#HOW TO LIVE WITH MEANING- how to Motivational

[kyri45]

A final letter

Hello Everyone!

The queue is paused and everything is scheduled, which means we are ready for the finale!

I know that, in the end, this was just a silly side project for me, with everything else going on in my life. But for this occasion, I wanted to drop some words here and hope they make sense.

I started watching LMK only because a friend told me there was a "Sonadow-coded" ship. I ended up consuming the entire thing in one sitting on July 10th, 2024. At the time, I was still recovering from a bike accident that had left me with a broken right forearm—unable to draw for a little over a month. (I did try drawing with my left finger, but it wasn't exactly fun.)

Not only that, but it was summer, and I couldn’t enjoy the season or practice my main sport, windsurfing. To say I was feeling the blues is an understatement. I remember being in physical pain just from not being able to draw my sillies. But then, watching LMK did something to my brain chemistry that my little undiagnosed autistic self had never experienced before. It hit so hard that I’ve been physically unable to rewatch the show SINCE that very first day. (And y’all still call me the CEO of this fandom. Bro, I just work here.)

A lot of you have asked what inspired me to start this comic or to draw LMK fan art in the first place. While my usual answer is, "I saw Shadowpeach and thought MK could be their lovechild, given his appearance," the moment that actually started it all was THIS ONE—

(I HAD TO REWATCH THIS SCENE TO MAKE THE GIF AND IT HURT ME ON A MOLECOLAR LEVEL)

I have… a thing for characters who discover their entire identity was something else all along. It consumes my thoughts, my dreams, my every waking moment. I live for identity crises, for characters who thought they knew who they were, only to be forced to rediscover themselves, their existence, and their place in the world. If you give me a story where a character has to go through that, I will like it—regardless of how bad the rest of the story is.

Pair that with loads of trauma, daddy issues, the pressure of a legacy, and world-ending stakes, and congrats! Now I’m obsessed, and I will not stop thinking about it for the rest of my days!

At first, my brain just wanted to release some of that energy with a small, four-panel post about the monkeys discovering that MK was technically their kid.

That was supposed to be it.

But since I never seem to learn my lesson, it didn’t stay like that. Because once I started drawing, I just... continued.

And

I

never

stopped.

A lot of you have also asked how I found the motivation to draw so much, to never take a break. Well, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it one last time: I am my number one fan. No matter how much you laughed, cried, screamed, or went feral over this story, I did all of that and more. Because I got to think about the chapters months before they released. I got to daydream about them. I got to watch them come to life—first through sketches, then line art, then dialogue. And finally, I got to witness your reactions and see the incredible creations you made, inspired by my story.

So yeah, in a way, it was almost an addiction. A good addiction. Because, for the first time in my life, I actually understood what loving art means.

I’ve been drawing for ten years, working professionally for five, but I never loved art before. I just liked it because I happened to be good at it. But creating this comic made me understand why artists say, "Oh, I’ve loved drawing since I was a child!" This was the first time I allowed myself to create purely for my own enjoyment. Something I hadn’t had the privilege to do for a long time.

Other than making me feel even more single than I already was, this story somehow also helped me a little with my own family relationships. So yeah. Crazy how the gay monkeys changed my life.

Of course, I never could have predicted how much traction my AU would gain. Man, y’all were really starving to latch onto something this silly. /j

But yeah—thank you. Thank you for sticking around until the end, for having the patience and trust to follow the story even when I made you rage with angst and cliffhangers. (The statement in my bio still stands: I am not responsible for any physical or emotional damage my art has caused.)

I’m absolutely shit at thanking people, or at writing, or at talking in general, honestly. I’m the furthest thing from being good with words, so I hope the final chapter will be enough to show you my gratitude.

Through this story, I met so many wonderful, talented people. I watched as fans across different platforms found each other through memes and fanart of the AU. I saw artists start their own AUs inspired by mine, growing their own communities. I witnessed an explosion of creativity and collaboration through our takeovers. And I laughed along with you all.

And yeah—at its core, this story has always been about love. Whether it’s platonic, sibling, parental, romantic, or whatever the hell Mac and Wukong had going on for millennia.

At its heart, it’s a story about family.

And maybe, in the end… the real family wasn’t just the one in the comic, but the one we’ve found together along the way. 💛

See you all at the finale.

Love you all, freaks /affectionate

Jade

[oikarma]

how you get the girl | pt.2

pairing: lando norris x reader

summary: what is up with your ex-situationship's timing?

a/n: time to lock in and actually work on this fic LOL.

part one / part two

── ⟢ ・⸝⸝

── ⟢ ・⸝⸝

liked by lando and others

yourinstagram to new beginnings

view all comments

lilyzneimer will miss having you as a neighbor </3

yourinstagram oh but lily no distance could separate us yourinstagram i'll call you so often you'll get sick of me lilyzneimer you already do yourinstagram oh. so.

hattiepiastri what happened to "catch flights not feelings"

yourinstagram in the making of this post no feelings were caught hattiepiastri but you are catching a flight yourinstagram it's for my freaking job let me BREATHE

yourfriend chef ramsey

yourinstagram ❤️ come over and i'll let you try some, they're sooo good

lando missing you in shanghai

yourinstagram you called me hours minutes ago lando wish you'd come visit yourinstagram what, are we in an established relationship? hattiepiastri OOOH CLOCKED!!

── ⟢ ・⸝⸝

liked by lilyzneimer and others

yourinstagram home is where the heart is

view all comments

yourfriend so much fun with you!

yourinstagram can't believe we live so close now

hattiepiastri but i'm literally in aus.

yourinstagram didn't say where my home was, read the caption again hattiepiastri sorry queen ☹️

lando but that's not where mine is?

yourinstagram lando have you been listening to ts recently lando maybe yourinstagram didn't peg you for a lover boy @/oscarpiastri come here lilyzneimer don't make fun of his music taste yourinstagram who, oscar's? don't you worry, i was just sharing information so oscar could bully lando oscarpiastri Thanks, mate. yourinstagram good lad! lando ...

── ⟢ ・⸝⸝

── ⟢ ・⸝⸝

deuxmoi Well, what do we think?

view all comments

user1 cheating already? gah. men.

user2 well maybe kylie's had a change of mind we never know. might be an inside joke or something

user3 she VEHEMENTLY hates green user4 wow fancy vocab user2 i'm just saying, maybe there's another meaning.

user5 are we sure its timothee

user6 ma'am this is a wendy's

user7 where even was he

user8 he posted his poker night at chateau marmont then dipped so no idea user9 on his story he posted a pic at an airport so prob not in LA anymore

user10 what was that girl he was hooking up with called again? swore i heard her talking in one of her tiktoks how she loved green

user11 that's crazy user12 delulu 101 user13 think her name was y/n or something just google it

── ⟢ ・⸝⸝

close friends only

liked by others

yourinstagram me rn

view all comments

lilyzneimer ...what now

yourinstagram TURN OFF DND AND RESPOND TO ME

── ⟢ ・⸝⸝

── ⟢ ・⸝⸝

tiktok

@/chalametss timothee and kylie spotted at a concert

user1 guess it was an inside joke after all

user2 what user3 there was a rumor going around that he was buying stuff in her least favorite color user4 what even are these theories

user5 mom i don't like what i'm seeing

yourtiktok @/lilyztiktok bro this comment has been deleted

── ⟢ ・⸝⸝

liked by mclaren and others

lando Shanghai P4. Not the best pace today. We got off to a bad start but made what we could. Good job, Oscar.

user1 ohhh the first pic

user2 ovaries just exploded

user3 lando norizz who? he looks at me like that and i drop dead

user4 You got it mate

oscarpiastri Thanks Lando!

user5 mclaren's 2025 wdc + wcc

yourinstagram congrats! wish i could've been there

lando come to suzuka? user6 @/maguiwhateverheruseris keep an eye on your man user7 she's actually really pretty...why y'all hating? user8 no one's hating?? yourinstagram i'll see

── ⟢ ・⸝⸝

liked by others

yourinstagram insert motivating gym quote

view all comments

hattiepiastri oooh SPICY

yourinstagram 💓💋

lilyzneimer i approve of p3 wholeheartedly

yourinstagram almost forgot i had him blocked for a moment and worried that he'd see it lilyzneimer what are you worrying about?? you don't owe him anything

lando coming?

lando to suzuka? yourinstagram why'd you phrase it like that lando 😉 oscarpiastri Can you guys not. yourinstagram pop off oscar, tell him off lando 😔

── ⟢ ・⸝⸝

a/n: got kinda messy...

[queenendless]

*°◇■¤ SHAPE OF YOU ¤■◇°*

A/n: Yeah the same English VA voiced all these dudes, and his B-Day is TODAY!

Tbh though, I wanna take a break from this one sided infatuated hellhole I dug myself into and write for other series again, that aren't dubbed with him in it. The irony of me saying that when I wrote this of all things. I ❤️ that madman though. Ah, the mess of a crush!

Pairing: Adult! Makoto, Anos, Jiji, Mash, Nagumo, Mikey, Lighter, Jinwoo, Ryoji X Fem!Adult!Reader.

CW: SPOILERS FOR ALL THE FANDOMS INVOLVED SO BE PREPARED.

Characters aged up 21+. Isekaied reader. All shows coexist in this anime world AU.

SFW and NSFW CONTENT INVOLVED. Kinda headcanons/daily life with the various tagged dudes, mushy fluffy romance with eventual brief short smut. Voice kink, lovesick/lovestruck reader, reverse harem vibes.

Getting reborn in a world choked full of anime characters would be any weeb’s greatest dream. Your inner wish finally gets granted, at last!

So many cameos, easter eggs, references serving the overstimulation you craved.

Urban dystopia, cyberpunk, fantasy, and even classic and modern day Japan structures this conglomeration that is the capital of this anime city in this anime world.

