#but not really due to the tragedy of circumstance

[dasphinxone]

SUPER ANGSTY Relationship Dynamics where no one ends up truly happy 😒

I blame the weirdly hot chemistry of how Attuma put his rebreather on Shuri for this weird-ass, rare pair of them.

Namor hurt Shuri far too much for them to ever be in a relationship. The alliance holds but Shuri is extremely formal and distant with him. Namor regrets for the rest of his long-ass life how he killed her mother and waited far too long to make amends...if he ever truly even tries to do so in the first damn place.

Okoye feels the same about Attuma. He humiliated her on that bridge. As far as she's concerned, he contributed to directly setting in motion everything that led to the murder of Ramonda and herself being stripped of her command. Okoye will never forgive Attuma and he's dead to her. She leaves Wakanda to wander and find herself, doling out justice.

This results in Shuri and Attuma hooking up. It's just sex. It's physically satisfying but there's no love. They're both incredibly honest with each other in that and come to eventually realize there is no way they can be with the people either pursuing them or who rejected them.

Meanwhile, M'Baku remains king and Shuri refuses to take the throne until some years later. By then, Nakia moves back to Wakanda when T'Challa Jr. is an older teenager. Shuri formally introduces him to Wakanda and officially makes him heir to the throne.

In order to get the Tribal Council off her back about her marriage prospects, she proposes marrying Attuma. Again, they don't love either and are in mourning for what their lives could have been since it could have been different. But they respect each other. Marriages, especially royal ones, have been made on far less. Plus, the union will bring Talokan and Wakanda closer together.

They invite Namor and Okoye to the wedding. Neither shows up, though Namor gives his blessing and an incredible wedding gift. Okoye sends her regards as well but stays abroad and finds a happy marriage. She is truly content and all goes well for her.

Shuri rules as Queen while Attuma refuses to take a title beyond Prince Consort since he has zero desire for any sort of political power. He is content to remain a general and protect his wife from harm.

It is not love, nor does it ever blossom into it. But it is enough for both of them since they will never have their true loves. For Namor destroyed any chance of that with his initial aggression.

They end up having one kid and then twins. T'Challa Jr. loves his cousins and there is never any strife over the throne since Shuri makes it extremely clear that he is heir.

Wakanda and Talokan become true allies and never go to war. They protect each other against the colonizers and the rest of the world.

Attuma outlives Shuri. When she passes, their children are fully grown and they have great-grandchildren. Attuma returns to Talokan full time but passes away soon after, he and a shark killing each other during one of his hunts. There are whispers that he purposely chose to go out that way and on his own terms due to his broken heart.

Okoye lives a natural life span and passes away. She has no regrets leaving Wakanda to find herself. She had a good life.

Namor continues to live on. While he destroyed his chances with Shuri, he makes an oath to always guard her progeny as well as T'Challa Jr. He never breaks his promise, the descendents of the Golden Tribe granted a legendary protector through the ages.

Shuri meets Attuma at the crossroads to their respective ancestral planes. She's the happiest he's ever seen her. She asks him where his spirit will go.

He gives her a sad smile before thanking her for her grace in the relationship they shared. He's glad they were honest with other about how it wasn't true love. He respects her and did indeed love their children. He is proud for his part in bringing their kingdoms together and keeping them safe from the wretched colonizers.

However, he vows he will find his soulmate in his next life. And this time, he will fight to have his warrior by his side, no matter the cost.

Shuri grants him her full blessings before she turns to join her ancestors while he heads towards another life cycle.

That night, Namor happens to visit the surface world and witnesses two falling stars. He sends up a silent prayer to his gods to protect those who have moved on from this life. All while he continues to suffer the consequences for what he's done in his current one for ages to come.

A king with a crown who continues to rule one of the most powerful nations on earth. Yet truly, a man sin amor.

[guruguruguruguru]

the longer i sit with it the more it really gets me how nobody ever really mentions obito and rin before obito's reveal in shippuden. kakashi vaguely mentions his old friends and i think other characters allude to the tragedy of kakashi's past but rin and obito themselves are lost to time. something about that is so fucking haunting and so gutting. you would think it would be a pretty big deal that two kids from the same class died within a year of each other, but the nine tails attack probably wiped so much clean that nobody could really carry the grief... still, when we see their class in flashbacks, we recognise almost everyone else, so... there's something really sad and hopeless about their absence...

there's a lot a LOT to say about it from a lot of different angles and i don't really feel like going into meta posting territory i just have big feelings about it you know? and to me i guess obito encapsulates a lot of the anger. for the people who get left behind and forgotten. and that can mean a lot of things

[thinkingnot]

Shicmuon really got them craziest cracked genes ever

[dolche-tejada]

You know, I think this ending would have been slightly less of a fucking disappointment if the heroes hadn't been so unfairly favored by Horikoshi compared to the villains. I mean, seriously

Deku destroys every bone in his body multiple times throughout the story and is warned that if he continues, he'll permanently lose the use of his limbs ? Everything's fine, his body's just got used to being reduced to a bloody pulp somehow so there's no consequences for him. In fact even when he literally loses his arms to Shigaraki, he gets them back two minutes later thanks to Eri because guess what ? Her horn still works even when cut off from her body. How convenient.

Gran Torino gets his ribcage obliterated by Shigaraki ? Don't worry guys, he'll survive that despite his old age and injuries, and this to have no particular role in the plot afterwards.

Bakugo dies heroically trying to buy time before Deku arrives ? Lmao, did you really believe it ?? No of course not, Edgeshot just uses his last-minute Deus Ex Machina to save his life at the cost of his own and- Oops nope he's fine too, my bad !

Hawks murders a criminal fleeing for his life in cold-blood ? The best Hori has to offer is him completely free and in charge of the HSPC.

And no, losing his quirk isn't a real consequence for him because not only it literally played a major part in saving the world with Vestige!Hawks raising an insurrection among AFO's quirks, but also because his quirk has always been the element through which people exploited him.

Endeavor abused his family for years and completely destroyed his eldest son ? No jail time and no media backlash for that, the only blame he received was due to the heroes' failure to stop the League during the Raid Arc.

And don't even get me started on this bs about facing hell or whatever for what he's done : He's literally free and wealthy ; he have Rei, Fuyumi, Shoto, his sidekicks and Hawks on his side ; and all the difficulties he's apparently going to suffer are off-screened.

Deku had to sacrifice OFA and his future hero career to save the world ? Guess what, Bakugo invested all his time and money to make him an Iron-Man suit and now he can still be a hero with everyone else.

There are plenty more examples of this but I think you get the idea. Now let's take a look at the villains' ending :

Toya is now a piece of charcoal kept artificially alive for the few years he has left, unable to move a finger, and whose few minutes a day during which he can stay awake will be spent talking to his father who abused him as a child.

Toga, a literal teenager, killed herself to save Ochako and because she knew it's still better than rotting at Tartarus her whole life.

And not only did she die but she did by bleding to death. Let me repeat for those who have trouble grasping what I've just said : In a manga where the heroes can survive having their heart blown to bits, being impaled Kakyoin-style or smashed against buildings like a fly on a windshield, one of the main antagonists died of a fucking hemorrhage…

As for Shigaraki, after learning that his very birth and all the tragedies of his life have been orchestrated by AFO, after all this development and narrative promises about him being saved in the end... Deku just kills him.

Because despite all his speeches about saving him, it seems like the best he could do was beating him both physically and mentally until he crumbles to dust…

Compress on his side is apparently locked up for life and kept alive by machines too.

