#also i regret nothing

[basketobread]

i love how this blog started out as an astarion spam blog and then quickly evolved into a girls only polycule spam page

[goldenheartstudios]

I wanna think of a Xiaolin Showdown MLP AU

 Disclaimer: Despite the premise, I might go deeper than you think

  With that out of the way, I really don’t know how to explain my reason of making this post-

  I guess the only way that I can is that I’ve been rewatching some episodes from My Little Pony Friendship is Magic (because I unapologetically love that series), and then I thought to myself “Hey, how would the characters from Xiaolin Showdown be like in the My Little Pony world?”

  And then I kept on thinking

  And thinking

  And it seems that I have a lot more ideas about it than I thought

  So, as a little self indulgence (by combining two very dear shown to my heart), I made this post about how would Xiaolin Showdown characters (and story) translate to the My Little Pony world

  And who knows, maybe this would inspire someone else to think of this as well

  Okay, since I have a lot of ideas, I’ll try to present them with “chapters” and such, so that it’s more organized and you can go read the subject you’re more interested about:

1. The premise/storyline idea

  This can go in different routes: you keep it accurate to the Xiaolin Showdown story by making each of the characters being ponies with elemental magic who search for artifacts and fight the equivalent pony versions of the villains, you keep it accurate to the My Little Pony story and you see how the characters in pony version follow and affect the storyline, or you do a sort-of combination of the two shows’ stories

  And I personal went to the third option, as I find it more interesting and/or I’m more unhinged by wanting to create a new plot on a “what if” concept

  So hear me out-

  My idea of a premise would be that a long time ago, Wuya was turned to stone by Dashi using the Elements of Harmony. However, after centuries later, she was able to come back in a weaker state and she wants to rule over the world

  Omi was trained with the purpose of protecting Equestria, and after the return of Wuya, he, alongside Dojo, is given the task to find the Elements of Harmony alongside other three warriors

  Little does he know that his companions will be the key of finding those elements

  I imagine that the beginning of the episodes will be about Omi recruiting the three chosen warriors (who were chosen from a prophecy or something), and then they go on a journey of searching for the elements while also trying to stop Wuya from getting more powerful

 The Shen Gong Wus would be artifacts, which are fewer in number and some of them are either established from the MLP show, or are inspired from the Xiaolin Showdown show as well. Wuya, alongside Jack, usually searches for them in order to become more powerful. They would be more prevalent than in MLP, but not the main focus like in XS, and the showdowns are confrontations/encounters with the bad guys who got a dangerous artifact, which at the end it’s either broken by the good guys or locked away

(I’m aware how this all sounds like a lot but I’m having a great time thinking of this so shush)

  I do have more ideas for the story, but I’ll talk about it when I get to talk about the characters adaptations since the ideas are more tied to them

2. The Elements of Harmony

  Firstly, I’d like to talk about how the element storyline would look like

  Just like in MLP, the elements are the main characters

  With the premise I stated earlier, I imagine that Omi would find out that the Elements reside in him & his friends around the time Wuya takes over Equestria once she gets her powers back

  Maybe at the beginning of the story he finds the rocks, but after they get destroyed, he’s convinced that they were fake and the real elements are somewhere else, so he continues the search. But along the story, something happens that makes a character showcase their element through their actions and do a mysterious glow which gives them a power boost (yes, combining story elements from Equestria Girls as well)

  But the glow serves as an element reveal, as the elements went inside the characters once the stones were broken. And once the last one gets revealed at the end, all of them gather their powers and turn Wuya to stone once again (and then the later storyline/villains come in the play)

  Now as for element pairings, these are the ideas that I have in mind:

Kindness: Clay

  I chose this pairing mostly because it feels fitting, but I do have an explanation for it

  Out of all the monks, Clay is the one who approaches friends with kindness the most. You always see him helping out by catching someone with his lasso, giving out a hand when he can and the way he talks to others is in a friendly and careful way

  There are a lot of other things that define him, and there are exceptions to his gentle behavior (mostly when he’s made fun of), but the main instinct he has in approaching his friends is kindness, which could be another reason why he shows frustration and displeasure when his friends don’t show or reciprocate the kindness, because it doesn’t sit well with his virtues

Generosity: Kimiko

  I’d say that Kimiko’s way of approaching friendship is sometimes similar to Clay (since compassion is a strong trait of her), but there’s something particular that makes me lean to give her the element of generosity

  That is, the way she shows affection

  We’ve seen that when she’s happy for a friend, she expresses it by giving a hug or a kiss on the cheek, or if someone is in a bad mood, she gives her time and attention to them. And generosity it’s not only about giving physical things, it can also be about giving your time and care to someone, which Kimiko does plenty

