#I mean in canon they meet each other when they're both reached a point

[disheveledtranquility]

I'm gonna call it: Sleeper is in this one. Just under different circumstances than the comics.

Eddie and the symbiote gets captured (the whole 'area 51' joke from the second movie) and they're separated while on the run.

Eddie starts feeling drained, exhausted, sick, and hungry like he first did when he first merged with the symbiote. But Eddie knows he's alone now, truly. Alone and on the run by himself.

They're both being hunted, both looking for each other. But Eddie is at a disadvantage. The symbiote knew this.

This can go one of two ways: something happened, and the symbiote failed to inform Eddie, thinking it was the best choice given the circumstances. And the symbiote growing inside him is slowly gaining enough awareness to protect him. To keep him safe until they can reunite later.

Or Eddie was told before the separation, and Eddie spends his time on the run trying to keep both him and the new symbiote safe while trying not to die in the process.

I'm hoping I'm right because of this part in the trailer here:

This scene looked off to me. Eddie's symbiote is stark black, and even with the lighting, the symbiote tendril shown seems more desaturated to me. Which makes me think this isn't his symbiote. Also, Eddie's reaction right before reaching out to it:

At this point, this isn't how Eddie is going to be reacting to his symbiote. And in these quick few frames he's almost shaking, hesitant. It's after the helicopter crash and Eddie looks healed.

So what healed him? And who is he reaching out to?

Little Sleeper, who he gets to meet for the first time. Sleeper has bits of yellow/gold and red, so the hue would fit.

Because another point in this scene snippet jumped out at me. After the crash. Eddie hunched inside but clearly not dead. But in pain and clearly emotional.

That helicopter is obliterated, having crashed from the sky with him in it. And there is literally no one else in sight. Not even human remains. So how did he make it out, virtually unscathed?

Maybe this is where Sleeper is strong enough to make an appearance, and to assure Eddie that he's not alone, that he's still protected. That together they'll find Eddie's 'other'.

Please if we can't have Dylan can we have the other Symbrock child, I need the world to know they have canon children.

Sleeper may be just offspring from Eddie's symbiote that Eddie helped nurture, but the fact that the symbiote wanted to raise it to be good, with Eddie, fucking sends me into outer space.

Would have loved the hybrid human/symbiote child Dylan who has the power to control symbiotes, but since this is the last movie...I'mma just cry to myself. Please give us Sleeper. Let Sleeper be the loving child of theirs.

Plus..."we have something he needs"

'we'

Not I, as in Knull wants to devore the symbiotes to take back the power. We. Eddie and his symbiote. It's specific.

Sleeper ends up being hella powerful. Enough that it can exist without a live host. Eddie being able to bond with one of Knull's symbiotes and form a mutual emotional bond with it to create such a being ( two when you count Dylan ) is a fucking threat on every level.

I mean, why is the separation of Eddie and his symbiote the theme here?

"This world can't survive if you stay together."

"If Venom lives, everything will end."

'Venom' of course, being Eddie and the symbiote's merged name. Which takes on a WHOLE new meaning when you think about the fact that Toxin is telling that scientist that if Eddie and the symbiote remain together...Knull is going to send that army. Because Knull doesn't like a good threat to his kingdom. And considering Eddie's symbiote betrayed its race just to be with him...

No one wants to deal with what Venom (Eddie and his symbiote) can create. Too powerful to control and too fearful of the possibilities. But that doesn't stop them and I'm really hoping I'm right.

I could ted talk about this all day.

PLEASE SONY. I'M IN YOUR WALLS AT NIGHT.

[gayelderstourney]

OLD MAN YAOI BRACKET ROUND 2

Propaganda:

Sheo/The Nailsmith:

It's really nice because you unlock it after the nailsmith asks you to kill him with the pure nail and you refuse and walk away. He then says he was wandering hallownest without purpose until he found sheo who helped him discover that there was more to life than just one calling. These two are probably the only characters in the game to have a genuinely happy ending

The nailsmith loses his purpose in life after finishing his ultimate masterpiece, his lifelong goal, the pure nail. He requests the protagonist to try the nail on him, but If you refuse, he will find sheo who helps him to find new meaning in life and realise that there is more to life by teaching him different crafts. They can then be seen sculping figurines together, and sheo is also painting the nailsmith.They share a common love for art and crafts and inspire each other. Sheo's story is that he was a nailmaster, but got tired of it, and put down his nail to pick up a paintbrush. I think it's beautiful that he could help the nailsmith realise what he himself did. They both also used to live in solitude without even realising how lonely they were, and I think it's cute tuhat they can do art together now :]

They are two bugs retired from their career and making better lives for themselves and they’re gay about it. Nailsmith believes at first that he has nothing left after creating the perfect nail and asks the knight to strike him down, and if you don’t, he meets Sheo, a retired nailmaster finding a new calling in painting and sculpting. They find a shared love in creating things and Nailsmith finds a new calling in art as well. The achievement you get for uniting them is called “Happy Couple”

Gay bugs gay bugs gay bugs (Cw mention of suicide) They both used to pursue their one passion in life: forging the perfect nail (sword) for the Nailsmith and the art of combat for Sheo. Sheo realized he could just leave that life when he lost his passion for fighting, and he found himself a new purpose in life: art. However, he always seemed very lonely, completely isolated by all other bugs in his hidden house in the middle of a thorn jungle. When The Nailsmith achieved his goal and forged the perfect nail, he lost his purpose in life and his will to live. He asks the player to kill him. However, if the player refuses, he can later be found in Sheo's house, modelling for Sheo or sculpting figurines with him. He thanks the player for not fulfilling his request, because he has found a new calling in life here, making art together with Sheo. They both express how happy they are to no longer be alone. This also gives you the "Happy Couple" achievement, confirming that they are a couple.

THEY'RE CANON!!! They're fucking canon!!! You can talk to them at one point after doing a Bunch of Stuff to get them to meet each other and you get an achievement called "Happy Couple"!!! Gotta love old man yuri

Jean-Luc Picard/Q:

theyre kind of the ogs. q fucked that old man for SURE. if they arent old enough for you in the next generation (1987-1984) they probably will be in picard (2020-2023). also when i went looking for the pic i included i googled “star trek picard q in bed” and there were actually multiple different instances of that happening that popped up

um it’s unclear what age Q is supposed to be in TNG but in Picard they’re both undeniably old as balls. Q has godlike powers that he just uses to hang out with this bald old man in increasingly strange and annoying ways. And call him “mon capitane” like a freak and materialize next to him in bed and say Good Morning Darling and lounge all over the Enterprise like a fruit anyways I think they’re abnormal and I like them

what if you were an all powerful nearly omnipotent being who has been worshipped as a god on planets across the farthest reaches of space and the first guy to just not give a shit about you makes you fall madly in love with him

I can’t get my thoughts clear right now but they mean so much to me. They’re meant to be with each other ok. the sequel to spirk. they would be canon if paramount werent COWARDS

if I were an entity as old as the universe itself and I kept visiting some old guy on a spaceship trying to justify the existence of humanity it would 100% be for gay reasons and Q understands this concept on an intimate level actually

[aingeal98]

One fun element of pre N52 Jason and Cass never getting to interact is that there's no specific canon for how they would feel about each other. We know how Cass feels about Dick and Tim and we got to see her meet and bond with Damian. But with Jason that complete lack of canon material means that people can do so much with it. You can have her try to stop him from being a murderer with a ton of attempted reaching out and understanding a la Alpha in batgirl 2000 or you can have him trigger so much of her own personal issues that she projects too much on him and after their first meeting doesn't end well she just. Constantly tries to punch him in the face when she sees him. You can have Jason try and reach out to her because he's curious and open to this new family member or you can have him despise her on sight because of everything he's heard about her being like a mini Bruce. There's no one true way to write them because they're both capable of reacting in multiple different ways to the same scenario based on small circumstancial changes. The only guarantee is that it would be messy and at least one of them would probably get pissed off at some point. But who's holding the asshole baton that day and who's just trying to rise above their annoying sibling provoking them is entirely up to you. It's fun! I enjoy that about them.

