#for what it brings them both as characters

[the-original-skipps]

|| Dinner? A Bath? Or Me? || Honkai Star Rail Reactions ||

the thing I did for windbreaker imma do it for hsr too mehehehe just experimenting if this is well received I’ll do more

: aventurine. dr.ratio. sunday. dan heng. phainon. mydei.

cw: hints of sexual content. suggestiveness. established relationship. gn!reader. possible oocness (first time writing for some of these characters). art used does not belong to me but credited to it's rightful owner.

"Welcome home! Would you like dinner? A bath? Or perhaps me...?"

❥ Aventurine stills for a moment before his signature smile graces his face. You can already feel his mischievousness radiating off of him in waves as he steps closer to you, to stand directly in front of you. He acts as if he's in deep contemplation at your words. "Dinner does sound nice, I'm absolutely famished! Though, a nice hot bath does sound equally as enticing." He says with a playful mirth, trying to gauge your reaction. He's quick to notice the slight down pull of your lips - as expected of you, his smile grows wider. "Ah, the third option?" He asks like an afterthought but you know it's intentional. His face inching closer to yours while his gloved hand teasingly trails up your arm. His eyes lock you into a hypnotic trance that you can't possibly look away from. 

"Hmm and what might you be able to offer me...?"

❥ Dr. Ratio's face is serious as he digests your question. "Dinner followed by a bath would sound like the most logical option." He tells you as if he's stating a basic fact which causes you to deflate. "However..." You perk up at his words. "Exercising before eating has been known to lead to improved insulin responses and a higher fat burning rate." He speaks to you as he walks past you towards the hallway of your shared home. You feel your face grow how at his implication and use of the word 'exercising'. Then he suddenly stops to look back at you, his reddish eyes locking onto you. "Why don't we do a little exercising before dinner?" The atmosphere in the room shifting with the implication of his words. His face remains serious as he motions you to follow him.

"I simply chose the option with the most merits, that would be beneficial for the both of us."

❥ Sunday blanks out as he tries to process your words and the possible meaning behind them. As he eliminates all possible answers and lands on the one you’re most likely insinuating. His face starts to flush - his wings twitching from the urge to hide his face. "By ‘me’, are you possibly implying...?" Sunday manages to stutter out as he shyly looks towards you - awaiting your confirmation. You can't help but laugh softly at his question before nodding. Sunday matches your nod with his own letting the words sink in. The halovian hesitantly steps closer to you, taking your hands in his. "Then, may I h-have you...?" He asks you a slight nervousness laced within his voice as he brings your hands for his lips brush against your knuckles. A smile blossoms on his face as you accept. 

"T-Thank you, I promise to take good care of you..."

❥ Dan Heng freezes as you ask him this question. Keeping his face as neutral as possible. Your words immediately reminding him of a certain grey haired friend. He wonders if it was their idea to make you pose this kind of question to him. His eyes nervously shift around the room to make sure they’re really not hiding, watching his reaction. Once Dan Heng confirms the coast is clear, he clears his throat awkwardly looking away from you in embarrassment. The full weight of your words and intentions hitting him at once. “Sorry, I-I must have heard you wrong. Did you say ‘me’..?” You eagerly confirm, a smile beaming on your face. He pauses as he considers his next words, trying to come up with possible answers to your question. Your prolonged silence as you await his answer makes his cheeks grow redder by the second.

“I s-suppose one of those options does sound appealing to me…”

❥ Phainon couldn't contain the excited smile that breaks out on his face at your words. He immediately walks up to you, but before you could react to his sudden closeness. His hands hook underneath your thighs, lifting you to his press against his chest. You instinctively wrap your arms around his neck to steady yourself. Feeling pleased, Phainon chuckles at your reaction. “Why, my dear. I believe the answer should be obvious.” He answers you with a bright smile as he walks over to the dining table, then carefully placing you upon it. He then places his hands on your cheeks, cradling your face as if you're his most prized possession. Your body tensing as the pad of his thumb brushes against your button lip - his previous smile turning into a smirk. 

“You don’t even need to ask, the answer will always be you.”

❥ Mydei smirks, a deep resounding chuckle rumbling from his chest. “How bold of you to ask me such a thing.” He proclaims as he slowly walks towards you like a lion stalking his prey. His crimson eyes rooting you to the spot, daring you to even try to move away from him. “I don’t think dinner can satisfy the hunger I have right now.” He almost growls to you, as if he's trying his best to hold himself back from pouncing on you right now. As you momentarily look away from him in embarrassment, he uses his fingers to tilt your chin up. "Eyes on me." He orders, his eyes swirling with want while his other hand holds your waist to pull you until you're pressed against him. You feel your breath stolen away with how quickly his lips descend upon yours.

“I hope you know what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

[demilypyro]

Characters I want Surge to interact with, just to see what would happen:

Shadow (trauma bonding? or maybe they just fight. or maybe he doesn't think she's worth his time, which she would be mad about)

Knuckles (I don't think he's even heard about her yet? What if they meet randomly and they actually get along because neither of them bring up their connection to Sonic at all. They're both very straightforward people, maybe they'd be on the same wavelength?)

Amy, again (she VOUCHED for you and it was all a trick? you're gonna get it)

Cream (we know Surge has a fondness for kids)

Sonic, but like, they're stranded on an island together (what are these two like when they're not fighting?)

[tahbhie]

The Act of Writing Psychotic Characters 

Part 1: Attention vs Intention

It's been a while since I received this request, and I ensured I took my time with the thoughts, evaluation, and analysis. This topic will be covered in three parts, so here's the first.

Before we proceed, please note that I am not a psychiatrist, psychologist, or any professional in that field. This is just an insight into how this kind of concept can fit into your novels.

Okay, let's begin.

The Attention vs Intention part of this topic will discuss two ways of portraying these type of characters in scenes. 

First, you need to understand that psychotic characters aren't psychotic based solely on their speeches or actions. If that's all you have in mind before approaching a story, you might leave a huge gap in the execution.

Rather, it's how they feel—the desire to satisfy their current emotions.

They have drives and motives, but most especially beliefs which, in most cases, are hardly understandable by other people. It's wrong and unacceptable by society, but to them, they wouldn't do it any differently.

That's why most psychotic characters have no remorse. You simply can't apologize or feel sorry if you don't 'believe' that you're in the wrong.

➜ Attention Psychosis

Psychotic characters whose main purpose in a story is limited to presence (i.e., showing up in scenes and visibly serving the role of a psychotic character) are attention psychotics. You don't flesh out their backstory or why they are who they are.

Their drives and motives aren't talked about enough to the point of justification. Readers hardly care about them, but the action they bring to the scene creates a rich narrative with the purpose of psychosis.

In summary, their role is minor. We see such cases in movies like The Babysitter.

Let's agree that none of the cult characters in that movie are exactly sane, as their main aim is to end their victims’ lives in the sickest ways possible. However, there's a certain character, Max, who simply enjoys the idea of "killing and seeing people bleed."

That has exceeded the central idea of being a cultist who gets involved in blood sacrifice to achieve their 'dream life' like the rest of the characters. It's now something more and different.

Something that has to do with homicidal ideation.

Max worked in a diner where he dealt with people that annoyed him so greatly that he wanted to kill them. So he got the opportunity to join a cult and do just that.

It was plain clear this guy had something else going on for him, but throughout the movie, his character had no special attention or even a peek into his thoughts. Although, it still worried the audience. Job done.

➜ Intention Psychosis

When a story is centered around a character's mental state, their motives, drives, beliefs, actions, and the story actually unfolds by going deeper into this concept, you have intention psychosis.

If not entirely, at least mostly, it defines the entire plot surrounding that character. People get to understand why they are who they are, their mode of action, what drives them, and even a peek into how they perceive the world around them.

Such scenarios are seen in movies like The Joker and Pyramid game (Korea). The audience gets a glimpse into their overall life and understands at least to an extent why they are the way they are.

Their beliefs get twisted for certain reasons, and there was just no stopping them. Here the characters were more than a presence; they were a central core.

In the movie Joker, we watched Arthur’s impoverished life unfold, with every event and incident worsening his condition further.

Baek Ha-rin in Pyramid Game literally created an entire game system to watch a student, who happened to be her old friend, suffer both physically and mentally. She went to great lengths to carry out this nefarious act under the guise of the game. Although this movie encompassed more than just this storyline, it was hard to ignore the unhealthy drive and actions of the young lady with an innocent face.

Before incorporating a psychotic character in your novel, determine their form of portrayal and appearance in the overall story. Are they going to serve as an attention psychotic or an intention psychotic?

Inspired by @sothera

Stay tuned for the next part!

۝ Before you go! ۝

My Characters and I is an extensive one-on-one coaching session designed to create characters that leap off the pages and become best friends with your readers.

What's a great story without remarkable characters? Spots are filling up fast, so grab yours now and get ahead of millions of writers out there.

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[lostyesterday]

I think most people agree that, of all the TNG major characters, Worf was the best possible one to bring into DS9. He fits the best into the DS9 cast, and it’s pretty hard to imagine fitting any other TNG character in at all as well. This made me think about the fact that, since all the 90’s Trek shows are set at approximately the same time, you could theoretically take almost any major character from any show and put them into another show. So I asked myself the question, which character from each 90’s Trek show would fit the best into each other show?

The best TNG character to be on Voyager: Easily Deanna Troi. I don’t think having a counselor onboard would genuinely fix the Voyager crew’s problems, but it would add an interesting layer, and we would get to see lots of disastrous counseling sessions. I also think Deanna could have particularly interesting interactions with B’Elanna and Seven, and I’d love to see her develop an unlikely friendship with Tuvok. The one major issue I can see is that there would be a bit of redundancy with Kes in terms of her empathic abilities, but at the same time, I think they could have an interesting dynamic.