In one way or another, you yourself seek out such dashing men that all had their unique quirks and styles straight out of the gate. Even in this new life they still hold a place in your heart.

Unlike most leads in reverse harem stories, you wanted to embrace this fantasy. Your lovesick self literally gave off such an intense lovestruck aura as is. You crave that kind of affection and attention, in this life as the last.

Someway, somehow, it worked.

Your bois … them dudes … ah what a lineup.

Mash, the magicless exercise buff, secretly likes you watching him doing weight lifts with one hand and eating cream puffs with the other. While workouts with him are more casual, he still appreciates you wanting to bond over it, inspiring him to do his push ups and sit ups with you kissing him when his face gets close enough as his motivation and reward. That and sharing slash feeding each other cream puffs together whenever you get the chance.

“You don't have to dote on me so much. Even without magic, I will use all of my strength to keep you safe. And bake cream puffs for you every day. I'll dote on you all to show you just how much you mean to me.”

Jiji, the goofy quirky red-head that he is, despite the Evil Eye yokai of hatred using him as its vessel, slowly but surely wormed his way into your heart. The stupid jokes paired with those face expressions laced with the boundless energy he has despite the hell he's been through grew on you over time until his beaming smile got you turning to mush. Being able to wind down and relax when he started gaining control over his alternate self, taking naps with you got you being the big spoon for this cutie. Cuddles are inevitable.

“Your laugh is infectious. Getting you to smile is my daily goal. It really does make my day. Gets me smiling every single time. I never want this feeling to end. So let's have more bright filled days ahead together, Y/n~”

Lighter, the red scarfed honor bound Champion, rightfully won your heart with his protective romantic dorky self. Meeting each other through your shared friends that are legendary Proxies, you become entangled in each other's lives. Giving you rides on his motorbike went from convenient transport to enjoying the scenic drive together. Sharing some Nitro Fuel together as he quipped out some dorky puns all to make you smile. You keep him grounded in return. Kissing every single scar his past left him with, being able to let down his walls and be open with you, it all means so much.

“You can count on me to get the job done. Whatever it is, whenever you need me, I'm there. I'll fight for you until my dying breath. Hey now, don't cry. I'm not going anywhere. Not for a long time.”

Anos, the misfit that is the Demon King of Tyranny, exudes natural charm and strength that is indeed OP. Building bridges, ending divides, bringing everyone united in a new age for his descendants. So of course the strapping reincarnated man bewitched you as well. Sure he has his own group of comrades on the side – a harem in a sense from others perspective – but from his self awareness, you have an actual harem. He was amused, intrigued even, that you would see him as another potential mate, so he humored you. His parents were more than welcoming to meet a bride he wouldn't mind marrying one day. You're just that interesting to him.

“Did you really think that just because I was part of your little court, that I would be outdone by my competition? I'll be as savage as well as benevolent to my rivals. Why am I going along with it? Well … I'm enthralled by you, my lovely human.”

Nagumo, one of the strongest assassins there is, would deem crossing paths with you during a mission not as a coincidence but as fate. He felt light as a feather, walking on air, as he made small talk with you after finishing his tasks for the day, that elated smile that came with blood stains. The fact that you reciprocate his assassin lifestyle had the arrow of love striking him true, mirroring Sakamoto's reason for leaving the Order all to be with his own special someone. Introducing you to said former comrade at his convenience store came soon after.

“Getting close to me will put you at risk, no doubt. And I barely have time to see you as it is due to my job. But I'll gladly kill anyone that dares harm a hair on your pretty little head. I really like you, after all.”

Mikey, the leader of his own biker group, can be quite the handful. Being overprotective about keeping his family, blood bound and found, you were no exception. He'd do anything for you, day or night. He is as loyal as he is a kid at heart. He wears his heart on his sleeve in your honest opinion. Giving him PDA really lifts his spirits; loved fill squeezing hugs, smooching him senseless, and being a shoulder to cry on for those tough days.

“Oi. I'm grateful to you. Ya know that, right? When this city sees delinquents in a better life through the Tokyo Manji Gang, my brother's dream will finally become a reality. And I hope you'll be by my side when that happens. I can't imagine anything else worthwhile.”

Jinwoo, an E-rank hunter reawakened to become the next Shadow Monarch took the world and beyond by storm, sweeping all off their feet. Slaying magic beasts all around you to show off his growing strength and speed. Saving those that are genuinely worth it helped balance the OP aura he gave, winning your heart in his favor. Seeing his former self in you brought out his overprotectiveness, aiding in winning him over in turn. This Ruler rather carry you princess style himself than his shadow generals.

“We've both been at the bottom. But while I've been fortunate to have agency and power to lead a better life, you haven't been so lucky. If you wouldn't mind, I want to look after you. I … I care about you. Very much. I want to be there for you like you have been for me.”

Ryoji, the Appraiser of Nyx herself, could not believe it himself. He was back together with his friends, making new memories with this second chance. And he had you to thank for that. The anomaly that is many worlds meshing together to create this one has you literally radiating at its core, having him hone in on you. You're an angel in his eyes. Hence, serenading on the piano for you, affectionately swaying you over with his wise words about embracing life to the fullest, and wrapping his scarf around you for you both to share. You got Death wrapped around your finger.

“I didn't expect to be in the presence of an angel, yet here you are. Knowing you had a hand in making all this possible, allow me to thank you personally. Beneath this moon, beside this sea, will you share one dance with me?”

Makoto, the savior literally tied to Death itself, willingly gave up his life to save his world from the literal end. In this alternate life, he too had been given another chance to live a long life. And like his close friend, he gets drawn to your presence. But unlike the former, you're the affectionate one. Petting him, sharing headphones in exchange for letting him rest against you, even looking unto his big blue eyes had him blushing and ducking his head in embarrassment. This silent loner boi is not immune to your smitteness.

“You're strange. Putting yourself out there … because you like me? Sorry. I've had admirers before, but I've never wanted to ruin those friendships. So why …? Maybe Ryoji was right. You're like a kindred soul to us … to me. We've all died yet came back. All to meet one another. I've dealt with stranger things … but I don't mind. You, that is. I mean it.”

While they were all different, the similarities when it comes to their bond with you are all there.

Shaking their warm calloused hands, no other kind of handshake could ever hope to top it.

Those marvelous eyes fascinate you.

Their modest encouragement sends your heart ablaze.

The many things they do to make each day easier, comfy, worthwhile.

Their fingers rubbing sensually along your cranium down to your tense neck. Massaging the rest of your stressed sore body followed suit. Of course they'd flex for you as you return the kind act, giving their lean builds love bites and smooches in the process.

Your drained hum of thanks reaches their ears as you use their lap as your pillow. They would do the same if they're too drained to go to bed or they need your presence to cheer them up for whatever reason.

Their hand brushes through your hair strands, pushing them aside to trail along your flushed cheek, causing it to darken further because it's their touch.

Many times you fall asleep against them, whether leaning into their side or using their lap as a pillow, it always ends with them rearranging yourselves to sleep on the couch together with you on top on them or they carry you to bed and keeps you in their arms still as you cuddle amid la la land.

Their laughter, whether deep or light, is a musical score you cherish to hear much more.

Lounging together with you sitting up against his front, your legs in between his own, his arms wrapped around you, he held the console controller in your lap with his hands overlapping yours as you played whatever video games piqued both your interests.

Spotting you squeezing the life out of chibi plush doll versions of themselves always brought out their envy. But it was your comfort whenever you couldn't hug their real life counterparts due to work or any other occupying situations. But you do get the chance to see them again, cuddles and kisses come in tenfold.

Even being able to spend time with them along with their comrades and friends always ends up with you staying glued by their side.

Days turned to weeks and then months, for each passing moment you were interweaving a web of bonds that got you attached to these fine nine beings.

For they share the same voice.

God that voice …

Such versatility and tenor. So sultry, sensual, and sexy all at once. It should be a crime to sound that fine. Of course it will slide. That kind of voice times nine. Like a soul split into nine sublime forms.

Comforting words. Encouragement. Goofy impressions. The puns. Saying your name. Pet Names. Any and every word. You could never get enough.

Then there are the salacious moments.

Them whispering in your ears to utter any and all such things. Dirty, romantic, primal. Whatever suited the mood. Whichever made you both comfortable.

“Does my voice really make you come that much? Interesting~”

That exact sentence would become like a motto – a slogan perhaps – to these guys. Teasing you in that tempo and timbre all to make you melt. Never letting you live it down.

“The ways in which you talk to me~”

Your own tease earned you being pushed up against the wall, your free hand supporting you since your other hand was pinned behind your back. His free hand grasped your chin, tilting your face around all to devour you. Just one of many scenarios that play out between you and your many partners.

Your first time with each of them is equally special, ingrained into your mind and your core.

Whether decent or long, wide or thick, so much variety with every cock that stuffs up your needy pussy.

Smooth and sly or sculpted and rough are such fingers that get to touch you, trace patterns along your sensitive flesh.

To pinch and rub your pearls, leaving love bites on every inch of you to remind one another who you belong to.

Fondling and massaging your frame, suckling on your stretch marks along your fine as fuck dumpy, stuffing their fingers in both your mouths to lather up your essence, licking from your ass crack to your clit.

They all share the intoxicating crave for your addictive taste, devouring your cunt for hours on end, their faces squished between your quivering sweaty thighs, their noses buried in your pubic hair while they're sloppily making out as their dexterous fingers and skillful tongues went to work on having you come so many times.

Missionary, backshots, the mating press, against the wall, on the floor, across tables and couches, even on the roof — when there's a will there's a way.

They love replacing the pearls around your neck …

Titty fucking. Throat fucking. Ejaculating all over your sweaty sheen self. Jacking off through your thighs, your peachy hills, all to tease you so close to edge yet striving to be within you.

