#eh I've seen people tag for less

[thatofabeavers]

uuuh cooking headcanons, because no one can decide so I'm deciding for myself

-

Dick: can cook. But like... simple shit, that can get you by. He can use the microwave, cook eggs, boil pasta- anything like that, made in simple steps, he can do. But something like cake or lasagna? Not at all, he'd burn the building down. He lived with the titans and had an apartment, on a shit salary, like. There was no way he was affording takeout every night. He can cook.

Bruce: can cook! Kind of. He can... put things together. Like sandwiches and toast and cereal and salad. But that is it. Your boy was not cooking properly, not when he had Alfred doin it for him and he had a batsuit to put on.

Jason: Probably the best cook out of everyone- can bake complex foods like lasagna! Nevermind helping alfred out in the kitchen- though that def helped, but he spent most of his life away from the bat, and does it as a hobby (in the games i think?)

Tim: yeees? He's bad at it. Serviceable. He'd burn toast just because he forgot he put it in the toaster and push the thing down again. He'd never had anyone to show him to cook, so he probably always just took snacks, takeout, or things that could fill him without burning the house down. His food experiments are more like how Nilered does it, and he doesn't really have the energy to spend on getting good at it.

Damian: Can NOT cook, he is like 12, raised in a cult where the only thing that judged your worth is fighting, currently being raised by Bruce and fed by Alfred. He'd use an entire sword to cut tomatoes.

Cass: can't cook for similar reasons Damian can't. She'd get too eager, I think, and put in a bunch of stuff that only go good separately.

Duke: Can follow instructions! He's at Dick levels of cooking but can do complicated stuff as long as there's a guide.

Steph: eeeeeh- she's a takeout queen who just gets everyone else to cook for her. She CAN cook, she just never wants to.

Barbara: I FInally figured it out!!

yeah she can cook! Courtesy of Gordon, it was a bondin thing, when they both had time. Losing her ability to walk made cooking- really, really hard, for a time, before she could get a more accessible apartment, as she couldn't reach a lot of ingredients and spices or navigate her kitchen. But it's better, now, with the extra space and relocated items. When she's being obsessive over her work as Oracle, she just orders takeout, though.

Alfred: Yeah (godly implications)

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

You know, for as much as I didn't like all the romance soap opera drama and what happened with a lot of the ATLA cast in Legend of Korra, I can admit that just because it wasn't my thing and bothered me in a lot of instances doesn't make it necessarily bad per se. I just think there were some weird decisions character-wise

However. I did not like what they did with Wan and the Harmonic Convergence, and I am quite confident in saying that it thematically weakened the show and was a wasted opportunity to do something truly special with the concept of the Avatar itself

[thefandomenchantress]

Chapter 2 Episode 15 Spoilers below!

Since Ace being the culprit has brought about so much pain to ace lovers, including me, I figured I'd make a list of all the good things that him being the culprit brings to us. Even though Ace will (probably) be executed next episode, that doesn't mean that nothing good came out of this, right?

-Ace's backstory may be revealed much sooner than expected! Before we would've had to wait for chapter 3 or chapter 4 and so on, but since Ace will be gone soon, almost everything not revealed next episode will get told to us in a bonus episode! (I think every dead person gets one of those? Idk if that's officially confirmed). I doubt Teruko's gonna find, like, Ace's diary in chapter three detailing his life story, so if we're ever getting the Taylor Lore™, it'll be in a bonus episode! Plus, a bonus episode would come out a lot faster than the whole of chapter three, so more Ace content sooner no matter what happens in it! And there's always the chance he gets picked for an FTE, since dead people are on the list of options.

-Ace canonically has neat, fancy handwriting. Begone rumors of Ace having illegible, traditionally boy-ish handwriting, he actually writes like a 19th century scholar and I find this very funny. More evidence for my 'Ace likes reading and writing and wanted to become a romance author' crack theory, since he also reenforced his particularness about vocabulary in chapter 2 part 2. (Our only remaining question: Does Ace actually have terrible spelling ('responsibel'), or did he just think Eden would?)

-Ace is very good at being sneaky and often overhears things he shouldn't. I can't wait for this to be used as a plot device in numerous fics ("XANDER YOU'LL NEVER GUESS THE SHIT I JUST HEARD DAVID SAY ABOUT YOU WHEN HE THOUGHT HE WAS ALONE").

-Ace will have to be included in the dead (formerly a) trio posts forevermore. Get ready for Xander-Min-Arei-Ace shenanigans.

-Now that the cast has been forced to acknowledge that being dumb and angry aren't Ace's only traits and that he's just as human as the rest of them, Ace is much less likely to be seen as just those two things by the average viewer. Ace's popularity, or at least the amount of dislike towards him, seems to have shifted since the last episode, and I'm happy more people are able to enjoy what his character has to offer now. He's a cool little guy. I've literally NEVER seen the Ace Markey tag this busy before.

-We got so many cool Ace CGs guys. SO MANY. Including one where he's hanging upside down on the swing set and looks weirdly cute for someone in the middle of a murder plan.

-Also new sprites! The DRDTdev gave Ace a redesign knowing full-well that it would only get a singular chapter of use, and I massively respect that. We already got some new sprites in part 2 of chapter 2 so far, and I'm guessing next episode he'll probably have at least one more breakdown sprite before he dies.

-For someone who no one in the cast liked, he's definitely going to leave an impact. He's finally made at least some of the cast realize what happens when they ignore the issues right in front of them. Ace shouts about how everyone hates him and sees him as an insufferable idiot? Eh, probably nothing, we don't have to worry about that. Sure, multiple people told him he's gonna die next in here, and he almost got murdered, but that won't amount to anything. What's he gonna do, murder someone--WAIT SHIT Ace step away from the Arei I repeat step away from the Arei-- (plus Teruko parallels). I'll probably go more in-depth about this sort of thing in a different post.

-WE NEVER GOT TO SEE WHAT'S UNDER HIS GLOVES. Kyoko and Mukuro both had hand-related secrets that connected them to the plot later on, does that mean Ace will have some sort of relevance to the mastermind or overall lore later on? Like a Mai tattoo situation? (Or maybe it's another thing that may be alluded to or discussed in the bonus episode)(Or left to interpretation but I hope not because I have so many theories).

If you have any more suggestions for other good Ace-related things the culprit reveal brought us, let me know and I can add them to the list! We need as many good things as we can think of right now...

[betweenlands]

Impulse thinks he might've started seeing things early this time.

It happens at least once a season at this rate, so it's not really a surprise on that side of things. And it's not as bad as the boogeyman clock-ticking he's heard twice now, so, he'll take it, just... it hasn't even been a full session yet?

He'd like to say it started when he ended up tag-teaming with Gem and Scott, but the truth is, that's not quite it. It started when he got his task and ended up in the cherry grove up there, and that little part of him he knows is basically a ghost detector went this task isn't so bad -- maybe people will actually trust me this time! There's never been a bad guy who built with cherrywood, right?

