#Im thinking a lot about that 1 year timeskip

[genderandanger]

yall would smone make a multichapter hurt/comfort fic about baki having a self discovery n going from "my fight with hanma yujiro would be the end of my fighting career" to "someone who works hard can never beat someone who enjoys himself" between the end of SOO n the beginning of DOU (2014) or should i do everything in this fandom

[autisticlalna]

"You Were Right" (and a behind the scenes on how we got here)

initially i was gonna make a post going over all of Anathra's lore so far but then i realized i do not quite have the spoons for it, and also i'd like to break it up into easier to cover parts anyway. so let's jump straight into the most recent mystery!

i've already talked before about the hidden messages in Rubyco's videos, and about the split-second easter eggs in Viking's. encrypted messages aren't exactly new to Skyblock Kingdoms.

but, okay, let's rewind a little. it's 1 am, a couple days before Anathra's episode 8 premieres. i'm winding down for bed, see the premiere on my homepage, and go: hey! i wonder what Anathra's doing next episode!

hey what the fuck is that. why is there elder furthark

a bit of backstory on me: i love translating things. you probably know this by now. i also knew a guy who was big into norse mythology stuff, and that included him knowing elder furthark. so i immediately peg that as "oh, shit, that's elder furthark" and track down a translation tool.

("why are you going into backstory" we'll get to that. lol lmao.)

anyway, its 1 am, i run it through the first tool i find, and get:

someþiŋ ' weird ' happened

...or "something weird happened".

COOL. THAT'S OMINOUS.

i go to bed. when i wake up, Moxi has shared something from Anathra's discord:

...but i can't figure out what it translates to.

timeskip to the premiere.

Anathra gets a delivery from the End Kingdom after helping Josh out with villager stuff. he goes to place the shulker down, it's suddenly nighttime, and...

hey, what

iou were right

...okay, here's where we loop back to that backstory bit, and also i pull back the curtain to showcase how hilariously bad this went for the dnerds.

i recognized the alphabet as elder furthark

(and yet my dyslexic ass doesnt realize theres two rs in it until now. it has been 5 years.)

trying to translate the box name gave me gibberish ("io nht tuil")

i also knew from the "something weird happened" message that elder furthark isnt 1:1 with the english alphabet

oops there are two translator tools. oops they use different runes for "y"

due to [gestures at cherry and doak], there is a minor scuffle about if it says "you" or if it actually IS supposed to say "iou"

we still cant translate the box

still cant translate the discord message either. this is about to be really funny

people in the sbkcd are also translating it, so we compare notes

anathra steps in to save us:

THANK YOU ANATHRA <3

i am immediately embarrassed because, oops, turns out Angerthas (dwarven runs from Lord of the Rings) has alphabet overlap with elder furthark, so that's where the confusion came from. seeing as it's a post-filming decision, that does mean that the episode description and chat message were translated correctly, but the box is in Angerthas and, despite having the same runes, they do not correspond to the same english letters.

i spend a bit alternating between bonking myself for my mistake and bonking my very tired head against Angerthas for a bit until WhiteQry suggests that maybe what Anathra said in chat is the same thing. later, Aquelon is able to translate it as "IU WER RAIT". or,

YOU WERE RIGHT

...right about what?

skipping back to the events of the episode: Anathra realizes that he's lost time. he says he's only felt this "once before", doesn't know what the writing is, and is generally thrown off by... whatever just happened.

i need to rewatch Anathra's pov before i can dig into what i think the message means-- my initial guess is that it has something to do with his ?nightmare? from episode 5, although im not sure past that. considering his pov plays with the concept of the fourth wall a bit as-is, the message also might not be for Anathra (and he can't read it with glasses on either way).

Anathra's in the middle of something. there's a lot going on with him, inside and outside, and i really want to do more overviews of his lore because it's very fun. until then, keep an eye out for more strange messages i guess.

-

"hey leo you didn't translate the furthark in the 'glasses off' message, what gives" WELL, YOU SEE. I WAS TOO BUSY BEING EMBARRASSED AT THE TIME TO PROCESS IT. AND IT WASNT UNTIL WRITING THIS POST AND GETTING THAT SCREENSHOT THAT I SAW IT AND WENT "wait. hold on" AND RAN IT THROUGH THE TRANSLATOR.

AND THEN REALIZED, AFTER FOUR DAYS, THAT ITS THE URL OF THE SITE IM USING TO TRANSLATE THIS AND IT JUST GOT KINDA MANGLED BECAUSE OF THE "NOT 1:1 WITH ENGLISH ALPHABET" THING.

im in hysterics. how did this happen. please dont ever think im professional. all of these super cool in-depth explainer posts are the end result of so much clownery but i needed to show you guys just how much of a MESS this is lmao

[quillkiller]

wait what is ur opinion on yung royals??

i really liked the first season!! a lot!! it was genuinely well done and i enjoyed it. i think they fucked up big time (quality wise) renewing it for more seasons and they just didnt know what to do with the character or how to move the plot forward. like oh my god season 2 had some of the laziest writing in the world….. throwing in a third love interest just to create a badly done love triangle ?? 😭 and this boy came from nowehere ?? out in the MIDDLE of nowhere ?? 😭 the first season was sooo carefully and beautifully done and then they just didnt know how to continue from there. it was just so lazy and very obvious that they didnt know how to keep things interesting so they just. opened the book of Tropes. as if a working class kid and the crown prince wasn’t interesting enough on its own….. ?? LIKE… ??

also…. if they had to continue with more seasons i personally think they shouldve dropped simon after s1. they should’ve focused on wilhelm and his story and turned it into a coming of age thing with maybe even some timeskips. <- ive thought about this a lot avdhfjsjd. wilhelm is genuinely such a well written character and he deserved more than to be stuck in y/a fanfiction tropey tv show. again, i loved s1. the first season is so different from the other seasons imo. but yeah. then it just turned into a y/a fanfic show, which made me a little sad:/ wilhelm deserved more than that…

speaking of wilhelm deserving more. simon is my nr 1 enemy oh my God. he could live a THOUSAND !! lifetimes and never ever deserve that boy. they should’ve broken up by the end and instead wilhelm ABDICATES ?? AT 17 ?? HELLO ? simon is constantly so disrespectful and childish when it comes to wilhelms upbringing and responsibilities like THAT BOY IS THE CROWN PRINCE !!! AND YOU KNOW THAT !! simon went into that relationship Knowing wilhelm was a prince. and then his brother dies and he becomes crown prince. and simon is like. wahh why do we have to live in secret 😔😔 why can’t i post whatever i want 😔😔 why this why that why bla bla bla 😔 and breaks up with wilhelm on his birthday. you do NOT deserve him. EVER !! and like yeah im anti monarchy too. which is why i wouldnt fucking date a princess and then complain about her being a princess and how woe is me. if simon has no haters im dead..

i wouldve loved a coming of age thing with timeskips and we got to follow wilhelms character through the years, his secret romances with other repressed aristocratic men, trying to cover up the years old photo of him and a classmate, his anxiety and panic attacks, taking over the role as heir, how it takes a toll on him slowly but surely, etc etc. so YEAH.

that’s my opinion on yr 🤍

[tojikai]

Hihi, i hope you been well!🫶

I was planning on getting another commission on permanent mark for my bday(august) and i was wondering if you could answer these what if’s/questions on what the commission could possibly be on for me to make a decision (im very indecisive 🕴️) if that’s okay with you :))

1. how would’ve it went if they talked about it/had a genuine talk when satoru and her broke up

2. If her and suguru got together instead of her and satoru (like they never dated)

3. If suguru and y/n actually got together after the break up and before the accident, how would he react and how would he react, if it was after the accident but before he broke up with rie

4. And if the baby was suguru’s…

5. If she decided to not tell or have satoru involved with the baby after she had it

6. If she choose suguru over him /got with him during the pregnancy and afterwards, what would gojo do?

7. If y/n and satoru were married instead of just dating, would’ve he asked for a divorce or open rs to be with rie, and if y/n was pregnant or had a kid with him at the time? Would he still break up with her or try to get with rie somehow?

