#PEARL NOOO

[ooooo-mcyt]

Another thing I noticed in my rewatch of both Scott and Pearl's Double Life pov's is that nobody really liked either of them. Like I see people take for granted the idea that Scott was somehow "popular" during Double Life but he really wasn't much more popular than Pearl was.

Like, to go down the list of their actual relationships.

The Ranchers hated Scott and were lukewarm with Pearl. From the first episode, Jimmy singled out Scott and Cleo as "fake soulmates" and basically insulted them to their faces in their home about it, and Scott in specific quickly took to antagonizing Jimmy in specific, leading to the two teams being at each others throats very quickly. On the other hand, Pearl makes multiple deals with Jimmy specifically and The Ranchers are pretty civil- even friendly- with her, though they always seem to keep her at arms length and she never feels really welcomed as a true friend with them.

Box Boys had complicated relationships with both Scott and Pearl. Ren and BigB are initially kind to Pearl until she takes their horse as a joke, leading to their death as Ren looked at an enderman while chasing her. After that point, Ren calls Pearl a curse and casts her away, which very much contributes to Pearl's declining mental state. Later on in the series, though, Ren and Pearl mend things a bit, with Ren coming to Pearl after his soulmate "cheats" on him out of a sense of solidarity with being alone. On the other end, Scott initially doesn't have much of a relationship with either Ren or BigB, but BigB ends up holding Scott responsible for their relationship falling apart, which is..not really fair. Don't get me wrong, Scott's relationship ranch was formed to break up soulmate pairs, but Scott didn't actually do anything to break Ren and BigB up, all he did was truthfully report to Ren that BigB expressed relief when Ren was gone, which makes the blame on Scott here very much unfair.

Boat Boys have a neutral to hostile relationship with both Scott and Pearl too. Obviously Joel generally has something against Scott, and targets him regardless of the context, and early on in the series Joel is actually pretty happy with Pearl, praising her for antagonizing Scott and asking her to keep it up, though his opinion of Pearl does also change for the worse when Pearl takes their stuff as a joke after they turn red. In the finale Joel and Etho are willing to work with Pearl temporarily and say their main target is Scott over her, but they're quick to turn on Pearl too when given the chance, so she clearly doesn't have a much higher standing with them.

And then there's Desert Duo. Who have a complicated relationship with Pearl and not much of a relationship with Scott. Scar is the one who gives Pearl the idea to use powdered snow to hurt her soulmate and is happy to help her torture Scott (though he also gives the exact same offer to scott later on, bringing him powdered snow too). Scar is also the one who coins the name "Scarlet Pearl" for Pearl and is one of the biggest pushers of the narrative that Pearl is dangerous. This isn't malicious, in fact Scar hypes Pearl up a lot, but the narrative he pushes is still in many ways harmful to Pearl's reputation and mental state. Late in the season Scar and Grian are also happy to come to Pearl for protection, treating her almost like a weapon.

I think it's pretty clear that neither Scott nor Pearl had friends. Scott actually had fairly negative relationships with most of the server, and I'd honestly argue people generally 'liked' Pearl more. I mean, this is something Pearl herself took note of and commented on to Scott in her finale, the way people were actively targeting Scott but were willing to work with her. Though of course, this doesn't mean people actually treated Pearl better. They may have 'liked' her more, but she was kept at arms length, and I think people moreso saw her as a weapon they could use in their favor than a friend in any case, which was very much damaging and isolating for her.

Of course, Pearl's pov still absolutely feels more isolated than Scott's. But I think people misidentify the primary reason for that as Scott being more 'popular' amongst the server than Pearl. He wasn't.

The reason Scott doesn't feel as isolated is because he had Cleo. In many cases it didn't matter who else was against Scott, because he had Cleo, who loved and supported him unconditionally and was there with him every day. Pearl on the other hand, didn't. She was kept at an arms length, people were often civil enough to her, and she was even in some ways more popular than Scott, but that didn't matter when she was always on the outside looking in without a soulmate and, crucially, without any other support system.

And that, to me, is the big thing with Double Life's social climate. The soulmate pairs often stuck to themselves, they kept everyone at an arms length, if they didn't outright dislike them. Having support systems wasn't a thing, you didn't have anyone to fall back on outside of your soulmate, and you couldn't form that kind of bond because you'd always be treated like an outsider looking in by the established pairs. This was the main cause of Pearl's isolation. It's not because Scott specifically rejected her, and it's not because everyone especially hated Pearl or were out to get her (they literally weren't. every group hated each other. a lot of groups were hated more than pearl.), it's because of the strictly defined in-groups formed by soulmate pairs and the way they discouraged support systems and close non-soulmate bonds.

