#I answered this Ask because I wanted to acknowledge that I agreed with you Anon

[allthegothihopgirls]

thoughts on jasons design in boy wonder being covered in scars as a way of saying he cannot remove himself from the violence that created him. he is solely red hood, there is no more jason todd— he is *just* red hood and red hood is made from violence and cannot be separated from that.

also white eyes as something just… a little off about him. not entirely human. a little zombie-esque.

also my mother was forced to listen to me yap and she mentioned that in that one panel of boy wonder he looks like frankenstein to which i got this stupid grin on my face and said “oh, you don’t even want me to START with that one” because you put those brainworms in my head.

—baptism anon

there was SO much in the boy wonder #2 that screamed of jason not being able to let his past self go. although there's definitely much psychoanalysis to be had about jason and his perception of himself, i'm more fascinated by the fact that this is how DAMIAN sees jason.

jason not taking his helmet off until right at the end of damian's story, making it seem as though he looks at him and only sees the red hood, not a brother.

the one notable thing in jason's apartment being the closed door, and there being a highlight on how that room holds every possession he has. the seperation between red hood and robin, and the acknowledgement that jason's managed to seemingly build nothing for himself post-mortem, and is still bound by who he used to be.

the white eyes definitely make him more zombie-like. i also see them as just completely devoid. like, you look at them and see nothing, just one more thing taken from him that stripped him of his humanity.

i definitely agree with jason not being able to separate from the violence his death was rooted in, and the events of utrh. the one thing i really enjoy about juni ba's design when it comes to jason is how as himself, he doesn't appear recklessly violent, or overly macho and angry, he's just hurt. i think that's why he leans into red hood so much, because that's the front that lets him appear that way. but when you strip him of the helmet, he's very much just vulnerable and there's no intimidation factor there at all. it's definitely the scars that play into that whole idea, but also just his posture, and overall figure.

he's not as strong and buffed as he's usually drawn, instead he looks very much like a prey animal. i think that just goes to further the distinction between the usual aggression he's portrayed to have with the whole intimidation and macho factor. and then this new perspective, where his anger doesn't seem to be amounting to much, just protecting his hurt.

i think damian also views the hood as a figurative mask as well as a legitimate one, he's aware of how vulnerable jason's been since the lazarus pit, and pinpoints the differences between him as a man and a concept. he definitely knows that the hood isn't just a protection of his own identity, it's an image. one that tip-toes the line between an extension of jason, and being jason.

don't even get me started with how this is all playing into my frankentodd brainrot.... so many thoughts and so many asks to answer abt him..

[earthtooz]

hello!! still new to tumblr so I have to idea how long ago that post was but I saw your requests were open!! can you please please please please pretty please do something do something fluffy with rin from blue lock??? i need to cure my craving for this man and your fics are like a pond of water in the middle of the desert 🙏

say no more fam, i gotchu. and thank you anon 😫😫 you are so kind to me for praise i do not deserve, but ask and i shall deliver!

cw: fluff! food, swearing, bad writing, unrealistic scenario but like fuck that give me the fluff.

"the hell are you doing in my kitchen?"

itoshi rin turns around rather nonchalantly, seemingly unalarmed by the fact that you caught him in your kitchen, in your apartment, a place he wasn't supposed to be.

"i'm baking something," he replies simply, not even blinking once at your dumbfounded expression.

upon entering your house, you were ready for a relaxing thursday night so you could prepare to repeat the same day again. what you weren't ready for was the sight of foreign slacks- that clearly weren't yours, at the getabako by the genkan, and you see that your household slippers had also disappeared from their usual spot.

then you hear noises from the kitchen.

a little alarmed, you don't know whether to call the police or not, then, before your concerns could be answered, you see itoshi rin's familiar face peak out from the kitchen.

what the fuck. why was he wearing your slippers?

"oh, welcome home y/n," he says very casually before disappearing again.

what the fuck?

now that you've returned to your senses just a little and finally registered the intruder-slash-athlete in your kitchen, you walk up to stand beside him, peering down at his work.

"what are you making?" you ask.

"jam sugar cookies."

"that sounds good."

he's already formed a dough at this point, kneading it on a floured surface with quite a bit of skill.

noting his talent in the craft of baking, you can't help but wonder why he decided to do it in your kitchen.

"y'know when i gave you my spare key, it was for emergency purposes and because i trust you not to do dumb shit, unlike everyone else on the team," you point out with a sigh.

the dark-haired only shrugs, now breaking the dough into smaller balls.

"why my kitchen?"

"i don't know, i wanted to spend time with you. i thought you would be back from work since practice ended ages ago."

you ignore the butterflies in your stomach. "couldn't have done that over coffee? and i was working overtime today."

once again, he doesn't answer. itoshi rin is a great conversationalist, what a riveting exchange you're having right now.

you don't see the way his face flushes from his shyness, embarrassed to be caught in this situation.

"can i at least help?"

"sure," agrees rin, moving away. "break the dough into 12 even sized pieces."

you oblige as he goes over to wash his hands, swiftly cleaning up the mess around you whilst you work in silence, pretending like your heart wasn't racing because the itoshi rin was in your apartment with you, alone. the effect a man could have on you was unnerving.

"i think i'm done," you finally announce and the soccer player looks over your shoulder with a satisfied hum, a noise that you can feel in your upper spine. why was he standing so close? you can practically feel him hovering behind you.

"i can take over from here," he says.

"you sure?"

"yeah- actually, i made a pot of fresh strawberry jam on the stove, can you bring it here?"

he made jam? is there another man more perfect than him?

listening to his instructions, you carefully set the now-cooled pot on the marble counter. "i didn't strike you as a baker," you mutter, going over to the sink to wash your hands.

"it's fun. i like it."

"you like sweets?"

"i don't mind them. my favourite are ones that aren't too sweet, but i indulge in sugary ones too."

you hum in acknowledgement, watching him for a few moments longer before the urge to change into more comfortable clothes appears again like an itch you can't scratch. "you sure you don't need my help? i need to go take a shower."

"go."

"wow, okay. i know where i'm not needed."

he doesn't say anything in response, not that you were expecting him to when you made your way out of the kitchen.

twenty minutes and a refreshing shower later, you emerge feeling a lot cleaner and rejuvenated. rin was still in the kitchen, now on his phone as he leans against the counter, waiting for the cookies to bake. when he notices you, he puts his device away and greets you properly.

"would you like to stay for dinner?" you ask, ignoring the way his eyes dip to your exposed collarbones and how the water from your shower drips down them.

if you paid too much attention to it you might explode.

"it won't be a bother right?" he asks, meeting your gaze once more. when you shake your head, he agrees. "then what's for dinner?"

"i was planning on katsu curry, that okay?"

"more than."

thank goodness you bought fresh vegetables yesterday. "how are the cookies?"

"good. they're almost done."

"can i try some after?"

"no."

the audacity. he uses your kitchen and won't spare you any? what ever happened to taxes?

whilst you're cutting the potatoes and carrots, the oven timer calls out to let you know that the cookies are finished. rin swiftly takes them out, hums in approval and lets the batch chill.

you ask him if he can prepare the rice and other ingredients whilst you prepare the pot and the sauce. it's a perfect dance of teamwork, and despite your kitchen being not the biggest, you and rin work perfectly together. sometimes in silence, sometimes speaking about mundane things that don't truly matter.

the domesticity of it all makes you sick, and of course, increases your unescapable yearning for rin. you're so infatuated with him it's annoying.

once dinner is plated, you both eat in the comfort of your kitchen bench, under the warm lighting of your home.

you didn't think you'd be ending your day like this but the complaints die in your mind before they can even be manifested. chatter is exchanged as if you don't see each other during the day, and even when both your bowls are scraped empty, neither make the move to clean up and break out of this little, precious bubble you've created.

the sun has fully set now. rin should be going back home instead of answering some 'would you rather' question you suddenly created, and although you ridicule him for his choice, the best he cracks is a small smile in amusement.

when you first met itoshi rin on your first day on the job, you didn't think you'd get along with him as well as the rest of the team but, you were proven wrong very quickly. on team dinners, nights out, coffee runs, rin always joined them despite having seeming like the most antisocial man ever, and it just became easy to spend time with him.

from then on marked your downfall.

chats in your office became a regularity, his tendency to stay late for extra practice and your tendency to stay late to finish outstanding work made you both excellent commute partners, and his punctuality and assertiveness made him an excellent team captain to rely on.

somewhere between the carpools, mundane conversations on green fields, and water filler station visits, you fell for him.

you just hope rin will let you down easily.

when the clock strikes 10:30 and you let out your first yawn, rin takes it as his sign to leave. productive in cleaning up and wishing you a goodnights rest, he's gone with a soft smile and an even softer gaze.

as your front door shuts, you feel a little empty at the silence that follows his absence.

the next morning when you arrive at work, there's a little more pep in your step due to the delightful night before. when you walk into your office after greeting the members of the team who were already there, you stop short at the sight of something unfamiliar on top of your desk.

rounding the table, your heart skips a beat in a nauseating combination of nervousness, yearning, and flattery.

a box of sugar cookies with jam pressed in the shape of a heart, sit pretty on your desk; next to a note.

go on a date with me? ─ itoshi rin

[lightlycareless]

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8K3KxtG/

I feel like if this happened to Naoya after he let his hair go natural he’d probably be booking an appointment to the salon that day XD

Heya anon!!!

