#also ruined our faith in their characters being responsible

[lunadreamscaper]

Imagine if Johnny Ghost and Johnny Toast found the Stargate lmao

I know some of you are like “oh no so many people would die lmao” but actually I’m pretty sure it’d be fine bc their own incompetence would get them killed in the first place. (Standing to close to the portal/Stargate turning on and getting vaporized and then the VenturianTale outro starts playing)/silly

I actually don’t think anyone in this fandom has seen or even heard of Stargate, Stargate SG-1 specifically. Good show tho definitely recommend it’s free on Amazon prime.

Alternative headcanon though is that I’m sure Johnny Ghost and Johnny Toast would enjoy watching Stargate SG-1 together though.

[effervescentdragon]

*holds out a mic like a reporter* what’s your opinion on the current state of the mcu?

my opinion is that it should have died a long time ago and that everything they do is just abusing the corpse of a frankensteined thing that should have been left and buried a long time ago.

now, i am not that much up to date. i have stopped engaging with mcu after endgame, with the exception of watching the forst season of loki and wakanda forever and i think the eternals, which is good if its taken out of the wider context. my opinion is that the mcu is empty and soulless and a perfect indoctrination into individualist capitalism, warmongering patriarchy and the greedy capital-driven urge of mega corporations and billionaires to replace any sort of humanity with artificially, computer made caricatures of something that once moght have been called art.

i remember that article that tom hiddleston wrote as a response to i believe scorcese sometime way back in 2012, defending superhero movies. i am too lazy to find any refetences so whoever reads this can do their own research and correct me if im wrong anywhere, but i do believe he gave sir christopher reeve as an example. he wrote about the thruths that superheroes explore, how there is not one, but many. how it is the mundanity and the pure humanity that gets amplified and therefore explored and understood through the characters of superheroes, and it all brings us closer to the human experience. that article has stuck with me through all the years ive spent watching these movies and believing in the message - we are all superheroes in our own way. we all make choices, no matter on how much of a micro scale, to do the right thing. to protect, to shield, to fight against injustice. art is, after all, inherently political.

there is none of that in the mcu. ive seen it being chipped away piece by piece over the years, seen the ethical and moral dilemmas we all face in day to day life brought on the big screen to make us understand that there is always a choice, no matter how tough that choice may be, and that every single one of us is capable of both the biggest heroism and the most depraved atrocities, because we are, in essence only human; i have seen all that be replaced with american capitalist war and conquering propaganda, girlboss empty feminism and whatever the fuck those shit "christians" are now pandering and paddling as "family values".

the only god disney worships is obscene amount of money. the only value they respect is how little they can pay and how much they can exploit to get highest monetary value for their shitty cgi-ed recycled propaganda movies. they have turned every character into a twisted version of themselves, assigned value to only those characters who help them propagate their imperialistic capitalist world order, and are fine to spit out dozens of same content (because by now, it is content, devoid of any artistic ideation) and stomp on all that superheroes used to stand for and all that they used to teach us. they also do it in a most insidious way, giving token "other" characters, be it by their race or faith or sexual orientation or gender, while counting on the systematic lowering of critical thinking skills in people to ensure people are dazzled by the shallow representation and never look further away from the rainbow cgi and explosions to understand that mcu has become just another cog in the us imperialist war machine.

i lied. i looked up tom hiddleston's article because i think a shakespearean actor classically trained who quotes tolstoy for fun might have written a better punchline than i could write, in my despondent, disappointed and despairing state of seeing something i've loved with my whole heart be ruined ny human grief. i was right.

"Maybe playing superheroes isn't such an ignoble undertaking after all. "I still believe in heroes," says Samuel L Jackson's Nick Fury in Avengers Assemble. So do I, sir. So do I."

except. except i believe in real life superheroes. in the people protesting against the genocide in gaza. in the people on the ground risking their lives to tell us in the west, about sudan and palestine and uyghur muslims and armenia and congo, in a bid that we might turn our heads and watch the actual real life crises caused by the very imperialists who use these superhero movies to try and save their status quo of opression. i believe in a man who chose self-immolation over being party to the atrocity that is the us military. i believe in my friends in germany who go out every weekend and fight against the rising nazi regime. i believe in every person that has spoken out against the atrocities in the world, every person that has donated and educated and debated and wrote to the representatives and protested. and they still do it, and will continue to do it. these people are the real superheroes to me, and guess what? they are just humans. and those people comitting atrocities right now? they are just humans too.

this is what the superhero comics and movies that i used to watch taught me. that humans are those who have the capacity for the biggest heroism and most despicable atrocities both. we just have to choose. and that is not something that anyone will be able to learn from the mcu anymore.

[robo-writing]

I’m expanding the Baker! AU with our very own god of fire: Liu Kang!

Anyone in the restaurant business knows of him; A mysterious benefactor that acts like a shareholder for a majority of restaurants in the area, a man shrouded in mystery. The Michelin Star holder whose culinary skills earned him the moniker “The God of Fire”, as anyone who has seen him behind a stove swears that he commands the very flames he uses to cook.

Nowadays though, Liu Kang would much rather be called by his name.

Formerly the owner of the very popular Wu-Shi restaurant, the “God of Fire” now spends his time perusing new establishments, enjoying life and even lending a helping hand to those he finds a cut above the rest. This happens to include the multitude of bakeries and restaurants that our favorite characters work at.

Speaking of his restaurant, he has since passed down ownership to his faithful partner Geras, a man whose background is even less known than Liu Kang. However, this is only a temporary assignment; He currently trains two men, Raiden and Kung Lao as his apparentices to take over the store when they become ready.

Raiden has skill but is far too humble for his own good, while Kung Lao is also a great chef, but maybe a bit too cocky. Both still have many years until they master their craft but that spark of greatness is still there, and it is his responsibility to turn that spark into a wildfire.

Bi-Han doesn’t trust him for some reason, and Sindel has her own misgivings about him but he’s done nothing to arouse suspicion. Not a lot is known about him, or his ever faithful partner Geras, and no one knows why he does what he does, but they’re both nice enough.

Dude just likes some good food, and if he can make a living giving up and coming eateries a chance, then that’s a life he can live happily.

You stroll to the Lin-Kuei bakery expecting to be greeted by either of it’s brothers but instead you’re greeted with a sign at the door.

Closed? You check your phone and it’s only 3pm, two hours earlier than the store is supposed to close. You peek into the window and see all three of them talking to someone inside, fully aware that you’re being more than a bit nosey at the moment. When you decide it’s time to leave the mysterious strangers turns around and catches your eyes, frozen on the spot as he smiles and waves at you through the window.

There’s a short conversation before Kuai Liang walks up to the door and greets you. “Hello there, I’m sorry for the inconvenience—“

“No no no! You’re busy, I see that—“ you stammer, one foot backwards. “I can come back later—“

“Nonsense,” the stranger says, walking behind Kuai Liang. “I would not interfere with your business, please, come inside.”

You look at the man carefully, curious as to who he is. His hair runs down to his back, a sort of wisened look to him as he speaks. You can immediately tell that he’s not an employee or a customer by the way Kuai Liang immediately steps aside, and on further inspection you can see Bi-Han’s stern look from behind the counter.

“Oh, thank you but I don’t want to intrude—“

“Do not worry, I was already finishing up,” he smiles, then nods towards Bi-Han. A long sigh escapes the elder brother before he nods.

“Fine, I will consider a collaboration. We can discuss details later.”

“Excellent. If you need me, you know where to find me,” he says before looking at you again. “And I apologize for ruining your eating experience.”

You shake your head. “Trust me, you didn’t. I would’ve gone somewhere else to eat.”

“And that would be a shame, wouldn’t it? I know I would be upset if my favorite customer had to leave early.”

Smoke visibly blushes, while Kuai Liang becomes bashful and while it’s tough to discern, even Bi-Han turns his head out of embarrassment.

“Favorite customer?” You ask, almost confused.

The man laughs softly and shakes his head. “I would assume so, they mentioned you by name in this months newest reports.”

Bi-Han grumbles at that. “Do not speak of our private affairs as if we are not here.”

“Ah, it seems I cross a line, my mistake,” he says, and then extends his hand to you. “My name is Liu Kang, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

Still shocked at his words you grab his hand almost in a daze. You tell him your name and he repeats it back to you, making his way out of the bakery.

“I should hope to see you again, I’m told you have quite the palate.”

[wheelie-butch]

Angsty Wolfpack Thoughts

Okay I said the other day I'd post a bit some of my angstier Wolfpack thoughts so here... basically I was thinking about how I think basically most things about them, especially the rejecting individuality to be a pack stuff, comes from abandonment issues + trauma from their parents leaving, and the fact Scott doesn't remember any of that and isn't affected the same way and so doesn't have the same need to be a part of the pack like them contributes to them having a somewhat difficult relationship in a way that's very interesting to me.

The age difference is really important because I think it's actually being able to remember the abandonment that makes the Wolfpack act so differently to Scott. The devs have said only some of the Wolfpack share Scott's surname, meaning the Wolfpack aren't all brothers but at least 2 sets of cousins among themselves, which I think supports my thinking.

