#and specifically the question of 'how much time do you need'

[fujoshirat]

Shouto Todoroki proposes with a fucking house (Be careful what you wish for ♡)

It was a Thursday night, chilly November air nipping at your nose as you walked out of the theater with your love. Shouto wanted to watch the new All Might movie, and who were you to say no to a date with your lovely boyfriend?

He seemed to enjoy it, the way his eyes lit up every time he saw his idol appear on screen. A boyish, childlike wonder present every time his eyes sparkled, he was so cute!!—wait a minute, that’s not the point!

The main point comes after this scene: after getting hot chocolate from a food stand with Shouto, you both sat down on a nearby bench. Sipping the much-needed warm drink, you let out a soft sigh.

“Isn’t hot chocolate so delicious, Shou?” Your boyfriend nods, small smile on his face as he watches your cheery expression. The cold brought a faint pink hue to his cheeks, making them rosy. He seemed contempt in the quiet moment, something you were used to with him.

But then, his gaze turned contemplative. Scooting a bit closer to you, he asked, “Can I ask you something?”

You look up at him curiously. “Sure, what’s up?”

His kissable lips pressed together firmly, like he was hesitant to say what was on his mind.

“How… do you feel about marriage?” The question caught you off-guard, and you nearly choked on your hot chocolate. “M-marriage?!?”

He nods shyly, though his expression was serious. “Yes, what do you think about it? I’ve been thinking, and… it’s something I want with you in the future—if you want that, too.” Your heart had melted at his honesty. You and Shouto have been dating for a while now, and sure, you didn’t mind marrying him, but you didn’t expect him to bring it up so casually.

Heart pounding in your chest, you turn your eyes from your drink and face him. Your breath hitches when you see his earnest expression. “Well, I wouldn’t mind marrying you, Shouto. And if we were to get married someday, I don’t want anything super fancy! I’m not into those huge diamond rings and over-the-top proposals, which all seem like a huge waste of money and a silly way to “show” that you love someone.” Shouto’s heterochromatic eyes widen at your statement, processing your words. “You wouldn’t want a ring?”

You laugh, shaking your head. “Oh, no, I’d want a ring. Just nothing extravagant, you know? I’d rather have something permanent.” Your boyfriend tilts his head confusedly.

“Permanent? What’s more permanent that a ring?” ‘Good question,’ you thought. Before Shouto brought it up right now, you never really thought about the specifics of marriage. Thinking for a moment, you decide to tease the boy and grin mischievously.

“A house,” you say proudly, half joking-half serious. No way was anyone in their right mind going to propose to you with a house oh how wrong you were babe. “I mean, it’s not something that sits on your finger until you break it or you lose it or you get too fat from aging or childbirth. It’s a place where memories are made, and…” You gently cup his right cheek with your hand, soft smile on your face, “hopefully if we do get married, it will be good memories.”

Shouto stared at you for a few seconds, as if you had just revealed the meaning of life itself. The man had already told you about his rough childhood a few years back, and you had already met his family a while ago. You knew what he feared, and you knew how to comfort him and make everything okay. Nodding slowly, Shouto gently touched the hand that was caressing his cheek. “A house,” he murmured, almost to himself.

You didn’t think of it much then. After all, it was just a silly, offhand comment that would never actually happen…

...right?

You had laughed off your “wish” not even a few minutes after you said it, and continued chatting about the movie and basking in your boyfriend’s company.

But Shouto? Shouto took it to heart. And everyone knows that Pro Hero Shouto Todoroki never does a half-assed job.

That’s why, exactly one year later, on another chilly November night, he drove you into a quiet, fancy neighborhood that you definitely had no business being in.

At first, you didn’t think much of it. You both had just finished a pleasant, fancy dinner in the heart of the city and were driving back to your shared apartment. Perhaps Shouto was just taking a detour to tour the area. Perhaps Fuyumi-san was interested in moving out to a nice neighborhood with her boyfriend? As your mind drifted away in a daydreaming cloud, the black BMW M850i pulled up to the sidewalk and came to a stop. The warm hand caressing your thigh gently squeezed it, and Shouto put the car on park. “My love,” he spoke, voice smooth and low, “Would you like some fresh air?” You quirked a brow curiously but nodded and unbuckled. Your boyfriend came around and opened the door for you, holding your lower back gently as he guided you to the sidewalk.

Curiously, you looked around at the beautiful houses around you in wonder. They were a mix of traditional and modern. It almost reminded you of Shouto’s own household, though these ones were obviously new and had a better, modern architectural design to it.

Intertwining his fingers in his, he looks down at your figure and smiles softly. “This is a new neighborhood that I wanted to show you. It was recently completed in July.” His voice was calm, a soft smile on his face—with a hint of something that you couldn’t identify. Something… deeper.

You tilted your head and looked up at him curiously. “It’s beautiful, love, but, why are we here?”

And then,

Shouto got down on one knee—

a gasp,

and pulled out a small velvet box—

another gasp,

and opened it—

revealing a delicate diamond ring.

It was simple, elegant, and exactly what you had in mind one year ago.

But before you could say anything else, he pulled something else out of his pocket:

A small, silver key.

Your jaw drops, mouth hanging wide open, as small tears prick at your eyes. Shouto smiles softly at your expression, gaze never wavering. “I remembered what you said last year and-”

“Shouto. Himura. Todoroki. You didn’t!”

He chuckles, your knees feeling week as you stared at his amused yet sincere expression.

“I did.” Warm liquid falls down your cheek before you know it, yet all you can focus on is the man in front of you.

“I know that you said you wanted something permanent, and I want to give you something permanent too.” He glances at the house that you both were in front of, and then back at you. “It’ll be a place where we can build a life together, a place where you will always be safe, a home where you will always feel loved.” Your heart cracks even further at the sound of his voice, honest and genuine and vulnerable and raw.

“My love for you is permanent, Y/N, and if you’ll have me, I want to share this with you, forever.”

Tears streamed down your face as you struggled to find words. “Shouto, hic are you— sniffle this—this house—” “I wanted you to have both a ring and a house.” Your boyfriend says that with full conviction in his voice, honesty and sincerity evident.

“Will you, L/N, Y/N, marry me?”

You nod furiously and desperately wipe some of your tears,

“Yes! God, yes Shouto!” Your new fiancé wastes no time scrambling up to his feet and sliding the ring on your pretty ring finger. Gently, he pulls you into his arms and tenderly wipes some of your tears.

“You’re sniffle incredible,” you murmur in his chest. Shouto laughs, but he is cut off by the second half of your statement. “And incredibly terrible!” He blinks, confusedly. “What? Why?”

“Shouto!” You chastize him with a huff, using your sleeve to wipe away snot that’s probably gross (Shouto doesn’t think it’s that gross). “Why would you spend 60 million yen on me!?!” (approximately $400,000 in USD)

He blinks again, confused, as if you had said something silly. “I’m a pro hero,” he says cooly, shrugging as if that and the amount of money he spent was no big deal (it really isn’t a big deal to him). “I’ve been saving, and…” Gently, he holds the hand with the ring up to his lips and kisses your knuckles gently, making your knees buckle and your cheeks even rosier.

“You’re worth it, my love. This ring, the house, nothing can compare to how happy and loved you’ve made me.” Tears well up in your eyes once again, threatening to spill over as your heart clenches. “That’s so unfair,” you murmur, voice cracking. Shouto’s lips quirk up into a smug smile, almost like a smirk, showing his blatant amusement.

“What is, darling?”

“Being this perfect,” you mutter, tears streaming down your cheeks again. Shouto laughs and presses a tender kiss to your forehead. “I’m sorry, but you deserve everything, Y/N. And I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure that you know it.” His eyes widen when you let out a whiny sob, burying your face into his warm chest. His left hand gently rubs circles on your back as he chuckles. A cool autumn breeze blows by, ruffling your hair. Shouto sees you visibly shiver and strokes your head.

