#anyway. sorry shes just a really compelling character

[horizonclothing]

[sskk-manifesto]

Ep 5!!!

[fantastic-mr-corvid]

wip wednesday

peek at the start of the 7th chapter/epilogue of rage, where i get to see how Tesoro & Elena are doing [spoiler: Tesoro aint doing so hot]

“Feeling sorry for yourself all on your lonesome Cavallero?”

Trust Elena to be the first one to find him and his one man pity party, hidden away on the roof of the gym. He didn't move his gaze from the skyline as she sat down on sun warmed stone next to him, too exhausted to even muster up a twitch of his lips in greeting.

Pages turn, and he realizes his mistake as Elena picks up his discarded sketchbook, a sharp intake of breath as his hopes that she wouldn't see his latest sketches were dashed. 

Dragging his eyes away from their city to the offending page, his eyes once again took in the images that had been lingering in his mind, and the pencil sketches that were his attempted exorcism.

“I’ll always be envious of your visual memory, your ability to hold onto what you see and draw it with such accuracy,”

Celia, wounds still raw on her face, an expression of fear and shock on her face as she stared out of the page, accusatory and taken aback, rough pencil marks only heightening the emotions on her face, rough featureless figures crowding around her.

“You shouldn't be,”

[seveneyesoup]

the thing about nbc hannibal was that hannibal lecter himself was such a like. bad person that it made it really obviously completely clear whenever anyone’s hate for characters on the show was just bigotry

[iateabunchofsmartiesandnowimdumb]

If rebecca by daphne du maurier has a million haters, then I am one of them. If rebecca by daphne du maurier has ten haters, then I am one of them. If rebecca by daphne du maurier has only one hater then that is me. If rebecca by daphne du maurier has no haters, then that means I am no longer on earth. If the world is against hating rebecca by daphne du maurier, then I am against the world.

[sabertoothwalrus]

I’ve seen you post some labru stuff and I’m curious what your thoughts on it are. personally I don’t see it? I can buy Kabru having feelings for Laios, but I think Laios wouldn’t be interested in Kabru, so it makes me wonder why so many people ship them. (Tbh I feel like Kabru has more chemistry with Mithrun anyway)

Sorry if this ask sounds rude, I just genuinely don’t understand the appeal of the ship, but I want to understand and I trust your analysis of characters very much :] maybe there’s something I’m missing

I really like both ships, actually!

For labru, there’s sooooo much I could talk about. The inherent homoeroticism of being narrative foils. The inherent homoeroticism of being the king’s advisor. All of chapter 76. The fact that Kabru has mask upon mask upon mask, and Laios is the first person that made his facade absolutely crumble.

Kabru struggles with being genuine!!! Everything he says and does is so perfectly calculated, even when he sort of means it. But since Laios doesn’t get social cues, Kabru gets thrown for a loop.

I get so frustrated when people act like Kabru still hates Laios by the end of the manga!!!!! He killed those corpse retrievers for being corrupt, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to kill Laios. He has such a strong sense of justice, and knew that killing Laios would be a mistake. Because, after meeting him, he could tell he wasn’t actually evil. He’s strange, sure, but not evil.

Kabru DEFINITELY wants to be friends with Laios!! He was not lying about this!!!

But this last comic shows how much Laios wants to be friends with Kabru, too. He’s so nervous after calling Kabru his friend 😭 he doesn’t want to be presumptuous and fuck it up again.

Laios does show an interest in Kabru, at least when Laios thinks he’s interested in eating monsters too. Like,, what was up with THIS

Laios’s gaze is LINGERING. Plus, (this is before that bit at Thistle’s house when he forgets his name) he brings up Kabru when they first form their plan to eat Falin.

And maybe this is just because of my own personal experiences, but Laios reminds me a lot of my own girlfriend. I think they have a similar flavor of gay/aspec & autism combo where, had I not asked her out first, she probably never would have considered being interested in me. But she was very down when I did.

The tricky part about labru is more the political aspect. Regardless of whether you see Laios as aroace or not, he’s in a situation where he will probably get married. He had a fiancée before he was age 13, likely betrothed since he was a baby. He’s already comfortable with the idea of getting married because He’s Supposed To.

However, Laios is king, and could make gay marriage legal if he wanted to (He would probably do this for his sister and Marcille before considering it for himself ). But at the same time, I think Kabru would object to Laios making whatever policies he wants without considering the repercussions of how other kingdoms might react, especially when they’re just getting Melini off the ground and need lots of support from other countries. Laios and Kabru getting gay married anyway and dealing with the aftermath could make for a really compelling story.

I do think Kabru would be a good ruler. He’s already fit for it. He speaks a dozen languages, he knows people and their motivations, and likes politics. The manga already joked about Chilchuck’s daughters trying to marry a king, so it seems like noble blood isn’t too important, but Kabru’s foster family IS nobility. When it comes to heirs, I do like trans Kabru headcanons, but at the same time, I think it’d be cute if they adopt anyway. Kabru seems like he’d have strong feelings about adoption given,,, yknow.

The alternative version of labru to this is Laios gets straight married out of obligation, and Kabru is his mistress hdhdhshsj. I don’t know if I could see Laios doing that? or if Kabru would risk the scandal of being outed as Royal Advisor and Regent trying to seduce the king. It could go SO downhill. but maybe that would be fun.

NOW FOR KABUMISU.

I knew people shipped them, and I could see the basis for it while reading, but I wasn’t really sold on it until the very end. There’s something about “I had no desires left. I decided to create new desires, and one of them is you” that’s really charming.

There’s also something funny about “the demon ate my heterosexuality so I’m gay now”

I think it’s interesting that Kabru hates elves. He was raised by them, and he hates them. He hates feeling patronized by them. He made absolutely sure that elves wouldn’t take control over Melini, not just for his sake, but for Rin’s.

But Mithrun’s interactions with Kabru are founded on more mutual respect. Though, that’s not to say that Mithrun doesn’t still have his biases towards short lived races..

Where Laios doesn’t understand social cues, Mithrun does but just doesn’t care. For that reason, I think Kabru would enjoy spending time with Mithrun. It’d give him a break from his compulsion to calculate all of his social interactions. But at the same time, Kabru is the KING at bottling his emotions. Mithrun is blunt, but also doesn’t care enough to pry. If Kabru had anything bothering him, I could imagine him seeking Mithrun’s company to avoid thinking about it. Could make for a fun dynamic.

I do think it’s funny that Milsiril 1) took care of Mithrun for potentially 20 years and 2) is only four years older than him. I imagine this could lead to funny situations.

I don’t ship things for no reason! I think both of these could work platonically, romantically, one-sided, or even “requited but they don’t do anything about it.” Their relationships compel me and I think it’s sort of bad faith to brush off either like they’re nothing more than baseless yaoi pair-the-spares. To me, I see just as much of a foundation in the source material as farcille.

After all, dungeon meshi isn’t a story about romance, but it IS a story about love. It’s a story about life and death and grief and the love that comes with it. Regardless of shipping, these characters love each other!!! And I love talking about it!!

[tanoraqui]

you’ve heard of Her Divine Highness Gideon the First, First Daughter of the House of God, and all the compelling, often Fake Dating-laced AUs that might follow. But have you considered...Gideon Jr. Dve, favored daughter of the First, heir of Gideon the First, Saint of Duty?

the timeline diverges at 2 points:

Gideon (ours) inherits her mother’s perfectly normal dark brown eyes

Gideon (lyctor) follows the escape pod to Ninth House, arrives to find Wake’s corpse and living baby, to the bemusement of all the locals is like, “yes, that’s mine” and takes said baby back to the Mithraeum to confess his sins and beg forgiveness

the conversation that follows goes like this:

Gideon 1: I am so sorry, John, I don’t know what came over me, Wake was just...really hot. She’s dead now. But, um, this is our daughter, and I feel duty-bound to raise her, or at least see that she’s raised well - but it’s your call, of course (again, I’m sorry for sleeping with the enemy for over a decade)

JohnGod, vibrating at a frequency known only to necromantic immortals who maybe swallowed a sun or something: N I E C E ? !

