#genuinely how the hell did you end up at the conclusion you did

[ultimatefartwizard]

EARTHSPARK MESSAGES AND SUBTEXT THATS NOT EVEN SUBTEXT

It's been a while since I have posted as I've been busy with finals, but I saw a post that absolutely made me spur a headache with just how utterly fatuous of a take I saw on Transformers Earthspark and the messages it sends.

DISCLAIMER: DO NOT USE THIS POST TO ATTACK OR HARASS ANYONE, THIS IS ONLINE DISCUSSION OF A WORK OF MEDIA.

THIS ALSO COVERS SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1 OF EARTHSPARK, IF YOU WISH TO AVOID SUCH A TOPIC PLEASE REDIRECT YOURSELF.

@monocle-teacup Won't repost your post as the way tumblr reposts works would have everything funnel onto your account, but I'll be pinging you and I did screenshot your post for viewer's context:

I have ALOT to talk about here, while also being completely in shock and disbelief how you end up BELEIVING THE SIDE THAT IS A GENOCIDAL LUNATIC WHO SEES THE TRANSFORMERS AS SUBHUMAN AND A DISEASE ON THE EARTH??? AND IS WILLING TO FULL ASS MURDER AND MUTILATE PEOPLE? From here any * you may see is likely a footnote mark to check details I put at the end for clarity. If I miss something, let me know and I will clarify.

Before I get into the meat of dissecting your clearly ill-informed and definitely not thoroughly thought out post, I need to get something out of the way because I believe you'll use this as a means of shielding yourself from incoming critique: It's okay to like and enjoy characters who are clearly bad people. There is a CLEAR difference between enjoying a fictional character and agreeing with whatever they might do or say. I enjoy many bad and morally reprehensible characters, including Mandroid/Doctor Meridian, but that doesn't mean I agree with them or don't find their actions and ideas deplorable. If you find yourself agreeing with someone who sees another group of people* as being subhuman or a danger to society you need to reconsider your ideologies and thought processes. Like ASAP.

Okay onto the actual deconstruction of your statements, why they are blatantly lacking a thorough reading of the messages in Earthspark, or even lead into uncomfortably ignorant territories both with Transformers and very real-life, human related things.

As a first point, you state that you hope this show re-examines the fact that hatred towards another group of people (even if they are fictional) automatically makes them a terrible person, and bring up the statement that the show makes GHOST's detainment of transformers look "cartoonishly evil" but does absolutely nothing to address Dr.Meridian's statements of transformers being dangerous.

Yes. Yes it ABSOLUTELY DOES address that throughout the entire show. In fact, the whole season is literally about deconstructing the notion that BOTH Dr.Meridian's and GHOST's ideals and methods are harmful if not downright discriminatory towards transformers as a whole.

GHOST's method of control is a guise under the US government by detaining any transformer they deem as "a threat", this can even mean autobots or non-aligned transformers who don't want to join their organization or are just doing their own thing. They will willingly classify them all as "Decepticons" to justify their inhumane treatment of them. This is paralleling how humans will stereotype and conflate other groups of people, as being all associated with one singular event or organization of people that is seen as bad or a danger to society* and use that stereotyped ideal to weaponize it against them and justify harming them in multiple ways; which is what Dr.Meridian ALSO DOES THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SHOW. Dr.Meridian is a scientist that literally works with and is a huge provider of technology to GHOST, he literally works with them and experiments on the detained transformers. You can't say "oh GHOST bad Dr.Mer not so bad" when he's LITERALLY PART OF GHOST AND YOU CANNOT SEPARATE THEM. HE IS EXTREME AND OUTSPOKEN ABOUT HIS HATRED THROUGHOUT THE SHOW AND ACTIVELY IS SHOWN TO BE ENTIRLEY IN THE WRONG BOTH IDEOLOGICALLY AND ACTION WISE. You clearly have not watched with a critical eye if you think they never address his points or somehow he is right about something. He never is and it shows just how harmful his mentality is. You don't even need words spoken out loud to know he's ALREADY HEINOUSLY WRONG AND BIGOTED.

Why should the show, one that shows transformers having to battle against racist and xenophobic hatred towards them from humans, re-examine that relationship? People are being discriminatory to people they don't like, and to them it doesn't matter if they are decepticon or not; they're all the same and dangerous in their eyes. Yes, there was a war brought onto earth's soil from pure happenstance of where the Ark and members of the two named groups had landed, and yes it was bloody and many lives were lost like any war is. Should the war, as well as atrocious acts of violence by a few and the circumstance that which the birth and type of being transformers are deem all transformers as dangerous? OBVIOUSLY FUCKING NOT. That's literally stereotyping. That's what Dr.Meridian is doing. He's literally grouped them all into one conglomerate in his head and sees them all as pests to be exterminated.

The transformers are both immigrants and refugees of war that had lasted thousands of millions of years and a desperate attempt to find any source of energon because they would STARVE TO DEATH IF THEY DIDN'T AND RESOURCES WERE DANGEROUSLY SCARCE ON CYBERTRON. They are thousands of lightyears away from home in a place that doesn't have the cultures they are familiar with and structures built for them which accommodates their needs. And to add onto it, most were never originally outfitted with guns and shit. They had to ARM THEMSELVES TO PROTECT AGAINST ATTACKS. JUST BECAUSE YOU SEE A GUN POP OUT OF THEIR BODY DOESN'T MEAN THEY ARE BUILT LIKE THAT NOR DOES IT MEAN THEY ARE AUTOMATICALLY ALL DANGEROUS. The only ones who are theoretically "built for war/violence" are war-frames like seekers, but they didn't even CHOOSE THAT LIFE OR WANT IT! THEY ARE COLD CONSTRUCTED* AND LITERALLY ENSLAVED INTO BEING CANON FODDER FOR WHATEVER SKERMISH THEY ARE DEEMED NEEDED FOR. Starscream wasn't even a warrior before this, he was just some nerd ass scientist. Cold constructed bots and War-frames are already deemed subhuman by other transformers. The entire war that you see is a continual millions of years struggle which the origins are in a fight against their own horrible systematic oppressions to try and bring freedom and put an end to the horrible reign back on Cybertron. How does them being robot organisms displaced by ongoing war, a continual brutal and bloody struggle for freedom back at home, and dangerous resource scarcity make them any more dangerous than your average person? And the "they are robots/walking death machines" argument doesn't count because you're only seeing them from a nonhuman lense in that case. Take off those nuts and bolts covered glasses and think of how this would be if they were all humans instead. The visuals of only seeing them for their robotics are blocking your ability to view this group as simply a mirroring of humans in nonhuman bodies. Humans are just as dangerous and ostracizing as them. Literally humans slaughter other humans frequently; bring upon hatred and obscene actions onto one another with or without robotic attachments and aid of machines. Just because the transformers are robotic extraterrestrials who are "different biologically/mechanically" makes it no different from the dehumanization and other forms of racism and xenophobia. Transformers are literally just... humans in a robot shell. You can't argue against this at all because most if not all have human forms, ALL of them have human minds, and just happen to come from a planet they need to be insanely large sized on, as well as already pre-armed due to conflict that they have escaped from.

The whole story of Earthspark is LITERALLY about the experiences of the Terrans; first generation descendants of immigrant refugees navigating the struggles that come with being just that. They make whole episodes surrounding their feelings of alienation and their struggle to have a place in the world, their culture and history and who they are. They want to feel they belong and feel they have a place in this world and be seen just as human and belonging as their human family. Their government and the world around them alienates them and treats them sub-humanly despite them being just as human, flaws and all, as us. Since I'm praddling on about this topic, did you even ABSORB ANY OF THE EPISODES HOME PART 1 AND 2???? IT'S ABOUT THIS TOPIC AND TEACHES HOW THIS MENTALITY OF TREATING THE TRANSFORMERS AS SUBHUMAN ALIENS THAT NEED TO GO AWAY OR NEED TO BE CLASSIFIED AS DANGEROUS/A INVASIVE "SPECIES" THAT NEEDS TO BE REMOVED IS BAD. IT SHOWS THE RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA THAT ESPECIALLY COMES WITH BEING CHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTS AND THE ISOLATION THEY FACE.

Please, I heavily implore you to go back and watch them. You somehow miss the entire point of the show and ESPECIALLY this episode. Many episodes cover different points of their existence as first gen children and the reality that the transformers have to face in general while being refugees on a planet with others being hostile and degrading to them but this particular episode is the one that tackles the points I make in this post the most. It may not go super deep into it due to forced time constraints and other executive nonsense that makes it harder to go into more detail but it still covers the topic very well.

Humans getting nipped at the heels for being bigoted towards transformers isn't some "ouugh you can't think the decepticons did bad things" type of nonsense and I absolutely hate the "oh because you can't be bigoted towards a group of people it means you suddenly can't criticize the actions of someone who happens to be someone of that group" mentality you seem to be concocting out of thin air. It's them associating the entire race of transformers as all bad, unbelonging or worthy of being seen as dangerous and to be wary around them or like they need to not be on earth and "go back where they came from". You go between "decepticons" and "transformers" interchangeably and seem to do exactly as the show heeds against heavily; conglomerating the actions of a FEW to encompass the overall worthiness of a WHOLE POPULATION OF PEOPLE.

Doctor Meridian is wrong and genuinely evil and disturbing with how he treats them and him seeing them as dangerous and a pest needing to be eradicated nor should any of his views be agreed upon, no matter how much you may try to defend him. There's more I could add but for simplicity's sake but that's what I mainly will state. The rest of clarity can be discussed in the comments.

I'm not sure whether your lack of understanding of the show and its messaging you are discussing or your love for one of the major villains is clouding your judgement, but please read EVERYTHING here to its fullest extent. Nothing here is intended as an attack on your character (if you're somehow seeing it that way) but as a heavy critique of your views on this show and how you are analyzing things. I might sound like I'm yapping to yap or "it's not that deep", but it literally is. The show and it's writing make it a big point and I will refuse to accept any iteration of "you're making a mountain out of a molehill" type statements. If you have any questions or comments you're free to bring them up.

-With confusion and annoyance, Wizard.

-Footnotes- *By group of people, I refer to sapient (human minded) beings who are grouped by either race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, etc. By this classification, Transformers are considered a group of people; even if they are "nonhuman" *If you are somehow seriously confused or appalled by me pointing out real world racism and xenophobia as parallels to what is being done by GHOST, Dr. Meridian, and your average run of the mill civilian, you need to reread absolutely everything. Racism and xenophobia are a huge talking point in the show and I refuse to retract this statement. *Cold Constructed means the transformer was made in a factory, more often than not to be a worker slave for whoever is demanding they be produced. Two characters off the top of my head who are cold constructed is Starscream and Megatron.