A begging Kurogiri tried in a desperate attempt to save Shigaraki, only to be unceremoniously blown up by Bakugo and dying off-screen without anyone giving a shit, including Aizawa and Mic.

And Spinner will now spend the rest of his life struggling with the extra quirks inside him that affect his body and mind, while having to cope with the thought that his boyfriend best friend and companions have either died alone or are locked away for life in horrifying circumstances.

Clearly not the same as with the heroes...

Now don't get me wrong, even if they suffered just as much from the consequences of their actions or the plot as the League, this ending would still be a disaster in terms of writing but AT LEAST it wouldn't reek that much of hypocrisy.

[ot3]

The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere

What is it, and why you should read it.

(Art by purple)

The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere is a currently updating webserial by author Lurina. It's one of my favorite things I've read in a long while and I'd like to convince you all to give it a chance.

My elevator pitch is this: A time-loop murder mystery directly inspired by Umineko, with a lot of similar vibes to the Locked Tomb Trilogy - partially due to it's meditations on grief and mortality and partially due to it's far-future magical sci-fi world where we follow a fucked up lesbian necromancer on a task she is determined to see through to the end. A deeply complex, unique, and believable world that plays hosts to one of the best interpersonal dynamics I've read.

In a future so far-flung that it is past the heat death of the universe, humanity has constructed a new society that is post-scarcity but not post-stratification. Utsushikome of Fusai is one amongst a class of prodigious young medical arcanists (essentially grad students) who are invited to visit a recently legitimized conclave of top-of-the-line researchers studying immortality. Accompanying Su is her best friend Ran, a fellow arcanist. Over the course of the novel we begin to slowly unravel exactly what ulterior motives have brought them to this conclave and how events in their childhoods and years of working toward their shared goal has warped their relationship into what we now see. This relationship is the crown jewel of Flower's narrative, and getting to peel back the layers of it as you read is a delight.

Like Umineko, Flower is a murder mystery that prevents itself with in-universe Rules that dictate the murders' parameters, meaning there's a lot to chew on for anyone who likes solving mysteries. For those that don't, like myself, Flower offers instead a richly developed world and plenty of open questions about the sociopolitical and metaphysical implications of its own worldbuilding.

Below the cut, I'll go into more detail about the series (without spoilers!) for those of you whose interest has been piqued.

The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere is currently ongoing, updating every few weeks. It's several hundred thousand words, so if you're looking for something substantial to keep you entertained, you've got it. As you might expect from the length, the pacing is decently slow. I don't see this as a bad thing at all, because within this pacing Lurina dripfeeds the readers enough new and interesting information at a regular rate that it never feels like your time is being wasted. But if you can't handle slow burns, I wouldn't recommend this one for you.

If you enjoyed the Zero Escape series and liked that they stopped solving murder puzzles to infodump about fringe science, I think you'll get a lot out of Flower. Characters are frequently interrupting their life-or-death scenarios to have lofty, philosophical and political discussions. It's a ton of fun if you like reading characters argue.

'People have to sleep.' 'People have to work.' 'People have to die.' But those were just vague rules, phrasing I'd used because it had been easier in the context of that conversation. What really mattered, on the day-to-day level, was the idea that it was all for something. If someone invented a elixir that made people not to need to sleep, it would, in retrospect, recontextualize all nights everyone ever wasted sleeping as wastes of time. Not something that occurred for some inherent purpose, but whims of circumstance, a tragedy of when you happened to be born. If you accepted that all unfair things in the world could be removed, if only someone knew how - fatigue, labor, death - then to exist in the world we had now, with all its grotesque imperfections, was to know that you had been violated by fate.

Along those lines it's just got a sense of humor I really enjoy. Pretty dry and cavalier. It manages to keep the mood light without feeling like it's undermining it's own stakes. I'm particularly fond of Su's penchant for telling incredibly depressing suicide jokes that just Do Not Land.

The peer pressure cut into me like a hot knife. I hesitated a little, biting my lip. "Well, uh, okay. I'll just tell a quick one." I swallowed, my mind quickly scrambling. "Okay, so, there's a woman who runs a dispensary for second hand goods. She sees a man come in who's a regular customer. He's kind of a mess-- Has a big beard, a bad complexion. He buys a razor, and tells her he needs it to clean himself up, because he has a date." I could see that I now had Ophelia's attention and that Kam was looking pleased with herself, but Ran was watching me, too. I could see the look in her eyes. It screamed at me, with such vividity that it could be sold at an art gallery: You better not be telling a suicide joke right now, or we're going to have a talk. But it was too late. The wheels were already in motion.

As I mentioned up top, the relationship between Ran and Su is just one of my favorite interpersonal dynamics ever. Period. The author is playing some insanely complicated 5th dimensional yuri chess and I am absolutely here for it as someone who likes characters who are deeply devoted to each other in a way that is deeply deeply fraught. I cant emphasize enough how obsessed I am with what they have going on.

Additionally, as stated, the worldbuilding in Flower is top tier. The author clearly understands how every part of her world functions, which makes the moral quandaries and politics presented all the more impactful because they're very believable. It's hard to talk about Flower's world without spoiling too much of the specifics that get slowly revealed, but it doesn't fall back on any typical sci-fi standard fare and feels like a breath of fresh air amongst recycled and repetitive worldbuilding tropes.

A lot of really fun side characters. Strong voices for all of the supporting cast (♥♥Kamrusepa♥♥) and even though not every character gets their own arc, they all clearly have plenty of interiority. Once again, another thing that makes Flower feel very believable despite it's absurdities.

Autism

"Did you notice anything out of the ordinary with anyone?" She eyed him. "Anyone who seemed tense?" "Saoite, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but half of our class is so autistic that they constantly seem tense. You might as well ask me to find a specific turd in a sewer." "Just answer the question, please," she replied flatly.

Guys it's really good just trust me I don't want to spoil you for the more intricate plot beats but they're doing some crazy shit here. It's never a bad time to support an independent author's project. If you're sick of corporate mass-media and stuff needing to be marketable, getting into independent works owned and supported by individual creators is a great way to push back against that. I highly recommend it.

[radioactive-earthshine]

Let's talk about Impulse 1995 and the theme of fostering and family.

Reading Impulse 1995 as one long story about the challenges and heartbreak of being a foster child under unusual circumstances AND as a story about home, family and love in general really is an experience - not just with Bart as the main character but also his friends who also have broken homes and experiences involving deep loss themselves as they navigate a world as vulnerable teenagers with complicated homes. Specifically Carol and Bart's adjacent mirroring in their foster placement and experiences with home is quite interesting when examined side-by-side and it makes sense why they end up as best friends.

Carol's brother was put in a place through sudden tragedy with the loss of their parents to be the bread winner and caregiver for Carol and their little sister.

We never see the conversation that led up to Max taking in Bart - but as the result of several tragedies Bart was in a position where only Max was able to take him in as a mentor and a care taker, not a parent to start.

So we have these two teenagers who were orphaned in different ways with deeply contrasting back histories find each other as best friends.

Carol remembers her parents and their love - Bart never got this and only got a brief moment with his mother.

Carol is living with her brother because he is as far as we know the only family she has to rely on - Bart meanwhile has his Grandmother and his cousin through her (Wally) however they each are incapable of taking him in due to varying valid circumstances.

Carol is raised in a household of love - Bart is in (to start) a household of obligation where Max's initial intentions were never to actually raise Bart but to simply be a mentor and teach him how to use his speed and acclimate to the real physical world.