[ollifree]

Once again these are bite sized. Get it? Because vampires...and werewolves....

Context: Hyun and my Blood Moon self-insert exist in the same play through. Dr Dan doesn't have werewolves to contend with in canon so I'm shoving him in Mahim's alpha verse get along you two. Ash and Alice both need child leashes and should never come within city limits of each other.

Blood Moon and Thicker Than are both written by @barbwritesstuff and the greatest pieces of literature I've had the pleasure to read.

~

"Just a minute, leech."

Hyun only doesn't flinch because they're dead. They meet Minjo's eyes, and she gives a little shrug. Great. Well, it probably is. She looked a lot worse when she thought Hyun was getting decapitated.

"Alpha has a question for you."

"Okay?"

Then, there's a foot on the back of Hyun's chair, tilting them until they're looking up into golden eyes. "I want to know if your kid enjoyed the movie."

~

Eventually, one of Nathan's students approaches the bleachers. "So...what are you?"

The werewolf looks up from her phone. Apparently Dan getting shot point-blank convinced her she doesn't need to keep as close an eye on him as her boss-man--her words--instructed.

She grins at the kid, eyes hazel and teeth all human-teeth-size. "What do you think I am?"

After a bit of shuffling they finally answer, "Well, you're...not a vampire."

"I'm not." She sticks out her hand and the human gives a small flinch. "See? Pulse and everything."

The veins are blue and visible against her pale skin, soon covered by the human's bronze fingers as they give her a feel. Something deep in the recesses of Dan's mind stirs. Werewolf blood....

"So, what can you do?" the human asks.

She reaches down to one of Dan's discarded bottles and gives it a sniff. "Squirrel."

She sets it down and picks up another one. "Raccoon."

Again. "Mmm...mostly rat, some mice."

She stills when she smells the next one. A flicker of gold enters her eyes, and a chill runs down Dan's spine.

"Rabbit," she mutters, tossing the bottle aside.

~

Ash learned soon after moving in with Roe: he loves baking. Loves it. He's good at it, to boot. He's considered more than once sending Alpha Addie a batch of cookies after he finally got the recipe down. Though, the logistics of sending enough for the entire pack through the mail makes him think he should wait for the next clambake.

Speak of the devil, he thinks when his phone vibrates the tone of the pack in the city. His pack a small part of him still thinks.

He opens the text immediately when he sees it's from Ed. Someone's graffiti'd a rabbit on the husk of a burnt-out building, surrounded by the words LONG LIVE THE QUEEN. Ash reads the message Ed sent with it. He reads it again.

what do u mean *vampire turf war*

~

Hyun grits their teeth and steps forward. "You can't stop me from seeing--"

Chris stumbles back. Hyun realizes they haven't grit their teeth: they've bared them. Like they're correcting someone in the Court who thinks fledglings can't bite.

They step back, twice, and feel death steal back over their features. It makes Chris look more scared than when they had their fangs out.

Hyun moves their body into an expression he knows: head to the side, eyes down, like when Hyun caved whenever they argued, when he took everything when they divorced. Hyun's home. Hyun's car. Hyun's son. Hyun's dog. "You're right. I shouldn't see him."

[elvenbeard]

House party scenes 2/5: River and Panam and Kerry and V

Simply given the fact that River and Kerry are the two love interests that always stay in Night City after the canon endings of the game, I think River is the one of V's friends that Kerry gets to know first and knows best. I mean, I even wrote that oneshot where they're invited over for dinner at River's, and I think it just becomes a more or less regular occurrence after that. River and Vince got along good from the start, both having an inquisitive nature and good heart under a hard exterior, despite Night City continuing to try its best at teaching them that compassion is futile. Vince is fully supportive of River doing his own thing, helping him out where he can with his P.I. business once it's up and running, and River remains an important contact to Vince's Afterlife operations as well.

Panam's and Vince's relationship is quite different and a lot more complicated than that (and damn, one day I gotta make a long post about it bc yeah, I won't be doing it justice in this context here xD). Like, they have so much in common actually, careful and mistrusting at first, have a hard time opening up to others, but deep down, behind the loud and gritty exterior, they also just wanna connect to others and be loved. Given the circumstances at the time, and adding Vince's misconceptions about the nomads as a whole, he and Panam didn't really develop a deep friendship over the course of the game's events. To Vince it really just was a "You scratch my back if I scratch yours" relationship for a long while, and he assumed Panam thought the same. By the time they reached a point where they could both openly talk to each other finally, the Aldecaldos were about to pack up and leave. They stayed in contact afterwards though and I think only then started to develop a real, deeper, long-distance-online-only-friendship (sidenote: I absolutely love Panam's text messages in game, how you can talk to her about the other main NPCs for example, I wish there was something like that with everyone).

The birthday get-together is the first time they see each other in person since the Raffen attack on the camp, and yet it's not nearly as awkward as either of them would have feared. Panam is accepted as part of the group right away, probably a bit awestruck still by Kerry just being there and talking to her like normal. She can finally put faces to all the names Vince always talks about, too, River and Judy and Takemura, and so on. If she's ever stranded in NC for whatever reason, Vince's home is her home and safe place, the same way she's offered it to him with the Aldecaldos camp numerous times.

And finally, I wrote before about how Kerry and Vince have this little routine of making up all kinds of batshit stories of their first meeting when people they don't care about ask about it. V's friends though get to hear the real story, even though it's probably even crazier than anything they could come up with.

[theshenami]

On which GS date is canon in FF7 Rebirth: honestly, it's doesn't matter

I've seen a lot of debate lately around the Rebirth Ultimania not clearly stating whether any of the GS dates are canon, just a vague statement about how they're all sort of removed from the main story. Rather than focus on the shipping aspect of it, I wanted to share my thoughts in terms of which date best fits the story that Rebirth is trying to tell.

My understanding of the story is that the overarching plot concerns the pursuit of Sephiroth, and within that structure each of the main cast gets some character development, some of which leads to the resolution of their inner plots at the same points in the story as they were resolved in the OG. Aerith, Barrett, Nanaki and Cait Sith get their character arcs resolved by the end of the Disc 1 story, just like in the OG. Aerith's arc might continue on to some degree in part 3, but again, I'm just focusing on the plot of Rebirth. Yuffie gets a modified character arc, focus on joining AVALANCHE in the fight against Shinra rather than being all about the materia (don't get me wrong, it's still important to her, just no longer her core motivation), but since we can't go to Wutai yet like we could in the OG her character arc cannot resolve yet.

For the remaining cast, their arcs don't resolve until Disc 2 or later. Cloud's character arc peaks in the Lifestream, but his inner struggle doesn't reach a complete resolution until the end of Advent Children (it remains to be seen whether the devs change this in part 3). Tifa's character arc was also intimately intertwined with Cloud's, but I would argue that her arc also continues post-game, like when she's dealing with her guilt over the destruction of Sector 7 during On the Way to a Smile. Cid's don't resolve until Disc 2 in the OG, when he finds out the truth about Shera, and that hasn't changed here since we have not yet gotten our goddamn tea. Finally, Vincent's character arc doesn't fully resolve until the end of DoC.