[cator99]

I was so weird about lesbian sex for a long time because when I was 14 I hooked up with an older girl at bible camp and suddenly got my period during it and I was so embarassed but she didn't care so we kept going and then I suddenly got a severe nosebleed for no reason while I was on top of her kissing her and you can imagine how that went so there was my blood everywhere all over both of us and this sounds like I'm making shit up but it was insane and k i was panicking but she was like all about it so we just kept going and like it was too late, there was already blood on both of us! Like all over us. and I thought it was kind of powerful. so I let myself get blood all over the cabin. we were feverish. At first I just let my nosebleed drip on the floor and we both laughed like fuck this place yeah lets get blood everywhere. And we did. This is just what makes us girls. We had this cabin entirely to ourselves too for 3 whole nights!! They didn't check on us in there even once!!! Not even the counselors wanted to be near us- we had wanted to be alone and not participate in the religious activities so we told everyone we were sick, however the absolutely insane family who single-handedly ran the camp (the mom was rarely seen of course but the dad was this freaky cult-leader type preacher named Greg, and they had ummmm I think 15 kids or something, most of whom were adults, so they had no issue running this camp on an acreage they owned with very little outsider involvement) genuinely thought we were just posessed by demons, and in response they gave us our own cabin in order to ensure that we were kept away from the other kids there. Major oversight on their part and also sounds illegal but I could tell they were scared shitless of me (weird hair I cut and dyed myself, 3 lip piercings, septum ring, mid kandi kid phase so I had rainbow bracelets up past my elbows) and the girl (who had a jugalette tattoo and was the only black girl at the camp, I think ever)... I ended up getting banned from bible camp for other reasons... lesbian sex blood rituals aside....... (a kid saw me smoking something in a pipe and snitched, and they thought it was weed but it was so obviously just mint tea...) yeah after that I was like "was god punishing me for being a lesbian by making me bleed everywhere during sex oh god I'm going to hell forever and ever waaah" because even though I didn't believe in that shit in any real way at all I still had raging paranoia about being punished for being gay... regardless I came to the conclusion that if all that bloodshed was the price of homosexuality then I'd just have to learn to enjoy it. And I was so right for that . But yeah when I did have sex again after that I was like Ok hellooooo God where is the blood are u there God...???

[prettyflyforawhitelie]

Hazbin Hotel x Sick!Reader

A/N: Hey guys! I wanted to do some more x reader headcanons just because they’re so fun! I love the idea of the characters caring for you when you’re sick, it’s just so cute. I hope you enjoy it!

Pairing: Hazbin Hotel x Reader

Warnings: None (if you don't count tooth-rotting fluff) 

Characters: Alastor, Charlie, Vaggie, Angel Dust, Husk, Sir Pentious, Lucifer

🦌📻Alastor📻🦌:

Essentially hides you away in his room: wants more than anything to take care of you, but refuses to expose this “softer” side of him to anyone else. If anybody knew that you were the Radio Demon’s only weakness, not only would that put him in danger, but you as well.

Will prepare any food that your heart desires - his mother brought him up to be an excellent cook! His recommended feel-good food is his mother’s jambalaya, but you absolutely love when he makes etouffee!

If anybody dares to try and disturb your well-needed sleep, he broadcasts their screams to remind them just why the hotel has a radio tower… 

Will suggest that you take advantage of the bayou-side of his room for the fresh air, but of course will not force you to do anything against your complete comfort.

The best thing that he knows to do is what his mother did to him whenever he was sick: Sit in bed with him and tell him Creole folk tales. They always enamored him, and just the fact that he was allowing you to see this personal side of him made you feel better. 

At the end of the day, Alastor would take advantage of the beautiful setting that the dark bayou side of his room provided and conjure up a lovely scene of fireflies, all while softly playing his piano and singing his favorite songs to guide you to sleep (You are the only person he will let hear his singing). While Alastor may seem heartless from afar, you wouldn’t trade this demon for all of the money in the world.

🗝️😈Charlie😈🗝️:

Would definitely notice that you were sick before you did and insisted that you get plenty of bedrest. When you refused, insisting that you were ok, she would monitor you until you finally accepted that you were sick and let her take care of you. She would say, “I’m not saying I told you so, buuuuuut…”

Takes care of you to the point where some tasks of the hotel were neglected, but to be honest, it was a win-win for everyone in the hotel. She was happy that you were being taken care of, and everyone else was happy that they didn’t have to participate in trust exercises. 

She would crack open her book of the story of Hell - it always calms her down during an extermination, so hopefully it could calm you down as you try to sleep. 

If she absolutely had to leave the hotel to do/get something, she would most definitely buy a little keepsake and bring it back for you.

She would use her love for singing to lull you to sleep, singing sweet lullabies that her mother used to sing to her as a child.

You have to constantly remind her to take care of herself as well, as she will literally remain at your bedside, not caring to eat or sleep, until you get better. She often gets so caught up in caring for others that she forgets to care for herself! You tell her that it would genuinely make you feel better to see her taking care of herself as well.

🪽⚔️Vaggie⚔️🪽:

Gets more defensive over you than usual, which honestly scares everyone. Nobody wants to so much as speak to you wrong in fear of Vaggie literally attacking them. Having Vaggie around is the definition of scary dog privileges. 

She’s honestly extremely dramatic when it comes to you getting sick, which may seem ridiculous, but think about it: she was thrown away by her “family” in heaven, and now you’re the only person that she truly has. You confide in her, you allow her to let her guard down. If she lost you, she doesn’t know how she could even exist. So whether you have a cold or something more serious, she will automatically jump to the worst conclusions and get worried as Hell.

As tough as she seems, Vaggie loves to cuddle. She will literally lay in bed with you all day, not caring if she gets sick as well. You’re the only person that she can be vulnerable with, and if you have to be in bed all day, you better bet she’ll be right there next to you. 

Her love language is absolutely telling you about all the things that she would do to defend you. She will go into immense detail about the things that she would do for you, and you will always listen in awe. She has been through so much, and this is the only way that she knows how to express her true love for you. 

The last thing she wants is for somebody to feel abandoned in their struggle like she did when she fell from Heaven, especially you. She will make sure that you know how much you are valued and loved, not just by her, but by everyone at the hotel.

When you’re finally ready to get out of bed and start participating in hotel duties again, she monitors you the whole time to make sure that you’re not over-exerting yourself.

🕷️💖Angel Dust💖🕷️:

Is very upset and on edge - Valentino forces him to work everyday, no matter the circumstances, and not being at the hotel to care for you or at least watch over you makes him feel horrible. 

Basically forces you to sleep as much as you can, even better if it’s in his room so he can see that you’re okay immediately when he gets home.

Encourages you to cuddle with Fat Nuggets - he’s essentially a cute and cuddly heating pad. (He actually gives Fat Nuggets this adorable pep talk about how he needs to take good care of you while “dad” is at work)

He wholeheartedly believes in the power of comedy, so he essentially treats your bedrest as a stand-up comedy show for him to perform in order to make you laugh. He’ll tell stupid jokes, put together horrible dances, or even just hide in places and scare you in hopes that making you laugh will help you forget how bad you feel. 

Loves talking to you after work. You’re essentially the only person that he takes off his hypersexual mask around, and he knows that he can be himself around you, that you would never judge him. So, sometimes he will get home to find you already asleep and get in bed with you, holding you tight, whispering all of the things that he wanted to tell you about today, hoping that at least some of his words wiggle their way into your dreams. 

Loves sappy rom com movies and will 100% force you to watch them with him. He claims it’s because the “good vibes” of the romance will make you feel better, but to be honest, he just wants someone to watch his dumb movies with.

♦️🥃Husk🥃♥️:

Will blame himself for your sickness, claiming that he shouldn’t have let you drink so much over the past couple of days (He literally cannot comprehend the idea that people can be sick NOT from being hungover lol).

When you insist that it’s not his fault, he’ll ease up. He’ll use some of his bartending skills to make some sort of juice mocktail for you and will definitely sneak in some vitamin C to heal you faster.

Everyone - specifically Angel - will wonder why the fuck the bar hasn’t been stocked in days (It’s because Husk has been chilling in bed/taking care of you nonstop).

This is the only time that he will completely surrender to the idea of being one big stuffed animal to cuddle with. I mean, he’s warm, soft, and he purrs! What’s more therapeutic than that?

This is also a great time to get uninterrupted talking time with Husk. He’s a great listener, so you’ve always opened up to him, but it took him a while to open up to you too. He had told you that you were one of the only people that he trusted enough to confide in, but always seemed to air on the side of caution when sharing his personal struggles because it always seemed that someone would just pop up at the bar asking for a drink whenever it happened. This was one of the few times that the two of you could be completely open and vulnerable with each other without the risk of outside judgment. 

Given the fact that he was such a gambler, Husk has a knack for all sorts of card games. If you get too bored, just give him a deck of cards and the possibilities for entertainment are endless. Want him to teach you how to play poker or rummy? Done. Want him to embarrass himself while he tries to relearn some card tricks that he used to flaunt? Done and done.

🐍⚙️Sir Pentious⚙️🐍:

The second you told him you were sick, he would waste no time in finding one of his many inventions that could help you in some way. He definitely has some complex medical screening device hidden somewhere that he could use… he just has to remember where he put it. 

If you complain about being sore, he will insist that you snuggle up next to him. Because he’s a cold-blooded reptile, his body is one big ice pack! On the other end, if you feel yourself coming down with some feverish chills, he has you covered! His bedroom ceiling is essentially one huge heat lamp, so feel free to chill under there, too!

Has assigned himself as your personal nurse and will provide anything that your heart desires. If it for some reason cannot be found within the hotel, he will travel to any ring of Hell necessary to make sure that you are well taken care of. This man is DETERMINED.

You can tell that he’s taking this seriously because he actually neglects his “evil duties” for a couple of days. The airship isn’t even mentioned until you heal (unless, of course, you feel that taking a ride on the airship would make you feel better. Then, of course he will set it up for you!).

Despite literally voicing his complete and utter devotion to your every flight of fancy, this man is still as awkward as ever. He will still struggle to ask you if you want to cuddle, quite literally fluttering around the subject until you bring it up for him. 

At the end of the day, though, Sir Pentious is probably the sweetest sinner you could’ve ended up with as your caretaker. He may be awkward, but boy, does he love you!

