#Thinking of them constantly lately. The parallels are so good it makes me want to tear my face apart lol

[longagoitwastuesday]

Sukuna and Gojo didn't have the right to be such good characters, but there they are I guess

[sukiipjs]

✮ PHOTO BOOTH

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↳ nick sturniolo x masc reader

↳ words - 1487

↳ summary - you go on an innocent trip to the mall with nick and his brothers but it ends not so innocently. nick finally making the move that he always teases you about…

↳ contains - smut, semi-public, slight hair pulling, riding, swearing, anal sex, pet names (good boy + baby)

↳ song - eyes don’t lie by isabel larosa

°:. *₊ ° . ☆ °:. *₊ ° . ° .•

°:. *₊ ° . ☆

me, nick, chris, and matt walk around a mall, looking for stuff for their video they need to film, and just for fun. chris and matt walk in front of us, nick constantly spotting me next to him. his eyes always glued onto me, it’s intimidating but… well it’s hot.

i’ve always noticed him like this, with all the times i hang out with them. i’m always the one nick focuses on, stares at, teases, touches… his arm on my shoulder, knee touching knee, his palm on mine. i don’t mind, shit if i wasn’t so nervous around him i’d make a move for sure, i just try to do the subtle things, try and make sure that he knows i don’t mind.

we all stand in a small shop, nicks brothers grabbing whatever they need, nick continuing to stare over at me, starting to lean his arm on my shoulder as he does a lot, “you’re awfully quiet” he teases, whispering in my ear as his nose brushes above my ear making my spine run cold. “don’t have much to say,” i turn my head a little, shrugging and looking into his eyes but immediately getting shy and turning back, my cheeks flushing red.

“i think me and matt are gonna try to find it over there,” chris points out the door of the store and into another as him and matt turn the corner quickly, barley looking at us as they go to the other side. nick takes his arm off me and starts to walk out, me not moving yet, “don’t just stand there,” nick giggles, gesturing me to follow him.

i walk along with him, it’s pretty empty at this time in here, it is kinda late. i tend to walk slower than nick, him already much ahead of me, he notices and turns around shouting back at me, “you’re so slow” he laughs out again and stops, standing and waiting for me so i can catch up to him, he quickly takes my hand when i’m closer and starts walking at his speed, “cmon.”

my body flushes cold again, his fingers on mine make my mouth curve into a smile as i look at our hands intertwined, i’m basically foaming at the mouth just by his touch. we walk around aimlessly, just bored until eventually nick stops, “hey a photo booth… let’s go in?” he looks at me, smiling, not even letting me get a word out before he pulls both of us in.

there’s really only room for one person but nick seems to make it work just fine. he sits down on the small bench, pulling me from my hips onto him, making him laugh as i stumble onto him. there’s a screen parallel from us letting us see how we look, “you look good,” he whispers in my ear again, his grin being felt on my neck.

his hands stay on my hips, a slight hardness being felt below me, his hands grip onto my hips harder as i move myself a little, just trying to get more comfortable. “maybe you should get off-“ his breath hitches as i move again, his head being slightly thrown back, “-you’re doing bad things to me…” he whispers, one hand leaving my hips and going to pulling my head up by my hair. “fuck-“ i mumble, whining at the stinging pain from it.

“or is this just what you wanted?” he smirks again, his lips brushing against my neck still. his hands on my waist starts to slightly move me, having me grind on his bulge. i see nick looking at the screen in front of us, staring at me as my head leans down, my teeth gently biting my lip and my hands balancing myself on his thighs, my own bulge starting to grow.

“to get me fucking worked up? look i see the way you stare back at me, all nervous and shy, but i know you dream about this… you need me don’t you?” my breath continues to stay unsteady, grinding on nicks lap. “hm? is this what you want baby? answer me.” one of his hands start to move to the front of my body, resting on my jeans making me whine out, “mph- i need you…” i say softly, my eyes closing for a little as nicks fingers travel over my bulge.

“good boy,” he smiles, his nose brushing by my ear, rustling my hair. his hand moves to unzip my pants, letting go of my hair to let me catch a break. his hands try to pull down my jeans but it doesn’t work that well with both us sitting, “stand up baby,” he says as his hands move off me.

i rise to be on my feet as nick stands up behind me too, “mm, so handsome” he smiles, looking at the screen again as he wraps his arms around me, his head leaning in the crook of my neck. he rests there as his hands start to move down, successfully letting my pants drop off me.

“nick- what if someone sees us,” his hand massages against the hard outline in my boxers, making me bite my lip, trying not to let out any noise. “no one’s here… and i need you. now.” he smiles, starting to kiss my neck as my eyes shut, my head slightly leaning back and my body almost shaking from nicks fingers teasing me.

his hand stops and he stands straight, his touch leaving me. his hands move to his own pants, quickly pulling them down to his ankles, boxers going with them. he smiles more, staring at the screen of both of us. his hand pulls on my waistband, letting it slap back against my skin, “you too?” his hands loop on the inside of them, slightly pushing them down barley an inch. “please…” he laughs a little, finally pulling my boxers all the way off.

nick then sits back down, pulling my waist to sit on him again. i stumble onto his lap, sitting on his thigh as his hardness brushes against my skin behind me. “nick, please.” i beg, slightly arching my back to nudge him. he leans forward, one hand on my shoulder he whispers again, “make sure to be quiet.” he leans back, spitting in his hand as he strokes himself a few before patting at my hips signaling me to lift myself on him, which i do.

he lines himself up with me as my hands balance myself on his thighs, using them to guide me down onto him. i let out a quiet moan as he feel him inside me, trying my best to be quiet. he holds my waist, my hands gripping onto his legs still as he slowly guides me up and down on him. “nick-“ i whine out as he speeds up a little, he leans toward me again, letting his hands still hold me as he kissing at my neck and jaw.

“mmm, fuck you’re so good,” he moans onto my skin as i feel his hand graze over my hardness, staring to jerk me off as he thrusts into me, moving faster and faster. i bite down on my lip harder as i try not to make any sound but letting small whines and moans to leave my mouth.

my head leans back as i feel nick all over me, fuck this is all i could ever ask for. “nick-“ my breath hitches, being cut off by my climax, letting myself go all over his fingers, my grip in his thighs loosening. “fuck baby…” he grins on my neck, moving back from me as he lifts me up, pulling out before pumping himself, letting himself go too.

“you’re so good for me,” he smiles, wrapping his arms around me, once again staring at the screen in front of us, all messy and fucked. i stand up from his arms, pulling back up my clothes quickly as i turn around to face nick. “shit, we gotta get out of here” i zip up my pants as nick remembers that we didn’t go here alone. “fuck.”

he gets dressed again as we fix each other up, i grab his hand, about to pull him out of the booth but he pulls me to him. he grabs my face to kiss me, letting go as we smile at each other, “cmon” i pull him up as we get out.

we walk around the mall, trying to find matt and chris, acting like we didn’t just fuck in a photo booth. eventually we bump into them, “jesus, where the fuck have you two been? we looked around the whole mall,” chris looks at us, kinda annoyed. “we got lost?” nick shrugs, smiling at me as chris squints, his eyes looking from me to nick, nick to me, “uh okay whatever let’s go.”

☆ °:. *₊ ° . °

taglist : @slutforchriss @mattsleftnipple03 @mattsdinosweater @ccolleenn @mixvchelle @leah-loves-lilies @sturn-wrld @redz0nez9 @cheriematt t @freshloveforthefit @nickuniversity @whore4matt @txssvx @teenagetrash00 @matty-bear @venusbabysblog @m0r94n @junnniiieee07

[serknighted]

Danse & Hancock's parallels are eating my sanity slowly so by God I will write them here

So. Usually incredibly shy about posting my feelings about characters and my interpretations of them, but I don't think I can sit idly by without addressing 1. how much I love this post about Danse and how his story ties back to the isolation and loneliness of autism, and 2. how much I need more content between Hancock & Danse to exist, because my god sometimes I forget they hate each other in-game. (I strongly suggest you read the post mentioned & linked, they do a fantastic job framing Danse in a way I don't think I could fully articulate)

Danse & Hancock both have stories filled with themes of intense loneliness. Despite their hard work, effort, and prowess in the things they love, it doesn't take good sight to realize that neither of them are very well liked. It's not that they aren't respected, but whether it's Danse's all-too-formal approach to speaking, or Hancock's combination of hard drug use & almost constant overbearing presence (on top of years of slander from bigger cities, but we'll get into that), people see them as a tool of success and a good asset to have around, but not much of a friend, so to speak. Especially in Hancock's case, many people he is overly-affectionate with are often more annoyed by his presence than anything else (even if they do like him).

For Hancock, despite how much he claims to not relate to the isolation of the common ghoul, he's likely over-exaggerating his charisma in an effort to make himself more easily approachable, mostly for his own peace of mind rather than for others. While he sounds quite passive about things many others would react strongly to, I feel it's a combination of him having replaced a layer of how he truly feels with an element of sass on top of the drug use that makes all the trauma more easily bearable (to mixed effect).