Of course, they let you have your way with them in kind. Their egos and hearts soar as you claim them, the bite marks and bruising sucks litter their lean firm vessels to match yours. The tattoos, the scars, those get you showering smooches like mad.

Whether hugging their waist or throwing them over their shoulders, they love to rub and grip your legs enough for fingertips to be left behind as your latch onto them is ironclad.

Weaving hands through each other's haphazard hair while tugging on them hair strands roughly amiss lust, interlocking their hands with yours that need that tether to keep hold onto through the hectic ride of orgasmic paradise.

Massaging your ever tight gummy caverns all to see your expressions of vulnerable passion, falling apart easily while stuffing their cream in you, hitting that sizzling bundle of nerves all to tip you over the edge.

Those feral groans, them unhinged moans, such breathless cries of euphoria with your name reading such a crescendo off their swollen wet mouths as they could never get enough of your vice grip firm enough to leave their fingerprints behind.

Your curling, squirming self crying and breathless as creamy goodness dripped down your valleys, their comforting warm bodies draping over your beautiful self, holding you while the highs of sex would soon calm down.

“Let me fight for you.”

“Laugh with you.”

“Cry with you.”

“Reshape the world for you.”

“Kill for you.”

“Protect you.”

“Rule with you.”

“Live life with you.”

“Love you.”

In this alternate universe, in a world full of vibrant people, with limitless possibilities and potential …

The shape of them — their very existences — ingrained in your type of mate. Partner. Perhaps the shape of their souls are all one in the same. All intense, driven and outrageous.

Maybe because of your preference in your former life. Through their voices all stemming from one. Perhaps your rooted desire for a significant other with that boundless voice created so many options and you finally hit the jackpot.

When the day comes you wake up amongst all nine men strewn about, bare to the bone the same as you, in sheen gleaming ecstasy, soiled sheets and pillows thrown about all over the spacious bedroom, as you smiled all dopey like at those peaceful sleeping dreamboats.

The shape of you might as well be a heart because you too wore it when you're with your favorites.

[residentwordsofaffirmationdealer]

dick's loyalty to anyone else who needs help, then bruce, in gotham knights

i've been stewing on this since November of last year. the 'retribution part 1: sons and lovers' arc from gotham knights (2000) was genuinely soooo interesting and not in the way that its like mindblowing but its just so weirdly well and and nuancedly written.

heads-up: its very outdated like bruce is being racist to dick -- for context dick gets told that suprise!! his grandfather (yoska graesinka) is secretly alive and wants to meet him and dicks surprised cause he though everyone in his family was dead already and so he asks bruce "i thought you checked that out years ago???" like if dick still had any living relatives and bruce says "your people are notoriously hard to keep track off" and its ambiguous if that means romani people or circus people and dick goes "my PEOPLE??? what's THAT supposed to mean" soo ummmm........ 

but anyway. for more context, yoska is not actually dick's paternal grandfather but was told he was by ra's al ghul (and yoska genuinely believed it) and dick is 50/50 on it but ends up liking him because yoska is a sweetheart and obv bruce is very very very very pissed off and doesnt believe yoska is actually dick's grandfather and is kind of very. like. cold to him and dick thinks he's being unfair and then he starts being cold to dick too. (also more context -- this is basically right after bruce officially adopted dick (it's still in the courts and yoska is petitioning it)

it's also set right after talia al-ghul is ignoring her father (she's now running lexcorp and going by talia head (if anyone else remembers that era)), so ra's gets very upset and bruce assumes that ra's probably "thinks the whole thing is [bruce's] fault" (THIS IS IMPORTANT LATER)

anyway, bruce and babs insist that dick meet yoska, and yoska calls bruce "your raya", meaning (not romani) landowner, and dick tries to explain that although bruce isn't rom, he is still family. the wordplay here is really interesting bc theres the whole vibe of You Don't Belong With Him + calling bruce dick's landowner kind of implies that their relationship is not permanent -- and also (as of the nightwing runs prior to that, i'm thinking chuck dixon specifically?) dick was insecure of this for a long time too when bruce didn't adopt him and he was only his ward. also, written by the same author, inheritance (and in an earlier gotham knights issue -- sibling rivalry), when dick is close to being 18 and he's scared he won't mean anything to bruce anymore because he legally won't have a connection to him. so in total, there's just not really a sense of permanence.

anyway. later when its revealed that dick fully has his own apartment, yoska is shocked and is like "he doesnt let you live at the manor????" and dick says "he would if i asked, but i have a life here" and yoska is like "THIS IS NOT A LIFE... all you have is rent and... job" (kind of a bar tbh)

but anyway, dick realizes that yoska's not his grandfather for real and ra's is playing all of them, and he explains that to yoska. they get startled but in the end it's just bruce, and yoska and bruce talk it out and and they all make up or whatever and dick is like oh btw you can live with me if you want to yoska and he says "you have no need of me, flying grayson. you have family enough right here" (which was cute!!)

then we see ra's missing his daughter, and he does (just like bruce guessed) blame bruce for ruining his relationship with his daughter, and thats why he tried to ruin bruce's relationship with dick

and then it goes to bruce officially officially adopting dick!! and they have a cute moment but then, as bruce explains ra's motives to dick

bruce acknowledges that dick's loyalty will not always be for bruce and bruce only but for anyone he thinks he can "save" -- "your loyalty is easily come by. it is offered to anyone you deem to be in jeopardy"

bruce explains how he thinks dick has a "I Can Fix Them" complex, talking about how he attaches himself to people who are always in some kind of trouble (babs, helena, kory) and dick feels like bruce is trying to tell him that bruce feels like dick is letting dick adopt him because of the same kind of attachment and that this will help Fix bruce etc etc

and so this is the finale. but the lead up to this? the emphasis on devotion? on saving people?

in issue #10 (about 10 issues prior to sons and lovers), tim and dick tag along a wayne enterprises meeting with bruce, and the fire alarm goes off as dick and tim play tag. tim suggests that they exit the building, but dick says "after we see what's on fire, whether anyone needs help, and where bruce is"

ITS MAKING THE SAME POINT BRUCE DOES, 10 ISSUES LATER. dick will always prioritize helping other people over bruce (and his own safety)

the second part where this is foreshadowed is where hugo strange (dressed as batman) interrogates dick about "if bruce wayne is batman" and dr. strange says says "admit that though you could shed these meager bonds and kill me with your bare hands, you won't dare as long as batman's safety is in question" and dick corrects him with "i wont endanger ANY hostage's safety"

even though obviously it means something very different (he's trying to make dr strange think that bruce isn't batman) but still dick admits to it.......... like ra's you were too right.... dick's loyalty is quite literally anyone who needs help and then to bruce... and look. here once again. even TIM knows that...........

if dick had to either save bruce or tim, he would save tim. (ik he doesnt fr and right after this scene, it shows dick trying to save bruce but. its more about whats being stated because this is all lead up....) i'll come back to this when i'm more coherent but does anyone else understand. i'm gnawing on the bars of my enclosure.

[heartepub]

有緣無分

genre/warnings/wc. angst. indie film director!minghao x interpreter!gn!reader. weird books and copious insect mating descriptions (do those count as warnings?). unbeta'd, not proofread. 0.9k. note. for @studioeisa, in response to minghao + the last love letter from an entomologist, by jared singer. part of my 100 followers event !

As with any retreat house worth its salt, there are shelves filled with the most eclectic titles one could ask for. You’re reading them aloud, eyes bright with both curiosity and tipsy wonder. There’s a bottle of wine held loosely in your hand, which Minghao eyes as you run your fingers lightly over the books.

“‘Long Walk to Freedom’—Mandela, hm…‘I Could Pee on This’… ‘Almanac 2011’—Oh, NatGeo! …‘How to Live with a Huge Penis’…” you begin to giggle, finger still running along the spines as he makes a face behind you. “‘How to Good-bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way?’” Your giggles grow louder as he snorts.

Minghao doesn’t need to know what malarkey means to grasp the utter absurdity of that combination of words.

You pull something from the shelf, handing it to him. “It’s the only book written in Chinese.” Obliging, he accepts it from you, patting the space beside him on the couch as he opens the book to a random page.

You flop down, the wine in the half-empty bottle sloshing with your motion. He gently extricates it from your hand as he reads the first sentence his eyes land on. “Sexual cannibalism is common amongst praying mantises. Typically, the female is the aggressor, which encourages males to approach the female carefully and cautiously when mating.” 

Minghao raises an eyebrow, intrigued even as his brain doesn’t quite parse the words. 

You continue from where he left off. His mother tongue fills the air, your accent endearing as it always is. But it’s all fluff in his head, nothing quite as important as the weight of your head on his shoulder. 

It is well into the night; neither of you have bothered with watches, and the clocks here are wildly unsynced. It’s an hour for dreams; the amber warmth of the indoor lamps meet the remnants of the lights from the pool outside. The result is a hazy mix of blue and orange casting mesmerizing shadows across your face.

“Oh, this is interesting,” he hums, pulling himself out of his daze to listen, “Some flies have been found to be monogamous, challenging prior assumptions of polygy- polygynous relations. Though postmating responses in female flies has been diplomatic, emerging research indicates that copulation, including the exposure to mating-specific pheromones, reduces receptors in certain neurons among males. This results in a severely reduced motivation to re-engage in mating behavior. Neither male nor female would mate with another, leading to loss in genetic material should copulation be unsuccessful.”

Minghao skims the passage. “Not diplomatic,” he corrects, “documented.”

“Mm. ’Kay.” The alcohol has already clearly gotten to you. Your words slur, ever so slightly. “I’d like to be a praying mantis in my next life. A true man-eater. Maybe a fly for the devotion.”