8. If y/n hadn’t lost the baby😔

9. them seeing each other again after the last chapter

10. If Y/n agreed to the open rs when bro suggested it☠️

11. Years after the ending/a timeskip

12. If y/n was pregnant when they broke up(without them knowing)

Also out of curiosity, would you rather date pm or sundered gojo 😭😭

hiii, and oh we have the same birth month !! <3 advanced happy birthday to you~ I'd be happy to answer your questions :))

even if they talked, i think it would end the same way. bc yn's problem is the way she handles her problems and i thinkl it contributed a lot to what she went through. satoru and her had a talk when he's breaking up w her, the problem is he didn't tell her that he cheated. and i think, if he straight up told yn during that talk in the first chap, she would've done something worse to herself. pm!yn really has bad habits that contributed to the events when they brokeup.

tbh, if yn and suguru got together instead, she wouldn't have gone through that. in pm, suguru is THAT man. the only problem i could see arising from that would be her mother. she can be a bit of a judgmental, but it won't be that big of an issue. we wouldn't have permanent mark if suguru and yn got together instead of her and satoru LMAO

in both situations, i think satoru wouldn't play it cool at all. he will admit that he has no right anymore, but the point is his rs w suguru and how he broke a bro code. until it's not just abt that bc he still loves yn :'> it would affect his rs w suguru (their rs would be heavily damaged, i think all that would remain is respect for the time and memories they had, but other than that, it would be impossible for them to be close friends again.) and his rs w rie bc it'd be obvious that he still loves yn no matter how hard he tries to hide it or push it aside.

if the baby was suguru's, satoru would probably lash out on him. about how he betrayed him and their friendship. shoko would be surprised but ofc,she wouldn't think it was something impossible to happen. suguru and yn would probably co-parent since they're not really dating, they might or might not fall for each other completely :> satoru's not backing down too🥹

if the baby's satoru's? he would've found out still. maybe not right away but one day he will. unless she makes the baby wear contacts and dye the hair😭 his emotions will be all over the place.

he'd fight for yn. try everything until he cant anymore. but if yn says 'stop' he will. just keep in touch for their baby (if it's his) and pray that a miracle happens 🥹

he won't divorce her if they're married. at least not right away, he'd probably confess first and let yn decide. if their rs doesn't get better, he might. it's a different story if a kid is involved tho, he's not gonna sacrifice that bc of his past. he doesn't want his child to experience it, so altho yn may ask him for a divorce and he gets w rie, he'd still end up going back to them, working for another chance.

if yn hadn't lost the baby, she wouldn't have left, they will coparent while satoru's trying to get her back (sunder-ish dynamic, but here yn would be straightforwardly rejecting him. she'd probably even get in a rs w someone else even when satoru's trying to get her back.)

it would be bittersweet. yn all healed and probably moved on from him, and satoru still hoping that they'll fall back together. yn would most likely have the biggest growth (losing her dependent behaviour, losing her vices, mature, healthy, ✨business woman✨)

is this the one in the beginning? it's not really an open rs, but more of a cool off, but if she did agree to something like that uhm.. he'd end up losing bc yn is a "retired party girl" lmao it's actually very easy for her to get with someone else, she just chose not to bc she loves satoru but if they got into an open rs. best believe satoru would crack first bc yn would be drowning in her liquor to care. she'd be hurt bc she'd catch on that he just want to be w someone else, but she'd be doing what he wants to happen just so she won't completely lose him. in the end, it'd be easier for her than it is to him. not bc she doesn't love him but bc she'd be too numb to care anymore.

i think the answer in number 9 can also apply to this. just a lot of changes :>

she'd most likely lose the baby without even realizing that she's pregnant.

and for the last question LMAO, i would say i'd rather not date if those two gojo's are the last ones on earth HAHAHAH but to choose, i'd say sundered gojo😭its bc sundered gojo has a reason for his decisions (yk the rs issues w yn) than pm gojo who left just bc his "crushiecakes" is back in town😭

[raayllum]

how long would you say you've actively shipped any of your favorite ships? - im curious specifically about sorvus, sorpeli, and claudiez

I wouldn't say Sorvus is one of my faves even if I do 1) love Soren and Corvus individually, 2) Corvus is one of my favourite side characters in the whole show (like top 5) and 3) I do really like them! That being said:

Canon

For the bulk of TDP ships, canon-wise, I shipped them as their relationships were revealed (aka Harrow/Sarai with the info we got in S1, Claudia/Terry with the info we get in S4, Runaan/Ethari back when he was known as 'Tinker' thanks to the S1 credit sketch, etc).

For Janaya, I shipped them from the first time they met in S2, since "rival intellectually and physically matched generals on the battlefield" along with both being very pretty is a decently long-ish homoerotic trend in literature (aka a production I saw of "Coriolanus" really leaned in on it, although I think I saw that pre-S2's release. Applies though)

For Rayllum, I shipped them pre-show even if I was also down to brotp them. They'd be travelling together, thus having plenty of time to develop an interesting dynamic / were around the same age, and the screencap released before the premiere of them sitting under the tree (Callum, distracted but eager, and Rayla, exasperated and fond) really drew me in since that's a ship type - dynamic and gender wise (I don't tend to love ships where the guy is the more grumpy/guarded one, I think, since women are so often forced to do More of the emotional labour in relationships Anyway) - I'm already Very susceptible to. I tried to hold off a little bit in early S1 cause I didn't want to ship them too hard, but then 1x05 came along with the boat scene and it was Over for me. They've had my heart ever since (5 years going on forever)

Requested Rarepairs

Sorvus

So I didn't really ship Sorvus (although I was never opposed to them) for the majority of the time post-S3. I didn't really ship Soren with anyone and preferred Gren/Corvus at that time (due to their personalities / closer dynamic to Amaya and therefore each other) as well as enjoying Corvus/Opeli. However I was also really hoping that Corvus would stay on the council/with Ezran, and figured that if Soren was going to end up with anyone, Corvus was probably the most realistic choice (shared goals, decent development, timeskip to help things, similar ages).

That said I still didn't actively ship them (like I didn't mind them but was completely impassive/neutral y'know?) until I wrote an interaction between them in "if heaven and hell decide" (a canon divergent S2 where Claudia and Soren decide to delay their betrayal of the trio, and therefore travel with them for much longer) and the fact that Corvus would see Soren at his worst in canon (S2) but also see and appreciate who Soren was becoming... I started to turn a corner and grew to ship them a lot more. I'm really excited for them to eventually be canon, it seems, even if they're not My Endgame for either character In My Head for years-post war, at least for now.

Claudiez

For aged up Claudia/Ezran, I think this post (dated July 2021) was when I started to ship these two. There was something about the interplay of Claudia telling Callum about Harrow's death, but he only seeks out comfort from Rayla, and Ezran rejecting Rayla's offered comfort about Harrow and instead accepting it from Claudia, that felt very apt to me? And then a couple weeks later I wrote my formal "I actually do ship Claudiez and here's why" meta so it's been a few years now!

Both the younger sibling uniquely given their father's mantle to carry in ways their older brother just doesn't have to; Ezran being connected to all nature while Claudia continually perverts it, thus Ezran having the relationship to nature that she needs to learn/acquire for her own healing additionally; they both see the throne as a tool to help and breaking their fathers' cycles with each other; the childhood friends to enemies to friends to lovers of an according slow burn because of said age gap; ending up as Queen of Katolis but not the way her father imagined and ending up with one of the brothers, just not the one everyone previously expected; Ezran getting to grow up and into his own and assert his independence and choices (no matter what his brother thinks about it), etc. I also think personality wise they suit each other - Terry's parallels to Ezran in personality are some of the reasons I think Clauderry works at least as a short term pairing.

It's also kinda perfect bc, since they'd only get together like 10-15 years post the end of the show Anyway, so like. they're Endgame to me no matter what and there's nothing canon can really do about it, #improvise adapt overcome.

Sorpeli

This probably started out as the truest crack ship because it started as a joke of like, Soren flirting with her at 20 and easy to dismiss and then again when he's 30 and Opeli is like "I deserve a little fun," so they start having a physical fling, and then catch feelings (Soren falls first, she falls harder). The earliest post I have for them is from May 6th 2023 but I know realistically I'd probably shipped them for a lot longer (what can I say, younger men not being put off my older women aging bc society is bullshit, and contrasting personalities + devoted man & woman who feels undeserving will always get me) before I ever had mind to say anything. Then I dragged @jelzorz into it and the rest, they say, is history. So like 1.5 years at least now?

I'd probably be even more into Sorpeli than I already am but I'm not unconvinced that Opeli won't die (I really hope she doesn't, but I do understand how it could benefit Ezran's narrative in particular) but like if all seasons pass by and she's alive? Canon crack quartet with Endgame Rayllum, Claudiez, Sorpeli, and CorTerry is a go <3

TLDR;

Rayllum before the show started, Janaya in S2, everything else when the ships got introduced, then next we have Claudiez (July 2021), Sorvus (casually since Oct 2021), and Sorpeli (late 2022/early 2023).