Really weird thing for a ghost detector sense to say. But then Gem and Scott caught up, and they sort of just fell into a natural alliance, and yeah -- Impulse looks at their location-in-progress and thinks we're gonna be the good guys this season, and for a split second feels this headache.

Then it's gone.

It happens again when Skizz visits, which is probably part of a task, but all Impulse knows is... he walks up to Skizz while he's saying "I've been that guy, that all I do is tell the truth, and I'm a loyal sword -- I think I might be the guy that just wants to lie to everybody and just be a jerk!"

Knee-jerk response: "Nah. Don't love that idea. Hate it."

Internal ghost-detector response: I mean, who says those things are mutually exclusive?

Impulse has to stop himself from whipping around fully at the voice, which sounds almost like Scott, except Scott isn't behind them right now -- just Jimmy, and past that the cherrywood trees. He thinks for a second there might be a flash of red among all those pink blossoms. He shrugs it off as Grian skulking around, even though he knows Grian doesn't have pink hair.

A few minutes later, he knows it definitely wasn't Scott, because the guy shows up to immediately point out a zombie villager appearing on the mountain -- there's a librarian, right there, aggroed more or less directly on him. They scramble to get it in a boat and cover its head. Some part of him suggests they should bury it underground, just in case. They only need one more.

Next sighting is a bit more difficult to ignore, mainly because Impulse knows when he's being made fun of, and when a goat smacks him while he's trying to wrangle it into a boat, he catches sight of someone with long blonde hair cackling like a maniac about it from the other side of the border wall, and before he can do anything more than think huh, how'd False get past the border? they're gone.

False is not in this season. He tries his best to put that behind him and inform his teammates of the real issue, which is:

"YOU SAID THAT GOATS WERE NOT A PROBLEM," Impulse yells, trying to pretend the panic is about the loss of a half heart. "I JUST GOT GOATED." He can see the campfire Gem and Scott set up over their shoulders. Someone wearing red is sitting at one of the seats. Impulse resolutely ignores the fact that he hasn't seen Grian at all so far.

That's it for the ghosts for a while, enough to lull him into a false sense of security. Maybe it is just Grian sneaking around. (Maybe the guy in a red poncho he sees in the distance in the badlands Scar has based just outside of is just Grian reliving his glory days.)

"By the way, this is Traitor Scar's!" Scar says brightly.

You think his partner's Grian again? a voice says wryly. It's not either of their voices. It's not the voice of anyone Impulse even knows, for that matter. It sounds like it came from over by the badlands.

"Trader Scar's," Impulse repeats, realizing he's misheard what Scar actually said.

Eh, the voice says. Like recognizes like.

[fandomwave]

"No Guys I Swear You Have To Go Out Of Your Way To Find It!" And why I don't love this take

This is about the Ha Ha funny Coffin Game which includes but isn't limited to topics of: Cannibalism, Murder, and the core topic of this little rant, Incest.

feel totally free to skip this if that's a hard pass from you! No shame in knowing what you're about including things you'd rather not engage with.

"I know what I'm about"

Good! So this entire little rant? Vent? Observation? Comes from the recent uptick I've seen of posts in the Tcoaal tag where people come in to defend the game with more or less this argument:

"No no guys the incest is really easy to avoid. You have to go out of your way to find it. The game even WARNS you that this is a bad route. Its nowhere in any part of the game beyond this. Honestly it's just not there actually"

And I get the want to defend the game as being more than 'The funny Incest Game'. I agree that The Coffin Of Andy and Leyley is WAY MORE than just the funny incest game. To reduce the game down to that would be a disservice to the writing that went into this game. Andrew and Ashley deserve way more and Numlie themselves deserves better credit than that.

h o w e v e r

However, I think it's also doing more harm than good to try and sweep their dynamic under the rug as something that is 'easily avoidable' and 'totally optional' I hate to break the news but Andrew's romantic inclinations towards Ashley are pretty obvious in Chapter 1. They certainly aren't as obvious as they are in Chapter 2, I'll give everyone that. But they are there, and to act like they aren't... Not to mention the defense EVERYONE gives so readily is that 'The Game Warns You This Is A Bad Thing To Do' is a lot more complicated than it might appear on first blush. First and foremost the 'narrator' is the one to say: "Somehow it seems like a highly questionable idea to take this route"

which imho is a far cry from "This is the bad end" "This has incest" "you are probably a bad person for taking this ending" that some seem to argue is the 'warning' you get. Secondly we should remember it isn't 'you' the narrator is talking to here. Effectively it's still Ashley first and foremost. When Ashley responds 'I know what I'm about' that is also the game showing us that Ashley knows what this means and still wants it.

Enthusiastic consent if you will

So what's the point to this little post eh?

Well I think it's doing a little more harm than good to both the story but also anyone interested in checking the game out who might actually be genuinely triggered by such topics. Tcoaal has the siblings romantic inclinations laced into the story from point A to B. It's impossible to avoid actually. You can go the entire game ignoring any acts of kindness towards Andrew as Ashley or Ashley as Andrew, and you'll always get the scenes of Andrew playing with Ashley's hair. You will always get the text informing the player that Andrew fakes panic attacks to share a bed with Ashley. You will always get the CG of Andrew's hand in Ashley's belt loops. You will always hear the voicemail 'You think you're better than me because you can fuck him and I can't' from Ashley concerning Andrew. You will always get the hints from Mrs Graves that she knows they are too close but did nothing to curb that behavior.

It is wholly unavoidable no matter what route you take. Burial, Decay, Questionable or not.

I think to argue that it's just a silly little ending you can get does a disservice to people who might genuinely be upset by that, and I think more than anything a game that is at the very least talking about incest rather brazenly deserves the warnings it earns!

I love this game to bits, anyone who's been within ear shot of me has had to deal with me talking their fucking ear off about the Sibling Abuse Simulator. I've gone on in excruciating detail how I think Tcoaal's writing has been done dirty by saying that Andrew and Ashley's romance is just a 'ha ha shock ending', comparing it to the siblings ending in something like Corpse Party (a game where the incest ending is 100% totally avoidable, and the story has exactly nothing to do with incest as a topic, and is only brought up if you trigger that ending. One where I agree with the argument that it's just there for shock value)

Anyways I see where people are coming from, I can understand the want to defend the game as more than the sum of it's parts and I agree that it does suck that this seems to be the thing everyone is hyper-focusing on in terms of it's breach of containment. I get it man, I really do. It deserves so much better than being reduced down the way it has by the greater internet.

But to say it's avoidable.. I dunno it's like taking the dragons out of Game of Thrones. The story as a whole about so much more than the dragons.. However you'd have a fundamentally different story if they weren't there, wouldn't you?

[katy-l-wood]

Are you willing to share your thoughts on the TV show Yellowjackets? I was into it for a bit, but haven't kept up and I love analysis, especially critical kinds because they're often the most interesting and I feel with your experiences you'll have some really cool angles on it. No pressure to answer if you'd rather not!