  She’s the kind of friend who will ask you to play something together if you’re feeling down, she’s the kind of friend who will stay with you and help you understand something better. Of course, she does have her own principles and limits of giving, but you can feel how her generosity is shown through her compassion

Honesty: Jack

  Hear me out

  I know that he constantly lies to everyone including himself, but that’s why I’m more inclined for him to be The Element of Honesty

  Because it would be hilariously ironic

  However, I also think it would be very interesting and a good way to prevent the main cast from using the elements for any threat. Maybe they’ll be able to use their element individually, but since one of them is on the bad side and he’s barely trying to be honest, this means that the only times they can do that magic of friendship beam is when Jack allies with them without being an excuse to betray them in the process of working together

  I also think it fits him in some way. Like, sometimes he gets too honest about himself, despite trying to deny it, and many times he’s just a bad liar, like it’s not in his nature to be dishonest

  And one thing that I find interesting is that he’s the most honest in friendships. It’s not that noticeable because he barely has friends, but when he wants to form a friendship to someone he straight up shows it

  And let’s be honest, he does have a big mouth that he’s not afraid to use when he wants to criticize or insult someone he doesn’t respect

Laughter: Dojo

  Yes, I’m making the dragon a part of the elements

  Also, you better not think I’m assigning this element to Dojo because I consider him the clown of the squad or something like that. I think he fits this element because he both brings and enjoys laughter

  There are many times when his presence brightens the mood and the tone of the scene, and he chooses to go with a more relaxed and lighthearted approach on things despite living for so long and suffering losses in his life, which I find admirable. He feels like the heart of the group, the one everyone likes to have around, even if sometimes he can be too much or annoying

  He also searches for good times in relationships, where he gets anxious about losing bonds or comfort, which feels fitting to the need of fun and happiness which is what The Element of Laughter represents

Loyalty: Omi

  If you thought that I would give him The Element of Magic just because he’s the main character, then you don’t realise how much The Element of Loyalty is fitting for him

  Omi is all about loyalty in his relationships. He’d do anything to follow his words and principles, and he expects everyone else to do the same. He actually puts so much value in loyalty that he can’t even comprehend the idea of a friend not being loyal as well, example being the famous Raimundo betrayal

  He had to go through a lesson of deception and even then, he still chose to be loyal to his principles. And when he feels that he wronged a friend, he tries to compensate by showing even more loyalty to them to show that he’s there for them and to prove that he cares

  And even the show made note of his loyalty towards others in season 3, so it’s pretty much obvious that this is his element

Magic: Raimundo

  I promise you I did not give him this element just because he’s my favorite and I actually have an explanation for this-

  First, I need to give out my interpretation on what does The Element of Magic truly mean, since it’s a vague term of its own and I saw many people giving their personal take on it

  As an Element of Harmony, I see Magic as friendship itself. It’s the value of friendship as a whole, where you’d do anything to keep the friends around you. It’s the principle of forming connections and growing from them, it’s the “spark” that keeps people together

  And well, that’s him. That’s Raimundo

  He’s the one who sacrifices himself for his friends, who holds more value over the ones he cares for than himself. He’ll do anything for his friends, and realising how much they mean for him, more than anything in the world he could get, is the reason why he turned against Wuya and trapped her in the box

  Like, come on, if this was in MLP his eyes would shine Twilight Sparkle style

  He’s also the driving force of action, who will act to protect his dear ones because he cares for his bonds. It’s both simple and deep, and that’s why I find this element so fitting for him

  Now that I assigned The Elements of Harmony to the characters, I can talk about the MLP species I’d assign to them, which I have a couple of characters in mind already

3. What MLP species would they be

  I’m saying from the start that I’ll not talk about each of the characters from the show because it will make the post longer than it already is (Tho if you’re curious about my thoughts on other characters you can ask!). The characters I’ll be talking about are the main heroes and villains, where each of them will have an elaboration based on the kind of choice and my process of thinking which led to it

  Starting with an easy one:

Clay: Earth Pony

  Okay this one’s obvious I’ll admit-

  Like, it’s literally in its name, and it’s well known how tied are the earth ponies with farming culture. And many strong ponies are earth ponies and Clay’s personality fits right in with earth ponies so this was an instant choice

  However, one thing that’d be interesting to think about is how his element magic would affect him as a pony. You can go with a lot of different routes: you can keep it grounded by providing a strength boost, you can go a little more magical by giving him the ability to shift the ground or you can go all out and give him the same abilities he has in the show

