#And the ships that would probably make the most sense have the least amount of content in general

[burningcheese-merchant]

I know your thoughts on BurningMilk, but what are you opinions on ships like BurningCacao and PureSpice? Do you feel the same amount of hatred for them?

Don't like those either haha. I don't really like the Beasts with anyone except their assigned other half. These ones in particular don't really... make sense? They make less sense than the other ones imo. Spice wouldn't like Cacao, he'd think he's stiff and boring outside of battle. He would like Pure Vanilla even less. Hell, probably the least. Peace-loving little doctor nerd man. Antithetical to his personhood and current modus operandi. At most he'd probably tolerate only one "any conflict can be resolved through conversation" before trying to behead him lol

But you know. Ship what you want. It's got nothing to do with me. My opinions are just that. More power to fans, glad you're having fun

[dreamingofthewild]

Rant about fandom culture incoming. Please feel free to scroll by ❤️

As someone who has never been in a fandom before and only recently got into "nerd culture," I find the idea of getting upset about shipping and headcannons very jejune. Especially in an RP game that lets you explore different relationships and routes.

Fanfiction is not about what is real or canon. It's about exploring the characters, imagining them in different settings, or alternate universes.

Shipping is the act of creating a romantic pairing between two people or characters who are not otherwise romantically linked. People ship two characters together for a variety of reasons. Usually, they like the dynamic or the chemistry and want to explore it further.

BG3 is a role-playing based off of a role-playing game that also lets you role play as one of the main [origin] characters. The game let's you explore many paths depending on how you want to play.

Every ship is a valid role-playing variant.

But it's not just about shipping, I have also seen people judge others for how they choose to play the game or chastise others for ignoring "canon" whilst ignoring canon themselves.

People write essays or create blogs dedicated to hating specific characters and judging the people who like them (why bother?). The characters are complex and change depending on how you choose to play the game.

From what I have observed, there is usually some kind of bias behind strong opinions, and there will always be something in the game you can use to defend or disprove a view. The curtains are not always just blue, but sometimes they are.

Just accept that people are going to like characters you don't, ship characters you don't, and choose different in-game choices. Your headcanon, your opinions, and your preferences are not everyone else's. This is a role-playing game where you get to make your own choices, and fanfiction is about exploring scenarios outside the source material. There is a lot in the game that we don't know or that is down to interpretation.

Surely, there are better things we could be doing than writing lengthy posts about why we don't like something and discouraging others (me included as I write this post).

Focus on reblogging what you like or creating the content you want to see. I'm tired of people telling others they're doing fandom wrong and acting like their opinion is the only correct one that is free from any bias. No one is free from bias.

All of this, just to say, I wish people would let others enjoy the game how they want to. Most people do, but there are always a few.

You're not a clown for sympathising with Astarion, shipping Astarion with Gale, imagining Gale with kids post game, or exploring darker character paths.

People project onto all of the characters just as much as they identify with them. And I am sure that there is not a single ship out there that does not have some fanfictions that are a little ooc or where people explore the dynamic different to how it would be in the game. Even with oc x origin ships sometimes. So that is not a valid reason to discredit something you don't like. Especially if you're okay with it when it is not something you personally dislike.

Neither is the fact that you can do what you want in an origin run because they gave us the option to play as them and control their story. If origin runs don't count, then that means no ship is valid except the one between an origin character and Tav. Not just the one you don't like. People often see what they want to see and take any evidence that supports their view, whilst disregarding or finding ways to discredit the ones that don't.

Also, I love it when people claim not to care who people ship but then proceed to create a lengthy post about why they shouldn't be shipped. Including calling the people who ship them clowns or another derogatory term. People who are actually indifferent don't bother to go to such lengths to discredit it. Even if it is just on your own private blog with the names censored, why take the time, especially when you supposedly don't care?

When you're chronically online, you start to notice some patterns. That's all I'm saying.

[avelera]

(Arcane Meta) The Staggering Timeline of the Hexgate Construction

The Hexgate timeline is insane, guys, it's actually insane.

So I'm writing a Jayvik fic set in the time skip between 1.03 and 1.04. Most people agree that time skip was about 6-7 years long.

During 1.04 "Progress Day" Jayce says "a few years ago", the Hexgates opened to the world. The year before, we learn from the Enforcer Caitlyn is talking to that Jayce launched a blimp "half way across the continent" which sounds like a demonstration of increased range for the Hexgates.

At some point, I would guess early in Jayce and Viktor's partnership, they also did the Distinguished Innovators competition where they needed to notch their own gears and, presumably, didn't have a lot of assistants or assistance. I only note this to point out that there was at least a year or so at the beginning where they weren't immediately thrust into limelight yet and they didn't have every resource available.

So just because Mel was buying into their vision on Day 1, doesn't mean the whole city had yet. They probably needed to prove an application for Hextech first before that happened and, likely, the Hexgates was what they came up with and that's the one all of Piltover bought in on.

So, mostly likely sometime in the first year or so, Jayce and Viktor had to provide a proof of concept for the Hexgates. Let's say for the sake of argument that by the first Progress Day of their partnership, they have one.

Progress Day / Year of Jayce and Viktor's partnership

(Let's go through the timeline)

Year 1 - Hexgate proof of concept developed and presented. Up to that point, Hextech exists and has Mel's support, but Jayce and Viktor still haven't proven themselves enough to get all the resources they'll need to build something like the Hexgates. The Distinguished Innovators competition takes place somewhere around this time. Maybe they presented the Hexgate proof of concept there (pure speculation on my part but you'll see why I think the first few years had to be laser focused on the Hexgates over anything else for any of this to make sense.)

Year 2 - Hexgates under development.

Year 3 - Hexgates under development.

Year 4 - Hexgates open to the world.

Year 5 - Hexgate distance capacity increased.

Year 6 - Events of Arcane

By the way, I say only one year to develop a prototype, it could have taken longer. But, the Progress Day post-time skip in 1.04 could be 7 years later. So all the approximations up there should be taken as "give or take a year".

Still, that means that within 3-4 years at most, Jayce and Viktor went from this proof of concept that Hextech is viable at all:

To this:

And can I say just as an archaeology nerd obsessed with stone crafting and material cultures, holy shit, do you have any idea how quickly they must have built the Hexgate tower to have it done in 2-3 years? The Empire State Building, which offers us a decent parallel for the technology available in the world of Arcane at this point, took a 1 year, 45 days, it was considered the fastest a skyscraper had ever been constructed at the time.

But the Hexgate tower is more than just a building, this thing goes all the way down into the bedrock, it is lined with Hex crystals. It has that giant globe on the top for pinpointing where to send the ship. It's not just a building, the entire thing is an engineering marvel. And it has to have been done in under 3 years to fit the most generous version of the timeline.

This would, realistically, require incredible buy-in by the entirety of Piltover society. We're talking multiple guilds vying for contracts, red tape being cut by the mile to secure the space, deep excavation beneath it, shipping to bring in materials, endless amounts of masons, metalworkers, and artisans. It's doubtful that Jayce and Viktor slept during those years. The sophistication we see within the Hexgates makes it even more mind-boggling.

Seriously, look at the base of this thing! This is the failsafe, it had to exist before they opened up the Hexgates to the world! It can't be an afterthought or a later addition!

And this Hex crystal-lined channel goes up for miles! (not literally but get my point) It needs sophisticated technicians to operate and switch out the cores!

Now, of course a Doylist explanation, the Hexgates are as sophisticated as they need to be and were built as quickly as they needed to be built in order to serve the plot, and Piltover is as technologically sophisticated as is needed for these to be built in the time required.

But, Watsonian, as someone who can't help but look at building materials and think about just how much time and effort it would take a society that looks vaguely 1880s-1920s (I would say the 1.04 Progress Day is deliberately invoking the Chicago World's Fair of 1893) it is utterly mind-boggling to me how much labor and materials and effort would have to go into building the Hexgates in a 2-3 year period. That's moon launch levels of an entire society mobilizing for one goal.

No wonder Jayce got framed as the Man of Progress, the entire city must have been working on or known someone who was working on making the Hexgates a reality in that time.

[nilnether]

So it looks like the people at the CinemaCon saw the beginning of Avatar: Fire and Ash. Including the new title look of fire and ash:

It looks like they saw a lot of the film opening and that a lot of the concept art (and some screenshots from filming) we saw so far is just from this part (there is nothing about Jake being taken prisoner by RDA and Factory Ship).

It starts with all the kids hanging out - both Metkayina and the Sullys and Spider - and watching Windtraders come in while Jake and Neytiri are flying to meet them.

The descriptions of all the kids hangin out togethers seem so cute. And we had picures of Tsireya and Spider and Spider on the back of Payakan.

And then the Ash Na'vi attack.

It seems like some of the fight with Ash Na'vi attacking the Windtraders will happen in the floating mountains or some similar place so there might be more than one of those as I don' think anywhere near Awa'atlu has a bit of this terrain but not in the amounts and size like shown below. So this might be later - maybe after escaping Mangkwan and Ash Na'vi are chasing them here as that chase is supposed to happen in the forest.

The Ash Na'vi kill people and destroy some of the Windtraders ships. And it seems like they kidnap the kids so Jake and Neytiri go to Ash Na'vi land to save them. Since Jake seems to travel to Ash Na'vi village that's probably means the script about the batle there are also correct.

That's when Neytiri fights with Varang and gets injured. The wound is mentioned in the leaked script and Collectors Edition of ATWOW had this concept art with a healed shoulder with stiches still visible.

It looks like either, or most likely both, Neytiri and Lo'ak will channel their grief into hate of humans and wanting to fight them at all cost. It's understendable but it also dangerous. Jake seems to be worried about the cost of that hate and the danger they put themselves in. It makes sense in both cases. Jake at tthe end of A2 understands Lo'ak more and he probably understands why he would want revenge but it's not worth losing another child. Lo'ak doesn't have the experience to think of consequences.

Neytiri has lost so much that it's almost impossible not to go on a warpath. She tried to leave the fight and let go and skypeople hat had followed her and took her child. How could she not want to burn them all of her world. So it seems like such a great foil to make her main antagonist be another Na'vi. The enemy that challenges her view of this conflict. She firmly rejects Spider no matter what so maybe him proving anything about humans or even himself is not the way for her to question her stance. Maybe it's having Na'vi be antithesis to everything she stands for. Some of the descriptions have Varang say “Your goddess has no dominion here” to Neytrir not Kiri after all.

I'm so excited for more Neytiri in A3 and I can't wait to see what her arc is going to be like. This beginning sounds awesome already.