So what does this mean for which GS date best fits the story arc of Rebirth? Well, I would argue that Nanaki's probably best fits the central premise of the whole Remake project, whether or not we can change fate (e.g. save Aerith, see Zack again, etc). That is literally the $64000 question in this game, and Red is the only one who brings it up on his date, so that would be my vote. I know Aerith's date best fits the narrative of the OG, since it both alludes to Cloud's dissociative identity disorder as well as sets the player up to be devastated when she meets her end at the Forgotten Capital, but the story being told within the plot Rebirth is all about whether she can be saved. My honorable mentions would be either Yuffie's or "the others", since they are just so damn funny to watch. I didn't seriously consider Tifa's date, despite how much I personally enjoyed watching it, because this resolution really should come later in the story in part 3.

[overthinkingtaleblr]

My ToastedGhost Headcanon Masterlist

Upon further inspection, technically Spooker ‘won’ the poll where I promised a masterpost by losing, but I have a lot more thoughts on Spooker and would prefer to write that when I’m not still dealing with finals, so... Here's the one I said I'd do :D

Absolutely the most popular ship in the fandom with minimal competition if any, ToastedGhost is a childhood friends-to-lovers kind of relationship between two people who trust each other above all else in the world. There are lots of ways to read the relationship, from unrequited to codependent to healthily married to… possibly even divorced!… Though I’ve never seen anyone take it that way. Even beyond the relationship, Toast has been widowed and Ghost canonically has no interest in women, so there’s no worry about breaking up another ship for this one to thrive.

Because the ship is as fluid as most other unconfirmed things in this fandom, I’m going to share my thoughts on how Multiple verses of the ship could work, from fluff to angst.

Solid History HC

Since a relationship between two people can be incredibly fluid based on the story told and the logic of the story, I wanted to open with ideas about how these two connect that I don't change unless I'm specifically making an AU where that aspect is changed. Consider these the base stats.

Johnny Ghost and Johnny Toast first met as children attending the same school in North Carolina, USA. Ghost has no recollection of it, but he's already dealt with Cardboard Friend by this point. Toast, on the other hand, has just experienced whatever traumatic event goes here, most of the time also being the same thing that gave Gavin his powers.

They meet through a shared love of learning about the supernatural, with Ghost being so excited he never shuts up about it and Toast actually listening and knowing how to respond.

The duo had two shared friends: Katrina and Ronnie Boast. Aside from that, Ghost was close with Dark Pit (cause they're cousins) and the whole group adopted a stray dog they couldn't agree on a name for.

Ghost is possessed by Casket for the first time while the pair know each other, but Casket doesn't become overtly active until Toast leaves. Because Ghost was first possessed on Halloween (in my hc), Toast was busy with other things at the time. The friend group had a whole conversation about it earlier in the day, and knew Ghost would be alone that night.

When Toast had to go back to the UK for high school, they kept contact over the phone before they figured out how to use a long-distance radio, meaning Ghost hogged his house's landline a lot in his freshman year. Toast first heard Casket over the phone when Ghost forgot to hang up once.

The first time the two saw each other in person again after Toast went back to the UK was to meet for Katrina's funeral. Ghost can't remember it at all, but they had some really soft moments together. There's also a chance Ghost admitted to possibly killing her while the memory was still vaguely fresh in his head.

Toast first met Mary while in University, and didn't actually fall in love with her immediately. Ghost encouraged Toast to talk to her about it, but didn't expect them to get married... or for Toast to accidentally kill her.

Toast moved back to the states after Mary died, if not already split from his family then splitting now. The two worked for awhile to try to fund PIE, which was struggling, while living in the same apartment. After struggling to hold a job outside of PIE freelance and writing his book, Toast reached back out to his family in order to fund PIE. He never told Ghost why he reached back out to them.

Even if not IN love, they adore each other and nothing can ever change that.

Relationship Possibilities

As much as I love Toastedghost, both as a ship and a friendship, this does keep the door open for variety in specifically how their relationship is defined. They can be somewhat toxic/codependent depending on what aspects about their relationship is explored.

Good Friends, Practically Brothers

Even though I’ve had some moments saying you can’t explain their relationship without romance, it is possible to have a friendship like theirs without underlying feelings on either side, and that’s beautiful. Ghost and Toast are incredibly close and that doesn’t require them to kiss when no one’s looking, and I say that with love. They are incredibly tight, and both have actively killed and died for each other, and even though Toast exasperates Ghost sometimes, and Toast has to be the responsible one when Ghost gets violent, they’ve found a way to make it work without falling into a relationship.

Because of their relationship as children, they may see each other as siblings, meaning any love between them is not only completely platonic, but it’s uncomfortable to think about it in any other way in this specific scenario. If someone sees them as brotherly love, they are just as valid as someone who sees them as in romantic love.

One-Sided/Mutual Pining

I don’t thin I’ve ever seen anyone read their relationship like this before, at least not in the long-term— I think Ghost is anticipated to have done some pining as a child— but this is a viable option for their relationship as well. Especially since Toast is coming into the work at PIE out of a marriage, one that left him widowed. If Ghost had feelings for him, the awkwardness of having feelings so soon after Mary died might be enough to make him shove his feelings back down. If Toast had feelings for Ghost, whether he already had them or developed them while living with him, it might feel too soon to try again, and eventually just never come up.

If you intend on using this one I would like to beg for some resolution someday, just because too many shows draw out the ‘one side is pining for the other’ thing for the entire duration of the series and it can exhausting when people look for any excuse to keep the couple seperate.

Dating Without Saying “Dating”

These two are so close that everyone is under the assumption that they’re dating, but they’ve never actually taken the time to define it. Largely because they never thought to. I do think it’d be funny if ghosts try threatening Ghost or Toast’s “husband” or “boyfriend” with other people around, and they’re the only one to not know who they’re talking about. I think part of the story here is them realizing that these feelings they’ve always had are teetering on romance.

I can see Ghost visiting his dad for a holiday with Toast and getting the “so, when are you two planning on tying the knot?” Question.

Dated as Kids, Never Actually Separated but Haven’t Talked About It

This is a whole AU concept idea that I literally just came up with, but I think it almost sounds cute and would love to see someone work with it. Especially since Ghost doesn’t remember his childhood very well, but Toast does. There’s a chance Toast thinks Ghost forgot but he didn’t, or Ghost did forget and Toast is trying to find a way to bring it up to him… idk, it’s cute.

They Started by Fake-Dating, but it Became Real

They get married for tax purposes and make it a joke for about a year, until it stops being a joke and starts being actual chemistry. It could have also been to get Toast’s family to leave him alone about marrying.

They Got Married!

Somewhere, sometime, off-screen, there was a Toastedghost wedding, and it was probably just as chaotic as it sounds. This could happen any time— before the events of the series, after the Puppet arc, after the Retirement arc, sometime after the channel ended, whatever works! Imagine Toast got them rings made of silver, iron, and salt to keep ghosts and other spirits away from them, and having to wear it around his neck during the Werewolf arc, or wearing both his and Ghost’s during the Puppet arc and identifying him by it in the Billion Year War. There is so much story you can tell with rings.