The best DS9 character to be on TNG: Obviously Worf and O’Brien are discounted from consideration here. I’ll admit this is a hard one – the DS9 crew just would not fit very well on TNG. It also feels like cheating to choose Bashir because he had good chemistry with Data and Geordi in the crossover episode, so instead I’m going to pick Odo. I’m not sure how exactly the plot could be worked to make Odo’s presence on Enterprise make sense, but I think he would get along really well with Picard, and I think he and Data could have had interesting discussions. I also think Odo would slot interestingly into TNG’s typical moral dilemma episodes.

The best DS9 character to be on Voyager: Either Jadzia or Kira could be interesting. I think Jadzia would fit really naturally into the crew and could have filled the generally vacant main science officer spot. There would be interesting things to explore in her dynamics with basically every single main crew member, particularly Janeway and B’Elanna. Kira could be interesting in terms of how she related to the Maquis/Starfleet relationship, and I’d love to see her dynamic with Chakotay and B’Elanna. In general, I think both Jadzia and Kira would have some really interesting feelings about being stranded so far from the Alpha Quadrant.

The best Voyager character to be on TNG: Harry feels like he’d theoretically slot in the most naturally, but I think his role and personality would end up being too similar to Geordi. So, oddly enough, I think Tom might actually work the best in TNG. His backstory is based on that of a minor TNG character, and I think it would be interesting to see Tom work through (or not) his issues with Starfleet and his father in an environment that was not at all as far removed as Voyager was. He could have an interesting dynamic with Picard and Deanna, and maybe even Data and Geordi.

The best Voyager character to be on DS9: Chakotay would be interesting, since I might have liked an alternate Maquis storyline on DS9 that actually had one of them as a major character. What would happen if Sisko was actually forced to work with a Maquis leader for some reason, and what if they actually ended up finding common ground and respecting each other? I’m thinking more along the lines of Sisko’s dynamic with Cal Hudson in the Maquis two-parter rather than his dynamic with Eddington. Again, I think Chakotay and Kira could have a really interesting dynamic as well.

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

One fascinating thing about "You Must Unload" is how thematically relevant it is for all the characters on the show, especially Irving himself. The Terror is a story about progressively giving things up and leaving things behind, what you choose to unload and when. (Boats? Curtain rods? Books? Your only clothing, useless in this cold weather? Your only food, poisoned? Your only companions, sick and dying and unable to walk?) Trying in vain to haul things with you that you cannot carry, both metaphorically and literally.

And Irving is at the center of all of it. As discussed in this post, after Crozier declares at Carnivale that they will abandon the ships, Irving stops referencing religion, a turning point for his character. And he is the one call "Forward, men!", the final decision to leave everything they've known behind. You must unload!

He is also the one whose reaction we focus on when Crozier tells them that even the food they're carrying with them is killing them. Which makes sense, of course: Irving is the one we have seen keeping careful inventory of these supplies, trying to make them last as long as possible. Revealed to have been a futile effort the entire time. You must unload!

And then finally, he goes on the hunting trip, making the call first to split off into a smaller party, then to go all alone to meet the Netsilik. At last, he gives up his spyglass, the only prized possession he has left, something stated textually in the book and implied in the show to be important to him personally. And at the same time, he gives up the symbols of his imperialist existence: rank, class, national identity, all of it, because these things have, quite literally, no meaning in this situation. He's left with nothing but his Christian name.

And when he goes back to try to bring the rest of the expedition with him to salvation, that's what kills him. You must unload!

[yourstardarling]

Aura of the air signs

In astrology, Air signs have a unique ability to influence the atmosphere around them. They are the unseen force that set the tone for interactions, shaping the environment through communication, ideas and their social energy. Like the air itself, they move seamlessly through spaces allowing themselves to be felt. They create impactful conversations and make light connections that are remembered long after they’re gone.

What this means is that the placement of air signs in your chart (and the planetary influences tied to them) defines the social energy you bring into an environment. It tells the story of how people perceive you and the vibe you exude in social settings. This unintentionally makes them natural centers of attention since their presence stirs the air around them. Whether that be through conversation, laughter, or even their energy. It’s as though the air signs pass through the atmosphere, leaving it forever changed.

Gemini’s air is one filled with chatter and laughter. It is a whirlwind of excitement and curiosity, like a warm summer breeze. They are the ones that will tell you fun facts about a random topic which intrigues them. Conversations are their stronghold, displaying that they can keep up with anyone from different backgrounds. This often can be very surface level, but Geminis have an ability to pull out deep conversations out of people. One reason is that they are very open to communication which leaves others to feel at ease to open up to them. However, the main factor is that Geminis know how to ask the right questions and stir a conversation. They don’t shy away from their curiosity which makes others intrigued to communicate. There is a quickness to their enigmatic air, often leaving as quickly as they came. Behind them they leave inspiration, knowledge, and unforgettable conversations. I always say Geminis remind me of the phrase “Gone with the wind”. They breeze through life, often leaving others to question if their breeze was a figment of their imagination.

Libras air is graceful and alluring, carrying a sense of balance that smooths out even the most chaotic environments. It is like a crisp cool autumn breeze, refreshing and filled with moisture. There’s something about their aura that draws people in, making you feel safe and at ease in their presence. Like you can’t help, but like them and get reeled into their charming character. Their air is a mix of sweet perfumes and delicate body oils that linger, creating an irresistible atmosphere. “Love is in the air” is their life motto and they carry that with them wherever they go. Whether intentionally or not, Libras air feels like a soft seduction. They keep eye contact in conversations, know how to balance intellectual stimulation and make cheeky comments. At first glance it may feel like they are flirting, but later realize it is just a natural part of their charm. Libras know how to make others like them and the right things to say to gain admiration. This why sometimes their kindness may come across as being fake. However, don’t let that fool you, they are very passionate individuals that love to debate. Even when disagreements arise they seem to have an air of elegance, leaving those involved feeling both challenged and intrigued.

Aquarius air is one brimming with disruption and chaos. It’s like a storm of winds that shake up everything in its path. This air stirs the minds and hearts of those around them, pushing boundaries and forcing change. Lightening is a significant symbol for Aquas because of the shock factor they leave behind. People are polarized by their unconventional conversations and ideas. They can seem like the less inviting among the air signs, but once you break the ice you can’t help being pulled into the storm. The storm energy of Aquarius comes from their over-analyzation of what is going on around them. So many neurons are being fired at once which can lead to overstimulation for themselves and people they talk to. They are very bright though and don’t like their intelligence to be downplayed. When in their vicinity, you feel this rush of electricity to talk about and do anything. They bring to you a foreign perspective. If you want to feel renewed and need new ideas, Aquarius is the one you go to.

Planetary Influence

The heavenly bodies have a direct impact on how air moves in a chart. For air specifically, there is a need for clarity. If there are too many planets, it can be hard for the air to push through. Their is a since of lightness and weightlessness that air signs need in order to properly function. Too many placements leads to overstimulation and a tendency to be reclusive in their minds. They don’t loose their social factor, but it makes them big over thinkers. Air moves the best when the energy is free.

Sun: The suns influence in air signs actually brings about its own set of challenges. Out of the 3, only Gemini has a good relationship to the Sun. It is in Fall in libra and in detriment in Aquarius. What this tells me is that the Sun finds it hard to shine and express itself in an environment that is so focused on other people. How can you shine for yourself when you’re always worried about the social needs of others. The light of the air signs can feel like clouds blocking the sun. They are not shining for just themselves, but for the social group around them as well.

Moon: The moon in air signs brings a nurturing factor towards conversations and communication. They know how to make people feel safe to open up to them about their throughts and opinions. A keen ability to analyze their close one’s emotions. The downside though is a detachment from their feelings. They often try to process their inner world from an intellectual landscape rather than feeling them through. This can make them be unreadable to other people.

Mercury: This is the best friend of the air signs. Mercury does really well in all 3 signs. It allows them to be able to do what they do best, communication. Mercury in the air signs make their mental capacity very sharp and ready to navigate any topics of discussion. These are very smart individuals that have a reservoir of information.

Venus: In the realm of love, the air signs can be extremely flirtatious and misleading. They will reel you in with their words and stimulation, but you will feel caught off guard by their detachment. It feels like love is a game to them. They may find it hard to build lasting connections because of their need to be free. It’s like they are up in the air which makes it hard to feel like you can grasp them.

Mars: The planet of war in the air signs causes unnecessary challenges surrounding interactions and communication. Here the air becomes hot like the desert, making it hard to breathe. The slightest misunderstanding can lead to conflict for these individuals. It is important for you to watch what you say and know when to defend yourself when necessary. The strength of mars makes them good debaters, but people can often say things to rage bait you.

Jupiter: This planet brings a strong presence within the air signs. Their ideas deeply shape their beliefs and faith. Wisdom can be found through their interactions with other people. However, information overload can become a problem for air Jupiters. Faith can also be a struggle for air Jupiter’s as they operate based on factual data instead of just pure belief: they need things to make sense.

Saturn: Now yall already know, Saturn is gonna bring a sense of heaviness in the air. It can feel like they have a responsibility towards the social and intellectual aspect of there environments. The weight of this can be heavy on them making them uncomfortable and anxious about forming relationships. However, they learn how to place boundaries and be very selective about who is in their presence. Saturn does pretty well in the air signs since it is in Domicile in Aquarius and Exalted in Libra. I think it’s because Saturn is focused on maintaining order and in the air it knows how to maintain social order. It becomes unbiased because it isn’t so easily attached. This allows it to be able to make good judgement.