Minghao snorts again, the sound more unrestrained than usual. Perhaps a consequence of the second bottle. 

“Must be easy to love if you’re an insect,” you continue to muse, “Just pheromones, sex, then you give birth, then you die. No such thing as ‘cheating’. No room for emotions or family drama.”

“Seems like guys get the short end of the stick,” he replies after a beat. “Maybe not for me.”

You just giggle again, digging your head into his shoulder, only letting up when he yelps in pain. “Good. It’s men’s turn.” He just grunts, pushing you off while nursing the soreness. The moment his hand stops massaging, your head has reclaimed its position. You’re saying something, but it doesn’t quite register—his mind has been weighing his next actions even as you talk glibly beside him. 

After a beat, he leans his head against yours. Your chatter dies quickly. For a while, you don’t move, until you shift slightly, allowing the top of head to rest right under his jaw. He doesn’t usually drink; tonight was an exception, but he’s not too concerned. Not when it’s you and your warmth pressing against his side.

Nearly everything has been said and done; his flight is a red-eye, the early morning right after your impromptu midnight screening (A special edition, you had pitched to the head organizer, after your mutual bid of creative madness, where we add subtitles to the silent portions of the film, giving voice to what had been previously left unsaid). He and you had promptly been sent here, amid nature, wine, and strange books, in the name of unleashing the creative spirit.

Tomorrow, you’ll both have left the retreat house, ready with your hard drive of the edited film. A handful of hours after that, he’ll be back in China, to his life of writing and directing, or perhaps preparing for the next screening in some other country, in another film festival. 

Perhaps he’ll meet another interpreter, though he’s sure no one would ever quite be the same. No one else could linger between the cracks of himself, as careful as he was to choose what brokenness remains seen in the final iterations of his art.

Silence rests between you, not a burden, but a weight nonetheless. Even a whisper would feel like a scream. There is a precipice, but neither of you will jump. Only yearning can fill this space.

(In the early morning after you part, he boards the plane, How to Good-bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way? tucked into his carry-on. His first petty crime. A purely selfish way to remember how you laughed every when you read the title.

Minghao hopes that the Buddhists were right about samsara. If they were, he could learn to love with the vicious devotion only lesser creatures have. If it’s you, he wouldn’t mind his turn.)

有緣無分 . yǒu yuán wú fèn, destined to meet but not fated to be together (idiom)

note. praying mantis mating description from here ; flies one is straight out of my 2am brain. yet another outtake from a wip yet to be written—this will not be the last you see of this couple (kae hates to see me coming)

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

I'm gonna need Da On to learn the word no. Or a variation, or just words in general. And yes I mean Da On, I didn't get confused. I'm not in any way, excusing the behaviour of the other characters. But here is the thing. Da On doesn't speak up. He's living in a permanent state of avoidance and inaction. The only thing motivating him is avoiding whatever bad thing is happening at any given moment. And he is surrounded by people who can't help themselves but do something. Again not excusing, just explaining.

So when Ju Seong Hyeon asked him to stay by his side, he just wanted the bad vibes between them to end. So he stayed silent and eventually nodded his head yes. Nodded his fucking head. So when JSH gets way too into it, and he gets upset he still doesn't say it makes him uncomfortable, in fact he says it doesn't, when asked directly. He says the office is the problem and let's JSH drag him to dinner and photos.

When he gets dragged home by Kim Su Hyeon and he forces himself on him, he's still stays silent until KSH speaks and then he says: what if I said no? Which for me it was funny, because it's almost like it was testing out the word for the first time. I know it's not like that, it was just amusing given where my head was at.

He does tell JSH to leave when they talk in the car park the next morning, but we know why,so it’s not like it comes from some newfound resolve. Then, at the work event outside the office, he just tells him to give up if he’s tired. At that point, I was laughing. It seems the only person he can actually be tough on is his sister, which, you know, doesn’t exactly make him a great person. And by the end, when JSH tells him he won’t give up and will wait as long as it takes, he still says nothing and just walks away. And this was just the last two episodes.

And then he finally says NO to KSH and the ring (wtf was that?), and I thought, finally! He has a spine. But I was a fool. Because honestly this still made me cackle.

He was just assaulted. How about you talk NEVER? How about you run out and not look back? And call the police? Dude, at what point are you at least partly responsible for the mess you found yourself in?

Because I don’t want to be misunderstood or have people come at me, let me be clear - I’m not victim blaming, I’m script blaming. This character is a complete doormat. He’s living in a house on fire. He didn’t light the match, sure, but he’s also not grabbing the fire extinguisher that’s right next to him.

[marinsawakening]

I think the decision to make Ganondorf a flat evil villain in TOTK was to the story's direct detriment. Flat evil villains can work very well in the right story, but TOTK's story does not benefit from it.

Arguably the central theme of TOTK is the duty of kings (or leaders in general). Rauru and Ganondorf are clearly intended to be direct contrasts, Rauru with a philosophy where kingship means protection and Ganondorf with a philosophy where kingship means domination. Zelda follows in Rauru's footsteps. And that's about where the examination ends. Great game everyone hit the showers.

This 'examination' on the duty of kings is, to put it mildly, extremely shallow. There is no examination on what protection and domination mean, on how both kings arrived to their conclusions, what this materially meant for their subjects, etc. With Rauru, you could at least pick up on story details and cobble together a reasonable backstory for his motives and beliefs; the implied disaster faced by the Zonai people that led Rauru and Mineru to be the last remaining Zonai lends a decent foundation for Rauru's prioritization of protecting his people. While never properly explored, Rauru's beliefs are logical and can reasonably be ascribed to life experience by extrapolating from canon details.

Ganondorf on the other hand... yeah. Not so much.

Ganondorf is evil because he is Ganondorf. He believes that kingship means domination because he is Ganondorf. He wants power because he is Ganondorf. None of his motives make any kind of logical sense. Why does he want to cover the world in darkness? What purpose does this serve for him? What does he stand to gain from ruling over a world cast in night? Before the final boss fight, Ganondorf has a long, important-sounding speech where he waffles between talking about wanting to dominate and wanting to cast the world in night. I listened to it, deeply confused, and mostly wondered 'Is he stupid?' Seriously, why would he want any of this?

This is kind of the problem with cartoonishly evil villains: their motivations make no sense. Nobody sets out to destroy the world, because, y'know, they live on it. What is Ganondorf planning to rule over here, exactly? A world with nothing but his own created monsters? What is he dominating then? Why is reshaping the world so important to him, when he could just conquer it?

And of course: why does Ganondorf think that kingship means domination in the first place? What was different about him and Rauru for them to arrive at such polar opposite conclusions on their duty?

As far as the story is concerned, the fundamental difference is that Ganondorf was born evil. Ganondorf has no reasons for doing what he does, beside his lust for power, because he's evil. Even if Rauru has his reasons for believing what he does, this means nothing if his views are contrasted by a guy who's doing this because he was just born evil. No productive conversation regarding the nature of kingship can come from pitting a character against a strawman, and thus it means nothing when Zelda follows in Rauru's footsteps and makes protection her duty. Zelda isn't born evil, so literally why would she ever have done anything different?

Ganondorf has enough charisma to feel like a good character, but when you actually pay attention to what he's saying it becomes very clear very quickly he has all the depth of a cartoon villain. He might as well be cackling evil and promising to drown the world in pollution or something. His motives are non-existent and his actions nonsensical, and thus his views on kingship add nothing of thematic value to the story.

It is not terribly difficult to ascribe Ganondorf motivations based on TOTK's imperialist overtones, but such a reading clearly goes blatantly against the text. When you need to read against the text in order to add a modicum of thematic depth to the story, that's not great.

[aromacaque]

I've seen you say it before, but can you explain more or less what you mean when you say that Macaque idolizes/idolized Wukong?

I've talked about it a little in these posts too 1 , 2

I'm gonna break this down by chronological order for my own sanity lol

Before Attacking Heaven

We don't have a ton of info on this part of their lives, but I do think this scene, which if not entirely before the brotherhood, is at least before their plans to go against heaven.

I talked about this more in detail here, but this scene just kinda establishes what their relationship was before everything else happened, which is important.

Macaque getting hurt is a really small detail, but they wouldn't take the time to put that in for absolutely no reason.

He's willing to throw himself in fire for their home and/or for Wukong. Wukong checks on him to make sure he's okay and gives him some peaches. He realizes Macaque is a little annoyed at him, then tries to comfort him. This is also one of the few times we see Macaque genuinely happy. They're best friends! Cool!! Not much to say here about him idolizing Wukong, but this is where it starts.

I couldn't tell you if it was already happening during this moment under the tree or not, but at some point Macaque starts to kind of stop seeing Wukong as a person and more of an idea. Something above him. The first time we see this is during the brotherhood.

Again, talked about this a little bit in this post, but in this scene with the brotherhood, we see what their relationship has become. Macaque ignores his own worries, fears, and distrust in favor of Wukong. Whatever Wukong says goes.

Wukong doesn't do anything to coerce Macaque into acting like this. Macaque is choosing to place Wukong over his inhibitions. His blind faith and trust in Wukong is not healthy. It is codependent*

But really it's less these scenes and more everything after them that lets us see how bad this actually was.

Wukong becomes Macaque's obsession and this spirals out of control the worse their relationship gets. By the time we are at season 1, Wukong is Macaque's sole motivator until season 3, where Lady Bone Demon puts his life on the line.

JTTW Fight

We know we are missing a lot of information because what happens between their argument under Five Phases Mountain and in the fight that ended Macaque's life makes no sense if that's all there was to their falling out.

Macaque is much more reserved and hesitant in the past than he is in the present. To go from that to "Macaque, stop! Don't make me do this!" ? To a fight implied to be one of Wukong's worst memories? How? Why? Macaque is completely unreachable here. It seems like he refuses to even try talking it out while this time it's Wukong who isn't being listened to.