Augustine, Mercy, and maybe Cytherea, exchanging frantic eye contact behind the other two’s heads: Is that the baby? / I don’t know! I thought you were keeping track of it! / I don’t know! Can’t you tell!? / Are they keeping it? / What the fuck are we going to do about this?!

So, Gideon (Jr.) grows up in the Mithraeum, which needless to say is a fucking weird place to grow up. 

this au is dependent on the assumption that none of these millennia-old necromancers can identify the thanergic/thalergic weirdness of the biological daughter of God on slight, so, just accept that. Maybe children of lyctors (I refuse to believe there haven’t been any before) are a little Like That anyway? The Conspirators do learn the truth pretty fast, DNA test or something, but they quickly decide that stealing the baby and running for the Ninth is a terrible plan, and G1deon and God have to let her out from underfoot eventually. They’ll wait.

the Ninth had already named her Gideon. Gideon 1 tries to change this, but alas, his terrible immortal friends all think it’s hilarious and call her Gideon Jr, or “Junior” or “Giddy” for short.

Cytherea is undoubtably the Cool Aunt, and also Giddy’s first crush

(neither Mercy nor Augustine want to touch children on account of potential stickiness, ruling them firmly out)

JohnGod makes so many Godfather jokes in a terrible Italian mobster accent, which Giddy then imitates with equal inability to mimic an accent, which either produces something completely unrecognizable as old-Earth Italian mobster OR somehow loops back around to being a perfect impression of Don Corleone

Pyrrha tries to resist the urge to check in, but fails, particularly around bedtime (usually a private father/daughter tucking-in ritual). Giddy, with the uncomfortable insight for a toddler, quickly grasps that Sunglasses Dad is a different persona than Normal Dad. Sunglasses Dad swears her to utmost secrecy about this, and she keeps the oath...almost entirely

she does let it slip to Normal Dad, who...

listen, G1deon has been concealing his mysterious lapses in awareness from God and his fellow lyctors for centuries; he’s not going to stop now. And he MUST have had suspicions about what caused them; he’s not an idiot. But he would, I think, be a responsible father. 

So when 7yo Gideon Jr. lets slip about her interactions with Sunglasses Dad - which she definitely doesn’t realize is a whole different person; she probably thinks it’s a weird character her dad acts as sometimes, like how Uncle God will play pretend as a mobster, pirate, horse, etc. When Gideon Jr. lets slip, Gideon Sr. sits her down with his daughter, gets her to tell him about Sunglasses Dad, and admits that, uh, yeah, sure, it’s a fun game they play together, and still very secret from everyone else...and if ‘Sunglasses Dad’ ever makes her feel scared, or god forbid hurts her, she should run away and find Uncle God and tell him everything immediately. 

(Because he has suspicions, he must have suspicions, especially at this point...but just in case he’s wrong, he’ll confess to this centuries-old secret rather than let any harm befall his daughter. It’s the only right thing to do.)

Some Actual Plot Maybe, IDK?:

when Gideon Jr. is 13, her father finally agrees to enroll her in the Cohort Academy for Gifted Officers-To-Be, or whatever its called. Gideon Sr. has a quiet word with the current head of Second House and Gideon Jr. enrolls incognito, and rolls up to this place with

- sword skills trained since birth with fucking lyctors

- an uncanny ability to survive should-be-deadly wounds

- the social skills of someone who has never spoken with anyone under the age of several millennia

- probably slightly more respect for, like, the concept of authority/order/duty/not being a smartass 24/7 than the canon Gideon we know and love...BUT she has also literally never suffered a consequence in her life, and...you know how Miles Vorkosigan’s insubordination habits are based partly in that for the first 18 years of his life, his commanding officers, essentially, were 2 of the most competent people on Barrayar? God Himself used to give Gideon horsey rides. Gideon might try, politely, to be impressed by the commander-instructor glaring at her personally, but she is...not.

- gay

[insert a full YA novel’s worth of coming-of-age shenanigans here, absolutely ft. Judith Deuteros and Marta Dyas as soon-friends]

AND THEN ONE DAY, JOD SENDS OUT AN INVITATION to the heir of the Nine Houses inviting them to the First...

now, Gideon does not have a single drop of necromantic ability. She never has. So she wants to be a cavalier so bad...

but even Gideon, sword bimbo that she is, couldn’t grow up with The lyctors and not notice that... Well, no one really talks about their cavaliers, except when Mercy and Augustine fight about them. There is a grieving, sucking wound where every lyctoral cavalier should be.

she still tried so hard to be one. Judith very nearly agreed to have her even over <3Marta<3 (whom they were both madly crushing on). Then Gideon had one of her rare meetings with her father (he’d swing by the Cohort Academy sometimes and they’d get lunch), and told him about it all excitedly, and he flatly forbade it. And then he went over her head and flatly forbade it to the Cohort. 

so there’s something Weird going on there, or at least there’s something being unfairly forbidden to Gideon like birds are forbidden to the indoor cat staring out the window, eagerly lashing its tail. 

so she hatches a Plan:

- 1. Stow away on Judith & Marta’s ship to Dominicus - 2. ??? - 3. Profit!

when she sees Cytherea there, she thinks, Oh shit, I’m busted.

fortunately, she’d waited until everyone else had disembarked and gone inside before she snuck off the ship, so Cytherea doesn’t see her. So now it’s up to Gideon to sneak around, make friends with the heirs of the Houses, and recruit them into helping her not get caught by her aunt! Who she assumes is here specifically to catch her out...or maybe to covertly oversee the trials...? Hey what is up with this place anyway?

(It’s fortunate because as soon as Cytherea sees Gideon, she’s going to change her plan to “kill everyone immediately, except Giddy, whom I take to the Ninth and exsanguinate to open that damn tomb.”)

(Unfortunately, once like 5 people have died, Gideon is likely to honorably reveal herself in order to ask Cytherea for help, because CLEARLY something has gone terribly wrong. This can’t really be part of the trials, right? Uncle God wouldn’t do that.)

[humanmorph]

this scene makes me feel like i hit my head really hard

transcript by Iris (sacredwhim)

Jack: I did think that another major problem that we don’t need to get into unless we are compelled to is that Gucci Garantine has some news for Brnine, I think.

Austin: Oh, that’s true.

Ali: [chuckling] Oh, sure.

Austin: Yeah! I mean, does that news—

Janine: [singsong] She’s engaged!

[Austin laughs] [Jack chuckles]

Sylvi: Oh my god.

Austin: She’s engaged with another mission, yeah, uh-huh. She has another engagement to deal with, yeah.

[Janine laughs] [Ali giggles]

Austin: Yeah, I think that that maybe comes in the middle of this—

Jack: In the middle of movie night?

Austin: [cross] In the middle of movie night. Gucci doesn’t know it’s movie night.

Jack: No.

Austin: Wait, did you invite Gucci to movie night?

Ali: I tend to, but.

Sylvi: Oh my god.

Austin: You tend to?

Ali: [laughs] Yeah. I have in the future. Check the transcripts.

Jack: This is a question about Gucci Garantine now. Which is, would Gucci—

Janine: Has she ever once shown up?

Jack: Oh, yeah.

Austin: That’s a great question. We’ve seen—Gucci showed up when Brnine had come back from the combustor, right?

Jack: Oh, there was that lovely scene, yeah.

Keith: Was that movie night?

Austin: Well, the—

Ali: Well, that was a hospital bed movie night. That was Thisbe gave me a laptop that I was watching movies on.

Austin: That—right. That’s exactly right. Yes, exactly.

Jack: Would Gucci deliver this news in person?

Austin: Or in emojis? I think in person.

Jack: [laughs] Witch in Glass, devil face, thumbs up, exclamation point.

Austin: [laughs] Oh… Oh, it’s chaos to have her here. Which might be right. Halfway through the first movie, you know? She lands in some sort of hover flier.