___

Whether through the ideas they inspire, the emotions they evoke, or the stories they leave behind, the air signs remain a lingering presence in their environment. They are seamlessly both attached and free from societal influences at the same time. Catch them if you can and learn from the short, but worthwhile interactions.

-yourStardarling

[heyyallitssatan]

Ok I love this so so much, it opens up so many new avenues for character development and shows that mha can have alignments other than chaotic evil and lawful good, and it present natsuo in a whole new light and it gives us so much potential for the other todorokis and their reactions when they find out

I want to yap about a few of said options so bear with me

First and the easiest, they don’t find out until Touya’s final scene when natsuo doesn’t try to stop him and Touya laughs maniacally and then the scene goes pretty similarly made natsuo steps in on his behalf maybe he just keeps his mom and sister out of the fight who knows

Then again maybe natsuo is just there for dabis dance and seconds what he’s says basically

Now for the (in my opinion) more fun options

How does Dabi react to natsuo being the mole? Does he even know at all, maybe they kept him in the dark to preserve the moles identity and make it as easy as possible for him to maintain his cover, but (that’s less fun) Dabi is a core member of the LOV so maybe he does know, and how would he react to that

Maybe he doesn’t care at all because he really does have no connection to or fucks to give about his family and natsuo can do whatever he wants, but i think he’d be just thrilled that another one of endeavors kids feeling the same way as him and wanting to take the bastard down

Now say what would Dabi do if natsuo wanted to get in on the action, he wants to be on the front lines, more involved than just a rat

Does Dabi stop him? Maybe, maybe some tiny burnt shrivelled part of his heart still beats for his little brother and doesn’t want to see him hurt, so maybe he draws his line in the stand

But what if he does let him? Is it because he really doesn’t care, doesn’t see natsuo’s as a brother anymore so what difference does it make to him, or is it because deep down he wants to fight with his brother against the man who hurt them both

Either way I don’t think he be allowed to fight cause they’d want to preserve his anonymity, makes him a better spy, my question is, does Dabi breathe a sigh of relief or disappointment

And in any of these scenarios really, does natsuo get to know who Dabi is, does Dabi give up his own identity to know his brother again, or does he maintain his cover and observe from the sidelines, assuming of course that he cares enough to watch at all

Now, what about fuyumi?

I find it hard to believe she doesn’t know unless she doesn’t want to, and maybe that’s the case, maybe she knows somethings up with natsuo, hears just enough cryptic calls, sees just enough sneaking around, knows just enough, to know she doesn’t want to know anymore, she leaves it at that, content to live in the dark where things make sense and she can keep the peace a little easier

I think she knows, and it bring up, does she tell?

I mean she should right, to protect her father and her littlest brother and everyone really, she should tell, it’s the right choice

But natsuo is her little brother too, and to protect him she has to keep quiet, what does she do

I think she probably tries to reason with natsuo, maybe not to incriminate himself but to stop, he’s not in too deep yet (she hopes) he can get out, even if they reveal his identity it won’t be hard to spin up that he was under duress or being manipulated, they can fix it

But he doesn’t want that, he doesn’t want to stop and he certainly doesn’t want to cover his own ass and hang the others out to fry, and he tries to explain it to her, why he has to do this

And she gets it, she really does, the desire to hurt their father for everything he’s done, to burn the system that let him do it, to hate everything that he is, everything that made him and everything that he’s made, she gets it, probably more than anyone else, more than natsuo even knows (cause after all, she’s fuyumi, how could she hate so deeply to know his, how could she hate so much and still do what she does)

But it can’t be worth this, it can’t be worth so many innocent lives, can it?

She should tell, she knows she should, she can make the perfect argument for it too, in her head, she’s protecting her father, Shouto, every innocent hero, student, and civillian that will be caught in the crossfire of their war, and natsuo wont back down, he won’t stop, he’ll keep pushing and pushing until he’s in the middle of this stupid fight too, he’ll get hurt, in the long run it’ll be so much worse for him too if she doesn’t tell, so she should, and she knows it, she knows all the reasons it’s the right choice

But there’s a burning feeling, an ache in her chest she’d thought she’d long since filled with ice, for the fire Touya bared to the world, for the kindness that used to live in their fathers eyes, for the life in their mothers, for the innocent in all of them, and that fire in her heart she’d buried beneath the glaciers in her lungs forcing her to bite her tongue, it burns for something, something some would call vengeance, and others would call justice, it’s the same thing really, for her at least, isn’t it? And she wants to consume the world in that fire, her father, the commission, the society that lets women be bought, children be bred in a lab, abused and killed by men who will never see the consequences, and then be sent to a war they had no part in starting, canon fodder, pawns on a board so big they’ll never find the edge, and certainly not the people moving them, she wants all of it to burn, and burn and burn, until it burns itself out, and all the ashes are lost, buried beneath a layer of fresh snow, that melts to water new grass and flowers, things that have never known war, or pain or abuse like she has, things new and untouched by everything that’s tainted them

So maybe she doesn’t tell, because she knows it’s the right thing, but, what if, this one time she didn’t do the right thing?

And Shouto can’t know, he just can’t, he’s too good, to perfect, to heroic, he wouldn’t understand, he didn’t feel what they all felt, not really, even fuyumi, who natsuo trusted but was never totally sure of when it came to stuff like this (but for some reason Dabi knew, he would have gone under oath, sworn against all but his name, that she wouldn’t tell, because natsuo knew fuyumi the big sister, but Touya knew fuyumi the girl) she understood something that Shouto just didn’t, couldn’t, not the way he was now, he never really took much notice of his siblings oddities anyway, I mean, how was he to know if they were really oddities at all

Obviously Endeavor doesn’t get to know until they want him to, until they can hurt them the most with it, but neither does rei, cause she was a victim too, but maybe they can’t get over it, maybe they can’t accept that she keeps choosing him, and even if she didn’t, they can’t trust her, not really, because they don’t know her, not really, no one does I don’t think, because they know rei the mom, rei the wife, rei the patient, but none of those are her are they?

So they get to it, the dance, when all is revealed to the world, and sure Endeavor looks shocked, and natsuo tries to, and wow when did he become such a good liar, fuyumi was alone when she saw it on tv, she didn’t have anyone to pretend for, and she didn’t, she didn’t look shocked, she didn’t look knowing either, she looked… not sad, sad wasn’t the word for it, maybe resigned? Resigned to it, because she knew, she didn’t know of course, no one could have, but she’d see the photos of Dabi posted everywhere, seen the footage, and those were her eyes, and that was the way Touya used to throw the first punch, and that scar hidden by all the others, it was older, and fuyumi remembered laughing at her big brother for tripping over a ball while she pushed a bandaid over just the same spot, so no she didn’t know, but if she honest she did

And when the big moment finally came, natsuo stood with fuyumi, but they both had this strange look of calm to themselves, not quite the panicked civilian they should have been, and when she stood together and wielded their “weak” quirks they were so strong, strong enough to stand behind their older brother, strong enough to cool him off and coat his limbs in fuyumis frost, while natsuo made every effort to blast their father back, it may not have been obvious to an outsider who’s side they stood on, but to the todorokis it was more than clear who, what, they’d chosen

Endeavor didn’t die that day, but neither did Touya, he would go to prison for a long time, but with twice weekly visitations he doubted he’d be lonely

Natsuo and fuyumi made the wrong choice this time, and if anyone can ever prove it beyond their family’s word, then they’ll be in matching outfits with their big brother, but maybe that’s not the worst thing in the world, because for once, their wrong choice finally felt right, they felt free

Honestly, I think it would have been really interesting if Natsuo had been the traitor.

He had a hell of a motive. Older brother is killed in a tragic accident brought about because of their father, younger brother is abused by their father, mother is institutionalized because of his father, and Endeavor faces justice for absolutely none of it.

All of a sudden this news broadcast showing Stain yelling for the public to open their eyes to the false heroes among them happens...just saying, that could have appealed to more than one of the Todoroki siblings.

And with Shouto a UA student, that places Natsuo in a prime position to potentially gather information about classes on and off campus. He wouldn't be an active member of the LoV; he's just the mole. It might be a stretch to say he wanted Shouto in harm's way, but if you remember that Shouto was exhibiting the exact same anger and arrogance Endeavor had, there was room for a narrative where Natsuo reached a, "Fuck, now there's two of them," mentality and didn't care what happened to him. And that only expands on the betrayal. Shouto realizes he's on a path to become his father, then starts trying to reconnect with his mother and estranged siblings. Natsuo doesn't even have to approach him to form a connection.

...

Shouto: Why did you do this?

Natsuo: If you had any original thoughts of your own, you'd have done it, too. But I guess it's not your fault Endeavor raised you to be a puppet.

Shouto: This isn't who you are.

Natsuo: *not even anger at this point, just pity* Are you sure? Can you say with any certainty that you know any of your siblings? Or am I just the one who went to college, Fuyumi is the one who cooks, and Touya is the one who died?

[hellsslibrary]

Can I request what rin, sae and hiori would do on the reader's birthday (you know nsfw stuff ♡)

Happy Birthday to Me or How I Lost the Ability to Walk Even Though I'm a Top (This is a quote from some manga I can't remember the name of but it fits here).

MASTERLIST is here.

#a.n. : I have absolutely nothing to say but if anyone is reading this on their birthday then happy birthday to you sweeties!!

!!Warnings: male!top!reader, bottom!characters, they're all sub but Sae is a little bit of a dom (I'm just a sucker for the "pathetic" top trope or something, you don't get it), Hiori's scenario is very funny and weird, very. In Sae's mentions clothes (you know), in Hiori's mentions video games (yeah), Rin is nothing special, he's the most normal one in this scenario I swear. Otherwise just praise, a little teasing and a very enthusiastic reader here.