OMG HAHAHAHAHAHAH I love how we all agree that Naoya dyeing his hair black once his roots show (or just not dyeing it at all) is like a bad idea lmao. Just like the top comment said, it was the only thing keeping the family together 😂😂😂😂

Anyways, this was such a treat to write. I'm always down for domestic yn/naoya shenanigans + our adorable naomi!!!!

warnings: none. fluff. naoya regrets his life. lol.

Happy reading!!!

Naoya deciding to dye his hair completely black wasn’t one that he chose personally, it was simply… a consequence of his surroundings.

He’d been out on missions for too long, that his dye naturally began to fade out, showing his dark roots and prompting him with the idea of…

“All black?” you ask; both were on videocall when he suggested the idea—Naoya stationed in some remote village he was deployed in, still days away from returning. “I haven’t seen you wear that look since… forever I think.”

“Naomi definitely hasn’t seen me like that.” He comments, and at the revelation, you gasp.

“Oh my god, that is true!” you smile. “Do you think she’ll notice? I don’t think so, she’s still pretty young… Though I know she’ll be happy to see her handsome papa again! Black hair, or not.”

Naoya smiles.

“I can’t wait to come back home either; it’s been horrible without my two princesses.”

“Well, hurry back! We’re tired of waiting for you…”

Naoya takes it seriously when you tell him to hurry, quick to finish whatever mission he was in before catching the earliest flight back home, but not without making one last stop; he usually dyed his hair by his own at that point, was considering so too…

But he wanted to make this a special surprise. It had been quite some time since he last mentioned it, so he’s sure you’ve probably forgotten about it by now, thus setting up the perfect opportunity to carry out his plans.

To say that he was excited about this whole ordeal was an understatement. Naoya was really looking forward to this change, and all because of one simple reason: Naomi’s reaction.

Ever since his little bundle of joy was born, life had become far more enjoyable, even with the littlest, most mundane of things. All had become a thrilling adventure he couldn’t wait to share with his daughter.  

Naoya never thought he’d ever come to enjoy the wonders of being a father, always thought it to be tedious, boring. And most importantly, fated to be with someone he wouldn’t care for.

But then you happened, and with time, little Naomi, completely changing his perspective of life.

Whatever thing he did, the sight of his adorable baby girl would cross his mind, wondering what kind of reaction she’ll have for the new toy he’ll bring her after the mission, her cute babbles whenever telling her of his day, as if she knew what he was saying…

Or in this scenario, if Naomi would be able to recognize him after completely dyeing his hair black.

A part of him hopes—no, knows so, because he knows his baby girl to be very attentive, and there’s something sweet about a daughter being able to distinguish her father through all circumstances.

Luckily, he won’t have to wait much to get his answer, for as soon as his hair was done, he went straight back to the estate, not even bothering to let you know beforehand (just to add to the surprise), eventually making a beeline to you, quickly taking you in his arms before you could even muster a hello and kissing you—it’s only when he pulls away that you’re able to acknowledge him, and his new hairstyle.

“Naoya! You dyed your hair black!” you bubbled, threading your fingers into his locks to relish both its softness and nostalgic color. “And your home too!”

“I did.” He smiles, leaning in to steal another kiss. “I’m home.”

“Ah, I missed you so much.” You sigh, resting your head against his chest. “Please tell me you’re not leaving until much, much later.”

“2 weeks.” He says sorrowfully—it’s more than last time, but still…

“…Well, let’s not talk about that anymore—let’s focus instead on our time together, with our adorable baby who missed you so much!”

“Where is she?” Naoya asks with unparalleled enthusiasm. “Is she awake?”

“With my staff, and yes, she just woke up actually!” You say, grabbing his hand and guiding him back to your shared bedroom. “Let’s go, now—I want to see her reaction to your new hair color!”

Just as you foretold, little Naomi was happily enjoying the company of your loyal staff, Mariya, Haruko and Hitomi, who treated your adorable baby as she were their own niece, taking her wherever they could when you’d unfortunately end up caught up with duties, which Naomi didn’t mind, if anything, she was all to happy to be spoiled rotten (even more) by her aunts!

And how could she not? With all their gifts and antics, Naomi was nothing if not overjoyed to be the center of their attention!

Yet, nothing they did could ever compare t0 the happiness of seeing her father return home, the papa that you always made sure to remind her loved her very much, even through the distance that is often imposed by his job.

Once the family is reunited, your staff bids their regards to Naoya before leaving, allowing much needed privacy for the sweet moment that is to occur next. they leave to give them much needed privacy,

“Naomi!” Naoya says as soon as he laid eyes on his little bundle of joy, swooning when noticing the cute romper you’d dressed her up in, the same one he got her a few weeks ago: the yellow one with a little duck stitched in the front pocket. “My little mochi, I’m home!”

He reaches for her, extending his arms to pick her up and give her all the kisses and hugs he’s been holding onto since he left, completely forgetting about the reaction he so desperately wanted to see—

But the moment he does so, Naoya feels his baby tense up, a soft whine escaping her lips as her chubby little hands attempted to push him away, a reaction so different to her usually bubbly, welcoming personality, that his heart couldn’t help but shatter a bit in return.

“What’s wrong, dumpling?” He asks. “Did you miss me that much?”

“Nnngah!” Naomi cries as she attempts to push him away once more, but Naoya persists, that is, until a sharp wail makes him realize it was something graver.

“Naomi, why are you crying??” Naoya frets, attempting to comfort her by gently rocking her—to no avail. “Is it your diaper?? Or are you hungry??”

It takes you a few moments to understand what’s happening, but when you do, you’re not even able to laugh about it, too preoccupied instead in comforting your poor crying daughter, who was upset from innocently confusing her papa for Naobito’s son #27.

She shouldn’t be blamed—couldn’t. Naomi was still in the age where she has difficulties setting apart those that similarly look like her father, after all, like the rest of Naoya’s brothers.

Naomi was only able to calm down after you took her back into her arms, the only person she seemed to recognize at the moment, gently bouncing her until her cries eventually diminished.

But the damage was done, and as soon as your little mochi was placed back onto her crib, too tired out from crying, Naoya rushes straight to the exit, mind set on one thing:

“I’m dying my hair back blonde.”

“Naoya—It’s just a matter of her getting used to you!” you gasp, attempting to stop him. “You don’t need to do that!”

“I don’t want her to cry because of me ever again.” He insists. “I’ve already arranged the appointment; I’m heading out now. And while I’m at it, I’ll also buy Naomi more toys, hopefully she’ll be able to forgive me.”

“That won’t—” you wish to push the idea out of Naoya’s mind, tell him that perhaps he’s exaggerating, but you could see the sadness in his eyes, that notion that he genuinely believed needed this to feel better about himself.

So, you let him, giving him a kiss while asking him to not to do anything outrageous; Naoya’s spending could be quite… excessive when upset, you’d know that better than anyone. Although something tells you it might be worse now that Naomi is involved…

Nonetheless, by the time Naoya returns with his hair effectively back to blonde, Naomi is now able to identify him as her beloved papa, cheerfully reaching out for him to receive her well-deserved dosage kisses and hugs, as well as all the toys he brought along to ease his mistakes—it’s almost like that unspeakable incident never occurred! Much to Naoya’s delight.

And while upsetting at the moment, this is an anecdote you’d eventually recount with humor in the future, about the time Naomi didn’t recognize her father because of his hair dye, and how Naoya almost went to the end of the world to redeem himself.

Though both would deny it, of course. Thankfully, you have a good memory.

I'm sorry I had to call Naoya Naobito's son #27 but let's be real, they all look alike (In my hc that is) HOW COULD NAOMI NOT CONFUSE HIM? HAHAHAHAH Poor man, well, thankfully Naomi forgave him once he fixed his mistake :) you won't see Naoya with black hair anymore, though you'd come to regret not being able to "relieve the good ol days" 😳😳😳😳

Anyways, thank you sososos much for sending in this I LOVE DOMESTIC AU WITH NAOYA our redeemed little dork. Ah, I really needed this after last chapter's ordeal 😏 keep 'em coming 🤭

Now, take care, and hope to see you soon!!

[halfmoondaze]

That’s amazing I’m proud of you 💗

I’m the same anon talking about how stressed I am about my tough situation. Right now, I’m trying to be patient with myself and be hopeful about things

Tomorrow Will Be Kinder

Y/n walked through the front door of their shared apartment. She didn’t want to admit it to herself but she was going through it.

