#(not explicitly shown but definitely implied)

[stars-obsession-pit]

I bring you subversion of the trope bio son Danny:

So. Bruce discovers that Danny is his biological son.

How he finds out isn't important. What is important is that, when he does, Bruce just. takes him away.

*Typical trope stuff "that's his son, he's his father, therefore he should be with him" blah blah blah, pushes you off a cliff*.

The point is, Danny is no longer at Amity Park, he's now at Wayne Manor, where he belongs, with the rest of his kids.

There's just one little problem with that, which Bruce obviously didn't think of.

Danny is not a stray you find and take home. He's a person, with a life of his own before him. With family, friends, a community of people who would notice his sudden absence.

People who saw a stranger put the Fenton boy into a car and drive him out of town.

The police are called. Danny Fenton's abduction is reported. *Typical police investigation of the abduction of a Minor!*

All of which brings us to the main scene:

The police at the door of Wayne Manor, because Bruce the Idiot, kidnapped Danny without thinking of the consequences (or that the laws applied to him).

I’m imagining that Danny didn’t immediately fight back because he assumed it was Jack and just went along with it. It’s certainly something his dad might do. And if Bruce talks to him while driving about “family stuff”, that could support the ruse even further.

But then at some point his mind finally kicks into gear and he goes ‘Wait, what the fuck? That’s not my dad!’

He has no idea who this person really is or why they kidnapped him. Is he delusional and thinks Danny is his kid? Or is this “family” be a cult thing? Or could it be a euphemism for something else?

He’s panicking. A lot. Sure, he probably could escape easily using his powers, but until he knows why he was kidnapped, he doesn’t want to risk revealing that secret. Even if he takes his current kidnapper out now, there’s no guarantee the man doesn’t have allies who could continue the hunt later with the new info in hand.

[true-blue-sonic]

What is even the point of Silver living in the future? It’s not his future anymore and he has no friends or family there. There’s nothing for him there. Now that he has precognition he should just live in Sonic’s time and get visions of disasters. 

Seriously there’s no point in his future or time travel. We’ll never see it, Silver only cares about the state of it and he can only go to Sonic’s time anyway.

I find this an interesting question myself. The best answer I can give as to why Silver keeps returning to the future is that him being from the future is "his thing", just like how having PK is "his thing". It's just something very much intertwined with his character; basically every bio he has makes mention of it, for example. But I also agree with the notion that him being from the future opens up some issues. I've seen statements that it is difficult to make Silver relevant if he must travel to the past every time, for example, which I don't disagree with (but for me, the same could then be said about Blaze and the Sol Dimension or Knuckles and the Master Emerald). Adding to that, I do not believe we know for certain if its state is generally 'destroyed' or 'saved' and if Silver grew up in a destroyed world (said in multiple bios) or a good one (I'd argue that is implied in Rivals 1, with Eggman Nega almost certainly having stolen the camera from someone else and Onyx Island being both a paradise and having developed industry on it that I do not believe Angel Island currently has). Furthermore, the Rivals games are also not very consistent to me about if the future has actually gotten rewritten or not (but it tentatively seems to lean that way, since Silver says at the end of Rivals 2 he hopes the new future is a happy one), and we legit just do not know how its alleged destruction goes. Does Silver indeed intervene before something bad can happen, or does the future actively turn bad before his very eyes and he goes back in time to undo that again? I am truly not certain if there's ever been a clear-cut answer from a credible source, though I am pretty sure there's multiple conflicting explanations from non-credible ones... but that really doesn't help make things clear. And lastly, we also do not know what he has in his own era when it comes to friends and family, nor is it ever clearly shown or said how he time-travels in any game other than '06. With all that combined I can see why having him return again and again gets... well, confusing, haha!

In that regard, I also feel there is merit in the idea of him just staying for good in the past. His friends are there, it's consistently where the action happens anyway, and Team Sonic Racing indeed hints at him having a sense of precognition. The Japanese version actually dives into it more, with Silver asking himself at the very end when Eggman's battleship is going down if that is what was causing his bad/nagging feelings. Considering he was necessary there to help carry people and racecars off it to safety, it does imply to me that that scene might have intended to show it as a genuine skill of his. Shame the English version cuts that moment out entirely. So yeah, the point of Silver being in the future is, to the best of my explanations, legit just the fact that's how he has been conceptualised, making it "his thing". But it does cause confusions for me, because of how much there is not clearly explained and all the contradictory information out there from non-game sources. I think having Silver stay in the past for good could make for a nice move on Sega's part, assuming it is within his own decisions (so not forced by A ThingTM that is entirely unexplained to us and removes all his agency, for example). I think it'd be a nice resolution for Silver to see his heart lays in the past, and he can still protect his own world from there too!

[bixels]

Learning that fans hated Applejack and called her "boring" is crazyyy to me because I genuinely, unironically believe AJ's the most complex character in the main six.

Backstory-wise, she was born into a family of famers/blue collar workers who helped found the town she lives in. She grew up a habitual liar until she had the bad habit traumatized outta her. She lost both her parents and was orphaned at a young age, having to step up as her baby sister's mother figure. She's the only person in the main gang who's experienced this level of loss and grief (A Royal Problem reveals that AJ dreams about memories of being held by her parents as a baby). She moved to Manhattan to live with her wealthy family members, only to realize she'll never fit in or be accepted, even amongst her own family. The earlier seasons imply she and her family had money problems too (In The Ticket Master, AJ wants to go to the gala to earn money to buy new farm equipment and afford hip surgery for her grandma).

Personality-wise, she's a total people-pleaser/steamroller (with an occasional savior complex) who places her self worth on her independence and usefulness for other people, causing her to become a complete workaholic. In Applebuck Season, AJ stops taking care of herself because of her obsessive responsibilities for others and becomes completely dysfunctional. In Apple Family Reunion, AJ has a tearful breakdown because in she thinks she dishonored her family and tarnished her reputation as a potential leader –– an expectation and anxiety that's directly tied to her deceased parents, as shown in the episode's ending scene. In The Last Roundup, AJ abandons her family and friends out of shame because believes she failed them by not earning 1st place in a rodeo competition. She completely spirals emotionally when she isn't able to fulfill her duties toward others. Her need to be the best manifests in intense pride and competitiveness when others challenge her. And when her pride's broken, she cowers and physically hides herself.

Moreover, it's strongly implied that AJ has a deep-seated anger. The comics explore her ranting outbursts more. EQG also obviously has AJ yelling at and insulting Rarity in a jealous fit just to hurt her feelings (with a line that I could write a whole dissection on). And I'm certain I read in a post somewhere that in a Gameloft event, AJ's negative traits are listed as anger.

Subtextually, a lot of these flaws and anxieties can be (retroactively) linked to her parents' death, forcing her to grow up too quickly to become the adult/caregiver of the family (especially after her big brother becomes semiverbal). Notice how throughout the series, she's constantly acting as the "mom friend" of the group (despite everything, she manages to be the most emotionally mature of the bunch). Notice how AJ'll switch to a quieter, calmer tone when her friends are panicking and use soothing prompts and questions to talk them through their emotions/problems; something she'd definitely pick up while raising a child. Same with her stoicism and reluctance at crying or releasing emotions (something Pinkie explicitly points out). She also had a childhood relationship with Rara (which, if you were to give a queer reading, could easy be interpreted as her first 'aha' crush), who eventually left her life. (Interestingly enough, AJ also has an angry outburst with Rara for the same exact reasons as with EQG Rarity; jealous, upset that someone else is using and changing her). It's not hard to imagine an AJ with separation anxiety stemming from her mother and childhood friend/crush leaving. I'm also not above reading into AJ's relationship with her little sister (Y'all ever think about how AB never got to know her parents, even though she shares her father's colors and her mother's curly hair?).

AJ's stubbornness is a symptom of growing up too quickly as well. Who else to play with your baby sister when your brother goes nonverbal (not to discount Big Mac's role in raising AB)? Who else to wake up in the middle of the night to care for your crying baby sister when your grandma needs her rest? When you need to be 100% all the time for your family, you tend to become hard-stuck with a sense of moral superiority. You know what's best because you have to be your best because if you're aren't your best, then everything'll inevitably fall apart and it'll be your fault. And if you don't know what's best –– if you've been wrong the whole time –– that means you haven't been your best, which means you've failed the people who rely on you, which means you can't fulfill your role in the family/society, which makes you worthless . We've seen time and time again how this compulsive need to be right for the sake of others becomes self-destructive (Apple Family Reunion, Sound of Silence, all competitions against RD). We've seen in The Last Roundup how, when no longer at her best, AJ would rather remove herself from her community than confront them because she no longer feels of use to them.

