#basically they are Actually Good (well as much as anyone could be. the alignment is more chaotic neutral i guess- anyway)

[witchof-hearts]

hmm

kirei is kind of ougicore now that i think about it

[vacayisland]

Could you do a John Dory x Retired Singer/Musician Reader? Pls and thank you

(I loved meet the wifie I fucking cackled at "imma beat his ass!")

@!; Oldies are always better. John Dory / Retired! Reader

"Tag List"! @writergal02 @chamille-trash @valvalentine69 @starzwithapen @ykvlanq @apieceofcathair3 @kitthefanfickat

ꨄ︎. You were a big alt-indie musician, making music that tended to have a little bit of everything; the funk and beat of the funk tribe and the techno tribe, the guitar riffs and drum solos from the rock tribe, some classical instruments as undertones, and pop-like lyrics and beats. All the while you also put your own spin on it. Music had always been an outlet for you, always allowed you to take what was in your head and thread it into sound for everyone to hear. Sometimes it was chaotic, sometimes it was mellow, and it always depended on your mood when writing, composing, and singing. It's usually was drew people to your music. It was down to Earth, yet also complex and simple at the same time. Those who wanted to dive into the meaning of your music and dissect it would find multiple layers, many undertones that all harmonized. Those who just wanted to vibe out to your music could do that as well.

ꨄ︎. When you had left your career behind, it wasn't because of anything bad. You left with one final song in which explained that you were stepping down to let the new generation to find their own flow, to let other people take the stage, to be able to sit back and enjoy everything that will come in the future. You were only around 24 when you put down your guitar for the final time for the public; But you never gave up music for good on your own. While you never published anything anymore, you kept writing and composing for yourself as it was truly your passion.

ꨄ︎. This is when JD found you, playing in a friend's cafe. You had caught his attention right away, so much so he didn't hear the waiter when he had asked for JD's order. He was honestly so captivated by you for a moment he wondered if you were some sort of siren. He soon realized, yeah no you weren't, you just were really, really good. And he needed your number, badly. And that sounded a little creepy, but when you see someone who's not only good looking but knows how to sing and play an instrument all in one? You don't miss that chance to talk them up, and JD was defiantly not missing his chance!

ꨄ︎. JD didn't see a ring on your finger, it was fair game for him. Luckily you hadn't been seeing anyone at the time, but you still gave him a reality check after he approached you as though he was the coolest guy on the planet; Introducing himself before using some sort of cheesy pick up line to get your number. "Hey, babe, my name is John Dory and you seem rather lonely. You know, I can fill that 'me' shaped hole in your heart if you give me your number!" And then he winked!? Your friend was flabbergasted. You thought he was really brave.

ꨄ︎. And you hate to admit that his stupid pick-up line (which didn't even seem like a pick-up line!) actually worked and he got your number. (And he would be so smug and proud about this fact for the rest of his life.)

ꨄ︎. You two talked for a few months before making anything official, and then you waited about a year or two before you two even thought about moving in together. Even so, by 6 months of dating you basically lived in Rhonda; Your stuff littered his home, you had your own set of clothes there, your own toothbrush, and even your own house slippers. Then when you moved in, it felt natural. It felt like this was where you were always meant to end up and somehow the planets aligned. And for some reason JD never noticed the fact you brought in an electric guitar, which also sat in your shared closet. Sometimes you wonder if he's just stupid or a little blind, because he's also seen your play.

ꨄ︎. Either way, one day when he was hoisting his brothers over (after the whole Floyd situation got resolved, and god you were kind of glad you were staying with friends during all of that; not because you didn't like his brothers but because you didn't think you could handle meeting his family during that whole situation.) when they heard you playing your guitar in the bedroom. You weren't doing anything fancy, mostly tuning the guitar and making sure the strings didn't need to be replaced. But, of course, that always had to include one of your most iconic guitar riffs from a song about fighting your crushing mentality during the lowest part of your career. "Holy shit dude, I didn't know your lover listened to (Y/N)!" Branch would be the first to comment, being the most diverse music listener in the family. Floyd, who had been distracted by the riff, perked up at the conversation and nodded in agreement. JD only gave them a confused look, leaning against his kitchen counter, "Dude, my lover is (Y/N)?" And JD wasn't sure what to expect, but it wasn't all four of his brothers stopping and staring at him completely baffled. Mostly Floyd and Branch, who soon yelled a rather loud, "WHAT?!" "What?!" Which only confused JD more.

ꨄ︎. You hadn't met JD's family before this point, but you've heard all about them; Not only from JD, when he told you about his band days, and when you heard them around the trailer when they would come over. Usually you stayed in the bedroom, not to be rude yet to just let JD have his time with his brothers. Yet, you couldn't understand what all the yelling was about, "Yo, Que te pasa? Why the hell are you guys yelling?" You would ask, poking your head out of the door to the bedroom. Your expression tired, your hair messier, yet you could care less at this moment; You were sure JD's brothers wouldn't mind, they would see you worse later on since you were planning to stay with that big doofus. "Oh my god-" You flinched when Floyd dropped the cup he was holding, his jaw dropping upon seeing you; And honestly, for a second, you forgot you used to be a big artist. "John Dory," You started, startled by the reactions his brothers were giving, "Vas a decirme lo que esta pasando ahora mismo."

ꨄ︎. JD is always a little intimidated when you speak Spanish, mostly because his Grandma used to scold him and his brothers in Spanish. So he only explained (rather quickly) how his brothers had heard you tuning your guitar in the bedroom and how they just got weird. And that's when Branch defended himself, along with Floyd, how JD never told them that you were his lover! "And what's it to you that I love your brother?" You shot back quick and snappy, crossing your arms as you shot a glare their way. You weren't above throwing hands with JD's brothers. Floyd noticed the way JD glanced away, sipping his coffee. He was quick to stand up, placing a hand on Branch's shoulder to calm him, before explaining the whole situation to you better; Saying how Branch and Floyd were just big fans of your music and they didn't realize that you were with JD, because no matter how much JD spoke about you he never told them that you were his lover.

ꨄ︎. "Oh, Mierda lo siento." God, this made things a little awkward, "I thought you were about to be one of those horrible step-siblings that didn't like his brother's lover for some dumb reason like my hair." "What? No!-" "No, yeah, I see that now. My bad, really sorry." You mumbled, rubbing the back of your neck, "JD can be really, really dense sometimes, shut it John Dory!," You pointed a finger at JD before he could make a peep in protest about your slight insult, but it was made out of full love. "Let's start over, hi I'm (Y/n) and it's really nice to meet you."

ꨄ︎. Safe to say, JD forgot to tell his brothers that he was dating an old sensational artist...and kind of forgot you were one and was very shocked to realize this! Furthermore, you were a little flabbergasted when he revealed that some of BroZone's songs were influenced by your music. You would stare at JD after he confessed such a large secret, "Wow... that's a big insult." You mumbled sarcastically under your breath. "EXCUSE ME?!" But you guessed JD missed the sarcasm. "I'm being sarcastic, love. That's kind of sweet." Playfully rolling your eyes, you pressed a kiss into JD's cheek before turning back to his brothers. You crossed your legs, rested your elbow against your knee, and held your face in your hands. "Now about you four, how about we get to actually know each other. I'm planning to remain in this family after all..."

ꨄ︎. Safe to say that JD is wifing/husbanding/etc. you up really quick.

ꨄ︎. He still brags about how he first got your number and how he managed to 'snatch you up' before anyone else could. You told him he's too old to use new lingo and to stop, lovingly of course as you didn't want your 'husband' to embarrass himself. He melted hearing you call him husband before getting a bigger ego boost; And you had fun watching him terrorize his siblings while his ego was so inflated. You even jokingly did the whole 'I'm watching you' eyes to one of his brothers (Clay) as a silent threat that this is how you were always going to hand JD off to them like. He gave you the biggest (playful) stink eye ever. Yeah, you're going to fit right into this family.

.ᐟ this work is published and owned by @vacayisland. please do not plagiarize, copy, or steal this work; like, reblogs, and saves are appreciated :D

[ghouly-boiiiii]

Does Max give anyone else major twist villain vibes???

Okay I haven't talked about Max much yet, but I think it's kinda wild to see people talking about him like he's just this sweet innocent cinnamon roll when my read on his character was the COMPLETE opposite.

I mean yes, he does seem very sweet. He's very soft spoken. Naive in a way like Lucy, but not as much. Kinda vulnerable. Got a killer smile. And some of the moments with him and Lucy are super cute and adorable. But damn if he doesn't have a DARK side!

Like I've heard people say that Max is stupid or that Aaron Moten's acting is bad, but hell no. Aaron Moten sold me on his acting during the interrogation scene. Max was scared shitless and I FELT that. I think Max was meant to be played as a character who lacks understanding about certain things and seems disconnected from people due to both being brought up in basically a cult and having an inherent lack of empathy.

You think about the fact that he admitted he wanted Dane to get hurt, someone who's supposed to be his best friend. How he coldly sat there and watched Titus die. And before that stood there and watched him get mauled by a bear, almost like he was fascinated by it and wanted to see what was gonna happen. The fact that he tried to kill Thaddeus the moment he became a threat, even though the two of them had appeared to have bonded and developed a genuine friendship. And let's not forget he was willing to let all of Vault 4 get plunged into darkness just so he could keep playing with his power armor.

Max wants to be a knight, he wants to be a hero. And I think he tells himself he wants it for the right reasons, but I think what he REALLY wants is power and recognition. Which is really what every (okay maybe not every, but a lot) good villain wants, right? Because at the end of the day Max wants what Max wants. He's selfish, even though he doesn't think he is.

And sure, he's nice to Lucy. And he went balls to the wall to save her when he thought Vault 4 was gonna execute her. But she's a pretty girl who helped him and offered him a safe home. When she gave him the proposition that if she helped him bring back the head, he would have the Brotherhood lend her some knights to save her dad, he KNEW he couldn't make that promise. But he made the deal anyway. So he doesn't REALLY care about her or what she wants.

And that blank stare he gets when he gets mad? ACTUALLY terrifying. The guy's got serious psychopath vibes. Literal anti-social personality disorder, if you ask me. In fact the first thing I thought about when Max let Titus die is this kids going to end up going to the dark side lol.

And I think that would work really well thematically if they plan on giving The Ghoul a redemption arc beside it. There are so many parallels between Lucy and The Ghoul, and they have such a strong connection to the beginning when the bombs dropped. I get that Max is there to represent the Brotherhood and he's from Shady Sands, the town Hank destroyed, but it felt weird that he didn't seem to be AS important in the grand scheme of things compared to Cooper and Lucy.