[sanjisboyfie]

me over here not a single bit normal about the keep safe mc. just thinking about the later parts of the story with him around, sabaody, post-timeskip stuff idek if you'll get to that point before getting burned out of it but I just really like thinking about shit can reader inserts be blorbos? idk you just shoved that bitch in the straw hats so well I just love him, also thanks for making him competent and not a little pussy bitch character that can't walk on his two fit by himself. my guy really just turned the monster trio into the monster quartet im so proud of him

STOPSTOPSTOP youre going to make meCRY

not to go on a whole ass rant or tangent rn but i GENUINELY love writing keep safe so much beacuse its so fun to write the mc and the relationships he has with the strawhats (and others outside of the crew too obvsss) and I LITERALLY cannot help but imagine future plot lines with him in it as well !!! like sabaody ??? marineford???? EVEN ENIES LOBBY ISNT SO FAFR AWAY AND WHEN I TELL U HES GONNA BE SO IN THERE WITH TEH PLOTLINE --- HES GONNA BE SO IN THERE

oh its gonna get so serious for me i fear he will be all i talk about when we reach those points in the story.

(idk what a blorbo is...im sorry </3)

HEHEHHE monster quartet (semi-spoilers for the anime !! but when zoro and sanji got called the wings of the future pirate king, i immediately thought of the title ks mc would have and lem,me tell u...i cooked, i cooked!11!1!1!)

this is becoming a whole ass rant rn but its because i love the mc so much too !!! and this msg is one of the rare few where i can really talk about him >:) so thank u sm because comments and msgs like tis really help me write for keep safe. i doubt think i'll ever burnout/drop ks, but it is hard to find motivation a lot of the time . so when i get comments like this it literally pumps me up sm to write <333 ur msg means the world to me anon i truly mean it thank u sm

[i havent been this exccited/passionate abt the mc of a fanfic i wrote/writing a long ass fanfic since my old haikyuu x male reader one that i abandoned like ... two-three years ago]

literally guys send me asks and talk to me about keep safe/the mc because i can literally talk for hours on hours on hours on it/him

[rhythmmortis]

the fact tbat riku says in the limit cut episode that rhe wayfinder trio went to the realm of darkness to look for sora is crazy to me. Like aqua just got out and they made her go back in?@?@*#?÷?#*#*

you reminded me that i made a post about this 2 years ago and that im STILL MAD ABOUT IT. i dont fully agree with everything in that post anymore but i still think a lot of the things in the 1 year timeskip couldve been handled better. also the way they treat 1 year like its nothing always confused me, especially seeing how 1 year was an incredibly important and long amount of time exemplified by days and sora sleeping (and how when sora sleeps for a year everyone's like 'we gotta get him back' and when kairi sleeps for a year she gets a game that isnt even about her. she gets to play 2 songs. and she doesnt even get to fight her own final boss. sorry im still mad about khMoM as well but thats UNRELATED)

however. after the dark road finale it was a VERY interesting decision to me. you know how in dark road all of the students have keyblade armour, much like the ones the wayfinder trio has? and remember how that keyblade armour WASN'T fully effective against darkness as shown by urd and hermod? and they chose to reveal that information after the last we saw of the wayfinder trio was them donning their keyblade armour and setting off into a portal? interesting choices. very interesting. they were called back after khMoM to our knowledge, but who's to say what happened? like i said, 1 year is an awfully long period of time

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

01/28/2024 – 02/03/2024

Sunday

Manga Sunday yayyyy Girl Meets Rock is getting interesting, I was totally expecting the guy from the guitar shop to walk in, but it was Rin instead. Rin herself is pretty intriguing, as it seems like she’s keeping some cards close to her chest in regards to the band…

Undead Unluck is good as usual, it’s fun to see an older and more surly Top. Another sick mom to add to the tally, though. Maybe in this loop we’ll see more details about Top and Haruka’s potential romance.

Oshi no Ko fun, the deadpan humor really got to me.

Dandadan okay, I’m a little tired of the non-stop action sequences.

Magilumiere good, obviously there’d be some drawback to Midorikawa getting the chip implanted, but I’m sure they’ll find a way to circumvent it.

One Piece good.

CIPHER ACADEMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GODDDDDD IF THIS IS THE END I’LL BE SO SADDDDDDDD I really hope it’s not…I’m holding onto Nisioisin copium so so so hard… The chapter itself was also amazing, with a look at everyone’s true backstories, Kogoe laying out her philosophy but Iroha turning it on its head, THE HANDSHAKE SPREAD WHERE IT LOOKS LIKE IROHA HAS HIS HANDS AROUND THE WORLD, EVERYONE ELSE SHAKING HANDS BUT YOU DON’T KNOW HOW SINCERE THEY ARE, MORE YOSAIMURA/ANON, TAYUTAN… The timeskip is so scary…I can’t tell if it’s the beginning of something new and everything else has just been the prelude, or if it’s a hasty jump to land some sort of epilogue… I’ll keep holding out hope but please…

Live Roulette gave me Siegfeld Junior High’s 1st Live today, so I watched/listened to it as I read a book (more on that later). I’m impressed by how far they’ve come in such a short time, especially Mtzw, whose rendition of Rebellion here was a lot stronger than in the stage play months earlier. Hinapiyo is still the reigning vocalist, though, and I’m so glad they gave her Mimorin’s descant in Watashitachi wa Mou Butai no Ue. I wish they did the arm choreography in Onikurenai… Overall it was a fun show, they’re all so cute and energetic and I appreciate all the harmonies they’re doing.

As for the book I’m reading, it’s Ring of Fire by P. D. Baccalario. It’s the first book of a series that I really liked as a child, so I’m reading it again to see if it holds up. So far, I’ve been a little disappointed…the cutaways to the random adult characters pulling the strings and talking cryptically feel like such momentum killers, and the usual “kids exploring a city on an adventure and solving puzzles” thing isn’t really grabbing me here. I do love that one scene in the beginning, when the kids are first meeting and the lights go out…I can imagine the scene so perfectly in my mind – the silence of the snowy night, the nervous excitement of meeting new people and coming across a strange situation together…it’s all so thrilling, and it’s the one scene that stuck with me after all these years. I’ve just gotten to the part where the apartment building collapses, and it’s genuinely harrowing – I can’t believe they actually killed that guy (but I don’t like how it basically amounted to a fat joke). Finally, it feels like we have some actual stakes (halfway through the book cough). I’m also seeing the bits of Harvey/Elettra and Mistral/Sheng shipping going on, I think it’s cute and I’m curious to see how they develop. (Speaking of Sheng lmao c’mon man 好 doesn’t actually mean cool, it just means good, so it’s weird to have that be his catchphrase.)

Afterwards I finally watched Day 1 of Ijigen Fes, the IDOLM@STER x Love Live! concert, and it was okay. I’m probably biased, but literally none of the IM@S songs interested me except for Tulip, which I already knew that I liked. (Thank you for having Rikako sing Tulip…they did that for me…) The Love Live girls had a decent showing, but the highlight for me was definitely KALEIDOSCORE… Liyuu’s singing is just so amazing.

Monday

Day 2 of Ijigen Fes today, and oh my GODDDDDD SHU’S PERFORMANCE WAS SO GOOD just so much fun and energy, it was like watching Avril Lavigne for real… THE NEW VERSES FOR RYOURAN VICTORY ROAD WERE SO HYPE OH MY GOD AQOURS NO LEADER TAKAMI CHIKA!!!!!!!!!! OSHIMAI NANTE NAINAINAI!!!!!!!!!! It’s so surreal seeing the Cotton Candy Ei-Ei-Oh MV playing on the huge screen in Tokyo Dome… Also Snow Halation makes me cry literally every time I see those UO’s go up ahh

Afterwards the Live Roulette dealt me AZUNA’s unit live, and it was just okay. I’m not the biggest AZUNA fan anyway, but I do like some of their songs like Maze Town and Kakushiaji. Shizuku’s solos were both great as well, and the bit with the plushies was cute, but the most memorable thing about this concert would definitely have to be Tomoriru’s goodbye…it’s so unfortunate that things turned out the way that they did, but I’m glad she gave us some great performances as Setsuna before she graduated. But man, when they all started tearing up at the end of Tokimeki Runners… (I cried again…very emotional set of lives today.)