But I guess it is kinda weird that AJ has "masculine" traits and isn't interested in men at all. It's totally justified that an aggressively straight, misogynistic male fandom would characterize her as a "boring background character." /s

At the time of writing this, it's 4:46AM.

[conejita-canelita]

One detail I love that hasn’t been explicitly shown is that Penelope is definitely the favorite mistress amongst the staff in the Featherington household. Penelope and her lady’s maid Rae are locked in for life. And yeah you could argue that Penelope is obviously going to be Rae’s favorite because of the bond between ladies and their maids during the era, but it’s not just Rae who seems to love Penelope:

-Varley’s loyal to Portia through thick and thin but holds an obvious soft spot for Penelope and a…. tolerance…of Prudence and Phillipa.

-When Eloise came to visit it looks like the staff there were also on edge for Penelope; they seemed to give the girls complete privacy for their whistledown conversation after the moon ball (which is crazy given that staff in Bridgerton are ground zero for spreading gossip lol).

- you’re telling me that in 3 seasons no staff- especially those that work late- never saw Penelope leaving the house in her whistledown cloak? Someone had to have seen her by now and that implies they just pretend that they don’t because they like her that much

- footmen back then usually help escort the passengers down from their carriages. The footmen post-carriage scene knocked on the roof instead. Those footmen knew damn well what was happening, they just happened to be team polin.

- back to the realest bitch out there: Rae. I have a theory that with all her little side eyes and smirks at Colin she told the other staff what was so clearly going on and was like “listen guys Penelope may be our favorite but bless her heart she’s got NEGATIVE rizz. We need to help our girl out” and so that’s how all these too-perfect opportunities for polin to meet up happened.

[beguilingcorpse]

weaponry in the locked tomb is so interesting because when you break it down it's like:

guns exist in-universe but are used by the freedom fighter terrorist organization almost exclusively

swords are (were?) commonplace enough that gideon was able to find and train with a decently well-balanced two-hander on the ninth, despite the fact that the ninth has no military force or even interplanetary traffic. gideon's sword is at least 20 years old, probably older

swords are definitely still in use within the empire, at least by cavaliers, but likely within the cohort as a whole. to my memory there are no mentions of cohort members carrying military-issue guns

even though they're trained in a variety of weapons and techniques, cavaliers (are supposed to) carry exclusively rapiers. gideon prefers her two-hander and cam carries twin shortswords, but these seem to be rare and shocking exceptions to the standard.

rapiers are used by cavaliers explicitly for the purpose of lyctorhood. they're light enough that a scrawny necromancer without swordfighting experience can pick it up and rely on their cav's training without needing to build the muscle to wield the sword effectively

because of the secretive nature of the megatheorem, and lyctorhood as a whole, most people just follow the rapier rule because it's tradition. it is what is done. harrow makes this pretty clear at the beginning of gtn

cavaliers can carry a variety of offhand weapons. it seems like the full spectrum of middle age weaponry is possible - but still, no guns. not even secretly, as with cam's dual blades. some cavs choose to carry material for their necromancers as their offhand - ortus carries a bowl of bones for harrow, and i can only assume "the powder" mentioned as harrow's choice for gideon's offhand towards the beginning of gtn is some kind of bone dust

from a doylist perspective, all of this creates a aesthetic that starts very analog and gothic and gradually grows into a more standard sci-fi space opera through the series. by ntn, we've hit most of the established genre weaponry tropes that we've come to expect from older futuristic space media like star wars and alien. blasters and guns are standard fare, and it makes sense to hold off on introducing them until the scope of the story gets broader and more interplanetary

from a watsonian perspective, it's a little more difficult to draw concrete conclusions without the context that atn will inevitably provide. but if i had to hedge a guess, i'd say that, as with most things, It's All John Gaius's Fault. when he resurrected the galaxy i'd assume that he wanted to keep the aesthetics of medieval imperialism, and given his 21st century liberalism probably didn't want guns to be part of the equation. but they were anyways - we know this because wake carries a big one - and instead of standardizing firearms within his military and for his lyctors, he clings to the aesthetics of swordplay. please correct me if i'm remembering it wrong, but to my knowledge every gun shown in the series is either directly linked to boe or implied to be sourced from them. jod dooms his own lyctors and military by refusing to update their weaponry.

all of this poses a lot of questions about atn: who will carry a gun, and why? where did the gun come from? why DON'T the lyctors just use firearms? and most importantly: will they be fighting zombies with swords???

[virahaus]

Another day, another time to debunk shitty takes I see online.

I've seen a multiple of people pointing out that "we don't know anything about Tommy" and how could people ship him with Buck (nevermind that the ship is canon and always will remain so) when we know so little about him?

First of all, I'd actually make a point to say that we as of now already know more about him then all the other LI that Buck or Eddie ever had in the show.

I shall make you a list, so that you may remember it more easily:

- He likes cars and he's a good mechanic (extrapolated by the fact that Eddie explicitly said that fixed/improved his engine)

- He likes playing basketball and he's also quite competitive ("we'll make short work of them" said in reference of Buck and Chim)

- He's sarcastic (the closet line)

- His favourite film is "Love, Actually"

- He loves Monster Truck and Craft Beer, and MMA

- He has a big scar on his chest and it came from a fire in a factory

- He's a very skilled pilot, able to manoeuvre in a hurrican, and doesn't waver in the face of danger

- He likes watching and practicing Muay Thai

- He was a pilot in the army

- He only came out when he started working in Harbor, but prefers not to publicise his sexuality

- He doesn't like Bella Swan (and it's implied he might like Jacob more) and he watched the Twilight movies

- He likes to drive his friends to events

- He has friends that can get him high up tickets for shows in Vegas

- He has permission to fly airplanes for personal reasons when he's not on the clock

- He likes to be helpful and he's thoughtful (driving Eddie to check out his sprain, going to Buck's to clear out the air without prompt, immediately agreeing in helping the 118 with the whole ship operation, trying to get Buck to be at ease on their date)

- He's loyal (he didn't rat the others out when the chief called on their way to Bobby)

- He's a smooth flirt

- He can do a mean mouth static (at least in his opinion)

- He pays the bill on first dates

- He is very much the definition of carpe diem (kissing buck was very much shooting his shot)

- He checks for consent

- He kept contact with Chim ever after he left the 118

- Chim called him for help in the episode Broken

- He went to the 217 and opened the spot for Buck at the 118

- He participated in the betting pool Hen made on how long Bobby would last at the 118 captain

- He apologises when he's in the wrong and is shown to be able to correct his behaviour

- He doesn't like chickens (lol)

- He likes the film fight club and can quote it

- Implies to have dated people he met on a call

See? We know quite a lot actually. So you may get off your high horse how about that.

I don't think I missed anything but do let me know.

[jaijeijayjei]

Open letter to ppl who think MelVik is a crackship or would be OOC

"Viktor would never be close with someone like Mel"

Viktor respected and worked for Heimerdinger, the founder of Piltover who has been complicit in Zaunite suffering for literal centuries. Viktor continues to care for and respect Jayce, who has been explicitly classist towards Zaun several times*. Is it so hard to believe he could form a bond with Mel?

"Though we became enemies Mel, your support will never be forgotten" (League)

"Mel, as one embraced by the Arcane, you now know the true value of Hextech." (League)

"The arcane stirs within you." (S2 Ep 8)

These lines have no hint of resentment- Viktor shows appreciation her support and comments on their common experiences with the Arcane. Viktor and Jayce benefitted from Mel's sponsorship for years.** She was also the first to vote for Zaun's liberation and was the only councilor not to argue against it- they were never enemies.

"Mel and Viktor are too different"

"You claim to desire 'peace'; but it seems our definition may differ."

Mel and Viktor are more similar than meets the eye: they both value peace and dislike violence. Yes Mel had a lapse in judgement when she suggested weapons, but she is consistently shown to have pacifistic ideals.*** Viktor was misguided with the Glorious Evolution, but he always had good intentions and only wanted to eliminate human suffering.

I get it, MelVik isn't everyone's cup of tea. However, AFAIK most of the reasons people dislike them mischaracterizes Mel and Viktor's dynamic in canon. Their relationship was heavily implied to be that of friendly acquaintances at best or impersonal business partners at worst.