But if Max turned out to be a badass twist villain to thematically contrast Cooper's redemption arc, while Lucy remains steadfast to her commitment to goodness and the golden rule I feel like that would really round it out. It would make sense if you consider a lot of people have pointed out that Lucy, Cooper and Max all seem to represent different play styles and different moral alignments. And I think it'd be pretty crazy if the writers of the show set out to make it seem like Ghoul is a bad guy and Max is a good guy, but then it ended up being the opposite.

I mean, there are definitely hints all over the show that The Ghoul isn't as bad as he may seem. And Max has already done some pretty messed up stuff, so I'd say the possibility is totally there, and I'd be here for it!

Who's with me???

[sufferu]

Thinking about the Anastasia Camp in Arc 3 because holy shit, practically that entire camp was legitimately going out of its way to try and yank Subaru back to his senses and he has NO IDEA.

Julius is obvious, everyone knows at this point that his entire duel was him trying his best to prevent Subaru from getting dragged out and slaughtered in the street. But like, Anastasia did not have to go THAT FAR out of her way to try and teach Subaru a lesson. Girl literally set up the most obviously identifiable trap in the world with all of the tells perfectly aligning with the flaws she believed she saw in his character, told him to his face where he screwed up and what he needed to work on in order to not screw up next time, and then made a show of walking out as a group with all of her mercenaries just to point out the very obvious signs that the flaws she had just pointed out had prevented him from noticing. And also — someone else pointed it out, but it’s arguably implied that she only decided to do that after hearing that Subaru had picked a fight with Crusch Karsten like THREE DAYS after Julius had apparently completely failed to teach him that very necessary lesson about MINDING YOUR TONGUE. Which is just — she heard about that and went “Od Laguna that boy is legitimately going to get himself murdered ten times over if I don’t do anything to stop him isn’t he” didn’t she?

But it’s not just them because Ricardo was ALSO fucking in on it. We don’t see him until the final loop, but when we do he seeks Subaru out almost immediately and starts subtly gauging him out, seeing how he reacts to him mentioning Julius and the Royal Selection Ceremony and the White Whale and everything, clearly weighing his conclusions about Subaru’s reactions to all of that to the story he obviously heard from either Julius or Anastasia after the Incident at the ceremony. He even starts giving Subaru bits of advice because it becomes clear that Subaru is SO fucking stupid. Like, Subaru asks him what is. Probably a really racist question about whether he feels weird about riding a Liger — being a demihuman and all — and Ricardo makes a show of being very casual as he answers it by saying that “ah, well, this is an animal and I’m not, so there’s that” before moving on to basically say “word of advice: never ask anyone that again” and he does it nonchalantly enough to not make a big deal about it while also getting across that what Subaru just said could very easily be taken as an insult worth fighting over. And then he goes out of his way to save Subaru from the Whale at one point, getting his mount sliced in half and himself very seriously injured in the process.

And then to top it all off, the minute Julius sees Subaru again he gives him such an obvious test that Mimi almost ruins it by calling him out on it, in a way that very much mirrors the test Anastasia gave him in that failed loop, goading Subaru into a negotiation about Why the Anastasia Camp should continue to help them fight the Witch Cult without telling him that they were already planning on doing exactly that anyway. He even ends by nodding and saying that he’ll give Subaru’s efforts a “passing grade.”

Like, the Crusch Camp was helping Subaru a bit more explicitly — healing his gate and all — but that was very much a transactional exchange, with Crusch even explicitly stating that she will only ever help Subaru with his endeavors if there is something in it for her and her Camp. Meanwhile, for someone known as the Merchant Princess, Anastasia and her companions were being way more altruistic in their attempts to actually do Subaru some good. Aside from Rem, the Anastasia Camp may genuinely have been Subaru’s closest ally within that entire Arc, from start to end.

(Fuck, even in the IF route connected with this Arc. It might say something that Halibel is the one who houses Subaru and Rem (and even helps Subaru land a job) in Sloth:IF, considering that he’s got very strong ties to Anastasia.)

[elcucurucho]

I've been rotating q!Cellbit in my head again. It's fascinating to me how close he is to federation aligned players (Jaiden and Foolish), despite hating the federation itself so passionately. To me, what it comes down to is that Cellbit doesn't have much of a traditional moral compass. It's much simpler to him than the vague idea of good and evil.

The biggest distinction to make is that Cellbit hates the federation, not the people who work for them. There is a very clear distinction between the two. Cellbit's been manipulated by the federation for almost the entire time he's been on the island. He's worked for the federation himself, both knowingly and unknowingly. And you can see his experience with being manipulated in how he talks to people currently involved with the federation. His own sense of agency was taken away again and again, so how could he truly believe anyone else could work for the federation of their own free will? Jaiden is being manipulated after the death of her son, Foolish is being manipulated through his need for material possessions. Even the regular federation employees are probably underpaid and mistreated. Cellbit sympathizes with them all, because he's viewing their actions through the lens of his own experiences. It's not the objective reality of the situation. Everyone who's worked with the federation has made a choice to do so.

Which brings us back to Cellbit's moral compass, or lack thereof. The concepts of good and evil mean basically nothing to him. Instead, he operates on a system of us vs them. He has a group of people that he trusts, and he has an Enemy. His family are Good, and anything that threatens them is Evil. The federation is a threat to him and his family and so they're Evil.

The problem is that because of how life tends to work, the people close to him tend to have a moral code that is similarly ambiguous. Forever is actually a notable exception here, which is potentially why they fight so often. But Jaiden in particular is up there with Cellbit on the scale of not caring about traditional morality. So what happens when someone he considers family works with or for the federation? Jaiden is a trusted friend, and even if Foolish isn't "trustworthy", he's still a friend as well. So, Cellbit has to justify it to himself within his own rigid belief structure. It's where most of the misunderstandings between Cellbit and the other federation aligned people come from. He wants to assume the best of them, because he cares about them, and once he cares about someone he doesn't ever want to let them go. But he can't do that without on some level denying them agency. It's messy and nuanced and I love it.

[not-5-rats]

I made this mf as a joke...it was a joke, I took it too far, I adore them <3

Guess who made a second Bug :3

(sorta-? more of a Gator Boys oc lol)

☆---------------☆

Xanthe (Zanthe) Rhys

☆×.------------------------.×☆

'Red isn't a natural hair colour-' go away, this world has gator boys let my gay child have red hair 💥

☆---------------☆

Basic Info;

Nicknames: Xane, Dumbass, Simpy-Bug

Pronouns: All (They Change)

Gender Id: Genderfluid

Age: 19

Height: 5'10

Sexuality: Pansexual

Voice Claim: Kristofferson (Fantastic Mr Fox)

Alignment: Chaotic Nuetral

B-Day: 17th April

Conditions: Dyspraxia & Autism

Current Job: Tavern Bartender

☆---------------☆

Family;

(Relation - Name - Age - How Close They Are / 10)

Father - Marcus - 52 - 2/10

Mother - Dhalia - 48 - 1/10

Sister #1 - Imogen - 28 - 8/10

Sister #2 - Astrid - 26 -6/10

Brother - Helios - 21 - 9/10

N/A - Xanthe - 19 - N/A

☆---------------☆

Lil Bits;

They wear a choker which was 'gifted' to them by Jasmine (explained in backstory) it has a heart in the centre which is actually a lock, the key belonged to Jasmine who never returned it, so they physically can't remove it....well they could, but they couldn't bring themself to destroy it inorder to remove it so...it remained a constant reminder

The scarf was originally a way to cover just the choker as he was ashamed of it but as time went on the scarf became another part of Xane, she was never without it, it covered their mouth which meant they didn't have to put as much effort into their expressions

When he was super little Xane wanted to do sports, but due to her dyspraxia they really struggled to learn. And hell maybe if he bad kept trying she would've made it...but they were quickly convinced by a certain person to give up, they still wonder if they could had a chance in that field

They will flirt with everyone, there's no actual feelings behind it, it's just part of her 'personality' this includes the Bugs, if somebody doesn't like it though Xane stops instantly! Like several apologies and he gives them some space

LOVES FOXES, would beat a bitch up if they hurt a fox <3

Sends letter to his siblings everyday and tries to see them often <33

She enjoys painting, been doing it since they were little, it was the one things Jasmine wasn't able to take away from them. Well he took a break after the break-up because everytime she tried to paint just ended up being her...it was haunting. But they soon got back to it!!

To add onto the last point, when she meets the Bugs she instantly starts painting them. Even if he doesn't have any romantic feelings for them they still find the Bugs pretty, stunning even, so paints them and stores all the paintings in a box...maybe one day he'll share her talent...maybe

The weird bracelet thing they have (the purple, green and blue one) is a bracelet that all the siblings have, each colour represents one of them so each is slightly different but they all have them and all wear them 24/7 (the colours match the colours on the names)

☆---------------☆

Personality;

Upon first meeting them many people are quite disturbed by them, not because he's rude or talks about harsh topics but because she's so...different

He is extremely energetic and never tries to dull themself down for anyone else's comfort, she never feels the need to be quiet, they always have something to say so why should they remain silent? But the thing that really gets to people is just how...ehm...odd some of the things he says are. Most of the things they say could fall into one of three categories;

1) Self-Deprecating - It would be reasonable for anyone to guess that Xane hated himself, the way she spoke of herself, the jokes they made at his own expense, it's all quite harsh. She would call himself things such as, a fool, idiotic, irresponsible, expendable, useless, meaningless, really saying there was nothing Xane was good at. Many don't appreciate this sense of humour

2) Flirtatious - She seems to, in lack of a better word, 'simp' for almost everybody and isn't afraid to admit it! They never say anything intrusive or of a gross nature, it's just small things, such as mentioning that somebody is pretty or that he would love to take them on a date sometime

3) Confusing - It's like she speaks in riddles, you can't tell if what they're saying is just a load of nonsense...or if whatever he said secretly has a much deeper meaning to it. When first meeting them all of these are passed of as nonsense, but as you get to know them you realise that some of it isn't so random

Thanks to their way of speaking many don't want to talk to her, their often avoided by coworkers and strangers alike. Yet he doesn't change their ways, she remaines herself, refusing to turn into a different person just because others don't like their personality

If somebody decides that they don't mind, or even like, Xane's personality so stick around they'll soon start to see the cracks in her facade

As time goes on they realise that he becomes quite shut off as the evening comes, Xane seems to shut themself off certain days, she tries to reason why he isn't available...but often their excuses are lazy & clearly untrue, and if they do manage to drag him out on those days she just seems tired, distant even

