#and elaborating on his character from there

[slurmpinheimer]

from @cyber-harpie !! spit that shit homie!! I thought this deserved to be seen because it brings up a lot interesting points—and I do agree with this, though it got me thinking again. I would like to add a few things to my initial statement because analysis and talking about Kim is fun;

(WARNING: MAJOR KIM-RELATED YAPPAGE BELOW)

I’ve watched several play throughs where (especially at the beginning of the game/if they have low psyche) people aren’t sure of Kim, or even go so far as to call him annoying, a buzzkill, or an asshole. At first I found myself getting really defensive about this. Obviously not to the point that I made any hate comments or anything, that would be silly— But just in my head, automatically dismissing it because I love him and didn’t want to hear it. I couldn’t imagine anyone disliking him, instead of thinking deeper and considering *why* people might come to these conclusions.

I believe the bits we get from Esprit and Empathy support my initial point that Harry is the perfect narrative device to meet Kim through. If I remember correctly, Kim was written specifically to find Harry funny, and Harry’s skills let us see that. and that’s IF you succeed the checks, or if you’re dedicated enough to save scum to see other possibilities/go through Fayde to see what other options might have held.

Like, before I learned about the end of the Homosexual Underground thought line, I certainly had my suspicions. I definitely thought Kim was at least queer-coded and headcanoned him as gay, but that thought trail is behind a legendary Composure check that I spent like 10 full minutes save-scumming. I had low motorics on my first run, and I only tried so hard because I had been spoiled and knew that it gave a thought called “Homosexual Underground” and needed to see where that led with my own eyes.

That’s just one example too—There’s several times that Kim Lore is behind hard checks (Ace’s High/Low, that tidbit about him smoking weed lol) or things he just refuses to elaborate on without specific circumstances. Plus there’s all the stuff that you can learn when you play a different quest line. I’ve had several people tell me that going through a fascist ends up with Kim actually being pretty open about things you don’t learn about in other questlines. I don’t even know all the details of that yet because I’ve been so busy doing the other quests and achievements that I haven’t finished a fascist run yet.

My thought process with all this is that without seeing Kim through the lens Harry, who works with him almost constantly for a week straight in a situation where deep and meaningful conversation is not just encouraged but *needed* to build a repertoire and ultimately solve the case—Not to mention the patience and care Kim treats Harry’s situation with—I can see how someone would look at Kim from the outside and find him to be… (anguish at typing out this word) …mid.

So yeah. On the surface level; Kim is a cop. He can be condescending and uptight, sometimes leading into lecturing people (something he himself admits). He plays his cards close to his chest, with both his moralist beliefs and even more so his sympathies for the rebellion—Which can make him look a bit like a fence sitter. He can be emotionally unavailable towards himself and others, making him hard to read and sometimes appear cold.

But past that, he is a beautifully crafted, deep character, and the perfect foil to the chaos that is Harry. He is the man that reaches out to shake your hand even though you ghosted him two days prior. He will pat you and give you a handkerchief when you throw up. He can be the man that sticks up for you time and time again, not just because he needs to in order to solve the case, but because if you really try, he believes you’re a good detective at heart. Past suicidal rants and nervous breakdowns, he encourages you to keep going.

He has been beaten down, ground and polished to a smooth finish by mutiple facets of oppression—from his glasses, to his race, his sexuality, all fundamental parts of himself that he cannot change. From years of working in a high-pressure, volatile work environment with low pay and little benefits other than the small satisfaction of completing a case, only to dive headfirst into the next one.

He pushed aside his lofty dreams of the skies to be down with the rest of us in the dirt and mud, trudging, struggling through life until we all inevitably burn away the fuel reserves and are nothing but smoke, a memory in the mind of fire.

Beyond that carefully constructed exterior, past his wall of professionalism (and habit of using his notebook as a shield) hides a goofy nerd, a lover of crosswords and cars, of silly radio stations, and a deep appreciation for beautifully bearded muscular men. He is an expert user of sarcasm and master of cryptic jokes, some even philosophical or political in nature. At his core, he wants to make things better for the people around him. He wants to believe he can make a difference, no matter how long it takes or how small the change is. Even if working for the RCM destroys him before he can see it come to fruition.

He is wonderful. He is amazing. He’s probably my favorite character all of fiction, and I don’t think there will ever be a day in my life that I stop loving him. That’s pookie you’re talking about. I’ll always have space in my heart for him.

He will live on as long as we do, as real as The Man From Hjemdall is to Roy because Disco Elysium *made* him real, handcrafting him, giving him life between margins and pixels. And that is worth everything.

Kim Kitsuragi is a fascinating character because there's not that much fun or interesting or compelling about him. And yet somehow over the course of playing Disco Elysium the game rewires your fucking brain around him. He's the middest man you've ever seen in both appearance and personality but at some point he says something kind to you or something critical of you and you feel like you just got hit by a truck and you need his approval like you need oxygen and like how tf did this happen. what are you

[monokoitari]

As it seems my favorite hobby is making Shen Yuan transmigrate on random characters, idea where he transmigrates into a rogue cultivator with a very pretty and delicate face. It's almost like he looks like a pretty lady!!

... So, he decides that since he looks like a pretty girl, the only place he can survive without becoming a villain or cannon fodder is in Luo Binghe's harem.

Don't get him wrong, he doesn't even plan on getting close to Luo Binghe! But infiltrating the harem is ridiculously easy. He then asks a servant if she can assign him a new room because one of the wives filled his room with poisonous herbs. Not surprisingly, it works, because Shen Yuan knows that this is one of the most common harem drama plots. Jealous wives, drama, seeking the emperor's attention. Very common.

Now, even if he has to cross-dress for it, he has a comfortable room, three meals a day, books everywhere. He starts making friends with the servants, because well, they're interesting demons and Shen Yuan has a lot of questions about their cultures and origins. They respond, of course, happy to be recognized as equals by someone so curious.

Eventually, if any of the wives tries to do something against him... The servants are the ones who will take away all the favor from her. Get along with the servants and you will have the world! So is Shen Yuan who receives the best fabrics for embroidery, the best dresses, the best foods, the freshest fruit, the best makeup items, the most beautiful jewelry. And when some jealous wife picks on him about it, the servants don't change her sheets, leave her clothes unwashed, and give her leftovers to eat.

The fame that Shen Yuan begins to gain in the harem is... complicated. Of course, he goes largely unnoticed. He dresses modestly, spends time with the servants. When he walks through the gardens he is always talking to one or two servants about monsters, creatures, strange flowers, asking questions and gathering data. Shen Yuan is the emperor's strange wife that none of the 300 wives know where he came from, but no one suspects that he doesn't belong there because, well. In reality, it is completely impossible for there to be 300 of them all to know each other. Some do not even know the main wives beyond the stories told about them.

The only one who remembers, recognizes and knows all his wives is, of course, Luo Binghe.

And Luo Binghe knows that she... that he? is not one of his wives.

However, he doesn't cause trouble, he's kind to the servants, he doesn't attack other wives, and he doesn't seek their attention. So how bad can it be to just allow him to be there? He keeps a low profile, and even seems to be hiding. Luo Binghe considers the idea of him being a minor noble fleeing his horrible family and believing that he can find a home in the harem because of Luo Binghe's good treatment of his wives.

It would be cruel to kick him out when he apparently has good friends in the palace and a home now. Plus, he has to admit that he is very committed to his hiding place: he always wears dresses, elaborate hairstyles and looks like a delicate and sweet young lady with rouge on his cheeks and his lips as pink as petals.

And Luo Binghe is curious. Oh well. If he approach him and act like he really believe that they are married, talking and trying to understand him, wouldn't that be interesting?

(It is not interesting for Shen Yuan. Now, facing a Luo Binghe who definitely believes that they are married and offers his arm in walks in the gardens and conversations, Shen Yuan could die. The blackened protagonist is going to kill him when he knows the truth!! Well, that means he have to do... ahem... Whatever it takes to convince him that he's one of his pretty wives.)

[cybrasigilism]

NSFW ALPHABET with Player 333 (Lee Myung-gi)

warnings: smut and all things of the like, you know the drill! | not proofread | lowercase intended | these are my headcanons for this character, please be respectful even if my opinions for the character differ from your own

character: lee myung-gi (player 333)

A/N: my notifications have spoken, and i really wanted to write another NSFW alphabet so it works out perfectly, i apologize for the missing letters but i genuinely couldn’t think of anything for him relating to them, so for now they’re absent! i think people need to go a little easier on player 333 especially since all the players in squid game are far from perfect! like yes he’s a pathetic little loser but he’s our pathetic little loser. anyways, hope you guys enjoy!

MDNI! 18+ content under the cut, readers discretion is advised

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A= Aftercare what they’re like after sex

↳ he’s no god at aftercare, but he’ll definitely talk with you about the experience or even just anything you want afterwards. he does enjoy a good cuddle, especially if its following a particularly possessive round of fucking

B= Body part their favourite body part of theirs and of their partner’s

↳ for himself, he really likes his eyes, mainly because it was the first thing you complimented him on. and for his partner? he’ll come right out and say it, he loves your tits

C= Cum anything to do with cum, basically

↳ really into cum eating, not gonna elaborate

D= Dirty secret a dirty secret of theirs

↳ cries during sex, particularly after being overstimulated

E= Experience how much experience do they have? do they know what their doing?

↳ he’s only slept with 1 or 2 people before you, and your first time together he definitely did need some guidance but neither of you minded really. he likes when you tell him how to please you

F= Favourite Position this one speaks for itself

↳ because he’s totally possessive of you, any position that he can be in charge is one that myung-gi can get behind. really likes when he can put your legs over his shoulders, or when he can hold your thighs apart in a straddle as he fucks into you. trust that he’s going all the way in

I= Intimacy how are they in the moment, the romantic aspect?