One of his lines that has always struck me as conflicting with how he portrays himself is a common generic line he has while traveling with Sole Survivor, praising them for "living out the day" when most others could not. Hancock has seen so many people die to the brutal hands of the Commonwealth; whether it be Vic and his boys gunning down innocent drifters, seeing people succumb to the elements, or, in this case, simply not surviving their travels with him, Hancock seems to have a track record of never properly establishing proper bonds with others before they either die, or decide he's too overbearing to deal with further. He's one of those characters who desperately wants to have a deeper connection with those he loves, but he has consistently lost the chance to do so before he was ever ready, and so he chooses to fill the void with meaningless sexual relationships and one-night stands- anything to make him temporarily forget how much he hates himself and his almost comical lack of social understanding. It's a train of thought that I, as an autistic person, can really understand and relate to-- the desire to know people, but always feeling like no matter how you portrayed yourself, no one seems to want to be around you if you don't provide them with what they desire. It's caused him to deeply undervalue both how much he's done for people (since he believes its expected of him to constantly bend over backwards for the needs of others), and himself, all at the same time.

I don't think Danse fully recognizes how lonely he feels, a lot. He's been so heavily indoctrinated by the Brotherhood of Steel into believing that this is how he should be treated, that his work is for the betterment of humanity, that his sacrifice is a necessary one. The way he speaks almost carelessly about late brothers and sisters in arms makes me think really hard about how rooted this idea of only existing for the "greater good" is. Individuality is questionable & almost taboo, being different is outright abominable. It's the reason why the rhetoric of "Us vs. Them" works-- the BoS as a collective believe that they are doing good for all of humanity, and any outlier to that "perfect" formula is a threat not only to the BoS, but to everything they know. Danse is expected to bend over backwards for people, and no longer questions his loneliness or isolation, as he has all but given up his sense of self for what he believes is right. Another thing that I and many of my autistic friends relate to; a sense of justice so strong that it's overpowering. Like us, Danse is willing to sacrifice anything to do what's right... including himself.

Knowing this, it's easy to understand why he hates Hancock, and that backwards mindset is the reason Hancock hates him. It's an especially vicious cycle that constantly feeds into itself if unchecked, and Hancock knows that he alone cannot convince Danse to break that cycle. Hancock knows he can't beat Danse in a fight; all he has are his words, and logic is useless against an enemy that heeds to no truths. Even after Danse discovers his true nature... you can't expect him to unravel the years of constant reassurance that what he was taught was right in a single night. "Rome wasn't built in a day," and no one gets over their trauma so quickly, either. It's traumatic to have an explanation as to why people hate you. A catch-all reason to people's fear and distaste to you, that is also something you can never, ever change. Danse would sooner hate himself for what he is than accept those he used to murder without a second thought. It's the difficult reality of anyone attempting to unlearn painful conservative narratives; the shame & guilt of hurting others that are more similar to you than you ever wanted to know is sometimes more painful than realizing what you really are.

Hancock, albeit not even close to "recovered" from his mental woes, is much further along the path of acceptance to Danse, but not far enough away that he wouldn't understand where Danse is coming from. For so long, he sat idly by and watched people get hurt, even during his time in Diamond City. The constant conditioning to accept other people's pain as long as it wasn't happening to you still eats at his consciousness; just like Danse, he knows it was wrong to accept it, but the guilt makes it harder to deal with. He, of all people, would understand what it feels like to try so, so hard to fit in, to be normal and accepted, but never quite hit the mark of understanding where he fits in society. That's the reason he is the way he is now; his signature, his "Hancock," is to be as loud and out-of-place as possible-- a constant rebellion against what people expect him to be, a rebellion of oppression and unfair treatment. Danse's sheer existence is an involuntary rebellion of all BoS values, and even if Hancock would be hesitant to become close to Danse for a long while, I think he would be impressed by him, in the end, and more importantly, understand where he's coming from.

Their combined interest in both protecting the people they care about as well as the collective societies those people come from, as well as how nerdy they both are about US history... I think, eventually, they will realize how similar their lives were, how similar they are to each other, and maybe even find some comfort in knowing that they aren't alone in all of the waves of shame, guilt, and loneliness. That there is an overarching group of people who understand them, and that they do have a place in this world. I think once they recognize that similar traumas can manifest in polar opposite conditions (ones that they used to have a narrow, black-and-white outlook on), they'll also find that there is no real reason to hate each other anymore; the world has told them that they must hate each other, but they no longer have any need to listen.

TL;DR autistic Danse & Hancock ftw

[beanghostprincess]

also thoughts on yamace now that you've seen them

Stabbing me in the esophagus would have hurt way less than watching these two interact. I want to give you a proper answer like I always do instead of incoherent screaming, but I watched the flashback so recently that I'm still fucking sobbing. I can't stand gay people and their daddy issues. They make me insane. But since I'm an annoying writer, I will try and explain why Yamace has suddenly made his way to my top 5 ships in only three episodes. I'm pretty sure everybody knows all of this already because I'm late to the boom of episode 1015, but damn, I really need to talk about this or I'll die.

Okay, first of all, their personalities are so good together. They're both silly and fun to watch and impulsive and they want to be free from the chains their fathers put them in (metaphorically and, well, also literally). Perhaps the animation and direction of the show (especially on episode 1015 because oh my fucking goodness) helped a little in setting the romantic mood, but the interactions were all them. These two are literally something else.

To me, it's the angst of falling in love in the span of a night with a stranger with whom you have a lot in common and then watching them go, hoping to see them again- Like, basically being the only thing you look forward to because you don't have anything else except them and the freedom they promised you. And then watching them drift away between your fingers without being able to do anything. It's the frustration and helplessness and the way Yamato's life was the best it could've been and then crumbled down to the point where he had to place his faith in a man who he only knows because Ace talked about him constantly without shutting the fuck up because he's the most annoying brother ever (I love him).

And- I don't know, man. The chemistry is unmatched. Like, I actually felt I was interrupting their romantic moment watching that shit. If I hadn't known anything about them I would have genuinely thought they would kiss.

The whole "You can't choose your parents" and "What do you really want to do?" left me crying and sobbing on the floor. I literally had to sit down on the floor and cry because I couldn't take the parallelisms between them, both being children of important pirates and feeling (a very valid) resentment towards them. It's so good. The way they bond and talk to each other,,, The way they look at each other? This is the type of thing you only see in a romcom. Because quite literally: What the fuck.

And it's not only the obvious parallelisms or the fact that their personalities match perfectly (and also that, aesthetically, they look amazing together. But I think that's what happens when both boyfriends are hot af) but the fact that in the span of a night... Their feelings were so genuine. Ace wanted to come back, he just wasn't strong enough at the time and he was so positive and determined to become stronger so he would go back to Tama and Yamato,,, And Yamato? Waiting for Ace? Yamato waiting for his only friend to come back but knowing he will never do it? Yamato was so cute and excited to meet Ace, and seeing him hurt but it hurt less knowing that he would come back. The fact that he's dead takes that away from him. It just makes him have more faith in Luffy because he carries Ace with him.

How can a ship be so fucking good in only three episodes???? Going fucking wild. Ace taught him the meaning of living freely. Ace made him want to fight to be free. Ace changed his life and, honestly, Yamato changed his life too because it was the second biggest promise (first one being with Luffy, about not dying) he made and he had to actually train and fight to fulfill it. And he wasn't able to do it, but the whole "Luffy carrying Ace's promise" thing makes me go fucking wild.

Well, basically, to finish this: Expect a lot of posts from me about Yamace from now on and also a lot of edits to Taylor Swift songs.

This is so,,, God. It's so romantic. The lightning. The smiles. The fact that they're literally two intersecting lines that will never meet again. It makes me sick.

[licncourt]

Licncourt you're right as always about female coding and you hit the nail on the head about Louis!

My opinion about Lestat is that he was portrayed as the stereotypical bad woman: vain, shallow, cruel and foolish but beautiful. But he was also a victim whom the narrative constantly forces to forgive and love his abusers because that's the only way he becomes worthy of being loved. It happened with Magnus, Akasha, Armand and also with his father (the only time Lestat didn't want to forgive someone... but was pushed to do so) It's frustrating if you think about it, because that's what society expects of women.

I'm really glad you think so!! He's so girl to me but in the right way, not the Anne Rice way.

I was sooo happy when I read this because !!! You are absolutely onto something here that should be examined further. There's some overlap between Louis and Lestat for sure when it comes to female-coding, both of them being portrayed as over-emotional and somewhat effeminate etc, but it's really cool how the rest contrasts in such an interesting way, like a Venn diagram. I've talked plenty about Louis being pretty directly analogous to the stereotypes of a lustful, weak-willed, hysterical woman whose primary assigned value is beauty, but there's a LOT to say about Lestat too.

I love what you said here because the first part really feels like a throughline tying Lestat to the women who helped established the Bad Woman archetypes in the literary canon like Medea (vindictive and treacherous), Lady Macbeth (power-hungry for personal gain), or Delilah (a calculated honeytrap for "righteous men"). In spite of his anger and mistreatment of Louis, most of Lestat's flaws in the trilogy are strikingly feminine in the literary sense. He's quite literally portrayed as a cruel, shrill gold-digger who dickmatized a rich husband and trapped him with a child.