Finally they'll find out that the only reason he's so vibrant & joyous is so that they can avoid facing their trauma, if she keeps a face of positivity, carelessness, inner freedom then he never has to accept the turmoil that bubbles inside of them

They want to let people in, so that he can finally let somebody see how hurt she is, show them the damage he holds...but they can't. She wants friends but he can't stand the idea of letting people get close, they don't want anybody to get any hint that he might not be as free from feelings as she seems

So they keep up the walls, she appears very odd, very intense, so that people will leave them alone. But as soon as somebody decides they still like him despite these oddities, she can't help but let them in

☆---------------☆

(cw!!!; manipulation, abuse, neglect, SA)

Also this probs doesn't make too much sense/ is repetitive, sorry babes'

Backstory;

Xane was born into a shitty household, there was no denying it

Her parents never loved one another, they simply tolerated each other. Sure they might have been in love when they initially married over 20 years ago but alot can happen over 20+ years...alot can change, so no they're not in love if anything they despise each other

This hatred flowed through the parents and into the children, both parents tried their hardest to convince their children to hate the other parent...little did they know most of their kids really needed very little convincing

Both parents were so caught up in their hatred for one another they forgot that they were meant to love their children, they had the first two kids because it's what they were told married couples did but the last one were only conceived to be used as a weapon in this war the two were fighting. So the children grew up with a dislike towards both parents, Xane was included in this

Xane was the last born child of the Rhys household, so whilst their siblings did try to protect him from their parents fight...it simply wasn't possible. So instead they just taught her how to ignore it, how to remained neutral, to stay out of their way

This meant Xane had to mature quickly, they had to leave their childhood behind and become a silent figure which haunted the home. It was awful, he barely felt like a real person, Xane felt like she was forced to be nothing in this stupid house...which is probably why it was so easy for her to take advantage of them

Xanthe met Jasmine when he was 9 and she was 10, the two met through their older siblings, the two were friends and due to how lonely Xane felt they were instantly obsessed with the idea of having a friend who was just as weird as them! It was amazing for Xane...but it soon took a turn

Jasmine asked Xane to be their 'partner' within the first year they met, obviously it wasn't a super serious relationship given their age but to Xane it was super serious, she was so happy! Not only had they just gotten his first friend they had also gotten their first girlfriend! That joy quickly dried up as Jasmine began to do...things, which Xane didn't like

She made them feel alone, more alone than they already felt, she convinced them their siblings hated him, they never cared, infact they were planning on abandoning Xane, leaving her alone

(What didn't help was that very soon after she started planting these ideas in his mind the eldest child left the household as they were now old enough to do so)

It left them feeling trapped, that Jasmine was all they had, if he left Jasmine he had nothing. Nobody else would be as 'accepting' as her, nobody would 'love' her as she did. And by the time Xane was 10 Jasmine had them all to herself and that's what made it so easy for her to do what she did

Jasmine's hands started wandering, Xane would protest but she convinced them that this is what people who loved one another did, and since he had no role model for what love looks like...Xane reluctantly accepted this reason

For three years Xane was trapped in Jasmine's grasp, she slowly got worse, the things she called him, the things she did to them...they way she violated her, these were things that, even after Jasmine left them, Xane never got over

When they were 13 Xane started to stand up to Jasmine, they never outright denied her but she started to push back against the things Jasmine was doing...so she left them. She abandoned them

This broke Xane, Jasmine was all they had for so long and now she was gone. What the fuxk were they to do? So he shielded herself off, hid away in their room, never speaking to anybody, never doing anything, just rotting there, day upon day. She had given up. What was the point anymore...

Luckily there were three people that never gave up on Xane. Everyday his siblings came and checked up on her, making sure they ate and drank, they even managed to drag him outside every few days! They were always there and since they were always there they obviously asked what was going on with her, why he was hiding away...but Xane refused to tell them

She wanted to, they needed to tell somebody...but he couldn't bring himself to...because they thought it was their own fault. She spent all her alone time pointing the finger at himself, they let Jasmine do these things, he didn't ask for help as it was happening...so what right did she have to blame Jasmine. There was also the fact that...Xane didn't think anyone would belive them. Jasmine's family were massively loved in the local community, his own mother was overjoyed to know Xane was friends with her!! So why would they believe them if they told everyone what she did...to add to this Jasmine was 11 when she started doing all these things...who would believe that an 11 year old would do this...nobody would believe them

So she never told anybody and instead learned to build a person around it. They never accepted their trauma, they ignored what happened and began to paint a new picture of who they were. Whilst inside the home Xane remained the blank canvas they were raised to be outside Xane became a new person

She was confident, careless, flirty, daring! He spent ages working on his new persona, learning mannerisms to keep up the look they decided to pick up. They became...what many would call a freak, she became the odd individual that everyone knows today...and he admired herself for it

Strangers didn't come near her, nobody wanted to risk talking to them due to how odd he was, people avoided her and pretty soon Xane realised why they loved being like this, they realised that now he was exactly who he needed to be back when they met her...cause if they were like this back then she wouldn't have done it. She wished they had changed earlier...but decided not to dwell on that for too long...they were safe, nobody would come near him anymore, this persona was their saviour

So the years passed, this persona growing stronger and stronger. Xane began to grow a reputation around the local area, the creep that lived round the corner, which led to them leaving town as soon as they became 17. I mean their siblings had already left, why would they stay?

They left town and ventured out, she soon found himself in the town in just beside the swamps which a certain couple of gators happened to inhabit. He got a job at a tavern (the job came with a free room upstairs of the bar...so how could they refuse) and actually became pretty popular at work, patrons of the tavern enjoyed bantering with Xane, the drunk liked her oddness alot more than the sober, so they leaned into it and people seemed to really like that

Of course they still haven't forgotten what happened...they doubt he ever will, but she feels better in life, even if he's living a lie atleast the lie is having a good life, the 'Xane' people know is happy...even if Xanthe herself isn't

☆---------------☆

How They Met The Boys/ Their Relationship;

It was late one evening, Xane didn't have work so decided to spend some time drinking in the tavern. They had heard myths about the 'creatures' since she moved in...yet he was sceptical. Sure she believed in the 'monsters', he'd been taught about them since she was young, but they doubted the creatures would live so close to a town!

So in her drunken state Xane decided he would go out into the forest and prove there were no 'monsters' out there, the other patrons were reluctant to let them go but she was quickly able to convince them

As he slumped through the trees they weren't paying loads of attention to where she was going...which led to them falling into the river. He splashed, trying desperately to bring themself to the surface...but she couldn't. They felt their life fading and their eyes falling shut...just as she passed out he was pulled from the water by our fav Gator-Dad <3

They were taken back to his cottage where he aided them, making sure he was alright. Xane tried to laugh of their incident...yet they weren't allowed to leave, Bodie wanted to ensure they were alright so encouraged her to stay for a few days...they agreed

At the time Xane arrived in the swamps Bug had already been there for a while, so they ended up talking quite alot. Bug still being injured and Xane not being sure where to go. Bugs relationship with Xane obviously depends Bug-to-Bug but I hope they get along ^^

Bodie defo gets the worst of Xane's flirting, he constantly ask if Bodie would ever consider dating a non gator, how he felt about marriage, even if she could steal a lil kiss for the road when they first tried to leave! He's never serious and Bodie can tell, which is why he just ignores her comments and questions. Bodie is the first one to realise that Xane was masking their inner feelings, he was the first to get under their facade...and he was the first person she ever spoke to about Jasmine. Something about his presence was comforting enough for him to tell. So now she's stopped making flirty comments towards him...mostly and sees him more like the father they never had

Timmy makes him laugh, his clumsy demeanor, the way his personality mirrored theirs just in a watered down way, she instantly liked him. They made little flirty comments towards him...and he just called them crazy, apart from that he bad no idea how to respond, be even seemed flustered at some points yet the more she did it the more he began to find ways to respond. Sometimes he played along and the rest of the time he just laughed with her. They're like best buddies

Marco...hm, they didn't spend much time together but Xane thinks he's the prettiest of the boys (totally not projecting-) like no she doesn't have a crush on him he just thinks Marco's a pretty lil croc. So he's when they first met she did make a couple comments which was...weird lol. Marco found the way they spoke to him kinda odd, he chose to ignore it but when it became clear she was making him even slightly uncomfy Xane stfu. Like bro apologised so quickly and never made another comment again. So yeah they don't really know one another but I feel that's for the better, they probs wouldn't get along too well

As time went on and days passed Xane found he didn't really want to leave, she appreciated the Gators and Bug, so they hung around for awhile :3

☆---------------☆

That's all I can think of! ^^ (this character is a bit of a projection of all my unhinged thoughts abt the boys lol (and kinda some of the backstory but we don't talk abt that) so yeah no don't take them too seriously-)

And here's him without the scarf!!!

[archivistofnerddom]

Okay, but the idea of Omega having a high enough M-count that she could be vaguely Force sensitive got my brain churning.

Look, I’m not saying that she’ll necessarily be a Jedi with her M-count. I’m currently operating with the idea that she has enough of a count that she has low-level soft skills that don’t make her obviously a Jedi/Force wielded, but enough that she’s more in tune with the Force than the average person. It’s basically developing out qualities and abilities we’ve seen from her before. Things like:

Being able to read people well and using the info she gets from them. (Her figuring out who Cid was, building trust with Crosshair on Tantiss, etc.)

Being good with strategy. (See hustling at Cid’s bar to pay off the Batch’s debt to her in season 1, even as a pre-teen/early teenager with (at the time) limited exposure to the galaxy at large.)

Keeping up with the meditation techniques she learned from Gungi (to the point where she’s able to talk Crosshair through them).

Her inherent empathy, kindness, and desire to help anyone who needs it. (Hera, Gungi, Crosshair and the rest of her fellow clones, Batcher, etc.)

Maybe she’s not a Jedi, but Omega definitely has certain abilities that a low-level Force sensitivity could easily enhance.

Which leads me to my idea.

An adult Omega crosses paths with Din Djarin and Grogu and offers to share her knowledge with the kiddo. She can operate on the same level as Din. She has also been on the receiving end of having an overprotective parent(al figure), despite you actually being older than said parent(al figure). Omega could easily provide a path forward to Din about focusing Grogu’s Force abilities into something outside the Jedi and that is more aligned with how Din and Grogu live their lives.

I don’t know how long it would take for Din and Omega to reach a happy friendship medium, but they’d get there. She definitely gets taking care of your strange family while also making your way in the galaxy at large. With her own skills, Omega would certainly be a good ally and friend to the Clan of Two.