Bu I also like the option of Varang saying that to Kiri because I need to see Kiri's arc too. I'm just not sure Varang is going to know anything about her powers that early on. I don't think anyone really does, not even her, even after she saves Spider but the leaks made her journey of self discovery look super exciting.

We basically get confirmation that Spider will need to be saved. It looks like they will be escaping the Ash Na'vi in the forest and his mask will get damaged, he loses consciousness and falls of a cliff (sounds terrifying but at least we know Jake gives him a hug). And then leaks shows Kiri gives him ability to breathe without it.

It looks like Jake is there with the kids so this also confirms the leaks which in turn means that Quaritch is also there. Maybe he wasn't helping them escape. Maybe he was chasing them. And then Spider gets hurt.

Because now it's very clear Quaritch will ally himself with Ash Na'vi. He is wearing their paint but also his tactical gear and it looks very menacing. So all of this is for sure happening and Quaritch is all in on the fighting with Mangkwan not against them.

Although, it isn't all like that from the beginning so maybe that's later and first he gets imprisoned and the Varang tries to get into his head and all the other stuff comes later. The photo right above certainly seem like it came from the later part of the film (it might Jake as prisoner on board of Factory Ship).

He doesn't look like he has the paint on here yet when the kids are taken prisoner but then some versions of concept art of the attack have Quaritch there so who knows. Maybe he is alrady with them. Maybe it's a different attack and they teaming up for the Factory Ship attack.

Tonowari is daunted by the prospect of fighting aliens and I suppose this will be how a lot of Na'vi will think (comics showed that too). And it's even worse with humans and Ash Na'vi making an alliance but they cannot avoid this. One thing we know that's probably from the end of the film is that the Factory Ship fleet is coming and the battle cannot be avoided.

The sources with the details under the cut

This is io9 description of the trailer

Cameron wasn’t there in person, but he put the presentation in the capable hands of Neytiri herself, Zoe Saldaña. The footage began with the water tribe, the Metkayina, as characters swim through some kind of wreckage (maybe from the end of the last movie?), followed by scenes of the kids like Lo’ak, Kiri, Tsireya hanging about.

“The strength of your ancestors is here,” Tsireya says to Lo’ak as she touches his chest.

The Wind Traders show up, and all of the Metkayina are excited. It’s friendly. People are cheering, and some of the younger characters like Kiri and even Spider are riding with them. Cameron films these scenes with a real love for these people. These are basically flying pirate ships with sails made up of almost translucent material. Members of the tribe bark out orders around the ship like you’d see in an old pirate movie but the ships just keep gliding along. This is peaceful. This is beautiful. This is nice.

The ships slowly float through the mountains with some other Na’vi, like Neytiri, riding alongside on her Ikran. Spider playfully dangles his foot off the side. Again, everything is quiet and calm. But not for long. Neytiri spots something watching them from the sky and screams for Jake. It’s the Ash tribe and they have a much more menacing presence than the Na’vi people we know, thanks in large part to the bright red war paint they wear and the sparks coming off the back of their Ikrans.

The Ash tribe swoops down and attacks our heroes in a massive midair battle. Jake fires his gun. Neytiri fires her bow and arrow. But the Ash tribe shoots arrows with fire, which start to burn down the Wind tribe’s ships.

We see Jake seemingly trekking across Pandora by himself, walking by massive volcanoes and eventually arriving at what looks like the gate of the Ash tribe with his hands in the air, giving himself up. He and Neytiri are having problems with Lo’ak and tell him, “You can’t live in hate!” They hug him.

Tonowari, leader of the water tribe, says that they can’t defeat enemies that come from the stars. We then see the Ash tribe seemingly teaming up with Quaritch and the rest of the human army.

Neytiri is in the hospital and screams for her children. A raid is happening. There’s a quick shot of the eye of a Tulkun. Things end with a massive battle that’s happening on what looks like floating rocks. They seem to be in the middle of some kind of floating wreckage from a battle that’s still happening. Neytiri and the leader of the Ash tribe, who we’ve seen throughout the trailer, are fighting but Neytiri’s snarls come up against her flame thrower type weapon. “Your goddess has no dominion here,” the Ash woman says, confirming they don’t believe in Ewa. And that’s the end.

So you have the serenity of the Wind tribe, the kinetic energy of the Ash tribe and in the middle, the water people, which now includes the Sully family. We have a feeling not everyone is going to make it out alive.

Here is the Discussing Film one:

Exclusive Footage Description: CinemaCon 2025 showed audiences the first ever footage from Avatar: Fire and Ash in the form of a sizzle reel. The first footage we see is the water tribe floating on a strange jellyfish-like ship. The detail is out of this world, with the high frame rate photography looking genuinely cinema-redefying. The next scene involves an aerial attack on Jake, Neytiri, and their clan by the Ash people, who have red paint on their mouths to indicate their tribe. We then transition to more of a traditional trailer.

The Ash People are a vicious tribe, pushing the Water Tribe out of their home. One of the biggest threads is a rage growing in Neytiri, which Jake calls out in a harrowing moment. Jake hugs Spider. There’s a tense confrontation between Neytiri and the leader of the Ash Tribe. Similarly, the leader of the Ash Tribe tells Kiri that “her God has no dominion here”. Spider at one point has his mask smashed. The last thing we see is hints of a massive action sequence in the sky, with platforms surging up to towards the top of the sky. The footage is completely unreal stuff, delivering on more than expected.

The Hollywood Reporter:

Here's confirmation about Quaritch's new look and alliance with Asn Na'vi:

[a-killer-obsession]

Whoops, you got hit by a bus, and now you're in the world of One Piece. But not everything is quite as you remember it...

General Tags: afab reader, she/her reader pronouns, isekai, monsterfucker reader, vampire!kid, werewolf!killer, wyrm!heat, minotaur!wire, everyone has a human form, smut heavy, unhealthy relationships, dubious consent, serious violence, spoilers for Wano arc, starts pre-timeskip. There will be a lot of more intense kinks, please check AO3 for all current tags.

Chapter 12 - Let There Be Blood

Kid lives up to his reputation, just not the one you thought.

WC: 1.9k

Masterlist | AO3 | Chapter 1

A/N: Sorry for the longer than planned hiatus, I moved to a new town, had a big market to prep for and attend, and my health has been really bad. I was hoping to get this back on a weekly schedule but the disabilities be disablin' so I'll just drop chapters as I have them.

By the time you, Killer, Heat and Wire finished weapon shopping and started making your way back to the ship, your cramps were well and truly kicking in, and it was starting to get exceptionally painful. You were used to this, but you no longer had all the comforts you were used to. No electric heated wrap for your belly, no vast amounts of your favourite snacks, icecreams and chocolate ready and waiting. No takeaway shitty Chinese food that tastes like crap any other time of the month, but always hit the spot when you were feeling miserable. No long time comfort stuffed animals or favourite blankets or Netflix in bed. You didn’t even have your usual painkillers, all the medicines here were unfamiliar to you, made from plants that didn’t even exist in your world. There were alternatives for what you were familiar with, but you felt silly constantly having to ask for guidance on what to take and how much, the sort of information that was common sense in this world. At least weed was a constant. You walked holding Killer’s hand, he’d sensed your pain as your haki shifted with it, and had reached out to quietly hold it as you walked, offering comfort and assuring you that Kid would help with your pain. You didn’t know exactly what he meant by that, maybe he was referring to whatever that mystery drug Kid kept dosing you with was. You really ought to talk to him about that, it probably wasn’t cool that he kept drugging you without asking you first. Kid must have really had a reputation for caring for menstruating people though, since that was now two commanders that had mentioned it. He must really have a thing for blood. You weren’t super keen on the idea of having sex on your period - you knew it was a silly taboo and a totally natural human thing to have a period, but you always felt so gross and dirty. You figured it was probably a lot to do with just feeling like utter garbage during it. If Kid really was going to spoil you though then maybe you could accept a little hanky panky.

Most of the crew were already on the ship as you approached, some still bustling around to finish loading supplies, others curiously examining the thin iridescent layer of bubble that coated the ship. Kid was on the deck, discussing something with Reck, when his eyes widened and his head lifted, like a hound catching a scent in the air. His head snapped to look at you, at a speed you worried would give him whiplash, before he pushed Reck aside and hurried down the gangplank to you. You froze in your tracks, worried you were in trouble as Killer let go of your hand and chuckled under his mask a little. “Have fun,” he teased, before walking towards the ship, giving a wide berth for the charging red bull.

“YOU LET HER WALK?” Kid yelled, his fury directed at the commanders, before scooping you up into a bridal hold, making you yelp in surprise, “SHE’S DELICATE RIGHT NOW! DON’T YOU KNOW SHE’S SHEDDING THE LINING OF A WHOLE ORGAN? YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN CARRYING HER!”

“She was doing fine..” Heat replied sheepishly.

“I’m sorry princess, I’m gonna take much better care of you than these assholes,” Kid huffed, turning on his heel and marching back towards the ship, “Are you in pain? Hungry? Thirsty? Do you want a bath? Some chocolate?”

You blinked in confusion at the barrage of questions - this was not at all the Kid you were familiar with. “I, um - I’m in a lot of pain, actually,” you replied earnestly, “I get really bad cramps.”

“Don’t you worry my prized kitten,” Kid kissed you firmly on the top of your head as he carried you up the stairs to the stern castle, “I’m gonna get you sorted, you just stay by my side until your period is over. Let your captain take care of you.”

He carried you to his room, using his devil fruit to open doors as he approached and closed them behind. The bath was already running as he entered the bedroom, and you realised he’d probably used his fruit to adjust the tap too. He placed you gingerly on his bed, getting to work immediately on removing your shoes and clothes, pulling you to stand as he got to your lower half. You put your hand over his to stop him as he got to your panties, a bright blush spreading on your face. You didn’t want him to see that, it was gross, you didn’t want him looking at your blood soaked pad. He made a territorial sounding growl and you relented.

“Close your eyes if it bothers you,” Kid grumbled, “I can assure you it doesn’t bother me.”

You looked anywhere except at him as he knelt in front of you and pulled your panties down slowly, pad in tow. You felt embarrassed and vulnerable in front of him, your tough girl persona entirely evaporated. It was silly really, it was just blood, and it was clear Kid didn’t care, in fact the others had told you he liked blood, so why did it bother you so much? Your panties hit the floor and you felt Kid’s hands run up the outsides of your legs, groping the soft flesh on your thighs and ass as he took a deep inhale, his nose brushing against the front of your cunt, a small amount of blood transfering to the sharp tip. “Kid!” you yelped.

“You smell so fucking good,” Kid purred, “I wish I could have you right now. But I gotta take care of you first, can’t have my sweet girl in pain.”