[astros-arts-inthestars]

Where no one can see how much I miss you.

AKA me losing my mind imagining Gem using her Ep. 7 powers to watch Pearl and yearn like a loser because she cant admit she misses her in the real world GRAAAHHHHHH . They have me in a damn chokehold

[screwpinecaprice]

Another random pencil sketchdump while I wait for my laptop to charge.

Oval-shaped faces are personally tricky to do digitally compared on paper. And guess who has an oval-shaped face??

On the third pic's bottom left, I tested giving Connie a little heart-shape to see how it looks because heart-shapes are relatively the easiest to me digitally; maybe I can cheat a bit there, you know? (And it works great for others.) And to be honest.. I'm really not sure about it. :/ I definitely like the one on the right more. But how the heck is it so hard to do on the tabbbbb?

Oh! Also skitched @pogostikk's short-haired Connie and clown boi Steven. I love them. 🥺💕

[iridescentis]

I FEEL EMOTIONALLY TORMENTED WHAT WAS THAT

[sapphicrot]

i hope to see a rw confession vaguing me for my incredibly stupid headcanons and if i had just reread the secret blueish green pearl that you find in submerged superstructure but ONLY if you’re playing as spearmaster in a monk campaign and remembered this one throwaway sentence that pebbles says to gourmand id KNOW that errrm actually iterators CAN get off the string and of COURSE the processing strata doesn’t have a separate consciousness you ABSOLUTE DOLT, downpour isn’t canon anyways and saint is stupid—

[tragedy-peanut-gallery]

Okay so good news is I found who Orin was impostering in my camp. Bad news is, I was very off the mark because I suspected Astarion- but it was Gale 😔

I wanna be mad at her cause she took my explodey wizard guy but man- she looked so excited at the thought of murdering Pearl like- fuck yeah girl I can’t wait to get into a battle to the death with you too!!!!

+a teeny tiny bonus of overprotective Mama K. I love her so much ☺️💖

[aeromaya]

the boyfriends boys are fighting 😢

[sulfur1c-4cid]

ohbnooo oh no ahhhfhfkbnkdb noooooo gghrhhjjrhdj noioooo whyyyy whyy bro aaaaaaaaahghjhhjkjbbthnooooo

[orangeocelotmartyn]

Ren: Great. Um. Cleo: (softly) It's really cute. Ren: And yeah. That was our first--(overlapping Cleo) first group dinner together. Cleo: (overlapping Ren) I am so stressed about meeting you guys. Ren: Nooo, don't be. It'll be fine. Cleo: You just explained to me how stressed you were, Ren. (two seconds of silence) Ren: It was a good stress, though. It was like a, "oh, these are my friends that I've known forever, but now I get to look in their eyes, this is so nice." Kind of stress. Scar: You can touch their hair. (two seconds of silence) I'm just kidding-- Cleo: Oh, I'm-I'm gonna have--(Ren bursts into laughter, and Scar laughs as well) Scar: I'm just being weird, I'm doing-I'm being weird. (they calm down) Ren: I did touch Cub's hair, Cub has a magnificent head of hair. Cleo: He does have like. Hair hair, doesn't he? It's really thick. Ren: Oh, dude, his hair is-his hair is amazing. It's like (he makes an explosion sound with his mouth) It's like a poof, dude, it's so awesome. Scar: And he's also good at everything. Ren: Yep, he is good at-he is good at everything. Cleo: Oh, we knew that-- Ren: --Including dive bombing into lakes. Scar: Talk about "dive bombing into lakes" (Ren laughs) See, the best part about it, Cleo, if you get annoyed with me-- Cleo: (reacting to Pearl's message) Aww, Pearl. Scar: --you can literally just wheel me away. Be like, done with you now. Cleo: I--Scar, I've never managed to do that on this server, how would I start in real life? (Ren and Scar laugh) I can't walk away from anyone. But Pearl's just said, "if it's any consolation, this group is the most comfortable group of people I've come across." Aw.

Ren: Aw. Cleo: "I'm more comfortable being around the hermits than those I've known since high school." That's really sweet. Ren: Awww. Wait, who said that. Cleo: Pearl. Scar: Pearl. Ren: Oh, Pearl! Scar: Pearlie Pop. Ren: Pearlie Pops. Cleo: (softly, sweet) Pearl is with me--Pearl's just listening to us talk about this. Ren: Aww. Cleo: (same soft voice) So, yeah. (normal voice) It's-it's nice, it's nice to hear.

[emmaspolaroid]

god I’m gonna be SICK my enamel pins haven’t shipped yet and it’s almost past the production window so like any day now surely right but oh my god what if they get here on Saturday in the middle of the con (my bf already said he will retrieve them and bring them back to me but fuck I don’t want to have to grade and package them at the event that will be sooo) it is going to be fine but also my stomach is hurting babes!!