Jack: It’s like, red.

Austin: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool red hover bike.

Ali: [snickers] I just had this whole scene of everybody hanging out, and in the middle of it you’re gonna be like, yeah, every character is gonna fight with each other now.

[Jack laughs]

Ali: [laughing] Do we have to?

Austin: Well, maybe it’s the end of the second—well, I get a scene.

Ali: Sure. [laughs]

Austin: [chuckles] Maybe it’s the end of the second movie where she shows up late. She shows up late. She’s at the very end, she didn’t—she came anyway.

Keith: Flashback to her saying “I’ll be there on time.”

Austin: Exactly that.

Keith: “I guarantee it.”

Austin: “I guarantee it. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Ali: Well…

Keith: “I Gucci guarantee it.”

Janine: And also, it’s Brnine’s birthday.

[Ali laughs]

Keith: And also Brnine’s got a little card that they’re looking at that says “I never will hire Clem.” [laughs]

Austin: [laughing] That’s right. Oh… Gucci shows up with popcorn-flavored wine.

Keith: And wine-flavored popcorn.

Austin: [laughing] And wine-flavored popcorn.

Jack: This is from the Mirage, right?

Sylvi: She’s that Patti Harrison character from I Think You Should Leave. “I can’t watch movies without popcorn!”

Austin: “I didn’t know if I should bring a red or a white, so I brought both.”

Janine: I would try the wine-flavored popcorn. I would not try the popcorn-flavored wine.

Jack: I’d try both.

Ali: Oh, opposite. Opposite.

Keith: I feel like shitty chardonnay is already popcorn-flavored wine.

Austin: Mhm.

Austin (as Gucci): Oh, I’m sorry, did I—have I missed it?

Ali (as Brnine): No, no, come in. You kind of missed it.

Austin (as Gucci): Hey, hi everybody. Hello.

Jack (as Movie Night Attendant): Hi.

Austin (as Gucci): I haven’t met some of you, I’m Gucci. I’m the commanding officer.

Dre (as Levi): Oh, hey, yeah, we talked on the phone.

Austin (as Gucci): Right, yes, you did show up with all of the food and supplies. Thank you. Levitation, right?

Dre (as Levi): Yep.

Austin (as Gucci): Sorry, should we hit pause on the movie or should I just talk over it?

Keith (as Eclectic): Pause.

Austin (as Gucci): I appreciate it.

Ali (as Brnine): Yeah, uh-huh.

Austin: Didn’t give a thumbs up. She wouldn’t give a thumbs up, but she nods. She says,

Austin (as Gucci): I appreciate it. Can I talk to you for a second, Brnine? I brought popcorn-flavored wine and wine-flavored popcorn for everyone.

Ali (as Brnine): Um…

Austin (as Gucci): For movie night.

Ali (as Brnine): Right. If this is a work thing, can we finish the movie?

Austin (as Gucci): No, it’s not a work thing. It’s just—

Jack: I have never heard a bigger lie.

[Ali laughs]

Dre: We’ve had some doozies on this show.

Austin: Yeah. Don’t forget that this is a relationship built on lies.

[Ali laughs]

Janine: It’s a personal thing that just happens to be in the context of work.

Austin: That’s exactly right.

Dre: Mhm.

Ali (as Brnine): Um, sure, yeah. You guys can put the movie back on.

Austin (as Gucci): I’ll be right back.

Sylvi: I am not watching the movie. I am watching those two.

Austin (as Gucci): We’re just gonna step out into the…

Austin: Where is the movie night? ’Cause didn’t it used to be in Phrygian?

Ali: No, no.

Austin: Oh, it was not in Phrygian.

Sylvi: It was always a rec room.

Austin: It was just the regular room.

Ali: My funny—my quarters that I was able to add to the ship is the media center.

Sylvi: My funny quarters.

Austin: Sorry, are we gonna call it “my funny room”? My funny quarters?

[Keith and Ali laugh]

Keith: My funny little room.

Ali: It’s what I get for not having magic. I get to add a room to the—

Sylvi: Yeah. A sound system.

Jack: My Funny Valentine except it’s My Funny Room.

Austin (as Gucci): Can we just talk in…

Ali (as Brnine): Yeah, yeah. You’re here to watch the movie though, right?

Austin (as Gucci): Yeah, absolutely. Which one is it?

Ali (as Brnine): ’Cause it’s a movie night.

Austin (as Gucci): Yeah, well, I’ve seen a lot of movies, so.

Ali (as Brnine): Right. Well, they’re movies.

Austin (as Gucci): Yeah.

Keith: You can keep watching them. [laughs]

[Ali laughs]

Dre: There’s always new ones.

Austin (as Gucci): The, um… The council has need of me.

Ali (as Brnine): [cross] This is a work thing.

Austin (as Gucci): It’s not. This part isn’t. I’m gonna be busy, so I wanted you to know that I would—it would be hard to get in touch with me, probably, for a little bit. Which is not just a work thing.

Ali (as Brnine): Right. Well, yeah. Well, um, sure. I mean, I’ll talk to you, then. When I can talk to you, I mean.

Austin (as Gucci): They—from here, after movie night, I have to go to the Crown of Glass.

Ali (as Brnine): Why?

Austin (as Gucci): This Crown of Glass, not the Crown of Glass that’s—not the planet. ’Cause there’s that now.

Ali (as Brnine): What planet?

Austin (as Gucci): There’s—the Twilight Mirage—did you not get a chance to look at the files on it?

Ali (as Brnine): No, I’ve been kind of busy.

Austin (as Gucci): You don’t have to get snippy with me. We sent over a folder with information. It should have been in with the food, which we also sent you, [quietly] which I wasn’t supposed to do.

Ali (as Brnine): Mhm. No, I was gonna look at it tomorrow.

Austin (as Gucci): Do you know about Lucia? We captured Lucia. Whitestar. Lander One?

Ali (as Brnine): Oh.

Austin (as Gucci): The second in line to the throne of the Principality.

Ali (as Brnine): When did that happen? I thought we weren’t doing any engagements because of the whole frizz.

Austin (as Gucci): Well, there were assets on the move already…

Ali (as Brnine): What assets?

Austin (as Gucci): Allied assets, as it turns out. Clementine’s assets.

Ali (as Brnine): [sighs]

Austin (as Gucci): And so, in order to—you have to understand. They’re sending me because they don’t trust her, but they trust me, and I trust you, and so I know I can trust you to run the Blue Channel with me gone, and I need you to trust me to run Clementine.

Ali (as Brnine): Why are you doing that?

Austin (as Gucci): That’s a great question. It’s, um…

Ali (as Brnine): No, but you’re gonna get hurt, or like—like, she’s a bad person.

Austin (as Gucci): Clementine is a—you’re telling me that Clementine Kesh is a bad person.

Ali (as Brnine): Yes. No, like—but she is, but like—like, you know that.

Austin (as Gucci): Of course I know it. Of course I know it.

Ali (as Brnine): Then why are—what are—

Austin (as Gucci): Sometimes you have to—[frustrated stammering] sometimes—

Ali (as Brnine): Sometimes you have to work with bad people.

Austin (as Gucci): Well, sometimes you have to work with dangerous people. You—hm. I helped defend your crew when you put a Branched on it.

Ali: [laughs incredulously]

Jack: [laughing] Ooh!

Sylvi: [softly] Yo…

Jack: Woah, Gucci big swing.

Sylvi: Pass me the wine-flavored popcorn.

Janine: Not the play… [groans]

[Art laughs]

Jack: Holy shit.

Austin (as Gucci): Didn’t I? And that turned out great.

Ali (as Brnine): I’m… I’m sorry, did you, like, know that Figure died?

Austin (as Gucci): Figure died?

Ali (as Brnine): [scoffing] Oh my god. Oh my god…

Austin (as Gucci): But Figure wasn’t—Figure wasn’t Branched.

[Jack chuckles]

Ali (as Brnine): [muffled] Oh my god.

Austin (as Gucci): Is everything—are you okay?