👹👼Lucifer👼👹:

While you are resting in bed, he will conjure up the most delightful images of anything you request (his favorite, though, is a group of ducklings waddling through a golden lake together 🫶)

Being the King of Hell, he has so many interesting stories to tell you if you’re willing to listen. He will gladly tell you stories as you lay in bed with him, slowly lulling you to sleep. (His daughter clearly got her love of storytelling from him).

He loves that you trust him enough to let him take care of you - he doesn’t often have people around, let alone people that he truly loves. Just your presence in his room truly fills him with so much joy.

He didn’t want to annoy you with his ramblings about his many rubber ducks so he was ecstatic when you asked him to give you a tour of all of them. This man was telling you each and every duck’s name, backstory, etc. and honestly, it was adorable. When he quickly glazed over one of the ducks anxiously, you asked why. He then shyly revealed that it was, in fact, a rubber duck that looked just like you. 

His love language is definitely gift-giving. This rubber duck would lead to him showing the many, MANY gifts he has created for you in his free time. He always has a ton of downtime, so making gifts for people is his favorite hobby. These gifts include, but aren’t limited to: various duck items, binded storybooks, music boxes, paintings, etc. This man is TALENTED, to say the least. He just hopes that looking at these will distract you enough from being sick. 

Also, his room is by far the comfiest to sleep in while you’re sick… the mood lighting that is naturally provided from his glowing light shows is simply unmatched.

[adventures-in-mangaland]

Dead Boy Detectives Fic Recs Part 7

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

So I hear there's been some fandom drama? Guess it's time for another fic rec list! This fandom is so lovely, so let's focus on the positive and give all the love to our writers and artists. You guys are so talented. ♥️

Work It Harder, Make it Better by dear_monday, two_ravens

Olympics AU! And kind of Sk8er Boi? Charles is an Olympic skateboarder at the end of his competitive career and Edwin is a rising star in the world of dressage. They fall in love at Paris 2024. Amazing writing, as always, and I also enjoyed Niko and Crystal as members of the skateboarding and equestrian teams having their own Olympics Romance and Jenny as Charles' world-weary coach.

Twin Flame by Leandra

Another "He was a punk, he did ballet" romance! This time, everyone is alive and the boys meet when Charles watches Edwin perform at his little sister's ballet recital. The romance and Charles as a big brother are very sweet, which is great as this fic also covers some heavy themes. It's set in the 90s so there's discussion of homophobia, the AIDs crisis and Charles' canon child abuse. Suffice to say, his bisexual awakening is quite fraught. Recommended!

Love for Hire by lucrow

Edwin hires Charles to freak out his parents with his obnoxious fake boyfriend. What could possible haaappeeen? And yes, it's a ballet/punk romance too. 😅 Anyway, it's giving fantastic banter, lots of emotions and great use of trope! I also enjoyed Edwin's relationship with his mum in this fic, excellent parental feels.

so I try to talk refined by shadowquill17

Charles finds out about the Cat King taking on his appearance and (somehow) arrives at the conclusion that Edwin isn't attracted to him. Charles having body image as well as chronic self-esteem issues was interesting but kind of heartbreaking. Read it for Edwin's agonised attempts to verbalise his sexual attraction to Charles without exploding. That's love right there.

A Royal Pain(e) (series) by handwrittenhello

Royalty AU! I love a bodyguard romance from time to time and this one is lovely. Lots of yearning.

Turnabout's Fair Play by Like MmmCookies

Edwin enlists Niko and Crystal to teach him how to flirt with Charles. It starts off cute and awkward and ends up Master Of All He Surveys, which is very Edwin.

I will love you (I really love you) by ghostinthelibrary

Charles has a feelings realization and tries to confess to Edwin. Repeatedly. From a cock-blocking enchanted statue to a Hellhound, it's farcical and fun. This fic has been living in my head rent free for months.

seasons of mists by laiqualaurelote

Edwin hires Charles to be the barista in his book shop's cafe. Two cosy AUs in one! And it even comes (appropriately) with its own reading list and fanart! Very cute, excellent autumnal vibes and a superb imaginary book shop. I'm genuinely so devastated it's not a real place. 😭

Ariadne's Thread by hobbitsdoitbetter

In which Edwin is demisexual and trying to make it work with Charles. Love to see some ace spectrum representation!

you know the problem with history (it keeps coming back like weeds) by aletterinthenameofsanity

Amnesia AU! And kind of Secret Relationship? Edwin has Not So Temporary Amnesia that made him forget a whole romantic relationship with Charles early in their partnership. And Charles never told him... Surely this will have no impact on the events of canon?? 😬 I loved this twist on the trope!

scraped to the marrow by Anonymous

Edwin learned black magic in Hell and kind of went to the Dark Side. I love the trope of "Everyone thinks Character avoids violence because they're scared/weak/nice/bad at it, but actually they're a bit too good at it" and this fic does it well. I love regular Edwin, but Lord Bone was also pretty cool.

To Walk Back Into Hell by Asidian

Charles goes to Hell in Edwin's place, so naturally Edwin needs to find a way to rescue him! Interesting Hell lore and I loved all the Charles love in this.

It does not stop by williamvapespeare

Now he's safe from Hell, Edwin finally works through his PTSD. Emotional, but peak Emotional Support Charles for the win!

signed, sealed, delivered by sulfuric

Outsider PoV of the boys and the agency through the years from the perspective of the Ghost Postman. He's kind of underrated as a side character, but there are so many Implications about the Dead Letter Office, so I enjoyed the worldbuilding. And the supernatural community of London gossiping about/shipping the boys (they're just like us, for real). Love that trope.

not so secret by lola_prongs

Social Media/Celebrity AU! In which they're both actors and Charles relentlessly thirsts after Edwin on Twitter. Great use of social media/epistolary storytelling.

Like a record, baby by singtome

Another celebrity/social media AU, but this time Charles and Crystal are budding rock stars and Edwin is their manager. Also Edwin goes viral as the mysterious #HotGuyatUnity after his picture's taken at an event and Charles *tries* to set the record straight. This one's funny, generous with the yearning and UST and is part of a series that also touches on the darker side of the music industry/celebrity, which I appreciated. And it also has this excellent visual representation of the online drama.

@ghostinthelibrarywrites @tumblerislovetumblerislife @shadowquill17 @neurodivergent-fangirling @whatthehorsedoicallthisblog @shazziez @many-gay-magpies @extremely-eager-reader @atariakana @guardianspirits13 @colourmornings @herebehunters @avoiceofnerat @littlepocketuniverse @overlord-of-chaos @fairandfatalasfair @handwrittenhello @every-moment-a-different-sound @williamvapespeare @laiqualaurelote @dear-monday @dear-lucrow @aletterinthenameofsanity @likemmmcookies @bibliomancer7 @c-rowland @nobledragonflying @hobbitsdoitbetter

I've tagged some people again. Let me know if you'd like to be added to the tag list!

[utilitycaster]

as a bit of a coda to my post re: C3 likely ending very soon and why some of the worst of C2 fan responses are unlikely, I want to highlight something from C2's ending I forgot that is still relevant: the ending of the campaign is ultimately much more about when the party would part ways, rather than every single thing being resolved. There are also important parts of people's stories that just don't translate well to D&D actual play (notably in C2, Thoreau and Trent being put on public trial).

No matter what Bells Hells do, everything about the moon will have long-term ramifications, and because of Imogen and Fearne we will presumably get some idea of the fate of Ruidusborn in the immediate sense, but anything more needs to marinate. For all I take issue with the ending of Rusty Quill Gaming (not spoiler tagging as it's 2+ years old but: destruction of all magic, arcane and divine, with basically no lead-in or earlier seeding that this was a possibility) they did make the very intelligent choice to end the campaign right after the climactic battle, and then show two brief RP-centric epilogues for the characters, one five years out and one further down the line, to give snapshots of how the world and characters have adapted. Those epilogues did a lot to soften my opinion of an ending that I genuinely think wasn't very well done, because they were thoughtfully chosen.

The Mighty Nein were very much not done adventuring, to a degree, but they were done with the adventures they were having as a group, at least as a constant thing (obviously, they'll bring the gang back together - they're doing so right now). They had conflicting needs that were all somewhat time sensitive, and several of them did wish to pause and spend time with their family at that point. Some of what we thought were plot hooks at the time became stories for another party (Team Wildemount in Molaesmyr was a highlight of C3 for me!), some were the subject of one-shots (Uk'otoa and Trent), and some might be even more long term, whatever that may mean (Chained Oblivion - which could also in theory pay off even in the presumably very few C3 episodes we have left).

So: not every plot thread needs to be wrapped up, the end of a campaign doesn't mean the end of a story, and some parts of a story are better told outside the context of the campaign. Again: I am not judging you for being sad it's ending! In fact, I think anyone who is doing that is kind of an asshole! But I do think it's important to recall that the campaign ending and the story ending are different things, and to consider what actually needs to be wrapped up for a satisfying conclusion, vs what you want to see, particularly because "what you want to see" is very likely to still come to pass down the line as a one-shot, two-shot, beat in a future campaign, or something else. (Unless it's some non-canon shipping bullshit in which case. please check out ao3. great website. will have what you want.)