I finished reading Ring of Fire while watching the concert, and there’s no way on god’s green earth Mr. Baccalario seriously expects me to believe there are PALANQUINS in fucking SHANGHAI in 2006??????? Or rather, I can’t believe that he believed that while writing this book LMAO for how globe-trotting and international this series sets out to be, it falls a little short with non-Western cultures. Now that I’ve finished it, there’s this feeling of…lingering disappointment. I love kids going on adventures, and I love the setting and the feeling of fate converging on these four kids, but the adventure itself was so lackluster… Most of it is just poking around Rome until they happen upon something that leads them to the next step, and by the end they’ve got a “mystical all-knowing” Romani woman straight up telling them what to do… I know the author is trying to do a “it’s all fate leading the way” thing but it just comes off as unsatisfying and being cryptic for cryptic’s sake. And for that matter, the book tries hard to give each kid their screentime, but it’s a little silly when Elettra gets all the action while Mistral’s kidnapped and subsequently rescued because the female villain “went soft” and Harvey and Sheng go into a house, get scared, leave, and contribute nothing else to the climax. The ending even points out how so many things have been left unanswered (as if it’s not confident in its own plotting), and I don’t know if they’ll be answered in the later books, but it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Like is anyone ever gonna explain the in-universe reason why the professor guy had a trunk full of teeth with letters carved onto them? Because it’s so blatantly just “cool Italian history trivia” + “oh right we need a puzzle for them to solve” shenanigans with no logical throughline. Also the villains were cheesy as all hell, oooo it’s the DEVIL and his number is SIX SIX SIX WOAHHH I know it’s a kid’s book, but come on…

Tuesday

Not gonna lie, the news that Cipher Academy is ending sent me into such a depression spiral that I just laid in bed all day playing Animal Crossing and moping and cursing Shounen Jump as a whole. I’ve never held the magazine in very high regard, as I feel like most of its big “hits” are just boring derivative battle manga (and I feel that especially with some of the newer series they’re heavily promoting…), so Cipher Academy caught me by surprise with its amazing character designs and writing and heartfelt emotion… I’ll talk more about it later in a different post, but Cipher Academy is genuinely the best manga I read in 2023 and now one of my favourite manga of all time, and I really wish it could’ve lived longer (and that I could collect it physically in English…). Excluding One Piece and Undead Unluck, I hope all of Jump’s series [COMPLIANCE VIOLATION]

Wednesday

Chainsaw Man good. Nayuta’s really in it now.

I’m continuing my anime concert and book reading duets today with AZALEA’s 1st Live and The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey. It felt a little weird to be watching the big Love Lives out of order when I’m literally three years behind so I chose Azalea’s live, and I was itching for a good “four kids go on an adventure” after being disappointed with Ring of Fire so I picked Perilous Journey back up. The live is fine so far – AZALEA isn’t one of my favourite subunits, but the new songs from their full album were such bangers that I had to check this live out. The light choreography in SKY JOURNEY was actually kind of amazing, I wish Love Live did more stuff like that.

Perilous Journey is fun so far, just some good ol’ adventuring with a dash of mortal peril.

Thursday

The new Dungeon Meshi was really fun. I’m trying to keep up a tradition of making/eating good food to go with the episode (so far it’s been fenzhenrou, meatballs, and soup), so today was homemade hash browns…not necessarily the healthiest thing, but I had to make something in a jiffy and it was either that or not eat anything so I think Senshi would let me slide. Lots of great comedy moments, but also I love how the ghost chapter really has a whole self-contained thematic arc that’s even topped off with a sitcom-esque punchline at the end. I love Laios being a weird guy and having fun with his sword parasite buddy.

I read a big chunk of Perilous Journey today, and what a perilous journey indeed. But it’s so satisfying to see the kids use their wits and abilities to solve each clue and thwart their pursuers, as well as eerie to see the “ghost” of Mr. Benedict and Number Two along the way. What I’m noticing is how much care Trenton Lee Stewart gives to each of the kids’ emotional states – in contrast to Ring of Fire where each kid basically had one defining personality trait to set them apart and nothing else, Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance all feel really fleshed out and real, each with their own worries and perspectives and ways of thinking. (Sorry to compare you, Baccalario, but I can’t deny that it was on my mind since I read this right after Ring of Fire.) I especially love Reynie as a protagonist and a leader for the other kids, his keen emotional intelligence and observation skills means that he’s usually careful about what he says and is constantly keeping an eye out for the others’ wellbeing. There’s a lot of subtle character writing going on here, and each pair within the quartet have a distinct and believable dynamic. Story-wise, I think I prefer the set-up of the first book a little more – at least when they were in that institute, they had some room to breathe and regroup and feel safe in each other’s presence. Here it’s just non-stop action and pursuit, which has me anxious the whole time.

Friday

Drag Race time: I really don’t care for Plane Jane and all the drama she’s causing, it’s just annoying at this point. I hope they don’t try to solve a redemption arc down our throats but it’s looking likely. The girl groups were fun, I hate to say it but I actually do like the style that recent RuPaul songs are going for. I’m just glad that Nymphia is holding her own through all these different types of challenges. Runway-wise, I really liked Q’s look as it all looked well put together and considered, BUT OH MY GODDDDD NYMPHIA JUST STEALS THE SHOW EVERY TIMEEEEEE. I’m sad to see Amanda go…

I don’t usually talk about music on here (because cataloguing every new song I listen to would be insane, even for me), but Louie Zong released a new album called RAT TAXI and I think I’m going to induct it into the STM Awards…which I think is a first for Week in Review? I just love the beats and the instruments he used on this one, and there’s not a single song I don’t like, which is my only criteria for albums to make it in. So yayyyy

Saturday

Touched grass today and went home and immediately fell asleep

[buoyantsaturn]

taking this as a small invitation to talk even more about this fic to you!!

I did actually think that about the band name psychopomp!! That is was intentional because of canon connections, so that was super clever and I LOVE that

If it's not revealed later, now that Naomi knows is she #1 fan of will solace??

I adore how Travis and Connor were like. Yeah you can stay that was so cool and definitely more in character than most of the pjo fandom gives them credit for in fanon? Except rosyredlipstick (and a lot of other people but my god.) I adore how you've chosen to right this!!! Is it all happening linearly? It seems that way?

Austin is a little geek yes yes yes yes , is Kayla making an appearance ?? Oh I have to let you know I scREECHED during the Jason chapter, the best friend on a flight line!!! Woo!!!

These are less questions and more me screaming uhhh, thanks for writing

hello yes please always scream at me about my fics <3

honestly when i was writing it i dont even think i made the connection with the stolls&nico other than like. nico needed a place to live. but the big house in this fic really is kind of like the hermes cabin, they take it whoever needs a place to crash for the night etc etc. plus i personally hc that nico has a great relationship with the stolls in canon bc of all the hijinks they must have gotten up to when nico first came to camp <3 so i had to give them some fun interactions in this one <3

yes! it is all happening linearly (except i can think of one place where the chapters kind of overlap, but it should be pretty clear when it comes to that point) but it should be noted that there are HUGE timeskips between a lot of the chapters. like the first five or six chapters probably take place over the span of at least a year or two. theres nothing in the fic to indicate this at all but thats whats in my head <3 the fic as a whole probably spans like 5 years from start to finish but again the only thing thatll support that is the occasional mention of like. holidays or specific months or certain weather patterns.

literally almost said that i didnt think kayla made an appearance. lol im so dumb <3 yeah she'll be there <3

its so fun exploring a bunch more characters than i usually do so im glad its paying off with all the fun little individual character spotlight chapters <3

[desudog-gone]

just dumping this here bc i wanna put it out there

my hc for body type nad changes through awakening of chrom + robin (necessary reminder that my robin is not a human, and is a sort of artificially created shapeshifter who was raised around humans. his body size changes depending on his diet because what he eats stays in him when his shape changes. (his mass cannot change- he can seperate into groupings of smaller objects but cannot be larger than what exists of him.) and the amount of abstract mass (just a pitch dark color slimelike base form) depends on his diet. so the more he eats would displace inner mass, making him appear perhaps taller if he decided to use the extra displaced amount for that. further, food that doesnt give him energy is just converted to physical mass. so more food = bigger in any regard, less food = smaller in any regard. so this is something that fluxuates often- but like a snake, he doesnt need to eat much because he doesnt digest fast enough to do so. so hes less impacted by food scarcity) (can you tell i like writing fictional/monster biology lol) think of robin like hes made of wax, which can be poured into different molds. a lot of wax could fill just 1 large shape, or multiple smaller ones, but if theres not enough, it wont fill it entirely. (a man sized robin couldnt turn into a horse- they dont share the same amount of body.) however, adding something to displace wax to fill up the mold further could, like adding a rock into it, the level would rise. so when he's eaten something, its similar, theres a static non-body displacement inside him, which could be small like an apple, or larger like a few days of dinner.