He stood and lifted you again before you could reply, and you squirmed uncomfortably in his hold knowing full well you were getting blood on his arm. He adjusted his hold, pressing his arm harder against your cunt on purpose with a smug smile as your blush deepened. He sat you on the sink before digging around in the cupboards below you, grabbing a few things and pouring them into the large, black marble, corner bath, making it bubbly and fragrant. After returning the containers to the sink, he grabbed a lighter from a drawer and lit the candles that were scattered around the room, before the light flicked off, presumably using his fruit to flip the switch. Now that the room was bathed in soft candlelight it looked utterly romantic, not at all a vibe you would expect from Kid. He must really like blood to be doing all of this to get in your pants. You weren’t surprised when he shed his own clothes, leaving them in a heap before he gathered you up and carried you to the tub, sitting himself down in the hot water with you in his lap, your back against his chest.

The water was almost uncomfortably hot, and you guessed he’d done that on purpose to soothe your cramps. You sighed contently as the water enveloped you, wrapping your aching body in a blanket of heat that eased your joints and muscles and dulled your pain. You lolled your head back with a sigh, resting it against Kid’s shoulder, and he nosed at your neck, grazing his teeth against your pulse point.

“How’s your pain now?” he hummed in your ear, nipping at your ear lobe, “need more relief?”

“Mmm,” you mumbled back, “a bit better, but I could do with more relief.”

“Coming right up,” he grinned against your neck. Before you could ask what he meant, you felt a sharp prick at your neck. Ah, the drug again. You really did need to talk to him about it huh. You weren’t complaining right now though, your eyes fluttering shut as that now familiar numb euphoria rushed through your veins. You no longer felt any pain, but your skin felt like it was on fire - in a good way. Kid’s calloused hands ran over your tummy and thighs, making electricity shoot straight to your core. Your pussy throbbed with need as you shifted to grind against Kid’s thick thigh, all thoughts of blood and your own discomfort with it now forgotten as you rolled your hips against him and small ripples formed on the surface of the water. All in all a significant improvement on the crippling menstrual pain. Your neck felt wet as Kid sucked on it, his cock bobbing against your back as it hardened.

You rode his thigh like a bitch in heat, moaning and whining until his mouth unlatched from your neck and he growled in your ear. “Good girl mouse, you want this cock now?”

“Mmmm,” you mumbled back, high on venom and not really capable of verbalizing much else. All you could focus on was getting off, and letting him do what he wanted with you. You let him lift you by your thighs, lowering you on his cock and stretching you out with it. You whined as he speared you, bouncing you gently at first with his forearms wrapped under your thighs, his hands gripping your calves and holding you wide open. As your cunt adjusted to him he bounced you harder, until you were wailing and sinking your nails into his thighs, your breath stolen from you as Kid sunk his teeth back into your neck, administering another dose of his euphoric painkiller and making you gush on his cock. He continued to fuck you as you went limp against him, bathwater escaping over the edges of the marble and splashing against the floor as he thrust up in time with his lifting and lowering to fuck you deep and hard, chasing his own high.

His teeth gripped you harder, like he was holding you in place, as he growled against you and filled your cunt with his cum. You were entirely out of it, cock drunk and high, a ragdoll for him to use as he finished inside you. You barely even noticed as he slipped out of you and manhandled you to sit on the edge of the tub, lifting your legs to rest over his shoulders as he greedily ate you out. His mouth and chin were coated in blood and cum as he lapped and sucked at your cunt like a man dying of thirst, and you came on his tongue without even realising, too out of it, dizzy and off in your own world. Your legs trembled against his shoulders as he got his fill, groaning and grunting against your cunt as he drank from you.

Finally he was sated, letting your legs gently fall back to the water. He knew better than to kiss a woman covered in her own blood, so he dipped his head under the bath water for a moment to clean off, before pulling you back into the water, sitting you in his lap with your chest against his, supporting your head as it rolled weakly and petting your hair soothingly as the venom wore off. At some point you nodded off, and he gently washed your body before carrying you back to his bed, drying you off and leaving you to freebleed in his bed on a soft towel under you.

[Next Chapter] - coming soon

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[lolokouhm]

thinking about Megumi, who opens his eyes instantly when his alarm goes off in the morning, but turns it off even faster when he sees you - your head and chest laying heavy on his torso, hair falling out from your messy bun, sleeping like a baby. and apparently drooling a little.

thinking about Megumi, who stiffens, suddenly feeling a huge sense of responsibility for your quality sleep. he really hopes his heart doesn’t beat too loud, especially when it seems to have grown twice in size since you started staying in his apartment more and more often. he didn’t think it’d be as amazing - to wake up next to you (or under you, or inside of you) in his bedroom, a place not many others have seen or even been to. once, just once, he let drunk Itadori sleep there and that was a complete disaster. Megumi likes to keep it simple, quiet and calm, and for some reason his friends are like hurricanes and they just come in, bring on a complete disaster and leave without cleaning up after themselves. you too have brought some chaos into his life - with your pink toothbrush, a concerning amount of face masks and serums you squirrelled away in the drawer in his bathroom and some random pieces of lingerie that get him flustered every time he takes them out of the laundry machine. A warm smile crawls on his face - he hides his arms back under the black sheets and lets them travel gently down your body. he has no idea how you ended up in this position, but feels more than happy to be able to make you feel this good and relaxed. the room is cold, but you are not and Megumi thrives on that feeling.

thinking about Megumi, who gulps as his hands suddenly lose the cotton surface of his T-shirt on you and they end up on your bare skin. you apparently forgot to put on the panties, but that’s more than understandable - that’s the Fushiguro effect for you. and well, you like being a tease. you’re testing him now, not fully aware of that fact, as Megumi closes his eyes and bites his lower lip. it’s quite contradicting - his imagination starts to go a little wild, long, slender fingers brushing against you, barely even, as he’s trying to ignore the growing bulge in his boxers at the same time. unfortunately for Megumi, you’re starting to wiggle, and with the feeling of your lower parts pressing on his morning wood… shit. luckily for you, he’s a gentleman - he’s not going to do anything improper, especially when you’re sleeping. he's not an animal. at least, most of the time.

thinking about Megumi, who's slowly but steadily losing his fight as keeps on caressing your skin, hands sliding to you inner thighs. he closes his eyes - it's unfair. your skin can't be just skin - it's velvet. touching you feels as if he was touching some God-made material, shipped straight from heaven. if he asked you about it you'd probably say something about that overpriced cinnamon body lotion you were so excited to buy, but he wouldn't believe you. he doesn't know what answer would be satisfying, but that just makes him smile again. he's already had his own answer to that.

thinking about Megumi, who groans quietly when you move up his body, hiding your face right into his neck. your wet lips nuzzle the skin right next to his aorta and he can feel the blood pulsing against you. yeah, he's gonna be late, but fuck it. he'll call in sick. this whole situation is, after all, a serious life hazard - if you bit him right there, he could die. Megumi chuckles and closes his eyes with a sleepy grin. if the death has to come one day, he prays it'll look like that. pretty, sleepy, half-naked.

and a little bit drooly.

masterlist ❤️

[strawberrysugar71]

TADC Episode 6 Predictions! + Why I Think Bunnydoll COULD Become Canon (Some Episode 4 Spoilers)

1

Release Date

According to my calculations, we can expect Episode 6 to release on one of the following dates:

21st February 2025

28th February 2025

7th March 2025

14th March 2025

21st March 2025

28th March 2025

4th April 2025

11th April 2025

18th April 2025

25th April 2025

2nd May 2025

I think most likely it would be on May 2nd. But first let me explain how I go these dates.

Episode 2 of TADC released 5 weeks after Episode 7 of Murder Drones. And Episode 3 of TADC released 6 weeks after the Murder Drones finale. However, Episode 4 released 10 weeks after Episode 3. So, what I did was - for Episode 5 - count 5-10 weeks after Episode 4, and then I repeated the same for Episode 6.

Let's say, for example, an Episode released every 5 weeks, we would expect the trailer for Episode 5 to be released on January 3rd 2025. (I'm just gonna point out that the Netflix leak is false. I highly doubt we'd get an Episode 3 weeks after the last one, but if it were true, then the trailer for Episode 5 would release on Friday. The actual episode wouldn't come out on the 1st, anyway, because that's a Wednesday. Not a Friday.) Anyways, enough of me yapping about release dates.

2

The Adventure

We know that Episode 5's adventure is baseball, and set in a baseball stadium, because it was foreshadowed at the beginning of Episode 4 and in the full season announcement for TADC.

It is possible that the baseball adventure could be in Episode 6, because it was Ragatha AND Jax playing baseball (before Gangle joined in), but I highly doubt it because...

I think Episode 6 is another in-house adventure.

3

Why Do I Think This? + What Do I Think Will Actually Happen In the Episode?

I think this because of two reasons:

• I believe that Jax is going to be the cause of Ragatha's abstraction in Episode 6.

• Jax's key collection.

Killing off one of the main three and the motherly one of the group is a pretty good way to fuck everybody up.

"Probably not NPCs" so one of the humans, then.

I think the entire fandom can agree that the worst thing Jax will do he's probably gonna do it in his episode.

Coincidence? I think not.

My take on this entire thing is that Jax is going to cause Ragatha to abstract, and feel really bad about it. Like, I mean, come on.

Kinger won't abstract. He would've most likely already abstracted if he was going to.

Gangle, potentially, BUT she arrived after Jax, and she's most likely the one who has been in the circus for the least amount of time (aside from Pomni).

Pomni arrived, canonically, 4 days ago. I don't think it's possible to abstract that fast.

Zooble I really don't think will ever abstract. They're just too much of a chill guy for that (iykyk) /hi

Jax finds pleasure in bullying the others, even if he does care about them.

It's his way of coping with being trapped in the circus. And I think, even though he's an asshole, having to live with the fact that he abstracted the only person who seemed to genuinely care about him is torture in itself.

• In-house adventure

• Jax says "I want you DEAD!!!" to Ragatha.

• Ragatha disappears to her room.

• Jax goes into her room later on.

• Ragatha's abstracted.

The last 2 bullet points could even happen at the beginning of Episode 7. But I think it would make more sense for it all to be in Episode 6 because the 6th Episode in the last season of shows that have 9 Episode long seasons is the cursed Episode of that show. (Again, iykyk)

4

Why Do I Think Bunnydoll Could Become Canon?

"But Gooseworx confirmed that there's no canon romanc-"

Did you watch Episode 3? She lied.

"Yeah, but Queenie's abstracted-"

Gooseworx also said that Queenie being a chess piece was just a design choice and that she wasn't Kinger's wife. Pretty funny that, huh?