I think in response to their abandonment issues they try cope by taking an extreme view of like 'we'll stick together forever and that will be safe, everyone not in the pack is dangerous, if we don't get close to anyone outside the pack they can't leave us'. A lot of their asshole behaviour (like when they're mean to other characters or they are ineffectively hitting on girls/the moon) reads to me as being more about their own insecurities, proving themselves to each other and like trying to make themselves feel good and part of the group together. Like I don't think they actually care if Calculester has facial hair they just want to 'prove' themselves 'better' than him (an interesting event for me considering they have WAY less facial/body hair than Scott also, which again suggests the insecurity aspect of their bullying) or like when they are trying to ask out Vera and Miranda they're really caught up in saying stupid shit ('the hottest dogs to ever not literally be hot dogs' 'we'll show you courtship sportmanship on the COURT!!') more than focused on actually trying to force one of them to go on a date, and even the narrator unusually notes they're not actually trying to be assholes here, they're just stupid. Conversely, the time they are nicest to you is the lunchtime event where they decide to be "aggressively inclusive" and make you an honorary member of the pack. The way they have to justify being nice as 'you're one of us for a bit' I think shows how they really can't see beyond "in the pack = safe, out of the pack = not safe" even when they want to be friendly and have a nice time with people.

I think their constant attempts to get Scott to be more in the pack and stop having outside friends comes from a (very misguided) attempt to protect him - they think its safer to stay as a pack and any non-werewolf friends will abandon him. I actually think Vera's speech at the end of the FAMILY route about identifying what is not hell and holding onto those people is very pertinent to them. I think especially her promises never to leave Scott probably are why the Wolfpack are okay with her saying she's family to Scott and they're in the final image with everyone, because I think it speaks to their way of understanding the world.

I know their occasional moments of self-awareness are mostly for comedy, but when they admit things like 'we harass scott to cope with our unstable home life' to me that opens up interesting possibilities for thinking about exactly how much they are aware they are maybe not coping in the healthiest way. In the FAMILY route when they thank you for stopping them ruining Scott's idea of parents, and again the fact they let Vera refer to herself as part of Scott's family, it suggests to me that on some level they are aware it is actually better for Scott to have his beliefs and other friends.

I think it's interesting to imagine could they perhaps even feel jealous that he is able to have that faith and fearlessness to connect with others? Do they resent that he can do that and that he doesn't carry the trauma the same way as them? The dynamic of like 'i want to protect this younger family member and im glad they didnt go through the same things as me but also it hurts that i feel fucked up by what's happened to me and they're not and we can't fully understand each other because of it' is interesting for me to think about in regards to them. Some of this I think is reading in more than you can directly get from the text, but it's the sort of thing I find fun to explore beyond canon if that makes sense.

Also all this angsty headcanon thoughts don't mean I think they're actually secretly really sad all the time or something. I think their worst behaviours are driven by these abandonment issues in a way that feels like a clear thread through their actions, and I think they are on some level aware of it, but I think thats all buried pretty deep generally and most of the time they are all focused on having a good time being lads together. I think if they start to get too consciously sad they would probably cover it by lashing out or getting extremely hype over something distracting. However I just love to think about my favourite characters from lots of angles and yeah I hope if any of this is new to anyone else you have fun thinking of some angst also :)

[kiigan]

canon questionnaire.

what made you pick up this character?

Itachi was actually my first ever rp muse! Allllllll the way back when, when we didn't even know the truth about the massacre and Pein was only a silhouette and believed to be Minato but actually called Uzumaki Arashi. Good ol' days. But also - I picked him because I was just so drawn to his backstory, or lack thereof. At the time we only knew he was Sasuke's older brother who apparently had gone psycho out of the blue, and I just had this hunch that there had to be more about that mess. Also because, honestly, do you realize how cool Itachi's first appearance was.

how did you get into this franchise/fandom?

I got into Naruto because my first boyfriend was a big fan and introduced me to it lmao. And then I introduced my best friend and we started writing together just for funsies, and then suddenly our whole group of friends joined in and it became a glorious mess and so much fun.

what’s the best thing about the show/series/books/comics/etc.?

I mean... it's the typical shonen anime? So it provides super cool battles and action sequences, as expected. But, not to be biased, I totally am the Akatsuki are one of the coolest antagonist groups ever created. I put them on legendary levels such as the Ginyu Force from Dragon Ball.

what’s the worst thing about the show/series/books/comics/etc.?

Probably the ungodly amount of fillers. I understand why they happen but, personally, I would much rather wait and go for a few months without content than to be presented with low-effort ideas and plots that, often, only ruin the pacing and even provoke continuity errors. And I gotta say, Kishimoto's treatment of female characters is questionable at best.

what’s the best thing about the fandom?

The fandom itself! Fandoms are what we make of them, and especially on a website such as tumblr where you are responsible for curating your own dashboard experience (...if we do not count the stupid tumblr ads and recommendations). Meeting new people with similar interests, the possibility to make friends that live literally on the other side of the world, getting to write with super talented people that develop your own muse so much, watching people get passionate about their muse(s) and creating such wonderful headcanons and metas.

what’s the worst thing about the fandom?

Again, the fandom itself. There are nice people and toxic people everywhere and that's unavoidable. In my humble opinion, what matters is to focus on the good ones.

what’s the best thing about the canon you are writing?

Itachi's whole story breaks my heart. At the same time, there is A LOT about him that was never disclosed in canon (even with the Shinden novels) and I love to explore those parts. I love to imagine stuff like what would his hobbies be, how would he react to [insert situation], how would he get along with [insert character] if they met. One of my favorite things, at the moment, is to create headcanons for my post-war verse and to create my own canon about how Itachi would adapt to things such as now being practically blind, having to properly monitor his illness, his thoughts and emotions about returning to Konoha, how to try to fix things with Sasuke, etc etc - it's been so much fun!

what’s the worst thing about the canon you are writing?

Uhhh nothing really? I mean, there are the general issues about Naruto as a whole, but regarding Itachi specifically I can't really think of any huge problems right now. Other than him being dead T-T

have you tweaked the character from canon? if so, what did you tweak?

No and yes. No, because I try my best to be as in-character as possible and to be faithful to Itachi's nature as a character. But, yes, because I write a lot of canon-divergent verses and those obviously require adapting. Even in purely canon settings, I'd say I tweak some stuff in that, for example, I love writing Itachi as a quirky child (and then teen and adult) and as a very caring and nurturing person, even when he cannot openly show it. It's totally fine if not everybody agrees with my interpretation but, to me, it makes a lot of sense and gives me a lot of joy to write.

are there some things you dislike about how the show/series/etc. portray the character you have picked up? if so, what?

I wouldn't say I dislike... but also because, all in all, Itachi doesn't have much screen time lol. So there isn't much of a chance for Kishimoto to screw him over. I would, however, have loved a chance to see Itachi ponder on the circumstances that led to the massacre - for example, does he grow to regret his choice as he gets older? He does this reflection a bit when talking to Naruto during the Edo Tensei period, but that wasn't enough for me damn it! Also, while we're here, I'm gonna be forever salty that, in that same period, we were denied a chance for Itachi to reunite with Kisame and with Shisui.

what would you say is the most unique trait about your character?

Itachi has a lot of idiosyncrasies, which is one of the reasons why I love him. Little quirky nerd weasel~ Perhaps the most unique trait, however, is his idealism. He was severely traumatized by the third war and that is the basis for his idealism but, at the same time, he truly believes in what he preaches. He truly believes that he can get strong enough to make this world a better place and this is the sort of undying motivation to do good that, for example, I only see in Shisui. Of course, a lot of other characters have their own strong motivations (Naruto himself being the easiest example), but these two Uchiha idiots are mostly the ones who commit to the there's some good in this world and it's worth fighting for mindset.

are there any other characters from the franchise you’d like to play?

On discord, I have written little bits and pieces of Kimimaro, Temari, and Rock Lee.

are there some characters from the franchise you can’t stand? 

I can't stand Danzo for all the obvious reasons, but that's also exactly why I love him as a villain. And, um... the same applies to Hiruzen, in a way. I do believe that Hiruzen is a man with good intentions, but he always falls victim to his own passiveness. The way Itachi goes to him after having literally just murdered his parents and traumatized his little brother for life and all Hiruzen can say is I'm so sorry this happened. Hiruzen is just a gutless Danzo, resting on the laurels of the whole Will of Fire spiel.

what are your thoughts on the canon ships for the character, if any?

Honestly, I'm not even sure if Itachi has a canon ship? Izumi is supposed to be his girlfriend but at the same time it can easily be taken as Izumi having an unrequited crush. Personally, I think they are very cute together but I would have loved to see more development other than to make it like "let's give Itachi a gf because he's cool and needs a girl to dangle as a trophy".

what is your personal ship bias for your canon character?

I am dying on the Kisame/Itachi hill and unapologetically so. Their bond is so special and precious to me, the way they grow from not-so-veiled death threats upon first meeting to genuinely respecting each other. The way Kisame, known as the Monster of the Bloody Mist, lets this scrawny Uchiha kid take the lead and trusts him without reserves. The way Itachi cares, even if he must keep up his detached psychopath persona, and keeps Kisame out of harm's way whenever he feels a battle won't go in his favor. THEIR MATCHING RINGS, IN BOTH THE FINGER POSITION AND THE SYMBOL MEANING. And the way Itachi is literally what Kisame thinks of as he's about to offer himself to his sharks. All of this is so *CLENCHES FIST*

are there any ships you can’t stand, why?

...Um. Sasuke/Itachi.

how long have you been writing the character?

Technically, for almost two decades. Not continuously so. If we are talking about this blog only, then it's been since January 2024.

should people get into the franchise you're writing from, yes or no?

I mean, sure? If they like the franchise and have characters they would like to write? I don't see why not.

if you could sum up your character with one sentence, what would it be?

I already did it above, so: Little Quirky Nerd Weasel

which song do you feel describes your character the most and why?