To go from his past self to how he acts in season 1?

We technically don't know what happened, but do we know enough to make sense of it? I think so. And yes, it has everything to do with how he "idolized" Wukong.

Wukong's Present Attitude Toward Macaque

WALK WITH ME HERE AND KEEP PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT I PUT ASTERISKS ON. I SWEAR ON MY LIFE THERE IS A POINT TO ALL THIS.

First of all, Wukong does not intervene with anything unless he believes it is a serious threat (ex. Lady Bone Demon, Azure, The Pillars) or something that MK can't handle on his own (ex. Spider Queen, LBD, Azure, Pillars).

It is worth noting that the first time Macaque shows up, Wukong doesn't seem surprised at all. He also isn't concerned enough to immediately confront MK about it upon noticing or confront him the second Macaque shows up despite knowing how dangerous he could be and clearly having followed MK to keep an eye on him. It's only once Macaque hurts MK that he intervenes.

Wukong, for whatever reason, possibly because he knows him well, doesn't treat Macaque as a serious threat. If anything, he treats him more as a nuisance,* but ultimately as his responsibility to deal with, not MK's.

MACAQUE: Come on! The old you would've leveled this whole mountain range to stop me! But you're scared of hurting some kid? Pathetic!

He also doesn't use his full power against Macaque. Macaque knows he isn't too. He treats Macaque in a similar manner to how he treats Spider Queen, only with a bit more force and power due to Macaque being stronger. Reiterating that Wukong doesn't see Macaque as a genuine threat LBD style. This is important.

WUKONG: Are you ever going to get sick of living in my shadow?

WUKONG: Oh no...

(The voice delivery here in particular is very um... exasperated.)

SIDENOTE:

MACAQUE: Oh Wukong!

IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT WUKONG WITH THIS GUY!!! HE WANTS HIS ATTENTION SPECIFICALLY EVERY TIME! This guy is literally obsessed with him. Wukong lives rent free in his head.

WUKONG: So what? You're her puppet now? I mean, makes sense, you always did have a sidekick kind of vibe.

WUKONG: So, you got bone demon powers now, huh? Well, it is on brand for you to have worse versions of everyone else's powers... Not gonna gloat? Monologue a little bit before scurrying off to your master?

*I'm gonna be honest, I don't think Wukong is saying any of these things as some admission to Macaque's inferiority as much as he is aggravated by Macaque's behavior.

Look, Wukong doesn't act like this with anybody else. The closest he gets is taunting enemies during fights which is never that serious, intentionally provoking someone to get a needed reaction (ex. DBK while trapped in webs), or adopting a serious demeanor with dangerous situations (LBD, Azure, etc.)

Macaque is an exception to Wukong's behavior. For obvious reasons, nobody else has that kind of relationship with him.

His words to Macaque are condescending, yes, but I don't think it's in the way it sounds. Macaque doesn't acknowledge his own faults, that has to be frustrating. Then he goes and acts like he's an extension of the people around him rather than his own person? And that actively contributed to their falling out? His grievances, as justifiable as some are, actively causes Macaque to continue to seek Wukong out to taunt him and drag other people into their drama?

I'm kind of lacking the words right now to describe this adequately but Macaque's behavior annoys Wukong. Otherwise, all things considered, he's relatively peaceful with Macaque in a way that is not reciprocated. Wukong is objectively behaving the most maturely out of the two of them. He doesn't go out of his way to seek Macaque out to taunt him. He isn't bringing others into their issues like Macaque is.

While Macaque obviously means a lot to Wukong, and there's a lot of history between these two, and it's so much more complicated than this, he's the only one out of the two that made any attempts to move on from what happened. To be clear, I don't think he ever really did. Wukong is very avoidant, it's easy for him to act like he doesn't care it's just that none of that information is relevant to this analysis, but the important thing here is that it is only Macaque who is behaving like this.

He only gets serious the second Macaque might actually cause pain to anyone else. He only attacks him AGGRESSIVELY when he caused Mei to get the Samadhi Fire.

When Wukong realizes Macaque isn't willingly working for LBD, immediately says "Wait, I have a plan!" as if he is willing to extend an olive branch to Macaque to help him, or at least keep him off their asses. When Macaque shows up after the LBD fight, he doesn't reject him being there, Macaque just easily annoys him and puts him on edge.

WHY DOES LITERALLY ANY OF THIS MATTER THOUGH?

Can possibly allude to what happened after their argument under the mountain. But more importantly...

Because it begs the question: Why does Macaque do this?

What Macaque's Relationship with MK Says About Him

Keep walking with me. I swear this has a point.

I can't get into detail about their relationship, it would take too long, so I am just grabbing relevant information only here.

Initially, he instantly equates MK as an extension of Wukong while also contradicting himself by encouraging MK to see himself as his own person in seasons 1-3. In a lot ways, this is self-projection. Macaque has a habit of projecting onto others. This tells us a hell of a lot more about Macaque than it ever has about MK's character.

Literally the entire sequence where he's "mentoring" (cough manipulating) MK, telling him to be the weapon is important. YES, this is him coercing MK to use too much power so he can take it, but we can't ignore that this is literally how Macaque fights. Especially when Wukong is involved*

This lesson has ulterior motives and bad intentions, but it is genuine to a certain degree. Underneath his personal vendetta is a real lesson he is trying to teach MK, as is the pattern between most interactions between these two in the first 3 seasons.

I think it is important to point out that the reason this lesson is bad and not Red Son telling Mei to "be the flame" is because of the attitude and behavior starting it. This lesson is bad for MK because it's inherently self-destructive*, not constructive.

In Shadow Play this is made like, really really really obvious. MK isn't wrong to relate more to the Warrior than the Hero. He feels abandoned by Wukong and way over his head. MK didn't get handed everything. I think the next seasons and especially season 4 and 5 make that abundantly clear, yet Macaque is so much more insistent on placing MK into Wukong's role. Believing that MK must have missed the point. And MK kind of does miss the point. He's too focused on getting stronger to keep his friends safe from a threat, but it's not because MK doesn't care. And wow! Doesn't that sound familiar to another stone monkey who was getting stronger to help protect the people he cared about! Except this time the threat is REAL.

Macaque views things in a very black and white manner. He either can't or is refusing to see the nuance in MK's situation, and by extension, in Wukong as well.

MACAQUE: Maybe it's just me, but these guys don't look too happy about being left in the shadow of the great Monkie Kid.

Yet... he has to orchestrate them fighting MK by taking control over them because they never would have done that willingly, simultaneously proving Macaque's point obsolete! Interesting!

I'm not gonna get into their entire relationship that would take too long, but the point is, he is always self-projecting onto MK. Making assumptions based on his experiences with Wukong, conflating them with MK, and giving him these very one-sided and biased cautionary tales that refuse to acknowledge anything he has done wrong.

But it is important because it reveals a lot about his perception of his self. Again, talked about it a lot in the other post, but Macaque has a very skewed sense of self-worth.

MACAQUE: As the hero's light grew, so too did his shadow.

This all brings up a lot of really important things about Macaque's self-worth, which in turn tells you a lot about how he "idolizes" Wukong.

Even now, in shadow play, he keeps referring to himself as Wukong's shadow. He keeps acting as if he is an extension of Wukong despite his clear disdain for overshadowing his own autonomy by constantly allowing Wukong to trump over him.

Wukong is this bright light for him, as he describes, that made him stronger. A hero who is equally Macaque's greatest memories and ambitions as well as his worst. He had seen Wukong as this symbol, beacon of hope, that it would be them against the world.

There's certainly a level of him believing Wukong believes he is lesser than him, but it's clear that he believes that has always been the case due to how he is treating MK, but also how he is narrating their relationship. But in the past, we get zero indication that Wukong viewed Macaque as lesser.

Macaque is projecting his insecurities.

I'm avoiding talking about this too much because, again, this post goes into that, but this goes hand in hand with his insecurities and how he's always knocking himself down. His skewed perception of Wukong influenced by his insecurities, trauma, and grudge results in Wukong being placed in some unachievable pedestal that he had never been to begin with.

It isn't until after season 3, in season 4, that he seems to be actually assessing this about himself in a slightly more constructive manner than before.

With his video game lesson to MK, it's a bit too convoluted, it's still not quite what MK needs, but it's a much more honest and real attempt to genuinely help him than it is to project his own issues onto MK.

It's also the first time he admits that he was part of the problem, even if it's very indirectly. He acknowledges he never made his own choices, which isn't Wukong's fault.

Then he decides to help Wukong in the scroll, they basically extend an olive branch to each other and y'know that development is happening. But before all of that, the issue was that he refused to see Wukong as anything but an uncaring power-obsessed self-righteous hero who wouldn't hesitate to abandon the people he cares about. Something that arguably has never described Wukong in the first place?

A lot of Macaque's issues with Wukong are very understandable. Wukong had been impulsive, reckless, oblivious, childish, and greedy. However, there's a lot of things that simply weren't true. He still projects that old and definitely outdated idea of a person onto Wukong even in the present until he is forced to confront his own faults and ways he has hurt others. Wukong was never uncaring, not about Macaque at least. We are actively shown the opposite. We are also shown it not being reciprocated very well by him, which is where Wukong's obliviousness comes into play.

Macaque lets the bitter feelings from feeling pushed aside as well as his own insecurities spiral when he is no longer with Wukong. He becomes a face to blame all of his problems on. We don't know what happened after their fight under the mountain, but Macaque admits he was on a path of self-destruction, something that is evident before he even verbally admits that.

*Codependency

That's the quick answer here. I just wanted to explain it more lol.

I've run out of steam here but I'm just gonna throw these at you and hopefully after everything I just said it will speak for itself.

