#(is it gaslighting if it isn't intentional lol)

[ddarker-dreams]

do you have any more yan golden girl thoughts you can share 🤲 i am devouring them every single time

ohhh boy ohhhhh man.... it really is something... here are some yan branch ideas (from their high school years).

(reader here is described as fem, satoru and suguru are gaslit gatekeep girlboss-ing their way into making you their girlfriend)

for starters, satoru and suguru handle the kaizu incident much worse. what little tact they have in the main storyline is gone lol. this has short-term success and long-term consequences. rather than giving you the time to recover and reflect, suguru sneakily introduces guilt. he stresses that you should've told them that you can't perform cursed technique: null without hurting yourself in the process. had they known, they would've found another way.

then there's satoru. he just starts coming along on your assignments. if you get annoyed and tell him to quit following you, he seemingly concedes. that is, until every time you arrive at your assignment's destination, you find him lounging around, having already exorcised the curse. while you're recovering from his audacity, he's making dinner plans, brochure in hand. he's pointing at a famous local restaurant instead of acknowledging your frustration.

"you took forever to get here," he'll lament with a yawn. "i was so bored. ready to ditch this place?"

they safeguard you from any danger at the cost of eroding your relationship.

you came here to learn, to grow in strength and potential. how can you do that under these circumstances? suguru interferes behind the scene so you’re given less assignments, satoru tags along uninvited for the few you manage to land. it’s frustrating and demotivating. trying to get them to see reason is akin to arguing with a brick will. satoru waves off your frustrations whereas suguru listens. in a way, this is almost worse. suguru gives the false impression that you might be changing his mind. he’ll nod along as you vent, his countenance solemn and his voice soft. he’ll validate your smaller plights while twisting your perspective on the most pressing issues. you come away from the interactions unsure of what to feel.

are you making a big deal of things? is satoru just expressing concern in his weird why? maybe they could be handling it better, but it isn’t like their intentions are malicious, you did almost die in front of them… etc etc. the seeds of self-doubt blossom until they’ve made your mind a garden.

then there’s the whole ‘you're our girlfriend now’ bit that deserves mention. satoru kicked it off and suguru went with it. you didn’t think much of it at first, especially since they both conveniently forgot to fill you in on this major development. after showering, you’ll leave the restroom to find satoru sitting on your bed in his slacks, acting like it’s the most normal thing. they stand on either side of you when you’re traveling by train. suguru’s hand finds yours when navigating busy crowds, his grip gentle while also communicating he won’t let you slip away.

you only find out that you've apparently been their girlfriend for months when satoru complains about the lack of a first kiss. when you understandably express your confusion, he coos over how you're 'acting shy.' suguru isn't much help. he opts for the gaslight route.

"you forgot the evening where we...?" he'll begin, visibly crestfallen. "but i thought... ah, never mind... no, it's nothing, really..."

(the 'evening' in question does not exist, he's trying to confuse you so you're more willing to accept this bombshell).

[lovingseventeen]

Hey, Zin! Hope you're healthy and doing fine! May I request a post about what would svt do when they have a crush on someone? This idea just popped up in my mind in a broad daylight, and I think you're the perfect writer for this 🥰

svt when they have a crush

a/n: i wrote this in a svt x you pov, i hope that's fine :))

seungcheol: 

❀ offers to do anything and everything for his crush

❀ he sees you struggling to open a water bottle? he's ever so casually speed walking to open it for you

❀ you're about to open a door for yourself? no you're not!

❀ "oh! i got it" he'll tell you, holding the door with a strong hand as he watches you leave the room

❀ tries to be brave but the second his you lean into his face slightly (maybe even just to tease him) he's soft like putty

jeonghan:

❀ teases, teases, and teases his crush but in a very lighthearted way

❀ maybe the two of you are hanging out and casually playing basketball

❀ if you miss he's all "ayy, why are you doing it like that" but he's so smiley as he watches you

❀ but in the end he tries to help you out, but ALSO uses this as a moment to flex how good he is

joshua: 

❀ charms the hell out of his crush

❀ light touches on your arms when you're talking, a hand on your back as you walk through a crowd so he doesn't lose you, casually leaning in to hear you speak a little clearer

❀ but of course he'll never cross a boundary he knows about

❀ idk i feel like he just knows how to make someone fall for him too

❀ his stomach may be tumbling whenever you smile at him but you'd have no idea

jun: 

❀ somewhat gaslights himself into thinking that he doesn't have that much of a crush

❀ but the members do catch him searching for your name in the list of who liked his most recent post

❀ "do you think i look okay in this? so why they didn't like the picture?"

❀ "bro you posted it two minutes ago, they literally probably haven't seen it yet"

hoshi: 

❀ he's always the life of any gathering, but he does get uncharacteristically quiet when you're around

❀ doesn't really know how to start a conversation (case in point - think of how he was handing stuff out at their concert that one time)

❀ but if you're eating together he does place a couple of extra things on your plate

�� "you should have this"

❀ will also get very pink if you return the gesture LOL

wonwoo: 

❀ you'd miss it if you weren't observant

❀ but he does think of you a lot and he does small gestures that show it

❀ maybe he was walking by a shop and saw a small keychain he thought you'd like

❀ "you mentioned this show right? i saw this the other day and thought of you" he tells you

❀ he loves seeing you light up over the little keychain and he smiles whenever he sees it on your bag knowing he got it for you

woozi:

❀ will avoid you for the longest time because he feels like his stomach somersaults every time he sees you

❀ but one day he can't take it anymore and he'll blurt it out directly because he feels like he might just explode if he holds it in any longer

dokyeom: 

❀ never actually announces that he has a crush on you but every single one of his members has heard ENOUGH about you that they know

❀ finds himself bringing you up in half of his conversations and he can't stop it

❀ "did you guys see y/n's post? they look so pretty in it..."

❀ he likes all of your stories where you're in the photo somehow- whether it's a selfie, a picture with a friend, or you showing off an outfit

❀ "you know what y/n said to me? they said they liked my new hair" he'll hum (he'll think about that compliment for a week)

❀ for someone who mentions you a lot he gets weirdly quiet when you're around and his members get their revenge by pointing it out LOL

mingyu:

❀ puppy vibes ofc - i had to do it

❀ thinks he's being subtle with how often he's glancing at his crush but he kind of isn't

❀ listens so intently when you talk, but he doesn't realize that you notice the sparkle in his eyes when he looks at you

❀ gets so pouty when he bakes a bunch of cookies and his members eat all of it before he gets to give you one

minghao:

❀ someone who actually succeeds in being subtle LOL

❀ always makes sure you’re walking on the inside of the sidewalk type of guy

❀ casually never lets you pay for anything

❀ “i got it, don’t worry about it” whenever you two eat out

❀ eventually confesses in the perfect setting and perfect timing in private too - just so you don’t feel pressured either

seungkwan: 

❀ someone who'll win you a plushie at a carnival game or one of those claw machines

❀ “y/n watch this” he’ll tell you, seemingly confident in his athletic ability (secretly he’s freaking out) at one of those carnival games where you just have to shoot a basketball

❀ “so here’s the technique for these machines” he’ll also say, as he presses the button that signals for the claw to drop

❀ maybe you go home with 2 plushies that day, or 7

vernon: 

❀ awkward but cute laughs when you make a joke

❀ i feel like he'll compliment you in a very vernon way???

❀ "your jacket looks big on you, but in a cool way"

❀ "oh is this hairstyle new?" "oh yeah it is" *he just does a thumbs up*

chan:

❀ will try to do some kind of dance move or impersonation of michael jackson or something to impress you but it leads to him falling over

❀ he’s about to go home and delete his social media when he hears your laugh

❀ but he also sees that it’s not a mean one, and that you’re hurrying over to crouch next to him

❀ “okay king of pop” you tease, “are you okay though?”

❀ great, just when he thinks he can’t get any more smitten :’)

[merakiui]

it's trey's birthday!!!!! >:) to celebrate, here are a few trey thoughts and concepts.