Sure! But with the caveat that I've only seen season 1, and it has been awhile. Also, I'm going to stick this under my "Disasters in Film" tag because, well, it's on theme even if we haven't specifically discussed Yellowjackets in class.

Now then!

I love the core concept of Yellowjackets. Girls' sports team has their plane crash in the woods and no one comes to get them, and it all goes sideways and falls into the horror genre more than just pure survival? A+ concept right there.

But I don't think a single writer on that show has ever been outside a single day in their lives.

It's just a suspension of disbelief issue for me. You've only got so many SoD points you can spend when you create something, and Yellowjackets is deep into the red. Hollywood has made it pretty easy to SoD things like everyone turning on one another, random murder, people being vicious to one another, etc. etc. even though studies have proven over and over and over again that people really don't behave like that in disasters. But you've still gotta spend some points on those things anyways, because deep down people DO know they're lies even if Hollywood likes to use them all the time.

So your core premise has already cost you some SoD points, but that's fine! You still have some to spend. But that number isn't infinite, and the more outlandish your details, the more points you're going to have to spend to pull them off. Yellowjackets just spent way too many. (A wolf ripping someone's face off and she's fine with zero actual medical care? Really?)

Now part of this, too, is the structure of Yellowjackets. It is a story told by jumping between timelines/flashbacks. It plays keep away with its audience. That is a structure you have to be VERY careful with or your audience is going to get annoyed with you and tune out. It can work when done right, but if you try and do it when you've already overspent your SoD points? You're gonna run into trouble. Plus, if you don't have a strong, solid plan for the whole timeline of your show across multiple seasons--a plan you will not change--it can fall apart in a heartbeat. It is not a structure that works for open ended projects of an unknown length.

A girls' sports team having their plane crash in the wilderness and getting stuck there IS conceivable--it's literally happened in real life with that soccer team. The girls struggling to survive and some of them dying IS conceivable--again, it has happened in real life. The girls growing up into adults that struggle with the aftereffects of that crash IS conceivable. The girls starting a weird little cult is starting to tread into the realm of "eh, maybe, but it does make for a great story so it's fine." Same for them finding a very helpful little cabin full of stuff. Could happen, but less likely. Then you get into the "wait, I don't think that would EVER happen?" stuff. Would a bear really just walk up, roar at you, and then you kill it with basically no real weapon? (Do you know how hard bears are to kill? Their skin is WEIRD.) Wolves ripping people's faces off. A convenient plane that later explodes.

At the end of the day, I think the show tried to do too much in too short of an amount of time to build up the believablity for the more outlandish things, and I think it's structure--and the fact that it doesn't seem to have a solid plan all the way through for its story--just made those things worse.

Now, not all of that is the show's fault! The way TV works these days--with shorter seasons and precarious chances of renewal--played a big role. I think Yellowjackets could've been a great 3 season show with each season getting 20-22 episodes. There would've been a lot more breathing room for the character arcs, especially given how many characters there are (and some of them are doubled given they survive to grow up and be adults). I think it also could've been helped a lot if they had some outdoors/survival consultants involved. The more realistic they made the survival elements, the more they could've gotten away with the weird horror elements because they wouldn't have wasted so many SoD points on things they didn't need to waste them on. Having a more realistic wolf attack (or, even better, a cougar attack) would not have changed the overall story. Having a more realistic struggle to find food would not have changed the overall story. Having a more realistic changing of the seasons would not have changed the overall story. Etc. Etc. Etc.

So yeah. Those are my thoughts on Yellowjackets! Coulda been great, but it got kneecapped in about five different ways.

[cilil]

I've seen many posts about people missing how common asks used to be so I have been trying to send about an ask a week. Now I send this ask first anytime I follow someone as I really don't want to bother anyone, so I'd love to know if you enjoy receiving asks and if so what kind of asks. Not having energy for asks or being comfortable with them is perfectly okay.

The categories I have in my ask notebook that I file under are in colour. Please feel free to make your response as long as you want or private (the asker cannot directly respond to private responses).

Self, Job/Work: please let me know what you are comfortable with from eh idk just ask it to nothing personal at all.

Baggishield/Tolkien, Dragon Age, Johnlock/Sherlock, ineffable spouses, other fandom: Please let me know what fandoms. I think my main fandoms and ships are Bagginshield/The Hobbit, Sherlock/Johnlock, Dragon Age Inquisition, {Pippin/Faramir Merry/Eowyn}/The Lord of the Rings and I dip my toes in a few that I currently can't remember but ships I don't engage with the canon of at all are: Good Omens but only for Crowley/Azirapheal, Stranger Things but only for Steve/Eddie , The Witcher but only for Geralt/Jaskier.

OC's, art/drawing, their writing, blog specific only

Story snippets ideas and prompts: Do you like receiving them?

Pets: I'd love to know all about them

Garden and Hobbies: What type of gardening and/or hobbies?

Like being tagged in things: If so what kinds of things?

*Asks are sent for fun, no pressure to answer.

Oh thank you so much for this, what a lovely idea! And I hope you don't mind that I did indeed lack the energy during the last few days... was out seeing friends and now I'm sick too x) anyway!

Job/work/about myself: Sure thing, ask away, I won't have many interesting things to talk about since I'm currently finishing up my degree and going into exams for the next few months so it's basically same old every day (-> desk and books). I may also choose not answer certain questions if I feel like they're too personal in the sense that me answering would reveal too much about my real life self, like location, identity etc, but that's on me, I'll decide that in the moment and there are absolutely no hard feelings. I do appreciate people's interest and as long as nobody is overly pushy or prying that's all completely fine :)

Fandom: Tolkien, mainly Silmarillion. Happy to chat about Hobbit and LotR too of course, just may have less to contribute. I do love Bagginshield and Aziraphale/Crowley, but don't really talk about the latter as I keep this blog Tolkien-focused

OCs: I have a few and enjoy talking about them every once in a while. They're all Maiar though so it might not be of interest to everyone and that too is very okay :)

Writing: I write and talk about writing all the time so... always love that :D

Art: I make art very occasionally. I don't mind talking about it or answering questions, it's just that I don't have much to show or be proud of or new developments happening x)

Snippets, ideas & prompts: LOVE THEM! Just a dangerous business because I get tempted easily...

Pets: While I love pets, my dog has recently passed away so it sadly remains a bit of a triggering topic for me. I sometimes share old stories about him when I have the mental and emotional capacity for it, but would prefer not to be asked about it for the foreseeable future as it can catch me off-guard and put me in a dark place🤍

Garden/hobbies: Due to my current living situation, my gardening is pretty much just maintaining my cacti collection. Also writing is currently my only hobby due to aforementioned circumstances

Tagging: Everyone, tag me in cute seal and bird pics! I also love doing tag games and ask games and the like, even if it sometimes takes me a while. In general: Never hesitate to tag me for stuff ^^

[aliciavance4228]

"Medusa x Perseus" Why don't you guys ship Bellerophon with Chimera? Or Heracles with the Hydra?"