Hiori Yo

"Is this...? What is this, Yo?" you ask in incomprehension, staring at his computer screen, trying to figure out what you actually see here.

Well, more precisely, you understood what you were seeing, but you clearly didn't understand why he was showing it.

"This is us, in Sims 4... Having sex. What is unclear?" he answers by tilting his head to the side with a slight blush coloring his cheeks, looking first at the screen and then at you.

"So my gift is watching porn with us, or rather with toy models of us?" you laugh when two people who look like you change their positions in a game that looks very good... unrealistic, but who really cares.

"No," Hiori shakes his head slowly, removing the headphones around his neck and placing them on the table, then poking you in the chest. "They can do it on any surface and in any position... If you like a certain pose, then we'll try it in reality."

You just blink like an owl, not understanding anything at all, but taking the mouse from him and poking it on the countertop, choosing random poses from the list, watching how sim of Hiori literally bends in different poses, which looks pretty hot, even if stupid.

It takes about fifteen minutes while you're pointing at various pieces of furniture and looking at all sorts of poses from different angles, sometimes you both giggle at some strange animations until one catches your eye.

"It," comes out of your mouth, and Hiori stares at the screen, watching his sim sit on the table while the life is practically being fucked out of him, judging by the pace of the thrusting.

"Really? Dear, it's a little..." the word doesn't come out of his mouth when he bites his lip in embarrassment, but after hesitating for a couple of seconds, he gets up from his chair, taking off his sweatpants along with his underwear and sitting on the edge of the table. "I'm already prepared, so you can just slide inside."

You immediately smile like a child who has received the most coveted sweet, and you almost frantically undo your belt, which is not particularly possible because of the trembling in your fingers. So you just unbutton your fly and take out your dick.

"Really? Can I do it raw?" Hiori hums in response to this question, and then shrugs his shoulder vaguely, spreading his legs as an answer, and squeaks when you squeeze his hips right there.

Hiori's back arches when he feels your cock sliding in at a much more gentle pace than your sims, who continue to fuck behind Hiori's back. His fingers grip the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white as his feet lightly scratch the table.

"Wrap your legs around me, please?"

Yo silently obeys, grabbing your shoulders instead, absolutely spoiling the pose, but neither of you really care anymore. After all, today is your day, and if that's what you want, then Hiyori wants to obey.

He moans softly into your neck as his legs lock over your tailbone and an intermittent whimper escapes his lips when your cock finally touches the right spot inside him. A point that makes him see the stars and the moon, which only you can bring.

The blue-eyed man feels his cock twitching against his stomach, and his orgasm is approaching embarrassingly fast, he just wants to cum. Why is it so fast? Who knows... But obviously not from the disgusting sounds of the game in the background.

"Cum for me, come on," you whisper, sliding your lips over his neck, making him tilt his head back in bliss.

Your teeth outline his adam's apple, causing his breathing to stop and his nails to dig into you this time. He bubbles something unintelligible when he feels your hand on his cock, rubbing its current tip, making him cum almost at the same second, which makes you slow down the thrusts slightly, making them deeper to prolong his pleasure for a couple of seconds.

"... More, go on," Hiori mutters after a dozen seconds, licking his dry lips and lifting his half-closed eyes at you and exhaling. "I'm all yours today, so keep going... I'll tell you when I'm at the very edge."

Sae Itoshi

"Are you going to stare at me with that expression for a long time? At least close your mouth," Sae says, looking at your surprised face in the doorway while you stare at him for about a minute, still trying to figure out what's sitting in front of you.

"That's... you... wow..." something inarticulate weakly escapes from your lips until you finally leave the doorway, closing the door and approaching Itoshi.

Of course, nothing too surprising was sitting on the bed. It was just Sae. In your usual T-shirt. In regular shorts. With a normal expression on his face. With damn attractive thigh-high stockings that accentuated his thick and muscular legs too well. Yes, you know, the usual Tuesday of any person.

"Do you like it that much?" Sae asks when a slight smirk blooms on his lips, watching you sit down in front of him, spreading and sliding his legs as you please.

"Yes, it suits you damn well, it's simple gorgeous... Strangle me with them," you whisper, squeezing his hips and exhaling contentedly, feeling the elastic muscles under your fingers.

Sae's fingers lift your chin and he gives you a light peck on the forehead before kissing you on the lips. His kiss is slow, almost savoring, as he weaves your tongues together, tugging at your shirt to get you up.

You lower Sae to the bed, continuing to kiss him, and then pulling away, lowering your lips lower, kissing and occasionally sucking on the delicate skin of his neck, causing a soft sigh to escape his lips before he stopped you at the edge of the T-shirt.

"Too fast. Don't go any further than the neck... Today is your day, but you have to earn it," the Japanese man whispers against your lips and then you feel his fingers slide into your pants while his other hand unbuttons your fly and releases your cock.

Your breath catches when you feel his fingers wrap around your heated flesh, and your face immediately finds itself in the curve of his shoulder, causing him to briefly pat you on the head.

"I'll give you what you want anyway. Just wait."

You bite your lip to keep from whimpering when Sae's thumb runs over your slit, and images of what he might let you do to him when the time comes are already spinning in your head.

Your hands are clutching the sheets on either side of his face, and his lips are lazily sliding over your neck, sucking on your skin, forcing you to push into his hand, which he freely allows.

"Sae... I will cum now, please," you exhale and feel only the nod of his head at your side as he speeds up his hand movements a little, making you come embarrassingly quickly with a groan.

Sae kisses you on the temple, removing his hand after a couple of seconds, when the buzz finally subsides and gently pushes you to your side, sitting up straight and taking napkins from the table, wiping his hand and your penis from the sperm.

"Good boy. Take a break and let's continue... There's a lot more under my clothes," Sae whispers, turning away to the trash can and deliberately bending over too much, exposing a thin strip of panties under his shorts, which makes your soft cock twitch in anticipation of the next round.

Rin Itoshi

"Is that really all you want? You can ask for more, you know," Rin whispers, leaning over you, shaking his head slightly and taking your condom-wrapped cock in his palm, stroking it a couple of times.

"Yes! Definitely, that's it. Please? I just want you to do this," you whisper, making Rin sigh, but nod and lower himself onto your cock slowly.

He exhales sharply as he takes you completely and places his hands next to your head, considering that he's almost lying on top of you and looking up at you with his turquoise eyes.

You just smile and kiss him on the cheek, which makes him frown slightly but blush, and he begins to gently move his hips. Of course, it's not very convenient in this position, but he promised.

"You're wonderful from this angle, otherworldly, Rinnie," Rin just tightening around you from the compliment, leaning in even lower and gagging you with a kiss, but hey, you're not complaining.

You put your hands on his cheeks, knowing full well that he's going to scold you, because he wants to take at least one round without your support, so you're not taking any chances.

Your tongues slide against each other, and then he pulls away with heavy breathing, resting his forehead on yours, maintaining his slow rhythm, looking down at where you connect.

"You're very deep, I want more," he whispers breathlessly, closing his eyes and focusing on his movements, trying not to rush too much, but to make it pleasant for both of you and not cum faster than you, not this time.

"Then take more, I don't mind," you close your eyes too, feeling his eyelashes lightly brush your forehead as his face slides forward a little and you squeeze his biceps, absolutely enjoying him.

"I love you. Happy birthday again," Rin says, forcing you to open your eyes and you are met with a surprisingly soft smile, albeit almost imperceptible on his face but fuck.... "...Did you just cum?"

"Uh..." You laugh shyly, grabbing Rin's hips to stop his movements, when they get a little painful from your sensitivity. "I love you too."

"The gods... Fuck me already, you're pathetic when I ride you," the younger Itoshi mutters, although there's no real mockery in his words, he just sighs when you flip you over, switching places and wrapping his legs around your waist.

[rinsthighsweat]

hi i saw your latest works and they are so good. you wrote that you write nsfw but you dont do it well so can i ask for something light if you dont mind? bllk characters who are more stoic/dominant and all that in normal life but with a very dominant s/o in bed? just headcanons if you want 🦅

Hey anon!!! Thank you so much! And sure, I tried to do it the best I could, I hope you like it, I made it like a mixture of headcanons and fanfics. You didn't name any characters so I decided to put the ones I know the most and like writing about, I hope you don't mind that! Oh yeah, also... Sorry for the delay, I had busy days.

Light nsfw! In these scenarios Rin is already an adult.

They are not dominant in everything

Rin, Barou, Kaiser, Shidou and Aiku | masterlist

۶ৎ Rin Itoshi

Rin has always been in control of his life, his training, his emotions, his career. But when you confidently take the lead in the bedroom, it shakes his world in a way he never anticipated.

The first time you pushed him onto the bed, straddling him with a mischievous smirk, he froze. His sharp eyes widened slightly before narrowing, his voice a mix of defiance and curiosity. “What do you think you’re doing?”

He tries to maintain his stoicism, but the way your hands explore his body, coupled with your commanding tone, has his breath hitching.

Rin isn’t particularly vocal, but the way his body reacts, tense muscles relaxing under your touch, the soft gasps he can’t suppress, says everything.

You teasingly call him out for being so obedient, and his face flushes red as he mutters, “I’m not… I just…” before trailing off, completely at your mercy.

Post-intimacy, he’ll try to act indifferent, turning his face away while his ears burn red. “Don’t think I’m letting you get away with that next time.” But deep down, he craves more.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

۶ৎ Barou Shoei

Barou doesn’t relinquish control easily, and the idea of someone dominating him initially makes him scoff. “Like hell you’re calling the shots.” But when you assert yourself, pinning him down, he’s speechless for the first time.