I have a few, actually! For some examples: "Gasoline", by Halsey, "Second Chance", by Shinedown, "The World of Mercy", by DIR EN GREY (this one is particularly👌👌👌for my villain verse). I think they're very Itachi-coded in both lyrics and melody. And, of course, the song in my pinned post: "Scarlet", by Yamaoka Akira. This song is peak Itachi vibes, especially when you look into his eyes. And, uh. Generally, almost all DIR EN GREY songs inspire me a lot to write his replies, because a lot of them are also the songs that I started writing him to, all those years back.

tagged by : @sagemom ♡ tagging : if you're reading this you're tagged by default~

[jalebi-weds-bluetooth]

How're you my jalebi jaan!!!!

I'm your secret admirer 😉Well,I also have a question for you.I read the fan fictions on IPKKND a lot. And some of it portrayed Arnav as someone who forces his will on people.Was our ASR too hard hearted and has zero empathy.Suppose Arnav learnt the truth of Garimaji in a different scenario (suppose he tracked her down before he had even met Khushi(evil dadi 😈) ) Will he succoomb to his prejudices and try to destroy Khushi's life as a revenge in such a scenario?!

Hello Anon!

Thank you for admiring the blog :)

Warning, long answer below. In short, no, in my opinion Arnav would rather ruin Garima directly by destroying her and her family's reputation.

To break down this answer I'm gonna break down Arnav as a character in my opinion.

Revenge isn't an option for people who are direct in nature. Destruction is.

Shyam plans a revenge. Subhadra (Dadi) plans a revenge but Arnav straight up destroys.

Fan fiction is extremely personal in the way everyone writes their interpretation of their favorite character. And even media, to that extent, is personal because everyone's interpretation is individual and unique.

So, in short, everything I answer about IPK is dependent on my take and opinion of the show and character.

In my opinion Arnav never forced his will on people nor did he have zero empathy. The contract he signed with Khushi in the office is because she had a job and legitimately demand he give an appropriate reason to fire her. The forced marriage is a mix of complicated emotions and it's never going to be a simple he 'forced' Khushi to marry him. That is a part of the deal, but there were several other undercurrents.

In reality, his family has often forced Arnav against his will. Anjali forced religion and religious celebration despite him openly declaring that he's an atheist. His grandmother forced him to marry a stranger just because she wants it - even when he has clearly stated that he's neither into long term commitment of that sort and has no wish to destroy another person's life in that process.

Arnav has empathy - hence he teared up on learning about Khushi being an orphan and gave pigeons (and probably cash) to the little kid crying for her sick father.

His empathy to Khushi is stunted because of his prejudice towards her and that he is just emotionally stunted due to his trauma.

Any animosity Arnav has towards Khushi is really because of how coincidentally she meets him and seems to grab public attention. The brilliance of the show was if Arnav had a bit of Khushi's faith and Khushi had a bit of Arnav's cynicism - neither Arnav would've misunderstood Khushi nor would have Khushi believed Shyam.

Arnav actually has his priorities sorted, his main rage is towards his father - the cheater - then towards the third woman in his parents marriage.

And even then, Arnav isn't a schemer by personality. He cannot scheme. He takes actions. Decisions.

Shyam is a schemer - he can have a long plan in the run. Arnav destroys or decides. Then and there.

For Arnav it will be pointless to go around ruining Khushi because her aunt ruined his parents' lives. He always holds his father equally accountable for the pain.

He'd just straight up ruin Garima's life. Expose it to the public and beyond what kind of a woman the pious Garima is and destroy her reputation and her family's reputation for once and for all.

And in this scenario he'd hate himself to be physically attracted to Khushi. He'd hurt her, but really not use her to hurt Garima.

He couldn't even use Payal against Khushi. He put Khushi in an illusion that her sister's marriage was in threat. But Payal's marriage was actually unaffected from all the drama.

If Arnav had pre-requisite knowledge about Garima, then it would be another version of Iss Pyaar Ko of the battle of loving someone whose family is responsible for the trauma in their own family. A bit Romeo Juliet esque with most angst.

Hope you have a nice day ahead!

Best,

Jalebi

[adamsvanrhijn]

(i forgot that editing asks was broken and saved this to my drafts, where i now cannot finish it.)

so my take is actually that one in fact Cannot set john adams's surprise appearance aside because it is one of two (2) decisions within that episode (more to come hopefully?) that makes the whole debacle work narratively for oscar — as opposed to work narratively solely for the upcoming change in the brook + van rhijn family dynamic, which was the broader objective that required oscar losing the family fortune and which would have been served no matter the means of said loss. (the other decision is oscar's conversation with george which makes me want to die so i'm not going to go in depth on that one!)

but this is a great opportunity to share the conclusion of the maud post series i was writing about what i Did want to happen — and THE most important caveat i can give before sharing this is that i was operating under the real life assumption that john adams would not be coming back in season 2.

below content from past me 😌 (strikethrough and [brackets] are present me)

Especially after 2.06, with our first main instance of behavior from Maud that is notably out of the ordinary enough that it's worthy of comment from another character, I don't really think it's unlikely that this turns out just to be a scam that Maud was in on from the beginning. If we give the show the burden of proof to show that Maud is telling the truth, and that Maud's connections are not limited only to the characters we see on screen, it's easy to create a thread between her interactions that leads to her actions being ultimately to defraud Oscar.

To me, the narrative & character impact of a total scam (company is fake, takeover is fake, Maud and Crowther are fake/lying) is:

Oscar never had a chance with Maud to begin with (and by pursuing her lost time in which he could have been pursuing another girl)

Oscar expresses (some degree of) honesty and vulnerability with another person and has it used against him / is punished for it

Similar to what @likehandlingroses pointed out this morning, Oscar is doing what is expected of him by his social peers and superiors and placing his trust in them, and taking for granted that the information they give him is true and to his benefit without further critical thinking — and getting seriously burned by that. That could significantly impact his worldview and teach him the necessary lesson that his society is not invested in his well-being and safety, buuuuut it could also just put him in a position where he can abdicate personal responsibility. Everyone thought Maud was what he thought she was, so how much can he be blamed for seeing her that way?

Oscar loses money from a foolish and hubristic financial decision, and could have continued his life unaffected if he had stayed out of it

Oscar is seen, successfully, as susceptible to scamming by another person/group of people by tempting him with a pretty girl — this would follow 2.01, where we had narrative confirmation that Oscar is seen, successfully, as easy to deceive specifically by feigning interest in him as another man / likewise, Oscar is a genuine actual victim of another person/group of people for the second time this season

We do not know what was or was not true about Maud other than that her interest in Oscar was not intended to be genuine

This is the least telegraphed (as of 2.06) storyline of season 2 if not the show as a whole, and demonstrates a departure from the usual JFCU style — in that the story relies on the audience having outside knowledge to really predict what is happening

I really don't like the combination of the first two! I think that is a serious setback in Oscar's character development, and it pushes him in the opposite direction that he needs to go. Oscar does NOT need to learn the lesson that making himself vulnerable to others and approaching them in good faith leads to ruin. Everything about him screams that he already sees everything that way; this result confirms his world view and discourages him from taking any steps to grow as a person. It puts him back to his own square one and reinforces the beliefs that are making his life difficult. He can't let anyone know any truth about him or what he wants; he needs material wealth and power to be happy; he needs to be more calculated and cautious and second-guess the intentions of others. 

I simply don't think Oscar has the emotional maturity at this time to independently get from point A to point B on how to care about and invest in other people without getting hurt in this kind of plotline. He thought he was paying attention to Maud and her circumstances; how could he pay more attention? And the only way it would matter if he had paid more attention is if it made him see the scam, but if he didn't know what to look for then he wouldn't have done that, so his hands were tied, etc. There's room to see error but not room for improvement. How does he know what he needs to do next time?

I do not see a narratively coherent path forward for him after that (other than perhaps a very unhappy, guarded attempt 3 at finding a wife or giving up entirely) (his whole life being ruined and losing everything he has both materially and immaterially is not narratively coherent for my purposes here), because this outcome doesn't really encourage him to think about what he does have control over and how he can change his behavior for genuinely different results. 

3 & 5 are really the only points that genuinely interest me and that I can see serving the broader story, but I also don't really think they're exclusive to this outcome.

I just really don't think that (given the information I currently have) it is the most compelling way to serve Oscar's story and narrative, nor Maud's for that matter. If Maud is "just" a con artist, we lose the information that gave her depth and humanity because it becomes untrue, which reduces the dimension of her character. (As an audience member I care more about characters who have confirmed character traits and are not lying to me the entire time!)

As I said in the previous post, even if all the information we have been given [about Maud, Crowther, the railway takeover] is true and as it is shown to the audience, it is STILL a series of bad decisions from Oscar, and it can still lead us to the same place of Oscar becoming bankrupt — all roads lead to Van Rhijn family financial issues to create a power shift between Ada and Agnes — and potentially losing Maud. 

But unlike "it was a scam all along and Oscar shouldn't have involved himself at all", it does so in a way that is:

An expansion of multiple concepts introduced but mainly glossed over in the previous season, such as illegitimacy

An alignment of Maud's motivations for her behavior with Oscar's: obligations to their families

An exploration of 1880s business practices - a portrayal of how shady methods of doing business today that throw many red flags to a modern audience was business as usual for robber barons and indeed critical to their accumulation of immense wealth

Justifying Maud's screentime that demonstrates her consideration and concerns about Oscar's motives and reveals that she is operating on a broader moral framework, and tying her actions in to the broader narrative themes around how and why women married at this time in American history — if Maud is only scamming him, the only narrative purpose of these scenes is to mislead, and I would rather have not had that and gotten to see something else either about Maud that better set up her intentions or see more of another plotline that didn't have as much screentime

Oscar making a series of social and financial choices that lead to an undesirable outcome, when he could have made different choices at any point with the possibility of a desirable outcome that would move him closer to his goals / what he thinks his goals are (rather than just the possibility of not having the undesirable outcome) — but because of both his greed and his fear of discovery, he was taking only the information that he wanted to be true, making assumptions based on it, and ignoring information that might make a more thoughtful person think twice

More specifically, he loses money from foolish financial decisions that he makes out of hubris, but he alone is responsible for sabotaging his chance to achieve his goals.