I think this is overlooked. Romance IS canon, it's just not really shown. But I do genuinely believe that if any other ship had to become canon, it would be Bunnydoll. I think this because:

• They're always shown next to each other, or close to each other.

• Their bedrooms are right next to each other's. Just like Kinger and Queenie's (as well as Zooble and Gangle's if your an Abstraggedy fan). AND There's a Mannequin on either side of them.

E.g.

Mannequin, Jax, Ragatha, Mannequin.

• The nicknames he calls her, like hello?!

• Not to mention, whenever Ragatha expresses concern for Pomni, Jax either rolls his eyes or dismisses it.

• The whole premise of Episode 3 was about Husband and Wives. And I think it's pretty obvious that Queenie abstracted because her and Kinger got into an argument of some kind. So, Kinger abstracted Queenie, basically. Abstraction is also the circus' version of death. That would explain why Kinger looked so emotional when Baron Theodore was talking about killing Martha. Then, Martha said "You know how men are, always having the silliest priorities" and then Ragatha said "Don't I know it." whilst looking over at Jax Martha was talking about men, sure, but she was only really meaning her husband. A good writer such as Gooseworx doesn't include that for no reason. It's so goddamn obvious.

• They obviously have/have had something going on. From Jax saying "Why do you always make me out to be the bad guy?" during their fight at the beginning of Episode 4 . They've obviously had arguments like that before. They HEAVILY give exes that still have feelings for each other if they are exes.

All of that combined is - if it does happen - going to make Episode 6 a whole lot sadder. If they are exes, then one of 'em is probably gonna say that they still love them before Ragatha goes. And if they're just crushes, then they're probably gonna confess their love. Maybe even a hug...or a kiss. (Please, Gooseworx 🙏)

Anyways, I hope this makes sense. Thank you for reading!

[prismatoxic]

okay, shipping brainrot from my last post aside, i'm still thinking about the shapeshifter arc. the other sites i use don't have inline posting or do but it's clunky, so i guess i'm theorizing here. some of this may seem obvious; bear with me, i'm not trying to be patronizing, just working through things. this will probably be long.

(edit: i've since learned there's canon explanations for all of this. regrettably i don't like them. enjoy my ideas of what would be better maybe? but keep in mind i wrote this before i knew it had been explained anywhere else.)

(edit again: i've done a 180 and come fully around on the canon explanations! i have a lot of thoughts about them but this isn't the post for that. anyway i'm disabling reblogs, sorry. you can still look at this if you want)

laios reveals what he knows of shapeshifters, and that they function on memory:

no one ever really suggests in chapters 39 or 40 who thought of which fake except in the case of which ones laios must have thought of, but i want to posit who i think each one came from, and what it means narratively if i'm right. so, mostly a thought experiment/character study that i could be wrong about or that was never meant to be clearly defined in the first place. but maybe fun to think about? (i'm sure other people have done this before too, but i think it'll be fun to write up.)

from the outset, i think it's worth mentioning that chilchuck knows all three laios fakes are, in fact, fakes. two chilchucks say this, but the one on the right is the real one. senshi and marcille immediately corroborate this, though we can't tell which of them it is except that it's not any of the really obvious fakes.

what i think this suggests is that, brought to the surface, the warped perceptions of the rest of the party that chilchuck, senshi, and marcille have can be easily discerned when compared with the real thing. each of these laioses is from one of them, but they immediately figure out none of them are right with the real laios right there in the room. this is important.

as for who's who...

i think it's fair to assume that giant laios is from chilchuck. laios is the tallest member of their party, at six feet; while chilchuck sees marcille and senshi as their correct heights, laios is a giant to him, and his bulky armor doesn't help. that's why, even if this is his perception, it's glaringly obvious that it's wrong as soon as it's made physical. it's the only big one, and easily falls into the camp of "doesn't seem to know much about monsters" that the others also do.

stupid laios is, i think, from marcille. because the giant one is so likely chilchuck's and i don't think senshi sees laios as someone who stupidly wants to eat everything (even if senshi's opinion of him isn't stellar right now, "i have to eat it" wouldn't be paired with being an idiot to senshi), it tracks that marcille would be the one to remember him this way. to someone who doesn't appreciate their monster eating and otherwise thinks he's an idiot just as much as the others do, dumbly muttering about eating things seems like a reasonable portrayal of laios.

feminine laios, then, is from senshi. i think his physical perception of the other party members is the most off-base; this is likely because he's known them for the least amount of time, and his idea of what they look like is based more on their races than anything else. i think the resemblance to falin might not be intentional--someone suggested to me the other day that the dwarf perception of tall-men is probably more feminine in contrast to how Macho dwarfs are. i think that makes sense (if it ever comes up canonically, i haven't seen it yet). laios and falin do just... look like gender-swapped versions of each other, also. so if senshi sees laios as a feminine person, well... that just winds up looking like falin.

so this leaves us with only the real laios. confronted with their perceptions of him, his friends can immediately tell all three are incorrect.

moving on, we eliminate the three most obvious fakes from the rest of the party, starting with marcille:

if we take into account what i just said about senshi, i think this is his. racial stereotypes about elves being what they are, him not knowing the party as well as the other members do... she stands out, and that's why.

now this is where things start to get interesting.

the next two fakes to be eliminated aren't so blatantly incorrect that they can be struck right out at a glance, but it's not hard to notice the flaws when you look closer, and chilchucks A and B are the ones to point it out. chilchuck is naturally observant; most of his fakes seem to emulate this. (the one who addresses the fakes is A, the real one, but B is proving himself able to pick up on the things A notices. this is important.)

notably, chilchuck and senshi assume these must be laios's versions of them.

we can assume this is correct, if we want to. we can take the framing of this as being an intentional reflection of the truth.

or... or... we can look a little deeper. we can wonder if, perhaps, this isn't a reflection of laios, but a reflection of his friends and what they think of him. laios may not immediately notice the problems, but i don't think it's because he doesn't remember these details. i don't think laios sees much of anything in vague terms; he's observant in his own right, but in ways he doesn't really recognize, nor does anyone else. i think he was so focused on their faces and mannerisms that he didn't notice the bigger picture, glossing over something because so many other factors are at play.

senshi and chilchuck think laios doesn't take notice of things, but the vast majority of the shapeshifter arc is about them and marcille not trusting laios's judgement as it is, given how things went recently. is it possible there's more to their assumptions here than what the text explicitly says? i think so!

so then who do these two belong to? marcille, i think.

if we assume dumb laios is hers, then we can also assume her perceptions of the others are kind of broad and vague. she doesn't think poorly of them, necessarily (at least not in as obvious a way as she does with laios, who, i'll remind you, she's currently upset with), but she doesn't commit unimportant details to memory, like chilchuck's neck band or the damage to senshi's helmet.

we've got three more "obvious" fakes to get through, and laios offers another lore tidbit on how the shapeshifters work:

anyway, the first of the next round is marcille again, setting the stage for how these three next fakes are eliminated.

marcille changes her hairstyle all the time, so this isn't a surprise. the last one pictured here winds up being our next fake, as indicated by her grimoire:

so the fake marcille in this section is the one with the most visibly different hair texture (who even draws attention to this), and the spellbook that's woefully incompetent. i think she's from chilchuck.

he's observant, as i said before; even if he didn't commit her hair to memory, he did remember the stuff she's said about how important hair is to magic. maybe that's why the texture is so striking. more importantly, chilchuck isn't wary of magic quite the way senshi is, but he also doesn't understand it. the general tone of the low-quality grimoire also just... sounds like the way he'd frame something like that. (plus, the "how to turn back time" bit is a thing he specifically called her on when she suggested it a few chapters ago.)

so the next fake chilchuck and senshi are revealed via their tools:

i think the chubby-cheeked chilchuck with the simple lockpicks is from senshi, and i think the ordinary-looking senshi with the simple cookware is from chilchuck. the former speaks for itself--senshi sees chilchuck as a child, and knows absolutely nothing about picking locks. as for the fake senshi, chilchuck has a decent mental image of him but knows nothing about cookware.

so now we're down to the final three fakes, and there's only one person left who they could be from: laios. nobody thinks this, not even laios himself, but i want to explore the concept because i think it has extreme merit. the three remaining fakes have some key similarities between them, namely in that they're all close enough interpretations that making a distinction is difficult. they look a tiny bit different, but both the real people and their fakes make plausible cases for why they're the actual person. i want to talk about why i think laios is the one who made that so, and what that means about him.

chapter 39 ends with all his companions--real and fake--doubting his skills. seeing a pattern?

chapter 40 opens with laios determined to regain his friends' trust in him...

...while his friends (and their fakes) talk about how he's liable to like the fakes more, because they're monsters.

this is a needlessly cruel interpretation of laios, but after how things went post-falin-rescue, it's not a surprise. they see him as reckless and single-minded, more interested in the things he's weird about than in the people around him.

laios is really bad at talking about what he's thinking--not because he's hiding it, but because it doesn't occur to him that it's important. meeting the lunatic magician in the paintings is a prime example of this, but he does it a lot. they likely have no idea why he told toshiro about falin and the black magic; to them, laios was being flippant with sensitive information, not worrying about their safety. to laios? he was trying to get help. he trusted toshiro, and his perception of their friendship made him think the information would help them gain an ally who cared about falin as much as they do. he wasn't trying to put falin or marcille in danger--far from it, in fact. but he didn't tell his friends about his thought process. he didn't think it was important to share.

