#even in the closure timeline its not like that was a bad ending

[bastardlybonkers]

lost light ending was so good...ik some ppl probably didnt like it or thought it was a cheap way out but personally i love it

[marketableplushieenthusiast]

(Spoilers for Shadow Generations)

I think what I appreciate most about Shadow Generations is just that it gives Shadow ACTUAL, CANON closure for his struggle between good and evil.

By the end of Adventure 2, he remembered his promise to Maria and made his choice to save the world, but then he "dies".

When Heroes revives him, he doesn't remember any of that.

His namesake game (and I say this as gently as possible), as cool as the multiple endings were, feels so unsatisfying. We get to see Shadow's potential for good and evil, sure, but then the true canon ending comes, and it doesn't specify what he did (or even what exactly he remembered about his past) to get there, and then he just decides not to let his past control him. Which isn't a terrible direction on paper, but the symbolism of him literally throwing away a picture of his family just seems... Like the opposite of what made this character appealing in the first place?

And from there, the games kept giving mixed signals. Sonic '06 shows how deeply he and Team Dark come to care for each other, but then its events get literally removed from the timeline. Sega begins to pretend that Team Dark aren't even friends in their mandates for a while (despite the fact they clearly care for each others' wellbeing before anybody else's). Shadow becomes practically a popsicle stick puppet for "angry, serious, violent rival", and they never feel a need to explain his motivations or reactions beyond waving at that four word character description again.

Shadow's appeal (at least to me) was never that he was a character who didn't care about anything - it was that he cared very deeply, actually. (Someone who nearly lets the world be destroyed as revenge for losing his family is the exact opposite of someone who doesn't care!) He may not be cheerful, he may be quiet and stern, he may have a temper and be capable of terrible things if he isn't careful, but he isn't heartless.

And Shadow Generations FINALLY got it right, I feel.

There's now no doubt that he remembers his past, and that it did matter to him. It still does, in fact, and we're dropping the idea that he'll move on from it like it never happened. That's not how tragedy works.

But he will be able to move forward.

He has finally, WITHOUT GETTING AMNESIA, IN THE CANON TIMELINE, gotten to become the hero Maria wanted him to be.

That doesn't mean his story's over: I'm sure they can still find adventures to send him on. And that doesn't mean he needs any kind of complete personality overhaul, either. He can still be more aggressive than Team Sonic, and more stern, and maybe even more willing to resort to questionable methods to fight next week's bad guy.

But all of Team Dark has gotten to acknowledge that they do, in fact, care for each other, even if their attitudes aren't as chummy as Team Sonic.

Shadow has gotten to hear from his family that they are proud of him, weird alien DNA and all, and that even though he will have to go the rest of his long life without them, their love will always go with him, and give him the strength he needs to overcome any of his darker parts.

Shadow having a darker edge than Sonic and Shadow being a hero are things that can and SHOULD coexist, and I'm so glad we finally got to see it for him without it getting wiped from canon or his own memories again.

[farshootergotme]

In Teen Titans #5, the team visits Lacklock Camp, a juvenile detention center, at the request of Dr. Turner, its director. When they arrive, Dr. Turner tells them of a boy who is suspected to be a notorious criminal in the area. Dr. Turner asks the team for their assistance in uncovering the truth about Eddie, the boy presumed to be The Ant.

As I was reading this issue, I couldn't help but think about the Dick Grayson juvie origin and how if we mix both stories together as one we can reinterpret a bunch of small details to give a deeper and probably sadder meaning to them.

For example, this part:

We have a lot of pauses aka. ellipsis (...). And it doesn't mean much in the normal context, but then you add the juvie origin and...bam! Hesitation with a pinch of melancholy! Add some imagination to that and we have Dick thinking back to the awful days he spent at the Juvenile Detention Center.

But it's not all sad when you know this center is a lot better than the one Dick went to. I'd even say it's the opposite, in fact. All the kids there are well behaved and have learnt from their wrongdoings thanks to Dr. Turner's patience and kindness towards them.

Robin would likely view the situation optimistically and find joy in seeing the system changing. And this experience could also bring a sense of closure to his past traumas (or not, it'd depend). However, this would also definitely stir up some painful memories for him.

This isn't all, though, since we get something else to work with, a significant parallel from the boy, Eddie, who was from a circus, just like Dick, and lost his parents in a trainwreck, leaving him and his younger brother to take care of themselves.

(Very similar yet different as this kid ended up as a criminal—or at least that's what they tell you until later we find out Eddie was being blackmailed by a man who threatened to frame his little brother who he was taking care of if he didn't steal for him.)

Since the comic is naturally more lighthearted and humorous, we don't get a lot of drama from the fact Dick and Eddie (plus Danny) share a very similar past and the issue simply wraps up with everyone happy and the bad guy captured. But it'd be a shame to waste the potential, so I'd personally expand on it along with the juvie angst in this alternative.

(Small reminder for those who might not know, the juvie origin came decades after this comic so the idea of these being connected is just me placing both events in the same timeline for fun)

[a-little-bit-of-ravioli]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @the-real-azalea-scroggs! Had to wait until I was of my phone because doing these is a nightmare on mobile lmao

1. How many works do you have on A03?

18 as of a few days ago!

2. What's your total A03 word count?

157,937! Which is. Only a fraction of the word count in my Docs folder. Be prepared.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I mainly write for The Legend of Zelda; specifically Linked Universe! In fact, that's all that's posted on my Ao3 currently, since my fall into that fandom began with me uploading there! Pre-Ao3 I wrote for Black Cat (Anime/Manga), Megaman NT Warrior, various Pokémon things, Assassin's Creed, Yugioh, Final Fantasy XIV and Octopath Traveler! Some of these I still write privately, but I haven't gotten around to re-posting any.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Whistling on Deaf Ears - My longest fic on Ao3, focusing on Wild and Twilight's friendship and how good intentions can lead to disaster.

Iconoclasm - Warriors deals with the room full of portraits in Cia's palace. The Chain also deals with it, but with a bit more fire.

Deserving - Twilight finally tells Rusl that he was the wolf in the village during TP, but that also means dealing with some heavier topics. Colin half overhears them and forms his own conclusions.

Something Greater - The start of the "Hyrule can see magical auras" series! In this one we deal with Legend and his many rings.

Ocean Magic - Mermaid Legend and Zora Time have a race and then fight one of the Big Octos from WW! Fun times.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Every single one!! I love comments, they give me an excuse to ramble about my fic more!! I am always down to ramble about every single insignificant detail of any line and/or section. If you ever want more background info about one of my fics, look to the comments!

So please, I adore comments, I treat them like treasures, not responding to them would be a CRIME.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

There's no contest; Inevitable, my (so far) only MCD fic.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hmmm, that's hard to quantify. I usually try to end fics on a hopeful note regardless. I'd say possibly either Deserving, where Twilight reconnects with his family, or Shimmering Blue, Striking White, where Time meets the Fierce Deity settled down on Satori Mountain and they both get closure.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully, no! I've been blessed with mostly amazing and patient readers, even when my upload schedule isn't the best.

9. Do you write smut?

No, not really. I've attempted it, but I'm too asexual for it lol

10. Do you write crossovers?

Very, very rarely. Mostly privately, and only very specific ones. Only a single one has had an actual plot, so far (more on that one in question 15!).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Also a nope! I tend to write for smaller fandoms, where these things don't tend to happen a lot!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have! But it's been a while. Over a decade, in fact! I tried to find the fic to link it here, but it was on the German fanfic website fanfiktion.de, and my friend who posted it back then must have deactivated her account, because it's nowhere to be seen (I still have the Word file though!). It was a Multi-Crossover that started as an RP in a forum, and we took turns turning the RP into prose one chapter each. "If a Hero Turns to Dark" was its title. We were edgy teenagers.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Hissssss. Bad question. Shoo. They are all equally important!!