*Ordered a blockade on the bridge, called Zaunites dangerous, "it's hard to believe what they're capable of," upset with Viktor for going to Zaun, consented to the invasion and was presumably aware of Cait's plans, etc.

**Exiled from Noxus because of her "soft-spined idealism," pleaded with her mother to be merciful with the captive princess, "Compassion does not beget weakness," "You don't know war- I do... there may be a diplomatic solution," "A nation that prizes strength, yet thrives on bloodshed, is not one I can proudly call my own”, etc.

***"Mel only wanted Hextech for herself" Mel directly says why she sponsored them- "Two brilliant young inventors, with a penchant for impossible surprises. Carrying magic from myth to machine. Rallying the hopes and hearts of a nation." (S2 Ep8) She saw incredible potential in Jayce and Viktor and believed in their potential to do something good for the world.

[saltwatersweets]

i think it’s really funny how many people say that alastor is ace, not aroace, just because viv has only called him ace.

love you guys but you are GRAPHICALLY overestimating people’s knowledge on aromanticism and asexuality and how they are different. they have been confused with each other since their existence, and just because someone is queer doesn’t mean they’re incapable of confusing the terms or using them interchangeably. alastor is clearly shown to not have romantic feelings, just take a look at some of the official jokes.

both of these are explicitly non-romantic. not just non-sexual, they are both jokes and comments about being aromantic, not asexual.

yes, rosie only mentions him being asexual in episode seven, but again, this is a joke made about the idea of him being in a ROMANTIC relationship. unless rosie was implying that she knows alastor and charlie wouldn’t fuck? which 😭😭 i don’t think she would do that??? it was definitely a joke about him not wanting romance because of his romantic and sexual orientation. and yes, i understand how annoying it is that asexuality and aromanticism are being used interchangeable in this instance, and this is an issue ace/aro people have been facing for years, but this is clearly a joke about him being aroace, not just ace.

again, you guys are giving alloromantic/allosexual people WAY too much credit on how much they know about ace/aro people, when most of their knowledge (if any) is “asexual people dont want sex, aromantic people don’t want romance” and that’s it. vivziepop, despite being queer herself, is still allo as far as im aware. allo people BARELY know anything about asexuality or aromanticism or care to learn the difference, and it’s clear that aro/aceness is being used interchangeably here. alastor is portrayed as aroace, and is clearly meant to be seen as aroace, even though he’s only ever been explicitly called ace by viv.

[kindaasrikal]

Cole and Nya’s relationship is very special to me, even despite the love triangle thing, which you could technically say helped develop their relationship. Especially with how it links to their mothers.

Cole and Nya are both familiar with loss, specifically in regard to their parents. They both lost a parent(s) at a young age, and quickly became independent because of it. They learnt how to survive on their own without depending too much on their only family left. They both care deeply for the ones they love and are sensitive to their emotions, and when they were left with only Lou/Kai as their only family, they didn’t want to rely on two people deep in grief and were deeply effected by that loss.

They both are stubborn and sure, protective and confident, but they are both also soft and kind underneath all their layers, Cole showing that more than Nya.

I like to think that while the whole love triangle thing and love machine fiasco was annoying, you could actually twist it to show how it developed their relationship. Jay is the one Nya loves, that is not something you can change or even disagree on, seeing as she was willing to lose everything that makes her her for him, but the perfect match machine doesn’t have time be explicitly based on romantic interest. The machine is essentially like a ‘soulmate finder’, so it’s easy to say that one of Nya’s soulmates are Cole.

Soulmates have been shown in many different ways, and in this case its not showing a soulmate in the sense of a ‘one true pair’ or someone who you are inexplicably tied too, but someone who understands and can click with you a whole lot easier than most.

That buddied up with the whole love triangle thing definitely helped Cole and Nya realise how similar they are to each other, and how they deeply care for each other as siblings. Almost like twin siblings if I’m being honest. They don’t give a younger and older sibling vibe thats for sure. More like two twins where one is an aggressive wild animal and the other is also a wild animal but they don’t have as much of a temper as the other weirdo.

My favourite scene of their relationship is in Dragons Rising where Nya hold her hands against Cole’s cheek after not seeing him for months upon months.

Now about their mothers….

Knowing all of this, connecting it to how they both see their mother in each other seems so much more special.

Cole and Maya have both said ‘Its how the cookie crumbles’, both in relation to Nya. After Nya was possessed by the overlord, Cole tries to comfort everyone by saying that line, implying how its just how things must be, the same way Maya has towards Nya specifically, telling her that life is difficult, no matter what we try. Nya doesn’t know they both have said this, but its still so important how its come in full circle towards her, from her beginning all the way to her supposed end.

And then you remember how both Nya and Lily have worn the same kimono. The same kimono Lily wore, and the one that Cole gave to Nya.

ITS THE EXACT SAME.

Cole willingly gave him dead mother’s kimono to Nya, his sister.

Nya and Cole were never supposed to be in a romantic relationship, they were both have such a strong platonic love for each other it hurts. They both have similar experiences and similar personalities yet still have their differences, but those differences aren’t as big as most people would’ve expected.

I love these two so much they so deeply care for each other im going to cry i hope they don’t die for Jay.

[pianokantzart]

Hi, can I just say I love your character studies/essays on the Super Mario characters, especially from the movie. I don't know if you accept requests, but I was wondering if you could do an essay about Luigi being autistic. Luigi is my most favorite character of all the Super Mario characters (my second fav is Peach) and I hc him as autistic because I'm autistic, so imagine my surprise when I first saw the movie and his attitude and mannerism just screams autism. Don't know if it was intentional, but either way I'm happy they made him autistic.

Thank you! This took longer than expected, but I've broken down the essay into two main arguments for Luigi having ASD:

Part 1: Difficulties Socializing

The first and most obvious thing that people point to when suggesting Luigi (Movie Luigi in particular) is on the spectrum is his social interactions. As sincere and kind as his words usually are he shows a repeated inability to read tones, register figures of speech, or understand social nuances.

And while it's not stated explicitly, it's also hinted that Luigi struggles with controlling the volume of his voice. In the movie he gets inappropriately loud when emotional or excited, and in the Luigi's Mansion games he gets quiet and mumbly to the point that he can't get a word in. In either case, it's another sign that he struggles to understand and adapt to social communication in ways that come naturally to neurotypical people.

So, while Mario is inclined toward team sports and games that involve large groups, Luigi favors solitary activities. In a flashback in the movie he's shown keeping to himself, preferring to play with building blocks on the playground alone. Details in his bedroom imply an active photography hobby, and in the games he's shown to be an avid reader and skilled mechanic; two other hobbies in which one has plenty of alone time and full control over the pace of the activity.

Part 2: Sensory Issues & Motor Function

Speaking of pacing, it's very common for people with Autism to need to work at their own speed, which is often quite slow as autistic individuals demonstrate a bias for slower deliberative processing over rapid intuitive processing. This might be part of the reason why Luigi so often drags his feet when he's in a new location, and is teased by E. Gadd in the Luigi's Mansion games for being "sluggish."

And while his clumsiness can easily be waved off as just silly comic relief, it must be noted that most people on the autism spectrum have altered motor coordination, and studies show motor skills are substantially lower in autistic children when compared to their non-autistic siblings. Furthermore, one of Luigi's most defining characteristics is how fearful and anxious he is, and 40% of autistic people experience significant anxiety throughout their lives (Luigi's fear of lightning and loud noises may imply some level of auditory sensitivity as well.)

Then there's the way he moves. In the movie Luigi repeatedly stands with his arms tucked to his chest and his hands balled into his fists; a posture colloquially referred to as "T-rex arms" in the autism community, and is commonly believed by experts to be a form of stimming.

His stimming is far more blatant in the games, especially in the Mario & Luigi RPGs and Luigi's Mansion 2, where Luigi is repeatedly shown swinging his arms, rocking on his heels, and twiddling his thumbs.

So while Luigi definitely has a love for exploration and a strong sense of empathy that defies a lot of the stereotypes of autism, there is a really good argument to be made that he is on the spectrum.

[luniviravosshipper]

Okay, so this is going to be a very low effort post because it’s late where I am and I’m tired, but I honestly really want to talk about this so I’m going to anyways.

So. About Sol Regem eating Pharos.

This is most definitely one of my most favorite scenes and moments in the show for many different reasons. But one of the many aspects I thought was great about it was that it did the opposite of ‘tell no show’.