For the past couple of days, she had been working on this group project. Everything was running smoothly at first, communication was going smoothly and everyone had agreed to do their part. And in hopes of being able to get it out of the way, managed to complete her part in three days. 

Having less than two weeks until finals week, she moved on to do her finals for her other classes. 

But then she started worrying the next day, after no one responded to her on the group chat, when she asked how the work was going. Things only got worse from there, because after the chat was crickets even after Y/N finished her Human Anatomy class, her efforts to text and call each individual of the group separately, she realized it was no use as no one was answering her calls and ignoring her messages even though they were on read.

The following day was no different, and she found herself starting to spiral, at least on the inside. She had no choice but to pull as many all-nighters as needed to finish completing the group project and the rest of her final projects.

Jack on the other hand, was worried for her. He could tell something was bothering her by how all the sudden she had stopped talking to him unless it was to acknowledge his presence with the occasional “Hi”, “Hey” or “Good morning”. 

One night, Jack got home from the studio. It was around 11:45, and the only light that was still on, was coming from Y/N’s home office. 

Jack quietly opened the door and was met by Y/N’s intense angry glare at him. 

“Hey-”

“No!” she looked down at him. 

Jack turned to look down and realized there was a pile of written papers scattered across the floor and he had accidently stepped on one of them.

“I’m sorry, I-”

“It’s fine.” She said coldly taking the paper from his hand and just carried on working on her project like if nothing happened. 

“I just wanted to see how you were doing” 

“Better than ever” she responded unenthusiastically. 

“Did you eat today?” 

“What?” she turned to him. 

“I asked you if you ate today” 

“Can we not do this right now? I still have so much to get done” She dismissed him and put her focus back on her project.

“I know. I’m sorry” he scratches the back of his head finding the right words. “I’m just worried that……. you’re wearing yourself out. You should take a break” 

“No, I can’t do that. I need to get this done” 

“Y/N” 

“You don’t understand. I’m already behind on a lot of my classes” 

“It’s not up for discussion baby” 

“For fucks sake! Can you get off my ass for two fucking seconds?!” she spat fire from her mouth as she glared at him. 

Jack was taken back but remained calm and unbothered. 

Then she turned away and remained in the same spot, with her back towards Jack. 

Jack pulled her into a hug and she broke crying into him arms. 

“Shhh shhh its ok” he held her and rubbed her back.

It was like all the stress she had accumulated for the past weeks hit her like a truck.

“I’m so sorry” she said with her voice muffled.

“Don’t mention it” he kissed the top of her head.

Eventually, she calmed down and stopped crying. 

“You ok?” he looked at her.

She nodded.

“You want to talk about it?” 

“No” she softly said. 

“Ok. I’m going to run you a bath and then I’m going to order some takeout” he said wiping away her tears. “Does Chinese sound good?”

“Yeah” she softly said. 

“Ok” 

Jack ran her a bath with her favorite body wash and ordered her favorite from their local Chinese restaurant. By the time she exited the bathroom, Jack had laid her favorite sweatpants and one of his oversized t-shirts on the bed for her to get changed.

When she got to the dining room, the food was already served. 

Y/N quietly took a seat. 

“Feeling better?” 

“Yeah, thanks” 

He smiled at her. 

“Got your favorite” 

“Jack” 

“Yes?” 

“I’m sorry….for snapping at you” she said looking down.

Jack gently squeezed her hand.

“Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?”

Y/n hesitated, but ultimately told him everything. 

“I’m so sorry” he paused. “Can you still drop the classes?”

“I can’t. Finals week is just around the corner”

“I understand” he paused. “Maybe we could get you a tutor, so you can manage the workload” 

“A tutor?”

“Yeah. I would tell you to drop the semester, but I suppose it’s too late for that now. But I also wouldn’t want you to see all your efforts and hard work to waste just because some morons didn’t want to put in the effort” 

“Thank you” she was relieved. 

“It’s ok”

“No seriously. You’ve been so kind and helpful to me. And I’ve been nothing but-”

“Great. You’ve been great. You’re just going through a lot right now, and I understand that. Yeah, I was taken back by your reaction. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you angry” he let a small laugh. “But I won’t hold it against you. I just wanna help you”

Y/n got up from her seat, walked over to Jack and hugged him. 

Jack hugged her back. 

“I love you so much” she whispered. 

Jack smiled to himself.

“I love you too bubs” 

Y/N pulled away and smiled at him.

“….but I think I’ll love you even more if you eat” he pointed at her untouched plate of food.

Y/N smiled at him.

That night, Y/N relaxed for once, knowing that with Jack’s help, she would find her way out of this problem. Today was a bad day but tomorrow will be kinder.

[honeycreammilkshake]

"Overall, I definitely agree with you. Gege has shown investment in Sukuna as a character, and I'm hoping he doesn't give in to fan influence to abandon the progress he's made so far. "

After last chapter giving sukuna haters funny faces that look like those edits his haters make, I'm not that hopeful anymore. Giving Sukuna an awful and humiliating death to please THAT fandom sounds really disappointing from Gege, at the very least defend Sukuna since you obviously like him, have some PRIDE, show him smiling at yuji and admitting he grew.

Meanwhile Kenjaku who cut Yuki in half as well apparently deserved a comfy fight and good ending while his sins may be even greater than Sukuna lmao. Sorry I'm just pissed, I don't want fan pressure to ruin Sukuna and Yuji forever

Hi, anon!

Yeah, Sukuna definitely has a lot of haters in this fandom, despite the fact he is arguably not the worst character in JJK. He's also one of the most dynamic and fascinating of the villains, and most of that is because of his complex relationship with Yuuji.

So far, we've seen so many interesting things that really highlight how contradicting Sukuna is as a character and that also show how much influence Yuuji has over him versus pretty much everyone else. Even if Gege decides to not doing anything with all these developments, it still doesn't change the fact that they are undeniably there.

One of the most compelling developments so far, to me, has been Sukuna's willingness to listen to Yuuji, even if he claims to despise the brat's ideals and wants to break them.

After their fight in 237-238, Kashimo asks Sukuna if it's lonely being the strongest. Sukuna's concept of love is similar to competition: By being the strongest, other sorcerers admire him for that strength and come to challenge him; Sukuna responds to that "love" by vanquishing them all. He lectures that people like Gojo and Kashimo, who lament the loneliness that comes as an effect of this singular strength, are greedy. Yet when asked if he himself was satisfied with being the strongest, Sukuna doesn't even acknowledge the question. He has no good answer for why he split his soul and became cursed objects that could "cross the ages." Instead, he replies to Kashimo's question by saying love has no worth or meaning.

If his vague non-answer wasn't suspicious enough, he goes on further by trying to justify his philosophy as "a perfect way to pass time until death."

The biggest thing I want to point out is how absolutely childish Sukuna's philosophy is. It's literally just indulging himself how ever he wishes, doing as he pleases, all to pass the time. Because he is the strongest, he claims to be above weak feelings like love or loneliness, but if his lifestyle was so great... why escape it by becoming a set of cursed objects in order to awaken in the future?

(Sukuna: No comment.)

He himself describes indulging in humans as "fleeting." Even if there are in fact endless flavors for him to try, none of them last, so nothing can be savored, nothing can be remembered, and nothing can truly satisfy if it's all so passing and worthless. Even him saying it's a way for him to "pass time until death" sounds so hopeless and unfulfilling.

It's seems like to me that by becoming the strongest, he's completely lost touch with how senseless his actions are. What happens when he runs out of humans to eat, or when he runs out of lands and challengers to conquer? If he's truly convinced his self-absorbed, depraved philosophy is the ideal way he should use his strength, then how come so many of the people he meets are convinced he's lonely?

And also why does someone like him elicit Yuuji's pity? Why is Yuuji the only one who really seems to get to him?

During their fight in chapter 248, Sukuna completely shuts down and starts obsessing over why Yuuji bothers him so much. Whenever literally anyone else questions Sukuna's philosophy or his motives, he disregards and mocks them for it. Yet when it's Yuuji, he's on the defensive. Yuuji really is making him reconsider things, and he can't stand it.

(btw yes that's a literal pout he's doing right here)

When Yuuji confronts him, Sukuna has a full-out melt-down. He's literally staring into space, completely losing track of everything else that's going on. Unlike anyone else who ever questions Sukuna, Yuuji is the only one who's actually making Sukuna think for once.

When reflecting on all the other people whose ideals Sukuna was so dismissive and dispassionate about, even the King of Curses himself admits that with Yuuji it's ~different~

Okay so... I guess Yuuji being in your way wasn't good enough reason to want to him gone? No, it's his ideals and resilience that bothers you that much. Why is that? Could it be that he's gotten too far under your skin, far enough to touch your non-existent heart?

Yeah right....

Also, this relates to how Yuuji is the only one who can come close to shattering Sukuna's hard-set ways. While there have been quite a few who wanted to teach Sukuna how to "love," they went about this in a way that's much closer to the definition of competition than what is actual love, much like how Sukuna sees it.