The circumstances around Bart and the affection he receives from Max do change dramatically as the series progresses (and Helen has a major part in that we cannot exclude her) and he finally gets to experience a home filled with love.

Then like Carol - it changes dramatically and he loses Max and Helen and he has to be raised by people he cares deeply for but are not his parents (though they eventually do say the love Bart like a son it doesn't start that way).

We also see more characters other than Bart and Carol as art of this unifying theme of home, family, love, fostering, obligation etc and each with their own unique place within it. Preston and his mentally ill mother who beat him brutally and his complicated feelings towards her. Wilfred "Evil Eye" Parker and his insistence on growing up to be a villain so he can finally get his father's (and grandfather's) approval. Mike Ringer and his own feelings of loss and redirected anger towards his own father when his mother died.

White Lightning and her very close loving relationship with her mother where they made a home on the road

And also how can we forget Max Mercury and his daughter Dr. Helen Claiborne and their fractured and difficult relationship as absent father and daughter and everything that led up to Helen existing in the first place.

Impulse 1995 is a compelling series about forgiveness, fostering, finding home and love when there was neither to start including loving oneself and forming a community around friendship with an unintentional unifying theme.

Naturally this is not the only theme within Impulse that takes the spotlight but it is the one we're focusing on in this post.

[a-bright-comet]

Jade Shadows Thoughts

(NOTICE: I have edited this post after a few days and many lovely replies and tags giving me more insight and opinions, overall my view of this quest has gotten a lot more positive, thank you all <3) okaaayyyy I am utterly rattled rn lmao also made the mistake of looking at tumblr after doing the quest and as expected it seems to be a 50/50 of hating or loving it. so here are my personal thoughts, I am a little scared but talk seems to be civil thankfully. I can definitely agree on the sentiment that this quest needed more time, cause let's be honest the people hating this quest wouldn't be jumping to the things they're jumping to if Jade herself got more screen-time before the big drop, warframe's style has always been vague and never 100% straight-forward and I think that unfortunately hurt it a bit this time, as what they didn't show came off wrong to many people and while I sorta see why I disagree on some parts. I also feel like the quest kinda got a bit *too* hyped both by DE and the fanbase's theories, way too short, it deserved and needed to be a bit longer for it's special narrative. Jade kinda got a weird spot, both being the main focus alongside Stalker but also hardly explored. But let's be honest, most of the negativity is caused by this outside-circumstance alone. Now, what I absolutely disagree with is people insisting that DE was trying to say "bodily autonomy bad" or that Stalker didn't care about her and only the child, thing is I thought it was pretty fucking clear that she *wanted* the child in what little was shown and she was going to die no matter the outcome (thanks to the orokin to absolutely no one's surprise) and Stalker in his guilt for all she's done for him wanted to make sure that he at least kept this one promise to Her, cause She wanted it. she still had bodily autonomy in the fact She wanted this, she wanted the child no matter what. and she wanted stalker to protect her and the kid. And he did, like a true loving partner. DE has a long track record of being very autonomy-positive. A point they make time and time again is that ripping it away is *bad* and horrifying, the quest is a bittersweet tragedy, not a horror. Honestly there would be 0 issue if DE had given us a Jade-only quest before this one, I personally would've preferred it as well, she's cool as hell she deserves it. who knows maybe DE will see all of this and make prequel quests? we can only hope. I do not want to assume the worst of anyone or anything cause that's a miserable existence. Look I personally enjoyed the quest and get the feeling whoever wrote it did it out of some personal experience or sorrow, that's at least the vibe I got. It's a tragedy, but her choice was seen till the end, many women choose to still have a child despite knowing they won't make it, many also don't, that's why choice is important. and she did, she chose her child that she was having while likely forcibly infested and turned into a warframe. (also remember there are women on the team who likely looked at this.) there are some other iffy parts of the quest, (really should've been the drifter instead of the operator if they were gonna do that, but that's personal discomfort.) but overall I enjoyed it and open to explore the implications of a born-warframe-child and Stalker healing as they both grow together. These are my thoughts, and I can understand why people like or dislike this quest, but I think it's fine and just ended up in a very unfortunate spot due to outside circumstances beyond it's control. (sorry if any of this comes off as aggressive it is not my intention despite how riled I am by some folk online, I disagree with you but I do not hate you, I don't even know you.)

Her choice, His promise, Their light.

Thank you for reading my first ever text post about something I care about, not sure I'll be doing this again any time soon out of anxiety lol (Edit: and thanks to everyone responding to this post wonderfully, ya'll are great and have lessened my anxiety and have made me appreciate this quest more <3)

[mourningsbane]

Perhaps silly questions, but I'm growing more and more curious of your blog with each new entry/question answered. Love the story slowly unfolding here, cannot wait for the next part and following moons <3

Does Palekit have any further deformations? Or rather that question but in past tense. His tail looks almost fin-like, but I'm not sure if what we are seeing is a) a stylistic "drooping goo" effect, b) a very weird tuft of fur, or c) some malformation of the tail tip, resulting in its split structure.

What's the clan's relationship with Sweetkit, considering so many of its members', em... involvement in the perishing of Honeyspring and her kits. Mostly wondering if Flaildrizzle, Tanglefern and Rootstar feel anything (guilt, sadness, etc.) at all when they see this only kit in clan after a whole litter dies in such horrible circumstances before Sweetkit's arrival? I mean, surely such a tragedy leaves an impact. A followup question-

How much time has passed since Honeyspring's death and Sweetkit's arrival? Do any of LutumClan's cats consider Sweetkit to be like "a second chance" for the clan after losing their only queen and her litter?

A bit of an alternate outcome question! Let's assume Nothing Bad Ever Happened©️ to Honeyspring's kits. What would their warrior names be? What would their basic personalities be? Would any of them pursue high ranks within LutumClan?

Also sending fictional love to Honeyspring, stay goopy queen 💅

There's no such thing as a silly question! Besides, I like answering questions, even if it takes me a while to get to them! <3

My answers are a tad long, so I'll put them under the cut!

1.) Palekit did not have any further deformations! His face was slightly crooked, and his tongue sometimes hung out, but that was about it. He also had severe issues with vomiting; he just couldn't keep anything down and tended to bleed.

2.) Rootstar, Flaildrizzle, and Tanglefern all feel very guilty and upset by what happened to Honeyspring's kits! Still, they, and the rest of LutumClan, saw Sweetkit's arrival as a sign of hope. However, LutumClan as a whole tends to be a tad overprotective of the only kit in the clan.

3.) About 3-ish months have passed since Honeyspring's death! Sweetkit is definitely considered LutumClan's "second chance" of sorts, but a few cats (namely Rootstar and a few others) REALLY wish Sweetkit was in the care of someone who ISN'T Bearface. They're worried that Bearface, being a former outsider who barely respects the clan code as is, will be a bad influence on her.

4.) As for the alternate outcome, let me think! I'll give you my best guesses, but destiny is mutable, so these could've easily changed!

Smallkit would grow into Smallcloud, and would become an apprentice to Tanglefern! She would be on the smaller side, but she'd be a fierce creature for sure! She'd be smart and cautious, but never a push-over.

Flailkit would grow into Flailwhisker, and would likely go on the path of becoming a queen or mediator! She'd likely be about average height and a bit on the chunkier side. I imagine her to be quiet and shy, much like Flaildrizzle, and easy to talk over. Still, she cares greatly about her clanmates, even if she's easily overwhelmed. Smallcloud would've been very protective over her in their youth.