(cw: yandere, unhealthy behaviors/relationship, gaslighting, mention of non-con, sk!trey, mention of love potion/drugging, brief nsfw, implied somnophilia)

✧ trey using his um to make you think you're free and can go anywhere, when in reality all this time you've been confined to a single room and every "place" you've gone to is simply the result of his unique magic altering your senses. that bakery you visited with him? that didn't really happen. the library? not real. the park? nonexistent. it's just you and trey in this single room and you've yet to figure it out. :)

✧ being trey's friend since childhood and you've always had a crush on him. the two of you have been inseparable, but when he goes off to nrc and you're left in the queendom of roses to attend school there your feelings start to dampen...and very quickly at that. the reason? trey hasn't been around to feed you the love potion he mixed into the pastries. he's been doing it since the two of you were children. it started as an accident when he unintentionally knocked it into the practice batter and you ate it and... he just likes it when you're in love with him. is that so terrible of a thing to want? :< meanwhile, you've always thought your feelings for him were true. ;;;

✧ au in which trey and rook are roommates and you're desperately trying to find a place to stay. isn't it so nice and convenient that your two friends have an extra room open for you to take? :) don't worry about paying rent with money. you can pay with other things.

✧ researcher trey x captive mer darling. maybe you're scared or anxious around humans and he's ultimately the one who befriends you. of course he does so with his own intentions in mind...

✧ trey with a darling who has a fear of men and he helps you get more comfortable around him by showing you he's safe and would never hurt you. he's just so gentle and so trustworthy and so sweet; he's so good at minding your personal space and being so patient and helpful. unfortunately, he just wants you to be more comfortable so it'll be easier to slide into your heart. and maybe he gets impatient and non-cons you instead. :( all of that trust... shattered. but now he has you all to himself and can slowly twist your perception of him in the strangest ways. he gaslights you into thinking that other men would do the same thing, but it'd be much worse and so you can really only ever trust and rely on him. see? doesn't he treat you so softly? you don't have to be scared; he helps you, saves you, protects you. he's good and others are bad.

✧ i never talk about trey's starsending robes, but omg they're so !!!!!!! stargazer trey who is there to collect your wish and you wish for a boyfriend because you thought it'd be a silly and lighthearted wish to make. trey is going to grant that wish if it's the last thing he does. >:D

✧ vampire trey.

✧ trey helping you fix your gag reflex by fucking your mouth often!!!! <3 now when you brush your tongue you won't gag anymore. :)

✧ serial killer trey and his obsession with collecting full sets of teeth from his victims. your teeth are especially fascinating to him, and thus you shall be his next victim.

✧ tooth fairy trey LOL.

✧ dentist trey......... but he's the dentist from novocaine. the sheer gaslighting in this song omg. the "you're bleeding now cuz you never floss" line.......... dentist trey is my beloved. i hope others can see this vision.

✧ OMG WAIT. dentist trey and dr. riddle... the two horsemen of the medical malpractice apocalypse. ;;;;;;;;;;; maybe they're roommates and you see the both of them for annual check-ups, so it's over for you when you wake shackled in their flat. T_T they know your medical history so well; you're in good hands.

✧ trey who takes care of you when you're sick, only to realize he quite likes it when you're so weak and feeble. he intentionally keeps you sick so you'll rely on him and if you think something's amiss he gaslights all of your worries away, minimizing them with a simple, "it must be a rough flu season..." or "don't push yourself so hard; you'll only get sicker." >:( no!!!! trey, you're the one making darling sicker!!!!!! in the same vein that trey is your greatest pathogen, he is also your greatest panacea. for only he gets to decide when you can heal and get better. :)

✧ you often party a lot with cater, so trey's seen you when you're intoxicated far too many times. he tries to be upstanding and honest on the surface, if only to look normal and reliable. but how can he resist when you're right there on his bed, passed out like a corpse?

[ebonysplendor]

Symptoms of Deceit (Demo) Review 🐙

TL;DR: We've all encountered fake people. You know, those people who pretend to be something or someone they aren't. But what makes Thaumo's situation so different...? Why can't he just be himself? Oh, because he's psycho. Right. Okay, fair point.

Game Link: https://strawberrysquid0.itch.io/symptoms-of-deceit

Notable Features: Two Yandere LIs, Self-Insert, Custom Pronouns, (slight) UI Customization, (minor) Backstory choice, Multiple Endings Spiciness: 2.5/5 -- Gets a little suggestive at one point...but not enough, and you're damn right I'm anticipating that in the future LI Red Flags: 3/5 -- Gaslighting, murder, stalking, nonconsensual stuff (two pretty light instances), your typical yandere stuff, ya know?

Wanna know more? Well, let's get into it!

You know when you've been out of the flow of doing something for so long, and you lowkey forget how to do the thing...? Not gonna lie, kind've going through that right now lmao. Like, when I tell y'all that, when I went off of memory, I could not for the life of me figure out why that little intro before the actual intro part did not flow right, and I totally skipped over the features, spiciness, and red flags. Lmaoooo I need to get back on my shit. Not to mention, I really like doing these and want to get back in the swing of things

ANYWAYS. This isn't about that; this is about this. This game that is. That's what I meant by "this", in case that wasn't clear...my bad...okay, anyways, getting back on track lmao

I honestly don't have much for the intro because, as typical, it's more suited for the review portion, but let me just say...it's pretty damned promising, and I have a temporary spiked interest in mimic octopuses...octopi?....octopuses; it'll make sense later, I swear, but let me just say this.

MIMIC OCTOPI...octopuses?...ARE SO DAMNED COOL? Like, it's quite literally what it sounds like. It mimics the behaviors of other marine animals, and damn do they mimic a lot of those things! They can mimic jellyfish, sea snakes, crabs, flatfish, shrimp, sealions, gah damned seaweed, fucking sea sponges-- like apparently it is a lot, and they are damned cool, man. I love these things. We stan the thaumoctopus mimicus -- lmao just remember that long, scientifically correct word; that was literally intentional, not just a random name drop.

But enough of that, because you know what has my interest more? This game, and I am excited to tell you about it. So, as per the usual, I will tell you as much about the game as possible without ruining the game itself, and trust me, you're gonna wanna play...but this also may be a bit hard to make spoiler friendly. We're gonna thug it out, and make it work, though!

So, enough yappin'. Let's get into it.

So boom.

It's the end of the day, and we're trying to kill the last bit of time that we have left before we go home. If you work yourself, then you know that I'm talking about that weird ass "It's too late to start working on something (nor do I want to) but I still have like a smooth 8 minutes before I clock out". That being said, we do the only logical thing and scroll on social media for a bit. We're in the middle of reading a post/news article, when this pops up:

I'll explain the article somewhat later, but just stick with me for a second and focus on the notif. We look up and--

Well hello, handsome! Ain't no way we're just working with someone this fine. His name is Nalis, by the by, and I'm gonna get back on track now lol.

So, we exchange a little bit of small talk before one of our other co-workers come up and pretty much yanks him away for some more work. Now, the thing about this is, the co-worker was acting pretty out of character. Like, she was just in a pretty ill mood...but then her personality totally flipped when she was talking to us, and Nalis just shoots us this look like "...the hell is going on with her?". But it's like whatever, because Nalis and her are part of the epidemiology team at our work, and we just figured that the stress was just starting to get to her due to the building cases.

Anyways, with our interaction with Nalis cut short, we clock out and head on home. While walking into the building, though, we run into this adorable, blushing mess of a man

Remember that long ass scientifically correct word I gave you? Thaumoctopus mimicus? Everyone, this is Thaumo. Thaumo, this is everyone. See? Told you it'd matter later lol.

Anyways, as expected, we get locked into some small talk, and Thaumo takes the plunge and asks for our number under the guise of "neighbors looking out for each other". ...Yeah, no, naur, that's all right.

We make it quick, shut him down, text the bae friendo, and go in for the night. The next day rolls around, we mess with Nalis for a bit, and...something quite curious happens.

Remember our co-worker that was acting weird yesterday? Well, she comes in, and we check in with her about yesterday, and she just--

Wha--? The fuck you mean, you didn't see him...?