Oscar, again, ~making a series of social and financial choices~, that are in line with goals established for him in the first season — involvement and prominence in new money society — and that prove that at the current time he is unequipped to move within and keep up with the community he wants to be in, which plays by different rules. (This doesn't work as well if this isn't Actually a new money scheme with Actual new money stakeholders and is just generic fraud.)

Consistent with the style of storytelling we see in the rest of the show, where we usually have indicators of some kind about a character's true motivations from very early in their inclusion in the story (compare Maud to Turner, our primary schemey character, who was framed in a suspicious way from day one)

above content from past me 😌

rereading all this... honestly, i do have reservations about where oscar will go from here! as well as distaste for certain choices made, such as bringing in a female character who could be ~complex and interesting~ and reducing her dimension to be more of a plot tool than a realistic person. i do not vibe with maud as a disposable character and also i think that crowther and maud are both unrealistically good actors for this gig — people keep talking about anna sorokin and cassie chadwick and like, yes they were successful scammers but also we have evidence they were unliked and at least some people thought they were fishy social climbers. this could have been avoided by having literally Any scene before 2.06 give the impression maud might be deceptive. it means the plot is kind of an outlier in terms of the audience feeling like they're in on the story — i know a lot of people thought maud was scamming oscar, but frankly some of the most outspoken justification for that was not based on what we had seen in the story so much as. how those people feel about oscar (no shade to anyone on tumblr. lots of shade to people on other websites). it's just really not my preferred storytelling vehicle. (not saying it's bad or people are wrong for liking it. i specifically do not like it.)

but most importantly, i want oscar to stay on the show, and i don't want his life to effectively be over — that can be great fun in various alternate universes one might consider, but it would not work for me in the actual show. they have already set up the consequences for behavior like oscar's in this series, and those consequences are death (patrick morris) and impoverished ostracization (collyer/watson). i don't want either of those things for oscar, especially when they have greatly expanded his role this season and evolved his relationships with marian, ada, and aurora. (this could have happened with the alternative, though.)

HOWEVER. as i wrote in this other post, and also the oscar van rhijn lily bart parallels post, they averted the narrative consequence i was most afraid of resulting from this plotline by having oscar go to john pretty much immediately! instead of teaching him he can't be vulnerable and honest with Anyone, he instead remembers and prioritizes that he does have someone who, he thinks, might care, and with whom he can really be honest and himself. that changes the entire tone and clarifies the story they are trying to tell in a way that did not seem possible to me if john isn't coming back.

in addition to that the george thing successfully replaces item #7 in my second numbered list above, and if on the very off chance maud comes back we have a chance to get #4 and perhaps #2 and a negation of my rant two and a half paragraphs ago. inb4 maud shows up in 2.08 back from newport where her for real aunt was for real sick and she got scammed too or something. my only preferable alternative to list 2 #6 will be if they do list 1 #3 well, and i am hopeful that they will (albeit not yet Convinced they will) based on the scene with oscar confronting aurora.

and while i do not Want a social ostracization plot. i must admit i could change my mind about that if it involves john and oscar getting back together. but that means they need to stay on the show, which means oscar needs to retain relationships with other characters.

[menstits]

asking this as someone who never watched trigun, could u tell me why tristamp sucked? i normally see people praising it so I would love to know your take on it!

I'm gonna be honest with you anon it's probably going to be a long as hell response and i will probably put it under a read more. BUT. Since you asked politely I'm going to try to answer in good faith.

The short answer is that the designs are heinous, the pacing is dogshit and in the span of a season which was supposed to set up the story as a sort of prequel to the events of trigun maximum, which will allegedly be explored in the next season, tristamp already managed to not only completely mangle pretty much every single character's personality and motives but also miss the key point of trimax the literal climax of the story at the end by completely ruining knives as a character and as a villain right from the get-go.

I'm also going to go over tristamp's crimes in great depth because I'm a huge hater.

MAJOR TRIGUN SPOILERS under the cut 👍 if anyone wanted to read trimax

FIRST OF ALL the designs are literally so bad. They got rid of everything that was charming about trimax's character designs such as making vash look like some kind of pathetic softboy, getting rid of his spiky hair and tiny glasses and sexy long red coat in favor of making him look like the average undercut twink you can find anywhere in our day and age. AND they made every single woman in the show ugly as hell like they made meryl look straight they got rid of Milly altogether in the first season they turned rem ugly as sin and just flattened every adult woman's personality into being some brand of motherly figure. The biggest tristamp misogyny sufferer is ELENDIRA who is a villain and one of knives' evil henchmen or whatever who's cool as hell and pretty and probably the funniest character in the manga who is canonically a regular adult trans woman, they turned her into some kind of human/plant creature hybrid and turned her into a child for literally no reason other than being gross and transmisogynistic. Here's the comparison just so you have visuals for how heinous it is (left is trimax, right is tristamp)

Plot wise KNIVES is the biggest overall sufferer of tristamp dogshit writing because they literally just went and entirely flattened his personality into being oughh some kind of evil senseless villain when that's literally just not who he is. Knives and vash were both extremely compassionate and sensitive children who genuinely wanted to be able to get along with humans despite being independent plants. Finding out about how humanity exploits plants is what pushes them in opposite directions: after a suicide attempt stopped by his adoptive mother rem, vash stays true to the principles she taught them especially after her sacrifice that ensures their survival and becomes completely unwilling to take someone else's life even in self defense, which plays into his extremely self destructive behavior and suicidal urges

While knives completely rejects humanity and decides to free plants from humanity's exploitation, enacting his vengeance upon humans in the process.

Knives goes about this by "stealing" dependent plants from human settlements, often killing everyone in the process, and making them join his plant hivemind. In trimax it's revealed towards the end that dependent plants have a will of their own and already communicate with one another in the form of some sort of shared consciousness, and they all only joined knives' hivemind willingly because they were convinced by his arguments and willing to support his cause.

The way knives is defeated is through vash projecting towards the dependent plants all his positive feelings about humanity and all the ways in which humans can actually be kind and compassionate and capable of learning and becoming better people, which *convinces* the plants to willingly try to find a way to live alongside humans in harmony. Despite this, it's still made explicit that the plants don't hate knives for his initial plan, they were simply moved by the knowledge that humans are willing to try to live alongside them with mutual respect.

At the very end, knives and an unconscious vash, both exhausted and broken by their fight, escape authorities are taken in by a random human man and his son and are cared for until vash wakes up. As thanks for saving his brother, knives exhausts the last of his energy to generate an apple tree (or turn himself into an apple tree which is functionally the same thing) that can sustain the man and the child which represents him overcoming his distrust for humans in the face of such kindness given freely to two inhuman creatures wanted by the law and shit. This is the extremely dumbed down summary of what happens but this is just to convey how knives genuinely cares for dependent plants and thinks of them as his own family and they care for him in return and are part of his cause willingly.

In comparison, right in the first season of tristamp there's a weird as hell completely unprompted like forced pregnancy subplot where like . Knives tries to take control of vash to make him like . Use his plant powers to impregnate the dependent plants? So that they can give birth to more independent plants ? Because they just decided to make knives some kind of plant eugenicist for literally no reason who exploits dependent plants exactly as much as humans do for the sake of some perplexing incest adjacent plot point that literally doesn't exist in trimax because knives doesn't give a flying fuck about making more independents he literally just wants to take his whole plant family and leave that piece of shit desert planet so that humans can die with no resources. LIKE. I'm sorry but like knives is a terrorist yes that's well established but he's literally not impregnating anyone and the whole POINT. OF TRIMAX. Is that plants in general including knives are ultimately moved by humanity's capacity for selflessness despite being intimately aware of humanity's capacity for cruelty. The point of trimax is forgiveness and coexistence. And also. That a pair of twins that were kind children and raised with love to grow into compassionate people can react in extremely different ways to trauma and betrayal. Knives was NOT "evil from birth". If anything it could be argued that knives was MORE eager than vash to make friends with humanity and that that's why he reacted so badly to finding out that humans previously killed an independent plant girl like them by running so many tests on her that she got sick and died in the span of a few months . Also vash is not some stupid softboy bitch loser he's SUICIDAL and his pacifist message is effective on people like wolfwood because he actually saves people for real unlike loser idiot tristamp vash who whines and cries all the time without concluding anything.

Also the pacing is literally dogshit snd it's not even true that tristamp is an effective "prequel" of trimax because they were too eager to stick random elements from the end of the manga into it for literally no fucking reason. Something something why is Livio the bus driver etc.

[ic3qu33n]

Its funny how the mind works. I woke up today thinking about a whole life I never lived. I had memories and specific details in my dream that I personally have never witnessed…

Let me explain better. When I was 15 (1999) I wrote a chapter book. It was on an Dell desktop computer that my older brother Daniel had built from spare computer parts.(These parts were coming from computers that at the time were 1-2 years old. Apparently when ever some students had “ruined” the computers at the high school the district would send them a whole new one. And since my brother worked in tech support they told him to recycle them. He did. But not before taking them apart to save working parts)

Anyway, back to my original thought.

This story I had wrote was about a girl named Jo and her 3 brothers who moved from a big city with their mother to the Pacific Northwest after their father died suddenly. The story follows this girl whos life was rocked and trying to find balance and peace when there is so much changing around her. Like having to be the adult because of her mothers crippling grief. Jo meets new friends who become her best support system and teach her how to “feel normal”.