He fights it at first, growling lowly as if to test you, but the firm, confident way you handle him stirs something unexpected within him.

Barou is a mix of frustration and desire, his breaths coming out in heavy pants as he realizes how much he enjoys being at your mercy.

You teasingly tell him he’s more obedient than he lets on, and his prideful glare softens into something almost vulnerable. “Don’t push your luck… but keep going.”

He secretly loves the way you take control, your strength and confidence drawing out a side of him he’s never shown anyone else.

Afterward, he grumbles about being “too lenient,” but his actions betray him as he pulls you close and mutters, “Next time, I’m in charge… maybe.”

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

۶ৎ Michael Kaiser

Kaiser’s cocky attitude doesn’t falter easily, and when you first suggest taking the lead, he smirks and leans back, arms crossed. “Alright, let’s see what you’ve got, liebling.”

His confidence wavers the moment you take control, your bold movements and teasing words leaving him breathless. He tries to regain his composure but fails miserably.

Kaiser loves the way you dominate him, your assertiveness making his usual bravado crumble. His gasps and groans become more desperate the longer you keep him on edge.

He’ll try to tease you back, but his words falter as you keep him under your control. The way you smirk at his vulnerability both frustrates and excites him.

Post-intimacy, he chuckles softly, brushing a hand through his messy hair. “You really know how to leave a man speechless. I might let you take charge more often… if you ask nicely.”

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

۶ৎ Shidou Ryusei

Shidou is chaos incarnate, and he thrives on unpredictability. When you take the lead, his initial reaction is pure excitement. “Oh, so you’ve got a wild side, huh? Bring it on.”

He’s the most vocal of them all, moaning, growling, and tossing out filthy comments that only spur you on further. “That’s it, babe. Show me what you’ve got.”

Despite his playful resistance, he loves being at your mercy, the way you tease and control him making his mind spin.

Shidou is all about pushing limits, so he encourages you to be as dominant as you want, his cocky grin never fading even as he’s begging for more.

Afterward, he’s sprawled out with a satisfied smirk, panting as he pulls you into his arms. “Damn, you’re good. Next time, let’s see who can outdo who.”

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

۶ৎ Oliver Aiku

Aiku is smooth and confident, used to being the one in control. But when you turn the tables on him, his usual charm slips, replaced by something more raw and vulnerable.

He watches you with wide eyes as you push him down, his breath catching in his throat. “Oh? Didn’t expect this from you… but I like it.”

He’s surprisingly submissive under your dominance, his deep groans and soft murmurs betraying how much he enjoys being led.

Aiku can’t stop complimenting you throughout, his voice husky as he whispers, “You’re incredible, you know that? Keep going.”

He’s left in awe of your confidence and control, his usual suave demeanor replaced with genuine admiration.

Afterward, he’s all smiles, pulling you close and tracing lazy circles on your back. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you? Guess I’ve got a lot to look forward to.”

© 2025 rinsthighsweat — do not repost, copy, translate, modify, etc my work on any platform !

[yanderecrazysie]

Thank you so much for commissioning me! I’ve almost finished them all and am so honored to be chosen by you guys. Feel free to email me if you want the one shot to be changed in any way.

Title: Jealousy Looks Hot on You

Pairings: Dabi x Reader

WARNINGS: yandere themes, NSFW, DUB-CON, adult characters as always, bullying, quirkless AU

Many have said that a boy who pulls on a girl’s pigtails and pushes her down into the dirt actually has a crush on the girl. When they grow up, they grow out of it and start showing their affection in healthier ways.

Maybe, you thought, maybe Dabi just never outgrew that childhood crush. Or, maybe, he hated your guts for no reason. As far as you knew, you were the only one he bullied, but that didn’t exactly make you feel special.

Maybe he just thought you were easy to pick on. You were quiet and shy- an easy target. But over time, you began to doubt that Dabi’s focus was random. His electric blue eyes followed you everywhere, like he was trying to memorize every detail about you.

“Hey, cupcake,” Dabi was blocking the hallway. His grin down at you was smug and mocking and it sent shivers down your spine.

“Leave me alone, Dabi,” you said softly, clenching your fists, I don’t have time for your stupid games.”

He grinned, “What a shame. See, I have plenty of time for you, sweetheart.” He reached out to brush his fingers across your cheek and snickered, “You look so cute when you’re mad.”

You shuddered and backed away. Before you could say anything more, you heard a voice say, “Hey! Leave her alone!”

Your eyes went wide in surprise- no one had ever stood up for you before. Dabi’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he turned around to face whoever dared to shorten his time with you.

It was the new kid, who had transferred only a week ago. Your eyes practically sparkled as you looked at him, so overwhelmed with happiness that someone actually cared. Dabi’s eyes, on the other hand, danced with deadly fire.

“Go away loverboy,” Dabi sneered, “This ain’t any of your business.”

Instead, the newbie held out his hand to you. You took advantage of Dabi’s surprise and rushed forward, taking his hand into yours and allowing him to pull you away. 

You didn’t look back, but if you had, you’d see Dabi looking downright murderous.

—------------

The newbie and you grew closer over the next few days. You saw him as your friend and, when Dabi was around, your savior. He was so protective, so caring… how could you not want to spend your time with him?

The only problem was that you could tell he was developing a crush on you, when you did not feel the same. You crossed your fingers that he wouldn’t bring it up and ruin your budding friendship.

“Go on, I’ll catch up!” you reassured your new friend. You had been chosen to stay behind and clean the classroom for the day. He had become a little clingy, so you welcomed the silence.

The door to the classroom opened again, and you sighed in annoyance, “I said to go on!”

“Funny,” came a rough, deep voice, “I don’t think you’ve said anything to me in a while.”

You froze in place from where you’d been wiping down the desks and slowly, slowly turned to face Dabi. He didn’t look particularly angry, but you knew he could play calm when he wanted to.

He was in front of you with just a few strides of his long legs. A hand came down and squeezed your hip.

“You know, it really is a shame you made this desk so clean.”

“Why’s that?” your voice came out in a near-whisper. You’d forgotten how terrifying it was to be alone with Dabi.

“Because I plan to make it very dirty,” Dabi chuckled, swiping his tongue over his lips.

You tried to back up, but the desk stopped you from retreating. Dabi grabbed both of your hips and lifted you onto the freshly-wet desk. You squealed in surprise as you were laid out on your back, uncomfortably aware of how exposed this position made you feel.

Dabi grinned down at you like the cat who caught the mouse. You trembled under his hungry gaze and gasped when he flipped your skirt up. “Hey!” you cried out in shock.

“Don’t worry, darling,” Dabi laughed, “I’ll be gentle.”

Were you strong enough to fight him off? Probably not… Did you want to fight him off? A part of you said no, but another part was getting wetter and wetter at the possibility of getting fucked like this. Was that messed up of you? Probably.

Dabi traced his fingers over the waistband of your panties before hooking them into the elastic and pulled them down. You whimpered as your cunt met the cold air of the classroom, feeling humiliated as Dabi swiped one finger down your slit, gathering the wetness that accumulated there.

“You’re getting off on this,” Dabi said, looking half-smug, half-stunned.

“N-no, I’m not!” you stammered in embarrassment.

Dabi stuck his finger in your open mouth, forcing you to taste your own sweetness, “Taste that, sweetheart? That’s alllll you, baby.”

He pulled his finger out with a pop and crashed his lips into yours. You could hear his hands hurrying to unbuckle his belt and the zip of his pants unzipping. 

Before you could even see what you were working with, he pressed into you. You were wet, sure, but he was huge and the stretch brought tears to your eyes.

Dabi groaned and went still. The feeling of being torn open faded away, leaving you needing more. Dabi looked at you with hooded eyes, “Beg me for it.”

“Huh?” you shook your head frantically, “Don’t make me!”

“You want it, ask for it,” he reiterated, grinding his crotch against yours, catching your clit a little and making you whine.

“F-fine,” you whimpered, “Please.”

“Please what?”

“Please… f-fuck me.”

“You can do better than that,” he snapped.

You closed your eyes and wailed out, “Please, fuck me, Dabi! I want you to fuck me, please, please, please!”

You heard something go crashing to the ground and your eyes darted to the door to the classroom. Your new friend was staring in horror, his backpack laying on the classroom floor where he’d dropped it.

You opened your mouth to say something, anything to him, but instead, all that came out was a moan, because Dabi’s hands had sneaked under your shirt and bra and pinched both nipples at one time.

The hurt in your friend’s eyes was too much to bear, so you looked away. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Dabi grinning maniacally. Victoriously.

He pulled out then slammed into you until you were seeing stars. You convulsed as your orgasm sneaked up on you, crashing over you like ocean waves. You heard the door shut as your friend left.

“Good riddance,” Dabi said breathlessly, “You didn’t need that little pussy. I’m better for you. And if you ever go back…”

He leaned in close to your ear so you could hear every word.

“I’ll make you fuck me in front of his corpse.”

[jadeazora]

PLZA Wishlist/Hopes, gonna divvy it up between both, past, and present/future:

Both:

Obtainable AZ's Floette

At least one new Zygarde forme. Imagine if it could go beyond Complete.

An underground area based on the catacombs (doesn't have to be mass grave tho)

Hostile rogue Megas being our rampaging Noble equivalent

Bring over (at least most of) the ORAS Megas

More Kalosian Megas, or potentially re-introducing Battle Bond as a "pure variant" of it (especially since Mega Evolution was mentioned to have terrible effects on the Pokemon.)

Yveltal being a threat to the city at large at some point, with a team-up with Xerneas to corral it.

AZ getting more story importance.