“You must be cold, would you like to go inside?”

He watches your puffy yet beautiful eyes sparkle, and Shouto can’t tell if it is from your tears or happiness. Yet, he understands that the answer is both when you interlace your hand with his and use your free hand to unlock the door to the brand new 60 million yen home with a brand new diamond ring on your finger in the brand new luxury neighborhood with your brand new fiancé and soon to be husband. ♡

[seokmn]

POMEGRANATES ✴︎˚｡⋆

pairing: junhui x gn!reader wc: 0.4k words warning: pet names

“loving you once only wrong, i need you”

junhui placed a few containers with fruits inside on the towel you two were sitting and leaned back, his arms supporting his upper body weight. “what did you bring?”

you smiled and placed a container full of brownies on the towel, “ta-da!”. junhui’s smile turned into a grin, his eyes sparkling at the sight of your brownies.

“i love your brownies so much,” he took one and ate it, closing his eyes and humming when the sweetness of the brownie touched his tongue. “babe, it’s really good.”

“glad to know,” you sighed happily, “let’s see what fruits you brought.”

you started to open the containers, revealing basically all of your favorite fruits, all of them cut into heart or star shapes, but one in specific caught your attention. “are those pomegranate seeds?” you looked at him as he nodded, his mouth still full of brownie. “but... there’s a lot. did you buy it?”

“bought it de-seeded?” he asked as he finally swallowed the brownie, but he didnt give you time to answer his question. “no, i de-seed them myself. there are two de-seeded pomegranates there.”

“that much?” your eyes widened. “one pomegranate was enough, babe! one pomegranate itself has a lot of seeds.”

junhui shrugged his shoulders and reached out for the container, grabbing a few seeds with his hand and gently holding them closer to your mouth, waiting for you to open it so he could feed you. once you opened your mouth, he placed the seeds in it with a satisfied smile. “i remembered that one time you were scrolling through instagram and suddenly you told me how its been years since you had pomegranate. when i saw them at the grocery store, i thought ‘why not?’”

you grabbed a napkin to throw away the real seeds of the fruit before looking at him with a pout on your face. “babe,” you wrapped your arms around his neck, and he laughed while wrapping his arms around your waist. “when did you buy them?”

“yesterday, after practice.” you broke the hug and looked at him, “yesterday? then... when did you de-seed them? it takes time to do that.”

“right after i got home. its not a big deal, seriously." the pout kept it on your face when he said that, feeling loved by him for spending time doing something like that for you, but also a bit bad for him wasting his time de-seeding two entire pomegranates only for you. suddenly, your expression changed to a determined expression. “i will not let the time you spent turn into a waste of time.”

you started to put as much seeds as you could in your mouth in a small amount of time, which made him laugh and try to stop you. “hey!” he laughed once more, “eat slowly! i dont want you to have an upset stomach!”

[live-laugh-lenney]

Can u pls write a smut where Arthur comes home after the worst in class episode in his little green suite, and maybe they roleplay or sumthing more vanilla

i'm telling you... there's something in the air right now because all these british youtubers are going through the peak of their lives right now in terms of how hot they're looking... don't tell me you don't agree. 👀 || WARNING: SMUT.||

"stay right there."

"pardon?"

"i need you to stay right there for a moment. don't move," she insists, holding a finger in his direction to keep him still, occupying the open doorway of arthur's en-suite bathroom and allowing her eyes to take in his appearance by dragging her vision up the figure dressed so elegantly in a suit coloured with a deep green material, "let me look at you for a minute."

"i'm confused," he hums out, hands on his hips and his elbows bent outwards, his eyebrows furrowing on his browline as he felt desperate for an answer, "what is happening?"

"don't be confused, babe," she shakes her head with a smirk on her lips, finally letting her eyes land on his face, "i just, i really like this look right now."

it dawned on him then, in the moment they finally made eye contact, that she was feeling a rather specific way towards him in the outfit he had worn for a video shoot that afternoon, his cheeks flushing a pink colour at how ravenous she seemed to look from where she had been stood in the doorway of his bathroom. her eyes had darkened, pupils large and black and overtaking the colours of her orbs, and she'd pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and she chewed hungrily on the flesh... all whilst refusing to tear her eyes away from his face.

"oh, you do, huh?"

"yeah, i really like it."

he cautiously took a step towards her and he was certain that he saw an intake of breath get caught in her throat, and the way her eyes widened at his movement had the depth of his stomach tingling, an urge to reach her quicker than he was planning to.

"don't take it off," she whispers softly, taking one large step to close the gap between them, his warm breath washing over her face and she felt her knees almost buckle beneath her, "keep it on. please."

his arms wrapped tight around her waist and he pulled her close to his front with her arms, out of pure instinct, joining around his neck, hands connecting at the nape of his neck and her fingers finding refuge in the hair at the back of his head. twisting the tips into the soft strands and pulling ever so gently on the tufts she had a hold of.

"someone's really in the mood today," he admits cheekily and she can't help but gulp thickly to his question, "did you miss me today?"

"miss you all the time you walk out the door," she says in reply, dragging her arms down his shoulders and loosening the tie that was still done to perfection around his neck, "but when you come back looking like this-"

"like what?"

he wanted to hear her say it. he wanted her to use her words. he just wanted to have clarification, to hear her verbally admit to him, that it was a turn-on for her to see him to handsomely dressed.

"arthur, please."

it was whiny, desperate, beautifully implorable and he could feel himself harden up in his boxers at the mere thought of being just brief minutes away from being deep inside her, having her mewl out and moan in pleasure, living a fantasy she'd never thought much into before. his fingers digging into her hips, his heart racing in his chest, tongue licking across his bottom lip at the thought of having her weak and reliant on him as she stood before him.

"tell me," he whispers softly, leaning his head down and much closer to her level, the tip of his nose brushing against her cheek as he spoke gently into her ear, "tell me how turned on you are. tell me how you want me to fuck you right now. tell me how you feel, lovie."

"i need you," her head tilts back and his eyes matched the exact same darkened look that she had in her eyes, moments ago, her hands pulling his head closer to hers and her lips brushed over his, "right now."

"right here?"

she nods quickly in response, "please."

his lips attached themselves to hers in a rough kiss, full of passion and hunger, overwhelmed by the desire to have her where she was so in need of him. his hands gave the tops of her thighs a pat, urging her to pull away from his lips and to jump up for a second, hands ready to catch her as her legs wrap around his waist and her ankles hook at the base of his back. immediately going back to having their lips dancing together with passion.

her back was soon against the mattress, body placed on the edge of the bed as he pulls away from her, standing above her.

"don't you dare take it off," she cries out breathlessly, shaking her head when she saw his fingers touch the buttons of the blazer, "don't, please."

"how am i supposed to-"

"just take your pants off," she digs her toes into the plump flesh of his covered bum and urges him to return to his previous position, "we don't need romance right now, arthur. i just need you. i want you."

the urgency in her voice, dripping with a desperate plea, had him eagerly throbbing behind the material of his trousers. fingers undoing the belt, followed by the button, followed by the zipper as he wiggles out of the waistband and lets the garment drop to his knees. her eyes wandering down his body, settling on his hardened cock hidden by his boxer shorts, pleading with her eyes to release what she was after.

he sprung into action, her head rolling back because she was always in complete awe and astonishment at how lucky she'd gotten to be with someone so incredible as pleasing and satisfying her, knowing she was in for a treat that afternoon. he hoists up the material of her t-shirt and hooks his fingers into her knickers, pulling them away from her core and revealing the wet and glistening folds between her legs.