Palekit would grow into Paleclaw, and would most certainly follow the path of a warrior! He'd idolized his aunt, Rootstar, and wanted to become a leader just like her. He's prideful and a little boastful for sure, but not intentionally. He's just very proud of his aunt being the leader, and his mom (Flaildrizzle) being the deputy, and wants to make sure everyone knows it.

Had Honeyspring's kits lived, Sweetkit's role would have also changed, but I can't say it due to spoilers!

[shima-draws]

YIPPEE PRETTY BOY IS FINISHED 👀

More info on him below!

Name: Rozen (Codename: Cavalier)

Age: 32

Hair color: Strawberry blonde

Eye color: Magenta

Element: None

Rozen is currently a member of Nahu's party, but before then he was working as a high-ranked officer of an underground gambling ring 😳 It wasn't a job occupation he necessarily chose, he really ended up there because he had nowhere else to go after a tragedy occurred in his childhood. And speaking of which--

Rozen was abandoned by his parents at a young age, dumping him into the first orphanage they could find. This of course caused a lot of trauma and essentially made it so that he no longer trusted anybody due to fear of abandonment. He grew up bitter and angry at the world, living as a troublemaker and pretty much going by his own rules (which caused the director of the orphanage plenty of headaches). Unfortunately due to his prickly personality this made it nearly impossible for any one to adopt him--but he preferred it that way, intent on leaving the orphanage on his own as soon as he was of age.

This all went to shit when a new kid was brought into the orphanage, by the name of Malachi :)

Malachi's circumstances were completely opposite of Rozen's--he had a family who loved him, but their lives were brought to a violent end when they were suddenly attacked by a group of rogues after their fortune. Rozen looked at Malachi and immediately saw himself; angry, bitter and broken because of the cards he'd been dealt. This in turn lead to a very...rocky start between them, due to how similarly they acted around people. Rozen viewed Malachi as a little brat and basically had the opinion of "boo hoo you're an orphan well at least your parents loved you and didn't throw you away like mine did". (So, a biiiiit of jealousy there. LMAO) Malachi thought Rozen's arrogant and stand-offish personality was annoying and correctly called him out for being a total fake. They were definitely at each other's throats for a while!

All of this changed when Rozen got a bit too big for his britches and pissed off the wrong crowd. Surprisingly, Malachi rescued him from being beaten to absolute shit and Rozen was shocked that Malachi actually helped him. Nobody had ever shown him that kind of care all his life, and Malachi was in the same shitty situation that he was, except probably worse. Rozen started to soften up around him after this, and slowly started to drop his defenses and show his true personality. Despite Malachi finding Rozen's change of heart "creepy", and his sudden personality change kind of drastic, he couldn't help but grow attached to him too. Before long they were practically attached at the hip, and if you saw one of them you'd know the other wasn't too far behind.

At this point Rozen was fully himself instead of the persona/act he'd been putting on for all his life. AKA he essentially has the personality of a golden retriever, is kind of an airhead (or an idiot, according to Malachi), and is a total softie. Him finally showing his kinder side helped Malachi too, and eventually, after spending two years together, Malachi was crushing on him HARD lol. Of course, Rozen only really viewed Malachi as a best friend, especially due to their age difference (being 4 years apart, with Rozen being 17 at the time and Malachi being 13).

The two of them were determined to leave the orphanage together, either being adopted as a package deal or just leaving when they were finally of age. This came crashing down when a couple looking to adopt just Malachi showed up, and despite the pair's attempts to sabotage any sort of chance Malachi would get adopted, the couple was insistent on taking him home. This sparked some suspicion in Rozen, wondering just why they were so intent on Malachi. He soon found out that these people were connected to the rogues that had killed Malachi's parents--they were seeking the same fortune and knew that Malachi was the key to finding it. Rozen confronted them and convinced them to take him instead, as Malachi had told him he had no idea about his parents' riches so he'd essentially be useless to the couple. Rozen offered his services and promised he would stop at nothing to find them the treasure, as long as they left Malachi alone. The couple agreed.

Malachi, of course, was devastated to find out about Rozen being adopted (and right before he'd become of age too), not wanting to be apart from him. Rozen explained his reasoning and revealed it was all part of his plan--he'd go away with the couple and then slip back to the orphanage in the middle of the night, where he and Malachi would run away together. With a promise to return, Rozen left with the couple, and they stopped at a nearby manor for the night.

As Rozen was preparing to sneak out and back to Malachi, the manor was suddenly attacked. The couple who had adopted him were slaughtered in the ensuing break in, and Rozen barely escaped alive. One of the villains managed to catch him off guard and cut his eye, leaving him half blind. Horrified, he raced back to the orphanage, only to find the entire village engulfed in flames--along with the orphanage itself. Rozen immediately tried to run into the building, fearing that Malachi was still inside, waiting for him--but before he could do so, he was pulled back by a strange figure.

The figure revealed he was the one who organized the attack on the couple and their accomplices, explaining that they had betrayed his trust. The couple were the ones to initiate the fire in order to wipe any evidence that they'd visited the town in the first place, wanting to cover their tracks. The figure introduces himself as the head of an underground crime organization by the codename of Roi...you see where I'm going with this right 👀 He tells Rozen that, regretfully, there were no survivors, and Rozen breaks down in tears upon realizing that Malachi was gone.

Roi offers Rozen a place among his men, seeing as he had nowhere else to turn to. Rozen, too distraught and emotionally unstable, numbly agrees. This would turn out to be the worst decision of his life.

Roi takes Rozen back to his headquarters and has him sign a contract, essentially chaining him to Roi and the organization as a whole. Rozen is trained to become a master of deception and the overseer of the gambling ring, working at various casinos and resorts to scam big spenders out of their money. By the time Rozen realizes what he's gotten into it's far too late; there's no escape for him and he's completely under Roi's control. Escape means death, and while Rozen wouldn't mind dying to be reunited with Malachi, fear stops him from ever going through with it.

Years pass and Rozen's skills only improve. Out of all the "games" that go on in the ring he becomes an absolute master at cards and takes pride in it (his sleight of hand is actually insane). Being a non-elemental, he uses card-based magic as his offense. He becomes a well-known and respected (and feared) member of the organization, and Roi regards him highly, eventually promoting him and giving the codename "Cavalier". However, things are a bit different behind the scenes--Roi is merciless, abusive, and just an overall toxic person to be around, and Rozen is not excluded from his wrath despite being his so-called "favorite". Rozen has had to endure his abuse for years, and is in constant fear for his life. It's really bad 😭

Things start to shift when Roi brings in a new pawn by the codename of Valet. Valet is surprisingly sympathetic considering the type of people Rozen works with, and Rozen grows to admire his cool head, sharp tongue and intelligence. However, Valet begins to butt into his business, urging him to break free from Roi and find a better path in life. Rozen isn't too happy with someone intruding on his personal matters and lashes out at Valet, causing a rift between them. Valet only wants to help and doesn't want to see Rozen suffer; Rozen knows better than anyone that there's no escape from Roi and has resigned himself to his fate--and he doesn't want to see Valet get hurt either.

This is when Nahu and co. come in ;)

Nahu and co. are sent to infiltrate the gambling ring, and immediately things are thrown into absolute chaos. After many twists and turns (and plot), Nahu goes to face off against Roi in one final fight. Roi captures Rozen and chains him up, unwilling to let his perfect pawn go free, and poisons him so that he loses any strength to escape. While Nahu is absolutely wrecking shit fighting Roi, Valet sneaks up to where Rozen is being held and attempts to set him free. Through the haze, Rozen witnesses Valet trying to free him, and sadly reminisces about Malachi. Rozen tells Valet to let him go, to let him die--that way he can be with the only person he cares about again. Valet yells at him and says no, he can't die, because--

Valet is Malachi.