[Ali laughs]

Austin (as Gucci): Is—are you okay? Maybe me leaving isn’t—maybe you need me here.

Ali (as Brnine): No.

Sylvi: Oh my god.

Austin (as Gucci): I’m, um… I’m sorry. I know Figure was an important part of the crew. I know Figure was loyal. There had been some doubts, but I always knew Figure was—Figure seemed loyal.

Ali (as Brnine): [seething] Yeah, Figure seemed loyal. I really think that the thing people liked the most about Figure was that they were loyal.

Austin (as Gucci): I know you’re mad, but I feel like it’s misplaced. This wasn’t my idea.

Ali: [chuckles] That’s a crazy lie. [laughs]

Art: You’re so far into this relationship to learn that Gucci sucks.

[Ali laughs]

Art: Sorry, realize?

Keith: And I think it’s Ali who…

Austin: I mean, again, the basis of their entire relationship was that back on Partizan, Brnine used to lie to Gucci to take money from her.

Ali: Uh-huh.

Austin: It’s a sandcastle all — it’s a castle built on sand.

Ali: But, you know…

Sylvi: They’re so bad for each other.

Austin: It’s a sandcastle.

Ali: I mean, Gucci got those working equipment situation. [laughs]

Austin: Uh-huh. Mhm.

Ali: Her robots were fixed.

Austin: They were.

Ali (as Brnine): I’m—I’m—I’m mad at Clem, and I’m mad at you, and I’m mad that Figure’s dead, and I’m mad that Phrygian’s dead, and I’m mad that you would, like, use that as a bargaining chip when Phrygian was, like, our best crew member. Like, we wouldn’t have even—going to the combustor was Phrygian’s idea.

Austin (as Gucci): [stammers] And it was—and it worked. It worked.

Ali (as Brnine): Oh my god, what are you doing? I—it’s movie night!

[Sylvi laughs]

Austin (as Gucci): And I have to leave after movie night. I wouldn’t have a chance to come talk to you. I have to go to the Crown of Glass and keep a leash on her. Don’t you see how hard that’s going to be? I hate her! And she was useful, and she gave us the one thing she could give us to make us even open the door, and she’s gonna hold it over me, forever. [softly] Just like she held everything over me for years, and now we have to open the door for her again.

Because we have to, because she… Do you know what sort of bargaining chip we have now if we ever leave here? We have Cynosure’s daughter. And he’s… [scoffs] He’s as sentimental as they come. He wasn’t even supposed to be Princept.

Ali (as Brnine): Why do you think we’re leaving here? Why do you care about Clem or any of that?

Austin (as Gucci): Why do I think we’re leaving here? I’m not staying in the Twilight Mirage. The whole point of this was that we shouldn’t be here. You’re staying here?

Sylvi: Oh my god!

Austin (as Gucci): With who?

[Ali laughs]

Ali (as Brnine): Do you know a way out? Because I don’t know a way out. I don’t think anybody else knows a way out. I think that we’re here now. I think that we’re in the situations that we’re in, and—

Austin (as Gucci): You’re abandoning Millennium Break.

Ali (as Brnine): What?

Austin (as Gucci): They’re out there! They’re not in here! The fight is out there. And you’re gonna stay in here for movie night?

Ali (as Brnine): I didn’t say that. I said we’re stuck.

Austin (as Gucci): You didn’t say we were “stuck” when there was the stellar combustor. You said, “I’m turning off the stellar combustor.”

Ali (as Brnine): Well, I don’t have Phrygian here anymore. And I don’t have Figure anymore—

Austin (as Gucci): [cross] Phrygian didn’t tell me that. You told me that.

Ali (as Brnine): [cross] —and now you’re gonna go to Clem.

Austin (as Gucci): I’m not “going to Clem”. I’m going to the Crown of Glass and putting a leash on Clem. I’m keeping Clem from hurting you and everyone else.

Ali (as Brnine): Great.

Austin (as Gucci): Which, yes, I can do. And no, it won’t be dangerous for me.

Ali (as Brnine): Cool.

Austin (as Gucci): I know how to deal with her.

Ali (as Brnine): I’m glad. Are you talking me into this, or are you talking you into this?

[Sylvi groans]

Ali (as Brnine): Because it feels like if we have an hour to hang out, we could sit in that room and watch a fucking movie. And not be thinking about this.

Austin (as Gucci): [cross] You’re right, you’re right. I don’t have an hour to hang out.

[Sylvi gasps]

Austin (as Gucci): And I shouldn’t be spending the time I have talking to you. Good luck, Captain. The Blue Channel’s yours.

Ali (as Brnine): Come on. Come on.

Sylvi: This is such good shit!

[Ali laughs]

Ali (as Brnine): I didn’t mean it like—

Keith: She’s busy only ever taking credit for things we do.

Austin: Uh-huh.

[Sylvi exclaims]

Austin: And she is leaving.

[Ali laughs]

Dre: Good.

[Ali groans]

[barblaz-arts]

I remember seeing that the addams are immune to fire,electricity, and poison, so when does that kick in? Are Sora(I'm making the safe assumption that she becomes an addams) and Enid (ig Morticia also counts in this) immune from birth? Does it kick in when they fall in love with the bloodline Addams? When their last name is legally changed to Addams? What's your interpretation? Cause right now I'm thinking about the first 2 options and scenarios where they KNOW they should have burned, electrocuted, or poisoned, and are just wondering something along the lines of , "Why tf am I okay rn?"

I'm sorry, but I don't really like to think that people married into the Addams family gain those kinds of abilities. Stuff that are canon in the movies dont necessarily have to be for the show, especially when they were done for comedic effect(i.e. Morticia barely being bothered as she gave birth). The invulnerability may be something I followed in Addams Family fics related to the movie, but I don't apply it to the series version of Morticia.(The invulnerability probably isn't even canon to the show's version of the Addamses anyway)

That hc is kinda attached to the Addams Family curse fanon, which I was never really a fan of. I don't want some kind of curse of fate compelling my characters to fall in love, and I don't want some outside force confirming that the person they're with is The One either. Falling in love has to be something that happens because of how their relationship has developed, and staying with the person has to be something they decide on their own. That's romance to me, not some curse.

And with the kinda love life Pugsley's had in my AU, applying the Curse in that storyline would be giving implications that I'm not interested in exploring.

I also don't like the idea of people who marry into the Addamses suddenly gaining or always having gained invulnerability because of the kind of relationship arc I want for Morticia and Enid in my AUs. If you've read my fic, you might remember there was a scene between Enid and Morticia talking about boundaries.

As well as Morticia and Enid may fit in with the Addamses like a glove, I still want to emphasize that they are both outsiders being welcomed to the family, and it has to be FELT, you know? It's an interesting conflict to explore, that even Morticia had difficulty adjusting to a different lifestyle with the Addamses due to them being just so different in many ways. Because it would be interesting to explore it in relation to how she could bond with Enid over it.

That was the mindset I had when I wrote that scene. I actually had plans to further explore it. There were supposed to be more scenes with Morticia and Enid, but I had to cut it short.

[kaiserin-erzsebet]

Hi there! Sorry if you've gotten this type of ask before, I searched your blog first and didn't find anything, but we all know about the tumblr search algorithm. I was wondering what you think of Elisabeth das Musical, like its portrayals of the historical figures involved, or its general historical accuracy? I love that musical but I'm no historian, and from my Wikipedia research it does take some liberties. Just curious if you're familiar and have thoughts! Have a good day :)

Thanks for the ask. I don't know if I have ever really made one post addressing the historical accuracy of the musical.

To a degree, I don't know if historical accuracy is a fair metric for a musical that is clearly stylized. Death being a character makes it pretty clear that it is leaning into surrealism. I like to meet media where it is at in terms of what it is trying to be.

And I do personally enjoy the musical quite a lot. Songs from it still regularly appear on my writing playlists. In the current landscape of Sisi media, I think it remains one of the most interesting and compelling explorations of her as a difficult woman with a complex internal life instead of a girlboss or 19th century Princess Diana. She is selfish and sort of inconsistent and perpetually flirting with her own death, and I think that's closer than making her the feminist hero.