"you really are desperate for me, hm?"

she nods and her attention reverts back to him when she feels his weight adjust above her, his knees propping her legs open so he had access to tease her entrance with the tip of his cock.

with a deliberate thrust, he sank into her and filled her completely, enticing a stunned gasp from deep within her. pleasure coursing through her as he stretched her in ways she had felt before but would never get over - it was thrilling for her, knowing he had the same effect on her like he did the first time they shared a intimate evening together. they moved together, a rhythm building between them as her hips bucked up every time he gave her a thrust, each one sending waves of ecstasy through her body. toes curling, fingers gripping at the material of his blazer, knees tensing around him in an attempt to have him go deeper.

they were lost in each other. the chaos of london outside his window fading away as they surrendered to the pleasure that had overtaken their bodies as he continued to thrust, each movement sending her closer and closer to the edge.

“don't stop,” she gasps out, her breath coming in quick bursts, "don't you dare."

he responded with fierce intensity, their bodies continuing to move together in perfect harmony, the heat between them becoming thick and palpable, a fire that threatened to consume them both.

and as they reached the peak of their pleasure, she cried out loud, her body quaking in ecstasy as she fell over the edge without a care in the world on who could hear her. the world around her exploding in a blur of sensations, her body arching and trembling as she gave in to the white hot ball of pure electricity that erupted in her belly.

arthur followed closely behind with his own release. his own moans filling the air and mixing with her purrs of pleasure once she'd hit the high, his body falling beside her in the aftermath of their passion. breathless and satisfied.

"that was amazing," she whispers hoarsely, feet flat against the floor as her back stayed flat against the mattress, "i don't know what came over me then, i'm so sor-."

"don't even think about apologising," he turns his head to face her and she can see sweat clinging to his forehead and his eyes watering so slightly at the corners, "that was incredible. i might have to come home wearing suits more often."

"i don't even know if it was the suit, the colour, the fact i missed you a lot today," she shrugs, "whatever it was, i hope it never disappears."

silence swallows the both of them, their heavy breathing being the only sounds to fill the quiet of the room, his fingertips brushing over hers as they laid together on the edge of the bed.

"reckon we should get cleaned up?"

she nods, "can we have a bath though? i don't know if i can stand."

"i did you that good, huh?"

[shabbytigers]

literally not trying to fight here, to be clear.

i don’t use siri or alexa or voice controlled remotes either but that’s mostly because i intensely dislike doing anything via voice. i don’t listen to podcasts, avoid videos where a text alternative exists. idk about robovacuums, are those voice controlled too? but in any case i never really saw the point of those one way or another. i am however considering using claude (at some point when i get it together to formulate a question and figure out how prompts work); you can have conversations with claude via typing, and its sophistication is starting to be interesting to me in a way earlier robots like siri haven’t been. i don’t have some deep fundamental rage or fear about robots. idk.

the real-feeling-to-me fears around data are two things

1. classic identity theft, credit card spoofing or whatever. at this point that feels a lot like major weather events: basic weatherproofing makes sense but i’m not structuring my day to day life around precautions. worst case, there’s a situation and i deal with it. i’ve had two incidents in this last year plus, they didn’t actually get any of my money, there were some unpleasant nuisance phone calls etc but worse things happen in war.

i don’t think that google or facebook or apple or even x is running a literal identity theft mob at scale. so for me this doesn’t connect directly to the question of turning off the ai setting on the iphone photos app y/n. the issue is, will they have a data leak that allows a third party mob to do the thing. but at that point we’re back to ambient systemic risk: yeah, weather events are gonna happen, somewhere

2. hostile government surveillance, as @thatiswhy pointed out, is the other concern.

not sure how much to worry about this irl. if i were trans in texas or florida, lots. in new york or berlin … meh, but with one twitchy eye open? normal [sic] governments, not in the throes of full-blown theocratic fascism, have neither the inclination nor the capacity for this shit. given the state of the u.s. it may become a federal level risk imminently, but granular surveillance at scale in a country of 330 million people is a lot and state capacity has been, is, and will continue to be in the toilet. overcoming the sludge in the way of getting anything done isn’t just a question of tech. it will require extraordinarily motivated, focused, willful villainy and a paucity or dereliction of opposition.

once more, however, i have a lot of just very fundamental difficulty causally connecting the toggle on my photos app to the state coming after me to deliberately and malevolently fuck me up. are there plausible scenarios where the state would actually do that? unfortunately yes. will my photo app toggle make any difference? they don’t need my data in particular, they need tons and tons of aggregate data. clearly they’re going to get tons and tons of aggregate data. furthermore, they’re going to get my data. because there are obviously uncountable other things on a well functioning current-day smartphone and in any ordinary human being’s digital life just generally that can be mined in this manner.

again, we’re now talking about something highly pervasive, systematic and infrastructural. the risk is baked into the system. like, i am not going to kill my online presence everywhere, go full black bloc, take myself right tf off the digital grid, due to this vast nebulous inchoate concern. that would be like spending every hour of every day weatherproofing, never going outside, etc, etc. i’m sure it’s worth it to a person with a highly specific and confirmed reason to worry. i do not think it makes sense for everyone or should be recommended on general principles.

also … see, i actually really like the internet? i don’t think phones or social media are a society-destroying plague? i don’t think it’s terrible or unhealthy or whatever to spend a lot of time on the phone, assuming you do also have other shit going on, etc? i feel like there are pervasive and rising anti-phone attitudes that foster a preexisting inclination to point to the phone as the fons et origo of all evil futures, and it’s maybe coloring risk assessment around this. it’s got that dubious-public-health virtue-and-moral panic feel

also also, it’s all a bit beyond my pay grade, but if you’re looking for something to worry about wrt AI, i gather there’s more interesting/concerning issues available than the question of immediate-term data mining inputs and use cases. vaguely offensive, nuisancey shit like this is just the scurf of capitalism, don’t let it get you down, save some reserves for like real problems imho

Oh _lovely_. Everyone go turn this off:

Enhanced Visual Search in Photos allows you to search for photos using landmarks or points of interest. Your device privately matches places in your photos to a global index Apple maintains on our servers. We apply homomorphic encryption and differential privacy, and use an OHTTP relay that hides [your] IP address. This prevents Apple from learning about the information in your photos. You can turn off Enhanced Visual Search at any time on your iOS or iPadOS device by going to Settings > Apps > Photos. On Mac, open Photos and go to Settings > General.

[patchwork-artists]

Hey you! Have you seen this post by @pigswithwings? Do you like it? Do you like animation? Well do I have the news for you! With the author's permission and consultance, I am running a 5 minute animation short film on it, called "Angel back at home"!

Now, here's the most exciting news: We are looking for storyboarders, background designers, and 3 voice actors of all genders! Even better, you don't need to be a professional on any of those things whatsoever, only have some knowledge on them (and be of minimum age 16) to try and apply for the role!

Unfortunately, it is not paid, as for legal reasons we can not make profit out of it. Why should you join then, you ask? In this project we guarantee three things:

Portifolio building: Everything you will be producing, you can be using to add to your personal art portifolio, if this is a career you'd like to follow!

Resume: The short-film will be hosted on several film festivals, so you'll be able to put a big list of festivals your work was featured in, if you'd like to follow any art career. If not, the entire experience can be written in several bullet points on a resume ("experience with working in group", "experience of working within a deadline", etc) for any general job.

Advice and art growth: Every art that gets made on this project will be seen by me, the producer, and will be given advice for improvement. This is especially good if you've been on an art block, is self-taught, or overall would like a different perspective on your art. Don't worry, I'm not harsh!

Additional points is that it allows me to know new artists and new talents! From the last project I had run in this format, I had taken notice of 5 to 6 different artists that I hadn't known were so talented for their specific skills, which made me keep their names for the next project I'd produce. I am someone who dreams of opening an animation studio for new underrated talents and non-professionals that are studying to be professionals, so i'm looking forward to finding the artists on this project that will catch my eye and I'll bring over to the next project.

The timing is flexible since it is a volunteer ran project, if I can't pay I can't demand work hours of a job, so the deadline won't be too tight. For 5 minutes of film, the boards, voice acting, and single music will all in total take about 3 months, with the deadline starting in ferbuary and ending in the end of April. The following months will be given towards animation, sound editing and mixing, and video editing.