Comparing Medusa to the Chimera and Hydra is a bit unfair. Gorgons are atleast humanoid, the other two are not. Its a bit zoophilic in nature. But again it's ancient Greece - Pasiphae fucked a bull so eh. It probably depends how humanly sentuent the monsters are. Still weird. I however do think that Heracles would fuck the Hydra, he is a canon monster fucker

Shipping Medusa with Perseus could be more comparable to shipping Theseus with the Minotaur. Both are stupud and make no sense but I've seen way less people complain about Theseus x the Minotaur that Medusa x Perseus.

The funny part is that I've already talked about and explained these aspects in the original tags lol.

[salsedine]

10 characters, 10 fandoms

Tagged by the lovely @greypetrel - so here we go! Thanks :*

Everything is under the 'read more' after the first one because I don't want to clog other people's dashes.

Aaand I tag @birdkeeperklink & @pyritefes2 here, so they don't have to scroll down the whole list to understand why and where they are tagged :P as usual, no pressure at all!

1.Stephen Black (Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell)

Incredibly well written and compelling (Mrs Clarke, teach me your secrets) in the book, and great acting by Aryion Bakare in the show. Probably one of my favourite male characters ever.

2.Lucrezia Borgia (Borgia: faith and fear)

I loved her character's arc through the 3 seasons. It really showcases the thing I love most about this serie, despite its flaws (and some are big flaws) - it never shied away from complexity. All characters are shown as capable of great tenderness and great cruelty - and this is one of the reasons why I think that they really captured the spirit of the renaissance.

3.James Flint (Black Sails)

"I was unjustly branded as a monster in the eyes of the so-called civilized society, so I'm going to destroy it" - what's not to love? And yes, of course I'm obsessed with the "freedom in the darkness" speech, of course.

4.Justice (Dragon Age)

"A world so full of beauty that beauty goes overlooked. I must see it with different eyes."

I couldn't find a gif, ops! Put my favourite quote instead. Initially I was really torn between Merrill and Anders and other five characters, but I'm in an AwakeningTM mood so I've picked my favourite rotting corpse.

5.Mr Nancy / Anansi (American Gods)

^^^ favourite scene/quote, no questions.

6.Jacquette/Jacquetta Woodville (The White Queen)

"We are all on fortune's wheel," I say. "Without a doubt we will rise. We may fall. But still I have no fear of it.”

Look at that Burgundy-inspired fashion!! The witchcraft and prophecies and definitely less accurate, but eh- that's still my thing. Also, a novel about her story (The Lady of Rivers) is the only book by Philippa Gregory that I didn't dislike, and that's truly something.

7.Uinen - Silmarillion

I have a soft spot for sea-themed mythology, so I obviously loved that section of the Silmarillion.

8.Hastur (Good Omens)

#team-Hell, because I like the demons' character design. Also, for some reason Ned Dennehy follows me on Instagram, so I feel like he deserves a mention.

9.Thomas Cromwell (Wolf Hall)

I have developed a love/hate relationship with this book&show - but Mantel's prose is stunning.

"It is wise to conceal the past even if there is nothing to conceal. A man's power is in the half-light, in the half-seen movements of his hand and the unguessed-at expression of his face. It is the absence of facts that frightens people: the gap you open, into which they pour their fears, fantasies, desires."

Do you see this? Annoyingly good.

10.Morgan le Fay - Camelot

I feel like this show had a lot of potential that it never got to fully express, and Eva Green as Morgana? Inspired casting, 10/10.

[nakitengoku]

oc interview: 💙Vex💙

Shoutout to @mail-me-a-snail for tagging me in this post and also egging me along with getting into Cyberpunk 2077 and subsequently creating Vex 💫

(I don't have a single good photo of Vex so you instead get the Compilation of sillies I've drawn, many featuring Snail's Vance!)

💙 Name?

"Name's Vex, but call me anything you like."

💙 Nickname?

"Some people used to call me V, but that was a while ago."

He used to be called Ghost when he was younger, being able to slip into the background unnoticed at any moment, but he later grew out of that. When he eventually adopted the name V, it was less of a nickname and more of a stage name. It's mostly forgotten now, but some hardcore fans will still recognize and call him V.

💙 Gender?

"Prettyboy ��"

💙 Star sign?

"Oh, I used to be really into these! If I remember right, My sun and moon are both Libra. Missy could probably tell you more about what that means though."

I decided to take one out of Max's book and use the first time i drew him as his birthday, which if we're going by the absolute first concept, was September 26, 2022. He's changed a Lot since then. Also, reading up on libras with Vex in mind is just 💥

💙 Height?

".....5'8."

He's actually 5'7 and a half.

💙 Orientation?

"Anyone able and willing. Why, you interested?"

If he cared enough about labels, it'd probably be pansexual. But by the end of the day, he doesn't really care what he gets called. As long as he gets what he wants out of it, anything's fine.

💙 Nationality/Ethnicity?

"White."

💙Favorite Fruit?

"Oh man, okay so I've only had it once at an after party forever ago, but it was this round, redish purple thing. When I bit into it, it was a little tart at first, but the inside was such a sweet taste that I was in heaven. By the time I finished and threw the pit away, there were no more left and I nearly cried. I haven't seen it since and I can't remember the name but man. Best organic thing I've ever tasted."

If you give this man a plum, he'd kill someone for you. Which isn't a lot given that that's his job, but still. He'd do it without expecting to be paid in money.

💙 Favorite season?

"Fall, for sure. While I was in Atlanta, they had these parks with trees that would change their colours to these gorgeous shades of reds and oranges. God, kinda makes me wish I could grow something like that here."

I don't actually know the plant life in Nevada or how much the temperature differentiates between the seasons in Night City, but I imagine that what shrubbery they do have there have leaves that are always green or simply non-existent. Vex saw a plant change colour outside of blooming and immediately fell in love with it.

💙 Favorite flower?

"Officially, Lilacs. But between you and me, I'm very partial to forget-me-nots."

He used to be gifted Lilacs all the time during his first career by Jonathan, his producer, but Vex always found himself enjoying the little forget-me-nots that acted as accent flowers than the actual lilacs themselves.

💙 Coffee, tea or Hot chocolate?

"Hot chocolate. Although, I will drink coffee in a pinch."

This man has the biggest sweet tooth. The amount of sugar he puts in his coffee before he chugs it down for the caffeine should be illegal. [I cannot judge bc I am the same way <3]

💙 Average hours of sleep?

'We talking Mean, Median or Mode?"

It varies so much that the actual average ends up being about 6, but um. Do not be fooled into thinking he's actually sleeping 6 hours every night. Think more along the lines of several all-nighters followed by crashing super hard for a day or two.

💙 Dog or cat person?

"Oh, a cat person. I'm just not home enough for a dog."

💙 Dream trip?