Yes, he's an angry, domineering man, but it's the impotence behind his anger that pivots towards the stereotypically feminine. Throughout IWTV, he's all bark and no bite, yelling, whining, throwing books and sulking, even having an affair to punish Louis for his coldness and lack of affection versus anything more direct and aggressive. It really reads like the idea of a bitchy housewife tormenting her husband while trying to get her way and take revenge.

In addition, I really like the comparison of him with the wicked mother archetype, a maternal figure who poisons the daughter with her own trauma and anger (Clytemnestra-esque) and creates another monstrous woman in her own image. I've mentioned this before, but I think the creation of Claudia can be read symbolically as a conception, pregnancy, and birth, Louis draining her as a sort of insemination that's useless on its own but is "gestated" or made into a whole (a vampire child) by Lestat/his blood. In those terms, Lestat is immediately set up as a mother figure to Claudia, then again later when she's situated as a direct rival and narrative parallel to him. Generational trauma is passed from Gabrielle to and through Lestat and into Claudia as if he was also a daughter in the chain.

In terms of victimhood, what you said is also very interesting because it's one of the few places where this female-coded Lestat slips through and re-emerges really prominently in late canon despite AR's attempts to masculinize him. In trying to redeem him and make him "perfect", she puts him back into the feminine role with the societal expectation that a woman should forgive her abuser and take the high road, empathize with him even, especially in religious communities (interesting considering AR's wild rollercoaster ride with Catholicism). It's as if Lestat's disdain for Magnus is an unpleasant loose end she needs to tie up so he can be "good" now.

I think it's interesting too that the only abuser that the narrative doesn't ever give a sympathetic sort of pass to is Akasha, the sole woman who inflicted this kind of abuse on Lestat and a victim of bodily exploitation in her own right. Even the Marquis receives the narrative's sympathy as a repentant old man, even Magnus the monster. Not Akasha though. She's just a bitter man-hater and Lestat has to choose whether he wants to be also.

(Btw this is such @nasnyys business and what he screams into the void about every day so I'm making him a part of this. Everyone go talk to him about Lestat and evil woman allegories.)

[trivalentlinks]

🔥 - i'd like to order an unpopular opinion on leverage, please!

Sorry for the very, very late answer, but to make up for it, have two unpopular opinions:

The first one's a bit of a cop-out. I think it's the less popular opinion, but probably because most don't care that much either way:

I head-canon that Damien Moreau is actually a banker/financier, ie, his primary source of income is actually derivatives investments and market prediction, and all the buying countries, arms deals and other such clandestine activities is just to give markets slight pushes in the direction he wants. (I've previous talked about this here (my last reblog addition))

This opinion seems "unpopular" in that the more common reading is that he's a mob boss who just calls himself a 'banker' to make himself sound cooler than he actually is. Which I think is a totally valid reading, consistent with what we are shown in canon! Like, he's all about image, and it's totally believable that the entire financier/banker persona is just that.

One reason I prefer the actually-a-banker reading is, as I described in the other post, because I like the parallel with team leverage and their "alternative revenue stream". This is also why I like to head-canon that when Eliot and Moreau were starting out (after Eliot met Toby and left the PMCs with his newfound conscience), before things got bad, they actually did good--only destabilizing horrible, abusive dictatorships, using their alternative revenue stream to help people. The parallels are just so compelling to me this way.

Another reason I prefer the actually-a-banker reading is that it's more relatable to me. I know people who work as financiers (hedge fund/high frequency trading/crypto firm founders or high-level quants etc).

None of them (that I know of) would actually do illegal things to manipulate prices, but it sometimes seems like if they were a little less risk-averse, a little less ethical, who knows? And when they tell me about the people they know, people they describe as "if you took a person's stats and dialled 'ethics' all the way down to zero"... These friends think anyone too stupid to see through a cryptocurrency white paper deserves to lose their life's savings. So when they say someone has ethics dialled to zero, well. You don't wanna know.

On the other hand, I don't know anyone who's anywhere close to being a mob boss.

-

Here's a more genuinely unpopular opinion, in that I think most people believe the opposite, and actually do care:

I really like Jimmy Ford. I find the character very relatable and very compelling. I feel like a lot of people in the fandom just write him off as a bad father, but I don't think that's fair.

I talked a lot about this here (skip past the "..." paragraph; above that were my old early thoughts about Moreau, before I reformulated them to be my current thoughts)

As I mentioned there, I see in Jimmy Ford every parent who didn't understand their kid, but loved them, and as Jimmy said to Nate, that's more important.

Every parent who grew up at a different time, in another country, in a harder, less forgiving world, who wants to ensure their kid can survive that old environment, without realizing that that isn't the kid's world anymore, that their kid is actually thriving in this new world, the one their parents sacrificed to raise them in

Every parent who flipped out when their son decided to major in sociology instead of computer engineering, because they could never have made a living with a degree like that

(but he's going to do more than make a living with that degree; he's going to make a difference)

Every parent who constantly monitors their daughter to ensure she waits for marriage, because in the old country she would have been shunned or worse if she didn't

(but she's not there right? her parents worked and sacrificed and bled to bring her up in this more forgiving world)

Every parent who sits next to their kid for hours a day until they get their daily hour of piano practice done (and yells at them until they do every day, disturbing their neighbour, who's just trying to focus on doing her research and grading her students' papers, not that this is personal or anything), because the parent managed to survive and to move to this country by working relentlessly at everything they did and can't imagine a world where a 7-year-old is allowed to play and to find their own interests

(but they will, maybe not then, but one day, years down the line, they may even end up liking music)

Maybe it's that I'm a kid of immigrants who knows a lot of kids of immigrants, but I think I'm more forgiving of people who raised their children in a culture different from their own and struggled to adjust to that.

[mcyt-as-birds]

Hey!! I hope I'm not bothering you but I just found your blog (love your blog it's amazing) and, as a fellow mcyt enjoyer & bird enthusiast, I just have to ask you what birds you would assign to Niki, Quackity, Ranboo & Jimmysolidarity, based on their character/personality/looks? I'm just asking because I'm making a mcyt harpy AU and you seem like someone knowledgeable in birds and generally like a cool person so I hope I'm not intruding on your time!

So far I think Niki could be a flamingo (despite looking pretty they're pretty tough lol but I'm having second thoughts on that), Ranboo could be a long bird w long legs (maybe some kind of stork or stilt i dunno), with Quackity I'm torn between a Loggerhead Shrike and a Goldeneye Barrow's duck (or any duck bcs well, it's in his name lol. I actually can't decide if I should go for his dsmp character or general mcyt persona) and Jimmy I have no frickign idea (maybe a canary??? I've been thinking about this for days and I have no clue lmao).

Anyways hope you have a good day/night and once again love your blog :]

AAAAAAA so sorry I didn’t see this ask until now!!!! I’ve been absolutely going through it lately since moving but it’s getting better and I’ve successfully seen and photographed a bunch of new lifer birds so like win!!

So, absolutely depends on which SMP for these characters but if we’re going DSMP for niki, ranboo, and Quackity then these are my assignments;

Niki: my first instinct for niki is American kestrel (Falco sparverius), but she also fits one of the jaeger sp pretty well. Personally I’d go with Parasitic Jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus) also known as the arctic skua. They’re incredibly skilled aerialists that are called “parasitic” because they pursue other seabirds until they give up their catch and leave it for the jaeger. Girlboss of them. Jaeger is also a German originating word meaning “hunter” so it’s double cool! They look like this! They remind me of marble a lot.

Quackity: I’ve given him two assignments before, but both were for QSMP!Quackity which is very different vibes to DSMP!Quackity but I think they’re generalized enough to still work. The first one, for a General Vibes quackity is the ferruginous duck because duh, duck, but also They Have Secrets. And Know All Of Yours. Just look at those eyes! (Only males have the bright yellow eyes btw.) Barrow’s goldeneye IS a good choice as well so if you wanted to I’d say go for it! I also think ruddy duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) is a great choice personality wise because they are Mean Little Bastards to each other and others rip.

Here’s a male ferruginous duck! Oh god what does he know

I am, however, a HUGE fan of hummingbird!Quackity particularly for the small size->bigger aggression of some species. It’s so unexpected! There’s also large parallels with how they have to constantly be on the move and eating insects and drinking nectar, with some species needing to consume up to three times their bodyweight each day just to survive! It reminds me a lot of how DSMP!Quackity is always trying to do Bigger and More Things and just never stops, ever, ultimately to his own detriment when he can no longer keep up. Again rip.

Anyways the species I assigned him before based on coloration of the art is the violet sabrewing (Campylopterus hemileucurus) which is one of the larger but less aggressive emeralds. HOWEVER they do end up completely intimidating other species away from feeding flowers just from their size and General Vibes. They’re also cool as fuck so I won’t be changing that. But if you wanted something more aggressive then I’d go with ruby-throated hummingbird.

Here’s what a violet sabrewing looks like!