Plus, it’d be fun to see her stumble into “Crap, I’m looking after/training a precocious “child” who likes to do their own thing” territory. After all, in Star Wars, history often rhymes.

And, given that Din and Boba are on good terms, it’s not a huge logic leap that Omega tags along when Din and Grogu drop by Tatooine. (Peli is a much nicer sketchy aunt to Grogu than Cid was to Omega. Omega would love her.) But back to my main point. Can you imagine how chaotic it’d be to have Boba, Fennec, Omega, Din, and Grogu (and possibly Peli, if she’s on babysitting duty) in the same place at the same time? Yes, I want to see that happen.

Now imagine how nuts it would be to see Omega introduce Bad Batch tactics to the above-mentioned group? Fennec is (currently) the only one of that group with exposure to such things, and I think she would enjoy watching the chaos unfold.

Psst, Disney, make this happen! It’d be great.

[marlynnofmany]

Kittens in Space

The first rule of keeping cats aboard a spaceship is don’t lose the cats on the spaceship. I know this. I know it better than the rest of the crew! I’m the Earthling here, the animal expert with actual veterinarian training, and I’m the one who brought them onboard. I told the captain with confidence that I could keep track of them.

Well, guess what I just did.

The problem was immediately obvious when I woke up. Every morning for the last few days had started with cutesy kitten pounces and thumps as they batted toys about the room. Sometimes I’d get a tail in my face; other times I’d hear a crash as they discovered how to reach another yet high shelf. Not once had I woken to silence.

Today I did. And as soon as I realized it, I sat up with a jerk to scan the room, my heartbeat loud in my ears.

Catnip mice and foam balls were everywhere. My shoes were still on the coat hooks; they hadn’t managed to knock them down yet. Nothing was swatted off the shelves. And no kittens lay on the floor dead after eating alien food, so at least there was that. But where were they?

I moved my feet toward the floor, disturbing a lump that meowed sleepily. Tapestry the mom cat was curled up on my bed; I hadn’t seen her. And now that I wasn’t jostling the blankets anymore, she curled back up for some hard-earned rest.

But no kittens. I stroked her tabby fur and looked for smaller balls of fluff, but found none. She didn’t seem worried. Hopefully that was a good sign. I stood and hurried to the bathroom.

My quarters were small, basically just the two rooms, since I spent most of my time with the rest of the crew. There really shouldn’t have been any good hiding spots that I hadn’t already blocked off. The bed didn’t even have space underneath it; that’s where my clothes drawers were. And I’d made sure the little fluffbrains couldn’t open those on their own, much less close them again.

They weren’t in the bathroom. Not in the closed-lid toilet, or the space-age shower stall, or the cabinet of supplies. Not in the trash can (again). They hadn’t gotten closed up in the foldable sink; I always left it sticking out of the wall. Where were they?

They couldn’t have gotten out into the hallway. No. Just not possible. I would have heard if someone inexplicably opened the door to my quarters without knocking, not that anyone would. Especially while I was asleep.

I told myself that there was no way they could be wandering the ship and getting stuck in the engine room. Mimi would notice animals hiding among his engine parts. Heck, the entire ship was bound to have someone around, ready to spot the furry little troublemakers, no matter how stealthy they were. I was pretty sure they resembled food on at least one homeworld. My crewmates weren’t the sort to hurt them, though; everyone knew full well that I had them here. The kittens wouldn’t be mistaken for pests.

Hopefully.

I really don’t want to announce to everyone that I’ve lost them, I thought, leaving the bathroom. They’ve got to be in here somewhere. What am I missing?

I surveyed the toy-covered room, trying for the umpteenth time to see catproofing opportunities that I hadn’t addressed.

Bed, bookshelf, other shelves. Bedside table with the lamp bolted down. Desk and chair. The litterbox was in the bathroom, with the food and water dishes along the wall beside me. There were no curtains to climb, and hardly any decorations, just the digital window with its chunky gold frame — someone’s secondhand idea of class — and the fake plants on the shelves. The bite marks on those weren’t new.

But the positioning was.  

I stepped closer, staring and second-guessing, and yes they were definitely pushed out of place. And now that I thought about it, the digital frame was slightly crooked too. That spectacular alien sunset with the planetary rings in the background was out of alignment with the corner of the room.

Like someone stepped on it. Now where would they—

I froze in place, feeling stupid. Ah. Right.

Ever look at something so often that you stop noticing it? I may have mentioned that this was a spaceship. Metal walls, plasticky floors, no real windows.

A ceiling covered in twisty pipes.

I hadn’t considered catproofing the ceiling; it was too high to reach (ha), and surely not the kind of place that kittens would hide.

But as I stepped onto the bed and brought my face up close to the lowest curve, I realized that the faint engine sounds I’d long gotten used to sounded an awful lot like purring.

There they were. All five of the fuzzy little bastards were snuggled into a happy pile among the pipes without a care in the world. They meeped sleepily when I stuck a hand in.

“I can’t believe you,” I murmured. They ignored me.

The air was warm but not hot, and the pipes were vibrating faintly. While Captain Sunlight had assured me that there was no radiation to worry about, I figured it couldn’t hurt to double-check. Sleeping on top of the things could easily be a different prospect from sleeping in a bed below.

“All right, down for now,” I told them, scooping up the kittens despite their protests and setting them on the bed. “Be good little fluffbrains and sleep here while I — no? No, of course not.” They were already tumbling to the floor with strident mews for food. Tapestry stretched and jumped down as well.

I sighed and got out the cat food. If I was quick about it, I could get out the door before they tried to follow me. That net I’d tried to rig up as a baby gate hadn’t stopped them crawling under.

“Good kitties,” I said, tugging my shoes on as they ate. “You behave yourselves. I’m just going to make sure your favorite new hiding place isn’t going to give you extra eyeballs or something. Maybe I’ll set up a new shelf there so you don’t fall on my face during the night.”

I slipped out the door just as the first kitten finished eating — appropriately enough, it was the gray shorthair who Mimi had insisted I name after him. There weren’t any green cats in the litter, so gray was close enough.

“Meeeeee,” declared Mimi-the-kitten as the door closed.

“Yup,” I agreed.