The show has been hinting for ages how the dragons see the humans and elves as ants for them to stomp on or to toss around. It’s always been implied or explicitly said. There’s several moments in the show where we see the dragons threatening the lives of the main cast whenever they are even slightly displeased with them. All in all, they see them as just small things that they can disregard the lives of whenever.

Although they perhaps have more of a bias against humans, in general they look down upon both humans and elves and view them as less then. They don’t value their lives because they find their lives to be so short and them to be so minuscule in comparison to them.

And yet when we finally get to see a dragon prove this sentiment by literally eating someone, they end up choking. It’s only fitting for a dragon who believes himself to be so powerful and shows absolutely no remorse for harming the lives of others around him to end up dying literally by doing just that. His pride and arrogance, as Aaravos calls it, finally caught up to him. And in a way, as awful as it probably was for Aaravos to basically sacrifice Pharos here, it helped prove a point. It proved Aaravos’s whole argument regarding the dragons, and how selfish and apathetic they are. How they do not care about life. In this situation in particular, Sol Regem did this knowing that Pharos wasn’t the real body of Aaravos and that he was only manifesting himself through him and still ate him rashly and in a fit of rage, not even considering for a moment that he’s hurting this other person and not even remotely doing anything to harm Aaravos. If anything, again, he only helped his argument.

(I can talk about this more in another post, but I just realized that it’s also ironic how much Sol Regem hated humans because he thought they took life and showed no care for it when that’s literally all that he does. And I think that specifically is actually what Aaravos was kind of trying to prove all along. His personal vendetta against him started off with him wanting to get back at him for ratting out his daughter for sharing magic with humans, but I can imagine that after he discovered dark magic it started to shift and became more so about proving to Sol Regem that he simply had no place in general to judge dark magic or humans who use it.)

This works very well thematically and really helps to better shape the viewers understanding of the role the dragons take in the world building of this universe. As these creatures who have been put into positions of power throughout Xadia’s history, not because of what knowledge or wisdom they have or because of some special capabilities that they possess that others don’t, but because they’re so feared. They’re these big, angry, and violent creatures that everyone has just grown too fearful of to actually face.

And when we’re finally shown why they have been so feared, we see one of them face the consequences of his own actions within the very same moment he acts. And it’s great.

[tiggyloo]

Y'all are driving up a fucking wall with your explicitly non-canon "canon compliant" fics and art. I appreciate them don't get me wrong but can you guys PLEASE for the love of GOD reread the books. Y'all get literally everything wrong 99% of the time please stop calling it canon compliant when that is FACTUALLY INCORRECT

Additional:

> As stated above, He Xuan had NO IDEA about the fate swap until it was leaked to him, and it's heavily implied that this happened VERY RECENTLY prior to the present book timeline. And to go with that, he literally only infiltrated Heaven to investigate Shi Wudu, after becoming a supreme and learning that the random ass guy that showed up when he died was the Water Master. That part is stated by Hua Cheng right at the end of the Black Water Arc.

> He Xuan didn't start denying his and Shi Qingxuan's friendship until BOOK THREE and we know this because of how offended Shi Qingxuan gets when He Xuan immediately says he's not his best friend after Shi Qingxuan suggests that maybe they shouldn't be best friends until he's gotten rid of the Reverend. And based on Shi Qingxuan's reactions to the other denials, it can even be assumed that He Xuan also actively and publicly stated that they were best friends. "Why didn't you say 'my best friend'?" is what Shi Qingxuan says during the game in the run down wind and water temple, for just one example. He's SURPRISED that He Xuan didn't say that, indicating that he would have usually.

> From their very introduction He Xuan is shown throwing himself in harm's way without hesitation to protect Shi Qingxuan. This is how they are introduced to us and it's shown repeatedly all the way through the BWA. And even when he's at his most furious about what happened he's still protecting Shi Qingxuan. He doesn't want SQX to die and he absolutely does not want to kill him himself. Did you guys just forget the part where he doesn't harm people who don't legitimately deserve it???

> He Xuan doesn't just eat any random ghost he comes across. It's explicitly stated that he's only eaten about 500, and about 400 of those have been high ranking water ghosts. Other than that he just eats normal human food.

> There is a barrier around his territory that prevents the majority of vessels from entering. Boats can't just get in there, and he certainly doesn't seek them out.

> Stop making him act and think so fucking violently good LORD. That is legitimately the most incorrect characterization you could possibly have for him where are you GETTING THAT FROM. Him being angry as a result of learning what Shi Wudu did is not his normal personality.

> He does not get powers or memories from ghosts he eats. That is not in the books ANYWHERE. And for the Reverend, that is the ONLY thing he can create and control, and again, he did not get its memories, and even if he did, the Reverend wouldn't know jack shit. Literally the book says he "ate it later" and that's IT. NOTHING else is said about it aside from him being able to control it. There is not even a vague implication that he got anything else from eating that thing.

> YOU PEOPLE ARE DRIVING ME ABSOLUTELY CRAZY again I really do appreciate all the stuff y'all make I REALLY DO but PLEASE. REREAD THE BOOKS AND STOP CALLING ALL THIS SHIT CANON WHEN IT'S NOT, FOR MY SANITY. AUGH

EVERYTHING I've listed and MORE is stated up front in the story. Why is THIS the stuff that almost every beefleaf shipper forgets. It is so very frustrating

Transcript of the images under the cut (images are from book 7 of the seven seas translation btw)

"Mmm, yes... Is something the matter?" Xie Lian asked.

Xie Lian gave a brief account of his service, and the state preceptor replied, "He would definitely be furious with you if he knew about this."

"Gege, regarding the Reverend of Empty Words," Hua Cheng continued, "at first you didn't want to get involved in that case, but you were still pulled in-though thankfully not too deeply. Neither Black Water nor Shi Wudu dragged those hundreds of fishermen into the Heavenly Tribulation in the South Sea. If not those two, who is most capable of something like that?"

Only after each incident had been laid out before him did Xie Lian realize the truth-every step he'd taken since his return had been made under Jun Wu's close watch and guided by his hand.

Hua Cheng crossed his arms. "I'm assuming that he's doing this for two reasons. First, his sick mentality drives him to throw test after test at you to see what path you'll choose-endlessly hoping that you'll go down the one he paved for you. Second, he was probably using you as a sword to cut down other heavenly officials' power.

"The heavenly officials of the previous dynasty must've traumatized him deeply. Now he's hypervigilant and requires absolute control over everything-he tolerates no threats to his power or status and allows no heavenly officials to catch up to him. And I think..."

Xie Lian was also mulling over the same points. "Think what?"

"When Shi Wudu changed Shi Qingxuan's fate, and when Black Water infiltrated the heavens in the name of investigation," Hua Cheng said, "do you really think he didn't suspect a thing?"

Xie Lian had been wondering about that as well. Could Jun Wu really have seen nothing from his seat on the highest throne? That's hardly plausible. He could directly examine every report and scroll that passed through Ling Wen's hands, so was it truly possible that he never noticed the forgeries? The Water Master committed such a heinous crime and deceived nearly the entire world, but he lived peacefully for many years. He was conveniently only exposed when he started dominating the Upper Court.

"Perhaps he knew everything from the very start, but the Water Master didn't threaten his status back then. So he made no move to expose him," Hua Cheng continued. "Exposing the matter early on wouldn't have necessarily worked to his advantage. A new Water Master would ascend if Shi Wudu was banished, and they might not have such an enormous transgression that could be used against them. I'd have been very displeased with Shi Wudu if I were Jun Wu, but I wouldn't have needed to use my own hands if I wanted to get rid of him-all I'd need to do was wait. I would simply watch quietly as the Water Master grew more and more outrageous, arrogant, and fearless, and when he finally exhausted my tolerance, I'd just leak the fate-switching affair to Black Water."

And Black Water would of course avenge himself and his deceased family.

Hua Cheng continued to explain, "As for him gathering millions of ghosts in the Kiln to birth a new supreme, it was likely in order to..."

Xie Lian came to his senses and finished for him. "...Create balance."

"Yeah," Hua Cheng said. "He was probably delighted to welcome the birth of a malicious supreme, one that would cause havoc in the Mortal Realm. As long as there are creatures making trouble, there will be people praying."

And a god's spiritual power was only made stronger by the prayers of their devotees!

[punkeropercyjackson]

You seem pretty adamant/confident in your perception of Percy as transfem, and seemed pretty against people “detransfeminizing” Percy. Where do you see transfeminity in Percy, and where does this come from in the text?

Not asking to be an ass or anything, just curious, cause it’s not a take I often see.