Ranboo: This is a bit of a tricky one, because it would be extremely easy to go “black and white bird boom done” and I don’t think that’s like bad but there is More To Him. Past assignments I have given him include swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus) for a miss beloved design, purple-crowned fairywren (Malurus coronatus) for a general streamersona/r800 ranbrand, and violet-backed starling (Cinnyricinclus leucogaster) for r800.

But if we are going purely DSMP!Ranboo, I have two different ideas.

Personality: killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

Design: secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius)

Personality wise, the killdeer fits mainly because of its well-known predator responses “broken-wing display/injury feigning” and “ungulate display.” The former is where the adult killdeer will pretend to be injured (and thus, an easier target) in order to lead predators away from their nest and chicks. Then, they’ll lose or frustrate the predator until they give up and it’s safe to return to the nest. The other predator response is what I affectionately call the “fuck it, we ball” response, where the bird lowers its head, raises its wings, and charges at the predator. It is frequently fatal. I don’t think I have to explain why it’s so Ranboo coded but if you need evidence look up anyone threatening Michael lmao. Also you probably didn’t want to hear that much about them but listen I love them so much they are so cool and baby.

They look like this when doing the broken wing display! They also just kind of have the panicked deer in headlights look that I feel like he embodies.

The second option, the secretarybird or secretary bird, is even funnier looking but fits the aesthetic so well and honestly some of his strange and unsettling vibes. The secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is the largest bird of prey by height and length. They are almost entirely terrestrial and hunt their prey by—get this—stomping it to death. I’m not kidding. They have been described as “what you get when you mix an eagle, a stork, and a bad hair day” because of the stupid little feathers on the back of their head. They kinda look lights on but nobody’s home sometimes. Drumroll please for this absolute fucking creature (affectionate)

Yeah, I wasn’t exaggerating. Why do they look like that.

Jimmy: is an extremely difficult one, tbh. Everyone assigns him canary which, like, fair—but honestly it does not fit his personality or his design, and only really works for life series!Jimmy. And they don’t even give him a specific species! (Although ppl usually mean domestic canary without saying it.) No hate to people who do this and the canary in the coal mine symbolism is cool I just have Opinions and Propaganda and I’ve been Enabled.

I have assigned him one bird before, the eastern rosella (Platycercus eximius) and I kinda stand by it for the content creator, but it doesn’t fit his general minecraft sona.

To figure this out, we must go even deeper. Into the deep dark, mind the wardens. You probably didn’t want this but Too Bad you’ve activated my trap card and now you have to suffer.

Jimmy is a peculiar character because he is very dear to everyone, but also the butt of every joke—and he likes it that way! He’s a key player in many important events in storylines, but also the most often discarded. His luck is terrible, yes, but it can be argued that he brings about misfortune for others more than he himself experiences it. This is across hermitcraft, the life series, and empires.

So I propose this to you and the general fandom:

Jimmy is a snowy albatross.

The snowy albatross (Diomedea exulans) previously described as the wandering albatross along with the Amsterdam, Tristan, and Antipodean albatross sp, is a bird that is heavily steeped in superstition. While generally considered a bird that would bring sailors good luck, to harm or kill an albatross was to bring about the sea’s wrath upon the entire crew. In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the Mariner kills an albatross that is being cared for by the crew. The crew became very angry with him, believing that he had called upon bad luck, and forced him to wear the albatross around his neck. This is where the metaphor “an albatross around his neck” comes from, symbolizing an unwanted burden causing anxiety and distress. At the end of the story, the mariner learns to care for all the sea creatures and his releases from his curse, but is forced to walk the earth for eternity and tell his tale. This is where the albatross has also become a symbol of past sins, regret, and atonement.

Jimmy personifies these qualities so much, along with hidden power, vulnerability, and unconditional love SO MUCH I need the fandom to see my vision so bad. Albatross Jimmy propaganda!!!!

They look like this

And the chicks are so cute it’s not even funny.

I could go on and on about how Jimmy is so albatross coded it’s not even funny and facts about them AND I WILL LETS GO albatrosses have specialized wing anatomy that allows them to lock their shoulder in place and fly hundreds of miles without flapping their wings even once! They also follow ships and will eat anything and everything presented to them, including garbage, and will gorge themselves on food until they are so bloated they can only float on the water. They can live for over 50 YEARS, the oldest known lasyan albatross (and bird in general!) is a female named Wisdom who is 70 years old and still kicking! They are often considered silly or ugly birds by people unfamiliar with them but are very beloved by those within the birding and research communities and snowy albatrosses are one of the most researched bird species in the world! They are fiercely loyal, highly protective, and also absolute little goofballs. Like Jimmy. They are also social birds, with a huge range of vocalizations and displays LIKE JIMMY they are kind of bad at survival (but mostly human threats) and need a lot of help LIKE JIMMY (please protect your local albatrosses) and they are very loud LIKE JI—[*I am forcibly yanked off the stage by a shepherd’s hook in cartoonish fashion*]

[renaultphile]

‘Get to know me’ tag game.  Thank you for the tag @rottenlaertes and @nurseadriansbrother!

Do you make your bed?  Always air it first though!  Plus it’s a duvet so not exactly arduous……

Favourite number?  Has to be seven

Current job?  Public sector, can’t say more than that!

If you could go back to school would you?   Totally – it’s wasted on the young!

Can you parallel park? I can’t even drive!  But I am a very good backseat driver (apparently!)

A job you had that would surprise people? I once got free entry to a ball playing keyboards in a student band.  Yes it was downhill after that……

Do you think aliens are real?  100%  My favourite theory that I’ve seen is that they are so big we can’t see them!

Can you drive a manual car? No and not even an automatic either! I'm waiting for the driverless car technology

What’s your guilty pleasure? Anything sweet (literally and figuratively).

Tattoos?   No, too scared of pain, and too indecisive.

Favourite colour? Anything turquoise-y or aquamarine-y

Favourite type of music? Anything eclectic (I know that's cheating, sorry!)

Do you like puzzles?  Love puzzles but they can’t be too difficult.

Any phobias? So many to choose from but heights is a big one, following by enclosed spaces.

Favourite childhood sport? Swing-ball (you know with the tennis ball on a string that goes round….never mind)

Do you talk to yourself?  Constantly in my head.

What movie(s) do you adore? Lawrence of Arabia, The English Patient, Dune.  I do also like movies without sand dunes. 

Coffee or tea? Mostly coffee, pot of tea if I’m out though.

First thing you wanted to be growing up? There was this counsellor who used to do a phone-in and solve people’s problems in five minutes flat and for a long time that’s what I wanted to be!

Sorry I was late to the party so I think everyone's been tagged!!

[irish-urn]

As one does, I've been thinking about Dasey lately (what else do I do? Absolutely nothing) and how utterly unhinged they are for each other.

They've never really admitted their feelings in the canon of the show (because the writers are cowards) but they're just insane. Constantly. And I love that for them, truly, but how did either of them ever have a relationship?

I get the Sam thing, because Sam is a pacifist and a little bit of a coward and there's Casey and Derek's giving the all clear so Sam doesn't want to step on any toes. Casey has never had a problem with it, it's why she pursued the man (well that and it pissed off Derek and that's always a plus, he's so entertaining when he's pissy and staring at her like that), but they call it off because Casey just doesn't feel enough.

(please ignore, much like the writers, that Casey feels too much for Derek consistently throughout the show.)

Her next serious boyfriend is Max, who definitely makes sense as a guy Casey would date. He's enough of a douche, while also being attractive (ig, I don't see it) and Derek hates him. Being captain of the football team gives her an existential crisis because she completely changes herself for him, but Max is popular and the opposite of Derek. Max is supposed to be Prince Charming! But he pisses her off because he just doesn't understand. He doesn't even try to get her fucked up relationship with Derek, because he just sees it as insane and Casey being neurotic, because he doesn't get that no matter how annoying and insane Derek's being (like thinking he can fight The Fridge, what the fuck is he thinking?! Even Derek has more sense than that), she's going to fight to the death for him. Max just doesn't get it. And in the end, they break up because they're fundamentally incompatible. Max can't accept Casey, flaws and all, because he doesn't want the flaws.

(please ignore that Derek accepts all of Casey's flaws from the moment they meet, and as much as he pesters her about them, he very clearly appreciates them all like the writers did.)

And then there's fucking Truman. Not one of the better presidents or love interests. His introduction being rating women is definitely a sign he's fundamentally wrong for Casey and just her excuse to rebel, because he's not even that cute. He's just there and a "bad boy" and Casey wants to rebel a little. Truman is an ass and the worst and an obviously terrible person and partner, but she loves him because she sees the good in him. Even after he makes out with her cousin, which. Casey's a better person than me; I never would've spoken to either of them. When they break up, it's because Casey respects herself again.

(please ignore that Truman is a manifestation of all of Casey's worst fears about Derek, that he's all of his worst traits brought to life, that he parallels him in a weird number of ways for it to be normal like the writers did.)