"I saw a pamplet once of Crater Lake in Oregon. It was something about the ten deadliest lakes in the world or something, but I'm just into how Blue it is. If I could, I'd visit the rest of those lakes too, but. Eh, I doubt it."

💙 Favorite Fictional Character?

"Hmm, it's a toss up between a side from this really long and old comic from the 2010's and the protagonist from a just as long manga from the 2000's. I think their names were Kanya and Ruffy? It's been 15 years though so don't quote me on that."

It's Kanaya from homestuck and Luffy from One Piece. He likes Kanaya because of her fashion sense and her dealing with the responsibility of her entire species on her shoulders. And he likes Luffy for his optimism and stubbornness. At one point, he imagined finding friends like Luffy did, being surrounded by so much devotion. The reasoning has since faded and he just barely remembers much about them now.

💙 Number of Blankets you sleep with?

"Eight. I like the weight and warmth."

His AC bill is through the fucking roof but he refuses to take a single blanket off, instead insisting on just making the rest of the room freezing. Giving him a weighted blanket wouldn't fix it, but he'd probably go down to five instead of eight.

💙 Random fact?

"When i was really little, my mom used to take me to a church. Don't think it exists any more, but I remember the Stain glass windows, how the light shone through and fell onto her. In normal lighting, I remember her looking pale a sickly, but once a week, with a statue of a half-god watching over us, my mother glowed. She was gorgeous.

"Anyway, I stopped going after she died. For a while it was because I never remembered what day it was, but later it was because I realized I only ever went to see my mom glow."

~~

Thank you for tagging me, Max! This was much longer than what i thought when i was getting into it but I'm still glad I did it.

I can't think of anyone specific who'd want to do this, so if you see this and want to give it a try, please do and tag me! I'd love to see your little blorbos :)

[malaierba]

ok. for that rancid ask game: 6, 13-16

i wanna know em all

Hello bestie 🫶 Already this is gonna be difficult bcs I was a little annoyed but then I saw your message and now I'm in a good mood LOL

Which ship fans are most annoying

F/arcille fans that mischaracterize (as a simp, or someone butthurt over being turned down, or jealous, etc) & villanise Toshiro. Legitimately who's the guy in that stuff?

Worst blorbification

Hmm 🤔 NGL the main three protag-coded guys (Laios, Toshiro, Kabru) have got it kinda rough.

Laios is used as a stand-in for a top a lot. Again, who's that guy? I know he's weird but he's not as sexually aggressive as I've seen him portrayed. If it's not that, he's a himbo.

With Kabru and Toshiro, I've seen it less since I spent a couple weeks going into tags just to block annoying people LOL. ✨ curating my fandom experience ✨. But people often miss the balance with them?

They're both NICE. Kabru has a martyr complex that's born from an honest concern about humans, it's been said a lot but a lot of his "intensity" are PTSD responses. Which, ofc, a bad look, but he keeps them under control for the most part? Impressive. To me he just looks like a guy who takes politics seriously, yet apparently that makes him nefarious. Please.

And then, my guy lol. Toshiro's usually a patient, observant person? Why is he so often drawn so angry? He'd rather put up with stuff that's truly vexing him than accidentally be impolite. He empathises with Kabru after he stops trying to manipulate him, and seems to have sided with Rin when they fell with Pamela. He's nice! Just a bit serious and anxious.

If it's not this too, it's making those two too... Uke-ish. Kabru gets twinkified and Toshiro gets turned into a blushing dandere (hey, I agree, I also see him as inexperienced and repressed. He still talks to people without blushing and getting flustered though? If anything I think he's more prone to go blue with anxiety than red with bashfulness).

Hmm. I can see why it can be difficult to find the balance with them though. I just also feel like they get shoved into tropes that don't fit them the most.

The one thing you see in fics all the time

I've mainly read fics that star Toshiro, NGL, and I'm super picky so it's not like I have finished that many 😬 but, if I had to say...

People write him as hating Laios way too much, when I think the emotion you need to balance is frustration coupled with respect for the guy and the knowledge that his social fumbles are accidental. Toshiro KNOWS he means well, that's what made it difficult to call him out! He feels he has social rapport with the guy. It never crossed his mind that he COULD find a way to speak up without making it weird.

He said he couldn't stand him during the fight, but I just can't look at it without keeping the context in mind. I'm sure he felt what he said in the moment, and I'm also sure he didn't mean it as much afterwards. The bell is a peace offering, a bridge. He was telling Laios "despite what happens I'm on your side". That's a thing you only do if you feel loyalty towards someone if you ask me.

The one thing you see in fanart all the time

Eh... A mix of the previous two answers lol.

Not a fan of Kabru getting eaten by monster!Laios. That's his trauma.

And I know some people fetishize elements of traumatic events to cope with them, or because sexuality is complex, I know this... But man it's crystal clear they're not doing it as a character exploration! They're not turning on their brains at all.

Can't understand why so many people like this thing

Why is ChilChuck X Reader so popular. LMFAO. I'm not judging!!!!!! But why him?????????

[fictional-men-have-my-heart]

Day 26

Hello all! Welcome to day 26! It's crazy to think I'm now less than a week from the end of the month. Thank you to all those along for the ride so far, and welcome to those just now stumbling onto this mess haha. I've had a lot of fun with this, and I'm glad it's been entertaining. This time I want to put out ideas I had about how the gents of the 141, Los Vaqueros, and Konig would make you take care of yourself when you refuse to slow down. (They do care about you after all).

Price:

You kept a semi-strong face up most of the time. But when it came to a phantom ache in your ankle from a long-ago sprain, you had more difficulty disguising it. After multiple long days of helping pack up equipment for a mission, you couldn't be bothered to try hiding your limp anymore.

Anyone who asked got a dismissive wave and an "I'll be fine."

Your captain wasn't one to take your stubbornness, however. He all but corners you in his office after he sent Gaz to fetch you.

"Sit." He says, gesturing to the chair in front of him.

"There's still work Captain, I-"

"That wasn't an offer." You purse your lips and sit, watching him reach into a desk drawer and pull out an instant cold pack.

"Captain, I'm fine."

"You've been dragging trails through the dust in the hangar all morning, so you're gonna sit here with this for at least 30 minutes, got it?"

"...yes sir."

Ghost:

He pays more attention to his crew than most people would give him credit for. It's why when he sees you nodding off during dinner that evening he opts to seek you out and address it.

"What's wrong kid?" He asks, quickly falling into step with you.

"Didn't get much sleep, sir, never sleep very well in new places."

"How about you go before the rest of the lot gets back?"

"I've got watch in twenty."

"I'll sort it out. You go."

"Sir-"

"Now."

"Yes sir."

Soap:

Being that the crew is pretty tightly knit, Soap can tell when things are on your mind. Rough missions, tough training days, he can gather it from how your shoulders hunch and your eyes dull.

"Got a raincloud followin' you, wanna talk about it?" He asks, nudging your foot with his as he sits beside you. You're sporting some new bruises and his blood boils a bit.