-----

pt 1.

chrom older teen chrom is basically as lean as he is in canon at this point. despite being royalty, hes roaming about with the other shepards rn, and because they hunt for their food, its not a very secure source and probably mostly lean meat like rabbits, and probably happily gives portions of his meal to his little sister if it wasnt that good of a night for hunting. hes also basically constantly moving and burning energy, he has the metabolism of a 17 year old so all in all hes pretty lightweight. his sword skill is -okay- (hence why future-past lucina matches him in strength and skill, plus canonically he does get better as he levels up, gameplay wise.) he doesnt need to shave often and his body hair isnt coming in too thick yet. generally hes kinda scrappy looking and probably pushes himself a little too far and spreads himself too thin.

robin i hc robin as about just 1 1/2 years or so older than chrom. he's short and thin (not in a healthy way) because his species size is dependent on diet frequency, he avoids eating often too after joining up with the shepards because hes self conscious and wary about breaking his human disguise while hes still trying to hide it here. hes shorter than chrom and has a somewhat inconsistent facial look because he hasnt really learned to return to the exact same form every time*. can eat human foods but sneaks out to eat bodies after perticularly draining battles, as human foods are not as physically or magically energy producing due to his nature as an artificial creature of dark magic. *this inconsistency is also generally true to his body hair, although its hard to notice anyways because he has light skin and light hair. however, he never has facial hair.

---- pt 2; ~5 year timeskip

chrom at first, chrom gains weight and a scruffier look as a result of a settling depression as he mourns his elder sister and grapples with a title he's anxious about receiving. eventually he starts getting back into the swing of taking better care of himself and being more confident in his abilities as a leader, using his sisters death to strengthen his resolve and his closeness to the ever supportive robin to fill in the rough patches. as he gets active he doesnt lose much weight (which i want to note- im describing neutrally. his weight gain isnt morally connected to anything, just like in real life. it just happens) as hes older now, and his metabolism is evening out, and now that hes at home much more, his meals are more stable and with more rounded nutrition and variety. his body hair is thicker and has to be more regularly maintained and by now hes just back to shaving his face regularly (to robins protest, who likes a stubbly face). as lucina is born(formed?) chrom decides he will do what he can to not lose his heart and stability again. during valm, he builds back up a lot of the muscle he hadnt been pushing while he was busy settling into his new position and family. chrom is more easily stressed this time around and isnt so ignorant as he was before and takes the war more seriously after having faced personal loss. the exercise has settled him into the dadbod hes earned.

robin robin has learned much better how to return to the same form each time he leaves it, but doesnt worry as much anymore as chrom is aware of his inhumanity, but still tries to keep it under wraps for the publics sake, considering theyre still uncertain about him as a plegian at all. he's settled on a more mature face than before and often looks just as tired and worn as he actually is, spending many days and nights handling legal matters for his fiance, and then being hard at work with lucina, who is artifically created the same way robin is. due to a consistent diet and lack of losing pieces of himself in battle, robin is now just as tall as chrom, sometimes a bit taller, and has a little bit of a "i work at a table for most of my time" tummy and posture. not much of him changes physically during valm, although hes often seen looking less preened and a smidge more frazzled- but work at home has just been replaced with tactical work, so his already dark eyebags and clenched jaw doesnt really intensify that much worse. battling with his growing migraines while grima attempts to contact him more and more, he relies on chrom to help him find peace and footing, who is more than happy to be his husbands rock. he bites his nails about lucina back home and the war at his feet often. after the reveal of the future past lucina, his stress continues to worsen as his daughter is now also on the battlefield, but he works harder to look more presentable, doing what he can to help be a good role model to lucina as well as work oh her distrsut to him, which as this point is mostly puzzling. robin also falls back to being shorter (although not as short as before) than chrom, although this fluctuates.

--- pt 3 / grima

chrom chrom hasnt changed much from before, not given much time to settle, hes thrown right back into the frying pan with the return ot plegia as a threat. he works hard despite having unrecovered wounds at this point. generally, this chapter is very much revolved around robin. after the weaker fake out bolt, chrom still suffers a circular burn on his torso which eventually scars over.

robin the relentless now battering of grima in his skull takes a toll on robin, whos mental health effects physical health as he distrusts himself after being possessed. unable to bring himself to eat human remains as he needs to for its magic properties in the context of his species due to it reminding him of his closeness to grima, he faces physical weakness and a growing urge to hunt, which only makes him further parinoid about his fell blood. espessially frazzled, robin spends almost all his time either planning for the next meeting with the enemy or allies, or out on a walk to "clear his mind", which is moreso because hes afraid of lashing out at others.

--- postgame

chrom after robins sacrifice, he searches without end for him, hanging onto nagas words that he can come back. he neglects returning home and to the throne to do so, and fails to take care of himself worst of all, often going hungry, pushing himself physically, and getting frustrated with others and himself. lucina eventually shakes it back into him that he must carry on for everyone no matter what and he reluctantly spends less time searching, and more on himself and others, but still feels lost and incomplete. finally being able to start his duties as exalt for good once he finds him, chrom settles into a less active life, serving as the public face for his kingdoms new era while robin works out the paperwork side of things. he shaves inconsistently, essentally leaving his beard growing out only for however long robin can convince him. (robin says its a mature and kingly look, but chrom thinks its scratchy and strange to see in the mirror.)

robin im retconning the mark of grima disappearing because i think they look cool. robin returns to his desk work posture and living in a castle closeness to food, but struggles with his creature of darkness hunger. his nature returns to being level headed and intuitive, able to find peace and stability after returning to the world of the living, eventually leading to the creation of the twin morgans. he enjoys the imports from his home country now that theyre no longer waring and are now working on repairing the bond between each country. although he has clothes from the castle tailors, he prefers to wear plegian clothing, seeing himself as the most important ambassador to the country of his birth while the distrust between each country repairs. although it changes often, he averages out as about the same height as chrom.

------ other notes:

im a "each eye has a brand" lucina chrobin truther. so theres that. Lucinas hair lightens slightly over time, when he would eventually be in her late 30s to early 40s, it would reach an only slightly blue sort of silver color, where it would stop changing. it changes as it grows, so in her 20s, she has a sort of ombre going on.

the morgans have mirrors of eachothers brand mark, with the brand of the exalt on morganf's left hand, and morganm's right, with the brand of the exalt on the opposite for each. (who each have chrobs blue hair.) the morgans are entirely identical physically, only robin and henry can tell them apart, as robin can naturally see their magically aura, and henry navigates via using a sort of magical sonar, and can hear them as separate noises their souls make, and plays stupid about how others get confused. robin enjoys using the twins to troll others, which is why he dresses them the same and cuts them the same haircut. chrom doesnt really think its funny but the kids enjoy it too so he doesnt care.

owain is trans in my hcs, and isnt out to anyone except robin, who asked because plegian culture percieves gender differently than ylissians do, so the both of them act confused on why lissa's baby is a girl. despite this, owain spends lots of quality time with his family, after witnessing his parents die in his timeline, he wont let the discomfort of hearing his deadname deter him from spending time with them, and enjoys playing with his "little sister" who can sometimes be a bit too rough and tumble for the other kids because of her claws. (lissa is a human, but ricken is nonhuman, sort of like a sphinx thing, which owain is in turn. although both of them usually just use a human form because thats the norm)

[to-rise-above-monsters]

how i interpreted the bertholdt thing was that armin’s understanding of annie deepened bc of bertholdt’s memories, not that it necessarily controlled his feelings (like how eren implied)

i reallyyy like aruani as a concept. they mean so much to me. ‘girl who doesn’t care for life’ ‘boy who cares so much’ (i also just love them as characters so much)

i think the downside for them was how long ago s1 was.

warning rant underneath (im embarrassed im so sorry)

i’d been such a long time fan but dropped off when there was a hiatus of the anime and decided ill just binge the manga when it’s done. the only real reason annie was on my mind was bc of how dedicated i was to the rba dynamic and how much i loved annie (and fanon annie) as a character. but she truly wasn’t a character for nearly half of the series.

i even knew someone who saw her in the crystal and asked me “who’s that?”

i think she suffered from fandom slightly but now it being canon ig they were right. it was a little annoying for fandom (a small part of it) deciding that every character needed to be paired off with each other and that annie must be in love with one of the boys she tolerates. maybe that was a small reason i found the canonicity so out of nowhere?