Jesse is just there. He's boring, he's got a shaved head and facial hair for some reason, he can dance. Theoretically, this is Casey's Prince Charming. A boring, normal guy. Except they obviously don't work out because the man has no personality or spine. Throughout VWD, he just lets Derek do his thing, which is probably the only reason they last at all.

(please ignore that Jesse is literally designed to be the opposite of Derek, someone who's boring and living by a plan and that Casey should end up with logically but who it's clear she doesn't feel passion with like the writers did.)

Peter, arguably Casey's worst choice, is the absent husband who we know nothing about. Except that he plays hockey and lives like he's 15. Now, I have lots of headcanons about that, but Peter specifically seems to be someone that Casey doesn't want to talk about. There's no passion, there's exhaustion because he's not there.

(please ignore that Peter is Derek on the surface, in college, but he's nothing like him at the core of it because Derek sees Casey struggling and moves in without a second thought like the writers did.)

And then there's Derek's love interests. Kendra, who definitely was someone he only dated for status who liked him more than he ever liked her (which is truly tragic, because I love Kendra so dearly). She's supposed to be perfect for him, and on the surface, she is, but there's nothing deeper. That relationship was less intimate than most of Derek's friendships. Kendra bored him because she never challenged him on anything, she never really made him feel alive.

(please ignore that, for better or worse, Casey has always made Derek feel too much and too strongly and been there, in the front of his mind, since they met, like the writers did.)

Sally is sweet and kind and challenges Derek and forces him to deal with his emotions. She's everything that's theoretically perfect for Derek, but for whatever reason, what he feels for her is clearly never the strongest force in his life. He loves Sally, more than he's ever loved someone romantically, but I think they both know, even as the relationship is happening, it's not forever. Derek's always on his best behavior, trying to prove himself and Sally, I think she knew this was fun and young but not permanent.

(please ignore that Derek refuses to try and be anyone other than himself, whatever version he is that day, to Casey, that she's always the strongest force in his life no matter how much he loves Sally, like the writers did.)

Truly. With their behavior, how did either of them ever get into a relationship? And not canonically fall in love, have three kids, get married and live somewhere together surrounded by Casey's library (which, yes, Derek, was a necessity), the pond out back that Derek can play hockey on in the winter with the kids (well, except their son, who ironically refuses to play hockey. It's the greatest bane of Derek's life) even though Casey has 911 on standby the entire time, the basement that has somehow been turned into a half man cave half game room that is constantly full of teenage boys arguing over such things as the best Jane Austen adaptation and whether or not burping the alphabet is sophisticated, the old office (before Casey's library was finished) that the girls have turned into a sitting room, covered in whatever chaotic projects they're involved in (this week it's a robot and a skirt. Casey refuses to question it), and their entire family surrounding them? Truly, how is that not the canon of Life With Derek?

(writing this might actually make me write the fic where they have three kids and a domestic life. goddammit. I fully blame you.)

Do you mean to tell me that there are people out there who DON'T think about Dasey every day? Honestly, sounds fake.

Listen: I have been thinking about Dasey so much this week that I started and am already half-done another fic that I'm hoping to finish in the next few days when I SHOULD be writing a paper for school.

So first of all: yes to your thoughts. And to add to them: do you ever think about how utterly terrifying it must be to have these feelings? I mean, basic emotions are bad enough, but imagine having huge, fiery, irrational feelings for your STEP-SIBLING. Who is, by all accounts, the absolute worst.

And I know you and I have been very respectfully screaming at each other about Derek's self-esteem issues, but can we talk about how Casey's terrible choice in guys is a reflection of HER idea of her worth??? Like, I always understood why she liked Sam -- for all that he is passive, he's NICE and sweet and respects her (I don't think he's that cute, but attraction is irrational anyways). Max probably has a lot to do with Casey wanting to be seen as more than a keener and a grub. And Truman, well. We all know what Truman is.

(A+ analysis on Jesse too, btw)

The thing that gets me is Casey taking Truman back and Derek asking Emily out, because we as viewers are pretty sure it's the writers going, "Oh snap, we can't have Derek and Casey going to ANOTHER prom together. Once is a funny accident, two is a pattern." But if we remove the writers, what do we get? We get a Derek and a Casey who are equally as afraid to end up going to senior prom together, so afraid that Derek asks out Emily, who he has never shown interest in before, Casey takes BACK Truman, and then Casey wraps a bow of "same difference" around it just to finish it off.

They're. Both. So. Scared.

ALSO, we can scream about LWL, but I am a very vain person who thinks of her kick at the darkness series as more canon than that movie, as much as I enjoyed that movie, but we CAN scream about Derek and Casey as parents and how bruised they both are and how that movie just proved how much they need each other.

OR we can scream about Dasey's children and how I know all four of them and their lives and their very chaotic and loving household, and Derek's three girls who adore him and have him wrapped around their fingers, and Casey's little boy who everyone thought would be just like Derek because he LOOKS just like him, but he's a keener and clumsy and such a McDonald it makes Derek's chest hurt with how much he loves them. We can talk about dance sessions in the kitchen, about guitars and music sheets that don't stay in the music room, about video game tournaments and blanket forts when there's bad weather or a hard day at school or work; about stay-at-home Derek after he retires from hockey and how the basement becomes his hobby room (because once the kids are in school, he gets BORED, okay???) (Don't worry, I know where he ends up; it's in podcasting with Marti), about baking weekends with Casey, and family grocery trips.

Yes. Let's.

[brionysea]

The Mike Chrissy parallels are so insane to me i love it when you talk about them! Like, the food issues part alone is already very much Oh. And what's crazy about those to me is that it's so There that even casual watchers like my mom commented on how weird everyone was about food this season. Specifically how there's food everywhere: the new character being a pizza chef, everyone constantly driving around in a pizza van, ordering pizza, Eddie's hunts for food in the cabin, Hopper getting starved in prison and talking about food and throwing himself at peanut butter, and even having a making pizza montage. And a Lot of dinner/breakfast scenes shown in general. Which, according to her, just made Mike not eating any food in front of him unless he's literally being forced to stand out even More. And then Chrissy of course indirectly dies because of an eating disorder which just draws even More attention to the food issues right from the start <- analysis provided by my movie nerd GA mom

And that's just the weird food thing they all have going on and isn't touching on how Mike and Chrissy both aren't really in love with their partners and instead with the "freak" love interest alternative

Chrissy Mike parallels are crazy we really need to talk about them more like damn, okay, the narrative is so mean to you guys

i love that chrissy can be a lens through which to view and expose things about mike's character when chrissy was designed to die. like, mike, you good????

what really struck me recently is how chrissy becomes less of a person as the story goes on. to her boyfriend she's the fridged girlfriend who's used as an excuse for his bias and violence, and the fact that she was friendly with the person he's trying to murder in her name is irrelevant. she's not a person anymore, she's a cause, and her thoughts and feelings don't matter because she made them so quiet in life that things stuck like that and now it's too late

her mother, the person who gave her an eating disorder and essentially killed her in the first place, was able to stand up at her funeral and talk about how she's an angel who's smiling down on them from heaven and do the same thing as her boyfriend of just saying what she would think and feel and want. and neither of them really knew chrissy at all so obviously it's all wrong. if chrissy would want to be avenged and to prevent what happened to her from happening to anyone else (which, we really didn't see enough of her to know if she's a particularly vengeful person, but she seems kind so i can maybe buy the second part), then the main characters are the people doing that, and most of them never even met her

it reminds me of this twitter thread i saw on here a while ago about this woman's funeral, who i believe the op didn't know well, where everyone just stood up and talked about themselves. her partner, her children, people who were supposed to know her, just like chrissy. she made herself so quiet and giving and unobtrusive in other people's lives that all they could say about her was that she never complained. she'd already buried herself long before her death

and looking at all of that with the mike parallels, where he's trying to bury his own desires and is currently struggling to see them as something valuable that's worth pursuing and fighting for as much as other people's happiness is, where no one really knows who he is, where on a meta level he's treated similarly to chrissy (as an argument point or a pariah or someone's boyfriend instead of a person with thoughts and feelings and wants of his own), and even in universe, other characters just typecast him as the overbearing boyfriend or the straight guy or whatever and no one sees him, in part because he's hiding and running out of air, and of course no one sees that either... idk. i have a lot of thoughts and they're all circling around how painfully obvious those fake smiles were after you've seen the real thing

[studynxiety]

06/09/2023

Lately, I have been tired. I am not sure if it's burnout, a random depressive episode or executive dysfunction. All I know is I haven't been really doing as much as I could be. I didn't want to admit it since I was still doing enough to get 80% on most tests and things could be worse.

Looking back, however, I haven't really done much that enjoy lately. I don't remember the last time I turned on some good music and wrote away, burning the midnight candle for something that made me alive. And there has been this constant knot of anxiety at the bottom of my stomach. So, things haven't been vibrant but things aren't exactly bad. It's like waking up on the wrong side of the bad; nothing's horrible but everything's off nonetheless.

All this is to say, I think I need to bounce back and I'm done being passive for this year. I've always been ambitious and I'm going to start pursuing things I want again. I woke up today feeling weirdly motivated so I've decided to start the 100 days of productivity challenge!