[snaileer]

I’m a Size Medium, Thanks - 2

Part one: https://www.tumblr.com/snaileer/766471879423885312/im-a-size-medium-thanks

Danny stares into the eyes of what has got to be the grumpiest looking 12-14?10? How tall are children?- year old he’s ever met. And he grew up with Sam!

Danny looks back through the door, hoping to everything that an adult walks through. He is disappointed.

“Well?” The boy snaps, foot tapping.

“Uh, can I help.. you?” Danny says, voice ticking up. That’s what you’re supposed to say at a job right? Or maybe the kid wasn’t supposed to be here, “Do you need to call someone…?” He hopes not, he doesn’t know how or if the shop has a phone, and his… well his is wired through a realm of the dead so enough said there.

“My name is Damian Wayne.” He says primly. And expectantly.

Danny looks outside again, past the neon sign he specifically hadn’t turned on, then back at the Damian kid, blinking. There’s no way this was that ‘Mr.Wayne.’

The kid rolls his eyes impressively well then drops his glare back onto Danny, “Has this absurd incense burned away whatever meager sense you were born with? I am here to have a so-called ‘reading’ with a medium.”

If Danny hadn’t seen this Damian kid walk in with three whisps of shades wrapped around his arms, Danny would have questioned why, but he did, so he doesn’t.

He does, however, say: “Aren’t you a little young… to be like.. talking about death or something?” Though honestly, the incense is a real concern, Danny hadn’t even lit any today, Claire had just left it burning and the whole room was saturated.

“Will you fulfill your job description or not, you peasant?” The kid grits out.

Danny would really rather not. Like really rather not. But nOoo, here he was, waiting for a portal that could show up at any time, pretending he was a medium for a 7 year old just because he could talk to ghosts.

Danny sighs and drags himself around the counter to go into Claire’s weird little seance room. Maybe the fumes will kill him before the embarrassment does.

The kid follows.

Danny drops himself into Claire’s chair with weirdly plush armrests for still being so uncomfortable.

“Alright then, let’s get this over with. I’m Danny, the -ugh- medium. Whatdya wanna know?” Danny says as he kicks his leg out to hit a shade getting agitated and grabby by Damian’s feet. They got way too much of a spiritual boost from this room for Danny to be comfortable with it.

Damian watches him with a raised eyebrow, still not sitting down, “Aren’t you meant to lead the seance?”

Danny’s lip curls in distaste, he huffs a sigh and lets his shoulders drop, opening his mouth to tell this 9-year old something easy about one of his shades and be done-

He spots a sticky note stuck on the crystal ball.

-Danny, don’t forget, the showmanship is important! I trust you know how to meet expectations! Happy first day!

- Claire <3

Danny feels his face go deadpan. He was going to have this woman committed. That’s what he was going to do. She could be studied for the degenerative cognitive effects of being freaking bazonkers.

Danny plucks the note off the crystal ball and crumples it, letting the trash drop to the abyss that is Claire’s plush carpet.

He sighs, looking back up at Damian. The kid snaps his head towards him from where he’d been poking around the curtained walls- weirdo- but Danny beats him to the snappy comment.

“You got any spiritually charged items? Or like… something?” Danny says, taking a guess, he can make the thingy glow, say some nonsense, get paid, and close.

Damian narrows his eyes at him, but slowly moves to sit in the other chair, perched on the edge of the seat. He pulls something from his pocket and sets it on the table.

Pearls.

It’s a clump of shiny white pearls.

Absolutely dripping in ectoplasmic blood stains. So lovely.

Does Claire have biohazard gloves because oh gosh-

Danny hesitantly reaches for the pearls, lifting the strand between two fingers as he looks between it and the 12 year old. “You sure this is what you want to ask about?”

The kid’s glare turns challenging, mocking, “What? Admitting you are nothing but a charlatan?”

Danny grimaces, “Not quite. I mean…” He looks at the pearls again, then at the shade trying to hack away at the kids neck, “There’s definitely someone or something attached to this it’s just… not .. yours.”

“Tt,” the boy clicks his tongue at him, “and how exactly would you know that, charlatan?” Damian levels a mocking look up and down at him.

Danny’s eye twitches as he grimaces a smile, “Part of the job-“ brat. Danny doesn’t say that. Danny can’t say that. Danny has to deal with death obsessed TODDLERS who want to talk about some rando’s gruesome murder just so he can eat tonight. Or find somewhere to sleep. He doubts this will be enough for both.

Maybe if he’s dramatic enough.