Yorozu became completely obsessed with Sukuna because to her his loneliness was "singular." When she is reincarnated, she believes she is the one who can teach Sukuna what "true love" is.

Back in chapter 218, their confrontation is so much less complex than Yuuji and Sukuna's. Sukuna dismisses her so easily and hardly reflects on it. Her "love" is weak to him. Though she is powerful, she cannot hope to contend with the level of Yuuji's determination and dedication to his ideals.

Likewise, Gojo was also convinced Sukuna was affected by the same loneliness he was. He claims that he will be the one to teach Sukuna love because he's the closest - some people say equal - one can come to Sukuna's level of power.

Sukuna, however, is not terribly moved by this. Though he has respect for Gojo's strength and says he will remember their fight forever, he is still nowhere close to being shaken... not like he is with Yuuji.

So what makes Yuuji's approach to teaching Sukuna love so different? It's because he's so much weaker in terms of power compared to any of the others Sukuna was confronted by. He comes from an entirely different perspective that no one else has gotten close enough to Sukuna to share. And because of this, he's not making it a competition. He's being empathetic about it instead.

The whole of chapter 265 is basically Sukuna actually listening to Yuuji. It's so interesting because there is absolutely no fighting going on. Usually when someone confronts Sukuna, they do so right before, after, or during a battle with him. But in this case, it's peaceful. It's completely different than any other time someone has tried to "connect" with the King of Curses.

Yuuji's approach to connect with Sukuna is to tell him his life story and show him all the places he grew up in. It's extremely casual, close, and intimate. In response all Sukuna can say to this is -

The way he suddenly interrupts Yuuji, when before he was uncharacteristically quiet for most of the time and willing to go along with it, is very telling. He described this kind of intimacy as "creepy" to him ... which is an interesting choice of words. The mythic, immortal, all-powerful King of Curses is "creeped out" by a little oversharing and walking through Yuuji's unthreatening memories? Really?

And what's even more interesting is Yuuji's way of destroying Sukuna's world view so simply.

He's essentially telling Sukuna that his philosophy is useless.

Sukuna believes in this rigid hierarchy where only the strong can rule, and only the most selfish and heartless of the strong can sit atop that hierarchy. But what Yuuji is telling him is that... there are no set roles humans are born with. Lives aren't worthless and aren't defined by whatever "roles" they are forced into. Which means that a caste system built entirely on the "strengths" of people is about as stable as Sukuna's sanity.

Yuuji has tremendous empathy throughout this whole scene. Instead of asserting that his viewpoints are the only ones that are right, he instead admits that maybe he could be wrong... which is far different from Sukuna, who wouldn't dare admit he could be wrong.

And the way Sukuna pauses before he says he doesn't feel anything about what Yuuji is saying and showing him makes me think he's lying or downplaying how much Yuuji is affecting him.

Although some fans might argue that the purpose of this scene was to show how irredeemably heartless Sukuna is, I just can't accept that there isn't so much more going on here than that.

So... to make a too long meta short: Whatever ending Sukuna and Yuuji get, it can't take away these amazing interactions between them that defy all the expectations we had for a "static" villain like Sukuna and a "useless" hero like Yuuji.

They will forever be one the most interesting, complex, and fascinating relationships in manga to me, and I'd sell my soul for them to get the ending they deserve.

Thanks for the ask! Sorry for the mess of this post ;-;

[traumxrei-archive]

Suddenly getting emotional thinking about Jamil and how his life was chosen for him when he was born. If he would take the chance to leave his position if he could- if he'd feel lost with his newfound freedom or resentment at all his skills that, while he's great at them, were gained because he served Kalim.

I wonder how it is that others can't notice Jamil, how others can see him as just Kalim's shadow, how anyone can say, "Just have Jamil do it." And then there's you, who will look past Kalim to look for Jamil. You, who can ignore Kalim unintentionally because your staring at and daydreaming about Jamil. When you ask something of Jamil, you're not asking because it's his duty as a servant or tossing him some task while not caring if he can do it or not- we ask specifically for him because we know he can do it.

And trying to imagine how Jamil would be able to see the difference. How he'd be used to not really being seen- the name Jamil is not an individual, just the name for a faceless, identity-less thing in the background who's supposed to live for others. How he is confused when you show up at the dorm and brush off Kalim's friendly advances because you came specifically for Jamil. How you invite him to be on the other social side that he's always served- "Jamil, you haven't eaten yet, come join us!", "Jamil, you keep doing homework, I can go get that for Kalim", "Leave it for someone else to clean up, we weren't the ones responsible in the first place."

How those sitting with Kalim don't even register that he's in the room, but when it's you, your whole face lights up when you spot him. How you can't look away from his face until you've given him a smile that's brimming with your love for him. And how foreign this feels to Jamil, but maybe he doesn't hate it.

(Aka how I hadn't fully understood how Jamil felt because I acknowledged him as an individual from the start and didn't think properly about how he's typically seen as just an object in the Al-Asim household)

anon.............anon you should open a writing blog. like. i am at a loss. because you put into words the inexplicable sadness that i feel about jamil... this is so perfect that i don't think i'll be able to add much onto it, but i'll try anyway. maybe we'll take jamil's perspective, since you wrote so in depth about the prefect's perspective....

of course, your existence kind of greatly irritated jamil—at first. especially after you ruined his perfect plan to take over scarabia....but that doesn't matter now. now, he's perplexed.

he thought that you would avoid him like the plague, especially after all that he subjected you to during winter break. but instead, he started noticing you. it did help that you had a literal flaming cat next to you at all times, but he started seeing you a whole lot more.

and he felt like you were seeing him.

usually, he would wait on the side in busy hallways as kalim chattered happily with his classmates, waiting to deliver him to his next class. but he found that he was the one being sought out by you. which was weird, everyone had always wanted to talk to kalim, not him. but there you were, asking him mundane questions like how did he make that potion so easily? (practice, he answered.) what did he have for lunch? (kalim's favorite shawarmas. no, he didn't have extras.)

and he wouldn't be lying if he wasn't waiting for a certain question. one where you would ask him for a favor of some sort, and where he would have to don a mask and agree to whatever they wanted but... that question never came. he heard grim hollering for you, and just like that you were gone. huh. now that was new.

jamil noticed it happening more and more as time went by, especially as your visits to the scarabia dorm increased. at first he thought you visited solely for the food. which would mean more work for him. but he found that you weren't with kalim most of the time. rather you were rejecting kalim's proposals for holding feasts quite effectively.

instead you came to him, sometimes for a quick chat, sometimes you'd ask if he needed help. (he would always say no, the response trained into him for years upon years) but you would insist anyway, and he always found a small smile on his face whenever he was faced with your antics. (of course, he tried hard to make sure to hide those smiles behind a carefully placed hand)

jamil didn't really know when "resenting you" became "tolerating you" and he was even more clueless on how that feeling had evolved into "being fond of you".

maybe it was the time where you pushed him right past a messy-looking scarabia lounge, claiming that it wasn't his mess to clean up. or maybe it was one of the times where he was about to bunk basketball practice because kalim had called, and you said you could could meet kalim on his behalf. or maybe the time you pulled him into the school kitchens to show off lopsided-looking vada pavs that you made from one of the cookbooks he lent you.

maybe it was all the little things.

but around you, he didn't feel like "jamil viper, firstborn of the viper family" or "jamil viper, attendant to kalim al asim". no, he felt like "just jamil viper".

and maybe that's why jamil doesn't stop it when he felt that fondness turning into something brighter and more explosive. maybe that was why he started going to you— sitting next to you in your shared classes, bringing you snacks he made during lunch, or even visiting ramshackle. he found that he couldn't get enough of spending time with you. and jamil found that he didn't hate that.

(though jamil never said it outloud, you could see it in the way his eyes sparkled when he was with you, as cliche as it sounded. though his expressions remained schooled, there was something there that told you that jamil viper really, truly cared about you.)

n e ways, that's it for me. i hope you enjoyed reading my addition anon,,,,even though idk if you'll even see this since it's been so long. but i thoroughly enjoyed that sudden jamil brainrot ^^

[randomfoggytiger]

I did ask this to another blogger because I respect both of your viewpoints. I like hearing your analysis. I don't mean to send this to you also out of any disrespect.

OK..are Gillian and David really Mulder and Scully? Lack of communication that could clear up how they felt back in the days? He is like a little puppy and she is cold hard fierce who tries to shut off the world so she doesn't get hurt? No wonder they played those characters so well:) Thank goodness that THEY controlled the narrative to this discussion instead of having some kiss ass pompous interviewer trying to get them to truly talk about the tension so that we get "it was moist". Granted, that was a fun answer and brought out an interesting dynamic between the 2, but their frank and honest discussion is more true and loving. I love that D shared in the discussion and didn't take the interviewer seat like he has in the other podcasts. He actually participated in the real conversation and let it somewhat go in some areas naturally. Now, please, D or G, release the video so that we can see those lovely smiles and gazing eyes and, you know it happened, reaching out and touching each other.