Things I hope to achieve from this challenge:

Become good enough in Physics that I can enjoy it again

Finish at least half of the CS50 course

Study for SATS

Make a complete compilation of which Unis to apply to

Finish at least two WIPs

Get better at French

Extra/Less-prioritized goals:

Get abs

learn to cook

Sketch/Draw more often

I think there will be two main obstacles in the way of me accomplishing these things. The first will be finding time. Most of the goals I've mentioned are things I have been putting off for more immediate concerns or just, generally, people needing me for things in the present that need to be dealt with but don't have much of an impact in the future.

The second problem is my undeniable internet addiction. Okay, I feel like internet addiction is too broad; my addiction to constantly consume some form of creative media, be it in the form of books, movies, TV shows, anime, cartoon, comics, or fanfiction. I really need to cut down on that. I think this will be the most difficult part. I'll try cutting out serialized content and instead explore more indie books and movies again. They're usually less addictive but fulfilling in the same.

As always, I'll be ending this post with some talk about the most recent shows that I have been enjoying, which is kind of ironic given the previous paragraph is me just complaining about my inability to stay away from them. Lately, I have been into the ongoing Kdrama "My Lovely Liar." I think the chemistry between the main characters is great and the mystery is alluring. An 8/10 in my books.

Other than that, I've been watching "The Boys." Currently, in season three. It's one heck of a show and it's just so believable and feels like a mirror to reality. The corporate greed of pharmaceutical firms, the corruption among the people who have sworn to protect us, and how hard the world works ... only to maintain the status quo. I think it's very interesting and directly draws parallels to the real world. It's definitely a 10/10 for me. The world building, characters, humour; everything hits just right.

That's all for today. I'll do some chemistry, look over the CS50 course and fill out some forms for some official stuff today and kickstart the productivity challenge tomorrow. I'll try to be more active on tumblr during the 100 days as I need something to keep me accountable. Here is to hoping for better me's and better days and better outcomes.

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Part 2 of my Eri and Overhaul Splurge (I accidentally cut my split my theory in half)

This also means Shigaraki might be Eri’s adopted big brother (The ‘Scariest’ Sibling relationship in BNHA)

And if you notice, Eri has white hair and red eyes (Her mother was shown to also have white hair, but who’s to say that wasn’t supposed to keep you off?)

And because of All for One’s Quirk, he has some expectation that his offspring will have devastating Quirks as well (If not then he also expects that as well)

There’s also the factor that if any of his offspring don’t reach his expectations and don’t do what he wants then he’ll also kill them regardless (Like a Narcissist Parent who manipulates to get what he wants but will show hostility, even abuse if he doesn’t get what he wants)

All for One probably didn’t have any interest in Eri because she didn’t show a useful quirk (As she just made someone vanish) and her whereabouts became unknown but he didn’t care what happened to her (As he cared more about Shigaraki and his development than some missing offspring)

Because while he likes to and is good at hiding his tracks, he also gives me vibes that he doesn’t really care nor concerned about any missing ‘loose ends’

However, if he learns just what kind of devastation Eri can make because of her Quirk then he’s ‘Excited’ and wants to meet his ‘Daughter’

He would probably become very obsessed and almost Yandere-like (But Platonically) over her since she reminds him of his little brother

He would think of Eri as one of his Possessions because he MADE her, meaning she belongs to him and no one else (He’s not going to make the same mistake twice)

He would find it amusing how ‘soft’ he is for his child (He would be shocked for just a moment when he notices how similar Eri’s eyes are to his brother)

All for One wants Eri to see him as her whole world and no one is allowed to take her away from him

If All for One is Eri’s Father then that also makes Shigaraki Eri’s ‘Brother’

This also means One for All is Eri’s Uncle and in a way, Deku is her brother (Including those who are also All for One’s Successors also being her Family)

Heh, All Might is Eri’s Grandfather/Great Uncle (It’s cute)

Though this makes All for One very scornful since these ‘Pests’ are trying to take one of his ‘Possessions’ (Eri) again

All for One would be amazed with Eri’s Quirk since it’s Devastating in a different kind of way (A ‘Heroic’ Quirk that’s actually Villainous in disguise)

I wouldn’t put this past All for One to do evil and cruelty on this scale (As he desires to be the ‘Demon King’, so that means he’s done all crimes and actions of unspeakable Evil during his time alive) so who’s to say he wouldn’t make offspring for his whims (Or even ‘Boredom’) for his own goals/amusement

However, I think Eri would be the most horrified because she might go back to her old thinking, as she’s not just a ‘Cursed Human’ but a ‘Monster’ and she’s the child of a Demon (And wonder why was she even born at all)

If this is actually true (Not all of it, but my theory that Eri is All for One’s Biological Daughter, or even his descendant) I will be shocked since this makes Eri even more important and give an ever deeper relationship between Eri and Deku (Since this technically makes them family, along with All Might, Nana Shimura and even Shigaraki)

This means that the One for All Users are technically family with All for One (It’s in a loop between AFO and OFA, then Nana Shimura and Shigaraki, and branches out to All Might and Deku)

All for One takes Quirks, One for All gives Quirks, Shigaraki can decay anything he touches and Eri can rewind anything she touches (Parallels between Father/Uncle and now Brother/Sister)

However, Eri’s Power is both

Just to clarify, I thought about this from a weird dream I had with Eri running away constantly from ‘Bad People’ (And there was also Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog??) If I ever dream it’s always weird and bizarre

I have late night thoughts about a lot series like this, about what-ifs that could happen in a series. This is actually an astute observation- with Eri being one of AFO's descendants, as it would make sense on why her quirk is so heavily sought after by those who know what it can do and while Dadzawa and the rest of UA is so intent on keeping her safe.

I could see Shigaraki being that kind of scary big brother, if Deku manages to save him and get through to him, if they are actually biologically related. However, I could see him being that kind of rough big brother, who doesn't like anyone but is soft on her, but don't mention it or he will deny it and get defensive.

The worldbuilding and lore behind BNHA is vast, and I wouldn't put it past the author to pull something like this.

This was an enjoyable and eye opening read.

Thank you for this!

[hihopelessromantics]

The Learner Learns Nothing

In which the writing of Seven Deadly Sins expects us to believe that Merlin, the glutton for knowledge, is incapable of learning what really matters over the course of her 3,000 year journey. 

I wrote this inspired by @zeldriszezinho‘s comment on how Merlin was able to reactivate Elizabeth’s curse. The implication that Merlin at some point during the 3000 years gained the ability to break the curse and could have done it AT ANY TIME from that point forward absolutely blew my mind. 

If so canon Merlin is DEAD to me I swear that is so WRONG.

I've never seen a master manipulator character written like this before and I'm not even sure if this is a good way to write a trick villain or whatever the hell she was supposed to be. It sure is baffling so nakaba got that right. I was just as shocked and disbelieving as the sins were. Still am. Regardless of how well it fits her “canon” character and personality it is NOT consistent with the found family themes 😭 Plus it would make her RIDICULOUSLY overpowered... how would she have as much power as a god without serious consequences? And literately no one noticed, ever? Britannia started literately falling apart when Meliodas had that much magical power.

You know what I think I will jump on the hating canon Merlin bandwagon with you zeldriszezinho. I am stitching the Merlins from fanfictions together to make a better, healthier one as a present to the sins for all they've gone through together.

Merlin is just - ugh - it’s too sad. Everyone else gets to be, as the people who remember English class would say, a round character, including many of the antagonists! Tons of minor characters get memorable moments of growth, but Merlin, one of the major characters? She stays static for the most part. Trapped as a plot device until the very end. The narrative leaves her alone, torn away from her found family by an insane twist that I don’t quite understand.

 It’s like Merlin never gave a second thought to how the sins are acting. Ten years out of 3,000 isn’t a lot but someone as smart and observant as Merlin should have seen the way the other sins treat her. They knew close to nothing about her, and she constantly isolated herself emotionally and physically from them, but they never made a move to exclude her from the group, or pry too much, or question her origins. They just loved her unconditionally even though she wouldn’t let them in. There was so much raw potential for her character to have a unique and complicated bond with the sins as a group. Maybe it should have been the wakeup call she needed that the unhealed child inside of her could still learn to receive love. That it wasn’t too late to have a life outside her chaos obsession. Canon left us with a pretty unsatisfying answer as to why she acted the way she has. Like hmmm. Really?

Canon Merlin, you had 3,000 years to decide whether to seek help for your childhood trauma and learn how to love in a somewhat healthy manner and you want me to believe you didn't even try that route??? And that on top of that you effectively prolonged the torment of the only two people shown to love you unconditionally? Whom you supposedly loved in return?? Uhhh heyo! I don't believe you. And also I am holding a sword to your throat getting your shit together is no longer optional.