Once I was sure the latch wasn’t about to pop loose, I took long strides toward the engine room. My heartbeat was totally calm and normal; why do you ask?

~~~

The ongoing backstory of the main character from this book. More to come!

[snail-squasher]

Stars-Aligning

'boys suck, and girls I've never tried' - chappell roan

word ct. - 1113

warnings - a small panic attack(?), mostly fluff, fem!reader is implied but anyone can read :)

You've never been one to have crushes. Sleepover gossip times would always make you pick at your skin for 5 minutes trying to remember all the boys in your grade so you can blurt a name out when asked who you like. But when you got into college something changed. Something that goes by the name of Kiyoko Shimizu. You first heard about her when in a group project with Yachi, she had suggested that Kiyoko tag along to the cafe meet up that you guys had planned - a simple 3rd person to keep conversation flowing so there’s no random awkward silence. 

Wrong; you were incredibly wrong. In the entire 2 hours you guys were there, you got 2 things done: writing your name and finding out Kiyoko was the prettiest girl you’ve ever seen and that the way her lips move when she talks is mesmerizing; maybe that’s why everything she said you completely agreed with - is this what your friends talk about at sleepovers? Is this what movie scenes are made from? Is this normal? 

Obviously you know what being gay meant, you’ve seen gay couples in movies and even around campus, so why was this the worst whiplash you’ve ever experienced? And why are you getting so nervous and sweating when she asks for your number? Why do you only let out a shaky - mousy - ‘yeah’ 

The only information you absorbed is that the prettiest girl you've ever seen is in your contacts and that she likes peaches and ice cream. There’s only one reasonable response to this information - type out 4 draft messages asking her to the local ice cream parlor. Who would know better how to ask her out on a completely platonic and friendly ice cream date? Yachi. 

You’ve never felt more awkward in your entire life; you could smell the tension before the conversion even started. “Well… I say just ask in the friendliest way possible… this one right there,” she points to the 2nd message, “seems like you're rambling a lot, and the one below that sounds like you're demanding she go.” Yachi explains - a little concerned by how concentrated you are after explaining how this is a ‘totally friendly and chill meet up because she seems cool’ for about 10 minutes. “Okay…so like… the last one? Or are the emojis too much?” “The last one is perfect, she actually texts with a lot of emojis too.” “Okay perfect…” both of you sit in silence for 20 seconds before you blurt “can you please send the message for me.” 

It was set, you're very casual friend hangout, was the next day at 2pm. Although the state of your room said that you were evacuating by 2pm tomorrow; clothes thrown from your closet had basically made it out of your room, forgotten t-shirts now seeing the light of day, even pants that you’ve been meaning to return to a friend had found its way onto the outfit roster. But after what felt like the zombie apocalypse, you put together an outfit that had one inspiration - Kiyoko Shimizu. 

It was just to seem cool right? To hope that she'll want to be good friends right? And maybe kiss? Do good friends do that? 

This was a bad idea. This was a bad idea. This was the worst idea you’ve ever had. Gripping the steering wheel so hard you make a mental reminder to call a mechanic and breathing so hard you reach for a non-existent inhaler. You’ve never had a worse timed star- aligning ever. You can see her in the window, occasionally glancing out the window waiting for any sign of you, but you’re too busy having second doubts because your gay awakening is waiting for a obviously, for sure, ‘no wonder Yachi was awkward’ date. You try to quickly regain yourself after seeing Kiyoko start to look down at her watch every 6 seconds. Checking your face in the mirror and fixing your hair in the shop’s window reflection, you finally open the doors and come face-to-face with the most attractive cause for your midlife crisis. You're not even 25.

“Hey, sorry I’m a little late, I was picking up my room a little and lost track of time,” well that's not a complete lie, you had folded about 4 shirts and then rethought your entire outfit and started from scratch. And then she did the smile, the little lift up that makes her beauty mark move 3 cm from its resting place, “It’s really no problem, just glad I wasn’t stood up.” Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god. Being stood up means a date. This is for sure a date. You're glad you didn’t over analyze but also panicking because you just processed what a lesbian is in the car you’ve had since 17.

“Yeah, sorry again, I didn’t mean to leave someone like you waiting,” are you actually stupid. ‘Someone like you?’ You’ve been homosexual for 5 minutes and already messed up. “Hope that’s a good thing,” she says sarcastically before walking up to order. “I’ll get the peach please, and what would you want?” She looks at you. She focuses on you. “I’ll just get the same thing” a smile. She smiles at you. “Sounds good, do you want to find a table while I pay?” “Oh you don’t have to pay f-” “No no, it’s okay.” You're starting to understand why your friends freak out when a guy offers to pay. 

“Okay- so- wait. He asked you to marry him after only seeing you?” you ask holding back a laugh, “Yes! I still give him a hard time for it too,” Kiyo - she insisted you call her that - was laughing telling you about her time in high school, while checking her watch, “Oh! It’s already late! Sorry for non-stop talking, I feel like that’s all I did.” You quickly try to recover as you both stand up and throw your trash away, “oh no it’s okay, I loved hearing about you.” After making it through the front doors, she turns to you and smiles before leaning in and giving a small kiss, “Well maybe you can tell me about you next time.” “Yeah! Of course,” you reply too quickly for you not to cringe when thinking about it later. She does the smile again, the same smile, “Make sure you text me when you get home… I’ll see you soon.” “Yeah of course, have a goodnight…” You watch as she walks away to her car before slowly sitting getting into your own. You're surprised the shop owners didn’t come running out after the excited scream you let out.

I hope you guys like it!!! the divider(s) is from @cafekitsune

STREAM CHAPPELL ROAN!!!!

[drdemonprince]

Just chiming in to agree that that person is not a selfish bitch. I'm also really put off by moralistic performances of emotion, and I know in my case it's because it was part of a pattern of abusive behaviour that my mother did.

Anytime you expressed to her that there was a problem with her behaviour, she seemed to genuinely believe that if she put enough effort into weeping and crying on her children's shoulders, and verbally denigrating herself for being an inherently bad an immoral person, and stressing so much that she developed physical illnesses from it, then she could follow that up by asking for forgiveness - as if it would be cruel for us to continue her suffering by denying her that forgiveness. Except that to her, "forgiveness" meant "it's all swept under the rug, I have Atoned By Suffering Guilt, so now it doesn't matter and I can keep doing it again." (I really wonder how much the religious background of her parents' generation came into the formation of this worldview.) And at the same time, she refuses to read news that's "too upsetting" and never engages with literature or media about dark themes "because there's enough of that in real life."

It might be cynical of me to read this pattern into the way people talk online about genocide. But I keep seeing parallels. My perspective is that a) if you're not regulating your emotions well enough to function, then you have less capacity to offer practical help; and b) people who are actually trying to survive genocide want unnecessary human suffering to END, so you're not aligning yourself with that hope by engaging in rumination etc that compounds suffering with not practical benefit to anyone.

But also, watching my mother's behaviour has led me to add perspective c) that a lot of people (in Christian cultures?) haven't developed enough understanding of the complexity of the world and how to relate to it, and genuinely believe that an overblown emotionally affected reaction, followed by helplessness and thereby inaction, is the only possible way for them to respond when they're confronted with upsetting information that demands action from them. Being raised to think in a black-and-white "good vs evil" dichotomy, and thinking about people as "either morally good or morally bad" rather than thinking about people as neutral and behaviours as either ethically helpful or harmful... it doesn't give them a conceptual framework to integrate upsetting information and then carry on getting things done, it's like their moral anxiety gets them stuck and that keeps the emotions escalating.

I see people discussing this pattern in the context of religious trauma, and in the context of the cultural construct of "whiteness" - the discovery of something morally bad has to be followed by an extreme emotional reaction that basically amounts to protesting your own innocence and helplessness to deny responsibility for your direct behaviours (in my mother's case) or complicity in a corrupt system (in the case of overwhelmed average people learning about genocide).

Maybe I'm rambling more than I'm analysing here, but the comparison stands out a lot to me and it's troubling to watch.

yo anon no this is gold, thank you for sharing. This is remarkably astute.

I will add the quick caveat that hyperempathic people who are debilitated by their sensitivity exist, of course, and have very real struggles and none of this is intended to denigrate them. In practice, their behavior can have the impact of silencing criticism or distracting from the issue at hand but being wired that way certainly does not doom a person to behaving in a counterproductive, manipulative manner.

This critique is more about performative over the top empathy as a tactic (conscious or not) of offloading responsibility, and as a pseudo-religious ideology that makes predominately white western cultures particularly ill-equipped to deal with the consequences of their global plundering. almost certainly by design. Most moral teachings that we encounter in the west promote this tactic and ideology, and it gets very deeply ingrained in most us if we don't devote a ton of attention to uprooting it.

thanks for this great response.

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

omg I never see anyone talking about fukuzawa and kunikidas background but I agree with you so much I think he met him as a teenager if not younger. I've always liked to think that kunikidas parents know fukuzawa somehow and he kinda grew up knowing him. kunikidas whole background and family is such a mystery it drives me crazy

DUDE SAME HOLY SHIT I'm so curious about Kunikida's background because!! We know!! So little!! Like the only reason we know he used to be a math teacher is because he was literally working as one when Dazai's entrance exam happened - what was he doing before?? How did he discover he has an Ability?? Considering it's basically canon Abilities come from trauma, what even happened to him so his own manifested?

People talk about how Dazai is so careful on what he tells the agency but ngl, the agency know jack fucking shit about each other lmao. It's not just Dazai - we still have no clue what the fuck is up with the Tanizaki siblings or how Kunikida joined the agency. No one knew about Yosano's backstory before she shared it with Tanizaki and Kenji sans Ranpo and Fukuzawa because they RESCUED HER. Its confirmed no one sans Ranpo and Fukuzawa (possibly Yosano) know how the agency was founded in Untold Origins; and so much around Kenji is a mystery as well. We know about Atsushi because of his trauma dumping (as he deserves) and Kyouka because her joining the agency was so dramatic - everyone else though is far from an open book. Especially Kunikida.

Also - Kunikida's so fucking WEIRD, right?? Like people talk about him like he's the 'sane' one of the agency, but that's just because he's next to Dazai fucking Osamu, who makes anyone look normal. Kunikida is way too down with violence - hell, the first appearance we get of him he pins a starving orphan to the floor, it's noted he's not allowed to ask questions to clients because he gets violent, and he's told to cool it by Dazai of all people. Like?? He's passively suicidal with a HUGE guilt complex, and like, that obsession with his ideals can't come from nowhere. Like Kunikida's commitment to his ideals to the point of self destruction is shown to be bad for him, the center of his character and his flaws, so where does something like that come from? People also skip over the specifics of his moral code - because that's not clear cut either lmao. He breaks into weather stations because they reported wrong, steals cars when people have insurance, is just kinda like -_- when Atsushi and Kyouka are in danger in the start of the manga, and really, he's just... his morals don't align with the law. Period. Nor do they seem simple, despite how people want to read him.

So how the FUCK did that happen?

Because like I said, we know so little about Kunikida!

I really like the idea you said, about Kunikida having grown up knowing Fukuzawa! That's definitely interesting, I don't think I've heard that. It would make sense if Fukuzawa started training Kunikida early - because he's way too good for someone who started training at say, 18. In Dazai's Entrance Exam he wipes the floor with an opponent who has a significant weight and size advantage over him, and I actually think he could match Chuuya in terms of pure martial arts (maybe not beat, but it would definitely be a close fight without Abilities). That's too good for someone who only started training hardcore when he hit adulthood.