But it's probably TenRose from Doctor Who.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

One of the very few crossovers I've ever worked on; a crossover fic between Assassin's Creed and Doctor Who, that I have mapped out in both chronological and timeline order, and yes, those are different. I only ever wrote about a quarter of it, since my primary audience of it disappeared when we graduated. I doubt I'll ever pick it back up properly, and if I do it'll probably go through heavy rewrites first since it's so old. Finishing it is a nice thought, but realistically, after 9 years it'll never be high priority enough for it to actually happen.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, especially arguments, and emotional impact. I've been told I do really well making characters feel alive and believable! Also I like to believe I'm decent at setting a scene and giving it the vibe I want it to have!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I struggle with dialogue tags when nothing much is happening besides the talking. I always feel it's too bland, and fall back on the same phrases. My scene transitions could use some work too.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I've done this with Japanese phrases, because I was a massive weeb. Usually I followed them up with their own translations, though; I'm not the biggest fan of footnote translations, unless they are properly linked to. Simple dialogue tags are my favourite way of indicating a language switch.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Black Cat the Manga/Anime! It's a series about an assassin turned bounty hunter trying to live a life separate from his murdery past, but getting dragged back into things by still wanting to avenge his best friend's death. The series has a special place in my heart and my bookshelf, it left an imprint on 13-year-old me that will never leave.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Probably Jailbreak, uncharacteristically enough! It's one of the only fics I never got stuck in once. Writing it was a great feeling from start to finish. I love writing all of my fics, but that was a special few days.

Tagging @ahrva @nowhere-to-go-but-down @silvercaptain24 and @aeghina! And anyone who wants to do it, really, go wild

[therossgarden]

Personal review regarding what if…? season 2 episode 8 (spoilers)

No ok, I must admit, the episode was good in some aspects.

Wanda was majestic. Loki and Scott were hilarious and I loved every single moment with them.

Thor was amazing, dark and serious out of loss but still enjoyable, and the crumbs of his relationship with Hela were very nice.

I’ve actually liked Tony for the very first time in my life, probably because I tend to like him a lot more in AUs and fanfictions than I do in the normal timeline.

And then… there were those two.

I will never comprehend why marvel wants Steve to be so dependent on Peggy. And I will never comprehend why, to make him interact with her, they have to destroy or sideline every other relationship he has built, or make his character flat.

Bucky being friends with Scott was amazing, but the fact that him and Steve interacted like two times was extremely disappointing. You’d expect ��best friends in every universe”, if you dislike the romantic pairing so much, to acknowledge themselves for more than a few scenes, in only one of which they’re in frame together (Bucky was literally 😐 while his best friend disappeared, come on now).

And the storyline about Peggy coming from another world to save the universe was just… Mbah. It could’ve been executed in another way without including her and it still would have made sense. It really feels like a Y/N insert.

Seeing literally any other character was so good, so fun, and they had to ruin it this way, making Peggy once again the self insert and girlboss she didn’t need to be.

Plus, forgive my constant complaining, but it’s extremely infuriating how all of Steve’s friends were eliminated to put the focus solely on Peggy. Where’s Sam? Where’s Nat? Where’s Clint? It’s not an underrated friendship we’re talking about, a big chunk of the fandom loves the cap quartet or team cap, and after civil war it would have been nice to see them interact, especially after its popularity and popular demand. Outlaw team cap would have been glorious, a good chance to bring back many characters who aren’t here anymore in the right way, and involve characters that are rarely involved in What if in the storyline, for a change.

The treatment of Sam in this series particularly angers me, and even more so in this episode. I understand not involving him in other storylines, but Sam was a big part of CATWS and he wasn’t even in the episode centered on that film. What, because Steve met him while running he can’t be introduced in any other way? And oh, there’s no excuse for this episode. If there was one episode they could have placed Sam in, it was this one. Sam was there in infinity war, where the mess happened, and he should have been with the other avengers in this one.

If marvel wanted to involve someone from another universe so bad, it should have been a Captain America Sam from another universe. Can you imagine the poetry of seeing Steve and Nat again after endgame? Can you imagine having closure with them both, and having fun in the process? It would have been so great.

Another great storyline without involving characters from other universes would have been one where Steve, who touched the time stone, accidentally brought everyone in the past, and he was the only one to remember it. And to go back and prevent everyone’s distraction, he had to recruit the avengers, who don’t know him and don’t trust him but that in the end become his friends and companions. It would have been so interesting to see the original avengers involved in something different from being some side characters or extras in the one woman show that seems to be What if, constantly centered around the same bland, one dimensional reimagined side character. Peggy’s blandness is so obvious in these episodes (aside for some random remarks that made me smile) that literally everyone who’s involved directly with her must be bland like her, otherwise risking to overshadow her.

I don’t think I was supposed to cringe and look away as much as I did during Steggy’s forced scenes, but I did. If they had to force Steggy and Peggy down our throats, at least they could have done something different from the same bland and boring storyline as always. I wouldn’t be as mad as I am now if Peggy and Steve’s relationship wasn’t as bland. I would have preferred an enemies to lovers type of twist or change, where Steve doesn’t trust Peggy and struggles with her because he sees in her a different version of the Peggy that died in that universe. But noooo, god forbid, let’s go with the same old song.

An episode five or ten minutes longer with a better, avengers-centric or Steve-centric storyline would have been much better than what we got.

And given that this was my most anticipated episode, I was very disappointed by it. I hope for the next seasons, if there’s other ones, Marvel will listen to the general complaint regarding Peggy and will give her a break. I don’t think any of the original avengers or relevant MCU characters made as much appearances as Peggy, and being a main focus in four episodes out of nine is ridiculous.

[kathaynesart]

Is replica supposed to like fit with canon? Like the cass apocalypse series for example. Is it its own story entirely or does it fit with movie canon and everything?

Yep! My goal from the start has been for Replica to fit within the canon and basically explain “how we got here” for the prologue of the movie. The prologue captured my interest so much and I really wished for some closure. Sadly the movie left it open ended so I decided to make my own closure haha. There’s quite a few amazing stories going around now with the same concept such as @somerandomdudelmao and @tapakah0 stories (both of which I’m seriously hooked on) but at the time I started Replica there really weren’t any and I wanted to play in that space.

I had seriously considered not showing Omega’s hand this early on because we have some ways to go. However, I don’t normally care for plots that keep the viewer completely in the dark of the goal/mystery. Half the fun is being able to theorize and anticipate. And while a lot of you are coming to the most likely conclusion of how this story is going to wrap up… I have yet to see a correct theory on what Donnie/Omega has in store for us and the Krang (save for maybe one that came close). Or for that matter if Omega will even succeed… after all he doesn’t seem to be around at all by the prologue. Hmmmm…

Replica is definitely a story about the journey rather than the destination, because there are going to be some big things happening that not only explain how the bad future ends, but fill in some open ended plot points in the past timeline where the boys do win. Ultimately my goal is to write a story that everyone knows the ending to but is still compelling enough to want to read. Hopefully I’ll be able to achieve that!

[yukirayu]

Towa’s Hair Color, and the Change Thereof (in Taku’s Route)

Here's yet another meta that connects Maya's influence on Towa with Taku's own influence on the younger man. This time, Towa's appearance takes center stage (for the most part) in this poorly-constructed analysis; though I did briefly discuss it in a previous meta. Do bear with me. 

No one's denying that Towa looks almost exactly like his mother. But inheriting her appearance has mostly been a curse on him. While he forgot about Maya after she died, the trauma she heaped on him had reached its peak by then. 

And so, his personality changed, with his experience in Euphoria causing his masochism and his promiscuity to manifest. At some point, it also caused him to be more temperamental. 

That stage of his life was also defined by him bleaching his hair. 

It's easy to assume he did that just because. He was in his more rebellious phase, and most unruly teenagers tend to dye their hair just to make clear their desire to not conform to anything or anyone.

In this case, that may only partly explain Towa's decision to dye his hair. 

Once again, he looks a lot like his mom. But even in the depths of his subconscious, he hates that very idea. And he was still young back then. He had yet to grow as numb as he is at present to whatever is haunting him but he could never truly recall. 

Back then, he could have looked at himself in the mirror and felt a greater sense of unease at his reflection as the afterimage of *that woman* comes close to manifesting in full in his eyes. 

So he may have felt that he had to change something about his looks. 

He didn't feel the need to mutilate his face until *after* he remembered Maya. Before that, she was a forgotten memory, even in his younger years where his trauma was still fresh and raw.

And so, he may have sought to change only the color of his hair. 