↳ he definitely strikes me as the type who would lowkey be awkward about intimacy at first, but when you guys get into it and he gets more comfortable i really do feel like he gets super affectionate with you in bed

J= Jack off masturbation headcanons

↳ don’t ask, but he 100% uses audio porn to get off

K= Kink one or more of their kinks

↳ possessive sex, spanking, choking (esp if he’s the one being choked), dacryphilia

L= Location their favourite place to do the do

↳ dk if this counts as a location but he’d be down for mirror sex

M= Motivation what turns them on? what gets them going?

↳ lowkey getting jealous turns him on. if he feels like he’s gotta prove that you’re “his” to another person, he’ll be fighting off a killer boner

N= No something they won’t do

↳ threesomes, again with the possessiveness, that would really stop him from keeping his cool at the idea of having to “share”

O= Oral their preference on giving or receiving, how skilled are they etc.

↳ he prefers to get head; absolutely drives him insane when you gag on his cock and when you look up at him with mascara running down your face

P= Pace are they fast and rough? slow and sensual?

↳ if he’s feeling more intimate, expect a slow, gentle + sensual pace. its completely different when he’s feeling jealous, he’ll be merciless as he pounds into you

Q= Quickie their opinions on quickies

↳ um, yes he would love a quickie, what a question.

S= Stamina how many rounds can they go for? how long can they last?

↳ his stamina really fluctuates, but not in the way you’re expecting. he can actually go a bit longer after each orgasm, but only for a few rounds. expect him to cum within 3 minutes of the first round

T= Toys do they have toys? do they use them on themselves? on their partner?

↳ dude’s totally a freak, he’s got quite a few toys that he can use on his partner, the most notable being a paddle (gee, i didnt know we were canoeing), and of course he’s got a fleshlight for himself

U= Unfair how much they like being teased

↳ he acts like he hates it when you tease him, but in actuality it gets him really horny

V= Volume how loud are they? what sounds do they make?

↳ he gets pretty vocal, especially when getting head or when he’s feeling jealous. will often refer to you as being his, and how “no one else can make you feel as good as this, you’re mine.”

W= Wildcard a random headcanon for them

↳ lowkey has a daddy thing

X= X-ray what’s going on under those clothes?

↳ he’s got a pretty slim build. for size he’s fairly decent, around 5 1/2 - 6” when hard

Y= Yearning how high is their sex drive?

↳ don’t kid yourself, he’s got a pretty wicked sex drive. maybe it’s all that jealousy 🤔

Z= Zzz how quickly do they fall asleep after?

↳ at the end of the day, it all depends on how tired he is afterwards, but if he sees that you’re still awake he’ll try to stay up for you

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thanks so much for reading! as always, any advice or constructive criticism on how i can improve my writing is appreciated and requested! have a beautiful day/night :)

tags: @agornotsworld @kvstjwonnie @marymustdie

[jackles010378]

Lights, Camera, TikTok!

Requested by @deanwinchestersgirl8734

Prompt : Hi do you think when you get time you could do a story about Jensen finding out his wife or girlfriend reader was making secret TikTok videos about him and his characters and liking others videos on TikTok lol

Jensen had just returned home early from filming, eager to surprise his girlfriend, Y/N. However, little did he know that he was in for a surprise of his own. As he entered the living room, he heard familiar music playing and saw Y/N dancing in front of the camera with various props in hand.

Intrigued, Jensen leaned against the door to see what she was up to. To his amazement, he realized she was making TikTok videos of him and his various characters from the shows he had starred in. From Dean Winchester's classic lines to Soldier Boy's heroic poses, she was mimicking them all with precision and flair.

Suppressing a laugh, Jensen decided to have a bit of fun with her. He quietly slipped away and grabbed his phone. Creating a pseudonymous account, he followed Y/N's TikTok profile and started commenting on her videos with inside jokes only they shared.

As days passed, Y/N began to notice the mysterious commenter's familiarity with Jensen's characters and their personal life. Curious yet thrilled, she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was amiss.

Meanwhile, Jensen reveled in her confusion, relishing the chance to see her detective skills in action. He continued to engage with her videos, leaving hints here and there to see if she would catch on to the true identity of the mystery fan.

One evening, as Y/N filmed a particularly elaborate video portraying one of Dean's iconic scenes, she noticed a comment that made her pause. It was a reference to a private joke only she and Jensen knew. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized the truth.

Laughing, Jensen emerged from his hiding spot, his eyes sparkling with mischief. Y/N gaped at him in disbelief before bursting into laughter herself. The couple spent the night watching all the TikTok videos together, reminiscing about their shared adventures and creating new memories.

From that day on, their TikTok account became a platform for their playful banter and shared love for storytelling. And though Jensen's surprise hadn't gone as planned, it had brought them even closer, weaving a new chapter in their story filled with joy, laughter, and a touch of digital magic.

I hope this was ok for you 🥰 ❤️ 🫶🏻

TAGLIST : @nescavaneckdaily @k-slla @cevansbaby-dove @kaleldobrev @janineb86 @deans-daydream @alternativeprincess94 @angelbabyyy99 @cheynovak @winchesterwild78 @suckitands33

[galaxymagitech]

Bleeding Heart

For @jasontoddweek2025 — Day 1

Drive | Time Travel | The Batmobile Tires

Summary: Jason may have escaped the traffickers that caught him, but he promised the other children that he’d save them too. Fortunately, Jason has a plan. Unfortunately, that plan involves attracting the attention of a dangerous vigilante by stealing his tires—and then bargaining for the trafficked children’s lives.

Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne

Warnings: Child Trafficking, Fear of Rape/Non-Con (none actually occurs)

You can read it here or on AO3!

Jason’s ribs ache as he twists the tire iron, the remnants of a harsh beating. At least, Jason thinks, I’ve still got my wits about me. He’d shielded his head well, when the traffickers punished him for his disobedience. Although, given the sheer insanity of Jason’s current plan…it actually wouldn’t be that shocking if he did have a concussion.

Jason could run. It would be the smart thing to do. He could run and never look back. Spend a fitful night in his hideout, tossing and turning with guilt-ridden dreams, and then wake up and go back to eking out a living, slightly wiser than he was two weeks ago.

But Jason had promised. He’d held Fatima’s small, chubby hands in his own as the other children crowded around him. He’d sworn that he would do everything he could to keep them safe. He hadn’t sworn he couldkeep them safe. That was a longshot, and even Jason knew it. But he had promised to try. And anyway, Jason knows he could never live with himself if he left the others to their fates.

His mom always said he opened himself up too wide, that he was a bleeding heart. This must’ve been what she meant.

Carefully, Jason removes the second tire and begins to roll it away. He’s hiding this one in a different location from the first, in case Batman has already spotted him. No matter what, Jason has to keep his leverage, or he won’t even get an audience with the Batman.

See, everyone knows that the foster system is shit. Everyone knows about the trafficking rings, knows that children go missing from the group homes, knows not to go to certain shelters lest you disappear. Everyone knows, and Batman has never lifted a damn finger to stop it.

Not shocking, really. Batman, like the cops, exists to protect the rich. He never patrols Crime Alley. And well, everyone’s seen Robin’s costume—Batman obviously doesn’t care about stuff like this.

So Batman’s not gonna listen to Jason screaming for help unless Jason makes him listen.

The tires aren’t just an elaborate ploy for attention, though. They’re also leverage and—most terrifyingly—an audition.

Batman has no reason to break up the trafficking ring that, until a few hours ago, had held Jason captive. Jason will offer the location of the tires in exchange for Batman saving the other children, but he knows that won’t be enough. Not when Batman could just as easily beat the information out of him. As much as Jason postures, he knows that he’s a child—his bones snap so easily.

But Robin got old and disappeared. That means there’s a vacancy. By stealing Batman’s tires, Jason will show that he has the skills and courage to fill that position. And spunk. Robin has argued with Batman publicly enough that Jason knows Batman must like that.

Jason doesn’t want to be Robin. But it’s certainly a better deal than he’d get if trafficked. And if Batman breaks up the trafficking ring, everyone will know Jason squealed. Snitches don’t get stitches—they get days of torture and then a cold, wet grave at the bottom of the harbor. Working as Robin, at least, would keep Jason alive.

After stashing the second tire, Jason returns to the Batmobile, kneeling down and beginning to detach the third tire.

Only—

Jason freezes. Someone’s right behind him.

“Well…come to finish the job, boy?” The low, deep growl echoes through the alley. Jason looks up at the shadowy form looming over him and tries his very best not to tremble in fear. This is the plan, he reminds himself. “You’re going to give me back my tires,” Batman orders.

He hasn’t started beating Jason yet, so that’s a good sign. A sign that he’s willing to talk, that he’s at least somewhat…amused. Jason’s grip on the tire iron tightens. “You—you have to hear me out first,” Jason says.

Batman stares at Jason for a moment. He’s clearly not used to being contradicted by kids who aren’t Robin. “How about you return my tires, and then we talk.”

Talk. Yeah, right. Jason doubts there will be much talking involved, unless you count talking with your fists. “No,” Jason insists. “You help me, and then I’ll tell you where the tires are. Or else you’re never finding ‘em.”

Batman steps forwards. Jason begins to step back, but instead forces his left leg to remain still, turning what was a retreat into a solid fighting position. If he wanted, he could swing the tire into Batman’s stomach or knee with a decent amount of force and then run. Fat lot of good that would do, though, now that Jason has the Bat’s attention.

Well, that’s what he wanted, isn’t it?

“Help,” Batman echoes, white eye-lenses narrowed. Jason’s heard people say the Bat’s a demon, but he never believed them. Up close, Jason can see the man’s jaw, a hint of the human face beneath the cowl. No, he’s no demon. But Jason is jaded enough to know that men are far worse than any of the demons in his stories. Jason can’t banish Batman or trap him in a summoning circle or escape him with the right words. He has nochoice but to bargain—and since Jason has only a couple of tires and himself to trade away, he’s not optimistic about ending this negotiation with his own safety assured. “What do you need help with?”

Jason swallows. “There’s a trafficking ring. They got me, took me to the warehouse down on Fifth and Rupert. I escaped, but the others are still there. If you get them out, I’ll tell you where your tires are.”