"Not particularly. Got roughed up a bit is all."

"By who?"

"I didn't catch a name honestly... they're the big ol' hunk of jackass from the other squadron here."

"They playin' dirty, eh?"

"Yeah, they are. Fuckin' pricks."

"Well, 'm sorry to hear that. Tell you what, you go get an ice pack, I'll be right back."

"Don't be stupid Soap."

"Don' worry 'bout me rookie." He had said, flashing you a grin as he left.

Gaz:

You and him had been pretty fast friends after you joined the crew. He was who you typically went to first, and he secretly took a bit of pride in it. New gossip around the post, asking to spar, or general questions and musings, he was the guy you'd pick. It was because of this he could tell when you were getting homesick, or just losing some of the fire that drove you.

"Hey, Price says we've got a few weeks of leave after this next mission."

"Really?" You perked up a bit.

"Yeah, guess it's time to start planning what we're all gonna do with ourselves."

"I want to go back to France, go check out some of the restaurants I haven't been to in a while."

"Ooh, mind if I tag along? You've got better ideas than I do." He'd muse. You grinned.

"How's your French?"

Alejandro:

He took a few days to decide that he was in fact right, you had been missing lately. Rudy hadn't seen you, nor had many of the others. He knew at some points you liked to disappear for a bit and be alone, but it always made him hyper-aware of where you were or weren't. He checked a few places you frequented, carrying a bag with him.

He found you holed up in an old, unused office.

"Been lookin' for you." He'd say softly, setting the bag in front of you.

"And yet you always seem to find me?"

"You don't make it all that easy." He'd joke. You pulled the bag to you, tugging it open to find some snacks and water, plus a book you had mentioned. "You know where to find me." He smiles, patting your shoulder.

"Thanks, Colonel. I'll see you later."

Rudy:

You tended to isolate after rough missions. Rudy knew this, as did Alejandro. He also knew you'd push yourself to exhaustion before you'd finally settle in back home. The sun had barely started rising when he found you running out on a common trail you made around base, and he decided to run with you.

"Sleep well?" He asked sarcastically. He knew if you had, you wouldn't be out here before dawn.

"Of course sir." You'd reply, rolling your eyes. You'd both fall silent, the crunching of stones under your feet and breathing the only sounds until other personnel began emerging from the surrounding buildings.

"There's an indoor training room I use when I'm too wired to get some good sleep." He offers as you walk back to the bunkhouse.

"Yeah? I may have to check that out." You joke, kicking off your shoes and saluting him jokingly. "For now, I'm gonna need a shower."

"See you at breakfast?"

"Grab me a coffee please!"

"Of course."

Konig:

Socializing wasn't necessarily his strongest skill, but he was extraordinarily observant. He could tell when things began weighing heavily on your mind, as it almost seemed to drag behind you like an ankle weight. He opted to share a little skill he'd picked up long ago, sitting across from you with some paper.

"Wanna see a trick?" He asked. Your eyes met his, one eyebrow raised as you nodded. He began folding a familiar pattern, showing off a little paper star after a few moments.

"... how?" Is all you asked. He slid you some pieces of paper, wordlessly showing you step by step how to produce the tiny little stars on your own. By the time you two were out of paper, there was a tiny cosmos strewn about the table and a smile on your face.

[doberbutts]

A lot of arguments I see against people with PCOS + hyperandrogenism calling themselves intersex is due to PCOS being a chronic illness, which is honestly very strange to me. Intersex conditionals also being chronic illnesses is far from exclusive to PCOS, but it's an argument I see used against it often.

Like you said, I often see TERFs and radfems arguing against it too. Mainly because they believe that being considered intersex would make them less of women. Whenever I look through the tag or look into online PCOS spaces, I see cis women angry in droves against the idea of being considered intersex because it means (at least in their mind) that they're not women. Femininity and honestly (as much as radfems would hate the idea) gender dysphoria from said perceived loss of femininity is so common in these spaces. Being seen as intersex in their eyes seems like another way their womanhood and femininity is being stripped from them.

I'm genderqueer so not having a connection to womanhood or femininity has never really been a problem for me (I'm personally much more concerned about my risk of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease due to PCOS). But it is a struggle for a lot of woman to lose that femininity (especially woman of color in these spaces since they're often hyperfeminized or hypermasculinized due to race/ethnicity) they desire and being called intersex can often add salt to that wound.

Their hated of PCOS + hyperandrogenism being considered intersex comes from intersexism + transphobia and how rampent they unfortunatly are in PCOS spaces, but it also tends to come from dysphoria from being defeminized due to things such as body hair, weight, wide shoulders, longer clitorises, and deeper voices that all come from hyperandrogenism (doubly so if you're not white). I think education on what being intersex actually entails and how it doesn't take away from your gender would be incredibly helpful and take away from the stigma in these spaces. A lot of people who say that PCOS + hyperandrogenism can't be intersex are radfems yeah, but a lot of them are also women who struggle with their connection to womanhood/femininity and feel like being intersex would just be a further attack on said womanhood.

Even though I no longer identify as a woman and haven't for over half a decade, I struggled a lot to fit the mold of womanhood and femininity due to being a PoC with pretty severe hyperandrogenism. And for people (especially WoC) who want to be seen as feminine and as woman, PCOS can make that struggle much more difficult. I've been diagnosed for a decade and this has been my observation in these spaces. Hopefully this can give some perspective.

Eh, like the discussion regarding MRAs, I'm not so willing to let terfs off the hook that easily.

If radical feminism had not spread the poison that gender ambiguity, masculine traits on women, intersex as a condition period, and higher amounts of testosterone were somehow "un-womanly" or "mannish" in the first place, we would not be here talking about this today. If they had instead chosen to embrace their transgender and intersex sisters, there would be no "de-feminizing" of intersex women. But because they have decided to instead vilify traits associated with trans women at the cost of implying (or sometimes, outright stating) that intersex women are not "real women", they're now forced to eat crow as their theory is working against them and, really, against up to 10% of all cis women.

If they had chosen inclusivity, they would not have to worry that being labeled intersex takes away their womanhood. Their own theory has blown up in their faces, and they're mad about it.

And because these radfems have spread this poison, now we have other cis women who are not radfems who still believe in what they have spread, who are now also harmed by this notion that they may be "lesser" "fake" "half" women due to a circumstance they were born with.

All they had to do was accept trans and intersex women and not vilify masculine traits on women.

[phoenixradiant]

OC Interview: Koter and Thaccia

My thanks to @agirlandherquill for the tag! I'm really starting to run out of characters I've introduced to you all, so time to go at it with some side characters! Warning, they're a married couple and aren't ashamed of it (nothing too bad, Koter is just really bad at keeping his mouth shut for a grumpy old man)

Were you named after anyone?

Koter: "Never bothered to ask."

Thaccia: "Well my name is hardly unique if that's what you're asking, but no. My parents merely liked the way it sounded."