They Eloped as Soon as Mary Died

WOAH THAT FEELS A LITTLE MUCH— like I’ve seen headcanons that Mary and Toast were not actually that close, that Toast was engaged to her by his family and barely knew her when she ended up dying. Even then, and even with Toast leaving his family, it feels incredibly… shallow? Rude? And I would argue that this relationship is one of the more unhealthy ones, because it shows a serious sense of disregard for other people’s life and lack of empathy. I don’t know how people headcanon Mary, and maybe the only people who want them to get together like this see her character as the world thing on the planet and not someone Toast would miss that much, but I don’t say that this feels heartless as a criticism. I say it because I think it’s something fresh to explore that none of these other prompts have right out the gate.

Think about it, a Toastedghost story where they take ‘us against the world’ to the extreme, actually hurting people around them in the name of each other. Even if this isn’t toxic between the duo, it is genuinely harmful for other people in their lives, and would be something interesting to explore. This could include Toast letting Casket kill other members of PIE to keep Ghost safe, or Ghost choosing to do things he would otherwise consider bad because he needs to break Toast out of prison again.

It Doesn’t Matter How They Label, They Are Codependent

This is its own label, I’m not saying all Toastedghost is toxic and unhealthy.

Though it is cute that Ghost went from dimension to dimension looking for Toast, and Toast basically put his life on pause to get Ghost back, this was basically foreshadowing for what would happen if they were separated by choice. The moment that Ghost turned his back on Toast, Toast crumpled like a house of cards and I promise you that if it were the other way around, Ghost would have fallen to pieces too. It’s cute that they rely on each other, but emotionally they can’t get through the day alone and that means that if they have problems communicating ever, someone is going to get hurt.

Rapid Fire HCs

Ghost is likely projecting when he says everyone is in love with Johnny Toast because HE is in love with Toast and can't imagine a person who doesn't immediately adore him.

There was a period of time where Ghost planned to move to Europe to support Toast after Mary passed, but Toast beat him to the punch and seemingly immigrated to the states.

Both Ghost and Toast can cook, but while living together in their first apartment, Ghost had primary dominion of the kitchen because Toast wasn’t used to cleaning up after himself and Ghost found it annoying that he kept leaving dishes lying around.

Toast does the taxes for the household, not just because Ghost can’t read, but because he doesn’t want Ghost to know how much he’s bringing in or spending in a year. Between support from his family, the macaroni dealing, and PIE, Toast can probably afford to replace multiple cars a year.

Both Ghost and Toast prefer Ghost’s family to Toast and tend to stay in the states for holidays and avoid Toast family events. However, Toast did go to his sister’s wedding.

Because they’ve been close since they were young, Toast knows Ghost’s dad well, better then Ghost knows Gavin.

Songs and Why

- Curses by the Crane Wives

“🎶 Ashes ashes, dust to dust | The Devil’s after both of us 🎶”

From what I’ve seen, what this song is about is up for debate, but the explanations I’ve seen ranges from a murderer is in love, to it being about a person who is overwhelmed by their emotions. Honestly, I think without the context of what it “must” be about, it works well to just consider it for them. They are two people who are likely in love in a world that does not love them much back, both have seen their fair shares of trouble and now rely on the other, using them as a lighthouse. This song could be from either or both of their perspectives, especially considering Ghost has experiences with evil houses and murder, and Toast seems to be very reliant on Ghost emotionally.

A lot of Crane Wife songs are more about relationships with problems, which is funny when I saw Curses for Toastedghost is characterizes one of the healthiest versions of their relationship.

- Bernadette by IMAX

“🎶 Family and friends becoming ghosts to dream of… 🎶”

One of my favorite songs in middle school, it is really easy to see this one as a kind of codependent relationship, and this works for them best in very possessive scenarios. It’s also a good song to point out how much they’ve lost, even if they still have each other. In all honesty, I used to see this as Only a CBF and Ghost song, but now I save CBF only for the very beginning. I think it’s important to show how Toast is affected by their relationship too, and how neither Johnny alone is the problem when any problem exists.

[birlwrites]

I absolutely love all the lore you created around the Black family and really hope we'll get to see more interactions with the older generation (Cygnus, Alphard etc).

Though I've noticed that besides a single mention in ttdl Lucretia isn't really present. I would love to know how does the Black family actually go about her in ttdl universe since she's not disowned but also married Ignatius Prewett, so what seems to be a fairly Light and pro-Dumbledore family. Also you've mentioned how Regulus would spend time with Cygnus as a kid, so would the same be true for Lucretia? She is his father's sister so a fairly close family after all.

*laughs awkwardly in 'sometimes filling in everything i don't remember with headcanons means the blacks are related to each other in slightly different ways from whatever the hell is canon'*

i feel the need to state that i read the harry potter series like, 14-15 times in elementary school, with a few rereads later on, and have read a lot of fanfiction, but i've never in my life consulted a wiki or really engaged with extra content/canon. so very specific things are burned into my brain, but don't expect full accuracy to canon, between that and the fact that i do just change things sometimes if i think something will work better for my story

ok now that we've gotten that over with, lucretia is regulus's great-aunt in atfhv! this is very important to contextualize her marriage to ignatius prewett because it was not long after her brother arcturus married melania macmillan, in the mid-1930s. (arcturus and melania got married in 1936 and i haven't come up with a specific year for lucretia and ignatius)

this was a high point for house black's friendliness with non-dark families, in which the weasleys were mainly looked down upon for being poor and not so much for being accepting of muggleborns (although, to be clear, house black never reached that point, and house macmillan was and is really socially moderate, as opposed to progressive. house prewett is a little further down that spectrum, but was still in house black's acceptable range, especially as lucretia was marrying out instead of bringing a new person in

ignatius is lord prewett, but in the BCU (this is why the phrase 'birl's cinematic universe' exists LMAO), he and lucretia never have kids. the lordship passes to ignatius's brother after his death, who is molly and fabian and gideon's father

(timeline on that - ignatius is born mid-late 1910s, his brother early 1920s. molly, the eldest, is born in 1956, and fabian and gideon 3 years later. i have most of house black getting married and having kids very young - walburga's actually one of the older ones when she gets married, at 22 - so someone not having kids until their 30s is how house prewett kind of skips a generation compared to the blacks)

all that means that lucretia, as lady prewett, has all the social affairs of house prewett to manage, so she's not as around as most of regulus's family is (cassiopeia, having never married, is around more)

it also means that once either ignatius or lucretia dies, but especially once they both die, the black-prewett alliance is dead in the water, b/c there are no kids and also house black is pulling away from families like the prewetts so they're not going to want to keep up relations

so regulus certainly knows lucretia, and lucretia and walburga will meet up for tea and such, but lucretia wasn't at black manor over the summers, which is where regulus really spent time with and got to know most of his extended family. that being said, she is still accepted among them, she's just not there a lot. kind of like if most of your family lives in roughly the same area and then you have one family member who lives a plane flight away, but emotionally instead of physically

oh also agjhkghlsjkdf i just remembered a conversation i had w my friend about regulus and lucretia that i'm going to make ttdl canon now because i think it's amusing - so, regulus picks up other people's mannerisms like a crow picking up shiny objects, right? he ESPECIALLY did this when he was little. like it was something he did (and does) on purpose, watching people for cool/clever things they do and then copying them

at one point when he was 5 or so, they were having dinner and lucretia was there, and she like. spun her spoon in her hand at one point, and regulus (like, all the way at the other side of the table) tried it, couldn't do it, dropped his spoon, and was mad at her for months. how dare she do something regulus couldn't copy. clearly it was a Cruel Trick (lucretia didn't even know he was watching)

but yeah lucretia isn't very present compared to most of regulus's family, and she never has been in regulus's lifetime, so even though she's as closely related to him as cassiopeia and alphard are, cassiopeia and alphard Feel more closely related

[kunaigirl]

Mega-post of everything I've come up with for my FNAF-SB AU with Sundrop and Miguel! All in one place, a TON of text under the "read more" below! I'm mostly putting this all here so my own forgetful ass doesn't lose track of what I made canon so far or not lmao

Who is Miguel?