Sure Merlin can be seen as a character study of how obsession can cause someone to forsake all other aspects of life. We saw it in Frankenstein - saw what became of that whole spectacle and how quickly the perpetrator learned that they didn't actually want [insert here], they were just looking for that basic hierarchy of human needs and weren't ready for the responsibility that comes when using the pursuit of scientific advancement as a substitute for, idk, I think in Merlin's case it would be coming to terms with essentially being treated as a weapon due to her abilities. (meliodas and Elizabeth parallel anyone?? We were robbed of three child soldiers learning to love together and be a family smh thanks a lot gods ) anyway back on topic. What Merlin and Frankenstein have in common throughout their story there are a lot of opportunities that they didn't take, and friends that they kept brushing off, never confiding in them until it was crisis time. Frankenstein's story is a tragedy - he keeps abandoning the rational thought and commitment to ethics that make a good scientist. Any second during his story, while he was neglecting correspondence from friends, neglecting to sleep and eat and pay attention to his needs as a person that the obsession had tossed in the trash bin, he was free to say “hey actually I CAN spare a second from my neverending workload to breathe and think about what's important to me. Why I'm doing this? And how I could do it better. Have I learned anything in this latest deep dive into knowledge?” Instead he is ruled by his emotions, which in the end, keep him from properly emphasizing with other people and actually achieving what he wanted to do. I don't even remember if Frankenstein KNEW what he wanted to get out of his experiments. Probably not considering this the way he immediately freaked out when it actually WORKED. And then it was crisis time, so he goes to his friends, but does he confide in them what really happened? What part he had in it and how he feels about the whole thing? Don't think so. So they just think he's depressed as fuck and going a little crazy. They're completely unable to help him in any substantial way. 

We see this with Merlin. She has to have complete control of the situation at all times so she tells no one. If she can get this ONE THING right finally everything will fall into place. That must be what she thought. But what the hell? Knowledge is and has always been collaborative. We know she was never learning just to learn or for the love of it - it was a poor substitute for the love and attention a child needs to grow up with a good understanding of how to pursue fulfillment. So she was always aiming to accomplish something with her knowledge and all around her were people working together to accomplish something. Hell, she worked together with the sins to accomplish her goal. 3,000 years. She stopped her own time. Physically, right? Or was it mental too? The science there doesn't seem to work with the brain literately rewiring itself as it gets new experiences so. We're just meant to assume she spent 3,000 years trapped in the same mindset while traveling all over Britannia and interacting with God knows how many people. Just out of pure necessity to survive and obtain the information and tools she needs she would have to interact with a LOT of people. That's not even mentioning the people she did research on. And we're expected to believe she didn't learn anything that would make Merlin- smart, curious, motivated little Merlin who tricked two GODS on the OFF CHANCE that what they give her will satisfy the hole in her heart - didn't learn enough about human behavior to give abandoning love and true connection a second thought? Or even TRY to engage meaningfully with anyone? It's not like she had never made that connection with anyone before. What about Meliodas? What about 106 Elizabeths? 

This twist that Merlin might have been manipulating the Sins all along, rather than blowing the reader’s mind with the clues and clever foreshadowing that were there all along, blows a hole in the overarching themes in the story. Merlin’s betrayal is a catastrophe of the highest proportions because it calls into question EVERYTHING they learned up until that point. What she did would cause extensive trauma to everyone involved - all this time they believed that hey, maybe fate brought us together, wasn’t it so good that we finally found people that could understand us? And now they are questioning all of it. So yeah, emotionally, the twist does what it is supposed to. It hurts. But... it doesn’t make sense.  Being in the Seven Deadly Sins causes every other member to learn how to reconcile with themselves, their pasts, their feelings, and their relationships. Why is Merlin the exception? This feels like disappointing writing and a huge waste of character potential. 

It's not like abandoning all emotion and other desires was remotely necessary for Merlin to achieve her goal. She's had fun along the way and that's shown to us. Why are we given ‘i used to have a crush on Meliodas’ as a reason why she would give up on connection or whatever? Merlin that was literally 3,000 years ago when you were 12(?). You didn't talk to anyone about THEIR childhood crushes in all that time? And it's not like Meliodas ever stopped loving or caring about her. Even after getting his emotions stolen bit by bit he only abandons her and the rest of the sins out of necessity. Here she's got a good friend to confide in. And he's EXACTLY the kind of friend she needs if she wants to resurrect an old god! Meliodas is trusting, supportive, willing to Go the Distance for anything he believes in, AND desperate enough to consider extreme courses of action in order to break his and Elizabeth's curses.

All Merlin has to do to potentially get Mel on board is say, "Hey, some of my personal research has turned up something I think you might be interested in. The existence of an old god that the Supreme Deity and Demon King locked away because they feared her power and didn't want her to interfere with their goals.  I've been curious about rumors like these since I was a child, and now I have finally found enough solid evidence to confirm that this god exists. It stands to reason that such a god would be able and even willing to help with the curse on you and Sis-sis. Not a timely solution, but a good plan B or C. I'll be looking into it, and I'll let you know if I find anything that could help you."

What's Meliodas going to say to that? Probably, "Thanks, Merlin!"

He was not afraid of potentially starting an "age of Chaos" when his father told him that is what killing him would mean. Chaos is a mysterious entity of both darkness and light, good and evil, creation and destruction. Previously worshipped by goddesses and feared by the demons. Its agenda, if it even has one, is even more mysterious than Merlin's was before the big reveal. As far as I can infer, Chaos (without the influence of fantasy racism) seems just as likely to bring balance as it could bring upheaval. Something that Britannia desperately needs. And since Chaos is the mother of life in this universe, why would it destroy everything it has created?

It makes sense that if he had known, Meliodas would have been wary of this god, and warned Merlin to be careful, but in the end... wouldn't he have as much reason to help his friend as he would to stop her? Why continue on to release Chaos after the curse is already broken? Fair question. But why not?

Meliodas just wants to live in peace with his loved ones. If releasing Chaos means an "age of Chaos" will occur, well, that just means going back to the beginning, before the eternal game between the Supreme Deity and Demon King. So. The same unknowns that he's faced in his life thus far, except the two dictators manipulating everyone into an eternal war are replaced with the creator of life itself? That would actually sound pretty good to Meliodas, right?

Chaos is disappointed with the weakness of humanity but acknowledged it as, hehehe religious parallels my beloved, "the race most like itself, that embodies its values." Now, this could be 4+ years of religion classes talking but Chaos's previous goal before the Holy War seems to have been to create a race "in its own image." And it did. The question is, now what? I doubt this god is capable of being truly evil because why would evil create creatures with moral compasses? Evil cannot create good and vice versa. We the audience know what happened in Four Knights of the Apocolypse thus far regarding Chaos's preference to humans, but Meliodas and the other Sins have no reason to suspect the entity of chaos would ever go full genocide mode on its own creations. A god that creates all life according to a set of intricate rules (physics, etc.) tends to have patterns of behavior that make sense. Creating everything just to kill it all off doesn't really make sense.

Merlin could damn well have told the Sins, or even just Meliodas, that her goal is to resurrect the original god of their universe that was locked away by the Demon King and the Supreme Deity, who play with people's lives for fun and obviously freaking suck - without making herself look like she has a) gone off the deep end or b) working toward an evil goal that they should immediately put a stop to by any means necessary.

Instead, she just tricks Meliodas and the Sins outright in the most painful way possible. Wtf?

She doesn’t have a solid reason to hurt the people who love her like no one ever has. Who, in their own messy way, have treasured her like her own parents and her people never did.

The twist that her true goal all along was to release Chaos would still work, both as a plot mechanic and for shock value. What’s not shocking about your friend actually being serious about releasing an ancient god, and doing it so soon after Britannia was nearly destroyed by a Holy War? The Sins would have been shocked and hurt all the same with how she orchestrated them coming together, trained Arthur for this exact purpose, and prompted Meliodas to confront and kill his father - all things which were ultimately for the best for all of the races, but with Merlin’s questionable choices, involved a lot more trauma for everyone. Hell, if Merlin got a character arc like the others, the Chaos reveal would actually hurt the Sins MORE. Instead of realizing they didn’t really know her, they would be realizing that the sense of warmth and belonging and the bonds they had forged with each other hadn’t reached Merlin’s heart. That whatever effort they had put into bonding with her wasn’t enough, it didn’t help her the way she had - the way they thought she had helped them. That they had been oblivous to their friend’s suffering and emptiness, that she didn’t trust them the way they trusted her, etc, etc. A deeper and more cutting reveal if you asked me. 

As it is, the reveal makes it so that they didn’t lose a friend and member of their found family. They lost a person who was just... there. Forgotten until it was strictly neccessary for her to be there. Who never truly cared (?). While that’s sad, it’s... not what it could be if she had gotten the chance to genuinely be a part of the sins, physically and emotionally. 

It seems to me that in the moment, Meliodas doesn't seem overly concerned about Chaos. He's angry that Merlin would be willing to blindside and manipulate him, making light of a friendship that's spanned over 3,000 years, for the sake of something that might not even exist. He's angry she seems to value that over everything she already has. Is this the only thing she truly cared about? Was he and his loved ones nothing but pawns to her, just as he was a pawn to his father? Same with the other Sins - they don't know what's going on, but they are angry and hurt at the prospect that their friendship with Merlin was a lie.