(he's autistic but we all know this. moving on)

so, we have laios's plan: the pairs cook together, while he watches for behavioral differences to discern who's who. it doesn't occur to him, or anyone else, that the people he's watching for mistakes are his own perceptions of his friends. and now we get into the meat of why i wanted to write this post.

assuming i'm correct... let's talk about laios's view of his friends, and how he challenges those perceptions.

starting with my favorite, chilchuck:

chilchuck A, of course, is in fact the real one. this is a pretty significant character moment for him too, in my opinion; we know he has difficulty expressing his emotions, and that a lot of his conflicts so far have stemmed from that. the fact that "chilchuck B asked for help with a menial task" is a gotcha moment to him is... telling. not only because it's so obvious to him, but because it's not obvious to any of his companions. he thinks they know this about him, but he's never openly expressed anything to make them think this is an issue he'd have, in addition to having sought help in the past.

his "convictions and pride and all that" seems to them like someone trying to convince them of something, not someone reminding them of facts he assumes they know.

anyway, back to laios. if we accept that chilchuck B is made from his memories, this suggests several things. first of all, chilchuck B is, despite his softer eyes and willingness to ask for help, still a fairly accurate portrayal of chilchuck. he's easily annoyed and he's observant, two traits chilchuck is known for. i think the reason chilchuck B has the kinder eyes and the more gentle disposition is because to laios, those things are indicative of someone being a good person, and he very much thinks chilchuck is a good person.

we know laios isn't especially good at reading people in general. thus, his idea of who his friends are is skewed in broad strokes, but not in the ways they think. he knows who chilchuck is, but he also associates chilchuck with his own ideas of what makes someone "good", which results in a chilchuck who's less rough around the edges. confronted with this--the real chilchuck asking him if he can tell--laios compares the two and thinks, reasonably speaking, the nicer one who trusts him has to be the friend he respects so much.

senshi and marcille also want to accept this chilchuck, likely for similar reasons. they also respect and care for him; they've seen him go through a lot. laios's ideal of him is just that, ideal. in a roundabout way, it's only their deep fondness for who chilchuck really is that makes them want to see him this way.

next up, we have marcille.

the fake, marcille A, is a radical departure from what makes chilchuck B a fake. laios notes that the real marcille is exactly the same as she always is. the reason, then, that marcille A confuses him--and the others--is that after everything they've been through, their perception of her has changed radically.

if we look back to senshi and chilchuck's marcilles, it's readily apparent when they're eliminated that both interpretations hinge on the knowledge that she performs black magic. senshi's tries to use it to prove herself; chilchuck's has a grimoire loudly proclaiming it's what she does. contrast this to marcille A: she doesn't mention black magic at all, and her grimoire looks strikingly similar to the real one.

that's because laios doesn't think her performing black magic changes anything about who she is. her doing so proved her to be just as dedicated to falin as he himself is, and the knowledge that her goals involve it doesn't faze him. (additionally, marcille has been teaching him magic, and falin had tried in the past. though his image of a grimoire is flawed to someone experienced, to anyone else it looks fine.) thus, marcille A isn't a flagrant black magic wielder; she's someone who's been fundamentally changed by what they--and falin--went through.

let's go back to chapter 27:

chilchuck and senshi are appalled, and will continue to be. while they ultimately don't prevent marcille from doing this, and care enough about both her and laios (and in chilchuck's case, falin as well) to be in tentative support, this changes their view of her in a negative way. she's dangerous now, in a way she wasn't before, but she's still marcille--goofy and a little reckless. thus, their views of her, and the illusions that result.

laios's opinion of her changes for the better.

she is, all at once, both competent and loyally dedicated. she will stop at nothing to help falin. whatever goofiness she exhibited before now is gone, replaced by the cold demeanor of someone who is doing something extremely dangerous for reasons that are inherently selfish, but ultimately too important to reject.

thus, we return to marcille A: cold, sharp, dedicated. not reckless or goofy, but methodical and haunted. she may have returned to "normal" since they left the castle town, but laios's opinion of her, and understanding of her love for falin, has been forever changed.

so faced with the real marcille--still silly, still whining, still frequently annoyed with him--he's confused, because that's deeply familiar, but it doesn't line up with what he knows about her now.

the truth, of course, is nuanced--these things are true about marcille, but only under duress; it's similar to how laios becomes a competent leader when the going gets tough. she has this within her, but it's not her default state of being. still, the shapeshifter picks up on the strongest memories laios has of her, this new interpretation of someone he thought he knew.

now then--onto senshi, the punchline of this particular joke about the differences between the copies. i still think it says a lot.

i think this one speaks for itself, though i find chilchuck's agreement interesting. senshi is the newest member of the team; little is known about him. laios happily notes that senshi "always looks cool" while chilchuck says he looks normal (and chilchuck B insults the real one). laios sees senshi this way because he thinks senshi is cool as hell, and this manifests in an idealized version of a face he's not as familiar with as he is with chilchuck and marcille.

this is clearly comedy, but it also speaks to the same desire to see the best in the rest of the party. marcille is the only one who notices likely because her opinion of senshi isn't so romanticized. chilchuck's senshi, of note, wasn't a perfect replica: we don't see much of him after the obvious fakes are hauled off, but he's a little squashed (he's the top one):

which indicates that chilchuck's visual memory of senshi is already flawed. if we compare this to giant laios and the marcille with the unique hair texture, it tells us chilchuck's attention to detail is more specific than the others'; he can remember the hole in the helmet, the importance of hair, but he doesn't quite see the bigger picture. giant laios is also surprisingly... rugged? which i imagine has to do with chilchuck's perception of him as a tall-man. (or maybe how he clearly has trouble seeing laios's face half the time, lmao...)

anyway. laios thinks senshi is super cool and chilchuck has an imperfect idea of what senshi look like as it is. (i wonder if chilchuck is some degree of faceblind? not enough to not recognize someone at all, but can't pinpoint specifics.)

and so, we arrive at the moment of truth.

so let's go over what i'm theorizing here... all the remaining fakes are illusions based on how laios sees his friends. the illusions manage to make mistakes that reveal the truth to him, but i think the reason for that harkens back to what laios said earlier... the illusions are being updated over time.

laios isn't considering any of the things that give the fakes away until this moment. if it had taken a little longer to resolve things, maybe they'd have started course-correcting, but they aren't given the chance. laios makes sure they aren't--he acts very quickly. even as he presents the three pairs with his findings, he's aware that everything will fall apart as soon as he does... and he's banking on that. while the shapeshifter illusions defend themselves from being killed, he gets right to the heart of the matter in the only way he knows how: confronting the actual monster involved.

when all's said and done, laios reveals how he figured it out:

potentially of note, all of these details happened before the red dragon fight. chilchuck fighting a mimic and revealing his history with them, senshi gushing about the dungeon's ecosystem, and marcille being attacked by the undine weren't super recent memories. when laios brought them forth in his mind, he had a delay before the shapeshifter updated its illusions.

well... except with marcille. marcille A actually didn't show her hand so easily; it was the real marcille's carelessness that proved her identity.

but what this suggests is that, when confronted with the realities of marcille versus his idealized version of her, laios had to make a choice: did it make more sense for her to have been radically changed by the revival and subsequent loss of falin, or was the presence of a marcille he knew so well proof of an illusion? she was the one who was the most different, and as such, the contrast was the same one that eliminated all three laioses at the start: with the real thing in the room, the fake became apparent.

so, to reach a conclusion: one again, laios has proven he's not as scatterbrained as his companions think, but this time he did so on a more personal level than usual. to them, he reveals that he knows their quirks enough to define them by such when they're otherwise faced with convincing copies. to us, the readers, if we accept what i've suggested here... he's revealed a lot more. he respects, admires, and idolizes his friends, all out of fondness: he wants to see them in an ideal way, whatever that means for each of them as individuals.

anyway thanks for coming to my TED talk

[cynthiav06]

Annabeth stans and Percabeth shippers are talking about how ooc Annabeth is in WOTTG with her thinking Percy is stupid as if she hasn't constantly made fun of Percy's intelligence since the very beginning. As if she doesn't do it in every book, multiple times. Rick's characterization of Annabeth isn't changing, people are finally just growing up and realizing their fave ship when they were 12 isn't healthy. But instead of actually acknowledging that it's a bad ship they just blame the author.

Warnings: This is going to be a rant; bear with me. People from the "take everything as a personal offense" group stop reading. Will give us both the luxury of a peaceful mind.

It's easier to blame Rick, I think, given his series of shit decisions. The Wrath of a Triple Goddess is a complete abomination, and so is Chalice of the Gods in many ways. But at least it has helped readers understand the glaring flaws of Percabeth as a ship. How Percy's character is butchered to hype up Annabeth.

And I am completely exhausted of trying to get any of them to think rationally and in an unbiased manner. I can't make a willfully blind individual see sense after all.

But yeah, Annabeth has many, and I mean many character flaws throughout the series. The number of times I have made a post on Annabeth's flaws or even why Percabeth is incompatible.... At this point, I believe open-minded and careful readers are going to see and make their own conclusions, and the blind shippers will keep doing their own thing. This , I think, was my most recent post and will probably be one of my last ones on a similar topic. Unless I get newer asks that have some different viewpoints that I can actually explore cause, all has been said so far, I think.

I had a feeling that things would get better as they got older, more mature, you know, an Annabeth character arc of some sort. Maybe exploring the positive and negative nuances of Percabeth or even Percy's suicidal thoughts, non existent self esteem and how Annabeth has been unknowingly feeding into those.

She is one of the more iconic characters to people even outside the fandom. One from a very, very , and exclusive pool of actually strong female characters and the way her character is devolving isn't helping anything.

-------------------------------------------------------

All of Riordan's characters have such high potential, and the amount of plots he could explore is staggering, and yet he still dishes out the same generic plot again and again. He is in it for the money now, has been for a while, and so there's no hope there.

This might be a very hot take, but I think romance ruined the series. Rick kept slapping romantic relationships on every character as if that would suddenly make things better. Give them a relationship rather than explore their trauma. I guess it's the easier of the two.

But seriously, Caleo? Jiper? Solangelo ? (I can see the hate comments already). Whatever he was doing with Reyna, but at least she wasn't completely butchered.

Rick's problem is that he keeps giving more importance to romantic relationships and makes that the entire personality of a character.

He butchered Percy, even Jason at times, Leo bloody Valdez and Nico more prominently.

The way Percy and Nico's very deep and volatile bond and heavily dynamic relationship was butchered and distorted to feed into Solangelo and Percabeth, and I can't possibly understate how highly that's been going on.

Then Luke and Thalia's relationship was completely butchered for no absolute reason. I have no idea why. They were in love or at least had romantic feelings for each other, and Thalia just woke up and wanted to kill him? He literally gave all the angst to Annabeth even though Thalia had known him longer, and they had a more nuanced bond.

Jason's relationship with Camp Jupiter individuals was completely scrapped, his and Reyna's dynamic completely watered down, or even his and Leo's great friendship discarded all for Jiper or whatever else was shoved at him.

-------------------------------------------------------

As opposed to this whole shit show, I loved the relationships in the Magnus Chase series and Kane Chronicles. That was good stuff. Both character relationships and romantic ones even though I am pretty sure he got a lot of diverse representation wrong or so I have read recently.

Then there's the stupid, blind, bigot part of the fandom that just can't help themselves. I mean dumb Percy takes, Annabeth stans ruining Percy's character arcs and overinflating Annabeth's character, which in turn made Rick do the same.Then the boring Jason thing? What the hell was that? It's like everyone missed the point of why Jason is the way he is. I am going to make a post on that soon, but seriously, the shit that's been going on.

Then the shippers. Solangelo stans and Percabeth stans. They have single handedly ruined the ships for me with their distorted ideas of character dynamics. And their blatant and brutal hate against other Percy or Nico ships is just ridiculous and heavily toxic.