Alright get to it then, Danny.

He sighs, dimming the light with Claire’s little remote- he is not so far gone as to turn them green like she had- and actually focusing his energy on the pearl necklace.

“What are you-“

Danny holds up a finger at Damian to silence him, which surprisingly works. He closes his eyes and starts trying to absorb the vibes of ectoplasmic remains as slowly as he can.

Feelings of course come with it and- well what’d ya know, he can definitely feel this attached to a ghost somewhere in this city.

“It’s a woman’s… younger than she should have been when she…”

He can hear Damian scoff, “Obviously, anyone could tell me that.”

Danny rolls his eyes under his eyelids, debating the merits of opening one to glare at him when his eyes are definitely glowing.

“She’s still here but-“ Danny says instead, trying to pull on the connection wandering out into the streets, “She can’t come here here.”

“What do you mean?” The boy snaps.

Danny tries to focus harder on it himself, he’s never done this before, tried to find or communicate with a ghost from an object… it was like Pointdexter and his mirror.

“She’s stuck somewhere… somewhere more important.. it’s dark and narrow and Danny mentally rears back as images flash into his mind. Accompanied of course by a woman’s scream.

An alley. A gun. A man stepping in front of her to protect her- no not her- a kid- Damian- not Damian- looks like-

Danny opens his eyes and drops the necklace. There’s barely any ectoplasm left on it.

Fine with him, he never wants to touch it again. But yuck that means he absorbed it!! Oh ewwww-

“Well?” An impatient voice asks and- oh yeah that’s right, the rude ass kid.

Danny pushes the pearls across the table with a finger and looks up at him, “Woman in an alley, that familiar to you?”

Damian’s eyes narrow, “Anyone who knows who I am could tell me the same.”

Danny snaps, “I don’t-!“ This is a child Danny, a child, he takes a deep breath, “Well she was scared for the kid, and now is… proud of him? There’s a lot of concern there, but she still watches him I guess, so that’s all I got for ya.”

Damian scrutinizes him for a minute, silent. Darn, weren’t mediums supposed to be vague as heck so that anything could apply and the person would find their own meaning? But did it count if he was just translating the vibes off a shade half a city away?

“This is…. acceptable.”

Danny nearly sags in relief and moves to stand, “Cool, then-“

“Wait.” The kid holds up a hand, “You said something regarding a disparity in the proposed ownership of the apparition you believed to be related to this jewelry.”

Danny blinks at him dumbly.

Damian scoffs again, “That the apparition attached to this necklace was ‘not mine,’ as you said??” He snarks, putting air quotes up.

Danny slowly sinks back down into the chair. “… Well yeah I mean..” does he tell this 8 year old about the slightly murderous shades he’s got around him? “You have… you have a couple… apparations… yourself. Not related to the pearls that is.” Danny says hesitantly, eyes skipping over said shades.

Damian jerks his head to follow his eyes and Danny shirks back, eyes back on the kid.

“Who are they? Tell me now,” Damian demands, standing to loom over the table.

Danny puts his hands up in surrender, “Whoa, I don’t know about that, they don’t really seem too happy with you-“ Another one tries to slice his hand through Damian’s neck, “I think you did something to them or made them angry at some point. I don’t really think you should try to contact them-“ Danny winces, that could end very badly. Thank goodness for limited ectoplasm access.

Meanwhile, his answer seems to have only made Damian more upset, his eyes wide as he stares down at Danny.

Suddenly the kid turns and stamps towards the door, leaving Danny to hurriedly push the chair out and chase after him to the main room.

Except-

When he gets there Damian is already shooting hushed insults at a man standing amongst the crystals.

The man looks vaguely like Damian, black hair, blue eyes, lithe build, and oh also- surrounded by shades of course.

These ones seem less vicious at least.

Please don’t be here for him. Please don’t be here for him.

Danny really doesn’t want to try and fake his way through another hour or however long it’s been of that.

“Hey there! I’m Dick, Damian’s brother!” The man says suddenly, pushing Damian aside and coming forward with a cheery grin, “Thanks for humoring him!”

Danny tilts his head to see Damian’s scowling face behind the man. Right.

“Uh huh… I’m Danny.” He says, trying not to be distracted by what he’s pretty sure is a baby elephant’s ghost behind him.

“You’re the medium right? We were just so interested to see if that old family heirloom would have anything or not. We-“

“We?” Damian cuts him off with a scoff, “I will meet you in the vehicle Richard. I will not spend another minute in this house of charlatans.”

They both watch as the kid turns and stomps out the door, uncrossing his arms only to open the door and stomp out. The stupid bell rings merrily.

This time it’s not Danny who sighs.