bc i love fanon ships for sillies but making a female character HAVE to hinge on a relationship with a man rubbed me the wrong way. but that’s not what aruani is in canon and im so thankful for that. but i still wish there was more

it sucks because there was really no way of developing her or their relationship while she was in the crystal and idek how someone could properly execute it but it was very jarring for her to come out of an absence that was longer than the timeskip for the readers. we hadn’t even seen her for i think six years? and then immediately she is fully canon with a character that we had followed for all the time she’d been missing.

idk i wish they had more. i wish it wasn’t hints. i wish it wasn’t the assumption that they must be romantic because of this, this and this.

their stuff in season 1 was so nice. i remember being so intrigued. but that’s all it kinda was? we never had a reason. why did she spare him? why did she seem to care about him in particular? why did she want to ‘be a good person’ for him? so interesting.

but we… never get an answer? is it because he called her nice? she clearly had empathy for him before that. but that wasn’t something ever shown. even the compilation of moments always seems to start in the middle of a blossoming relationship. there was never a moment that solidified their mutual respect and interest for each other. it’s just something that just… happened? off screen?

rereading all these years later, i can catch these things and be like ohhhh yeah ig that was them liking each other. but when it was happening in real time, it was the most jarring and insane jump. i was like woah woah buddy what is going on.

sudden blushing and confession was so crazy to me. it felt so sudden. and so did other ships. it felt like “ofc they were in love the whole time they’re a woman and a man who have some interest in each other”

honestly, something that could have been implemented maybe was that armin was genuinely talking to her not because he was in love with her but he did genuinely ‘want to see her’. maybe a scene of him reflecting on maybe why he wanted to talk to her so badly (he kinda does but i want it to circle back to his regrets and maybe acknowledging all the times she spared him or cared about him to a certain capacity). maybe a flashback of why annie respected armin so much. or when their relationship started.

and maybe showing him visiting her throughout? but from a lore perspective, i feel like that still wouldn’t work. sigh im so sorry. i have so many feelings and I don’t think I’ve ever actually written it out before 💀

idk im so sorry im rambling SO BAD. i think snk deserved to have a lot more breathing room and filler. letting my children just breathe and talk for a second. (i think that’s why junior high was so good and so well received)

i love this manga so much and i know some people hate the ending but i personally really love this series and it’s overall message and think it’s so well written. and i love anyone who is passionate about anything and loves things. i just like to write improvements or brainstorm headcanon/how i would tweak things🙏

anyways

isayama put his whole pussy into making yumihisu so explicitly romantic and intimate and loving throughout their entire relationship and decided he was done for the day<3

why did isayama put his whole pussy into yumihisu after saying he can’t write romance. and then fumble when it came to the straights.

[suguruverse]

hi! can i request best friend hcs with tendou and ushijima?

— BEING BEST FRIENDS WITH USHIJIMA AND TENDOU

includes - ushijima wakatoshi and tendou satori

a/n - hi everyone!! this one has been requested ALOT so i thought i might as well publish it now hehe

published date - 12/04/21

- pls don't even think about buying new clothes if you're friends with these guys

- if you ask for any clothes, tendou will give it to you without hesitation albeit rather teasingly and you just steal ushijima's clothes without asking lmao

- he'll see you wear his clothes and just go "you look nice" and walk away

- them comforting you can go two ways

1. lots of hugs and head pats

2. threatening to murder someone

- they can say a lot of things that can easily be taken as hurtful or mean but they never mean to hurt your feelings, they're just a bit blunt

- these bitches will not take any of your bullshit and will call you out on everything

- you guys often have days where you just hang out in ushijima's dorm and annoy him

- or just to read the weekly shounen jump that tendou let you borrow

- walking out in the halls can be very stressful at times because there are always people whispering and pointing to you guys

- and when you first started visiting their practices and games, ushijima was confused to say the least but he still enjoyed hearing your voice cheering for him

- i feel like some nights, tendou just had really bad nightmares and can't sleep so he just facetimes you at like 2am

- or he just breaks into your dorm room and doesn't try to wake you up until you notice a dark shadow watching you in your sleep

- ushijima would call you about things that don't really make any sense "y/n why does jupiter have 79 moons?" "um ushi, i'm not really into astronomy so i don't know" "oh, should i call tendou then? i think he might be quite knowledgeable about this"

- pls give this man some time, he don't even know where brazil is

- no thoughts, just ushijima's morning voice

- on weekends, before their morning run, ushijima and tendou visit you to wake you up to keep up a "normal sleep schedule"

- binge watching anime series with tendou until you both pass out from exhaustion

- this friendship definitely started from you being their manager or else they wouldn't even really talk to you

- you and tendou communicate in banter

lol timeskip spoilers

- you definitely cried when tendou left to go to france

- and you cried again from laughter when he showed you his new buzzcut over facetime

- when you go to ushijima's alder game, he always gives you a free ticket bc he loves you

- tendou sends you valentine's chocolate that he made every year :(

- you were the first person ushijima called when he made the olympics team and he was on the verge of tears

- pls expect tendou to just blow your phone up when ANY minor inconvience happens to him

- and ushijima also sends pictures to you of pretty scenery or any cute thing in general and says "this reminded me of you"

- tendou is such a cuddle bug ugh that man will literally hug you anytime and anywhere

- sleeping in ushijima's lap is a dream, have you seen that mans thighs

- one time ushijima caught you and tendou in a bathroom trying to bleach your hair

- he straight up walked out the bathroom and never spoke about it again

- sometimes you and tendou just sit in random cafes or restaurants and talk shit about the other customers for fun

gc name: toshi's sugar babies

tendou: y/n

tendou: you see that right? 👀

you: he truly is a sight to see

you: i can’t look away

ushijima: hello i brought the food

tendou: we can see that big boy

tendou: okay okay okay no need to flex your muscles we get it

you: i wanna touch them

ushijima: yes i know y/n you wouldn’t let go of me this morning

you: HEY i didn’t hear you complaining

ushijima: i wasn’t

tendou: how does he get his arms so big what

ushijima: oh tendou would you want to start working out together? it will be fun

tendou: Y/N IM NERVOUS WHAT DO I SAY

you: say yes

tendou: it will be my honour my lord

ushijima: wonderful, shall i see you tomorrow morning?

you: can i come?

tendou: you wanna work out?

you: ofc not just wanna see toshi in action

[earthflaxmachina]

1 dere(k)volution

P: heres to the first of the second try at ramble posting on tumblr. instead of random rants, these posts will be centered around some kind of oc meta. also this time i have a co-host of sorts to keep it interesting because i am a dull turd.

D: It’s Derek.

P: cool. the topic for discussion today is the evolution of derek. but like the concept of derek. not this derek’s canon character development or whatever. to start by looking at the first ever image of derek that i scrolled through my camera for 10 minutes to find.

(from 2/2019)

if you didnt know already, his name was Dolan at first. the name Derek is fairly recent.

D: Dolan. What an ugly nerd name.

P: right. also. his design was based off a bottle of water i found at the grocery store. back then i had a weird tendency to draw very thin necks for some reason. along with very short torsos and long legs. so thats why the proportions look really weird.

D: That explains why you draw really thick necks now to compensate. Hahaha.

P: basically the beta concept for his story was that he lived in Hell and had an incredibly powerful wand that he inherited by accident after getting lost in the snowy woods or something. (Dolan) didnt really know what kind of responsibilities came with the wand and consistently wanted to become a magician (not fantasy kinda magic... like card tricks kind of magic) and misused the wand for trivial things such as taking a shortcut to the grocery store.

D: So I’ve been a amateur magician since birth!

P: yes. its incredible how youve stayed an amateur for this long. fun fact: harlow was also created at a similar time and was exes with one of luciano’s brothers. wow. the prosciuttoverse was a cesspool back then. a furry world PLUS heaven/hell setting? get outta here.

D: Harlow was also my love interest for quite some time!

(from 4/2019)

P: yeah. maybe we’ll do a commentary on harlow’s evolution at some point.

D: God I had such a weirdly-shaped head.

P: lets look at some other pics of dolan.

(renewed ref, from 5/2019)

(from 1/2020)

P: nothing more to note other than the fact that i remember writing a lot about you having a nice butt on your charahub/toyhouse profiles. despite the fact that your butt is pretty mundane in the evidence provided. god what the hell is that shading.

D: Ah I look so young and happy.

P: right i think dolan was meant to be in his early 20s. like literally every other oc i had at the time. next, the start of 2021 was when i revamped/redesigned dolan.