  I personally like the idea that when he uses his element/has the glow, he has the ability to command the earth by moving the ground however he likes, like in the show, because it’s more tied with the series and it would be nice for him to have something magical as an earth pony

Kimiko: Kirin

  I originally thought of her being an unicorn, but then I realised that I could go on a more creative route and make her something that’s not the classic pony style, which it’s a Kirin

  For those who don’t know what a Kirin is in the show, they’re a type of ponies who are able to turn into a Nirik that can cast fire when they lose their temper (they also have a horn that gives them the ability to levitate objects)

  Aside from the obvious fit with the fire-y anger, I also think Kimiko would look nice as a Kirin, with the stylish mane and tail. And I think it would be interesting to see how she interacts with others while coming from a different culture, or how her background as a Kirin affects her, since in the show they oppressed their voice and emotions in order to not cause more destruction with their temper

  Maybe she made the potion to get her voice back, and this leads to her wanting to experiment with other things. It would be interesting to see her interest of invention be translated to making a variety of potions in this world

Omi: Unicorn

  Even if the idea of him being an earth pony who’s very talented in fighting is tempting, I feel like he fits more as a unicorn for a couple of reasons

  First, it’s personality. Since unicorns tend to see themselves more special or powerful because of their ability to use magic, Omi would fit right in with this. He could be a prodigy who got his cutie mark very early on and he’s already highly knowledgeable in using magic spells, especially the water-related ones. Him using magic could also backfire, because I would see him try to do spells that are too advanced for him out of curiosity (or because he thinks he could do them), but of course something goes wrong and now he has to fix it.

  And I also imagine he’d be like Twilight in a sense, by being unfamiliar with other races and cultures because he’s been surrounded with unicorn culture and study. So aside from getting over his ego of being stronger than everyone because he’s a unicorn, he’ll also learn that everyone is special in their own way and there’s more to being strong than having magic, which would be interesting

Raimundo: Griffon

  Okay hear me out-

  I did think of him being a pegasus, but it just didn��t feel fully fitting. Yes, a pegasus is fast, can control the weather, can be laid-back and quite of an adventurer, but it didn’t quite depict Raimundo’s issues like isolation and opening up to others

  And then I thought of the idea of him being something else than a pony and it just clicked

  Like, a griffon is so fitting for him. They’re snarky, distrusting, greedy and can be quite the pranksters, but we know they can be kind, caring and desire friendship and company like anyone else. And Rai would fit perfectly with this premise: he needs to learn how to see things beyond his griffon culture and that it’s okay to be kind and make friends

  And it could also be a reason for him and Omi not getting along that well. As Raimundo is not a pony and has a culture wayyy different from his, Omi would not know how to communicate with him and he’d sometimes unintentionally belittle him because he’s not even a pony. Because why would he be involved in a matter about friendship? Why would he be a part of a matter about ponies in the first place? (Dojo is an exception because Omi grew up with him + he was Dashi’s companion)

  Which is why it would be even more meaningful when Rai reveals his Element of Harmony, because not only Omi doubted him, he also doubted himself, and him being the element Magic only shows how anyone is deserving of friendship

  Also… I won’t deny that I had a certain character inspire me to make this choice…

Dojo: Sea Serpent & Dragon hybrid

  That’s right, we’re going more complex with our choices

  I know Dojo is a dragon and it would be simpler to just make him that, but he doesn’t look like the traditional dragon from MLP, despite them having very diverse body types. But making him as a sea serpent just because he looks like one is not quite fitting either

  So, I decided on both

  In the AU, he would be the first (and maybe only) dragon-sea serpent hybrid, who can fly despite having no wings (maybe magic/an artifact is involved if you want to make it more sense). He can also breathe fire, but because of being half sea serpent, he has issues with it most of the time

  And you can choose if he’s unable to shrink to a small size, or he can shrink with the use of an artifact

Jack: Unicorn

  Just like with Omi, I first thought of him to be a simple earth pony who’s talented in making inventions

  But then I thought of a better idea that’d fit with his character more: a unicorn who’s terrible at magic

  Like, he’s so bad at magic that any spell he does blows up in his face, and the most he can do is levitate small objects around. But, because that, he developed a skill to making inventions of advanced technology, in order to compensate on his lack of magic skills

  And I also imagine that he’d be very smug about it too, especially if he can do inventions that are artifact/high magic spell level. But since his technology is too advanced for the current area, it’s not rare for his creations to have flaws in his design, which makes them less impressive for those who don’t know the technicality of his inventions and have magic to do stuff anyway

Wuya: Alicorn

  I did have trouble thinking of Wuya’s version since most of the show she’s seen as a ghost, but eventually I came up with the compromise of choosing something that exists in this world, but with some alterations