I dont have this book saved anywhere and it doesn’t exist anymore. That computer is long gone. I remember it took me two months that Summer to write it. It was 2-3 hours after summer school every night. I would put on headphones, blasting “Smells like Children” album, (This was my “Alt phase” life) and just typed. I tuned out the world. I know, now, that I was disassociating a lot during this time in my life.

During this time in my life my dad was in jail again. That left my pregnant mom, and us 4 kids to kinda fend for ourselves. We were all living in a 1 bedroom roach infest trailer. (Like we couldn’t have pantry stuff cause the roaches would just get in it) Mom and Vicky slept in the bedroom, Daniel and Michael slept on a bunkbed in the area that should be where you put a kitchen table, and I slept on the couch in the living room. This trailer was so small that it had 1 entrance and that was a sliding glass door in the living room. For this reason I can never live in a manufactured home or trailer. This life experience definitely traumatized me. So when me and Chris were younger (early years of marriage and had two kids under the age of 3) I resented him for putting us in a 1 bedroom trailer. We argued daily, I drank heavily. I had no faith in him being able to care for me and our children. I was hurt and blamed him for my unhappiness for a long time. Anyway I getting sidetracked again.

My mom was working full time at an elementary school. My older brother was working at the high school. I started my job at my uncles Mexican restaurant. (I had to take the city bus and transfer twice to get there) we were doing everything in our power to get a better home without my dads help.

Anyway, I believe I wrote this story as an escape from the overwhelming responsibility that suddenly fell on me. This time in my life changed how I viewed the world. It was the time in my life when I stopped showing my feelings… I stopped smiling, I became cold and I no longer trusted anyone. I had a short fuse and started picking fights with anyone who felt froggy. I was not okay. I also started self harming at this age (it was a pain I could control and understand why I was hurting) I was very angry. I would take walks to the ditch behind our trailer court to break bottles and smoke weed…

My dreams brought me back to this world. I don’t know why after all these years did this specific story come back. I still remember this fictional characters life. Like I said in the beginning of this post, it feels like memories. Its weird because I can visualize this whole world of people that doesn’t exist. It gives me a weird feeling in my chest of almost a longing to go to this place and I can’t. It’s almost the same feeling of missing a relative who has passed and there’s no way you could ever see them again. No new memories. Just people frozen in time.

It’s just weird how your mind works.

[edalynn]

huntlow shippers will see you talk about how you dont like huntlow and spam you with hundreds of messages explaining the same few screenshots of them standing next to each other and how you're spoiling everyones fun by "hating something cute for no reason." so you look at the "evidence" and point out why it's faulty and also explain why you personally don't think the ship is cute and how ppl mischaracterize both of them (especially willow and we know why).

and also you decide maybe youre being too harsh on what are probably middle schoolers so you try to look at the ship in good faith and point out the problems with a potential huntlow dynamic and how the ship can be explored to give them both character development. but then the same shippers spam you again accusing you of "ruining the fun" because you can't even portray a relationship that isn't 100% saccharine and conflict free nowadays apparently.

so you eventually explain why you don't see enough canon material to get attached to the ship and how ppl who like the ship really mischaracterize hunter and willow, using some really sexist/racist tropes sometimes. and it's because of the toxic fans that you don't like the ships now and especially their portrayal in fandom.

and then the same shippers spam you with the same 8 screenshots of them standing next to each other and basically proselytize about how "its definitely gonna be canon stop complaining." and they tell you youre entitled to your preferences but also they will not stop repeating their points until you agree with them that yes it will be canon and yes you actually like the ship now haha please go away!

because if you dislike a thing they personally like then obviously YOU are the stupid idiot who doesn't understand WHY the thing is good and THEY definitely don't need to reflect on if the reasons they like the thing is short-sighted or even harmful. or if its just a difference of preference for what at the end of the day is a ship between two teenagers that are not real. and if you're not getting it then it's their duty to make you see reason. obviously.

oh and then you look at their blog to see wtf kind of person is spamming you and theyre always. like. twenty five years old

I just went through such a specific, extremely vivid scenario, I feel like I need to lay on the floor for a while and rethink my life lmao. Because you are 10000% fucking right. Every argument, every conversation, every ask pans out exactly like this, almost word for word give or take a few points. It' so telling how they all have the same responses and same patterns. Like, there's nothing I can even add to this ask, that's just exactly how it fucking goes and its embarrassing. I want to say at least be original at this point, but they clearly don't care enough to given they don't give half of a thought to our reasons why we dislike it. H/L shippers all share one braincell that they pass around based on who's sending the angry anons which day, but the braincell is the size of a pea anyway so it doesn't even matter. Critial thinking skills: -2000. This ask is just too perfect, I can't even touch it anymore to give my opinion because you already said everything lmao

[mirceakitsune]

My thoughts on the election

Considering this is such an important event and ties to personal things, I wanted to share my thoughts on the election like many others have. This isn't going to be some angry rant like in the past, I'm long over making those, just an analysis and my perspective: I'm hoping people understand this, especially on Furaffinity where anything that touches a worldly subject is a risk for me to post even in good faith, I was nervous about writing this but am partly doing it to give a chance to the idea that there's still some ability to communicate and say what's on our minds. I'm not enjoying the pain many around me are going through, some are people I care for who are in a lot of fear and there's not much I can do. I also need to make it clear that no, I don't like nor support Trump, even if I no longer share the horror everyone else has over him: I'm not even from the US, if I was I'd have never voted for either of those two parties and any candidates they produce, if I did vote I'd be voting libertarian every time even if they're perpetually third place. From the start I decided I wouldn't care about the outcome of this election. Since Trump's win was announced last night, I've been watching almost everyone I know fall in a deep depression… something I did too when he first won in 2016, long before a lot of things changed for me.

What I don't understand is how today in 2024 so much hope was put into this one election, a hope people still had. How many thought that if the right person wins, there was still a positive direction for this world to take. That a fight for all that is good was lost just now because this one man won, a fight that still existed and could be won if only this one dude hadn't made it in office. Many don't seem to realize humanity at its core is broken by design and beyond repair right now; Trump, Kamala… I fail to see how these silly figures make any difference when everyone hates everyone else anyway, any ability to communicate and get along has long vanished, and we can all see the system was doomed to fail very soon and very abruptly. If anything it may affect the speed at which it's all happening ever so slightly.

Let me to ask you something: Is Trump the reason why this year I was left without my only income and job I could have, because I refused to DOX myself to Patreon and have my art associated with my name / photo / address / family by complete strangers? Is Trump the reason why I don't feel like creating art any more because I can't safely post what I enjoy doing on this internet even for free? Is Trump the reason why I'm constantly nervous I may be banned from services I still rely on and at least able to watch what others create, over something I don't imagine would offend and may have even said a decade ago and long forgotten? Is Trump the reason why the Xonotic team with whom I spent 15 years working turned on me out of nowhere while we were in the middle of working on code? Is Trump the reason why an artist I follow had to flee France after being arrested for making drawings deemed immoral by the state? Is Trump the reason why if anyone who isn't a commercial animation studio posts an animation containing anthro or dragon characters in some art styles on Youtube, the video is instantly restricted or deleted with their entire channel? Is Trump the reason why I walk on eggshells around the few people I still interact with, because if I say one thing the wrong way I'll be perceived as some maniac and they turn on me next? Is Trump responsible for the world doing its best to ruin my life or the little I ever had of one?

All those things and more happened even without him. Off the top of my head I can't even think of a conservative or Trump supporter that caused me this grief over the years, though I'm sure many would gladly join in given the chance. It was at the hands of those with whom I once thought I had a common goal, who stabbed me (and themselves) in the back just when I believed that maybe I could have a place in this world to some degree and give humanity a chance, who use words like tolerance and acceptance and inclusion almost religiously yet their polar opposites are all I ever got from them. Why then should I worry about Trump and am expected to see him as the root of all evil?! Sure, I don't expect the situation to improve with him of all people, I don't expect anything to improve again with anyone… but it's beyond me how this made anything worse than it would be regardless.

Like I said I'm not happy with what's happening and won't feed off of anyone's suffering, but I definitely feel I'm right to say one thing: The desperation everyone feels over Trump winning is a thing many caused to others whether they realize it or not. They're experiencing what it's like to have the majority of those around you and a world you believed in slap you in the face, tell you that what you need and feel doesn't matter to them, that you need to suck it up and deal with it because others have "real issues" unlike you, that you come second place to what they decided is important. This lesson is one I do think the world at large needed to face. Which isn't to say it will learn from it, oh I strongly doubt that… but many are at least seeing what it's like to be on the receiving end, and it's definitely not pretty.