It had been at least a few years since he last bleached his hair up to the timeline the game takes place in. It's why only the edges of his hair remain bleached. 

This could represent the identity crisis that he doesn't know he has.

Whether he regains his memories or not, his mother's abuse and what she desired for him still has left a bad seed that can bloom into something beautiful yet undoubtedly ominous  - as shown best in Fujieda's Madness ending.

He knows who he is... but he also doesn't.

He never really faces his past in Taku's route but he still gets hints about it. He doesn't remember the gory details, but there is still even a teensy bit of closure to be had by Taku confirming to him that his home life was wrought with problems. 

And as I had mentioned in yet another meta, Taku's presence in his life slowly smothers Maya's own. Maybe it won't completely go away, but it would still be weakened and shoved into a lonely and dark corner where its cries will soon fall on nothing but deaf ears. 

This means that there are now parts of his past that he's subconsciously at peace with (more or less), as shown in a scene near the end of Taku's route. 

To recap, Towa didn't want to remember his childhood since the sight of even a single relic of that time had his mind warn him to stop while he was ahead.

Yet when shown a picture of himself in his youth, of when he was still his mother's prisoner, he didn't feel any dread. Not even a slight pang of discomfort. At most, he only muses that if he was a sweet and quiet boy back then, he had long since grown out of that.

But the irony is that by the time he and Taku see each other again after spending a year apart, Towa had become that young boy again, in a way. He's still Towa, but he regains a semblance of the innocence that had been robbed from him when he was still Haruto. 

This shows in how his hair grew long, with the bleached tips now gone. He looks more reminiscent of his younger self. Even though this technically would also have him resemble Maya more, it never becomes an issue. 

He didn’t consciously grow out his hair - though he joked that he did for Taku to see how long he had waited. Even then, it’s not purely an aesthetic choice that he now has that kind of hairstyle. 

This, plus his change of wardrobe to one of lighter and softer material and color, demonstrates that while Towa’s still the person we know him to be, that Taku knows him to be, he’s not exactly the same anymore, albeit in a positive way. Like a child, he openly seeks affection, more openly expresses his affection, is happy to live in domestic bliss with Taku and acts spoiled as a way to both dote on Taku and be doted on by him. 

In a way, it mirrors how the scene where Towa and Fujieda splash water at each other whilst on the ocean as a means of getting to reclaim a moment of innocence they never got to have or share, given what they've been through. 

Even when things play out differently with Taku, Towa can still let loose a little more. He can act childish but in an undoubtedly devoted manner. Because he can love and feel completely safe in someone's arms, which he never got to truly have back then but can do so now.

He can reclaim a part of himself from when he was Haruto, he can look more like his younger self - and consequently, his mother - and it wouldn’t add any weight onto his heart. 

For Taku, it’s all more than worth it. 

[ohemgeeejay]

Ok this is the last time that I personally am gonna ramble about The Umbrella Academy today. Much of this season was disappointing, the last 2 episodes in particular were very unsatisfactory. So I have to get my thoughts out in a (mostly) coherent way.

Spoilers under the cut <3

I have many critiques of season 4. I know we all do. I’m just really, especially devastated about the absolute bullshit that was Five and Lila’s relationship this season.

There was no reason for that. I truly believe it was the worst decision they could have made for those two characters. It was so inaccurate to the morality and personality that had already been established for each of them. Not to mention the fact that neither Five nor Lila would ever willingly do something that they know for a fact would hurt Diego so much, and risk tearing apart their entire family. I always thought of Five and Lila as best friends, people who are truly able to understand each other because they’ve both been through the same bullshit with the Handler and the Commission. They did not have the romantic chemistry for that sub plot to feel natural. Their romance felt forced. The trauma of being trapped in that subway, jumping between timelines, never able to get home, for SEVEN YEARS is drama enough on its own! There was no need for a cheating scandal.

That romantic relationship between Five and Lila was so bad. It was bad for the plot and it was bad for the characters. And what makes it even worse is that nothing came of it at all! Diego finds out, and then he has to accept never seeing his kids again, never seeing his family again, and being erased from existence completely. He got no real closure.

Also, the fact that not a single member of the Hargreeves family got an actual happy ending? Like, yes, they died together, loved by each other despite how immensely fucked up their lives and the world is. However, nobody got to be fulfilled in their lives. Which, I guess is realistic— but when has this show cared for being realistic?

On one hand, I do think that sort of ultimate sacrifice ending was ideal, but on the other, I believe it was poorly executed. It was a beautiful action, very emotional, but there was no feeling of gratification watching it. It was just upsetting; it felt like a cop out. I don’t think the writers gave it enough time to have the proper emotional build up it needed for the impact they wanted.

I will say though, there were things in this season that I did enjoy. I really loved the relationship that Klaus had built with Claire, and the family dynamic that existed between those two and Allison. It was really sweet the way that they all loved and cared for each other so much. Also, as someone who comes from a very unconventional family structure, I always find it nice to see that sort of thing on screen. And as always, well ever since season 2, I adored Luther. He’s always in these fucking situations. Ben having gone to prison for Crypto scamming, and then comparing himself to ELON MUSK was also fucking hysterical to me.

In the end, I am gonna miss this show. I’ll miss the characters, the humour, and the entertainment it brought to me. I think TUA will always hold a little spot in the corner of my heart, even if this final season was not what I hoped it would be.

[sideblogofawriter]

This is an old topic, but one that will never die... unlike [REDACTED].

In the aftermath of og Lesson 16™, there's about a million ways things could go. Besides the lack of closure on the casually written and basically never mentioned again death, the more interesting part to me is the casually written and basically never mentioned again relationship to Lilith. I mean, yeah, it's probably the reason MC has more hidden power than Solomon, but the story doesn't ever focus on it. It's a plot device meant to tie the arc up neatly with a bow, not something we're supposed to dwell on... presumably because it can get potentially weird and uncomfortable if you do.

So naturally, imagining the possibilities and potential implications is one of my favorite things to do.

To that end, two of my favorite scenarios/plot bunnies/i-make-it-worse-before-i-fix-its that have spawned from this are (long blocks of text incoming):

MC (like me) either knew or had a very good idea they were related to Lilith by the time Barbatos and Diavolo showed up and spilled the beans... so they don't let them, for fear it would change their relationship with the brothers. At a subtle shake of the head, Diavolo understands and flips the story to "Barbatos has traced Lilith’s lineage all the way to the modern day, and discovered she has (at least) one surviving descendant." No names are named, Belphegor is convinced enough that his sister lead a happy life to let go of his grudge against humans, life should be good... except the brothers develop an obsession with finding Lilith’s descendant. Barbatos won't share any information for some reason, so they set to investigating themselves. And they NEVER stop talking about it. All the things they want to do with Lilith’s descendant, favorite places they want to go, things they want to show them... MC bites their tongue and smiles, saying they're sure Lilith’s descendant will love the new café. Privately, they're more certain than ever they made the right decision: without even having met Lilith’s descendant (or so they think), the brothers are acting as though their sister herself has come back from the dead, already making preparations based on her own likes and dislikes as if they're the same person. And more than that, isn't it rather hypocritical of the demons - who were acting so apathetic or even disdainful toward humans until just recently - to be putting one they've never met on a pedestal? Even Lucifer, who already knew Lilith survived, is thoroughly involved in the investigations now that his brothers are so invested. And then it slips, somehow, not that MC is Lilith’s descendant, but that MC has known who Lilith’s descendant was all this time they've been searching. All this time MC has been "helping" them search. And isn't that just a rock and a hard place.

MC is revealed to be Lilith’s descendant at the usual time and place. In the weeks that follow, however, between Belphegor’s cuddling up to them and the others' general merriment considering the death that just occurred, it starts to weigh on MC mentally that maybe they're so thrilled to have a piece of their sister back that nothing else matters to them. If only MC could do it all again... or could they? Sensing that things are not headed in a good direction right now, Barbatos agrees to send MC back in time again. But it's different this time: instead of having to avoid their past self, they are their past self, restarting the year as if everything up till now has just been a bad dream. It's a completely blank slate, with only MC's mind intact so they can avoid making the same mistakes. And it goes great... until MC learns that in this timeline, Barbatos is in jail, powers sealed, for messing with time without first consulting Diavolo. And moreover, for some reason, he refuses to share with the prince exactly what he did. So not only are any deaths permanent this time, but there's an ongoing investigation into conspiracies against the throne and student council during this crucial time of the exchange program. It's not long before both MC and the brothers discover - at the same time - that they already have pacts. Pacts that powerful demons have no recollection of making with an oddly knowledgeable human they barely know. And isn't that just a rock and a hard place.