I understand that completely, anon-- I used to (and still do) go to each inbox and ask the same question, even ones I'm principally against. Just want to know what they think, y'know?

Release the Gillian cut! XDDDD I don't think there is one; but maybe someone has clips on their phone of the two of them talking that day? That'd be fun.

You have a point, especially in the early days. David and Gillian were such young, green actors that Chris really had to cast for type.

But I WILL add: Half of the very close loved ones in my life are Gillian's (Gen X) generation, and the other half(ish) are David's (Boomer) or older. Each and every person I've talked to has said the same thing about the past: no one, and I mean no one, talked. Ever. Even in functional families; but especially in dysfunctional homes, with fragile mothers-- not without (varying) consequences. Communication was wired around what could be acceptably acknowledged without the whole house of cards tumbling down. Chris Carter slipped that into the themes of his show, too; and no wonder: his own childhood was turbulent, and communication a compoundingly fraught issue.

And I will also add, though I don't know how salient this point is: I have a Gen X mother who took one look at David, one look at Gillian, and a couple looks at their past interviews, and read them like a book. (So much so, that everything they admitted to in the podcast wasn't surprising, just confirming, for me.) I fed her bits of the Fail Better interview afterward, and she was nodding along to their interruptions and admittance that they had a hard time getting along-- she'd called that Gillian likely (accidentally) hurt David's feelings over the years unconsciously; and that DD grated on GA's nerves as much as she on his... and low and behold. But more importantly, she was nodding along to the communication issues section particularly: "Yes, that's how it was."

In short: I think Chris picked the people who could embody his characters' characteristics effortlessly. (But I also know, per his own words, that he cast for chemistry.) So, I agree¬.

What do you think, anon? :DDDDDD

Edit: Also agree concerning the pompous reporters. It was great to hear them without a third party trying to spin a narrative.

[mikami]

"Did Light love his family?" Anon - Catch-All Answer

Since these are six asks that are all about in the same vein, I am gonna just put the responses into one post for organization's sake.

Light begs his father to kill Mello because he wants his father's death to have been good for something. Nothing pains him more than the idea of having let this happen without it even accomplishing his goal.

Light is the physical manifestation of the lost cost fallacy: he needs to keep going because he sacrificed too much to stop and allow those sacrifices to be rendered meaningless.

And Light rationalizes. It's one of his most prominent character traits: instead of acknowledging his own emotions, he tries to filter his thoughts into nothing but emotionless pragmatism.

This is consistently portrayed through the 'hidden eyes' visual key - Light is excellent at lying to himself, in his own thoughts, which is why Obata gave us this clever way of seeing when this is happening even as Light's own internal monologue doesn't reflect it.

I have an incomplete list of these instances here, especially as pertaining to his family.

Ultimately, if we disagree that Light rationalizes his feelings rather than allowing himself to fully feel them, then none of my arguments are ever going to make sense to you and vice versa.

As a short addendum, here's Ohba's own words on this chapter (HTR13 p.80): "Even if there was acting involved in Light's tearful performance, I don't believe the tears are 100% an act." (も し月の涙に演技入っていたとしても、100%演技の涙では到底ないと思います。)

Soichiro already made the eye deal, which is an absolutely horrifying sacrifice to have made. Light wanted it to be as useful as it could possibly be, in order to justify the magnitude of the price.

I hate to say it, but you're really gonna have to take this one up with Ohba himself. On Page 65 of HTR13, he literally says that he picked Sayu as a kidnapping victim because Light loves his family and wouldn't kill her. (Unlike Misa, whom he would have just killed in this scenario rather than letting the plot progress.)

The panel you are thinking of is this one, where he is panicking, but you're not putting it into perspective.

In a previous chapter (62) Ide was about to inform the whole police force that Sayu Yagami was kidnapped. Soichiro was about to agree to this.

If Light had let this happen, he could have killed Sayu without narrowing down the suspect pool at all. They already know that Kira has ties to the police. He would have removed the leverage the mafia had held against them and gotten off entirely scott-free.

He does decidedly NOT do that. It's LIGHT personally who stops Ide from giving him the perfect alibi. EVEN RYUK CALLS OUT HOW ODD THAT WAS AS A MOVE.

And sure, Light says 'oh yeah, now nobody will suspect us!!' but nobody was really suspecting them to begin with.

This is what I mean - Light never allows himself to just feel things, he always rationalizes himself to justify his actions to himself.

His father dying. Dude.

.... literally why would he? Like, even if they don't accept Kira they also pose absolutely no threat to Kira.

I've covered all of this above, but I am including the ask to say that yes, I've seen it. The core issue here is that we disagree on Light's relationship to himself - you take his internal monologue at face value, while I think there is ample evidence that Light manipulates himself most of all. (As made completely manifest in the Yotsuba-Arc where he literally mindwipes himself into an incredibly emotionally and physically painful experience just to use himself as a pawn.)

[sapphic-sex-ed]

i looked on your abuse tag for a while and didn’t see that you answered this but if i’m wrong lmk. any tips on how to pull a friend out of an abusive relationship? i know i can’t control her but she asked me to tell her when her relationship starts to look like what mine did and when i told her she didn’t listen and now she’s getting back with the same person after 3 days. i know i’m not supposed to control her but i don’t know what to do besides an ultimatum at this point. hoping someone else has better advice before i do that.

Thank you for asking this highly relevant question. I'm sorry your friend is in a bad relationship and I'm sorry you have been through this as well - abuse is too common and that's why I'm glad you asked. We all need this information.

Most people's first instinct when their loved one seems to be in an unhealthy relationship is to raise the question with them. How people do this differs, and I would always opt for what's called curious exploration (open questions about the relationship and reflections of the emotions your loved one expresses) over confrontation, as the latter seldom is productive. In your case, anon, you raised it as agreed upon beforehand but your friend wasn't receptive to your thoughts. This, too, is common.

In my experience with clients in a abusive relationships, there is a lot of shame tied up into being a "victim", one of several reasons "survivor" is a preferred term. To imply or explicitly state that their relationship seems abusive can in instances when they're not ready to hear that yet lead to resistance and a deeper commitment to said relationship. The genuine concern for their safety is taken as criticism of themselves and their own person, usually as there probably exists some doubts and insecurities already. When we are already insecure we tend to become more protective of whatever it is we are insecure about. For this reason I would stray from words such as 'abuse' or even 'unhealthy'. Not to say that labeling abuse as abuse cannot be a relief to some - when they are ready for it it can be very cathartic for somebody else to see and acknowledge their experiences as abuse - but they need to be further along in their acceptance and insight for that to work.

As people who care about them, it can be difficult to see a loved one stay with or go back to an abusive partner. We want them to be safe and happy and to us it seems obvious that the source of their misery is the abusive partner. But abusive relationships aren't always all bad all the time. That's how we get stuck. It's like a slot machine. It can be helpful for some to speak about their relationships like a behavioral addiction - the mechanisms are similar or the same. That's what the actual definition of love-bombing is, btw. The increase in loving behaviors by an abuser right before or right after a bad abusive episode meant to keep the victim in the relationship. Because of this pattern - tension, incident, reconciliation (honeymoon phase or love-bombing), calm - it can be difficult for the person being abused to see the abuse, as it's not all bad all the time. That hope that the love-bombing or calm phases will prevail is what is so addictive about the abusive relationship. "This time maybe it will work out".

For us who see the abuse, we want to support our loved one, and the first instinct if usually to get them to leave. As discussed, that's not an easy task. It's common for abused partners (speaking explicitly about IPV, but any type of domestic violence regardless of relationship works similarly, although leaving may look different when the abuser is a relative) to leave the abuser between 3 to 11 times before they leave for good. Some never leave. What abuse does, at its core, is strip us of agency and dignity. We become dependent and degraded. If somebody else then comes along, no matter how good their intentions, and tells us that we must leave that too is stripping of agency and will be met with resistance. The change needs to come from within the abused person themselves.

Confrontation creates tension both within you as a friend and within the loved one you're trying to help, and can lead you to drift apart, especially if the abused feel like you are judgemental of their relationship. We don't want this to happen. Isolation is one of the main tools an abuses utilizes, consciously or not (because while some people are just cruel and consciously abuse others, a lot of the time the abuser is only half-way aware of what they are doing), to keep their victim in the relationship. Instead, what we want to do is offer support on the abused person's terms. Don't try to persuade them to leave. Instead offer support like a place to stay if they need it. Or a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen. Just doing friendship things and preventing isolation. What somebody needs will be based on their relationship and other social and psychological factors. If the abuse is physical they may need somebody who can drive them to the ER. Or if the abuse is more psychological (not mutually exclusive obviously) they may need somebody they can call at any hour to cry. Economical abused people may need someone who can open an account for them to stash away money or such. Ask your friend what they need if they are open to that. Or if you notice something they might need help with if you can do that for them. If they are very downtrodden and lack the ability to decide if they want help with X thing, you can speak in statements like "I will do X thing for you when you need me to".