"Toxic codependency is a term that refers to an unhealthy... emotional relationship between two people. In a codependent relationship, the needs of one person are placed above the needs of the other. This type of behavior can lead to resentment, emotional stress, and negative mental health outcomes like anxiety and depression."

Most sources on codependent relationships tend to word it like it's some black and white situation, but more often than not they are very nuanced. Macaque is in a giver roll and Wukong is in a taker roll, though neither of them had malicious intentions with this whatsoever.

The point is, Macaque placed Wukong's importance above him, it reinforced viewing himself as inferior, this was something that Wukong awarded (most likely unintentionally) and then it inevitably blew up in their faces and now we're left with Macaque who is struggling with the aftermath of everything it put them through.

Just to make it clear, one of this is to discredit how much Wukong did hurt him. Again, very nuanced situation and relationship and not an easy one to talk about without yapping for way too long about it.

This isn't super related but I made this like a year ago because of brain worms and I do mention this all a couple times, it's kind of what I was pointing out. It's super out of context though because there was a whole infodump accompanying it but I don't have that rn.

also i have a little bit of attitude in it because it was partially a rant at his mischaracterization but this happened in a conversation between my close friends who have heard all of this 1000x times by now BAHAHSDJKFHKAFSD so sorry about the possible tonal whiplash

[angy-grrr]

sorry you also got the ask, it felt really weird!

Personally I think what makes that ship weaker than others (togachako, bakudeku, todo/deku, etc.) its bc they dont have development -and with that I dont mean "romantic moments", but literal development to show us how these characters impact the other so much to the point they change for them in particular. The closest to this is at the very beginning with the Deku hero name, but thats it, and still Izuku is a character who already got motivated to pursue heroism on his own before meeting her, and All Might was the biggest support for that in terms of ppl who influenced him.

We dont see them changing their goals for each other, or their perspectives in a positive light (deku as a hero was used in a moment when he was going to die if he kept that up, so that perspective wasn't a positive one for these characters), we dont see how she influenced him in any way beyond being helpful and having a parallel with All Might (him crying on his knees), and we dont see how he influenced her to be more open or trust in him, as 431 tell us she still wasn't relying on or even talking to him. They just happen to have similar ideals and goals, and are selfless and parallel All Might's saving complex, and none of their character development ties them together; we saw how actually it was harmful for Ochako, as she got distracted and needed to focus on things that actually matter to her.

We cant buy they were "yearning" for each other in canon bc they just dont. Theres nothing dramatic about their relationship, yet theres also nothing deep outside of lessons for everyone. The best strategy in my opinion was to just make them start dating in a casual way, just a cute date, or a silly confession scene, but 431 was ambiguous enough and made decisions that dont make sense for an obvious romantic conclusion (bro handhold, which feels more like a promise than a confession, kaminari and jirou's comforting friendship and denial of romance as the framework/textual clue about izuku's reaction to ochako, making them not be as close as they used to, etc.). I think a shipper could see this as a fresh start for their relationship and work with it, as them developing theirs to a point where sparks fly or something like that, but acting like this is exclusively a 100% confirmed romance, and that queer shippers specifically should "accept it", "move on" and "go read actual queer content" feels wrong, insulting. Idk, its like trying to get us into our own little weird spaces to not "pollute" the straight ones, and while I understand the ask didnt say things like that... in this day and age, its important to understand how actually harmful that mindset is.

If something bothers you in fandom, ignore it, block it, etc., but to act this way towards something so harmless -queer shippers sharing queer interpretations or preferring those over canon material, or the perceived "canon", while staying in their accounts and tags- is... like this person wanted to get these posts out of the fandom itself, or to get validation for the heterosexual perspective of the series (make the queer shippers agree with this, admit its the right one and that we are "delusional" or crazy for not believing in/liking it).

The thing with Himiko and Ochako is, while they have less screen time together, we believe this care and love; its dramatic, its deep, it changed their hearts and lives, it made them question who they truly are and their roles in society, they even shared blood... It feels tragically romantic, another version of Carmilla with Laura missing her memory, and to put them side by side with the others... They lack. Because Himiko made Ochako want and be stronger, to "fight" the way she wanted instead of blindly imitate Izuku's honestly sometimes aggressive style, to share her love language even if she didnt understand it the same way; she developed her, and genuinely loved her and did the same for her, sharing her love language, seeing her perspective, and finding peace in a world were her loved one is a great weird person and alive (izuku denying her weirdness seeing it as a bad thing VS himiko recognizing it as a positive thing... its not thet difficult to see a queer version of this). And then... theres nothing even similar with Izuku. We cant pretend what they had was deep and dramatic as we have seen what deep and dramatic is like before, and the cute moments cant be the only thing to confirm the relationship when they have a hard time talking to each other (for no actual reason other than talking to others/not noticing the other), and 431 alone made this difficult.

Some ppl back with 430 claimed they were dating bc "she had his mask", bc "they were in the snow, that means they are dating since high school", and we were supposed to hear that and agree, stop being delusional, bc its shonen, and ofc female relationships are dramatic thats just a f/f friendship, and ofc f/m relationships are underwhelming, shonen isnt about romance. Its just tiring, to always be called crazy just bc what you express to enjoy is queer.

Their relationship could have been a break for them, the calmness after experiencing loss and heartbreak, a loving and cute support needed after the traumas of a war at 16. And in canon, instead, they were close in high school, then drifted apart, and now want to talk more to each other, while Ochako sees Himiko in his place. She never confessed to other than Himiko, and Izuku isnt playing subtle romantic games as he is a lovable nerd who told her what he literally thought.

Idk, to pretend this is peak romance so all queer shippers should just get over it and accept it is laughable, specially with the angst and even horror potential of 431. Even if it was confirmed, queer shippers will still be here and love these dynamics and relationships.

If ppl want to love it its perfectly fine, but pls lets stop going around other ppl's accounts just to express how wrong they are about it all.

"You know it's Shonen Jump, right?"

And?

I know I wasn't expecting BakuDeku to be canon. I didn't care for it to be.

Shipping is meant to be something fun, whether or not the characters are together in canon.

And honestly, I feel throwing in the excuse of MHA being a "Shonen Jump" and with its demographic being "shonen" is just a poor way of saying it's not allowed or shouldn't have queer elements.

I call bullshit because there are mangas before and even after MHA that have characters implied to be or canon to be queer.

Even if they're not queer at all, there are characters who break the norm.

You folks constantly bringing up Shonen Jump and the Shonen demographics act as if there's only manly man characters and womanly woman characters.

There isn't.

So... trying to see the point??

"Izuku and Ochako were written to be together! They were meant to be canon! Their development was obvious!"

Was it? Was it really? Because as much as people like to say they had a lot of romantic development... I don't know, they really didn't.

You would think that they would get some merchandise together a lot more. Or even like on openings and endings they would have more scenes.

But they don't, which is a shame because it is a cute ship.

Heck, unpopular opinion but I would even say the epilogue sucks for their development as a "couple" because not only they felt like afterthoughts to each other, but that handhold gave more "what's up, homie" then "I'm in love with you".

This is what bothers me about Izuku and Ochako pertaining to canon.

They are developed, but it didn't feel serious.

While they have cute scenes (I enjoy them very much), a lot of their scenes felt one-sided, played for laughs or lacked hard-core romance.

Ochako was always the one who had her feelings put out there. And even if it was serious, her feelings then are what connect her to Toga who she honestly had more chemistry with.

The final product felt more like a "cute joke".

They never really had a serious moment of having mutual feelings of romance within the main story. The epilogue just felt like "Oh, yeah, almost forgot about these two".

I'm all for shipping no matter how much content characters have, but if I was a true IzuOcha shipper I would feel some kind of way. But that's just me.

Like, honestly, it sucks that some people can't handle the fact that there are people who ship BakuDeku regardless and constantly trying to "persuade" them by bringing up IzuOcha, as if that ship also didn't have much going for them, and clearly just using that ship as a tool.

For real, if you are constantly trying to argue with BakuDeku shippers using IzuOcha, you do not like IzuOcha like that.

[spaceratprodigy]

✨❤️ Faith and Max | [ 🔍 AU ] ❤️✨

In my heart, I have but one desire And that one is you No other will do

Commission Info | Ko-Fi | My Links

[savyir-genesizz-the-wizard]

The rest of the answers because it's my house and I'm gonna yap:

12. [Thoughts] on his ghost? Do they get along?

Dun: "Better think about what you are about to say, Cogi."

Cogito: "Eh. I'll try. He's the best ghost in the world."

Dun: "All right, all right! Ack. No, I'd say we get along. He's quite good at being sensible and not putting us both in danger like some guardians do. And trust me, I know a lot of ghosts and some of them have really scary stories to say."

Cogito: "I feel that we just can communicate properly and that's all."

Dun: "Yeah, we're in this together."

13. Motivation for being a guardian?

"I live by a Titan creed of servitude to the Last City. Of course I live by it by doing study and research, as Warlocks do best, but this... well, I've spent much time with Titans guarding the Walls. Someone has to be responsible. Usually it's me."

14. What shape is their nightmare?

"... I don't like talking about it. It understandably makes me quite... upset. Especially as of late. In the face of Eris'es... her... death, well, listen, I didn't know her well but she still would send me moon rocks to study so I wouldn't be so troubled my nightmare... I'm getting off track, what happened was that me and Dun ventured there to... I suppose pay her respect by doing that work ourselves. I've almost forgot their terrible... that twisted image of who they were. Worst of all was what they said. If I'm forced to see Savathûn again I'll have something to ask her. I fear that... she's going to keep her word from a few months ago."

15. Favourite Guardian event?

"Oh, it has to be Dawning. I'll admit - I love pastries. Cakes especially. And it's the best time of the year to get a lot of them. I don't like the Guardian Games though - my Hunter friends get insufferable during them."