Also - I think Fukuzawa was the one who gave Kunikida his Ideals notebook. I don't think he was there when his Ability manifested or anything, but I do think he was the one who gave Kunikida that direction, that sense of purpose. It makes sense to me - Kunikida's dislikes have authority listed (considering the author irl, that makes sense), and he's got one of the most vulgar speech patterns in the series and comparatively rarely uses honorifics... yet he respects Fukuzawa so much?? He defers to him so much?? He's his successor, outright stated? What caused that type of loyalty, that type of deference?

Was Kunikida the first person to take an entrance exam, considering the agency was started for Ranpo and Yosano definitely didn't? What was his even like?? WHY did they make him the first one to take it, if he did?

Idk, I REALLY hope we get more on Kunikida's backstory soon. There's so much that's implied, and at the least I hope we get more on his relationship with Fukuzawa.

[bunnimew]

In the rotg film, do you think the Guardians get along with any other spirits, regardless of alignment? The Groundhog, Leprechaun, and Tooth Mouse are only mentioned or seen briefly, but most of their relations with the Guardians seem negative: Bunny apparently doesn't like the first spirit, and with the third spirit, there seems to some sort of discrimination and unawareness from the tooth fairies based on how Baby Tooth reacted so violently to what was basically a co-worker?

Hello Anon!!

Well, we know Bunny doesn't get along with the groundhog, and he didn't seem particularly impressed with anyone's suggestions for teammates, or even the idea of someone new joining the team, so I'm gonna say Bunny does not get along with anyone.

Everyone else seemed very excited about someone new, so it's conceivable that they have positive working relations with any number of spirits. But yeah, Tooth clearly never gets out into the field, to the point that her own fairies don't know about other international divisions. So even if she has positive working relations, they're probably not anything more than acquaintances.

North seems like the kinda guy where everyone is instantly his friend for the length of time they are in his presence. I bet North has invited every spirit on Earth back to the workshop at least once, and upon arrival, he's completely forgotten why they're there but welcomes them in and offers fruit cake, anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if the more extrovert spirits showed up more than once and those are the spirits North actually thinks of as his friends.

There is no telling what Sandy gets up to, though. That gremlin could be partying in every time zone every night and his teammates wouldn't even know because they never leave their houses. Maybe Sandy isn't tired all the time because he's the Sandman; maybe it's because he literally hasn't slept for 48 hrs, jumping from edm concert to edm concert, throwin back dippin' dots and slamming gummy bears because he has no adult supervision to stop him.

So Sandy probably has all of the friends, and plays a mean game of Mario Party.

Jack clearly did not have many friends, but did know about other spirits, which would imply someone bothered to stop and talk to him. He probably has some fair weather friends or acquaintances who are willing to spread some gossip, but aren't interested in actually hanging out. Otherwise, he would not have been nearly so lonely, or talked about Sandy in that distant, "Oh cool, that guy I kinda know but shouldn't bother," kind of way. If he'd had friends, Antarctica would have looked a lot different.

Insofar as alignments, I imagine Bunny and Tooth would give a thought to the day job of whoever they were talking to. North sees the good in everyone, and seems like he'd give them a shot or three before writing them off for good, if he ever does. Sandy was going to punch a child, so I don't think he cares. And Jack was too lonely to be picky about who he talks to, but I think he would have been picky about what he was willing to be party to, to keep them talking. He listened to Pitch's offer, he just didn't want to doom the planet to darkness, yanno?

Thank you so much for the ask, Anon! And thank you for putting the image of Sandy guzzling Dippin Dots in my head.

P.S. Alternatively, maybe Baby Tooth is just a crazy brawler and it isn't that Tooth never mentioned the other divisions, it's that Baby Tooth's fight or flight instinct is superglued to fight and the mouse jumpscared her.

[shortystack75]

I just did my annual rewatch of Stars Align aka Hoshiai No Sora and now I once again have too many thoughts. Anyone seeing this is now the victim.

So basically this post is gonna be a long post explaining a tierlist I made for the kids and how they were effected by their parent/s. I made the tierlist at like 3am this morning and immediately passed out while working through my thought processes

OTHER PEOPLE ARE WELCOME TO READ MY RAMBLES TOO IT'S PRETTY ACCESSIBLE BC I EXPLAIN EVERYTHING

So I'm actually going to go from the bottom and work my way up bc I have so many more uncoordinated thoughts about Touma, Tsubasa, and Nao than anyone else.

RINTARO His adoptive parents have done everything right, he and they are delights. his main issue is the FACT that he's adopted. he feels like there's something inherently wrong with him that caused his birth parents to not want him. at the end of the series his birth mother gets ahold of his adoptive parents and wants to meet him, its assumed she shows up at the tournament but leaves before he can catch up to her, making him believe that because he lost his match she doesn't think he's worth even meeting. And yea I'm with the theory that he's Touma's twin and that makes his mom Rintaro's mom and boy would that fuck him up even more and I so wish we could've gotten our original 24 episodes. Overall his ACTUAL parents that he grew up with and currently have did not cause his problems so 10/10 love them sm

Arashi + Class Pres They are rich kids and though we dont see them being effected by this very much i assume they are negatively effected but overall their parents are probably okay

TAIYO Very soft spoken and probably would roll over and die if a bully or mugger approached him. His parents, while very well-meaning, dote on him in a way that probably killed any kind of confidence he had. "It's okay if you dont win" WOULD be good parent words, but they were followed up with "tennis is a two person sport, so its not your fault if your partner messes up" Taiyo actually scolds them for this which made me really happy, as by saying this not only are they making a dig at his friend and partner(who does not need anyone hurting him anymore goddamn), but also could be interpreted as if they do win then it could be all his partner and not him Overall 8/10 this boy just needs more confidence and screentime

ITSUKI He was hard to place because his parent situation has already been handled actually. he got todorokied as a kid. When he was a baby, his mother clearly suffered from some pretty hard postnatal depression, and possibly other stuff, and poured boiling water onto his back. this left him with some pretty horrific back scars that he actually doesn't mind but he clearly doesn't like talking about it, as shown in the show by him not changing in the club room until about halfway through the show, after he'd already known the MC Maki for a while. He's shown to have a very easy trigger to violence however when people belittle his homelife. Without even knowing about his mother, some bullies come talk down to him about his mother being out of the picture and his response was to bash them over the head with his racket 8/10 Current situation, we never see his dad but we can assume he's doing a decent job as a father bc Itsuki and Namie are actually kinda well adjusted despite his lil aggro moment

Mitsue Mitsue is not part of the tennis club but hands around them as the only people she can stand coughcoughADMITTHEY'REYOURFRIENDSLOSERcoughcough and uses their matches as inspiration for drawing. Her parents belittle her passion for drawing and tell her seemingly often that she'll never go anywhere in life, its implied that she starts hanging around the tennis club and Maki's house to get away from her parents as long as possible until she actually starts liking them

Yuu Yuu is a canonicaly non-binary/X-gender character and i love them but their mom is transphobic and yelled at them and was really shitty i hope she dies. not directly related to their mother, but we also see other students bullying them for being gay (no one other than Maki, their mother, and their sisters find out about them not being cis, but most people seem to know theyre gay or at least suspect it) they are physically harassed early on, only to have a friend, Touma, step in and literally scare off the bullies(more on that when we get to him) and towards the middle of the show some other sports guys come into the tennis team's room to talk and start to make comments on Yuu being gay. This is immediately shut down by several of the tennis club members showing their clear support for them at least in the gay sense.

SHINGO His mother is either dead or otherwise out of the picture completely but there seems to be no ill will from him or his father, who remarried. Father is great and supportive of him. His step-mother however... She's constantly comparing him to his mother who she clearly doesnt like and wants as little to do with him as possible. Shingo has a little half-sister whom he adores and she adores him right back, but his step-mom HATES them interacting and does everything she can to discourage it, despite his little sister's clear adoration and love for him. He overall isn't super outwardly very effected by her, but is still clearly put-out by her random hate towards him and likely feels very uncomfortable in her presence. 6.5/10 overall, 9/10 dad but 4/10 step-mom who gets a"Not being as bad as you could've been" award

Now we're getting spicy

MAKI Our main character Maki! He's an overall quiet but pleasant person who has a very realistic outlook on life. His single mother is amazing towards him but works very long hours at her job and so most of the chores fall into him, not that he minds all that much, when he was younger he was often looked after by his mother's friend Shou, a canonical transman that lead Maki to be very informed about gender and was just what Yuu needed. His father however.... physically and financially abusive. despite being divorced he shows up at their apartment when he knows his exwife wont be at home to steal money from them and be mean to Maki. in the after credits scene of the first episode he hits maki so hard something in his mouth starts bleeding(he likely bit his tongue or a part of his cheek) and he curls up into a ball and waits for him to leave. He's terrified of this man. Later in the show he shows up to terrorize maki again and Touma, Maki's doubles partner, gets involved to put an end to it. Throughout the exchange Maki is practically cowering behind Touma which is so jarring because Maki's normal demeanor is so nonchalant and calm. It's implied he's been abused for as long as he could remember to some extent. We see a couple other time that he has an interesting reaction to threats and violence, such as another character threatening him with a racket(he doesn't react and simply says "Use your hands") or upon learning Itsuki bludgeoned a guy with his racket(tells him not to break the equipment because its expensive) Oh also his mother is in the process of getting a restraining order but its not in place yet Mom and Shou are 8/10, dad is 0/10, overall 4/10 experience for our sadboy Maki

TOUMA He's some kind of neurospicy i just know it. His father is ??? never see this man but we know he;s in the household, i think he travels for work or smth cause its mentioned he's rarely at home His mother HATES him. like for no reason. She gives us a lot of vague words she says to his older brother, who seems to be Touma's only positive family relation, at one point she says that he scares her but she also yells at him all the time and compares him to his brother and basically constantly belittles him for no reason. He seems to blame everything on himself but silently. When the tennis team isn't doing good he blows up be throwing his racket on the ground and storming away, but later reveals to his brother that he thinks its his fault and that he's a bad captain. Similarly, when the team is having a celebration he stays to the edges and explains to Yuu that he doesn't like being around people who are having fun because he feels like he's going to ruin it be engaging. We can actually tie this into a little moment he has with Maki during a game when Maki turns to him exactly and goes "I really love tennis!" and Touma stands there with awe on his face as if he couldn't imagine someone having fun by playing with him. Speaking of Yuu, back when he scared off the bullies, 2/3 of the bullies were IMMEDIATELY scared upon seeing him walk up, they told the third one that "Everyone knows he's a psycho" while Touma stands there with a blank face. This coupled with how his mother talks about him makes me think he's had a little bit of a violent streak that may be linked to autistic breakdowns Back to his mother, it is revealed at the end that there's a third brother we've never seen or heard of when we get a scene of his mother and older brother talking. his brother says "I love both of my little brothers" and later that episode his mom calls him to tell him she's divorcing his dad and taking his older brother with her. I just know he'd be even more messed up if Rintaro ends up being his twin brother. Anyway his dad is 4/10 for absence and his mom is 1/10 for doing the bare minimum (really sad that she has any points at all). Overall 2.5/10