Miguel is a Supervisor and Robotic Mechanic who was hired to make sure all the robots are working in proper order, and ended up hitting it off with Sundrop more than any of the other animatronics! He's in his early 30s (I'm thinking 31 or 32) and is bisexual! He also speaks a few different languages, including English, Spanish, and Latin. His current job is being head of the Pizza-Plex's Robotic maintenance team and occasional security monitoring. He also has previous experience working in retail, mall security, and car mechanic shops! His favorite hobby's include doing puzzles, watching baseball, and playing video games. He's a pretty chill guy, but can be socially awkward when around other people, which is why he's spent so much time and focus on robotics over the years. How did Miguel and Sundrop end up together?  Miguel and Sundrop start building a friendship during the all the maintenance checks, and it reaches a point where Miguel starts taking his breaks in the DC with Sunny whenever he's able to. From there, he even starts coming in to visit off the clock, and the two of them get even closer as time goes on.

After a while, Miguel starts to notice how much he's always thinking about Sun, and how he's never felt a connection like this with anyone else before, let alone a robot he was hired to work on. He realizes that he's developed a crush on him, but keeps it to himself to avoid any awkwardness. (Also to keep his job...?) It's not until he stumbles upon a drawing Sundrop later made (in the DC) that made it clear that Sun had also had feelings for him too. He put the drawing back and didn't bring it up for a while, still processing everything. (This was around 4 months into their already strong friendship.)

Fast forward to the following week, and Miguel decides it's finally time to pull Sun aside and talk about their feelings. He mentions finding the drawing and Sun is beyond embarrassed, until Miguel confesses everything he'd been feeling too. He also brings up his concerns with what it would mean for his position of supervising mechanic if they were to start dating, so they mutually decide to keep things secret. Since (at least for now, see events planned for later) Sun still can't leave the multiplex, they really don't want to risk him being fired. Even keeping things a secret though, they're happy together! 

Note! It's canon in this AU that he wouldn't be fired for it, because he's the best mechanic they've ever worked with. As long as their relationship stays "off the clock" there isn't actually a problem. However, these two don't know that yet, so it's staying hush-hush for now. I'll come up with more later too! I have a few ideas!

What about Moondrop? Where does Moon factor into all this?

To answer this question I gotta give a little backstory to what I already had as head-canons about Sun and Moon since FNAF-SB first came out, and how it factors into my AU from there! 

I always had the headcanon that they were both separate robots with separate cores/etc that were transferred into a singular body due to budget constraints. (The idea of the budget cuts being that extreme is backed up by the canon events of the pizza plex going out of business in SB-ruin.) So I've always had the idea that Sun (and Moon's) shared body had two separate cores, and therefore COULD be separated again if a second body could be found/built/etc. That being said, in my AU, Moon gets his separate body back! When Miguel first meets Moon, they're basically always butting heads and otherwise indifferent to each other. Moon is super jealous, but not in a romantic sense. It's more of the fact that this new-guy (like seemingly everyone else) likes Sun better. He's bitter, but they don't really hate each other. After spending more time with Moon, Miguel learns about how he misses the freedom of his former body, and decides to take matters into his own hands. He also is already very aware of how much Sun hates sharing a body, so his mind is set on a win-win. 

He starts campaigning to the CEO why it would actually be MORE profitable to give Moon his body back instead of having him be stuck inside Sun and vice-versa. Things about product sales, reputation, increased moral, less liability potential, and all the buzzwords that would paint things in the right light to someone who's running a business. He also gets a few other employees to back him up, mostly from the security team. IT WORKS! And Miguel is given the task of transferring Moon back into his separate body, which has been locked in an external storage unit since they were combined. It takes a while to be shipped back to the plex, and when it finally arrives, the DC is closed for a while while he goes to work right away. Sun is excited, but horrified at the same time. 

He's excited for both himself AND Moon, but the thought of being completely powered-down for however long it takes scares the shit out of him. He loves and trusts Miguel obviously, but this is a HUGE deal and is the most invasive and extensive job he'll ever get done. Miguel promises him that everything is going to be ok, and that he won't let anything bad happen to him. Sun cries in his arms. Later when he turns the lights off so he can inform Moon of the plan, Moon is absolutely celebrating! Dancing and singing and spinning Miguel around. He doesn't care what it takes, if Miguel pulls it off, Moon will absolutely consider him the greatest friend he's ever had. He already sort of did the second he learned Miguel was pitching the separation idea in the first place. It takes almost a week, but it' successful. Moon and Sun are both reactivated, and for the first time in years, they look at each other as separate beings. 

They both temporarily put their differences aside for a truce as they both tackle Miguel to the ground, hugging him while absolutely SOBBING. They're both SO SO SO happy. Miguel can't help but cry with them, feeling like this might've just been the most important and impactful thing he's every done. Sun kisses him while Moon just clings to his shoulder and nuzzles his face against him saying how thankful he is on loop. That's also the first time Sun kissed him, as at this point they weren't even dating. The feelings were there and mutual, but at that point in the AU they were both still keeping those feelings to themselves. Obviously that changed after this.From that point forward, Moon and Sun are two separate robots again, and run the DC together. They're not best friends by any means, but they put up with each other enough to be perfectly sustainable coworkers, and both want what's best for the kids they're put in charge of. 

When Sun and Miguel officially start dating, Moon gives them their space, but sometimes likes to spy on them out of pure curiosity. Still, Moon would NEVER want to piss Miguel off since he feels so thankful for all he's done, and keeps everything mischievous that he might do pretty low-key. That's what I've got for now on that! I'll add more later. I want to include Moon more too, but the focus of this AU is obviously Miguel and Sun. More to come with that later!

What would be Miguel's reaction to finding Sundrop post SB-Ruin setting or after the fire?

So in my AU, Miguel would've taken off with Sundrop LONG before the events of SB-ruin. The events in the SB-Ruin game doesn't happen at all in this AU the way they did in canon! In my AU, the SB animatronics are auctioned off by the company after the closure announcement because WHY would they let all those extremely expensive mechanical marvels just rot away when they could still turn a profit? Anyways, Miguel would pull all of his money together (along with some of his friends willing to donate/help) and he'd successfully "buy" him. In this case buy his freedom/etc, and they move in together and live together! (along with Miguel's roommate, who has yet to have a name and design lol) *This is set/planned to happen in canon later! 

BUT ANYWAYS!!! If all that wasn't canon in my AU, and somehow Miguel DID get fired/etc and was separated from Sun during said events, obviously the second he heard about the fire he'd want to go back to investigate. If anything he probably assumed none of the robots would be there, and the SHOCK of finding Sun in such conditions would be extreme. Oh Sun would HATE him at first, even refusing his help since he thought he abandoned him like everyone else. 

However, the thought of getting his body fixed after so long is too good to pass up, so he agrees to leave with him and trust him to fix his body. He's got nothing left to lose, after all. Then his trust starts being rebuilt after everything physically is fixed and Miguel explains that he was fired and banned from the plex. That he NEVER meant to abandon him/etc. Then things heal from there and the tears are a-plenty. Still, the events in the SB-Ruin game are NOT canon in this AU!

Anyways, that's what I've got for now! I'll add more info as I think of it in future chapters. Like I mentioned before, this is mostly for my own reference!

[mr-stottlemonk]

Do you have any advice for writing a link story?