It's a fandom, not a monopoly. Everyone can have their own little thing as long as you don't meddle in someone else's own thing. Let everyone enjoy their own thing.

And for all our sakes, at this point, just pick your own version of canon. Choose which books to stop at. Trust me, it's less frustrating that way.

[maximwtf]

 “What kind of a moron gets shot…”

Izzy x Reader

words: 1970

google docs pages: 3,5

warnings: blood, a gunshot wound, slight alcohol use

opening: A medic, you get shot in a crossfire. It’s only after things have settled a little that anyone has time to notice you. No one but you are used to removing bullets, so obviously the crew chose the next most experienced pirate to help you with your instructions. Izzy. 

AN// Reader can be any gender! I finally started watching this series, after putting it off for so long and oh my god do I love this man more than life itself. I would die for him. Anyway, sorry if this is a little ooc, I’m learning how to write for him ! Requests for him would also be lovely, I have so many ideas that I don’t even know what to write :D

 “What kind of a moron gets shot…”

The feeling of rain hitting your face kept you to your senses, additional moisture to the already wet wooden deck you were laying on. At least you had made it back, but that did not remove the fact that someone from the other ship had gotten a good shot at your thigh. For that reason, you didn't mind the wet fabric sticking to your skin. The waves of pain radiating from your thigh were enough to keep your mind from thinking of anything else. 

Your body curled up a little, hands going to hold the place of the wound on their own, or at least that’s what it had felt like. Like your body was moving on its own. There wasn’t much of a thought process happening in your mind, though it felt like you should have known what to do. You’d removed more than one bullet in your time, and it wasn’t a rare procedure to perform for you. But never could have you guessed the amount of pain a bullet wound caused. You’d only ever helped someone else and seen them try their best to stay still for your sake. As much as you had hoped these thoughts would have distracted you from the pain, they didn’t. The pain was still raging, making you groan and grunt silently against the deck. Or at least what you thought had been quietly up until voices became audible around you. They’d been there before as well, but they’d become somehow louder by now. Like the people that sounded further away were now closer. The crew must have noticed something was wrong.

You opened your eyes, still curled up on the deck. Most of the crew were there, standing near you. From your perspective and what was left of your vision, they seemed concerned. But probably rightly so. Most of them had become quiet, only light chatter among them. “Well, fucking someone help me.” You growled, allowing the words to come out and going back to gritting your teeth straight after. The chatter got louder for a moment before someone was pushed out from the group. By the sound of his voice, you identified him quite easily. The first mate of Blackbeard’s, Izzy. He did not sound keen on doing this, insisting for someone else to do it before accepting his fate. But you and mostly everyone else in the crew seemed to agree on him being the most experienced for this, after you. 

You knew their first idea would have been to just cut off the whole leg, but for the amount of times you’d helped them you were hoping they’d see this as owing it to you and actually helping.

Your vision was getting a little more blurry, not badly but enough to make things a lot more confusing. You tried to keep a straight head, knowing you’d have to assist Izzy while he got the bullet out. While these thoughts were running through your mind, two of the crew members of which you hadn’t seen who carried your form to the lower decks. No more of the rain, you thought. They cleared a table, and by the sound of it they must have just sweeped the items on it to the floor and placed you on the smooth surface instead. 

There was a moment of silence before through your haze you could hear Izzy’s voice clearly. “Well, fuck off? No need for an audience.” He said, and by the sound of it the people previously there made their way back up. “Cut the…the pant leg.” You said, not wanting to waste any more time. Izzy looked at you, doing as you said but with slight hesitation. “How does a medic manage to get shot?” The first man asked in a voice you wanted to believe was annoyance, trying not to find a hint of worry from his voice. You didn’t want to imagine a man worried for your life trying to save it. “Guess the bullets couldn’t resist a…a checkup.” You took a quick breath, gritting your teeth as the fabric was pulled off from over the wound. Izzy didn’t say anything to that, perhaps it had been a bad time to joke either way. You didn’t have time to waste, for anything from the bullet could leak to your bloodstream if you kept stalling. “T-take off yer belt-” You had to take a breather before continuing, but that was enough for Izzy to give you a dirty look, which you were glad you couldn’t see properly through the slight blur. “And wrap it a little higher from the wound…” You finished the sentence, trying to stay still on the table. “Gathered that much.” He said, voice still stern as he undid his belt and wrapped it tightly around your thigh. “Get yer knife…and dig..dig the bastard out.” You breathed out, closing your eyes for a moment as you braced yourself for what was about to come. 

The sound of Izzy taking out a knife from his belt opened your eyes once more. You took a weak hold of his wrist before the first mate was able to start the process. “If I lose consciousness after…take the fabric you removed and..and use it to close up the wound after cleaning with rum…” You instructed him before your hand let loose from his wrist. His eyes were on you, you could feel it. Yet, he did not say a word. It worried you, but you didn’t want to tell him that. You wanted to think that he didn’t care. As many times as you had spent time with him, he did not care for you. Maybe, just maybe, he enjoyed talking to you from time to time. 

You took a hold of the edge of the table, which was worth it. Because as soon as Izzy had dug the knife into the wound you screeched. Using the palm of your hand to cover the rest of the horrendous noises leaving you, feeling hot tears push their way through and fall down the sides of your face. The gritting of your teeth helped, somewhat. The feeling of the blade hitting the bullet sent a mix of shivers along with waves of pain through your body.

You tolerated it for a while, in a way proud of yourself for that, this being the first time a bullet was being removed from you. Though, that did not last long.

The dim lights in the lower deck began to seem darker, and your body wasn’t contorting itself the same way as before. In a way you felt more relaxed this way, though the darkness that had started to slowly surround you was something you didn’t look forward to. A faint sound of the bullet hitting the wooden flooring as the knife left your body was the last thing you heard. Your consciousness faded away, leaving Izzy alone with bloodied hands and a mess on the table. 

His gaze shook a little, but he stood still at the table. Thanking whoever had left a bottle of rum in the lower deck. Izzy took a hold of the brown bottle and took a swig from it himself. With a second to think, he poured the liquid from the bottle straight onto the wound. It felt odd not to hear you instruct him, not that he needed it anymore. But you being so silent, seemingly dead to anyone else's eye who might have walked past, it shook him a little. As many people as he had killed and seen dead, none of them had affected him this way. The thoughts of your death filled his mind for a brief second, before the first mate shook them away. He wasn’t sure how much to pour, stopping eventually. He thought you might like the rest of it once you woke up. In his experience, rum was good at numbing feelings. Just what pain was, only a feeling. 

Izzy wrapped the wound best he could, leaving the belt on. You hadn’t told him what to do with it after, and that had only now occurred to him. As much as his duties would have commanded for him to leave you with the rest of the crew, he did not want for you to wake up in the noise and smell that was the crew’s quarters. Was what he told himself, not being able to ask for your opinion. 

He might have not been the tallest man on deck, but that did not mean he was weak in any way. He picked you up easily, carrying you to his quarters. Barely a spot for sleeping fit there, but he managed. 

The first mate laid your still form onto the small bed, seating himself onto a box next to it. His eyes stayed on the bed for some time before a sigh left his lungs, turning his eyes to his hands. He placed them over his face for a while, the burning feeling of tears trying to push through all too familiar at this point. They never truly fell down, so it did not count as crying for him. A pirate didn't cry.

So he sat there, the held-back tears reddening his eyes a little as he leaned on the wall behind him and stared at the other in front of him, keeping his gaze up. He felt conflicted, more so than usual. He hadn’t thought of you, not of how much he seemed to care. Sure, the two of you had spent an odd amount of time together, but you preferred to be alone or at least at the sidelines, so did he. So, for long it had been a coincidence that you bumped in together. And during those times you spent together were almost enough to make him feel alive again. But when you didn’t, was when he truly felt lonely. And so he did now, now when you were unconscious. A sharp breath drawn by you caught his attention back. The end of it started sounding more like a hiss than anything else. Your eyes tried to open slowly, but the sheering pain forced them to snap open with yet another hiss. You curled up on the bed before your eyes landed on Izzy. His mouth was slightly agape, but soon realised to hand you the bottle from earlier which you gladly accepted. After a long swig you handed it back to him, hand shaking ever so slightly. Eyes focusing on him now, vision back to what you remembered as normal. Even with Izzy keeping his gaze quite low, you could see the slight tint of red in his eyes. The first mate hadn’t said anything yet, so you decided to break the silence. “Have you been crying?” Came out rustier than intended, but the teasing tone of voice was still clear somewhere in there. Izzy’s jaw tightened, but he must have backed away from what he wanted to say. “Sod off.” He looked away for a moment, expression much softer after from what you could tell. Though, he seemed stiff. Like he was shaken in a way you’d never seen him before. “Izzy-” You sighed, not sure what to say to him, so instead you thought of something else. His other hand was resting on the edge of the bed. Expecting him to pull away at the very least, you placed your hand on his, but he didn’t. He allowed your slightly warmer, shaky palm to warm his colder hand, badly wiped away blood dried on it. “Thank you.” You said silently, not to disturb the oddly peaceful silence that had formed from the slightest of connections. Izzy turned to you, moving his hand further on the bed, not adding anything to that. The touch was a thank you enough, more than enough to him. 

[collapsedsquid]

Re: the sovereign individual worldwide revolution, etc

Yeah, you're sadly not wrong. I don't think I have the qualifications to immigrate to the EU anyway (bachelors degree, 5 digit net worth, experience mainly in manual labor and sales skills that don't translate outside the anglosphere), but even "cool my heels in SEA while all hell breaks loose" is seeming less workable. Have considered teaching English in China on and off over the years, but I think that ship has definitely sailed.

Sadly, it may be a "fight them here so nobody else has to fight them anywhere else" type scenario. And I'd be a hypocrite if I turned and ran rather than helping my parents hold onto the family farmhouse and little piece of the Midwest. Gotta stand for something, I suppose.

I wish this problem hadn't come in our time, Gandalf

to torschlusspanikattack:

Tech right is scarier due to scale of intended operations and oppression.

The Religious right wants to make it 1952 again, oppress queer people, and make everyone else LARP as Southern Baptists. Obviously, this would suck, but I grew up in a red state, as a secretive agnostic, and it's survivable. It wasn't ideal, I ended up with weird neuroses about being horny for women (despite being a straight cis man) and at least one of the lesbian girls in my school got beaten up by her teammates for being gay. Many things sucked, but we made it through, and many people were more tolerant than you'd expect.

Queer culture would have to go back underground, probably centering in bluer cities where the authorities would turn a relatively blind eye to it, some really fucked up stuff would happen around abortion rights, but I'm not foreseeing death camps for gay people or anything of that nature. And religious right-ists are barely even racist, as long as you're vocally Christian.