[enginator2000]

What are your thoughts on Infidget (the ship of Infinite and Gadget the Wolf)?

i think its fine? i dont inherently dislike it or anything, and i dont mind seeing it from time to time. the only thing that i dont like is like, a lot of the shipping community's interpretations of it. and by that i mean the people that twinkify and feminize gadget into being a little wooby baby that cant do anything without his big strong man and infinite is just the stereotypical scary-on-the-outside soft-on-the-inside masc/male/im a man/im he him boyfriend. either that or gadget is fine and its just infinite who is extremely out of character. i had a lot of "he would not fucking say that" moments with infinite when infidget was at its most popular bc these kinds of depictions were everywhere and it was really annoying

the only version of infidget ive ever shipped was a lovers to friends to enemies to... somethings type deal where they dont go back to how they used to be by the end but its not vitriolic, they just outgrew each other in their own ways during the events of forces. that or their relationship cant get mended at all and theres no closure bc infinite dies or whatever like he did in canon. and i know this is the best version of infidget bc i made it up, thanks

i actually shipped it before forces even came out bc i thought that that was sort of the route that sonic team was going to take with tying the avatar into the story. it made sense to me for the avatar (or in this case gadget) to have some sort of previous history or connection with infinite bc in my onion, that makes their dynamic a little spicier and more compelling. in my version, gadget and infinite (then zero) used to be very close until zero started getting more involved with a local gang, the jackal squad, which began to drive a wedge between them until they got more and more distant from each other. and then some more time passes and gadget hasnt heard from zero for a long time and then the events of forces start. i think part of the idea was from this dialogue that we got to hear when footage of infinites second battle came out before the game itself:

(image text reads as infinite saying "and those eyes.. i feel like we've met before.")

-which implied that the avatar and infinite had history. which was technically true, but it was within the timeline of the game bc it turned out he was referring to like. the flashback cutscene of the avatar being too scared to fight back the first time they ran into infinite before joining the resistance, so it wasnt what i was hoping for

another reason iirc was uhhhh whatshisface? sega scourge on youtube? they made a theory video about infinite getting his mind wiped by the ruby or something and that added fuel to the fire. its a really cool concept and while i dont think that the avatar wanting to avenge those they lost is necessarily bad, i feel like its just kind of meh for the kind of story forces was trying to tell, what with the friendship-is-cool themes and whatnot. so i thought the avatar/gadgets arc was going to be we get to find out how they and infinite (or at least just the former lol) know each other, and how infinite became infinite in the first place, and gadget wanted to both help put a stop to everything but also get his friend back through, you guessed it, the power of friendship. hooray! i read a really good fic that was like that called til we touch the sun on a03 (that fic still makes me go insane thinking about it) that went with a sidestory for gadget that was quite similar to what i just described

plus the idea of infinite and gadget having shared a past but only one of them remembers it and now has to deal with a monster that looks like who they used to be but is no longer the same in every other regard due to them going dark side (willingly or unwillingly) is super angsty. and i like my ships raw and some degree of brutal for the soul. it keeps me young

but yeah im overall neutral. tl;dr: infidget is a fine ship, i just wish it had more canon-supported flavour and i wish the majority of shippers would stop writing infinite so poorly to make him fit properly into their milquetoast domestic fluff romances, but whatever. we all get enjoyment out of different things, even if theyre wrong :3 (for safety reasons i have to disclose that the previous statement was a joke)

[yonemurishiroku]

Could u go more into how Nico would be the villain in relation to this ask https://www.tumblr.com/yonemurishiroku/716941674120724480/jason-had-a-rendezvous-with-percy-before-his

I’m deeply fascinated by what u seem like o be implying

JAAksda pal you have no idea how much this ask delights me. Finally, a chance for me to ramble.

Ok. So.

The idea of this story is that Jason and Percy have a daughter before Jason dies, and years later, the girl embarks on a quest to find her other father. Why, you ask? Idk LMAO I just need her to do that so that I can put Nico in it.

Before that, though, I just want to make it clear that - imo, an antagonist doesn't have to be a villain. Generally, an antagonist is anyone whose goal(s) contradicts to those of the protagonist(s) - regardless of who is the right one. This is more common in seinen mangas (where the characters tread the line of good and bad as if it doesn't exist), though I guess it might be new/rare in mainstream children entertainment (?).

Anyway. So. Where does Nico fit into all of this?

As explained, if it's up to me, I want Nico to be the one hindering Jason and Percy's daughter on this quest to find her father. He's the antagonist because he does not wish the girl to reach Jason himself.

This sounds ridiculous, I know, I know. I have my fair share of saving/resurrecting-Jason!AU as well, but this AU though. Just hear me out.

My peculiar (and uncomprehensible) interest aside, Nico lost both his mother and his sister (sisters if you count Hazel, and you should, rlly) to the gods, and a large portion of his story is about how he overcomes said lost, especially Bianca. Half of his story is grief personified. He understands most what grief feels like and how disastrous it can be.

Seriously, you would think Nico would emphathise the most to Jercy's daughter (now named Dora bc I just found anon's latest ask ajsdhkja) - especially considering Jason mattered a lot to him, too.

But the thing is, Nico has learnt how to let go.

And how important it is to let go.

That's the whole thing, really.

Nico knows the horrible things grief can do to its bearer. He experienced it himself. It's love, and mayhaps pity, in a way, that Nico wishes Dora to move on from a father she has never known, just so she wouldn't end up lost like he has done so many years ago.

Moreover, since this AU is set in a future timeline and I always picture Nico as a die-hard follower/ lovechild of the Underworld, Nico - like Hades - wouldn't wish a demigod to come trashing their land for a deceased loved one. It's against the law - and to hell with it if I'm not making Nico Hades' executor or law enforcer.

So, Nico has every rights and reason to stop Dora.

That's what Nico would tell Dora for you.

I, the personification of madness I am, would like to add a hidden motivation, though. I don't know what it's called, but I suppose it's Nico's coping mechanism and in a way, jealousy. To Dora, that is.

In TOA, Nico didn't even try to summon Jason for a closure (no thanks to you, Rick). I don't like it either but let's just take this as Nico has found his own closure. He learnt how to lick his wounds and patch himself up, in which he finds relief.

How, do you think, Nico would feel to have someone come tearing that down?

Tbh this is a lot of things to unpack.

Firstly, Nico's grief for Jason - which he himself had buried deep down for his own sake - is pried open upon seeing Dora demands for her father purely out of love.

Secondly, Nico's feelings of incapability when he failed to savage Jason's lif - now resurfaces full force with how Dora (supposedly) fights for her father. And the jealousy accompanying it.

Are you with me? I'm talking about that feeling when you realize that, though a slim chance, there might have been hope after all - but you let it slip away because you're just incapable. It's all your fault.

And now, when another has come to seize that chance, claiming the hope you've forsaken as savable, you just don't want to admit it. You want to prove it to be futile, just so you don't have to live with the self-blames.

Ok, that concludes the motivation. As of How Nico as the antagonist would be like, ngl I have a bunch of ideas and none of them makes sense LMAO. Though, if there's anything I want to cement, it's that 1/ Nico has no direct ill-intent towards the daughter; and by that I mean 2/ he's a terrifying enemy anyway.

The first one because obviously. Nico isn't a bad person. Different goals, that's for sure, but he means Dora no harm. Nico just wants Dora to let go of Jason and get the idea of resurrection out of her head.

Also she's literally Percy's child and idk maybe Hazel's, Piper's, Annabeth's god-daughter. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ Hazel would skin Nico alive if he hurts the girl more than necessary. 💀

The second one is more fascinating (at least, in my mind, lmao). There're actually so much to this:

Strenght-wise, Nico di Angelo is terrifying.