When it comes to talking about the relationship, I use a lot of elements om motivational interviewing (MI) when I meet people in abusive relationships. You're not a therapist or a counselor, you're a friend, but the core tenets of MI are based in compassion and evoking change through that. To use skills like active listening, simple and complex emotional reflections, and open questions to bring to surface the person's own reasoning are not outside the scope of a layperson. To hear yourself say something aloud often makes it easier for us to hear the flaws in our own reasoning because now it's not just an internal thought, now we hear it as others do, and that is what using MI elements does. Again, you're not a therapist, but to use active listening skills is good in any private relationship.

I hope this was helpful. I also invite followers to share their tips from experience both as survivor and friend of survivors.

-mod liz

[incorrectmahabharatquotes]

History denial (yes we were definitely colonized by the Muslim invaders who broke and looted our temples and forcefully converted and massacred many of our people, taking our temples back is a decolonization movement as pointed out by that other anon). Then Kashmir is an integral part of India denial... how can you even say that.

I'm myself a Hindu and a queer, and reading your views came as an unpleasant surprise. Please go do some reading, and educate yourself about how reclaiming temples isn't about hating other communities. Muslims and other minorities can and have been living in peace with Hindus for centuries. What the invaders did was wrong, and acknowledging that doesn't make Hindus Muslim haters.

You answered that other anon with no reasoning, just that whatever happened, happened before your time. All vibes no research or learning.

Unfollowing. I can make Mahabharat quotes myself.

Tipu Sultan famously destroyed temples as well as donated heavily to temples.

You tell me what to think of that.

Temples have been the site of politics since time immemorial. They were the storehouses of public engagement. And that's why they were attacked. And if we draw this logic to today: Religion is in itself politics. You cannot seperate your celebration of the Ram temple from what it really signifies: The destruction of what is presumed to be a mark of colonization.

Agreed, Muslim rulers did demolish temples. But you take one look at the bulldozer politics of today and tell me: Who is being held accountable here? Are the poor Pasmanda and lower caste muslims, who barely have enough space for themselves to live the descendants of Mahmud of Ghazni? Did they inherit the wealth of whatever was looted from the Somnath temple?

Also tell me one thing: why did the Supreme court not conclude on whether there was a temple structure under the mosque, and still give the go signal? Why was the government assigned priest murdered for stating that the Ram Mandir was purely political? Why were there many 'Ram Janmabhoomi' sites before the Babri Masjid issue? And this is not ancient history, dear anon, this was hardly a generation back.

All I ask of you is to engage critically with the world around you. Yes, celebrate Ram within your house, Mod S and I will not break into your house and laugh at you. But take one look around you as to how your celebrations are actually built on others' misery.

Oh, and by the way: if we as a nation were really decolonising.......why are massive corporations kicking Adivasis of their lands in Aarey, Hasdeo (where our dear Adani is trying to 'develop' coal mines), Gadchiroli, and many many many many places where displacement happens through casteist Panchayat meetings which are held under the supervision of the State (which are not done in the presence of the people actually affected by such projects).

In my head it means one thing: The Ram Mandir is only a carrot waved in front of us to distract us from the real State Violence that goes on. And personally, I think that's a very disrespectful way of using a god. Its actually.....saddening.

Thank you for protecting your peace and unfollowing us, though! I wish you farewell on your internet journey

-Mod G

---------

Hello, Anon-Who-Is Unfollowing-And-Have-Decided-to-Announce-Your-Departure-Because-You-Wanted-Our-Attention,

Well, you have my attention. But it seems like I don't have yours because you have somehow managed to only read one paragraph selectively and completely gloss over everything else.

If you had read what I said clearly, you would have clearly seen the part where I said that the political majority CANNOT claim reclamation because YOU ARE NOT OPPRESSED. YOU HAVE ALL THE POWER. Do you understand this? Or has any hint of nuance completely managed to escape you? YOU, AS A SELF-PROFESSED HINDU, ARE NOT BEING OPPRESSED FOR YOUR HINDU IDENTITY IN THIS COUNTRY. YOU IN NO WAY ARE EVEN A LITTLE BIT HARMED BY A TEMPLE BEING DESTROYED CENTURIES AGO.

You want to talk about decolonisation? Let's talk about how the term "Hindu" that you're so proud of is actually a very recent term and is actually only a thing because the European colonisers just wanted an easy religious box to put us all in. If you're really so gung-ho about decolonisation, please decolonize yourself fully and throw away this term too. While we're at it, let's also examine why your decolonisation efforts are so selective?

"I'm myself a Hindu and a queer". I notice you conveniently skipped over the "dalit" part of my identity that actually might have led to a massive difference in lived experience in this country. I also talked about reparation to the "lower" castes. You skipped that too.

What the invaders did was wrong, and what you're doing is wrong too. Their wrongs don't mean that you are automatically right.

I gave you all my reasoning, told you everything. You skimmed through them and paid attention to the only part that you wanted to focus on.

Thank you for unfollowing, I hope you have a good day.

-Mod S

[saintsenara]

thank you very much for the ask, anon! it turned out that questions 1 and 2 sent me a bit feral, so they're queued up in a separate post... allowing this one to focus on the unhinged and deranged potential of ronius.

which - i'll be honest - is not quite as unhinged and deranged as one might think...

although my answer about it as a pure crackship would be influenced by a headcanon i remain committed to purely for my own amusement that harry is the only person who believes sirius to be unfathomably good-looking pre-azkaban [the girl in the defence against the dark arts exam was actually checking out lily! harry saw what he wanted to see!] and still retaining vestiges of these magnificent looks after it.

i like the idea of ron - canonically a real hottie himself - not being entirely sure what all the fuss is about, not least because sirius hasn't seen a dentist in fifteen years. harry's sighing every night about how lucky ron is while everyone else pats sirius on the back for bagging himself a tall and sporty legend with great hair, a chill personality, and a fourteen-inch wand.

but my more serious response to this ship would be that it joins the pile - with snon and ronmort - which are made plausible by the fact that ron is, at heart, someone who cares.

in goblet of fire, harry, ron, and hermione all have broadly similar views of sirius - that he's a clever, sensible adult who can be trusted to help them with the mystery they find themselves in. ron is reassured that harry tells sirius about his scar hurting, for example, because he thinks it's a given that sirius will know what to do about it - and he believes that any information sirius gives harry throughout this book is completely above reproach.

ron also clearly thinks that sirius is cool - him trying to get sirius to agree with him that hermione's passion for house elf rights is ridiculous very much has the vibe of him wanting sirius to acknowledge him as a sophisticated man-of-the-world; which him being pissed-off when sirius suggests the trio are too young to understand what things were like in the first war also illustrates.

[which i think sirius respects him for - he obviously admires a bit of bolshiness, and he also obviously adores the loyalty ron and hermione have for harry.]

and so i think that you can absolutely imagine ron developing a little crush on sirius - to go with his broader bisexual awakening over viktor krum - during his fourth year.

more interestingly, though, is that the trio's view of sirius diverges in order of the phoenix.

in harry's case, there is a reversal of the reasonably uncomplicated parent-child dynamic of goblet of fire, as sirius' depression - as well as the regression he feels from being stuck in his childhood home - robs him of the capacity to provide harry with the paternal emotional support he needs. instead, harry ends up being the one taking the adult role in their relationship - viewing it as his responsibility to be the sensible one in order to keep sirius safe.

hermione notices this role-reversal, but her view is broadly that sirius would be able to restrain his emotional instability if he simply tried hard enough. she's the one of the three who thinks that sirius' grimmauld-place-induced regression is accompanied by a desire to relive his glory days with harry standing in for james - and while both she and harry find sirius' more reckless behaviour [such as his suggestion that he might come to hogsmeade to see them] frightening, hermione evidently regards it as reckless arrogance, while harry sees it as reckless desperation.

ron - on the other hand - approaches order-era sirius not from the adult position in an adult-child dynamic, but as a peer.

he's the member of the trio who best understands the impact feeling useless to the war effort, lonely, and trapped has on sirius, without adding the qualification that he should be an adult and deal with it [which has the negative result that he's easily convinced that harry's vision of sirius in the department of mysteries is real, because he thinks it's completely plausible that sirius would have left the house and been captured].

he has no time for the idea that sirius views harry as indistinguishable from james, or that sirius is deliberately or childishly reckless. he's the only one of the three to give sirius the credit of listening to dumbledore and working to keep himself and harry safe - even if he doesn't like what he has to endure in order to do this. he treats sirius as someone who deserves to not be condescended to and to be acknowledged as having authority in his own house - for example, when he tells hermione that she needs to respect sirius' justification for why kreacher can't be manumitted when he thinks she intends to give him clothes for christmas [that hermione is completely right that slaves should be freed is by-the-by here].