  Firstly, I’d say that she started as a unicorn and her appearance is something closer to Mistmane, with a sharp horn and flowy mane

  But when she became an expert in magic, she started study-ing “forbidden magic”, alongside being inspired by the way some creatures use magic as well

  This led to her desire to use her powers to her benefit, making herself an alicorn with a forbidden spell as well. But when she got defeated by Dashi and turned to stone, she lost her magic abilities, being reduced to a powerless alicorn who can only fly and feel magic from things like artifacts

  However, she’s still presented as a threat, because of her knowledge in forbidden magic and various artifacts

Chase: Alicorn Umbrum

  Okay if Wuya was difficult, Chase was even more, because I went back-and-forth with what he could be. And even now I’m partially set on with this idea

  But what I have in mind is this: he’s a reversed King Sombra

  Alright, I’ll elaborate. He first started as a unicorn/earth pony, who's achievements got recognised and he became an alicorn (which is what I imagine for Dashi & Guan as well). But just like in the show, he got tempted by Hannibal to get more power and this is the result: he got turned into an umbrum who feeds on hate

  What are umbrums tho, you may ask? Well, an umbrum (also called shadow pony) is King Sombra’s race. They usually look different from Sombra because he was made to be an unicorn to fool the crystal ponies (this lore is from the comics)

  In disguise, they look like this:

  And their true form looks like this:

  Which is pretty creepy and the main reason why I chose this option

  In this AU, you are able to turn into an umbrum with a special potion. The benefit of being this is that can get more powerful by feeding on others’ hate, but the downside is that your true form looks, well, like that

  And I also imagine that the usual form Chase has is less like the disguised version and more like Sombra’s version, where he looks like his original alicorn self. But in order to unleash his true powers, he has to turn into his true form (which he’s not a fan of it because it’s ugly)

  I’ll also make it that instead of making the potion over and over again, he has to consume other people’s hate to keep his power, and the bigger/stronger the creature is, the more power he gets (which is why he’ll be interested in “eating” Dojo at the beginning). Oh, and he also keeps the ability to make other people his minions, but they need to meet the requirement of swearing their loyalty to him

Hannibal

  This guy

  This motherfucker

  Is punishing me for being my favorite villain by being the most difficult character to decide a MLP version for

  I’m so undecided on what he can be, I didn’t write his species in the title because of it

  Sure, there technically are demos in the world, but we only saw them once in My Little Pony Equestria Girls and they looked nothing like Hannibal

  Sure, I could make him a changeling since he changes his appearance the most in the show and I can see it fit, but I’m not full-on board with it because I literally cannot imagine Hannibal being something else than his tiny vegetable form

  So I’m gonna leave this with two options: he’s a special changeling who feeds on negative emotions rather than love, or he’s an exception and he’s still his vegetable demon self, who uses an artifact to change his appearance

  Choose the idea you prefer, or you can come up with a different one. Anything is good in my book

  Now that I talked about the characters’ versions in the AU, I can elaborate more on something I’ve been hinting to, which is also a relevant part of My Little Pony:

4. How are the alicorns assigned

  We know that in the MLP world someone becomes an alicorn by achieving something great, but since there are exceptions and debates on this, I thought of elaborating on an idea I have for this AU

  In this AU, Dashi, Guan & Chase were the first alicorns of Equestria, having achieved many things in their life and becoming great warriors. However, after Wuya turned herself into an alicorn & Chase betrayal, there were no other heroes predestined to raise to this rank, and Dashi retiring soon after he hid the Elements of Harmony made Guan the only good alicorn who was still around the ponies

  But with the new arrival of our young warriors, it was told that one of them will rise once again to the power of an alicorn by achieving something great and becoming the leader of the group

  And, well, it’s not hard to guess who was the one most confident in becoming an alicorn

  I imagine this also contributed to Omi’s ego in this AU. Having already been a unicorn, he’ll think that he’s the most qualified on becoming an alicorn & the leader, he just has to prove himself

  It’s not like the griffon from the group will rise to the title, he’s not even a pony

  But that’s what Omi thinks, and the griffon Raimundo does become the leader in the end

  And since he’s not a pony, he won’t become an alicorn. He’ll become something else, something new

  Something like a Golden Griffon, where he has the underside of his wings and other parts of his body decorated with golden feathers. And he’ll get the duty to guide others and bring the ponies and other creatures together, while facing the evil forces who try to get in their way

  So yeah, this is my concept of a Xiaolin Showdown MLP AU! I may or may not do something more with this concept in the future, but I thought it would be nice to share it and leave it out of my head

  If you read through all of this and have your own ideas, I’d love to hear them! But either way, I hope you had at least some entertainment reading my silly little rant haha

[melioristicbeast]

So while I know Stiles canonically is probably a classic rock guy going by his shirts (although you cannot tell me the kid doesn't jam out to lady gaga's the fame monster), are you really in a fandom unless you project aspects of yourself onto characters?