Requirements for storyboarders: Know how to draw, understand rule of thirds, enjoy drawing expressiveness through body language. You can be using any drawing device, whether that's computer, cellphone, or traditional, as long as you use the storyboard template in question and stay faithful to references.

Application link for storyboarders

Requirement for voice actors: have a somewhat good microphone(doesn't need to be professional and expensive, just good enough so we don't want to give the audio editors too much work), have interest in acting (preferably have had at least one theather class).

Application link for V/A

Lines for V/A

Requirement for background designer: Know how to draw or how to put together a 3d model of free assests, you don't need to be super experienced and specialized with drawing backgrounds but it'll be good to have a basic idea of it. You will be given specific references for the backgrounds, and you won't draw every single background, it'll be split work

Application link for background designer

Applications end by ferbuary 8th, but may be pushed forward if the applications are low. Everyone that passed will be noticed two days after.

Best of luck to everyone!

[astracora]

Poly!LADs headcanons #2

Social Edition

Featuring main MC.

Masterlist

Social Media

Zayne uses his online profiles pretty much exclusively for work. He follows distinguished professionals, especially in cardiology to keep up with the industry and build connections. He also shares information and studies, because he's aware patients follow him or family of patients, about health and general ways to assist with recovery. Has reported a lot of articles though, for misinformation.

He only really has one personal account, which is not openly shared, he uses this one to keep up with the polycules updates (even though he finds himself tutting as Xavier posts about the 6th pot noodle he's eaten that day), and comments on as many as he can (absolutely has alerts set up for MC specifically). Has more than one caught Rafayel and Sylus (whose account is of course under Skye to alleviate stress), plotting some prank, and printed out a screenshot to question them.

It goes as well as you'd expect.

Rafayel does not separate his work from his personal. This man will post about anything and everything, you want art exhibit exclusive updates? Follow Thomas. With Raffy you'll get every little hyperfixation, all his personal updates, random things he finds pretty, the occasional fawning over his loved ones in all caps, and the occasional art related post (Thomas normally has to remind him.) He binged a 20 episode show once, and wouldn't stop talking about it for months. He also will rant about the environment and things people can do to do their part. If he loses followers he doesn't care. Once Xavier accidentally unfollowed him (because trying to type with one hand while half asleep is a disaster waiting to happen) and he sulked for a week.

Likes everything the polycule posts, except for Sylus. Sometimes he leaves his usual 'dumb crow' comment, but Sylus casually mentioned that it showed he still cared enough to read, and Raffy ignored his posts for two months after that in protest. (When it gets brought up, he still blushes.)

Xavier is only as active as he has to be. He doesn't really follow a lot of people, the polycule, Jeremiah, Nero, Tara, Simone, Andrew and Jenna. MC once asked why he didn't really follow anyone else, and he just shrugged, too much work, and went back to what he was doing. Will tag himself and the polycule in locations when they go out, he takes photos fairly often, but will normally forget to post them. Raffy made a comment about it being a good method to track the progression of time and remembering what you get up to, and he started posting more often after that. His updates are mundane things, day-to-day, nice things he's seen, and nothing too groundbreaking.

Sometimes he does go back through his account to look at stuff though, it normally reminds him he wants to print certain photos out though. Preferring to have physical copies of memories. (Nero absolutely runs a Lumiere account that Xavier does NOT follow, but Sylus and MC do because they think it's hilarious.)

Sylus' account is under Skye or whatever nickname he's been called that amuses him that week. (He once changed it to 'fish eating crow' and the argument between him and Rafayel was so loud, Zayne made a deal with Sylus to change it back.) He follows the entire polycule, as well as Tara, Luke and Kieran. He says he follows Luke and Kieran because they sometimes post what chaos they plan to get up to next, but he likes all the things they post, and occasionally comments. (Sometimes if it's particularly troublesome, he comments 'Come see me.', and they know they're in for a lecture.) His updates can be anything, they're even more eclectic than Rafayel on account of how much amuses him on a daily basis. He also posts an obscene amount of photos he's taken of the polycule.

Doesn't have a business account because he doesn't need it, his name is enough. Any information he gets about any shady n109 zone business is through other methods. He absolutely is the kind of person to save posts to show people because they made him think of them. So so many links, found when he has a particularly boring meeting. Was following Jenna, MC took his phone and made him unfollow Jenna. 

MC has one account that follows everyone they personally know, plushie release updates, anything relevant to their interests (gaming magazines/film updates), and the occasional account that just posts pictures of animals. They go through entire periods of not posting or visiting their social media at all, and then intense fixation periods where they sit for an hour or two just liking and commenting. They share a lot of things to show the polycule, can be anything from a picture of a crow with a little hat (it's you Sy!), or a really beautiful photograph (for Raffy's inspiration). Number one fan for Simone and Tara specifically. They don't have alerts set up but they'll periodically just open profiles from the polycule to browse their pages.

Their pfp changes CONSTANTLY. It's not them, Sylus keeps changing it, with any new photo he sees. Sometimes its a cat with the most ridiculous face, other times its a snapshot Xavier's taken where they've been taken by surprise. Sometimes they notice straight away, other times they don't notice at all.

Talkative levels

Rafayel > Sylus > MC > Zayne > Xavier > Rafayel (if he hates you)

Rafayel, if he likes you, will talk for England. He can talk about anything, and fill any empty space. As long as you're listening or want him to keep going, he'll do so. While he's happy to sit in silence, he enjoys conversation, about any range of topics. He's a smart, knowledgeable man with a breadth of knowledge. History, Art, Politics and Environment are some top things he'll be able to engage in. Also just likes to talk shit.

If he doesn't like you, he will barely engage, unless he feels the need to add a threat (normally only important when he's protecting the people he loves).

Sylus can talk a lot, and he enjoys being engaged with on topics. He's well read, old enough to have a lot of worldly experience (though can sometimes feel lacking on emotional topics), and is very insightful as a person. Aboveall else, however… he loves listening. Can easily sit for hours just listening to a conversation, whether he's multi-tasking, or just sat. Doesn't matter if he understands the topic, doesn't matter if he has anything to add, but he will truly listen. It makes him happy to have things shared with him.

Xavier is about half and half on his conversation, he's naturally fairly lethargic and is happy for other people to fill quiet, or just sit in silence, or he can chat. Normally only for people he is close to, however. Is a very good listener, but also prone to asking the oddest questions. Is the type of person to ask the worm question, because he likes seeing what he gets in return. Is the quietest of the polycule though, easily just letting convos pass him by, or only chipping in with the occasional comment. The more upset he gets, the quieter he gets. Is, however, capable of dropping the most baffling comments or stirring the pot with gentle prods.

Zayne is reasonably talkative, and very verbose. He's obviously a smart man, but prefers the relaxation of his personal life to have some more of a childish or calm approach to his life. So unless it's needed, he doesn't want to talk about anything too complex in his day-to-day. Very jovial, even if his expression doesn't always match, and is happy to go toe to toe with topics or personality. Mirrors to some degree. Especially with MC. Has learned over time, how to be a little less formal with others, to help them relax.

MC goes through stages, they can be incredibly quiet for long periods of time, especially if they're post a rough mission, or having a rough day and overstimulated. Normally though once they get started on a topic of interest, comfortable with someone, or in a good mood, they can talk and talk and talk. They are more talkative through texts than they are in person, but it gets easier for them if they know the person. (The polycule get the bulk of it, along with Tara and Simone.)

Arguments?

Rafayel's version of arguments, as long as he is with people he cares about, is normally a process of going through the loud, irritated, sometimes yelling, until he reaches the ice cold, will say something to hurt you, in order to lash back when he feels uncomfortable or strong emotions.