When was the last time you cried?

Koter: "Before my zixed eyes got gouged out, that's for sure. Got one of 'em mostly healed, but still can't tear up right. Not that I've felt like it in a number of years."

Thaccia: "I've had three families destroyed by fire, now, and I don't suppose it's uncommon for me to shed a few tears over them. I try not to do it in public."

Thaccia: "Wait you can't cry? I thought you just had a heart of stone!"

Koter: "So I can only pick one?"

Do you have any kids?

Koter: "`Pends on what you mean by 'have'. They answer to me and I take care of 'em, Mancer help me, but they ain't exactly mine. My brother's little beauty of a zixed miscreant an' Hjodyr and Alaria's whelps."

Thaccia: "I used to run an orphanage in the Bear Kingdom several years ago, until it burned down. That's the closest I really got, I suppose. I suppose Koter and I look after Cellic's brothers from time to time."

Koter: "Wish 'time to time' were less. Don't hate the kids, just wish they didn't take so much looking after."

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Koter: "`Pends on what you mean by 'a lot'. I use it when it suits me."

Thaccia: "No, I don't suppose I do. According to Koter, it's the difference between how I scold and how Maiph scolds. She'll drag out her words in the most condescending way, while I generally try to treat him with a bit more respect than that."

Koter: "Ah, she talks to me like I know better, which I would, 'cept I'm right. I don't mind it. Not that I don't prefer your way. But mostly just because it's yours."

What is the first thing you notice about people?

Koter: "Notice a lot of zixed things. Don't care about most of 'em. If they can put up with me for awhile, they're probably a good sort. Patient or disciplined. Or both."

Thaccia: "I suppose that's a testament to my character. I don't tend to test people in quite the same way. I prefer to look on the humble virtues enshrined in the callouses on their hands, the trials and perseverance of a few early wrinkles. That sort of thing."

What is your eye colour?

Koter: "'Eye' in the singular is right! 'Cept it's not right, it's my left one. Nothin' remarkable, just brown."

Thaccia: "Koter, you're the only brown-eyed person for days around."

Koter: "I'm also the grouchiest person for days around. Still nothin' remarkable. Your eyes are zixed green! Not a light green either."

Thaccia: "Have you ever met another Daurian? Almost half of us have that."

Koter: "So what you're sayin' is that despite being the only green-eyed person for days around, it's nothin' remarkable."

Thaccia: "... Doesn't Maiph have green eyes?"

Koter: "They're blue. Normally."

Thaccia: "What does 'norm-'"

Koter: "Weren't talking 'bout her, were we? Were talkin' about you."

Scary movies or happy endings?

Koter: "I'll take either if it's written well enough. The runty kid used to write plays that were pretty good, as far as Rai and myself were concerned. Always ended it with a senseless rescue and a happy zixed ending, sorry to say. Wish he'd had more guts."

Thaccia: "Now I think about it... Ria... I haven't seen a performance in probably decades. I don't remember what I like anymore.:

Koter: "Eh? Tell me you're lyin'!"

Thaccia: "When have I ever lied?"

Koter: "I was hoping right then. We got to fix this!"

Any special talents?

Koter: "Killin' things or people what should've been dead already. Can whittle an owl if you give me a knife and some time."

Thaccia: "And a block of wood."

Koter: "Mancer's Crown, I'll do it outta stone if need be."

Thaccia: "I'm something of an herbalist and glyph artist."

Koter: *winks*

Thaccia: "What's that supposed to mean?"

Koter: *shrugs*

Where were you born?

Koter: "`Round."

Thaccia: "That's about as much of an answer as I've been able to get out of him. Len-cursed man... I was born in Amkarean Dauria. Does... the hair not reveal that?"

Koter, with an absolutely straight face: "Honestly kinda wish the hair revealed more."

Thaccia: "I have a feeling that, if better phrased, that would've gotten you slapped."

Koter, no longer straight-faced: "The last time-"

Thaccia: "NOPE NEVER MIND NOT IN FRONT OF PEOPLE NEXT QUESTION!"

Do you have any pets?

Koter, smiling: "I don't think there's a right answer to this question."

Thaccia, muttering with a smile: "Len-cursed man doesn't know when to keep his wit in check. Probably wouldn't love him quite so much if he did."

What sort of sports do you play?

Koter: "Every time Alaria's whelp comes back a bit too chipper from the Guard, I like to take him down a notch. A bit worried he'll start beating me one day, but hasn't happened yet."

Thaccia: "I'm more partial to board games myself. Sports don't really agree with me. You have to run in every single one of them, and to be perfectly honest with you, I don't like running."

How tall are you?

Koter: "Tall as I need to be. Look taller when I'm hovering. Takes a lot of Aia to do, but in a fight sometimes intimidation is more important than capacity."

Thaccia: "He's just mad Cellic is taller than him now. He's actually quite tall himself. He's taller than me, barely, which is saying something."

What was your favourite subject in school?

Koter: "Didn't."

Thaccia: "Non-prime number of words, please."

Koter: "Didn't go to school."

Thaccia: "Well I liked herbalism. That's why I... you know... do that with my free time."

Koter: "Whatever happened to not being condescending?"

Thaccia: "I'm not condescending to you."

What is your dream job?

Koter: "Zixed work. Don't miss that."

Thaccia: "Dear, you work every day."

Koter: "But I don't have a zixed job! Escort the occasional caravan, spend the rest of my time working the land. Good life. My life. Don't dream of nothin' else."

Thaccia: "Fair enough. That's my answer too."

NP tagging @paeliae-occasionally, @autism-purgatory, and @cybercelestian!

[jellimac-sims-stories]

Simfluener

Jellimac

---

Chapter 4 Jonah answered my call on the first ring and I asked him what he thought about the dress and the invitation, “Oh, um it's probably nothing.”

I had been pacing back and forth in front of the dress trying not to bite my nails as I explained to him everything that I had done with Sergio in the past month and that was his response? I tried again to express my concerns to him, “Could you sound more reassuring? Is his wife going to be mad? Is this social suicide? Does she hate me? You should see this dress. It's basically sex in fabric. I’m gonna look naked.”

“No, she’s not“No, she’s not going to be mad. She's going. It's a good thing you're not,” he pauses and I can hear the sound of a faucet turning on and then the sound of water splashing on water. He must be outside tending they’re “herb” garden, “Eh let me not say that. Send me a pic of the dress. He has good tastes and a lot of money to afford his good tastes. It must be nice.”

I quickly snap a pic and send it to him, “It's a good thing I’m not what? Why is she going without her husband? Does she normally attend events alone? I haven’t seen her on anything tagged in San Myshuno on insta. What is she even famous for?”

“I'm going with her,” he pauses again. I was starting to think there is something he doesn’t want to tell me, “I usually do. Go to events with her that is. They don't really go to many events together. They’ll go to community events together but never publicity events. She’s famous for a lot of things. Acting mostly. She works at AEP with Danny now. Maybe his PR people think it's bad for his image to go to her events? I don’t know. I’ve never asked. I'm just kind of surprised...I guess I'm not that surprised...Oh let me look at the dress,” there was another pause, “Wow that looks like the one he gave to...just longer. Must be something new.”