Recognition hits immediately. Valet has always seemed familiar to Rozen, though he could never put his finger on it. But now he can see it, Valet is Malachi, Malachi is alive, Malachi has been by his side this ENTIRE time and he is SUCH a fucking idiot for not realizing sooner--

Nahu defeats Roi, and before Rozen succumbs to the poison, Malachi threatens him and says he'd better not die before he can kick his ass. Rozen laughs and thinks I can't BELIEVE I didn't notice, they talk the same way.

Days later he finally wakes up to find Malachi beside him, and immediately bursts into tears. Malachi explains that he'd been rescued by one of the townspeople when the orphanage went up in flames. It left him with a few burn scars but it ALSO awakened fire magic within him, which he can now wield freely. Malachi was told that Rozen had been killed by the people who attacked the village--which weren't actually the rogues, the village had been attacked by Roi himself, and HE was the one to set the village ablaze. (So Rozen had even been manipulated by him back then. MAN) Malachi refused to believe that Rozen was dead despite all the evidence claiming otherwise, and spent the next 15 years searching for him. Malachi was eventually employed by a sort of intelligence agency that sent him undercover to the gambling ring, and that was when he found Rozen again and realized he was alive. However, while Malachi was 100% ready to blow his cover and escape with Rozen, he was coerced into staying for the mission, much to his frustration.

Malachi tells him that he hadn't thought of anything else for the past 15 years, and now that he'd found Rozen he'd never leave his side again 🥺 Rozen feels the same way. They both realize they're probably in trouble, with Malachi prepared to abandon his duty to be with Rozen and Rozen with his...complicated history being involved in an underground crime organization. LMAO

Luckily for them, Nahu is all about recruiting them, and they both agree to join his squad <3 Their new life together begins!! Rozen has to grapple with the fact that Malachi is definitely not the kid he used to know and has grown up, a lot. Malachi, meanwhile, has been in love with Rozen since he was 12 and is trying everything he can to properly express that. Rozen slowly comes to terms with the fact that yeah, he's probably in love with Malachi, and things just get more interesting from there as they dance around each other for months just trying to figure it out ;)

AND THAT'S HIM MY MASTER OF CARDS MY HEARTBROKEN KING MY SLUT TITTY-WINDOW THIGH-HIGH WEARING KING thank you for reading mwah <3 (Also Malachi will be posted soon I have to write his side of the story as well lol)

[starsincline]

Hi,

I’m Nasrin from Gaza.

My family is facing a dangerous situation due to the ongoing war, and my brother, who suffers from bipolar disorder, is in a very difficult condition. I need your help; even a small amount can save lives. 💔🙏🍉🇵🇸

Thank you so much for your support and for standing with us in these tough times.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/urgent-help-needed-a-journey-from-gaza-to-safety

I really hope your family's circumstances improve soon🙏

vetted (line 75)

€13,544 raised of €50,000 goal

In the shadow of conflict, our family has faced unimaginable hardships. The passing of my father, a victim to the cruel grasp of hunger and inadequate healthcare, left a void in our lives, underscoring the fragility of our existence here. My brother, Samer, battles bipolar disorder, a condition exacerbated by the ongoing war and the severe shortage of essential medications. Without access to the necessary treatment, his life is at risk, and we live in constant fear for his well-being amidst the chaos that surrounds us. These personal tragedies have deepened the urgency of our situation.

This journey is more than a physical relocation; it is a quest for dignity, for normalcy, for the very essence of what makes life worth living. We seek to restore what conflict has stripped from us: our home, our health, and our hope. We turn to you, not just as donors, but as fellow humans who understand the power of compassion and community. Your support, in any form, is a beacon of hope in our darkest times. It represents solidarity and a shared belief in the sanctity of life and the right to a safe and peaceful existence.

[xinfinityl0ve17]

- WHAT's IN? Pictorial ワッツインピクトリアル 1998年7月

All the photo credits to kamitribute

I did a translation on this magazine. If you'd like to correct me please feel free! I hope you enjoy!

"I want you to open your heart and feel. I believe that as humans, there are moments when we can feel something and change ourselves due to unexpected triggers..."

MALICE MIZER

Human Science High Sciety Syndrome

— I’ve lived this way. That’s why, after entering society and starting MALICE MIZER, I feel like I began to think about humanity. The more I think about it, the more negative I feel. Yuki, you’ve had a bit of experience as a salaryman, right?

Yu~ki: Ah, but at that time, I was surrounded by really good people, so I was very fortunate. I feel like my life has always been supported by wonderful people. However, once I entered society, I started to feel the difference between the adult world I envisioned as a child and reality. While I understand that people have their own circumstances, there were times I became almost socially anxious with each encounter. But with MALICE MIZER, there are moments when closing myself off from the world allows for better expression.

— Being blessed by people, does that mainly refer to the members?

Yu~ki: That’s right, of course.

— What about you, Kozi?

Ko: I’m very grateful. As a child, I liked sci-fi manga, and I was thinking of talking about that. However, I recently realized that the reason I started pondering questions like, "What is humanity?" is rooted in something different. It’s about dreams.

— You mean the dreams you have while sleeping?

Ko: Yes, yes. I keep having dreams with similar scenarios, so I started to wonder why. I believe dreams make us conscious of what lies in our subconscious. What exists in our subconscious is likely suppressed by our daily lives. For example, as a baby, I would cry when I was hungry, unable to suppress my desires. But as I grew older, I learned to control myself. I think that the raw essence of my consciousness is suppressed and exists in the unconscious.

— By the way, Kozi, you mentioned that you were attention-seeking in elementary school, right?

Ko: Yes, I wanted to be the star of the school play. I was also the sports committee president (laughs). I think over the years, I became more suppressed and turned into a darker person.

— In MALICE MIZER, do you think you’re trying to liberate that suppressed unconscious?

Ko: Perhaps that aspect is there. — Lastly, I’d like to reflect on the history of MALICE MIZER's performances in terms of expressing " What is humanity?"

— What kind of discussions did you have among the members?

M: Things like the flow of time—past, present, future. Is destiny predetermined? Where is the end of the universe? That sort of thing.

Ko: We used to talk about these things naturally back then.

M: Yeah, it wasn’t like, "Shall we discuss this?

— Were there expressions of "What is humanity?" in your indie-era stage performances? Perhaps in the opening?

M: Hmm, yes, in the live shows...

Ko: I put my heart into the openings (laughs). In the early days, everyone was still playing their instruments properly, so there was only the opening where we would come out empty-handed.

M: When we performed at Shinjuku Loft (a live house), in the opening, the three of us, Kozi, Kami and Yu~ki came on stage suddenly and started fighting. Of course, there was music playing in the background.

— What were you specifically trying to express with that?

M: That’s a really difficult question. Just try to imagine it (laughs).

— I kind of get it...

M: Also, in the opening, I would pull Yu~ki, who was chained, onto the stage and whip him. Yu~ki looked cold and frightened, like a doll.

— That sounds like SM play.

M: We expressed "What is humanity?" in the world of SM. At that time, we didn’t really have any happy performances. The name MALICE MIZER...

— It comes from malice and tragedy, right?

M: So, we’re trying to express the malice and tragedy that lurks deep within humanity, which is why there are many cruel elements.

— Chains were one of your signature techniques, right?