He'll need one of two things to calm down, time to think and take space, or pulling back early enough that he realises he's hurting people. (MC is most successful with this, unless they're part of the argument.)

He clashes most with Zayne and Sylus. Sylus because the two are akin to cats and dogs, their arguments are very rarely serious, but they can get carried away, especially if Rafayel feels cornered. He clashes with Zayne because he doesn't take well to being told what to do in any form, even if it only comes from a place of concern. His arguments with Zayne have lessened a lot overtime, but his arguments with Sylus are still going strong.

It's possible he just enjoys sniping with the crow though.

Xavier doesn't really care enough to get into arguments, if he's bothered by something, it's jealousy above anything else. He'll get a stormcloud above his head, and it's the polycules job to help him clear it (or give him space to process it safely). His normal feelings of irritation come in the form of a pout, or a few grumbles, but if he sleeps it off, he's fine. So he tries not to really show his upset if he can, because it never lasts that long. King of bouncing back.

That said, he argues most with Zayne and MC. The arguments are rarely serious, Zayne's are normally about his bad eating habits, and come from a place of concern, but the way he shares them can often make Xavier feel like he's being belittled. His arguments with MC are about how he hides things, secrets, and doesn't share when he goes off fighting dangerous wanderers as Lumiere (or just as Xavier). These arguments are (seemingly) calm from Xavier's side, and fierce anger from MC. This can often result in them having to bench the conversation where they're talking past each other, and someone else will have to mediate.

Zayne tries to be cool as much as he can, he doesn't like raising his voice, he would rather not show anger, and he tries to approach people with a level tone. This doesn't always work, and sometimes he feels like an icy wasteland when he talks. Chilling and sarcastic. It can feel biting, and even if he doesn't want to exacerbate an argument, it can often have the opposite impact. (He sometimes also can't resist adding a dig, when he thinks someone is being extra foolish.)

He argues a lot with Rafayel and Xavier, and his arguments with Sylus fizzle out the most, because he has no interest in being a source of amusement for the man. His arguments always come from a place of concern. He wants people to take care of themselves, he worries about them, dislikes tending to wounds that are unnecessary.

When he argues, he needs either a mediator (MC if they're not involved in the argument, Sylus if he has to), or for the person he's arguing with to extend an olive branch. Is surprisingly stubborn about it (though it could also be because Raffy and Xavi both are not prone to just backing down on something.)

Sylus' form of argument can differ. The man can be either cool, and amused, enjoying his arguing partners emotional output in the same way someone would poke a wild animal to see what happens. Or he can be cold, deadly and dangerous. The latter very rarely comes out, it is only through extreme circumstances, or something he truly would not compromise on, that it happens. These situations make him scary, and can make him cruel. It does not come out with the polycule, and it is rare for even an enemy to get such a reaction. He deals with everything very calmly. (visibly at least). He does not raise his voice, but he will match someone barb for barb.

Argues mostly with MC and Rafayel. Though the second he gets a real display of pain or shock, especially out of MC, he'll realise it's serious and back up quickly. Until then, he enjoys verbally sparring. He only outwardly argues with someone without them starting it, when he is truly bothered by recklessness. If someone jumps in front of him to get hurt, if they do not listen when he tells them something. If he's not trusted in situations where he likely either knows best, or feels he does.

Will calm down quickly because it's never that serious, or will go away for a joyride to give himself some freedom to feel better, and then return to find another way forwards.

MC is fairly conflict averse, they have enough stress in their day to day that added strain often doesn't react well with their body. (Heart condition, general hunter lifestyle.). Arguments are often far calmer than when they are actually angry. Their anger manifests as a vicious serpent, and depending on the situation, it becomes sharp like a dagger, to stick under a scale and force it off. For arguments, they match energy normally. If the person they're arguing with is cold, they're cold back, (though it might not always last, as when they feel forced into a corner, they can get emotional against their will and overstimulated.), if the person yells, they'll yell back too.

They argue most with Xavier and Sylus. It is almost always about safety, about their injuries, about recklessness. They also argue over smaller things, like money being spent unnecessarily, Mephisto following them unnecessarily, if they're standing up for someone else but get carried away. To calm down, they have to leave the situation, and come back to communicate better. They will often do this with something written down to help them stay level headed and resolve a problem. They always want and give affection after.

[yandere-paramour]

Vivien's NSFW Alphabet

 A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex) 

Vivien is so touch-starved, it’s unreal. Once sex is done and everyone has been satisfied a few times over, he is all over you touching, caressing, massaging, anything he can do to feel you. He wants to spoon so he can kiss your shoulders and back and wrap both his arms around you. He’s not the best at cleaning everything up immediately, there’s a “sex towel” in his nightstand for quick things, but he’s not doing the big clean up until he’s had some time to touch and hold you, for both you and himself.

  B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)  

His favorite part of your body isn’t really a part, but he would have to say your softness. He loves hugging and cuddling you, and he loves the way your body fits into his so well. He likes to rub his cheek along your soft skin, and hold your stomach while you spoon.

His favorite part of his own body is probably his hands. They allow him to take care of things, which is what he likes best. He tends to his plants with them, cooks with them, and pleasures his Darling with them. They haven’t failed him yet.

  C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)  

He prefers to cum inside, no question. He loves feeling you wrap around him, and he likes to fantasize that he’s giving you a family like this, even if he’s really not. He’ll wear a condom with little to no protest if Darling asks, he’s just not a fan of the pull-out method. However, If you're sucking his dick, he doesn’t care if you spit or swallow. He’ll thank you for the pleasure either way. If he’s sucking your dick, he’ll swallow like a good boy.

  D = Dirty Secret (pretty self-explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)  

He’s not a very secretive guy (except for his murders), but this isn’t something he goes around telling people. If you were pegging him and you said you were getting him pregnant, he would come so hard he blacked out. He would literally be milked dry and fully unresponsive for a minute or two as well. The thought of being filled with Darling’s child so everyone can see that Darling loves him enough to make a family with him gets him so hard it hurts.

  E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)  

I would say he has a fair bit of experience. He definitely messed around with all genders in high school and in his young adulthood. He knows the human body in a general sense so he knows where to push and rub to pleasure you, but he wants to learn your body specifically. And he’s a hands-on learner so you should help him out with that.

  F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)  

He has a few sex positions he likes. First of all, he loves hitting it from behind. He goes in much deeper and it doesn’t hurt his back all that much (his back hurts from always bending to pick up plants). Surprisingly, this is also the position he likes to be taken in. For breeding kink purposes, mating press all the way. He does know this can be a bit uncomfortable so this isn’t for a quickie, he needs you to be nice and relaxed and flexible for this one, he needs you fully open because he wants to move quickly and minimize the time you might be uncomfortable. He also likes the spooning position; it’s like sex and a cuddle all in one!

  G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)  

He is not serious at all, he loves to laugh. He could be going hard and then just say something stupid to make you burst out laughing. He loves to see that smile on your face, and he especially loves if he puts it there himself.

  H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)  

He’s got hair, guys! His hair is naturally dark and curly so the carpet does not match the drapes (dying his hair so much has straightened it, although it is somewhat curly after a shower). He has a happy trail, and his legs are definitely hairy. He doesn’t like shaving, but he also doesn’t like having the hair trapped under his clothes, so he keeps it trimmed relatively short, but he is a hairy boy. He would shave if Darling asked him, but he would probably forget all the time.

  I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)  

He is pretty romantic during it, although it depends if the sex is gentle or rough. During gentle sex, he is very romantic, with lots of gentle caresses and kisses. He’ll even lick the tears off your face and leave kisses in their place. If it’s a special occasion, he’ll light candles and turn on ambient lighting and soft music to accentuate the mood. During rough sex, he is a little less romantic but even if he’s pounding at 30mph, he’ll still be talking about how wonderful and perfect you are and how amazing you feel around him and how thankful he is that you’re letting him do this to you.