Specifically an unhinged case of 'will listen to absolutely anything' taste in music - I'm the 'never pass the AUX cord' in my friend group.

The song in question (that i had on repeat enough one year that it was on my spotify wrapped) under the cut!

Other music headcanon posts: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

I just quite like the idea of Stiles zoning out to some strange beats :)

[daily-regretevator-doodles]

Ok now give pilby the 161 of clubs

Floor 91: ♠️♣️

still don't know anything about poker,,,

[angie-words]

Happy Valentine's Day 😅

Also: I did some more romantic ones too if you're looking for something to soothe you

[kermdoeswriting]

Just Like You

It was supposed to be a normal vacation.

Just a road trip around the east coast with his best friends and his older sister before the 3 of them all separated to their respective universities.

No dangerous ghosts to fight or trap in the Ghost Zone. No GIW to hide from. And best of all, no needing to show off his ghost side for any danger.

For once Danny got to just relax and let the heroes handle everything! And he has got to say, it was definitely something he wishes he could do more often.

There was no way anything could happen, right?

WRONG

Danny honestly should have known the calm wouldn't have lasted very long. Being a halfa tends to bring unwanted attention from the dead no matter where he ends up going. And it wasn't like he could just go and turn this ability off.

They had originally combatted that by avoiding the more ghost infested cities. Places like Gotham, Bludhaven, Ivy Town, etc. And while it did suck to take those places off of their schedule it was genuinely for the betterment of their No Ghosts Allowed (Except Danny) Trip.

But even that didn't really stop the dead from approaching, unfortunately.

He had died and the dead tended to be interested in how he managed to shake that death title off to still be alive. At least half way, anyways.

Danny didn't mind the curiosity but it was kind of irritating to deal with as the vacation continued on. That was why he had no real regrets for glaring down a girl, who was very obviously a ghost in her solid form, as she scanned him over from the other side of the street.

Despite this, the girl didn't seem to care. She continued to try peering into his core from across the street, trying to see what exactly was off about him and it was pissing Danny off to no end. Her friends, a dark haired teenage boy wearing Superman merch and a blonde girl with pigtails, tugged on her shoulder and arm to try and snap her out of it but it didn't do much.

With no real warning for his friends and sister, he took off straight to the girl and her friends table and stared back at her even more. He knew they'd be following behind him anyways, they always did.

"Can I help you?" He glowered, eyes pinched together as she seemed to finally come to a conclusion to whatever she was thinking about now that he was at the table with them.

The girl breezed through the table before Danny could even blink, floating above him for a second before she started to circle him excitedly.

"You're just like me!" The girl brightened at the sight of him, before turning to look at her group of friends and gesturing to him again. "Birdie he's like me!"

Danny could only stiffen as all eyes around the table turned to look over him and a different black haired teen eyed him suspiciously, presumably Birdie, as he nodded.

"Yeah Suz," Danny heard the boy agree alongside the approaching footsteps of his own family getting close behind him.

"Just like you"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Or Basically

Danny is on vacation in Rhode Island with his family and the Young Justice team are out eating lunch as civilians for once when Secret (the teams resident ghost girl) realizes she isn't the only kinda dead person able to walk between life and death nearby.

[saelrum]

At this point you guys are just ASKING to get kicked--

[alt-wannabe]

MCSR MAKEUP!!!

day 1: feinberg :3

[daryslaytonramblings]

family gathering

[riricitaa]

[sub]astian stan

[anyknotrants]

Alfred had died once. 

And none of the bats knew. 

It was a night like any other. Shortly after it was revealed who was hiding under the red hood. The bats were either in their own houses or on patrol. 

Alfred was alone in the manor, waiting for them to come home. He always waits for them to come home.

And he had a heart attack. On the very chair Thomas used to sit in. On the very chair he used to read stories to his grandchildren. 

And he had died.

And he met Lady Death and Lady Gotham. 

They greeted him like an old friend, and in a sense, they were, but with a sad smile on their lips. 

But no, that couldn't be right. 

Alfred couldn't die just yet.

He still needed to get Bruce to therapy and to watch him walk his kids down the aisle one day. 

He needed to be there for Richard, as the young boy still carried too much guilt and responsibility; no one of his age should.

He needed to be there for Jason when he'll finally be ready to come home.