“I wish he wouldn’t say things like that,” Dick says wearily, “I grew up in places like this.” There’s a note of nostalgia to his voice. Danny just eyes the bowl of ‘fertility’ crystals warily, what kind of place??

Dick must see him do it because he huffs a laugh, “I grew up in a circus originally,” he explains, “So psychic places always just kinda remind me of my auntie’s tents.”

Danny glances at the elephant shaped ghost again, “Wow that makes so much sense actually.”

The guy raises a confused eyebrow at him.

Danny coughs awkwardly, waving it away, “So, money?” He claps, “I’m guessing you’re paying since Damian is…” Danny trails off, opting not to make a final guess on age and embarrass himself.

Dick laughs again and they go over to the counter, “Yep, here-“ He pulls out his wallet, rifling through cash before pulling some out, “Cash only yeah? This should be enough.”

Danny stares at the stack of slightly rumpled bills, “But- huh?…” that was… that was so much…

“Oh I added extra since I’m sure he probably said some things he shouldn’t have, don’t worry about it.”

Dick is already halfway out the door when Danny reloads and jerks upwards, “Wai-“

Could Danny really stop him? Should he? He needed this money but… he stops to count it. $20..40..60..80..100..120….140……160….180……….$200.

Danny blanches. He lurches for the door, no way he can take this much money just for basically acting as a glorified ecto-translator.

Danny stops in his tracks as he steps outside the shop and spots Dick and Damian speaking to a third, much older person, over the hood of a sleek black car.

This person, of course, also has several, several, shades around them.

What the hell was wrong with this family?

Damian turns and glares his way.

Oh ancients what if they were part of the mob or something.

Danny spins around on his heel-

And smacks straight into the glass door of the shop.

…

Ow.

Danny rubs his nose as he fumbles around for the door handle, acutely aware the death covered family was probably staring at him.

He grabs the handle and pulls-

Danny freezes, hand on his sore face stopping. He opens his eyes as he yanks again. Nothing.

Oh heck, he just locked himself out didn’t he?

No please no, they were so definitely still staring, no way they weren’t. Danny pulls again and it finally-

He looks at the door handle in his hand.

Then at the door still closed in front of him.

Then back at the door handle.

Just the door handle.

Crap.

Danny nearly weeps, clumsily fitting the door handle back on and still adamantly refusing to look and see if Damian and his absurdly rich family has left yet. Other people on the street are also starting to stare. The same reason he can’t just use his powers.

He finally gets the handle back on and gingerly lets go of it.

Ok. Deep breath.

Claire warned you about this. With a sticky note, but all the same. Extra key is taped on the bottom of the fire hydrant right outside the shop. You’ve got this.

Danny turns, kneels, and frantically begins trying to find the key on the absurdly dirty fire hydrant.

His hands come away black with grime, but thankfully he has the key.

He puts it in the lock and turns it, hearing what may very well be the newest sound of his nightmares: a snap.

Most specifically the sound of the key snapping in Danny’s very hands.

Danny stares at the half of the key still held between his fingers.

Did he do something to this city? Was this his fault? Could he not just sit in a closet and wait for the portal to open and go home?

Danny sags against the door, and resigns himself to his fate. Maybe he can go get food… with the money he left on the counter. Great.

Danny peeks his eyes sideways and catches the guy, Dick, finally getting into their car.

Okay, just a tiny bit just a bit. Danny holds the key again, focuses on the lock in the door jam and….. intangible!

He yanks the door open and jumps inside, door closing against the flutters of quickly fading shades on the street.

And more than one scream at them but hey that’s not his problem.

Mostly.

Danny revels in the cool lighting of the shop, glaring at the stupid broken key in his grimy hands. He drops the useless bit of metal on the counter, pockets the cash and wipes his hands on the backside of one of Claire’s million wall curtains.

It leaves a black stain that basically disappears when Danny folds the fabric over it.

Oh well.

Technically the shop was still open.

And technically, Danny didn’t know if the lock did or didn’t work right now.

He moves to find whatever storage closet Claire used to store her absurd number of crystals.

He finds it- finally- and using the keys he left in the store to begin with, he is able to unlock the perfect place to sleep tonight amongst several packages of…. Some kind of incense powder… or something. He doesn’t really care because that plan of hiding in a closet till the portal opens? Yeah, Danny’s putting that into action right the frick now.

He bends down to start to lay out his sweatshirt over the cardboard bed-to-be.

A bell rings in the distance.

Danny is going to destroy that bell on the door, he swears it.

[the-music-maniac]

It is very exhausting being in western fandom spaces sometimes. Tell me why I just wanted to enjoy a cute oubing ship vid on tiktok, and half the comments section was about people saying you can't ship them???