That's canon and there's nothing that could change it. I mean. Literally. Son of Hades. Prince of the Underworld. Hades' nepotism. The Underworld at his beck and call. He himself is a resilient and powerful demigod borderlining on deity. I've talk too much about this. Srsly What's more would you need?

Sure Jason and Percy's child have her own disastrous powers (being the child of both heaven and sea does that to you), but Nico has one thing Dora can never match: experiences. Percy, the greatest swordmen of their generation, can teach his daughter every move. But Nico has his own set of skills honed through years of just being a son of Hades with a bunch of dead heroes. And that's without the at least 10-12 years generation gap between him and a legacy. Nico has his advantages.

And he doesn't hesitate to use them.

Plot-wise, Nico has many ways to affect Dora.

The first is that Nico understands Dora's motivation. Too much.

As I've mentioned, Nico is the first one who understands what it feels like to lose a family member to the divine forces. He also lost his memories of his mother, Maria, which makes his situation a littlle more similar to Doras's than necessary. He understands Dora's reason, her wishes and her drive.

And it's so much easier to predict one's movements when you know where they're heading, what drives them forward.

Another thing is their family tree. Basically: Nico is a friend of Percy's and even a closer friend of Jason's, which presumably enables him to watch their child closely, thus see through them easily.

Do you know how difficult it would be to fight someone who has been watching you grow up, knowing your weaknesses, your limits, remembering things about you that you yourself can't recall? Nico knows even Jason, the father Dora has never known yet could kill to meet.

And what's more is that all of these^^^ just so happens to align oh so perfectly to Nico's manipulativeness. Really, this just feels unfair lmao.

See. This is why I adore Nico as the antagonist, especially in the specific AU. Nico has all the potentials of a formidable enemy to Jason and Percy's daughter, and I haven't even moved to the part about what Nico-Percy&Jason dynamic can provide.

Because Nico's still basically their family's friend, as long as he doesn't go overboard with Dora, he can just... literally come to their dinner, for example, and act as if he wasn't threatening Dora and his presence is his own warning to her.

Dora could walk out of her room and see Nico sitting there, amongst other guests of the gathering, in her house. His eyes find her efforlessly and pin her to the wall just as easily. When he voices his disapproval of Dora's intentions, he doesn't even flinch under Percy's harsh interference. In fact, Nico and Percy proceed to have a near-brawl across the dining table over Jason Grace, and then Bianca di Angelo, and then Jason Grace again. Dora has never seen her father that furious and it scares her. Dora has never seen anyone capable of being so calm, so cold in front of his angry father, and this Nico scares her, too. It's Aunt Thalia who ultimately brakes them off, with the help of Hazel and Annabeth. Before Nico leaves, though, he looks straight into Dora's eyes, and just his hardened gaze promises millions of challanges waiting for her on the way to her father. And challenge her he did. Nico has all the connections he needs to hold Dora down until she gives up, and he plans to use them all up if he has to. Percy doesn't like the Underworld. Dora has never understood it when Aunt Hazel is so nice, so kind to her or everyone. She sees it now - in many horrific creatures Nico has sicced on her and in his sad, sad eyes and his cold, cold voice. Nico comes to her after each challenge - never one to hide his intentions of sabotaging, sick check-ins to see if Dora's will has crumbled. He tells her to give up, Would Jason want this?, that You'd think I have tried before, and You are not the only one who loves him so much. He coaxes and he threatens just as much. Years of being an ambassador and dealing with whining ghosts makes him excellent at pursuing. Each and every time, his words weigh more on Dora's childishly mind. The Underworld sips away her strengh and Nico's quiet heavy voice draggs her down, down, down...

You might be wondering where the adults are.

Percy, her father, has always grown tense when it comes to one Nico di Angelo. He would fight for the love of his life, though. And yet, Jason has always been close to Nico's heart. Not as close as Percy's, but Nico makes it up with love to spare. Aunt Thalia seems just as eager to bring Jason back as Dora and Percy. Nico fights her just as fiercely, if not even more. They have their own problems to deal with. "You don't get to abandon your brother twice and then demand him return!"

Hazel, Will and Reyna are the only ones who hold a slim chance of changing Nico's mind as they're the only ones close enough, yet that's also what makes them emphathise with him more than Dora would like. They'd help Dora if she needs, but they wouldn't interfere when it all comes down to it. In fact, Hazel tried, once - only because she was resurrected by Nico - and it ended up angering Nico further. No one wants a repeat of that. Leo help Dora tremendously, and Nico asks him "Making up for all those months you were warming it up with your girlfriend whilst he was searching the world for you?" Piper and Apollo try their best, until Nico looks at them with a resentment that makes his shoulders tremble and his laugh burst out maniacally, "Did you forget it was your lives that Jason traded his own for?" The revelation left Dora reeling.

Srsly this AU is just a pure delight.

Anw, if I were to write this, I honestly wouldn't know how to put an end to the story.

I mean, I love Antagonist!Nico. I also want Jason to meet his daughter, but I know that you're not allowed to meet dead loved ones lest you stray further from life. I also don't have any morals when it comes to fictionals.

So like. Who do I want to win? I honestly don't know lmao.

But I want Dora to defeat Nico.

Mainly because I find it a spectacular sight when Nico falls on his knees and confessing his petty motivation - that of the jealousy and insecurities blah blah I've mentioned above - whilst letting out every ounce of grief turned malice he has been forcing down since Jason's death.

And Dora's love for her father would triumph them all. And hopefully, she can save both - in a way I have yet to thought of bc all I want is antagonist!Nico lmao.

Anywayyyyyyy this is such a delight to write all of this down when I have at least 5 fanfics sitting in the drafts LOL AJsKHDAKSdh THANKS A LOT FOR THE CHANCE. 🥺🥺🥺 I'm so glad I can share my Antagonist!Nico agenda and someone's willing to listen lmao i thought i was the only one.

Hope you enjoy!

[yuukei-yikes]

do you think shintaka ever sort out their codependency or does it just get worse

*cracks knuckles*

they do sort it out. but it's obviously not super ideal lol

in my sick twisted mind it is all stitched together with the mess of shinaya too. I WANNA WRITE A FIC SO BAD *banging table* i have this very specific relationship hell for shintaro thought out. *scratches head*

i talk a little bit abt it here and i think in other places but heh. honestly when i link to other posts its not rly like begging u to read them its more like a disclaimer that i might repeat myself which honestly i dont mind doing bc im crazy and im gonna talk abt the same things 1 billion times GLADLY. SO... >:3!!!! ITS MY TIME. have fun:

basically. so the usual right, takane feels like if she isnt watching shintaro all the time he could suddenly revert back to being a shut in and shintaro is comfortable having takane because she's familiar and the single constant in this life and all other lives in all other timelines. ene has always been there. takane = ene while a shock, to shintaro he can barely make a big deal out of it after retaining is activated bc he's seen it a million times. of course takane is ene. if anything the one needing closure over this reveal is takane.

i think post str shintaro is incredibly kind to her about it though. i think he feels immensely guilty for route xxx and is able to be openly thankful and they have a tender moment together. i think this single heart to heart changes everything for them. shintaro acts annoyed over takane's clinginess post str but becomes terrified when she's away, and sort of desperately looks for her the same way she does for him essentially reciprocating the sick need of each other, the difference is that he tries acting all cool abt it and making excuses while takane is sort of more direct abt like. HEY ARE U ALIVE??? JUST CHECKING IN LOLLL OK TALK TO U LATER ASSHOLE LOVE UUU!!! while shintaro's like ermmm...i was calling u cuz my comp is acting weird?? idk i tried some stuff but id rather u look at it to make sure. and takanes like LOL

like takane is totally delighted. shintaro isn't resenting her, he's gladly accepting her into his life and treating her like a friend and she KNOWS him so she knows that even if he says he wants her away the way he acts says otherwise. like she can read him like a book there is nothing he can hide from her, takane is able to see everything going on thru his mind. no one but her is more mindful abt everything that retaining eyes implies. maybe ayano, but we know which one shintaro is more comfortable about HEH. the fact takane is so direct about knowing about it and how hard it must be is also immensely comforting to shintaro (AGAIN ayano also does this but ayano is scary to shintaro) shintaro reciprocates takane's need for him again bc she is familiar and a comfortable constant but also because she is taking care of feeling all the heavy things for him. shintaro is desperate to stop feeling and takane is desperate to ignore her own feelings. but it doesn't REALLY work. shintaro still feels sad and broken and terrified. and takane still feels overwhelmed and in disbelief and unsure about everything. does this make sense.

