fact that Regulus is still not touching him that disorients James enough to make him think clearly again. That tethers him the slightest necessary part to reality. To a reality where this kiss is nothing more than a means to an end. Nothing to Regulus. Not the way it is to James. It is that which finally makes him pull back, every fibre of his being screaming at him that this is wrong, that kissing Regulus is the only thing he was ever made for.

Pulling his hand from Regulus’ hair, putting a distance between himself and those soft lips fitting so perfectly against his feels like an impossible task. He has to keep thinking of those hands balled into fists. The glare Regulus regarded him with. The get it over with already.

It takes him a moment to open his eyes again when he’s sat back. A moment to prepare himself again for that cold glare on Regulus’ face, or the indifferent expression.

When he does open his eyes he realises he should have taken one more possibility into consideration. The possibility of Regulus looking dazed and flushed, tousled hair, red bitten, swollen lips and glazed over eyes. The possibility of Regulus looking exactly as James feels. He should have prepared for it, because it takes him so completely off guard that he nearly leans forward again, pulling Regulus back into a kiss he only wanted to get over with.

James clears his throat and looks away. Anywhere but at Regulus. Anything to keep his head mildly clear. “Well,” he says and his voice comes out only a little croaky. “I think that should be good enough for our friends.”

[sexynetra]

For the record if you don’t like Arrietty my blog is not a safe place for you xoxoxoxo

[booksbabybooks]

Getting into a show after you've seen its main ship giffed all over Tumblr breaks down into:

- yeah, I *suppose* I can see it, if you squint

- yeah, I totally get it, you can see it's being played that way

- holy fuck you guys were not exaggerating this is WAY gayer than I could have imagined

I'll leave you to tag with your own ships if desired 😂

[sciderman]