Now, this wouldn't be an issue if she was scatterbrained or something, but she isn't in the slightest. Even when she's tired, she has a damned solid memory and would've definitely remembered something like that, so her simply forgetting is not likely or even probable. Something is very clearly off, but we're not entirely sure of why yet and before we can question it more, she leaves to go to her sector of the building.

Some hours of doing work later, it's around lunch time. We didn't bring our lunch today, so we sit for a moment to figure out what we're gonna do, but Nalis comes around the corner just in time. We make eye contact, but he doesn't really say much, and he looks...different somehow. We brush it off though and ask what he's doing about lunch and if it's cool if we can join him and...

Oof...okay, maybe not.

Despite this though, he fixes his face and tells us it's cool and invites us to go to the vending machine with him. Even still though, he's acting really weird. Like, he's being kind've withdrawn, he's being lowkey insulting, he's spewing all this weird shit about ethics and death, and his whole vibe is just extremely off. It's so bad that we don't even feel comfortable let alone safe with him being around us. I think he lowkey picks up on it though because then he's all "Just pretend that this conversation didn't happen", and it's just, lol what?

But bump it, we bail. We leave him in there, and thankfully, he gave us an exit to do so.

More time goes by, and the phone starts blowing up about some new hire. Well, let me rephrase that. Not a new hire, but someone that's pretty much going to be making sure that we're using the money that their company is giving us to good use and, wouldn't you know it--

That very individual is Thaumo, and he's going to be hanging out with us throughout this whole ordeal. Granted, this isn't entirely bad because the things that Nalis and his team do are extremely confidential, and we're quite literally left out of everything, so it's lowkey nice knowing someone else isn't going to have the full picture about what's going on either. Speaking of Nalis...

The asshole popped up at our desk a few hours later. Of course, we're not as happy to be around him, and he's trying to pry about why. This lowkey pisses us off because he's taking that whole "This conversation didn't happen" shit too literal, and it's like, bro, be fucking for real right now; this shit is not cool. Like, don't gaslight me and act like you weren't acting like a complete donkey during lunch.

"Didn't see us at lunch"? "No time for a full..."? Ayo, what the fuck man? First our coworker, now Nalis? What the fuck is going on with this???

Nalis helps us come to the conclusion that we had likely fell asleep and just had a super vivid dream. We don't fully believe this, but we literally don't have any other form of proof that would suggest otherwise. Either way, we calm down, Nalis reassures us, and we part ways with us going home and him back down to the lab.

That day ends and the next one begins in which Nalis makes a new group chat with Thaumo in it and without the boss, and Nalis is like "Arcade?". We decline, though, and so does Thaumo. We spend our lunch break with Nalis more comfortably this time, and the rest of the day proceeds like normal: uneventful. Well, that is until we're about to head home and receive this text:

Now, for some context, SWSS is Sea Star Wasting Syndrome. Remember that article that I mentioned in the beginning? The one with the body? That's what we were reading about, and it's pretty deadly. As I promised, I'll explain a bit more.

The world that we live in, people (can?) have animal associations, and those associations can be either strong or weak -- most people's are weak. That being said, naturally, the people who are suffering from SWSS have associations with sea stars, which is why Nalis was like "even though you aren't susceptible" because that's not our animal association. This also explains the animal contact photos/pfps, if you were wondering about that at one point, as well.

Anyways, we just think about how much SWSS sucks, and we proceed to clock out and take an alternative route home. Well, that kind've goes left because on this route home we still run into trouble. Admittedly, it was by our own nosiness, but it was trouble nonetheless.

To make a long story short...nah, I'm just fuckin' with ya lol. I ain't gonna tell ya.

To be real with you? I literally can't tell you because it'll be, what I feel, is a major spoiler, and there's no way for me to finesse it and tell you what happened without it completely spoiling it...even though I'm pretty certain you can read between the lines and see what's going on.

Just in case you didn't catch on and want a little more insight, I'll tell you this much: Remember that we live in a world where people have animal associations, meaning certain qualities, appearances, and abilities can be adopted; Thaumo has a strong association with his animal...

Again, I'm pretty sure you can read between the lines, but even still, you think you might know what's going on just off that, but you honestly have no clue, because also remember...

There's two yanderes this time, and I didn't even tell you Nalis' animal association.

I'm telling you -- it's not as clear of a picture as you may be thinking.

Okay, so admitedly, this review is LONG over due, because I played this months ago and just never finished the review for it, but I am so excited for this game to be completed!

The story itself is so interesting, and the fact that-- ah, I can't tell you but damn it, just, if you could still figure it out without me saying it or you could read between the lines, I'm just really geeked about this, and I want to see how everything pans out.

Like, I know that the content warning included gaslighting, but I didn't know that it meant like IRL! Like, I was -- oh my fu -- I can't really tell you that either! This is actually frustrating, not gonna lie lol.

Like I've mentioned, I am fairly confident that you can tell what's going on based on what I gave you despite me not explicitly saying it and doing my damndest to tip toe around it...but just know that that whole "gaslighting" content warning is applying IRL for me right now. Like, I have so many questions, and I demand that this game be finished so that I can get them answered!

The other wild part about this game, though, is that, if you actually go back and read it after getting some more information, there's actually allusions as to what's going on in certain scenarios! It literally made me go "Ohhhh now that part makes more sense! ... Yo, that's crazy". Like, it's honestly pretty well done as far being just discreetly enough to have you kind've gloss over it, but you can definitely pick up on it if you pay attention to it, especially if you go to replay it for the other endings.

Now, let's talk about the pacing. Pretty solid and well done, in my opinion! There were definitely some parts that were definitely more "storytelling based", but it didn't drag on for long, and the storytelling bits made sense and were necessary. Admittedly, it had somewhat rushed transitions to certain parts, but I still thought it flowed pretty damned well in all honesty. Then again, that's what happens when you have an interesting storyline, and people are more interested in the story itself versus the "You wake up the next day, and head to work after getting ready" transition.

Then again, I honestly prefer it to be that versus "You wake up. You go to the bathroom to brush your teeth. You look at your teeth. Ick. You get over the ick. You walk out. You go to the kitchen. You open the fridge. You reach it. You grab the mi--" Like oh my Gods, bro, I get it. Please get on with it. It's like, I get it because it's necessary, but like get to the point. That just kills the momentum to me, or if there wasn't any momentum to start with, it just makes the story/transition drag for longer than it needs to. Speaking of making things longer than needed and getting on with it...

If it's not obvious at this point, I definitely recommend this game. I recommend it so much that I will be providing you the link right here, right now, multiple times in a row. So just...ya know...click on any of those and download it to your computer, brah. All jokes and silliness aside, you'd be seriously missing out if you don't, because the story is there, and I find it super interesting. Also! If you'd like to, give the dev that ever encouraging and desperate "DROP ANOTHER UPDATE, AND MY LIFE IS YOURS~! Also, really love your game! You're doing really well! BUT PLEASE LET ME BANG NALIS AND THAUMO!". Also, also! I didn't see anything that indicated that they were open to monetary support, but if you find it, I'm sure they'd really appreciate the donation.

That all being said, that is finally all from me, and I will let you go about your day now! Big preesh for getting this far. Huge reminder! Please drink water, don't be dumb, and hope to see you around~!

Symptoms of Deceit

[babyjakes]

weaponized incompetence. [blurb.]