Trad/racial Right wants to make it 1952 again, have lots and lots of cops, put more people in jail, end immigration, and do DEI for white people. Obviously, many of the outcomes of this would be shitty and cause lots of suffering, but again, we made it through 1952, we'd survive. There are some legitimate death-camp Nazis in there, but I don't think that subset would outweigh the rest, even if the were to operate unopposed. Yes, the rate of hate crimes would go up, and it would likely be very dangerous for some people, but the will to do extermination just isn't there.

The Yarvin/Thiel/etc crew are fucking insane, and want to institute a regime that would repress or outright kill significant percentages of the population. It'd be feudalism without the mitigation of any sense of noblesse oblige, church ideas of duty to the poor, and the economic need to at least keep the peasants alive to harvest the crops. If they ever have AI that can do significant amounts of work for them, why would they keep the rest of us around?

That last part is slightly fearmongering, I'm really going through it lately, and don't get me wrong, there are LGBT people and minorities in my family that I'd be afraid for no matter what. But the tech-"libertarians" are seriously enemies of humanity at large. I'd take my chances with Mussolini or most medieval kings over them. The whole ideology is Pol Pot, Hitler, etc. levels of dangerous.

@torschlusspanikattack

[sorta-slow]

I really do like Jentry Chau vs the underworld, including all the characters but, man, do they just need to drop the romances.

Like, Kit, love him as a character but it was definitely a good move to not have him properly with Jentry. He's like at least a few hundred years old and gets kinda creepy as soon as she rejects him. And it kinda is backed by his romantic feelings for her but it's also just a sense of rejection in general. Like she didn't just say she didn't want to date him, she genuinely wanted him to fully leave her alone. It could have been the exact same story with the same amount of emotional weight but without Kit (a character who is meant to be sympathetic) acting like a total incel creep if he just wanted to be her friend. I think having Jentry originally having a crush on him and Kit wanting her as a really good friend (probably his only one) would have had the most emotional weight for all characters involved (Jentry, Kit and Michael, I'll get to him) without leaving the sour taste of Kit ignoring those sorta boundaries.

As for Michael, I do really like him and he and Jentry could be a cute couple, how the writers did it just rubs me the wrong way. Like, in the beginning of the series they're kinda flirty even though he has a girlfriend. Yeah, whatever, it's a common trope, I don't like it but fine. Except his girlfriend is genuinely nice (not the mean girl that this trope usually has) and there breakup isn't caused by a romance with Jentry at all so they didn't need to establish feelings before the breakup. Just like with the Kit romance, there is no real reason to have this except to make the characters slightly less likeable. It gets even worse when they get together during the lock-in. Like, Michael says specifically that he is "dating someone else" The writers could have had them in the talking stage or just a little flirty but they chose to make it a legit relationship only for that to be the point where Jentry and Michael get back together.

My problem is it doesn't really feel like it's a character flaw, these details weren't used to deepen Jentry or Michael, they were added to incorporate more random drama. It just makes their relationship feel tainted, though, because that was cheating, he did cheat on his girlfriend and there wasn't really a need for the writers to include that because the audience is meant to root for this ship. Neither of the girlfriends did anything awful enough to deserve it, they just weren't important enough characters at that point in the story to be used as anything other than obstacles.

I'm not saying this to hate on the show. I do really like it and these are my few nitpicks, I don't know it's just so easy to not be an asshole in a relationship. It's totally fine if that's a trait they want to explore for any or all of the characters but it just doesn't feel like the writers really wanted to do that. You're meant to like Jentry with Michael and, while you are meant to see Kit in the wrong in this scenario, I don't think they wanted him to actually be as much of an incel as he was.

[partywithoutsmiling]

Alright darling (can i call you that?) the Rock Beast AU just became my new ✨️hyperfixation✨️ so prepare! Please tell us how does John reacts to his bitty B becoming a Monster

Once he actually finds out who the great Beast is, not very well obviously XD

But if that AU would be a fic, it would be at least couple chapters down the line. My idea for Poppy's and Branch's escape is that while at first they crossed quite a distance through air, soon they were forced to travel by foot, as Branch's wing becomes injured and trying to take flight again would be foolish.

A blessing in disguise it turns out, as the Rock Trolls under Barb's command do not think to stop and search the ground, not that close to their territory, and our duo hides out of sight in the undegrowth, just to see their Angler Ships pass overhead, clearly heading towards the Pop territory

(the thought for this AU being that Barb is convinced that Pop poses exactly the same amount of threat as it did in the ancient past, where they were the most numerous, and seeing the pitiful number of Pop trolls rounded up, figures there must be more Pop villages hidden deep inside the woods that make their territory- so it would make sense to her to think Poppy and Branch went to get more back up- which is correct in a way, as Branch's intention was to fly them all the way to Bergentown, as having giants for allies would become handy in this case)

Meeting John Dory was a complete accident. Headcanoning that he had bad business with the Rock Trolls in the past, he probably decided to skeddadle into the wilderness once he saw the activity in the sky, not wanting to deal with that business- and I liked the idea that the Neverglades were actually a sort of natural border between Pop and Rock, a contested piece of land for both. Usually quite content to sleep out and about, either under stars or in Rhonda, the storm and all the chaos happening around him has him relocate to well known and explored caves- in which he finds Poppy and Branch, who sort of unanimously decide to keep their travelling to the night time, where it gives them less chance to be spotted.

Neither group is thrilled to be discovered by the other, at first- John Dory simply on the principle that lone trolls seems to be bounty hunters more often than not (and this one has a literal monster by her side!) and Poppy... well, for the exact same reason really XD she had been burned by her trust in a stranger- one that led her into this mess she is in- and the source of her major guilt is standing right behind her.

However, compared to JD, she is injured; an unexpected dip in the lake left her feeling sickly, and she is starving- and Branch is hardly doing any better. So it all ends up in a rather tense stand off, where Branch is the only one spiralling, because holy shit that's his brother

And he wants to wail and he wants to sink his claws into JD's face and tear that smug ass grin off his face- and it's the shock of that thought that has him to do neither of those things, and instead forces him to evaluate the situation a bit better.

Because for all JD's abandonment, he is a Pop Troll- and that means a potential ally- and so it is with a gentle nuzzle that he sooths Poppy's unvoiced fears and worries, and encourages her to ask JD for help

The introductions come, of course- but Poppy doesnt mention that Branch is a troll-turned-beast, and while JD's expression turns rather strained at hearing Branch's name, there is nothing that would clue him in that Branch is *his* Branch (His precious baby brother, who he thinks is dead for several years, and being an expert at avoidance of painful truths, there is no way he is sharing that with a complete stranger)

So as far he knows, Poppy's "pet" just has a rather unfortunate name, and Branch's colours are again rather washed out.

Branch just doesnt want to deal with the mess that is his familial trauma and is quite relieved JD doesnt have a clue to his original identity

(of course Poppy, desperate to socialize after being locked up with no-one but mute Branch for company, ends up bonding with JD rather quickly- especially after he treats her wounds and offers her a safe shelter- and finding his collection of memorabilia snowballs into discovering his identity as THE John Dory- and Branch's connection to it all, when John Dory, unable to resist the force that is Poppy, eventually talks about all his brothers- including Bitty B)

Also, this isn't connected to that scene, but even then I think you would enjoy this little treat:

----------------------

Branch was injured.

That much Poppy could observe, from the simple way he was carrying himself.

The rush of their escape didn’t seem to want to pass; the pink troll felt like every breath came out with accompanied tremble, and her heart was keen on making itself as loud as possible- it drummed hard in her ears and pulsed in tandem with the ache that throbbed mutely through her sore arm.

The sudden dive and crash into the murky depths of the lake jostled it- but at the time, her mind was hardly crystal clear enough to focus on anything but uncoordinated flailing as she panicked from the shock of the chilling water, trying to instinctively kick herself up to get to the surface. A great deal of her attention had also been overtaken by fear; for her life, yes, but also for Branch, as she had seen him seize up in one blink and then start falling out of the sky in another, his grip on her- previously strong and secure- now limp and weak, a puppet losing all motion as if its strings were suddenly cut.

Yet it was him who dragged her out of the lake in the end, his great head going under her belly and chest and lifting her high above the surface, leaving her clutching onto his mane with painful grip, gasping and sputtering, a sob roughly tearing through her throat before she could stop it. The sudden relief of air filling her lungs once more was not enough to mask the sudden pain that laced through her right arm, and Poppy had sobbed once more, clenching her eyes shut, burying her face into the soggy mess of Branch’s hair.

Low rumbling moan echoed from the beast under her, the strength of it- for all that it was quiet- reaching all the way to her core- but she was unable to do anything but breathe, the action shallow and painful, as her arm throbbed throbbed throbbed.

Vaguely, she felt the chilling water lapping at her legs, and her ears twitched at the sound of soft splashes- the body under her rocking forward, Branch’s breath just as shallow as hers, but clearly now moving, swimming, towards what she hoped was dry land.

The sky crackled, a thunder left in the wake of it, and she shivered when a first drop splashed against her back, bringing a shock of ice to her already drenched body. Another moan and Branch lurched forward, his swimming now gaining urgency- even in this shape, he was well aware of the danger that rain possessed for species as small as theirs, especially when it caught them on a lake. The prickle of unease was what had her force herself to lift her herself up, her good arm gripping Branch’s mane more firmly while held the other more securely to her chest.

Already the drops were breaking the surface apart, the water splashing up and sending waves that clearly impeded her friend’s progress; one that seemed to be made difficult simply for the fact that Branch had extra set of limbs that were hardly made for swimming- with one wing flapping or paddling awkwardly to help propel forward, while her other followed at much slower pace. It was the trembles and shakes that seemed to run through the appendage that caused Poppy’s heart to plummet to the depths of her stomach.

“Branch..?”

He voice was a pathetically weak and wobbly thing- there has been a shock, followed by euphoria, when her companion suddenly ripped through the bars dividing their cells like knife through butter. His cell had been a dark and dreary place, cut away from any natural light- hers had a large barred window that showed nothing but the menacing glow of the volcano, its fiery tones casting orange hues into the grim, cloudy looking sky. She had often caught him watching through the gaps of his cell, great glowing red eyes focused intently on the singular glimpse of freedom, and many times wondered if his sudden critter like instincts urged him to take flight. He did many things in the time they had nothing but each other for company, that could hardly hint that his interest could have other reasons. He prowled around, as much as his chains allowed him, and quite often his wings would flap. His claws would flex and his limbs would stretch- and Poppy had thought it a simple restlessness of a trapped animal, frustrated at the lack of necessary space.