  J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)  

Bro is constantly jacking off. He literally feels like he has to at least once a day but usually twice. It makes him sleepy so he doesn’t do it in the morning, but he does it in the shower after work (as long as Darling’s not showering with him), and before he goes to sleep. 

  K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)  

Obviously a breeding kink, he wants a family so bad, but he also has a few more kinks. He hasn’t quite made the connection that this is a kink, but he’s into happy dacryphilia. He very much has a fantasy where he’s fucking you so well that you just start crying from being overwhelmed that you are loved so much, and he licks and kisses your tears away and pounds even harder. 

  L = Location (favorite places to do it)  

An apartment is definitely preferred. Whether it's yours, his, or a shared apartment between the two of you, he likes it. This is not to say he is shy, he will have public sex if you're okay with it; he would just prefer no one saw you vulnerable like that. He doesn't care if anyone sees his naked ass thrusting, he just doesn't want anyone to see you like that.

  M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)  

Most things turn him on, and you guys know he has an extreme breeding kink in which anything related to either of you getting the other pregnant has him weak in the knees, but really anytime you show love for him, makes him adore you. Whether you cook dinner so he doesn't have to, give him a hug and kiss when he gets through the door, or spend a Saturday afternoon watching his favorite anime with him, it just makes him feel loved and he wants to show that back to you.

  N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)  

He will not share, he will not degrade or maim you, and he will not allow people to view you in the act. He couldn't give a shit if anyone hears how good he's making you feel, he just doesn't want anyone to see. He'll call you his beautiful, perfect whore and give you a few smacks on the ass; it just makes him feel icky and abusive to do anything further.

  O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)  

He is happy to join in either way. He's been sucking dick and eating pussy since high school; he knows what he's doing, and he definitely likes being on his knees for you. When he's giving, he's looking up and giving you cute bedroom eyes, he'll utilize his hands to get at the parts his mouth can't reach, and he knows just how to relax his throat and elongate his tongue to make it better for you. However, if he's receiving, he is losing any and all composure. He is drenched in sweat and tears, clutching something nearby for dear life, and desperately trying not to fuck your mouth.

  P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)  

He's slow at first because if he doesn't want to hurt you. He knows it's best if he works you up to it. But once he gets going, he's gone. He can do it any kind of way you prefer, but he prefers fast and hard. He wants you to feel every inch of what he's giving you, and he prefers it a little more rough than gentle.

  Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)  

Sure, why not? He would gladly have a quickie with you. EXCEPT, he would prefer just oral or fingering with a quickie. A quickie is supposed to be quick, and if his dick gets involved, one fast round will turn into four slow ones and then the whole afternoon is gone. If it's just oral, he can tease a quick orgasm out of you and then both of you are back to the party before anyone notices.

  R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)  

On a scale of 1-10, I would say he's about a 6 or 7. He'll try almost anything once, and he'll definitely try it if Darling wants to. He, in particular, would love to try some of the crazy positions, like with him upside down or you being a wheelbarrow. But he always starts with the two default positions: missionary and hitting it from behind.

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

He has a lot of stamina and almost no shame. He doesn't last long, maybe 5-10 minutes before he explodes, but he's back up and ready to go again in only about two minutes. Very short refraction time. He's a healthy young man and he can go about three or four rounds before he has to stop because he's milked dry. But give him a Gatorade and half an hour and he's sure he can pull together one last nut for you.

  T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)  

He has a fleshlight or four. He keeps getting too rough with them and cracking/breaking them. He just can't help himself! Another thing he recently bought that he only has one of is a butt plug angled to hit his prostate. He bought it on a whim and saw stars. For you, he would probably get some sort of vibrator to stimulate you while he fucks you. Penetration isn't always enough to get you there and he knows you need something a little more. However, something he DOES NOT like is if you use a dildo. This is so stupid and juvenile but he gets jealous of it. You're supposed to use him! Not stupid plastic! He is fleshy and warm and way more comfortable AND he doesn't run out of batteries.

  U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)  

He's not really one to actually tease. Like if you're close, he'll try and tease you like making you beg him to keep going, but it's an empty threat and you both know it. He's going to keep thrusting because he doesn't fuck around about your pleasure or his. So feel free to squeeze him and tease him back. He deserves it.

  V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)  

He's moderately loud. He does a lot of moaning and crying and talking to you, it's honestly embarrassing (or it would be if he had any shame, but he does not). He can't help but tell you how lovely you are and how much he loves you and how perfect you look taking him like this. He is incapable of shutting up, he needs to babble like an idiot the whole time.

  W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)  

If he's in a submissive mood, he would really like to be tied up. Specifically tied up in a mating press. Specifically tied up in a mating press with you pegging him. Specifically tied up in a mating press with you pegging him and growling in his ear that you're breeding his tight pussy.

He's a little embarrassed to admit this outright but he will heavily hint at it.

  X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)  

He's skinny but muscular. Kind of a swimmer's build. 7 in dick, heavy balls. Lets his pubes grow out so everything is covered in a thin layer of dark, curly hair.

  Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)  

High. My boy is always yearning. He will have sex 87% of the time. You could wake him up at three in the morning and say "fuck me" and he'll happily do it. There is almost no chance his Darling's sex drive is higher or even on par with his, but don't worry; he is no stranger to his right hand.

  Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)  

If everything is done, you and him are all cleaned up, hydrated, and satisfied, he would love to go straight to sleep. These rounds really do take a lot out of him and he's only human. He would prefer you lay down and fall asleep with him, but he gets it if you don't want to sleep. As long as you're cuddled up in the bed with him while he sleeps, he'll be fine. If you insist on moving around the apartment or even LEAVING the apartment, he'll get up and follow you, but he will be yawning and stumbling around like a baby deer the whole time.

[vikkirosko]

Imagine a Error x reader x ink cause i Can't stop imagining this

What kind of girl do you prefer

Error:my Wife [aka Reader] i love her and she is a Nice girl

What kind of girl do you prefer

Ink:uuuuuh Error wife

**Error Stares at Ink**

It beautiful. I've reread your request several times, but it's still great. Thanks for the request that made me smile

🪡 Error x fem!Reader x Ink Oneshot What kind of girl do you prefer 🖌

Anti-void was a personal realm that belonged to Error. There was only room for him and for you. You were probably the only one he loved, even though it took him a long time to get there. Much longer than he was willing to admit.

He called you his wife, even though it was just words, but you never corrected him. He knew that he loved you and that you loved him, otherwise you would not have remained so calm in such an empty space, next to him, whose emotional state was constantly out of control, with him, who never once in all your time did not touch you physically and only used his threads if there was a need. necessity. But you continued to love him and stay by his side.

But your peace and privacy were destroyed when Ink appeared. He came, it would seem, specifically to annoy Error and used every opportunity for this. But what angered him the most was that Ink started paying quite a lot of attention to you. He came to you, chatted with you about everything in the world, ignoring the indignation and abuse from Error. Ink offered you to leave with him several times, but you refused, continuing to smile at him in a friendly way and saying that you were not going to leave your love. Your words made Error grin with satisfaction, but Ink didn't get upset and kept coming back over and over again.

At some point, Ink's presence in your lives became something common, and even though Error continued to keep him at a distance from himself and from you, you still chatted with him in a friendly way, you listened to his stories about other universes where you had never been, he brought you gifts, saying that you should be it's very boring without anything at all, you even painted together. As long as Ink did not cross the boundaries of what was allowed, Error was ready to treat him with more patience than usual, at least for your sake. He was really busy and couldn't always be with you, but this way you had at least some entertainment.

But when Killer passed through your anti-void, he looked at how Ink behaved almost like at home and periodically looked at you, who was sitting away from them and reading a book that Error had brought for you, the gears in Killer's head began to spin faster and his grin became wider.

"Hey, Error, have a question"

Error made an exasperated grunt. He hated being bothered, but in the situation that arose, he couldn't refuse Nightmare, which meant he had to put up with Killer.