I just started writing! Do you have any advice? Or any story plots lol

omg hello! i'm not exactly sure what you mean by link story (so send me another ask to correct me if im wrong, dear!). i'm guessing you mean connected to an episode!

i'd say choose a particular scene; connect it to an emotion that seemed quite prevelant in that scene or one that you wish was explored! eg: for Mr. Monk and The Bad Girlfriend - there's a lot of angst there. so, personally, i go the 'Stottlemeyer is angry and heartbroken. About both Linda and Monk. Linda for hurting him and Monk for being so far out of reach'

best advice i have for characterization is keep (re)watching the episodes. especially s2 and forewards! if you're looking to dive into their relationship more (there's more body language there, more compliments etc).

When I'm writing Stottlemeyer, i try to put myself in the shoes of a man who cares not only for Monk but for his job, for doing the right thing. But also he's a man quickly overwhelmed by anger and worry; he's quick to protect and also assume. He's smitten to his very bones.

With Monk, it's a bit more confusing - he doesn't only think of one thing at a time, and if he does it's to such a concentrated point. When I write Monk i try to put myself in a shoes of a man who is a wreck, he is searching for peace but can't find it, he is constantly overwhelmed and worried. when he isn't its either because he is distracted for the moment or he's in the presence of people he trusts and loves: Stottlemeyer, Natalie, Sharona, Trudy, Randy. He also cares and worries very deeply.

sksksks, i feel like im rambling so i'll put the plot ideas under the cut!

plot ideas!! i have tons...

if you're looking for canon related plot:

-> Monk's feelings after Mr. Monk Makes a Friend

-> Leland's feelings and overprotective behaviour towards Monk after Mr. Monk is On the Run.

-> Possible Stottlemeyer/Monk secret relationship - some detectives either take notice or almost walk in on them (talking, sitting close, kissing or whatever you want)

-> Angst take: Leland is not having a good day and he snaps it out on Adrian. Ends up regretting it big time. Confession time :)

-> The precinct calls Monk in when the Captain is in a bad mood.

-> They have to pretend to be a couple for a case

-> Stottlemeyer heads to Monk's place after a pretty bad date.

-> Monk is having a pretty bad day himself and Leland notices. Takes him home.

-> Dr. Kroger catches something: Monk's increased mentioning of Stottlemeyer.

For aus:

-> Catboy au (if you're in the brain rot along with us, lol)

-> Neighbours au - they're neighbours; thus they meet each other differently

-> Living together - literally any domestic plot (cleaning together, moving in together) or disagreements (Leland keeps forgetting to load the dishwasher or Adrian needs to stop going into Leland's room)

-> blind date au: randy and natalie are good friends who think their respective friends (Stottlemeyer and Monk) may get along so they set up a date for them

-> A/B/O au: Leland's scent is the only thing that doesnt overwhelm Adrian

woah, those are quite a number... i am so sorry if i have overwhelmed you haha. pls excuse my rambling.

anyway. i hope these help!! i am cheering for you dear <3. don't stress too much, have fun! write whatever you want, whatever you wanted to see or add. if you want some references or guidance another great thing to do is read fics for them! so re-read any of the stottlemonk fics you really like and study those.

feel free to send another ask if you'd like. my dms are open too if you're comfortable with that 💕🙇.

[tentacledtherapist]

Lisa,

Sorry for the delay in writing, every day I fully intended to but never got around to it, and every day my instinct was to check for a response despite knowing there wouldn't be one because it was my turn to write. (What a silly problem to have!) I suppose I might have been a little flustered by your compliments, I didn't know what to say.

I really appreciate your encouragement on my writing. I never thought of it as very evocative before, so I am glad you've found reading my thoughts on these topics to be illuminating. I've also missed writing to you, in both ways. It's like reaching across time and space to reconnect. And writing it in letters makes it feel even more.... not canonical, but real? Like every message I send has a little seal and is down on paper and is tangible, despite all being sent digitally.

Perhaps the human need to want and experience what we can't have is relatable through kinning too. That we see ourselves in others and others having bits of ourselves. That reach across the aisle to touch a world that by all means we can't have, that we don't have, but is ours anyway, in their infinitesimal variations like millions of dimensions of cracked and shattered mirrors, all the same but different. I have never met a sourcemate before, or at least one that has shared a canon, so there has always been that little touch of disconnect. The feeling of "Oh you're [name] but you're not *my* [name]." The same, but different. Like meeting an alternate version of your best friend. They're your best friend still, but something feels off no matter what you do.

But I don't feel that way with you. I don't presume to be canonmates, perhaps I don't want to get my hopes up should we disagree down the line, but I do feel like it's the closest I've ever been to finding one. I appreciate it. I appreciate you! And I look forward to your letters.

I like to talk about horror, and human nature, and source and kin and the nature of kin. I love to talk about history and its effects on everything around us, including media and the way it twists over time to change our meanings and how we relate to one another. What one era might consider, another might take the opposite, and why and how it does so is just as thrilling and important as the now and how we view it. Cracked mirrors and all.

-Your Creature

creature,

sorry if i made you flustered! you don’t have to apologize for delays in writing. again, i don’t own your time. i has just assumed your messenger pigeon got lost on the wind

i get what you mean. i feel the same way. i guess if we really wanted to, we could share more of what we remember and scrutinize each memory for similarities and differences to tell if we really are canonmates, but… i don’t think it really matters? nor do i really care at this point? i like talking to you. i feel comfortable talking to you and i like it when you share things with me. for all intents and purposes, i consider you my creature, and i’d like it if you considered me your lisa too. regardless of if we actually share a canon

i mean, we already sign our letters off that way?

- Your Lisa

[tifa-simp]

Oh? Never thought of this. But since you bring this up, I wonder if Gongaga LS and the Dream date suppose to be foils too.

Both girls fall from high place. Both girls take a brief trip to the afterlife. Both times Sephiroth is there to control Cloud and later goes after the girls.

With Tifa, Sephiroth uses the black whispers to manipulate the situation, takes over Cloud's body and only release his influence when the killing is done. Tifa's saved by the WEAPON, she hears her mother's, father's, old friends' voices guiding her to safety. Follow the voices, Tifa visits a lot of her special places like her house, the water tower, the Nibelheim bridge, we can see Seventh heaven and Stargazer height and Nibelheim entrance somewhere too. Then we see Sephiroth manifests from afar with his real body and immediately tries to kill Tifa but fails so he attacks the WEAPON instead (Also this is the only time we see Sephiroth canon struggles in a fight). However he does manage to make her suffocated and out cold. While being unconscious, Tifa sees even more of important people in her life (Barret, Dr Sheiran, Zangan and Aerith) and they all give her words of encouragement. Then we see the second time Sephiroth has talked to someone telepathically (the first is Cloud, if I'm wrong please correct me so I can fix it), mocks Tifa that her words can't reach Cloud no more. And after that, the WEAPON returns Tifa to the gang.