Jason knows that the offer not enough. He expects Batman to reject it, to threaten Jason, to say that the only thing Jason will be getting in exchange for the location of the tires is his life.

But instead, Batman nods, expression blank. “Tell me everything.”

“They’re moving everyone at 1 AM.” It’s not one yet, Jason knows, but that’s only a few hours away. This plan was thrown together in desperation. “I was in there with fourteen other kids, but I think they’ve got more. Some of them were older, teenagers, but there were—some of them were really little.” Fatima couldn’t have been more than eight. “They’re moving people in trucks from some catering company.”

Batman nods. “Anything else?”

Jason tries to remember, but his thoughts are scattered by fear. “They’re tied up with the White Shark somehow,” Jason adds, eventually. He doesn’t know how, but…

Jason hangs around the working girls on one of the corners a block away from his hideout. They remind him of his mom, just enough that he can gain some small measure of comfort from their presence, and they trade information with him. But Jason had spent too long with them, and he’d been noticed. Their pimp, a member of the White Shark’s gang, had made Jason an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Jason had refused.

That hadn’t worked out well for him, obviously.

“Thank you for telling me this,” Batman says. “I’m going to fix this, I promise.” He pulls some weird gun thingy out of his utility belt, and for a single, fleeting, wonderful moment, Jason thinks that Batman is about to leave him here. It’s probably fair, to trust that Jason won’t run. Most kids would be too terrified. But Jason has guts—probably too much guts, to be honest—and he’ll run at the first opportunity. With those two tires, Jason can buy a ticket out of Gotham, can find another city where the White Sharks can’t track him down. And then, in four words, Batman sends Jason’s hopes crashing down. “Wait in the car,” he orders.

Jason’s gaze flickers to the nearby alley. He could still run. But…he’d get caught, and then Batman wouldn’t save the others. “Okay,” Jason says quietly. He lets Batman open the door to the passenger’s seat and sits down, knowing that he’s probably dooming himself. As Batman fires a some sort of metal cord from his gun—is that a grappling hook gun?—Jason hears the locks on the car door click shut.

Breathe, he reminds himself, aware of how his breaths are turning shallow. Just…breathe, Jason. Batman is going to help them. Batman is going to get them out.

For a price. A price that has to be more than just the location of the tires. And because Jason didn’t get a chance to make his offer, he has no idea just what that price will be. Or if he’s willing to pay it.

(He is, though. Willing to pay it. If it means that Fatima and Amy and Lucia and Yael get out, get saved, Jason is willing to pay the price. Could Batman see that in Jason’s eyes, when he tried to bargain for the other children’s lives?)

(Stupid bleeding, bloody heart.)

It strikes Jason instantly, the thing he was forgetting. The place where the traffickers beat Jason for trying to protect Beth, the place where kids disappeared to and sometimes didn’t come back. It was hidden in a nearby building connected to the warehouse by an alleyway. Batman won’t find it on his own. And by the time he returns to the car, the traffickers will have already triggered the evacuation. All the kids there will be gone.

And Jason can’t let that happen.

He has to get there and tell Batman. Now. But he’s locked into the car.

Jason climbs into the driver’s seat, but that door’s locked from the inside. He swings his tire iron at the windshield, but it doesn’t even crack. Desperately, Jason mashes at the buttons on the dashboard, but none of them do anything at all.

Maybe he can lower the windows? But no, trying that doesn’t do anything either.

Wait. The Batmobile has got to have an eject button, right? All the super cool cars in movies have eject buttons. And if Jason was designing a super cool car—and the Batmobile definitely fits that description—he’d make the eject button work even when the car was turned off. Never know when you need an escape route.

Crawling into the legroom, Jason squints and begins to inspect the passenger seat. And sure enough, he finds it, a small red button clearly labelled ‘eject.’ Jason sits in the seat, reaches down, presses the button, and shoots through the roof.

Literally. A metal sphere folds around Jason and the seat, the roof opens up, and Jason goes flying out. He rolls and rolls and rolls and, just as he thinks he’s about to vomit, the sphere unfolds, depositing Jason on the sidewalk. He stumbles and pukes right by a dumpster.

For a moment, Jason is struck by the sheer shock at what he just did.

And then he remembers why he needed to escape the Batmobile and takes off running.

***

Never let it be said Jason doesn’t know how to make an entrance.

He originally planned to wait outside the warehouse and tell Batman before the man tried to go back to the car (and then slip away in the middle of the ensuing fight). But Jason can’t help but watch from one of the high-up windows as Batman destroys the monsters who hurt Jason and the other kids, who planned to sell them like cattle. Justice in Crime Alley is rare. Plenty of people who have hurt kids never see the consequences. But today, these men do.

It's not enough. It’s not nearly enough. It shouldn’t be just these men. It should be all the traffickers, all the abusers, all the rapists. And Jason can’t help but notice that Batman never lands the killing blow.

But it’s something. It’s more than Jason ever thought he would get. 

And so, when Jason watches one of the few remaining traffickers break the catwalk away from the wall, watches Batman get taken by surprise and collapse under the wreckage, watches the trafficker aim his gun and line up the shot—

Jason can’t help it. He finds himself moving before he even makes a conscious decision. One second he’s watching from the window, and the next he’s sliding down the catwalk’s remaining metal support like a fire pole.

Jason is under four and a half feet tall, doesn’t even come up to Batman’s chest. But he takes the trafficker completely by surprise. Jason aims a kick at the man’s arm, forcing him to drop his gun, and then socks him hard enough in the jaw that he stumbles away—straight into the recently-recovered Batman’s fist.

“What are you doing here?” Batman growls. “I told you to wait in the car.

“There’s another building,” Jason explains breathlessly, resting his hands on his knees and breathing raggedly like he just finished a sprint. “Where kids disappear. You have to—you have to rescue them too.”

Batman nods sharply. “Where?” Out of the corner of his eye, Jason spots one of the traffickers twitching his hand towards his gun. Batman follow’s Jason’s gaze, walks over, and steps on the man’s wrist until there’s a sickening crack. Jason grins. He recognizes that man. He would taunt them, gleefully tell the younger children exactly what would happen to them, like he got off on their terror. Probably did.

Jason leads Batman into the alley, then points at the building where they took him to punish him for trying to protect the others.

“Stay here,” Batman orders. “I mean it. You’re untrained, and they’re armed.”

Jason nods. He looks back at the warehouse, where the traffickers are still unconscious, zip-tied and waiting for the cops. They’ll get off lightly. They might not even be punished at all.

Jason can fix that.

Batman grimaces, following his gaze. “I took out those criminals, but the children are still trapped. Go and get them out. And don’t go through the main room, or you could get yourself killed.”

Jason lowers his head and nods. He wants to walk through the warehouse’s main room and shoot the traffickers in their foreheads one by one. That way, they’d never touch another child again. But, Jason reminds himself, Batman is only bothering to rescue these children because of Jason’s deal with him. Otherwise, he would’ve rescued them long ago. If Jason doesn’t follow orders, one of the little kids could end up as the next Robin instead.

So, Jason goes straight to the shipping containers where he and the others were kept. One by one, he opens them. He was right—there were a lot more children than he thought. Around fifteen per container, and seven containers—

Jason’s gonna be sick. Again.

He focuses on the kids.

“It’s okay,” he tells them. “You’re safe, now.”

“Are you Robin?” A boy asks Jason. He’s probably a little older than Jason, maybe thirteen or fourteen, but he looks at Jason in wonder.

“No,” Jason says. “I’m one of you.”

Jason has just finished helping the kids out of the last container when Batman arrives. “The police will be here shortly,” Batman says. Some of the kids tremble. “Commissioner Gordon will be there. I trust him. He’ll make sure you’re all safe.” That helps a bit, but not enough. Batman frowns, and then kneels down by a young boy—maybe ten or so. Only two years younger than Jason, but it feels like a world of a difference. Jason resists the urge to throw himself in-between Batman and the child. “What is your name, son?”

“Luke,” the boy says shyly.

If Jason squints, Luke almost looks like Robin. Batman won’t try anything right now, Jason reminds himself. Not with all the kids watching. Plausible deniability has its limits, after all. “You’re safe now, Luke,” Batman says. “I promise.”

“Pinky promise?” Luke asks. Batman holds out his pinkie, locks it with Luke’s, and pinkie promises.

“I have to go now,” Batman says. “But you’ll be in good hands.” He turns to leave. For a moment, Jason feels himself relax.

And then Batman places a hand on Jason’s shoulder and he flinches, hard. Right. Jason still hasn’t told Batman where his tires are. And then, there’s the rest of the unspoken deal.

Batman steers Jason out of the warehouse, into the street. “You did well,” he says. Batman’s voice has lost some of its growl as he talked to the children. Jason isn’t sure what to make of that. “Now, son, where are those tires?”

Jason leads Batman to the tires’ hiding spots, the man’s gauntlet burning on his shoulder like a brand. It’s all in your head, Jason lies to himself. It’s just your shoulder. Give him the tires, and then you’re free. Give him the tires, and it’s over. (It’s never gonna be over. Not until Jason escapes or dies, and he’s betting on the latter.)

“Different hiding spots,” Batman notes. “Clever. What did you say your name was, again?”

Jason didn’t say. But Batman’s asking, and Jason can’t just not answer. “Jay,” he says, grudgingly. Harder for Batman to hunt him down again with a nickname.

“Jay…”

Jason swallows, shrinking beneath the hand on his shoulder. “Todd.” There. Might as well throw in his middle name while he’s at it. “Jason Peter Todd.” He tries to straighten his shoulders and say it proudly—it’s the name Mom and Dad gave him, after all—but he doesn’t think he succeeds.

Batman watches as Jason reattaches the tires. He goes twice as slow, the pressure causing his arms to tremble. It doesn’t help that his chest aches terribly with every twist of the iron. But Jason finishes, stepping back to let Batman see his handiwork. “Where are your parents, Jason?” Batman asks. His hand is on Jason’s shoulder again. Jason can’t run.