There are some key points that it does better than other pieces of media: It also does not portray nationalism as liberation, which I think it important. The Hungarian coronation is not an unmitigated triumph with Lucheni singing the secondary part about rising nationalism as a warning for the unstable times that are coming. The rise of Lueger and Schoenerer as a direct antecedent to Hitler is a bit too linear to be completely historically accurate, but I think the point the musical is making is ultimately a good one. The collapse of the empire unleashes violent nationalism and the musical is pointing that direction ominously.

I also do like that it includes Rudolph's politics and his conflict with his father, since some other things are quick to minimize that. The musical isn't necessarily about him, but I like what it does to explain his disillusioned liberalism.

I don't like other things in it: For example, it moves past the early 1860s in one song, which is a period of constitutional experimentation and the last gasp of absolutism. I wish that wasn't so flattened. That's more personal for me since that is the period I am the most interested in.

My biggest frustration about it is the portrayal of Archduchess Sophie. For all the complexity that the musical grants Elisabeth, Sophie is still just the overbearing, intrusive mother-in-law. Historically, this is a disservice to her and her relationship with Elisabeth. Yes, she could be overbearing, but it was for the good of the monarchy. She's not wrong to be concerned that a teenager doesn't know the gravity or importance of being empress and isn't prepared for it. I just want my girl to get her due without being reduced to an archconservative or nightmare mother-in-law.

On the whole, I still think the musical does more than most media to portray Elisabeth as she was in spirit if not completely in substance. I just wouldn't look to it for accuracy, and I don't think the surrealist elements are really trying for that anyway.

[sludgekludge]

...COULD you elaborate on your thoughts on stella?

sorry if this is rambly, i just got home from work lol, but 👍

i think ultimately stella is a misogynistic stereotype (stupid bitch bimbo dumb bitch wife who is dumber than all the men around her and ruining her husbands life because she's just genetically built to be evil, because she's a woman-) at best, and a complete waste of potential at worst. it's insane how many people gloss over the abusive situation she was put in, because the narrative designated her as mean to good boy stolas. functionally a mail-order bride who was forced to sleep with a man she didn't like until she was a teen mum. horrific.

i don't mind the idea of her being abusive inherently - i think that the way they went about it is quite possibly the most juvenile, childish writing decision, though. she's mean and evil ummmmm because she is and she's been that way since birth. i get it, not all abusers have 'reasons' for lack of better word to be that way, but even the most rotten egg probably won't go 'well i do it cuz i wanna!' and have that be, like, the truth, especially when motivations for stella are right there. also, this is like...a story. you're meant to be saying something! why did you take the most boring 1-note way out in your narrative fiction?

like i said, she's functionally a mail-order bride. she's less powerful than stolas, more to lose in a divorce. she lost her teen years to an arranged marriage - can that not be a motivation? can she not take out that anger and grief on stolas, couldn't she have projected those feelings onto him? is that not more compelling? it doesn't make it ok, of course, if she abuses someone to ease her own pain, but it's compelling. it makes her a character.

maybe she tried to make it work with stolas because she has more to lose, and he didn't reciprocate, so that manifests in anger towards him. maybe she's mad this is the life she ended up with. maybe stolas suggests divorce much earlier because they're both unhappy and this makes her upset, since again, she has more to lose. maybe she did really genuinely care about him and his lack of reciprocation angers her. none of those motivations make any abuse ok, but it gives motivation to who should be a pivotal character. it gives depth, but instead, we got a stupid bitch who doesn't have the brain capacity to have depth at all. miserable. they wrote this woman to have a horrifically tragic life by accident and still want you to hate her so bad that they neglected to write her as an actual character.

tl;dr: she's boring as fuck when she shouldn't be and her brother shouldn't exist and her whole 'ermmm i abuse you because its fun and i giggle yaayyyyyyy thog not care' is a retcon anyway BUT that's its whole own thing

[iamnmbr3]

dron, snupin, prongsfoot

Dron:

Sorry to all the dron shippers out there but personally I have to go with category 4: doesn't make sense, doesn't compel me. Oh sure it SHOULD world. all the classic enemies to lovers fodder is right there but somehow it just...doesn't. draco's too busy being obsessed with harry to really notice ron beyond being jealous that harry picked him instead of draco. ron mostly just gets the generic insult of 'lol you're poor' in different packaging with an occasional 'lol you suck at quidditch.' harry the one who draco really pulls out the stops for when it comes to needling bc he knows him so well. and as for ron's side of things well. to me ron is the 'diversity win. jkr finally wrote someone straight' character. plus their dynamic just...isn't that interesting to me somehow. they are both much more compelling to me when paired with other people.

Snupin:

category 3: doesn't make sense, compels me. Listen. LISTEN. I love this ship so much and i cannot believe there is not more content for it. it's a shipwreck that is simultaneously sinking while being on fire AND also blowing up. What's not to love? Would it ever happen? probably not but damn it is so compelling. where is my toxic enemies to enemies who are also lovers? where is my 'lupin falls on hard times due to being a werewolf' and snape seizes his chance for revenge...or else doesn't and is actually helps lupin while also still hating him and then feelings develop or perhaps not but an ill advised romance ensues anyway. there is so much potential for wild shenanigans, twisted manipulations, and awkward mornings after. i need it in my life.

Prongsfoot:

category 1: makes sense, compels me. lets be real. one-sided prongsfoot was canon. james was the oblvious straight friend. or maybe not so oblivious. after all, when james is unhappy and restless it is sirius who lily writes to, because apparently she feels that he will be able to cheer james up (or talk sense into him) in a way that she simply can't.

send me a ship and I'll tell you which of these categories it falls into

[branules]

Why do you like aeriseph, sorry if this comes off as rude but I'm generally not too involved in any fandoms so I can't figure out for myself why ppl like this that's just my dumbass lmao

ok i've sat on this one for like a week debating if i should answer or not but sure. i'll preface this by saying that there is no canonical basis for aeriseph in ffvii. like i can't stress enough how much i am making shit up because i like to have fun. but anyway.

the short answer is:

1. sephiroth and aerith are my two favorite fictional characters. 2. i like to draw my two favorite characters lezzing out, because i am a lesbian, and because my sephiroth is transfem. it makes me smile.

as for the longer answer:

i like how much aerith and sephiroth parallel and contrast each other. i like the idea of aerith of having a secret affair with the evil dead woman she is duty-bound to save the world from. not to mention this evil dead woman's ties to zack and the incident that took him from her. i like the idea of the planet's steward and calamity's child going against their natures because they can't resist each other, and it becomes haunting and tragic knowing aerith's eventual fate and the sort of eternal damnation that waits for sephiroth afterwards for doing something so unforgivable, considering she goes from godhood to immortal planet parasite unable to pass on. i find it soooo compelling to think that despite their feelings for each other, aerith ultimately loved the planet and her friends more, enough to do everything in her power to stop sephiroth with Holy, and that sephiroth chose an extraterrestrial brainworm masquerading as a mother over a kind-hearted woman who offered her genuine love. i like the idea of aerith drawing out all the human parts of sephiroth that sephiroth tried so hard to exorcise herself of. i could go on about this for forever but basically i just like doomed yuri.

some necessary addendums:

first, a lot of people like to imagine aerith and sephiroth as siblings. that's fine and cute and i totally get it, but that's not what i'm trying to do. i don't interact with a lot of aerith and sephiroth content that views them with that angle, even if it's cute, precisely because i don't want to cross those wires or make anyone uncomfortable thinking i'm trying to come at this from an incest or underage angle.

second, i want to add that i really don't fw the other aeriseph content i've seen out there lol. i just think i'm into aeriseph for fundamentally different reasons, considering i have no desire to depict them as a het pairing or create gooner noncon content and the like. it isn't that i'm better than anyone, i just don't want to be associated with what goes on in that pairing tag on ao3, and i can't blame anyone who doesn't like aeriseph for that very same reason. i have yet to see someone go about aeriseph in the same l way as i do (sighhhhhh </3) so until then i'm just going to continue playing with my barbie dolls in my locked ivory tower. i am delusional but i am free. hope this helps <3

[narwhalandchill]

how are we feeling about this project amber update

assuming this is in relation to childe bc who the fuck else JWDJWJKDJKW anon im so sorry if not. also so so sorry for how out of hand this got. i am simply unwell about him.