takane's thing is like... okay erm. let's put takane under the microscope for a single moment. I'll try not to go TOO crazy.

ok. disclaimer. i could get very fun and nitty gritty abt the misogyny in takane's writing, how all her povs revolve solely around haruka & shintaro and essentially ends up being a female character who revolves everything around 2 guys, if not one the other and etc. but. i will not do that. i will just mention it there in passing and do what u do with it lol. that aside, basically takane is the kind of person who desperately focuses on worrying about someone else so she doesn't have to think of herself and her own problems.

takane is dealing with... a lot. because she had given up on life. well life gave up on her rather. she was dead you know. she decides to dedicate herself to shintaro and shintaro alone. her purpose was being company for him and keep him moving. and all of a sudden she finds herself alive and having to face the life she unwillingly left behind, and everything that comes with that like. having a body, being honest with haruka, accepting her illness is a part of her, etc. i think takane deals with a lot of existential crisis LMAOO like she CANNOT BELIEVE she is real. she has 1 line saying she felt like the whole time she was ene felt like a dream and it felt like a relief to hear shintaro talk to her as takane because it made her see it really happened. and i took this line and RAN WITH IT‼️‼️‼️

shintaro needs to be needed by takane and takane needs to be needed by shintaro. lol. they got 30 mental illnesses💗 but the thing is. one has retaining and the other doesn't 💥

their relationships to haruka & ayano are important in this and play a huge part in it too not only because its REALLY REALLY REALLY funny for takane to ditch haruka all the time to go find shintaro's wallet or something and for shintaro to tell ayano ok u can sleep over tonight i practiced cuddling with takane so im all good to go like that wont make ayano scream in her pillow for the next day. like theyre so sick in the head. but anyways ITS SO mixed in with shinaya's sick as hell relationship that i already wrote like 80 posts about and im not repeating myself im just gonna assume u know what i mean LIKE THIS IS WHY I NEED TO WRITE A FANFIC whatever.

as that happens with shinaya (like actual dumpster fire sirens going off glass breaking trashcan falling over etc) takane has haruka. haruka has his own set of problems feeling not good enough for her + survival guilt (for konoha) + terrified of being alone again. but takane's aware of the codependent issue basically bc haruka keeps telling her even if not as firmly and she would need so it takes longer than ideal. it's like present in her mind that it's a totally fucked up way too feel. also haruka & takane are totally in the same page abt holy shit we're ALIVE?? AND WE HAVE OUR BODIES??? WE HAVE TO FACE OUR LIVES AND MOVE FORWARD?? WE'RE IN OUR TWENTIES??? AUGGHHHH lol they go thru it together MAN I LOVE HARUTAKA sorry im normal. i know jin is allergic to giving takane a problem that isnt related to a guy but to me she also goes thru the same omg im in my twenties thing as haruka. bc like. yeah hiyori and ayano were stuck in the daze too but haruka was also watching everything outside. like takane he was a painful bystander. even if takane's spirit wasnt in the daze she was still playing a sorta similar role outside. like u can watch but u can barely do anything!! because youre DEAD!! haruka&takane understand each other's struggles more than anyone else, and suddenly they're alive and also the oldest in the group and they're like. ok lol. let's fucking go i guess. haruka and takane existentialism crisis crying for 3 hours then having to pull themselves together bc they have to do groceries. the horrors are indescribable but we have to pay rent. i love harutaka *shaking*

and haruka is super comprehensive about takane's thing with shintaro even if it's mixed in with all his feelings of omg takane prefers him omg takane is super best friends with the dan who all probably resent me for replacing konoha omg im gonna be alone augghhh like lol he's GOING THRU IT TOO but!!! takane also helps him!!!!!! theyre there for each other!!! they dont weaponize these things against each other, in fact it brings them closer. total opposite to shintaro and ayano. so takane's getting out of this mindset before shintaro does and she is really self aware and slowly making progress and ermmm becoming a little pissed off abt how he takes her for granted. bc he does.

again. takane is a constant. that means she is always here. in shintaro and takane's relationships it doesnt go both ways how they help each other. they dont help each other, takane helps shintaro and thats it. ene's always been secretive and ene is always been ene and now ene is always been takane and while shintaro knows this he's also never... had takane as takane before? so even if she's familiar and accepting her helicoptering over him, he's also totally preoccupied with all his other issues to even think about takane's side of things. shintaro despite his babygirl tendencies is at the end of the day a very self centered person, its hard for him. i dont mean it to say he sucks or anything. i think its genuinely rly hard for him!! he's going through a lot!! and he's bad with people and words and emotions!! he doesnt... stop being self centered though. not for now at least. and takane isnt exactly begging him to help her or anything because HARUKA is helping her with her issues. while shintaro is trusting everything on takane, and ayano is begging him to open up to her, takane is trusting haruka and continuously lets him help her and also helps him with his stuff. like shinaya and harutaka are dealing with similar situations in TOTALLY different ways

so for shintaro to find out/realise takane is also hurting he's like oh my god im such an ASS because OF COURSE SHE IS!!! but he's like i thought letting her be insane abt me was enough help??? bc AGAIN he hasn't really recognized that it actually goes both ways and he needs her as much as she needs him. it only becomes apparent when takane is needing him less and less bc she's been healing outside of their fucked up dynamic and he's like wait a damn moment???!!!!! so he's like TAKANE why didn't u say anything!!! and takane's like erm idk. it just kinda played out like that it's fine haruka is there for me im working on it and stuff and shintaro is SOOO insane abt it because realising takane's been relying on someone else takes him out of this familiarity and he's like oh my god TAKANE IS ALIVE HARUKA IS ALIVE AYANO IS ALIVE OH MY GOD THEYRE ALL MOVING ON WITHOUT ME OH MY GOD and its so uncomfortable for him. its so uncomfortable to see takane with haruka the same way it makes him uncomfortable to be with ayano because it makes him so painfully aware of like. THIS IS THE GOOD ENDING. yknow.

anyways... shinaya breakup happens lol!!! takane is again here to pick up the pieces. and shintaro is SO broken over this that takane soooorta reverts back bc YIKES HES NOT DOING GOOD. shintaro is clinging on her so bad it makes him look stupid. like i said in the insane shinaya reply. being back to being despaired over ayano and crying on takane is familiar! self sabotage at its finest, its pain that he knows. new things he hasnt seen are terrifying!!! and this way.... takane is away from haruka, rather paying attention to him instead and he is dragging her down with him!!! its awful but its comforting to think for him like YES!!! TAKANE IS ALSO BAD!!! TAKANE IS ALSO STUCK WITH ME!!!! BTW THIS IS ALL ON AN UNCONSCIOUS LEVEL FOR SHINTARO LMAO.

but takane is AWARE... like yeah she gets he's sad over his breakup but takane doesnt TOTALLY revert back. like by this point its been a long time and she's totally aware of their codependency & working on it & already resenting a little how shintaro takes her for granted. and when it's been long enough and shintaro is still pathetically sobbing abt ayano, takane's been back in ene mode trying to distract him and cheer him up like always but she's like. man i have a job to get to. can we wrap this up for today. LOL LIKE takane has a fucking life so even if shintaro's (unconsciously) like omg yess its like it used to be, it isnt because takane has shit to take care of outside of him😭 she can be like. sorry man i gotta go i got a thing with haruka and shintaro's like ???? because... "normally" she would cancel on haruka for him and now she wont and shintaro's like wh??? and maybe he points it out and it REALLY pisses takane off LOLLL

ok so takane ticking time bomb abt to tell shintaro off + shinaya breakup + kanoshin insanity. *rubs hands together* shintaro about to accidentally finish destroying his relationship with takane that's already hanging by a thread. because he's dealing with all the guilt over his breakup with ayano and the newly found kinship with kano(+internalized homophobia) and he's like... so desperate. he's like. ok. there is 1 person in this world who will still have me and make me feel normal abt being this way.