16. What does he do off-duty?

"I don't really have strict borders between 'off' and 'on'. Taking care of the entire sector of the Asteroid Belt is a lot of work and a lot of responsibility. If my scouts need my help I need to get there no matter what. My down time is sleep and eating mostly. When I'm not assisting someone or making samples to ship to City and Reef Cryptarchs I'm doing my own studies."

17. Does he interact with civilians at all?

"All the time! The Cryptarchs and Owl Sectors are in direct collaboration with me. Other then that I take care of buying supplies myself so I'm known by textile and food merchants, postal services and occasionally weapon dealers too. And of course Hangar workers. I used to be friends with Amanda Holiday when she was- I mean... I don't know much about the current management."

18. How much glimmer does he keep on him?

Dun: "Empty your pockets, Cogito!"

Cogito: "Eh. I've spend everything on supplies during my last trip to Petra Venji."

Dun: "And that one transmog?"

Cogito: "Shhh shhhh, man, c'mon."

19. What's in his pockets?

"Uh, let's see. (Unties his sash and reaches into the pouches by the belt hidden under it) Spare handle for my cane, a knife, magnifying glass, a... bone? Chicken bone? No... Anyway... My Prismatic Marbles obliviously. Ooo, it's a granola bar. Opalite, a very pretty synthetic jewel, you see. And bullets and battery packs of course."

20. Does he have any secrets?

"Do I look like a man who doesn't?"

21. Bonus random fact:

"Uh, um... I- oh, I have one! This little ribbon I got here used to belong to a Titan I used to know- I mean, she died. During the Battle of the Twilight Gap. This was the mark that the leaders of supply lines had, she gave me this to pass the leadership on to me. I wear it with pride to this day."

All right, if you want any facts on Cogito-4, feel free to leave a ❤️

[candle5000]

HTTYD SOUNDTRACK

good evening folks. i’m crying over the how to train your dragon soundtrack(s) and it’s killing me (again).

i hope somebody out there relates to the intense visceral feeling i get in the beginning of “stoick saves hiccup” from the second movie. pure childhood nostalgia. pure melancholy. pure tears because of the way powell constructed the song and how it uses that theme (which is so familiar that i feel like it was actually introduced in the first movie but im not sure). guys. guyyyyyys. that THEME.

i actually feel like i’m going to explode every time i restart the song. like every single time. because of that theme. i’ve put it in every playlist that suits it and in every tier of bittersweet melancholy sad playlist i have and yet i am STILL unsatisfied and i feel as though new playlist for a new tier must be created because this feeling is so intense and different

i might just be having a Moment because i’m writing this at 1:30am. but what. the fuck. (and that’s not the only bit that’s hitting me in the feels. it’s the WHOLE DAMN SOUNDTRACK. with specific songs giving me specific feelings. *screams*)

somebody please talk to me about how to train your dragon’s soundtrack because i’m losing my mind and i say that about a lot of things i love but this is so different and raw and strange

like i can’t even describe how much these movies mean to me and a huge chunk of that is the soundtrack. like i can barely type right now because all i want is to be able to plaster my feelings and the music onto this post because nothing else is working to describe it. i keep trying to speak but what comes out is “guh” because i want to express the music desperately and physically

(i saw it in a theater recently and that triggered this hyperfixation. got so many chills and tears during that showing. like i feel like im going to actually blow up just thinking about it)

anyways

[daily-hanamura]

[gregorysarmy]

So very heavy on that “why would he?”. I hope you explore that more in your future angsty works, perhaps from the mimic’s perspective. You did really good job with the last work you did from his point of view.

While the mimic is undeniably human, it CANT understand why Gregory would want to leave. To the mimic, it believes it’s giving Gregory all he needs. Stability, food, love, everything David was given, the mimic tries to give to Gregory. However, the mimic can’t just erase Gregory’s parents as trash like Edwin tried to erase him. He doesn’t seem to understand the deep familial bonds that children form with their parents. He believes he’s BETTER than those bonds. He believes that his relationship with Gregory goes deeper; it’s more valuable. (I guess he had to put a chip in Gregory’s brain to prove that)

I’d reckon the mimic stereotypes all families as copies of the “Murrays”. Children are always kind while fathers are always mean and rash. It’s never been shown any different. With how easily Edwin tried to get rid of the mimic, I wouldn’t be surprised if the mimic viewed all “parents” as evil. They can’t be trusted. Perhaps he deluded himself into thinking he was saving Gregory, while deep down knowing that was just a flimsy justification for his actions.

I think the mimic has accepted it is evil, but when faced with Gregory, he is reminded of David. What would David think? Suddenly, he finds himself searching for a justification. The therapists? They were going to out Gregory so they had to be dealt with. Gregory’s friends? The mimic only kills Tony when he gets close to GGY. If he hadn’t done that, the mimic would have let him live. He even allows Gregory to play with Cassie in the Pizzaplex (ETP). He will indiscriminately kill random people in the Pizzaplex for no reason, but when it comes to Gregory’s friends/acquaintances, the mimic only kills if he has a motive. He won’t kill unless he has a justification for Gregory, no matter how messed up it is. It’s sick morality, but the fact that the mimic is willing to put away its murderous tendencies if it means Gregory has some fun then that indicates something is there holding it back. Maybe Gregory is the key to ending all of this, the only real person who can awaken the deep moral compass David made and the mimic buried

Mimic Wednesdays #9: "Ever Again."

I don't have much to say this week, except I hope you all enjoy <33

Trigger warnings: Implied kidnapping, captivity, implied/referenced past child abuse, childhood trauma, memory loss, and whatever The Mimic and Gregory's relationship can be classified as (father-son? Brothers? One-sided-friendship? Mentor-mentee? Captor-Captee? All of the above? A risk to national security?)

See you all next week :D!!

@gregorysarmy

(Story 2 of 14) - Next week: what if Gregory was David's half-brother.

--

A sing-song voice calls out, “nighty-night!” 

Gregory dives forward, narrowly avoiding being captured. The thing - whatever it is - laughs, floating out of sight. The constant cat-and-mouse between each generator has his heart pounding. 

But he doesn’t have time for this. Both because that thing is steadily growing bolder, and because he’s leaving as soon as the main doors open. 

He breathes a sigh of relief, spotting the second-to-last generator. He flicks the switch, running away before that thing can track him down. 

One more. 

When he snatched up the security badge - just like Freddy told him - he hadn’t expected the lights to go off. The only warning he had was the sun animatronic freaking out about the lights, and then it fell over. After that, it’s a blur of running, ducking, recharging his flashlight, and hiding (when necessary, of course).

If that thing didn’t have murderous intention in its eyes everytime it swooped down to try and catch him, Gregory would have thought this is fun. He’s always been great at winning games, especially hide and seek and tag. 

This one, however, is a bit different. 

For one thing, he doesn’t remember being dive bombed from the sky. 

For another, his “playmate” doesn’t seem particularly concerned for his safety or general wellbeing. 

A fear exists inside Gregory (piled on top of the others) that maybe there isn’t a last generator, or a way out.

Maybe Freddy just told him that for comfort, like a parent telling a child they only have to get one shot when it’s actually two. 

Maybe Freddy told him that, because, in reality, nowhere in the Pizzaplex is safe. And Gregory - for all his smarts - will be stuck running around and around until either he’s caught, or the doors open.

I’m never leaving, Gregory thinks to himself, running towards the bridge connecting the two playscapes.  I’ll be stuck here forever.

He pushes those thoughts away. It feels so unlike him, and thinking like that won’t help him find the last generator any faster. 

“One more, one more, one more,” he repeats under his breath like a mantra. It shouldn’t be this hard to find a large piece of machinery in two playscapes, and perhaps it wouldn’t be, in the light. But in the dark, being chased and taunted, it’s hard to catch your breath, let alone plan ahead more than five seconds. 

He spares a glance at his Fazwatch. Freddy promised that he would be waiting outside.

Gregory hopes, more than finding the last generator, that that’s true. That he isn’t lying. 

He needs someone right now. 

Anyone.

“Naughty boy. Naughty boy.”

Anyone but that.

He backtracks, a little, shining his flashlight into corners. The last generator remains out of reach, hidden somewhere Gregory can’t find.

He steps back onto the bridge, shining his flashlight over the playscape one last time. Before Gregory can process what happened, he’s hoisted into the air, and his flashlight clatters on the floor below. 

He screams, at least he thinks he does. It’s hard to focus on anything when Satan himself is staring into your very soul. 

He’s reminded of his own morality. Blood rushes through his ears, matching the frantic rhythm of Gregory’s heart. A drop from this height would mean a broken neck, if he’s lucky. 

In a soft but still grating voice, it says, “nighty-night. Sleep. Sleep.” 

For a moment, Gregory misses the sun animatronic. But then he remembers being carried by his armpits, like a misbehaving toddler, and the feeling is gone. 

“Let me go!” Gregory yells, struggling.

Suddenly, the drop doesn’t seem that far. Surely, he’s made of tougher stuff than flesh and bone. “Freddy! Freddy! Help me!” 

The daycare doors open slowly, dramatically, like whoever’s doing it is purposely leaving Gregory on the edge of his seat. 

He knows before he sees her that it isn’t Freddy. That doesn’t stop him from calling out for help. The moon animatronic shushes him, which only fuels Gregory to scream louder. 

It remains close to the ceiling, holding Gregory in its arms. Right now, he doesn’t care. The only thing keeping him from becoming another Faz-Ent. victim is distance. 

The rabbit lady he’s been running from this entire time (Or had he been running from Vanessa? It wouldn’t surprise him if the rabbit lady and Vanessa were one and the same. It certainly doesn’t make him feel any better that he’s going to be killed by the security guard and not some rando) skips through the open door. 