He needed to be there for Tim. Make sure that boy didn't work himself to death.

He had to be there for Cass, help her connect to the family like she always wanted.

He needed to be there for Duke, get him fully settled into the madness that was this family.

He needed to be there for Steph, to show her that this family cared, legally theirs or not.

And oh... he needed to be there for Damian. That boy... that boy reminded him so much of his s- of Bruce. He was just a kid, and yet until recently no one treated him like one. He needed to make sure he could get at least some actual childhood.

He needed to be there. He needed to take care of the Waynes, to try to make sure they didn't die (-again) because they were being idiots. 

And he needed to finally meet his great-grandchildren.

So no, Alfred couldn't die just yet; that much he knew.

He made a deal with Lady Gotham and Lady Death then and there. 

As long as the Wayne family will need him, Alfred will be there. He is to serve them and will never know peace until his service is no longer needed.

Alfred woke up, his heart beating again, and went to put on for tea, like nothing ever happened.

[sunowls]

A loosely inspired Frieren #haikaveh AU (with side cynonari)

They had good times together even when the realization comes a tiny little too late.

[rosetterer]

pls be kind to me, i'm rusty...

[imadhatt3r]

There's a sort of small personal story arc happening in Koujaku's route that I haven't seen talked about much, and it is one relating to Aoba's struggles with his masculinity and his perception as a man by others.

This story arc heavily deals with cultural gender norms and expectations, and so I will be working with them; This doesn't reflect my personal view on gender roles and expectations in real life. This is also not for or against any headcanons regarding any character's gender- I have no opinions on them or problems with people seeing any character as trans.

Okay, without further ado:

The moment where Koujaku and Aoba canonically meet for the first time happens during their childhood. Aoba was bullied by other children for his long hair and for "looking like a girl". Koujaku stepped in to protect him, thinking that Aoba's a girl, and was allegedly suprised when Aoba turned out to be a boy, but his attitude towards Aoba never changed.

This event clearly had a big influence on Aoba, on how he views himself, Koujaku, and how he thinks Koujaku views him. When we first meet Koujaku in-game, he is seen defending himself from a woman's overly protective boyfriend and being a charmer to her in turn when she apologizes for his behavior. It's established that Koujaku has a lot of female admirers, and a bit later it's revealed that he attracts a lot of men too, but moreso as a kind of role model/aspirational figure- that's why benishigure exists in the first place.

Aoba is shown to be annoyed or downright kinda scared of Koujaku's fans; Of course, it makes sense- Aoba is shown to be a private person that dislikes attention, but I believe that there is a second layer to all that- jealousy.

Aoba identifies as a man in-game and asserts it multiple times. He is aware of his gender. Koujaku is shown to be both flirty and chivalrous towards women around him- he spends time with them, initiates physical contact, compliments them etc. Aoba is always annoyed whenever he sees Koujaku doing that, but his reasons aren't fully clear- it seems like he feels like Koujaku's behavior is, in some way, fake, or that he just dislikes PDA in general. Aoba isn't jealous of the female attention Koujaku gets- he doesn't want to be in his place, because, as we established, he doesn't like being the center of attention. This isn't a dick measuring contest with Aoba being salty that he's coming up short.

Aoba is jealous of the women. He's the one who wants Koujaku to flirt with him, touch him, be chivalrous to him, protect him, but he believes that it will never happen, because Koujaku only acts this way towards women. Men want to be him, women want to be with him, but Aoba is neither; He's not a man who wants to be him, nor is he a woman who wants to be with him- there's not a place he can comfortably occupy, in his mind.

Mind you, I don't believe that he is aware of his feelings- hence his clusterfuck of an attempt to make Koujaku's flirting with women a bad thing. It's not coherent, it doesn't really make any internal sense, because Aoba has no idea he's even trying to lead himself away from something.

In the good ending, Koujaku briefly mentions that he thinks Aoba sleeps in so much because he wants to get his attention, and I can 100% see it as being true- Aoba doesn't know how to get Koujaku to treat him like he does women around him, so he chooses more covert ways to get that desired attention and care.

I also see Aoba's haircut to be symbolic/meaningful of his relation to his masculinity being percieved by others. Aoba's hair was the reason why he and Koujaku met as kids and established their friendship and later relationship. When they were cut, Aoba started to look more conventionally "masculine", and yet the haircut is also, in a way, representative of the beginning of his and Koujaku's relationship. It's because Koujaku doesn't care that Aoba is a man- hell, in the CD drama, he even admits that he's straight up attracted to Aoba's masculinity. If Koujaku liked Aoba BECAUSE he saw him as female-like, wouldn't he want to keep his hair long/feminine?