Jason summons up the last bit of bravado he has left. “I dunno where my dad is. Probably doing time again. Or maybe he’s just fucked off and died already. Wherever he is, I don’t care. And my mom’s—she got sick.” Batman just stares at him. “She died,” Jason clarifies.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” 

Yeah, right. Watching Jason carefully, Batman opens the passenger-side door of the Batmobile.

“Why don’t you ride with me?” Batman says, stepping aside and holding the door open.

It sounds like an offer, but it’s more of an order. Jason doesn’t have his tire iron on him to surprise Batman, and he’s too exhausted to run properly. So, he ignores the way his instincts scream runhidefight and sits down in the Batmobile. Batman sits next to him and starts driving.

“Who’s taking care of you?” Batman asks, after the car has pulled onto the road.

Jason knows where this conversation is going. It’s hurtling downhill like a runaway trolley. And Jason can’t divert it, because he already did. He pulled the fucking lever like an idiot, and that’s what got him here. He doesn’t even regret it, he’s that dumb. Because the other kids got out, at least temporarily. They have a chance. The ones that have parents have a chance, at least. “I take care of myself.”

“You’re a child,” Batman says. “You’re not safe on the streets. That’s how the traffickers got you.”

Jason rolls his eyes, but even that is half-hearted. “We’re in Gotham. Everyone knows foster care’s just a front for trafficking.”

“That’s not true.”

Jason crosses his arms. “I’m twelve, not two. You don’t gotta lie to me. You go in, you disappear. I spent a month there, okay? I know how it is.”

“I…see,” Batman says quietly.

“Yeah. So you can stop with the fairytale bullshit. No way I’d end up in a ‘decent home’ in the foster care system.”

Batman is silent for a moment. And then, he smiles. The image strikes fear into Jason’s bones. “Don’t bet on it,” Batman says, “…Robin.”

Jason’s stomach turns. He doesn’t—he doesn’t want—he’d thought—he just wants to be safe.

But this had been the plan since the beginning. This was something Jason had been prepared to sacrifice. He just—

It doesn’t matter. The others got out, and that’s enough. And Robin gets to help. Batman may not protect Crime Alley, but Jason as Robin sure can. He’ll be able to listen to all the children whose screams go unheard. That’s worth whatever hell Batman will put him through.

So, Jason forces a smile onto his face. “Robin?” He asks, trying to project enthusiasm. To his own ears, he sounds ill.

But to Batman, he must sound excited, because the man smiles. “Robin,” Batman confirms.

And in the passenger seat, Jason’s heart pumps and pumps and pumps until his body drains of blood.

[alistairs-raven]

I was asked to elaborate more on what I mean when I said that Ellen isn't a victim, but rather the villain of the story.

Thank you for asking! I love analyzing this amazing film. I have watched it a stupid amount of times now and here's my thoughts.

The Story:

Very early on in the movie, Thomas is about to leave to meet Count Orlok. Ellen tells him not to go and tells him of a vision she has had. She says that it was her wedding day, and she was marrying death. Everyone around her was dead and there was the smell of lilacs, but she'd never been so happy.

The night before Thomas leaves, he's asleep while Ellen is filling an empty locket. Inside of it she places lilac and a piece of her hair.

Orlok notices the locket and examines it. Once he has it, he sniffs and notes the lilac that she has sent. He keeps the locket and doesn't return it to Thomas, because the gift was for him.

Orlok tricks Thomas into signing papers relinquishing the eternal bond through marriage he has with Ellen.

Later in the movie, Orlok appears before Ellen. This is a part of the movie where it kinda holds your hand. Ellen of course pushes back against him and accuses him of causing everyone's suffering. While Orlok points out that he is "just an appetite". A creature with no morals, merely a need. Meanwhile it is in fact Ellen who has summoned Orlok not once, but now twice. It is her who has brought all of this plague upon everyone. He tells Ellen that Thomas divorced her and now she must choose one of them. And he gives her three nights to make that decision.

During this time, the monster she has brought forth kills her friends and their family.

In the end, Ellen makes her choice. When Count Orlok arrives to see what choice she's made, she greets him in a wedding dress. They consummation their marriage, which leads to them both dying. The final shot is them surrounded by death and lilacs. Thus fulfilling the vision that Ellen had. She married death, everyone around her was dead, but she'd never been so happy.

The Characters:

Ellen is pretty cold to the two male leads of the movie.

Friedrich agrees to take Ellen in. Thomas says the trip is 6 weeks, which means Ellen stays with him for a minimum of 3 months. During that time she's having fits because her husband is away. Friedrich is shown to not like Ellen, but still does everything in his power to help her. He gets the doctor (who he definitely paid for), he goes out to get a specialist. He barely sleeps. His health deteriorates. To us, the audience, we know there's a monster. But he doesn't know that. And so when the doctor, the specialist, Ellen and now Thomas are all screaming about a monster, he is at his wits end. He has seen a plague ship, and now his wife is dying from it. He wants Thomas and Ellen to leave his home so that he can care for his wife, but Ellen immediately calls him "stupid and cruel" which hurts Friedrich deeply. He even points out to her "I'll call you cab, at my expense of course." to remind her of all he has done for her. In the end, her choices kill his entire family and then him.

Thomas takes the job to have enough money to care for his wife, which includes taking a dangerous journey alone. None of which Ellen shows gratitude for, rather she calls him selfish. When he returns to her, she emasculates him, leading to him having rough sex with her to prove himself. None of this is enough, bringing suffering to Thomas.

Ellen's love:

Ellen loves both Orlok and Thomas. But as Orlok points out to her, she has a darkness within her, and it was strong enough to reach and wake him from his eternal sleep. Note how never once in this entire movie does Ellen ever display any sort of fear towards Orlok.

Feminist themes:

As many critical analysis have pointed out, this movie is pretty feminist, but probably not in the way some people would think when they hear that word. It's unfortunate that even in 2024/2025 we live in a society that still infantizes women into always being the victim. I see women as adults that make decisions that have consequences, and I think Eggers explored that very well here. Ellen isn't treated as a helpless victim, she's treated as an adult that makes choices, and those choices brought harm to others.

Going back to my original point:

Ellen is the secondary, if not the main villain of the story. My personal opinion is that she is the main, because she is the main cause of the conflicts of the story.

---

Original post

@tomie-dollie

[sebby-eggies]

1. EP.30 Justice

2. Maybe goat like..

3. Like. 6 months max.

4. Mello and Beyond! I have no clue >_<

5. "You won't shoot- 💥💥💥"

6. OP. 1 is very heat, but OP.2 also makes me jitter with joy

7. Mikami!

8. Emotionally? Light, L, Mello. Mentally? Naomi...

9. Mello? Hier Kommt Alex by Die Toten Hossen, idk it just reminds me of him... Beyond? This Hurts by MSI... I don't think I need to explain.

10. Matsuda or maybe Mogi! They're so sweet..

11. Mello and Near's introduction!

12. That one Light cosplay. You know the one.

13. Meronia, Mikalight, Matsumisa, Remisa, BL, etc..

14. Sidoh. I'm not elaborating.

15. Mello... sadly.

16. The whole Near and Mello interaction at the SPK headquarters... also the monster speech. AND THE WHOLE "IF L'S A GENIUS B'S A SUPER GENIUS" THINGY.

17. How did Wammy's not get shut down???

18. Like a dark, forest green..

19. Nice green button-up, black slacks, leather jacket, combat boots... yessir

20. Perhaps salt n vin

21. My art of the characters I suppose..

22. I have no clue fr!!!!

23. Near and Mello @ the SPK headquarters, as previously mentioned..

24. Mello and Mikami

25. From the moment I first watched it, I've been obsessed in a way not even study groups could understand

26. Maybe his death

27. 👻🫱📓 🧑

28. The one.. of B... and Naomi...

29. THE LOS ANGELES BB MURDER CASES.

30. BEYOND. BIRTHDAY.

Favorite chapter/episode?

If you had a Death Note, what would you want your Shinigami to look like?

How long do you think you could get away with hiding a Death Note?

If your favorite character weren’t in Death Note, what anime/manga do you think they would thrive in?

A scene that makes you laugh.

Which is your favorite opening?

Your favorite kira?

The death that affected you the most.

What song(s) fit the vibe of your favorite character?

A character you would hang out with irl.

What moment surprised you the most?

What is a fanwork (edit, fic, art, etc.) that you still think about to this day? (Pls link to the original!)

Favorite ships?

What character do you think you look the most like?

Which character’s personality do you relate to?

A line from the series that stuck with you.

A question that was never answered, but you wonder about all the time.

If Death Notes came in different colors, what color would yours to be?

What would be your staple kira catching outfit?

Favorite potato chip flavor?

A Death Note fanwork that you’ve made and are proud of.

A favorite Death Note theory.

Your favorite interaction.

Who do you think had the best style?

At what point did you fall in love with Death Note?

Saddest moment for your favorite character.

Lay out the plot of Death Note using only emojis.

Favorite official art.

Favorite Death Note Spin off media.

A character that needs to be mentioned more.  

[blanceyblance]

A study on Lance's underrated role on the team.

Or, "Yes, there was a Space Mom"

Some time ago, I made a post saying that, the closest thing to a "Space Mom" the paladins ever had was actually Lance and I wanted to make a post elaborating more on why I thought so.

Now this is not me saying that we have to put this Team in neat nuclear family boxes, even Shiro, the one who the fandom collectively agrees to call "Space Dad" doesnt fit perfectly the Team Dad trope, but what I mean is that, this role is one that most of the time it appears naturally in any group of friends/people.

So, lets start with seeing how TVTropes describes what is a Team Mom:

"In an ensemble show, especially of the fighting kind, there needs to be someone to hold this Ragtag Bunch of Misfits together before they kill each other or wander off into the woods like so many Player Characters."