[notmuchtoconceal]

nothin like the look of terror in a boy's eyes when i show him a piece of original prose and he's some mixture of confused, indignant and horrified when i strip out the dialogue and character tags.

shit, man

i give him a chance to experience an event as a stream of uninterrupted motion and color where patterns may nestle the truth of his perception, but he only knows how to read for the "right answer" since that's all they teach you in schools, so he feels like he's walking into a trap

he lives in a world without truth

he sees with his own eyes, then disregards

he forms thoughts, feelings, opinions, then wipes em clean when the service update of his most recent brainwashing induces only more lag til it can install itself on shutdown

dead to the world, void of faith

needing to be told what to do and think

thus, his only true want is to rebel, but rebellion remains an unobtainable fantasy, he already preferring the comfort of slavery to the pain of freedom, his every live human connection composing a collective inertia where whispers of deceit and fear form a clot, a drain a weight

so he sabotages. ruins every meager opportunity he can give himself, for he lacks the will to be responsible for his own reality.

this is worsened when he realizes without the anchoring (bias, which is always a dirty word) of identity, he can't detect the 'ideology' (also a dirty word; presupposes either differing thought or the lack of it) of the prose, since most wannabe goodboys seldom engage fully with a text until they've run a virus scan and confirmed its safety.

so he begs for the restraints to come back. the good boy accepts he lacks the ability to discern, to infer, to impose order upon chaos through the stability of the vision which he refuses to regard as a creative act. (if we somehow affected reality with our theories, this would imply we're morally responsible for our thoughts, can't have that.) he begs to be boxed back in, kept-cozy, weighed down with the restraints of his teachings, needing them to combat the spiritual agoraphobia which his education has only worsened through exposure to other sick souls

in other words, most good boys need to have their hands held by daddy, and most don't ever wanna be let go. they don't appreciate being thrown into the deep-end to learn how to swim.

this, however, is exactly how daddy teaches.

if you wanted mommy, u wouldn't be here.

honestly, boys. y'all gotta stop bein such huge fuckin faggots and proactively challenge yourselves in ways which may seem counterproductive (or is it still too easy?), for you know already the ways you were designed and don't fuckin like it. no real fuckin culture of any worth starkly separates the erotic from the spiritual from the intellectual unless they wanna turn you into cogs in machines.

only reactive. rigid and mechanical.

no capacity to adapt or self-regenerate like live tissue.

most of you are only fit to be mindless drones.

the few of you worth more gotta nut up and show it

[basicsofislam]

ISLAM 101: Muslim Culture and Character: Morals And Manners: Part 12

CLEANLINESS

The Prophet said that “cleanliness is half of faith.” Therefore, we should recognize the importance of both inward and outward cleanliness, and keep our living quarters and environment clean.

In Islam, there is a great emphasis on cleanliness, both physical and spiritual. After the occasion of the first revelation of a verse of the Qur’an (“Read!”), the second verse to be revealed was a command about wearing clean clothing: “O you cloaked one (who has preferred solitude)! Arise and warn! And declare your Lord’s (indescribable and incomparable) greatness. And keep your clothing clean! Keep away from all pollution” (Muddaththir 74:1–5).

The Islamic scholar Elmalili Hamdi Yazir interprets the word siyab(usually “clothing”) in this verse to signify the “soul” and the “heart.” Thus, he paraphrases the verse as “keep yourself and your heart clean from sin and unrighteousness, stay away from unclean feelings that will ruin your good deeds and clothe yourself in good morality so that your good works may be acceptable.” But Yazir also sees no problem with a literal understanding of the verse, directly referring to physical and outward cleanliness, as well. Thus, it is highly likely that the verse is also a  commandment to keep the body and its garments clean.

It is clear that this responsibility—to keep oneself clean, both from outward impurities as well as from sins, like ascribing partners to God, rebellion against God, hypocrisy, and so on—is a moral obligation demanded by Islam. Both types of uncleanness are mentioned together in another Qur’anic verse: “Surely God loves those who turn to Him in sincere repentance (of past sins and errors) and He loves those who cleanse themselves” (Baqara 2:222).

The first requirement for deserving God’s love, entering His Presence, and being His servant is cleanliness. It is the first thing we must do to put ourselves in the correct state for performing obligatory daily prayers, which are the “ascension of the believer.” In the following verse God decrees performing ablution or taking a bath for this purpose:

O you who believe! When you rise up for the Prayer, (if you have no ablution) wash your faces and your hands up to (and including) the elbows, and lightly rub your heads (with water) and (wash) your feet up to (and including) the ankles. And if you are in the state of major ritual impurity (requiring total ablution), purify yourselves (by taking a bath)…. (Maeda 5:6)

With this verse the ablutions before ritual prayers became obligatory and all Muslims wash their hands, faces, mouths, noses, ears, necks, and feet before each of the five daily prayers.

Just as we should keep our body and the clothes we wear clean, we also need to keep our living quarters and the places where we worship clean. The Qur’an says, “O children of Adam! Dress cleanly and  beautifully  for  every  act  of  worship…”   (A’raf 7:31). God’s Messenger made it an obligatory practice to bathe at least once a week (this was at a time when frequent bathing was uncommon). He also instructed people to “keep your environment clean” and urged them to maintain the shared community spaces as well. A hadith recounts his words on this subject: “Avoid two cursed things,” he said, and when the Companions asked “What two things?” he replied, “Relieving oneself on the road where people pass by, or in a shady place (where people take a rest).”

Prophet Muhammad, who was “the Living Qur’an” and who embodied Qur’anic morality, as with everything, was the best of examples in cleanliness. He was very careful about his own cleanliness and whenever he lay down or got up, day or night, he washed his mouth and nose, brushed his teeth and made ablutions. In particular he emphasized that cleaning the teeth is crucial not only for the health of our mouth but also to please God; moreover, he taught that the first thing a person should do on waking from sleep is to wash their hands. He was also careful to dry his limbs on a towel after washing. God’s Messenger paid close attention to cleanliness throughout his life; he would wear clean, nice clothes whenever he out went in public, particularly to the mosque or to visit someone. He used pleasant scents and avoided eating onions, garlic or smelly foods before going out.

[mks-grin]

The Hacketteers and Their Names! (bc of Miles’ Twitch stream today.)

Ryan Erzahler - “Little King” & “Story Teller” this is interesting because Ryan is our story teller and is asked by Chris to ‘tone down’ the scary stories. He also is sort of a leader amongst the group. However he is often overshadowed by “bigger” people / energies like Jacob or Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn Ka - “Pure” & “Spark of Life”. Kaitlyn’s intentions are good when she allows Jacob to mess with the car and when she dares Emma to kiss either Jacob or Nick. Although her actions may not appear pure or good, her deeper intention is to be good to her friends. She also is the “spark of life” in the group and will “go where my people need me”.

Jacob Custos - “ Seize / Circumvent” & “Guardian or Keeper”. Jacob attempts to create an opportunity to spend more time with Emma. He acts rashly and with the intention of changing his future. He also is the “big brother” of the group. He is made to be the butt of their jokes and is responsible for certain tasks. He feels guilty about what he did to the car, as it has hurt everyone and goes against who he wants to be.

Emma Montebank - “Whole / Universal” & “Pretender”. Emma creates an identity and existence for herself that is online, therefore she is accessible to the entire world and creates a parasocial life for herself. She also says being confident is “being yourself…but louder.” And “it’s what the people want”. She is not as confident as she seems and is working hard to keep the image she has created of herself alive.

Abigail Blyg - “Cause of Joy” & “Sky”. Abigail is the only counselor who cannot get infected / turn during the events of the full moon. Therefore leaving her somewhat more innocent / less tainted than the others. She is seen drawing Emma and likely makes the other counselors happy by sharing her talent. She also is seen drawing a photo of the sky when her and Nick take a walk.

Nick Furcillo - “Victory of The People” & “Support / Frantic / Frenzy” before Nick turns he is loved by the other counselors. His victories with Abi are communal victories. Emma tells Abi to shoot her shot, Dylan nudged Nick to grab Abi’s bag, Jacob asks Nick how his time with Abi went, and Kaitlyn claims to have pushed them together when alone with Dylan and Ryan at the bonfire. Nick also is character who heavily supports the plot through the night by becoming more frantic before turning.

Dylan Lenivy - “Loyal / Faithful” & “Lazy”. Dylan has many opportunities to prove his loyalty to Kaitlyn through the night depending on the player’s choices. He also is seen as lazy because when Jacob asks him to help with the bags, he hides from Jacob, and makes zero attempt to mitigate the amount of work Jacob ends up doing.

Max Brinly - “Greatest” & “Burnt Meadow”. Max’s name is so far the most symbolic. Max could be considered the “greatest” in the sense that he was the first of the counselors to become infected, he also has to have a lot of determination to survive in their cell for two months. Max also uses the image, when talking to Laura in their cell, that he would “run off into the sunset with little bits of you in my teeth”. The image Max has created is similar to the idea of a burnt meadow, or a picturesque idea that has been ruined. Running away with Laura sounds great, but in reality Laura would have been eaten like he claims she would. A burnt meadow may also represent a new life, which Laura fights so hard for all night.

Laura Kearny - “ Victory” & “War-like / Soldier”. Laura is the most determined of all the counselors. She is hellbent to save Max whatever the cost. She is able to have a high kill count depending on how the player controls Laura, making her war like. She also seems virtually unshaken to do what she must, for Max, similarly to an ideal soldier.

[starlightervarda]

Some Religious Facts and Terminology

1) To start—Allah is the same entity as God. It’s just the Arabic word for God. Literally, to break it down its the words al-ilah—The God. The term predates Islam.

Christians in the Middle East (and Mizrahi Jews) also say Allah. The terms God the Father/God the Son translate to Allah al-Ab/Allah al-Ibn. Both religions also use the shared term Rabina—‘Our God’. If your characters are speaking the same language just use ‘God’.

A Muslim wouldn’t say the phrase ‘Your God’ to a Christian unless they’re mocking them for worshiping Jesus as God himself, or believing in the concept of the Trinity. This is asshole behavior. It would not be used in conversation between friends.

Shared phrases include:

God Be With You (Rabina ma’ak) / God Be With Us (Rabina ma’ana), O God (Ya Rab!) and God Willing (Inshallah) denote hope or assurance. Sometimes can be said in mild sarcasm or disbelief like “Sure it will,” or “We’ll see,”.

If someone sneezes you say May God Protect You (Yarhamukallah) i.e. Bless You. May God Save/Preserve You (Rabina Yekhaleik/Yehfezak) is a step above ‘Thank you’ or ‘Be Safe’.

On God’s Life (Wehyat Rabina) and I swear to God (Wallahi) are when you yourself swear or you ask someone to swear on / ensure something. They’re sometimes said with a heavy dose of sarcasm, like if someone tells you the Earth is flat and you’re like ‘Swear to God?’