〈 disclaimer: this blog posts content not suitable for individuals under the age of 18. minors are strictly prohibited from viewing, sharing, or interacting with this blog. for more information on this blog's commitment to protecting minors, read our full statement here. 〉

event | jan '23 blurb night

summary | when faced with orgasm troubles, who could be better to trust than an expert in the field? surely he has nothing but sound intentions...

pairing | doctor!andy barber x reader

warnings | andy presents as soft and kind enough but what he is doing is so evil and cruel, all the gaslighting in the world, alllll the yummy medfet elements (or at least most of them): exam table, gloves, restraints, etc., clit cream hehe <3, reader isn't unwilling but she is extremely distressed, crying, humiliation, clinical babble, encouragement, REAL PUFF PUFF BEHAVIOR, edging, no happy ending >:^(

word count | 628

requested by anon | Reader visits Dr. Mean (Ari/Steve/Bucky) because she can’t orgasm. Dr.(whoever you chose) decides to help her as only his fingers, mouth, cock, med equipment can, but realizes if he makes her cum- she won’t need to come back. So he stops right at the edge. Every time. Several times in one session. He tells her how worried he is she can’t cum, and if she tries on her own or with a non medical professional, she may get worse/sick/hurt.

an | ohh bestie this is so sexy of you, i love all of this hehe <3 i hope it's alright that i went with andy, i just thought he could fit this idea really well (and we have plenty of stevie and ari coming later lol!) thanks so much for sharing, you slutty mastermind :^)

"C'mon, sweetheart. You're doing so good for me."

With the tops of your calves straining against the strong nylon restraints holding you in place, you did your best to keep your sobs at bay as your chest rose and fell heavily with each agonizing breath. You weren't sure how long you had been there, strapped to that dreaded exam table with your legs spread wide and high, the calm, steady presence of Dr. Barber placed directly at the entrance to your most private places as he tried to assist you in your seemingly hopeless conquest of achieving an orgasm. You had gotten close, painfully close, so many times at the doctor's skillful hands. But for some reason, you just couldn't manage to cross the finish line.

As the dark-haired man pulled away momentarily to change his gloves, the old pair dripping from your heightened state of arousal, you blinked back further tears. What if it's hopeless, you wondered. The sound of Dr. Barber snapping on a new pair of gloves made you wince; gazing up at you sympathetically, he spoke with a softened tone. "Here, I have one more thing I wanna try. It's a sensitizing cream," he explained as he grabbed the packet from the tray beside him, "nothing scary or painful. But it should help increase your sensitivity to my touch."

He squeezed out a fair amount of the clear gel onto his gloved pointer finger, warming the product between its pad and his thumb before trailing his gaze back up to your abused sex. Focusing in on your little bundle of nerves, he gathered it between his finger and thumb like a little bead of clay, rolling it tenderly to cover the entire nub in the punishing paste. Its effects could be felt almost instantly; with more tears welling in your eyes, a loud whimper sounded in your throat. "Shhh, you're alright," the doctor crooned, his other hand coming up to tease a few fingers at the entrance to your soaked heat. "Here we go, honey. One more time for me," he mumbled as he began fucking two of his large digits back into you, continuing to roll your puffy clit between fingers as it only swelled further in size.

"Your clitoris is responding well to the cream, I can feel it throbbing against me," he noted as your heart began to race at the building sensations. "Your Grafenberg spot seems to be in perfect working order too," he added as he thrust his fingers up against the soft, squishy ceiling of your inner walls. "Can you feel it building up inside of you, y/n? Are you starting to get the urge to let go, to release?"

"Yes, yes-" you panted, squeezing your eyes shut as you strained once more against the heavy restraints the doctor had put in place. "Please doctor, I-I can feel it coming, I-..."

"That's it, sweetheart. Almost there. Just gotta..." But just as you felt yourself reaching the precipice of your pent-up frustrations, Dr. Barber's voice cut in like a hot knife as things began to sputter out, the feelings dying down to your absolute horror. "Oh dear, again...?" he sighed as he spread back the hood of your clit with his thumb and forefinger, watching the poor little nub twitch and spasm in hopeless need. At your realization of yet another failure, you couldn't help it; heaving, you began to sob loudly in despair. "Shhh, shhh," the doctor tried to console you, snapping off his gloves before wheeling his stool up to sit at your side, reaching out a consoling hand to stroke your arm. "It's alright, sweetheart. We'll keep trying. I won't give up on you, y/n. You just have to keep working with me, okay?"

[skaruresonic]

I also forgot that one of the very first things we saw Flynnified Lanolin do was express her gratitude to Sonic. I think the idea was that he had inspired her to actually take action... but her approach is far more proactive than Sonic, who simply reacts to Eggman's wrongdoings.

If contained, this isn't a bad idea for a conflict. It fits with the general idea that she's high-strung and inexperienced, and doesn't want anyone to suffer like she did, while Sonic has been in the game (lol) for far longer and he's more relaxed.

But Lanolin has degenerated so much that it looks like she has legit spiralled into a breakdown. Now she is so rigid that she has become abusive, creating a climate of fear and control with her own companions - she has gaslighted Whisper in the real sense of the word! Her empathy for newbies makes her blind to Duo's obvious lies, while she holds veterans like Silver to such a high standard that any perceived failure deserves a verbal lashing out - but without the willingness to listen, to accept that maybe her assumptions were wrong, because she doesn't want to show any sign of vulnerability. And it feels like she holds so much resentment in her heart that she snaps at anyone vaguely irritating her, from Tangle playing to Sonic not moving out of the road fast enough (who cares about the possibility of them being hurt? Certainly not her! Everything has to flow smoothly and wounded people are simply a hindrance!)

And now we have ABT giving us a Lanolin who has been consumed so much by her own bitterness that she has gone from seeing Sonic as a hero to an irresponsible force of nature who simply doesn't care enough about anything. A danger. Something she cannot hold on a leash. Something to fear and look with suspicion. (and may have attempted to attack him, ABT's sketches are very confusing)

I would almost be impressed by this tragic villain arc, if I wasn't sure nothing I said is intentional.

I think the idea was that he had inspired her to actually take action... but her approach is far more proactive than Sonic, who simply reacts to Eggman's wrongdoings.

You know, I kind of think maybe we're even shortchanging Sonic by calling him "reactive." I know what you mean, but most people tend to exaggerate the whole "Sonic isn't proactive" thing to mean "Sonic isn't a perfect hero because he isn't surveilling Eggman 24/7."

We've seen this before with Flynn's "Eggman stormed Prison Island without knowing what Project Shadow was" argument. As if Eggman needs to be psychic and know what a classified top-secret military experiment is before he breaches the place and finds out for himself.

While it's true that Sonic doesn't take preemptive measures against Eggman, he also can't be expected to keep tabs on the guy all the time. (How ironic, then, that the one time he promises to check up on Tinker in issue 6, he actively neglects his duty.)

He does what he can with the knowledge he possesses. It's not like he can magically intuit that Eggman's going to go steal Ancient Document #3,487 and wake up another beast.

Plus, it doesn't mesh well with his freespirited nature. Superheroes are morally burdened by their self-imposed duties and obligations. Sonic just has awesome adventures because why not.

---

If contained, this isn't a bad idea for a conflict. It fits with the general idea that she's high-strung and inexperienced, and doesn't want anyone to suffer like she did, while Sonic has been in the game (lol) for far longer and he's more relaxed.

Not sure I agree. We've seen the "no one should suffer the way I have" thing from Shadow and the whole high-strung schtick from Blaze.

I don't really see what else Lanolin is bringing to the table other than that she's a normie. And frankly, her personality is too underwhelming to rely on relatability. We don't even know if the girl has any hobbies aside from ordering people around.

---

But Lanolin has degenerated so much that it looks like she has legit spiralled into a breakdown. Now she is so rigid that she has become abusive, creating a climate of fear and control with her own companions - she has gaslighted Whisper in the real sense of the word!

Nah man, she's peak because she's nasty and unpleasant. Let stronk women be bitches. Something something.

Kind of raises the brow how quick she is to resort to violence when she feels "threatened" by Whisper. You'd think she'd be more of a flighter instead of a fighter.

---

Her empathy for newbies makes her blind to Duo's obvious lies, while she holds veterans like Silver to such a high standard that any perceived failure deserves a verbal lashing out - but without the willingness to listen, to accept that maybe her assumptions were wrong, because she doesn't want to show any sign of vulnerability. And it feels like she holds so much resentment in her heart that she snaps at anyone vaguely irritating her, from Tangle playing to Sonic not moving out of the road fast enough (who cares about the possibility of them being hurt? Certainly not her! Everything has to flow smoothly and wounded people are simply a hindrance!)

Yep.

Control freak.