[freds-one-piece-fics]

Overnight work

Straw hat’s [redacted] (Yandere! Strawhats x reader)

Prologue

Tw: blood, wounds, splinters (pretty descriptive)

A little bonding time with... Zoro???? Lucky you!!!

~~~~~~~~~~

When you joined the straw hats, they expected some hard work on your end. Not because they wanted you to, oh no no no. The reason they came to this conclusion was because of the hard work you put in your old job and how seriously you took it.

They just didn't expect how invested you were in completing tasks...

On your first day living on the ship, you got up and waited on the rest of the crew, figuring that it'd be rude to snoop around on your own. Once the crew did leave their beds, they were surprised, even more so when you asked what duties you have been assigned.

The crew wasn't really sure where to start honestly. They really didn't think that far (Luffy made that decision to bring you on the ship without an actual plan), so they instead asked you to join in on a fun activity that day.

Initially, you were distracted from doing any real work, but you being you... you eventually found some labor.

Usopp, Luffy, and Chopper tried keeping your attention away from such boring tasks, but you couldn't even focus on the game at hand. Not when one of the newly replaced back sail had that nasty hole in it...

That simply wouldn't do.

So off you went, grabbing a spare sail clothe to replace the damaged one.

It took most of the afternoon just replacing it and inspecting any parts of the ship. The more mature members of the crew kept the others (mainly Luffy) from interrupting your work, but even they were bothered by your refusal to accept help.

Sanji even made dinner earlier so he could get you to break your unwavering attention on the sails, which worked fortunately!

That night, dinner was loud and chaotic.

It was a type of chaos that held no genuine malice, even as Sanji threatened to shove his foot up Zoro's hyper-clenched asshole.

You ate your food politely, even letting Luffy snag some food off your plate (much to Sanji's chagrin) while Sanji was distracted by Nami's beauty or Zoro's "I don't give a fuck" attitude.

Over all, the first day was uneventful, even for the Straw hat's standards…

BAM!

"...What the hell?" Zoro hissed in annoyance at first, only for that irritation to be replaced by caution as he heard another sound, this time more quiet then before...

Whoever was up there was trying (and failing) to be quiet.

The other men snored loudly as Zoro snuck out the room with his swords. His senses were on high alert as he poked his head outside, seeing nothing but the deck lacking any other living being.

His attention was directed to above him once he heard soft but heavy feet walking on the wood deck above.

Swords drawn, Zoro leapt onto the anchor deck, ready to tear into who ever dared to sneak onto the Going Merry. His rush of adrenaline only increased tenfold when he spotted a tall figure hidden by the shadows of the moonless night.

The figure turned with a large wood pole on their shoulder, nearly knocking Zoro off the deck. He ducked down just in time before launching himself towards the figure with his blades crossed in front of him. the figure quickly dropped the pole to the side of them and gripped the blades, keeping Zoro from slicing the figure.

He almost couldn't budge from the grip the person had on his swords, but he pulled, and pulled, and pulled, slowly cutting through the hand's delicate palms like thick butter before a pained growl was let out.

Shock, hurt, and confusion displayed itself on your face as you looked back in Zoro's golden brown eyes, who did a double take as well.

"(Y/n)!? What the hell!?" He yelled and backed away with his blades as soon as you released them.

"I'm... sorry?" You said in pure confusion.

"What-What are you doing out here this late!? And why are you swinging a giant pole around!?" He demanded while pointing his sword at you accusingly.

"I'm... finishing what I started yesterday." You said while pointing over to where the hind mast would be, which appeared to be missing.

Well... Not really.

Zoro would realize this when he finally stared at the now familiar looking mast laying on the deck beside them.

"...didn't you fix it though?" Was all he could ask in that moment.

"Only the sail. The repair shop missed the smaller mast apparently. The main one is in perfect condition, but this one wasn't." You said with a small huff.

Zoro slowly sheathed his swords, still giving you a strange look.

"Alright, but... at night?"

"It's better to get it done as soon as possible."

You walked over to grab the pole, only to jolt and pause before grabbing the pole more gently.

"Oi, leave it be." Zoro said while approaching you.

"I have to-"

"Your hands are cut open." Zoro muttered something about you being a dumbass before reaching down and grabbing your hands to look at them.

Your eyebrows were raised in surprise by his sudden touch and closeness, even more so by the fact that he gave a crap.

He clicked his tongue, feeling the blood on your calloused hands but unable to see well on this moonless night.

"...I can't see shit. C'mon." He turned away and walked towards the stairs.

You were hesitant to follow. Sure, you were bleeding and it hurt, but the job wasn't done. You CANNOT have the captain see his own mast laying on the anchor deck.

Unfortunately for you, the swordsman wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Get your ass down here, we need to clean your wounds."

"But Captain Luffy won't be pleased with the mast-"

"I'm his first mate. I have authority, so I say you leave the stupid piece of wood and bandage your hands. You'll get blood all over it anyway." Zoro said in an annoyed tone.

"...yes sir."

Zoro's face scrunched up at that as his face burned a little hot.

"Don't call me that. It's Zoro." He snapped at you half heartedly.

With all being said, Zoro led you to the lounge area, which sat at the back of the ship. While grabbing the railing to walk up the steps, you pulled back and grit your teeth when what felt like a splinter snagged itself into your open flesh.

You go to pull the piece of wood out, only for a voice to snap at you.

"C'mon. Don't mess with your cuts until we get in the lounge." He said, looking back despite not seeing too well in the dark.

You complied, this time not touching the railing as you walked upwards.

As soon as you both entered the lounge, Zoro turned to you and cussed under his breathe after catching sight of your visible hands.

"I cut you pretty damn bad. Stay here."

He left the room quickly, leaving you in an awkward silence as you studied your own hands.

Your rough, scarred hands had new wounds added to them. The cuts were smooth, something that could easily heal, but the depth of the cuts would be a problem you concluded. You eyed the splinter launched in the exposed meat and with care and patience, grabbed the tip of it with your other hand, slowly pulling the intruder out of the pulsing mess of blood and skin.

Despite the obvious pain of removing the splitter, there was this euphoric relief. The wound throbbed and burned, but it became a more comfortable and dull sensation.

The door opened, snatching your attention away from the cuts on your hands. Zoro walked in, glancing at your ands before dropping the kit he had in his hand.

"What the- did you pick at it???"

You stared sheepishly at the moss headed man, who snapped at you once more.

"Dumbass!!!"

Zoro stomped over and grabbed your hands, inspecting the damage before releasing your wrists again.

"We gotta wash it a little." He sighed while brute forcing the kit open. He dug into the kit in search of something before he looked at you with a confuzzled look.

"What the hell are you sitting there for? Wash your hands there, idiot!" He pointed to the sink in exasperation.

"Yes sir."

"Oi! Stop calling me that!"

Zoro wrapped your hands tight in gauze and medical tape, slapping your hands away when you tried to do it yourself.

"Both of your hands are injured. You're in no condition to wrap these yourself." He excused despite you stating that you had worse.

Once he was done, he looked over your hands, subconsciously rubbing a thumb over a long healed scar that was located on the back of your hand.

While you allowed him to inspect your hands, you couldn't help but notice how little focus he was giving the recent injuries given by yours truly.

He grumbled something that you couldn't make out, before he removed his own calloused hands and sat on the other chair he leaned his swords against.

"It's done. Tony can look at it tomorrow..."

You nodded, ready to stand up and leave to finish what you started before Zoro stopped you.

"That means go to bed."

"...I was?" You said as you made a funny face.

The man scoffed at you narrowed his eyes.

"You're a terrible liar. Less convincing than the long nose."

You didn't have time to answer before Zoro pointed to the door with his thumb.

"Go to sleep. We can worry about the hunk of wood in the morning... or afternoon. Seeing that you chose to stay up late." He snarked.

You opened your mouth, about to speak when he stopped you.

"And don't call me what you're about to call me."

"Call you what, sir?"

"...go to fucking bed." Zoro hissed.

'How troublesome' he would think as he watched the (h/c) head towards the room that Sat between Nami's and the boy's quarters.

He didn't think they would cause issues so soon...

And he didn't think he'd give a shit so fast...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry for the rough start, fellas. I've lost my touch lmao.

I wanna do a slow burn type of deal where the yanderes slowly turn yandere, some slower/faster than others.

I'm not gonna make it painfully slow, don't worry, it'll maybe at least a few weeks or a month for the characters before they become yanderes.

No hate at all to other fics that do this, but I'd like to think the obsession isn't within the first second they meet. If that's the case, then they may as well randomly grow attached to everyone they meet lol (but that's just me. Just a lil nit pick.)

But anywho, I'll be making the aftermath of this fic.

Goodnight 🌙

[pippin-katz]

Charles VS The Night Nurse

As promised, here is my extensive essay!

I was thinking about how Charles fought off the Night Nurse, and how the others reacted. I have a lot of feelings and thoughts, so strap in for an emotional roller coaster.

All of them were shaken in that moment, but Crystal in particular brings it up several times afterwards. Her real focus is on his anger issues, but she uses the Night Nurse incident as grounds for Charles going too far. She mentions it being "a lot" to watch, and says, "You lost your shit while beating the Night Nurse!"

Here's the thing, Charles reiterates that she was going to send Edwin back to Hell, and take him away to the Afterlife. She also dragged him through all of his most traumatic memories, which the others couldn't see, but it doesn't take a genius to connect the dots that whatever she did was fucked up.

She uses his name, which she shouldn't know, threateningly suggests testing what else she knows about him, then makes a motion with her hand that makes Charles collapse. He falls limp like a ragdoll. I'd be surprised if he was motionless or expressionless in the real world during this process, so he was likely thrashing, struggling, and gasping like he was experiencing a nightmare, which he essentially was. It's like a nightmare on acid; it's not some flashes of bad memories or scary things, he is literally forced to relive his trauma and abuse in explicit detail, while the Night Nurse taunts him for it. When he gets up, something is very visibly wrong.

The Night Nurse then asks Edwin directly what pain he would like to relive. When Charles starts advancing on her, he confirms what she did indirectly: "Good on you, yeah? With your nightmares and your sick smile."

It's not difficult to draw the conclusion that whatever she just did to him involved his most painful memories and trauma. Crystal even briefly saw into the Night Nurse's head, and ended up get pushed to the ground screaming in horror.

So, Charles' emotional state is completely understandable and justified, and his friends should've been able to tell that based on the situation.

The Night Nurse is also a threat. She is not a normal human being, but someone supernatural. She seems very capable of sending Edwin back to Hell, and forcing Charles into his Afterlife.

I don't get the feeling that she wants it to come to that; she seems to see herself as above resorting to force. She talks to them prior to acting all three times she attempts to take them on her own. This allows them to convince her and stall her, but I get the impression that if she really wanted to, she could drag them both off the mortal plane by force. She even tells Kashi that while she doesn't enjoy violence, she's not above it. She would've taken them when they got back from Hell, but Niko finds an actual rule that prevents her from doing so.

Charles got lucky. He catches her completely off guard. She underestimates him. She's confused and stunned as he attacks her. She genuinely doesn't understand why he would want to stay on Earth after everything he went through. They also happen to be by the cliff for this, and there happens to be a very large, hungry sea monster waiting below them.