he also understands harry's grief over sirius' death - and what sirius meant to harry - far more instinctively than hermione. but he's also the only one of the trio who really gets how sirius was understood by the order more widely - for example, he's the only one of the three who correctly points out that tonks didn't actually know sirius well enough for the intensity of grief harry and hermione are ascribing to her to be plausible. while harry - completely understandably - sees sirius as so important in his own life that he can't help but imagine him as the central figure in the life of everyone he encounters [which is unrelatedly interesting in that it's how each of the three marauders saw james], ron has a more pragmatic, big-picture view of him as a man. a good man - absolutely - and a fun and clever and admirable one, but still a man like any other.

ron understanding sirius - but not idolising him - creates a pretty strong potential for a relationship between them in a world in which sirius survives into the trio's adulthoods. this is especially the case when this understanding is combined with the fact that ron is shown - throughout the series - to be very good at providing comfort.

sirius survives azkaban and his time on the run through sheer, desperate resilience - but, as his collapse when he's back at grimmauld place shows, this resilience can't keep his demons at bay when he's not just fighting, at the most basic level, to stay alive.

if he survives the war, then he - like his narrative mirror, snape - is going to find himself feeling terrified and unmoored and completely unsure about who he is and what he'll do in a world in which voldemort is dead - and i suspect that his self-destruction would be extraordinary.

ron - alone of the trio - has the capacity to understand how sirius would end up in a place where "all was well" is more frightening to him than the potential of dying any minute. and he also has the capacity to provide an anchoring force through cups of tea and chit-chat which makes sirius think it might be possible to survive the day... and then the week... and then the month - which can then transition into him having the capacity to understand the big questions of guilt and grief and love and loyalty which define sirius' adult life.

so yes. i back it entirely.

[undobutton]

I agree with you totally and to add something, Im white and it is extremely easy to be respectful? Like you dont have to be too smart to know that because you are white that doesnt mean everyone else reading is, and the people that are like “im just not used to it/ idk how to not write white reader/ being inclusive is too difficult" and else are really self-centered and probably kind of racist people, not only to black people but to any POC. If you are going to describe the reader as white, dont even call it an "x reader"🙄

this! this! i gotta say:

WHITE IS NOT THE DEFAULT.

STRAIGHT IS NOT THE DEFAULT.

FEMALE IS NOT THE DEFAULT.

CIS IS NOT THE DEFAULT.

ABLE-BODIED IS NOT THE DEFAULT.

i feel like some people need to hear that. there is no default besides being human. and hate to burst anyone's bubble but we're all fucking humans. You and your experiences are not universal.

not everyone blushes visibly, or has hair that fingers can be ran through, or can go straight to cuddling someone as soon as they get through the door.

sometimes our skin is too dark, or our hair is too thick, or getting free of our outside clothes is the most important thing to do when getting home. and thats okay.

adding a little "written with white reader mind" or "written with straight reader in mind" or "written with able-bodied reader in mind" helps so much. like let. us. know. please.

cause it hurts to be knee deep in a fic and then have to recalibrate and ask yourself if this character would like you if you're not white. and feeling like the answer is no? that shit SUCKS ASS.

and if you feel called out by this? That's fine. you don't deserve death or a curse on your whole bloodline. just make the effort to acknowledge this and add those warnings in the future. adjust the tags you use in your fics! I'll do it too!

If I make a mistake tell me! don't tell me to die bc i forgot a warning. be humane.

the problem is when people act like they are above adding these warnings. or acknowledging that they accidentally considered their fic inclusive when it wasn't.

im not writing all this to make people feel bad. I'm just passionate and like making bold words and using all caps. If you realize that you've been doing some of these things just make your future works more inclusive or add those warnings.

if you "don't know how to write a non-white reader" or something. the xreader tag is for everyone, sure. but you can tag your fic as xreader and xwhite!reader or xfem!reader. it's not hard, really.

i also don't want to take away from anon's original statements. so i just want to ask anyone reading this to maybe reread what they said. since i drifted away from that topic and i think they said it very well!

also wanna add that xwhite!reader isn't even really a tag? like it didn't pop up as i typed it so.. maybe we can make that a thing?

-button 🌺

[tabithatwo]

I know you'll be busy answering ship asks for awhile but like. I think So Much about how Nat would not have let Jackie die. Jackie's death only works for me because Nat has this perfect reason for not being there - out searching for Javi with Travis all night. Like they must've made a fire, and also had each other for warmth, but Jackie was just. Alone. And if Nat had seen her she would have DRAGGED her ass back inside suicidal tendencies be fucking damned !!!! Jackie: I'm gonna kill myself. Nat: NOT ON MY WATCH! But she wasn't there. She couldn't stop it. I'm so sad lmao. Also let me acknowledge Shauna's part in all this lol. This is gonna sound wild(?) Mayhaps but I almost feel like the wilderness kept her asleep? Does that make sense? Because here's the thing Shauna is 100% mean petty stupid stubborn etc enough to just. Not bring Jackie inside lmao and obviously none of them knew that it would snow, or that she wouldn't put effort into starting a fire. Jackie is also obviously all of those things as well and would not have come inside without Shauna going to get her. And I'm not trying to give too much weight to the vague supernatural element, it's tragic no matter what, but in my mind that Death Dream that Jackie and Shauna share was almost hypnotizing both of them in a way. And it could have gone differently. Like I read it as: their connection is that strong, Shauna sensed that Jackie was dying, and she COULD have woken up in time, she could have !!! But the wilderness wanted Jackie so it kept them both asleep and in that dream. This isn't something I've shared on here or told anyone lol it's just for me < 3 no one has to agree with it. I think the reason I buy into it is that yes Jackie and Shauna are dumb enough to create that ridiculous of a situation but for Shauna to sleep through the night.... Without waking once... Without some sort of influence THAT I find hard to buy. She would have been too anxious to fall asleep even. But, they were Out There, and they were both lulled into sleep, Jackie so she could die, and Shauna so she couldn't save her. And Nat had to be gone too, so the wilderness hid Javi away ((not literally, hopefully you get what I'm saying)) idk the 3 of them just make me so insane and so sad. It's always felt to me like Jackie died by the skin of her teeth, her girls would have, could have, should have saved her, but. The wilderness kept them at bay.

I did in fact proof-read this after the fact pls post this version (if you decide to post it at all) xnjxjxxjdj

ANON!!!!!!!!!!!! HELLO?????? YOU HAVE BLOWN MY MIND IN THE BEST WAY???? THANK YOU????

everyone clap for anon for putting this in my inbox cause holy HOLY! you. are. so. onto. something. and i cannot believe i never noticed this or connected these dots, because i am ALL ABOUT the wilderness/it using the dream realm to fuck with them. this is the natural conclusion to come to from that perspective!! like!! yes!! i always found it bizarre that shauna could fall asleep after the emotional fight of a lifetime/her secrets being exposed like that, and that is especially true when we see her up late in the attic over smaller things in s1 or over other big moments in s2. this in genius. i'm adopting this into my worldview i am obsessed this is everything. love love love it and thank you for dropping this wisdom in my asks!

[pynkhues]

Hi, I'm a little shy to ask/reblog on main, but your last post on Louis and Lestat's sexual dynamic was really interesting and I appreciated the deep dive! I get similar vibes from them, but couldn't articulate it. This is meant in friendly conversation with the last asker, their question was very thoughtful and lead to me questioning my own assumptions:

It always surprises me that strict Top Lestat/Bottom Louis is a common interpretation, because I thought Louis and Lestat being vers was pretty heavily implied in both the show and official social media? Not only because of all the stuff you mentioned, which is more subtle and interpretive, but because I feel the show does quite a lot to imply sexual dynamics between characters. For instance, I thought the line in the show, "you can be on top", literal or not for that particular night, was there to imply....yk, Louis being on top sometimes (though, I suppose it could also be interpreted as Lestat offering Louis a more "masculine" role *at first* so as not to force something on him he wasn't comfortable with). In addition, there was that silly little "bottom of the coffin" thing in AMC lestarter pack :)). 

If anything, I see the show taking pains to imply Louis tops, but never the other way around -- idk if this is on purpose to counter assumptions of Lestat topping. But because Top Lestat is such a common fan interpretation, I'm starting to question if I'm reading too much into the examples above...

Anyway, I know it doesn't necessarily come down to getting a "real answer" to this single question, and it can be more about just discussing the different possibilities and vibes! But I do find it interesting and relevant to their dynamic as a whole -- especially what you said about "push and pull". Thanks for holding up the Bottom Lestat fort with your beautifully written fics!

(x)

Hi! I'm glad it was interesting, anon, and I agree in that I tend to see a lot of moments in the show overall as indicative of Lestat and Louis having a versatile sexual dynamic, and well, dynamic over all, actually, given the balance of power actually shifts a lot between them broadly.