Letter "A" Legendary Pokemon, perhaps based on one of the Kalos League statues?

Past:

Malva, Sycamore, Lysandre, and Diantha ancestors (I feel like Sycamore or Malva's ancestor has the highest probability of being our main villain)

I feel like it's more likely to get his Floette here? It's gonna be a hundred and something years till it returns to him, we can look after it in the meantime!

Old starters getting new regional forms a la PLA

Going more into depth about the discovery and origins of Mega Evolution.

More lore on the war from 3000 years ago.

Future:

Set maybe a couple decades after XY at most rather than the far future. (Descendants would be cool, but I'm more interested in the characters we actually know tbh.)

Sina and Dexio sharing a joint professor role since they give you the Zygarde Cube in the Alola games. They could potentially carry on that research.

Vastly expands outside of the Lumiose we had in XY, further into Kalos. (I always wanted to explore the ruins of the Ultimate Weapon.)

Villain Sycamore or Malva. Or both. Like I said when I brought this up before, I don't think Sycamore would be evil, just misguided and let his guilt get the better of him. Malva is still more of a villain, and we need more lady main villains in this series. It's only really been Lusamine and Sada (if you played Scarlet), but this girl had hella potential in XY, and it's always been super frustrating to me that she got so little screentime.

The Flare scientist girls too! The only one of them that really got any slight fleshing out was Xerosic.

Diantha gets more story importance. She's another character who got majorly shafted in XY and deserves another chance!

Kalos starters with new Megas, secondary Kanto or Hoenn starters.

Potentially canonize Lysandre's survival from Masters here. It would be neat to see him get stuck with the same immortality curse AZ has, condemning him to live in and adapt to the world he lost faith in.

What are some of the things you all want to see? 😄

[crystallinecardinal]

“The strings are wrapped around you,” or, a discussion about Truthless Recluse, Pure Vanilla, and an idea of an awakening

One of the things I’ve been hung up on ever since finishing A Game of Truth and Deceit’s story is the fact that the things Truthless Recluse says does not feel exactly in character for Pure Vanilla. I’m sure this is the point. You’re supposed to get that feeling out of hearing him, Gingerbrave even directly points it out.

So, other than the corruption, why the so sudden change? Why is he suddenly turning against everyone? And most importantly, how is he supposed to get out of it?

Or, a CRK analysis/theory of sorts regarding Beast-Yeast episode 7, as well as how episode 8 might go, split into sections below the cut.

1 - An Introduction

I will start off by saying that before this update came out, I was one of the people adamant that Pure Vanilla was not going to end up corrupted. Not because I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him, but because I couldn’t see a reason why.

For as much as Shadow Milk could break him, dig into his biggest fears and insecurities and make them appear real, there wasn’t a reason to me for him to suddenly turn against everyone on his own— not when those around him had consistently helped him, bringing him out of what might have been the worst dips of his bad mental state. Not unless Shadow Milk was able to really manipulate him into it.

Then again, I knew what Shadow Milk could do. I knew he could control the will of other cookies (seen with the faerie cookies), and disguise himself in another form (see: every time he impersonates the Light of Truth). I also knew Pure Vanilla would be vulnerable to him, both with the bad mental state, and by the fact that the first time they encountered each other, he was already struggling. The right strings being pulled could just make him snap.

And then, I saw Truthless Recluse. And I lost my mind.

So, the point of all this. I had been TERRIFIED before this update how Pure Vanilla would fall. I thought he’d have his sense of self broken, all his emotions toyed with, sure, but I wasn’t ready for a FULL CORRUPTION. Then I got to thinking: it’s been a pattern this happens, right? In the Ancient vs Beast chapters, they encounter each other, fight in some way, and the Ancient somehow loses their connection to their respective Light. They only awaken after, picking themself back up from the brink of defeat. And we already know Awakened Pure Vanilla exists, so that leaves the question: how do you help him? How does he come back from where he is now? How does he awaken if he’s already been “defeated?”

That’s what I’m here to discuss.

2 - The Spider-Man meme problem

So! Fortune Teller. That guy.

Almost everyone I saw took one look at him in the trailers and KNEW he was Pure Vanilla. Had to be. The voice was the same, appearance the same, motifs the same, the character design was a pretty big giveaway. If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, yknow. It’s probably a duck.

And that presumption was right! Fortune Teller is Truthless Recluse, and by extension, Pure Vanilla.

How can that happen, though? If Pure Vanilla talks directly to Fortune Teller, how can they be the same? Luckily, the game decides to answer this question on its own!

So, if this is a space the future of the past (the present) and the future of the present (just the future) can both exist… that means Fortune Teller, and by extension, Truthless Recluse, are likely from the future. Not only because we’ve seen PV walking around in the present, but because we KNOW how TR talks about PV like he’s dead, as well as because of a fun little quote from Shadow Milk!

“In the end, you will become me.”

This is what I’m going to be building the rest of this off of. Stick with me here.

3 - What’s that, puppet boy??

Lies. Manipulation. Deceit.

These are the things Shadow Milk lives for. But any good snake, any good spider weaving a web, knows that the best lies have a hint of truth to them. This is what I intend to dissect.

It feels... a bit strange to think that Pure Vanilla could become someone like Shadow Milk. And yet, the signs are already there. He isn't honest with himself, tells white lies in the hopes that it may make someone feel better rather than the cruel truth, and his mental state is already in a horrid place. Of course, none of these are particularly bad things, they're human, and I can't blame him for any of it. But they're also all undeniably things that could lead him to snapping. What's the point doubt is all that's left? What's the point that he delves into the comfort of the lie of fantasy? What's the point that reality is too much agony to bear? Is that not how the Fount of Knowledge became the Master of Deceit, finding that cookies enjoyed the sweet lie more than the cruel truth?

“In the end, you will become me.”

And so, he just might.

So, consider. If present and future can both at once in Shadow Milk's domain, if Fortune Teller is not merely an illusion, then who's to say Truthless Recluse isn't who Pure Vanilla is destined to become?

The best lies have a shred of truth. This is our (hypothetical) truth. If nothing changes, if Pure Vanilla falls to Shadow Milk's games, lets himself be broken, plays the role he's had laid out for him ever since he was young (once again, if we choose to take that as truth and not an illusion), then his fate is sealed.

"Despair follows in your footsteps... A river lies on your path. Cross it, and you will face unfathomable dread. Turn back... Turn back before it is too late. Turn back before the cold flames of doubt swallow you whole."

That river is fast approaching, if it hasn’t already.

4 - Finding truth, breaking strings

Let's circle back to one of my first points.

"Then I got to thinking: it’s been a pattern this happens, right? In the Ancient vs Beast chapters, they encounter each other, fight in some way, and the Ancient somehow loses their connection to their respective Light. They only awaken after, picking themself back up from the brink of defeat. And we already know Awakened Pure Vanilla exists, so that leaves the question: how do you help him? How does he come back from where he is now? How does he awaken if he’s already been ‘defeated?’"

Is episode seven not still following the same formula, yet iterating on it in its own unique way? Pure Vanilla comes directly into contact with Shadow Milk, and tries to defend himself the most he can. However, he's a lot more vulnerable than the others this time around— after all, lies and truth cannot exist without the other. They're not entirely opposites. After having his sense of self shattered, Pure Vanilla falls from the Spire. Somewhere, he loses his connection to his Light of Truth. Enter: Truthless Recluse.

We know Pure Vanilla will eventually be awakened (see: dev commentary), so how does he leave the state he's in? How do you come back from falling so far?

This is where our "Truthless Recluse is a future version of Pure Vanilla" idea comes in handy! To put it simply: he hasn't become him yet. Not in reality. The present Pure Vanilla has fallen somewhere deep, deep down, into the darkest abyss... And has yet to come back. It sets a perfect scene to trick those closest to Pure Vanilla to believe the lie wrapped in truth of his ‘death,’ doesn't it?

It also solves our characterization problem from the very beginning of this post. I never said he immediately becomes Truthless Recluse. Given that in this interpretation, TR is what PV will eventually become, it provides a reason for Truthless Recluse to say the things he does, and act the way he does. Maybe Pure Vanilla wouldn’t have said or done those things, but to Truthless Recluse, that part of himself has long been dead.

So. Where does Pure Vanilla find his truth?

It could be a lot of things. However, one of the main things I've seen reiterated is just how much Shadow Milk toys with the mind. Right now, Pure Vanilla likely believes his entire life is a lie. Not once has he had free will. Since birth, he has been a marionette on strings, a plaything for a being beyond everything he ever knew. Every action, every decision, it was just part of an Oscar-worthy performance. Everything he may have once defined as himself is null.

And even worse: there's no one to drag him out of it this time. White Lily is gone, off on her own mission. Gingerbrave and his friends have Truthless Recluse to deal with. The Light of Truth is silent. Everyone, everything he may have depended on isn't there. It's just him, the Other-Realm, and eyes that have been watching for his entire lifetime.

To get out, he has to break the strings. Just as he once awoke from his prison when he needed to confront his past, he can do it again. But this time, it isn't going to be while he hides under another identity, it isn’t going to be while telling himself a lie. Outsmart the snake, remember, remember, remember. Hold onto the love, the care, the things that are true. No amount of deceit can change how he once felt. They say the heart is true. Maybe that's the key out.

To put it more simply: no matter what it ends up being that causes it, he needs to realize himself that he is in charge of his own destiny. The truth of the question "who am I" is "whoever you want to be." It isn't an question that can be answered by someone else. You only become fully truthless, only fully wall yourself away from everyone if you choose to do so. It isn't fate.

And so, in the end, I think Pure Vanilla will awaken. By proxy, if my entire idea here were to be true, Truthless Recluse would cease to exist. Paradoxes are funny that way. There's no way for that ending to exist if it's no longer the future that lies ahead.