“Surprised about what? Gave to who‽” if he was going to keep doing this I was going to have to get on a train and a bus to have this conversation face to face with him. I started biting my nails in earnest hoping he’d tell me something soon, “Don't get mad but I'm surprised he's not taking the last girl he used to take to these sort of events. He burns through arm candy really quickly. He always has as far as I've known him.” 

“I'm his arm candy?” I said slowly, slightly perplexed. I hadn’t felt like he was using me as arm candy. It genuinely felt as if he cared that I got to know the city and all the great things it had to offer. Like, the way things were between me and Jonah. Not one hundred present like that but similar intent. So much so that I was begging to question why Josh hated him so much. I must have been quiet for too long because just then Jonah piped in, “Please don’t take anything by what I said. Since Serg is my friend I asked him to keep an eye out for you so I'd worry less. He knew you were going to be his neighbor from the beginning. You know how I worry about you two. Why the hell do you think Josh lives across the street?”

“Because he has no money?” I replied quickly without much thought since it was very true. Jonah laughed heartily because he also knew it was true, “Yes that too. Anyway, when you said that you wanted to move to the Art Quarter I asked Serg if he thought you'd be okay there. That part of the city used to be very bad before the artists started moving in. And it's only getting better with a big part to Serg and his wife. He's not as bad of a guy as he seems but he's also no prince. I already told him I'd murder him if he did anything to hurt you or make your life difficult.” 

“I'm not sure if this is making me feel better or worse about going,” this was a tough situation. On one hand, I wanted to go to the lounge and wear this really nice dress. On the other hand, it seemed like a worse and worse idea the more Jonah told me about Sergio. Plus I kind of hate the idea that I was only invited to make a man look good; even if he was Jonah’s friend. 

Flopping back down on my bed I rolled around groaning with my frustration. I heard Jonah laughing on his end of the line again, “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry, dollface. I'll just make sure to keep Adriana away from you and Serg and everything will go fine. If he does anything stupid he'll just be embarrassing himself. Please don't worry. Wear the dress. I'm sure you look lovely in it. Go to the party. Everything will be fine. It's not like Adrianna is gonna throw you off the roof or anything.”

I shot up midroll, “OH MY G-D, would she do that! Is she that bitchy!”

“No!” I can hear Jonah gasping for breath as he laughs even harder, “She'd never. She’s not that type of person. She’s really down to earth and she’s an artist too. I’m slightly regretting not asking her to look out for you instead. She's got such a great reputation despite what she does for a living that it's not worth it for her to react to anything Sergio does in front of the paparazzi. 

“Like I said I'm gonna be there,” he continued, “Please stop worrying. If he's even the slightest bit of an asshole you can spend the night with me or better yet we can leave, buy a box of Uptown cupcakes, and stuff our faces back at your apartment. Also if I get too shit-faced I might need to sleep on your couch. It's a good thing you live in the city now. Gives me a more respectable place to crash if I need to.”

“Cupcakes do sound like an amazing alternative if I want to leave.”

“Ya’ see! Come to the party. I want to see you in the dress and so do your followers. You're almost at two thousand! You're gonna get it after tomorrow night,” Jonah said so brightly that it cheered me up a little bit.

“I hope so. Okay, I'll see you tomorrow. Love you, bro.”

“Love you too dollface.”

Friday quickly faded into Saturday and by midday, my stomach was in knots...

Think Sergio is up to no good? Can't wait to find out? Read the whole story on my AO3.

[fullscoreshenanigans]

Realizing my wording on these options was kinda eh and maybe I should have included an option for "it depends on my mood lol" because I've ticked every option but the first two at some point. After binging the entire series in three days, everything after chapter 153 felt incredibly rushed. Even going back to it now after having two years to digest the series, over a year of running this blog, and reading the mystic code book and understanding why that is, I have a general agreement with lowart's video on the subject:

The Escape arc lays out almost all the pieces for the reader to pick up out early enough on that they can make reasonable assumptions of where things will go, and being rewarded when they're confirmed and their having stakes and weight to them. By the Return to Grace Field arc, I find myself finding refuge in the symbolism of what's occurring (like Legravalima and Peter dying due to being unable to comprehend alternative paths with how entrenched they are in the status quo) because what's happening on the surface is such a letdown at the speed it proceeds given the scale of the conflict being two world orders (though from what we can see most of it is contained in just one of them). We know good will eventually triumph given the tone and demographic of the series, but we aren't allowed to piece together how alongside the characters as they go about it. They're able to brute force their way through Grace Field after how meticulously they had to scheme to escape initially, and it doesn't feel nearly as earned. "Things are just happening now." I would have loved to see the two-year deadline being missed and the resulting fallout of that. Or a sore spot for many people, greater resolution to the Ayshe-Norman conflict with clarification about what he says to her in chapter 160.

This is one of those times I lament forums not being as big of a thing as they used to be with to keep discussion in more of a centralized hub with all the interesting responses people shared. But you work with what you have, and it was still neat seeing the diverse range of responses from everyone.

Also including the ones from my original post that I deleted because of a typo.

Said this on another post but I'm also a big hater of this fdjkhhfks.

Like some other fans, I greatly dislike Norman becoming a CEO during the final major timeskip, as well as Lambda sickness being conveniently treated with no chronic aftereffects and absolutely no issues with them integrating into human world and being welcomed with open arms by everyone. I understand Shirai wanted to wrap up the series on his own terms after years of dealing with the strain that is weekly manga publishing, and he needed an explanation for how the kids could easily fund their expeditions to search for Emma, but oof, do I hate it lol.

Wish there had been more of a balancing act of Norman and other kids undoubtedly making a name for themselves in the human world in some capacity without him contributing to potentially exploitative practices. I've seen people make him a professor, politician, or a doctor, and I like how those more directly involve him in the betterment of communities given the cattle children's intended destiny of being hidden away and forgotten to history.

@stringywormies420 this post by @incomingalbatross is definitely a great read for anyone who hasn't already seen it (also including @hinasho's tags.)

@ritsmew-sakunya potentially this post from @couldnt-think-of-a-better-name's blog back in 2019?

Shirai also revealed in the mystic code book the other end of Goldy Pond's elevator is located in Australia. Would have been neat to see how the rest of the demon world scales to the human world considering how the kids are able to cover enough ground in less than two years to find all they need to access the Seven Walls.

I'm also never going to be over no one from the Goldy Pond crew dying and Shirai trying to add gravity to the bunker raid and immediate follow-up by killing off characters we don't learn the names of until the bonus sketch from chapter 119 lol

"Having its cake and eating it too" came out the strongest for me here, especially with how comparatively weak of an antagonist Andrew is in terms of personal conflict for the characters.