M: Also blood (laughs). In the early days, we used paint for that, but it evolved over time. We were constantly experimenting with detailed performances, setups, and stage designs from our indie days, leading to the wonderful stages of MALICE MIZER today.

Ko: It’s true that our past is what brought us to where we are now, but we’re still in the middle of experimentation. Our attitude of always trying to create something new will continue.

M: There’s no end to it. The audience is also a part of creating our stage. So I want them to open their hearts and watch and feel. I believe there are moments when people can feel something and change themselves due to unexpected triggers. I, too, didn’t know what I should do as a teenager, but I was able to change because of a certain trigger, and I sometimes receive letters from fans saying the same. I would be happy if MALICE MIZER’s CDs or live shows could serve as that trigger."

[dangermousie]

The sheer tragedy of it - out of all the demons we've met, Fei is the gentlest and the nicest but his nature is literal death to humans. All the stories really echo and mirror and parallel the mains, and I think his really drives home the tragedy of innateness - Fei cannot help being a plague demon the same way ZYZ cannot help being controlled by evil energy under certain circumstances - but even as they are innocent, the carnage and grief and death they cause against their will are real. In a way, all the people and demons they meet are ways for them all to understand themselves and their companions better, isn't it? Just as when we find out (in a twist that made me sob) that QC never was resentful or hated Fei or wanted to break free or harm people - it was Li Lun poisoning her mind and it mirrors both again the question of culpability of ZYZ (he is as innocent when under control of that energy as QC was) but also the fact that you cannot fix your past actions whatever caused them and cannot undo them.

I found it so telling that the camera focused so much on ZYZ during this speech because doesn't it parallel his situation?

(Even Fei and QC parallel his situation with previous Baize Goddess, where the opposites became friends but due to his nature he became her doom - it's clearer and clearer he was the one who actually killed her, imo.)

[purplink8]

I think it's worth noting just how much Light detests being called evil. Which is likely due to his father's morality being strictly ingrained in his personality.

On Lind. L. Tailor's appearance, Light was surprised, sure, but he also took him lightly:

He was amused really. I don't think Light was thinking about killing this guy at this point. Lind. L. Tailor was, after all, a 'moron' as far as Light was concerned, and wasn't much of a challenge.

Contrast this with the striking kneejerk reaction Light has when the aforementioned 'moron' uses Light's trigger word ('EVIL'):

...wow. ('L' went from a regular moron -> too damn stupid haha)

In all seriousness, the worst thing you can call Light is probably 'Evil'. He CANNOT stand it.

This is because Light spends his whole life trying to live up to his father's ideals, to be righteous, to incorporate his dad's morals to every fiber of his being.

So look at how emotionally conflicted (and hurt) he is when Soichiro indirectly calls him (Kira) evil. He is much more affected by Soichiro being the one saying it (compared to when Lind. L. Tailor said it) as he can't bring himself to completely dismiss it (compared to Lind. L. Tailor: Light didn't give a damn about his opinions).

His father would not ever bow to evil (said in reference to the Kira case, but it holds true universally for Soichiro).

Being Kira complicates matters since his father very obviously doesn't agree with Kira's morals- so Light draws a line in the sand for himself.

He would not, under any circumstance, cause any harm to his family as Kira.

But since Death Note is a Tragedy, we know that Light being Kira indirectly puts his family at risk and then we come to this heartbreaking scene:

This, as can be expected, CRUSHES Light. Not only does it mean that Soichiro had doubts against Light being Kira even after the mock execution, it also means that he still views Kira as evil, as he's glad that Light isn't Kira, inadvertently disowning Light (who IS Kira) on his death bed.

And the worst thing is, Light would never get a chance to change his father's mind.

[everybody-loves-purdy]

With a bit of inference, Moth Flight’s Vision is an accidental tragedy about generational trauma.

Moth Flight’s Vision is a book which tries to justify the medicine cat abstinence rule, and it fails at this. This is mainly due to the exceptional circumstances Moth Flight was in when she gave up her kits. And obviously you have the fact she was a very young mother with four children in a time before a nursery system and when Moth Flight herself was also navigating being the first ever medicine cat. But I want to bring up another aspect of Moth Flight’s Vision that heavily influences our titular character’s decision to give up her children and bar all medicine cats from ever having mates or kits: Trauma.

And I want to stress that at no point so I think the Erins wanted to make this a story about trauma. But boy did they accidentally make a pretty compelling story about generational trauma. You need to squint a little though but trust me, it’s there. Accidentally put in the narrative like some of the best stuff in warrior cats often is.

So the trauma I am referring two comes from two cats in her life, her mother Wind Runner/ Windstar and her mate Micah.

So if we start with the former, Wind Runner at the start of Moth Flight’s Vision is very critical of Moth Flight. She has no patience for Moth Flight getting distracted and her lack of hunting skill, and voices how she dislikes Moth Flight’s lack of prey contribution to the clan, and frequently insults her and makes snide remarks to her. Such as you can see in just this one example.

All this leaves Moth Flight feeling inferior and feeling like she is wrong.

All this cumulates in an argument in which Wind Runner lists how irresponsible she believes Moth Flight to be tells Moth Flight she is a danger to her clan. And Moth Flight believes her, and runs away.

Now after this once Moth Flight returns as a medicine cat we don’t really get anything like this from Wind Runner again but the damage is done. Now here’s where the inference has to start coming in a bit. Who wouldn’t be left with a complex after this? Who wouldn’t be left with the need to prove themselves however they can? Moth Flight certainly sets out to please Wind Runner and prove she can be useful to her clan in the early part of the book when she’s receiving this abuse. So why would it just evaporate later when she actually finds something she’s good at and can be of great use to her clan doing? Just put a pin in that for a moment.

Also while we’re talking about Wind Runner; Moth Flight has a conversation with her dead siblings about how she wishes she could please Wind Runmer, which leads to her dead siblings saying that the reason Wind Runner is so harsh towards Moth Flight is because of the trauma she experienced when she lost her kits. Wind Runner’s trauma is ultimately what is causing her to inflict trauma onto Moth Flight.

And now we move onto the second inflicter of trauma in Moth Flight’s life: Micah. Don’t worry, unlike Wind Runner, Micah didn’t inflict any trauma on Moth Flight through his own actions. Unless you count dying in a tragic accident right in front of Moth Flight. In which case yeah, his actions did inflict trauma on her. At least it was an accident.

Micah’s death deeply traumatises Moth Flight. She cannot bear to be in WindClan due to it, she lives in ShadowClan for a moon, avoiding going home due to her grief, and then only travels back once she realises she is pregnant, and decides she wants to be with kin.

The stage is set. The Erins have a young cat set up about to have four kittens that she’s going to give away and change the medicine cat code forever. What they do not realise is that the trauma they have influenced on this character can most definitely be inferred to have an effect on her actions surrounding her children from this point forward, ultimately being perceived as a large push as to why she gives them up.

The book wants us to believe that she gives up her kittens because it is just inherently impossible to be a medicine cat and have mates and children. Which isn’t true as cats such as Leafpool and Yellowfang have since proven wrong. And obviously there are the exceptional circumstances Moth Flight herself has been subjected to during this period. But her trauma can also be perceived to pay a huge part in her feeling like she cannot balance her duties and her children.