Praise God (Alhamdulillah/Ahmedak Ya Rab) are expressions of relief, like ‘Thank God!’. God Wills It (Mashallah) is also used for relief, and in response to both good and baffling news (with sarcasm), and to ward off the Evil Eye/envy/jinn from ruining said-good news.

Ask God’s Forgiveness (Estaghfarallah) is an expression of exasperation/disbelief (like if someone keeps arguing the Earth is flat), tends to be accompanied by an eye-roll. It’s like ‘For the Love of God!’

Saying ‘Allah!’ as a positive interjection, like when something good happens or when you see something wondrous or beautiful, is also common. It’s where the Spanish word Olé! comes from.

Something specifically Muslim would be like using Weh Nabi (For the Prophet’s sake) when asking for something, which is impolite to say to a Christian since it holds no significance for them.

2) People seem to be under the impression that the faiths are inherently segregated or disconnected. All three People of the Book (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) share a lot more than you’d think, namely most stories and figures from the Torah/Old Testament. One of the biggest Islamic holidays, the Feast of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha) - also known as the Big Feast (Eid al-Kabir) is based on the story of the Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice is his son, then being told by God that he can now substitute a sheep for him. Sheep-meat dishes galore.

Other figures like Adam, Abraham (Ibrahim), Solomon (Suleiman), Joseph (Youssef), Noah (Nūh) and David (Dawoud) are important to all three, some more than others and other figures take a higher priority, like Ismael over Isaac. They factor into things like Muslims naming their daughters Sarah and Hagar, but not Rachel and Rebecca.

Look, it’s the same difference as Jews and Christians having the same god with the central difference being Jews not viewing Jesus as the Messiah. Muslims agree Jesus is the Messiah born of a virgin, just not the Son of God/God, or that he died on a cross. They even agree he’ll be back on Judgment Day to fight the Antichrist. 

3) While we’re at it, Muslims revere Jesus and Mary, they literally refer to them as Our Master Jesus (Sayedna Issa) / the Messiah and The Lady Mary (A-Sayeda Mariam) -- in the Quran, Mary has her own chapter and Jesus’ name shows up a lot. They revere them, and to a lesser extent, John the Baptist, and even John’s father Zachariah, as prophets of God. They name their children Issa, Mariam, Yahya and Zakaria for them.

4) In more secular countries with a Christian population, like in Egypt and the Levant, there are Muslims who join in celebrations of Christmas and Easter. They don’t do it in the religious sense as you would in a church, and it’s not a priority of theirs, but it’s in a general cultural ‘woo-hoo holiday!’ way. Plenty do, in fact, get trees, hang wreaths, lights, and images of Santa Claus/Papa Noël, in December.

In April, people will buy brioches and dye eggs for Easter, not because they believe Jesus died and was resurrected, but because it’s fun. They’ll even send their kids to schools run by nuns called Sacré-Cœur (Sacred Heart) and Mére de Dieu (Mother of God)! My great-grandma was in a nursing home run by nuns.

On the other side, nothing stops Christians from joining in the spirit for celebrations either of the Feasts, and them not fasting during Ramadan does not stop them from coming over to break fast with Muslim friends. They will wish each other Merry Christmas (Eid Milad Saïd) and Happy Feast (Eid Saïd), they'll even get each other gifts.

Not practicing doesn’t stop you from partaking, just like how many irreligious people celebrate the secular Santa-based Christmas. There is a lot of general overlap. I literally went to a concert in my country last winter where many in an interfaith crowd came to watch a choir sing Christmas songs. Hell, my grandma read an Arabic translation of The Divine Comedy when she was in university.

Stuff like this is not uncommon unless you’re in a country with almost no minority faiths, or are under strict religious laws. 

If anything, there have been pushes to join in interfaith celebrations and depicting characters on TV doing so to show unity and fight the rise in religious fanaticism and evangelical Islam that’s been happening the past couple of decades, which has raised the discrimination against and persecution of Christians and minority sects.

5) People who are against stuff like this, or get real defensive or offensive when offered or invited, who call for segregation of faiths, or who avoid interacting with Christians or anything they do, are fundamentalists/evangelicals/extremists. Just like you would with your own fundies, do not validate their behavior by displaying it on sympathetic characters, these are people who even other (moderate) Muslims would avoid. Fundie views are lethal, it encourages people to shoot up and bomb churches.

Religion is never an excuse to be an asshole. There’s a big difference between not wanting to eat a pork-based dish to keep halal, and refusing to shake hands with a woman/a Christian.

So, in any depiction of Joe, practicing, agnostic, somewhere-in-the-middle, just cultural rather than religious, etc. I beg of you don’t have him making fundie dick-moves like saying ‘Your God’ or rude things about Jesus, or refusing to help decorate a Christmas tree or wear a Santa hat. Canon!Joe was a Fatimid, they were known for being accepting/tolerant of minorities under their reign, he would not behave this way.

[realcube]

secretly dating the haikyuu!! boys 🤫

summary: you’ve been dating your partner in secret up until now, when their team finds out 

characters: hinata, oikawa & bokuto 

thanks to anon for the request 💗

tw// fem! reader, sexual references, swearing

Shōyō Hinata 

he kept the relationship a secret bc of noya IEFBEVAGLEB

ok ok lemme explain

you said jokingly once that you were into shorter guys in response to hinata asking something lovey-dovey along the lines of ‘what did i do to deserve you? 😍’

and hinata has been on edge ever since pfft

i mean, he just thins noya is such a cool guy and an awesome upperclassmen- why wouldn’t you want him?

but he couldn’t afford losing you to this teammate so he did everything in his power to make sure that you never crossed paths with nishinoya- which included not telling his team about you 

it was so hard for him as well bc he wanted to show you off to his teammates so bad especially stinkyshima 🥺

but he couldn’t :((

you never really inquired about it though, even when he’d get all weird when you’d come pick him up from practise

then the faithful day arrived, when kageyama watched you stroll into the class, hand hinata something, place a kind kiss on his cheek before taking your leave

he didn’t question it though- he couldn’t be bothered lol

the only time he ever brought it up was 2 weeks later in the changing room when tsukishima was making fun of him for being unable to ask out a girl for an upcoming dance

so kageyama retorted with ‘it’s not like you get any girls either, shittyshima! even hinata gets more action than you!’

hinata’s blood ran cold and he froze

tsukishima hummed in response, prodding kageyama to elaborate, ‘i saw him kissing a girl in class the other day-- have you ever kissed someone before?’

although that last part was meant to be a dig, it sounded more like a genuine question

yamaguchi peered over his shoulder to join the conversation, ‘is that true, hinata?’

hinata stood frozen for a little while longer before releasing a heavy sigh, ‘yes. but please don’t tell anyone else.’

‘why not?’ tsukishima pried.

‘none of your business, stinkyshima!’

that nickname was what prompted tsukishima to stroll out of the changing the room and disguise ‘hinata has a girlfriend’ behind a cough in front of the whole team

‘you said you weren’t going to tell anyone!’ hinata yelled, slightly red from the fact everyone was now staring at him - including coach ukai, takeda, kiyoko & yachi

‘what? it was just a cough.’ tsukishima snickered but promptly received an elbow to the stomach from yamaguchi

daichi rubbed hinata’s back while reassuring him that he didn’t have to tell them anything he didn’t want to but meanwhile, hinata’s eyes were fixated on nishinoya 

‘i- i do have a girlfriend.’ he stuttered, figuring that he wasn’t going to be able to hide it forever  — plus, he felt foolish for not trusting you to begin with. ‘her name is (l/n).’

yachi choked on her water, ‘she sits next to me in class!’

ngl yachi probably had a lil’ crush on you at some point but these are just headcanons, not a full blown fic so i cba to write a love triangle

‘cool’ hinata murmured in response before continuing, ‘she said that she will come see me after practise today so i guess you’ll see her then.’

by now, most people were shooting hinata comforting smiles and muttering their congratulations but those were all drowned out by nishinoya and tanaka’s loud offers

‘wow, hinata. you really got a chick before your senpais. i’m not sure whether to be proud or jealous!’ tanaka said, wiping an invisible tear from his eye

‘proud, ryū! we clearly did a good job in teaching him how to make advances on the ladies.’ nishinoya cheered before turning to grab hinata’s shoulders and pull him close, ‘now, hinata, if you ever need advice remember that you can come to us! we’re kinda professionals when it comes to relationships and stuff!’

hinata nodded rapidly, his lips slowly curling into a smile as he wondered; what was i so worried about? of course (y/n) would never cheat on me and noya would never make moves on my girlfriend

when you arrived, you were rather confused when hinata greeted you with his usual vigour rather than his hasty, rushed greetings for when you met him after practise

also, you were perplexed as to why many peeping eyes were staring at the pair of you from the gym door as he peppered your face with kisses - and why was one of them Yachi?

‘uuh, shō, are those your teammates?’ you inquired, gesturing to the peepers behind y’all

hinata peered over his shoulder and chuckled at how ‘discreet’ they were being,’uh- yeah.’

suddenly, yachi and sugawara popped out from behind the walls, ‘hello, (l/n)!’ they both yelled in unison

you smiled, looking at them and realising this was probably the first time you’ve ever been acknowledged by his teammates

‘hi, yachi and--’

hinata hastily whispered in your ear, ‘sugawara.’