"The Team Mom basically acts as the mother figure for everyone else in the group, regardless of age or family relations."

"Although the role itself is traditionally female, the overprotective dad or older brother can qualify for Team Mom"

"They are by definition never the loner, and will in fact tend to be the one who pulls them into the cast's orbit as a Sixth Ranger. If anyone can break through and bring about a Heel–Face Turn or Cooldown Hug, it's them"

"if any of their surrogate children or siblings are threatened, they can snap into angry Mama Bear mode and kick some ass"

Basically, this role is less about gender and age and more about how the character threats the rest of their peers.

It is hard to imagine resident flirty goofball Lance as fitting in a role like this since, usually, characters that are referred to as the "Team Mom", seem a bit more responsible and mature.

And, admittedly, it is a role that he has to grow into a bit, but even in the first episode he already had some shades of this:

Covering for Pidge and taking the brunt of Iverson's anger, running to aid someone who had fallen from one of the pods (before knowing it was a pretty girl) and protecting Coran from a explosion.

Overall through the show, Lance actually ends up being very caring and protective towards his teammates.

I was unsure on how I wanted to do this analysis since, there is actually quite a lot I want to talk about, so I decided to highlight how Lance acts with every member of the team from this angle.

Keith

The Lion Switch and Keith stepping to pilot Black is what, for a lot of fans, kickstarts Lance's arc of becoming a more mature individual and team player.

But even as early as s1, we do have moments of Lance keeping Keith grounded, like when he stops him from being reckless and hurting the balmera.

In season 3, when Keith is dealing with the loss of Shiro, everyone present decides to turn to Lance to handle it, Lance doesnt even notice what they are doing and instead goes to talk to Keith.

It is interesting that, even Coran and Allura (the adult and the diplomat) also look at him to handle the situation. And it's not a case of just looking at the next person in line, since Pidge is very clearly looking in his direction.

They eventually join to talk to Keith too but not before Lance makes the first approach.

And even when it was clear he really wanted to be chosen, Lance still quickly went to support Black's choice and thus, Keith's new position.

Like Allura tells us later, this is what makes Red, the literal right hand lion to call for Lance.

"You value a strong team"

Because thats what makes Lance really shine. His utter love and care for his team.

Even when he was clearly disappointed about not being chosen he decides to forget his own hurt to instead show to his unsure teammate.

And support he did.

After Keith goes to follow Lotor and makes the team enter a difficult situation while Allura is struggling with Blue, it's Lance the one who manages to make him stop and return.

Keith returns with Lance and shows he is regretful of his actions, one would think that Lance would take this chance to scold his "rival" but instead, he just acknowledges that Keith did mess up but now they are going to fix it. Showing Keith he is not alone in this.

After this incident Lance keeps being very vocally supportive of Keith (when he agrees with his orders).

And will usually follow his orders to a T. For example in "The Journey Within" Keith made a system for the team to sound off every certain period of time, and when Keith stops seeing a point to it, Lance keeps going and the team follows his lead.

It is also interesting to mention, these moments of Lance speaking softly to Keith when he is freaking out.

Another example would be when they get captured and Keith calls the name of his teammates, Lance being the first name he calls and the first to answer.

This ended up being quite long and the 10 pic limit doesnt help either so I will be splitting this in parts.

Keith and Allura's section is, unsurprisingly, quite long but I managed to gather a little evidence to talk about Lance's relationship with all the team.

Hope you guys enjoyed this first part

[Part 1] [Part 2]

[quinngefail]

Quinn, Do you ship any Rare-pairs in the SAW????...if not could I hear of some of your Character head-cannons for any of the characters?? Also your little sona is very <3<3<3<3 -🍧

HEHEHH THANK YOU

And there's none I'm super super huge on yet, I gotta watch these mf movies more though 😭 there's just a number of characters that I've only seen in action once so far, so like THERE'S POTENTIAL FOR BRAINROT. IT JUST HASN'T SET IN YET

I know I've talked about Strahmheight. But I'm very much in the stages of like 'I enjoy this as a concept. I don't have any solid thoughts beyond that though' Y'KNOW,, in a similar vein, I like the idea of Perez/Amanda :] couldn't elaborate on more yet though lol

And I'll give you a more recent headcanon I've been thinking about :> ! Things are subject to change, of course, but this is the working idea thus far:

In a very stereotypical Wealthy Upbringing fashion, Lawrence was taught how to play the piano while growing up (full context for what I've been brainstorming on that upbringing here lol)- specifically by his parents, as both enjoyed playing. And though they were far from the best parental figures, I imagine that being a genuine source of family bonding. Eventually, either after his mother passed or when his father did years later (haven't fully decided yet), that piano was among the things that were left to him. He had a hard time getting back into playing though- one part due to his complicated feelings on his parents, and the other because of life just generally getting busier and busier.

But, post bathroom trap, the recovery process with his prosthetic required a very sedentary lifestyle for the time being. And in this whole cocktail of trauma, depression, fear, and frankly, boredom, he'd slowly get back into playing the piano- all of the techniques and such coming back to him like a second instinct. It became a very common thing he'd do in his recovery, just sitting and getting lost in it for hours.

And of course, obligatory mention of him inevitably playing for Adam and this becoming a regular thing between them, CUTE SHIT, YADDA YADDA,

It's just been melting my heart. Just a little bit lmao

[1moreff-creator]

Imagine Project Eden's Garden Chapter 1 but the victim and killer are reversed.

Alright, I’ve imagined it. Thanks for the ask!-

Ok no, I’ll give a proper answer ‘cuz this seems like fun xD I ended up writing a lot more than I’d imagined damn.

Spoilers for P:EG CH1. CW: Murder, stabbing, manipulation, mention of hallucinogenics

I guess the first big question is how exactly we get to a position where Wolfgang actually wants to kill Eva, and presumably want to get away with it so that the trial doesn’t last only two seconds.

The option I’ll go with is to stick to canon for the most part; Wolfgang goes down to the boiler room at 8:15, and Eva ambushes him. However, in this hypothetical, Eva doesn’t manage to hit him with the rolling pin, and instead Wolfgang defends himself, stabbing her in the heart. He makes his escape, keeping the note he received about meeting in the boiler in his pocket.

He’s probably covered in blood by this point, so he’d probably try to make it back to his room without seeing anyone in the hall. Let’s say he manages to do that, changes, washes off the blood, and quickly hides the bloody clothes under his bed or something (no one’s gonna check his room this time ‘cuz he’s not dead). I’ll say he left the knife at the crime scene, though, ‘cuz why not.

Now, before we move on, I have to say that this is twisting Wolfgang’s character quite a bit. I think he’d feel bad about killing Eva, though he’d try to assure himself he’s in the right because Eva tried to kill him and that makes her the irredeemable murderer and not him, or something like that.

However, I’m really not sure he’d actually try to win the trial. Maybe he’d try to convince Tozu to let it slide because it was self-defense, but we know that wouldn’t fly, and I don’t think Wolfgang would push further. However, for the sake of the hypothetical, let’s say that Wolfgang’s ambitions of greatness push him to self-preservation at all costs, so he tries to win the trial. I think that’s also fairly possible, maybe.

With that established, let’s move on to body discovery! While the gaming crew would probably look around for Eva when they notice she never came to set stuff up, the first discoverer would likely be Diana, going to the boiler at 8:45 because of the note she received. She becomes a suspect because of that, but in the trial, Damon and a few others are quick to make the others turn their attention to the crime itself before pointing fingers.

That would also include Wolfgang himself, believe it or not. While Eva was decent at being a blackened, Wolfgang would probably be even better. So, what’s his strategy?

I think Wolfgang would try to spin a narrative that paints Eva as some form of hero. Since Diana was her roommate, he could argue that Eva managed to read the letter Diana received before the day of the murder, and that she may have gone down to the boiler room to case out the scene and make sure Diana wasn’t walking into a trap. He’d argue that the presence of the battery, the hallucinogenic (which I’ll say was already in the boiler room and Eva wasn’t carrying it around to facilitate some things), the extension cord in the vent, the taser, etc., all implied the killer had a more elaborate method in mind, before Eva walked in on them and started a fight. The presence of two weapons in the crime scene reinforce the idea of a fight.

Why would Wolfgang do all this? To get emotional. If he paints Eva as a fallen hero, he can pretend to despise her killer with the same intensity as he hated the killer from the prologue trial. He’d act melancholic about Eva, pretending to regret ostracizing her now that he knew she truly cared about Diana. He’d shout about how the killer deserves death, for trying to kill someone as nice as Diana, only to then kill the person who tried to protect her. It’s a compelling narrative, that the others would love to believe for its simplicity and emotional weight. Diana especially, since she’d love to believe Eva really cared that much about her.

But why? Why would Wolfgang do this? Because he desperately needs to convince one specific person not to speak. He needs to make one specific person believe in his innocence wholeheartedly, for if this person were to ever think Wolfgang might be the killer, then their testimony could end the trial in one fell swoop.

And that person is Toshiko.

Because Toshiko saw Wolfgang leave his room at a time close to the time of death, and he said he was going to the gaming tournament. Since he never showed up there despite being very clearly alive, that immediately casts doubt as to where he actually was, and then he’s cooked.

Grace’s testimony isn’t damning on its own; Wolfgang could have been genuinely sick in the morning, only to get better later. It’s only with Toshiko’s testimony that his sickness comes into doubt, after all. As for Ingrid hearing Toshiko and Wolfgang talk, Wolfgang could say that happened in his room and that Toshiko just saw him walking past, and Toshiko would go with that based on their agreement. That’s why Toshiko’s testimony is the most important here.

So, right as the investigation starts, Wolfgang would pull Toshiko aside, and tell her not to spill the beans. He’d come up with some excuse for his lie about where he was going (maybe he’d say he wanted to meet with someone to discuss the motive, and he was worried she’d try to eavesdrop), and ask her to hear out what he had to say in the trial before telling anyone else what had happened that morning. He’d tell her that her testimony would only confuse people, because there’s no way Wolfgang’s the killer, right? So don’t say anything. And she’d oblige, because everyone loves Wolfgang! No way he’s lying!