Charles got very, very lucky, because this woman is a supernatural entity. But the others don't treat the situation that way, and you know why?

Appearance.

Consider for a moment how differently that confrontation would've gone down if the Night Nurse truly looked like a supernatural being. Say she resembled something more like the demon that took Edwin to Hell, humanoid but definitely not human, and scary. Do you think the others would have been so speechless and bothered if Charles had fought off something like that?

The answer is no.

The reason the other three are so shocked and upset is because the Night Nurse looks like a small, middle-aged, white woman, who doesn't fight back. Even though she is clearly unharmed by Charles' hits, they can't stop themselves from seeing the situation as: Charles beating a small woman with a heavy object and kicking her off a cliff.

That is what it looked like, but that is not what happened.

Charles fought off a supernatural being that was threatening to send his best mate back to Hell and force him to go to an Afterlife he didn't want, separating him from Edwin, and taking him away from the new friends he's made. He did not beat up a defenseless woman. She may have been unarmed, but she was not powerless. From Charles' position, the Night Nurse was a monster in human clothing, and he was completely within his right to think that way.

As a matter of fact, the Night Nurse in Doom Patrol looks inhuman/monstrous, and is even referred to as a demon in one of the articles I read about the spin-off show.

I brought this up in my essay about iron burns, and it's very relevant here, so I'll say it again.

The Night Nurse attacks Charles first.

The severity of her attack is hidden from the others; they couldn't even begin to understand how that felt, even if they were fully aware of what happened. Her attack is primarily emotional and mental, but it is also physical. She makes him relive being stoned by his friends and beaten by his father; he could feel that. The Night Nurse does not hit him, but she hurts him, hurts him bad. Despite what the others see, when Charles hits her with that music box, he’s retaliating, not initiating.

The others struggle with disconnecting her appearance from her purpose and personality, even though it should be obvious. All she did during that sequence was be cruel to them.

She uses Crystal's vulnerability as bait, dismissing her emotions with a self-satisfied and condescending smile, literally referring to them as trivial.

She fully intends to send Edwin back to Hell even though he doesn't belong there, purely because it says so on a sheet of paper; she doesn't seem bothered at all by what that actually means for him, despite having a visible reaction of horror to the Spider when it takes Edwin away.

She ignores Charles' statements about staying on Earth, twisting the knife by telling him how much he doesn't belong there. He died as a teenager, robbed of the life he should've had, and rather than showing any empathy for him and his understandable desire to stay, she rubs salt into the wounds with satisfaction.

She forces Charles back into his most painful and traumatic memories, and uses them to emphasize even more how pointless and worthless she sees the idea of him staying on Earth.

She points out how his friends caused his death while laughing, but while she's not laughing, she's reveling in being "right". She doesn't show any sympathy for him, despite pointing out the apathy in his friends.

She sees why his friends turned on him, and she's disappointed by it, like she was expecting something more. She acts like he's being overdramatic that he would stay on Earth all because his friends bullied some kid.

She watches his father viscously beat him, and her only commentary on the matter is that Charles failed to make things better, as if it was somehow his fault that his father abused him.

She condescendingly lectures Charles about how being good didn't, and still doesn't matter, as if he's naive about how awful the world is, and foolish for trying to be positive and helpful.

She toys with Charles, treating him, his experiences, and his feelings like she's got a doll with a remote and wants to press all of the buttons, just because she can and wants to see what happens.

She does all of this with a smug expression.

She turns to do it to Edwin, asking him what pain he wants to relive as if that's a question he could answer when his response is ultimately meaningless. She's going to do it regardless; she's asking him to taunt him.

She begins to ask Charles if he needs more pain to realize that she's right, like he's a toddler throwing a temper tantrum rather than a deeply damaged teenager who is suffering, from her actions.

She scoffs after Charles hits her the first time, seeming unimpressed and bored, as if this isn't a life-or-death equivalent situation for them. Their entire existence is being attacked, but she acts like Charles is lashing out over being grounded or told he doesn't get dessert.

Every single thing about the Night Nurse and her behavior should have had all of them distraught, terrified, furious, or all of the above.

What does Charles say to the jocks at the end of their case? That they were "cruel just for the shits"? How is what she does any different? She humiliates and crushes Charles like it's fun for her to watch. She didn't even need to do that to him; she does it to prove a point, and get him to leave "willingly", even though willingness is clearly not taken into consideration by the Afterlife. Before the Principal sees their case files in the final episode, she was going to send them to their Afterlives. She did not even acknowledge their desires. She tells them she can do whatever she likes, and fully intends to do so until she reads all the cases they've solved and souls they've helped move on. The Night Nurse could've forced them to go from the start.

Even the first time the audience is introduced to her, the Night Nurse is distinctly inhuman. The way she speaks about them, saying "bad boys" in an unnerving tone. The fact that she refers to dying children as a "flood of weak, feeble bodies". In her own words, she is not a living human.

Being swallowed by Angie is the best thing to ever happen to the Night Nurse. Without talking to Kashi, I don't know if she ever would've started to understand; even she seems to not understand why she wants to help Charles and Edwin after she agrees to. She still has quite a lot of work to do, but Kashi made her a more complex and intriguing character than she would've been if she behaved the same way throughout the entire show. That being said, they don't know that she's going to change and grow when they have their first confrontation with her.

The Night Nurse at that point is a monster, and Charles was well within his right to "slay" her as such. I truly think the only reason the others react so poorly is because of her appearance. I can't help but wonder how differently that sequence would've played out if she wasn't a little woman in a pantsuit.

In conclusion, Charles did nothing wrong on that cliff.

(ko-fi)

[qiqi-media]

The Villain was Mal: The century long Did I mention debate.

To this day Audrey and Ben are being pitted against each other in the Did I mention scene when neither of them were at fault.

Ben was the direct victim, he was unable to control his actions and did something he wouldn't even had done had he not been drugged and NOBODY out of all the people who knew him for years found this out of character or stood up for him. They didn't pull him aside afterwards to ask what the hell he was doing or if he was okay, knowing he was pretty much completely unprotected from magic and the VK girly is walking around with a spell book.

Audrey was the indirect victim, she was publicly humiliated by her boyfriend and watched people she was friends with cheer him on and the girl he's doing this with is the daughter of your family's enemy. You were visibly destressed and the same thing with Ben, nobody cares, nobody asks. So you do the only thing you can do to try and save face and find another date. She's got her heartbroken, she'd probably feel more humiliated even trying to ask Ben about it and it doesn't help all of her friends are cheering them on. She at this point doesn't even know what was really going on.

Ben ends up in this borderline abusive relationship where he's afraid to say no to his girlfriend/fiance and everyone including his parents holds her opinion of more value than his as king. Whenever he's being abused by magic, which happens in all three movies nobody (D1-D2) Sticks up for him they either don't care or blame him for actions he had no control over.

Audrey is shunned from Auardon and is blamed by her family for failing to secure the king as if they didn't have a genuine relationship and she doesn't have feelings. She falls into a depression and has fallen behind in school and questions her self worth because all of the people who were her friends or looked at her in awe were now asking "What is she doing here?" for showing up to a birthday party that in any other circumstances she would've been invited. How was she not supposed to tie her self worth in dating Ben when people started treating her like a waste of space when she wasn't with him?

In conclusion, after years we need to realize that this situation was neither of their faults, they had been used and manipulated in a plan that was barely undone because nothing was every clarified between the two. The ending of their relationship was forced onto them and consequently the destruction of any friendship they could've had. I don't want to be like "blame it all on Mal" but if we're going back and forth between blaming Ben and Audrey, then yes we need to blame Mal. She created the direct situation for it to happen, benefited from it entirely, lied about what actually happened (saying she spelled Ben for love) and she herself never tried to make amends or actually explain the situation. Mal spelled him taking away his right of action and she clearly wasn't sorry about what happened to Audrey because she insults her right after the did I mention scene when at this point she doesn't know anything about her. She further in my opinions shows a lack of actual remorse when she continues to try and spell Ben later on and when she gives up on magic gaslights him into doing what she wants (she doesn't take no for an answer.) (That's a whole different conversation but okay Mal, Audrey is the shallow one and Evie is better even though everybody knew Evie was only interested in Chad because he was a prince.)

[snalsupremacy]

Things I got from re-watching the s2 op way too many times

Spoilers for all of s2

ok, so the items inside the claw machine are an unintelligible photo, the pink bear, a Gameboy, and later a gun and a notebook can also be seen. Imma be so real I have no idea what the Gameboy and Notebook mean.

Though it's psychedelic, the liquid pouring out of cheng xiaoshi is def supposed to be blood

I have no idea which scene this photo is referring to. Could it be one of cheng xiaoshi's unseen deaths?

this frame drives me insane. WHY IS LU GUANG SMILING? IS HE SMILING? AM I READING TOO MUCH INTO IT? IT DEFINITELY LOOKS LIKE A SMILE BUT IDK MAYBE IM OVERTHINKING (pun intended)

The pink bear can actually be seen in xixi's hand! And since she was reaching for Cheng Xiaoshi, I can only assume that this op is saying that he and the plushie bear are symbolically the same

which makes this schene the more confusing to me. Is the horse skeleton thing supposed to symbolize death? Is the way it rips out of the plushie bear a way to represent how it is inevitable that cheng xiaoshi will die?

for some reason it took me a million rewatches to realize this giant metal thing is the claw from the claw machine, once again showing that the bear and him are the same

There's a very brief shot in which we can see Emma, Qiao Ling, Lu Guang, and Qian Jin all watching Cheng Xiaoshi fall.

Other stuff I noticed:

In the first half of the op the video is reversed while the song is normal, but once lg and cxs touch the video goes back to normal and the audio reverses. I think this is used to symbolize how they are experiencing time differently

Someone else pointed this out already, but while in the first op they are "diving" back in time, in this one they are straight-up drowning, showing how they lost control

The lyrics are 100% from Lu Guangs POV:

Take back all my regrets And camouflage it like your silhouette

^Lu Guang pretending that he doesn't know cxs is dead

Time is like music Play it 'til the end and then reset

^Lu Guang resetting the timeline every time cxs dies

Knowing it all, am I destined to fall? Like once you did for me

^ Despite knowing what will happen, Lu Guang continues to fail to stop his death

I think everyone noticed this but once Li Tianxi and Li Tianchen's identities are revealed, the hood comes off from the op and their faces are visible. Ops that change midway through to reflect the change in plot>>>>>>>

Conclusion