5 - A conclusion

I have absolutely no clue what's coming in episode eight. I'll say that upfront. I have no clue, and it terrifies me. I love Pure Vanilla, I want him to make it out of this, but I know he won't make it out unscathed. The tragedy could stay, it could just be for this episode, it's unclear. We just have to wait until episode eight goes live.

Regardless, I want him to struggle. I don't think it makes sense for him to get out of this easily. Not when he considers himself pathetic, not when he can't trust the voice of the Light of Truth, not when he's been questioning himself. Let that doubt sink into him. Let him rebuild himself, piece by shattered piece. It makes for an emotional story, and makes me like Pure Vanilla even more as a character. Maybe that's just the Omori fan in me, but I love delves into characters' minds like that.

It may not be anything like what I've discussed here, but I'm very excited to see what Devsisters does. This is all I'm going to be thinking about until then.

[zahri-melitor]

Okay, question for the audience as I simply don’t get it:

I understand why some people don’t like how Zdarsky characterises Damian (in that he’s petulant, violent, has needed to be rescued, and has fully committed to steadfastly believing the ‘wrong’ thing several times in the run…because he’s desperately trying to support Bruce).

I understand why some people don’t like how Zdarsky characterises Jason (in that Zdarsky is actually fully carrying through on ‘You Were A Villain, Jason, During Late Post-Crisis’ in terms of both Jason’s beliefs and tendency to kill).

Yeah. He’s cynical about the ethically dubious pair who are working in different ways for redemption, rather than coddling.

What I do NOT get is how or why anyone would cite Dick or Babs as OOC in Zdarsky’s run.

Babs is pretty standard with how she’s currently characterised, has exclusively appeared as Oracle, coordinates things and acts as conversation mediator (just like how Dick and Tim used to bring her their problems), is getting characterised as somewhat more ruthless in terms of violence and crime than Dick and Tim (and Bruce), which is good old fashioned Babs, and just seems like she’s back in the role of classic Oracle, as she appeared in plenty of titles she wasn’t featuring in.

Dick’s flippy, quippy, taking the lead with the rest of the fam against Bruce, knows a bunch of exclusive stuff to try and sort out Bruce clearly being off his rocker, is mad at Bruce but trying to avoid getting into a stand up fight too often…like, that’s Dick?

Sure, neither of them are featured in the book like Tim is, but you don’t actually need to use every character, and Zdarsky’s picking people for the roles he needs?

His Steph is in the ‘tending towards agreeing with Jason’ in the family sliding scale, which is what’s been happening in a number of titles recently, and is more interesting than bubbly Steph. (Plus Rosenberg was simultaneously using her as Jason’s One Ally in the family in The Joker: TMWST)

Cass and Duke barely appear, which look I understand the structural complaints about how this happens, but also, aside from the standard complaint every single time Cass goes down in a fight, they feel reasonably like themselves. Cass has been getting solid appearances in Tec and Spirit World and now picked up her own title again.

And if I’m hard hearted about it, Duke is 100% the first character I’d drop for overcrowding reasons in storylines heavily focused on Bruce’s mental health, because every single other character has better insight and longer baselines into Bruce being Bruceish than Duke has. (Also for the same reason I’d drop Steph)

People keep reciting to each other that ‘everyone in the Batfam but Tim is out of character’ and I don’t see it, other than Zdarsky using versions of Jason and Damian that their fans don’t enjoy?

[ishigamisenku]

This is why I love Dr.STONE so much. Because, not only does it give us an incredible story, but it presents us with questions that go far beyond the end of the story. An anime about science and rebuilding society offers us some incredible opportunities to ask questions and discuss some pretty philosophical topics; i.e. the morality of human beings, how well we'd handle a disaster such as this occurring, what we'd do about it, etc. We're met with moral dilemma early on with Tsukasa, and his opinion that they should NOT revive everyone and live in a world where we don't encounter the corporate greed and selfishness that has been alive and well for generations. He's seen the corruption this causes, and he wants to start anew. Give humanity a clean slate. Senku, a character that is presented as someone who leads with logic and reasoning over feeling and emotions, is of the opinion that they should revive EVERYONE regardless of age, race, social status, etc. He thinks everyone should have the chance to advance and move forward within this new world they've been given. The idea to him, as we all know, is very exciting. However, Senku also acknowledges that if they revive people too quickly, their resources will deplete fast, and they don't have what they need to sustain large populations of people...yet. So he agrees they need to be choosy on who they revive for now. It's only logical. Both offer really good points, and regardless of who you side with, there are some incredibly interesting aspects of both sides to explore.

SPOILERS below the cut. If you are not caught up in the manga and you don't like spoilers, please do not go past the cut. And buckle in friends, this accidentally became a long post.

The questions OP raises in this post are things I've thought a lot about as well. Do we just go along assuming that since Senku spearheaded this whole thing, he's the one that's essentially in charge? How much power does he hold? We know enough about Senku to know that while he is obviously a leader-type character, he surely wouldn't want to concern himself with leadership on a large scale such as being a head of state or government. Senku's got one thing on his mind, and it's science. He wants to be able to have time to work on his scientific endeavors, and continue to contribute towards the advancement of science. Buuuut he's also not alone in his leadership, since we know he has the four other "Wise Commanders." We DO see Gen kinda working as an ambassador of sorts, though. A Diplomat. So, seems that they put his yapping (affectionate) to good use. For what happens to the petrification device...At the end of the series, we discover the origin of the Medusa device, and their motivation is explained. (Albeit a rather lame motivation and the way this is handled story-wise is not my favorite, but I'll do a deep dive on my opinions on the Medusa origin on my own time.)

While the rest of the Medusa/Why-Men decide to leave and find some other intelligent life to leech off of, one of them stays behind. From this point on, this Medusa is primarily only seen with Senku, and we can assume he is the Why-Man Keeper. We can also infer this from the fact that when see him in Ch. 232, he is quite literally wearing the vacuum tube they keep Why-Man in on his body:

We also get this exchange in Ch. 3 of 4D Science:

Sooo my guess is Why-Man sticks with Senku. There never seems to be much issue with anyone else in the main cast interacting with it, but they do seem to have it guarded when Senku doesn't have it with him. They are definitely aware of the fact that if in the wrong hands, Why-Man can be used as a weapon, and they acknowledge that. The concept of using Why-Man for eternal life is also acknowledged, and they stay quiet about that because they don't want anyone trying to get their hands on it for that reason as well. This is also explored in the 4D science chapters through interactions between Chrome and Kaseki. But this brings us to the question of mothers being revived to see their children grown- Due to the petrification, any biological being petrified doesn't seem to physically age. Chronologically, technically, yes, but not physically. This was quite literally Why-Man's "gift" to humanity, as stated by Why-Man itself. As long as people remain petrified and their statues are kept safe from weathering or breakage, they'd be fine up until they are ready to be revived. We know this pretty early on. This is sort of best-case scenario given the issue of resources not being plentiful enough to sustain large populations, as mentioned earlier in this post. They can revive more people as they go along once they feel they can be properly sustained. But the unfortunate fact there is... anyone revived DOES go on to age. So that could absolutely lead to someone's child being revived before them, and once they are revived, they have to experience the shock of their child having aged while they seemingly didn't themselves. And that's a lot to process in a scenario where they already have to attempt to process the fact that they've been encased in stone for over 3,700 years. It's all just such an interesting scenario overall. Again, this is why I adore this story so much. Yes, it gets you really excited about humanity's ability to persevere, adapt, evolve, and overcome. But it also raises some really interesting scenarios for us to stop, sit, and think about. Buuuuut... maybe I just really like getting deep, philosophical, and existential. I know that's not everyone's vibe. If you read through all of my crazed rambling, thanks! And thank you for this post, OP. You raise some super great questions.

Thinking about how the world will never go back to “normal” after Senku brings everyone back. Given how nature has fully recovered cities, it’s going to take probable years to go back to the massive carrying capacity we had. How many will have to leave behind loved ones to be revived later down the line because they can’t sustain that many people? How many mothers will wake up with their children fully grown and older than them? And how will world politics regard Senku? What will happen to the petrifaction weapon? It’s so interesting and intriguing and the thing I think abt the most when Dr. STONE is mentioned. What happens when everyone is revived?

[onlydylanobrien]

New still of Dylan O'Brien as Rocky/ Roman and James Sweeney as Dennis in "Twinless". (2025)

📷©: ew.com

First look at Dylan O’Brien’s Twinless, a Sundance contender that takes inspiration from the Olsen twins

"That visceral moment of 'you look just like me' is imprinted in my formative memories," says writer-director James Sweeney.

Nineties kids are kind of obsessed with twins. And for good reason — we grew up with the Olsen twins, the remake of The Parent Trap, and Sister, Sister.

Writer-director James Sweeney takes that obsession to the next level with Twinless, his sophomore feature that will have its world premiere on Jan. 23 at the Sundance Film Festival. Entertainment Weekly has your exclusive first look at the film, in which Sweeney costars alongside Dylan O'Brien.

"I grew up in a generation that idolized twins," Sweeney tells EW. "It was very much in my zeitgeist. It was a manifestation of the perfect best friend, somebody you could share everything with. As a military brat hopping around, that was something I really craved. When I told my stepmom about what the film was, she was like, 'Oh, you used to beg me for a twin, and I had to explain to you that I can't make that happen.'"

That early fascination is evident in Twinless, which even features a scene with a character watching the Olsen twins' film It Takes Two. "That was definitely my fantasy," Sweeney says of the 1995 film. "It's like, 'Oh, one day I'll just magically run into my identical twin.' Even though they're actually not twins, they're just lookalikes. But that visceral moment of 'You look just like me' is imprinted in my formative memories."