To start off with. The first moon of her kits life is fine. Moth Flight steps back from medicine cat duties and lets the very knowledgeable Reed Tail take primary healer duties for the clan. The book skips over the first moon with her kits and therefore we can assume nothing important happens, and no issues come from Moth Flight raising her kits for this first moon. Moth Flight does reflect that how she did on occasion try and do checkups but her kits always called her away. And here, while Moth Flight is reflecting on this, we get this paragraph:

So here we learn two things:

She feels ready to stop having Reed Tail help her when her kits are a moon and a half (6 weeks) old.

Moth Flight does not want to let go of her kits for any amount of time. She equates Slate saying that she can leave the kits for short periods to them not having a mother figure in their lives. And she thinks her kits can only receive adequate love from her.

So with point 1, Moth Flight’s kittens are still little babies. And she feels that she should go back to being a full time medicine cat when they’re still that young despite having Reed Tail to hold the fort, and dismissing him as her helper entirely after this point. And here I’m going to bring back the idea of inference. I feel that this could stem from Wind Runner’s abuse at the start of the book. Wind Runner left her daughter feeling so compelled to be useful to her clan that she’s throwing herself back into her work far too early in order to keep her mother happy and be of use to the clan in the only way Moth Flight feels she can be. Is any of this written in the book? Hell no. But I feel that you can absolutely infer that Moth Flight’s drive to get back to work so soon is due to the lasting trauma and insecurities her mother had imposed on her.

Point 2 is a lot to unpack and here, and this is a point that comes up again, how Moth Flight feels compelled to take care of her kits personally rather than hand them off to babysitters due to their lack of a living father.

So if we use some of that inference here, we can infer that Micah’s death has left Moth Flight insecure about leaving her children alone. She feels that she is the only one who can properly take care of them in her clan. And, undoubtedly by accident, this idea comes back. There are two incidents with her leaving her kits to be babysat and irresponsible babysitting causes the kits to get hurt. The first is where she goes to a gathering and Rocky encourages three of the kits to climb a rock but tells the fourth she’s not ready. So the very next day she climbs the rock. She falls, she gets hurt. And not once does Moth Flight get angry at Rocky for encouraging her children to climb a big rock, oh no, she blames herself.

There isn’t one second where she thinks about how it’s Rocky’s fault this situation arose. She entirely blames herself for it, and the situation is never even discussed with Rocky.

And then something similar happens later on. Storm Pelt is supposed to be watching the kits while Moth Flight goes to RiverClan. And then all four kits end up following her and one of them falls in the river. She doesn’t blame Storm Pelt for any of this. She doesn’t have a single word of blame to say to him about him allowing all four of her children to follow her to RiverClan. And from that we can infer (even though again, the book doesn’t say) she feels the blame lies with herself. This inference can be strengthened given that this is the incident which causes her to feel she should give up her kits.

On top of her feeling wholly responsible for her kits at all times no matter who is looking after them, the main other way they distract her from her medicine cat duties is when she suddenly becomes paranoid that some horrible tragedy has befallen them while she isn’t watching them. And I think all of this paranoia and heightened sense of responsibility regarding her kits all comes down to Micah.

He died traumatically in front of her eyes. She feels extra protective of her children because they no longer have a father. And we can infer that her paranoia of them meeting a gruesome fate has come from her witnessing the painful death of her beloved Micah.

And where does this leave us? All this trauma stemming from both her mother and beloved? Well, Moth Flight decrees that medicine cats must not have mates or kits. She then inflicts trauma onto her own children by separating them and forcing them all to live apart. The trauma that Wind Runner and Moth Flight experienced can now be inferred to have trickled down to both Moth Flight’s kits, and many, many medicine cats for decades to come. The book wants you to believe this is because kits can distract from medicine cat duties, that they can pull a medicine cat away from important duties. But that only happens in Moth Flight’s Vision due to poor babysitters or mainly Moth Flight becoming paranoid that her kits are going to die horribly like their father once they’re out of her sight.

Is this all a stretch? Absolutely. I have no doubt this was absolutely not the intention of the Erins at all. But in the words of Todd Chavez:

Isn’t the point of art less what people put into it and more of what people get out of it?

And thats what I get out of Moth Flight’s Vision. A story about how tragic trauma can be, not only for an individual, but also for others if it becomes generational.

[igotanidea]

Lollipop: Dick Grayson x kid!sister!reader

(part 1 of 4 for the batboys x sister!reader)

This was not supposed to end up like this.

At least at first, cause it was showing signs of impending tragedy.

He was only going to be gone for like 15 minutes with the best intentions of getting his little sister the biggest lollipop available at the fair shop.

And the fact that this beautiful girl was standing there casually, throwing glances his way had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Yes, he was flirty chatty, I mean – can you seriously blame a man with his look and charm? No right? No, of course not.

But, being the responsible older brother, he grabbed his sister and carried her piggyback straight to the shop, while cracking jokes and making the five-year old laugh softly, in the way only little kids can. Literally lighting up his entire world and having a great brother-sister bonding.

„So. Which one of the lollipops would you like Y/N?”

„That one!” she pointed her little fingers to the red and yellow piece of Candy on the display.

„Sure thing, little one, let me handle it for you.”

„Your daughter is so cute…” the girl Dick had an eye on, appeared next to him, flipping her hair flirtatiously, flashing him a bright smile.

Daughter?!

Shit.

Did he look that old that someone might take Y/N for his daughter?!

Was his hair going grey or something?

Did he have wrinkles?

He wasn’t even 30 yet and now he was appearing as a father figure?!

He loved that kiddo, he truly did, but this?

Too much.

„She;s actually my sister” he managed to say even though there was a whirlwind of emotions inside him.

WAS HE OLD NOW?!

„Oh, so cute. And you’re on the babysitter duties I guess?”

„Something like that.”

„Dick!” Y/N squirmed on his shoulders getting impatient and wanting her sweet.

Under any other circumstances in any other company that little word coming out of the word of a five year old would be completely Innocent and harmless, however Y/N had no idea what kind of reaction it may get from a – well- stranger.

“Did you teach her such language?!” the girl frowned in rebuke.

“What?” Dick chuckled nervously “No, no, you don’t understand, this is not a curse, it’s—”

“It sounds like one to me.”

“No!” Dick grinned “It’s actually my name!”

“Your name?” the girl raised an eyebrow “Are you for real right now?”

“Dick!” Y/N cried out again, wriggling so hard she almost fell from his shoulders, but due to some miracle he caught her safely, torn between wanting to smooch her cute little face and hiding her somewhere so she wouldn’t embarrass him even more. “Shh, kiddo. The adults are talking.”

“But I want –”

“I know little one, but if you could just give me five minutes—” Dick held his sister tight to his chest, whispering in his ear but she was not going to take his mysteriousness.

“Hi!” she turned around in her brother’s arms and called upon the girl “you’re pretty.” Her words were only as honest as a kid can be. No filter, no hesitation, no embarrassment and no overthinking.

“Well thank you. I’m Elle.”

“I’m Y/N.” the little girl reached her hand to the older one, squeezing it with the most stern face she could produce still being the cutest human being to walk the earth. “And that’s my brother, Dick. Dick! Come say hi to Elle!”

“That really is your name?”

“It’s Richard actually. But everyone just call me Dick. No subtext, I swear!” he laughed seeing Elle’s sceptic face expression.

“He’s my favorite brother!” Y/N clung to his legs, wrapping those tiny arms around them “yesterday he braided my hair and all the girls in the kindergarten were looking at me with jealousy!”

It was more likely shock, cause “braided” in Dick’s dictionary meant doing so many complex swirls that the complicated hairstyle seemed to stay on the head only by a miracle.