---

And now we have ABT giving us a Lanolin who has been consumed so much by her own bitterness that she has gone from seeing Sonic as a hero to an irresponsible force of nature who simply doesn't care enough about anything.

Which is dehumanizing towards Sonic, as well as belittling. Sonic does care. He demonstrates his care through his actions and the kindness he gives people.

Also, didn't Archie characterize Sonic as a living force of chaos? Hmm.

---

A danger.

Ironic, considering he bothered to save people from the mess she made.

---

Something she cannot hold on a leash.

The Sally Sheeples arguments are starting to look more and more convincing by the minute.

---

Something to fear and look with suspicion.

Again, though, why? She thanked him for saving her town in issue 57. Now all of a sudden she's afraid of Sonic?

And if that's the case, why is she sticking around? Why can't she do the sensible thing and ask Jewel to relocate her to go work somewhere else where she won't have to be around people she perceives as ticking time bombs? If she views Sonic and co. as a threat, then why doesn't SHE take any measures to protect herself? Clearly she can't feel that unsafe around them, otherwise she wouldn't even think to scold them.

That's the frustrating thing about Lanolin. She's supposed to be this no-nonsense drill sergeant, yet continuously expects the world to bend to her expectations rather than assume any agency herself. God forbid our stronk women make decisions! Heavens no.

The only logical explanation is that Lanolin is such a huge fucking control freak that even Sonic the Hedgehog must abide by her strict standards, his previous heroism be damned.

---

(and may have attempted to attack him, ABT's sketches are very confusing)

She reached into her cowbell to withdraw her Wisp. Doing that crossed the threshold from mere fantasy to premeditation, imo. It's one thing to fantasize about someone you hate dying - quite another to essentially reach for a knife hidden in your pocket while their back is turned.

[silenceaartist]

I love when I see posts from tadc fans saying something like "Lol why are md fans so mad about tadc 😭🤣" (bro saw one annoying person complaining and decided everyone has something against tadc)

I just saw one where the person says something like "md fans don't come attack me just because I like tadc" like excuse me, isn't that literally what you're doing in your post?😭😭 (whether intentional or not)

I hate this kind of post generalizing the md fanbase because I KNOW that when some annoying people from the tadc fandom do the same with md (and eventually with gaslight district ) no one will complain about it

[coldgoldlazarus]

I just realized something potentially hilarious in Metroid Prime. Probably not intentional, but it would make a certain amount of sense...

So we know a few things:

1. We know the Space Pirates were the ones to install a lot of the doors between rooms on Tallon IV, given some of the logs about their difficulties with native wildlife getting around them. Presumably not all of them, given that would raise questions about how they never found some of the Artifacts, but any differences between theirs and the Chozo originals are negligable. It's even entirely possible they just copied those door designs from the ruins and spread them around everywhere else on the planet? Idk.

2. The pirates have doors with energy shielding corresponding to all four of the beams Samus uses in the game, despite some of those beams themselves also being stuff the Chozo stored away for Samus to find, and the Pirates never had direct contact with those.

3. Either in response to the fall of Zebes, or during the actual events of the game in response to Samus showing up, they developed the four Beam troopers for her to fight, who make their debut when she gets to the Mines. As people have poked fun at plenty before, the beam troopers boil down to color-coded enemies who still all fire the same yellow bolts. They can only be attacked with the specific beam they correspond to, but there's a distinct gameplay/narrative split where their actual firepower is concerned.

But here's my crack theory - what if it isn't a contradiction at all?

Okay, so here's the scenario. Samus makes landfall on Tallon IV, right around the same time as the Frigate Orpheon crashes from orbit. (Which is itself amusing as a non-event one would think should be more noticeable, but whatever lol) The pirates are shitting their pants, because this is the same woman who took out their Zebes base and associated leaders, and now she's come for them as well.

So the local command goes to Science Team, and tasks them with reverse-engineering Samus's recorded aresenal ASAP, before she reaches the mines and wipes out their operation. They don't have anything to reverse-engineer from, but Command makes it clear saying no isn't an option. Cue the decidedly unsuccessful Morph Ball experiments.

Samus kicks Flaghraa's ass and takes the geothermal station in Magmoor. Command is sweating a little bit now, pushes Science Team to move on to something else. Why not her beams? Best defense is a good offense, after all. Thankfully for a bit Samus seems preoccupied with ping-ponging back and forth between Phendrana Drifts and the Overworld, so they're trying to recreate her beams from grainy security footage from Zebes, but without any actual physical devices to work with, it's just not going anywhere. Best they can come up with is a loose appoximation of her basic Power Beam.

Then Samus sweeps through their labs in Phendrana and takes down the Project Titan they hadn't been able to tame, and it's only a matter of time before she hits the mines, now. Command is breathing down Science Team's necks, demanding those Beam recreations now. They can't deliver, and the recent execution of the Power Dynamo Maintenance guys is hanging over their heads.

So, one bright soul gets the idea, what if they at least make it harder for Samus to kill their soldiers? They can take the technology for the door shielding, which they do know how it works, and integrate it into armor? Everyone wears that, Samus has only one of four ways to do anything to them, and if it's randomized from Pirate to Pirate, they have a shot at fighting back successfully while she's adjusting. So that's what they do.

Unfortunately, Command asked for troopers with her beams, not troopers with selective immunity to her beams, so they still have to pitch this concept as the expected Beam Troopers. They at least use the Power Beam lookalike they'd whipped up, and basically gaslight Command, like "sure they look and fire the same, but they're totally distinct in their effects, see? This target has scorch marks, while this one has electrical burns, it's totally legit!"

And thankfully it works, and the Beam Trooper armor and weaponry gets hastily mass-produced. (For a given value of 'mass' anyway.) The grunts assembling them don't have the context to question why the guns are all the same. Also, since part of the concept's selling point is psychological warfare of Samus seeing them using her weapons, the armor sets all get color-coded appropriately, thus undermining any real chance at confusing her. The problem is exacerbated when Command has the beam troopers group up by type to patrol, instead of one of each per team.

And that's how we end up with the so-called "beam troopers" as the Space Pirate bureucracy and overinflated expectations once again shoots themselves in the foot. And then Samus arrives at the mines and wrecks shop.

[pierceofheart]

Thinking about... a zombie Apocalypse type of setting

a wasteland bare of medical equipment, shelter and food and water.

dangerous and full of zombies that would kill you on sight.

No way to heal those who are left behind due to an injury, no way to cure one who is bitten.

Thinking about a group of survivors, not many because there's little to benefit from big parties of people when you don't have the needed equipment or/and food and water to sustain everyone.

Thinking about Whumpee 2 or Caretaker in the group getting sick/injured or possibly bitten and being left for dead.

They understand, but one does not want to continue without the other by their side and they don't give up on each other.

Maybe they were a tight pair of friends, lovers or possibly just trauma bonded with each other enough to be too dependent on each other to leave.

Thinking about... a mad scientist whumper in this setting

where they are desperately trying to make a cure. Maybe trying to redirect someone bitten, or formerly working with the government to make the cure.

Maybe they crashed completely from isolation and developt a god complex of somekind.

Or the Whumper just clung onto the delusion of making a cure for something possibly incurable to the point of loosing their grip on reality.

and now they need a healthy person(whumpee 2) and a already bitten/zombifief person(whumpee 1).

The whumpee 2 was seen as the weaker link of the two, but the perfect match to try and experiment on. So

Whumper very smoothly lying, manipulating and literally gaslighting the two into trusting him. Offering them food, shelter, fresh water and medical supplies from their own "good will".

Caretaker and whumpee 2 both take the bait and fall into the trap. And while Whumpers keeps Caretaker clueless he lures whumpee 2 to trust them enough to get them completely trapped into a cage next to the bitten/zombified whumpee 1 who had been the first or otherwise there before them.

It's too late when the realize what the fuck is going on.

Just thinking of the horrid smell around the base, the scattered papers. Whumpee 2 being roughly shoved into a cell of some kind and seeing the first Whumpee now turned to a zombie.

While being prodded and poked Whumpee 2 learns about true Whumpers intentions. And now they're being used as little test subjects and a prisoner, a bargain for caretaker to stay when they're too stubborn to leave without whumpee 2.