As for Twinless, the film tells the story of a twin, Roman (O'Brien), who loses his brother, Rocky (also O'Brien), and feels like he's lost half of himself. After Rocky dies, Roman decides to stay in Rocky's Portland, OR apartment as he navigates his grief. While attending a support group for twin loss, he befriends Dennis (Sweeney), a fellow lost soul — and the two find solace in each other, forming an unlikely bromance.

"Roman and Dennis get along so well because they're both bringing their respective baggage and grief and traumas to the table," Sweeney says. "They bond and complement each other."

Sweeney is not a twin, but he did base his script on the existence of twin bereavement support groups. Though, out of respect for all involved, he didn't attend one of their meetings. "I thought it would be too much to attend," he explains. "I did order a book from their website, because I did research and read some books written by twin psychologists. One was called Alone in the Mirror, which touches on twin loss. It was written by the co-founder of the support group, and I paid $25 and they never sent me a book."

Even without that book (he tried!), Sweeney was fascinated by the psychology of twins and how that unique bond differs from those of siblings who are not twins. "I would say being a twin isn't a monolithic experience, so there's so many variations," Sweeney notes. "It also has a lot to do with how the parents reared their children and whether or not they encouraged or discouraged individuality between the twins. But there's a lot of studies done on twins because they see them as the perfect specimen."

Explorating what it means to be (and lose) a twin first attracted O'Brien to the project. Sweeney wrote the first draft in 2015, and O'Brien has been attached since 2020. But the script grabbed the actor from the moment it popped up in his inbox alongside several others his manager sent his way.

"I'm fascinated by it in terms of it being something so unique on this earth," O'Brien says of the twin dynamic. "That is one of those things that really, unless you experience it, you can't understand. Twinless support groups exist because it is a very specific loss and trauma that you need support with — losing a connectivity that us normies can't ever quite understand. That deeply resonated with me, even though I don't have a twin. I found it to be a really compelling and heart-wrenching center to this story. This tragically poignant tale of this kid losing his other half."

That, along with his love for his character, propelled O'Brien to stick with the project these last five years while the film searched for funding and postponed production in the wake of the 2023 Hollywood strikes. "It was a gut thing for me," O'Brien reflects. "I remember falling in love with Roman immediately. I read a character, and either I have that soul in me or not. Roman's somebody I know really deep down."

Sweeney was incredibly moved by O'Brien's dedication and enthusiasm for the project, a quality that was evident from their first meeting. "When I first met Dylan over Zoom, he really took ownership over the role in a way that I had never experienced with an actor," Sweeney says. "He basically said, 'I see you. I see your voice. I understand this character and his every emotion.' That gave me a lot of confidence."

For both O'Brien and Sweeney, getting to make this movie entirely on their terms was a creative reward unto itself. "The script was so fantastic and dialed in from the time I first read it," O'Brien notes. "I authentically connected to it all. It was one of those wonderful creative experiences."

But now they get to share it with the world, beginning in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival. Still, Sweeney says anything from here on is a cherry on top of his twin sundae.

"This was an instance where I had optimal creative control and a wonderful team championing me to do exactly the movie I wanted to make," he concludes. "I know that's a rare gift. I'm super excited for people to see the film and to find its audience. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm already content."

[aristaspark]

Notice how Darius didn't look at Brooklynn's arm?

It's not me who's saying this. That's a conversation that's happening in the fandom that I wanted to talk about because I find it truly...idk, kind of icky, and of bad taste.

I decided to speak about it after having stumbled once again upon a post using Darius' lack of "notice" of Brooklynn's arm as an argument for the ship, but it's far from being the first time I've seen people bring it up.

Don't get me wrong, my problem isn't that they're supporting the ship, even though I believe Kenlynn to be endgame, I can admit that there are elements that could point towards dinostar possibly being endgame, my problem is with this argument specifically, because it looks like the ones using it are purposefully being obtuse, and are missing the point. To me it's a really disrespectful outlook on the work of the writers and their handling of Brooklynn's disability.

For context, Brooklynn explains to Soyona that she doesn't like the way people look at her ever since she has lost her arm. I love this scene. We get an insight into Brooklynn and her struggles, into how she is still adapting to the way people perceive her now that she's "different". The loss of her arm isn't brushed aside, it has lasting consequences that the writers don't shy away from. They consulted people with limb differences to make sure that they'd show an authentic representation of their expericences, and you can see the care that they put into telling that aspect of Brooklynn's story.

Now that we established that, yes, Brooklynn is struggling with the way she is perceived, let's talk about why I hate what the fandom makes of it.

There are two characters who react to Brooklynn's arm: Ben and Kenji. And from Brooklynn's reaction, we see that she feels some type of way about it, even though she has very different reactions to the two of them, because the two interactions are VERY different.

During the scene with Ben, we can see that Ben's gaze, despite himself, is drawn to her arm. That's mainly because he had no idea that she'd lost it, but since they were both very stressed and there were millions of other more "pressing" matters he should have focused on, it hurt Brooklynn that his eyes kept ogling at her arm. Neither of them were in the right mindset. He was slightly insensitive in the way he approached the subject, which caused Brooklynn to react negatively. But it's never shown as a black and white thing. Ben apologizes and afterwards, Brooklynn is able to focus on something else because she's an actual intelligent and social being who's aware that simply because Ben looked at her arm didn't mean that he thought of her as less than. It was a human interaction, realistic, and in no way was it implanted to say something about Ben and Brooklynn's relationship, to imply that Ben having a reaction made him a bad friend somehow. This is simply realistic.

Now, Kenji. He first notices her arm when she's talking to Ben, and we can see that he focuses on it for a hot second, before looking up at her face. Needless to say that in that moment there's a million things going through his mind. Brooklynn is alive, she's there, Ben knew Brooklynn was alive, she has lost a limb... We can see he is hit by all these informations which are way too much for him to process. It's NORMAL, EXCPECTED that he'd have a reaction to seeing her missing arm. Any other reaction would have been stupid. It's as if your lover left for a few days, came back with a missing limb and you said nothing. This doesn't happen. Them writing this into the show says nothing about Kenji's status as a love interest, he shouldn't have to ignore it to be considered a suitable partner and I find it kind of disgusting that people imply this. His lover has lost a limb, of course it will have an impact on him.

Now, the second time he looks at her arm is when he's finally reunited with Brooklynn. But simply reducing this interaction to "Kenji looks at Brooklynn arm -> Brooklynn scared -> Bad = Darius better" is a thought process I'd expect from a pre-schooler.

Kenji spends a very long moment staring only at Brooklynn, at HER FACE, expressing his emotions (beautiful scene by the way). Then he WILLINGLY looks at her arm. Kenji's aware that she's looking at him and he has already seen her arm, the only reason he looks down at her arm is because he wants HER to be aware that he has seen it, and one shouldn't have to be a genius to understand this. And he looks incredibly sad because, I know that's crazy, but as someone who love(d)s her, this impacts him. And Brooklynn has a reaction, I know that's crazy. But unlike with Ben, she looks scared, not mad. I won't spend too much time on this because I already did a brief "analysis" of this scene, but I took it as either she was scared that he'd see her differently, either it was the manifestation of all the hurt she's suffered (yk, often when you open up about something, you feel the emotions as you tell the story, and to me this could be Brooklynn allowing herself to show someone she's suffering for the first time, as if a silent conversation had taken place. Kenji asks what happened to her arm with his eyes, and all the hurt comes flooding back as she's reminded of everything she's been through).

Now, some people use the fact that Darius didn't even glance at her arm as, idk, a good thing, patting him on the back for it (which, on its own, is incredibly weird to me). Yasmina and Sammy didn't look at it either, but since they're not shipped with Brooklynn most don't care, it's not about disability but about somehow gaining points in the battle for Brooklynn.

But I'm like, you have to purposely being obtuse to use this as an argument. If I was Brooklynn and I was presumed dead for a long time, and when I came back I had a limb missing (implying an immense amount of suffering) I would absolutely want my partner and my friends to notice it ??? ESPECIALLY the person I love?? Actually, if he didn't notice I would straight up hate him because that would just mean that he DOESN'T CARE.

Implying that strangers looking at Brooklynn's arm and her loved ones reacting to her evident trauma are the same thing is wild, but using it as an argument for shipping is worse and, to me, an insult to all the work the writers have done to tackle the subject of disability. There isn't some checklist of people who looked at her arm and people who didn't, Darius (as well as Yaz and Sammy) don't deserve a cookie (or Brooklynn's love for that matter 🙃) because they didn't look at it. Ben and Kenji reacting to her arm doesn't mean that they somehow care less about the fact that Brooklynn's alive or that they love her less than the others, and Darius isn't "special" for not having looked at her arm, because Sammy and Yaz also didn't. It simply means that they are well written characters who react to things in their own, sometimes clumsy way.

What bothers me is that these scenes clearly weren't implanted for shipping matters, but are part of the characters' journeys with Brooklynn's disability, and her own journey. Them being present doesn't somehow put a definitive stain on Brooklynn's relationships with Kenji and Ben, things don't work like that. If anything I find Kenji's scene with her to be very touching, because you can just see how devastated he is for her, and how frightened she is.

It's not the fact that people look at her that hurts Brooklynn, it's the reason and the manner in which they look at her.

Idk to me it's kind of disrespectful to the work the writers did because it's implying that they tried to say Darius was the one for Brooklynn simply because he didn't care for his friend's severed limb. I think there are better arguments to make for dinostar, and less insensitive, than to reduce this very important topic to shipping.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my ted talk 😭