With Aerith, Sephiroth also controls Cloud but seem like it's not the same type of control in Gongaga. Cloud acts like an actual puppet in the Temple. And the black whispers attacks both Tifa and Aerith this time, not Cloud. When Aerith falls from the branch, either Cloud breaks free from the control or Sephiroth lets him go, he runs and saves Aerith and fall into the dream. In this dream, which takes place in sector 5 Midgard, we don't see Elmyra, Marlene or the sector 5 boy Oates, or anyone we know before, the only people we're familiar with in this world are Cloud and Aerith. Later we meet a bunch of npc that used to appear in Crisis core in Aerith and Zack's date. The difference that in this dream date, everything goes wrong. None of the gift options are available, their couple photo isn't chosen, all of the snack taste bad. At some point we can see the black feathers of Sephiroth flying around like he's taunting her. To end the date, Aerith asks Cloud to go to "their place" but Cloud didn't understand what she means at first. It's the church where Zack's sitting outside.(Fun fact, we can see a dog toy and a dog graffiti- likely reference to Zack, in previous date spots). After giving Cloud the white material, Aerith pushes Cloud to a portal and we can see Sephiroth is right behind her. It's unclear if Sephiroth's done anything to Aerith in the dream world, all we know that right after that, Sephiroth follows Cloud and shows him the true nature of reality. So my guess is that Sephiroth is after Cloud in the dream date than Aerith. Finally Aerith says goodbye to Cloud and they're back to reality.

Just like the parallels above, these 2 scenes mirror each other, one takes place in the Lifestream in the dark and one takes place in a seemingly afterlife world in broard daylight, one has memories of real Cloud and one has Cloud in the flesh of another variant of himself. One has Sephiroth directly attacks her and one has Sephiroth seems to skip her to aim for Cloud. One receives a lot of supports from all the dear people in her life and one has none.

A fun side parallel that I noticed after checking the dream date.

These are Tifa describing the Lifestream- which is a part of the Planet, Sephiroth describing the sound of the Planet and Cloud describes the sound of the Planet. There's so many ways we can interprets this parallel.

1. Has the Planet always been screaming but it doesn't do it with Tifa? Or was it really chill by Gongaga but gets so much worse to the point of screaming by the end of Rebirth?

2. Does the Planet wants to show to Tifa that it's winning but Sephiroth who thought it's on his side mistakes that as a rapturous sound and Cloud mistakes it as agony scream? Or does Sephiroth just want to gaslight Cloud but Cloud hears how it truly feels?

3. Does the scream sound different to different people so Sephiroth hears cry of joy while all Cloud hears is screams and Tifa hears no scream? Is the Planet more gentle to Tifa and more hostile to Cloud?

Idk if this is intentional from the devs but it's a fun parallel to think about.

I just realized how much these scenes mirror each other. There’s the obvious standing at a railing; night vs day; facing left vs right; bringing up Midgar as a way to start conversation. There’s more physical distance between Cloud and Tifa compared to Cloud and Aerith, and he doesn’t respond to Tifa’s attempt at casual conversation. He knows they’re about to have a difficult, personal convo, and he initiates it by voicing his doubts that Tifa is real. Aerith, on the other hand, catches Cloud off guard by bringing up Tifa. He’s expecting casual conversation, not a personal talk, and he’s reluctant to open up about what’s going on. Aerith ultimately doesn’t get much out of him.

I also think it’s neat that when Cloud is recounting (what he thought was) Tifa’s death, you can see the clock tower lit up behind him. The clock tower he climbs the next day with Aerith — the girl who does actually end up killed by Sephiroth later.

[daihell]

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if Elden and Dorian had met earlier in their lives

[no-brain-just-akutagawa]

Thinking about Dazai's memories

I think it's interesting how we basically got two sets of Dazai's memories within 3 months, so since I analyzed the Beast ones, I thought I'd analyze these as well. As always it's just me rambling under the cut, and remember guys that below there are spoilers from everything up until this point!

The first memory memory we see is a completely new one. I love it when montages use new memories instead of simply reusing what was shown before, so I appreciate this little scene. Their outfits are taken from chapter 31 and seeing Chuuya in these clothes was so strangely nostalgic. The only difference is that Dazai has his arm broken instead of his leg. Also I like how young they look here. They're just kids annoying each other just like Dazai is saying in the background.

The second memory I'm pretty sure is also one of the new scenes we haven't seen before. It looks like Fifteen, but I don't recognize this background and the closest illustration I could find is the one from the light novel. Maybe it's supposed to show how they gained confidence and were ruling the city (judging by the building in the background), but yeah that's all I have.

After that I noticed a scene from chapter 31 in bottom left. It's taken right from the manga with no changes besides Chuuya's jacket being coloured in. Considering Dazai's fascination with corruption, it makes sense that it appears in his memories. Here, it's been 4 years since they fought together and it's the first time Dazai could observe Chuuya being possessed in a long time. Interestingly, it's not corruption in its peak that's portrayed here but the moment when Dazai is bringing Chuuya back to his senses. With the context of this chapter, it might mean that Dazai wants to protect Chuuya and despite liking danger and sending Chuuya to fight directly, he cares about him.

Bottom right seems to be from chapter 31 as well, just slightly changed. And that also makes sense because these are supposed to be his memories, so he might not remember each detail perfectly. It's the moment when Dazai sends Chuuya into action, which is something I already mentioned. Dazai likes to see Chuuya fight and to tease him, and this chapter had both.

With this next one I have no idea which scene it could be. I'm like 75% sure it's from their first meeting after 4 years back in chapters 10 and 11, but it's a reach. We only have Dazai's legs, a bit of his coat and Chuuya's shoulder, so there's not a lot to work with. But it does make sense for it to be from their first meeting after 4 years, because it was important for them both. Dazai stayed in that dungeon partially because he wanted to talk with Chuuya and this is what this memory could be alluding to. My first thought was Dazai leaving Chuuya behind after Oda's death, but I don't think he got his coat right this soon.

Then we have one of the most iconic skk scenes from Storm Bringer. Not to spoil it too much, but in this scene Chuuya decides to save Yokohama even if it means never getting to know if he's a human being. In this scene he trusts Dazai's plan and goes into action, something Dazai must be looking back at fondly. I kinda wish we had the scene in which he catches Chuuya after the fight, but I guess it would be too fluffy for this angsty chapter.

And I left 2 memries that I thought were the most interesting additions for last. The firts one being this scene from Dead Apple and I'm so happy that it made it here for a few reasons. First of all now we have a proof that Dead Apple is canon in the manga. I know it was canon before, but it wasn't mentioned or anything, so there was this shadow of doubt. Now, it's 100% canon. The other reason is that I'd love to see Dead Apple with Harukawa's art style and it's great that we now have this scene even though it's just a shadow. I wondered how it would be shown in the main manga and now I don't have to anymore. It also looks way more desperate than in the movie or Dead Apple manga, because of the wind and how Chuuya reaches his arm to Dazai before he punches him. It's also most likely Dazai's imagination, since he was unconscious when it happened.

And last but absolutely not least (on the contrary, I wanted to hype it up), we have one of the most iconic skk scenes, and here comes the question, is it even from Fifteen? Because as we can see, the positions of hands are swapped and Dazai isn't wearing this brace type of thing on his arm. This scene isn't in the original light novel, so either Asagiri and Harukawa were like screw it, we're adding it to the canon or it's a different instance. And if it's a different situation, then what was this fight? It's also possible that the positions are switched because it's Dazai's pov not Chuuya's like in the anime. Either way hand-holding is now canon and I'm so happy about this fact.

In conclusion

Dazai's memories with Chuuya seem to be a mix of their fights with enemies and some other moments they shared as well, putting an emphasis not on the fights themselves (since there are no other people and they aren't in combat stances), but their connection throught them. I wish we got to see more scenes, but I understand going overboard could be on overkill, especially if it's just a cliffhanger death meant to fool us. It's hard to judge Dazai's reaction, because he could be putting on a show, but it also seems to be genuine and cherishing these memories would make sense for his character. I'm so glad we got to see this little peek into Dazai's mind and his memories, and now I want more.

[silentstep]

chengqing for the ask game?