Just some random tinkering. 0.0 also I'm currently sleep deprived so excuse if the thought isn't completely comprehend-able. I do hope it is at some level lol.

~ Pierce out

[azulas-daddy-kink]

I know dunking on Zutarians is fun and all, but can we please talk about Tyzulaians? Cause they are almost as delusional, if not more than, Zutarians. Maybe they might have been friends when they were kids, but all of Ty Lee's interactions with Azula in the show are clearly that of someone deathly afraid of their superior snapping, and therefore kissing ass much as possible. For fucks sake, the advice Ty Lee gives to Azula during that Ember Island party in regards to getting boys is what she uses to placate her. And even though basically every single piece of post-Sozin's Comet media has all but said that she loathes Azula to the point that she eventually overcame her fear of her so she could hunt her down, Tyzulaians still cling to their ship.

And have you seen the ridiculous handwaving they do in regards to Azula's dream world showing her have a male love interest? I've even seen edits on TikTok where they blurred out Ruon-Jian.

Also, just like Zutarians like to call anyone who disagrees with their ship racist and sexist, among other things, Tyzulaians call anyone who disagrees with their ship lesbophobic, even if the person doing the criticism are queer themselves.

I know that Zutarians have engaged in mass delusion ever since Korra made their ship explicitly fanon, but I really wonder what is going to happen once we get hard confirmation that neither Ty Lee or Azula are queer, or if or both them are, Tyzula is not thing on one or both of their parts? Especially in regards to Azula stans that are also hard-core Tyzula shippers considering the current comics writer got death threats by a crazed Azula stan that made her wary of writing a comic involving Azula for quite sometime?

Yes, please, Anon!

I am always down to call out the toxic Tyzula shippers, and have done so on this blog several times.

I've seen everything you're talking about more times than I can count. The lesbophobia accusations, the copium, and essentially gaslighting themselves into believing their ship is/was canon and that Azula is 100% a lesbian.

Just today, I witnessed them claiming that SOKKLA is a self-insert ship beloved by men who identify with Sokka. Probably the worst case of projection I've ever encountered in this fandom, considering Tyzula shippers are pretty much all just baby gays self-inserting as either Azula or Ty Lee (usually Ty Lee). From what I've seen, Sokkla shippers are mostly women so we're definitely not inserting ourselves as Sokka lol nonsensical.

"Just write a self-insert, you cowards!" - decries a discord user named "Azula kisses women". Absolute clown shoes.

Their favorite thing to do though, aside from going out of their way to bully people who like other ships, is deny canon by saying Azula's interest in Chan was "comphet". Yes, comphet is a real thing but can we be honest with ourselves and say that was not the intent of the writers? No one was gay in a 2005 children's cartoon. And even if Chan was comphet, where does the supposed interest in women come in? If anything, this is an argument for her being asexual or aromantic, because Azula has never shown romantic interest of any kind toward another girl.

But when you criticize this and point out the obvious flaws, they again just say you're lesbophobic, which is their go-to when someone doesn't agree with them.

Honestly, at this point they are just as bad as Zutara shippers, if not worse. And you know why they're acting this way? They're losing and they know it. Sokkla grows stronger by the day, has the best fics and art, and a thriving, supportive community. They're lashing out because they feel threatened... which is actually insane, considering neither ship is canon, and shipping isn't a contest. It's supposed to be fun! Tyzula shippers are straight up ruining the Azula fandom with their toxicity.

[boopshoops]

just a random question tbh since I am literally in love how you made ur character, but do you ship your yuu with anyone?

NFNDDJDK THANK YOU!!!

Honestly, it is something I've been contemplating for awhile now. There are a few individuals/characters that I think she would have a REALLY fun dynamic with, though I am incredibly biased for toxic x toxic somehow equals healthy LMAO. Like "oh hon? You're going out to commit warcrimes again today and manipulating the masses? Oh, alright! Mua mua ily come back safe."

Two negatives cancel out and make a positive ig? LOL, my Yuu isn't the type to gaslight gatekeep manipulate her lover anyway.

Here are some ideas I've had so far though:

Azul: Enemies > rivals > friends > lovers. They both scheme. They both scheme so much. To the point where it is almost like she'd WILLINGLY go and barter regarding deals, only to deadass get nowhere hours later.

Idia: "EXCUSE ME, HE ASKED FOR NO PICKLES" it gives roger rabbit and jessica rabbit. I haven't thought too much about it outside that OoPSY

Malleus: Needs entertainment x entertaining KFNDN. Just. Infodumping for hours about interests, and introducing him to the more cursed side of internet culture. Like just badly explaining slang so dragon boy uses it wrong LOL. Mayhaps she did that on purpose, mayhaps not.

Jade: Similar to Malleus and Azul??? Though she has very similar tactics when it comes to gathering information, getting what she wants, and hiding her true intentions behind a fake smile. I'm really not quite sure about this one, but it is on my mind lately.

Tbh most of these could also be platonic and that is what I'm mostly focused on atm, but I do want to involve romance more in TCOAV as time goes on!

Yuu does also exist in other AUs of original worlds me and my partner have created, given she's existed for awhile before TWST was made, and she's incredibly biased towards those who tolerate her teasing n bullshit, given its her flawed way of showing affection. (She is shipped with one of my partners OCs there :D) (I'm an AU fanatic)

I hope this answered the question JFNDNDJ 💕💕💕 ik I'm a tad scattered regarding this

[beevean]

The sad thing about Annette and Richter in the show is that even Lenector of all things makes comparatively more sense.

It's vile as fuck, but for what it's worth you can sort of see Hector getting attatched to his abuser due to a combination of his emotional immaturity and Lenore being....superficially nice (?) to him at points, which feeds into his desperate need for affection because something something emotionally stunted man child. The reasoning is still fucking weak and it by no means excuses the actual execution of the ship, but at least there's SOME attempt at internal chemistry

With Annette and Richter it's LITERALLY just "mom dead" and that's it, they already have the hots for each other after what? A single week? They're basically two action figures getting smooched together by the writers

Bro are we really to the point where we're defending Lenector? 😭

Nah I get what you mean. I actually like in a vacuum the interactions they have in S4 (except for That Line ofc), the problem is that they are too divorced by Lenore's actions in S3 to the point where it feels like I'm being gaslighted. I can tell you that Lenore likes Hector because 1) he's submissive and breedable cute, and 2) he sympathizes with her issues while everyone else around her thinks she's a stupid little girl, and Hector likes Lenore because her superficial fake kindness is still more kindness than he ever got in his life, and even things like Lenore going to him to pester him with her dick jokes can be interpreted by him as her showing some interest in him. Basically, their chemistry in S4 is a very classic mutual "Because You Were Nice To Me". I really do get the intent, I do, it's just the shit inconsistent writing surrounding them and the cowardice of S4 glossing over the vileness of S3 that makes me furious.

Even him being flustered by Lenore playing with his leash in S3E6 has some sort of explanation! She's hot (allegedly), she just gave him a better cell showing that she is intent on keeping her promises, and he's starved for positive human (vampire lol) contact. It's depressing, sure, and Hector's below-hell standards should have been addressed at some point, but it's something. Unhealthy relationships are still relationships.

Annette literally goes from "that Belmont boy was useless as fuck" to blushing around him once he returns. Cecile sure as shit said nothing to make her change her mind. And I still have no idea why Richter would ever crush on her, when Annette has been mildly cordial at best and actively antagonistic at worst - girl really hit out of nastiness his own magic-related trauma button at one point. Hector has the excuse that he was abused and isolated so badly he doesn't even know how to human: what is Richter's excuse for his low standards? This isn't even a toxic relationship! These two aren't even friends at this point!

Annette really should have been her own character. Or at least they should have waited until S2 before building some sort of chemistry. Even Trevor and Sypha, after a rough start in S1, started flirting in S2 and got together in S3! The story of Nocturne's S1 would not have fallen apart without the implied romance! I get that they probably had less episodes than they needed, but learn how to economize!