This is going to sound like a sidetrack, but please bear with me, haha, but I do think there's a lot to be said too in how Louis tells his story, which I mentioned in another ask this morning, namely that he's prone to minimising and sanitising his own choices and actions. We see that of course most notably in Lestat's retelling both of Claudia's turning, which Louis admitted to Daniel was closer to the truth than his own version, and the fight that led up to Lestat dropping him / Lestat's act of abusive violence, but we see it all over the place - again, Louis implying he was keeping his sexual urges at bay in 1.01 only to reveal he'd fucked Jonah years earlier in 1.03 and Louis' memory of choosing Claudia freely instead of hurting her and saving Lestat in 1.07 both being pretty big ones.

This isn't to say Louis' a liar - I don't think he is - but memory is a funny creature, and it's normal to want to put yourself in a more flattering light or to push accountability onto others in order to protect yourself from the consequences of your own actions.

In a lot of ways, it makes me think of Lestat saying that it was Louis who said come to me to him instead of the other way around, and I found it so interesting that the post-ep interviews seemed to acknowledge there was a truth to that. I won't be able to find it now, haha, but Sam and Jacob both have said that they talked about it a lot and that they came to the fact that the come to me was coming in both directions and indicative of a sort of mutual yearning and desire for one another.

That's fascinating to me, but also I think is a great reminder that Louis does tend to draw himself in his relationship with Lestat as someone who was being seduced and pulled in, whereas a lot of the visual language of the show itself actually demonstrated that it was mutual. Gosh, just look at the invention of Dreamstat, Louis attacking Claudia for trying to burn Lestat, even earlier - Louis dressing Lestat, bringing Lestat to his home, Louis taking Lestat in his lover's bed in order to drag him home. It's not to say Lestat doesn't do it too - he does - but the point is that it's a lot more mutual than Louis' initially willing to acknowledge or articulate, and I think that a lot of the fandom still tends to take Louis' word as the pursued instead of also the pursuer, the hunted instead of also the hunter, as gospel when the show's telling us in other ways that its not.

And yeah, I do think that can impact the way people view their sexual dynamic, where Louis' passive / a 'housewife' to a husband / someone who receives instead of being someone who's active / a husband to a husband / someone who gives and takes in equal measure. Louis' not in Lestat's crosshairs, they're in each other's, and just personally, that's why I like them

[wetcatspellcaster]

Did you see Neil Newbon’s take that Ascended Astarion is the real him free to act on cruelty and violence and the spawn is the one with the mask? Yeesh.

Ooooooh, THAT'S the disk horse that's happening right now!! I knew something was happening (I felt a tremor in the waters) but I had no clue what it was lmao, I don't follow cast stuff.

I will try to respond to this in good faith, but I'm not very good at fandom discourse and so I'm afraid it may not be the answer you want.

I can see why that reading might make people angry, but I dont have strong feelings about it. Obviously, it's not my take on Ascension, but from the beginning I've been very upfront that my take is serving the genre I'm writing in and the ship dynamics I find hot. My Tav is lawful good to an unhealthy extreme, and that was how she was conceived in her Early Access bullying phase. And meanwhile, I wanted to be in a Gothic horror where he's obsessed (morality chains will do that to you) and they beat the shit out of each other. I have to make the Ascendent a monster, for that to work, and for people not to feel guilty every time they enjoy watching him getting stepped on lmao.

But I do feel like there is a morality policing around Astarion's ending that I don't want to partake in. This might seem dumb for me to say, given that my Tav is a veritavle walking moral policeman, but that is bc I fucking love Villain/Heroine ships, so I am literally right there, at the Devil's Sacrament with everyone else.

While I like the good ending and prefer it for many reasons, I would agree with a reading of Newbon's words that it could be read as a mask. This might be bc I mask with the best of them, am doing it right now even as I write and edit this ask 20 times. There's masking as an outright lie, and then there's masking as 'gotta get through day to day life as a functional adult without everyone suddenly deciding they hate me'... I personally think its nice that spawn!Astarion cares about other people, and cares about being a functional member of society at all! It shows he's no longer a lonely outcast.

I could also go deeper (the autism really shining through in this reply) and say it's a mask, in the sense that this has been deemed the 'polite' and morally correct ending, that is acceptable to others and enables the player to feel good about themselves. Which is often a way we derive pleasure from media, and not wrong in and of itself! Making Astarion good makes players feel good - that's not wrong, but if we're comparing endings, we have to acknowledge it. An Ascended Ending doesn't really cater to that impulse... unless the player really likes to be dommed (more power to them).

Unfortunately anon, I can't sit here with my most popular fic being an Ascended!Astarion fic, and pretend that there isn't a bunch of fascination or interest surrounding the Ascended version of his character. People clearly want to explore the implications of his evil ending and indulge in the excess of it, but feel bad doing so. People don't ascend him in-game, but they go to my fic and other people's fic because they want to have some space to enjoy the implications - in the sexiness, in the timeline where Astarion has revenge, in a timeline where he is obsessed with Tav etc. I mean, just look at me, I can't sit through the Ascended scene, but I'm here writing a fic about it!!

The fact that it seems to happen more in fic than in playthroughs tells me, if I was to get super deep in a tumblr ask, that people feel guilt about it. Some kind of mask is being employed, by someone, somewhere, in that mix. So I'm not about to add to any of that kind of policing. It would be pretty disingenuous of me to get my most feedback from an Ascendent fic I am writing, and then judge people for liking Ascendency narratives...

So while I don't have much interest in pretending the evil ending isn't the evil ending, that doesn't sound to me (second hand, through you, with my brain seeing 7 or 8 different implications) to be what Newbon is saying. He's just saying that the Ascendent is the less palatable Astarion to other people and that spawn!Astarion still has some kind of mask or a politeness filter on. Which... yeah. Kinda. In my world, I like that Astarion decides its worthwhile to restrain himself, because he has things to care about potentially ruining. But that's still in many ways employing restraint. People don't just stop masking, they learn to care about what others think in a healthy way. They have friendships, relationships, other ties to the world, that make them want to be something other than a cruel or violent or evil version of themselves. I think that's nice, and far less lonely but um... yeah. I can see Newbon's point, even if I don't want to like, live or die by it.

[many-but-one]

“hey you’re using the language of antisemetic conspiracy theorists and this promotes current antisemitism in conspiracies like qanon because it legitimizes those conspiracies and their bigotry” “don’t police survivors’ language!!!!!”

Yeah, I wondered if me answering that ask was going to gain me more anons.

For starters, you cherry-picked one thing we said and ignored everything else. We stated that if it’s an issue of antisemitism alone, then it would be better to educate people about the new acronym and encourage them to use it instead of angrily saying survivors shouldn’t use an acronym that describes their experiences, not to mention saying people shouldn’t use it at all because it can bring them harm, which I suppose could be true. Though the only harm I’ve ever gotten for using the RAMCOA label is fake claimers trying to say RAMCOA doesn’t even exist, not people zeroing in on me being (now formerly) programmed and trying to exploit that.

My main point was that the OP of the post sounded like (and we may be wrong or misconstruing what they said, and if we did, I apologize) they were acknowledging the trafficking and ritual abuse part of the RAMCOA acronym, but ignoring the MC part/alluding that MC as a whole is the conspiratorial part. That was what we take most issue with. If Jewish systems don’t want RAMCOA/OEA survivors to use the RAMCOA acronym because of the antisemitic roots, then I agree that it would be wise to phase it out of the community’s vocab.

However, MC is not just an antisemitic conspiracy theory, it is something that actually happens to people. Just not in the way said conspiracy theorists try to claim. I’ve known people whose MC happened at their local church, their local daycares, their families, trafficking rings, and various political or religious cults. Not Illuminati bullshit—because yes, that is an antisemitic conspiracy theory. I can see how using the acronym RAMCOA would firstly make people think of the Illuminati/antisemitic conspiracy part of the history of the phrase, and by using a different acronym it can hopefully divorce the Illuminati conspiracy from MC, and therefore be more accommodating and respectful to Jewish systems, though I do think that no matter what acronym we use, people who think MC is “just a conspiracy” are going to conflate it with Illuminati stuff regardless because the history of MC is unfortunately tied to Illuminati conspiracy theorists. It’s unlikely we will ever truly be able to escape that part of the history of MC, which is extremely unfortunate.

The best we can hope for is continuing to educate people on what MC really is (as in, not an Illuminati conspiracy) and encouraging people to use proper language that is respectful. I apologize if it came across only as us not being understanding of Jewish systems’ experiences with antisemitism. We were mainly noticing OP alluding to MC as a whole being a conspiracy, and I realize we were also defensive about others policing what others are allowed to use to describe their experiences, which has happened with the whole “HC-DID shouldn’t be used” debacle that happens on a semi-frequent occasion. The difference that I’m seeing now is that HC-DID is a community term and RAMCOA has negative implications, and I apologize for that.

I know some folks in the community have been talking about trying to figure out a new acronym that isn’t tied to Illuminati conspiracy but is more specific than OEA, though I haven’t had the time to think about it much myself.