I'm really not that good in analysis and this op fascinates me just as much as it confuses me. Why is Qiao Ling turning her back on Cheng Xiaoshi's fall?? Why is Lu Guang's face not visible when they try to reach for each other?? What the hell is that notebookk😭what crime scene is in the photo?! So many questions and I genuinely don't know if they are supposed to be un-answered or if I'm just stupid(┬┬﹏┬┬)

Anyway this is my fave op ever. of all animated shows I've seen. and I've watched a lot man. yeah.

[pacificwaternymph]

Aaaaand everyone give it up for WASTED POTENTIAL

Season finale spoilers under the cut

Okay. I'll be honest. The finale was... not what I was hoping for.

I tried so hard to remain optimistic. I truly believed they could pull it all together and everything was going to have a satisfying conclusion. But I guess that's my fault. I set my expectations too high.

Is this about Tech? Primarily, yes. Yes it was. I am so disappointed. And you can make fun of me all you want but I genuinely believed, with all my heart, that CX-2 was Tech.

BECAUSE WHY THE FUCK ELSE WAS THERE SO MUCH EMPHASIS ON HIM

There was so much to suggest that CX-2 was somebody we knew. We spent so much time on him, suffered through so many completely unnecessary, in hindsight, close up shots and random pieces of episodes that focus on him, only for him to get javelined through the middle in the span of half a second.

It feels like the writers were just making fun of the viewers, at this point. Haha, can you believe they actually thought?

Yes, we did think! Did you?

Tech's death was so... unconvincing. They didn't even try. Not only was his life "cut short" in the midst of his character development, said death was caused by falling, without any other kind of injury, while we watch him disappear into the clouds. And then we see no body and only have his broken goggles as "evidence" of his death. What the hell else were we supposed to assume?

That's not even bringing up that Tech gets maybe three mentions all throughout the entire season. The show never touches on how the death of one of their squadmates, people they have known since birth, affects the batch. Not once do they ever say out loud that Tech is dead until the fucking finale.

This isn't just me reading too closely between the lines. This is genuinely bad writing. It's loading chekhov's gun and then refusing to shoot it.

Even if CX-2 wasn't Tech, or even somebody we knew, the way he is treated suggests that he was supposed to be important. He was supposed to be be relevant. And now, he's neither!

Furthermore, where fuck was everybody? Where was Rex with the reinforcements to storm the base? Where was Wolffe deciding he didn't want anything to do with the Empire anymore? Where was Cody? Where was Phee in all of this?

Where was Cid? So we're just... not going to get any kind of closure for that? We spend two entire seasons with her, then she just betrays them and we never see her again? Even if they didn't redeem her, that feels like pretty damn bold move.

The Zillo beast does... barely anything. Really? It just breaks out and moves away from the biggest source of energy it will ever find after causing the slightest amount of property damage to two rooms, and storms off into the woods, and that's all we get? Seriously?

And then once we get to the time jump... Echo's gone. Again. Either still off with Rex, if he hasn't gone into hiding yet, or died off screen. Neither is a good nor satisfying ending for his character. But I guess shouldn't be surprised by that. When have the writers ever cared about Echo?

The biggest problem with the whole thing is that it didn't feel like a finale. It felt like a normal episode, just slightly longer. The Bad Batch returned to Pabu, because I guess there are no consequences from the Batch being discovered there before and the empire decided that they were just going to... leave it alone, and everything returns to the status quo. That's not what a finale does, Dave.

Maybe I'm being too harsh. There were parts that I enjoyed. I'm glad Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair got their happy endings. Seeing Omega all grown up really did something to my heart. But overall I am just so frustrated.

[literallygwenandjinx]

Since it’s June 2nd, I thought I’d yap a little about Across the Spider Verse in honor of it turning a year old today 🫶🏻

I love this movie so damn much, it helped me through so many tough times. Usually my hyperixations die out within a couple weeks or months, but this movie has my heart. Start to finish, the visuals are so gorgeous. The love put into this movie is indescribable. I went to go see it in theaters with a few of my friends on June 11th, and to be honest, I did NOT expect to love it as much as I do, and I sure as hell didn’t expect to still be obsessing over it a whole year later. Obviously I had high expectations since I loved the first film but it still blew me away. Everything is just perfect, even the ending. This movie is SO re-playable aswell. Every time I rewatch it I keep noticing small details I didn’t see before. It’s genuinely so well written which is rare among superhero movies these days.

Seeing this movie in theaters for the first time was the greatest cinema experience of my life and I will never forget it, this film really changed my life. I absolutely love the characters. Miles is such a great protagonist and in my opinion; the best Spider-Man. Gwen is relatable as hell and her story is so fleshed out. She’s such a human character, she just shows so much emotion. The side cast is great too. I love Hobie, Pav, Miguel, Peter, Jess, etc. I didn’t hate a SINGLE character in this movie. They managed to make me empathize with almost every character in the film because they’re all so well written.

I love how this movie has its fair share of humorous scenes and emotional ones. All of the scenes with Gwen and her dad made me tear up, not to mention how the background constantly changes colors reflecting their emotions. Gwen’s world as a whole is just so mesmerizing. The cast, the animation, the voice acting, the soundtrack, the emotion, the foreshadowing, the fight scenes, I could go on and on and on forever. You get the gist of it, this movie means the world to me, words seriously can’t describe how much I love it. I can’t believe it’s been a year already, time really does fly 😭 This movie will always hold a special place in my heart, I love it way too much <3 Happy birthday ATSV 🕷️💞🕸️ (Conclusion: 10/10 MUST WATCH ‼️)

[platonically-loving-alastor]

Aroace Alastor

Hoo boy here we go- This one might make some people mad at me, so I'll preface by saying I do not want to start a fight and as long as you respect my business, I'll respect yours. But let's get this over with-

First off, I genuinely don't understand how some people can see the Ace-In-The-Hole quote and still believe that Alastor is only intended to be asexual and not also aromantic. Yes, the term Rosie used for purpose of the pun was 'ace', but can we look at the context of that moment before jumping to conclusions?

Rosie, motioning to Charlie: "Oh, who's this you brought with you? Come now, Alastor, she's much too young for you! Oh, I'm just kidding. I know you're an ace in the hole!"

Her original statement implies nothing sexual, only that he's involved in a relationship with Charlie, and she follows it up with why she knows that couldn't be because he's an 'ace in the hole'. I don't think you have to read too far between the lines to see that.

I would also like to say that when Vivienne has spoken about his orientation before, I recall her saying that she didn't want to confirm him being aromantic so that she wouldn't 'ruin anyone's fun', which I just feel like is an odd thing to say if she wasn't already explicitly picturing him as aroace. If she thought he had romantic attraction, why wouldn't she just say that? What fun would that ruin? I also feel like keeping things like this ambiguous just to appease the shippers is a little weird, but I digress-

And to those of you who I know are saying "But aromantic people can be in relationships too!!" *deep inhale* yeah I know. I'm not gonna pretend you're not right about that, but there are also aroace people who have exactly 0 interest in romance or sex at all. This is the part of the post that really is based on how I interpret certain moments, but to me he is absolutely one of those people. I don't really know where people get any vibes of him being interested in that stuff. I have never once looked at him and thought "Yeah I could see him in a romantic relationship with *insert character here*". Even aside from attraction in general, since that's what we'd be talking about at this point anyway, he just seems like the kind of guy who'd rather work and live independently instead of relying on anyone, whether practically or emotionally (which is also probably part of the reason he never joined the Vees, but that's another topic entirely). Hell, I'm pretty sure he's in heavy denial about even developing any kind of care or friendship with the people at the hotel (ie. the episode 8 scene with him and Niffty).

The only ships I see him involved in with people he doesn't hate (so ignoring RadioApple, RadioHusk, and StaticRadio. But to be real, maybe the fact all his main ships are enemies to lovers coded says something about the whole situation, but that's just me-) are Charlastor - which I will not even try to discuss here, people aren't gonna like this post as it is - and RadioRose. Rosie and him would at least be fair, if it weren't for one thing (which is also personal opinion on my end), and I don't know exactly how to word it. I'm tempted to say she has wingwoman vibes? But she knows he's aro, so that's not the right word, but there's vibes of like, she probably did act as a wingwoman before she realized that about him or something.. There's also something about her joking around like "Oh this is the girl? You have a girlfriend and I'm only now meeting her?" is almost giving motherly behavior. Idk man they're just besties to me, I could see them in a QPR though (not that they'd probably label it that way, considering the word queerplatonic is likely just complete gibberish to Alastor lmao).

So to summarize: It feels incredibly likely, if not practically canon, that Alastor was written with aromanticism in mind, even if Vivienne refuses to explicitly state it. Subtext and not-that-subtle implications can say just as much about a character as word of God, especially when that God has explicitly told us why she won't confirm or deny this information. Do I think any of this will stop people from shipping him romantically with literally any other character? No ofc it won't, and that's okay, that's just what fandoms do. I do think there's something to say for the fact the one aroace (or even at the very least asexual) character gets constantly shipped with everyone else in the cast, but this post is long enough I think. The only point of posting this is that I wanted to get information out there in one post to say "Hey, let's look a little bit past the surface for a second before saying there's no proof of him being aromantic"

Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you at least took something away from this

[ryleektv]

Lorenzo Berkshire Headcannons

Part 3

warnings: language, mean enzo (per usual tbh), some NSFW (i'll put a divider before it), manipulation to the max

can you tell he's my favorite yet?? 😭

WC: 660

• runs. gets up ungodly early on completely random days to go running in the mornings and brag about how healthy and fit he is all day

• like there is no schedule to it, he just gets that 3am urge to get his shit together and decides to go running the next morning

• actually good at it though (i run and trust it is not easy 💪😔) and takes long as showers afterwards because bud cannot stand the feeling of being sweaty 

• if he is dating you and actually likes you, like straight up in love with you (i fear this is next to impossible but we going with it) you will get the best treatment of your life, you will not ever be in a better relationship

• you're getting genuine royalty treatment, gifts, constant love and affection, the whole nine yards

• but if bro doesnt actually completely like you, you're getting love bombed to another astronomical level

• down bad - taylor swift. its him.

• will embed himself in every single part of your life simply to know that when he eventually breaks up with you (or becomes bad enough to force you into breaking up with him.. that way you take the blame) you will not be able to do anything without thinking of him

• i've seen a few people talk about that and i fully stand by it

• walking to hogsmeade? lorenzo's bought you your favorite things from every one of these stores. 

• eating dinner?? lorenzo personally molded your food taste to match his so now you cannot eat your new favorite foods without it being all about that first time he made you try a bite of his. 

• trying to sleep in your own bed in your own room?? dont you dare forget all those times lorenzo snuck in just to lie next to you until you fell asleep, talking about the bullshit future he convinced you would happen.

• you dare have sex with another man?? lorenzo did it- you- better and you both know it. 