So disclaimer transfem Percy is approved by actual transfem Pjo fans.Literally every transfem Pjo fan i know says she's definitely an egg and at least a few of them personally relate to her.With that out of the way,i'll be listing points that back up Percy being a trans woman and give it a solid basis.Get ready for a long ass list btw

Dosen't perform masculinity for any reason other than to try to blend in and frequently expresses she feels obliged to do certain things because of being percieved as a man rather than out of desire to do to them on liking them

Her descriptions of and relathionships with other female characters give off she feels them as not only attractive but also a 'forbidden fruit' she's not allowed to equate herself to in 'vibes' or 'coolness status' since she's 'such an oblivious ugly boy who could never understand girls' and in the original series,she had more female friends than male ones,a common experience for eggs growing up.In contrast,she resents manhood not only as a patriarchal oppressive force she was brutalized by but also as something forced upon her like a burden and there's zero indication Percy has reclaimed it or wants to

Insists on being called a gender neutral nickname over her masculine fullname and hates fullnaming even when it's not malicious

Implied/shown to be punk but dosen't wear punk fashion and opts for 'normie' androgynous outfits on thinking herself as unable to pull it off

Looks like a mini version of Poseidon and eldest daughters irl frequently fall under this(including me).This may seem flimsy but i've got another part regarding Percy's looks:Piper's description of her.She said she's not the ultra hunky manly man people at Camp Half-Blood described her as and she borderline calls him feminine looking or 'well......unimpressive' compared to the actual positively masculine Jason.Percy canonically is seen as more masc than she actually is according to a canon butch sapphic.Percy is the butchest girl Pjo fans can handle before they started getting scared and Piper is the real butch girl who DID scare them by *checks glittery notepad* not finding the aggro white masc vision of Percy by fans attractive as a brown native woman

Blue is considered a boy color but Percy's special interest in it was passed down to her by her mom and Percy is also scared of turning into her father yet is the mom friend of all her groups throught the books and accidentally admits this in her narration at one point.The metaphor is almost too easy

Important aspect is she immediately follows it up with 'that wasn't a good sign' and in the same book,she says she dosen't know how to talk to girls.In a scene where she's with Grover,Thalia and Annabeth.Two girls she's been friends with for ages and a goat.Percy you fucking robin blue egg

The Titan's Curse is an accidental trans girl allegory.The Hunters of Artemis are a transfem inclusive woman exclusive group that in the original mythology and irl greek history were used as slang for 'lesbian' that work to protect women from men as a social class and Percy has to prove herself as unlike men to them to gain her hero punchcards in this one and she actually succeeds onpage with solid writing!She's contrasted again Thalia and buts heads with her explicitly because they're so similar they clash so often but work through their problems together to be simply bantering best friends.Thalia herself is transfem-coded but a stud unlike Percy who's femme and that only adds even more layers to their already toptier dynamic and Percy is punk too but punk rock to Thalia's pop punk.She was literally a teenage anarchist(/Against Me! ref)

Nico is introduced in the same installment and he's the one Percy admitted to acting motherly to in her head.It's textual they were only not super close over Nico's crush on 'unachivable older straight boy Percy' and the visceral internalized homophobia it gave him combined with his upbringing pre-Lotus Hotel and it's also textual Percy only was Nico's crush over him idealizing her as a man she never was but that he loves her better platonically and thinks she's cute.Nico's got that tboy swag so they're trans best friends and found siblings soulmates and we were ROBBED of Nico and Percy

In the second Hoo book,there's a moment where a little roman girl says she wants to be Percy Jackson when she grows up in that exact wording and Percy proves herself as unlike men to an ancient greek tfem accepting women only group in The Amazons.This kinda stuff is consistent with her like genuinely

Rachel is widely thought of as lesbian-coded by lesbian Pjo fans and trans women dating their afab lesbian friends back when they thought they were both cishet and their friendship growing stronger than ever after breaking up is a common thing irl too.Rachel is an og art hoe(as in 'black artsy woman',not the gentrified shit)and we love her and her support of her trans bestie

The sea carries a lot of femininity to it in motifs,symbolism,aesthetics and folklore and 'the sea does not like to be restrained' screams tgirl Percy core and this is just my headcanon but Percy feels very moon-coded and the moon also carries mythology around it including femininity mistaken for masculinity due to it's strength.Also she's giving shark so she's a half-blood blahaj gijinka

Streaked hair,loves burgers,read an obscure ass marvel comic before the Mcu adapted it and a gamer /silly(also refering to her 'Groot Speak' joke in Toa when by the timeline,the Gotg movies didn't exist yet and she referenced playing Animal Crossing a lot in Wottg)

And her cycle breaking just clicks into place and is more satisfying and logical from a transfeminine perspective.Good men are good but trans women are the ones in need of rep and they deserve Percy Jackson as it since she's so much like them,she just is one of them.Miss Jackson is for real and she shouldn't apologize for who she is anymore!!She should've never had to but she should've always had self-love and she still can and never look back again

[mayonesamitch]

Queerness In Ninjago (Spoiler alert, it's very queer)

Contains spoilers

I honestly don't see the queer side of Ninjago being talked about enough. Probably because half of the fandom are immature homophobic people but that's not gonna stop me writing a whole post about it on Tumblr that probably no one is gonna see. I'm gonna be looking at specific characters and at the canon part of it. I do have my own headcanons and stuff but I'm gonna try to forget about those for the sake of this post.

First, let's start out with a character who is almost 95% canon to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, Sally. She's a side character and doesn't play much of a role in the series after The Benefit of Grief but I feel like she's still worth mentioning. She has the progress pride flag on her guitar and the back of her dad's van which shows that she's definitely a supporter.

You can also see the bisexual flag on her guitar case, which tells us that she's bisexual! They don't do much about with it after this but it's still good to have some representation, even if it's not a big part of the story. This is probably the only instance where a character has had their sexual orientation shown in Ninjago.

The episode where we see her in the most, The Benefit of Grief, can be viewed as an allegory of coming out, which I touch more on here, but in case you're too lazy, I'll just explain how here. The basic premise of the episode is her running away from home because she wants to move to Ninjago City and get big in the music industry. However after a while she starts to feel guilty about it, but is afraid to go back in fear that her parents won't forgive her. With the help of Zane she makes the decision to go back home with her parents. Her parents forgive her and woo yay happy ending.

This episode can be taken as a coming out experience. Think about it. You hide your sexual orientation/gender identity from your family, friends, or others in your life. You feel guilty about it but also afraid to come out, out of fear that they won't accept you. It's a pretty good allegory. It most likely wasn't intentional but it will always be in my head because how can you write such a good allegory like that with a canon queer character as the main character and not calm it intentional? That's all that I have to say about Sally though.

Now let's get started with these 2 girlies. They competed in the Terra Technica Dance-Off in season 12, Prime Empire. They were heavily treated like a lesbian couple in the episode. So heavily that the episode got banned in a few places around the world. Tommy Andreasen said that it was up to the fans to decide so though it wasn't really confirmed it's heavily implied. They were only side characters so we don't get to see much of them after this episode but it shows how Lego will be willing to add some gay in the show.

I've been talking about sexual orientation for some time now it's time we talk about gender-queer characters (Gender-Queer is an umbrella label which applies to genders outside the male/female gender binary like non-binary, bigender, pangender, genderfluid, ect.) in Ninjago. One of the Algae Farmers in Dragons Rising have the Non-binary flag attached to them. The person who voices them (Niah Davis) Is also Non-binary. The character didn't have much of a role but it's still super cool to see. (I'm trans so of course I was so happy when I saw it being explicitly showed like this)

The Source Dragon of Life is also non-binary. Which is another character voiced by Niah Davis. The dragon uses they/them pronouns throughout the show and was later confirmed in a tweet. This character actually does play a big role in the series and is the source of Lloyd's power. (Which means Lloyd is non-binary too. /J) They'll also most likely have a big role in season 3 when that comes out. So is every character Niah Davis voices non-binary? Heck yeah!

Now these next 3 instances of queerness in Ninjago are very minor but they include 2 instances of 2 male characters kissing and a rainbow sidewalk. Now, some can argue that the sidewalk can be unrelated to the LGBTQ+ community but it was changed to be a white sidewalk in some places in the world, so it was very intentionally to be LGBTQ+. Some may also argue that the 2 male characters kissing can just be a man and a masculine woman but Ninjago very rarely adds masculine woman, so yes, it's like 99.9% 2 men kissing in both instances. Which isn't much but is still showing that Lego isn't afraid to add some gay in the show.