sorry for shipping shintaka and being insane. shintaro wants to date takane. SORRY I KNOW its born from an insane fucked up situation and its truly the last straw for takane because she's like WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUIUUUT WHAT THE HELLLLLL bc shintaro's only going to her bc 1. to make me feel straight 💥 2. to make me feel valid💥💥💥 LIKE HES NOT THINKING OF HER FEELINGS AT ALL and i do think he'd fall for her in a little fucked up way like well idk??? i dont know but i definitely think shintaro&takane feel a very specific way abt each other and in his desperation shintaro decided to call it love LOL. takane would treat it sensibly if SHE DIDNT FUCKING KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON and she sends him to hell for it LOLLLL !!!!! this also distances haruka & shintaro because SHINTARO KNEW haruka is insanely self conscious and insecure and always treated the situation with kid gloves in fear of takane being like lol u dont like me hanging out with shintaro?? bye then. like he knows haruka has always been scared of takane choosing shintaro over him (even if not romantically) and then HE GOES AND DOES THAT AND even someone like haruka is like. bro... because listen by this point!!! haruka and takane have grown A LOT as people and as a couple while shintaro was stuck in this insane quarrel with ayano and himself and has his head so far up his own ass he couldn't see how horrible of an idea it is until he does it and ends up fucking up with friendship with both takane AND haruka. fun

SO............. umm. ur question. yes they do sort it out. shintaro has to grow a lot though. i think its his fallout with takane that is his last straw and he sort of realises he has got to make a change and accept this reality as terrifying as it is. its definitely a quartet fallout too. ofc they makeup!! ofc shintaro apologizes, of course they start talking again (i don't think they'd go long without talking btw i think takane's just like we. need time apart) and ofc they get to a point where the quartet is all together again even if shintaro and ayano are broken up, they get to be on friendly terms after enough time apart, and shintaro and takane can also be normal friends. they are still bestest friends but definitely more proper and shintaro now acts like a person to takane instead of taking her for granted and is there for her like a proper friend would be and etc. ofc it gets to that!!! but lol. isnt it so fun to have a circus first :3

THEY JUST NEED A BIT OF TIME APART..... but they are best of friends. they're one of a kind to each other💗 erm. Hi

[imaginespazzi]

Hi hi hi!

Reporting live and procrastinating responsibilities :). So heres my rundown, pretty much matchy matchy w yours, naturally: Generally the video vibes almost 💯 fit with the allegations 🙃. Please bear w the rambling thoughts in no particular order. Im not sure how one could possibly cohesively recap ALL THAT lol. Ok it blows my mind how much they personally had to catch up on w one another! God damn babes, you havent talked much if at all in nearly a month. Again it screams that there was more of a relationship (ending poorly).. Even friends moving apart prob wouldve had more contact over that time. Sometimes I wonder how they dont realize what they reveal by what they leave ~unsaid/not explained! Though G’s “really bad breakup” comment felt weighted given their situation. To me much of the injury discussion came across as carry over from the In The Mirror. With G making a point to say nice things (good memories of playing together;tearing up when Liz got hurt; not being wholly herself as a player w/out Kitley;the frustration at team reaction after the game following the injury; belief that Liz will recover/be drafted etc.). And G’s words still feel to me like a way of her dealing with some guilt which she cant quite yet express or process. Especially considering her adding stuff about being w the Kitley fam lately and helping move Liz’s stuff ha. If a person ever questioned something going down between L&G, I’ll say alarm bells went off when L described her night following the injury and staying over w Cayla. In such a low moment, poor girlie really couldnt manage being at her own place thats shared w one of her closest pals. Ooof. However, on the whole, they sounded more comfortable at times than I expected. In fact the convo sometimes got surprisingly open and loose - gals dont tell me that we had a bit of liquid courage before recording. ;) And it did stand out to me that L asked the “fans” on multiple occasions to just be decent and grateful for what they had + be understanding of decision making under the situation, but stopped short of telling people to leave G alone (which, given everything we’re led to believe, fair play hun). My big takeaway was that they seem to be taking this time of big adjustment as also a new beginning to possibly recover a friendship. Clearly theres still issues to work thru, but perhaps theyve reached a more settled/amicable place? Or at least were just able to deal w each other long enough to provide us all w a semi closure pod 😐. But heres hoping for more future content, as they hinted at! Oh and as someone who works w/in college athletics, I was very sympathetic to their comments throughout re change. Its a crazy industry, stuff happens in the blink of an eye and you do just have to deal with that ish. The harsh reality of the current state of things is that one rarely gets a neat, happy closure.

Happy Sunday to you bestie, hope its fantastic! -☕️

Reporting live and procrastinating is so real, like me asf fr fr.

THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING. Like they seemed so out of the loop when it came to each other's life and that's just so weird to me? I mean I get it could just be regular friends drifting but that wasn't the ~vibe~ at all to me and maybe again it's the allegations bias but it was just very much giving exes.

Hardcore agree with the Georgia stuff because I thought some of what she was saying felt a bit like an overcompensation, an apology of sorts to make up in a way for anything else that *might* have happened. Honestly Georgia being so nice, no shade, doesn't really fit the dynamic from before where sometimes Georgia's snark was just mean to me really.

Every new bit of info/content, I just continue to feel terrible for Liz. And I think her staying at Cayla's really gave away the depth of how much has happened between her and Georgia. And again yeah it could be a friend breakup but it just feel a little too serious for that.

Obviously I don't know a timeline, if there even is one, but this podcast gave me the vibes that if they were together, it's actually been a decent while since they broke up and are now in a place where they can co-exist in an amicable manner. I don't know if we'll ever get another podcast or if they'll actually be able to be in a genuine friendship again but I think they're in a good enough place and I do love that for them.

[midyearflowers]

major scarlet/violet spoilers below

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so i finished the main story yesterday and man that was really good. i absolutely love the subversion of the AI trope. usually in stories with AI its the AI that goes rogue, but this time it was the human that was moving forward and damn the consequences. like its always "the AI has no emotions and cant feel love therefore it doesnt care about human life and will do whatever" but this time the AI didnt actually need any of that to do the right thing. like i loved the whole "there is no logical reason to allow such a tragedy to occur", its so refreshing to see in a narrative honestly. like i am all about stories where love prevails and power of friendship yada yada, but sometimes its important to acknowledge that sometimes those things make us do bad things or overlook certain misdeeds. its getting the other side of the coin and it was nice to see

especially with how at first the AI was acting even though it believed it would be destroyed, it still knew that the time machine was far too dangerous and needed to be stopped. it did get a sort of "happy ending" with going to the past and getting its own adventure, but it had no way of knowing that would happen. it was fine with being destroyed or erased. reminds me of grovyle from the mystery dungeon games. working towards a better future even if you wont be part of it

and while i wasnt too clear on the timeline of when the original professor died, i almost felt like the AI cared more for Arven than the OP. like im no parent but even i know housing an unfamiliar creature of great power with your newborn is asking for a bad time. as much as death is not great when its before old age, at least it got the professor and not the, yknow, innocent child who had no say in the arrangement. i really feel for Arven cause its like, yea the professor was a famous genius, but no, their work was NOT more important than their actual literal child. why have a kid if you dont even want one? itd be different if they included him in their work as like an apprentice or something, but they literally just fucked off to the center of the earth and then never spoke to or emailed him again after a while. at least he knows the truth now and can move on and heal. im glad the AI at least told him they were proud of him and allowed him to have that closure. it said that his parent truly did love him, but i almost wonder if that was the AIs feelings after time and not the originals. or how the OP started but as they became consumed by their dream that faded. idk i just wanna tell Arven its ok, its not his fault and theres nothing wrong with him, his parents actions arent on him. i hope in time he can recognize that koraidon/miraidon are also victims of the OP and they can move on together

[pixiemage]

12 & 17

[Ask Game]

12. Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you?

Honestly? Angst and Hurt/Comfort. I used to avoid anything painful like the plague because I can't stand anything that doesn't have a happy ending. But in the past five years or so I've come to really appreciate a good bit of angst. There has to be balance, of course, but when it is balanced it makes the hurt hit harder and the comfort so much sweeter.