• watching your favorite movie? he claimed it was his favorite too after you two watched it together and then proceeded to watch it specifically with you about a million times after

• simply trying to hang out with your own pet?? too bad it liked lorenzo better (bro even has the poor cat love bombed) 

• "you used a fork once... turns out forks are fucking everywhere" type shit

• in conclusion, you will barely survive the breakup and he's planned it all out 

• also knows damn well you'll probably come running back because he made all these moments with your favorite things good memories, so now you're constantly associated with these good memories of him that he made to wash out the bad moments that way you'd be more likely to forgive, forget, and come crawling back after a few weeks (at the most) 

18+, MDNI

• firm believer in the fact that he's a switch but you wont know that unless you're in a committed relationship with him (or you get him drunk enough tbh because as i've said before, buddy gets drunk and overshares like crazy) 

• otherwise everyone just thinks he's dom because no way in hell is he subbing for some one night stand 

• you get him all wrapped around your finger and actually manage to fix him up enough to date him for real though, bro is a MESS

• sex drive is through the ROOF

• it's almost abnormal. none of his friends are getting busy THAT often 

• does not give half a shit though

• king of foreplay that ends up borderline better than the actual sex 

• man is a master with his fingers but also the biggest munch known to man?? heavenly combination. 

• not an asshole when it comes down to this type of thing though and will make sure his partner is satisfied. 

• wont sit there rubbing the inside of your thigh for a half hour thinking he's doing something!!!!! what a relief!!!! 

pls feel free to send in any requests because i need some ideas and i really feel like writing something

[muekyn]

a/n: constantly dreaming of eren and the love he provides. <3 this is very self indulgent, but i hope you enjoy it anyways :>

tw: MDNI!!, mentions of death/implied death, suggestive for a teeny tiny bit, fluff, angst

word count: 3k

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

an angel.

you swore he had to be an angel.

well, technically, you didn’t know what he was. he could have very well been a carefully constructed set of situations falling into place, somehow created in your brain.

but he felt so real. so genuine, so deep, so alive.

there was no way to really put it in a way that made sense. all judgements cast aside, you were being overwhelmed, borderline plagued by dreams of someone you had never met before.

they were rather odd dreams as well. always taking place on an ocean shore with a dusty pink sky, the dawn poking through the shore’s horizon line. every time you visited this place, colors were more vibrant, circumstances were more peaceful. there was the gentle rise and fall of the beach’s waves, encapsulating your thoughts with every push and pull of the water, every ounce of wind that brushed through your fingertips.

the first time you arrived on that sandy shore, you simply plopped yourself down where you stood, just trying to enjoy the scenery around you. in your dream like state, you were surprisingly in control of your actions; you felt like you could go anywhere, do anything. yet, you chose to remain here, feeling the particles of sand press into the back of your legs as you took a seat on the grainy earth below. you felt like you belonged. there was no reason to leave.

and that’s when you met him. you were simply watching the waves, your eyes resting on the subtle rise and fall of the water, when a voice from behind snapped you out of your thoughts.

“nice view, isn’t it?”

turning around, your eyes met a man that, at the time, was unfamiliar to you. pools of turquoise irises stared back at you, almost boring into your soul. his brown hair was slackly tied up in a messy bun, loose strands of hair perfectly framing his face. the strange man stood at a rather large stature, towering above you as he approached you. as he gets closer, it feels like he’s almost glowing, practically radiating heat. he’s just so incredibly warm. so inviting.

even though you’ve never met him, you found yourself saying yes when he asked if he could take a seat next to you. the two of you sat in silence. comfortable silence.

which only lasted a moment.

“…did you know that sand crabs can only move backwards?” the strange man casually blurts out, as if he were talking to an old friend.

“huh?” you reply.

“sand crabs… they can only move backwards,” he restates. “they even dig backwards.”

“…i see,” you slightly hum, looking into the man’s pretty eyes. “that’s actually really interesting. i would want to be a sand crab.”

the strange man gives you an awkward smile. “me too. do you think that everything they do is backwards? like… do they talk to each other in reverse?”

you can’t help but laugh a little at his question. “if they’re talking in reverse and it’s normal to them, wouldn’t that just mean that they’re talking normally?”

“hm… good point,” the man says, now lost in thought about your question.

a few times a week, from that point on, you would dream of that beach. without fail, that man you saw would be there to greet you, every time. as time went on, you learned that his name was eren. how you learned that- hell, how he assigned himself that name was beyond you. but you accepted it. you accepted the dreams, sometimes greatly looking forward to them.

each and every dream was so profoundly different, so intensely special to you. at first, your dreams were casual- light talks with one another, simply getting to know one another’s temperament and personality.

in a short amount of time, you and eren came to the conclusion that you two were dreaming. someway- somehow, you both had ended up in this vast, empty beach; with nothing else to do but to enjoy each other’s company.

and it was very easy to enjoy eren’s company. after all, eren was just so kind, so sweet. though he was a little reserved, you could tell he had a big heart. with the way he spoke, he cared deeply for everything around him; for the people around him.

despite always being a little vague, he would occasionally fill you in with life events he was going through. they weren’t specific enough for you to fully understand what was going on, but you tried to support him, as best as you could. although you wanted to ask him what exactly was plaguing him, what specifically you could do to help- you felt yourself holding back, just a bit.

pretty quickly, you decided not to talk about the problems going on outside of the dreams, opting to vaguely discuss issues that bothered you both. you didn’t want to pry too much from him. he seemed to have a lot going on, and you didn’t want to ruin these pieces of momentary bliss for him.

another thing, you noted, was that time appeared to stand still in these dreams. you would be in eren’s presence for what seemed like hours- but when you would awake from your slumber, only a brief half hour would pass. spending what seemed like hours in each other’s presence just made it easier to familiarize yourself with him; to really learn about him, and fall in love with the man who stumbled into your head.

after about two months of these bi-weekly dreams, eren allowed himself to show a more vulnerable side. one that lamented, one that grieved. it was evident he had a strong personality, a bit of tainted roughness to him. there would be times where you would help him navigate himself through bursts of pure passion, fits of anger. but despite it all, he was always so gentle, so uniquely kind to you.

it felt like eren understood you. very deeply, very intricately. no matter what you told him, he would always respond with warmth and acceptance, comfort coaxing his voice as he helped you work through yourself. softness was always apparent in eren’s gaze, his viridian eyes never failing to completely envelop you as he talked or watched the waves.

to your delight, eren seemed to share the same feelings for you; your affections for one another simply falling into place. neither one of you questioned it, never doubting it for even a miniscule of a second.

being with him just felt so right. each moment between you two was deeply cherished, every encounter treated as if it would be the last.

despite the beach being rather empty, there was always something to do together. eren tended to spend a good while by the shore of the ocean, choosing to spend his time building unstructured sandcastles, or collecting intricately detailed seashells and pigmented rocks. if he wasn’t searching for seashells, he was digging for sand crabs, creating sandy little pockets of water for them to swim in. eren also found that splashing you in various ways was rather entertaining, usually dumping seaweed infested water on you when you least expected it. of course, you would get back at him by doing the exact same thing.

when the two of you weren’t goofing around, circumstances were much more intimate. the two of you would sway in the water, twirling and tumbling to the sea’s gentle grasp. you could feel the salty ocean water chill your skin as eren would guide your body with his, his grip on you always so gentle, so hesitant. as you two would dance, he’d litter your neck with soft kisses, your hands running through the locks of his chestnut brown hair. the two of you could spend hours dancing in tandem to eren’s peaceful hums.

other dreams were spent completely wrapped up in each other’s arms, the sounds of the waves overlapping the small whimpers and sighs that left each other’s throats. during moments like these, the full extent of eren’s passion and desire for you was evident. he would whisper sweet nothings, reminding you of how much of an angel you were, how absolutely perfect you were. breathless groans of “you’re mine,” would slip from his lips as he felt the heat of your skin against him, allowing himself to become completely devoted to you.

and even though you were just dreaming, you absolutely dedicated yourself to each and every peaceful moment with eren.

dreams were an escape from reality. an escape from the perils and pressures of the world, an escape you had so desperately needed. it felt like only you and eren existed in those dreams, nothing but the crisp water surrounding you two, the pink sky stretching past your line of sight, and the air filled with soft touches and gentle kisses.

the more you would have these dreams, the more they consumed you. you found yourself wanting to be on that sandy beach until the end of time.

but of course, you couldn’t sleep forever. you couldn’t dream forever.

there would be many instances where all you could do is lay awake in bed, your eyes shot open from the previous dream. all you could do was yearn. all you could do was long to be with eren again.

and it was slowly tearing you apart from the inside out.

longing for eren was a past time of yours. whenever things in the real world started to go awry, you instinctively found yourself daydreaming about eren, begging whatever deity you could to have him there with you. it was a helpless sensation; knowing that the one who could bring you so much comfort was so far away, so out of your grasp. the only time he would bring you that comfort again was if you happened to drift off to sleep and arrive on that beach.

and truthfully, as time progressed, those times were fading away with each passing month. visits from eren became less frequent. nonetheless, his words were always so kind, so comforting. they were simply becoming farther and fewer in between.

which brings you to now.

it had been at least two weeks since you had seen eren. as you drifted off into sleep, your line of sight slowly transitioning from nothingness into blurred colors and shapes, you arrived at that tranquil beach. you sat in your typical spot, expecting to see your dream man once again. and just like clockwork, he arrived after a few minutes, slowly taking a seat next to you.

although this time, eren seemed very tired. there was a glimmer of despair in his face, a mix of torment and confusion. his normally bright and vibrant eyes seemed faded by dullness, blankly scanning the environment around you two for something- anything. what that something was, you weren’t sure. undoubtedly, the air seemed different this time around. much more still, much more uncertain.

“…hey,” eren breathed, wrapping his arm around you and gazing off into the ocean.

“eren,” you smile at him, trying to push your feelings of uncertainty away. “i’ve missed you so much…”

he turns his attention away from the waves to give you a brief smile. the pain is evident on his face; it’s impossible to ignore.

“um… are you doing alright?” you say, tilting your head at him.

he turns back to gaze at the shore. “i think i need to be honest with you.”

silently, you stare at him, a million thoughts racing through your head.

“i have something i have to do. i need to do it… and i don’t think i’m going to come back from it,” eren admits.

“what? what makes you say that?” you question, unsure of what he’s talking about.

”i just…i think this might be the last time we see each other…” he trails off his sentence, finally getting the strength to turn back to you.