But! Well. there certainly are thoughts

(obviously 4.6 datamine of arle SQ and her voicelines; This Will Not Spoil Anything Abt The Main SQ Plot, i only discuss the relevant parts. also some p Heavy negativity towards fanon ooc at the start youve been warned dont @ me)

(i mean i didnt even read anything of the SQ but The scene w childe so idek the main plot of the quest rly either lmao. tho go at ur own risk if u wanna check the dialogue out; its the 2nd quest log but it does hint at the greater story)

TLDR: how i feel abt his appearance in a vaccuum? quite solid despite the briefness, actually. accounting for the way fanon is 100% likely going to be reading into this and turning it into the Lets Infantilize Ajax Even More 2024 championship? conflicted.

in other words; a certified labyrinth warriors moment - theyve expanded on childes character in a very interesting and quite a compelling way and while i Do like the potential in what im seeing from hoyos end theyve also done it so that its going to be misinterpreted to hell and back by fanon so i kinda have an immediate jaded love-hate moment going on JJWJDKJDKJWJDWKJ

its literally just labyrinth warriors flashbacks - that event has some of my ALL TIME favorite insights into who ajax is and how he views the world and himself but when the event came out all everyone cared abt was to warp it into baby boy stuck in scawwy paper boy dungeon dehumanizes himself by calling himself a weapon and doesnt love himself he is such a sad trauma meowkitten 🥺🥺so yeah

bc like lets look at this properly for a bit; okay he went back to fontaine to look for skirk still somewhat injured and waa waa my 286 month infant baby cannot Make decisions like that!!!!!11! which is to say. i am tired of him getting this shit every time.

is it smart of him to get on the move immediately with just the bare minimum of rest? no. do i like that hes straining himself before proper recovery? not particularly no. do i feel the particular need to psychoanalyze this grown man and feared warrior whos 100% survived Way Worse in Way More Extreme Situations for it? hell fucking no.

while not at all the course of action a medical professional would approve of. from childes POV its perfectly logical hes priorizing going back for skirk when its literally the FIRST TIME shes showed up in like. a Decade. when hes been looking for her all this time are you kidding me 😭😭😭 but fanon must keep fanoning for their widdle baby girl so what does a hater like me know

anyway. seething and venting over im gonna try to avoid bringing up how much i hate this kinda infantilization of ajax now im sorry for bringing it up so much on ur innocent ask anon KJWDJKWKJDJDKWJKD. neutral discussion moment. i Promise

so it seems that theyre going for the pulcinella-is-shady-about-ajax (and prolly his family) angle for good and like. personally for me as long as the only real source of that claim was scara (a cynical edgelord who doesnt believe in non-exploitative human relationships, mind you) i was rather skeptical towards just instantly drawing that conclusion, but well. with the scene in arles AQ it appears to be sth theyre building towards

i actually really fucking loved that scene bc while theres outsider perspectives (scara obvi; and even arles line for him has that vibe. and ppl still take that shit face value 💀💀) and a lot of fandom assuming childes like. completely clueless and naive and ignorant towards the potential risks involved with trusting pulcinella. this is actually a very clever demonstration of quite the opposite? and showcasing how despite his aversion towards schemes and lies hes still intelligent and knows the kind of people hes dealing with when it comes to his fellow harbingers

like. childe has a negative opinion of arle based on what pulcinella has told him about her because at face value many of her deeds are in heavy conflict with his values of loyalty and family. and because he does not have the further context behind her actions and what the HotH under her is really like. Obviously hed hold a very hostile and wary view towards arlecchino

(ESPECIALLY when with all this biased intel hes still going to run into kids from the house!!! and then hes going wtf? these are good kids. what the hell is that knave doing with them??? blink twice if you need help i will start a civil war for yall like thats how he is with kids!!!!)

so YES. pulcinella has given him if not false then at least misleading intel based on the political tension between himself and arlecchino and the wider HotH. and childes taken that at face value! sure! he is close with pulcinella of course he would!

BUT. THEN. he returns to fontaine and seeks arlecchinos help looking for skirk. and observes her behavior and modus operandi for himself as well as the kids. does he go "nah she must be just hiding the crazy evil shit i would never distrust pulcinella" and leave it at that when reality doesnt completely match his expectations?

NO. because when offered the opportunity through the traveler asking about the HotH childe immediately capitalizes on the opportunity to prod for answers and see if pulcinella is lying to him!!!!

and hes so fucking smart with the way he does it too???? i LOVE his intelligence. the entire thing is so simple yet elegant; it Completely relies on his reputation as the kinda gullible harbinger whod Never scheme or hide Anything to indirectly affirm or deny his suspicions. he doesnt Need to Pretend to care about the possibility of arle betraying the kids bc he genuinely does!! and when she pushes back against the accusation he doesnt Need to fake admitting to her that well, actually, its all just rumors so he could be completely wrong. and so on. like he navigates the entire thing so effortlessly. and whats the end result?

childe has Confirmation of pulcinellas possible ulterior motives in action AND that arlecchino is a much more reliable ally than he initially assumed. all the while appearing as just The Straightforward 11th. like obviously id need to hear it voiced first to be sure but in text it v much gives the impression hes almost kinda just. playing up the threats towards arle and being "dumb" on Purpose?? to get the answers he wanted out of arle without appearing like hes fishing for anything particular. and i just hhhhhhhhhhh

i love when he does this so muchhhh!!!!!! 😭😭 he doesnt need to become some machiavellian schemer to be able to strategize !!!!!! he avoids scheming bc he Dislikes it not bc hes incapable of it like this has Always been the case Since Liyue AQ and i love whenever they show that side of himm . my Beloved

so anyway. while i do still think the like "pulcinella is bad and has his family hostage" is still kind of a generic plotline and i hope the writing regarding the whole thing wont ultimately turn out to be sth That simplified and black and white. its p clear theyre doing Something with pulcinellas motivations and as they are. im Really glad theyre letting it show that childes not just some completely passive party being manipulated in this all. he Is thinking abt this stuff and his position among the harbingers. ig we shall see where it goes - not the greatest fan of the concept still, but canon text supports it becoming a thing way more than when it was just scaras word we had for it. hope theyll surprise me positively w how they go about it!

then briefly for the rest uhh

also loved arle and childe just shittalking the rest of the harbingers it was amazing. i wasnt expecting this kinda dynamic between them at all but its great lmao. also i wanna see childe hang out w the HotH kids

as for project stuzha; so we dont really get anything solid on it other than being summoned back to snezhnaya for it is apparently a Big Deal. but still very interested. let my man have his endgame significance Trust

childes appearance was obviously v brief ultimately but that was clear from his leaked linecount to begin with - i am pretty satisfied with what they seem to have done w him. like its not The Best but also i wasnt expecting his lore to get some massive expansion in another harbingers SQ . the worst i feared was that it was just going to be a flashback of arle returning his vision which did Not happen so massive W. i am super hyped to hear this scene voice acted proper and happy to see him again, i really hope he gets to appear at least once more in an interlude or dains quest or something before going on hiatus again but idk if thats too much to ask LKKWJDJWDJWD

also: i am never changing my namecard after this patch drops. oh my godddddddd its So Fucking Beautiful 😭😭😭😭

But. Yeah. lots of good stuff. unfortunately lots of it will get misinterpreted and fanon will get obnoxious about it. but i still love getting to see him again and i am speedrunning that namecard day fucking one mutuals and/or followers in EU please add me (UID 711090267) ill need coop buddies for the world bosses

thank youuuuuuu for the ask i hope this monstrosity of a monologue doesnt scare u off 💀💀💀

[demaparbat-hp]

Hello. I wanted to say that I really like your art style, especially how you do Katara's face. That's awesome.