"What kind of girl do you prefer?"

His question caused Error to be even more annoyed.

"What kind of dumb question is that? Of course my wife, I love her, she's a nice girl"

Error was sure that Killer would finally leave, but he heard his almost humming voice.

"Ink~"

At that moment, they both looked at KIller, who was smiling like a cat that had secretly eaten a canary.

"What kind of girl do you prefer?"

There was silence. This silence was stressful and Error didn't like Ink's continued silence. Finally, he chuckled and answered the question.

"Uh... Error's wife"

Killer couldn't help but laugh, which you noticed as you stared uncomprehendingly at the way Killer hurriedly left. Error stared intently at Ink, and it would seem that if looks could kill, Ink would have been dead a long time ago. You got up and went to them.

"What's going on?.."

Your voice was like the sound of a gunshot for both of them. Ink hurried to dive into his portal, giving you a quick goodbye and barely avoiding the threads that almost grabbed him. Error was furious and wasn't going to stand for this. He wasn't going to let Ink even get close to you, especially now that he'd made it sound like he liked you. Even if it was just a joke to annoy Error, he wasn't going to risk losing you to someone like Ink.

You didn't quite understand what had happened, but you planned to find out later, from one of the three participants in this situation. In the meantime, you wanted to focus your attention on Error, who was much more angry than usual. You just couldn't leave him like this.

[majimaisms]

on majima's relationship to power, dignity and freedom

a friend of mine was recently talking about a character from a movie, and whether or not an emotional response (specifically, anxiety and obligation over a loved one needing help) was something that character could "effectively discipline and draw from" or "something that will always threaten to overflow rational boundaries" and posed the question as: "does he make use of it, or does it make use of him?"

this, i believe, is how majima approaches quite literally everything in his life, up to and including, if not especially, his own emotions.

i think it's an anxiety over their agency and freedom that compels a person to ask this question about everything. because they're terrified of being used against their will, without their knowledge, of waking up one day and realizing they've been a slave to something because they refused to examine their relationship to it. and i think it takes 1. someone who is naturally very emotional, as in, inclined to make decisions based on emotions rather than rationalizations, and can't afford to be this way for whatever reason and 2. someone who has been robbed of their agency and freedom in the past, to develop this anxiety. majima more than fits the bill on both counts.

it's born out of a need to maintain power over this fear. it's literally pathological. his need to make tools out of everything. it's a disease. either hes wielding it, or being wielded as a tool by it, whatever "it" may be. its a binary, black and white choice, and it's not really a choice at all, because he absolutely refuses to risk the latter happening against his will. he needs to have control over himself, his life, his decisions, all the time or he feels like hes stuck, cornered, he panics and cant keep a cool head (all of y0, '85 flashbacks from y4). he freaks out. and he cant risk that, he cant stand it either.

but it's not even about that. it's about dignity. majima tries to navigate the entirety of those situations, where he's robbed of freedom, where he's cornered, with dignity. because it's all he has. and when even that is stripped from him (the hole, y0), he seeks out the most dignified way to deal with losing your dignity -- willingly letting go of it (the lord of the night).

we see him put to impossible choices in other games (y5 comes to mind) and he handles that just fine without freaking out even when he's cornered. the difference is that in y5 he had a dignified way of resolving that situation. what actually makes him "freak out" and lose his cool is being robbed of a dignified solution. the dignity in following his principles, not betraying himself, is something he goes ballistic at the thought of losing.

it's not just that he can't "risk" not being able to keep a cool head, or that he can't "stand" freaking out, its that he can't stand the humiliation of it. of not being perfectly composed and in control of himself all the time. he's too proud. and this is why mad dog is so therapeutic for him, because its a character who doesn't give a single fuck about how hes perceived, wielded by a guy who cares excessively about how hes perceived. he learns so much from mad dog over the course of the series, i genuinely think mad dog saved his life. because i was thinking about all of this going, my god. youre in the YAKUZA???? and youre living like THAT?? no fucking wonder he had to invent a persona to larp as just to not shoot himself.

but thinking more about it, it's like. of COURSE he is. of COURSE hes yakuza. because!! as a civilian, you're just slave to the same system everyone else is a slave to. you have to bow to it, and you don't even get a choice. so... what does he do. he makes his own choice. if hes going to be a slave in a system, it's going to be a system of his own choosing that he can respect, however flawed. yes, he's not "free" in the yakuza, and that is something he struggles with, but it's more about freedom of choice for him.

like. what a fucking thing to say. you cant attach a price to my life. you cant make USE of my life. you cannot USE my death as a TOOL to further your own ends. because that's what ibuchi is saying, that he'll kill majima and his death will start a war which he will benefit from. and he refuses to BE that for anyone.

...other than, of course, shimano and the men he respects, of which there are SO few in the tojo. (hello kiryu. hello saejima. this guy is in desperate need of people he respects and he will follow them around like a dog because he really wants to surrender power and "bow his head" because he's so exhausted from having to maintain it against himself and the world 24/7.)

look at his face in this scene. he's completely distraught. over having been used in some scheme without his knowledge. robbed of his autonomy. i have never seen him look like this at any other point in the series.

true resignation. utter defeat. this is partly what birthed mad dog, nihilism incarnate. sure, it takes being faced with the possibility that makoto will never wake up to finally "awaken" mad dog, but this is where majima is drawing his strength from -- this ability to tap into a state of complete indifference. this void. death.

even sera is surprised. but this is the moment he understands exactly what kind of person majima is. because yes, of course he would. majima, and people like majima, will jump at any chance to make their deaths count, because they're constantly living with the guilt of all the terrible shit they've done up to that point. having the opportunity to die for a good cause, knowing it won't redeem them but get them at least a little closer to it, is a blessing. they don't have to think twice about it. this is the death drive he's tapping into.

above all, majima wants to be useful. i think this need characterizes his relationship with kiryu, who is someone he respects. he's basically begging to let kiryu help him throughout y3. he agrees to go back to the clan because kiryu asks, twice. he's willing to die so haruka can live, because his death can accomplish something good. it's no choice at all.

but i'm far more interested in how this manifests in his relationship with shimano. this excerpt from an rggo story comes to mind.

i think shimano was, in a lot of ways, a tether for majima. the "leash" imagery is very accurate, but it suggests an entirely negative reading of their dynamic. the truth is majima likes being leashed. not only that, he needs it. he's just very discerning about who he will let leash him. he needs purpose in his life, needs to know hes useful, and for that he needs to devote himself to someone. and it needs to be a person, because he's too cynical to believe in a cause.

what that excerpt tells me is that he lost his respect for shimano. and when he died, majima became untethered. from the world. in the absence of saejima, or anyone else who could be that for him, he's adrift and aimless. lost.

it's not a coincidence he leaves the clan immediately after shimano dies. it's because of this, because of terada (he won't bow to someone he doesn't respect), and because he has, on some level, completed a large part of his duty to saejima by establishing his own family. he is without purpose. and i think it's maintaining this state of existence for years that turns him into the depressed, defeated man we see in y5.

he got burnt out, because it's exhausting being in this kind of active conflict with yourself all the time in the name of maintaining a sense of personal power and agency. over even your own emotions. he's truly relentless. but sooner or later, it was going to catch up to him.

[schadenfreudich]

Thinking about going to a museum on monday. Because if we go there on our birthday, it's free, and because we can get there about as easily as we could on a non-holiday.

Also because I really want to go the museum. There are old trains and cars and planes. And clearly I am normal about this.