Now I wanna talk about Jay. Before I hear anyone talk about his relationship with Nya hear me out for a bit. Jay is heavily implied to also have an attraction to male characters which leads me to believe that he's probably a bisexual.

First, I want to talk about this clip. Out of context, it looks very much like a marriage proposal and Jay is saying yes with such a smile on his face. Now, it's just a fake marriage proposal and he realizes after and is kinda confused but anyways. What kind of straight man says "Yes! :D" like that to marriage proposal? (Side note: The Ying-Yang promise in Ninjago is not marriage. I'm just calling it marriage because it will make more sense. It's most likely engagement but that's too long to type) I mean, it seems like he really meant it. Which lead me to believe that he's probably a bisexual.

Also the whole Sweating to the Goldies short is very gay. He's very touchy towards Zane and dances with him and stuff. Though song on the end does include both of them but in the beginning it's mostly Jay doing the gay action. He's extremely flirty with Zane and seems to genuinely mean it. Now that's not me trying to say he likes Zane, since he obviously loves Nya, but I think if Nya wasn't an option, he wouldn't mind being with one of his ninja comrades.

He's also shown to be attracted to Nadakhan's voice. Calling it "beguiling." (Beguiling - Charming or enchanting, often in a deceptive way.) and also calling him a "Silky-voiced seducer." He's also the only ninja in the show to express how attractive his voice is which lead me to believe that he can be attracted to the voice of a male character. Of course, he's not attracted to Nadakhan himself, but acknowledging that he had an attractive voice is no doubt pretty gay. Which is another reason why I believe he's most likely bisexual.

Also another clip related to Kai, he calls him, "Kai baby." Which, c'mon, you don't just call your homies that. That's definitely a sign that he has no problem flirting with other men. Honestly, after season 7, he's been the most gay ninja of the group, despite being one of the only ones having a girlfriend. (Zane was also one of the only ninja to have a girlfriend at the time too but Zane isn't as gay as him) Now if I'm gonna do a little theorizing here, but I think that he's not at peace with his sexual orientation and is now willing to tease and flirt with the other ninja. I know I said I'd keep my headcanons out of this but I'd call it a theory more than a headcanon. (Edit: I, for some reason, can't upload a clip of it so you get a picture of it instead sorry. XD)

Jay is also just 10 times more touchy than the other ninja. A straight male would normally not be comfortable with this amount of touch from their male friend but Jay doesn't mind. He's pretty chill with it and treats it like it's an everyday thing. Which is very very gay. And sure, they're his friends and they've lived together for basically half of their lives but I've lived with my sister for all of my life and she's not even comfortable with me hugging her without permission (or really anyone) so yeah this kind of touch isn't very straight.

And since we're in the topic of Jay, I want to talk about the most villainous and evil character of Ninjago, FugiDove! He's very touchy towards Jay in the series and even sacrificed himself just to save him. He calls Jay is wingman and wants to be with him a lot. Which is very big implications of FugiDove being gay. And the writers of the show aren't stupid they know what they're doing. So all of these little things are definitely implications of him being gay. Which also applies to Jay and Cole.

Speaking of Cole, yes, it's finally time we talk about him. All throughout the show Cole doesn't have a love interest. All of the Ninja had one (Jay with Nya, Zane with Pixal, Kai with Skylor) and yet, he hasn't had one. Some may argue that he liked Nya in season 3 but it's confirmed in this tweet that he was just confused by the attention and never really had a crush on her. Some can also claim that he had a crush on Vania but their interactions don't seem very romantic. More like a friendship kind of interaction.

Now, in Dragons Rising we finally see some sort of actual romance with him. He basically raised a whole family with Geo and has a very strong connection with him. They're very close, and you have to remember that Geo is kinda shy and scared to open up to others, and he's pretty vulnerable to Cole. They're also touchy and don't seem to mind it, which leads me to believe that he might some sort of attraction to Geo, a male character. Also Doc Wyatt seems to support a relationship between the 2. So if it became canon, it wouldn't shock me honestly.

Also the episode where Cole finds his true potential is literally an allegory for coming out. I explain it here but I'll explain it again here for the people who are too lazy. Basically the whole episode is him trying his best to hide his identity of a ninja to his father since his father wanted him to be a dancer. Later in his dad find out and is pretty mad at him but after a whole performance and stuff he's accepting of his son and yay they're a happy family. (Watch the episode here I'm bad at explaining.)

Now, if you think about it, it's very much like coming out. He's hiding his identity out of fear that his father won't accept him as his son. He comes out to his father as a ninja and his father is upset about that. Now flip Ninja with the word gay and bam you get the perfect coming out story coming from Lego. I don't think it was intentional but it could very much be as well. Again, the writers aren't stupid. They know what they're doing. So yeah, I view this episode as an allegory for coming out.

So, yeah, Ninjago is pretty queer. There's a few more examples I wanted to show but then it would be way too long and it's already 11:15PM. Anyways, if you want to sum up everything I'm saying, Ninjago isn't afraid to add some queer representation in the show, Jay is bisexual, and Cole is gay. Or that I'm an overthinker who loves yapping I dunno. And before anyone gets mad, this is going based of the canon. I'd like to think of it as building a headcanon based on canon. You can still have your own headcanons. I honestly don't care. Anyways, if you're still here thank you for staying until the end and reading the thoughts I've had in my head for a while.

[grainjew]

Nikaposting Pt 1: Crypto-Religion

This is the first of a series of posts about Nika & associated religious practice in the One Piece world. As I write and post the rest of the series, I’ll add links to this header.

Pt 2: Symbology & Syncretism | Pt 3: Joyboy was Shandian | Pt 4: Sun God Tropes

Enormous credit to @oriigami for being my discussion partner through all of this and having a substantial influence on the final product. Check out our ao3 series Joyful for a narrative rather than analytical take on the Nika tradition, and definitely go read her OP blog @kaizokuou-ni-naru for meta and translation fun facts.

-

The Nika Cult is a Crypto-Religion

Terminology note: I will be using cult in these posts in the sense of “cult of worship,” rather than in the modern pejorative sense. Additionally, I tend to use “tradition” rather than “religion” as a general term, because “religion” is a messy and difficult to define concept, while “tradition” is much more inclusive of traditional practices, folk beliefs, and cults of worship that may not be considered religions by Western scholarship.

Raise your hand if you saw Kuma’s church and Bible, concluded “oh, the Nika stuff is basically One Piece Christianity,” and moved on with your life.

It’s an easy assumption to make, and for all I know authorial intent may well stop there. I’m not Oda. I’ll never be able to guess what goes on behind those fish eyes of his. But a second look at the worldbuilding around both Nika and Christianity in One Piece brought me to a very different conclusion: that the Nika cult is a crypto-religion and is, in Kuma’s case, using the outward appearance of Christianity as camouflage.

First of all: We have ample evidence that Christianity (or some variation of it- I’m fascinated by the implied existence of such things as One Piece Jerusalem and the One Piece Council of Nicea) does exist in the One Piece world, and is both fairly widespread and quite legal. Flevance was pretty explicitly Catholic (Law went to church as a kid), Miss Monday and Mother Carmel masqueraded as nuns to imply harmlessness, many if not most of the graves shown in the series are crosses, whatever Usopp was on about with that exorcism equipment, and, yes, Kuma’s church and Bible.

Even mentioning the Nika cult, on the other hand, is grounds for the government to assassinate you with extreme prejudice.

A crypto-religion is what happens when a religion is suppressed to the point that its practice is grounds for exile, torture, and/or execution: Some people will convert. Some people will flee into exile. Some people will die. And some people will outwardly adopt the dominant religion, but will continue to practice their own traditions in secret; ie, they’ll create a crypto-religion.

One of the more famous examples of this is the post-Spanish Inquisition crypto-Jews of Spain and Portugal, who converted to Christianity in public but kept what Jewish traditions and rituals they could in private. To this day, descendants of these conversos whose families have been Catholic for centuries are discovering that their family tradition of lighting two candles on Friday or not eating pork on Saturday are in fact the legacy of a violently suppressed heritage. There are countless other examples of crypto-religions throughout history, both among Jews (my own personal field of knowledge) and among other traditions (for an example that would be known to Oda, the crypto-Christians of Japan).