Ship It, ship it, shiiiiiip iiiiiiiit, my otp

What made you ship it?

a nebulous sort of question! Who know what alchemy makes these things happen? But: Jiang Cheng is very very much my character type, and in a lot of ways Wen Qing is too, although we spend less narrative space with her; they're both incredibly lonely people in their positions and circumstances, who want to have partners on whom they can rely and trust, and they would like to be that person for their own partner, and they very much want each other, and they would be so good as partners, and they both! have! nobody, basically! who can really fill that position in their lives, or who would be so well suited, AND YET THEY ARE SO TRAGICALLY DENIED—

What are your favorite things about the ship?

they're both loud, strong-willed, stubborn people, who live beneath seventeen layers of hard bitter self-protective shell, and yet beneath them they are just. actually sweet. and they're so devoted, so devoted, they'll walk themselves to their deaths in contentment for the people they love and never even say a word about it, they're so fucking dutiful. I'm so so so weak to dutiful characters. CHARACTERS TORN BETWEEN LOVE AND DUTY, is there anything better, THERE IS NOT.

but my actual favorite thing is just how good a match they are for each other! they are 110% on the same page about pretty much everything, in that they agree with each other about what the right decision is in every situation. are My People in danger? Move heaven and earth to save them, up to and including sacrificing innocent outsiders. They don't want to do that— they both have perfectly functional moral compasses, they don't want to hurt innocents— but they'll do it for Their People's sake, when push comes to shove. If only they could yoke together, imagine how well they'd sort!

and you know what else? I like that they both know it. There are so many relationships where the central tragedy is that neither ever really knew how much they meant to the other until it was too late, like Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian. Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen have a touch of that, too, and so do Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. But Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing actually don't have any of that. Jiang Cheng, when he first meets her, has no idea of the extent of the malice and destruction that Wen Ruohan means to bring to bear on the cultivation world and his clan in particular, and she at that point already knows that it's going to be her people or his, and that she's choosing hers, and that she is consciously already betraying every good faith effort he's making to reach out— when he sees her in their cabin and goes "Wen-guniang!! Why are you here? :) :) :D" and she can't even respond because the real answer is "to help my uncle bring fire and death to this sanctuary of peace and learning, for the sake of the lives of my family and clan" and it breaks my heart— but like. that's the last time they don't understand each others' situations. They know that they want each other, and they know that it doesn't matter, because they can't have each other. </3

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

hahahahahahahha!! yes. it's: she's not domming him. He's not ~submissive and breedable~ and she doesn't peg him about it. So sorry, you're just going to have to get over the fact that it's ew icky het without any femdom to make it better. They're actually completely equal partners! or, if anything— no, listen, this mostly isn't even out of spite, but like— I mean, I look at Wen Qing, who has been gritting her teeth under all her burdens that she's refused to let anyone share for so long, and like…

WQ:  what if I 😳 let go of control for a hot minute 😳 and it resulted in nice things happening to me and not things like, say, my entire family dying

Canon:  no  :)

& I'm just so so so annoyed by all the jokes and memes that are just "lol Jiang Cheng wants Wen Qing but she doesn't want him back I mean can you imagine haha! imagine a female character wanting a male character; imagine a female character having vulnerabilities instead of being Strong™… she must always stay in perfect control at all times and none of the feelings can be on her side or else she's not Strong" and no!!  her strength and tragedy are that she DOES want him and she knows she can't have him and she holds herself back because of it!  it's that she doesn't ever get to focus on just the things she wants for herself because she always has to be in full-on survival mode!  it's horribly sad!  it's not a good thing!  it's a sad thing!  give Wen Qing someone she can trust to handle things sometimes!!  she's so alone in shouldering everything all the time; it hurts my heart.  During their time in the Burial Mounds she & WWX are absolutely bros & it's great, but in a lot of ways he's also someone she's got to manage.  Jiang Cheng's number 1 good characteristic is that he shows up and pulls his weight every single day no matter how boring and unglamorous.  and I just want that for her, let her be attracted to his strength, come on, come on

also on his side, my g-d, let Jiang Cheng get to feel actually valued for his strengths for once in his life???? let his reliability and dedication and work ethic be valued by an important person in his life! His entire family made him and his mother feel like the bad guys for not being ~fun~ when there was important work to be done, and for him I want someone who'll consider that a good thing instead. And she would.

and I do think, honestly, that they would both find a relationship in which neither of them has to always be the Caretaker or the Nag to be a huge relief and a safe harbor.

[nekoprankster218]

Okay but I really need to get into depth with this for own autistic sake

Spoilers for Book 6, and I guess Touhou 11 spoilers? but I don't think people really care about spoilers in Touhou?

So like, right off the bat, we have sibling pairs where the older sibling is gloomier, reserved, introverted, and generally isolates themselves and avoids people; meanwhile the younger sibling is cheery and bubbly, they're excited, they're extroverts, they love to go around and meet people, but they also have a tragic aspect of their pasts that make them different from everyone else

For Ortho, he died and was "reborn" as a robot. For Koishi, she closed her satori third eye, too overwhelmed by reading negative thoughts that she closed her own mind and made herself difficult to perceive and remember, while also condemning herself to an existence of "head empty, driven by impulses".

Both sibling pairs live as guardians of their respective underworlds. The Shroud family ensures that Phantoms locked up in Tartarus can never reach the rest of the world, while Satori's powers make her well-equipped to keep the vengeful spirits of Former Hell in check and from escaping. Their respective homes are literally built on top of the targets they're meant to contain.

The Shroud family have their duty due to their unique curse that makes them decent at combating things having to do with blot. It is also a generational punishment for the one ancestor who tried to use the Titans and gain power. The Komeiji sisters are satori, a type of youkai who have third eyes that allow them to read minds, regardless of whether they actively want to or not. Because of this, they are particularly the most hated of all the detested youkai exiled to Former Hell, with Satori partially being so isolated because no one wants to visit her in the first place.

Koishi hated being so hated so much she closed her third eye, but this method also now prevents her from being loved as well; Ortho and Idia wished to go on an adventure, but when they tried Ortho got killed by a Phantom.

Idia and Satori's characters also brush up against themes of trauma. Idia himself is traumatized over the death of his brother, with the grief causing him to build a robot version of Ortho, and eventually to try and end the world and descend into the Underworld as a living person. Satori doesn't seem to be particularly affected by all the circumstances in her story, but her spellcards and powers constantly references trauma and psychological terms, and I believe her method of fighting is to use her opponent's traumas against them.

And pets! It's a bit of a shame that TWST doesn't utilize a potential Cerberus for the brothers (besides the security system I guess), so there's not much there but if you squint then maybe? Meanwhile the sisters get along well with animals because of their mind-reading, to the point animals have flocked to be their servants, Okuu and Orin being notable loyal pets.

This one is a bit more meta, but the Shroud bros are from an all-boys game where the self-insert MC is implied to be AMAB, where shipping between the cast without the MC is common. Well, even though Touhou canon is danmaku games, some fighting games and a platformer now, manga, and music CDs, there is a Touhou gacha that - while fanmade with a third party developer and therefore does not impact canon at all - does have an official license from ZUN. And in this game, Touhou: Lost Word, there is an all-girls cast (barring Rinnosuke, the single man) with a self-insert MC heavily implied if not outright stated to be AFAB. There's a bit more waifuism in Touhou fandom, but still, F/F shipping is still very common as well.

It's like...literally, the same picture! They (the sibling pairs I mean) are genderbent parallels to each other! It's crazy but also cool, how did this happen?!

I have been think about this all night and into the morning (I need to sleep)