[unriding]

hi evie !! how have you been ? :33 i hope you dont mind me borrowing you and moze for something ehehe <3

[b4kuch1n]

I actually for real feel like my phone's scanning quality has dropped monumentally while I was away on thing so that's a fun thing to figure out now. anyways

[scrumpledorph]

Two points of preface. One, I like to talk in absolutes; 'never do this' 'always let this happen' etc. That's just a shorthand so I don't need to append a bunch of caveats to every sentence I write; in truth, there will be times where breaking the established rules will elevate your work. You kind of just need to get a sense for it, and I'm afraid I can't help you with that because it's also largely a matter of personal taste. Two, I'm not a professional, just a hobbyist with a couple friends who I solicit feedback from.

Likely the single biggest piece of advice I can give is: don't cut the tension. Marvel and its derivatives (henceforth referred to as capeshit for brevity) establish tense scenes, but they don't use them for tension - they use them as a punchline by having a character say or do something wacky right as things are getting good. Don't do that.

If you're establishing tension between two characters; an argument, a fistfight, what have you; play it out. Or, if you want that tension to linger; have an interruption that doesn't cut it, but denies them the ability to resolve it. Something more important than whatever they were fighting over comes up, and now they have to work together. This dovetails well into another piece of advice.

Have consequences for scenes. Capeshit more or less alternates between SNL bits and action scenes to make sure the audience doesn't get bored. Not much really matters. When two people shout at each other, have it mean something. Have an argument rise to blistering invective; make them want to genuinely hurt each other's feelings, and leave them raw after - towards each other and onlookers who try to make them feel better. Have a fist fight establish a power dynamic between two characters, have people lose or gain respect for the people involved based on whether they feel the attacker was justified or the loser is weak, things like that. A single interpersonal confrontation can loom over the story for chapters (scenes, episodes, etc.) if you do it right.

Treat your characters with sincerity. This is addressing lamp shading, and it's very closely linked to the first point. When capeshit has a character take themselves seriously, often the villain, other characters mock them in drawn out comedic sequences. While this can be done with intent - to show a lack of respect, goad someone into making mistakes, etc. the problem is the writers don't use it with intent: they always do this, because they're working with borrowed properties made to appeal to thirteen year old boys between twenty and seventy years ago, and think these characters are beneath them.

You should love your characters. You don't need to like them, maybe you think they're a weaselly piece of shit or an irredeemable monster, but you should be excited to flesh them out. You have to want the audience to feel things about them to elevate them above cardboard cutouts. This is a specific subset of the next point, but I felt it was a significant enough occurrence to warrant giving it its own paragraph.

Play it straight. Don't have your characters constantly questioning things if the only reason they're doing it is to signal to the audience that something is absurd. When confronted with the impossible, it becomes the possible, and the mind bends to accommodate it. No 'they fly now', no 'well that just happened'. Things are self evidently possible by virtue of them happening, and that's just how it is. If presented with enough confidence and follow through, the audience will accept it.

For an enduring example, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure constantly follows absurd leaps of logic, but Hirohiko Araki does it with such gusto and panache the reader simply can't question it in the moment, and even when they can later - they usually agree that it worked anyway.

As a closing piece, and I really believe this is arguably the progenitor of the entire problem: assume your audience likes your work. All of the things above are compromises made for a hypothetical reader, watcher, etc. who doesn't like your work, to make it more palatable to them. Cut that person out of your mind. You are creating art for yourself, and if they're lucky - a few close friends. Make your characters hyper competent and don't worry about the person saying it's unrealistic. Give your characters designs you think are cool without thinking about the Reddit dipshit who'll call it a donut steel. Let your characters give uninterrupted monologues at dramatic moments without imagining cinemasins dinging it because the other characters don't attack them while they're doing it.

To paraphrase a piece of advice from Mark Rosewater, the head designer of Magic: The Gathering; if everybody likes your work but nobody loves it, you will fail. It is better to alienate ninety people and make ten lifelong fans than it is to get one hundred fair weather fans. Capeshit ran out of steam the second the original set of characters were retired, because they were working off goodwill established back when they gave half a goddamn.

As I said at the start; every one of these points has caveats and exceptions that are too numerous to list. If I held you by the hand and told you exactly how to make every decision in your work, I can't imagine it would be very fun for either of us. But I hope I've established enough of a scaffolding for you to start building off of.

Few things I respect less than an artist or writer who lacks creative conviction. If your work is visibly self-conscious, how can you expect the reader to possibly engage with it with earnest? If even you don't believe in the work, how can the reader? Likewise I think that having artistic convictions is a boon that can guide a weak premise into a strong execution.

[schemelin]

every now and then i experience brief moments of self-awareness telling me to make major changes to the fusionsprunt story

[ghosts-devilman-wip]

Dumping out devilman thoughts today.

I know I'm far from the first person to think about this, but I don't feel like it's given enough attention. What I'm talking about is the really noticeable lack of discussion about god as a character/driving force throughout the story (and I mean the lack of discussion on the fandom's end as well as within the stories.)

Like, you really have the all-powerful being who is the only thing in existence with the true ability to completely stop the war - to completely halt the cycle of violence. But they never intervene. Not until humans and devils have all destroyed one another. Not until Lucifer has finally killed Akira, and he's all that's left, alone on a rock on a decimated earth, watching the stars and expounding on the concept of love to a cooling corpse.

THEN god intervenes. To scorch it all and start it over again, only for the same story to play out time and time again. The only consistent exception to this, really, is whenever divine force is shot down in the beginning phases of the war. Though usually, this just ends up causing destruction in a different way. It never saves anyone, it just overpowers a show of force from the devil's side.

You could make the argument that god isn't the same all-powerful being here that he's seen as being in a larger cultural sense outside of this story. But I'd both disagree and say that's a bad take. He clearly carries more power than anyone else, as again, when he does intervene it overpowers everything else. And yeah there's the idea that he didn't make devils, but that doesn't make sense to me either. So much of this story is based both on christian mythology (or dantes inferno, but still).

To rewrite the concept of god in this way. And to practically ignore this character's existence. ESPECIALLY in a story that is so much about the cycle of violence and the failings of humanity. It does the whole thing such an injustice.

In devilman, the war between devils and humans is ultimately constructed by god himself. Because it all comes back to the fact that he had to have created the devils in some manner - how else would they have come about? - and then tossed them aside to make room for humans. Running parallel to the way he tossed aside one of his own angels for going against god's authority. An angel who then went to the devils, joined with them and led them toward liberation.

What else were the devils supposed to do? What else was Lucifer supposed to do?

God is absent from the story until there's nothing left. Then he does it all over again. For what? To punish lucifer and the devils? Again and again for their refusal to lay down and die quietly? And it's not to protect humans - how many human lives are destroyed in the process?

God is absent from this story and we continue to let him be. We focus so much on Akira and Ryo, and on trying to save them and rewrite their connection into something that can be saved. We try to rewrite it so Miki lives, and the war is averted. But that doesn't make sense to me.

This story has already been written to be a tragedy. The omniscient, all-powerful god of the story has decided that's what it's meant to be.

As long as lucifer lives to the end of the story, it will be scrapped and retold again and again. And if lucifer were to die? That would still be a tragedy, let's be honest.

The cycle of violence has already been set in motion, and it will not be stopped so easily. That's important to me. Because ultimately, erasing the tragedy of it suggests there would be an easy solution to the world's problems - that escaping oppression is as simple as being kind and quiet in the face of your own eradication, that stopping a war is as simple as crying in front of the right person, and that making the right choices are as easy as listening to what you're told is "good."

Devilman is a tragedy, but I don't think that's inherently nihilistic. I think it can make you think and ask questions and consider layers to the problem. It will not give answers, because it's not that easy - because if we had those answers then the world wouldn't be the way it is. What we see at the end isn't meant to be a prediction, or even a threat. It's simply null - this is complex and painful, and our characters were not able to figure it out, because of that. Possibly, very likely, because they were not able to see outside of their own perspectives and drives (who could? At a certain point, that would mean abandoning feeling. There's a reason Michael is the most unsettling character in any of the stories to me.)

I mean, sure. God always had an easy answer. He probably wants the story to go this way.

[sysig]

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