She spins around, stopping a few feet below them. Even behind a mask, Gregory can feel her staring, watching with some unreadable emotion (amusement? Sadistic joy?) He doesn’t know, and he doesn’t want to know. Gregory shudders. 

Of course, because his luck has always been thin and sparse, the moon animatronic  holding onto him starts descending from way up high. 

“Nuh…no….please….” he begs. 

It wasn’t so bad being held way up high. 

Gregory will happily take all the naps in the world, as long as this thing won’t give him up to her. 

Truth be told, he has no idea why he’s so frightened of her. She hasn’t done anything to him. All Gregory knows is that his brain feels weird around her, like tv static is buzzing around in his head, filling space. 

The moon animatronic lands gracefully in front of the rabbit lady, placing Gregory on his feet. He’s shoved forward. He trips over his feet and scrapes his hands. The rabbit lady pulls him up by the arm. 

Some small part of him, the part of him that believes everything will turn out okay, believes Freddy’s going to break down the door any minute and stop this. That he’ll be saved from…

Now that he really thinks about it, Gregory has no idea what her intentions are. Though, considering she’s flouncing through a Faz-Ent location with a bunny suit on, he’s not feeling too hot about his odds in getting out alive. 

“Are you having fun yet?” She asks, almost playful. Grabbing Gregory by his wrist, she forces him to spin in circles. By the time she stops, dropping his arm, he’s beyond dizzy. 

“We need to go,” she says after a moment of watching Gregory stumble from side to side. “He’s waiting.”

“Who?” Gregory silently prays it’s Freddy, because the alternative is another freak, or worse, an employee. Unless the rabbit lady really is Vanessa, then he gets a two-for-one deal. 

“That’s for me to know, and for you to find out.”

She grabs him by the arm again, locking one part of a pair of handcuffs around his wrist. The other part is locked around her wrist, tying them together. He’s dragged from the daycare, struggling and tugging on the handcuffs all the while. 

Gregory turns back once more. The moon animatronic stares at him, surprisingly impassive for having a forever smile etched into its face. 

The doors slam shut, sealing his fate. 

-x-x-x-

He fights all the way to the elevator, dragging his feet. The rabbit lady ignores his antics, pulling him along. 

As to be expected, Freddy is nowhere to be found. Either the rabbit lady did something, or…he lied about being on Gregory’s side. 

But he wouldn’t do that….right? 

“In here,” she says, guiding him into an elevator. It looks janky, hidden in the depths of the Pizzaplex, but Gregory is in no position to argue.

“Rabbit lady,” he starts, voice shaky, “am I-”

“Vanny,” she interrupts him.

“Hm?”

“My name is Vanny. Anyways, continue.”

“Sorry, Vanny. Am I going to die?”

Vanny sighs, placing a hand on his shoulder. She takes several seconds to answer him, staring up at the ceiling. Gregory takes note of the stitches between the head of the costume and the bodysuit. He counts seven before she answers him. 

“Yes…someday.”

The elevator jolts, creaking dangerously loud. Gregory almost tumbles to the ground, but Vanny holds on tight to his shirt collar.

“Stay with me,” she warns him. The humor in her voice is gone, and that, more than anything else so far, makes him feel like crying. 

This doesn’t feel like a game anymore. Not that it ever did, but if the one “playing” with him isn’t playing anymore, then does that mean the game is over. Does that mean he lost?

He’s guided down winding hallways. It smells like sewage and mildew and no amount of pinching his nose helps mask the scent. 

Vanny stops suddenly, squeezing his shoulder. “Stay here.” She unlocks the handcuff. “Don’t move.” She leaves him there, and he’s left to wonder what this was all for? All the running and hiding. Why would she go through all this trouble just to-

Her words echo through his head, “he’s waiting.”

There are a series of thuds, like textbooks being dropped on an old concrete floor. Gregory freezes, suddenly melted to the spot. His body tenses up more and more, the closer the sound gets. 

He sees its arm before the rest of it. A clawed metal hand connected to a long metal pole. It seems to keep going and going, and by the time it's fully in front of Gregory, it's towering over him. 

For a second, they both stare at each other. 

Gregory thinks of running, but one glance at its long legs makes him think twice. No way could he outrun it. He eyes the hands next, silently praying that it’ll make it quick. If he has to die tonight, he wants it to be swift and painless. 

The thing reaches for him, and he shuts his eyes. There’s no need to see what comes next. He doesn’t want to see what comes next. He’s sure whatever god or deity is up there would grant him the right to be a coward - just this once. 

He waits for the blow or to feel tearing or to never feel anything ever again, but to his shock Gregory feels the metal hand on his forehead, smoothing back his bangs. 

The thing chatters. It reminds Gregory of a bad connection between radio stations. That static sound that could almost be considered white noise. 

“Oh, my Gregory,” it says, scooping him up. Gregory falls limp, heart beating against his ribcage. He’s going to die, isn’t he? “You’re probably tired, aren’t you?”

Gregory can only stare at this massive thing with wide eyes. He swallows, trying to make himself talk, but it’s a fruitless effort.

“Cat got your tongue? Doesn’t matter. I know you are.” It walks further down the hall to a room exactly one door down. 

“Nuh…” he tries to formulate a response, but his body seems unwilling to give one. 

The room he’s brought to is only slightly better than the hallway. The smell of sewage and mildew isn’t as strong here. An unmade cot sits in the corner with a single blanket, pillow, and what looks like a stuffed bunny. 

There are papers hung on the walls. Each of them depicting something different. Most, if not all of them, star him and the thing carrying him, others include Vanny, and one or 

two have a familiar orange bear in them, though Freddy’s face has been slashed with what looks like several long knives.

The sight of his friend - even faceless - calms something in Gregory. There’s still hope. There has to be. This can’t be the end. 

The thing places him down on the cot. “You’ve been very naughty,” it says. Blurry memories that maybe, probably belong to Gregory flash in his mind’s eye. Memories of a woman with hair like his and a stern expression telling him something similar. “We are going to talk about this tomorrow, but it’s already late. And I’m just glad you’re home.”

Gregory does his very best to focus on his breathing. In. Hold. Out. In. Hold. Out. 

That thing leans down until they’re face to face, making it harder for Gregory to remember to breathe. It feels a little like he’s suffocating, only there’s nothing and no one doing it. It’s his own doing, and yet he can’t force himself to breathe. 

Its hand sits on his chest, pushing down. All the air Gregory’s holding is expelled, relieving him of the suffocating feeling of air. 

“There,” it says, “all better. You have to keep breathing. I can’t lose you t-” It stops itself. If Gregory wasn’t absolutely terrified of its next move, then he might have ventured to ask a follow up question of his own. “Anyways, time for bed now.”

It maneuvers Gregory like he’s little more than a rag doll, and maybe he is. He certainly feels like one, being tossed around, carried, and disregarded all night. It pulls the covers up, and it almost seems like this large, monstrous thing is tucking him in. Like….like a parent….

(Then, why does he feel scared? If this thing is always like this, then why does he want to leave so bad? What happened that made him feel this way?)

It hums - perhaps one of the thousands of songs in Faz-Ent’s library - but Gregory can’t remember the exact song. A hand brushes back his bangs once more. It leans down, and Gregory’s sure this is it. But like so many times before, he’s proven wrong. 

The feeling of something cold is pressed to his forehead, before moving on to the bunny next to him. It’s only after watching that thing press its approximation of a mouth to the bunny’s “forehead” does he realize that it was kissing him. 

“There,” it says, tucking the stuffed animal in next to Gregory. “Kisses for you and kisses for Rabbit.”

Gregory turns his head, making direct eye contact with the button eyes of the rabbit. 

A hand soothes his hair down. “Rest now.” But how can he? 

“I…I can’t,” Gregory manages to stammar out. “I’m not tired.”

It laughs, and he feels something like indignation bubble up inside him, but it could have very well been childish helplessness. It didn’t matter in the end, neither’s going to help him make it out. 

“Yes, you are,” it murmurs, tracing a clawed finger over his cheeks. It pokes his nose. “You’ve been running around like a chicken with its head cut off.”

Okay, he is, but this thing doesn’t need to know that.

Gregory nods, not agreeing, but seeing no way out of this. “Fine,” he says. 

“You say that, like you have a choice in the matter.” It boops Gregory’s nose again. “Get some sleep,” it urges, no humor in its voice. “Rest. Dream of something magical.”

It’s not much in the way of a goodnight, but he imagines it’s a kinder send off than this thing usually gives. He shuts his eyes. Maybe if he waits long enough this thing will wander off, allowing him ample time to escape. Gregory can sort of remember the way back to the elevator. 

But as he lays there, tucked into a cot, next to a stuffed bunny, he quickly realizes that this thing - whatever it is - has no plans of leaving anytime soon. 

“Oh,” it says after a long moment of silence, “did you think I was going to leave you alone after the stunt you just pulled?”

Gregory sucks in a breath, eyes squeezed shut. He doesn’t want to be awake anymore. 

“I know you’re still awake, Gregory, and I want you to know that from now on, I’m never leaving your side….

ever again.”

[uncanny-tranny]

When I find it hard to do certain things, I like to pretend I am a neanderthal living in a cave with my clan, and I must do The Thing in order to survive.

So, when I'm doing cardio at the gym, I'm actually chasing and tracking a mammoth, and when I need to cook, well, I'm not cooking on a stove top, I am hurdled over the first fire and watching the fat of our kill drip down onto the burning wood. And when I find it hard to crochet, I pretend that the first winter storm is coming and our clan needs me to make blankets to hurdle under and that I must contribute.

I hope whatever you do to do The Things will help. It is a uniquely personable trait to motivate yourself through pretend and stories. That's what makes this life interesting - that's what makes you feel larger than yourself 💛