[mystic-myrtille]

"he just feels like an entirely dofferent person who just happens to look like him"

Was he really that bad before?

I mean, let's review some stuff he's done (specifically about his relationship with Maribug, feel free to add things I forgot)

Copycat: lied about his and LB's relationship causing an akuma

Glaciator: gets mad at LB for not coming to a date she said she wouldn't come to, making it her problem and only apologizing after she did first (which she really didn't have to btw)

Frozer: basically same thing

Maledictator: tells Mari it's horrible to be happy that her bully aka his friend is leaving

Chameleon: No Marinette don't do anything against Lila even though she's in the wrong (this one's not outright mean it was just bad advice)

Ladybug: chooses the fake Ladybug over the real one bc the fake one would smooch him

Lies: sacrifices himself because "I live that look on your face when you're angry with me lol"

Glaciator 2: "they all think we're a couple lol even though we're not and you've made that clear a million times we shall kiss:) I just love you too much I can't help myself" (I cringed so hard during that episode)

Kuro Neko: gaslighting LB into thinking he's someone else because she has other superhero friends as well

Risk: gives LB shit for not wanting to so a reveal and not wanting to take risks even though it's reasonable for her tl not want those things

Generally flirting, touching or leaning in for a kiss when the time isn't right and LB is either trying to focus on the akuma or she's just uncomfortable

Just from the top of my head some things that didn't sit right with me. Take these as you will.

I'm not saying he had evil intent or that he was only bad, but those times where he acted shitty were never acknowledged by the narrative or any characters. Instead Marinette was blamed for everything because that's the show's number one rule, along with "Adrien is literally perfect like it's actually the world that should adjust to him bc it's so bad and he's so perfect". Peak girl power lol

So therefore Adrien never learned any lessons because he was never called out for anything, so he never had a moment where he self reflected on his behavior and realizing it was wrong and thinking about how to change and maybe having a hard time to change bc of trauma but he tries anyway......

And yet now suddenly all the jealously issues and the codependency and his sometimes shitty attitude just... don't exist anymore. And that's the problem. The writers and the stans act like there's so much character developement that has happened when there literally wasn't. When developing a character, you need to not just show before and after, but also when he started to change, how long it took, how exactly did he change and why did he change. Specifically when thinking about the relationship, what were the steps and reasons that lead him from sometimes not being a good partner to now being a loving boyfriend that would never pressure Marinette etc. The show delivers answers to none of these questions, they just present this new Adrichat as if he's been there the entire time. And while I like this version of Adrien, it just doesn't feel deserves that he's here bc of how he has been before.

[mooglesorts]

i have not been active on this blog in a While and being very normal about my old hyperfixation lorien legacies, which has an absolute fuckload of characters to sort, has finally gotten me to crawl out of my hole.

[spoilers ahead for both lorien legacies and its sequel series!]

there is a LOT of ground to cover here, and i am mostly going to limit myself to sorting characters and themes from the first series, but my initial notes are:

probably one of the biggest overarching themes of the series is toxic birdsec, and the harm it can do to every aspect of a society or a person's life--on both a systematic level and an individual one--right down to their basic humanity. by extension it also goes into similarly fucked up lion and bird primary used as weapons and tools of abuse, and how they interplay with each other.

a large part of this stems from setrákus ra being The Worst Fucking Lion Bird Ever to Live, lmao. he's an interesting example of birdsec interplaying with cannibal badger, and also of a lion bird who's a cheetah in that he uses systems as tools to manipulate people instead of actually believing them. he hands out toxic systems like candy while peppering them with outright lies, and blithely admits that even the one that he's put centuries into building--mogadorian progress, and the great book--is at its heart just a ruse to run his cult on. the truth he pretends to worship and champion isn't external, objective truth--it's an extension of him. he is the ultimate truth. and the only truth he believes in is his cause, which is that he has the right and ability to own, make use of, and do whatever he sees fit with everything in existence. everyone and everything that could possibly be a shiny or a tool belongs to him.

one of the other overarching themes is toxic badger primary and secondary--cannibal badgering AHOY--as well as toxic lion primary, and it is a great deal less intentional than the bird cautionary tale part lmao

five is a bird snake with deeply toxic lion primary and bird secondary models, one of which he picked up after getting involved with a cult, and one of which he's had since his abusive birdsec guardian started amputating his masks by trying to apply actor bird to them. :') his brand of birdsplode and snakeburn make him horribly, horribly vulnerable to the cult, especially combined with focused, one-on-one gaslighting and manipulation from setrákus himself, and he has to burn his bird right to a crisp to break away from it. i am very biased and i have so much to say about my boy, but i plan to go in depth about this later

there are a LOT of lionsecs among the loric garde kids. the only surviving ones who aren't lionsecs are marina's badger and five's snake (the latter of which is heavily villainized, lol); number one is either a lionsec or a snakesec, maggie is either a birdsec or a badgersec, and we don't really see enough of hannu to be sure, but my guess is badgersec. in context, whatever these books are saying here i am not sure i like it lmao

this stands in contrast to the non-garde allies, minus adam, who end up being Part of the Gang. sam and lexa are birdsecs, and sarah and malcolm are both badgersecs.

speaking of adam, he is a lion snake with a cool, calculated double bird performance/model, who has been waiting all his life for a chance to go Absolutely Feral. there are a lot of ways in which he's a real shithead, which track given his life and circumstances up to then but are also real 😬 sometimes, but like, good for him. go ape shitt, kid

nine is an awful, AWFUL double lion who models/performs the worst parts of badger primary; he also uses lionsec stereotypes and methods to misdirect people, so that he can hurt, gaslight, prey on, and abuse them. it's genuinely interesting how he does it, and i could go on for a long time about it, but it's also Infuriating because the authors really want you to love him for being a ~charming jerk with a heart of gold,~ so that is for another post. in the sequel series he also picks up a nasty posthumous birdsec model from sandor to gleefully torture children with so lmfao

there seem to be a lot of birdsecs and badgersecs among the mentor cêpans, which tracks, because, well, mentors. interestingly, it seems to be a pattern so far that the birdsec mentors are either some of the most deeply abusive among them (see: rey, sandor, and ethan even though he's an unofficial cêpan), or the most decent parents of them under the circumstances (see: katarina).

john is a hognose (badgery snake) 'i live here' snake lion, and a VERY loud one. he's set on saving the world mainly a) in order to save his People, or b) because it's what they would want. he also believes STRONGLY in snake values as applied to other people, and absolutely cannot grok that anyone would feel differently--he holds back on killing a major enemy because he's worried about killing a friendly acquaintance's Person--and honestly he can be kind of a huge dick about it lmao. he burns HARD at the end of the first series when sarah dies; in the second, he copes by making an entire community into his circle and no longer gives a shit about the rest of the world outside it, including groups who are in similar if not worse circumstances than his community. Horrific War Crimes Ensue!

rex is an everyone double badger and i love him so much. i love him So Much. he is a wonderful example of how to write a morally dubious character whose dodgy qualities interest me instead of making me grit my teeth and Tolerate Them. his arc could have fixed So Much of the Ending's Bullshit and i will be forever mad that they dumped it in the trash

there is more, oh my god there's so much more, this series has SO many characters in it, but this is a start thank you for coming to my ted talk

[poisonheart]

Replying to @trashlie and @hotdamncomics for their reblogs on this post under a cut so I can spare my friends the walls of text of a comic they're not reading lol.

Trashlie, friend, reblogger of theories and fellow Thursday night feels partner absorbing all the details... you bring up such great points.

But on the other, Yui has spent Kousuke’s entire life gaslighting and manipulating him; it’s only natural that it would be difficult for him to reconcile these two versions of her, and sometimes he’s unable to in the end. 

Every time Yui makes a move she says she does it with either his or their family's best interest in mind. Over and over. Kousuke has seen himself benefit time and time again from her unorthodox methods. And we know that he's not against life being unfair in his favor.

He has never had reasons to doubt that was her only motive, but he isn't a child anymore. He has seen and experienced things she has done that are worse than merely giving him an unfair advantage.