And once he gets the story about Eva being a hero going, Toshiko would probably convince herself that Wolfgang hates the killer too much to be the blackened, and would continue to oblige with the vow of silence, for a while. This is the main purpose of Wolfgang’s narrative.

As for who Wolfgang would push as the blackened, uh. It needs to be someone without an alibi at 8:15, so while Damon (the first possibility I thought of) is more or less on the table, it’d have been risky for him to leave when Kai was still asleep. I think going for Wenona would be Wolfgang’s best bet, as he could argue her cutthroat attitude as the Ultimate Entrepreneur would make her the likeliest to kill first. I’m assuming here Wenona’s alibi doesn’t stretch to 8:15 btw, but I’m not sure we know that for certain.

However, the blackened never wins. Wolfgang’s narrative would fall apart when Damon points out a glaring issue with his story; Eva’s tablet. Although they’d have no idea where the tablet came from, the fact is, Eva had it (uh, let’s say she was already carrying it around in her pocket okay?), not the blackened. This is a problem because it means Eva had no reason to go down to the boiler room to “case the scene,” as Wolfgang would be arguing. She’d just check the cameras.

From there, Damon is quick to realize that Eva herself was probably the one planning the crime with the battery, based on the rolling pin. While I doubt he’d want to figure out the entire mechanism behind Eva’s plan, he’d at least figure that using a rolling pin to knock someone out was more likely to be part of said plan than using a knife to do literally anything. That would further imply Eva was the one with the plan, and that the killer was the one who likely acted in self-defense.

With that established, the cast comes to the conclusion that Eva must have also sent the killer a card similar to the one Diana received, where Eva threatened them based on their secrets. This narrows down the possible killers to those who had never talked to the person who received their secret; based on this, we can eliminate Toshiko, Grace, Ingrid, Jean, and possibly a few others based on what conversations happened offscreen. Adding in the already discussed alibis, the suspects start getting narrowed down.

Because of that, Toshiko speaks up, saying there’s something she’s been keeping secret, but she isn’t sure she should anymore. This is probably where the logos/pathos path split is; Damon has to convince Toshiko to speak up either through a logical argument or by appealing to her emotions. Toshiko obliges, gives her testimony of her chat with Wolfgang in the morning, and also says he told her not to tell. There’s some angst here with Toshiko presumably being very scared while saying all of this, as she is betraying Wolfgang’s trust, but we’re kinda skipping that.

The cast starts freaking out here, obviously. Some are mad at Toshiko for concealing info, Ingrid’s defending her, people are trying to steer back the trial, some are saying Wolfgang’s the killer 100%, some are trying to say he couldn’t have possibly done it, all the bullshit. Wolfgang’s now trying to gun for Damon (let’s say Kai had talked to his person about his secret so we can rule him out), claiming his alibi isn’t good enough. However, Damon defends by bringing up that he can’t have washed off fast enough after a murder at 8:15 to then pretend to go back to sleep for Kai’s awakening at 8:30, at least when taking into account travel time between boiler and his room.

With all the secrets and the alibis, slowly Wolfgang starts seeming like the only real possibility. The Argument Altercation with him starts when he claims that Eva herself had had his secret, but she had asked him to keep that conversation secret at all costs, so he was just honoring her wishes. This would rule him out as stated before, but it’s obviously a desperate gamble that would only work if Eva genuinely had his secret, or if the person who had his secret didn’t call him out on it, but it’s all he has. The Argument Altercation ends with Damon epically revealing that he’s the one that received Wolfgang’s secret, and that he absolutely never talked to him about it. The trial doesn’t last very long after that.

The cast would obviously be devastated after this, because Eva tried to kill someone and Wolfgang not only killed her, but also wanted to kill everyone else to save himself. I think Wolfgang would end up trying to tell the others not to fall in the same pit of despair as he had when he realized what killing Eva meant. He hadn’t meant to kill her, after all, and he genuinely wanted (most of) the group to stay together. This leads to Diana doing the same chameleon speech as she did in canon, though with different wording and promises. Overall, it’s hard to talk about changes past this point, as we don’t even know how canon will go, but I imagine Damon’s, Diana’s and Toshiko’s character arcs would be greatly affected because of everything that happened. Damon would get worse if the others keep idolizing Wolfgang even after that (which could genuinely happen), Diana wouldn’t be using Wolfgang as a role model so much, and god fucking knows what kind of trust issues Toshiko would develop after all that.

That’s all from me, hope it was fun. Thanks for the ask, this was a really interesting thought exercise!

[love-takes-work]

coworker apparently thinks Garnet is Harley Quinn

A very old funny interaction with clueless coworker (whose name is blacked out in the blue rectangles), in screencaps from my social media when it happened.

And just for context, this dude just could not talk his way out of a wet paper bag. I'm sure it's partially just awkwardness (which I have never minded at all), but a lot of it was this really gross disrespectful PROMPTING that he would do in all of his interactions with me. He'd say something with no context, something we'd never spoken about, and expect me to "catch on." (Examples: "So! Any news?" "About what?" "Well weren't we waiting for an ANSWER on that?" "On what?" [scoffing, snuffling, shaking his head exaggeratedly, sighing and walking away]. Or he'd drop a paper on my desk. I'd ask him what it was. He'd wordlessly POINT at it. I'd ask him again what it is. He'd pick it up, sighing aggressively, rattle it around, and say "YOU left this in the COPIER!!" I had not left it in the copier and it was not mine. He would then holler about how is HE supposed to know that and stomp away, and then someone else would come looking for their papers in the copier and they'd be confused why I had them.) He did NOT do this with my boss or most of the other people we worked with. Just me. I guess because I'm the office blonde and usually the only woman in the room.

Anyway, he was in the top 10 of annoying people I've worked with and here is an irritating story.

And then another one a long-ass time later:

Transcript:

Pic 1:

There's no way he's a real person. C'mon, life, quit foolin' around here.

[Redacted] came up to my desk and said he wanted to ask me a question, and then hesitantly hemmed and hawed his way through false starts that sounded like "I was wondering . . . um last night . . . I was thinking . . . there was this thing. . . . So, do you know Amy . . . Quinn?"

I do not know Amy Quinn.

He seemed surprised.

Then he begins explaining that she's in some movie and he thought I liked her.

Sorry, no.

Pic 2:

But then he elaborates. "Amy" is one of the characters in a movie he's just seen and he thought I was a fan of the character and wanted me to know that he liked the movie. And further elaboration made it clear that he . . . was actually talking about Harley Quinn.

(I haven't seen any movies with her in them, but yeah, I know who she is.)

I asked why he thought I had a connection with her and he was like "isn't that her on your cup?"

****Fuuuuuuuuuuck I am so offended****

[Image of Harley Quinn next to coffee mug featuring Garnet of Steven Universe. They do not at all resemble one another, but both wear bodysuits featuring a red leg and a black leg.]

Pic 3:

You gotta be kidding me!!

[redacted] just came over and told me he saw something that he'd been meaning to tell me regarding my cartoon stuff. He fumbled verbally repeating himself and then concluded he didn't remember what it was and would come back.

Then he came back with "I remembered!!" and explained to me that he gets comic book-related events bulletins in his email and a comic store I live nowhere near is having a signing with a comic book writer I've never heard of. He was baffled that I didn't recognize the name because he thought I was "into comics." When I told him I have very niche interests in comics, he elaborated that it was something he thought I was specifically into. Several trips round and round the blunder wheel yielded the information that it was a writer for Harley Quinn comics.

This shit again.

He thinks I like Harley Quinn even though I have never read or watched a single thing about this character. He believes Garnet is Harley Quinn and I can't get him to stop misunderstanding.

[ficsinhistory]

Ok, I'll ask! Since team Sonic all have their traumas, what might be Amy's? Anything to do with some other characters, like Cream or Vanilla, or some new ones per the movies? Thanks, and glad you liked the movie too, IT WAS FREAKING AMAZING!!!! 🖤❤️🖤

Hello @selemercy !! I’m so happy you asked because I’m really excited to dive into what could be the possible horrors and traumas of our little sweet pink hedgehog (and speculate in general about her in the fourth movie) !!!

THIS WILL HAVE SPOILERS TO SONIC 3, PLEASE AVOID IF YOU DON’T SEE IT YET!!! (GO SEE THE MOVIE IS PEAK!)

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LET’S GO!!!!

First, I will delimit some info. For what we’re seeing in the SCU, the games are the base but not followed step by step, so some modifications can be done. Also, it seems that it’s a game per movie, so Cream and Vanilla wouldn’t be in the movie or barely mentioned. Also using what was seen in the post credit scene.

Ok? Ok.

In the movies, Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and Shadow all have their traumas and heavy backstory that molded them as characters that impact them in all the story. Seeing how this universe is building them so well, I can’t see Amy not receiving a similar development. Because, even loving Amy, I have to admit: she doesn’t have a strong or big backstory for herself. Her own origin was err…kinda cliche, borderlining problematic (for today standards ofc). Sure, she evolved a lot but when we talk about movies, backstory is a huge point. So, a change comes. Let’s see some points.

Sonic 4 will follow probrally loosely the events of Sonic CD. That's my most safe bet. With Metal Sonic involved, I only can see this game as the base. But keep in mind the key-word here: base. The movies give me some strong reasons that Amy’s and backstory will be wildly different, while her personality could have some changes yet, keeping the core of Amy Rose. So, some changes:

Amy will be from the Little Planet. Amy Rose doesn’t have a home, so taking into account Sonic CD, this is what could be a good change, Little Planet can and is inhabited in the games, so can be in the movies too! Is a pretty big one too, because my next bet is…

Amy will find Sonic because she’s the guardian AND holder AND user of the Time Stones! See, remember the whole “find you because fate told me”? Can work with some changes that I will explain later!

Amy will PROTECT Sonic! You hear me right, Amy Rose in the movie universe will be a protector of this boy this time! 