TSUBASA he's my little crunchy guy i love him so much We very very briefly see his mother have worry for him at a bad moment but never goes after him when he runs away and she never seems to check on him at any other point. The bad moment is when he falls down the stairs. Specifically he is hit in the face by his father so hard (on a flight of stairs) that he slams into the wall and then loses his balance and falls backwards onto his dominant wrist hard enough to break it. Let me backtrack a bit. at about 2/3 through the anime, we get a scene of him at home watching tv with his 2 older brothers. His dad comes through the door and the music stops, all three boys look tense but Tsubasa specifically immediately gets a fearful look and when addressed by his dad tries to leave the room. Tsubasa is a very loud and confrontational person, likely caused by his dad's toxic masculinity, and says something that isn't important but causes his father to follow him and grab his wrist so hard he looks in pain. What follows is the stair incident. He then runs out of the house in the middle of the night and ends up in front of Shingo's house. Shingo is his tennis partner. Shingo sees him, Tsubasa tries to run away but is quickly caught by the hurt wrist. After Shingo realizes he's hurt he immediately gets his dad to take Tsubasa to the hospital. When the doctor asks if anyone else was involved, Tsubasa denies this and calls himself an idiot with the most heart wrenching expression on his face i swear. He later confesses to Shingo he's sure his dad hates him all because he's not as good at soccer as his older brothers, and blames himself for Shingo not being able to play in the upcoming tournament. When asked why he came to Shingo's house he responds with "I didn't know where else to go" Which makes me want to hit someone, personally. At the start of the series there a part where he raises his racket as if to strike Maki with it, but backs down when Maki doesn't even flinch. I'm taking this to mean he was never actually planning to hit Maki, but acting big and threatening violence is likely something he learned from his dad. When it doesn't work he immediately backs down and leaves the situation, similar to how he acts with his dad. He's also one of the few we see get physical with anyone else. Barring Itsuki and the racket incident, Tsubasa is the only member of the tennis team to threaten another middle schooler. In the club room incident where Yuu was starting to be harassed, Tsubasa was one of the three (Touma and Maki were not present) out of 6 members to intervene. While Shingo and Itsuki told the other boy off and insulted him in turn, Tsubasa actually got up in his space and grabbed a hold of the other boy's face, lightly shoving him. The other boys immediately backed down after this like Tsubasa was assuming they would, like how he learned to behave with his father. Mom is like 4/10 for being useless ����and Father is 0/10 for an overall score of 2/10!!!

and now... for NAO My head is in my hands over him So to start, he's an only child and his father is distant and doesn't seem to interact with him or care for him whatsoever(unlike with Tsubasa and hopefully Touma, he's somehow being an absent parent while sitting right! next! to! him!!!), leaving him with no help or reprieve at home from his monster of a mother. She never physically hurts or lays a hand on him from what we've seen but she clearly has deep-rooted mental and emotional manipulation that has negatively effected Nao very deeply. We see a lot of signs early on that we brush away as little quirks he has, such as telling a lot of lies or "fairy tales" as the tennis club likes to call them, staring off into space, or even just looking impassively at what transpires around him as if he wasn't apart if it. That's right this boy disassociates. hard. His mother, to put it lightly, is an extremely controlling and authoritarian parent who wants to hand steer every little thing he thinks, feels, and does. She's constantly complaining to the principal about the club and lying or exaggerating in order for club activities to be suspended or halted because she doesn't think he gets anything from playing and would rather he spend all his time studying. Speaking of studying, that's what she has him do constantly at home. His room doesn't look like that of a middle school boy. It has a desk, a bed, and a dresser. I would even go so far as to say some of his spacey-ness comes from exhaustion. who knows how long she has him studying every night, and its revealed he gets up early so he can go on runs and practice swinging because she doesn't let him after he gets home from school. All of this feeds into his lies. He's learned that whenever he tells her the truth he gets yelled at and belittled and punished. So he lies. he tells her what he thinks she'll want to here and this bleeds into all of his relationships. Upon meeting Maki he lies immediately, something broad to appeal to everyone, but its called out by the rest of the club and he just sits there smiling through it all while looking at the sky. He's left handed and she hates that. He uses his left hand to eat once and she yells at him, making him freeze up and pull his right arm into his center, almost mimicking the fetal position. SPEAKING of eating... boy unintentionally has an eating disorder. We are shown multiple times when he is at home he pushes his food around his plate and eats little to none of it. While there are other scenes of him with food away from his mother, I dont think he's actually specifically shown eating then either, and could've easily not eaten anything there. OKAY so onto the really scary/sad part. There's a part where Shingo brings his little sister to watch their practice game with the girls' team, and she gets lost in the school. She ends up found sleeping in the nurses office, but they skipped over it bc the door was locked and figured she couldn't have gotten in there. They only find her when Maki hears the keys jingle in Nao's pocket and realizes he locked her in there. Nao himself seemed shocked that he had the keys and was the one to lock her in there. His mom had been yelling about the practice game and wanting it cancelled the night before. He found her, and instead of telling everyone or waking her up, he disociated and locked the door, than lied that he hadn't seen her. He seemed so shocked that Maki even thinks that he'd thought his own lie was real. Think of how scary that is. I also think he's neurospicy which his mom would absolutely fuck up even more but thats just me things Dad gets a 3/10 for personally pissing me off and his mom gets a funny lil 0/10 along with the two other shittiest parents. Overall a 1.5/10!!!

In all seriousness In my own little world most of them move in together and share an apartment. Yes ive seen the extra scenes no I dont care im ignoring them.

[tadpolesonalgae]

‘I imagine hopping from angsty cbmthy to smut riddled basically-everything-else might be a bit surprising at first 😭’

I for one am a very happy camper of angst and smut🤫 especially when they’re so well written like yours are!🌸

‘And it’s not like anyone other than Mor might have any reason to go to the Winter Court so it’s like he’ll be completely out of reach once he’s gone!’

And we all know reader has a wonderful relationship with Mor HA HA…ha…(laughing in pain🫠) WKJDJWJD BUT TRULY I WILL MISS BAS WHILE HES GONE🤧 he was in so many ways…kind of a consistent light in reader’s life. I can’t imagine the kind of guilt and sadness she has, believing that she’s gone and ruined another good thing (even if she’s really just being WAY too hard on herself most times🤧🤧)

‘do you think anyone might spot a single empty chair and pause? Or pass a pair of gloves and remember sensitivity in their fingertips? After six months has passed, I mean’

*GASP* TABBY STOP, TOO REAL🤧 (AND I LOVE THIS STORY AND YOU FOR THAT BUT- AHHHHH)

The amount of thoughts that would pass through their minds. I’m sure they’d be constantly thinking of all the ‘maybe’s, and ‘what if’s. I can just feel the guilt and longing radiating off that

‘If reader could accept that offering I think things could be very happy though’

I hope she can be happy with the outcome!! It would really show her that they pay so much attention to her! Even though…I think she’d probably feel some more distress over the fact that all those gifts they gave her are still gone…🫠 BUT HEY MAYBE ITLL PUSH HER TO ACTUALLY PUT THE STUFF THEY BUY HER NOW TO USE!

‘Yes! Yes! Finally! I’ll shower you in metaphorical flowers!! Thank you!! I promise it’ll get better, just stick with me and everything will be fine!! ‘

I am totally in this for the long haul🫡 in Tabby and Az I trust

‘I think it’s very funny that they keep meeting, and trying to have a normal conversation and just,,,failing,,,consistently 🤭’

(SOMEONE TAKE THEM BACK TO THAT LITTLE SIDE SHOP)

*me finally getting the chance to send in a reply but already read Chapter 23 knowing Az and reader bout to have many more failed attempts incoming*

‘To be fair, in that moment Azriel thought that reader was accusing him of sexually taking advantage of her which is why he opposed her in a way that was kind of embarrassing for her, when reader was actually talking about Azriel using her to get a read on Elain (which yay, reader’s keeping that in mind now!!)’

That’s almost where I’m sad Azriel thought that’s what she meant. I understand it! Buuuut, she also made it really clear when she confronted him the first time in the library, that she didn’t/doesn’t like that he only comes to her when he wants to know something about Elain. And sure maybe that’s cause he was so focused on showing he doesn’t reciprocate but honestly…there are definitely better ways to tell/show someone you aren’t interested🤧

But to be fair, maybe that’s just how I see it. Honestly I’m someone who has gone through what reader went through with the lack of reciprocity in like- every “close” relationship I’ve ever had💀 Not a cool move on Az’s part to only seek her out when it aligns with his interests. Anyone would feel hurt and used

‘I’m not going to elaborate on this part because it will be expanded upon later in the series and I don’t want to spoil anything, but yeah. It was fun to write those two paragraphs from Az’s perspective 🥲’

I can tell you had fun with that!! It surprised me that we got any Az POV in Chapter 22 BUT WOW- IT ADDED SO MUCH TO IT (I have reread it so many times, that and the scar..bonding(?) talk)

AHHHH I can’t wait for the next parts! I’m dying to know what Az means. I’m really wondering just how “bad” his hidden thoughts or opinions are for him to choose to watch her rive in pain and panic than to be honest. I suspect that it’s his own view of himself stopping him from being accepting of her. But who knows! (You do…go ahead and call me a fool Tabby😔)

‘since Reader was obviously raised human, and time alone with a man + TOUCHING??? = Marriage. Horse and carriage. COURTING. (I’m being hyperbolic 😶)’

‘Like him touching the spot atop her heart?? Much more intimate than a one night stand where it would only be physical nakedness 😭’

I totally get it!! Screw the sex am I right?!

Truly I think reader had felt and seen Azriel’s true nature and fell in love with him. The REAL him, not this cold act (seemingly) that he puts on.

I’m going to be trying to send in messages whenever I can now! I just really want to show my appreciation for you and your amazing works!! Hopefully you’ve been doing okay and taking care of yourself! Until the next message!!

(P.S. I’m hoping the 🌸 emote hasn’t been taken👁️👁️ but I also feel like I’ve seen it🫠)

'I WILL MISS BAS WHILE HES GONE🤧 he was in so many ways…kind of a consistent light in reader’s life.'

I'm going to miss him too honestly. He completely started out as a filler character but he just ended up kind of sticking with reader throughout the series so far so it's really strange that we're seeing him off? And I agree with you that despite their slightly unusual dynamic (unusual for reader, that is) Bas was there for her in the beginning so I imagine she'll have a lot of feelings she won't really know what to do with once he's left the Night Court :/

'I can just feel the guilt and longing radiating off that'

I'm hoping to write some other little parts where thoughts like that kind of begin to pass through some of the sister's minds? Because yes it's a loss for reader but her sisters are the ones who'll have to potentially deal with life on their own after the six months? Theoretically?

'(SOMEONE TAKE THEM BACK TO THAT LITTLE SIDE SHOP)'

Okay, funny note about that scene: It was going to happen anyway at some point in the story but I hadn't decided when? And then I suddenly thought that if reader and Azriel's relationship only started improving once he knew she's been given six months to live I would probably have to write reader as worrying that he was only being nice to her to make her last few months nice and that it wasn't actually sincere? So that's why I decided to write that scene when I did, so reader can remember her and Az have had a good exchange before he knew anything about her limited time!

'*me finally getting the chance to send in a reply but already read Chapter 23 knowing Az and reader bout to have many more failed attempts incoming*'

I don't know what could have possibly given you the idea that reader and Az being basically completely alone for two weeks together could lead to anything remotely bad

I think looking at how chapter 24 is coming along her and Az will have their trip up northeast to collect weaponry and get reader fitted for some leather armour and then they'll be heading briefly back through Velaris before going off on their exciting adventure!!!

'That’s almost where I’m sad Azriel thought that’s what she meant.'

Well don't you worry there are going to be plenty more moments of those two misunderstanding one another 🤦