THIS, Merlin could have avoided entirely! She is an intelligent, powerful woman - a genius according to some of the most powerful demons alive - and she has BETTER OPTIONS! Choices. By all means, she could have had wonderful, meaningful times with the Sins for all of their journey together, and kept them as friends afterward, maybe finding true fulfillment in the process. All without giving up her pursuit of releasing Chaos. 

She could have learned. Why didn’t she? 

[likesunsetorange]

omg can i hear your thoughts about annie/armin as peeta/katniss i’ve been saying this for such a long time

omg yes!!! thank you for asking like nobody ever really sends me asks so this is so fun to me!!! also i’m sorry for getting on this train late but i’ve seen the light finally!

(also putting the preview thing bc i went on a long ass tangent, i told y’all if you get me started on this i won’t stfu 😭)

but my mutuals and i have been talking about it and we were saying how katniss is definitely not the kind of person who ever wanted to be a hero. she certainly isn’t a selfish person (her volunteering for prim shows this), but she never intended to be the forefront of a revolution. also katniss is very socially inept and pretty unaware, she thinks everyone hates her or she doesn’t like people but she constantly goes out of her way for people bc she cares! i think these are really similar (in my head at least) to how annie is. annie only became a warrior to help her dad (well he also kinda forced her but anyways), and her intention was always just to get back home to him, so that kinda reminds me of katniss. also annie is perceived as mean and aloof, but she’s just not the most social person and isn’t the best as socializing (i think this is most shown in aot jr high), and kind of misinterprets social situations, very similar to katniss! i think annie is a very caring and kind person but her situations have led her to be closed off and causing her goals to be the forefront of her mind, but towards the end of the series she realizes that people do care for her and starts to be more trusting/open (i.e. armin/mikasa/even reiner a bit) and we see a more lighthearted side of her (the okapi scene LOL)!! i think katniss and annie aren’t exactly the same but i see so many similarities between them, even with the whole aruani interaction too, it reminds me a lot of some of the more vulnerable everlark scenes. also annie is very aggressive and so is katniss, and that whole scene where katniss throws peeta into the wall after the whole “if it weren’t for the baby” shenanigans, that’s annie as hell LOL she wouldn’t want to be perceived as weak or vulnerable, it’s just not her

as for armin, armin is literally the equivalent to peeta to me. armin is actually my favorite character after eremika, so i adore the fact that he’s so similar to my favorite book character. i think armin is one of the most kind characters in the story, and his genuine care and devotion to mikasa and eren make me love him so much, but armin is also definitely a very manipulative person. he knew how to manipulate situations to his advantage in order to achieve whatever it is he wanted, and that’s definitely in line with peeta. peeta put on a performance as much as katniss did, but because he knew how to work the room and use his charms to his advantage. i 100% without any thread of doubt in me know armin is capable of pulling off the baby stint, because he would think of the same scenario, using the capitol’s pity to their advantage. being able to be manipulative stems from your ability to read people and your intelligence, and we can tell that armin is good at both of those (how he got eren to confess his true feelings for mikasa just by fucking around with him lol)!! also cute blond boy, blue eyes that’s so armin!!!! but beyond all the manipulation and working for the cameras, peeta did have a genuine care and he loved katniss his whole life, and armin had always been interested in annie as well and she was a bit naive to it too.

honestly i was never the biggest aruani fan (i like them but they’re not a fav basically) but seeing their everlark parallels made me have a new appreciation for the ship!! i could honestly say more but i just woke up and i can’t think of as many canon references to as i’d like!!! but sorry for going on a whole tangent i just love the hunger games a lot 😭

[i-sveikata]

I read the chapter for several hours and now it's already late at night but I don't regret anything. I couldn't put it down, this tension between them, this chase, this passion and danger just captured me. I'm EXCITED. Pete who thought about Macau warms my heart so much 💓 Vegas my boy your father inspired you that you mean nothing and are not worthy of anything but look who is chasing you, who so desperately wants to prove to you that there is a way out and he is next to you 🥺 I’m so sorry for Vegas for what his father inspired him that darkness and hatred are all he has and all he is worth..... And Pete who finally knew the full depth of Vegas's trauma and how painful it is to realize how much your loved one is broken and breaking before your eyes 💔 I knew what was going to happen in this chapter but the way you described it, that line between fighting and shooting and Vegas and Pete being excited, it was just WOW. I was so tense the whole time. That parallel that all the time Vegas was running after Pete and begging him to be with him, but here Pete finally realizes how much Vegas means to him and runs after him all the time, please stay so WE COULD BE.....Thanks for all these emotions 🫂💙I hope Pete makes Vegas comfortable after waking up and he himself will be fine (it was too emotional for him) I want them to finally be happy, or traumatized mafia boys in love🥺But I feel Korn won’t leave them alone😭 Too many letters, but I’m so grateful for this work, thank you for your work, it’s incredible 🫶

omg sorry i always hear about everyone reading it so late at night for them and these timezones are straight up working against us!!! but to be fair i did post it like 1AM in my timezone too lol so im just as sleep deprived as you probably hahaah.

that makes me so happy to hear!! it was literally the culmination of the fic, the penultimate show down without it actually being the complete end so i really hope after all the build up and tension that it delivered!!

omg like???? so soft of him tbh i really wanted to build on that final scene on the show- like where macau is so comfortable around pete that he cuddles up to him with vegas and it just seemed to work so well. pete might be tough and practical to the point of hurtful sometimes but he does care!!!

ugh yeah we really did see the worst effects of vegas' trauma this chap, like here he has something good with pete, pete who has already given him one too many chances than what he deserves and even with him running off constantly during the coup, pete is still chasing him, still trying to pull him back from that ledge. so glad kan is dead now because i dont know if vegas would have ever made the choice to turn his back on him. not unless kan took his intentions to hurt pete further and it literally came down to the two of them in the room (like that time in the safe house when kan nearly killed him) and even if it had ended like that, and vegas had chosen pete like we all knew he would, it would have still been agony for vegas.

pete is absolutely going to take his caring up to eleven once he's fully conscious again and can get in to see vegas. he is going to be annoying so many doctors with vegas, whilst also making sure vegas follows their post op recovering instructions lol. but we all know vegas secretly loves being taken care of so the both of them will be living their best unhinged lives.

no spoilers but korn has some more tricks up his sleeve he always does but now that pete isn't restricted by his agony of not betraying the main family anymore i do think korn is going to be in for a surprise.

ahhhh youre so welcome!! im so very glad that you liked it :)

[electro-scorpion-moving]

can’t stop thinking about the ocs gang playing terrraria lately. mary would be a ranger obviously, and shannon would be melee and they’d be a godtier team. mary would be like “sorry, i don’t wanna babysit” when asked to play multiplayer with the rest, but then pop in every so often anyway, help with the bosses and/or drop off some helpful stuff she found in her own world with shannon. she has her own single player world, but she hasn’t touced it in years, she plays multiplayer with shannon so much

ava is a summoner, considered (relatively) weak as hell bc the ais for the summons suck, but she’s determined to make it work for her. beatrice is absolutely mixed. playing multiplayer with ava is a bit stressful for beatrice because she’s a good fighter and wants to focus more on building and resource gathering, meanwhile ava is not that good of a fighter (relatively speaking), but loves to spelunk around, and seemingly every time beatrice turns around, ava’s died and is just like 🥺 please go get my money and/or items for me, bea, because she’s always running broke since she can’t resist buying all the useless stuff from the trading merchant, and misplacing her items. neither of them have a single player world of their own, and they share a world together

lilith actually plays “multiplayer” with avatrice a lot, if multiplayer counts as mostly deliberately joining the world when they’re afk or asleep or something. she has so many random bases around the house, and avatrice only find them because they notice one of their npcs is gone and has teleported clear across the map for some reason, the some reason being lilith’s bases. sometimes she’ll join when avatrice are in the game, but no matter how much they try to pay attention, she always manages to slip in unnoticed. she always finds and leaves avatrice a bunch of amazing loot in their base and she’s a great teammate when fighting bosses, so they can’t complain too much. Also parallel plays with beatrice a lot, they’re often just resource gathering or building in silence a lot, and they understand each other wants/needs without having to even say a thing

aside from playing with avatrice, lilith plays multiplyer with camila as well, with a world on mastermode. she’s good, but do not ask her how many graves she has from her early days playing mastermode. they’re in the several thousands. lilith doesn’t really try on avatrice’s world, because she’s trying to be sneaky mainly, but she’s a really good builder. her and camila’s world is full of beautiful ass buildings and she’s constantly building more. tbh that’s part of why she’s in avatrice’s world so often and being sneaky about it, aside from being emotionally repressed, because she’s just gathering blocks to build with there instead of in her and camila’s own world because she doesn’t want to mess up her own world

camila can’t build for shit, F. she’s great at making farms, but building? nah. she’d just live in dirt squares if she could. extremely skilled and often extremely lucky as well, whenever you ask about her gameplay in terraria she’ll say something like “oh i found 16 life crystals in one cave under 10 minutes!!” or “i just beat skeletron in the ‘spawn in hell’ seed world that i started started up last week”