the look on your face is absolutely crushed. eren feels a hint of guilt, a hint of shame upon meeting your eyes.

“…why?” you blurt out, pain starting to become evident in your voice.

“i don’t think i can fully explain. but i just wanted you to know… so you don’t keep expecting me. you need to forget about me, and be happy…” eren slightly wallows, his voice slow and wavering.

“no… no, i don’t want that,” you plead with him. “please, just talk to me…i don’t want to lose you.”

“even if i tell you, there’s nothing that can be done,” he reaffirms.

you try your best to comfort him. “you don’t know that. it could-“

“i do know…” eren interjects.

“but how can you be so sure?” you object.

“…ah. don’t judge me… alright? i don’t know how to say this, but…” he thinks for a moment. “…i know my fate, i guess. i’ve seen it before.”

with sadness in your eyes, you listen to him as he tries his best to break down his situation, everything that he’s been keeping bottled up in him for so long.

“right now… where i live, there’s a war going on,” eren speaks slowly, carefully choosing his words. “all the nations outside of my island want my people dead. but i won’t stand by and let them slaughter us... so there’s no other option for me. i’ll kill them before they kill us.”

before you can think of what to say, he continues. “i’ve seen my future… and my time is running out. but i just have to keep going, until the end.”

slowly, you begin to piece everything together. all the circumstances he’s been put in. the horrific conditions of his world. the absolute state of torment he’s currently in.

“eren… i’m… i’m so sorry this is happening to you…” you say, melancholy dripping from your voice. “this sounds like a nightmare…”

“it’s my fate… i just… i don’t even know where i am anymore,” eren says, tilting his head up to the sky. “all the memories- all the glimpses of the future- they’re confusing me. i can’t tell if i’m in a memory or not, even right now… everything is blurring together.”

“it breaks me to hear you say that, eren…” you sadly breathe. “it seems like you have a huge burden to bear. you’re going through a lot…”

“maybe…” he says, glancing down at you. “…but i’m glad i got to spend some of my time with you… i know we were brought together, for a reason.”

you feel your heart waver. “then why don’t you stay with me… please. we can be here forever, and you don’t have to go back to that chaos.”

“you know that’s not possible,” eren gives you a weak, broken smile.

“i’m just really scared for you…” you feel your eyes watering. “if what you’re saying is true, then… does that mean…”

“hey- don’t worry about what it means,” eren has a hint of faked reassurance to his tone. “our time is already running out as it is. let’s just try our best to enjoy it. i don’t want this to be your last memory of us.”

“stop saying that- this won’t be the last time,” you insist, trying to reason with yourself. “it won’t.”

eren softly says your name. “you have to accept it.”

“no- i can’t be without you,” you whisper, your voice barely audible. “i need you. and i want you to need me too…”

“i do need you. but i’m sorry…” he sighs. “i can’t do anything, as much as i want to.”

the two of you sit in silence for a moment. agonizing silence.

“…so… does this mean… this is goodbye?” you say, trying your best to hold back the tears starting to flow down your face.

“…my angel. i promise you… that no matter what- i’ll see you again. whether that’s in this life or the next one,” eren softly says, planting a kiss on your forehead. “-this won’t be our last goodbye.”

no words leave your mouth, just an empty whimper.

with all of his strength, eren gives you a genuine, heartfelt smile. “i love you. i hope you always remember that.”

“i…i love you too eren…” you whine, your voice strained and broken. “more than anything.”

eren’s grip on you tightens. his vibrancy and warmth spread through your body, easing your despair, just barely.

as you wrapped your arms around him, embracing him as tightly as you could, you felt him begin to slip away. colors slowly transitioned from saturated to dull, your body starting to get heavy. desperately, you caged your arms around eren, trying to grasp onto whatever amount of his body that you could-

ah. you woke up.

there were tears in your eyes as you stirred yourself out of your dream. silently, you held yourself as you tried to gain composure, your body slightly shaking and the tears unable to stop flowing down your face. the only way you could calm yourself down was by rationalizing that the dream must have been a nightmare. surely, undoubtedly- eren would come back, right? he’d be there to greet you the next time you arrived on that distant shore, with a smile on his face and open arms for you.

but unfortunately, eren was right.

that was the last time you ever saw him.

you thought about him endlessly. when you would see him again, when he would sway underneath that vibrant pink sky with you again. longing became a subconscious thought, a parasitic need that made you practically restless.

but even in your dreams, eren wouldn’t grace you. even when you would have dreams about that sandy beach again, he didn’t show up. and based off what eren told you- he would never come back.

never to return, never to whisper sweet words of affection to you- never to confide in you again. his tenderness and love would soon become a distant memory, further convoluted by the fact that all of your memories for each other took place inside of your dreams.

and as you navigated through your life, your dreams a little more alone than before, you had to make peace with the idea that eren was gone.

but just like eren said- in this life or the next, he would see you again.

and you had to hold onto that, for now. even though dreaming became insignificant, even though things felt more meaningless to you, you had to hold on.

for eren.

[mywitchyblog]

Can someone please explain to me who the hell is so upset with me that they’ve resorted to going into other shifters' ask boxes as an anonymous user and started bullying them in my name? It honestly baffles me that someone would stoop so low. If you have an issue with me or something I’ve said, be direct. I’m not one to hide behind anonymity or drag innocent people into something they have nothing to do with. If I had a problem with you, trust me, I’d say it to your face. I don’t need to hide in the shadows.

Now, there are only two possibilities for what’s going on here, and neither of them reflect well on the person responsible:

The first possibility is that this person is intentionally creating drama by sending themselves an anonymous ask. Maybe they’re looking for attention or trying to stir up conflict where there is none. It's sad, honestly, if that’s what’s happening because it just shows how far some people are willing to go to manufacture chaos.

The second possibility is that I’ve managed to piss someone off to the point where they’re now impersonating me, using my name to spread hate and start fights in spaces where I’m not even involved. If this is the case, I can’t say I’m surprised that someone would go this route rather than confront me directly, but it’s still frustrating. I don’t hide from criticism, and I won’t shy away from addressing issues head-on. But to use my identity in such a toxic way? That’s crossing a line.

To the person this happened to (I found out about this through a mutual, and I want you to know that I’m aware), I am truly sorry. I hate that this situation has dragged you into something you didn’t ask for, and I genuinely wish it hadn’t happened. But let me be absolutely clear: it wasn’t me. I did not send those messages, and I would never engage in that kind of behavior. It’s not how I handle things, and it’s certainly not how I treat others.

You are fully entitled to your own opinion, just like I’m entitled to mine. I’ve never denied that right to anyone, and I wouldn’t start now. We don’t have to agree on everything, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to attack you for your perspective or allow someone else to use my name to do so. That’s not how this works.

And just to set the record straight for the final time: I am not a pedophile, nor do I endorse, encourage, or support anything related to that disgusting behavior. It’s beyond insulting that I even have to keep repeating this, but here we are. In fact, I went out of my way to age myself up by a few years or to completely discard the DRs that felt problematic or uncomfortable. I’ve always been mindful of the spaces I navigate, especially when it comes to shifting, and I’ve made conscious decisions about what I’m comfortable with.

If you’re unhappy or confused about something I’ve said or done, talk to me like a human being. Bring it to me, and let’s figure it out. Don’t jump to conclusions or, worse, involve other people who aren’t even a part of the conversation. It’s cowardly and completely unnecessary. This whole thing could’ve been avoided with a little bit of maturity and honest communication.

At the end of the day, it’s honestly pathetic to bully other people just because they happen to have a different opinion than yours. Why are you so bothered by someone else’s perspective that you’d go out of your way to hurt them or cause unnecessary drama? We’re all individuals here, and our experiences with shifting, our journeys, and our beliefs are going to vary. No two people will see everything the same way, and that’s okay. It’s actually something to be embraced. What’s not okay is tearing each other down because of those differences. That only reflects poorly on you and shows how little respect you have for other people’s paths.

So, let’s try a little harder to be civil and respectful. You don’t have to agree with me, and I don’t have to agree with you, but at the very least, we can treat each other with decency.

[hyaesia]

Hi Cat, I am here to annoy you and ask you about your Beach Ep Thoughts ™

With best,

Lavii :3

oh god okay where do i even begin ... in general that was the most devastating ending in fiction ever i think... and i think the sigcorp series might be the only series ever to be able to pull it off. it's crazy how sounding out what we already knew would happen was still so !!! poignant!!! the music was spectacular. the art was spectacular. freebird's commitment to rpgmaker is astounding and i love it (though i know last hour and onwards will be unity)

more specific thoughts:

i loved being able to see more of rox and rob, particularly i love that rob is just a Really Strange Guy instead of the only normal sigcorp employee like a lot of us thought he would be, i think it makes his & rox's dynamic all that much funnier. two weird and offputting guys on totally opposite sides of the weird and offputting spectrum

even though the plot was very In Your Face compared to every other entry in the sigcorp series (this was made to answer questions about IF, after all), there's still so much to discuss and theorize about! i've spent So much time already discussing how i suspect neil died w/ friends (which i could make into a whole other post. tbh) and whatever the hell was going on with the quintessence cast ?? (more on that later)

i loved seeing eva's walls crumble down. she lied about the journey mattering more to her than the ending, of course she did because she works the worst job on the planet and she has to lie to herself to keep going. i can't think too long about her in the very ending asking such vulnerable questions to neil about if he'd really do all those sweet relationshippy things for her or putting her head into her arms and sobbing after he asked how it happened.oh.my god

i genuinely thought the quintessence guys from the teasers would be cameo characters, which yeah they were for the most part! but lunair was so interesting... what did she mean when she said she's something else entirely!! where did she come from why is she in on the simulation with faye!! the only rational thing i can come up with is quintessence being a side-project by neil leaking into the simulations but then that makes her comment before irrelevant... head in my hands

and i love/hate how the Entire series has been a simulation by eva... god especially minisode 2,,, realizing that party Never Happened and it was just her trying to make a happier memory for herself. do you think that was the last christmas neil ever celebrated? do you think she ever really gave him the sound recorder, or was it her present self playing 4D chess with their memories? it'll be a very long time until i can bring myself to replay any of these games knowing i'm being complicit in eva's unhealthy grief habits. well fucking done kan gao .how did you do it

shorter thoughts that don't need their own paragraphs: the minigames were so fun, the spectator mode for xtreme beach was such a fun touch; i loved the ingame confirmation about colin and river being deskmates; i think last hour will be the last hour of neil's life; after kan's tweet last year about last hour & the beach episode being the good and bad ending respectively, i placed my bets on beach being the good ending. i really hope i'm wrong now actually after seeing it; and finally i've already listened to world in a memory 200 times, it makes me nauseous every time

in conclusion: i need to hug eva rosalene so fucking badly