With that explained, here my humble takes!

Amy will be a girly girl from the Little Planet, that still with her core traits: optimist, full of unconditional love, kind, hot-tempered, bold, fearless, proactive, energetic and with a huge amount of empathy. She is the girl we already know with an eagerness of adventure and unstoppable drive, great! 

To her life before chaos I have two lines:

She has been alone since…always. Sonic had Longclaw, Knuckles his tribe, Tails his village. Amy…had nobody. No origin or family. She grows up as an orphan and with no parental figure. We would see her living in some orphanage or an institution for kids like her. The point is that Amy would not have nobody and this makes a number on her. She wants help and to be there for people so much… because no one ever has been there for her. Would be a great contrast with everyone and Sonic, in particular. She loves the universe so much, yet… with no family or friends. (bonus point if she sees the Wachowski at some point with a found look wishing that she had a family too *cries*)

A bunch of messed up things happened that left her with anyone. Big tragedy here. Amy would have a good family but a disaster out of her control ripped them of her. In this case, the Metal Sonic army (more elaboration later). In this case, she also would lead with grif, but she would feel more the impotence in front of fate and tragedy, and this would mess her up. 

Or even can be none of this! 

So, Amy Rose is a kind, feisty and lovely girl that lives in her home: Little Planet. She would have some attachment issues, if for the reasons above or other, she would have them (some good material about this here and here). Amy would feel really bad about being alone, left behind and virtually, without anyone in the world, thinking that even longing for bonds, she is always left behind, leading to some issues and a sense of inferiority. Yet, Amy would love everyone and everything, seeing the best in all people and trusting that life can be good. She would be resilient and lovable.

Not only that, maybe because she would be an apprentice of the guardian (like Sonic and Longclaw) or by chance, but Amy also would know where lays the Time Stones. The central piece of her culture and the reason she believes times and fate is the answer to all. You can’t fight destiny, isn’t it?

Well, is all sun and rainbows in her life…

Until the plot happens :D 

The Metals Sonic would appear and dominate Little Planet, wanting the Time Stones to reign supreme, destroying all she ever knew. But Amy then got them first to discover a way to fix things and they show how: Metal Sonic can be defeated. What leads to the bad end is Sonic being defeated, so now she has to make sure he's alive. This blue boy became her hope and the girl now has a mission: find and protect Sonic.

Then Amy runs away to Earth at the current timeline with the help of  the Stones, at the same age and time as Sonic.

Now, she was truly alone, having to hide from the Metal Army that now made her a target, trying to always do good things to people but never staying for so long. Is dangerous. She is running from a powerful enemy and can’t stay with anyone.

She doesn't know how to find the blue hedgehog either.

The Time Stones would give only some flashes of Sonic and Amy has no courage to use them again, afraid of messing up the only change she has. As she grows up, they'd only give some glimpses of how Sonic is in the moment, and how he spent the most part of his life hiding, would make it pretty hard to find him.

Also would make her basically grow up along him and her only constant in life. In the flashes, Amy would always observe as if he was sad or happy, catch his little mannerisms and the people he sees. She finds him funny, a little lonely, and ultimately a good person. She sees his power and why he is the one who stops those machines. Amy really wants to talk to him.

He's on Earth like her. Is everything she knows.

Meanwhile she trained a lot. Being chased for your whole life teaches some tricks and Amy became very good at being under the radar. She learned how to elude the metal sonics even with the power of the Times Stones buzzing beneath her skin. She learned to fight with the hammer, the only thing she brought with her from home. How to use her chaos energy in her favor. 

A warrior made after years.

Is when the things with Shadow and the almost destruction of the Earth gave her the sign she needed and using the Time Stone, finally finds where Sonic would be.

So basically it would be this. Also, imo, Amy's conflict would be that she wants to save everyone from Metal Sonic. But she is also attached to Sonic and after basically growing up with him and seeing him with his family…let's say she doesn't feel exactly comfortable sending him to battle. Maybe also with some visions with him dying in the mix, and a Future that all is okay, but she dies instead and she prefers this than sending her lover one to danger thanks to some sacrificial tendences plus unconditional love PLUS nobody would care because everyone leaves her behind anyway and Sonic had so much to lose.

What would drive him crazy because he may or may not have fallen in love with her (if some media can do Sonamy right is the SCU and they are kinda confirmed to be a point of the movie so…yeah. My take on Sonamy is the old that fate brings us and we're doomed by the narrative. A classic. I could write a post about Sonamy in the SCU context and that could really work!)

Thanks for asking! 

[pompomchihuahua]

Genya Shinazugawa: A Fish In a Birdcage

It's my favorite boy's birthday and today I want to celebrate why he's possibly one of the most talented characters in the show while still being considered one of the "weakest."

In case it wasn't immediately obvious, Genya is my favorite little guy from Demon Slayer. Everything from his design to his abilities to his personality and story just speak to me.

For this analysis I wanna focus on a little bit of everything, starting with his design.

So from the get-go, the first things you notice about the boy are the huge ass scar on his face and his scrunkly little mohawk. The scar immediately tells you that he has a history. It's an unspoken message of survival and overcoming suffering.

As for the mohawk, well you have to look a little deeper into how Japanese media portrays hair. For early media, it's a sign of refinement and status. To the point that one of the many hallmarks of evil in Japanese folklore is unkempt hair. For the mohawk specifically, it's a symbol of rebellion and a strong, edgy personality.

His clothing is purple and black. Interestingly, purple was, for a long time, banned by commoners to wear as it was exceedingly hard and expensive to get ahold of. By late Edo and early Meiji the tides changed to where it became quite fashionable among common folk to wear purple to the point it got the nickname "old purple" or kodai murasaki. (you can read about it here) But purple can also represent strength.

His sharp eyes, small irises, and furrowed brow all point to a very aggressive design. And! I'd like to note that he's using a katana here, which I'll get back to later in another post!

So! Now, we see Genya's traded out his katana for his iconic gun along with a wakizashi (a shortsword used by samurai primarily for finishing blows, fitting as that's exactly how Genya uses it in canon).

There's a modern misconception that samurai were wholly against the use of firearms during their active periods, but history and art show quite the opposite (here). And seeing as Demon Slayer takes place during the Taisho era, when Japan was seeing a lot of "modernization" and were specifically adopting a lot of Western values, it makes sense to implement a character using a more modern and Western weapon (even his outfit is more of a western style with his pants being a straight cut instead of the traditional samurai hakama that the others wear!).

His hair is grown out and more tamed though still in a mohawk style showing that while he's softened, he still has a strong personality and rebellious edge. Another thing I find cool is that the author gave an in canon reason for Genya's hair length in the Kimetsu Gakuen extra; he uses it to gauge the strength and direction of the wind to redirect his shots.

We also see that he's shot up in height and filled out in physique, a very nice nod to how his demon eating abilities affected his body in the long term.

Overall, Genya's design is efficient without giving everything away. It leaves out the subtle details like his hidden gentle nature and his sharp mind and good heart; which I'll elaborate on now.

One misconception I see floating around a lot is that Genya is below average intelligence. This is probably for three reasons: the extra in the Kimetsu Gakuen universe where Sanemi tells Genya to "get better at his math" and the part in the data book where it says Genya is "never calculating." The third reason is that there's a bit of a stereotype that thug/punk=stupid.

But in Kimetsu Gakuen proper we see that Genya is actually making really good grades.

But test grades aren't everything! Even in canon we find out that Genya is incredibly observant. During the Hashira training arc, Genya says this: "Well, not that Himejima-san is exactly good at teaching it. You need to watch and learn and swipe it for yourself, all right?"

This implies that Genya taught himself the Repetitive Motion technique by just watching Himejima do it. He is a master marksman and described as the ace of his high school shooting club able to make real time adjustments to his aim based on how the wind blows his hair.

Not calculating just means he's not one for scheming, not that he's incapable of critical thought. And Sanemi getting onto him for his math scores is him being a hardass as Genya is within the top 15 in his grade.

He is still a child at heart, something he desperately tries to hide and that is readily apparent in the Japanese version. Specifically in the way he oscillates between using "Nii-chan" (the childish way you'd refer to your older brother, as expected in especially young children or women) and "Aniki" (the rougher way of saying it, translates more as "big bro").

As for his gentle nature, I already made a whole post on how I believe Genya stepped in as the homemaker of the Shinazugawa family. (Which you can read here) He's also described in the data book as regaining his "gentle nature," telling the audience that he was a soft hearted boy growing up.

Look at his soft smile here when he sees that Nezuko is okay! He genuinely cares about their well-being despite Tanjirou having what Genya desperately wants but can't have: family, strength, the ability to use breathing.

He apologizes to Kanata and steps in to help the caterpillar girls in one winged butterfly. He may have a brash exterior, but he's got a heart of gold.

However, out of anyone, no one hates Genya more than Genya hates himself.

Which brings me to my next and main topic: Genya's abilities and how it makes him a fish in a birdcage.

From the very first introduction of Genya's ability, the very narrative sets Genya up as "talentless." "He doesn't have the physical talent to use breathing techniques." As a result, his nichirin blade never changes color. He makes up for this by using his gun, but when he's put into a tight situation, that's when his more unique ability comes into play.

Before we get into that, I want to delve into what the breathing techniques are and what they're supposed to do. For that we go all the way back to the beginning where we meet Makomo who says this: "Total Concentration Breathing accelerates your blood circulation and your heart rate. That causes your body temperature to spike, making you as strong as a demon while being human." So we can conclude that the goal of TCB is to achieve demonic strength.

Which brings me to Genya's most unique and prominent ability; Genya can eat demons to temporarily gain the powers of a demon without fully becoming one. So, if Genya can't use breathing but can gain the strength of a demon anyway, then there should be no problem, right?

Well, it seems that the demon slayer corps is built upon a rather strict honor code and places a heavy emphasis on tradition. Genya not being able to use breathing and having to rely on tainted, evil power, to have to stoop down to a demon's level and consume flesh, in the corps' eyes it makes him lesser. And Genya seems overly aware of this.