She had thought. She didn’t expect it to be a slow exploration and familiarization of foreign limbs and muscles- not until she had been scooped up like kittenbug, and not until they were hurling face first through the window, Branch simply tucking his head closer to his body and tearing through it like a single-troll battering ram.

“Branch,” she whispered again, the sound trailing into a low moan, not unlike his own- but he didn’t respond, not even with a growl- not until she let go of his mane so she could gingerly touch the trembling wing.

The limb flinched and Branch went stiff under her for a moment, soft warning hiss audible even through the loudness of the storm- and though he didn’t stop his swimming, Poppy withdrew her hand as if burned, realizing that now perhaps wasn’t the best time to find out where his hurts were coming from.

“I’m sorry,” her apology was quick and strained ,“I’m sorry, Branch, I’m sorry-“ and the water was now blurring her vision, and perhaps it was her tears and not the rain, and perhaps her ill timed touch was not what she was apologizing for.

But Branch suddenly made a soft chuff, and his head twisted to peer back at her, the lamp like glow of his red eyes more comforting than one would expect. But Poppy hardly felt unnerved by the sight of them- not when she couldn’t feel any drop of malice, and the pink troll heaved a shuddering breath, bowing forward so she could reach and gently rub one of the Beast’s long ears. The appendage flicked, and his eyes blinked slowly, another chuff falling from his lips, before he turned to face forward again, his swimming seemingly becoming more determined.

Poppy swallowed and closed her eyes, her exhale a tad less shaky than before.

They will be okay. They have to be.

[mdconfession-blog]

Ok, I know this is gonna be a stupid rant and it's completely fine if this doesnt get posted, but can people who hate Jessa just learn to not talk about it? Or at least censor the shipname so it doesnt pop up everywhere? Ever since Jessa got popular, I've seen such an obnoxious amount of people complaining about it. Primarily on Twitter. And it's just... Why waste time indulging in your hatred for something when you could just be doing something actually enjoyable for yourself?

A few days ago I saw a tweet that was talking about how "most Jessa shippers mischaracterize both J and Tessa" and it's like... How can you mischaracterize characters who barely have a personality to begin with? Yes, they have basic character traits to follow but other than that, they're basically blank slates. I don't think it's IMPOSSIBLE to mischaracterize them, but it just really depends on how and why you may be characterizing them one way. And I would love for someone to explain how Jessa shippers do that? Jessa is one of the only few pairings that make sense in canon, romantically or platonically. J and Tessa were a duo in episode 5 for a reason, they were obviously closer than the others.

Just because in fanart J may act uncharacteristically sappy doesn't mean it's mischaracterization, we don't actually know how either J or Tessa act when flustered or in love. It's not fair to accuse people of mischaracterizing J and Tessa just because people like to draw them sappy, in real life people do things you wouldn't expect them to do because they're in love with someone. Yes, it's true! When you're in love, you tend to say things you wouldn't let anyone else hear!

Plus, a lot of Jessa works are intended to expand on Tessa's character. Tessa is even more of a blank slate than J and it's FUN to try fleshing her out, and what do you know? Fleshing out Tessa does end up fleshing out J as well because they're a canonical duo! We don't know what Tessa would be like in modern day and we only get a glimpse of how she is in episode 5, there are so many layers to her we are missing and a lot of Jessa fanwork dives into that.

Also, be real for 2 seconds. Every ship that is not canon is mischaracterization. You HAVE to mischaracterize your favorites to some degree to make a ship you like work, regardless if it's a toxic or sweet pairing. The same people saying Jessa is a bad ship are people who ship J and Uzi or even Cyn and J. I like all 3 of these pairings by the way, so I'm not calling any of them bad. But I just think it's moronic and hypocritical to dunk on Jessa shippers and then do the same exact shit?

We are also most likely never gonna get anything from Liam himself about either of these characters, whether it's individually or as a pair, I think it's FINE to want to expand upon them? A lot of people in this fandom have a weird complex when it comes to ships and you guys really need to take it down a notch, some of you are TOO sensitive for your own good and probably need to step away from the internet. It says a lot when just a few months ago, Jessa was being called a problematic pairing because of it being interspecies even though robot x human has been a thing for longer than some Murder Drones fans have been alive. Also just in case this hasn't been resolved yet, there's no power imbalance because Tessa treats the drones with the same respect as an actual person... BECAUSE SHE SEES THEM AS PEOPLE.

Dislike and hate whatever you want, but please stop treating people like they're weird for just liking something. It's disheartening to see the amount of people in this fandom who shut others out because of something as stupid as a ship. As long as the pairing isn't genuinely harmful, I don't see why it has to be a problem. There's always going to be bad eggs but I just don't understand why this has to cause a rift between the fandom. I understand being uncomfortable with a ship, even if it's not problematic, and that's completely fair. You have every right to dislike something or be uncomfortable with it, but that doesn't give you a pass to be rude to others over it.

Learn to block and move on, not everything needs your input. If you really need to talk about something that's bothering you, just rant in your friend's DMs!

⠀

[pluckyredhead]

Red Hood and the Outlaws #6 (2011)

Hey, remember when I was recapping this series? Well, unfortunately for all of us, I'm gonna do it some more.

I will admit this is a pretty good cover.

This shit, however, makes me so mad. What an absolutely lazy waste of space. This comic is 20 pages long, not including the cover. That means that this two page spread is literally an entire tenth of the story, and it's used to convey...what? That Jason just fought some guys who were trying to smuggle nukes into Miami.

A two-page spread is meant to deliver impact: a crucial moment in the story, a stunning piece of art, an impressive sense of scale (Galactus looming over the Earth, whatever). This does none of that. Most of the page is just a teal gradient; Rocafort didn't even bother to draw an impressive underwater scene. (I kind of don't blame him, because it would have been a waste of his time, since this scene is NOT NARRATIVELY IMPORTANT.)

Also, the page before this is also a splash, and the one after is three panels depicting Jason caught in an explosion, and that's a generous description considering that one of the panels has nothing in it but bubbles. So now we're up to TWENTY percent of the comic, a full FIFTH of the story, and we have conveyed LITERALLY NOTHING except "Jason got caught up in an underwater explosion."

This is lazy writing and lazy art. This is charging the reader for 20 pages of story and delivering maybe seven, content-wise. It's shamelessly ripping off the audience, and they aren't even trying to pretend they aren't doing it. I don't know if Lobdell didn't have enough story in him or if he was trying to give Rocafort more time to drawn stupid little lines all over everything, New 52-style, but it pisses me off.

Anyway, Jason wakes up on an island a few days later (and a narration box on the first page established that this takes place before RHATO #1):

This page has six panels which is a very respectable amount, although I still don't think it's a great use of space. But I guess Rocafort was really busy adding wood texture to all the panel borders for no reason. Anyway the little pile of leaves Kori has graciously dropped over Jason's dick is very funny.

Jason wakes up, tries to demand his pants from Kori at gunpoint, and passes out again. He has a flashback to the world's most hideous Nightwing costume:

Awful. Also, Jason flounces off in a bratty little fit in the next couple panels, but I support him, because if you actually read what Dick's saying, it's meaningless filler.

See, now this is an appropriate use of a two-page spread for impact and scale. Much more effective. Imagine how effective it would have been if every other spread for five issues hadn't tried and failed at this!

Kori offers Jason some clothing, which turns out to be the hideous Nightwing suit, and Jason flashes back to Under the Red Hood: Shitty Version:

Who needs "Because he took me away from you" when we have whatever the fuck this is?

Jason gets all upset. Kori sniffs Dick's costume and says she can't remember his name, but she has fond memories of the guy who used to wear it. There's a flashback of her and Dick and Roy in action together. Okay, so she clearly remembers Dick and Roy at least somewhat, which is probably Lobdell starting to walk back the controversial amnesia bullshit in the first issue.

Jason tells Kori his connection to Dick and asks if she's mad, which...even setting aside Kori's memory issues and general lack of grudge holding in any continuity, why would she be mad that Jason has the same mentor as a guy she remembers fondly? Anyway, she is indeed not mad and they hug it out. If this is supposed to be depicting Jason's smug "I've been with her" in the first issue, it...really doesn't read like they boned.

Jason's narration on the last page further obscures things:

"Friendship and romance are really the same thing. Anyway LET'S TALK ABOUT ROY HARPER." Okay I know that's me reading with ship goggles but it truly is a very funny transition.

So that's how Jason met Kori! She...pulled him out of the water, and they discussed how they both knew Dick. Definitely worth spending a whole issue on that very interesting story!

[fitzjamesbulletwound]

For the ship ask: *looks both ways* HICKEYJIRV ‼️‼️

hickeyjirv huh... never heard of them...

:3

anyway lmao. yessss i ship them!

what made you ship it?

idk if there was one single thing or moment, i've always been a little obsessed with jirving so all ships that involve him intrigue me but hickeyjirv really snuck up on me, it was like one day i woke up insane about them?? reading everything on ao3, watching their scenes in the show together a million times in a row whenever i rewatch etc. lol. they have one of the most fascinating dynamics in the show to me so that probably helped.

what are your favorite things about the ship?

oouugh so many things... i think that how jirving interacts with hickey tells us a lot about him as a character and i'm a big fan of when two sides of a ship bring something hidden or complicated out of each other. also to me! they are a little bit cunt4cunt lmao. hickey for obvious reasons but jirv is also way more of a bitch then we give him credit for and if they got to interact more I think it would be a lot of sniping back and forth in a way that's funny but also very compelling to me idk. i also like to think about what hickey would get out of them fucking or interacting on any kind of intimate level because we see and can speculate a lot about what jirv gets out of it and what he feels about hickey and himself in relation to hickey but it's fun to think about hickey's side of it. like would he like the attention? would he get offended by jirv's indecision and "oh we can't do this it's a sin blah blah"? the scene where hickey's talking to billy about watching john at sunday service and he says "there are worse things than being lashed" is so interesting and iiii like to speculate that he could've meant that repressing the shit out of yourself and denying your own nature like jirv does is worse than living openly despite the danger and that is such a fascinating thought to explore in terms of what intimacy would look like between the two of them?? if that makes sense?? i could go on lmao. last but not least, i just think hickeyjirv as a ship is really hot idk i'm just on my fujo throne Watching them ya know?

is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

idk if this is unpopular, it's just not something i see talked about and explored as much but i don't think it's that out of the realm of possibility for them to genuinely have/show a little affection for each other, mostly because jirv is starved for connection and hickey is a lot more softhearted than he appears on the surface. i don't think they could ever be like a "fall in love" type ship but a small amount of tenderness and care between them is what really pushes their dynamic over the edge for me. to me. in my mind :3