I wanna complain into the void, so here's a comprehensive of why Oubing/藕饼/Lotus Root Cake is fine (and even if it wasn't, why I don't give a shit):

(Spoiler warning for Nezha 2)

1. "You can't ship them cause they're brothers'": No, they are not brothers. Not by any definition of the word. Not by blood - not even sworn brothers technically, because they only refer to each other as best friends. They each have their own parents - those parents are not related to each other in any way, shape, or form. One of them is a freaking dragon, an entirely different species. Also, they're technically made of lotuses now. They weren't raised together either. Clarifying this point feels ridiculous.

2. "But they used to be part of the chaos pearl": If you wanted to define them by any type of relationship, they are soulmates. This is not me trying to spin them romantically, I mean they are literally soulmates. Their spirits are each half of a single Chaos Pearl, and they each represent opposite halves. They are literally soulmates and yin and yang.

3. "But they're children!": Are they three years old? Yes - and also no. (this is edited: I saw an official post that did say their ages were 3, not 6). They've been alive for centuries as a chaos pearl. I need you to understand that the original entity we saw at the beginning of Nezha 1, IS a creature that has been alive for thousands of years. They had personality too while they were fighting Taiyi. They were made into the pearls by the cauldron. Now, their mortal bodies as we understand it, is 3 (again edited. I originally said 6 cause I wasn't sure whether or not to count the 3 years of pregnancy). But because they're not really human, and their developmental stages therefore don't mirror a human, the movie shows them maturing into an adult form in the span of about 3 years. How do we know this? Ao Bing is the same age as Nezha, and he went from a baby to his adult form in those 3 years. The only reason Nezha is still in a child form is because he has the qiankun circle suppressing him. This is also the reason that putting the circle on his wrist releases his adult form. Also it's sort of maybe implied by the end of Nezha 2 that he may stay permanently in his adult form, since he reformed his body into it while he was in The Soup™. I dunno how accurate this part is so I suppose we'll see by Nezha 3. I would like to point out further that no three year old talks or acts like they do. Ao Bing and Nezha have very complete vocabularies, and are able to understand the complexities of their circumstances. They're both new to the world in this form, but they're not at the mental capacity of a 3 year old. It's like if you were dropped into a new form of existence with an adult brain.

4. "Nooo, why are you shipping them now": This ship is NOT NEW. It's been around since at least 2019. It is WILDLY popular in China. Back when Nezha 1 first came out, oubing literally won an award for best couple. I want you to understand the scale - from my understanding, they beat wangxian in cql. Y'all can correct me if I got this part wrong because I can't find the source of where I read this information, but if it's true, that's wild. I know the award part is correct. There was an official shampoo ad that reads like a shipping comic. Now that Nezha 2 came out, it is still one of the most popular ships. Every other post on my social media has been about Nezha 2 and at least half of that has been Oubing. There are over 2000 chinese fics on ao3 currently. Stop with this "why are you shipping them now", WE'VE BEEN SHIPPING THEM.

5. "It's not canon.": Not that I give a shit what's canon or even what the original creator thinks about shipping usually, but Jiaozi, aka the director of the movie, has stated that while he wrote Nezha and Ao Bing to just be a friendship that he thinks it is fine if people ship them. I'm pretty sure he also said something along the lines of 'people can interpret things how they want' or something.

6. Even if all of the points I made were not the case, I cannot stress enough how little I care about what someone should or should not ship. If you don't like it, just block the fanart/fic/video and move on. I promise society will not crumble because someone decides to ship two fictional characters from a mythology movie. We will be fine.

(Also if you see anyone in the chinese fandom write 藕饼cp, the cp stands for "couple". Just to clarify. They use different terms for shipping in chinese fandoms, they'll say they "ke CP" aka ship a couple)

Some of the comments I've seen make me wonder if people have even watched the movies. 'You can't ship them cause they're brothers', god don't make me laugh.

Don't let them find out that the chinese fandom is also shipping Ao Bing and Nezha from the 1979 cartoon, they'd lose their minds.

[zhukzucraft]

=> Pearl & Co: Ponder the portal

-

Gem: I messaged Mumbo and Skizz but no answer yet. I think we should wait-

Gem: Scar!!

Scar: What? No point in letting it go to waste, am I right?

Pearl: Hey whoa whoa whoa

Pearl: Let's hold our horses

Pearl: Why- why do we even need to go to the Nether, anyway?

Scar: Isn't the Enchanting Table there this time, Grian?

Grian: A-yup.

Grian: It's just plopped in a Bastion in there. 'Cause why not.

Scar: Ancient City is a hard act to follow, huh?