But every time I read the description of your AUs, it gives me the creeps. You once said you try to stay true to Katara's character, but... your AUs are like "what if I take one of her major character traits and throw it in a trash bin?".

Halfblood AU: no connection to her culture that basically defies everything Katara thinks and feels about her waterbending.

Helping the Fire Nation AU: no hope for the avatar that Katara expressed in the intro of every episode of the original show.

And lowkey less kindness. She's cautious and bitter and wants to help only Zuko.

She seems like a completely different character. Not Katara at all.

Zuko too. I doubt he'll be in the White Lotus, it's not in his character at all. He may use the help of the members, but the original ("The Desert") tells us he will not be one of them, it's just not his style.

You make zutara look shallow, like you think that Zuko and Katara as they are in the show would never work together. As a person who sees appeal in this ship I feel very uneasy seeing your interpretations.

And my god, why do you hate Hakoda so much? Every time you add anything to halfbloodAU he looks more and more disgusting. I cannot believe mister "you and your brother are my entire world" would do what you are saying. And a married man with a child cannot be so naive to think that a woman won't become pregnant after having sex with him. Hakoda would've returned and checked and tried to help.

Sorry. I wish I could enjoy your art, but you're making it so hard.

Hello, and thank you for writing. I'm glad that you enjoy my art, at least to some extent, and I'm sorry if I ever made you uncomfortable with my AUs. However, I find myself in the need of defending them.

Creating AUs is something I take seriously, and one of the core traits of an AU is that it's, inherently, a different world. I can change virtually anything, and that's okay. Haven't we all read a fic and thought, this character wouldn't react like this in canon, but went along with it anyway? Because we know this isn't supposed to be canon. These characters are living in a different context, and react to things differently.

Canon exists for a reason. An AU does, too. They're different concepts and must be treated accordingly. It's a matter of context.

But we're talking about characters, aren't we?

You've pointed out that I've changed Zuko and Hakoda, too. And you're right. I've found that people online are more... defensive of Katara when compared to other characters. And while that may not be important to this specific discussion, I do find it rather curious. It's something to think about.

Anyways, I change characters. And I've gotta confess, I'm not ashamed of it.

My Katara is still Katara, and my Zuko is still Zuko. I'm just playing with how I believe they would react in different scenarios, and with different backgrounds (that's important, too).

You mentioned that my AUs are like "what if I take one of [Katara's] major character traits and throw it in a trash bin?". And I'm sorry that they give you the creeps, truly.

But maybe I want to explore how being a product of two different cultures affects not only Katara, but also Zuko as characters. Halfblood gives me the opportunity to address these sociocultural issues through their personal experiences, and I find that kind of narrative awfully compelling.

And maybe I wanted to change one core trait of Katara's personality and see how that affected both her journey and the general plot. Hunters is a writing experiment, and it has taught me a lot about human nature. Thanks to what you so kindly call "throwing a character trait in a trash bin", I've gained a lot more respect for who Katara is in canon. If anything, I consider Hunters!Katara as a foil for Canon!Katara.

And I don't hate Hakoda. I have a lot of respect for him as a leader and a father. I think he's a great character and role model for others within the ATLA universe. Bashing characters for fun isn't really my thing. The choices I made for Hakoda in the HalfBlood AU (and Aang in Hunters) are a matter of narrative and plot building, not my opinion on his character.

Just think about how different that AU would be if Hakoda made better choices, if he didn't have a wife and a son waiting for him at the South, or if Katara's father was a random Earth Kingdom villager. About 60% of the conflict in the story would disappear. And I could build that conflict with other stuff, I admit it. I could use different plot points or make the characters do other things or give Katara One Big Happy Family.

But it would change the core themes of the story I want to tell.

It's important to me that Katara is a product of two different cultures. It's important that she has no father figure in her life. It's important that Hakoda, who is a great leader and a great man and a great husband and a great father for Sokka, made a huge mistake in his youth that has been weighting on him ever since. It's important that Sokka is suddenly faced with the realization that his father, his idolized role model, is human and has also royally fucked up.

I want to talk about these things.

But I'm able to recognize that they're heavy subjects and, really, most of us are just here for the fluff anyway. So I'm sorry if I've made anyone uncomfortable. I won't hold it against you if you don't like what I do or just ignore whatever lore I set up for my AUs.

This is fiction, this is freedom, and this is the way I express myself. We all do it differently, and that's part of the beauty.

[no-psi-nan]

[Context]

Ok @fluffydice, sorry for the lateness on this one but as anyone following this blog for over 5 minutes probably knows, I think Aiura x Saiki x Akechi makes so much sense and it is insanely compelling to me. I've posted so much fanfic about it already and that's only like 20% of the Thoughts™ I've had about them tbh.

But when you're doing an analysis of a triad, you have to breakdown 3 different ships and also how they would work simultaneously, so I needed time to write it all up. Buckle in!

Let's talk about Saiki x Aiura first since they had the most screen time together and they're the most "canon". I was genuinely shocked to see how rare this pairing is in fandom when they're literally canonically soulmates and also actually prove it on their every interaction.

From their very first meeting, Aiura and Saiki work together flawlessly to save Yumehara's life many times in a row + the life of the truck driver. Aiura then figures out how to hang out with Saiki without having to deal with his tsundere rejection, which he can leave at any time (unlike with Teruhashi) because she knows about his powers and won't stir up trouble if he leaves. Saiki keeps allowing her to schedule 1:1 dates and is basically like "don't bother asking me, you know I'll go" about the dessert buffet date lol.

Even when they disagree and neither of them will back down, they still work wonderfully together and they both end up learning and growing from it. Saiki trusts Aiura to help him, and Aiura always agrees to help him just because she cares. That's HUGE considering how hard it is for Saiki to ask for literally anything!!

Aiura also respects Saiki's boundaries more than anyone else imo. She only joins him when he's out in public, she tries her usual heavy-handed flirting at first but quickly adjusts when she realizes he's not into it, she puts her clothes back on immediately after realizing that she misunderstood the situation, she starts asking him out instead of just joining him, she asks for a kiss and respects his "no", and she hugs him anyways because they both really need it after the stress of the day.

And Saiki responds to that, opening up more with Aiura than he has with anyone else in way less time. Aiura had under 2 years with Saiki while Saiki's core friend group had like 6 years, and yeah, she benefited some from his character growth over the past 4 years. But still, the way he banters with her shows how comfortable he is– he's more open with her than with anybody else, and not just with his annoyance like he is with Toritsuka lmao.

Also, come ON, there's just no one more deserving of an epic husband/wife local god with transformation powers than Aiura. She works so hard with her powers to help everyone and convinces Saiki to help others more and she helps him get the best outcomes for everyone. Let her get her hands on her soulmate who can make her bi dreams come true, who can give her third eye a break from constantly seeing auras and death marks, who can grow big fluffy wings to hug her with, etc etc etc!!!!! LET HER HAVE SOME FUN FFS!!

There's wayyyy more people forcing Aiura into the platonic bucket with Saiki than I've seen with Teruhashi (even though Aiura has way better chemistry with Saiki), which forces me to wonder whether it's because Aiura is more overtly sexual and "lowbrow" than Teruhashi, showing more cleavage, getting bad grades, putting stickers on her face because they're cute, showing pride in her sexual escapades. None of those make her a bad person, but a lot of people seem to think it does.

Some people more reasonably point out that if Saiki is very asexual and Aiura has a high libido then that could cause trouble for them. Well, first of all, while Saiki is pretty much obviously somewhere in the asexual and aromantic spectrum, his belief that boyfriend is the next level after best friend shows that demiromantic / demisexual is a strong possibility for him. And honestly I'd argue that whatever he has going on with Satou is at least partially sexual, though I'm not going to get into that in this already long-ass post lol.