(from 2/2021 and 3/2021 respectively)

P: theres the first ever image of human derek and harlow. not much has changed tbh

D: We look like a lesbian couple.

P: the story concept was also pretty different from the original. basically i made a whole hierarchy for both heaven and hell and the world was completely extinct so everyone was either in heaven or hell. the world itself was the wence boys’ world. so the story wouldve taken place way way in the future. blah blah blah something about heaven being evil or corrupt or something corny like that, and dolan (being half devil/angel what a cliche) wanted to change The System (tm). also he was running a campaign 2 be ruler of hell or something as part of his plan. maybe he was evil maybe he wasnt idk. its old corny stuff.

D: Sounds like boring philosophical politics. Bluh bluh.

P: yeah. anyways timeskip to later in the year when i completely revamped your story AGAIN! ill try to limit the pictures from now on because im almost at the max 10.

(from 7/2021)

D: Look at me and my pronounce!

P: so at this point. there was a heaven/hell but it wasnt the main setting it just existed. there was an office kinda deal going on for the admin stuff. a dead persons soul could either be reincarnated in heaven/hell or destroyed iirc. there were 4 different departments because people die all the time so they categorized them. dolan had the biggest department because it was Death by natural causes/accidents. the 3 other were Pestilence (disease), War (conflict or generally murder), Famine. at this time i changed dolan’s name to Death because he was literally the grim reaper. he also wasnt God at this time. there was still some kind of higher power i think it was Stig. harlow was human and also lesbian now. nothing else interesting.

D: So when did I become Derek?

P: I dunno. some time after my birthday? when i started the storyline where you became human for a bit and needed a human name for Death. then i just got tired of calling you Death and stuck with Derek because it is better in every way.

D: Excellent judgement.

(from 28/10/2021)

P: this was probably the start of the all New and Improved derek storyline. the rest is pretty streamline from here and doesnt really need a recap.

D: Woof look how sweet and well-adjusted I looked back then! And that tiny nose.

P: yeah you still had some humanity (pupils) in your eyes. and still had the square glasses thing going on. eugh. waitwaitwait lets look at the first time i drew you and rumi lol

(from 11/2021)

D: We were so in love.

P: wow you guys have changed a LOT since then. for one: you were probably never that sweet to her. and she hates your guts now. 

D: If I had any!

P: alright. that concludes this ramble on THE EVOLUTION OF DEREK

D: DERE(K)VOLUTION

P: that sounds stupid. welp. i will probably make a poll on whose meta we should recap next - because i am always looking for an excuse to make a google form. or just send smth to the askbox. i dont care. bye

D: Goodbye friends!

[oinkz]

more oikawa hcs (woo)

— pre timeskip!oikawa always had naturally fuller cheeks. he was always a tad bit insecure about them, because 1. they accentuated his baby face and 2. a lot of people poked fun of him for it. so one day, when you two are cuddling, you decided to hold his face and just stare. you’d expect him to revel in it, be all smug and tell you “take a picture, it’ll last longer”, but you’re too close, and your gaze is too intense, he thinks you’re secretly making fun of him ... so instead, he pulls away, a bit coldly i must say.

— takes moisturizing very seriously. he carries around hand lotion wherever he goes and applies a generous amount of it after every time he washes his hands. if you tend to neglect moisturizing, or just basic skincare in general, he’s more than happy to massage lotion into your hands. also loves how it gives him an excuse to touch you and study your hand - how big/small it is compared to his, how your fingers fit between his fingers, your palm lines, etc.

— sleeps with like... 15 plushies / pillows. they’re very warm and cozy, that’s all. he’s collected them over the years - as gifts, as prizes at arcades, etc since he was just a Wee Boy™. mans is Sentimental and likes the memories that came from his childhood and up till now. although... it’s never fun sleeping over at his place because he’s gotten so attached that he’s kicked you out of the bed in his sleep before. (UGH I SAW A PIC OF HIS BEDROOM IN A TIKTOK JUST THE OTHER DAY AND IT’S LITERALLY EMPTY... so this is super inaccurate but the thought is cute HAHAHA)

— takes improv classes! he took up the role of peter pan during the middle school play for shits and giggles and then ended up liking it wayyy more than he expected. if you’re somehow who’s a little more socially inept, he loves to come up with fake scenarios and improvise scenes with you. they’re a lot of fun, and they’re proven to improve your social skills. his favorite scenarios to act out with you: barista & customer (he gives off cute barista vibes tbh), lifeguard & someone drowning (loves the excuse to put his lips on yours for ‘cpr’ and touch you), and vampire & human (uses it as an excuse to kiss your neck)

— is a very... animated reactor. sometimes you’ll send him a flirty text when you’re hanging out tgt in public, and you’ll see him visibly light up and blush like an idiot. when he’s reading a good part in a book, he’ll put his hand over mouth and gasp really dramatically. every single time you kiss him on the lips, he’ll have a twinge of pink in his cheeks (you’ve pointed it out to him before but he’ll always deny it as his cheeks warm up). if you bring up a movie or show he likes during a conversation, his eyes become so fucking bright and wide and it’s just the cutest thing ever i love him

— knows how to do all the fancy braids and updos on long hair. im pretty sure it’s canon that oikawa has an older sister (correct me if im wrong) so he’s prob super fascinated when he watches her do her hair. like wow?? how did her hair go from that ... to that??? has tried growing out his hair before to try but 1. it didnt look good and 2. it took forever to grow out (not worth the wait). so if he’s bored, he has you! ofc there’s different hair types and all. if u have long, straight hair, he’ll easily be able to braid it and try different styles on you.. but if your hair’s a lil more different, he’s willing to research and see what type of hairdos would work for u :) either way, playing w ur hair is a stress reliever for him

— is very particular about his pajamas. he always goes to sleep in one of those matching pj sets bc they’re super cute and pretty and he is too. buys matching sets for you too so when you come to sleep over, he’ll be able to gush abt how cute and perfect u two are as a couple

[atomicmonkey1122]

Pretty good list! It looks like we have almost opposite tastes though lol

Now I feel like doing my own ranking :)

I started One Piece under a year ago and have juuust started Wano btw. (There will be early Wano spoilers) And I agree that all the strawhats are cool :)

10. (Disqualified?) Jinbe. Sorry. He was cool in the Fishman Island Arc and WCI but I haven't really seen much of him As Part of the Crew yet. Which is why he might be disqualified? Not sure.

Spots 9-6 were really hard to decide but I think its going to be

9. Franky. Still cool(SUPER) AND i also appreciate his take on masculinity and sensitivity. But idk I just don't have strong opinions about him. Solid character tho.

8. Zoro. Or mayne he'd switch with 7 im not sure. But Idk I've never been super into the Stoic Badass types. But he does have a splash of himbo energy, with being dumb and getting lost. I also love the Sanji rivalry lmao

7. Chopper. Hes just so cute and smart and wants to help :)

6. Brook. I love all his shitty jokes about being dead or not having eyes or skin or whatever. Probably my choice of funniest character. I also like that hes a musician. I've never played a violin or piano but I was a band kid and love characters that can play an instrument. Also he can be badass when necessary(and when not asking to see panties 🙄)

5. Luffy. He is just the goodest boy. He cares so much about his crew 🥺 I love how determined he is whenever he wants to do something. And I love that he can just be a silly lil guy outside of battles. I'm currently on the part where Luffy thinks Kaido killed his+Law's whole crews and he is PISSED

4/3. I think I'm going to say these next two are tied. But first I'll talk about Robin. She's really cool and I LOVE her arc in Water 7/ Enies Lobby. I like that she's an academic, into history and archaeology and the poneglyphs. I also LOVE her deadpan morbid moments like "if we end up in the stomach we'll be dissolved by the stomach acid :)"

3/4. Sanji. Before I started watching, I thought he had the coolest design of all the Strawhats. He was good in Baratie and I loved that he was willing to feed a potential enemy because even enemies need food. And his first backstory 🥺 But yeah his schtick got old really quick. It was tolerable before the timeskip but after? Ugh. Get this guy off my screen.

And then WCI happened. And it hurt (in a good way) and I just. I love when a normally strong character BREAKS and we got a lot of that in this arc. We got to see that even though he acts like he only cares about pretty girls, he actually does care a lot about the crew and Zeff. He learned the exploding handcuffs were fake but was willing to let himself be killed at the wedding to protect Zeff and the crew. Even though his father and brothers were horrible to him and that one maid and Reiju and others, he didn't want to just abandon them to die. MY HEART

I think if it weren't for him being Like That around women, he'd 1000% be my favorite character. I was REALLY hoping WCI would change him a bit but so far there's not a huge difference. Regardless, I love Sanji as a character even if I am SO annoyed by him sometimes.