Grian: Eh, it works as long as nobody gets access to enchantments too early.

Gem: You don't say! Then maybe WE shouldn't be going there so soon, huh Grian?

Grian: Don't tell me that GeminiSlay is scared of some little piggies!

Grian: I fully expect you to carry, by the by.

Gem: UGH.

Pearl: Come on guys, let's at least wait for Skizz and Mumbo to come back!

Scar: Nooo, you never know who's trying to beat us to it. Those rapscallions could be closing in on the magic table as we speak!

Pearl: :(

=> Pearl & Co: Be Martyn

Start Over -- Go Back

The submission time is now over! See you back in this POV after a couple of posts!

(outdated part below preserved for posterity)

================================================

It's time for another

What Will You Do?

this time addressed to the whole group!

Should they jump right in? Should they wait? Should they do a dance-off? You can suggest actions and arguments for any of the 4 characters, or all of them at once!

Please submit your suggestions as replies to this post, or at this channel in our discord (LINK), or if all else fails - directly to my askbox. This event will last for 3 DAYS, until next Wednesday.

Also - next update we'll be checking in with the POV vote winner, Martyn!

[candles0uls]

UHM HELLO??? THE GEMPEARL CRUMBS???

Pearl: "I- I need you to come out from underneath roof, please."

Gem: "Why, so you can keep being pathetic?"

Pearl: ".. That's rude, but yes-!"

Gem: "Awhhh, but I love when you're pathetic, it's cute!"

Pearl: "Dont call me cute!"

Gem: "Its cuteee!"

Pearl: "Nooo... :(( Look how much Im trying right now. Okay?"

Gem: "I love you're trying. Your red skin is my favorite. Look at you, all blood thirsty and stuff<3"

Pearl: "Now you're being nice, this is conflicting-"

[winxanity-ii]

I JUST CANT GET THIS IMAGE OUT OF MY HEADDD

SILLY HEADCANON

ughhhh

Like when the kitchen serve smth that Y/n doesn’t like but she also doesn’t not want to seem like a picky eater she will just take a few bites then play coy and spoon feed it to Telemachus. Mask it as all lovely dovy n stuff, n everyone thinks they are sooooo cute but only Telemachus knows! And after a while he gain weights, like his baby fat returns, yet he still savour every bit of foof Y/n feed him…(he then process to lowkey do the same to Y/n..)

NO BECAUSE THIS??? THIS IS CANON. THIS IS SO THEM 😭😭

Telemachus sitting there, all pink in the face, cheeks full of food he didn't even ask for while Reader's like "oh nooo, I'm just being sweet~ ❤️" when really she's like "if I have to eat another mouthful of this I will simply pass away so YOU handle it."

And the baby fat comeback??? STOP. He's already built like he grew up on war bread and stress, so seeing him soften just a little because of you?? You feeding him with your own hands??? YOU'RE FATTERING THE PRINCE??? I'm about to faint in the name of love and domestic gluttony.

AND THE FACT HE STARTS DOING IT BACK??? I can already hear him all smug like, "Oh, so you didn't like that soup? That's alright, I’ll eat it—open." cue spoon dramatically aimed at your lips like it's war strategy 😩💖

This is the kind of softness that keeps me breathing. I'm clutching my pearls. You are a genius. A menace. A blessing. I want to write this. I want to breath this. I want to experience this in my life 😭

So um. Yeah. Here's a little scene you inspired:

𝐒𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 (post-move to the palace wing, late afternoon, private dining nook. Fluff overload.)

The stew was… awful.

Not poisonous—just aggressively bland. The kind that clung to your tongue and made your soul beg for forgiveness. A tragic grayish lump of overboiled roots and forgotten ambition.

You took one bite, then another—enough to seem polite—enough to fake it.

Then you set your spoon down with a sweet sigh and scooted your bowl ever so slightly toward the middle of the little table.

"Mm. You should eat mine too," you said, voice honeyed as you leaned your chin into your hand. "It's still warm."

Telemachus looked up from his own bowl, which he had been eating tucked by your window, sunlight catching on the tips of his lashes. He blinked at you, lips parted like he was mid-thought.. "That's the third meal this week you've 'sweetly' surrendered to me," he murmured, a smile tugging at his lips. "I'm starting to think you hate the palace menu."

You tilted your head. "Noooo," you said, much too fast. "I just like seeing you eat. You look happier when you're chewing. Like a thoughtful goat... It's comforting."

You spooned up a bit of your untouched stew and leaned across the table. "Here," you offered with a sweet smile.

He huffed a laugh but leaned forward anyway, letting you feed him a bite. His mouth opened, and he bit down, wincing slightly.

"Mmm," he deadpanned.