This is kinda explored in various extra material like the summer side story and valentine's day story- Aoba seems to believe that while Koujaku is with him out of love/attraction, he's being treated more as a novelty, a "girl-boy" that's going to be replaced by an "actual woman" one day. He's afraid that the chocolates he made for Koujaku for valentine's day will be seen as "gross", and he expects to see a mountain of chocolate given to Koujaku by women when he comes to his apartment. In the summer story, he expects Koujaku to deny their relationship when they're being harassed by drunk benishigure, and that he will be left behind when Koujaku is approached by female admirers. This never happens- Koujaku actually reassures Aoba that he's never going anywhere, and that Aoba has nothing to worry about. This is framed as Aoba being simply jealous, but I think that there is enough evidence to imply that his gender has a lot to do with it. We don’t know how would he react if Koujaku was approached by a man, but it's mentioned multiple times that it's seeing and thinking of Koujaku being surrounded by women gets Aoba down especially hard.

I feel like it's also important to look into the bad ending for Koujaku's route too, because if you look at it through that lense, you can see some interesting stuff. First and foremost, Shiroba is dressed in a sexualized version of the miko garb (miko are shinto shrine maidens, and they are exclusively women) that includes stockings, and his hair is just as long, if not longer, than Aoba's. He also has red tassels in his hair, right behind his ears, which sort of look like earrings. In short, it would almost appear like Shiroba is trying to look more "feminine" in order to appeal more to the way he percieved Koujaku's tastes- after all, Shiroba/Desire is all of Aoba's impulses, thoughts, and desires taken to the extreme. Aoba thought that Koujaku likes women and femininity, so Shiroba WILL make himself look as feminine as he can to make Koujaku like him more.

There's also the fact that, compared to their good end sex scene, Shiroba is much more... Placid. In the good end, Aoba speaks, he laughs, he laughs AT Koujaku, he tries to turn his head away but agrees to look at Koujaku in the end; He is an active participant who is willing to laugh at his partner (in a way) and make demands. In contrast, Shiroba mostly goes with what Koujaku wants to do; He participates to a degree, sure, but he allows Koujaku to bite him, lick his blood, and fuck him pretty violently without any sort of resistance. This might be a stretch, but it can be seen as Shiroba trying to play a more "feminine" role- which means being passive, allowing your (male) partner to do whatever he wants to do with you (even when it's painful or uncomfortable), and let him essentially use you as a receptacle of his emotions and bodily fluids.

This is a very narrow understand of conventional gender roles, but given that Shiroba is a being of extremes, it makes sense for him to see his own gender and dynamic with Koujaku as that simple and two-dimensional. This whole ending is all about misunderstood intentions/desires, so Shiroba is doing all he can to embody the most extreme conventional femininity in an attempt to appeal to Koujaku, while not having a clue that Koujaku was actually attracted to Aoba's masculinity.

The funniest part of it all is that Koujaku is actually a pretty feminine man himself; His very design blends masculine and feminine elements, which @asarigg points it out in her excellent essay on Koujaku, (among plenty other things), and the way he acts mixes masculinity and femininity too. However, Aoba either doesn't see it, or he treats Koujaku as a "special case"; It's probably the most clear in the scene in the CD drama where Aoba says that hairpins "usually" look bad on men (after Koujaku asked him if he'd like to wear one), but that Koujaku makes it work. The whole plotline/emotional core of this route centers on Aoba relying on his simplified image of Koujaku when it comes to how he thinks about him, only to be proven dead wrong and forced to confront how multi-layered of a person Koujaku is- to reject the image he made of him in his head as a child and make a new, more nuanced one as an adult.

When Aoba was a kid, he saw Koujaku as his hero, someone who protected him, watched over him; He was kind of his masculine ideal, someone he wanted to be when he'll be older. Now that they're adults, Aoba still sees Koujaku as someone hyper-masculine, whose feminine traits and behaviors are glossed over because Koujaku is "allowed to" be feminine a bit. The sad thing is that a lot of Koujaku's masculinity is kind of a ruse that was taken on as a defense mechanic, learned back when Koujaku was living in an abusive household, when he was a victim of abuse, saw abuse inflicted onto his mother, and was possibly forced to perform violence to some degree as means of "education" (things like learning to fight hand-to-hand or swordfighting).