There’s no way the Nika cult could have survived except in cryptic form. If it ever had physical infrastructure in the form of temples or pilgrimage sites, the government would have sought them out and demolished them long ago if they were not adequately disguised, especially in World Government member states like the Sorbet Kingdom. Likewise, anyone foolish enough to speak publicly about Nika will be summarily assassinated.

In fact, I have doubts that the Nika cult ever existed outside cryptic form, at least in a significant or long-lasting manner. It was specifically introduced as a slave tradition, likely nigh-exclusively oral, practiced in secret either from its inception—if Nika was a figure created by slaves, including the buccaneers—or for a very long time—if it was the cultural or ethnic tradition of the buccaneers, which spread from enslaved buccaneers to non-buccaneer slaves because Nika was a figure that resonated with them. I tend the favor the second option, but either has merit.

As @oriigami said when we were talking about this, Kuma has a church. Kuma has a bible. Kuma worships a god about whom absolutely nothing is written except in the oldest texts.

Additionally, I’ll expand on this more in pt 2 of this series, but the pendant Kuma leaves for Bonney, a large circular sapphire surrounded by eight smaller circular sapphires, matches the circular symbol inset into the crosses of his church. Bonney immediately identifies the pendant as a sun even though it really doesn’t look like one, and it can be surmised therefore that it’s a Nika amulet, and the sun with disconnected rays a Nika symbol. Following this read, and especially because this symbol occurs across the world in other contexts (see pt 2 for my thoughts on that), its presence in the church is a very careful bit of architectural sleight of hand on the part of whichever of Kuma’s ancestors built the place- echoing a very common practice of real-world crypto-religion adherents to mark the true nature of their allegiances and houses of worship in ways only those in the know might recognize.

And on a storytelling level, Kuma’s entire presence in the narrative and in the world has been a tragic saga of appearing to be one way until he’s revealed, again and again, to be the opposite. It makes thematic sense for him to be fooling the world about his faith as well!

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

July 21st

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1. Hiii!! I was looking for a fic where Wei Ying was captured and his memory was forcefully being shown to the cultivation world in a mirror. I think in one of the scenes he begged them to not do it which made the others think that he was indeed a criminal but well he was not. I have been searching for it but can't find it anywhere. @yilinglaobunny

FOUND? Misunderstood by Silver_Flame_2724 (M, 250k, WIP, WangXian, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Heavy Angst, Suicidal Thoughts, Canon-Typical Violence, Self-Worth Issues)

For no 1 there is a whole collection you could try

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2. Hi! First, thank you for all your work!! It is so helpful.

I wanted to know if you could help me find a fanfic where Lan Xichen, Nie Huaisang, Meng Yao and Nie mingjue all swap bodies with each other. It seems to me that Lan Xichen becomes Nie Mingjue, Meng Yao becomes Nie Huaisang, Nie Huaisang becomes Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue becomes Meng Yao.

Thank you in advance for your time

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3. There was a fic where it was implied that Wei Wuxian was s*xually (sexually) abused in Yunmeng Jiang as punishment (Not explicitly shown). So when he gets to do punishment with Lần Wangji in Cloud Recesses he gets on his knees and starts untying Lan Wangji’s sash, which spooks him and yards yadda happens Lan Wangji reports it to Lan Xichen. Can’t find it, would love to revisit

FOUND? Hands a tent, he is praying or he is crying by Amity_Bell (M, 6k, WIP, WangXian, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Child Abuse)

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4. Hello! I'm looking for a wangxian fic where Wei Ying ask Lan Zhan for his first born. I think Wei Ying is a witch? Thank you! @seke19

FOUND? 💖 spider lilies to sunflowers by cicer (E, 33k, wangxian, ABO, YL WWX, fairy tale elements, mpreg, omega LWJ, lwj topping from the bottom)

FOUND? take a sip of my secret potion (one taste and you'll be mine) by sweetlolixo (E, 16k, WangXian, F/F, Dark Fairytale, Witch WWX, Princess LWJ, Rule 63, Female LWJ/Female WWX, Dark LWJ, Dark WWX, Dragon LWJ, Identity Porn, Love Potion/Spell, Pregnant WWX, Childhood Friends, Fem!LWJ has a Dragon Dick!)

FOUND? A Sorta Fairytale With You by Speak_friend (E, 8k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, Fluff and Smut, Fairy Tale Elements, Hand Jobs, animal injury (he got better!))

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5. Hello!! Im not sure if this was already asked but im looking for this multichapter fic where all in the first chapter, it is revealed that jiang cheng imprisoned wei ying and a-yuan in this shed i think?? But after years wei ying manages to free a-yuan and he runs to the cloud recesses to get help @draconislyra

FOUND? on restitution by glitteringmoonlight (M, 98k, LSZ & WWX, JL & WWX, WangXian, Dark JC, not for jc fans, Captivity, Angst with a Happy Ending, no reconciliation though, definitely no reconciliation, Crossdressing, Non-Graphic Torture, Violence)

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6. hiii admins ! i read a wangxian fic a few motnhs ago that i cannot find for the life of me :( it was modern with magic au, where wangji can see auras (mostly dark auras for anger) and red strings of fate form between people. He works at a garden shop/plant nursery with his brother and huaisang, wuxian works at a tattoo parlour with wen ning and wen qing + is a single dad to wen yuan afaik

FOUND! Demon Ink by Jade_Valentine (E, 189k, WIP, WangXian, Modern AU, Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Tattoo Artist WWX, Magic, Chaotic Bisexual WWX, Demisexual LWJ, Slow Burn, Angst, Mutual Masturbation, Domestic Fluff, Welcome to my LWJ & NHS friendship agenda, Shower Sex, Brief mentions of past Lan Bro abuse at the hands of LQR, wangxian family feels, WWX is the Best Dad Ever, WWX's canonical abuse at the hands of YZY, Blow Jobs, Slight Make-Up Kink) Flower shop and tattoo parkor au LZ sees Dark energy coming off WY

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7. hii im looking for a bottomji fic wherein lwj and wwx was cursed with a sex curse fighting the xuanwu and lwj end up getting preggo magically 😂 ive been looking for fics with the same premise through ao3 but i seem to be looking at the wrong tags?? please help me 😭🙏 thank you so much!!❤️❤️❤️

FOUND? Questions at Dusk by ExtraPenguin (E, 18k, WangXian, Top WWX, Bottom LWJ, Mpreg, Lactation Kink, Class Issues, Hero Complex, Baby Animals)

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8. Hi! This is fic finder. It was modern au where the jiang is assasin. They have a restaurant as their base camp. WWX is YLLZ, top assasin with the jiang. But then he retires. LXC and LWJ is a thief. They work together with LQY (either LQY or MY or both). I think LWJ and WWX civilian self is dating each other. The lans gets a mission ro break into the wens. WQ at first help them but she betray them because the wen threatening her. The wens know LWJ existance and kidnapped him to lure HGJ (i think it was to lure his alter ego not YLLZ). But then WWX is the one who rescue him. I think i mixed two fic @idontknowwhattowriteforusername

FOUND! all the problems we could solve by Stratisphyre (T, 20k, WangXian, JC & WWX & JYL, LXC & LWJ, Modern, Getting Together, somewhat non-linear, Fluff and Humour and Violence, Meet-Cute, Identity Porn, Thieves, a bit of a leverage vibe)

NOT FOUND You Only Die Twice by Mikkeneko (T, 11k, WangXian, Assassins/Spies, Assassins & Hitmen, Modern AU, Mafia AU, Action, Moderate Violence, a lot of people die but no named characters, not exactly lan sect friendly, not exactly lan sect critical either, Assassin LWJ, Kindergarten Teacher WWX, coffee shop meet cute, Let LWJ Say Fuck, slightly cracky, Non-Linear Narrative)

NOT FOUND🔒 (i've got) trouble in mind by seularen (E, 76k, wangxian, JGY/LXC, modern w magic, heist au, thief WWX, forger LWJ, consigliere JGY, epistolary, long-distance relationship, d/d elements, Canon wangxian kinks, happy ending)

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9. Hello! I'm looking for a fic that was in my bookmarks but now I can't find it. The only thing I remember is this excerpt where LWJ and WWX where dueling/sparring and LWJ says yield while WWX is enthralled by his beauty and maybe says out loud how beautiful LWJ is. Thanks for your hard work!!!!!!