I'm actually curious about how Kousuke would respond if he realized his mother is trying to ruin and remove Rand from the picture.

This is why I so desperately want Rand to connect to Kousuke that evening. Even if Kousuke doesn't immediately believe him and thinks any mushy words mean Rand is disappointed in him (as he thought earlier that night when Hansuke took the call sneakily) the seed will have been planted.

Kousuke might see that he is been a pawn in a power struggle he's never signed up for. He didn't want to reach the top to ruin his father, but to meet him. He didn't want to reach the top to be to busy to spend time with his father, but rather if his father's burden were less, then maybe they would have time to spend together.

Yui's played a game that can backfire on her.

Because if Kousuke doesn't end up resenting Rand for his neglect, for having another family, then she can actually lose her pawn to him.

Especially if Kousuke uncovers that his mother sabotaged whatever closeness they could have had.

I really need Rand to be able to reach to at least one of his sons before the time skip. Even if it's just to plant a seed.

If Yui wanted to ensure that Nol never stood a chance against Kousuke, then damaging not only the way others see him but also the way he sees himself was a sure fire way to do it, wasn’t it?

Indeed, psychological manipulation in the hands of professionals with the intent to harm instead of helping is very dangerous.

And it makes me think back on the formal.

We know that Yui could not have predicted Nol's involvement or how things played out with him entirely, but she took the chance when it presented itself.

She knows damn well that Nol doesn't like her touching him, so she crept up on him deliberately to cause the rest of the events to unfold. She's so threatened by his existence that she'd risk her precious heir in order to cause another situation—a very public one—for Nol being unstable and malicious toward Kousuke, the heir.

After all, her son could have sustained far more serious injuries, but she didn't care. Yui was willing to risk it if it meant ensuring Nol had another mark against him.

She could always blame any lingering health issues after that accident on Nol purposefully hurting Kousuke.

Of course, the one who got hurt was Shin Ae, which she could still use against him to at least trigger him to go back to whatever state kept him down and defeated before.

Either way, she took a huge risk, which means she is actually very concerned about Nol's existence.

He is the one who truly gets under her skin, as we've seen.

[That lip quiver at the Christmas party was so satisfying...]

/ / / / /

Okay, so hotdamncomics, yes! I remember you from the kdrama life. Glad to see you have similar taste in comics. You bring up interesting points! I think the formal arc really helped us see the personalities, as well as "core" values (at that time) of the major characters.

Kousuke who didn't help Shin-ae when he tripped her at the formal is his real self, someone concerned foremost by how people see and perceive him than someone else's comfort or safety. He's not a nice and proper gentleman at core. That's a mask, one he put on when he invited Shin-ae to dance to prove a point that he was a gentleman. Even here he's failed to act in her interest regardless if he was genuine. He took priority. Let me fix my previous blunder by offering that poor girl a dance and not so much about proving he wasn't embarrassed of her.

He knew someone like her wouldn't know how to dance but he put her on the spotlight because repairing his image was more important than proving he wasn't ashamed of her. He could have chosen to play the piano with her by his side. It would still draw attention, still show her he's not ashamed of admitting he knows her, but would have placed her comfort ahead of his image.

This is actually a fantastic observation and you proposed a great alternative to inviting her to dance that would have conveyed the sentiment that he knows her and doesn't mind being seen with her without further embarrassing her by offering to partake in an activity he should have assumed she wasn't accustomed or knew how to do.

But, we see this again when Shin Ae's falls. Yes, he is the one closest to grab her when she falls over the railing, but once they hit the pool, he's first concerned with getting himself out and then remembers she's fallen too which is entirely different from Nol's eventual choice.

Nol comes up to air with Shin Ae.

And after the Christmas party arc we were aware that he was dealing with suicidal thoughts in that moment—he wanted to remain there, essentially drown, but seeing her pushed him to go back to his hell.

He didn't deserve the "peace of death."

It's not that I think there is something wrong with people who will prioritize themselves, but it does serve as a contrast between just how different Nol and Kousuke operate.

There have been so many hints that prove Kousuke isn't in fact that kind gentleman—that is part of the persona, of the expectation of a well-rounded heir and the type of man his father would admire.

Kousuke often slips out of that mask, particularly when stressed, to show who he is. A man who says more than he should under the veil of honesty, often hurting or insulting those around him.

"I don't mean to offend," is always said by those who will offend.

Yujing's actions feel too personal and led by revenge to be something shallow. Someone important must have urged her to try for a story that can ruin her career if she doesn't execute it perfectly and with no room for a counter defamation lawsuit.

I think this is actually quite right. We don't know what kind of "terrible situation" Rand helped her out of—but he had a hand in getting her to where she is. Someone who has tasted defeat or loss is protective of security and more prone to self-preservation.

She does have a strong ethic and she mentions she wants to restore faith in journalism by exposing the truth no matter how ugly. It'll be interesting to see what prompted her to take this risk to bring a very powerful woman like Yui down. Perhaps Yujing isn't meant to hit the knock out, but weaken her enough where the others on the board (if we go back to the chess theory) can act.

[strahdapologist]

which interpretation of strahd do you like better- reddit or tumblr

oh man both have their pros and cons tbh. the vibe on the two platforms is very very different as well and depending on what i'm looking for, i will search resources out more on one platform than the other.

generally speaking, the audience on reddit is older and since COS/ravenloft reddit is by and for DMs and discourages the presence of players i find the discourse to be a lot more polite and civil haha not that i mind a tumblr user saying kys bitch ive been here long enough to ignore that it does make reading reddit discourse a lot easier to digest. the shit you find on reddit is also very different in terms of resources but it can be a mixed bag. since the audience is older, you have reddit users who were around when "i, strahd" came out and that is the platform where i found out about it and quite a few people also have guides on how to redeem strahd or play him more interestingly than 5e does. it was also reddit where i found the masterpost on how to rewrite the vistani in a way that is no longer racist against romani people. reddit also has more diverse takes on how to play strahd, ie. there's the general sense that there is no right or wrong way to play strahd, just the way you chose to play him. they even have statblocks out there to reflect these different interpretations that i really appreciate.

however, edgelords also populate the forum at times and you will find guides that are like "how to gaslight and emotionally abuse the shit out of your players" which is.... bad :( generally speaking tho as a dm i do like reddit more than tumblr lol

tumblr has some very interesting shit out there, and the best art imo, but the audience is generally younger, and it is mostly populated by players. this isn't a always a bad thing, it just means that the vibe is different and fewer people have heard of older materials or large expansions that have been co-created by a myriad of reddit users. there is also at times less openness to alternative interpretations, likely coming from the perspective of player rather than DM, of strahd and this sense that there is a set canon (something that old dnd fans don't have because they've experienced multiple editions of adventures so there is no attitude of "this is canon").

i find, depending on the space on tumblr, sometimes less of a critical view on decisions 5e has made because of this sense of "oh this is canon" and an ignorance (not deliberate!) to older editions. one may not see the entire issue with changes made to the dusk elves for example if they did not know this was purely a 5e thing and that they were white in older editions. similarly, people may not know that 5e strahd was not always canon strahd and older editions of him are beloved by older players and DMs. this is not to say older editions are perfect, they do have their issues, but once you're aware of where ravenloft started and where it's gone you can see TSR's/WOTC's gross missteps and how they have moved away from some bad decisions, but made new ones that are also bad. again i don't think this ignorance is deliberate, why would a player hunt down an ancient PDF from the 1990s and scour through it to get the deep lore for a campaign they play once every two weeks. my issue with this is when there's a staunch defense of 5e or harsh criticism of older editions is made because malicious intent is assumed of defenders of older editions. this approach to discourse is also par of the course for tumblr since the tone with which people can speak can become quite aggressive. very chronically online behavior :/ touch grass

but back to tumblr's take on strahd, as a whole it tends to follow 5e canon but that isn't to say there are no derivatives in opinions and no fans of older editions of ravenloft. i am very lucky to have found a lot of people who agree w/ me here, but my takes are definitely seen as hotter there than on reddit.

anyway follow me i'm delicious :)