2. Aaanyways, back on track. 2 is Usopp. Yeah he's a bit whiny and scared of things but he still does stuff. He just does it scared. That sounds pretty brave to me. He just lacks confidence, except when making shit up. But he's an incredible sniper, some of those long range battles, they'd be fucked without Usopp. I think its hilarious he keeps falling into grand titles, like Sniper King and GOD Usopp. Partially because of his lies, partially because he's just in the right place at the right time. He's kind of a jack of all trades. He can do a bit of art, gardening, he TRIED to keep up with maintenance on the Merry. Also I like the idea of him and Nami being a snarky gossip duo.

1. Nami! She's been my fave ever since Arlong Park. When she was finally willing to let go of her pride and ask Luffy for help. But she's also very smart and cool. I like how she's interested in science and is able to use it as a weapon with her weather staff. I also just think its funny when she charges her crewmates for certain things. Also she's willing to punch Sanji when he's Like That. And the others when they're being dumb. Sometimes violence is the answer when you're a pirate 🤷‍♀️ the true definition of gaslight gatekepp girlboss, and we love her for it.

TIER LIST

C: Jinbe*, Franky

B: Zoro, Chopper,

A: Brook, Luffy, Robin, Sanji

S:Usopp, Nami

I wanna start doing lists/rankings. I doubt anyone will wanna see them, but it's for me, so that's fine.

If anyone does wanna see. Some might have spoilers (like this one), so look out for that.

Anywhoo...

MY TOP 10 FAVORITE STRAWHATS

10 Sanji. I don't hate Sanji per se, as whenever he's not being weird around women, I actually like him. The problem is when he's around women. I don't like it. Stop it. Stahp. That being said at least he's cool when he's not around women and his genuine relationships with his crew and Zeff make me happy. I love his rivalry with Zoro

9. Usopp. Oh boy. I HATED him as a kid. I'm still not the biggest fan of him now, either. But he's... fine, and at least he gets better as the show progresses. He does get braver and less cowardly. But I still hate how much of a wuss and braggart he is. Also... his luck annoys me at times, but at least it comes in handy

8. Chopper. He was once one of my favorite straw hats, but as I got older, his naivity and gullibility started inking me. His "We need a doctor " joke was never funny to me either. He's still AWESOME. Don't get me wrong, all the straw hats are. I know my complaints about Usopp and Sanji may make anyone think i think otherwise, but i do geniounly like all the starw hats as characters. But those irks about Chopper are why he's so low. That being said, he's still a great character, and I love how compassionate he is about being a doctor. He's also adorable. I want to hug him.

7. Luffy. He's awesome! I just like the others more, sorry Luffy...I truly hate to put you this low. He's everything I love in an anime protagonist. Stubborn, brave, determined to protect those he loves. He can be smart when he needs to be and is so dang cool. Luffy is one of the best anime protagonists of all time, and I can't wait for him to be king.

6. Zoro. I love that he's not just a badass. He's also kinda dumb, and it makes him more endearing. But he's also still badass and super loyal. Amazing character, feck yeah. His directions gag is pretty funny, too. I also love the idea of three sword styles, and he actually makes it super cool.

5. Franky. Reverse chopper, he used to be one of my least favorites. But my God is he so FUNNY. He is easily the funniest character, in my opinion. He's also super epic, and I love his take on masculinity and how sensitive he is. I will say, tho...not a big fan of his redesign. I also love that he refuses to wear pants. Overall, great character.

4. Nami. She is so awesome. From day one, she was epic and I love that for the most part, she isn't a Damsel in distress. Her take on Fishmen despite what happened to her makes me respect the hell out of her. She's so strong and brave and even kind. She may be greedy, but it makes a lot of sense. Easily one of the best characters.

3. Brook. Look...I may not like his panty thing, but at least it's over fast and isn't as cringy as Sanji's thing. That being said... I admit I'm biased. I tend to like skeleton characters because I think they're cool. And well...Brook is no exception. He's a gentleman, a musician, and has skull jokes! There's so much to like about him!

2. Robin. She's my 2nd favorite character in the whole show. She's so intelligent and mysterious and super freaking cool! I love how she slowly starts to trust the straw hats and build bonds with them. Her character arc is my favorite in the entire show. I cannot stress how much I ADORE her. Amazing character. I will fight anyone on this.

1. Jinbe. Best character in the show, but it's close between him and Robin. Again,... some bias, as I think he's attractive. But I genuinely like him as a character, too. Fishmen are my favorite species in one piece, and I tend to like tackles of racism in media as a species. I liked this about the faunus in RWBY, too. Jinbe is a badass. He's funny and oh so huggable. Oh, and I love how he acts like a gentleman. So polite and well spoken. He's just...so damn cool, too. Love him. I love him so much

TIER LIST TIME

C Tier, lowest to highest: Sanji, Usopp, Chopper

B Tier: Luffy, Zoro, Franky

A Tier: Nami, Brook

S Tier: Robin, Jinbe

[somebody-909]

i think shin ae and dieter will date at some point, i’m kind of looking forward to that(? of course stalkyoo is always in my thoughts they’re my whole heart!! but i think shin ae should date (at least platonically) or hang out with someone else first, and have someone who supports her and is her friend. dieter obviously cares for shin ae, i think they will be good. also they need some time to talk and think about their own feelings!! especially shin ae has some feelings that she doesn’t understand dhdhcjcj i hope this doesn’t sound wrong or anything! dieter is one of my favorite characters too, it would be cool if that happens first. i think they would end it in good terms and still be close and trust each other as friends! it would be healthy and until yeonggi gets better it’s going to take a long time, he doesn’t need a relationship right now (will alyssa break up with him now that he’s found guilty? it definitely isn’t favorable to her image) and then until he accepts his feelings for shin ae it’s gonna take another timeskip too 😭😭☠️ /j

OOOOH for sure!! I actually think Shieter is very very cute. I very much approve! And I definitely agree that Stalkyoo need some time to grow as people...

I had a bit of a feeling they'd end up dating when he started showing up more after the formal and especially when they went on their theme park date... and I'd love to see it come to fruition. I think they'd both enjoy it and it'd be great for them.

However, I was also aware there'd be a time-skip at some point so I thought they'd date during that (but by the end of it Shin-ae would be single).

@/cronch.monchi on Instagram has a PHENOMENAL post describing why this is (go read it! and check out her whole account while you're at it!). As someone who veered more towards YooTip, she decided to take an analytical approach to understand Stalkyoo's broad appeal (this is kind of funny to me, as someone who always understood Stalkyoo's appeal lmao).

She describes how Stalkyoo provides the right balance between volatility and stability; narrative potential and current compatibility. YooTip is too volatile and uncertain (it's something that can only begin to be built after a few years, after all), but Shieter doesn't have much narrative potential.

While Dieter is sweet, he is a minor character. She says that if Shieter happens, a lot of it would be off screen. And if it were endgame, romance would thus be not as important to ILY, which isn't a romance story to begin with.

I disagree somewhat with that last assertion.

Yes, there is more going on than romance — it isn't the primary driver of the plot nor the character motivations.

But, I'll argue that Shieter being endgame would transgress what we've already seen. It would be disappointing.

And this is due to more than just the future narrative potential of Stalkyoo — the progress in their relationship (platonic and romantic) has already been woven into the narrative. It's essential to the story of I Love Yoo.

Of course this may be due to my bias, since I've already decided I like Stalkyoo I guess... but I like Stalkyoo because I saw it in the work. I even had a period of time where I thought ILY would be cynical and sUbVerSIVe, and not have a major romantic subplot. but then I realized, "but it's literally right there" and then i started writing analyses so eh. im both the worst and best type of person to ask about stalkyoo's potential.

Anyways, I struggle to fathom how that'd work with all the development so far. It'd just be a total waste of what's been building. Being subversive isn't cool because "haha sike" but because it offers something refreshing that works with the story being told.

Dieter's lovely though and I do sincerely hope he and Shin-ae have a friendly break-up. (pls, yes I understand the irony of already wishing an amicable end for a relationship that hasn't even happened yet 💀💀)

Essentially, Stalkyoo seems like the best way to capitalize on what's been going on so far. Of course this depends on the course of the future story... but I have a sense we're wrapping up season 1 soon... and it'd be weird to throw away the stalkyoo subtext and subplot... unless it were to be built on later.