"You didn't even chew it all the way," you whispered, scandalized watching as his jaw flexed as he chewed.

"Didn't need to. The pain was immediate." He raised a brow. "Tastes like boiled disappointment."

You giggled, scooping another bite. "C'mon. One more. I'll even give you a kiss if you finish it."

Telemachus froze.

You blinked at him, innocent.

He took it, eyeing you the whole time, before glancing at your down at your bowl. "Wait a second," he muttered. "You hate this stew."

You blinked again, wounded. "I would never—"

"You always get all syrupy with the compliments when the kitchen messes up," he went on, leaning back in mock-revelation. "That soup on Monday. The weird lemon thing on Tuesday. The steamed cabbage loaf yesterday—"

"I was being supportive of the kitchen's dishes and wanted you to try it," you interrupted.

"You made me eat three of them."

"It's character-building," you said, solemn.

He stared at you.

You stared back.

"You're not off the hook, you know."

You blinked. "What do you mean?"

Then slowly, he stood from his seat, circled the table, and crouched beside your chair.

You opened your mouth to say something else—but he plucked your spoon out of your hand before you could.

"Say 'ah.'" he murmured, crouching beside you now.

You blinked. "Telemachus, I—"

"I'm serious."

"You're going to make me eat it?"

"I'm going to feed it to you. Lovingly. Like you do me."

You stared at him with narrowed eyes. "That's evil."

He smiled—sweet, smug, soft around the edges. "Say 'ah.'"

So you sighed… and opened your mouth.

The stew was still awful.

But gods, his grin afterward made it easier to swallow.

He didn't comment when you tried to sneak him another bite halfway through.

He just took it. Quiet. Smiling. Watching you like he'd been waiting for this game to unravel.

And so it went—your silly little food dance. You pretending not to hate it, him pretending not to notice, and somehow both of you ending up full, and quietly warm.

And by the end of the week? His jaw was softer. His tunic snugger. You mentioned nothing.

Until one afternoon, when he poked his stomach and muttered something about needing to train more—because his belt was starting to groan when he sat down.

You just grinned.

And handed him another spoon

[locomoqo]

Hii! Its my first time I request, can you write about Yamazaki shingen or Yamazaki shintaro?

Like being their sister or being the only daughter among shingen children

Im sorry I know its weird🙂

a pearl

ft. Shingen and Shintaro Yamazaki

details: platonic/familial angst

A/N: nooo it's not weird at all, it's different from what i usually get but i say yes to trying new things!! :DD and yes the title is a mitski song🤗🤗

You were born not long after Shingen and Shintaro—the Yamazaki clan’s pearl, a symbol of how blessed the Yamazaki seemed to be. They had the brains, the brawn, and now the beauty. While you were a respected figure, your place in the hierarchy would always be beneath your brothers. Shingen and Shintaro, despite their differences, were both protective of you, especially in your younger years, indulging your whims and shielding you from the harsher realities of clan life.

But as you all grew older, things changed. Shingen, once vibrant, grew more distant after his defeat. His carefree behavior in your childhood turned into apathy, slowly becoming a shadow of his former self. It pained you to see him reduced to such a state, and though you visited him often, there was little of the brother you once knew left in his eyes. Now, you’re not sure if he even truly listens when you speak to him, though he never turns you away.

Shintaro, on the other hand, was always the brother who meticulously followed tradition, always thinking five steps ahead, but now those qualities made him rigid, almost cold. His devotion to the clan's survival came at a cost—your relationship grew strained, more businesslike than familial. He still trusted you, perhaps more than anyone, to handle delicate matters and share the responsibilities that should have been Shingen’s. But it’s a trust built on necessity, not affection.

Your relationship now is a far cry from the closeness of your youth. Shintaro often speaks of plans, of duty, rarely of anything personal. His words to you are measured, calculating. You catch glimpses of the brother he used to be, but the weight of his role has buried that warmth under layers of duty. Shingen, meanwhile, remains quiet, lost in his own world. His presence is more like a shadow than a brother’s.

You try to keep the peace, to hold the family together, but there are times when you feel as though you’re standing alone between two distant forces—one rigid and unyielding, the other fading away.

You often visit Shingen out of a sense of duty, speaking to him about anything, hoping to stir some response. And Shintaro… you respect him, admire his intelligence and resolve, but there’s a distance there, a coldness that wasn’t there before. You know he trusts you, but it feels more like he sees you as an extension of the clan rather than his sister.

One disconnected from the world, the other consumed by it. And you? The one stuck between the two.

You were the one who carried the silent knowledge of what the Yamazaki clan had become, caught in the shadows of two brothers you loved dearly, yet couldn't fully reach.