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10. hello im trying to find a married(?) wangxian fic where wei wuxian sees lan wangji talk to and hang out with a female lan member he doesn't recognize. he gets jealous and starts to think that lan wangji doesn't love him anymore. at the end they manage to clear the misunderstanding with the help of lan juniors @pleasehelpmesobad

FOUND! White Flag by incendir (T, 37k, WangXian, NHS/NZH, OMC/ OMC) from the Resolutions series by incendir

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11. Hello! Can you find a fic for me where wangxian want their own biological baby and find another lady to surrogate for them with the baby ending up being wei ying's and the lady's, and adopted into the lanclan by weiying and lanzhan?

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12. Pleasee!! help me find this fic. Sob okay so nsfw ask

Basically wangxian as usual is having loud af sex and literally everyone knows this now lqr is like why tf are they so loud. Then he decides that he's tired of them and goes and gets married to some man and literally at his wedding. Anyways, he finds out how good sex can be and wangxian is like, we can be louder than that @thatperson0-0

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13. oh my god i think i'm losing my mind... i just read this fic a few weeks ago, but i can't seem to find it anywhere!

wwx is a female in this and it's from lwj's pov, it wasn't finished i'm sure but idk if they decided to finish it in these weeks. they both go on a night hunt (?) and wwx gets cursed (?) or is hit with something and to help with that they both have sex. lwj confesses during it.

then later when they both are returning to cloud recess wwx asks lwj to forget about it but lwj is like 'i want to marry you'. wwx dismisses that saying 'you don't have to be responsible for this'. but lwj tries to persuade her but wwx keeps doding it and lwj thinks she doesn't want to be with him.

i really hope this work didn't go into hidden ones or is deleted :(

thank you so much for your work.

FOUND? ❤️ We'd roll and fall in green Series by x_los (G/E, 26k, WangXian, Gender Changes, Always a Different Sex, Accidental Marriage, Marriage Festivals, Holidays, Awkwardness, Fist Fights, Pining, Crushes, Sisters, Episode 7, mentioned canon-typical domestic abuse, mentioned canon-typical sexual violence (implication of minors), (not depicted just discussed as possibility), First Kiss, First Time, Loss of Virginity, Politics, School, Horror, Murder Mystery, Road Trips, Bitchy LWJ, Dirty Talk, Mutual Pining, Competence Kink, Misunderstandings, Miscommunication, Self-Sacrifice, Battle Couple)

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14. I lost a fanfiction and I hope someone here can help me ;-;

It was wangxian set to marry with Wei Ying leaving the Jiang Sect before meeting Lan Zhan. He kept meeting Jiang Disciples send to spy on him. I’m afraid I don’t remember anything else :( @kanrax-blog

FOUND? Bitter Endings; New Beginnings by miixz (T, 7k, wangxian, WN & WWX, major character death, ABO, Arranged Marriage, Unrequited Love, Stalking, Not JC Friendly, Unrequited JC/WWX, Alpha JC, Omega WWX, Alpha LWJ, No War au, Wēn Remnants Live, Brothers WWX & WN, Light Angst, Fluff, Falling In Love, endgame wangxian)

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15. Hi! For fic finder I am looking for a fic which is Cloud Recesses study arc au. In it WWX grew up either as a disciple of Baoshan Sanren or his parents were alive and he travelled with them; ie he did not grow up in Lotus Pier. He hears about Cloud Recesses and tries to sneak in to explore but Wangji catches him. It happens to be the start of the lectures so WWX pretends he is part of the Jiang group and Yanli and Cheng play along. WWX goes on to charm everyone and is oodles above his classmates in knowledge and sword skills. I can’t remember how the story ends, whether it is just the lecture arc or if it goes into the Sunshot Campaign. Please help, thank you!

FOUND! Become Tomorrow by ShanaStoryteller (Not rated, 39k, wangxian, BSSR/LY, Alternate Universe, a story full of tragic pining gays, and one chaotic gremlin, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, WWX is BSSR’s disciple)

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16. I am looking for a modern fic where Lan Wangji ran a bakery and Wei Wuxian was a doctor, or possibly vice versa. The doctor ran in before his shift to grab some treats for his nursing staff and I think it was before the bakery opening hours but the baker let them in anyway. The doctor began to stop by more frequently and possibly taste tested for the baker (an excuse to hang around). Would love to read this again, thank you! @gloriousclotpole

FOUND! crystalized by gusuvibes (M, 25k, WangXian, Modern AU, Bakery, Pining, Getting Together, Baker LWJ, Nurse WWX, Zizhen in a STARRING ROLE, Bunnies With Bad Names, Elaborate Descriptions of Delicious Baked Goods, Frottage, Eventual Smut, SexyBakingTime)

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17. Hiiiii. Please can you help me find a fic. I dont remember much of it - just vague parts.

It was a time travel fic in which wangxian went back to their teenage years and were trying to set things right. I remember 1 part in which wangxian was trying to decide what to do with small mxy and wwx was against bringing him to cloud recesses. I believe it was because he was insecure about having mxy close to lwj when in their future, lwj was married to/ intimate with mxy's body.

Please see if you can find it or anything similar 🙏

FOUND?🔒 Here With Me by iamwish (T, 58k, WangXian, Time Travel Fix-It, Canon-Typical Violence, Period-Typical Homophobia, Bad Parent YZY, POV WWX, POV LWJ, POV JC, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, WWX Has PTSD, and also depression sometimes, Unreliable Narrator) There's a bit in the last chapter (of the first fic in the series) where WWX remembers MXY & rules out bringing him to the Lan as an option due to awkwardness, & sends him to WQ instead

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18. Hi there, request for the fic finder? Lost the tab I had it on and can’t remember the name. Only made it to chapter two.

It was Huaisang POV? First chapter was Wen Ning helping him sneak outta the Wen Indoctrination place, second chapter was Huaisang trying to break Wen Ning out of the Jin Basement/jail. Idk what happened in chapter three, lost the tab before I could read it.

Distinctly remember Huaisang whacking a dude over the head with a table in chap 1.

Cheers :)

FOUND? Jailbreaking by CullenBlue (T, 21k, WN & NHS, Canon Compliant, POV NHS, NHS Is A Little Shit, Cinnamon Roll WN, Fierce Corpse WN, Ghost General WN, References to Heavens Official’s Blessing, References to The Scum Villain’s Self Saving System, NHS insulting the Wen Clan’s taste in interior Decorating, Mentions of Murder, WN made a friend by talking about his childhood trauma, BAMF WN, Panic Attacks, mentions of gore, Canon-Typical Violence, Violence in the Name of Comedy, Trauma, Is NHS taking anything seriously? who knows, Bromance)

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19. hello, this is a ff request. i think it's a royalty au, might have been an ongoing series while i read it. i remember that wangxian get married, wwx births twins, but falls unconscious/ill after giving birth. i may be mixing fics up, but i think one of the children is a-yuan, while the other is an OC who is born with weak health. there are discussions for moving him to yunmeng as an older child due to the warmer weather. i think wq married nmj and moved to qinghe, jc and nhs are in yunmeng, and jyl and jzx are in lanling. mxy, whom wwx rescued and "adopted", follows wwx to gusu when he married lwj. again, idk if all of this is the same fic, or if i have mixed them up, but i hope this rings a bell for someone, many thanks!

FOUND! Lost in Diplomacy by Subtleladybird (M, 90k, WangXian, Historical, Royalty, Imperial Pair, Historical Inaccuracy, Arranged Marriage, Slow Burn, Angst with a Happy Ending, Strangers to Lovers, Harem, Politics, Angst, Mpreg, Miscommunication, Brotherly Love, Not really a harem, more like one spoiled non-rival, Time Skips, Pregnancy, Violence, Childbirth, Miscarriage, Falling In Love, Love Confessions, Married Couple)

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20. Hi FicFinder! This is my first time requesting for a fic to be found, so I'm sorry if I'm bad at describing TvT

The fic I'm looking for is basically JGY spikes the Lan's tea during the Sunshot Campaign, and it results in JC and JYL thinking that WWX got r*ped (raped) by LWJ. It was found consensual in the end, tho after getting WQ to look at it. Also, there's JGY redemption iirc?

Thx sm <333 @diablolunaticofthemoon

FOUND! The Teapot Plot by ToxicAngel13 (M, 52k, wangxian, LXC/NMJ, Misunderstandings, Plots, protective Jiang siblings, Golden Core Reveal, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It, Idiots in Love, Damn Jins, Post-Sunshot Campaign, Pre-Burial Mounds, Potential for M-Preg, Fix-It, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Idiots Everywhere, LWJ ’s Biting Kink, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Protective LWJ, Protective WQ, JGS is his own warning, Protective JYL)

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