“And he watched all episodes of Dora the explorer with me! He even learned the song, come on Dickie!!” Y/N pulled his trouser leg “come on, sing with me! Jump in! ¡Vámonos! You can lead the way! Hey! Hey!” every exclamation mark was highlighted by the girl's joyful jump.

“Hey! Hey!” Dick grinned getting carried away by the cheerful melody and only after a while realizing that he must be making a fool of himself. “Yeah… um….”

“My brothers love that cartoon too.” Ellie smiled

“Oh, you have brothers?” now that was something the resident flirt could pursue “may it be that they are Y/N’s age?”

“Five and three. Do you think maybe they could hang out?”

“Oh, I absolutely think they could hang out.” Right, because it was all about the younger siblings. “Care to give me your phone number so we can arrange the da--… I mean the acknowledgement?”

Five minutes later Ellie said her goodbye and Dick was left with the very valuable number saved safely in his phone.

“Great job Y/N.” he put his hand up (not too high) so the girl could high (again- not too high) five him.

“Duh!” she scoffed with the face of a girl boss. “But seriously, you should up your game Dick!”

“Up my--? WHAT?! Where did you heard that?!”

“Uncle Wally—”

“Uncle Wally will not get fast enough to run from me now.” Dick hissed

“Hey, Dick?”

“Yeah, Yeah, I know, let’s get you that lollipop first, my little diva. You deserve it.”

He picked her up from the ground and spun joyfully in the air.

Who would have thought that he would actually be the oldest brother to such a tiny precious human, serving perfect role as her guardian angel.

[windywriter]

Who has Pathetic Worm Energy when in a relationship

ROUND 2 BC I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED THE FIRST ONE

Definitions/explanations under read more because this got LONG

Definitions: What is Pathetic worm energy?

To me Pathetic Worm energy has two definitions

The act of making a fool out of ones self in order to receive affection/pity from a loved one/romantic partner

The over correction one makes in order to avoid making a fool out of oneself in front of a loved one/potential romantic partner.

One's general pathetic energy for both funny and unfunny reasons.

Potential Pathetic Worm Energy:

A bit self explanatory but I feel that these characters have potential to be silly but only in certain situations. Additionally, this definition includes portrayals/characterizations that I personally find are close enough to canon that I could imagine it happening without straying too far.

Tsundere:

These characters will only show a softer (wormier) side to them under very specific circumstances and feel as though they have a reputation to uphold.

Other:

These ones I feel either do not fit into any of the categories listed above or I just do not have a firm grasp on their character.

Explantations

Has Pathetic worm energy:

Some of these characters are a bit obvious (Takemichi, Shinichiro, Akkun) however, I would like to explain why I put a few characters on here.

Kisaki: I feel like Kisaki fits into the over correction definition because when you look at what he did on paper, its kinda pathetic. He started all this shit, ruined friendships, orchestrated literal gang wars, killed/had innocent civilians killed all just to show one person, who didnt even really like him, how great he was.

Shion: Mainly because of how boisterous he is about his position only to get sandbagged multiple times throughout the story. And while the same could be said about the Haitani brothers, I feel like Shion's lack of charisma sort of gives him a different kind which pushes him to the top.

Takeomi: I feel he more fits the third definition. This is mainly because, despite the fact that he was moved to tears by Senju's genuine conviction he still fell to his greedy nature. And honestly, if that isnt textbook tragedy I dont know what is.

Has potential Pathetic worm energy:

Okay, these ones will require a little more explanation.

Rindou: For him, I have seen interesting interpretations of his character where he has a bit of an inferiority complex due to being stuck in his older brother's shadow. Which I find very interesting as it gives his character depth and a good contrast to Angry and Hakkai during their fight. However, I did not put him in the top tier because it is an interpretation and i feel like Rindou would only show that side in reaction to being compared to his brother rather than naturally doing it.

Mikey: While he is spoiled and possessive I feel like those traits only apply when he isnt locked in. I am also not including the other Mikeys because I feel like there isnt much to go off of. Though I guess Botan Mikey would probably be in "Pathetic worm" tier but for less funny haha reasons and more "This dude genuinely needs help" reasons.

Ran: Like Rindou, I feel like he'd probably only show a more cutesy spoiled side to him if it was calculated beforehand. He is the Charisma of Roppongi. However, I have also seen interpretations where the person he was trying to charm manage to outwit him (unwittingly or not) and leave him surprised. Which honestly, I find the gap moe very cute. Its fun to see The Ruler of Roppongi Ran Haitani left flabbergasted by someone he thought he had dancing in the palm of his hand.

Kazutora + Sanzu: I put these two together because while their obsessions are adjacent to Pathetic Worm territory, I feel like what stops them from going to that tier is the fact that they are incredibly dangerous people. And while that may sound rich coming from a tier list about Tokyo Revengers, with characters like the Haitani brothers on it, I feel like Kazutora and Sanzu ( particularly Botan Sanzu) are on a different level because they are willing to get their hands dirty and are not able to be talked down if you were to try to talk to them when they are in a certain headspace. So less funny haha, more "Oh God I need to get away now."

Takuya Yamamoto: Hes mainly here on the virtue of being apart of the Mizo Middle Five (Makoto is in the same tier is just forgot about him). However what holds him back from being at the top is his laid back nature. Yes he probably would act like a fool, but I feel like he wouldnt go too overboard. And I feel like hes too laid back to really worry about his reputation. Truly, hes probably the freest person here.

Peh-yan:

What convinced me about him for this position is his relationship with Yasuda and their dynamic. Its very sweet how far he went to help the sewing club.

Kakucho: The reason I put him here is because while he is very loyal and I can imagine that resulting in some entertaining scenarios, I also feel like Kakucho has a really bad habit of codependency. Additionally, I feel like hes just so sincere that he could say the sappiest pickup line and you'd still think hes cool.

Inupi: Mainly for similar reasons as Kakucho. However, I feel like what holds him back is instead is his kinda deadpan expression. So while he might say some out of pocket stuff, he says it so matter-of-factually you'll be the one reacting instead of him.

Angry: Like Rindou, I feel like he has a sort of natural inclination towards being spoiled being the baby of the family. However, what stops him from joining Hakkai is his eternal grimace + hes decently sensible so i doubt he'd go too far.

Senju:

I feel like she approaches Worm energy I feel like her sincerity + natural charisma tips the scales a little.

Izana: Honestly, I think he'd rather die than be perceived as having a flaw in any way. He has his moments, but I doubt he'd make that much of a big deal out of them. And if anyone tried well, theyl'll probably wake up with a few missing teeth, and loved ones.

Tsundere:

Draken: I feel like while he certainly does have his cute moments (especially with Emma). I feel like his straightfoward nature keeps him from truly indulging in the silly.

Smiley: Now, this is purely speculative but I feel like because Smiley tends to hide parts of himself in order to look cool

Baji: While he is quite honest with himself, I remember in the boyfriend tier list for Touman he was mentioned to be a bit tsundere so i put him here.

Hanma, Mochizuki, South: With how inscrutable Hanma is its sort of hard to pin him down. As for Mochizuki and South, I dont have a very good grasp of their characters so I dont feel very confident about them. Sorry.

Other:

Mitsuya, Yuzuha, Naoya, Benkei, Wakasa, Muto, Pah: I feel like they would just kinda be normal? Like, they'll have their cute moments but I dont think they'd go out of their way to act like fool to impress their partner.

Taiju: Excluding his habit of expressing "love" via violence, I feel like Taiju is so straight laced that he probably doesnt have a reason to do much outside of the basics for a relationship.