Koujaku can fight because he tried to fight his abusive father and was trained to kill in the future, once he takes over the criminal empire. He flirts with women to fill the void he feels due to his rock bottom self-esteem and because he doesn't want to see women sad or mistreated after what he saw his mother go through. Koujaku's persona is carefully build and maintained, because all masculinity (or gender in general) is performed- this is what people around him expected him to be, that's what he was taught to be, and so he performs, even if it twists him up inside (we know he bottles up any negative emotions and doesn't share his struggles and trauma with anyone, which is also a part of toxic masculinity). It also seems like he's often out drinking with someone and he's a smoker- that's more of a theory, but people often find brief respite from their stress/unadressed emotions in substances, and while people of all genders do it, there seems to be a bigger social acceptance for men to indulge in order to "deal" with their problems and avoid showing "weakness" for just a bit longer.

The good thing is that Koujaku seems quite comfortable in his femininity. He loves his (stereotypically feminine) job, he remains kind and gentle to those who need it, he respects women around him and treats them well (even if that relationship is far from ideal of course), he's always considerate and caring towards Aoba, etc. It's interesting that despite liking and being attracted to Aoba's masculinity, he encourages him to branch out and seemingly embrace his own femininity more (he tells him he'd look nice in a hairpin, or that he'd love him no matter how he'd look like). I wonder if Koujaku found some kind of respite in his femininity back when he lived in his father's house and was potentially held to strict masculine gender roles enforced through violence.

It feels like one of these things that Aoba needs time to process and accept; In a couple years, he'll be doing deliveries with the most complex braid with flamboyant decorations and the most bitching eyeliner ever performed on Japanese soil.

[tryingonametaphor]

i think it’s very interesting that we got basically no insight into will’s life in lenora. sidelining him from the supernatural plot is one thing but they deliberately gave us nothing about his life after he moved. we see a girl hit on him in s4ep1 but it’s unclear if he’s liked by his classmates or not.

we see that el is being bullied but we don’t see the bullying carry over to will who is always hanging out with her. we see that el has difficulties with certain subjects but she’s working on it. we get some insight into jonathan’s time in lenora with the show introducing us to argyle and establishing jonathan as a stoner. we see that he’s having trouble with college applications because of his selfless nature.

but we get next to nothing about will in episode 1 (march 21st) and then the next episode is set on his birthday which they conveniently claimed that they forgot. he has a pretty strong emotional arc in regards to his love for mike in s4 but that’s it. all we know about will is that in his time away from hawkins, he’s accepted that he’s in love with mike.

80% of the scenes he’s in seem to be from his POV and yet we barely know anything. he doesn’t talk about it either. except for when he says “these past few months i’ve been so lost without you.” but that’s too vague to come to any conclusions.

even in season 3, the only insight we get is “will is sad that the party is falling apart.” we don’t see him suffer the aftermath of the possession the way we did in s2 (his ptsd), we don’t find out why joyce is suddenly so lenient regarding curfews and will biking back home. it feels like we see will but it’s just enough of him to acknowledge that he’s there but not enough of him to matter.

i can only describe his presence since season 3 as “almost invisible” like he slips under the radar and people kind of forget that he exists. the audience sometimes forget that he exists too. i wonder what that means considering that they’re making him the center of s5.

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Something is making my brain itch about this father-daughter (assuming that’s their relationship) and the lack of second parent and the beagle.

There is also the conundrum of the check shirt! Check shirts usually mean impending danger for the wearer and so it has me wondering if whatever happens to this man will be foreshadowing something happening to Eddie?!

But there is also something about this still that is giving me a throw back to Eddie’s introduction to 911 and the 118 - that they’re going to somehow parallel Buck becoming part of Eddie and Chris’s family - something around Buck introducing Eddie to Carla so that he could get Chris what he needed and build a life and a family in LA.

There’s something about the idea that the show might make this parallel at the moment Eddie is leaving the 118 - to really drive it home what Eddie is leaving by moving to Texas - because it would hit hard for both Eddie and Buck - highlighting that they’ve both built their family together at the moment it’s seemingly going to be torn apart.

But in juxtaposition to this, there’s also something about the idea of the beagle metaphorically representing Buck or Bucks abandonment issues more specifically.

Buck rescuing the beagle from a shelter because it has seemingly been abandoned by its family in the same way Buck feels abandoned by his own family throughout his life. Buck getting attached to the beagle is a metaphor for Buck clinging to his abandonment issues because they’re safe because they’re what he knows - what he’s loved with all his life (so being abandoned by Eddie (and Chris) is fine because that’s what happens to him).

Only for him to find out the beagle actually does have a family who miss and love it and they get to be reunited - Buck can make that happen.

So reuniting dog and family is also symbolic of Buck saving himself - letting go of his abandonment issues - and by doing that - by rescuing himself - he can be reunited with his family - Eddie and Chris will come back to him - come back for him.