But basically, I think there's a lot of room for a demiromantic and graysexual interpretation of Saiki and considering that Aiura has apparently stopped going out with other men for at least 2 years with no ill effects that we can see, it's quite possible that they'll be very compatible in bed after all. And if not, that's where consensual non-monogamy comes in lol. But genuinely I think that the fact that they're soulmates means that there probably aren't any major incompatibilities between them, otherwise the term would be meaningless.

So yeah, makes sense and really compelling because there's so much room for stories on how they actually got together, how they work together as their powers continue growing, and what their future looks like!

OKAY, now it's time for the Saikechi essay lol.

Actually, I don't think Saikechi needs a ton of justification, because it's kinda standard extrovert x introvert childhood friends to lovers lol. Saikechi only isn't more popular because Akechi appears for like 5 whole minutes in the undubbed second season of the anime and he was annoying for 90% of that time hsfjdlshfks rip.

But yeah, Akechi and Saiki are quite perfect together, as shown by the horse gambling episode. Akechi can see right through Saiki's tsundere facade and Akechi is extremely open about his wants and needs, which is important since Saiki can't properly understand his thoughts most of the time and is very bad at figuring that stuff out even with telepathy.

They're both some flavor of ace. Akechi offu's at Teruhashi and comments that she's the most beautiful women he's ever seen, but does not express wanting to date her, which is big ace vibes, plus he's one of the few characters that doesn't have anything to say about Aiura's boobs lol (even Teruhashi can't shut up about them). They're also similar flavors of highly intelligent + neurodivergent. Consider Akechi's analysis skills vs Saiki's ability to come up with dozens, if not hundreds of plans in extremely short notice.

Akechi is also great at making accommodations for Saiki's powers, even without knowing about all of them, and coming up with activities they can do together that will be equally fun and challenging for both of them! And I still love that it was Akechi showing Saiki what a fun low-stakes game can be like that basically repaired Kusuo's relationship with his brother (see: manga, as this was cut from the anime 😩).

It's a very nice and straightforward ship that still leaves a lot of room for fun stories. I've been dying to write a Saikechi frogboil (plotted but needs writing) just because Akechi would be so perfect at it and he would be very likely to approach Saiki that way to get around all the tsundere bullshit lol.

OKAY, now for the third leg of the triangle lol, Aiura and Akechi!!

(couldn't find an anime gif of this moment which is SO SAD)

Let's be real, Akechi and Aiura only share 5 moments on screen: the intro with all the chibis, when Aiura checks out his aura, when Aiura & Toritsuka kidnap him, the competition to find Saiki's hanky, and Akechi pestering Aiura about dress code violations in the every-character-appears episode. And 3 of those scenes are from the same chapter lmao.

Actually I think this ⬆️ scene is kinda cute because Akechi's teasing Aiura lol, I think he's being friendly in his little freak way <3

HOWEVER, if shipping was only about what we saw on screen, then it would be way more boring. So let's think about it!

Aiura and Akechi actually share a lot of similarities: they're both extroverts, they're both incomprehensible, they are both almost immune to lies, they have both have a drive to help other people including strangers, and they're both seeking someone who will love and understand them as they are.

They would just make a really great fit! Akechi could help with Aiura's fortune-telling by prompting better questions for her to ask, and Aiura might actually make Akechi's mystery-solving TOO easy, so she probably holds back on that one lol. Akechi would throw himself wholeheartedly into working against a death mark on a stranger.

They're so fun to think about too because neither of them is embarrassed easily at all and they're both completely in touch with their own feelings so they are going to be SO lovey-dovey, no matter how cringe it seems on the outside lmao.

Akechi seems like he'd love doing traditional courtship if given half the chance, and Aiura seems like she's mostly had one-night-stand kind of situations until now, so what a perfect opportunity to indulge! What a change for Aiura to date someone who respects her and isn't just after her body! What a change for Akechi to date someone who actually wants to hear what he has to say and isn't put off by his frankness around taboo topics!

They'd pick up phrases from each other and develop so many ridiculous in-jokes that become their own sort of language, which makes them both even more incomprehensible.

We do also run into the allosexual x asexual problem here but Akechi is so unbothered by bodily functions and so quick to find compromises and enrichment that I genuinely think he'd kind of turn that into a game lmao.

And I think Akechi would be down to start a family and give his kid(s) the kind of loving home he never really got to enjoy with his parents' ongoing domestic turmoil. And their kid(s) would be sooooooooo incomprehensible, bless. 🙏🏾 Raised by 1.5 psychic parents and sprinkling both terminally online lingo and academia-level terminology into their speech from day 1. Imagine...

So Aikechi definitely gets the A+ on making sense and being compelling here!

Which FINALLY brings us back around to the main question... Does Aiura x Saiki x Akechi make sense, and is it compelling?

Well, obviously I think so, since I've posted so much about it lol.

I think the main question for the viability of this ship is whether Saiki would be comfortable with polyamory, since Aiura and Akechi are unconcerned enough with social norms that they'd probably have no problem with it.

After some time getting used to the thought that he will never have the veneer of normal he's always wanted to project and that the pleasures of living authentically far outweigh the pains of being different, I think Saiki would actually love having his best friends as lovers and not having to choose only one person.

After all, most of his struggle is about lack of connection and his alienation from humanity. Well, here are Akechi and Aiura, who respectively mirror his lonely childhood and growing up with uncontrollable powers. They're both clever enough to see through his tsundere bullshit, they're both happy and able to help him with his powers & duties to save others, and they will both stand up to him if he's wrong or letting something slide to avoid conflict.

They're both perfect for him! And Akechi and Aiura would be much happier sharing him than trying to make him choose between them since they also get along so well. And let's be real, Saiki definitely deserves to be loved by the two people who know him the best. 💜

There's also a lot of story potential for how this ends up happening. In Extra Love Stories of Psychics, Saikechi and Saiura are basically happening in parallel and the Aikechi will close in the loop in a few chapters. But in Didn't see this one coming, I wanted to focus on Aikechi, so they get together and are basically ready for Saiki to finish his character growth and join whenever lmao.

You could also have them as like a hero team of lovers if you want more action-y plots, though tbh it's really hard to come up with situations they wouldn't immediately solve lol rip.

Another nice thing about Aiura, Akechi and Saiki being together is that Aiura and Akechi get a chance to help each other overcome some of Saiki's limitations, and the stuff they can't work around, Akechi and Aiura can do together.

An easy example is hand-holding. Changing Saiki's gloves to another texture is all well and good but sometimes you want to touch skin to skin, and it's much more overwhelming than calming for Saiki to do that. Akechi and Aiura can hold each other's hands without gloves though, and while it's not the same as holding Saiki's, it helps a lot to fulfill that desire.

Also, it's almost impossible for Aiura to surprise Saiki because he can read her thoughts, but while Akechi can probably figure out that she's planning something in general, she would have a much easier time surprising him. And similarly, since Saiki can't properly read Akechi's mind and doesn't have too much emotional intelligence, Akechi has to openly communicate his needs with Saiki all the time, which isn't a problem for him. But it's really nice when Aiura can tell from his aura or from her own emotional intelligence what Akechi wants/needs without having to explain himself. And even if Saiki can literally hear Aiura's thoughts, Akechi is still better at responding to her feelings because he's not tsundere and he actually understands feelings and what to do about them.

Additionally, Aiura has said she wants to be a mother, and while Saiki's affection for kids indicates to me that he wouldn't mind having kids, I think that he would be VERY opposed to passing on his genes due to how much trouble his powers have caused him. And Aiura's genes also are probably loaded with psychic powers! But if Akechi is there, then he can knock up Aiura no problem since he doesn't seem to have any psychic powers, and then the three of them can have their own family <3 Plus all the shenanigans that comes with having 2.5 psychics (and maybe more!) under one roof!

In conclusion, they're perfect, your honor!!

Also I probably should've been writing more fic of them instead of writing this novel XD XD

Thanks for the ask!!