I also think that fundamentally with the kind of people they are/the vastly different lives they’ve lived, there are going to be quite a few sections where their differences come out? I think in particular reader experiences a much stronger romantic/emotional attraction to Azriel than a sexual one? I haven't really decided if that's down to her upbringing or whether that's just the type of person she is, but I imagine Azriel potentially thinking of her affection/misunderstanding her tenderness for him as lust-fuelled would probably be a blow to her self-esteem 😭

'AHHHH I can’t wait for the next parts! I’m dying to know what Az means. I’m really wondering just how “bad” his hidden thoughts or opinions are for him to choose to watch her rive in pain and panic than to be honest. I suspect that it’s his own view of himself stopping him from being accepting of her. But who knows! (You do…go ahead and call me a fool Tabby😔)'

Thank you so much for anticipating the next parts because I'm convinced I feed off your enthusiasm to write :')

Don't get me wrong I'm really excited to write the rest of cbmthy, but with the type of series it is, it can be very draining in parts? If that makes sense? So whenever I know I'm going to have to write a scene or section that's a little more angst-heavy/angst-centred, it really helps to hear that someone is looking forward to reading more, so thank you 🧡💛

Though I'm not yet sure how in-depth I'll go into Azriel's mindset? I don't want to go so far in that we theoretically have a complete understanding of who he is because point blank I don't think I'm anywhere near capable enough to write him as complex as I would like to, but also because I very much enjoy leaving certain elements up to your/my interpretation? I like there to be wiggle room so writing too much from Az's perspective is something I'm wary of? I’ll likely just keep it to a few paragraphs every now and again, but we'll see how things go!

'Truly I think reader had felt and seen Azriel’s true nature and fell in love with him.'

Yes, that's what I'm going for! It's just that since the story starts from when Azriel becomes more detached towards her, as the reader readers we haven't gotten to see Az how Reader saw him while she was falling in love with him - it's going to be fun writing the warmer sides of him eventually emerging again after hibernation! Or when they occasionally pop up and how reader reacts to them if/when she notices a shift in his behaviour!

'I’m going to be trying to send in messages whenever I can now! I just really want to show my appreciation for you and your amazing works!! Hopefully you’ve been doing okay and taking care of yourself! Until the next message!!'

I'd love to hear your thoughts yes whenever ch. 24 comes out!! I'm sorry though that I've taken such a long time to respond to you and I hope it hasn't totally put you off from writing in 😭 My life's pretty busy at the moment so I'm not getting as much time to do fanfiction-y things which is why there's been a delay :')

'(P.S. I’m hoping the 🌸 emote hasn’t been taken👁️👁️ but I also feel like I’ve seen it🫠)'

Oooh, I think I've seen it around in messages but I don't think I've seen anyone use it as a sign-off emoji, so you should be good to go!! I hope to hear from you again!! 🧡💛

[kindest-little-fella-in-town]

I need the dobqi lore actually I am hearing you out so hard

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH ANON! infodumping under the cut (also warning i’m gonna start typing like a normal person cause i wanna get my thoughts down right lmao!)

Personally I have a whole AU in my brain made up for them, but I might write a fanfic eventually and I don’t want to spoil it too much, so I’ll try to stick to pseudo-canon.

The main gimmick of the ship is that Qi has reached an enlightened state where he is self aware of the player and the code and can break the fourth wall, whilst Dobson is quite literally stuck IN the aforementioned code. There are two main ideas I’ve been basing the ship on here— one, that Qi knows Dobson is stuck in the code (and possibly why), and two, that Qi is possibly the only one who would even know that Dobson ever existed in the first place.

With these basics, I think you can take the ship in a lot of directions. I joked about it in the tags of the fanart I made, but the idea of them getting romantically involved/having a dramatic breakup and Qi trapping him in the code out of embarrassment is kind of funny to me. That prompt specifically also means that there’s a lot of room for this shit:

(Fun fact, this was actually my first fanart of them. It looks like shit cause I never finished colouring it but you get the concept lmao! Weird DDLC type toxic creepypasta yaoi.)

RE; Qi’s role itself, I also think there’s a lot of room for Undertale/When They Cry/EEAAO timeline shenanigans (which is the idea I go for the most because i’m such a sucker for it!). I mean, it’s implied that Qi knows you’re playing a video game, so I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that he COULD find a way to be watching every player in every save file at all times. How Dobson is involved is up to you, but I just think it would be really fun if this was involved somehow beyond as a vague statement…

…Personally, I really adore the idea of Dobson and Qi being foils in the sense that Qi plays with the farmer for enjoyment, whereas Dobson plays with the farmer to win. I think if Dobson made it impossible for a player to complete the game, for instance, or if he was a particularly sore loser, that even a man like Qi who trusted and loved him enough to hand him the metaphorical Eden apple on a silver platter would take it away in a heartbeat for the good of the valley and the joy of the game.

My final real Thing Of Note is about the 2nd point I mentioned, because I think regardless of why Dobson was sealed away, the idea that Qi would be the only one to remember him is kind of tragic and haunting. I very much enjoy the idea that a man who lacks even the quality of basic existence would have such a profound effect on a man like Qi, who is, knows, and has everything anyone could ever ask for. This song reminds me of the situation a lot, especially this part:

…But those are just my takes. Like a lot of SDV side characters, they’re so malleable that within reason, you can honestly headcanon whatever you want about them (which is the part of the appeal to me!) I think part of me just likes it because the idea of Qi having more fanonical demons beyond like “might have been into your Grandpa” really gets me going.

Anyway, I don’t really know how to end this, so here are some goofy fic lines I had in my drafts about them and also more lyrics from Miracle Aligner (the song in the caption of that post), because I think THAT fits them really well too!

[narwhalandchill]

(soo ignition teaser thoughts ig)

hmmmm im ngl the trailer itself as a like prelude to what is coming in 5.0 intrigue and plot wise is like. compared to the region teasers that came before w lazzo and overture. its just. its kinda bad im sorry KWKJKWDJKWDJK like okay cool seeing the new cast and production value is high as always (+ music) but its such a middling teaser for the story itself?? it feels like a powerpoint presentation of the cast more than anything narratively coherent with an inherent draw and mystery

like theres mavuika speaking to the flame thingy (xbalanque that u? "one entombed in the primal fire" perhaps????) with some intrigue i suppose as well as her brief thing w capitano. ororon also appearing to be working together or aligned with capitano given theyre standing together there which could make for an interesting plot thread but beyond that its very.... eh. its not giving us a lot to grip onto ya know???? and thats rly a shame especially since i also felt that way abt the teaser in the 4.8 livestream. i wish we got more

and sure theres a tournament wahoo but like. its really Not helping to hype up that thing when half the introduced cast isnt being like "OMG the tournament!!!!1!1 this is HUGE!!!1" (or even. "oh no this is BAD!!!1" to set up basic conflict. like why would they dread it?) but instead just. "oh right... the tournament 🙄🙄" like who thought that was a good idea 😭😭 if the PEOPLE of natlan dgaf abt the big plot event happening then how am i as the viewer supposed to feel majorly invested in it . wow theyre tossing a ball around . wow nobody wants it guess ur tournament is having a bit of a PR issue in the making mavuika lmao

anyway i wouldnt even call myself a true capitano glazer despite being a fatuiHQ enjoyer on the side but like. that hmph still carried welcome capHIMpeaktano truly o7 JWDJWDJKDWJK also did yall see the. anemo-ish turquoise flare when mavuika is confronting (?) him? wonder if thats a thing with her flames or is it implying cap as anemo or sth.... i think itd fit him decent enough but ya. looking forward to HIM for sure

(+ congrats to him for losing the goofy timbs from arles animated short lmao like his design looks so fucking sick now)

character design wise uhhhh. well theres the obvious huge fucking issue here and while id say that hoyo p much already showed their true colors on the matter with sumeru that doesnt rly. make it any less disappointing and egregious wrt all the cultures and peoples theyre So willing to gather inspiration from in all possible aspects Other than the diversity of the people themselves. like its just... bad and such a shame but also not very surprising unfortunately.

(and really it just. looks especially bad given they clearly Can put melanin on people its just... enemy mobs only.)

beyond that i kind of dont have anyone that super catches my eye rn??? mainly because . well leaks moment eek but its basically official info now so basically. xilonens existence as a geo and a 5* (which like . u dont need leaks to guess she will be im sorry jdwjdw) was leaked a bit ago as well as the patch she should appear meaning. im actually in chiori rerun savings mode since its very high chance that she will be back w xilonen if anyone. so thats my plan for now kjdwjkdwjkdwjk

in terms of the actual cast i do like kinich and ororons designs v much, the design motifs of the latter especially are interesting bc those eye-like patterns are almost giving quantum symbol (= black hole imagery) to me???? and thats V interesting especially if hes actually working w capitano and the fatui. now him being a cat boy or whatever animals ears those turn out to be isnt like sth thats huge for Me personally but i do think hes valid and also W for anyone whos into that, congrats guys im happy for u ! but like fr itd be such an insane twist if hoyos Finally introducing the void quantum abyss whatever element w him (and maybe cap too.) bc that symbol Rly is looking Curious. or then hes just electro lol. for kinich its like. yeah fair he might be xiao-tighnari-gaming from minecraft ill admit that but. i do like the color scheme and his outfit a lot JKWJKDJKDWJKD so like i forgive it

w the girlies i overall find them all like. quite nice but so far without any personality + lore known its hard to settle my complete thoughts on them just yet. tho citlali being pink is super refreshing for genshin since we do have a shocking absence of it so like shes definitely one im drawn to, chasca looks interesting and like she could play a bigger part plot wise (maybe?) so that might be neat. both her and citlali being cryo is kinda surprising?? but cool. maybe ill get to unbench my shenhe and play some cryo teams again lmao freeze has been dead in abyss for so long now....

xilonen again w the kemomimi isnt sth im particularly into or not into but she looks cool, depending on personality and how her kit synergies turn out (+ assuming the chiori rerun, the fate of those pulls too), i might try for her as well? theres an Energy to her i like it. if she has proper Attitude and flair thats gonna be a massive bonus for me

mualani i think is rather bland to me, sth about her outfit and design just doesnt click for me even if the shark thing from the teaser before is neat and everything. the chibis are never sth im actively drawn to but like both do look okay, im kinda hoping kachina could be a lynette moment for 5.x and end up a free 4* since her exploration roomba looks p fun

anyway then theres. mavuika and i. well at least the design wasnt. That concept art one (ThoseWhoKnow...) . so instant massive W improvement solely on that basis holy fucking shit but ehhhhh im sorry i still dont know how to feel abt the very modern like. biker bodysuit thingy. im not a huge fan of the bodysuit type designs anyway so its not that surprising but still. her eyes + hair is absolutely stunning tho like not a question at all.

tbh in a way i kinda feel like having too many Thoughts on her design is kinda just unnecessary bc like. shes the archon. of Course the kit is going to be insane so i will get her anyway (UNLESS a pyro onfielder JKWJKJKWJKWJKWFKJ like god please no). and in terms of like is her design and energy from what this vid is giving us good enough that i wont like. Actively resent having to get her for meta and strong teams??? Absolutely. so in that sense ig its all cool lmao

but yeah. idk i just think as a teaser for the upcoming story its rly a shame how weak this felt for me???? like sure overture ended up being a bit of a misleading teaser since it gave the impression of arle as this mastermind of the fontaine AQ which didnt rly happen but it still served as a source of hype and intrigue. and yes lazzo is sth that can Never rly be beat in terms of how out of nowhere it was and how fucking insane the whole harbinger reveal went (+ elogia cinerosa existing) for lore and long term hype but its just. unfortunately those 2 are the regional teasers this natlan one is supposedly meant to parallel and it just didnt deliver anything comparable to those for me

like still looking forward to natlan and seeing the rest of its cast (like im fairly convinced the flame thingy might be xbalanque and hes gonna be a big deal ultimately or sth) and where it goes and all its environments but this trailer didnt rly. grip me the way i wouldve expected it to. which is unfortunate kdjkdwjkwjkdwj but yea thats all