He says that Shinobu makes a disgusted face when she sees him and he likely relates it back to him being breathless and eating demons. In one winged butterfly, after he's unable to find the words to reassure another demon slayer he thinks this: "He really was broken. He couldn't do a single thing properly. This was probably why his brother wouldn't look at him."

Hell, even Inosuke throws in his two cents, calling Genya a "wimp" for being unable to use breathing techniques (of which Genya gets really defensive about and starts a fight). He thinks of himself as weak in the infinity castle and unable to really do anything until he remembers Tanjirou's encouragement.

It's safe to say that Genya's self esteem is in the toilet.

He, arguably, has access to a technique that's far more potent than TCB in that it not only gives him the strength of a demon but also gives him the healing and abilities of a demon without the downside of actually being a demon. But because it isn't TCB, he's constantly put down and belittled.

He's meant to fly to the top of the cliff when his real strength lies in swimming up the waterfall. He can still get to the same places but he's looked down upon for his methods.

But there's a legend about a carp that swam upstream against all odds, that leapt up the falls of the Yellow River at Dragon Gate and became a Dragon. It's a story of perseverance and transformation and it's one Genya achieves in his last moments.

Genya achieves his ultimate power; unlocking a blood demon art of his own while still retaining his humanity (and yes, he is still human at this point, Kokushibou confirms as much). It's the ultimate demon hunting technique, parasitic roots that paralyze the target and suck the blood, preventing the target from unleashing their own BDA.

His only thoughts in that moment being that he won't let any of them die. Genya sacrificed everything for his brother, ultimately achieving the goal he had when he was just a child: to protect his Nii-chan. And his brother finally lets his guard down to, switching to the more babyish language (he refers to himself as Nii-chan, saying "Nii-chan will fix this") and it's only then that Genya lets his guard down too. In his last moments, Genya got to be his true self.

A kind, fiercely protective, and loving boy with strength that went beyond what was ever expected of him. He is, possibly one of the strongest characters in theory with so much unexplored potential. His design is solid, telling viewers a lot without giving everything away, his story is compelling (especially to people who are gifted in the "wrong ways") and his personality is complex.

There's a reason I can make so many posts about this character alone and why I have more planned for the bestest boy. But for now! Happy birthday Genya!

[realest-nilou-kinnie]

every single time i'm reading anything about him, fan fiction or not, and someone describes him as lazy, i can't help but blurt out loud to myself, "he's not lazy" and sort of roll my eyes. It's in his character bio in the game for crying out loud: he doesn't see the point in trying anymore because every time he has ever tried in his life, he has been shot down and shown that nothing he does will ever matter.

self-indulgent elaboration under the cut

also, i would argue that it's about as clear as can be that he is "rude" on purpose to push people away...because he knows he was born in a silver spoon in his mouth and thinks he doesn't deserve people being nice to him. of COURSE he is snarky and snappy when he gets the chance, he WANTS people to stay away from him. He does NOT, however, want them to talk behind his back, i dont think. We know it hurts him. He doesn't want them to whisper that he's dangerous and he could probably kill everyone within a 50 foot radius with his UM at a moment's notice. Which is true. I think he's afraid of that possibility (and I believe in the novel it's described as being a volatile spell that other second princes have been effectively cursed with, and that he could accidentally kill people around him. That's why he grew up overhearing the palace servants whispering about the spell as if it was already a known UM.)

I know we don't know how he got his scar yet, other than it being something he clearly doesn't want to remember, but I can't help but wonder how he first "got" his UM. It isn't one he developed like Azul did, for example. He was born with that being the UM he would one day manifest. I definitely have ideas about how he got his scar and how it could relate to the advent of a Unique Magic like his, but I DO NOT think he killed or seriously hurt someone. I think the King's Roar spell has been popping up in previous generations of the Sunset Savanah royal family in second-born sons, and the people know it can lay waste to everything around the user. Even the things the user didn't touch or mean to affect start to turn to sand, like the air. Idk i just think his magic hasn't killed someone but I think he and everyone around him knows it could. From past experience, if you will. So maybe he showed signs of it being his UM and people FREAKED out as if he killed someone. That can be really damaging for a kid.

With this in mind, how could it be any clearer that he is trying to push people away? Now, allow me to be a blatant Leona Kisser on main (joke intended, that's my sideblog @leona-kingscholar-kisser LOL), but....HE'S NOT EVEN DOING THAT GOOD OF A JOB OF PUSHING PEOPLE AWAY. BECAUSE HE ISN'T A NATURAL AT IT!!!!! 😭😭😭😭 I'm not saying he craves connection, yet, because i haven't seen his part in book 7, but he definitely is not just meanspirited. He doesn't enjoy pushing people away, he feels that he has no choice in order to not hurt others. Isn't that the most selfless thing of all?

Knowing how he was treated as a child during his formative years, I'd say every glimpse of kindness and generosity and selflessness and passion for life he shows is indicative of someone who is all of those things even more so than it would be for someone who had no adverse childhood experiences. To me, the fact that he is all these things even in the face of the agony he must feel looking in the mirror every day means he is an even better person than someone who only does the right thing to earn praise and be celebrated. Character is doing the right thing even when no one is watching and all that.

I literally could write 50 paragraphs about him with MLA citations, but here is what i mainly wished to impress upon the part of twstblr whom i think are a wee bit confused about his characterization:

examples of Leona not being a massive sack of shit:

he pretends not to notice when Ruggie steals jewelry from him just about daily, but he doesn't outright give it to him because that would be too philanthropic for his image. He lets Ruggie think he's getting away with it. He doesn't want a "thank you" because he thinks he doesn't deserve it

he lets Ruggie bring his own laundry to be washed together with Leona's, while giving him his credit card to buy the nicest detergent and anything else he might want to buy at the Mystery Shop

the reason he doesn't wear his uniform jacket isn't because he just wants to break the dress code or make a statement, it's probably because he gave it to Ruggie. Hence why Ruggie's jacket is massive on him.

he skips his classes because he already knows everything they're teaching. he always shows up for tests, meaning he does keep track of when they are.

- personal note: he had all the NRC-level material drilled into him from a younger age than most as a prince. That level of focus on academics takes away time in your youth that you feel like your peers are spending having fun and having social lives. If i were him, going to classes where everyone around him got to learn something for the first time that he had been forced to memorize years ago would be really hard. It might be a reminder of how he had to grow up too soon. I personally relate a lot to being faced with the reality that every other student in your class didn't have the same amount of academic pressure put on them that you did and wanting to just curl up and cry at your desk. Being in classes where you already know everything or where other kids clearly have a lot less pressure on them can make you feel even more alone and hopeless and unloved than you already felt. it makes you grieve all the weeks and years of feeling like a workhorse instead of a child that you'll never get back. So i guess in that way I'm biased towards him and I completely support him skipping class :'3

he only got held back because of missed attendance. here are two important notes about that, in my opinion:

- firstly, he obviously doesn't want to go home. he also feels unenthusiastic about the 4th year internships even though he's going to take one in his home country and hopes to make some positive changes using his ideas. Still, he knows it will not come with the recognition and appreciation from his family he wants. Even if his ideas for oil mining fracking 🤮 bring great economic growth and can feed the children starving like Ruggie was, I doubt his older brother would see Leona for what he is or praise him as things stand now. hopefully that will come later in the story

- secondly, he wants to be held back and stay at NRC another year so his dorm can win the Spelldrive tournament against Diasomnia. He literally says that's the reason he is so desperate to for HIS TEAM (not him) to win that he puts himself in the position to be the bad guy and make the hard decisions he thinks he has to in Book 2! With the actual Spelldrive team, it's slightly different because Malleus isn't involved. It's interesting. In his Spelldrive Uniform home screen dialogues, he says winning is more important than doing your best... because he thinks his team wouldn't be happy with coming in second even knowing they did their best. I think he is blinded by self-hatred. I don't think what he seems to think is actually true. I think Epel and Jack and Ace and all the Savanaclaw members who bawled their eyes out when they thought he was turned into a Tsum are just happy to receive guidance from him. That makes him different from Azul or Kalim or Idia as housewardens, for example. They literally cry lollll. He knows all his Spelldrive players and they literally never shut the fuck up about how good of a coach he is and how attentive he is to their strengths and weaknesses. He doesn't even try to change them! He doesn't insult or belittle Epel when he wants to train to aim better, he literally just compliments how he is a great player in other ways and tells him not to change a thing. For no reason, bitch. He's such a fucking softie.

he buys us a drink in one of his chats, saying he "knows how to reward good service 😒". oh come on bro you're not fooling anyone, you probably weren't even thirsty anyway

he only went to Playful Land to keep an eye on the underclassmen because he's always like that. smfh

finally, if you pay close attention, he's really only rude to people who disrespect him first. OR to people who try to drag him into annoying shenanigans he doesn't want to be involved with. if someone did all that to me during a depressive episode i'd bite their head off, too -- which is every day because i have major clinical treatment-resistant depression and i feel like i know how he feels. i get where he's coming from :( and then they all STILL call him lazy. that is so fucking mean and hurtful. he is doing what he can. he's just sick. he is enough.

okay that's all i can think of right now i just really wanted to elaborate because AHHHHHHH. AAUUGHHHHH. EEEEEUEUUUUUUUUUUAUAG HE IS NOT LAZY AND HES NOT A DICK HE JUST HATES HIMSELF AND NONE OF IT IS HIS FAULT

and while i'm on the subject, Leona is actually NOT lazy or arrogant or selfish at all but some of yall are not ready for that conversation lol

[nohara-rin-dot-mp3]

in the end the thing is always going to be YES rin does not really have a canon personality and is the tragic victim of kishimoto's misogyny. however. sometimes guys in naruto have about the same amount of personality + screentime as her (less, even!) and end up with consistent characters in fanon that expand upon the canon material. so whats happening there.

[all-horikoshi-sketches]