I still have a hard time with bad endings and permanent character death, because I still need that positive closure at the end of a journey, but - well. For anyone who's read my stories, you all know I've definitely taken a liking to emotional turmoil, haven't I? xD Just know my fics will ALWAYS have a happy ending! I'm incapable of writing any other way! <3

(Also some of the more animal-based traits that a lot of MCYT characters have. I used to think that kind of thing was weird when I was younger, but I've read so many stories since then with non-human characters that the hybrid players of the MCYT 'verses are basically normal to me. Give me birb boys and moss creatures any day of the week!)

17. What highly specific AU do you want to read or write even though you might be the only person to appreciate it?

Buckle up, because there are two and I'm a wordy bitch when I get excited about a story idea. One of them is Marvel, which might not be your cup of tea, but I'm rambling about it anyway. (If you want to skip it, there's also MCYT rambles below this one lol.)

Stark Boys AU | This one scratches the ol' Iron Dad itch that I don't think I'll ever get rid of. A Marvel buddy of mine and I created this entire AU over the course of a few months last year(?), in which Tony happens to meet the Parkers not long after the events of IM1. Peter is still just Peter instead of Spider-Man because he's so young at this point. He's a genius of a kid who's still processing the loss of his parents. For multiple reasons, Tony and the Parkers end up keeping in touch, and as the years go by Tony becomes a father figure for Peter. (Because of this he ends up taking better care of himself sooner and a lot of things change a little in the timeline, but that's beside the point.) When he meets Harley Keener in IM3, Tony figures out that the kid's practically an orphan. After having Peter in his life for so long the logical next step - of course - is to adopt this Harley kid who's got the same spark of genius Peter has and is close to Peter in age. They two end up growing up as something akin to brothers, with Peter living with the Parkers and Harley living with the Starks and both of them spending weekends together at one home or the other. This means both boys (and May and Ben) are part of the story through all the Avengers films, which changes things in a lot of interesting ways. Peter shows up in Siberia in Civil War, Harley starts work on his own suit like Tony's, there's this running joke that they claim they're twins when they're not. Harley crushes on, dates, breaks up with, then forges a lifelong rivalry with Harry Osborn, which lasts all the way through college. There's a whole thing with Peter coming back after the snap and the blip as a kid instead of a teen, which is just - my favorite thing. This AU also inspired a bunch of SPINOFF AU's - SB Mafia AU, a Parent Trap AU where Harley and Peter are actually twins, an SB Hogwarts AU with Flash as a rival-turned-friend, a Supernatural AU where Richard Parker and the Starks were Men of Letters and where May and Ben run a roadhouse for Hunters - so this, uh. This story and its extensions live rent free in my head. I've never listened to The Pheonix by Fall Out Boy without thinking of it.

BUT BACK TO MCYT

2. Traffic Life Witch & Familiar AU | I've talked in depth about this one over on this post, but I freaking adore this concept. Witches and Familiars is a trope I love in every universe. I think I found it first through Supernatural (and started writing a fic for but never finished, oop) and the whole idea is soooo good. And with the concept of witch/familiar bonds that I've seen in numerous works, it parallels so well with the soulbond mechanic from Double Life. If people want it I'd gladly write it, it just wouldn't be in a chapter-fic form and it probably would be at the bottom of the list until some of my other MCYT fics are finished xD Lord knows I have a lot I'm working on already!

3. (And here, a secret third thing, but spoilers for recent DSMP lore: I made a joke post about it the other day, but remember how I mentioned in another ask that I love the Hermit!Tommyinnit trope? Well forget the old “Tommy somehow ends up on Hermitcraft during exile” trope, how about “Tommy somehow ends up on Hermitcraft after the DSMP gets nuked but everyone is still trapped on Empires so it’s sort of a ghost town except for like five people and one (1) traumatized and potion addicted teen”? Like - it would be an absolute catastrophe and I love it. The only people left on Hermitcraft right now are, to my knowledge, Hypno, XB, Beef, and Wels. Etho is somewhere and Mumbo is still on hiatus, so Tommy just - appearing in a near-empty server with four people who would have no idea how to deal with a traumatized and chaotic teen? Absolutely glorious. And then Mumbo would come back and be the most capable man in the room because he deals with Grian on a daily basis, and that's a stretch. Hypno would be the only one present with admin status. So Xisuma and Grian and the rest come back and the server is just on fire because nobody knows what to do about the new intruder who probably just really needs sleep and a hug, and - glorious, glorious chaos. <3)

OH AND SOMEONE SHOULD DO AN EMPIRES AND HERMITCRAFT SWAP where the Hermits each have their own Empire and the Empires crew are the ones who live in a chaotic world of RP shenanigans. Or maybe like, a partial cast swap because lord knows there are so many more Hermits by comparison. Nether Prince Tangoooo my beloved.

[dangleboots]

The relationship wasn't perfect, or even that great at the end of things, but God, did I care about her. I loved her. Just thinking about her gave me a rush of endorphins. She was the Earth, and I was an asteroid set on a collision course directly for her. I probably didn't make that big of an impact on her, but she was huge to me.

I use a lot of space imagery when talking about her, and that's because I associate her with it. She was as vast and unknown as the cosmos to me, as beautiful and stalwart as the moon. She shone as brightly as the stars above, and she had the gravitational pull of the sun. As warm as the sun's rays and as comforting as the moon's light. It is with the certainty of the Earth spinning on its axis that I know I would've always fallen for her.

She was my type to a t, but she was also just special. She was positively vibrant to me, an explosion of color in my life like the northern lights.

But she also hurt me, and while I do love to wax poetic about the ones I love, I can't put her on a pedestal. I can't sugarcoat how bad the relationship made me feel at times by only focusing on the good. That's not healthy.

She wasn't trying to be, but at times she was like a black hole to me. Silent, drawing me in inevitably but giving nothing in return. Like the moon, I could never truly reach her. Without the sun, the world starts to grow cold. The stars are beautiful, but they're projections of the past. The cosmos is wonderful in its vastness, but you can get lost in it so easily.

It hurt me a lot to be ignored. Especially when she wouldn't give me any reason why, so I was stuck there wondering and worrying over what I must've done wrong. I cried over her a lot. Radio silence for days and weeks at a time takes its toll. She refused to talk about her problems in the end, no matter how much I begged her to just let me help. She said she needed "time", but never gave me a timeline.

The end felt as inevitable as her. I tried to make it "easy" on her by being understanding and gently asking her to let me know if she still wanted to be together. She said it felt like I was treating it like a business transaction. That felt like a punch to the gut. I know how tough health and life problems are- I didn't want to add to her stress and pain. But maybe I was too impersonal while trying to do that. I certainly didn't mean it that way.

In the end, four months ago, I said I wanted to stay together if she did too, but that I needed to know if she didn't. She never answered. A month and a half later, I finally sent a breakup text for some semblance of closure. No response. I blocked her two weeks after that because I was so stressed that I was having nightmares about her for multiple nights in a row. The nightmares were about how she could blame me or hurt me with words if she finally responded, so my solution was making it so that she couldn't respond. It worked, the nightmares stopped, but maybe it wasn't fair of me. I knew that she'd never actually do something like that, but my fears still took over.

I don't know why I unblocked her or am still hung up on her. No- that's a lie. It's because I love her, still, despite everything. I shouldn't. "Your silence says just as much about your character/as your words do". She never said it with words, but her actions spoke loud and clear. She didn't want me, or didn't have the communication skills necessary to keep me. I can't help but give her the benefit of the doubt, though. That she truly misses me and regrets what happened. Maybe it's just to make myself feel better.

I want her back in my life, but I'm also assuming a lot in that want. I'm assuming she's changed and has better communication skills. I'm assuming that she still cares about me. I'm assuming that she even wants me back in her life.

When things started falling apart, she mentioned that I'd be better off without her. That I'd be happier with someone else. And if you're reading this, my love, you were wrong. And right. You were right that that version of you I dated wasn't good for me in the end. That I'd be happier without worrying over you every day. But while I am happier, I am not happy. I miss you dearly, and I pine over you daily. If you could communicate this time, we could start as friends. For while my life is technically "better" without a cloud of worry over my head, it is not better without you.