‘sugawara!’

hinata finally got to introduce you to all his teammates and he was so hyped 

he had a foolishly wide grin on his face the whole time 

he’s just so happy that the person he loves can finally meet the people who help him do what he loves 

Tōru Oikawa

y’all kept the relationship secret bc you didn’t want to get nasty glares from oikawa’s fangirls and he didn’t want to get teased by iwa so it was a win/win

although you had to be cautious when showing PDA, it didn’t mean y’all didn’t do it at all

there was just something about knowing that what you were doing was risky, which made you want to do it even more

so sometimes y’all would do that thing where you arrange certain times to ask for the bathroom during class so you could see each other in the corridor

and since it was during class, there was virtually nobody else in the hallway 

so y’all would literally just go for it

kissing as if you had never experienced human affection before

but since you both were so into it, you’d never notice kyōtani walk by, on his way back from the principal’s office

he’d even let out a low scoff every time

but you were both just so in the moment that you’d never even notice 

word spreads fast in the seijoh boys’ volleyball club, though

but slightly slower when it starts with kyōtani

like what reason does he have to tell anybody about what he saw? he doesn’t want to relive those events

but during a bitching session with yahaba, he spilled about oikawa and you since the captain had been working them extra hard lately, as if he was the coach tsk

so ofc the gossip spread across multiple bitching session from yahaba, to kunimi, to kindaichi, to watari, to hanamaki then finally to matsukawa

(iwaizumi didn’t get to know bc firstly he didn’t join in with bitching sessions and secondly, everyone knew that iwa would just immediately tell oikawa and that would ruin all the fun)

it got to the point where almost everyone on the team knew about you and oikawa so whenever he would walk into practise, a chorus of low giggles and whispers would spread across the gym

this had been going on for about a month now and at first, oikawa was too self-indulged to notice

but after a bit longer, he kinda noticed and brought it up to iwaizumi

‘hey, why does everyone start acting weird whenever i walk into the room?’

iwaizumi rolled his eyes, shoving a ball against oikawa’s chest, ‘what? no, they don’t; stop being so paranoid. now, throw me some sets.’

that was enough reassurance for oikawa to ignore it for a while but then hanamaki accidentally made one of the jokes a bit too loud

oikawa fell face first into the gym floor after tripping over his lace and the whole gym seemed to erupt into laughter

‘hah!’ matsukawa wheezed, ‘stop kissin’ the ground, tōru!’ 

‘mwah, mwah!’ yahaba teased

hanamaki suddenly chimed in, ‘yeah, save that shit for (y/n)!--’

silence spread like a plague across the whole gym room

it was only broken when iwaizumi let out a clueless, ‘huh?’

oikawa quickly scurried onto his feet, ‘how do you know about (y/n)?’

hanamaki chuckled awkwardly as he looked left to right for help but was just met by blank stares, ‘uh- she’s- erm, in my homeroom class.’

obviously, oikawa didn’t buy it

‘who told you about me and (y/n)?’ he inquired in a sinister tone of voice, his glare seeming anything but kind 

‘watari!’ he yelled accusingly, pointing his index finger at the poor libero 

after all eyes shifted onto him, watari wasted no time in redirecting everyone’s attention onto kindaichi, ‘it was turnip-head who told me!’

‘well, it was kunimi that told me!’ kindaichi shouted with no hesitation

kumini crossed his arms over his chest, ‘yahaba told me.’

yahaba’s eyes widened at the sudden accusation before turning to oikawa and defending himself, ‘mad dog was the one that saw you and (y/n) kissing in the hallway!’

mad dog glared at the pinch server, then turned to oikawa and shrugged 

oikawa was livid DIUVBEVILS

‘YOU ALL KNEW ABOUT ME AND (Y/N) BUT DIDN’T TELL ME?! HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN GOSSIPING ABOUT US FOR?!’

yahaba took it upon himself to reply, ‘mad dog only told me about a month ago-’

‘THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR A WHOLE MONTH?!’

faint hums of ‘yeah’ and ‘uhuh’ were heard across the gym hall

‘wait-’ iwaizumi cocked his head to the side, ‘are you dating (y/n)?’

this inquiry was only met by blank stares as oikawa pinched his temple, wondering what he should do now

‘why did you try to hide your relationship for so long?’ kindaichi asked before kunimi added, ‘yeah, can we finally meet her?’ 

matsukawa rolled his eyes, ‘she literally goes to our school; meet her in the hallway or something.’

oikawa shook his head, quickly shutting down matsukawa’s idea, ‘i’ll ask her to come over after practise today but be on your best behaviour.’ he sung, quickly grabbing a ball and going back to practising receives

everyone was rather shocked at how fast the captains’ demeanour changed

while you were at your own club, you got a message from oikawa asking if you wanted to meet his team

you had already met most of them outside of volleyball but you figured now was perhaps a good time to introduce yourself as oikawa’s gf to rub it in /j

before you arrived, oikawa made it explicitly clear that they weren’t to tell anybody about the relationship or else oikawa’s fangirls would come for you

they all agreed and patiently waited for you to arrive

honestly, iwaizumi was probably the only one with pure intentions when it came to finally meeting you — as he simply wanted to see the girl who has oikawa’s heart

the rest of them of the other hand 🙄

matsukawa and hanamaki planned to have a competition to see who could seduce you first 

watari, kindaichi and kunimi wanted to just tease oikawa in front you 

and yahaba was going to try get you to tell him all the gossip about oikawa 😈

(kyōtani left early)

so needless to say you were hardly charmed when you formally met the bunch of boys oikawa spends his time with 

‘so are you free tonight orrr?’ hanamaki questioned, promptly getting a slap to the back of the head from both oikawa and matsukawa

‘makki, a lady like her shouldn’t be spoken to like that,’  matsukawa pushed his friend aside, ‘watch this: hey, sweetie. what is a gal--’

matsukawa got the same treatment as makki except this time it was kindaichi pushing him away, ‘so how much is oikawa paying you to play his girlfriend?’

you couldn’t help but giggle, especially as you could see oikawa from over his shoulder, shooting him the deadliest glare

kunimi poked his head around kindaichi arm to look at you, ‘i’m guessing ¥3000 an hour.’

‘(y/n) is worth way more than ¥3000 an hour!’ oikawa yelled from behind the crowd of boys surrounding you 

yahaba hurried forward, slipped his arm around your waist and escorting you a few paces away from the others to whisper in your ear, ‘does oikawa have any embarrassing childhood pictures?’

you snickered, leaning in and whispering back, ‘yeah, i’ll send them to you on instagram.’

ok. although they weren’t the most charming- they were definitely a fun bunch lol

Kōtarō Bokuto

a secret relationship w/ bokuto has hardly a secret lol

plus, the ‘secret’ part is only gonna last MAX a month ✋

he tries to ‘act natural’ around his teammates but it’s a bit- too natural 

he’ll come back from a make-out session with you, lipstick smeared across his face and just be like ‘hey y’all! ✌ good vibes today’

or when he’d take off his shirt to reveal the scratch marks on his back, that he wasn’t even aware of 

or the hickeys that he wouldn’t even bother try to hide 

so the whole team were aware that bokuto had a partner- they just weren’t sure who it was

but they didn’t really mention anything to bokuto bc they srsly didn’t care which left bokuto under the impression that he was sneaky as hell

akaashi was kinda upset that bokuto didn’t tell him about you tho but he kept that to himself

everyone was silently curious as to who bokuto was dating but none of them actually spoke up about it

until one day, konoha was chatting to komi, thinking they weren’t being listened to since bokuto seemed preoccupied with practising spikes, ‘psst, komi. i saw bokuto walk home with (y/n) the other day, i think she might be the one he’s da--’

but bokuto develops super-hearing when you’re involved

he was now looming over komi and konoha in what felt like a blink of an eye, ‘what did you say about (y/n)?’ he asked in a rather gruff voice

both boys were taken back by their captain’s sudden change in mood but komi managaed to stutter out, ‘oh- konoha just saw you walking home with her the other day; you both make a very cute couple.’

all sense of menace or threat was washed out of bokuto’s tone as his lips formed a bright smile, ‘awww, thanks! we do-- wait!’ 

bokuto cut himself off and the boys started snickering, ‘so it’s (y/n) that you’re dating.’ komi stated the obvious, this time loud enough for the whole gym to hear.

bokuto couldn’t help but face-palm, his sweaty hands making a loud, wet slapping noise against his skin. ‘ugh! i wasn’t supposed to tell you that.’ he grumbled, eyeing everyone in the gym that was sending him astonished looks

after a while of sulking in his emo-mode..with help from akaashi, bokuto finally tried to see the positives in the situation

‘well, maybe today she can finally meet you all.’ bokuto murmured, eyes full of hope which could hardly be seen passed the strands of his deflated hair that hung in front of his face

‘sure.’ akaashi shrugged, seeing nothing wrong with this idea 

there was a lot of things wrong, though

firstly, you were at your own club which finished ten minutes after practise ended, which means bokuto had to use his puppy-eyes on everyone on the team to convince them into staying for ten minutes extra

secondly, bokuto was so hyped that you were finally meeting his teammates, an introduction for each person took like 5 minutes 

bokuto inhaled sharply to catch his breath from the last introduction he just did, ‘ok next, this is washio, he’s one of our middle blockers bc he is so damn tall - say hi, washio. his eyebrows might make you think that he is a meanie or something  — that’s what i thought at first — but he’s really not. he offered me some of his lunch after i forgot to bring money that day so he’s definitely a good egg. he’s also a really good blocker and he has similar hair to me so i think that’s why he’s so good. also, he’s really good at making tea.’

ok now imagine that but for every. single. member.

he also gives you an extra ass intro too lol

‘(y/n), this is onaga. onaga this is my beautiful, stunning, flawless girlfriend (y/n)  — she’s the sweetest person ever and she give the sweetest kisses on the face of this earth.’

please don’t be embarrassed he just loves you so much